Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

NCAA Division II News (2021) – # 8

TDR Editor’s Notes ; The following articles are presented for Division II teams across the country from this summer. The Division II schools were able to adjust their season schedules, move the national championships to another city on short notice and complete the championships in good order. We expect the Division to be even bigger and stronger in a longer more complete season of wrestling competition in 2021-2022. Keep on Wrestling! Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2963 (8/17/21)
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1 } – Millersville wrestling’s Jonathan Parrilla to represent Puerto Rico at Pan-American Championships
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Millersville University wrestling’s Jonathan Parrilla has earned the right to represent his home country of Puerto Rico in the upcoming Pan-American Wrestling Championships. The event is set for May 27-30 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.  Parrilla qualified for the team in the 70kg weight class. More than 100 athletes from 11 different countries are set to compete at the event.  “It’s exciting to see a Millersville student-athlete take an opportunity to represent his homeland in such a prestigious event,” said Millersville head coach Kerry Regner. “We are proud of Jonathan and all his efforts. We know he will not just represent Puerto Rico proudly but also Millersville.”  Parrilla first came to Millersville in 2018-19, but an injury cost him a season where he was set to compete at 149 pounds. He spent the last year attending U.S. Army basic training, and returns to Millersville with a commitment to the U.S. Army Reserve. Parrilla will be on the 2021-22 Millersville roster. … rest of story at https://millersvilleathletics.com/news/2021/5/19/wrestling-millersville-wrestlings-jonathan-parrilla-to-represent-puerto-rico-at-pan-am-championships.aspx?mc_cid=e6c3ba1225&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And Millersville wrestling announces 11 additions to 2021-22 roster
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – A year away from the mats did nothing to slow the recruiting progress of the Millersville University wrestling program directed by Coach Kerry Regner. Regner and assistant coach Ryan Whittle landed a haul of 11 incoming athletes who will compete for spots in the lineup in 2021-22 season.  While the 2020-21 competition season was canceled because of COVID-19, Millersville wrestling joined its fellow Marauder teams in continuing team practices and workouts. Regner’s Marauders now expect to return 22 wrestlers who are all a year older, stronger and more experienced, and there is not a single senior-eligible wrestler in the group. In an effort to ramp up competition in the wrestling room, Regner filled his young roster with 11 signees from eight of the 10 weight classes. … rest of story at https://millersvilleathletics.com/news/2021/6/15/wrestling-millersville-wrestling-announces-11-additions-to-2021-22-roster.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – Men’s wrestling program signs 13 in latest class
CHADRON, Neb. – June 17, 2021 – Chadron State College head men’s wrestling coach Brett Hunter announced on Thursday the program’s signing class for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
The Eagles will welcome 13 new wrestlers into the fold, including 10 incoming freshmen and three transfers.
Four are originally from in-state, three from Wyoming, and one each hail from California, Colorado, Iowa, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Between them all, they hold 17 state championships, 38 state placings, and six All-American titles.
The new recruits from Nebraska are Darian Diaz and Skyler Geier-Dodson of North Platte, Hunter Gilmore of Arlington, and Kobe Lyons of York. Three of four are state finalists, with Diaz and Lyons having won it all in Classes A and B, respectively. Diaz will project as a 133-pounder, while the other three will wrestle in the middle weight classes.
… rest of story at https://chadroneagles.com/news/2021/6/17/mens-wrestling-mens-wrestling-program-signs-13-in-latest-class.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – {St. Cloud} Wrestling recruit class grows to 12
St. Cloud, Minn. – St. Cloud State University head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo announced the addition of three more student-athletes to their strong 2021 recruiting class. Alyeus Craig (Wichita, Kan.) and Gabriel Rangel (Bettendorf, Iowa) have signed a National Letters of Intent with the Huskies while Sebastian Zamorano (St. Paul, Minn.) has signed an Acceptance of Admission letter.  Along with Craig, Rangel and Zamorano – nine additional stand-outs have announced their intentions to continue their education at SCSU in the fall: Mac Copeland (Bennett, Colo.), Augustus Donovan (Richland Center, Wis.), Anthony Herrera (Stansbury Park, Utah), Isaac Grams (Bloomington, Minn.), Nate Rocheleau (Gering, Neb.), Nicholas Lopez (Huntley, Ill.), Paul Ruff (Gering, Neb.), Tyson Meyer (Glenwood, Minn.) and Nicholas Novak (New Prague, Minn.).  All have signed with Huskies wrestling earlier this past year. … rest of story at https://scsuhuskies.com/news/2021/6/16/wres-recruit-class-grows-to-twelve.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And Wrestling announces 2021-22 schedule
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University wrestling team’s quest for a fourth consecutive national title begins in October. After a whirlwind 2020-21 season that ended in a national championship, the Huskies are ready to begin their title defense, as they announced their 2021-22 regular season schedule Tuesday afternoon.  St. Cloud State’s schedule will look more traditional in 2021-22 after completing a conference-only schedule in 2021. As in past years, the Huskies will compete in several tournaments during the 2021-22 regular season, including the Finn Grinaker Open at MSU-Moorhead on Saturday, November 6. St. Cloud State will also compete in the Dakota Wesleyan Open, Carolina Clash Duals and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division II National Duals in the first half of the regular season. … rest of story at https://scsuhuskies.com/news/2021/7/20/wrestling-announces-2021-22-schedule.aspx?mc_cid=42d5eec6a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – Wrestling Alumnus and National Champion Noel Torres Continues His Pursuit of the Olympics
WICHITA, Kan. – Newman Wrestling Alumnus and 2018 Division II National Champion, Noel Torres continues his pursuit of qualifying for the summer Olympics competing for Mexico in international competition. Torres had his first run at qualification shut down last spring due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Due to the unfortunate events, he had just one opportunity to qualify for the 2021 Olympic Games this time around. That opportunity could come early on in May. Noel has only been training for freestyle wrestling for the last two years and has had limited competition opportunities during those two years. In his first international competition in early May, Torres had his chance to qualify for the upcoming Olympics as he competed in the World OG Qualifier in Bulgaria. He came up short at his qualifying match in Bulgaria where only the first and second place finishers qualify for the Olympics.
… rest of story at https://newmanjets.com/news/2021/6/4/wrestling-alumnus-and-national-champion-noel-torres-continues-his-pursuit-of-the-olympics.aspx?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And Kameron Frame Named College Male Athlete of the Year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission
WICHITA, Kan. – Newman Wrestler Kameron Frame named College Male Athlete of the Year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. This past season, Frame qualified for his third straight NCAA DII National Tournament appearance. He would go 1-2 at nationals, finishing the season with a 12-5 record. He tallied 6 falls, 4 tech falls, a major decision and a decision. Frame earned the MIAA Scholar-Athlete Award, was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and was an All-MIAA 2nd team selection. … rest of story at https://newmanjets.com/news/2021/7/6/wrestling-kameron-frame-named-college-male-athlete-of-the-year-by-the-greater-wichita-area-sports-commission.aspx?mc_cid=9b69983a38&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – Tyler Lawley to Wrestle for UCO Next Season
UCO will be adding an NCAA D2 tournament qualifier to their roster for next season. Tyler Lawley, who wrestled for Newman University in Wichita, graduated with his bachelors in criminal justice in May, but is finishing up two summer classes and will be starting a graduate program at UCO in the fall. Lawley went 36-6 in the 2019-2020 season at 133 and finished third place at his regional which qualified him for the NCAA tournament. In 2020-21 he went 8-5 at 141 in the COVID shortened season, but will be returning to 133 for his final season at UCO. This will be a very competitive weight class in the room for the Bronchos as it will include NCAA tournament third place finisher Tanner Cole along with young standout TJ Long who was the starter for most of the season at 133. … rest of story at https://owrestle.com/tyler-lawley-to-wrestle-for-uco-next-season/

6 } – Roufs Endowment Created
Mankato, Minn. — Minnesota State University, Mankato’s College of Business and the Minnesota State University Baseball and Wrestling Programs, in partnership with the Roufs family and his many friends, is creating an endowed annual scholarship honoring the life and work of Fred Roufs. This scholarship is an investment in future business leaders and will provide support for a Minnesota State baseball player and wrestler. This scholarship is in support of Fred’s unique and special approach to business while supporting the love and passion he had for baseball and wrestling. Fred started his professional business career as a financial planner with IDS/Ameriprise.  From there he transitioned to an executive role as a Divisional Vice President.  During that time he was a mentor to many young men and women who were just starting their careers in the business world.  His leadership could be attributed to the success that many of these young advisors achieved. Fred’s true passion was on the baseball field and the wrestling mats. This passion led Fred to be inducted into the Minnesota State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, the LeSueur Wrestling Hall of Fame 2010, the Marshall Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. In addition to serving on Minnesota Amateur Baseball Association for 26 years, he became president in 2020. In 2021 he was selected for the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. … rest of story at https://msumavericks.com/news/2021/5/19/general-roufs-endowment-created.aspx?mc_cid=3a3b8bc793&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – Hilltoppers’ Irwin is MEC Coach of the Year
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – West Liberty University head wrestling coach Danny Irwin has been honored as the 2021 Mountain East Conference Men’s Sports Coach of the Year.
The MEC Coach of the Year is selected by a vote of institutional administrators and the league office. Irwin becomes the first West Liberty coach and the first wrestling coach to receive the prestigious conference honor.     This represents the latest achievement in a season of “firsts” for the Hilltopper head man and the tradition-laden West Liberty mat program. Irwin’s wrestlers were unbeaten in dual meets during the 2021 season and dominated the MEC Tournament, running away to the school’s first conference championship with 9 of the 10 Hilltopper starters earning All-MEC honors. West Liberty followed up that conference title by winning the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 Tournament at Tiffin (Ohio) University. Irwin was voted Super Region 3 Coach of the Year after leading WLU to its first NCAA Regional championship and qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Nationals. Irwin and his Hilltoppers came up big on wrestling’s biggest stage in St. Louis. The Black and Gold returned to the hilltop with a fourth-place trophy, four NCAA Division II All-Americans and a pair of national champions in Cole Laya (125 pounds) and Tyler Warner (133 pounds). … rest of story at https://hilltoppersports.com/news/2021/6/23/wrestling-hilltoppers-irwin-is-mec-coach-of-the-year.aspx?mc_cid=43f68cbfb0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Mines Wrestling Adds Seven To Recruiting Class
GOLDEN, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines wrestling head coach Austin DeVoe continues to build his program with the addition of seven recruits to join the team in fall 2021.
Mines welcomes Ryan Cody (Longwood, Fla./The Master’s Academy), Carson Dulitz (Shawnee, Kan./Mill Valley HS), Charlie Holub (Dallas, Texas/Bishop Lynch HS), Avery Krippner (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central HS), Kagen Lawrence (Redmond, Ore./Redmond HS), Niko Mayo (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage HS), and Jackson Showalter (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS). The seven join early-period signings Davion Chavez, Grayston DiBlasi, and Cody Thompson to make up DeVoe’s 10-man class.
RYAN CODY // 197 pounds // Longwood, Fla. // The Master’s Academy
HIGH SCHOOL: Two-time Florida state placer for The Master’s Academy … Compiled a 181-44 high school record including 43-3 with 33 pins as a senior on the way to a state runner-up finish at 195 pounds … Was also third as a sophomore … FAWA freestyle and Greco state champion … USMNC Greco national finalist … Also wrestled with the Seminole County Wrestling Club … National Honor Society member … Interested in majoring in chemical engineering. … rest of story at https://minesathletics.com/news/2021/6/24/mines-wrestling-adds-seven-to-recruiting-class.aspx?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – Jewell men’s wrestling inks first signing class in nearly 3 decades
LIBERTY — William Jewell head wrestling coach Keenan Hagerty announced the signing of the first men’s wrestlers in 28 years and the first signing class of his career. The men’s wrestling program was officially reinstated on June 1, 2020, after being discontinued in 1993. “I am excited to recognize the first group of men’s wrestlers on our campus since 1993. We have a great group of student-athletes coming in this fall, who are ready to rebuild and create new traditions,” Hagerty said. “This group of young men have embraced the challenge of walking onto a new campus in the fall as the leaders into Jewell’s history of a renewed and reenergized NCAA Division II wrestling program. We are thrilled to get to work and began the journey.” The 16 student-athletes who will join the Jewell community in the fall hail from four states and combine to total 36 state qualifiers and 23 state medal winners, including three state champions, while averaging a GPA of better than 3.4. … rest of story at https://www.mycouriertribune.com/sports/wrestling/jewell-mens-wrestling-inks-first-signing-class-in-nearly-3-decades/article_81e7599a-db34-11eb-96e6-cb5771da9553.html?mc_cid=cbfa48fa54&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And Brent Haynes Added to Men’s Wrestling Staff
LIBERTY, Mo. – William Jewell head wrestling coach Keenan Hagerty has announced the first addition to his staff since the reinstatement of the program with the hiring of assistant coach Brent Haynes.  “Brent is an excellent addition to the Jewell wrestling staff. He was a standout high school and collegiate wrestler, and we are pleased to have him become a Cardinal,” said Hagerty. “He has competed under some of the best coaches in the country and helped mentor several top recruits from the area.” … rest of story at https://jewellcardinals.com/news/2021/7/7/brent-haynes-added-to-mens-wrestling-staff.aspx?mc_cid=e094d4aecd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – MatBoss Q&A: Dax Charles, CSU-Pueblo head wrestling coach
Dax Charles has spent over 30 years at CSU-Pueblo as a student-athlete and wrestling coach. As a competitor, Charles won a national championship at CSU-Pueblo (then University of Southern Colorado) in 1992 and earned All-America honors three times. He was inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012 and the CSU-Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. Charles became CSU-Pueblo’s head wrestling coach in 2008 after the program was reestablished. He has taken the program to great heights, finishing in the top-25 at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships several times, including an 11th place finish in 2018. He was named 2017 RMAC Coach of the Year after guiding the ThunderWolves to their seventh RMAC championship. … rest of story at https://blog.matboss.com/matboss-qa-dax-charles-csu-pueblo-head-wrestling-coach?mc_cid=a1dbf0c0e5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – Wrestling Adds Frank Yattoni to Coaching Staff
Lindenwood wrestling head coach Jimmy Rollins announced the addition of Frank Yattoni to his staff.  
Yattoni comes to Lindenwood after spending the last two seasons on the staff of the Minot State wrestling program where he was a graduate assistant.  At Minot State, Yattoni helped mentor the athletes in the classroom, elevating the team GPA to a 3.0 in the fall semester of 2020.  Yattoni helped coach an NCAA Division II National Qualifier during the 2019-20 season.  While in North Dakota, Yattoni coached at risk youth wrestlers at the MHA Nation Trial Youth Wrestling Club.  Yattoni achieved a drastic increase in practice participation by developing positive relationships with the athletes. Before his stop in North Dakota, Yattoni volunteered on the staff at Wisconsin-Parkside. … rest of story at https://lindenwoodlions.com/news/2021/7/7/wrestling-adds-frank-yattoni-to-coaching-staff.aspx?mc_cid=9d57322631&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b12 } – Three Bristol Eastern wrestlers commit to compete in college
BRISTOL – Losing the 2021 wrestling season did not stop a trio of Bristol Eastern seniors from getting their chances to compete at the next level. Tommy Nichols and Aaron Morocho will both join the wrestling team at Division II American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts and Mason Lishness will wrestle at Division II Castleton University in Castleton, Vermont. “They truly love the sport,” coach Bryant Lishness said. “It’s a tough sport, so not everyone loved it even though their doing it… Those guys definitely caught the bug when they were younger and they’ve been grinders they’re whole careers.” All three grapplers had high expectations entering their senior season, but all still compiled strong resumes in just three years. … rest of story at http://www.bristolpress.com/BP-Bristol+Eastern+Sports/392829/three-bristol-eastern-wrestlers-commit-to-compete-in-college?mc_cid=7334e288ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

August 20, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

University of Tulsa to Consider Adding New Sports: Why Wrestling Should be it

TDR Editor’s Notes : It would be a wise move for University of Tulsa to add wrestling as it would increase student enrollment, bring in revenue and generate good public relations. The answer is YES, YES and emphatically YES to the question if they should add wrestling. Keep Wrestling Onward!
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According to Kelly Hines of the Tulsa World, the University of Tulsa Athletic Director Rick Dickson has said the school is considering adding new sports in an effort to grow enrollment.
Unfortunately, in the D1 wrestling world, we’ve seen countless programs get dropped as universities flood money into their revenue sports of football and basketball.
On other levels, that has not been the case. Wrestling is growing at a very high pace in D2, D3, NAIA, and on the Junior College level. The reason this works for those smaller schools is those programs in a unique way end up paying for themselves.
The massive growth of women’s wrestling has been a game-changer for the sport. Many smaller schools can add both a men’s and women’s program with a fairly minimal investment. And as these schools add a small contingent of scholarship athletes, they also add several walk-ons or partial scholarship recipients that are paying their own way. So, when a school makes the investment of hiring a coach, purchasing equipment, and paying other basic costs for their program, those are all offset by the additional revenue generated when they grow their student body and tuition revenue.

This is seen all over college athletics, but in our part of the country, you can look at schools across Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and see they’ve taken note.

Arkansas has added Little Rock, Ouachita Baptist, University of the Ozarks, Lyon College, Central Baptist, Williams Baptist, and Arkansas Baptist.

Texas went from having zero college wrestling programs to adding Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, Schreiner University, Texas Women’s University, and most recently Jarvis Christian.

The state of Oklahoma has been a traditional power in wrestling from youth to college to International wrestling. But they’ve still seen some similar growth at the college level recently with NEO bringing back their program a few years ago, Oklahoma Wesleyan starting a program, and Carl Albert State College adding a men and women’s program just this past year.

If Tulsa were to add a wrestling program, it would be dwarfed by its two in-state rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, who are both long-time traditional powers. But there is a very real benefit and enticement to having those programs nearby. If the University of Tulsa were to host a dual with Oklahoma State it would be a huge ticket draw and likely their biggest sporting event outside of football and basketball. Oklahoma State averages over 5,000 attendees per dual.

It’s tough to expect a road dual to do those numbers, but the large contingency of OSU fans and alumni in Tulsa would show up for a dual at Tulsa and would bring in a large chunk of annual revenue for the program.

There are also a lot of solid programs in the region to build early schedules with. Tulsa likely wouldn’t immediately be a superpower in the sport. Building a program takes time, but even with putting OSU and OU on their schedule, they could still schedule Arkansas Little-Rock, UCO, NEO, and other schools to help get matches early with minimal travel costs that still put up a solid challenge. … rest of the story at https://owrestle.com/the-university-of-tulsa-to-consider-adding-new-sports-why-wrestling-should-be-it/

August 20, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment