Takedown Report

Wrestling History # 12

1 } – Raymond Bunker: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Raymond Bunker. The 2019 Greco-Roman World Team member shares his thoughts on his wrestling hero: Jordan Burroughs. 
These are Bunker’s words on his wrestling hero:
“My wrestling hero is Jordan Burroughs. When I was in high school I wasn’t the best wrestler and my senior year I watched him compete in the London Games and I saw that he had a really good double-leg and I didn’t really know much about wrestling at the time, so that’s something I developed was trying to be like him on the mat and do my double-leg. My senior season I set the school record for the most takedowns in the history of the school at 162, the majority of them were double-legs.  “I watched a video of how Jordan Burroughs eats ice cream after his workouts, so I started eating ice cream every day. I wanted to be like him. Now we fast forward years later and I still see him as a great role model in the wrestling community, … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595355557154&twSessionId=qyatlyyvbu&postId=786701135&mc_cid=aa0bad43f6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Chris Campbell: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Chris Campbell. The three-time World and Olympic medalist and 1981 World champion shares his thoughts on his wrestling heroes, including Lee Kemp, John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner, Kenny Monday and Dan Gable. 
These are Campbell’s words on his wrestling heroes: “Lee Kemp, John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner, Kenny Monday, obviously Dan Gable, Wayne Wells, and Fred Fozzard are my heroes.
“Kenny Monday was the ultimate warrior. At the 1992 Olympic Games when he got second, two or three days before the Games started he totally dislocated his elbow. I watched his arm bend back the other way. He basically wrestled with one arm. Had he not had that injury he’d have won the Olympics and he would have been a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He’s just a tough son of a bitch.
“Bruce Baumgartner was the most athletic big man that I’ve ever seen. He was really quick. I wrestled with him and he was really, really quick. I always think Bruce underachieved because nobody should ever beat him. He should have won everything. That’s easy for me to say. I’m impressed with Bruce on that. “John Smith was one of the most beautiful wrestlers that I’ve watched … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595300787906&twSessionId=zdkrsabhth&postId=785598135&mc_cid=7e573bd55d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – Lou Rosselli: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Lou Rosselli. The Oklahoma coach and 1996 Olympian his thoughts on his wrestling heroes, including his high school coach, Dick Lange. 
These are Rosselli’s words on his wrestling heroes:
“The hard part is I don’t have a lot of wrestling heroes. I’m just a fan of wrestling in general. I respect all these guys that have done so well. I just have respect for all of them from (Jordan) Burroughs to (Cael) Sanderson to all those elite guys. There’s always someone to look to. It’s a collective view of all them — before my time and after my time. When you’re around international wrestling, you know how hard it is if you’ve done it. I was lucky enough to coach those teams and I know what they go through. Overall, I’d say it’s the respect for the people who have done so well and how hard it is to do and watching the elite guys be the best.  “My dad worked in a factory and I was from a small town in Buffalo, New York, so there was no real guy at the time who was the reason why. When it comes to being an elite athlete my high school coach, Dick Lange, put in a lot of man-hours and taught me how to work with people and relationships.  … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595300787906&twSessionId=zdkrsabhth&postId=785575135&mc_cid=7e573bd55d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Ryan Mango: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Ryan Mango. The 2019 Greco-Roman World Team member shares his thoughts on his wrestling heroes: Spenser Mango and Dremiel Byers. 
These are Mango’s words on his wrestling heroes:
“(My wrestling hero is) two people with one being my brother, (Spenser), and the other being Dremiel Byers. I’ll say my brother because of firsthand experience and some of the obstacles he has had to overcome in his wrestling career and in our lives and his ability to be a humble leader is something I try to emulate in my wrestling as well as who I am as a person.  “Dremiel Byers because of his dedication to wrestling, … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595532794205&twSessionId=hinqmznnhc&postId=787102135&mc_cid=fb559ea200&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – What we’ve learned from the Trackwrestling quarantine interviews so far
Trackwrestling has conducted interviews with more than 100 wrestlers, coaches, and administrators since the NCAA Championships were canceled in March. Here are a few highlights (with the full interviews linked below):  Jordan Burroughs and Greg Jones are two kids in a candy store
Trackwrestling publishes a daily feature called ‘My Wrestling Hero.’ It features prominent wrestling figures to articulate who influenced them during their wrestling journeys. The answers range from parents to high school coaches to high-profile athletes.  Five-time World and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs said Greg Jones — a three-time NCAA champion for West Virginia — was his wrestling hero. Trackwrestling content manager Andy Hamilton interviewed both simultaneously and the banter back and forth was pure gold. 
Chris Campbell’s career defies logic
Chris Campbell — an NCAA champion for Iowa in 1976-77 — missed out on his best year of international wrestling when the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Campbell was the prohibitive favorite to win a gold medal at the Olympics — and he proved it by winning the 1981 World Championships (he was named most technical wrestler in the world that year).  Injuries and timing prevented Campbell from making the 1984 team, so he became an attorney instead. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595532794205&twSessionId=hinqmznnhc&postId=786916135&mc_cid=fb559ea200&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – OSU Wrestling: The Top 10 Wrestlers of the John Smith Era
A look at the top 10 wrestlers of the John Smith coaching era.
Lately I’ve had some time to brainstorm for some wrestling content, in the absence of wrestling. I’m starting it out with this list of the top 10 wrestlers of the John Smith era and am actually going to dive even deeper and take a look at Ed Gallagher, Myron Roderick, Tommy Chesbro, and Joe Seay and make similar lists for them.
Let’s kick it off here with the current coach and wrestlers that we’ll all probably be most familiar with.
1. Pat Smith
Pat Smith is the younger brother of John and in 1994 became NCAA wrestling’s first four-time NCAA champion. To some that would almost make him a lock for No. 1, but I actually struggled a bit with whether or not to even include him on the list as he started his career at OSU before John was hired. Ultimately, if you consider him a part of the John Smith coaching era, it’s tough to argue he doesn’t deserve the top spot.
2. Alex Dieringer
Dieringer is one of three three-time NCAA champions on this list and one of two Hodge trophy winners. As the only one who can claim both of those accolades, he grabs the second slot. Most people reading this will know Dieringer better than anyone else on this list as he’s still an active competitor on the senior level. His time at OSU was about as dominant as it gets. He nearly made the NCAA finals as a freshman and just absolutely wrecked people from his sophomore to senior year. His wide array of offense attacks along with his speed and power made him nearly unstoppable on his feet during his time in the orange singlet.
3. Mark Branch
Branch was somewhat interesting to rank here. He only had two titles compared to Guerrero and Rosholt, who both had three.  … rest of story at _{https://pistolsfiringblog.com/osu-wrestling-the-top-10-wrestlers-of-the-john-smith-era/?mc_cid=fb559ea200&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – Quentin Wright: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Quentin Wright. The two-time NCAA champion, three-time finalist and four-time All-American shares his thoughts on his wrestling hero: Neil Turner.
These are Wright’s words on his wrestling hero:
“I’m going to go with Neil Turner. He was one of the founders of Mat Town USA Wrestling Club in Lock Haven. The reason is because of the impact he had through his coaching style. It was what he said during practice. One of his quotes was ‘I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score.’ He also had the quote, ‘I don’t want to interrupt while you’re talking.’ 
“I went to that wrestling club when I was in high school. He had such a positive impact on the direction of where I went to college and in life. He also said, ‘You never really lose. You just run out of time.’ You take that positive message and it’s not over — you just ran out of time and I’m going to do better next time.  “He was inducted into the EWL Hall of Fame. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595625751298&twSessionId=mvokaovpnx&postId=787198135&mc_cid=a3e4678353&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – Jay Weiss: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Jay Weiss. The Harvard coach shares his thoughts on his wrestling heroes, including Granite Taropin. 
These are Weiss’ words on his wrestling heroes:
“I’ve been fortunate to have a coaching staff that I’ve learned so much from. A big one is Granite Taropin, who coached the Beloglazov (twins) in the Soviet Union. He came one of my first couple years at Harvard and he was one of my assistants for a long time. A lot of my coaching has come from him as far as training the individual and how to train the team. I learn so much from him. 
“You can go down the line —Kendall Cross, who I just picked his brain, physically and mentally. Jared Frayer. Jamill Kelly. Bryan Snyder. Everyone one of these guys have had such a big impact on me in my coaching. Every time someone new comes in I’ve adapted and learned. Things are different now than they were 25 years ago as far as … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1595905848263&twSessionId=ofehofbokx&postId=787304135&mc_cid=84274241b0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – .#153 Barry Davis – Dan Gable Disciple, 3x NCAA Champ
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Barry Davis is a 3x NCAA champ for the great Dan Gable and the Iowa Hawkeyes. In 1984, Barry was the Olympic Silver Medalist. He’d then go on to coach at Iowa, as well as lead the Wisconsin Badgers for a number of years. He’s an icon. A legend. A great storyteller. Enjoy it folks! … podcast and story at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/barry/?mc_cid=84274241b0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – Former OSU Wrestler and NCAA Champion Fred Davis has Passed Away
The former Cowboy and long time BYU head coach has died at 86.
According to the Tulsa World, former Cowboy wrestler, three-time All-American, and NCAA champion Fred Davis passed away on Friday at the age of 86.
Davis, who is pictured above showing technique with former Cowboy head coach and teammate of Davis Myron Roderick, was a three-time All-American for the Cowboys from 1954-56 under Art Griffith. He won a national title in 1955 and helped lead the Cowboys to team national titles in all three of his seasons as a Cowboy.
Later in life he went on to coach at BYU. He started there in 1964 and led the wrestling program for 20 years. … pictures, video & rest of story at _{https://pistolsfiringblog.com/former-osu-wrestler-and-ncaa-champion-fred-davis-has-passed-away/?mc_cid=84274241b0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

August 8, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized