I hope everyone is enjoying the growing excitement as the National Wrestling Championships in all college divisions rapidly approach. For those of you who will be attending the NCAA Division I Championships in Pittsburgh, I hope you will be able to make it to our Annual Wrestlers In Business Network (WIBN) Social, Presented by Defense Soap & Safe + Fair Food Company scheduled for Saturday, March 23 from 2pm to 5pm in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel (located just across the street from the NCAA competition venue).

Our keynote speaker, sponsored by Joe Savino, President of Savino Consulting Group, will be Alan Nero. Alan began his career as the head wrestling coach at the University of Rhode Island and is now the Managing Director of Baseball at Octagon Sports & Entertainment Agency. He has represented many Major League managers and players over the years. Alan will deliver some terrific leadership messages at the WIBN social through some very entertaining stories. If you have not already done so, please consider purchasing a table sponsorship and/or individual tickets at https://www.wrestlersinbusiness.org/events/wibn-national-social-ncaas. 

I want to thank all of the business leaders who are working so tirelessly to establish new WIBN chapters and/or strengthen existing chapters across the nation. I am thrilled to say that we now have 17 WIBN chapters operating across the nation and many more are in the process of forming. Please be sure to visit our WIBN website at www.wrestlersinbusiness.org to find a chapter near you and/or to also learn more about how to start a new chapter. A nominal $50 WIBN membership fee will enable you to list your business in a searchable website directory, upload your resume into the WIBN website job board, or search through resumes already on the job board (in the event you are looking to hire a wrestler). WIBN is uniquely designed to provide a platform that enables wrestling alumni/fans to do business with each other and/or to encourage wrestling alumni/fans to hire wrestlers. As wrestlers benefit from being part of the WIBN, they will have more discretionary income to donate back to our sport.

In addition to the primary objective of helping wrestling alumni and fans advance their careers and grow their businesses, it is also important to understand that there is nothing more impactful we can do to protect and strengthen amateur wrestling at every level than to have an organized group of influential business leaders in every region across the nation. There are many examples of WIBN chapters that are serving this vital need but here are just a few examples:

Several years ago, several prominent business leaders within the WIBN/Cleveland chapter managed to save the Cleveland State wrestling program in just a few weeks after an announcement to drop the program was made.

WIBN/Princeton Chapter provided Full Scholarships for high school or middle school wrestling coaches in New Jersey to enroll in the NWCA’s CEO Leadership Academy. This program is aimed at strengthening the recruiting and retention skills of scholastic coaches. 

WIBN Chapters in Atlanta, Washington DC, Princeton, Cleveland, and Denver have all hosted the NWCA All-Star Classic.

Some of our WIBN Chapters are hosting awards banquets for scholastic wrestlers in their regions. 

I could go on for pages with examples of how WIBN Chapters are supporting various wrestling initiatives in their regions. Suffice it to say, the more chapters we can establish in cities across the country, the more we can keep wrestling at all levels strong. 

In closing, I want to thank all of the business and community leaders across the nation who are making WIBN a huge success. Just remember, if at first, we succeed, let’s do it again, and again, and again!!!!!

Growing wrestling together, Mike