What is the best Grappling Team in the West?

Find out by entering your Grappling team in the Clinch Gear Western Regional Grappling Dual Meet Championships, to be held at Palomar College in San Marcos, Calif., Feb. 8-9.

This USA Wrestling sanctioned event will feature dual meet competition between club teams. There will competition in men's Grappling and women's Grappling. All matches will follow the International Grappling rules set by FILA, the international wrestling federation.

The FILA weight classes will be used, but with a five-pound allowance. For this competition, the weight classes (in pounds) will be:
Men: 141.5 lbs., 159 lbs., 181 lbs., 207.5 lbs., 280 lbs.
Women: 110.5 lbs., 126 lbs., 143.5 lbs., 163.5 lbs.

All athletes and coaches must have a current USA Wrestling membership card to participate.

Grappling has been recognized as a style of international wrestling by FILA, the international wrestling federation. USA Wrestling, as a national federation affiliated with FILA, hosts Grappling events using the FILA rules. The first FILA World Grappling Championships was held in 2006 in Turkey.

Since most clubs are not capable of fielding a full women's team, all female Grapplers will be placed in a pool, where they will be drafted into teams. 

Tournament organizers expect as many as 20 teams to participate, many which have backgrounds in Grappling, jiu jitsu, wrestling and other martial arts. With the dual meet format, participants will have an opportunity for a number of quality matches.

"I believe that this will be the highest level team competition we have seen to date," said Chris Carlino, the Director of Grappling for California USA Wrestling. "The Grappling community has not seen a competition like this before. Grapplers of all levels will be able to have competitive matches. That is the beauty of the dual meet format."

Men's teams that register early will receive a reduced rate. Teams who register by December 31 will be charged $100 as part of the Early Pre-Registration deadline. Those that register during the Pre-Registration period, which ends on January 20, will be charged $200. The teams that register during the Late Registration period, which ends February 8, will be charged $300 per team.

All women athletes who pre-register by January 20 will be charged $20 per athlete. Registration for women athletes end on February 8, and will cost $35 per athlete.

USA Wrestling events featuring Grappling have proven to be successful in Southern California this year, according to Richard Malliet, the Director of the San Diego Wrestling Association. This fall, the SDWA has run eight tournaments where a Grappling division has been included, and they have been well received.

"We are having fun with this newly sanctioned USA Wrestling sport, and will continue promoting it as far as we can," said Malliet.

The event is sponsored by Clinch Gear, a company owned by two-time Olympic wrestler and MMA star Dan Henderson.

Download an information packet on the Clinch Gear Western Regional Grappling Dual Meet Championships at the following link:
http://www.ca-usaw.org/events/2008/western_regional_grappling.pdf

For more information on the competition, contact Chris Carlino, Team/Competition Director for the event at 714-334-9257 or via e-mail at chriscarlino@hotmail.com

For information on Grappling programs sponsored by California USA Wrestling, visit:
www.ca-usaw.org/grappling