Health & Fitness
Grayslake Wrestling Club hosts first home tournament
On Sunday, December 15th the Grayslake Wrestling Club held what is believed
to be the first IKWF (Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation) sanctioned tournament in Grayslake at Central High School. Nearly 400 youth wrestlers attended from over a dozen area clubs.
Club parents and staff teamed with GCHS coaches and wrestlers to prepare for the day which started with se-up at 6am and was completed by 3pm. Parent volunteers manned the weigh scales and staffed the doors as Central representatives facilitated bracketing and ran the mats. The total crowd was estimated to be over 1,500 people who spent the morning and early afternoon in the Central fieldhouse.
Forty-two Grayslake wrestlers ages four to 14 participated in the day and competed against clubs as far north as Stateline (Wilmot, WI) to as far south as Barrington. Clubs included; Crystal Lake, Lakeland, Fox Lake, Barrington, Z's Team Pena, Bulldog Youth Sports (Wauconda), Mundelein, Stevenson Jr, Stateline, ZB Stingers, Woodstock, Lake Zurich, Shamrock, Wrestling Factory, and ISI.
For many Grayslake kids, this was their first tournament and they performed well with several champions and just about everyone winning at least one of their three matches. Bracket champions included; Liam Halloran, Aydan Edwards, Evan Onstad, Matty Jens, Joey Murphy, Barrett Beaird, and Ethan Tran.
In their fourth year based out of Grayslake Central High School, the club will be graduating their largest class of 8th graders in the Spring sending several seasoned athletes to Grayslake North and Grayslake Central. The season continues with weekly tournaments, a visit to Springfield in January, and concludes in March with the IKWF State Series.