Jenny Mojica and her husband, Julio, have started an independent wrestling club to help grow the sport in an area in need of wrestling outlets.
They noticed that Evans High School, where their son, Josh, attends, along with other Columbia County schools, were behind compared to other areas in terms of wrestling tournaments in the last year, so they decided to do something about it.
They began Xtra Wrestling Club earlier this year with the purpose of providing a safe environment for all ages to practice wrestling throughout the year. The club has volunteer coaches from around the area who provide guidance and instruction for all levels.
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“We noticed how many other sports in this area have club and travel teams. However, wrestling did not,” Jenny Mojica said. “We want to provide a longer wrestling season to those who love the sport. We also want to provide a space they can go to practice because once the high school wrestling season is over, there is no place to go.”
Their first phase of action came when the wrestling season’s number of events was decimated last year.
“Due to COVID-19, the wrestling season at Evans was almost completely shut down,” Jenny Mojica said. “They would have practices but few tournaments, and our son Josh and other kids weren’t getting time to do any tournaments or get better. Areas like South Carolina and Florida — everybody else was wrestling — and we started taking Josh to out-of-state tournaments.”
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The tournaments the Mojica family attended were held by groups like NUWAY and USA Wrestling.
“It wasn’t involving the schools at all, so it wasn’t illegal by the school guidelines,” Mojica said. “We noticed other people were wearing shirts with wrestling clubs on them like Compound Wrestling and NUWAY and we thought, ‘How do we do this?'”
The Mojicas met other parents interested in travelling along with them to compete, and they were also interested in creating a club of their own in this area. The seeds of Xtra Wrestling Club were planted.
“People were coming from North Carolina and Myrtle Beach to these tournaments, just all over,” Mojica said. “Families were bringing kids to wrestle both in the school-related and independent tournaments. It was an opportunity for them to get better and colleges can see them, too.”
The idea really started to take shape when Julio Mojica spoke with the Columbia County Mat Club and was referred to Jenni Joy at Frontline Jiu-Jitsu. She aided in the search for a training space for the club to rent.
“We asked all the different places and they were full up, didn’t have time slots, and all that,” Jenny Mojica said. “But Jenni Joy at Frontline said, ‘Yes, absolutely!'”
With the space situation handled, the club began about two months ago. And the numbers are starting to grow, especially with tournaments ramping back up.
“In the summer, when school isn’t in session, we want to offer that mat time and instruction the kids can’t usually get,” Mojica said. “The school typically wrestles within one group of schools, and we can help kids compete against wrestlers from all across the region.”
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Beyond the extra training and aid in traveling to tournaments, the Mojicas see this as another way to support wrestling in the area.
“We noticed that when we traveled to places like Atlanta or Columbia, there are clubs that start kids earlier and when they’re wrestling as a freshman or on the JV team, they’re just as good as the junior and senior kids because they’ve been doing it for so long.”
Jenny Mojica attributed the lack of more wrestling programs locally to a focus on more popular sports, and indoor practice spaces for basketball, volleyball and other indoor sports can take away from the opportunity for wrestling.
That dynamic can begin to shift with increased interest in the sport, and Mojica laid out some reasons to consider wrestling.
“It definitely helps if a child has ADHD or is even just hyper,” she said. “It gives them an outlet. It’s a very intense sport, a high energy sport, and it takes a lot of discipline.”
Mojica also mentioned wrestling being both a team sport and a solo sport. Even if a team is weak overall, a solo wrestler can still excel and improve. Mojica said wrestling is a scholarship-friendly sport that goes all the way to the Olympics, so it can be a long-lasting investment.
“I think of my own son — it’s also good for building self-confidence,” Mojica said. “There are aspects of self-defense and growing your strength.”
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The main challenge for the club now is space. They’re already starting to outgrow the space they’re in at Frontline Jiu-Jitsu, and Jenny Mojica is searching for other options. The club collects dues, but they’re miniscule as the club is non-profit and just meant to provide more opportunities for the families interested in the sport.
A wrestling camp with Adam Wick, who placed fourth at the 2021 Olympic Trials, is scheduled for July. For more information, visit https://www.xtrawrestlingclub.org/
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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