Talented young wrestlers across the nation have an opportunity to train with elite coaches and athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) by earning "funded access."

What is funded access, and why is it so important?

Basically, any wrestling athlete can qualify to receive free room and board and facility use access to train with USA Wrestling coaches and athletes at the the USOTC in Colorado Springs, Colo. This includes athletes who participate in men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman and women's freestyle wrestling programs.

Simply, there is an approved list of achievements for placements in major USA Wrestling events, as well as a few other specific wrestling competitions, that qualify an athlete for this special status. Once an athlete is qualified, he or she can participate in training camps, or set up individual training "specials" that are organized through USA Wrestling's National Coaching staff.

There is great value for receiving funded access. The cost to spend one night at the USOTC is $40 per athlete, a cost that quickly adds up after only a few days of training.

USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee have released the qualifications for funded access for the 2006 season. The funded access qualifiers for this year are as follows:

Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling
* Senior  Athletes - Top 12 athletes in each of 7 weight classes
* University Nationals - Top 6 athletes in each of 8 weight classes
* FILA  Juniors - Top 4 athletes in each of 9 weight classes
* Junior Nationals - Top 6 athletes in each of 15 weight classes
* High School Nationals - Top 2 athletes in each of 14 weight classes
* FILA  Cadets - Top 4 athletes in each of 10 weight classes***
* Cadet Nationals - Top 4 athletes in each of 17 weight classes***
(***Cadets are funded for one year following qualifying competition.)
* NCAA Division 1 - Top 6 athletes in each of 10 weight classes



Women's Freestyle wrestling
* Senior Athletes - Top 10 athletes in each of 4 Olympic weight classes; top 7 athletes in each of 3 non-Olympic weight classes
* University  Nationals - Top 6 athletes in each of 4 Olympic weight classes; top 5 athletes in each of 3 non-Olympic weight classes
* Junior Nationals - Top 6 athletes in each of 8 weight classes
* Folkstyle Nationals - Top 4
* Junior Freestyle Nationals - Top 4 athletes in each 15 weight classes
* FILA Cadets - Top 4 athletes in each of 11 weight classes 

All talented and motivated wrestlers are encouraged to attend these major competitions in order to earn the proper placement that provides them with funded access. This system allows each athlete to earn the right to train in an environment that will improve their skills and performance in their wrestling careers.

Age-group athletes should contact the National Developmental Coach in their specific style for more information on opportunities to train once the athlete achieves funded access. Below are the name and e-mail addresses of each of the National Developmental Coaches:

National Freestyle Resident Coach
bslay@usawrestling.org

National Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson
ianderso@usawrestling.org

National Women's Developmental Coach Vlad "Izzy" Izboinikov
Izzy@usawrestling.org

Senior-level athletes should work with the National Coach in each of their styles concerning training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The name and e-mails of each of the National Coaches are"

National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones
zjones@usawrestling.org

National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser
sfraser@usawrestling.org

National Women's Coach Terry Steiner
tsteiner@usawrestling.org

You can reach any and all of these coaches by calling USA Wrestling at 719-598-8181.