There is strength in numbers, which is one of the reasons the Lansdowne Gators are eager to start the junior league wrestling season.
"We probably had our best year recruiting, close to 60 kids," said Lansdowne program director Ryan Brown, noting they had approximately 35 to 38 last year. "I've been working my butt off to try and get more kids in the program."
Brown, the Arbutus Times Male Athlete of the Year in 2003, was a two-time third-place finisher at the Maryland State Tournament and Baltimore County champion who wrestled for five years at the University of Maryland.
He will be starting his second year as program director when the Lansdowne Gators' season begins on Saturday.
Brown has recruited wrestlers from the Arbutus and Lansdowne football teams and sent out fliers to the local schools. The Gators try to keep registration costs down to attract more kids to the program, which is for wrestlers 4-15
"We only charge $50 for the first kid and drop it lower for additional kids," Brown said.
The league has three divisions: Lehigh (top-tier A wrestlers), Navy (B wrestlers) and the Maryland (beginners).
Lansdowne's matches will be in the Navy division; the Maryland division is strictly exhibitions.
On Saturday, Lansdowne will host a tri-meet with Clarksburg at 10 a.m. and Perry Hall at 1 p.m.
The state tournament is in mid-March.
Last year, the Gators placed ninth in the Maryland/Virginia states. Lansdowne had two state champions: Amondre Wooden and Stan Hollowak, who is at Western Tech. Wooden had three pins and a technical fall in the championship bout. Hollowak advanced on a first-round bye, followed by two falls and a major decision in the finals.
Darrel Young (5th), Damonyai White (6th) and Herbert Franco-Lopez (6th) also placed.
Brown has been with the program for seven years and took over as the main director last year.
Andrew Wooden, whose son is 9-year old Amondre, and Sean Gray, a former standout wrestler at Catonsville High School, are two of Brown's coaches along with Brian Lipscomb and Paris Lightfoot.
Brown's roots in junior league wrestling go back to when he was 8, watching his older brother Mike practice.
He started emulating the wrestlers' moves and got hooked on the sport. The next year he won his first tournament. In four years of varsity wrestling, Brown was 125-25 with 297 takedowns. He finished 37-2 in his senior year.
Brown praised the help he has received from Lansdowne wrestling coach George Dunn.
"I couldn't be more thankful of George," Brown said. "He helps so much with everything."