FREE KIDS CAMP FOR NEW WRESTLER 7-9 June 9a-3:30p

This free clinic is designed for all kids between the ages of 4 through 11.  However, any first year wrestlers should attend if they have never previously wrestled before.  This clinic focuses on new and inexperienced wrestlers and goes over the wrestling fundamentals such as stance, hand fighting, sprawling, and standing up.  It will place a lot of emphasis on conditioning and agility while incorporating wrestling technique and strength conditioning.  

Did you know that wrestling is the FASTEST growing for for girls at the high school and collegiate level?  Every year our girls program has grown in size which is why this year we have decided to has girl clinicians for our girl wrestlers and have separate training areas JUST for our girl wrestlers.  This should be a fun and exciting time for our girls especially since this will be the FIRST YEAR that Florida has SANCTIONED Girls wrestling in FHSAA competition.  This is truly an exciting time for our girls in Florida!

Thinking about wrestling?  This is the clinic for you.  Regardless of your age, come on out and see what wrestling is ALL ABOUT.  Find out what the workouts are like and what it takes to be a Championship wrestler.  You will be pushed to your limits and challenged like never before.  This clinic focuses on the wrestling basics while getting introduced to the cardio conditioning and the strength and agility needed to be a wrestling champion.  

 COACH  Ketler (Pictured above with wrestling legend Dan Gable 5/2022) is the founder and Executive Director of the American Warrior Wrestling Club.  Coach "K"  is also the head coach of Wiregrass Ranch H.S.  He oversees the training of the largest youth wrestling program on the West Coach of Florida and teaches and trains all three styles of wrestling: Folkstyle/Scholastic, Freestyle and Greco-Roman.  Coach K has trained and produced some of the area's top wrestler's from many of the local Tampa Bay area schools to include most recently one state qualifier and one state runner up at Wiregrass Ranch in the 2022 season.  

Coach Ketler coached along side PA Wrestling Hall of Fame Coach Ed Schneider at Pennsylvania's largest youth wrestling program, the Philadelphia PAL for 4 years.  Coach Ketler's wrestling experience includes wrestling at Pennsbury High School, training under PA Wrestling Hall of Fame Coach Joe Kiefer, and placing 2nd at sectionals in the 1st round of the PA State Tournament in 1991   

Coach Kiefer will wrap up our week long session as our VIP guest coach.  He will show us a few of his special moves but also talk with us about being a Champion.  Coach Kiefer is a Retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and attended the US Air Force Academy.  Coach Kiefer wrestled at the Air Force Academy and was the Academy's top wrestlers and was recognized for his leadership, academic and athletic abilities.  Coach Kiefer's high school accolades include earning the coveted title of PA State Champ as well as placing 5th and 8th in previous years while accumulating 130 wins.  Coach Kiefer is also Doctor Kiefer and is currently a Professor at a local University in the Orlando area.  Coach Kiefer comes to us with a tremendous amount of wrestling knowledge and leadership experience.  We are very fortunate to have him share his time with us this year.  

At the conclusion of our beginners clinic, each wrestler will be afforded the opportunity to wrestler the FIRST official wrestling match.  There will be an official referee that will officiate the match and and each athlete will have the opportunity to wrestle in an "Individual Bracket Tournament" or IBT. The tournament will be explained on the HOW it works and the kids will be divided into age groups and weight classes.  This will be a SLOW MOVING event so the kids will get not just the tournament experience but also the LEARNING experience of what an IBT is like. Depending on the number of athletes / Participants entered or registered, there will be one to three mats used for this event.  Keep in mind this is designed for the LEARNING aspect of entering and participating in an IBT.   We hope to hand out lots of medals and get lots of smiles!

COACH CONNORS is one of the BEST coaches in PA His record speaks for itself.  Coach Connors was named PA's high school "Regional Coach of the Year" in arguably one of the TOUGHEST regions in PA , the Southeast PA region, and one of the toughest areas in the country.  Coach Connors' high school accolades include: PA State Champ and PA State Runner up.  He finished with an overall high school career record of 130 wins and only 5 losses.  He was the #2 recruit in the country and wrestled NCAA D1 at the University of North Carolina.  While at UNC Coach Connors accumulated a record of 104 -20.  He was an ACC Champion and Wrestler of the Year.  He was an NCAA ALL-AMERICAN on the selected for the ALL ACC Team.  Currently, Coach Connors is the Head Coach for Bishop Egan H.S. and one of the top private clubs in PA, MPR Wrestling.  Coach Connors has kids from all over the state and northeast and mid Atlantic region that train at his wrestling club.  He continuously produces state champs, not only in PA but across the country.   

COACH KINDIG  is a 2X PA State Champ from Blue Mountain High School, where he had a record of 172-12.  . He was a Cadet Freestyle National Champion and a six-time Freestyle/Greco National finalist. He was also named a First-Team ASICS All-American in 2010.  

At the collegiate level Coach Kindig wrestled at Oklahoma State University, one of the highest regarded wrestling schools in the country. At OSU he was the ASICS FILA Junior Freestyle National Champion 2011, and in 2014, he went on to be an NCAA national finalist.  

 After graduation, Josh competed in Men’s Freestyle until 2018, competing in Cuba, Germany, Russia, and Siberia. He placed as high as 3rd overall in the U.S. Open in 2017 

COACH KIEFER  is a  PA State Champ, PA 5th Place and PA State Qualifier.  He was a 2x Regional Champ, 2x District Champ and 3x Sectional Champion.  His overall high school record was 130-13-1.  Upon graduating high school, Coach Kiefer was recruited by the highly prestigious US Air Force Academy.  While at the Air Force Academy, he was a two sport NCAA D1 athlete: WRESTLING and soccer.  

While  competing at the Air Force Academy, Coach Kiefer  had a top 4 finish in the Western Athletic Conference four years in a row.  He was the ALL-ACADEMY tournament Champion in 1996 and the tournament runner up in 1995.  In 1996 Coach Kiefer was awarded the Air Force teams "Best on the Mat" Award.  AFTER COLLGE Coach Kiefer was selected for the ALL-AIR FORCE Team. 

 He participated on the Air Force team and was the ALL ARMED FORCES National Championship Freestyle Champion and  Placed 4th in the ALL ARMED FORCES National Championship Greco Roman tournament.  Currently Coach Kiefer is an assistant volunteer coach for Lake Highland Preps youth wrestling club.  

Coach Ketler is the founder and Executive Director of American Warrior Wrestling.  He is the head coach and curriculum developer of the program.  He has assembled the best staff in the Tampa Bay area to offer your children the best summer experience available.  Coach Ketler wrestled for two years at Pennsbury H.S. and trained under PA National Wrestling Hall of Fame Coach Joe Kiefer.    Coach Ketler's notable H.S. accomplishment was being the 1991 PIAA Sectional Runner up and District qualifier.  Coach Ketler wrestled while serving in the Marine Corp and became a mixed martial arts instructor while in the Army.  Coach Ketler has a wide range of experience in grappling and MMA to include being a certified defensive tactics instructor at the local college's police academy.  

Coach Jacques joins the team for his first year but comes with a wealth of wrestling knowledge and experience.  Coach Jacques joins us from the Miami area and is a FL State Champion and 2x FL State placer.  Coach Jacques is a 2x Regional Champ, 2x District Champ and a 2x Conference Champ.   He is a protégé of US Olympian Ken Chertow.  We are excited to have Coach Jacques on our team.   

Coach Frietas has been working with Coach Ketler for the last two years.  Coach Frietas comes with valuable experience as  a former Wiregrass Ranch wrestler.  Coach Freitas was an FHSAA 3A D6 District Champion and 3rd place finisher, 2x  regional qualifier.   .  He also placed 4th in the Sunshine Athletic Conference.   Coach Frietas is a demanding, take charge leader and his Special Operations military background helps as he leads the kids through tough practices

Coach Villegas is starting his 3rd year as a coach.   This will be his fist year at AWW.  He brings a lot of enthusiasm to the sport and  plenty of knowledge and experience.  

The summer camp will be divided into two groups for most of the day., groups A  and group B.  Group A will primarily consist of the older kids between the ages of 12 to 18 years old.  

Group B will consist of children between the ages of 5 to 11.  This age group, generally, are the first year wrestlers and usually have less experience.  These kids will often times do many of the same exercises as the older kids, but at a less intense level.  Kids at age 4 can participate with parental assistance.