Five wrestlers coached by former BHS standout Varner to compete in World Championships this weekend
Sep. 15—Bakersfield High graduate Jake Varner is certainly no stranger to international competition, especially since he won a gold medal in wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics.
But this weekend Varner's involvement on the mat will come on the sidelines, watching five of his wrestlers compete in the 2023 UWW World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Varner has spent the past year as the head coach for the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club/Olympic Training Center, which has given him a chance to work with half of the 10 participants at the World Championships.
The list of entrants in the men's freestyle competition includes Olympic and World Champions Kyle Snyder and David Taylor, along with Nick Lee, Zain Retherford and Kyle Dakewill.
The men's freestyle competition runs Saturday through Tuesday. The women's freestyle competition goes from Monday through Thursday, with the Greco-Roman competition running Thursday through Sunday.
