Takedown Report

New Jersey’s first girls’ wrestling season begins this week, and interest at one school has exploded

Abby Vance took an odd path to an unusual place: She went from the football field to the wrestling mat.  A senior at Kingsway Regional High School, Vance played in the Powder Puff football game, an annual non-tackle battle between girls in the junior and senior classes, and starred as a linebacker racing from sideline to sideline for the 12th-grade squad.  “The coach saw how athletic and aggressive I was, and he was like, ‘You totally should come out for wrestling,’ ” Vance said.

The 17-year-old signed up for the sport on a whim, took the mat for the first time earlier this month, and now is part of a remarkable wave of interest in girls’ wrestling at the school in Woolwich Township, Gloucester County.  
Vance is one of around 40 girls at Kingsway who have gone out for the sport, which will be sponsored by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for the first time this season.    New Jersey is the first Mid-Atlantic state to offer girls’ wrestling and one of just 14 states in the nation to sponsor the sport. The other states are Texas, California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, and Maine.  Supporters of all-girls’ wrestling teams in Pennsylvania said they hope their state follows New Jersey with high school-sanctioned girls’ teams next year. Joe Stabilito, the boys’ wrestling coach at Upper Dublin High School and an officer at USA Wrestling, the national governing body for freestyle wrestling, said he has spent the last six years laying the groundwork for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to include girls on its roster of sports. He said he has several girls on his boys’ team this season.

“It’s a process that has lots of aspects to it,” Stabilito said of PIAA inclusion. “But there is no doubt that there has been an increase in interest. Girls’ wrestling is the fastest-growing sport.”  PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi said that about 180 girls are members of boys’ wrestling teams, and that number has stayed about the same for the last three years.  “We’re still in the infancy of this situation,” Lombardi said. “If interest grows, we’d certainly evaluate it and take a closer look at it.”

The wrestling season in New Jersey begins Friday. The state’s governing organization for high school sports will hold a girls-only regional tournament Feb. 17 at Red Bank Regional High School, with the top six qualifiers in each weight class advancing to the state championships March 1-2 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.  NJSIAA assistant director Bill Bruno, who oversees wrestling, said there has been a surprising surge in interest around the state in female participation in the sport. But Bruno said Kingsway is the state’s hotbed for girls’ wrestling.  Rest of the story at http://www2.philly.com/high-school-sports/new-jersey/girls-wrestling-new-jersey-high-school-kingsway-20181212.html?mc_cid=a96abd6d61&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

December 13, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Live Stream Schedule for NCAA Division I Wrestling: Dec. 14th – Dec. 20th

19 NCAA Wrestling duals featuring Division I teams are live streaming on the internet this week. Where can you watch? There are many outlets scattered around the web that will provide college wrestling this weekend, some free, some for a fee. Here is the list of all NCAA Division I wrestling events we’ve found steams for starting Friday, December 14th through Thursday, December 20th, 2018. If you spot any other DI streams, let us know by sending an email to support@theopenmat.com. Enjoy!

All start times are eastern. Dual rankings are used for duals, tournament rankings are used for tournaments. 

Friday, December 14:
#12 Arizona State at #1 Penn State, 6:00 PM  ESPN2

Saturday, December 15:
Cleveland State, Edinboro, Kent State, Maryland at Cleveland State Open, hosted by Cleveland State, 9:00 AM

#10 Nebraska at #11 North Carolina, 6:30 PM  ACC/WatchESPN

West Virginia at #16 Pittsburgh, 7:00 PM   ACC/WatchESPN

Sunday, December 16:
#20 Lock Haven at Bloomsburg, 1:00 PM  Bloomsburg/CBS Sports Digital

Buffalo at #7 Missouri, 1:00 PM   MUTigers.com

#10 Nebraska at #5 North Carolina State, 1:00 PM  ACC/WatchESPN

Rider at #14 Rutgers, 1:00 PM   BTN2Go

Bucknell at #16 Pittsburgh, 2:00 PM     ACC/WatchESPN

Oklahoma at Appalachian State, 3:00 PM  AppVision

#13 Cornell at #18 Northern Iowa, 3:00 PM  FloWrestling

#2 Oklahoma State at Northern Colorado, 4:00 PM  PlutoTV

South Dakota State at Oregon State, 4:00 PM  Pac-12.com

Ohio at #19 Iowa State, 7:00 PM  Cyclones.TV

Rest of the story at https://news.theopenmat.com/college-wrestling-news/live-stream-schedule-for-ncaa-division-i-wrestling-dec-14th-dec-20th/70875?fbclid=IwAR0HZTCo7lNGETjlxxVs6srtwmFqac3UUYlV2GY_R3LGR_Ukbgfz4FNSuRM

December 13, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2018-2019 NAIA Women’s Coaches’ Top 20 Poll (No. 2)

Top 25 Highlights

• Menlo claims six of the top-ranked wrestlers in the most recent poll: AlleidaMartinez (109 pounds), Gracie Figueroa (116 pounds), Solin Piearcy (136 pounds), Angela Peralta (143 pounds), Iman Kzem (155 pounds) and Precious Bell (170 pounds).
• Wayland Baptist has two top-ranked wrestlers in Ovieonce Ray (101 pounds) and Paige Baynes (191 pounds).
• Rounding out the top five were No. 3 Southern Oregon, No. 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) and No. 5 Life (Ga.).
• Entering the poll was Missouri Baptist at No. 11.
• This is the first year for women’s wrestling as an NAIA invitational sport. Twenty-five NAIA institutions field wrestling teams during the 2018-2019 season. Women’s wrestling will be eligible for championship status after two years of competition as an invitational sport and 40 institutions sponsor a varsity women’s wrestling team.

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the four conferences and groupings.
• Two days prior to the national poll, each qualifying group rater submits the top six individuals from each weight class in his conference into the system. Only wrestlers listed on a conference ballot are considered for the national ballot.
• The top 20 individuals in each weight class are based on how each voter ranks the best individuals. An individual receives 20 points for each first-place vote, 19 for second place and so on through the list. This same point system is used to determine the team ranking.
• For the complete Top 20 calendar, click here.

2018-2019 NAIA Women’s Wrestling Coaches Top 20 Poll – No. 2

Rest of the story and individual rankings at http://www.nwcaonline.com/2018-2019-naia-womens-wrestling-coaches-top-20-poll-no-2/?mc_cid=a96abd6d61&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

December 13, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Coach Pat Popolizio focusing on upcoming dual with Nebraska – NCS33

Episode 33 of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast talks with NC State head wrestling coach Pat Popolizio about the duals with Old Dominion and Appalachian State as well as the preparation and a surprise in store as the Pack welcomes Nebraska
Show Segments
1:30 – First semester wrapping up
3:20 – Talking redshirts
4:25 – ODU quick and dirty recap
5:50 – Normal routine on the road
8:30 – App State quick and dirty recap
12:00 – #Pack Reynolds against Nebraska. There will be a surprise

Rest of the story at http://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/pack-mentality/coach-pat-popolizio-focusing-on-upcoming-dual-with-nebraska-ncs33/?mc_cid=a96abd6d61&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

December 13, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment