For the first time in four years, Clague has been able to have a wrestling team. The return of wrestling at Clague has been highly anticipated from returning students who want a chance to wrestle on a team or before they go to high school. Having a wrestling team was the plan at the start of the school year but Clague was struggling to find a coach. Because of this, Clague initially canceled wrestling for the 2024-2025 school year.
“I was planning on being on the Clague Wrestling team this year and was upset when it was canceled but I was more upset about the fact that we could not wrestle at other schools,” seventh grader Leo Saragoza said.
Parents and students in the Clague community went to the school board meeting on Nov. 13 to try and change the district policies. One parent that attended the meeting said this,
“We are aware that Title IX is a federal law that requires AAPS to provide equal athletic opportunities to boys and girls, and this is not happening as a result of the district’s policies.” The parent said. “We find this situation very unfair for our boys, and want the district to come up with a fair solution for the Clague Middle School boys who want to do wrestling this quarter.”
The first traces of wrestling date back to Ancient Sumer 5,000 years ago where the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” which is one of the first written stories ever, refers to the first refereed wrestling competitions, accompanied by music. There are also many historical and archaeological traces of wrestling in Ancient Egypt according to https://uww.org/about-uww/history-wrestling-uww.
After the school board meeting, Clague wrestling was reintroduced as a season two sport and was taken over by Dr. Harvell until a coach was found. Practice started on Nov. 18 and a few leaders emerged. One of them was James Frey, an eighth grader at Clague.
“I chose to participate in wrestling because I play football and wrestling can help me with that,” Frey said.
This year’s wrestling team will be different from other years but Clague has found ways to try and make the season happen. Brandon Copeland, the athletic director at Clague, had this to say about the modified season,
“There will be four (games) in total, with two here at Clague,” Copland said. “The first game will be on Friday, right after the Thanksgiving break; it will be the season opener and the home debut. Our Wrestling Cats this year are being led by a committee of CMS students, three dads, and Clague’s very own Dr. Harvell. With all their knowledge and availability combined, we hope to patch together a fun, memorable season.”
