Take a tour of the Campbell wrestling facilities with coach Cary Kolat
Campbell recently completed a wrestling facility upgrade. Coach Cary Kolat takes Trackwrestling on a tour of the wrestling room, offices, locker room and competition arena. Rest of the story and link at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1558721206178&twSessionId=xaubxftjrw&videoId=1450641132&mc_cid=892383b8e3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Baker named coach at Minnesota West
One year after announcing his retirement from a 35-year high school coaching career, Randy Baker has accepted the head coaching position of the wrestling program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, the two-year school in Worthington, Minn. announced this week. The 64-year-old Baker had retired as head coach at Jackson County Central High School in July 2018, but had served as the program’s assistant coach this past season. Baker will be replacing Bryan Cowdin, who stepped down at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
InterMat once referred to Baker as being “one of the brightest wrestling minds around.” Washington Globe sportswriter Doug Wolter wrote that Baker is “one of the most well-known and most decorated high school coaches in the state.” Baker’s new boss, Minnesota West men’s athletic director Bob Purcell, described his new wrestling coach as “an ambassador to the sport of wrestling.” Baker launched his coaching career in 1984, serving at a number of prep programs in southwest Minnesota, culminating at Jackson County Central. In that time, Baker guided 14 teams to Minnesota state tournaments, resulting in seven state team titles. In addition, Baker coached 39 individual state champs. For all his accomplishments as coach, Baker earned many honors, including the Augustana (University) Hall of Fame (his college alma mater in South Dakota), Jackson County Wrestling Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Minnesota chapter. He was Man of the Year for USA Wrestler Magazine, National Developmental Coach of the Year USA Wrestling, MN USA Coach of the Year and USA Region Coach of the Year. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21961
Meet the Trojans: UMO Wrestling Unveils Members of the First Signing Class; Part 3
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The University of Mount Olive wrestling program and head coach Jake Patacsil are excited to begin unveiling the inaugural class for the new Trojan wrestling team. Over the next couple of weeks, Coach Patacsil and the Athletics Communications office will introduce the incoming grapplers who will begin competing in the 2019-20 school year.
This edition of Meet the Trojans introduces the following group of young men; Ogden Atwood, Noah Wilson, Justin Wood, and Mason Watt. The first grappler of this edition is Ogden Atwood from Kittanning, Pennsylvania. Atwood wrestled at Armstrong high school where he was a two-time section champion, PIAA Placer, two-time state qualifier, and is a three-time Armstrong high school Most Outstanding Wrestler. Atwood will wrestle in the 197/285-pound weight class as a member of the Trojan wrestling team and intends to major in social studies education. Our next signee is Noah Wilson. Wilson comes to Mount Olive from Rockingham High School where he wrestled in the 120-weight class. A native of Eden, N.C., Wilson is a two-time state qualifier, a regional champion and runner-up, a three-time county champion, and a four-time all-conference honoree. He intends to major in Environmental and Natural Resources while wrestling at 125-pounds for the Trojans. Rest of the recruits and story at http://www.umotrojans.com/sports/wrest/2018-19/releases/20190514ojj4z2?mc_cid=892383b8e3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Pac-12 adds UA Little Rock in wrestling
SAN FRANCISCO —The Pac-12 Conference announced today that the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has accepted an invitation to join the Conference as an affiliate member in the sport of wrestling. Little Rock joins ARIZONA STATE, OREGON STATE, STANFORD, CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD and CAL POLY in providing the Pac-12 with a sixth member in wrestling. The Pac-12 Conference dropped from six members to five after Boise State discontinued its wrestling program following the 2017 season. While the NCAA requires a conference to have at least six active members that sponsor the applicable sport in order for it to be eligible for automatic qualification in the NCAA Championships, it does provide a two-year transition period to allow for a conference to secure a sixth member.
At its recent Pac-12 CEO meetings, the presidents and chancellors approved extending an invite to Little Rock to compete as an affiliate member in wrestling. Little Rock will enter its inaugural season in 2019-20 after becoming one of the newest NCAA Division I wrestling programs and the first in the state of Arkansas. The Pac-12 Conference has sponsored wrestling for its membership since 1963. Arizona State captured the 1998 NCAA title, becoming the first and only team west of the Rocky Mountains to claim an NCAA title in wrestling. Rest of the story and details at https://pac-12.com/article/2019/05/23/pac-12-adds-ua-little-rock-wrestling?mc_cid=892383b8e3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Cael Sanderson Among This Year’s Penn State Honorary Alumni Award Recipients
Five individuals who are not Penn State graduates but who have worked for the betterment of the university have been named this year’s Honorary Alumni Award recipients. Among them is Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who has led the Nittany Lions to eight team national championships since his hiring in 2009. Three of the recipients — C. Max Lang, Rachel Levine and Albert Matyasovsky — will be recognized at a ceremony on May 31, when the 2019 Distinguished Alumni and Philanthropist of the Year awards also will be presented. Sanderson and Brook Lenfest will be honored later this year. The Penn State Alumni Association has presented Honorary Alumni Awards since 1973 to longtime university champions and benefactors.
The 2019 Penn State Honorary Alumni:
– C. Max Lang is a professor emeritus and “founding father” of the Penn State College of Medicine and was the first faculty member recruited to the college in 1966. He served as chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine and director of the Animal Resource Facility for 40 years. Under his leadership, the college “designed and built animal research labs that were considered by the National Institutes of Health and National Academy of Sciences as models for the safe, humane, and effective use of animals in medical research,” according to the Alumni Association. His numerous awards and honors include Charles River Prize in Laboratory Animal Medicine, the highest honor in the field. Rest of the story and details at http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/cael-sanderson-among-this-years-penn-state-honorary-alumni-award-recipients,1480179/?mc_cid=405c3a6e07&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
World champion David Taylor announces he will not compete in Final X due to injury
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | May 24, 2019,
This evening, 2018 World champion David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) took to Twitter to tell the world that he would not be competing in Final X, and pursuing a chance to compete at the 2019 World Championships. Taylor injured his knee at the Beat the Streets “Grapple at the Garden” in early May. He is scheduled to compete against 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion Patrick Downey in Final X: Rutgers on June 8 in a best-of-three series for the World Team spot at 86 kg in men’s freestyle.
Should Taylor not compete at Rutgers, nor ask for an extension of his series due to his injury, the World Team spot will go to Downey. An excerpt from the Twitter post says: “Best of luck to the athletes competing in Final X this June. Downey, shoot your shot. Moments like this don’t get gifted to you often. “I’ll be back. Faster, stronger and hungrier than ever. Don’t count the Magic Man out just yet. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/May/24/Taylor-to-miss-Final-X?mc_cid=892383b8e3&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 