L-P youth wrestling: practice makes perfect

by Nick D’Amuro
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, January 26, 2008

It’s 6:30 p.m. at the Lewiston Community Resource Center (daycare building), and inside young kids of all ages and sizes are running around the wrestling room ready for action. With a simple word head coach Dom Cianchetti brings them all together. This is how the Lew-Port Youth Wrestling Club typically begins its sessions.

Any expert in the wrestling community will tell you that the key to success is experience and mat time. Most of the best wrestlers have been grappling since they could walk. Wrestling, unlike any other sport, requires experience and a lot of practice. Ask most of the best high school wrestlers, and they’ll tell you they came from wrestling families and seemingly have been doing it forever.

And Lew-Port’s youth wrestling is doing just that.

Just five years ago, this program had only 18 participants; today under Cianchetti they have a staggering 64 members. Pretty impressive for just five years work.

Cianchetti comes from a vast wrestling background; he was a Niagara-Wheatfield graduate in 1984, and took third at states. He went on to wrestle at Division IA Hofstra University, where he was a two-time conference champ and wrestled in the NCAA National Championships tourney. So he brings a lot to the table to teach the kids. The club draws in a variety of its members from all over, including Wilson, Town of Niagara, Wheatfield and Niagara Falls.

One instrumental key Cianchetti employs in teaching the kids is that the style and moves practiced are linked with the varsity level. He teaches the same methods taught and used at the high school level, so his members are ready to make the smooth transition. This allows his young matmen to be ready for the next level, and it helps when they come in and know most of the moves.

As far as the success of this program, Cianchetti points out they’re currently an impressive fourth out of 20 programs in Western New York. Every week at tournaments the youths compete with the various teams and do battle. Cianchetti also stressed that cooperation in key in running a program like this, and that his coaches are a big part of the program. Stu Pryce, who was a junior varsity coach for Lew-Port for a while, is a large part of the Lew-Port youth wrestling program now. Mike Wheeler is has been Cianchetti’s right hand man for five years ever since he took over. Other important coaches include Rich Caeglia, Bill Hilliard and Robbie Reisman. All of these coaches have a determination to make each young wrestler the best they can be, and they’re doing a great job of it.