Shorter University Adds New Athletic Team
Shorter University is excited to announce the addition of a new athletics program, Men’s Wrestling. We are thrilled to see the athletics program continue to grow as this will be the twenty-third sport offered here at Shorter University.
The Athletics Department has been hard at work preparing for the new athletics team and is excited to welcome a brand-new coach to help initiate the program.
Andrew Colborn will be the Head Wrestling Coach for the new team. Colborn brings years of experience to the program. Colborn graduated from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Science and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Sports Management.
Colborn has been an NCAA Division II coach for the last five years and served as both Head Wrestling Coach and Assistant Wrestling Coach. Colborn is a member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and attended the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coaches Leadership Academy. … more at … Shorter.edu/shorter-university-adds-new-athletic-team
The late Don Elia ’69 got his start at Maryville College and went on to the wrestling record books
Don Elia ’69, a standout in three Maryville College Athletics sports during his undergraduate career and the school’s wrestling coach for seven seasons who was inducted into the MC Wall of Fame in 2000, passed away on March 27 in Savannah, Georgia. He was 83.
A native of New Jersey, he was the son of a single mother, the late Dorothy Beatty, and graduated from Hackettstown High School in 1958. He enrolled in Maryville College the same year, competing for three seasons in football, wrestling and track, lettering for three years in all three sports. On the football field, he competed in Maryville College’s first (and only) bowl win, playing in the 1960 Rocket Bowl and helping the Scots defeat Millsaps College 19-0.
On the track team, he competed in the shot put, javelin and discus matches, but it was the wrestling mat on which he excelled. With a three-year record of 58 wins and six losses, he led the team every year in pins and wins, notching a 28-match consecutive winning streak and eventually leaving MC early to return to coach at his high school alma mater. He returned to Maryville College in 1967, however, completing his degree in Elementary Education in 1969, as well as a master’s in college student personnel and counseling from the University of Tennessee in 1973.
Beginning his collegiate coaching career as an assistant on both the football and wrestling teams, he was named head wrestling coach in 1970, and over the course of seven seasons led his teams to a 93-35-1 record with six All-Americans. After MC, he was named head wrestling coach at Carson-Newman College (now Carson-Newman University), where over the course of 30 years, he established the school’s wrestling program and served as director of financial aid.
After retiring from Carson-Newman in 1978, he created a nonprofit to support wrestling in East Tennessee and spent another six seasons leading the wrestling team at East Tennessee State University, eventually retiring in 2016. … more at … Maryvillecollege.edu/Maryville-college-mourns-passing-of-coaching-legend-don-elia-69
Morris, Fry headline list of NEWA Postseason Accolades
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – JWU (Providence) head coach Lonnie Morris and junior Joziah Fry headline the list of New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Postseason honorees. Morris was named Head Coach of the Year while Fry was named Wrestler of the Year, and Associate Head Coach Brian Allen and assistants James Gilbert, Steven Keith, Da’mani Burns, and Nick Avery were named Staff of the Year.
Morris and his staff guided the Wildcats to a second-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regionals and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats finished the nationals with 76 points, which was behind national champion Augsburg (91.0 points), Wartburg (87.5), and Wis.-La Crosse (82.5). As a result, they brought home a trophy for the third time in program history (2017 – fourth place; 2019 – third place) and remain the only program in New England to have carried home hardware from a national championship.
Graduate students Ryan DeVivo and Victor Perlleshi, along with Fry and classmates Patrick Wisniewski and Dylan Harr, were all named to the NEWA First Team. … more at … Providence.jwuathletics.com/Morris-fry-headline-list-of-newa-postseason-accolades
Indiana HSAA Approves Girls Wrestling as a Varsity Sport
In an 18-0 decision the IHSAA has moved forward with fully sanctioning girls wrestling as a varsity sport in Indiana. The sport was officially approved this afternoon after running as a separate event under the IHSGW since 2017 and two years under the IHSAA’s Emerging Sport status.
Indiana has been a training ground for many of the top women’s wrestlers in the country with Olympians Sarah Hildebrandt and Kayla Miracle leading the way. Indiana has a strong tradition in women’s wrestling and as a fully sanctioned sport it will continue to produce wrestlers with national and world level success. … more at … Indianamat.comIHSAA-approves-girls-wrestling-as-a-varsity-sport
And …
‘A long time coming’: Evansville area girls wrestling coaches excited for IHSAA future
EVANSVILLE — Girls wrestling coaches across the state were excited to hear some long-anticipated news from the IHSAA.
The IHSAA’s board of directors last Monday approved girls wrestling and boys volleyball as fully recognized sports starting next school year. They had each been classified as emerging sports with the IHSAA since 2022. While Evansville area school officials said there will be no boys volleyball teams starting up for the 2025 spring season, the rapid growth of girls wrestling should continue.
There were over 1,400 girls wrestlers across 177 high schools last winter, surpassing the required threshold of 100 schools required to make it a fully recognized sport.
Evansville sports:As more high schools start teams, girls wrestling is ‘just getting better’ in SW Indiana
“It’s awesome to finally have girls wrestling sanctioned,” Mount Vernon coach Ashton Forzley said. “A lot of people across the state have put in countless hours of hard work and dedication to get to this point. The team was excited to hear the news. They finally get to compete for an IHSAA state championship.” … more at … Courierpress.com/Evansville-area-girls-wrestling-coaches-excited-for-ihsaa-future
The TDR Mat Challenge
The TakeDown Report Mat Challenge is for all high schools and middle schools without a wrestling program in eastern North Carolina to start one. At least ten counties have been contacted by mail, and email, with the details of a grant of funds to help a school with the challenges of a new mat, uniforms and coach. Those three expenses may hold a school back. In this challenge is the offer of support and assistance by other wrestling groups for these schools. An increase in wrestling by new teams not only benefits those new wrestlers and schools. It benefits current teams by having closer rivals and more teams to compete against. A growth in wrestling benefits all of the fans in North Carolina. We encourage administrators to accept the challenge and bring wrestling to their schools.
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The last TDR Top 12 Team Plaques have been sent to Hoggard, North Lenoir, North Johnston, Clayton, Franklinton, Heidi Trask and New Hanover. The presentation of the trophy awards will be in May.
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Xtream Arena to host women’s college wrestling national championships in 2025
The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships will have a new home in 2025, moving from Cedar Rapids and Alliant Energy PowerHouse to Coralville and Xtream Arena.
The news comes just days after the Missouri Valley Conference announced that Xtream Arena would also be home to the women’s college basketball conference tournament in 2026. That means the arena will be quite busy in the coming years in addition to its minor league hockey team and hosting several other sporting events throughout the year.
Annually, the Soldier Salute, the Dan Gable Donnybrook and the girls high school state wrestling tournament are held at Xtream Arena.
In addition to this announcement, the National Wrestling Coaching Association announced which regions each team will be a part of in 2025, expanding from six to eight regions. Still, the top four winners will advance to the NCWWCs. The Hawkeyes will be in Region 7 with fellow Iowa programs Central College, Cornell College, Dubuque University, Loras College, Simpson College, Upper Iowa University and Wartburg College.
With the NCAA set to make women’s wrestling a sanctioned sport in 2026, this will be the final year that the NCWWC will organize the event. “It is going to be an amazing final year of the NCWWC … more at … Press-citizen.com/NCWWCS-to-take-place-in-xtream-arena-in-coralville-in-2025
‘They’re as tough as anybody’: As women’s wrestling is on the rise nationwide
By Roberta Simonson and Alexandra Duggan The Spokesman-Review
As 15-year-old Raenah Smith looked around at the thousands of women and girls filling the Podium in Spokane, all there to wrestle in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s National Championships, she marveled at how the sport has given her trailblazing female role models in a male-dominated sport. “I look up to a lot of the college women wrestling right now,” Raenah said at the tournament on Friday. “And I want to be like them.”
Raenah is home-schooled, but wrestles for Mead High School. She’s competing this week in the championship but has wrestled girls and boys since age 9. In the last six years, she’s seen the sport grow significantly, she said at the tournament on Friday. No longer are girls wrestling only boys; they’re able to have a tournament to themselves. “I try my best against boys. They’re stronger. It’s hard. But it gives me a sense of confidence because you’re beating someone bigger,” she said.
Women’s wrestling is the fastest-growing high school sport in the United States, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. The number of high school girls who competed in wrestling more than quintupled from 2013 to 2023, growing from 6,545 to over 50,000. The championships hosted in Spokane span eight divisions, ranging from age 7 to 23.
Champions in the four age divisions this weekend are eligible to earn a spot on Team USA for the Pan-Am and World championships later this summer. “This tournament has been going on for so long. But every single year it grows, and so does women’s wrestling,” 21-year-old Yele Aycock said, just as she stepped off the mat after winning her first round. Women and girls fly in from around the country just to be part of the championship. Some were sporting shirts from Iowa, California, Montana, Idaho and more.
Aycock is competing in Spokane from North Central College in Illinois, but she’s from a small town in New Mexico – a town that never had girls and women’s wrestling tournaments. “Coming from there where there’s no girls tournaments, to here, where it’s all women’s wrestling and we’re taking up 18 mats – I think it’s super cool,” she said. “It’s amazing to see.”
Aycock and Smith both grew up watching their brothers wrestle. And they both knew they could do it, too. “I think it’s a really big confidence booster where, maybe you lose a match to a guy just because he’s a lot bigger. But when you win a match, it’s because you’re just better at wrestling,” Aycock said. “Now that women are wrestling women, it’s really a show of skill and how good you are at the sport.”
With more than 70 schools intending to sponsor the sport in 2023-24, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced plans in February for its first women’s wrestling championship in 2026. This is the second time the city has hosted this event. In 2022, Spokane was selected as the host city for the championships for three consecutive years starting in 2023. “Last year we had 1,473 athletes, and this year we already have 1,520 athletes registered. Registration doesn’t even close until Friday,” said Cherie Gwinn, senior director of events with Spokane Sports.
The increase isn’t surprising, given national trends. “It’s certainly exceeded our expectations,” Gwinn said of the increase in registration, “I think it shows how strong women’s wrestling is here in Washington state, but specifically West Coast.”
After California and Illinois, Washington has the highest number of female wrestlers, Gwinn said. “I think that’s the true compilation of just how hard we work to recognize women in sports,” Gwinn said.
Rogers High School girls wrestling coach Whitney Bowerman is seeing the same thing here in Spokane, she said. Even in middle school, it’s “just been blowing up.” … more at … Spokesman.com/Theyre-as-tough-as-anybody-as-womens-wrestling-is
Carolina Beach Nationals on May 11 is qualifier for U17 & U20 Beach World Teams
Apr. 30, 2024, 8:54 AM (ET) by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling’s Executive Committee has approved the 2024 Beach Wrestling Team Procedures, which spells out how athletes can qualify to compete for Team USA at the international level.
According to the procedures, the Carolina Beach Wrestling Nationals, set for Carolina Beach, N.C. on May 11 will serve as the qualifying event for the U.S. teams that will compete at the U17 and U20 Beach World Championships, which will be held in September 19-20 in Katerini Pierria, Greece.
There are three spots on the U.S. team in each of the four weight classes for both men and women. The teams will be selected according to these approved procedures.
- Top four placement at the specific weight class at the 2024 Carolina Beach Nationals, based upon finish.
- Past U17 or U20 World medalists and past U17 or U20 Pan American medalists
- Participation at the 2024 Carolina Beach Nationals
- Open to the general public to athletes that meet age-group and eligibility requirements on a first-come, first served basis
- There will be specific divisions at the Carolina Beach Nationals for these UWW age groups. The official weight classes and eligibility for the U17 and U20 Beach World Championships are below. … more at … Themat.com/Carolina-beach-nationals-on-may-11-is-qualifier-for-u17-u20-beach-world-teams
NCHSAA board adopts ‘Big 32’ realignment model
The “Big 32” model recommended by the Bylaws Committee means the largest 32 schools in the state would go into 8A classification.
When the N.C. High School Athletic Association conducts its upcoming realignment, which includes moving to eight classifications, the association will operate under the proposed “Big 32” model. The NCHSAA Board of Directors voted 17-0 to adopt the “Big 32” model on Tuesday afternoon following a recommendation from the Bylaws Committee.
The Bylaws Committee, chaired by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools athletic director Erica Turner, presented its report to the NCHSAA Board of Directors on Tuesday. The “Big 32” model means the largest 32 schools in the state will go into 8A classification. The remaining schools will go into the other seven classifications based on their enrollment.
All classification assignments will be made based solely on the average daily membership numbers of a school. The Realignment Committee will use the ADM numbers from the 2024-2025 school year. Those numbers are released in the fall.
Turner, who made the presentation to the board on Tuesday, said the committee believes the “Big 32” model will lessen the ADM discrepancies between schools in a single classification, it will allow the NCHSAA to push smaller schools down to lower classifications, and it will provide more equity for smaller schools.
Projecting what NCHSAA conferences could look like after 8A realignment in 2025-26
So what could happen to playoffs? The Bylaws Committee made the following recommendations, but these recommendations are not yet official policy: … more at … Highschoolot.com/NCHSAA-board-adopts-big-32-realignment-model-hears-recommendations
Wrestling now the nation’s fastest-growing girl’s sport
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Jody Mikhail was a sophomore at Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley High School when a poster for a new girls’ wrestling club caught her eye. So Mikhail, a senior now, tried the sport. “I fell in love with it the first time,” she said.
Unlike previous generations, she’s hardly alone. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country, sanctioned by a surging number of states and bolstered by a movement of medal-winning female wrestlers, parents and the male-dominated ranks of coaches and administrators who saw it as a necessity and a matter of equality.
Where once girls wrestled on boys teams and against boys, increasingly they are wrestling on girls teams and against girls. And now that they are wrestling in sanctioned and official tournaments against girls, their names are going onto plaques on their high schools’ walls and into state record books.
This year, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania held their first state-sanctioned girls’ wrestling championships, while Louisiana became the 45th state to sanction the sport. At the collegiate level, women’s wrestling is designated as an “emerging” sport and is on track to become a championship-level sport in 2026, the NCAA said.
In Pennsylvania — where the Penn State men are ranked No. 1 and the state’s male and female wrestlers dominated last year’s 16-and-under national team championships — the number of girl wrestlers in high schools nearly doubled this year as the state rocketed to more than 180 high school teams from none in 2020.
Hundreds of girls competed in Pennsylvania’s first sanctioned state tournament, including Mikhail, after years of girls having no choice but to wrestle boys or, if they did wrestle girls, seeing the same handful of faces, year after year, in tournaments organized by local wrestling organizations.
Even for girls who compete nationally or hope to wrestle in college, wrestling in state-sanctioned tournaments brings status. “It really does bring this level of, I think, having these girls feel seen,” said Brooke Zumas, a former wrestling coach who was active in the movement to get the sport sanctioned in Pennsylvania.
Girls who have competed for years are seeing new faces and big crowds in this year’s state-sanctioned championship tournaments. “There were never tournaments like this,” said Savannah Witt, a state champion wrestler from Pennsylvania’s Palisades High School who has wrestled for 10 years. … more at … Postregister.com/Wrestling-now-the-nations-fastest-growing-girls-sport
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
