Takedown Report

Wrestling History – # 23

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Stories of wrestling heroes, Cross(#1), Steiners (#3), Burnett (#5), Yagla (#7), and Lindland (#10) are included. A tribute and look back on Greg Strobel are in (#8 & 9) while looks at Hawkeye Wres. Club (#2), Central Oklahoma (#4) and Penn State alumni (#6) focus on the history of a group.
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1 } – .Kendall Cross – Olympic Gold Medalist & NCAA Champion
Kendall Cross is a 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He won an NCAA title and 3x All American honors for Oklahoma State in the late 80’s/1990, as well as two team titles for the Cowboys. Enjoy folks!
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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 shaped and molded their lives. By stitching together stories of sacrifice, .. rest of story at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/168-kendall-cross-olympic-gold-medalist-ncaa-champion/?mc_cid=bbb5286d21&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

2 } – Dan Gable and the history of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club
Dan Gable, head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa from 1977-97, provides insight into the formative years of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and the visionary mind of Gary Kurdelmeier. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1602199255768&twSessionId=rzzxccvlwm&videoId=868549135&mc_cid=a13c46544f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

3 } – Terry Steiner: What I learned from Troy Steiner
Identical twins Troy and Terry Steiner of Bismarck, North Dakota, attended the University of Iowa where they wrestled under Dan Gable.
Troy was a four-time All-American, placing fifth, second, first, and third at the NCAA Championships (1990-93). He competed at 142 pounds in his first three seasons before dropping down to 134 pounds his senior year to make room for true freshman Lincoln McIlravy to enter the lineup at 142 pounds. McIlravy went on to become a three-time NCAA champion and a four-time finalist. 
Terry was a three-time All-American, placing third, fifth and first at the NCAA Championships (1991-93) at 150 pounds.  Troy is currently the head wrestling coach at Fresno State while Terry is the current head women’s national team coach for USA Wrestling.
The following are Terry’s words on what he learned from his identical twin brother, Troy. 
PERSISTENCE
“Troy was always persistent and consistent in how he went about his business on a day to day basis. He just focused on the task at hand and not worrying about everything else around him. Troy did a great job of keeping his blinders on and not getting caught up in everything … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1602199255768&twSessionId=rzzxccvlwm&postId=868548135&mc_cid=a13c46544f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

4 } – Friday Feature: Going Out In Style
EDMOND – Central Oklahoma entered the 1988-89 wrestling season on a mission. After all, the Bronchos had finished national runner-up the previous year, which was unacceptable to a program that had come to dominate the NAIA ranks. “Everybody’s working hard to get that championship back after not winning it last year,” head coach David James told the Vista. “I don’t think we paid the price last year, so we’re making sure we do this time and hopefully it will pay off with another national title.” It did.
UCO ended its affiliation with the NAIA in style, capturing its fifth championship in six years and the eighth in 11 seasons. The Bronchos moved to NCAA Division II in 1989-90. Central figured to be a prime challenger entering the ’88-89 campaign, with two-time national champion Johnny Nimmo and two-time All-American Shawn Fleming leading the way. Senior transfers Marc Hull and Tony Pacheco were also expected to make big impacts. The Bronchos started the dual season 1-3, with the losses coming to ranked Division I rivals Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Lock Haven. UCO then knocked off Missouri 23-18 to ignite an 11-match winning streak and finished 12-3.
Six tournaments – four opens and two invitationals — were also sprinkled in the schedule. The Bronchos ran away with the Southwest Missouri Invitational crown behind five individual winners (Fleming,  … rest of story at _{https://bronchosports.com/news/2020/10/9/wrestling-friday-feature-going-out-in-style.aspx?mc_cid=dc6ecdfa42&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

5 } – Bruce Burnett – 4x Olympic Coach, Hall of Famer
Four-time Team USA Olympic Coach Bruce Burnett is our guest today.  Bruce is known as one of the great coaches of all time.  A brilliant tactician who developed a mastery of studying film.  Bruce has been inducted into numerous hall of fames and currently resides in North Idaho.  In this episode we talk about Bruce’s coaching career, John and Pat Smith, and the 1992 Olympics.  
BIO: 
Bruce Burnett was the U.S. National Freestyle Coach for USA Wrestling from 1992-2000. During his tenure, the U.S. won World Team Titles at the 1993 and 1995 World Freestyle Championships and captured five medals at the 1996 Olympics. The 2000 Olympic squad won four medals. Burnett was named USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and the U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year for 1996. A North High graduate, Burnett was a two-time State Champion with a 55-3 record, … rest of story at _{https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/burnett/?mc_cid=dc6ecdfa42&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

6 } – History Repeats Itself
Before he assumed the coveted Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship title, Phil Davis just wanted to visit the rainforest. Luckily, a whirlwind start to his professional mixed martial arts career would present the former Penn State wrestler with the chance to compete at UFC 163 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.  
Weeks before his highly-anticipated match against Brazilian fighter Lyoto Machida, Davis witnessed a brutal interaction at a Brazilian soccer match that resulted in the death of a player and a referee  – illuminating the exasperating tension in Brazilian athletics.  
“That is a lot to take in the week before your supposed to go down to Brazil to fight a Brazilian national treasure,” Davis said. “It’s not worth all that for me. And there was definitely a lot of pressure going into that fight.”  
Apprehensive about his upcoming fight, Davis decided to set aside his dreams of exploring the Amazon to focus solely on his strict training regimen.
Despite the pressures leading up to their 2013 bout, Davis prevailed by a unanimous decision – establishing himself as a force in the UFC Light Heavyweight division. It was after this fight that Davis gained the confidence to fuel him into the championship and beyond.
 “The first time he fought me, I was still very young and only had less than 12 fights under my belt. Now I’m much more mature and have a rounded game that I can do knockouts with both hands and at least one foot,” Davis laughed. “I now feel comfortable anywhere the fight takes place, but that just wasn’t true the first time I fought.” … rest of story at _{https://gopsusports.com/news/2020/10/8/wrestling-history-repeats-itself.aspx?mc_cid=a13c46544f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

7 } – Chuck Yagla has been part of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club since its formation in 1973
Chuck Yagla, a 1980 Olympian and two-time World teamer, reflects on the formative years of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and how it elevated wrestling throughout the country. … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1602471676083&twSessionId=fyqgklziyv&videoId=868910135&mc_cid=aabea4b794&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

8 } – ABBOTT BLOG: WHY GREG STROBEL MEANS SO MUCH TO ME, AND TO WRESTLING
As I was driving with my work colleagues from Colorado to Iowa to attend the Senior Nationals, I received a shocking call from USA Wrestling President Bruce Baumgartner that shook me to the core. Bruce told me that Greg Strobel had passed away. It has really thrown me for a loop. I feel compelled to share some thoughts about Greg as we all come together as a wrestling family this weekend at Senior Nationals.
I first got to know Greg Strobel when I was hired as Communications Manager at USA Wrestling in 1988. I knew of Greg Strobel through my years as an athlete and journalist. Everybody knew about Greg. From the day I joined the company, he was welcoming, friendly, supporting and full of knowledge. He made me feel at home. One of my first thoughts when I heard the news was from my first Olympic Games, the 1988 Seoul Olympics, only a few months after I was hired. It was my first overseas trip. For some reason, Greg and I ended up at an Olympic-related social on the edge of Seoul, way up on a large hill. It was night, and we had a glorious view of one of the world’s largest cities, spread across the valley and lit up for miles. Greg basically said, “Enjoy this when you can.” It was my first true taste of the life I had ahead of me within the international wrestling community. … rest of story at _{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/October/10/Abbott-Blog-Why-Greg-Strobel-means-so-much?mc_cid=b223987602&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

9} – Above all, Greg Strobel was a teacher — of wrestling, of young athletes and of life
When Jody Karam looked at Greg Strobel, the former Lehigh head wrestling coach who died Thursday at 68, he didn’t necessarily see one of the NCAA’s most respected coaches who won 189 matches and six EIWA championships for the Mountain Hawks. And he didn’t necessarily see a two-time NCAA champion for Oregon State who won the Outstanding Wrestler award at nationals in 1973. Or a two-time Olympic coach, or a national freestyle coach, or a multiple-time coach of the year at multiple levels, or a powerful USA Wrestling official, or a member of the NCAA rules committee, or a valued Lehigh athletic administrator, or the EIWA executive director. … rest of story at _{https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/2020/10/above-all-greg-strobel-was-a-teacher-of-wrestling-of-young-athletes-and-of-life.html?mc_cid=b223987602&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

10 } – Matt Lindland: My Greatest Loss
Matt Lindland won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games at 76 kilograms and a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships at 85 kilograms in Greco-Roman. Lindland breaks down his loss to Kardanov during the finals of the Olympic Games and what he learned from his loss that prevented him from becoming an Olympic champion.
Move up, not down
“I guess it would be against (Murat) Kardanov (of Russia) at the Olympic Games in Sydney. I think my biggest mistake was cutting to 76 kilograms. I think that was a mistake. I truly believe I should have moved up years before that.”
“In 1996, when I was wrestling at 74 kilograms, I was ready to move up to 82 (kilograms) and they bumped 82 up to 85 and they bumped 74 up to 76. That was a big jump. Moving up to 76 gave me two more kilos. I stayed in that weight category for a quad longer than I should have. I think that was the biggest lesson I learned from that match. I got beat. I got turned and didn’t get my opportunity on top until the last period and I wasn’t able to score on my feet against Kardanov in the finals of the Games. Even though I took a silver medal the next year (at the World Championships) in the finals to the Georgian.”
“I think moving up a weight category, if this is for publication, I would definitely advise, especially younger athletes, is to move up weight categories when they start to grow instead of maintaining that weight as long as you can. Just take the opportunity to get better in your craft and move up weight categories as your body starts growing. I think everybody grows at a different rate. I think I put on a lot of size right after college and continued to grow as I was a senior-level athlete.”
What would it have done to win an Olympic gold medal?
“I have no idea. That was Rulon’s year to win the gold in an iconic fashion … rest of story at _{https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1602644514411&twSessionId=katzbfkdqt&postId=869262135&mc_cid=2844d9a77e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}

December 7, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized