It's a long way from Lawrence to New York State.
But for a group of Sunflower wrestlers, the stop in the northeast is just that-a stop.
Levi Flohrschutz, Caleb Tornedon and Caden Lynch, all Sunflower wrestlers, made a 20-hour trip to New York for the Mitch Clark wrestling camp, named for national champion and the Cornell University wrestling coach.
Coach Randy Streeter coaches the boys each summer and travels with them.
"It's an excellent experience for travel," Streeter said.
The group was there for three weeks to participate in the camp and do some sight- seeing.
Some of the boys have been wrestling since the age of 5, while others are new to the sport.
Such was the case with Caleb Tornedon, as this was his first summer wrestling and he hasn't been involved in the sport for a full year.
Tornedon said he got a late start, compared to the other boys, because he didn't know much about it.
He started wrestling last year, when he was in the seventh-grade and his middle school coach told him he should wrestle during the summer.
Others became familiar with the sport at a younger age, such as Flohrschutz.
"He came home one day and said, 'Dad I want to start wrestling,' and I said ok. Then he said, 'I already know a move, lie down.' Then he started running toward me and I had to stop him because I knew what he was about to do," Tony Flohrschutz said about his son Levi's WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) wrestling moves, which he thought were real moves at age 6.
Soon after, Tony said his son started the sport for real.
Flohrschutz said he enjoys the sport because "just being on the mat and competing," is what he looks forward to.
Florschutz, Tornedon, Lynch and fellow wrestler Hunter Haralson all said they enjoyed wrestling because, "they liked the workout."
They said it keeps them in shape during their offseason. Those who wrestle at the middle school level, Flohrschutz and Torneden, said it also gives them an advantage.
Streeter echoed the sentiment, along with their parents.
"The boys are thinking about wrestling. They keep that in their mind during the summer and that's a huge difference," Tony Flohrschutz said of the advantage the boys have when they wrestle in middle school.
Haralson and Lynch are both 11 years old, while Flohrschutz and Tornedon are 13. And in light of their ages, none of the boys said it was too early to start thinking about college.
All four have thought about wrestling at the next level. Some have even started thinking about what colleges they would like to attend.
Haralson's college of choice would be Nebraska, while Tornedon said his would be Oklahoma State.
Maybe some day, these two will be wrestling one another at the Big 12 Conference championship.
Those aspirations are not as far in the distance as they seem, according to some of boys' parents.
"If they never sets goals, they'll never succeed at the next level," Tony Flohrschutz said.
One goal the boys did have to attain right here in the present was the money they would need to take the trip to New York State during the summer.
Any trip takes money to go. And the boys needed it to make the Northeastern experience a reality. But that wasn't going to come easy, they boys had to earn it.
"We don't just give them the money," Christine Tornedon said. they have to work around the house and things like that to earn money to go on the trips."
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