Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News – # 50

TDR Editor’s Notes ; A review of some of the news in women’s wrestling circlesin recent months. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 } – Preseason National Girls High School Rankings
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame, USA Wrestling and FloWrestling are again partnered to create preseason national rankings for high school girls wrestlers for the 2020-21 season. This ranking evaluates all girls enrolled in grades 9-12, and athletes from all 50 states are eligible for selection.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last National Girls High School Rankings were published in March 2020. The committee chose to publish the 2020-2021 preseason ranking earlier than last year, due to the changes in the sport which have occurred because of this historic international challenge. Almost all of the major national and international events which are used to evaluate performance were either cancelled or postponed in the spring and summer. There were a limited number of competitions for high school girls in the last few months, and a number of the nation’s best athletes did get opportunities to wrestle. These events were researched and used as part of the preseason rankings. The first decision for the committee was to rank all of the athletes based upon their weight class back in March 2020. Since the pandemic affected the sport in different ways based upon what region or state an athlete is living, not all of the athletes had the same opportunities to train or compete. This ranking, using last year’s weights, will create the baseline for the rankings for the rest of the year. … rest of story at _{https://nwhof.org/blog/preseason-national-girls-high-school-rankings/?mc_cid=f697b041da&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Amy Hildebrandt: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Amy Hildebrandt. The Trine University women’s coach shares her thoughts on her wrestling heroes: her siblings.
“My wrestling heroes are definitely my sister, Sarah, and both my brothers. We’re a really close family. My oldest brother, Cory, got everyone into wrestling and then my siblings, Sarah and Drew, have been so successful in wrestling. It pushed me to find my place in the wrestling world because I wasn’t as big on competing and being the best like they were. It has clearly changed my whole life since I’m a wrestling coach now. Being around them and learning from them and their experiences is something I have always looked up to.  “They say never meet your heroes … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1600311809524&twSessionId=lkjoxxqlsi&postId=866978135&mc_cid=f697b041da&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – Lee Miracle: What I learned from Kayla Miracle
Lee Miracle, head women’s coach at Campbellsville University, coached his daughter, Kayla, to four WCWA titles (2015-18). Kayla has represented the United States on nine different World teams: two Cadet, three Junior, three U23, and one senior. She earned bronze medals at the 2014 and 2016 Junior Worlds and silver medals at the 2012 Cadets and 2019 U23 Worlds. Lee coached Campbellsville to WCWA team titles in 2018 and 2020. 
The following are Miracle’s thoughts on what he has learned from his daughter, Kayla.
Continuously improve communication
There is a lot that you learn there. There’s a lot of lessons you go through raising, cultivating, and training an athlete like that. You learn what not to do. You learn what to do more. Hopefully, if you keep getting better as you go along you’ll get there. That’s kind of how we approached it.
One example would be right after a tough loss it’s really not the time to talk about the loss. Give them a hug. Give them some kind words. Let them go off and deal with what they need to. When they’re ready to talk about the wrestling part of it, let them come back and let you know they are ready and then you go through it. That was one of the early lessons. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1600399634961&twSessionId=mgzwzualew&postId=866842135&mc_cid=c6a292a4f2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Sacred Heart First In New England with NCAA D1 Women’s Wrestling
FAIRFIELD, Conn.– The Sacred Heart University Pioneers will set a regional precedent with the launch of an NCAA Division I women’s wrestling team.
This new athletics program officially begins in the fall of 2021. With this team, SHU now has 33 NCAA Division I sports — including 20 for women. And in true pioneering fashion, the University will become the first college in New England to offer Division I women’s wrestling.  It’s a vision turned into reality for John Clark, men’s head wrestling coach. “This is a goal I had since I started three years ago,” he said. “This is great for women, this is great for Sacred Heart; this is great for so many people.”  “I think it’s important that the NCAA recently labeled women’s wrestling as an emerging sport,” Clark said. “But even before that, I saw the potential. Anything that guys can do, girls can do, too. This is an equal opportunity.” 
Clark has worked for the past year on launching the program, which plans on hiring its first coach this coming January. Competition will then start the coming fall. Clark expects rapid growth for the women’s team. After all, his men’s team has doubled in size — from 26 athletes to 51 — since his arrival.
“We see tremendous opportunity here,” Clark said. “If I had to start a program from scratch, I don’t know how much better of a location you could put that program than right here. New York, New Jersey and New England are rich in talent and quantity in terms of both men and women wrestlers. Our location is a huge draw. I am excited to take this step as a University and this wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous support from the dedicated leadership on campus. Sacred Heart University is such a special place to be and the addition of women’s wrestling will continue to provide broad-base opportunities for the student-athletes on campus.” Clark also expects support from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), which has already helped him tremendously in organizing the new program. In particular, he thanks Mike Moyer, the NWCA executive director. … rest of story at _{https://sacredheartpioneers.com/general/2020-21/releases/20200908dk1wue?mc_cid=1ea990827d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – History Makers! John Clark to lead the new women’s wrestling program at Sacred Heart
John Clark is already the head men’s wrestling coach at Sacred Heart but will serve as the new women’s head coach after the university announced it is adding a Division I women’s wrestling program. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1600745763883&twSessionId=layhgfixqr&videoId=865124135&mc_cid=1ea990827d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – BTS Chicago welcomes new women’s coach, Haley Augello – OTM615
2016 Olympian and new Beat The Streets Chicago women’s coach Haley Augello goes On The Mat

On The Mat returns as Kyle and Andy talk with Haley Augello, an Illinois native who represented the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio in women’s freestyle wrestling. Augello was also a 2017 World Team member and was a 2011 Cadet world champion. She’s the new women’s coach at Beat The Streets Chicago. Join Kyle Klingman and Andy Hamilton On The Mat, the flagship podcast of Trackwrestling.com. … rest of story at _{https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/trackwrestling/on-the-mat/bts-chicago-welcomes-new-womens-coach-haley-augello-otm615/?mc_cid=1ea990827d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – When will a ‘wrestling state’ like Iowa officially sanction girls wrestling?
Photo: The first of two Iowa girls state high school tournaments, presented by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, was held in 2019 in Waverly, Iowa. The number of girls competing in 2020 doubled in numbers.
Note: The following story appeared in the September issue of WIN Magazine. Click here to subscribe to WIN, which will produce its annual College/High School Preview issue on Oct. 2, 2020.
Click on above image to subscribe to WIN Magazine.
By Jim Nelson
The first message Jean Berger wants to convey to wrestling fans in Iowa is she is on their side. As the Executive Director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, Berger’s job is to create, find and provide opportunities to showcase the Iowa girl. Wrestling, she believes, will be one of those opportunities in the future.
Berger was in attendance when the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association sponsored the first Iowa girls’ high school state tournament in 2019 in Waverly and took note of the growth of the second IWCOA girls’ state tournament in 2020 that nearly tripled in size. … rest of story at _{https://www.win-magazine.com/2020/09/21/girls-wrestling-in-a-wrestling-state-like-iowa/?mc_cid=1ea990827d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b#utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=girls-wrestling-in-a-wrestling-state-like-iowa}

8 } – #165 Katherine Shai – 6x Team USA Member
Katherine Shai is a 6x Team USA member. She comes from a storied family of wrestling greatness, as her father Lee was a 2x Olympian.  Enjoy it folks!
SPONSOR
This episode is brought to you by the Wrestling Changed My Life online store. We have podcast T-Shirts, Hoodies, Crew-necks, Stickers and more.  Go to Store.WrestlingChangedMyLife.com to shop. 
ABOUT THE WRESTLING CHANGED MY LIFE PODCAST
Hosted by Ryan Warner, the Wrestling Changed My Life Podcast features in-depth interviews with wrestlers and coaches to learn how the sport … rest of story at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/165-katherine-shai-6x-team-usa-member/?mc_cid=1ea990827d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – #WOMENSWEDNESDAY: MAYA NELSON HIRED TO WYOMING SEMINARY COACHING STAFF
Wyoming Seminary women’s wrestling head coach Erin Vandiver announced the addition of 2017 Junior World champion Maya Nelson as an assistant coach.
Nelson, a Senior National Team member, will continue to pursue her Olympic dreams while bringing up the next generation of women’s wrestlers. Her duties as an assistant coach will include facilitating practices, mentoring the athletes, spending time with the athletes during lifts and meal times as well as serving as a “dorm parent.”
The hire came easily for Vandiver as she helped coach Nelson to her World medals and has been in her corner countless times. At only 23 years old, Nelson … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/September/23/Womens-Wednesday-Nelson-hired-at-Wyo-Sem?mc_cid=9754f989b3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – Alexandria Glaude ended her college career by making history
Alexandria Glaude of McKendree won the inaugural National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships in 2020 as did her team. She talks about making history, being an effective communicator, and her role in advancing women’s wrestling. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1600914601788&twSessionId=ldkhnhsavf&videoId=867580135&mc_cid=9754f989b3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

October 25, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized