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Wrestlers among students grappling with challenges

EAST PALESTINE -- These days East Palestine senior wrestler Zac Hostetter has his focus set on becoming the school's first to earn 100 career wins and possibly the first Bulldog to qualify for the state wrestling tournament.

He admits it will be difficult having been to the district tournament in 2023.

"Those kids at districts? They live wrestling. That's all they do and it's some stiff competition," Hostetter said.

The 190-pound grappler is used to working hard though.

The East Palestine scholastic wrestling program is only 7 years old and Hostetter has had a personal hand in helping it along to where it is now.

"When we started this we practiced in the elementary school cafeteria," Hostetter said. "Now we have our own wrestling room and office and we're actually hosting matches at the school now. It's definitely been a big change and I've got to see the program grow. Hopefully I can come back in the future and come back and help with this and make it better."

Zac's father Rick is the head coach of the program and even he'll admit that his son has taken on a lot of the leadership duties of the high school team which includes 11 wrestlers -- the most in school history.

Rick said he wrestled in high school in Canton, Pennsylvania about 30 miles north of Williamsport. His team was good, but he was not among the best.

"My senior year we had four state champions," Rick Hostetter said. "I was not one. I wasn't very good."

The Hostetters, instead, learned everything they could from experienced area coaches as they navigated Zac's career from the youth ranks through middle school and now high school.

It's their hope that the program is in good hands and is going places.

"When it's time for me to step down as coach, I want to have a solidified program here that can run for years to come and give the kids of East Palestine the opportunity to enjoy the sport of wrestling which I honestly believe is one of the best sports," Rick Hostetter said. "It teaches you a lot about life."

At 8:55 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2023 when the Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, everything changed for East Palestine -- including the wrestling team.

The lessons learned in all of those years building the program were almost immediately put into practice.

Zac Hostetter said he first learned of the accident on a wrestling group chat as he didn't live near the crash site.

"It was kind of nerve wracking, definitely," Zac Hostetter said. "It was a new experience seeing a train explode."

In the group chat, security doorbell and cell phone video of the accident was shared but at the time a lot of the focus of the chat was whether or not the team was going to be able to compete in its quadrangular match the next day at Southern Local High School.

Rick Hostetter said the concern from opposing coaches was even apparent at that match -- well before the controlled release and burn that happened days later which captured global attention.

"Even then, the coaches were all very helpful," Rick Hostetter said. "The wrestling community here is very close knit, everyone talks."

A few weeks later at the Div. III sectional tournament in Rootstown, a 50-50 raffle was held to benefit the Bulldog wrestling team. The Bulldogs were appreciative of the support from all of those reaching out, but like most residents they didn't know what the present or future really held at the time.

"There were a couple people that came up to me at the tournaments asking me how East Palestine was doing and what the next step was," Zac Hostetter said. "We didn't really have an answer for it."

Communication was paramount during the chaotic weeks ahead after the incident. The wrestling program saw very few disruptions except for some practices being shifted to Columbiana and Lisbon but there were personal challenges within the team.

Zac said he had to handle relaying official messages sent to his father from the school district to his teammates in the group chat. And he has also had to handle the concerns of teammates who did not know how they would be able to get to practices or matches when evacuation orders came down for some residents.

One wrestler on the team was displaced because of the accident and never returned. He is now enrolled in a school district in Trumbull County.

As a sophomore, Addison Paparella was enjoying being the first female wrestler for the school at the time. Also an experienced competitive cheerleader and dancer, Paparella said she thought it would be cool to try wrestling since she had siblings do it.

"I heard that there were no other girls on the team and I thought that would be cool, I could do that," Paparella said.

The East Palestine girls wrestling team has grown to three members this year with one being Paparella's sister. It's following a trend of rapid growth seen in other female wrestling programs.

Paparella said wrestling has become a sanctuary for her.

"I like how it takes the stress away if I'm having a bad day," Paparella said. "I just come to wrestling practice and everything goes away."

In the days and weeks following the derailment, Paparella certainly had her fair share of stress to deal with like many residents.

She said she was able to see the derailment from outside her home's windows that night. Like the other wrestlers competing was still on her mind.

"We went to a hotel in Chippewa (Pa.) for the night because I wanted to wrestle the next day," Paparella said. "I was freaking out I wouldn't be able to wrestle the next day."

Paparella did make that tournament but soon after her season was over. Her family had to relocate to a hotel in Columbiana and the stay ended up being months. She said practices were hard to get to at that point and she could not prepare properly for the postseason tournament.

In March 2023, she was also the subject of a Daily Mail article which revealed she was hospitalized due to having a tight chest and irritated lungs due to chemical exposure.

As a junior, she's looking ahead and, like Zac Hostetter, wants to make more history of her own.

"It's definitely a goal of mine to make it to state, but if I don't there's always next year," Paparella said.

She also plans to keep being a female ambassador for the sport in her school district.

"I've told a few people they should try out next year and I explain to them, it's not just for guys," Paparella said. "It's actually fun."

Rick Hostetter said he's personally ready to move on from the train derailment narrative and wants to continue to look ahead. On the surface, there seems to be a lot to be potentially excited about.

The team recently received new singlets as part of the thousands of dollars the district received from donations and other funding sources related to the derailment. The singlets are white and are to be worn in placement rounds only. It's described as a reward program for wrestlers and while there hasn't been many East Palestine wrestlers so far in position for big individual achievements, the team is hoping that is slowly changing.

Zac Hostetter says in a strange way the derailment brought the East Palestine community much closer together and that may pay off in the future.

"It's a warming thing to see the community actually come together," Zac Hostetter said. "I hate to say it, but it was well needed for us to become one again."