North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week making his mark after moving from the South
Yannis Charles has managed to avoid the temptation of Taylor ham since moving to North Jersey from South Carolina.
At least, for now.
The St. Joseph transfer is too focused on his goal of winning a state wrestling title to get the full New Jersey experience.
"My team has been trying to get me to go to a bagel place since I've gotten up here," Charles said. "With my weight, I've had to decline every time. But I can assure you that I definitely will be at a bagel place as soon as the season is over."
That level of discipline has been the bedrock for Charles – a two-time state finalist at Clover High School – who only began wrestling as a freshman. He credits his father for supporting him and pushing him to 4 a.m. workouts for overcoming a late start to the sport.
And if there was any doubt whether his talent would translate up north as a junior, well think again.
Last week, Charles knocked off two of the Garden State's best wrestlers at 144 pounds in state second Julian George (Christian Brothers Academy) and state fourth Richie Grungo (St. Augustine). Coach Tom Farinaro describes Charles as someone who's explosive on the mat and always smiling away from it.
"I love great competition," Charles said. "I love giving credit where credit is due. I came up here to wrestle great competition, obviously, because New Jersey is tough like that. When you want to wrestle tough kids, where else to go but Jersey, right?"
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Charles, 17, isn't a complete stranger to the area. He has plenty of childhood memories in his current hometown of Airmont, N.Y. – either visiting or living with his grandparents. So when his mom decided to expand her business and relocate, Charles packed up his headgear last summer and tagged along.
"When she was coming up, she was coming up by herself," Charles said. "I can't leave my mom hanging by herself, so I decided to come up with her."
Charles admits that he still misses the sweet tea and warm weather back home in Lake Wylie. He worried at first about making friends and fitting in, but found that the hospitality in Montvale is just fine. Having speed and charisma came in handy.
"Once I did my research, I'm like this is definitely the spot for me," Charles said. "When I showed up (at St. Joseph), I fell in love immediately. Everyone brought me in. There was no awkward stage at all. I went in and I was instantly comfortable."
Charles (10-3) has already committed to wrestle at Morgan State. For now, he's working with training partners Frank DiBella and Mateo Sgambellone to earn a trip to Atlantic City and, just maybe, a celebratory breakfast.
"When I moved up here, I knew a lot of people were thinking: he's from South Carolina, what is he going to do?" Charles said. "I will admit that South Carolina has its flaws, but a lot of good kids come out of there. So I came up here and I knew I was ready. I knew I was going to take it. When I figured out I was wrestling the best of the best, I was excited."
Yannis Charles
Sport: Wrestling
School: St. Joseph
Class: Junior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Charles took down state medalists in back-to-back matches last week by defeating CBA's Julian George, 16-14, and St. Augustine's Richie Grungo, 3-0.
Also Nominated: Z'yaire Simmons of Kennedy, Jianni Moran of Fair Lawn, and Keanu Ray of Weehawken for basketball; Derek Rodriguez of Bogota for wrestling; Ethan Chen of Paramus/Hackensack/Lyndhurst, Anthony Miller of Mahwah, and Jack Scali of Ridgewood for ice hockey; and Johnathon Cheng of Northern Highlands for swimming;
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Male Athlete of the Week: Yannis Charles, St. Joseph
