PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Jared Nicholson sets up a wrestling ring at Lynn Beach, where he’ll hold a tournament this coming weekend.
By HAROLD RIVERA
The Lynn Public Schools opened their doors to a wrestling team for the first time when Marshall Middle School suited 25 young wrestlers in the spring. The goal moving forward? Expansion.
Kids will get some more exposure to the sport as Lynn Beach will host the first annual Lynn Shore Showdown this Saturday. School Committeeman Jared Nicholson, who initially thought of the idea, said the event is a great chance for people to enjoy both the sport of wrestling and a fun day at the beach.
“It’s a great opportunity to get a different crowd at the beach,” Nicholson said. “We’ve gotten inquiries about this from as far as Delaware. This is a great opportunity for the city to promote the beach.”
Nicholson’s hope is that the event will promote the Lynn Wrestling program, which is planning to include a co-op high school team at Lynn Tech in addition to the group at Marshall.
Registration for the event will cost $25, while spectators are asked to pay a $5 fee as a donation. All proceeds from the event will go towards the wrestling programs at the Lynn Public Schools.
Participants will be divided into youth and high school divisions, and light and heavyweight classes.
Nicholson, who wrestled in college at Princeton, says the idea to bring a wrestling event to Lynn beach stemmed from a tournament he participated in a few years ago.
“I wrestled in college and participated at a beach wrestling tournament in Narragansett a few years ago,” Nicholson said. “I was studying for the bar exam at the time and needed to do something to relax my mind. I thought since we have such a nice beach here in Lynn it would be a good idea to bring it here.”
The goal is for the event to expose kids to a sport that’s new to the Lynn Public Schools community.
“I hope the kids have a fun day at the beach and get a fun, healthy day of activity and some exposure to wrestling,” Nicholson said. “It’s a great sport and it’ll be great in Lynn. This is a great way to promote it.”
He added, “summer can be a difficult time. Kids are out of school and they’re looking for something to do. Hopefully this will grab their attention.”
Nicholson feels that the individual battles one faces in the sport will make it a great fit for Lynn’s youth.
“Wrestling is a perfect fit for Lynn,” he said. “You can have a big team and a big roster of all sizes. It’s a great opportunity to challenge yourself as an individual and it’s a great way for a team to go through the individual struggles together.”
He added that wrestling on the beach is a great way to introduce the sport to those who are inexperienced.
“We’re going to draw some kids who have experience but this style of wrestling is a great introduction because it’s much more relaxed and it’s simpler,” he said. “We’re going to be on the beach so it’s a relaxed way to do it. There’s no better way to get started than going for it.”
Nicholson said that he’s optimistic about the wrestling program in Lynn after the Marshall team received a positive reaction from the community.
“We had a home match in the spring and the atmosphere was electric,” he recalled. “The kids loved it, the school loved it and everybody had fun. I think this has a bright future.”
The event will begin with a registration period at 8 a.m., followed by a brief overview of the rules at 9:15 a.m.. The wrestling itself kicks off at 9:30.