Wrestling Team Preview

As the weather gets colder, the sporting scene moves indoors for the winter and the Yeshiva wrestling season begins in earnest. Coach Neil Ellman returns to guide a team that features a strong batch of newcomers joining the returning wrestlers. He is rejoined by assistant coaches Carlos Dolmo (see article) and Victor Kupchynskyy, former coach of the Ukrainian national team.

The team's returning wrestlers are led by senior captain Elior Shiloh, a four-year wrestler who wrestles at 174 lbs. The team other returning wrestlers including Canadian Amir Lehrer, 197-pounder Ygal Arounian, Frisch graduate Gil Simchi, and heavyweight Raul Binyaminov.

Some of the new wrestlers bring impressive credentials to the team. At 133 lbs., Evan Goldberg was captain of TMSTA wrestling, and finished first in his weight class at YU's prestigious high school competition, the Wittenberg Tournament. Fellow TMSTA graduate Aaron Mandel, at 141 lbs., comes with four years of high school experience. Evan Zisholtz wrestled at Yeshiva of Atlanta, the alma mater of departed captain Yonatan Ellman.

Teaching some of the less experienced newcomers to wrestle at the college level is a challenge for Coach Ellman; most of the team's opponents come in with extensive high-school experience. However, the coach believes that wrestling is a sport that allows for beginners. "Anyone can learn," he says, noting that wrestling requires "no particular skill." Because of the weight class system, wrestlers can come in all sorts of body types and Ellman thinks that he can find "a style for everybody." Ellman says that he can take even "the most awkward, physically incapable" kid and teach him to wrestle. He attributes his "knack for teaching beginners" to his powers of communication with his wrestlers-he possesses the ability to "create a mental image for the physical thing they are supposed to do."

With the disparities in experience between members on the team, Ellman chooses to focus on the individual aspect of the sport over the results of the team. He says as long as wrestlers "reach their potentials" and do the things they've been taught to do, he is satisfied, no matter the outcome of the matches. He admits that not everyone takes such non-competitive view of matches. "Carlos a little more competitive," he says of his assistant coach, who he says is more willing to ignore technical errors in the wake of victories.

The highest expectations on this year's team are for Captain Shiloh. Ellman expects "a lot out of Elior," saying that he has given his wrestler a lot of wrestling opportunities in the early tournaments this year. Shiloh has also been working closely with Coach Dolmo to fine tune his technique.

However, Shiloh himself is most concerned with the team's performance and his responsibilities to the team as captain. "My personal goals are to have strong united team," he says. "I believe it's important to treat every wrestler on my team equally. At the same time all the guys learn discipline and they all know that if they miss practice they answer to me."

Ellman has two main goals for the team this year. "My number one goal is that nobody gets hurt," he says. He also wants the team to get "more mat time" for this season and notes that they already have lined up many more tournaments than last year.

Shiloh has a similar outlook to his coach's. "Our goals are to create a solid foundation of wrestling with the new guys, strengthen our veterans with more wrestling experience," he said of the team. "Over all we plan on working hard as team."

So far, the captain seems pleased with his team's progress. "The past few weeks we have been going to tournaments and the whole team has been wrestling tough. We as a team are showing other teams that YU is a force not to be messed with."