Takedown Report

NCAA Division I News (2021) – # 15

TDR Editor’s Notes ; The first few articles review some of the results and news from the recent Championships. The rest of the articles are from before the championships as we catch up on presenting all of the news that is good to share. Keep Wrestling On! E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com
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1 } – 5 takeaways from the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Iowa’s depth; Iowa State does more with less; UNI’s potential in 2022; wrestling rallies around Stanford champ Shane Griffith
The NCAA Championships have concluded. Iowa ended a title drought and has plenty of the pieces for No. 25 in 2022. Iowa State overcame a lackluster first round to tie for 13th. Northern Iowa’s young lineup is one to watch next season, while next season is in limbo for Outstanding Wrestler Shane Griffith, who won a title for Stanford, which seems determined to cut the program.
Here are five takeaways from last week’s tournament in St. Louis.
1. Iowa’s depth too much
Iowa’s depth and balance was just too much for the rest of the NCAA wrestling field. The Hawkeyes had seven All-Americans and two more were a win shy of the podium. Each Hawkeye won at least one match. Five finished third or better with another fourth.
Iowa tallied 129 points, despite two No. 1 seeds losing in sudden victory in the finals. Top-ranked 165-pounder Alex Marinelli’s unfortunate medical forfeit from the tournament limited him to just four team points. The Hawkeyes still wrapped it up before the finals.
Four amassed 19.5 points, including Spencer Lee’s team-high 24.5. Two added 12.5 or more. Those six were enough to win it without the rest. It is no surprise tight-knit group reveled in the team achievement and rallied around each other. With everyone likely back and some others like Abe Assad, Patrick Kennedy and Jesse Ybarra, who could contribute, the Hawkeyes could be even stronger and better in 2022. … rest of story at https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/college-wrestling-five-take-aways-from-the-ncaa-division-i-championships-20210323?clearUserState=true

2 } – Penn State’s Nick Lee is first national wrestling champion from Mater Dei
Nick Lee held his right hand aloft, index finger extended. The Penn State University senior became the first Mater Dei High School wrestler to win a NCAA individual title with a 4-2 overtime victory over Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman in the 141-pound division last Saturday in the 2021 NCAA Championships at St. Louis.
Lee, a four-time all-American, felt fatigued entering the extra session. “I wanted to stay in good position and continue to stick with my game plan,” he told GoPSUsports.com. “So, I continued with my game plan and it paid off.” Lee ascended to the top of the podium in his fourth trip to the NCAAs. He placed fifth as a true freshman in 2018 and second as a sophomore in ’19. Lee was to be the No. 2 seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships before the tourney was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic; he was named a first-team all-American. … rest of story at https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/2021/03/23/nick-lee-gains-revenge-seizes-first-ncaa-wrestling-championship/6969923002/?mc_cid=1bb3332bd3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Meet the 2021 NCAA college wrestling All-Americans
In 2019, 80 men stood on the podium and celebrated that they were among the most elite of the elite in college athletics. They were All-Americans. Now, after a year of adversity and the challenge of competing in a national pandemic, champion wrestling is back. The top-eight men in each of the ten weight classes this year have earned a special honor, and they will march out together as a group tonight during the parade of All-Americans savoring and remembering the moments that made up this wild, unprecedented year.

Here’s what you need to know about the individuals that will take home All-American trophies.  At 125 pounds, No. 1 Iowa’s Spencer Lee leads the pack as a two-time champ and now four-time All-American, and he’ll wrestle 2020 NWCA second-team All-American Brandon Courtney of Arizona State in the finals.

Central Michigan’s Drew Hildebrandt, a 2020 first-team All-American, and Utah Valley’s Taylor LaMont locked up their 2021 All-American honors with their wins in the quarterfinals, and, for LaMont, the top-eight honor was the first of his career. The remaining four All-Americans at the lightweight — Pat McKee, Eric Barnett, Sam Latona and Killian Cardinale — all earned their spots on the podium with Blood Round wins. McKee picked up a big win against Northern Iowa’s Brody Teske for his All-American honor, while Barnett stopped Devin Schroder of Purdue to finish in the top eight for the first time. Minnesota sophomore McKee went on to take third, topping Hildebrandt while the CMU star finished fourth. Cardinale of West Virginia overtook Jakob Camacho in the Blood Round to put West Virginia on the podium, … rest of story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2021-03-19/meet-2021-ncaa-college-wrestling-all-americans?utm_campaign=article-carousel

4 } – Stanford’s silence doesn’t surprise wrestling champ: ‘Probably more mad at me’
What did Shane Griffith do for an encore after winning a national championship and turning a bright spotlight on embattled Stanford wrestling? He went home to Westwood, N.J., to finish a 12-page paper on pandemic resiliency. If I may have a word with his bio engineering professor, Griffith should write this paper in the first-person. He is a picture of pandemic resiliency. “I believe we’ve had the worst circumstances of anyone in collegiate sports,” Griffith said Tuesday. Griffith, a junior academically, overcame, in order: the brutal elimination of his program, a crushing academic load that should allow him to graduate this summer, the pursuit of a place to wrestle in the future, difficult training conditions and indifference from his own athletic department. “The whole process has been pretty devastating,” he said. “It all adds a little more fuel to the tank.”

Against that backdrop, his better-seeded opponent in Saturday’s final probably didn’t stand a chance. Griffith has lost only once in his collegiate wrestling career — in the conference finals earlier this month — and became the second national champion in Stanford’s 104-year wrestling history. After he won, wearing a black singlet stripped of the university logo, chants of “Keep Stanford wrestling” filled the arena in St. Louis. Griffith’s victory was not only a personal triumph but a communal protest. “I believe we’ve had the worst circumstances of anyone in collegiate sports,” Griffith said Tuesday.

Griffith, a junior academically, overcame, in order: the brutal elimination of his program, a crushing academic load that should allow him to graduate this summer, the pursuit of a place to wrestle in the future, difficult training conditions and indifference from his own athletic department. “The whole process has been pretty devastating,” he said. “It all adds a little more fuel to the tank.” Against that backdrop, his better-seeded opponent in Saturday’s final probably didn’t stand a chance. Griffith has lost only once in his collegiate wrestling career — in the conference finals earlier this month — and became the second national champion in Stanford’s 104-year wrestling history. After he won, wearing a black singlet stripped of the university logo, chants of “Keep Stanford wrestling” filled the arena in St. Louis. Griffith’s victory was not only a personal triumph but a communal protest. … rest of story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/annkillion/article/Stanford-s-silence-doesn-t-surprise-wrestling-16047816.php?mc_cid=1bb3332bd3&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – Luke Weber ‘carrying the momentum’ into NCAA Wrestling Championships
FARGO, N.D. — Luke Weber has grown accustomed to the big stage. From winning the first of his 212 high school wrestling matches at Forsyth to winning a Big 12 Conference championship at North Dakota State earlier this month, Weber has always viewed his next moment as the biggest moment. “You’d never convince Luke Weber that Forsyth’s a small town in Montana. From everything I hear, Forsyth is the center of Montana,” said North Dakota State wrestling coach Roger Kish, “and that’s that Luke Weber personality.”

Weber has never lacked confidence, but he’s riding an all-time high now. After graduating from Forsyth in 2016, Weber started his wrestling career at Nebraska. After one season with the Cornhuskers, he transferred to North Dakota State, where he’s found a home. The pieces are fitting into place in this pandemic-altered wrestling season. Weber, through all the challenges, has had his best college wrestling season, and he’s peaking at the right time. At the Big 12 Championships he opened the 165-pound bracket with a 16-2 major decision over Troy Mantanona of Oklahoma. … rest of story at https://www.montanasports.com/college-sports/ncaa/luke-weber-carrying-the-momentum-into-ncaa-wrestling-championships?mc_cid=1e4a49e3cd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – How the bond of Penn State wrestlers Nick and Joe Lee makes each better
In brothers Nick and Joe Lee, Cael Sanderson has an interesting dichotomy. The Hoosier State natives are just the latest pair of brothers to don Nittany Lion singlets, something that is simultaneously a rarity in the college athletics landscape but a relative norm for Penn State’s program over the decades. The odds of becoming a Division I wrestler hover right around 1%. The odds of becoming a Division I wrestler at Penn State are even slimmer — this most recent roster features just 35 wrestlers.

Obviously, not all 35 of those wrestlers will start with only 10 collegiate weights in play, and so for two of those spots to be occupied by brothers only increases the scarcity of what Nick and Joe Lee have been able to do lately. And yet, they’re far from the first siblings to crack Penn State’s lineup at the same time and likely won’t be the last members of a list that includes Big Ten champions, All-Americans, NCAA champions and current college coaches. … rest of story at https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/wrestling/how-the-bond-of-penn-state-wrestlers-nick-and-joe-lee-makes-each-better/article_e4199f5a-8527-11eb-8e1f-a3a49a779f75.html?mc_cid=1e4a49e3cd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – Healthy and mentally sound, CSUB’s Ducharme looks to make a splash at wrestling nationals
Dominic Ducharme has always been a fighter. His love of aggressive activity was forged at age 5, when he began practicing Jiu Jitsu. Ducharme, currently a college senior, is hoping to turn his passion for fighting into a career, as he plans to pursue mixed martial arts at the professional level. But even if he finds success in this pursuit, Ducharme admits it might not be enough to fill a void he may begin to feel as early as this weekend. Though he was already well into his Jiu Jitsu training at the time, Ducharme says wrestling instantly became his first love when he first took to the sport at age 10, and his passion quickly led to success. A two-time state qualifier at Windsor High School, he’s gone on to have great success at Cal State Bakersfield. The highlight of his time as a Roadrunner came on Feb. 28, when he edged Ryan Reyes of Oregon State 3-2 to capture a 184-pound conference title at the Pac-12 Championships.

Ducharme now sets his sights on an even more significant championship this week. He is one of three CSUB wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Division-I Wrestling Championships, which will take place this Thursday through Saturday in St. Louis. Entering at 5-0 and the No. 21 seed, Ducharme opens competition against Dylan Ammerman of Lehigh on Thursday morning. … rest of story at https://www.bakersfield.com/sports/college/healthy-and-mentally-sound-csubs-ducharme-looks-to-make-a-splash-at-wrestling-nationals/article_d8d970c0-85c7-11eb-9aca-67c00975638b.html?mc_cid=1e4a49e3cd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Sebastian Rivera might be the next, perfect, Rutgers wrestling champion
Sebastian Rivera isn’t worried. He’s not worried about his loss at the Big Ten tournament, he’s not worried about who he’ll face in the NCAA tournament, and he’s not even too worried about what will come after he finishes this crazy, unprecedented season. He’s just not a guy who worries. And why would he be?  “I train so hard it would be crazy for me not to have so much swagger and confidence,” Rivera said in an interview with NCAA.com. “I don’t think there’s anyone in the country who can compete with me, and that’s just the mentality you have to have when you train as hard as I do. There’s no reason not to be confident in what I’m doing.” 

BIG TEN RECAP: Sebastian Rivera finishes third at the Big Ten tournament
Rivera enters this year’s NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed at 141 pounds after dropping the Big Ten semifinals match to Penn State’s Nick Lee, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, in one of the wildest matches of the conference tournament. He and Lee both have one loss this season. Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman, the No. 1 seed, holds an 8-0 record with 60+ percent bonus.  Rivera’s path to the NCAA finals will put him on a collision course with Lee again, if both athletes wrestle to seed. Rivera looks forward to the opportunity. He’s fully aware that he’s part of one of the toughest brackets in the national tournament. He’s been in this position before, taking sixth in 2018 in a loaded 125-pound … rest of story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2021-03-15/sebastian-rivera-might-be-next-perfect-rutgers-wrestling-champion?mc_cid=1e4a49e3cd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – Alex Marinelli, Jaydin Eierman announce return to Iowa wrestling for 2021-22
The Iowa Hawkeyes finished with a team national title in 2021 but came away just one for three in individual national championships on Saturday night. However, they received some more good news on Sunday. Four time All-American and 141 pound runner up Jaydin Eierman and three time All-American and 165 pounder Alex Marinelli both announced their intentions to return to the team next season. Under normal circumstances, both wrestlers entered 2020-21 as their final seasons, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes across all sports were granted a free year. With one year left for both, the Hawkeyes get a major boost to their lineup for next season. … rest of story at https://247sports.com/Article/Alex-Marinelli-Jaydin-Eierman-announce-return-Iowa-Hawkeyes-wrestling-2021-22-lineup-national-championship-NCAA-Tournament-162832361/?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – Bulldog Insider feature: Abas, Olivas reflect on their time as Fresno State wrestlers
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – This weekend in St. Louis, the Fresno State wrestling team added one more name to its list of all-Americans. Kyle Parco became the 23rd wrestler in program history to reach all-American status, the first since Josh Hokit in 2019. After this weekend, the Fresno State wrestling program will be eliminated for the second time since 2006. “I actually could not believe it. It was hard enough to know that they dropped it that first time,” said former Bulldog wrestler Stephen Abas. “It’s horrible news.”

Abas is one of the best athletes to ever come out of Fresno State. A four-time all-American and a three-time national champion, Abas also brought home a silver medal from the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He helped put Fresno State wrestling on the map. “I enjoyed my time there, and I know that there’s opportunities for other kids to have the same success, if we could just keep the team around,” said Abas. The first year that Fresno State returned to the wrestling mat was in 2017, and the roster was stacked with valley athletes: Buchanan, Clovis, Clovis North, Selma, Dinuba, Lemoore and Madera Ranchos were all represented.

One of those wrestlers was Khristian Olivas, a Clovis Cougar, who grew up watching the Bulldogs. “I actually remember when they wrestled OK State and Iowa,” Olivas said. “So just seeing it as a kid, I was all about it and super excited to one day be there.” Out of high school, Fresno State didn’t have a wrestling program at the time so Olivas went to Utah Valley. Once the heard the program was coming back, he dropped everything to return home. … rest of story at https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/bulldog-insider-feature-abas-olivas-reflect-on-their-time-as-fresno-state-wrestlers/?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – Mason Kauffman Wins NCAA’s Elite 90 Award
NIU wrestler becomes first Huskie to win prestigious honor
ST. LOUIS – Northern Illinois University’s Mason Kauffman was rewarded for his work on the mat and in the classroom as the NCAA qualifier at 174 was named the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship on Saturday.  

“It’s a statement on him personifying the kind of student-athlete we want and we preach about being here at NIU,” NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig said. “These guys work their tails off to be great wrestlers, but in order to become a great wrestler, you need to be a great student, a great person first. “We couldn’t be prouder of him representing us and bringing home an Elite 90 award to NIU. It’s just a tremendous honor for the University.”
 
Kauffman, who carries a 4.0 grade point average while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, was presented with the award prior to the start of the final round of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championship at Enterprise Center. He is the first Huskie in any sport to receive this prestigious award from the NCAA, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA Championships. … rest of story at https://niuhuskies.com/news/2021/3/20/wrestling-mason-kauffman-wins-ncaas-elite-90-award.aspx?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – Could the Bills invite NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ Gable Steveson for a tryout?
Coach Sean McDermott loves wrestlers, particularly the skillsets accomplished heavyweights could bring to the defensive line. Watching Minnesota junior Gable Steveson run roughshod over the heavyweight field at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend has to have the wheels turning inside the head of Bills coach Sean McDermott.

Could he one day be a Bills’ defensive lineman? There is almost no chance that McDermott hasn’t thought about it already. Just like there’s no chance the coach hasn’t already watched and dissected Steveson’s 8-4 decision over Michigan’s Mason Parris for the title on Saturday night in St. Louis. McDermott loves wrestling almost as much as football, which is not hard to understand since he was always a better wrestler than a football player. At La Salle High School, he won two straight National Prep titles while going undefeated his final two seasons and giving up just takedown along the way.

Since coming to Buffalo, he has had Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs speak to the team and in 2019 spent some time with coach Cael Sanderson and the Penn State wrestling program just before they traveled to nationals and won
… rest of story at https://www.si.com/nfl/bills/news/could-the-bills-invite-ncaa-heavyweight-wrestling-champ-gable-steveson-for-a-tryout?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 3, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized