Caverna Independent Schools (CIS), will be hosting one of the school’s biggest annual fundraisers this Saturday, March 9th. Coach Steve Barker, CIS athletics director, spoke with WCLU to express his excitement for the event, as well as to impress upon the community how important fundraisers like this are to school districts.
The Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW) showcase will be held at the Caverna High School Gymnasium with proceeds from ticket sales going directly to the school’s athletics department. This event will mark the 24th year the school has put on the fundraiser, with wrestlers from the UCW coming to Horse Cave to the delight of students and faculty alike.
Barker explained that the UCW troupe of wrestlers travels across the area, holding shows like the upcoming expo. with wrestlers from diverse backgrounds, including a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) alumni, James Ellsworth where he contended with the likes of John Cena and Dean Ambrose. Another WWE veteran coming with the troupe is Scott Steiner, who also formerly worked with World Champion Wrestling (WCW) where he claimed the title of WCW triple crown champion, a prestigious title he shares with Wrestlers Sting, and Ric Flair.
While the school runs several fundraisers throughout the year, the UCW event gives the athletics department a large lump sum to use, rather than the smaller amounts over a longer period of time that most fundraisers give.
This is a huge benefit, as athletics with any school can be taxing on the schools and guardians’ wallets. Barker said, “This will fund athletic equipment, uniforms, balls, and transportation and other department needs, events like this help so much.”
As with many things, inflation and growing costs have been a detriment to the school’s ability to provide the quality tools students need to further be involved with departments such as athletics, sparking mounting pressure on department heads and administrators to be more creative when planning fundraisers.
Barker closed with his thoughts and hopes on how to grow the athletic department at CIS, a hope that can be made reality with the help of community partners and fundraisers like this, “We want as ‘The Caverna Family’, to win but the most important thing is we want these student athletes to become productive citizens after they graduate. Everyone wants to win but to see these players grow up and become successful is the ultimate win.”
The ticket prices vary, with ringside being the most expensive at $20 and go down to $13 for general admission the day of the event.
“Ring side tickets are almost sold out,” Barker said. “Due to our relatively small gymnasium the bleacher seats are still great…I expect we will be sold out.”
Tickets can be purchased at Caverna High School Saturday, March 9th or by contacting Caverna at 270-773-2828.
The early access “meet and greet” will begin at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. and hour before the matches begin.
