CHSAA rolls out the mats for groundbreaking state wrestling tournament for girls
Colorado jumps on board;
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DENVER — From take downs to rowdy crowds, Saturday’s state wrestling championships at Thornton High School were action-packed. But as heated as things get on the mats, the competitors at this tournament are a special community. “Really, we all just support each other,” says Loveland junior Audrey Bankes, who placed second in the 118-lb. weight class. “We have way more fun and are joking around with each other more than the boys do. It’s just a community of wrestlers, we all want each other to do well, honestly.” For this community, Saturday’s event was an important one. It was the first recognized state tournament for girls wrestling in Colorado. “The fan base is obviously very passionate,” says CHSAA assistant commissioner Ernie Derrera. “You can tell just tell by looking at the crowd. Rest of the story and details at https://kdvr.com/2019/02/09/chsaa-rolls-out-the-mats-for-groundbreaking-state-wrestling-tournament-for-girls/?mc_cid=538e43b178&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
No. 16 Pitt wins final four bouts to beat No. 8 NC State in Raleigh, 18-16
TDR Ed’s Notes; Now from the other side of the mat this report from Pittsburgh.
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By Pittsburgh and NC State Athletics | Feb. 10, 2019,
Pittsburgh press release by Julie Jurich
No. 16 Pitt Upsets No. 8 NC State in Raleigh
Panthers Win Final Four Bouts En Route to Win
RALEIGH, N.C. – The 16th-ranked University of Pittsburgh wrestling team upset No. 8 NC State at Reynolds Coliseum Sunday afternoon, 18-16.
With the win, Pitt improves to 11-3 overall and picks up its first ACC win of the year (1-2). NC State moves to 14-2 overall and 2-1 in conference action. The Wolfpack also suffer their first loss at home this year, finishing 9-1.
The win was the first over NC State since the two teams first met in 2014 and is the first for Pitt in Raleigh. Three Panthers recorded impressive and clutch wins over ranked opponents. The first of the day was redshirt sophomore Gregg Harvey, who is unranked at 174 pounds, and defeated No. 20 Daniel Bullard in a 6-4 decision. Redshirt freshman Nino Bonaccorsi, ranked 13th at 184 pounds, upset No. 3 Nick Reenan in dominant fashion, 8-0, before redshirt junior Kellan Stout, who is unranked, had a vital win at 197 pounds, outlasting No. 20 Malik McDonald in a 5-4 decision. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/February/10/Pitt-defeats-NC-State-in-Raleigh?mc_cid=538e43b178&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Johnson wins silver and Hancock takes bronze at Zagreb Open, the first UWW Greco-Roman Ranking event
TDR Ed’s Notes; Xavier Johnson lives in eastern North Carolina while he is stationed here.
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By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | Feb. 10, 2019,
ZAGREB, Croatia – Xavier Johnson (Camp LeJeune, N.C./U.S. Marine Corps) claimed a silver medal at 63 kg/139 lbs. and two-time Senior World Team member G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) won a bronze medal bout at 97 kg/213.5 lbs. at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open, the first UWW Greco-Roman Ranking Tournament of 2019. In the gold-medal round on Sunday evening, Johnson was defeated by Islomjon Bakhramov of Uzbekistan by techmical fall, 10-2 in the first period. Bakhramov opened the scoring with a takedown, blocking a Johnson throw and landing on top, with Johnson getting a reversal. Officials scored it 2-1 in favor of Bakhramov, but the Uzbekistan corner challenged. After review, the score was changed to 4-2. They ruled Bakhramov got a takedown and a gutwrench turn, but Johnson scored exposure on his reversal for two points. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/February/10/Johnson-wins-silver-and-Hancock-bronze-at-Zagreb-Open?mc_cid=538e43b178&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
North Carolina Girls’ State Invitational Tournament Results
The full brackets for each weight class for the 1st (and we hope annual) NCHSAA Girls’ State Championship Tournament which was help on Feb. 2nd this year. Hoping for 20 states sponsoring girls wrestling by 2020!
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Women’s Wrestling Invitational
Girls State Wrestling : Fearnside pleased to help KS girls
TDR Editor’s Notes; Another state (Kansas) looking to sanction Girls wrestling. Could have 20 states by 2020.
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MCPHERSON, Kan. – Amy Fearnside started to wrestle as a sophomore at Live Oak (Calif.) High School. She quickly loved the sport, competed three years and earned a California state championship as a senior. Fearnside had four top-three national showings at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota. She is currently a member of Team USA in Colorado Springs. On Saturday, Fearnside came to the McPherson High School Roundhouse for the third annual Kansas unofficial state wrestling tournament. Fearnside spoke at the 9 a.m. opening ceremonies and gave an award to McPherson coach Doug Kretzer for his work in developing girls’ wrestling in Kansas. Then, she talked to girls throughout the day on a variety of topics. For at least one wrestler, she helped her with a move. “From what I can see, they are super passionate for the sport, just for the raw love of the sport, and nothing beyond,” Fearnside said. “That alone is their motivation. They love it. They are enjoying it so much, and you can see it in their faces just light up. They are excited to come in here and do this. They remind me of my roots.” Rest of the story at https://www.catchitkansas.com/content/news/Girls-State-Wrestling-Fearnside-pleased-to-help-KS-girls-other-area-winners-505645541.html?mc_cid=538e43b178&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Mocs Earn Share of SoCon Regular Season Title
Wow! What a match! If you missed it, click here to catch the replay on the SoCon Digital Network. With a share of the Southern Conference regular season title on the line, first-year head coach Kyle Ruschell and his staff guided the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team to a gutty 18-12 win over No. 25 Campbell in Maclellan Gym today. UTC took six of the 10 matches in a clean dual that did not see either team score any bonus points. The Mocs move to 7-6 overall and close out its SoCon slate with a 5-1 mark. Both Appalachian State (6-6, 3-1 SoCon) and Campbell (5-1, 3-1 SoCon) have one conference loss each, and will likely share the league crown with Chattanooga. “This is one that we marked early in the year,” stated Ruschell. “We knew it was home, we knew it was going to be tight and if we wrestled like that, we knew we could win. Rest of the story at https://gomocs.com/news/2019/2/10/wrestling-mocs-earn-share-of-socon-regular-season-title.aspx?mc_cid=538e43b178&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Indiana Tech To Add Women’s Wrestling; Set to Compete in 2020-21
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Indiana Tech will be adding the sport of women’s wrestling to its athletics offerings, with the goal of hiring a coach this spring and begin competition in the 2020-21 academic year, Director of Athletics Debbie Warren announced Monday. “We are excited to offer this emerging sport for women and look forward to building a winning program,” Warren said. “The opportunity to compete for an NAIA national championship is something we think will make us competitive right away.” Women’s wrestling will become the 26th varsity program at Tech and the 12th sport to be added to the Warrior Athletics Department since 2005. Tech will compete in the NAIA, the only intercollegiate athletics association to sponsor women’s wrestling, where the sport is in its first season as an invitational sport. There were 24 NAIA institutions that sponsored women’s wrestling at the start of the 2018-19 season, and a number of schools have added the sport over the last six months. Rest of the story at https://indianatechwarriors.com/news/2019/2/11/indiana-tech-to-add-womens-wrestling-set-to-compete-in-2020-21.aspx
UTC tops Campbell to earn share of SoCon regular season title
With a share of the Southern Conference regular season title on the line, first-year head coach Kyle Ruschell and his staff guided the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team to a gutty 18-12 win over No. 25 Campbell in Maclellan Gym today. UTC took six of the 10 matches in a clean dual that did not see either team score any bonus points. The Mocs move to 7-6 overall and close out its SoCon slate with a 5-1 mark. Both Appalachian State (6-6, 3-1 SoCon) and Campbell (5-1, 3-1 SoCon) have one conference loss each, and will likely share the league crown with Chattanooga.
“This is one that we marked early in the year,” stated Ruschell. “We knew it was home, we knew it was going to be tight and if we wrestled like that, we knew we could win. “There were two or three that we were supposed to win. There were two or three that they were supposed to win, but our guys fought hard. Everything we’ve been preaching, it all came together.” After the Mocs went up 12-6 through six bouts, Campbell closed the gap with victories at 174 and 184. Freshman Hunter Fortner made it very interesting against the Camels’ 17th-ranked Andrew Morgan, before falling 9-4.
Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21422
#8 WolfPack Falls in Home Finale to #16 Pitt 18-16
#4 Hidlay scores a decision over #11 Rahmani at 157 pounds
RALEIGH, N.C. – After #8 NC State won five of the first six bouts, #16 Pitt won the final four to come away with an 18-16 road win Sunday afternoon. Both the Wolfpack (14-3, 2-1 ACC) and the Panthers (11-3, 1-2) won five matches, but Pitt scored three bonus points to the Pack’s one. Zurich Storm started the Pack off with a 13-6 decision at 125 pounds, scoring a pair of takedowns in both the first and second periods. Pitt got the first bonus point win of the day, at 133 pounds to take a 4-3 lead in the team totals. NC State then went on to win four straight matches. On his Senior Day, Jamel Morris scored the lone takedown of the match at 141 pounds to score a 4-2 win. The bout went to OT, and Morris secured the win 18 seconds in. Using a nine-point first period with a pair of takedowns and a four-point near fall, #8 Justin Oliver scored bonus points for the Pack with a 15-7 win at 149 pounds. In a battle of the top two ACC wrestlers at 157 pounds, an escape to start the third led #4 Hayden Hidlay to a 3-2 decision over #11 Taleb Rahmani. Thomas Bullard scored takedowns in the first and third period and picked up a 6-1 decision at 165 pounds. NC State led 16-4 with four bouts remaining, but the Panthers closed the dual with four straight wins and a pair of major decisions. Pitt broke the four-match winning streak with a 6-4 decision at 174 pounds, followed by a major decision at 184 pounds in a match-up of ranked wrestlers. #13 Nino Bonaccorsi scored an 8-0 major decision over #3 Nick Reenan. At 197 pounds, Kellan Stout scored the winning takedown in the final 20 seconds to upet #20 Malik McDonald 5-4. With a winner-take-all bout, #14 Demetrius Thomas pulled out a 17-5 major decision at heavyweight to close the dual. Up Next: The Pack will conclude the regular season with back-to-back road duals at ranked ACC foes. First up, a trip to #15 North Carolina for a Friday night dual.
#16 Pitt 18, #8 NC State 16
125: Zurich Storm (NCSU) dec. Brendon Fenton; 13-6 – 3-0
133: #5 Micky Phillipi (Pitt) major dec. John Devine; 17-5 – 3-4
141: Jamel Morris (NCSU) dec. LJ Bentley; 4-2 (SV1) – 6-4
149: #8 Justin Oliver (NCSU) major dec. Robert Lee; 15-7 – 10-4
157: #4 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) dec. #11 Taleb Rahmani; 3-2 – 13-4
165: Thomas Bullard (NCSU) dec. Tommy O’Brien; 6-1 – 16-4
174: Tommy O’Brien (Pitt) dec. #20 Daniel Bullard; 6-4 – 16-7
184: #13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) major dec. #3 Nick Reenan; 8-0 – 16-11
197: Kellan Stout (Pitt) dec. #20 Malik McDonald; 5-4 – 16-14
285: #14 Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) major dec. Deonte Wilson; 17-5 – 16-18
Attn: 1,544
Appalachian State picks up big win at Duke
DURHAM, N.C. — A road trip from Boone to the Bull City resulted in a good-looking win for Appalachian State Wrestling. Wearing new gold and black Nike singlets, App State claimed a 21-17 victory against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday night, giving head coach JohnMark Bentley’s program its sixth win against a Power Five Conference team in the last four seasons. The Mountaineers’ six wins Thursday came from Angel Najar, Alan Clothier, Randall Diabe, Cary Miller, De’Andre Swinson-Barr and Codi Russell, with a comeback in Swinson-Barr’s 8-4 decision against Arien Leigh at 125 pounds occurring at a critical time. The four nationally ranked Finesilver brothers, made up of two sets of twins, accounted for all of the Blue Devils’ victories.
App State (6-6) trailed 10-3 before it rattled off five straight wins, capped by Russell’s six-point forfeit at 133 pounds to give the Mountaineers a 21-10 advantage with two matches remaining against the Blue Devils (2-6). The streak began with decisions from Clothier (9-3 against Kaden Russell at 184 pounds), Diabe (10-3 against Alec Schenk at 197 pounds) and Miller (6-2 against Araad Fisher at 285 pounds). With the Mountaineers moving ahead 12-10 on Miller’s win, Swinson-Barr’s match had the potential to be a dual-deciding one with six points guaranteed at 133 points and two ranked Finesilver brothers taking the mat in the final two matches. Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21373
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
