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Simaz coming home for Boudro Team Camp in St Ignace

BY JEFF CHANEY

4/21 - Cam Simaz is ready to move on to the next phase of his incredible

wrestling career.

He just finished his collegiate phase by winning the 197-pound national

championship for Cornell University last month at the NCAA Division I

Championships in St. Louis.

The four-time All American also won three state championship at Allegan

High School, so the resume is impressive.

Now he wants to pass along all the skills and knowledge that he picked up

along the way.

“I want to give back to the sport in general,” Simaz said. “I want to give to

Cornell first, but I also want to give back at home.”

Simaz's plan is to be a volunteer assistant coach at Cornell next season.

But before that, he is coming home this summer to take part as a clinician

at the Boudro Brothers Wrestling Camp in St. Ignace in June.

Simaz was also a clinician at the camp last year, and loves the intensity

of the training, the setting and the atmosphere for prospective campers looking to work on their craft in the offseason.

“I don't think it is any surprise if you want to succeed at the national level you need to do these camps in the summer, and Boudro's Camp is the epitome of that,” Simaz said. “He locates it in the Upper Peninsula, and there the kids can go and try working on their skills to improve. They can go up there and focus and eliminate the distractions. I think that's ideal, to get away from the family and home and focus on wrestling. And St. Ignace is a great place to do that.”

The camp is set up in a team format in two sessions, June 10-13 and 24-27, and will focus on intense technique sessions and strength and conditioning. There will also be dual meets run throughout the sessions, which takes place at Little Bear Arena.

The camp is in its third year, and has seen growth from 90 campers in year one to over 200 last year. And of the teams that took part last year, all are returning this year.

Teams already committed this year are: DeWitt, Allendale, Lowell, Grand Ledge, Owosso, Lansing Waverly, St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba, Peru (IN), Ben Davis (IN), Howell, Yale and Tecumseh.

There ares still spots available. Cost per wrestler is $225 and includes food, lodging and a camp T-shirt.

Allendale coach Duane Watson, whose team took part last year, loves the camp and the team format.

“The technique was excellent, the student to counselor ratio was great, and it couldn't be

much prettier than St. Ignace,” Watson said. “And the team building atmosphere is fantastic.

The kids get a chance to trust each other -- that whole bonding thing like a family, a team

camp is the only way to go for that.”

Aside from Simaz, other clinicians at the camp will be two-time Division III national

champion Bebeto Yewah, Olivet coach Brandon Brisette, David Cheza, Dan Osterman,

Anthony Jones, Rex Kendle, Greg Wagner, John Kargbo, Benjamin Boudro, Brian Boudro

and Evan Knight.

Camp director R.J. Boudro, who is an assistant coach at Lowell High School, is happy with

the growth and participation of the camp. He is expecting between 300 and 400 campers

this year.

“The team camp in St. Ignace has been a huge success,” R.J. Boudro said. “It has gained

interest every year since the first camp in 2010. The camp aims to give high school aged

wrestlers great technique, intense practices, live competition and opportunities to build team unity. It is also a great opportunity for a coaching staff to get together, I really take care of the coaches that attend the camp. St. Ignace is a great location, the facilities are amazing and the wrestlers and coaches always have something to do.”

Simaz is ready for June to get here.

“This is a relaxing time for me,” Simaz said. “I get to get home and spend some time with family. Going up to St. Ignace is almost a vacation for me. It's work, but not really work because it is fun for me to go up there and hang out and help some kids work on their skills.”

For more information on the camp, or to sign up to attend, go to www.boudrowrestling.com