One of CUSAW's New Board Members Bill Zadick ~World Champion, NCAA Champion, and current Olympic Develomental Coach

The Colorado USA Wrestling (CUSAW) board requested nominations for Members at Large onto the board, and had an overwhelming response with people offering to serve in those positions.  There were a total of 17 nominations for the four open Member at Large positions (non-voting).

State Chair, Cory Kness had this to say, “We were not only pleased with the number of nominations, but the qualifications and intangibles that some of them carried.  The board spent a long time covering all 17 nominations, and it was a tough decision to make with so many quality individuals offering there services as a Member at Large.  This is another great step forward and I’m excited about the new additions to the current board.  The current board has done a tremendous job of working through some of the past requirements with cohesion and professionalism that I’m positive will continue on.”

The four new Member at Large representatives are;  Pat Fox-Abbot, Ramon Trujillo, Bill Zadick, and Tim Cole

Also two alternates were voted on, and will replace any of the above should they be unable to fulfill the one year term;  Arnie Gurule, and Rod Padilla.

The Athlete Member position, which has been vacant for some time was filled by Olympian Keith Sieracki.  Sieracki wrestled as part of the Army WCAP program for a number of years, and has been involved since his retirement from wrestling at the grassroots level.  Keith expressed a desire to not only help Colorado wrestling in any fashion possible, but also lend a hand with coaching National teams from Colorado when available and as needed.

Here is a quick breakdown on some of the new Members at Large, as well as their experience.

Pat Fox brings a wealth of experience, and knowledge.  She comes from New Jersey, where she was heavily involved in New Jersey USA Wrestling.  She was voted by USA’s National Office as the 2011 USA Wrestling Woman of the Year.  Pat Fox lives in Colorado Springs and is married to Gary Abbot, Communications Director for USA Wrestling.

Ramon Trujillo has been a steadfast part of the volunteer corp for Colorado Wrestling over the past few years, and has served as a Team Leader for Colorado National teams.  Ramon, was also voted as CUSAW’s volunteer of the year for 2011.  Ramon resides out of Arvada Colorado.

Bill Zadick is the National Freestyle Development Coach, as well as 2006 World Freestyle Champion, and a 1996 NCAA Champion for Iowa.  Bill resides in Colorado Springs.  Bill had this to say on his appointment as Member at Large, “I’m excited by the opportunity to serve wrestling and the State of Colorado directly. I’m confident we can work closely to make our athletes and the programs in our state better”.

Tim Cole has been involved in the wrestling scene for a number of years, and resides out of Southern Colorado.  Tim is also affectionately known as “Flodad” on the cowrestling.com message boards, where he’s voluntarily given many hours to promote the sport and provide tournament results as well as being known for his straight forward and fair analysis of wrestling throughout Colorado.  Tim has also given many hours to the development of the CUSAW website, and displaying CUSAW wrestling photographs to the site.  His location and connections to Southern Colorado, as well as the entire state through communication on the message boards was seen as one of the beneficial intangibles he will bring to the CUSAW board.

In addition to the four Member at Large positions, there was a nomination of two candidates for the newly opened Coach’s Director position.  Both candidates were in attendance and detailed to the board their plans and implementation processes as the Coach’s Director, as they ran for the vacated position. 

Troy Pickerell from Evans Colorado (just outside of Greeley) was chosen by the board as the new Colorado Coach’s Director.  Troy has served many roles throughout Colorado, such as being involved with the Metro Junior Wrestling League for the past 16 years, and a Metro League representative on the CUSAW board.  Troy brings a complimentary skill of working well with others to the role of Coach’s Director, as well as experience that is a benefit to insure Colorado’s best coaching is offered as well as the best technique offered from the many resources throughout Colorado.

The new Members will begin serving their term immediately, and will be formerly introduced at the next CUSAW board meeting held on the first Sunday in May.