EAST STROUDSBURG - Two top area youth wrestling programs will be matched Saturday morning at East Stroudsburg University as a prelude to the Warriors' triangular match against Drexel and Bucknell at 1 p.m.

The East Stroudsburg Youth Association (ESYA) wrestling team will meet the Stroudsburg Area Youth Wrestling Association (SAYWA) team in junior varsity and varsity matches starting at 9:30 a.m.

Prior to that at 9 a.m., ESU Coach Angelo Borzio will give a half hour wrestling clinic for the youngsters in the Koehler Fieldhouse.

The youth teams are comprised of youngsters from ages 5-12 from kindergarten students to those in sixth grade. They compete in 13 weight classes from 44 pounds to 105 pounds and a heavyweight division. Competition is held at the varsity, junior varsity and novice levels.

Wrestling was one of the first sports offered by the ESYA after its founding in 1973 by Frank Nicoletti and the late Walter Knowles.

The ESYA team has been coached for five years by Randy Litts, who also is an assistant coach at East Stroudsburg South High School where he competed for four years and was the most valuable wrestler on the 1976 team.

"My ties to East Stroudsburg wrestling run deep," says Litts. "It's nice to see some of the ESYA wrestlers coming into the high school program where I get to coach them again."

Litts is helped by Todd Doleiden, president of the ESYA; wrestling program directors Sam Courtright and Bill Bergen, long-time coaches Rich Fox, Sr. and Dave Czahor and novice coach Chris Yokum.

"I feel it is a wonderful thing that ESU is giving our wrestlers the thrill of competing on a mat that some of their role models wrestle on. Possibly someday, some of them will be wrestling for ESU," said Litts.

The SAYWA has supported area wrestling for 28 years. This year's program is considerably different than in the past, says SAYWA president Rob Karstendeik.

"We have two wrestling programs. One is our traveling team that belongs to the highly-competitive Valley Elementary League. The other is our own Elementary League for first and second year wrestlers which has four full 20-man teams and is designed to be fun and educational," Karstendeik explained.

Richard Eva operates as the head coach of the SAYWA teams which serve as the foundation for the highly-successful Stroudsburg High School wrestling team headed by Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Coach Ron Spinner.

Other SAYWA coaches include Robert Hemhauser, the program coordinator for the Elementary League, and assistant coaches Dave Lauchaire, Bert Kleinlie and George Transue.

:"We look forward to wrestling the young athletes from the ESYA program. They always put a quality team together and most of the wrestlers from these two teams are neighbors, cousins and friends who will compete with each other for most of their careers," said Eva.

There will be a trophy to the winning team in the varsity match. The most valuable wrestler for each team will receive a wrestling shirt from the opposing team.

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