Takedown Report

College News – # (94)

TAKING A LOOK AT CAROLINA WRESTLING’S NEWEST SIGNING CLASS
UNC Wrestling will have six new first-year members in the program next year, including three brothers of current Carolina wrestlers.
The incoming group is boasts plenty of accomplishments across the board:
Wil Guida (Rockaway, N.J./St. Paul’s MD)
Aydin Guttridge (Rockford, Ill./Rockford East)
Gavin Kane (Milton, Ga./Cambridge)
Cade Lautt (Olathe, Kan./St. James Academy)
Sonny Santiago (Downey, Calif./St. John Bosco)
Julian Tagg (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/AIM Academy)
“When we look at this class as a staff, we see a group who will hit the ground running as Tar Heel student-athletes,” head coach Coleman Scott said. “Not only are they going to perform for us on the mat, but they’re going to be high-character representatives on campus and in the classroom. The potential for this group is remarkable, and I can’t wait to see how they help our program across the board.”
Santiago is a California state champion who comes to Chapel Hill from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. He was the top-ranked 152-pounder in the country after his win at Who’s #1 in October over No. 2 Travis Mastrogiovanni. …. rest of story at https://goheels.com/news/2020/4/22/taking-a-look-at-carolina-wrestlings-newest-signing-class.aspx?mc_cid=17ded1ad3b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

CAROLINA HONORS ACC TOP SIX FOR SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS
….Wrestling Team
The wrestling team has been extremely active in the community over the past year. Team members have volunteered at UNC Hospitals and local elementary schools, and as part of programs including the Widowed Parents Support Program, Share Your Holiday, and Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, the Tar Heels partnered with Team IMPACT this year and welcomed an honorary member of the team, a young fan named Mason. …. story at https://goheels.com/news/2020/4/30/student-athlete-development-carolina-honors-acc-top-six-for-service-award-recipients.aspx

University of Iowa sets NCAA record for home attendance as annual D1 figures released
By Jason Bryant
In the previous 13 years, the University of Iowa’s wrestling program led the nation in home attendance. One thing it hadn’t done, though, was put over 10,000 fans into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for every dual in a season.
That changed in 2019-20 as the Hawkeyes averaged a record 12,568.4 with seven home dates for a total of 87,979. It’s not the largest total Iowa’s ever produced, but the 87,979 is the largest total attendance for events solely at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The top crowd in Carver-Hawkeye was the 14,905 against Penn State.
Penn State, which has sold out 55 straight duals in Rec Hall and 61 of the last 63 duals including its action in the Bryce Jordan Center, comes in second for the 10^th straight season. With the 15,995 at the Bryce Jordan Center against Ohio State, Penn State’s average came in at 7,604.1, approximately 1,200 more than what the capacity is at Rec Hall. Iowa State checked in third with an average of 4,794.6, which jumped the Cyclones to its highest attendance ranking since 2010 when they Cyclones averaged just north of 4,500 a dual. The 2019-20 home schedule was anchored by the CyHawk dual with Iowa, which drew 11,238, the 10^th largest dual in Hilton Coliseum history.
Rutgers set a school record for the number of wrestling season tickets sold this season and their home attendance showed through. The Scarlet Knights finished fourth, with an average of 4,155.9 fans in seven home dates.
The opening of the Covelli Center gave Ohio State an engaging and intimate home mat experience.  The Buckeyes averaged 4,117.5 fans in eight home dates. It’s the sixth straight year Tom Ryan’s squad has been ranked in the top five. Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Arizona State, Fresno State and Lehigh rounded out the Top 10.
The 2019-20 numbers tied a record for most schools reporting an average of 1,000 fans per match, tying last year’s mark of 24. There were 14 more schools that exceeded averages of 700 per dual, where last year, there were just seven. Of the Top 25 teams, 15 saw increases in average attendance from last season. The largest average increase was Iowa, which jumped 4,042.1, while Iowa State improved by 1,224.9 and Arizona State, which grew 1,161.5. Princeton and North Carolina also tracked attendance for the first time this year.
Notes: The NCAA Division I wrestling attendance figures have been tracked by several members of the media since 2002. Denny Diehl of Roby Publishing started the process, while Alex Steen of The Open Mat and Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online have also taken hold of the project. The numbers are collected in various ways, including official ticket counts. Some schools have less home dates reported as they held events that were not ticketed. Of the 79 Division I institutions in 2019-20, 59 reported numbers. …. rest of the story at http://www.nationalwrestlingmedia.com/2020/04/university-of-iowa-sets-ncaa-record-for-home-attendance-as-annual-d1-figures-released/?mc_cid=52d81661de&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Getting II Know a DII Program: Lander University
One of the newest teams to the NCAA Division II landscape, the Lander Bearcats opened their first season of competition in 2019-20. Lander features a D2 standby in its head coach, with RC LaHaye getting the nod to lead the new program after stints at Newberry and Grand Canyon.  Lander is a state-sponsored NCAA Division II institution located on the South Carolina/Georgia border. LaHaye said, “We have tremendous support from the university and are in the middle of a $1 million-plus wrestling complex build. We have extremely low tuition and have a proven staff that is motivated to recruit the best student-athletes in America.” At this year’s NCAA Super Region 2 tournament, Lander came away with a fourth-place finisher in Darius Parker at 197, and three additional fifth-place finishers in Elijah Gray at 141, Brice Harkness at 174 and Cameron Coffman at 285. Parker worked his way into the NWCA Division II Coaches rankings in the second half of the season, climbing into the top-eight at 197. All four Regional placers return to the lineup for the Bearcats, who will also see a former D2 National Qualifier come into their lineup next season. Juaquin Olivas, a 2016 National Qualifier for Colorado Mesa, will make his return to D2 as a Bearcat, filling the 133 spot vacated by his brother, who finished up as a graduate student at Lander last season. The Bearcats will look to improve on a 4-8 dual record from their first season, and will add 25 new recruits to next year’s roster. …. rest of the story at https://news.theopenmat.com/college-wrestling-news/getting-ii-know-a-dii-program-lander-university/77622?mc_cid=17ded1ad3b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Michalak tabbed Campbell’s associate head wrestling coach
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Former Central Michigan All-American and U.S. Senior Nationals Champion Wynn Michalak has been named associate head wrestling coach by first-year Campbell head coach Scotti Sentes.
“Wynn Michalak fits into the Campbell Wrestling culture and embodies what the program is all about,” said Sentes. “He is driven by his faith, family, and relentless will to win. He enters the program as a decorated competitor with 10 plus years of coaching experience and has left a lasting impression on every program he has been a part of. I expect Wynn to have an immediate impact on the team, particularly with the upper weights.” “I’m excited to join the Campbell family,” said Michalak. “We are in a great position to make waves and be force to be reckoned with immediately. I can’t wait to get started and contribute to developing our current team and continue to build for the future.” Michalak comes to Campbell from Michigan State, where he has served as an assistant coach since 2016, coaching 14 NCAA qualifiers, including 2020 All-American Cameron Caffey and 2019 All-American Rayvon Foley. The Spartans qualified seven for the NCAA Championships in 2020 after placing 33^rd in the 2019 team standings. During the 2019-20 campaign, Michigan State also registered dual wins over No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 20 Oklahoma. His coaching experience also includes four seasons as a volunteer assistant at Illinois (2012-16), where he helped train two-time NCAA Champion Isaiah Martinez, and two seasons (2009-10) as a graduate assistant at CMU. One of the most successful wrestlers in Central Michigan history, Michalak …. rest of story at https://gocamels.com/news/2020/4/22/michalak-tabbed-associate-head-wrestling-coach.aspx?mc_cid=547ad9bd30&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

CAROLINA WRESTLING ANNOUNCES 2020 BANQUET AWARDS
Posted On: April 27, 2020CHAPEL HILL — Redshirt sophomore Jaime Hernandez won the Thomas A. Gorry Most Dedicated Wrestler Award, highlighting UNC Wrestling’s year-end team awards.
The award is named after Thomas A. Gorry, a U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General and former UNC wrestler. The award is given to the student-athlete who the coaching staff believes embodies “Tar Heel hard work”. Last year, the award was presented to Nick Lirette.
The full list of team awards:
T.J. Jaworsky Most Valuable Wrestler: Austin O’Connor
Highest GPA: A.J. Rechenmacher (4.0)
Most Falls: Austin O’Connor (7)
Most Improved: Clay Lautt
Co-Utility Man: Josh McClure
Co-Utility Man: Sawyer Davidson
Weight Room Newcomer Award: Timothy Decatur …. story and rest of list at https://goheels.com/news/2020/4/27/carolina-wrestling-announces-2020-banquet-awards.aspx?mc_cid=9b182d31f3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Wolfpack Wrestling Announces Top-10 Signing Class
Wolfpack inks nine in 2020 class, third straight class ranked in top-20
RALEIGH, N.C. – Coming off a second straight ACC Championship and a No. 3 final ranking in the NWCA Coaches Poll after an undefeated dual season, the NC State wrestling team has inked a top-10 signing class to join the squad for the 2020-21 season.
NC State’s recruiting class was ranked eighth nationally by FloWrestling. It marked the third time in the last five years the Wolfpack has been ranked in the top-10 nationally, and this is the third straight class ranked in the top-20 by FloWrestling. The class was also ranked sixth nationally by TheOpenMat and eighth by InterMat.
“It might be one of the best ever, as far as the mentality, work ethic, the quality, total package of kid that you want,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “It’s very low-risk bringing these guys in, both academically and lifestyle. …. rest of the story and list at https://gopack.com/news/2020/4/27/wrestling-packwrestle-announces-top-10-signing-class.aspx?mc_cid=9b182d31f3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Chad Walsh: My Wrestling Hero
This is the third installment of a multi-part series that shines a light on the idols who influenced prominent wrestlers and coaches. The series continues with the perspective of Chad Walsh, a two-time All-American at Rider. Walsh, now an assistant at Davidson, shares his thoughts on his wrestling hero, 2009 NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell. 
These are Walsh’s words on his wrestling hero: 
“I’ve got one guy — Darrion Caldwell. It started before the Metcalf match. It started at New Jersey High School states. I’m pretty sure he ended up being a three-time state champ, but I think it may have been his junior year. I remember sitting in Boardwalk Hall. I think he was already up by a couple points with some sweet takedowns, but the guy he was wrestling was coming at him real hard and took a really nice post high-crotch and Caldwell did a cartwheel out of it and danced out of it. I was like, ‘That’s the coolest wrestling I’ve ever seen. Ever since then and seeing him win a couple Jersey titles when I was a kid and New Jersey states being a pretty awesome venue to wrestle in and watch when I was younger, that started it off. Then watching him wrestle Ryan Lang (in the 2007 NCAA Championships) and almost having him beat and then coming back and winning it his last year, he definitely was the guy that I was always like, man, that’s a Jersey guy and he wins it with some funky stuff, so we always liked watching him wrestle.’ 
“My redshirt year, I was doing OK at some opens and things like that, but I didn’t expect to do too much at Midlands. (Caldwell) came back and entered the 149 bracket and he ended up getting caught and pinned, I think, in the pre-quarterfinals and I …. rest of the story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1588011080962&twSessionId=hddvaxrqld&postId=780031135&mc_cid=9b182d31f3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

CLAY LAUTT DISCUSSES WINNING ACC TITLE, TEAM CULTURE
Posted On: April 28, 2020In his redshirt sophomore season as the Carolina starter at 174 pounds, Clay Lautt emerged as one of the anchors of the UNC lineup over the course of 2019-2020. He capped off his year with a 21-7 record and an ACC title at 174 pounds, forever putting his name in the record books for posting one of the best “breakthrough years” in recent memory.
This week, we talked with Lautt about his season and the UNC Wrestling program.
GoHeels: You made a massive jump last year, what was the key to your success in making that leap to be so successful?
Clay Lautt: “After being exposed to some weaknesses early on in college, I knew I needed to ask more from myself. I think that staying focused throughout the entire year is a big reason I’ve seen improvements in all areas of my wrestling. I have started to find an identity in my shots, and I’ve been wrestling with confidence” …. rest of the interview at https://goheels.com/news/2020/4/28/wrestling-clay-lautt-discusses-winning-acc-title-team-culture.aspx?mc_cid=b693ccac6a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

May 7, 2020 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment