R.C. LaHaye named the The Open Mat Div. II Coach of The Year
GREENWOOD – Awards continue to find the Lander wrestling team as head coach R.C. LaHaye was recently named The Open Mat Div. II Coach of The Year.
Competing in just its fourth season as a program, LaHaye has established Lander as one of the premier wrestling programs in the country.
Ranked No. 2 this season and finishing as the National Runner-up, LaHaye produced six All-Americans this season. James Joplin, Elijah Lusk, Zeth Brower, David Hunsberger, Logan Hall and Juan Edmond-Holmes all finished in the top eight in the 2023 National Championships while Hall placed second at 184.
“I am extremely grateful for this honor,” said coach LaHaye. “None of this could have been possible without the hard work of our assistant coaches, Chris Freije and Micheal Elliott, and most importantly our student-athletes here at Lander.”
Most recently Hall was named a finalist for the NWCA Div. II Wrestler of The Year while David Hunsberger was named a finalist for the NWCA Div. II Rookie Wrestler of The Year while also being named The Open Mat Div. II Freshman of The Year.
LaHaye and his staff guided the Bearcats to a 20-2 overall record and a spotless 10-0 record in the SACC. The Bearcats won their first Super Region II team title with a record-breaking 164 points. The Blue and Gold also saw seven Super Region Champions among the nine National Qualifiers.
Lander claimed its second straight SACC Championship title after defeating No. 18 UNC Pembroke 30-7 at Horne Arena. … rest of story at Landerbearcats.com/news/wrestling-r-c-lahaye-named-the-the-open-mat-div-ii-coach-of-the-year
UNC’s O’Connor, Pitt’s Bonaccorsi Named ACC Co-Wrestlers of the Year
Virginia Tech’s Henson voted ACC Freshman of the Year, Hokies’ Robie repeats as Coach of the Year
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor and Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi, who each posted unbeaten seasons and claimed NCAA individual titles, have been selected as the 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Wrestlers of the Year by the league’s head coaches.
Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson, who won a conference title and earned All-America honors at 149 pounds, was voted the ACC Freshman of the Year. The Hokies also picked up the 2022-23 ACC Wrestling Coach of the Year award, as Tony Robie was recognized for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in seven seasons.
O’Connor, a grad student from Lockport, Illinois, outlasted Penn State’s second-seeded Levi Haines for a 6-2 victory in the 157 pounds two weeks after claiming the ACC Championship gold medal. O’Connor secured his second NCAA wrestling title after first winning at 149 pounds in St. Louis in 2021.
Bonaccorsi, a redshirt senior from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan for the gold medal at 197. Bonaccorsi, who also won the ACC Championship in his weight class, became the Panthers’ first NCAA champion since current head coach Keith Gavin won at 174 pounds in 2008.
ACC wrestlers have now won 22 all-time individual NCAA titles. This marks the first year the conference has had multiple national champions in the same year since 1994 when Clemson’s Sam Henson won at 118 pounds and North Carolina’s TJ Jaworsky won at 134.
O’Connor (23-0) became the program’s first five-time All-America honoree, the Tar Heels have posted multiple All-America wrestlers for five-straight years, and the National Finals has seen a UNC wrestler compete in the finals the past three seasons. … rest of story at ACC.com/uncs-o-connor-pitts-bonaccorsi-earn-co-acc-wrestler-of-the-year-honors
The Process For Making The 2023 Senior World Wrestling Team Explained
A breakdown of how USA Wrestling will decide the 2023 Senior World Team.
The college wrestling season is over and that means it’s time to shift our attention to the international styles of wrestling! Over the next few months, the best wrestlers in the United States will compete for the right to represent Team USA at the World Championships this September in Belgrade, Serbia. Because the process for earning a spot on the world team slightly changes from year to year, the below article is a quick breakdown of how athletes will earn their spot on the 2023 Senior World Team.
2023 US Open Wrestling Championships
Final X – June 10
We’ll start with the end – Final X on June 10 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This final step of the world team trials process will be a best 2 of 3 wrestle-off between the top 2 wrestlers at every weight in every style with the winners heading to the World Championships. This is the first year all three styles will be featured at the same location with all weights being contested.
So how do the best wrestlers in the country qualify for Final X? First, every returning senior world medalist is eligible to accept their bid directly to Final X. Check out all of the returning medalists who are eligible to wrestle at Final X:
Men’s Freestyle
- 57kg: Thomas Gilman
- 65kg: Yianni Diakomihalis
- 70kg: Zain Retherford
- 74kg: Kyle Dake
- 79kg: Jordan Burroughs
- 86kg: David Taylor
- 92kg: J’den Cox
- 97kg: Kyle Snyder
Women’s Freestyle
- 50kg: Sarah Hildebrandt
- 53kg: Dom Parrish
- 57kg: Helen Maroulis … rest of story at Flowrestling.org/articles/process-for-making-the-2023-senior-world-wrestling-team-explained
Award Plaques Mailed out
TDR Top 12 Team Award plaques have been mailed out to coaches at the following schools; Northside (Jax), Clayton, Cleveland, South Brunswick, Rosewood, South Lenoir, Heidi Trask, Pasquotank County, Swansboro, New Bern and West Carteret. They should arrive by Tuesday at the latest. We will post when the next group is mailed. We expect that to be by Monday.
On Saturday, April 8th we mailed out the plaques packages to Rolesville, C.B. Aycock, Northeastern, West Brunswick, Bunn, Havelock, Pamlico County, Topsail, Fike, Southwest Onslow, South Lenoir and South Johnston. They should arrive by Tuesday at the latest. We will post when the next group is mailed. The last group will be mailed by Wednesday the 12th. Please let us know when they arrive. martinkfleming@gmail.com
On Monday and Tuesday plaques were mailed to the coaches at the following schools; J.F. Webb, Corinth-Holders (2 of 3), and First Flight (5). They should arrive by Thursday the 13th at the latest. Please let us know when they arrive.
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 