What may be the greatest assembly of amateur wrestlers in the history of Lebanon County will take place at Lebanon High School over three days starting on June 18.
According to LHS wrestling coach Vaughn Black, high school and junior high wrestlers at the Lebanon Wrestling Camp will get expert instruction from three current college national champions, a national runner-up, and a former All-American who is now a successful coach.
Scheduled to appear are NCAA champions Aaron Brooks (Penn State, 184 pounds), Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State, 133), and David Carr (Iowa State, 157).
Additional instructors will be 2021 NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso (Ohio State, 149) and former Central Dauphin state champion and Ohio State All-American Kenny Courts. Courts now coaches the Grain House Wrestling Club in Watertown, New York.
Black says Brooks, Bravo-Young, and Carr are scheduled to attend one day each. Courts and Sasso are scheduled for all three days.
The camp is open to anyone 11 to 18, regardless of school or hometown, and will have a capacity of about 200 wrestlers. As of May 6, about 100 had signed up.
Lebanon High is not a traditional wrestling power, but Black is working hard to change that. He and his assistant, Cameron Gill, believe they finally have a stable and sustainable youth feeder program in place, which bodes well for the years to come. In 2019, the last pre-COVID season, the Cedars had 48 youth wrestlers.
Black said he started toying with the idea of a camp in 2020, but COVID put a halt to his plans.
Then, “just before our season opener this year, I asked my kids ‘what do you think about doing a camp here?'” he said. “And they threw out some names of wrestlers they would like to see, and I got to work.”
Black also credits Courts, his cousin, for using his extensive wrestling contacts to help land the camp’s distinguished faculty.
Sign up for L.H.S. Wrestling Camp, June 18 – 20, 2021
Full details and a sign-up form can be found at Pennsylvania Youth Wrestling.
Lebanon High School is located at 1000 S. 8th Street, Lebanon, PA. 17042.
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