The third annual “Wrestle for Autism” event by Pro Wrestling Odessey held the attention of a large crowd Saturday afternoon at Pico Canyon Elementary School in Stevenson Ranch.
Wrestle for Autism started around 10 years ago and has gone all over California to raise funds to benefit programs for neurodivergent individuals, according to Candi Calcote, one of the organizers for the event.
“When we brought it here, in addition to that, we also wanted to add in the vendor and resource fare, because as parents of a neurodivergent child, we found that others didn’t have the same information or resources,” she said. “It would seem very fragmented as far as who knew what, what was out there, what was available to help support either the families or the children or even people in general that were neurodiverse or had any sort of disability.”
Cole Calcote, or “Corvus,” as he goes by in the ring, had been wrestling professionally for almost 20 years, but then retired.
“And then we saw this opportunity to be like, I’ve been wanting to come out of retirement. I want to, and Santa Clarita as a whole is the perfect place for wrestling, because it can be family-oriented. It can be an all-ages show. And I think that’s what this community needs more than anything is more opportunities to come together,” Corvus said.
Corvus said that wrestling is the closest thing he has to a superpower.
With the wrestling matches happening in the middle of the room in front of a crowd of over 100, vendors surrounded it, like the Include Everyone Project, which is a nonprofit organization to help people who have a neurodivergent disability.
Kristen Debenedetto feels like this event is perfect because there are not many catered to the neurodivergent community.
“Just because our community really needs that support. There’s a lot of events out there that aren’t necessarily tailored for our community, and that’s welcoming to our community. So therefore, a lot of our kids don’t get to experience the same things that neurotypical kids would get to,” Debenedetto said.
IEP had a space or “chill zone,” for anyone who needed some peace and quiet from the chaos of the matches.
Margo Smith, owner of Margo’s Lather, had a booth at the event. She was selling homemade beef tallow soaps, bath bombs, sensory bath slime and crochet soap savers.
“A lot of kids have hypersensitivity in their skin. They might have eczema, and you want to use something that’s not going to aggravate it, you know, no ingredient is going to be a one cure-all, but you definitely are going to want to use something that is going to have a better effect, at least, or not encourage the irritation,” she said.
Smith said these soaps help people with neurodivergent issues because they are gentle to them.
It was Smith’s first time attending the event and she has an 8-year-old son, Leon, who is also on the spectrum.
“I also got to meet with other organizations that provide services for children with autism, such as the include all performance, the performing arts. I’m planning on getting my son in that now. And so, I just got to kind of collaborate with other organizations and find out more about what’s available in Santa Clarita for my child,” Smith said.
Candi said one of the main reasons for this event was to bring together the community and to have a fun time with each other.
“Everybody is here having a good time and, so I think that’s one of the reasons why it is probably the biggest one, is that you can sit side by side with whoever and still have a good time no matter what else is going on,” Candi said.
A wrestler whose stage name is Victor Ursus said he has done this event two years in a row and loves it because of the cause.
“It’s always great to be able to be able to work for a great cause, and Wrestle for Autism holds a special place in my heart. It’s my second year here, and it’s always great coming here and, you know, being able to do something like this,” Ursus said.
Ursus added that he has a stepson and his next-door neighbor he grew up with are on the spectrum, so it is very near and dear to his heart being at the event doing what he loves.
When asked what advice he had for people who take care of neurodivergent people, he said the most important thing is to have patience.
“If you are around somebody who has autism that’s on the spectrum, patience is a big thing. Everybody needs a little bit of patience, and I think, being mindful of that,” Ursus said.
Another wrestler, with the stage name Eliza Hammer, loves the performance of it all when it comes to wrestling.
“I love being able to perform in front of such an amazing crowd. You know, they were so excited to see our (Eliza Hammer and Nina’s) match, and that makes me so excited to see them,” she said.
Hammer said she thinks wrestling is a good middle ground for families because it’s an event for children and it’s an event for adults.
“I think wrestling is really in a very special intersection between something that adults, children, you know, grandparents, everyone, you know, can come together and enjoy as a whole family, you know, no one has to sacrifice their own enjoyment, their own afternoon,” Hammer said.
David Graham brought his family and loves that the event brings a sense of community because he feels most events do not bring all kinds of people like wrestling does.
Graham’s favorite part of the event was the over-the-top characters.
“Just, how over the top it is, the characters, like the good versus evil,” Graham said.
