The fourth annual California Champ Camp will be staged this weekend at Central Valley High School.

The wrestling clinic is being run by the Ceres Pups Club with assistance from Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s grappling programs. 

Pups President/Ceres High Coach Steve Festa changed the format of the camp by adding more instructors and counselors.

The clinic is also geared towards wrestlers with at least one year of experience in the sport.

“We changed the format to make it new and exciting,” Festa said. “When you bring people from outside our area, it shows our wrestlers a different perspective. It opens your eyes to more than what is around you locally. This is going to be beneficial to everyone. It’s going to be really special.”

NCAA Division-I men’s wrestling assistant coaches Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) and Anthony Mancini (San Francisco State) will serve as lead instructors at the camp.

Rotondo has ties to the city of Ceres as he attended Central Valley High School and Mae Hensley Jr. High. 

He lived here for 12 years before moving to the state of Washington with his family.

Rotondo wrestled at Wisconsin for four seasons before transferring to Cal Poly for his final year of eligibility.

Rotondo won one of three matches while representing the Mustangs as a 133-pound grappler at the 2023 NCAA Division-I Championships. 

He finished his collegiate career with a 74-52 overall record.

Rotondo had a 168-15 record at the prep level. 

He captured back-to-back state titles with Union High School in Vancouver, Wash.. He won all 40 of his matches junior year.

He qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament, placed second at Divisionals and finished first at the Western Athletic Conference Championships freshman year at Central Valley. 

Rotondo and Mancini will each bring two wrestlers from their college programs to the clinic.

Trevor Tinker (heavyweight) and Jagger French (125/133 pounds) will represent the Mustangs.

Emilio Franco Sandoval (heavyweight) and Hayden Ancheta (125/133 pounds) will represent the Gators.

“Ethan’s not doing this for the attention,” said Festa, who has fond memories coaching Rotondo when he was in the eighth and seventh grades. “It’s exciting he wants to come back and share his experiences with us. 

Lily Avalos (Pitman High School/Vanguard University), Alana Ontiveros (Pitman/Menlo College) and Mikayla Lancaster (Gregori/Menlo College) will serve as camp counselors.

The Champ Camp is open to wrestlers, ages 5-18.

Cost is $120 per grappler or $1,000 per high school team (14 wrestlers).

“It’s recommended you have at least one year of experience because it’s going to be a fast-paced camp where you learn high-level technique,” Festa said. 

A total of 121 boys and girls signed up for the clinic as of Monday.

The 2024 camp had 86 participants.

A total of six high school wrestling teams will be attending the this year’s clinic, including Ceres High, Central Valley, Hughson, Modesto High, Pitman and Golden Valley.

“They’re going to be exposed to like-minded wrestlers. When you put in the hard work, the wrestling becomes easier because you gain confidence.”

A team dual competition will be held from 12:30-4 p.m. on Sunday.

Rotondo and Mancini will choose wrestlers from the camp to represent Cal Poly and San Francisco State.

High school referees will officiate

The dual is open to the public. Admission is free.