MAROULIS EARNS SPOT ON 11TH SENIOR WORLD TEAM WITH VICTORY AT FINAL X SPECIAL WRESTLE-OFF AT 57 KG
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Helen Maroulis has claimed the 57 kg spot on the 2023 Senior World Team, defeating Xochitl Mota-Pettis two matches to none in a Final X Special Wrestle-off best-of-three series.
In the first match of the series, Maroulis gained a 2-0 advantage in the first period, scoring a takedown in a tough scramble. The second period saw Maroulis go behind Mota-Pettis for two and adding a turn to lead 6-0. A big four-point move by Maroulis to put Mota-Pettis on her back ended the match by 10-0 technical fall.
The second match saw Maroulis pick up a quick 4-0 lead by getting Mota-Pettis to her back just seconds into the match on the edge. Mota-Pettis responded with a takedown to cut the lead to 4-2. Another takedown by Maroulis put her up 6-2 before she was able to lock Mota-Pettis up for the win by fall.
Maroulis will compete at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, slated for September 16-24. This will be her 11th trip to the World Championships at the senior level. The other 29 berths on the Senior World Team were determined at Final X in June.
Maroulis is the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/August/12/Final-X-Special-Wrestle-off-at-57kg
Departures also lead to future coaching speculations
By Mike Finn Updated: August 17, 2023
Plenty of college wrestling news was made today from a pair of former Oklahoma State wrestling stars in Zack Esposito and Coleman Scott.
Esposito, a former three-time NCAA All-American and 2005 national champion who eventually became an associate head coach in Stillwater, Okla., first announced he was leaving OSU to become the new National Freestyle Developmental and Resident Head Coach for USA Wrestling in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Meanwhile, the University of North Carolina confirmed that Scott, the Tar Heels’ head coach since 2015, had resigned from that position. Scott, a four-time NCAA All-American and 2008 national champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, reportedly informed his team on Wednesday night he was leaving and the ACC school in Chapel Hill, N.C., had removed his name as head coach. UNC is also advertising the position on the human resources website Indeed.com.
WIN has been told by sources close to the OSU program that Scott is heading back to Stillwater to replace Esposito, but Oklahoma State could not confirm that. This also comes at a time that Oklahoma State head coach John Smith is preparing to begin his 34th season as the Cowboys mentor, who coached both Esposito and Scott.
Meanwhile, UNC assistant coach Tony Ramos confirmed he has been named as interim head coach.
“I’ve been told I am taking over and am in charge until they go through the process (of naming a successor to Scott),” Ramos told WIN Magazine today. … rest of story at … WIN-magazine.com/2023/08/17/departures-also-lead-to-future-coaching-speculations
UNC’s MCNEIL TO REPRESENT CANADA AT PAN AMERICAN GAMES
TORONTO, ONTARIO – Lachlan McNeil, a rising redshirt-sophomore on the North Carolina wrestling team, has been selected to represent Team Canada at the 2023 Pan American Games, Wrestling Canada Lutte and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Thursday morning.
McNeil earned the selection for the 2023 games based on his performance at the 2023 Canadian Wrestling Championships, which took place March 9-12 in Waterloo, Ontario. At the championships, McNeil won all four of his matches by technical fall, to claim the 65 KG title.
The 2023 Pan American Games will be the fifth time McNeil has represented Team Canada at the event, winning gold medals in 2016, 2017, and 2021, with a silver medal showing in 2018.
The announcement continues a busy few months for the Toronto, Ontario product, finishing fourth at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships at 141-pounds, collecting NWCA Scholar All-America and Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Team recognitions, competing at the Stepen Sargsyan Cup (Yerevuen, Armenia) and Polyak Imre & Vargas Janos (Budapest, Hungary), as well as winning the Grand Prix of Spain (Madrid, Spain) at 65 KG. … rest of story at … GOheels.com/news/2023/8/3/wrestling-mcneil-to-represent-canada-at-pan-american-games
Davidson’s Peake Spends Summer Preparing for International Competitions
Do you remember the summer after your freshman year of college? Maybe you traveled, maybe you worked, maybe you had an internship. Davidson’s Tanner Peake (157) has had a pretty unforgettable summer. After making Puerto Rico’s U20 national team at 74 kg in April, Peake hit the ground running, making preparations to compete at the Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile in July. The last time we spoke with Peake, he was wrapping up the Spring semester and getting training plans together with Head Coach Nate Carr Jr and Assistant Coach Ty Eustice, training through the newly-formed Charlotte RTC. As the semester came to a close, Tanner headed home to New Jersey to train at Rider and the NJRTC, to work with some of the same guys he grew up with.
While technique is an important aspect of wrestling, staying on track with strength and conditioning goals continues to elevate the craft. Pete Shebey, a coach of Peake’s since his sophomore/junior year of high school, has worked with Tanner this summer. Morning lifts came early at around five or six in the morning, consisting of strength training with movements and techniques focused on the development of more explosiveness and improved foot movement and speed. RTC practices varied – some days Peake would head to the NJRTC for 10:00am practices led by Reece Humphrey, while other days he would go to Rider’s 11:00am practices. Peake was able to train in a variety of environments this summer, ranging from more instruction and technique at the NJRTC, while Rider’s practices were mostly self-motivated. At the end of the day, Tanner made sure to top it off with some cardio – usually sprints.
Practicing in different rooms throughout the week was another way for Tanner to get to hang out with his best friend Mikey Wilson, who wrestles for Rider (174). When reflecting on the similarities in team culture and coaching styles, Peake says that “Coach Carr is very energetic, similar to Reece – he just has a lot of energy and you can tell they both love being in the room and coaching.” Preparations continued with the NCJ Camps hosted at Davidson – which included a week of training with the coaches and the team during these youth camps. … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/socon/peake-spends-summer-preparing-for-international-competitions
JAMES GREEN NAMED NEBRASKA WRESTLING ASSISTANT COACH
Former Nebraska wrestling legend James Green has been named a full-time assistant coach for the Husker wrestling program, head coach Mark Manning announced Thursday.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Green will join Manning, associate head coach Bryan Snyder and assistant coach Tervel Dlagnev ahead of the 2023-24 season.
“We’re extremely excited about James, Chandell, Glory and Aubrey being back in Lincoln,” Manning said. “The attitude, work ethic and commitment to excellence that James competed with both as a Husker and a six-time USA Wrestling World Team member gives our student-athletes a prime example of someone to imitate. His leadership as one of the world’s top competitors, coupled with his coaching experience provides our program with an amazing asset as we continue our march to the top. James’ passion and heart for Nebraska Wrestling will serve us well.”
This past June, Green announced he was coming out of retirement and will return to train at the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center (NWTC) after spending 14 months as USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Developmental Coach in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“I am extremely grateful and excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the Husker Wrestling staff,” Green said. “I have learned a lot in my short time with USA Wrestling and look forward to sharing my knowledge with the current and future Nebraska wrestlers. As an alum, I’ve always imagined giving back to the program that has given so much to me. I am really grateful for Coach Manning giving me this opportunity. Go Big Red!” … rest of story at … Huskers.com/news/2023/08/10/james-green-named-nebraska-wrestling-assistant-coach
Van Kley: Praise kids for being out for wrestling; it’s tough!
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Big Amen! on this. Wrestling is a tough challenge yet worth the effort. Encourage those that try. Encourage them to practice and to learn the dedication and effort needed. More schools need to sponsort the sport and more student will benefit from wrestling. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jordan Burroughs, the seven-time Olympic/World champion, has created a new wrestling club “All I See is Gold” in New Jersey, where he helps kids keep wrestling in a good healthy perspective.
This is one of the topics that WIN publisher Bryan Van Kley brought up in his column about how coaches need to develop a philosophy where young people learn this tough sport in a manner that will keep them in wrestling for many years.
Click below to read Bryan’s column, which appeared in WIN’s August issue. … rest of story at link at … Google.com/mail/u/0/?q=Kristopher+white#label/INBOX%2FaaResponseNeeded/
Recapping the NWCA Convention – OTM668
After four days at the NWCA Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Andy Hamilton is back with a report along with a handful of interviews. Some of the topics discussed in Florida were NIL, changing the season, a shift in the recruiting calendar as well as the growth of women’s wrestling. Some of the interviews we’ll break out in this episode are with Ohio State’s Tom Ryan, Iowa’s Clarissa Chun and NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. Join Kyle Klingman and Andy Hamilton as they talk about the world of wrestling on the flagship podcast of Trackwrestling.com from FloSports.
Show Segments
0:40 – Andy was glazed from all that time in Florida.
0:52 – Kyle’s Olympic Gold Medal rant.
7:25 – Sitting next to the “know it all”
8:41 – Kyle remembering the Missouri-Iowa dual in 2015.
13:13 – Andy’s Hot Topics from the NWCA Convention.
19:09 – The Sergeant Duffel from Cliff Keen.
20:00 – Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan. … rest of story at … Mattalkonline.com/podcast/trackwrestling/on-the-mat/recapping-the-nwca-convention
Trent Hidlay Talking Wrangle in the Wild III
NC State’s 4x All-American Trent Hidlay sits down with ACC correspondent Robbie Wendell to discuss Saturday’s Wrangle in the Wild III event. Trent talks about the origin of the event, between him and older brother Hayden, and runs down some of the participants. This year’s card features former DI national qualifiers, an All-American, a Final X participant along with other talented local products and youth wrestlers. After talking Wrangle, Trent and Robbie hit on all of the relevant current news surrounding the NC State program. … rest of story and video at … Intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/acc/trent-hidlay-talking-wrangle-in-the-wild
New NCAA rule changes don’t make sense or seem fair
By Tristan Warner
The new NCAA rule changes for the 2023-24 season leave me with a feeling of uneasiness that I feel obligated to explore further.
I know some of the opinions to follow may be unpopular with wrestling fans across the country, but perhaps these thoughts may generate some healthy dialogue.
For starters, at times, it feels like the committee is just searching for something to change, whether it be something trivial like the requirement for beard length, or something massive like applying a multiplier of 1.5x to the most fundamental aspect of scoring in the sport of wrestling.
I understand the effort to “grow the sport” and make it more appealing for fans is important. However, I also see how the reality of constantly changing the rules also confuses the casual wrestling fan or keeps a newcomer from ever really grasping the concepts and scoring principles.
Case in point, I know several people who, just by virtue of living in central Pennsylvania and being Penn State fans, have started to gravitate toward the sport and become more interested in it as Penn State’s program has risen to nearly unchartered prominence.
With each passing year, I find myself explaining the new rule changes to them, and I can’t help but to imagine if their confusion and misunderstanding is extrapolated to the general population in the same way.
After all, you don’t see touchdowns, home runs, goals and baskets changing in scoring value. Thus, newer fans of those sports can easily grasp the unwavering nature of the scoring.
I also have some observations about the actual rule changes, and here is where things may get controversial.
I am aware of my implicit bias as a Northeasterner and Pennsylvanian to the style wrestled in this part of the country. But, I can’t help but feel like the three-point takedown, five-count ankle stall and the near-fall required for a riding-time point rule that was proposed — even though it did not pass this time around — are catering to a specific style of wrestling.
And the problem with that, for me, is that the best thing about the sport is that every wrestler can take a different approach and tailor their own style while still striving to be the most well-rounded wrestler possible, which makes it even more exciting.
The rules should not promote or encourage one of the three aspects of the sport, while diminishing the others just for the sake of fan engagement.
The three-point takedown clearly emphasizes neutral wrestling and widens the gap tremendously between a takedown and an escape and it also widens the gap between a takedown and a reversal. … rest of story at … Win-magazine.com/2023/08/09/new-ncaa-rule-changes-dont-seem-balanced-and-fair
Realignment and Wrestling
Bloodround #430: Blessing your earholes with more realignment
In the dog days of summer, Tommy and I still bless your ear holes with some fun talks of conference realignment and how/where it affects wrestling. We also talk through some of the U17 results on the men’s and women’s side, and we talk through the upcoming Helen Maroulis v Xochitl Mota-Pettis match on August 12th. Rock On!
The views and opinions expressed on this show are those of the individual hosts and not the network or sponsors of the Mat Talk Podcast Network. That being said, they curse a lot, too. … rest of story at … Mattalkonline.com/podcast/bloodround/bloodround-430-blessing-your-earholes-with-more-realignment
Tackling Division I realignment from the wrestling perspective
A year ago, host Jason Bryant outlined one of the ways to renovate Division I wrestling with wholesale realignment. Much of that was dependent upon the NCAA Transformation Committee’s suggestions. That didn’t exactly put much to the sports other than its on them to figure it out.
So as the chess pieces of realignment moved (read: football) based on TV rights deals, Olympic sports are now being thrown around, byproducts of those conferences chasing the almighty dollar. Today’s show will look at the recent shifts in Division I and how wrestling can react and potentially take hold of these shifts to create an equitable, fair and marketable layout for wrestling. … rest of story at … Mattalkonline.com/short-time/tackling-division-i-realignment-from-the-wrestling-perspective
FRL 947 – What Conference Realignment Means For Wrestling
The 947th episode of FloWrestling Radio Live.
Spey joins the show to talk all things NCAA conference realignment.
Send in user submissions and questions to FRLsubmissions@flosports.tv!
(0:00) we’re still in our makeshift studio, so apologies for the sub par audio
(1:30) U17 Worlds performance
(5:21) conference realignement talk
(36:30) Street League … rest of story at … Flowrestling.org/frl-947-what-conference-realignment-means-for-wrestling
Zeke Jones’ Media Day Addresses ASU’s Move to Big 12
After the stunning announcement that Arizona State was moving to the Big 12, Sun Devil head wrestling coach Zeke Jones spoke to the media about the move and all of the different facets of the situation. Coach Jones also gives updates on the team leading up to the 2023-24 season.
Below are time stamps for each new topic Coach Jones addresses:
1:50 – Zeke Jones opening statement about leaving Pac-12, the history of the Pac-12 and joining Big 12
3:50 – Position for the move and preparing the wrestlers for the move to Big 12
5:15 – How it will affect recruiting and opening up new markets
7:40 – Concern about longevity of program in the Pac-12 since nearly losing the program in 2008 and does this move help keep the program alive
11:00 – Can the rest of the Pac-12 join the Big 12 and what it may look like
12:00 – Conversations with other Pac-12 schools and where Zeke would like to see them land … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/college/pac-12/zeke-jones-media-day-addresses-asus-move-to-big-12
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 