Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News – # 52

TDR Editor’s Notes ; The following articles involve women’s and girls wrestling on Olympic, College, High School and youth levels.
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1 } – Adeline Gray wrestles after 6 months away. Her sister wrestles for the first time in 9 years
The last time world wrestling champion Adeline Gray competed, she fractured ribs at mid-March’s Pan American Championships in Ottawa, one of the last international sporting events held at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Normally, that kind of injury could debilitate hopes of qualifying for an Olympic team. Normally. But the Olympic Trials had already been postponed from their early April date. And Gray, as a reigning world medalist with a bye into the trials finals, had the option of postponing her competition due to injury anyway. Then, a week after Pan Ams, the Tokyo Games were postponed, later rescheduled for the same June/July dates in 2021. Gray, the American record holder with five world wrestling titles, returns to the competition mat on Saturday at the U.S. Championships in Coralville, Iowa.
The meet has no bearing on next year’s Olympics or Olympic Trials. … rest of story at _{https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/10/10/adeline-gray-wrestling-geneva/}

2 } – PAGE, GRAY, MOLINARI WIN SENIOR NATIONAL WOMEN’S FREESTYLE TITLES ON SATURDAY
CORALVILLE, Iowa – The final three weight classes in women’s freestyle wrapped up on Saturday night at the Senior Nationals, with three champions reaching the top of the podium. Winning her third Senior Nationals title was Jennifer Page of the Titan Mercury WC, who needed some last second heroics to edge five-time age-group World medalist Macey Kilty of the Sunkist Kids, 4-3. … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/10/Page-Gray-Molinari-win-Senior-womens-national-titles?mc_cid=aabea4b794&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – Hildebrandt adds another title
Penn High School graduate Sarah Hildebrandt is on a roll as she prepares for the US Olympic Trials in women’s wrestling, delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hildebrandt added another national championship to her resume Friday, winning the women’s 50 Kg (110 pd) weight class at the US Senior Nationals in Coralville, Iowa. On Saturday, she was named the outstanding women’s wrestler for the entire tournament. Hildebrandt did not give up a point in either her semifinal or championship matches. She beat Emily Shilson in her semifinal contest, 10-0.
In the championship round, against Amy Fearnside — one of her practice partners at the US Olympic Training Center — Hildebrandt won 8-0, scoring three takedowns and a leg lace. It is Hildebrandt’s second national wrestling championship as a senior wrestler, to go along with two national collegiate championships she won while attending King University. … rest of story at _{https://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/community/hildebrandt-adds-another-title/article_353fbd4a-0c17-11eb-b8bf-7ff802acd110.html?mc_cid=aabea4b794&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Recent successes of Jennifer Page, Jane Valencia exemplify NLWC’s commitment to growing women’s wrestling |
The success of Penn State’s collegiate wrestling team during the Cael Sanderson era is well documented. The Nittany Lions have won 152 matches and eight NCAA titles entering Sanderson’s 12th season in Happy Valley, but his success doesn’t stop there. Sanderson has long been an advocate for growing the sport and has backed up his words with tangible steps he feels need to be taken to accomplish that. The Salt Lake City, Utah, native has said the sport needs to become more digestible and easier to understand to the general public and needs to see an increase in the number of scholarships. But there’s one other area where Sanderson has quietly grown the sport, and it’s paid dividends. … rest of story at _{https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/wrestling/article_bc1a4b22-0c1d-11eb-84ec-2be295aa4644.html?mc_cid=9d92b7854a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – WISCONSIN WRESTLING LEAGUE ANNOUNCES A WOMEN’S WRESTLING DIVISION FOR ITS 2020-21 SEASON
The Wisconsin Wrestling League is proud to announce the addition of a girls division to our 2020-21 wrestling season. This division will be available to any kindergarten through 8th grade female wrestler that wants to participate this season. “The purpose of adding a girls division is not just to provide an opportunity to girls that wrestle, but also to ensure we are doing what we can to help grow women’s wrestling in Wisconsin,” said Justin Tritz, Founder of the WWL. “We believe we can increase participation and foster growth by ensuring girls have the opportunity to compete against other girls.” The WWL will be kicking off the season with a girls event held at The Beast Cage in Wisconsin Rapids on Sunday, December 6th. … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/19/Womens-Wrestling-League-in-Wisconsin?mc_cid=c883bf378a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – Montana DeLawder queen of the mat, and the Gettysburg High School Homecoming court
Montana DeLawder was already a queen of the wrestling mat, but now she’s also queen of the court. No, not a basketball court, rather the homecoming court at Gettysburg Area High School. DeLawder, a senior, was named homecoming queen during halftime of Gettysburg’s home football game against York Suburban last Saturday evening. The thing is, she wasn’t officially crowned that night because she was busy showing off her skills as one of the nation’s top scholastic female wrestlers in the True Power event hosted by PA Power Wrestling in Blair County. DeLawder was only a moment removed from completing an 8-2 victory over Lily Sherer of Delaware Valley High School when she got the news. “As I came off the mat my mom was listening live (to the homecoming announcement) and she came down on the floor,” said DeLawder. “I hadn’t even put my clothes back on or got water, so it basically happened at the same time. I was excited, it was pretty cool.”
DeLawder was suddenly a queen, only she didn’t have a crown. That was rectified as she was promptly presented a Burger King crown that she proudly donned for a few photos following the match. … rest of story at _{https://www.gettysburgtimes.com/sports/article_d4afddd9-710b-58fc-8bf6-62fd379d24a0.html?mc_cid=a5e2a6cc0d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – Jessica Medina: What I learned from Clarissa Chun
Clarissa Chun and Jessica Medina currently work together on the women’s national team staff at USA Wrestling after competing against each other at times during their respective wrestling careers. Chun was a 2008 World champion and a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist who currently serves as the assistant women’s national coach. Medina was a three-time U.S. Open champion and a 2006 Junior World bronze medalist who currently serves as National Women’s Developmental Coach.  The following are Medina’s words on what she has learned from Clarissa Chun. 
COMING FULL CIRCLE
I learned a lot from Clarissa over the years. When I came on the scene she was someone I really looked up to and when she made her first Olympic team it was really exciting. It was an interesting path going from ‘Wow, this is Clarissa Chun someone I want to follow down the same path’ and then becoming teammates and competitors with all the weight class changes. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1603420562759&twSessionId=gwvztvxbro&postId=871118135&mc_cid=6032bfb245&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – USA WRESTLING BRIAN KECK MEMORIAL PRESEASON NATIONALS GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FIELD INCLUDES 56 NATIONALLY RANKED STARS
The USA Wrestling Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals is developing into one of the best events of the year for high school girls. Set for next weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, the girls high school field features 56 athletes who were ranked in the National Girls High School Preseason Rankings.
This event will play an important part in determining the next Girls High School Rankings, set to be announced in November. No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the field include Samara Chavez of Texas, entered at 112 and Olivia Brown of Oklahoma, competing at 200. No. 2 ranked wrestlers who are registered are Montana Delawder of Pennsylvania (competing at 127), … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/23/Nationally-ranked-high-school-girls-competing-at-Preseason-Nationals?mc_cid=cc6d7a1ffb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Lakeland University graduate returns to assistant coach former team
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (BVM) — Lakeland University’s new women’s wrestling graduate assistant coach, Madison Ruckdashel, hopes to further grow and improve the program she helped shape as an athlete. 22-year-old, Madison Ruckdashel, started wrestling in first grade. “My dad was the coach for middle school and I have a brother that’s pretty close to my age,” Ruckdashel said. “I just kind of grew up on that and enjoyed wrestling around and I wanted to continue it.” Her brother, Garrett Ruckdashel, wrestles for the University of Wisconsin – Platteville, where her father also wrestled. Being a female wrestler brought its own challenges.  “It was hard sometimes being like an outcast,” Ruckdashel said. “You wanted to try to relate to your teammates, but in some ways you just couldn’t. Some people accepted you and some people didn’t.”  “It was also challenging, as I got older, boys started to get stronger. That was hard to wrap my head around. It made me doubt myself a couple of times.” … rest of story at _{https://bvmsports.com/2020/10/23/lakeland-university-graduate-returns-to-assistant-coach-former-team/?mc_cid=cc6d7a1ffb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – High School Girls Wrestling Showcased at Super 32
South Carolina – – The increasing depth within high school girls wrestling was showcased in Myrtle Beach at the annual Super 32 tournament on Sunday. Without U16 and Junior Nationals in Fargo this season, Super 32 was a first look at how some of USA Wrestling’s rankings may have changed since wrestling was paused in the spring. It was also a look at how some of the wrestlers have moved around in weight classes since the last rankings. Girls wrestled at 11 weights: 97, 103, 108, 115, 123, 130, 139, 148, 160, 172 and 195 pounds. This article looks at the finalists for each of those weights.
Maryland’s reigning Super 32 champ and #1 seed at 97 pounds is Alex Szkotnicki. Just a sophomore, Alex earned a second consecutive belt this weekend after winning by fall in all four matches—including the final bout versus Missouri’s Ava Ward, which she finished with a cradle. Szkotnicki wasn’t scored on during the finals in 2019 or 2020. … rest of story at _{https://www.transitionwrestling.com/high-school-girls-wrestling-showcased-at-super-32/?mc_cid=5358e83a0f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

December 2, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized