Hetzel, Grovenstein enjoy wrestling trip to Poland

By nathan oster

Nathan Hetzel and Matt Grovenstein recently got a taste of European freestyle wrestling during a 10-day visit to Poland with members of Team Wyoming.

The juniors-to-be, who wrestle for Greybull-Riverside, earned their spots on the traveling team by qualifying at a tournament in Gillette in March.

After selling raffle tickets to raise money for their trip, the two traveled to Cheyenne in early June for three days of technique and practice in the Cheyenne East Gym.

The team, made up of some of the top wrestlers from the state including Wyoming Wrestler of the Year Auston Carter of Powell, left for Poland on June 8 and arrived in Warsaw on June 9.

Over the next 10 days, the team competed in a series of international friendlies, facing off against the same wrestlers they trained and spent time with away from the mats.

Hetzel and Grovenstein failed to win a match in Poland, each going 0-3.  Hetzel said all of his matches were close, including the one he lost to the No. 3 wrestler in Poland.  Grovenstein said he was competitive in all three of his matches as well. In each, he faced heavier opponents.

Both said it was an adjustment, going from the folkstyle form of wrestling that they are accustomed to in Wyoming to the freestyle form that they wrestled in Poland.

“I’ve always enjoyed freestyle,” said Grovenstein. “So it wasn’t too much of an adjustment for me. There were some moves they did that threw me off — just because they are moves that we don’t do.”

They described their training sessions with members of the Polish team as “intense.”

When they weren’t wrestling, the members of Team Wyoming were touring the country.

Among the stops on the group’s itinerary were historic districts in Krakow and Warsaw, King’s Palace in Warsaw, Wawel Castle in Krakow, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and Zelazowa Wola, one-time home of the noted classical composer Chopin.

For the two Greybull boys, Auschwitz left the biggest impression. Hetzel described it as “breathtaking,” while Grovenstein called it “eye opening. It was pretty cool to see something like that — but at the same time, it was scary, too.”

Hetzel said he also enjoyed a visit to the World War II Museum in Warsaw.

“I had tons of fun down there,” he said. “I wanted to come home … but I didn’t really want to leave.”