He’s wrestling with success . . . at age 10
Staff writer
Bea Holub described watching her son Axl compete at this month’s Greco-Roman state wrestling tournament as a humbling experience.
“He, at only 10 years old, worked really, really hard at his craft,” she said. “All the time that he spends, all the money that is spent, all the traveling, those are the moments that make it all worth it.”
Axl finished fourth in the freestyle bracket and won the Greco tournament, becoming the first kid from the Marion Junior Wrestling Club to win a state title.
The victory was a massive achievement not just for Axl but for the club he represents.
Holub, who was born and raised in Marion, runs the club alongside Thomas Lockhart.
“I have a little bit of a wrestling background,” she said. “Both my brothers wrestled, and I was the team manager for the high school when I was in school.”
Holub stepped in after former coach Scott Thornhill stepped down after his son aged out of the team.
“Wrestling is not a preferred sport, and that’s across the board, not just for our area,” Holub said. “It’s really hard sometimes to find coaches at the youth level.”
Many parents worry that their children will get hurt.
“Even for me, it’s sometimes hard to watch,” Holub said.
Kids and parents also find the lengthy season daunting. At the season’s start in October, 40 kids signed up as junior wrestlers. By March, about half had dropped out, Holub said.
“They ended up not liking the sport or they were ready to move on to the next [thing], which is pretty common,” Holub said. “It’s a long commitment.”
Axl, for his part, has been wrestling since age 4.
“I like it because I’m good at it,” he said. “I’ve just done it for a really long time and started getting the hang of it.”
He moonlights as a right tackle during football season but prefers wrestling.
“You can put your hands on people and all that,” he said.
Axl highlighted the individuality and responsibility that comes with wrestling.
“In football, when you lose, it’s basically the team’s fault,” he said. “But when you lose [in wrestling], it’s your fault.”
His dream is to become an Olympic Greco wrestler, one of the oldest and most prestigious events at the games.
“He was built for Greco,” Holub said. “He’s very stocky. He’s very broad. He has a lot of upper-body strength. And in Greco, they focus on throws, head blocks, those kinds of things. Those are his bread and butter.”
Holub has set up a workout room with a mat in her house. Axl also uses an elliptical and a stationary bike.
“He likes to train every single night, but we kind of pump the brakes on that just because we don’t want him to get burnt out,” Holub said.
All the training has led to impressive results so far.
Upon arriving for the Park City state tournament May 3, Axl said he wasn’t stressed.
“I’ve made it to state a few times, and I’ve been to bigger tournaments,” he said. “I try to get in my mind that it’s not a game, but it’s game time.”
When the weekend ended with victory, Axl said, “It felt good. No one else in Marion, in my club, had ever won.”