Olympic medalist leads wrestling camp at Fraser High School

FRASER — Former University of Michigan wrestler Myles Amine has traveled all around the world in his Olympic wrestling career.

Whether it was just this past summer, when he took gold at the 2023 Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial Tournament in Budapest, Hungary, or in the spring of this year, when he took silver at the 2023 European World Championships in Croatia.

Through all of his travels around the world and facing different wrestling opponents and styles, Amine’s heart was back at home on Oct. 28, where he led a high school wrestling camp at Fraser High School.

“My dad grew up in Warren, Michigan, and in this area,” Amine said. “We consider ourselves a family of the state of Michigan wrestling. As far as my allegiance goes, obviously I’m a (Detroit) Catholic Central alumni, but the older I get, I realize how much I love wrestling in the state of Michigan. I kind of consider myself an ambassador for the entire state. I like to give back to any program, especially if it’s the state of Michigan.”

A 2015 Catholic Central graduate, five-time all American, and two-time Big Ten champion at Michigan, Amine’s family tree of wrestling was born and raised in metro Detroit. His father, Mike Amine, and his uncle, Sam Amine, were both standout athletes at Warren’s Lincoln High School, and both went on to wrestle at Michigan.

Being not only a homegrown talent but also a decorated wrestler, Amine commanded the attention of a room of 170 attendees in the Fraser gym.

The camp, which was run by Fraser coaches Richard Julien and Kyle Tucker, was held in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps and the USMC Sports Leadership Academy, which holds various sports camps around the nation.

Attendees were split into two groups headlined by Amine and Marine Corps Team USA wrestler, Capt. Terrence Zaleski.

Zaleski’s group worked on everything from leadership qualities to conditioning and team bonding drills while Amine’s group got an in-depth look at the skill set of an Olympic wrestler.

“I show a lot of the stuff that I’m hitting at the highest level,” Amine said. “I think that’s something I’ve always prided myself on that when I come to a camp, I don’t show them a bunch of bologna. I want to show them the stuff that’s worked for me.”

The USMC reported that this was the second-largest wrestling camp they hosted this year behind their camp in Los Angeles, and high schools from all over the metro Detroit area came out strong.

From Warren Woods Tower and Macomb Dakota to Birmingham Groves and Roseville, the state of Michigan was well represented.

“Macomb County is the biggest wrestling conference in the state of Michigan,” Tower assistant coach Michael Milunovich said. “We have 35 teams broken into five different conferences, so you’re seeing a lot of people from around the conference. You got Romeo here and Fraser, who hosted it and did a great job. I’ve seen Roseville kids here and obviously Tower kids. I’ve seen kids from about 10 different schools, so it’s definitely a good event.”

Milunovich and the Amine family go way back as Milunovich, a Lincoln graduate, won a Class A wrestling state title at Lincoln under head coach Sam Amine, Myles’ uncle. Tucker, an assistant coach for Fraser wrestling, also wrestled for Sam Amine at Lincoln.

It goes to show the kind of brotherhood the sport of wrestling can be, and Myles Amine assumed the big brother role at the camp as he spoke to the young wrestlers who were homed in on each word he said.

“I think it inspires kids that he only really did good his junior and senior year in high school, and it’s just nice to see how these Olympic people wrestle because you think, ‘Oh, I’m this such good kid,’ and then you see the struggle some people go through to get where they’re at,” Fraser junior wrestler Draven McAllister said.

Along with top-level instructors, attendees also received shirts, breakfast and Chick-fil-A for lunch.

After seeing the response, it’s safe to say this kind of event will be prioritized in the future for wrestling in Macomb County.

“You just look at what we’re looking at now with almost 200 kids here,” Amine said. “I think they were saying that events they’ve been doing for over five years around the country haven’t gotten this kind of turnout. It just shows that wrestling in metro Detroit and this area of Macomb County has been strong for a long time and is not fading away. It’s only getting stronger.”