Wednesday in the Viking wrestling room, Union Pines' assistant coach Chris Vondruska held an hour clinic for the Copperheads Wrestling Club fall session.

The Copperheads is youth wrestling program that is tied directly to the Union Pines high school wrestling program and headed by Vondruska and Viking head coach Matt Ragsdale.

"I was very excited with the turnout we had for the clinic," said Ragsdale. "We are trying to improve Union Pines wrestling and that all starts at the youth level. The Copperheads are the feeder program for Vike wrestling."

"Wrestling with a positive program and in the right environment can be one of the best sports for a young man to participate in and we want to spread that message as loud, far and wide throughout the local area as we possibly can."

During the actual clinic Vondruska addressed an assembled group of close to 70 young wrestlers, parents and supporters. During the hour he also had some current Copperheads and Union Pines wrestlers do short live-action demonstrations for the audience and then fielded questions from the audience.

"The goal is obvious at the high school level." Vondruska said. "We want to be state champs. In order to do that we need people, we need to develop interest among the communities' youth and actually get people down here supporting this sport (of wrestling.)

"We fully expect to field an outstanding high school team this year (at Union Pines). However, in order to ensure the future of the program, we need to expand our youth wrestling, and that is what coach Ragsdale and I are trying to achieve through the Copperheads Wrestling Club.

According to Ragsdale, many kids from Kindergarten to 8th grade have already signed up for the fall session. On Tuesday, those interested can come to Union Pines from 3:45 p.m. to 6:34 p.m. for an open registration. The cost to join the club is $90. The Cooperheads will hold their first practice on Thursday. The fall session runs from Sept 10 to Oct 22.

For additional information Chris Vondruska can be contacted via e-mail at cvondruska@ mcs.k12.nc.us