One Last Fight for the Kids
Cory Dayton, nicknamed “Hard”, who once made it as far as a WWE tryout, says his last wrestling bout will be Saturday night, as part of the Headlock on Hunger benefit, now in its third local edition. He says every ticket purchased will provide 15 meals for kids without adequate food in the Truckee Meadows.
The soon to be 37-year-old (next month) says he hopes to continue to put on this event, but that as far as his own fighting is concerned, “my body is telling me it’s time.”
Other well-known local wrestlers taking part include the notorious Reno Scum, Ryan McQueen, Chocolate Papi and El Chupacabra.
Dayton, who has two kids of his own, said five years ago there was a time he was unable to feed them, and that after being helped by others, he wants to keep “paying it forward” now that he can.
A screengrab of a video from last year’s edition which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyJ0PjAolZE
Putting it in Your Face
“It’s hard to see in your own community,” Dayton said in a recent phone interview with Our Town Reno about child malnutrition and inadequate access to food. “We want to put it in your face,” he said.
According to recent statistics, over 16 million American kids struggle with hunger each year and lack nutritious food on a regular basis. This means about one in five children go hungry at some point during the year. In Washoe County, over 25-thousand kids are estimated to be what’s called food insecure. “In a classroom of 20 kids, that’s four kids,” said Dayton, smacking the point home.