Cuba’s wrestling legend Mijaín López aims to break Olympic record at Paris 2024
Four-time Olympic champion Mijaín López has returned to training with the national team, and he is targeting a fifth Olympic gold in Paris next year.
Cuba’s wrestling legend Mijaín López is poised to make even more history in his sport.
The 40-year-old is already part of an exclusive club that includes only Americans Michael Phelps (swimming), Carl Lewis (long jump), Alfred Oerter (discus throw), and Denmark’s Paul Elvstrøm (sailing). They are the only male athletes to have won individual gold medals in the same individual event at four consecutive Olympic Games.
López is now set to make his international return to competitions, two years after securing the title in the men’s 130 kg (286-pound) Greco-Roman category at Tokyo 2020.
“I am coming back to wrestle at the Paris Olympic Games. I want to become the first wrestler to win five Olympic gold medals,” López announced as reported by United World Wrestling.
Dubbed ‘El Terrible’, the four-time Olympic champion is currently in Croatia with the Cuban national wrestling team, where he will start his preparation for Paris 2024. … rest of story and pictures at Olympics.com/en/news/mijain-lopez-cuba-wrestling-break-record-paris-2024
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Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez returns to break Olympic record he shares with Michael Phelps
Cuban Mijaín López plans to return to competitive wrestling in a bid to become the first person to win the same individual Olympic event five times.
At the Tokyo Games, López became the fifth person to win the same individual Olympic event four times after Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis, Al Oerter and Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm. Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho also won four individual Olympic titles, but over two different weight classes.
If he makes it to Paris, López would also bid to tie the record of winning an individual gold medal at five Olympics, set by Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst last year. Wüst‘s golds alternated between the 1500m and 3000m.
López last competed internationally at the Tokyo Games, which was expected to be his farewell. But López did not leave his shoes on the mat (the symbolic act of retirement in wrestling) after winning the Greco-Roman super heavyweight (286-pound) title and said later that year that he had not yet decided whether to make a Paris 2024 bid.
Cuban media recently reported that López was back in training, including with the national team in Croatia this week. United World Wrestling then reported Monday that López said he is making another Olympic bid.
López shares the record of five Olympic wrestling appearances and in Paris can become the oldest person to win an Olympic wrestling medal of any color, according to Olympedia.org.
The 6-foot-5 López, whose nicknames include El Terrible, may face a challenge just to make the Cuban Olympic team. Countryman Óscar Pino, 29, won super heavyweight silver or bronze at the world championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019, when Lopez did not compete in any world championships in that Olympic cycle and competed sparingly overall. … rest of story at Olympics.nbcsports.com/2023/05/23/mijain-lopez-olympics-wrestling-cuba-gold-medals
Wrestling helps Football players
Tre Tucker wrestling experience helped put him on Raiders radar
After three fairly sensible picks, the Raiders threw a bit of a curve ball when they selected Cincinnati wide receiver Tre Tucker at 100 overall.
The pick was a head scratcher for several reasons. First and foremost because every draft projection had Tucker closer to the 200s than the top 100. But also because Tucker is exclusively a slot receiver and the Raider already have two good ones in Hunter Renfrow and Jacobi Meyers.
We had questions.
In speaking with Tre Tucker, he mentioned among other things that he was a wrestler in school. A lot of football players talk about having wrestling experience in their background, but usually they’re linemen or maybe linebackers. But a wide receiver?
Tre told the story as to how he used to get in fights with his cousins and they would always win.
“They would slam me all over the place,” Tucker said of his cousins, noting they were state champion wrestlers. “So, I was like, you know what, I think I need to join wrestling. So, I joined it, I fell in love with it all through grade school. I wasn’t nothing but 100 pounds. My freshman year of high school I was wrestling 106. To me it’s just a want-to. I think the sport requires a lot of mental aspects and I think it translates to football. Football is physical, but the mental part is very huge and wrestling kind of boosted that for me.”
Full disclosure, I was a wrestler all through school myself, I naturally respect any football player a bit more with wrestling in their background. It isn’t just a bias thing, it’s knowing the kind of physical skills it instilled in me that benefit me in just about anything else I do.
Raiders GM Dave Ziegler was equally impressed. And it’s those wrestling skills that show up in Tucker’s game that were a big reason he took him well above where most draft projections had him.
“There’s a level of toughness that you have to have to be a wrestler,” Ziegler said. “(Tre Tucker is) a small guy but he plays bigger and he plays with an edge and I think a lot of that toughness comes from wrestling. He also has very good balance and agility when you watch him and if you watch any good wrestlers, that’s one thing that they are able to do is play with leverage, have agility, have balance. … rest of story at Raiderswire.usatoday.com/tre-tucker-wrestling-experience-las-vegas-raiders-radar-nfl-draft-pick
2023 NFL Draft Prospects with Wrestling Backgrounds
by Earl Smith; Photo courtesy of David Stluka
We all love wrestling. That’s what brought us together at InterMat. At the same time, it’s okay to have interests outside of wrestling. For a lot of fans, that interest might be football. And if you like football, it’s hard to beat the NFL draft. There have been mock drafts for months and months (years perhaps), all in preparation for today. Everybody pretends to be an expert and an insider as to how their favorite team will draft.
Bringing it back to wrestling, my thought was, “How many NFL draftees have a wrestling background.” Which led me to looking up the high school credentials over the top-300 draft prospects from a list provided by The Athletic.
We may not hear any of these names on Thursday night, but as the draft progresses, remember these names as they are elite football players that have some sort of wrestling background.
Below are the 11 wrestlers who could get selected in the 2023 NFL draft that have a wrestling background. There’s the possibility that more do; however, we’re just going off of what was listed in their collegiate roster bio.
The number by each prospect is their draft ranking and if accessible, their top wrestling credentials have been listed.
#56 Keeanu Benton (Wisconsin) Defensive Line
High School: Craig, Wisconsin; 2018 Wisconsin DI State Runner-Up.
#59 John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota) Center
High School: Flossmoor, Illinois
#133 Luke Wypler (Ohio State) Center
High School: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey
#182 Anfernee Orjj (Vanderbilt) Linebacker
High School: Rockwall, Texas
#194 Gervarrius Owens (Houston) Safety
High School: Southmoore, Oklahoma
#219 Evan Hull (Northwestern) Running Back
High School: Maple Grove, Minnesota; 2019 Minnesota AAA State Qualifier
#231 John Ojukwu (Boise State) Offensive Tackle
High School: Boise, Idaho
#237 Hunter Luepke (North Dakota State) Fullback
High School: Spencer, Wisconsin; 2x Wisconsin D2 State Champion … rest of story at Rokfin.com/article/13314/2023-NFL-Draft-Prospects-with-Wrestling-Backgrounds
5 OLYMPIC AND 11 WORLD CHAMPIONS HIGHLIGHT LOADED FIELD FOR FINAL X, THE 2023 BEAT THE STREETS ANNUAL BENEFIT
The field is finalized for Final X, presented by Tezos, on June 10 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Athletes qualified for Final X by winning a 2022 World medal or winning the 2023 U.S. Open or 2023 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. The top two athletes in each weight class, based upon the qualifying process, have emerged to compete in Final X.
Final X will determine the 2023 U.S. Senior World Team in all three Olympic disciplines: men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. There will be 30 weight classes contested, 10 in each Olympic discipline. The winner of each Final X best-of-three championship series will represent the United States at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
The first match of the best-of-three series will be during the first session (2-4:30 p.m.). The second match and third match, if necessary, will be in the second session (6-9 p.m.).
The Final X field features five Olympic gold medalists: 2012 champion Jordan Burroughs (74 kg men’s freestyle), 2016 champions Helen Maroulis (57 kg women’s freestyle) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg men’s freestyle) and 2020 champions Gable Steveson (125 kg men’s freestyle) and David Taylor (86 kg men’s freestyle).
The field includes 11 World champions who have won a combined 30 World titles: Burroughs (6x), Adeline Gray (x6, 76 kg women’s freestyle), Kyle Dake (x4, 74 kg men’s freestyle), Maroulis and Snyder (3x) and Taylor and J’den Cox at 92 kg men’s freestyle (2x). Thomas Gilman (57 kg men’s freestyle), Dominique Parrish (53 kg women’s freestyle), Jacarra Winchester (55 kg women’s freestyle) and Amit Elor (72 kg women’s freestyle) each won one.
It also features 10 Olympic medalists who have won 12 Olympic medals: Synder (2x, 2016 gold and 2020 silver), Maroulis (2x, 2016 gold, 2020 bronze), Burroughs (2012 gold), Steveson (2020 gold), Taylor (2020 gold), Gray (2020 silver), Cox (2016 bronze), plus 2020 bronze medalists Dake, Gilman and Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg women’s freestyle).
There will be 16 World medalists who have won a combined 53 World medals: Burroughs (9x); Gray (8x); Maroulis and Snyder (6x); Cox (x5); Dake (4x); Gilman, Hildebrandt and Taylor (3x), two-time silver medalist Kayla Miracle (62 kg women’s freestyle), two-time bronze medalist Mallory Velte (65 kg women’s freestyle), … rest of story at Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/May/23/FInal-X-lineup-completed
D1 Coaches Weigh In On NCAA Wrestling Rule Change Proposals
To get a sense of how coaches feel about the proposed rule changes, we reached out to the leaders of more than a dozen Division I programs
The NCAA rules committee proposed a set of changes that could lead to perhaps the most transformative period in college wrestling history.
With that has come one of the hottest periods of social media debate in the sport.
Do the rules strike the right balance to inject more excitement and entertainment into the sport? Are the changes too drastic? Did they not go far enough?
Opinions have landed all over the spectrum.
To get a sense of how coaches feel, we reached out to the leaders of more than a dozen Division I programs. Below is a sampling of their responses.
Overall Thoughts
American coach Jason Borrelli
“Overall, I’m happy we’re trying — you know, at least we have people in positions who are looking at the sport through the lens of trying to improve it and trying to increase action. I like that. Our sport, we’re hesitant to change a lot, so anytime we try to make changes we’re fought with some resistance. I think it’s good that we’ve got people in positions that can make change that are thinking about the long-term future of the sport. Trying to increase action and make things more exciting is a good thing. I was OK from that perspective. Now do I agree with every rule change or every proposal? No, but I certainly see where it’s coming from, so that’s good.”
Appalachian State coach JohnMark Bentley
“I’m not a huge fan of a lot of them, to be honest. I think the new rules obviously favor a better athlete for sure. You take mat wrestling out of the equation, you take a lot of the conditioning factor out of the equation, it’s not going to be advantageous for wrestlers who are less talented. I kind of like conditioning and things like that being a part of it, and with mat wrestling being limited, I don’t know how much conditioning is going to be a factor. I like how folkstyle wrestling makes you be well-rounded in all three positions and I’m not a huge fan of losing that. Personally, if those are the rules — and I’m not against all of them, there’s some things I can live with — I feel if you’re moving in that direction and that’s what you want to see and want to take mat wrestling out of the equation, then I would just be in favor of transitioning completely to freestyle.”
Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser
“We’re kind of in digestion mode here and it’s all really new and just seeing whether this is going to help our sport. I know the traditional people don’t like it, but sometimes change is good.”
Little Rock coach Neil Erisman
“I think all of these can be summed up with great intention, we’ll see if it lines out to good actions.”
Missouri coach Brian Smith
“Are we focused on the ground level, or should we be focused on a 30,000-foot view? The bigger picture is why the decline in viewership and attendance and fans not liking the action or whatever the problem on the mat is? When you go out to 30,000 feet, what have other sports done? The last 3-5 years football, baseball, all these sports have found ways to shorten their events and they’re trying to get closer to a two-hour window. Some are longer than two hours, but the object is to reduce it so fans will stay attentive to the event. Wrestling right now, we wrestle one to two tournaments in the regular season as a team and the rest are all duals, which can be confusing to a fan. The tournaments are what’s going to matter, but duals don’t really have a big purpose in our sport, whereas in college football and basketball the regular season game has a purpose. We’re even seeing the purpose of these tournaments don’t matter now, where it’s getting a minimal amount of matches to compete in the tournaments that come at the end. Could this be the issue of why we’re losing fans? Duals on major broadcasts — ESPN, ACC, Big Ten Network, Flo — we’re seeing great excitement to watch some of these matchups. … rest of story at Flowrestling.org/D1-coaches-weigh-in-on-ncaa-wrestling-rule-change-proposals
The Pat Popolizio Coaching Tree
On Monday afternoon, news broke out of Fargo, North Dakota that newly promoted North Dakota State head wrestling coach, Obe Blanc, had hired Hayden Hidlay as his assistant coach. In 2022, Hidlay finished up a decorated career at NC State that saw him leave Raleigh as one of the all-time greats in NC State wrestling, becoming the first four-time (and five-time) All-American in school history and second in career win-loss percentage.
Hidlay and Blanc’s paths crossed at NC State as Blanc was an assistant coach early in Hidlay’s career, before leaving for NDSU. The common ground for both was wrestling or coaching under Wolfpack head coach Pat Popolizio.
When it comes to college coaching trees, no one is larger or more famous than Dan Gable’s when he was the head coach at the University of Iowa. John Smith’s is quite impressive himself as he is now responsible for coaching ten current DI head coaches, which is the most of any coach or school.
What you may not realize is that Popolizio has an impressive list of DI coaches that have either coached alongside him or wrestled under him (or both). With Hidlay’s hiring, that number grows by one. Before the 2021-22 season, InterMat traveled to Raleigh and spoke with Popolizio about this exact topic. When asked about the number of his pupils in the coaching ranks he responded, “To me, you never want to have a kid come here and resent the sport of wrestling. We want it to be a positive experience.”
Some head coaches may view assistants leaving as more work for them in the short-term and a difficult situation in replacing a valued member of their staff. Popolizio isn’t one of them. “I feel confident about the guys on our staff. At some point, they’ll get the call to be a head coach and they’ll be ready because of the day-to-day tasks that are thrown at them. They’re learning the ins and outs of everything I do as a head coach. I already know in our room right now, we have several guys who are going to be great college coaches.”
So who’s next from the Pat Popolizio coaching tree? “Adam Hall, he’s a rock star. … rest of story at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26746
Hawkeyes lead Division I in wrestling attendance for 16th straight season
The National Wrestling Media Association has released its annual NCAA Division I wrestling home dual meet attendance report for the 2022-23 season and for the 16th-straight season, the University of Iowa is the nation’s top home draw.
Iowa, Penn State, Iowa State, Rutgers and Oklahoma State were the top five home draws this season.
RELATED: Attendance stats since 2002 (via Mat Talk Online)
The Hawkeyes drew an average of 14,858 fans per home date in 2022-23 and saw a record total of 118,870 fans come through the doors at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa’s overall total is the highest total attendance number since Division I attendance records started being recorded in 2002. The previous high season total was Iowa’s 97,325 in the 2015-16 season, which included the NCAA-record 42,287 at Kinnick Stadium. The 14,858 is the second-highest average attendance in college wrestling history, second only to the Hawkeyes’ average last season.
The Hawkeyes drew capacity crowds of 14,905 in six of their eight home dates.
Penn State was second for the 12th-straight season drawing an average of 9,225 fans. Two of the Nittany Lions home duals were at the Bryce Jordan Center. Those two duals drew nearly 16,000 fans. According to Penn State Athletic Communications, the Nittany Lions have sold out 66-straight duals in Rec Hall and 75 of the last 77 home events. Penn State’s 15,998 against Iowa on January 27 is tied for the third-largest dual meet crowd in college wrestling history and ties the indoor mark, also set by Penn State against Iowa, on Feb. 10, 2018.
Iowa State averaged 5,287 fans with six home dates. The Cyclones are third in attendance for the second time in three seasons and have been in the top seven since 2002, the first year attendance was tracked. Rutgers is in the top six for the eighth straight season and is fourth for the third time since 2018. Oklahoma State is fifth and has been in the top 10 each year since 2002, never falling lower than seventh. Ohio State has been consistently in the top six since 2012 and ranks sixth for the second-straight year. Virginia Tech reached a program high of seventh. The Hokies were 10th a year ago and have been ranked in the top 10 six times. Northern Iowa might have lost some of the mystique by moving full-time into the McLeod Center from its iconic West Gym, but it did allow the Panthers to rank eighth in attendance, a program high. It’s also the first time since 2017 the Panthers have ranked in the Top 10. Minnesota was ninth, keeping the Gophers streak alive of Top 10 draws. Michigan ranked 10th, the fourth time in the last five years the Wolverines have broken the Top 10.
Several schools saw high attendance marks during combined events with women’s gymnastics. Often dubbed “Beauty and the Beast,” Iowa State, Arizona State, Northern Illinois and Kent State saw their highest home attendance in the combined events.
Iowa was the top road draw as six schools – Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Army West Point, Chattanooga and Purdue – saw its high crowds come against the visiting Hawkeyes. Penn State was the top road draw at Rutgers, Ohio State, Indiana and Rider. Oklahoma State was also a solid road draw as the Cowboys were the top drawing team for Iowa (tied), Oregon State, Oklahoma and Bucknell.
For the first time in 15 years, Cal Poly was represented. The Mustangs ranked 22nd in attendance averaging 1,124 fans. Cal Poly averaged 750 fans per dual last season.
This season marks the first time at least 25 schools broke an average of 1,000 fans per dual. … rest of story at Nationalwrestlingmedia.com/hawkeyes-lead-division-i-in-wrestling-attendance-for-16th-straight-season
HBCUs capitalize on growing interest by adding sport options
The outrage, frustration and emotional trauma Jahi Jones felt as he watched video of police murdering George Floyd three years ago compelled him to seek ways to lift up other young Black men.
He just wasn’t sure how to do it.
Jones had attended the University of Maryland on an academic scholarship and was a walk-on for the wrestling team. He became team captain, competed at the NCAA championships and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He later noticed that, in 2021, Black men made up half the 10 Division I national champions in wrestling but fewer than 10% of Division I wrestlers.
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That’s when everything started to click.
“I would start thinking about ways that I could get involved to help inside of the wrestling community and just make things more fair and equitable,” he said. “It was just seeing the lack of diversity, but also seeing that … we excel inside the sport, but (we are) just not having those same opportunities to develop.”
Now 25, Jones is the executive director of the HBCU Wrestling Initiative. With a major assist from that program, Morgan State in the next school year will become the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) to offer Division I wrestling. … rest of story at APnews.com/article/hbcu-new-sports-ncaa
Changes in High School Wrestling Rules Include Allowance of Six Matches in One Day of Competition
High school wrestlers will be able to wrestle in six matches in any one day of competition beginning with the 2023-24 season. The six-match limit includes championship and consolation matches and excludes forfeits.
This change to Rule 1-4-3 was one of 12 revisions recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee at its April 2-4 meeting in Indianapolis. All changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
The increase from five to six matches for regular-season competition follows the change two years ago which permitted six matches in any one day of tournament competition. With experiments conducted last year by state associations with no reported injuries, the committee thought the increase to six for regular-season competition was a natural progression.
With risk minimization in mind, the committee also approved Rule 1-4-7, which states that no contestant shall wrestle in more than 10 matches in two consecutive days.
Another significant change was made in the Definitions (Rule 5) section of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Book. In Rule 5-15-2a which lists the points of support when a wrestler is down on the mat, “foot/feet” was added to the list that includes the knee(s), side of the thigh, buttocks, hand(s) and head.
“Feet are regularly supporting the wrestler’s weight during the match while on the mat,” said Elliot Hopkins, director of sports and student services and liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee. “We allow a wrestler’s feet to be considered supporting points while in a near-fall situation. By adding it to the list of usual supporting points on the mat, it will create more clarity and consistency for the wrestlers, coaches and officials – without creating additional injury risk.” … rest of story at NFHS.org/articles/changes-in-high-school-wrestling-rules-include-allowance-of-six-matches-in-one-day-of-competition
Davidson Wrestling Adds Iowa State Standout Coleman to Staff
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Head coach Nate Carr Jr. has announced the addition of Marcus Coleman to the Davidson wrestling staff on Monday.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Marcus to our program and coaching staff,” said Carr. “His character and work ethic along with his overall experience in the sport is going to be pivotal in helping us build an elite level culture while also giving our scholar-athletes the best experience possible.”
Coleman comes to Davidson after graduating from Iowa State as a distinguished member of the Cyclones wrestling team, who finished the 2022-23 season ranked fifth in Division I.
In his collegiate career, Coleman compiled a 99-42 overall record, is a five-time NCAA Qualifier, and a two-time All-American. Most recently, Coleman took second place at the 2023 Big Ten Championship and fifth at the NCAA Championships at 184 pounds. He also became the second wrestler in Iowa State history to qualify for five NCAA Championships (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Coleman was named Big 12 and NCAA Wrestler of the Week on December 28th, 2022 after beating No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) at the Collegiate Duals, handing Brooks’ his only loss of the season. Coleman ended his final season with a 24-5 record and claimed 15 wins against ranked opponents.
In 2022, Coleman became the first Iowa State All-American at 184 pounds since 2008 after taking seventh at the NCAA Championships. He also finished third at the Big 12 Championships and ended the season with a 22-6 record.
In 2021, Coleman finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships and was named to the Big 12’s All-Academic Second Team.
Coleman graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a minor in Family Services, and was selected to ISU’s Dean’s List in 2020.
“I am really thankful for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to join the Davidson family,” said Coleman. “I’m excited to get to work with our scholar-athletes and help build a great program!” … rest of story at Davidsonwildcats.com/news/2023/6/5/wrestling-adds-iowa-state-standout-coleman-to-staff
Rockingham County wrestling great David Barker inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame N.C. Chapter
EDEN — A tournament founder and acclaimed wrestler with a reputation that reaches back to his high school days at Morehead High School here, David Barker was recently inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame North Carolina Chapter.
The longtime and storied coach with the Rockingham County Schools received the honor May 21 at the Friday Conference Center in Chapel Hill.
Barker is the youngest inductee to ever receive the Lifetime Service Award for the National Wrestling Hall State Chapter of North Carolina.
While a student at Morehead, the athletically versatile Barker wrestled, played baseball and ran track.
After college, Barker, 45, returned to Morehead to become a member of the wrestling coaching staff.
He went on to coach MHS Panther teams that won state dual titles in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, and 2016 and state tournament titles in 1998, 1999, 2006, 2014, and 2015. … rest of story at Greensboro.com/rockingham-county-wrestling-great-david-barker-inducted-into-national-wrestling-hall-of-fame
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
