Pinned

Just how far will someone go to become a champion? Filmmakers Patrick Norman and Mike Norman examine the strange but true stories of two young men vying for high school wrestling honors in this documentary. Lance Palmer attends a private school in Lakewood, Ohio that has a reputation for turning out winning wrestling teams. Palmer's family moved to Lakewood so he could have a place on their team, and his father has been grooming him to become a competitive wrestler since he was a boy. Palmer is so dedicated to his training that he practices with six hundred pound black bears, but he has a powerful rival in Matt Curley, who attends a local public high school. Curley's school hasn't taken home a championship in wrestling in half a century, but that hasn't dulled his ambitions; he trains with a powerful focus and drive, and will do nearly anything to see that he makes the right weight class. But between skill, passion and luck of the draw, it's anyone's guess which young man truly has the advantage. Pinned was an official selection at the 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.