The Rocky Mountain Nationals Triple Crown of Youth Wrestling will kick off its first annual Wild West Championship national tournament on Saturday, February 11, at the Wyoming Center at CAM-PLEX in Gillette.
This event will feature youth wrestlers ages K thru 8th and an Open-Pro division competing from around the nation.
RMN Events schedules 25 of their tournaments that stretch from Denver to Orlando and from Seattle to Las Cruces. RMN Events has shared joint efforts with such organizations such as Disney World and Universal Studios.
“Our partnership with Disney and Universal Studios is a natural outgrowth of what we’re trying to do with these tournaments,” said RMN Director, Ed Gutierrez. “Amateur wrestling, and youth wrestling in particular, is a family sport. Seldom does a youngster get involved in it, especially at this national level, without the whole family being involved. It’s appropriate that we hold these events in places like that including Rapid City and Gillette to accommodate families and incorporate a whole lot of family fun.”
The Wild West Championship will showcase trophies over four-feet tall and four-inch custom color medals, topped off with a newly designed Tri-State belt. The weekend of wrestling will include free movies and Xbox games that include great prizes for all in attendance.
RMN initiated its inaugural Rocky Mountain Nationals tournament in 1999. The initial concept was to bring together the most outstanding amateur wrestlers in the country, ages 5 thru 18, to compete for national titles. The concept has been retained and built upon in the ten years RMN has produced its events. When it expanded to three events, the idea of the Triple Crown of Youth Wrestling came into being; any wrestler who won all series, and a growing number of competitors each year, wrestlers who win three of the series events, one of which must include the Rocky Mountain Nationals tournament held in March, will be crowed Triple Crown Champions.
The awards have expanded to include a Tri-State belt, Golden Gear award, RMN Championship Belt and the ultimate Ring of Fame; all awards include winning multiple RMN series of tournaments in which the recipients are awarded.
The RMN series routinely draws wrestlers from some of the most prominent wrestling clubs in the country, including South Dakota and Wyoming, and have connected with some of the highest profile athletes. Most recently, RMN Events has partnered with Cael Sanderson’s “Undefeated” nutrition; Sanderson is currently the head coach of Penn State University and an Olympic Gold Medalist.
“One of the most exciting partnerships recently for us has been with the folks at Kroenke Sports Entertainment, who own the Colorado Rapids, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Pepsi Center and recent6ly purchased the St. Louis Rams, this could be another chapter of future potential for mainstream sports cultivating more opportunities for amateur wrestling,” said RMN Director Adam Gutierrez.
In addition, some of amateur wrestling’s most notable icons have joined with RMN’s tournament series. Dan Gable, Olympic gold medalist and perhaps the most recognizable name in the sport has been a special guest at RMN events. Ken Chertow, also an Olympian who is normally a special guest at the annual RMN event held in March, said the RMN series is “one of the most outstanding wrestling events in the nation.”
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10 for an all-day pass. The event begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, at the Wyoming Center at CAM-PLEX.
For more information, visit http://www.rockymountainnationals.com.
