Origins

Originally started by Coach Dresser in 1998, the club was designed to be a “travel club” for wrestling. The first of its kind in the NRV before travel soccer, baseball, volleyball, etc. Designed to provide opportunities for wrestling outside of the NRV and developed into a travel club that traveled regionally and nationally in search of high quality wrestling in order to develop high quality wrestlers. Coach Dresser also wanted to make this travel club affordable for all to participate and Bingo was started as the main fundraiser allowing fees to be half the cost of other travel clubs.

Mission

The Virginia Elite wrestling club was developed to promote the sport of Wrestling. It is our mission and goal to develop young men and women of character through wrestling, sportsmanship, and hard work. The primary purpose of our club is to acquaint all the athletes with the rules and fundamentals of wrestling and to support them in becoming CHAMPIONS on and off the mat.

VA Elite Club Coaches

Our coaches work with wrestlers at the youth, middle school, and high school level.

Coaches

Coach Tim Miles is a Christiansburg, Virginia native and has been involved with the VA Elite program for 20 years. He was a 2X state champion and a multiple time USA Wrestling All-American for coaches Kevin Dresser and Daryl Weber. Tim was a member of 10 state championship teams at Christiansburg High School, 6 of those serving as an assistant under coach Daryl Weber.

Ty Walz is currently an Olympic Hopeful athlete that trains full time at the SERTC which is based out of Virginia Tech, his alma mater.

For the Hokies, Walz was a 3X Div. 1 All-American as well as part of a trophy winning team in 2016. Along the way he was also an ACC Champion, U23 World Bronze Medalist, and a multiple time US Men’s National Team Member. His time with the Hokies also included two years on staff as a Volunteer Assistant Coach.

Coach Walz has frequented VA Elite with clinics throughout his wrestling career but officially joined the coaching staff in Summer of 2022.

His wealth of wrestling knowledge along with the practicality of his college coaching experience provides our club with a unique advantage to nearly any club in the area.

Ty is originally from Cleveland, Ohio where he attended perennial wrestling powerhouse St. Edwards High-school. He and his wife Deej live right around the corner from VA Elite in Christiansburg.

Cody Hughes originally from Maine moved to Virginia in 2015 to wrestle for Virginia Tech. While in High School Cody was a 4X state champ, 4X NHSCA All-American and won Sophomore Nationals. Cody started for Virginia Tech his Senior year and qualified for the NCAA Division 1 tournament. Cody graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management in 2020. In the spring of 2022, he joined the VA Elite staff.

VA Elite is the hotbed of wrestling in southwest Virginia with the SERTC and Virginia Tech in the backyard. Walz, Green, Miller, Zavatsky, and Latona are just a few of the many past/present - SERTC & Hokies who share their knowledge in the VA Elite Wrestling Room.

We pride ourselves with our incredible staff, weight room, mat room, and wrestling resources; making VA Elite the premier place to work towards your goals and accomplish all of your wrestling endeavors.

Board

Each position is a 2 year term beginning July 1 of the year elected.

Board & Committees

President
- Vince Manieri
Treasurer
- Rob Mann
Board Members
- Tim Henderson
- Amanda Pociask
- Kiah Ferrell
- Taylor Chrisman
- Lori Mefford