By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
They may be in large part some little guys, but those who came to wrestle last weekend in Cheney at the 22nd annual Jason Crawford Memorial tournament are hoping to rekindle something big for the community.
Organizer, Wayne Terry of Medical Lake said slightly over 1,200 wrestlers from kindergarten through eighth grade descended on Eastern Washington University's Reese Court last Saturday, accompanied by parents, relatives and siblings. Their vehicles and RVs packed parking lots and lined Washington Street as if the Montana Grizzlies were paying another visit.
The tournament was making a return visit to Cheney after having spent the past two years in Spokane at Gonzaga University. The event started out simply as the Medical Lake tournament with five teams and 150 wrestlers back in 1988. It wasn't long before it outgrew ML and relocated to EWU. “It grew to the point where we had to find a bigger place,” Terry said.
Terry said he once approached former EWU president, Steven Jordan about supporting the tournament. He showed Jordan a map of where the participants came from. “It blew him away,” Terry said. “The school has a recruiting base there for the next 35 years,” Terry said. “He (Jordan) was sure excited about it the year he came and saw that place full.” Terry hopes the university can see the benefits an event like this offers them.
In the beginnings of the Little Guy Wrestling program, the league Terry helped found and now administrates, had eight teams and 250 wrestlers. Now there are 67 teams and 3,200 kids in Eastern Washington and a portion of Idaho.
The tournament is named after 12-year-old Jason Crawford, a young wrestler who was killed in 1988 when he was struck by a car while his family was vacationing in Kelowna, British Columbia. Crawford's dad, Dennis, travels each year from faraway Georgia, where he owns a landscaping business and restaurant, to come to the tournament and speak to all those in attendance.
“When his dad called me (with the news of Jason's death) it just tore my heart out, because he and I played softball together, we coached wrestling together and we were as close as brothers,” Terry said. Terry's son, Travis, and Crawford wrestled together,” Terry said. “I asked him if it would be all right to name the tournament the Jason Crawford Memorial. He obviously said yes and the rest is history.”
Reese Court is wall-to-wall wrestling mats with 18 matches taking place at one time -- all day long – from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
While the event has grown to become huge -- possibly expanding to two days next year in order to accommodate a huge waiting list of teams west of the Cascades – Terry said the tournament still espouses some down-to-earth values.
“We try to keep that awareness in front of our wrestling family,” Terry said. “You know, don't pound on your kids, don't verbally abuse them to win the match.” In the spirit of how quickly life can take a sad turn, Terry encourages parents to enjoy their kids. “You don't know how long you're going to have them. Don't pass the moment.”
“When I introduce Dennis, I say I would all like you to listen and pay your respect to a man who would like to see his son lose three times today,” Terry said, admitting he often tears up when asked about the tournament.
Cheney City Administrator Arlene Fisher and Mayor Allan Gainer were both very instrumental in getting the tournament to return to the community, Terry said. “Arlene (Fisher) turned the tide. She stopped in at Gonzaga and said, ‘Wow, we've got to have this back,”' Terry said. “We never felt this kind of support from the city.”
Fisher downplayed her role in returning the tournament to Cheney, but did contact Eastern President Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo and others at the university, touting the dynamics of introducing this many kids to Eastern for future educational opportunities. “Dr. Arevalo seemed very intrigued by it,” Fisher said.
“What we're hoping to do is just showcase Cheney,” Fisher said. “Our hope was they would visit the downtown business district,” she added. While no figures are in, the town definitely had added traffic.
It wasn't all business for Fisher as she said she takes some personal pride when it comes to wrestling. “I came from a family of wrestlers,” Fisher said, adding, “I was part of the wrestling world kind of by default.” She noted she had four older brothers whom she watched in the sport while growing up in Colorado. Fisher admits she borrowed some of what she saw when she played basketball.
“I'm glad to see it back in Cheney,” Fisher said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com
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