Interviews October 12, 2026 · 6 min read
From 8 to 98: How War of the Roses Built a Girls Wrestling Movement
An interview with Jason DeLois on Brent Harvey’s legacy, Harvey’s Hammer, and why women’s wrestling is the best bet in sports.
By MAT GRRRLS
In 2017, the tournament that would become War of the Roses Midwest Nationals took the mat with eight teams. This year, 98 teams showed up — making it one of the fastest-growing girls wrestling events in the country.
Behind the competition, the custom-made Harvey’s Hammer, and thousands of dollars in awards and scholarships is Jason DeLois, carrying forward a vision started by the late Brent Harvey around 2009. MAT GRRRLS sat down with Jason to talk about where the tournament came from, what it took to keep it alive, and what it means to create opportunities one match at a time.
MAT GRRRLS
War of the Roses has become a major girls wrestling event, but it started much smaller. Where did the idea originally come from?
Jason DeLois
The tournament was originally founded by Brent Harvey out of Michigan around 2009.
Brent traveled all over the country looking for opportunities for girls to wrestle. Back then, you could travel a long way to a tournament and sometimes find only 20 or 30 girls there.
He was often doing that on his own dime because he simply wanted to provide those opportunities. His two daughters were wrestling at the time, so they traveled with him and experienced a lot of that firsthand.
That’s why I consider Brent our founder. What we do today really traces back to what he started.
MAT GRRRLS
One of the signature awards at War of the Roses is Harvey’s Hammer. What is the story behind that?
Jason
Harvey’s Hammer is our highest tournament award, and it’s named after Brent.
Any time I saw Brent at a national tournament, he would be watching some girl wrestle and say, “Man, did you see that girl? She was a hammer.”
That was just something he always said.
So when we created an award in his honor, Harvey’s Hammer was the natural name.
Each one is custom-made. For the last several years, my longtime friend Brian Presnell with Indy Urban Hardwoods and I have gotten together, thrown ideas around, and created a new version.
This year’s was bigger than ever.
The high school All-Star wrestler who earns it is determined by the most pins in the least amount of time, and she also receives $500.
This year was also the first time we gave away two Harvey’s Hammers—one in the K–8 All-Star division and one in the high school All-Star division.
MAT GRRRLS
Brent’s legacy is obviously about much more than the trophy. What happened as the two of you were preparing to host your first tournament together?
Jason
That’s the difficult part of the story.
Our first tournament together was going to be at New Palestine High School, where I was coaching at the time.
Shortly before the tournament, Brent was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.
I was devastated. I couldn’t sleep for several days. I ended up making a tribute video for him because I needed some way to process it.
What happened next is something I’ll never forget.
Brent’s team still decided to come to the tournament.
The tournament was actually happening on the day of his funeral, so they arrived about two hours late. When they got there, we retired Brent’s shoes in the middle of the mat.
It was an incredibly emotional moment.
From that point forward, we knew we were going to continue holding this tournament in his memory.
Over the years, it evolved from USA Girls Pre-Season Nationals, to USA Girls Midwest Nationals, and eventually into what is now War of the Roses Midwest Nationals.
It has grown tremendously, but Brent’s influence is still part of it.
MAT GRRRLS
You’ve said that through all of those years, the tournament has never been canceled. That became especially difficult during COVID. What happened that year?
Jason
COVID was probably the closest we ever came.
Nobody was wrestling. The Chicago area had basically been without wrestling for months, and events were getting shut down everywhere.
About a week before our tournament, another girls event in the area was shut down, and we had teams begin dropping out. I think we lost five teams.
My partner and I still decided we were going to find a way to hold the tournament.
We eventually moved it to a Ho-Chunk Nation venue in the Chicago area, where the jurisdictional situation was different from the surrounding area.
Then, about five or ten minutes after the tournament started, the Board of Health came in.
They told us, essentially, “Make sure everyone has their masks on.”
So that’s what we did. We made sure everyone had their masks on.
But even before that, about three days before the tournament, I received a call from Governor Pritzker telling me we couldn’t wrestle in Illinois.
At first, I honestly thought someone was playing a joke on me.
I remember saying something along the lines of, “Sir, we’re three days away. If you had called me a month ago, maybe this would be a different conversation.”
So, yes, I was sweating bullets through that entire tournament.
It didn’t really feel real until it was finally over and I was driving away from the venue.
There was a rainbow over the building.
That was the moment I finally felt like, Okay. We actually made it through this.
I joke that this tournament has almost killed me before. But the truth is, I care about it that much. There are very few places I would rather be.
MAT GRRRLS
The tournament has grown beyond matches and trophies. You’re now giving away cash awards and scholarships as well. Why has that become such an important part of the mission?
Jason
We’ve been able to create a lot of opportunities over the years.
This was our 12th Harvey’s Hammer, and we’ve given thousands of dollars away through those awards.
This year alone, we gave away $4,000.
That included two Golden Rose Awards, worth $1,000 each, with recipients selected through the tournament’s nomination and committee process.
And we want to keep building on that.
Our goal is eventually to become the number-one scholarship-giving girls wrestling tournament in the country—maybe even the world.
Giving back is fundamental to what we’re trying to do.
Our motto really sums it up:
“Creating opportunities one match at a time.”
MAT GRRRLS
You’ve been involved long enough to see girls wrestling change dramatically. What does the growth of the sport look like from your perspective?
Jason
I couldn’t be more excited.
You could see growth happening over the last ten years, but over the last five it really accelerated.
And over the last two or three years, it has exploded.
The numbers at our own tournament show it.
Our first tournament in 2017 had eight teams.
Last year, we had 54 teams.
This year, we had 98 teams.
“Eight to 98. That tells you what is happening. If there’s one thing you want to bet on, bet on women’s wrestling.”
Jason
Every year, it continues to grow.
MAT GRRRLS
That growth is a big reason Mat GRRRLS exists. From our perspective, it feels like we’re trying to support the same movement from different directions.
Jason
Absolutely. And thank you for doing it.
Anything that creates more opportunities and brings more attention to these girls helps move the sport forward.
MAT GRRRLS
After everything you’ve seen and everything War of the Roses has become, what message would you leave with the wrestlers and families involved in the sport?
Jason
Love God. Love your family.
Do the right thing no matter what.
No matter what, do the right thing.
And have fun doing it.
More Than a Tournament
What began as one man traveling around the country looking for places where his daughters and other girls could wrestle has grown into an event drawing nearly 100 teams.
Along the way, War of the Roses has become something larger than a wrestling tournament.
It carries Brent Harvey’s legacy through Harvey’s Hammer. It provides scholarships and cash awards. It brings together wrestlers from across the country. And, perhaps most importantly, it continues creating opportunities for girls to compete.
For Mat GRRRLS, that mission feels familiar.
Our own public introduction as a brand happened at War of the Roses, surrounded by the athletes, families, coaches, and organizers who are helping build what girls wrestling becomes next.
Jason’s phrase may belong to War of the Roses, but it captures something we believe in too:
“Create opportunities one match at a time.”
