Phillies catcher Realmuto still credits his wrestling roots
By Bryan Van Kley
Somehow, one of the best athletes to come out of Oklahoma’s famous Smith family quit the sport of wrestling to go out for basketball … and lived to tell about it.
This is the same Smith family of 10 children who most wrestling people know quite well. The family included four boys: six-time Olympic/World champion John, who coaches at Oklahoma State, four-time NCAA champ Pat, National Wrestling Hall of Fame director Lee Roy and Mark, a two-time All-American.
But this particular athlete, who “jumped ship” from wrestling for a brief time for the court, has done OK for himself.
Meet All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto.
This column appeared in the November issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the cover to subscribe to WIN.
Statistically, Realmuto ranks as one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. And, he said he owes much of who he is as an athlete to his time as a wrestler. Growing up in Del City, Okla., Realmuto is the nephew of the four well-known Smith uncles. His mom Margaret is one of the six girls from the group of 10 kids.
Wrestling was Realmuto’s first sport. He started at the age of five or six and wrestled all the way through eighth or ninth grade on the club level.
However, it was in seventh grade when his family moved 15 minutes to the Carl Albert High School district, that Realmuto gave up junior high wrestling to play basketball since that’s what “all” his friends were doing.
“I’m about the only boy in the family who got out of the wrestling world. They shunned me away for little bit,” Realmuto said with a laugh. “I still regret not wrestling through high school.” … rest of story at WIN-magazine.com/2022/11/01/phillies-catcher-realmuto-still-credits-his-wrestling-roots
Duke 2022-23 Season Preview
The Blue Devils will be Finesilver-less for the first time in what feels like a decade. Coach Lanham and crew will be looking to build around a core of young talent, several of whom have experience in the starting lineup. Duke has a dual-heavy schedule again this year–I think this will be beneficial as the team grows together and finds the best combination of starters throughout the lineup.
TOP RETURNERS
Wade Unger was 12-18 last year but was starting to put it together at the end of the season. He wrestled a difficult schedule and had close matches with some top-tier talent. Ungar was 1-4 in the ACC with a win over Connor Brady and decision losses to O’Connor, Keating and Cleary; he lost to Ed Scott by tech fall. He showed a lot of growth last year and has looked solid in the preseason. I’d expect him to continue that momentum into this year.
Jonah Niesenbaum displayed tremendous improvement last year and was on the cusp of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. He was 16-11 last year after a combined 4-26 record his first two years in Durham. Niesenbaum was fun to watch last year and had some big wins to clinch duals for the Blue Devils. I think we’ll see continued improvement and more success from Niesenbaum throughout the year.
KEY DEPARTURES
It is hard to state how much of an impact the Finesilver family has made on Duke Wrestling. Since older twins Mitch and Zach arrived on campus in 2015, the brothers have played a large part in the success of the Blue Devils. With younger twins Matt and Josh Finesilver completing their time in Durham last year, we see the end of an era; unless there are some long-lost cousins on a mat somewhere in Colorado…
Josh graduated from Duke with a final record of 93-55; he was a four-time NCAA qualifier and made the blood round in 2021. … rest of story at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26217?DUKE=Wrestling+News&utm_campaign
Big Ten Conference Announces Television Schedule for 2022-23 Wrestling Season
2022-23 Big Ten Conference Wrestling Television Schedule
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The 2022-23 Big Ten Conference wrestling season will feature an extensive slate of television coverage with a minimum of 29 total broadcasts as the conference seeks its 16th straight national championship.
The lineup is highlighted by a package of 26 regular season national broadcasts, with 24 telecasts on Big Ten Network and two on ESPNU.
Big Ten Network will broadcast a minimum of 24 duals with the first taking place on Sunday, December 4, when Iowa travels to in-state rival Iowa State. Big Ten Network will also televise three sessions of the 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 4-5, 2023. All televised matches can be streamed exclusively on the FOX Sports app, while additional duals will be available for streaming on B1G+. … rest of the story at Bigten.org/news/2022/10/20/big-ten-conference-announces-television-schedule-for-2022-23-season
Campbell picked No. 1 in preseason SoCon wrestling poll
App State, Chattanooga selected second and third, respectively
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After coming off a 2021-22 season that saw it take the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship for the fourth consecutive season, the Campbell Camels have been selected as the preseason frontrunner for the first time since 2019 for the upcoming 2022-23 wrestling campaign by the league’s nine head coaches, who also selected a 10-member preseason all-conference team.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes. Five wrestlers maxed out with the number of points possible to be selected to the preseason all-conference team, while five of the wrestlers on the preseason all-conference team were individual title winners at the 2022 SoCon Championship.
Campbell, who finished with 100.5 points in last year’s SoCon tournament to clinch the title over 2021-22 preseason SoCon favorite App State, earned 59 points in the 2022-23 preseason poll and finished with four first-place votes. The Camels went 6-1 in conference matchups last season and held an 11-5 record overall.
The Camels had four wrestlers selected to the preseason All-SoCon team in … rest of story at Soconsports.com/news/2022/10/20/campbell-picked-no-1-in-preseason-socon-wrestling-poll
U.S. WRESTLING FOUNDATION LAUNCHES #LETS WRESTLE, AN EXCITING NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN WRESTLING
The U.S. Wrestling Foundation, a nationally known non-profit organization, officially launched the first national #LetsWrestle program to help more high school students prepare for success and overcome challenges through the principles of wrestling.
The campaign features prominent and nationally recognized celebrities, who attribute the disciplines learned in wrestling as part of their professional success. Stars from Hollywood, the NFL and other sports, business leaders and scientists, include Tommy Hilfiger,Chris Pratt, NASA astronauts, IndyCar drivers and NFL Super Bowl champions, among others.
Posters of the stars and other recruiting materials are being sent to over 11,000 high school wrestling coaches across the country. The campaign will increase awareness of wrestling and inspire kids to get active after the covid pandemic.
“Wrestling changes lives. It teaches you how to respond to challenges in a positive way,” said Jeff Waters, Chairman of the U.S. Wrestling Foundation.
“The process of wrestling instills the values of courage, hard work, perseverance, and humility. These are the building blocks for success in anything,” said Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
“Wrestling is a great precursor to success. It sets the course for life and we want more boys and girls to have that experience, now more than ever,” commented Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Wrestling is currently the sixth most popular boys high school sport and is the fastest growing girls high school sport.
The materials can also be downloaded at WrestlingChangesLives.com. … rest of story at Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2022/October/12/Lets-Wrestle-Announcement
Making Sense of the New Redshirt Rules
Almost four months ago to the day (June 16th), the NCAA released a new set of wrestling bylaws which will take effect during the 2022-23 season. These bylaws contained plenty of relevant information; however, two of the most notable pieces that came from these changes were that athletes could use five competition dates and still maintain redshirt status. Also, true freshmen were not allowed to compete unattached during the first semester. Those are two areas that we will focus on today.
With the regular season rapidly approaching and these rules set to take effect immediately, it seemed like a perfect time to get some clarity on just how they will impact the product we see on the mat and wrestling programs in general.
For that type of insight, we turned to four prominent coaches from four different conferences. Helping us out were American University Head Coach Jason Borrelli, North Carolina Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos, Ohio State Associate Head Coach J Jaggers, and an assistant coach from the Pac-12. … rest of story and details at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26192?utm_source=Wrestling
Tenn.-Chatt. Blue-Gold Display Delights Football Tailgate Crowd
TDR Editor Notes;
Noah Castillo and the Chattanooga Mocs gave the fans at football tailgating a treat with the Blue-Gold Exhibition in First Horizon Pavilion
CHATTANOOGA—The Chattanooga Mocs wrestling program took over the football tailgating space at the First Horizon Pavilion Saturday morning. The squad put on an 11-match display showing what’s to come during the 2022-23 campaign.
It started with a Logan Ashton tech fall and ended with Logan Andrew’s major decision. That was the deciding match as Andrew’s triumph 11-3 over Ryan Stein provided a 25-22 winning margin for the Gold. … rest of story and results at Gomocs.com/news/2022/10/22/wrestling-blue-gold-display-delights-football-tailgate-crowd
Trent Hidlay wins the silver medal at World Championships
PONTEVEDRA, SPAIN NC State redshirt junior Trent Hidlay (86 kg) earned the silver medal at the U23 World Championships on Sunday.
Hidlay was defeated by Tatsuya Shirai of Japan in the finals.
Hidlay got the first point of the match 30 seconds into the contest and took a 2-0 lead on an activity clock violation. At the break, Hidlay was up 2-1 over Shirai.
In the second period Shirai took a 3-2 lead with 2:15 remaining. Hidlay picked up another point with 7.6 remaining, but Shirai held on for the win.
Hidlay, a three-time All-American, defeated Ivan Ichizli of Moldova, 11-1, in the semifinals Saturday night. Hidlay can add the silver medal to his resume which already includes being a two-time ACC champion (2021, 2022) and a bronze medal finish at the 2019 U20 World Championships. He joined his older brother Hayden (2018), Sean Fausz (2018) and Nick Gwiazdowski (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) as Wolfpack wrestlers who earned a spot on the US World team. … rest of story at Gopack.com/22/10/23/Trent-Hidlay-wins-the-silver-medal-at-world-championships
U.N.C. DEBUTS 2022-23 CAPTAINS BEFORE WRESTLE-OFFS FRIDAY
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina wrestling team has named four captains for the 2022-23 season. Austin O’Connor, Clay Lautt, Gino Esposito and Lachlan McNeil will lead the team for the upcoming season.
O’Connor, a graduate student from Lockport, Ill., and the 2021 NCAA champion at 149 pounds, returns in his final season as a Tar Heel after a 21-3 overall record in 2021-22. Competing at 157 pounds, he finished last season as the second four-time All America in program history.
Lautt, a graduate student from Olathe, Kan., returns at 174 pounds after a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships as well as All-America honors last season.
Esposito, from Milford, Conn., heads into the season at 174 pounds, looking to compete for the first time since 2020 as a graduate student.
McNeil, a red shirt freshman from Toronto, starts the season after competing at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia representing Team Canada and will compete in the 141-pound weight class. … rest of story at Goheels.com/news/2022/10/19/wrestling-debuts-2022-23-captains-before-wrestle-offs
UNC Wrestling to Participate in Veterans Day Matches vs. Campbell
The UNC wrestling program will be taking part in a special upcoming tournament on Veterans Day toward the start of the 2022-23 season.
During the UFC 280 event on Saturday, organizers announced the Battle of Fort Bragg event set for November 11. The Tar Heels will compete against Campbell University, who is hosting the matches. The University of Michigan program will also participate and face Campbell as part of the tournament.
The unveiling of the event was done during the UFC telecast of the Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot fight Saturday afternoon.
The Battle of Fort Bragg will be televised through the UFC Fight Pass streaming service, according to the Carolina program.
UNC wrestling, who finished 8-6 last season and 18th at the NCAA Championships, officially saw its season get underway on Friday. The Tar Heels held their Blue and White wrestle-offs in Chapel Hill in preparation of the new slate of matches, which will begin November 5 at a tournament in Roanoke, Virginia.
After facing Campbell, Carolina is set to face Michigan themselves at a unique place on campus. The Tar Heels and Wolverines will square off outdoors at Boshamer Stadium, which is the UNC baseball complex, on Sunday, November 13. … rest of story at
Unc-sports/unc-wrestling-to-participate-in-fort-bragg-matches-on-veterans-day
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
