With Matt Hughes employing an amateur wrestling headlock to choke his way to victory over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 117, I figured the time was right to feature some more nasty amateur action – in this case, some slams. Now some of these moves aren’t strictly legal in the legal sense of the word, but they’re all incredibly painful to watch. Let’s get to the action.
Wrestling Slam
You have to blame the recipient for this one – instead of pivoting to go down on his back, he tried to fight it and ended up going on his tender little head. Apparently he got back up and continued the match, which just proves that teenagers are indestructable.
Cary Kolat Backflip
This is just freaking sick – when his opponent went for a single-leg takedown, Pennsylvania high school student and future Olympian Cary Kolat whipped out a full backflip to escape it. Bravo.
Best Example of an Illegal Slam Ever
This is obviously a completely illegal slam – in amateur wrestling, for a slam to be legal, the person delivering it has to touch a knee to the ground before any part of the recipient’s body hits, preventing high-impact injury. This was a high-impact injury, and the dude laying it down is psyched. Read more...(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)
Winnipeg wrestler Caleb Rutner, a superstar-quality wrestler who beat all the Grade 12ers when he was in Grade 9 last year, has been fighting his heart out in high-level wrestling training camps in the United States this summer.
He’s looking to attract the eyes of scouts offering major prizes. Rutner’s goal is to get a wrestling scholarship to an Ivy League university, and that means BIG money. One guy on his team got a grant worth $350,000 for four years including room board, tuition, and books.
Rutner is going into Grade 10 at St. Paul’s High School this year with Mike Watson as his wrestling coach. This past year, Caleb fought in the biggest amateur wrestling tournament in the world as a member of Team North Dakota. “It’s a superb level of wrestling” says his dad, American-born psychologist Dr. Toby Rutner, who was a college wrestler himself until he got injured. Not that it was all sweat and hard work on the mats this summer for the kid. “You only have to be 14 to drive a car in North Dakota. When they weren’t wrestling, the guys were driving around and shooting off fireworks,” says his poppa, wryly. Read more...(538 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)
Dave Meltzer talks to Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. After covering his life-long enthusiasm for pro wrestling and long standing habit of obsessively watching tape on competitors they get to Lawal’s transition from amateur wrestling to MMA:
He didn’t quite get that gold, but he did win national titles in 2005 and 2008, as well as gold at the 2007 Pan American Games. Considered having medal potential in 2008, Lawal was matched against fellow American Andy Hrovat in a best-of-three series to determine who would make the Olympic team. Hrovat, who Lawal beat for the ’08 national title, won the third match by scoring with seven seconds left.
“I already knew that was my last year in amateur wrestling,” he said. And as soon as he lost at the trials, he knew he was MMA-bound.
Daniel Cormier talks to Ben Fowlkes and credits Lawal with leading him into the MMA world:
“Really, it was Mo, man. Mo was just on me all the time, saying, ‘You got to try this. You could be good at it.’ And once I started doing it I was like, I really like this. It’s fun. But honestly, I think Mo played the biggest part in it. He was always on me telling me how good it was.” Read more...(751 words, 1 image, estimated 3:00 mins reading time)
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Wrestlers from across the nation have had the opportunity to compete in prestigious postseason wrestling tournaments for years. Now wrestlers in grades 7-12, their families and fans can get the upcoming season off to a winning start, with a new elite, preseason open wrestling tournament.
The tournament: InterMat JJ Classic, which is set to take place on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minnesota.
The InterMat JJ Classic promises to be loaded with national talent. Hundreds of wrestlers in grades 7-12 are expected to participate. There will be 32-wrestler brackets for each of the 14 standard high school weight classes from 103 through 285 pounds. Because of the event’s location, the InterMat JJ Classic is expected to attract top high school wrestling talent from across the Midwest. However, the tournament is open to wrestlers from all across the United States. Read more...(992 words, 1 image, estimated 3:58 mins reading time)
It’s late May on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Mott Gym is packed. This is a welcome sight for Lennis Cowell and John Azevedo, who fondly remember the halcyon days when wrestling drew more than 2,000 fans — four times today’s average — to dual meets against Cal State Bakersfield, the California coast school’s rival.
Tonight’s event won’t feature the oldest sport known to man, but it is of that tradition. And in its name.
“Fight for Wrestling” — a professional mixed-martial-arts show aimed, in this instance, at raising funds for a Cal Poly program, conceivably on the chopping block, that boasts two national champions, 110 All-Americas and one of the best MMA fighters of all time — is finally debuting. The evening culminates a three-year process in which promoters, boosters and alumni (in some cases one in the same) attempted to bring it on campus.
This is what preventive maintenance in the name of saving Division I collegiate wrestling could look like, according to a growing contingent of wrestling supporters. Read more...(1659 words, 1 image, estimated 6:38 mins reading time)
Name: Ryan “Darth” Bader
Promotion: UFC
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6 ft 2 in
Reach: 74 in
Record: 11-0
Specializes: Wrestling
Career summary: Ryan Bader developed most of his game from an excellent collegiate wrestling background. After his amateur wrestling career saw him notch 120 wins, become a three time all PAC 10 and a two time All American, Bader made the move to MMA. He began his career dominating lesser known opponents in small promotions; it wasn’t until he landed a spot on The Ultimate Fighter season eight that he saw his career take off. While on the show he breezed through the competition and earned his way into the finals, taking out Vinny Magalhaes in round one by knock out to become the season eight light heavyweight winner. He then made a successful post TUF debut defeating Carmelo Marrero by unanimous decision. Since then he has gone on to dominate Eric Schafer by unanimous decision, and most recently he earned a KO win over UFC veteran and TUF season two alumni Keith Jardine. Read more...(685 words, 1 image, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling in the United States, has named John Smith of Stillwater, Okla., and Terry Brands of Iowa City, Iowa as coaches of the 2010 U.S. Freestyle World Team.
“It’s an honor to coach this team and it’s definitely something I look at as building toward the 2012 Olympics for our freestyle team. It’s a great challenge for us as a team as we continue to build toward being the best,” said Smith.
Both have coached past U.S. World and Olympic teams in freestyle wrestling. Smith was the coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, as well as the 1998, 1999 and 2009 U.S. World Team Coach. Prior to taking the Iowa position, Brands worked as USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Resident Coach from 2005-2008, and coached with the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and three U.S. World Teams (2005-07). Both have coached individual World and Olympic champion wrestlers for the United States.
Both are among the greatest freestyle wrestlers in history, and have been elected as Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Smith won two Olympic gold medals (1988, 1992) and four World titles (1987, 1989-91), stringing his six gold medals in consecutive years. Brands was a two-time World champion (1993, 1995) and won an Olympic bronze medal in 2000. Read more...(660 words, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)
I was hoping that Glee would showcase wrestling this season as it would give more visibility to the sport. Glee is such a popular show on TV that it could do a lot of good for the sport that sometimes struggles to stay around. Well they did; sort of.
In the latest episode titled ‘Bad Reputation’ they remade Olivia Newton John’s song ‘Lets Get Physical’ and in the video the guys were wearing wrestling singlets and performing dance moves that sometimes resembled what you might see in a wrestling practice.
Depending on how you look at it, Glee may or may not have promoted amateur wrestling. Sure the guys looked like wrestlers, but it was more about the body than the sport. See for yourself.
I don’t think Glee really promoted wrestling, but it may be as close as it gets.
If you want to check out the full episode of Glee, you can catch it on Hulu.
No one stopped 17-year-old Jerod Botts of Waverly from climbing into the cage for a mixed martial arts fight even though he was underage, didn’t have a parent’s permission and had never fought before. An experienced fighter beat him badly, leaving him with a broken nose, a cracked eye socket and vision damage.
When 20-year-old Zach Kirk of Shenandoah was paralyzed from the neck down in an amateur fight, the promoter who staged the event didn’t offer to pay medical expenses — and wasn’t required by law to do so.
The fist-pumping adrenaline rush and freewheeling style of combat draws young fighters despite the danger. The intoxicating swirl of bloody spectacle, thumping music and alcohol attracts crowds to bars and concert halls across Iowa.
Industry insiders, in interviews with The Des Moines Register, said they love the sport, but they believe certain practices in Iowa’s amateur fight scene lead to exploitation and injuries and need to be cleaned up.
Iowa is one of 15 states with no regulation of amateur mixed martial arts fights. Amateur fighting is illegal in six states. Other states have either regulation by state officials or oversight by a third-party sanctioning body. Read more...(1337 words, estimated 5:21 mins reading time)
Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Les Gutches of Corvallis, Ore. has been named to the new position of Director of Program Development for USA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States.
Gutches, who has a strong business background and a lifetime in wrestling as an athlete and coach, will be responsible for developing new or expanded programs, events and activities for USA Wrestling. He will work closely with state associations to increase membership and programs in underdeveloped markets in all styles of the sport. He will also expand strategic partnerships with other organizations, and assist in promotion and marketing activities.
He will also oversee the State Services staff of the organization, and work with a talented team which includes Manager of State Services Tony Black, Membership Services Assistant Shonna Vest, Manager of Coaches Education Cody Bickley and State Services Assistant Marge Civil.
“Les Gutches has an incredible reputation for integrity and performance,” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. “He is a tremendous motivator, a wonderful father, a respected coach and one of our greatest champion athletes. His presence, leadership and work ethic will take USA Wrestling membership to new heights. We are excited to welcome Les Gutches to our team and are confident that his efforts will impact the entire wrestling community.” Read more...(1019 words, estimated 4:05 mins reading time)
