Jaqwuez Norman presented the Lee Carroll Award
Heavyweight Jaqwuez Norman of Farmville Central High School was presented the 16th Annual Lee Carroll Award as a top level wrestler in northeastern North Carolina last season. The TakeDown Report Editor, Martin Fleming presented the award to Norman in during the pause between the girl’s and boy’s basketball games. The home crowd enthusiastically cheered on the two-time state placer.
Norman stated that he started wrestling his freshmen year after he lost a bet. He had proclaimed to his football coach that he would be playing on the basketball team that winter. He agreed that if he did not make the team then he would wrestle. His record that first year was a few matches over .500 yet “I learned that I really did not like losing and I wanted to work harder so I would not.” When asked if the wrestling helped him in football his face lit up and he listed several examples of how the competition and training in wrestling made him stronger, quicker and more effective in football.
Norman also credited his coach and team mates on the Farmville Central wrestling team as helping him reach his goals. He emphasized that wrestling is a team sport and the brotherhood of his team mates that made him his success and how he wanted to help others do as well as they could. He will continue his efforts with a new team this year as he has enrolled at Belmont-Abbey College. After a year in training as a red shirt he looks to be starting next year.
We look forward to seeing what achievements he can add to the success in his last two season of high school wrestling with two Regional Championships, two State tournament medals. In addition to the Lee Carroll Award Norman has been presented two TDR Top 12 engraved wooden plaques as the top wrestler at his weight class in eastern North Carolina.
Lee Carroll started wrestling his sophomore year when Tarboro High School restarted the sport in 1992 with Butch Sadler as his coach. Lee won 112 matches in just 3 years with the Vikings. Lee was state runner-up his junior year before becoming a record setting undefeated state champion in 1995 with a (50-0) record. Lee went on to start four years at North Carolina State qualifying for the Nationals 3 times. Lee is an adjunct professor teaching engineering graphics at N.C. State and has his own interactive design agency, Forged Media, in Raleigh.
The TakeDown Report promotes amateur wrestling in eastern North Carolina and sponsors the Award. Fleming noted, “It encourages young men from the teams in this area to realize the hard work, determination and discipline it takes to be a top notch wrestler,” he added. The TakeDown Report is in its 20th year of wrestling promotions in North Carolina reporting wrestling results and encouraging media coverage of the sport. Contact the TDR by e-mail at martinkfleming@gmail.com or call (252) 883-3311. Fans are also invited to check our blog at https://takedownreport.wordpress.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/The-TakeDown-Report-235098404048/ or follow on Twitter Martin Fleming @MFlemdog.
KCAC Announces Inaugural Season for Women’s Wrestling
Editor’s Notes; The 2nd collegiate conference to recognize women’s wrestling as an official sport.
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WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) revealed the addition of women’s wrestling today as its newest varsity sport. This announcement takes the conference up to 23 varsity sports – 11 for men and 12 for women.
The KCAC joins the Mid-South Conference, based in Kentucky, as the first two conferences to offer women’s wrestling as this sport continues to grow within the NAIA. The conference will blend five programs to begin competition in the 2017-18 school year. Three associate member programs, the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota, Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, and Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, will join the two full-member KCAC institutions, Ottawa University and the University of Saint Mary, in this inaugural year. Midland University and Missouri Valley College are already KCAC associate member schools in lacrosse. Rest of the story at http://www.ottawabraves.com/article/6181.php?mc_cid=56f7d8a8a5&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
PROWL: The new home of the first sport
Editor’s Notes; The newest effort to create a true professional level to the oldest and greatest sport. Will watch and see how it goes.
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You’re about to witness the birth of a new sports league for the first real sport, wrestling. In the past few days, you may have seen references to PROWL in social media. There have been photos of top amateur wrestlers, online polls asking fans to cast votes for cities within states that are wrestling hotbeds … with no real explanation. Rest of the story at
http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/18402?mc_cid=317a566e1b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Cascade Collegiate Conference Adds Men’s Wrestling to Slate of Offerings and New Members
Editor’s Note; Expanding opportunities.
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LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference has added men’s wrestling as a CCC recognized sport beginning with the 2017-18 season the league office announced.
With the addition, wrestling becomes the seventh official men’s sport in the CCC and the first added since men’s and women’s golf became conference sponsored sports in 2007. Also, four institutions have been accepted for associate membership. The new members sponsoring wrestling are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- Prescott, Ariz., Menlo College- Atherton, Calif., Montana State University Northern- Havre, Mont. And Simpson University-Redding, Calif. The Schools will join current members Eastern Oregon University, Southern Oregon University, University of Providence (formerly University of Great Falls) and Warner Pacific College to form CCC men’s wrestling. Rest of the story at http://www.cascadeconference.org/news/2017/7/12/cascade-collegiate-conference-adds-mens-wrestling-to-slate-of-offerings-and-new-members.aspx?mc_cid=1e13de328d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
Granby wrestling guru Wayne Martin visits New Bern camp
Editor’s Note; Great to see news media attention for an eastern North Carolina wrestler, coach and team. This happened last summer so it will be interesting to see what results develop this winter.
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New Bern’s wrestling camp got a special guest instructor this year in Wayne Martin, son of Billy Martin, the inventor of the Granby wrestling system. The Martins’ connection with New Bern is through former wrestling coach Tom Marsh as his son wrestled for Wayne Martin at Great Bridge High School in Virginia. Billy Martin won 21 team state titles in 22 years at Granby High in Virginia and Wayne won his share at Great Bridge, which has won 18 of the last 23 AAA Virginia state titles. Rest of the story at http://www.newbernsj.com/sports/20170728/granby-wrestling-guru-wayne-martin-visits-new-bern-camp
Midway names Brumbelow as first-ever wrestling coach
TDR Editor Notes; Another new program to start in a NAIA school in Kentucky. Great to see the growth of wrestling opportunities. At least a dozen schools will be starting or restarting programs in the fall of 2018.
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Midway, Ky. — Midway University athletic director, Rusty Kennedy, has announced the hiring of Jake Brumbelow as the first-ever head coach for the inaugural Midway wrestling program, which is set to make its debut in fall 2018. “I am excited to welcome Jake Brumbelow to Midway University as our first-ever head wrestling coach,” said Kennedy. “Jake stood out among a very impressive pool of applicants we had for our position.” Kennedy added, “His history of success and experience of starting two prior wrestling programs at the college level really impressed us and will allow us to be better prepared with the challenges of starting our program.” Starting a program from scratch is a challenge, but it is one Brumbelow has faced twice before with success, at Emmanuel College and Brenton-Parker College. Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/19086
Grapple at the Garden set for Sunday
TDR Editor’s Notes; Well, not many wrestling fans will be able to make it up to the big event in Madison Square Garden in New York City but it sounds like an exciting event. Check out the news on college wrestling in the center of The Big Apple.
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By Mark Palmer
Amateur wrestling returns to New York’s Madison Square Garden this weekend as the sixth annual Grapple at the Garden this Sunday, Dec. 10. This year’s edition of this holiday classic — now a much-anticipated annual staple on the wrestling calendar — will feature matchups of some of the top college programs in the East, along with a unique all-star exhibition dual meet featuring top high school wrestlers from Long Island and New Jersey, and a special youth wrestling clinic conducted by 2016 World champion Logan Stieber. Colleges which will be participating at the Garden — site of the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships — include Division I programs Virginia Tech, Princeton, Hofstra, and George Mason University … LIU Post from Division II … and, representing Division III, Johns Hopkins, New York University, Wilkes University, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Rest of the Story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/19050
Former Plain Dealer reporter Pat Galbincea selected to National Wrestling Hall of Fame
TDR Editor Notes; Met and worked with these three wrestling fans while in northeast Ohio decades ago. Great to see them recognized and honored.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Former Cleveland Plain Dealer sports writer Pat Galbincea will be inducted into the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, along with several coaches from around the state for their “Lifetime Service to Wrestling.”
Galbincea, 69, covered high school and college wrestling for The Plain Dealer for 45 years, as well as several other sports. He also worked as police reporter and a general assignment news reporter. He retired from The Plain Dealer in 2013. Galbincea said he was shocked to hear he was nominated, and “amazed I was given the honor.” Lee Roy Smith, executive director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma was the first to give him the word. “This award acknowledges that your life has been significant and you are leaving behind a legacy that others admire,” Smith said to Galbincea. “You have a special place in the heritage of the sport and your legacy is going to be recognized at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.” While the news has yet to be officially announced, Joel Greenlee from the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame confirmed the honor. Greenlee, head wrestling coach at Ohio University, said Northeast Ohio will be well represented at the October 15 induction ceremonies in Dublin, Ohio. Wadsworth coach John Gramuglia and former freestyle champion C. David Range from Cleveland Heights will also be inducted. Rest of the story at http://oianews.com/former-plain-dealer-reporter-pat-galbincea-selected-to-national-wrestling-hall-of-fame?mc_cid=317a566e1b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
The Big 12 Expands in Wrestling
TDR Editor Notes; Good news for wrestling competition on the college level.
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IRVING, Texas – UNI wrestling will be moving to the Big 12 Conference effective for the 2017-18 season. The Big 12 has added Fresno State and Northern Iowa as affiliate members in the sport of wrestling to give the Conference a 12-team field. The new additions will join Air Force, Iowa State, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, West Virginia and Wyoming in future regular and postseason competition. Rest of the story at http://unipanthers.com/news/2017/6/30/uni-wrestling-joins-big-12-conference.aspx?mc_cid=bc6e280293&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
