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Feb.
1, 2005: The Wrestling Mall, High School News
UtahWrestling.org Web Site Celebrates First Anniversary
(Sandy, Utah) -- Feb. 1, 2005 --
UtahWrestling.org, official Web site of the Utah Wrestling
Coaches Association, has been online for more than a year.
In that time, it has grown to become the source for Utah
wrestling information. Since its inception in October
2003, the site has grown in the number of visitors going
to the site, as well as participation from coaches,
athletes and parents, submitting tournament and/or dual
meet results, letters to the editor, and event dates. In
January 2005, the site had its greatest number of visitors
yet — 7,584 visits. This is a drastic increase from 2,901
visits during the same month a year earlier.
"This year has been a great experience,"
said Bill Kilpack, editor of UtahWrestling.org. "Coaches
have been sending me information, as well as parents. Last
year, the number of people participating could be counted
on one hand. And, last year, I had one coach call me to
scream and swear at me about what a horrible job I was
doing. Now, I have coaches calling and e-mailing me to
thank me and tell me that it's their favorite Web site.
It's quite a turnaround. And it's all because of the
increased participation from coaches, parents and
athletes. It's not physically possible for me to be
everywhere. So, for this to work, I had to have help
statewide. It's been happening, thus far. I think that
things will only continue to improve."
In addition to providing information for
upcoming tournaments, the site provides results and
rankings by the state organization, as well as by
UtahWrestling.org itself. Local and national media come to
the site to gather information and contact Kilpack for
information about events, programs and athletes.
"It's the phone calls and e-mails about
athletes that are the most gratifying," Kilpack said.
"Utah wrestling has a lot to offer. We have quality
athletes who are every bit as qualified and worthy of
college scholarships as any other state in the nation. In
a recent issue of Wrestling USA Magazine, eight Utah
seniors were ranked nationally. That's down from the 13 in
the preseason rankings from 2003. This tells me that the
magazine did not know enough about our Utah athletes. This
sells short the work that coaches in Utah put into the
sport, as well as the work of the athletes themselves. It
also does Utah wrestlers no favors when it comes to
college scholarships. It has always been my goal to help
alleviate these problems."
In addition to the 162 percent growth in
visits, highlights have included support from the online
wrestling community nationwide. This includes linking to
UtahWrestling.org. In January 2005, the site was
referenced on an online wrestling forum through USA
Wrestling and, as a result, it was the biggest single
source of traffic for the month. The next biggest source
of traffic was the Northridge High School wrestling link
on the page for the Layton, Ut., team site. Third was the
Web site for Jordan Freestyle Wrestling (now Mountain Top
Wrestling Club), an independent freestyle and Greco-Roman
wrestling program operated through Salt Lake County
Recreation.
In addition to providing results,
UtahWrestling.org last year named Utah Wrestlers of the
Year in association with Wrestling USA Magazine, and
participated in post-season state rankings for the spring
Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling season. This will
continue, as well as the implementation of new programs,
like the voting conducted prior to the Utah Wrestling
All-Star Match, where people got to weigh in on how they
thought the meet would turn out.
"It's very gratifying to have the
participation and support of the parents," Kilpack said.
"It's amazing to have averaged about 245 visits a day. Not
bad for a sport being cut by colleges. It's information
like this that can help the people making those decisions
realize that support for wrestling is stronger than they
think. The new program at Utah Valley State College is a
perfect example. That resulted from grassroots support and
an open-minded administration."
Wrestling USA Magazine has been the
voice of national high school wrestling since 1965. For
more information, see
www.wrestlingusa.com.
American Adrenaline Magazine started in 2004, and
is dedicated to becoming the national voice of youth
wrestling. For more information, see
www.americanadrenaline.com.
Kilpack is editor of UtahWrestling.org, a
past AAU national champion, a seven-time national silver
medalist, an AAU All-American, and earned an alternate
position on the U.S. Pan-Am Team in Greco-Roman. He is
Utah Editor for both Wrestling USA Magazine and
American Adrenaline Magazine. He coaches an
independent freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling program
through Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, Mountain
Top Wrestling Club.
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