JB MDL wrestles for gold

Published Oct. 9, 2014
By Sgt. Christopher Moore
123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Wrestlers from 24 different countries competed for gold in the 29th Annual World Military Wrestling Championships here at the Griffith Field House.

The Conseil International Du Sport - International Military Sports Council - hosted the four-day event that began Oct. 3 and featured Olympic caliber athletes who competed in one of the largest multidisciplinary organizations in the world.

"Its pretty competitive. The armed-forces athletes are some of the best athletes in the country," said Jason Loukides, a coach for the United States Team. "There are world medalists and Olympians here. CISM comes at the end of the season, after the world championships, so many of the people here were just (competing in the World Wrestling Championship) in Uzbekistan before this competition."

The organization was founded in 1948 and now includes 134 countries that train and compete to uphold the council's ideal of unifying their armed forces through sports. Wrestling is one of 23 sports hosted by CISM for military athletes.

"Every one has a lot of pride here, being able to come out and represent your country at a world event. There's nothing better, but it's also a great chance to really get to know different people and build relationships," Loukides said.

A total of 225 athletes, along with several supporters and coaches each, came to compete in this year's event representing every continent excluding Australia and Antarctica, creating a diverse environment rich with culture.

"This has been an entire joint base effort, we're all onboard here to make sure the event happens smoothly. We have been preparing for the event since November of last year when we got the official news that we where hosting the event," said Air Force 2nd Lt. Sarah Strickland, 87th Force Support Squadron, an event coordinator.

JB MDL hosted the armed forces wrestling championship here in 2013 and almost immediately began preparing the Griffith Field House, the oldest field house in the Department of Defense, for the event to be able to host the event. The event included two days of orientation, four days of competition and a cultural exchange event on the fifth day.

"Having the CISM World Wrestling Championship here has been great," Strickland said. "The CISM motto is 'Friendship through Sport,' and we are definitely doing that here. Getting to interact with different cultures and different customs has been a great honor. We hope we can get the opportunities to host other armed forces sports events in the future."