CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Parents and coaches with the Kirkwood High School wrestling team are working on a plan to create a new facility specifically for the KiHS and Kirkwood Middle School wrestling teams.
Kirkwood campus is the most recent schools complex added to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, and their wrestling teams have been gaining traction in the league with multiple wins and championships.
Since opening the doors to the high school in 2023, and the middle school in 2022, the KiHS boys wrestling team won the 2023-24 Boys District Champions, and the coaches were awarded Region 7 Coaches of the Year.
For the middle school team’s season last year, they won the Mid-Cumberland Area Conference Division Champions, Conference Champions, and Individual Team Champions as well as Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.
Current wrestling resources
The teams have been using the auxiliary gym for practice space, according to CMCSS spokesman Anthony Johnson.
“The school’s athletic director makes an athletics facilities use calendar at the start of every season,” Johnson said. “Wrestling is given priority in the winter and as-needed based on the coaches’ requests in the off season.”
The athletic director also makes a schedule for the weight rooms. Wrestling gets the length of time they request for the weight rooms, but they may not get an early time slot for weightlifting in the off season, as the schools prioritize in-season sports first.
Since Kirkwood High is new, school administration was able to provide materials purchased specifically for wrestling when the school opened.
The following resources are common across schools, but Johnson said each school and/or booster program may provide different resources, especially as materials are replaced over time.
- 5 mats
- 100 total uniforms for boys and girls
- 3 mat mops and 2 sprayers for cleaning/disinfecting the mats
- 8 wrestling mat blocks
- 2 iPads
- 2 weight scales
- 40 sets of head gear shared between the 2 programs
Will there be a new facility?
“Our booster club is working day and night to create opportunities for our community to come together to make this dream come true,” said Brad Warren, Kirkwood High and Middle School head wrestling coach. “In the past year, Kirk and I have started a middle school, high school and even a (K-5) youth program here at Kirkwood.”
Warren says they have had great success in starting these new programs and hope to continue to build off this momentum. The addition of a wrestling facility would help accommodate all three of teams with practice, camps and future events.
Currently, Warren says they are in the fundraising stage and have secured a spot to build a facility on campus. Anyone interested in helping can email khwrestlingboosterclub@gmail.com.
“We would love more support from others in the community to help in making this happen,” Warren said. “We are also looking for a principal donor to name the facility after.”
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