OWA Annual Business meeting will take place on September 11. The meeting will be at 10 AM, in the cafeteria at Hood River Valley High School in Hood River, OR.

Congratulations and thanks go out to the leaders and members of the following OWA clubs for attaining gold or silver membership status. These clubs have exhibited a dedication to membership growth, organization and involvement in the 2009-2010 OWA/USAW membership year. The past season marks the greatest number of awards OWA clubs in history with 12 Gold Level Clubs and 46 Silver Level Clubs! Thank you for doing things right!!

Albany, Aloha, Beaverton, Big Dawg, Cascade, Churchill, Clackamas, Cleveland, Cowboy, Culver, Dallas, Eagle Point, Forest Grove, Glendale, Glide, Gold Beach, Hermiston, Lakeview, LaPine, Metro, McMinnville, Minutemen, Molalla, Mook, Nestucca, NM PRYDE, Orange Crush, Oregon City, Phoenix, Reedsport, Roseburg, Santiam, Saxon, Scappoose, Sherwood, Sheldon, Siletz, Smith Rock, St. Helens, Sweet Home, Team Bucs, The Dalles, Triple Crown, Tsumani, Wilsonville, USA School of Wrestling.

Ginger Lile, a leader among pairing officials and longtime wrestling volunteer, has been named Woman of the Year by USA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States. This award recognizes an outstanding woman for her contributions to the sport of wrestling.

Lile serves as National Pairings Director for the U.S. Wrestling Officials Association, entering her third year in this role, where she helps manage activities of the nation’s pairing officials. She is directly involved in the assignments of pairing officials for national and regional events.

Lile is a member of the USWOA Board. She has been on the Pairings Advisory Board since 1999, when she received the rank of P-1E, the highest national ranking. She is also a FILA Pairings official.

Lile has been a pairing official since the early 1980s, and was licenced and worked her first major USA Wrestling event in 1984 in Antioch, Calif. She has worked hundreds of local, state, regional and national events over the last three decades. She got involved because two of her sons wrestled, and, as Ginger puts it, she forgot to quit.

She has been head pairer of dozens of major events, including serving as Western Kids Regional head pairer eight times. She is the only person to ever serve as Head Pairing Official for USA Wrestling in Oregon.

Lile enjoys working local events, having run dozens of events in Oregon already this season. She especially enjoys working the Kids level events.

Lile remains active because so many of her friends are involved in USA Wrestling. She also takes pride in seeing a tournament come together and run well. She has been running well-run wrestling tournaments for USA Wrestling for decades. Her efforts have impacted the lives of thousands and thousands of youth.

USA Wrestling hosted a social in Fargo, N.D. at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals, where Ginger’s achievement was recognized and celebrated.

98 Izaak Tobin
105- Ian Hockett
112- Jordan Todaro
125- Tyler Nixon, Connor Clarke, Gabe Goodrich, Brad Lander
130-Drew Van Anrooy, Peter Russo, Joey Delgado
135- Chayse Jackson, Braden Krellwitz
140-Tanner Tyler, Yuri Piebenge, Kyle McClain, Lamont Hook
145- Cody Randall, Toney Chay, Sam Mecham, Zac Brunson, Tim Pippert
152- Garrett Urrutia, Bryce McMahon
160- Ty Rosevear, Seth Thomas, Stevin Urban, William Arst, Michael Tyner
171- Dylan Fors, Jose Cruz, Trevor Davis, Forrest Rasmussen,
189- Devan Fors, Curtis Berger, Justyn Headley
215- Mick Dougherity, Trever Gwin
285- Neil Ochs, Chase Norlin

Kylie Atturbury-Sutherlin
Renee Samano-Elmira
Cayla Bollinger-Sheldon
Juiana Gelman-Elmira
Sam Urban-McNary

2.6 Voting within Divisions ... The voting membership for Each Division, with the exception of the Kids Division shall be defined consistently by the OWA General Bylaws and shall conduct its business according to the By Laws adapted by that division.

Therefore all individuals defined as members of the OWA in the OWA General Bylaws shall have voting rights in the Cadet, Junior, Cultural Exchange, Womens, Coaches, Officials, Senior and Beach Divisions. Upon approval of this amendment to the OWA General Bylaws, the appropriate sections of each set of divisional bylaws shall be amended to reflect this change.

Les Gutches named Director of Program Development for U SA Wrestling

Les Gutches of Corvallis , Ore. has been named to the new position of Director of Program Development for U SA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States .

Gutches, who has a strong business background and a lifetime in wrestling as an athlete and coach, will be responsible for developing new or expanded programs, events and activities for U SA Wrestling. He will work closely with state associations to increase membership and programs in underdeveloped markets in all styles of the sport. He will also expand strategic partnerships with other organizations, and assist in promotion and marketing activities.

He will also oversee the State Services staff of the organization, and work with a talented team which includes Manager of State Services Tony Black, Membership Services Assistant Shonna Vest , Manager of Coaches Education Cody Bickley and State Services Assistant Marge Civil.

“Les Gutches has an incredible reputation for integrity and performance,” said Rich Bender , U SA Wrestling Executive Director. “He is a tremendous motivator, a wonderful father, a respected coach and one of our greatest champion athletes. His presence, leadership and work ethic will take U SA Wrestling membership to new heights. We are excited to welcome Les Gutches to our team and are confident that his efforts will impact the entire wrestling community.”

Gutches will begin at his new job at the U SA Wrestling corporate headquarters in Colorado Springs , Colo. on February 1.

“I have been involved with U SA Wrestling from my time as a PeeWee wrestler through the Senior level. I also went into coaching and remained active in the organization,” said Gutches. “To come back with the opportunity to help grow U SA Wrestling and the sport in general is an exciting prospect to me. I have been in the business world for a number of years and am very excited to return to wrestling. I’m going to have the opportunity to combine my passion for the sport with an ability to apply my professional and academic experience. This is the perfect place for me.”

Gutches comes to U SA Wrestling after serving as four years as a commercial lender and credit analyst for Citizens Bank, Inc. in Corvallis . Among his duties was to generate and develop new business relationships for the company, as well as assisting business clients in measuring performance and strategic decision making.

He received a Masters of Business Administration from the Oregon State University ’s College of Business in 2006, where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. His undergraduate degree at Oregon State was in Anthropology with a minor in German Language and Literature. He was a three-time NCAA First-Team Academic All-American as an undergraduate.

He served eight years as an assistant wrestling coach at Oregon State , helping build the Beavers into one of the nation’s top programs. Gutches helped coach five athletes to NCAA All-American honors. In addition to athlete instruction, he had responsibilities that included business and alumni relations activities for the program.

He was also a club coach with the Orange Crush Wrestling Club, working with athletes from the university as well as the Corvallis community. Gutches has also been an active clinician for many years, teaching young athletes on many levels.

“Membership is the lifeblood of U SA Wrestling. Our membership allows U SA Wrestling to invest in and grow the sport at all levels. It is exciting to me that I can make an impact in an area that is so important to the organization. I see this as a position where I can make a difference in the sport on a daily basis,” said Gutches.

As an athlete, Gutches grew up within the U SA Wrestling system, competing on the local, state and national level for many years in Oregon . In fact, he was the first athlete to win U SA Wrestling national titles in all five existing age group levels at the time – Cadet, Junior, Espoir, University and Senior. He competed in the World Championships on four age-group levels, as well. He won a Cadet World silver medal in 1989 and an Espoir World bronze medal in 1993. Gutches won three state high school titles at South Medford High School

Gutches had a remarkable career at Oregon State Univ., winning NCAA titles in 1995 and 1996, and placing fifth in the 1994 NCAA Championships. He received the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top college wrestler in 1996.

He became one of the best U.S. freestyle athletes of his era. His top achievement was winning the gold medal at the 1997 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Krasnoyarsk , Russia at 85 kg/187.25 pounds. He added a World bronze medal in 1999.

After his senior year in college, Gutches won both the U.S. Nationals and Olympic Team Trials to make the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. He placed seventh in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta , Ga.

Gutches won all of the major events on the international circuit, including 1999 World Cup, the 1999 Pan American Games and the 1998 Goodwill Games. He also captured five straight U.S. Nationals titles.

Gutches was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009, and was a James E. Sullivan Award finalist in 1997. He was the 1997 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year, as well as Freestyle Wrestler of the Year for U SA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

He and his wife Jennifer have two young children, Lexi (5) and Logan (2).

“I have been involved in wrestling clubs as a competitor and coach on the local, state and national levels,” said Gutches. “I have seen firsthand what makes a great club. It all comes down to one thing – investment. For coaches, the most important resources they have to invest are their time and expertise. They invest in each of their wrestlers, to help them become the best athletes and individuals that they can. U SA Wrestling is committed to investing in the success of its state organizations. We will look at everything, from how we market our programs to the product itself, and how to best serve all of our members.”

91		Bresser, Ronnie
105		Bledsoe, Travis
105
98		Scott, Tyler
112		Haney, Ryan
112		Schilling, Colton
112
119		Orndoff, Jess
119		Harnsberger, Alex
125		Leonard, Daniel
125	F	DeCleave, Colby
125		Cowger, Tyler
130	F	Funk, Alex
130	G	Thomas, Ian
125	B	VanAnrooy, Reed
130		Passentino, Wyatt
130		White, Tyler
135		Loustalet,Zorg
140		O'Connor, Luke
140		Olsen, Trevor
145		Samples, Forrest
160		Ajay Urban
145		Bateman,Kyle
171		Hernandez, Nick
171		Shipley,Reid
171
215		Flores, Anthony
215	F,G	Young, Turner
215		Moses, Shon
215		Walsh, Mathew
285		Spears, Chet
285		Noonan, Eli