Aaron Asbury, an incoming Wellington High School sophomore, is wrestling in a national tournament in Rochester, Minn.
But the wrestling is a little different than the kind local wrestling enthusiasts are accustomed to.
Asbury will be participating in the USA Wrestling Cadet National Dual Championships in Rochester, June 17-21.
The event will feature some of the best athletes in youth freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling.
Hold it right there. Freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling? In Kansas?
Kansas High Schools participate in folkstyle or collegiate style wrestling where grapplers go to the mat and get points based on takedowns, reversals and pins. The emphasis is on control.
Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are much more uncommon, yet are the two styles used in International competition including the Olympics. There is greater emphasis on throws to the mat and explosiveness for both styles.
Asbury wrestles all three styles. He is a 171-pounder in the WHS program.
He then participated in the Kansas Folkstyle Championships in Topeka placing second in the 14-under 175-pound division in late March.
While there have been other Wellington wrestlers who have honed their grappling skills during the summer, rarely, if ever, has one strayed into the freestyle and Greco-Roman arena.
Asbury has done that, and qualified for national competion, after placing second at the Kansas State Freestyle/Greco Championships in Towanda-Circle with two second-place finishes in both events.
He wrestled Luke Hayes of the Scott City Takedown Club in both the freestyle and the Greco-Roman events losing both matches.
In freestyle, Hayes won round 1 by 4-1, 7-1 decisions and round two 1-0, 7-0 decisions. In Greco-Roman, Hayes won fall 4-0, 2:52, and decision 0-6, 8-3, 7-2.
Unlike folkstyle, both freestyle and Greco-Roman are scored much like volleyball and tennis matches where wins are determined each period. If a wrestler outscores another 7-0 in period one, he gets a first win in a best of three showdown.
There is no carry over to the second period. If he wins there he wins the match and it ends there. If he loses, then it's a split and a third period is performed to determine the winner.
Asbury said he learned both freestyle and Greco-Roman while living in Ark City. He loves the two styles.
"There is so more action in freestyle and Greco," Asbury said. "It's always non stop. With folkstyle it's more start-and-stop, start-and-stop."
Freestyle is more closely related with folkstyle. There is the emphasis on pins.
However, freestyle is more about the throw down to the mat. In freestyle, a wrestler can get five points for a takedown based on how his opponent lands on the mat. Or he can can get three points or just a point.
"It's more about explosiveness and less about controlling your opponent," Asbury said. "You get points for throwing wrestlers out of bounds."
Greco-Roman is an entirely different breed of cat from freestyle or folkstyle. This wrestling forbids attacks below the waist and you can't use your legs. Thus headlocks and bearhugs are encouraged, and one better know how to lift his opponents.
The Wellington Youth Wrestling Club will be sponsoring his trip to Minnesota.
Wellington, Kan. —
