Come join us in McHardy Park for the second annual outdoor wrestling tournament.

There will be food vendors in the park and plenty of space for the whole family to roam around the two mats we set up for the wrestling tournament.

Make sure to bring your lawn chair…and your neighbor to support the Brandon Matcats Youth Wrestling Tournament.

July 26th at McHardy Park in Brandon, SD 721 McHardy Rd, Brandon, SD 57005
Register on Trackwrestling.com $20 per wrestler,

spectators are free.

Weigh in’s at 3:30PM – Wrestling starts at 5:00PM sharp
Open to the Community – Food Vendors onsite

No set weight Classes, Wrestlers will be grouped by Weight and experience level into 4 man Round Robin brackets.   

Tots – 01/01/2013 -12/31/2015

Bantam – 01/01/2011 – 12/31/2012

Midgets – 01/01/2009 – 12/31/2010

Novice – 01/01/2006 – 12/31/2008 ( No Seventh Graders )

Registration Deadline 07/25/2019 11:59PM CST

Click here for link to trackwrestling: https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/opentournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=474688132

Registration for the 2018-2019 Youth Wrestling Season is open. 

Register at the following link: 2018-2019 MatCats Registration:

• Club Fees:
• Annual Dues-$50 per wrestler/$100 max per family
• AAU Card (Required)-$16 per wrestler
• Family Volunteer Fee-$25 (Refunded after working the MatCats Tournament on February 10)

Questions may be emailed to:  matcatswrestling@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandonvalley.matcats

Practice Schedule: See Practice and Calendar Tabs

From the Mats to the Gridiron

Courtesy: Seminoles.com
Release: 11/19/2014

Florida State’s leading tackler Reggie Northrup takes pride in the way he takes down opposing ball carriers.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” Northrup said. “I know it’s a skill set that I continue to work on and get better at.”

The junior linebacker from Jacksonville, Fla., credits some of his tackling prowess to wrestling in high school.

“I used to watch that WWE stuff, but I was interested in the real kind of wrestling” Northrup said.  “I tried it out and I happened to be pretty good at it. Your leverage, it helps make your hips better. Your pad level, your able to get lower and being able to grab and wrap up.”

Not only was he a two-time Florida state qualifier on the mat, but he immediately saw dividends on the football field.

“Wrestling in high school took my game play to a whole other level,” Northrup said.  “Especially being a linebacker I’d just go out there in games and start doing things better.  My fundamentals, I was able to stay low and read stuff.”

“Usually wrestlers are tough guys,” head coach Jimbo Fisher said.  “Individually mentally strong guys because there’s nobody else out there to do it with, it’s you and him.  They’re usually great grip guys, very strong in their hands.  When they get their hands on someone, they usually tackle very well.”

And his teammates certainly notice the effects as well.

“On the field he’s just a wild man,” red-shirt junior Tyler Hunter said.  “He would run into a brick wall.  I can definitely see the wrestling on the football field.”

“Reggie’s a very low center of gravity guy,” senior Karlos Williams said.  “He’s just explosive in the way he tackles through the hips and on the rise. I remember going through camp he caught me a couple of times when I was going through the hole and my pads were a little bit too high and I was like I would hate to have to hit this guy on a Saturday night when I was wearing opposite colors.”

“All I know is that he hits hard,” senior Desmond Hollin said.  “I don’t know about wrestling, I just know he’s one of the hardest hitters on the team.”

Now thanks to what he learned on the wrestling mat, Northrup can bring even more pain to opponents when he takes them to the ground on the football field. Something Seminole fans have come to enjoy on a lot from Florida State’s leading tackler. 

Layne Herdt, Seminoles.com.

The 2017-2018 BV Lynx Varsity duals and tournaments have been posted to the MatCats calendar. Click on the calendar tab to see where our team will be competing this season. First event is on 12/2/2017

Why My Kids Will Wrestle..
by Cael Sanderson  

Why my kids will wrestle..

1. Foundation sport. Wrestling is the perfect foundation for all other sports. Wrestling is balance, agility, hand –eye coordination, flexibility, positioning, strength, speed, explosiveness, footwork, hustle, mental focus, mental toughness, core strength, concentration, competition, and endurance. Wrestling will make our youth better at all other sports.

2. Fun. Wrestling is a game. It is the most basic and instinctual game. Toddlers wrestle. The sport of wrestling is the ultimate competition where two individual take their individual strengths and match them up against each other. Wrestling is a battle of wits, technique, speed, agility, flexibility, and toughness. No two wrestlers are alike. Fun stuff!!

3. Exercise. Wrestling is one the world’s most premier physical fitness sports. Wrestling develops strength and endurance. Poor health is a major issue in our society today and wrestling will help develop a love of exercise and physical fitness in our youth.

4. Self-confidence. Very little is accomplished without self-confidence.  Insecure people have the most difficult time learning from others and make progress even more difficult than it already is. Wrestling teaches hard work, self-improvement, sense of accomplishment, camaraderie of team, 1 on 1 aspect, and self-defense to name a few. These promote self-worth, respect and confidence.

5. Self-defense. Although wrestling is not commonly considered a “martial art,” it is the #1 base discipline in the world of MMA. Wrestlers know how to defend themselves and neutralize threats quickly. Wrestling is controlling an opponent. If you want your kids to know how to defend themselves, put them in wrestling.

6. Humility. Nothing teaches humility better than a 1-on-1 sport. Winning and losing in a 1-on-1 setting brings humility. There is nowhere to hide and no one to blame but yourself. All wrestlers will lose at some point and doing so in these conditions teaches humility. Hard work and discipline are two keys to success in wrestling and both teach humility.

“…I learned a lot about taking responsibility for my actions when I wrestled for 4 years…All professional athletes ought to spend a year wrestling. It teaches you something, You get pinned; you can’t blame the coach. You can’t blame your teammates. The guy you are looking for is staring back at you in the mirror” –former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams

7. Respect. The challenges of being a wrestler teach you to respect yourself. After you learn to respect yourself you will learn to respect others. You learn to respect your team mates as well as your opponents. You learn to listen to and respect your coach. After you learn to respect others you are able to learn from them, a life lesson.

8. Self-discipline. Wrestling is discipline. Repetition of drills, hard work, weight management, and continually doing the best thing instead of the easiest thing is discipline. Wrestling requires postponing instant “wants” to gain something more valuable long term. It takes discipline and focus to reach goals.

9. Roadmap to success. Wrestling is the perfect example of what it takes to be successful in life. Goal setting, hard work, determination, focus, love of challenges, love of competition, confidence, being coachable, mental toughness, discipline, creativity, team work and accountability.

10. Toughness. Wrestling is a physical, contact sport. You learn that sometimes you just get poked in the eye. Physical and mental toughness go hand in hand. You learn that a little pain or struggle is part of the process of doing great things.