Takedown Report

2nd Women’s Wrestling Notes, Results & News

Utah High School Athletics Assoc. sanctions girls’ wrestling in Utah
By Mark Palmer, InterMat Wrestling
Add the state of Utah to the growing list of states to officially sanction girls’ wrestling. The Board of Trustees of the Utah High School Athletics Association — governing body for prep sports within the state — has approved girls’ wrestling beginning in the 2020-21 school year, the Standard-Examiner newspaper has reported. The Ogden, Utah-based newspaper added that the inaugural official girls wrestling state tournament could be anticipated to take place sometime in February or March 2021. “There’s much to figure out in the meantime,” the Standard-Examiner continued. “The Board of Trustees’ approval simply approved sanctioning and nothing else at the moment. “Details like how many classifications, weight classes, regions, state tournament logistics and many more have yet to be figured out,” UHSAA assistant director Jon Oglesby said. The National Federation of State High School Associations reports that Utah high schools added 23 participants in girls wrestling for a total of 124 when comparing the 2017-18 school year to 2018-19. Girls’ high school wrestling has enjoyed tremendous growth in the past couple years. By InterMat’s count, Utah becomes the 20th state to officially add girls’ wrestling to the list of officially sanctioned high school sports. In calendar year 2019, five states have sanctioned girls’ wrestling, including New Mexico, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and Maryland.  Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22682?fbclid=IwAR3Mk35h6mDN-7iv4wS-Nqlw7kvtPVyLX7XM4eAbFNqJy3X3n7SSDW_d7iw

Presbyterian College PC pulls out all the stops on its women’s wrestling program
Women’s wrestling made its first home mark on Presbyterian College on Saturday, and it was just as clear that PC wants to make a mark on wrestling. It was a big deal, publicized weeks in advance. The Blue Hose, the only such sports program at the moment in NCAA Division I, split matches against Limestone and Life University of Marietta, Ga. Women’s wrestling is on the fast track to championship status by the governing body of intercollegiate athletics. College president Bob Staton and athletics director Robert Acunto aim to make PC prominent in wrestling. The program handed out at the door had printed on its cover: “Witness History in the Making.” It drew a crowd. A good portion wandered off after the grand entrance, a 38-11 win over Limestone, but when Cassandra Lopez, Jaslynn Gallegos and Rita Morales – freshmen all – pinned their opponents in the first three matches, the roars in Templeton Center were reminiscent of District 6 playoff basketball games in the 1980s. Scott Casbar came from Iowa to describe the action. He dressed in black tie, describing the action as if he was on national TV instead of public address. He led into the matches with a Michael Buffer-like delivery of “let’s do this thing!” Mike Moyer of Lancaster, Pa., was there in his capacity as director of the National Wresting Coaches Association. He seemed vitally interested and thoroughly impressed. Casbar’s expert function was to produce a roaring crowd consisting largely of people whose roars concerned something they knew relatively little about. Adding to the theatrics was an inserted exhibition between two little girls, and the most disapponted loser of the whole afternoon was one of those girls, who looked as if she had just discovered, much to her shock, that she wasn’t the greatest wrestler in the world. If this reads as judgmental, it isn’t meant that way. Her tender feelings were quite heartwarming. Out in the lobby, spectators perused plans for a wrestling arena. The possible site is near the baseball and softball fields, possibly servicing those sports with restrooms and concessions, as well as providing needed office space for a variety of sports. VIPs and board members watched the new women’s sport from close range. They all seemed delighted. Rest of the story at http://www.golaurens.com/goclinton/pc-pulls-out-all-the-stops-on-its-women-s/article_e8fc3150-192f-11ea-978b-97a41a55c156.html?mc_cid=4692e6bf0d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

PELAYO WINS HER FIRST MSC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Bowling Green, KY – Freshman, Cynthia Pelayo, wins the Mid-South Conference Wrestler of the Week honor, announced by the conference office on Monday. Pelayo competed in her first collegiate match on Friday against conference rival, third-ranked Campbellsville. She was able to defeat fifth-ranked Charlotte Fowler by pin fall after 2:06. This is the first time that Fowler, a redshirt senior, has lost by pin fall this season. Unranked Pelayo was one of just two wrestlers on either team to defeat an opposition ranked higher than them and she was the only wrestler to upset her opponent by pin fall. The Bakersfield, CA native is the first freshman to win MSC Wrestler of the Week this year and only the second freshman to win the award since its inception. This is the second time this season a UC women’s wrestler has taken home the MSC Wrestler of the Week award. Junior, Bridgette Duty won the award to open the season last month. The Patriots will return to action starting on December 19 for the two-day tournament, The U.S. Open, in Dallas, TX. Rest of the story at https://cumberlandspatriots.com/news/2019/12/9/womens-wrestling-pelayo-wins-her-first-msc-wrestler-of-the-week.aspx?mc_cid=4692e6bf0d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Oklahoma City University’s Freund takes first SAC women’s wrestler of week
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University’s Sydney Freund became the first Sooner Athletic Conference women’s wrestler of the week. Freund, a junior from San Tan Valley, Ariz., captured the 143-pound title in the Wayland Baptist Invitational on Saturday at the Laney Center in Plainview, Texas. Freund won all four of her matches by fall to match the most pins in the tournament. Freund pinned Jessica Carbajal from Richland (Texas) in 20 seconds in the championship final. Freund began her day by defeating Texas Wesleyan’s Elizabeth Harris, ranked 17th in the NAIA at 143 pounds, in a 49-second fall. She has a 6-2 record this season with five falls for the Stars, ranked seventh in the NAIA. Rest of the story at https://www.ocusports.com/news/2019/12/9/womens-wrestling-ocus-freund-takes-first-sac-womens-wrestler-of-week.aspx?mc_cid=4692e6bf0d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Sooner Athletic Conference SPONSORS WOMEN’S WRESTLING AS LEAGUE SPORT
Courtesy of the SAC – Link

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference will offer a women’s wrestling championship in the upcoming year as part of the league’s continued growth. Four full-time conference member institutions – Central Christian, Oklahoma City University, Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist – field women’s wrestling teams. Lyon will compete with those schools as a per-sport SAC member in the inaugural SAC women’s wrestling championships Feb. 29, 2020 in Plainview, Texas. The SAC could include more schools competing in women’s wrestling before the championship meet in February. Presidents of the SAC member institutions approved the league’s sponsorship of women’s wrestling in June. In more than 40 years of existence, the Sooner Athletic Conference has set itself apart by winning more NAIA championships than any other conference (109). The league will now award 14 team championships. “Women’s wrestling is really gaining momentum in the collegiate ranks, and the SAC is eager to continue that upward swing,” SAC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said. “We are starting with a solid group of teams and hope to add more quality members in the not too distant future. It’s an exciting opportunity to come alongside these programs for the purpose of providing well deserved support and recognition.” The SAC Championships figure to be a competitive meet. All five competing teams received votes in the most recent NAIA poll with Wayland Baptist garnering the No. 6 spot. Oklahoma City stood seventh, while Lyon held the 10th slot. Texas Wesleyan was 19th in the rankings. The SAC will award women’s wrestlers of the week. Women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the NAIA. The sport has grown tremendously from just a handful of institutions that sponsored it to 28 member schools in 2019-20. Continued growth at this rate could signal the sport’s movement from invitational to championship status in the future. The SAC will join the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Mid-South Conference as NAIA leagues sponsoring women’s wrestling. Rest of the story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/SAC-SPONSORS-WOMEN-S-WRESTLING-AS-10-12-2019

December 11, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized