For many years, several people in the wrestling community have talked about having a dual meet tournament in Freestyle and Greco-Roman for the University Age Division. I believed it was something people wanted. I believed it would help the development of our Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers. Finally, thanks to the efforts of Teague Moore and the staff at USA Wrestling, they were able to come up with a format that would fit within the mandates of the NCAA rules that so many of our USA Wrestlers operate under.
Equally important was the fact the Wrestlers In Business Network (WIBN) saw the value in the endeavor. Derek Donahue took the lead for the WIBN and ran with the concept. Many of the Washington DC area chapter of the WIBN contributed time and money to make the event a positive one. Following Derek’s lead, the group did a great job running the first time event.
We were fortunate to host the event at George Mason University. It afforded us the opportunity to high light our institution and our Patriot Elite Wrestling Club (PEWC). I especially enjoyed the Career Event put on by the WIBN which enabled over 250 college students to interact with some great companies. It was amazing seeing wrestlers, a few hours past weigh ins, dressed for success and charging forward with their future career paths.
We had 24 teams compete in the University Freestyle Dual competition (pretty good turn out for a first time event). Each team was able to wrestle 5 dual meets. In the finals, Stanford’s Wrestling Club was able to win a 5-4 dual over the Wolfpack Wrestling Club. We were able to enter two teams from the PEWC. Our two teams finished 1-4 and 2-3 respectively. I believe guys were able to learn from the event and I also think they enjoyed the team aspect of the duals.
The following day, after the Freestyle duals, we held the University Greco-Roman Dual Meet Tournament. We had five teams compete in the Greco-Roman event. We wrestled a round robin, so each team was able to wrestle 4 duals. American University won the Greco-Roman tournament while the PEWC finished second. Sahid Kargbo and Matt Voss were both 4-0 on the day and were part of the all-tournament team.
I want to say thank you to all who made the event possible and to those who attended. I think we have the makings of something special.
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