“I have to admit, I was very nervous with about a month to go,” said Jeremy Biddle, camp director.  “I knew going into this year it was going to be tough both financially and participation wise, and I was trying to prepare for it, but I was very happy with the way it ended number wise, and also thought that this was one of the best camps yet out of this crew.”

The resident participants were housed and fed meals here locally at Southwestern College, who has been a huge asset to the All American Camp, and has been an important part of the camps success.  “Southwestern College has been a huge part of our team since we started this as a resident camp.  From the campus staff, the food service, and Julie Headrick, Southwestern College has definitely welcomed us in as family, and we couldn’t have done it without them.” explained Biddle.

Campers went through three practices a day, as well as starting the day bright and early with a morning jog, followed by stretching and agility work.  Each session was broken up between, technique, actual situation drilling, and then incorporated into live wrestling sessions.  The wrestlers also had various short intervals of conditioning, which were actually considered to be some of the most impressive highlights of the camp.  “When you see eight or nine high school aged kids take control and lead your conditioning sessions, it’s a amazing feeling to see how everybody responds and follows, even the young six and seven year olds.  As a coach, it makes you feel proud and confident that both you and your wrestlers have that kind of faith and trust in each other.” said Biddle.  “And that is part of what makes this camp special, the fact that for four days, wrestlers from all over different programs from different states, become a part of Team All American.” 

The staff of the All American camp consisted of numerous club, high school, and college coaches from all over the country, as well as current college wrestlers and other counselors as well.  The newest additions to the staff were: Mitchell Means, 2X HS State Champion from Goddard HS and currently wrestling at Fort Hays State University; and Jimmy Rollins, NJCAA National Champion and NAIA National Champion, 4X All American and currently coaching at Dana College in Blair, NE.  This year’s staff boasted an impressive record of 31 HS State Championships, 39 college All American titles, 6 college National Runner-Up titles, and 7 college National Champion titles.  “We even found out that one of the coaches that came with his team to participate in camp was a D-II National Champion in 1983 from Adams State, which definitely added an extra benefit for both campers and staff.” said Biddle.  “With these kinds of credentials filling your wrestling room to the brim, there is so much wrestling knowledge that is getting shown that we as clinicians found ourselves taking notes from each other, and spent most of the down time re-working the same things that we showed the previous session, and how we would incorporate those new ideas into our own programs.”

All three wrestling communities in Cowley County were represented from Ark City, Central Burden, and Winfield, and both Winfield and Ark City clubs had team members who were voted as Camp Champions.  Both Trig Tennant, Ark City Takedown Club, and Trevor Smith, Winfield Wrestling Club were two of the five Camp Champions, with Muskogee High School wrestlers Miles Andrews and Thomas Hankins, and THOK Sean DeShazer filling the other three spots.  This year’s champs were so close that the coaching staff had to have two sets of teammates wrestle off to decide the final spots.

“That last session of the camp, where each wrestler competed in six matches, it didn’t matter whether you were watching the six year olds or two high school wrestlers’, you saw some very excited and high tempo wrestling matches.  We’ve had some great camps before, but this year seemed to be very team oriented, and if one of the leaders wanted to go extra, then everybody did, and you didn’t hear any complaining at all.” said Biddle.  “From the staff to the residents, everybody just seemed to know what they each had to do, and they did it. “

With another year down, and as each year gets a little easier yet a little harder, the campers and coaches each head home to their own teams and families, already thinking about the new ideas, the new moves, and the new year that will be quickly approaching, and they are that much closer to being ready for next season, with a little bit due to their extended family, Team All American.