Not everybody can respond to all the donation requests from prep sports teams. But not everybody can put together a pro wrestling fundraiser instead.
That’s exactly what Mathew Plant, who promotes the New Frontier Wrestling Alliance through his company Power Plant Productions, has done for the Kenai Central wrestling team.
Plant said he wasn’t able to donate to the Kardinals, but still wanted to do something to support wrestling.
“I used to wrestle when I was a kid, and I believe in the basic things that wrestling teaches young people,” said Plant, who has lived in Kenai for seven years. “The lesson I learned from amateur wrestling is that you have to work hard if you want victory.
“It teaches you how to win and how to handle loss.”
The New Frontier Wrestling Alliance started in November 2013.
“A lot of these guys — people don’t know how athletic they are,” Plant said. “They’ve actually been training every weekend in the last year to get this down.”
The NFWA does shows in Wasilla every couple of weeks, and also has done two shows in Homer. One was for the Mariners wrestling team, while the other was to raise money for a $500 scholarship for a high school senior going into trades.
This will be the first NFWA show in Kenai.
“Pro wrestling isn’t mainstream up here,” Plant said. “We’re building an audience from scratch. But we went to Homer once and got a good reaction. When we went back to Homer, we drew more people.”
NFWA heavyweight champ Calvin James will defend his title in the main event against AK Lightning. Plant said there will be four or five other matches.
“It’s a family event,” Plant said. “I don’t want people to be afraid to bring their kids.”
The doors to the Kenai Central gym open at 6 p.m. Saturday, while the show starts at 7 p.m.
The cost is $10, with tickets available at the door. Plant said the wrestlers make some money, but the majority of funds go to the wrestling squad.
