Takedown Report

Wrestling History (2021) – # 6

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Great lessons can be learned from studying the history of wrestlers and wrestling. One can learn great lessons from losses and from victories. So read on and keep on wrestling! Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2933 (6/21/21)
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1 } – Brandon Slay: My Greatest Loss

This is part of the ‘My Greatest Loss’ series. It’s a retrospective look at some of the setbacks that helped reshape the careers of past and present wrestling stars, setting them on a higher trajectory toward greatness.  Penn RTC coach Brandon Slay was a 2000 Olympic gold medalist and two-time finalist at the NCAA Championships for Penn (1997-98). Dave Schultz was a 1983 World champion, 1984 Olympic gold medalist, and a seven-time World/Olympic medalist. Charles Burton was a 2000 Olympian and third-place finisher at the 1996 NCAA Championships.  The following are Slay’s words on his quarterfinal loss to Burton at the 1994 Midlands. 

A FOLKSTYLE BUTT-WHOOPING

“My greatest loss was to Charles Burton during my third year at Penn. It was at the Midlands and he beat me 18-6, which in folkstyle is a butt-whooping. If you lose 18-6 in folkstyle you got manhandled. That loss showed me how far away I was from being an All-American.  “My initial reaction was a major frustration. I thought what I was doing defensively wasn’t correct. I thought what I was doing during that match was the right thing.”

DAVE SCHULTZ TO THE RESCUE

“I went back to the University of Pennsylvania. I talked to Dave Schultz — I went out to train with him at Foxcatcher. He asked me how Midlands went and I told him that I didn’t wrestle well and I lost to Charles Burton, 18-6.  “He said, ‘18-6! That’s a big margin in folkstyle.’ … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1618629513032&twSessionId=fxvtiblltu&postId=1157362135&mc_cid=22fcb0de91&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – Origin stories: Penn wrestling
Penn played a key role in the formation of the first-ever intercollegiate wrestling association
By By Eashwar Kantemneni

Wrestling holds a very special place in the hearts of many lifelong Quakers.  Benjamin Franklin, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in his original proposal for the University, “to keep [the students] in health and to strengthen and render active their bodies they be frequently exercised in running, leaping, wrestling and swimming.” He even drew up plans to build a wrestling facility on the future campus. Penn was the first university to recognize an undergraduate national champion in wrestling. Winchester Osgood, a football star for the Quakers, was the first collegiate athlete to win a national championship in wrestling, winning the 1893 National Amateur Middleweight Championships of America. Osgood went on to capture a three-peat, winning the title again in 1894 and 1895, placing Penn on a pedestal during the early days of the sport’s rise.

Penn also played a key role in the formation of the first-ever intercollegiate wrestling association. In 1905, head coach J. Leonard Mason, along with Charles T. Brown and J. Edgar Weisenfluh, invited all universities located on the East Coast who had a wrestling program to compete in an intercollegiate league. Penn, alongside Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, became the founding members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. … rest of story at https://www.thedp.com/article/2021/04/penn-wrestling-origin-stories?mc_cid=480d7959b9&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Johnny Clark: What I learned from John and Mitch Clark
Sacred Heart coach Johnny Clark was a two-time All-American for Ohio State. His father, John, coached St. Lawrence to a D3 NCAA team title in 1988 while his brother, Mitch, was a 1998 NCAA champion for Ohio State. The following are thoughts from Clark on what he learned from his father and brother. 

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

What I learned from dad was basically how to build a program and how to build a community around him. I remember going to wrestling matches as a kid and we would basically be treated to full, packed stands with knowledgeable fans. Here we were in Canton, New York, which is basically a hockey town. It was the primary sport at St. Lawrence. He produced something like 46 All-Americans, nine national champs, and won a team title in 1988.  They wrestled under the spotlight and he had fabulous teams year in and year out. He had a good following and was well respected in the community. In reflection, that’s basically what I’m trying to do. We’re in a place where we’re trying to educate people on wrestling and start packing the stands. That’s been fabulous to learn from him. 

It’s unique to have everyone in our family win a national title with my brother at Blair Academy, Mitch winning in high school and college and my dad winning and producing national championships as well. Coaching was instilled into me at a young age. I see a lot of young athletes now who are very successful and they are sort of an island. They might not have a father or brother who was a national champ or who was really involved with the sport. To be able to have that and to be able to reference that is phenomenal. I still lean on my dad many times for questions. Beyond that, he was an athletic director. I have that knowledge of how an athletic department works. 

MITCH IS RICH WITH WORK ETHIC

In regard to my brother Mitch, he was someone who always pushed me. He taught me hard work. He taught me to work when no one is watching. Not a lot of people were watching growing up. Again, back in the roots of upstate New York. He was very disciplined. He’d get up on his own to run before school. We would lift on Christmas. We would lift on New Year’s Eve. There were no days off. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1618629513032&twSessionId=fxvtiblltu&postId=1157122135&mc_cid=22fcb0de91&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – A dedicated work-ethic built Baumgartner’s self-belief, and he became the best in his chosen sport of wrestling
By ED FARRELL

GREENVILLE – Coming from a man who won 13 World Championships and/or Olympics medals it sounds simple, but Bruce Baumgartner’s message resonated realistically and reasonably: “I believe everybody can and will be successful in life … if they make the choices to do so, and if they put the work in,” observed Baumgartner, the 1984 Olympics super-heavyweight (freestyle) gold-medalist.

He served as guest speaker at the annual Father-Son breakfast hosted by the Knights of Columbus following morning Mass at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church. Approximately a year ago Baumgartner retired following a 36-plus-year career with Edinboro University as wrestling coach, administrator and vice-president for university advancement. Owing to his chosen sport, Baumgartner’s straightforward speaking style espoused encouragement, honesty and remaining realistic. “You can fool and lie to a lot of people, but the single person you can’t fool or lie to is yourself,” Baumgartner began. “You know if you’ve put the time and the effort and the work in, the research in, whether it’s to be successful as a wrestler or successful in your job. There’s a lot of people out there, a lot of wrestlers, who talk about how hard they work and talk about all the different things they did …

“But you can’t fool yourself,” Baumgartner reiterated. “To have confidence you have to believe in the people around you and you have to believe in yourself. So I won all those medals and all those different things … yeah, I won the medals and I ultimately did the work – but the people who were advising me, my workout partners, my coaches – I had to believe in them so I could do what they helped me design to do and make a plan so that I could believe in myself.
… rest of story at https://www.sharonherald.com/sports/a-dedicated-work-ethic-built-baumgartners-self-belief-and-he-became-the-best-in-his/article_485b6f94-a09d-11eb-a24c-f3f313ee9e89.html?mc_cid=82e9baddf8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – NEW PODCAST: Kerry McCoy – Two-Time Olympic Wrestler
By Jason Romano
Kerry McCoy is currently the executive director and head coach at the California Olympic Regional Training Center. Prior to that, he was the head wrestling coach for the University of Maryland from 2008-2019, where he led the Terps to three conference championships and was a three-time coach of the year. He also had coaching stints at Stanford University and Lehigh University. As a wrestler at Penn State, McCoy was a three-time NCAA All-American and a two-time national champion. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, won a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games and won silver at the 2003 World Championships. Today on the podcast, McCoy shares his story of faith and wrestling, how God guided him through a journey that saw McCoy participate in two Olympics, and about the greater impact he now hopes to have as a coach and mentor.
… rest of story at https://sportsspectrum.com/podcast/2021/04/19/new-podcast-kerry-mccoy-two-time-olympic-wrestler/?mc_cid=5c73249ed8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – #227 John Smith – 6x World and Olympic Champ
ABOUT THIS EPISODE

This episode is with the great John Smith. This interview was recorded in September of 2020 and was the second of three interviews that we recorded with John as part of our audio documentary, The Smiths.  This interview covers the second-half of John’s competitive career, as well as John’s perspective on Pat’s career.   Enjoy! … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/227-john-smith-6x-world-and-olympic-champ/?mc_cid=480d7959b9&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – Mark Branch: What I learned from John Smith
Mark Branch was a two-time NCAA champion (1994 and 1997) and a four-time NCAA championship finalist (1994-97) for Oklahoma State head coach John Smith. Branch was an assistant coach under Smith until he took his current role as the head coach at Wyoming. As a wrestler, Smith won NCAA titles for the Cowboys in 1987 and 1988 before winning six World and Olympic titles in a row (1987-92).  The following are Branch’s thoughts on what he learned from Smith. 

ADAPT TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS
“I think as a coach I learned to continue to adapt and never stop learning. Keep looking at every situation as something new and something different instead of getting into a routine. I think that’s one of the most helpful things I’ve had as an experience of working around him and under him.” “As an athlete the confidence that comes from the commitment. It’s silly to think you’re going to have confidence if you’re not all in and your heart’s not in it and you’re not fully invested and ready to do what it takes to be the best. Those are some of the things that stick out to me among 1000 things.”

DETAILS MATTER
“There were two experiences. I walked into college trigonometry on my first day of college. I couldn’t understand the professor. Not only was he pretty much speaking a foreign language but then what he was delivering was definitely a foreign language. My head was spinning so bad that I went over and changed my major and quit. I was going to be a math major and I changed my mind on the first day because I didn’t want that.” “It was the same thing in the wrestling room. When I walked into that wrestling room the things that were being thrown at me were so foreign that it made my head spin. The only difference was I wanted to wrestle and I was invested in that.” “I remember going back to my dorm room and writing everything down — every detail of everything I learned from that first year. I knew for a fact that there was no way I could comprehend it just seeing it once or twice and be able to retain it.” “When it comes to technique, he’s a professor. It was awe-inspiring but it was also intimidating because I sucked — I sucked bad. Why hadn’t I been taught all this stuff?” “Instead of walking out and throwing in the towel — I was ready to figure it out.” “It was absolutely above my head. Trying to go out when he would teach something then you’d break out with your partner to try and work on it. I couldn’t put what I was seeing into body movements. I really, really struggled even drilling for a long time.” “It was like the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind.’ It was a bunch of symbols and me trying to figure out what it meant. It took a little while to be able to understand it. Once you did something and the movement felt right — it was pretty motivating to get it for the first time.”

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
“He’s a really patient guy. I think he was the opposite of that as a competitor but as a coach, he’s pretty patient and looking at the big picture and that it’s a journey and that you don’t need to get everything done today. It’s not my style necessarily but it’s very successful and it’s very unique that he can do that.” … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1619754332091&twSessionId=ubgrigvtap&postId=1163612135&mc_cid=8c1db46849&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Jon Reader: My Greatest Loss

This is part of the ‘My Greatest Loss’ series. It’s a retrospective look at some of the setbacks that helped reshape the careers of past and present wrestling stars, setting them on a higher trajectory toward greatness. Wisconsin assistant Jon Reader reflects on his loss to Andy Rendos during the round of 12 at the 2010 NCAA tournament as a junior and an undefeated season in 2011.  The former Iowa State star breaks down the match and how it continues to influence his career. 
GET BACK ON THAT HORSE This isn’t easy for me to bring up. During my college career, I was a three-time All-American. As a freshman and sophomore, I was an All-American. I got seventh as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore. I think I was the No. 4 seed going into the tournament my junior year, I walked into the NCAA tournament and I lost in the first round.  I had some difficult circumstances prior to that NCAA tournament that happened. I had some concussions and I hurt my knee pretty good in the NCAA finals. Leading into the NCAA tournament was going to be challenging.  I lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament and I wrestled all the way back to the round of 12. I lost in the round of 12 to a guy who I was a couple of points away from teching him at the beginning of the season. 

That moment was one of the best moments in my entire career. It’s hard for me to say that, but it was a pivotal moment for me as a man. I learned what I was made of because I was at the lowest point in my college career where I learned exactly what I was made of.  How do you get back up on that horse? How do you make the corrections? It was a driving force leading into my senior year.  I eventually made a University World team that next summer and went undefeated as a senior but that moment, losing, and not becoming an All-American — it was dark. I was really dark after.  Looking back now as a father and as a coach, that moment allows me to teach a lot to my kids and my athletes. It was about motivation and perseverance and getting back up on that horse.

HIS NAME WAS ANDY RENDOS

His name was Andy Rendos from Bucknell. I wrestled him in the All-Star dual at the beginning of the season. He was the guy who beat me in the round of 12 in that tournament. It was tough. He was better in the moment. No excuses. He was better in that time. He made the correct adjustments. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1619578756615&twSessionId=mkjrijasca&postId=1162229135&mc_cid=c1dee7f2bb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – #232 Yianni Diakomihalis – Origins of an NCAA Champion
ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Yianni Diakomihalis is a 2x NCAA Champion for Cornell University and is one of the best freestyle wrestlers in the country at 65kg.  He recently took 4th at the 2021 Olympic Trials and will be gunning for his 3rd NCAA title during the 2021/2022 season.  This interview took place four days before the 2021 Olympic Trials and was recorded for Tokyo Dreams, the 5-part vlog series that we produced.  One caveat, Ryan is not mic’d up for this interview, so bear with us for Ryan’s audio quality.  Connect with Yianni on Twitter & Instagram: @yiannidiako_LGR … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/232-yianni-diakomihalis-origins-of-an-ncaa-champion/?mc_cid=33a8cd508f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – Dan Gable: My Greatest Loss
On March 28, 1970, sophomore Larry Owings (Washington) defeated senior Dan Gable (Iowa State), 13-11, in the 142-pound finals of the NCAA Championships. Gable entered the match on a 181-match win streak over his high school and college career. The win by Owings is considered the greatest upset in college wrestling history and one of the greatest upset in sport. Gable went on to win the 1971 World Championships and the 1972 Olympics followed by a coaching career at the University of Iowa that included 15 NCAA team titles and 21 straight Big Ten titles. Owings placed second at the 1971 and 1972 NCAA Championships. The following are Dan Gable’s words on his iconic match against Owings and why Gable considers it his greatest loss. “When you associate great it’s usually with something spectacular. A few years ago they had a poll and the poll was the greatest collegiate match in history. My match (against Owings) won the poll. It made me look at that match a little differently even though I had already done that for years — but I never associated ‘great’ with that loss on my part. “Maybe it was the greatest win on Larry Owings’s part except when I talked to Larry Owings that match really hurt him for his future wrestling. He basically said that to me and he said that in print many times that if he had to do it over again that maybe he wouldn’t like to take the same outcome because he didn’t know how to handle that big of a win, which might have turned out to be a loss for him for his future, but in reality, it turned out to be a win-win for me in my athletic career and my coaching career. 

“Yes, I’m going to keep the word great associated with a loss only because of what it did for me and my future as an athlete and my future as a coach of winning 15 national titles, 21 Big Ten in a row, a father of four children, and a husband of 46 years of marriage. All those things are associated with this greatest loss. In reality, it turned great for me and my life because it gave me a completely different perspective. It gave me a completely different thought process. It gave me the opportunity to do some things I should have been doing before. 
“I hate to admit it, but I’m going to admit that I associate great with a loss. So it’s my greatest loss. Even when I was coaching I still struggled early to ever associate greatness with it. It took quite a while. “Even today, I don’t like the fact that I had to lose to become much better. I always know there’s another level, there’s another move, there’s another way of training. It’s life. What was really successful back in the 1800s is probably not acceptable now. Things change. Perfection is a word that’s always being perfected.  “I know for some people losses eat at them inside and it’s difficult to rectify losses —  but you have to conquer it. 

“I’m really associated with this sport of amateur wrestling and Old Dominion and Stanford (dropping wrestling is a loss). We need an Oregon school. We need a Montana school. Having Old Dominion drop and Stanford drop — that eats at you. It’s a matter of people preventing things from happening. “Once I had that loss to Owing it basically forced me into a preventative mode for many more losses — on the mat and off the mat. They are very similar if you apply it that way.  “You have to understand that you prepare for difficult times. I didn’t prepare enough for somebody beating me — and that’s why he beat me. I didn’t prepare for that. I was doing things that I shouldn’t have been doing — at the tournament and even the summer before. I skipped a camp that I normally go to and I didn’t go. I know that now, and because I know that, I’m aware of it more than ever. 

“I ask myself in wrestling: Why aren’t our wrestling organizations ahead of the game? Well, it’s easier said than done. It is awareness and it is that prevention mode that makes you move forward to have a lot of success.  “It’s up to you to make a loss great but you have to look for help, too. It’s understanding that you can’t do the same things you did before to make it happen. Whatever I was doing, I had to realize what I needed to do better and then apply and get the expertise and put the application in.  “Bobby Douglas got on board to help me technically. I understood that my stance was four inches too high and that at a high level I was reaching too much (during matches) so I needed to bend my knees. I already had over 10 years of wrestling but that shows you that you can fine-tune after 181 wins in a row without a loss in scholastic wrestling.  “It’s really never too late to improve and to move forward. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1618966548085&twSessionId=aqogwssike&postId=1158971135&mc_cid=1a96ae13a8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – Tom Clum: My Greatest Loss
In 2001, Tom Clum, a senior at Pomona High School, entered the final match of his scholastic high school career with a 148-0 record and three Colorado state championships. He was on track to become the first Colorado wrestler to go undefeated. Clum led 12-8 with 10 seconds remaining the 125-pound 5A state championship when he was headlocked for five points, losing to Brett Roller of Wasson, 13-12. Clum attended the University of Wisconsin where was a two-time All-American, placing third at the 2005 NCAA championships and fifth in 2006.  The following are Tom Clum’s words on his match against Brett Roller in the 2001 state finals. 
On the feeling going into the 2001 Colorado state wrestling championships
“I didn’t really think it was a possibility (to lose). What wrestler thinks he’s going to lose? I played out that scenario (of losing) in my mind and what I would do. My dad was such an influence on me for my whole life that we constantly talked about how to take wins and losses. Outside of Colorado, it’s not like I was winning everything. It’s not like I didn’t lose a lot. I was barely cracking through — if placing — at the big tournaments. I didn’t look at myself as this great undefeated wrestler by any means. It’s not to say it didn’t hurt, but I knew the possibility was there. It ran through my mind: What I would do and how I would behave?
“I don’t remember a wrestling story quite like (mine) before or after. In the newspaper days — this was obviously before social media. If you’re big on social media that’s great, but it’s a fairly select crowd. It’s not reaching non-wrestling people that much. There was a pretty big buzz. Every time I went out to get a haircut or go to McDonald’s people recognized who I was. “I was a pretty shy kid anyway and so it’s not like I enjoyed the spotlight. I kind of learned how to deal with it throughout my career. When I was a freshman I got a little bit of press and it was cool because it was new. My dad and I started talking about the proper way to handle that and think about it — what to say and that sort of thing. As my career went on and I started getting more attention obviously the talks with my dad started to pick up, so by the time I was a senior we had four years of a lot of talking about that. I felt like I was prepared at that point. I don’t think the press or pressure (weighed on me). I was pretty much totally prepared for it. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1618887781668&twSessionId=thoumyalpr&postId=1157557135&mc_cid=5c73249ed8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – Unforgiving: The sudden death of a program comes in the bloodround
Part 3 : UNC Greensboro’s Sudden Death

One of the stark realities of college sports is only a few actually matter in the Division I landscape. Sadly, we know wrestling, despite its sellout crowds at the NCAA Division I championships, has been an all-too-frequent victim of athletic downsizing. Whether it’s blamed on financial situations, administrators blaming gender equity for their own job failures or, as we’ve seen recently, using a global pandemic as a rationale to slash opportunity, sports get cut.

For Jason Loukides, the cut at UNC Greensboro still stings a decade after school administrators announced the drop three days before Spartan wrestlers were to wrestle at the NCAA Division I Championships. Loukides spent seven years at UNCG, five as its head coach. He’s currently the Greco-Roman coach for the All-Marine Wrestling Team. He talks about the cut at UNCG as “picking at a scab that never fully heals.” Read the full story on Patreon or Mat Talk Online’s Rokfin channel. … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/blog/unforgiving-the-sudden-death-of-a-program-comes-in-the-bloodround/?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

June 21, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized