Growing Grapplers
ADAMS TWP — Gavin Yocum exemplies what the Mars youth wrestling program is all about.
Having just turned 8, Gavin won the Novice division of the North Hills Wrestling League Road Warriors (youth) this year. He tallied 50 points to top a field of more than 250 kids.
“Gavin's a great little kid,” Mars Youth Wrestling President Todd Wearing said. “He's a young athlete who works hard and comes to all of the practices.
“He's getting out of the sport what he's putting into it. That's wrestling.”
Gavin is one of three brothers in the Mars youth mat program. Ayden, 12, is in sixth grade and picked the sport up this year. He finished first and second in a couple of tournaments.
Another brother, 10-year-old Carter, placed eighth in the Open division of the Road Warrior standings. A fourth brother, 3-year-old Hudson, is likely a future grappler.
“I have four boys and they're constantly rolling around the floor doing wrestling moves,” Laci Yocum said. “Hudson is right in there with the other three.”
The Yocum boys got started in wrestling shortly after the family moved to Mars a few years ago. One of their neighbors had kids involved in the sport.
They saw Carter in his yard wearing swimming trunks one summer day.
“The neighbor said Carter was 'built like a wrestler' and should try the sport,” Mrs. Yocum said. “Once he did, he loved it and the others followed along.
“The sport is a great way for the boys to build confidence and that goes a long way.”
The Yocum boys play other sports as well, football, baseball and lacrosse among them. Their mother likes the benefits of wrestling.
“It's discipline and it's just them on the mat alone ... It's not a whole team,” she said.
Mars is the only Butler County program in the North Hills league. It tallied 327 points this season, good enough for third in the 10-team circuit behind champion Shaler (369) and North Allegheny (342).
Rounding out the final standings were Pine-Richland, North Hills, Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh Project, Avonworth, Hampton and Homewood.
Mars won the North Hills league two years ago. Its youth wrestling program has been around nearly 25 years and it's been a North Hills league member for a decade.
Mars has a pre-kindergarten division where “kids can work out and learn the basic moves,” program secretary Lacey Beyer said. “At age 5 or 6, they can start competing.”
Weight classes range from 45 pounds to heavyweight. The youth program runs through sixth grade.
Youth head coach Stephen Joseph is a Kiski Area graduate and was a member of a Cavaliers' team that won the WPIAL team championship. He was a state qualifier and wrestled at Edinboro University.
Wearing, a Seneca Valley graduate, wrestled at Clarion.
“We've got people with collegiate wrestling experience teaching these kids,” Wearing said. “We emphasize family involvement. A number of brothers come through the program together.
“We have a pig roast during the off-season, just to keep everybody involved.”
While Carter Yocum placed eighth in the Open division standings, Mars teammate Teagan Thomas placed 11th. Teagan qualified for the Pennsylvania Junior Olympics tourney while Carter fell one match short of doing so.
The Pa. Junior Olympic event was subsequently canceled by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Besides champion Gavin Yocum, Jayden Cyphers, Fisher Reutzel, Dane Bova, Alex Palasick and Parker Osterman all placed among the top 26 in the Novice division for Mars.
“We've got 65 kids in the youth program. Those are very good numbers for a school district our size,” Wearing said. “Seneca Valley probably has around 90, but they're about twice our size.”
Joseph described Gavin as having “a good head on the mat, a real strong kid with a good appetite for competition.”
He's got teammates with similar characteristics — and they're getting a taste of high school coaching as well.
“The high school coach (Bob Jox) comes in a couple times a year and a varsity assistant stops in and helps with practice whenever he can,” Joseph said. “Logan Santa, a high school wrestler, has worked with younger kids. There's a connection there.”
That connection will likely result in the Mars High School varsity wrestling team fielding a complete lineup before long.
“They had a complete lineup a couple of years back and made the WPIAL (team) playoffs,” Wearing said. “In another two years, the high school team will begin having a full lineup all the time.
“We want a full roster at the high school level. We want to prepare those kids. That's why we're here.”
