As the five Summerville High School wrestlers sat at the end of the stage in the empty Knightsville Elementary School auditorium, they anxiously shifted back and forth. Perhaps they were hungry.
They had, after all, given up their lunch hour to make the trip to Knightsville.
After a few minutes, the auditorium doors burst open as if a mighty gust of wind had made its way through the school’s hallways only to explode at the auditorium’s entrance. In an instant, twenty excited fourth- and fifth-graders hustled to the front of the auditorium filling the seats in the first two rows; the faces of each student a combination of awe and admiration as they looked to the young men a few feet away.
Although this was only the second time the students and wrestlers had met, introductions were far from necessary. In fact, names were not necessary.
The wrestlers had already given the students nicknames.
“Hey T.O., it’s good to see you again” boomed one of the wrestlers who abruptly hopped off the stage to throw his arm around the youngster, whose smile gave way to that “aw shucks” expression that graces one’s face when flattered.
On this Friday, like the Friday before and those for weeks to come, wrestlers from Summerville High will pass on lunch to visit Knightsville to serve as role models for 20 Knightsville students who were hand-picked by their teachers to participate in this activity.
“We hope this experience helps our boys learn some lessons about character and that it provides them with someone older to look up to who can lead them in the right direction,” said Mary Rita Wilson, Knightsville Elementary Assistant Principal. “If they can make a connection, I think it would be great for both groups.”
Darryl Tucker, wrestling coach for Summerville High, spent the last eight years working at elementary schools before recently signing on with SHS.
“I really wanted to work with kids in some capacity and thought this would be a good way to give back,” said Tucker. While Tucker hopes to get the kids interested in the sport of wrestling, he has broader aspirations for the activity, too.
“Wrestling involves a lot of discipline so we want to get that established in the kids early on – not just the importance of discipline in wrestling, but in school and in life as well,” said Tucker. “We’re trying to teach those life lessons and give them a foundation with which to work.”
Brandon Johnson, one of the wrestlers, recently did some mentoring work with the Summerville High football team, and was excited to have the opportunity to have a positive influence on the lives of the children, each of whom seemed to hang on his every word and movement.
“Our coach told us that there were some kids who could benefit from some leadership and role models in their lives so I wanted to step up and help out,” said Johnson, who has been wrestling for three years. “I want to help push them in the right direction and let them know what’s right and what’s wrong, all the while having some fun in the process.”
In the coming weeks, Johnson and his teammates will serve as big brothers by reading and offering advice and guidance to the 20 Knightsville fourth- and fifth-graders. Tucker said the team plans to find out what types of things the children enjoy and they will try and incorporate those interests into their future visits.
After Tucker and the members of his team put on a demonstration in which they showed the students a variety of wrestling moves, they then talked to the children about the importance of school and hard work. Afterwards, Tucker and the wrestlers opened it up for, what was perhaps the children’s favorite part of the event, a question and answer session.
Needless to say, the questions came quickly.
“How did you become a wrestler?” “How can I become a wrestler?” “What’s the best way to get out of a headlock?”
Once the eager children had answers to their inquiries, it was Tucker’s turn to ask a question.
“How many of you think you might want to become wrestlers one day?”
Into the air shot 20 arms.

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com