Lakeville brothers win wrestling titles

LAKEVILLE — Brothers Gabriel Schwartz, 13, and Joshua Schwartz, 11, took first place in their respective weight categories at the Connecticut State Wrestling Championships at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Sunday, Feb. 24.Gabriel won in the 160-pound division, while Joshua won in the 95-pound division. It was the second title for Gabriel and the third for Joshua.Both brothers will be moving on to the New Englands in Lowell, Mass., March 8 and 9. They attend Salisbury Central School, where Gabriel is in eighth grade and Joshua is in sixth grade. Their father, Andrew Schwartz, is their coach.“I have two older boys, twins, 20 years old, who attend college,” Schwartz said. “When they were younger I was the head wrestling coach in the Region 7 youth program. In 2000 I started the Northwest Wrestling Club because there was no other wrestling group at that time in this area.” The younger Schwartz brothers began wrestling under their father’s guidance when they were each 4 years old. The four Schwartz brothers have one sister, who is not a wrestler.The elder Schwartz said there are youth wrestling tournaments all over the state. Each of the many youth wrestling clubs across the state is assigned to a quadrant. His group includes youth wrestlers from Winsted, Torrington, Steel Hill, Canton, Avon and New Hartford, as well as the Region One towns.