LOS ANGELES - The Marine Corps joined a list of VIPs, from MMA Champions, movie stars and others, at the 2016 U.S. Wrestling Foundation Gala on 9 June in Los Angeles in sending off Team USA as they compete in the World Cup, their last competition before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
VIPs who attended the gala include Randy Couture, Billy Baldwin, and Dan Henderson.
During the gala, the Marine Corps recognized two outstanding future leaders. Ryan Partridge of Vienna, Va., and Kendall Reusing of Riverside, Calif., were awarded the Excellence in Leadership Award.
“I really find it inspiring that the Marine Corps takes the time to recognize people in normal communities,” said Reusing “I am just a normal person, I wrestle and do my thing, but I am not a celebrity. It’s just really inspiring that the Marine Corps would take the time to recognize me.”
Reusing, a freshman at Simon Fraser University, was the 2015 California Wrestling State Champion, 2015 United World Wrestling Junior Runner-Up, and was also the 2015 La Sierra High School Valedictorian.
Reusing’s father, Tom Reusing, is a former Marine and his experiences have helped her become the person and wrestler she is today.
“It’s a ripple effect,” said Reusing. “He was a good leader for me and that makes me want to be a good leader to others.”
The incredible degree of adversity – both physical and mental- a wrestler faces is unlike any other competition but is not unfamiliar to Marines.
“Both breed a lot of the same characteristics, pride in toughness and pride in hard work,” said Partridge. “They are both professions that bring out the best in people.”
With participation in combat sports such as wrestling, the Marine Corps will be able to reach a broad cross-section of high school and collegiate-aged wrestlers who share similar physical and mental characteristics.
“It’s foundational in developing character,” said Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy, commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command. “There is deprivation, hard work, and self-discipline. It’s all about not indulging in taking the easy way out.”
Going forward, the Marine Corps intends to evolve its ongoing interactions with prospects and their influencers by leveraging the similarities between the Corps’ values and the values of wrestling athletes – dedication, motivation, discipline, and mental and physical toughness.