Takedown Report

High School News (2021) – # 15

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Articles from 12 different states as we look across to see what worthy news we have missed reporting earlier. Traditional wrestling states such as Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Iowa lead off this assembly of high school news articles. Southern states such as Virginia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Florida and Arizona are included below. Smaller states such as Massachusetts and Delaware have strong wrestling traditions while Missisippi is the only state currently without wrestling as a sanctioned sport. Thus we cheer on the efforts as detailed in the 10th article. Keep Wrestling growing! Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2923 (6/3/21)
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1 } – {Pennsylvania} Cumberland Valley head coach Dave Heckard announces retirement after 17 years, four state champions
Cumberland Valley head wrestling coach Dave Heckard announced Wednesday he is retiring after 17 years leading the program. The decision comes just weeks after the end of the 2020-21 wrestling season where 215-pounder Jake Lucas finally won his state crown. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities provided to me by Cumberland Valley High School. CV is a great place to coach with outstanding support,” Heckard said in a statement sent out by the school district. “In my 17 years as the head wrestling coach, I have met a lot of outstanding parents, wrestlers and coaches who have impacted and supported me along the way of which I am thankful.”  
 Waiting for this feeling: Cumberland Valley’s Jake Lucas ends career with dramatic sudden victory win for PIAA Class 3A 215-pound gold
 The place to be: How Cumberland Valley stepped up to host PIAA wrestling, swimming championships in a pandemic

Heckard’s teams racked up a record of 272-84 in those 17 years, earning him the title of the school’s winningest wrestling coach. Under his watch, CV wrestling produced four PIAA Class 3A champions, 55 sectional champions, 23 District 3/southcentral regional champions, 28 state medalists and 62 state qualifiers.
His teams qualified for the District 3 team tournament 16 times and produced five District 3 titles. Out of 17 seasons, his teams also qualified for states 14 times with two second-place finishes, a third-place finish and a fourth-place finish. In 1996, Heckard captured his own state wrestling title as a senior at CV. That same year, he graduated from CV and attended Villanova University where he played football. He also wrestled at Penn State for one year. … rest of story at https://cumberlink.com/sports/high-school/wrestling/hs-wrestling-cumberland-valley-head-coach-dave-heckard-announces-retirement-after-17-years-four-state/article_32e656a6-01fc-512c-b65f-c3ba319810cf.html?mc_cid=69381deb62&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – {Florida} Mariner wrestling coach Dave Phillips retiring after 31 years in Lee County
Dave Phillips thought teaching was long in his rearview mirror after doing it for five years in Cleveland before moving to Southwest Florida in 1981 and running a few gyms for 10 years.  Then his son, Jason, said he wanted to be a state wrestling champion for North Fort Myers High School. Phillips joined Frank Drake’s coaching staff as a volunteer in 1991. Jason won a state title in 1995 and his father didn’t stop coaching in Lee County for 31 years. Phillips, the head coach at Mariner for the last 21 years, announced his retirement to his team during a season-ending banquet.

“You know when it’s right,” Phillips said. “It’s time to step down and let younger guys lead this program.” … rest of story at https://www.news-press.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/04/05/mariner-wrestling-coach-dave-phillips-retiring/4806369001/?mc_cid=a167ed32cf&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – {Delaware} Natarcola’s third DIAA wrestling title featured unprecedented achievements
Joey Natarcola closed his high school wrestling career with an unprecedented accomplishment on March 3 in the Cape Henlopen High gym. But that alone didn’t measure the breadth of the three-time state champion’s triumph. Natarcola’s overtime takedown gave him a 6-4 decision over Caravel Academy junior Nick Hall in the 160-pound final at the DIAA Individual Wrestling Championships. It was the first meeting of two-time champions in the 64-year history of the state tournament. “Nick’s a great competitor and it was fun to wrestle, a little nerve-wracking at the same time,” Natarcola said this week.

After being voted the DIAA meet’s Outstanding Wrestling Award winner by coaches, Natarcola has also been selected The News Journal’s 2021 state Wrestler of the Year. The Smyrna High senior had previously won state titles at 120 pounds as a sophomore and 145 as a junior. With the other three wrestlers who accomplished the feat before him March 3, Natarcola became the state’s 39th three-time state champion. Another 10 have won four state titles.
HISTORIC NIGHT: Natarcola-Hall match highlights finals
But none of those other 48 wrestlers succeeded at the range of weight classes … rest of story at https://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/2021/04/09/natarcolas-3rd-diaa-wrestling-title-featured-first-time-achievements/4835319001/?mc_cid=e835860738&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – {New York} : Gouverneur’s Baer prepared for wrestling season in whatever form it takes
GOUVERNEUR — Right now the only thing Gouverneur junior Carter Baer knows for certain about his sport is that there will be some form of Section 10 wrestling starting soon. What form the competitions will take and when they will start have not been decided. Due to wrestling being moved to the Fall Sports II season for Section 10, the number of wrestlers will be smaller than usual, which means the tradition dual meets between schools may not occur this season. One option could be a handful of invitationals instead. Each section’s approach to wrestling during the COVID-19 pandemic varies. Frontier League schools wrestled during the winter season but all events were scrimmages.
“It’s a little weird,” Baer said of preparing for the unknown. “I guess it’s better than nothing. Even if it’s not super-competitive, at least I will be able to cherish another year with my teammates.”
Baer has already won two state championships since the last time he was in a dual meet as a Wildcat, and he will head to Virginia Beach, Va., from April 23-25 to compete in the high school national championship tournament.
Last spring he won a NYSPHSAA championship in Division II at 138 pounds, beating Tioga’s Brady Worthing 6-4 as wrestling was fortunate enough to finish a full season before the initial COVID-19 shutdowns. The state has held no end-of-season finals in any sport this year, so wrestling got creative and held an unofficial state championship in Manheim, Pa., recently where Baer won the 160-pound title by beating Section 2’s Jack Spahn 5-1. Unlike a traditional NYSPHSAA meet, there was no Division I or Division II in the Pennsylvania meet, so Baer proved to be the best overall wrestler in his class. … rest of story at https://www.nny360.com/sports/highschoolsports/high-school-wrestling-gouverneur-s-baer-prepared-for-wrestling-season-in-whatever-form-it-takes/article_53386f88-d2eb-5625-831f-4f2edd16ed9f.html?mc_cid=831636c404&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – {Iowa} Assumption alum takes over wrestling program
Davenport Assumption has turned to one of its alums to lead its storied wrestling program. Sonny Alvarez, a two-time state place winner and a member of the 1999 Assumption squad which was ranked No. 1 in the country by multiple publications, was named Tuesday as its new coach. “There are big shoes to fill, but I don’t necessarily think it is pressure,” Alvarez said. “What I guarantee and promise is a lot of hard work and being consistent from day to day. That is going to kick open a lot of doors, and we’ll just see what is the next door to kick down to be successful.”
Alvarez takes over for Jon Terronez, who spent the past three seasons leading the Knights after Pete Bush stepped down. During Terronez’s time, Assumption finished fifth, third and seventh, respectively, at the Iowa Class 2A state dual tournament and compiled a 62-17 dual mark. Assumption declined to give specifics for Terronez’s departure.
… rest of story at https://qctimes.com/sports/high-school/wrestling/assumption-alum-takes-over-wrestling-program/article_a0778e49-40b6-544d-a09a-d45901970122.html?mc_cid=69381deb62&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – {New Jersey} Barnegat wrestling coach Ken MacIver gets 300th career win: Roundup
The Barnegat High School wrestling team beat visiting Salem 60-12 on Tuesday to give Bengals coach Ken MacIver his 300th career win. MacIver, 62, who coached at several northern New Jersey high schools previously, is in his fifth year at Barnegat. The Bengals improved to 4-4 on the season.
“I’m proud of my guys,” MacIver said. “Three hundred feels great. We were at 298, and we beat Keansburg (43-24) on Monday, and now we won today. I was at 296 to begin the season, and people knew I was going to hit 300, and the kids embraced it. Barnegat is a great school system with a lot of support. We have a great football program, and football and wrestling are joined together. We get a lot of wrestlers from football. Two parents per wrestler were there watching, so there were only about 48 people there. That’s sad.” Barnegat will host New Egypt at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Bengals’ last match of the season.
“We had some great seniors last year, and now we have a strong young group,” MacIver said. “My lineup has two freshmen, nine sophomores, one junior and two seniors. We’re hoping to make some noise next year.” … rest of story at https://pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/high-school/barnegat-wrestling-coach-gets-300th-career-win/article_25425fb3-ad89-5c63-9ef5-f09068b568fa.html?mc_cid=d0f3fda251&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – {Massachusetts} MIAA wrestling competition for the spring season is still a question mark
Will there be a competitive high school wrestling season this spring in Massachusetts? The answer keeps getting pushed back, much to the dismay of coaches and members on the MIAA’s Wrestling Committee. On Monday, the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs approved wrestling activities for Level 1 and Level 2 cohort play, which means wrestlers can participate in socially-distanced activities and full practices in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. But the sport is still not approved for Level 3 play, which allows for full competition.
Those in the wrestling community contend there is an an ever-tightening race against the clock to schedule any semblance of a season. On Monday, Wakefield athletic director Brendan Kent, chair of the wrestling committee, along with vice chair Ann Palumbo (Tyngsborough AD), and MIAA wrestling liaison Phil Napolitano were scheduled to meet with the association’s Sports Medicine Committee to discuss rule modifications.
But the meeting did not take place because the EEA has not approved Level 3 competition. In a statement, the MIAA said a decision, with updated guidance, will not be finalized until the end of the week, or early next week — which, for the majority, is a school vacation week. So rule modifications might not take place until Monday, April 26.
“We might spend three hours coming up with those modifications and then the state might come back and say you can’t do that,” Kent said. “I know a lot of coaches are starting to get frustrated. They just  … rest of story at https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/04/12/sports/miaa-wrestling-competition-spring-season-is-still-question-mark/?mc_cid=3018ac16e0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – {Arizona} Roman Rozell inducted into Apache Junction High School Wall of Fame
By Scott Bordow
Years before Roman Rozell became a Green Beret and the oldest man to compete in an NCAA wrestling match, he was an overweight and troubled kid at Apache Junction High School. Mr. Rozell’s upbringing was, in a word, horrific. His parents divorced when he was 6 years old. His mother, who raised him, got into drugs and the family sunk into poverty. Mr. Rozell was homeless and hungry, a meal at times consisting of sprinkled cheese and sauce packets from Taco Bell.
He drifted from school to school, never finding roots or any modicum of self confidence. As a freshman at AJHS in 2000 he was picked on and bullied. “I was an overweight kid and I had a history with broken homes and stuff,” Mr. Rozell said. “So when I came here I just wanted people to see something in me.”
Mr. Rozell is standing under a shade tree on a lawn just outside the main office at Apache Junction High School. Minutes earlier, principal Dr. Chris Lineberry had inducted Mr. Rozell, 36, into the Apache Junction High School Wall of Fame. To come back here, to be honored in such a way, nearly brought Mr. Rozell to tears.
“This means probably more to me than anything,” he said. “I am so happy to be one of those guys that came out of this place. We need people to inspire. I went to ASU and became a Green Beret, but this is my hometown and I always wanted to make it better.“I’m very grateful to be here and be looked up as somebody great from this city. It means a lot. It does. That’s all I ever wanted to do, be that hometown hero.”
Hero is a word that’s thrown around far too often, but in Mr. Rozell’s case it’s not an empty compliment. After graduating from Apache Junction and wrestling at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, Mr. Rozell enlisted in the Army. He suffered six concussions and … rest of story at https://www.yourvalley.net/apache-junction-independent/stories/roman-rozell-inducted-into-apache-junction-high-school-wall-of-fame,227207?mc_cid=22fcb0de91&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And ‘Blessing in disguise’: He knew something had to change when he became a teenage dad
Gabe Elias remembers getting the letter in the mail in the summer of 2019. A couple of weeks after turning 16, and just a few days before starting his junior year, the Sahuarita High School star wrestler and football player found out he was a dad. His son, Giovanni, was born July 6; the letter from a lawyer was the first he knew of it.
The news could have been devastating to a young man whose life was built around sports and landing a college scholarship. Instead, it gave him motivation, focus and perspective. And with a lot of help from his family, he found he could still hold on to some of his dreams. “At first I was filled with negative thoughts, but I was thankful to have parents who supported me and they understood that it’s life and we’ve got to play the hand that’s dealt,” he said. “I can’t picture my life without him now.”
It was all about football and wrestling when Gabe Elias was growing up. He played on three Pop Warner teams and wrestled at Anza Trail middle school. He was good and he had a future, he just didn’t think it would come at him so quickly. Gabe made the varsity wrestling team as a freshman in the 132-pound weight class where, he said, “I took my fair share of beatings.”
Suddenly, winning didn’t come easily. “It was a rude awakening going into high school,” he said. “It really humbled me because I thought I was going to come in and do really good just … rest of story at https://www.gvnews.com/news/blessing-in-disguise-he-knew-something-had-to-change-when-he-became-a-teenage-dad/article_ee0b54a4-a976-11eb-a36b-97383022a519.html?mc_cid=6d9f324080&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – {New Mexico} Wrestling is back from the dead, but it’s not all fun and games
Will Webber, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Apr. 21—After spending most of the last 40 years coaching wrestling in some form or fashion, Jeff Howley had an experience last week unlike anything he’d ever faced. It’s safe to say he’d never like to go through it again. “That was a stressful thing, yes,” Howley said while standing inside Perez-Shelley Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon.
He’d just coached the St. Michael’s wrestling team through its season-opening meet, an abbreviated three-team exchange that ended less that two hours after it began. The fact that his Horsemen were even on the mat competing spoke volumes about how weird and emotionally draining the past week had been. When dawn broke Thursday, the state was preparing to announce it had suspended the high school wrestling season over safety concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s governing body for high school athletics, the New Mexico Activities Association, had no choice but to comply.
The NMAA passed that information along to its athletic directors, who then met with their coaches to tell them the news. “With COVID going on the way it has been, that right there sounded like the death punch,” Howley said. Within an hour or two of Howley talking to his team, the state reversed course and lifted the suspension, saying the season was free to resume Friday. … rest of story at https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/wrestling-back-dead-not-fun-150100916.html?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – {Mississippi} is the Only State Without Wrestling with Brian Fox
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Mississippi is the only US State without high school wrestling. Brian Fox is looking to change that.  Over the past year, Brian created the Mississippi Wrestling Federation and has been instrumental in creating a wrestling culture in Mississippi.  Before Brian’s efforts, just two high schools had wrestling. Now, there are seven and we need your help to keep the momentum going.  To Support Brian’s efforts, visit TupeloWrestling.Com
Enjoy!
PRESENTED BY SPARTAN COMBAT
Register for the Spartan Combat Nationals, taking place May 20-23 in Jacksonville Florida: REGISTER … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/234-mississippi-is-the-only-state-without-wrestling-with-brian-fox/?mc_cid=2136f7bdf1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – {Virginia} He’s a three-time state champ in wrestling. But Poquoson’s Karon Smith has emerged as two-way star in football
Poquoson’s Karon Smith made his name on the Bull Island as an individual state titlist in each of the Islanders’ past three Class 2 wrestling tournament championships. But surprisingly, Smith’s favorite sport is football. Then again, from a glance it might surprise many that Smith plays football at all. Even if you believe the Islanders’ football roster, which generously lists him at 5-foot-7, 140 pounds, Smith is at least an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than anyone else on the team. Yet, it’s undeniable that Smith is the biggest reason the Islanders (4-2) are Region A champions and will host Stuarts Draft in the Class 2 state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bailey Field in Yorktown. Nottoway and Amelia County, Poquoson’s victims in the Region A playoffs, won’t argue the point.
Smith ran for 60 yards, made eight tackles and had a crucial interception to set up a key field goal late in the first half of the No. 4 seed Islanders’ 16-12 win at No. 1 Nottoway in the semifinals. He followed with eight tackles, a strip fumble he returned 96 yards for a touchdown, three touchdowns and a momentum-generating interception in the 49-18 win at No. 3 Amelia in the region final.
“That interception gave us first and goal at their 6, three plays into the game,” Poquoson coach Elliott Duty said. “He jumped the route and gave us a big momentum-booster. “Karon puts his 130 pounds wherever he needs to get the job done.” … rest of story at https://www.pilotonline.com/757teamz/football/vp-sp-poquoson-football-karon-smith–20210420-rott7x2fkfdsdaxxo77ncq4bnm-story.html?mc_cid=1a96ae13a8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And High school notebook: Longtime coach, administrator Swink to retire
Bill Swink planned to work two more years as the Spotsylvania High School athletic director. But after a year of uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Swink has decided to call it a career. Swink was hired by the Knights in 2016 after a Hall of Fame career as Colonial Forge’s wrestling coach.
During his five-year stint with the Knights, Spotsylvania captured the Class 3 state baseball championship in 2019, reached the girls soccer state semifinals that same year and rebuilt its football and wrestling programs into Battlefield District contenders. “I like what I do, I like working at Spotsy and working with the kids and the coaches,” Swink said. “But I have not liked the fluidity of COVID and all the changes and everything that’s gone along with that—the inconsistency with the way school operates, kids not in the building. It just creates challenges for somebody that’s been around athletics for 30-plus years.”
Swink began his coaching career in Pennsylvania in 1984. He moved to Virginia in 1991 and was a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at Stafford. He also coached at C.D. Hylton and North Stafford.
He took a job as the defensive coordinator and head wrestling coach at a school in Maryland in the 1990s while attempting to sell his Spotsylvania County home. … rest of season at https://fredericksburg.com/sports/high-school/high-school-notebook-longtime-coach-administrator-swink-to-retire/article_1bcb4724-1e6c-5dd7-8bb6-afb757044711.html?mc_cid=db281dc0f1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – {Louisiana} Check out the All-Metro wrestling team for the 2020-21 season
ALL-METRO WRESTLING
OUTSTANDING WRESTLERS EVAN and JACOB FROST
Holy Cross
Each twin has won three successive Louisiana state championships. As juniors, Evan won the Division I state title at 132 pounds and was named Outstanding Wrestler after his victory at the Louisiana Classic. Jacob won the D-I title at 138 pounds.

COACH OF THE YEAR MATT PINERO
St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s won the Division I state championship, giving the Wolves their first team title since they were Division II champions in 2001. With an emphasis on scoring team points early in the tournament, the Wolves had the title clinched before championship matches began.

THE TEAM
DYLAN MOSER
Brother Martin
Division I runner-up at 106 pounds took undefeated record into state.

MASON ELSENSHON
Brother Martin
Division I runner-up at 113 pounds placed third at Louisiana Classic. … rest of story at https://www.nola.com/sports/high_schools/article_7d7942ec-ac7c-11eb-ab8a-23a4c8da6480.html?mc_cid=2f6eda67bb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

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