Takedown Report

High School News (2021) – # 11

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Time to catch up on some highs school wrestling news. The positive impact of competing in the sport of wrestling has a positive impact on the lives of the wrestlers, coaches, parents and fans. This selection of stories show some examples of the “life-changing results” as described in the first story. Enjoy and Keep on Wrestling.
Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com
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1 } – (Ohio) Wrestling: Olentangy Braves’ Steve Adkins sees life-changing results
Steve Adkins was no stranger to sports, but he hadn’t considered joining the Olentangy wrestling team until one of his teachers made the suggestion late in his sophomore year. It was excellent timing for Adkins, who was seeking ways to stay active and lose weight. “They told me they could use me in the heavyweight division,” Adkins said. “I said no at first because my family only had one car and we didn’t have much money, so we had more important things to worry about. But I’m so glad I’m here now. … “I feel great. I’m energized. I’m kind of strong.” Thanks to a tip from intervention specialist Jamie Pollitt-Gore, the mother of 2018 Olentangy graduate and four-time Division I state qualifier Xander Gore, Adkins joined the team as a junior and made an immediate impact. While he has not won a match on the mat in two seasons, the benefits have gone far beyond those results.

Adkins has lost 89 pounds, going from 356 when he joined the team to 267 at the end of this regular season, and become a leader to whom others gravitate because of his positive attitude and willingness to advise from a teammate’s perspective. “I’ve never seen that man upset,” teammate Ben Hall said. “When we work hard, he’s always working harder. It’s unreal how good an attitude he brings. He’s lost what, almost 100 pounds? He just keeps doing good things. I just love seeing him wrestle and that he came out for the team. He’s definitely stepped up.”

An interview Adkins conducted after a match in early February about his love of the sport with Rob Gore, Xander Gore’s father who informally covers wrestling throughout the area, was shared on Twitter and as of Feb. 18 had been viewed more than 34,500 times. “(Adkins) is a great asset to the program. He appreciates everything you do,” coach Dennis Lyberger said. “If he loses, when he comes off the mat he says ‘I’m sorry coach’ and we know he did his best. Everybody needs to live life the way he does, with a positive attitude. He’s always happy.” … rest of story at https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/news/local/olentangy-valley/2021/02/22/wrestling-olentangy-braves-steve-adkins-sees-life-changing-results/6709072002/?mc_cid=329018bca1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – (Iowa) Don Bosco head coach Tom Hogan goes On The Mat – OTM628
Tom Hogan goes On The Mat
Wartburg All-American and Gilbertville (Iowa) Don Bosco High School head wrestling coach Tom Hogan is next On The Mat. Hogan recently led Don Bosco to yet another 1A Iowa high school state championship, but now Hogan will step away from coaching at the respected Gilbertville school. Join Kyle Klingman and Andy Hamilton as they talk about the world of wrestling on the flagship podcast of Trackwrestling.com. … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/trackwrestling/on-the-mat/don-bosco-head-coach-tom-hogan-goes-on-the-mat-otm628/?mc_cid=9c47fa024a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – (New york) A NY state high school wrestling ‘championship’? Yes, but it’s in another state (see CNY roster)
Syracuse, N.Y. — The closest that any of New York’s best wrestlers will come to participating in a state championship tournament this year will require a trip across the border to Pennsylvania. Hundreds of scholastic wrestlers from across the state, including 44 from Section III, are prepping to flex their muscles at the Journeymen/Rudis NYS Wrestling Championships April 2-3 in Manheim, Pa.
The concept was created by the Journeymen Wrestling club, which is based near Albany. Fulton wrestling coach Jeff Waldron said when the event was planned a couple months ago, scholastic wrestling was still one of the sports considered at a high risk for the spread of coronavirus and prohibited in New York. … rest of story at https://www.syracuse.com/highschoolsports/2021/02/a-nys-high-school-wrestling-championship-yes-but-its-held-in-pa-see-cny-roster.html?mc_cid=9c47fa024a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – (Florida) #215 Mike Palazzo – Head Coach Lake Highland Prep, 7x FL State Champs
Mike Palazzo is the head coach at Lake Highland Prep high school.  Since taking over the program in 2008, Lake Highland Prep has won 7 Florida state titles, crowned 2 Ironman champs and Coach Palazzo was named Flo Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2016.  This guy is driven, loves wrestling and shares a ton of knowledge in this episode.  
In this episode of Wrestling Changed My Life Presented by Spartan Combat, I’m joined by Joe De Sena. Joe is the CEO of Spartan Races and is making a giant push into wrestling through his brand, Spartan Combat. … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/215-mike-palazzo-head-coach-lake-highland-prep-7x-fl-state-champs/?mc_cid=327be7a669&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And (Indiana) Comparing 2021 vs. 2011 State Tournament
A Decade Ago
After such a great weekend of wrestling at the 2021 state tournament, let’s take a look back at some of the similarities, differences, and other interesting facts about this year’s tournament and the one from 10 years ago.
The Bank
The first difference between these two tournaments has nothing at all to do with wrestling but the name of the arena. While the tournament is still held in the Indiana Pacers fieldhouse, 2011 was the last year of the fieldhouses original name Conseco Fieldhouse. Since then, the arena has been known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Weight Difference
The 2011 state finals were also the last year of the old weight classes, … restof story at https://indianamat.com/index.php?/articles.html/high-school-news/comparing-2021-vs-2011-state-tournament-r1056/&mc_cid=02f3563d01&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – (Arizona) Wrestling notebook: Skyline shows support for #mackystrong
Wrestlers have a unique bond that can’t be understood unless you’ve stepped on the mat yourself. That experience creates an incredibly tight community built out of respect and understanding of what it takes to make it through a season, let alone have a great career. When two or more wrestlers get together, especially if they competed against each other, there’s an instant bond and shenanigans usually follow. That bond was on display this week when Skyline had a dual meet versus Maricopa out on the football field and hosted a special guest.

Macky Porter, who turns 3 on Sunday, was diagnosed with cancer on Jan. 20 and he was invited to watch the match to show support to the family. The Porters, Dani and Ty, have no ties to the Skyline program other than Skyline coach Jadon “Gator” Johnson competed around the same time – the mid and late 2000s – as Ty.

Ty was a two-time state champion for Highland finishing up in 2005 and Johnson was a state champion in 2007 and two-time finalist for Mountain View. “I felt this could be a good way to show some support from the wrestling community,” Johnson said. … rest of story at https://arizonavarsity.rivals.com/news/wrestling-notebook-skyline-shows-support-for-mackystrong?mc_cid=02f3563d01&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – (New Hampshire) BURT: Three cheers for Timberlane, wrestling and N.H.
It was a typical Saturday night in late February in America. The best two teams in the state going head to head for a championship. Elite athletes in their sport competing against each other. And, of course, spectators were cheering loudly. Must be some place in Florida, probably a basketball game, right?

Wrong. It was Plaistow, N.H. And it was wrestling. Timberlane Regional is only 7.8 miles away from Whittier Regional Vocational School in Haverhill, but it might as well be divided by a giant ocean. While Whittier student-athletes and parents were gathering to discuss their next options to play football, a Fall 2 outdoor sport, Timberlane completed is sixth straight year winning the New Hampshire Division 1 state team championship.

In Massachusetts, wrestling is the hot potato of sports when it comes to the coronavirus. Like football, it was postponed. Massachusetts football has already started practicing with games beginning on March 12. Wrestling has been put off until late April … God willing. … rest of story at https://www.eagletribune.com/three-cheers-for-timberlane-wrestling-and-new-hampshire/article_7ffe157b-6103-5b7b-b49a-c853b218a9b9.html?mc_cid=6c7ef6b094&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – (PENNSYLVANIA) WPIAL Wrestling Roundup: Weekend Results and Takeaways
Saturday was jam-packed with postseason PIAA wrestling. On the Class-2A side of things, the Southeast Regionals took place at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. On the Class-3A side, the WPIAL Championships unfolded at Canon-McMillan High School. Both tournaments lived up to the hype and validated why Pennsylvania, and the WPIAL In particular, are one of the best regions in the country for high school wrestling. Here are some highlights and key takeaways from the action:

Southwest Regional (Class-2A)

The WPIAL schools were dominant. While the WPIAL always tends to fare well in the postseason, what we saw over the weekend at IUP’s Kovalchick Complex was truly special. The WPIAL crowned nine champions among the 13 weight classes, advancing 27 wrestlers to next Saturday’s first-ever PIAA Southwest Super Regional, to be held at the same location. The Super Regional was added this season as an extra stop on the path to Hershey.  … rest of story at https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/02/28/wpial-wrestling-roundup-weekend-results-and-takeaways/?mc_cid=6c7ef6b094&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – (Nebraska) MWC Looks forward to FRECO season
For many wrestlers, last week’s state championships were the end of the wrestling season for eight months. For MWC in Papillion, The last three months were a warmup. FRECO represents a mixture of Freestyle and Greco, the two different style of wrestling held in the Olympics. So training is a year-round process, outside of when wrestlers are in their high school season. The wrestlers got a week off after state, but now they return to club practices to start preparing for national competitions.

MWC wrestlers have been through this before. These tournaments are what puts them on college coach’s radars. There have been a lot of wrestlers who have built momentum from their FRECO seasons. MWC wrestlers, Joel Adams, Antrell Taylor, and Tyler Antoniak were U15 world medalists. Conor Knopick was a Cadet Greco world team member and just won the Junior Greco championship back in November. Many of these wrestlers helped Nebraska to a top five finish in Greco and top ten finish in freestyle at Fargo in 2019. Fargo is the toughest freestyle and greco tournament in the country. It’s where the top high school wrestlers in the nation and sometimes other countries go to prove themselves against the best. There will be many competitions these wrestlers head to over the next several months, that could land them on world teams. Everything will conclude in July at Fargo for the Junior and Cadet Freestyle and Freco Championships.

MWC is a club that has many state medal winners from all over the state (and also Iowa) pushing each other throughout the year. Being in that environment really helps wrestlers train for the college level. Nick Hamilton says “MWC treats practice like a college room. Everyone is pushing themselves. It is a tough room with a tough group of guys.” Garrett Grice adds, “There are a bunch of dudes ahead of me who are having success in college. It makes me less nervous heading into college, because it shows that Nebraska kids are ready to compete right away. It really helps when you’re training against other D1 kids.” … rest of story at https://newrestle.com/2021/03/01/mwc-looks-foreword-to-freco-season/?mc_cid=d34d798fb2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – (NEW JERSEY) Two-Time State Champion Dean Peterson Will Miss His Senior Year
One of the greatest wrestling careers in Shore Conference history has come to a premature end. St. John Vianney senior Dean Peterson, a two-time NJSIAA champion, three-time finalist and the No. 1-ranked 126-pound wrestler in the country, announced Tuesday night via his Instagram page that he will be unable to compete during the 2021 season.

Peterson said he currently had surgery to fix a deviated septum and other issues with his nose that were affecting his breathing and ability to take deep breaths and was told he would not be cleared for another five-to-six weeks at the earliest. The New Jersey high school wrestling season begins on March 16 and runs through April 25.

Peterson is committed to wrestle collegiately at Princeton University. “My focus has shifted toward freestyle to compete for a spot on the Junior World Team at 57kg or 125 pounds,” Peterson wrote.
Read More: Dean Peterson St. John Vianney Wrestling Not Wrestling 2021 | https://shoresportsnetwork.com/two-time-nj-wrestling-state-champion-dean-peterson-will-miss-his-senior-year/?mc_cid=bd28fec561&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b&utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

10 } – (PENNSYLVANIA) Mitch Rupert on wrestling: Williamsport’s Roman Morrone has confidence going into Class AAA Northwest Regionals
There was no hesitation from Williamsport’s Roman Morrone. His success this year has come from the confidence he carried into the wrestling season. The mental aspect of the sport is something the junior 152-pounder tries to work on. The confidence allows him to wrestle the way he wants. It allows him to wrestle the way which has led him to today’s Class AAA Northwest Regional tournament with a 17-1 record, and has made him one of the most valuable pieces in the 21st-ranked Millionaires.

“Wrestling has a very big mental aspect to it,” Morrone said. “A weak mindset late in the season is not good.” It’s not as if Morrone hasn’t previously had success in his career. He was a win away from qualifying for the state tournament a year ago when he posted 32 wins for Williamsport. But he has had success like he’s never had before even as Williamsport has competed against its toughest schedule since the renaissance of the program began under coach Brian Nasdeo. Morrone’s 17-1 record ties him for the second-most wins on the team. His 94.4% winning percentage is second-best on the team behind only undefeated Cael Nasdeo and undefeated Riley Bower.

None of this should come as a surprise, though. Morrone has been a fixture in the lineup since this group of juniors hit the varsity level two years ago. It’s a group which has lifted the Williamsport program to heights it hasn’t seen in decades. The Millionaires won the school’s first district dual meet championship last year and participated in the state tournament in Hershey. … rest of story at https://www.sungazette.com/sports/local-sports/2021/02/mitch-rupert-on-wrestling-williamsports-roman-morrone-has-confidence-going-into-class-aaa-northwest-regionals/?mc_cid=d34d798fb2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – It was another thrilling weekend of high school wrestling action!
Check out finals highlights from state wrestling championships across the country. … rest of story and videos at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPlayer.jsp?TIM=1614662299414&twSessionId=gbzreowlbs&videoId=1100636135&mc_cid=d34d798fb2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And (MINNESOTA) The Al and Josh Show Podcast – Puppies Invade Studio 2
Al and Josh discuss the MN/USA training facility, DII Super Region V results, recent high school results, MN#1, and the upcoming high school section and state tournaments. … rest of story and show at https://theguillotine.com/2021/03/the-al-and-josh-show-podcast-puppies-invade-studio-2/?mc_cid=d34d798fb2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – (CONNECTICUT) Hall of Fame coach Mark Lawrence passes away after decades of coaching
From the time he was a youngster, Mark Lawrence gave wrestling everything he could as a competitor, an official and as a coach. In the later years of his life, it was wrestling that gave Lawrence a boost after he suffered a severe stroke 20 years ago.

Lawrence, the former head coach at Glastonbury High and member of the Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, died earlier this month on February 14. He was 70. He led the Glastonbury High wrestling team for 17 years from 1980-97. The Tomahawks, as they were known in those years, won two CCC West championships and had a record of 250-147 under Lawrence.

Lawrence helped turn the Tomahawks in a team that was ranked in the state coaches top 10 poll and frequently engaged with tough battles with Simsbury, Windham, Manchester and other top teams in the state of that era. … rest of story at https://ctwrestling.com/2021/02/hall-of-fame-coach-mark-lawrence-passes-away-after-decades-of-coaching/3947/?mc_cid=327be7a669&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

March 19, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized