(Photo by Levittown Public Schools)
All-County is not good enough for JD Moore. All-State is not enough, either.
The Division Avenue High School junior wants to be a champion, and he won’t stop until he is crowned as such. But the will to win is filled with adversity, more than he expected.
“My wrestling season was filled with being confused on what weight class I was going,” Moore said. “It was hard for me to make 160 pounds. At that point, I was considering bumping it up in general, which is what I ended up doing anyway, going to 170.”
Training to gain weight isn’t easy. It’s a problem few in the sports world have. But in wrestling specifically, those participating need to weigh a certain amount to be placed in a specific weight class.
Moore had some fun with it, though. Not only did he consume more proteins and extend his work outs, but he ate more in general.
“I was focused on just eating whatever and chilling out,” he said.
Once Moore met the 170-pound weight requirement, he faced off against Horace Greeley’s Aaron Wolk in the semifinal matchup at the 2019 NYSPHSAA State Championships at Albany’s Times-Union Center in Albany on Feb. 23. While he didn’t capture the win, he was still named as part of the All-State and All-County teams.
“It shows all of the work I’ve been putting into wrestling,” Moore said. “Becoming All-State is good, but it’s not where I want to be. I want to be a state champion next year.”
Division Avenue’s wrestling head coach Sean Breves is just thrilled to have Moore on his varsity squad for one more year.
“JD is one of the most talented wrestlers I have had the pleasure to coach,” Breves said. “His hunger for a state championship drives him to make himself a better athlete and wrestler everyday.”
While Moore isn’t sure what university he wants to attend after high school, he does know that he will likely continue wrestling.
A passion since he was six years old, Moore grew up wrestling. Two years later, he began attending the VHW Club in Syosset with his father, where he began to find his form. Ever since, wrestling takes up just about all of his free time.
Now, Moore is preparing to compete for the title once again in 2020.
“I feel like I need to be smarter with the way I’m wrestling instead of just doing it,” he said. “In the practice room, I need to focus on the technique being shown and to listen more.”
