Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News – Jan. 1st

Coaching Philosophy 101 With North Central Coach Joe Norton
North Central women’s coach Joe Norton outlines five coaching principles that are the foundation of his championship program
Joe Norton is the head women’s coach and assistant men’s coach at North Central – a Division III program located in Naperville, Illinois. The Cardinal women’s team made history last season by becoming the first D3 wrestling program to win a college national team championship against every NCAA division.  The North Central women’s program began during the 2019-20 season and had 15 All-Americans and three national champions at the 2023 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships.  Below are Joe Norton’s five core coaching principles that define North Central’s championship philosophy. 
Coaching 101: Joe Norton
Competitive Response
How we respond to adversity immediately after it strikes will determine the outcome of the situation. Giving up a takedown, getting on the scale and seeing a higher number than expected, getting a flat tire, failing a test, etc. Where does your mind go immediately after something bad happens? We preach having a competitive response to adversity, every time it strikes! Turn your mind immediately away from the bad thing that happened, and toward the solution!
Team First
Always put your team before yourself. Human nature is … story at … Flowrestling.org/Coaching-philosophy-101-with-north-central-coach-joe-norton

Women’s Weekly: NCAA Team Race Heats Up
The NCAA team race is heating up after a memorable US Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas
Olympic Trials spots were on the line at the recent US Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, with the top five advancing to State College, Pennsylvania, on April 19-20. It also offered clues about the upcoming college season. 
Iowa, King, McKendree, and North Central are locked in a tight four-team NCAA race entering the 2024 NWCA National Duals on January 5-6 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Below is a breakdown of each of the four teams, their potential best line-ups, and Olympic Trials qualifiers. 
Will The Hawkeyes Soar?
Iowa is 7-0 on the season including a 3-0 record at the Desert Duals where it didn’t send a full team. The Hawkeyes went 39-1 during the first four duals with only one win lasting a full six minutes.  Marlynne Deede reached the US National finals at 76 kg (167 pounds), which is 12 pounds heavier than her college weight. Emilie Gonzalez (101) and Ava Bayless (109) didn’t place at 50 kg (110 pounds), while Brianna Gonzalez (116) didn’t place at 53 kg. Brianna only fell to post-collegiate wrestlers while her twin sister was wrestling up nine pounds.  Nanea Estrella didn’t place, either — but she was injured during her consolation match against Lexie Basham, which was a rematch of the 2022 NAIA Championship finals. Basham won their college match, 3-2, but was behind against Estrella at US Nationals before the injury. … story at … Flowrestling.org/Coaching-philosophy-101-with-north-central-coach-joe-norton

This Bettendorf standout is now wrestling for the #1 team in the country
In high school, Ella Schmit broke barriers as often the only female wrestler in the room. In college, she’s got an entire team of women beside her.

Author: Shelby Kluver (WQAD)
IOWA CITY, Iowa — In high school, Ella Schmit was a breakout star for the Bettendorf Bulldogs Wrestling Team. Now in college, she’s found her place competing for the number one team in the country.  When she began her wrestling journey, Schmit often found herself wrestling against boys. At many tournaments, she would be the only woman competing.  It was a career of shattering records and glass ceilings. As a senior, she went 16-0 with 13 pins. Throughout high school, she held a career record of 70-18 against both boys and girls. 
Schmit also became a three-time state champion in girls wrestling. She previously won two state titles at 106 pounds in Class 3A, where she also qualified for the Iowa boys state tournament, becoming one of four girls in Iowa wrestling history to qualify. Now she finds herself on the University of Iowa’s inaugural women’s wrestling program. 
In fact, when Schmit announced her decision to wrestle for Iowa, she became the first in-state commit for the new program.  The Hawkeyes are currently ranked number one in the country with a perfect 7-0 record. Two of its members are gearing up for the Olympic trials. … story at … Wqad.com/Ella-schmit-female-wrestling-bettendorf-hawkeyes-iowa

Woodmore’s female wrestlers make history on the mat
BY SHERI TRUSTY
A group of Woodmore Middle School girls are not just breaking down barriers; they are blasting through them. At their first competition, two of the girls walked away as champions. The girls are among the first female wrestlers in Woodmore history, and they are paving the school’s new road with gold.
Hope Scherger, competing at 128 pounds, and Tinley Thieroff, competing at 86 pounds, both won their matches and earned the title of champion at the Bryan Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 10. Vida Hernandez, competing at 115 pounds, came in second, and Elana Reif, competing at 98 pounds, came in fourth. The team came to finish second among 20 teams at the invitational.
Scherger said Woodmore’s girls’ team opened the door for her to try wrestling. “I always wanted to do it, but I knew it would be hard with the boys,” she said. “I thought I’d probably be good.” She was right. At the Clyde Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 17, where 50 schools gathered to compete, Scherger came in second at 128 pounds. Hernandez placed third at 110 pounds, Thieroff placed fourth at 92 pounds, and Reif placed fourth at 98 pounds. The team placed 15th overall. Hernandez said she joined the team because she thought wrestling could build strength and confidence. She discovered she walked onto the mat with more natural skill than she expected. “I was better than I thought I’d be,” she said. What Hernandez didn’t expect was the role the mind plays in wrestling. … story at … Thebeacon.net/woodmores-female-wrestlers-make-history-on-the-mat

North Central scores five champs, second-straight women’s team title at Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
BY RICHARD IMMEL, USA WRESTLING
HOFMANN ESTATES, Ill. – The No. 2 ranked North Central College squad delivered its second-straight team title at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on the strength of five individual champions, nine finalists and 17 women placing in the top five of their weight classes. Three-time NCWWC national champion Yelena Makoyed led the way for the Cardinals with a masterful performance at 170 pounds. Makoyed, the inaugural recipient of the USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year award, went unscored upon, teching each opponent, on the way to her first Midlands title.
2023 U20 World bronze medalist and two-time NCWWC All-American Amani Jones posted a similar effort for North Central on her way to the 123-pound title. The Junior from Locust Grove, Ga., won two bouts by 10-0 scores before pinning unattached wrestler Carissa Qureshi at the 2:04 mark of the championship match. Also earning top prize for the defending NCWWC team champions were two-time All-Americans Sydney Petzinger at 116 pounds and Tiera Jimerson at 155 pounds, plus returning national runner-up Traeh Haynes at 191 pounds. One area of surprise for North Central came at 101 pounds … story at … Themat.com/North-central-scores-five-champs-second-straight-women-s-team-title-at-ken-kraft-midlands-championships

NCAA No. 1 Iowa women, with five champions, top NAIA No. 1 Life at Soldiers Salute
CORALVILLE, Iowa – NCAA No. 1 Iowa, led by five individual champions, defeated second place NAIA No. 1 Life by 29.5 points to win the Soldier Salute in women’s freestyle on Saturday. The Hawkeyes scored 223 points, with Life finishing with 193.5 points. Iowa extended their 10.5 point lead from Friday. Rounding out the top five were NAIA Indiana Tech with 92 points, NAIA Texas Wesleyan with 87.5 points and NJCAA Umpqua CC with 59.5 points.
Individual champions for the Hawkeyes were Sterling Dias (101), Ava Bayless (109), Brianna Gonzalez (116), Bella Mir (155) and Haley Ward (170). 
At 155 pounds, Iowa’s Bella Mir pinned NAIA No. 2 Latifah McBryde of Life in 2:05. Mir was named Outstanding Wrestler, with six wins including four pins and one technical fall. Iowa wrestlers who also won their finals by fall were Dias and Gonzalez. Ward scored a technical fall in the finals, and Bayless won by injury default. … story at … Themat.com/NCAA-no-1-iowa-women-with-five-champions-top-naia-no-1-life-at-soldiers-salute

Desert Vista, Sunnyside girls win appeals with AIA to compete against boys in wrestling
On Monday, she won a battle with the Arizona Interscholastic Association.
On Tuesday, Phoenix Desert Vista High School sophomore Everest Leydecker pinned her male opponent within a minute of her first 120-pound division match of the season.
It was a victory on and off the mat not only for Leydecker, but for Tucson Sunnyside senior Audrey Jimenez, who also petitioned the AIA and is now allowed to compete against boys this wrestling season at 106 pounds.
A year after girls wrestling became an “emerging” sport under the AIA umbrella, the association sanctioned it as a team sport in spring of 2020 competing in the winter, the same time as the boys compete, due to an increasing amount of girls wanting to wrestle. But for Leydecker and Jimenez, who are among the best female wrestlers in their respective age and weight groups in the world, they weren’t being challenged at the Arizona high school level against other girls. It wasn’t easy to clear a path after last spring the AIA changed a bylaw that wouldn’t allow girls who are at schools with girls wrestling teams to compete on the boys teams.
Former North High wrestling champion Nick Kehagias, who helps young wrestlers and wrote the book “Wrestling With The Truth” with his high school coach, wrote a letter last spring to the AIA suggesting it allow for petitions if a female athlete had the desire to compete with boys. During her freshman year last season, Leydecker was wrestling against boys in dual meets, but her wins weren’t being counted by the AIA, said Shelly Leydecker, Everest’s mom “Everest won every dual meet last year but it counted as a loss for us,” Shelly said. “We started the fight in March and finally got the decision in December. So it’s been many months.” … story at … AZcentral.com/Arizona-female-wrestlers-win-appeals-to-compete-against-boys

January 4, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized