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The Maroon Bear

By NATE HUBBARD/Media General News Service

Black bear sightings have flooded Southwest Virginia lately.
But few have noticed that the area can claim the world’s only Maroon Bear.
Like any good wrestler, Alex Church has the cool nickname. Church just graduated from Rocky Gap High School this spring. Although he wore the uniform of the Bland County Bears for his football, baseball and basketball exploits, his sport of choice is wrestling. And with no school wrestling team offered in the county, this Bear had to take on some color.
Enter the George Wythe Maroons.
Church actually began his high school career on the mats at George Wythe High School. A resident of Rural Retreat, Church attended George Wythe his freshman year because his mother worked at the School Board office across the street. Some personal issues led Church to transfer to Rocky Gap for his last three years of high school.
Although the school transfer was a positive move, Church no longer had a sanctuary on the wrestling mat. A wrestler since second grade, Church didn’t grapple during his sophomore or junior years.
“I didn’t practice or anything,” he said. “My junior year I really missed it.”
Without a car, though, Church didn’t think it would be fair to make one of his parents haul him to practice at George Wythe every day.
“I would have destroyed their afternoons if they had to take me back and forth,” he said.
Senior year rolled around and with it came a car and gas money from his parents. As a result, Church decided to give wrestling one more shot. Despite his pleas, Bland County still didn’t have the resources for a wrestling team, so he turned to his old high school.
At first, Church was unsure if he would get the approval to wrestle as a “Maroon Bear.” He joined the inexperienced Maroons team in November as a volunteer assistant coach.
“When I got there people started asking me questions off the bat,” Church said. “It was frustrating at first because you have 10 kids that don’t know how to wrestle and they want to try to choke somebody out or throw elbows and stuff. It was like teaching someone how to ride a bike – I had to be real patient with them.”
Despite their eagerness to learn from Church’s skilled wrestling mind, it took some time for his high school peers to accept his authority.
Learning a new move from Church was one thing, but being told to run laps by a fellow teenager was quite another.
“They didn’t take me serious at first,” Church said. “If I was 45 and I said ‘go run,’ they would be like ‘OK.’ ”
As George Wythe’s first-year head coach, Maj. Randall Matney was thrilled to have some experienced help when Church wandered into his gym.
Matney quickly dubbed his new charge the Maroon Bear and put him to work. Church quickly realized he had some work of his own to do.
“I quit trying to stay in shape after football and I gained like 20 pounds,” he said.
Church’s style is built on speed and agility. Although he wrestles in the 171-pound weight class, he said he tries to keep his weight close to 160 pounds for extra quickness.
Once Church gained approval in December to actually compete in the George Wythe uniform (a sanction he gained since he was still a resident of Rural Retreat and thus in the Hogoheegee District) the extra flab had to go.
“I was lifting three times a day at school. I’d go to [Rocky Gap] at like 7 in the morning and lift from 7 till 9:15 throughout a study hall and everything,” he said. “I didn’t eat lunch or anything, so I was lifting in the morning, at lunch and at practice.”
Church also had to balance the stress of school with his long-distance sport. With thick black glasses to go along with his fiery red hair and muscular, freckled arms, by appearance alone he looks like the student-athlete prototype.
Matney confirmed that Church was able to juggle the difficult set up.
“Alex is extremely intelligent,” Matney said. “He knew academics is number one.”
Although Church wasn’t able to earn points in his unique role, his leadership and work ethic gave the Maroons a big boost nonetheless.
“Alex had a good attitude,” Matney said. “His experience helped us out a lot.”
Despite the lack of glory, the hard training paid off for Church. His gym rat ways led him to bump into Richard Radman, an all-American wrestler for Michigan St. in 1972.
Radman now helps coach a youth AAU team, Evolution, in Wytheville that practiced at George Wythe after the high school team.
“He’s a nice young man,” Radman said. “You can tell he really wants it.”
Radman said that Church would often hang around the gym after his own practice, seeking tips to improve his wrestling.
After the school meets and months of training, Church was able to jump back into competitive wrestling this spring on the tournament circuit. He traveled to Buffalo Gap High School in Swoope on May 19, and through his performance there, qualified to compete in the National High School Coaches Association National Open Wrestling Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in mid-June.
“That’s a real privilege just to go,” Radman said.
Church made a good showing at the elite event, although he got off to a rough start – literally.
His first match was against a Pennsylvania wrestler, a state known for producing tough competitors. Church tried to match his toughness, but got a little out of control.
“I gave him six points,” Church said. “I choked him with my legs and gave him a point. Then I pushed him into the scorer’s table and gave him five points.
“I think I wrestled rough because I was intimidated. Pennsylvania is really good.”
Although Church couldn’t overcome the violations, losing 10-3, he rebounded well. He scored a victory in his next match before falling to an opponent from West Virginia.
“I was just happy to go,” he said, adding that the win was a bonus.
With his high school wrestling career complete, Church hopes to have the chance to wrestle at the next level.
He said he has received inquiries from West Virginia University, as well as other smaller schools, but plans to take a year off before pursuing college. He said he will try to continue helping out at George Wythe.
The tough wrestler doesn’t mind being an inspirational tale.
“This will probably sound silly, but it’s always been my dream to go to [the national tournament] and hard work makes dreams come true, really,” he said.
“It really does happen like that.”
Nate Hubbard writes for the Bland County Messenger.