Joon Kim got a lot of sand kicked in his face last summer, and he wasn't at a local beach.
In an effort to improve his high school wrestling abilities, Kim, Centennial's sixth-ranked, 189-pounder, traveled back to his native Korea. There he participated in Sirem, a form of Korean wrestling which was done on the sand rather than a mat.
"Both guys are wearing a uniform and thick belts. You have to grab those belts and use them to try and throw the other guy," said Kim, a 16-year-old junior. "The first guy that lets his knees touch the ground is the loser. It's all a test of balance."
Neither Kim's size -- at 205, he often outweighed his college-aged adversaries -- nor his background in tae kwon do, a discipline he began at age 6, earning a Black Belt -- made him successful in the sport.
"Those guys were smaller, but they were good," said Kim. "I never won."
Certainly not as much as he's winning now.
Kim is 12-0 with eight pins and a technical fall and has tournament titles from Annapolis and McDonogh.
In each of his tournament title bouts, he pinned DeMatha's Josh Bender after Bender had beaten ranked opponents.
At Annapolis, Bender won a 6-5 decision over Southern's then-No. 4 Trumaine Graves. At McDonogh, Bender pinned Poly's sixth-ranked Darnell Dezurn.
Bender's pin was so impressive because Dezurn had won the Pikesville tournament that included then-No. 3 Roy Collins (Hereford), who was third in last year's 1A-2A states.
Despite Bender's accomplishments, he was humbled both times Kim, who finished Bender in just 59 seconds at McDonogh.
"The first time at Annapolis, it was a scoreless match and I just caught him in the second period. The second time, I saw the headlock was there, so I took it," said Kim. "Both times, he looked like he would be tougher."
Perhaps a stiffer test for Kim came in previous bouts against wrestlers from Pennsylvania.
LTC Kim beat the first, Altoona's Scott Russell, by 6-4, at Annapolis, and the second, Hanover's Drew Little, by 9-4 at McDonogh. Little was among 11 returning starters to a team that is ranked No. 4 in Pennsylvania's AA category.
"The score against the Altoona kid doesn't justify how much Joon dominated the match," said coach Todd De Crispino. "The Hanover kid was tougher, but you could just see him getting frustrated by Joon's balance."
The balance stems from his strong hips. Opponents have a problem with his strong legs, thickened from years of practicing martial arts kicks, bike-riding and weightlifting.
Kim, who bench presses 275 pounds, had to sweat down from 205, making his streamlined upper body more muscular.
But Kim, a B student, owes his success to the two-week-long Sirem camp, in addition to another previous two-week-long camp in Tohang where "we trained like soldiers," he said.
When Kim first approached De Crispino about wrestling two years ago, he weighed a bottom-heavy 172 pounds with a more slender upper torso. Unable to beat the team's other 171-pound wrestler, Kim competed at 189.
"He came out for wrestling a week or so late and, I have to say, he didn't look like a standout," said De Crispino. "His wrestling was kind of sporadic. He took his lumps and got beat up pretty badly in his first couple of matches."
But that was the old Joon Kim.
Over last season, he developed into a more consistent performer. He was fourth at both the Annapolis and McDonogh tournaments, second at Arundel, third in the county and second in his region.
"Last year, he was heavier and more confident, so he adapted better," said De Crispino, in his sixth year at the school. "His balance is incredible, and that helped him on his takedowns. You can just see he's more confident and aggressive."