Top ACTIVE Junior College Coaches in Dual wins Top 10 w/ at least 100 wins
TDR Editor’s Notes ; This list is far from complete but it is what we have so far. We welcome input, information and corrections yet please no snide remarks.
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- Pat Whitcomb (North Idaho Coll.) 273 – resigned in Jan. 2019
- Joe Renfro (Labette, Kan.) 204
- Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central Comm. Coll.) 158
- Josh Rhoden (Clackamas Comm. Coll.) 141
- Harry McGinnis (Triton Comm. Coll.) 90 incomplete
- Josh Watts (Iowa Western Comm. Coll.) 74 incomplete
- Jim Zeigler (Northwest Wyoming) 58 incomplete
- (Iowa Western Comm. Coll.) 56
- Cole Spree (Ellsworth Comm. Coll.) 54
- Cody Alesch (Iowa Lakes Comm. Coll) 32
- Art Castillo (Western Wyoming) 31 incomplete
Returning world medalists Cox, Gwiazdowski, Mensah-Stock earn spots on World Team
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Three returning world medalists earned spots on the 2019 U.S. World Team on Saturday at Final X: Rutgers. World champion J’den Cox (92 kilograms), along with world bronze medalists Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kilograms) and Tamyra Mensah-Stock (68 kilograms), were among the seven champions crowned in the final session of Final X: Rutgers. The 24-year-old Cox won in two straight matches over 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy winner Bo Nickal at 92 kilograms. Cox claimed a 4-2 victory in the first match. In the second match, Cox blanked Nickal 5-0 to earn his fourth straight spot on a World or Olympic Team. “He’s a great wrestler,” Cox said of Nickal. “He presented a lot of challenges. I think that he’s going to be really tough in the future.”
Gwiazdowski, a two-time returning world bronze medalist, defeated three-time age-group world champion Gable Steveson in two straight matches at 125 kilograms. Gwiazdowski won both matches on criteria. He took the first match 4-4, scoring a takedown in the final period. He claimed the second match 3-3 on the strength of a late reversal. “I’ve been through this,” said Gwiazdowski. “It’s a different challenge. But they challenge me in different ways to be a master of this sport. There are things I haven’t faced before. I was prepared for them. I focus on those things. I was confident in what I was doing.” Mensah-Stock won in two straight matches over WCWA national champion Alexandria Glaude at 68 kilograms. Mensah-Stock, the only American wrestler ever to win three Yarygin Grand Prix gold medals, secured a fall in the first match after building a 6-0 lead. She closed out the victory with a 10-0 technical fall. Rest of the story at
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22013
Bellarmine accepts ASUN invitation; Knights will rise to NCAA Division I in 2020
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine University’s president, Dr. Susan M. Donovan, announced today that she has accepted an invitation for the university to join the ASUN Conference. The move will elevate the university’s athletic programs to NCAA Division I status beginning next summer. Bellarmine will be the only private DI university in Kentucky, and one of the few Division I Catholic universities in the South. Donovan, joined on campus for the announcement by ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, said the move is the first major achievement of an initiative contained in the university’s new strategic plan, approved last month by Bellarmine’s Board of Trustees. With the addition of the Bellarmine Knights in the 2020-21 season, the ASUN Conference will have 10 members spread across seven mostly southeastern states, from Florida to New Jersey. The conference has been an ESPN broadcast partner since 1989, with game coverage airing on ESPN+.
“The addition of Bellarmine University to the ASUN continues the rising trend of our league,” said Gumbart. “We are extremely proud to become teammates with a great university and the Louisville-area community. Today, we celebrate a new beginning with students, coaches, faculty, administration, alumni, boosters and Knights fans everywhere. We appreciate the visionary leadership of President Donovan, the Board of Trustees, Athletics Director Scott Wiegandt, and the entire leadership and athletic department team at Bellarmine that made today possible. On behalf of the ASUN family, we welcome our newest member and look forward to growing this partnership as we work together in our goal of Building Winners for Life. Swords Up!”
Bellarmine fields 17 sports sponsored by the ASUN Conference. Additionally:
Rest of the story at
Coach remembers former Brunswick Co. student killed in shooting
TDR Editor’s Notes : Saddened to pass along this news about a former wrestler from eastern North Carolina.
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BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — People are remembering the teen that was killed in the Friday night shooting in Shallotte including his former coach. Jacary Bethel was described as a standout athlete at West Brunswick High School before he graduated in 2018. Jimmy Caraway was Bethel’s wrestling coach and told us he was a good kid, and a great athlete. Caraway says he played football, but was a star wrestler. He said Bethel even represented the school on a national level. He says not only did he coach him, but his wife taught him and the community has lost a good kid. “I loved the boy. He did anything we asked him to do as a coaching staff. He never got emotional in matches. He worked hard. He was a leader. And he led by example and he wasn’t vocal,” Caraway said. Rest of the story at https://www.wwaytv3.com/2019/06/18/coach-remembers-former-brunswick-co-student-killed-in-shooting/?mc_cid=733372627e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Mizzou’s Brian Smith Earns Kiwanis Don Faurot Sportsperson of the Year
Tiger Style head coach wins annual award given to top sportsperson in Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Wrestling head coach Brian Smith is the 2019 Don Faurot Sportsperson of the Year, announced today by the Kiwanis Club of Columbia. Smith will be presented the award at a banquet on Tuesday, June 18, at the Broadway Hotel in Columbia. The honor – named after Mizzou’s legendary former football head coach and director of athletics – was established in 1991 to honor an outstanding candidate who contributes to the local sports community as an athlete, coach, administrator or official. Other notable Mizzou recipients are Karissa Schweizer, J’den Cox, Max Scherzer and Mike Alden. Coach Smith had another banner year at the helm of the Tiger Wrestling program, guiding the team to its eighth straight conference title, fifth straight top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships and a 16-1 regular season record. The Tigers ranked has high as fifth nationally in the major collegiate wrestling polls during the 2018-19 season, a spot that fans have grown accustomed to seeing Coach Smith’s program in. In his 21st season as the Tiger head coach, Smith coached four All-Americans this season, giving the Tigers at least four All-Americans in every season since 2014-15. Mizzou Wrestling us one of just five schools nationally to earn a top-10 finish and have at least three All-Americans in each of the last five seasons. Mizzou is 94-9 in dual competition over the last six seasons and went an incredible 7-1 against top-25 teams during the 2018-19 season. Rest of the story at
ACC WRESTLING 2020 DATES ANNOUNCED
Posted On: June 18, 2019CHAPEL HILL — The University of North Carolina wrestling program announced Tuesday its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule and dates for the 2019-20 season. The team will host both Duke and Pittsburgh at Carmichael Arena, while making trips to Virginia Tech, Virginia and NC State.
Below are the opponents and weekends set for conference competition next season: at Virginia Tech (January 24 – January 26)
Duke (January 31 – February 2)
at N.C. State (February 7 – February 9)
Pittsburgh (February 14 – February 16)
at Virginia (February 21 – February 23)
“We’re excited to lock down these dates to get an early look at conference matches next year,” head coach Coleman Scott said. Rest of the story and details at
https://goheels.com/news/2019/6/18/acc-wrestling-2020-dates-announced.aspx?mc_cid=733372627e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
20 Years Worth of DI NCAA Champions
Since we are 20 years into the 2000’s, TOM decided to take a look back at all of the DI NCAA Champions over that time period, broken down weight-by-weight. Which weights look the toughest over the past 20 years?
Rest of the story and full list at
https://news.theopenmat.com/college-wrestling-news/20-years-worth-of-di-ncaa-champions/73482?mc_cid=76c05a6f3c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9 added to WVU Sports Hall of Fame
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Two of the inductees are All-American wrestlers and are worthy of recognition.
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Nine outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 29th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced Saturday by WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons. The 2019 class includes Meg Bulger (women’s basketball), Steve Dunlap (football), Greg Jones (wrestling), Vertus Jones (wrestling), Darryl Prue (men’s basketball), Lisa Stoia (women’s soccer), John Thornton (football), Dr. Stefan Thynell (rifle) and Pete White (men’s basketball/track & field). Induction ceremonies will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, prior to the West Virginia-NC State football game. This class brings the total number of inductees to 197.
Here are capsules of the honorees.
Greg Jones is WVU’s all-time leader in wins and is the Mountaineers’ only three-time NCAA champion during his wrestling career from 2001-05. Posting a career record of 126-4, Jones won the NCAA championship as a freshman in 2002 at 174 pounds, as a junior in 2004 at 184 pounds and as a senior in 2005 at 184 pounds. With three NCAA individual championships, Jones became the 39h wrestler in NCAA history to win three national championships, the 20th wrestler to win titles at two different weight classes and the 10th wrestler to win a national title as a freshman. Jones is the only West Virginia wrestler to post an undefeated season, doing it in 2004 with a record of 26-0 and once again in 2005, posting a mark of 25-0. He ended his career on a 51-match win streak. Following his collegiate wrestling career, Jones served as an assistant coach and associate head coach at WVU for nine seasons. Since 2014, Jones has been one of the top wrestling coaches in MMA training. He and his brother, Vertus, become the second set of siblings to be inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, joining Marc, Kate and Meg Bulger.
Vertus Jones became the Mountaineers’ first three-time wrestling All-American and first four-time Eastern Wrestling League champion during his outstanding career from 1997-2000. A two-time NCAA runner-up, Jones posted a stellar 30-2 record as a senior in 2000 at 184 pounds, setting the all-time West Virginia consecutive wins mark at 24. He earned his final All-America honor with a second-place finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Rest of the story at https://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/wvu/added-to-wvu-sports-hall-of-fame/article_1303f800-cb30-518b-bff9-831699f21028.html?mc_cid=76c05a6f3c&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 