Sports Fan
Prieto: Tuesday night in the Springs
Posted December 15, 2011 under: Matt Prieto, Top Story
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Thirty years ago, in what seems like a completely different lifetime, I competed in a youth wrestling tournament at South Page High School in College Springs. It was December of 1981. I’ve been back to the Springs since. I’ve covered a couple football games there and even a baseball game a couple summers ago. But I hadn’t been back to the high school itself.
So last weekend when I was sizing up the weeks’ basketball games, the fact that Essex was playing the Rebels in College Springs all but made my decision for me. I was curious for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the two teams will play together next season. In fact the girls already do and the girls from the two schools watched much of the game together.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t know all that many people from Essex and I know barely anyone from South Page, but its always fun to see something new so I grabbed a notebook and a camera and headed down to the southern extreme of Page County.
What I had failed to take into consideration is the fact that I am married to a Sunderman, and that means almost mathematical certainty that I will be related to at least one person present anytime I attend any event of any type in Page County. Of course the minute I walked in to the gym I ran into the Rebels number one most passionate fan, Chris Sunderman, who is actually fairly closely related to my wife’s family.
I don’t know if you have ever watched an athletic event with Chris, but listening to his stories is nearly as entertaining as the contest itself. He delighted me with tales of his own youth wrestling tournaments in College Springs back in the day and insisted he missed wrestling the most because its the only sport where you can legally lift your opponent before slamming him to the ground.
He knew as much about the athletes from Essex as he did the home team and on one occasion he exploded into applause for Levi Allen making a nice play before shaking his head and looking at me.
“I know I should wait until next year,” he said. “But I can’t help but cheer for the Essex guys when they do something well.”
It was indicative of the entire night. There was no lack of intensity in the gym. Both team were playing hard. There was just zero animosity.
It was a gym full of people who have realized the path they have chosen requires they to throw in together and work as one long term. The adults are leading by example and if anyone in the gym was particularly frumpy or disenfranchised about the arrangement for the future, they did a good job of keeping it to themselves.
And when I shifted to the baseline to take a final barrage of photos before the end of the game, I bumped into Essex Athletic Director T.J. Young who on an unrelated note was rocking an absolutely stellar pair of bright red shoes. T.J. wound up standing next to Chris himself and the two talked for the rest of the game, presumably about the past and what lay ahead for everyone in the future.
It’s refreshing to see adults lead the way. Sports consolidation is tough for everyone involved and its next to impossible for kids to get along with each other when their parents are hostile. No evidence of that Tuesday night.
The game finished and I did some interviews and prepared to leave. Chris told me one more story about how some of his toughest wrestling matches as a boy were against his brother Curt. Curt, he claimed, relied too much on technique and was unable to overcome Chris’ older brother strength. He also said he wasn’t sure if he could take him now because Curt had boys who had wrestled for Shenandoah and that would give him a chance to practice on a regular basis. I smell a grudge match at the next family reunion. I will happily referee.
South Page won the game, but the contest itself was just one of many things I enjoyed that night. The gym just had a good vibe. I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be another 30 years before I return.
