Takedown Report

Wrestling superstars need more than Olympics to carry the sport

By Kyle Klingman

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials are over, leaving hundreds of wrestlers to shelve their dreams for another four years. And only 15 of 18 wrestlers became Paris Olympians after a last-chance Olympic qualifier in May.

“Not many finish on top,” said 2000 Canadian Olympian and Simon Fraser coach Justin Abdou. “I was down there with one of my wrestlers. Seeing all these grown men cry reminded me how real and tough our sport is.”

This column appeared in the May 8 issue of WIN Magazine. Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

Although many casually mention their desire to make an Olympic team in interviews, the process is beyond comprehension. Imagine selecting an All-NBA team, an All-NFL team, or an All-MLB team once every four years, but the number shrinks by 40 percent.

The United States gets a maximum of six spots in three disciplines (men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman) once every four years in the only event that matters to the general public.

“The Olympic Games is a two-week time frame where you have swimming, track & field, and wrestling, and all these sports are there and you watch it every night. And it’s once every four years,” Iowa coach and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Tom Brands said. “You can say what you want but the Worlds are just as important. It’s probably tougher to win a World title and it’s just as exciting.

“It’s more about the public perception. There’s only one reason I watch Michael Phelps. I’ve never seen Michael Phelps swim in a World Championship. I don’t even know his credentials. I could guess he’s probably a World champion in something. I know he won 23 Olympic gold medals because it was on primetime television and that’s how wrestling is.”

That’s the allure. A fringe sport with a loyal fan base gets momentarily lifted into a worldwide spotlight. … more at … WIN-magazine.com/Superstars-need-more-than-olympics-to-carry-the-sport

May 15, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2023 USA Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Awards: Vito Arujau (Wrestler), Jake Varner (Coach)

USA Wrestling announced its 2023 Athlete and Coach of the Year award winners during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at Penn State, April 19-20. We have posted the winners of these awards this week, one day for each Olympic discipline. Greco-Roman awards were announced Wednesday, women’s freestyle on Thursday and men’s freestyle today.

Vito Arujau named 2022 John Smith Award winner, as USA Wrestling’s Men’s Freestyle Wrestler of the Year

Vito Arujau (Syosset, N.Y., Titan Mercury WC/Spartan Combat WC) has been named the winner of the 2023 John Smith Award as the Freestyle Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that he has won this prestigious award.

The award is named in honor of two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion John Smith.

Competing in his first Senior World Championships, Arujau won the World gold medal at 61 kg in Belgrade, Serbia in September. He opened with technical falls over Ossimzhan Dastanbek of Kazakhstan and Stilyan Iliev of Bulgaria. In the quarterfinals, he stopped Kodei Ogawa of Japan, 8-2. His semifinal victory was another technical fall over Tairybek Zhumashbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan. In the gold medal finals, Arujau defeated 2021 World champion Abasgadzhi Magomedov, an Individual Neutral Athlete from Russia, 10-9.

He also won a bronze medal at the Imre Polyak & Janos Varga Memorial in Budapest, Hungary in July. He lost his

opening match to 2022 World champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania, then wrestled back to win a bronze medal.

Arujau qualified for the Senior World Team with his victory in 2023 Final X in Newark, N.J. in June, defeating Nahshon Garrett in two straight matches, 6-5 in bout one and 13-10 in bout two. … more at … Themat.com/USA-wrestling-men-s-freestyle-awards-vito-arujau-wrestler-jake-varner-coach

May 15, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment