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Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2020

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that the Class of 2020 inductees are Distinguished Members Bruce Burnett, Dremiel Byers, Mark Lieberman and Bill Zadick, Meritorious Official Tim Shiels, Order of Merit recipient Gary Abbott, Medal of Courage recipient Gary Chopp and Outstanding American Carl Eschenbach.
“This group has accomplished and done so much for wrestling and they continue to give back to our great sport,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “We are proud to honor these remarkable individuals as our Class of 2020.”
The Hall of Fame Board of Governors approved the selections at its meeting in Kansas City on Oct. 16. The induction ceremony will be held at the 44th Annual Honors Weekend on June 5-6, 2020 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For more information on Honors Weekend, please telephone (405) 377-5243.
Byers and Zadick were chosen as Distinguished Members for the Modern Era while Burnett and Lieberman were selected by the Veterans Committee. The Hall of Fame has reached a milestone and will induct its 200th Distinguished Member since it began in 1976.
Distinguished Members can be a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in national and/or international competition; a coach who has demonstrated great leadership in the profession and who has compiled an outstanding record; or a contributor whose long-term activities have substantially enhanced the development and advancement of the sport. More complete bios and details at https://nwhof.org/blog/hall-of-fame-announces-class-of-2020/?mc_cid=7fafe1a85f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

October 29, 2019 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

5 early season NCAA wrestling duals to watch — and why

College wrestling teams around the country are finalizing their lineups and preparing for the long season ahead. The fall-semester duals this year will be of particular intrigue because of the absence of Olympic redshirt athletes who could potentially return for the postseason. So these early season duals will give teams a chance to try out different lineups, experiment with their depth and find the right combination of starters heading into the winter tournaments. 
LOOKING AHEAD: 7 bold predictions for the 2019-2020 wrestling season
Penn State enters the year as the favorites once again, but they’ll be challenged by Iowa, both during a spring dual and in the conference and national tournaments. Before highly anticipated conference duals start in January, however, here’s a look at five of the biggest fall semester matchups that you won’t want to miss. 

1. Penn State vs. Arizona State on Nov. 22

How to watch: 9 p.m. ET on the Pac-12 Network
Let’s kick things off with the Nittany Lions, of course. Penn State starts the season against Navy on Nov. 10, but the first big challenge for Cael Sanderon’s team comes 12 days later when the squad travels to Tempe to take on the Sun Devils of Arizona State. Penn State soared past Arizona State 41-3 last year, with the only loss of the night coming at 125 pounds, but this year’s matchups at each weight will look a little different. Arizona State two-time national champion Zahid Valencia has chosen to move up to 184 pounds which means fans won’t see another Valencia-Mark Hall match-up. But this change instead means that Hall will take on Valencia’s brother, Anthony, at 174 while Hall’s teammate Shakur Rasheed will take on the champ. Anthony Valencia enters the season ninth in FloWrestling’s pre-season rankings, which means his battle with Hall will be a top-ten matchup, but Hall is still expected to battle to a comfortable victory. Zahid Valencia is also expected to produce a similar result against Rasheed, a seventh-ranked wrestler who missed All-American honors last season. Rest of the matches and story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2019-10-22/5-early-season-ncaa-wrestling-duals-watch-and-why?mc_cid=7fafe1a85f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

October 29, 2019 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

East Grand Rapids’ John Shelton to pursue two sports at Central Michigan

By Steve Kaminski | Skaminsk@mlive.com
John Shelton IV is well aware of how challenging it is going to be to wrestle and play football at the Division I level. But having to pick one sport over the other would have been even tougher, he said.
“I have always played multiple sports my whole life, and I felt like I would be happier mentally to play both instead of having to make the decision to play one,” the East Grand Rapids senior said. “I thought it was an easier decision to do both.”
Shelton announced Tuesday that he will be pursuing both sports at Central Michigan University. Shelton is a standout running back for the Pioneers, and a year ago, he finished runner-up in the state in Division 2 at 189-pounds. Shelton, who was not scored upon during the regular season a year ago, was fifth at state his sophomore year. Rest of this story at https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2019/10/east-grand-rapids-john-shelton-to-pursue-two-sports-at-central-michigan.html?mc_cid=7fafe1a85f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

October 29, 2019 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment