Pine Bush senior Brooke Tarshis leaves for Japan on Oct. 9, one of just 12 wrestlers selected for the 2023 American Kintaro World Team/Immersion Training Program.

While in Japan – she will be there from Oct. 11 through 19 – Brooke will be living with a host family, studying, training with the American girls and competing against the Japanese wrestlers. She will also tour as much of the country as possible.

 

 

She said she is excited about it, but a little nervous too since her family won’t be wither her. The fact that she knows some of the young women who were selected to go on this trip puts her at ease.

Brooke has been wrestling since she was just seven years old. Her brother and cousin wrestled and she said she would wrestle with them a bit, but she wanted to try it on her own. Just three weeks in, she participated in her first match. She loved it from the start.

She said there were many times when she was the only girl at a match. “That’s challenging when you’re the only girl,” she said. “The first time I wrestled another girl, I was about 10.”

That has certainly changed. The Pine Bush Continuing Education program is offering a wrestling class for boys and girls in grades 3-8. “There were more girls there than boys!” Brooke said excitedly.

In seventh grade, she made the boys modified team. In eighth grade, she moved on to varsity, where she has competed ever since.

She was also underestimated. “Guys used to make fun of me,” she said. “But the ones I train with didn’t.”

Brooke trains year round at Deep Roots Wrestling Club in Walden and her commitment to her sport shows. She is a two-time Section IX girls’ wrestling champion and won the Women’s Eastern States Classic in her weight class. She was named a 2021 Women’s Nationals U15 All-American and was a runner up at the first-ever New York State Public High School Girls Invitational.

There is another side to Brooke. In addition to her Pine Bush High School classes and her wrestling, she attends Orange-Ulster BOCES for cosmetology.

Now, though, Brooke is looking forward to the experience to travel to Japan with young women who are also tops in wrestling.

“It’s an honor to be selected,” she said.

Brooke is one of two Section IX wrestlers selected for this team. Jaida Macaluso of Minisink will also attend. Wrestlers from seven sections in New York are part of the team, as well as one wrestler each from Texas and Florida.

And she has lots more to look forward to.

Although she hasn’t decided what she will study after high school, Brooke has received interest from colleges who want her to be one of the first to wrestle on their newly created women’s teams.

“There are only 168 colleges in the United States with girls wrestling,” Brook said, noting the sport is bigger in other countries.

She will continue to break new ground wherever she chooses to go.

Brooke is amazed at the community support she’s received since this opportunity came about. Her coaches have been behind her from the start – Pine Bush coach Patrick Sause and Deep Roots coach Ricky Scott. Her employer, Joseph Russek, owner of Third & Company Lakeside Restaurant in Walker Valley, put Brooke’s story on the restaurant’s social media and raised money to help pay for her trip. They accepted donations and Russek pledged money for each like, heart and share on the post. She also had donations from Messco Building Supplies and Creative Touch Landscaping.

“It’s been amazing,” she said.

More “amazing” is heading Brooke’s way for sure!

Best of luck to you Brooke! #PineBushProud