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.
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.”
It’s time to come clean. I’ve lied in this blog for two and a half years. I’ve always claimed that I never wrestled and that isn’t entirely true. I did win an 8th grade intramural championship at Frank L. Smart Junior High School. In 1963 every boy in Davenport, IA (it was a sexist world) was introduced to wrestling in some way. There were instructional units in our PE classes where we were taught the basics of the single leg takedown, the sitout and the half nelson. At the end of the unit the teacher would organize an intramural tournament and we were encouraged to enter.
At about the same time that I reached the apex of my wrestling glory, 130 miles to the northwest, in Waterloo, a kid named Gable was launching his career. It’s a story of 2 choices. I opted for being a really bad basketball player and he chose to become one of America’s greatest wrestlers. A few years later, in Del City, OK, some brothers named Smith were exposed to wrestling and chose to pursue their dreams – with John going on to win two Olympic Gold medals and four World Championships.
Phil Davis, 2008 NCAA Division I 184-pound champ for Penn State, will be competing at UFC 109: Relentless at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 6.
Davis, who signed with UFC just last month, will be facing former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Brian Stann, who played football at the US Naval Academy.
A four-time NCAA All-American wrestler, Davis built a 116-20 collegiate career with the Nittany Lions. The 25-year-old Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native owns a 4-0 professional MMA record, having competed inside the Palace Fighting Championship, Ultimate Warrior Challenge and Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge promotions. In Davis’ most recent MMA event in June, he submitted David Baggett with a rear-naked choke in 3:37.
ST. CROIX, Minn. – A little boy from Stillwater is inspiring hundreds of wrestlers in his community. The boy with special needs hasn’t let his disability slow him down or keep him from wrestling the best.
Dillon Hill, a 9-year-old with Down syndrome, started wrestling at St. Croix Valley Athletic Association a year ago.
Hill started working with the Coach Chris Bahl’s to learn the ins and outs of the sport.
University of Minnesota freshman wrestler and former Olympian, Jake Deitchler has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the 2009-10 academic year.
The University of Minnesota received initial notice in September and appealed the ruling hoping for a review of the situation. Deitchler has not competed for the Gophers this season, while awaiting the results of the final appeal. Deitchler’s eligibility will be reinstated under the conditions that he is withheld from competition for the 2009-10 academic year, forfeit a year of eligibility and repay the $4,000 prize money he received.
A 2008 graduate of Anoka High School and an Anoka, Minn. native, Deitchler represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Following the Olympics, Deitchler spent the 2008-09 academic year training and competing full-time with USA Wrestling at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“In the NCAA’s ongoing effort to promote student-athlete welfare I do not think the NCAA is following or supporting their own ideology. The NCAA has handed a very young student athlete an overly harsh penalty,” head wrestling coach J Robinson said. “The punishment is quite severe and is a three part penalty. First; Deitchler must sit out a year, second he will lose one of his four years of eligibility, and third he must repay the money he received.
CINCINNATI — It would be great to have someone shovel your driveway for free.
On Thursday, a small group of teens who call themselves the “Winton Woods Weather Warriors” wrestled the elements to say thank you.
“This is just going to be a workout day,” said Winton Woods High School senior Pryde Geh. His classmate, Lonzi Murphy, agreed. “You gotta work hard if you want to get better.”
Both are members of the Winton Woods wrestling team. Their coach, Chris Willertz, said it’s about discipline and hard work. “They can burn some calories and make weight and do something for the community,” said Willertz.
Willertz explained the service project is directly about giving thanks. The Winton Woods City School District tried to pass a levy for years. Yet, election after election, they failed. This August, the district adopted a “pay to play” policy and the wrestling team had to fend for itself.
The team tried to earn money through a fundraiser by selling cookie dough. “We tried our best to sell the cookie dough, but we didn’t sell a lot,” explained Murphy. “We sold as much as we could.”
It is often said that one of the best bases to have as a mixed martial artist is wresting. Wrestling, in all of its forms, is a sport that is all about leverage and control.
Many fighters who have come from a strong wrestling background have found great success. Just look across the MMA landscape today as it is littered with champion wrestlers making the transition to the sport.
The reason wrestlers have excelled in MMA is not due solely to wrestling itself. Wrestlers are successful because of the drive, determination, and work ethic that they bring with them.
If there is one man who epitomizes wrestling, drive, determination, and work ethic, it is Dan Gable.
After an undefeated prep wrestling career, the three-time Iowa state wrestling champion chose to attend Iowa State University. While at Iowa State, Gable continued his winning ways by capturing three Big Eight Championships, earning All-American honors all three years.
The only defeat that Gable suffered during his collegiate career came at the hands of Larry Owings. That loss came during the NCAA finals his senior year. That loss helped to fuel a fire inside Gable, a fire that would lead him to greatness.
Iowa’s Brent Metcalf shoots in on North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell during the 2009 NCAA finals in St. Louis. Photo by Larry Slater.
IOWA CITY – Brent Metcalf took the college wrestling world by storm during the 2007-08 season.
Metcalf’s first season as an Iowa Hawkeye was a memorable one as he won his first NCAA title, led Iowa to the national team title and won the Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler in the country.
He came back strong again last season, extending his winning streak to 69 matches before he was upset by North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell in the 2009 NCAA finals. Metcalf helped the Hawkeyes edge Ohio State for the team title last March. Iowa won the title without crowning an individual champion.
Metcalf jumped right into freestyle competition after the NCAAs and placed second at the 2009 U.S. Nationals. He fell short of placing at the U.S. World Team Trials.
He just started his senior season as the nation’s top-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds for the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes.
What was the next step after the University of Oregon announced its plans to drop its Div. I wrestling team in July 2007?
There was no debate for retired University of Oregon head wrestling coach Ron Finley. Something needed to be done, and quick.
“Within four days (of being informed of the decision to end the wrestling program), we had the site, SaveOregonWrestling.org, up and running,” said Finley, who continues to serve as the director of Save Oregon Wrestling.
After all, without a website or some other way to inform the wrestling community, how were they going to get their message out?
“From the very start we knew we needed to do something, we needed a way to easily communicate throughout the entire country,” said Finley, adding, “We needed to get our message out.”
Oregon competed one final wrestling season, running out the string during the 2007-08 year. In spite of strong public support for retaining the program, the university and its athletic director at the time, Pat Kilkenny, allowed the Duck wrestling program to join the list of programs which have been dropped.
