Takedown Report

International Wrestling News (2021) – # 8

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Storiesof wrestlers competing and preparing for competition in the Olympic styles of wrestling are included below. Keep wrestling on in many styles. Freestyle, Greco-Roman, Scholastic and others. Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2929 (6/7/21)
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1 } – Wrestling breakdown: How Jordan Oliver shut down Joey McKenna to win the US Olympic Trials
After so many years of just missing his goals, native Pennsylvanian and Oklahoma State great Jordan Oliver has reached the top of the domestic ladder in the US. He has one more hurdle ahead of him if he wants to go to Tokyo..

A two-time NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist, Easton’s Jordan Oliver was expected to rise to the top of the domestic freestyle rankings in the US in short order. Sure enough, in his first official season as a senior level freestyler, Oliver placed third at the 2013 World Team Trials to make his first national team. However, until 2015, Iowa’s Brent Metcalf was “the guy” at 65 kg. He was extremely dominant domestically, but struggled to produce at the World Championships when the stakes were the highest. It was frustrating for American wrestling fans – especially considering he was able to knock off high-level foreign opposition at lesser events. … rest of story at https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2021/4/16/22385584/wrestling-breakdown-how-jordan-oliver-shut-down-joey-mckenna-win-us-olympic-trials?mc_cid=22fcb0de91&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – Tokyo Olympics: 10 positive Covid-19 cases detected; WFI shuts Olympic camps
Tokyo Olympics: 10 positive Covid-19 cases detected; WFI shuts Olympic camps- With as many as 10 people, including three women wrestlers testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday at the national women’s wrestling camp, it has forced Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to shut Olympic preparatory camps at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training centres in Sonepat and Lucknow
… rest of story at https://www.insidesport.co/tokyo-olympics-10-positive-covid-19-cases-detected-wfi-shuts-olympic-camps/?mc_cid=831636c404&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Here Is The Best Int’l Match Of The Year So Far
The response might be, Really? The best? And should the inner dialogue in the minds of readers posit such questions, then it is only fair that they receive an answer:
Yes — Savolainen over Kakhelashvili is the best international Greco-Roman match of the year as we sit here less than 100 days away from the Olympics. Thus, the correct course of action isn’t to debate, deflect, or offer other possible replacements. Are there other bouts worthy of entering the argument? Of course. But the problem is that, unanimously, they fail to meet all of the standards necessary to cut the line in front of this one. … rest of story at http://www.fivepointmove.com/greco-wrestling-news/savolainen-kakhelashvili-euro-qualifier/?mc_cid=82e9baddf8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – ‘I’m definitely going to get that’: Vaccines not required, most USOPC athletes still eager for shots
During the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Naya Tapper admitted that she held doubts regarding a vaccine against infection. “For me,” she said, “it came down to if I really needed it, like if my immune system was strong enough on its own.” Tapper, a 26-year-old wing on the U.S. women’s rugby sevens squad, ended up contracting the virus. “So after that, I was like, ‘OK, I definitely don’t want that to happen while I’m at the Olympics, so I’m definitely going to get that,’” she said last week during the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee virtual media summit.

GO FOR GOLD:And stay up to date on Tokyo Olympics with our newsletter

The USOPC is not mandating the vaccine for its athletes or members of the delegation, although leaders maintained that the governing body  strongly encourages athletes be vaccinated prior to the Games — Wednesday marked 100 days until the opening ceremony — … rest of story at https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/04/14/tokyo-olympics-vaccines-team-usa/7202440002/?mc_cid=831636c404&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – The college careers of the 2021 US Olympic wrestlers
The 2021 U.S. Olympic wrestling team is one of the most star-studded groups to ever represent the country on the international stage. The lineup includes Olympic champions, world champions, NCAA champions, WCWA champions and future stars. Here’s what these individuals accomplished at the collegiate level and how those experiences shaped them into the Olympians they are now.

MEN’S FREESTYLE

57kg: Thomas Gilman, University of Iowa … rest of story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2021-05-10/college-careers-2021-us-olympic-wrestlers?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6) – Olympics tells ‘Post’ it will assess alleged Iran bias vs. Israel

The International Olympic Committee will examine allegations about Iranian-sponsored discrimination against Israeli athletes in response to a public letter authored by elite Iranian athletes who urged IOC action against Tehran.“The IOC takes note of the letter and continues to evaluate the alleged issues,” the IOC press office wrote the Post. Sardar Pashaei, former head coach of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team and signee of the letter to the IOC, told the Post that “The IOC should tell us whether not being allowed to compete with Israeli athletes and the systematic gender and racial discrimination of athletes in Iran is against Olympic ideals. Keeping the Olympic charter in mind should guide their decisions and actions. …. rest of story at https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/olympics-tells-post-it-will-asses-alleged-iran-bias-vs-israel-665902?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – ‘Fort Greco’ With Army Coach Spenser Mango — April ’21

Another US Trials. An Olympic Trials, at that. And Army’s World Class Athletes Program has two card-carrying Olympians and altogether seven National Team members across six weight categories. Not bad. All of this sets the tone for the latest edition of Fort Greco featuring Army assistant Spenser Mango, whose squad had entered the postponed Olympic Trials without the benefit of a relevant competitive sample size. Only one Trials-qualified athlete was able to “get matches” prior to the goings-on in Fort Worth, eventual 60 kilogram champ Ildar Hafizov. The lack of action did not prove too detrimental, as indicated by Army’s overall team performance. Mango provides perspectives on each key run … rest of story at http://www.fivepointmove.com/army-wcap/mango-post-trials-pre-nationals/?mc_cid=82e9baddf8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Olympic wrestler Bracken pays it forward

A new mentoring program helps competitors prepare for the world’s biggest sports stage

Thelma Grimes tgrimes@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Taking his experiences as an Olympic wrestler and paying it forward, Kevin Bracken is serving as a mentor to the young wrestlers who have recently qualified to represent the U.S. in the summer Olympics in Japan. Currently, Bracken is the head coach of the Olympian Wrestling program in Castle Rock. In preparation of the summer Olympics, he will be participating in a brand-new mentoring program aimed at helping qualifying wrestlers be prepared for not only action on the matts but strengthening their mental focus to handle the intense pressure of competing on a world stage.

Bracken is no stranger to the world’s largest sports stage. While many know Bracken as the mayor pro tem on the Castle Rock Town Council, he was a top competitor in wrestling for many years. Bracken, an American Greco-Roman wrestler, competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics where he finished in sixth place. In 1992, he was a third alternate. In 1996, he worked up to earn the first alternate position.

In college, Bracken wrestled for Illinois State University before the school eliminated its wrestling program during his final year. Bracken holds the record for the most career wins in the school’s history with 127. In 2005, he was inducted into the Illinois State University hall of fame. Bracken, 49, said he has been wrestling since seventh grade. He not only knows the stress that goes into preparing for competition but understands the distractions everyday life can bring to the matt, which can cause a competitor to have a bad match on an important day. … rest of story at https://douglascountynewspress.net/stories/olympic-wrestler-bracken-pays-it-forward,375463?mc_cid=1a96ae13a8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – EDITORIAL: Navigating The Uncomfortable

Hardly uncharted waters in the sport of wrestling, particularly in these United States of America, are contested outcomes. On-the-mat results giving way to legal or procedural disputes is practically a tradition. The ledger in this country, it’s a long one. Well-known wrestlers claiming incorrect match governance, or ineptitude, or plain wrongdoing, has become…commonplace over the past few decades. No one blinks an eye with regard to these situations. And if they ever did, they don’t anymore. But this one feels different around here, as it should. Not counting questions asked during interviews, pieces in our Christian Faith category penned by contributors, and various other inquisitive material, articles released on this platform are constructed in a third-person narrative. The word “I” is not used, because “pros don’t use prose”, something like that. Five Point Move is not a blog; it is not operated like one, nor is it seen like one. As such, there is a purposeful abandonment of first-person language and opinion-laden content. That does not mean articles and recaps are unanimously bereft of angles, … rest of story at https://fivepointmove.com/usa-greco/editorial-stefanowicz-rau/?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – ‘Marquette Matters’ With NMU Head Coach Andy Bisek — April ’21

The Greco-Roman program at Northern Michigan University has its first Olympic Team member since 2008, a new National Team member, a surging middleweight who has rediscovered his groove, and a head coach who is proud but ever-pragmatic as this unusual wrestling season continues moving forward. In this latest edition of Marquette Matters — and only the second installment of the 2020-21 campaign — NMU head coach Andrew Thomas Bisek has much more to discuss than he did during the fall. The opening item on the agenda shouldn’t be a surprise, it’s Jesse Porter (77 kg), who prevailed in the Olympic Trials final following a two-match sweep of Peyton Walsh (Marines). Porter’s overall Trials performance is overviewed, as well as one particular detail pertaining involving the raucous ending to Match 2 of that series. Then it is onto “Mr. Fantastic” Benji Peak (67 kg). Peak finished third in Fort Worth, grabbing National Team honors, and also  … rest of story at http://www.fivepointmove.com/northern-michigan-university-greco-roman/bisek-post-olympic-trials/?mc_cid=a0d7657398&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – 21ST MACCABIAH GAMES WRESTLING TRIALS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 17 IN PHILADELPHIA AREA
Maccabi USA, the sponsor for American participation in the World Maccabiah Games is proud to announce that the trials for the 21st World Maccabiah Games wrestling team are scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2021 in the Philadelphia area. A specific location for the event will be determined shortly. The 21st World Maccabiah Games will be held in Israel in July, 2022, bringing together Jewish athletes from around the globe to compete in the world’s third largest multi-sport event. The USA wrestling team will be led by Head Coach Nate Engel, an assistant coach at Oregon State University and aided by Assistant Coach Rob Prebish, assistant coach at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, VA. Engel, a four-time World Maccabiah Games medalist, earning … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/April/23/Maccabiah-Games-Trials-set-for-October-17?mc_cid=391a23a860&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – ‘First To Fight’ With All-Marine Head Coach Jason Loukides — April ’21

It had been building throughout the quad. Perhaps longer, if you’re willing to retrace the steps. The All-Marine Wrestling Team, led by head coach Jason Loukides, has their first Olympic Team member in over three decades, as well as an intact roster comprised of top-tier servicemember athletes who plan on aiding the program in gaining even more steam heading into 2024. This is life at Camp Lejeune under Loukides — the highly-respected coach who shudders and shrugs when complimented, instead opting to joyously deflect attention back towards his wrestlers at every available opportunity. … rest of story at http://www.fivepointmove.com/all-marine-wrestling/loukides-post-olympic-trials/?mc_cid=391a23a860&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

June 8, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized