June 18, 2013

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Wrestling scores an escape in Olympic fight

May 29, 2013 By

The sport of wrestling is one of three sports selected as finalists for inclusion in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. Iowa is home to some of the most devoted wrestling fans in the world and many were stunned in February when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that wrestling be removed as a core sport for the 2020 Olympic Games.

The IOC Executive Board voted Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Russia to include wrestling, squash and baseball/softball on the short list for inclusion in 2020. A final vote by the entire IOC General Assembly is scheduled from September 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Only one of the sports will be included in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. Wrestling has been a part of the Olympic Games since its inception in the 7th century B.C.

The sport was also part of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896.

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Des Moines official says economic impact of wrestling meet on target for projections

March 26, 2013 By
Wells-Fargo

Wrestling fans filled Wells Fargo Arena for the NCAA national tournament.

Thousands of people from across the country were in Iowa’s capital city last week for the NCAA Wrestling Championships and the people who helped bring the event to Des Moines say the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Greg Edwards is President and CEO of the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“I think this has put Des Moines on the map for major, major events,” Edwards said.

“I know the NCAA staff was extremely pleased with what we did here and the fans who attended the tournament were extremely pleased. I think we have a real good shot at getting the wrestling tournament back and perhaps some even bigger events down the road.”

Prior to the start of the tournament last Thursday, Edwards pegged the economic impact of the event at $15 million. “We ran some numbers late last week as to what we were projecting to have in and most of those numbers are holding true,” Edwards said.

“We will reevaluate that later this week when we get some further data put together, but for right now, $15 million is where we stand.” Just over 16,000 fans filled Wells Fargo Arena to watch three days of wrestling. Tickets for the event sold out in roughly 15 minutes last March. Oklahoma City will host next year’s tournament.

Host cities for following years have yet to be determined, but Edwards believes Des Moines will be in the running. “We’ll submit future wrestling bids again later this summer,” Edwards said. “It’s our understanding the NCAA will put out their bid specifications and request for proposals sometime in late June and we’ll have to have those back to them sometime in August.”

Iowa State University served as the host school for this year’s tournament. Edwards noted, in addition to a sold-out arena, over 20,700 people passed through the doors of the adjacent Hy-Vee Hall to attend a “Fan Festival.”

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World Food Prize president hopes to draw in wrestling fans

March 22, 2013 By
Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug

The home of the World Food Prize in Des Moines is open extended hours Saturday in hopes people from around the country in town the for the college wrestling tournament will stop in.

 World Food Prize president, Kenneth Quinn, says Cresco native and 1970 Noebel Peace Prize winner, Norman Borlaug, had the idea for the World Food Prize. But Borlaug was a wrestler before he became a famous scientist.

“I want everybody who is here for the N-C-two-A championships to know that Dr. Norman E. Borlaug is the NCAA wrestler who saved a billion lives,” Quinn say. Borlaug wrestled at the University of Minnesota and earned degrees in forestry, and later a doctorate in plant pathology.

Borlaug won the Nobel Peace prize for developing a strain of wheat that saved so many from starvation. “I would argue, that of all the athletes who have every played a collegiate sport — at all levels ever since the first sporting event was held — Dr. Borlaug is probably the person who has the greatest achievement in his life,” Quinn says.

The Hall of Laureates which is home to the World Food Prize, will be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday for tours of the building.

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Two Hawkeyes into NCAA wrestling semifinals

March 22, 2013 By

Just two Iowa Hawkeyes advanced to tonight’s semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis has an update from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines: Audio  1:32 

Wells-Fargo-wrestling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iowa’s two-time national champion at 125, Matt McDonough, lost his quarterfinal round match today in overtime. Mark Ballweg, Ethan Lofthouse and Mike Evans also lost in the quarters.

But, Derek St John at 157 and Tony Ramos at 133, advanced to the semifinals. Ramos scored a 6-1 victory over Jonathon Morrison of Oklahoma State. Tonight, he’ll now face Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff, who tends to wrestle defensively, according to Ramos.

“It’s hard to wrestle a guy who goes back, back, back…but we’ve figured it out. We’re going to put up a lot of points. You have to make him wrestle you,” Ramos said. “I had to make Morrison wrestle me.”

Northern Iowa has one semifinalist. David Bonin, who enter the tournament unseeded at 157, became an All-American this afternoon while winning his 100th career match. Three Panthers remain in contention for All-American honors in the wrestleback bracket. Iowa State will not have a semifinalist, but four Cyclones are active in wrestlebacks.

Semifinal round action begins at 6 p.m.

Team Standings (after quarterfinals)
1. Penn State 77.5
2. Oklahoma State 65.5
3. Minnesota 49.5
4. Iowa 39
5. Missouri 38.5

Complete results: www.ncaa.com/championships/wrestling/d1#!championship_br_home>

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Iowa in 4th place after opening round of NCAA wrestling tourney (audio)

March 21, 2013 By
Iowa’s Ethan Lofthouse (left) faces Iowa State’s Boaz Beard at 184. Lofthouse won the match 8-2.

Iowa’s Ethan Lofthouse (left) faces Iowa State’s Boaz Beard at 184. Lofthouse won the match 8-2.

Two-time defending champion Penn State has the lead after the first session of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines.

Audio: Pat Curtis NCAA wrestling report - 1:28.

Here are the team scores following the opening round:
1. Penn State – 14.5
2. Oklahoma State – 13
3. Minnesota – 11
4. Iowa – 10

The Iowa Hawkeyes got bonus points from Tony Ramos, the #2 seed at 133. Ramos scored a first period pin over his opening round opponent from Bloomsburg.

“Obviously, I want my (individual) national title, but I also want that team title,” Ramos said. “I’ve been chasing one down since I was in high school – always taking second or third. It would mean a lot to me to get that team title too.”

All four of Northern Iowa’s wrestlers won their opening matches. The Panthers’ Levi Wolfensperger had his head wrapped in tape five seconds into his match as his opponent’s teeth cut into his scalp.

UNI’s Levi Wolfensperger required stitches to a wound on his head following his opening round pin.

UNI’s Levi Wolfensperger required stitches to a wound on his head following his opening round pin.

Wolfensperger responded with a first period pin. “He cut me open pretty bad and I have to go get stitches here soon,” Wolfensperger said following the match.

“I just wanted to get off that mat and get rid of that tape. It was bothering me pretty bad. It was a good start to the tournament. We’re always looking for falls…get in and get out, that’s all I want to do.”

UNI, Iowa State, and Oregon State are tied for 5th in the team race with nine points. Session II of the NCAA Wrestling Championships gets underway at 6 p.m.

NCAA Wrestling first round (Iowa, UNI, Iowa State results)

Iowa:
125 – #3 Matt McDonough WON 10-2 over Ben Willeford (Cleveland St)
133 – #2 Tony Ramos WON by 1st period FALL over Nick Wilcox (Bloomsburg)
141 – #7 Mark Ballweg WON 3-0 over Daniel Neff (Lock Haven)
157 – #2 Derek St. John WON 9-3 over Matthew Frisch (Citadel)
165 – #10 Nick Moore LOST 5-2 to Michael Moreno (ISU)
174 – #3 Mike Evans WON 2-0 over Craig Kelliher (Central Michigan)
184 – #12 Ethan Lofthouse WON 8-2 over Boaz Beard (ISU)
197 – Nathan Burak LOST 10-2 to #1 Dustin Kilgore (Kent St)
285 – #6 Bobby Telford WON 8-1 over Joe Stolfi (Bucknell)
UNI:
133 – #9 Levi Wolfensperger WON by 1st period FALL over Anthony Elias (Davidson)
141 – Joey Lazor WON 12-4 over Bryan Pearsall (Penn St)
157 – David Bonin WON 1-0 over Bobby Barnhisel (Navy)
184 – #6 Ryan Loder WON 4-0 over Cody Reed (Binghamton)
Iowa State:
141 – Luke Goettl LOST 12-3 to #8 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota)
149 – Max Mayfield LOST 11-0 to Eric Grajales (Michigan)
165 – Michael Moreno WON 5-2 over Nick Moore (Iowa)
174 – Tanner Weatherman WON 6-4 over #10 Daniel Yates (Michigan)
184 – Boaz Beard LOST 8-2 to Ethan Lofthouse (Iowa)
197 – #6 Kyven Gadson WON by 1st period FALL over Mario Gonzalez (Illinois)
285 – Matthew Gibson WON Blake Herrin (American)

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Iowa coach not worried about team’s attitude for NCAA wrestling tourney

March 19, 2013 By

Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands says the Hawkeyes will be ready for Thursday’s start of the NCAA Championships in Des Moines. The Hawkeyes will be looking to bounce back after placing a disappointing third in the tam race at the Big Ten Championships.

Iowa also failed to crown an individual champion. “I don’t think our guys struggle with attitude issues, I think it’s a matter of doing what you do to get the last peak or edge out of you,” Brands says. He says everything else you do is geared toward this event.

Brands hopes a partisan Hawkeye crowd at Wells Fargo Arena will be a plus for his team. He says the fans expectations won’t have dropped at all for this national tournament.

Iowa will be looking to improve upon last year’s third place finish at the NCAA meet. “We have capable guys, nine going, and that’s an improvement over a year ago. You don’t like going with less than 10, but nine is better than eight. The path has been laid in front of them at each weight, the brackets are out, the seeds are out and one match at a time and do what you do best,” Brands says.

Penn State is favored to win a third straight team title.

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Wartburg coach says pending retirement doesn’t change championship preparation

March 15, 2013 By

The Wartburg wrestling team opens the Division III wrestling championships today in Cedar Rapids as the favorite to win the school’s tenth national title. This will be the final national tournament for Knights coach Jim Miller, who is retiring after this season.

Miller says he’s tried to approach this year’s championships just like every other year. “Same thing every time, and nothing’s different. It comes up a lot, but as far as our preparation and outlook, nothing’s different,” Millers says. “It’s in the back of my mind, I don’t want to get ahead of myself either in the coaching thing, let’s just win the next match. If you do that, hopefully everything will work out. But you’ve got to take care of the little things before you can do the big thing.”

The Knights have a wrestler qualified for nationals at every weight class, something Miller says has helped keep the intensity up in their workouts the past week. He says it’s hard leaving somebody behind and their biggest goal was to get everyone to nationals and he says it gives them “more bullets than everybody” when it comes down to the competition.

The regional qualifier that Wartburg’s wrestlers went through earlier this month was their first true individual tournament since early December. Miller says that there is a slight change in the mindset wrestlers take to an individual event, but they have to remember that team points are very important as well.

Wartburg has won the last two Division III team titles, as well as four of the last five championships.

By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls

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