West Ottawa: The Olympic Connection
9/30/2020
 Holland, MI- Off season wrestling is important for any program, but at West Ottawa it is a bit different. Unlike other local West Michigan programs, the Panthers rely heavily on training Olympic style wrestling (freestyle and greco-roman) to make improvements in leaps and bounds. The pinnacle of this the high school national championships, held every July in Fargo, North Dakota. Unfortunately due to the corona virus, the event was canceled. So in leu of summer coverage, lets take a look back at the last few decades and our best to represent our school, state, and country in Olympic style wrestling.  National Qualifiers The following is a list of West Ottawa Wrestlers that competed on either the MUSAW Dual Team or represented Team Michigan at Fargo (If you don't see your name, let us know at westottawawrestling@gmail.com): 1999 Ryan Lancaster 1999 Rory Lancaster 2000 Ryan Lancaster 2000 Cory Fuller 2000 David Whalen 2002 Ryan Lancaster 2010 Gaven Daniels 2010 Miguel Correa 2011 Anthony Inthavong 2011 Ramon Correa 2011 Gaven Daniels 2011 Miguel Correa 2012 Miguel Correa 2012 Ramon Correa 2013 Kalib Brunson 2013 Ramon Correa 2013 Anthony Inthavong 2014 Kalib Brunson 2014 Ramon Correa 2015 Ramon Correa 2015 Keenan Montoya 2016 Ethan Curtin 2017 Julian Jimenez 2018 Mathew Hakken 2018 Julian Jimenez 2018 Mathew Hakken  Keenan Montoya ('16) at the 2015 MUSAW State Finals  Mathew Hakken ('21) at the 2019 MUSAW State Finals  Club State Champions West Ottawa generally has a good showing at the freestyle and greco roman state finals. Here are the few (on record) that have won state titles: 1997 Ryan Lancaster MWF FR 2000 Ryan Lancaster MUSAW FR 2010 Ramon Correa MUSAW FR 2011 Ramon Correa MUSAW FR 2012 Miguel Correa MUSAW FR 2013 Miguel Correa MUSAW GR 2013 Miguel Correa MUSAW FR 2014 Ramon Correa MUSAW GR  Ramon Correa ('15) at the 2015 AAU Junior Olympics  Ryan Lancaster ('02) at he 2000 Junior Freestyle National Championships at Fargo, ND  All-Americans To be top 8 in the country is no easy feat to accomplish, but a few Panthers have made their way to the podium' 1994
 A shot of the field at the 2014 Fargo finals  AAU Junior Olympic Teams Another large event that offers high level freestyle is the AAU Junior Olympics. Several of our wrestlers have made the trip, and walked away with 10 matches! Keenan Montoya Ramon Correa  Ryan Lancaster ('02) wrestling in a barn in Kempten, Germany on an exchange tour in 2006 There are plenty of other events that even put West Ottawa on the international stage! If you don't see a name here that should be, or have pictures to share, please send them to us at westottawawrestling@gmail.com
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