Info

WOMEN'S WRESTLING – As of 2023-2024, Women’s Wrestling is sanctioned thru the NCHSAA and now recognized as an official sport. Our women’s team is growing by leaps and bounds and we look forward to seeing their progress! We currently operate as one team on many aspects. Women will be practicing with the men and have the same coaching staff. If we make any moves to separate, I will communicate that.

Weight Classes – Men and Women have different weight classes. 

·        Men – 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215, 285lbs.

·        Women – 100, 107, 114, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, 185, 235lbs

FACEBOOK GROUP - We do have a Facebook group for those of you that are active on social media. A private group has been created for us this season ("Laney Wrestling"). If you wish to be invited to the group, please let Lynette Thomas know and she will send you the invitation to the group. 

HYDRATION TESTING - All wrestlers are required to take a hydration test (urine test) at the start of the regular season. If wrestlers do not pass their hydration test, they CANNOT PRACTICE until they pass. Wrestlers that DO NOT PASS, will not be able to stay in the practice room and will need to go home until the following practice day where they will test again. For those new to wrestling, the hydration test measures the athletes body fluid balance and sets their weight benchmark. If your wrestler loses weight during the season, the hydration test will help monitor that they are losing at a healthy rate. WRESTLERS SHOULD ALWAYS BE HYDRATING!!!!!

HYGIENE - As a reminder to everyone, please be aware that it is VERY easy for wrestlers to get ringworm, impetigo, staph infection etc. and we have already seen it several times this pre-season. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT THEY WASH THEIR HANDS OR USE WIPES AFTER WRESTLING. Wrestlers should also SHOWER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER PRACTICE AND/OR COMPETITIONS. Practice mats are cleaned daily and there are wipes in the practice room. For your wrestler’s personal use, there are brands of body wash, antibacterial soaps and wipes available…just google!

ACADEMICS AND UNEXCUSED ABSCENCES -  ALL wrestlers must keep their grades up! If students are not academically eligible, they CANNOT WRESTLE. Additionally, if a wrestler accumulates more than ten (10) unexcused absences, they become ineligible and CANNOT WRESTLE. GO TO CLASS, get your work done, don't fall behind, and keep those grades up, ladies and gentlemen! 

SEASON SCHEDULE - Our schedule is on "Schedule" page with ANY changes (all noted in RED FONT). Folks, unlike most other sports, the wrestling schedule is always changing. If we don't have funds, we will drop events. If Coach identifies an event that he feels we can work in, he will add it. Yes, its busy through the holidays…welcome to wrestling!! Lynette Thomas will update and share with the team as soon as she has the information. Just know that it WILL change....

This information is in regards to snack/water donations and meals for the upcoming season.

For those new to our crazy, wonderful sport, when we compete and travel, it’s often an ALL-DAY event (or two). Unlike some other sports, the vast majority of our fundraising $ goes towards travel expenses (bus fees, hotel, entry fees, etc) NOT feeding the athletes meals. Wrestlers are responsible for packing and bringing their OWN FOOD OR BRING MONEY TO PURCHASE FROM CONCESSIONS (if available). We also understand that sometimes our children forget, don't bring enough, or whatever; and therefore, we keep Snack Boxes on hand to help provide to those in need. Every season, we ask families to share the load and sign up a couple of times to donate cases of water and an assortment of HEALTHY snacks for the athletes.

I have created a Sign-Up Genius for everyone to grab a slot and help by donating HEALTHY assorted snacks and/or cases of water. If our schedule changes, I will update the Sign-Up Genius as needed. I will add post-season events later. Sign-up Genius link is below:

2025-2026 Snack/Water Sign-Up Genius Link:

TBD

Some things to note:

1. Wrestlers, again, YOU are responsible for bringing your own food and water to events.

2. Some events last ALL DAY LONG, so you need to be prepared, plan out, and pack all your personal meals/snacks.

3. The snack box is NOT INTENDED TO BE A MEAL BOX FOR WRESTLERS!!!!!  It is meant to supplement what wrestlers have personally brought.

4. Most schools/venues DO provide concessions so make sure you have $$ whenever we travel but, to be quite honest, it's typically not the type of healthy food wrestlers should be eating during competition. Wrestlers are strongly encouraged to bring your own HEALTHY, LOW SUGAR, HIGH PROTEIN, SUSTAINABLE food. (Think protein balls, peanut butter and honey, cold-cut meat and cheese, fruit, etc)

5. Suggested donation ideas for the snack bins would be easy, grab-n-go things like: individual trail mix packs, protein bars, breakfast bars, dill pickle packs, beef jerky, slim jims, beef sticks, granola bars, fruit snacks (ie: Motts, Welches), dried fruits, nuts. Again, the focus should be on HEALTHY, LOW SUGAR, HIGH PROTEIN snacks.

6. PLEASE spread the wealth on sign ups…we shouldn’t have the same families donating over and over again and with a roster as large as ours, it should be easy to keep it fair. The suggested items above are typically a bit more expensive than junk food so let’s work together and share the load. (**Pro-tip, the Thomas family prepares for our sign up date by grabbing a few ‘wrestler’ items every time we do our regular grocery shopping and just stash them in a box until it's our turn to bring them for the team. Not as painful on the bank account that way). 

7. For larger/longer events, the sign up will have multiple slots. The expectation is that you bring a variety of items...please don't just sign up and put a comment that says "slim jims". 

8. If 2 different families sign up for the same event, feel free to split and coordinate who brings what.

9. Snacks are collected and deposited into 2 tubs. We do not collect for JV, ladies, and varsity separately. If JV or our Lady Bucs are wrestling in a separate building or on different days than varsity, one of the snack bins will go with them.

10. Fresh fruit - meh....sounds great in theory however, it should only be donated in small amounts. Quite honestly, if wrestlers don’t eat it, it falls to the bottom of the box, gets squished, and rots. If you bring fruit, and it doesn’t get eaten, YOU need to take it back home with you. If you feel strongly towards fresh fruit, send it in your wrestler's personal stash.

11. If you sign up to bring something and cannot personally attend, you or your wrestler can drop off in the wrestling room beforehand. 

12. New wrestlers, pay attention to what the veteran wrestlers are eating and bringing. They know better than anyone what is easy to travel with, good for them, how to pack, and how much.

13. Sometimes (not always) Coach Adams will stop the bus on the way home and allow wrestlers to purchase their own dinner before coming home. This is often a spur of the moment decision dependent on time so again, make sure your wrestler always has $$ when we travel. Prepare like a Boy or Girl Scout!

Individual Tournaments - these are tournaments where teams attend with individual representatives for each weight class (Like Homer Spring Bulldog last weekend and King of Wake this upcoming weekend). Individual tournaments can either have strict weight classes or you may see the term “Madison Weights”. 

• Strict Weights - If the tournament has strict weight classes, it will most likely be double-elimination. Brackets are formed with each competitor for each weight class. Winners move through the championship side of the bracket, while if you have a loss you will move to the consolation side of the bracket (Usually referred to as “consi’s”). Wrestling is an individual sport with a team score atmosphere. Therefore, the individual wrestler collects wins and losses on their personal record, and moves through their individual bracket, but they also earn team points which accumulate with each win. So even wrestlers in the consi’s can earn team points and help boost the team score.

• Madison weights - are where the wrestlers will weigh in and be grouped based on the closest weights of other wrestlers and then usually proceed in a Round Robin. This format is in an effort to garner a quality number of matches for the wrestlers in weight classes that may not otherwise have enough wrestlers. A Round Robin is where the individual wrestles all others wrestlers in the bracket in a series of rounds.

Team Duals - Team duals are a head-to-head competition between 2 teams where each team fields a wrestler at each weight class to compete individually against the opposing team’s wrestler at the same weight class. Each team puts together a lineup of the best wrestlers for each weight class and the winner of each bout (or match) will earn team points. The overall team score is determined by the outcome and total score of all the individual matches. (Team point values are below.) In basic terms, a dual is a wrestling match between 2 teams only, as opposed to an individual tournament where wrestlers can face multiple opponents from different teams per weight class. As an FYI, sometimes we may have multiple duals in one day as opposed to conference matchups. 

*JV – During Conference duals, Coaches from both teams make every effort to arrange JV matches when possible, Sometimes JV matches are held BEFORE Varsity and sometimes AFTER. A conference JV match is not guaranteed for every wrestler. It depends heavily on who the opposing team brings to compete. Again, every effort is made to give the wrestlers live matches whenever possible.

Tri-Meet - A Tri-Meet is essentially a dual with 3 teams. Each team wrestles one another in a dual format and all teams face one another one (1) time. 

Quad Meet – A Quad-Meet would be a dual with 4 teams. Each team wrestles one another in a dual format and all teams face one another one (1) time.

Dual Tournaments or Dual Team Tournaments - these are tournaments where there are brackets set up of teams, not individuals. Teams compete in duals and advance through the bracket when they win. Team tournaments can be either double elimination (meaning you lose 2x) or single elimination. 

TEAM POINTS:

• 3 points = Minor Decision (win by 7 or less) If the time completely expires and you win by less than 8 points. Usually shortened to “decision” or “minor”

• 4 points = Major Decision (win by 8-14) If the match ends and you score more than 8 points over your opponent. Usually shortened to “major”

• 5 points = Technical Fall (win by 15+) At any point in the match, if the wrestler scores more than 15 points over their opponent and the match ends immediately. Also called a “tech”.

• 6 points = Pin Holding your opponent’s back to the mat for 2 seconds. Also called a “Fall” or “getting stuck”

• 6 points = Forfeit 

We have some great wrestling clubs in the area. PREPARING FOR NEXT SEASON STARTS NOW!! Pick a club...ANY CLUB...ALL are great. Find the one that best suits your needs.

Brunson's MMA & Fitness
(910) 782-8212
brunsonsmmaandfitness@gmail.com
(Inside Independence Mall), 3500 Oleander Dr, Wilmington
https://brunsonsmmaandfitness.com/

Peak Wrestling
Contact: Trent Allen
(910) 368-7095
tallen@umo.edu
Blue Phoenix Academy, 4956-3 Old Long Beach Rd, Southport, NC 28461

Port City Pirates Wrestling (separate from Brunson's)
Contact: Dan Willis
(910) 232-2297
matmandan@aol.com
Brunson's MMA & Fitness (inside Independence Mall, 3500 Oleander Dr, Wilmington)
 
Sly Fox Wrestling Club
Contact: Willie Hilton
(803) 409-8079
williehilton@gmail.com
4710 N. College Rd, Castle Hayne, NC

As many of you may already know, one of our staunchest and most steadfast supporters of Laney Wrestling is Mr. Mike Valentino. Mr. Valentino has routinely helped fund and support our sport for YEARS. Mr. Valentino is owner of TruFit (Porter's Neck location) so if anyone is looking for a gym, check out TruFit!! If the gym suits your needs, it would be a great way to return some support to this very amazing gentleman. 

TruFit Gym (Porter's Neck)
(910) 821-0500
trufitgym.com or zachary.h@trufitgym.com
7979 Market Street, Wilmington, NC

YOUR LANEY COACHES DON'T CARE WHERE YOU GO ...THEY JUST WANT YOU TO STAY ON THE MATS AND IN THE GYMS!