Waconia Wrestling

Waconia Wrestling Club will again be offering a Freestyle/Greco program for kids (boys and girls) ages 1st grade - 12th grade (at least 1 year of Folkstyle wrestling experience required to participate) to grow their technical skills and to grow in their knowledge and fundamentals of the sport by training in these international styles. Freestyle & Greco-Roman are the 2 primary styles trained internationally and are different in their rules, scoring and terminology compared to American Folkstyle wrestling. Both are exciting and fast paced and will help your wrestler make gains in their technique and skillset for the next Folkstyle season. 

REGISTRATION: 

For all 7-12th Grade wrestlers, registration is due by 3/19 and for all Youth wrestlers registration is due by 4/5. Registration after 4/5 will be available as capacity allows.

• REGISTER HERE: 2024 Waconia Wrestling Freestyle/Greco Registration Form 

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Coaches/Clinicians & Staff: Max McEnelly, Tim Stapleton, Tyler Safratowich, Nate Matousek, Manny Rivera, Jon May, Jeff Katherman

Cost: $75 registration fee (after 4/5) for any non-Waconia wrestlers (from the 2023-24 season). FREE for all Waconia wrestlers. USAW Membership required for all participants. 

7-12th Grade Practice / Training Schedule: 7-12th Grade Group: April 9th - May 9th / Tuesdays & Thursdays from 7:00 - 8:00pm

Youth Practice / Training Schedule: 1st - 6th Grade Practice Group: April 9th - May 9th / Tuesdays & Thursdays from 6:00 - 7:00pm

Rules Clinic & Mini-Tournament with Chaska/Chanhassen - April 18th

• We are planning to host a clinic (for kids and parents) to better understand the nuances of the rules for both Freestyle/Greco
• Rules Clinic to be run by USAW Certified Officials
• Details will be sent via email

Freestyle/Greco FAQs

KEY DATES & ADDITIONAL TRAINING:

See mnusawrestling.org for all MNUSA Open Freestyle/Greco Tourneys

April 6th (Freestyle) - Eastview Tourney

April 12th (Greco) & 13th (Freestyle) - Apple Valley Greco & Freestyle Tourney 

April 19th (Greco) & April 20th (Freestyle) - Forest Lake Combo Tournament

April 27th Freestyle & Greco (Combo) - Hutchinson Open

Regional Training Site Practices & Info (Augsburg University)

May 4th-5th MNUSA Freestyle & Greco State Tournament (Rochester Mayo Civic Center)

May 11th-12th Northern Plains Freestyle/Greco Regional Tournament (Rochester Community & Technical College)

On July 31st, 2022, Max McEnelly made program history by winning the Bronze Medal at the U17 World Freestyle Championships in Rome, Italy while competing at 92kg. Max's efforts also helped Team USA win its first ever U17 Team Title as well - setting the team scoring record as well with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals!

USAW U17 Tournament Recap: Here's a great recap on the USA Wrestling website: https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2022/July/31/MFS-wins-team-World-title.

Bronze Medal Post-Match Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXgUEqMDxuY

Here's a recap of the event:

Rd of 16: Max's first match was against Uzbekistan's Sherzod Poyonov - scoring , and Max was victorious winning 11-1 on the strength of 5 takedowns + 1 point lost for a lost challenge.

Quarterfinals: His next match was against Bulgaria's Andriyan Valkanov where Max won 11-0 with another 5 takedowns, qualifying him for the semifinals.

Semifinals: In the semi's he faced 2021 U17 Bronze Medalist and 2022 European Gold Medalist, Karil Kurugliyev from Kazakhstan. In a hard fought match, Max lost 11-2, falling to the Bronze medal match.

Bronze Medal: In the Bronze match, Max faced India's Sahil Jaglan where Max traded passivity (shot clock) points and Jaglan lost a challenge call giving Max the win for a 2-1 victory!

Platinum Golf Sponsors 2023

Checkout our Waconia Wrestling YouTube Channel for some great content and features of our youth and high school program wrestlers.