Freestyle Wrestling Star Julia Salata Returns To King University

The children always come back home.

At least as parents we hope so.

It is the dream of virtually every parent. The warm memories that follow while the family creates and shares in new experiences is the essence of life.

United States star freestyle wrestler Julia Salata has returned home to King University as the Women’s Wrestling’s Program’s Assistant Coach.

On September 16, 2016 the King University Sports Information reported, “Former Tornado women’s wrestler has returned to her Alma Matter as head wrestling Coach Jason Moorman announced the hire of Julia Salata earlier this week. Salata had an outstanding career wearing the scarlet and navy and returns to help lead the Tornado as a coach.

In her four years as a wrestler at King, Salata was a four-time Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) All-American, winning two national championships. The Canton, Michigan native finished fourth her freshman season at the WCWA National Championships before taking runner-up as a sophomore.”

That is incredibly impressive.

Ms. Salata achieved phenomenal success in her final two years competing for King going undefeated and winning national titles in both her junior and senior seasons.

fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com articles, Julia Salata Facebook photo credit

Perhaps even more outstanding was Julia’s contributions in helping the Tornado win the first two of their three straight National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals championships.

Under the highly effective leadership of head Coach Jason Moorman, Julia’s contributions are paying off.

“Behind every great athlete is a masterful coach that inspires the athlete to evolve into the strongest performer they can become.”…Cathy Engelbert

In the 2017-18 season, the King Tornado posted a dual record of 13-2, and finished fifth at the NWCA National Duals. King also came in with a sixth place finish at the WCWA National Championships and had seven All-Americans, including one national champion.

Her accomplishments of International legend. Here are some of them:

2014: Third in Pan American Championships.

Second in U.S. World Team Trials.

Third in U.S. Open.

Third in Grand Prix of Paris.

2013: Second in Austrian Ladies Open… Sixth in U.S. Open… Third in Pan American Championships… Second in Klippan Lady Open.

2012: Fifth in University World Championships… Second in U.S. World Team Wrestle-Off… Fifth in U.S. Open.

2011: Second in New York AC International Open.

It seems 2011 was a special year.

As related at content.themat.com they smile regarding another award for Julia. “Each week, TheMat.com will select an Athlete of the Week, based upon performance within wrestling for that week. The selection committee will consider any level of wrestling, from youth programs through the Senior level.

Michigan’s Salata won a highly competitive Junior 159-pound division in dominating fashion at the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle Nationals on Saturday at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Okla.”

In her four years as a wrestler at King University, Ms. Salata was a four-time Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) All-American, winning two national championships. The Canton, Michigan native finished fourth in her freshman season at the WCWA National Championships before taking runner-up as a sophomore.

Away from the grind of the wrestling mats Julia interned for USA Wrestling, and later graduated from a pair of wrestling coaching courses, the NWCA Women’s Leadership Academy and the United World Wrestling Level 1 International Coaching Course.

She has also been involved in wrestling in many different ways, including providing commentary and articles for Flowrestling on high school national championships and the U.S. Open.

In an interview with soundcloud.com it’s clear that Julia loves all things wrestling and admits to being a complete wrestling junkie or a nerd as she describes it.

Due to the success of the NFL, we’ve heard much about their Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio but what about Julia’s hometown of Canton, Michigan?

Canton, officially the Charter Township of Canton, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located about 8 miles west of the city limits of Detroit and 8 miles east of the city limits of Ann Arbor.

As of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 90,173.

Canton is Michigan’s second largest township.

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This unique township has a very tradition rich history.

The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought many settlers from New England.

The risk taking settlers seeking a better life were met by heavy forests and many animals, including; bears, wolves, lynx and foxes.

Laying the foundation for what would become imitated in one American community after another, these early settlers engaged in self-sustaining farming. Farm-produced food and products provided the family with sustaining food and extra goods which could be sold or bartered for goods, services or cash.

The typical Canton farm family owned six or eight milk cows, hogs for marketing, chickens for eggs / meat and a few sheep.

Here are some statistics that really stands out.

Canton is ranked as 96th highest-income place in the United States with a population of 50,000 or more. Canton Township is also consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the United States, as well as in the state of Michigan. In 2015, the township was ranked as the 29th safest city in the U.S.

Perhaps as a result of that, Canton is one of Michigan’s fastest growing communities.

Even the name has special significance. Maybe you’ve already guess that.

At the informative site canton-mi.org they share, “On March 7, 1834 Canton became a Michigan township. Canton, like Nankin and Peking townships, was named after a city in China. Washington D.C. had decreed that names for new townships could not use an existing name. As a result of the nation’s fascination with China a number of townships adopted Chinese provinces and city names. Canton is the only remaining community with its original Chinese name.”

Julia is a fascinating young woman from a very fascinating community.

Now she has a bright future at arguably one of the most fascinating and successful women’s wrestling program in the world.

If there was ever a collegiate women’s wrestling program that a champion female freestyle wrestler would want to be a part of, it is with the Tornados. King is probably the most enduring and consistent dominant program in the WCWA.

They have produced some of the greatest grapplers in WCWA history including Haley Augello, Sarah Hildebrandt, and Alli Ragan.

2019 saw King University have another stellar year. As reported at kingtornado.com, “The King University women’s wrestling team finished fifth at the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) National Championships. The Tornado had eight All-Americans, led by a runner-up finish from Nicole Joseph.

It’s interesting how life can come full circle.

Julia is from a community with a wealth of history and prosperity. Now by assisting at King University, a women’s wrestling program that already possessed a wealth of WCWA titles, victories and top female wrestling athletes, it appears the rich have just gotten richer.