Revere Wrestling Gets off Mat

In keeping with its mission to expose students to as many sports as possible, the P.E. department at Paul Revere Middle School can add one more to the list: wrestling. Being taller or heavier may give one athlete an advantage over another in many sports, but wrestling is broken down into weight categories, thus making skill and will equally important variables. The first step towards introducing the sport on campus was hiring Adam Hunter, a former high school and collegiate wrestler and coach at Brooklyn Poly Prep who decided to move to Los Angeles to make his mark as a stand-up comedian. Hunter’s enthusiasm is infectious and the sport is catching on quick at Revere, where over 40 kids enrolled in the first session. When the season began, the gym didn’t have wrestling mats nor did the students have proper shoes or uniforms. Trying the sport for the first time, the students had to start from scratch. Most of them went from not knowing a single hold to learning several moves, practicing them and then competing in dual meets against Harvard-Westlake and Woodland Hills St. Mel’s. “These kids are going to be great,” said Hunter, who was a four-time All-New England wrestler in high school and went on to compete at Binghamton University in New York. “It’s only a first-year program and I’ve got a bunch of future state champions here.” Under Hunter’s tutelage, several Rough Riders are already showing promise. Hakeem Jawanza was undefeated in league meets. Fellow eighth-grader Naum Milyavskiy, who was 4-2 during the season, entered an open wrestling tournament in Santa Monica and won it. Hunter was particularly proud of his team because the program at Revere is only two days a week while at most schools in the district wrestling practice is five days a week. “This sport teaches character,” Hunter said. “It teaches guts. One of my wrestlers also plays baseball and the strength training he got during the season has made him a better pitcher.” The wrestling program will continue at Revere next year, although Palisades High is not among the 14 City Section schools that fielded a wrestling team this spring. One of Hunter’s eighth-graders plans to return to Revere next year to continue to practice. Still others are looking for high schools that offer the sport so they can compete at the next level. 10A Paul Revere eighth-grader Georgie Chacbazov looks up to see if the referee considers his opponent, Sam Greenberg, pinned during practice at the campus gym. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photograph