Sugar River wrestling coach Pete Swenson wants only the best for his team and this summer has allowed time for him to dream about enhancing wrestling program offerings through creating dedicated practice space for players to shine. Swenson says, “We want to be the best at what we do, and we have a rich tradition of wrestling in this area.”
Currently, the Sugar River Wrestling team brings 7th-12th grade athletes from Belleville, Monticello and New Glarus together in space provided by the School District of Belleville. A small rural school district, Belleville believes in creating opportunities for all its students to soar and co-oping sports like wrestling with other communities helps build sports programs that students might not get to participate in if it was left up to a school district by school district basis. To this end, Sugar River wrestlers have been practicing in shared space in the small gym located in the Belleville Elementary School. This means wrestlers have to set up the space each time they practice with mats and other specifications needed for safety in their shared space. They work around other sports like basketball practice schedules who also need the space to prepare for their season, and, for love of the sport, have worked hard to build a wonderful athletic program over the years growing in size, athleticism, and now building a program for girls to also participate and compete in this incredible sport.
As the Sugar River Wrestling program grows and sets new goals, Coach Swenson is calling attention to what it takes for a solid wrestling program to take root — “If you look at the programs locally that have really brought success to the mat, it’s the teams like Evansville, Monroe, Mineral Point, Lodi, Verona, and Mount Horeb who all have been able to offer dedicated practice space for their wrestlers,” says Swenson.
This singular notion of dedicated practice space contributing to the overall success of a strong wrestling program got Coach Swenson thinking and talking about how they could bring this “dream” to the mat and on July 26th, members of the School District of Belleville’s administrative team met to discuss the possibility of revitalizing unused space in the basement of its elementary school to accommodate the needs of area wrestlers and allow the Sugar River Wrestling program to continue to grow. If the team is able to raise some of the money needed to convert the space to meet the needs of the wrestling team, the School District of Belleville hopes to help Coach Swenson find a path forward for the good of his team and the community.
District Administrator Nate Perry is excited about the opportunity to help further grow a local sports program so fundamental to teaching kids how to be strong, confident adults. “In a small town like ours without a YMCA or large fitness club, the school district has the only gym space around. Priority is given to high school athletic teams, but that does not diminish the need for middle school and youth sports programs as well. The district will continue to explore all of its options, including converting underutilized spaces for more practical use.”
Creating a refurbished space with wrestling in mind could also provide community space for things like Community Ed & Rec yoga, self-defense, and martial arts classes as well as offer additional space for the public to use for training space depending on its needs. Growth requires change and creativity when it comes to finding solutions to make offerings in a rural educational setting possible, but after putting a few good heads together in the middle of the summer, Swenson’s dream seems a little less like a lofty goal, and a little more like a “takedown” as Belleville enters its 2023-24 school year. If the Sugar River Wrestling Team can help fund the project, Swenson’s dream may be close to a reality.
— Marie Perry is the Communications Director for the School District of Belleville.
