Cry Wolf Wrestling® is a 501(c)(3) incorporated non-profit (EIN 82-5236075) with the goal to provide a free wrestling club for all Vista Ridge High School Wrestlers and USA Wrestling Members, boys and girls, within the Colorado Springs Metro area. We have been a USA Wrestling Chartered Club (1800182602) since 2018 and all our coaches are current USA Wrestling Members, which requires annual background checks and SafeSport certification. In addition to coaching folkstyle, freestyle and greco roman styles, we also offer several Wrestling Investment Season Events (WISE) throughout the year.
Wrestling Investment Season Events (WISE) include mentoring leaders through our Pack Leader Council Academy (PLCA), as well as leading Werewolf and Lone Wolf Challenges. Our WISE Season, March through October, operates opposite our Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Folkstyle Season at Vista Ridge High School, November through February. Our motto is “Auribus Teneo Lupum,” which means “to hold a wolf by the ears.”
We were inspired to call ourselves “Cry Wolf Wrestling” after an Aesop Fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, that teaches us to not give false alarms. However, when a wolf is at edge of the forest and since our high school mascot is the wolf, as Jeff was at the edge of the mat, it would not have been a false alarm for his opponents to Cry Wolf! After losing 55 pounds just to wrestle heavyweight his junior year, Jeff pinned everyone at Regionals to qualify for the 2017 State Championships. In 2018, Jeff placed 5th at the State Championships to finish his high school career on a win in wrestling and life.
Costs were highlighted in the TIME Magazine article “How Kids’ Sports Became a $15 Billion Industry” on August 24, 2017 and inspired us to offer a safe environment with high level coaching for free to the families within our community. Living within 20 minutes of the Olympic Training Center and USA Wrestling, as well as the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) on Fort Carson, offers a unique opportunity for us to coordinate National, World and Olympic level clinicians without additional travel expenses. In lieu of charging membership or camp/clinic fees, we elected to position ourselves as a non-profit 501(c)(3) with public charity status 509(a)(2) and fundraise the necessary money to support current and future Olympic Dreams for the athlete or their family.