Travis Clark’s schedule since the start of the school year can easily be summed up in a few phrases.
A lot of frequent flyer miles, a lot of substitutes needed for his Math class at Euless Trinity High School and a lot of grappling.
The boys and girls wrestling coach at the school in H-E-B ISD just wrapped up his personal competition season in December and the next day, he was coaching the Lady Trojans at the Texas Women’s Classic.
It has been a whirlwind of fall and winter for the Hall of Fame wrestling coach.
“I’ve got real supportive administration, especially when I went to Kazakhstan; they were real supportive,” Clark said. “At the homecoming parade, everyone kept stopping me because the school was sending out updates of what I was doing and that was right after my world championship. I couldn’t ask for a better school district or administration as far as supporting my goals as I’m trying to help these kids chase theirs.”
He went to Las Vegas for the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt Gi World Champions from Aug 29-31. He went 2-1 and came up short in a quest for the blackbelt title.
Another trip to Vegas followed on Sept. 21, competing for the Marine Corps team for the Desert Duals, a military fundraiser at the UFC Apex.
“That was a blast going against the other veterans and fighting at the Apex was something else,” said Clark, about the venue where the TV Show The Ultimate Fighter is filmed.
He then represented Team USA in the United World Wrestling finals in Astana, Kazakhstan from Oct. 7-12.
He took first place in both the veteran-level Gi and NoGi tournaments. He took third in the Senior Level NoGi Tournament. It was four days of competition, also competing in the Senior Level Gi Tournament.
Of the more than 2,000 grapplers, he was one of five to compete all four days.
Clark went to Kazakhstan in 2017 and came home with two veteran titles and third place in the senior-level division.
He took a break from competition to take 18 wrestlers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals in Des Moines in late October.
From November 1-3, he took part in the PanAm IBJJF No-Gi Championship in Fort Worth, taking home a championship there as well. The next weekend, he was in Washington, D.C., for the Veteran Success Resource Group Tournament — a military fundraiser. The Marines team he was on was second, coming in behind the Army team.
“When I do these events and I meet these guys; just hearing their stories and stuff, it’s inspiring,” Clark said. “Cause only other veterans can really understand what someone went through. Just the fact that we found each other through grappling through jiujitsu … that’s huge. So not only do I get to meet great outstanding people but I know it’s going to be something good. I wanna get more involved in the military and the grappling side of things.”
Most recently, he won the World title in Master NoGi Blackbelt at the World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship in Las Vegas on Dec. 12. He flew back that night and was in Lewisville for the Texas Women’s Classic that Friday and Saturday.
“I’m glad I had all these sponsors because without them I’ve never done this many competitions in one year,” Clark said. “I mean, 2024 is probably the busiest I’ve been in probably 10 years or more.
“At the end of the day, I’m showing them (my students and wrestlers) that, you know, it’s possible. You know you gotta go out there, you gotta work, you gotta grind, you can’t make excuses. If you want something, you’re just gonna work for it. I talk a lot about opportunities. I do this wrestling and grappling and a lot of doors have been opened; a lot of opportunities. I teach my kids that you’re either gonna take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you, or you’re gonna let them pass you by. Through the opportunities, I’ve met some great people and I’ve seen some great places.”
Clark praised the work of assistant coaches Passion Hollins and Brandon Chapin in keeping the ship going on the high school front as he was competing. When the team held its intrasquad scrimmage before the season, the two young assistant coaches ran the event.
Hollins wrestled for Clark at Euless, while Chapin was a wrestler at Arlington High under Hall of Fame coach Henry Harmony.
In terms of big events, Clark got a little bit of a break after getting back from Vegas earlier this month, but next month is right around the corner.
That means the annual Trojan Classic that will be held Jan. 9-11. The first day will be JV only and then varsity will wrestle at the B.J. Murray Activity Center. Wrestling mats will cover the turf indoor football field competition going from one end zone to the other. Clark said this event is shaping up to be the biggest yet with 85 teams coming from five states.
