The Grinch is Comin’ to Town. Monday, December 20, 2010 By Sophomore Daniel Sloan [ArticleImageHyperLink] Advertising Its the most wonderful time of the year! A certain large hairy man is coming to town. Is it Santa? No, right now its the Grinch, or rather, the Grinchfest-which actually has nothing to do with Dr. Seuss’s tale of a stolen Christmas. Grinchfest is the annual youth wrestling tournament that takes place closest to Christmas. This year’s Grinchfest occurred December 19, 2010. Cameron Youth Wrestling Coach Brad Pratt said, “This is our fourth year of Grinchfest. It has had the same format for four years, which is Round-robin. We have gotten a little bigger over the years. Right now the tournament has over 420 (participants).” For those of you who do not know, a Round-robin is a type of tournament in which all contestants meet all other contestants in the same class. Each player or team has an equal chance to face all other teams or players. The theory behind this style of tournament is that the ‘luck’ element will be taken out so the winner can be determined by sheer skill rather than a flaw in statistical probability. Not only does such a tournament seek to measure skill, but also to hone it. The Cameron High School Wrestling Team placed first at Trenton the day before Grinchfest. Some of the mothers of Cameron wrestlers seem to think that this is because their children were in the youth wrestling program. Potentially Dangerous Mom Kelley Steele said, “My children have been in Cameron wrestling for four years and my oldest has been in wrestling since he was nine. Youth wrestling gives children a chance to see kids from other areas that they may not wrestle again. Over 400 kids are here today, which we say should help with competition (skills). You have to be very disciplined. (In youth wrestling) you have three practices a week after school at least. If you do not get good grades, I know our coaches will not let you wrestle. Cameron got first at Trenton yesterday, which I do not think we have ever done before. Youth wrestling contributes to accomplishing first in high school.” Potentially Dangerous Mom Lora Utt said, “We (wrestling moms) have been working concession stand four years here at Grinchfest. I think Grinchfest is a good program for the youth and I am glad they can keep it here in Cameron. It keeps kids out of trouble. Courage, teamwork, I don’t know (how to say it), youth wresting just contributes so much to the kids.”  Mrs. Utt beliefs were the same as Mrs. Steele’s. As the storybooks say, “Mother Knows Best.” There is proof in the pudding. Showing a good example of sportsmanship, when one of the six year old wrestlers lost to another, he shook his rival coaches hand, the referee’s hand, and hugged the little guy he had lost to. Some would say that sportsmanship is dying and others would say it is alive and well. Youth Wrestling is- at least in part- a large contributing factor to developing good sportsmanship, character, and leadership qualities. Everyone is invited to next year’s tournament, so look out for the Grinch.

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