New wrestling club in Denver

Nice news from a new Wrestlers Without Borders member in Denver:

The Denver Wrestling Club was founded May 17, 2012 by Coach Greg Lines who was San Diego Wrestling Club's head coach from 2004 to 2012.

Denver Wrestling Club is Colorado's only year-round freestyle/folkstyle/greco-roman wrestling club catering to adults who have an interest in learning and practicing the sport of amateur wrestling.

Everyone is welcome to join and wrestle with us - irrespective of skill level, age, race, gender, sexual oriendtation, or physical disability. Beginners especially welcome!!

We are a sanctioned member of USA Wrestling.

Over the summer we will be recruiting members and securing a practice location. The new club will have mats once a facility is secured...thank you Josh Watkins! Our goal is to start holding practices in the fall/winter 2012, and hold a WWB tournament in 2013.

Roger Brigham tells the story of relationships based on sport and art

John Winterhalter playing a piano sonata 
composed by Ben Olsen. (Photo: Roger Brigham)  

Music and the Mat - How Sports and Culture Intertwine
by Roger Brigham
Published 05/03/2012, Bay Area Reporter, reprinted with permission

When folks in the vast beyond think of San Francisco, they think of couples such as Don Jung and Ben Olsen. Their story is so typical, so representative, so... San Francisco. And now, long after they were both lost in the 1980s onslaught of AIDS, one man whose life they touched is working to make sure their works are not forgotten.

This is a story about wrestling and music – about how the threads of culture and sport can be so intertwined in our lives it is hard to see where one begins and the other leaves off. It is a story about taking the time to change a life and to remember one. The end hasn't been written yet, but the morals of the story are clear: Never forget the folks who made you who you are, and never leave without saying goodbye.

Jung and Olsen were transplants who met in San Francisco. Olsen was from Missouri, where he studied at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Olsen moved to San Francisco in the 1950s, then in 1968, the year after the Summer of Love, he met Jung, an artist from Montana.

That began an 18-year relationship. They lived in a tiny apartment in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, opening the Newest Sphere junk shop in 1969 before moving across the bay to Richmond to open Glass Blast, where Jung churned out etched glass and sand-blasted artistic creations. Olsen taught music for many years before retiring to write music full-time at home.

It was while they were in Haight-Ashbury that their paths crossed with 14-year-old John Winterhalter.

"I was out there running around, smoking pot," Winterhalter told me during a visit to the Bay Area over the weekend. "A friend told me he knew a composer and I was in shock. I didn't know there were still composers living."

Soon Winterhalter, who had tried unsuccessfully years earlier to learn to play piano first from his father and then in group classes, was paying Olsen $5 a session for piano lessons. "I was more a pain in the ass than anything," he said. "I was supposed to be there for an hour and I would spend all day."

Often Winterhalter would learn by playing one of the dozen variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" Olsen had arranged. They are complex, often humorous riffs on the classic children's theme, demanding patience and discipline.

"I could never make that tinny piano sound the way he could make it sound," Winterhalter said. "He could make beautiful sounds on that piano. Sometimes I would make a mistake just to hear him play it."

The mark those days left on Winterhalter was more than musical; it became a part of his inner psychic core.

"He filled in a lot of what my father couldn't," Winterhalter, 45, said. "We talked a lot about philosophy. One time he took an hour asking me about a coffee pot and about which was invented first, the handle or the pot. Eventually I realized what he was telling me was that form follows function."

Those sessions were prized moments of sanity and stability away from the crazy streets of San Francisco, where Winterhalter felt his life was spiraling down into an inevitable mess. Then in 1979, when he was 19, he suddenly left the city and enrolled in the military. It was part impulse, part fear, part adventure, part desperation.

He never said goodbye. "I always felt badly about that," he said. "But I kept thinking later that maybe they escaped all of the madness going on, that maybe they escaped AIDS, that they were alive."

And alive they were for some time after that. Jung, whom Winterhalter remembered as always being rather quiet and puttering around in the background, creating the artwork that paid their bills, began wrestling once more. Jung had placed in the state high school championships when he was a kid back in Montana and drew on that experience in 1982 when he accepted Dr. Tom Waddell's challenge to create a wrestling club to host the Gay Games I wrestling tournament. He also created a new wrestling program at Mission High School. Jung took the gold medal in that inaugural Gay Games.

But just four years later, suffering from AIDS and pneumocystis, he was dead, just days after winning the silver medal in Gay Games II. Two and a half years later, Olsen was dead as well.

All of which Winterhalter belatedly learned only after going online and doing Internet searches for his old mentor. He said when he found out Olsen was dead, he balled up and cried. "It was like my father died," he said.

And then three months ago he set out to see if he could make sure that the music his mentor composed would never die.

"There are a few pieces out there I know of," he said, "but I remember two big drawers full of manuscripts. I know there's a full symphony he finished." Winterhalter has some of the sheet music in his possession, including pages of the "Twinkle" variations he worked on in his youth, and a dramatic sonata that through themes of urban madness repeatedly returns to a compelling love theme and a wedding march.

"He wrote it in 1968, the year he met Don," Winterhalter said. "I think the sonata is about what meeting Don meant to him."

These days, Winterhalter, who is straight and married, lives in Northridge and drives for a delivery company. He has been trying to track down all the information he can about Olsen and Jung, find as much of Olsen's music as he can, and make sure it is archived rather than lost. Most of the people he knew who knew the couple back then have long passed on, but he is trying to learn as much as he can through conversations and Internet searches.

Which is how he ended up at my home last weekend, tapping out bits of Olsen's tunes on our grand piano with my husband, Eduardo.

During one of his Internet searches, he had found a reference to the Don Jung Memorial Wrestling Tournament run by Golden Gate Wrestling Club. Winterhalter had left San Francisco before Jung had returned to wrestling, but he remembered hearing that Jung had been a wrestler. He contacted the club and next thing he knew, he was in our house – just as before, the home of a musician and a wrestler.

Which brings us to the morals of this story. Winterhalter can't say goodbye to the mentor he left more than 30 years ago, but he can do his best to pay him back by making sure his musical legacy is remembered, just as GGWC did in 2007 by renaming its tournament after Jung, its founder.

So, any of my readers who were active in the local music scene back in the day or know of people who might have known the couple can email Winterhalter at jw7754@yahoo.com to help him with research. Who knows, maybe the symphony will be unearthed and resurrected for a performance one day.

The best source of information Winterhalter was able to find online about Jung and Olsen was, sadly, the AIDS obituary archive of the GLBT Historical Society and the Bay Area Reporter. It is a sad place to reflect but a wonderful place to post comments in memory of those we have lost. The archive can be accessed at HERE.

En français / 9 June 2012 / Week-end de lutte chez Paris Lutte / Wrestling weekend in Paris

(A message from Paris Lutte, a member of FGG member organizations FSGL and WWB. English version below)

Chers lutteurs de France, d'Europe et du monde,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous faire part de notre événement de cette saison sportive, le WEEK-END LUTTE de PARIS LUTTE, les 9 et 10 juin 2012.

Ce stage ouvert à tous se déroulera sur notre lieu d'entraînement habituel à Bagnolet, une grande salle de combat de trois tapis, à dix minutes de marche d'une station du métro parisien. Il consistera en deux séances d'après-midi de trois heures chacune (donc plutôt longues), commençant à 13h45 le samedi 9 juin. Notez bien que cette manifestation n'est pas un tournoi arbitré : le programme comprendra de la gym, des techniques de lutte libre olympique et des jeux compétitifs. Vous pourrez venir en tenue de lutte régulière ou seulement en T-shirt, short et chaussettes (tout cela propre bien sûr !) Notre entraîneur gay-friendly est issu d'une équipe championne nationale.

Il n'y a pas de frais d'inscription. Vous remplirez simplement le formulaire habituel de décharge en arrivant. Le samedi soir un dîner est prévu (soit un pique-nique si le temps le permet, soit un restaurant) et votre participation sera votre quote-part des dépenses effectives (20-25 euros maxi).

Nous apprécions grandement une inscription à l'avance (même de la part des membres réguliers du club) pour aider à l'organisation. Répondez à ce mail en précisant SVP :
- Vos nom, âge et lieu de résidence
- Quel(s) jour(s) vous comptez assister au stage (samedi et/ou dimanche)
- Votre niveau d'aisance approximatif en lutte libre olympique et dans d'autres styles de lutte le cas échéant (débutant complet, débutant, confirmé, de longue date, expert)
- Les langues que vous parlez couramment (nous pourrons vous demander d'aider des non-francophones à suivre les instructions de l'entraîneur)
- Si vous souhaitez être hébergé par un membre du club (en application du principe "premier arrivé, premier servi"), en précisant de quelles nuits vous avez besoin (vendredi, samedi, dimanche ?)
- Si vous comptez participer au dîner de groupe le samedi
- Si un brunch de groupe le dimanche matin vous intéresse (déclaration d'intention qui ne vous engage pas, les détails suivront).

N.B. : pour un trajet facile entre votre hôtel et le lieu de stage, choisissez un hôtel près d'une station de la ligne 11 du métro. Pour toute autre information d'hôtellerie et de voyage, veuillez consulter les divers guides de Paris disponibles en ligne.

A réception de votre message d'inscription, vous recevrez une confirmation et :
- des instructions et plans pour trouver le lieu d'entraînement,
- de l'information sur les nouveaux T-shirts Paris Lutte que vous pouvez commander (en vous y prenant suffisamment à l'avance) pour retrait sur place.

Bien cordialement, et dans l'attente de nous retrouver sur le tapis,
Pour le CA de Paris Lutte,
Daniel, Secrétaire
http://www.paris-lutte.org/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194748938437
Mobile club : +33 (0)6 62 36 14 14

---

Dear wrestlers of France, Europe and the world,

We are pleased to announce our event of this sports season, the WRESTLING WEEKEND of PARIS LUTTE on June 9-10, 2012.

This camp, open to all, will take place at our regular training grounds in Bagnolet, a large combat hall with three mats, within walking distance of a parisian metro station. It will consist in two afternoon sessions of three hours each (i.e. fairly long), beginning on Saturday June 9 at 13:45. Please note that the event isn't a refereed tournament: the program will include gym, olympic freestyle techniques and competitive games. You may come with regular wrestling gear or just a T-shirt, shorts and socks (all clean, of course!) Our gay-friendly coach comes from a national champion team.

There is no registration fee. You will simply fill in the usual waiver form upon arrival. On Saturday night a dinner is planned (either a picnic, weather permitting, or a restaurant) and your contribution will be your share of the actual expenses (max. 20-25 euros).

We highly appreciate advance registration to help us with the organization. Please reply to this mail, stating:
- Your name, age and place of residence
- On what day(s) you will attend the camp (Saturday and/or Sunday)
- Your approximate skill level in olympic freestyle wrestling and other styles if applicable (absolute beginner, beginner, confirmed, long-time, expert)
- The languages which you speak fluently (some mutual help may be needed to follow the coaching instructions in French)
- Whether you wish to be hosted by one of our regular members (on a "first come, first served" basis), specifying what nights you need (Friday, Saturday, Sunday ?)
- Whether you will attend the group dinner on Saturday
- Whether you're interested in a group brunch on Sunday (non-binding declaration of intent, details will follow).

Note: for easy transportation between your hotel and the camp site, select a hotel near a station of the metro line 11. For any other hotel and travel information, please refer to the various Paris guides available online.

Upon reception of your registration message, you will get a confirmation and:
- Instructions and maps for finding the camp site,
- Information on the new Paris Lutte T-shirts which you may order (with sufficient lead time) and collect upon arrival.

With our best regards, and looking forward to meeting up on the mat,
For the Admin Council of Paris Lutte,
Daniel, Secretary
http://www.paris-lutte.org/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194748938437
Club cell phone: +33 (0)6 62 36 14 14

New LGBT wrestling club in Columbus, Ohio, needs your support!

In March 2011 we introduced our readers to Carlin Yetts, our 700th Facebook fan. We wrote back then that "as a resident of Columbus, Ohio, he is keen to put together a host club for the event, and is seeking other wrestlers from the state".

Now one year and 1000 fans later, Carlin has made good on his plan. Here's his update:

A year ago I began imagining creating a wrestling club here in Columbus. It's now a reality, in the form of the Cbus Wrestling Club. We are aimed at the LGBT community but all are welcome. We're a member of FGG member organization Wrestlers Without Borders, joining clubs in other major cities like San Francisco, Los Angles, Seattle, Chicago, and New York. Ohio is one of the best wrestling states in the country, and we're proud to join the ranks. With Gay Games 9 coming up in 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio I want to make sure the host state has a strong showing. Cbus Wrestling Club will show how our community in Columbus is growing, and whatever your sex or sexual orientation, you can be just as good as anybody in the wrestling world.

As an out wrestler and wrestling coach I know the advantages practicing wrestling offers in this time of gay bullying and high rate of LGBT suicide. I believe wrestling is a great sport for our community to be empowered and give a person the confidence to do anything in their life.

I have already started promoting the club and have gotten a great response. We now have a venue for training at the downtown Columbus YMCA. All we need to get started are wrestling mats. We'd really love to have your financial support to buy these mats. If you can give us a hand, or if you have any other questions about our club and how to participate, contact me at Cbuswrestlingclub@gmail.com.

Thanks!

14 January 2012 / Wrestlers Without Borders heading to Vegas for Sin City Shootout

LOS ANGELES, 9 January 2012 – Wrestlers Without Borders (WWB) will celebrate its 20th anniversary this month at the multi-sport Sin City Shootout in Las Vegas, with a inaugural freestyle tournament, WWB's first-ever grappling clinic, and the induction of four LGBT wrestling pioneers into the Hall of Merit.

The wrestling weekend is being coordinated by Southern California Wrestling Club's Chris Lorefice, a WWB delegate to the Federation of Gay Games. WWB and SCWC are partnering to run the wrestling events. "We expect about 20-25 wrestlers, and so far the organization from the Sin City group has been great," Lorefice said. "We are expecting a great event in Vegas."

The new tournament is named the Runyon Wrestling Classic, in honor of the late Pete Runyon, founder of SCWC. It is expected to draw around two dozen athletes, on par with the debut for most club tournaments.
Former SCWC coach Mike Rio, a gold medalist in Gay Games II, will be inducted into WWB's Hall of Merit posthumously. Joining him in being honored will be: Rochelle Robinson, San Francisco, 1998 Gay Games and U.S. Nationals champion; Michael Ognibene, New York City, three-time Gay Games gold medalist; and Albert "Ace" Rocek, San Francisco, three-time Gay Games gold medalist.

In addition to the Saturday freestyle tournament and awards ceremonies, the weekend will feature a grappling clinic on Sunday. Grappling, along with beach wrestling and Greco-Romans, are forms of wrestling which future Gay Games hosts have the option of adding to their freestyle tournaments.
"Grappling is swiftly growing in popularity with younger wrestlers because of the growth of mixed martial arts," said WWB Chairman Roger Brigham. "We felt the Gay Games program would be more appealing for some wrestlers if they had the option of competing in other forms that are more popular in some areas or are showing strong growth."

Wrestling was approached in 2010 to become part of the Sin City Shootout. After SWCW and WWB explored member interest and organizational options, the decision was made to join in the fun. WWB member Metro Wrestling Club, which normally holds its annual tournament on that weekend, moved its tournament date so wrestlers could have the option of competing in both events.

"We were delighted to have the opportunity to be in the shootout because of the ability to offer a very, very low cost tournament and to be able to control our expenses and tournament management," Brigham said. "This grassroots model looks to be a solid experiment in allowing events to grow in size organically as the market demands without incurring large-scale expenses. Softball will be about 100 times the size of wrestling tin terms of participation, but both will be equal in the ability to combine fun and competition."

For more information or photos, contact Chris Lorefice HERE.
The WWB Don Jung Hall of Merit may be found online at HERE.

Wrestlers Without Borders announces new inductees to Don Jung Hall of Merit

Rochelle Robinson, left,
with partner Tekla Balulkas
and coach Gene Dermody
at 1998 U.S. Nationals

From FGG member organization Wrestlers Without Borders:

Four LGBT wrestling pioneers were unanimously elected to the WWB Don Jung Hall of Merit at WWB Cup III held in September in San Francisco. The wrestlers will be formally inducted into the Hall at the inaugural Runyon Wrestling Classic in Las Vegas, Jan. 14-15. This year's inductees are:

• Rochelle Robinson, GGWC, 1998 Gay Games and U.S. Nationals champion
• Michael Ognibene, Metro WC, three-time Gay Games gold medalist
• Albert "Ace" Rocek, GGWC, three-time Gay Games gold medalist
• Mike Rio, SCWC, longtime coach of SCWC

"What an honor," Robinson said of her selection. "As a youngster, I always wanted to wrestle. It was such a privilege to get the chance when I was 37 or 38, something like that, and to be able to achieve that at that age was something. It was a great club to work with and a great coach."

WWB Treasurer Gene Dermody, who coached Robinson at the 1998 Nationals, credited her and Rocek with crucial team leadership and fundraising. "Ace was one of the last wrestlers to come out of 'the' Notre Dame program that was dropped," Dermody said. "I relied on him for years to handle the bigger, more experienced wrestlers, and I credit him for keeping GGWC credible and stable during those lean years 1990-1998. Rochelle was a good fund-raiser and did us all proud at the U.S. Nationals in Orlando. She made no bones about promoting Gay Games."

Dermody said Ognibene provided effective coaching for Metro Wrestling Club in the 1990s.

"He worked for the New York 2012 Olympic bid, and I worked on the San Francisco 2012 Olympic bid," Dermody said. "The day of the announcement choosing New York over San Francisco was exactly 5 minutes after my gold medal match at the Sydney 2002 Gay Games. We spoke on mobile right after my match, and good naturedly teased each other."

Rio, who acted in Hollywood under the name Mike Rivers, coached SCWC under founder Pete Runyon, a former Hall of Merit inductee, and was responsible for the technical expertise and dominance of Gay Games wrestling by SCWC from before 1982.

The Hall of Merit was started in 2007 to honor those who helped shape the world of LGBT wrestling and WWB.

8 October 2011 / Philadelphia wrestling tournament

Saturday October 8, 2011
 The Spartan Wrestling Club of Philadelphia Fall Wrestling Tournament

First Unitarian Church, Basement

2125 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia 
The tournament will run from 1PM – 4 PM
Weigh-ins starting at noon
Spectators admitted at 12:30 PM
Wrestling beginning at 1 PM

 Wrestlers $20.00
Spectators $10.00

Carlin Yetts reports from San Francisco's WWB III wrestling tournament: part 4

You may remember Carlin Yetts as our 700th Facebook fan. Carlin is a wrestler from Columbus, Ohio, and in part to prepare for Gay Games 9 in nearby Cleveland+Akron, he has launched a new LGBT wrestling club in his town. 

He's back from San Francisco, where he competed in the third WWB wrestling tournament hosted by Golden Gate Wrestling Club.

Here is his final report on his experiences there for the Gay Games blog. 


Getting up Saturday for the WWB Cup, I felt like I was a freshman in high school all over again. New to freestyle wrestling, Ii took a crash course in the rules a practice the night before. So it was now or never, and I was ready to get at it. Since I left my singlet at home I was very honored to wear one of Gene's. Those who know Gene and me know that I'm a bit bigger than him, so while it may have fit fine on Gene, on me, it left nothing to the imagination. So singlet, shoes, and knee pads on, I'm ready t owrestle in my first freestyle tournament ever.

My first match was against John Flavia from Southern California. Still in the folkstyle mindset, I wanted to give it my all. I didn't travel out here to get pushed around just because I don't know any freestyle moves. The firstt period went to John. I was giving up points for being pushed out of bounds. I didn't realize that this was giving him points! Like I said, I'm a newbie to freestyle.

(Thanks to Golden Gate Wrestling Club for this video of the match)

Another great thing was to be coached by Roger during the break. He calmed me down and got my focus back. In the second period John went in for a shot and I pulled a nice Turk on him. In the end, John won the period and the match. I was so pumped up, because even though I lost I knew I had gone out and given it my all. Then Gene came over to me and told me that I had done his singlet proud and that it was the best match he had seen. When he said that it almost brought me to tears. To hear that from the man who was at the first Gay Games say that to me, a guy who knows nothing about freestyle, was a true honor.

My next match was against Golden Gate Wrestling Club's very own Ross Capdeville. I had watched him wrestle in the previous round, and decided I was going to try to work the inside for a bearhug or throw. But
once I went for it and he saw what I was trying to do, he took it away from me. Ross won both periods but again I made him work for it and gave it my all.

After the tournament we all went back to Gene's house to eat and for the awards. John and I were given the award for the most exciting match. I was very honored that Gene and Roger chose our match.

This week has been such a eye-opening experience. Meeting new friends from different parts of the world. Learning a new form of wrestling in three days. Just that feeling of togetherness when all these clubs come together in one big family. No matter what your race, sexual orientation, or where you come from we are all wrestlers and we love this sport.

See you all at Sin City in January in Las Vegas!

San Francisco Track and Field Club and other friends at Folsom Street Fair

The annual Folsom Street Fair is a San Francisco institution, and perhaps the leading special-interest event in the world. Team SF and Wrestlers Without Borders member Golden Gate Wrestling Club had a booth, and ran a beer tent, an important source of revenue for the club's activities throughout the year.

Other FGG-related organizations running beer tents this year were the San Francisco Spikes Soccer Club, the San Francisco Tsunami swim club, the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Track and Field club, seen above.

Wrestlers Without Borders "WWB III" and "Don Jung Memorial" tournaments

On 24 September, the Golden Gate Wrestling Club hosted the 26th annual Don Jung Memorial Tournament in San Francisco, which was also the WWB III international tournament.

Two dozen wrestlers from New York, Illinois, California, Ohio, and Australia competed in the freestyle event. The photo accompanying this posting shows the tournament officials for the Wrestlers Without Borders championships

Standing, left to right: Abraham "Alex" Ostrovskiy, the top-rated FILA official in the world; Golden Gate Wrestling Club President Gene Dermody; San Diego Wrestling Club Captain Greg Lines; San Diego WC founder Russ Connelly; WWB Chairman Roger Brigham. Kneeling: Greco-Roman wrestler Akil Patterson of College Park, Maryland; and WWB Sports Officer Josh Watkins of Chicago.

Carlin Yetts reports from San Francisco's WWB III wrestling tournament: part 3

You may remember Carlin Yetts as our 700th Facebook fan. Carlin is a wrestler from Columbus, Ohio, and in part to prepare for Gay Games 9 in nearby Cleveland+Akron, he has launched a new LGBT wrestling club in his town. 

He's now in San Francisco for the third WWB wrestling tournament hosted by Golden Gate Wrestling Club, and will be reporting on his experiences there for the Gay Games blog. 

Here's his third installment:

Breakfast took me back to my college days in Honolulu, with fresh pineapple, something I just never get in Columbus. I joined Eddie at the dog park, where I enjoyed a fabulous view overlooking the Bay. On one side you could see the Oakland Bay Bridge, and on the other the the Golden Gate Bridge covered in fog. Then it was off to the Castro for lunch at The Cove, then to the hardware store. Yes, there's a genuine hardware store, right in the middle of the Castro. It was hilarious.

Then it was off to Gene's house, a shrine to so much history from the Gay Games. One thing in particular that had me awestruck was seeing his medals from every single edition of the Gay Games, from Gay Games I in 1982 through Gay Games VIII in 2010.

Next was pratice at Ross's place. He took us into some intense training and moves I had never seen before. I guess I'm more used to wrestling "East Coast style", and more basic moves. After that intense workout I decided to head back to Roger and Eddie's place to recover and get ready for tomorrow's pratice. One more day until WWB III! I can't wait!

Carlin Yetts reports from San Francisco's WWB III wrestling tournament: part 2

You may remember Carlin Yetts as our 700th Facebook fan. Carlin is a wrestler from Columbus, Ohio, and in part to prepare for Gay Games 9 in nearby Cleveland+Akron, he has launched a new LGBT wrestling club in his town. 

He's now in San Francisco for the third WWB wrestling tournament hosted by Golden Gate Wrestling Club, and will be reporting on his experiences there for the Gay Games blog. 

Here's his second installment:

It's my second day in San Francisco. After Eddie made me some awesome oatmeal for breakfast, Roger and I went to Berkeley Bowl. It looks like the North Market in Columbus on steroids. Then after dropping off the groceries, Roger took me
to Muir Woods National Monument. To see these trees is amazing. Just gigantic redwoods towering over you... all you can do is go "wow". As we were walking through the park trading wrestling stories of past wrestlers, coaching experiences, and our own wrestling triumphs and disappointments, I realized how fortunate I was to be able to share and hear stories from such a great man as Roger.

Back in the car we got a bite to eat then headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco, where I was able to take in some of the amazing sights.

Carlin Yetts reports from San Francisco's WWB III wrestling tournament

You may remember Carlin Yetts as our 700th Facebook fan. Carlin is a wrestler from Columbus, Ohio, and in part to prepare for Gay Games 9 in nearby Cleveland+Akron, he has launched a new LGBT wrestling club in his town. 

He's now in San Francisco for the third WWB wrestling tournament hosted by Golden Gate Wrestling Club, and will be reporting on his experiences there for the Gay Games blog. 

Here's his first installment:

After a seven-hour plane ride and two subway trips, I finally arrive in Castro Street in San Francisco. I'm taken aback by all the sights and sounds of this famous place so much gay history has been made. I make my way to the Eureka Valley Recreation Center for my first-ever practice with the Golden Gate Wrestling Club. The smell of wrestling mats hits me in the face as I head upstairs, where I finally meet Roger Brigham in person. Greeted by a handshake and a hug from a fellow Ohioan makes me feel very welcomed. After shaking hands with other members of GGWC and some visiting Aussies, it was time to hit the mats. Its been about five months since I hit a wrestling mat and sitting on a plane all day didn't help my back at all. But as we wrestlers do, I sucked it up and gave it our all. After some takedowns and throws I was feeling great. The feeling of hitting the mat is second nature to me.

Then I finally got to meet Gene Dermody, who has been a part of the Gay Games since it started. It was truly an honor to meet him after reading about GCWC and the Gay Games history. After some wrestling and chatting it up with some other wrestlers, I went out with Gene, Roger, and another great wrestler Calvin, to have something to eat the Castro. I went back with Roger to his house in Oakland where i would be staying for the week. His husband Eddie welcomed me in with a handshake and a big hug. I was so tired from the flying, walking, and wrestling I just crashed... looking forward to another day in a community of wrestlers when I woke up!

Roger Brigham looks at upcoming San Francisco wrestling tournament

Roger Brigham devotes his Bay Area Reporter column this week to the Wrestlers Without Borders tournament later this month. Here's an extract:

The attraction of the WWB Cup being combined with a major street fair has lured Australians to the event for the first time. It is believed that four Australians, buoyed by their success last year at the Gay Games in Germany, will compete, along with sizeable contingents from New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Two newcomers to WWB are also expected to make a showing: Carlin Yetts of Columbus, Ohio, who is starting his own wrestling club to compete in Gay Games IX in Cleveland; and Olympic hopeful Akil Patterson. Patterson, a heavyweight Greco-Roman specialist, is not expected to compete but will officiate and may participate in exhibitions.

Learn more about the tournament HERE.

24 September 2011 / Third edition of international LGBT wrestling tournament slated for San Francisco

Folsom Street Fair, 2010

WWB Cup III, the international Wrestlers Without Borders LGBT wrestling championship held in non-Gay Games years, will take place Saturday, 24 September, in San Francisco, hosted by Golden Gate Wrestling Club.

As part of the freestyle wrestling weekend, wrestlers from around the world will work as volunteers in a Folsom Street Fair beverage booth the following Sunday to raise funds for their respective clubs.

The inaugural WWB Cup was hosted by Chicago Cyclones Wrestling in 2008 with the launch of WWB's Don Jung Hall of Merit. WWB Cup II was hosted by San Francisco. Although there has always been strong representation from across the United States in the tournament, it is believed this is the first time there will be international wrestlers at the championship. After putting in a strong showing at Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Sydney's Harbour City Wrestling Club is training to participate in this year's tournament.

GGWC has had a long fundraising relationship with the street fair, running beverage booths and operating a wrestling information/demo booth. In recent years other wrestling clubs, as well as the San Francisco Gay Boxing Club, have joined in working the booths to create awareness and raise funds. For 25 years, GGWC also hosted the longest running and largest annual LGBT wrestling tournament in the world in May, with a full weekend of clinics, dinners, hosted housing, parties and competition. The bond-building aspects of both will be combined in this year's WWB Cup.

Come out and wrestle with Sydney's Harbour City Wrestling Club

A message from Sydney's Harbour City Wrestling Club, a member of FGG member organizations Team Sydney and Wrestlers Without Borders:

Established almost 20 years ago, the Harbour City Wrestling Club (HGWC) is a gay and gay-friendly not-for-profit group that practises amateur Olympic Freestyle Wrestling here in Sydney.

In fact, it’s the only gay-focused wrestling group in Australia. The club trains in freestyle wrestling (a style that allows moves above and below the waist), and incorporates moves from Roman-Greco wrestling (a style that allows moves only above the waist).

The HCWC trains every Friday at 7pm at Boxing Works in Darlinghurst. Everybody is welcome, and they’re happy to accommodate beginners. People coming for the first time should go to the reception and ask for Harbour City Wrestling.

The cost is $15 per session or $12 for members.

Training is at a similar intensity to a gym workout and wearing gym gear is fine. Spectators are always welcome with a gold coin donation.

After training, the HCWC heads for a meal at a nearby pub — again, everybody is welcome.

Over the years, club members have participated in wrestling tournaments both locally and overseas, with wrestlers taking part in last year’s Gay Games in Cologne. The club is currently working towards participating in a wrestling tournament in San Francisco in November*, and working towards the next Gay Games, in Cleveland in 2014.

info: Email harbourcitywrestling@gmail.com or visit www.hcwc.com.au

*At Golden Gate Wrestling Club's Folsom Street Fair tournament.

Southern California Wrestling Club profiled

From an article in the West Hollywood Patch on Wrestlers Without Borders member Southern California Wrestling Club:

When I recently learned that West Hollywood was home to “one of the oldest freestyle wrestling clubs in California for the LGBT community and friends,” as it describes itself, I was skeptical.

As someone who competed in wrestling at the collegiate and senior freestyle levels not long before I came out as a gay man in 1972, I figured a “gay wrestling club” was more about men seeking cheap thrills than about serious athletics. Nothing wrong with that—gay men have the right to grapple with one another, whatever the intent—but I doubted such a group would make respect for the sport a top priority.

Mea culpa.

One visit to a Southern California Wrestling Club (SCWC) workout and I was convinced that it was the real thing. Its members seem to have genuine deference toward a sport with origins in ancient Greece—one that today produces serious injuries second only in number to football, per a study reported in 2009.

Keep reading HERE.

Wrestlers Without Borders video archive

View the growing archive of videos from events supported by Federation of Gay Games member organization Wrestlers Without Borders HERE.