Tehachapi News
October 15, 2007
Seeds of a Dynasty
Description: Tehachapi Valley Wrestling Club begins program to build interest for local youth
By: by Tom Shea, Sports Reporter
In the 2006 season, Tehachapi Warrior wrestling enjoyed one of their most stellar seasons in school history, taking a runner-up CIF championship and a co-South Sequoia League championship.
The buzz on that strong run has created tremors, with a new insurgence of interest in Tehachapi youth wanting to get involved in the sport.
Enter the Tehachapi Valley Wrestling Club, who for the first time ever will start a wrestling program for interested middle school students in preparation for high school.
“We wanted to start a feeder program here for quite some time, for me personally I grew up here, wrestled at the high school,” said Walz. “We wanted to start a tradition here at Tehachapi and get these kids involved early. We’re excited about the future here with programs like this starting up.”
Walz wrestled from 1997-2000 for Tehachapi High School in the 119-pound division through 171-pound weight class his senior year. His freshman and sophomore year, Walz’s team won SSL championships, and was the league champion at 171 pounds his senior year.
In college, Walz also wrestled for Cuesta College and Cal-State Fullerton.
“We’ve had a lot of great help from the high school guys coming down, and Daniel (Marcum) is also going to be a big help for us this season in coaching along with my wife, Leslie Walz, who will be the strength and conditioning coach,” added Walz.
The TVWC will compete against middle school programs that feed into many of the high schools that Tehachapi competes against in league play, with tournaments scheduled from November through March in Corcoran, Clovis, Reedley and Selma.
Participating in the TVWC this year are Curtis Smith, Nick Tanaka, Dillan Harroun, Joey Costa, Jacob Gamble, Bobby Braband, Michael Ballard, Nathan Odom, Nicolas Bustamante, Lucas Jochem, Austin Butler, Zachary Minton, Raymond Hackleman, Austin Anderson, Joey Anderson, Scotty Bivens , Dustin Lee, Klayton Duxbury, Rosaura Martinez, David Carter, Leonel Martinez, Blake Hall, Benjamin Johnson, Kohl Misquez, and Jake Ruschman.
As exciting as the new program getting started is for the Tehachapi area, there are still many needs for the wrestlers to help make it a successful operation this season and years to come.
“Our mats that we have are not the best, I would like to purchase a mat for the club. (Jacobsen Middle School) could possibly help a little but we are in large part our own entity and any donations would be greatly appreciated,” said Walz. “We’ve done car wash fundraisers this summer and fall, but we still need funding to purchase a new scale, singlets (uniforms) and various basic wrestling equipment.”
“We have some great kids this year that are very determined,” Walz said. “It’s going to be a great experience for them this season.”
Fundraiser scheduled
The next event for the TVWC is a chili cook-off fundraiser at the Tehachapi VFW at 221 W. Tehachapi Blvd. this Saturday. The cost of the event is $5 and will go on from noon to 3 p.m.
Participation in the event will help purchase some much-needed items for the program. If you wish to compete or participate, or make any sum donation to help the program, contact Coach Charlie Walz at 714-904-6328.