Team Tugman Wrestling Club (TTWC) trains wrestlers of all ages, from youth beginners to elite high school athletes (up to 12th grade). Our wrestling programs are designed to introduce boys and girls as young as 6 to the fundamentals of the sport. We believe in starting athletes as soon as they are ready to learn, helping them build a strong foundation that develops with them over time.

Our team is different from other clubs because we are first and foremost a wrestling club. Our primary mission, whether beginners, experienced, or elite wrestlers is to train our athletes to love the sport of wrestling. That said, we practice hard, train harder, and compete with maximum effort. We want to coach kids who want to be great.

Team Tugman Wrestling Club trains year-round. We refer to our training schedule as the “Wrestling Year:”

• Fall Session – For high school and youth wrestlers looking to begin their serious training for the upcoming season. We also compete in national tournaments (for example, Ultimate Club Duals; Tyrant Columbus Day Duals) to give our experienced elite athletes as many opportunities to compete against high level competition before the regular season.
• Winter Session – When our high schoolers return to their school programs, we focus on our youth competition season. During this season, we train five days a week and compete most weekends. We also travel out of state as much as we reasonably can (taking into account schedules, costs, distances, etc.) in an effort to provide the kids with elite competition.

For kids who may not be ready to take on a high level of competition, we strongly suggest that they enter and compete in local Connecticut tournaments. There is no better training tool than experience!

• Spring Session – Once the high school and youth seasons end (After the New England Championships, we continue our training for the NHSCA Nationals in Virginia Beach, VA. This high-level national tournament is always extremely competitive and a lot of fun. For those in high school, there are typically many college coaches in attendance looking for prospects.

Once the NHSCA tournament is over, we begin training for the freestyle season which begins approximately in May and runs through July.

• Summer Session – Freestyle Season! Coach Blair Tugman’s favorite time of year. Coach Tugman begins this session teaching the basics of freestyle wrestling and ramps up practices to help our athletes who want to compete in this Olympic style of wrestling. Even for those who are new to freestyle, and/or do not want to compete in freestyle, we encourage you to stay and train with us. Freestyle is an excellent way to learn to be more aggressive on their feet and score more points.

For those who do want to compete, we attend local and regional freestyle tournaments, including the CT cup, which is an official qualifying tournament for the Marine Corps. Nationals in Fargo, ND. The Fargo tournament, considered by many to be the toughest and most prestigious high school tournament in the country, runs for approximately ten days in mid-July.

After Fargo, we begin folkstyle training in anticipation of the upcoming season.

While we are confident that TTWC is the right wrestling program for your athlete, if they are serious about the sport of wrestling, we want you to be sure! Team Tugman Wrestling Club offers the first practice FREE to any athlete who is new to our club. After that practice, we can discuss the best program for your wrestler.

Coach Blair Tugman has a simple philosophy when training new and experienced wrestlers: Demonstrate that you have a positive, “no-quit” attitude and always give your maximum effort, whether in practice or in a match. If you do these two things consistently, the wins will come. Our job is to make sure your athlete develops a true passion and love for the sport.

Team Tugman Wrestling Club also offers one-on-one private wrestling lessons and small group practices for wrestlers of all abilities with our coaching staff. Please speak to us directly about arrangements should you want to pursue these sessions.

All wrestlers are expected to come ready to wrestle! Please wear a t-shirt and shorts. No pockets, hoods, zippers, buttons, or drawstrings as these can create hazards during practices. Sweatshirts and/or sweatpants are acceptable as long as they comply with the requirements above.

For experienced wrestlers in our competition practices, we expect them to wear wrestling shoes. Headgear is optional though highly recommended. Also, if your athlete wears braces, they MUST wear a mouthguard.

We compete year-round but if you do not believe you are ready for live matches, you are NOT required to compete. That said, the true measure of your wrestler’s progress will be live competition. The Coaching Staff at Tugman Wrestling Club is happy to discuss your athlete’s individual situation directly with you.

Signing up for Team Tugman Wrestling Club is easy! Please visit www.tugmanwrestling.com, to see wrestling schedules, pricing, and to register your son or daughter online.

Our wrestlers run the gamut from brand new to NCAA Division I-recruited athletes. We will work with your son or daughter to ensure that their training and competition schedule meets their individual needs within the parameters of our program.