The wrestling tradition is firmly established in the Green River Valley.

With the Auburn and Auburn Riverside high schools programs entrenched as steady powerhouses, grapplers on Lea Hill, especially those bound for Auburn Mountainview High School, sometimes can feel a little lost.

“Sure, we’re Auburn,” said Adam France, coach of the Auburn Mountainview and 3D Wrestling Club programs. “But the kids have a different affiliation with Auburn than the kids do down the hill.”

France and 3D, however look to change that.

Since Auburn’s newest high school opened in 2005, France has run a club program with a dual purpose – providing an opportunity for kids to learn and compete at wrestling and build a mat tradition for future Lions to follow.

“We want to have an atmosphere where kids from Lea Hill are excited about wrestling and going to Auburn Mountainview,” France said. “But we also want to make sure it’s open to everybody.

“Our name used to just be Auburn Mountainview, but we changed it so it wouldn’t get confused with the high school program. We wanted more people to feel open to coming,” France said.

A parent suggested a name for the year-round club – 3D for discipline, dedication and determination.

The name stuck.

The USA Wrestling-sanctioned program, which features freestyle and Greco-Roman instruction, is open to wrestlers 5 and older, boy or girl, without any geographic boundaries. France and assistants Jerry Bowles, Rick Buell, Chad Perry and Darrell King comprise the staff.

The club meets 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at Auburn Mountainview High School.

Although open to all, France said the 3D club is geared toward wrestlers with some mat experience.

“We don’t do a ton of beginner stuff here,” he said. “Most of them have had some club or freestyle wrestling. … Mainly it’s the more experienced kids who want to supplement their training.”

Club wrestlers compete in local tournaments, beginning in February and stretching to May. After that, wrestlers step up to state, club and youth tournaments.

“I’ll go to whatever ones we have kids going to,” he said. “There are some for the younger kids, some for the high school kids. And there are some Greco-Roman tourneys.”

The club itself is free all interested wrestlers need to do is obtain a USA Wrestling card – available at www.themat.com – to compete.

“That allows them to go to all the tournaments,” France said. “The tourneys also have a fee, but they need the card to enter.”

The club carries a core of 20-30 wrestlers, including Lakeview Elementary’s Cameron Foust, 11, a second-year grappler who finds the club challenging.

“Wrestling is rough and tough, but it’s worth it,” he said.

France hopes the club will help develop good wrestlers and build a solid program on the hill for years to come.

“I don’t want it to seem like it’s just for Auburn Mountainview kids, but it’s going to be good for the program,” France said. “The one problem we do have is that we lack depth to our tradition. Auburn High School has been doing it for so long. We don’t really have that. It just takes time to instill that feeling in the kids that this is their school.”

For more information, visit www.eteamz.com/3Dwrestlingclub