08/19/2026
I want to take a moment to talk about the event we had on Sunday, August 16 - Battle For The Brave - Reborn.
Overall, the event was a huge success and well attended, especially considering it was our first event in over 7 years…
I am very thankful to be the Executive Director of Wrestling For Warriors, where I get the honor of being the representative for Chase’s legacy. I am truly blessed to carry this torch and it reminds me just how important this organization is, whenever we can help a child smile.
But the thing that often gets overlooked is how many people play a role in the success of our events and that it takes a village to make it work.
This is going to be a long post, but I hope after reading it, you have a general idea of how many moving parts are involved in these events.
From a personal level, I need to thank the following people -
First and foremost, God. Without his strength, I would have fallen apart after losing Chase. He has not only kept me full of hope, faith and strength, He has continued to open doors for us to do amazing things along the way. And I rest easy each night knowing that Chase is sitting at His feet watching over our family.
Secondly, my beautiful wife Megan, who has put up with me for over 21 years of marriage. She has always been my rock and my shoulder to lean on through everything our family has endured. It was a very emotional weekend for the family, since this was the first (and hopefully last) Wrestling For Warriors event that they were unable to attend due to living in Florida. I love you more than words can describe and appreciate your unwavering support and love!
Thirdly, our sons, Hayden and Carson, I know that missing this event was not easy on you guys either and I hope that this is the only time this plays out this way. You guys are growing into some amazing young men, and I am sure your brother would be proud of both of you! We love you both so much!
Steve and Linda Holt, my parents, who have been to each event and typically work near the front entrance. They are always so willing to jump in and help the event be a success in honor of their grandson. Love you both!
Doug and Cassondra Geller - My brother-in-law and my sister. Doug and Sis are at each even and always willing to help however they can. My sister is the Secretary for Wrestling For Warriors and the first one to keep me on task. During event days, I am usually pulled in about 6 different directions at once, but she has a way of redirecting me and helping me to prioritize things. Love you both!
Jared Ramseyer - Director of Marketing for Wrestling For Warriors. Jared is always the first to volunteer to assist with projects. From doing the Community Organization of the Game at the Fort Wayne Tin Caps games, to seeking out volunteers to assist with activities, Jared is an asset to our organization, and we appreciate everything he does!
To my In-Laws, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Nieces and Nephews who consistently show up to support Wrestling For Warriors and Chase’s Legacy, Thank You and we love you all!
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Moving onto the companies that have shown support, in one way or another, towards Wrestling For Warriors and our mission. Without any of these sponsors / supporters, none of this would be possible.
Midwest Premiere Wrestling - our co-promoter for this event. Rob Davidson, the owner, and his team were great to work with and very committed to the cause. Rob also was the orchestrator of the Comic-Con on Saturday. If you see another Comic-Con run by Rob or an MPW show near you, be sure to check them out! Great group of people.
Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana - This is the selected beneficiary for this event. Make-A-Wish holds a very special place in my family’s heart because they went above and beyond with granting Chase’s wish trip. After his passing, I was able to become part of the local chapter and assist with other wish trips. I would recommend helping this great organization however you can, whether its volunteering your time, orchestrating fund raisers or simply making financial donations, it all helps to grant wishes faster and better than ever. It is our honor to play a small role in raising capital for this very deserving organization.
PSM Icehouse for the AMAZING venue and the staff that went way above and beyond to make us feel at home, including Kaleigh Schrock, Andrew Clifford, Rachel Scully, Joe Kotarba and the rest of the team. Dust off your skates and go catch a stick & puck or a public skate or sign up for a hockey league. It is great exercise and often starts some great friendships!
Force.Tech for the professional grade audio, lighting, video, camera and streaming equipment, including top notch techs to run it all including, Sam Delagrange, Kaleb Dienelt, Austin Hulsizer and Victoria Lackey. Huge thanks to the local point of contact and Director of Production, Nate Uptgraft; the Chief Executive Officer, Jennie Fager; and the Chief Operating Officer AJ Fager for your generosity and willingness to support this cause!
IATSE Local 146 - which is the labor union responsible for providing labor for most concerts and events within the Fort Wayne geographical area. Not only did nearly 30 of the IATSE members and referents come out to donate their own personal labor for the cause, but the Local also donated donuts and coffee for the crew! There is no way that this event would have happened without all these amazing people being willing to help a cause bigger than any of us! Those people include; President Brian Gore, Vice-President Larry Walter, Business Agent Joel Van Camp, Mike Barile, Byron Becker, Mike Davis, Craig Hathaway, Angie Davis, Thomas Konger, Nick Bowman, Aaron Zimmerman, Alejandro Diaz, Anthony Biddle, Kate Hile, Benjamin Clay, Jim Brita, Christina Gouveia, Jody Saylor, Michael Nelson, Isiah Grey, Maggie Panyard, Sam Van Camp, Maggie Dye, Brent Johnson, Ashley Hurst and Ben Penrose.
Buckeye Power Sales - The supplier of the 60kw generator that powered the entire event. You know it’s a big production when we must bring in additional power to make it happen! Buckeye Power Sales stepped up to meet this need and we are very thankful! Huge shoutout to Ryan Giesting, Power & Construction Rental and Sale Representative for being so amazing to work with. Remember, if it generates watts, powers your business, backs up your facility, requires power-gen expertise, whacks weeds, moves dirt, pushes snow or hauls debris –They’ve got it, they service it, and they know it better than anyone else.
Lutheran Children’s Hospital - This is where we have gone before every event we have done to meet with the Warriors who are unable to make it out to the show. This is legitimately the biggest highlight of the day for everyone in attendance. Nothing is more heartwarming than to see these brave Warriors and to see them smile, when they are facing uncertain circumstances. Joy Lohse, Director of Community Relations and Strategic Events; and Kelli Tuttle, Director of Women’s and Children’s Services, were both amazing and super easy to work with! I feel like we have a forever partner with Lutheran Children’s Hospital and we are very grateful to be able to play a part in some very memorable experiences.
Surack Family Foundation - Chuck and Lisa Surack have long been supporters of Wrestling For Warriors and our mission. These are two of the nicest, most generous people that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and we sincerely appreciate the support you have shown for every one of our events! We look forward to working together again in the future and cannot thank you enough!
Fort Wayne Metals - A long-time supporter of Wrestling For Warriors and our cause. They have always been some of the first people to show support towards our mission and we are very thankful for this relationship. Fort Wayne Metals is a staple of the community, and we consider them to be part of the Wrestling For Warriors family!
Benicomp - Another long-time supporter of Wrestling For Warriors and our cause. Benicomp is a leader in Innovative Health Solutions for Forward-Thinking Employers. We sincerely appreciate the long-standing support from Mr. Doug Short and his whole team and we look forward to working together again in the future!
Curtain Jerker Designs - Derek Sharp is a super talented graphics designer and very passionate about Wrestling. His skills are clearly top-notch, because many wrestling feds call on Derek to handle their graphic design work. We appreciate all the hard work you did for this event and making it a success!
SWAK Moments - Angell French is a very talented photographer with a passion for wrestling and a huge heart for our cause. Her photos from the event and the hospital visit will be posted within the next couple days. Thank you, Angell, for joining us for this amazing event and look forward to working together again in the future!
WAR Wrestling - Thomas Williams, owner of WAR Wrestling, has been to a couple Wrestling For Warriors events in past years. He understands our mission and is a very philanthropic person as well. When we needed chairs and tables for this event, Tom didn’t bat an eye and graciously donated the seats and tables for this event. It is great when multiple wrestling feds work together for a purpose greater than any of us. We sincerely appreciate Tom and the whole WAR Wrestling staff! If you see a WAR Wrestling event on the calendar, be sure to grab tickets and go support some great indie wrestling!
Journal Gazette - Josh Patterson, reporter. Josh wrote a very nice, heartfelt article about Wrestling For Warriors and why we do the things we do. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to chat with me about this and allowing me to share the story of Wrestling For Warriors.
WPTA 21 Alive and WANE 15 - These are two of the biggest broadcast companies in Fort Wayne area. They are both well known for being on the scene to bring you breaking news. On Sunday, both organizations were present to cover our event. Many thanks for taking the time to come out and interview us so that more people can learn about our organization and the cause behind it all.
Federated Media, Dan Austin at K105 and Boomer at 97.3 WMEE - Everyone in the Fort Wayne market knows these stations and these amazing radio personalities, so no introduction is needed. These two gentlemen were very quick to jump onboard, helping to promote the event and offer comp tickets to some winners within the community. We sincerely appreciate you doing this for us and our mission!
Kohls - Employees from the local Kohls stores sign up to volunteer their time to assist Wrestling For Warriors in any way they can. Typically, we ask the Kohls staff to help with merchandise or ticket sales/check-ins. They are a true blessing to our events, and their help is always appreciated more than words can describe!
Scott Johnson and Mara Wilson - The boots on the ground in Fort Wayne. Scott and Mara stepped up in ways that I could never have imagined. At their own expense, they printed fliers, hung them all over town, lined up ticket giveaways with the radio stations, drove to Lima Ohio to get the chairs, loaded them and brought them back… all while refusing to take compensation for doing so. They have hearts of gold and are true blessings for this organization.
Bruiser Jr – Thank you for giving us an opportunity to come out to your event Saturday the 15th and speak about Wrestling For Warriors and the things we do. We sincerely appreciate it when other promotions work together with us for a greater cause! Thank you!
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Now, to the talent that performed on Sunday, starting with -
Jerry Love, aka Jerrdog, was our ring announcer for this event. While Jerrdog has a long history of being a radio DJ and emcee, this was his first time ring announcing. Not only did he do a great job, but he also didn’t let the pressure of doing it live, on PPV, get to him. He rose up like the true professional he is and I am certain he will be back in this role in the future.
Joe Dombrowski, our play-by-play and color commentator. Joe has been THE voice of Wrestling For Warriors since our first event 10 years ago. Joe has one of the most impressive resumes I have ever read. He has voiced thousands of matches for a very elite list of wrestling federations. We are truly blessed and honored to have Joe on commentary for our events and will always have an open seat for him at the table.
Sidney Akeem, MPW Heavyweight Champion;
Jack Vaughn, NWA United States Tag Team Champion;
Dalton McKenzie, NWA United States Tag Team Champion;
Pinky Montoya, former WWE;
Matt Cross, NEW Wrestling For Warriors Children’s Champion;
Mr. International, Jake Omen;
Lord Mitchell Taylor with the Aristobrat;
Dan, The Dad;
Elijah Eros;
Mr. Fitness, Slim Trimmons;
Zumba Zach;
Donovan Cecil;
Brian Gorta;
Marco Modelo
Disco Ray;
Paris McQueen;
Alex Rase;
Michael Draven;
and Jake Bailey
This card was one of the most solid cards in 2026 indie pro-wrestling and its thanks to this list of people and the skill that they possess at their craft. Thank you to each of you for being a part of this and for making this event a success!
And our referees --
Peachy Rodriguez;
Josh Patterson;
Mike Mascola;
and Ref Lou.
The matches can't happen without you guys in there keeping the "law and order". Thank you!
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The fans - from those in attendance, to those watching at home; Thank You for your continued support. Some of you may be wrestling fans and some of you may be fans of the Wrestling For Warriors mission, but at the end of the day, regardless of what brought you to this event, you came. You showed up to support the mission, the wrestlers, and most importantly, the Warriors we serve, and we sincerely thank you for that!
Which brings me to…
The Warriors - you guys are the reason we do these events. From the bottom of our hearts, we Thank You, because each one of you and the strength you show when you fight against the conditions you face, is truly inspirational. It is our honor to help in any way we can. To see you get lost in the storylines, to see you cheer on your favorite wrestler, to see you smile and forget about the medical conditions for a few hours, is a true blessing for each person listed above. Never stop fighting, never stop believing and never stop being a Warrior!
And last but certainly not least, Thank you to our son, Chase Holt. As you all know, Wrestling For Warriors was Chase’s vision. Without him wanting to help others in need, none of this would exist. His bravery, courage, selflessness and giving spirit are the embodiment of Wrestling For Warriors and our mission.
If I inadvertently missed anyone, please accept my most sincere apologies. As you can see, there is a very long list of people, and I have spent most of the last two days compiling this list the best I could remember.
In the next day or two, we will have the final tally for Make-A-Wish.
