Dan Gable Museum celebrates grand opening this week
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Will admit that this site is on my ‘bucket list’ of places to visit as I have not been there yet. Long ago back in March of 2001 I did visit this museum’s predecessor when it was located in Newton, Iowa.
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WATERLOO, Iowa—After being closed since September while undergoing a $1.4 million renovation, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa celebrate the completion of its renovation with a grand opening. Dan Gable Museum will officially open to the public on Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. The grand opening is in conjunction with USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals held at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on March 29-31. Named for wrestling legend Dan Gable and located in a refurbished downtown section of his hometown, the museum has become a landmark in Waterloo and a world-class destination for wrestlers and fans. Rest of the story and details at https://nwhof.org/blog/dan-gable-museum-celebrates-grand-opening-this-week/?mc_cid=19991bd8ba&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
App State Earns Share of Fourth Straight SoCon Title
BOONE, N.C. — Another conference championship was a fitting way for this class to celebrate Senior Day. Appalachian State Wrestling clinched a share of its fourth straight Southern Conference regular season title with a 39-8 win against The Citadel in the home finale at Varsity Gym on Sunday.
For the fourth-year wrestlers among the senior quintet of Randall Diabe, Irvin Enriquez, Angel Najar, Michael Elliott and Thierry Washington, it was a 4-for-4 finish. The Mountaineers have gone 25-2 in SoCon duals during the last four years. “It was really special being Senior Day, and these guys that were honored today, they got to be part of four straight conference championships, which is a major feat in itself,” said head coach JohnMark Bentley, who had led the program to five regular season titles in the last eight seasons. Rest of the story at https://appstatesports.com/news/2019/2/17/wrestling-app-state-earns-share-of-fourth-straight-socon-title.aspx?mc_cid=83f048612d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Nathan Hale’s Dominic Damon becomes first Seattle Public Schools wrestler to win state title
TDR Editor’s Notes; We love to see ‘firsts’ and other milestone achievements in expanding wrestling opportunities.
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Damon dispatched of Prairie’s Braydon Sofianos 10-2 to claim a Class 3A state championship at 145 pounds and finish his season 49-1.
TACOMA – Dominic Damon did it for a school, a league and a city. The Nathan Hale High School senior capped his career in style at Mat Classic XXXI on Saturday night in the Tacoma Dome, but he said it wasn’t for him. Damon dispatched of Prairie’s Braydon Sofianos 10-2 to claim a Class 3A state championship at 145 pounds, becoming the first Seattle Public Schools wrestler to bring home a state title. Damon, 49-1 this season and 130-11 for his Raiders’ career, captured that elusive crown after missing the postseason in 2018 with a broken bone in his hand. Rest of the story at https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/mat-classic-nathan-hales-dominic-damon-becomes-first-seattle-public-schools-wrestler-to-win-state-title/?mc_cid=83f048612d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
UNC-Pembroke Gets Big Road Win Over Rival Newberry
TDR Editor’s Notes ; It was pointed out that we missed posting this big win earlier when it happened but as we are catching up on news now, well here it goes.
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NEWBERRY, S.C. – The 10th-ranked UNC Pembroke wrestling team tacked up a trio of bonus-point victories, including Kaleb Warner’s third-period pin at 149 pounds, to fuel a 23-17 victory at Newberry on Monday evening in Eleazer Arena. The result marked the second-straight victory for the Braves (6-5) who have now won two-straight duals in the series with Newberry. The setback snapped a nine-match win streak for the Wolves (10-3) who had not tasted defeat since a 44-3 loss to then-No. 1 St. Cloud State on December 2. All three of Newberry’s losses this season have been at the hands of nationally-ranked squads. Sixth-ranked Nick Daggett got the night going by toughing out an 8-6 win over Austin Neal in the 125-pound matchup, and freshman Ronnie Pietro kept the momentum going with a dominant 17-0 technical fall over Trevor Mansfield at 133 pounds minutes later.
The Wolves got on the board thanks to fourth-ranked Isaiah Royal’s 5-2 decision over 141-pounder Jonathan Miller, but the Black & Gold ripped the momentum right back, as well as took a 14-3 lead on the team scoreboard, thanks to Warner’s big win over David Giantono in the 149-pound bout. Austin Palmer got a takedown with five seconds left in the third period to send the 157-pound match to overtime, and then got the Wolves back in the match with a pin that came just past the 8-minute mark. The Braves would answer with three consecutive victories, however, to clinch the night. Rodney Shepard, the nation’s second-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds, tacked up a 19-9 major decision over Nick Giantono, and Faris Teia accrued just more than a minute of riding time to edge Keenan Graham, 3-2, at 174 pounds. Rest of the story at https://uncpbraves.com/news/2019/2/4/no-10-wrestling-gets-big-road-win-over-rival-newberry.aspx?mc_cid=1198efe11a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Girls Championship News
Stephen Decatur female wrestler wins state title, dominates the mat
In the past, Stephen Decatur wrestling coach Todd Martinek has joked that he’s the only state champion in the room. Prior to taking the head coaching role in 2011, Martinek wrestled at Bel Air High School and won a state title in 1989. He also took his skills to the college level, wrestling at Salisbury University. But Martinek is no longer the only state champion currently associated with the Decatur wrestling team. Prior to the start of the season, the Seahawks added a transfer from Urbana High School in Fredrick County who came in with a loaded resume, including a state, national and junior Olympic title. Anya Knappenberger, a sophomore who often wrestles in the 113-pound weight class, has become one of Decatur’s most reliable weapons. Rest of the story at https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/02/09/stephen-decatur-female-wrestler-wins-state-title-dominates-mat/2801886002/?mc_cid=e751cf5fe8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
In Idaho – Champs get a title belt at Idaho’s first (unofficial) girls wrestling state tournament
Read more here: https://www.idahostatesman.com/sports/high-school/article226003840.html?fbclid=IwAR0N0md8BmJmzhWKQt8tKgEUymeGQ11CzRWSdnSn6a0cLMSuThCMwMcglIE&mc_cid=e751cf5fe8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b#storylink=cpy
Girls wrestling dawns in Colorado with first state tournament
On two mats in the Thornton High School gym, a girls sport came of age in Colorado on Saturday. The state held its first recognized girls high school wrestling state championship at Thornton where nearly 80 qualified athletes competed in 10 weight classes from 100 to 215 pounds. One of the athletes in the field was JoJo Cummings, a Northridge High School sophomore who had not wrestled before this season. Cummings, 16, went 2-2 in the daylong tournament and finished fourth in the 105-pound weight class. Fans and wrestlers, both boys and girls, sat in bleachers on three sides of the dark blue mats during the tournament. Others stood to watch in an open space on another side of the mats. More spectators sat matside on the gym floor, up close and nearly on top of the history in progress in front of them. Rest of the story at https://www.greeleytribune.com/sports/girls-wrestling-dawns-in-colorado-with-first-state-tournament/?mc_cid=e751cf5fe8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Girls to make history with first Arizona state wrestling championships
The high school wrestling landscape was altered with the addition of girls teams to the sport this season. “Just like anything else, they want an opportunity to compete,” said Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Director David Hines. “If they can compete with their own gender, why wouldn’t we allow that?” The first Arizona state championships for girls wrestling will be held Friday. Allowing girls to compete against each other instead of against boys, it takes away the intimidation factor that was there in the past.
Breaking Gender Barriers
For many of the girls who wrestle, it was a sport that had been in their family for years. Growing up they had heard the tales of their fathers’ success on the mat or witnessed their brothers’ development in the sport. “My dad was in wrestling since he was really little and he passed it on to my brothers,” Chandler sophomore Carla Rivas said. “Since they were younger, I’ve been trying to practice with them, but my dad always told me I couldn’t do the sport.” It was a similar situation for Basha High School sophomore Amber Rodriquez, who has two older brothers already involved in Basha’s wrestling program. Rest of the story at https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/02/07/girls-wrestling-grows-state-championship-sport-arizona/2780669002/?mc_cid=839c0f9f72&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Nick Corey: A look at Penn State’s jaw-dropping success through a historical lens
The word dominant gets tossed around more than Penn State opponents these days. What the Nittany Lions are doing deserves a stronger adjective. Set aside the fact the Nittany Lions have won 16 consecutive semifinal matches at the NCAA Championships, the sheer supremacy of Cael Sanderson’s program has been jaw dropping. Penn State has outscored its 10 dual opponents by a combined 297-63 count this season. The Nittany Lion starters are 72-10 in duals. A crowd of nearly 16,000 turned out Friday night to watch Penn State’s 25-11 win against Michigan. It was the 55th straight win for the Nittany Lions. They haven’t lost a dual in nearly four years. Their last defeat came on Feb. 21, 2015 against Oklahoma State. That was the season Penn State redshirted Nico Megaludis, Zain Retherford and had Jason Nolf and Bo Nickal waiting to debut the following season in a white-belted blue singlet. The Penn State run harkens comparisons to the Iowa dynasty of the Gable years.
Granted, Sanderson doesn’t have the longevity of Gable, who won Big Ten titles in all 21 seasons leading the Hawkeyes and collected 15 national titles. A quick glance, however, at the Sanderson-led Penn State teams reveals the comparisons are warranted, especially if the Nittany Lions have similar success for the next decade. With nine completed seasons on his Penn State resume, Sanderson’s led the Nittany Lions to seven national titles. Rest of the story at https://www.trackwrestling.com/PortalPost.jsp?TIM=1549348448767&twSessionId=jrhcvmtcks&postId=1203454132&mc_cid=1198efe11a&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Nebraska to vote to create girls wrestling for 2019
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The NSAA will vote in April whether to create a separate sport for girls wrestling, it is possible to see it in 2019. In order for a change to be made statewide for the NSAA, it needs to go through certain steps. First, and most obviously, it needs to be proposed. If a proposal passes a vote in any district in November, it moves to a vote in all the districts. Then, if the vote passes in three of the six districts, it gets sent to representative assembly in April. At rep assembly, the proposal needs three-fifths of the available votes (51, in this case), to be realized.
In November 2018, creating girls wrestling as a solo sport was proposed in three of the six state districts; it passed in all three. In January 2019, four of the six districts voted in favor, including District II, the largest district, located in Omaha. Now, if the proposal passes at rep assembly in April, girls wrestling will become a sport for the 2019-20 season. For the first two rounds of voting, each school gets to cast a vote. In rep assembly, districts are given votes based on their student enrollment. Rest of the story and details at https://www.knopnews2.com/content/news/NSAA-to-vote-to-create-girls-wrestling-for-2019-505289472.html?mc_cid=845a9825b1&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
ASK KOLAT: How Do You Make Wrestling Fun?
It’s All About Perspective
The question Cary Kolat explores this week is “How do you make wrestling fun?” Kolat breaks down how he balances the job aspect of being a head coach at a D1 college wrestling program and the fun of wrestling for him and his team. Kolat has stated in the past he approaches wrestling like a job. That word can scare some people but it doesn’t carry a negative connotation in Kolat’s mind. What Kolat means by this is that he approaches wrestling with discipline and purpose. Showing up early, being prepared, dialed in on nutrition, being mentally ready are all examples of how he carries himself. That doesn’t take the fun out of the experience.
Develop a Passion
Just because you love what you do doesn’t mean every single aspect about it is enjoyable. The hard or stale tasks you endure allow for the parts you enjoy the most. Kolat had to mentally prepare himself before training because he knew how hard he was going to push himself. As you get older, better, and smarter you learn to play wrestle more. You start to break down wrestling in the areas you’re enjoying the sport but still learning and working on other areas that need extra attention. When wrestlers are controlled by parents and coaches they can’t think on their own. When you treat them like kids you’ll get kids on the mat.
Keeping it Fun
Coaching at the high school level you have a mix of maturity. Rest of the story at https://therudis.com/cary-kolat-make-wrestling-fun-ask-kolat/?mc_cid=0574fb79af&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
PSU wins fourth straight NCAA title with 3 champs
PITTSBURGH — Penn State clinched the team title at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh Saturday, with three Nittany Lions earning individual championships … hours before any of them took to the mat for the finals. The trio of Penn State wrestlers to win titles in Pennsylvania’s second-largest city were Jason Nolf at 157 pounds, Bo Nickal at 197, and, at 285, Anthony Cassar. It was Cassar’s first national crown; Nolf and Nickal each claimed their third national titles, joining Nittany Lion alums Ed Ruth and Zain Retherford in the three-timer club.
Penn State won the 2019 NCAA team title with 137.5 points. Ohio State placed second with 96.5 points, with Oklahoma State placing third with 84 points. Iowa and Michigan were fourth and fifth in the final team standings, with 76 and 62.5 points, respectively. It is the fourth straight championship for Penn State, and eighth since Cael Sanderson became head coach in April 2009. Add in the team title that the Nittany Lions won at the 1953 NCAAs in their home gym, Rec Hall, and the program now has nine championships … placing it just behind the wrestling programs at Oklahoma State and University of Iowa, with 34 and 23 team titles, respectively. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21739
MAC Announces Historic Wrestling Expansion
MAC ANNOUNCES SEVEN WRESTLING AFFILIATES FOR 2019 WRESTLING SEASON; 2019-20 WILL FEATURE 15 MAC WRESTLING MEMBERS – 2nd LARGEST IN NCAA DI WRESTLING
Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced today a historic membership expansion in the sport of wrestling as the MAC has added seven new affiliate members – Bloomsburg, Clarion, Edinboro, Lock Haven, Rider, George Mason and Cleveland State – to begin competing in the MAC with the 2019-20 wrestling season.
The addition of seven new affiliate members increases MAC wrestling membership to 15 total members. Bloomsburg, Clarion, Edinboro, Lock Haven, Rider, George Mason and Cleveland State all have joined the MAC from the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) making the MAC the second largest NCAA Division I Wrestling conference. Rest of the story and details at https://getsomemaction.com/news/2019/3/4/mac-announces-historic-wrestling-expansion.aspx?mc_cid=00b365ee12&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
