Mt. Pleasant, IA- Last year the Mt. Pleasant Youth Wrestling Club was ranked #23 in the nation according to trackwrestling.com, this year the club climb up the latter to be ranked #14 in the nation after another successful season.
Head coach Nick Ettinger along with his assistant coaches Karla Maher, Corey Hamilton, Jordan Norton, and Mick Manning have been building something special, spending six hours a week with the kids under the motto “work hard.” A motto embodied by the entire club according to coach Ettinger.
This season saw a record set and a state champion crowned as the entire club tallied 452 pins on the mat this season along with grabbing a couple of team trophies from local tournaments this season.
The club sent a record 24 wrestlers to the Iowa AAU state tournament, six youth and two middle school boys qualified for the AAU grade school boys state championships and 10 girls made the trip to Cedar Rapids to participate in the AAU girls state tournament.
Courtney Smith wrestled her way to a state championship, while Klara Shelby and Cece Aranda both grabbed bronze medals with Milli Norton taking home 4th place for the girls’ team.
Kamden Ettinger and Braxton Hamilton highlighted the Iowa super peewee state championships for kindergarten through 2nd graders as a total of six boys competed in Waterloo. Ettinger and Hamilton each took home 3rd place in the effort. Samuel Ross also grabbed 8th place.
(Photo courtesy of Nick Ettinger)
Coach Ettinger thanked everyone involved with the club along with expressing his gratitude for the kids’ effort,
“We are forever thankful for their commitment to the kids! I couldn’t do it without them. Lastly, I’m extremely proud of this club and look forward to the future of MP wrestling!”
Congratulations to the MP Youth Wrestling Club for their successful season!