A message from state director Steve Lawson,
What a great way to start the 2014-2015 SCWAY fall wrestling season. After many months of anticipation, hard work and planning, we are off to a great start hosting tournaments all around the state. Our membership drive is doing quite well with over 100 clubs already renewing their membership and over 1,000 wrestlers having already bought SCWAY cards and hitting the mats. SCWAY has already hosted two tournaments on California College campuses and we have set dates for many others. We have many exciting events set for October and I wish everyone the best in preparing for your upcoming scholastic season. In conclusion, you will find important dates listed to help with your scheduling for spring wrestling.
I would like to thank and recognize San Diego director Sergio Enloe for setting the bar high and working endless hours to bring the Comet Classic back as a fundraiser for San Diego’s only college wrestling program, Palomar College. With the hard work of Sergio, SCWAY and the clubs in San Diego County, we were able to raise more than $2,000 dollars that were donated to Coach Brody Barrios and the Palomar wrestling team. San Diego SCWAY is a model for others trying to build a zone within our state and their efforts do not go unnoticed.
Speaking of zone directors working behind the scenes I would like to thank Steve Strange our Northern Region director and Associate State Director for bringing a tournament to Sacramento City College. Steve is working hard to build the Northern region of our state and was able to bring 150 of the best wrestlers in the area onto the campus of Sacramento City College. Anthony Romero has also been doing a great job in the North especially with promotion of tournaments and always being positive. I appreciate the hard work of many in helping us ride the ship and keep sailing on.
My brother Scott has taken over the duties as SCWAY Southern Section high school division. In looking back to see if that was a good decision, our weekly tournaments have gone from about 150 kids each week to 350 kids each week. Scott was instrumental in bringing about 20 clubs over from USA Wrestling and has freed me up to work on kids and state level events. Welcome aboard Scott!
The next month of SCWAY looks to heat up with some great competition. This Saturday we have several events planned around the state including the Southern Section Fall Finale at El Dorado and the Buchanan Kick-off classic. The Fall Finale is usually our biggest event of the fall in the Southern Section and the competition is fierce. Buchanan will host Clovis, Clovis West and all comers in summer scrimmage format where each wrestler will get 3-5 matches of competition from competitors of equal experience. On October 11, 2014 Ian Shaw our Central Region director will the host the World Challenge at Clovis West High School. If you have never attended this tournament and you are serious about placing in the high school state tournament, I suggest making a trip to Clovis to get a preview of the competition. Last year the tournament filled up and was capped at 700 wrestlers. Finally, on the last day of October the Freak Show will be taking place in Las Vegas. Last year there were over 2200 wrestlers from all over the nation competing for a Southwest Kickoff Classic Championship. If you are looking for National level competition within hours from California I highly recommend attending the freak show---besides, who doesn't love Las Vegas?