The Virginia Wrestling Association is excited to announce that the site editor for The Open Mat Earl Smith will be joining Team Virginia to help us promote and cover the sport of wrestling in Virginia for us at VAWA on our Virginia Wrestling website! 

As site editor at The Open Mat, Earl covers wrestling from the Youth to Senior level. He also compiles national and regional high school rankings as well as Division I team and individual rankings, recruiting rankings for DI, DII, and Women’s College. Smith is also responsible for general event coverage, previews, and wrap-ups. Prior to The Open Mat Earl was the founder and editor of D1CollegeWrestling.net which was in operation from 2007-2017. 

Earl was a three sport athlete at Manassas Park High School, playing football and baseball in addition to earning All-State honors in wrestling. He also coached wrestling at Manassas Park and Fauquier High Schools. Mr. Smith studied Business Administration at the University of Mary Washington and was a member of the baseball and rugby teams while in college. 

Smith will be doing some of the following for us at Virginia Wrestling: high school rankings, previews and wrap-up articles for Kids Folkstyle Championships, VHSL & Prep High School Championships and the VAWA Freestyle and Greco State Championships. In addition to the state events he will also be covering Team Virginia at Freestyle & Greco National Duals and the U16 (Cadet) and Junior National Freestyle & Greco Championships. I am sure we will see some other features from him as well.   

Earl currently resides in Stafford with his wife Kristy and his three sons: Matthew, Colton and Kellan. We are looking forward to having him as part of our team #2up2down. 

You can email him at earl@virginiawrestling.com 

Social injustice is wrong and contrary to the inclusive nature of wrestling. USA Wrestling’s mission is to provide quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full athletic and human potential. Recent tragedies in our nation compel us to do more and do it better. We stand with our African American and black communities and all of the diverse people who are part of our sport. We will focus our actions on how we can drive change against unjust treatment, police brutality, and systematic racism that is plaguing our nation and world. We need to come together now and use our voice, platform, and actions to help create the kind of society that reflects our values. By its nature, wrestling can be the most inclusive sport on earth. Anyone can wrestle and everyone is welcome. When we hit the mat, we are all part of one wrestling family.