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Replay & Notes: March Informational Zoom Call

By Gabby Lord-Klein, 03/23/22, 3:15PM CDT

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Thank you to all who joined us for our March zoom call! The call was heavily centered on Training Team information for the men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle programs. We got to hear a great perspective from parents Dan Drexler, and Neysa and Joe Bianchi. As a reminder, the first camp for the MFS and GR programs is coming up THIS Sunday, March 27th and the next WFS is April 9th. If you were unable to attend the call, the replay and key notes are outlined below. 

What: WWF General Membership Informational Zoom 2
When: March 21st, 2022 7PM CT
Where: Virtual, via Zoom
Replay: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n-RNlFUWTa7TK-66q-mZgMPz4XCU0sYG/view 
(skip from 7:20 - 10 minutes - there were some internet problems we had to resolve :)). 

Public Agenda & Key Notes

  • Introduction and Overview, Scott Kluever

    1. Welcome! Each month we will address a different area within the organization to help best support our members. 

  • 2022 Training Team and Registration, Scott Kluever 

    1. The Training Team camps were introduced nearly a decade ago. They are designed to provide our athletes from all different areas of the state–from the novice level to the experienced level–an opportunity to train together and to learn what our coaching staff is looking for as we head into national level events. Athletes are able to use this time to build rapport with the coaching staff as we head into the spring and summer season. 

    2. Register online, here. You can visit individual age-group pages by selecting each option: 14U, 16U, Juniors, Women

  • Summary bullet points from the parents regarding the Training Team: Dan Drexler, Neysa and Joe Bianchi. There was much more discussed on the call, but these are some highlights! 

    1. N. Bianchi: Some of the best things have been the people and the opportunities that were afforded to our kids because of the people we were introduced to. It’s always amazing to see your kid link up and establish rapport with a new coach because it makes the whole experience fresh, and one of the most special things for our kids was that other Wisconsin wrestlers are friends instead of just opponents. Our kids looked forward to the spring and summer season. 

    2. D. Drexler: As a new parent when you attend the first camp you get to familiarize yourself with other parents and realize that you’re all in it together, your kids have similar goals and you’ll get to be with the same individuals through the summer.

    3. N. Bianchi: Once you meet other parents you end up leaning on each other for carpooling, etc. It’s a great support network and sometimes even during the high school season, the kids will connect on the weekend to get some extra work in. 

    4. D. Drexler: In the same way that your kids look forward to the spring and summer, the parents build relationships that last well longer than your kid's wrestling career

    5. S. Kluever: There aren’t any requirements to attend tournaments in order to be part of the training team. Our goal is to help train your athlete to the best of our ability and if they want to compete we’re happy to take them

    6. N. Bianchi: I thought it was very important for our kids to have exposure to as many coaches as possible. All your kids are different and they don’t respond to the same coach in the same way. It’s fascinating to see them find a coach that really turns the lightbulb on for them and to give your kid that is like a gift. It makes the whole experience fresh and fun for them to be able to continue to grow as a wrestler.

    7. Dan: Wrestling freestyle and Greco in the spring and summer makes athletes better wrestlers.

    8. N. Bianchi, recruiting: College coaches were interested in Paul’s, and the other kids, ability in Greco and freestyle because they said it made him a whole wrestler, not just someone who does folkstyle, but someone who wrestles year-round and is successful at it. Freestyle and Greco opens up a whole new toolbox. 

    9. D. Drexler, recruiting: What happens when you wrestle freestyle and Greco is you get exposed to so many kids. At Central Plains or Northern Plains you start wrestling kids from more of a region so you get exposure to other coaches. On top of that when you go to Fargo you wrestle kids from across the country and you get exposure to college coaches. You get recognition for significant wins. Kids who have wrestled in the WWF have had more college exposure than kids who wrestle just folksytle, even some that are very good at folkstyle but they don't wrestle FS and GR, so it has given us exposure and interest from the national level. 

    10. Gabby LK, women’s college wrestling: More than thirty thousand girls wrestle in high school. Women wrestle freestyle in college and there are 100+ NCAA and NAIA programs combined that offer varsity women’s wrestling. Many girls from the WWF wrestle in college both in Wisconsin and out of state. Some resources include the NWCA interactive map, Division 1 Women’s Wrestling, Wrestle Like A Girl, Wreaper Wrestling, Transition Wrestling. All of these accounts and most college wrestling programs have social media accounts across various platforms. 

    11. Scott Kluever, Northern Plains: The WWF is hosting Northern Plains so we won’t provide transportation to the event like we would if it’s in Rochester (it’s in the Dells). Northern and Central Plains are important because the top four place winners auto-qualify for Fargo. Our Fargo team is strong. 

    12. S. Kluever, 14U vs older age groups: The 14U age group will wrestle at National Duals in Indiana (top placers at FS/GR state). It’s important for them to be at camp for them to build a rapport with coaches before they travel to national events at the next level. They also get an opportunity to train with the kids they look up to–from my son’s experience the older kids took him under their wing and he learned how to practice, drill, act in the hotel and treat other teammates. It’s not just about wrestling, but about life. 

  • 2022 Kids Folkstyle State Championships Information, Todd Schaaf

    1. March 24-26th, 2022. Select here, for the web page and flyer. 

    2. The Kids Folkstyle State is returning to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison

    3. Coaches are required to have a USAW Leader Card and minimum of a NCEP Copper Certification. Please note that background checks can take up to 7 days.

    4. The 8 district champions will receive a bye in the first round. All wrestlers are guaranteed two matches.

    5. Admissions will be sold on Thursday and Fridays as well as coach bands for $10. Coach bands get you into the event free of charge

    6. The event will be streamed on FloWrestling

  • Closing Remarks, Scott Kluever

    1. April preview: The April meetup via zoom will highlight information on Fargo registration, and then turn into a Q&A session featuring several athletes within the WWF program. 

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