UNC-Pembroke Wrestling Renames Tournament In Honor Of Former Head Coach PJ Smith
PEMBROKE – UNCP wrestling’s long-standing preseason tournament, the Pembroke Classic, has been renamed the PJ Smith Pembroke Classic, athletic department officials announced Monday.
“This is a fitting tribute to Coach Smith and his legacy at UNCP and in our community,” said UNC Pembroke Director of Athletics, Dick Christy. “The Pembroke Classic provides a wide spectrum of mat opportunities for student-athletes to compete, something that really aligns with Coach Smith’s efforts to grow the sport of wrestling in our community, region, and state.”
“Coach Smith started this tournament back in the ’80s when he took over as head coach at UNCP, and is the longest-standing preseason tournament in the southeast, as well as one of the longest-standing in the country,” said UNC Pembroke head wrestling coach OT Johnson. “As we all know, PJ was an instrumental part of wrestling in the southeast region, and this tournament is indicative of that. I had a chance to wrestle in this tournament as a collegiate athlete, and it is surreal to be honoring the man that made that possible with the renaming of this event.”
The event is still the longest-standing annual athletics event for UNC Pembroke. … more at … https://uncpbraves.com/news/2024/10/28/wrestling-renames-tournament-in-honor-of-former-head-coach-pj-smith.aspx
Wyoming Wrestling Dominates Campbell, 28-12, in the Dual at the Daddy
CHEYENNE, Wyoming (10/31/24) – The University of Wyoming wrestling team and Campbell opened up the 2024-25 NCAA wrestling season Thursday night in the Dual at the Daddy. And with the entire collegiate wrestling world watching, the Pokes didn’t disappoint.
In fact, they dominated. Wyoming, at Frontier Park on the grounds of Cheyenne Frontier Days, toppled the Fighting Camels, 28-12. “It’s awesome. I love doing these things,” Wyoming’s Jore Volk said. “It was fun too. The crowd was awesome. They’re right on top of you. It was an awesome experience, and I hope we do something with UFC Fight Pass every year.”
These same two teams met last year at the Battle in the Barn. That event was put on by UFC Fight Pass, as well, and Campbell came out on top, 23-12. The revenge exacted by Wyoming on Thursday was quick and loud. The Cowboys sprung two upsets in the first three bouts and rode that to winning seven of 10.
No. 2 Volk (125) got things started with a methodical 2-0 win over No. 13 Anthony Molton. An escape point and a ride-time point accounted for the only scores.
Stockton O’Brien (133) had the match of the night. He pinned No. 15 Domenic Zaccone in the second period and was named Wrestle of the Night for his upset. He was gifted a WWE-style belt following the dual.
Cole Brooks (141) followed suit. He upset No. 29 Shannon Hanna with a takedown in overtime for a 5-2 sudden victory.
No. 25 Jared Hill (157) also won in overtime. He defeated Seth Larson, 8-5.
Cooper Voorhees (165) grinded out a 4-2 decision win over Kendrick Hodge. … more at … https://gowyo.com/news/2024/10/31/wrestling-dominates-campbell-28-12-in-the-dual-at-the-daddy.aspx
Prendergast wins at 103; UMO competes at home event
MOUNT OLIVE (Nov. 4) – In the opening event of the 2024-25 season, freshman Lillian Prendergast captured individual medalist honors in the 103-weight class on Saturday, as the Trojans featured a trio of wrestlers on the podium at the Trojan Open in Kornegay Arena.
The University of Mount Olive women’s wrestling program had eight wrestlers in the event, including four newcomers to the roster. The Trojans featured at least one wrestler in seven of the 10 weight classes. Prendergast posted a perfect 3-0 record at 103 on Saturday in her first collegiate competition with Mount Olive. After receiving an opening-round bye, she produced a fall in just 48 seconds over Olivia Collins of Greensboro in the quarterfinals before defeating Morgan Repasky of Montreat by a 10-0 tech fall. In the championship match, Prendergast captured the individual title via forfeit over Angelina Casteneda of Cumberlands.
Freshman O’marzria Wright delivered a stellar performance in the 110-weight class after finishing as the runner-up behind a 3-1 mark. She won by fall in the opening two rounds after defeating Chloe Carver of Montreat and Ashley Courtney of Cumberlands. In the semifinals, Wright posted a victory via a 12-2 tech fall versus Payton Agnell of Lindsey Wilson but fell the title match to Reagan Thomas of Lindsey Wilson by an 18-7 tech fall.
In the 207 weight class, sophomore Andrea Smith produced a fourth-place finish … more at … https://umotrojans.com/news/2024/11/2/womens-wrestling-prendergast-wins-at-103-umo-competes-at-home-event.aspx
Hatcher Nominated for Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame
The man who is responsible for bringing a Division I wrestling program to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has been nominated to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Greg Hatcher is a nominee for the 67th class in the regular (under 65) voting category for wrestling. Inductees are selected based on the lasting impact and contributions they’ve made to their respective sports. Voting will continue until Oct. 31. Those who would like to vote may join the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. “It’s nice to be nominated for my work with wrestling, but it’s never seemed like work,” Hatcher said. “It’s just been fun helping grow wrestling in the state and across the country. Of all the things I have been involved in, nothing has been more satisfying than watching kids turn into confident, strong men through wrestling competition. Once you’ve wrestled, everything else is easy.”
When Hatcher graduated from Michigan’s Alma College in 1983, he was captain of the wrestling team and named All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in wrestling. He was also a member of three hall-of-fame wrestling teams, two hall-of-fame baseball teams, and six MIAA championship teams. Following graduation, he coached baseball at Notre Dame University for one year. Hatcher was named the Distinguished Alumnus by Alma College and was inducted into the Alma College Sports Hall of Fame in soccer, wrestling, and baseball. In 2008, he became a member of the Alma College Board of Trustees. Hatcher’s greatest work has come from his efforts in getting wrestling started in Arkansas. Hatcher founded The Arkansas Wrestling Association and has purchased the mats for 65 high schools and 13 colleges to help get new programs started at these schools. For his efforts, he has been honored with the Dan Gable America Needs Wrestling Award, named WIN Magazine’s Man of the Year, and awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Arkansas Activities Association. Hatcher has been inducted into the Arkansas Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
In February 2009, the Jack Stephens Center at UA Little Rock hosted the first sanctioned high school state wrestling tournament, featuring 460 athletes from 40 teams. This early connection between UA Little Rock and the high school wrestling community helped pave the way for the university to establish the first NCAA Division I wrestling program in Arkansas.
In 2018, Hatcher donated $1.4 million for Division I wrestling to be added to Little Rock Athletics. The Greg Hatcher Wrestling Center is named in his honor. In 2019, UA Little Rock honored Greg and Lee Hatcher as the honorees of SpectacuaLR, Little Rock Athletics’ biggest annual fundraising event in support of student-athletes.
Neil Erisman, a Kansas high-school state champion and Big 12 champion at Oklahoma State, came to UA Little Rock to serve as head coach. The Trojans are coming off a historic season this year. The Trojans captured the Pac-12 regular season, … more at … https://lrtrojans.com/news/2024/10/21/wrestling-hatcher-nominated-for-arkansas-sports-hall-of-fame.aspx?utm_medium=sidearm-email&utm_source=lrtrojans.com&utm_campaign=Hatcher%20Nominated%20for%20Arkansas%20Sports%20Hall%20of%20Fame&utm_content=1d0699f2-f646-41da-adfe-5ba03cafba7d
Why Penn State Wrestling Coach Cael Sanderson Spoke With the Nittany Lions Football Team
Sanderson, who has led Penn State wrestling to 11 NCAA team titles, brought his message to the No. 3 Nittany Lions football team.
Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson begins his quest for a 12th national championship in November. Penn State football coach James Franklin is looking for his first. So why not solicit advice from the best?
During Penn State’s bye week, Franklin invited Sanderson back to the Lasch Football Building to speak to his unbeaten and third-ranked Nittany Lions football team. Consider it a refresher course in consistent messaging, Franklin said.
“His message is really very consistent with the messages that we give our guys all the time,” Franklin said Monday at his weekly press conference. “It’s just a different voice delivering that, which is powerful. So it’s not the same message that we’re delivering from the same people. It’s a similar message. I think a lot of it is about being present, being appreciative, and then the other one is controlling the things that you can control and not inhaling or reading or listening to outside voices
or words was really the message.”
Franklin, a major wrestling fan, has been a fixture at Penn State wrestling matches for years. He has invited Sanderson to speak with his team before about the power of process and did so again this past summer. With the Nittany Lions off to a 6-0 start and on a bye week, Franklin had Sanderson back to address the players once more. … more at … https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/football/why-the-penn-state-ohio-state-game-isn-t-a-must-win-for-the-nittany-lions-01jbdchjnawd
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Thursday announced that its Class of 2025 is Distinguished Members
Darryl Burley, Matt Lindland, Terry Steiner and Greg Wojciechowski, Meritorious Official honoree Ken Mara, Order of Merit Recipient Van Stokes, Medal of Courage recipient Mark Coleman and Outstanding American honoree Terry Davis.
“The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is pleased to announce our Class of 2025, a deserving group of individuals are being recognized because of the sustainable values they have contributed to wrestling,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “Each of these leaders set the tone and modeled the rituals, skills and work ethic necessary to advance the culture of our great sport’s heritage, both on and off the mat.”
The Hall of Fame’s Board of Governors approved the selections at their annual fall meeting on October 29. The Class of 2025 will be honored and officially inducted during the 48th Honors Weekend on June 6 and 7, 2025 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For more information on Honors Weekend, please telephone (405) 377-5243. Lindland and Steiner were chosen as Distinguished Members for the Modern Era while Burley and Wojciechowski were selected by the Veterans Committee. The newest honorees will bring the number of Distinguished Members to 216, since the Hall of Fame began in 1976. Steiner becomes the 18th Distinguished Member from the University of Iowa while Burley is the sixth from Lehigh University, Lindland is the fifth from the University of Nebraska and Wojciechowski is the second from the University of Toledo. Oklahoma State University has the most Distinguished Members with 38 while Iowa’s 18 is second followed by Iowa State University and the University of Oklahoma tied for third with 14 each. Distinguished Members can be a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in national and/or international competition; a coach who has demonstrated great leadership in the profession and who has compiled an outstanding record; or a contributor whose long-term activities have substantially enhanced the development and advancement of the sport. Wrestlers must have been retired from active competition for a period of five years to be eligible for consideration as a Distinguished Member. Darryl Burley was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion and a four-time NCAA finalist with a career record of 94-5-1 for Lehigh University. He won his titles at 134 pounds in 1979 and at 142 pounds in 1983 while finishing second in 1980 and 1981 at 134 pounds. Burley was a four-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion, and a two-time champion, six-time finalist and Outstanding Wrestler at the Midlands Tournament. He won a bronze medal at the prestigious Tbilisi tournament … more at … https://nwhof.org/news
Presbyterian Women’s Wrestling Announces 2024-25 Schedule with Championship Aspirations
CLINTON, S.C. – A national top-ten finisher in each of the past two seasons, the Presbyterian College women’s wrestling team has announced their full slate for the 2024-25 campaign.
Unveiled by head coach Brian Vutianitis as he enters his second full season with the first-ever Division I university to sponsor a women’s wrestling program, PC brings an obvious sense of expectation into the new year thanks to a boatload of success in recent times.
Since November of 2022, the Blue Hose have achieved 58 individual medals (otherwise known as a top-three finish) when wrestling in a tournament. A PC grappler has won gold 22 times in the past two seasons, along with 14 silvers and 22 bronze nods.
Presbyterian came in 8th-place at the national tournament in the team rankings last spring, boasting three All-Americans (who were all freshmen at the time) and will return to the mat next month (Madeline Kubicki, Cassia Zammit, and Henlee Haynes).
PC has witnessed six All-Americans (or top-ten placers at nationals) under Vutianitis’ watch, setting up a new roster for success that is a little bit older and a lot larger in numbers.
The Blue Hose now have 29 wrestlers on the official roster, its biggest since starting the program in 2019. Fifteen of those 29 are at least sophomores, hoping to follow in the footsteps of last season’s squad which won over 250 matches … more at … https://gobluehose.com/news/2024/10/22/womens-wrestling-womens-wrestling-announces-2024-25-schedule-with-championship-aspirations.aspx
Lander picked to repeat as Conference Carolinas men’s wrestling champions
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Lander University has been picked atop the 2024-25 Conference Carolinas Men’s Wrestling Preseason Poll the league announced on Thursday, October 24. The Bearcats won the final two South Atlantic Conference Carolinas crowns before taking the Conference Carolinas West Division and tournament titles last year in the first year Conference Carolinas soley sponsored sport.
The Bearcats received 12-of-14 first-place votes (teams can’t vote for themselves) and 194 total points to claim the top spot while Newberry was a close second with 186 points and the remaining two first-place votes. UNC Pembroke wasn’t far behind, picked third with 180 points before King (142) and Mount Olive (131) rounded out the top five. Belmont Abbey (126) was sixth in the preseason poll followed by Emmanuel (112), Limestone (102), Coker (101), Montevallo (97), Allen (60), Lincoln Memorial (59), Emory & Henry (33), Bluefield State (27) and Shorter (25).
The preseason poll was voted on by the league’s head coaches. … more at … https://conferencecarolinas.com/news/2024/10/18/mens-wrestling-preseason-poll.aspx
UNC Wrestling Caps Off Preseason At Blue And White Showcase
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina wrestling program finished its preseason prior to the 2024-25 campaign Saturday night, with the annual Blue and White Showcase.
Ten new faces to the program, nine freshmen and one transfer, made their Carmichael Arena debuts.
Blue And White Showcase Results
Saturday, October 26 – Carmichael Arena
141: Jace Palmer (Team Blue) over Elias Navida (Team White): 4-1 Dec
125: Marco Tocci (Team Blue) over Cameron Stinson Jr. (Team White): 8-7 Dec
133: Derek Guanajuato (Team Blue) over Max Martin (Team White): 22-6 TF
157: Laird Root (Team White) over Colin Nugent (Team Blue): 19-5 MD
157: Joey Showalter (Team White) over Cullen Kane (Team Blue): 9-2 Dec
165: Nicholas Fea (Team Blue) over Nolan O’Boyle (Team White): 8-0 Dec
165: Collin Carrigan (Team White) over Omaury Alvarez (Team Blue): 14-4 MD
174: Marcus Murabito (Team White) over Sabino Portella (Team Blue): 4-1 SV Dec
174: Cade Tenold (Team Blue) over Matthew Foil (Team White): 18-2 TF
184: Jake Dailey (Team White) over Carson Tenold (Team Blue): 10-9 Dec
197: Robert Platt (Team Blue) over Aidan Schlett (Team White): 5-0 Dec
141: Nick O’Neill (Team White) over Jace Palmer (Team Blue): 6-4 Dec … more at … https://goheels.com/news/2024/10/26/wrestling-caps-off-preseason-at-blue-and-white-showcase
Lanham Announces 2024-25 Wrestling Slate
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke wrestling head coach Glen Lanham officially announced the 2024-25 wrestling schedule Monday, which kicks off in less than two weeks. Lanham, who enters his 13th campaign in Durham with the Blue Devils, welcomes back seven starters and brought in 14 newcomers for the upcoming season.
Duke is set to open the 2024 season at the Battle at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 3. The Blue Devils will then compete against Long Island and Rutgers in WrangleMania, which will be contested at Nov. 9 at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pa., and then compete in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic at Freedom High School on Nov. 10.
The Blue Devils face Hofstra and Sacred Heart Nov. 16 in Hempstead, N.Y., before featuring the first match in Durham on Nov. 22 against Michigan. The contest will be played at Jordan High School at 7 p.m.
Duke will then host a quad match on Nov. 23 with American, Utah Valley and Presbyterian in Durham at a site yet to be determined. The Blue Devils close the fall slate with Davidson (Dec. 6) and VMU (Dec. 22) at home. To open the 2025 portion of the schedule, Duke travels to the Southern Scuffle Jan. 4-5 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The dual match schedule features four home matches in 2025 – Gardner-Webb (Jan. 14), North Carolina (Jan. 17), Virginia Tech (Jan. 24) and Stanford (Feb. 16). Away matches include NC State (Jan. 10), Appalachian State (Jan. 20), Pittsburgh (Feb. 1) and Virginia (Feb. 7).
Duke is set to host the ACC Championship in Cameron Indoor Stadium March 9. … more at … https://goduke.com/news/2024/10/21/lanham-announces-2024-25-wrestling-slate.aspx?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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
Takedown Report 