en-us Copyright 2006-2008 Flocasts Inc Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:33:51 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/assets/portal/simple30/images/logos/flowrestling-logo.gif http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/537-marty-morgan-steps-down-from-u-wrestling-post University of Minnesota Press Release Marty Morgan Steps Down From ‘U’ Wrestling Post  Head assistant wrestling coach Marty Morgan resigned from his position at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon after 16 years with the program. Morgan will go on to train former Gopher All-American wrestler Brock Lesnar, a popular Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) competitor, on a full-time basis.   “I’m going to step back for a year to help Brock [Lesnar] train and I’ll see where I’m at next summer. I’ve been working with Brock [Lesnar] the past few years on his training and now I’ve been offered a unique opportunity to work with him full time.” Morgan said. “This has definitely been a difficult decision, considering that I have been involved with the program for 20 years as an athlete and coach. I am happy to have a great relationship with the University of Minnesota administration, J Robinson, the wrestling staff, past and current team members, and numerous fans around this great wrestling state.”  A native of Bloomington, Minn., Morgan began his collegiate wrestling career at North Dakota State where he won a Division II national championship as a true freshman before transferring to Minnesota. Morgan was a three-time All-American for the Gophers and won a national title at 177 pounds as a senior in 1991. With a 39-0 record during his senior season, Morgan became the first wrestler in school history to finish with an unblemished record and is one of just three wrestlers in Minnesota history to accomplish that feat. He capped off his career with the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is awarded to a Big Ten student-athlete who demonstrates excellence in academics and athletics.   Morgan was the top assistant under head coach J Robinson for 13 of his 16 seasons with the program. During his time at Minnesota, Morgan helped secure Minnesota Wrestling’s status as one of the most storied and successful programs in the nation. Under Morgan’s watch, the Gophers attracted some of the nation’s most sought-after recruits on a regular basis and won national titles in 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2006-07. The Gophers have also captured six Big Ten Conference championships under Morgan’s tutelage.  “Marty has been around Minnesota Wrestling for 20 years, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to step away for a year and to see what else is out there,” head coach J Robinson said. “I think it’s important for people to see different opportunities that life has to offer from a different perspective and a year away from the program can provide that perspective for Marty. He will be obviously missed this year with the way we do things, but we look forward to working with him in the future.”  The Gopher wrestling program, which boasts one of the nation’s highest-rated recruiting classes again this year, begins its 2008-09 season with the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D. on Nov. 15. Minnesota’s first home wrestling event comes when the Gophers host fellow perennial national power Oklahoma State in a New Year’s Day dual at the Sports Pavilion.    Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/537-marty-morgan-steps-down-from-u-wrestling-post Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:16:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/525-mike-zadick-t-shirts Support Mike Zadick by purchasing his T-Shirt at http://www.chasetony.com/zadick/?page_id=20  FILA adds U.S. wrestler Mike Zadick to the Olympic Games field at 60 kg in men’s freestyle wrestling BEIJING, China - USA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States, has been notified by the international wrestling federation FILA that U.S. wrestler Mike Zadick (Solon, Iowa/Gator WC) has been added to the field at 60 kg (132 lbs.) in men’s freestyle wrestling at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.The United States had not qualified to participate in the Olympic Games at 60 kg during the qualification process prior to the Beijing Olympics.USA Wrestling made a formal request to FILA to add Zadick to the Olympic Games field at 60 kg when it was learned that the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation withdrew its entry from the Olympics at that weight division due to injury.The FILA Bureau, the governing council for international wrestling, met on Sunday to discuss the request and came to its decision at that time. Zadick was a 2006 World silver medalist and member of the 2007 U.S. World Team. He won the 60 kg division at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June to earn the No. 1 spot on Team USA in his weight class.“It was determined that Mike Zadick was an Olympic eligible athlete, who has been in serious training if this opportunity became available,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are excited for him and have confidence in his ability to perform well at the Olympic Games.”Zadick will weigh in on Monday, August 18 and will compete on Tuesday, August 19.“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to wrestle in the Olympic Games,” Zadick said. “I never stopped believing it would happen. I want to thank USA Wrestling and (USA Wrestling Executive Director) Rich Bender for making this happen. I’m looking forward to having an opportunity to wrestle in the Olympics and bringing home a gold medal.” Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/525-mike-zadick-t-shirts Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:33:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/501-spencer-mango-t-shirts Help send Spencer Mango's family get to Beijing by purchasing the Spencer Mango T-Shirt.  Spencer Mango is the United States 55kg representative in Greco-Roman Wrestling.  The St. Louis Sensation is looking to score a gold in Beijing. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/501-spencer-mango-t-shirts Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:04:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/498-mark-branch-named-head-wrestling-coach-at-the-university-of-wyoming Article from http://wyomingathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/071408aab.html LARAMIE, Wyo. - University of Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman announced on Monday that Mark Branch has been selected as the new head wrestling coach at UW. Branch comes to Wyoming from Oklahoma State University where he was the Associate Head Wrestling Coach. He was a part of five NCAA team championships as a coach and student-athlete at OSU. As a college wrestler, Branch was a member of OSU's 1994 NCAA Championship team, and served on the coaching staff for OSU's 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 NCAA titles. He provided the Cowboys from Stillwater with personal and team instruction including technique training, weight training, conditioning and nutrition. He was instrumental in the recruiting of student-athletes to Stillwater, as well as organizing fundraising projects, promotional strategies and assisting in public relation functions with student-athletes. Branch replaces Steven Suder, who coached the Wyoming Cowboys from 1989-2008. "The hiring of Mark is exciting for the future of Wyoming Cowboy wrestling," Burman said. "We feel his experience and passion will enable us to become a national player in the wrestling community." "For me, this is the realization of my goal to become an NCAA head coach," said Branch. "I'm from a competitive background, and I was looking for a place where I could build a nationally-competitive program. I believe there is a great deal of support from the Athletic Department and the University as a whole at Wyoming. Wyoming is the right program for me and the right fit for me and my family. I appreciate the confidence that Tom Burman (UW Athletics Director) and Matt Whisenant (UW Senior Associate Athletics Director) have shown in me to get the job done." As a member of the OSU coaching staff, Branch was named the National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004. He helped coach OSU to seven Big XII Championships, four NCAA Championships and three Dual Team Championships. He was named the Associate Head Coach at OSU in 2002. He individually coached 31 All-Americans and nine NCAA Champions. Branch has been a freestyle wrestling coach for the Gator Club in New Orleans, La., since 1997 where he provides personal instruction and training in freestyle wrestling. His teams have participated at various World Team training camps. He has coached at the U.S. Nationals and World/Olympic Team Trials. As a student-athlete at OSU, Branch was a four-time NCAA All-American (1994-97), four-time NCAA National Finalist (1994-97), two-time NCAA National Champion at 167 pounds (1994 and '97) and a two-time National Freestyle All-American (1998 and '99). In 1997, he was named the Big XII Athlete of the Year, OSU Student-Athlete of the Year and the top graduating senior for OSU Wrestling. He was a four-time NWCA Academic All-American, received an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship Award and a Big XII Post-Graduate Scholarship Award. Branch earned his bachelor of science degree in secondary education from Oklahoma State in 1997 and earned his master of science degree in athletic administration from OSU in 2000. "I wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for the opportunities I was given at my alma mater, Oklahoma State," said Branch. "John Smith (Head Wrestling Coach at Oklahoma State) gave me the opportunity to learn from him. I consider him to be the greatest coach in college wrestling. I was fortunate to be a part of the greatest program in college wrestling as a student-athlete and assistant coach with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, now I'm excited to build on the great tradition of Wyoming Cowboy wrestling." A native of Newkirk, Okla., he and his wife Susan have a daughter, Maggie Belle, and a son, Mason Layne.    Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/498-mark-branch-named-head-wrestling-coach-at-the-university-of-wyoming Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:57:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/474-cejudo-t-shirts Henry Cejudo made his first Olympic Team at 55kg for Freestyle. In doing so he is the youngest member of the Freestyle team. Help his family go out to Beijing to watch him wrestle! His t-shirts are for sale so buy one and think about going to Beijing and supporting him in person. Visit Teamcejudo.com to buy the Shirts.   Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/474-cejudo-t-shirts Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:22:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/443-silent-h-t-shirts In probably the most exciting match of the Olympic trials Silent H aka Andy Hrovat went on to win in 3 matches for dramatic fashion. He carried over that dramatic fashion to his shirt line where you can purchase any one of or all of his line of shirts. Silent H  a true American hero!Congrats to Andy Hrovat and all of our wrestling olympians.   Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/443-silent-h-t-shirts Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:30:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/436-askrens-t-shirts-available Olympian Ben Askren To Sell “Chin in China” T-Shirts …Help Support Askren in His Quest for Olympic Gold… Columbia, Mo. –The now notorious “Putting the Chin in China” t-shirts adorned by Ben Askren fans at the Olympic Trials are available for sale through www.wrestling-central.com.  T-shirts are $19.95 plus shipping and handling, with proceeds going toward Askren’s journey to Beijing, China for his first Olympic gold medal.  “I’m really thrilled by the response I’ve gotten about the shirts,” Askren said.  “We made the ‘Funky’ t-shirts when I was college and those were a huge success.  I knew I wanted to make another shirt as I began my training for the Olympics, and this just seemed like an appropriate theme.” Askren supporters wore the black t-shirts that feature the 74 kg wrestler’s recognizable profile throughout the Olympic Trials.  “I just want to thank everyone for all of the support they’ve given me,” Askren said.  “It’s a great feeling knowing that I have so many fans cheering me on as I train for my first Olympic appearance.”  Askren is one of six wrestlers that will represent Team USA in the Freestyle competition beginning Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the China Agriculture University Gymnasium.  A two-time National Champion at Missouri, Askren is the first Tiger graduate to earn an Olympic berth in the sport of wrestling.      Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/436-askrens-t-shirts-available Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:44:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/403-asu-reinstates-wrestling-program-as-21st-varsity-sport ASU Reinstates Wrestling Program As 21st Varsity Sport The Sun Devils will compete fully in 2008-09 May 23, 2008 TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State University Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love announced Friday that the athletic department is fully reinstating the sport of varsity wrestling, effective immediately, due to financial support from local civic leadership. The reinstatement of wrestling gives ASU 21 sports in its varsity athletic program. "It is with great pleasure that I announce the reinstatement of the varsity sport of wrestling at ASU," says Love. "The wrestling community, both locally and nationally, accepted this as a challenge to do something wonderful for the sport. ASU is forever grateful for that passion and unwavering support. Something special is happening on our campus thanks to civic leadership that cares deeply about ASU wrestling." "Lisa Love and the proud supporters of wrestling have breathed life back into the Sun Devil wrestling program and we are very grateful for their, and everyone else's, support," Head Coach Thom Ortiz said. "We need to continue to build our fundraising efforts to remain a top and competitive program. This show of support will catapult Sun Devil wrestling into the future. Lisa Love was once a head coach and has always looked out for the best interest of her athletes and she did so with our wrestlers. This show of support is big not only for ASU, but for the sport of wrestling as well." ASU had announced on May 13, 2008 that it was discontinuing the sport of wrestling due to the rising cost of operating a 22-sport varsity program. It was determined at that time that sponsoring a 20-sport program would better fit ASU¹s athletic financial profile. Love indicated at the time that if the wrestling community were able to raise enough financial support the sport could be reinstated. That commitment is there and the sport will continue at Arizona State. Love said that fundraising for the sport of wrestling will be an ongoing process. The objective is not just to sponsor wrestling as a varsity sport, but to position the sport as one of the top programs in the country. The Sun Devil wrestling team is a member of the Pacific-10 Conference. For more information regarding giving to assist the Sun Devil varsity sports programs, visit www.sundevilclub.com Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/403-asu-reinstates-wrestling-program-as-21st-varsity-sport Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/393-kerry-mccoy-named-marylands-head-coach COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Director of athletics Deborah A. Yow announced May 12 that Kerry McCoy has been named the head coach for the University of Maryland wrestling program. In three seasons as head coach at Stanford, McCoy transformed the Cardinal into a national contender after inheriting a team that went 6-8-1 in 2004-05. “I am very fortunate to join such a great program,” McCoy said. “The opportunity to be closer to our family and having a chance to compete for a national championship is very exciting. I want to thank Dr. Yow and everyone who was involved with this process for supporting me and more importantly for supporting the sport of wrestling.” McCoy led the Cardinal to a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Championships this past season which was the second-best finish in program history. Stanford went 13-4 with a 6-3 mark in the Pac-10 while finishing second in the conference championships, its best showing ever. Stanford sent five wrestlers to nationals in St. Louis for the second straight season, which was also the most in team history. “Kerry McCoy is the right coach for Maryland at the right time,” Yow said. “He will achieve as a coach what he achieved as an athlete - elite status as a program and eventually, the possibility of winning the national championship.” McCoy made an immediate impact in his first season as Stanford went 8-7 in 2005-06 and improved its showing at the Pac-10 Championships by two places. He guided two wrestlers to the NCAA Championships that season and mentored Tanner Gardner to All-America accolades. In 2006-07, McCoy continued to steadily improve the program, as the Cardinal went 8-8 during the season and performed even better than the year before in the conference championships, finishing sixth. Five wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships which was a program record, and two wrestlers, Gardner and Josh Zupancic, became the first Stanford duo to earn All-America honors in the same season since 1967. In addition, Zack Giesen was tabbed the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year. Prior to his time at Stanford, McCoy spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Lehigh where he mentored 14 All-Americans and a pair of NCAA Champions. He helped the Mountain Hawks to four EIWA titles and led Jon Trenge to a school-record 133 wins in his career at 197 pounds. Trenge was a three-time All-American. During his time at Lehigh, McCoy shared the sidelines with former Maryland head coach Pat Santoro, who was also on the staff at Penn State when McCoy was a wrestler. "I have been very fortunate to know Kerry as an athlete and coach over the past 15 years, and we have become very close,” Santoro said. “Kerry is a great fit for this team and will help take them to the next level. I am excited for Kerry and his family to have this opportunity at Maryland to reach their professional goals. Personally, our family is excited to have him back on the east coast." While at Lehigh, McCoy also served as the director of wrestling and head coach of the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club where he was responsible for conducting clinics in the local area, promoting the sport of wrestling, and fundraising. McCoy serves on the USA Wrestling Athlete Advisory Committee as well as the USAW Executive Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, and has been a U.S. Freestyle World Team coach for two seasons. McCoy also had a stint as an assistant coach at Penn State for three seasons, where he helped the Nittany Lions to a pair of fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships and guided 10 All-Americans and two national champions. McCoy spent his collegiate wrestling career with the Nittany Lions and posted a record of 150-18 in his four seasons. He captured a pair of NCAA Championships in 1994 and 1997 and won three Big Ten titles. After going 19-17 in his first 36 matches at Penn State, McCoy lost just once in his final 132 with an 88-match winning streak. A three-time All-American, McCoy was named the Penn State Athlete of the Year and the Nittany Lions’ Wrestler of the Year in 1994 and 1997 while being tabbed the 1997 Hodge Award winner as W.I.N. Magazine’s Wrestler of the Year. He earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1997. McCoy was also a two-time Olympian for the United States and took fifth place at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and seventh in 2004 in Athens. McCoy also won five straight U.S. National Freestyle Wrestling Championships from 2000 to 2004. McCoy has been a member of the United States National Team nine times and earned a silver medal in 2003 at the World Championships. In August 2003, McCoy won a gold medal at the Pan-Am Games and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. McCoy and his wife, Abbie, are expecting their first child in July. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/393-kerry-mccoy-named-marylands-head-coach Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/375-managerial-perspectives-of-coaching-wrestling Chris Vondruska 3/6/08 Managerial Perspectives of Coaching Wrestling
 Introduction What are the key ingredients to a thriving organization? Is it the capital required to start them? Is it the facilities in which they operate? Or is it the equipment used everyday? Both my research in sport studies and my experience in the sport of wrestling have allowed me to understand how useless these material resources would be without the sufficient human resources. In a business setting human resources are made up of employees and their managers; business can only use these material resources (capital, facilities, and equipment) with their employees and managers who convert them into wealth.1 In a sport setting (such as wrestling) the human resources are the athletes and coaches; these coaches resemble managers in the sense that their major function is to manage their athletes. In most organizations sports or not, human resources are a unique resource and are all that matter because it is the people that make the organizations run. Without the athletes and coaches, the facilities and equipment would be useless. Furthermore, with athletes and coaches that lack the characteristics required for such positions, the activity would go nowhere. Former head football coach at The Ohio State University, Woody Hayes, was fond of the saying “you win with people”. Perhaps he was speaking accurately to say so, in the case of The Ohio State football program’s support, which not only includes players and coaches, but fans as well. However, in my experiences and studies in the sport of wrestling, not only do you need people, but you need the right people. Everyone with direct influence to the organization should be on the same page and have similar goals with that of the organizational leader. In the summer of 2006, newly hired head wrestling coach at The Ohio State University, Tom Ryan, found himself in need of the “right” people to achieve a goal, to transform a good team into a great one. He began with forming a staff of qualified coaches. Five coaches were injected into the program, all varying in weight in order to facilitate the athletes’ training. Perhaps more importantly, those chosen were similar in the sense that they all expressed great interest in Ohio State wrestling, as well have proven their dedication to the sport through previous coaching experience. Coach Ryan then notified all returning and incoming wrestlers of the staff changes and sent all student-athletes the book, From Good to Great, by Jim Collins. The Author, Jim Collins is a student and teacher of great enduring companies as noted in his biography.2 His primary studies in the book are how good organizations thrive and eventually grow into the great ones that remain in their respective industries. The message that Tom Ryan was attempting to transfer to the team was that “Ohio State wrestling, just like some of the major fortune 500 companies, is a business, only on a much smaller scale, but not a less important scale.”3 He thought the book would give all members of the team a good idea of what to expect from the coaching staff while trying to motivate the wrestlers for the upcoming season. The coaching staff assembled by Ryan expected a maintained greatness from all the human resources surrounding the program. Coaches and athletes involved with wrestling can gain valuable insights from the literature in human resource practices. Coach Ryan recognized early on that while all the amenities of his new job were nice, it would not make the team great. Only the right people can make any organization great. In this paper I will relate the sport of wrestling to human resources. The sections are divided similarly to the works of P. Chelladurai (2006) in direct relation to the sport of wrestling. These insights I give are not meant to be taken as scientific research, but merely advice from my research of human resources in direct relation to the sport of wrestling. Values The term value in a sport’s setting in general refers to a belief of what ought to be (e.g. there should be no emphasis on winning in sport). These values however will greatly influence the long-term goals and decisions made by the individual.4 Wrestling is not unique in the sense that the sport holds similar values of all other sports in the United States, including: success, competition, continual striving, deferred gratification, and perhaps most important hard work.5 Hard work is the value that is stressed, and has been ingrained in aspiring wrestler’s minds, most notably present in former University of Iowa head coach Dan Gable’s coaching philosophy.6 Perhaps the most common value in sport is success. But what is success? And how does one come about achieving such success? Success in my opinion is achieving the goals set forth by the individual, so much so that the individual receives an intrinsic reward or satisfaction directly from the activity. Wrestlers are encouraged to set goals early on in their careers, often which require some type of plan of action for achieving these goals. In general athletes trying to improve at a sport and move up in various class levels recognize that more time and work at the sport will be required. The definition of hard work differs from sport to sport as well as business to business; however it is common in the sense that it requires feats greater than the competition. In wrestling, competition could be anyone training in the sport at the same weight class; therefore it is difficult to know exactly what the competition is doing at all times. Hence in wrestling, it is more effective to focus on individual training rather than the competition. Dan Gable embodied the value of hard work so much so that he formed it into an attitude. His attitude was that there was no way he was going to lose, nor have his athletes lose from lack of effort in training. Therefore he trained 7 hours each day during his years of competition, and presumed that no other athlete could train as hard as him, and that he would outwork his opponents throughout every position of every match. He set goals for himself that were attainable only by constantly training everyday, and he was successful in attaining his goals by winning the Olympics and dominating everyone in his weight class.7 Coaches such as Gable encourage wrestlers to have terminal (societal vs. personal) and instrumental (moral vs. competence) values8, and then to prioritize these values throughout their careers. Terminal values in wrestling can be organized into personal values and team values. Personally, wrestlers value winning their matches; beyond winning individually; they also value the team victory during dual meets and tournaments. Although wrestling is an individual sport, the team aspect promotes group encouragement and internal competition which allows the athletes to individually strive to excel in the sport. If wrestlers only valued what was important to them, they perhaps would not get as far as they are potentially able to. For example if an athlete has a minor injury he may not compete in practice to allow time to heal, however he may think of helping their team and wrestle with the injury, continue training, ultimately helping himself and the team get better. Instrumental values in wrestling can be organized into practice and competitions. In practice everyone must be held accountable for their training. Therefore, if people are slacking on the team, they must be called out and redirected for the team to function properly. In this situation they can be called out by a coach or a team member, both of which should aid in the productivity of the athlete. As far as competitions, everyone is expected to compete to the best of their abilities every time they step on to an athletic field, which carries over to all sports. This alignment of ability is crucial and if they are not aligned mental training needs to be implemented. Ultimately, commitment and sacrifices are put into athletics for a reason, to show your ability at competitions and do your best. The values in sport carry over to abilities when improvements in practice and competitions are the goals of the individual. Abilities Wrestling is a sport which requires open psychomotor abilities which are learned and improved by engaging in the activity.9 In my opinion, wrestling is designed for athletes who lack size or certain abilities. Ball sports such as baseball, basketball, and football all require hand-eye coordination, which I argue are prerequisites of certain sports that some people simply have difficulty with. Wrestling does not require this feature, which may lead to interest in the sport of wrestling when lacking this ability. On the other hand wrestling does have similar psychomotor characteristics which coincide with these “ball” sports, like explosive strength and reaction time, although not easily transferred from sport to sport due to position differences. Wrestling is unique in the sense that a functional team must have athletes on it that vary in weight. In high school the range is from 103 pounds to 285 pounds, a range which encompasses most high school males. In sports like basketball and football, coaches are often looking for a certain height and weight of individuals as a prerequisite to their abilities. In wrestling the coaches can go straight to looking at the abilities in three basic categories: muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and movement quality. It is standard for a wrestler to lack all of these qualities in the beginning stages of their careers. This makes the coach’s job a little more difficult, but at the same time more rewarding when they are able to successfully shape a young person with very low abilities into one with abilities in all three areas. Coaches will train their wrestlers muscularly by weight training and utilize balance exercises for muscle endurance, both of which will make the athlete stronger. Cardiovascular endurance is tested every day in the gruesome practice room as well as preseason runs to get in shape. Movement quality is perhaps the most difficult acquired ability, but ideally is taken care of within the first month of practice by teaching basic drills in all positions of wrestling. While this can be acquired in a quick amount of time this quality continues to improve over years of experience. Wrestling is an excellent example for those taking the behavioralist point of view10 in issues over ability because it is a sport that no matter how inherently gifted a person is it will not make up for the rigorous practice and training required in wrestling. Preferred prerequisites in the sport include: total body quickness, strength, power for explosive movements, agility (rapid changes in body position), flexibility, coordination, and cardiovascular training.11 A person can be gifted in the sense that they are big and strong; however in wrestling the person will have no real advantage because their opponents will generally weigh the same as them. The sport is about mastering the three psychomotor abilities, and the only way to do that is from constantly practicing and training in those areas. In the end because of the physical nature of the sport wrestling will never attract as many athletes as other sports; nevertheless exceptional athletes now compete as wrestlers and more are on the way.12 Leadership Leadership is a characteristic desired by colleges as well as businesses when accepting applicants. The sport of wrestling demands leadership qualities from both the coach and the individual athletes. Coaches operate under the dimensions of leader behavior in sport13, while athletes operate under dimensions stemming from leading by example. Leaders are molded from the highest character and are generally the hardest workers on the team. They’re the first to come to practice and the last ones to leave. During practice, they lead by example with their mouths closed, concentrating hard. They understand the team’s goals so they know what has to be done. They realize that practice is precious preparation time for the real thing – the game.14 Wrestling coaches at any level need all dimensions of leader behavior in sports to be successful (training and instruction, social support, positive feedback, democratic behavior, and autocratic behavior).15 The importance of training is stressed by coaches to give the wrestlers a mindset throughout the season. It is crucial for the athletes to know what exactly is expected of them and what being a part of their wrestling program entails. Coaches may come across individual issues within the team which a coach must deal with, thus having social support. Coaches must also have a balance between autocratic and democratic behavior in the practice room for the wrestlers. Constantly having a coach run practice the same day in and day out may lead to burning out the wrestlers or boring them, which can yield disengaged athletes on the team, some of which may quit. At the same time having no structure to daily workouts can lead to wrestlers being out of shape and having low skill levels, which most likely will yield many losses. From my experiences in wrestling I see that coaches will often recognize that different parts of the season will have different levels of coach involvement during practice. At the beginning of the season coaches need to set up the training regimen, and most likely stress instruction as well as conditioning for the athletes. During the season coaches may recognize athletes getting worn out from lack of independence in training, which the coach may respond by having semi-structured practices or periodic practices without structure, both of which the coaches will watch and evaluate the wrestlers. The end of the season is usually most important with the eve of conference, state, and national championships nearing; here coaches will use autocratic behavior because for the most part they know how to properly prepare their athletes for these competitions. Throughout the season autocratic behavior is important for coaches to have, but it is equally important for the athletes to have autocratic behavior in their independent training sessions. Wrestlers may or may not be leaders of a team depending on their individual dedication and attitude toward the sport. The training regimen expected by the coaches is strictly a minimum in wrestling. A successful coach will properly prepare their wrestlers to compete at their current level. However, a successful athlete must go beyond the coach’s training and induce an autocratic behavior outside of normal practice time to ensure success. This is demonstrated by morning or late night workouts not scheduled by the coaches. A leader in wrestling is one who outworks his opponents; the only way to do so is by putting in more work prior to competitions. A leader cannot emerge from those simply following the coach’s order. Along with immense dedication to training an athlete must also obtain a positive attitude which can be transferred to the rest of the team. This attitude must also motivate others to train harder yielding more athletes to go beyond the coaches expectations. The wrestler will often do this by setting forth goals throughout the season congruent with the teams’ goals. With these values of leadership in high school and college, these young wrestlers will be prepared for life after college and be able to obtain jobs with the leadership qualities ingrained in their systems. Motivation “Motivation is the driving force behind great achievements in wrestling, sports, academics, professional careers, or any pursuit where work is required”.16 With the choices of raw talent and self-motivation, coaches in any sport would choose the athlete who is self-motivated to put in the work, get the job done, and maximize his or her talents. Motivations in wrestling differ from person to person; however, most successful wrestlers have similar motivations which are crucial to the sport. One of these motivations is performance, a general desire to perform with intrinsic rewards in mind. Wrestlers with extrinsic rewards in mind (medal, trophy, or media attention) “lack the drive to do what’s necessary to develop the skills and conditioning that’s required to win on a consistent basis.”17 In the case of wrestling and nearly all amateur sports, the intrinsic rewards are generally more satisfying and more prevalent than extrinsic rewards. A wrestler should recognize the only way to receive these rewards is in competition, and the higher level of the opponent the higher level of reward. An obvious way to achieve an intrinsic reward (those rewards satisfying a person internally) is by winning and a great way to better the chances of winning comes from the effort put in during practice time. Great effort comes from constant practice and could lead to many wins, but wins are not guaranteed simply from effort. The effort will be connected to the reward more frequently when the performance is the display of the absolute best efforts. Win or lose, if an athlete competes at his/her best the intrinsic reward should be present. If an athlete’s efforts are not congruent to the performance on days of competition, he/she will need to focus training mentally with the coaches and develop a positive attitude to overcome the pressures of competition. Why do amateur athletes (like wrestlers) compete at such a high level with no extrinsic rewards in sight? The primary reason I see is the motivation for intrinsic rewards outweighs that of the extrinsic rewards in the sport. The only extrinsic rewards that I see coming from wrestling are scholarships to compete in college or some type of medal or trophy which comes from individual events, all of which are rewards that could possibly motivate athletes. Clearly the scholarship is more valuable. Still, if it is the only reward in mind, the success of the individual will be very limited because the lack of intrinsic motivation. In the other case, perhaps a trophy or a gold medal means something, but without the tangible received from the event the athlete is the same person, and should feel the same sense of accomplishment. Unquestionably it is the intrinsic rewards coming from performance in the activity that motivate wrestlers and amateur athletes. When a match is completed in wrestling the referee claims one person the winner of the match signified by raising their hand; for most this is the best part of the match and a key intrinsic reward for wrestlers. An athlete not getting his/her hand raised at the end of a match receives almost no intrinsic reward. The fact that some wrestlers learn from their mistakes when they lose could lead to more intrinsic rewards, thus gaining from the defeat. A wrestler has various options of action when dealing with a loss; the effort can be increased, decreased, or remain the same. Obviously the effort should be increased when incurring a loss. First, however, the athlete must admit their fault and go to work on ways to prevent similar mistakes. Increasing the effort could mean various actions which boil down to muscular training, cardiovascular training, movement training, or even mental training when performance and effort do not coincide. An athlete could decide that wrestling is not the sport they want to pursue and quit, thus decreasing efforts all together. This is sad and often a problem in the lower levels of the sport as young athletes cannot properly cope with a loss, because the only person to blame is themselves. On a positive note, athletes can learn how to handle wins and losses from the sport of wrestling. An athlete that has no desire to improve in the sport could simply remain training at the same level because they are satisfied with their performance. A person could argue that time constraints may prohibit a person from increasing their training; however the increased effort does not always have to mean increased time. A person could vary their training to include more weight training when they are outsized by many of their opponents, while decreasing their movement training when the skills are where they need to be. The level of intensity could also be increased which would make the effort more efficient and eventually effect the performance. Generally all of these training variations would be the coaches’ obligations to help the wrestler improve. Satisfaction Satisfaction in the sport of wrestling is different depending on the level of competitiveness. Noticeably as one moves up in skill or age levels, the more satisfaction is related to winning. I recognize that the facets of satisfaction are important to all people involved with the program rather than just the individual. The coaches’ satisfaction is directly effected by the athletes’ satisfaction, both in training as well as competition. In individual sports such as wrestling, a unique factor is that the athlete has almost complete control over the performance, with the right training, effort, and general abilities. There is no teammate to blame when a wrestler comes off the mat, with the possible caveat that the teammate could have pushed them harder in the practice room. Nor can an individual blame a coach that has done their job in preparation for competition; again the exception may be that a coach could have done a better job in the training process. The individual is ultimately in control of the situation and the only person to blame is himself/herself. Therefore the individual satisfaction of a wrestler depends upon only the athlete themself. A win may lead to great satisfaction, while at the same time it may lead to little satisfaction as mistakes were most likely made. In the case of a loss the athlete may feel extreme dissatisfaction. On the contrary, perhaps an athlete did the best possible with the training available and is satisfied with the performance thus eventually motivating the individual to continue to improve in the sport. At the beginning of his freshman year in college, Dan Gable experienced this extreme dissatisfaction while training with Bob Buzzard, an already experienced college wrestler at the time. On their final day of summer training, Buzzard wanted to prove that Gable still had a ways to go in order to be successful. This training session most likely stayed in Gables mind for some time, because it drove him to much success and satisfaction. After Buzzard finished with Gable that night, Dan fell to the mat crying tears of anger. Right then Gable recalls, “I vowed I wouldn’t ever let anyone destroy me again. I was going to work at it everyday, so hard that I would be the toughest guy in the world. By the end of practice, I wanted to be physically tired, to know that I’d been through a workout. If I wasn’t tired, I must have cheated somehow, so I stayed a little longer.18 Wrestling coaches witness their athletes daily in training as well as competition, and satisfaction levels change according to their performance. Coaches recognize when their athletes are ready for practice and come with the mindset of becoming a better wrestler, leading to satisfaction within the coaching staff. When coaches have unmotivated athletes who go through the motions on a daily basis the coach can be left with dissatisfaction and possibly looking to coach another team. During competitions the coaches generally have expectations of each wrestler which can be obtained by the athletes on the team. When the expectations are barely met or not achieved the level of satisfaction is relatively low for the coaches as they expect their wrestlers to compete at a higher level than they train. Athletes outperforming the expectations of the coaches will have satisfaction and cause satisfaction for the coaches alike for the success and improvement of the individual. Commitment Commitment is yet another feature in the sport of wrestling and is a category required for the success of the individual as well as the future of the sport. As more and more wrestlers start at a young age, each year improving in the sport, they develop a commitment to the sport which can be caused by various factors. An athlete can be generally happy with the outcomes of the sport and have an affective commitment that last throughout their time as a competitor. A wrestler can have no emotional attachment, but have a sense of duty or obligation to continue on the sport for the good of the team or even themselves. Yet time after time wrestlers feel the sense of being locked into the sport of wrestling because it often leaves little time for other activities, making them continuance committed. Only when a person aligns himself/herself with the teams’ mission and goals are they considered to be normatively committed.19 The three bases of commitment as previously stated are: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. When an individual feels attached to an organization by feelings of pleasure, loyalty, and warmth they are affectively committed to the organization. A person’s commitment may also be based on continuance in an activity; if a person has put a lot of personal sacrifice and time, they often look to continue with the commitment because of the lack of opportunity to change (continuance commitment). The third component of organizational commitment is normative commitment; here a person is attached to the goals, values, and the mission of the organization. This differs from continuance commitment in the sense that it does not necessarily fluctuate with personal calculation of inducements or sunk costs.20 Personally my wrestling career has had points of affective commitment, continuance commitment, as well as normative commitment.21 When I started in the sport improving at a very high rate at a young age I was generally happy and had an affective commitment for the sport. As I began to get burned out in the sport before high school I felt a sense of obligation to continue with the sport to help the team (normative commitment). Starting off in high school, at a very competitive school, not making the starting line-up left me unmotivated; but I felt trapped in the sport as I was continuance committed. My commitment soon changed after my first year of high school back to affective commitment as I again became emotionally attached with the sport. College wrestling was a big jump for me and as I struggled to start my first year, I felt obligated to stay with the sport since I was on scholarship (continuance committed). Finally in 2006 as I graduated from Hofstra University my commitment level to competition in the sport fell, and decided to continue with the sport as a coach to help the sport grow (continuance committed). With the new opportunity at my feet to complete my last year of eligibility at The Ohio State University I decided to be whole heartedly committed to the sport to take advantage of the opportunity that has recently expired. The commitment level for all involved with a program searching for greatness should be normatively committed to that program. Conclusion Needless to say there are many other aspects of human resources which need to be examined in the sport of wrestling. The categories of values, abilities, leadership, motivation, satisfaction, and commitment all have one central feature in common: they all stress the idea of hard work. Hard work is a value; hard work is required to master athletic abilities; hard work is a characteristic of leaders; hard work is directly stemmed from motivated individuals; hard work yields success; and hard work demands time and commitment. The athletes and coaches that stress and put in the hard work are the ones who win, it’s that simple. It is not the coach with the biggest office who obtains success, nor is it the individual or team with the largest facilities. Jim Collins, Dan Gable, and Tom Ryan would all agree that human resources are the backbone to great organizations. Collins has served as a teacher to hundreds of CEO’s of corporations and understands the value of a marquee employee, but does not mention the need for machines in any of his texts. Gable gives a brief outlay of his wrestling room in Coaching Wrestling Successfully, but does not credit any of his success to it. Ryan is proof that greatness does not come from material resources, having success at two schools with drastic budget differences. Clearly in sport or business, only the combination of the right human resources will make an organization function successfully. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/375-managerial-perspectives-of-coaching-wrestling Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/367-pat-santoro-named-new-coach-at-lehigh BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh University has named Pat Santoro its new Lawrence E. White ‘64 Head Coach of Wrestling, Goodman Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett ’76 announced Tuesday. Santoro, who becomes just the eighth head coach in the 99-year history of Lehigh wrestling, replaces Greg Strobel who will be making the transition into an administrative leadership role within the Lehigh Athletics Department. This announcement marks the return to Lehigh for Santoro, a Bethlehem native who spent nine seasons at Lehigh as an assistant coach. “Greg Strobel was ready for a new assignment outside of coaching and he is very well skilled and suited for working with our camps program and in our athletics alumni relations and fund raising areas,” said Sterrett. “Pat Santoro was an outstanding assistant coach at Lehigh for nine years, and has done a magnificent job in developing the Maryland program. He will bring a deep affection for the institution, the educational values we prioritize, and the ability to make the transition seamless.” Santoro returns to Lehigh after spending the last five years as the head coach at the University of Maryland where he helped resurrect the Terrapins program, which in 2008 captured its first ACC title in 35 years; a feat which earned Santoro ACC Coach of the Year honors. This past season the Terps went 16-4 and entered the national rankings for the first time since 1993, climbing as high as No. 21. Under Santoro’s guidance, Maryland crowned its first All-American since 1997 en route to a top-25 team finish at the NCAA Championships. Santoro posted a 48-41-1 record in five seasons at College Park, including an impressive 33-9 dual mark the last two years. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be the new head coach at Lehigh University,” said Santoro. “Lehigh is a program with a strong and rich tradition of wrestling, and terrific support from the alumni, fans and the community. Lehigh wrestling has been a part of my family for a long time. I grew up around the program and its great tradition, and I’m looking forward to coming back home and trying to continue the great history and tradition of Lehigh wrestling.” Prior to his stint at Maryland Santoro served as an assistant at Lehigh for nine years, including eight seasons as the top assistant on Greg Strobel’s staff. During his initial tenure, Santoro was part of some of the most successful teams in school history. In 2003, Santoro was named the national Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, after helping guide the Brown and White to its fourth EIWA title in five years, and a fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships, at the time the program’s best finish in 24 years. “I had a great experience in my first nine years at Lehigh, and Greg and I were together for eight of those years,” explained Santoro. “We became very close, and Greg helped me tremendously throughout the years, especially in my first few years at Maryland when I was trying to build the program. I’m very fortunate to have worked along side him.” Strobel’s transition into Lehigh’s athletic administration comes as part of a more comprehensive re-organization of Lehigh’s athletics leadership structure. In 13 seasons, Strobel amassed a career dual mark of 189-83-1 and led Lehigh to six EIWA championships including five consecutive titles from 2002-06. Strobel was named EIWA Coach of the Year four times, and was named National Coach of the Year by the NWCA after leading Lehigh to a third place finish at the 2004 NCAA Championships. His wrestlers captured 28 individual EIWA titles and totaled 30 All-America medals. Strobel coached two national champions, Rob Rohn in 2002 and Troy Letters in 2004. One of the most respected figures in American wrestling, Strobel also served as the U.S. Olympic head coach in 2000, and worked closely with a number of U.S. national freestyle teams. In his new role, Strobel will oversee Lehigh’s highly-successful summer camp program, while also taking on additional responsibilities in athletics fund raising and sport supervision. “I’m really excited,” said Strobel. “It’s a win-win for both me and Lehigh wrestling. I’ve wanted to move into administration for a while, and it just happened that the position I wanted opened up. It really is the perfect assignment for me, dealing with camps, and alumni and fund raising and I’m ready to move on.” Strobel then offered his thoughts on his successor, “I’m excited for Pat as well. He was an integral part of our program for my first eight years and for him to come back will be a tremendous thing for the program. We have a great group of student-athletes returning, and I think they will enjoy having Pat as their head coach. His coaching style is very similar to mine, so there should be a pretty seamless transition.” After wrestling for Bethlehem Catholic High School and taking a post-graduate year at Blair Academy, Santoro wrestled collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh, where he became the Panthers’ only four-time All-America while capturing national titles in 1988 and 1989 at 142 pounds. Santoro graduated from Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1992 and went on to enjoy a successful international career, becoming a four-time member of the U.S. National Team and serving as an alternate for the 1996 Olympic Team and the 1999 World Team. Santoro and his wife Julie have a daughter, Leah. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/367-pat-santoro-named-new-coach-at-lehigh Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/350-the-best-weekend-in-sports FloWrestling.org Picture By www.tech-fall.com Everybody always says that the NCAA Tournament is the culmination of the wrestling season. In a way, they’re right. But really, the NCAA Tournament IS the wrestling season. Essentially you need to find a way to punch a ticket, and whatever you do over the course of three days is going to determine how your year went. Because the stakes are so high, few weekends in any sport carry as much drama. You’re always a second away from glory or a second away from disaster. There are too many heroes to count, to many turning points to notice, too many warriors to recognize, and just too much good wrestling for me to feel like anything I write here can sufficiently sum up the weekend. But I’m going to take it a paragraph at a time and give it a shot. More than anything, the NCAA Tournament is about guts. If I had to pick out one snapshot from the entire weekend, it would have to be Dustin Fox, blood dripping from his face, nose mangled as all hell, with his arms triumphantly up in the air and a 1,000 kilowatt smile. It’s no secret that I’ve been rooting for Bergman all year, but Fox absolutely gutted this one out and found a way to get his hand raised. And hopefully somebody has a good shot of him right after he won, that’s what wrestling is all about. While we’re talking guts, J Jaggers provided us with the quote of the tournament. After a grisly scene in his finals match where he tore multiple ligaments in his ankles, Jaggers responded to the ESPN interviewer by saying “My ankle will heal eventually, but losing never would.” All night the ESPN announcers talked about how these are the toughest athletes in college sports and the pride of blue collar America, and J Jaggers backed them up. Incredible effort from one of my new favorite wrestlers. I’d like to thank all of the wrestlers that made me look like I know what I’m talking about. My mid season predictions worked out much better than I thought they would (although there were some clunkers, which I’ll get to in a second). I’d like to give special thanks to four guys for making me look much smarter than I am. I had a hunch that “J Jaggers is talented enough to make a finals run”, turns out he won the whole thing. I used my incredible Pennsylvania bias to pick Matt Kyler as my sleeper at 141 all year. He wrestled a fantastic tournament and was one of only a handful of unseeded wrestlers to place. He’s only going to accomplish bigger things. Hudson Taylor gets nowhere near the hype he deserves, but has helped put Maryland wrestling back on the map. No match is ever over when he’s wrestling, which is an attitude that could win him a national title. His matches with Josh Glenn and Craig Brester were incredible. The last one deserves its own paragraph. Turns out having Jordan Leen as a sleeper at 157 was a good idea. He gets my vote for Most Outstanding wrestler of the tournament. Talk about turning it on when it counts. Leen didn’t even win EIWAs last week, and now for the rest of his life he’ll be known as a National Champion. Although he had an illustrious prep career, Leen was almost an afterthought in a recruiting class that included Josh Arnone, Adam Frey, and the almighty Troy Nickerson. Three years later, Leen has one more National Title than all three combined. If everybody is healthy next season, Cornell could be scary good. To be fair, I also made plenty of picks that didn’t work out. In hindsight, referring to Mike Poeta as the Secretariat of the 157 pound weight class probably was over hyping him just a tad. As somebody who knows a hell of a lot more about wrestling than I do pointed out too me, he’s explosive as hell, but if you’re good enough to stop his first move, he’s not going to score. Taking Kenny Jordan and Chris Oliver as sleepers wasn’t exactly a good move. Actually, that wasn’t a good move at all, as Oliver needed to make the tournament before he made the waves that I expected him to.. Jake Strayer didn’t exactly make a “serious run”. Mike Letts would have been a nightmare quarterfinal match up for anybody…had he made quarterfinals. Jake Varner was not as untouchable as I thought, a season of 2-1 scores should have warned me. And Patrick Bond wasn’t exactly the sleeper I was hoping he would be at 197. Never in my life have I been so confident that somebody would win a match after being taken down twice in the first period. After Brent Metcalf’s second escape, all I could say was buckle up, because the pedal is about to be pressed to the floor. Sure enough, he wrestled the rest of the match like his singlet was on fire, destroying Bubba Jenkins in the process. The more I see him wrestler, the less human I think he is. Then all doubt goes out the window when I hear him speak. Tom Brands has completely brainwashed this poor kid into a killing machine. He wasn’t even remotely excited after winning his first National Title, just focused on the next time he’s going to wrestle. It takes a different mindset to succeed in this sport, and Metcalf has perfected it. The kids I feel the worst for are the wrestlers who have come so close to climbing the mountain the year before, then not getting a shot to redeem themselves. Josh Churella, Ryan Lang, and Craig Henning all deserved another shot at a title. I especially wanted to see Lang go out and win one after last year’s debacle. We all saw how happy Coleman Scott and Keith Gavin were after shaking their finals loss, it’s a shame that the other three will never get the shot to shake that weight. But it certainly is a part of sport. All three had fabulous careers, and have nothing to hang their head about. Look for Dustin Schlatter to come back loaded for bear. A week ago he was 10 seconds from beating Metcalf. Now he has an entire off-season to think about the disaster that was NCAAs. Personally, I’d love to be good enough where it was a disaster to finish 7th in the deepest weight class in recent memory, but Schlatter certainly is on that level. He takes needless crap from “fans”, and I would love to see him shut everybody up. By all accounts he’s a classy kid, he certainly is a phenomenal wrestler, and here’s hoping that next season he comes out like a man on fire and reminds everybody about the best true freshman we’ve ever seen. Show of the night goes to Coleman Scott. Single, cradle, celebrate. He looked like a five ton weight was lifted off his shoulders. I always wonder what that exact moment is like, when you’ve reached the pinnacle of your sport, and that instant you’ve dreamed of since you were a little kid finally comes true. I love celebrations because it gives us a glimpse into just how great that feeling is. Watch Scott celebrate, I couldn’t fend off an ear to ear grin. It’s one of the best parts about sports, the pure, unbridled joy of victory. Here’s to another great college wrestling season. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/350-the-best-weekend-in-sports Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/339-nobody-asked-me-butpennsylvania-aaa-states-edition Nobody Asked Me, But…Pennsylvania AAA States Edition Ian McCutcheon FloWrestling.org “Welcome to Hershey, Pennsylvania, the SWEETEST place on Earth!” Everybody in the Keystone State knows that this is the greeting before every session at the state tournament. States, as they are affectionately known, are far and away the best weekend in Pennsylvania High School sports. Although I couldn’t make the trek out to Hershey for any of the action, I was parked squarely in front of my TV on Saturday night to watch finals. The one thing I really missed was the electricity in the building. The best part of any sporting event, particularly wrestling, is the feeling in the stadium before a big match. My dorm room didn’t exactly have that effect. However, there was plenty to be commented on throughout the night. With that said, nobody asked me, but… -I don’t know why the Parade of Champions needs to be a tough guy contest. I couldn’t tell if the wrestlers were going to a State Finals match or prison. -Quentin Wright was the exception to that last rule. I think somebody told him that he just won Powerball. -With the advent of the State Duals Champion, the team scoring aspect of States is completely irrelevant. -Mark Rappo reminded me of Matt Kyler in 2005 in the 103 pound finals. He not only is a very solid wrestler, but an absolutely enormous 103 pounds. He’s a good get for Penn, but he has a lot of adjustment to make if he wants to wrestle 125 pounds. -He’s also about the 16th Rappo brother to win a state title. -Brightest future award goes to Zach Horan. Although he was clearly overmatched by Rappo in finals, he’ll be back plenty of times. I’d like to see him dominate in out of state competition a little more, but he had a fantastic rookie campaign. With that said however, papers here refer to him already as the next Jordan Oliver, and they should probably hold their horses. -Kenny Courts was sorely missed at states. Along with Chris Phillips, he’s the best freshman in the country, and should have set himself up to be Pennsylvania’s first four time state champ in a long time. Too bad an injury robbed us of seeing history. -It would have been interesting to see how Anthony Marino could shake up the 112 pound bracket. The extremely talented sophomore handled finalist Taylor Brown twice already this season, but tore his trap muscle in regionals and had to default out of the tournament. He’s a name to remember next season. -Does anybody realize that Shane Young hasn’t lost in two years? It certainly was a surprise to me. He’s a flat out stud with a year left to go. Probably the most underappreciated wrestler in Pennsylvania. -I couldn’t believe the talk all week that Kegan Handlovic was the most vulnerable defending champ. It took about 4 seconds for him to change everybody’s mind in finals with an awesome ankle pick off the whistle. He’s not flashy, but he’s a goer who is incredibly physical. Hard to think he was an afterthought when he moved to Easton before his sophomore year. Unfortunately, he’ll be the least appreciated multi-time state champ in Easton history, since he did it all in Jordan Oliver’s shadow. -Most surprising champ of the night was Cort Choate of Blue Mountain. We all knew 125 was wide open, but I didn’t envision Choate even sniffing finals. And in finals he did it the hard way, by riding out Chris Albright for the entire third period. One thing you can always find in Pennsylvania is good mat wrestling. -The camera guy falling down in the background as Choate was winning his state title was also priceless. -Celebrations on the whole were down this year. There was nobody doing round off back flips like Billy Spencer or my personal favorite, Gino Fortobono sprinting into the stands and hugging everybody he saw. Very subdued. -Jordan Oliver’s high school career could not have ended much weirder. Josh Kindig wrestles to keep it close (shots were about 35 to 3 in favor of JO), Oliver gets booed because of a controversial call, and was visibly upset after finals. If there’s one thing I wish from this year’s finals, it would be Jordan having a better send off. It would have helped if Kindig actually would have wrestled him. -Speaking of stall calls, they were all over the place tonight. Refs were super aggressive with them in some match, especially Shuster-Robinson, where they were banged 5 times, including the last one that basically decided the match for Shuster in overtime when Robinson was working a Merkel. For the record, I thought none of them were warranted. Meanwhile, Marshall Peppelman and Bryce Busler essentially do nothing for 6 minutes without either of them giving up points. -Busler lost that match because of his unwillingness to go underneath Peppelman. I don’t care how good Marshall is on top, if you want to win a state title, you have to be able to get out from bottom. -I would have loved to see Dylan Alton wrestle Colin Johnston. Johnston couldn’t win in overtime forever, and Adam Will made him pay for keeping scores so close. Although that was a fantastic upset, it let to a pretty anticlimactic final. -I had never seen Joey Napoli wrestle before Saturday night but man was I impressed. He is absolutely viscous on top and seemed to have Walt Peppelman all figured out. -Despite being outwrestled, Peppelman had a legitimate shot to at least take Napoli to overtime. I still can’t figure out why he didn’t cut him in the last 30 seconds and try to tie it with a take down. I know his tilt is lethal, but he didn’t have enough time to set it up and turn him. -Three years ago if you told me that both Colin Johnston and Walt Peppelman would only win one state title I would have called you crazy. Both have three trips to finals and only one gold medal to show for it. Tough pill to swallow. -Jake Kemerer is a house of a human being. There was nothing flashy about his win over Steve Bosak, he just bullied him. I was also impressed to learn that Kemerer had only given up one takedown the entire year. How haven’t I heard more about this kid? -How many other states would Ryan Kemmerer and Josh Dziewa not place in? -Performance of the night goes to Quentin Wright, despite the fact that Loffredo was pinned up until the ref slapped the mat, when he wiggled almost completely free. Wright looks like a basketball player trapped in a singlet, but he’s smooth as they come. He’s already shown it this year, but he could be the best college wrestler in this very impressive national class. -Joe Kennedy is what Lehigh needs badly. Tough wrestler that can actually take people down. Although I think he’s way too slender to wrestle 197 for the Hawks. -Incredible efforts from Jimmy Sheptock, Justin Haines, and Jason Dominick to lose in the first round and wrestle all the way back for third. I hope college coaches took notice of the guts each of those three kids showed. -When Jordan Enck decides he really wants to wrestle, he’s unstoppable. I thought he looked disinterested in last year’s state finals match, but clearly had his game face on this year. The Coleman Scott red-dyed hair might have helped. -For the first time in history, the most entertaining bout of the night was at heavyweight. -If I had to describe Evan Craig in one word it would be “butterball” -If I had to describe Evan Craig in three words they would be “incredibly skilled butterball”. He doesn’t look remotely like an athlete, but could end up one of the best heavyweights in Pennsylvania history. After one of the best scrambles of the night, he found himself down 5-0, but battled his way back into it before being taken down in the waning seconds to lose 9-7. This is a kid that will make waves. -Sean Owen is Clearfield’s 40th State Champion. Quite impressive. He’s also the first junior to win a state title at heavyweight in well over a decade. Luckily for the fans in Pennsylvania, both he and Craig will be back next year. For a state that churns out little guys, it’s nice to see a solid crop of dancing bears coming up. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/339-nobody-asked-me-butpennsylvania-aaa-states-edition Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/335-ncwa-womens-wrestling-division-making-an-impact Teams Prepare for First NCWA Women’s National Championship Dallas, Texas – March 6, 2008 --After announcing the addition of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Women’s Division this past summer, colleges from all over the United States and Canada are set to compete in the first ever National Championship to be held March 13-15 in Lakeland, Florida. Among the newly established NCWA programs is Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, which is known for its deep seeded tradition in Division I men’s wrestling. “I am hoping we set the stage for collegiate women, said Lock Haven’s Rachael Groft. Groft, who is currently ranked #5 at 112-pounds had quit wrestling two years ago and was convinced her post-high school wrestling career was finished due to lack of competitive opportunities. Groft was coaching a girls club team while working and attending community college near her hometown when she responded to an e-mail from Lock Haven’s Women’s Coach Terry Fike, who was spreading the word about the new Lady Eagles wrestling program. “Rachael mentioned that she attended Lock Haven University previously and had worked out with a member of the men’s team, but had no competitive opportunities,” said Fike. “I read between the lines in her e-mails, and I told her it sounded like she had some unfinished business to attend to, and apparently, she agreed.” Groft said she probably wouldn’t have returned to Lock Haven if not for the creation of the women’s team. “I would have probably completed my education at community college” she said. “Once I learned about the women’s program, I knew I’d also have an opportunity to compete.” The newly established Lady Eagle program follows in the steps of 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann, as well as nationally ranked and Olympic team contenders Jenny Wong, Erin Tomeo, and Jenna Pavlick, all of whom attended and trained at Lock Haven University in the past, without the benefit of a women’s program. Although this is a historical first year for the NCWA Women’s division, many of the programs and competitors are no stranger to an elite level of competition. Pacific University in Oregan has had their program established since 2001, and has produced some of the nations top ranked wrestlers including 2004 Olympic team member, Tela O’Donnell. Adding to the already elite level of United States women’s competition in this year’s championship will be two Canadian teams: Douglas College and Simon Fraser University. Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, established their women’s program in 1990 and is one of the oldest and most successful women’s programs in both the United States and Canada. Just last weekend, the team captured the Canadian University CIS National Championships held in Calgary. Among the Seven SFU National Championship team members set to compete at the NCWA National Championships are CIS National Champions Ashley McKilligan (105-lbs), Miranda Dick (121-lbs) Stacie Anaka (148 lbs) National Runner-ups Rita Pare (112 lbs) and Danette Torgeson (138 lbs) and third place place finisher Erin Church (158 lbs) Among the other colleges and universities set to attend this years championship event are: San Jose State (CA), Stony Brook University (NY), University of California-Santa Barbara, The University of Florida, and The University of Texas-Arlington. This year’s Championships are hosted by The University of Central Florida and will be held at The Lakeland Center’s George Jenkins Arena in Lakeland, Florida. The NCWA Men’s National Championship competition will begin at 10 am Thursday March 13 and the Women’s competition begins on Friday at 10 am. Both tournaments will run simultaneously together with both the men’s and women’s finals set for Saturday March 15th at 4 pm. Contact: Jim Giunta, Executive Director – National Collegiate Wrestling Association Phone: 214-378-8700 extension 107 Email: jim@ncwa.net Address: 13111 North Central Expressway, Fifth Floor, Dallas, Texas 75243 Web: www.ncwa.net Press Release written by: Tabitha Wilson, Women’s Director – National Collegiate Wrestling Association Phone: 412-309-0116 Email: Tabitha@wilsoncreativegroup.com Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/335-ncwa-womens-wrestling-division-making-an-impact Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/326-jamestown-college-womens-wrestling Jamestown College has announced the addition of a women’s varsity wresting program. The team will begin competing as a varsity sport for the 2008-09 season. Jamestown College, located in Jamestown, North Dakota is an independent four year college founded in 1883 by Presbyterian settlers. It is the only North Dakota college or university in 2008 to be names by US News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” as a top tier Midwest region baccalaureate college. Jamestown College is proud to announce that, Cisco Cole, head men’s wrestling coach, will also become the head coach of the women’s team. “I am extremely excited about coaching the new women’s wrestling team here at Jamestown College”, said Cole. “Women’s wrestling is one of the world’s fastest growing women’s sports. There are over 6,000 high school girls that wrestle, so being able to offer them an opportunity to continue wrestling at the college level just makes sense.” Jamestown College is ideally located near the center of several US and Canadian colleges and universities that offer women’s wrestling. “We believe that our location provides an excellent opportunity for Jamestown College to host national and international competitions right here on our campus”, says Athletic Director, Lawrie Paulson. Jamestown College enjoys a strong reputation for providing quality academic programs. Adding a women’s wrestling program that allows stude nt athletes the opportunity to compete on a national and international level demonstrates the college’s commitment to providing quality opportunities for our students to excel in and outside the classroom. For more information about the Jamestown College women’s wrestling program, please contact Coach Cole by e-mail or phone at ccole@jc.edu, or 701-252-3467 ext. 2457. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/326-jamestown-college-womens-wrestling Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/324-we-care-jeffrey FloWrestling.org The most pressing and important issue in college wrestling is not whether Iowa can regain its glory and win their first team title under the new regime, whether the NCAA changes the qualifier system to give smaller conference wrestlers a chance, or how liberally stalling rules are enforced. The most pressing and important issue in college wrestling now, and maybe ever, is what is happening at the University of Oregon. Everybody reading this probably knows the facts, so I’ll just give a Cliff Notes version. The past two years, the Oregon State Beavers have won the College World Series, bringing a boatload of attention to the school. While baseball is hardly a member of the ruling elite in college sports (and nobody will ever join basketball and football in these ranks), the College World Series is the third most high profile event of the year, and there is a serious price tag attached. It is fair to assume that the University of Oregon saw the success of their archrival and wants a piece of the pie. Oregon has not only picked up baseball, but is trying to put together the best program money can buy. They have built a state of the art facility and hired George Horton, one of the best coaches in the country, away from Cal State Fullerton. In addition to baseball, they are also picking up Competitive Cheerleading. Now I’m a college baseball player, and love to see more programs added, but Oregon has not gone about this the right way. Because as a balance for adding these two sports, the wrestling program is being cut. For more information, go to www.saveoregonwrestling.com. While this decision certainly is troubling for the future of wrestling, there are plenty of people way more qualified than me to teach you how to help. And there are plenty of people that care. A petition to save the program has gathered well over 7,000 signatures and the Save Oregon Wrestling drive has netted upwards of 2.3 million dollars, putting it on its way to a goal of 6.5 million which would endow the program (although the Oregon athletic department has made it clear that the money raised makes no difference, probably the first time that has happened in the history of college athletics). Despite a bleak outlook, there are very determined people who have gained a louder and louder voice to protect yet another wrestling program from being cut. This all brings me to last week’s debacle. Before February 19th, I doubt anybody outside of Eugene had ever heard of the Daily Emerald. I’m positive that nobody on the planet had ever heard of Jeffrey Dransfeldt. But anybody who has been on any wrestling related website or message board in the past week, Oregon’s little student newspaper and their sports editor are names that draw visceral reactions. The headline to Dransfeldt’s weekly column reads “Wrestling is being cut, but do you (or I) really care?”. Suddenly these very dedicated people were very angry people. Now I have no place to dispute the subject matter Dransfeldt chose. If he feels passionate about why Oregon should drop their wrestling program, then by all means he should be allowed to write a column about it. Part of journalism is writing things that won’t be popular. It’s your job. He certainly took a lightning rod opinion, but if he could logically back it up and give me concrete evidence as to why it would be so beneficial for the school to drop wrestling, then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. That’s what freedom of the press is all about. But he didn’t do that. Dransfeldt’s column is disturbing at best. Because he didn’t back his opinion up with facts about how the wrestling program is a budget drain to the University, or how he’s in favor of scaling back of athletics as a whole, or the program is scandal ridden and deserves to go, or Title IX is so out of whack at Oregon that unpopular decisions need to be made, or the potential for an Oregon baseball team is just too good to pass up. While I wouldn’t agree with any of these reasons, at least they would offer some sort of substance. There are no facts to back his opinion up. Instead he “will be the first to say sayonara” to the wrestling program for three reasons. First, nobody cares. Second, he broke his wrist wrestling in gym class when he was in junior high. Third, he likes to play pick up basketball. Are. You. Kidding. Me? Of course, we need to take Dransfeldt’s observations at face value because “Many students on campus likely share my opinion. Ask nearly any student what they think about wrestling, and the reply will border on ambivalence” which is essentially a convenient way of saying, “Nobody is actually going to read this, and I want to make this point, but I don’t want to do any research.” He doesn’t look for attendance records (such as maybe the 4,000 people that showed up for the NWCA All Star Classic or the close to 2,000 people at the Oregon-Oregon State dual last week), and doesn’t even have a quote from someone in his apparent army full of wrestling-apathetic students. His support for the lack of attendance at Oregon’s instead rests on the fact that he has not attended a wrestling match in his three years at Oregon. As the sports editor for the school paper, isn’t that more a statement to your level of commitment instead of a reason that wrestling at Oregon is a failure. Plus based on the “attendance is the driving force beyond college sports” logic, shouldn’t Oregon also be dropping their cross country (who by the way are the defending national champions), lacrosse, golf, tennis, and track teams? After all, I’ve never seen a student section anywhere sold out for a golf match. Anybody can see from a mile away that is an misguided statement. Besides, if Oregon is anything like Lafayette (the school I attend), nobody reads the newspaper either, so that probably should fall by the wayside too. The meat of Dransfeldt’s article comes from his tear jerking tale of woe from junior high, where the while wrestling the over aggressive Chad Stevens, Dransfeldt landed awkwardly on his wrist after he stopped trying and was thrown to the mat. The injury left Dransfeldt sprawled out in pain that was “instant and excruciating”, required his parents to take him to the hospital where he was X-rayed and fitted for a cast, and most importantly, kept him on the sidelines for much of his community league basketball season. He finishes by saying “The sport of basketball—the game I love—had been taken away instantly by the sport I hated.” I’m not making this up; this is the majority of the article. Fill in jokes as you see fit. Finally, he complains that the wrestling team’s “move” from the Casanova Center to one of the recreational basketball courts for practice has cut into prime pick-up basketball. He then explicitly states that he equates wrestling’s importance with that of pick up basketball, and he can’t wait for the season to be over so there are more courts to play on. My major concern here is that he’s directing his anger at the wrong place. Shouldn’t he be more upset with the athletic department that kicked wrestling out of its facility and moved it to the Rec Center? If Dransfeldt is looking for a noble editorial to write that sticks up for pick up basketball, there’s the subject he should be attacking. He finishes by saying that the reopening of these pick up courts settles his score with wrestling by giving him more opportunities to play basketball, since wrestling took those opportunities from him years ago. There you have it; that is why Oregon Wrestling being dropped is a blessing. This is the gist of Dransfeldt’s article. It is no more than a page long. I’ve only seen the online version, but in print it is probably just a sidebar on the front of the sports page next to a basketball article. When the paper hit campus, I’m sure only a handful of people read the article in print. Most of them were probably Dransfeldt’s friends (as somebody who dabbles in writing, that is usually your whole audience, and you need to beg them to read it). He probably thought this column would be published one day and forgotten the next. As Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. The mistake is right in the headline. “Do you really care?” The answer has been a resounding yes. On the Daily Emerald’s website, the second most commented article has 15 comments. Dransfeldt’s article has an astonishing 664 response comment, most of them incredibly negative. Looks like he underestimated the outcry from the fans. By lunchtime on the 19th, the link to this article was on every wrestling website in the country. And suddenly, everybody with even a passing interest in college wrestling had read the article. Nobody was happy. Enjoy it Jeffrey, it probably will be the most read piece of your career. It also will be the most full your inbox has ever been. The rallying cry has been to flood him with e-mails expressing the disapproval of the wrestling community. The paper’s editor has also received her fair share of mail. He clearly opened a can of worms he never anticipated. The backlash has good and bad qualities. It is a testament to the strength and solidarity of the wrestling community that so many people have picked up on this story and responded to it (I’m patting myself on the back for sending him an e-mail). The article even appeared on the Lehigh Valley wrestling site, which is over 3,000 miles away from Eugene. The internet is one of wrestling’s biggest allies, and it came through here. Without a few outraged wrestling fans posting the link everywhere, this story could have fallen by the wayside rather than become a rallying cry for Save Oregon Wrestling. Instead, plenty of people have publicly voiced their disapproval. Some of the comments left on the Emerald’s site have been intelligent, eloquent, and appropriate. The response piece three days later by Jeremy McLaughlin is particularly well done. As a member of the Oregon wrestling team, if anybody has a legitimate gripe it’s him, but he takes the higher ground. I commend him for that; he is clearly a class act. Other responses have given the wrestling community somewhat of a black eye. Personal attacks, insults, and threats undermine the popular support that such a negative article has created for wrestling. I urge anybody who thinks they should respond to Dransfeldt in this way to take a step back and think for a second. While it might make you feel better, it doesn’t do anything to actually help the cause. It also reinforces stereotypes of the wrestling community as barbaric, and as a sport with plenty of negative stereotypes, we shouldn’t fan those flames. But by all means, our sport should stand up for itself. If anybody hasn’t yet responded to this article, please do so. Will all this kicking and screaming ultimately change Dransfeldt’s mind or save the program? Probably not. But what it does is say that wrestling is not going to take this sitting down. I’m glad that both the Daily Emerald and Jeffrey Dransfeldt are being held accountable for this irresponsible piece of journalism. It is offensive not only to the wrestling community, but to any college athlete, who can assume that not only could their sport be a flippant decision away from the chopping block, but that their own peers will not stick up for them. This is where Dransfeldt has failed his fellow students as a member of their paper. I hope the newly instated competitive cheerleading team practices on Dransfeldt’s precious basketball courts next year. In a small way, it will make up for the lost sport Dransfeldt’s school took away. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/324-we-care-jeffrey Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/315-anybody-versus-anybody FloWrestling.org There is probably nothing more important in wrestling than body weight. It’s the most recognizable aspect of the sport and the foremost concern of almost every athlete and coach. Where wrestlers weight in depends on a complex matrix of factors including strength, quickness, body composition, hydration, and about a million other things. After all, the divisions of the sport are set up entirely on body weight. It’s an important thing to consider. It also changes the way we look at match ups. If anybody watched the surreal interview with Ryan Lang this past week, his comments about maybe moving up to 157 or 165 are laughed off as ridiculous claims, and the funniest jokes he tells in the interview. He’s a talented wrestler, but can you even imagine him going up against Eric Tannenbaum? He’s simply not big enough. We all realize that little guys wrestling big guys is inherently unfair. It’s why weight class exists in the first place. This is a circuitous introduction brings me to one of my favorite hypothetical questions: what if weight class did not matter? What match ups would I really want to see? In real life, our favorite match ups are limited to weight class. We want to see guys wrestle who actually have a shot at wrestling each other. There also are discussions about who are “pound for pound” the best wrestlers in the country. This is kind of like that. If weight class completely did not matter and there was a completely even playing field in terms of relative size, who would you really want to see wrestle? Here is the basic rule: size doesn’t matter. You can find and match up two guys from any of the ten weight classes in college wrestling. Assume the match up exists with both of the wrestlers weighing exactly the same. Qualities do carry over though. If a wrestler is big and strong at 125, he’ll still be big and strong if he’s wrestling a 184 pounder (Mike Sees for example, would be huge no matter where you put him). Essentially you’re taking his body type and moving it to whatever weight class suits your individual match up, not worrying about weight advantages. Skill sets also remain the same. If a wrestler is dominant on top at 141, he’s still great from that position if you want to see him wrestle at 174 (Mark Perry could ride as well at heavyweight as he can at 165). It takes a little imagination, and certainly is far from perfect, but somebody trying to avoid doing work for class tomorrow on a rainy Monday afternoon (read: me), it poses some interesting questions. Here are a ten inter-weight class match ups I would love to see. Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State) vs. Mike Poeta (Illinois): Freight train double versus freight train double. I feel like Scott’s length would give Poeta fits, plus he’s deceptively strong for how lanky he is. I could see Poeta struggling to get out from bottom. But the real meat of the match would be in neutral. Both wrestlers are aggressive, explosive, and diverse from their feet. If they really get after it, as both wrestlers usually do, it could be an offensive clinic from both wrestlers. This is probably the most exciting match up I can think of. Jayson Ness (Minnesota) vs. Mark Perry (Iowa): Who is better on top? Perry has used turns to spark both of his finals appearance, including one of the more memorable (and controversial to Cowboy fans) tilts in recent memory to knock off Johny Hendricks. And we’re all aware of Jayson Ness’s lethal half series, which has him tied for the national lead in falls. Perry has a little more funk from neutral, and I see him winning the takedown battle. He also has the capability to score in buckets from top. But Ness is strong as a bull, and Perry has a reputation for struggling on bottom, and I’d have to imagine Ness could sink a half or two and make this one very interesting. Could he make Perry yet another one of his many victims? This would be the best mat wrestling we’d see all year. Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. Colt Sponsellor (Ohio State): The all gas tank match up. While I think that Metcalf would have a serious advantage in this one based on skill set, the pace alone would make this worth the price of admission. It would be an absolutely blistering seven minutes. Ryan Lang (Northwestern) vs. J.D. Bergman (Ohio State): Fireworks much? The one downside to this match is that it could be over in the first 30 seconds. At some point, there will be a highlight reel throw. At some point, something crazy will happen. Both guys are athletic and wide open. Just don’t blink, the match might be over. Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) vs. Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro): Dream match up for fans from New York. In case you haven’t noticed, there are few things I appreciate more than good mat wrestling, and that certainly would be the case here. I also recognize that good mat wrestling isn’t necessarily exciting wrestling, but these guys are about as active as you get. I’ve seen Gillespie put up 17 points in a period. The kid has more tilts than tattoos. But Ruggirello’s arm bars could be just as troublesome. Ruggirello’s problem would be getting to top, as Gillespie is more well rounded from his feet. Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) vs. Jake Varner (Iowa State): What would the over under on this match be in Vegas? Two and a half? Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) vs. Max Askren (Missouri): Can you even imagine some of the scrambles that would take place in this one? Both guys can hit pinning combinations from anywhere, both guys have gumby-like flexibility, and both guys are comfortable in every position imaginable. While I think Caldwell is a tad stronger, Askren’s funk negates the strength advantage. This is another one that could be over in a hurry either way. Keith Gavin (Pitt) vs. John Glenn (American): A match up of the two quietest stars in college wrestling. Competing outside of the power conferences really keeps them out of the limelight after the major tournament season is over, as there really aren’t a whole lot of major match ups on either wrestler’s schedule. Once again, this is a match up of guys who will go after each other. Gavin wrestles absolutely fearless, and Glenn benefits from a score, score, score mentality. I don’t see either of these guys pulling punches against each other. Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) vs. Josh Churella (Michigan): The appeal of this match up is simple, warrior versus warrior. It would be especially appealing if they held this in March, when both wrestlers have a propensity for stepping their games up. I see Churella being able to push Donahoe around a little bit, but it would be a tight, low scoring affair that would need some late bout heroics, which both guys are apt to do. Plus it’s a battle between two of Michigan’s favorite sons. Phil Davis (Penn State) vs. Raymond Jordan (Missouri): Talk about athletes. Davis and Jordan are two of the countries most dangerous wrestlers. I’d go as far as to say that Davis is the strongest wrestler in America, and Jordan is in the conversation for the quickest. The clash of styles would be phenomenal. Explosive is possibly the highest complement a wrestler can be given, and these two are as explosive as anybody in the country. The great thing about these match ups is that they are completely up for debate. You may think I’m crazy on any one of these. And there are still hundreds more matches that could be brought up. If anybody has any other’s they’d like to think up and debate, feel free to post below. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/315-anybody-versus-anybody Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/306-waking-rob-rohn-in-nazareth Ian McCutcheon FloWrestling.org The most fun day of wrestling every year is the District 11 Duals Tournament in eastern Pennsylvania. As a recent Easton grad, I’ll be the first to admit my bias, but for wrestling fans, it’s worth making the pilgrimage at least once. For as many years as I’ve attended, there has been one “Oh my word did that just happen” moment at the tournament. Whether it be unknown Spencer Beck cement mixing Joe Caramanica to his back (which Northampton fans still insist was a fall), Brad Gentzle’s decision over 3 time state place winner John Paukovitz (who teched Gentzle the week earlier), the “biting” incident during Easton-Northampton two years ago, or Sean Richmond’s Peterson roll on Billy Haydt during ride-out that led to Easton turning the tables on Northampton after losing in the regular season for the second year in a row. The tournament never fails to deliver excitement. While I think that finals have been somewhat compromised since now both teams make the State Duals Tournament rather than just the champion, semi-finals are now the hot ticket. This year’s semi delivered a moment that will forever live in District 11 lore. The Easton-Nazareth semi-final bout was 26-19 in favor of Nazareth with just 125 and 130 left to wrestle. Easton had Jordan Oliver looming at 130, so most likely whoever won 25 was going to win the dual. Clearly, this had the makings for a hero. Easton trotted out Mark Hartenstine, a sophomore who won Reno this year, who has developed into one of Easton’s most dependable wrestlers, and a future star in District 11. Nazareth countered with Ryan Krecker, one of a number of supremely talented freshmen in their lineup. He’s the kind of kid I see winning a state title in the future, but right now, Hartenstine probably was a consensus favorite. Since all everybody here in the Lehigh Valley can talk about is the last ten seconds, I’ll fast forward. Hartenstine has what seems to be a commanding 3-0 on the strength of an ankle pick and an escape. Knowing Hartenstine’s reputation as a fantastic rider with an above average tilt series, Krecker chose neutral for the third. In those final ten seconds, Hartenstine was inexplicably pushing the action. He sees an opening, and takes a shot, which Krecker counters with a front headlock. Uh-oh. Before the Easton contingent could say “Rob Rohn”, Krecker hit a cement mixer for two and two, and pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory. The gym in Bethlehem went ballistic, Nazareth forfeited to Oliver at 130, and walked away with a 29-25 victory and a ticket to Hershey. The win snaps an Easton streak of seven consecutive years in state finals, with four titles. Now I realize this is a national website, so I need to make a point that reaches a wider audience then the people I try to encourage to read this on a local message board. While there was some controversy surrounding Krecker’s headlock, the overwhelming majority seems to say, “What was Hartenstine doing, he never should have been in that position with 10 seconds left, up three point, and no stall warnings. Why is he shooting? Why is he even still wrestling?” How quickly people have jumped on him has been something I’ve mulled over all week. Certainly as a coach, one of the major points you try to pass on to your wrestlers is know the situation. Bout score, team score, time, and stall warnings are all a major part of this awareness. But the problem I have is with the contention that Hartenstine should have just stopped wrestling. I guess it’s the equivalent of taking a knee in a football game or breaking into the four corners offense in basketball, but I feel like there is something to admire about him continuing to shoot through the end of the match. The result certainly isn’t what you want, Easton sitting at home this weekend proves this, but it’s a mistake you can learn from. Which brings me to Mike Tamillow’s blog this week. The Cliff Notes version is short. Make a decision. The best piece of advice my dad has ever given me is “if you’re going to make a mistake, make it at 100 miles an hour.” The worst thing you can do in sports is be indecisive. As a college baseball player, nothing sets our head coach off more than a check swing. Either commit to the swing or don’t. If you make a decision, it can be coached. It may not be the right decision, but we can talk about it and see why it wasn’t the right decision. If you’re indecisive, there’s nothing to go on. It’s a completely wasted effort. I hear it on almost a daily basis in practice, but not until I read Tamillow’s blog this afternoon did I really think to apply it across the board. And it’s exactly the point I was searching to think of in how I felt about the last ten seconds of the Hartenstine-Krecker match. Mark Hartenstine made a decision in the final seconds that he was going to push the action and keep shooting. Was it the right one? Probably not. But he didn’t sit back on his heels and get doubled to his back, he made an aggressive mistake. There’s no shame in that. It just so happens that Ryan Krecker made a better decision. Whether he had a wrist or his own elbow in the headlock, he was going to hit the move as hard as he could and see what happens. Because he made a very good, split second decision, Nazareth is in the State Duals Tournament this weekend, where if they can beat a very good Central Dauphin team, will most likely get another shot at Northampton in a rematch of District Finals. Easton will be watching on TV for second time this millennium. But don’t think for a second that both wrestlers and teams won’t be better because of the last ten seconds of that match. Two athletes gave great efforts and one of the most amazing finishes I’ve ever seen. Their efforts are everything that’s right about high school wrestling. Everybody in Pennsylvania, enjoy State Duals this weekend, we’ve got it good in the Keystone State, so make sure you take advantage. I’m sure another classic moment will happen sometime this weekend. Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/306-waking-rob-rohn-in-nazareth Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/297-eagles-break-historic-win-record ITHACA, N.Y. — The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team made the most of their trip to the Empire State, posting a perfect 3-0 record on the day. The Eagles defeated Binghamton, 31-6, Mercyhurst, 29-9, and Ithaca, 29-12, here Saturday afternoon at Benlight Gymnasium inside the Hill Center. With the win against Mercyhurst, the 2007-08 Eagles set the all-time single-season win record at 13, surpassing the 1974-75 squad. For the year, EMU moves to 14-5 (2-1, MAC), with five dual matches remaining, including two Mid-American Conference matches. Seniors Cory Mancuso (Brockway, Pa.-Brockway) and Charlie Pienaar (Trafford, Pa.-Trafford), redshirt sophomores No. 16 ranked Sean Clair (Turtlecreek, Pa.-Plum), Zach Donofrio (Monroe, Mich.-Dundee) and David Wade (Beavercreek, Ohio-Beavercreek) all posted perfect records, helping lead the Green and White on the day. In the first match of the day the Eagles easily defeated the Binghamton Bearcats, 31-6, giving them their 12th win of the season and tying the 1974-75 squad. EMU jumped out to a 10-3 lead behind a 13-4 major decision from freshman Andrew Novak (New Boston, Mich.-Huron) in the 125-pound match and decisions from Donofrio and Clair, winning the 133-pound and 141-pound matches respectively. Heading into the third period of the 157-pound contest, Mancuso trailed Nate Patterson 2-0 late in the third period. Mancuso reversed and pinned Patterson with 1:13 remaining in the match, spawning an EMU surge, winning four of the final five matches. Also, posting wins against the Bearcats was Justin Brandel (Saginaw, Mich.-Swan Valley) 5-0 in the 165-pound class, Charlie Pienaar, 14-7 in the 184-pound class, John McClure (Holland, Mich.-West Ottawa), a 4-0 winner at 197-pounds, and Wade, a winner by pin fall in the first period of the heavyweight match. Against Mercyhurst, the No. 12 ranked team in the latest Intermat/NWCA Division II rankings, the Eagles took seven of 10 matches from the Lakers. Novak, Clair, Donofrio, Mancuso, Derek Foore (Wadsworth, Ohio-Wadsworth), Charlie Pienaar and Wade all posted winning decisions in the 29-9 victory over Mercyhurst. With their second win of the day, the Eagles won their 13th match of the year, a new single-season record. “It feels good to know that we’re in the record books and that these guys and the coaching staff will always be known as the team that broke that record,” said second-year head coach Derek DelPorto. In the final match of the day, against Ithaca College, ranked No. 21 in the latest Brute/Adidas Division III national rankings, the Eagles faced an uphill battle after falling behind 12-3 four matches in. EMU relied on senior leadership to get back into the match, starting with a technical fall from Mancuso in the 157-pound match. Taking a 4-1 lead into the second period, Mancuso turned the heat up, registering multiple near-falls and widening his margin to 10-1. Two takedowns and a point for riding time were added late in the third, giving him the 17-2 victory, closing the gap to 12-8 in favor the Bombers. Brandel continued the comeback with a 12-5 decision in the 165-pound match that featured six takedowns, including three in the second period alone. Brandel’s decision knotted the score at 12-12, with four matches remaining. The ensuing two matches swung the momentum in favor of the Eagles. Foore and Charlie Pienaar recorded first-period pins, bringing the score to 24-12 in favor of the Green and White. “I was real proud of the effort that our team showed today,” said assistant coach David Bolyard. “We had a few calls not go our way, but we still figured out how to fight through it, and found a way to win.” McClure would tack on a 13-3 major decision in the 197-pound match before Wade earned a 5-0 decision in the heavyweight, his third shutout decision on the day. “Hats off to David Wade’s performance today, not one point scored against him, a testament to what he can do when he gains confidence,” said DelPorto. ”We had a solid day and persevered against Ithaca when the momentum was in their favor,” stated Mancuso. “It feels good setting the record today, but our winning this season isn’t done, we still have five matches until the conference championship and our goal is to win each one of those matches.” The Eagles return to action for the final home matches of the season, Saturday, Feb. 9. EMU will host Clarion, Gardner-Webb and MAC rival Northern Illinois in Bowen Field House. First match is set for a noon start, with action continuing throughout the afternoon. Eastern Michigan 31 Binghamton 6 125 lbs. – Andrew Novak (EMU) maj. dec. Tyler Mamlberg (BU) 13-4 133 lbs. – No. 16 Sean Clair (EMU) dec. Mike Kleemna (BU) 5-1 141 lbs. – Zach Donofrio (EMU) dec. Anwar Goeres (BU) 8-4 149 lbs. – No. 15 Kyle Fried (BU) dec. David Pienaar (EMU) 5-2 157 lbs. – Cory Mancuso (EMU) fall Nate Patterson 5:47 165 lbs. – Justin Brandel (EMU) dec. Brett Nelson (BU) 5-0 174 lbs. – No. 17 Josh Patterson (BU) dec. Derek Foore (EMU) 10-4 184 lbs. – Charlie Pienaar (EMU) dec. Matt Beretta (BU) 14-7 197 lbs. – John McClure (EMU) dec. Corey Waite (BU) 4-0 285 lbs. – David Wade (EMU) fall Daniel Bittner (BU) 1:03 Eastern Michigan 29 No. 12 Mercyhurst 9 125 lbs. – Andrew Novak (EMU) fall Payne Lint (MC) 6:13 133 lbs. – No. 16 Sean Clair (EMU) tech. fall Lance Pitcel (MC) 17-0 141 lbs. – Zach Donofrio (EMU) dec. Braxdon Scaletta (MC) 6-2 149 lbs. – No. 3 Brian Pogel (MC) dec. Drew Lesko (EMU) 8-4 157 lbs. – Cory Mancuso (EMU) dec. Andy Lamancusa (MC) 8-1 165 lbs. – Hudson Harrison (MC) dec. Justin Brandel (EMU) 6-1 174 lbs. – Derek Foore (EMU) dec. Jeremiah Hill (MC) 5-0 184 lbs. – Charlie Pienaar (EMU) forfeit 197 lbs. – Trevor Gallo (MC) dec. John McClure (EMU) 5-4 285 lbs. – David Wade (EMU) dec. Kenny Bluska (MC) 2-0 Eastern Michigan 31 vs. No. 21 Ithaca College 12 125 lbs. – John Gregory (IC) dec. Andrew Novak (EMU) 4-3 133 lbs. – Chad Winowich (IC) dec. 9-2 Vince Licari (EMU) 9-2 141 lbs. – Zach Donofrio (EMU) dec. Will Horwath (IC) 9-5 149 lbs. – Blaine Woszczak (IC) fall David Pienaar (EMU) 1:52 157 lbs. – Cory Mancuso (EMU) tech. fall John Paxos (IC) 17-2 165 lbs. – Justin Brandel (EMU) dec. John Dale (IC) 12-5 174 lbs. – Derek Foore (EMU) fall David Priest (IC) 2:52 184 lbs. – Charlie Pienaar (EMU) fall Brandon Stark (IC) 2:56 197 lbs. – John McClure (EMU) maj. dec. David Sbriscia (IC) 13-3 285 lbs. – David Wade (EMU) dec. Joe Goetz (IC) 5-0 Copyright © 2007 Eastern Michigan University Intercollegiate Athletics Flowrestling http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/297-eagles-break-historic-win-record Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/articles/view/290-assessing-the-season-at-the-halfway-point FloWrestling.org We’re a little past the halfway point in what has been a turbulent college wrestling season. No team has really been able to establish dominance as even the top ranked Iowa Hawkeyes have a blemish on their record. Individually, few weight classes have true favorites that have separated themselves from the pack. This couldn’t be any better for college wrestling. Although team strength is still concentrated in the hands of the few, a kid from pretty much any wrestling program in the country could win a national title. The fact that there are so many talented wrestlers spread out all over the NCAA is a sign of the overall health of wrestling. The ever expanding popularity of high school wrestling, especially in non traditional areas is being felt in college. There are top five wrestlers from Cal-Poly, Michigan State, Harvard, American, and Navy. Parity is a good thing and needs to be embraced by college wrestling aficionados for two reasons. First, it’s a sign that the sport is growing. Second, it’s here to stay. Here’s my quick assessment of each weight class so far, and what you can expect to see down the road. 125 The contenders: There seems to be three names kicked around as serious threats to win in March in this top heavy weight class. Possibly the most impressive season thus far in all of college wrestling belongs to Jayson Ness of Minnesota, who has 16 pins under his belt already. He’s a classic power-125, big for the weight class, dominant half series from top, clamps down once he smells blood. His polar opposite is Angel Escobedo, who is as little and slick as Ness is big and powerful. Both are undefeated, but since Indiana and Minnesota do not wrestle this year, we’ll have to wait for Big Tens for the top seed at 125 to emerge. But lurking in the back is Paul Donahue, the defending champion from Nebraska. Donahue certainly hasn’t blown the competition away, but he’s a gamer and don’t think we won’t hear plenty from him in March. What about: Charlie Falck? Apparently the Iowa hype machine has missed a wrestler. Falck has quietly put together a national championship caliber season. But for some reason, Ness, Escobedo, and Donahue are the only names that come up in the national championship picture, which is probably exactly how Falck would like it. Don’t be surprised to see him in finals. Dark horse AA: Steve Mytych of Drexel has crept up to 11th in the rankings without many people taking notice. Mytych is a seasoned wrestler who is incredibly strong. Drexel had Ryan Hluschak come out of nowhere last year to All American at 157, and fellow Lehigh Valley alum Mytych could follow that trend. The Pick: Escobedo is a pleasure to watch, and continues Indiana’s (okay, Joe Dubuque’s) recent dominance of 125. 133 The contenders: This is a weight class where a clear favorite has emerged. Oklahoma State’s Coleman Scott has been a man on fire since an early season loss to Lou Ruggirello. It looks like everybody here is chasing Scott, who has the skills on his feet that it takes to run through March. The sentimental favorite here is Minnesota’s Mack Reiter who overcame a brutal ACL injury last year. He’s an all attack, all the time wrestler, which is what college wrestling needs. The other two potential finalists I see are Joey Slaton, the first of many Hokieyes who have made a serious difference for Tom Brand’s squad this year, and Franklin Gomez, who seems to have some fire in his belly after being left at home for last year’s NCAA Tournament. What about: Mike Grey you ask? After seeing Scott take it to him in Vegas finals (which I realize won’t be used at the seeding meeting) I have to think that Grey is a year away from really contending for a title, despite his #3 ranking. Dark horse: Could Kenny Jordan sneak into finals? Nebraska is going to need a big effort from someone to try and overtake Iowa and Oklahoma State and Jordan is talented enough to make this run. Working out with Paul Donahue every day helps, and Donahue can share a thing or two about peaking in March. The pick: I’ve seen him wrestle since he was a sophomore in high school, and despite rooting hard against him all three years at Pennsylvania States, I think and hope that Coleman Scott wins it all this year. 141 The contenders: Who knows what to think here? One through ten in the rankings could win a national title. The highest returning placer is Charles Griffin from Hofstra. His rivalry with Okie State’s Nathan Morgan is probably the best subplot in this weight class. Kellen Russell is the best true freshman in the country, but I’m hesitant to pick him to win it all. After all, it’s a big stage for a freshman. Chad Mendes is the only undefeated wrestler left, and is the best wrestler that nobody has really seen compete. If you get a chance, find his match with Manny Rivera. I also could see Jake Strayer, J Jaggers, or Dan LeClere making a serious run here. Most wide open weight this season. What about: With so much parity, there really isn’t anyone overlooked this year. Dark horse: Matt Kyler from Army. You’ll be hard pressed to find a tougher kid in any weight class in the country. And you have to imagine that once he starts making a run, the whole crowd in St. Louis will get behind the kid from West Point. But don’t let his non-power school fool you, Kyler can really wrestle. I have a hunch he’ll find his way onto the podium. The pick: Your guess is as good as mine. Twist my arm and I’ll pick Griffin, giving the 2004 Pennsylvania 125 pound weight class two national champions (he lost in finals to Coleman Scott). Don’t be surprised to see J Jaggers in finals either. He’s got boatloads of talent, and just might be healthy enough to put it together. 149 The contenders: No weight class receives more attention. Brent Metcalf-Dustin Schlatter is what everybody wants to see in finals. I’ll devote an entire column to the clash of titans next week, so I’ll skip ranting about the match up this week. Although there is an abundance of worthy wrestlers here (Caldwell, Jenkins, Burroughs, Churella, Lang, O’Connor, Palmer) I think fate will pit Metcalf and Schlatter in finals. Although Ryan Lang has the best chance to disrupt that. What about: J.P. O’Connor? He has very quietly ascended to third in the rankings. Harvard being in the EIWA certainly has something to do with that, but make no mistake about it, he’s for real. Along with Lang, I like his chances the best to upset one of the big two. He matches up particularly well against Schlatter. Dark horse: Speaking of the EIWA, Harvard isn’t the only team with a supremely talented 149 pounder. Cesear Grajales has burst onto the scene as a sophomore at Penn. Although I think 149 is way too deep for an outsider to crack the podium, I like Grajales to win enough matches to turn some heads and build momentum for next year. The pick: At this point in the year, nobody looks as good as Brent Metcalf. But to me, he looks like a Zack Esposito style match up for Schlatter. Dustin could neutralize him. One thing I will predict, is that they will split Big Tens and Nationals. One won’t go undefeated against the other. 157 The contenders: Much like 125, this looks to me like a three horse race. Unlike 125, I see Illinois’ Mike Poeta as being Secretariat in this horse race. Poeta has been incredible this season. He won a thriller early in the year over Edinboro’s Gregor Gillespie and seems to have figured out Wisconsin’s Craig Henning. I’d even go as far to say that Poeta is better on his feet than anybody in America. But nobody can score from top like Gillespie, who, not for anything, is a defending NCAA champion. He’s not going to give away that distinction too easily. Henning also is a seasoned veteran with finals experience. What about: Jordan Leen? I tend to forget he’s even up at 157. He was the chic pick last year to unseat Schlatter at 149, but has fallen off of everybody’s radar this year. He’s good enough to own a win over Gregor Gillespie, and all that talent didn’t disappear over the course of the year. Dark horse: Just like 133, this is a weight where Cornhusker could make waves. This is another weight that Nebraska needs to score major team points in if they want to make a serious run at a National Title. Don’t be surprised if Chris Oliver sneaks onto the podium here to fuel the upset hopes. The pick: Poeta in what might be the most entertaining final of the tournament. Every one of the big guns here is explosive and loves to score. Make sure you tune in for this one. 165 The contenders: Mark Perry, Eric Tannenbaum, and the young bucks. Despite a few hiccups, Perry has a fantastic shot at repeating. He owns wins over almost all of the top guys, most in convincing fashion. The lone exception is a troubling loss to Oklahoma State’s Jake Dieffenbach, which is a chink in Perry’s armor. Michigan’s Tannenbaum has been knocking on the door for years now and looks primed to make his first finals appearance. Beyond that, it’s a young weight class. Mack Lewnes, Jon Reader, Nick Marable, and Colt Sponsellor all have had flashes of brilliance, and could unseat either of the old guys. What about: Matt Coughlin from Indiana? He knocked off Matt Storniolo last year on his way to a 7th place finish at NCAA’s. Granted that was two weight classes down, but Coughlin is still a force to be reckoned with, despite being off everybody’s radar screen. Dark horse: Edinboro’s Jarrod King is the type of wrestler that always manages to surprise people at the tournament. He’s a senior with plenty of experience and savvy. The transfer closer to home seems to have suited him well. He knows how to wrestle, especially in close, grind it out tournament matches. He’ll factor in one way or another. The pick: Until proven otherwise, Mark Perry is the champ. Especially with the Iowa mindset that seems to have taken over that entire team, he’s not going to give up that distinction very easily. 174 The contenders: After being somewhat of a surprise finalist last year, Pitt’s Keith Gavin has absolutely rolled through the field so far at 174. It’s tough to envision anybody beating him this year, unless Ben Askren is granted an emergency fifth year. Michigan’s Steve Luke may be able to slow the match down enough to make it a one takedown affair, Oklahoma State’s Brandon Mason has some serious firepower, Hofstra’s Alton Lucas seems to have finally figured out how good he really is, and Iowa’s Jay Borschel has burst onto the scene, but Gavin is the clear cut favorite. What about: Brandon Sinnott? The whole Central Michigan crew doesn’t get a ton of respect. They may be the most balanced team in the country, and Sinnott has put together a fant