Rally (left) and Oakley Williams, both Virginia Elite wrestlers, say they like winning as well as making friends in the organization.

Katie Mawyer | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Elite, Christiansburg's renowned wrestling program, has a goal of teaching young wrestlers basic skills and techniques while encouraging a fun and friendly environment. The organization holds its practices at Hawkeye Hall.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- "If you want them to sleep good, let them start wrestling," Jeremy Williams said.

Williams, a proud parent of two Virginia Elite wrestlers, has no trouble putting his 8-year-old fraternal twins to bed.

After an evening's practice with the Christiansburg youth wrestling team, Oakley and Rally Williams are quite the deep sleepers.

Virginia Elite, Christiansburg's renowned wrestling program, has a goal of teaching young wrestlers basic skills and techniques while encouraging a fun and friendly environment. The organization holds its practices at Hawkeye Hall in Christiansburg. Beginning instruction at an early age has given the organization a prestigious reputation as a feeder program for higher-level leagues in the sport.

Williams, a Christiansburg native, was excited to introduce the sport of wrestling to his two sons.

Having wrestled in his school days some 20 years ago, Williams said he kept in touch with coaches and couldn't wait to have his sons explore their possibilities with the sport.

Years ago, when his sons had just graduated the crawling stage, Williams asked: "When can they come?"

Virginia Elite youth coach Curtis Elswick replied, "When they don't need diapers."

Lo and behold, the Williams twins hit the mats in preschool.

Oakley and Rally are just two of the Virginia Elite youth wrestlers.

Wrestlers training with the twins have been with the organization just as long, with most beginning at the start of kindergarten. Many of these wrestlers continue the sport into middle and high school.

According to Elswick, about 75 percent of the kids go on to wrestle in high school. He said they are the "bread and butter" of the high school program.

"Any successful high school coach will tell you that for you to consistently win at that level, you must have a good feeder program," Elswick said.

He said high school coaches benefit from training athletes with experience because it saves them from having to spend too much time going over the basics. Elswick said he thinks these coaches are given a great advantage and can "hit the ground running."

Elswick wrestled during high school in Grundy, with his school winning the state championship every year he attended.

After high school, Elswick wrestled for several Division III schools in Iowa before returning to Virginia to coach at Radford High School. In 1998, he led Radford to the Division A state championship.

That same year he joined the coaching staff at Hawkeye Hall.

"For me, [wrestling] was a sport that didn't care where you came from or how rich or poor you were," Elswick said. "It was about how bad you wanted to win and how much effort you were willing to put into it."

Elswick and the Christiansburg staff instill this, among other values, in their athletes.

"I hope that wrestlers learn the importance of having a positive attitude at all times, and not just when things are going good," said Christiansburg High School head wrestling coach and Hawkeye Hall coach Daryl Weber, who recently led the Blue Demons to their ninth straight state title -- over Grundy.

Williams agreed that discipline is a core value both practiced and preached in the program.

His wife, Erica Williams, said her sons have "learned so much about nutrition, taking care of their bodies, focusing, and illustrating discipline not only on the wrestling mat, but in practice and school."

The youth group practices a few days each week, with the exception of tournament weeks when they practice four to five days the week before.

Practices last from one to two hours each day, during which the wrestlers do a lot of running, tumbling and stretching. At the close of each practice, the athletes wrestle with partners and condition through sprints and push-ups.

Weber stressed that the wrestlers work on coordination, strength and technique. He also said that although they are serious about their sport, the coaching staff at Hawkeye Hall is also a big fan of games, as it is important to keep things fun with young wrestlers.

"As experienced coaches, we understand that the kids need a balance," Elswick said. "Our program has allowed kids to travel to other states and see things that they may not get a chance to if they weren't wrestling."

In past tournaments, the team has traveled throughout Virginia and competed in several states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oklahoma. The group usually travels two to three weekends a month.

Coach Elswick tries to mix in fun activities at practice and on the road during tournaments.

The team stays in hotels, with pools of course, and visits the beach when competing on the coast. Last spring, the team members met 2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo while they were participating in the national tournament in Iowa.

"We try to make wrestling trips fun, but also promote that they take a break every once in awhile to do 'kid stuff,' " Elswick said.

And fun is all the boys had to talk about.

"It's fun when we get to play games after practice," Rally said. "It helps you get your arms stronger and it makes you a better wrestler."

Williams said that his kids haven't really caught on to the nature of games just yet.

"What they don't realize," he said, "is that when they play the games, they are working harder than they usually do in practice."

Despite this, the games, which involve a lot of running, seem to be popular among the Hawkeye wrestlers. To most 8-year-olds, nothing beats winning.

"My favorite part is pinning people because I like winning," Oakley said. "I like the rewards I get, like trophies and medals."

At this comment, Oakley turned to his brother to say: "I always beat him."

"Nuh uh," Rally quickly rebutted.

Andrew Morgan, 9, also talked about how he likes to win medals.

"The kids learn that if they want to win a tournament and receive a big trophy or nice medal, that they have to earn it through consistently coming to practice and working hard when they are there," Elswick said.

"Wrestling is a sport that teaches kids about work ethic."

Both Erica Williams and Weber say the sport helps build good habits that can lead to healthy lives.

Elswick agreed and added that friendships among team members also encourage their efforts to excel.

"They look forward to coming to practice and going on trips so they can hang out with each other," he said. "They like winning medals and trophies, but also enjoy being in the van during long trips."

The friends are close enough to have made the cut for the twins' birthday party a few weekends ago. All the boys' friends who attended were wrestlers.

The Virginia Elite program attracts not only Christiansburg natives, but also athletes and their families from areas such as Pulaski and Roanoke.

"I really think just hearing the Christiansburg name attracts some of these people," Williams said. "When you hear Christiansburg and wrestling together, it sounds good. Everybody fears you because they know you're going to be good."

Elswick said the strong reputation comes from the wrestlers' dedication.

"We have a reputation as a strong team because our kids have proven themselves as competitors on a regional and national level," he said.

"Not only do our kids compete on these levels, but they win and/or place in tournaments at this elite level."

In a tournament last fall, Oakley beat the North Carolina state champion, and in West Virginia, he qualified for the national tournament.

Recently, he placed fifth in a statewide tournament. The twins both placed at the elementary state tournament last year and are projected to win upcoming tournaments.

"Oakley is the serious one," Elswick said. "He is very competitive and passionately hates to lose."

While Oakley is known to frown for hours after having lost a match, Rally never lets a smile leave his face.

"Rally, on the other hand, is very laid-back. I have seen him lose a match, get up, shake the kid's hand, and then walk away smiling," Elswick said.

Aside from a birth certificate, people wouldn't believe they are brothers, much less twins.

As Elswick put it: "I think they are infected with the same disease that has caused many other kids to become successful wrestlers at Christiansburg."