On March 7, wrestlers from across the state met for a season-ending tournament. The morning competition had multiple matches going simultaneously. (Michael McKinney)
On March 7, families from across Minneapolis gathered in the Roosevelt High School gym for a hotly anticipated day: the 2026 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) Youth Wrestling City League Tournament.
Renee Klein, a parent who helps a Northeast and North Commons team that competes for Logan Park, said wrestling presents kids with “amazing opportunities.”
“I feel like wrestling in Minneapolis is a very unique opportunity for kids who perhaps haven’t joined a sport yet, or are potentially bored with their sport. There’s more opportunities, I believe, for advancement with high school and college,” Klein said.
Camden wrestling coach Jaime Wright watched as team members competed. (Michael McKinney)
She added that other sports, like basketball, are “saturated” with interest, whereas it’s comparatively simpler for students to pursue scholarships through wrestling.
“And wrestling runs at the same time as basketball. So we say, ‘You kind of have to pick one of the sports.’ They’re both good skills to have… But I think they’re going to have more opportunities with wrestling.”
Klein said the MPRB wrestling events offer “a sense of camaraderie.”
“These kids don’t hate each other. They’re opponents. That’s what makes Park Board events fun and unique: I’ve come to know a lot of the kids. It’s a different vibe than going to a high school tournament, where you don’t know anyone unless people from your team are at the event. Being able to go to a tournament for a kid in Minneapolis — it’s a nice introduction to what wrestling looks like and what you can do with it later on.”
Eighth-grader Elias Deleon celebrates a tournament win with teammate Brycen O’Brien. (Provided)
She also praised wrestling’s low cost, saying parents are frequently caught off-guard by how inexpensive the sport is. “You just pay $50 and they give you a singlet. Our coach has a bucket of shoes.”
Klein also said the sport helps keep kids busy outside of school hours and gives older kids a chance to serve as role models. “We’re still seeing a lot of car thefts in the city,” she said. “I look at them, and I think, ‘Those people are not being guided by mentors.’ If you were on a high school team, there’s no way you would be participating in that kind of activity.”
Bottom right, a member of the Logan Park team in blue and yellow competes. (Provided)
Sean Marsh, a volunteer coach at Edison High School, wrestled with Logan Park. He started coaching at Edison High School in 2012 after learning his youth coach was retiring.
Wrestling “Is a great sport for life lessons in general,” he said. “There’s a lot of self-accountability when you’re out there on the mat. There’s just you and one other person. If you lose, you have yourself to blame, and there’s a lot of people watching.”
In his work as a youth coach, Marsh is interested in helping kids foster a love for the sport. “Dad can only drag you to so many practices,” he said. “When you get to (high school), kids need to really want to do it and want to put in that work. It’s important to me to make sure kids love wrestling, so I’m looking into doing things outside the room: Take them to a Gopher match, take them to a high-school wrestling match.”
Elias Deleon, an eighth grader that Klein said the team has dubbed “the captain,” started wrestling with Logan Park two years ago.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I always liked to play. I had nonstop energy,” he said.
A match draws to a close on March 7 in the Roosevelt High School gymnasium. (Michael McKinney)
Deleon said he wasn’t able to compete on March 7 due to a lack of kids in his weight class, but he kept busy. As his brother wrestled on the mat nearby, Deleon joked with teammates and helped them read their bracket sheets.
That said, Deleon has bigger ambitions with the sport. “Right now, this is around Minneapolis,” he said, referring to the mats in Roosevelt High’s gymnasium. “Once I get to USA (competitions), that’s where kids are coming from North Dakota, South Dakota. That’s where I’m trying to go.”