Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

College News # 89

CJ LaFragola enjoyed, however briefly, being a rare 3-sport college athlete
CJ LaFragola sat on the bench in the top of the ninth inning. There was no guarantee he would make his collegiate baseball debut in the 0-0 game March 6 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. But Sacred Heart University coach Nick Restaino called LaFragola’s No. 11 to pinch run after Stephen Thibault walked. The 22-year-old from Little Egg Harbor Township persisted through several pickoff attempts, stole second base and then scored for a 1-0 Pioneers win over Ball State. Almost a year ago to the day, LaFragola wasn’t digging into the dirt looking to make a break for second base. He wasn’t even at Sacred Heart. LaFragola was rolling around the mat at Brown University preparing for his third and final appearance in the NCAA Division I wrestling championships. Last fall, the 2015 St. Joseph High School graduate wasn’t taking batting practice during fall baseball sessions. He donned a Pioneers football helmet and participated in thud contact practices in preparation for the season. …. story at https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/cj-lafragola-enjoyed-however-briefly-being-a-rare–sport/article_b7076d61-e9fb-5a3a-a13e-1d619126d1d9.html?mc_cid=1270ffe756&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

WolfPack Wrestling Sweeps ACC Season Honors
Hidlay brothers named Wrestler and Freshman of the Year, Popolizo top coach
RALEIGH, N.C. – Led by a historic first by brothers Hayden and Trent Hidlay, ACC champion NC State has swept the league’s season honors for the 2019-20 season.  Hayden Hidlay (157 pounds) was selected the ACC Wrestler of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches, while younger brother Trent (184) earned ACC Freshman of the Year honors. In addition, the Wolfpack’s Pat Popolizio was chosen by his peers as the ACC Coach of the Year.  Hayden and Trent Hidlay are the first pair of brothers to claim both ACC major season wrestling awards (in the same year or otherwise). It marks the 10th time that an NC State student-athlete has been voted the ACC Wrestler of the Year and the fourth time a Wolfpack wrestler has been named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Three NC State coaches have earned ACC Coach of the Year honors a total of nine times.  …. story at https://gopack.com/news/2020/3/31/-packwrestle-sweeps-acc-wrestling-season-honors.aspx?mc_cid=1f2298c90d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Southeastern University Wrestling Battles Through Peaks and Valleys during Historic Season
The 2019-20 Southeastern University wrestling started and finished with the program’s best rankings at those two points, but there’s much more to the story than that. In Brandon Jorge‘s first season as the head coach, the Fire recorded their highest preseason, in-season, and postseason NAIA rankings, the first top-ranked wrestler, most national qualifiers, and most dual meet victories in program history. Again, there’s much more to the story than that. Southeastern entered its annual Fire Duals tournament ranked seventh nationally and sporting a 6-0 record, and played host to three of the Top 20 programs in the NAIA. The Fire scored just 21 points in the three matches, and lost two-time All-American and top-ranked Ethan Owen for the season. The Fire dropped out of the Top 10, and easily could have folded up camp for the season, but the team bounced back with an excellent showing in the second half of the season.  “I am most proud of how hard this team worked towards our goals,” said Jorge of his maiden voyage as head coach. “Even through all the ups and downs of the season, through all the injuries, and through all the big wins we had – we stayed focused and worked hard. “We broke a number of program records this year, but most importantly we had our highest ever team GPA in the fall semester.” In the tournament following the Fire Duals, Southeastern went 4-0 at the Cascade Duals in Arizona, which featured a pair of Top 15 victories and was highlighted by Dylan Chatterton’s convincing win over then-No. 1 Casey Dobson of Providence (Mont.). …. story at https://fire.seu.edu/news/2020/3/31/wrestling-battles-through-peaks-and-valleys-during-historic-season.aspx?mc_cid=1f2298c90d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Penn State Keeping Busy
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Going from weeks of carefully-crafted practices to self-isolation in an eerily empty State College, Vincenzo Joseph faced the largest match-up of his career – quarantine. The 165-pound senior was weeks away from his last NCAA Championships appearance where he planned on making his third trip to the top of the podium. Joseph, who clinched two NCAA titles and a runner-up finish last year, had one last shot before he’d pursue a post-graduate wrestling career with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. But as the tournament neared, Joseph worried his biggest obstacle wouldn’t just be the top-notch competition, but instead, a pandemic rapidly spreading through the nation.  It felt like every day the wrestlers would gradually hear more rumors about possible delays, postponements and cancellations of the season. Coaches pushed for consistency in practices. Athletes continued with their training routines. But Joseph had his own reservations. “I was walking to practice the day that they canceled the tournament,” …. story at https://gopsusports.com/news/2020/3/30/wrestling-keeping-busy.aspx?mc_cid=864912e0e4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Rutgers’ Alvarez reflects on 1st collegiate season in interview
After a regular season that saw him compile a 26-10 record, true freshman 133-pounder Sammy Alvarez was able to claim the 10th seed at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships before the event was canceled due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).  Alvarez was already having a successful season. Wrestling at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC), Alvarez earned sixth place in his weight class at the Big Ten Championships.  During the regular season, Alvarez was crowned the Southern Scuffle champion. He defeated No. 4 Micky Phillippi from Pittsburg and No. 9 Cam Sykora from North Dakota State. Additionally, Alvarez claimed victory against eight ranked opponents. Alvarez recalls important lessons learned and experiences gained from his first year on the Rutgers wrestling team. 
Q: Besides the season ending early, what did you think about your first year at Rutgers? 
A: I thought it was a big growing period. I learned a lot on the mat as well as off. It was a good year. It was important to my development as a wrestler and it will definitely carry into the next season.
Q: What was the significance for you to stay home and wrestle instead of going to North Carolina State? 
A: Staying home and wrestling for your home state is definitely a big factor. It’s a huge difference, rather than being eight hours away and in a totally different conference. It’s a different scale. I think it’s more important to me to stay home and wrestle in front of the people I’ve wrestled in front of my entire life. 
Q: Did you feel like you had big shoes to fill with the departure of Anthony Ashnault and Nick Surino redshirting? 
A: It was definitely more of an expectation that we set as a team and a program. It wasn’t just about me, it’s always more than one guy … I think it was definitely exciting, and it was definitely something that was always in the back of our minds, that we’re capable of putting Rutgers on the map and competing at a high level. …. rest of story & interview at https://www.dailytargum.com/article/2020/04/rutgers-wrestling-sammy-alvarez-reflects-feature-2020?mc_cid=3d6cefac15&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Drury University wrestling head coach featured on the Panthers Podcast
On this week’s Drury Panthers Podcast, we visit with wrestling head coach James Reynolds.  The Panthers had two wrestlers set to compete at the NCAA-II championship tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but the event was canceled the day before it was scheduled to start. Coach Reynolds talks with us about dealing with the cancellation, the accomplishments of Peter Kuster and Jared Rennick in getting through a tough SuperRegional bracket to qualify for nationals, and why he’s excited about next season.  We also start our Senior Day recognition.  On this week’s show – we’ll acknowledge seniors …. story at https://drurypanthers.com/news/2020/4/4/general-du-wrestling-head-coach-featured-on-the-panthers-podcast.aspx?mc_cid=3d6cefac15&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

FOR BARONE, LESSONS LEARNED AS ILLINI WILL CARRY OVER
By Matt Daniels, The News-Gazette
mdaniels@news-gazette.com
Read on News-Gazette.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Jim Heffernan described Eric Barone in a pretty apt way. “If there’s something to do,” the Illinois wrestling coach said of his fifth-year senior, “he’s not going to procrastinate.” Case in point: Barone’s future job prospects. The Crystal Lake native earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting last May from Illinois. By August, he had a job lined up at Deloitte, where he will work in the financial company’s tax division. Even with one season of eligibility remaining to wrestle with the Illini before the start of the 2019-2020 season. “My parents were definitely happy that I had a job before starting my last year of school,” Barone said with a laugh of the job he’s planning on starting in July. “It was a relief, too.” Barone has extra time on his hands, now, to prep for his entry into the business world after his final season wrestling at Illinois was cut short. Barone was one of three seniors at Illinois, along with Travis Piotrowski and Joey Gunther, who had qualified for the NCAA Championships before the event in Minneapolis – scheduled for last week – was canceled on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic. …. story at https://fightingillini.com/news/2020/3/23/illinois-wrestling-and-academics-prepared-barone-for-future.aspx?mc_cid=a94878ac8d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 10, 2020 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Women’s Wresling News — # 32

2021 Iowa High School Girls State Wrestling Championships
CORALVILLE (March 23, 2020) – Think Iowa City is pleased to announce that the 2021 Iowa High School Girls State Wrestling Championships presented by the Iowa Wrestling Officials and Coaches Association will take place at Xtream Arena – the new 5,100 seat venue and adjacent 58,000 square foot GreenState Family Fieldhouse set to open this fall in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing. The 2021 Iowa High School Girls State Wrestling Championships presented by the Iowa Wrestling Officials and Coaches Association will take place January 22 and 23, 2021 and will be hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock High School, Iowa City West High School and Iowa City City High School.”The new facilities set to open next August in Coralville are perfect for this event,” said Bob Murphy, Executive Director, Iowa Wrestling Officials and Coaches Association. “We’ll be utilizing both Xtream Arena and the GreenState Family Fieldhouse both state of the art and first class facilities for our high school athletes.” “I’m excited to work with Luke, Josh and their team at Think Iowa City,” added Eric Whitcome, Head Coach at Waverly-Shell Rock. “They know how to put on top notch events like the USAW Olympic Team Trials, 2018 UWW World Cup, and next season’s Dan Gable Donnybrook. I know our high school girls will receive the red carpet treatment.” The Iowa High School Girls State Wrestling Tournament has taken place during its inaugural two years at Waverly-Shell Rock. In 2019 the event attracted 87 wrestlers and in 2020 the event grew to 376 wrestlers. …. story at https://www.thepredicament.com/2020/03/2021-iowa-high-school-girls-state-wrestling-championships/?mc_cid=3137d16555&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2019-20 Jim Wade Award winner: Rachel Watters, women’s wrestling
Rachel Watters guzzled her soda in February like she had after every tournament she has wrestled in since she was a sophomore in high school.
But as Watters gulped her Mountain Dew at the Cracker Barrel in Marietta, Ga., she downed her pop for the first time as a national champion.
Watters celebrated with her father and teammates after winning the 155-pound national championship in the Women’s College Wrestling Association Championships on Feb. 7-8. Watters took the fourth all-American nod of her career. In 2019-20, Watters picked up the Jim Wade Award for Oklahoma City University women’s wrestling. In addition to her national crown, Watters snared the 155-pound Sooner Athletic Conference title, SAC wrestler of the year and outstanding wrestler of the inaugural SAC women’s championships Feb. 29 in Plainview, Texas. Watters became USA Wrestling/TheMat.com athlete of the week, NAIA wrestler of the week and two-time SAC wrestler of the week as a senior. …. story at https://www.ocusports.com/news/2020/4/6/2019-20-jim-wade-award-winner-rachel-watters-womens-wrestling.aspx?mc_cid=91538a90c1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Eight coaches talk 2019-20 season, seniors and the NAIA
The opportunity lost for athletes at the canceled NAIA National tournament doesn’t take away from the real achievements and growth from this season. Flavia Weedn said, and I quote, “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.” There were close to 200 women ready to take the mats in search of a title at the 2020 NAIA National Invitational. Women from 28 programs across 13 states—that’s who this is for. In the first part of the show we hear about the NAIA, and then in the second part we hear more about the season from 8 different head coaches: Lee Miracle (Campbellsville), Joey Bareng (Menlo), Joel Gibson (Southern Oregon), Ashley Sword (Life), Carlene Sluberski (Providence), Nicole Tyson (Oklahoma City), Kevin Corbett (Lyon) and Aaron Meister (Wayland). …. story and podcast at https://www.transitionwrestling.com/podcast-eight-coaches-talk-2019-20-season-seniors-and-the-naia/?mc_cid=864912e0e4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

HOW-TO TAKE DOWN QUARANTINE
RESOURCES & SUGGESTIONS FOR TACKLING SOCIAL DISTANCING
Due to COVID-19, the world as we know it came to a crashing halt. NCAA’s? Cancelled. Olympic Trials? Cancelled. The Olympic Games? postponed until 2021. In a world filled with fear and uncertainty, how can you keep getting better at your craft? With no wrestling events on the horizon, this time right now is incredibly valuable. While social distancing may seem boring, it is a window of opportunity to get in better shape, learn new skills, recover, and even watch film. No matter how unlikely it seems at the current moment, life will go back to normal eventually. …. story at https://www.wreaperwrestling.com/how-to-take-down-quarantine-resources-and-suggestions-for-tackling-social-distancing/?mc_cid=1270ffe756&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

McCaskey High School approves first ever groundbreaking women’s wrestling program
By Connor Mirabella || Staff Writer
Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in human history. Since the first olympics, wrestling has been a challenging and developing art held in high regard by many. Socrates is known for having said “I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Wrestling has a powerful legacy in the United States, where folkstyle wrestling (the style of wrestling seen at NCAAs) originated. Pennsylvania has been long-known as one of, if not the most competitive states to wrestle in, particularly at the high school level.  Since there are no professional leagues of folkstyle and freestyle wrestling, the pinnacle of performance can most often be found at the Olympics where the US has garnered significant respect for its performance in both men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling. Helen Maroulis became the first American woman to win a gold medal for the US in 2016 with a dominant performance in her final match. Her story mirrors the story of every other woman on the US team: Helen never had a girls team until she had reached high level international competition. Growing up, she and all the other women representing our country had no other choice but to wrestle boys in order to earn their chances at competition.  Wrestling is a sport divided by weight classes, where it is in the wrestlers’ best interest to have the most possible muscle mass at any given weight. …. story at http://www.the-college-reporter.com/2020/03/29/mccaskey-high-school-approves-first-ever-groundbreaking-womens-wrestling-program/?mc_cid=1270ffe756&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Despite postponement of Tokyo Olympics, USA Wrestling’s Whitney Conder stays on course
Story content at …
https://gazette.com/sports/despite-postponement-of-tokyo-olympics-usa-wrestling-s-whitney-conder/article_bfc55380-71ee-11ea-802d-77f737d0d147.html?mc_cid=864912e0e4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Topics you don’t want to miss from women’s wrestling in March
How do I even intro this month? In the right context, a lot of great things have happened, so that’s going to be the focus for this quasi-newsletter for March.
Women’s Wrestling at the NCWWC
NCAA programs competed at the first-ever exclusive NCAA postseason event March 6-7. The Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships were hosted by Adrian College and the event was superb. The weekend will forever be a marker in the history of NCAA women’s wrestling. McKendree won the team title with five individual champions, and head coach Sam Schmitz was awarded coach of the year. Simon Fraser placed second to McKendree by just 12.5 points and had three champions of their own. Augsburg and UW-Stevens Point were the only two programs with title winners that advanced over McKendree and Simon Fraser on the way to the top of the podium. Finalist bouts at 109 and 170 pounds were also the only two weights without a McKendree or Simon Fraser wrestler. Archived video is free to watch on Trackwrestling—be sure to listen for commentary by Wrestle Like A Girl’s very own Sally Roberts in the finals.  Top 5 teams: 1) McKendree University 2) Simon Fraser University 3) King University 5) Colorado Mesa university 5) Emmanuel College …. story at https://www.transitionwrestling.com/topics-you-dont-want-to-miss-from-womens-wrestling-in-march/?mc_cid=2b0e4cf56d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Women’s Wrestler of the Year Mensah Headlines Women’s Wrestling Rankings
CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 1) – After a stellar 2019 campaign where she won United World Wrestling’s “Women’s Wrestler of the Year” Tamyra MENSAH (USA) heads into the 2020 season as the top-ranked 68kg wrestler in latest worldwide women’s wrestling rankings. Mensah, a returning world champion at 68kg, has the most points (92) of any women’s wrestler in any weight category and is one of two American women ranked No.1 in the world. She is joined by fellow American Adeline GRAY, a five-time world champion, who tops the rankings at 76kg. Women’s wrestling power Japan has five wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight categories, with two of the five wrestlers being 2016 Olympic champions, Risako KAWAI (No.1 at 57kg) and Sara DOSHO (No.10 at 68kg). Complete rankings at https://unitedworldwrestling.org/article/womens-wrestler-year-mensah-headlines-womens-wrestling-rankings?mc_cid=2b0e4cf56d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

THE FALLOUT FROM COVID-19: SIX QUESTIONS WE HAVE ABOUT HOW COVID WILL IMPACT THIS COMING YEAR.
With the Coronavirus impacting life as we know it, we have some serious questions about the state of the wrestling world. Many questions, however, we may not have answers to for a very long time. With COVID-19 changing on a daily basis, it’s hard to predict wrestling will look like several months from now. The USOC and USA Wrestling are hard at work trying to put procedures in place in light of the recent circumstances, but regardless, there’s still much we don’t know.
Who’s qualified?
In 2019, athletes qualified at the Bill Farrell International tournament and the U.S Olympic Trials Qualifier in Fort Worth, Texas. Previous world team members from earlier in the quad and junior world medalists also automatically qualified for trials. Will these athletes remain qualified?  …. rest of the story at https://www.wreaperwrestling.com/the-fallout-from-covid-19-six-questions-we-have-about-how-covid-will-impact-this-coming-year/?mc_cid=9b0303e966&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 10, 2020 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

GOHEELS EXCLUSIVE: FOCUSING ON PROGRESS

By: Joe Wedra

While spending time away from campus and at home during the country’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, many in athletics are taking the opportunity to sit and reflect upon some of the great moments from the past year.
That’s held particularly true for Austin O’Connor, Kennedy Monday and Zach Sherman, all of whom played key roles in UNC Wrestling’s dominant 2019-20 season. With a down period of returning home and taking classes online, the three Tar Heel starters have been able to spend time thinking about not only the athletic accomplishments from the past season, but appreciate the team’s family-oriented culture.
“Obviously a lot of us on the team are really different because we all come from different places. In the past, it seemed like there may have been different goals and not everyone was on the same page with everything, but this year the camaraderie picked up,” said Sherman, a redshirt sophomore who finished the season with a 27-5 record and an ACC title at 141 pounds.
“Everyone just rallied around the common goal that we wanted to be something for people to remember,” Sherman said. “I think it affected everything in a really good way.”
Monday, a redshirt junior, said the news of the cancelation of the NCAA Championships came as an abrupt surprise for everybody, even with the national awareness of COVID-19 growing in the days prior.
However, Monday noted that the situation offered a time for reflection upon the year. The mission of UNC Athletics is to “educate and inspire through athletics”. For those in UNC Wrestling’s program, last season certainly provided plenty of moments that embodied that mission.
“I didn’t find out until the middle of my workout,” Monday said. “We were going like a regular practice. I looked over and guys were looking really sad, so I found out right in the middle. “It was really sad for everybody, but I took some time to myself just to reflect on it and the season. I had some good wins, some losses, but overall, as a team, we did well. …. story at  https://goheels.com/news/2020/4/7/wrestling-goheels-exclusive-focusing-on-progress.aspx?mc_cid=9b0303e966&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 10, 2020 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment