September 5, 2013

School has started statewide and the USA Wrestling season is also underway.  The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation had a banner year in many senses and we look forward to bigger and better things this coming year.

We fielded two teams at the Schoolboy National Duals, with one team placing in both styles. Many of the Schoolboy National Duals team members will be Cadets in 2014, so we anticipate their experience this summer will help them in preparation next year for Cadet Nationals.

Our Cadet teams finished in the top 8 in both styles at Fargo, and Beau Breske was a double champion and was picked as the Outstanding Wrestler in Freestyle.  In the two styles, Beau wrestled 22 matches and only gave up one match point.  With such a performance, the OW award was well deserved.

In the Junior Nationals Freestyle Tournament, Hunter Marko of Amery won his fifth USA Wrestling National Championship. Last year Hunter won the Triple Crown as a Cadet, and this year he as a Junior won the national championship at 106 pounds in dominating fashion.

As a state, Wisconsin had thirty All-Americans between both Cadets and Juniors. It should be noted that this is the largest number of All-Americans we have ever had as a state and we finished high in both age levels. The athletes and coaches were well prepared and represented Wisconsin wrestling with class. Congratulations to all those that were part of that week in Fargo.

USA Wrestling selects individuals who have contributed their talents and time to the sport and have excelled at their duties and positions. This year, Wisconsin had two individuals that were honored for their accomplishments. Lorraine Smith from Chippewa Falls was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as a pairing official.  Lorraine began pairing in 1993 and was rapidly upgraded to a P2 in 1995. In 2006, she earned distinction as a P1-E, the highest rank any pairing official can hold. She has officiated over 100 national tournaments in the past 20 years and has been assigned to the Olympic Trials and the World Championships.  Lorraine is passionate about the sport and was fortunate to have four sons that competed at a high level, a husband who has coached for many years, and an extended family that has followed her to many events and have also become licensed pairers and are contributing along with her. Congratulations Lorraine for many years of outstanding service to wrestling and Wisconsin.

Casey Brennan-Goessl from Osceola received the Official of the Year Award for his excellence as a mat official. Casey was first licensed in 1996 and was recognized as a FILA Official in 2004. He has officiated every World Team Trial and Olympic Trials since 2007 and is recognized as an M1 national official and a FILA Olympic-category Official. These are the highest categories domestically and internationally in the sport of wrestling. He has been a USWOA board member since 2011 and serves that position, with pride and knowledge.  He has been part of tours to Sweden, Nicaragua, Columbia, Iran, Russia and Chile. Casey is a doctor of chiropractic and has an office in Somerset. Casey’s father, Glenn Goessl, has officiated every style of wrestling in Wisconsin and nationally for many years, and his brother, Cody, is an up-and-coming official also. Congratulations to Casey and special thanks to you and your family for many years of contributions.

The District meetings for the WWF will be held on Wednesday, September 11th in each district.  Please check www.wiwrestlingfederation.com for the specific time and location of your regional meeting.  The annual meeting for the WWF will be in Wisconsin Dells on Oct 27th at noon. This is your place to offer your thoughts, ideas and ask any questions that you may have. Hope to see you there.

Yours in wrestling,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

March 2013

Spring is finally approaching and the WWF board of directors is pleased and relieved with the completion of the Folkstyle state tournament series and is looking forward to the Greco and Freestyle season. Congratulations to all those athletes that competed, the coaches that provided the leadership and skills and the parents that support their sons and daughters regardless of the outcome, as an organization we are proud of everyone’s accomplishments and contributions.

The board of directors has moved forward with a development in the girls program, we have assigned a Women’s coach to work with the Women’s director and the state coach. Randy Dusing – who has been a long time coach and advocate of the sport – is the new women’s state coach; he will work with Mike Rief who is the Women’s Director and our State Coach Scott Kluever as we move forward with the program. It is the tentative plan to provide training opportunities for the women prior to our state event and into the spring and encourage and train those that are eligible to compete on the national scene. There are several opportunities nationwide for competition, and we have also recognized great strides in the Women’s State Folkstyle Tournament, as this year we had 195 compete at Madison. With a core group of girls and the support of their coaches and parents and the newly commissioned plan for developing training and competition opportunities, we feel as though there is bright future for our state and all of our girls that want to wrestle.

The WWF just completed the first of three open training sessions on Saturday in River Falls; there were 48 Wisconsin Team members and 70 athletes that enrolled in the open sessions. Those sessions were coached by our state clinicians. Matt Zwashka, Scott Arneson, Kevin Black and Brad Owens. The next session will be held in Kaukauna and those that want to be in the open session need to contact Scott Kluever and get signed up. The limit has been set at 70 as that is what the coaches feel is a manageable number. In watching the practices and matches I’m convinced that we are doing a good thing with the plan. There will be numerous opportunities to compete in Greco and Freestyle this spring and summer, those events will be posted on our website as we receive the information, you can also look at USA Wrestling’s site www.themat.com and go to the event section for opportunities (http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=4).

The numbers this year at Folkstyle State were at an all-time high, 1,463 competitors in all division and 4,228 that competed in the regionals at the eight locations. Your participation in this series is very much appreciated by the board and we are a model program nationwide, keep up the good work and thanks to all.

Yours in wrestling,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

January 2013

The groundhog saw his shadow, not much winter left but there is a whole bunch of wrestling left, this is a great time of the year for our sport as the high school state series starts and the youth tournaments are well underway. The WWF info is on the website and the Folkstyle Regional registration details are available, TrackWrestling has the preregistration setup, I would encourage you to check for details and register early. You do need to have a current USA card to be eligible for the regionals; those can be purchased online on themat.com, from Sandy Russell, your local club or at the regionals on the day of the event. This year will be the same as last year with Friday night registration and weighins only; this allows the WWF to start the regionals earlier and takes some of the pressure off the host site on Saturday morning. Once again we will have two start times, the early start will be for the two youngest divisions and the late start will host the two older divisions, this has proven to very successful in the past. Check the website for the weighin locations as some of the districts have alternate weighin sites that go from 5:30 -7:00 PM. It is required that you participate in the regional that you weighin at, you are not allowed to switch regionals, if you do you will be ineligible to compete in the regionals and state.

The requirement for all coaches to be a member of USA Wrestling will once again be enforced at the state tournament, you can purchase your membership online at themat.com , and you will need to complete a successful background check prior to the purchase of a membership. The coaches’ membership card will give you free access to the state tournament without any admission fee. Last year proved to be very successful with this requirement and we will transition into requiring a coach’s education certification in 2014 and beyond. The NCEP program is very beneficial, there are four levels of education, and the minimum will be required. Scott Kleuver is available and will to provide either the Copper or Bronze class to any group that is interested, please feel free to contact him with your request.

Dominate in the Dells will be held at the Chula Vista Sports Dome on Saturday , March 16th, the registration information is available online at themat.com, there are limited spots, register soon to assure your spot for this event. The Freestyle and Greco- Roman State Tournament will be held at the same location on Saturday and Sunday May 4-5th. If you have not tried either of those styles, give it try, those that do find that it is very similar to folkstyle and gives you two more opportunities to compete at a state level with some of the best.

Yours in wrestling: Dave Black

December 7, 2012

Season’s Greetings from the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation! We are in high gear in the wrestling season and it looks as though there is plenty of good wrestling going on statewide. In watching Badger State Wrestling clips, it is apparent that the competition is high and the action is great. The WWF has their schedules for next year in place – and they can be found on our website.  I would encourage those that are planning on participating in our tournaments to check those schedules and make your plans in advance and be ready all the fun next spring. We have added a few weight classes for our folkstyle series and have modified the schedule to accommodate the input and suggestions of members.

The upcoming year will have the same requirements for coaches as they were last year; coach’s membership will be required at the state tournaments to be mat side. Many of you acquired your membership last year; if you purchased the two year card you are set.  If not – you’ll need to apply again for the upcoming season. If you have not acquired a membership card in the past you’ll need to complete the background check and then apply for the membership card when your background procedure is approved, this could take up to 8-10 days. The WWF realizes the value of the membership and hope to enhance the value with coaching education in the future. Scott Kluever has been teaching Copper & Bronze Clinics statewide the past year and is eager and available to assist anyone that may be interested in hosting a clinic in the future.

In 2013 the WWF will be changing their athlete instruction format; there will be no training sites as we’ve held in the past. In 2013 there will be clinics placed throughout the state in March through June that will be available to our selected national team members and the first additional seventy five USA members, those dates and locations will be available on our website.

Wishing you a successful wrestling season and a joyous holiday,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

September 6, 2012

Welcome back to the preseason of wrestling.  The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation had a very successful year.  This year our membership was at 9,986 and we have the third largest membership base in the country – behind California and Illinois.  Our membership at every level is up; this includes coaches, officials, clubs, events and athletes.  A special thanks to everyone that is part of the growth of the WWF.

Our summer was a success with our teams and individuals that competed.  The WWF sent teams to all the duals tournaments, where the Schoolboys finished 4th in Greco-Roman and 6th in Freestyle in tough tournaments with 34 teams.  The Cadets placed 9th and 10th in Florida during the Cadet Duals; the Juniors placed 4th in Greco-Roman and 6th in Freestyle in Oklahoma City.  Congratulations to all the athletes and a special thanks to the coaches and parents that assisted and supported all those teams.

At the Junior Nationals in Fargo, Wisconsin placed 3rd as a team and had several All-Americans in both styles.  The cadets had a good showing at the Nationals also and Hunter Marko of Amery secured a Triple Crown in dominating fashion in the Greco-Roman and Freestyle tournament at 91 lbs. as a first year Cadet.  He also won the Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls last spring with a major decision in the finals.  Many years of success to look forward to for Hunter!  Joey Nelson from Stoughton was a National Champion at 138 lbs. as a first year cadet and several of their teammates finished as All-Americans also.

This year we had several board members that received USA Wrestling national awards for their contributions and commitment to the sport of wrestling.  Lorraine Smith received the Bernie Norris Memorial award for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the field of pairings.  Mel Dow was the recipient of the Kids / Cadets Person of the Year for his involvement at those age levels throughout the year.  Receiving the Events Volunteer of the Year award for 2012 – is Jeff Jones for his countless hours of assistance at our events and several national events that he manages or assists with.  At the coaching level, Kevin Black was awarded the Women’s Coach of the year for the second time and Duffy Brelsford was selected for the Coaching Apprentice Program and traveled to Thailand with the Junior World team.  Kayla Spurley who is one of our highest ranked pairers was selected to work at the Olympics as an official volunteer.  These members have made a great impact on our sport and state and the awards are much deserved, congratulations to all of them.

The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation annual meeting will be held at the Wintergreen Resort in Wisconsin Dells on Sunday, Oct 14th at 12:00 noon.  I would encourage everyone to try and attend this – as it is your opportunity to hear our plans and participate on our decisions as we look forward to 2012-2013.

The Folkstyle Regionals will be held on March 9th and the State Tournament will be at the Alliant Center in Madison on March 23 and 24. Freestyle and Greco-Roman state tournament will be in Wisconsin Dells on the first weekend of May (May 4 & 5, 2013).

I wish all of you a great fall and look forward to seeing you as the wrestling season approaches.

Yours in wrestling,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

April 5, 2012

Welcome to spring and the Freestyle and Greco season. The WWF kids State Folkstyle Tournament was a big success and 1,417 boys and 171 girls competed in the two day event. The Stoughton Club and the WWF Tournament committee did a wonderful job of planning and running the tournament. This year we had a few changes and recognize the transition was successful but not without a few minor issues, the WWF will continue to refine those.  This tournament is scheduled for the fourth weekend in March 2013, and the regionals will be the second weekend in March.

The Freestyle / Greco State Tournament will be held on May 5th and 6th in Wisconsin Dells at the Chula Vista Resort Sports Complex.  Registration for the tournament is available online on TrackWrestling.com or you can preregister by mail also, the registration form is online on the WWF website.  The Freestyle tournament will be Saturday the 5th and Greco will be on Sunday the 6th.

The Dual team qualification procedures will be posted soon on the website, it is recommended that you try to participate in the state tournaments if you have hopes of being a team member, that does not assure you a spot but it becomes part of the qualifying procedures in some situations.

The Cadet / Junior National Team camp will be held in River Falls in July, cadets start Greco on the 10th of July and juniors report for Greco on July 11th. All members that intend to compete in Fargo in the Cadet/ Jr Nationals are required to attend camp for eligibility. Those that do not qualify through our state series will have a chance to wrestle off for team spots at camp.

Wisconsin was well represented at the Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, there were 400 plus competitors from Wisconsin, 14  pairers and 8 mat officials that participated, congratulations to all those that competed or assisted in the tournament.

Yours in wrestling,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

March 13, 2012

Hello from the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation.  As you read this I hope many of you are packing your bags for Madison and the Kids State Folkstyle Tournament; and hope that others have signed up for the March Matness Tournament in Wisconsin Dells.  This year at the Kids State Tournament – all coaches that choose to coach matside, need to have a current USA Wrestling Coaches membership.  This can be purchased online throughwww.themat.com. In the Alliant Energy Center, there will be an area on the outside perimeter of the mats for those that do not have a membership card – to escort their wrestlers to the mats; however, you will not be able to be matside to coach.  The WWF will have college wrestlers that will be available in the tunnels to coach your son or daughter if needed.  Those that have joined USA Wrestling will be able to enter the arena at no charge through a designated door on the east side of the Alliant Energy Center.  The membership card cannot be purchased on site as it requires a back ground check prior to the purchase of membership.  Please plan ahead and make the appropriate preparations.

As mentioned in our February 17, 2012 post on the www.wiwrestlingfederation.com website, the two piece uniforms are available for ordering on our website or by directly calling All-American Wrestling Supply at 888-285-2228.  These uniforms are eligible for competition in our state events and any USA national Folkstyle event.  We will not accept any other two piece uniforms at this time as we are trying to see if these are reasonable and useful and they are made specifically for wrestling. You can wear any singlet you choose but the two-piece uniform must be the one approved by the WWF.

I want to extend my appreciation to all of those that were involved in running the regionals and to commend all the athletes, coaches and families that attended them. We realize the importance of this event to the WWF and its members and we are always striving to enhance and improve it any way possible.  I would encourage all members and participants to attend their district meeting on the second Wednesday of September.  Exact times and locations will be posted as they are secured.  I have had numerous visits with members that want to offer their ideas and express their concerns, I’m always willing to review an email or have a visit with anybody, and we do share the information with our board members at our meetings.  Our committees are charged with making plans and procedures for their respective departments.  Those decisions that make noticeable changes are shared with our members at our annual meeting in October.

This year the Freestyle / Greco Roman State Tournament will be held in Wisconsin Dells at the Wisconsin Sports Complex at Chula Vista Resort.  That event will include a University level as it is our goal to include our colleges and universities in our organization and assist them in their programs anyway possible.  State Coach – Scott Kluever has had constant contact with our training site clinicians and many of their teammates and has extended an invitation to them and their coaches to participate in any of our programs that fit their needs.  All of the tournament information is on our website and the USA membership information is available on thewww.themat.com site or at www.usawmembership.com.

Congratulations to all of those that have participated in our March tournament series; we are proud of our members and pleased that we can showcase you in these events.  I hope to see you at Madison and the other events around the state.

Yours in wrestling,

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

February 21, 2012

The WWF Folkstyle Regionals are closing in for us all, so be sure to check the registration form as there are a few changes this year.  One notable change is that there will be one weigh-in on Friday evening at each regional host.  There will be NO weigh-ins on Saturday morning at any regional location, and there will be no changes allowed after the close of weigh-ins on Friday at 8:00 PM.  Please check the registration form for more details on locations of satellite weigh-in sites.  Once wrestlers have weighed in at their chosen regional location, including satellite weigh-in sites, wrestlers are not allowed to change weight classes or regionals for competition.

This year at the WWF State Folkstyle Tournament, all individuals wishing to coach matside must be current coach members of USA Wrestling.  These memberships can be purchased at http://www.usawmembership.com.  For everyone 18 years of age and older, a mandatory background screening is required to purchase USA Wrestling coach membership.  The background check can be done in advance of the card purchase online for $15.00 – this is good for two membership years.  I encourage all to complete this as soon as possible, as this should ensure that you’re able to purchase a coaches card after regionals to be matside at the state tournament.  If individuals encounter any difficulty in this process, please call USA Wrestling at 719.598.8181.

The WWF will make every effort to accommodate this change for coaches.  An example of this is that there will be college athletes from the regional training sites available to assist with coaching.  Another example is that there will be an area on the perimeter of the arena floor for parents that do not have a coach’s membership card to be close to the mat but that will not allow for matside coaching.  The WWF has had numerous discussions about this change over the past few years.  It has been a subject discussed at regional meetings and described at our annual meetings.  The board feels strongly that this is the next step to making this event better and will allow us to move forward with coaches’ education and training in the future.  This change was not a directive from USA Wrestling; the WWF Board of Directors made this decision and are confident that this will be a positive change as we move forward.

This year, the WWF has added a new event on March 18th called “March Matness” at the Wisconsin Dells Center at Chula Vista Resort.  This tournament is for those who competed at the Folkstyle Regionals and did not qualify for state (anybody who was third place or lower is eligible to enter this event).  If you are called as an alternate to the state tournament, you are not eligible for March Matness as you can only compete in one of these two events.  This tournament will be limited to 800 competitors and registration can be done online at TrackWrestling.com or via mail with a post mark deadline of March 12th.  The WWF feels that this gives the members an opportunity to compete at a state-wide level amongst comparable competition.  This event follows the Dominate in the Dells, a national-level event hosted by the WWF, which will be held on March 17th.

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

January 21, 2012

The wrestling season is well underway and the holiday tournaments were awesome as usual. The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation looks forward to a full calendar of events this year with two new additional tournaments hosted by the WWF. This year, we are starting a new event called the March Matness.  This tournament, which was referred to as a handful of tentative names, will be held in Wisconsin Dells at the Wisconsin Sport Center at Chula Vista Resort.  March Matness is for competitors who did not qualify for state in Madison and will be held on Sunday, March 18th.  Registration must be postmarked by Monday, March 12th and the deadline for online registration will be Tuesday, March 13th.  There will be more details forthcoming at wiwrestlingfederation.com and at the WWF Folkstyle Regionals. If you are called as an alternate to the state tournament and accept, you will no longer be able to compete in both tournaments. This tournament follows the Dominate in the Dells, a national-level folkstyle tournament that is open to all ages.  Due to the high level of competitors expected, the WWF strongly recommends that those that are competing in the March Matness do not enter this tournament.

On April 14th and 15th, the WWF is hosting the FILA Junior National Championships at the Convention Center in Madison.  This tournament is open to competitors 17-20 years of age.  Freestyle will be wrestled on Saturday and Greco-Roman on Sunday.  For more information, please go to themat.com/events.

This year at the Kids Folkstyle State and Freestyle & Greco-Roman State, coach membership with USA Wrestling is now required to be coaching mat side.  If you are in need of coach’s membership, please go to usawmembership.com to begin the process.  Membership requires a mandatory background check that is typically processed within 5 days.  Many times the screenings come back in less time than that, but please begin the check in advance of the regionals to ensure the ability to purchase coach membership.  The WWF has discussed this for the past three years and it has been discussed with members at district meetings, and was put into place at the WWF Annual Meeting in October.  For those parents that choose not to become a member, there will be coaches available at the Alliant who will be willing and qualified to coach your son or daughter.

WWF State Coach Coordinator Scott Kluever is working with college students statewide to be clinicians at our eight training sites.  Many of those student-athletes will be at the State Folkstyle Tournament to offer coaching assistance.  We are aware that this is a change, but we are also convinced that this is the next step to making this a higher quality tournament and provides a professional standard of coaching.  Also, USA Wrestling coach membership will allow you to enter the tournament at no charge through a pass gate prior to weigh-ins.

Since 2002, the WWF has enhanced and added many changes and opportunities at the State Folkstyle Tournament.  The first and biggest change was moving the event to the facility as we recognized that the high school facilities were limited in space.  This has also allowed for the creation of a separate girls-only division at this great tournament.  As we moved forward, we have purchased mats that fit the building and provide the same wrestling areas for everyone.  The WWF has purchased pedestal clocks and recently replaced those with clocks that have larger numbers and have bout numbers that can be read from the seats.  In the past three years, we have gone to mat side scoring and have updated all of our equipment as we recognize the need for that.  It has been our enforced policy to only hire certified WIAA officials that have been ranked and classified through the Ref Ranking System.  We’ve offered Copper Clinics on-site as a way to further the education of the coaches in the state.

This year, you will notice that we will be using the Visatron suspended from the middle of the arena to project the mat assignments.  This will allow athletes ample time to get to their wrestling area.  This information will also be broadcasted in the lower halls to increase convenience for coaches, parents, and wrestlers.  I identify these improvements and changes to highlight the fact that we have anticipated and recognized needs that have enhanced the experience for everyone in attendance of the State Folkstyle Tournament.  We have made these decisions as an organization knowing that the benefits of these improvements have far outweighed the cost.  The WWF has fielded many requests to require coaching membership by many of our current coaching parents and the board of directors has had many conversations about the cost and value to our members.  We strongly believe that this change will be equally as important as the other changes that we have added over the past ten years.

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

January, 2012

Happy New Year! We are hoping that your holiday season was joyous and safe.  2011 was eventful for the WWF; we had all six national dual teams place as All-Americans and placed in the top 10 at Fargo in both age levels and styles.  Our youth tournaments were very well attended and athlete membership numbers continue to grow.  I want to extend my gratitude to all those that participate and volunteer to make this organization as strong and successful as it is.

The WWF posted our need for a state coach in September and spent several months reviewing and revising the position and our needs as an organization to continue to provide opportunities and programs for our members. The “Coaching Coordinator” position as we see it will be directed more towards administrative and organizational than a teaching / instructional position.  It is very apparent to those that were involved in the process of revising the position and assisting in the selection of the new employee – that the WWF has numerous high quality coaches state wide.  It is our goal to get as many of those high level individuals involved in our coaching pool as possible.  The WWF has hired Scott Kluever from Kaukauna as the new State Coach Coordinator effective January 1st, 2012. Scott’s responsibilities will include many tasks that would include coach selection for dual teams and national teams; he will work with the age level directors in the selection process. Scott will also be very involved in the organizing and scheduling of camps, transportation for national team members and lodging for those events. One of Scott’s priorities that he is most committed to is coaches’ education state-wide, he wants to make himself available to all districts and organize clinics that would have our state coaches as clinicians and provide opportunity for coaches to learn current high level technique in all styles of wrestling.  Scott will also be involved in the selection of our dual team members, we currently have a procedure that was used last year, which will be reviewed and revised as needed by the coaches of those teams. We have looked at procedures from other states and may incorporate some of the ideas in the team selection process.

Scott has been involved at one level or another with the WWF for 30-plus years, he was an athlete, Cadet Director, District Director and coach for many different teams throughout his years, and he is also the founder of the Cheesehead Tournament (which has become one of the highest quality events in the nation). Scott’s contact information will be posted on the WWF website. We had several very strong candidates and we are fortunate that this state has as many quality coaches and leaders as we do. Please feel free to contact Scott with any questions or needs as he in anxious to assist in any way possible.

In my last article I presented our plans that require all coaches that are mat side at our state tournaments to be USA members. This will not be a requirement for regionals and if your son or daughter qualifies for state there will be a short period of time between regionals and state to apply for that membership card. I would strongly encourage anyone that intends to coach at the state tournaments to start that process soon, which can be done on themat.com.  There is no requirement to have a Copper or Bronze Coaching Education card to be mat side, however that does give you access to the floor through the south end of the Alliant Center for State Folkstyle, that is not the best reason to have one of those cards, what you learn and take away from the course is what creates the value to those cards.  I have had a few questions about the requirement of the coaching membership and the board strongly supports this idea as we know that it will create a more safe and professional environment at our state tournaments.  Membership cards cannot be purchased on site and there will be no options available there, anybody that would like to film or video will have access to the first two rows during the matches that you are associated with.  THEMAT.com has the procedures, benefits and costs listed on their website, please take a minute to visit that site and look under membership.

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

December, 2011

Season Greetings from the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation, hoping this time of the year is joyous and healthy for you and your family. The WWF has a full plate of events planned for 2012 and we have an additional tournament that we will be adding this year in March. On Sunday, March 18th we will host the “Bucky Scuffle” at the Wisconsin Sport Complex in Wisconsin Dells at Chula Vista Resort. This tournament will be for those participants of the Kids Regionals that did not qualify for state in Madison. The event is only for those competitors that place third or less at a regional on March 10th, if you are called as an alternate that eliminates your eligibility to compete in the Scuffle. This provides those that attended the regionals to compete with other members throughout the state and gives them an opportunity to see like competition. This event is the Sunday after the Dominate in the Dells Tournament, which is a national competition; it is the recommendation of the board of directors that those that compete in the Scuffle would not wrestle the day before in Dominate in the Dells. Dominate in the Dells is a high level competition and it is a warm-up for many higher level wrestlers for the Folkstyle Nationals in Iowa. It is our hope that the “Bucky Scuffle” will give those that are eligible a chance to compete in a large setting that will be similar to the state tournament and also be in a fun and relaxing environment.

At regionals this year, the weigh-ins will only be held on Friday night and some of the regional hosts will offer satellite weigh-in sites, those will be identified soon and will be available on the registration form. The single weigh-ins will allow the regional sites to start earlier in the day as many of our locations are competing with other sports for facility space as many of the WIAA basketball tournaments are played that weekend. The split start times will still be in effect as they have been the past two years. All coaches this year will be required to have a USA Coaches Membership to be eligible to coach on the floor at Madison at the state tournament. Coach’s membership is available online through themat.com. The purchase is a two-step process that first requires a background check and when completed and approved you can purchase your membership card. The WWF feels that the coach’s membership is the next step to making the sport of wrestling a safer sport and it provides opportunity for coaches’ education and will improve the sport in all aspects. The benefits and the procedures for the coaching membership will be posted on the wiwrestlingfederation.com website; you can also find details on USA Wrestling’s website atthemat.com.

I would encourage you to go to the new website at wiwrestlingfederation.com; there is a link from thewiwrestling.com website also. If you’d like to be on our emails, please sign up and you will be included in our mailings.

Have a safe and joyous holiday season.

Dave Black, Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Chairman

I’m excited this time of year, as the upcoming high school season is just around the corner.  The WWF Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, October 30th in Wisconsin Dells and the WWCA Fall Convention will be November 4th-5th in Green Bay.  I encourage you to attend both of these if possible.

USA Wrestling has put forth a pilot program that we are fortunate enough to take part in here in Wisconsin.  The pilot program is geared towards all high school programs in the state.  High school teams will be able to purchase a “team membership,” which includes a club charter and USA Wrestling memberships for all members on the high school team.  All of this is available for $300.  $300!  The memberships for athletes provides the same benefits that all members of USA Wrestling received: secondary sports accident coverage at chartered club practices and all competition, USA Wrestlermagazine, $35 in credit to be used at www.thewrestlinggreats.com, and access to information at TheMat.com.  Sign-up will begin on November 14th and be available until December 2nd for this program.  It is the hope of the WWF and USA Wrestling that this program will provide new opportunities for your team members and provide benefits that they may have not been able to take advantage of previously.  This program does not provide membership for coaches; those must still be purchased at www.usawmembership.com.  Les Gutches, Director of Program Development for USA Wrestling, will be at the WWCA Fall Convention in Green Bay to discuss this in more detail.  I’m excited that Wisconsin was chosen as one of the states to test this program in, so I encourage all high school coaches to strongly consider this valuable opportunity.  If you are interested in more information, please contact Tony Black at 719.598.8181 or at tblack@usawrestling.org.

USA Wrestling is offering a new tournament program that will benefit the state university and college wrestling programs through the “Making A Difference” tournament program.  In this recently-developed program, proceeds from the event are directed to the college teams that assist in the event.  The first such tournament in Wisconsin will be hosted by Lakeland College on Sunday, November 13th.  This tournament will be folkstyle, thus serving as a great chance for wrestlers across the state to shake off the rust before the high school season begins.  USA Wrestling provides a free one-day membership for all participants of the Making a Difference tournament, which is open to youth and high school wrestlers.  To sign up for the tournament, visithttp://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/registration/BasicPreReg1.jsp?tournamentGroupId=15107009.

Be sure to circle the first weekend of May 2012 on your calendar, as the WWF Freestyle/Greco-Roman State Tournament will be held at the Wisconsin Dells Center in Wisconsin Dells.  This event will include a University division, as will be offering a competition opportunity for our college wrestlers.  The facility will allow for more mats, as we aim to reduce the length of the tournaments.  All registration information will be available soon on the WWF website.

Speaking of our website, you will see that the look of our website is changing.  We have also subscribed to Facebook, Twitter, and will be routinely communicating to our members via e-mail.  Riot Sports Marketing will assist in providing current news to our members, so be on the lookout.