AMES, Iowa — CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta will bring the “Fit Nation College Tour” to ISU’s Fisher Theater on Thursday, March 30, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free on a first come, first served basis. Student ID is required.

The tour is an effort to tackle the obesity epidemic through a series of town hall meetings to educate and search for solutions.

Iowa State is the latest stop on a tour of seven colleges and universities. Along with Gupta, panelists include Ruth MacDonald, professor and chair, Food Science and Human Nutrition; Marc Shulman, chief of staff at Thielen Student Health Center and physician to ISU student athletes; and Cael Sanderson, Olympic gold medalist and former four-time undefeated NCAA champion, now associate head wrestling coach at Iowa State. Other faculty and staff will help to lead audience brainstorming sessions during the event.

Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy will give the welcome.

The event will air live online via CNN Pipeline (subscription required). Clips of the coverage will air Friday on CNN’s “American Morning” and during “House Call” this weekend. For more information about the tour, go to http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/fit.nation/.

KEARNEY — Dan Gable hopes to see the Golden Age of wrestling in the near future.

“I would like to see it at the top of the podium where football is,” Gable says.

But, as someone who probably knows the way to the top of the podium better than anyone else in the world, Gable knows there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.

An NCAA wrestling champion, Olympic champion, world champion and a coach of champions, Gable understands wrestling as well as anyone. Since retiring as coach at the University of Iowa nine years ago, Gable has spent his time promoting wrestling.

This weekend, he attended the Midwest Classic, the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s primary fundraiser. The meet drew more than 1,000 wrestlers from seven states, competing in every age group from 6-and-under to 18-and-under.

The event reflects a positive growth in wrestling. Gable didn’t have similar opportunities.

“I didn’t have any competition. My first experience was at the YMCA in the fifth grade. … My first organized match, with a referee and a whistle and everything, was in the seventh grade,” he said.

By WILL DeBOARD
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: March 28, 2006, 08:11:54 AM PST

Billy Murphy put a little pressure on himself as he entered his final high school wrestling season.

He completed a perfect junior season in 2005 with a state championship, but the Hughson High student was looking beyond state as a senior.

“We weren’t working out just for state,” Murphy said. “We were working toward a national championship.”

His coach, Kyle Porter, felt Murphy was better than just good. Porter felt Murphy was one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of the Stanislaus District.

He went to work assembling a schedule that allowed Murphy to showcase his ability to more than a statewide audience. Porter wanted the country to see Murphy in action.

It worked. Murphy completed an undefeated season last weekend when he won the 130-pound division at the prestigious Senior National Championships in Pittsburgh.

The national title capped a 50-0 season that saw him win titles at the CIF State Meet — including the Champion of Champion honor — and three of the country’s top four tournaments. Murphy was an easy choice as The Bee’s 2006 Wrestler of the Year.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Before the 2005-06 college wrestling season began, Oklahoma State looked like a shoe-in to win its fourth straight NCAA title and 34th overall. After all, the Cowboys returned six All-Americans and four NCAA champions from a team that scored 153 points and won the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships by 70 points.

John Smith
But this season didn’t go as expected. It was a season of ups and downs. Oklahoma State’s four defending NCAA champions, Zack Esposito (149), Johny Hendricks (165), Jake Rosholt (197), and Steve Mocco (Hwt), combined for 15 losses. The Cowboys dropped two dual meets to Minnesota. But in the end, Oklahoma State head coach John Smith pulled his team together in time for the Cowboys to claim their fourth straight Big 12 title and fourth straight NCAA title. The Cowboys finished with six All-Americans, the most of any Division I wrestling program in the country.

For all these reasons, John Smith has been named 2006 Rev Coach of the Year by RevWrestling.com. The award is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate coach across all divisions of wrestling as voted on by the writers and executives of RevWrestling.com.

By Alex Ryan
ASU Sports Information

TEMPE, Ariz. – For the second year in a row, Arizona State University Head Wrestling Coach Thom Ortiz was selected as the Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced Wednesday.

The honor is the third in Ortiz’ five years at the helm of the Sun Devil program and the 15th for an ASU head coach in the 31 years the conference has recognized its top coach.

Ortiz helped his Sun Devils post a 14-7 overall record in dual competition with a perfect 8-0 mark in the Pac-10 before heading to the 2006 Pac-10 Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., where the Sun Devils successfully defended their conference crown from one year prior. Five of his 10 starters advanced to the finals with Patrick Pitsch (165), Ryan Bader (197) and Cain Velasquez (285) winning individual titles.

From there, Ortiz led six competitors into the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships where four earned All-America honors to help the team finish sixth in the nation. Brian Stith (157) advanced to the finals before placing second while C.B. Dollaway (184) finished fifth overall to earn his first All-America honor. Bader (seventh) and Velasquez (fourth) each earned their second All-America honor with Ortiz in their corner.

DAN MCCOOL AND TOM WITOSKY
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS

A major shakeup in college wrestling happened today when it was learned Iowa State had replaced coach Bobby Douglas with Cyclone legend and Olympic gold medalist Cael Sanderson, hours after the University of Iowa announced it had released head coach Jim Zalesky.

Douglas, who was in his 14th season as Iowa State’s coach, disclosed the change in his employment status to the Des Moines Register.

“Cael is the new coach at Iowa State,” Douglas said. “I am no longer the coach.”

The reason for the change was not immediately clear, although Iowa State officials told the Register two weeks ago that they planned to position Sanderson as their eventual coach because they knew other programs would attempt to lure him away.

“It’s everybody’s intent, at some point in time in the future, that Cael will be our head coach,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said then.

Pollard could not be reached for comment this afternoon. Department officials said a news conference will be held at 11 a.m. Friday to “announce the resignation of Bobby Douglas as head coach and hiring of Cael Sanderson as the new head coach.”

Spates wins coach of year
OU head wrestling coach honored at national

by Robert Przybylo

Winning a championship is not the only way to measure the success of a season.

The awards presentation at the national wrestling championships Saturday night were delayed for a minute after the announcement of Coach of the Year.

The winner was OU head coach Jack Spates.

He was nowhere to be found as he said he thought he wouldn’t be considered for the award.

“This is more a testament to the guys, and how hard they work,” Spates said. “They battled through a lot of adversity and could have given up, but they always battled back.”

OU finished third at the national championships. Leading the wrestlers through the trenches and all adversity was Spates, who has just completed his 13th year at the helm of the OU squad.

Story image 2
Expectations were high coming into the season with OU ranked No. 2.

Injuries at four of the 10 weights kept the Sooners from reaching their full potential but did not keep them from competing as hard as they could.

Nine wrestling legends will be inducted into the Class of 2006 of the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa on April 8, 2006, beginning at 2 p.m. The hall of fame is located in the International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Newton .

The event is being held in conjunction with the third annual Championship Productions Coaches Clinic, sponsored by Championship Productions of Ames. The clinic will be held at Newton High School with sessions beginning Friday afternoon, followed by another session on Saturday morning.

This is the fifth class for the hall of fame, which is named for Iowa State ’s Olympic and NCAA champion Glen Brand. The event includes a formal induction and an informal get-together afterwards, with punch and snacks. The event usually lasts about three hours, and offers an opportunity for the inductees to mingle with family, friends and fans.

The Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa was established to bring recognition to the great wrestling figures of Iowa ’s past, both native born and those who attended Iowa colleges. Each inductee (or family member representing the inductee) is introduced by the master of ceremonies, and then has an opportunity to address the gathering. Each inductee is given a handsome plaque to keep, and an identical plaque goes on the wall in a permanent location in the hall of fame. Each inductee will also receive a Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa shirt to each inductee.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson announced his retirement Tuesday, effective July 31.

Hellickson began his tenure at Ohio State in the 1986-87 season. He mentored 41 All-Americans, the most of any Ohio State wrestling coach, including a record five All-America honorees in 2004. The two-time Big Ten coach of the year (1991, ‘02) and 2002 NWCA National Coach of the Year coached five national champions to seven championships, including two-time NCAA champions Kevin Randleman in 1992 and 1993 and Tommy Rowlands in 2002 and 2004. He posted a record of 272-170-6 at the helm of the Buckeyes.

“I’m extremely proud of the student-athletes and coaches I’ve worked with over the years,” Hellickson said. “We have one of the hardest-working staffs in all of college wrestling. The program has not lived up to my expectations the last few years. By stepping aside at this time, it will allow my successor the opportunity to come in and return the program to national prominence. “

“We appreciate Russ’ dedication and contributions to the success of the wrestling program over the years,” Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics, said. “We wish him every success in his retirement.”

Cyclones say they will work to keep Olympic champ in ISU family.

DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Ames, Ia. — Whenever Bobby Douglas steps aside as coach of the Iowa State wrestling team, the question about Cael Sanderson’s head coaching future with the Cyclones seems more “when” than “if”.

Sanderson, the Cyclones’ associate head coach, said he wants the chance to replace Douglas - who will wrap up his 14th season this week at the NCAA championships in Oklahoma City.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said the feeling is mutual.

“It’s everybody’s intent, at some point in time in the future, that Cael will be our head coach,” Pollard said.

Sanderson, 26, is in his first season as Douglas’ top assistant after finishing his Iowa State career as an undefeated, four-time NCAA champion and eventual 2004 Olympic freestyle gold medalist.

Pollard said Douglas is under contract through June 2008.

Douglas added that talks could happen sooner than that, and one long-term focus would be to keep Sanderson in Ames.