SportsLife Wrestling Clinic with Elevation Church

On Saturday, July 26th, SportsLife Wrestling hosted a free wrestling clinic in conjunction with Elevation Church’s Love Week—an annual outreach event that takes place each summer throughout the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Director of Sports-Specific Operations Mark Ellis directed the event at Metrolina Christian Academy.

Keegan O’Toole, two-time NCAA champion and U23 and U20 world gold medalist, led two wrestling technique sessions. O’Toole also shared his faith testimony along with a Gospel presentation and then opened up the floor for an engaging time of group interaction.

“The questions were all over the spectrum,” Ellis said. “There were some people just beginning their faith journey and others who hadn’t yet made that commitment to follow Jesus, but were thinking seriously about making that decision. And then we had people who have been following Jesus for a long time and just curious about how an athlete and coach like Keegan does it within the realm of elite wrestling.”

Afterwards, Ellis and Elevation Church volunteers distributed SportsLife Wrestling Bibles to those in attendance including high school athletes, high school and college coaches, and parents.

“A lot of parents came to me afterwards and thanks SportsLife Wrestling for doing the clinic,” Ellis said.

“They were excited for their kids to receive a new Bible and get some direction on how to grow in their faith.”

The clinic was a continuation of SportsLife Wrestling’s relationship with Elevation Church, which includes support of the Champion’s Breakfast at the NCAA National Wrestling Championships. Earlier this year, Pastor Steven Furtick spoke at the event and facilitate an on-stage interview with Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan.

“I can’t say enough about Elevation Church and how they’ve come alongside SportsLife Wrestling,” Ellis said. “They’ve supported us with resources and volunteers and pastoral encouragement. They’ve gone above and beyond to support our ministry. We’re reaching people in the sport of wrestling that may not always step foot through the church doors, but they’ll come to a clinic. Elevation Church sees the value in that and they’ve been a huge blessing to our ministry.”

As the school years begins, much of SportsLife Wrestling’s focus turns towards campus ministry, leadership training, and discipleship opportunities. But according to Ellis, much was learned from the events that the organization hosted around the country.

“The success we experienced with camps and clinics this summer is an encouraging trend that we believe will continue to grow,” Ellis said. “I’m excited to see what’s in store as we expand our efforts to reach the wrestling community all over the country and beyond.”