Daton Fix’s NCAA Championship Loss Brings About Rule Amendment in the Sport
After controversial finish to Daton Fix’ freshman campaign the NCAA adds third party review.
The evolution of the wrestling review process continues to be influenced by Oklahoma State. In 2012 Jordan Oliver was looking to defend his NCAA title at 133 pounds. In what at the time was a very controversial and talked-about finish, Oliver seemed to have a late takedown that would’ve given him the match and his second NCAA title. That takedown wasn’t called, and at the time there was no review process in place and no ability for coaches to challenge calls. Later a challenge and review process became a part of the sport, largely influenced by the last few seconds of this match.
Another 133 pound NCAA final involving Oklahoma State has now caused a shift in the review process at the NCAA wrestling tournament. In March, Daton Fix wrestled Nick Suriano for the NCAA title at arguably the toughest college wrestling weight of all time. As Fix hit a slide by in sudden victory overtime on Nick Suriano, Suriano clearly grabbed Fix’ headgear to defend the takedown. Fix attempted to alert the ref, which opened him up, and was taken down and lost the match. Had the headgear grab been called Fix would’ve been given a point, the match, and the NCAA title. Rest of the story and videos at https://pistolsfiringblog.com/daton-fixs-ncaa-championship-loss-brings-about-rule-amendment-in-the-sport/?mc_cid=190c90f01d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Edwardsville (Illinois) Wrestling Club adds girls program
EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville Wrestling Club has announced the addition of a girls wrestling program. The girls’ coach is Sarah Bollinger, a three-time Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association All-American. “We’ve seen a trend that’s really moving in that direction in the sport of wrestling, with a bunch of college programs all over the country and especially in the surrounding communities, that are endorsing female wrestling,” EWC head coach Pat McNamara said. “The state of Missouri has just endorsed it as a state-sanctioned sport and we feel that Illinois is going to be moving in that direction. We’re excited to give girls the opportunity to learn about the great sport of wrestling.”
Missouri held its first state tournament for girls’ high school wrestling during the 2018-19 school year, and McNamara feels it won’t be long before the IHSA follows suit. “I don’t think the IHSA has a timetable for when that might happen, but we know it’s coming,” McNamara said. “We’ve had girls in our program for a while, but we want to try to take it to the next level.” The Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association offers its own girls’ state series, which is reserved for any high school girls in the state of Illinois. Almost 200 wrestlers entered five sectionals this year, with the top three wrestlers in every weight class from each sectional competing in the state tournament in Springfield. Until this year, girls have been allowed to compete with and against boys in IWCOA events. But with the IHSA declaring girls’ wrestling an “emerging sport” last year, a new era has dawned for girls, many of whom historically have been reluctant to participate within a coed context.
“In the past, we’ve had around 15 girls across ages 6 and under up to age 14, but we’re hoping to double that number,” McNamara said. “We’d love to have 30 girls or more this year.” There are 16 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington) that have sanctioned girls’ wrestling as a high school sport. There is also a campaign called “Wrestle Like a Girl,” which has its members travel throughout the nation to tout the benefits of girls’ wrestling. Rest of the story at
Arkansas Activities Association sanctions girls’ high school wrestling
Add Arkansas to the list of states which has said “yes” to separate wrestling competition for girls. The Arkansas Activities Association voted unanimously this week to officially sanction girls’ high school wrestling. The decision was announced by Arkansas Wrestling Association President and Arkansas Wrestling Academy founder Greg Hatcher on Wednesday.
According to Hatcher, the girl’s state wrestling tournament will be held the Thursday before the annual boy’s state wrestling tournament in February at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock starting in 2020. With this week’s announcement, Arkansas becomes the third state to have sanctioned girls’ wrestling in 2019, joining Colorado, Kansas and Maryland which announced similar news earlier this year. Now there will be a total of seventeen states which have sanctioned a separate state championship for female wrestlers. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22006
Jim Miller hired as director of Dan Gable Museum
WATERLOO, Iowa — The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that it has hired Jim Miller as the director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. Miller will be responsible for the museum’s daily operations, including the preservation of artifacts, programming, planning, communications and fundraising, while also overseeing the Dan Gable Learning Center, a wrestling training facility inside the museum. He replaces Kyle Klingman, who resigned in April to accept a position with Trackwrestling. “We are elated to have someone with Jim Miller’s background leading the Dan Gable Museum for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director, National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “He has a keen knowledge of the sport’s heritage while also contributing significantly to its history as a competitor, coach and motivational speaker. I am confident that he will advance our mission and the impact that the museum and its programs and services will have upon wrestling in Iowa and across the nation.”
“I am looking forward to getting started as the Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum,” said Miller, who will begin his duties on July 1. “I see this next step in my life journey as an awesome and unique opportunity to get back involved with a sport that I love while working with Dan Gable and many others to advance wrestling right here in the Cedar Valley and in my hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.” “The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum is newly renovated and having Jim Miller as its new director adds even more excitement to its overall potential,” said Dan Gable, the museum’s namesake and a Distinguished Member inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980. “I am looking forward to working with a wrestling great and many others to enhance the great sport of wrestling.” “We could not be more excited about Jim Miller coming on board to lead the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum,” said Tom Slowey, Chairman of the Board of Governors, National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22001
Former U of R Cougar wrestlers insulted after awards found in dumpster
Dean of faculty says storage space was needed
Alex Soloducha · CBC News · Posted: May 28, 2019
Awards earned by former University of Regina wrestlers were found in a dumpster outside the school Friday. Trophies, medals and plaques won over decades were all discovered by a student and recovered. Inga Hammer, who wrestled at the University for many years, including the last year of the program in 2018, said it was disappointing to hear what had been done. “At the same time, I wasn’t that surprised just given the pattern of disrespect and neglect that the University has shown to the sport of wrestling over the years,” said Hammer. “It was very disheartening, and unfortunately because of that pattern of neglect, it wasn’t that surprising.” The university’s wrestling teams were cut after a report came out saying they were not sustainable.
- Why do cash-strapped Canadian universities often scrap wrestling programs?
- Hammer said the program was never properly recognized, despite its success, but that she never thought awards would be discarded.
- “Youre putting in countless hours of effort and you have such a high degree of pride in representing the University and in being a part of this team,” said Hammer. “You assume that an award is going to be something that is longstanding and that will last beyond your athletic career.”
She said Regina’s wrestling community is tight-knit. After their awards were found discarded, they found a home for them with SaskSport, which will display them at the Regina Hall of Fame. The University said the awards came from the office of a former wrestling coach. Harold Riemer, dean of Kinesiology and Health Studies, said the faculty moved from an MVP trophy system to a plaque system in 2008 and at that time, the old awards were handed over to the individual coaches. Plaques with the same information hang on the faculty walls, he said. Riemer said one coach never came to clean out his office after the program was cut. “We had asked on a number of occasions, come, please, grab the things that are yours, the things that you want, and we had received no response,” Riemer said. “And we need that space. And so my call is, we need to clear that space out. We asked some of our staff to do that and it was done.” He admits it was his call to get rid of the trophies and said he didn’t think of turning them over to SaskSport. Rest of the story at
Marin Voice: ‘Wrestle’ is a film that Marin educators and parents should see
There are children in Marin who face similar challenges but are often forgotten in the broader milieu of wealth and schools that mostly thrive. Somehow too, this film is an antidote to squabbling on matters that are comparatively trivial relative to what these young men in the film deal with. See this film and then place in order the priorities of our county and our country. There have been a slew of films over the past few years about kids who overcome challenges through sports and an inspiring teacher, but this is one of the best and most moving, rising above clichés. It is a great example of youth programs and sports at their best helping raise up adolescents racially and/or culturally oppressed. It’s all about overcoming obstacles and enhancing empowerment.
Good documentaries are equivalent to good narrative films, with plots and characters that draw you in. Set in Huntsville, Alabama, the film has at least five — four kids and a dedicated teacher/coach. But the supporting characters of families and friends are equally compelling in their smaller roles. They help create a feeling of intimacy between the main characters and the audience. The filmmakers established trust and intimacy with the lead characters. They open up. One loves these guys. We follow four young men and some of their families. Jaquan is quiet but his mom makes up for that with energy and a mouth to spare. Teague is more compelling. He has some borderline character challenges and a father who was mentally abusive. But watching him grow and thrive is part of the joy of the film. Rest of the story at https://www.marinij.com/2019/05/12/marin-voice-wrestle-is-a-film-that-marin-educators-and-parents-should-see/?mc_cid=be574a5b72&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Gwiazdowski to Wrestle at Final X Saturday Night
Reigning World medalist vies for another spot on U.S. World Team
RALEIGH, N.C. – Former NC State two-time national champion, and also two-time World bronze medalist, Nick Gwiazdowski will be in action this weekend, taking on Gable Steveson Saturday night at Final X from Rutgers. The winner of the best-of-three championship format will earn a spot on the U.S. World Team and compete at the 2019 World Championships Sept. 14-22 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Action starts at 6 p.m., and all the matches will be streamed on FloWrestling.
Gwiazdowski received an automatic bid to the Final X as a reigning World medalist (for the second straight year), as he captured the bronze at 125 kg last year in Hungary at the World Championships. Gwiazdowski is coming off of a gold medal performance at the Pan American Championships earlier this spring. He won all four matches by tech fall, outscoring his foes 41-1 en route to the Gold. Steveson claimed his spot on Final X after taking home top honors at the World Team Trials, held in Reynolds Coliseum. In the best-of-three finals, he downed Adam Coon 13-3 and then 8-1. As a true freshman this past collegiate season at Minnesota, he placed third at the NCAA Championships and was ranked No. 1 nationally at heavyweight . . . Rest of the story at https://gopack.com/index.aspx?path=wrestling
#PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast: Ep. 48 – Trent Hidlay
RALEIGH, N.C. – On a brand-new episode of the #PackMentality Pop-Ins Podcast, host Brian Reinhardt gets a summer update from head coach Pat Popolizio, and a first-time guest, Junior World Team member Trent Hidlay joins the show to talk about his redshirt season and give a full breakdown of hoagies in the Raleigh area.
Rest of the story and link to the Podcast at the following
Final X: Rutgers men’s freestyle championship series preview
BY JD RADER, USA WRESTLING | JUNE 04, 2019,
Final X: Rutgers will feature three men’s freestyle championship series, all of which will be in the second session at 6 p.m. ET. The six wrestlers who are competing own a total of five Senior World/Olympic medals and six age-level World medals. The Senior medalists are J’den Cox (2x World and 1x Olympic) at 92 kg and Nick Gwiazdowski (2x World) at 125 kg. All of the six age-level World medals won by wrestlers on the Final X: Rutgers card have been gold. The age-level World champions are Gable Steveson (2x Cadet and 1x Junior), Yianni Diakomihalis (2x Cadet), and Zain Retherford (1x Cadet).
Each weight will be a best-of-three showdown with the winner getting to represent Team USA at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, September 14-22.
Session Two – 6 p.m.
Bout 5: men’s freestyle 125 kg – World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (Raleigh, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC) vs. World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, Minn./Minnesota RTC)
At 125 kg it will be a battle between a veteran with two Senior World bronze medals and a young phenom with three age-level World gold medals. Gwiazdowski has earned his two Senior World medals in his two trips to Worlds. Steveson has earned his three age-level World medals in four trips to Worlds. After finishing the NCAA tournament in third place, Steveson came out and defeated US Open champion and Cadet World champion Adam Coon two matches to none, including a 13-3 tech fall, at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Rest of the outlook and story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/June/04/Final-X-Rutgers-MFS-preview?mc_cid=d7768373b1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Robles bringing his Unstoppable message to Cache Valley
Being born with only one leg didn’t stop Anthony Robles from achieving great heights and championships. He was introduced to the sport of wrestling when he was 14 years old and went on to become a state high school champion, national high school champion, three time All American while at Arizona State and Division 1 Wrestling Champion. Robles is also an author and motivational speaker, and will be sharing his story on Saturday, June 8th at Ridgeline High School. “I was born missing my leg to a single mom who was 16 years old. We both had our challenges going through,” Robles said when he was a guest on 106.9 The Fan’s Full Court Press program. “That’s what I’m going to share with people. I wrestled not just on the mat but off the mat as well. “Whatever you are wrestling with, whatever the challenges are, you can be unstoppable. That’s the message I want to get across. No matter what you face, you have to choose to be unstoppable and you can do it.”
Robles will be participating in a wrestling clinic at Ridgeline High School throughout the day, but will be speaking to the public at 6 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium. He says the message he has to share is for all people, not just wrestlers. If I can change one individual’s life I’ve done my job. “Bullying is bigger than ever now. I feel like that youth age is hard to reach, but if I can change one individual’s life I’ve done my job,” Robles continued. “That’s my goal. Every time I have an event, every time I have a wrestling clinic, if I can reach somebody and even if they forget what I said but remember I had a positive impact on them, and they can remember something that helps them get through a speed bump in their life then I accomplished my goal.”
TDR strongly recommends reading the Rest of this great story at http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/news/archive/2019/06/04/robles-bringing-his-unstoppable-message-to-cache-valley/?mc_cid=d7768373b1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b#.XPhmpohKjcs
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
