A group of wrestlers face off during the inaugural Friday Night Prospects match on Jan. 3 at West Coast Wrestling Federation’s ring in Yuba City.

 

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The West Coast Wrestling Federation (WCWF) hosted a full house on Jan. 3 for the launch of a new series of training matches called Friday Night Prospects. As the name implies, Prospects refers to a handful of up-and-coming amateur wrestlers aspiring to level up their game and get promoted to bigger and better shows.

“These events are for young talent to develop and give us online content for another weekly one-hour show,” said Zack Reeb, owner of Pro Championship Wrestling (PCW).

Pro Championship Wrestling has taken the lead in arranging these Prospect matches, which will be performed on the first and third Friday of every month at the West Coast Wrestling Federation’s training ring in Yuba City. Footage from these shows will then be compiled and streamed on the organization's YouTube channel, PCWProWrestling.

According to Doc Heywood, Pro Championship Wrestling’s web content developer, curating this type of promotional content is crucial toward getting wrestlers noticed and moving them up the ladder in terms of performance and pay. The group plans to edit the Prospect footage and release it on the Thursday following each match. This means that fans can expect to see the results of Jan. 3 aired on Jan. 9.

A group of wrestlers face off during the inaugural Friday Night Prospects match on Jan. 3 at West Coast Wrestling Federation’s ring in Yuba City.

“Zack is really good at promoting the school and finding the talent. I'm honestly not sure how he does it,” said John Cooper, owner and founder of the West Coast Wrestling Federation. “The Prospects thing isn’t supposed to be anything major; it's just supposed to give students some time in the ring to work in front of people.”

The training match on Jan. 3 included the talent of Ethan Reyno, Bryce Kouza, Bishop Dorian, Brian Joseph, Aiden Andrews, Noah Palmer, Travis Alexander and Kairo Leon, to name a few.

Cooper founded the West Coast Wrestling Federation a little over a decade ago, which currently serves as the training ground for both Pro Championship Wrestling and Sacramento’s Supreme Pro Wrestling (SPW). In addition to running classes, Cooper hosts his own professional wrestling shows at local high school gyms, utilizing the connections he’s built as a locksmith for the school systems facilities department.

Olumide Coker extends his hand to Travis Alexander, left, one of the winners of the inaugural Friday Night Prospects match hosted on Jan. 3 at West Coast Wrestling Federation’s ring in Yuba City.

“This year, I’d really like to expand our shows so that we have one about every eight weeks,” said Cooper.

For Cooper, wrestling is a hobby that developed out of a childhood fascination. Cooper previously owned another local gym and credits his physical fitness for keeping him alive during a cancer scare.

“I only had like three months to live when I got diagnosed,” said Cooper. “The doctors attributed to me being able to pull through it based on my activity and being at the gym all the time. But I always wanted to get back into wrestling, so I ended up buying a ring to start training. My wife at the time liked to throw themed birthday parties for our son and one year, our son wanted to have a wrestling party, so I ended up turning it into a show and got almost 400 people to come. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Cooper kept things going with the West Coast Wrestling Federation and soon met Reeb at a chance encounter at a local grocery store. The two quickly bonded over wrestling and now share much of the region's best talent, including Olumide Coker, Nathan Brink and the young Ethan Reyno.

A group of wrestlers face off during the inaugural Friday Night Prospects match on Jan. 3 at West Coast Wrestling Federation’s ring in Yuba City.

“Ethan is a senior at River Valley High School, so that’s another reason we started doing matches there,” Cooper said.

The West Coast Wrestling Federation’s next big match is scheduled for Feb. 15 at River Valley High School in Yuba City. Meanwhile, fans can check out “Prime Time” or other promotional materials online at pcwnorcal.com.

Friday Night Prospect matches are hosted and filmed on the first and third Friday of every month at the West Coast Wrestling Federation ring, located at 1257 Hassett Ave., Yuba City. Seating is limited to the first 50 fans only. For more information on training, email [email protected].