Thieves steal thousands of dollars worth of equipment from Selma youth wrestling club

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Young wrestlers and their families are dealing with a loss Sunday after thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment from a youth wrestling club in Selma.

The theft happened Saturday night at Selma High School, just hours before the wrestling club opened its doors for its biggest fundraising event of the year.

Those parents say computers and other equipment for this weekend's competition were locked and stored inside the gym that night, but when they opened the doors for the tournament all of the equipment was gone.

Day two of the Weekend Youth Wrestling Tournament at Selma High School took a turn for the worst after someone broke into the school's gym and stole nearly $10,000 worth of equipment used for 700 kids between the ages of five and 12.

Wrestler Robert Areyno said the news of what happened upset him.

"For someone to take that away from us, it just hurts," he said.

Selma Wrestling Club coach Ismael Quintana says the thieves took off with seven laptops, totaling nearly $3,000. He also said they swiped a printer and sound system valuing at more than $5,000. All of it was used for scorekeeping and announcing.

Now the loss in money will have to come out of the pockets of parents.

"This is a big tournament," Quintana said. "We depend on that to run smoothly, to make money. It's a main fundraiser as a wrestling organization."

Police say they believe the door may have been left unlocked since there was no sign of forced entry, but Quintana does not believe that is the case.

"I know the coordinator, and he will not leave anything to where people can just walk in and take it," he said.

However, parents are frustrated and left wondering who would take from children working to stay active and out of trouble.

"You're really hurting kids that are going to grow up with this memory in the minds," parent Robert Sepulveda said. "When you sit there and try to log on those computers, just remember that these were a bunch of kids you tried to steal from."