Memorial services for James Johnson announced
Memorial services for James Johnson, 2012 Olympic Greco-Roman coach and past World Team member, have been announced for this weekend, USA Wrestling announced Monday.
James Johnson (Photo/Larry Slater)The man affectionately known as “JJ” passed away Sunday, Sept. 8. He was 61.
Visitation for James Johnson will take place Friday, September 27 from 2 p.m.- 7 p.m. at the Don Brown Funeral Home, 497 2nd Street, Ayden, North Carolina. The funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at D.H. Conley High School, 2006 Worthington Rd., Greenville, NC. It was at D.H. Conley where Johnson became the first wrestler in school history to win a state title at the 1976 North Carolina wrestling championships.
After graduating from D.H. Conley, Johnson headed north to the University of Kentucky, where he was an NCAA championships qualifier for the now-defunct mat program which had been headed up by Fletcher Carr. However, Johnson truly made a name for himself in Greco-Roman, first as a wrestler, then, as a coach, in a career that spanned decades. For his accomplishments as wrestler and coach, Johnson was inducted into the North Carolina Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007, and welcomed into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22358?fbclid=IwAR2Du5nG3mMReELmRK-q7yUSfFbsy2V1dHLiInnRsaOwm4mUAa0lEYZ9kXw
Shenandoah University announced it has added men’s wrestling
By: Scott Musa, Associate AD
WINCHESTER, Va. – Shenandoah University announced Monday that it has added men’s wrestling as its 22nd intercollegiate athletic program. The team, which will compete in the James R. Wilkins, Jr. Athletics & Events Center and practice in Shingleton Gymnasium, is scheduled for its first season of competition in the fall of 2020. It is expected that at capacity the team will have 30-35 members by the 2021-22 season.
The addition was assisted in large part by a generous donation from Rob and Gene Frogale, the owners of Annandale Millwork & Allied Systems. Rob Frogale is currently the Vice Chair of the Shenandoah University Board of Trustees and Gene Frogale is a former collegiate wrestling champion. “We believe that wrestling is going to provide another reason for young men in the Shenandoah Valley to continue their education here at home,” said President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. “The opening of the Wilkins Center gives us the ability to add the sport as we have an outstanding competition venue that has already proved popular with the wrestling community.”
Opened in January, 2018, the Wilkins Center has hosted one youth wrestling tournament and university officials intend to host additional meets in the near future. Prior to the university deciding to add wrestling as its 11th men’s sport, athletics department officials visited both Ferrum College and Averett University on fact-finding missions. “We learned a great deal from our trips to Ferrum and Averett,” Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Bridget Lyons said. “I would like to thank the administrations and coaching staffs at both schools for opening up their facilities and spending time with us to discuss how to most successfully add a program. “The knowledge we gained was invaluable in this process.” Rest of the details and story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Shenandoah-University-announced-it-has-23-9-2019
Tickets available for Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling at Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State, April 4-5
BY USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 16, 2019,
Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa. has been selected to host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5. Penn State University is serving as the local organizing committee. The champions from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling will become eligible to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, August 2-8. The competition will be held in the 18 Olympic weight classes in wrestling, which includes six weight classes in men’s freestyle (57 kg, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg), women’s wrestling (50 kg, 53 kg, 57 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg) and Greco-Roman (60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg). Tickets for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling will become available to the general public this Friday, September 20.
Click below to purchase tickets:
https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/pennstate/EN/link/buy/details/2020USOC
Tickets start at $49 for an all-session ticket. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets right away, as this event is expected to be sold out.
Rest of the details and story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/16/Tickets-available-Friday-for-US-Olympic-Team-Trials-at-Penn-State?mc_cid=04594f3dc6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
A NEW BATTLE BEGINS: 2019 Worlds Ends In Heartbreak For Team USA
If you were to construct a brick wall using Type M mortar, douse it in gasoline and light it on fire, and then tell each United States Greco-Roman athlete that running through it would somehow — for some illogical and unknown reason — equate to a successful performance at these 2019 World Championships, they would have had but one question for you:
‘Is that all?’
Short of hopping out of an aircraft from orbit and voluntarily plunging to the Earth without a parachute, there is nothing each and every member of Team Greco would not have done — or did not do — to prepare for the all-important task of qualifying his respective weight class for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But now that this weekend is over, and with the mission not accomplished and more questions floating in the ether than answers, you will be hard-pressed to find sympathetic (or educated) minds willing to reconcile the scope of effort required to even consider such an endeavor in the first place.
Still, the objective went unchecked for Team USA this morning following Sunday’s showing Rest of the story at
http://www.fivepointmove.com/2019-world-championships/day-3-results-hafizov-smith-coon/?mc_cid=04594f3dc6&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
NBC Sports to stream World Championships
BY NBC SPORTS | SEPT. 14, 2019, 11:48 A.M. (ET)
NBC Sports and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will have live coverage of the UWW World Wrestling Championships from September 15-22. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.
| 9/20/2019 | 8:00 AM | UWW World Wrestling Championships | Day 7 – Women’s & Men’s Freestyle Finals | Olympic Channel | LIVE | http://stream.nbcsports.com/nbc/watch-olympic-channel |
| 9/21/2019 | 8:00 AM | UWW World Wrestling Championships | Day 8 – Men’s Freestyle Finals | Olympic Channel | LIVE | http://stream.nbcsports.com/nbc/watch-olympic-channel |
| 9/21/2019 | 2:30 PM | UWW World Wrestling Championships | Day 8 – Men’s Freestyle Finals* | NBCSN | SDD | http://nbcsnstream.nbcsports.com |
| 9/22/2019 | 8:00 AM | UWW World Wrestling Championships | Day 9 – Men’s Freestyle Finals | Olympic Channel | LIVE | http://stream.nbcsports.com/nbc/watch-olympic-channel |
| 9/22/2019 | 7:30 PM | UWW World Wrestling Championships | Day 9 – Men’s Freestyle Finals* | NBCSN | SDD | http://nbcsnstream.nbcsports.co |
Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/14/NBC-Sports-to-stream-World-Championships?mc_cid=757ad3722d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Concordia Wisconsin adds women’s wrestling as varsity sport
MEQUON, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin Director of Athletics Dr. Rob Barnhill has announced the addition of Women’s Wrestling, the University’s 33rd sport within the athletic department. A nationwide search for a head coach begins immediately. “I am very pleased to announce the addition of women’s wrestling to our growing list of sport offerings,” Barnhill said. “Girls wrestling in high school is one of the fastest-growing sport activities in the United States and we want to be an option for young women that want a first-class Christian education and pursue their sport of choice. There are dozens of colleges and universities across the country that have made the decision to begin women’s programs and we are excited to join them.”
Collegiate women’s wrestling is currently classified as a winter sport, with competition beginning in October and running through February. The Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) governs the sport and has overseen the national championships since 2008. A total of 63 collegiate institutions currently field a varsity women’s wrestling team. Rest of the story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Concordia-Wisconsin-adds-women-s-18-9-2019
Coleman Scott and Troy Steiner named to women’s freestyle World Team staff
BY GARY ABBOTT, USA WRESTLING | SEPT. 11, 2019,
Troy Steiner of Fresno, Calif. and Coleman Scott of Chapel Hill, N.C. have been named as the volunteer coaches of the 2019 U.S. Women’s Freestyle World Team, which will compete at the World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, September 17-20. They will coach alongside USA Wrestling National Women’s Freestyle Coach Terry Steiner and the USA Wrestling Women’s Freestyle National Coaching Staff in Nur-Sultan.
This will be the second straight year that Steiner and Scott have been World Team coaches for women’s freestyle, having helped lead the USA to a third-place team finish at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, led by four medalists. Troy Steiner was also a World Team coach for the 2007 Women’s World Team which competed in Baku, Azerbaijan and featured three individual medalists. He was also a Women’s World Team coach in 2003 and 2015. In 2018, Steiner hosted the U.S. Women’s National Team in Fresno for one of its training camps prior to the World Championships. He has coached a number of U.S. women’s teams in international events. He also coached the 2003 USA Junior World Team in men’s freestyle. He is a coach with the Valley Regional Training Center, and helped coach Valley RTC wrestler Joe Colon to a 2018 World bronze medal for the USA.
Steiner enters his third season as the head men’s wrestling coach at Fresno State University, and its first head coach since Fresno State reinstated its program. The Bulldogs had their first NCAA All-American under Steiner when Josh Hokit placed fifth at the 2019 NCAA Championships at 197 pounds. Prior to taking the Fresno State head coaching job, Steiner coached 10 years as an assistant coach at Oregon State. He also had assistant coaching positions at Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Steiner was a talented freestyle wrestler, making the U.S. Senior National Team numerous times. He was a 1996 Pan American champion and a 1992 World Cup champion. Steiner was third in both the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. He was a 1992 NCAA champion and four-time All-American for the University of Iowa, wrestling for the legendary Dan Gable. Steiner was a star at Bismarck Century High School in North Dakota.
Coleman Scott has also served as a World Team coach for the 2017 U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Team, which won the World Team title in Paris, France, led by six individual World medalists. This will be his third straight year as a U.S. Senior World Team Coach with USA Wrestling. He has experience coaching Senior women athletes with the Tarheel RTC, where current National Team members train, including 2016 Olympian Haley Augello and 2017 World bronze medalist Becka Leathers. He has coached both men and women athletes from the Tarheel RTC to the U.S. Senior National Team. Scott became the head wrestling coach at the University of North Carolina in 2015, and enters his fifth season leading the Tar Heel program. Under his leadership, he has coached five individual NCAA All-Americans and four ACC champions. North Carolina has placed in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships the last two seasons. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/11/Coleman-Scott-and-Troy-Steiner-named-to-womens-freestyle-World-Team-staff?mc_cid=b5e75fd24d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
2019 Senior World Championships Special Section
By USA Wrestling
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VIDEO PLAYLIST: 2019 World Championships interviews
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World Championships News
Winchester beats Japan’s Irie to win World gold medal at 55 kg, Francis places fifth at 72 kg
Tokyo watch for Wednesday: Russia takes lead in Olympic qualifiers; China gets two women’s Olympic spots
Gray makes finals and will go for a fifth World title; Molinari in bronze bout at World Championships
Women Mensah-Stock, Miracle and men Retherford, Fix receive draw for freestyle at World ChampionshipsGray, Molinari power to semifinals at World Championships; Gray qualifies her weight for Olympics
Hildebrandt drops repechage bout to Vinesh of India to complete her World ChampionshipsWinchester reaches 55 kg finals at World Championships; Francis to go for bronze, Hildebrandt pulled into repechage
Fumita, Lorincz and Kayaalp claim titles on final day of Greco-Roman World Championships
Tokyo watch for Tuesday: Four nations have qualified three Greco-Roman weight classes for Olympics
Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/September/12/2019-Senior-World-Championships-Special-Section?mc_cid=b5e75fd24d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
App State Wrestling Announces 2019-20 Schedule, Season Tickets
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State wrestling coach JohnMark Bentley on Thursday announced the Mountaineers’ schedule for the 2019-20 season, and season tickets are now on sale. In addition to hosting the 2020 Southern Conference Championships at the Holmes Center on March 8, App State’s home events at Varsity Gym include the season-opening Mountaineer Invitational on Nov. 9 and the Appalachian Open on Jan. 25 as well as nonconference duals against ACC programs NC State (Dec. 13) and Duke (Jan. 23) in Boone. App State, which has won a Southern Conference regular-season title in each of the last four years, hosts SoCon home duals on Sundays against league newcomer Presbyterian (Jan. 12 at 2 p.m.), Davidson (also Jan. 12, at 4 p.m. to conclude the doubleheader) and VMI (Feb. 23). App State’s other home dual is against highly regarded nonconference opponent Lock Haven on Jan. 16. Rest of the story at
https://appstatesports.com/news/2019/9/11/app-state-wrestling-announces-2019-20-schedule-season-tickets.aspx?mc_cid=b5e75fd24d&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
