Campus has been buzzing with athletes and fans from around the world due to Fairfax County hosting the 2015 World Police and Fire Games. Our team was part of the crew of volunteers who helped with the wrestling competitions. The Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling competitions were hosted in the Field House on consecutive days. We used our wrestling room as the warm up area and rolled out our two extra mats for the competition. Despite a few hiccups, including the fire alarm going off on three different occasions, I think the event went well. I believe those involved with the event left with a good perception of GMU and the wrestling program. We had GMU wrestlers, staff or alums involved in many aspects of the event from moving mats to the tournament director to competitors to the announcer and to fans. We were represented well. I look forward to hosting other wrestling events at the Field House. It is a good venue.
I am pleased to announce we were represented well in the Alumni-Athlete Giving Challenge. We did not win the most improved or overall alumni categories, but we are in the driver’s seat to win the young alumni category. A final decision will not be announced until all of the snail mail has arrived. Nevertheless, we are in a good position to win. The young alumni were counted from 2010-2014. We had alums from every one of those graduating classes donate. We had 100% of the graduates from 2013, 2014 and 2015 make donations. We are indebted once again to our alums who have given so much to the program. Your overwhelming representation was noticed.
The Patriot Wrestling Camps start on Monday. We will do 4 – 5 day commuter technique camps and a father/son camp this summer. If interested, you can find more information at http://www.joerussellwrestling.com
On July 7, Tom Ryan, Head Coach of the 2015 NCAA Championship Team, will be in Northern Virginia speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Wrestlers in Business Network. I am excited to attend the event. If you are interested in attending, you can get more details and register at http://www.wrestlersinbusiness.org/
For those of you who missed the announcement (http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=210168987), I am excited to have Israel Silva officially on staff. His family will be joining him in Fairfax later this month.
We have started to see some of the new guys on campus as they complete orientation. Many of the veterans are also in town preparing for next season. All of the coaches and support staff have also been busy preparing for the upcoming season. We look forward to the great things that will happen during the 2015-16 season.
Our competition schedule has been completed. Tom Carr took the lead in putting it together this spring. We are awaiting signed contracts and some logistical issues before announcing it. We are excited about all 16 dates.
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