Takedown Report

Army veteran’s journey from ‘derelict’ to champion wrestler

Sally Roberts is an athlete, Army veteran and the founder of Wrestle Like A Girl. On this week’s episode of The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast, she delivers her message: “It’s OK to suffer, it’s OK to endure, it’s the lessons we learn from it.”
Roberts, the first in her family to graduate from high school, had a troubled childhood and found her salvation in wrestling. Admitting she got into wrestling because she was a “derelict,” who was committing break-ins and getting into fights, Roberts credits wrestling for changing her life and helping her to build a winning mindset. “Regardless of our limitations the only thing that holds us back is our mind,” says the three-time wrestling national champion and two-time world bronze medalist. “And it is up to us to determine, are we driving ourselves and are we going to drive that positive mindset narrative or is there going to be a different narrative that tells us we are unworthy, we are incapable, we are limited, we have a disability and it is going to hold us back? “I’ve seen time and time again that people who show up and hit life hard and get hit hard by life, nothing holds them back but their mind.”
After not making the 2008 Olympic team, she joined the Army, went into Special Operations and volunteered for deployment in Afghanistan. “My wrestling career really set me up for success in the military,” she said. “Foremost, it made me appreciate and find the joy in suffering. And depending on what you are doing in the military, there is a fair amount of suffering.”
Upon redeployment, she joined the world class athlete program. After concluding her military and athletic career she founded Wrestle Like a Girl, the national advocacy organization for girls and women in wrestling. Her mission-driven organization aims to empower girls and women using the sport of wrestling to become leaders in life. “Anyone can do hard things,” she says. “From my perspective, … more at … Legion.org/Army-veterans-journey-derelict-champion-wrestler

June 30, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

OSU Wrestling: Making an All-Time Lineup from the John Smith Era

It’s hard to imagine John Smith will never put together another lineup for Cowboy Wrestling.
Smith retired after leading Oklahoma State for 33 seasons. During his tenure, Smith coached 153 All-Americans, 33 individual NCAA champions and two Dan Hodge Trophy winners. Since those numbers will no longer be added to, I thought it was a perfect time to create an all-time lineup from the John Smith era.
Here’s how it worked: I filled out a lineup just like a coach would for a dual using 10 of the greatest wrestlers to compete under Smith. However, weight classes have fluctuated since Smith started his three-plus decade coaching career, so I used modern-day weight classes and used the weight that was closest to where that wrestler found the most success.
Below is the full lineup, followed by an explanation of why I chose who for each weight.
125: Eric Guerrero
133: Johnny Thompson
141: Dean Heil
149: Jordan Oliver
157: Pat Smith
165: Alex Dieringer
174: Chris Perry
184: Daniel Cormier
197: Jake Rosholt
285: Steve Mocco

125: Eric Guerrero

Guerrero would be the first to step on the mat for this lineup in a dual, and, boy, what a start. Speaking of duals, Guerrero has the fourth-most dual wins in OSU history with 69. Overall, he was 117–13 in his career as a four-time All-American. He placed fifth as a freshman before finishing his career with three NCAA titles in a row. Guerrero was dominant during that stint, too, with 74 bonus-point wins (10th-best all-time), 28 of which were technical falls (second-most all-time). In this theoretical dual, it’s almost a lock the Pokes would start this thing with more than three points.

133: Johnny Thompson

The recency bias urged me to put Daton Fix here, but at the end of the day, Thompson won a pair of NCAA titles while losing only once in the finals. Thompson was a four-time All-American, … more at … Pistolsfiringblog.com/osu-wrestling-making-an-all-time-lineup-from-the-john-smith-era

June 30, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment