The first Tuesday of each month, we interview someone from Charlotte Latin Athletics with twenty questions to help the CLS community get to know some of our athletes, coaches, and supporters a bit better.
 
It's the last 20 Question Tuesday of 2023 and we're introducing you to wrestling brothers Spear & Clifton Gorelick. Last year, Spear was second in the conference and the state runner-up in his weight class as a ninth grader. So far this season, he is 10-0, and is now training with and mentoring his freshman brother, Clifton. It's a dynamic that could be a sticky one for competitive siblings, but these two are thriving in it. Read on to get to know a little about the Gorelick brothers.
 
1. You guys are only a year apart in school. Would you say you have a close relationship?
Clifton: We're really close. We're about 15 months apart and we've been close since we were little. We've been wrestling with each other forever.
Spear: We're as close as brothers can be. We mess around with each other a lot and have fun.
 
2. Does that make for a competitive home environment? How does the rest of the family fit in?   
Clifton: We make everything a competition. I do most of the trash talking.
Spear: In certain circumstances, we do get after it a lot. In our family, our older sister Lulu (Class of 2024) is kind of the third adult. You can't mess around with Lulu, she's all business. Clifton is the troublemaker. I don't know what I am, and Shirley (Class of 2029) just gets run over by us.
Clifton: It's pretty crazy in our house. We joke around a lot and it's fun. I love our dinners together. There's a lot of talking and our dad is a big character who cracks a lot of jokes.
 
3. And are there any pets in the Gorelick household?  
Clifton: Yes, we have a dog named Kemba.
Spear: He's named after Kemba Walker. He's an Old English Sheepdog and he's big.
3b: Who is his favorite in the family?
Spear: Mom is his favorite.
Clifton: But out of the two of us, I'm his favorite. I give him a lot of pets.
 
4. Since you've been at Latin, have either of you had a favorite or particularly impactful teacher?
Spear: I came to Latin in second grade and my teacher, Ms. Parks, who's now retired, was great. She really helped me. I'm dyslexic and she supported me and helped me with that a lot. 
Clifton: We all started Latin at the same time, so I was in first grade. I feel like a Latin Lifer, but technically, I'm not. I've had a lot of great teachers but Mr. Schriffen and I had a great connection in fifth grade. We talked a lot of sports.
 
5. What's your most enjoyable class and your most challenging subject?  
Spear: Well, because I'm dyslexic, I don't like reading or writing, so that makes history and English my most challenging subjects. I enjoy numbers so my most enjoyable class right now is math with Mr. Keefer.
Clifton: I'd say for me it's the opposite. I like writing and learning about the past. I'm really enjoying English with Ms. Barger. She has me and Lulu right now, but Lulu is in AP. Ms. Barger is very good at relating to her students. You can talk to her about whatever, but she is teaching you at the same time.
 
6. Wrestling was probably not the first sport you tried. Do you remember what your first team was?
Spear: It was soccer for both of us. Our mom played soccer at Wake Forest, so she put us in it at a very young age.
Clifton: And she coached us. We both stuck with it until we were about 9 or 10, but the club team got very competitive and practice was also far away and inconvenient.
Spear: We did other sports too. I tried t-ball with Clifton. I don't think I ever played hockey, but I used to skate a lot. I played Pop Warner and CLS Middle School football, and I started playing club lacrosse around fourth or fifth grade.
Clifton: You can't forget about fencing.
Spear: Oh, yeah. I was like seven and I fenced for like a week. Maybe a month or two.
Clifton: And boxing.
Spear: Boxing wasn't real. I tried boxing for like two days.
Clifton: I didn't quite try all of those. I was a big basketball player starting in second grade until about sixth grade. That's when I figured out I should wrestle because I saw Spear wrestling and thought it looked fun. Also, I wasn't tall enough for basketball.
 
7. Coach Paige said you guys are training partners. What's that like?
Clifton: Spear is a better wrestler than me, so I love learning from him. I don't love it when I hit a move wrong and he corrects me, because that's annoying, but he's also helping me get better. He picks up moves so quickly, it's impressive.
Spear: We always wrestle and mess around with each other at home, so it's fun when it carries over to wrestling practice. I enjoy being able to teach him moves and we can both get better by training together.
 
8. What's the secret to success in wrestling?
Clifton: Spear has taught me, especially this year since it's my first on varsity, that you need to find something that you're good at and perfect it. Then you always have that one thing to go to no matter what your opponent tries to do. It's not about how strong or fast you are; technique and how smart you are win the match.
Spear: It's 25% strength, 25% technique, and the rest is mental.
Clifton: Preparation is important though. Coach Paige preaches that.
 
9. Would you say you've learned a lot from Coach Paige?  
Spear: He's super inspiring as a person. You can come to him with a problem or just to talk to about anything and he will help you. He wants everyone to be amazing as individuals and as a team.
Clifton: He's the reason our program has had so much success the past twenty years. It's the best feeling ever when you do something well and he says, "Good job, Champ."
 
10. What do you each like most and least about wrestling?  
Spear: Wrestling is a really, really tough sport. You have to be at the highest level of fitness. There's being in shape for wrestling and then there's being in shape for everything else. They're not the same thing. The best thing about practice is the community and the friends. But practice is also the worst. It's fun, but it's also really hard.
Clifton: I'd say the best part is the sense of accomplishment. At the end of practice, when you're exhausted but you have to do ten more reps, but everyone's exhausted and dripping in sweat and it's a brotherhood. You do it and you feel so accomplished and like you're part of a community. My least favorite part is right before that when we're running sprints.
 
11. As individuals, and as part of a team, what are your goals for wrestling?
Clifton: For me, as a freshman, I want to place in states – so that means finishing in the top six. My real goal is to be top three. That would be amazing. The team goal is to win states, but not just win, dominate. There are a lot of good teams, though, so it'll be a challenge.
Spear: My long-term goal is to get 100 wins total. The team goal is to win states, but every year Coach Paige gives us a quote that helps motivate us. This year it's, "Beat the kids that can't be beat."
Clifton: He's telling us to have the mentality that you can go in there and compete against anyone.

12. Do you get nervous watching each other compete?
(Both nod vigorously.)
Clifton: I get nervous when Spear's wrestling, but I always think he's going to win. I watched him at Nationals last year. I took two days off school to go watch him in Maryland, but there were zero expectations there so that wasn't so nerve-wracking. But in the final match at states…. That was tough. Our mom gets super nervous too.
Spear: I definitely get more nervous when he's competing than when I'm competing. It feels so much more intense. When I wrestle, I don't really get nervous. I'm just thinking, "Try as hard as you can."
 
13. Are there any thoughts about continuing to wrestle in college?
Spear: Yes, if I can. I think it would be fun.
Clifton: Not for me. My goal is to try to announce some games while I'm in college, not to play. I've been getting some practice doing games at Latin.
 
14. As part of Hawks Media Production, correct?
Clifton: Yes. I've already done field hockey and football and now I'm doing wrestling. I didn't know a lot about field hockey. There are a lot of whistles, a lot of stoppages. Mr. Teets taught me a lot. Now I'm doing wrestling and I like how much knowledge I can spread to people. The average person knows nothing about wrestling, so I love explaining how points work and teaching people about the sport. I played lacrosse last spring, but I'm going to stick to broadcasting this year. If I could be a broadcaster someday that would be amazing and Hawks Media Production is a great opportunity to get some practice.
 
15. How about you, Spear? Will you be back on the lacrosse field this spring?   
Spear: Yeah, I'm really excited for it. It's going to be fun. We have a new head coach and I know some of the seniors and have connections on the team now, so I think it's going to be a fun season.
 
16. Alright, let's finish up with some easy questions. What's your splurge food or favorite dessert?
Spear: It's tough because I'm gluten free so I can't have a bunch of the baked goods. Probably some candy like Snickers.
Clifton: Spear's a big candy guy. I'd say ice cream. I love ice cream. You can never go wrong with ice cream.
 
17. Who is a sports figure you admire?
Clifton: Kemba Walker
Spear: Probably my mom. She played college soccer and I'm proud of her. She's very inspiring.
 
18.  Who's the best cook in the family? 
Spear: Mom won't admit it, but it's her. She's good at it, but she doesn't enjoy it.
Clifton: Dad does breakfast. He specializes in eggs.
Spear: He specializes in microwave cooking, but he's pretty good at eggs.
 
19. Who's the funniest in the family? 
Spear: I would say, probably Clifton.
Clifton: Thank you.
Spear: My dad has a lot of hit or miss jokes.
Clifton: Most of his laughs are unintentional, but it's probably our dad. When you tell fifty jokes in a night, at least ten are going to be funny. 
 
20. What is something you admire about one another?
Spear: Clifton is a super nice person who is fun to talk to and he's very funny, both when he's trying to be and when he's not trying to be.  
Clifton: I love how hard-working Spear is, and he's an amazing mentor. Not even just with wrestling but as a person. He's super positive. When I'm literally dying in practice, Spear has a smile on his face and says, "Let's go, Clifton. Let's keep working."