Want to grow wrestling? Look to the cities
By Mike Powell and Caryn Ward
Everyone calls him Jules. He moves like water. He’s a hardworking and dedicated athlete. But Julian Valtierrez wasn’t built for basketball. Or football. Or baseball. He’ll be a senior at William Howard Taft High School in Chicago this year where he’ll wrestle at 113 pounds. Valtierrez has an impressive resume for someone who only started to wrestle as a freshman; one match away from all-state as a junior and a Fargo qualifier. For all he’s accomplished in a short time, imagine what might have been if he’d wrestled sooner. If all of the future Julians in Chicago knew of wrestling at a younger age, had it as an easily accessible opportunity and knew the names of its stars, the sport would have an abundance of riches. While those riches go widely untapped, overall participation numbers for boys in both youth and high school wrestling are down. According to surveys by the National Federation of State High School Associations, participation has dropped in four of the last five years. Based on those same surveys, the sport has lost nearly 24,000 boys in those years for an average of almost 4,800 per year.
But it doesn’t have to continue that way. The solution to slowing, reversing and then building our youth and high school numbers lies in our most populous areas and that’s where Beat the Streets is positioned to spearhead the effort. There are currently eight Beat the Streets programs recognized by our umbrella organization, the newly created Beat the Streets National; Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Boston, Providence and Chicago. The combined population of those eight cities, not including the suburban populations surrounding them, is nearly 18 million people. This is almost as populous as New Mexico, Nebraska, West Virginia, Idaho, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Vermont and Wyoming combined. Historically, wrestling has been dominated by small town heroes and programs. Doug Blubaugh, Dan Gable, John Smith conjure images of small-town kids going on to become global champions. Oklahoma State and Iowa have combined for 57 national team titles. But there are only so many USA memberships that can be sold in Del City, Oklahoma.
Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22194?fbclid=IwAR3Fo5aUacoSZyN7ceY7Vc6osIH6i1ZHW2ao94V8ihPZqtg4ubffAzok_Zs
Wolfpack Pop-Ins Podcast: Ep. 51 – Summer Update from Pat Popolizio
RALEIGH, N.C. – Finally checking back in with NC State head wrestling coach Pat Popolizio to get some summer updates on what’s going on with the Wolfpack program. Join host Brian Reinhardt, the 2018-19 NWMA Division I Wrestling SID of the Year, for episode #51 of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Check out their podcast at https://gopack.com/news/2019/7/30/wrestling-packmentality-pop-ins-podcast-ep-51-summer-update-from-pat-popolizio.aspx?mc_cid=8880af0d10&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Lander coach LaHaye hopes camp inspires youth wrestlers
R .C. LaHaye looked forward to the opportunity to introduce wrestling to local kids in Greenwood this week. The first-year Lander wrestling coach said it’s important to him to have children participating in the sport at an early age in order to get them interested in wrestling. LaHaye accomplished that goal with a beginners’ wrestling camp that took place Monday and Tuesday at Finis Horne Arena. “Historically in Greenwood, kids don’t start wrestling until they’re freshmen in high school,” LaHaye said. “So being able to introduce these kids to wrestling at four, five, six, seven and eight years old, is awesome. It exposes them to the sport. But at the end of the day, we just want them to have fun.”
The kids received instructions, participated in matches and learned wrestling techniques from LaHaye and incoming freshman Chandler Smalley, who was a four-time state champion at Abbeville High. He signed with Lander in February. “I’m glad he was able to assist,” LaHaye said. “He’s local, and a lot of the kids already know of Chandler, and they look up to him. It’s nice that he was able to help out and really be a motivational figure for these kids.” Smalley is part of the inaugural Lander class, which will participate in the Bearcats’ first wrestling season in 2019-20. Rest of the story at https://www.indexjournal.com/sports/lander-coach-lahaye-hopes-camp-inspires-youth-wrestlers/article_13831cb3-8ff0-50a9-8e4f-658c6af704e4.html?mc_cid=8880af0d10&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
What wrestlers, parents and coaches need to know about NCAA recruiting rules
In April, the NCAA Division 1 Council announced changes to recruiting rules to more closely align with that of the general student body. “We feel strongly that it’s an incredible enhancement to our current situation and how students are being recruited,” said Justin Sell, athletics director at South Dakota State and chair of the Student-Athlete Experience Committee. “At the end of the day, these changes will eliminate students in the ninth grade and younger being recruited while still providing access to our campuses early enough to make informed financial and educational decisions on where to go for college.”
On Monday, Aug. 5, high school juniors (Class of 2021) can begin taking official visits to colleges, as well as have off-campus contact with members of a college. While the official date for sports other than basketball, football, men’s hockey, lacrosse, softball and baseball was set for Thursday, Aug. 1, the NCAA imposed a dead period for wrestling that takes place July 28-August 4, which is the Monday before the NWCA Convention through the day of adjournment of the convention. During the dead period, college wrestling coaches cannot have face-to-face contact with a recruit or their family. Rest of the story and details at
http://matbossapp.hs-sites.com/blog/what-coaches-parents-wrestlers-need-to-know-about-ncaa-recruiting-rules?mc_cid=8880af0d10&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
‘The Wrestling Drill Book’ by Welker wins national award
The Wrestling Drill Book by Dr. Bill Welker has found its way onto the shelves of thousands of school libraries, wrestling coaches’ offices and homes of high school wrestlers. Now this classic instructional has earned a place on a national book awards list.
Bill Welker with his books (Photo/Kim North)The second edition of Welker’s book has been named winner in the Sports Non-Fiction category by the 2019 Independent Press Awards Program judges which include independent publishers, writers, editors and professional copywriters. “Wrestling has been a major part of my life for over 60 years, and I have been writing about the sport since 1974,” Welker told the Wheeling (W.Va.) Intelligencer, the newspaper serving the community he now calls home, where he has coached and served as a mat official. “The first edition of my drill book was published in 2005 and was so well received that my publishing company, Human Kinetics Publishers of Champaign, Ill., commissioned me to write a second edition of the bestseller in 2012.” Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22191?mc_cid=8880af0d10&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 