Most of you already know that on August 11^th, 2011,  Jacob passed away from a rare form of cancer that he battled for nearly two years.  It came as a shock to most, as even some of his good friends didn’t even know.  He kept it a secret from most because he didn’t want people to feel sorry for him.  Jacob was as brave as you could get.  He never seemed scared, always remained positive and he died with dignity, exactly the way he wanted to go.

I met Jacob back in high school when he moved to Apple Valley prior to his eighth grade year.  We were teammates for three years, winning two state titles and had the opportunity to wrestle for a national championship against St Edward in 2000.  Jacob was involved in the controversial match, that really swung the momentum to St. Edward’s favor.  Jacob was a great high school wrestler and clearly one of the all-time greats in Minnesota’s history.

Here are some of Jacob Schlottke’s accomplishments in wrestling:

2002 MN HS State Tournament 3A 12th 152 1st 48-0
2001 MN Christmas Tournament 3A 12th 152 1st

2001 MN/USA Wrestling State FS Junior 154 1st
2001 MN HS State Tournament 3A 11th 140 1st 47-2
2000 MN Christmas Tournament 3A 11th 145 2nd

2000 USA Wrestling Nationals FS Cadet 143 3rd
2000 MN HS State Tournament 3A 10th 130 2nd 41-3
1999 MN Christmas Tournament 3A 10th 130 1st

1999 MN HS State Tournament 3A 9th 125 6th 21-6

1998 MN HS State Tournament 3A 8th 103 3rd 36-2

• 2x MN State Champ
• 3x Finalist
• 5x Medalist
• Career Record:    193-13

Jacob asked me to work with him last season on HSWrestling.net and without hesitation, I agreed. This was a big opportunity he was giving me and I feel honored that he included me in the organization.

I always knew there was a chance Jacob wouldn’t be here someday, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.  Even while Jacob was in the hospital receiving chemotherapy, he worked all day long on his sites, always pursuing his goals.  He amazed me with his strength and determination.  Regardless of what happened, Jacob wanted the site to continue and we fully plan on accomplishing his vision.  He even said, “please don’t write an article about me, I don’t want any extra attention, and it’s unprofessional.”

I promise that this is the only wish I won’t be fulfilling for Jacob.

With the loss of Jacob, we here at HSWrestling, plan on running a similar style/format to the site as we did last year and will continue to learn and evolve as the season progresses.  Rankings, tournaments, brackets, news, results, video, etc., will all be released on a daily basis.  HSWrestling.net will continue to remain FREE to the public.

Jacob was so much more than a wrestler and an entrepreneurial internet guru.  He was one of the funniest guys you’d ever meet.  He was hilarious, adventurous, always having fun and living life to the fullest.  He loved animals, the outdoors, fishing, traveling, video games, movies, gadgets, books, learning, politics, food, friends and family.  He was always doing something and always made sure everyone was having a good time.  He was a great friend, a loving husband and a devoted Christian.

Jacob meant so much to me, helping me in many areas of my life.  He was truly a great friend to have.  He was so ahead of his time and it would have been impressive to see how far he would have gone.  He will truly be missed and was loved by many.  We miss you more with everyday that passes.  Thank you for everything.

Your friend, Chad Redmann.

R.I.P. ~ Jacob Daniel Schlottke

Here’s a collection of some of the articles and forums on Jacob:

Jacob Schlottke Memorial Fund

He was determined to change that and change it he did as he took fifth place in the 135-pound weight class at this year’s championships.

“It meant a lot especially after last year when I didn’t place,” Rodrigues said. “It was a great accomplishment. To do that out of 100 kids from all 50 states, in a huge arena like the Fargodome, and to go 9-1 is a pretty good result.”

Rodrigues says he attributes his success to devoting his time to the style of wrestling that the championships require.

“It’s a different style of wrestling than high school,” Rodrigues said. “It’s an Olympic style, it’s a freestyle of wrestling. Last year was my first year of doing that and I wasn’t really ready for it. This year I dedicated myself to it right after the high-school season to wrestling freestyle full-time with Max Askren and it was great. It was 100 times better this year than last year.”

Askren was a national champion at Missouri and training with someone of that ilk helped Rodrigues immensely. What also helped was being able to work-out with another Section 1 stud, Brian Realbuto from Somers.

“I got to train with Brian Realbuto a lot, who ended up winning the tournament,” Rodrigues said. “Everything was great.”

Realbuto wound up winning his weight class at 145-pounds in the championships that took place July 15-23.

“I have known Brian since I was a little kid, in second grade,” Rodrigues said. “Ever since, we have been great friends. He is one of the toughest wrestlers and hardest workers out there. It was great to see him win. It made me feel good to see one of my friends accomplish what he did.”

Rodrigues will now be wrestling at Rutgers University, where he has been working out since July 1.

“I have been going against guys 21, 22 years-old,” Rodrigues said. “I even went up against assistant coach John Leonardis, who was a three-year varsity wrestler at Lehigh University. It’s a completely different level. Guys are bigger, stronger, faster, better. It’s something that takes a lot of time and even more commitment than high school. I have to work even harder now if I want to be successful at the next level.”

For Article by Mike Sabini, Chappaqua-Mount Kisco Patch

Along with 39 other Pennsylvania wrestlers, Keck traveled to Fargo, N.D., on July 18-19 to participate in the ASICS/Vaughan Cadet National Championships and left with a second-place silver medal at 125 pounds and is considered to be an All-American in Greco-Roman style wrestling.

The Pennsylvania Cadet Team had 14 total All-Americans placing and captured the National Team Title in Greco-Roman.

Keck went 6-0 on the first day of competition before winning two more matches the second day to advance to the finals inside the Fargo Dome against Jon Jay Chavez of California.

In the 125-pound finals, Keck and Chavez went scoreless through 90 seconds in the first period before going to the “clinch” – with one wrestle standing and the other on the mat – as it is called in Greco-Roman wrestling. Keck failed to turn Chavez over for the pin, which awarded the California grappler a point to win the first period 1-0.

Chavez gained momentum in the second period and had Keck reeling as he attempted to knock the Bulldog out of bounds to earn another point, ultimately winning the match by a 1-0, 1-0 decision.

“I tried defending it and he countered it,” Keck said. “He took me down, so he was up 1-0 and we went to the clinch after that. I was on bottom that time and I defended for 30 seconds, but he still won because he had that initial first point. That match easily could have gone either way.”

Keck was one of six Pennsylvania wrestlers on the team to advance to the finals in their respective weight classes. He said Greco-Roman helps improve his skills during the off-season from high school wrestling because some rules are different and it helps hones specific moves and poise on the mat.

After joining his Pennsylvania teammates for a weeklong training camp at University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, the team took a coach bus across the country to arrive at the Fargo Dome, a large indoor football field at North Dakota State University.

“It was tough,” Keck said of the experience. “It was a huge arena. It was just overwhelming. The competition was tough. These were some of the best kids in the nation wrestling there. I didn’t really expect to go as far as I did. I was the underdog; I wasn’t even expected to place out there. I just kept confident, acted like I had nothing to lose and proved to everyone what I could do.”

Keck qualified for nationals by placing second in the 130-pound weight class at PAWF States in May. He also went on to wrestle at the Northeast Regionals at East Stroudsburg, earning top honors as the champion at 130 pounds against grapplers from Maine, Massachusetts and New York.

Keck, who has been working with the same Greco-Roman coach from the past four years, Gino Frank from Mechanicsburg, has attended practice twice a week in Gettysburg and Chambersburg with his older brother Colten Keck, who won his 100th match as a Bulldog during his senior season at Big Spring, since the high school wrestling season ended.

Reflecting on the experience at nationals, Keck says he feels more confident in his abilities as he enters his junior season wrestling for coach Kemal Pegram.

“I feel like I did my best, just the set up that they had there – with only one mat running, the finals, all the attention on you – I think that got to me, but overall I think I did my best,” said Keck, who also earned funded access to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado as a reward for his performance in Fargo. “I’m definitely more confident in myself and I believe I can go far if I have the right mindset. I’m sure (my coaches) are proud of me and what I did out in North Dakota.”

Two years ago, Keck also qualified for another national team that competed in team-style duals in Indianapolis, Ind., he said.

Keck wished to thank his sponsors for making the trip to North Dakota possible, including Newville Wrestling Association, Funk’s Well Drilling, Blue Mountain Excavation, Graham Medical Clinic, Newville Auto Service, Turner Hydraulics and Lowell and Virginia Hassinger. It was their monetary donations that made his trip possible.

The six other Pennsylvania wrestlers who made it to the finals were Darian Cruz (105), Chance Marstellar (152), Eric Morris (160), Ray O’Donnell (171) and Jovon Reyes (189).

For Complete article and Results by C.J. Lovelace, The Shippensburg News-Chronicle

It could’ve been Jacob Falk’s nickname.

The recent West Jordan graduate had quite a knack for being runner-up in every big wrestling tournament. His freshman year: second place in cadet nationals. His sophomore and junior year: second place in state.

“I guess a lot of people call it the curse — taking second all the time,” Falk says. “It happened a lot.”

But 2011 represented a turning point for Falk. He would not be second to anyone anymore.

The UVU-bound wrestler had a title sweep this year, taking a state title, a Greco-Roman World Duals title and a junior national Greco-Roman title at 145 pounds in a matter of months. The national title — the crown jewel of his prep wrestling accomplishments — capped what had been a career of “almost” moments.

Getting over the “curse” was not easy. Blessed with quickness and learned in technical skill, Falk had the tools physically to dominate. It took a little longer for his mind to catch up with his body.

“He’s always been a hard worker who doesn’t like to lose,” West Jordan coach Gabe Vigil says. “I know no one likes to lose, but he takes it harder than other people. Mentally, he had to start winning more, and I thought the confidence would come along. That’s what happened.”

A few solid tournament results built up some swagger for Falk. Headed into the state tournament, he was feeling as strong as he ever had.

And it was no contest. Falk dominated the 145-pound field, scoring three pins on his way to the finals. In the championship, Falk notched a 17-5 major decision over Jared Taylor of Davis. The second-best was now at the top of his class, fulfilling his promise at last.

“He had a growth spurt in high school, so he started smaller,” Vigil says. “He’s quicker than most kids he wrestles, and he has a really good build for wrestling. Where he really succeeds is when he’s on top, he always scores points. He never gets turned.”

Falk maintained that reputation throughout the summer, even after coming off knee surgery. After winning his class in the World Duals, Falk was prepared for nationals in Fargo, N.D., last month.

It had been a frustrating past for Falk in the national tournament. After his runner-up finish as a freshman, he placed third as a sophomore and didn’t place at all as a junior.

He trained four times a day in the week leading up to the tournament, lifting, running and drilling until his brain felt like mush. There were plenty of times Falk questioned his desire to keep up the exhausting regimen.

“It just sucked,” Falk says. “I was just dead tired. But during the tournament, I felt like I knew what I had to do in every situation.”

As it turned out, Falk did have an answer for every situation. He cruised through his matches, winning 10 in only two days. In the Greco-Roman junior finals, he came up against Oliver Pierce of Texas, a previous champion.

For Complete Article by Kyle Goon, The Salt Lake Tribune

When it was all said and done, none of them achieved the success that Apple Valley High School wrestler Gannon Volk achieved.

Volk captured Cadet National freestyle and Greco-Roman titles at 91 pounds. In April, he won the Cadet Nationals Folkstyle title in Cedar Falls, IA, to win the coveted USA Wrestling Triple Crown in the Cadet division, meaning he won national titles in all three styles of wrestling.

Folkstyle is the style in which American youth and high school wrestlers compete. Freestyle is a more open style, while Greco-Roman involves only upper-body moves. Freestyle and Greco-Roman are styles used throughout the world and in international and Olympic competition.

Volk was the only wrestler in the nation to achieve the feat this year; in the history of USA Wrestling, only 10 wrestlers have achieved triple-crown status.

“The nation’s best high school wrestlers put it on the line in Fargo,” said Andrew Hipps. “It’s a grind. … Champions have to win 10 or more matches over three days. The arena is filled with college wrestling coaches who are looking to land recruits, so it’s a great opportunity for high school wrestlers to get noticed by college coaches.”

Volk was losing 2-0 to Miquel Silva of Plainfield, IL, in his final match, but picked up the pin and the win in the first period.

“Volk has … a never-say-die attitude,” Hipps said. “He is a mat rat who loves to compete, and competes virtually everywhere. He has improved tremendously in the last year.”

Volk was happy that hard work paid off.

“I’ve been training hard and in the room practicing a lot,” said Volk, 15, who went 38-0 and won a ninth-grade state championship last year. He’ll challenge to compete in the 106-pound weight class on the Apple Valley Eagles varsity wrestling team this coming season as a sophomore.

“I went into the tournament hoping to do my best,” he said. “As I kept winning it was in the back of my head that I could win it all, but I tried not to think about that and instead focus on each match.”

Another Apple Valley wrestler, Seth Gross, claimed a freestyle national title at 112 pounds. Gross took third in state last year as a freshman on the Apple Valley team that won a state championship and was named the No. 1 team in the nation. He too, won by pin.

“Both Gannon and Seth have paid their dues,” said Apple Valley wrestling head coach Jim Jackson. “They’ve trained 11 months a year for quite awhile now. They certainly earned it. The sky is the limit for them.”

Hipps said Gross’s performance in Fargo should give him a lot of confidence going forward because he placed ahead of some very accomplished wrestlers.

“Gross has a lot of tools,” said Hipps. “His length causes fits for his opponents. Seth Gross is a name people will be hearing a lot in the coming years.”

Three other Apple Valley wrestlers earned All-American status, which means they finished in the top eight in their respective weight class.

Matt Kelliher, who will wrestle at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next year and was this year’s Mr. Minnesota of wrestling, finished fourth in 135. Brandon Kingsley, who will be a senior at Apple Valley High School next year and has verbally committed to wrestle at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, finished fourth at 140. Steve Keogh, a Minnesota recruit, finished fifth in freestyle at 160 and Jake Waste, who won a state title for Apple Valley last year and will wrestle at the University of Buffalo next year, finished second in Greco-Roman competition at 189.

Other Apple Valley wrestlers who competed include Maolu Woiwor, Dylan Bethke, Daniel Woiwor, Ben Sullivan and Corbin Farrell.

As for Volk, he still has some competition left. He is one of two Minnesotans heading to Colorado Springs, CO, to train at the Olympic Training Center, and then he will be off to Hungary for the World Cadet Championships next month.

“It’s a great opportunity to keep wrestling and to compete against wrestlers from throughout the world, it should be fun,” said Volk.

For Complete Article by Matt Krumrie, Apple Valley Patch

“Last year I was confident I was going to win it, but I ended up falling short,” Brunson said. “This year I knew it was possible, but I tried to focus on being more humble. One match at a time, and I was not concerned about winning, but wrestling my best.”

Brunson won 11 matches during three days to win the 152-pound title at the national freestyle championships in Fargo, N.D., on Saturday.

“It was pretty spectacular,” Churchill coach Scott Kearney said. “This has been part of the process for him and goal of his since he was a little kid. This is the tournament that defines his high school career.”

Brunson is a three-time state wrestling champion who has a chance next year as a senior to become the 21st four-time champion in state history and the first from the Midwestern League. Kearney said that Brunson is only the ninth wrestler from Oregon to win a title at Junior Nationals.

“It feels great and I am real pleased with it, but after all is said and done I look forward to still competing,” Brunson said. “Competing in college and trying to win NCAA titles, things like that. So this is a steppingstone.”

Brunson will have his pick of colleges and said he is still narrowing his choices but hopes to decide by November.

“Before this tournament he was getting a lot of attention from colleges across the country,” Kearney said. “Coaches were coming up there and saying, ‘you won’t have to pay to go to college.’”

Brunson faced Edwin Cooper, a runner-up last year who just graduated from high school in Illinois, in the final, and Cooper won the first period 4-0 in the best-of-three format.

Kearney noted that Cooper had obviously scouted Brunson, so he had to alter his attack.

“You don’t want to lose 4-0 in the first period, but Zac has been there before,” Kearney said. “He’s a cool customer, so I wasn’t worried although I was concerned.”

Brunson won the second period 1-0 and then clinched the title by winning the third 6-0.

“I try to wrestle 20 seconds at a time, so once the first period was over I tried not to think about it,” Brunson said. “The second round comes, and it is a new match for me. Just go out and score points and win the round and not worry about what happened earlier or later.”

Brunson failed to place at the tournament last year.

“After losing last year it was eating at me the whole year wanting to win this,” Brunson said.

Brunson wrestled nearly four matches per day against foes from across the country, including some who were a year ahead of him in school.

“The competition was unbelievable,’ Brunson said. “I wrestled four or five returning All-Americans and four kids I wrestled were state champions. You can’t understand how difficult the tournament is until you have wrestled in it. Not just physically, but mentally it wears on you. The whole time you have to be focused, and when you have a chance to recover physically and mentally, you have to take it. If you focus on the whole 11 matches it will tear you apart.”

For Complete Article by Steve Mims, The Register-Guard

This year’s recipients are Morgan McIntosh of California for boys and Jenna Burkert of New York for girls.

McIntosh, a 2010 ASICS Junior Nationals champion, won three California state high school titles for Calvary Chapel High School. He was named the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner on the national level by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, based upon athletic and academic achievement and community service.

McIntosh is expected to compete this week at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals in freestyle. He will attend Penn State in the fall.

Burkert was fourth at the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, and was a member of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games team. She won the FILA Junior Nationals title this spring and qualified for the Junior World Team at the Body Bar Nationals.

Burkett attended Marquette High School in Michigan, where she is a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) program.

Burkett will not be competing this week at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals, as she is in her final week of training for the Junior World Championships which take place next week in Bucharest, Hungary.

Burkert becomes only the second girl to win the award twice, joining California’s Tatiana Padilla who was honored in 2007 and 2008. No boy has ever won this award twice.

The program began in 1986, when California’s Laurence Jackson was named as the first ASICS High School Boys Wrestler of the Year. With the growth of women’s wrestling, the first ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year was recognized in 2001, with Toccara Montgomery of Ohio receiving the award.

Looking back over the history of the program, the winners have gone on to achieve great things at the higher levels of wrestling.

Olympic champion Henry Cejudo of Colorado was the 2006 boys winner. Others who have made Olympic teams for the United States include boys recipients Oscar Wood of Oregon, Cary Kolat of Pennsylvania, Joe Williams of Illinois and Steve Mocco of New Jersey and girls Toccara Montgomery of Ohio and Ali Bernard of Minnesota.

World medalists who are past winners include girls Montgomery and Padilla, plus boys Kolat and Williams.

Wrestlers who have won multiple NCAA Div. I titles included Kolat, Williams, Mocco and Damion Hahn of New Jersey. Others won an NCAA Div. I title were Alan Fried of Ohio, Jesse Jantzen of New York, Zach Esposito of New Jersey, Dustin Schlatter of Ohio and Troy Nickerson of New York.

Future winners of this award may be competing this weekend in Fargo. A large majority of past winners have either won titles here or have been multiple All-Americans on the Junior or Cadet levels.

For Complete Article by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

He defeated RaVaughn Perkins (Omaha, Neb./RP Nationals), two matches to one, in a best-of-three series to earn a trip to the 2011 Junior World Championships in Bucharest, Romania in late July.

Coleman won the first match, 3-1, 1-0. He scored on a step-out and a gutwrench in the first period, then won the second period with another step-out point.

Perkins claimed bout two, winning in three periods, 0-1, 1-0, 2-0. It went down to the third period, with Perkins on the top in the par terre. If Coleman had defended, he would have won the bout and the series, however, Perkins scored a two-point turn to win the bout.

The third match was not decided until the final seconds of the third period. Coleman won the first period by technical fall, 7-0. Perkins won the second period, 3-0 after he hit a three-point throw. In the final period, Perkins scored a point and was in the top in the par terre position, needing only to avoid being scored upon to win the bout. Coleman got to his feet and scored a push out for the winning point with just three seconds to go. The period ended 1-1, but Coleman won because he scored the final point.

“I went out to wrestle. I tried as hard as I could. It came out my way,” said Coleman. “This is only the second time we have wrestled each other. I won the first time in a hard-fought match. He had this match won. I had to find a way to win.”

The best-of-three series was held because of a Junior World Team Trials qualification procedure in which a returning Junior World medalist moves directly to the Championship finals series, and can delay the series due to injury.

Coleman won a bronze medal at the 2010 Junior World Championships. He was unable to compete at the FILA Junior Nationals due to injury.

Perkins won the FILA Junior Nationals title with a two-match triumph over Old Dominion’s Justin LaValle.

In addition to his Junior World medal in 2010, Coleman earned a spot on Greco-Roman Team USA with a third place at the 2010 World Team Trials. He was fourth at the 2010 U.S. Senior Open.

Perkins won the 2011 Northern Plains Senior Regionals, which earned him a spot at the 2011 Senior World Team Trials. He won the 2010 Junior Nationals Greco-Roman title as a prep star from Nebraska.

“It was a barnburner. For me it’s exciting to have two young gentleman capable of wrestling at the Worlds. Ellis had to win with just five seconds left. It shows you the heart of a champion Ellis had to find a way to win, but it also shows that RaVaughn is not afraid to wrestle anybody,” said National Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson.

The rest of the U.S. Greco-Roman Junior World Team was determined at the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Indiana in May. The U.S. Junior World Team has been in training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, alongside the Senior U.S. World Team.

JUNIOR WORLD TEAM GRECO-ROMAN SPECIAL WRESTLE-OFF
At Colorado Springs, Colo., July 2

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) dec. RaVaughn Perkins, Omaha, Neb. (RP Nationals), 2 matches to 1
Bout One – Coleman dec. Perkins, 3-1, 1-0
Bout Two – Perkins dec. Coleman, 0-1, 1-0, 2-0
Bout Three – Coleman dec. Perkins, 7-0, 0-3, 1-1

And he does all this with metal rods in his spine.

When Crutchmer was 4 years old, he had a serious medical condition that showed up as a birth defect. It prevented him from walking and would require major surgery.

Doctors told the Crutchmer family that Brian wouldn’t walk again and definitely wouldn’t be able to play sports anymore.

They were wrong.

His dad, Tulsa Union wrestling coach Kevin Crutchmer, made him do workouts with his legs, and he walked again. Brian began playing soccer at age 7 and football at age 8, and he began wrestling in the 6th grade with his younger brother Kyle.

Crutchmer now wrestles with metal rods in his spine that were placed there to combat his condition and keep fluid flowing through his spine, but he doesn’t let it faze him on the mat.

“It hurts every once in a while, but I don’t worry about my back.” Crutchmer said.

He is grateful for everything he has been able to accomplish but hasn’t reached his goal: to be better than his brother, Kyle Crutchmer.

Kyle is the 6A state champion at 171 pounds, and he beat OSU signee and two-time state champion Zach Skates of Broken Arrow for that title.

Kyle has received offers from a number of schools, including OU, OSU and Maryland.

“I hope he is better than me — he’s my brother I wish him the best and hope he does well in everything he does,” Kyle Crutchmer said.

Kevin Crutchmer has coached his sons since they began wrestling in the sixth grade, and they have been working in the family’s property management business.

“They’re both hard workers and both of them have been working for me for 8 years,” Kevin Crutchmer said. “They appreciate the finer things in life through working with me.”

Crutchmer is an assistant for Team Oklahoma at Junior Nationals. He tries to play more of a dad role as the kids are preparing for college.

“Up until they were sophomores I coached them pretty heavy, but I listen to a lot of veteran coaches,” Kevin said. “I kind of want to be more of a dad at this point. I let my assistant coaches put in more time with them and I got back in the dad role.”

Tony Cook is the head coach of Team Oklahoma at Junior Duals and is Locust Grove’s wrestling coach.

“Dealing with Brian is a dream,” Cook said. “To see him have the success he has at the level he has makes you feel proud to work with a kid like that.

“Sometimes you have to back him off some. He’s always at ‘full-go’ but sometimes his back won’t allow him to. He’s a guy that won’t let you back him off.”

The brothers may have to separate when college comes as they are gaining interest from different schools, but they both want to stay close to home

“We would like to see them stay close so we could attend and see them,” Kevin Crutchmer said. “But I’ve always told my boys I support their decision as long as it is an educated decision. I would like to see them together but I don’t think it will happen.”

Now the Crutchmers are playing the waiting game until Brian and Kyle both sign and start their new lives in college.

For Article by Tariq Lee, NEWSOK, The Oklahoman

To offer guidance to athletes, coaches and parents, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association has issued a new set of guidelines for safe weight loss by athletes.

They include: using body composition assessments to measure lean body mass versus fat; gradually shedding no more than 1.5 percent of body weight a week; eating a balanced diet that includes all food groups; and losing weight under the supervision of nutrition, health and weight management experts.

“In the performance sports — gymnastics, dance, ballet — they have this huge responsibility to not only do a performance but to look good while they are doing it. It’s a unwritten rule that they have to be a certain weight, and they get a lot of pressure, not just from dance masters but from the public’s expectations and themselves,” said Paula Sammarone Turocy, lead author of the guidelines and chair of the department of athletic training at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. “We also see it in traditional sports — jockeys, wrestlers, boxers. They all have weight requirements. If they don’t make the weight, they don’t compete.”

And the pressure to shed weight cuts across all sports, she added. Many cyclists, swimmers, runners, soccer players and even football players believe that losing weight will mean they can run, swim and jump faster.

Getting down to an ideal body weight to improve performance isn’t a problem in and of itself, she said. It’s when athletes go to extremes that their drive can backfire. “When it’s done improperly or done to extremes it does interfere with performance,” she explained.

The new guidelines were to be presented Monday at the annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association in New Orleans and are published in the June issue of the Journal of Athletic Training.

Ashleigh Clare-Kearney has been there. As a high school student, she was a standout gymnast, in more ways than one. She was powerful and graceful, although she was 5-foot-4 and weighed 155 pounds.

“I didn’t fit the stereotypical frame, which is 4 feet, 10 inches, 110 pounds,” Clare-Kearney said. “I was told, ‘You need to lose weight. You will be viewed as a risk. You are not going to be able to compete in elite international competitions.’ People said I wouldn’t make it because of my size.”

She defied their predictions. As a gymnast at Louisiana State University (LSU), she became the NCAA national champion in vault and floor, captain of the team and a NCAA Woman of the Year finalist.

Yet she couldn’t deny it — slimming down would help her performance. She’d put on weight when she got to college, and she knew that carrying less heft might allow her to vault even higher.

Working with the athletic trainers and the coaches at LSU, she got down to about 145 pounds by focusing on nutrition. “I was never going to be 110 pounds. That’s not the way I’m built,” she said. “What really resonated with me was the way the athletic training staff understood that. They said, ‘Let’s be realistic.’”

For Clare-Kearney, that included keeping a food diary, making sure to always eat breakfast, drinking water instead of sweetened beverages and eating more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods.

But not every athlete manages to handle the pressure to lose weight so well.

Before competitions, some wrestlers, jockeys and boxers intentionally dehydrate themselves by exercising in heavy clothing and restricting certain foods and fluids to lose weight quickly.

There are even anecdotal reports that elite, international athletes have their blood removed by IV prior to weigh-in. The blood is then re-infused before competition.

Among wrestlers at least, intentional dehydration may be less popular than it used to be due to changes in the rules from the high school level on up that call for urine tests to detect hydration status at weigh-in. In 2006, for example, the National Federation of State High School Associations not only adopted the hydration status rules, but also minimum body fat requirements (greater than 7 percent in boys and 12 percent in girls) in order to compete.

Not only can rapid weight loss hurt performance over the short term because athletes simply don’t have the energy to perform at their best, but experts add that restricting calories can also have long-term consequences.

Over time, dietary restrictions can impact the endocrine system, hindering the growth and functioning of muscles and bones. A poor diet can also impair thyroid function, lower metabolism and hormone production and suppress the immune system.

Clare-Kearney, now a law student at Southern University Law Center of Baton Rouge and a volunteer coach for her alma mater, urges young athletes to consider the consequences of their diets.

“Food really does fuel your body. Your body can only handle so much without the proper fuel and nutrition,” she said. “And there is life beyond gymnastics. We also have to keep our body healthy for life after gymnastics.”

Article by Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay, courtesy of USA Today

Pvt. Ryan J. Larson of Friendship died Wednesday when insurgents attacked his unit in Kandahar Province, the Department of Defense said Thursday. Larson had been in the U.S. Army for just a year and was deployed to Afghanistan in April.

Larson was senior class president before graduating in 2010, Adams-Friendship High School Principal Timothy Hodkiewicz said.

“He had a quality of quiet leadership, common sense, very personable, not the too-talkative type,” Hodkiewicz told the Wisconsin State Journal. “He had the respect of everybody. A top-notch gentleman from top to bottom.”

Larson often wore a shirt with the recruiting slogan “Army Strong” and signed up for the service while still in high school, joining immediately after graduation, the principal recalled.

“He always wanted to join the Army and he enlisted as soon as he could,” Hodkiewicz said.

Students and staff were shaken by Larson’s death, and the school has made three counselors available, the principal said.

Shawn Groshek, the Adams-Friendship High School wrestling coach, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Larson “always seemed to be having a good time.”

“If you weren’t, he was going to have you have a good time,” Groshek said.

Larson wrestled in his junior and senior years at high school in the 103-pound weight class. Groshek called him a successful wrestler, with a record of 56-28 in two years.

For Full Article By Associated Press, PostCrescent.com

The wrestling team at Adams-Friendship High School is selling ribbon magnets to honor Ryan Larson. Larson graduated from AFHS in 2010. He was a member of the wrestling team. Larson, 19, was killed last week while serving in Afghanistan with his unit which is based out of Alaska. Besides wrestling, Larson was class president, played in the band and ran cross country. Coaches say he had an infectious personality. Proceeds from the ribbons will go towards the purchase of a permanent memorial in honor of Larson that will go up at the high school.

For more information contact:

• Tyler Burrows 715-228-2212

• Trevor McManus 608-339-2422

• Nick Davis  608-474-0120

For Article & Video on Memorial

Garth J. Lakitsky, 18, of Tamaqua, was arrested on June 7 and charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and possession of alcohol by a minor.

Lakitsky (No. 9 @ 215) went undefeated in the 215-pound weight class and became the first state champion wrestler in Tamaqua High history. He will play football next year at Lackawanna College, a two-year junior college in Scranton.

His wrestling season earned him The Morning Call’s 2A Wrestler of the Year and the Christian Luciano Pinner Award, which recognizes the District 11 wrestler with the most pins during the season.

According to an Ocean City police report:

An officer spotted Lakitsky sitting on a park bench on the Ocean City Boardwalk and holding an orange water bottle at around 11:25 p.m. on June 7. When Lakitsky saw the officer, he tried to hide the water bottle behind his back. The officer approached Lakitsky and asked him what he had in the bottle.

Lakitsky responded he found the bottle on the bench and then handed it to the officer. The officer smelled alcohol in the bottle and questioned Lakitsky about the water bottle, but he refused to talk.

When asked, Lakitsky gave the officer a fake name. The officer asked Lakitsky to stand up off the bench and turn around, because he was being detained until he found out his real name.

Lakitsky said he would not turn around for the officer and then shoved him and began running. Two officers gave chase, and lost Lakitsky momentarily.

Lakitsky was captured about four blocks away.

For Complete Article by Manuel Gamiz Jr., The Morning Call

Mt. Blue High School in Farmington will host the second leg of the event on June 23 at 6 p.m.

The venue at the home of the Cougars will feature 15 wrestlers from Mountain Valley, Oak Hill and Dirigo.

The Cornhuskers will also compete at Winslow on June 21, Morse in Bath on June 25 and Marshwood on June 27. The exchange was created in 1985 and is the longest running exchange between two states in the country.

The two states have alternated hosting each other, with the visiting team typically wrestling at four different sites.

The Mt. Blue stop will be led by Mountain Valley three-time state champion Ryan Burgess (118), state champion Christian Durland (200) and two-time finalist Taylor Carey (175). Oak Hill will send Keith Madore and former state champion Craig Morrill (155). Mt. Blue state medalists Khalil Newbill (120), Nick Hyde (130) and Joey Metcalf at 220 will also participate in Farmington.

”I think this is a great opportunity for the Farmington area to see some high-end wrestling,” Mount Blue coach Bob O’Connor said. “So many (Mt. Blue) wrestlers have been a part of the series and now it is our turn to give back. Picking a team has been a challenge due to the amount of wrestlers who wrestle only in the winter. I think I have put together a good group of wrestlers and there should be some dogfights in the mix.”

Dirigo state champion D.J. Webber (159) will also be at Mt. Blue, along with incoming freshmen, Pine Tree Wrestling League champions Taylor Craig of Mt. Blue and Nate Boucher (125) of Mountain Valley, Taylor Pomerleau of Oak Hill and Drew Blanchet (135) of Mt. Blue.

Competing at Morse are Lisbon’s Forrest Cornell, Mike McNamara and Matt Nicholson, and Connor Sheehan and Jake Thurston from Fryeburg Academy.

“I think the positives are (numerous),” said Maine Team Leader Shawn Guest, who wrestled at and graduated from Mt. Blue. “Our kids get to share with kids from Nebraska about how they wrestle and how they live. Of course, they are still kids.”

Cornell, a four-time state champion, earned All-American Honorable Mention by Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine last month. Experience might be an asset to Sheehan, Burgess, McNamara, Morrill and Madore, who each toured Nebraska last summer. The Cornhusker wrestlers are well-known for aggressive takedowns and securing legs to control matches.

There’s a difference between the two states in their ability to draw the best competition. Nebraska has 210 schools offering wrestling in four classes, compared to approximately 55 Maine schools in three classes.

For Full Article by Bob McPhee, SunJournal.com

The longtime ambassador of the sport in which he excelled as a competitor and coach played a key role in unifying the efforts of the sport’s top governing bodies and last week it became official.

USA Wrestling, National Wrestling Coaches Association and National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum announced June 8 in Stillwater, Okla., they have agreed to form an alliance to protect, promote and strengthen wrestling at all levels across the country.

The effort is in its infancy and will likely expand in the future.

“It’s a good start,” said Gable, repeating it for emphasis. “Whatever is next will involve more of the wrestling world. Whatever is next will involved little crucial segments that are so beneficial or something needed for the benefit of the sport.”

NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer praised Gable for playing a vital role in the move. He also said that as much as Gable as already contributed to the sport his best might still be ahead of him.

“He’s just incredibly focused,” said Moyer, who joined USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender and National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Executive Director Lee Roy Smith for the official announcement. “He has a magical way of pulling wrestling together. He deserves a lot of credit in the formation of this alliance.”

Gable was just as complimentary of the executive directors from each agency. He said they have become very compatible.

“They are on the same page,” Gable said. “They may not have always been there, but they have evolved into that and everybody feels comfortable with everybody else.”

Gable’s involvement became more prevalent after he was no longer under contract with the UI, beginning his retirement Jan. 1. Members of the organizations wanted a little more separation from his work with the school and became a little more welcoming.

“I think once I stepped away from the University of Iowa, being under contract, then they were actually more comfortable with me from the sport’s point of view,” Gable said. “Not that they didn’t believe I had full intentions of being a catalyst for them, helping put this together.”

Gable continued to say, “It’s like I’m coaching in a different realm. Instead of coaching athletes, I’m helping coach the sport (and) the organizations. That doesn’t mean they’re going to follow everything I say, but they feel more comfortable with a leader that really has passion and that has done some extraordinary things for the sport and doesn’t plan on wanting to stop, knowing that I’d like to see us go to greater heights.”

This move was desperately needed. NCAA Division I programs are dwindling at an alarming rate, despite some signs of growth with 19 new programs being added the last year at lower levels, including in NAIA, and high school participation numbers increasing by 40,000 the last decade, according to Moyer.

UNC Greensboro, Liberty, Cal State-Fullerton and Brown University cut wrestling programs after the 2010-11 season and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, which was expected to make the move from Division II to I for the upcoming season was cut after winning its third straight national team title and sixth in the last eight years in March.

“It was a very difficult spring with the elimination of four NCAA Division I programs,” Moyer said. “It had been an extraordinarily challenging spring. Not that we haven’t had other springs like that, but the bottom line is we’re down to 78 Division I programs.”

The organizations will remain separate entities, carrying out their regular roles in wrestling. They will collaborate efforts in promoting and developing wrestling and will team for a goal to better the sport. The focus will begin at the high school and college levels.

“USA Wrestling stands proud and committed to join forces with these outstanding organizations to strengthen our planet’s greatest sport,” Bender said in a news release. “We all have a significant responsibility to work together for the greater good of wrestling. We are confident that this alliance will serve our sport well and we work hard to eliminate the duplication of efforts and create efficiencies to move wrestling forward.”

Gable said that will be achieved step-by-step, likely reaching out to include other groups who share their aspirations for wrestling. He said more meetings will come, finalizing the next step, but a move won’t be made that could jeopardize the stability of the alliance’s foundation.

“If you build it strong, it holds up,” Gable said. “If you jump to one thing for an immediate impact that’s good, but at the same time it could crumble fast. We don’t want anything crumbling. Whatever we’re going to do we’re going to do to the best of our ability.”

Expansion could take some time due to the many groups and who contribute to the sport. Gable said they are too numerous to write down on paper and get a flowing structure. He said they want everyone in the sport to feel good about their position in building it up. Unification leads to strength, which includes a stronger voice that might lead to more ears listening.

“This alliance will make good decisions and not push anybody around,” Gable said. “Just become a more effective voice and that will help our sport.

“This alliance is about helping the sport, but not at the expense of other organizations or anything else. Everything needs to get done the right way and in a fair way.”

To Continue Reading Article by Easterniowasportsandrec.com

It was a memorable, yet unproductive meeting for Sawyer, who became one of Sanderson’s 159 victims.

Sanderson went 159-0 in his four-year wrestling career at Iowa State, winning four national titles. Sawyer, who competed for Rider and Seton Hall and is now the head coach at Delsea Regional High School, was a two-time national qualifier.

They will be on the same wrestling mat again next week when Sanderson — now the coach of NCAA champion Penn State — will be at Delsea with the majority of his coaching staff and title-winning team.

The Penn State program will be putting on a three-day clinic beginning Monday, the second consecutive year the Nittany Lions are making a stop at Delsea. The clinic is for wrestlers in kindergarten through 12th grade.

“Last year was awesome,” said Sawyer. “They had about their entire coaching staff and 95 percent of their team here. There was a lot of technique being shown. The only way you can get more D-I All-Americans in the same room is at the national tournament.”

The clinic is being jointly hosted by Delsea and Seagulls Wrestling Club. Seagulls coach Pete DiBiase, a former head coach at West Deptford, was able to use his contacts at Penn State to bring the team to South Jersey last year, according to Sawyer.

“They hit a couple high schools up and down the East Coast and they were looking for a place in South Jersey,” said Sawyer. “It kind of fell into our lap. We had never done a clinic before, but you can’t turn down Cael Sanderson.”

After Iowa State, Sanderson went on to win a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He led the Nittany Lions to the NCAA title in just his second year as the coach in Happy Valley.

Sanderson returned to competitive wrestling this past weekend and earned a spot on the U.S. team at the World Team Trials by sweeping through the 184-pound class — just days after being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

He will compete at the 2011 freestyle world championships in Instanbul, Turkey, in September.

Sawyer isn’t surprised by much Sanderson does after experiencing wrestling him first-hand.

“It was at the Keystone Classic at Penn, and I came up a little short,” recalled Sawyer. “He beat me pretty good, but he didn’t pin me. It was an opportunity to wrestle one of the best American wrestlers of all-time.

To Continue Reading Article by Bill Evans, NJ.com

And after last week’s victory at the World Team Trials, he’s one step closer to making that goal a reality.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials (where the Olympic wrestling team is determined) in 2004 and 2008, Ruiz came in as the favorite in Greco-Roman style and was upset by lower-ranked opponents in the finals.

His loss to Adam Wheeler three years ago was particularly devastating.

“It still hurts losing to him,” Ruiz said. “It’s just one of those things — he figured me out. But I think I’m a better wrestler now.”

At last week’s World Team Trials in Oklahoma City, Ruiz swept John Lorenz in the finals to qualify for his sixth world team. The former Nebraska All-American will now look to the World Championships in September as his best, and perhaps final, opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.

“I think I have a great chance, as long as I stay healthy,” said Ruiz, 31, after his victory in Oklahoma City. “There’s always the possibility of losing, but I’ve faced it before.”

Ruiz has wanted to compete against the world’s best ever since attending his first Junior World Championship in Finland. From there, he became a three-time state wrestling champion at Taylorsville High School and a two-time All-American at Nebraska.

But his loss at the ’08 U.S. Olympic Trials was a huge disappointment. Afterward, he took a yearlong hiatus from wrestling and moved his family to Evanston, Wyo. Ruiz worked in the oil industry to pay the bills. The hours were long and the conditions were often extreme — especially during the winter.

Ruiz said the money was good but he wasn’t enjoying what he was doing, so he left the oil industry to make another run at the Olympics.

He won’t be the only local wrestler competing in Istanbul this September. Newly inducted Hall of Fame wrestler Cael Sanderson stunned the wrestling world by returning to competition after a seven-year absence.

Click To Continue Reading Article By Tim Peterson, SaltLakeTribune.com

The campaign is called: Beyond the Walls: Reaching Tomorrow’s Wrestlers Today. It was announced during a special press conference on the first day of 2011 Honors Week at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

“Several years ago, our board went through a lengthy process of developing a long range plan that would advance the Hall’s mission well into the 21st century. We are announcing a campaign this week that will fund these long range priorities and move us into the future,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Board of Governors has identified and adopted four initiatives which this campaign is seeking to fund.

As part of this plan, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s museums in Stillwater, Okla., and Waterloo, Iowa are slated for renovation. Both museums will be reconfigured and redesigned to include the latest interactive displays to entertain visitors, honor champions, engage youth and, most importantly, expand outreach. Always present in that decision was a passion to perpetuate the future of our sport.

“We are going to package our sports heritage with new media and technology and deploy it to target audiences everywhere,” said Smith.

INITIATIVE I – Expand and update the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

Our urgency is not just to renovate, but to reinvent this tribute to the greatest sport on earth. We’ll do this by attracting younger visitors with interactive exhibits and vivid media. Imagine children walking through the renovated Hall of Honors … by way of a technique theater encountering exhibits about heroic everyday Americans who became Olympic and NCAA wrestling legends. Touch-screen displays and movies will enable them to relive thousands of years beginning with the first Olympic Games held in Greece.

“We are excited to announce that we have raised $2.3 million toward the $3.4 million renovation of the Museum in Stillwater. We anticipate completing our funding drive for this initiative by the end of this year,” said Stan Zeamer, Chair of the Beyond the Walls Campaign Committee.

INITIATIVE II – Renovate the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum

The Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, is ready for a modern look. The focus will be on engaging children with interactive exhibits, artifacts and media. What will remain here is an impressive, existing outreach program that gathers hundreds of children annually from nearby communities to on-site wrestling clinics and programs, truly in the spirit of Dan Gable.

“We plan to upgrade the Dan Gable Museum with the same technology in Waterloo, Iowa that we have in our Stillwater facility. Iowa and Dan Gable are authentic to our sports heritage,” said Smith.

INITIATIVE III – Outreach

With this initiative, we take wrestling beyond the walls of our museums – way, way beyond the walls. We are going to digitize our museums – our photographs, our films, our records and written words and then broadcast it – all the riveting intensity of two interlocked wrestlers and all the inspiring stories of our champions into cyberspace so that anyone anywhere can tap into the rush of wrestling that has captured generations.

“We intend to fund this item by year end,” said Smith. “The focus on our renovation will be to incorporate digital technology into our visitor experience and package our sports heritage with new media so we can expand our outreach to target audiences everywhere.”

INITIATIVE IV – Mobile Museum

We will take the Hall of Fame on the road, spreading the word about wrestling on the back of a burly 18-wheeler. Interactive exhibits, live demonstrations and storytelling will be taken to audiences that we could not have reached before. Young and old wrestlers will be able to “weigh in” and see who they’d wrestle from a list of past champions in their division. The Mobile Museum will have its own interactive “trivial pursuits” for wrestling. The big-rig will also carry a set of mats so young people can watch demonstrations of hall of fame wrestlers and step on the mat themselves for a hint of the sport’s excitement.

“Our goal is to equip a mobile museum with a state of art visitor experience. A 52 foot big rig will take our sport’s heritage across the country over at least a three year period. We intend to secure the funds for this initiative by the end of 2012,” said Smith.

The leaders of the wrestling community have expressed support of these initiatives, and are excited about how they can impact the sport moving forward.

“Once these initiatives are funded and implemented, it will allow the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum to reach over three million people around the country on an annual basis,” said Smith.

For Full Article by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame

But Hall may be best known for what many wrestling observers call the best Greco-Roman match they have ever seen.

That bout was the epic battle between Hall and Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

The best-of-3 finals series at 55 kg/121 lbs. was deadlocked at one match apiece. Hall won the first match of the series and Paulson took the second.

Following the second match, Hall had a problem.

“I messed up my neck and I couldn’t turn my head,” Hall said Wednesday night on the eve of his induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “I immediately went up into the stands where my wife was sitting. My brother-in-law was up there. He was a chiropractor and I asked him to crack my neck because I couldn’t move it. I got adjusted and luckily I was able to move it for the third match.”

Hall came back and outlasted Paulson in a thrilling, marathon battle that lasted a whopping 16 minutes, 54 seconds.

“It was an all-out war,” Hall said. “There was so much intensity with both guys attacking. We were both trying to score and not playing it safe. I remember celebrating after I won and then looking over and seeing Brandon on his knees. I went over to him and said, ‘We gave the crowd what they wanted to see. I love you and I’m sorry. I felt it was my best chance to win Olympic gold at this weight. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’”

The crowd of 5,000 fans awarded both wrestlers with a standing ovation. That match epitomized the legendary career of Hall, one of the toughest and most relentless wrestlers in American history.

“That was an unbelievable wrestling experience, to watch those two guys battle,” U.S. Assistant National Coach Momir Petkovic said. “I’ve been in the sport for 50 years and that’s one of the moments I will never forget. That was such an intense match between two great competitors who wanted to make the team so badly. It was beautiful, just beautiful to be able to witness that match.”

A few days after the match, Hall called Paulson and asked him to be his training partner for the Olympics.

“I did it out of respect,” he said. “The guy’s a warrior and he knows how to win. It was great. I really appreciated him taking time away from his family to train with me. I know hard that is, especially when you are not competing.”

Hall followed two older brothers into the sport in his native Wisconsin.

“When my brothers first became interested in wrestling my mom thought it was fake because of what she saw on TV,” Hall said with a laugh. “She was like, ‘You ain’t doing that.’ Then finally she allowed my two older brothers to wrestle.”

Hall started competing in wrestling when he was just 5 years old. He started out wrestling older competitors in the first- and second-grade division.

“I don’t even remember how I did, to be honest, I just remember that I fell in love with the sport and I always wanted to be on the mat,” Hall said. “I looked up to my older brothers and I wanted to be like them. I wanted to achieve what they achieved. I had so much energy as a kid and it was a great way for me to use that.”

His first-grade teachers asked Hall and his classmates what they wanted to be when he grew up and Hall was quick with his response.

“I wanted to be an Olympian,” he said. “I knew at that point that’s what I wanted to do.”

Hall made three Olympic teams in Greco-Roman wrestling. He competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games. He made seven World Teams. He won a World bronze medal in 1994.

“Dennis was a great champion and a great competitor,” Petkovic said. “He was so intense and such a tough wrestler. He definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. It’s a well-deserved honor, that’s for sure.”

Winning the World title in 1995 was the high point in a career filled with memorable moments for Hall. He is one of only five Americans to capture a World title in Greco-Roman wrestling.

“I always wanted to be the best wrestler in the World,” Hall said. “To achieve that goal, it was something I always dreamed about.”

The father of four, Hall continues to give back to the sport as a coach.

One of his top wrestlers is Ben Provisor, who won April’s U.S. Open and will be the No. 1 seed at 74 kg/163 lbs. this weekend’s World Team Trials in Oklahoma City.

“I started working with Ben when he was real young and I remember Ben was crying after his first practice because it was so hard,” Hall said. “He stuck with it, and just kept working hard and kept improving. I knew early on he was something special. Ben hates to lose, like any good athlete. He has the mentality that he is going to find a way to win. I can’t go with him anymore. He’s too big and strong.”

Hall is part of another strong Hall of Fame induction class that includes 2004 Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson, now the head coach at Penn State.

“Going in with Cael is a great honor,” Hall said. “I wish him the best if he decides to compete again. I think it will be great for the United States if he does. He’s going to make other guys train harder, that’s for sure. He’s got what it takes if he wants to do it. My hope is that he competes again. It was fun watching him when he did compete. If it’s in his heart and he’s having fun with it, why not come back and wrestle? I would love to see him wrestle again.”

As Hall prepared to enter the Hall of Fame, he took time to reflect on the life of former U.S. teammate Lindsey Durlacher. A 2006 World bronze medalist and member of the 2007 World championship team, Durlacher died Saturday at age 36.

Durlacher’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday.

“The passing of Lindsey is a tragedy,” Hall said. “I just feel bad for his family. My prayers and thoughts go out to Lindsey’s family. I lost my brother when I was 17. I know how tough that is.”

For Full Article by Craig Sesker of USA Wrestling

In the case of Dan Gable, you invite 1,000 of his closest friends to dinner, have a handful of friends offer speeches, and announce that a statue will be erected in his honor at the arena where he coached.

The head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa from 1976-1997 was honored at a “Gable’s Gold: A Celebration of Dan Gable’s Legacy” retirement dinner at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center outside Iowa City Saturday night.

In addition to the tributes, it was announced that the 1972 Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler will be honored with a seven-foot bronze statue outside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the Iowa campus.

The statue, showing Gable in a classic coaching pose, will be sculpted by Larry Nowlan, the same artist commissioned by the school to create the Nile Kinnick statue outside Iowa’s football stadium named in honor of the Heisman-winning Hawkeye quarterback who died during World War II at age 24, and will have the same look and finish. The sculpture is expected to be in place when Carver-Hawkeye hosts the 2012 USA Wrestling Olympic Trials in April 2012.

Among the speakers serving tribute to the Waterloo, Iowa native: Gable’s high school coach Bob Siddens; current Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands (who wrestled for Gable at Iowa); current University of Minnesota coach J Robinson (who worked as an assistant for Gable at Iowa); Iowa State teammate (and fellow Olympic gold medalist) Ben Peterson; present Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta, and former Iowa AD Bump Elliott.

Although Gable hadn’t officially coached in a number of years, he remained on the University of Iowa payroll as an administrator until the end of 2011.

Dan Mack Gable was a three-time Iowa high school state wrestling champ at Waterloo West, and a two-time NCAA champ at Iowa State University in 1968 and 1969. He won the gold medal in freestyle at the 1972 Munich Olympics. After serving for four years as an assistant to Iowa wrestling coach Gary Kurdelmeier, Gable was promoted to head coach in 1976. In 21 years at the helm of the Hawkeye mat program, Gable compiled a career record of 355-21-5, garnering 21 Big Ten conference team titles and ten NCAA team crowns. He coached 152 All-Americans, 106 Big Ten Champions, 45 national champions, and 10 Olympians — including four gold, one silver and three bronze medalists.

Durlacher was at home recovering from a surgery on Wednesday. He had suffered a broken sternum in a snowmobile accident in February. No details are available on the cause of his death.

Arrangements have not yet been finalized. USA Wrestling will share the information as soon as it becomes available. Preliminary plans are for a memorial service in the Chicago area, where Durlacher grew up and where he has family. He had numerous friends across the United States and around the world.

“The wrestling community is extremely shocked and saddened by the loss of Lindsey Durlacher,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We lost a true champion today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.”

For the last year, Durlacher has served as a resident coach at the RiNo Sport Galleri in Denver.

“Lindsey was a close friend that I have known for over 15 years and the recent news was tragic. His loss was sudden and unexpected and not only was he a friend but he was also a cherished part of the RiNo Team. We will miss his presence on a daily basis and offer our deepest sympathy to those closest to him. We will cherish his life and success both on and off the mat,” said Ryan Tobin of RiNo Sport Galleri.

Durlacher won his World Greco-Roman bronze medal at 55 kg/121 lbs. at the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China. He placed fifth at the 2007 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, helping lead the United States to its first-ever World Team Title in Greco-Roman wrestling. He was also a member of the 2005 U.S. World Team.

He won the 2006 U.S. Open and was a runner-up in the event five times. Durlacher was a 2003 Pan American Championships silver medalist, and won a silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games competing up a weight class.

Among the major events he won were the Dave Schultz Memorial International, the New York AC International, the Sunkist Kids International, the Slovenia Grand Prix and others. For many years, Durlacher was a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Continue Reading Full Article by By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling