Takedown Report

New Teams for 2023-2024 TDR #31-1

More wrestlers.  That is our desire.
Wrestling can be an effective life-changing practice for not only the student-athletes and also the fans. Wrestling can boost school spirit and be a positive force for the campus at large. The strong growth in the number of colleges and universities that are adding wrestling in recent years is encouraging. We pass along the news of new teams as an encouragement to others to join in on the high school and post-secondary levels.
For the 2023-2024 season colleges and universities have announced at least 45 new teams. Over 30 women’s teams will enter competition this fall for the first time. A few schools will stop having wrestling such as Iowa Wesleyan, which closed thus discontinuing both Men’s and Women’s teams. Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia closed this fall due to financial difficulties. They had restarted their program ten years back after an over a 30 year absence. Limestone University in South Carolina also dropped their women’s team.
Several schools are making the bold step of adding both Men’s and Women’s teams. They are Blackburn College in Illinois, College of the Redwoods in California, Evergreen State College in Washington, Frostburg State in Maryland, Illinois Wesleyan University, Sioux Falls University in South Dakota, Southeast Community College in Nebraska, Utica University in New York and William Woods University in Missouri. Many other schools with a Men’s program will be adding a Women’s team to their athletic departments.
New Women’s Teams will be started at ; Adams State University in Colorado (Division II), Allen University in South Carolina (D-II), Alma College in Michigan (D-III), Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio (D-III), Buena Vista University in Iowa (D-III), Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania (D-III), Centenary College in New Jersey (D-III), Central College in Iowa (D-III), Cornell College in Iowa (D-III), Dickinson State in North Dakota (NAIA), Dubuque University in Iowa (D-III), Grand Valley State in Michigan (D-II), Iowa Lakes Community College (JuCo), University of Iowa (D-I), John Carroll University in Ohio (D-III), Joliet Junior College in Illinois (JuCo), Loras College in Iowa (D-III), Marymount University in Virginia (D-III), Morningside University in Iowa (NAIA), Northland Community & Technical College in Minnesota (JuCo), Southern Virginia University (D-III), SUNY-Alfred State (D-III), and Westcliff University in California (NAIA). D’Youville University in New York (D-II) will become one of a handful of schools that will have a Women’s team but not a Men’s team! We look forward to when they will add that opportunity for wrestlers.
While a majority of new teams are for Women there are some other schools adding or restarting a Men’s Wrestling team. They include Arkansas Community College at Rich Mountain (JuCo), University of Montevallo in Alabama (D-II), Morgan State University in Maryland (D-I), and Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania (D-III). A majority of the new teams are at NCAA Division III schools that see the benefits of adding sports teams that increase the enrollment of motivated students. Wrestling opportunities are also steadily increasing in Division II and NAIA schools. The increase in Division I schools has been lagging in pace compared to the other divisions. This can not be simply explained away by Title IX or limited budgets or other excuses. The decision is made by athletic directors and administrators who choose to pour more money into ravenous football budgets. Yes, we are biased in favor of wrestling teams and can be cynical in our lack of empathy and understanding for schools who can afford to provide wrestling yet refuse to do so. We hope that more schools will see the wisdom in expanding their sports offerings. This listing could be missing other new programs, and if so, we welcome news about these other new teams.

November 2, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Elor wins eighth World gold as U.S. Women’s freestyle places fourth, Perez in Greco-Roman repechage

BY SAVANNAH ASMANN, USA WRESTLING
The United States women’s freestyle team finished the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania, in fourth place Friday night. Greco-Roman action kicked off and it was gold for Amit Elor.
Elor earned her eighth World gold medal with her win in the finals. She dominated the 72 kg bracket, picking up wins from two pins, a decision and a technical fall in the finals. Elor faced UWW’s Jyoti Berwal in the gold medal match. She spun behind for a takedown, tied up the leg lace and turned her four. Elor spent just 21 seconds on the mat and wins her second-consecutive U23 World Championship gold medal. She has won U20, U23 and Senior World titles for the second straight year.
In her repechage match at 57 kg, Xochitl Mota-Pettis faced off against Alina Filipovich (Ukraine) and advanced to the bronze medal match with a pin in 1:38. Mota-Pettis faced Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) for bronze, falling in a close 4-3 decision to place fifth.
Macey Kilty wrestled in the bronze medal match, taking on Monika Monika (UWW). In the match, Monika led Kilty three points to none heading into the break. Kilty scored a takedown on the edge to close the gap, then led 4-3 after she got a low single. Monika got a takedown with 28 seconds left to lead 5-4 over Kilty. She placed fifth at 65 kg.
Greco-Roman action began on Friday morning, with five weights contested. The United States had Phillip Moomey (60 kg), Robert Perez III (67 kg), Justus Scott (72 kg) Tyler Eischens (82 kg) and Cade Lautt (97 kg) on the mat in the first group. Eischens picked up the win in his first match after getting his opponent Kelsi Nelaj (Albania) t his back and pinning him at 1:38. He moved on to the next round and defeated Branko Kovacevic (Serbia) in a 9-3 decision. In the quarterfinals, Eischens fell to Emad Abouelatta (Egypt) in a 11-0 technical fall. Abouelatta dropped his following match, eliminating Eischens from the tournament.
Cade Lautt (97 kg) earned his first round victory by pinning Venezuela’s Juan Diaz Blanco to head into the quarterfinals. He fell to Armenia’s Hayk Khloyan by 8-0 technical fall in a tough match. Khloyan lost in the semifinals, cutting Lautt’s tournament run short.
At 60 kg, Phillip Moomey had a tough first round match against Kazakhstan’s Aibek Sabyrbekov, as his opponent won by 9-0 technical fall. Justus Scott (72 kg) also had a gritty first round, falling to Spain’s Junior Benitez. Both athletes were eliminated from the tournament as their opponents did not advance to the finals. … rest of story at … Themat.com/news/2023/october/27/elor-wins-eighth-world-gold-as-u-s-women-s-freestyle-places-fourth

Related Stories ; U23 Worlds: Japan clinches team title; Ringaci wins gold
TIRANA, Albania (October 27) — Japan only sent nine wrestlers, with none of the seven world champions from last year returning, to the U23 World Championships. Yet, it clinched the Women’s Wrestling team title comfortably in Tirana on Friday.
With no entries received at 68kg in the domestic selection trials, Japan was forced to skip that weight in Tirana but the second-string team won five gold and one silver to finish at the top with 159 points. Ukraine finished second with 144 points while the United World Wrestling team was third with 132 points. Out of the five gold medals on offer on Friday, Japan won three with Mako OONO (JPN) winning at 53kg, Sara NATAMI (JPN) winning at 57kg and Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN) winning the 62kg gold medal. … story at … U23-worlds-japan-clinches-team-title-ringaci-wins-gold

Elor wins eighth world title, sets sights on Paris Olympics
TIRANA, Albania (October 27) — If you were logging in to watch Amit ELOR (USA) compete in the 72kg final of the U23 World Championships, most likely you missed the final. That’s because she was lightning fast in winning the bout in mere 21 seconds. And if you think that was quick, Elor finished her first bout in 16 seconds and the second in 18 seconds. Only her semifinal against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) was for six minutes. Out of the 24 minutes for four bouts, Elor spent only six minutes and 55 seconds on the mat to win the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on Friday.
ALSO READ: Despite nine wrestlers, Japan wins team title
At the age of 19, Amit Elor now holds an impressive record of eight world titles across different age groups, including two senior, two U23, three U20, and one U17 world gold.
While her remarkable stats speak about her dominance on the mat, Elor herself has kept no record of her international wins or scores. “Maybe I should go over,” she says. “We used to do it in high school. And ever since I got into international wrestling, I haven’t thought about it as much. But it would be really cool to look back and see how many matches they’ve had and how many wins and losses. I remember the competitions, but … story at … UWW.org/Elor-wins-eighth-world-title-sets-sights-paris-olympics

November 2, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Women’s wrestling on track for first NCAA championship in 2026

Oct. 26—Women’s college wrestling is on track to become the 91st NCAA championship, based on sports sponsorship and participation research released earlier this month.
Women’s wrestling was identified as one of six emerging sports along with acrobatics and tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt and triathlon.
The NCAA recognizes an emerging sport as a women’s sport that is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women, while helping that sport achieve championship status. Legislative bylaws require that emerging sports gain championship status within 10 years or show steady progress to remain on the list.
More than 40 schools sponsored women’s wrestling at the varsity level and met the sport’s minimum competition and participant requirements in the 2022-23 academic year. Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith said in 2021 that the school was “in talks” to add a women’s wrestling program.
Six other sports have earned NCAA championship status through the emerging sports program; rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015). The Committee on Women’s Athletics anticipates making a recommendation at its February meeting to sponsor legislation to add a national women’s college wrestling championship, the NCAA said in a news release. “If this recommendation is made, the projected timeline to add a women’s wrestling championship is for each division to sponsor a proposal for the 2024-25 legislative cycle and vote on the proposals before or during the 2025 NCAA Convention,” the release reads. “If adopted, the first women’s wrestling championship would be held in winter 2026.”
In the 2022-23 academic year, 51 teams reported sponsoring women’s wrestling, a 12-school uptick from the year prior. Division III accounted for 30 schools in the 2022-23 sponsorship data, followed by 19 in Division II and two in Division I.
“What women’s wrestling has accomplished in a short period of time is exceptional. They are a model practice on how to move the needle forward,” said Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women’s Athletics and executive associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Charlotte. “The CWA is excited that young women will have another championship sport to participate in at the collegiate level and while pursuing their education. I can’t wait to witness the sport’s first NCAA championship.”
Lee Roy Smith, executive director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, provided his comments about the sport now moving forward toward an official NCAA Championship.
“The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is encouraged for the pioneering impact women will experience with a NCAA Wrestling Championship of their own,” he said. “Such opportunities at the collegiate level are sure to spur additional growth in youth wrestling across the USA … rest of story at … Sports.yahoo.com/womens-wrestling-track-first-ncaa

November 2, 2023 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment