Takedown Report

Eight departures that rocked wrestling

Kyle Snyder is officially a Nittany Lion. Well, sort of.
The three-time World and Olympic champion who won three NCAA titles at Ohio State announced last week that he was leaving the Ohio Regional Training Center for Penn State’s Nittany Lion Wrestling Club to “take advantage of additional training.”  It was a major announcement, especially given the college rivalry between Ohio State and Penn State.  Time will tell where this ranks among the all-time moves in wrestling history, but here are eight departures that changed wrestling history forever. 

Stephen Neal leaves wrestling to play in the NFL
Stephen Neal won NCAA heavyweight titles for CSU Bakersfield in 1998 as a junior and in 1999 as a senior. Several months later, he won the 1999 World Championships. He placed second to Kerry McCoy at the 2000 Olympic Trials then left wrestling in 2001 to play for the New England Patriots as an offensive lineman where he won three Super Bowl rings.
Here’s the kicker: Neal didn’t play a down of college football.
Neal proved that you can reach the highest level in another sport with a high-level wrestling background. However, wrestling was denied of an Olympic cycle where Stephen Neal, Kerry McCoy, Tolly Thompson, and Steve Mocco would battle for heavyweight wrestling supremacy. 

Dale Anderson transfers from Iowa State to Michigan State
Dale Anderson’s style did not mesh well with Iowa State coach Harold Nichols. That’s why he left the Cyclones to wrestle for Grady Peninger at Michigan State. The result was the greatest era in Spartan wrestling history, which yielded NCAA titles for Anderson in 1967 and 1968 and an NCAA team championship for Michigan State in 1967. It was also the first time a Big Ten school won the NCAA tournament.  The Spartans placed first and the Cyclones placed third in 1967. Anderson won the NCAA tournament at 137 pounds and Iowa State didn’t have a wrestler win a match at that weight class. Anderson’s transfer made the ultimate difference and it gave Michigan State its only NCAA team title in program history. 

Ray Brinzer transfers from Oklahoma State to Iowa
Ray Brinzer left Oklahoma State for Iowa after sanctions against the Cowboys forced the program to miss postseason competition in 1993. Brinzer transferred to Iowa and placed third at NCAA Championships at 177 pounds in 1993 and 1995, but it was his second-place finish at the 1993 Big Ten Championships that shaped wrestling history as we know it. Brinzer entered the Big Ten tournament with a 0-0 record. The NCAA cleared him to wrestle for the Hawkeyes just as the team departed for the tournament in Columbus, Ohio.  Penn State had just entered the Big Ten and was looking to break Iowa’s stranglehold on the conference and on the country. The Nittany Lions came close. Iowa won both the 1993 Big Ten and NCAA titles. However, the Hawkeyes eked out a win over the Nittany Lions at the conference tournament, 128-123.5. Rest of the story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1571370777269&twSessionId=dmoubmntit&postId=1690556132&mc_cid=987ee111d5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

October 26, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized