Cal-State Fullerton seeks attendance records for High School Day on Nov. 19, with free admission to

<< Back to Articles
Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
11/05/2004


California USA Wrestling is supporting an effort by Cal-State Fullerton's varsity wrestling team to break some attendance records in an upcoming dual meet event.    It will be "High School Day" on Friday, November 19, when Cal-State Fullerton hosts Pac-10 rival Stanford in a Div. I wrestling dual meet, as well as two other college dual meets.    Admission is free to all high school teams that send in a roster in advance. In the first two years of this program, the number of high school wrestlers at the meet went from 350 to 1,200. Organizers are shooting for at least 1,500 high school wrestlers at the event this year.    In addition to the Cal-State Fullerton vs. Stanford dual meet, there are two other college matches to watch. NAIA team Embry-Riddle will battle the Cal-State Fullerton B team, while two California Junior College teams, Palomar and Santa Ana, will also compete. There will be three mats placed side-by-side, so spectators can enjoy all three duals at the same time.    "The idea is to showcase all levels of college wrestling for the high school kids," said Fullerton head coach Dan Hicks. "This is great for our program, because we get the wrestlers on campus. But the main thing is to show them that there are opportunities to wrestle in college."    "People in Southern California are starved for college wrestling," said Hicks. "This is a fun event. We do a half-time break. We throw t-shirts into the stands. We have a good time."    The competition begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Cal-State Fullerton campus. Teams are encouraged to arrive by 1:45 p.m. to park and register.    Teams should send a FAX of their high school wrestling roster on school letterhead to Coach Hicks at 714-278-3141 by November 15. The roster should have all the names of wrestlers and coaches who will attend. Wrestlers are asked to bring an ID when they come to the competition.    In addition to the wrestling action, California USA Wrestling will present its Appreciation Award to Cal-State Fullerton Athletic Director Brian Quinn during the festivities. Quinn is credited for standing up for wrestling at the institution, and making sure that no sports were cut there, even in the face of difficult financial challenges.     "He stepped up and said we really would rather not cut programs," said Hicks. "To have 1,500 kids give Brian Quinn a standing ovation is great for wrestling and for the university."    Cal-State Fullerton's wrestling program has been improving in recent years, with a best-ever third place team finish at the 2004 Pac-10 Championships. Four Titan wrestlers qualified to compete at the 2004 NCAA Div. I Championships.    "They had been last in the Pac -10 in the past," said Hicks. "We were one match from winning the Pac-10 last year. We thought we would do OK, but we went from worst to almost first. We are excited about the team this year. We should be even better."    The project is part of the many activities that California USA Wrestling participates in to build the sport in the state. Hicks serves as the Open Director on California USA Wrestling's board.    "We are getting involved with college wrestling in the state," said Rob Valerio of California USA Wrestling. "We give all of the colleges in the state our support to help protect and build their programs."