JOC ACADEMY ADDS 3 BOYS TO WRESTLING TEAM

TOKYO (April 6) Three promising young wrestlers were added to the wrestling team at the Elite Academy of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) where they will be live-in prospects at the national team training center.

The three wrestlers are Taro Umebayashi, a five-time national schoolboy champion from Chiba; Toshiya Abe, a seven-time schoolboy champ from Ibaraki, and Takuto Otoguro, a five-time schoolboy champ for the Gold Kids club of Tokyo.

Academy students live and train at the national training under the watchful eye of a select staff of coaches, trainers and nutritionists. They also keep up with academics at local schools.

With the addition of the class of 2011, the JOC Academy includes 10 wrestlers four (1 boy, 3 girls) in high school and six (4 boys, 2 girls) in junior high school.

Along with the incoming wrestlers were four table tennis players and five fencers, bringing the total number of athletes in the elite training program to 36 heading into the fourth year of the program.