Takedown Report

High School News – # 26

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Some results, some adjustments and concerns about the future are included in these articles. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 } – ‘It’s definitely scary:’ Prep stars face uncertain future in light of college cuts
The heartbreak currently being felt by college athletic departments from all over the country is something Luke Smith has seen first-hand. In 2018, Smith, who was recently named the interim head wrestling coach at Cal State Bakersfield, helped Eastern Michigan have one of the best seasons in program history. The Eagles placed third, their best ever finish, at the Mid-American Conference Tournament and had their first All-American in nearly 20 years. Smith, an assistant on that staff, expected even bigger things the following season, as EMU was set to return five national tournament qualifiers. Those aspirations were never fulfilled. Just weeks after the MAC Tournament, wrestling was one of four sports cut by the university, forcing Smith and the rest of the staff into a brutal conversation with their athletes that still hurts him to think about more than two years later. … rest of story at _{https://www.bakersfield.com/sports/bvarsity/its-definitely-scary-prep-stars-face-uncertain-future-in-light-of-college-cuts/article_e3d0ecf8-1621-11eb-b23a-ab3fd3d9d3da.html?mc_cid=ab142e53b8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Matside Recap: Super 32 Challenge
Richard Mann (@richardamann) and Clay Sauertieg (@ByCSauertieg) are back to break down the finals of the Super 32 Challenge. The finals featured some of the top high school wrestlers in the country who will soon be contending for national titles on the collegiate level. 0:00 – Open
1:06 – 106: Vincent Kilkeary (PA) dec over Braeden Davis (MI) 5-2
3:28 – 113: Caden Horwath (MI) dec over PJ Duke (NY) 4-3
6:15 – 120: Cooper Flynn (TN) dec over Mason Gibson (PA) 6-1
10:07 – 126: Drake Ayala (IA) dec over Troy Spratley (NY) 3-2
14:07 – 132: Nic Bouzakis (PA) major dec over Chance Lamer (OR) 13-4
17:53 – 138: Caden McCrary (GA) dec over Levi Haines (PA) 8-2
20:26 – 145: Alek Martin (OH) dec over Rocco Welsh (PA) 6-4
23:45 – 152: Caleb Henson (GA) dec over Anthony Perrari (OK) 4-3
27:24 – 160: Dean Hamiti (IL) fall over Matthew Singleton (GA) (Performance of the Night) … rest of story at _{https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23951?mc_cid=5358e83a0f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – .Facts, Stats, and Trends from the Last Decade of the Super 32 (2010-19)
While we’re still a week out from one of the gems of the high school preseason, the Super 32, it’s never too early to start thinking about the tournament. It has developed from a regional event, in the early 2000’s, to the most competitive folkstyle event in the country. Once registration opens, the event sells out almost simultaneously. Look no further than their website to find the list of famous alumni from the tournament. Kyle Snyder, David Taylor, Kyle Dake, and Zain Retherford are just some of the notable wrestlers that have come to Greensboro, North Carolina, to try and capture a championship belt.  We’ll get to the site information in our actual preview, but today we’ll focus on analyzing some of the numbers and trends associated with the tournament, over the last decade.  … rest of story at _{https://news.theopenmat.com/high-school-wrestling/facts-stats-and-trends-from-the-last-decade-of-the-super-32-2010-19/79124}

4 } – VISAA announces state championships for 3 winter sports. Wrestling is prohibited for now.
Basketball, indoor track and swimming and diving will hold state championships during the winter season, the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association announced Monday. The private school state championships will be limited to the moderate-risk sports, leaving wrestling without a postseason unless the National Federation of State High School Associations changes its high-risk designation. The VISAA executive committee unanimously approved the recommendations given by its Winter Sports Competition Committee, according to a release. The VISAA basketball state tournaments will be held Feb. 23-27, indoor track’s championship will be Feb. 20, and the swimming and diving championships will be Feb. 19-20. Postseason qualifications this season won’t be based on rankings, however, as the VISAA will extend “open invitations to member schools.” Sport-specific safety protocols will be released on Nov. 6 and guidelines for postseason … rest of story at _{https://www.pilotonline.com/757teamz/vp-sp-visaa-winter-state-championships-20201026-4q6cdv56bbff7kc7dxskow4aj4-story.html?mc_cid=5358e83a0f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – Super 32 recap: Bouzakis, Hamiti blitz through brackets on a bonus bonanza
The Super 32 wrapped up Sunday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where a collection of the nation’s top high school wrestlers seized belts and enhanced their resumes. Here’s a look at how the champions navigated through the tournament. 
106 — Vincent Kilkeary (Pennsylvania) dec. Braeden Davis (Mich.) 5-2 Kilkeary’s path to the belt: Trailed 5-2 in his first match of the tournament before rallying back to beat Marcello Milani 8-5 in the round of 64. Cruised through his next three matches with a tech, a major and a 9-2 win against New Jersey’s Anthony Knox. Used a late takedown to beat Missouri’s Zan Fugitt 3-1 in the semis and downed Davis, a Fargo champ, thanks to a pair of takedowns. 
Placewinners: 1. Vincent Kilkeary (Pennsylvania); 2. Braeden Davis (Michigan); 3. Nate Jesuroga (Iowa); 4. Anthony Knox (New Jersey); 5. Beric Jordan (Ohio); 6. Zan Fugitt (Missouri); 7. Dillon Campbell (Ohio); 8. Caleb Thoennes (Minnesota).
113 — Caden Horwath (Michigan) dec. P.J. Duke (New York) 4-3 
Horwath’s path to the belt: Rolled into the semis by going fall, fall, tech, major. Took out 2019 Cadet Greco World Teamer and double Akron finalist Cory Land of Alabama 4-3 on a third-period rideout to reach the finals and then stopped Duke, who won a New York state title in February as a seventh-grader, using a first-period takedown and a late escape to pull out a 4-3 win.  … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1603766880144&twSessionId=uvmzrzlxcu&postId=872135135&mc_cid=5358e83a0f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – The OPEN MAT NEWS
National High School Wrestling Individual Rankings – October 6th, 2020
TOM has released our latest set of high school rankings for the 2020-21 school year. With only a small amount of action taking place in the summer and more lately, we anticipate some of these weights to vary by the time the high school seasons take place. TOM has done extensive research trying to figure out weights for the 2020-21; however if you have further information, contact esmith@theopenmat.com . … rest of story and rankings at _{https://news.theopenmat.com/high-school-wrestling/high-school-wrestling-rankings/national-high-school-wrestling-individual-rankings-october-6th-2020/79029}
Five Takeaways from Who’s #1 2020
Saturday night, one of the mainstays of the high school wrestling calendar took place when FloWrestling hosted their Who’s #1 event. Most of the top high schoolers descended on Austin, Texas, for a chance to stake their claim at the top spot in their respective weight classes. The result was a highly entertaining evening that showed a little bit of everything. Overtime/tiebreaker matches, breakout performances, domination, and simply, some hard-fought scraps. Below are the full results from the Who’s #1 (WNO) along with five takeaways from the night of action.
112 – Mia Palumbo (Illinois) over Sage Mortimer (Utah) 11-6 … rest of story at _{https://news.theopenmat.com/high-school-wrestling/five-takeaways-from-whos-1-2020/79023}
Five Takeaways from Night of Conflict 2020
This weekend, the crew over at IAwrestle put on their annual preseason event, the “Night of Conflict,” from Sioux City, Iowa. The name may be misleading now, because there was so much action on the schedule, they needed two nights to showcase all of the state’s wrestling talent. The event was expanded to include an all-girls dual on Friday nights, while the boys would compete on Saturday evening. Here are some of the highlights from another great event from IAwrestle.
1) Making an Event “Big-Time”
A big tip of the cap to the entire staff at IAwrestle as they have continued to produce an event that feels “big-time.” Being a lifelong Virginia resident, this is something that cuts to the nerve for me. Our state tournament, the pinnacle of a young wrestler’s voyage through our sport, is made to feel like an afterthought due to neglect from our governing body (VHSL). The state has six classes of public schools wrestling with another for private schools, which amounts to seven state champions at every weight class. … rest of story at _{https://news.theopenmat.com/high-school-wrestling/five-takeaways-from-night-of-conflict-2020/78983}

7 } – New England championships in wrestling cancelled for 2021
For the first time since 1965, there will be no New England wrestling championship meet to conclude the high school wrestling season.
Earlier this month, the New England Council, the organization that hosts New England championship meets in 13 sports, voted unanimously to cancel the fall and winter championship meets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cross country championship meet won’t be held in November nor will the wrestling, indoor track, gymnastics, dance and cheerleading meets that were scheduled for February and March. A decision on the 2021 spring events (outdoor track and field and golf) will be made later in 2021. Even if the Council wanted to hold a championship meet, many schools would not be able to attend. In Connecticut, fall sports is limited to regional competition and there will be no state tournaments this fall. Out-of-state competition is prohibited at this time. … rest of story at _{https://ctwrestling.com/2020/10/new-england-championships-in-wrestling-cancelled-for-2021/3499/?mc_cid=2e944b01db&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – Collins Hill High School remembers legendary wrestling coach Cliff Ramos at memorial service
Friends and family remembered longtime Gwinnett wrestling coach Cliff Ramos as a man of many talents, but most of all as a great husband, father and grandfather at a memorial service Saturday morning. The event was held at Collins Hill High School’s football stadium. Ramos died last week after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. As head coach at Collins Hill for 18 years, Ramos developed what many at the memorial service called “a wrestling powerhouse.” Under Ramos’ guidance, the school won nine traditional state and dual state championships, was ranked nationally five times, and helped develop numerous state champions and state placers. Ramos himself was also a member of the Gwinnett Sports Hall of Fame and National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “Coach Ramos was a man of unmatched determination and passion,” … rest of story at _{https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/collins-hill-high-school-remembers-legendary-wrestling-coach-cliff-ramos-at-memorial-service/article_21bb8b82-1617-11eb-a6a5-4f30066de1a1.html?mc_cid=ab142e53b8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Illinois high school wrestling season moved to summer season
A day after Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker Illinois Department of Public Health put Illinois high school wrestling on hold, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced that the wrestling season will be moved to the summer season. The IHSA Board of Directors held a board meeting Wednesday and announced plans for winter sports in Illinois. The wrestling season will be held from April 19 to June 26, 2021. Basketball and other winter athletics will be held during the winter months. Illinois has reported 389,095 total COVID-19 cases with 9,619 deaths. New cases of spiked by over 6,000 on Wednesday. … rest of story at _{https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/23954?mc_cid=aa8061392c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – POWERADE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT CHANGES VENUE, TO BE HELD IN MONROEVILLE, PA., DEC. 28-29
To help comply with the health and safety guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and to assist in social distancing we are happy to announce a change in venues for the 2020 Powerade Wrestling Tournament. The tournament will be moved to the spacious Monroeville Convention Center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The tournament will now be held on Monday & Tuesday, December 28 and 29, 2020. The Powerade Junior Tournament’s (Girls, Boys JV, 15U, 12U & 10U) will be held on Sunday, December 27, 2020 at the same location. … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/29/Powerade-Tournament-to-be-held-in-Monroeville-PA?mc_cid=8d4526dbd7&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

November 28, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized