Kalispell Wrestling Club
Ages: 5-High School. Contact us about wrestlers younger than 5.
Practice Schedule:
September -June
Monday-Thursday 5:30-6:30 PM
Location: 1896 Airport Rd, Kalispell MT 59901
As the ONLY year-round wrestling club in the Flathead and surrounding counties, we offer collegiate level coaching 4 days a week 10 months a year for $65 a month. That is 16 hours of opportunity for a low monthly fee. Parents are encouraged to watch and attend practice to see what techniques their wrestler is learning. Coach Vasquez will give “homework” which are small movements the wrestler can practice at home to help them pick up the technique quicker.
Attire:
Athletic clothing and Wrestling Shoes
Wrestling shoes can be found online or locally at Universal Athletics or Snappy’s.
Tournaments:
We have local tournaments during the Little Guy Season for ages 5-Middle School. Tournaments are held in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Libby, Eureka, Polson, and St. Ignatius.
There are tournaments year-round if you wanted to join the travel team. There is no additional cost owed to us, you would incur your travel costs and tournament fees ($10-$65 per tournament). Please let us know if you are interested.
RICH VASQUEZ | HEAD COACH
- 19 Years as Head Coach of Kalispell Wrestling
- National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Champion
- 2X All American
- FILA Certified
- Coached over 450 Little Guy and USAW State Champions
- Won over 30 Team State Titles
- Most Recently, 2021 Girl’s AAU State Champions
- 10 years as Team Montana Coach
- 10 years as Montana USAW Women’s Director
- AAU Women’s Director
- 3X OTC Coach’s Clinic Trained
- 2X Silver College Trained
WRESTLING STYLES
Folkstyle
Folkstyle exists only in the United States and Canada and is practiced on the collegiate level. Unlike the international styles, Freestyle and Greco-Roman, Folkstyle is not as flashy. No high amplitude throws exist within this style of wrestling. Scoring is slow paced and less technical. Sometimes a strong wrestler with strong positions can dominate. Folkstyle wrestlers bring a special skill set, it is not just their physical aptitude they have developed, but their mental strength.
Freestyle
Unlike Folkstyle, Freestyle wrestling is practiced throughout the world. The two are related, however, and you could look at Freestyle as an evolved version of Folkstyle. Freestyle has more scoring opportunities than Folkstyle, allowing for an athlete to attack the entire body in a variety of ways. Freestyle does not put as big an emphasis on control as Folkstyle, but instead emphasizes explosiveness and risk. Throws will be more dynamic and of higher amplitude than Folkstyle.
Greco-Roman
Greco-Roman wrestling may be one of the more foreign styles for a viewer in North America to watch, but it also offers the most reward as it incorporates more high amplitude throws than any other style of wrestling. Unlike Folk- and Freestyle, you can only attack from the torso up in Greco-Roman wrestling. You cannot use the legs at all to score points, so the emphasis is on upper body engagement. In Greco, position is everything, unlike the other forms of wrestling. In Freestyle, wrestlers shoot from a distance to take someone down. Closing the gap and controlling underhooks, body locks, and attacking the body is what Greco is about.