Dear Wrestling Enthusiast,

The WAWA Board met on September 21st in preparation for the upcoming season. We covered many items that impact the upcoming season and have scheduled November 22, 2014. It will be held at the Parkway Plaza beginning at 9:00 am. During this meeting, we will be scheduling the upcoming tournament season; clubs planning on hosting events, please plan to attend and be prepared to have secure dates and locations. We will also be sharing additional information on new programs provided by USA Wrestling.

During our fall meeting, the Board established that the Kids 3 Style State Championships will be held at the Casper Event Center, April 16-19, 2014. If you will recall, Easter coincided with last year’s tournament and thus we moved to a Thursday-Saturday event to allow for travel and for families to be able to observe the holiday. As a Board, we had a great deal of positive feedback with that format and have decided to ask the membership at-large to determine whether this should be a Thursday-Saturday or a Friday-Sunday event. In the event the membership determines the Thursday start date is preferred, we would again accommodate a later weigh-in time for those who are traveling long distances. With this being a state culminating event, we will not conduct satellite weigh-ins. We will be giving each club present the opportunity to cast a vote to the preferred start date. 

Particular items of note that were discussed at the Fall Board meeting were:

• Middle School Folkstyle State Tournament – The WAWA Board has decided to add a Middle School State tournament which will also serve as the Middle School National Dual Team qualifier. This tournament will run in conjunction with the Juniors State F/S and Greco-Roman Tournaments. Eligible wrestlers must be currently enrolled in grades 6-8. The top two finishers in each weight class will automatically qualify to participate on the Wyoming National Dual Team. This tournament will be held in Douglas, WY on March 7th. Additional information will be posted on the web as it becomes available. Wrestlers will still be eligible to wrestle in the 3-Style Kids State Tournament in their appropriate age group in April. 
• Juniors State Tournament – Juniors State will be held in Douglas, March 6th and 7th. This tournament is the qualifier for the Wyoming Cultural Exchange Team which will be traveling to China in June. Participants will also be eligible to participate on the Wyoming Cadet and Junior National Teams in Fargo, ND. 

I am looking forward to a great 2014-15 season; I hope to see a club representative on November 22nd.

Sincerely,
Dave Bartlett, WAWA Chairman