Kelsea goes to the mat for wrestling

BY KAREN DIETLEIN OSBORNE
STAFF WRITER

For Kelsea Suchocki, there's rarely anything better than wrestling.

Kelsea, a 16-year-old parishioner of St. Anna's Church in Summit and a sophomore at Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, is the U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association national champion in her weight class.

Wrestling uses force, leverage, holds and other moves to compete for physical advantage. Wrestlers must keep in shape, use their strength and be able to compete in six-minute matches.

On the mat

Kelsea started the sport in fourth grade, after a friend who tried it encouraged her to give it a chance.

"I stuck with it, and I was good at it," she said.

Now, she has her dreams pinned on the Olympics, and she's training year-round to make sure she has a fighting -- or wrestling -- chance of getting there.

Training

During the school season, Kelsea wrestles teammates -- many of them boys -- at the school. While some are "a little hesitant about wrestling girls, a lot of them don't give me an easy match," she said.

During the off-season, she trains at TNT Wrestling in Colonie. Through TNT, she started to participate in outside tournaments.

Wrestling "is getting bigger with girls, and I'm happy for that," she said. "I tell girls to stick with it and don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it."

What she likes

Wrestling appeals to Kelsea because she likes competition, the way it takes practice to master the sport and the amount of effort required from a competitor.

"I really like sports," she said. "But this one -- you have to train hard, and it feels really good when you win. You work hard, and it pays off in the end. I like the hard work, going to a tournament and doing good."

This summer, she will be going to Toronto to wrestle in the Canada Cup and then will attend a National Freestyle Tournament in North Dakota. Capping that off will be a trip to Colorado Springs to train with the Olympic team.

Kelsea's eventual dream is to go to the Olympics, and she knows what she's going to have to do to make that happen: "I have to keep going to my practices. People who are good do it all year."

Catholic side

Kelsea, who plays the violin in her high-school orchestra, strums the guitar for the music ministry every Sunday morning at St. Anna's.

She is currently raising money to attend this fall's National Catholic Youth Conference in Columbus, Ohio. She has held pancake breakfasts, bottle drives and golf tournaments to help finance her trip.

"I want to see what it's like -- everybody coming together," she said of the youth event. "I like to share my faith."

Before matches, she added, "I always pray, because it helps me. I prayed right before my nationals match. Nobody expected [me to win]. I was ranked tenth, but then I wrestled really well."

(Kelsea's training has netted her the top slot in a number of championships. She has been the NYS Girls' Wrestling champion in her weight class in four out of the last five years and a Massachusetts state champion twice; she also came in second during last year's New Jersey state competition. Her love for sports isn't limited at wrestling. She also competes in soccer and softball.)

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