You can be a tough 125 pound kid from a small town in Illinois.
Or a tough 124 pound girl from New York City.
You can outwork your opponents.
Or you can out dazzle them.
You can be blind.
You can be missing a leg.
Or two.
You can come out of retirement after coaching your team to an NCAA title.
You can come from Mongolia to win 3 NCAA Division III championships for St Johns University in Minnesota.
Or come from Del City, Oklahoma to win 6 Olympic and World gold medals for your country.
You can walk off the mat and get elected to the Senate - or write best selling novels - or save millions from starvation - or fly in space - or lead Fortune 500 corporations. You can even be president of the United States.
Wrestling - the sport of opportunity.
Showing posts with label Anthony Robles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthony Robles. Show all posts
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The season is over - it's time to get to work.
Penn State dominated. Coach Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions traveled to Philadelphia and won the second NCAA Division I wrestling championship in school history. The most successful college wrestler in American history has now added coaching a team champion to his resume. Congratulations.
For all but the most ardent fans, the wrestling season is now officially over. Oh sure, the US Senior Open, University Nationals, World Team Trials, Fargo and the World Championships will all be contested between now and when high school and college wrestlers take the mat again for the 2011/2012 season, but a lot of fans don’t pay much attention to those events.
What a season it has been for the growth of wrestling. High school participation numbers continue to grow. The Beat the Streets movement is making new inroads into introducing wrestling to kids in the nation’s urban areas. Just last week Beat the Streets Philadelphia held a clinic in conjunction with the NCAA Championships. The NCAA and the Philadelphia tournament organizing committee donated $25,000 to Beat the Streets. College dual meet attendance records were broken at several schools.
This season also validated my contention that wrestling is the most democratic of sports. Here in Iowa, Cassy Herkelman and Megan Black made news when both qualified for the Iowa high school state tournament. Most of the attention was generated when Ms. Herkelman’s first round opponent defaulted rather than wrestle her. It made the national media. Lost in that furor were the accomplishments of Hope Steffensen (Alaska) and Rachel Hale (Vermont) who became the second and third American girls, respectively, to win state high school championships wrestling against boys.
In Arkansas, visually impaired Andrea’ Johnson, from the Arkansas School for the Blind, won his second state high school championship.
Last night, ten years after bi-lateral amputee Nick Ackerman won an NCAA Division III title for Simpson College, Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, born with only one leg, climbed to the top of the medal podium in Philadelphia – the 2011 NCAA Division I 125 pound champion.
Wrestling embodies the American dream. Opportunities to compete are open to all, but victories – and championships – are earned. The athlete who works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. Students learn from participation in all co-curricular activities, but wrestling teaches things like courage, toughness, tenacity and perseverance in ways unmatched by other sports. Scholars since Socrates and Plato have recognized the value of wrestling. During last evening’s ESPN broadcast of the NCAA finals, best selling author, John Irving – himself a former wrestler and wrestling coach, did a marvelous job of explaining how wrestling makes him a better writer.
Many colleges are beginning to realize the value that wrestling can have for students – and themselves. Institutions like Baker University, Shorter University and Grand View University have all added wrestling teams in recent years. Other schools – Wayland Baptist University, Waldorf College, Missouri Baptist University and Jamestown College have added opportunities for women. There are now actually more college wrestling teams than there were 15 years ago.
Does this mean that all is well with American wrestling? Far from it.
On March 8th, the University of Sioux Falls announced that it will drop both the men’s tennis team and the wrestling team. Moving from the NAIA to NCAA Division II status is ostensibly cited as the primary reason. To read the official USF release is to be confused. The arguments presented for eliminating men’s tennis seem to have a tiny bit of validity, but nowhere in that document can I find the real reason that wrestlers are being shown the door. Okay – so the coach is resigning and the school would have to hire a new one. Isn’t hiring new faculty a daily reality in academia?
The University of North Carolina-Greensboro announced the elimination of wrestling six days later. The reason – to have more money ($308,000) to invest in basketball and soccer. UNCG chancellor, Linda Brady, and athletic director, Kim Record, have a stated goal of achieving a higher profile for UNCG sports – but most especially men’s and women’s basketball and soccer. How ironic. The Greensboro Sports Commission wants to brand the city as “Tournament Town” and two of its highest profile anchors – The Super 32 and the Southern Scuffle – are wrestling events. Together they bring millions of tourism dollars to the community every year.
The Southern Scuffle attracts 32 college teams, many of whom are among the top-rated programs in the country. It was started and is hosted by UNCG. The University is hoping to have its cake and cut it too – continuing to host the event without sponsoring a wrestling team of their own. Many in the wrestling community, including Cornell University coach, Rob Koll, have indicated that they will not support the Scuffle if there is a UNCG affiliation and the school drops the sport.
Apparently, Trev Alberts learned nothing about courage while playing football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In a move that can only be called cowardly, the University of Nebraska-Omaha athletic director chose to call wrestling coach, Mike Denney, on the telephone – in the middle of the night – to tell him his team was being eliminated. Even worse – Alberts chose to make that call while the Mavericks were celebrating their third consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship.
Like the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, UNO appears to want to chase the potential payoff of being a 16-seed in an NCAA basketball regional. UNO is moving into Division I and to finance their run to big school hoop “greatness” they have chosen to eliminate two of the school’s most successful programs – football and wrestling.
The move may well backfire financially for UNO. At least one major donor has indicated that he will withdraw his support if football is eliminated and another is questioning the validity of claims made by Alberts.
The National Wrestling Coaches Association has issued a call to arms to save these programs from the chopping block. You can visit their website to read guidelines for a course of action that anyone who cares about wrestling can follow.
There’s a lesson here that we don’t seem to get. If a program like University of Nebraska-Omaha – or the University of Oregon – or Fresno State – or Syracuse – or Portland State – can be dropped, is any college program really safe? Why do so many of us wait until another elimination announcement is made before we act? Why aren’t we working every day to keep the sport growing?
The season may be over, but the work still needs to be done.
For all but the most ardent fans, the wrestling season is now officially over. Oh sure, the US Senior Open, University Nationals, World Team Trials, Fargo and the World Championships will all be contested between now and when high school and college wrestlers take the mat again for the 2011/2012 season, but a lot of fans don’t pay much attention to those events.
What a season it has been for the growth of wrestling. High school participation numbers continue to grow. The Beat the Streets movement is making new inroads into introducing wrestling to kids in the nation’s urban areas. Just last week Beat the Streets Philadelphia held a clinic in conjunction with the NCAA Championships. The NCAA and the Philadelphia tournament organizing committee donated $25,000 to Beat the Streets. College dual meet attendance records were broken at several schools.
This season also validated my contention that wrestling is the most democratic of sports. Here in Iowa, Cassy Herkelman and Megan Black made news when both qualified for the Iowa high school state tournament. Most of the attention was generated when Ms. Herkelman’s first round opponent defaulted rather than wrestle her. It made the national media. Lost in that furor were the accomplishments of Hope Steffensen (Alaska) and Rachel Hale (Vermont) who became the second and third American girls, respectively, to win state high school championships wrestling against boys.
In Arkansas, visually impaired Andrea’ Johnson, from the Arkansas School for the Blind, won his second state high school championship.
Last night, ten years after bi-lateral amputee Nick Ackerman won an NCAA Division III title for Simpson College, Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, born with only one leg, climbed to the top of the medal podium in Philadelphia – the 2011 NCAA Division I 125 pound champion.
Wrestling embodies the American dream. Opportunities to compete are open to all, but victories – and championships – are earned. The athlete who works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. Students learn from participation in all co-curricular activities, but wrestling teaches things like courage, toughness, tenacity and perseverance in ways unmatched by other sports. Scholars since Socrates and Plato have recognized the value of wrestling. During last evening’s ESPN broadcast of the NCAA finals, best selling author, John Irving – himself a former wrestler and wrestling coach, did a marvelous job of explaining how wrestling makes him a better writer.
Many colleges are beginning to realize the value that wrestling can have for students – and themselves. Institutions like Baker University, Shorter University and Grand View University have all added wrestling teams in recent years. Other schools – Wayland Baptist University, Waldorf College, Missouri Baptist University and Jamestown College have added opportunities for women. There are now actually more college wrestling teams than there were 15 years ago.
Does this mean that all is well with American wrestling? Far from it.
On March 8th, the University of Sioux Falls announced that it will drop both the men’s tennis team and the wrestling team. Moving from the NAIA to NCAA Division II status is ostensibly cited as the primary reason. To read the official USF release is to be confused. The arguments presented for eliminating men’s tennis seem to have a tiny bit of validity, but nowhere in that document can I find the real reason that wrestlers are being shown the door. Okay – so the coach is resigning and the school would have to hire a new one. Isn’t hiring new faculty a daily reality in academia?
The University of North Carolina-Greensboro announced the elimination of wrestling six days later. The reason – to have more money ($308,000) to invest in basketball and soccer. UNCG chancellor, Linda Brady, and athletic director, Kim Record, have a stated goal of achieving a higher profile for UNCG sports – but most especially men’s and women’s basketball and soccer. How ironic. The Greensboro Sports Commission wants to brand the city as “Tournament Town” and two of its highest profile anchors – The Super 32 and the Southern Scuffle – are wrestling events. Together they bring millions of tourism dollars to the community every year.
The Southern Scuffle attracts 32 college teams, many of whom are among the top-rated programs in the country. It was started and is hosted by UNCG. The University is hoping to have its cake and cut it too – continuing to host the event without sponsoring a wrestling team of their own. Many in the wrestling community, including Cornell University coach, Rob Koll, have indicated that they will not support the Scuffle if there is a UNCG affiliation and the school drops the sport.
Apparently, Trev Alberts learned nothing about courage while playing football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In a move that can only be called cowardly, the University of Nebraska-Omaha athletic director chose to call wrestling coach, Mike Denney, on the telephone – in the middle of the night – to tell him his team was being eliminated. Even worse – Alberts chose to make that call while the Mavericks were celebrating their third consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship.
Like the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, UNO appears to want to chase the potential payoff of being a 16-seed in an NCAA basketball regional. UNO is moving into Division I and to finance their run to big school hoop “greatness” they have chosen to eliminate two of the school’s most successful programs – football and wrestling.
The move may well backfire financially for UNO. At least one major donor has indicated that he will withdraw his support if football is eliminated and another is questioning the validity of claims made by Alberts.
The National Wrestling Coaches Association has issued a call to arms to save these programs from the chopping block. You can visit their website to read guidelines for a course of action that anyone who cares about wrestling can follow.
There’s a lesson here that we don’t seem to get. If a program like University of Nebraska-Omaha – or the University of Oregon – or Fresno State – or Syracuse – or Portland State – can be dropped, is any college program really safe? Why do so many of us wait until another elimination announcement is made before we act? Why aren’t we working every day to keep the sport growing?
The season may be over, but the work still needs to be done.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Second Annual View from Section GG College Wrestling Awards
The championships have all been won and all of the awards except the Hodge Trophy have been handed out. Its time for the second annual View from Section GG college wrestling awards.
The Ron Santo “Heart on Your Sleeve Award”
The longtime Cubs radio announcer (and “should be” Hall of Fame third baseman) has long been known for his emotional eruptions during his broadcasts. We present a Santo award to former Hawkeye wrestler, Mark Ironside, who is the color commentator for KXIC-AM’s University of Iowa wrestling coverage. Iowa All-Access streams the audio for KXIC so fans across the country can now hear Mark. If you wanted to get a feel for the emotional roller coaster that was this year’s NCAA Division I Championship you just had to listen to Ironside, “Gol dang it, (fill in wrestler’s full name), what are you doin’? Attack!” His eruption after Dan Erekson pinned David Zabriskie rattled my windows.
The “We Really Care” Award
This goes to all of the Division III wrestlers, coaches and fans who came to Cedar Rapids this year for the DIII Championships. In the past two weeks I have heard a number of stories about your generosity – from holding receptions at flood recovering businesses to making donations to recovery funds. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Rookies of the year
The women’s award goes to Jamestown College of North Dakota. In their first year of competition they finished fourth in the Women’s College Wrestling Association national championships and had an individual title winner (Tani Adler).
Another first year program, Grand View University (Des Moines, IA), takes the men’s award with an eighth place finish at the NAIA Championships. They also had an individual titleist in Matt Burns.
The “Stuff it” Award
There’s a tie here. We have 15,955 winners – all of the fans who packed Carver Hawkeye Arena for the Iowa/Iowa State contest and broke the dual meet attendance record.
The “Real Opportunity” Award
Longtime readers know that I believe wrestling to be the most democratic of sports. You don’t need to win some kind of genetic lottery (great height, a large body mass or blazing speed) to become a champion. The athlete that works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. It goes beyond that – wrestling offers real opportunity for excellence not always presented by other sports. This year I’ve chosen to name a runner-up and a grand prize winner.
Michaela Hutchison is already a wrestling pioneer. In 2006 she became the first girl in America to win a boys state wrestling championship when she won the Alaskan 103 pound title. Now wrestling at Oklahoma City University, Michaela won the 55kg class at this year’s Women’s College Wrestling Association Championships and was named Outstanding Wrestler. In February she broke more ground. When the 125 pounder on the Oklahoma City men’s team went down to injury, Michaela stepped in to fill the spot. She took a lot of lumps but did win at least one match.
There can be no question, however, about the grand prize winner of this award – Anthony Robles of Arizona State University. As most know by now, Anthony was born with just one leg. After an amazing high school career that included an undefeated senior season, an Arizona state championship and a National High School championship, he chose to become a Sun Devil. Last year, as a freshman, he reached the round of 12 at the Division I championships. In May it seemed as if he was going to face even more adversity when ASU announced the elimination of the wrestling program. Anthony became an active spokesperson, helping to raise awareness about the plight of the program. Fortunately for him and all involved, major alumni donors stepped up and gave the program the necessary financial backing to save the team.
Saturday in Saint Louis Anthony Robles became an All-American – finishing fourth in this year’s tournament. In past interviews he has acknowledged that he is aware that others look to him as a role model – and he accepts the role with grace. In an Associated Press interview after his semi-final loss to Paul Donahoe of Edinboro Anthony said, “He didn’t beat me because I was born with one leg. He beat me because he was just the better wrestler tonight. Its that simple.”
Congratulations, Anthony. I’m glad you chose wrestling.
The Ron Santo “Heart on Your Sleeve Award”
The longtime Cubs radio announcer (and “should be” Hall of Fame third baseman) has long been known for his emotional eruptions during his broadcasts. We present a Santo award to former Hawkeye wrestler, Mark Ironside, who is the color commentator for KXIC-AM’s University of Iowa wrestling coverage. Iowa All-Access streams the audio for KXIC so fans across the country can now hear Mark. If you wanted to get a feel for the emotional roller coaster that was this year’s NCAA Division I Championship you just had to listen to Ironside, “Gol dang it, (fill in wrestler’s full name), what are you doin’? Attack!” His eruption after Dan Erekson pinned David Zabriskie rattled my windows.
The “We Really Care” Award
This goes to all of the Division III wrestlers, coaches and fans who came to Cedar Rapids this year for the DIII Championships. In the past two weeks I have heard a number of stories about your generosity – from holding receptions at flood recovering businesses to making donations to recovery funds. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you all again next year.
Rookies of the year
The women’s award goes to Jamestown College of North Dakota. In their first year of competition they finished fourth in the Women’s College Wrestling Association national championships and had an individual title winner (Tani Adler).
Another first year program, Grand View University (Des Moines, IA), takes the men’s award with an eighth place finish at the NAIA Championships. They also had an individual titleist in Matt Burns.
The “Stuff it” Award
There’s a tie here. We have 15,955 winners – all of the fans who packed Carver Hawkeye Arena for the Iowa/Iowa State contest and broke the dual meet attendance record.
The “Real Opportunity” Award
Longtime readers know that I believe wrestling to be the most democratic of sports. You don’t need to win some kind of genetic lottery (great height, a large body mass or blazing speed) to become a champion. The athlete that works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. It goes beyond that – wrestling offers real opportunity for excellence not always presented by other sports. This year I’ve chosen to name a runner-up and a grand prize winner.
Michaela Hutchison is already a wrestling pioneer. In 2006 she became the first girl in America to win a boys state wrestling championship when she won the Alaskan 103 pound title. Now wrestling at Oklahoma City University, Michaela won the 55kg class at this year’s Women’s College Wrestling Association Championships and was named Outstanding Wrestler. In February she broke more ground. When the 125 pounder on the Oklahoma City men’s team went down to injury, Michaela stepped in to fill the spot. She took a lot of lumps but did win at least one match.
There can be no question, however, about the grand prize winner of this award – Anthony Robles of Arizona State University. As most know by now, Anthony was born with just one leg. After an amazing high school career that included an undefeated senior season, an Arizona state championship and a National High School championship, he chose to become a Sun Devil. Last year, as a freshman, he reached the round of 12 at the Division I championships. In May it seemed as if he was going to face even more adversity when ASU announced the elimination of the wrestling program. Anthony became an active spokesperson, helping to raise awareness about the plight of the program. Fortunately for him and all involved, major alumni donors stepped up and gave the program the necessary financial backing to save the team.
Saturday in Saint Louis Anthony Robles became an All-American – finishing fourth in this year’s tournament. In past interviews he has acknowledged that he is aware that others look to him as a role model – and he accepts the role with grace. In an Associated Press interview after his semi-final loss to Paul Donahoe of Edinboro Anthony said, “He didn’t beat me because I was born with one leg. He beat me because he was just the better wrestler tonight. Its that simple.”
Congratulations, Anthony. I’m glad you chose wrestling.
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