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From Mat Rat to World Tour: Havelock wrestler Kennedie Snow is living her dream

Never in her wildest imagination did Havelock wrestler Kennedie Snow believe a challenge from her brother six years ago would lead to a world wrestling tour in 2023.

Snow, a rising junior at Havelock High School, remembers being back in 5th grade and her brother took up wrestling, challenging her to do so as well.

“I figured I could do better than him so I accepted the challenge and fell in love with the sport,” said Snow. “Despite my competitive nature, I never wrestled my brother because he outweighed me by 80 pounds.”

While she may have to wait on fulfilling the dream of wrestling her sibling, another one recently came true. Snow was named to the North Carolina National Team….and the USA World Team.

In April, Snow qualified for the North Carolina National Team. The squad is currently wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the National Duel’s. She also qualified for the Beach USA World Team headed to Mexico City in late June, Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota and she qualified for a World Wrestling competition in Romania on September 9.

“She is a student of the sport, a sponge for information,” said Havelock Coach Chase Holleman. Holleman coincidentally introduced her brother to the sport.

Holleman is also a youth wrestling coach and started coaching Snow as a 6th grader.

“She was a member of our Mat Rats and her work ethic was noticeable from the start,” said Holleman. “Now I have to set a timer to get her off the mat, she’s always working hard to be better, taking care of her body, she is a leader of women”.

Snow posted a 25-9 record last year at Havelock, the first season women’s high school wrestling was sanctioned in North Carolina and the first year Snow didn’t have to wrestle boys. … rest of story at … Newbernsj.com/from-mat-rat-to-world-tour-havelock-wrestler-kennedie-snow-is-living-her-dream

June 19, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Franklin & Marshall’s 100th Season Comes with Optimism for the Future

The next time the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats take the mat, they will be competing in their 100th collegiate wrestling season. Although impressive, they are still maybe the 4th or 5th oldest program in the conference. This milestone season is not only special due to the triple-digit mark, but this is also the first season the team will be able to offer athletic scholarships to prospective student-athletes. After a recent NCAA legislation was passed that allows smaller (Division III) sized schools to allow athletic scholarships if competing at the D1 level, F&M will be able to join in on the fun. For some background, Division III schools cannot legally offer scholarships, per NCAA regulations. This is why the legislation is a big deal for a handful of schools that participate in higher divisions than what the school is designated in other sports. Franklin & Marshall College, located in the heart of Lancaster, PA only contains roughly 2,200 undergrad students – yet they wrestle at the Division 1 level against large schools that contain a small city’s population of student-athletes. For example, Arizona State’s undergrad enrollment is over 60,000, Penn State has around 40,000, etc. Sure, these are the extremes – but the point remains – not all Division I teams are equal.

To further that last point of “not all Division I teams are equal,” this is especially true in terms of athletic scholarship allotment. This topic can get confusing to the average fan. Some fans assume all teams have equal funding – causing an equal playing field. This is far from the truth. For wrestling, the maximum athletic scholarship one team can distribute amongst athletes is 9.9 full scholarships. I am not sure if it’s truly known how many teams have this maximum allotment. But, I know for a fact that a majority of teams are not fully funded with the 9.9. Many may have 5 scholarships to give and others may have closer to 9.9. It really depends on the athletic departments of each school. Just know, the range is from 0 athletic scholarships to 9.9. It’s also worth noting that Ivy League teams cannot offer athletic scholarships in any sport – but they do offer other types of aid to help offset the costs. That is another story for another time. … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/college/eiwa/franklin-marshalls-100th-season-comes-with-optimism-for-the-future

June 19, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Stanford’s Bright Future Under Rob Koll

Stanford had a tough season, ending with a 6-7 dual season record, second at Pac-12 Championships and 26th at NCAAs. “Last year was the first losing season in my 33 years as coaching,” Coach Rob Koll said. “We had 17 or 18 kids in the room.”
The Cardinal program has looked to find its rhythm after almost losing its program a few years ago. Although Stanford had its first losing season since the 2012-13 season, they showed some promise in the postseason. The main reason why Stanford has struggled is the lack of recruits and depth. “If you look at it, every other team has four years of recruits and we have three,” Koll said. “It’s massive because 25% of your team is not there and you can’t replace it in one year.”
Since Koll has had less time to recruit, he struggled in certain weight classes. “Nobody was allowed to get hurt last year and we couldn’t rest guys because we didn’t have backups,” Koll said. “It was not ideal.” Stanford took one final loss this offseason when Shane Griffith transferred to Michigan. However, Koll is elated that Griffith is moving forward with his career and Koll looks to give his underclassmen the opportunity to grow. … rest of story at .. Intermatwrestle.com/college/pac-12/stanfords-bright-future-under-rob-koll

June 19, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment