From NCAA to MMA: More college wrestlers are fighting on
PITTSBURGH — This is his home, and these are 18,000 of his friends, so Ben Askren doesn’t hesitate when he sees a pocket of open seats. “Are these taken?” he says to three middle-aged dudes in Iowa State gear.
How the bond between Woodley and Askren changed Missouri wrestling
The strangers immediately recognize Askren — the UFC star and former Missouri All-American wrestler — but they barely look up from the eight matches below. Here at the NCAA wrestling championships in mid-March, Askren is an A-list star, but he’s like a famous person at his own family reunion — so popular and well-known that nobody really bothers him for selfies or introductions. He’s just good ol’ Uncle Ben walking around. The Iowa State fans wave for him to come on in and have a seat. One guy squishes his legs to the side, craning his head past Askren’s body so he doesn’t have to miss a single second of the wrestling below. Askren offers an important window into the latest evolution in the sometimes delicate relationship between wrestling and MMA. It’s long been accepted that there is no better base for MMA success than wrestling, and more specifically, American folkstyle wrestling. Rest of the story at https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/26424694/more-college-wrestlers-fighting-on
Championship Wrestling Coaches – Division III
The Division III (D-III) National Championships were first held in 1974 in addition to the Division I (D-I) and Division II (D-II) championships. So far 46 championship teams have been crowned. Ten different schools have won at least one championship. Recent fans of the D-III teams may find this hard to imagine as it for the last 25 years only two teams have traded off championships. It has been a relatively safe bet that a ‘burg’ would win as Augsburg University or Wartburg College has been the champion each year. In 17 of those years the other school was the runner up or tied for that honor.
Wartburg has won 14 team championships and ranks first among the teams. Augsburg won their 13th championship in March to rank 2nd just behind Wartburg. The College of New Jersey and the State University of New York-Brockport are tied for 3rd place with 5 team titles each. Ithaca College is 5th with three titles. Montclair State University won two titles before dropping the sport in 2006 to rank 6th. The four remaining championships were won by Buffalo University, John Carroll University, St. Lawrence University and Wilkes University during a span from 1974 to 1988.
The list ranking top individual coaches is not as clear. Jeff Swenson of Augsburg has won the most D-III championships with ten in a 17 year span. He has the most as a head coach yet there is another consideration for that title. Wartbug College won the championship for three consecutive years in 2011-2013 with co-head coaches in Jim Miller and Eric Keller. With three titles this c0-head coaching team ties for 6th in ranking of coaching titles. Keller went on as the sole head coach to win four titles in the next five seasons. Thus Keller was part of the top leadership in seven championship teams. He would be tied for 2nd place with seven with Jim Miller of Wartburg. Miller coached the team to seven championships over 14 seasons before he was a co-head coach with Keller. Therefore if Miller’s three co-head coach titles are combined with ones he led by himself then he would be tied for 1st with Swenson at 10 titles. Thus we have some confusing or intertwined list like a wild scramble position often seen in college wrestling.
Wartburg has the longest streak of consecutive titles in Division III with four in the 2011-2014 championships but three consecutive is the longest for any head coach as the first three were with Miller & Keller yet with Keller continuing as the sole head coach he could be considered as having the longest with four. Swenson and Keller have both won three consecutive titles along with the Miller-Keller combination. Since the co-head coaching arrangement is distinct from a sole head coach they shall be ranked separately.
Thus Miller is 2nd on the list as he led his Wartburg College teams to seven championships on his own as the head coach. Tied for 3rd with five championships are coaches with long and successful coaching careers in Dave Icenhower of The College of New Jersey and Donald Murray of the State University of New York-Brockport. Their titles were in a 16 year period from 1977-1992 before the ‘burgs’ dominated the top spot as mentioned earlier. Keller is ranked 5th on his own and he shares a spot with Miller for 5th place tied with John Murray of Ithaca College. Current Augsburg coach, and defending champion, Jim Moulsoff is in 8th place with a pair of championships
Tied for 9th place are seven retired coaches, listed below, each with one of the remaining championships. Each of the coaches that have guided their teams to National Championships are commendable and worth recognition. Next article will look into who was the coach of championship wrestling teams in the NAIA and then National Junior Colleges.
| DIVISION III | COACH | # | First | Last |
| Augsburg University | Jeff Swenson | 10 | 1991 | 2007 |
| Wartburg | Jim Miller | 7 | 1996 | 2009 |
| T.C.N.J. | Dave Icenhower | 5 | 1979 | 1987 |
| SUNY Brockport | Donald Murray | 5 | 1977 | 1992 |
| Wartburg | Eric Keller * | 4 | 2014 | 2018 |
| Wartburg | Jim Miller/Eric Keller | 3 | 2011 | 2013 |
| Ithaca College | John Murray | 3 | 1989 | 1994 |
| Augsburg University | Jim Moulsoff * | 2 | 2015 | 2019 |
| Buffalo University # | Edward Michael | 1 | 1978 | |
| St. Lawrence Univ. ** | John Clark | 1 | 1988 | |
| Wilkes University | John Reese | 1 | 1974 | |
| Montclair St. Univ.** | Larry Sciacchetano | 1 | 1976 | |
| Augsburg University | Mark Matzek | 1 | 2010 | |
| Montclair St. Univ. ** | Steve Strellner | 1 | 1986 | |
| John Carroll Univ. | Tony DeCarlo | 1 | 1975 |
# = school now competes on the Division I level.
** = school no longer has a
team
‘* = active coach
Siena Heights University Adding Men’s & Women’s Wrestling
TDR Editor’s Notes ; The good news of expanding opportunities to wrestle keeps coming in. For this 2019-2020 season over a dozen new college women’s have been added. 16 new Men’s teams will start or be re-started while only one school is dropping their team. For next season of 2020-2021 we already have seen announcements of 10 new women’s teams and 6 men’s programs starting up.
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ADRIAN, Mich. – Siena Heights University is proud to announce the addition of men’s wrestling that will begin competition in fall 2020 with a women’s wrestling program scheduled to follow in 2021. “We are excited to bring wrestling back to the campus of Siena Heights University,” said Interim Athletic Director Sue Syljebeck. “The addition of wrestling will be great for the university as well as the region as the sport has a great tradition in Lenawee County. This will propel the program at SHU to a tradition of long-term student success.
SHU sponsored wrestling in the early 1970s for three seasons before putting the program on hiatus until the late 70s. The second stint of wrestling lasted until 1988 when it was ended indefinitely. During that time, the Saints had success as Jerry Frebes was crowned a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Regional Champion and competed in the 1985 NAIA Wrestling National Championships in Jamestown, N.D. Frebes is also the lone SHU wrestler inducted into the Siena Heights Athletics Hall of Fame (Class of 2013). Rest of the announcement story and future details at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Siena-Heights-University-Athletics-27-9-2019
10 all-time dream college wrestling matchups at every weight
Envision the ultimate wrestling matchup. Who comes to mind?
Is it one of the great freestyle matches from this summer like Daton Fix vs. Thomas Gilman or Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Zain Retherford? Or do you imagine something from recent college history such as Bo Nickal vs. Myles Martin in 2018 or Kyle Dake vs. David Taylor in 2013? Or perhaps your ultimate wrestling matchup is actually one that never occurred but would have if two of the world’s best athletes were competing at the same time?TALKING WITH TAYLOR: Learn more about the mindset of David Taylor during his career as a Nittany Lion
Picking ten dream matchups at each of the modern weight classes is a nearly impossible challenge given the enormous amount of talent that has passed through the NCAA tournament in the last eight decades. But we decided to take on that challenge anyway. Rest of the story, match-ups and even video at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2019-09-23/all-time-dream-college-wrestling-matchups-every-weight?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Daily Advance All-Area Wrestling Team: Area programs boast multiple selections to All-Area team
By Malcolm Shields, Sports Editor Monday, April 1, 2019
It was another competitive winter of wrestling in the area. Currituck, John A. Holmes, Northeastern and Pasquotank all had wrestlers advance to North Carolina High School Athletic Association individual regional tournaments this winter. Currituck and Northeastern shared the Northeastern Coastal Conference crown, while Edenton won the Albemarle Athletic Conference title.
Highlighting the 2018-2019 All-Area team is Area Wrestler of the Year in Northeastern’s Jonathan Ward.
A total of three area wrestlers won regional championships with Northeastern’s Raven Atkins taking third place at the NCHSAA Class 2A individual state championship tournament in his weight class.
Here is more on the All-Area team:
Samuel Hodge, Currituck, So.: Northeastern Coastal Conference champion at 113 pounds, NCHSAA Class 2A East Regional champion at 113 pounds, NCHSAA Class 2A individual state championship qualifier, 38-8 overall record.
Noah Walker, Currituck, So.: Northeastern Coastal Conference runner-up at 126 pounds, NCHSAA Class 2A East Regional qualifier, 31-13 overall record. Rest of the selections and article at http://www.dailyadvance.com/Sports/2019/04/01/Area-programs-boast-multiple-selections-to-All-Area-team.html
Dake repeats as World Champion, Snyder gets bronze, USA is third as team to close out World Championships
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | Sept. 22, 2019
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – 2018 World champion and No. 1 seed Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes RTC) did it again. He is the World Champion at 79 kg/174 lbs. for the second straight year. Also for the second straight year, Dake defeated 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and three-time World medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals, this time by a 4-2 decision.
A tactical bout, Dake led 2-0 at the break after creating two step out positions. One the first stepout, he drove Hasanov out. On the second one, he had a single leg and walked Hasanov off the mat. In the second period, Dake converted a single leg for a takedown and a 4-0 lead. Hasanov forced a step out, and, as time ran down, was awarded with a caution and one point for Dake fleeing. However, throughout the match, it was Dake who dictated the pace of the match and the action. In the 2018 World finals in Budapest, Hungary in 2018, Dake beat Hasanov, 2-0.
On Saturday, Dake hammered 2019 Asian bronze medalist Oibek Nasirov of Kyrgyzstan by technical fall, 12-2 then stopped 2015 Junior World champion and 2018 U23 World silver medalist Gadzhi Nabiev of Russia, 5-1. In the semifinals, he scored a solid 6-1 win over 2013 World bronze medalist Rashid Kurbanov of Uzbekistan. Dake, a four-time NCAA champion for Cornell, was competing in his second Senior World Championships.
It was a challenging year for Dake, who did not compete most of the year with injury. He received an extension on his Final X championship series against Alex Dieringer because of the injury, and earned his World Team spot with a two-match sweep of a Final X Special Wrestle-off in Austin, Texas. 2016 Olympic champion and two-time World champion Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) came through with a bronze medal at 97 kg/213 lbs. by defeating 2018 World bronze medalist Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia, 3-0. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/22/Dake-gold-Snyder-silver-USA-third-at-World-Championships?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Mensah-Stock wins gold at World Championships; USA has three women World champions for the first time
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | Sept. 20, 2019,
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – It was another historic night for the U.S. women’s freestyle program, as Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/OPTC) claimed the gold medal at 68 kg/149.5 lbs. at World Wrestling Championships. Mensah-Stock showed skill, power and poise in the gold-medal finals, where she defeated 2012 World champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Fransson of Sweden in the gold-medal finals on Friday night, 8-2. This is the first time that USA Wrestling has had three World Champions in women’s freestyle the same year. Mensah-Stock joined five-time World champion Adeline Gray at 76 kg and Jacarra Winchester at 55 kg at the top of the podium this year. Three previous times, the USA had a pair of World champions in women’s freestyle the same year. They were in 1999 (Tricia Saunders and Sandra Bacher), 2012 (Adeline Gray and Elena Pirozhkova) and 2015 (Helen Maroulis and Adeline Gray). Mensah-Stock’s final was typical of the kind to high-caliber wrestling she had done all of 2019, where she has been unbeaten all year. Her offense was excellent in the first period, as she scored on three different takedown attacks to take a 6-0 lead into the break. In the second period, when Fransson hit a headlock for two points, Mensah-Stock came out with a reversal. Sweden challenged the call, hoping for more points, but it was denied on video review, giving Mensah-Stock her final point. Fransson’s attempts for an upper body throw in the closing moments were blocked effectively. Mensah-Stock punched her ticket to the finals with a dominant 10-0 technical fall over Anna Schell of Germany in the semifinals on Thursday night. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/20/Mensah-Stock-wins-World-gold-medal?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA tweaks wrestling’s rules on stalling and hands-to-the-face, will allow longer hair and loose shorts
College wrestling might look a bit different during the 2019-20 season. An NCAA oversight panel announced small rule changes Wednesday regarding stalling and hands-to-the-face. Wrestlers will also be allowed to wear shorts designed for competition, and all language regarding the length of a wrestler’s hair has been eliminated from the official rulebook. The changes will be in place for the upcoming season. Stalling violations have been adjusted. The first call will be a warning. The second and third calls will be worth a single point. The fourth will be worth two points and the fifth will result in disqualification. Previously, a warning was issued for the first stall call, followed by one point for the next three calls, then disqualification for the fifth. Rest of the story at https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/2019/06/26/ncaa-wrestling-rules-committee-tweaks-hands-to-the-face-stalling-rules-allows-long-hair-loose-shorts/1577454001/
Memorial services for wrestling coach and leader James Johnson set for Sept. 27-28 in North Carolina
BY USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 23, 2019
USA Wrestling has received memorial service information for the late James Johnson, the 2012 Olympic Greco-Roman coach and past World Team member who passed away at age 61 in early September.
The Viewing for James Johnson will be on Friday, September 27 from 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Don Brown Funeral Home, 497 SR Second St., Ayden, NC 28513. The Funeral Service for James Johnson will be held on Saturday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. at D.H. Conley High School, 2006 Worthington Rd. Greenville, NC 27834
James Johnson attended D.H. Conley High School, where he became the first wrestler in school history to win a state wrestling title when he won the North Carolina state meet in 1976. Rest of the story and details at
https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/23/James-Johnson-Memorial-services?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NCAA women’s wrestling programs to compete at exclusive championship event
ADRIAN, M.I. – – NCAA women’s wrestling programs have their very own championship tournament scheduled for the 2019-20 postseason. The tournament is known as the Women’s National Collegiate Championship (WNCC) and is scheduled to take place March 6th – 7th in Adrian, Michigan. The WNCC is strictly for NCAA programs, and will be open to competition for eligible DI, DII and DIII schools. This move has been in the works, as the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Coalition (WCWC) was recently brought to life to guide women’s wrestling on its journey from an emerging sport to a sanctioned championship sport in the NCAA. The WCWC tagline: Bringing women’s wrestling to the NCAA. The WNCC brings the collegiate women’s postseason tournament count up to three, rounding out the 2019-20 season. Rest of this story at https://www.transitionwrestling.com/ncaa-womens-wrestling-programs-to-compete-at-exclusive-championship-event/?mc_cid=86d95781f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
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
