Expect to Win! Is a comment coined by so many Coaches at all levels of wrestling.

Summer is about to wrap up in a few weeks and several of the Youth and Scholastic Wrestlers will move on to Fall Sports such as Football and Cross Country, while others that have picked wrestling. As a year around sport we will jump into many of the great tournaments such as the Border Wars Fall Duals Championship or newly added this years Michigan Grappler Fall Classic. The Border Wars Individual National Championship will be taking place early November at Kellogg Arena in beautiful downtown Battle Creek, Michigan.

So many opportunities and so much competition, if you participated in half the wrestling of that your local clubs offered and just a quarter of the bigger scale events you probably had a very busy Summer. My trek started with a trip to Newberry, South Carolina back in the early Spring were we enjoyed some Southern Style Home Cooking, visit NCAA Division 2 Power Newberry College while Teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Michigan demonstrate talents at both the High School and Middle School levels. A trip that allowed many families to connect en route to popular Spring Break destinations such as Orlando, Daytona, or Gulf Shores.

A quick turn around and the Team Bus landed us in Battle Creek, Michigan for the NUWAY Individual Nationals catching this 3 yr old event, a big eye opener that helped many come to realize that you don’t have to be in Buckeye Country to find a Premiere knock-down Big Ten battle tested bunch of skilled Warriors. NUWAY Nationals, a one day event that will be expanding next year to include all Divisions 18 and Under, 2010 offered wrestling for 16 & Under with participation growing near 1,000 wrestlers.

Do It For The Team! It’s the Team that makes you stronger; you wrestle your best for.

Sure the Nittany Lions have Cael but 30 minutes away but the University of Lock Haven had the Lock Haven Spring Brawl an early May event that had a few caught up in Graduation Ceremonies but some of the Mid-West best Club Coaches merged on a Mountain Top as Border Wars and Lock Haven Head Coach Robbie Waller hosted a Spring Kickoff drawing kudos from Central Mountain, Pa to Hedgesville, West Virginia to Allegan, Michigan.

Assistant Coaches Teyon Ware and Matt Lackey demonstrated a Free Pre-Tournament Clinic and the Games began with Michigan (Team MYWA) flexing it’s muscle in a Championship Performance claiming the 1st Place Hardware in HS & MS Divisions.

How do you get Michigan Wolverine, MSU Spartan, and EMU Eagle Coaches together? Host one of the biggest Dual Tournaments anywhere in May at Eat Lansing’s Jenison Field House where several of the Country’s best Recruits, many of whom were undecided as to future plans for College and Wrestling. Just a week before NHSCA Summer Duals head to Michigan State and the Spartan Wrestling Room and you might find a few Teams on Tour of one of the Big Tens most scenic and fun Campus Communities. The Midwest Grand Challenge drew 35 Teams from over 7 States and only looks to get better. A Championship Semi and Finals Round that had fans so excited they could not stay seated or help from screaming as loud as possible for a favorite Team. It was the Mat Sharks WC led by Club Coach Travis Traxler sweeping the Gold hardware now nailed on the walls of the Mat Sharks Training Center in Tiffin. Ohio.

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME! Words that Yours Truly shared with St Ignace Rec and Little Bear East Arena Director Scott Marshall in 2009 as the development of the Northern Exposure Summer Duals started. The 2010 event had the Illinois and Indiana Boys crossing what many consider the 8th Wonder of the World, famous Mackinaw Bridge. This Tournament hosted in the Jewel of the Midwest was a Special week of wrestling as many of the participants loaded up and drove over to the Cheboygan High School Board of Education Meeting in Support of Saving the local Wrestling program, several wrestlers left the meeting asking Peru, Indiana Coach Andy Hobbs if they were really going to cancel wrestling at that school? It was the Lifestyle WC of Illinois that battled for 1 st Place honors in this years Northern Exposure Summer Duals, Lowell High School Assistant Coach RJ Boudro and Camp Staff followed up the Duals with a great week of Team Camp, look for Boudro Team Camp info when planning next years Exposure trip.

On that Note, only guy’s as crazy as my partners in wrestling, Elliot Lewis of Team Ohio (OURWAY) and (JWAY) friends Murph, Scotty, and Adam along with Michigan (MYWA) Coaches Jim Fleet and Rex Kendle would say let’s go for it. Sure it’s only the week of Cadet Duals but we are going to Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and were are going to run a High School Age Based Folkstyle Duals Tournament. My dearest friend NUWAY founder and MYWA President Dave Dean was not going to let me off the hook for this one,

He routinely asked me each day how we were looking for Team participation as I was challenging my Buckeye (OURWAY) Team Organizer Pal, Elliot Lewis letting him know if I could get lineups ready that surely the great State of Ohio could get it done and he did not let me down. A huge thanks to JWAY leaders Scott and Don as they had tremendous Coaching Staff’s and support out the great State of New Jersey. Coaches with the Pennsylvania 16 & Under Team and a special thank you to Kings College Coach Ned McGinley for hosting the first year NUWAY HS National Duals.

California Awakens! How about California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona?

What started as a Dual Meet “NUWAY AMERICA”S CUP” with a dabble in some live Video Coverage awakened a Monster and no not the Monster Garage but the whole Monster, Welcome NUWAY WEST REGION led by a group of passionate people with a Vision of a better State of Wrestling and Common Goals. SCWAY Director Ernie Ciaccio heads a very focused Staff of Executive leadership that wont sleep until they have the impact they are looking for in the Golden State they are geared for development of the NUWAY West Region. Look for 2011 America’s Cup info along with other major event details in the months ahead.

BACK TO SCHOOL! Why did the Teenagers Cross the Road? To get to the Hotel with the Swimming Pool! It can get very hot in the month of July in Ohio.

If your in a little Midwest Campus town like Tiffin, Ohio and your not getting 4 hours of training per day then you probably wont be at the same caliber as the Tiffin University Wrestlers or the Mat Shark Wrestling Club Team.

The NCAA welcomes the University of Tiffin Dragons Wrestling program to Division 2 for 2011-2012. The Border Wars Wrestling Organization welcomes the Shark Bait Duals Camp, July 10//11 pulled wrestlers from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and North Carolina together for a day of training with Tiffin Coaching Staff Doug Jesse, Sam Wendland also with Ohio State University Head Coach Tom Ryan and Mat Sharks Club Coach Travis Traxler for a day’s warm-up and get ready for some High level competition, Mat Sharks WC (OH) – Team Champions, Dynamic WC (NC) – 2 nd Place, Mishawaka WC (IN) 3 rd Place in a 7 Team Round Robin that left no team undefeated. We are now ready to Rumble, bring on the Road to Battle Creek!