Takedown Report

Can King’s Court Win This Season’s Women’s College Crown?

Jason Moorman made off-season moves that put his team in contention for the 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships. Will it be enough?

King coach Jason Moorman’s off-season recruiting haul sent a message: Overlook King at your own peril. 

The Tornado have weathered the storm against the best NCAA women’s programs in the country — and won. 

Moorman led his team to four straight WCWA (all divisions) titles from 2014 through 2017 and has 12 top-five finishes at the national collegiate championships over the past 13 seasons. 

They are also the reigning two-time NWCA National Duals champions with finals wins over the eventual NCWWC champions, McKendree and North Central. Sarah Hildebrandt, Forrest Molinari, Alli Ragan, and Haley Augello are just a few of the world-caliber wrestlers the program has produced. 

King At The National Championships

Year	Division	Place
2023	NCWWC	2nd
2022	NCWWC	2nd
2021	NCWWC	2nd
2020	NCWWC	3rd
2019	WCWA	5th
2018	WCWA	6th
2017	WCWA	1st
2016	WCWA	1st
2015	WCWA	1st
2014	WCWA	1st
2013	WCWA	3rd
2012	WCWA	2nd
2011	WCWA	4th

King’s Recruiting Haul

King has a formidable line-up with plenty of top-end power. King returns three wrestlers in FloWrestling’s pound-for-pound college rankings: Samara Chavez (#4), Sage Mortimer (#6), and Cheyenne Bowman (#21).

Moorman went on a recruiting spree to add even more firepower. He recently landed junior college stars Victoria Baez-Dillone (Umpqua), Aine Drury (Cerritos), and Alexa Garcia (Southwestern Oregon) along with a promising crop of incoming freshmen. … rest of story at … Flowrestling.org/Can-kings-court-win-this-seasons-womens-college-crown

August 20, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Wrestling created a home in Arizona for Ukrainian Fenn

By Bill X. Barron

At age four, Ivan “Vonn” Fenn was adopted, along with his brother Serge, who was six, from the Ukrainian region – Donetsk – literally on the border of Russia’s ongoing, relentless aggression. 

Perhaps that back-history foretold that Vonn would become an ambassador, one who builds bonds and who repairs rifts between one-time enemies. 

“I don’t interact with an opponent before a match, but once it’s over, he’s a friend I help get up off the mat,” he proclaims.

This story appeared in the August issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the cover or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

In the words of the Thunderbird (Arizona) head coach, Lee Chandler, “Vonn is most cerebral; show him a move once or twice, and he has mastered the technique. Later he’s teaching it to teammates.”

Yet another part of Fenn’s personality is that “he does not overthink situations, so he is able to move beyond things that might get another person down,” asserts his mother, Danita.

If you view Vonn by his most recent accomplishments in 2023 — Arizona Division 2 state high school champion at 120 pounds and RMN national champion at 18U/120 in both folkstyle and freestyle — you would only see the tip of the iceberg. 

His real story lies beneath the surface.

In 2009, the Fenn family consisted of five girls. Then Danita “watched a news show on orphaned kids in Russia that broke my heart.” But Russia was closed to adoption, so Danita and Daniel explored options in recently-liberated Ukraine. With a sense of humor, the agency thought they needed boys.

At the time, Vonn and his brother were severely malnourished and undersized. While Serge quickly learned English and engaged socially, Vonn tread a more concerning path and had difficulty making and keeping friends. He wore them out, trying too hard to be their buddy.

Everything changed in seventh grade.

Long before Vonn Fenn won a state championship for Thunderbird High School, the native of Ukraine got a chance to see who were the other greats at this Arizona school.

“Not another community other than wrestling would have accepted his quirkiness,” said Danita. “In wrestling, touching was an acceptable means of making a connection and, in time, he earned the respect of his team.”

On “pure tenacity and desire,” Vonn began to change the perception others had of him and, more importantly, to trust himself. 

“No one works harder,” said Chandler. “He’s always asking questions in order to get better at everything he does.”

Vonn demonstrated he had poise as early as ninth grade. Coach Travis Azevedo recalls an early-season match with Tempe in which Vonn was the final wrestler at 106 pounds, with the Titans down by five points. 

“I told him it was up to him, and he assured me he would handle it,” said Azevedo, adding that Vonn’s second-period pin solidified his team’s victory.

Though he was successful in high school from the outset, the top of the podium eluded him. As a freshman, Vonn qualified for state and fell one match short of the Blood Round. In his sophomore year, he advanced to the finals, only to fall short by a 1-0 margin. As a junior, he was 41-0 entering the finals, but lost 9-5. … rest of story at … WIN-magazine.com/2023/08/18/wrestling-created-a-home-in-arizona-for-ukrainian-fenn

August 20, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment