Tommy Rowlands Places Second at the Olympic Trials:
Buckeye Coach will be 2008 Olympic Alternate
Kevin Schlosser; the-ozone.net

Tommy Rowlands advanced to the finals of the Olympic Trials by winning a US national championship in April. His opponent that day was long time rival Steve Mocco. They met again in the finals in June as Mocco fought his way through the qualifier to wrestle Rowlands for the sixteenth time in their careers. Each and every match before finals of the Olympic Trials was a war and Sunday in Las Vegas was no different.

In a best of three series of matches in the championship finals; Mocco won the first the first match 1-0, 1-0. In the first period they wrestled to a scoreless tie before Mocco scored a takedown off the clinch. Rowlands stepped out of bounds in the second period to give Mocco the lead and the first match.

Rowlands came back in the second match to force a third and deciding match by winning a 3-0, 1-0 decision. Wrestling to a second scoreless tie in the first period, he picked up a three-point takedown out of the clinch. In the second period Mocco returned the favor by stepping out of bounds to give Rowlands the match winning point.

A 2004 Olympian, Brad Vering will make his second straight Olympic appearance at Greco-Roman’s 84kg/185 lbs division. The Nebraska native won silver at the 2007 World Championships, at which the U.S. won the team world title. The avid fisherman spoke with NBC Olympics about his previous Games experience, his pride in cauliflower ear and why fishing is his favorite hobby.

Having been to Athens, how do you feel about Beijing? Are you better prepared?
Yeah, I think all the kind of glitz and glamour of going to the Olympics is kind of past me now, and now I’m really focused on getting the job done. And not worried so much about — you know, I really enjoyed the Olympics and the Olympic spirit, but right now I’m really focused on getting a medal. That’s the most important thing for me

Wrestlers constantly need to cut weight before a competition. What’s it like to always have to be mindful of that?
It’s tough, and you’ve always got to be on top of your game. But as an elite athlete, that’s what you got to do no matter what sport you do. So you just try to do things professionally, whether they’re losing weight or gaining weight or whatever you have to do to perform at your optimum.

By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling

WATERLOO — It’s one thing to read about the flood damage to the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum, but it’s another thing altogether to witness it — and to smell it.

With the museum’s 10th annual “Super Weekend” under way in Waterloo, Iowa, fans — and writers — were allowed to wander through what once was a terrific exhibition of wrestling through the centuries.

The mustiness and the wet is impossible to describe; it must be smelled. Despite a dozen fans going, the muggy air outside made its way in, mixing with the stale air inside, a sad tonic of mildew, mold and broken dreams.

According to museum staff, the cleanup cost — ripping out damaged walls, furniture, carpet, gift shop merchandise — rang in at $60,000. And the museum was hardly the only place to suffer in Iowa. Others lost their homes as the various rivers across the state overflowed following torrential rainfall a few weeks back.

Museum staff believe that storm sewer backup is more to blame for the flooding at their location than the nearby Cedar River; buildings a block away barely got water in their basement, and others were destroyed.

Jake Deitchler became only the third high school wrestler to make the U.S. Olympic team with a shocking upset of Harry Lester — considered one of the best Greco-Roman wrestlers in the world at any weight.

By RACHEL BLOUNT, Star Tribune

LAS VEGAS — Eighteen-year-old Jake Deitchler knew no one expected him to make the U.S. Olympic team. Only two other high school wrestlers had ever done so, and a person his age hadn’t been on the team since 1976.

Still, Deitchler wondered: What if?

The three-time state champion from Anoka High School finished his senior year in April so he could train full-time, sweated in the wrestling room every day and came to the U.S. Olympic Trials thinking he had a chance. On Saturday, Deitchler pulled off an enormous upset in the challenge round of the 145.5-pound Greco- Roman division, then swept his opponent in the finals to earn a spot on the Olympic team.

Deitchler beat Faruk Sahin 0-5, 7-4, 1-1 in their first match of the final round at Thomas and Mack Center.

Newark, NJ
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

The Prudential Center in northern New Jersey is the brand-spanking new gleaming home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils.

On Tuesday, USA Wrestling made “The Rock” the backdrop for an announcement of a new fundraising initiative aimed at helping not only the athletes who will represent the United States at the 2008 Games in Beijing, but their families as well.

“Fuel the Dream” will help the families of the 2008 Olympians with travel, lodging and overall accommodations in Beijing, something costly to the athletes since the dawn of the Olympiad.

“One of the starters for this program was back when John Smith was on the team,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “Seagram’s sponsored a program that helped with those costs. It doesn’t exist today, so we saw this as an opportunity to really make a difference for the athletes beyond getting them the best coaches, training schedules and facilities.”

“I was on two Olympic teams and I was fortunate enough to win two gold medals there,” said current Oklahoma State head wrestling coach John Smith. “It was nice to have family there.”

Former Missouri wrestler Ben Askren, top, is competing at the Olympic Trials on June 13-15 in Las Vegas.

By DAVID THIESSEN

It would be wise not to doubt Ben Askren.

He is competing at the Olympic Trials in Las Vegas on June 13-15, and he has faced his share of doubters along the way.

The former Missouri wrestler faced doubts that he could win in college because he was not fast or strong enough. Askren adopted his ‘funky’ style, utilizing his unique ability as a scrambler to win NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Even then, the doubters did not go away.

While Askren’s style worked in college with folkstyle wrestling, which places more emphasis on scrambling, it did not fit as well on the international level with freestyle wrestling. In freestyle, wrestlers stay on their feet most of the time.

Once again, Askren quieted the doubters, climbing the United States Senior Freestyle rankings at 74 kilograms/163 pounds to the top. He also represented the United States at the World Championships in February.

Of course, the doubters returned before the ASICS U.S. National Championships, which were held on April 23-25. Askren was seeded third at 163 pounds.

‘Wrestlers At The Trials’ - excerpt from Gene Mills

Amongst the 90 wrestlers and coaches whose never-been-published stories are captured in the recent book about the 1960 thru 1988 Olympic wrestling Trials is former Syracuse standout Gene Mills. From “Wrestlers At The Trials”, here is a short excerpt from the stories that Gene tells about his experience at the 1980 Trials and his feeling about the US boycott of those Olympics.

“I went to the wrestle-offs in Brockport still thinking we were going to compete in the Olympics. I wanted to pin my way through the Olympic Games and knew I needed to drop down to 114.5 to meet my goal. That was a tough pull for me but I made it. It was only after I won the wrestle-offs that I finally realized we wouldn’t be wrestling in the Games.

“I was so mad. I wasn’t pulling all that weight to have a good time. I was devastated, furious, angry, you name it. I would have liked to have been locked in a room with the president and make him pay. I had worked my ass off, earned the right to go and I wanted him to feel my pain.

By Travis Johnson Email
Collegian Staff Writer

A gray-haired man in his 60s sits on a bench in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex beneath championship plaques. He watches intently as his grandson, an elementary school wrestler, rolls around the mat with a kid twice his age, but not much taller.

Earl Harris’ eyes shift from the mat when someone beside him wants to talk wrestling. He was Pennsylvania state champion in 1958 and he could talk wrestling for hours. He also knows a thing or two about his grandson’s coach — Penn State wrestling standout and 2008 Olympic hopeful, Brad Pataky.

If Pataky and Harris weren’t generations apart, they would likely be the bitterest of enemies on the mat. Harris’ and Pataky’s high schools, Philipsburg-Osceola and Clearfield, are longstanding rivals who’ve often matched each other, champ for champ, title for title. But Harris says he always rooted for Pataky, even against his alma mater. There was something special about Pataky, the elder champion says.

“Pataky?” Harris grunts, as his white eyebrows perk up. “I always say, the best wrestlers can take a punch and, damn, he was a barn burner. Man, he was tough.”

By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

The clouds hanging over the State Capital building in Harrisburg, Pa., on Wednesday morning shrouded the city skyline and blanketed it with a damp chill.

There’s also been a damp chill shrouding college wrestling, not specifically in Pennsylvania, but nationwide. But the 34 college wrestling programs in Pennsylvania have not been devoid of being cut, as witnessed by Slippery Rock cutting its historic program two years ago.

Initially, Slippery Rock was to drop eight sports as a cost-cutting move, five men’s sports and three women’s sports, but after a Title IX complaint was filed, the school was forced to keep the three women’s sports while the men’s sports were left with nothing – including wrestling.

Joined by former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R) and former Iowa wrestling Coach Dan Gable, the National Wrestling Coaches Association met with the Pennsylvania General Assembly to discuss options for legislation to solidify the athletic opportunities that currently exist in the state.

Hastert, Gable, NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer and a host of representatives met in the Majority Caucus Room in a meeting headed up by Rep. Todd Eachus (D), Chairman of the House Policy Committee.

Lee U-Wen
u-wen@mediacorp.com.sg

WITH 3-on-3 basketball and even beach wrestling potentially on the programme, the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, for athletes aged 14 to 18, is shaping up to be more than just a mini-version of the Summer Olympics.

The menu of 26 sports will be part of an attempt to better “interest and appeal” to youth, said Singapore’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board member Ng Ser Miang. The Republic is hoping to host the historic event.

Take wrestling, for instance. In addition to conventional indoor events, the plan is to have an outdoor beach-wrestling version, too. As for basketball, different formats may be tried — such as having teams of three, as opposed to five, battle it out and playing on a half-court only. And sailing will likely see a new youth class of boats used that will suit the abilities of the young athletes.

Mr Ng revealed the IOC’s plans to Today on the sidelines of a press conference held at the Singapore Sports School yesterday to rally support for the Singapore bid, which was submitted to the IOC in August.