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No longer wrestling for room

First published in the Detroit Lakes Tribune in February

By BRIAN WIERIMA (brianw@dlnewspapers.com)

The word “space” is defined as — the boundless expanse within which all things are contained.

And now, the Detroit Lakes wrestling program has plenty of it.

The much-needed extra room is due to a bunch of hard work, a liberal amount of considerate donations — and hot dogs.

After years of practicing in sub-par and enclosed spaces, the Lakers now can boast of one of the better and more spacious wrestling facilities in outstate Minnesota.

The new DL wrestling facility opened its doors just over two weeks ago after six-plus years in the making.

Located behind DLHS, the new 42x140-foot wrestling facility overshadows the previous wrestling room in which the Lakers worked out in, which measured a cramped 35x50-foot — which a full-sized wrestling mat didn’t even fit in.

“It’s a great facility that has been needed for many years,” said one of the direct benefactors of the building project, Laker junior wrestler and 2008-09 captain Alex Feldt. “It will help our program out profoundly and will hopefully make our future varsity team a force to be reckoned with.”

What eventually became a spacious wrestling facility — which houses three full mats and wall mats — not only will benefit the building of an already solid wrestling program, it benefits the school district itself, which gained a pretty nice deal along the way.

The need was definitely there

When current DL head coach Rob Ullyott took over the Laker wrestling program, the team’s practice area was less than desirable — and quite dangerous.

“Before the school was remodeled (in the early 1990s), we practiced on the stage in the high school gym,” Ullyott said. “There was the open stage and of course the drop-off was there and basketball was going on at the same time. It just didn’t work out well.”

After a year on the stage, wrestling practice was moved to the school’s cafeteria (now the commons area).

At the beginning of each practice, the Lakers had quite the warm-up exercises, in the form of folding up about 360 chairs and around 80 tables to clear space for the mats, which needed to be unrolled.

Another danger was the windows, which lined the walls, so obviously wrestlers had to watch where they were landing.

After the remodeling of the high school was finished, the DL wrestling team’s squatting days in the school were over.

The old weight room, which was located behind the high school and not attached, became open in 1998.

Although small and with no attached bathrooms — the Laker wrestling team had finally found a home with wall mats, along with a portable potty propped next to the building.

“It was a positive change, but again, it was small,” Ullyott said. “We had to have our junior varsity and younger wrestlers practice over at the middle school and Roosevelt, so we had only half our coaches together for practices.”

Added wrestling booster member and treasurer Ron Peterson Jr. — who’s father Ron Peterson Sr. rekindled the DL wrestling program after it was cut as a sport in the early 1980s — said practicing was tough in such a small space.

“The toughest thing is the wrestlers couldn’t train at the live level,” Peterson Jr. said. “You couldn’t wrestle at full speed.”

Another problem which incurred having a snug wrestling room was the lifeline of the program — the elementary program — was forced to fight for times to hold its practices in the variety of gyms of the DL School District.

For parents who had two different aged wrestlers going through wrestling, the inconvenience of having an array of times for drop offs was a hassle.

“It was a dog fight to schedule space for our elementary program,” Ullyott included.

With space being the biggest problem for the Laker program — which has 150-160 kids participating — a plan was formed to alleviate it six years ago.

But space costs money.

Hot dogs and raffles

The wrestling booster club decided to put a plan in action and formed a building committee, which included Tom Augustin, Tom Wilson, Kevin Mann and Peterson Jr.

Wrestling coaches Ullyott and Tom Jackson also were heavily involved in the process.

“We voiced our concerns to the school board and they recognized the need for a new wrestling facility,” Ullyott said. “But obviously, the number one obstacle was funding.”

So the wrestling boosters figured it would be up to them to raise the necessary funds to kick-start the project.

Fundraisers such as car washes, elementary wrestling tournaments — and yes, hot dog sales — were held.

But it wasn’t until about two years ago, the project was kicked into full throttle.

“We had a number of generous donations and our wrestling raffle became a big fund-raiser,” Augustin said.

With funds increasing on a consistent basis, the committee traveled to schools such as Minnewaska, Bemidji and West Fargo, which had top wrestling facilities.

Finally, plans were drawn up and the school district was able to put the project at the front of the line.

Ground was broken about a year and half ago as the makings of a six-year journey started coming to a head.

Benefits worth money and effort

The total facility cost came out to be $282,000 — which included the building, electricity and plumbing for the two bathrooms and water fountains.

The building features three full brand new mats, which can hold 55 wrestlers at one time — compared to just 35 in the old building — a transition room to change and a storage area.

“It helps us practice more efficiently,” said Laker junior wrestling captain Nate Duchene.

The DL school district contributed $125,000 to the project out of its operating capital fund, which is responsible for the school’s facility and equipment purchasing.

“The $125,000 was 9 percent of our (operating capital fund) budget,” said District business manager Ted Heisserer. “It is a much-needed facility and it’s a very good deal for the district by partnering up with the wrestling booster club.”

The entire cost of the project came out to be $315,000, with the inclusion of the purchasing of three new full-sized wrestling mats and wall mats — which equaled $33,000.

The only portion of the project that isn’t paid for in full and needed to be financed are the costs of the mats, in which the wrestling booster club borrowed $30,000.

“Our old practice mats were from the 1960s and 1970s and it would have almost cost as much to refurbish them as to buy new ones,” Peterson Jr. said. “We wanted quality to go with a nice facility.”

Bids also came in low by contractors, which also can be considered as donations.

“It’s fair to say we received a very good deal (with the bids which came in),” Heisserer said.

“It was a pleasant undertaking working with the school board,” Augustin added.

The facility will be used throughout the year from November through August.

Camps will be run in the summer and Minnesota West, a wrestling school featuring the Greco Roman and freestyle style of wrestling, will be housed there.

“It will be a regional training site, where kids from all around the area can attend, not just Detroit Lakes wrestlers,” Ullyott included.

It also will be a one-stop drop for parents who have more than one wrestler participating in the youth wrestling programs, instead of different evenings and destinations.

Space certainly makes a difference and now for DL wrestling — that extra space will work positively into building the program from the roots up.