The highlight of the tournament was Corey Hodowanic’s thrilling double overtime win over two-time returning state champion Justin Mudlaff. Corey secured a takedown with two seconds on the clock in regulation to force overtime. After a scoreless one minute sudden victory period, Corey rode Mudlaff for 30 seconds and escaped from bottom in the second 30 second period. Both wrestlers were completely exhausted, but Corey found the strength to sprint around the mat into the arms of his coaches following his championship.

Brayden Wienke and Joe Raygor both repeated as undefeated state champions at 152 and 171 pounds, respectively. Brayden won a close 3-2 bout with Chad Heise whereas Joe defeated Josh Eastlick in an exciting 3-1 overtime match. Both completed their junior and senior seasons without a loss. Brayden concludes his career with an astonishing 180-8 record. Joe’s career record is 168-9. Both are their school’s only two-time state champions.

Chad Bartschenfeld added his first state title after finishing 3rd a year ago. The junior caps off a 44-2 season. His teammate, Blake Lundgren, just fell short of his goal and finished in 3rd place.

Other athletes who have participated in opportunities at Victory who won state championships were: Bubb Gudis, Dustin McKinney, Isaiah Erickson, Roy Munroe, Kyle Crain, Matt Wyss and Nikola Bogojevic.

Senior Garrett Bonte finished as runner-up for the second consecutive season.

Video interviews are available on www.youtube.com/users/victorywrestling.

The Post Season Training Program focuses on Folkstyle wrestling through the month of March in preparation for the USA Wrestling Folkstyle National Championships (in Cedar Falls, IA on April 2-3). In April we will begin training in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Athletes will have opportunities to compete at various events throughout the spring/summer and Victory’s aim is to prepare each athlete to compete well at every event.

The training will be focused on a few key events, however, not every athlete will choose to compete in these events. Still, every athlete will be ultimately prepared for the next high school or college season.

The High School Post Season Training Program will take place March 7 – July 15, 2010 (see calendar for specific practice times). $650.

Please contact Kevin Black at 715.441.2980 or kevin@victoryschoolofwrestling.com with questions.

Victory School of Wrestling ENROLLMENT FORM (2009-2010)

2010 High School Post Season Training Program – Flyer

Pat Vocovich from Mendota Heights, MN purchased the building in 2006 during a public auction held by the City of River Falls. Pat was a graduate of River Falls High School and had a vision of renovating the building and providing the community with unique opportunities to stimulate the local economy. Currently, Victory School of Wrestling occupies the top floor(s), Second Chances is on the main level and Pat’s old-fashioned candy store operates in the basement and is accessible from River Walk Road along the Kinnikinnic River. Pat has been very involved in the lives of the athletes through the summer months and has supported the vision of Victory.

The building is over 100 years old and is one of the original landmarks on Main Street in River Falls. Most recently, it was the River Falls Fitness Center & Racquetball Club. In 1977, it was converted into the fitness center when three locals built four racquetball courts in their free time so they could play racquetball together during their lunch hour. It became a very popular place in town and free weights and exercise equipment were added to form the River Falls Fitness Center. High level athletes met to lift weights and train for various weight lifting competitions as well as high school and college sports, plus those interested in general fitness. Aerobics, day care and tanning were also made available. It was a “hot spot” in the 80’s and 90’s.

Before the fitness center and racquetball club, the location served many others in a variety of ways, including a furniture store, movie theatre, armory and roller skating rink. In the “roaring 20’s,” friends congregated to innocent fun and skated around the cement floor. As an armory, a special metal wall was added to the north wall of the upper balcony (now parent’s waiting room) and used as a shooting range. Almost everyone in River Falls has a memory attached to the location that is now the Victory Training Center and home to Victory School of Wrestling.

Contact Kevin Black at (715) 441-2980 or kevin@victoryschoolofwrestling.com with questions or to reserve a date for your team. Victory will also come to you! Ask Kevin about available dates if you would like a guest clinician at your local summer camp.

VictoryTeamCamps2010

Printable Flyer:
RegionalWarmUp2010

Registration Form:
Enrollment200910

To sign-up for the 2010 Regional Warm-Up, please contact Kevin Black at 715.441.2980 or kevin@victoryschoolofwrestling.com.

2010 REGIONAL WARM-UP

Grades 7-8
February 8 – March 12
$225

Grades 5-6
February 8 – March 12
$225

Grades 3-4
February 10 – March 24 (Wednesday, 5:00-6:30pm)
$75

Please see caldendar of events for more details on the schedule for the 2010 Regional Warm-Up.
Calendar2010

Practices will be held on Monday and Thursday, 6:00-7:30pm in the month of January.   Starting February 8th, practices will be split into two groups to accomodate the Regional warm-up.  5th-6th grade practice is 5:00-6:30pm on Monday and Thursday.  7th-8th grade practice is 7:00-8:30pm Monday, Thursday and Friday.  The practice schedule will change again following the youth regional and state tournaments.  Please look at the calendar on the Victory website to for more details.

http://victoryschoolofwrestling.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/2009CalendarTemplate2010.307144003.pdf

Over 80 individuals competed at the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic in River Falls on December 29-30.  We were also fortunate to watch six teams compete in the Badger after participating in Victory Team Camps last summer.  Individual champions who have participated at Victory were: 103-Chad Bartschenfeld (Amery), 125-Logan Cudd (River Falls), 130-Bubba Gudis (Bruce), 135-Dustin McKinney (Unity), 145-Roy Munroe (Cadott), 152-Brayden Wienke (Clear Lake), 160-Garrett Bonte (Glenwood City), 189-Joe Raygor (St. Croix Falls), 215-Ryan Miesbauer (Northwestern) and 285-Cody Hegeman (Boyceville).

At the Bi-State in LaCrosse, local teams from Ellsworth, Hudson and New Richmond had athletes who have participated in various activities at Victory as well.  Hudson’s Nick Larson was an individual champion at 160 pounds.  Destin McCauley from Apple Valley was a Cheesehead champion at 152 pounds.  McCauley is currently ranked #3 in the nation.  He defeated the #5 wrestler from Brandon, FL in the finals.

The first set of questions are very straight forward, but difficult to answer quickly.  The question of “what is your purpose?” is the most important question if an athlete is going to reach their maximum potential.  “What are your goals?” is the secondary question.  Our purpose in sports and our goals are NOT the same.  Our purpose needs to be much higher.  Goals are still very important, but they’re meaningless without a bigger purpose.

Follow the 7 biggest issues in youth sports by clicking here.

Check out our latest videos and learn more about the Victory School of Wrestling.

http://www.youtube.com/user/victorywrestling