With all the excitement surrounding the Commonwealth Games gold medal achieved by Martin Erasmus, the club’s wrestlers are in the spotlight now more than ever.
Another Brakpan Bulldog making magic on the mat is 15-year-old cadet wrestler Fernando Booysen, who has been wrestling since 2010.
The youngster, who attends Hoërskool Hugenote in Springs, has achieved a four-year goal by earning qualification to the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Buenos Aries, Argentina in October.
In preparation for that major event, the teenager has been wrestling at various international tournaments of late.
He won gold at the Talinn Open Youth Wrestling Championships in Estonia recently and then (after a bit of a technical squabble) was placed first at another international tournament in Spain, called Jovenas Promesas, last week.
“I really like to take part in these international competitions, because it helps me prepare and gain valuable experience for the other big events like the Youth Olympics,” said Booysen.
The wrestler will continue his international escapades when he heads to Marrakech, Morocco next week to compete at the International School Sports Federation’s (ISF) Gymnasaide (a multi-sport event for school-going athletes, almost like an Olympic Games for school athletes).
Morocco will organise the first Gymnasaide on the African continent.
He is also awaiting confirmation from Sascoc regarding his participation at the All Africa Youth Games in Algeria in July.
Also read: Bulldog brings gold back to Brakpan
There he will wrestle against the same African wrestlers he squared up against at the African Continental Wrestling Championships last year (where he earned qualification to the Youth Olympic Games).
“I would really like to bring back a gold medal from the Youth Olympic Games,” said Booysen, who will be the country’s sole wrestler at the showpiece youth sporting event.
“There has never been a South African wrestler who has won a medal at the Youth Olympics so I would like to be the first.”
Booysen will certainly be buoyed by the success of Erasmus at the Commonwealth Games and hopes to bring back the same sort of pride to his club.
“I like absolutely everything about wrestling,” he said.
“I have made great friends all over the world and have learned a lot of new techniques from them.”
Asked what it takes to become a good wrestler, he replied: “You have to train hard, be motivated, be positive, stick to the basics and stay humble.
“You must also have a lot of power.”
Booysen thanked his coach Rassie Erasmus, his parents, his school and everyone at the club for helping him become a better wrestler.
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