Harvey Twisters Wrestling Club teaches young people about more than just athletics
This is the story of a sports dynasty in Chicago's south suburbs — which has won plenty of championships, but for which championships are also only part of the success story.
The young athletes who are part of the Harvey Twisters Wrestling Club learn important lessons outside the gym too.
Glenn Harston III is one of the athletes who wrestles with the Harvey Twisters. He is a busy and well-rounded young man — an honors student who excels in the classroom and plays multiple sports
"Play baseball, football — and I of course wrestle," he said.
In fact, Glenn just won the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation State Championship. It was his third title in his age and weight class.
Glenn is all of 12 years old.
He is just one of a long line of stellar wrestlers coached at the Harvey Twisters Wrestling Club, located in south suburban Harvey. For 40 years, kids from five to 14 years old — both boys and girls — have trained and learned the sport with the Harvey Twisters.
Glenn's dad, Glenn Harston II, is one of the coaches.
"We travel the country wrestling, and each and every time into a tournament, people know the Twisters," said Harston II. "They know they name. They know the brand."
The Twisters club has dominated the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation, or IKWF, competition. Phil Rembert is the head coach of the Twisters.
"We have over 100 state champs," Rembert said. "That's the most in IKWF history."
Many of those champs have gone on to compete in college. Vincent Robinson just won an NCAA wrestling championship.
But what the young wrestlers do on the mat is not the only priority.
"Absolutely, we want to win. We want to make sure that we're winning," said Harston II. "But we want to make sure that we're developing kids. We want to make sure they're learning the sport the right way. But we're also making sure that they learn the life lessons that come with it."
Those life lessons stress discipline and hard work.
The Harvey Twisters Wrestling Club takes tremendous commitment. The kids practice for two hours, three times a week, and it is a vigorous workout. The participants barely even have enough time to catch their breath.
The young people in the club are developing a work ethic, coaches say, that extends to the classroom.
"We also check on grades," said Harston II. "We're checking in — if there are any disciplinary issues in school, we want to know about it."
Glenn Harston III gives credit to the club for instilling good values.
"It keeps me disciplined," he said. "It helps me in school."
The coaches and the young athletes are part of a close-knit group. Otis Davis, in eighth grade, just won a state championship.
This is his last year in the Twisters.
"This team has been like a family to me," Otis said. "Be respectful and like help each other out. Be the best you could be in this program."
Perhaps after he leaves the team, Otis, like many other Harvey Twisters alums, will return.
"When our kids go off to college they come back and give back," said Rembert.
Travis Hammons wrestled with the Harvey Twisters as a child. After attending North Carolina State University, he came back to tutor the team.
"It's a big reason why I'm the man I am today. It's the big reason why I still wear this [shirt] proudly, and I'm here giving my life to these kids now — and just giving back to the sport that's done so much for me," Hammons said.
It has done so much for hundreds of wrestlers over these four decades. Glenn Harston III is now continuing a championship tradition.
"It feels great," he said, "especially if you're beating someone in the state finals."
Glenn is three times a state champ — with plans to keep going into high school and college. So this is just the beginning — for him and so many others.
