Parker Sons of Thunder, a USA Wrestling sanctioned club in Parker, Colo., has received the Youthie Award as the Team of the Year from Youth1.com, a website and media company devoted entirely to youth sports. Parker Sons of Thunder is very active with USA Wrestling events, not only within Colorado but also on the national level. Parker Sons of Thunder website Below is the story posted on Youth1.com about the team and its victory in the voting for this award: PARKER SONS OF THUNDER, TEAM OF THE YEAR With 51.8% of the vote, Thor’s wrestling offspring crashed the Youthees to be crowned Team of the Year. In only three seasons, coach Jeff Estrada took a Colorado youth program from a small blip on the radar to the most decorated wrestling team in the country. Whether it is Folkstyle, Freestyle, or Greco-Roman wrestling, the Parker Sons of Thunder know what it takes to make noise in some of the most competitive tournaments out there. In 2011, the team was ranked the No. 1 youth wrestling program in the country for over 50 weeks straight (and counting). In 27 national tournaments last year, PSOT produced 88 individual champions and about three times as many athletes who placed highly. Now they will have to make some room in their trophy case for the first ever Youthee for Team of the Year. Runner up: New Jersey Colonials (30.0% of the votes) Parker Sons Of Thunder Fan Support: "[Jeff Estrada] left a great impression on the kids’ lives he touched here - he's a phenomenal coach because he cares about the kids and it shows - not to mention he has a passion for wrestling surpassed by no other and has the great talent of being able to teach wrestlers not only the moves but how to reach within themselves and strive to be the best.†"Go Parker Sons of Thunder!" "This team definitely deserves to win. They are truly amazing." Parker Sons of Thunder was one of over 2,000 nominees for the Youth Sports Team of the Year for the entire United States. Based upon their achievements, Parker Sons of Thunder was among five teams which were finalists for this award. An online voting was held, and this USA Wrestling sanctioned club was the winner. Below is some of the information about the club which was in their nomination article. FINALIST: Parker Sons of Thunder, Wrestling, Parker, CO As if the name was not cool enough, the Parker Sons of Thunder has transformed from unsung hero to the fanfare of the entire country’s wrestling scene. It’s important to point out that they did this in only three seasons as well, making them nominee for Youth1’s Team of the Year. In 2005, this Colorado based wrestling powerhouse was originally founded in Granite City, Illinois by talented wrestling coach Jeff Estrada. In Illinois, the “Sons of Thunder†were a force to be reckoned with, winning back-to-back state titles as well as producing multiple individual state champions. Estrada then moved to Parker, Colorado, where he took over the kids program at Ponderosa High School in Parker, the defending eight-time state champions in wrestling. Despite linking up with the top school in the state, Parker paled in comparison to Estrada’s original location when it came to wrestling. “[Ponderosa High School] has a very strong high school program, but they had been through four or five junior coaches before I got there,†said Estrada. “It was a little organization that had 90 kids in two programs. Compared to the program I had in Illinois, I had a lot of rebuilding to do.†Within three seasons in his new location, Estrada took the Parker Sons of Thunder (PSOT) from a kids program in need of rejuvenation that had very few kids competing for Colorado State honors to a national powerhouse. The program is now divided into three highly competitive teams with each training in either Folkstyle, Freestyle, or Greco-Roman wrestling, and has over 120 total youth athletes. The program had been ranked statistically by trackwrestling.com as the No. 1 youth wrestling program in December of 2010, which has stood true for a dominating 50 weeks in a row and counting. PSOT’s reputation has begun to rise exponentially across the country, enough so that kids are now travelling up to four hours round-trip to train with the team and moving to Colorado from other states just to take part in the glory. Nineteen elite wrestlers from the program are ranked in the 2011 USAW Future Olympian Rankings, where 11 of those are in the top 10 for their respective weight classes. To put it plainly, they’re good. The key to their success this past season lied in the number of tournaments Estrada allowed them to compete in, which was unlike any other team in the nation. “On average, teams probably go to about 10 tournaments a year,†replied Estrada. “We go to national tournaments non-stop and average about 17 placers in each one.†Specifically, PSOT attended 27 national tournaments this past season in addition to the state and regional championships. The results ended up with a list of victories that would take hours to name. In total for the 2010-2011 season, PSOT produced 88 individual champions from top-tier tournaments. In addition to the individual champions, the team had approximately three times as many athletes who placed well during the season in tournament play. About Youth1 http://www.youth1.com Youth1.com launched in 2010 with the sole purpose of uniting the large and passionate youth sports world through exclusive content devoted to athletes, parents, coaches and teams. Since our inception, our growth on a national level has been nothing short of amazing, capturing the attention of an audience waiting for a media outlet like ours to provide feature stories, game recaps and rankings, top prospect reports, live tournament coverage and much more. Youth1's devoted team of writers and editors are experts in the sports they cover, making their outreach and information on the youth sports level unique. We simply know youth sports better than anyone else! There are over 70 million youth athletes competing across America. Now, more than ever, they, their family, their coaches and organizations have an online destination to make their home.