Takedown Report

College News & Notes — #87

With the sports world shutting down for coronavirus, here’s why one college wrestling tournament decided to keep going
The National Collegiate Wrestling Association proceeded, with the top team’s coach calling the pandemic ‘overhyped’ and ‘political.’
ALLEN — The Allen Event Center was host to the only show in town. And not just this town, but town after town, possibly the ZIP code, the county and the state. Heck, maybe even the country. Sporting events are canceled because of efforts to contain the coronavirus. Churches are closing, casinos are being shuttered, TV shows have banished studio audiences, and states have enacted prohibitions on large gatherings.
That didn’t stop the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships from occurring, with hundreds of athletes scheduled to participate under one roof and in close contact. Athletes who will soon travel back to home states as far as Washington and New York. “I think a lot of this is driven by fear,” the NCWA executive director, Jim Giunta, said Friday on why he didn’t cancel the event. “We’re going to do everything in our power to create an environment that’s more than safe for our athletes. But after we do everything we can do, we’re going to operate on faith rather than fear.”
The event featured 84 colleges from around the country and 600-plus athletes. Schools as large as UCLA and Ohio State, and as small as Richland Community College. It’s the preeminent event for collegiate wrestling that is outside the jurisdiction of the NCAA, which has canceled all postseason competition through the 2020 spring and winter seasons. Eleven schools never made it to the tournament because of coronavirus concerns, and around nine more schools pulled out before the competition began but had still made the trip to Allen. But for the NCWA, the show still went on. Even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health experts around the world strongly suggested against large gatherings like the one held in Allen from Thursday through Saturday evening. “I think when we start to cancel these events, the actual athlete and the hard work kind of fades away from them,” said UT- Arlington coach Collin Stroner, who noted that his concern about the coronavirus was “on the back burner.” …. rest of the story at https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/2020/03/14/faith-over-fear-while-the-ncaa-closed-shop-for-coronavirus-these-collegiate-wrestlers-were-grappling-in-allen/?mc_cid=143786004c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Replay the winter sports season? The NCAA is wrestling with that question and others
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Should the NCAA allow seniors on basketball teams, wrestling teams and other winter sports to return next season for another year of eligibility? That’s one of the questions the NCAA will consider when it holds a vote on Monday. The NCAA also will consider extending an extra year of eligibility to those playing spring sports, since those were wiped out by the virus. Cleveland State athletic director Scott Garrett believes the measure to let seniors who planned to play spring sports this year return for another season “make sense” and is likely to pass. Not every player will want to return. Some elite baseball players were expecting to enter the Major League Baseball draft in June. That also assumes MLB has its draft on schedule. That probably will happen, but who knows in this climate of uncertainty. The other element is cost. Spring sports are much cheaper than Division I basketball. As Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said, “We played 30 games, but we didn’t have our conference tournament. We didn’t finish our season, but we had a long season. It’s a hard one to figure out.” Dambrot said some teams such as his were preparing for their conference tournaments. Others had already secured an NCAA berth. Yet for others, the season was over. …. rest of story at https://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/2020/03/replay-the-winter-sports-season-the-ncaa-is-wrestling-with-that-question-and-others.html?mc_cid=5dfdb1c828&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Jakobsen stuck on sidelines
By Zach Sturniolo    
Jake Jakobsen was already gearing up for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships that were slated for March 19. After a fifth-place finish at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships at 194 pounds on March 7, everything was in place for Jakobsen’s second consecutive appearance on the national stage. All the stepping stones were complete – all the youth wrestling that led to high school, becoming a PIAA Class 3A title winner at 195 pounds during his senior year at Stroudsburg to become Monroe County’s first state champion, and another trip to nationals. That excitement and anticipation was wiped away from the Lehigh University senior wrestler in an instant on Thursday when the NCAA announced its decision to cancel all remaining winter and spring sports championships in light of recent developments regarding COVID-19. “It’s disappointing,” Jakobsen said Friday in a phone interview. “I was talking to my girlfriend about this – I’ve wrestled since I was 4 years old, so the whole time since you’re 4 years old, your ultimate goal is to win a national college title and be on an Olympic team and win an Olympic title.”
“That’s what all the little kids strive for. So all the stepping stones of (competing to be) a youth state champion, a high school state champion, just stepping stones. And for this year to have that opportunity taken way, it does suck and it’s a disappointment.” …. story at https://www.poconorecord.com/sports/20200314/jakobsen-stuck-on-sidelines?mc_cid=143786004c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Now, for What Might Have Been ….

2020 NCAA Div. 1 Wrestling Tournament brackets released
BY USA WRESTLING | MARCH 11, 2020, 
The 2020 Division 1 NCAA wrestling brackets have been released following the NCAA selection show. All ten brackets can be viewed here.
No. 1 Seeds
125 – Spencer Lee (Iowa)
133 – Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern)
141 – Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)
149 – Pat Lugo (Iowa)
157 – Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
165 – Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
174 – Mark Hall (Penn State)
184 – Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa)
197 – Kollin Moore (Ohio State)
285 – Gable Steveson (Minnesota) …. story and listing here https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/March/11/2020-NCAA-Tournament-brackets-released?mc_cid=665dd2a84f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NCAA DI wrestling championships qualifiers, brackets announced for 2020
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA announced the 48 at-large selections for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis.
2020 WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP: See the brackets | Watch the selection show
The wrestlers, listed in alphabetical order by weight class, join the 282 student-athletes that qualified automatically through their conference tournament finishes last weekend.  The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the following selection criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and conference tournament finish.
RANKINGS: RPI | Coaches
Seeding and brackets for this year’s event were revealed March 11, during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Selection Show on NCAA.com.
MORE: Understand the mat layout for the 2020 wrestling championship …. rest of the list and details at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2020-03-10/ncaa-di-wrestling-championships-qualifiers-brackets-announced?mc_cid=11ed9cb2ed&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NCAA Wrestling Championships: 5 Iowa story lines affected by unexpected cancellation
The college wrestling season came to an abrupt end this week when the NCAA decided to cancel its winter sports championships. Here are some notable storylines affected by the turn of events:
1. Spencer Lee declined Olympic redshirt, denied third title
Spencer Lee had options to start this season. The two-time NCAA and three-time World freestyle champion could have taken an Olympic redshirt to train for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and a chance to represent USA Wrestling in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Instead, Lee decided to balance that pursuit with his return to the Iowa lineup, looking to lead the Hawkeyes to their first NCAA team title since 2010.
The selfless and team-first decision seemed to work perfectly. The top-ranked 125-pounder dominated college competition, posting an 18-0 mark with 17 bonus-point victories and outscoring opponents 234-18. The Hodge Trophy candidate won his first Big Ten Conference title, helping Iowa to the team crown. He also managed to secure an Olympic Trials berth, winning the U.S. Senior Nationals title during a break in the December schedule. But, the cancellation prevented Lee from an opportunity to match Hawkeye greats, like current head coach Tom Brands, Ed Banach, Barry Davis, Jim Zalesky, Lincoln McIlravy and Joe Williams as three-time titlists.
The cancellation cost him a chance to become Iowa’s first four-timer, joining Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith, Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson, Cornell University’s Kyle Dake and Ohio State’s Logan Stieber as the only wrestlers to achieve the feat. Unless the NCAA grants this year’s qualifiers with another season of eligibility (discussions have begun), Lee was derailed by something out of his control and not by an opponent.
2. Iowa was poised for first national title since 2010
Top-ranked Iowa was expected to celebrate its return to the top of college wrestling’s heap. The Hawkeyes rolled through every competition this season and the NCAA tournament seemed to be the likely exclamation mark on a special season. …. story at https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/ncaa-wrestling-championships-5-storylines-affection-by-unexpected-cancellation-20200315?mc_cid=143786004c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Penn State Wrestling: Byers Recalls the Season That Ended in Heartbreak
He’s the Iron Man of Penn State wrestling who just happens to be known as “Ironhead.” Jeff Byers has now completed his 31st year of providing radio coverage of the Nittany Lions. And to me, he’s not just a legend for his longevity. He’s also a local treasure for the way he trumpets the greatness of the Nittany Lions while still showing respect for opposing teams.  In what has become an annual tradition, I sat down with Byers on Wednesday to review the Big Ten tournament and look ahead to the NCAA tournament. What we did not know then was that the NCAA event would soon become another cancellation victim of the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, we resumed our conversation two days later to discuss the disappointment that was felt by so many collegiate wrestlers. Immediately below are edited portions of our initial discussion; keep reading to see our more recent thoughts from a later conversation on Friday.
If you had to describe Penn State’s season in a nutshell, what would you say? 
Byers:  It was challenging for sure. It’s just not possible to have the number of injuries they had and not see an impact. But I also think it was exciting and I think it was fun to see some different guys get an opportunity to grow and get better. So they had Seth Nevills fill in for a returning national champ, Anthony Cassar. And they were able to bring in Aaron Brooks off a redshirt and move up Shakur Rasheed to 197 pounds. All of that speaks to the depth of the program. …. story at https://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/penn-state-wrestling-byers-recalls-the-season-that-ended-in-heartbreak,1482736/?mc_cid=aa0e6118fc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NCAA announces fan restrictions and 2020 brackets
While  the NCAA is unsure how many fans will watch the 2020 Division I Nationals — after the organization announced that all winter championships, including wrestling, would go on without fans because of the Coronavirus — the wrestling committee did know what the action might look like and released brackets for all ten weights.
NCAA_D1_2020 Brackets
The following are the top four seeds per weight class that will be held in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, March 19-21:
125 –  1. Spencer Lee (Iowa), 2. Pat Glory (Princeton), 3. Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 4. Jack Mueller (Virginia)
133 – 1. Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), 2. Seth Gross (Wisconsin), 3. Chas Tucker (Cornell), 4. Micky Phillippi (Pitt) …. story at https://www.win-magazine.com/2020/03/ncaa-announces-fan-restrictions-and-2020-brackets/?mc_cid=665dd2a84f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NCAA Announces No Fans For Winter Championships
While the NCAA wrestling championships will be held this spring amidst the ongoing battle against COVID-19 (Coronavirus), it will be without the usual sellout crowds.  After consultation with its advisory panel, the NCAA made the decision to hold all winter championships, including Men’s basketball, in front of only “essential staff and limited family attendance”.  With Minneapolis as this year’s NCAA wrestling host, fans from across the state of North Dakota planned on attending the event; many for the first time.  Details have not yet emerged as to what that means, but NDwrestle will update with pertinent information as it is made available.  The following is the full statement from NCAA President Mark Emmert:The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation …. story at https://ndwrestle.com/2020/03/11/ncaa-announces-no-fans-for-winter-championships/?mc_cid=665dd2a84f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 1, 2020 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Coaching and Program Changes

TDR Editor’s notes ; It can be sobering, baffling at times, and sad whenever a wrestling program ends at a college. It is more understandable when the entire school closes. The most recent school to announce they are closing is MacMurray in a town in Illinois that we visited in 2016. We stopped in Jacksonville to see the home and markers for General Benjamin Grierson who led Union troops in the Civil War. His most famous action was his raid through Mississippi (only state w/o sanctioned high school wrestling) during the siege of Vicksburg. John Wayne played him in the movie ‘Horse Soldiers’. Grierson’s interesting history also includes post war service leading the ‘buffalo soldiers’ of the 10th U.S. Cavalry. We visited their memorial at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas on our 2015 summer trip as we went southward to Stillwater, Oklahoma to see the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, of course!
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MacMurray College, wrestling programs to close
The Board of Trustees of MacMurray College in Illinois has announced the small private college will be closing down after 174 years … along with its men’s and women’s intercollegiate wrestling programs, which were added to their sports roster less than four years ago.
As InterMat reported in January of 2016, the school had announced it was bringing back its men’s wrestling program which had been eliminated decades earlier, and was introducing a new women’s intercollegiate program. Both took to the mats in fall 2017.
The men’s roster listed ten team members, about evenly split between wrestlers from Illinois and Missouri, and the rest from as far away as Maryland and Texas. By contrast, the 14-member women’s wrestling roster had only one Illinois native; Texas and California each can claim five women wrestlers. MacMurray wrestling has three coaches: head coach Graham Karwath, and assistant coaches Jeff Haley and Conner Linehan. MacMurray College sports programs competed in NCAA Division III.
3More on the MacMurray College closing
Here’s how the State Journal News of nearby Springfield opened its news story on the closure: “After years of financial struggles, MacMurray College will close its doors at the end of the spring semester, the college announced Friday.” The newspaper went on to say that MacMurray had battled financial challenges for a number of years. ….. story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23470?fbclid=IwAR3zXCgVsgC34IgnVci1CC0PKU2mdWQx4_rF4zLFW_PwTa4IiBXXloMlx-Q

Oregon State Program to Have Leadership Change
Corvallis — Oregon State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes announced Monday that there will be a change of leadership of the wrestling program at the conclusion of the season.
 “I want to thank Coach Jim Zalesky for his dedication to Oregon State University and his commitment to the young men in our wrestling program,” Beaver Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes said. “We wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.”
 Zalesky started his head coaching career at OSU in 2006 after eight years leading the University of Iowa program.
 Two Beaver wrestlers, Devan Turner (133) and Grant Willits (141), are guaranteed to represent OSU at the NCAA Championships at the March 19-21 tournament in Minneapolis. Turner won the Pac-12 title last week and Willits was runner up at his weight. … story at https://osubeavers.com/news/2020/3/9/wrestling-program-to-have-leadership-change.aspx?mc_cid=178e8cf0d6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Ritchey to retire after 25 seasons as SOU men’s wrestling head coach
ASHLAND – Mike Ritchey, who shaped the culture of Southern Oregon University athletics over the course of four decades in the department, announced his retirement Tuesday after 25 seasons as the Raiders’ head men’s wrestling coach. A nine-time regional coach of the year and the two-time NAIA Coach of the Year, Ritchey’s role in sustaining SOU’s status as a national powerhouse began with his run as the team’s first four-time NAIA All-American from 1984-88. After winning one NAIA team championship, one NWCA dual championship and overseeing 22 of the Raiders’ 35 NAIA individual titles, he’ll leave matched with his predecessor, Bob Riehm, as the longest-tenured head coach in the history of SOU athletics. “I would like to thank God for the opportunity to be a part of the SOU community for 36 years and feel he has a plan for my future in retirement,” Ritchey said. “All things come to an end and this is my ending as a head coach. I feel the time is right in my life and in the program’s trajectory that we find a fresh set of eyes and new philosophies to bring the program back to prominence. I am so grateful to have coached so many great young men; there are too many to mention. I feel our current wrestlers are ready to make some ‘Natty’ noise next year and I’m so very sorry that I can’t continue in this role for many different reasons. However, I will be involved as long as possible.” Ritchey, starting with his first season in 1995-96, guided the Raiders to 23 consecutive winning dual records and finished with an overall mark of 235-107. …. story at https://souraiders.com/news/2020/3/10/ritchey-to-retire-after-25-seasons-as-sou-mens-wrestling-head-coach.aspx?mc_cid=11ed9cb2ed&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Slippery Rock administration commits to wrestling, contingent upon funding
News coming out of PA regarding men’s and women’s wrestling.
…. article at https://rokfin.com/article/947?affiliate_id=1826&mc_cid=11ed9cb2ed&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Navy Announces Wrestling Coaching Change
ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced Friday that Joel Sharratt will not return as head coach of the Navy wrestling program. A national search will begin immediately for the program’s next head coach. “My gratitude to Joel for his efforts and the many contributions he has made to the Naval Academy over his tenure,” said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. “We have realized some very successful moments that will be remembered for many years to come. On behalf of those within the NAAA and wrestling community, our sincerest appreciation and very best wishes as he moves forward with new opportunities.” Sharratt, who guided the Midshipmen to an 8-6 mark in 2020, closed out his Navy career with a 43-24 record. Under his leadership, Navy sent five or more wrestlers to the NCAA Championship in four of his six seasons, including two four-time NCAA qualifiers and one All-American. Four wrestlers completed their careers ranked on Navy’s all-time top 20 individual wins list, while student-athletes won four EIWA individual titles under his tutelage. …. story at https://navysports.com/news/2020/3/13/navy-announces-wrestling-coaching-change.aspx?mc_cid=dd3ca5e7e5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Riggs named head men’s wrestling coach at Ferrum College
FERRUM, Va. — Director of Athletics John Sutyak has announced the hiring of Ryan Riggs as head men’s wrestling coach at Ferrum College. Riggs has been with the Panther wrestling program the past four seasons and recently completed his second year as associate head coach. “We are extremely pleased that Ryan Riggs has agreed to be the next head men’s wrestling coach at Ferrum College,” said Sutyak. “Ryan has been instrumental in helping to build Ferrum into a national program and regional power within the NCAA. Having an accomplished coach already on staff allows us to continue the upward trajectory of Ferrum men’s wrestling on the national level. In having the opportunity to work with him and observe him as a coach the last few months, I have full confidence in Ryan and how we will work together to keep Ferrum men’s wrestling strong.” Riggs was promoted to associate head coach at Ferrum in July 2018. In doing so, he took on more day-to-day operations of the program, including recruiting, fundraising, practice development and coordinating Ferrum men’s wrestling social media presence. He was instrumental in helping Ferrum host the 2019 NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia. Riggs also helped the Panthers host the NCAA Southeast Regional tournaments in 2017 and 2018. He has served as tournament director for the Star City Classic, Southeast Duals and Panther Open, all tournaments hosted by Ferrum. …. story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23482?fbclid=IwAR3m4q4pAJ8SI6c3BqLIGkcFodk6DHiPpGKwuvZ-8gh1YDjzj0FMhgMt4Bg

April 1, 2020 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment