FARGO FEATURE: Past World silver medalist Shawn Sheldon giving back as coach for Florida team
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by Craig Sesker
FARGO, N.D. - It's been a few years since Shawn Sheldon peeled off his wrestling shoes and retired from competition.
But Sheldon still had his game face on early Saturday morning.
That's because Sheldon is helping coach a large contingent of 68 wrestlers from the state of Florida who will be competing in the Junior and Cadet Nationals at the Fargo Dome.
The eight-day extravaganza, the largest wrestling tournament in the world, kicked off on Saturday morning in Fargo.
Sheldon, a 1991 World silver medalist who placed fourth in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, is now passing along his wrestling knowledge to the next generation of wrestlers.
Sheldon runs a wrestling club in West Palm Beach, Fla. His group is called Club SWAT - School of Wrestling and Training.
"This is such a great event for the kids," said Sheldon, who also has served as a U.S. World Team coach for Greco-Roman. "You have 23 mats down on the floor and this is the biggest arena ever for wrestling. It's a great experience for these guys to wrestle against some of the best competition in the country. Our guys are ready to wrestle."
Sheldon said five of his kids flew on an airplane for the first time on the trip to North Dakota.
"One guy was like, 'I'm glad we didn't go down,'" Sheldon said. "We had a good laugh about that one."
Sheldon, a native of upstate New York, is trying to upgrade the quality of wrestling in Florida.
"Florida, we're kind of coming up in the ranks," Sheldon said. "It's not a great wrestling state. We don't have any NCAA programs in Florida - hopefully in the future we will. We're trying to build our Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling down here."
Sheldon, who also is working as a school teacher in Florida, said he has enjoyed coaching some elementary-school age wrestlers as well.
"It's fun to see these little guys getting their start in the sport," he said. "They are doing somersaults and just learning some real basic fundamentals. Hopefully, they will stick with it."
Sheldon said he can't emphasize enough what participating in wrestling can do for a young person.
"You just learn so many life lessons by competing in this sport," he said. "You build self-esteem and self-worth, and you learn how to work hard and you learn how to deal with adversity. It just teaches you so much.
But Sheldon still had his game face on early Saturday morning.
That's because Sheldon is helping coach a large contingent of 68 wrestlers from the state of Florida who will be competing in the Junior and Cadet Nationals at the Fargo Dome.
The eight-day extravaganza, the largest wrestling tournament in the world, kicked off on Saturday morning in Fargo.
Sheldon, a 1991 World silver medalist who placed fourth in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, is now passing along his wrestling knowledge to the next generation of wrestlers.
Sheldon runs a wrestling club in West Palm Beach, Fla. His group is called Club SWAT - School of Wrestling and Training.
"This is such a great event for the kids," said Sheldon, who also has served as a U.S. World Team coach for Greco-Roman. "You have 23 mats down on the floor and this is the biggest arena ever for wrestling. It's a great experience for these guys to wrestle against some of the best competition in the country. Our guys are ready to wrestle."
Sheldon said five of his kids flew on an airplane for the first time on the trip to North Dakota.
"One guy was like, 'I'm glad we didn't go down,'" Sheldon said. "We had a good laugh about that one."
Sheldon, a native of upstate New York, is trying to upgrade the quality of wrestling in Florida.
"Florida, we're kind of coming up in the ranks," Sheldon said. "It's not a great wrestling state. We don't have any NCAA programs in Florida - hopefully in the future we will. We're trying to build our Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling down here."
Sheldon, who also is working as a school teacher in Florida, said he has enjoyed coaching some elementary-school age wrestlers as well.
"It's fun to see these little guys getting their start in the sport," he said. "They are doing somersaults and just learning some real basic fundamentals. Hopefully, they will stick with it."
Sheldon said he can't emphasize enough what participating in wrestling can do for a young person.
"You just learn so many life lessons by competing in this sport," he said. "You build self-esteem and self-worth, and you learn how to work hard and you learn how to deal with adversity. It just teaches you so much.
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