Takedown Report

‘First To Fight’ With All-Marine Head Coach Jason Loukides

We now stand less than a week away from when the 2019 US World Team departs for Kazakhstan, and All-Marine head coach Jason Loukides is understandably excited. Not only are Marine athletes Ray Bunker (72 kg) and John Stefanowicz (82 kg) preparing for their first-ever appearances at the Senior World Championships, but a substantial allotment of their teammates are coming along for the ride. That’s because — and has been the case the past two years — members of the Marine squad will be on-hand to assist the World Teamers leading up to the main event. Naturally, Loukides speaks to the training phase Bunker and Stefanowicz have endured thus far, as well as the former’s bronze-winning performance earlier this month in Poland. There are other competitive points of interest to catch up on, as well. Just like the aforementioned duo in Poland got some matches in, so too did several other Marines at the Tbilisi Grand Prix.  Rest of the story at http://www.fivepointmove.com/all-marine-wrestling/head-coach-jason-loukides-august-19/?mc_cid=84921238b4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

September 3, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

10 reasons to vote like crazy for John Smith for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame this weekend

BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | AUG. 31, 2019

Here you have it. Two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion John Smith is a finalist for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame. There is a fan voting element to this which ends on September 3. We still have more than three days to stuff the ballot box with John Smith votes. Fans can vote as many times as they want. (I just voted twice within 30 seconds). 
Click here to vote for John Smith for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
Here are 10 good reasons why you should find time while sitting on the beach, or at the lake, or in the woods, or in the city (or wherever you are spending Labor Day), take out your computer or your cell phone and vote for John Smith again and again.
1. John Smith is the U.S. freestyle GOAT – You know what a GOAT is, right? Greatest of All Time. No American freestyle wrestler, man or woman, can match John Smith’s amazing run of six straight World or Olympic gold medals. Starting with the 1987 World title and running through the 1992 Olympic Games, Smith won them all. He was six-for-six in World or Olympic gold-medal bouts. Although it is possible that somebody, someday could match his six World and Olympic titles, nobody has come close to stringing them all in a row. (Jordan Burroughs has a shot at six total golds this year, BTW). Smith is the consensus freestyle GOAT, and many would call him the GOAT when adding in high school and college, too. USA Wrestling’s GOAT should be in the Olympic Hall of Fame. Period. 
2. There are only two wrestlers in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame – Really? Only two? Wrestling is the No. 4 producer of medals for the United States in the modern Olympics. We trail only track and field, swimming and sailing in total medals since 1896. Wrestling has won 135 Olympic wrestling medals, including 54 gold medals. The only two wrestlers in the Hall of Fame are Dan Gable and Bruce Baumgartner. That’s it? Come on. There are 109 Olympians and Paralympians in the Hall of Fame, but only two wrestlers. That is not fair. That needs to change. Let’s change it by getting John Smith in this year. Right now.
3. Wrestlers can only win one gold medal at each Olympics – Sure, if somebody could wrestle both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Olympics the same year, it is possible to get two. Pretty much nobody wrestles both styles in modern times. So, wrestlers get only one shot at an Olympic gold medal at each Olympic Games. John Smith competed in two Olympic Games. John Smith won two Olympic gold medals. Case Closed. Only three American wrestlers have two Olympic gold medals: Smith, Baumgartner and George Mehnert. (Mehnert who won in 1904 and 1908 also belongs in the Hall, but that is a battle for another day). There are many sports where athletes can get multiple medals (think of swimming, track, gymnastics, sailing, etc.). Wrestlers don’t get in because of the number of medals they win. They get in when they win gold and do it again. That’s John Smith.
Rest of the reasons and story at
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/August/31/10-reasons-to-vote-often-for-John-Smith-for-USOP-Hall-of-Fame?mc_cid=84921238b4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

September 3, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment