COOKEVILLE – WCTE Upper Cumberland PBS will host a free screening of the Independent Lens Documentary of Wrestle on Tuesday, May 14 at the Backdoor Playhouse, 805 Quadrangle Dr. on Tennessee Tech Campus. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the screening will begin at 6 p.m.
Wrestle is an intimate, inspiring, coming-of-age portrait of the wrestling team at Huntsville’s J.O. Johnson High School, which has been on Alabama’s failing schools list for many years. As they fight their way towards the State Championship, wrestlers Jailen, Jamario, Teague, and Jaquan each face injustices and challenges on and off the mat, together grappling with obstacles that jeopardize their success while their tough-love coach Chris Scribner isn’t off the hook either; he must come to terms with his own past while unwittingly wading into the complexities of race, class and privilege.
Director Suzannah Herbert and co-director Lauren Belfer captured over 650 hours of footage during the team’s final season to create this closely observed, deeply affecting depiction of growing up disadvantaged in America. Wrestle premieres on Independent Lens Monday, May 20, on PBS and will also be available simultaneously for online streaming at pbs.org.
“We welcome members of any athletic teams, especially wrestling teams, to come and join us for this movie. We would love to get your input on the struggles of being on a wrestling team and trying to succeed with everything else that is required of you at this age,” said WCTE’s Brent Clark.
WCTE has served the Upper Cumberland for more than 40 years as the regions premier storyteller and is the only television station in a 75-mile radius of Cookeville, making it a strategic partner with education, health services, government, arts and music. WCTE is owned and operated by the Upper Cumberland Broadcast Council and is one of only 350 PBS affiliates nationwide.
