Michael Mangrum is part of the Auburn wrestling community’s rich lineage.

And the 2008 Auburn Riverside graduate is determined to see that pipeline continue.

With that in mind, Mangrum set up a four-week camp at Auburn High School with morning and afternoon workouts for 10- to 17-year-olds. The camp started July 25 and continues through Aug. 19.

Mangrum said the idea to host a camp hit him after he earned his sociology degree in 2013 from Oregon State University and joined Orange Crush Wrestling, which is open to first- through 12th-grade students, as a volunteer assistant coach. Mangrum said he watched his supervisor host a series of camps and decided he would do the same once he learned the routine.

Enter Auburn.

While Mangrum, 27, lives in Corvallis, Ore., he said he was determined to return to the city where he had won three state championships for the Ravens.

“It’s my hometown,” he said. “I want to make sure the kids here have the opportunity I had.”

Even though Mangrum competed at a rival high school, he and Auburn coach Dennis Herren have remained in contact.

“All of the Auburn schools are really close-knit,” Mangrum said. “Everyone knows everyone and everybody works out with everybody.”

Herren said he is excited to have Mangrum coach local wrestlers.

“Michael teaches an elite level of controlling and dynamic wrestling skills to kids,” he said, noting that Mangrum’s father, Carl, also worked with young people. “His stuff is exciting. But even more important is his example. I believe it’s his gratitude that sets him apart. He has wisdom and a genuine desire to support other athletes to strive for their potential.”

One of those athletes is incoming Auburn freshman Jake Aplin, who is among the camp’s 20-25 participants.

“It’s very tough,” he said, referring to the workouts. “It’s just a lot of workouts and really tiring on your body. It gets you to push and not give up.”

Henry Garcia, who is entering his senior year at Auburn, said he has enjoyed learning from Mangrum, a four-time national qualifier with the Beavers.

“Feels great,” he said. “The technique is strong and tight, like a steel spring ready to explode.”

Mangrum acknowledged that the the camp lasts much longer than many, which often run up to a week. But he said that enables him to dedicate more time to different techniques instead of “rushing through everything.”

The 5-foot-4 Mangrum also wrestles against his campers to teach them techniques. Not that he is ever is too far away from the mat, though. He competes in the 134-pound weight class and was a world qualifier last season.

But Mangrum is not sure he will ever compete in the Olympics.

“That was the plan growing up,” he said. “But to be honest, I don’t know if I’m good enough. I’m never shy about being honest.”

It was almost a moot point. A few months after the 2012 London Games, the International Olympic Compete voted to drop wrestling as an Olympic sport beginning in 2020. But the sport’s governing body, which now is known as the UWW, launched a campaign that drew the support of the United States, Iran and Russia, and seven months later wrestling was reinstated as an Olympic sport, according to Sports Illustrated.

“I think what helped was when the Olympic committee was thinking about dropping wrestling,” Mangrum said. “There was a huge outcry and wrestling was in the spotlight again. I think that jump-started us.”

The University of Oregon dropped wrestling in 2007, which left Oregon State as the only Pac-12 program in the Northwest to offer it. But Mangrum, who noted that Fresno State recently added the sport said he believes it is gaining momentum again. And the popularity of girls wrestling grew to such a point that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association added a separate state tournament for females in 2007.

“I’m glad that they have women’s wrestling now,” said Mangrum, whose camp is open to boys and girls. “It’s becoming huge. Now girls can be a role model in something else. The girls never had that when I was growing up.”

Cascade Middle School’s Willa Herren is among the camp attendees.

“He treats us the same as the guys,” she said.

For more information, visit Mangrum Series Wrestling on Facebook or email mangrumcamps@yahoo.com.