Anthony Dakuras walked into the gym at the Minami Community Center on Oct. 30, laced up his wrestling shoes, and set his bag and bathroom scale on the bleachers.
Dakuras is the head instructor and founder of Santa Maria All-American Wrestling (SMAAW), which is the first wrestling class offered through the city of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department.
With help from some of his students, Dakuras unrolled three big, red wrestling mats to cushion the gym’s hardwood floor before practice started.
“I want the youth in Santa Maria to have the chance to wrestle before high school,” Dakuras said. “I want them to be more successful in high school. I’m trying to help these kids go to college.”
Dakuras started his classes in September with 11 students, and it’s since grown to 40 students. The program offers co-ed classes five nights a week in different age groups, ranging from kids to adults.
“In the last two months it’s gone gangbusters,” said Wendy Hudson, who is supervisor of the recreation department’s contract classes.
“It’s something we’ve never had before” she said. “It’s going to exceed our expectations.”
The youngest group of grapplers, ages 5 to 9, begins first, and their practice runs from 4 to 5 p.m. with 15 kids in the class. The next age group is 10 to 15 years old, practicing from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and ages 16 and up practice from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The first class on Oct. 30 began with a warm-up. Students tumbled across the mats before moving into drills.
Initially, the drills consisted of practicing moves that Dakuras taught in previous classes, and then, he introduced students to a new technique. Sitting in a half-circle, students watched as he demonstrated a bottom position called the tight-waist-ankle maneuver—and highlighted the counter maneuver, too—with the help of his assistant coach Rodolfo Pena.
Parents watched from the bleachers as their kids practiced pulling the opponent’s ankle, turning them onto their back, and trying to pin them.
After practicing the new moves, the kids switched positions. Dakuras and Pena floated around the mats, giving encouragement and further instructions.
For many of the young students, it’s their first time on the mats. Sophia Ramos, 9, started the program as a first-time wrestler. She’s also the only girl in her age group.
For the last portion of practice, the students put their new techniques to use by wrestling each other.
Ramos went up against another new wrestler named Adrian Espinoza, who’s 6, and their two months of training seemed to be working.
“They’ve shown a lot of improvement, from not knowing anything to looking like wrestlers,” Dakuras said.
One thing that separates wrestling from other sports is that it’s an individual sport, which appeals to some parents.
“[Wrestling] lays down the foundation to have confidence in anything in life because it’s one-on-one,” said Patrick Maldonado, who brought his two nephews to the class. “They can’t depend on someone else.”
Maldonado taught mixed martial arts for 25 years and trained with Dakuras at one point.
“I’m very proud of him,” Maldonado said. “He’s giving back to his community where he was brought up.”
Born in Santa Maria, the now 29-year-old Dakuras was a wrestling league champion at Santa Maria High School his senior year.
Because high school tournaments were usually held on Saturday mornings, Dakuras remembers going to bed early on Friday nights, which he said helped him stay out of trouble. And he applied the concepts he learned on the mat to his school life, viewing each class like a wrestling match, where a test was the first round and the final exam was the championship, he said.
“I used wrestling to push me through school,” he said. “It made me mentally tough.”
While attending Allan Hancock College, he coached the Saints’ wrestling team, where he noticed that for many of his students, it was their first time on a mat.
Before graduating from Fresno State University in 2013, Dakuras coached three seasons at Clovis West High School. The team was ranked second in the state and 18th in the nation, he said.
“Three schools in Clovis were top 10 in the state because they had a little kids’ program,” he said. “Santa Maria is just as tough, they just don’t have the access.”
Dakuras hopes to grow participation in his program, and after three years he wants to start a nonprofit that can incorporate more activities, like mixed martial arts and skateboarding, he said.
“I want to promote having a healthy lifestyle and staying out of trouble,” he said.
Before practice started on Oct. 30, Dakuras called over 7-year-old Joseph Toscano to step onto the bathroom scale in preparation for upcoming matches.
Toscano and Alex Lopez, who is also one of Dakuras’ students, competed in the National United Wrestling Association for Youth Freak Show Tournament in Las Vegas on Nov. 1.
Dakuras went with his students to the weekend tournament at the Rio Hotel and Casino, and said he hopes to organize his first Santa Maria tournament in early 2015.
“He’s a good coach,” Toscano said.
Contact Staff Writer Aaron Salazar at asalazar@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 6-13, 2014.