Warren and Eisenhower will be competing in the 'Clash for Cancer' on Friday.

Dick Balas and the Warren wrestling program were looking to give back.

At Friday night’s match with Eisenhower, they will be doing just that.

In what’s being billed as the ‘Clash for Cancer,’ both the Dragons and the Knights have raised nearly $1,200 through t-shirt sales and will look to hit their goal of $1,500 with a concession sales and a 50-50 at the match.

All of the money will be donated to the Cancer Care Center of Warren in honor of Warren head coach Dean Johnson, who is battling prostate cancer.

“We didn’t tell coach Johnson right away,” noted Balas, who organized the event through his role with the Warren Wrestling Boosters. “We told him before the Oil City match and he was really excited.”

Balas, a recent cancer survivor himself who is in remission, felt a special calling to do the event.

A friend from Maplewood who works with Balas on the Area 8 Junior Wrestling board, Justin Motter, told him about the charity night they do for their match with Titusville each year, raising money for a family that may be going through a tough time. They pick an appropriate charity and make a donation, and Balas took that idea and has ran with it .

“We wanted to do prostate cancer on the back of the t-shirts to raise awareness,” Balas said. “Instill in the boys that it’s a real thing and can effect everyone.”

Of course, Eisenhower coach Kris Black and the Knights were only too happy to join in as well.

“I got a hold of coach Black and they were 100 percent on board,” Balas said.

There will be a presentation between the junior high and varsity matches by Terry Cook, Cancer Center manager. The money raised will help toward nurses training, gift cards for patients and things of that nature.

“We will also accept donations at the match and people who aren’t at the match can donate,” Balas said. “They can get a hold of me and I can tell them what they need to do.”

Balas said that if they can entourage just one person to go get checked, the fundraiser will have accomplished a lot. And all the boys on both teams are only to happy to honor and help coach Johnson.

“A lot of people, a lot of other families have had a parent, step-parent, grandparent, you name it effected by cancer,” Balas said. “Coach Johnson has had to fight for more than a year, going from Buffalo to Cleveland and finally to Warren where they figured out what they needed to do.”

For those unable to attend, Dan Albaugh and Red Childress will bring all the action on 104.3 FM in what should be exciting action on the mat. Both teams are peaking at the right time, and both always seem to bring out the best in each other.