Thanks largely to efforts from Wrestling to Beat the Streets D.C., the sport is returning to public schools in the District after being dormant since 1990. Eight D.C. public schools — Anacostia, Ballou, Bell, Cardozo, Dunbar, H.D. Woodson, Roosevelt and Wilson — will launch an introductory season lasting from March 7 to June 7 before competing in a traditional season next winter.
“It’s going to help the sport grow,” said Helen Maroulis, an Olympic gold medalist and Magruder alumna who serves as a board member of Wrestling to Beat the Streets, a program that teaches life lessons through the sport. “I wish people could see all that goes on behind the scenes. … They really care about helping develop the child, not just in the wrestling world.”
The organization has provided wrestling mats, shoes, headgear and other equipment to the schools and is focused on developing the teens outside of the season. The organization aims to set up students with postgraduate endeavors — be it college or jobs at local businesses.
“Anything you’re doing after school could keep you out of trouble, but wrestling specifically is different,” said Jay LaValley, the program director. “It’s transformational. … Not just stuff we do on the mat.”
Wrestling to Beat the Streets plans to spend $200,000 to get the program off the ground — roughly $25,000 for each school. It has raised nearly $120,000 through its board members, donors and grass-roots efforts and is now going more public with its campaign at wrestlingbts-dc.org.
The 86th annual National Prep School Wrestling Championships were held last weekend at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro. All the mats used there were purchased by Wrestling to Beat the Streets and were set to be delivered to each of the eight D.C. public schools.
After budget cuts forced wrestling out of D.C. public schools three decades ago, five middle schools adopted the sport in the 2017-18 school year. While it exposed more kids to wrestling, they had nowhere to continue competing unless they attended a private or charter school.
Wilson, in Northwest Washington, has a club wrestling team that competes in the D.C. State Athletic Association championships. Students at public high schools all over the District are eligible for its team, and Coach Archie Hogan said he has had state champions from all over the city. The wrestling program has been self-funded, though.
The Tigers don’t take a bus to meets; Hogan has to rely on the wrestlers’ parents to chaperone them. They have a potpourri of uniforms from over the years, many of which don’t match.
“For me, it’s been like ‘The Bad News Bears’ or ‘The Mighty Ducks,’ but put that in D.C.,” Hogan said.
Edwin Reilly is a senior who has been a big part of Wilson’s club team. He went from being an underclassman who didn’t work out to someone who attends every practice and is at the forefront of the program’s move to the varsity level.
“It has had a positive impact over my life,” Reilly said.
Reilly’s high school wrestling journey isn’t uncommon among the Tigers. Sophomore Maya Werbow started wrestling this year after being inspired by female wrestlers she saw on Instagram. At first she wasn’t truly committed to the sport, but she has grown to enjoy it — and is particularly excited about wrestling’s future in D.C. public schools.
“I feel like the effort that I’m putting into the sport is being considered an actual sport, and it’s not just being thrown to the side,” Werbow said. “It’ll be a big step for all of us.”
Zion Budley, an eighth-grader, has dominated at Johnson Middle School, which offers inconsistent competition levels. Budley also plays football and said he got a lot of out of the school’s wrestling conditioning program. He is looking forward to continuing both sports at Eastern High. “I really want to see more competition, more techniques,” he said.
As for Hill, the freshman at Bell, his journey in wrestling began in sixth grade. He quickly took to it and realized it was the sport for him.
When the pandemic wiped out his eighth grade season, he stepped onto the Columbia Heights Educational Campus with fears he might not wrestle again.
“I was going to try to get it back by trying to speak out to people,” Hill said. “I was kind of upset.”
Hill is ecstatic that he will get to compete again — even more so when he thinks about where he will be competing. “That’s what it’s like,” Hill said. “Putting on for your city.”