Takedown Report

High School Wrestling News – # 22

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the 2020 Beast of the East has been Canceled. The Delaware Wrestling Alliance was forced to cancel the event due to the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Suspended all High School Sports in Delaware untul January 2021. All teams accepted for the 2020 Beast of the East will automatically be accepted for the 28th Annual Tournament on December 18th and 19th 2021.
In addition to Delaware other states have announced postponement of the start of hisgh school sports seasons and late December or January for the start of the wrestling season. We have seen notice of Virginia, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington high school associations taking this step. If there are others please let us know.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 } – Delaware delays start of high school sports season
There will be no high school sports this fall as local schools continue to grapple with difficult decisions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association’s board of directors voted Thursday to delay the start of athletics and instead condense all the sports seasons later in the year. Under that model, fall sports like football will actually be played in late winter and early spring. “Since interscholastic athletics in Delaware came to a grinding halt in March, the DIAA has been working to return our student athletes and coaches to participating in interscholastic athletics,” DIAA Executive Director Donna Polk said in a prepared statement. “We are thankful to all involved for their shared commitment to get sports back in the educational setting while realizing the significant benefit to the emotional, mental, social and physical well-being for student-athletes. We thank our member schools and community members for their patience to this point.” DIAA will work with school administrators, athletic directors, sport committees and athletic trainers to determine specific season start dates. Under the current plan, which is subject to change based on health conditions, the winter season will begin in December, the fall season will begin in mid-February 2021, and the spring season will begin in mid-April 2021. … rest of story at _{https://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/delaware-delays-start-of-high-school-sports-season/article_581103cd-4d90-578e-ac1b-8eb9bc778301.html}

2 } – Northside Methodist Academy newest addition to growth of wrestling in southeast Alabama
f you don’t live in Alabama, you might not realize just how much “the oldest and greatest sport” of wrestling is growing within the state these days. A handful of prep wrestling programs have come to life in southeastern Alabama in recent years. The latest high school wrestling program to take root in the Wiregrass of Alabama is Northside Methodist Academy in Dothan, Alabama, which has announced plans to welcome the sport this upcoming season. The Knights are entering their first year in the Alabama High School Athletic Association, the Dothan Eagle reported Wednesday. “We will start a wrestling program this year,” Northside Methodist Academy athletic director Mike Mordecai said. “We will get it going. We have gotten the OK to get it going. Some of the students are excited about it.” Northside Methodist becomes the fifth Wiregrass school to pick up the sport in the last five years in rapid … rest of story at _{https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23761?fbclid=IwAR3uCdSgg1DzKH_fri1mJSO-wIbLwjOE2yChIUo8XKzULFw3LvB54cnqRUw}

3 } – Perry graduate Kyle Rowan shaken by Stanford eliminating wrestling
Kyle Rowan remains a member of the Stanford wrestling program. For how long depends on the existence of the Cardinal’s program beyond this coming school year. In a jarring announcement last week, Stanford said it would cut nearly one-third of its Division I sports programs at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year. Among the cuts is wrestling. A recent graduate of Perry, Rowan signed a national letter of intent last November to wrestle at Stanford, a prestigious academic and athletic university just outside Palo Alto, Calif. Now the two-time freestyle All-American and a 2019 state champion is in limbo as to where his wrestling career will be past the 2020-21 season. “I never imagined this happening,” Rowan said. “As of right now, I’m sticking with Stanford for this coming year. From there, I’ll have to decide if I’m going to transfer. Everyone is fighting to get (wrestling) back. If we’re successful, I’m definitely staying at Stanford. If it’s cut for good, most likely I’ll be transferring.”
University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Provost Persis Drell and Athletic Director Bernard Muir sent out a letter last week announcing men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, coed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming and men’s volleyball, would also be eliminated. The move affects more than 240 student-athletes and 22 coaches, … rest of story at _{https://www.news-herald.com/sports/high-school-sports/perry-graduate-kyle-rowan-shaken-by-stanford-eliminating-wrestling/article_05f0c89c-c52a-11ea-a902-934929c139f3.html?mc_cid=2a2de153ce&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Cutting weight: Upcoming vote may eliminate some weight classes in high school wrestling
Fifteen weight classes has been the standard for high school wrestling in New York state for decades.  That could be changing soon. 
Citing decreasing participation and increasing forfeits during dual meet competition, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s central committee is set to decide next week if 15 weight classes is too many.  The proposal, which was passed by the state’s wrestling committee in May by a 7-3 vote (one section representative abstained), would cut the total number of weight classes from 15 to 13. The lowest weight class, currently 99 pounds, would be bumped to 102.  … rest of story at _{https://auburnpub.com/sports/local/cutting-weight-upcoming-vote-may-eliminate-some-weight-classes-in-high-school-wrestling/article_82509ace-9023-5fa2-91c9-8354b661bbf8.html?mc_cid=fb559ea200&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – Camden Catholic hires alum to take over one of state’s powerhouse wrestling programs
One of the state’s premier wrestling programs will see a change at the top this season. Twenty years after reaching the 125-pound state final as a member of the Camden Catholic High School wrestling team, Bill Heverly is taking the helm at his alma mater. Heverly, who had been an assistant for the Irish, replaces Matt Walsh, who rebuilt Camden Catholic into a state power the last four years. “It means a lot when you wrestle there growing up and seeing it evolve over time since I’ve been there until now,” said Heverly. “You realize it’s a special place and special program and you’d like to see it doing good things. I’m proud of the kids and how they got the program going in a good direction. The alumni is very proud of them. It’s nice to be involved in … rest of story at _{https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2020/08/camden-catholic-hires-alum-to-take-over-one-of-states-powerhouse-wrestling-programs.html?mc_cid=d480353b0e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – Amid cancer battle, Newnan High coach Jim Morgan receives National Wrestling Hall of Fame honor
With her husband Jim in the fight of his life battling myelofibrosis, Angie Morgan read the letter addressed from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Museum. From his room at Emory University Hospital while continuing to receive treatment for the rare blood disease, a cadence of applause erupted for the newest recipient of a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award following a nomination from the Hall’s Georgia Chapter. 

“You never know if he loves me more or wrestling more,” Angie joked afterward as the moment was captured in a video posted to a Facebook post.  With it, the Newnan High wrestling alum and longtime community coach for the Cougars program, had even more incentive to continue the fight this summer with an invitation to attend an induction ceremony in 2021 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. … rest of story at _{https://cowetascore.com/coweta%20score/jim-morgan-hall-of-fame-8-6-20?mc_cid=d480353b0e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – Wrestling with demons: How a troubled child turned into a champion
Hugo Harp has trouble sleeping.
As he lies awake in bed, his mind spins the wheel of misfortune. It usually lands on the stretch of weeks when he was 13 and his wild and twisted childhood was reaching its breaking point. The memories are graphic. Like the time he used a piece of wood with nails protruding from it to attack a 17-year-old who was threatening him. The bloody mess he delivered had Hugo taken away by  police. Or when he led Middletown, Delaware police on a six-hour chase before he got so tired and sat on a stoop waiting to be found. Or the time his guardian called police after a disagreement ended with … rest of story at _{https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/07/23/wrestling-demons-how-troubled-child-turned-into-champion/5491271002/?mc_cid=fb559ea200&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – USA WRESTLING OF NEVADA PLANS TO HOST STATE TOURNAMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS IF NIAA DOES NOT
On July 23, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) announced its most recent plans for the 2020-21 high school schedule. As part of this plan, the traditional winter sport of wrestling was shifted to a season from January 2-February 21. In addition, the NIAA noted that “at this time, it is anticipated that there will not be State Tournaments.” USA Wrestling of Nevada, in a letter to high school wrestling coaches on July 24, committed to hosting a state-level tournament for high school boys and girls, sanctioned by USA Wrestling, if the NIAA cannot hold an official state high school wrestling championships for Nevada student-athletes. Rob Cate, the state chairperson of USA Wrestling of Nevada, provided this following information to the high school wrestling coaches across the state. “USA Wrestling of Nevada will provide a Championship event (as allowed by the state) to athletes at the high school level (both men and women). We will follow the NIAA guidelines as much as possible to make this State Championship as normal as possible for our athletes. 2021 will produce a Nevada State Champion in the different divisions as always.” … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/July/27/USA-Wrestling-of-Nevada-to-host-state-tournament-if-NIAA-does-not?mc_cid=84274241b0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Wrestling community mourns shocking death of former East, BC grappler Estrada
Even on days when he dreaded going into the wrestling room, Jordan Cooper knew his mood would instantly pick up the second he saw Keithen Estrada. “We could be cutting weight and trying to lose seven pounds in one day and Keithen would crack a joke and just automatically make everything seem better,” said Cooper, Estrada’s sophomore teammate at Bakersfield College in 2019. “He was the one kid where you could be having a terrible day, but the moment you saw him, it seemed like everything just went away.” Roughly 24 hours prior to his interview with The Californian, Cooper was sent into an emotional tailspin, one he might normally rely on Estrada to pull him out of.  … rest of story at _{https://www.bakersfield.com/sports/bvarsity/wrestling-community-mourns-shocking-death-of-former-east-bc-grappler-estrada/article_81a6a194-d8e6-11ea-9e6c-f3e2b78fcf01.html?mc_cid=2938e52dc9&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – NCHSAA will postpone fall sports again, date to be determined
Tags: NC High School Athletic Association,  coronavirus
Updated August 6, 2020
By Nick Stevens, HighSchoolOT managing editor
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The N.C. High School Athletic Association has informed its membership that the 2020 fall sports season will be postponed again due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the new date has not yet been determined. In an email to membership, the NCHSAA said its board of directors and several committees will work on a solution over the coming weeks. The NCHSAA hopes to make an announcement by Aug. 17. … rest of story at _{https://www.highschoolot.com/nchsaa-will-postpone-fall-sports-again-date-to-be-determined/19222475/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=highschoolot}

August 12, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized