2024 USA Wrestling State Leaders Summit & Board of Directors

Colorado Springs, CO

08/15/2024 - 08/17/2024

Event Venue

Cheyenne Mountain Resort
3225 Broadmoor Valley Rd
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Event Director

Tony Black
tblack@usawrestling.org

Cheyenne Mountain Resort

Event Schedule

Wednesday, August 14, 2024 

4:00-7:00 PM 

Room Check-in 

Reception Desk 

7:00-7:30  

Credential Pick-Up 

Lobby 

7:30-8:30 

Beer and Wine Reception 

Mountain View Terrace 

*Dinner on Wednesday is on your own. 

 

Thursday, August 15 

7:00-8:30 AM 

Credential Pick-Up 

Lobby

7:00-8:30  

Breakfast (voucher required) 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

8:30-9:30 

USA Wrestling Staff Introductions

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

9:30-10:30 

Welcome & Yearly Recap 

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

10:30-10:45

Break

Snacks & Drinks in Colorado Gallery  

BREAKOUT SESSIONS  

10:45-12:00

History of USA Wrestling

Colorado II/III (Conference Level)

11:00-12:00

Investing in Coaches: Aligning Actions with Values

Executive Presentation Room (Conference Level)

12:00-1:00 PM 

Lunch 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

1:00-2:00 

Event Registration through the Membership System with Dave Mathews 

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

2:15-3:15 

Breakout Session 

 

 

Supporting the Continued Growth of Girls and Women’s Wrestling (Panel) 

Cheyenne I (Lower Level) 

Tournament Operations: Maximize Efficiency and Enhance Experience 

Executive Presentation Room (Conference Level) 

3:15-3:45 

Break Snacks & Drinks in Colorado Gallery (2:00-5:00) 
3:45-5:30State Leaders Discussion 1Colorado II/III (Conference Level)

4:30-5:30 

Breakout Option – Developing Wrestling Leaders: Proven System for Growing your  Officials Pool and Selecting Fargo Coaches

Executive Presentation Room (Conference Level) 

5:30-6:30 

Regional Meetings 

 

West - Colorado II/III (Conf. Level)

Southern Plains - Arapahoe (Conf. Level)

Northern Plains - Centennial II/III (Main Level)

Central - Comanche (Conf. Level)

Northeast - Cheyenne (Lower Level)

Southeast - Ex. Pres. Rm.(Conf. Level)

6:30-7:30 

Dinner 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

 

Friday, August 16 

7:00-8:30 AM 

Breakfast (voucher required) 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

8:30-9:30  

Welcome from Bruce Baumgartner and Olympic Recap with Rich Bender 

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

9:30-10:00 

Break 

Snacks & Drinks in Colorado Gallery 

10:00-11:00 

Keynote Speaker - Zach Mercurio: Practicing Purposeful Leadership: How to Create a Culture of Mattering

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

11:15-12:00 

State Leader Discussion 2 

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

11:15-12:00 

Breakout Option - Evaluating Your Organization's Culture: Discussion and Self-Assessment

Cheyenne I (Lower Level) 

12:00-1:00 PM 

Lunch 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

1:00-2:00 

Breakout Session 

 

 

Building Bridges with High School Athletic Associations (Panel) 

Cheyenne I (Lower Level) 

Financial Management for your State Association: Alternate Sources of Income, Adding Paid Staff and Legal Responsibilities 

Executive Presentation Room (Conference Level) 

2:15-3:15 

Breakout Session 

 

Communications & Media to Advance Your Organization 

Cheyenne I (Lower Level) 

Membership System Admin Functionality (State Admin, Boards/Committees, etc.) 

Executive Presentation Room (Conference Level) 

3:15-3:45 

Break 

Snacks & Drinks in Colorado Gallery (2:00-5:00) 

3:45-4:45 

State Leader Discussion

CANCELED 

Colorado II/III (Conference Level) 

5:00-6:30 

National Council of State Chairpersons Meeting  

Colorado I (Conference Level) 

6:30-7:30 

Dinner 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

7:30-8:30 

JOWC Meeting 

Colorado II/III  

BOARD ROOM

 

Saturday, August 17 

7:00-8:30 AM 

Breakfast (voucher required) 

Mountain View Restaurant (Conference Level) 

8:30-12:00 

Board Meeting Session 1 

Colorado I (Conference Level) 

12:00-1:00 PM 

Lunch 

Mountain View Restaurant (Main Level) 

1:00-Conclusion 

Board Meeting Session 2 

Colorado I (Conference Level) 

*Schedule is Subject to Change

 

About the Presenters

History of USA Wrestling

  • Bill Crum has spent the last 40 years serving the wrestling community and was a member of the Board of Directors with USAW for 20 of those years. He founded and incorporated Beat the Streets in NYC. Along with receiving many awards, Bill was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for Lifetime Service to Wrestling in 2017. He currently serves as President of Florida-USA Wrestling.

 

Investing in Coaches: Aligning Actions with Values

  • Ron Sukle has been a coach, educator and athletic director for the past 30 years in Colorado Springs. He has been named Coach of the Year throughout his career both locally and nationally. Ron is passionate about mentoring coaches and has implemented the best professional development programs available. Ron will discuss the best resources for organizations to better coaches, athletes and programs.

 

Event Registration through the Membership System

  • Dave Mathews is the developer of USA Wrestling’s membership system and will be showing all state leaders how to navigate Event Registration.

 

Supporting the Continued Growth of Girls and Women’s Wrestling (Panel) 

  • Joan Fulp has been an advocate for women's wrestling throughout her career and holds many positions, including USA Wrestling’s Executive Board as second vice-president. She continues to work with grassroots committees, state wrestling associations and interscholastic offices to support and develop the growth of girls wrestling across the nation.
  • Andrea Yamamoto wrestled on the boys team at her high school in the mid 1980’s in Richland, WA and wrestled for Team USA in the early 90’s competing in 5 world championships, Pan Am Championships and the first National Championships for women. Andrea co-chairs the USAW Girls High School Development Committee.
  • Lori Ayres will provide insight into using Regional Training Centers & helping to support NCAA D1 women's clubs. She works as the Executive Director of the California Regional Training Center and co-founded the grassroots advocacy group, D1 Women's Wrestling. 
  • Chris Atkinson is the Women's Director for Pennsylvania, Girls High School Wrestling Coach at Souderton Area HS in PA and Northeast Regional Women’s Chair for USA Wrestling.

 

Tournament Operations: Maximize Efficiency and Enhance Experience 

  • Pat Culp is the Indiana State Chair, Vice Chair of the State Chairs, member of the JOWC, and member of the USA Board of Directors.  Pat was co-developer of Indiana High School Girls Wrestling and is recognized as one of the most efficient and effective tournament directors in the country.

 

Developing Wrestling Leaders: Proven System for Growing your Officials Pool and Selecting Fargo Coaches

  • Jason Christenson’s service to IA/USA wrestling spans over the past three decades as a coach, official, club director, event director, junior director, coaches director and current state chairperson. This Fall will mark the start of his 34th year as a physical education teacher, the past 24 at Southeast Polk High School, where he had a hall of fame coaching career.

 

Practicing Purposeful Leadership: How to Create a Culture of Mattering with Zach Mercurio

  • Zach Mercurio works with hundreds of companies, governments, and schools around the world to forge purposeful leaders and cultivate positive cultures that enable more meaning, mattering, motivation, and performance. Learn how to unleash human potential, maximize well-being, and produce tangible results. zachmercurio.com

 

Building Bridges with High School Athletic Associations (Panel)

  • As a former educator and coach Joan Fulp knows the value of working with high school athletic associations. She has supported the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) Wrestling Rules Committee on the growth of girls wrestling since 2016. Joan will be leading the panel discussion with David Gozalez, State Chair for Arizona, Pat Culp, State Chair for Indiana and Andrea Yamamoto, USAW committee co-chair.

 

Financial Management for your State Association: Alternate Sources of Income, Adding Paid Staff and Legal Responsibilities 

  • Craig LaMont is the State Chair of USA Wrestling-Utah and part of the USAW Board of Directors, serving on the Youth Development Council. He is a professionally trained marriage and family therapist. In addition, Craig has started 29 business, each developing into successful companies. Craig has applied business concepts from the business world while leading the state association in Utah. He was the first of the states to hire paid staff. Craig will be sharing key principals for management including correcting corruption within the system and recognizing conflicts of interest along with the importance of accountability.

 

Communications & Media to Advance Your Organization

  • Derick Schwanz is the Communications Coordinator for MN/USA Wrestling where he has been charge of the marketing and media for the organization the past two years. In addition he is a college professor in Marketing at Ridgewater College where he has taught since 2014. 
  • Enzo Fano is Digital Video Coordinator with USA Wrestling’s Communications Department. His impressive professional track record includes time spent at St. John’s University as Assistant Multimedia Director for Athletics and Fenway Sports Management as Video Production Assistant.

 

Membership System Admin Functionality (State Admin, Boards/Committees, etc.) with Dave Mathews

  • Get that training you’ve been waiting for! Dave Mathews, Director of Application Development, will help you become a pro at navigating the admin system!
Event Information