Phil Hotop’s wrestling program at Wahl Center teaches discipline to PHL kids
By Leon Devance
For the St. Louis American
Zorian Price dreamt of becoming a wrestling champion, but he needed discipline plus excellent technique and mental toughness – exactly the formula Phil Hotop teaches.
Hotop, a former U.S. Marine and a social worker by day, can be found Monday through Friday nights at the Wahl Center, located at Martin Luther King and Kingshighway. Hotop’s program features freestyle, Greco-Roman, folkstyle and open division wrestling for those between 20-30. Wrestlers from eight to 35 are welcome to compete.
Price, a senior at Sumner High School, is now an example of the hard work and discipline that Hotop emphasizes for his wrestlers.
“I learned to be more aggressive on the mat,” said Price, who went undefeated at 160 pounds and lost two matches at 171.
“I started in middle school and never did a sport before I tried wrestling. I discovered that I was good at wrestling, so I struck with it. Before I tried wrestling, I was a chubby kid.”
His work with Hotop, he said, gave him an edge in his high school wrestling. “You can gain a season worth of wrestling experience during one summer at the Wahl Center. There are challenging matches, and you practice good wrestling techniques,” Price said.
Preparing for the sport through a regimen of weight training and running helped Price to build endurance, strength and certain intagibles. “Wrestling is a physical sport that improves the cardiovascular system, self-esteem and discipline,” Price said.
Brian Dickerson is a medical technician who competes in the Wahl Center’s open division at 125 pounds. Dickerson wrestled at University City for coach Eric Morgan.
“Wrestling develops mental toughness,” said Dickerson. “You need to have an aggressive attitude on the mat. Wrestling makes you self-reliant, where you believe in yourself. That positive attitude will make you a role model to kids.”
“I teach all the moves a wrestler needs to succeed on the mat,” said Hotop. “We had two members of this club place at state, Bobby Ross and Thomas Campbell.”
The accellerated training Hotop offers includes scrimmage matches against Parkway West, Granite City and Quincy and guest clinicians like Khris Whelan, the head coach at SIUE and a two time All-American; Mark Cody, an All-American at Missouri and former assistant coach at Oklahoma State and Nebraska; Rob Herman, a former USA Olympic Team coach; and Brad Penrith, a national champion at the University of Iowa and three-time All-American.
“Every clinician that I bring to the center is an excellent teacher of wrestling,” Hotop said.
“We want to make the Public High League more competitive,” said Hotop. “We – the Wahl Center and Jimmy Miller’s Royal Knights Wrestling Club – will serve as the feeder club for the PHL.”
Hotop and his colleagues are attempting to raise funds to help Dante Butler, who finished third at state at 105 pounds for Sumner, represent Missouri in the 2005 Cadet/Junior National Wrestling Tournament on July 24-31 in Fargo, North Dakota, where he would compete against 1,000 wrestlers from 50 states.
“I want kids to work hard, have discipline and never give up,” Hotop said. “Those are real skills that you can transfer from the mat to real life.”
If you want to support Donte Butler’s bid to attend the Junior National Wrestling Tournament or the Wahl Center itself, contact Phil Hotop at (314) 753-5811 or (314) 522-3539.
