The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1487679
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 ■ 45 proved that. Wrestling at both 165 and 174 pounds, he won a pair of individual conference titles. However, what Kawa remembered most was the three ACC team championships he helped NC State win. He was also a rare four-time NCAA qualifier. "I wish I knew what I know now," Kawa admitted. "I should have been an All-American at minimum, and NCAA champ was the goal. I fell short of that. I wish I'd done more, but since then I've spent a lifetime training the next gener- ation of athletes to achieve excellence." A Wrestling Lifer While at NC State, Kawa was ap- proached about running a camp in At- lanta. He was told they would pay him 100 percent of the money earned. When 45 wrestlers paid $100 to participate, he took home $4,500. Kawa wondered if he could turn that one camp into a year-round experience. He made the decision to try to jumpstart wrestling in his home state with a wres- tling training academy. "I was a broke 23-year-old kid that self-funded this thing," he said. "I fi- nanced a computer and bartered a mat for a year membership. I just hustled it. I had no direction or leadership. "It just was brute force that I was go- ing to do this, and I just learned every aspect of business from selling to ac- counting to marketing to events to cus- tomer service." Kawa developed his gym into one of the most successful in the country, producing 24 national champions and getting more than 125 Georgia wrestlers into college programs. About a year into running the gym, Kawa noticed that the swag the wrestlers were wearing "wasn't up to the stan- dard." That realization led to Takedown Sportswear (www.takedownshop.com, @takedownshop on Instagram). The growing company now has about 100 employees, and Kawa's goal is "to be- come the next global apparel brand." "When you look back, we started from scratch with no money, no re- sources," Kawa remembered. "I think the pivot for us was in 2019, just before COVID. The company transformed the factory here to one of the biggest fac- tories in the country for apparel. We're built for success." Kawa's company launched an athlei- sure collection online this year and is shipping internationally. He said he's eager to fill a void in the market with high-quality apparel. "We're rooted in wrestling," he said. "We have a strong following in combat sports, but we also sell to all sports." Kawa still returns to NC State for a couple of dual meets each year and fol- lows the team closely online. As both a fan and a businessman, Kawa has be- come a wrestling lifer. "I started at 7 and never stopped," he joked. "I'm 42, and I may be as neck deep in the wrestling business as any- body walking." ■ DUSTIN KAWA WRESTLING (1999-04) Age: 42 Living: Atlanta Occupation: Owner, Takedown Sportswear Did You Know? When TheOpenMat.com did an All-2000s team for NC State wrestling in 2018, Kawa was the lone member from the early 2000s and one of just two wrestlers from before Pat Popolizio's hiring in April 2012 to make the list. Kawa got his start as an entrepreneur by opening a training academy in Georgia for wrestlers. He has since launched an apparel company called Takedown Sportswear that employs about 100 people. PHOTO COURTESY DUSTIN KAWA