East Peoria River Bandits Wrestling Club

07/18/2026

Congratulations to Anastasia on this amazing achievement! 4th place at FARGO wresting in the girls 16u bracket as a 14yr old! We look forward to watching you continue to grow and achieve your goals.

06/16/2026

Good luck to East Peoria River Bandit, Anastasia Crum, as she represents Team Illinois at the USA Wrestling Women's National Duals! We know you'll compete with heart, grit and pride. We are so proud of you!

06/10/2026

It's a little strange seeing Coach Mallory in anything other than an Ep Raiders or RBWC singlet, but we're excited to watch her compete with the Queen Bees on the mat! We can't wait to see her compete in Flordia! Good luck, Mallory- we're all cheering for you!

06/07/2026

We were blessed to be the club that got to kick off Faith and Wrestling’s summer filled with clinics. We want to wish safe travels as he teaches these athletes more than just wrestling!

This weekend marks the start of the 2026 Faith & Wrestling Summer Tour. It’s been 10 years now, and if I’m being honest, I’m not certain I’ll be blessed with another 10 years of doing this. But I am incredibly grateful for what this has become. What started out small grew into something far beyond anything I could have imagined. While I accomplished some great things as a young wrestler, my wrestling journey did not culminate with the accolades of so many others who travel the country running wrestling clinics. Instead, much of my own story was left with a question mark of what could have been. Those who know me understand that I recognize how fortunate I am with this annual wrestling venture. I don’t deserve it. And yet, those who have hosted a Faith & Wrestling clinic know that I am able to do something that connects deeply with young wrestlers (which is probably why so many of you have brought me back - two, three, four, sometimes five times to work with your athletes). I live a life filled with humility and gratitude. Sometimes God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

06/07/2026

Thank you to everyone that came out for our very first camp! We hope all of the kids had fun and learned a few new things.

Hope you all have a safe and fun summer break! Keep an eye on our page as well as we will post the sign up dates and information in the groups for this winter. 🤼🤼‍♀️❤️🖤

05/25/2026

03/17/2026

Congratulations to our state placers 2026!!!

Anastasia Crum- Girls Senior 240- 1st Place
Adalynn Clarke- Girls Novice 125- 6th place
CeCe VanOppen- Girls Senior 125- 6th place

These girls fought through the trenches to get there! We are so incredibly proud of you all!

03/14/2026

We are headed in for day two! Way to go to all the wrestlers that are moving on today and way to fight hard to all the wrestlers that came up a little short. Let’s go River Bandits.

03/13/2026

Today our River Bandits step onto the mat at the State Tournament.

This sport isn’t easy.
It never has been.

It’s early mornings, sore bodies, and pushing through days when quitting would have been easier. It’s discipline, sacrifice, and the courage to stand alone on a mat with the whole room watching.

Wrestling strips everything away.
There are no excuses.
No hiding.
Just heart.

These kids didn’t get here by accident. They earned it with sweat, grit, and a refusal to give up when things got hard.

Today when they step on that mat, they carry every practice, every tough match, every lesson learned along the way.

And no matter what that scoreboard says — they’ve already proven something bigger.

They are tough.
They are fearless.
They are River Bandits.

Now go take the mat and leave everything you’ve got out there.