EXECUTIVE NOTES By Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director
MANY DESERVE CREDIT FOR TEAM USA SUCCESS The U.S. teams have just returned from the Pan American
Games in Mexico with a good overall team performance, includ- ing some highlights which were very exciting and encouraging. Complete coverage from Guadalajara is included in this issue of USA Wrestler. Team USA brought home 12 wrestling medals, including five new individual Pan American Games champions. This was the 15th Pan American Games in history, held only
every four years. The United States has a long history of wrestling success in this event, and continues to be the power in our sport from this hemisphere. Special note goes to the men’s freestyle team, which won
both the medal count and the team standings, in spite of not having an entry in one weight class. The Cuban freestyle team is one of the best in the world, and winning the Pan American Games is a huge priority for their nation. Congratulations to all 15 U.S. athletes in all three styles who represented our nation with skill and dignity. The Pan American Games effort comes after another good performance at the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. The United States qualified nine weight classes for the Olympic Games based upon our performance there. Only one nation earned more Olympic qualifiers, Russia. The focus in the next few months for our national teams is to qualify the other nine weight classes, hopefully all of them at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier set for Orlando, Fla. in March. There are many who deserve credit for the success of the American Senior-level athletes. It starts at the grassroots level, including the volunteer coaches, officials, parents and leaders who run our state association activities. Our Olympic and World competitors started their wrestling careers as youth and received tremendous help along the way. We also would like to recognize those who serve as Team Leaders and training partners for our U.S. World Team delega- tions. Also on the Senior level, we have a tremendous system of club support for our wrestlers in all three styles. Our wrestlers
Ke Chertow
could not win internationally without their assistance. Clubs provide a wide range of resources to their athletes, including out- standing coaches, training opportunities and substantial financial support for domestic and international travel for com- petition and training. When our athletes compete domestical-
ly, they represent their clubs on the mat. You may hear the wrestlers identified by the Sunkist Kids, the New York Athletic Club, the Gator Wrestling Club, the Minnesota Storm, each of the U.S. military branches, the USOEC programs and many other active Senior clubs. However, each of these clubs are a vital and important part of the overall Team USA effort in wrestling. As each club helps their individual athletes achieve their goals, they are also improving our entire program nationally. We salute our club pro- grams and thank them for helping make us nation one of the world powers in wrestling. Another reason for our success is the tremendous role of the Regional Training Centers to the Team USA program. We have seen more communities which have invested tremendous time, effort and finances into these programs, and are making a dif- ference for our elite athletes on a daily basis. Many of these Regional Training Centers are affiliated with major college wrestling programs, which provides great cooperative synergy between all levels of the sport. There are more RTCs than ever before, and they are getting bigger and stronger. Some of the Regional Training Centers of note are the Ohio Regional Training Center, the Nittany Lion WC, the Lehigh Valley AC, the Northwest Regional Training Center, the Cliff Keen WC, the Hawkeye WC, the Cyclone WC, our college var- sity women’s wrestling programs and so many others. The entire USA Wrestling family provides the foundation for
our teams and should take pride in every Olympian which will represent us in London. Every person who becomes a member of USA Wrestling is
part of the success of Team USA and is helping our entire national effort.
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