Head coach Ron Beaschler picks up career win 400 as No. 22 ranked Wrestling blanks Mount St. Joseph 44-0 in non-conference wrestling dual
CINCINNATI — Ohio Northern’s 37-year head coach Ron Beaschler picked up career win No. 400 as the No. 22-ranked wrestling team earned its 9th win of the season with a 44-0 victory at Mount St. Joseph 44-0 on Thursday night.
The Basics
- Records: #22 Ohio Northern (9-4 Overall), Mount St. Joseph (0-5 Overall).
- Venue: Harrington Center – Cincinnati, Ohio.
ONU Individuals
- Senior Colin Mellott (Wapakoneta) started the evening off with a major decision at 125 lbs.
- Freshman Chase Vanderhorst (Covington) followed it up with another major decision at 133.
- Senior #1 ranked Jacob Reed (Canal Winchester/Lancaster) then posted a third consecutive major decision for the Polar Bears at 141. … more at … https://www.onusports.com/sports/wrest/2024-25/releases/20250102rcpl03
Big 12 Weekly Recap (1/1/2025)
There was plenty of end-of-year wrestling over the past two weeks, with duals just before Christmas and some great tournaments before New Year’s. The Big 12 flexed its depth with some of the mid-major programs getting solid wins. The Collegiate Duals saw banged-up Missouri and Iowa State teams battling solid nonconference opponents. Then the Soldier Salute and Midlands had a mixed bag for the Big 12, with a handful of teams competing at both.
Utah Valley and California Baptist score ranked wins
While it’s been a few weeks, I wanted to highlight two teams that have quietly been putting together great seasons. With Adam Hall and company at the helm, the Wolverines put together a 20-14 upset over Oregon State. They won six matches and got bonus points at multiple weights for the win.
In their third season of Division I, California Baptist is putting together their best season yet. They’re quietly on a four-dual win streak, and reeled off back-to-back ranked wins over West Virginia and Cal Poly. Currently sitting at 5-2 on the year, the Lancers have already matched their wins over Division I teams from last season with eight duals to go.
Iowa State and Missouri bring banged-up squads to Collegiate Duals
Throughout this season both the Cyclones and Tigers have had issues in the lineups, with injuries playing a large role. The Cyclones went 2-1 at the event, … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/big-12/big-12-weekly-recap-112025-r99878/
ACC Weekly Recap (1/1/2025)
Two of the three major holiday tournaments have concluded and the ACC had some stellar performances. Stanford kicked off their first Midlands in the ACC by bringing home the team title and three individual titles. Pittsburgh also had a strong showing at the Midlands, finishing fourth as a team and earning two individual titles. North Carolina sent a small contingent of starters to the Soldier Salute, finishing with one finalist and four placers.
#22 Stanford
Stanford used their time in Hoffman Estates to put the conference on notice that they are a legitimate threat to win the ACC in their inaugural season. The Cardinal will be loading a lot of hardware on the plane back to Palo Alto. They crowned three individual champions in #10 Tyler Knox (133), #8 Jaden Abas (149), and #7 Lorenzo Norman (174) On top of their gold medals, Knox was named the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler and Norman was the Jack Leese Champion of Champions.
Knox has been fantastic this season and looked strong throughout the tournament, notching two bonus point wins before beating #32 Ryan Miller in the semifinals. He then had a very impressive showing in the finals with a controlling 10-3 win over #16 Dylan Shawver. Abas has seemingly shaken whatever early-season jitters he had and has been on an absolute tear. He was solid all weekend, taking out a sneaky good #19 Cross Wasilewski in the finals. Lorenzo Norman has put the country on notice this season; after his statement at the Midlands, his record stands at 14-1 with his lone loss a tight 4-3 decision to a reinvigorated #3 Dean Hamiti. Norman opened the tournament with tech fall, pin, tech fall before beating #23 Alex Cramer in the semifinals. He made a big impression with a decisive win over #5 Nick Incontrera in the finals.
They also had podium performances from seven wrestlers to separate themselves in the team race. #13 Hunter Garvin (165) placed third after dropping his semifinal bout in sudden victory to the eventual champion, Tyler Lillard. #22 Nick Stemmet (197) and Jason Miranda (141) both finished in 4th place while Peter Ming (285) finished in fifth. They rounded out the tournament with seventh-place finishes from #28 Grigor Cholakyan (157) and Brock Byers (197) and an eighth-place finish from Collin Guffey (174).
Pittsburgh
The Panthers turned in an impressive team performance despite losing two key starters to injury in the tournament. #18 Reece Heller (184) added a second Midlands title after being atop the podium in 2023. Heller earned three bonus point victories in his four matches, including a ranked win over #29 Shane Cartegena-Walsh in the finals. #15 Mac Stout (197) claimed his first Midlands title with impressive and consistent performances on both days; he beat #32 Dillon Bechtold 10-3 in the semifinals before taking out #26 Gabe Sollars 13-9 to stand on the top step of the podium.
Kade Brown (149) had an amazing run to finish in third … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/acc/acc-weekly-recap-112025-r99877/
Knop Making Impact In Sixth Season With NC State Wrestling
Senior Christian Knop waited his turn to crack the NC State lineup, and now he’s ranked #24 nationally at 197 pounds.
Every top-tier college wrestling program, like the current six-time reigning ACC champion NC State Wolfpack, for example, has found numerous recruiting hotbeds across the country. From Pennsylvania to New York to Ohio to Georgia to many other states, NC State casts a wide net to find the best recruits that fit into their #PackMentality.
But the Wolfpack dipped into one state not known for producing All-Americans, one state much more known for football than wrestling — Alabama. Christian Knop joined the Pack in the summer of 2019 from Anniston, Alabama, and has ascended into the Pack’s starting lineup at 197 pounds for his final season of eligibility.
With the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers football programs dominating headlines year-round, Knop took a different route than most to find the wrestling mats when he was growing up. “I saw a flyer one day for an after-school program,” Knop said. “I’m not sure what it was, but it caught my eye. I wanted to try it, but I had to really convince my dad to let me try wrestling. “Once I did, I fell in love with it.”
Knop took the sport quickly and enjoyed a lot of success during his prep career. He was a four-time state champion, the first wrestler in AHSAA history to win four consecutive state titles and to go undefeated in his high school career. In fact, he went 321-0 in high school!
Even while pressured to join his high school’s football team by many coaches, Knop was adamant about sticking to the mat and keeping healthy for wrestling. He was a 2019 NHSCA Senior Nationals champion and 2018 Flo Nationals All-American. But perhaps his most impressive honor, even beating out the numerous high school athletes in that football-dominated state, Knop was named the #1 high school athlete on the AL.com High School 101 list.
During a recent interview, NC State head coach Pat Popolizio even harkened back to the honor for Knop. “That honor speaks to his athleticism and who he is as an overall athlete,” Popolizio said. Knop became familiar with the NC State wrestling program during the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. That season, NC State brought home its first team trophy with a third-place finish and crowned a national champion in Michael Macchiavello. “I noticed a lot of blue-collar guys that probably were not expected to do much,” Knop said. “I remember watching Tariq (Wilson) and Michel Macchiavello and seeing the success they had that weekend.
“That really drew me to the program. When Mach won the title, I was sold. If he can do that being a small-town guy like I am, then I can do that too.” Knop came to NC State with impressive recruiting rankings as well. He was a top-100 recruit and ranked high at 195 pounds during his senior campaign at Alexandria High School. “I was still pretty small for that weight in high school,” Knop said. “The lifting program here really helped get me to where I am today.” … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13369327-knop-making-impact-in-sixth-season-with-nc-state-wrestling
TDR Top 12 January Girls Rankings 100-120 lbs.
Editor’s Notes; The following this season’s The TakeDown Report’s Top 100 best female wrestlers in eastern North Carolina. There will be many changes in weight classes, records and rankings byt the end of the season yet it can be good to generate some discussion and interest in who looks to be the best.
This is the 28th consecutive season of the TDR Top 12 rankings and awards for boy wrestlers and the 3d season for girl wrestlers. The win-loss record is TrackWrestling and can be not fully accurate but can be a starting point for evaluation. We welcome input from coaches, fans and wrestlers. We will recognize the top wrestlers with engraved wooden plaques the 21st year with the ‘duck under’ logo.
We have TDR T-Shirts with white print on black shirts for just $10!
Ranking, Weight class, wrestler, school team. graduation year, wins, losses, percentage
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TDR Top 12 January Girls Rankings 126-145 lbs.
Editor’s Notes; The following this season’s The TakeDown Report’s Top 100 best female wrestlers in eastern North Carolina. There will be many changes in weight classes, records and rankings byt the end of the season yet it can be good to generate some discussion and interest in who looks to be the best.
This is the 28th consecutive season of the TDR Top 12 rankings and awards for boy wrestlers and the 3d season for girl wrestlers. The win-loss record is TrackWrestling and can be not fully accurate but can be a starting point for evaluation. We welcome input from coaches, fans and wrestlers. We will recognize the top wrestlers with engraved wooden plaques the 21st year with the ‘duck under’ logo.
We have TDR T-Shirts with white print on black shirts for just $10!
Ranking, Weight class, wrestler, school team. graduation year, wins, losses, percentage
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TDR Top 12 January Girls Rankings 152-235 lbs.
Editor’s Notes; The following this season’s The TakeDown Report’s Top 100 best female wrestlers in eastern North Carolina. There will be many changes in weight classes, records and rankings byt the end of the season yet it can be good to generate some discussion and interest in who looks to be the best.
This is the 28th consecutive season of the TDR Top 12 rankings and awards for boy wrestlers and the 3d season for girl wrestlers. The win-loss record is TrackWrestling and can be not fully accurate but can be a starting point for evaluation. We welcome input from coaches, fans and wrestlers. We will recognize the top wrestlers with engraved wooden plaques the 21st year with the ‘duck under’ logo.
We have TDR T-Shirts with white print on black shirts for just $10!
Ranking, Weight class, wrestler, school team. graduation year, wins, losses, percentage
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Abbott blog: Top 10 wrestling stories of 2024
By Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling
For many years, one of my holiday traditions has been writing a Top 10 wrestling stories of the year column for TheMat.com. Finding time to write around traditional family holiday activities has always been a bit of a challenge but is something I look forward to each year.
Clearly, an Olympic year has way more story lines than the other three years of an Olympic cycle. Paris did a wonderful job running the 2024 Games, a breath of fresh air after going through the pandemic Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The USA had a strong performance if you look back at historic results, although the U.S. has been so strong in recent years that expectations were very high. The Olympics are so hard to win because of the pressure on the athletes and the high level of preparation by every single Olympian in the field. Athletes around the world dream about winning the Olympics, and they all step up big time when given that opportunity.
It has been an honor and a privilege to bring this feature to the wrestling community over the years, and I appreciate all of the amazing opportunities I have had as a USA Wrestling staff member. This has truly been a dream job for a kid who loves wrestling and journalism. From the minute that the Olympics ended in Paris, all eyes have now turned towards the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. All I can say is Go Team USA!!!
Here we go with the biggest stories of 2024, in my humble opinion…
1 –Hildebrandt, Elor win golds and U.S. women get four Olympic medals in Paris – Women first competed in Olympic wrestling in 2004 in Athens, and the USA has been one of the top nations ever since. However, it was 20 years later, at the 2024 Paris Games, where the USA women truly took center stage, claiming two gold medals for the first time and a U.S. record four total medals. Golds went to one of the veteran leaders on the team, Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kg, and the best young athlete in the world, Amit Elor at 68 kg. Hildebrandt’s run included some big-time drama, as her finals opponent Vinesh from India (who upset the favorite Yui Susaki in the first round) missed weight. UWW chose to put the semifinal loser to Vinesh in the finals against Hildebrandt, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba, and Sarah closed it out with a 3-0 win. A lifetime of hard work and persistence paid off when it most counted. Elor, who became the youngest U.S. Senior World wrestling champion at 18 in 2022, dropped to 68 kg for the Olympic year and become the youngest Olympic wrestling champion for Team USA at age 20 in Paris. Elor was her dominant self, outscoring her opponents 31-2, including a 3-0 shutout victory over Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the finals. Elor’s future seems unlimited at this point. Kennedy Blades, who beat the legendary Adeline Gray to make the U.S. team, nailed a beautiful five-point throw in her first match and powered into the finals to claim a silver medal. The amazing Helen Maroulis added a bronze medal and the U.S. women had its best Olympics ever.
2 – Maroulis wins third Olympic medal and Dake earns second Olympic medal – Winning an Olympic wrestling medal is an amazing feat. Winning more than one is very rare and especially noteworthy. Helen Maroulis further cemented her Hall of Fame career by winning a third career Olympic medal in Paris, a 2024 bronze to go with 2016 gold and 2020 bronze. Her back story is inspiring (a documentary was made about her comeback from injury and personal challenge). In Paris, Maroulis opened with two wins to reach the semifinals, where she fell 6-0 to three-time World champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, who had beaten Maroulis in previous meetings. She put an exclamation point on her third Olympics with a stunning 24-second pin of Canada’s Hannah Taylor for the bronze. Only one USA athlete has won more Olympic wrestling medals, the great Bruce Baumgartner with four. Dake’s quest for an Olympic gold after winning four career World titles, was halted in the semifinals in a wild 20-12 loss to Japan’s Daichi Takatani. Dake came back strong after the loss. It looked like Dake might fall in the bronze-medal match to past World champion Hetik Cablov of Serbia, but a late five-point toss gave him a memorable 10-4 win and a second career Olympic bronze medal. Could either come back to seek another at the 2028 Olympics? Who knows, but I wouldn’t put it past either of them if they chose to go another Olympic cycle. 3 – Lee gets healthy and powers to Olympic silver medal – As an age-group freestyle wrestler, Spencer Lee of Pennyslvania was beyond dominant. He won a 2014 U17 World title and two U20 World titles (2015, 2016), and most of his matches were over in less than a minute. It seemed like Lee was destined to win multiple World and Olympic medals for Team USA. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/28/abbott-blog-top-10-wrestling-stories-of-2024
College Wrestling Announcers’ Story from the Mat to the Mic
At 71 years old, Tim Johnson found himself back where it all started – in a wrestling room in the basement of the old Morning Sun high school building. The room isn’t large, smaller than an average classroom, but the names that would come out of that modest bit of real estate in Southeast Iowa are gigantic.
Al Baxter, Nick Hobbs, Gregg Durbin, Ron McDonald, Jerry Malone, Jay Johnson, Earl Bryant … the list of Iowa high school state wrestling tournament qualifiers and place winners to come out of Morning Sun reads like a chapter book. They’re household names in Iowa high school wrestling, many of whom were coached by National Wrestling Hall of Fame coach John Siegel.
The wrestling room, painted emerald green with matching green mats, is located next to the boiler room. That was intentional. Tim Johnson recalls grueling workouts in that hot room, conditioning that would help him win matches both on the wrestling mat and in life. “To be back in this room where a lot of blood, sweat and tears happened is a tremendous feeling,” Tim Johnson said. “I owe a lot to this sport.” It’s a sport he didn’t know he would even be able to participate in early on. A lawnmower accident nearly cost him a leg when he was a kid. Full of youthful energy, he raced up behind his dad who was operating a new riding lawnmower. The grass was damp from dew and his left leg slid under the blade deck. The injury required multiple operations and lengthy rehab sessions, but the medical staff was able to save his leg.
When he was in second grade he met Bob Darrah, Morning Sun’s wrestling coach, while at a high school meet. A few years later Darrah invited Johnson to come workout with the varsity wrestlers. “This was a sport I was allowed to do,” Johnson said. “I could wrestle, and coach Darrah said ‘as long as you can wrestle you’ll be okay.’ I owe a lot to a man who put that courage in me.”
Darrah went on to coach at Urbandale High School before establishing a legendary program at West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. Johnson learned early on how to modify his wrestling stance to protect his leg, taking the mat in a sugar foot stance. He became both explosive and impossible to take down, another analogy that works for him off the mat. Through some rough life challenges Johnson has learned resiliency. For him, wrestling is not something that’s only done on a three-quarter-inch mat. “Everybody wrestles with life,” Johnson said. He’s a humble man who wastes little time acknowledging those he credits for his successes, from influential coaches to the group of wrestling moms back in the early days that sold homemade pies for traveling money and dyed long underwear green so the athletes would have uniforms to wrestle in.
Humble, yet still carries himself with elbows bent and primed to shoot a double leg at the blow of a whistle. Johnson’s passion for life and love for wrestling will be available for all to see when he joins legendary wrestling coach Jim Miller mat-side to broadcast NCAA wrestling meets on Iowa PBS in January.
It is the first time since 2012 that Iowa PBS has carried a wrestling meet … more at … https://www.iowapbs.org/article/11916/college-wrestling-announcers-story-mat-mic#popup-container
Wrestlers need to be courageous in spite of fear rather than fearless
By John Klessinger
Recently, I read something really profound. Fifty years on earth and I’ve never heard it explained this way. It was one of those “aha” moments like, “How have I not known this or seen this before?”
What is fear? Why do we experience it? Most importantly, how do we deal with it?
Every negative emotion we have comes from fear. Take anger. We are angry when we feel disrespected or unheard. Anger fuels us when we feel wronged. Go a little deeper. The anger comes from fear. If you dissect (anger), you were emotionally hurt in some way that triggered something within you that made you feel unsafe, unloved, or unimportant.
Insecurity. Fear of not being good enough, strong enough, tough enough.
Frustration. Fear of not being understood. Fear of not being competent.
Comparison. Although comparison isn’t an emotion, it certainly triggers negative emotions. What is comparison? It is about not measuring up to someone else. We fear we are less than someone else.
Jealousy, envy, shame, and guilt. It is fear.
What would happen if we stopped letting fear drive the boat? What would happen if we understood the power thinking has on us … all of us?
Fear is a big bully, hiding in wolves’ clothing. But really, fear is a tiny chihuahua. From afar, it appears huge and important in the proper lighting and shadows (our thoughts). The bark is loud.
We move closer and see the error of our perception. Fear is a thought we believe is true. We are mistaking the small dog for a wolf.
And for that matter, what is a belief? A belief is a collection of thoughts. It is an idea. What if you dropped a belief that is holding you back? Maybe the idea that I am not good enough, tall enough, quick enough and lucky enough.
What if you saw those thoughts for what they are? Ideas that come from fear we mistakenly believe to be true. Our brains have a bias to fear and negative thinking. A survival mechanism from thousands, if not millions, of years ago. When we are scared, our thoughts and emotions are laced with fear. Almost like wearing sunglasses. We see a shaded and distorted reality.
We’ve learned to avoid fear. Run from it. Take this pill. Work harder. Ignore it. Don’t think about it. Resist it. Deny it. Read this book. Blame someone else. Make an excuse.
How do we stop letting fear drive the boat? It is simple yet difficult.
It is difficult because it is the opposite of how we instinctually respond to fear and negative events. It is simple because it only requires a shift in your perception and willingness to look at things differently than you have in the past.
So here you go. Here’s the “simple, yet difficult” formula to move past fear.
1. Amor Fati. “For the love of one’s fate.” It is an attitude of accepting and embracing everything in life. Even the most difficult things.
Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy.”
It is accepting and allowing whatever event, feeling, thought, etc. to be here right now. Welcome it. Become friends with it. Do not try to change it. We give fear fuel by not wanting it to be here.
There is a Buddhist story of the two arrows of pain and/or suffering. The first arrow causes a physical or emotional punch, like losing a wrestling match. It hurts for a little bit. It stings. But it’s the second arrow that causes the greatest pain … with thoughts like “I suck.” “I could’ve tried harder.” “I will never be good enough.” It is the arrow of self-criticism, judgment, worry, guilt, etc.
Fear is a biological response to a threat. However, it is also a habit … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2024/12/28/wrestlers-need-to-be-courageous-in-spite-of-fear-rather-than-fearless/
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
Takedown Report 