Currituck’s Paul Bossi recognized for 300 career wins
Currituck County High School’s Paul Bossi was recognized by the National Wrestling Coaches Association for reaching a career milestone. The coach was recognized by the organization for compiling 300 dual meet wins at the high school level. During his wrestling coaching career, Bossi has coached the sport in North Carolina and Massachusetts. He has also coached the sport at the middle school level.
Bossi has over 400 career wins with middle school and high school victories combined. The coach completed his 15th season leading the Knights in wrestling this winter. Currituck won the Northeastern Coastal Conference dual team regular season championship along with the conference individual tournament team championship and advanced to the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 2A dual team state playoffs in January. Rest of the story at
http://www.dailyadvance.com/Sports/2019/03/14/Currituck-s-Paul-Bossi-recognized-for-300-career-wins.html
High School Roundup | Wrestlers claim regional championships
Multiple area wrestlers were crowned regional champions at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Individual 2A East Regional Saturday at Croatan High School.
Northeastern’s Jonathan Ward (138 pounds) and Raven Atkins (220 pounds) along with Currituck’s Samuel Hodge (113 pounds) won regional championships in their respective weight class.
Ward, the defending regional champion at 138 pounds, defeated North Pitt’s Dalton English by a 16-4 major decision in the championship match.
Atkins defeated North Lenoir’s Elijah Swinson by a 2-1 decision for the 220 crown.
Hodge defeated Washington’s Brodie Moore by a 4-1 decision in the championship match. Northeastern’s Scott Marazoff, who secured his 100th career win during the regional tournament, finished third overall at 126 pounds. He defeated Washington’s Gavin Woolard by a 4-2 decision in the third-place match. Pasquotank’s Thong Tran also took third place at 152 pounds as the senior defeated Washington’s Mykel Warren by an 11-1 major decision. Rest of the story at
http://www.dailyadvance.com/Sports/2019/02/11/Wrestlers-claim-regional-championships.html
Area Wrestler of the Year | Northeastern’s Ward completes standout career
Ward won NCHSAA 2A East Regional title this season
By Malcolm Shields, Sports Editor
Elizabeth City Daily Advance
Monday, April 1, 2019
Northeastern’s Jonathan Ward credits having a focus and drive to get better as a wrestler for his success during his time at NHS. It is that mindset that helped Ward achieve multiple accomplishments during his high school wrestling career. Ward capped his senior season and prep career by reaching multiple milestones this winter. His accomplishments made Ward the selection as The Daily Advance Area Wrestler of the Year.
Ward finished in fifth place in the 138-pound division at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 2A Individual Wrestling State Championship tournament at Greensboro Coliseum Feb. 16, won his second consecutive NCHSAA Class 2A East Regional title at 138 pounds Feb. 9, won a Northeastern Coastal Conference championship in his weight class and was named conference wrestler of the year in January. Ward was also a key member of Northeastern’s co-conference dual team regular-season championship this season. The Eagles shared the championship with Currituck this winter. Ward credits obtaining Area Wrestler of the Year status to consistency and hard work. “There are a lot of good athletes around here so being the best feels real good,” he said. For Northeastern coach Larenzo King, it is a fulfilling moment to see Ward recognized for his accomplishments. Ward established a foundation for success following his freshman season by improving his diet and began wrestling outside of the high school season. Rest of the story at
http://www.dailyadvance.com/Sports/2019/04/01/Northeastern-s-Jonathan-Ward-completes-standout-wrestling-career.html
Iowa leads nation in attendance for 13th straight year
TDR Editor’s Notes ; N.C. State ranks 20th in average attendance for home matches and in the top 15 in total numbers of fans at their meets.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Official numbers released Tuesday showed the University of Iowa wrestling program led the nation in average and total attendance for the 13th straight season. The Hawkeyes averaged an NCAA-best 8,526 fans in seven home duals, and saw 59,684 fans enter the gates at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2018-19. Iowa has led the nation in attendance in each of head coach Tom Brands’ 13 seasons. This year was the 11th straight the Hawkeyes averaged more than 8,000 fans.
Rest of the story and full chart at
http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21813?fbclid=IwAR3dekQgAoJrJq0GbXDedLAyTWuDulsL7pEU-ZTN1nAgBE1YKh2_BJ-1xf8
From The Street To The Mat: Zack Silver Signs At Bluefield College
Admittedly, Zack Silver was headed down a bad path. But as a middle schooler, he found what has become one of his best friends — the sport of wrestling. Silver, an Alleghany senior and a two-time state qualifier, signed recently to attend and wrestle at Bluefield College.
“Wrestling helped keep me out of trouble, it taught me how to get a good work ethic and become a coachable person,” said Silver at a recently ceremony in the AHS library. “It changed me completely.” And it is helping in getting him a college education. Silver’s numbers as a Mountaineer wrestler are solid. He posted a 128-48 career record over his four years, he earned 278 takedowns and 57 pins. But Silver’s career has been about much more than numbers says his Alleghany High School coach Dale Burdette.
“You can talk about wins on the mat, but he really matured as a young man,” Burdette said. “A lot of that happened as a result of wrestling, but he also got in a good environment at home living with the Reed family.” Silver was a middle school football player when Burdette had his first contact with him. “When I first met Zack he was hanging out on the streets in Clifton (Forge),” he added. “I knew he was a good athlete. Rest of the story at https://thevirginianreview.com/Content/Free-Articles/Free-Articles/Article/From-The-Street-To-The-Mat-Zack-Silver-Signs-At-Bluefield-College/71/1478/47082?mc_cid=6cd9b9e806&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Troy Steiner named 2018 USA Wrestling Women’s Coach of the Year
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | April 03, 2019,
Troy Steiner (Fresno, Calif./Valley RTC) has been named 2018 Women’s Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the second time that Steiner has won this prestigious award, after winning the honor in 2007. Steiner received the award at the Kickoff Party, organized by Jordan and Lauren Burroughs, in Pittsburgh, Pa. on March 20. Steiner serves as the head men’s wrestling coach at Fresno State University, in his second season of competition there after Fresno State reinstated its program.
He is a coach with the Valley Regional Training Center, which trains athletes on the Senior and age-group levels. One of his Valley RTC athletes in men’s freestyle, Joe Colon, won a 2018 World bronze medal for the USA. Steiner has been active as a coach in women’s wrestling for many years. In 2018, Steiner hosted the U.S. Women’s National Team in Fresno for one of its training camps prior to the World Championships. The U.S. Women’s World Team went on to place third at the 2018 World Championships, led by four medalists. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/April/03/Troy-Steiner-named-USA-Wrestling-Womens-Coach-of-the-Year?mc_cid=6cd9b9e806&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Girls wrestling moves one step closer to being sanctioned in Florida
Girls wrestling took a big step in the quest to become an officially sanctioned Florida High School Athletic Association sport on Wednesday. A presentation was made to the FHSAA’s athletic directors advisory committee and received unanimous approval to go forward, signalling a large step forward in the lengthy process.
Orlando Freedom High School girls wrestling coach Lynzie Doll and Palm Coast Matanzas wrestling coach John White made a PowerPoint presentation to the A.D. panel Wednesday. “It’s a great first step, we’re heading in the right direction,” White said. “The goal of our presentation was obviously to get approval but also to show how far girls wrestling has come.” Part of that presentation was showing that despite not being an officially sanctioned sport, Florida already has more girls wrestling in high school than states in the Southeast like Georgia, where it is already official. Rest of the story at https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/wrestling/os-sp-wrestling-girls-20190403-story,amp.html?__twitter_impression=true&mc_cid=6cd9b9e806&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
US wrestling community helps rebuild bombed gym
Last September, ISIS terrorists delivered back-to-back suicide bombings at a wrestling club in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 26 and wounding 91. Among the dead: 16 young wrestlers. In subsequent months, the U.S. wrestling community stepped forward with donations of money and equipment to bring the Maiwand Wrestling Club back to life. These efforts have received positive coverage from non-wrestling media, including a 1,000-word feature in the New York Times which ran during the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, and just this week, The Stars and Stripes, which describes itself as “the U.S. military’s independent news source.” To provide a sense of the severity of the two bombings: On the day of the attack — September 3, 2018 — Ghulam Abbas, a 52-year-old coach at the Maiwand Wrestling Club for nearly three decades, held the steel-plated door closed so the bomber couldn’t enter the main wrestling room. The terrorist then detonated his explosives on the other side of the door from Abbas. When the coach awoke in the hospital the next day, his left arm was missing. (A handful of others are still recovering from critical injuries.)
“We were doing nothing wrong here, we were teaching people how to wrestle, how to be healthy and be a good person in the community,” Abbas told the Stars and Stripes‘ Phillip Walter Wellman. “We are building the community, but they are coming and killing us.” In the days following the attack, the New York Times provided coverage that drew the attention of two ex-wrestlers: Paul Halsey, 69, a former IBM executive … and Hooman Tavakolian, 42, an Iranian-American investment manager in New York and London, who is active in United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21806
West Liberty Hires National Coach of the Year
WHEELING, W.Va. – West Liberty University announced Monday that NCAA Division II Coach of the Year Danny Irwin has been hired as the Hilltoppers’ new head wrestling coach. The announcement came during a morning press conference at the university’s downtown center.
“We are tremendously excited to bring in such an impressive young man who has demonstrated success at the highest levels athletically and academically,” WLU President Dr. Stephen Greiner said. “Coach Irwin’s incredible work ethic combined with his proven ability to recruit and develop high-achieving student-athletes on and off the mat make him a perfect ambassador for his sport and a great fit for our university.”
Irwin replaces former head coach Mitch Smith, who recently stepped down to accept a position in the private sector that would permit him to spend more time with his growing family.
“I want to thank Coach Smith for his hard work and dedication over the past four years,” athletic director Lynn Ullom said. “Mitch played an integral role as we upgraded our facilities to the point where we now have some of the best in the region, putting us in position to take the next step.
“I’m always looking for the best possible candidate but being able to hand the reins of our storied wrestling program over to the reigning National Coach of the Year is the definition of a home run hire. Coach Irwin’s accomplishments speak for themselves, but I was even more impressed by the obvious passion he has for the sport and his student-athletes along with the vision he has for the program. We are thrilled to welcome him to the West Liberty family.”
Irwin comes to WLU a few weeks after leading Wheeling Jesuit University to a runner-up finish at the 2018-19 NCAA Division II Nationals in Cleveland. All six of Irwin’s national qualifiers earned NCAA Division II All-America status with two of them winning national championships. Irwin was honored as the 2018-19 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in just his second season as a collegiate head man.
Just as impressively, a program-record seven members of Irwin’s national runner-up squad at WJU were named to the 2018-19 National Wrestling Coaches Association’s All-Academic Team. Rest of the story and details at https://hilltoppersports.com/news/2019/4/8/wrestling-west-liberty-hires-national-coach-of-the-year.aspx?mc_cid=c971c5fbec&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
ASK KOLAT: Where Did the Rubber Knee Come From?
A Pioneer in the Sport
This week, Kolat was asked about how he came up with and developed his rubber knee or trick knee defense. Flexibility in wrestling is important but Kolat had never seen another wrestler use this technique before he began to. Another technique Kolat famously did was the backflip out of a single leg takedown, which he did during the Pennsylvania high school state finals. This was brought up recently when Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young successfully pulled the move off during their dual against Lehigh. Many people credit Kolat for inventing this move as well by calling it the “Kolat Flip” but Kolat doesn’t take credit. He says he saw a wrestler do the move at Midlands and then practiced it before using it in the match.
Developing the Technique
Kolat can’t recall the exact age he started using the rubber knee defense but it was around college. He found himself in positions most people wouldn’t be able to get in. There is some flexibility in the knee but Kolat says it’s mostly in the hips and the twisting of the leg. Kolat developed an extreme amount of confidence in this position. The very best wrestlers in the world all have different areas where they feel extremely confident. For Kolat, He felt that if his opponent got on his right leg, he was in the driver seat and would win the position.
Rest of the story and video at https://therudis.com/ask-kolat-where-did-the-rubber-knee-come-from/?mc_cid=73cf51713b&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
