Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

Penn State Wrestling Announces 2023-24 Schedule

Seven Home Duals, Monday Night Wrestling in the BJC and the NWCA All-Star Classic in Happy Valley

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.  – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of veteran head coach Cael Sanderson, has announced its 2023-24 schedule. The Nittany Lions will host seven home duals this season, one in the Bryce Jordan Center, and will also serve as the hosts of the 2023 NWCA All-Star event, an exhibition event in Rec Hall. Times for the Big Ten portion of the schedule will be announced soon when the Big Ten Network announces its full wrestling broadcast slate.
Penn State’s official season begins on Sunday, Nov. 12, when the team takes part in the individual round-robin portion of the Journeymen Collegiate Classic in Bethlehem, Pa. The event takes place at Freedom High School and begins at 9 a.m. The next weekend, Penn State travels to West Point, N.Y., for the Army Black Knight Invite, a bracketed individual tournament hosted by Army West Point on Sunday, Nov. 19.
On Tuesday, Nov. 21, Penn State’s Rec Hall will be the site of the 2023 National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, an exhibition event that does not count towards any wrestler’s official NCAA record. The matchups for the event will soon be announced in full by the exhibition’s organizer, FloWrestling. While Penn State is serving as the host of the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic, the event is not part of Penn State’s season ticket package. A number of Nittany Lions are under consideration for the event and information on ticketing will be forthcoming. The event will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The Nittany Lions compete in their first official dual meet on Sunday, Dec. 3, when they welcome Lehigh to Rec Hall at 2 p.m. Penn State then hosts Hofstra in Rec Hall on Sunday, Dec. 10, also at 1 p.m. Following the Hofstra dual, Penn State will not compete in an official NCAA event until January, but many Nittany Lions will look to take part in the 2023 U.S. Senior National Championships on Dec. 15-17 in Fort Worth, Texas. This year’s Senior Nationals replace the U.S. Open in the 2024 Olympic qualification cycle and the tournament is an opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Trials, also hosted by Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center in April of 2024. … rest of story at … GOpsusports.com/news/2023/10/2/penn-state-wrestling-announces-2023-24-schedule

October 4, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2023-24 Big Ten Wrestling Schedule Announced

Conference duals begin January 12 and culminate with Big Ten Championships March 9-10

2023-24 BIG TEN WRESTLING SCHEDULE

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced the dates and opponents for the 2023-24 wrestling season Monday. The schedule features eight conference duals for each of the 14 Big Ten programs and concludes with the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held over the second weekend in March at Maryland.

All 14 teams will open Big Ten action Jan. 12-21. On opening night, Jan. 12, Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers will play host to Michigan, Iowa and Indiana, respectively. The final regular-season dual will take place on Sunday, Feb. 18, with Indiana traveling to Northwestern, Iowa hosting Wisconsin and Nebraska visiting reigning Big Ten Champion Penn State.

The 110th Big Ten Wrestling Championships will be held March 9-10, 2024, at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md., with Maryland playing host to the event for the first time. All 14 conference schools will participate in the championships, which begins Saturday, March 9, with the first-round, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches taking place during Sessions I and II. Action continues Sunday, March 10, with consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches getting underway during Session III and the first-, third- and fifth-place matches highlighting Session IV. … rest of story at … Bigten.org/news/2023/10/2/general-2023-24-big-ten-wrestling-schedule-announced

October 4, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Seven Reactions from the 2023-24 Big Ten Schedule Release

Earlier this afternoon, the Big Ten announced its conference dual schedule for the 2023-24 season. The Big Ten is typically the last conference to release schedules as they typically have to work around many of the same venues for basketball and because of broadcast plans. The B1G Wrestling Twitter (X?) account did a good job with a handy graphic that can serve as a master schedule. 

After a glance or two at the master schedule and perusing some of the Big Ten schedules that have been posted here are seven immediate reactions. 

Shane Griffith versus Carter Starocci – January 19th in Ann Arbor

The Big Ten added a past national champion as Shane Griffith joined the Michigan team as a graduate transfer. Griffith is expected to move up from his customary 165 lb weight class to compete at 174 for the Wolverines. A new face at a new weight makes for some interesting potential matchups. First and foremost is against three-time national champion Carter Starocci of Penn State. The two are slated to battle in the second week of the conference schedule on a Friday night. It’s possible that two could scrap at the conference tournament and nationals too. Another key bout for Griffith in his new conference would be a week later against All-American Carson Kharchla (Ohio State). The two wrestled at the 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and Griffith prevailed, 5-4. … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/big-10/seven-reactions-from-the-2023-24-big-ten-schedule-release

October 4, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Morgan State University wrestling team returns after 25 years

The university reinstates its program and becomes the only Division I HBCU wrestling team in America.
Morgan State University has revived its wrestling program after a 25-year-long hiatus.

HBCU Wrestling donated $2.7 million to Morgan for the purpose of reinstating its men’s wrestling program. This enabled the university to hire Kenny Monday, who won an Olympic Gold medal in 1988, a silver medal in 1992, was a distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and long–time supporter of HBCU wrestling, as the head coach of Morgan’s newly reformed wrestling team. 

“My mindset is what I’ve always had: I’m a winner, I have big goals, and that’s what I expect,” Monday said.

Monday said he has high expectations for the team and pushes them to be their best by making the team members practice in both comfortable and uncomfortable situations. He believes this will prepare them for the meets to come.

Jacob Marsh, graduate student majoring in finance and Princeton University transfer,  recalled a time he asked Monday what they were doing in practice that day. “He said, ‘you’re running five miles.’ I said I ain’t never ran five miles,” said Marsh. “He said, ‘and you’ve never been a national champion.’ ”

Morgan originally disbanded its wrestling program due to lack of funding in its ‘96-’97 season. HBCUs across the nation cut wrestling programs from the late 80s to early 2000s because the programs were seen as, “expensive and difficult to maintain.” According to hbcuwrestling.org, Delaware State was the last HBCU to have a wrestling program, and dropped it in 2009 due to lack of funding. 

The school’s newly reinstated wrestling team is the only HBCU Division I wrestling program and only one of its kind in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). 

“Being from Baltimore, understanding your city and seeing what’s being done to it – like bringing the wrestling community back and bringing the sport back to the school – it just seems right. Everything feels right.” said Ky-El Ali, freshman physical education major. 
Monday chose to accept Morgan’s offer following an initial call from the school. He and several members of his family had attended and graduated from HBCUs, which led him to consider and accept the position. … rest of story at … MSUspokesman.com/15219/sports/morgan-state-university-wrestling-team-returns-after-25-years

October 4, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment