By KIRK BEY / La Crosse Tribune

Nate Skaar didn’t hesitate when UW-La Crosse athletic director Joe Baker called him.

Skaar told Baker he would return as UW-L’s wrestling coach on a one-year interim basis, the same position he held last season. Even though there are no guarantees beyond the 2005-06 season, it was a risk Skaar was willing to take.

To say Skaar is returning to UW-L under difficult circumstances would be an understatement. He was not a finalist for the job on a permanent basis after UW-L posted a nationwide search in July. One of the job requirements was a master’s degree, and Skaar said he still is a year away from obtaining his.

Former UW-L coach Tim Fader and former UW-L wrestlers Brad Bruhn and Russ Peloquin were the finalists for the position, and all three were brought in for on-campus interview earlier this month.

However, Baker had to close the search last week due to an administrative error that wasn’t discovered until recently. The position had been advertised as a three-quarter time position (50 percent running UW-L’s adventure program, 25 percent coaching). But Baker said parts of the paperwork outlining the position had somehow been changed to describe the job as a 12-month position after it had been posted.

Paul McNeil (Wrestling): 2005 Mayland Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee

Inductions will take place on September 30 as part of the Universitiy’s homecoming festivities.

College Park, Md. - This is the first of five segments profiling the incoming class of the 2005 University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, which will be inducted on Friday September 30th, 2005 as part of the University’s homecoming festivities.

Inductee: Paul McNeil (Wrestling)

Born and raised in Kingston, PA, Paul McNeil was the dominant force on the Terps wrestling team in its infancy. Competing in the light-heavyweight division, McNeil never lost a match in his three years of eligibility between 1939-1941.

McNeil came to Maryland after a successful high school career that saw him win the Pennsylvania State Championship in his division, despite picking up wrestling only as a junior. He joined a Terp squad in 1939 that was competing only on the extramural level, but his contributions to that year’s successful team helped earn it varsity status the following season.

By Chris Gasiewski, Delaware State News
DOVER - Jamelle Jones had already proved how dominant he could be in Delaware.

Now the two-time state champion from Dover High will see what he can do in New Jersey.

So, wanting to increase the competition, he recently transferred for his junior year to Edgewood High in New Jersey. His chances to become a four-time state champion in Delaware went with him.

“I figured I could get more college looks in Jersey,” Jones said Monday after Edgewood’s football practice. “Delaware is a small state, but people overlook it.

“It’s a great wrestling state. But Jersey, they have a lot of talent.”

With the new school year just beginning, Jones isn’t the only local state champion to leave the state, either. Alex Meade, a state titleist as a freshman last winter, has left Caesar Rodney for Christiansburg (Va.).

In addition, girls’ basketball first-team All-State guard, Brittani Shells, has officially withdrawn from CR to attend Caravel Academy.

Sicklerville, N.J., the home of Edgewood High, is no stranger to Jones. He lived there with his mother when he was in the eighth grade and part of his freshman year before moving back to Dover with his father, Steve.

The NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee will hold a video rules clinic on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 3 p.m. Eastern time (2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, Noon Pacific). Included with this memo is an updated list of clinic sites.

Please make note of the time change this year. The clinic will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

Each clinic site will show the NCAA Wrestling Rules Videotape promptly at the time listed above. Following the video, members of the NCAA Wrestling Committee will be available on a conference call to answer questions regarding rules and officiating. To access the conference, please dial 800/500-0177 and enter confirmation code 1517754. You will be prompted by an operator to ask your question at the appropriate time.

Those attending a site will fill out a card after the clinic for their registration. For those unable to attend one of the clinic sites, you may also certify by viewing the clinic on the Internet at www.ncaasports.com and click on “Wrestling” on the left side. Please go to this address before the clinic date and be sure your computer is able to view the event. The Internet broadcast will be available until October 17.

You can own Rulon Gardner’s actual Athens Olympics retirement shoes!

I found the eBay auction and you can get a piece of wrestling history today!

Good Luck.

By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY

In Rulon Gardner’s view, these shoes were made for hawking. So one pair of size 13 Asics wrestling shoes, which Gardner left at center mat in Athens to signal his retirement after winning a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics, goes up for auction beginning Monday on eBay.

Gardner’s removal of his shoes after his last match was a ceremonial gesture, common in international wrestling, but he retrieved them and brought them home.

He’s says he’ll donate half the auction proceeds to USA Wrestling to benefit future Olympics wrestling heavyweights, but he also views the shoe sale as a way to promote his book, Never Stop Pushing, to be released Sept. 6 (the same day the auction ends).

“This way, somebody can have the keepsake or whatever, but then also it helps out wrestling and hopefully bring a little more awareness to the book coming out,” says Gardner, 34, who will sign a personalized autograph on the shoes.

He isn’t contemplating a similar sale of the shoes he wore in the 2000 Olympics when he won Greco-Roman wrestling gold by upsetting Russia’s previously unbeaten and three-time Olympic champ, Alexander Karelin.

Hellertown woman ‘wowed’ by wrestling
By: Mary Caruso

Many septuagenarians look forward to their golden years with a sense of stillness. It’s a time of sitting back and relaxing, reaping the benefits of years of labor in the employment arena - calm, quiet, peaceful.

Yet, one over-70 woman in Hellertown spends her time in the rowdy, noisy, sweaty atmosphere of Saucon Valley’s high school gym.

Lorraine Bowers, more affectionately known as “the old lady in the first row,” has spent 38 years routing for the Panthers.

At a recent party, honoring her 75th birthday on Aug. 16, Bowers was the one receiving cheers from a roomful of family and friends who had gathered to wish her well.

Although the party was decorated and centered around her guests’ love of NASCAR racing, Bowers admitted to her love of high school wrestling.

“My brother wrestled at Saucon Valley in 1966,” Bowers said, “and I found I liked watching the sport.”

Since then, she has become an ardent fan of the valley’s high school wrestlers.

As her presence became more frequent, and her encouragement more intense, Bowers became a personal friend to many of the wrestlers.

Fresno, Calif. - Head wrestling coach Shawn Charles has announced the hiring of a second assistant coach for the wrestling program in Travis Pascoe. Pascoe was an All-American and a four-time NCAA qualifier at Nebraska while wrestling at 184 pounds. Pascoe will join Charles and fellow assistant coach Kevin Lake for the duration of the 2005-06 school year.

Pascoe wrestled for four years at Nebraska, accruing 101 wins in four years, placing him 13th on the all-time win list for Nebraska. Pascoe recorded a 22-3 record while wrestling unattached as a redshirt, and then continued that success by qualifying for the NCAA tournament four straight years from 2002-2005.

A key part of Nebraska’s top 25 finish in the NCAA championships last season, Pascoe took sixth place at the NCAA championships at 184 pounds, his best finish in four years. Among Pascoe’s collegiate wrestling highlights include a Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title along and being named the Big 12 wrestler of the month.

Also an accomplished wrestler in High School, Pascoe compiled a 138-8 career mark and won three Washington state championships at 189-pounds. He was also named a high school All-American while at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Wash.

Editor’s Note: Former Olympian John Peterson wrote this column for the Aug. 12 issue of W.I.N. Magazine in place of his brother, Ben, in response to the article written for The Wrestling Mall by columnist Kyle Klingman comparing a dream dual between the 1972 U.S. men’s Olympic freestyle team and the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic freestyle team, which can be read by Clicking Here (link removed)

By John Peterson – Guest Columnist
Please send comments, questions or replies to: info@thewrestlingmall.com

After reading Kyle Klingman’s article on the “dream” match between the 1972 and 1992 freestyle Olympic teams, I felt the strong urge to counter. After all, that is what wrestling teaches us. We do not just learn offense. We also learn defense.

Having had the privilege of being at both the 1972 and 1992 Olympics, I can speak with some authority on the subject. I realize it is always dangerous to go up against historians when tackling these kinds of tasks. Therefore, I approach this work with some fear, but not to the point of trembling!

The Northwestern Wildcat wrestling team and Head Coach Tim Cysewski is seeking an Assistant Coach to help take this emerging program to the next level. We are looking for qualified candidates who have achieved success in the sport at the collegiate, national or international levels that would like to dedicate themselves to a career in coaching at the NCAA D1 level.

This is a key position. Interested candidates will be expected to demonstrate the ability to help execute successfully in the following areas:

• Recruiting
• Scheduling and running practices
• Teaching solid technique
• Drilling and wrestling effectively in live situations with Northwestern wrestlers
• Organizing and marketing summer wrestling camps and growing revenue

Ideal candidates will be those who can wrestle effectively with wrestlers competing at 174 pounds through 197 pounds or higher.

Competitive salary offered, in addition to potential bonuses from camp operations

Interested candidates, please forward resume to Coach Tim Cysewski at wrestling@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-4799.