Takedown Report

Championship Wrestling Coaches – NJCAA

The first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Wrestling Championships were held in 1960.  In the 60 years since there have been 64 championship teams.  In four years two teams tied for the title.  Previous articles discussed the championship coaches in the NCAA Divisions (D-I),  (D-II), and (D-III) levels and then to complete four-year college and university programs the NAIA.

North Idaho College has the top coach in John Owen who led his teams to eight championships.  North Idaho also has the most team championships with 14.  The first two were in the mid-1970s with Les Hogan as the head coach.  Then Pat Whitcomb coached four more championship teams after Owen. 

Tied for 2^nd are three coaches with six titles each.  Rex Branum won his first two team titles with Lincoln College before moving west to Lassen College in California.  At Lassen his teams won four consecutive championships in the mid-1990s.  Two active coaches also have six titles.  Luke Moffitt of Iowa Central and Joe Renfro of Northeastern Oklahoma A & M have won 12 of the last 15 championship titles.  Renfro won his first three with Labette Community College in Kansas before stepping over the state line into Oklahoma to win the next three titles.  Moffitt and Renfro are both looking to pass Owen for the top spot in the next decade. 

Earl Linn led Lamar Jr. College to five titles in the early 1960s and sits in 5^th place with his early success.  Pat Whitcomb of North Idaho has four titles for 6^th place.    Bill Lanham kept the titles in Colorado with three championships for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado in the mid-1960s.  Lanham is in a tie for 7^th place with two other coaches, each with three championship titles.  Northeastern has recently restarted their wrestling program after a lapse of over 30 years.   Art Kraft coached Triton Community College in Illinois to three titles in a span from 1977-1984.  He also led his teams to over 260 dual meet wins and he ranks 12^th in that among junior college coaches.  Mark Leen won three for Garden City Community College in Kansas in the early 1990s.

Four coaches are tied for 10^th place with a pair of titles each.  Ron Eastin led Phoenix College of Arizona to two consecutive titles in the late 1960s.  Hogan won his pair of titles with North Idaho in the mid 1970s.  Then Robert Carlson led Lakeland Community College in Ohio to their only titles at the end of the 1970s.  Defending national champion coach Josh Rhoden brought Clackamas Community College in Oregon a second title in this decade.

Eleven other coaches that won a title for their school are tied for 18^th place and are listed below.  The coaches that have guided their teams to National Championships are commendable and worth recognition.  Our next coaches’ list will look at how all coaches of championship wrestling teams across all national collegiate divisions.  After that the number of dual meets won will be the focus of the next series of articles.

(I) = school is now a four year college or University
(cl) = the school has closed
(t) = teams tied for the title
 ** = school no longer has a team
  # = active coach
Championships by school 1^st ; North Idaho College ………14   2^nd ; Iowa Central Comm. College …….8,
3rd ; Lamar Jr. College (Col.) ….5,   4^th ; Lassen College ……… 4
5^th;(tie) Clackamas Comm. Coll. (Ore.), Garden City Comm. Coll. (Ks.), Labette Com. Col. (Ks.), Northeastern Jr. Coll. (Col.), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. & Triton Jr. Coll. (Ill.)… 3
11^th ;(tie) Lakeland Comm. Coll. (Ohio), Lincoln College (Ill.) & Phoenix Coll. (Ariz.) …… 2
14^th ; (tie) 9 colleges tied with 1 championship title each.

All-Time Individual Champs (by school):    1st. North Idaho Jr. Coll. … (52),  
2nd. Iowa Central Comm. Coll. … (50),                    3rd. Lamar Comm. Coll. … (26), 
4th. Clackamas Comm. Coll…. (22),                          5th. Lassen Jr. College ….(21),                     
6^th (tie) Colby Comm. Coll. & Lincoln Coll … (17),  8th.Phoenix College … (16),
9^th.(tie) Garden City C.C., Northwest Wyoming College, & Triton C.C. … (15),
12^th. North Iowa Area C.C. ..(14),                              13^th  Nassau Comm. Coll. … (13),  
14^th.(tie) Joliet Jr. Coll., Northeastern Oklahoma A&M & Ricks College …  (12), 
17^th.(tie) Labette Comm. Coll., Mesa Comm. Coll. & Muskegon Comm. Coll. … (11),   20^th.William Rainey Harper Coll. ….  (10),  
21^st.(tie) Bismarck State & Cuyahoga-West Comm.Coll….. (9),
23rd.(tie) Grand Rapids C.C., Neosho C.C., Rochester C.C.& Worthington Comm. Coll…. (8)
27th.(tie)  Ellsworth C.C., Gloucester C.C., Lakeland C.C., St. Louis/Meramec … (7)
31^st. (tie) Middlesex C.C., SUNY-Delhi A&T C.C. & Trinadad St. Jr. Coll. …  (6)
34^th. (tie) Niagara County C.C. & Northern Oklahoma Jr. College … (5)
36^th. (tie) Iowa Lakes C.C., Northeast, Ridgewater Coll.(Willmar), SUNY-Farmingdale, SUNY Morrisville A&T, Waldorf Coll., and Western Wyoming College … (4)
43^rd. (tie) 11 colleges with 3 champions each.
54^th. (tie) 14 colleges with 2 champions each.
68^th. (tie) 31 colleges with 1 champion each.

We welcome input about college wrestling history.  We are compiling a historical record of each year a college has had a wrestling team, their dual meet win-loss record and the name of the head coaches.   

November 5, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Wisconsin-Edinboro Match at Saegertown High School on Nov. 8th — Sold Out!

EDINBORO, Pa. – Sold Out! If you don’t have a ticket for Edinboro’s dual against Wisconsin, you’ll have to wait awhile longer to see the Fighting Scots wrestle. Saegertown High School officials informed head coach Matt Hill that the Saegertown High School gym is sold out.
Wisconsin is one of two Big 10 teams the Fighting Scots will face in 2019-20. The Badgers are highly-ranked this season, including sixth in the NWCA Division I Preseason Poll. Michigan comes into McComb Fieldhouse on February 21. Edinboro opens its second season under Hill on Saturday, November 2 in the Kent State Duals. In their first season as a member of the Mid-American Conference, the Fighting Scots will wrestle host Kent State in a MAC dual at 1:00 p.m. in their opening match. 
Rest of the story at https://gofightingscots.com/news/2019/10/31/wrestling-wisconsin-match-at-saegertown-high-school-sold-out.aspx?mc_cid=e14191cf06&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

November 5, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2019 NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Preseason Top 20 Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After winning its eighth-consecutive national title last year, Grand View (Iowa) again starts the season as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Wrestling Coaches’ Preseason Top 20 Poll. The next installment of the Coaches’ Poll is scheduled for Nov. 21.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000-2001)

• Grand View is No. 1 in the poll for the 52nd-consecutive time dating back to Oct. 17, 2012
• After winning their 8^th red banner in 2019 the Vikings are now tied with Adams State and Central State for the most national team titles (8) in NAIA history.
• Grand View had two individual national champions a year ago Evan Hansen and Josh Wenger, and both will return this season.
• Three-time NAIA National Champion, Evan Hansen looks to go four-for-four starting the 2019-20 season at No. 1 at 197 pounds.
• Five wrestlers who finished last year at No. 1 also start this season at No. 1: Josh Wenger, (149) of Grand View, Lucas Lovvorn (174) of Baker (Kan.) Anthony Orozco (184) of Menlo (Cailf.) and Brandon Reed (285) of Lindsey Wilson in addition to Evan Hansen (197).
• There are five new wrestlers at No. 1 to begin the 2019-20 season: Randy McCray Jr. (125) of Life (Ga.), Gresh Jones (133) of Dickinson State (N.D.), Ethan Owen (141) of Southeastern (Fla.), Tres Leon (157) of Cumberlands (Ky.) and Justin George (165) of Reinhardt (Ga.).
• Four teams are new to the poll, based on the postseason poll from last season: No. 3 Marian (Ind.), No. 11 Lourdes (Ohio), No. 18 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 19 Williams Baptist (Ark.)
• Since 2001, only Grand View (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-2018, 2018-19), former members Notre Dame (Ohio) (2010-11) and Lindenwood (Mo.) (2006-07) have spent the entire season ranked No. 1.
  Rest of the story and rankings at https://www.naia.org/sports/mwrest/2019-20/releases/MWrest-Preseason-Poll?mc_cid=e14191cf06&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

November 5, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ferrum’s Smith Receives Wrestle Like a Girl Courage Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ferrum College senior Talum Smith has been honored by the Wrestle Like a Girl Foundation with the 2019 Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston Courage Award presented by Tiffany and Company. Smith was presented with the award at the Wrestle Like a Girl Gala, held Wednesday, October 30, at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Accompanying Smith was Ferrum College President Dr. David Johns and Ferrum Women’s Wrestling Coach Breonnah Neal. The Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston Courage Award was created in 2016 by Wrestle Like A Girl to honor Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston and to recognize and celebrate the quality of courage that she admires most – personal courage. 
The Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston Courage Award honors athletes who have to use immense personal courage to be able to participate or compete in sports, even when participation could put them at great risk. The award celebrates athletes who choose to stand up for what is right, and who do what is right, rather than what is easy. The award recognizes an athlete in the United States or abroad whose actions demonstrate the qualities of personal courage in the spirit of Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston, as she left a life in Iran to join her family in the United States, where she become the first woman in America’s history to win a wrestling medal at the World Championships for the United States in 1989.  Smith has displayed the utmost courage and perseverance this far in her life. She was nominated for the award by her former coach Jessica Medina, who coached her for two seasons. Smith hails from Washington D.C. and will graduate from Ferrum this year. Smith grew up in Washington, D.C., with no aspirations of going to college. It wasn’t until she began wrestling and fell in love with the sport that she began thinking about earning a college education.  Rest of the story at https://www.ferrumpanthers.com/sports/wwrest/2019-20/releases/20191031k5db9n?mc_cid=e14191cf06&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

November 5, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Over 25 Ranked Wrestlers At The Southeast Open This Weekend!

TDR Notes; Several interesting questions to consider. Check them over and look at the video links.
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The Southeast Open should offer some insight into the NCAA season as 11 D1 teams — including #7 Missouri, #20 North Carolina, and hosts #18 Virginia Tech — square off on opening weekend. Here are some questions we hope to have answered this weekend as over 25 ranked wrestlers head to Hokie territory.
The field at the Southeast Open seems to get a little deeper each year. The list of ranked teams and wrestlers who may compete this weekend sets the stage for some fascinating early season drama. 
Here are five questions to consider:
1) Does David McFadden Look Ready to Win It All?
Virginia Tech senior David McFadden returns to 165 after finishing fifth in the NCAA last season at 174. McFadden’s starts the season ranked fourth in the country, but he has wins over #2 Alex Marinelli and #3 Evan Wick. In fact, the only wrestler in the field with a win over McFadden is two time NCAA Champion Vincenzo Joseph whose loss in last season’s NCAA final was against McFadden’s teammate Mekhi Lewis. McFadden could face a couple of ranked foes in UNC’s 18^th-ranked Joshua McClure and Campbell’s 24^th-ranked Quentin Perez.
Rest of the questions, details and story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/6587758-25-ranked-wrestlers-at-the-southeast-open-this-weekend?mc_cid=e14191cf06&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

November 5, 2019 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment