GWWC 2025
Written by Maggie Smith
This past week I hosted two wrestling camps in my hometown. We started the week with the 4th annual Grow Women’s Wrestling Camp. My best friend Brinley Green and I have been running this together and we take this as an opportunity to share our wrestling knowledge, give back to the wrestling community in Wyoming, and build relationships with young female athletes. It is beyond rewarding, and we only hope to grow each year!
This year we brought in Jayleen Sekona as our guest clinician. She is from Alaska, but now attends Colorado Mesa University. This will be her 5th year at CMU and we met as teammates on the women’s wrestling team. She is overall just a ray of sunshine and does so well working with wrestlers of all ages. She has so many fun metaphors and jokes that she uses as she teaches technique and it just helps it stick in our minds.
Brinley and Jayleen were primarily responsible for teaching the technique and did a wonderful job. On day one we worked technique on our feet. The girls covered takedowns from underhooks and a 2-on-1 (aka Russian) tie. We covered snatch singles, knee taps, hi-crotches, double legs, a headpinch headlock, Brinley’s signature “elevator throw", front headlock offense, an outside dump, an outside firemans, and arm spins. On day two, we started the day outside with games, hand-fighting, and relay races before heading inside for a one-hour mental training session. Jayleen led this and discussed confidence, consistency and intention in mental training, and goal-setting. We then covered several Freestyle par terre moves and transitions including, an ankle lace, high gut, mid gut, and bottom defense.
To end the camp, we had a dual. We split the group in half and everyone got at least one live Freestyle match, with several girls wrestling a second or third at the end. This is one of my favorite aspects of the GWWC camp. We have done it 2 of the 4 years (due to varying numbers and athlete sizes), but I think it is so good for the young girls to get a competition experience in a low-stress setting. Additionally, for girls that have never wrestled until our camp, they get to see the real excitement and joy that surrounds women’s wrestling.
The GWWC this year was so much fun and I am grateful every year to host this. I want to give a HUGE shout out to Brinley and Jayleen, as they did such a good job, and I trusted them 100% to lead all the wrestlers when I needed to take a step back to do some behind the scenes/executive work. I also want to give a shoutout to our sponsors that allowed this camp to happen: Homax Oil Services, Amber Kramer at State Farm, the American Legion Post 24, Sweetwater Custom Works, the Clarion Hotel, Top of the Rock Wrestling Club, and finally my parents Anne and Birch Smith.
Next year is our 5th year of the GWWC camp! Brinley and I are already working to make next year extra special as we are looking to bring in the largest clinician yet. Keep an eye out for announcements for the 2026 Grow Women’s Wrestling Camp!!!
Till next time,
Maggie Smith
