MEET THE COACHES
Brandon Waltrip - President
Brandon Waltrip is in his fifth season as Director and President of the Board for the Williamsburg Wrestling Club. Coach Waltrip has over 15 years coaching experience as a high school, youth, and freestyle club coach. Coach Waltrip coached at Glencliff High School in Nashville, TN after college and there created a local club for off-season training for youth and high school athletes. He has also served as an assistant at Jamestown and Warhill High Schools. Coach Waltrip is most passionate about creating opportunities for local athletes to compete year around and developing athletes to compete on the national and NCAA levels.
Coach Waltrip is a native to Williamsburg, Virginia and attended both Lafayette and Jamestown High School. He was a USA Wrestling Freestyle and Greco-Roman state champion, Commonwealth Games Champion, and a high school national qualifier. He was a state qualifier all four years of high school and competed in national tournaments throughout his high school career. After high school he went on to wrestle on the Division-1 level at Virginia Military Institute.
Coach Waltrip is the managing partner at Waltrip & Campbell, PC, a local law firm. His degrees include a Bachelors Degree in both Biology and Chemistry from the Virginia Military Institute (2003), and a Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law (2010). He lives in Williamsburg with his family.
Ron Kavanaugh - Head Coach
Ron Kavanaugh is in his fourth season of coaching with the Williamsburg Wrestling Club. He joined the Club in 2019 with 11 years experience as Head Varsity Coach at Peninsula Catholic High School. With three young boys of his own, he recognized a need in the Williamsburg community for more experienced and more committed coaches in youth wrestling. Along with the other coaches, Coach Kavanaugh is dedicated to developing the Williamsburg Wrestling Club into THE premier youth wrestling program in the area.
During his tenure as Head Coach at Peninsula Catholic (2009-2020), Kavanaugh developed 41 State Medalists, 3 VIS state Champions, 11 state Finalists, 23 TCIS Conference Champions, and qualified 23 wrestlers for the National Prep wrestling championships at Lehigh university. Five of those wrestlers went on to compete at the NCAA level.
Coach Kavanaugh brought Peninsula Catholic their first TCIS Conference Championship in 2015 and went further to bring the school four, D2 Team state championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Coach Kavanaugh was awarded the VIS 2015 State Wrestling Coach of the Year honor and is a 4-time TCIS Coach of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.
A standout wrestler in his own right, Kavanaugh totaled a 126-19 record at Silver Creek Central School in NY (1996-99). He was a member of the school’s only two District Championship teams and as sophomore in 1997, he finished runner up at the NYS state section 6 qualifying championship at 103lbs. He went on to win back to back Class A Championships in 1998-99 at 125lbs and 135lbs respectively, as well as becoming a multiple time sectional place winner. He went on to Phoenix State University where he wrestled one season before entering the United States Air Force.
Coach Kavanaugh currently holds the rank of Master Sergeant in the Virginia Air National Guard and serves as the First Sergeant for the 203d RED HORSE squadron. He is an Averett University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership. Kavanaugh resides in Williamsburg and is supported by his wife Julie and their four children Kayla, Brandon, Bradley and Bryson. Brandon and Bradley wrestle for Williamsburg Wrestling Club.
Timothy Pope - Assistant Head Coach
Tim Pope is in his fifth year coaching at Williamsburg Wrestling Club. His son and him joined the club in 2017 when he first started volunteering and helping out the club. He wanted to help make sure Williamsburg Wrestling Club had everything it needed to make it a successful youth wrestling club for the area. Coach Pope knows how important it is to have a strong youth wrestling program to help develop and increase the success rate of local athletes at the next level. He also served as an assistant coach at Warhill High School.
Coach Pope grew up wrestling both folkstyle and some freestyle in the Virginia Beach area for the Cox Wrestling Club (now known as the Great Neck Wrestling Club). He wrestled as the starter all three years at Great Neck Middle School and wrestled his freshman year at Cox High School. His family moved to Williamsburg, VA his sophomore year where he wrestled for Jamestown High School. He wrestled varsity all three years at Jamestown High School, was the team captain both his Junior & Senior year, and was a VA state qualifier his senior year.
Coach Pope graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Nuclear Engineering. He is employed as a Senior Nuclear Engineer for the Department of Defense & Department of the Navy. Coach Pope is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a focus in machine design. He lives in Williamsburg with his wife Kara and their two children Ethan and Emma, both wrestle for Williamsburg Wrestling Club.
Todd Strumke - Coach
Coach Strumke grew up in New York and first began wrestling in the second grade. Following high school he joined the Marine Corps and continued to pursue his passion for the sport. Over the years Coach Strumke has worked as a wrestling referee and a high school assistant coach. He has been a coach with WWC for three years when his sons first started wrestling. He recently retired from the federal government and he and his wife have four children all of whom are currently on the wrestling team. His children range from middle school to kindergarten age.
John Slokovitz - Coach
John Slokovtiz is entering his third year as a coach for Williamsburg Wrestling Club. He is looking forward to helping the WWC build a strong foundation with young talent and looks forward to helping the clubs youth progress. His sons LJ and C are also team members.
John is a Former Section 11 wrester from Sachem HS in Long Island, NY. John was 3rd in the 1997 Suffolk League 1 tournament and a 1997 Section 11, Sectional Qualifier. John Went on the wrestle Division 3 for Muhlenberg College in Allen Town Pa where he was a 4-year letter winner for the Mules under coach Tom Schleicher, former ACC Champion.
Tom Lohr - Coach
Tom Lohr is entering his second year as a coach along with his son Jameson, who is a second year wrestler for Williamsburg Wrestling Club. He is looking forward to helping the WWC build a strong foundation with young talent and looks looks forward to helping the clubs youth progress in the future.
Tom began wrestling folk style in the 7th grade for Camden boys modified wrestling in upstate New York. From 98-2002 Tom continued wrestling through JV until earning his spot on the varsity lineup as a sophomore. Through his 4 years of High School, Tom posted an overall record of 113-22. Tom notched 5 tournament wins as well as placed 3rd in Class in 2000, 2001, and 2002. In addition to wrestling for high school he also wrestled for the Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club (2000-2002) where he posted an overall record of 63-11. He wrestled both Greco and Freestyle and he won an additional 4 tournaments within the United States and Canada.
Tom has been married to his wife, Brooke, for 16 years and has two children, Paityn and Jameson. He served in the United States Air Force where he worked as an Avionics flight line maintainer for the F-15E. Tom currently works as a Federal Officer for the Bureau of Prisons.
Dave Mohajerin - Coach
David Mohajerin is in his first year coaching at Williamsburg Wrestling Club. He joined the club with his twins, Jasmine and Jaxon in 2021. He has been involved with youth wrestling since he started coaching in the mid 1990’s during his time living in Oklahoma. He has a deep love for the sport and takes pride in helping develop the right mindset and approach to wrestling.
Coach Mohajerin grew up in New Jersey where he was a multiyear varsity standout wrestler for a state sectional championship team along with being an individual regional qualifier. His oldest son Zachary, wrestled for Coach Kavanagh at Peninsula Catholic where he was a TCIS champion, multi time Virginia state placer and national prep qualifier.
Coach Mohajerin is a USAF veteran who has been a member of the Hampton Roads community since 2003. After his service in the Air Force, David worked as a program manager in specialized aviation traveling the world before shifting to a Real Estate career. He is an integral part of the area Realtor leadership team serving on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors.
David is a graduate of Park University with a BS in Human Resources Management. He lives in Hampton and is supported by his wife Cristina and 4 children, Rebecca, Zachary, Jasmine and Jaxon.
