Poland student learns more than wrestling on way to record 101 wins
Poland student Albert Amacher, pictured here competing in the 2014-15 CSC league tournament, recently became the first Poland wrestler to reach 100 total wins.
POLAND – Poland senior Albert Amacher sat up and took a deep
breath.
He had just been pinned in sectionals on Feb. 14 by an
undefeated wrestler from a local school who went on to win sectionals, and he
knew his wrestling career at Poland had come to an end.
Amacher’s coach, Mark Harlander, went over to him and said
how proud he is of him, before Harlander had to walk away to stop himself from
getting too emotional. Amacher also received a text message from his father
saying: “I’m very proud of you and everything you’ve done. You’ve put the
family name on the map.”
“It’s really tough in the end,” Harlander said. “But it’s
never the end that’s most important. It’s how you got there. I see where he
came from as an eighth-grader to where he is now. I couldn’t be more proud of
him.”
Amacher’s journey saw him become the first wrestler in
school history to have a winning season, earn 20 wins in a season, advance to
the finals of a tournament, win a tournament, place in sectionals and
ultimately reach more than 100 wins. His success has also helped the wrestling
program expand and improve over its six years of existence.
“It means a lot,” Amacher said. “When I won Class D, it was
a huge accomplishment. When I placed in sectionals, it was a huge
accomplishment. Just seeing the program grow and do good, it makes me happy.”
The goal
It was back when Amacher was in eighth grade – as a student
struggling with both some academic and behavior issues – that he and Harlander
first recognized the possibility that Amacher had the opportunity to become the
standard-bearer of the school’s young wrestling program.
They had some initial discussions at that time about a goal
of Amacher someday reaching 100 wins during his wrestling career at Poland.
It wasn’t that Amacher got off to a blazing start – he won
just 18 matches in his first two seasons, as an eighth-grader and a
ninth-grader – but the ability he showed even in eighth grade to compete on a
varsity team. Amacher went out even in eighth grade and was able to capture
some wins, Harlander said.
“It was impressive to see,” Harlander said.
The milestone
The goal of 100 wins started to become a reality and
something they talked about more after Amacher won 24 matches in 10th
grade. After another 32 wins in 11th grade, he was set up to
accomplish his goal.
Despite some struggles with weight due to dropping a weight
class from 126 pounds to 120 pounds and some health issues including a shoulder
injury and tonsillitis, Amacher battled through in his senior year to compile
27 more wins.
During the class tournament on Feb. 7, Amacher won his 100th
match, taking a 15-0 lead in the match, before pinning his opponent.
“It didn’t hit me until after,” Amacher said.
The match was just Amacher’s first of the day. He went on to
gain his 101st win that day as well, before falling in a battle with
the same undefeated wrestler who would later beat him in his final match.
Amacher and Harlander said that reaching 100 wins meant a
lot. The honor of reaching 100 wins is recognized by the local wrestling
website, www.cnywrestling.com.
“It’s a milestone that not a lot of kids get to accomplish,”
Harlander said, before making a joke at the expense of his own high-school
wrestling career. “I had 100 total matches, and I got my butt kicked in 75 of
them.”
The program
The Poland wrestling program has been growing in numbers,
and a Pee Wee program has been established with kids having success there too,
Harlander said.
A lot of that comes from the success and hard work of
students such as Amacher and others, Harlander said.
Amacher, who has assisted with the Pee Wee program, said
helping expand the varsity program has been important to him.
“It seems like it has been picking up the last two or three
years,” Amacher said. “It’s just nice to see everything grow.”
Poland was close to winning a league title this year, and
Amacher was the only senior, so there’s no reason the team can’t compete for
the league championship next year, Harlander said.
But it will be strange next season no longer being able to
count on an almost automatic win from Amacher at every meet or receive the
handshakes from him before and after every match, Harlander said.
“It’s going to be weird next year – we’ve had a varsity team
for six years, and he’s been a part of the team for five of the six years,”
Harlander said. “It’s been a fun five years. It was just an honor and a
privilege to be there for it all.”
The lessons
Just as Poland’s wrestling program has grown through
Amacher’s success, so has Amacher in other aspects of his life. Wrestling has
been a big part of that, he said.
“It teaches you, in my opinion, to be a man,” Amacher said.
“It comes down to how much you want it and how much you prepare for it. It
makes you want to succeed because it’s never fun to lose.”
Amacher has learned to apply those lessons to other aspects
of his life, he said.
“It
definitely teaches you hard work,” he said. “My grades have gotten way better
since I started.”
So
has his behavior, Harlander added.
Amacher doesn’t plan to wrestle in college, but after all
the time and effort he put into the sport, he can’t completely walk away from
it, so he is planning to compete in some open tournaments.
His goals, however, have turned elsewhere.
After graduation from Poland, Amacher will be attending the
PowerSport Institute, which is a branch of Ohio Technical College.
“The time we put in together – it paid off with him,” Harlander
said.