The Laramie Wrestling Club is a non-profit organization, ran by a group of hard working parents who donate countless hours of their time to ensure that the children in the club have an opportunity to wrestle. They did an amazing job, and hosted a successful tournament that had nearly 300 youth wrestlers competing.
A little background on the Laramie Plains Civic Center; in the early 1900’s it was a high school here in Laramie. The historic building is still in its original state, and every wall in the building is covered with different photos of Laramie from the early 1900’s. You will also find several team photos from the boys’ and girls’ high school sports teams from that era as well. Looking at the photos makes you feel as though you are in a museum. It was very interesting when an older gentleman attending the meet noticed himself in a team photo of the Rawlins State Championship wrestling team from 1957 on the wall above our booth. He told me the story of that team, how a small and rural 2A school beat every other team in the state. It was very similar to the movie ‘Hoosiers’, and a very cool moment for any sports fan.
Having said all of that, from a photography standpoint, the lighting conditions in the old building were like shooting in a dungeon. Although it was somewhat of a challenge for our photographers at this meet (Stephanie Osborne, Ardent Photography and Jim Craft, James Craft Photography), they delivered great action photos as always.
Thank you very much to the Laramie Wrestling Club for having us as part of your event. We look forward to working with you again in the future. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the meet:
I love how you always find the stories behind the tournaments you cover... What a great post Rick you can see where your heart is.
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