Ferraro enters 10th season with Golden Eagles
Brookville native Keith Ferraro enters his 10th season as head coach of the Clarion Golden Eagles wrestling team and 12th overall.
His Golden Eagles finished 11-6 in dual meets, 8-2 in the Mid-American Conference and third at the postseason tournament. He was named Intermat Wrestling’s MAC Coach of the Year this spring.
Monday, we spent some time talking about his coaching career, the state of Golden Eagles wrestling and reflecting on what’s influenced his career in wrestling.
Ferraro currently has two Brookville natives on his staff, including former Raiders state champion and Golden Eagles standout Brock Zacherl and Nick Deloia.
QUESTION: Where your program finished this spring has to feel pretty good. You were 11-6 in dual meets, 8-2 in the Mid-American Conference and finished third in the conference championships. Are you proud of what the Golden Eagles have accomplished?
FERRARO: Our approach the whole time has been slow with a 10-year plan. Every decision is made with long-term interest and what that leads to is very slow growth and quite honestly, it’s not that flashy, but it’s worked here. There was a time when the program struggled here and the one thing that was missing was that long-term vision. So that’s been good.
We’ve had this much talent on other teams, but the guys didn’t get hurt, our training was on the money and we didn’t over-train guys and we performed well at the end. … rest of story at … Thecourierexpress.com/the_leader_vindicator/Ferraro-enters-10th-season-with-golden-eagles
Donnie Stephens to Head Newberry Women’s Wrestling
NEWBERRY, S.C. — No stranger to the women’s wrestling world, the Newberry College athletics department has announced the hiring of Donnie Stephens to lead the program as it opens it’s inaugural season in 2024.
“I’m super excited and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Newberry family,” said Stephens. “Building a program from the ground up is an exciting challenge and I am confident that we can create something special here in South Carolina. Newberry has a strong athletic and educational tradition and I look forward to joining the Pack.”
Stephens comes to Newberry after spending the past 10 years at the University of the Cumberlands where he served as the head coach for the women’s wrestling program. During his time with the Patriots he coached three NAIA national champions, multiple NAIA and WCWA All-Americans as well as the sixth place team at the NAIA National Championship. His teams have had a consistent presence in the top-10 of the national polls. Academically, his teams have been three time NWCA NAIA Academic Team Champions while posting the second most Academic All-Americans among NAIA schools in 2023.
“We are thrilled to have Coach Stephens serving as the inaugural head coach of our women’s wrestling program,” said athletic director Sean Johnson. “His experience and success gives instant credibility to what we are starting here at Newberry College.”
Concurrently with his time at Cumberlands, Stephens served as a coach with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club where he provided coaching and training assistance to elite club members, maintaining a partnership with the Olympic Training Center, the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and elite level women’s wrestlers. Before making the move to Kentucky, Stephens was the coach and co-owner of Adrenaline Fitness and Combat Sports in Colorado where he supervised the gym’s operation while teaching wrestling and mixed martial arts classes.
“Coach Stephens brings in a pedigree of success that was exactly what we were looking for in our first women’s wrestling coach,” said senior associate athletic director Wayne Alexander. “His connections throughout the women’s wrestling world will be a true asset to building a program here at Newberry College and will put the Wolves on the path to success early in his tenure.”
Stephens got his start in the coaching world at West Covina High School … rest of story at … Newberrywolves.com/news/donnie-stephens-to-head-newberry-womens-wrestling
Bono to be inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Florida
MADISON, Wis. — The National Wrestling Hall of Fame – Florida Chapter has announced that Wisconsin wrestling head coach Chris Bono will be inducted with the Class of 2023.
Hailing from Jacksonville, Fla., Bono will be inducted for Lifetime Service along with Sean Ballard, Don Knauf, Samuel T. Pruitt, Saul F. Tejada and Donald Weekley. The Honors Weekend event will be held in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on August 25-26 at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort.
Bono will begin his sixth season coaching the Badgers this fall and has compiled a 41-28 record at Wisconsin in five seasons at the helm in the nation’s toughest wrestling conference — the Big Ten. Bono is 144-86 overall record in 14 seasons as a head coach after stints at Chattanooga and South Dakota State.
Bono has coached six Badgers to 11 All-America honors. Most recently, sophomore Dean Hamiti earned his second national honor at 165 pounds in consecutive seasons and Trent Hillger earned his fourth All-America honor, the only UW heavyweight in school history to do so.
Both Hamiti (165) and Austin Gomez (149) have also earned the Badgers’ Big Ten titles during the past two seasons, earning back-to-back league honors under Bono’s tenure and the first titles since 2016. In total, Bono and the Badgers have qualified 32 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in past five seasons and Wisconsin set a new record for highest single dual attendance (vs. Iowa, Jan. 22, 2023 – 5,256) during the past season at the UW Field House.
Bono was an NCAA champion, three-time NCAA All-American and a two-time Big 12 champion for Iowa State with a career college record of 128-34. He placed fifth at the NCAA championships as a sophomore in 1995 before winning the 150-pound crown in 1996 and placing second in 1997. Bono was a member of U.S. freestyle World championships teams in 2001, 2002 and 2005 and was … rest of story at … UWbadgers.com/news/bono-to-be-inducted-into-national-wrestling-hall-of-fame-florida
NCAA Division I Council proposes cutting transfer portal window in half
The NCAA Division I Council proposed changes to the transfer period windows that would reduce the total number of days that student athletes can enter the transfer portal from 60 down to 30.
As it stands now, there is a transfer window in college football that starts the day after the College Football Playoff teams are announced, which was Dec. 4 in 2022, and is open for 45 days. Another transfer window is open in the spring from April 15 to April 30.
For winter sports, there is a 60-day window that begins with a given sport’s championship selection and there is a 45-day window for spring sports that begins with that sport’s championship selection, as well.
The transfer windows were created this past year to limit the timeframe for which athletes can transfer from school to school.
Undergraduate student-athletes must enter their name in the transfer portal during those windows to be granted immediate eligibility at their next school of choice. They are not required to transfer within those dates, as long as their name is entered prior to the closing of the respective transfer window. … rest of story at … ESPN.com/college-sports/D1-council-proposes-cutting-transfer-portal-window-half
NCAA announces lesser penalties to punish sports betting — good news for Iowa, ISU athletes
Iowa State University and University of Iowa athletes being investigated for wagering on games received some good news Wednesday.
The NCAA’s Division I legislative committee significantly lessened penalties for offenders in what could be a game-changing decision.
Instead of Iowa and Iowa State athletes possibly missing an entire season for breaking the NCAA’s gambling rule, the NCAA now says for wagering-related violations reported on or after May 2:
More:Iowa, ISU gambling investigation: Amounts wagered key in possible athlete reinstatement
- Athletes engaging in activities to influence the outcomes of their own games or knowingly providing information to individuals involved in sports betting activities will potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports. This also applies to student-athletes who wager on their own games or on other sports at their own schools.
- If an athlete wagers on their own sport at another school, sports wagering education will be required as a condition of reinstatement, and the loss of 50% of one season of eligibility will be considered.
For all other wagering-related violations, such as betting on professional sports, the total dollar value of the wagers will be taken into consideration with the following terms for reinstatement: … rest of story at … Desmoinesregister.com/iowa-state/cyclone-insider/iowa-isu-athletes-in-gambling-probe-received-good-news-from-the-ncaa-betting
FARGO ROSTERS: NORTH CAROLINA, WISCONSIN, GEORGIA, INDIANA, IOWA
By Gary Abbott and Savannah Asmann, USA Wrestling
Starting on June 25, USA Wrestling began publishing the state team rosters for the 2023 USMC Junior and 16U Nationals set for Fargo, N.D. State teams will be posted whenever a final roster has been submitted and confirmed with the state association.
In addition to the list of athletes (by age-group, style and weight), boys who are included in the most recent FloWrestling rankings, as well as girls who are included in the most recent National Girls High School rankings, will be identified.
Previous roster stories
June 27 – Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah
June 26 – Alaska, Missouri, Pennsylvania
June 25 – Arkansas, Connecticut, Maine, Nevada, Washington
We add the following rosters today: Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Iowa and Wisconsin are large roster teams that challenge in the team race in numerous tournaments.
NORTH CAROLINA
Junior Boys freestyle
113 – Samuel Aponte, Joshua Miller
120 – Dylan Drinkard, Cameron Stinson Jr.
126 – Rayshun James, Justin Travers
132 – Damon Landreth, Kobe Masingale
138 – Joseph Baisley, Grant Reece, Aidyn Tate
145 – Boedi Kirkland, Elijah Murray, Noah Tocaben
152 – Kane Foley, Cedric Griffin, Cristopher Salgado Mejia
160 – Cameron Curva, Palmer Smith
170 – Mason Kincaid, Connor Reese, Troy Shannon
182 – Gregory Merriman
195 – Tayshaun Glover
285 – Cary Weymouth
Junior Greco-Roman
113 – Samuel Aponte, Joshua Miller
120 – Dylan Drinkard, Cameron Stinson Jr.
126 – Rayshun James, Justin Travers
132 – Damon Landreth, Kobe Masingale
138 – Joseph Baisley, Grant Reece, Aidyn Tate
145 – Boedi Kirkland, Elijah Murray, Noah Tocaben
152 – Kane Foley, Cedric Griffin, Cristopher Salgado Mejia
160 – Cameron Curva, Palmer Smith
170 – Mason Kincaid, Connor Reese, Troy Shannon
182 – Gregory Merriman
195 – Tayshaun Glover
285 – Cary Weymouth
Junior Girls freestyle
106 – Isabella Crandall, Megan Rowland
117 – Teresa Canady, Diya Dhananjay
122 – Laura Ruiz Diaz
132 – Brianna Deleon, Hailie Misplay
144 – Caleigh Suddreth, Sophia Sutton
164 – Reilynn Swift
16U Boys freestyle
106 – Mac Johnson
113 – Tye Johnson, Paul Vaught
126 – Noah Burke, Jason Deleon, Liam Hickey
195 – Raul Lopez
220 – Hayden Haynes
16U Greco-Roman
106 – Mac Johnson
113 – Tye Johnson, Paul Vaught
126 – Noah Burke, Jason Deleon, Liam Hickey
195 – Raul Lopez
220 – Hayden Haynes
16U Girls freestyle
117 – Addison Vindigni
122 – Siena Palmisciano
127 – Bailey Nimer
132 – Kennedie Snow
138 – Lilly Reese … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/June/28/Fargo-rosters-GA-IN-IA-NC-WI
Davidson Wrestling Welcomes 12 Signees From Class of 2023
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Head coach Nate Carr Jr. has announced his inaugural recruiting class which features 12 scholar-athletes from seven different states and six different weight classes.
The 2023 class has combined for five individual state championships, 21 state tournament placings, and 24 state tournament appearances.
Coach Nate Carr Jr.:
“My staff and I are very excited about this incoming class. We believe this group of young men will provide the energy and love for the sport needed to build a great culture for our program.”
Coach Ty Eustice:
“Our staff is really excited about the wrestling pedigree that these young men are bringing to the program,” said Eustice. “A commitment to the sport is what we were truly looking for in the class of 2023, and these 12 athletes have been committed to competing around the country and training at their respective clubs in the off-season. They will bring that standard with them here to Davidson and eventually become the next group of leaders for this team.”
FULL CLASS (Alphabetical)
Robert Canterino – Heavyweight
Sea Girt, N.J. (Christian Brothers Academy)
Ended his high school career with a 70-14 record … Had 41 wins via pin during his time at Christian Brothers … Was a two-time state qualifier in New Jersey … Helped his team to a top-five finish at the state championships in 2023 … Went 24-5 as a senior and placed eighth in the 215-pound weight class … Went 27-4 as a junior … Back-to-back NJSIAA Region 6 champion in 2022 and 2023. … rest of story and pictures at … Davidsonwildcats.com/news/wrestling-welcomes-12-signees-from-class-of-2023
Campbell Wrestling
Campbell Wrestling announces staff changes for 2023-24 season
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell wrestling head coach Scotti Sentes has announced staff changes leading into the 2023-24 season.
Dresden Simon has been named as the director of operations. Former director of operations Josh Heil is transitioning to assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, and Chris Kober has also been named an assistant coach after serving as a volunteer coach for one season.
Simon comes to Buies Creek from Florida, where he spent one year coaching the Buffalo Wrestling Club and The Villages High School. Prior to that, he wrestled at Central Michigan University for six seasons. He tallied a career record of 107-59 at 133, 141 and 149 pounds.
“Dresden is a student of the sport and very knowledgeable in all aspects of wrestling,” said Sentes. “(He) has spent his entire life around great wrestling and graduated from a program that puts hard work and no excuses above everything else…The Director of Ops position is one of the hardest and busiest positions on staff, so you need someone like Dresden who can think quick on their feet and who is not afraid to take on any role.”
Simon qualified for the NCAA Championships in his final three seasons with the Chippewas and was named Second Team All-America in 2019-20. He was a two-time MAC Conference champion, and he was named the conference’s Outstanding Wrestler in 2019-20.
The previous director of operations, Josh Heil now serves as an assistant coach and the program’s recruiting coordinator. He was the first three-time SoCon champion in program history as a wrestler for Campbell. A former teammate of many current Camels, Heil has earned a great deal of respect from the team. … rest of story at … GOcamels.com/news/2023/6/27/campbell-wrestling-announces-staff-changes-for-2023-24
Brent Slade Commits to Campbell
By Ross Bartachek, Photo by Randi Yeager
Another wrestler is headed out to North Carolina to join Campbell University. Southeast Polk wrestler Brent Slade announced his commitment to the Camels. The two-time state medalist is coming off a third place finish this past season for the Rams.
Slade began his high school career competing for Ames High School where he finished seventh as a freshman. All the more impressive about that finish was the fact that Slade churned out that performance competing up at 145 pounds, which is typically a difficult weight for freshmen to break through in. He later transferred to SEP where he has gone on to earn a third place finish as a junior up at 170 pounds this past year.
In addition to his in-season accolades, Slade has done a tremendous job earned hardware for Iowa/USA Wrestling. He won state titles in freestyle as a freshman and sophomore and he also won a Greco-Roman state title last summer. Last July he earned an All-American finish out at Fargo taking fifth at 170 pounds in Greco-Roman.
He is already off to a strong start this freestyle/Greco season by winning the Northern Plains Regional in freestyle and he was third in Greco-Roman. … rest of story at … Rokfin.com/article/13731/Brent-Slade-Commits-to-Campbell
Sisterhood Is A Reason For Women’s Wrestling Growth
Women’s wrestling is part sport, part community, part family, part movement — and all progress.
Jun 26, 2023 by Kyle Klingman
Samantha Miller and Allyssa Pirro sat high above the action on the first day of the recent men’s U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials in Geneva, Ohio. They eventually worked their way to the floor and volunteered for three straight days — making the two-hour round-trip drive from Cleveland.
Their reason for attending was simple: they love the sport.
“My best friend Allyssa Pirro wrestles at Indiana Tech and she asked if I wanted to go to World Team Trials,” Miller said. “I’m here to support some of my friends and I love wrestling. Why not?”
The two met during high school while competing for Team Ohio. Miller wrestled on the Parkersburg, West Virginia, men’s team and drove three hours to train and compete in Ohio since their opportunities in her state were limited.
Miller recently transferred from Presbyterian to Mount Olive (a Division II program in Mount Olive, North Carolina), while Pirro wrestles for Indiana Tech (an NAIA program in Fort Wayne).
Two different colleges. Two different states. Two different divisions. Lifelong friendship.
“Going from the only girl when I was four years old until now — wrestling has grown tremendously,” Miller said. “I just want to keep growing it and making a path for the girls who haven’t gotten there yet. Even if I lost a match, I could look out and see all these people supporting us. People are putting their time into it.” … rest of story at … Flowrestling.org/Sisterhood-is-a-reason-for-womens-wrestling-growth
High school wrestling coaches take wait-and-see approach with 3-point takedown
There was a major shakeup in college wrestling earlier this month when the value of a takedown was changed from two to three points in a move meant to encourage more aggressive offense.
Will that rule change make its way down to the high school level?
Local coaches don’t think such a change is imminent, but they are interested in seeing how the three-point takedown makes an impact on college mats.
“It’s tough to score in college,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “The new takedown rule might create more risk-reward action.”
In addition to the takedown change, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel also brought back the three-point nearfall to go along with the in-place two-point and four-point nearfalls.
The panel approved 13 of the 14 changes recommended in April by the college wrestling rules committee. The only change not approved was awarding a point for a minute of riding time only if a wrestler received nearfall points.
Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said he likes that the sport continues to evolve.
“I could possibly see the three-point takedown coming,” Lebe said. “We’ll see how things play out. I’m not sure the four-point nearfall will be included (in high school).”
Norwin coach Kyle Martin and Penn-Trafford coach Travis McKillop said they are all for promoting offense in the sport.
While they doubt the college changes will hit the high school level soon, they do like some of the new National Federation of State High School Associations changes on the way next season.
The biggest high school rule change will allow a wrestler to compete six times in a day, up from the previous limit of five, as long as it’s no more than 10 times over two days.
The mandatory rest period between matches was shortened from 45 minutes to 30 minutes. Also, if a wrestler takes a medical forfeit because he or she is injured or becomes ill during a tournament, subsequent losses would not be added to his or her record as long as the tournament director approves.
“I don’t agree with the medical forfeits, especially for seeding purposes,” McKillop said. “I do like cutting down the wait time. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to recover. Kids are training better.” … rest of story at … Tribhssn.triblive.com/high-school-wrestling-coaches-takes-wait-and-see-approach-with-3-point-takedown
U17 PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – U.S.A. results
USA CLAIMS SIX GOLD, FOUR SILVER TO WIN TEAM TITLE IN MEN’S FREESTYLE AT U17 PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MEXICO
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Team USA won six gold medals and four silver medals to win the team title in men’s freestyle on the final day of the U17 Pan American Championships on Saturday.
Capturing gold medals for the USA were Henry Aslikyan of California (45 kg), Czar Quintanilla of Washington (51 kg), Elijah Cortez of California (55 kg), Vince Bouzakis of Pennsylvania (71 kg), Adam Waters of Pennsylvania (80 kg) and Nicholas Sahakian of California (110 kg). The six U.S. champions were dominant, going a combined 18-0, with 17 of the victories being either pins or technical falls. Aslikyan had three technical falls. Cortez had four technical falls and a pin. Bouzakis had three technical falls. Waters had three technical falls. Sahakian had two pins and a technical fall.
Quintanilla was the only U.S. champion who won a match by decision, an exciting 12-11 victory in the championship finals over Yandel Morales of Puerto Rico. Capturing silver medals, with just one loss each, were Lincoln Sledzianowski of Pennsylvania (48 kg), Sam Herring of Pennsylvania (60 kg), Gabriel Bouyssou of Rhode Island (65 kg) and Aiden Cooley of Texas (92 kg).
The United States won the men’s freestyle title handily with 230 pts., a full 85 points ahead of runner-up Puerto Rico with 145 points. Host Mexico placed third with 135 points. “This is a great group of wrestlers that bonded as a team and competed hard. They represented the United States with honor and sportsmanship. All wrestlers stepped up in leadership roles throughout the tournament,” said U.S. coach Dave Bell. … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/June/24/U17-Pan-Am-MFS
U.S. WOMEN SCORE NINE GOLD MEDALS, ONE SILVER AND TEAM TITLE AT U17 PAN-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
MEXICO CITY – The U.S. women’s freestyle bunch went 10-for-10 on medals at the U17 Pan-American Championships, collecting a whopping nine golds, one silver and a team title to boot.
At the tip of the spear for Team USA was Wisconsin native Carley Ceshker, who was awarded the “Golden Boot” as Outstanding Wrestler of the event as the day of wrestling concluded inside Gimnasio Principal del Centro Deportivo Olímpico Mexicano in Mexico City.
Ceshker won five matches, the most of any wrestler at the event. Four of her five victories came by way of pin or technical fall. In the 57 kg finals, it was Ceshker tactically edging Puerto Rico’s Eliana White Vega by a 6-3 decision. … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/June/23/WFS-U17-Pan-Am-Recap
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
