Bo Nickal wins 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy
By Bryan Van Kley, WIN Magazine Publisher
NEWTON, Iowa — Penn State’s Bo Nickal has won the 2019 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS.
The Nittany Lion won his third NCAA championship on March 23, defeating Kollin Moore of Ohio State. The 5-1 finals victory at 197 pounds was Nickal’s 30th of an undefeated senior campaign that included 18 pins, three tech falls and six major decisions. In a year that featured four outstanding finalists for the award, known as “wrestling’s Heisman Trophy,” Nickal won the honor over a senior teammate Jason Nolf, also a three-time NCAA champ who had very similar stats as Nickal. The other two Hodge finalists were Rutgers’ senior Anthony Ashnault and Cornell sophomore two-time champ Yianni Diakomihalis, who won NCAA championships at 149 and 141 pounds, respectively. “It’s something I’ve wanted since I was in high school and I first found out about the award,” Nickal said. “I’ve tried to go out and do what the Hodge symbolizes, going for the pin and scoring as many points as I can.
“It’s a validation for my hard work. I tried to make the most out of every second on the mat.” The Allen, Texas, native did just that this year, dominating opponents in college wrestling’s second heaviest class. Nickal finished with a 68-match winning streak and a reputation as a wrestler who could pin an opponent from any position. His most memorable fall came against 2016 champ Myles Martin of Ohio State at the 2018 NCAAs. With 30 seconds left in the first period of the 184-pound final, Nickal dramatically flipped Martin over and pinned him with an elevator series shortly after the Buckeye put Nickal on his back. The pin sealed the team title for the Lions over Ohio State in Cleveland last March. Of the 51 total ballots, Nickal finished with 37 first-place votes from the Hodge Trophy Voting Committee. Nolf was second in Hodge voting with 10 votes from the committee made up of each past Hodge winner, national media, retired college coaches from each region and a representative of each national wrestling organization. Rest of the story at https://www.win-magazine.com/2019/04/bo-nickal-wins-2019-dan-hodge-trophy/?mc_cid=d3221c4d42&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
USA wins Greco-Roman team title with nine medals at #WrestleBuenosAires
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Great to see some good news of wrestling success that is not in North Carolina but a little ‘south of the border’ so to speak in Argentina, South America. Our congratulations to them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Greco-Roman competition of the 2019 Pan American Championships wrapped up on Friday with USA winning the team title after collecting nine medals. The USA picked up medals in all three weight classes on Friday night with a gold from Cheney HAIGHT, silver form Kamal BEY and bronze from Patrick MARTINEZ. Haight won his third Pan Am title, besting the competition at 82 kg. In the finals, Haight won a 3-1 bout against 2018 Pan Am bronze medalist Carlos ESPINOZA CASTRO (PER).
Cuba and Venezuela picked up the other gold medals. Yosvanys PENA FLORES (CUB) outlasted 2017 Junior World champion Bey in a 3-1 war at 77 kg to earn Cuba its fourth gold medal of the tournament. At 87 kg, Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN) became only the seventh Greco wrestler in Venezuela’s history to win a Pan Am title, defeating Antonio DURAN ROBLES (CUB) in the finals. Duran scored the first two points, but Avendano put up six unanswered points, two of which came from a caution and two when Duran committed a defensive leg foul in par terre. Shortly after, Duran was penalized for another defensive leg foul, which resulted in a disqualification for the Cuban and a win for Avendano. The Venezuelan led 8-2 at the time of the DQ. Rest of the story at
https://unitedworldwrestling.org/article/usa-wins-greco-roman-team-title-nine-medals-wrestlebuenosaires?fbclid=IwAR1Q-OK-IxcAOASDMNXk0YIfbMnaSGdAX1LaCjeTggL5-ntZvsFgm5yg7Yg
Cael Sanderson Reveals The Secret To Wrestling’s Dynasty: Creamery Ice Cream
TDR Editor’s Notes ; The secret is out! While one should note the date of this article we can attest to the quality of the Penn State Creamery Ice Cream. Had heard of how good it is and we made a visit about ten years ago which coincidentally was the day after the announcement of Cael Sanderson being hired as the new coach at Penn State and as we all know the ice cream has been very good for the successful Coach Sanderson.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By Anthony Fiset 4/1/19 4:08 am
Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson sat down for an exclusive interview with Onward State following his team’s historic eighth national championship in nine years to discuss the basics of dynasty building. He walked us through his unorthodox methods, which have brought him great success in Happy Valley.
“Ice cream,” Sanderson said flatly. “It’s the f*&^%$# ice cream.” It might have been the very last thing anyone expected Sanderson to credit for his success at Penn State, but it was the answer I got. Forget high level recruiting, the outstanding coaching staff, the pure existence of Jason Nolf — it’s the ice cream. It all starts in the offseason. Sanderson feeds his wrestlers ice cream from the Berkey Creamery by the half-gallon to help them bulk up as a part of the team’s intense strength building program. The calcium-rich ice cream also gives Penn State’s wrestlers superior bone strength heading into the season. Rest of the story at https://onwardstate.com/2019/04/01/cael-sanderson-reveals-the-secret-to-wrestlings-dynasty-creamery-ice-cream-april-fools/?mc_cid=d3221c4d42&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Lindenwood University-Belleville names Karwath Head Men’s and Women’s Coach
We are pleased to announce that Graham Karwath has been named the Head Men’s and Women’s Wrestling Coach at Lindenwood University – Belleville. Karwath served as an assistant during the 2018-19 season and helped the men’s program to its most successful year in program history and the women to a fourth place conference finish. Karwath has been a Coach at the NAIA level for five years and has coached two NAIA National Champions, eleven NAIA All-Americans, thirty-six NAIA National Qualifiers, six NAIA scholar athletes, and two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. “I am honored to be selected as the next head wrestling coach at Lindenwood University – Belleville” said Karwath. “I would like to express my appreciation to Ryan Kaiser and Lindenwood for giving me this opportunity. Rest of the story at http://www.nwcaonline.com/lindenwood-university-belleville-names-karwath-head-mens-and-womens-coach/?mc_cid=4a5887e34d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 