Lloyd Has Sights Set on Rebuilding HdG Wrestling

Tom Lloyd is the vice president of the Aberdeen Junior Wrestling program. He’s spent the last few seasons helping rebuild that organization. Now, Lloyd is about to undertake a similar project in Havre de Grace.

Lloyd is going to be the head coach of the Havre de Grace Warriors Junior Wrestling program which should be starting next winter. He made the tough decision to step away from the very successful Aberdeen team to try and help start something from scratch, giving the high school the kind of feeder program it needs in wrestling.

“Our goal is to get Havre de Grace to be aware that wrestling is out there,” Lloyd said. “There’s been several years where the high school team has struggled with numbers. A lot of that has to do with the fact that they don’t have a feeder program.”

A junior league program is a major plus for high school wrestling, especially in public schools. Most of the best high school teams have some kind of solid feeder system available. Havre de Grace doesn’t have one, but that will soon change.

“It was hard [for me], but it was the right decision,” Lloyd said. “The community needs it, they absolutely do, and the high school needs it.”

Lloyd has worked with Don Ewing for the past few years at Aberdeen. He said that the program has grown from about 15 wrestlers to 70 over the last four years. Ewing is the Aberdeen president, and Lloyd’s wife, Celeste, serves as the program’s treasurer. She will join her husband with the new Havre de Grace group.

Lloyd said the Havre de Grace program would love to get about 40 wrestlers in the first season next winter. The first week of practice will begin in November as the Warriors will compete in the Upper Chesapeake Wrestling League (UCWL). There are about 17 teams in it this winter.

In addition, Lloyd said they are trying to raise money to begin the new program. He said Havre de Grace will need about $3,000 to get rolling, something he'd love to have by the first of October. They will give the kids—ages 5-14—hooded sweatshirts plus sweat pants as part of a warm-up outfit. The wrestlers also will have singlets to use, something that those helping start Havre de Grace are designing.

The Havre de Grace recreation committee approved the new team about three weeks ago, and the high school needs to approve use of the school. Fundraising is underway. Information on the team can be found at www.warriorswrestling.org.

“We are just trying to get our name out there now,” Lloyd said.