Last Sunday, the Dowagiac Youth Wrestling Club hosted a Michigan Youth Wrestling Association wrestling tournament.

This was the first youth wrestling tournament we’ve hosted in Dowagiac. I wanted to write this letter on behalf of our team and coaches to say thank you to all those who supported the event which brought large numbers of fans and competitors.

The Dowagiac Union School District has allowed the Dowagiac Youth Wrestling program access to the wrestling room for several years. This training facility is critical to our program and, in turn, the future success of the high school program.  We want to thank the Dowagiac Middle School and staff for allowing us to host the tournament in that outstanding facility. The building is well maintained and the staff was very helpful.

We were proud to put our middle school on display for the 39 teams and 303 wrestlers who came from all over the southwest region of Michigan and northern Indiana. Our staff received many compliments about the middle school from the visitors.

Thank you to Coach Colin Burandt and the Dowagiac High School wrestlers. Coach Burandt, your wrestlers were fine representatives of the program and our school district. The high school wrestlers helped with setup, coaching our youth wrestlers, and acted as great role models around our kids.

That is exactly what we’ve come to expect out of these men.

The Chris Taylor Foundation came through to support the team once again. We want the foundation members to know that the kids love the new singlets. We are convinced they wrestle better in them.

The Chris Taylor Foundation has supported Dowagiac wrestling for many years.  Many a raised hands can be traced back to a training camp that you all sponsored.  Thank you.

We were also supported by several area businesses. Thank you to Zeke’s Restaurant, Beeson St. Bar, Round Oak Revisited, The Bakers Rhapsody, Manor Mini Mart, Lindy’s Restaurant, Wounded Minnow Saloon, Saylor’s Pizza, Steinman’s Shell, Myers Super Valu, Casual Tee’s and Barnaby’s Pizza (Mishawaka).

There is time and money that goes into this type of support and we recognize that.  No one left hungry. Thank you for supporting our kids.

To the fans, thanks for cheering loud. Home field advantage was key over the weekend.

Our kids posted more than 30 wins and 23 pins. Fifteen of 19 Dowagiac wrestlers placed in the top four.

Five Dowagiac wrestlers took home gold medals while another five wrestlers earned silver. Four Chieftains placed third and one earned a fourth place finish.  Four wrestlers earned the coveted “gladiator award” for their personal achievement, attitude and performance.

DMS eighth-grader Gabbi Munson sang our national anthem and made us all proud.

Director Tony Munson and I want to congratulate all our kids on how they represented themselves this past Sunday. We also want to thank our community for all the support.

All of those compliments about our school and the success of our kids are a direct result of community support. Great job, Dowagiac.

JARRID BRADFORD

Head coach, Dowagiac Youth Wrestling Club