Minutes of the USA Wrestling - Ohio Annual Meeting 

October 20, 2024 

Attendees (61): John Cvetic, Wendel Donathan, Chris Kallai, Charlie Smith, Mary  Terbay, Jeremiah Webber, Brad Bournival, Brian Church, Rob  Dearwester, Dane Johnson, Art Kallai, Debbi Kallai, Sarah Kershaw,  Jeff Kullman, Ryan Marks, Rae McDonald, Bob Vallarelli, Shawn  Andrews, Rick Davis, Adam Gilmore, Tim Hessing, Chris Kallai, Jr.,  Harmon Sizemore, Paul Kruggel, Jim Bostic, Micah Kullman, Jesse  Villers, Joe Campolongo, Elizabeth Kruggel, Kevin McPherson, Marlan  Yarbrough, Noah Clary, Jared Campbell, Adam Green, Maryia  Ivanova, Carter Kroll, Shawn Petty, Dominic Adams, Aaron Carnahan,  Ethan Birden, Sumayyah Kemp, Heather Hetzer, Nate Hagan, Daniel  Bruce, David Bavery, Garrett Bass, Cory Kallai, Jarrod Martin, Jodi  Burnett, Josh Castro, Mike Kulczik, Ben Kiriam, Jake Henderson, Ben  Savage, Brian Nicola, Jaysen Knick, Eddie Maappe, Reginald Lowery,  Ruben Vera, Luke Wimmers, Chris Kallai Jr. 

Determination of quorum: To have a quorum, at least 25% of the Officers, Directors,  and At-Large Board Members (i.e., a minimum of twenty) must be present along with  representatives from at least 10% of the Chartered Clubs (i.e., a minimum of twenty).  Thirty-three (33) Officers, Directors, and At-Large Board Members were present, and  twenty-eight (28) Chartered Clubs were represented at the beginning of the meeting.  Since it was determined that we had a quorum, the meeting was called to order at 9:11 a.m.

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS REPORTS 

Chairperson’s report – Chris Kallai 

Chris congratulated everyone on a great year. More people were involved this  year.  

Greco is growing. 

Dual Teams – we had 16 dual teams this past year; there were 68 coaches in  Fargo this year to coach 350 athletes; and 15 officials. Next year, Fargo will be  July 11 – 19. They are looking to add July 10th for women. 

There is a concern that we are not retain the senior wrestlers so we will form a  committee to come up with ideas to help curb this trend. Jeremiah to talk about it  in his report. 

Every two weeks there is a National Chairperson call. Anyone that wishes to sit  in on the call are welcome, contact Chris for the information.

The last call talked a lot about the membership system. Dave Matthews and  Justin Tress (formerly owner of TrackWrestling) have put together a bracketing  system under the USA membership systems. It is very easy to use. 

Membership numbers are up nationally in all categories. Number of officials are  also growing. 

National meeting update (a handout was available) highlights: 

o Age group weight classes have changed for all age groups – boys  and girls. 

o Scoring rule changes 

Chris would like 3-4 people at the meeting. 

Membership pricing - $70 for wrestling leader cards. National office increased  their cost for the card, so we had to increase ours to have revenue. 

Buses are lined up for Fargo 2025.  

Vice Chairperson’s Report – Wendel Donathan 

Wendel thanked Dublin Coffman for hosting the meeting. 

Qualifier numbers were up with the average being 521. State numbers were also  up. Thank you to Ron Beachler for the awesome job he does for state and for  the Fargo camp. 

At Qualifiers, tournament directors need to enforce floor passes. Coaches can  pre-register for their passes. Host sites must have 6 mats and the capability to  go to 8. Based on the numbers a call will be placed on Wednesday to let the  host site know if they need to move up to the 8 mats. 

The Fargo experience was awesome. 

Secretary’s Report – Mary Terbay 

Bob Vallarelli motioned to approve the minutes as written; second by Charlie  Smith. The Minutes of the 2023-2024 USA Wrestling Ohio Annual meeting were  approved.  

Treasurer’s Report - John Cvetic 

John discussed the financial statements and budget for fiscal years 2024 and  2025. The cash position does not reflect the $20K bill received just before the  meeting for officials’ incentive. There was a Fargo surplus due to more athletes  going to Fargo than budgeted for (lowers the fixed costs) so this surplus should  go to offset 2025 Fargo fees. The state tournament lost $3000 due to a high  Wrestle One bill and 22 officials being paid. Support services were up – took 4 to  Colorado but was budgeted for 2. 

The Treasurer’s report was accepted (Motion by Bobby Vallarelli and second by  Dominic Adams). 

The 2025 budget was also presented.  

• The card increase is the single largest difference. 

• Beach money is taken out but if needed should be requested. 

• Dual meets – budget funds 12 teams – one per style per age division per  boys/ girls. Additional dual meet fees are to be covered by the team. The  team also must pay the officials from their budget. Next year all the girls  events will be at one venue. 

• The Fargo fee can be lower if we take 350 or more athlete. 

Motion by Bobby Vallarelli and second by Jim Bostic to accept the budget as presented; approved. 

Membership Chairperson’s Report –Chris Kallai for Keith Carter 

Membership numbers were up in all areas; putting Ohio in the top 8 for  membership in the country. All coaches have cards. Membership is on-line (we  don’t sell cards at the door). Membership also approves club charters and event  sanctions. 

Discussion concerning posting contact information on line. This cannot be done  (done to allow easy access to athletes for college coaches). Suggestion to have  a DO NOT INCLUDE on the Fargo registration form for anyone NOT wanting  their contact information to be published. USAWO gets $3 per card, the rest to  the national office. 

MVKWA Director – Charlie Smith 

MVKWA season went well. The 2025 season is starting up with the first meet  the weekend of December 8. They are anticipating 3300 athletes for this  coming season. Forty-eight mini-tournaments, 5 regionals and 1 final have  been sanctioned. At this time there are 69 clubs. 

Coaches Council Director – Jeremiah Webber 

Jeremiah asked all coaches to go through him with their questions and he will  get answers. He serves as the buffer between the board and the coaches. He  stated that he feels the mission should be to create and facilitate as many  opportunities as possible while being competitive as possible. Opportunities  include Fargo and regional tournaments. Where are our priorities? And how do  we maximize each from youth through high school. 

We need to look at roles and responsibilities with respect to 501c and increase  communication to achieve the ideas for opportunities. This may involve  structure changes to increase involvement and set priorities. We need to look at  retention and incentives (and ways to increase retention). Two committees were proposed – a committee to look at change to the structure and one for  retention. This should improve communication.  

Jeremiah noted appreciation to the coaches that have worked and supported  the teams this past year. 

Media / Promotions Director’s Report –Brad Bournival 

Brad noted that there were 404K Instagram views in July. Pre-registration for  qualifiers will be handled a little differently. The top qualifier listed will be for the  first upcoming one to help eliminate registering for the wrong event. 

It was suggested that the Tournament Directors award a “Most Improved  Wrestler” at each qualifier. 

The BAND application is a great communication tool where a text can be sent to  everyone registered. This includes athletes. 

It was suggested that the coach pay for his team when pre-registering. Teachers  cannot take money and register kids. So a different method must be used. 

The website is now on the new platform with many changes still coming. 

Kids / Schoolboy Director’s Report – Ryan Marks 

Ryan reported a successful season. There were 3 14U boys’ teams – 2  Freestyle and 1 Greco. Greco finished 4th; Freestyle, 3rd and 8th.  

National Teams Director’s Report - Jeff Kullman 

Jeff reported that freestyle went 9-6 in Duals. There were no 16U Dual teams due  to location of venue (Utah). There were 2 Greco and 2 Freestyle Junior dual teams  competing. Duals are now more important for college coaches. 

Fargo camp – a big thank you to Ron Beachler and to the number of coaches that  worked with the athletes. There were 444 entrants at Fargo (includes 16U, Junior  – boys and girls). Big thanks to Micah and Mo for being great team leaders. Things  ran smooth and there were open lines of communication. Overall there were 36  All Americans: 11 Girls, 13 Freestyle and 12 Greco. The 16U Girls Freestyle took  6th and 16U Greco took 4th. Ohio had 2 national double champions. Ohio Girls  (with 11 AA) tied for most AA this century for girls. Thank you to Mrs. Huynh  Webber who did an awesome job – trainer, check in, damage control, key card  return, verification of room and roster. We need her to go for the Girls portion as  well. 

Open Director’s Report –Rae McDonald 

Congratulations to Rae – WORLD CHAMPION! Again. Ohio had wrestlers  competing at 17U and 23 U events.

Women’s Report – Dane Johnson/ Rob Dearwester 

Girls competed in Junior, 16U, and U14 duals. There were 2 Junior teams, 2,  16U and 2, 14U. There were 8 AA for 16U Freestyle; 4 for Junior Freestyle; 2 for  16U Greco and 6 for Junior Greco. 80 girls went to Fargo with 11 AA. 

Ohio state tournaments – in future we may have to go to separate state  tournaments for boys and girls. 

Folkstyle Director’s Report - John Sopczak 

No Report 

Greco Director’s Report – Art Kallai 

Art thanked all the Greco coaches; the performance is starting to show the  results. Ohio had a presence at the national duals. 14U lost on criteria to Iowa;  Junior took 9th. In Fargo there were 70 athletes: 16U had 6 AA and took 4th;  Junior had 4 AA and took 11th. Total Greco placed Ohio 6th in nation. To  achieve this, some changes happened: Gilmore changed practice and therefore  it was a better camp; clubs are starting to teach the same things state wide – pays off in national competition. 

If any club would like the practice plans, contact Art. There are still some  changes to make. Ohio also needs to promote Greco and 14U and younger – make it fun. Any club with Freestyle and Greco practices can be on the website  with practice times (Greco specific times) to let athletes know when / where the  practices are. Girls get together already with “Girls National Team clinics” which  are open to all girls in the state. 

Freestyle Director’s Report –Jeremy Johnson 

Jeremy thanked the coaches. Dual teams did well; took 2nd and 10th. 16U dual  team needs to happen for 2025. In Fargo, 16U took 7th and Juniors, 8th. 

Grappling Director’s Report –Micah Kullman 

 No report. 

Beach Director’s Report –Jim Bostic 

Jim reported that he has had a problem finding a venue but wants to put an event  together. This sport is growing nationally. His contact information is on the  website. 3 Ohio wrestlers took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. He inquired if a USA event  could be at a bar (sand venue) – it was suggested he check with Ed Duncan but  this is what is done in Fargo. At Fargo the Beach wrestling is held at the same  time as the women’s finals. 

The 2026 Youth Olympics will have Beach Wrestling and not Greco.  

Mat Officials Director’s Report – Bob Vallarelli 

Bob mentioned that the senior officials take care of the mat by themselves.  Video playback for challenges is a great idea. 14 officials have been on overseas assignments and have been in charge. To be eligible in Vegas, there  is a point system based on regional, national and international participation. The  Olympic Trials were reffed by 4 OH officials (among others). Bobby also  reported that he has observed the officials teaching the high school ones at  various qualifiers. 

Operating Officials Director’s Report –Debbi Kallai 

Debbi reported that there is another operating official in training (Lilah). To  advance, there still has to be a O3 test but it is open book. When working other  events this will count as advancement points to upgrading designation. On Jan 1, there will be a new bracketing system to learn. Typically, the operating  officials are the first line of defense in answering questions concerning pairing  and running of the event. 

International Exchange Director’s Report –Brian Church 

Brian reported that in 2024 teams went to France, Germany and Switzerland – this is typically a 2 week trip for anyone interested. Different venues in different  years. Besides wrestling, the athlete can lean a language, have fun, and see  different historical/ renown sites. Contact Brian if you are interested or have  questions. 

Safe Sport Director – Chris Kallai for Jon Handwerk 

Chris noted that there is s call every other month for this team. Every year, there  is some SafeSport training required for all wrestling leaders. The Teal coaches  certification is recommended but is not required (there is a fee). If you are  required to take a SafeSport for any other activities that you may participate in,  you can call SafeSport and have that course transferred to fulfill your USAW  requirement. 

Fund Raising – Sarah Kershaw 

USAW-Ohio partnered with Rudis at events and at their on-line store to receive  $1221.61+. 

OLD BUSINESS 

Increase the number of incentivized operating officials to 5: Debbi stated that  based on the numbers of athletes that she felt that the number of operating  officials should increase to keep the tournaments running in a timely manner.  This would increase the incentive amount to $1500 per qualifier. Motion:  Increase the number of paid assigned operating officials to 5 (motion Noah  Clary; second, Jodi Burnett). Passed. 

Video challenge was a trial run last year at the state tournament and was used  for Conso-Semi’s, Semi’s and Finals. Should we keep? Certain officials will be  assigned to handle the review. The reviewers would be an IT person, the  assigned review mat official. Motion: Keep the video challenge for the state  tournament but include all final matches (1/2, 3/ 4 and 5/6) (motion Bobby  Vallarelli; second Charlie Smith). Passed. 

NEW BUSINESS 

1. Election of Officers  

The following Officers were elected for two-year terms:

Page 7 of 13 

2. Rudis – Antonio introduced himself as our Rudis representative. He said that  going forward Rudis needs to make some changes so that we can receive the  gear we need in a timely manner and that Rudis is paid in a timely manner. 

• Dual Team Leaders: Payment is due no later than 2 weeks after  the dual event 

• Fargo – Rudis will be at the state tournament taking sizes so that  there is no delay in placing orders (this has been an issue for many  years). Rudis will also help pick and pack orders 

 Rudis will work with USAWO on fund raising opportunities – gear shop can be  open longer/ more often; have a campaign with special t- shirts; at the state  tournament showcase Team OH 

The goal is to have the Fargo gear done by February to be able to show it at  state to gain more interest in attending our state tournament. 

It was requested that the Rudis “store” at the USAWO events have current/ new  items and not the older ones. 

3. Card increase - discussed in Chairperson’s report 

4. USA Membership to vote – In our constitution, it is stated that the current  year’s dues must be paid to be an active participant in the meeting. Since we  had not enforced that in past years, this year we used 2024 and 2025 cards.  Going forward (at any voting meeting) only the current year membership will  allow active participation (voting, if a voting member). 

5. Marcelli award - Dom Mancini prepared a list of the award winners by age  division from 2015 and also the State Freestyle Duals Champions from 2013. 

6. Blue Jackets - The Blue Jackets are offering to host a USAWO day at one of  their games. There would be a t-shirt handed out and wrestlers would get in  free. It was suggested that the information be given to Tommy. 

7. Retention – There are a couple of areas of concern with retention: Going  from 16U to Junior and from Youth to 14U. It was proposed that an ad hoc  committee be formed to come up with ways to help retain these athletes. The  committee would ideally consist of someone from each age division – boys   and girls. If you are interested in being on the committee, please contact  Jeremiah Webber. 

8. Spring Meeting – The board has discussed having a spring meeting  sometime after the high school season but prior to the spring qualifiers. It  was suggested that this meeting can be used to clarify/ adjust anything that  might not be clear or circumstances have changed. It was also suggested  that a camp/ clinic could be run at the same time in a different part of the  facility – possible fund raiser? It was suggested that the Coaches’ Council  pick when to have. Agreement that this would be a good thing. 

9. Constitution - Mary presented Constitution changes as follows: • 3.2.2 Voting rights – to state the each club must have a current year  USAW membership to represent their club and vote in the meeting.  Motion to approve as presented by Noah Clary; second, Jim Bostic.  Passed. 

• 3.3.1 Registration and 3.4.1 Payment – change who the fees are paid  to the USAW national office to be able to participate. Motion to  approve as presented by Noah Clary; second, Jim Bostic. Passed. 

• 3.3.2 Birth date certification – change the requirement to present a  birth certificate to when called upon to provide such information.  Motion to approve as presented by Shawn Petty; second, Bobby  Vallarelli. Passed. 

• 3.3.3 change the P1 category to OP1 to align with the national office  change to Operating Official from Pairing Official. Motion to approve  as presented by Noah Clary; second, Shawn Petty. Passed. 

• 6.1.1 change the request procedure for Emergency Funds Request to  reflect electronic submission and procedures to be followed. Motion  to approve as presented by Noah Clary; second, Shawn Petty.  Passed. 

10.Structure - Jeff Kullman presented 2 possible structure changes to the  organization. Both proposals have the goal of having a more structured  organization rather than the predominately flat organization that currently  exists. The proposals have some changes to offices and structure. Jeff was  thanked for his thoughts and effort in thinking the proposals out. It was  decided to form an ad hoc committee to put more thought into it and to  identify constitution/ job description changes/ additions. Jeremiah and Jeff  will head the committee with the goal of presenting/ voting (if there is a  quorum) at the spring meeting. 

11.Job Descriptions - Mary presented changes to the Job Descriptions for: • Dual Team Leader to reflect the need to have a due date for budget  submissions for the Dual Teams. This will be the Friday prior to the  State Tournaments (14U/ Kids and 16U/ Junior, respectively). There  has also been added a requirement to have all expenses paid within three weeks of the conclusion of the dual event. Motion to accept as  presented by Noah Clary, second by Shawn Petty; passed. 

• Membership Chairperson – modify the job description to remove the  compensation per person since it is now all online (which removes the  requirement for onsite sales and for sending paperwork and fees to  USAW).. It was suggested that membership chairperson have the  following added to the job description: coordinate with the website and  have a list of chartered clubs and Ohio sanctioned events on the  website. It was suggested that the AT Large incentive of $100 also be  removed. Motion to accept with all modifications by Noah Clary;  second by Shawn Petty. Passed. 

12.Women’s Directors proposal - The Women’s Directors (Rob and Dane)  presented some proposals: 

• Add Women’s national team leader to handle Girls’ 16U and Juniors  due to the increasing numbers of girls participating at Fargo. Motion  to accept as presented by Noah Clary, second by Shawn Petty;  passed. 

• Add a separate director position for Girls’ 14U/ Kids – needed to focus  on this age group. There would still be the Boys’ 14U/ Kids Director.  Motion to accept as presented by Art Kallai, second by Jeremiah  Webber; passed. 

• Add job description for the Girls’ Director and modify the Boys’ Director  to reflect the new positions. Motion to accept as presented by Noah  Clary, second by Shawn Petty; passed. 

• Modify the Women’s Director job description for add support for Greco.  Greco was not part of Women’s since this is a new addition to the  Women’s program. Motion to accept as presented by Shawn Petty,  second by Noah Clary; passed. 

13.Officials Proposal 

• Bobby proposed that there be an Outstanding Young Official (could be  called the Sandy Cageo award?) award to be given to the mat or  operating official that fulfills the requirements of running a mat or  handling the operations. Motion to accept as presented by Noah  Clary, second by Adam Green; passed. 

• Bobby suggested that $100 stipend be given to the IT person  supporting the qualifier – this was dropped due to a double payment.  Each tournament must have an IT person available. 

• Bobby proposed adding an Official Director to the board. Motion to  move to the structure committee by Paul Kruggel, second by Shawn  Petty; passed. 

• Bobby mentioned that the National Duals team leaders need to budget  mat official gear (polo, gear bag) for the official working that dual. It  was suggested that maybe fund raising can help with this. If the official  also goes to Fargo, then the official would only receive one mat official  gear pack. Motion to table this to the spring meeting by Paul  Kruggel, second by Shawn Petty; passed. 

14.State Duals – Chris mentioned that the State duals must use the USAW pre registration system to allow the athletes competing in the duals to be eligible  for the State tournament without extraordinary work having to be put in. 

15.Marketing in budget – What is this currently used for? OAC and OHSAA ad.  DrewBlogs(?) would highlight USAWO wrestling. They will submit a proposal  to the board and suggested working with Brad. They supply creative media. 

16.Take a 12U and under dual team to nationals – Cory Kallai suggested  taking a boys’ and a girls’ 14U 9and under dual team to a nation event; entry  fee is $500/ team They would use the same design for gear as the other dual  teams. Motion to accept as presented by Jodi Burnett, second by Shawn  Petty; passed. 

17.Increase dual team fees – It was suggested that we increase the dual team  fees to $3000. Motion to table this to the spring meeting by Paul Kruggel,  second by Scott Burnett; passed. 

18.Allow remote site weigh-ins – Art Kallai proposed that satellite (remote)  site(s) be chosen and allow to have weigh-ins. Chris was against this – too  easy to have inaccurate weights reported and would cause more work for  officials when trying to get the tournaments started. Increase dual team fees  – It was suggested that we increase the dual team fees to $3000. Motion to  refer this to the Coaches’ Council by Paul Kruggel, second by Noah Clary;  passed. 

19.2024 Qualifier schedule 

Kids State – voted on between Middletown and Springfield. Middletown will  host on May 10. 

State Tournament at ONU – May 24-25. 

Qualifier schedule – selected in order of random draw, listed in calendar order 

Dublin Coffman Central April 5 

Perrysburg Northwest April 12 

Springfield (Wittenburg U) Southeast April 19 

Kenmore Northeast April 26 

Uniontown Lake Northeast May 3 

Middletown Southwest May 10 - Kids’  State

Greco and Freestyle State Duals will be determined by the  

Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson 

Freestyle Duals interested parties: 

Perry May 4 

Lake May 4 

Elyria May 4 

Austintown Fitch May 4 

Defiance April 13 

Greco Duals interested parties: 

Dublin Coffman May 11 

The next meeting will be in the spring. Date will be posted on website. 

Motion by Jarrod Martin and second by Dominic Adams to adjourn. Passed  unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 4:07 pm.