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Finding a welcome mat
A dozen Puerto Rican girls are at area wrestling camp

By DAVID FILKINS, Special to the Times Union
First published: Thursday, June 30, 2005

ROTTERDAM -- A dozen young girls from Puerto Rico are being squeezed, crushed, thrown, lifted, twisted and repeatedly slammed on the floor this week as an introduction to American culture.

They appreciate the treatment. Really. It's a concept difficult for non-wrestlers to grasp.

Among 65 athletes at this week's TNT Intensive Wrestling Camp are 12 gold and silver medalists from the Puerto Rican national championship team. The camp is being offered by the TNT Wrestling Club for the 11th consecutive year. It's the first time international wrestlers have participated.

"We're happy to have them here," said Jack Prest, owner of the TNT Wrestling Club. "They may not understand English entirely, but we shake hands, work with demonstrations, and get right to it."

The Puerto Rican wrestlers range in age from preteens to high school students. Most are making their first trip to the United States and few speak conversational English. But they find wrestling is a language they're all accustomed to.

They are accompanied by a coach and two staff members who intervene when language translation is necessary. Deborah Franco is the coordinator of the female wrestling program for the Puerto Rican department of sports and recreation, which funded the trip. She said the camp provides exactly what the organization was looking for.

"We wanted something different," Franco said on Wednesday. "Few camps include girls so we were excited when we found TNT on the Internet. The girls have been training hard, which they're used to, and experiencing a different culture. It's been great."

Athletes work on technique and lift weights in addition to actually wrestling. Yahaira Morales, 17, had a bandaged left thumb on Wednesday, the result of an injury suffered earlier in the week.

She has been wrestling for two years and will be among the first women to compete for the University of Puerto Rico now that the sport is available collegiately for women. She said the camp has been an invaluable experience.

"Everyone is nice and very good at wrestling," Morales said during weightlifting instruction. "It's been great. I've worked on some techniques and learned a lot. It's a different style then we're used to. I'll bring it back to Puerto Rico and be a better wrestler because of it."

The five-day camp is led by a different wrestler each day. Ravena coach Matt Stein did the honors Wednesday. Three TNT athletes -- Juanita Russell, Nicole Darrow and Dianna Acors -- served as assistants and also participated.

The trio is familiar with Morales and some of the other Puerto Rican wrestlers. TNT has sent athletes to Puerto Rico twice for wrestling tournaments. Russell, Darrow and Acors were victorious each time.

"It's a lot of fun," said Acors, 16, of Burnt Hills. "It's a learning experience for everyone. They work hard and learn from the camp, and we get better from working with them."

Celicet Toribio said the camp lives up to its name.
"It really is intense," the 15-year-old Puerto Rican said, wiping sweat from her brow. Toribio visited Florida once on a vacation but still isn't used to American behavioral patterns. She'll get more exposure when the group goes shopping before heading home tonight.
"The culture is very different," she said with a smile. "We are loud and happy, but people here are more serious."

Prest said the inclusion of foreign wrestlers is a welcome sight. He said more than 3,000 girls are currently wrestling on boys high school teams and women wrestled in the Olympics for the first time in 2004.

"Hopefully this experience will get around by word of mouth," Prest said. "Coaches talk to other coaches. Athletes talk to other athletes. It would be nice to do it again next year."