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Amateur Wrestling Reports

The Pat Popolizio Coaching Tree

On Monday afternoon, news broke out of Fargo, North Dakota that newly promoted North Dakota State head wrestling coach, Obe Blanc, had hired Hayden Hidlay as his assistant coach. In 2022, Hidlay finished up a decorated career at NC State that saw him leave Raleigh as one of the all-time greats in NC State wrestling, becoming the first four-time (and five-time) All-American in school history and second in career win-loss percentage.

Hidlay and Blanc’s paths crossed at NC State as Blanc was an assistant coach early in Hidlay’s career, before leaving for NDSU. The common ground for both was wrestling or coaching under Wolfpack head coach Pat Popolizio.

When it comes to college coaching trees, no one is larger or more famous than Dan Gable’s when he was the head coach at the University of Iowa. John Smith’s is quite impressive himself as he is now responsible for coaching ten current DI head coaches, which is the most of any coach or school.

What you may not realize is that Popolizio has an impressive list of DI coaches that have either coached alongside him or wrestled under him (or both). With Hidlay’s hiring, that number grows by one. Before the 2021-22 season, InterMat traveled to Raleigh and spoke with Popolizio about this exact topic. When asked about the number of his pupils in the coaching ranks he responded, “To me, you never want to have a kid come here and resent the sport of wrestling. We want it to be a positive experience.”

Some head coaches may view assistants leaving as more work for them in the short-term and a difficult situation in replacing a valued member of their staff. Popolizio isn’t one of them. “I feel confident about the guys on our staff. At some point, they’ll get the call to be a head coach and they’ll be ready because of the day-to-day tasks that are thrown at them. They’re learning the ins and outs of everything I do as a head coach. I already know in our room right now, we have several guys who are going to be great college coaches.”

So who’s next from the Pat Popolizio coaching tree? “Adam Hall, he’s a rock star. … rest of story at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26746

June 7, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hawkeyes lead Division I in wrestling attendance for 16th straight season

The National Wrestling Media Association has released its annual NCAA Division I wrestling home dual meet attendance report for the 2022-23 season and for the 16th-straight season, the University of Iowa is the nation’s top home draw.

Iowa, Penn State, Iowa State, Rutgers and Oklahoma State were the top five home draws this season.

RELATED: Attendance stats since 2002 (via Mat Talk Online)

The Hawkeyes drew an average of 14,858 fans per home date in 2022-23 and saw a record total of 118,870 fans come through the doors at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa’s overall total is the highest total attendance number since Division I attendance records started being recorded in 2002. The previous high season total was Iowa’s 97,325 in the 2015-16 season, which included the NCAA-record 42,287 at Kinnick Stadium. The 14,858 is the second-highest average attendance in college wrestling history, second only to the Hawkeyes’ average last season.

The Hawkeyes drew capacity crowds of 14,905 in six of their eight home dates.

Penn State was second for the 12th-straight season drawing an average of 9,225 fans. Two of the Nittany Lions home duals were at the Bryce Jordan Center. Those two duals drew nearly 16,000 fans. According to Penn State Athletic Communications, the Nittany Lions have sold out 66-straight duals in Rec Hall and 75 of the last 77 home events. Penn State’s 15,998 against Iowa on January 27 is tied for the third-largest dual meet crowd in college wrestling history and ties the indoor mark, also set by Penn State against Iowa, on Feb. 10, 2018.

Iowa State averaged 5,287 fans with six home dates. The Cyclones are third in attendance for the second time in three seasons and have been in the top seven since 2002, the first year attendance was tracked. Rutgers is in the top six for the eighth straight season and is fourth for the third time since 2018. Oklahoma State is fifth and has been in the top 10 each year since 2002, never falling lower than seventh. Ohio State has been consistently in the top six since 2012 and ranks sixth for the second-straight year. Virginia Tech reached a program high of seventh. The Hokies were 10th a year ago and have been ranked in the top 10 six times. Northern Iowa might have lost some of the mystique by moving full-time into the McLeod Center from its iconic West Gym, but it did allow the Panthers to rank eighth in attendance, a program high. It’s also the first time since 2017 the Panthers have ranked in the Top 10. Minnesota was ninth, keeping the Gophers streak alive of Top 10 draws. Michigan ranked 10th, the fourth time in the last five years the Wolverines have broken the Top 10.

Several schools saw high attendance marks during combined events with women’s gymnastics. Often dubbed “Beauty and the Beast,” Iowa State, Arizona State, Northern Illinois and Kent State saw their highest home attendance in the combined events.

Iowa was the top road draw as six schools – Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Army West Point, Chattanooga and Purdue – saw its high crowds come against the visiting Hawkeyes. Penn State was the top road draw at Rutgers, Ohio State, Indiana and Rider. Oklahoma State was also a solid road draw as the Cowboys were the top drawing team for Iowa (tied), Oregon State, Oklahoma and Bucknell.

For the first time in 15 years, Cal Poly was represented. The Mustangs ranked 22nd in attendance averaging 1,124 fans. Cal Poly averaged 750 fans per dual last season.

This season marks the first time at least 25 schools broke an average of 1,000 fans per dual. … rest of story at Nationalwrestlingmedia.com/hawkeyes-lead-division-i-in-wrestling-attendance-for-16th-straight-season

June 7, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

HBCUs capitalize on growing interest by adding sport options

The outrage, frustration and emotional trauma Jahi Jones felt as he watched video of police murdering George Floyd three years ago compelled him to seek ways to lift up other young Black men.

He just wasn’t sure how to do it.

Jones had attended the University of Maryland on an academic scholarship and was a walk-on for the wrestling team. He became team captain, competed at the NCAA championships and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He later noticed that, in 2021, Black men made up half the 10 Division I national champions in wrestling but fewer than 10% of Division I wrestlers.

RELATED COVERAGE

That’s when everything started to click.

“I would start thinking about ways that I could get involved to help inside of the wrestling community and just make things more fair and equitable,” he said. “It was just seeing the lack of diversity, but also seeing that … we excel inside the sport, but (we are) just not having those same opportunities to develop.”

Now 25, Jones is the executive director of the HBCU Wrestling Initiative. With a major assist from that program, Morgan State in the next school year will become the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) to offer Division I wrestling. … rest of story at APnews.com/article/hbcu-new-sports-ncaa

June 7, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment