Mission of Mercy: College Wrestlers Serve Underprivileged Wrestling Club in Philippines

Joye Levendusky (left) and Mason Gray (right) at the Cebu Wrestling Club in the Philippines.

CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES – What began as a summer adventure to a faraway land became a mission of mercy to a community of young wrestlers in the Philippines.

McKendree wrestlers Mason Gray and Joye Levendusky—now at Southern Oregon University—planned a trip to the Philippines in the summer of 2022 to stay with Gray’s grandfather who lives in the Filipino province of Cebu in Southeast Asia.

“We didn’t want to just go and have a vacation,” said Levendusky, a 2x national finalist and 4x All-American with the Bearcats. “My faith in God has taught me to look for ways to love others, so I reached out to [one-time teammate] Alex Glaude who I knew has family in the Philippines and I asked her if there was any way we could serve the wrestling community while we were there.” Glaude told her about a small wrestling club in Cebu City, which happened to be right on the doorstep of where they would be staying.

It’s the only wrestling club in the whole city of over a million people.

Gray and Levendusky contacted Bernard Chavez, the head coach of the Cebu Wrestling Club, and asked him how they could help. He was thrilled to hear they’d be coming and welcomed them to visit the club when they arrived in June. Chavez, a teacher at the school where the club trains, shared the need they had for wrestling shoes, shirts, and singlets, but when they asked if they needed headgear, he answered, “No, we’re all set there.”

“OK, so everyone has their own headgear?” Levendusky asked him. Chavez explained how they had two pairs and would share them when they wrestled.

Retelling the story, Levendusky chuckled. “So they needed headgear.”

They also needed real wrestling mats, as all they had was a 10 x 10 mat made up of big blue puzzle pieces they would fit together every practice.

“We decided to start a Go Fund Me,” said Gray, a Junior College All-American before he came to McKendree. “I thought we might raise a few hundred dollars, but it just kept climbing. Eventually we raised $3155. That was enough to order a mat from China.”

The response on social media was enthusiastic, generous, and enormous. Wrestling friends and clubs donated shoes, singlets, tees…and headgear. In fact, when it was over, they filled two large boxes and shipped them over with their luggage. Gray and Levendusky also worked with a graphic designer to create a logo for the club to put on the new mats.

Some of the top donors were The Flex Effect, Best Wrestling Academy (Jerry Best), and the Wolf Family.

THE JOURNEY
Arriving in Cebu City, the first thing they did was bring the gear to the wrestling club. Coach Chavez and the kids welcomed them. “The kids were so happy,” said Gray, “and when we handed out the gear, they were so excited.”

Coach Bernard Chavez and some of the kids at the Cebu Wrestling Club in the Philippines.

“Yeah, and they were immediately like, ‘Let’s wrestle!’” recalled Levendusky.

They went to the wrestling room and got to work. The young athletes—boys and girls—were sponges as the two All-Americans showed them some technique, including lateral drops. Soon things got wild, as, despite the thin mats and small area they covered, some of the Filipino kids showed no restraint in launching each other onto the floor.

“We had to tell them to be careful and that the goal was to make each other better, not hurt each other,” laughed Levendusky.

Gray and Levendusky were inspired and moved by the dedication of the kids, and Coach Chavez.

“Just so you know what kind of a man this is,” explained Levendusky, “the principal’s position was open at the school that would have doubled his income, but he would have to give up the wrestling club. He decided not to pursue the job so he could keep working with the kids. He also receives no income from the club. He just serves these kids.”

GIRLS WRESTLING: NORMAL
One of the things Levendusky also noticed was how normal it was in the Philippines for girls to wrestle.

“Since competitive wrestling is a young sport in that country,” explained Levendusky, “they skipped the ‘girls don’t wrestle’ chapter that we have been up against for so long in America. It was refreshing to see boys and girls training with no stigma attached to it.”

A few of the girls with their new gear provided by Gray & Levendusky’s efforts.

The Cebu club was a mix of boys and girls, all with equal passion and dreams for their future in the sport. Gray and Levendusky went to the club several times during their days in the Philippines to teach technique and encourage the kids.

A NEW VISION
After seeing what they could do, with a little effort, to help develop wrestling in an underprivileged country, Gray decided to launch a not-for-profit called The Gugel Foundation. Their mission would be to raise funds for wrestling programs in developing countries.

Why the name “Gugel”?

“I thought, ‘Now who has treated me like I want to treat these kids?’” explained Gray. “And only one name came to mind—Dee Gugel.”

Dee Gugel is a coach from western New York that was a formative part of Gray’s career and worked with him for years.

“He was always so generous with his time and resources,” Gray remembers, “never asking for anything. That’s what we want to do with this foundation.”

The organization is still in its formative stages, but donations can be made on their new GoFundMe page for future projects. Stay tuned for the link on their Facebook page. One immediate need, tells Gray, is that the new mats for the Cebu club are finished and have been shipped, but are being held up in the port of the Philippines due to a $1500 import charge.

Gray will serve as a grad assistant in the Southern Oregon program this year and Levendusky will join the SOU roster as she begins pursuing her master’s degree in business.

Joye Levendusky teaching some freestyle turns with Cebu Wrestling Club kids.