Pamlico’s Armstrong wins state wrestling crown
Editor’s Note; Congratulation to Coach Kevin Knox and his state champion.
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Sophomore finished season 27-4
GREENSBORO – The big stage wasn’t too much for Pamlico sophomore Javon Armstrong.
Armstrong defeated Rosewood junior Nyterrius Williams 10-4 on Saturday to capture the NCHSAA 1-A state heavyweight championship at the Greensboro Coliseum. Armstrong, who was 1-2 a year ago at states, finishes the season 27-4 after beating Williams for the third time this season. Williams winds up 37-12. “It’s awesome, overwhelming,” Williams said. Williams is only the second wrestler to bring home the gold in school history, which he said was simply “awesome.” “Especially him being a sophomore and it was the first time on the big stage, not to get star struck, it’s just phenomenal,” Pamlico coach Kevin Knox said. “Speechless. I don’t know what to say about it, but it’s awesome.” Rest of the story at http://www.newbernsj.com/sports/20180217/pamlicos-armstrong-wins-state-wrestling-crown
PREP SPOTLIGHT: Malik Perkins
Editor’s Note; From just before the state tournament.
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By JORDAN ANDERS, The Daily Reflector Thursday, February 15, 2018
Farmville Central senior Malik Perkins carries a 44-0 season record into the first day of the 2-A state wrestling championships today in Greensboro. Perkins chatted with Reflector prep sports beat writer Jordan Anders this week about his quest for redemption at the state level, where he has lost on the first day each of the last two years.
Q: You’re right around the corner from states. How focused are you right now?
A: I’m feeling good going into states, but I’ve been each of the last two years and I’m 0-for-1 on the first day (both years). I’m just focused on getting that first win out of the way.
Q: I want to come back to that, but I always like to start these things at the beginning, so tell me how you got into wrestling in the first place.
A: My freshman year, I was outside in weightlifting class and two wrestlers came out there and asked me if I had ever wrestled before. I said no, and we literally wrestled outside in the grass. They were like, ‘Yeah, you need to wrestle, bro,’ so I talked to (then-wrestling coach Michael) Taylor and he got me out there on the team.
Rest of the story at http://www.reflector.com/High-Schools/2018/02/15/PREP-SPOTLIGHT-Malik-Perkins.html
Beddingfield’s King places 4th at NCHSAA 2-A championship
Editor’s Note; The first of a few articles on eastern N.C. wrestlers in the NCHSAA State Championships.
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GREENSBORO — Showing resolve to battle back through the bracket after a second-round defeat to the eventual state champion, Beddingfield High senior Patrick King concluded his run as the last man standing among wrestlers from The Wilson Times readership area Saturday at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2-A championships at Greensboro Coliseum. King posted a 4-2 record in the tournament to earn a podium finish of fourth place, falling to Canon Bridges of West Lincoln via a 14-0 majority decision in the third-place match. He ended his senior campaign with a 26-7 record. Rest of the story at http://www.wilsontimes.com/stories/beddingfields-king-places-4th-at-nchsaa-2-a-championship,114464?
North Carolina Chapter of the National Hall of Fame Announces new Inductees
Editor’s Note; I was going to wait until the invitations were sent out before making highlighting this news. That was until I saw this banner at the state wrestling tournament. I had walked past it a couple of times before noticing. Once I read it and realized, well it took my breath away and had me a bit speechless. My thanks to all the coaches and wrestlers I have worked with. To all my opponents who helped challenge me to improve. To my teamates and coaches that tolerated and inspired me. Thank you to my high school coach Ron Laubaugh. I credit him with inspiring and guiding me towards graduation.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is a great place and an honor for all that have been selected.
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Television Coverage at the NCHSAA State Wrestling Championships
Editor’s Note; We received the official notice of this opportunity for fans early this morning, the same day that the North Carolina State Tournament starts. This looks like a great opportunity for fans and coaches from a distance to keep track of and view as many matches as they desire. We are glad to learn of this for the fans and the sport in general. On a personal note I will miss the opportunity to enjoy the work as a commentator on the finals. The finals have been filmed and shown in some fashion such as Public TV, Time-Warner and others for 17 of the past 19 seasons. I am glad that I was involved with each of those years. Usually as a bumbling announcer. I have offered my assistance for this year and have yet to hear if that is desired. Thus, tomorrow I will stop in at Reynolds Coliseum to see which team will win the ACC Dual Meet Championships.
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Trackwrestling is excited to announce that we will be offering the North Carolina Wrestling State Championships stream live and on-demand.
Trackwrestling understands that it is a huge accomplishment for any wrestler to make it to the state tournament. Because of this, we would like to offer wrestler`s friends and family members a special 25% off coupon for their stream.
Use the coupon code NCHSAAFF at check out and receive 25% off your stream.
To purchase your stream use this link: http://bit.ly/2o9cQhA
Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested and good luck at state!
Division III Southeast Regional Site Finalized
Editor’s Note; The Southeast Regional will be hosted by Ferrum College and held at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount, Virginia on Feb. 23rd – 24th.
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The top three wrestlers at each weight will qualify for the 2018 NCAA Championships to be held at the Cleveland Public Auditorium March 9-10, 2018.
High School Girls Wrestling continues growing rapidly nationwide
Editor’s Notes; The outlook looks bright for the growth of girls and women’s wrestling as it is still with a small but continually growing participation numbers. As they say, “You go girl!”
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There is something that perhaps the general public does not yet know. Wrestling has been the one of the fastest growing sports for girls in high school for a number of years. With today being National Girls and Women in Sports Day, USA Wrestling is celebrating girls high school wrestling. Perhaps, the wrestling community can help us get out the word about why so many high school girls are now wrestling. First things first. USA Wrestling is asking high school girl wrestlers and high school girls wrestling teams to post photos and videos on social media today and throughout the week. Go ahead and use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. and show the world what girls wrestling is all about, using these two hashtags:
#NGWSD
#GirlsWrestle
So here are the facts. In 1990, there were 112 girls who participated in high school wrestling. For 27 straight years, girls high school wrestling has grown. In many of those years, the percentage of growth was 10% or more. In the 2016-17 high school year, there were 14,587 girls wrestling in high school. And it is well known that that number is too small, because some high school state associations still do not report how many girls they have. In the early years, girls only had the opportunity to participate on the boys wrestling team at their high school. This was not an easy task. It took a great deal of courage to wrestle, not only because of the physical disadvantage, but also because it was not yet accepted by society for girls to train and compete against boys in a combat sport like wrestling. In spite of this, the number of girls competing in high school wrestling increased, year after year after year. They were the true trailblazers for girls high school wrestling. Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2018/February/07/NGWSD-feature-on-girls-high-school-wrestling?mc_cid=2f11ee0549&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Wrestling Team in Australia Fights to Prove It’s Not an ‘African Gang’
Editor’s Note; A wrestling story from way, way, way to the south and it was in the New York Times! Yet a different look at how much variety there is in the sport and how it can benefit in a variety of ways.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — The men call themselves the Melbourne Lion Wrestling Team.
The name evokes both origins in Africa and a presence in Australia, a fitting title for a team composed of South Sudanese immigrants living in Melbourne, Australia’s second biggest city. Every week, more than a dozen men, ages 15 to 30, meet to practice on an Australian football oval or, if the weather permits, along the beach. A few times a year, they travel across Australia to compete with other teams, trading the animal skins and ash traditionally worn during Sudanese wrestling matches for gym shorts and talcum powder. “We want to keep our culture alive,” Awan Mading, 30, said during a recent practice. “It’s also good exercise. You can see we’re breathing heavily from the cardio.” When not refining their grapples and takedowns, the men are factory workers, bank employees and students. In Sudan, wrestling is a popular sport and an integral part of the culture, melding athletics with dance and song. But here, the men strike an unusual — and to some Australian eyes, threatening — image: tall, black, often shirtless men fighting one another. Rest of the story at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/world/australia/sudan-african-gangs-wrestling.html?mc_cid=70ec74af24&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Calling all female wrestlers: let’s celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Wednesday, Feb. 7th
Editor’s Note; OK we are a week late but it seems like an appropriate sentiment for Valentine’s Day this week.
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Original story by Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling
This Wednesday, February 7, 2018, is the 32nd annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a national movement to celebrate the extraordinary achievements in girls’ and women’s sports and the positive influence athletic participation brings to their lives.
A coalition of wrestling organizations, including USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the non-profit Wrestle Like A Girl, the U.S. Wrestling Foundation and many other groups are reaching out to girls and women in wrestling to come together and celebrate women’s wrestling on Wednesday.
Starting tomorrow and going throughout the weekend, we are asking girls and women in wrestling (as well as their families and teams) to be very active on social media, posting photos and videos of girls wrestling online with the following two hashtags:
#NGWSD
#GirlsWrestle
These images on social media can include pictures of individual female athletes competing in wrestling, teams and clubs of women wrestlers posing together, girls and women practicing the sport of wrestling, and other appropriate photos and videos which will show off the sport of women’s wrestling to the world.
Rest of the story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2018/February/06/Calling-all-girls-and-women-to-celebrate-National-Girls-and-Women-in-Sports-Day?mc_cid=70ec74af24&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Cowboy Wrestling Mourns the Loss of Stanley Henson
Editor’s Note; A bit belated but he is worthy of recognition and remembrance.
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STILLWATER – Oklahoma State wrestling legend Stanley Henson passed away Wednesday evening at the age of 101. Henson was the oldest living NCAA Champion and was the recipient of the program’s 2017 Gallagher Award, which is presented annually to an OSU alumnus who exemplifies the spirit and leadership eminent in the tradition of champions. “A lot of our wrestlers in the last four or five years got to meet Stanley Henson, and each time we met him it was a special moment for all of us,” head coach John Smith said. “He was a great part of our program’s legacy, and the last living wrestler that I know of that wrestled under Coach Gallagher. He had great memories of Coach Gallagher and always told me great stories and how highly he thought of him, and that motivated me as a coach. “I had the opportunity to visit Dr. Henson and share stories during our trip to Northern Colorado earlier this season, and it’s a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. While it is unfortunate that he’s gone, he has left some great memories for all of us and a great legacy. Our hearts are with his family today.” Rest of the story at http://okstate.com/news/2018/2/1/cowboy-wrestling-mourns-the-loss-of-stanley-henson.aspx?mc_cid=3a968cc763&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
