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| Dulgarian wins Kansas kids wrestling triple crown |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 07:00 | |||
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After winning two of the three top kids wrestling titles in the state of Kansas two years in a row, Isaac Dulgarian of Paola captured the triple crown this season to highlight his second consecutive 100-win season. Dulgarian won the Kansas Kids State Folkstyle Wrestling title, the Kansas Kids State Freestyle Wrestling title and the Kansas Kids State Greco Roman title. “It was exciting,” Isaac said of winning the triple crown. “For the last five years, I have wanted to win them. I hadn’t beaten Cullen Hood and I beat him. “After winning two of them before, it felt good to win all three of them,” he said. “I would like to defend that title next year.” No one form is his favorite, making each title a special one, Dulgarian said.  “I like all of the wrestling,” Isaac said of the various forms he competes in. “I just like the having the competition.” Hood, who competes in the Paola Kids Wrestling Club, has been one of many practice partners Dulgarian has trained with over the past five years. During his Folkstyle regular season, Isaac was 92-2 in the 96-pound division. Both of those losses came in the Tulsa Nationals, where he placed fifth. Throw in his Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling matches this season and Dulgarian has topped 100 wins. It is a feat he has accomplished the last two years. He won more than 80 of his matches this year by pins. “Pins are a great way to end a match,” Isaac said. Isaac Dulgarian, who will be an eighth-grader at Paola Middle School this fall, has been wrestling for five years. He won 30 matches his first year and topped 50 his second year. After winning more than 80 matches three years ago, he has won more than 100 matches in each of the last two seasons, putting him well over 360 wins for his career. In addition to his Kansas wrestling triple crown, Isaac was named the Park City Wrestling Classic’s most outstanding wrestler, won the Liberty Nationals in Kansas City, Mo., placed first in the Dixie Nationals held in Atlanta and won the Brute Adidas Nationals in Kansas City, Mo. The success has not come to Isaac by accident. He spends 10 to 12 hours a week training and credits wrestling partners and coaches with making him better. He was introduced to the sport by his grandfather Mark Dulgarian, who has coached in Warrensburg, Mo., Fort Scott and Lawrence. His grandson has him beat already. Mark did not start wrestling until he was 10. Isaac wrestled his first match when he was 7. Isaac competes in the Paola Kids Wrestling Club and also trains with Tony Purley in the Ultimate Class in Holton, Mo. “The Paola Kids Wrestling Club helps a lot because he always has really good wrestling partners,” Mark Dulgarian said. “And, he works with really good coaches.” Mark Slyter is the main kids club coach who works with Dulgarian. The Paola club is assisted by a number of coaches, including Paola Panther high school coach and former state medalist Russ Hermreck. While training in Paola, Dulgarian has worked with Paola state-medal-winning wrestlers such as Cullen Hood, Austin Hood and Dylan McKinney, to name a few. The Hoods now wrestle for the Louisburg Wildcats. McKinney, who was a freshman last school year, was a state qualifier for the Paola Panthers. “When he was getting started, there were seven or eight kids who were all in the same weight class,” Mark Dulgarian said. “There were people with a lot more experience than him. But, that was good for him. You have to wrestle better wrestlers to get better.” The Ultimate Class is a training session called ultimate for a reason — all of the wrestlers in the class are medal winners. “You have 20 to 26 kids on the mat and they are all state placers or national placers,” Mark Dulgarian said. “No matter who you are up against in practice, you are facing someone who is pretty darn good.” Practicing three to four times a week and wrestling every weekend during the season, there is some fear of the wrestlers burning out, Dulgarian said. It is something he tries to gauge by the smile on Isaac’s face. “People talk about burning out, but, if it is something you enjoy doing, you don’t get burned out on it,” Dulgarian said. “You have to enjoy it.” Isaac has approached wrestling the right way from the beginning. “I started wrestling because it seemed fun,” he said. “And, it is fun.” Isaac Dulgarian is the son of Erin Dulgarian and the late Quindell Floyd, a graduate of Fort Scott High School. Floyd played wide out for Fort Scott, helping lead the Tigers to the state championship in 1996. Floyd passed away when Isaac was 3. Favorite moves Dulgarian pauses when thinking about his favorite moves. He has a good number of them, leading to his success on the mat. A smile comes across his face. “I like the head lever,” he said. And, why not. It is a popular move to a pin combination. After scoring a takedown, wrestlers get back points for putting their opponent his back. The head lever allows a wrestler to keep his opponent on the mat, allowing for him to be flipped and put into a possible pin position. Dulgarian is also fond of the double leg. It is a move designed to take an opponent down to the mat. singlet collection Wrestling in as many as 30 tournaments a year to top 100 matches in a season, Dulgarian has started collecting more than medals, plaques and trophies. He trades singlets with wrestlers from all across the country, a tradition wrestling has had for many years, similar to the customary trading of jerseys among World Cup soccer players. “His goal is to have 100 of them,” Mark said. “He wants to get one from every state. “When you go to the big national tournaments, a lot of people go out and trade them,” he said. He is making a dent in his goal, collecting 40 of the singlets right now. The wrestling schedule is a brutal one. He usually has one tournament a week during the wrestling season and had wrestled two tournaments in the same weekend before.
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