Grappling World Team Trials to be held in Rocklin, Calif., Sept. 13-14
USA Wrestling is hosting its second U.S. Grappling World Team Trials at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif. on September 13-14. Competition will feature Senior-level men and women.
To compete, all athletes must have qualified through the USA Wrestling Grappling World Team Trials Qualifying Series. Returning World Team Trials champions automatically qualify for this year’s event.
The link for information on the remaining qualifiers is posted below:
http://www.themat.com/schedules.php?page=grappling
“I look forward to competing at the 2008 World Team Trials and coming home with the gold again. I know it will get tougher and tougher so I am excited to get a chance to compete at this level and represent the USA at the World Championships,” said Tara LaRosa, returning U.S. World Team Trials champion and World Champion.
This event will serve as the qualifier for the U.S. World Team to compete in the FILA Grappling World Championships to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland on December 20-21.
The U.S. World Team, will be sponsored by No Limits MMA, and will look to repeat last years performance when they traveled to Antalya, Turkey and had a historic performance. Team USA came home with all nine gold medals and 21 out of a possible 35 medals .from the 2007 FILA World Wrestling Games.
“California is very excited to host this event in Rocklin. As a state we have committed to host Grappling tournaments at all of our state championship series and will continue to help promote this style of competition. The Rocklin community is 110% behind this event and it promises to be an outstanding competition,” said Duane Morgan, State Chairman for California USA Wrestling.
The first U.S. Grappling World Team Trials was successfully held on June 9-10, 2007 in Las Vegas and featured the nation’s top grapplers.
Capturing gold medals in the men’s division at the 2007 Grappling World Team Trials were Darren Uyenoyama (South San Francisco, Calif./Fogtown Jiu Jitsu) at 62 kg/136.5 lbs., Ricky Lundell (Orem, Utah/Pedro Sauer Team) at 70 kg/154 lbs., Don Ortega (Albuquerque, N.M./No Limits) at 80 kg/176 lbs., Malcolm Havens (Parker, Colo./Grapplers Edge) at 92 kg/202.5 lbs. and Jeff Monson (Coconut Creek, Fla./Victory Athletics) at 125 kg/275 lbs.
Capturing gold medals in the women’s division at the 2007 Grappling World Team Trials were Lisa Ward (Lacey, Wash./United Fight Team) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Felicia Oh (Tarzana, Calif./JJ Machado/BJMUTA) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Tara LaRosa (Woodstown, N.J./unattached) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Valerie Worthington (Whittier, Calif./New Breed/Hollywood Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.
FILA, the international wrestling federation, recognized Grappling as a form of international wrestling last year. In the last year, the FILA World Grappling Committee has grown tremendously, going from a dozen recognized national federations to 55 active grappling nations. This growth will undoubtedly make this year’s World Championships a much more exciting and competitive event. Teams from Brazil, Japan, France and Great Britain are expected to be strong competition for the U.S. squad.
A complete brochure with details on the event will be produced shortly and provided to all qualified Grapplers.
For questions, contact Jason Townsend of USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181 or via email at jtownsend@usawrestling.org
U.S. GRAPPLING WORLD TEAM TRIALS SCHEDULE
At Rocklin, Calif., September 13-14
Saturday, September 13, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – Registration
10:00 – 10:30 a.m. – Weigh-ins
12:00 noon – 6:00 p.m. – Competition
Sunday, September 14, 2008
10:00 a.m. – Medal Matches
12:00 noon – Finals