Takedown Report

West Carteret’s Kenley Riley earns All-American

All-American Kenley Riley!
Riley took 7th at the National High School Coaches Association’s Virginia Beach Nationals last weekend. Her record there was 6-2 and becomes the 4th West Carteret wrestler to achieve All-American status. Previous All-Americans are Roy Heverly ’84, Ty Roach ’04, Wood Mancuso ’14. Kenley is the first female wrestler to gain this honor.

April 11, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

College Conference Honors

2023-24 InterMat’s Year-End MAC Awards
The 2023-24 season is in the record books, but before moving on, it’s time to salute the top performers in each conference. Yesterday, we started with the Big 12 conference; now, onto the MAC. 
MAC Wrestler of the Year: Anthony Noto (Lock Haven)
This makes for the third consecutive year that Anthony Noto has been honored in our year-end awards. He was named the conference wrestler of the year in 2023, and in 2022, the freshman (newcomer) of the year. 
Noto came into the 2023-24 season ranked second in the preseason after a fourth-place finish in 2023. At two points during this year, Noto held the number one spot in the nation. A few weeks after competing in the All-Star Classic, Noto defeated the eventual ACC champion, Jakob Camacho (NC State), who was ranked #1 in the country, at the time. 
At the 2024 MAC Championships, Noto used a 13-5 major decision over Blake West to claim his third consecutive conference title. In doing so, Noto became the first Lock Haven wrestler to win three conference championships since 1997.  Despite dominating the MAC, Noto was given the 12th seed  … more at … Intermatwrestle.com/MAC/2023-24-intermats-year-end-mac-awards
And …

2023-24 InterMat’s Year-End Big Ten Awards
This season we saw a ton of parity. Outside of the Happy Valley dominance, we saw Iowa defeat Nebraska, Nebraska defeat Michigan, and Michigan defeat Iowa. Not to mention how 125-pound wrestlers basically all defeated each other and couldn’t hang on to the top ranking. But with all that, no team shined brighter than Penn State which is why they swept our B1G awards.
B1G Ten Wrestler of the Year: Aaron Brooks (PSU)
What a dominant year for Brooks who capped off his career with a fourth title, an undefeated record and a near 91% bonus rate. In addition to a flawless season that included 11 technical falls, six pins, and three major decisions, Brooks also had a 96.74%-win percentage with just three losses in five years – two of which he avenged during that same season.
But this season was by far his best as he increased his Bonus % by a little over 25%. His only wins that came by regular decision were against Iowa’s Zach Glazier during the dual meet – a win he then impressed up by recording a 19-3 tech fall over in the conference tournament and NC State’s Trent Hidlay in the NCAA finals. … more at … Intermatwrestle.com/BIG-10/2023-24-intermats-year-end-big-ten-awards
And …

2023-24 InterMat’s Year-End SoCon Awards
The 2023-24 season is in the record books, but before moving on, it’s time to salute the top performers in each conference. We’ve already hit on the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 , EIWA , MAC and Pac-12. Let’s finish up with the SoCon!
SoCon Wrestler of the Year: Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)
He got his hand raised 36 times throughout the 2023-24 season, but none was bigger for Taye Ghadiali than when it happened in the NCAA bloodround after a win over #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) the EiWA champion. In doing so, Ghadiali became just the second Campbell wrestler to earn NCAA All-American honors and the first under current head coach Scotti Sentes. Earlier in the tournament, Ghadiali earned wins over both ACC finalists. He would go on to finish eighth in the nation.  One of the highlights of the regular season for Ghadiali was a third-place finish at the loaded Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In six matches, Ghadiali notched wins over four eventual national qualifiers. 
Coming into Vegas, Ghadiali started the year 7-0 with bonus points in each of his seven contests – including three falls over eventual NCAA qualifiers.  In the SoCon, Ghadiali was head and shoulders above the competition. None of his regular season duals or conference tournament matches went the full seven minutes. That meant that Ghadiali made his fourth SoCon final and captured his third title with little resistance.  Ghadiali finished the season with a 36-6 record … more at … Intermatwrestle.com/SoCon/2023-24-intermats-year-end-socon-awards
And …

2023-24 InterMat’s Year-End ACC Awards
The 2023-24 season is in the record books, but before moving on, it’s time to salute the top performers in each conference. We’ve already hit on Big Ten, Big 12 , EIWA and MAC; so now we’re onto the ACC. 
ACC Wrestler of the Year: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech)
The Virginia Tech Hokies got their second-ever NCAA individual championship as Caleb Henson prevailed over the field at 149 lbs in Kansas City. After a controversial ACC finals loss, Henson was saddled with the fourth seed, though he spent a large chunk of the 2023-24 campaign ranked second in the country. That didn’t matter to Henson as he reeled off three straight wins to earn a place in the NCAA semifinals.
In the semifinals, Henson was able to keep the dangerous, top-seeded Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) in check and pulled the slight upset, 1-0. Henson’s mat wrestling made the difference, as he was able to escape and Lovett did not choose bottom. The two had met earlier in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals and Lovett prevailed, 4-3. With the win over Lovett, Henson had earned victories over both of the wrestlers who had defeated him this season (He had beaten ACC finals opponent Jackson Arrington in their dual meet). 
More importantly, the Lovett win ensured Henson a spot in the national finals, a feat only three wrestlers in Hokie history had accomplished before him. On the raised mat, Henson gave up an early takedown to the explosive Austin Gomez (Michigan) but never wavered. He kept his composure and put Gomez on his back in a sequence that blew open the finals contest. Henson poured it on to the tune of a 15-7 major decision.  Not only did Henson make history for his school, but also for his home state. His win made him the first Georgia native to ever win a DI national title. … more at … Intermatwrestle.com/ACC/2023-24-intermats-year-end-acc-awards
And …

Bostic Named Conference Carolinas Men’s Wrestling Scholar Athlete of the Year
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Graduate JaQuez Bostic (Columbia, S.C.) of the Limestone Univeristy men’s wrestling team has been named Conference Carolinas Winter Scholar-Athelete of the Year as announced by the conference on Wednesday, April 3.
Bostic put together a solid run on his way to third place after picking up a win in the second round over Mount Olive’s Colby Teague. After falling in the third round, Bostic came back strong in the elimination bracket, taking a 2-1 decision over Dickey from UNC Pembroke. In the third-place bout, Bostic battled out a 4-2 decision over Kyler Pickard of Belmont Abbey.
The Scholar-Athlete awards Presented by Hudl are awarded annually to one individual in each Conference Carolinas sponsored sport. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners are chosen by the Conference Carolinas Student-Athlete Affairs and Awards Committee. To be considered, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 or higher. … more at … GOlimestonesaints.com/Bostic-named-conference-carolinas-mens-wrestling-scholar-athlete-of-the-year

April 11, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

At least eight Buffalo wrestlers enter transfer portal following head coach’s sudden exit

The list of transfers includes Nick Stampoulos and Sam Mitchell, who wrestled at the NCAA Championships
At least eight UB wrestlers have announced that they’ve entered the transfer portal in the five days since UB Athletics announced that wrestling head coach John Stutzman would not be returning for the 2024-25 season. 
The list of transfers includes Nick Stampoulos and Sam Mitchell, who competed at the NCAA championships. Mitchell advanced to the second round, according to NCAA results.  “Coach Stutz I will never forget all you have done for me. Hard work is not appreciated anymore, they will never understand the passion we have for the sport,” Stampoulos said in an Instagram post announcing his entrance into the transfer portal. “I am beyond grateful for all the opportunity to compete this year.”
At least three freshmen — Max Elton, Sam Ewing and Zach Evans — also announced they would be entering the portal. … more at … UBspectrum.com/Wrestlers-transfer-portal-john-stutzman

April 11, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment