Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News, Notes & Results – # 15

From Track Wrestling
High School Insider: Shifting the spotlight to the ladies
To this point, the High School Insider this season has largely been focused on the biggest tournaments in boys wrestling with minimal exceptions. Today, that won’t be the case. Girls and women’s wrestling are growing at remarkable rates across the country and recently earned official emerging sport status in both NCAA Divisions II and III. This past weekend, some of the best high school wrestlers in the country went for the opportunity to be crowned a state champion in Iowa. Over 350 girls competed in the IWCOA Iowa irls State Tournament — a more than 300-percent increase from a year ago.  Tournament hosts Waverly-Shell Rock claimed the team title with 156.5 points, ahead of Charles City (128) and Dubuque Wahlert (121). Perhaps most impressively, WSR did so with a single state champion, showing off its impressive depth. Waverly-Shell Rock’s boys are also the top-ranked team in the state in Class 3A, showing that a good program and team culture can spread across teams and genders.  At 138 pounds, Jannell Avila of Lisbon became a state champion as a freshman, joining her brother Robert Avila, who won a boys state title at 126 pounds a year ago. They are the first brother-sister duo to do so in the state. Lastly, according to IAWrestle, the following four wrestlers all claimed state championships in their first year wrestling: Laken Lienhard of Crestwood of Cresco; Alaina Schmidt of Dubuque Wahlert, Dubuque; Kendal Clark of Humboldt and Salima Omari of Iowa City West. Just a remarkable feat for anyone in any sport.  … story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1580360190310&twSessionId=cmqaabkhog&postId=289532135&mc_cid=efd3bacf82&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Northern Michigan University Adds NCAA Women’s Wrestling
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees approved Friday (Feb. 14) the recommendation for the NMU Department of Athletics to begin a women’s wrestling program. Northern will be the first public university in Michigan to sponsor women’s wrestling as an NCAA scholarship level program. The team will compete as a club during 2020-21 and will move to NCAA Division II intercollegiate varsity status starting in fall 2021. “Northern has a tradition-rich history in women’s wrestling at the Olympic level and men’s wrestling at both the NCAA and Olympic levels,” said Forrest Karr, NMU director of athletics. “We are excited to bring women’s freestyle wrestling back to campus.” Northern hosted women’s wrestling as a non-NCAA varsity sport from fall 2004 through spring 2012. It was part of NMU’s then U.S. Olympic Education Center and was under the direction of USA Wrestling. The program saw a total of 76 women participate, including Olympians Randi Miller (bronze medalist, Beijing 2008), Adeline Gray (Rio 2016) and Helen Maroulis (gold medalist, Rio 2016). … story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Northern-Michigan-University-Adds-NCAA-14-2-2020

For the first time ever, a girls wrestling champion will be crowned in Nebraska
A new champion will be born, and it is one the state of Nebraska has yet to see. For the first time ever, Nebraska will have a girls high school state wrestling championship, hosted at York on Saturday.  “Last year, when the girls wrestling proposal failed (to become a high school sport) by two votes, our coaches association (Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association) decided we were going to have a state tournament, because the girls deserve one,” said Norm Manstedt, CEO of the association. “That’s how it started, and we started planning it. “The numbers last fall, when the girls took their hydration test, we could really see we had a really good amount of girls coming up. It was a no-brainer that we were going to do it.”
NSAA high school state duals begin next week, and with the district and state tournaments coming the following weeks, it was a conflict Manstedt and the coaches association had to overcome. Nearly 160 girls are wrestling in Nebraska during the high school season, and all are eligible to qualify for the state tournament. “Next weekend is the state duals tournament and some of these girls may be wrestling on some of those dual teams,” Manstedt said. “We didn’t want to take away from that … we wanted to make it during the season and this was a pretty logical time this weekend. We just felt this would be the ideal time to do it.” Registration opened at the beginning of January, and Mandstedt would have been pleased with 50 and 60 girls competing. Registration closed last Thursday with 112 entries represented by 39 teams in the one-class tournament. … story at https://journalstar.com/sports/high-school/wrestling/for-the-first-time-ever-a-girls-wrestling-champion-will/article_e79ed875-2d98-5f51-93d6-b7f76ed1d7ae.html?mc_cid=efd3bacf82&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Keeping Girls In the Game: Successful Coaches Coach Girls Differently
One of the issues we frequently address is how a lack of fun is increasingly driving our kids out of sports—and girls in particular are dropping out. New data shows girls abandon sports at 1.5 times the rate that boys do. This disproportionate dropout rate shows that we clearly need to better address girls’ challenges and find ways to nurture their love of sport. There’s one person positioned better than just about anyone else to help level the playing field for girls: their coach.
The Women’s Sports Foundation found that when girls like their coaches, they are more likely to:
keep playing
see the importance of being active
love their sport
Coaches who utilize supportive coaching practices that address girls’ challenges and nurture their love of sport are vital in getting and keeping girls involved.
Lisa Haag, head cross country and track & field coach at Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, Florida, has generated significant enthusiasm among students during her first year of coaching the program. “When I coach, my goal is to make practice be the best time of their day,” said Haag. “I am trying to make them love what they do. Everyone likes to have fun, so I try to set the stage early of what my expectations are when it’s time to work.” Girls have a different set of cultural experiences than boys do, especially when it comes to sports. … https://www.thepredicament.com/2020/01/keeping-girls-in-the-game-successful-coaches-coach-girls-differently/?mc_cid=efd3bacf82&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Lady Tigers make statement with win over No. 1 Life Running Eagles on Senior Night
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — A battle between two of the top-ranked teams in NAIA Women’s Wrestling battled on Wednesday night and No. 2 Campbellsville pulled the upset over No. 1 Life University in a big way, 33-13. “The team werstled very well tonight. They made it easy for me to wrestle our seniors.” “This team has really matured the last month. They believe now. They are ready to be the best team in the country” said head coach Lee Miracle after todays result. Life University (13-3) led the dual 3-1 after No. 4 Faye Cherrier won 8-2 over No. 7 McKenzie Bacich at 101 pounds but that was the lone lead the Running Eagles would have all night.  … story at https://campbellsvilletigers.com/news/2020/1/29/womens-wrestling-lady-tigers-make-statement-with-win-over-no-1-life-running-eagles-on-senior-night.aspx?mc_cid=efd3bacf82&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

#WomensWednesday: The history of WCWA Nationals, and why it has mattered so much
BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | JAN. 29, 2020,
Next weekend, many top women’s college wrestling teams will come together for the WCWA National Championships in Marietta, Ga., hosted by Life University for the second straight year. This year, the event has extra significance in the world of women’s wrestling, for a number of reasons. First, this is a qualifying event for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling at Penn State, April 4-5. The champions in each of the 10 weight classes qualify for the Olympic Trials at whatever Olympic weight class they choose. With the Olympic Trials field smaller in 2020 than in some previous Olympic cycles, these are valuable spots indeed. Secondly, USA Wrestling has chosen this event for its Special Wrestle-offs for the Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Canada. Three weight classes will be up for grabs, 50 kg, 53 kg and 57 kg. There are Olympic champion Helen Maroulis will be wrestling at 57 kg. 2019 World champion Jacarra Winchester will be at 53 kg. Two-time World silver medalist Alli Ragan (57 kg) and 2018 World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg) are also in the mix. Eight great wrestlers will compete, trying to earn the right to go qualify their weight class for the 2020 Olympics. Then there is the competition, which should be at a high level, a chance for college women wrestlers to bring home a national title or All-American honors. The event allows programs from any college affiliation a chance to test themselves. This year’s WCWA Nationals is at a crossroads in history, caused by the tremendous growth and expanded opportunities in women’s college wrestling. … story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/January/29/History-of-WCWA-Nationals?mc_cid=efd3bacf82&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

February 16, 2020 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment