Some of the elite wrestlers are pictured at top, from left: Kyler Wagstaff, Braden Sanders, William Kishpaugh and Kayden Martin; and bottom: Tucker Leland, Jesse Branca, Cutter Silcox, Conner Martin, Malek Wagstaff and Korbin Wagstaff. COURTEY PHOTO

The Evanston Elite Wrestling Club is in its second year and has 17 active members, ranging from third to 12th grade.

“The club was created to develop individual skills in wrestling and sportsmanship,” president Katie Kishpaugh said. “The focus is on building specific skills that are needed throughout their entire career, especially high school. The goal is that they can place well at state and at a national level. We hope that some Evanston kids can get scholarships.”

Kishpaugh said the wrestlers attend multiple, and large, tournaments, so when they get to high school, the butterflies are gone and they can be very competitive.

Evanston Elite is partnered with the Rec Center and the school district. They practice twice per week at the high school, but don’t practice during the high school or middle school season. The club runs from November until the beginning of April.

Evanston Elite will pick up practicing as soon as the season is over. The wrestlers will go to a USA Wrestling tournament in March and a big tournament in Reno at the beginning of April.

“One of the reasons the club was started is because Evanston was one of the few communities in Wyoming that didn’t have a club,” Kishpaugh said.

“The wrestlers can get one-on-one coaching to help further develop their skills,” Kishpaugh added.

There are four coaches, led by head coach Garth Wagstaff. All of the coaches are certified through USA wrestling and they are often fathers who wrestled in high school, according to Kishpaugh.

Kishpaugh said she became involved with the club because of her son who loves to wrestle. Her husband is also one of the coaches.

“We started with good wrestlers who liked it. Now, we have great wrestlers who still really enjoy it,” Kishpaugh said. “It’s been a really good experience and the kids have been improving.”

All of the middle school wrestlers who are involved in the club are listed as advanced wrestlers and have won more matches than they’ve lost, according to Kishpaugh.

She said wrestlers can sign up at the Rec Center and to call her with questions at 307-679-0103.