4/29/2014

Powerade field released

Trinity and Jefferson-Morgan are back and Chartiers-Houston is out of the PowerAde Christmas Wrestling Tournament in December. Here is the link.


http://www.poweradewrestling.com/

4/28/2014

Kolat hired as head coach at Campbell

Former national champion and Olympic team member Cary Kolat has been named head wrestling coach at Campbell University. Kolat joins the Fighting Camel staff after serving since 2010 as associate head coach at the University of North Carolina.
"This is a milestone announcement for the Campbell wrestling program," said director of athletics Bob Roller. "Nationally and internationally, Cary Kolat is synonymous with wrestling for the past three decades, and I am confident he will build a program for CU that will be known throughout NCAA Division I. We welcome Cary, Erin and their family to Campbell."
During Kolat’s tenure at Chapel Hill, he was involved in all phases of the UNC program and helped improve the team’s national ranking from 57 to 22. In addition, he was head coach at the Olympic regional training center in Chapel Hill where he trained Olympic level athletes.
Kolat has also served on wrestling staffs at Lehigh, Wisconsin, West Virginia and his alma mater, Lock Haven.
"I’m extremely excited that Bob Roller and Campbell University have given me the opportunity to lead this program," said Kolat, a native of Rices Landing. "But the success of this program is not going to happen overnight. It will be determined by our guys doing the small things right over and over every day, consistently wanting to improve and taking the program to the next level."
A two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion, Kolat was a four-time All-American who went on to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A three-time World Cup gold medalist, he also won World silver and bronze medals.
His career also includes three U.S. Open championship medals and a pair of Pan-Am Games first-place finishes. Kolat was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1991-2002. In the summer of 2011, Kolat returned to competitive wrestling, was a finalist at the U.S. Open and competed in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.


4/12/2014

Point-Counterpoint on 20-man bracket

Got this e-mail upset over my negative comments on the 20-man bracket, so I thought I would do a point-counterpoint. Feel free to add your opinions.

You are so wrong in so many ways.... It is obvious you have never laced up a pair of wrestling shoes. How dare you question who remembers a 6th place finisher! I'm sure that the wrestler, his family, his friends, and his school certainly remember. If you actually followed the sport (outside of Washington and Greene County...South Fayette for some reason too) and didn't hitch your wagon to certain local stars, you would see that adding extra wrestlers will increase the chances for our local boys to bring home state medals and in no way water down the state competition. Would you say Dom Forys from NA had no shot at placing in the PIAA and his presence at PIAA's would detract from the event? Your solution ...make the state tournament smaller??? Really Joe, really? The wrestling community needs to be constantly evolving and testing itself all of the time. Right now is the perfect time to try something new! Let's get more kids a chance to make it to Hershey which means more schools have a chance to make it as well. Wouldn't it be great to see Carlynton, Baldwin or Knoch have kids going to Hershey? Who knows, maybe a little kid in one of those programs sees the success and wants to repeat it? Further more the population of PA is on a continual incline and has been for quite awhile. So let's reduce the size of the state tourney... I'm still floored by that! I will agree that having all of the metal rounds compete at once is an experiment gone horribly wrong but at least the PIAA tried to make it better....so their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have tasted neither victory nor defeat.

My reply:
First, let's deal with the Forys issue. While I agree he did not get a fair shake because of the weight class, Forys was not going to finish any higher than fourth if you take into account he couldn't beat the three people in front of him in the district. You can't replay the tournament. You get one shot so you better beat the guy in front of you.

I am not going to belittle the accomplishment of winning a medal at the state tournament. The point I am trying to make is that the state tournament is there to decide champions. Like former NFL coach Herman Edwards said, "You play to win the game." Adding more wrestlers might certainly mean more medals, but it's the gold one that carries the most meaning.

If the accumulation of medals is how you base success in the tournament, then what would be better? Bringing seven wrestlers from the district who win state titles or having a dozen medalists from second to eighth? That's an easy answer. A smaller tournament makes for more interest in my opinion. If the consolation rounds are so exciting to fans, why are the least attended parts of the state tournament?

I agree with Herm. You play to win the game. That's why we watch.

4/11/2014

Recruiting link

Here is a piece by Pa Power Wrestling on the latest recruiting news: Who is going where.

http://papowerwrestling.com/updated_top_225_recruits/

4/09/2014

Stabbings at Franklin Regional

From what I've been told, no wrestlers were involved or injured.


http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140409/NEWS04/140409457

4/07/2014

Flo National Results

106
1st Place  - Yianni Diakomihalis (Unattached) Won By Decision Over Rudy Yates (Brother Rice - Chicago) (Dec 7-4)
3rd Place  - Lucas Hall (Flat River Wrestling) Won By Major Decision Over Mitch Moore (St Paris Graham) (Maj 11-2)
5th Place  - Sam Sasso (Dark Knights Wrestling Club) Won By Decision Over Gage Curry (Unattached) (Dec 7-3)
7th Place  - Justin Mejia (Clovis) Won By Major Decision Over Brian Courtney (Athens) (Maj 13-4)
113
1st Place  - Devin Schroder (Flat River Wrestling) Won By Decision Over Vito Arujau (Syosset High School) (Dec 7-3)
3rd Place  - Ryan Friedman (St. Pauls) Won By Decision Over Logan Griffin (Foxfire) (Dec 4-0)
5th Place  - Jesse Dellavecchia (East Islip) Won In Double Overtime Over Alex Martinez (Big Dawg) (2-Ot 1-1)
7th Place  - Damian Short (Foxfire) Won By Decision Over Cornelious Elliott (Perry Meridian) (Dec 4-0)
120
1st Place  - Nick Piccininni (Ward Melville) Won By Major Decision Over Luke Pletcher (Unattached) (Maj 10-2)
3rd Place  - Brandon James (Perry Meridian) Won By Decision Over Chad Red (Red Cobra Academy) (Dec 6-3)
5th Place  - George Phillippi (Big Dawg) Won In Sudden Victory - 1 Over Luis Gonzalez (Apex) (Sv-1 7-5)
7th Place  - Lincoln Olson (Davison High School) Won By Decision Over Todd Lane (Bison Legend Wrestling Club) (Dec 7-6)
 126
1st Place  - Sam Krivus (Unattached) Won By Decision Over Zach Valley (Dark Knights Wrestling Club) (Dec 2-1)
3rd Place  - A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg Central) Won By Decision Over Jaydin Clayton (Eierman Elite) (Dec 8-7)
5th Place  - Boo Lewallen (Yukon High School) Won By Decision Over Davion Jeffries (Broken Arrow High School) (Dec 3-2)
7th Place  - Will Koll (Finger Lakes Wrestling Club) Won By Decision Over Khristian Olivas (Clovis) (Dec 5-1)
 132
1st Place  - Brent Moore (St Paris Graham) Won By Decision Over Robert Lee (Kaukauna) (Dec 6-3)
3rd Place  - Keegan Moore (Puntam City) Won By Decision Over Trae Blackwell (Unattached) (Dec 3-0)
5th Place  - Tommy Cash (Lawrence North High School) Won By Injury Default Over Jesse Rodgers (North Allegheny) (Inj. 0:00)
7th Place  - Jamal Morris (Cardinal Gibbons High School) Won By Medical Forfeit Over Kent Lane (Bison Legend Wrestling Club) (Mff)
 138
1st Place  - Brock Zacherl (Brookville) Won By Decision Over Chandler Pyke (Woodward Academy) (Dec 3-0)
3rd Place  - Myles Amine (Detroit Catholic Central) Won By Decision Over Sergio Enloe (Unattached) (Dec 7-1)
5th Place  - Joe Grable (Deer Park High School) Won By Injury Default Over Chris Garcia (Izzy Style) (Inj. 0:00)
7th Place  - Kaleb Young (Punxsutawney High School) Won By Decision Over Louie Deprez (G2) (Dec 7-2)
 145

1st Place  - Tyler Berger (Crook County Wrestling) Won By Decision Over Michael Longo (So Cal) (Dec 8-5)
3rd Place  - Ralphy Tovar (Unattached) Won In The Ultimate Tie Breaker Over Dj Hollingshead (Young Guns) (Utb 2-1)
5th Place  - Adam Martz (Young Guns) Won By Decision Over Collbran Meeker (Crook County Wrestling) (Dec 5-3)
7th Place  - Vincent Deprez (G2) Won By Decision Over Austin Kraisser (Centennial High School) (Dec 5-2)
 152
1st Place  - Louis Hernandez (Maphem Hs) Won By Decision Over Kyle Bova (Pa Mountain Men) (Dec 5-4)
3rd Place  - Devin Skatzka (Richmond) Won By Fall Over Dayton Racer (Apple Valley) (Fall 1:01)
5th Place  - Cole Walter (Bison Legend Wrestling Club) Won By Decision Over Max Elling (Phillipsburg) (Dec 7-1)
7th Place  - Anthony Deprez (G2) Won In Sudden Victory - 1 Over Ricky Padilla (California) (Sv-1 4-2)
 160
1st Place  - Xavier Montalvo (Izzy Style) Won In Sudden Victory - 1 Over Josh Ugalde (Bound Brook) (Sv-1 7-5)
3rd Place  - Josef Johnson (Apex) Won By Major Decision Over Dylan Lydy (Indy Giants West) (Maj 12-4)
5th Place  - Brett Donner (Triumph) Won By Injury Default Over Ryan Preisch (Bison Legend Wrestling Club) (Inj. 0:00)
7th Place  - Tony Palumbo (Pitt Bull) Won By Decision Over Austin Bell (Pitt Wrestling) (Dec 7-5)
 170
1st Place  - Josh Llopez (Unattached) Won By Decision Over Taylor Lujan (Carrollton High School) (Dec 3-1)
3rd Place  - Evan Delong (Kane) Won By Injury Default Over Travis Linton (Rootstown) (Inj. 3:37)
5th Place  - Max Dean (Flat River Wrestling) Won By Forfeit Over Austin-Caleb Flores (Clovis North Hs) (Ff)
7th Place  - Jared Walker (Unattached) Won By Decision Over Dakota Geer (Victory Wrestling Club) (Dec 4-3)
 182
1st Place  - Dylan Wisman (Dark Knights Wrestling Club) Won By Decision Over Christian Dietrich (Finger Lakes Wrestling ) (Dec 7-3)
3rd Place  - Boomer Fleming (CCC) Won By Decision Over Derek Hillman (Prestige Worldwide) (Dec 7-4)
5th Place  - Jacob Cooper (Springport High School) Won By Tech Fall Over Willie Bivens (Eastern Guilford) (Tf 19-4)
7th Place  - Drew Kasper (Lexington) Won By Decision Over Shane Rodenburg (Flat River Wrestling) (Dec 6-3)
 195
1st Place  - Tom Sleigh (Dubois) Won By Decision Over Bailey Faust (Lexington) (Dec 4-2)
3rd Place  - Tyree Sutton (Iron Horse) Won By Decision Over Edgar Ruano (Izzy Style) (Dec 7-0)
5th Place  - Kyle Conel (Ashtabula Wrestling Club) Won By Injury Default Over Cody Vigoren (Pin City) (Inj. 0:00)
7th Place  - Tyler Love (Centreville) Won By Decision Over Bubba Mancini (Team Delaware) (Dec 7-0)
 220
1st Place  - Michael Boykin (Coatesville) Won By Decision Over Youssif Hemida (Iowa Style) (Dec 11-4)
3rd Place  - Seth Brennock (Loveland) Won By Decision Over Jordon Brandon (John Glenn) (Dec 5-1)
5th Place  - Buzzy Maines (West Branch) Won By Decision Over Carl Neff (Team Ri) (Dec 10-6)
7th Place  - Landon Pelham (Flat River Wrestling) Won By Fall Over Thomas Alcaro (Emmaus) (Fall 3:36)
 285
1st Place  - Kevin Vough (Elyria) Won In Sudden Victory - 1 Over Ryan Prescott (Whittemore-Prescott High School) (Sv-1 7-5)
3rd Place  - Tate Orndorff (University High School) Won By Decision Over Tyler Poling (Shore Thing) (Dec 3-2)
5th Place  - Scot Augustine (Mcdowell High School) Won By Decision Over Deaken Mccoy (Roughhouse Wrestling Club) (Dec 5-2)
7th Place  - Stephen Johnson (Bound Brook) Won By Decision Over Brian Darios (East Lansing Trojans) (Dec 3-2)

Pro Bout - 200
Ed Ruth (Unattached) Won By Decision Over Matt Wilps (Unattached) (Dec 10-3
)