Takedown Report

Wrestling History – # 22

TDR Editor’s Notes ; A look at some or the wrestling heroes and accomplishments ofour past. Podcasted interviews are included as well as several interesting stories on the web. Especially would like to point out article # 6 by Bill Welker about the growth in folkstyle wrestling after World War II.
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1 } – Track Wrestling Interviews
Logan Stieber: ‘I wouldn’t mind if nobody knew any of my stats’
Logan Stieber, a four-time NCAA champion for Ohio State and a 2016 World champion, breaks down the stress of competition, financial compensation, and the interesting characters he’s met along the way. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1598671152126&twSessionId=fnhzbibpht&videoId=864266135&mc_cid=ea5a873124&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}
#167 Cory Cooperman – The Blair Dream Team
Cory Cooperman is a 3x NCAA wrestling All American. He wrestled for the prestigious Blair Academy where he won 4 national prep titles. Today, Cory coaches in New Jersey where he runs Coop Trained / Apex Wrestling. … rest of storyand podcast at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/167-cory-cooperman-the-blair-dream-team/?mc_cid=a2feb99899&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Ryan Crookham: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Ryan Crookham. The two-time Pennsylvania state champion and recent Lehigh commit shares his thoughts on his wrestling hero: Darian Cruz.  These are Crookham’s words on his wrestling hero: “Darian Cruz is my wrestling hero just because of everything he overcame to win a national title. There were a lot of people doubting him. Being so small as a 125-pounder, I feel like I can relate to him being in the Lehigh Valley and going to Lehigh. 
“I talk with him quite a bit. He’s also the nicest person ever. He’s so humble. He’s a great guy.
“He’ll compare me to him a lot and where I’m at in my career. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1597953784346&twSessionId=bzlircnxpe&postId=859781135&mc_cid=27a5988c78&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}
Zac Dominguez: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Zac Dominguez. The MWC Wrestling Academy coach shares his thoughts on his wrestling heroes: the coaches who helped shape his career as an athlete and coach. “I have a slew of really awesome coaches from starting wrestling to where I’m at now. My first coach as I started to get into wrestling was Dave Aceret, a half brother of Andre Metzger. I had him for two years before he got shipped off in the military. He has since passed away.
“My next coach is Joe Edmonson — a gentleman out of Omaha, Nebraska, who coached from a wheelchair. He was amazing. He definitely understood what hard work meant.  “After that, it was Keith Massey, who brought technique and love of the sport. He helped me understand the sport so well. 
“Tim Neuman and Gordy Morgan as I was in college … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1601001932128&twSessionId=wwclsdpoau&postId=867656135&mc_cid=f2d65a70bb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – #166 Dan Russell – 4x NCAA D2 Champion
Dan Russell is a 4x NCAA, Division 2 national champion. After wrestling, Dan authored an autobiography titled “Finish Strong: The Dan Russell Story”. Today, Dan is an ambassador for Wrestling for Peace and is based out of Amman, Jordan. To learn more about Dan, visit Battleground.TV.
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. … rest of story at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/russell/?mc_cid=8e7f0f219d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Sean Bormet: My Greatest Loss
Note: This is the eighth edition of the ‘My Greatest Loss’ series. In the weeks ahead, we’ll interview some of wrestling’s past and present stars to hear their thoughts on the losses that helped shape their careers and put them on a higher trajectory toward greatness.  Sean Bormet was a two-time All-American for Michigan, placing third at the NCAA Championships in 1993 and second in 1994. Bormet lost to Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith, 5-3, in the 158-pound finals of the 1994 NCAA tournament when Smith won his fourth NCAA title. He wrestled for Providence Catholic High School in Illinois where he placed third at state during his sophomore and junior years and won a state title as a senior (1987-89). The former Wolverine star is the current head coach at Michigan. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1601416268919&twSessionId=zhuaihwocz&postId=867885135&mc_cid=72c2868447&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}
Shane Sparks: My Greatest Loss
Before he became a wrestling voice for the Big Ten Network, Trackwrestling and NBC Sports, Shane Sparks was a top-ranked high school senior who was a minute away from becoming a state champion in Wisconsin’s private school division. 
Known then as Shane Nebl — his sports talk show co-host later gave him the radio name Shane Sparks — he was a skinny 103-pounder for Winnebago Lutheran Academy who was zeroing in on the school’s first state title.  Then everything unraveled. Sparks led 11-6 with roughly 70 seconds left against Thomas More sophomore Rudy Ruiz. He got called twice for stalling on top. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1602030583233&twSessionId=ahiwizbfpg&postId=868401135&mc_cid=aeabd832c4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – Tom Ryan: What I learned from Dan Gable
Dan Gable coached the University of Iowa 15 NCAA team championships and 21 straight Big Ten titles from 1977-97. He coached Tom Ryan to All-American honors in 1991 and 1992 (second in 1991 and third in 1992). Ryan is the current head wrestling coach at Ohio State University where he led his team to an NCAA championship in 2015. 
The following are Ryan’s words on what he learned from Gable. 
CHOOSING THE HARD WAY
We’re talking 28 years after I left the place, it gives you a different perspective. I would say the gifts he has given to me were all the results of his suffering and the challenges he put himself through. Dan Gable is the man he is because he chose the hard way time after time from a physical standpoint and then, of course, what he went through (with his sister being murdered). That ability to suffer so deeply helped him to coach people — me being one of them — to better understand how deeply we can go to obtain something we want. I learned how to suffer at a deeper level.  I learned from Coach Gable that words matter. Being positive and truthful and real matter. His actions were far more valuable than his words.  I learned from Coach Gable how to run an organization … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1601585172455&twSessionId=ztsdhfowdi&postId=868019135&mc_cid=a2feb99899&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – Emergence of Folkstyle Wrestling Post World War II
By Bill Welker, EdD
Introduction
During the WWII years, many wrestling programs across the United States were disbanded because their collegiate and scholastic coaches were off to do battle. Upon returning home after the conflict, wrestling mentors reinstated their mat programs. In fact, they also implemented numerous strategies to promote the creation of wrestling in other colleges and local school districts. I would have loved to interview these former wrestling luminaries, but their mat legacies can only be found in old college and high school yearbooks as they have all passed on. Fortunately, I was blessed with the honor of being influenced as a youngster by such former masters of the mats. As a native of Pennsylvania, I will use the Keystone State as a microcosm of how folkstyle wrestling grew throughout the nation following WWII.
Wrestling Icons and Their Works
The Pennsylvania pioneers of post-war development of wrestling included a plethora of college and scholastic wrestling coaches who reintroduced the mat sport throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. … rest of story at _{https://nwhof.org/blog/emergence-of-folkstyle-wrestling-post-world-war-ii/?mc_cid=a2feb99899&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – LEGENDARY U.S. GRECO-ROMAN COACH AND LEADER JOE DEMEO, 79, PASSED AWAY
USA Wrestling is saddened to receive news that longtime Greco-Roman coach and leader Joe DeMeo of Niskayuna, N.Y. has passed away at age 79. DeMeo dedicated his life to the sport of wrestling, impacting athletes at the youth, high school, college and Olympic level. His enduring legacy is not only the great champions that he has mentored, but also the thousands of lives he has impacted as a coach and leader. Among the athletes who have competed in the Olympics and were tutored by DeMeo are Shawn Sheldon, Andy Seras, Ike Anderson, Frank Famiano, Chris Catalfo, Dave Schultz, Jeff Blatnick and others. Both Schultz and Blatnick were 1984 Olympic champions, with Schultz winning in freestyle and Blatnick winning in Greco-Roman. He also coached one of the greatest women wrestlers of all time, two-time World champion and nine-time World medalist Kristie Davis, who, like Schultz and Blatnick, are Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “He is arguably one of the most consequential figures in U.S. Greco-Roman history. … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/02/Joe-DeMeo-obituary?mc_cid=accb7cd38c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – My Wrestling Journey – Bud Hennebaul
by Nate Naasz September 30, 2020
My life in wrestling probably began when I was one year old. My uncle Fred suffered a freak accident and became a quadriplegic while wrestling in a high school meet. My dad and family chose to embrace wrestling rather than run from it. I am thankful today for their decision to dedicate their lives to wrestling. My dad started an elementary school wrestling team in 1965 at the Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, YMCA. I was there with him at practice many times, yet too young to wrestle. It had to be challenging to keep up with me as I always wanted to get out on the mat and wrestle. He finally gave in when I was five years old. I took some severe beatings back then and loved it all the time. After spending two and three nights a week making the commute from what we called the Back Mountain to the YMCA in Wilkes Barre, I had a transition to make to Junior High at Lake Lehman Junior/Senior High School. I spent many seasons wrestling far more matches than I should have and was suffering from being burned out. I decided not to wrestle in Junior High, but I did not have the courage to tell my dad. Instead of practicing, I would find places to hang out until after practice, when my mom would come to pick me up. I was young and not very bright. While I was doing my alter boy responsibilities a couple of weeks into wrestling, one of my dad’s high school coaches told him it was a shame I decided not to wrestle. That may have been one of the worst days of my life. I will not go into details other than the wrestling room we had in our house became hell on earth that day. Yes, dad had a temper. … rest of story at _{http://www.nwcaonline.com/my-wrestling-journey-bud-hennebaul/?mc_cid=a2feb99899&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Friday Feature: Four In A Row
EDMOND – Only one All-American was back from Central Oklahoma’s national championship wrestling team of the season before and he was lost to a knee injury in February. The 34-man roster was dominated by 16 freshmen, with at least four expected to start during the 1986-87 campaign. And still the Bronchos did what was quickly becoming commonplace – capture the NAIA national championship. It was UCO’s fourth straight title and the seventh in nine years. This championship was probably more surprising than the first six, given the many unfamiliar and unproven individuals fifth-year head coach David James had in the practice room when the season started. “This squad realizes that we are a new team with new faces,” James told the Vista in its season preview. “When you have a young group like we do, the guys seem to work harder, they’re more hungry. We know we can’t live in the past.”
The Bronchos were looking for a trio of key transfers – senior Darren Peaster and juniors Jerry Goss and Todd Steidley – along with talented youngsters Brett Beams, Shawn Fleming and Johnny Nimmo to lead a championship charge. And that’s exactly what happened. A rugged dual schedule led to a 2-5 start, though those losses were close setbacks to ranked Division I teams Oklahoma State (26-18), Oklahoma (20-11) and Weber State (23-19) and Division II powers Nebraska-Omaha (20-17) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (21-17). … rest of story at _{https://bronchosports.com/news/2020/10/2/wrestling-friday-feature-four-in-a-row.aspx?mc_cid=accb7cd38c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – Steve Fraser: My Wrestling Hero
Today’s installment of My Wrestling Hero features Steve Fraser. The 1984 Olympic gold medalist and longtime former USA Wrestling Greco-Roman coach shares his thoughts on his wrestling heroes: Dan Gable and Masaaki Hatta. “Of course, Dan Gable was a hero when I was a youngster. Dan Gable, the Peterson brothers, and Chris Taylor were the first wrestling posters I ever had in my room. I would say those guys as a youngster.
“I can tell you who a wrestling hero was for me is my high school coach Masaaki Hatta, who was second in the world for Japan. He’s a hero because he took me under his wing when I was a 10th grader. He really, really taught me the ropes about wrestling. There have been many great coaches back then and since, but he’s one of my heroes. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1600232107097&twSessionId=zhxbvicxrg&postId=866777135&mc_cid=451344eca7&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

December 3, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized