Youth News

Too Good To Be True?

By Jeff Beshey

There’s a lot of cleaning and sanitizing going on these days – on wrestling mats, in locker rooms, in classrooms, in our homes, and everywhere else we might come into contact with harmful pathogens. What’s the best way to deal with these bugs? There are chemicals like chlorine bleach that work, but they take a relatively long time to be effective and using harmful chemicals to fight harmful pathogens just doesn’t seem like a great solution.

What if there was a technology that produces a safe, natural cleaning solution that is more powerful than chlorine bleach and works 3,000 times faster!?

When I received an email telling me exactly that, I was a bit skeptical.

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Minnesota Wrestling Round Table

The Minnesota Wrestling Round Table Podcast starts its third year of covering amateur wrestling. The first show of the season is here.

Host Jim Bartels and guests Larry Baumgardt, Adam Bartels, Kirky Dittrict, and Cathy Koob square up with the latest ‘water cooler conversation’ on high school, collegiate, and youth wrestling from last season and heading into this season. Tune in to this, the first of four podcasts for the seasons. Tons of info packed into a one hour Rasslin Spectacular!

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MN/USA Wrestling Produces COVID-19 Preparedness Plan for Tournaments

MN/USA Wrestling has published a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan for MN/USA Wrestling Tournaments on their website along with the following statement:

“Minnesota/USA Wrestling is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all our members, workers, officials, coaches, parents, and participants. To ensure we have a safe and healthy environment, MN/USA Wrestling has developed the following COVID-19 Preparedness Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tournament organizers and hosts are all responsible for implementing this plan. Our goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 in our tournaments and communities, and that requires full cooperation among our workers and management. Only through this cooperative effort can we establish and maintain the safety and health of all persons in our workplaces.”

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Training Schools and Camps Wrestling With COVID-19

By Brian Jerzak

Businesses around the nation have all had to deal with several changes during the last six months. The business of wrestling has had to adjust too. While high school and college programs have had many challenges, so have wrestling training facilities. How are these training facilities dealing with our new reality, and how are they planning for an uncertain future?

I talked with four wrestling training school owners and one wrestling camp director/coach to find out their thoughts on wrestling with COVID-19.

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With fate of high school wrestling pending, some organizations get creative

It’s been a tough summer on the mat for wrestlers of all ages due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nick Lyden, president of Minnesota/USA Wrestling said watching many events and opportunities get canceled since mid-March has been a “gut-wrenching experience,” adding sports like wrestling provide numerous mental and physical benefits to kids and teenagers.

“I’m personally worried by the opportunities lost and those we may lose in the future,” he said. Continue reading at swnewsmedia.com

USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals, named for late Brian Keck, set for Oct. 30-Nov. 1

USA Wrestling has named its popular Preseason Nationals tournament after the late Brian Keck, who helped create the event and served as its event director for more than a decade.

The 2020 USA Wrestling Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals will return to Hyvee Hall inside the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa, October 30 – November 1.

Keck worked with USA Wrestling to found the Preseason Nationals in 2008, a major early season national folkstyle wrestling event for athletes of all ages. The first event was held in Des Moines, then spent nine years in Cedar Falls, Iowa, before returning to Des Moines in 2018. During its 12 years with Keck’s involvement, the competition grew in size and prestige.

Keck tragically passed away at the age 48 during a trip to Mexico in November, 2019.

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