2/27/2004 4:17:00 PM

From Northwestern Sports Information

EVANSTON, Ill. - The 2004 Midlands Championships, set to run Wednesday, Dec. 29 through Thursday, Dec. 30, recently added even more clout to an already stacked line-up. On the second day of the tournament, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will offer autograph copies of his latest book, “Speaker,” from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the lobby of Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“Speaker” was released in August of 2004 and primarily deals with Hastert’s experiences as a politician. The book also chronicles Hastert’s experiences as a high school wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Ill., where he guided his team to a state championship.

“We are most pleased that Speaker Hastert has chosen the Midlands site to do this book signing,” Midlands Chairman Ken Kraft said. “Wrestling fans and others will have the opportunity to personally meet Denny. It will be a special time for all involved.”

The session will mark yet another moment in Hastert’s career in which he is an integral part of the Midlands. At the 40th Anniversary of the Midlands in 2002, he was named as honorary chairman.
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Nearly six years ago, there was one guy that everyone in the amateur wrestling world was talking about…

Brock Lesnar.

He created an impression for the way he looked… and the way he wrestled.

You couldn’t help but notice his physique. This was NOT a Teletubbie heavyweight (you know — some big guys are more round than anything else). Lesnar’s tale of tape: 6′ 4″ tall… 56″ chest… 20″ neck… 36″ waist. Even Dan Gable weighed in. At an IPTV College Wrestling broadcast, the legendary wrestler/coach said something to the effect of, “When he strips off his warm-ups, he turns more heads than Cindy Crawford in a thong.”

Lesnar also got noticed for his tough, take-no-prisoners wrestling style. In his two years at Minnesota, he lost only one regular-season match each year… a record that instantly propelled him to the top of the collegiate ranks.

Lesnar built a mat resume as impressive as his musculature. He was a 1998 National Junior College champion. A two-time NCAA Division I All-American. And… NCAA heavyweight champ in 2000.

And now he’s featured at NCAA Heavyweight Champs, the Yahoo group that honors the very best of the big men in college wrestling.

From Eddie’s ADCC News website http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=8321

ANNUAL EDDIE GOLDMAN AWARDS: KARAM GABER, 2004 WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Submitted by: E.Goldman/Boxing & Wrestling Editor
Posted On 12/27/2004

This year there is likely to be a consensus among those who cover international wrestling as to who was the top wrestler in the world. One wrestler stood heads and shoulders over all the others. He performed feats on the mat which brought awe and amazement from even the most veteran wrestling people. His winning a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics will be recorded as one of the most dominant achievements in Olympic wrestling history. And his penchant for hitting flashy and high-risk throws as well as his infectious personality had him emerge from the 2004 Olympics as wrestling’s brightest international star.

That man is 2004 Olympic gold medalist Greco-Roman wrestler Karam Ibrahim of Egypt, better known as Karam Gaber. He won what many believe will be the first in a series of gold medals by dominating the 96 kg weight class so thoroughly that already comparisons are being made between him and three-time Olympic gold medalist Alexander Kareline.

From the Catoosa County News

RHS grappler overcoming disability

Corey Bates says he is no different than anyone else despite being hearing impaired

12/26/04
Misty Martin

When Ringgold wrestling coach Phil Daniel encouraged Corey Bates to come out for middle school wrestling, he said he overlooked the youngster’s disability.

Three years later, the state championship coach says the junior’s hearing impairment “makes him no different from anyone else” on his team.

“Corey has the heart of a champion,” Daniel said. “If anything, it makes him that much more special.” Bates said he established a quick rapport with his coach and mentor, who learned sign language to speak to him on the mat.

“Coach always knows what’s best for me,” he said. “He’s a really good man, and I’m glad he got me into wrestling.”

Daniel said from the first time Corey stepped on the mat, he knew he needed a coach and an interpreter to be successful. Jonathan Bordean has never wrestled in his life, but the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School teacher of deaf students learned the sport so he could help out his star pupil.

http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=8307

DANNY HODGE AND ERIC AKIN TO HEADLINE WRESTLING CLINIC FOR EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CANCER PATIENT AND WRESTLER, TYLER GRAEBNER
Submitted by: E.Goldman/Boxing & Wrestling Editor
Posted On 12/23/2004

This time of year there are all sorts of appeals going around, and most of them are very worthy. Here is another one that should touch the hearts of those in the wrestling community.

Eight-year-old Tyler Graebner is a second grader at the Wiley Elementary School in Hutchinson, Kansas, just northwest of Wichita. This young man is also a wrestler and a member of Team Lightning.

Recently young Tyler has been diagnosed with both liver and pancreatic cancer. His medications alone are running at $800 per month, and his family is having major difficulty paying their medical bills. So the wrestling community along with others in his area are banding together to help him.

Already one wrestling clinic was held on Dec. 20 in Paola, KS, to raise funds for him. Now a major wrestling clinic to continue this fundraising is slated for Thursday, December 30, at the Derby High School, 920 N. Rock Road, in Derby, Kansas.

From the Sunbury (PA) Daily Item

December 25, 2004

Mifflinburg’s Troup makes most of opportunity with Penn State wrestling team
By Andy Elder
For The Daily Item

STATE COLLEGE — If you’d pass Steve Troup on the street, you might mistake him for a swimmer rather than a wrestler.

Standing 6 feet tall, Troup possesses the long, lean muscles sports fans are more used to seeing splashing through a pool instead of scoring takedowns on a mat.

Despite his deceiving body type, the redshirt freshman from Mifflinburg is the Penn State wrestling team’s starting 165-pounder.

“He has a weird kind of strength,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “He’s certainly not imposing.”

And Troup uses that to his advantage.

It started in the preseason when reports out of the Nittany Lion wrestling room said that Troup was starting to show signs he might displace returning starter Jeremy Hart at 165. Then, when Hart reinjured a shoulder on which he had surgery a year ago, Troup claimed the spot outright.

From the Des Moines Register

Talented freshmen making an impact at Iowa

By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 25, 2004

Matt Fields of the Iowa wrestling team expected to be withheld from competition as a freshman this season.

“Even a week or two before our first competition, I was still wanting the redshirt,” Fields said. “I talked to the coaches and told them I didn’t think I was ready. They told me to keep training and get my mind set.”

Fields is an example of what coaches say is a growing trend in NCAA Division I wrestling. Guys are walking across the stage to receive their high school diplomas one day, and just a few months later are walking to the center of a mat in places such as Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Hilton Coliseum and Northern Iowa’s West Gym.

“I told (Fields) like I tell all freshmen coming in, ‘The best way to be ready no matter what you do is you’ve got to be training like you’re going to be the NCAA champion next year,’ ” Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “I’ve seen some guys hoping to redshirt. It’s like a year off and they don’t use the redshirt year the right way. I want them thinking the only way you know you’re redshirting for sure is if you don’t go to the Big Ten tournament.”

http://themat.com/pressbox/pressdetail.asp?aid=11391

FEATURE: Byers seeks Olympic glory, and may pursue his dream through 2012 Games
12/23/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

Dremiel Byers has been a World champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. Only four U.S. wrestlers have ever won a World Greco-Roman title. He is in some very exclusive company, joining Mike Houck, Dennis Hall and Rulon Gardner with a World gold medal in his trophy case.

You might think that this would be enough for Dremiel Byers. Not even close.

Byers is not only committed to trying to win a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, he also has his sights on the 2012 Olympics, wherever they will be held. He knows he will be in his late 30’s by 2012, but that does not matter. Dremiel Byers has Olympic dreams.

Bring up the 2002 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, where Byers shocked the world and captured the World title, and he does not want to go there. It doesn’t matter that Byers lifted and threw all of his opponents that weekend, and beat some of the best wrestlers on the planet. To Dremiel Byers, 2002 is ancient history.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Reading, Dodgers legend Osteen among ‘04 class
Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame

By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer

Terry Malone was 360-177-8 as coach at Badin and old Hamilton Catholic.
Enquirer file
Zoom

Claude Osteen helped pitch the Los Angeles Dodgers to a world championship, but he still rates his Reading High School state baseball title among his fondest memories.

Osteen is among inductees in the 30th annual Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame class, announced each Christmas.

The LaRosa’s Hall is considered the pinnacle for Greater Cincinnati prep sports figures. This year’s class includes Osteen (Reading class of 1957), former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck (La Salle ‘73), record-setting wrestler Willie Wineberg (Fairfield ‘94), basketball star Troy McKinley (Simon Kenton ‘81), multi-sport star Maureen Shea Kaiser (St. Henry ‘85), girls’ basketball coach Mark Ehlen (old Forest Park High School) and football coach Terry Malone (Badin).

Osteen was a 15-game winner on the Dodgers’ 1965 world title team, the No. 3 starter behind Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Osteen was a three-time All-Star during an 18-year big league career, twice had 20-win seasons, and went 196-195 overall with a stellar 3.30 career ERA.

Dear Friends,

One of the gifts I(Mark) opened this morning was “Grappling Glory: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Wrestling & Rasslin’” by Ross Bernstein…

What a wonderful book!

It’s jam-packed with interesting information and tons of photos of great amateur wrestlers and pro rasslers who have some connection to the state of Minnesota.

The book strikes a nice balance between amateur and pro — neither “side” is short-changed.

There’s good stuff about Minnesota high school wrestling… the University of Minnesota program, and other college programs… and all-time pro greats, including Verne Gagne and Brad Rheingans and Brock Lesnar.

If you have any interest in any aspect of the sport in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I urge you to add this book to your library. You’ll thank me for it.

You can purchase the book direct from the author at his website: http://www.bernsteinbooks.com/GrapplingGlory.htm

Merry Christmas,
Mark