Misericordia University Adding Men’s & Women’s Wrestling
Misericordia University will add two more sports to its vast array of varsity sports offerings, Daniel J. Myers, Ph.D, university president, has announced.
In addition to the recent addition of men’s ice hockey and STUNT, Misericordia will field varsity teams in men’s and women’s wrestling. “Misericordia University is committed to expanding opportunities for students to be challenged academically, socially and athletically,” said Myers. “The addition of men’s and women’s wrestling allows more students the opportunity to engage in our university’s culture, one focused on student success, mutual support, and service to others.”
Misericordia expects to begin intercollegiate competition with the 2024-25 season. “This is an exciting time for Misericordia University community and our intercollegiate athletics program,” said Chuck Edkins, director of athletics. “Our goal is to provide our student-athletes with a first-rate experience, which includes diverse offerings.”
The 21st and 22nd sports added since Misericordia joined the NCAA Division III in 1992, wrestling brings MU’s total number of intercollegiate offerings to 31.
“In an ongoing effort to meet the demands of student-athletes, our athletics program has grown in proportion to the University over the last two decades,” said Edkins. “The addition of men’s and women’s wrestling will have a positive impact on our athletics program, which is regionally and nationally recognized for success in competition and in the classroom.” The first order of business is finding coaches for both wrestling programs as the Cougars prepare for the 2024-25 season. “We will immediately begin a national search for head coaches,” said Edkins. “We plan to have a coach in place by late summer to begin the recruiting process for 2024.”
The Cougars will be the seventh Middle Atlantic Conference institution to offer men’s wrestling and the fourth school to offer women’s wrestling.
The men’s team will compete in the MAC and NCAA Southeast Regional along with dual meets and invitational tournaments while the women’s team will an independent schedule featuring dual meets and invitational tournaments. … rest of story at … Misericordia.edu/news/2023/6/19/mens-wrestling-mu-adding-mens-womens-wrestling
Wrestling is returning to Northern Oklahoma College
Northern Oklahoma College will be bringing wrestling back to NOC Tonkawa in Fall 2024.
The NOC Board of Regents approved a proposal presented by Athletic Director Alan Foster on Wednesday that re-establishes the men’s program and establishes a women’s wrestling program for NOC Tonkawa. Regents approved the measure with the stipulation that all funding to start the program, and to build a practice facility must come from donations.
“On behalf of the Northern Oklahoma College Board of Regents, we are excited to approve the addition of an NJCAA Men’s and Women’s Wrestling program at NOC Tonkawa beginning fall 2024,” stated Regent Jodi Cline. “Coming from the wrestling community, this will be an awesome opportunity for young student athletes from our service areas, especially in northern, north central and northwestern Oklahoma to start their collegiate career right here at NOC. We look forward to partnering with our community and regional affiliated wrestling groups to ensure that our programs will be a success.”
“We are excited to re-establish the wrestling program at NOC,” said Foster. “Northern wrestling has had a great tradition of quality and success. We are thankful for the regents’ support as well as other community members in making this a reality.”
NOC President Clark Harris shared, ‘This is great that we are bringing wrestling back to Northern Oklahoma College. Re-establishing wrestling at Northern Oklahoma College will benefit the college, the area communities and wrestling in the region. The north central region of Oklahoma is wrestling country and NOC should be a leader in this sport. We feel that wrestling will bring a new energy back to campus.” “We are very happy that Todd Glasgow, NOC graduate and former Maverick wrestler worked with the NOC administration to develop a plan to bring wrestling back to NOC”, said Harris. “Todd’s enthusiasm was contagious as he rallied the wrestling community far and wide to show their support. He led a group of both NOC employees and community members to make this happen.” … rest of story at … NOCmavs.com/general/2022-23/releases
Chung named secretary-rules editor for wrestling
He spent the previous 10 years as coordinator of officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference
Jimmy Chung, coordinator of wrestling officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference for the past 10 seasons, was named the NCAA secretary-rules editor and weight management liaison for wrestling earlier this month.
Chung will begin his new role July 1 and will transition into the position alongside Chuck Barbee, the current NCAA secretary-rules editor, whose eight-year term expires Aug. 31.
A veteran college wrestling official, Chung officiated the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships from 2010-13, as well as 14 Division I conference championships during his career.
After the 2013 season, Chung was hired as the first coordinator of wrestling officials for the Atlantic Coast.
“It was a role where I could help other officials achieve their goals, give back to the conference that afforded me so many opportunities and contribute to the sport I love so much on a larger scale,” Chung said.
During his tenure, Atlantic Coast officials have made a total of 46 trips to the Division I national wrestling championships.
Chung recognizes the critical role the secretary-rules editor plays in college wrestling and thought his experience as both an official and conference coordinator might align well with the position.
One of Chung’s top priorities will be to ensure that officials, student-athletes and coaches are up to date on the rules of the sport.
“The communication of not only the rules, but their correct interpretation and application to all parties, is paramount, particularly in a rules-change year,” … rest of story at … NCAA.org/news/Chung-named-secretary-rules-editor-for-wrestling
Andrew Alirez named Greeley Tribune’s UNC Male Athlete of the Year after historic season
By JADYN WATSON-FISHER | jwatson-fisher@greeleytribune.com | Greeley Tribune
A list of people the Denver Nuggets and their fanbase should thank for the NBA Championship: Nikola Jokić and, apparently, Andrew Alirez.
The University of Northern Colorado wrestling program earned its first national title since 1999, when Scott Hewit won on the Division II level. Alirez beat Iowa’s Real Woods in March.
The Greeley native was in the house for Game 5 of the NBA Finals last week, and he knew it was finally the Nuggets’ opportunity. He’d experienced that glory on a smaller scale with his own championship. He might also know a little something about coincidences.
“I’m a big believer in, ‘History repeats itself.’ The year (2015-16) I won my first state title, the Broncos won the Super Bowl,” Alirez said. “I was on my path (this season), and I was like, ‘Damn. Number one in the country. I don’t see nobody beating me. The Nuggets are doing good. This is probably their year.’
“Then, after I won, I was like ‘Watch, the Nuggets are winning it.’”
Alirez laughed and said he would’ve “bet the house on it” if he could’ve. Maybe once he graduates and has a place of his own. It just felt like all the stars were aligning.
His home state’s team won the first championship in franchise history, and it seemed like everyone finally let out a collective breath. That sort of describes Alirez’s whole career. … rest pf story at … Greeleytribune.com/2023/06/20/northern-colorado-male-athlete-of-year-andrew-alirez
Gable Steveson Intends To Use Final Year Of NCAA Eligibility
Gable Steveson will likely be back on an NCAA wrestling mat next season.
We likely haven’t seen the last of Gable Steveson on a college wrestling mat. The Olympic champion and 2X NCAA champion confirmed with FloWrestling that he wants to return to NCAA competition next year. The Minnesota heavyweight won national titles for the Gophers in 2021 and 2022 before retiring from NCAA and Olympic wrestling. However, after making his return to freestyle wrestling this spring at the US Open and Final X, he wants to come back to NCAA wrestling as well.
Steveson still has to sort out scheduling details with the WWE before his return is official, but if all goes according to plan, he will be back on the NCAA mat next season.
Steveson started his career at Minnesota as a true freshman in the 2018-2019 season. With 2021 not counting toward his eligibility, Steveson has one year of eligibility remaining. … rest of story and video at Flowrestling.org/articles/Gable-steveson-intends-to-use-final-year-of-ncaa-eligibility
BEAT THE STREETS NEW YORK RAISES $1.3 MILLION WITH ANNUAL BENEFIT, FINAL X
A record 8,000-plus fans see 29 athletes make USA World Championship Team.
Beat the Streets New York raised $1.3 million with its 13th Annual Benefit on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. BTSNY also set an attendance record for its Annual Benefit and Final X with more than 8,000 fans.
For a second straight year, Final X served as BTSNY’s benefit with 29 athletes claiming a spot on Team USA for the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 16-24.
Among the men’s freestyle winners were 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder (97 kg), and 2020 Olympic champions Gable Steveson (125 kg) and David Taylor (86 kg), and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and four-time World champion Kyle Dake (74 kg). Two notable upsets occurred as Zane Richards (57 kg) topped 2021 World champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman, and Chance Marsteller (79 kg) dethroned 2016 Olympic champion and six-time World champion Jordan Burroughs.
In women’s freestyle, 2020 Olympic silver medalist and six-time World champion Adeline Gray (76 kg) won just 10 months after giving birth to twins. World champions Jacarra Winchester (55 kg), Dominique Parrish (53 kg) and Amit Elor (72 kg) also claimed victories.
Two 2020 Olympians led the 10 Greco-Roman winners, as Ildar Hafizov (60 kg) and Alejandro Sancho (67 kg) emerged victorious.
“Moving our benefit to Prudential Center was a big factor in making this our largest event, with $1.3 million raised,” said Brendan Buckley, Executive Director of Beat the Streets New York. “The funds raised during this event enable our programs to operate year-round and continue to make a lifelong impact through wrestling on New York City student-athletes.” … rest of story at … Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/BTS-NY-fund-raising=Wrestling+News
From Mat Rat to World Tour: Havelock wrestler Kennedie Snow is living her dream
Never in her wildest imagination did Havelock wrestler Kennedie Snow believe a challenge from her brother six years ago would lead to a world wrestling tour in 2023.
Snow, a rising junior at Havelock High School, remembers being back in 5th grade and her brother took up wrestling, challenging her to do so as well.
“I figured I could do better than him so I accepted the challenge and fell in love with the sport,” said Snow. “Despite my competitive nature, I never wrestled my brother because he outweighed me by 80 pounds.”
While she may have to wait on fulfilling the dream of wrestling her sibling, another one recently came true. Snow was named to the North Carolina National Team….and the USA World Team.
In April, Snow qualified for the North Carolina National Team. The squad is currently wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the National Duel’s. She also qualified for the Beach USA World Team headed to Mexico City in late June, Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota and she qualified for a World Wrestling competition in Romania on September 9.
“She is a student of the sport, a sponge for information,” said Havelock Coach Chase Holleman. Holleman coincidentally introduced her brother to the sport.
Holleman is also a youth wrestling coach and started coaching Snow as a 6th grader.
“She was a member of our Mat Rats and her work ethic was noticeable from the start,” said Holleman. “Now I have to set a timer to get her off the mat, she’s always working hard to be better, taking care of her body, she is a leader of women”.
Snow posted a 25-9 record last year at Havelock, the first season women’s high school wrestling was sanctioned in North Carolina and the first year Snow didn’t have to wrestle boys. … rest of story at … Newbernsj.com/from-mat-rat-to-world-tour-havelock-wrestler-kennedie-snow-is-living-her-dream
Franklin & Marshall’s 100th Season Comes with Optimism for the Future
The next time the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats take the mat, they will be competing in their 100th collegiate wrestling season. Although impressive, they are still maybe the 4th or 5th oldest program in the conference. This milestone season is not only special due to the triple-digit mark, but this is also the first season the team will be able to offer athletic scholarships to prospective student-athletes. After a recent NCAA legislation was passed that allows smaller (Division III) sized schools to allow athletic scholarships if competing at the D1 level, F&M will be able to join in on the fun. For some background, Division III schools cannot legally offer scholarships, per NCAA regulations. This is why the legislation is a big deal for a handful of schools that participate in higher divisions than what the school is designated in other sports. Franklin & Marshall College, located in the heart of Lancaster, PA only contains roughly 2,200 undergrad students – yet they wrestle at the Division 1 level against large schools that contain a small city’s population of student-athletes. For example, Arizona State’s undergrad enrollment is over 60,000, Penn State has around 40,000, etc. Sure, these are the extremes – but the point remains – not all Division I teams are equal.
To further that last point of “not all Division I teams are equal,” this is especially true in terms of athletic scholarship allotment. This topic can get confusing to the average fan. Some fans assume all teams have equal funding – causing an equal playing field. This is far from the truth. For wrestling, the maximum athletic scholarship one team can distribute amongst athletes is 9.9 full scholarships. I am not sure if it’s truly known how many teams have this maximum allotment. But, I know for a fact that a majority of teams are not fully funded with the 9.9. Many may have 5 scholarships to give and others may have closer to 9.9. It really depends on the athletic departments of each school. Just know, the range is from 0 athletic scholarships to 9.9. It’s also worth noting that Ivy League teams cannot offer athletic scholarships in any sport – but they do offer other types of aid to help offset the costs. That is another story for another time. … rest of story at … Intermatwrestle.com/college/eiwa/franklin-marshalls-100th-season-comes-with-optimism-for-the-future
Stanford’s Bright Future Under Rob Koll
Stanford had a tough season, ending with a 6-7 dual season record, second at Pac-12 Championships and 26th at NCAAs. “Last year was the first losing season in my 33 years as coaching,” Coach Rob Koll said. “We had 17 or 18 kids in the room.”
The Cardinal program has looked to find its rhythm after almost losing its program a few years ago. Although Stanford had its first losing season since the 2012-13 season, they showed some promise in the postseason. The main reason why Stanford has struggled is the lack of recruits and depth. “If you look at it, every other team has four years of recruits and we have three,” Koll said. “It’s massive because 25% of your team is not there and you can’t replace it in one year.”
Since Koll has had less time to recruit, he struggled in certain weight classes. “Nobody was allowed to get hurt last year and we couldn’t rest guys because we didn’t have backups,” Koll said. “It was not ideal.” Stanford took one final loss this offseason when Shane Griffith transferred to Michigan. However, Koll is elated that Griffith is moving forward with his career and Koll looks to give his underclassmen the opportunity to grow. … rest of story at .. Intermatwrestle.com/college/pac-12/stanfords-bright-future-under-rob-koll
USA Wrestling’s Men’s Freestyle Team Has Never Been Deeper
A breakdown of the current depth of Team USA’s men’s freestyle squad
Final X was an incredible display of wrestling across all styles where America’s best wrestlers put on an amazing show at the Prudential Center. The fantastic freestyle wrestling we observed at Final X, and over the past few months, proved an important fact for Team USA – specifically the men’s freestyle team: there’s outstanding depth at every weight. American fans might take that depth for granted and because of that, I’ll dive deep into the landscape of the men’s freestyle team in the below article.
How Many Medals Are We Leaving At Home?
The first point to consider in Team USA’s depth is to recall all of the world medalists who WON’T compete at this year’s world championships because they failed to make the world team. Take a look at a breakdown of all the world medalists not on the world team in the below table: … rest of story at … Flowrestling.org/USA-wrestlings-mens-freestyle-team-has-never-been-deeper
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
