Memorial services for wrestling coach and leader James Johnson set for Sept. 27-28 in North Carolina
BY USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 23, 2019
USA Wrestling has received memorial service information for the late James Johnson, the 2012 Olympic Greco-Roman coach and past World Team member who passed away at age 61 in early September.
The Viewing for James Johnson will be on Friday, September 27 from 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Don Brown Funeral Home, 497 SR Second St., Ayden, NC 28513. The Funeral Service for James Johnson will be held on Saturday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. at D.H. Conley High School, 2006 Worthington Rd. Greenville, NC 27834
James Johnson attended D.H. Conley High School, where he became the first wrestler in school history to win a state wrestling title when he won the North Carolina state meet in 1976. Rest of the story and details at
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/23/James-Johnson-Memorial-services?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA women’s wrestling programs to compete at exclusive championship event
ADRIAN, M.I. – – NCAA women’s wrestling programs have their very own championship tournament scheduled for the 2019-20 postseason. The tournament is known as the Women’s National Collegiate Championship (WNCC) and is scheduled to take place March 6th – 7th in Adrian, Michigan. The WNCC is strictly for NCAA programs, and will be open to competition for eligible DI, DII and DIII schools. This move has been in the works, as the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Coalition (WCWC) was recently brought to life to guide women’s wrestling on its journey from an emerging sport to a sanctioned championship sport in the NCAA. The WCWC tagline: Bringing women’s wrestling to the NCAA. The WNCC brings the collegiate women’s postseason tournament count up to three, rounding out the 2019-20 season. Rest of this story at https://www.transitionwrestling.com/ncaa-womens-wrestling-programs-to-compete-at-exclusive-championship-event/?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
HISTORY! Adeline Gray becomes the first five-time Senior World champion in USA history
BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 19, 2019
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Adeline Gray has made history, winning a U.S. record fifth Senior World Championships gold medal with a victory at 76 kg/167.5 lbs. at the World Wrestling Championships on Thursday night. Gray (Denver, Colo./New York AC) wrestled a smart match, defeating two-time World bronze medalist Hiroe Minagawa Suzuki of Japan in the gold-medal final, 4-2.
Suzuki scored first, when Gray was placed on the shot clock and did not score in the required 30 seconds. However, late in the first period, Gray converted a double leg takedown and added a two-point tilt, to lead 4-1 at the break. In the second period, Gray controlled the action and no points were scored until there was three seconds to go and Suzuki forced a step out. Time quickly went away, and Adeline Gary was World champion once again.
She has surpassed U.S. superstars John Smith, Tricia Saunders and Jordan Burroughs, who were tied with her with four Senior World golds going into this week. Burroughs will compete at the World Champoionships on Friday and Saturday, with a goal of winning his fifth and catching back up to Gray.
Gray has now won World titles in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019, and World bronze medals in 2011 and 2013.
On Wednesday, Gray had already qualified the United States for the 2020 Olympics at this weight class by reaching the semifinals. The top six athletes in each Olympic weight class qualify their nation for the Tokyo Games.
Gray reached the finals with four impressive wins on Wednesday. She opened with three dominant 10-0 technical falls, powering through Eleni Pjollaj of Italy, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan and two-time Junior World medalist Hui Tsz Chang of Chinese Taipei. In the semifinals, she won a strategic battle against 2014 World champion Aline Rotter Focken of Germany, 5-2.
Gray is a native of the Denver, Colo. area and spent many years as a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete. Rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/19/Gray-wins-fifth-World-title?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Cox repeats as World champion, Burroughs wins bronze medal at World Championships
BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 21, 2019
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – 2018 World champion J’den Cox (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/OTC) made it two in a row, claiming the World title once again at 92 kg/202.5 lbs at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. Cox had the only two takedowns in the gold-medal finals, beating two-time World bronze medalist Alireza Mohammad Karimimachiani of Iran, 4-0 on Saturday night. Cox scored both of his takedowns in the first period, then controlled the action in a scoreless second period. Cox defeated Karimimachiani, 5-2, in the 2018 World Championships semifinals on his way to his first World title in Budapest, Hungary.
While his offense was sharp, it was his defense that was amazing the entire tournament. Cox did not allow a single point in his four matches, outscoring his opponents 26-0 over the two days. Cox has won a World or Olympic medal for the fourth straight year. In addition to his 2018 World gold, Cox was a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 World bronze medalist. On Friday, Cox shut out 2017 U23 World bronze medalist Irakli Mtsituri of Georgia, 3-0 in the semifinals. He was in command in two Friday morning matches, securing an 11-0 technical fall over Mohamad Fardj of Algeria and shutting out Nurgali Nurgaipuly of Kazakhstan, 8-0. Rest of the story at
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/21/Cox-wins-World-title-Burroughs-wins-bronze-medal?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
FloWrestling NCAA Rankings 2019-20
125 Spencer Lee
Korbin Myers is planning to drop down from 133 and slots in the top 10 as a former round 16 finisher with impressive wins over Phillippi, Hayes and Terao. Brandon Paetzell is also cutting down a weight class. He had more mixed results last year, but still worthy of a top 20 ranking at 125. Conspicuously absent from the rankings is Vito Arujau, who is expected to take an Olympic redshirt along with several of his teammates. A mix of veterans and newbies populate the bottom of the expanded rankings. Expect the redshirt freshman trio of Camacho, Melendez and McKee to make rapid advances as the season gets underway. Questions or comments about the rankings? Get in touch with the rankers Andrew Spey (Twitter: @speywrestle; email: andrew.spey@flosports.tv) and Christian Pyles (Twitter: @cpyles8; email: christian.pyles@flosports.tv).
Rest of the story and rankings at https://www.flowrestling.org/rankings/6567575-ncaa-rankings-2019-20/32624-125-spencer-lee?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Shade Takes Part In NWCA Leadership Academy
PEMBROKE – UNC Pembroke wrestling assistant coach Blaze Shade was among a handful of collegiate coaches to be selected for the National Wrestling Coaches CEO Leadership Academy over the summer after applying for and receiving a scholarship to attend the event. The NWCA invested more than $1,000,000 into the development and implementation of a comprehensive leadership development program designed to help college coaches sharpen their skills, and/or to promote best practices for improving academic performance. Internationally-renowned coaching development expert, Dr. Dan Gould at Michigan State, has been the primary architect of the research-based academy, along with input from a variety of elite coaches, athletics directors and content experts.
Highlights of the two-day event in Daytona Beach, Fla., included small group discussions with participating coaches and mentors, a portfolio assembly of each coach’s respective programs and an invitation to attend the NWCA Convention. Participants also completed a series of online modules that promoted important principles of leaders. Shade, a three-time all-American for the Braves from 2012-17, is heading into his third season on the coaching staff for the Braves. Fans can get an early look at the 2019-20 squad on October 22 when the Braves host their annual Black & Gold Intrasquad at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Admission to that event is free.
Rest of the story at https://uncpbraves.com/news/2019/9/16/wrestling-shade-takes-part-in-ncwa-leadership-academy.aspx
UNC-Pembroke Wrestling To Hold Open Tryout On August 26
TDR Editor’s Notes ; This seems like a great idea that would increase wrestling opportunities and publicity for our sport. Hope that other schools with teams would provide similar opportunities for students to ‘walk-on’ and make an effort to be on the team.
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PEMBROKE – UNC Pembroke wrestling head coach Othello “O.T.” Johnson will be holding an open tryout for the 2019-20 UNCP wrestling team on August 26 at Grace P. Johnson Stadium. The tryout will begin at 5:30 a.m. on Dick & Lenore Taylor Track. In order to participate, students must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours for the fall semester at UNCP and be in good academic standing. Rest of the details at
https://uncpbraves.com/news/2019/8/20/wrestling-to-hold-open-tryout-on-august-26.aspx
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 