Keeping It in the Family: Wiley Ford Siblings doing big things on the wrestling scene
WILEY FORD - For Wiley Ford residents Bethany Alt, her husband Aaron, and children Violette, Juliet, and Benton, wrestling is a way of life.
Sure, a lot people are dedicated to the sport, but it’s safe to day the dedication put forth by the Alt family stacks up against anyone.
Yes, for Violette, Juliet, and Benton, wrestling is a year-round commitment, and not just locally or on a regional or statewide level, but nationally as well. They do wrestle as part of a local club, but travel into Pennsylvania up to six days a week to train, practice and compete as part of a dedicated group in the Keystone State.
According to mom Bethany, “In season, all three wrestle as part of the Frankfort Mat Club. But they also wrestle year-round, 90% of the time that is with the Compound Ridge/Orchard Wrestling Club based out of New Paris, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has a reputation for being one of, if not the best states for wrestling. Based on that reputation, we knew that was the direction to look in the wrestling world.”
“We found out about Orchard through Josh Deputy, he’s the high school wrestling coach for Chestnut Ridge, which is a really good program. He owns the Compound Ridge. He’s got children of similar ages to my own and they are all Pennsylvania State Champions, etc. He just has a great program, honestly one of the best in the country,” Alt detailed.
All three of Alt’s children, Violette, Juliet, and Benton, are West Virginia state wrestling champions this season, but have traveled around the country to compete in national events. In particular, they have competed as part of the World of Wrestling event series.
“The World of Wrestling is the most prestigious set of wrestling tournaments in the country for youth. It’s a three-tournament series, and if you win all three of them, you win the Trinity Award,” Alt stated. “All three of our kids participated in that. November was the Kickoff Classic in Tulsa, then the Tulsa Nationals in January, and finally Reno Worlds in Reno in April.”
According to Alt, “My daughter Violette Lasure, who is in the seventh grade at Frankfort Middle School, wrestling in the 12u 110-pund bracket, took first place in all three events, so she did win the Trinity Award. She’s the only girl, right now, to have ever won the Trinity Award from the State of West Virginia.”
“My daughter Juliet Alt, who is in the sixth grade at Frankfort Middle School, wrestling in the 12u 135-pound bracket, took first in the Kickoff Classic, first at Tulsa Nationals, and second at Reno Worlds. So unfortunately, she just missed the Trinity Award. But, she did a great job,” Alt explained.
According to Alt, “My son Benton Alt, who is in the third grade at Frankfort Intermediate School, wrestling in the 8u 75-pound bracket, he got fifth at the Kickoff Classic, sixth at Tulsa Nationals, and third at Reno Worlds.”
You don’t compete so successfully at such high levels without an extreme amount of practice and dedication to the sport. And practice they do, year-round, an hour away from home in New Paris.
“They usually practice six days a week, honestly, with one day off, when we’re not competing in tournaments. They do a workout series there and then have wrestling practice afterwards. We’ve been going there for four years,” Alt explained.
Alt’s husband Aaron wrestled in the state of Pennsylvania. Her father and brother were also both wrestlers. But honestly, it all started when her son came home with a paper. As Alt points, out, “We didn’t set out to make our kids wrestlers, it just sort of evolved that way.”
According to Alt, “It started when our son got involved wrestling at the age of 5 with the Frankfort Mat Club. He did well and loved it, and went to states his first year. He fell in love with the sport.”
“Then our oldest, Violette, begged the next year to wrestle. In only her second time on the mat, she actually got second place in a national event. So, she fell in love with it,” Alt stated. “Then, our other daughter, Juliet, who wasn’t at first a big fan, tried it out with nothing else to do during COVID, and fell in love with it.”
It takes a great deal of sacrifice from the whole family, but for the Alts, it’s worth it.
“They are all three successful at it, and they love it, and their dad and I just want to support them. It’s a sacrifice for sure, we get home from work, we drive them to practice every day, and we travel a lot. The travel is probably the biggest sacrifice because of expense, but we’re happy to do it,” Alt explained.
Some might be curious, do the girls wrestle only girls or both boys and girls. Same question for the boys. Well, it depends on the particular competition, buy yes, the girls often compete with the boys and vice versa.
Is there much of a difference between the two?
According to Alt, “The girls wrestle with both boys and girls, a lot. If anything is different about it, I would say that while all of wrestling represents a tight-knit community, the girl wrestling community is particularly tight-knit. There aren’t as many of the girls, so they become friends quite quickly and support each other.”
As for the future? As you might guess, the future involves wrestling for all three.
“As of right now, yes, all three plan to wrestle for Frankfort High School. In addition to high school, all three want to continue on in college, wrestling for Division I programs.”
To date, the hard work and sacrifice has paid off tremendously for all three. There’s no doubt that if the hard work and dedication continues, and surely it will, bright things are ahead for all three. Their next-level dedication ensures it.
This article originally appeared on Mineral Daily News-Tribune: Wiley Ford Siblings doing big things on the wrestling scene
