Event involves 193 kids and a dozen teams
The local high school gymnasium served as wrestling central on Saturday, March 2, as the Cloverdale Youth Wrestling Club hosted the first ever Cloverdale Iron Eagle Invitational Tournament.
The event involved a dozen teams and 193 boys and girls aged kindergarten through eighth grade and featured a pair of tournaments for both younger and middle school athletes.
“We were very excited with how it turned out, a number of coaches commented on how well run and organized it was,” CWC President Mike Toninato reported. “We weren’t expecting it to be as big as it was but it was a huge success.”
The tournament began at 9 a.m. with a color guard ceremony led by Danny Solis of Cloverdale post 293, followed by the National Anthem and an introduction by Mike Toninato.
The action began shortly after, with younger aged wrestlers competing until noon, followed by the middle school aged kids and wrapping up around 4:30 p.m. Both tournaments awarded top-three medals in each weight class.
Led by head coach Jake Tonelli, the CWC had some 50 wrestlers competing at all levels and weight classes, with several climbing the medal podium.
The event completed a trifecta of sorts for local youth wrestling, following the lead started by Washington Middle School and Cloverdale High School in starting up fledgling wrestling programs.
The CWC will participate in several more Coastal Mountain Wrestling Association sanctioned tournaments this spring, including Healdsburg on March 16.
Local sponsors step up
The CWC wishes to thank both the Healdsburg and Windsor Wrestling Clubs for helping out, along with a legion of volunteers and sponsors that include the Eagle Pride Booster Club, Cloverdale Lion’s Club, Alexander Valley Soil and Nor Cal Tree Service and many more.
