NCAA Division II News (2021) – # 8
TDR Editor’s Notes ; The following articles are presented for Division II teams across the country from this summer. The Division II schools were able to adjust their season schedules, move the national championships to another city on short notice and complete the championships in good order. We expect the Division to be even bigger and stronger in a longer more complete season of wrestling competition in 2021-2022. Keep on Wrestling! Contact us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2963 (8/17/21)
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1 } – Millersville wrestling’s Jonathan Parrilla to represent Puerto Rico at Pan-American Championships
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Millersville University wrestling’s Jonathan Parrilla has earned the right to represent his home country of Puerto Rico in the upcoming Pan-American Wrestling Championships. The event is set for May 27-30 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Parrilla qualified for the team in the 70kg weight class. More than 100 athletes from 11 different countries are set to compete at the event. “It’s exciting to see a Millersville student-athlete take an opportunity to represent his homeland in such a prestigious event,” said Millersville head coach Kerry Regner. “We are proud of Jonathan and all his efforts. We know he will not just represent Puerto Rico proudly but also Millersville.” Parrilla first came to Millersville in 2018-19, but an injury cost him a season where he was set to compete at 149 pounds. He spent the last year attending U.S. Army basic training, and returns to Millersville with a commitment to the U.S. Army Reserve. Parrilla will be on the 2021-22 Millersville roster. … rest of story at https://millersvilleathletics.com/news/2021/5/19/wrestling-millersville-wrestlings-jonathan-parrilla-to-represent-puerto-rico-at-pan-am-championships.aspx?mc_cid=e6c3ba1225&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Millersville wrestling announces 11 additions to 2021-22 roster
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – A year away from the mats did nothing to slow the recruiting progress of the Millersville University wrestling program directed by Coach Kerry Regner. Regner and assistant coach Ryan Whittle landed a haul of 11 incoming athletes who will compete for spots in the lineup in 2021-22 season. While the 2020-21 competition season was canceled because of COVID-19, Millersville wrestling joined its fellow Marauder teams in continuing team practices and workouts. Regner’s Marauders now expect to return 22 wrestlers who are all a year older, stronger and more experienced, and there is not a single senior-eligible wrestler in the group. In an effort to ramp up competition in the wrestling room, Regner filled his young roster with 11 signees from eight of the 10 weight classes. … rest of story at https://millersvilleathletics.com/news/2021/6/15/wrestling-millersville-wrestling-announces-11-additions-to-2021-22-roster.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – Men’s wrestling program signs 13 in latest class
CHADRON, Neb. – June 17, 2021 – Chadron State College head men’s wrestling coach Brett Hunter announced on Thursday the program’s signing class for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
The Eagles will welcome 13 new wrestlers into the fold, including 10 incoming freshmen and three transfers.
Four are originally from in-state, three from Wyoming, and one each hail from California, Colorado, Iowa, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Between them all, they hold 17 state championships, 38 state placings, and six All-American titles.
The new recruits from Nebraska are Darian Diaz and Skyler Geier-Dodson of North Platte, Hunter Gilmore of Arlington, and Kobe Lyons of York. Three of four are state finalists, with Diaz and Lyons having won it all in Classes A and B, respectively. Diaz will project as a 133-pounder, while the other three will wrestle in the middle weight classes.
… rest of story at https://chadroneagles.com/news/2021/6/17/mens-wrestling-mens-wrestling-program-signs-13-in-latest-class.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – {St. Cloud} Wrestling recruit class grows to 12
St. Cloud, Minn. – St. Cloud State University head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo announced the addition of three more student-athletes to their strong 2021 recruiting class. Alyeus Craig (Wichita, Kan.) and Gabriel Rangel (Bettendorf, Iowa) have signed a National Letters of Intent with the Huskies while Sebastian Zamorano (St. Paul, Minn.) has signed an Acceptance of Admission letter. Along with Craig, Rangel and Zamorano – nine additional stand-outs have announced their intentions to continue their education at SCSU in the fall: Mac Copeland (Bennett, Colo.), Augustus Donovan (Richland Center, Wis.), Anthony Herrera (Stansbury Park, Utah), Isaac Grams (Bloomington, Minn.), Nate Rocheleau (Gering, Neb.), Nicholas Lopez (Huntley, Ill.), Paul Ruff (Gering, Neb.), Tyson Meyer (Glenwood, Minn.) and Nicholas Novak (New Prague, Minn.). All have signed with Huskies wrestling earlier this past year. … rest of story at https://scsuhuskies.com/news/2021/6/16/wres-recruit-class-grows-to-twelve.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Wrestling announces 2021-22 schedule
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University wrestling team’s quest for a fourth consecutive national title begins in October. After a whirlwind 2020-21 season that ended in a national championship, the Huskies are ready to begin their title defense, as they announced their 2021-22 regular season schedule Tuesday afternoon. St. Cloud State’s schedule will look more traditional in 2021-22 after completing a conference-only schedule in 2021. As in past years, the Huskies will compete in several tournaments during the 2021-22 regular season, including the Finn Grinaker Open at MSU-Moorhead on Saturday, November 6. St. Cloud State will also compete in the Dakota Wesleyan Open, Carolina Clash Duals and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division II National Duals in the first half of the regular season. … rest of story at https://scsuhuskies.com/news/2021/7/20/wrestling-announces-2021-22-schedule.aspx?mc_cid=42d5eec6a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – Wrestling Alumnus and National Champion Noel Torres Continues His Pursuit of the Olympics
WICHITA, Kan. – Newman Wrestling Alumnus and 2018 Division II National Champion, Noel Torres continues his pursuit of qualifying for the summer Olympics competing for Mexico in international competition. Torres had his first run at qualification shut down last spring due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Due to the unfortunate events, he had just one opportunity to qualify for the 2021 Olympic Games this time around. That opportunity could come early on in May. Noel has only been training for freestyle wrestling for the last two years and has had limited competition opportunities during those two years. In his first international competition in early May, Torres had his chance to qualify for the upcoming Olympics as he competed in the World OG Qualifier in Bulgaria. He came up short at his qualifying match in Bulgaria where only the first and second place finishers qualify for the Olympics.
… rest of story at https://newmanjets.com/news/2021/6/4/wrestling-alumnus-and-national-champion-noel-torres-continues-his-pursuit-of-the-olympics.aspx?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Kameron Frame Named College Male Athlete of the Year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission
WICHITA, Kan. – Newman Wrestler Kameron Frame named College Male Athlete of the Year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. This past season, Frame qualified for his third straight NCAA DII National Tournament appearance. He would go 1-2 at nationals, finishing the season with a 12-5 record. He tallied 6 falls, 4 tech falls, a major decision and a decision. Frame earned the MIAA Scholar-Athlete Award, was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and was an All-MIAA 2nd team selection. … rest of story at https://newmanjets.com/news/2021/7/6/wrestling-kameron-frame-named-college-male-athlete-of-the-year-by-the-greater-wichita-area-sports-commission.aspx?mc_cid=9b69983a38&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – Tyler Lawley to Wrestle for UCO Next Season
UCO will be adding an NCAA D2 tournament qualifier to their roster for next season. Tyler Lawley, who wrestled for Newman University in Wichita, graduated with his bachelors in criminal justice in May, but is finishing up two summer classes and will be starting a graduate program at UCO in the fall. Lawley went 36-6 in the 2019-2020 season at 133 and finished third place at his regional which qualified him for the NCAA tournament. In 2020-21 he went 8-5 at 141 in the COVID shortened season, but will be returning to 133 for his final season at UCO. This will be a very competitive weight class in the room for the Bronchos as it will include NCAA tournament third place finisher Tanner Cole along with young standout TJ Long who was the starter for most of the season at 133. … rest of story at https://owrestle.com/tyler-lawley-to-wrestle-for-uco-next-season/
6 } – Roufs Endowment Created
Mankato, Minn. — Minnesota State University, Mankato’s College of Business and the Minnesota State University Baseball and Wrestling Programs, in partnership with the Roufs family and his many friends, is creating an endowed annual scholarship honoring the life and work of Fred Roufs. This scholarship is an investment in future business leaders and will provide support for a Minnesota State baseball player and wrestler. This scholarship is in support of Fred’s unique and special approach to business while supporting the love and passion he had for baseball and wrestling. Fred started his professional business career as a financial planner with IDS/Ameriprise. From there he transitioned to an executive role as a Divisional Vice President. During that time he was a mentor to many young men and women who were just starting their careers in the business world. His leadership could be attributed to the success that many of these young advisors achieved. Fred’s true passion was on the baseball field and the wrestling mats. This passion led Fred to be inducted into the Minnesota State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, the LeSueur Wrestling Hall of Fame 2010, the Marshall Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. In addition to serving on Minnesota Amateur Baseball Association for 26 years, he became president in 2020. In 2021 he was selected for the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. … rest of story at https://msumavericks.com/news/2021/5/19/general-roufs-endowment-created.aspx?mc_cid=3a3b8bc793&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – Hilltoppers’ Irwin is MEC Coach of the Year
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – West Liberty University head wrestling coach Danny Irwin has been honored as the 2021 Mountain East Conference Men’s Sports Coach of the Year.
The MEC Coach of the Year is selected by a vote of institutional administrators and the league office. Irwin becomes the first West Liberty coach and the first wrestling coach to receive the prestigious conference honor. This represents the latest achievement in a season of “firsts” for the Hilltopper head man and the tradition-laden West Liberty mat program. Irwin’s wrestlers were unbeaten in dual meets during the 2021 season and dominated the MEC Tournament, running away to the school’s first conference championship with 9 of the 10 Hilltopper starters earning All-MEC honors. West Liberty followed up that conference title by winning the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 Tournament at Tiffin (Ohio) University. Irwin was voted Super Region 3 Coach of the Year after leading WLU to its first NCAA Regional championship and qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Nationals. Irwin and his Hilltoppers came up big on wrestling’s biggest stage in St. Louis. The Black and Gold returned to the hilltop with a fourth-place trophy, four NCAA Division II All-Americans and a pair of national champions in Cole Laya (125 pounds) and Tyler Warner (133 pounds). … rest of story at https://hilltoppersports.com/news/2021/6/23/wrestling-hilltoppers-irwin-is-mec-coach-of-the-year.aspx?mc_cid=43f68cbfb0&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – Mines Wrestling Adds Seven To Recruiting Class
GOLDEN, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines wrestling head coach Austin DeVoe continues to build his program with the addition of seven recruits to join the team in fall 2021.
Mines welcomes Ryan Cody (Longwood, Fla./The Master’s Academy), Carson Dulitz (Shawnee, Kan./Mill Valley HS), Charlie Holub (Dallas, Texas/Bishop Lynch HS), Avery Krippner (Cumming, Ga./Forsyth Central HS), Kagen Lawrence (Redmond, Ore./Redmond HS), Niko Mayo (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage HS), and Jackson Showalter (Cheney, Wash./Cheney HS). The seven join early-period signings Davion Chavez, Grayston DiBlasi, and Cody Thompson to make up DeVoe’s 10-man class.
RYAN CODY // 197 pounds // Longwood, Fla. // The Master’s Academy
HIGH SCHOOL: Two-time Florida state placer for The Master’s Academy … Compiled a 181-44 high school record including 43-3 with 33 pins as a senior on the way to a state runner-up finish at 195 pounds … Was also third as a sophomore … FAWA freestyle and Greco state champion … USMNC Greco national finalist … Also wrestled with the Seminole County Wrestling Club … National Honor Society member … Interested in majoring in chemical engineering. … rest of story at https://minesathletics.com/news/2021/6/24/mines-wrestling-adds-seven-to-recruiting-class.aspx?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – Jewell men’s wrestling inks first signing class in nearly 3 decades
LIBERTY — William Jewell head wrestling coach Keenan Hagerty announced the signing of the first men’s wrestlers in 28 years and the first signing class of his career. The men’s wrestling program was officially reinstated on June 1, 2020, after being discontinued in 1993. “I am excited to recognize the first group of men’s wrestlers on our campus since 1993. We have a great group of student-athletes coming in this fall, who are ready to rebuild and create new traditions,” Hagerty said. “This group of young men have embraced the challenge of walking onto a new campus in the fall as the leaders into Jewell’s history of a renewed and reenergized NCAA Division II wrestling program. We are thrilled to get to work and began the journey.” The 16 student-athletes who will join the Jewell community in the fall hail from four states and combine to total 36 state qualifiers and 23 state medal winners, including three state champions, while averaging a GPA of better than 3.4. … rest of story at https://www.mycouriertribune.com/sports/wrestling/jewell-mens-wrestling-inks-first-signing-class-in-nearly-3-decades/article_81e7599a-db34-11eb-96e6-cb5771da9553.html?mc_cid=cbfa48fa54&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Brent Haynes Added to Men’s Wrestling Staff
LIBERTY, Mo. – William Jewell head wrestling coach Keenan Hagerty has announced the first addition to his staff since the reinstatement of the program with the hiring of assistant coach Brent Haynes. “Brent is an excellent addition to the Jewell wrestling staff. He was a standout high school and collegiate wrestler, and we are pleased to have him become a Cardinal,” said Hagerty. “He has competed under some of the best coaches in the country and helped mentor several top recruits from the area.” … rest of story at https://jewellcardinals.com/news/2021/7/7/brent-haynes-added-to-mens-wrestling-staff.aspx?mc_cid=e094d4aecd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – MatBoss Q&A: Dax Charles, CSU-Pueblo head wrestling coach
Dax Charles has spent over 30 years at CSU-Pueblo as a student-athlete and wrestling coach. As a competitor, Charles won a national championship at CSU-Pueblo (then University of Southern Colorado) in 1992 and earned All-America honors three times. He was inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012 and the CSU-Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. Charles became CSU-Pueblo’s head wrestling coach in 2008 after the program was reestablished. He has taken the program to great heights, finishing in the top-25 at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships several times, including an 11th place finish in 2018. He was named 2017 RMAC Coach of the Year after guiding the ThunderWolves to their seventh RMAC championship. … rest of story at https://blog.matboss.com/matboss-qa-dax-charles-csu-pueblo-head-wrestling-coach?mc_cid=a1dbf0c0e5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Wrestling Adds Frank Yattoni to Coaching Staff
Lindenwood wrestling head coach Jimmy Rollins announced the addition of Frank Yattoni to his staff.
Yattoni comes to Lindenwood after spending the last two seasons on the staff of the Minot State wrestling program where he was a graduate assistant. At Minot State, Yattoni helped mentor the athletes in the classroom, elevating the team GPA to a 3.0 in the fall semester of 2020. Yattoni helped coach an NCAA Division II National Qualifier during the 2019-20 season. While in North Dakota, Yattoni coached at risk youth wrestlers at the MHA Nation Trial Youth Wrestling Club. Yattoni achieved a drastic increase in practice participation by developing positive relationships with the athletes. Before his stop in North Dakota, Yattoni volunteered on the staff at Wisconsin-Parkside. … rest of story at https://lindenwoodlions.com/news/2021/7/7/wrestling-adds-frank-yattoni-to-coaching-staff.aspx?mc_cid=9d57322631&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b12 } – Three Bristol Eastern wrestlers commit to compete in college
BRISTOL – Losing the 2021 wrestling season did not stop a trio of Bristol Eastern seniors from getting their chances to compete at the next level. Tommy Nichols and Aaron Morocho will both join the wrestling team at Division II American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts and Mason Lishness will wrestle at Division II Castleton University in Castleton, Vermont. “They truly love the sport,” coach Bryant Lishness said. “It’s a tough sport, so not everyone loved it even though their doing it… Those guys definitely caught the bug when they were younger and they’ve been grinders they’re whole careers.” All three grapplers had high expectations entering their senior season, but all still compiled strong resumes in just three years. … rest of story at http://www.bristolpress.com/BP-Bristol+Eastern+Sports/392829/three-bristol-eastern-wrestlers-commit-to-compete-in-college?mc_cid=7334e288ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
University of Tulsa to Consider Adding New Sports: Why Wrestling Should be it
TDR Editor’s Notes : It would be a wise move for University of Tulsa to add wrestling as it would increase student enrollment, bring in revenue and generate good public relations. The answer is YES, YES and emphatically YES to the question if they should add wrestling. Keep Wrestling Onward!
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According to Kelly Hines of the Tulsa World, the University of Tulsa Athletic Director Rick Dickson has said the school is considering adding new sports in an effort to grow enrollment.
Unfortunately, in the D1 wrestling world, we’ve seen countless programs get dropped as universities flood money into their revenue sports of football and basketball.
On other levels, that has not been the case. Wrestling is growing at a very high pace in D2, D3, NAIA, and on the Junior College level. The reason this works for those smaller schools is those programs in a unique way end up paying for themselves.
The massive growth of women’s wrestling has been a game-changer for the sport. Many smaller schools can add both a men’s and women’s program with a fairly minimal investment. And as these schools add a small contingent of scholarship athletes, they also add several walk-ons or partial scholarship recipients that are paying their own way. So, when a school makes the investment of hiring a coach, purchasing equipment, and paying other basic costs for their program, those are all offset by the additional revenue generated when they grow their student body and tuition revenue.
This is seen all over college athletics, but in our part of the country, you can look at schools across Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and see they’ve taken note.
Arkansas has added Little Rock, Ouachita Baptist, University of the Ozarks, Lyon College, Central Baptist, Williams Baptist, and Arkansas Baptist.
Texas went from having zero college wrestling programs to adding Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, Schreiner University, Texas Women’s University, and most recently Jarvis Christian.
The state of Oklahoma has been a traditional power in wrestling from youth to college to International wrestling. But they’ve still seen some similar growth at the college level recently with NEO bringing back their program a few years ago, Oklahoma Wesleyan starting a program, and Carl Albert State College adding a men and women’s program just this past year.
If Tulsa were to add a wrestling program, it would be dwarfed by its two in-state rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, who are both long-time traditional powers. But there is a very real benefit and enticement to having those programs nearby. If the University of Tulsa were to host a dual with Oklahoma State it would be a huge ticket draw and likely their biggest sporting event outside of football and basketball. Oklahoma State averages over 5,000 attendees per dual.
It’s tough to expect a road dual to do those numbers, but the large contingency of OSU fans and alumni in Tulsa would show up for a dual at Tulsa and would bring in a large chunk of annual revenue for the program.
There are also a lot of solid programs in the region to build early schedules with. Tulsa likely wouldn’t immediately be a superpower in the sport. Building a program takes time, but even with putting OSU and OU on their schedule, they could still schedule Arkansas Little-Rock, UCO, NEO, and other schools to help get matches early with minimal travel costs that still put up a solid challenge. … rest of the story at https://owrestle.com/the-university-of-tulsa-to-consider-adding-new-sports-why-wrestling-should-be-it/
NCAA Division I News (2021) – # 28 {Big 12}
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Looking now at the Big 12 conference schools. At this point in time there are 10 schools in the Big 12. They used to be the Big 8 with 5 or 6 teams that were strong but now have more schools with wrestling but many of them are affiliate members that only compete in the Big 12 for wrestling which is good for the conference and the wrestling teams seeking strong competition. Hopefully the rumblings and shake up of the current conference will result in more Division I schools waking up and restarting their wrestling teams. We try to be oppomistic on that yet …. alas, we digress. Keep Wrestling Going Onward!
E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2963 (8/15/21)
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1 } – {Iowa State} Austin Gomez is Not Done Wresting After All
Last year, in late December, Iowa State wrestler Austin Gomez announced that he would medically retire from the sport. At the time, The 22-year-old from Carol Stream, Illinois, stated that the decision was due to a mounting list of injuries over his last few seasons in Ames.
“Today, I make the hardest decision of my life, but the right decision for the health and safety of my future,” Gomez wrote in a statement. “I have decided to hang it up and medically retire.” Fast-forward to April 2021, and It would appear that Gomez has had a change of heart and isn’t ready to leave his shoes on the mat just yet. Gomez placed his name in the transfer portal on April 8, 2021. Though injuries have proved troublesome throughout his career, Gomez amassed quite a few notable accolades from his time as an Illinois prep competitor to his lone full varsity season in Ames in 2018-19 under coach Kevin Dresser. As a prep, he was a three-time Illinois state champion for Glenbard North, a 2016 Junior freestyle national champ, and a 2013 Cadet men’s freestyle world-teamer. As such, he was considered a top-tier recruit in the Class of 2017. … rest of story at https://news.theopenmat.com/college-wrestling-news/iowa-states-austin-gomez-is-not-done-wresting-after-all/80760?mc_cid=e835860738&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Mukiza tested, not deterred, on way to Iowa State
Aime Mukiza was in tears. The past year left many in the same position, but Mukiza was at a place that was supposed to provide him focus and direction — the wrestling mat. The Des Moines North-Hoover senior 113-pound wrestler was in practice preparing for this year’s state tournament when it hit him. “I just stopped and cried because nothing was working, and everything I had been doing the entire year was not going to work against any guys at state,” he said. The four-time state qualifier finished eighth as a junior, giving the program a state medalist for the first time since 2017. … rest of story at https://www.thepredicament.com/2021/06/mukiza-tested-not-deterred-on-way-to-iowa-state/?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – {Oklahoma State} The Lookabaugh Family Legacy Might Be the Most Prominent in OSU Athletics History
The Lookabaugh legacy spans across multiple sports at OSU. This story started out as a slightly different project, but here we are. With the Olympics coming up, I thought I’d take a look at OSU’s first Olympic wrestler, Guy Lookabaugh. As I started to dig in and research, I found there was a family legacy that might be one of the most storied and least talked about when it comes to Oklahoma State.
We’ve all heard of the Smiths, the Woods, the Rosholts, the Suttons, the Hollidays, the Grahams, and other well known family legacies in OSU Athletics. The Lookabaughs may have been the first family to set that tone and trend in Stillwater. In 1917 Guy Lookabaugh enrolled at OSU where he first started out playing football. He enlisted in the Army for WW1 then returned to Oklahoma State. Upon his return, Lookabaugh became a two-sport star continuing to play football and also competing for Ed Gallagher’s wrestling team. Known as the “First Superstar of Oklahoma State Athletics,” according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. … rest of story at https://pistolsfiringblog.com/the-lookabaugh-family-legacy-might-be-the-most-prominent-in-osu-athletics-history/?mc_cid=5c73249ed8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And {Oklahoma State} Penn State Transfer Austin Boone to Wrestle at Oklahoma State
The Cowboys pick up a big transfer out of Penn State.
Former Penn State Nittany Lion Austin Boone has transferred to wrestle at Oklahoma State. Boone, a four-time state champion at Lowell High School in Ada, Michigan, was ranked as a top-40 recruit nationally when he signed with Penn State in 2020. Listed at 157 pounds, Boone spent his freshmen season at Penn State but entered the transfer portal in spring. He has found his landing spot in Stillwater and will be a Cowboy next season. Boone has all four years of eligibility remaining and has already started taking classes at OSU. … rest of story at https://pistolsfiringblog.com/penn-state-transfer-austin-boone-to-wrestle-at-oklahoma-state/?mc_cid=e094d4aecd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Oklahoma State Wrestling to Receive Facility Updates
The Cowboys’ locker room is set for an update.
Oklahoma State will be making some updates to the current wrestling facilities this summer, PFB has learned. About three years ago the Cowboys’ locker room was expanded after the soccer program received a new facility. The lockers were moved down to what was once the soccer locker room and the old wrestle room was converted to a small cardio gym. After receiving the new locker room and converting the old one, the locker room and wrestling room were still a bit behind some of the renovations that the men’s and women’s basketball teams had recently received. The updates are expected to bring the wrestling facilities in line with those. … rest of story at https://pistolsfiringblog.com/oklahoma-state-wrestling-to-receive-facility-updates/?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – {North Dakota State} Obenson Blanc Named Associate Head Coach for NDSU Wrestling
FARGO, N.D. – Obenson Blanc has been elevated to associate head coach of the North Dakota State University wrestling team for the 2021-22 season, head coach Roger Kish announced Wednesday, June 2. Blanc has spent the past two seasons with the Bison program, which has crowned two Big 12 Conference champions and qualified 10 wrestlers for the NCAA championships while compiling a 17-7 dual meet record during his time. Blanc is also the wrestling staff’s academic liaison, helping the Bison perform in the classroom as well as on the mat. NDSU ranked 10th in the nation academically his first year and the Bison had the second-highest team GPA among all Division I wrestling programs in 2020-21. Blanc came to NDSU in June 2019 from North Carolina State, where he spent five years as an assistant coach with the Wolfpack mentoring two NCAA champions, 10 All-Americans, 10 conference champions and 18 NWCA Scholar All-Americans. … rest of story at https://gobison.com/news/2021/6/2/obenson-blanc-named-associate-head-coach-for-ndsu-wrestling.aspx?mc_cid=2fffafa367&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – {Oklahoma} OU Picks Up Transfer From Oregon State
According to a report from The Oregon Wrestling Forum on Rokfin, the Sooners have picked up a transfer from Oregon State University.
Gabe Vidlak, who was on the Oregon State roster at 125 for the 2020-21 season, was a three time state champion wrestling for his dad at Cascade Christian High School in Oregon and a Reno World Champion as a high school freshman. This is the second 125 pound offseason transfer for OU this season including ACC Champion Joey Prata who came over from Virginia Tech. … rest of story at https://owrestle.com/ou-picks-up-transfer-from-oregon-state/
And NCAA qualifier Joe Grello announces transfer to Oklahoma
Former Rutgers wrestling NCAA qualifier Joe Grello has his new home for his final year of eligibility. On Thursday, the former Scarlet Knight announced his intentions to transfer to Oklahoma. The Sooners program gets a veteran looking to make one last impact for the 2021-22 season. According to the commitment graphic, Grello is listed at 165 pounds after wrestling his varsity career at 174 pounds for Rutgers. Grello announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal back in May. Grello posted to his Instagram announcing his decision.
“I’m excited to announce that I will be furthering my academic and athletic career at the University of Oklahoma. Let’s Go SOONERS! #boomersooner #OU,” Grello wrote. He joins a roster currently featuring Anthony Mantanona, Elijah Joseph, Grayden Penner and Rex Collins at 174 pounds. Grello wrestled just three matches last season for the Scarlet Knights, going 0-3 against Top 10 opponents Logan Massa (Michigan) and Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) and losing via injury default to Minnesota’s Sam Skillings. Once Grello exited that match via injury, redshirt freshman Jackson Turley entered the varsity lineup at 174 pounds. … rest of story at https://247sports.com/Article/Joe-Grello-transfer-Oklahoma-wrestling-Rutgers-Big-Ten-NCAA-qualifier-college-Big-12-167294377/?mc_cid=a1dbf0c0e5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – {Missouri} #10 Overall Junior Zeke Seltzer to Missouri
One of the top available juniors in the nation, Zeke Seltzer (Cathedral, IN) made his college decision public late Tuesday evening. Seltzer, the #10 overall wrestler in the Class of 2022, according to MatScouts, was one of only five uncommitted among the top ten. No longer, as he announced his intentions to enroll at the University of Missouri after his graduation in 2022. Zeke is also ranked second in the nation at 132 lbs. Seltzer is a three-time Indiana state finalist and two-time champion, winning titles at 120 and 126 during the most recent seasons. Last fall, Seltzer took third place at the Super 32 while competing at 126 lbs. He has also placed in Fargo on two occasions, both at the 16U level in freestyle. He was sixth in 2018 and a runner-up a year later. Seltzer is also a three-time finalist at the IndianaMat Hoosier Preseason Opener, winning the event in each of the last two years.
… rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24659?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – {Wyoming} Pair Of Top-60 Recruits Jointly Commit To Wyoming
Two class of 2022 big boarder high school teammates at Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN, will go on to be teammates in college. #33 Garrison Dendy and #58 David Harper jointly committed to Mark Branch and co. at the University of Wyoming Tuesday afternoon. High school teammates Garrison Dendy and David Harper have committed to the Cowboys. Dendy, who is originally from Georgia, projects as a 149/157 in college. In 2020 Dendy made the Super 32 semifinals at a loaded 145 lbs weight class. Watch Garrison Dendy major Wisconsin’s Connor Thorpe to make the Super 32 semis below. … rest of story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7078180-pair-of-top-60-recruits-jointly-commit-to-wyoming?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – {Utah Valley} PLEASANT GROVE’S ALEX EMMER SIGNS TO WRESTLE AT UVU
EMMER IS A FOUR-TIME STATE PLACER AND A 2021 UTAH STATE CHAMPION AT NEARBY PLEASANT GROVE HIGH SCHOOL. HE WILL BE THE SECOND BROTHER IN HIS FAMILY TO WRESTLE FOR THE WOLVERINES, AS HIS OLDER BROTHER JAMES ALSO WRESTLES AT UVU.
OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University head wrestling coach Greg Williams has announced that Pleasant Grove High School product Alex Emmer has signed to wrestle for the Wolverines.
Emmer, who originally hails from Albuquerque, N.M., moved to Utah for his senior campaign and capped his 2020-21 prep season by winning a state championship while wrestling for Pleasant Grove High School. Emmer is a four-time state placewinner and was the top-ranked 138-pounder in the state of Utah in 2021 as well as the pound-for-pound second-ranked grappler in Utah this past spring. He will come to UVU this fall and will compete at 149 pounds for the Wolverines. … rest of story at https://gouvu.com/news/2021/6/16/wrestling-pleasant-groves-alex-emmer-signs-to-wrestle-at-uvu.aspx?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And CALIFORNIA BAPTIST’S EVAN BOCKMAN TRANSFERS TO UVU
THE 197-POUND NATIVE OF ALASKA WILL ENTER HIS REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN FOR THE WOLVERINES THIS FALL
OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University head wrestling coach Greg Williams has announced that California Baptist 197-pounder Evan Bockman will transfer to UVU and wrestle for the Wolverines. Bockman, who will have three years of collegiate eligibility remaining, went 4-3 on the mat for the Lancers in 2020-21. He picked up a pair of bonus-point victories on the season with a fall over Vanguard’s Ryan Ortiz and a 12-4 major decision over Fresno State’s Nick Villarreal. He also picked up wins by decision over Cal Poly’s Trevor Tinker (9-5) and UVU’s Jacob Armstrong (5-2). “Evan is a great addition to our program. … rest of story at https://gouvu.com/news/2021/7/12/wrestling-california-baptists-evan-bockman-transfers-to-uvu.aspx?mc_cid=d1b37a6e41&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – {South Dakota State} Tate Battani Transferring to SDSU
Former Ballard high school state medalist, Tate Battani will be headed to Brookings, South Dakota to join the Jackrabbits squad. The former Cyclone wrestler spent… rest of story at https://rokfin.com/article/4869/Tate-Battani-Transferring-to-SDSU?affiliate_id=1826&mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – {Northern Iowa} Panther Wrestler Keegan Moore Transferring
Former Northern Iowa wrestler Keegan Moore will be finishing his career back in the state his college career began. After three seasons in Cedar Falls… rest of story at https://rokfin.com/article/4870/Panther-Wrestler-Keegan-Moore-Transferring?affiliate_id=1826&mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – Champion Chip Kyven Dough at the Iowa State Creamery
On Saturday, the Iowa State Creamery was open 2 to 6 p.m. to celebrate the launch of their new flavor of ice cream created by Iowa State alumnus, Kyven Gadson. Gadson graduated from Iowa State in 2014, won an NCAA Championship in 2015 and went on to qualify for the 2021 USA National Team. He is the second Olympic alternate in wrestling. Gadson collaborated with the Iowa State Creamery to create his signature flavor, “Champion Chip Kyven Dough.”
“Cookie dough has always just been my favorite, growing up I loved cookies, I loved ice cream,” Gadson said.
Students and wrestling fans were looking forward to not only trying the ice cream but also visiting with Gadson, who was there taking pictures with fans. “I heard about this from Kyven Gadson himself, I follow him on Instagram and he started posting a while back about it,” Mike Gerhardt, a senior in supply chain management, said. “I’ve been following the wrestling team since he was here and then I heard they were doing this and I thought [that’s pretty cool].” Gadson put a twist on traditional cookie dough ice cream by loading it with lots of toppings: cookie dough, chocolate chips and dulce de leche. … rest of story at https://www.iowastatedaily.com/lifestyle/kyven-gadson-iowa-state-university-iowa-state-creamery-cookie-dough-ice-cream-2021-olympic-wrestler-be-rare-initiative-mike-garhardt/article_888c8758-9a56-11eb-895e-7f7ecdb491cc.html?mc_cid=0dc666bfba&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Carr Named Iowa State’s Male Athlete Of The Year
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State wrestler David Carr recorded one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of Cyclone wrestling in 2020-21. The Iowa State Athletics Department acknowledged Carr, who was the 157-pound NCAA Champion, today as the recipient of the 2021 Gary Thompson Iowa State Male Athlete of the Year. A native of Canton, Ohio, Carr was unbeatable in the 2020-21 season. He finished the year with an unblemished 20-0 mark, becoming Iowa State’s first undefeated champion since 2011. His matches were wrestling clinics, securing bonus-point victories in 14 of his 20 bouts, winning five by major decisions, four by technical falls and four by pins. Carr had an incredible 60-1 takedown differential, going 12-0 in duals and racking up 171 total match points. Carr, who finished third in the Dan Hodge Trophy balloting, was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year after winning his second straight Big 12 title. … rest of story at https://cyclones.com/news/2021/6/30/wrestling-carr-named-iowa-states-top-male-athlete.aspx?mc_cid=3c07ff5887&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – Big 12 Conference Report with Seth Duckworth (6/3/21)
Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat’s collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent’s will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. We’ll start with our Big 12 correspondent Seth Duckworth. The biggest Big-12 related news of the offseason has been the return of the Missouri Tigers. Seth talks about how the move came about and the ramifications on mat for this move. We also discuss Fresno State and Cal Baptist. We’ll finish by discussing Obe Blanc’s new promotion at North Dakota State and the team’s recruiting class for 2021. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24645?mc_cid=08007c6b87&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA Division I News (2021) – # 27 {Big 10}
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Another round of looks at other Big 10 schools with Rutgers, Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan in this posting. Challenging to cover all of the teams in the conference which used to have ten teams but then eleven for a long while and then 12 and at latest count 14. Yet with all the rumblings in the ‘money sports’ throwing conferences into a jumble or rumble as they recklessly makes changes in pursuit of the big TV bucks. Oh well Keep Wrestling On!
E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2962 (8/14/21)
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1 } – {Rutgers} Wrestling Announces 2020-21 Team Awards
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling revealed its team awards for the 2020-21 season. John Poznanski (184) and Sebastian Rivera (141) shared the Ted Petty Most Valuable Wrestler award after both secured fourth-place finishes and All-America honors at the 2021 NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
Poznanski went 11-4 in his first collegiate season en route to All-America laurels and a third-place finish at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Poznanski became the highest true freshman finisher at the national tournament in program history and helped RU secure two NCAA Championship semifinalists for the second consecutive national tournament. The Colonia, New Jersey, native finished with an 8-3 mark against ranked foes and a 3-1 record in dual action.
Rivera wrapped up his first season with the Scarlet Knights with his third All-America honor … rest of story at https://scarletknights.com/news/2021/5/6/wrestling-announces-2020-21-team-awards.aspx
2 } – 2021 Purdue Wrestling: Season in review
The Boilermakers continued their upward climb in the Big Ten and NCAA in 2021, making more marks in the record book, while facing adversity the sport has never seen before.
The 2021 Purdue wrestling season will never be forgotten. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boilermakers dealt with the day-to-day possibility that their season could be cancelled at any time. They underwent daily testing for the virus for nearly seven months, going in-and-out of quarantine and isolation protocols, while fighting every day to improve and chase their goals in the classroom and on the mat. In the end the team was fortunate to compete in every single date on its schedule, including the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships. The team finished 4-5 in its Big Ten-only schedule, placed sixth at the conference tournament and finished tied for 26th at the national championships. … rest of story at https://spark.adobe.com/page/dGFcACcG5WUpx/?mc_cid=987a3385bf&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Always Aggressive Podcast: Season 2, Episode 22
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Allowing enough time to pass, while still remaining close enough to the event to keep it relevant, head coach Tony Ersland and co-hosts Cory Palm and Tanner Lipsett look back at Purdue wrestling’s 2021 NCAA Championships performance … rest of story at https://purduesports.com/news/2021/4/14/wrestling-always-aggressive-podcast-season-2-episode-22.aspx?mc_cid=41e05ef71b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Season 2, Episode 24 story at https://purduesports.com/news/2021/6/9/wrestling-always-aggressive-podcast-season-2-episode-24.aspx?mc_cid=273e35accc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – Max Dean to Transfer to Penn State
Perhaps the biggest name in the transfer portal is off the market! 2019 NCAA runner-up Max Dean will transfer to Penn State, as confirmed by his older brother Gabe on Chael Sonnen’s “Beyond the Fight” podcast today. The move presents plenty of possibilities for the Nittany Lions in 2021-22. They return undefeated NCAA champion Aaron Brooks at 184 lbs and NCAA seventh-place finisher Michael Beard at 197. Brooks will be a sophomore, while Beard retains freshman eligibility. Gabe mentioned the possibility of Max moving up to 197 lbs. Either way, there could be an All-American out of the lineup for Penn State.
Dean is a two-time All-American … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24582?mc_cid=812142449d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – Rutgers Wrestling Welcomes Transfers Bulsak, Raimo to Program
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling added collegiate transfers Greg Bulsak (Clarion) and Nicholas Raimo (Arizona State) to its 2021-22 roster, head coach Scott Goodale announced today. A New Jersey native and two-time NJSIAA state champion, Raimo will have four years of eligibility for the Scarlet Knights, while Bulsak, a four-time NCAA qualifier, will have one as a graduate transfer.
“Both of these guys are high-quality student-athletes we believe can have an immediate impact for us next season and score points at the national tournament,” Goodale said. “Raimo gets an opportunity to return home to compete at the highest level, while Bulsak has proven he can beat some of the best kids in the country. Both add incredible talent to our room and we’re excited to have them here at Rutgers.”
A four-time NCAA qualifier at Clarion, Bulsak produced a 77-25 career record for the Golden Eagles from 2016-21. Bulsak finished this past season with a 12-3 record – including nine wins by fall – competing at 197 pounds and was the No. 14 seed at NCAAs this March in St. Louis. Bulsak was ranked as high as No. 8 in the country
… rest of story at https://scarletknights.com/news/2021/4/20/wrestling-welcomes-transfers-bulsak-raimo-to-program.aspx
5 } – Illinois to Keep Kannon Webster In-State
Less than a week after elevating Mike Poeta to the head coach of Illinois’ Fighting Illini the program received their first win on the recruiting trail. One of Illinois’ top high school sophomores has decided to stay in-state and wrestle for the home team. Late last night, Kannon Webster (Washington, IL) announced via social media that he would wrestle for Illinois after his graduation in 2023. Webster is currently ranked 11th in the nation at 113 lbs by MatScouts and was an Illinois 2A state champion in 2020 as a freshman. Prior to his freshman year of high school, Webster was a third-place finisher at the Cadet World Team Trials in freestyle and Greco-Roman. Later in the summer of 2019, Webster went on to take third in Fargo in both styles in the 16U division. Last weekend, Webster was fifth at the Cadet WTT’s while competing at 55 kg’s. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24551?mc_cid=c1dee7f2bb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – {Penn State} #12 Overall Junior Levi Haines to Penn State
Just yesterday InterMat went into detail about wrestlers from the Class of 2022 Big Board that have committed to DI schools. A name missing from that list was Penn State. That changed today as Levi Haines (Biglerville, PA), the #12 overall recruit in the Class of 2022, has given a verbal commitment to the Penn State staff. Haines made the announcement this morning on Instagram. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Haines selected Penn State, as he’s a member of David Taylor’s M2 Training Center.
Haines is a three-time Pennsylvania AA state finalist that captured his first title this year at 145 lbs. Recently, Levi made the Cadet World team in freestyle at 71 kg as he outlasted Iowa’s Aiden Riggins in a three-match series, picking up wins 12-2 and 10-4. Prior to the finals, Haines blew through his first three opponents before getting by Lehigh-commit Enzo Morlacci 8-3 in the quarters and North Carolina’s Joseph Sealey 6-6 in the semi’s. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24610?mc_cid=3a3b8bc793&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – Cael Sanderson cites recruiting philosophy on final night of Penn State’s virtual Coaches Caravan
When last we saw Cael Sanderson and his Penn State wrestlers, they were the talk of the tournament after the NCAA Championships concluded in St. Louis. The Nittany Lions did not win the team tournament – Iowa won its first since 2010 – but all four Penn State wrestlers in the NCAA finals won individual titles. Since then, with the gradual decline of the coronavirus pandemic, all of Penn State’s 31 sports have been on a progressive path to normalcy.
For wrestling, normalcy entails titles. On paper or on the mat, Penn State has managed to stay “in the news” since late March by having the No. 1-ranked recruiting class for 2021, attracting former Cornell star Max Dean to the roster and receiving a commitment from highly ranked Levi Haines of Biglerville in the high school class of 2022. Sanderson was on the public stage Thursday night during the final night of Penn State Coaches Caravan Virtual Series; he was joined by women’s volleyball coach – and office suite neighbor — Russ Rose, field hockey coach Char Morett-Curtiss, men’s soccer coach Jeff Cook and vice president for athletics Sandy Barbour. … rest of story at https://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2021/06/cael-sanderson-cites-wrestling-recruiting-philosophy-on-final-night-of-penn-states-virtual-coaches-caravan.html?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – Minnesota Adds Wisconsin Transfer Krattiger to Roster
University of Minnesota head wrestling coach Brandon Eggum announced the addition of Jared Krattiger beginning with the 2021-22 season. The Waterford, Wis., native will join the Maroon and Gold after spending three seasons at the University of Wisconsin.
A two-year starter for the Badgers, Krattiger compiled a 13-22 record, including a 4-5 mark in 2021. Seeded 11th at Big Ten Championships this past March, he finished in ninth place. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, Krattiger started 13 of 17 matches for the Badgers and finished ninth at the Big Ten Championships. Krattiger went 10-2 during his redshirt season with titles at the 2018 Cyclone and Luther Opens. … rest of story at https://gophersports.com/news/2021/5/21/wrestling-minnesota-adds-wisconsin-transfer-krattiger-to-roster.aspx?mc_cid=ce44cea415&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Minnesota Lands Second Top-Five 2023 Recruit in Cadet World-Teamer Gavin Nelson
The Minnesota wrestling program has taken the early lead in the 2023 recruiting arms race. Earlier this month, the Gophers landed the services of Cody Chittum, the nation’s top-ranked 145-pounder and the No. 2-ranked prospect in the 2023 class. On Wednesday, they added another large – literally – recruit to their haul. Gavin Nelson, out of nationally-renowned Simley High School, announced his commitment to the Gophers on Tuesday. Nelson’s addition gives Minnesota two top-five recruits in the 2023 class. Nelson is considered the No. 5 overall 2023 prospect, according to MatScouts, and the third-ranked 220-pounder nationally. He is a 2021 Minnesota state champ, and will represent the United States at the Cadet World Championships next month at 92 kilograms (202 pounds). Over the last two months, Nelson has showcased his top-tier wrestling talent at some of the country’s toughest competitions. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24708?mc_cid=4a8e8b94a2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – {Illinois} Carr Announces Return for 2021-22 Season
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illini wrestler Mike Carr has announced that he will be using his fifth year of eligibility to return for the 2021-2022 season. The 149-pound grappler will use his extra year of eligibility to compete for the Orange and Blue beginning this fall. The 2018 B1G Runner-Up is expected to be an important piece and play a big role once again in the 2021-22 lineup for the Illini.
Carr has been a staple in the Illinois lineup the past four years, despite battling injuries. During the shortened 2021 season, he recorded a 5-2 overall record while scoring 16 dual points for the team in his 149-pound bouts. The two-time NCAA qualifier owns a 39-16 career record with the Orange and Blue. He did not compete during the 2019-20 season due to injury. … rest of story at https://fightingillini.com/news/2021/6/8/wrestling-carr-announces-return-for-2021-22-season.aspx?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Big Man Christian Carroll Has Found His College Home
Christian Carroll, the #3 recruit in the class of 2023, has made his college decision. Find out where the big man will train next. Just a day after Cody Chittum, the top recruit in the class of 2023, committed, another massive recruit came off the board. Super 32 champ Christian Carroll has announced that he’ll be joining Mike Poeta and company at Illinois. New Prairie, Indiana’s Carroll is currently the #3 recruit in the class of 2023, and he’s established himself as one of the top prospective 197-pounders in the country. He drove that point home at Super 32 in the fall when he won a loaded bracket and knocked off Cadet World Teamer Gavin Nelson in a tight battle in the finals. … rest of the story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7075352-big-man-christian-carroll-has-found-his-college-home?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – {Wisconsin} Ex-Patriot Braxton Amos keeping busy
PARKERSBURG — Wisconsin’s Braxton Amos is packing his bags a little sooner than expected. Since May 14, the former two-time Robert Dutton Award winner and Parkersburg South graduate has been training at the USA Wrestling team camp in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Following that experience, he had planned to fly back to Madison and do some relaxing along with working out at the Wisconsin Regional Training Center before leaving in June to fly to Croatia for a two-week training camp. After that, he’ll head back to Georgia for another Olympic team camp as he prepares to represent the United States during the August Junior World Championships in Ufa, Russia. However, 97kg Olympian G’Angelo Hancock had to bow out of the Senior Pan American Championships in Greco-Roman, which opened the door for Amos to head to Guatemala City, Guatemala. … rest of story at https://www.newsandsentinel.com/sports/local-sports/2021/05/ex-patriot-braxton-amos-keeping-busy/?mc_cid=986c5e1566&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – {Michigan} U-M Heavyweight Great Coon Signed by NFL’s Tennessee Titans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former University of Michigan wrestling standout Adam Coon has been signed to the Tennessee Titans’ 90-man roster, the organization announced Friday (June 4). Coon, a three-time NCAA heavyweight All-American, had joined the Titans the previous day at their training camp, where he will compete on the offensive line. He has not played football since 2013 at Fowlerville (Michigan) High School, where he was an all-state linebacker (2012) and two-time honorable mention offensive lineman (2010, ’11). He was named the 2013 All-Livingston County Defensive Player of the Year and was a four-time all-league offensive lineman and defensive lineman/linebacker. Coon (2014-16, ’18) ranks among the best heavyweights in Michigan wrestling history. A three-time NCAA All-American, he twice reached the NCAA finals, and compiled a 116-15 career record, ranking him sixth in program history with a .885 career winning percentage. He was a two-time Big Ten runner-up, falling to Ohio State’s three-time NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder both times, … rest of story at https://mgoblue.com/news/2021/6/4/wrestling-wolverine-heavyweight-great-coon-signed-by-nfls-tennessee-titans.aspx?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And The difference between the Adam Coon and Tim Tebow signings
With the Titans giving a shot to a former wrestler on Friday, some of the many Tebowmaniacs are arguing that Tennessee’s unconventional move is no different than Jacksonville’s decision to sign former baseball player Tim Tebow. It’s very different. Adam Coon, a three-time All-American wrestler, is a project. Yes, he’s older than the usual fresh-out-of-college athlete who excelled in some other sport. At 26, he’s still seven years younger than Tebow. But the idea is to see whether the high-level wrestling skills can translate to football. If they can, he’ll stay. If they can’t, he’ll be gone. While some would say that same standard applies to Tebow, Tebow ultimately will be judged by a coach who has known Tebow for years. And that coach continues to lay the foundation to find a way for a tight end who already has sold so many jerseys to be on the team in September. Coon comes to Nashville with no special consideration. He’ll make it or he won’t. He’ll earn a spot or he won’t. … rest of story at https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/06/05/the-difference-between-the-adam-coon-and-tim-tebow-signings/?mc_cid=0fb3325f19&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Top-Ranked Rylan Rogers Commits to Michigan
The University of Michigan received its first commitment from the Class of 2022 today when top-ranked 195 lber Rylan Rogers (Coeur d’Alene, ID) verballed via video on the True Wrestling Rokfin page. In addition to Rogers’ weight class ranking by MatScouts, the site has also deemed him the fifth-best recruit in the Class of 2022. According to the site’s School List article, Rogers also had NC State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, and Penn State among his final choices. Rogers is a 2019 16U freestyle national runner-up in Fargo and also a Cadet World Team Trials runner-up the same year. Rylan spent the first two years of his high school career at Blair Academy in New Jersey, where he placed twice at the National Prep Championships. As a freshman, Rogers was third at 195 lbs. A year later, he won the 182 lbs bracket. While at Blair, Rogers was a 2019 finalist at the Walsh Ironman and the Beast of the East. He ended up winning the Ironman. Even before entering high school, Rogers had already earned All-American honors by placing sixth in Cadet freestyle in Fargo. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24722?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – Big Ten Conference Report with Cody Goodwin (6/8/21)
Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat’s collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent’s will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. Our Big Ten correspondent Cody Goodwin checks in to talk about some of the big commitments within the last week. Two top sophomores committed to B1G schools, along with Austin Gomez transferring to Wisconsin. We discuss some of the conference’s standouts from the U23 World Team Trials and close by discussing an upcoming dual meet between Purdue and Iowa State. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24656?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA Division I News (2021) – # 26 {West Coast}
TDR Editor’s Notes ; We are looking forward to a full and complete college wrestling season in the 2021-2022 as teams compete in a full slate of dual meets and tournaments. We look to see all the schools that suspended their teams and did not compete last year will resume their programs. Athletics are important to college life not only for the development of the athletes but also for other students who are inspired by their example. Keep wrestling going on in these schools. E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2960 (8/13/21)
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1 } – Shane Griffith title caps defiant NCAA Tournament for wrestling
Led by newly minted NCAA National Champion redshirt sophomore Shane Griffith, the embattled Stanford wrestling program shone in an improbable run of success at the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis this weekend. The team, one of eleven cut back in July, scrambled its way to a 17th place overall finish and a triumphant finale to what was probably its last season as a varsity program — a season defined more by struggle off the mat than on it.
Wearing all-black uniforms stripped of Stanford insignia as a protest of the athletic department, individual wrestlers topped highly touted opponents from Rust Belt wrestling powerhouses.
Pac-12 champion Jaden Abas, a redshirt freshman and the team’s newest All American, lost his first match but worked his way back up over four rounds to a 7th place finish in the 149-pound weight class by a 5-3 decision over Appalachian State’s Jonathan Millner. Real Woods, a redshirt sophomore, pulled off two big upsets at 141 pounds … rest of story at https://www.stanforddaily.com/2021/03/21/shane-griffith-title-caps-defiant-ncaa-tournament/?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And When the medalists aren’t the money-makers
An insight into Olympic sports at the collegiate level
A row of Olympians walked onto the Stanford football field in September 2016 to enthusiastic applause. All were Stanford students at the time, and the University had decided to honor their achievements during halftime at the first football game of the year. Four years later, in July 2020, Stanford decided to eliminate some of the athletic programs that helped train those very athletes. … rest of story at https://www.stanforddaily.com/2021/06/17/when-the-medalists-arent-the-money-makers/?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – Shane Griffith uses NCAA championship to highlight ‘Keep Stanford wrestling’ efforts
When the COVID-19 pandemic upended the college sports world and threw athletic department budgets into tailspins, some sports were on the receiving end of cuts. In some cases, Division I schools went so far as to eliminate programs. The Stanford Cardinal announced over the summer it would cut 11 teams, including the wrestling squad, at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
That didn’t stop Shane Griffith from reaching the top of his weight class. Griffith won the 165-pound national championship over the weekend by defeating Jake Wentzel of Pittsburgh — he was also named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament — and did so while wearing a black singlet. Griffith and his teammates wore the alternate attire, sans the school logo, to signal their displeasure with the university’s decision to drop the program after this season. … rest of story at https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2021/03/22/shane-griffith-ncaa-title-keep-stanford-wrestling/4799900001/?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Shane Griffith to Stay at Stanford
In July of 2020, Stanford stated that they would eliminate wrestling along with ten other sports following the 2020-21 school year. Griffith and his teammates remained at Stanford and persevered through a season that was shortened via Covid and even forced them to practice outside, at times. Despite these hurdles, Griffith, the eighth-seed at 165 lbs ran through the weight and became only the second Cardinal wrestler to win an NCAA title. Shane’s title and the aftermath, which included the entire arena chanting “Keep Stanford Wrestling”, generated nationwide headlines. Along the way, the boosters and alumni raised enough money to save the program.
After the NCAA season concluded, the Cardinal head coach Jason Borrelli left to take the same position at American University. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the wrestling community was abuzz as former Cornell head coach Rob Koll accepted the Stanford job. With a coach of Koll’s caliber at the helm in Palo Alto, some thought that Griffith would reconsider transferring. He, along with many other Cardinal wrestlers, had been in the transfer portal for most of the 2021 season. Today those hopes were confirmed. Griffith is 40-1 through two years of competition at Stanford. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24690?mc_cid=766ccc313f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – Despite COVID-19, it has been a ‘Fantastic Year’ for new Beaver wrestling coach Chris Pendleton
It wasn’t what Chris Pendleton had in mind when he dreamed about his first year as Oregon State’s wrestling coach.
To begin with, the season was abbreviated due to COVID-19. From January 14 to February 14, five meets were canceled. At one time, the Beavers had seven wrestlers — including a pair of starters — in 14-day quarantine due to contact tracing. “We had kids stuck at home,” Pendleton says. “We had assistant coaches delivering wrestling mats to their apartments to try get their workouts. That made it tough. “There was such a feeling of uncertainty. It was hands in the air and wondering, ‘Are we competing this week?’ By far the toughest year I’ve had in coaching.” On the other hand, there were blessings. On January 27, Chris’ wife, Selanee, delivered their first child — a boy, Ryker. “He is a handful already,” Pendleton says with a chuckle. “He is healthy, happy and keeping us up at night.” The Beavers managed some successes on the mat, too, finishing second to Arizona State at the Pac-12 Championships in Corvallis and qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. … rest of story at https://www.kerryeggers.com/stories/despite-covid-19-it-has-been-a-fantastic-year-for-new-beaver-wrestling-coach-chris-pendleton?mc_cid=cc121404a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – Smith Sheds Interim Tag, Named Wrestling Head Coach
Bakersfield, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield Director of Athletics and AVP of Student Affairs Dr. Kenneth ‘Ziggy’ Siegfried has announced the hiring of Luke Smith as the department’s head wrestling coach. Smith served as the program’s interim head coach during an abbreviated 2020-21 season and was the Roadrunner’s lead assistant for two seasons under Manny Rivera.
“Luke did an excellent job guiding our wrestling student-athletes through a tumultuous season,” said Siegfried. “In the face of adversity, the team remained engaged academically and within the CSUB community, and competed to a high standard in both the Pac-12 Conference and at the National level. Luke is a tremendous leader and role model for our student-athletes, well respected in the wrestling community and believes deeply in the tradition and character of CSUB Wrestling.”
Chance Rich, Angelo Martinoni and Dominic Ducharme all reached the 2021 NCAA Championship Tournament under Smith’s tutelage, as the `Runners sent a wrestler to the National Event for the 47th-consecutive season. Rich won three times in St. Louis and finished just one win shy of All-American Honors in the 133 lb weight class.
Ducharme earned his bid to the tournament by winning the Pac-12 Championship at 184 lbs. Rich was the conference runner-up at 133 lbs, while Martinoni placed third in the 141 lb bracket. … rest of story at https://gorunners.com/news/2021/4/21/smith-sheds-interim-tag-named-wrestling-head-coach.aspx?mc_cid=d92d6a4129&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Varner Donation Establishes Wrestling Scholarship Fund
Gift Contributes Additional $25,000 per Year to Program’s Recruiting Budget
… story at https://gorunners.com/news/2021/5/3/varner-donation-establishes-wrestling-scholarship-fund.aspx?mc_cid=2136f7bdf1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – Alma Mater Coaches Making It Matter
Peyton Clark is a senior in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism who will graduate in the spring of 2021. Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia and moved to Arizona in July of 2016! She has interned at AZ Big Media and Big Times Media Group in her Sun Devil undergraduate career.
Sun Devil Athletics is the home to many coaches and staff members, but for three, being a Sun Devil has been more than just their elaborate coaching careers. Sun Devil Wrestling head coach Zeke Jones, Sun Devil Hockey head coach Greg Powers and Sun Devil Women’s Golf head coach Missy Farr-Kaye began their Sun Devil experiences as undergraduates at Arizona State University over twenty years ago. Now they reflect on how their own collegiate experiences built who they are as coaches today. Zeke Jones began his wrestling coaching career at Arizona State University in April 2014 and is currently the seventh coach of ASU wrestling history.
After attending ASU as a student-athlete from 1985 to 1990, Jones’ love and passion for the sport grew deeper and deeper. “My experience at ASU was life-changing in that I had to come full circle and come back,” Coach Jones stated. Discovering his love for wrestling at just five years old, being a family sport that first began with his older brother, Coach Jones wanted to chase his dreams and his passion, which led him to ASU as a student-athlete. “It was my dream and ASU gave me the platform to be happy and successful in my craft and passion,” Coach Jones said. Coach Bobby Douglas was the head coach at ASU during Jones’ enrollment, which was another reason Jones chose ASU as his launching pad. His coach at the time of his enrollment at ASU, was close friends with Jones’ high school wrestling coach/teacher. Seeing the relationship between the two, gave him even more confidence in attending ASU academically, but also to help achieve his Olympic dream. … rest of story at https://thesundevils.com/news/2021/5/11/wrestling-alma-mater-coaches-making-it-matter.aspx?mc_cid=ce60503c93&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – Bulldog Insider feature: Abas, Olivas reflect on their time as Fresno State wrestlers
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – This weekend in St. Louis, the Fresno State wrestling team added one more name to its list of all-Americans. Kyle Parco became the 23rd wrestler in program history to reach all-American status, the first since Josh Hokit in 2019. After this weekend, the Fresno State wrestling program will be eliminated for the second time since 2006. “I actually could not believe it. It was hard enough to know that they dropped it that first time,” said former Bulldog wrestler Stephen Abas. “It’s horrible news.”
Abas is one of the best athletes to ever come out of Fresno State. A four-time all-American and a three-time national champion, Abas also brought home a silver medal from the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He helped put Fresno State wrestling on the map. “I enjoyed my time there, and I know that there’s opportunities for other kids to have the same success, if we could just keep the team around,” said Abas. The first year that Fresno State returned to the wrestling mat was in 2017, and the roster was stacked with valley athletes: Buchanan, Clovis, Clovis North, Selma, Dinuba, Lemoore and Madera Ranchos were all represented.
One of those wrestlers was Khristian Olivas, a Clovis Cougar, who grew up watching the Bulldogs. “I actually remember when they wrestled OK State and Iowa,” Olivas said. “So just seeing it as a kid, I was all about it and super excited to one day be there.” … rest of story at https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/sports/bulldog-insider-feature-abas-olivas-reflect-on-their-time-as-fresno-state-wrestlers/?mc_cid=7490ba8a46&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And NCAA: Fresno State assistant coach gave loan to wrestler, one of four rules violations
The NCAA is alleging coaches from the now-terminated Fresno State wrestling program committed four rules infractions, including giving a student-athlete a loan to pay campus parking tickets. Coach Troy Steiner and two former assistants face disciplinary action from the NCAA, which could impact future employment at the college level, and Steiner could face termination of a contract that runs through June 2023 if found in violation of NCAA or university regulations. … rest of story at https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/college/mountain-west/fresno-state/article251965443.html?mc_cid=9db4763a85&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – ‘Gas Tank Gary’ Traub departs Ohio State wrestling via transfer portal to Oregon State
COLUMBUS – Making the best of a bad situation and flipping the script is an admirable talent in any discipline, let alone sports. By the quirks of the coronavirus pandemic and the leniency of the NCAA through their transfer portal rules, former Sycamore wrestler and Ohio State fan-favorite “Gas Tank Gary” Traub will flip more opponents, just not in Columbus. With NCAA athletes being granted an extra year due to COVID-19 and coming off a limited season due to injury and illness, heavyweight Traub will pack his lunch bucket and work ethic and head 2,278 miles away for Corvallis, Oregon, home of the Oregon State Beavers.
When reached about his new opportunity out west, Traub was fishing for bluegill in Blue Ash. Corvallis has bigger ponds and bigger fish and Traub is happy he took the bait to visit and receive their offer. … rest of story at https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/high-school/high-school-sports/2021/05/04/fan-favorite-gas-tank-gary-traub-departs-ohio-state-for-oregon-state/4940148001/?mc_cid=2f6eda67bb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – Oregon State Wrestling Announces Team Awards
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team announced its team awards on Thursday evening as it celebrated the season with its fans during a virtual banquet.
Eight Beaver wrestlers – Grant Willits, Devan Turner, Ryan Reyes, J.J. Dixon, Matthew Olguin, Lane Stigall, Hunter Willits, and Jason Shaner – were garnered with recognition at the banquet.
Grant Willits was the recipient of the Robin Reed Award as the Most Outstanding Wrestler this season. The redshirt junior earned his third-straight NCAA qualifying bid, along with his second Pac-12 individual championship at 141-pounds. The Pueblo, Colorado native, finished first on the team this season with an 11-4 record and 7-2 dual record as he started all nine duals at 141 for OSU. He was 3-0 in matches decided by major decision and 6-3 in decisions.
The Bill Brickey Most Dedicated Wrestler Award went to Devan Turner. He became a back-to-back Pac-12 Champion at 133-pounds this season after going 2-0 in the Pac-12 Tournament, earning his third straight bid to the NCAA Championships. Turner reached the third round of the consolation bracket at the NCAA Championships and finished the year with three wins over ranked opponents.
In his first season in a Beaver singlet, Ryan Reyes claimed the Joe Wells Team Impact Award. Reyes earned a second-place finish in the Pac-12 Tournament and his first trip to the NCAA Championships at 184. He started eight of nine duals for Oregon State at 184-pounds with 12 of his 13 matches being decided by decision. … rest of story at https://osubeavers.com/news/2021/5/20/oregon-state-wrestling-announces-team-awards.aspx?mc_cid=3a3b8bc793&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And OSU Adds Graduate Transfers Harvey and Crooks
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State wrestling team has added graduate transfers Tanner Harvey and Cory Crooks, the program announced Tuesday afternoon. They will both join the program in the fall.
Harvey, who wrestles at 184, joins the Beavers after spending the last three seasons at American University. … rest of story at https://osubeavers.com/news/2021/4/20/wrestling-osu-adds-graduate-transfers-harvey-and-crooks.aspx?mc_cid=1a96ae13a8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – CBU Wrestling Continues To Build Excitement For the Future – A Season in Review
RIVERSIDE – It was a unique, challenging season across the board for collegiate wrestling, but California Baptist University wrestling continued to improve and make history in year three of its NCAA Division I membership in the 2020-21 season.
Like the rest of the country, the Lancers dealt with a postponed, shortened season that included cancellations and an ever-evolving schedule throughout the campaign. CBU still found time to make some history and build up even more anticipation for the future when it accepted conditional membership status from the Big 12 Conference starting in 2022-23. … rest of story at https://cbulancers.com/news/2021/4/8/cbu-wrestling-continues-to-build-excitement-for-the-future-a-season-in-review.aspx?mc_cid=480d7959b9&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – Evan Wick to Transfer to Cal Poly
Today, three-time NCAA All-American Evan Wick made his transfer destination public. Wick will be returning to his home state of California to compete for the Mustangs of Cal Poly. He, along with 2021 All-American Bernie Truax, will form an impressive 1-2 punch for Jon Sioredas’ team at 165 and 174 lbs. This will mark the first time since the 2006-07 season that the Mustangs have a pair of returning All-Americans on the roster. Evan’s younger brother, Luka, is set to enroll as a true freshman for Cal Poly in 2021-22, too.
Competing for Wisconsin during his first three years of collegiate competition, Wick wrestled in the NCAA third place bout as a freshman and sophomore before being named an NWCA All-American during the 2020 campaign. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24680?mc_cid=57d52f8457&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Pac-12 Conference announces series of steps to bolster wrestling membership
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference announced today a series of measures to strengthen and grow the sport of wrestling in the Conference, including an initiative to add members to its wrestling ranks beyond the current membership of six programs for the first time in more than a decade. With the recent reinstatement of the Stanford University wrestling program, the Pac-12 is committed to building upon the foundation of success earned this past season, which included an individual NCAA champion, a fourth-place team finish at NCAA championships and eight All-American honors. The decision to seek additional wrestling members represents a significant commitment to both bolster competitive opportunities and success for Pac-12 wrestling student-athletes, and strengthen collegiate wrestling on the West Coast.
To support the growth of Pac-12 wrestling, the Conference recently adjusted some of its wrestling policies, including the following:
The Conference eliminated a restriction that capped the number of wrestling affiliates to the minimum number needed to keep NCAA AQ status. … rest of story at https://pac-12.com/article/2021/06/02/pac-12-conference-announces-series-steps-bolster-wrestling-membership?mc_cid=08007c6b87&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – Chris Chionuma Promoted to Associate Head Wrestling Coach
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Chris Chionuma, heading into his fourth season with the Cal Poly wrestling team, has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, beginning Thursday. “Coach Chewy has made an extraordinary impact on the Cal Poly student-athletes’ development over his first three years as Head Assistant Wrestling Coach,” said Mustang head coach Jon Sioredas. “Our purpose at Cal Poly is to help develop and shape remarkable men for life after wrestling. Coach Chewy not only consistently champions our core values, but he has a sheer focus on our character development with his passionate approach to our sport and to life.”
Chionuma, a former Oklahoma State wrestler and Big XII Conference champion, was hired as Cal Poly’s Head Assistant Wrestling Coach in July 2018. He had spent the previous three years at Army West Point, helping guide the Black Knights, who qualified 12 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships in that time. He also served as head coach at Ouachita Baptist University, an NCAA Division II school, which finished fifth at the NCAA Division II National Championships under his leadership. “He truly raises the level of everyone around him, including myself,” Sioredas said. “He is one of the most genuine people I have had the pleasure to work alongside and I am proud and excited for him to receive this much-earned promotion to become our Associate Head Coach.”
Chionuma is a meticulous recruiter with a keen eye on targeting student-athletes who can also handle the academic rigors. His recruiting experience has transitioned nicely to Cal Poly, where the average incoming GPA exceeds 4.0.
Chionuma’s primary focus has been on the mid to upper weights. … rest of story at https://gopoly.com/news/2021/6/30/chris-chionuma-promoted-to-associate-head-wrestling-coach.aspx?mc_cid=3c07ff5887&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA Division I News (2021) – # 25 {East Coast}
TDR Editor’s Notes ; The following are articles and reports from schools mostly in New York and New Jersey yet also other ones in the Northeast. A new head coach at Cornell, new assistants at American and Brown are included. Keep on wrestling and encouragin others to follow our sport. E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2659 (8/12/21)
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1 } – Mike Grey Tabbed To Lead Cornell University Wrestling Program
ITHACA, N.Y. – Former Big Red All-American Mike Grey ’11 has been named the David R. Dunlop ’59 Head Coach of Wrestling it was announced today by Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education at Cornell. Change comes to the Big Red wrestling program following the departure of long-time head coach Rob Koll to Stanford.
Grey has served the Cornell wrestling program as an assistant coach for the past 11 years, starting as a volunteer assistant in 2011 before earning a full-time assistant coaching position in 2013. In 2019, Grey was promoted to associate head coach and has long been considered one of the nation’s top head coaching targets.
“Mike has been an instrumental part of the Big Red’s success since his time as an undergraduate, and more than a decade of Cornell wrestlers have grown into All-Americans and national champions under his tutelage,” Noel said. “The program is in great hands and will remain in position to build on its successes on and off the mat. I’m excited that Mike has the full endorsement of Coach Koll and Big Red legend Kyle Dake ’13, who will continue to commit time to the program as he trains for the upcoming Olympics, as well as the alumni and current student-athletes.” … rest of story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Mike-Grey-Tabbed-To-Lead-Cornell-30-5-2021
And Cornell Tabs Mike Grey As Rob Koll’s Replacement
Cornell didn’t look long or far to find Rob Koll’s successor, replacing their longtime leader with his top understudy Cornell didn’t look long or far to find Rob Koll’s replacement. The Big Red acted quickly and stayed in-house, replacing their longtime leader with his top understudy. Associate head coach Mike Grey has been promoted to take over in Ithaca. He replaces Koll, who spent 28 seasons guiding the Big Red before leaving to take the head coaching position at Stanford. Grey, a two-time All-American for the Big Red, has been part of the Cornell staff since 2011 and was elevated to the program’s associate head coach position in 2019. He spoke that year during an interview with FloWrestling about his desire to one day become a head coach. … rest of story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7068235-cornell-tabs-mike-grey-as-rob-kolls-replacement?mc_cid=22b0f00134&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – ‘Dream come true:’ New Jersey wrestling legend Mike Grey takes over as Cornell coach
Mike Grey has been named the Cornell University wrestling coach.
An assistant for the past 11 years, Grey was elevated after long-time head coach Rob Koll left for Stanford.
With a 317-101-5 record in 28 years, Koll is not only Cornell’s all-time wins leader, but also made Ivy League history (125-9-1). Cornell athletic director Andy Noel credited Koll with advancing “Cornell wrestling from a regional contender to a national power.”
Grey helped mold the careers of Cornell lightweights like Yianni Diakomihalis, Vito Arujau and Nahshon Garrett. With Grey on staff, Cornell has gone 111-27 in dual meets, including 44-1 in Ivy League matches. He has helped the program to eight Ivy League titles, six EIWA titles and eight NCAA top 10 team finishes. Big Red athletes have won nine NCAA titles, 31 All-America honors, 31 EIWA titles and 41 first-team All-Ivy honors over that span. … rest of story at https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/sports/college/2021/05/30/nj-wrestling-delbarton-grad-mike-grey-takes-over-cornell-coach/5272191001/?mc_cid=22b0f00134&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And FRANK PERRELLI NAMED HEAD COACH OF SPARTAN COMBAT RTC
Frank Perrelli, a long-time nationally ranked Senior freestyle wrestler and an alumnus of Cornell, will return to Ithaca to serve as head coach of the Spartan Combat RTC, which is located there. Perrelli was welcomed back today through Spartan Combat RTC’s social platforms. They posted “Frank Perrelli is our new head coach,” then posted “Welcome back Frank.” Perrelli issued this statement on his social media. “I missed the atmosphere at Cornell. Ithaca is a very unique place. It will be fun to feel that same energy I felt in college, but with a different perspective. Instead of working on my own wrestling and being a leader of the team, I can’t wait to help other guys improve and lead from the sidelines.” Perrelli, a New Jersey native, was an All-American for the Big Red, placing fourth his senior year. He has placed as high as second at the U.S. Senior Nationals in freestyle … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/July/02/Frank-Perrelli-named-head-coach-of-Spartan-Combat-RTC?mc_cid=cbfa48fa54&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – NICK GWIAZDOWSKI JOINS SPARTAN COMBAT RTC AND WILL TRAIN AT CORNELL
Spartan Combat RTC announced today that two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski had signed to move to Ithaca, N.Y. and the Cornell campus to continue his training at the international level. Gwiazdowski, a member of the Titan Mercury WC, won two NCAA titles for NC State, then remained in Raleigh, N.C. to train with the Wolfpack RTC. Gwiazdowski made three straight U.S. Senior World Teams at 125 kg, and placed second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in April. He returns to his home state of New York, where he was a two-time New York state champion for Duanesburg High School (in the Albany area), and was a NCAA All-American as a freshman at Binghamton University, which is not far from Ithaca. Gwiazdowski gave a detailed explanation of his decision to change training location on his Rokfin channel. He thanked the Wolfpack RTC and those affiliated with him during his time in Raleigh for all they did for him during his time there. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/June/25/Gwizz-to-Spartan-Combat-RTC?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Wrestling Adds Vinson, Russell To Coaching Staff
ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell wrestling program has solidified its coaching staff under new head coach Mike Grey ’11 with the addition of former Big Red assistant Donnie Vinson as associate head coach and two-time NCAA champion Kellen Russell as an assistant.
Vinson most recently was on the staff at NC State from 2017-21 under his college coach at Binghamton, Pat Popolizio. The Wolfpack had a pair of top six NCAA team finishes, won four ACC team titles, had nine All-Americans, three individual NCAA finalists and crowned Michael Macchiavello national champion at 197 pounds in 2018. In four years, NC State posted a 52-6 dual meet record (18-2 in the ACC). Vinson also served as a coach with the Wolfpack Wrestling Club and was involved with the Wolfpack RTC. During his four seasons, NC State took fourth at the 2017 NCAA Championships
In his first stint on the Big Red coaching staff from 2014-17, Vinson was part of a staff that included three Division I head coaches (Grey, Rob Koll at Stanford and Damion Hahn of South Dakota State). During that three-year run, Vinson helped tutor three NCAA champions and two runners-up and 11 total All-Americans. Cornell qualified a school-record nine wrestlers for NCAA’s in his first two years and won New York State, Ivy League and EIWA titles each year Vinson was on the sidelines. … rest of story at https://cornellbigred.com/news/2021/7/6/wrestling-adds-vinson-russell-to-coaching-staff.aspx?mc_cid=9b69983a38&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – Dellavecchia Makes History for Rider While Overcoming Silent Battle
It’s no secret that collegiate and elite-level wrestling demands a tremendous amount of discipline, dedication, and unmatched work ethic from its athletes. The everyday challenges of scholastic pressure coupled with high-caliber losses, injuries, cutting copious amounts of weight, and intrinsic adversities is an all too familiar scenario for Jesse Dellavecchia, a redshirt senior who wrestles for Rider University.
Dellavecchia, originally from Great River, New York (located on Long Island), became Rider’s first-ever MAC Champion in 2020 and 2021 at 157lbs, while also becoming Rider’s first NCAA finalist in 2021 at 157lbs; dropping a 4-0 decision to Iowa State’s David Carr. He also became Rider’s 18th NCAA All-American. Before Dellavecchia made the NCAA finals, only five Rider wrestlers had reached the third-place bout: Lou DiSerafino (1980), John Lucerne (1985), Adam Derengowski (1991), Rider’s current head coach John Hangey (1993), and Doug Umbehauer (2009). To top off his career, Dellavecchia became Rider’s first-ever MAC Wrestler of the Year.
From a spectator’s perspective, Jesse Dellavecchia looks like every other insanely talented wrestler, right? Making it to the finals in tremendous fashion by pinning undefeated, #1 ranked Ryan Deakin. Well, you’re wrong.
Unbeknownst to most, Jesse has fought a battle with mental health for a majority of his collegiate wrestling career; internal and external pressures completely consuming him. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five adults suffer from at least one mental health disorder in their lifetime. Athletes for Hope – an association that aims to educate, encourage, and assist athletes – found that 35% of athletes suffer from a mental health illness during their career. Prior to Rider University, Dellavecchia wrestled for Binghamton University where he posted a 15-9 record as a freshman. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24634?mc_cid=4557ffe1b6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Ward Hires Dellavecchia to Complete 2021-22 Wrestling Staff
WEST POINT, N.Y. – In preparation for his eighth season at the helm of the Army wrestling team, head coach Kevin Ward announced that Jesse Dellavecchia will join his staff for the 2021-22 slate on Wednesday afternoon. Dellavecchia, a 2021 NCAA All-American at Rider University, will serve as a volunteer assistant coach.
“Adding Jesse to our staff is a huge boost to our program and fits into our vision of the type of people we want helping guide our athletes towards their goals,” Ward said. “As an athlete, Jesse showed incredible self-belief and determination in becoming a two-time all American and NCAA finalist during his competitive career. He is one of the most promising young coaches in the country, and his experiences overcoming the odds in competing at the highest levels of NCAA wrestling will be a huge benefit to our program.” … rest of story at https://goarmywestpoint.com/news/2021/6/11/ward-hires-dellavecchia-to-complete-2021-22-wrestling-staff.aspx?mc_cid=84503a987c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – Binghamton Adds 2020 DIII Freshman of the Year Ryan Anderson
Binghamton got a big transfer announcement today as Ryan Anderson of DIII’s Centenary University in Hackettstown, New Jersey gave Kyle Borshoff’s team a verbal commitment. Anderson was named the Freshman of the Year by D3Wrestle.com in 2020 after he went 30-3 and won a championship at the Mideast Regional while competing at 149 lbs. The 2020 DIII National Tournament was wiped out by Covid, so Anderson was unable to finish his promising freshman campaign. His initial season with Centenary saw him rack up 15 falls, which was the fourth-highest mark in school history. Anderson did not lose to a DIII opponent and did not suffer a loss after a setback at the East Stroudsburg Open in early November.
Anderson spent time as a senior at Bethlehem Catholic (PA) ranked number one in the nation after winning the 2018 Walsh Ironman. The opponent that Anderson defeated in the finals was Jaden Abas, who went on to AA at the 2021 NCAA Championships. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24678?mc_cid=3ae16b2048&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – EIWA Conference Report with Austin Sommer (6/19/21)
Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat’s collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent’s will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. Our EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer sits down to discussion recent transfers within the conference, coaching changes at American and Cornell, along with some open coaching positions. And we have our first EIWA schedule of the year! … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24694?mc_cid=df40ca5986&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And EIWA Report with Austin Sommer (7/9/2021)
Our EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer stops by to talk about some of the big coaching changes in the conference, along with new vacancies. Plus the cooking and field goal kicking abilities of some of the EIWA coaches. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24756?mc_cid=4c85391443&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Five Schools I’d Love to See Add Wrestling in the EIWA
If you follow college wrestling, you would know there was a huge success story in the past two months. Stanford wrestling made its incredible return. It was cut during COVID, along with ten other sports. Amazingly, all sports were reinstated a year later. In addition to this, there has been a recent influx of wrestling programs starting from scratch (mainly at the D2, D3, and NAIA levels). Some of these programs have been added both men’s and women’s wrestling. It is insane how fast the sport is evolving, while spreading into different areas – especially the southern part of the country. This area is not known for its wrestling, but the landscape may be starting to change. This had me thinking about which schools would be great additions to the EIWA Conference. I made my decisions based on the school’s geographical location, academic requirements, and size of the school. Plus, the school should not belong to another conference that already has wrestling. This is why a school like Syracuse is not on my list. It used to be an EIWA member, but if the school were to reinstate the program, it would be included in the ACC conference. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24769?mc_cid=f4f15d3e7b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – SIX TO JOIN PRINCETON WRESTLING PROGRAM FROM THE CLASS OF 2025
With an eye toward returning to competition this winter, the Princeton wrestling program has added six from the Class of 2025, a group that will join the nine wrestlers the program introduced a year ago from the initial Class of 2024 in preparing for their first collegiate action.
Here’s a look at the Class of 2025:
Chloe Ayres
Princeton, N.J. • Princeton HS • 125
Ayres, who was ranked fourth in the nation at 117 as of June 2021 by FloWrestling, finished her high school career with a 20-0 record against girls and 31-17 against boys. Ayres was a three-time state champion, a Super 32 champion, and a Fargo All-American during her career. Ayres is the daughter of Princeton head coach Chris Ayres. … rest of story at https://goprincetontigers.com/news/2021/7/9/six-to-join-princeton-wrestling-program-from-the-class-of-2025.aspx?mc_cid=4c85391443&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – Phipps Named Wrestling Graduate Assistant Coach
The Seton Hill wrestling program would like to welcome Irwin native, Drew Phipps as their newest addition to the coaching staff. Along with coaching, Phipps will be fulfilling their graduate assistant role and obtaining a twoy ear MBA degree through Seton Hill University.
Prior to Seton Hill, Phipps, a 2020 Bucknell graduate, served as an assistant coach at his alma mater during to the 2020-2021 season. Although the season was condensed due to Covid-19, he successfully helped coach and produce Bucknell’s first All-American in over 10 years.
Before his coaching journey began, Phipps wrestled for Bucknell an accumulated 99 career wins. He was a two time NCAA qualifier, three time conference place winner, one time conference finalist, and was the 19th seed at 197lbs heading into the NCAA tournament before it was cancelled due to Covid-19 complications. Additionally, Phipps was a four year team captain, a member of three NWCA All-Academic teams, earned three EIWA Academic Achievement awards, and is slated as the 11th most winningest wrestler in Bucknell history. … rest of story at https://athletics.setonhill.edu/news/2021/7/9/phipps-named-wrestling-graduate-assistant-coach.aspx?mc_cid=4c85391443&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – Interview with American Head Coach Jason Borrelli
Earlier this week, InterMat visited the campus of American University and spoke with its new head coach Jason Borrelli. Coach Borrelli talks about the adversity that he, his team, and staff faced at Stanford during the last year. Now at American, Borrelli talks about what was attractive about his new position and how the future is bright in the EIWA. We close by talking about milkshakes and his video game marathon while in college at Central Michigan.
… rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24772?mc_cid=fb87a783fb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And The Pulse With Andy Hamilton: Borrelli’s Ready To Build
… full story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7117512-the-pulse-with-andy-hamilton-borrellis-ready-to-build?mc_cid=fd10261731&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Alex Tirapelle Named Associate Head Coach of American University Wrestling
WASHINGTON –Alex Tirapelle has made the move from Stanford to American with head wrestling coach Jason Borrelli, and joins Borrelli’s staff as associate head coach for the program. Tirapelle has past experience in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) as a three-year head coach at Penn from 2014-17. “AU Wrestling has added one of the best coaches in the sport to our staff,” said Borrelli. “I am so thrilled to welcome Alex, Amy and their three young children to the AU Wrestling family. Alex leads with integrity, … rest of story at https://aueagles.com/news/2021/7/13/alex-tirapelle-named-associate-head-coach-of-american-university-wrestling.aspx?mc_cid=48744dd3ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – Chance Marsteller to Train at Navy – Marine Corps RTC
The Navy-Marine Corps Regional Training Center announced their latest addition on Tuesday as two-time Lock Haven All-American, Chance Marsteller, will join the team. The move reunites Marsteller with Navy head coach Cary Kolat, who coached Marsteller at the club level while in high school.
Marsteller and Kolat are perhaps the two best high schooler’s ever to come out of Pennsylvania. Both were undefeated four-time state champions. Chance was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the state tournament on three occasions.
Following high school, Marsteller enrolled at Oklahoma State University and redshirted immediately. During the 2015-16 season, Marsteller competed at 157 lbs for the Cowboys, sputtered to a 6-5 record, and had difficulty maintaining the weight. He would later transfer to Lock Haven.
Back home in Pennsylvania, Marsteller experienced a renaissance and qualified for the NCAA Championships both years competing for the Bald Eagles. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24730?mc_cid=7334e288ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Meet Lehigh’s Newest Dual-Sport Wrestler: Gaige Garcia
We rarely see a collegiate wrestler compete in other sports, yet Gaige Garcia continues to “wow” people with his success on and off the wrestling mat. Earlier this month, Garcia announced his transfer from Michigan to Lehigh via his Instagram. To get his full story, I reached out to learn more about Lehigh’s newest dual-sport athlete. There is no doubt that Gaige Garcia has elite athletic talent. At Southern Columbia High School, he excelled at football, wrestling, and track & field. Although he spent a lot of his training time off the mat, Garcia argues that focusing on other sports helped him become a better wrestler. … rest of story at https://www.fancowrestling.com/meet-lehighs-newest-dual-sport-wrestler-gaige-garcia/?mc_cid=fd10261731&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – TJ Dudley Joins Wrestling Staff
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University wrestling has added TJ Dudley – a 2016 NCAA finalist and three-time NCAA All-American at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln – as the program’s volunteer assistant coach, Brown head coach Todd Beckerman announced on Tuesday. “TJ was an outstanding wrestler at Nebraska, and we know that he will bring his experience of competing for NCAA championships here to Brown,” Beckerman said. “We look forward to having TJ work closely with our upper weights.” Dudley placed in the top-eight at 184 pounds at the NCAA Championships as a sophomore, junior, and senior, earning All-American status in all three seasons. He finished as high as second place at 184 pounds at the 2016 NCAAChampionships. “I am honored and excited to begin working with the Brown wrestling program,” Dudley said. “I would like to thank Coach Beckerman for giving me the opportunity to join a program on the rise.” … rest of story at https://brownbears.com/news/2021/7/20/tj-dudley-joins-wrestling-staff.aspx?mc_cid=fd10261731&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Wrestling History (2021) – # 8
TDR Editor’s Notes ; A monthly look back or upon some wrestling history. Enjoy this selection of articles about historic wrestlers. Keep Wrestling onward! E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com
Blog # 2958 (8/11/21)
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1 } – Outstanding American Honoree Collins Passes Away
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was saddened to learn that Michael Collins, honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an Outstanding American in the Charter Class of 1992, passed away on Wednesday, at the age of 90. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the moon, Collins had the most important job on two worlds. As command pilot, it was his assignment to take his fellow astronauts to the moon, and to bring them home safely.
Collins competed as a varsity wrestler while attending St. Albans Prep School in Washington, D.C. “On behalf of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors and staff, I want to express our sincere sympathies to the family of Michael Collins and to our nation,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “Michael inspired generations as an astronaut and with his character, which he said, during his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1992, was ‘substantially shaped through his wrestling experiences.’ We are proud to recognize Michael as a member of the Hall of Fame.” … rest of story at https://nwhof.org/news/outstanding-american-honoree-collins-passes-away
2 } – ISU Wrestling Legend Bruce Burnett Honored with Hall of Fame Induction
POCATELLO, Idaho – Former two time Big Sky champion, and team USA Wrestling coach, Bruce Burnett has been elected into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Bruce was voted into the HOF last year, but due to COVID-19 the official induction ceremony will be held June 5 in Stillwater Oklahoma.
Burnett came to Idaho State in the fall of 1970, but before his legendary stint in Pocatello began he was already tearing the mat up in the California Junior College ranks. Burnett was a two time California State Junior College champion for Bakersfield Junior College, ending his two year career with a 55-3 record. This made Burnett one of the highest ranking recruits in the nation going into the 1970 school year.
Head coach of the 1970 ISU wrestling team, Tom Jewell, made recruiting Burnett a top priority.
The bond between a coach and their athletes is something that can never be fully understood by anyone except those two individuals. Burnett says that Jewell was a great recruiter, but more importantly a great man. The final selling point was Jewell’s ability to target Burnett’s love for the outdoors, and connecting that love to Pocatello.
… rest of story at https://isubengals.com/news/2021/5/25/general-isu-wrestling-legend-bruce-burnett-honored-with-hall-of-fame-induction.aspx?mc_cid=9bb22a2b55&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – #225 Kendall Cross – 2x Olympian and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Kendall Cross is a 2x Olympian and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist. In this episode we review some of the big matches that are likely to go down at the 2020 Olympic Team Trials, including Jordan Burroughs vs Kyle Dake and J’den Cox vs Kyle Snyder. We also talk about Kendall’s experience at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Trials. Please enjoy!
PRESENTED BY SPARTAN COMBAT
This episode is brought to you Tokyo Dreams, the all-access, behind the scenes, vlog on Kyle Dake, Yianni Diakomihalis, Vito Arujua and Gabe Dean. … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/225-kendall-cross-2x-olympian-and-1996-olympic-gold-medalist/?mc_cid=b369974b64&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – Dan Hodge Tribute Series: Jim Ross
One of the most iconic voices in the world of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for decades has been Jim Ross. “Ol J.R.” has anchored television broadcasts dating back to the territory era and has been a fixture ringside for some of the biggest spots in television history. When it comes to collegiate and international wrestling, there isn’t a lot of crossover with Ross, but there was when it came to his personal hero, Danny Hodge. Episode 662 of the Short Time Wrestling Podcast talks with Ross about his relationship with Hodge, that dates back to the 1970s, but his affinity for Hodge the wrestler, which started as a youth in his native Oklahoma. Join Ross as he breaks down what Hodge could be like in today’s world of sports entertainment, traveling with Hodge and how tough he actually was. The Dan Hodge Tribute Series will feature interviews … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/short-time/dan-hodge-tribute-series-jim-ross/?mc_cid=08007c6b87&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Dan Hodge Tribute Series: Gerry Brisco
When it comes to telling stories about Danny Hodge, Gerry Brisco could tell you thousands. For years, Brisco and Hodge traveled together in the territory days of professional wrestling. Both Oklahoma natives, Hodge wrestled at Oklahoma while Gerry and his brother Jack wrestled at Oklahoma State. With a college career behind him, Gerry and Jack became a top-drawing tag team tandem back in the day, but Gerry credits his training and development in the business to Hodge. On the latest edition of the Short Time Wrestling Podcast, Brisco talks about Hodge’s affinity for pie and ice cream, crushing apples, … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/short-time/dan-hodge-tribute-series-gerry-brisco/?mc_cid=8610e5f1be&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – ADAM HALL REFLECTS ON FAMILY, WRESTLING AND ASIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE
As a part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2021, USA Wrestling has had conversations with leading representatives in the sport to share their stories and celebrate their success and impact on the wrestling community.
Adam Hall, currently the associate head coach at North Carolina State University, has been a steady presence in the national spotlight in wrestling for over a decade. Hall ranks second in all-time wins at Boise State (122), earning All-American status twice and qualifying for the NCAA tournament four times. He took fifth at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Team Trials and saw time coaching at Columbia before stepping into a coaching role with the Wolfpack.
Hall is outspoken about the impact that his Asian heritage has had on his career, and how he proudly represents his heritage both on and off the mat. His mother Linda’s extended family is from Japan and, according to Hall, she has truly has helped to instill a competitive and driven mindset. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/May/25/Adam-Hall-AAPI-Celebration?mc_cid=4a470838b6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – Daniel Dennis: My Greatest Loss
Daniel Dennis of Iowa faced Jayson Ness of Minnesota in 133-pound finals of the 2010 NCAA championships in Omaha, Nebraska. Both were seniors and both were wrestling in their final college match. Dennis led 4-2 with less than 10 seconds remaining before Ness scored a takedown and two nearfall points for a 6-4 win. Ness finished the season undefeated and was a four-time All-American and 2010 NCAA champion. Dennis finished the season 22-4 and was a two-time All-American, placing seventh in 2009 and second in 2010. The former Hawkeye star eventually made the 2016 Olympic team at 57 kilograms and is the current head coach of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. … rest of story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1622092679789&twSessionId=qzjcilwezh&postId=1182835135&mc_cid=9bb22a2b55&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And EPISODE 99 OF MAT CHAT WITH DAVID MIRIKITANI FEATURING GUEST TADAAKI HATTA IS OUT NOW
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, David Mirikitani interviewed the legendary Tadaaki Hatta on episode 99 of Mat Chat. Hatta was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. in the 1960s to wrestle at Oklahoma State University, where he became a NCAA champion and a two-time Big Eight champion. Over the years, Hatta has served as an Olympic coach for the U.S., Japan and Mexico. He is also an accomplished artist and published author. .. rest of story linked at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/May/25/Mat-Chat-Episode-99?mc_cid=4a470838b6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And A SPECIAL ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH EDITION OF MAT CHAT WITH DAVID MIRIKITANI IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING AND DOWNLOAD
On this special edition of Mat Chat, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Weighing In cohost Mark Ostrander interviews Mat Chat host David Mirikitani. The pair discuss David’s experience growing up as an Asian American and his journey through wrestling as a competitor, a coach and now a member of the wrestling media. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/May/29/Mat-Chat-special-edition?mc_cid=cd4ee7a97a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – SPECIAL: The Kurt Angle Show Ep. 18 – Dave Schultz and Kurt’s time with Foxcatcher
On this episode of The Kurt Angle Show, listen as Kurt and Conrad discuss David Schultz, the amateur wrestler who won an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1984, who was tragically murdered in 1996 just as Kurt prepared to win an Olympic gold medal. Most people know about this story from the Netflix documentary film, “Team Foxcatcher,” or from the 2014 film “Foxcatcher.” Today’s show is all about David’s story.
Full show notes and description available at https://cumuluspodcastnetwork.com/pods/the-kurt-angle-show/
The Kurt Angle Show begins a new chapter in the Patreon world. Kurt joins Conrad’s four other host at http://www.ADFREESHOWS.com, the largest collection of wrestling legends on one channel. ADFREESHOWS.com will have every podcast ad free and early, plus bonus content you won’t get anywhere else. Join today … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/short-time/special-the-kurt-angle-show-ep-18-dave-schultz-and-kurts-time-with-foxcatcher/?mc_cid=7074fa6854&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – Throwback: 1974 Junior Nationals in Iowa City
Junior Nationals 1974: Iowa City becomes Wrestling’s capital
By John Hoke, The Young Wrestler
Pictured: 1974 Junior National Champion John Bowlsby of Waterloo West High School in Waterloo, Iowa.
For three hot days in July Iowa City, Iowa, became the wrestling capitol of the country as the University of Iowa entertained the fourth annual national junior competition of the United States Wrestling Federation and the top young wrestlers of the nation.
The competition began July 25 with Greco-Roman, and 216 entries elected to try their skills in the style that does not permit holds below the waist, a style in which the United States has a very poor record in international competition because it is so definitely different from our prevailing styles in scholastic and collegiate wrestling. This summer competition, it is hoped, will eventually improve our efforts internationally. … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/blog/throwback-1974-junior-nationals-in-iowa-city/?mc_cid=b1fff1ca32&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – #243 Dan Gable Tells Unbelievable Story about Rick Sanders (2x Olympic Silver Medalist)
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Dan Gable is a 15x NCAA National Champion coach for the University of Iowa and 2x World Champion, winning the 1971 Worlds and 1972 Olympic Gold Medal. In this episode Dan shares a story about Rick Sanders (2x Olympic Silver Medalist) that you’re not going to want to miss. Enjoy!
PRESENTED BY SPARTAN COMBAT
This episode is presented by Spartan Combat. … rest of the story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/243-dan-gable-tells-unbelievable-story-about-rick-sanders-2x-olympic-silver-medalist/?mc_cid=3ae16b2048&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And #244 Chael Sonnen on Dake, Stanford, Cox v Snyder and Cael’s early Freestyle battles
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Chael Sonnen is a UFC legend, ESPN analyst and co-host of Ariel and the Bad Guy. As a UFC fighter, Chael battled Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and many others in a HOF-caliber career. As a wrestler, he was an All American for the University of Oregon. In this episode, Chael and I breakdown current events including
-Stanford hiring Rob Koll
-Team USA’s training camp in Atlanta … rest of story at https://wrestlingchangedmylife.com/244-chael-sonnen-on-dake-stanford-cox-v-snyder-and-caels-early-freestyle-battles/?mc_cid=57d52f8457&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – Dan Hodge Tribute Series: Jack Roller
For over 40 years, Jack Roller has been putting on wrestling events around the country. Roller’s World of Wrestling events have been some of the most popular youth wrestling series events in history, drawing big fields and some of the sports biggest names before they were big names. On Episode 663 of the Short Time Wrestling Podcast, the Dan Hodge Tribute Series comes to a finale as Jack Roller explains how and why he started bringing Dan Hodge to his tournaments and the impact Hodge had on thousands of wrestlers long after his competitive career was over.
The Dan Hodge Tribute Series will feature interviews from historian and author Mike Chapman, … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/short-time/dan-hodge-tribute-series-jack-roller/?mc_cid=273e35accc&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And MAT CHAT EPISODE 100 FEATURING RON MIRIKITANI IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING AND DOWNLOAD
On the 100th episode of Mat Chat, Mark Ostrander and David Mirikitani interview David’s father Ron Mirikitani. Ron coached at St. Louis Community College at Meramec for 39 years. He formerly served on USA Wrestling’s board and was the president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the NJCAA. He has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fames in both wrestling and judo. … rest of story and link at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/June/07/Mat-Chat-episode-100?mc_cid=7074fa6854&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Abraham Lincoln’s Legendary Wrestling Career – This President Won Over 300 Matches!
You may know Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States, the man with the stovepipe hat, or the free-er of slaves during the Civil War. But did you know that four score and seven years ago he was also a wrestler? In this article you will learn why the man on the penny is the most badass president who ever served this country, so let’s jump into Abraham Lincoln’s wrestling career.
Humble Beginnings: Kicking Butt in Kentucky
Honest Abe may be the most famous Kentucky wrestler in the history of the United States. Technically he is a part of Illinois wrestling history, too. That’s because Abe Lincoln was born in Kentucky but moved to Illinois in 1830, with a move to Indiana in between.
Since Abe was born in the 1800’s, you may be wondering how he is even considered a wrestler since high school and college wrestling didn’t even exist back then. It’s true that wrestling wasn’t very organized, it was mostly just a show of strength. But there were competitions among men. Crowds gathered and townspeople watched and gambled as the toughest men took each other on in different styles of wrestling. A popular style at the time was collar and elbow, in which each wrestler started out face-to-face with one hand on the neck in a collar tie and the other on the elbow.
… rest of story at https://www.fancowrestling.com/abraham-lincolns-legendary-wrestling-career-this-president-won-over-300-matches/?mc_cid=95cb484a12&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – OUTSTANDING AMERICAN HONOREE AND PAST SECRETARY OF DEFENSE DONALD RUMSFELD, 88, PASSES AWAY
STILLWATER, Okla. – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was saddened to learn that Donald Rumsfeld, honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an Outstanding American in the Charter Class of 1992, passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 88.
“On behalf of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors and staff, I want to express our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Donald Rumsfeld,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “Our country has lost a great American and patriot while wrestling has lost a former high school, college and Olympic level competitor who became a great fan and advocate of our great sport.”
Rumsfeld wrestled for New Trier High School in Illinois and was captain of his state championship team. At Princeton, he was team captain and a three-time place winner in the Eastern Intercollegiates. His family shared the news Wednesday. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/June/30/Donald-Rumsfeld-passes-away?mc_cid=3c07ff5887&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Olympics – 2021 {3}
TDR Editor’s Notes ; The long delayed 2020 Olympics came to a successful close in Tokyo, Japan. The USA wrestling team did well overall. The competition needs to be expanded to 10 weight classes in each style and we hope to see this by the next Olympics in 2024. Wrestling is growing and it is a worthwhile activity to be encouraged in our schools with our youth. Keep wrestling going onward and upward.
E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2957 (8/10/21)
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1 } – Wrestling Launches Comprehensive Media Guide, Website Dedicated to Tokyo 2020
CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 27) — United World Wrestling, the international federation for the sport of wrestling, this week launched its media guide and website for Tokyo 2020, complete with biographies, photos, and videos of each competitor in an easy-to-navigate format.
TOKYO 2020 Page: https://uww.org/event/tokyo-2020
The site includes biographies for all 289 Olympians entered into the wrestling competition along with their headshots, action photos, and behind-the-scenes moments. Journalists and fans seeking to know more about the athletes will have everything they need in one easy-to-find location, including the top seeds, brackets, and emerging storylines. All photos can be used by the athletes, national federations, and media (with proper credit). … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/wrestling-launches-comprehensive-media-guide-website-dedicated-tokyo-2020?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } – Dan Gable On Olympic Gold, Making History, Forging the Future and TEAM USA in Tokyo!
Wrestling legend, Gold Medalist and Championship Coach, Dan Gable joins Dane Neal “On The Road”. Hear as Dan shares his Olympic moments and the impact on his career and the sport. Dan fills us in on this year’s team competing in Tokyo and the challenges of the pandemic as well as internationally on the world stage. Dan talks about the current state of Wrestling, popularity in more places and new ways women are making their mark.
Listen as Dan Gable tells us the story behind being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and how he took his family to the White House to be a part of it all. … rest of story at https://wgnradio.com/wgn-plus/dane-neal/dan-gable-on-olympic-gold-making-history-forging-the-future-and-team-usa-in-tokyo/?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – Women’s Freestyle Olympic Preview
Derek Levendusky takes an in-depth, weight-by-weight look at the top teams and medal contenders in Tokyo
The United States is sending arguably the strongest team the country has ever sent to the Olympics — battle-hardened, experienced, and with the confidence of knowing they can win medals at the international level.
Although there is no official team award given at the Olympics, Japan is the heavy favorite in the team race, a headline on repeat in World competitions over the last 30 years. At the last World Championships in 2019, the final standings looked like this: 1. Japan, 2. Russia, 3. United States, 4. China, 5. Ukraine.
Japan won by a wide margin with 138 points to second-place Russia’s 108. The United States earned 105 points for the third-place finish. Even so, the U.S. women showed a lot of grit and promise in 2019 at the World level, winning three gold medals for the first time at the World Championships. It also must be noted that the event in 2019 featured the 10 United World Wrestling weights featured in non-Olympic years. During Olympic years, the field shrinks to six weight classes. … rest of story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7124947-womens-freestyle-olympic-preview?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – USA’s Gray seeks Olympic gold to go with her 5 world titles
CHIBA, Japan (AP) — American wrestler Adeline Gray has done everything except win an Olympic gold medal during her outstanding career. The five-time world champion is one of the most dominant competitors ever in women’s freestyle wrestling. But misfortune struck at the 2016 Games when she lost to Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus in the quarterfinals. She finished a disappointing seventh in the 75-kilogram class while fighting through neck, shoulder and back injuries that required surgery and kept her out of action for a year.
Since healing up, she has won two more world titles. Now, she’s focused on finally getting an Olympic gold. She heads into the Tokyo Games as the No. 1 seed at 76kg. Action in her class will take place on Sunday and Monday. At 30, she knows time is ticking as she tries to add the crowning achievement to her career. “I definitely think legacy is important,” she said. … rest of story at https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-canada-olympic-team-belarus-olympic-team-russia-olympic-team-0f12c669c24dbdb1d6693412e1b3fed2?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – The Unbalanced Bracket
The unbalanced bracket. Just reading that phrase raises blood pressures, starts rants, and makes folkstyle purists wear a smug smile. Ever since United World Wrestling (UWW) went to it for World Championship and Olympic competition, starting in 2005, questions have been asked and debates have raged. Today we’ll take on one of those questions to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Does the unbalanced bracket often produce bottom-side bronze medalists that are stronger than their top-side counterparts?
One aspect of the unbalanced bracket that some have highlighted as a potential benefit is that it would seem to make a fluke bronze medalist more likely, expanding the number of countries that have a chance to medal, which could benefit struggling or emerging programs. Whether you see this as a good thing or not might depend on your role in the sport. A fan of pure competition might already think the double-bronze is a handout. Those who support a wrestler stuck on the bottom of the bracket with the three best in the weight might rage at a top side with half as many competitors. Wrestling leaders from a country that snagged an unexpected bronze and have seen their funding rise since might sing the praises of the system. Regardless of where you fall, it seems obvious that the unbalanced bracket has the potential to skew competitions. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24808?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – Tokyo Watch – 50 Profiles in 50 Days: Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we’ll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo.
7/27/21 – Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
7/20/21 – Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24813?mc_cid=eccbde8e25&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
7 } – Mijain Lopez: The Cuban kid chasing wrestling history aged 39 in Olympics
The last 40 years of Greco-Roman wrestling can be divided between the Mijain Lopez era and the Aleksandr Karelin era. The two giants are forever inked into wrestling history. But at the Olympics in Tokyo, Mijain Lopez, who has always labored in Karelin’s shadow, will have a chance to carve his own identity.
Karelin of the USSR and Russia enjoyed a seemingly untouchable reign as the king of Greco-Roman wrestling’s heavyweight division. From 1988 to 1999, he won nine straight World Championships and three straight Olympics. Known as “The Experiment”, the Russian giant was seemingly hewn from stone. At 6ft 2inch, the 128 kgs of solid muscle was a legend. He was the most fearsome wrestler to ever walk on the mat. Mijain Lopez, though a wrestling great in his own right with five world titles and three Olympic gold medals, has always been second to Karelin. … rest of story at https://www.sportskeeda.com/wrestling/mijain-lopez-the-cuban-kid-chasing-wrestling-history-aged-39-olympics?mc_cid=eccbde8e25&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – TOKYO BLOG (AUGUST 8): HISTORIC USA WRESTLING PERFORMANCE AT TOKYO GAMES IS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF
Hey, U.S. wrestling community… I hope you are feeling as good about our Olympic wrestling team back home as we are feeling about the team over here in Japan. We have a lot to be proud of, each and every American who is involved in the sport of wrestling. Our Olympic athletes came to Tokyo and had a record performance. Every time they stepped on the mat, they poured their heart and soul into their match. Although we didn’t always get the outcome we wanted, these athletes performed well under extreme pressure and were outstanding when the whistle blew and it was game time. Nine Medals. Three Gold Medals. Five men’s freestyle Medals won by just five athletes. Four women’s freestyle Medals, doubling the best previous Olympic performance by our women. Spectacular. This is our best Olympic performance. It is hard to compare this with the 1984 Olympic Team, which captured 13 medals out of 20 weight classes including nine golds. That Olympics featured a Soviet bloc boycott. I will always contend that all of those 1984 medals are worth the same as any other Olympic medals. The U.S. team in Los Angeles were historic trailblazers, also. So is our 2001 Olympic team. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/July/27/Tokyo-Blog-Heading-off-the-Tokyo?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – Willie’s Olympic-Themed Mailbag: July 30th, 2021
We’re on the eve of the (delayed) Olympics and man, it feels good to have wrestling back. The Cadet World Championships were the first “Worlds” of any kind in wrestling since the Senior competition in Nur-Sultan.
But I have a warning. Just like I have a warning before every Senior Worlds or Olympics… Hope for the best, but brace yourself for some measure of disappointment. We spend almost all of our wrestling-watching on our own Americans. We’ve seen David Taylor be a prodigy since youth. We’ve watched Kyle Dake win 4 NCAA titles and Tamyra Mensah-Stock go from up-and-coming talent to World Champ. In that way, our familiarity, and allegiances, and bias all converge to the greatest of expectations. But, I promise you, someone’s gonna break your heart.
Wrestling is a world sport. The United States is good. Not dominant, but good. And this is the oddest of circumstances. With so many delays and cancellations, there’s really much less data than ever. We don’t know how good Nurislam Sanayev is wrestling right now. We don’t know where Haji Aliev, or Artur Aleksanyan or Risako Kawai are in their training. It all leads to so much uncertainty. No one wants the USA to crush the competition more than I do. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24818?mc_cid=a5a452089c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – The college careers of the 2020 US Olympic wrestlers
The 2020 U.S. Olympic wrestling team is one of the most star-studded groups to ever represent the country on the international stage. The lineup includes Olympic champions, world champions, NCAA champions, WCWA champions and future stars. Here’s what these individuals accomplished at the collegiate level and how those experiences shaped them into the Olympians they are now. … rest of story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2021-05-10/college-careers-2020-us-olympic-wrestlers?mc_cid=812142449d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – WCL Announces Hosting of 2021 U23 & Senior World Team Trials
OTTAWA – Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is pleased to announce the hosting of the 2021 U23 & Senior World Team Trials, to select athletes for the 2021 U23 and Senior World Championships, in partnership with Saskatoon Sports Tourism and the Saskatoon Wrestling Club on September 4-5, 2021. While various locations across Canada have begun to relax some restrictions, the pandemic is not over and WCL has determined that in order to protect all the Participants, this Event will operate under a “bubble” format, … rest of story at https://wrestling.ca/wcl-announces-hosting-of-2021-u23-senior-world-team-trials/?mc_cid=42d5eec6a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – USA Claims Eight Gold Medals for Team Title on Last Day of #WrestleGuatemala
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – USA won the men’s freestyle team title on Sunday night, sweeping the gold medals at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Olympic champion and two-time World champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) dominated the 97kg weight class to earn his sixth Pan-American gold medal. In the final, he wrestled 2017 Pan Am silver medalist and three-time bronze medalist Luis PEREZ SOSA (DOM), who he defeated with an 11-0 win to secure the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler. At 86kg, David TAYLOR (USA) collected his fourth Pan Am gold. Taking on Clayton PYE (CAN), Taylor put together a 10-0 win in 24 seconds. He also owns golds from the 2018 and 2019 Pan Am Championships as well as a gold from the 2020 Pan Am Olympic Qualifier. Six Americans won gold medals in their first Senior Pan American event. … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/usa-claims-eight-gold-medals-team-title-last-day-wrestleguatemala?mc_cid=22b0f00134&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Carolinas’ Colleges’ News (2021) – # 7
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Review of some of the news from and about college wrestling teams in North and South Carolina. We welcome input. Keep on Wrestling.
Contact us at Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2956 8/9/21
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1 } – N.C. State WolfPackWrestle Recruiting Class Once Again Ranked in Top-Five
Wolfpack Wrestling welcomes 10 newcomers for 2021-22 season
RALEIGH, N.C. – After claiming its third straight ACC Championship this past March, Wolfpack Wrestling has once again reloaded with a top-five recruiting class that will be freshmen this fall.
InterMat ranked the Wolfpack’s 10-person 2021 class #4 nationally, while MatScouts has the class at #5. FloWrestling also ranked the haul #4 nationally.
The Pack’s incoming class is the fourth in the last six years to be ranked as a top-10 recruiting class nationally, including a second straight top-10 class. NC State has put together four straight top-20 classes. The 2016 recruiting class (Super Seniors in 2022) was the #1 class nationally, followed by the 2018 class being ranked #3 overall. The Wolfpack put together another top-10 class that were freshmen in 2020-21, as the Pack’s class of 2020 was ranked #8. According to FloWrestling’s latest 2021 Big Board, NC State leads the nation as the only school with four top-50 overall recruits: … rest of story at https://gopack.com/news/2021/5/17/wrestling-packwrestle-recruiting-class-once-again-ranked-in-top-five.aspx?mc_cid=a53f0e5e67&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2 } -Sentes named Rookie Coach of the Year by AWN
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – After a record setting first year at the helm, Campbell’s Scotti Sentes has been named Rookie Head Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News. Sentes, who took over as head coach of the CU program in March 2020 after spending four seasons in Buies Creek, including 2019-20 as associate head coach, led the Camels to their third straight Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2021, with eight CU wrestlers earning SoCon finals appearances. Ranked as high as No. 22 in the NCWA team poll and No. 19 by InterMat, Campbell finished the regular season at 8-1 overall, with a perfect 7-0 SoCon mark, going unbeaten in conference duals for the second straight season. Individually, four Camels were named All-SoCon, including Benjamin Barton at 157 pounds, Murphy at 174, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Chris Kober at 197, while four more earned All-Freshman Team honors. The 2021 SoCon Coach of the Year took a school record seven Camels to the NCAA Championships … rest of story at https://gocamels.com/news/2021/5/4/wrestling-sentes-named-rookie-coach-of-the-year-by-awn.aspx?mc_cid=f2268a753e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
3 } – “I want to be the first to win it all for App State”
All-American wrestler Jonathan Millner unsatisfied with national recognition
App State junior wrestler Jonathan Millner slams Chattanooga’s Tanner Smith in the 2020 Southern Conference title match. Millner is the reigning back-to-back SoCon champ at 149 pounds, and is a combined 20-0 in conference duals the past two seasons. This year, he also became the fourth All-American under App State head coach JohnMark Bentley’s leadership.
When App State junior wrestler Jonathan Millner walked off the mat at this year’s NCAA championship after earning prestigious All-American honors, he said the emotion that first overcame him was disappointment. Wait, so directly after reaching one of the most elite tiers in college sports for only the ninth time in App State history and the first time since 2017, Millner felt disappointed? “I felt like I didn’t wrestle my best the whole tournament,” Millner said.
Millner, the No. 7 seed in the 149-pound bracket, won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinals before falling 5-2 to eventual national champion Austin O’Connor of North Carolina. Millner followed that up with a 10-7 decision over Duke’s Josh Finesilver to secure top-eight and All-American status. He then dropped two more placement matches to finish eighth on the national podium. “I expect to win everything,” said Millner, a Greensboro native. “My goal going in there was to win a national title, which for some people may be far-fetched, but for me, that’s one thing I put down. I want to win it all. I want to be the first to win it all for App State.” Almost three weeks before, Millner won his second straight individual Southern Conference title, automatically qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Over the past two seasons, Millner, who didn’t start wrestling til his freshman year of high school, is a combined 20-0 in SoCon duals and tournament matches. “He expected to win the conference tournament, we all expected him to win it. It wasn’t really anything that surprised any of us,” App State head wrestling coach JohnMark Bentley said. “He’s just got bigger goals and bigger aspirations.” … rest of story at https://theappalachianonline.com/i-want-to-be-the-first-to-win-it-all-for-app-state-all-american-wrestler-jonathan-millner-unsatisfied-with-national-recognition/?mc_cid=391a23a860&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
4 } – UNC WRESTLING ADDS KIZHAN CLARKE FOR 2021-22 SEASON
CHAPEL HILL – Kizhan Clarke, a 2020 NCAA qualifier at 149 pounds for American University, where he ranks 17th in program history in wins, is transferring to wrestle next season at the University of North Carolina. “Adding a guy like Kizhan is huge,” said Head Coach Coleman Scott. “He has a wealth of knowledge and experience. He will jump right into a spot where we won’t miss a beat. We look forward to growing together and winning titles.” Boasting a career record of 79-33, Clarke was named a NWCA All-America Honorable Mention after he posted a 36-7 overall record in 2019-20. His 36 wins rank third all-time at AU for wins in a single season. “Carolina is a chance for me to change the future for me and my family. This University gives me the opportunity to strive for my Olympic dreams and achieve lifelong career aspirations,” Clarke said. … rest of story at https://goheels.com/news/2021/7/7/unc-wrestling-adds-kizhan-clarke-for-2021-22-season.aspx?mc_cid=9d57322631&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
5 } – UNC WRESTLING ANNOUNCES OPPONENTS FOR 2021-22 SEASON
CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina’s wrestling program has announced its opponents for the 2021-22 season. Coming off of its highest finish at the NCAA Championship since 1995 where the Tar Heels placed 16th, Carolina will host five matches and compete away from Carmichael Arena eight times.
Home Opponents
Campbell
Presbyterian
Duke
Arkansas Little-Rock
Pittsburgh
Away Opponents
Nebraska
Wisconsin (Prudential Center)
Rutgers (Prudential Center)
Ohio State
Appalachian State
Virginia
Virginia Tech
NC State
Exact dates and times will be announced at a later date. … rest of story at https://goheels.com/news/2021/7/20/wrestling-announces-opponents-for-2021-22-season.aspx?mc_cid=42d5eec6a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
6 } – School Record Seven Named NWCA Scholar All-Americans
Seven named was the fifth-best nationally, tops in the ACC
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State Wrestling team had a school record seven named a NWCA D1 Scholar All-American for the 2020-21 season. That mark was fourth nationally, and once again tops in the ACC. Over the past two seasons, 13 have earned the honor for the Pack.
The Pack had a pair named an Academic All-American for the fourth time in their careers. 2020 ACC Champions Daniel Bullard (Economics) and Hayden Hidlay (Non-Profit Management) both received the honor for the fourth straight year.
Both will return as Super Seniors and be enrolled in grad school courses for 2021-22. A trio of redshirt sophomores were all named for the second straight season as well: Jakob Camacho (Business Administration), Jarrett Trombley (Biological Sciences) and Trent Hidlay (Business Administration). … rest of story at https://gopack.com/news/2021/5/21/wrestling-school-record-seven-named-nwca-scholar-all-americans.aspx
7 } – Derek Brunson Earns Black Belt, Says He Will Compete In Gi & No-Gi In The Future
“My Brazilian Jiu Jitsu journey started in 2009. Twelve years later, 2021 I have received my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt from Master @renzograciebjj . In the years to come, I will be competing Gi & No Gi . My competing focus now is mma. The journey continues. GRACIE JIU JITSU!!! @renzogracieacademy
Martial Arts
NCAA Wrestling All American
20 UFC Fights
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt
UFC Champion”
Brunson, who also earned his brown belt from Gracie in September 2019, began training BJJ in 2009. He also has an impressive wrestling background, being a three-time Division II All-American wrestler during his time at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. … rest of story at https://www.jiujitsutimes.com/derek-brunson-earns-black-belt-says-he-will-compete-in-gi-no-gi-in-the-future/?mc_cid=82e9baddf8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
8 } – MatBoss Q&A: Glen Lanham, Duke head wrestling coach
Duke’s wrestling program has seen considerable success under the guidance of head coach Glen Lanham. The Blue Devils had consecutive top-25 finishes (2018-2019) and put together a streak of six consecutive years with an All-American (2015-2020). MatBoss recently caught up with Lanham to discuss this past season, Finesilver family, Jacob Kasper, expectations for this coming season and more.
As a coach, what has been the biggest challenge for you during the COVID year? Was it training? Recruiting? Lanham: I would say a combination of both. The recruiting obviously. You are not able to get in the gyms and scout guys and see what they are doing. Most of our recruits from last year didn’t have a state tournament, and then they come right in and then they’re thrust right into wrestling because the NCAA allowed them to wrestle without losing a year of eligibility. So it was a combination of that. Trying to deal with the whole mental side of kids, seniors, and freshmen coming in, and they were promised a lot more, and they got a lot less for sure. So just dealing with all that. So it was just across the board, just a lot of fires to put out, a lot of different things you’re dealing with.
You had five wrestlers compete at the U23 Nationals. How important are the international styles of wrestling to your program?
Lanham: I think it’s important from a development standpoint. You want to make sure that your guys are out there getting competition during the offseason and they are growing and competing. You can’t teach competition in a room, in a weight room or in a wrestling room. The only way you are going to get that — hone new skills — is to go out and wrestle. … rest of story at https://blog.matboss.com/matboss-qa-glen-lanham-duke-head-wrestling-coach?mc_cid=9d57322631&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
9} – Name, Image, and Likeness is Happening Thursday; Tony Ramos Joins
I’m a marketing guy and we like to cover marketing & business on this podcast, so today, UNC Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos joined the podcast again for a further discussion on the Name, Image, and Likeness rules and all the questions that remain, and some of the answers we’ve gotten. We also take a look behind the working of sponsorship & endorsement deals. … rest of story at https://www.baschamania.com/podcast/name-image-and-likeness-is-happening-thursday-tony-ramos-joins?mc_cid=7334e288ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
And Fargo Fives: Davidson assistant coach Joey Dance
Davidson assistant coach Joey Dance had success as an athlete in Fargo, winning titles at both the 16U and Junior age groups in freestyle. Now he’s back in town looking to bring in wrestlers to the academic powerhouse. Dance talks about his passion for coaching and where it came from and what they’re building at Davidson under coach Andy Lausier. Links to Follow
Daily Wrestling Newsletter: https://www.mattalkonline.com/news
Contribute: https://www.mattalkonline.com/contribute
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattalkonline
Rokfin: https://www.rokfin.com/creator/mattalkonline … rest of story at https://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/short-time/fargo2021/fargo-fives-davidson-assistant-coach-joey-dance/?mc_cid=fd10261731&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
10 } – Heil’s “hit list” wins over ranked opponents
Josh Heil has consistently notched wins over nationally ranked competitors in both the 141 lbs and 149 lbs weight classes. This article breaks down and dissects Josh Heil’s impressive “hit list” wins over nationally ranked opponents by weight class.
141 lbs.
Heil wrestled at 141 pounds in both his true freshman and redshirt junior seasons. Despite not earning any ranked wins in his true freshman campaign, he was able to secure a SoCon title and qualify for the NCAA Championships.
After a redshirt season up a weight at 149, Josh dropped back down to 141 as a redshirt junior where he picked up five wins over nationally ranked opponents. He also became a Midlands finalist, won the Southeast Open, Navy Classic, and his third SoCon title, and qualified for the NCAA Championships where the NWCA awarded him with All-American accolades (NCAA’s canceled due to pandemic). … rest of story at https://gocamels.com/news/2021/5/13/wrestling-heils-hit-list-wins-over-ranked-opponents.aspx?mc_cid=c4978adc2e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
11 } – Popolizio’s Team #Culture Leads to Expanding Coaching Tree
Ten former Wolfpack wrestlers under Popolizio have coached at D1 schools
RALEIGH, N.C. – With the NC State wrestling team, #Culture is not just a new hashtag to promote the Pack on social media. #Culture is what the coaches, staff and student-athletes believe you need to build a winning program.
It is that NC State Wrestling #Culture that has led so many into the coaching profession after being involved with head coach Pat Popolizio over the recent years.
“It is always important as a head coach to provide our staff with the proper tools they need to be successful both in our program and in the profession overall,” said Popolizio. “Many people have helped us build our #Culture, and have helped us elevate our program. “We take a lot of pride in the amount of our former wrestlers leaving NC State with their degree. As their former head coach, it is great to see so many still in love with the sport to make it a full-time commitment, especially staying at the D1 level.”
The results speak for themselves on the mat: school record seven straight top-20 finishes at NCAA Championships, school record six straight top-10 finishes in NWCA Coaches Poll, reigning three-time ACC Champions (2021, 2020, 2019), school record seven NWCA Scholar All-Americans, top-10 recruiting class four of the last six years, among the many accolades. But it is the team #Culture that is shaping both coaches and student-athletes to move into coaching roles and continue into the sport.
Eight former assistant coaches are currently at other schools, including four as head coaches. Nine former student-athletes under Popolizio have gone onto NCAA coaching jobs, including six that are currently at the D1 level.
… rest of story at https://gopack.com/news/2021/7/7/wrestling-popolizios-team-culture-leads-to-expanding-coaching-tree.aspx?mc_cid=e094d4aecd&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
12 } – @PackWrestle Announces 2021 Signing Class
RALEIGH, N.C. – Coming off three straight ACC Championships, the NC State wrestling team will add yet another highly regarded recruiting class to add into the mix for the 2021-22 collegiate season.
The Pack’s incoming class is the fourth in the last six years be be ranked as a top-10 recruiting class nationally, including a second straight top-10 class. NC State has put together four straight top-20 classes.
The 2016 recruiting class (Super Seniors in 2022) was the #1 class nationally, followed by the 2018 class being ranked #3 overall. The Wolfpack put together another top-10 class that were freshmen in 2020-21, as the Pack’s class of 2020 was ranked #8.
COMPLETE BIOS ON THE WOLFPACK’S SIGNEES (listed by tentative future weight class):
Stevo Poulin, 125 pounds
Shenendehowa, N.Y. • Shenendehowa HS
- New York did not have a full season in 2021.
- Three-time New York Division I state champion (113 as a junior, 106 as a sophomore and 99 as a freshman).
- Posted a 132-1 career record (47-0 as a junior, 44-0 as a sophomore and 41-1 as a freshman). … rest of story at https://gopack.com/news/2021/4/28/wrestling-packwrestle-announces-2021-signing-class.aspx?mc_cid=db281dc0f1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
McCall Elevated to Assistant Coach for Wolfpack Wrestling
Has been a member of the Wolfpack program since 2015
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State wrestling head coach Pat Popolizio has named Timmy McCall as an assistant coach for the Wolfpack. McCall has been in Raleigh involved with the NC State wrestling program since 2015, and now will be elevated to a full-time assistant coach.
“Timmy’s loyalty and commitment to our program over the last seven years has been unmatched,” said Popolizio. “As a head coach, it is always my goal to reward that kind of commitment I see in our room. “Anybody that has sat down and talked to Timmy knows what a special skill set he brings to our program, and he has always fit right in with our staff over the years. He has built some great relationships with so many of our current and past wrestlers, and that has helped elevate our program. I can’t wait to see how Timmy develops in this new role on our staff.”
McCall first made the move to Raleigh in 2015 as a Regional Training Center (RTC) athlete with the Woflpack Wrestling Club. In 2019, McCall was named a volunteer assistant with the Wolfpack’s collegiate program. While competing for the Wolfpack Wrestling Club, McCall took first place at the 2017 Henri Deglane Challenge and was a 2016 Bill Farrell International runner-up. He also placed second at the 2019 Grand Prix of France/Henri Deglane Challenge and seventh at the 2019 U.S. Open to qualify for the World Team Trials held in Raleigh.
During his time in Raleigh, McCall not only trained full-time but has worked extensively with Athletes in Action on NC State’s campus. McCall competed collegiately at Wisconsin, and was ranked as high as ninth nationally as a senior. He wrestled for the Badgers from 2012-15 at both 184 and 197 pounds and qualified for the NCAA Championships at 197 pounds as both a junior and senior.
He graduated from South View High School in Hope Mills, N.C., where he was a state champion and two-time NHSCA All-American. … rest of story and more at https://gopack.com/news/2021/8/3/mccall-elevated-to-assistant-coach-for-wolfpack-wrestling.aspx
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
