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West G graduate Walters takes third in Disney Duals
(by Steve Novak - July 15, 2009)
West G graduate Walters takes third in Disney Duals
By STEVE NOVAK
Remember those Super Bowl champions who announced right after the game that they were going to Disney World?
Well, Disney World is no longer a reward just for outstanding football players. There are a lot of wrestlers who get to spend a week of their summer at the Florida resort, too.
Walters, a 2009 graduate of West Geauga, was one of the athletes chosen to compete in this year's Disney Duals. This is a competition involving some of the country's best scholastic wrestlers, held at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
In a weeklong competition late last month, the 160-pound Walters was the winner of a bronze medal at the Disney Duals. His record of nine wins and two losses was good for third place in the standings for his weight class among teams ranging from Pennsylvania to Iowa.
Walters, 18, set a school record at West Geauga by winning 157 matches in four years. Going into the finals rounds in Division II state competition last winter, Walters had compiled a single season record of 47-1.
Competitors at the Florida duals usually are chosen to represent their state as part of team put together by a high school coach. In Walters' case, an Ohio team was assembled with the help of Chris Canale, one of the varsity wrestling coaches at Canfield High School.
Walters was the only wrestler from the Chagrin Valley to be selected for the Ohio Dragons.
During last winter's Division II state wrestling championships, Walters finished second at 160 pounds.
For Walters, the Disney Duals represented his swan song for scholastic wrestling. In about two months, he will begin a new endeavor as a collegiate athlete at the University of Findlay.
Joe Marino, Walters' coach at West Geauga, said that the young athlete's willingness to train during the off-season is one of the reasons for his success.
"Adam is confident. He's obviously physically gifted," Marino said. "He puts in the time in the off-season as well as during the season. That's what it takes to be successful in this sport."
Walters said that the Duals were a good way to measure what kind of off-season shape he and the other wrestlers were in.
"That was the first time I wrestled (competitively) since the end of the season," he said. "About half of our team was injured. But I didn't have anything major (injury)."
There is another summer competition similar to the Disney Duals which will be held later this summer. As part of the 2009 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, there will be scholastic freestyle wrestling.
University School wrestling coach Sean Grosz said he'll be taking several of his wrestlers to this AAU competition during the first week of August.
Among the University School competitors in Iowa will be Harrison Hightower, Brad Wukie and James Inghram.
Last March, Hightower won the Division II state wrestling championship in the 140-pound weight class. Wukie placed fourth in the 152-pound class and Inghram finished third at 119 pounds. University School placed third in the team standings at Division II finals.
Grosz said one of the primary ideas of the AAU matches is to take as many members of his team as he can so they can get the experience of wrestling with some of the best athletes in the country.
"In these duals, all the kids get from 12 to 15 matches while they're out there," he said. "You want to wrestle as many of your kids as you can."
Walters and teammates even had a chance to do some sightseeing and visit some of the attractions.
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