Highway 9 Wrestling Club’s Coach Matt Grocott
By Julie Horner
Nurturing young champions, Boulder Creek’s Matt Grocott celebrated victory earlier this year with his student, Scotts Valley High wrestling superstar Danica Kelley, who pinned gold at the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championship. Danica, a graduating senior who also lives in Boulder Creek, has been studying with Matt since 7th grade. With the state championship in the bag, she said, “I’ll always be really happy that it happened, not just for me, but for Coach Matt. He got to see me do his moves, he got to see how what we’ve been doing out here is working. It was a way for me to express gratitude.”
Matt has been coaching for nearly 40 years. He started Highway 9 Wrestling Club at the Boulder Creek Rec’s Bear Creek Community Center with Brent Swan in 2018. Donating his time to instruct local kids, Matt’s coaching style involves getting in close, like “wrestling in a phone booth,” as he put it, which employs one-on-one principles that young people can take with them into adulthood, whether on the mat or in the office. “There’s so much you learn from wrestling,” Matt said. Like confidence and how to carry yourself, how to overcome adversity, lose gracefully, and own your successes. “Once you’ve wrestled, everything in life is easy,” Danica said, quoting American pro wrestler Dan Gable.
Boulder Creek local Anders Steele said his son Bjorn has been taking wrestling from Coach Matt and said, “With Coach Grocott, wrestling involves community, camaraderie, fitness and discipline and it’s been inspiring to see how he has brought all of that to the San Lorenzo Valley. His work and training and advice has been great for my son and I’m thankful he plays such an active role in making our community an even better place to live and raise a family.”
Currently occupying a large tent near the tennis courts at Bear Creek, next moves for the Highway 9 Wrestling Club include finding a permanent gymnasium facility. Contact Coach Matt Grocott at Bear Creek Community Center. hwy9wc@aol.com | (650) 703-3585
Featured photo: Scotts Valley High wrestling champ Danica Kelley with Coach Matt Grocott | Photo by Julie Horner
