As we finish out 2019 and take the first step this weekend in the run-up to the
Olympic Trials, I wanted to let you know that the
Cyclone Regional Training Center has had a very good year.
Besides adding former Cyclone Willie Miklus to our small arsenal of post-graduate athletes, we also added new volunteer assistant, Joey Palmer.
Willie, Joey and Kyven will be accompanied by
Coach Carr on the first leg of the Olympic Trials this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas. You can follow the results of the competition starting Friday on FLO or on social media.
Willie will compete at 86 kg FS and Kyven at 96 kg FS. Joey was slated to compete at 57 kg FS, but it was just too big of a cut. So he will compete at 60 kg GR. They have been training hard and WE wish them all well.
None of this would be possible -- including Coach Carr's position -- without the hundreds of donors who have contributed to our non-profit organization in 2019. All three post-graduate athletes plus Coach Carr are fully supported by the Cyclone Regional Training Center.
Just to be very clear, it is our goal moving forward to fill the C-RTC pool of post-graduate athletes with former ISU wrestlers. Coach Palmer currently is the exception, however the fact that he was such a tough light-weight AND we were looking for a volunteer coach made Joey a great choice for us. He really is our kind of guy in the practice room and brings a toughness that will pay big dividends moving forward.
Probably our biggest win in 2019 was the acquisition of the
C-RTC House in West Ames. The 4-unit complex currently houses all three post-graduate athletes, Kyven's family (his wife and two daughters), and six current student athletes who are on our roster. We yielded more than a half-million dollars of donated materials and labor to the C-RTC House project. We look to be finalizing permanent financing next month, and the amount of equity we captured on this project is most impressive. A special shout out to HCS Builders in Ames and specifically to Chuck Winkleblack for bringing this opportunity to us.
The other thing that really took off this year was our
C-RTC Tree. To date, we have
474 donors on our tree! Supporters from $100 to $100,000 have populated our tree to a current total of
$571,846 donated to the Cyclone Regional Training Center. This doesn't include the dozens of you who bought live or silent auction items at various events throughout the year. I just want to say THANK YOU to all who supported us financially in 2019.
My goal when we kicked off this campaign last June was to capture 500 donors and to raise $750,000! Of course, being the goal-oriented guy that I am, I now want to put out one
LAST CHALLENGE to all to see if we can hit those numbers.
If you are reading this and you are NOT currently on our RTC TREE, NOW is your chance. WE have two weeks left in 2019! We need 26 more donors to reach 500! I think we can do that together. We also are not that far from $750k!
So as we finish off 2019, help me reach these numbers.
You can go
here to see all 474 donors AND also hopefully add your name to that board.
IN closing, again THANK YOU to all of you who have supported our non-profit organization! The Cyclone Regional Training Center is making a big difference in so many ways.
And as always, it's gonna continue to take all of us!
Happy Holidays to ALL!
Coach Dresser
