Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

College Coaching Changes # 3

1 } – Northwest Athletic Conference postpones fall and winter sports to spring
The Northwest Athletic Conference – an association of junior colleges in Washington, North Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia – announced Thursday that it will push most fall and winter sports to the spring semester due to coronavirus concerns. Thirty-six member schools comprise the NWAC, including Community Colleges of Spokane and North Idaho College. Golf and cross country will continue this fall due to the socially distant nature of the sports. Most of the Sasquatch and Cardinals’ rosters feature Eastern Washington and North Idaho high school products. “We have been thoughtful, comprehensive, flexible, and listened to our constituents. It is time to move forward,” NWAC executive director Marco Azurdia said. “The plan pushed the conversations with our member college administrators thus leading to the Executive Board’s decision. “We have said from the beginning that flexibility, creativity, adaptability, and patience are essential to the success of our return to play.” Two weeks after the National Junior College Athletic Association released its initial changes for the 2020-21 school year – NIC wrestling is an NJCAA member and will now begin its season in January – the NWAC announced its postponements. The NJCAA, NWAC and California Community College Athletic Association are the country’s three junior college athletics governing bodies. Some CCCAA leagues have also announced fall postponements and cancellations. … rest of story at https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jul/09/northwest-athletic-conference-postpones-fall-and-w/?mc_cid=74c2efdb11&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – Ersland Named NWCA President Elect
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue wrestling head coach Tony Ersland was named president elect of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) last week, setting him up to be next in line as the head of the organization. The NWCA Board of Directors met on on June 25, voting in Ersland’s position in addition to several others.
“It’s an honor to be put in a position where I can help lead and grow wrestling,” said Ersland. “Pat Popolizio (North Carolina State head coach) has done a great job the last two years, and I’m looking forward to working alongside Kevin Ward (Army West Point head coach) the next two years.”
Ersland continued, “I love wrestling, I love the future of wrestling, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it at a leadership level.” He plans to serve as the president elect for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before taking the chair as the NWCA president in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
 … rest of story at https://purduesports.com/news/2020/7/13/wrestling-ersland-named-nwca-president-elect.aspx?mc_cid=c193cf2791&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Jeff Reimel Named Assistant Wrestling Coach at Emmanuel
Jeff Reimel has been named the new Assistant Wrestling Coach for the men’s and women’s wrestling programs. 
Reimel joins Emmanuel after serving as Assistant Wrestling Coach at NCAA D3 Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania. In the team’s inaugural season, they developed the quote “Quickly Relevant”, and indeed became quickly relevant as the young squad showcased a very strong first year performance. Reimel helped lead the team to a 9-8 dual season record and picked up several top invitational finishes. Their season concluded with two Runner-Ups at the Southeast Regionals, two National Qualifiers, two All-American Honors, one All-Freshman Honor, and one Sportsmanship Team Honor before their season was cut short due to Covid-19.
Reimel brings with him a “Never stop until the whistle is blown” mentality and will bring a wealth of knowledge on commanding scrambles and top position. He will use his experience with throws, trips, mat awareness, and mat knowledge to help the EC wrestling team develop skills that he believes will help them grind out more matches. In addition to his technical skillset, Reimel will focus on building up work ethic and goal setting to help the wrestlers excel on the mat as well as in the classroom. … rest of story at https://goeclions.com/sports/wrest/2019-20/releases/20200611ft6h1l?mc_cid=9214b6001a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – Erik Wince Named Head Wrestling Coach at Fort Hays State Univ.
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State University Director of Athletics Curtis Hammeke announced the hiring of Erik Wince as head wrestling coach on Wednesday (July 15). Wince comes to FHSU from NCAA Division I affiliate American University in Washington D.C., where he served as assistant coach in 2019-20. Prior to that, he was head coach at Greensboro College, a Division III program in Greensboro, North Carolina, for four years.  
“I am extremely excited and honored to be the next head coach of the Fort Hays State wrestling program!,” said Wince. “I want to thank Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke and the rest of the FHSU athletic administration for believing in me and making Hays feel like the place I needed to be to help usher the wrestling program into its next phase of success. My family and I are excited to make this move and join the rest of the Tiger Athletics Family.  … rest of story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Erik-Wince-Named-Head-Wrestling-Coach-15-7-2020
and also at https://fhsuathletics.com/news/2020/7/15/erik-wince-named-head-wrestling-coach-at-fhsu.aspx?mc_cid=43f0dbddeb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – Pollard says Iowa State could be forced to cut programs if fall sports are sidelined
The Iowa State athletic department would have approximately $40 million in unfunded expenses that “would require us to explore options that may include operational reductions or eliminations, layoffs and even elimination of sports programs,” if sports are not played this fall, athletic director Jamie Pollard wrote in a letter to fans Monday. “We must also be cognizant of the absolute need to generate revenues to sustain our long-term operations,” Pollard wrote. “The Iowa State athletics budget does not include any state or university funding and relies mainly on television revenues, private donations and ticket sales.  “If those revenues decrease dramatically or are eliminated, we will have unfunded financial obligations.” … rest of story at https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/cyclone-insider/2020/07/13/iowa-state-could-forced-cut-programs-if-fall-sports-not-played-pollard-says/5428024002/?mc_cid=c193cf2791&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – PSAC presidents to vote on fall sports
Presidents from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference will hold a Zoom meeting today to determine how to proceed with fall sports, The Journal has learned. The meeting between the 18 presidents of the league is expected to take place this afternoon as they look at the feasibility of holding sports in the fall as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
“The PSAC will have a vote (today) to see how they will proceed in the fall,” Shepherd University Vice President for Athletics Chauncey Winbush said. Shepherd, the lone program from outside of the Keystone State, joined the Division II league at the start of the 2019-20 school year. Spring sports throughout the NCAA, including the PSAC, previously had been canceled in the middle of March in response to COVID-19. … rest of story at https://www.journal-news.net/journal-news/psac-presidents-to-vote-on-fall-sports/article_75e0459c-ca4c-5e7c-9b69-98d94bd11fca.html?mc_cid=2a2de153ce&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – Bellarmine Knights wrestling joins Southern Conference as associate member
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine University’s presence in the Southern Conference just got a little bigger. On Tuesday, Bellarmine Director of Athletics Scott Wiegandt announced that the Knights wrestling program has joined the SoCon as an associate member. Bellarmine now has two teams with ties to the SoCon, as the Knights lacrosse squad has been a member of the league since 2015.
“We are excited to add Bellarmine University as an associate member in the sport of wrestling,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “We look forward to this new aspect of our relationship with this quality institution.” “We couldn’t be more pleased that our wrestling team has become an associate member of the Southern Conference,” Wiegandt said. “We already have a built-in relationship with the SoCon through lacrosse, and that bond has now strengthened through wrestling. The SoCon is a first-class league that shares Bellarmine’s values toward the student-athlete experience.” The 2020-21 school year will mark Bellarmine’s first with all 22 of its athletics teams competing at the Division I level (lacrosse officially began DI play in 2006). With Knights wrestling joining the SoCon, each team at Bellarmine is now a member of a DI conference. … rest of story at https://athletics.bellarmine.edu/news/2020/7/14/knights-wrestling-joins-southern-conference.aspx?mc_cid=2a2de153ce&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Austin Joins Mercyhurst Wrestling Staff
ERIE, Pa. — Devin Austin, a three-time All-American at Pitt-Johnstown, is joining the Mercyhurst wrestling staff as a graduate assistant for the 2020-21 season.  “I’m really excited to welcome Devin to our coaching staff,” said head coach Mike Wehler. “He’s coming from a great program and brings a wealth of knowledge and experiences that will greatly benefit our student athletes.  He is very high character person and I’m looking forward to working with him.” … rest of story at https://hurstathletics.com/news/2020/7/16/austin-joins-mercyhurst-wrestling-staff.aspx?mc_cid=78726f35ba&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – Dartmouth’s Retreat Shows Rising Pandemic Toll on College Sports
Dartmouth College has become the latest school to do the previously unthinkable: close some of its sports programs for good.
It joins Stanford University and Brown University, among the wealthiest institutions in higher education, which have said in recent weeks they’re ending participation in programs including golf, rowing, fencing and squash. While few expect major sports such as football and basketball to be eliminated at most places, the cuts announced so far signal a change to decades of tradition at American universities. Organized sports are a prominent feature of U.S. college life, providing a route for students to gain entry and some scholarships while also bringing in revenue for schools. But facing long-term declines in enrollment … rest of story at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-09/dartmouth-sports-cuts-show-pandemic-s-mounting-toll-on-colleges?mc_cid=35441de679&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – Schools must decide if NJCAA plan is for them
Now it’s up to the schools todecide if it’s the one for them
GODFREY — The NJCAA, as expected, announced Monday its plan to salvage fall sports next school year by moving them to spring. The ideas is to give schools more time to prepare and to try and wait out any more waves of the coronavirus. Now, it’s up to the member schools, including Lewis and Clark Community College, to decide if it’s the plan for them.
“In terms of the national level, each school now needs to notify the NJCAA if they intend to participate in the plan,” LCCC athletic director and men’s basketball coach Doug Stotler said. “That includes us.” “Us,” as in LCCC. Moving the Trailblazers’ men’s and women’s soccer teams and the women’s volleyball team to a spring schedule sounds good to coaches and players alike, but it’s not a done deal. The powers at the school need to sign off on it. “Schools in various parts of the country are reacting differently to COVID-19,” Stotler said. “We see new waves of cases popping up in Florida and Texas and the Northeast has been hit worse than many other regions. … rest of story at https://www.thetelegraph.com/sports/article/Schools-must-decide-if-NJCAA-plan-is-for-them-15407710.php?mc_cid=2a2de153ce&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

July 22, 2020 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

California high school wrestling season moved to spring

TDR Editor’s Notes ; An interesting idea. Hope that it works well for them and will keep an eye on this to see how it works out.
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The California high school wrestling season has been moved to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Interscholastic Federation announced Monday.

The CIF’s fall sports, like football, have been moved to the winter, while winter sports, which includes wrestling, will have their seasons pushed back to spring, with the state championships set for June.
“We are continuously monitoring the directives and guidelines released from the Governor’s Office, the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health, and local county health departments and agencies as these directives and guidelines are followed by our member schools/school districts with student health and safety at the forefront,” the organization said in a statement. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23770?fbclid=IwAR1yWpX50uAcIg-jetsJKITa0yq8My2FFqrLuOYZqcQQNFlxu9kAV1hS6fU

July 22, 2020 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment