Takedown Report

Carolinas’ Colleges’ News – # 12

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Reviewing some of the college wrestling news in North and South Carolina has new transfers at Campbell (#1). News from N.C. State (#2, 3 & 8), U.N.C. (#6), Limestone (#5), Appalachian State (#7 & 9) and Mt. Olive (#10) is included. Plans for NCAA Division II seasons are detailed as well. (#4).
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1 } – Who are Campbell’s three new transfers?
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Since the end of last season you may have missed some of our new transfers. We announced our Top-10 incoming recruiting class of 2020 back in June, but there are still a few new wrestlers joining our roster who you may not have met.  
Zurich Storm (125 lbs) [Junior]
Zurich may not be “new” to the lineup, considering he joined Campbell’s roster in January; however, he is a new transfer within the past season. He will be allowed to don the Campbell singlet for the first time starting this fall, and we’re enthusiastic to see what he brings to the lineup. Originally a PIAA AAA state placer (PDF) from New Oxford High School, Storm knew he wanted to travel south for college and committed to NC State.
 During his first collegiate season in 2018, he made the finals of the Hokie Open, Pembroke Classic and Wilkes Open. The following season, Zurich started for NC State at 125 pounds. He earned 16 wins, including a championship at the Wolfpack Open.
 Zurich initially made the transfer last semester and was drawn to Campbell’s coaching staff. Even with the big offseason changes, Zurich committed to staying at Campbell. … rest of story at _{https://gocamels.com/news/2020/8/19/wrestling-who-are-campbells-three-new-transfers.aspx?mc_cid=b69497687c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – NC State Wrestling
An overview and look at the Wolfpack’s season in 2019-2020 … rest of story at _{https://gopack.com/news/2020/9/1/wrestling-inside-look-packwrestle-program.aspx?mc_cid=1fef1a8869&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – WolfPack Mentality Pop-Ins Podcast: Ep. 69 – Former All-American Tommy Gantt
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State alum Tommy Gantt comes on board for the latest edition of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast to talk about his upcoming match at Wrestling Underground, a pay-per-view promotion that will air this coming weekend on UFC Fight Pass and has the support of one of the most polarizing figures in sports, Chael Sonnen. Gantt will face four-time All-American and past NCAA champion Mark Hall, a recent graduate of Penn State in one of the night’s premier bouts. Host Brian Reinhardt talks to Gantt about the whole process and more on a short, but always informational episode of the show. … rest of story at _{https://gopack.com/news/2020/8/25/wrestling-packmentality-pop-ins-podcast-ep-69-former-all-american-tommy-gantt.aspx?mc_cid=0b16b413d6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Football Season Pushed To Spring, Indoor Track & Field Championship Suspended
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference board of directors announced Thursday that it has postponed football season to the spring semester, while also suspending the 2020-21 indoor track & field championship. In addition, the 2020-21 campaign for the wrestling team will begin no earlier than November 1.
 The board also approved a reduced schedule model for football, including a conference championship, without participants exhausting a year of eligibility. That model utilizes the legislative relief provided to NCAA Division II institutions for the 2020-21 season.
 The board also approved several other recommendations, including the resumption of countable athletically-related activities (CARA), excluding the restrictions regarding outside competition, for all MEC sports at the discretion of each MEC member institution. This recommendation follows the guidelines of the requirements by the NCAA rules and Board of Governors that were announced late last week.
 “I pledged to our board, administrators, athletics staffs and, most importantly, to our student-athletes  … rest of story at _{https://uncpbraves.com/news/2020/8/13/football-season-pushed-to-spring-indoor-track-field-championship-suspended.aspx}

5 } – Limestone Wrestling Adds Chris Basford to Staff
GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Limestone University Athletics Department and Head Men’s Wrestling Coach Kelly Revells have announced the addition of Chris Basford as the Assistant Men’s Wrestling Coach, effective immediately.
“I am excited to work with Coach Revells and thankful for the opportunity he and Limestone University have given me,” said Basford.  “I feel we both have the same vision as far as what we want to build at Limestone University—which is a National Championship caliber team in the classroom and on the mat” Basford joins the Saints after a long stint with another Saints program in Maryville University where he served as part of the coaching staff and operations team for the program.  While with Maryville, the team garnered three Academic Team National Championships while also picking up NWCA National Dual Championships in 2015 and 2016. Prior to his time at Maryville, Basford served as the Assistant Wrestling Coach for the now defunct men’s program at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.  He helped the team to four team National Championships as well as four first place finishes at the NCAA Super Regional tournaments.  Under the assistance of Basford, the Mavericks posted a 62-10 dual match record during his tenure. Basford has kept his pulse on the NCAA Division II Wrestling world since August of 2005 when he began generating both regional and national team rankings.  He has been contracted through FloWrestling.org for those rankings and more recently has been serving as the NCAA Division II Rankings Coordinator and the site manager for D2Wrestle.com. … rest of story at _{https://golimestonesaints.com/news/2020/9/1/mens-wrestling-limestone-wrestling-adds-chris-basford-to-staff.aspx?mc_cid=1fef1a8869&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – SONNY SANTIAGO TALKS CAROLINA, FAMILY IN Q&A
This week, GoHeels.com sat down with Tar Heel freshman Sonny Santiago to discuss his decision to attend school in Chapel Hill and work under head coach Coleman Scott. Santiago, a Downey, California native, won a state title at St. John Bosco High School and was a three-time Scholar Athlete of the Year Award winner.
GoHeels: Why did you choose Carolina?
Santiago: When I came for my two visits, I really didn’t get to see much and came in only knowing maybe a few team members. What really attracted me was the coaching staff’s goals, and how they are taking the team to the next level. In all my years of wrestling, I have never seen such a talented and driven coaching staff in D1 wrestling. The coaches are constantly improving themselves, the wrestling team, and especially me. 
GH: To Carolina fans who haven’t watched you wrestle, how would you describe yourself as a wrestler?
SS: For the fans that haven’t watched me, I can describe myself to them as a patient wrestler. … rest of story at _{https://goheels.com/news/2020/9/22/wrestling-sonny-santiago-talks-carolina-family-in-q-a.aspx?mc_cid=e10bcd29f6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – App State Wrestling Welcomes Head Assistant with All-America Pedigree
BOONE, N.C. — The national success of App State Wrestling has attracted a former Power Five assistant with an impressive pedigree to cross the country and join head coach JohnMark Bentley‘s staff.  After following an All-America wrestling career with four seasons in which he coached four All-Americans as an Oregon State assistant, Ian Miller has been hired as App State’s head assistant coach, Bentley announced Thursday.
 “I’m very excited to add Ian to our coaching staff,” Bentley said. “Obviously, Ian had an outstanding career as a competitor, but his coaching experience is something that was needed on our staff with the departure of two seasoned assistants. With four seasons of D1 coaching experience on his résumé, he should be able to hit the ground running. Ian’s connections in the Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania hotbeds of high school wrestling should be useful in recruiting talent in the upcoming years.” 
 Under Bentley’s direction, in the past six seasons, App State’s 37-4 conference record ranks No. 5 nationally in all of Division I wrestling behind just Missouri, Oklahoma State, Cornell and Penn State. … rest of story at _{https://appstatesports.com/news/2020/9/10/app-state-wrestling-adds-head-assistant-with-all-america-pedigree.aspx?mc_cid=27cd8af936&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – Tommy Gantt: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Tommy Gantt. The 2016 All-American from North Carolina State shares his thoughts on his wrestling hero: Kenny Monday. 
These are Gantt’s words on his wrestling hero: “I’d probably say Kenny Monday because he was the first Olympic champ that was an African-American and because of his presence on the mat and his aura and persona outside of wrestling. He’s just a down-to-earth, good dude who generally means well and actually cares about what goes on in the community. He’s a father and a family man and those are all things I aspire to be.
“He’s at (North) Carolina, so he’s 20 minutes up the road. Before COVID, I’d go up there once a week and he would come down here. I’d say he has a lot of determination, even as a coach. I can see that too in him as a competitor. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1599190255218&twSessionId=prmtaddzlx&postId=864557135&mc_cid=fd098ddc36&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} -10 members of App State wrestling team test COVID-19 positive
Appalachian State University and Appalachian District Health Department (AppHealthCare) are working closely to investigate and respond to an active cluster of confirmed COVID-19 associated with App State’s wrestling team. A cluster is defined by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as a minimum of five cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period and plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases. Currently, there are 10 members of the wrestling team who have tested positive within the past 11 days. Eight are recovering in active isolation, and two are past the isolation stage. The students are being provided support by the university. Student Health Services alerted AppHealthCare to the initial two cases. Campus testing for athletes last week resulted in three confirmed cases. An additional five cases were confirmed Monday. The team is not currently practicing.
Public health staff is working to continue identifying close contacts. A close contact is defined as someone who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes. If you receive a call from public health, we urge everyone to cooperate with the contact tracing process. … rest of story at _{https://wataugaonline.com/10-members-of-app-state-wrestling-team-test-covid-19-positive/?mc_cid=48f6ce54f3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – Trojans Earn Post-Season Awards
MOUNT OLIVE, North Carolina — University of Mount Olive freshman Bryan Aragao and Tyler Hughes were named the James Johnson Award honorees as the top senior scholastic wrestlers in eastern North Carolina. Undefeated North Carolina State Champions Bryan Aragao (North Brunswick High School) and Tyler Hughes (C.B. Aycock High School) were awarded the James Johnson Award following their senior seasons this year. The award is named in honor of three-time Greco-Roman National Champion & Olympic Coach James Johnson.  
In his state title run, Aragao recorded only one pin. He knocked off West Carteret’s Jake Reynolds 7-2 in the championship final, a repeat of the East Regional final to secure his state title. Aragao finished his senior year with a 48-0 record. Hughes won 117 of his last 121 matches wrestled in high school, … rest of story at _{https://umotrojans.com/news/2020/9/23/trojans-earn-post-season-awards.aspx}

October 6, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized