By Dalia Diaz
This small city is known for having remarkable athletes but people usually think of basketball, volleyball or baseball. Our featured champion is Elias Maita an Andover High School senior Division 1 State Champion of wrestling who has been training for the past two years with Firepit Wrestling club.
Firepit Wrestling club was started seven years ago by Alexander Vargas, a Lawrence Firefighter working out of Engine 7 on Park St. Alex started training while a student at Greater Lawrence Technical School and later at Bridgewater State University. Upon entering the U.S. Army, he continued his love for the sport training with the military, bringing his knowledge to Lawrence High School as assistant coach. Alex received so much support from firefighters that decided on taking the exam and joined their ranks a few years ago.
When he started his club there was about ten wrestlers and they were getting the training, uniforms and equipment free of charge thanks to some donations they received. Today, the group has grown to over 100 and they are requesting a $100 fee to cover expenses which is a bargain considering that other towns require $300 per student. That is why youngsters from surrounding cities and towns are joining the Firepit Wrestling club; they are not exclusively Lawrencians.
Their reputation has grown so much that well-known athletes of different disciplines and artists have volunteered to bring inspirational talks to the group at no cost to them. Some of them are Olympic coaches such as Matt Smith, Dylan Palacio, Sobhan Soap Namvar, Donald McNeil, Corey Jantzen and Zach Bridson.
The only drawback is not having a permanent place to train. Lawrence High School is committed to two months out of the year and then they have to find another location but Alex would like to be able to do it year round.
Alex is very appreciative of the help he has always received from Coaches Matt Armano, assistant coach at Central Catholic High School and Michael Mena, Lawrence High School assistant coach.
They are seeing the results of their volunteering efforts because Elias Maita was not the only winner. Luis Mauricio came in 3rd place and John Vasquez 4th in Division 1.
At the Massachusetts All-State Wrestling Tournament last Saturday, which is a tougher competition, Luis Mauricio and John Vasquez placed 4th. They live in Lawrence.
The next training session begins on March 23rd through May 21st at Lawrence High School meeting on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 PM to 8 PM. Registration deadline is March 14 and late registration will be $140.
Anyone interested in receiving more information or making a contribution will find it Facebook’s Firepit Wrestling or their website. You may also call Alex at (978) 809-5050 in interested in joining the club.
