“CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA” will feature Olivet teammates Jason Brew and Kyle Vanderhyde this Saturday at 1pm. The show highlights NCAA championships from the past year and a feature this year will be about Brew and Vanderhyde, teammates who have been wrestling together since the age of four. Both were All-Americans this year, helping Olivet to an 11th place finish.
I hope you had the chance to see The Streak last night on ESPN2 about the Brandon (FL) High School 459 match winning streak. It was well done and showed wrestling in a positive light for two prime time hours on a major cable network. If you missed it, it will air again Monday, May 5th at 2pm, so fire up your DVR.
Brian Borchers, the 2008 NCAA D3 runner-up at 285 lbs. was announced as one of 58 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners for the Winter season. He is one of 4 wrestlers, and the only D3 wrestler to be awarded the $7,500 scholarship this year. The NCAA annually awards up to 174 scholarships split evenly between senior men and women, so this is a great accomplishment considering the nearly 400,000 NCAA athletes competing each year.
Nick Ackerman’s win over Nick Slack in the 2001 NCAA 174 lb. final was named the #1 dramatic finish in the last 25 years of NCAA competition by NCAA Champion Magazine. Ackerman, from Simpson College, won an action packed match and withstood Slack’s furious comeback that came up one takedown short, leaving the final score 13-11. Ackerman went on to be named a co-winner of the 2001 Hodge Trophy, sharing it with Cael Sanderson.
Former Manchester College and Northwestern University head coach Tom Jarman will speak today at the Defiance College Purple and Gold Club Spring Awards Banquet. Tickets can still be had for the 6pm event.
Jarman was an NCAA champion wrestler at Wheaton College and coached 17 All-Americans at Manchester. He is in numerous Halls of Fame and was named Midwest Region coach of the year four times.
His book Wrestling for Beginners is one of the top selling books for young wrestlers.
Former national champ will speak at DC’s Purple & Gold Banquet
There are a number of current and former D3 athletes in the various age groups at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas this week. Please comment if I’ve missed anyone.
FILA Jr. Greco-Roman
Clayton Rush, Coe, 5th place at 55kg
Luke Satern, Buena Vista, 1st place at 63kg
FILA Jr. Freestyle
Luke Satern, Buena Vista, 63 kg
Senior Freestyle
Dave Morgan, King’s, 60 kg (can anyone verify this?)
Gannon Hjerleid, Coe, 66kg
Ricky LaForge, Delaware Valley (formerly), 66kg
Danny Song, USMMA (formerly), 66kg
Dustin Hinschberger, Wartburg (formerly), 66kg
Eric Van Patten, Brockport, 84kg
Terry Madden, Hunter (formerly), 84kg
Madden is the only wrestler left after the qualification tournament in Senior Freestyle, while Luke Satern will wrestle high school sophomore Andrew Alton in the consolation semis of the Fila Jr. Freestyle.
RevWrestling has named Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan as their 2007-2008 Coach of the Year. However, Jim Miller of Wartburg was 5th on the ballot, placing higher than any other non-Division I coach. He led the Knights to another title in 2007-2008, steamrolling the field to win by 47 points and put six in the finals to cap an undefeated season.
Cornell College head coach Mike Duroe has been honored by the USOC as the 2007 Volunteer Wrestling Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. Duroe has been a part of several world and Olympic teams, and recently completed his 3rd season at Cornell, finishing in 7th place at the 2008 NCAA Championships.
After a season as the interim head coach at Augustana College, Eric Juergens was elevated to full time head coach. A highly decorated wrestler at the University of Iowa, Juergens took over for Pat Marsh shortly before the 2007-2008 season. See the link to the Augustana release below.
The annual all-star match between Iowa and the USA takes place tomorrow at Iowa City West High School. Tonight, Wartburg head coach Jim Miller will be speaking at the banquet. See the link below for ticket information and scheduling info for the Classic.
Concordia-Moorhead wrestler Josiah Simburger has been diagnosed with cancer, as reported on The Guillotine more details can be found on that site.
Great article on IllinoisMatmen.com about Elmhurst head coach Steve Marianetti.
Now that we are in the slow part of the DIII wrestling year, I am asking for help generating content for this site. If you come across an article or Sports Info release concerning Division III wrestling, please use the Contact link at the left to pass it on to me so it can be posted here.
From Pacific University Sports Information
FOREST GROVE – After six years leading the Pacific men’s and women’s wrestling programs, Head Coach Scott Miller has announced that he is retiring from coaching.
Miller said that he plans to leave the mat after 17 years as a head coach at the Division I and Division III levels to enter private business in Spokane, Wash. Miller and his wife, Patti, are both natives of the Inland Empire region.
Miller said that the rigors of coaching two programs at one time has limited the time that he would like to spend with his family, which was a contributing factor to his decision. “I’m worn out,” Miller said. “We have two programs and they have taken all of my time. It’s really two years jammed into one.
“I still like coaching,” Miller added. “I could very easily coach again next year, but I think if I leave now it gives a new coach some good people to work with.”
Pacific Director of Athletics Ken Schumann praised Miller for his work with both the men’s and women’s programs over the last six years. “Scott has been a great member of our team for the past six years and, in addition to being a valued colleague, has done a tremendous job with our student-athletes in our wrestling programs.”
From Simpson College Sports Information
Simpson College Athletic Director John Sirianni has announced he has promoted Clint Manny to head wrestling coach. Manny replaces Ron Peterson who resigned earlier this year.
“Clint is ready for the challenge and IÂ’m confident heÂ’ll do a great job,” Sirianni said. “He grew up in Iowa, was very successful at Simpson, and understands what it takes to succeed at the conference and national level.”
Peterson also said Manny is ready to lead the program.
“Clint is a tremendous coach and has the vision to lead Simpson wrestling to new horizons,” Peterson commented. “He was born to be a college wrestling coach. He has the tools to help these student-athletes become champions.”
Manny moves to head coach after serving as a member of the Simpson staff for the past three years, two of which were as the full-time assistant. Manny was a student assistant for the Storm in 2005-06 as he completed his physical education degree. Manny became the all-time winningest wrestler at Simpson when he won three matches at the 2005 NCAA Division III National Championships. Manny concluded his career with a 148-24 record, breaking the old record of 146 (146-17-1) set by Travis Young (1989-92).
A three-time All-American for Simpson at 149 pounds, Manny was the national runner-up at 149 as a junior and as a senior. He spent all of his senior season ranked first in the weight class. Of his five losses as a senior (34-5), two were to wrestlers from NCAA Division I Oklahoma State including then No. 1 Zach Esposito and three were to nationally ranked Division III opponents. Manny was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2004 Division III NWCA Duals. He was chosen Iowa Conference Male Athlete and Wrestler of the Week a total of four times in his career.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to represent Simpson College wrestling,” Manny said. “I am looking forward to helping build a program that already has a strong tradition. I had a great experience at Simpson and am committed to providing the same opportunities for future student-athletes. I would like to thank Ron for giving me the tools to succeed in the sport of wrestling over the past seven years.”
The page for the 2008 NCAA Championships can be reached by clicking “NCAA Results” in the menu to the left. Just some spring housecleaning to get ready for the offseason and next year. The 2009 NCAA tournament is now only 353 days away.
Senior Matt Miller (Muncy, Pa.) of Lycoming and freshman Blaine Woszczak (Manasquan, N.J.) of Ithaca have been named Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Wrestler of the Year and Rookie of the Year in voting by the league’s coaches and sports information directors.
Miller capped an undefeated season by winning the NCAA title at 197 pounds, blanking the top seed and defending national champion 2-0 in the final. Miller won the ECWC title at 197 pounds and finished the year (his only season at Lycoming) with a 20-0 record.
Woszczak went 32-14 and was a wild-card selection to the NCAA Championships, where he beat the tournament’s #6 seed before being eliminated. Woszczak, who placed second at the conference championship meet and was a three-time ECWC Rookie of the Week, is the second Bomber in as many years to win the award.
ECWC Weekly Award website
2008 NWCA Scholar All-American Individuals
Congratulations to Williams having the highest team GPA in 2008
UPDATE: Joel VandeBoom of MSOE was inadvertently left off the list from the NWCA. He is a 157 lb. junior Architectural Engineering/Construction Management major with a 3.99 GPA.
I don’t believe the official announcement has been made, but follow the link to InterMat for a letter from Millikin Assistant Coach Bill Rinker.
