Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

Aaron Bancroft presented the Lee Carroll Award

            State Champion Aaron Bancroft of Fike High School was presented the 21st Lee Carroll Award for excellence in athletics, academics and sportsmanship in northeastern North Carolina last season.  The TakeDown Report Editor, Martin Fleming and Lee Carroll presented the awards during a pause in Fike team’s annual end–of-the-year banquet this month.            Bancroft earned his first State Champion medal, at 160 pounds, with a record of 52 wins and just 1 loss to an eventual Virginia State Champion in the finals of the WRAL Holiday mid-season tournament.  He is also the first state champion in wrestling for Fike High School.  His overall scholastic career record is 146 wins and 12 losses after three years of competition.
            Last year, as a sophomore, Bancroft won his first district title yet fell short of placing at the state tournament while finishing with a (49-5) record.  As a freshman Aaron had a (45-6) record, placed 2nd in districts and placed 5th in the state tournament.  Aaron also has earned his third TDR Top 12 engraved wooden plaque this year as being one of the top wrestlers at his weight class in eastern North Carolina.

            Lee Carroll started wrestling his sophomore year when Tarboro High School re-started the sport in 1992 with Butch Sadler as his coach.  Lee won 112 matches in just 3 years with the Vikings.  Lee was state runner-up his junior year before becoming a record setting undefeated state champion in 1995 with a (50-0) record.  Lee went on to start four years at North Carolina State qualifying for the Nationals 3 times.  Lee has taught engineering graphics at N.C. State as an adjunct professor and has his own interactive design agency, Forged Media, in Raleigh.  He has been recognized and inducted in the Tarboro High Athletic Hall of Fame. Pictured above are Fike coach Brad Watson, Aaron Bancroft and Lee Carroll presenting the award.  Pictured below are Aaron and his proud father George Bancroft.

            Last year Christian and Timothy Decatur of Rosewood tied for this award as top level underclassmen wrestlers.  Other previous award winners include Jaqwuez Norman of Farmville Central (2017), Kaleb Taylor of Rosewood (2016), Wilson Smith of Rocky Mount (2015 & 2014), Angel Najar of North Pitt (2013), Alexander Knight and Jacineto Williamson of Rocky Mount in 2012, Chris Fess of Beddingfield and Tamaris Lane of Nash Central in 2011, Chandler Phillips of Rocky Mount (2010), Landon Lucas of SW Edgecombe (2009), Corey Smith (2008) and Eric Sutton (2007) of Tarboro, Zach Shearin and Paul Horner (2006) and Pat Anstead (2004) of Southern Nash, Jimmy McNamara (2005) of Wilson Hunt and Sammi Hadi (2003) of SW Edgecombe.

            The TakeDown Report has promoted amateur wrestling for over 20 years in eastern North Carolina reporting wrestling results and encouraging media coverage of the sport.  Fleming noted, “We desire to encourage wrestlers and teams in this area to realize the hard work, determination and discipline it takes to be a top notch wrestler,” he added.   The TakeDown Report sponsors the Award. Contact the TDR at martinkfleming@gmail.com  or call (252) 883-3311.   Fans are invited to check our blog at https://takedownreport.wordpress.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/The-TakeDown-Report-235098404048/ or on Twitter Martin Fleming‏ @MFlemdog.

June 26, 2019 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Meet the 20-year-old whiz who’s helping Duke revolutionize college wrestling’s numbers game

College wrestling’s most valuable under-the-radar asset is a soon-to-be junior whose last match was in high school.  Charlie Gelman is a smart-as-a-whip 20-year-old Illinois native who’s double majoring in statistical science and computer science and minoring in electrical and computer engineering at Duke. He’s a millionaire in the making, according to Duke wrestling coach Glen Lanham, who brought Gelman on board a couple years ago and named him the program’s advanced statistics analyst.  “They let me pick my own title,” Gelman confessed a couple weeks ago. “I made it look better.” 

The truth is, Gelman has helped improve the looks of Duke wrestling during his two years with the program.  The former high school wrestler created a program that helps the Blue Devils track high-level statistics and funnel them into an easy-to-consume format that can sort by setups, shot types, finishes, bottom-position techniques, top-position turns and other match sequences and scenarios. This gives Lanham and his staff hard data to cut out the guesswork associated with where practice time should be focused.  

“It changed the way we looked at practice time,” Lanham said. “It gives you an outline of what we need to work on to be successful instead of guessing. When I’ve got a guy for an individual (workout), I know exactly what we need to do to make him better. It’s definitely a game changer for us.”  Rest of the story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/PortalPost.jsp?postId=1668504132

June 26, 2019 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment