Cascade Conference adds Women’s wrestling
CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Cascade Collegiate Conference has added women’s wrestling as a CCC recognized sport beginning with the 2019-20 season, the league office announced today. With the addition, wrestling becomes the eighth official women’s sport in the CCC. Schools sponsoring the sport include full members Eastern Oregon University, Southern Oregon University and Warner Pacific University. Menlo College, Simpson University, Life Pacific University and the University of Providence, associate members in the conference in men’s wrestling, also sponsor women’s wrestling and will add those programs as associate members as well. Corban University, a league full member, has announced the addition of women’s wrestling in 2020-21.
“We are very excited to add women’s wrestling to our slate conference offerings with,” said CCC Commissioner Robert Cashell, a Butte native. “The sport has seen considerable growth at the intercollegiate level and we want to be at the forefront of providing quality competition, as well as, athletic and academic recognition for the young women working so hard in the classroom and on the mats.” The NAIA has recognized the sport as an offering at the national level and held their first Invitational last season in which Menlo was crowned the champion. Women’s wrestling must remain in the Invitational “status” for a minimum of three-years. After three-years, and if a minimum of forty institutions in the NAIA sponsor, it will be considered for Championship status. Currently thirty programs are being sponsored. The 2020 NAIA Invitational will be held March 13-14 at a site yet to be announced. Rest of the story at https://portal.nwcaonline.com/articles/NWCA_News/Cascade-Conference-adds-Women-s-31-5-2019
Two-time national champ Ownbey added to Newberry staff
NEWBERRY — Newberry wrestling head coach Cy Wainwright has announced the hiring of Daniel Ownbey as the new assistant coach. Daniel OwnbeyOwnbey make his way to Newberry after a one-year stint at Greensboro College where he helped coach four regional placers. Prior to Greensboro College, Ownbey had one-year stints with the N.C. Pride Club, UNC Pembroke, and Ferrum College. During his coaching experience, Ownbey had helped coach a combined eight regional placers and four national qualifiers.
“We’re excited to bring coach Ownbey to Newberry,” said Wainwright. “He brings a lot of knowledge and knows what it takes to compete at the highest level and to become a champion.” Ownbey, a 2015 graduate of UNC Pembroke, was a four-time All-American along with being a two-time national champion in the 141-pound weight class. He became UNC Pembroke’s first-ever two-time champion, its third four-time All-American, and graduated as the program’s third-winningest wrestler with a career mark of 133-18 (.881). Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21979
History, opportunity to guide Clemsen at Maryland
By Richard Mann, InterMat Senior Writer
The Big Ten Conference houses some of the most storied wrestling programs in the history of the sport. When Maryland joined the conference in 2014, the Terps wrestling team was not on par with some other conference members, but the program appeared to be on an upswing. Some thought the conference change would help the team compete against the perennial powers. However, the bottom quickly fell out and the losses began to mount. To an outside observer, the situation appears to be a complete rebuild. However, the next program leader will have the opportunity to be guided by both history and opportunity. In 1954, Ernie Fischer became the first wrestling All-American in University of Maryland history. He made the NCAA finals at 167 pounds but came up short against Joe Solomon of Pittsburgh. Two years later the Baltimore native represented the U.S. at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. He went 1-2 with his losses coming against eventual silver medalist Ibrahim Zengin of Turkey and gold medalist Mitsuo Ikeda of Japan. Fischer, who was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989, passed away this past April. He was 88 years old. At the most recent Olympics in 2016, the U.S. finished with two gold medalists: Kyle Snyder and Helen Maroulis. Like Fisher, both Snyder and Maroulis are Maryland natives. However, neither wrestled collegiately for the Terps. While Maroulis’ situation speaks to need for a rapid proliferation of NCAA wrestling opportunities for women, the fact that Snyder did not wrestle for the biggest college in his home state remains a sore spot for some local wrestling enthusiasts. Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21972?mc_cid=f84a8f4615&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
U23 Greco-Roman World Team Trials preview
By Mike Willis, USA Wrestling | May 30, 2019, Taylor LaMont is looking to make his seventh age group World Team
The U23 Men’s Greco-Roman World Team Trials will take place this weekend in Akron, Ohio. The winners will represent Team USA at the 2019 U23 Senior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, November 1-3.
Several U23 World Team eligible wrestlers are competing in Final X for an opportunity to make a Senior World Team. These individuals will be able to wrestle off the winner of the U23 World Team Trials Tournament at a later date. This includes Brady Koontz at 55 kg, Kamal Bey at 77 kg, and Cohlton Schultz at 130 kg.
This would also apply to G’Angelo Hancock at 97 kg, but he has opted to compete in the tournament.
55 kg
2018 World Team Member: Dalton Duffield
Dalton Duffield is looking to reclaim his spot as the U23 World Team member. He will have to fend off Junior World silver medalist, Cevion Severado to do so.
60 kg
2018 World Team Member: Randon Miranda
Another wrestler looking to make back-to-back U23 World Teams is Randon Miranda. He will face a deep weight class featuring 2018 senior World Team member, Dalton Roberts and 2016 Junior World bronze medalist, Taylor LaMont. Miranda lost to Roberts, 6-0, in the third-place match of the 2019 U.S. Open before defeating him in the 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, 8-2. He defeated LaMont at the Open, 5-3, and lost to him in the Challenge Tournament true second match, 4-2.
63 kg
2018 World Team member: Travis Rice
Josh Saunders is probably the best known name in this bracket. Rest of the team and story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/May/30/U23-Greco-Akron-Preview?mc_cid=f84a8f4615&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Goodale Named Dan Gable Coach of the Year by WIN Magazine
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale was named the 2019 Dan Gable Coach of the Year by WIN Magazine over the weekend. The 12th-year leader of the Scarlet Knights led RU to its first-ever Top 10 finish at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this past March, as Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault collected the programs’ first individual national championships. Under the guidance of Goodale, Rutgers wrestled to a 12-6 dual record in 2018-19, which included wins over three ranked foes – No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 19 Princeton and No. 20 Purdue. The Scarlet Knights also finished with a 5-4 mark in Big Ten Conference action, the third time RU closed out league action with a winning record since it joined in 2014-15.
Goodale was also named a co-winner of the Mike Chapman Impact Award – along with Fresno State’s Troy Steiner – for Rutgers’ Top 10 result in average home attendance in 2018-19. One of the top home environments in the country, the Scarlet Knights averaged 5,038 fans per home match at the RAC last season, as they finished within the Top 5 in national home attendance for the fourth consecutive season. RU returns five national qualifiers next season, including Suriano, who secured a 29-3 record to go along with his Big Ten and NCAA titles. Rest of the story at https://scarletknights.com/news/2019/5/28/wrestling-goodale-named-dan-gable-coach-of-the-year-by-win-magazine.aspx?mc_cid=1eedb1e477&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Seth Gross to transfer to Wisconsin
Seth Gross, the 2018 National Champion at 133 pounds, will transfer to Wisconsin for the 2019-20 school year as a graduate student. Gross was a two-time NCAA finalist and two-time All-American for Badgers’ head coach Chris Bono and associate head coach Jon Reader at South Dakota State.
Gross became the first Jackrabbit student-athlete at the Division I level to win an individual national title after he ended his 2018 season with a 29-1 overall record. Twelve of his 29 victories in 2018 were by fall and seven by tech fall. Gross, a Hodge Trophy finalist, was a two-time Big 12 Conference Champion at 133 pounds and the Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Year in 2017-18. Rest of the story at https://uwbadgers.com/news/2019/5/28/wrestling-seth-gross-to-transfer-to-wisconsin.aspx?mc_cid=1eedb1e477&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Javier Maldonado Named Wrestling Assistant Coach
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock head wrestling coach Neil Erisman today announced the addition of Javier Maldonado as the first assistant coach in Trojan program history. “Javier is going to be a great addition to our program,” Erisman said. “His knowledge, experience and overall character align with who we are and the direction we are going. He has a unique experience in building a program from scratch as well, so those insights will be invaluable as we build ours. I am thrilled to have Javier and his family here at Little Rock.” Maldonado comes to Little Rock after spending the past four seasons as the head coach at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. Maldonado faced a similar challenge as Erisman, building a program from scratch, and led the Fire to a 41-31 dual meet record in his four years.
During his tenure at Southeastern, Maldonado mentored 18 national qualifiers with six wrestlers earning NAIA All-America honors. His teams posted a winning record in three of his four seasons, winning 12 dual meets in both 2015-16 and 2018-19, his first and last seasons, respectively.
Additionally, Maldonado’s programs have succeeded in the classroom as well as the Fire led the Mid-South Conference in scholar-athlete honorees. Under his leadership, Southeastern finished 12th in the 2019 National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Scholar All-American rankings with a combined 3.145 GPA for his starting lineup. Rest of the story at https://lrtrojans.com/news/2019/5/28/javier-maldonado-named-wrestling-assistant-coach.aspx?mc_cid=1eedb1e477&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Twohey Pursuing His Passion in Two Ways
by Eric Kunick (UWL Interim Assistant Media Relations Director)
La Crosse, Wis. – Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student-athlete and two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-America Eric Twohey continues to pursue his passion; however, that passion has added another focus. Twohey is still having plenty of success on the wrestling mat even while being a medical student at the University of Minnesota. In his third year of medical school, Twohey has one year left of school and will then be entering his residency that generally takes three to five years.
When asked how he balances medical school and his wrestling career, Twohey had this to say: “I believe you make time for what is important to you. That being said, I have to be pretty flexible with my training schedule. The amount of time, and the time of day/night, that I am in the hospital varies from week to week depending on what specific rotation I am in. But no matter what rotation I am in, I make sure to set aside 1-2 hours a day for training. Then it comes down to finding a partner to wrestle with. If I can, great. If I can’t, I will get some sort of workout in on my own (lifting, running, etc.). I am very fortunate to have a great group of coaches and wrestlers who are willing to be flexible with their time to work with me. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”
While the rigors of medical school are large, Twohey continues to find or “make” time for wrestling. He is wrestling at the senior level, which consists mainly of people out of college. Like his time at UWL, Twohey is still having success on the mat as he finished second at a tournament in Finland in December and third at the Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado in January. Rest of the story at https://uwlathletics.com/news/2019/3/1/wrestling-twohey.aspx?mc_cid=d3a2594278&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Rich Lorenzo’s gift to wrestling
You can find former Penn State wrestling coach Rich Lorenzo in a number of places around State College. Walking the trails that surround the university’s golf courses or the corridors of stately Rec Hall come to mind. But on the day of a home match during the college wrestling season, he is found on the upper level of Rec Hall, leaning on the rail that separates Section S2U from the running track.
Perhaps the standing-room-only spot that actually sports his name on the rail isn’t fitting for wrestling royalty, because Lorenzo recently was named to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his lifetime involvement in a sport that has given him the time of his life. But he wouldn’t trade that spot for a reserved seat because everyone he cares about and those who care about him – and that number is nearly limitless – know where he is on match days. Rest of the story at https://www.statecollege.com/news/town-and-gown/rich-lorenzos-gift-to-wrestling,1478885/?fbclid=IwAR3EP5QQkKvjNDg66jwXXQFBM3fjFWsX8zPD6EipgDhJgaqPUY3-DqkmvMA&mc_cid=d3a2594278&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Men’s Cadet World Team Trials Preview
Returning World silver medalist Richard Figueroa will be competing this weekend in Akron
This weekend, the 2019 UWW Men’s Freestyle and Greco-Roman Cadet World Team Trials will take place in Akron, Ohio. The winners of these tournaments will represent Team USA at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, this July. While there is onsite/late registration on Thursday, there is already a significant list of highly credentialed young wrestlers signed up to compete.
Cadet MFS 41-45 kg
2018 World Team member: Chance Lamer
88 pound 2018 Fargo finalists, Mason Gehloff and Jore Volk are both registered in this weight class. Gehloff defeated Volk in Fargo, 8-1, to claim the title.
Cadet MFS 48 kg
2018 World Team member: Richard Figueroa
Stevo Poulin finished third in Akron last year. He will be looking to improve upon his 2018 result in order to make his first World Team. Another stud in this weight class is Eli Griffin. Griffin took third at Fargo and gave Poulin a tough match in the consolation rounds in Akron last year, losing 13-11.
Cadet MFS 51 kg
2018 World Team member: Matthew Ramos
Last year’s World Team member Matthew Ramos won a Cadet World title. This year, Richie Figueroa, a 2018 Cadet World silver medalist at 48 kg, will move up a weight class and attempt to replicate Ramos’s success. Figueroa, a California native, will be challenged by another Golden State wrestler, Joey Cruz. Cruz defeated Figueroa at FloNationals, 5-2, this April. In 2018, Figueroa defeated Cruz at FloNationals, 3-2. This bracket is loaded and also features Fargo Champions, Drake Ayala and Jordan Williams. Rest of the team members and story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/May/29/Mens-Cadet-World-Tem-Trials-Previews?mc_cid=d3a2594278&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
