Louisa, Ky. — The Lawrence Co. Wrestling Club wrapped up their first ever youth camp on Friday at Louisa East Elementary.
This was the first year for the camp and they consistently had around 25 kids ranging from 5 to 18 years old including a couple girls each day and over 50 different kids this week.
Six different schools were represented from the likes of Lawrence Co., Johnson Co., West Carter, Cabell-Midland, Boyd Co. and Pikeville.
The camp went from 9 to 4 each day and lunch was provided by the Lawrence Co. Public Library a couple days.
Paul Bradley a Wrestling Assistant Coach at Queens University in Charlotte North Carolina was the special guest.
Bradley wrestled at Iowa University and was a 2X All-American and is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed mostly in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Bradley has also fought in the Bellator MMA, UFC, Strikeforce, Shark Fights, King of the Cage, and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter
Bobby Keeton, Scott Powell and Scott Tobia also deserve credit.
Wrestling in Lawrence Co. is quickly rising thanks to the groundwork being done at camps like this one and looks to be at the high school level once again after about 15 or so years this upcoming winter.
Camp Coordinator Josh Diamond
COORDINATOR COMMENTS
“… This year’s wrestling camp has been a blast. Especially seeing the kids from all over our region get the opportunity to get together and learn.”
“… Having a D1 Wrestling coach like Paul Bradley and his background along with D1 wrestler Easton Tobia help teach our kids is phenomenal. Easton has been apart of our program since we started and owe a lot to him and his family for our success.”
“… With what we learned this week we hope it will help our kids become even better wrestlers and help us earn another state title.”
Queens University Assistant Coach Paul Bradley
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… It’s been good to bring some big time wrestling to such a small and vibrant community. Always great to help grow the sport and help kids find a love for it. It was a honor to be around these kids for the last five days. I hope they learned as much from me as I did from them. The future is bright in Lawrence Co.”