He's more soft-spoken than the brash World Wrestling Entertainment impresario Vince McMahon, but Ted Hupe, principal at Holy Family Elementary School, is whipping young Whitehorse wrestlers into a frenzy.

Yesterday, more than 350 students from all but one Whitehorse Elementary school and Ross River School, converged at the High Country Convention Centre to compete in the Elementary School Wrestling Championships (ESWC).

Beginning in the mid-nineties as an idea between colleagues and moving into the 21st Century as a small annual tournament, the ESWC has become the elementary student equivalent to Wrestlemania.

"We just started growing, in 2004 and 2005 we probably had about 100 kids, but last year it jumped to 225 and this year we jumped to 358," said Hupe. "I expect next year, every school in Whitehorse will be involved."

While some youngsters in yesterday's championships are veterans of Hupe's annual main event, many were first timers, including the coach and students of Golden Horn Elementary School.

To reach some of the untapped grappling talent among the city's students, Hupe must get the teachers on board and Golden Horn's physed instructor Marc Senecal is a bona fide convert.

"It's my first year ever coaching this sport," he told the Star. "Before, my perception of wrestling was pretty old school, you know, guys wearing tight spandex suits."

But two clinics Senacal attended, one for coaching and another for officiating, "just so I had an idea how to approach this," is what hooked him.

"It really opened my eyes and the results were pretty fabulous," gushed Senacal who's now incorporated it into his own curriculum. "The aspects how wrestling fits into physed (objectives) is phenomenal, the flexibility, endurance, self-confidence, agility, strength ...I could go on."

Known as 'Mr. Sen' to his students, Senecal could lay claim to having a decent wrestling name. But according to Mr. Sen, it was Golden Horn's Tim Shirmer who shined during action on the mat.

Shirmer was one of seven Golden Horn students to grab some hardware at Hupe's wrestling showdown, taking gold in the 50 kg weight class.

"He did basically what he was coached to do, had very good focus on his opponent and wasn't distracted," according to Mr. Sen. "And it helps that he's a strong, intense individual, but very coachable. He listens and takes what he learns into the match."

From Hupe's perspective, attracting students from outside Whitehorse is the next goal.

"It was the first time Ross River attended," Hupe said. "They brought six students and two went home with medals... bringing in more schools from the communities is what we'll be going for next year."