Sites and dates set for eight 2025 NCWWC Regionals, qualifiers for the national championship for NCAA women wrestlers
The Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Coalition (WCWC), a group of national wrestling organizations which oversee NCAA women’s college wrestling, has announced the sites and dates for the eight Regional competitions which will serve as qualifiers for the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC), set for Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, March 7-8, 2025.
During its meeting on May 23, the NCWWC Executive Committee reviewed bids from 21 NCAA institutions seeking to host a regional. The Executive Committee extended invitations to an institution in each of the eight NCWWC Regions, and all accepted their appointment.
The venue, host institution and competition date for the 2025 NCWWC Regionals are:
Region I – Buffalo State University Arena, Buffalo State University, Buffalo, New York, Saturday, February 22
Region II – Koehler Fieldhouse, East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Sunday, February 23
Region III – Shaw Athletic Center, Emmanuel University, Franklin Springs, Georgia, Saturday, February 22
Region IV – Heminger Center, Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio, Saturday, February 22
Region V – Merillat Sport and Fitness Center, Adrian College, Adrian, Michigan, Saturday, February 22
Region VI – Hyland Arena, Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri, Sunday, February 23
Region VII – Cowles Fieldhouse, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, Saturday, February 22
Region VIII – Kitty Magee Arena, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas, Saturday, February 22
In April, the NCWWC Executive Committee approved increasing the number of regions … more at … NWCAonline.com/NWCA-sites-and-dates-set-for-eight-2025-ncwwc-regionals-qualifiers-for-the-national-championship-for-ncaa-women-wrestlers
Wrestling superstars need more than Olympics to carry the sport
By Kyle Klingman
The 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials are over, leaving hundreds of wrestlers to shelve their dreams for another four years. And only 15 of 18 wrestlers became Paris Olympians after a last-chance Olympic qualifier in May. “Not many finish on top,” said 2000 Canadian Olympian and Simon Fraser coach Justin Abdou. “I was down there with one of my wrestlers. Seeing all these grown men cry reminded me how real and tough our sport is.”
Although many casually mention their desire to make an Olympic team in interviews, the process is beyond comprehension. Imagine selecting an All-NBA team, an All-NFL team, or an All-MLB team once every four years, but the number shrinks by 40 percent.
The United States gets a maximum of six spots in three disciplines (men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle, and Greco-Roman) once every four years in the only event that matters to the general public. “The Olympic Games is a two-week time frame where you have swimming, track & field, and wrestling, and all these sports are there and you watch it every night. And it’s once every four years,” Iowa coach and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Tom Brands said. “You can say what you want but the Worlds are just as important. It’s probably tougher to win a World title and it’s just as exciting. “It’s more about the public perception. There’s only one reason I watch Michael Phelps. I’ve never seen Michael Phelps swim in a World Championship. I don’t even know his credentials. I could guess he’s probably a World champion in something. I know he won 23 Olympic gold medals because it was on primetime television and that’s how wrestling is.”
That’s the allure. A fringe sport with a loyal fan base gets momentarily lifted into a worldwide spotlight. Helen Maroulis, Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Jordan Burroughs, Dan Gable, Rulon Gardner, David Taylor, and Gable Steveson made names for themselves beyond the wrestling base by winning Olympic gold medals. All other credentials are secondary.
No grandchild says his or her grandfather tried out for the World Championships or the NCAA Championships. It’s always, “My grandfather tried out for the Olympics.”
Many are delusional about credentials from the past but mention the word Olympics and heads will inevitably turn. And that’s part of the problem.
Wrestling needs more than the Olympic Games, but it can’t be forced and it must happen organically. … more at … WIN-magazine.com/Wrestling-superstars-need-more-than-olympics-to-carry-the-sport
Wrestling success should be measured beyond just winning
TDR Editor’s Notes; Amen! Get more kids wrestling!
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By Daniel Harding
The only thing that matters is the county/district/state/national tournament. I’ve heard that line — and even used that line — countless times before.
The sentiment is that it’s what you achieve at the big end-of-the-year tournaments that everyone remembers. It’s an expression that’s stood the test of time for one reason and there’s a lot of truth to it. Standing on the big podium gets you the important medal, your name in the hometown paper or on a banner in the gym.
This past season was filled with challenges for my high school team in Connecticut. After two seasons of growth and progress, we faced constant hurdles, from injuries and illness to issues in the classroom, at home and between the ears. It felt as if we could never quite get our feet planted beneath us; as a team we fell short of our goals.
In the quiet calm that follows the wrestling season, I had the chance to get reacquainted with my dog on a long hike and reflect. I grappled with how to feel about our performance.
Several really positive memories returned to me. One of my favorites of the season was when two of my wrestlers, whom I’d coached since youth wrestling, donned a pink and blue shirt and performed a choreographed wrestling match/gender reveal while my wife, son and I sat sweating in the corner. The blue wrestler pinned the pink one, signifying that we were having a second boy. The celebration that followed, complete with hugs, high-fives and a couple tears was a memory I will never forget.
Then there was the inaugural Christmas party that my wife and I hosted. It was a standout night where I watched in horror as slices of pizza were stacked on plates like cordwood and devoured at a rate that made me wonder if the kids would ever make weight again.
Another source of daily amusement this year came from our Bluetooth speaker in the practice room. During the first part of the season, I would routinely blast Christmas music. It started as a joke, hard drilling to the music of Mariah Carey or Michael Bublé is as ridiculous as it sounds but it helped bring some levity to the grind.
After the holidays, I jokingly started playing sea shanties as a way of keeping things light while the intensity of our practices grew. At first the kids would laugh and roll their eyes. I got the last laugh when by the year’s end I asked them what kind of music they wanted to listen to and they’d say something like, “I guess the sea shanties are O.K. or whatever.” After one post-practice run around the school, they even broke out and started singing a shanty. At that moment, with a big smile on my face, I felt as proud as if they just won a state championship.
Another thing I find comfort in is knowing the sport has helped to change the lives of our seniors. One worked through mental hurdles, another worked really hard to turn his grades around, another fought through injuries and battled back onto the mat. Of our seven seniors who concluded their careers, all left more disciplined and better prepared to face challenges beyond the mat.
Memories made and lives changed. There’s no banner for that; they don’t give out medals for developing mental toughness or for building confidence, but maybe they should. Winning and the pursuit of greatness on the mat is important; … more at … WIN-magazine.com/Wrestling-success-should-be-measured-beyond-just-winning
Girls wrestling: Iowa GHSAU votes to move to two classes for 2024-25
Girls wrestling is growing at a rate even the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union never imagined. The sport is expanding so fast that the IGHSAU on Thursday voted to expand to two classes beginning with the 2024-25 season.
At its May meeting, the Board of Directors of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union approved the move to two classes for the 2024-25 girls’ wrestling season.The move will place the 64 largest wrestling schools into Class 2A, with the remaining schools competing in Class 1A.
Wrestlers will compete to qualify for the state tournament at regional meets across the state on Friday January 31, 2025. There will be eight regional state qualifying sites hosted by schools for both Class 1A and 2A. The top 16 qualifiers from each weight class will qualify for the 2025 Girls State Wrestling Tournament, which will be held February 6-7 in Xtream Arena in Coralville.
The Girls State Wrestling Tournament will remain a two-day tournament, with separate sessions for each class on February 6 and combined sessions for the championship sessions on Friday, February 7. “The rapid rise of participants in girls wrestling has exceeded even our expectations,” said IGHSAU Executive Director Erin Gerlich. “Adding a second class is the next building block in our efforts to continue to help the sport grow. The hope is that the addition of a second class will encourage more schools to add girls’ wrestling programs.”
The IGHSAU sanctioned girls’ wrestling in 2022 and has been a one-class tournament since beginning competition in 2023. In 2024, 204 schools sponsored a girls’ wrestling program, while 61 other schools were listed in cooperative sharing agreements. … more at … Mississippivalleypublishing.com/Girls-wrestling-ighsau-votes-to-move-to-two-classes-for-2024-25
NEO A&M’s Joe Renfro Wins Prestigious Walter Hauck NJCAA Presidential Award for Coaching Excellence
Joe Renfro, the head coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, has been given the inaugural Walter Hauck NJCAA Coaches Association President of the Year Award.
The award was given by the NJCAA and honors winners for dedicated service, devotion and commitment to the NJCAA.
Hauck, who passed away in 2023, was a longtime coach at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York, and was the head coach of the NJCAA Bowling Coaches Association while holding jobs as head bowling coach, head golf coach and assistant athletic director.
Renfro has been the head record coach at NEO — located in Miami — since the 2013-14 season. He is also the athletic director at the junior college. He also actively serves the NJCAA Wrestling Coaches Association as President.
He said the school got a call the school to let him know of the honors — the first time he had heard of the award. “I’m definitely honored,” said Renfro, who lives in nearby Seneca, Missouri. “I honestly do believe there are a lot of coaches in the NJCAA that are more deserving than I am. There are guys that work tremendous hours and the pay isn’t great and they do everything they can for their sport and doing a good job of working hard.”
Renfro said the entire NEO A&M campus … more at … Owrestle.com/NEO-ams-joe-renfro-wins-prestigious-walter-hauck-njcaa-presidential-award-for-coaching-excellence
Penn State wrestler Greg Kerkvliet announces return for 6th season
Yet another wrestler is returning to Penn State.
Greg Kerkvliet announced he is returning to the Nittany Lions for a sixth and final season via Instagram on Wednesday.
Last season, Kerkvliet struck gold as he captured the 285-pound NCAA title after defeating Lucas Davidson in the NCAA Championships.
Kerkvliet is a four-time All-American and will join Carter Starocci on the list of wrestlers returning for another season.
After capturing his first NCAA Championship this season, Kerkvliet will get another crack at it. … more at … PSUcollegian.com/Penn-state-wrestler-greg-kerkvliet-announces-return-for-6th-season
DIVISION III AND THE TRANSFER PORTAL
This is the second of a two-part series about NIL and the transfer portal. Today’s focus is on Division III wrestlers. Read Part 1 here.
There are 443 wrestlers in the transfer portal as of May 14, 2024. 31 of those are Division III wrestlers, and two of the 31 were 2024 NCAA qualifiers. Compared to Division I, there are very few Division III wrestlers using the portal. One of the reasons for this is that DIII athletes have other options than the portal to talk to other schools. These three options are as follows:
- Fill out the DIII self-release form if the athlete wants to talk to another DIII school.
- Get a letter from the current school granting permission to speak with other schools.
- Withdraw from school, as unenrolled DIII athletes do not need permission to talk to other schools.
Another reason that there are fewer DIII athletes in the portal is that there are very few opportunities for Division III wrestlers to earn NIL money. There are not as many big money donors looking to buy athletes at the Division III level, so there is rarely a financial incentive for a successful DIII wrestler to transfer to another DIII school. This could change as NIL rules are clarified and DIII schools ramp up fundraising in the NIL era. Several Division III schools have collectives supporting them, but the numbers are small and often focused on a single sport (like Marietta Basketball’s Two Rivers Trust).
Wrestling is also different than some other sports in portal usage. There are over 1,100 DIII football players in the portal as of May 14th. That means there are 37 times as many football players in the portal even though there are only about 7.5 times as many football players as wrestlers overall in Division III. The ratio in men’s basketball is even greater with 21 times as many players as wrestlers in the portal even though there are only about 2.5 times as many basketball players.
Why are there so many more basketball and football players in the portal? One reason is playing time. With multiple entry tournaments and multi-dual events, most Division III wrestlers get to compete, no matter how far down they are on the depth chart. The fourth string 141 might wrestle 15+ matches while the fourth string right guard never gets in a game. Also, wrestling teams often have wrestle-offs where the athletes determine who starts with direct competition. In other sports, the coach decides who plays, and many players on the football and basketball bench are sure they would be playing more if the coach were smarter. The other reason for the number of basketball and football portal entries is the attention the portal gets in the media in those sports. Something like 40% of Division I basketball players are or were in the portal this year. Division III athletes see countless stories about transfer athletes and decide to give the portal a try. Many of them are holding onto the belief that a DI or DII scholarship is a possibility, even though they lack the stats or game video to warrant that level of attention.
Division III wrestlers will enter the portal for several reasons. … more at … D3wrestle.com/division-iii-and-the-transfer-portal
Oklahoma State wrestling lands NCAA pins leader Wyatt Hendrickson via transfer portal
STILLWATER — The first notable recruit for new Oklahoma State wrestling coach David Taylor is a big one in more ways than one.
Former Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson, who led the nation in pins the last three years, committed to the Cowboys over the weekend.
Hendrickson has one year of eligibility remaining following an Air Force career in which he qualified for the NCAA Championships all four years.
He is a two-time All-American and two-time Big 12 champion with 84 wins over the last three seasons, 53 of which were via pin.
While it remains unclear how the OSU roster will shake out in the aftermath of coach John Smith’s retirement and the hiring of Taylor, the Cowboys had Konner Doucet as their starter at heavyweight last season, with highly touted freshman Christian Carroll backing him up. Doucet has two years of eligibility remaining and Carroll redshirted, so he has four seasons left. Carroll has already put together a strong offseason, winning the 97-kilogram weight class at the Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier last month. … more at … Oklahoman.com/Oklahoma-state-wrestling-lands-ncaa-pins-leader-wyatt-hendrickson
2024 Frank E. Rader Southeast Regional Championships
May 20, 2024, 6:48 PM (ET) by Savannah Asmann, USA Wrestling
DULUTH, Ga. – The USA Wrestling Regional Championships series continued with the Frank E. Rader Southeast Regional, held at the Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia, last weekend.
In the Junior Boys division, there was a pair of double champions, victors in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, in Antonio Mills of Georgia at 120 pounds and Maximus Norman of Tennessee at 175 pounds. A pair of double champions highlighted the competition in the Junior Girls division: Evelyn Holmes-Smith of Alabama at 125 pounds and Shaylee Bachand of Georgia at 235 pounds.
There were a total of five double champions in the 16U Boys division. Ariah Mills of Georgia at 88 pounds, Jovanni Tovar of Florida at 113 pounds, Dale Corbin of Wisconsin at 126 pounds, Dylan Reel of Georgia at 175 pounds and Johnathan Rulo of Illinois at 285 pounds won both freestyle and Greco-Roman titles at the tournament. In the 16U Girls division, there were two double champions: Zoey McDonald of Florida at 112 pounds and Mackenzie Carder of Ohio at 118 pounds.
The top six boys and girls in each weight class of the Junior and 16U divisions have qualified for their respective state teams for the 2024 USMC Junior and 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
There were also tournaments held in the 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U age divisions with both boys and girls competing in freestyle and Greco-Roman. An additional folkstyle tournament for the 8U, 10U 12U and 14U boys was held. Athletes that competed in the Frank E. Rader Southeast Regional Championships and meet the age group requirements are eligible for the 2024 Kid’s Nationals, held at the ImOn Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa June 27-30, 2024. Visit usawrestlingevents.com for more information and to register for the event. … more at … Themat.com/Holmes-smith-mills-among-double-champions-at-frank-e-rader-southeast-regional
Joseph Named Tar Heel Wrestling Club Head Coach
Last Friday brought us plenty of news relating to Penn State alums in the coaching world, now there’s more this week. Two-time NCAA champion and three-time national finalist Vincenzo Joseph will join North Carolina’s Tar Heel Wrestling Club as the head coach of the RTC.
Joseph recently wrapped up his competitive career at the Olympic Trials where he was beaten in the opening round by Missouri alum Jarrett Jacques and forfeited out of the tournament. Joseph earned a spot at the Olympic Trials by defeating Yayha Thomas in the finals of the Last Chance Qualifier.
The move to Chapel Hill reunites Joseph with Rob Koll who hired him for his first Stanford staff prior to the 2021-22 season. Joseph appeared to be done competing; however, he entered the 2022 US Open and advanced to the finals at 79 kg. At the 2022 World Team Trials, Joseph fell in an epic, three-match series to Chance Marsteller, who then went to Final X.
After that showing at the Open and Trials, Joseph stepped away from coaching and moved to Arizona State to train with the Sunkist Kids. He would make the Open finals in 2023 – this time at 79 kg.
Joseph caught the attention of the wrestling world at the 2017 NCAA Championships when he made the finals, as a redshirt freshman, and stunned two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez with a fall early in the third period. The two would meet in the 2018 national finals and Joseph prevailed again.
Joseph was a senior in the 2019-20 season who … more at … Intermatwrestle.com/Joseph-named-tar-heel-wrestling-club-head-coach
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
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