Two ‘Rise Up’ To Be Wrestling Superstars
Posted by flairwhoooooo on February 10, 2020
Photo credit to Gary A. Jones of Springfield, IL
Zach Overton makes his entrance in PWA’s January 25th event in Springfield.
JACKSONVILLE – Zach Overton was a wrestling fan his whole life, but thought he couldn’t do it because he was ‘too small’. “I saw guys like the Young Bucks, Shawn Michaels, and others tearing it up and wanted to go.”
The Routt graduate planned to begin training between semesters at college, but received a diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of cancer. Overton battled the disease for four years before radiation treatment permitted him to start training in 2018. “Even if it meant not being around very long I had to wrestle in some capacity.”
Overton catches his opponent with a big boot.
Overton contacted Pinfall Wrestling Association who housed its training facility in Auburn, but it had just closed. Given the suggestion to seek training in St. Louis, he chose Race Wrestling Academy in Troy, MO. “Harley Race is 100% the reason choosing the academy I did. I had a chance to meet and get to know Harley during the last year of his life.”
Antioch native Julia Applegren was inspired to become a wrestler as it had everything she ever wanted in one career. “Fitness, modeling, acting, bodybuilding, public speaking, I love dressing up as a character and having a platform to inspire people to love performance being who they want to be judgement free.”
After training for three years in the Chicago area, she had her first match at Evolve. Applegren’s nervous excitement and adrenaline was nothing she had ever experienced before. “Being the center of attention is something you have to own and feel confident doing which are some things I processed in the aftermath.”
Julia, who competes as “Jay Raves”, will have her 20th career match challenging for the women’s title in her PWA debut against “Harley”.
KC Jackson (Overton’s upcoming opponent) hits Bryan Ealey with a flying clothesline.
Zach reached out to PWA again to join the organization after they reopened Pinfall Academy inside the old Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield. Competing as “ZC Hendricks”, he will face KC Jackson, a 15 year veteran from Decatur. He is “most excited” to have his fifth official match in his hometown, in which the event “means more to me than anything else I’ve ever done in my life.”
The Pinfall Wrestling Association event “Rise Up” will be held at Bogarts Banquet Hall on Saturday, February 15th at 2142 East State Street. The main event will feature regional heavyweight champion Jimmy Karryt defending against The Great Cardini plus four other matches. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with bell time at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance via http://tiny.cc/pwatix $12 at the door, with kids ages five and under free. More information on the PWA can be found at http://fb.com/pwaspringfield
And The St. Louis Wrestling Community at http://stlwrestling.livejournal.com
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