Youth wrestling in the Florence area may be the athletic equivalent of the journey of a thousand miles.

The journey begins with a single step. The resurrection of wrestling on the central coast may have started with a single camp.

"It was a great three days," Siuslaw coach Neil Wartnik said Sunday as his camp wrapped up at the high school gym.

"Our goals were to spread the love of wrestling, to raise the knowledge of what wrestling can be."

And it did for 26 campers, ages 7 to 17, big and small, boys and girls, local and from as far away as Klamath Falls.

"I was thinking we may have 30, 35 kids," Wartnik said. "A couple schools said they were sending kids and they didn't show up. What can you do? I just shrug."

In character, he was determined to see only the bright side.

"It was an optimal situation," Warnik said. "We had a great wrestler-to-instructor ratio."

Bolstering the instruction level was the family Bresser from Klamath Falls, which had six family members camping out at Honeyman Park this past weekend, four of them being instructorrs.

Ron Bresser Sr., an assistant wrestling coach at Henley High School in Klamath Falls, was joined by three of his accomplished sons, Ronnie Jr., Zech and Michael. Sister Zenaida and youngest brother Brock participated in the camp.

"They go around and spread their love of wrestling," Wartnik said. "All are national-level competitors, even the daughter."

Ronnie Jr. was a Pac-12 champion at 125 pounds as a freshman at Oregon State. He was runnerup this past season.

Zech wrestles at Clackamas Community College and Michael is headed to Oregon State this fall on a wrestling scholarship.

Siuslaw and Henley are in the same OSAA special district, and Wartnik and the Bressers have developed a strong friendship over the years.

"They wrestle at a higher plane than we do," Wartnik said of the Bressers. "Having them here helps us elevate our understanding of the sport."

The Bressers enjoyed the camp so much they're talking about returning in October for a follow-up, and taking part in next summer's camp.

"The first thing we learned this year is that we could do it, call other cities and get them involved," Wartnik said. "Our hope next year is we can at least double (the number of campers).

"Fifty or 60 next year would be a good goal. We're not flourishing right now. Our goal is to rebuild wrestling up and down the coast, from Brookings to Astoria."

GIVING THANKS

Wartnik had many to thank for making the camp a success, with a big nod to primary sponsor WG Peterson Woodworking Inc. of Florence. ...

Also contributing were Sea Lion Caves, Sand Dunes Frontier/Torex ATV Rentals, Dr. Bob Estill/Chevron Corp. and Fred Meyer.

Warnik gave a special nod to culinary arts teacher Kyle Lewis, who helped prepare meals for the campers and did the grocery shopping.

"We couldn't do it without such wonderful support," Wartnik said.