Bryan Johnston Virginia Tech

Due to numerous requests concerning the eligibility status of
Virginia Tech wrestlers, the Virginia Tech Athletics Department
issues the following statement:

“The Virginia Tech Athletics Department has chosen not to release for the 2006-07 academic year any National Letter of Intent (NLI) signee or those wrestlers receiving athletics financial aid to any
Division-I institution.

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) sets forth
guidelines pertaining to transfer situations amongst its member
institutions. The NCAA has had a transfer rule in place throughout
its years. The NCAA transfer rules require the permission of the
institution in order for the student-athlete to avoid eligibility
consequences.

The rule was enacted, in large part, and remains in place to this
day, in order to control the unfettered transfer of athletes from one
team to another due to a coaching change. Virginia Tech will apply
this rule for the purpose that it was intended.

The Virginia Tech Athletics Department has informed these athletes that it will provide transfer releases following the 2006-07 academic year if a student-athlete still wishes to transfer out of Virginia Tech.

Bowlsby to leave for Stanford

By the Press-Citizen

The man who has headed up the University of Iowa’s athletic department for nearly 15 years is leaving to become the athletic director at Stanford.

Stanford announced today that it has hired Bob Bowlsby to take over its athletic program, one of the most distinguished all-around programs in the country.

Bowlsby leaves quite a legacy at Iowa. He hired Kirk Ferentz to replace Hayden Fry, Steve Alford to replace Tom Davis, Jim Zalesky to replace Dan Gable and Tom Brands to replace Zalesky. He also spearheaded the soon-to-be-complete $90 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium.

Most of his time at Iowa was spent as the men’s athletic director. The men’s and women’s department merged with the retirement of women’s director Christine Grant, and Bowlsby took over all athletic programs.

Bowlsby has a national reputation as an athletic director, known among other things for his sound financial management of the Iowa program, which remains one of a minority of major athletic programs to not operate with a budget deficit.

Iowa wrestler Ruben Chavez was arrested Monday for assault causing bodily injury stemming from a March 11 incident.

According to a police report, Chavez, 21, of West Liberty, allegedly head-butted an unnamed accuser in the face and injured the accuser’s nose in an encounter on S. Dubuque St.

During the altercation, Chavez, who the accuser said was intoxicated and agitated, identified himself to the victim by repeating his name during the incident, according to the police records. The victim was later able to describe to police the identity of Chavez.

Chavez, a sophomore 133-pounder at Iowa, was a three-time state qualifier at West Liberty. He did not wrestle this past season for the Hawkeyes, but was 5-2 in open tournaments in the 2004-05 season.

By Ron Bracken
rbracken@centredaily.com

In a recent idle moment Steve Kurzinger was leafing through the history of State College wrestling and marveling at some of the great coaches who had helped build the Little Lion tradition, men like Homer Barr, Ron Pifer and Len Rockey.

Now Kurzinger’s name will be added to the roster of men who have guided the State High program.

After serving as an interim head coach after Shad Benton had been relieved of his duties in mid-season, Kurzinger was appointed to the head coaching position at last night’s school board meeting.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Kurzinger said. “But just looking at some of the names in that record book, it’s an honor to be a State High coach.

“I was fortunate to work with some of the best teams in State College history and I want us to get back to that point.”

Kurzinger served as an assistant with the Little Lions earlier this decade before getting out of the sport for a brief period of time. But when he was asked to step into the breach in January it whetted his appetite.

By Brooks Hatch
Corvallis Gazette-Times

The sense of deja vu permeating the Valley Football Center media conference for new Oregon State wrestling coach Jim Zalesky was palpable to those who attended a similar event for football coach Dennis Erickson seven years ago.

The message from the ex-Iowa mentor was virtually identical as Erickson’s, down to the concise, to-the-point answers.

Zalesky said OSU must shoot for Pacific-10 Conference championships and national awards, that settling for less was pointless.

“At Iowa, I had expectations — not put on me, but of myself — to win nationals every year,” Zalesky said Tuesday. “If you don’t have pressure on you, you’re not fighting for the top spot.

“It means you’re down below.”

He said hard work and commitment matter, not the fancy weight rooms and other facilities missing at OSU — for the moment.

“You can have a weight room that looks real good, but if nobody goes in there, (it) isn’t doing anybody any good,” he said. “The (practice) room doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s got mats.

“It’d be nice to have a great-looking facility for recruits, but that’s all show. It’s what you do in the wrestling room that’s going to make the difference.”

Wrestlers that competed in Real Pro Wrestling’s Season One captured a total of nine U.S. Nationals titles in either freestyle or Greco-Roman this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nev. Of those nine, six freestyle wrestlers won titles, with the seventh U.S. Nationals title coming from high schooler Henry Cejudo (121 lbs.).

In Greco-Roman, three of the five Season One wrestlers competing won titles. The other two placed second.

The victories show the quality of competition that Real Pro Wrestling has brought to sports fans worldwide. Only the best were selected to compete in Season One, and with the eight franchise cities close to being named for Season Two, fans can only expect more of the same when it comes to athlete selection.

Overall, 25 of the 56 Season One wrestlers placed in this event. 27 others did not compete, meaning that 86 percent of the Season One wrestlers that did compete in the U.S. Nationals placed in the top eight of their respective weight classes.

The Iowa Stalkers, which won the RPW Season One team title, had four placewinners at the U.S. Nationals, including one champion. The Oklahoma Slam, which finished third in the Season One team race, led all teams with six placewinners, including three champions. The Minnesota Freeze, which finished last in Season One with only one team point, had three placewinners, including one champion.

Tom Ryan has been named as Ohio State’s new head wrestling coach. Gene Smith, athletics director at Ohio State, announced the hiring Saturday. Ryan, a 1993 graduate of Iowa, comes to Ohio State after spending the past 11 years at the helm of the Hofstra wrestling program. He will sign a five-year contract with Ohio State.

“Ohio State is one of the most inspiring campuses I have ever visited,” Ryan said. “The combination of academic and athletic standards allows Ohio State to attract the top student-athletes in the country. I am humble and thankful Gene Smith has entrusted me with the wrestling program at Ohio State.

“In the short term, I plan to first meet with the team and begin putting together a staff of national caliber. I also want to get out to the communities in Ohio and reach out to the coaches at the high school level. There is great high school wrestling in Ohio and it not only is my job to coach Ohio State, but also build strong relationships with coaches at the high school level.”

At Hofstra, Ryan led the Pride to six-consecutive conference titles, including this past season. Hofstra won the Eastern Collegiate Wrestling Association championship in 2001 before winning five-consecutive Colonial Athletic Association crowns (2002-06).

AMES, Iowa — Cody Sanderson, a two-time 133-pound NCAA finalist as an Iowa State wrestler who has been the head wrestling coach at Utah Valley State the last three seasons, has joined the Cyclone coaching staff as associate head coach. The staff addition was announced Friday by ISU head coach Cael Sanderson, Cody’s younger brother. Cael Sanderson hired former Iowa assistant coach Tim Hartung earlier this month.

“People who know Cody will be thrilled by his addition to our coaching staff,” Cael Sanderson said. “He knows Iowa State but has also been a head coach the last three seasons and will bring unique experience to the wrestling room. Cody is smart. He is driven to be successful. Ultimately, he is someone I trust and respect. He did a lot to help our wrestlers during his time in Ames. Our wrestlers will attest to his contributions.

The only wrestling coach that Utah Valley State has known, Cody Sanderson built the Wolverine program in Orem from scratch starting in 2003. His team won six its last seven dual meets this season.

Written by John fuller

Momir Petkovic is more American than he looks.

He can tell jokes with the best of them. He can talk trash with the best of them. And he can still wrestle with the best of them.

Petkovic, born in the former Yugoslavia, is perhaps the least recognized of USA Wrestling’s national coaches. When most think of training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, they spew out the names of Kevin Jackson, Terry Brands and Steve Fraser – all Olympic medalists.

What they soon find out, however, is that Petkovic serves as the pistons that makes the OTC motor run smooth.

“I don’t need all the attention,” Petkovic boasts in his accent. “My satisfaction comes from these wrestlers training at the Olympic Training Center winning medals overseas and dominated at the Nationals and Trials.”

And dominate they have.

At this year’s U.S. National Championships, four of the seven Greco-Roman champions are full-time residents at the Olympic Training Center. Two others are members of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, which also trains often at the Olympic Training Center.

It is no coincidence that the OTC program became dominant shortly after Petkovic’s arrival in 2002.

By Kerwin Lonzo
University of Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Steve Garland, a former All-American at the University of Virginia, has been named the head wrestling coach, as announced by Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage today. Garland has served the last six seasons as an assistant coach at Cornell University, where he helped the Big Red to four consecutive top-11 finishes at the NCAA Championships. He spent the last four seasons as the top assistant under 2005 NCAA Coach of the Year, Rob Koll.

“I’ve learned important things about Steve Garland from those in the college wrestling community,” Littlepage said. “The outstanding work he did as Cornell University’s assistant coach is a major reason why he is the best fit for UVa wrestling at this time Cornell built a nationally-ranked program and Coach Garland was a big part of the program¹s development. We are fortunate that in addition to the experience he gained there, he is also one of our own and knows the UVa wrestling community as well as anyone. I anticipate that Virginia’s program will take off and achieve great success under Coach Garland.”