|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MN/USA Wrestling and NYWA consider folkstyle merger
February 25, 2004
Youth wrestling has long been a strong aspect of Minnesota's presence as a national powerhouse in wrestling in the U.S. Our dedicated volunteers, officials, club leaders, and parents have built a strong youth tournament network across the state that gives our youth wrestlers weekly opportunities to hone their skills, meet other wrestlers and their families and mold them into better men and women as they grow. MN/USA Wrestling has been an integral part of this process for nearly 25 years. In the past 10 years the NYWA has emerged as another strong presence in youth wrestling in Minnesota with their immensely popular folkstyle tournament series. The NYWA and MN/USA Wrestling have been considering merging their folkstyle seasons to bring youth wrestling in Minnesota into a more united front and to decrease any potential conflict with their schedules.
We believe that merging the NYWA with the MN/USA Folkstyle season is the ideal situation for both organizations and youth wrestling in Minnesota. While we are sure there will be some concern about the USA card, we are confident that the quality of the two organizations will offer the best wrestling environment available. Where MN/USA Wrestling participation has been heavier in the metro areas, the NYWA's participation has been heavier in the out-state areas. By having the state tournaments merge as one, we will have the most inclusive kids state tournament probably ever in Minnesota.
If the organizations were to work together, the NYWA would manage the qualifying tournaments and state tournament. There would probably be a couple regions added to what the NYWA currently has and it will lead up to the USA Wrestling National Tournament which is currently in Waterloo, IA for the next few years. There would most likely be a few modifications to the age and weights to fall under USA Wrestling guidelines but the majority of the structure and rules would stay as the NYWA currently has them. MN/USA would then concentrate on marketing the tournaments and creating training sites and clinics for kids and coaches around the state. The NYWA and MN/USA would probably also work together to create a tournament series that would run mid-January through mid-February to fill in the time frame that MN/USA Wrestling used to run their state tournament. MN/USAW would handle all card registration through its state office. Our office staff will be there to assist the membership in whatever ways necessary.
Many people were disappointed when MN/USA Wrestling moved their state folkstyle tournament to March. It wasn't to try to push NYWA out, as both organizations are too strong to take too much away from each other. It really fell more in line with how the rest of the country had their USA Wrestling folkstyle tournament set. In a look at last year's USA state folkstyle tournaments around the country, only Iowa had their state tournament in February and they don't have that strong of a USA folkstyle contingent. Almost every other state had their state folkstyle tournament the week or two before nationals. This along with the fact that MN/USA Wrestling's freestyle numbers had been continually declining, especially in March, prompted the MN/USA Board to vote to move their folkstyle tournament series to March.
One of the main goals in merging the two organizations is to increase participation in freestyle and Greco tournaments after the state folkstyle tournament is done. MN/UASW will continue to have a 7-8 week freestyle/Greco-roman season following the folkstyle season, which would conclude on the second or third week of May. With the increased number of kids that would be USA card holders, especially in the out-state areas, the hope is that that would increase motivation to attend freestyle and Greco tournaments. Freestyle and Greco wrestling has always been a strong aspect of wrestling in Minnesota at all levels, from the grassroots to the Olympic level. It is important to maintain that high level in these 2 styles as spring and summer wrestling is what really brings a wrestler to that next step. MN/USA Wrestling's goal is to give as many kids opportunities to reach that point through competition, training sites, camps, and national teams. To be able to do that we need to be able to reach as many kids as possible and have support from communities throughout the state. We are not MN/USA Metro as we often hear. We need participation and volunteers from around the state to pull this off, and working with the NYWA is the best method to accomplish that. With a strong membership and participation, MN/USA can continue to offer the training sites, training camps and national teams that Minnesota's wrestlers need to continue to be at the top.
MN/USA has been a strong part of the most successful wrestlers from Minnesota through out time. From Olympians Brandon Paulson, Gordy and John Morgan, Dave Zuniga, Garrett Lowney, Dan Chandler, the Koslowski brothers. From NCAA standouts Luke Becker, Marcus Levesseur, Luke Eustice, Chad Erikson, Nick Slack, Steve Saxlund, Brad Pike, Chad Kraft, Billy Pierce, Will Short, Marty Morgan, Matt Demarary, the NYWA's own Corey Olson. And the kids currently dominating MN H.S. wrestling like Charlie Falck, Jayson Ness, Ryan Adams, Nate Matousek, Gabe Mooney, Tyler Safratowich, Kyle Massey, Mike Maresh, Mike Thorn, Zach Sanders, Travis Elg, T.J. Parlin Craig Luberts, Chas Betts, Adam Aho, Jeremy Pederson, Corey Harnitz and many others. Competing through MN/USA Wrestling was a strong part of all these wrestlers reaching their goals and level of success.
We are looking for feedback/comments on a potential merger. You can visit the NYWA website at www.nywa-mn.com and submit an e-mail to them. You can reach me at jeff@jrwrestling.com or call me at 612-709-4362. Give us your thoughts or ideas on this and help us bring Minnesota wrestling to a new stage in it's life.
Jeff Lathrop, President, MN/USA Wrestling
Benefits of the NYWA merging with MN/USA Wrestling