From those who are hooked very young to those who perhaps wandered over somewhat haphazardly, the Sudbury wrestling folks are waiting to greet newcomers to the sport with open arms.

Troop MMA wrestling coaches Celeste Contant-Rodrigues, Craig Doucette and Sheldon Burton are busy working with a smattering of both of the above this summer, mastering mat-specific skill-sets with some of the more dedicated local wrestlers, including a small handful that were selected to attend OAWA (Ontario Amateur Wrestling Association) summer camps.

Honestly, Haydee Johnson might not have even realized that she did not fit the prototypical “wrestler look” when she first ventured into the sport years ago.

“I started wrestling when I was eight or nine years old,” noted the diminutive grade ten student, making the move from Horizon to Sudbury Secondary in September to pursue an accompanying love of music – to go along with her love of wrestling.

“I was obsessed with WWE and found wrestling so interesting and figured that maybe I should try it out.”

An eighth place finisher at OFSAA in her first year of high-school, Johnson struggles to find female opponents in her weight class in the north (she tips the scales at between 95 and 100 pounds), but that won’t stop her from expanding that search province-wide.

“I knew from a young age that this is what I am passionate about, this is what I am meant to be doing,” she said. “It’s an individual sport where you really rely on yourself. If you succeed you have yourself to thank for that. And I like combat sports.”

“I like to show how “bad ass” I am as a girl. I find that very cool.”

While not huge in the least in stature, Johnson noted that is far more the relationship of muscle to weight – or strength to size, if you will – that helps most in wrestling. More recently, her evolution has occurred in the mental approach to her sport, specifically how exactly to address the issue of opponents who possess strategies that cover the entire range of the wrestling spectrum.

“At the beginning of the year, I was very, very defensive,” said Johnson. “I am very self-conscious as a wrestler, very much in my own head. As I evolved throughout the season, I learned to be more offensive. Personally, I think I shine a bit more on the offensive – but I am still pretty good on the defensive, if I do say so myself.”

Still, as the talkative young extravert knows all too well, striking a balance between trying to think, mid-bout, versus just following more natural instincts, being completely immersed in the entanglement of bodies that is all grappling sports, is not as easy as A-B-C.

“It’s important to listen to your coaches in your corner, listen to what they are telling you – and don’t over-think things,” stated Johnson. “That was my biggest problem – and still is. If you over-think, you’re going to mess up.”

So much still to learn.

That was part of the appeal of the recent OAWA Spring Training Camp in early June in Huntsville, part of the offerings of the well-established Olympia Sports Camp in that area.

“We had a lot of mat time,” beamed Johnson. “We had three or four sessions each day. It was fun experimenting with all of these Olympians, learning their different ways to evolve your skills.”

Joining Johnson on the shores of Oxbow Lake were Sophie Keenan, Kane Chartrand and Joe Vakareskov, with Mia Dufresne added to the mix that will leave next week for Lambton College in Sarnia. It’s quite the jump for Vakareskov, who wasn’t nearly as zoned in directly with wrestling when this pathway first began.

“My dad was wanting to get me into some kind of sport for high-school,” recalled the 15 year-old grade 11 student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School. “I missed the football tryouts but on my way out, I saw the notice for wrestling tryouts that was posted for the next day.”

“I like physical sports and wrestling is right up there.”

Yet for all that physicality, it’s the blend with what takes place from the shoulders up that can so often sit at the root of the greatest success of most wrestlers.

“It was odd to see just how much thinking is involved with a fighting sport,” Vakareskov confessed. “You try and picture yourself in the third person, to see what you can do based on where your opponent is. There’s always more than one way to do something so you try and find the most efficient way that you know to get whatever done.”

There is an epiphany, of sorts, that occurs will almost every single young wrestler – and Vakareskov was no different, though his was encountered in somewhat different times.

“In my first matches, I did win them, but it was all just out-muscling opponents,” he said. “I really didn’t learn much technique before my first matches – I had like of week of practices before. It wasn’t the best, but everyone pretty much did not know what they were doing in my grade nine year.”

“It was the first year after Covid and it was pretty much strength against strength.”

Truth be told, understanding the finer nuances of wrestling was not only a necessity given tougher and tougher adversaries as Vakareskov continues to climb the competitive ladder, it also provides some much appreciated physical benefits.

“Now, I am really technical – and I am barely tired,” he said. “My muscles barely feel exhausted in a match because most of what I am doing is technical movement and not as much just muscling them around.”

Wrestling in the 57.5kg weight class as a freshman with the Knights, Vakareskov earned a berth at the OFSAA Championships in Ottawa. “There were thousands of people there – the whole stadium was packed,” he recalled. “There were 10 mats covering the whole arena. It was really nerve-wracking.”

Unfortunately, a torn bicep muscle encountered at NOSSA this past spring derailed his bid for a second straight visit – which is a big part of the reason why the summer workouts have drawn this very dedicated young wrestler to the Troop MMA studios off Kelly Lake Road.

It’s a backdrop where he was sure to be welcomed – he and anyone else looking to learn more of a sport that dates back to the very earliest of Olympiads – and continues to grow to this day in Sudbury, albeit a little slowly, at times.