According to my facebook alert, tomorrow (February 21) is Tricia Saunders’ birthday. Happy birthday, Tricia – and thank you.
Presumably, almost all of you reading this are wrestling fans, because – well – that’s what I write about. I’m willing to wager that some of you – maybe many of you – have never heard of Tricia. She won World freestyle championships in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 1999 and was the outstanding wrestler in the 1992 competition. No American woman ever beat her.
Always a vocal advocate for women’s wrestling, when her competitive career ended she became an influential coach, serving on world team coaching staffs in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and on the staff of the first American women’s Olympic wrestling team in 2004. In 2006 Tricia Saunders was the first woman ever inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The same year that Saunders was inducted into the Hall of Fame another American female made wrestling history. Michaela Hutchison became the first girl to win a boy’s state wrestling championship when she won the 103 pound class at the Alaska state tournament. Hers is probably not a well known name among wrestling fans either.
You probably don’t recognize the name, Cassy Herkelman, either – but – if I describe her as “the girl that the boy refused to wrestle in the Iowa state high school tournament” the bells of recognition are likely to go off. The story made the national media and people with absolutely no interest in wrestling have been asking me about it for two days. I doubt that girls or women wrestling have ever received this kind of attention.
Just in case you missed it, the short version is that when Joel Northrup drew Cassy in the first round of the state tournament he chose to default instead of wrestling her, saying, "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy ... However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner."
Wrestling IS a combat sport – as are judo, tae kwon do and karate. When girls or women choose to compete in the latter three – even against males - it is frequently considered empowering. The public loves the image of the 100 pound woman kicking the snot out of her larger (evil) male tormentor. We’ve cheered for that scene in dozens of movies. Why, then, is there such public “queasiness” about girls wrestling boys? I respect Joel Northrup’s beliefs, but I don’t think it’s the violence – I think it is the perception that there is something potentially sexual about many of the typical contacts found in a wrestling match. Do I agree with that perception? No, but you know the old saying – “perception IS reality”.
Lost in the uproar was recognition of the historic nature of both Ms. Herkelman and Megan Black qualifying for the Iowa state high school tournament – earning their way in.
Wrestling is the most democratic of sports. Three weeks from now marks the 10th anniversary of bi-lateral amputee, Nick Ackerman, winning an NCAA Division III championship. One week after that, Anthony Robles, born with one leg, will begin his quest for a Division I title. Anthony is currently ranked number 1 at his weight by several of the ranking services. You don’t have to be blessed with unusual height or blazing speed to win at wrestling. The athlete who works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs – and, yes, sometimes that means that girls beat boys – as Cassy Herkelman did 23 times this year.
As much as I root for the girls to win, girls wrestling boys is the biggest single roadblock to girls wrestling. Four states offer girl’s state wrestling championships. Texas, Hawaii and Washington have sanctioned varsity tournaments and California has a state “invitational” championship. Over 6,000 girls wrestle in high school in America and the majority of them can be found in those four states.
We who love the sport are fond of spouting off about what wrestling teaches – toughness, independence, resiliency and tenacity. Why would we only want half of our kids to have the opportunity to learn those things on the mat? Why aren’t we working harder to get girls into wrestling?
It seems to me that we are at a crossroads for women’s and girl’s wrestling. Most of the successful women’s wrestlers of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s came from a girls vs. boys or women vs. men background. Tricia Saunders, Patricia Miranda and Sara McMann all wrestled against males on their paths to World and Olympic medals. At the time, it was the only road to success. We are now starting to see young women on the US team who come from a girls vs. girls high school environment and then went on to a college with a women’s wrestling program.
More women coaching would be the next step. It appears that only three women are head coaches of women’s intercollegiate wrestling teams, Marcie VanDusen at Menlo, Tocarra Montgomery at Lindenwood and Alaina Berube at the University of the Cumberlands. Perhaps more importantly, do we need more women involved at the kid’s club level? Wrestling has always been a grassroots activist sport. If more girls participate at the youth level does it follow that there then arises a need for more states to offer girl’s high school wrestling? It should – but we’ll never know until we get busy and try.
More girls wrestling – that just might be a great birthday gift for Tricia Saunders.
Showing posts with label women's wrestling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women's wrestling. Show all posts
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Monday, October 11, 2010
Are you smarter than Socrates?
Dear College Administrator, Athletic Director or Legislator,
Are you smarter than Socrates? Wrestling was part of his educational regimen and he once said, “I swear it upon Zeus that an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Socrates’ most influential disciple, Aristocles, was renamed Plato(n) by his wrestling coach Ariston of Argos.
Are you smarter than Ben Franklin, who published the following in 1749, “The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all Ages, as the surest Foundation of the Happiness both of private Families and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves and to their Country.
“That to keep them in Health, and to strengthen and render active their Bodies, they be frequently exercis’d in Running, Leaping, Wrestling and Swimming…?”
Are you smarter than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who were both champion wrestlers in the styles of their day?
Are you smarter than Theodore Roosevelt, who mandated that wrestling become part of the physical curriculum at the military academies?
Are you smarter than Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug – the man who fed millions – and who credited wrestling with teaching him the discipline and tenacity he needed to continue his research?
Are you smarter than novelist, John Irving when he said, “I think the discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline to write.”?
Are you smarter than former Congressman and current head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Jim Leach, an Iowa state high school wrestling champion and former member of the Princeton wrestling team? “I’ve always thought that the most equalitarian place in the world is the wrestling mat.”
Are you smarter than Dan Laurent, a three-time NCAA Division III heavyweight wrestling champion who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a 3.9 GPA in double majors of biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology?
Are you smarter than the administrators at Wayland Baptist University, Baker University or Minot State University – all of whom have added wrestling to increase enrollment and opportunity at their institutions?
For centuries the greatest minds and leaders considered wrestling a valuable part of higher education. Then, about thirty years ago, American legislators and administrators at many of America’s colleges and universities decided that they were smarter than Socrates – or Franklin – or Lincoln , and started dropping wrestling from the curriculum. Did they do that because wrestling is no longer relevant and modern kids don’t want to wrestle? That can’t be the reason. According to the National Federation of High Schools, wrestling is the sixth most popular boys’ sport in terms of participation – and it continues to grow. Since the 2002/2003 school year the number of youngsters on high school wrestling teams has increased by 30,000.
Did they do it to equalize educational opportunities among all segments of society? Ostensibly – yes. Title IX was enacted in 1972 and says quite simply, “No person in the United States, on the basis of sex, shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” You certainly can’t argue with that. But then the courts and the lawmakers got involved and college administrators found it easier to eliminate opportunity than create it.
So what about opportunity? As Mr. Leach indicated, wrestling is the most democratic of all sports. In what other one have you watched an athlete walk up to face his opponent, remove his prosthetic legs and then win an NCAA Championship? Ten years ago I got to do that when Nick Ackerman of Simpson College took the Division III wrestling title. And what about opportunity for women? Girls’ participation in wrestling is exploding in the states that sanction girls only championships. Smart college administrators have noticed this trend and recently added women’s teams at Jamestown University in North Dakota and Waldorf College in Iowa.
If your school doesn’t have a wrestling team, what do you think George Washington, Dr. Norman Borlaug and John Irving would urge you to do?
Do you need help or more information? Contact the National Wrestling Coaches Association and they’ll get you started. You just might be as smart as Socrates.
Are you smarter than Socrates? Wrestling was part of his educational regimen and he once said, “I swear it upon Zeus that an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Socrates’ most influential disciple, Aristocles, was renamed Plato(n) by his wrestling coach Ariston of Argos.
Are you smarter than Ben Franklin, who published the following in 1749, “The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all Ages, as the surest Foundation of the Happiness both of private Families and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves and to their Country.
“That to keep them in Health, and to strengthen and render active their Bodies, they be frequently exercis’d in Running, Leaping, Wrestling and Swimming…?”
Are you smarter than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who were both champion wrestlers in the styles of their day?
Are you smarter than Theodore Roosevelt, who mandated that wrestling become part of the physical curriculum at the military academies?
Are you smarter than Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug – the man who fed millions – and who credited wrestling with teaching him the discipline and tenacity he needed to continue his research?
Are you smarter than novelist, John Irving when he said, “I think the discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline to write.”?
Are you smarter than former Congressman and current head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Jim Leach, an Iowa state high school wrestling champion and former member of the Princeton wrestling team? “I’ve always thought that the most equalitarian place in the world is the wrestling mat.”
Are you smarter than Dan Laurent, a three-time NCAA Division III heavyweight wrestling champion who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a 3.9 GPA in double majors of biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology?
Are you smarter than the administrators at Wayland Baptist University, Baker University or Minot State University – all of whom have added wrestling to increase enrollment and opportunity at their institutions?
For centuries the greatest minds and leaders considered wrestling a valuable part of higher education. Then, about thirty years ago, American legislators and administrators at many of America’s colleges and universities decided that they were smarter than Socrates – or Franklin – or Lincoln , and started dropping wrestling from the curriculum. Did they do that because wrestling is no longer relevant and modern kids don’t want to wrestle? That can’t be the reason. According to the National Federation of High Schools, wrestling is the sixth most popular boys’ sport in terms of participation – and it continues to grow. Since the 2002/2003 school year the number of youngsters on high school wrestling teams has increased by 30,000.
Did they do it to equalize educational opportunities among all segments of society? Ostensibly – yes. Title IX was enacted in 1972 and says quite simply, “No person in the United States, on the basis of sex, shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” You certainly can’t argue with that. But then the courts and the lawmakers got involved and college administrators found it easier to eliminate opportunity than create it.
So what about opportunity? As Mr. Leach indicated, wrestling is the most democratic of all sports. In what other one have you watched an athlete walk up to face his opponent, remove his prosthetic legs and then win an NCAA Championship? Ten years ago I got to do that when Nick Ackerman of Simpson College took the Division III wrestling title. And what about opportunity for women? Girls’ participation in wrestling is exploding in the states that sanction girls only championships. Smart college administrators have noticed this trend and recently added women’s teams at Jamestown University in North Dakota and Waldorf College in Iowa.
If your school doesn’t have a wrestling team, what do you think George Washington, Dr. Norman Borlaug and John Irving would urge you to do?
Do you need help or more information? Contact the National Wrestling Coaches Association and they’ll get you started. You just might be as smart as Socrates.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wanted - tough people
They took one of the “toughest” actions in world history. In July 1776, 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. They were merchants, farmers, lawyers and doctors. One was a minister. Seventeen fought in the Revolutionary war and five were captured by the British. Eleven had their property destroyed and two gave their entire fortunes to fund the war. These were tough guys – and when they needed a military leader – they called upon a wrestler.
At age 18 George Washington won a county-wide championship in the “collar-and-elbow” style of wrestling that was popular at the time. At another time, Washington witnessed a wrestling-match. The champion of the day challenged him, in sport, to wrestle. Washington did not stop to take off his coat, but grasped the "strong man of Virginia.'' It was all over in a moment, for, said the wrestler, "In Washington's lionlike grasp I became powerless, and was hurled to the ground with a force that seemed to jar the very marrow in my bones.'' At age 47, while commander of the Continental Armies, Washington consecutively defeated seven challengers from the Massachusetts Volunteers.
Throughout history – from Milo of Croton, to Abraham Lincoln, to Dr. Norman Borlaug – when toughness was needed – a wrestler stepped up. Knowing that, it is hard to understand why American intercollegiate wrestling continues to be assaulted by outside forces. It is short-sighted thinking.
We need “tough” scientists who can solve the alarming number of environmental challenges facing the world. We need “tough” business people who can lead us to economic recovery. We need “tough” educators to stop the American slide into mediocrity. Yet – when I peruse college catalogs, I never see “Toughness 101” listed. It’s our college wrestling coaches who teach that course.
Since the time of Socrates, athletic competition – especially wrestling – has been considered an integral part of educating the whole person. There are things learned on the mat that just simply can’t be taught elsewhere. Thousands of today’s college wrestlers are going to go on to teach our kids, start new businesses, heal our sick and lead our communities. Don’t we want them to be fully prepared?
Our Founding Fathers were far from perfect. When Jefferson wrote, “all men are created equal” he actually meant “all white, male property owners are created equal”. It would take a wrestler to free African-Americans from the horrors of slavery 87 years later.
Hundreds of years of second-class status for women is another dark part of American history. Unfortunately, American wrestling still treats girls and women as an afterthought. The first World Championships in women’s freestyle wrestling were held in 1987. It became an Olympic sport in 2004 and 85 countries have Olympic qualifying competitions.
A year ago America’s only three women’s freestyle Olympic medallists, Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Randi Miller filed a grievance with USA Wrestling and The US Olympic Committee alleging that USAW violated the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by not providing “equitable support and encouragement for participation by women”.
On January 29th of this year USA Wrestling and the three complainants issued a joint statement that the grievance had been successfully resolved. This seems to indicate that progress is being made at the upper levels of the sport. But what about elsewhere – with our kids programs, interscholastic and collegiate athletes? Are we providing enough opportunities? Are we encouraging young girls to try the sport?
In 46 states we still place a major roadblock in front of high school girls who want to wrestle – we make them wrestle almost exclusively against boys. How many other sports do this? When I discuss this dilemma with girl’s sports advocates or wrestling leaders, I get a Catch 22 argument – we need grass roots interest to expand girl’s high school wrestling, but we need more girl’s high school wrestling opportunities to grow grass roots interest. So – what’s the answer? Like so many things in this sport, someone has to step up and take a leadership role – at the local level, at the state level and nationally. Where are those people?
Slowly, intercollegiate wrestling opportunities for women are expanding. Another encouraging sign is that more women are becoming college head coaches. I frequently read online comments that suggest we should continue to expand women’s college wrestling as a tool to fight Title IX attrition. That argument misses the mark.
If we truly value what wrestling teaches – why deny those lessons to half of the population? If your daughter grows up to be an attorney why shouldn’t she be equipped with a toughness learned on the mat? If your sister becomes the CEO of a troubled corporation shouldn’t she know the resiliency taught by wrestling? When the woman researcher is trying to find the cure for your cancer wouldn’t you want her to have the perseverance Dr. Borlaug attributed to his wrestling experience?
We will always need “Toughness 101” in our colleges – but let’s be sure its available for everyone.
At age 18 George Washington won a county-wide championship in the “collar-and-elbow” style of wrestling that was popular at the time. At another time, Washington witnessed a wrestling-match. The champion of the day challenged him, in sport, to wrestle. Washington did not stop to take off his coat, but grasped the "strong man of Virginia.'' It was all over in a moment, for, said the wrestler, "In Washington's lionlike grasp I became powerless, and was hurled to the ground with a force that seemed to jar the very marrow in my bones.'' At age 47, while commander of the Continental Armies, Washington consecutively defeated seven challengers from the Massachusetts Volunteers.
Throughout history – from Milo of Croton, to Abraham Lincoln, to Dr. Norman Borlaug – when toughness was needed – a wrestler stepped up. Knowing that, it is hard to understand why American intercollegiate wrestling continues to be assaulted by outside forces. It is short-sighted thinking.
We need “tough” scientists who can solve the alarming number of environmental challenges facing the world. We need “tough” business people who can lead us to economic recovery. We need “tough” educators to stop the American slide into mediocrity. Yet – when I peruse college catalogs, I never see “Toughness 101” listed. It’s our college wrestling coaches who teach that course.
Since the time of Socrates, athletic competition – especially wrestling – has been considered an integral part of educating the whole person. There are things learned on the mat that just simply can’t be taught elsewhere. Thousands of today’s college wrestlers are going to go on to teach our kids, start new businesses, heal our sick and lead our communities. Don’t we want them to be fully prepared?
Our Founding Fathers were far from perfect. When Jefferson wrote, “all men are created equal” he actually meant “all white, male property owners are created equal”. It would take a wrestler to free African-Americans from the horrors of slavery 87 years later.
Hundreds of years of second-class status for women is another dark part of American history. Unfortunately, American wrestling still treats girls and women as an afterthought. The first World Championships in women’s freestyle wrestling were held in 1987. It became an Olympic sport in 2004 and 85 countries have Olympic qualifying competitions.
A year ago America’s only three women’s freestyle Olympic medallists, Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Randi Miller filed a grievance with USA Wrestling and The US Olympic Committee alleging that USAW violated the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by not providing “equitable support and encouragement for participation by women”.
On January 29th of this year USA Wrestling and the three complainants issued a joint statement that the grievance had been successfully resolved. This seems to indicate that progress is being made at the upper levels of the sport. But what about elsewhere – with our kids programs, interscholastic and collegiate athletes? Are we providing enough opportunities? Are we encouraging young girls to try the sport?
In 46 states we still place a major roadblock in front of high school girls who want to wrestle – we make them wrestle almost exclusively against boys. How many other sports do this? When I discuss this dilemma with girl’s sports advocates or wrestling leaders, I get a Catch 22 argument – we need grass roots interest to expand girl’s high school wrestling, but we need more girl’s high school wrestling opportunities to grow grass roots interest. So – what’s the answer? Like so many things in this sport, someone has to step up and take a leadership role – at the local level, at the state level and nationally. Where are those people?
Slowly, intercollegiate wrestling opportunities for women are expanding. Another encouraging sign is that more women are becoming college head coaches. I frequently read online comments that suggest we should continue to expand women’s college wrestling as a tool to fight Title IX attrition. That argument misses the mark.
If we truly value what wrestling teaches – why deny those lessons to half of the population? If your daughter grows up to be an attorney why shouldn’t she be equipped with a toughness learned on the mat? If your sister becomes the CEO of a troubled corporation shouldn’t she know the resiliency taught by wrestling? When the woman researcher is trying to find the cure for your cancer wouldn’t you want her to have the perseverance Dr. Borlaug attributed to his wrestling experience?
We will always need “Toughness 101” in our colleges – but let’s be sure its available for everyone.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thoughts on National Duals
The NWCA National Duals just might be my favorite wrestling event. The current format exposes a wrestling junkie to performances by the best intercollegiate student-athletes at all levels and of both genders. Most fans attend to support their favorite team – sometimes missing much of the spectacle. This year’s National Duals exemplified all that is great about college wrestling – and the wrestling community. Here are some random observations.
It seems almost impossible to avoid unpleasant weather when attending a wrestling event of any kind in Cedar Falls. This year was no exception. By the time I got our house completely dug out of the snow Saturday and felt it safe to travel I had missed the Hawkeyes’ first two meets. Even with the adverse Saturday weather, attendance at the UNI-Dome almost hit 16,000 – topping last year. The event continues to grow in popularity. Is 20,000 an attainable attendance figure? I think so.
This is a well run tournament. UNI athletic director Troy Dannen, coach Brad Penrith and their entire staffs are to be congratulated. The announcing team faced a daunting task of keeping fans apprised of the action on 18 mats (Saturday) and 6 intercollegiate divisions without slighting anyone. They were more than up to it. Every endeavor of this scope has dozens of people behind the scenes who make it work. I really don’t know who is responsible for what, but it sure seemed like Tammy Tedesco from the NWCA logged a lot of miles on the floor of the dome this weekend.
The Hawkeyes were tough. The Big Red from Cornell came to Cedar Falls to wrestle – and wrestle they did. Cornell held the lead in the finals after 165 but Iowa won the last four matches to retain the Division I National Dual championship for another year. Dan Erekson’s pin at heavyweight was an exclamation point at the end of the tournament.
I’ve followed Justin Kerber’s career since he wrestled for Emmetsburg High School. The son of 4X Iowa high school champ and 3X Hawkeye All-American, Jeff Kerber and the nephew of Hawkeye great and Olympic gold medallist, Randy Lewis, Justin would have seemed a natural to wrestle for the University of Iowa. Instead he chose to follow his own path and join coach Rob Koll in Ithaca. An academic All-American, he helped Cornell “upset” Iowa State in Sunday morning’s semi-finals.
The first time I ever saw Minnesota’s Brock Lesnar wrestle was at National Duals in Iowa City several years ago. His strength, physique and dominating performance created quite a buzz. When one reporter asked him how much he could bench press, Lesnar replied, “whatever I want”. Current Golden Gopher 125-pounder, Zach Sanders, is at the complete other end of the weight spectrum. I stood near him late Sunday afternoon and he just might be one of the smallest college wrestlers I’ve ever seen. With his “baby face” he looks about 15 years old. As was the case with Lesnar, National Duals afforded me my first opportunity to see Sanders wrestle. Don’t pay any attention to his size and facial features – this kid is going to be a good one. He is a skilled takedown artist with power on top that belies his size. I’m really looking forward to three years of battles between Zach and Iowa’s blue chip freshman, Nate Moore.
Augsburg’s cumulative score after the first two rounds in Division III was 110-0. Then, in the finals, they scored two falls in the last four weights to upset number one ranked Wartburg. They may be setting up one heck of a team race at DIII Nationals in Cedar Rapids this March.
I spent a lot of time watching the women wrestle. It’s a little disconcerting switching back and forth from watching folkstyle to watching freestyle – but it can be done. It’s pretty clear that there are opportunities to add women’s wrestling at more colleges. With 5,000 girls wrestling in high school, and that number growing, there is room for growth in roster spots and scholarships. Jamestown College of North Dakota is fielding a women’s team for the first time. With athletes from states like Hawaii, California and Michigan, they’ve attracted a full roster of wrestlers and were competitive in this tournament. I especially enjoyed watching Mason City’s Tiffany Sluik score a fall to help Jamestown to one of their victories. It was also heartening to see Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann in the stands supporting the women’s teams. Oh, by the way, Oklahoma City University kicked the snot out of the rest of the field to win the women’s division.
Speaking of Sara McMann, I still can’t get over being such a goober fan when in the presence of Olympic greats like Sara, Bill Smith, Doug Blubaugh and Ben Peterson.
Every year I adopt a team outside the normal group of schools I follow (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Coe and Cornell College). This year I picked Southern Oregon because my daughter went to school there for a year. In the closest final dual of the night, they won the NAIA championship on criteria.
Newberry College from South Carolina is another great story. In only their third year of competition, the finished as runner-up in Division II to Nebraska-Omaha. They have 33 wrestlers on the squad – 25 of whom come from states with no Division I programs. With high school wrestling continuing to grow in popularity in the southeastern United States and a limited number of competition alternatives, I see only bright things in the future for Newberry.
However, my favorite story of this year’s National Duals had nothing to do with the competition. Midway through the final round Sandy Stevens announced that one of the young lady wrestlers had lost a gold ring and described the area where the ring was thought to be lost. It was an area open only to those with credentials and you could see a stirring among the coaches and athletes as they began to search for the lost ring. About ten minutes later Sandy came back on the mic to say that the ring had been found by one of the coaches. It was a great way to finish the weekend.
It seems almost impossible to avoid unpleasant weather when attending a wrestling event of any kind in Cedar Falls. This year was no exception. By the time I got our house completely dug out of the snow Saturday and felt it safe to travel I had missed the Hawkeyes’ first two meets. Even with the adverse Saturday weather, attendance at the UNI-Dome almost hit 16,000 – topping last year. The event continues to grow in popularity. Is 20,000 an attainable attendance figure? I think so.
This is a well run tournament. UNI athletic director Troy Dannen, coach Brad Penrith and their entire staffs are to be congratulated. The announcing team faced a daunting task of keeping fans apprised of the action on 18 mats (Saturday) and 6 intercollegiate divisions without slighting anyone. They were more than up to it. Every endeavor of this scope has dozens of people behind the scenes who make it work. I really don’t know who is responsible for what, but it sure seemed like Tammy Tedesco from the NWCA logged a lot of miles on the floor of the dome this weekend.
The Hawkeyes were tough. The Big Red from Cornell came to Cedar Falls to wrestle – and wrestle they did. Cornell held the lead in the finals after 165 but Iowa won the last four matches to retain the Division I National Dual championship for another year. Dan Erekson’s pin at heavyweight was an exclamation point at the end of the tournament.
I’ve followed Justin Kerber’s career since he wrestled for Emmetsburg High School. The son of 4X Iowa high school champ and 3X Hawkeye All-American, Jeff Kerber and the nephew of Hawkeye great and Olympic gold medallist, Randy Lewis, Justin would have seemed a natural to wrestle for the University of Iowa. Instead he chose to follow his own path and join coach Rob Koll in Ithaca. An academic All-American, he helped Cornell “upset” Iowa State in Sunday morning’s semi-finals.
The first time I ever saw Minnesota’s Brock Lesnar wrestle was at National Duals in Iowa City several years ago. His strength, physique and dominating performance created quite a buzz. When one reporter asked him how much he could bench press, Lesnar replied, “whatever I want”. Current Golden Gopher 125-pounder, Zach Sanders, is at the complete other end of the weight spectrum. I stood near him late Sunday afternoon and he just might be one of the smallest college wrestlers I’ve ever seen. With his “baby face” he looks about 15 years old. As was the case with Lesnar, National Duals afforded me my first opportunity to see Sanders wrestle. Don’t pay any attention to his size and facial features – this kid is going to be a good one. He is a skilled takedown artist with power on top that belies his size. I’m really looking forward to three years of battles between Zach and Iowa’s blue chip freshman, Nate Moore.
Augsburg’s cumulative score after the first two rounds in Division III was 110-0. Then, in the finals, they scored two falls in the last four weights to upset number one ranked Wartburg. They may be setting up one heck of a team race at DIII Nationals in Cedar Rapids this March.
I spent a lot of time watching the women wrestle. It’s a little disconcerting switching back and forth from watching folkstyle to watching freestyle – but it can be done. It’s pretty clear that there are opportunities to add women’s wrestling at more colleges. With 5,000 girls wrestling in high school, and that number growing, there is room for growth in roster spots and scholarships. Jamestown College of North Dakota is fielding a women’s team for the first time. With athletes from states like Hawaii, California and Michigan, they’ve attracted a full roster of wrestlers and were competitive in this tournament. I especially enjoyed watching Mason City’s Tiffany Sluik score a fall to help Jamestown to one of their victories. It was also heartening to see Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann in the stands supporting the women’s teams. Oh, by the way, Oklahoma City University kicked the snot out of the rest of the field to win the women’s division.
Speaking of Sara McMann, I still can’t get over being such a goober fan when in the presence of Olympic greats like Sara, Bill Smith, Doug Blubaugh and Ben Peterson.
Every year I adopt a team outside the normal group of schools I follow (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Coe and Cornell College). This year I picked Southern Oregon because my daughter went to school there for a year. In the closest final dual of the night, they won the NAIA championship on criteria.
Newberry College from South Carolina is another great story. In only their third year of competition, the finished as runner-up in Division II to Nebraska-Omaha. They have 33 wrestlers on the squad – 25 of whom come from states with no Division I programs. With high school wrestling continuing to grow in popularity in the southeastern United States and a limited number of competition alternatives, I see only bright things in the future for Newberry.
However, my favorite story of this year’s National Duals had nothing to do with the competition. Midway through the final round Sandy Stevens announced that one of the young lady wrestlers had lost a gold ring and described the area where the ring was thought to be lost. It was an area open only to those with credentials and you could see a stirring among the coaches and athletes as they began to search for the lost ring. About ten minutes later Sandy came back on the mic to say that the ring had been found by one of the coaches. It was a great way to finish the weekend.
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