THE DETRO IT JEWIS H NEWS

Poetic Take-Downs

128

Though he wanted to wrestle anyway,
his height (5'5") was a determining fac-
tor in his decision to hit the mat.
"I didn't want to play basketball or any-
thing like that," Steve said. "Of course, it
would've been almost impossible for me
to play basketball because of my size. I
liked that there were weight classes in
wrestling."

like a classroom atmosphere," he said. He
describes his poetry as "rather depress-
ing — choices in life, stuff like that.
Things that are going on in the world."
_ His poetic role model is the early 20th
century German lyrical poet Rainer Maria
Rilke. Steve says he discovered Rilke this
past summer while browsing in a book
store.

PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT

VI hen Steve Simon went out for the
Birmingham Groves High School
wrestling team in the fall of 1993 as
a freshman, it was a pleasant surprise
for his father Jerry.
Jerry had wrestled in high school in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and in his fresh-
man year at the University
of Michigan. But he had never pushed his
son into following in his
own athletic footsteps. He
thought Steve had closed
the door on wrestling after
trying the sport for a half-
semester while in middle
school.
But when the 1993-94
wrestling season began,
Steve Simon was Groves'
top wrestler at 103 pounds.
"I was glad he did it, but
didn't expect it," said Jer-
ry Simon. The Simon fam-
ily lives in Southfield.
Steve, who just com-
pleted his senior season at
Groves, explains that
wrestling was a simple de-
cision. "I just thought, 'I'm
going to wrestle,' and I
did."
As expected, it was a
rough freshman season for
Steve on the mat.
His inexperience
and lack of
strength were the
main reasons for
a 10-21 dual-
meet record. But
after that season he decided that
he really liked the sport and
wanted to do better at it.
"After my freshman year, I
thought I could be pretty good if
I worked hard and disciplined
myself," said Steve, "so that's
what I did."
In his last three seasons his
record was 109-28. Along the way
he set Groves career and season
PAU L HARRIS
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records for take-downs, which
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISt+NEVVS
Groves Coach Andrew Wilson
considered his major weapon.
"When he's on his feet, his take-downs are
his strength."
This past season Simon was 38-5, won
the regional meet in his division and ad-
vanced to the state meet at 112 pounds.
But he didn't place.

Steve Simon was poetry in motion.

His diminutive frame carries an out-
wardly relaxed personality. But it also
hides a maelstrom of emotions, according
to Coach Wilson.
"He's a laid-back kind of kid, who's real
intense inside," said Wilson. "He wages
his own war inside himself."
But creativity hasn't been a casualty of
that war. In fact it has fueled Steve's mind
with ideas and concepts which he Has
turned into poetry.
He estimates that he's written "about
150 poems" in the little over a year since
he started writing. His teachers have been
so impressed that Steve is now in the gift-
ed and talented program at Groves for his
poetry. He's even taking a class in which
the goal is to have some of his poems pub-
lished.
"I set my standard in the class. It's not

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And while he has a bright future in lit-
erature, he says he probably doesn't have
one in wrestling.
"I don't want to wrestle in college, but
if I did I couldn't get a scholarship," said
Steve. "I might be able to walk on and get
some money for school."
He's leaning toward attending either
Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan or
Western Michigan universities. His goal
is to get an English degree and either
teach or write poetry as a means of sup-
porting himself.
Jerry is hoping his son can get his work
published soon. "That's the part he's kept
secret from my wife and myself," said
Jerry. "Hewants to get it published before
my wife and I read it. The teachers I've
talked to have been quite impressed. But
I can't speak from that experience." 0