Walsall youngster wins national wrestling title at age 8

A Walsall youngster has won national wrestling titles at the age of just 8 years old.

Isher Singh Thiara, began wrestling when he was still a toddler with his dad encouraging him to do basic gymnastics along with kicking and punching techniques. Isher would jump off the sofas doing a kicks pretending to be a super hero.

At the age of 3 years old he was formally signed him up to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes.

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When Isher was 6 his dad crossed paths with wrestling coach James Ault, known as Jim. Jim was 89 years old at the time and running his own club Birmingham Wrestling Club.

After meeting Jim Isher he was keen to try freestyle wrestling especially as he had been grappling since 3 years old.

Isher has won gold in 4 of the 5 events after competing in the English championships, British championships, Scottish championships, Irish championships and Welsh championships, which is an unprecedented achievement in the wrestling world.

Pardeep, Isher’s father said: “Sharon (Isher’s mother) and I have never missed a competition and we always cheer him on from the side lines.

“As a father it fills me with pride and emotion watching my young boy competing in front of hundreds of spectators. It sometimes takes me back to a time when I competed in kickboxing many years ago. It makes me and Sharon so proud.

“The reason why I was keen to push Isher to martial art and wrestling was because as a young boy he had lots of energy and I wanted that to be channelled to something positive where he can learn to control his emotions, learn new skills, learn to push through adversity and build mental and physical toughness.

“With so many distractions for young kids this day in age we are lucky to be in a position to have Isher involved in sport. Training and competing can consume most evenings and weekends but Isher is always able to find a way to get all of his homework done thanks to his mum Sharon.

“The most difficult thing about Isher competing is setting the alarm for 5:30am on a Saturday or Sunday when we could be having a lie-in, packing the car and setting off 100’s of miles to compete

Isher’s young brother Sher Singh Thiara, age 4, is following in his older brothers footsteps and has started his own wrestling journey.

In addition to gold medals, he has won gold in countless local competitions such as the Barton Open, Derbyshire Open and Birmingham SLAM.

“Next year the plans are to support Isher so that he can compete and train out in Europe. When Isher is older he hopes to win gold for team GB at the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. The last time team GB won an Olympic medal in freestyle wrestling was 1984. He also aspires to be a UFC champion and wrestling is a fantastic base to build from,” added Pardeep.