Penn State starts season ranked No. 1 in NWCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State will start the season at the top as the Nittany Lions are one of nine Big Ten schools ranked in the NWCA Preseason Division I Wrestling Coaches poll released on Friday.
Penn State, a perfect 17-0 last season, garnered 13 of the 14 possible first-place votes, while rival Iowa, which collected the other first-place vote, starts the season ranked second. Arizona State, Missouri and Michigan round out the top five.
The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 for the 89th week in the program’s history, including the last seven polls of the 2021-22 season.
The Big 12 ranks second with five of its squads ranked in the Top 25. Joining Missouri in the poll to start the season are No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 20 Northern Iowa and South Dakota State, which is tied for 25th.
The Pac-12 has four teams ranked for the first time since November 16, 2011 when Boise State, Oregon State, Arizona State and Cal Poly were all in the Top 25. Third-ranked Arizona State is joined in the poll by No. 19 Oregon State, No. 24 Cal Poly and Stanford, which is tied for 25th.
The ACC and EIWA also have four schools each, with the ACC led by No. 9 NC State and followed by No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Pittsburgh. … rest of story and list at Nwcaonline.com/penn-state-starts-season-ranked-no-1-in-nwca-division-i-preseason-coaches-poll
Citadel Bulldogs Open Season in Dominating Fashion
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel wrestled team opened the 2022-23 with a dominating 45-0 victory over Queens University on Tuesday evening inside McAlister Field House.
Match Results
174 – Ben Haubert (CIT) FALL Jay Skalecki (QU), 4:16
184 – Micah DiCarlo (CIT) TF D’Andree Hunt (QU), 15-0 (4:30)
197 – Mark Chaid (CIT) TF Riley Kuhn (QU), 18-0 (4:35)
285 – John Chesser (CIT) FALL Mikey Lytle (QU), 4:46
125 – Blair Orr (CIT) FALL Griffen Gonzales (QU), 4:32
… rest of story, details and more at Citadelsports.com/news/2022/11/1/wrestling-bulldogs-open-season-in-dominating-fashion
Everything you need to know about the new college wrestling rules ahead of the 2022-23 season
With every new wrestling season comes a tweak of the current rule set, designed to improve eligibility and enhance excitement. Last year, the biggest shift occurred within the overtime rule as the first sudden victory period shifted from one minute to two minutes with riding time determining a winner after the second set of tie-breakers. This move led to a number of thrilling sudden victory battles.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2022-23 NCAA bylaws and how they might impact the upcoming season.
First, click here to read the official updated bylaws.
Now, let’s break down each of these new regulations.
The freshman eligibility exception
All athletes competing in the NCAA are granted the opportunity to compete in “four seasons of intercollegiate competition in any one sport,” according to the NCAA rules and regulations. Wrestlers, of course, are also granted redshirt seasons in most conferences that allow them to wait a year before competing in the varsity lineup or sit out a year with an injury without burning one of those four seasons of eligibility. But those four seasons fly by, and teams competing for a national title consistently weigh the pros and cons of redshirting talented recruits or allowing them to join the starting lineup right away for the potential benefit of the team.
UNDERSTANDING THE OLYMPIC REDSHIRT: Here’s why some athletes were allowed to take an Olympic redshirt in 2020 and others were not … rest of story at NCAA.com/wrestling/article/2022-10-31/everything-you-need-know-about-new-college-wrestling-rules-ahead-2022-2023-season
App State on the horizon and meet new SID Jonas Pope – NCS99
Episode 99 of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast will get a recap of the U23 World Championships with Trent Hidlay’s performance, a wrestle-off recap and then looking ahead to the annual early-season dual with App State. Host Hayden Hidlay will also introduce Pack fans to new Sports Information Director Jonas Pope IV. Pope spent 16 years in the print world and is now working on the other side of the media world in Athletic Communications. … podcast story at Mattalkonline.com/podcast/pack-mentality/app-state-on-the-horizon-and-meet-new-sid-jonas-pope
Phillies catcher Realmuto still credits his wrestling roots
By Bryan Van Kley
Somehow, one of the best athletes to come out of Oklahoma’s famous Smith family quit the sport of wrestling to go out for basketball … and lived to tell about it.
This is the same Smith family of 10 children who most wrestling people know quite well. The family included four boys: six-time Olympic/World champion John, who coaches at Oklahoma State, four-time NCAA champ Pat, National Wrestling Hall of Fame director Lee Roy and Mark, a two-time All-American.
But this particular athlete, who “jumped ship” from wrestling for a brief time for the court, has done OK for himself.
Meet All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto.
This column appeared in the November issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the cover to subscribe to WIN.
Statistically, Realmuto ranks as one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. And, he said he owes much of who he is as an athlete to his time as a wrestler. Growing up in Del City, Okla., Realmuto is the nephew of the four well-known Smith uncles. His mom Margaret is one of the six girls from the group of 10 kids.
Wrestling was Realmuto’s first sport. He started at the age of five or six and wrestled all the way through eighth or ninth grade on the club level.
However, it was in seventh grade when his family moved 15 minutes to the Carl Albert High School district, that Realmuto gave up junior high wrestling to play basketball since that’s what “all” his friends were doing.
“I’m about the only boy in the family who got out of the wrestling world. They shunned me away for little bit,” Realmuto said with a laugh. “I still regret not wrestling through high school.” … rest of story at WIN-magazine.com/2022/11/01/phillies-catcher-realmuto-still-credits-his-wrestling-roots
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 