It never seems to stop amazing me, how one browser can be so popular and so horrible at web standards.

I’ve recently come to find out that Internet Explorer was causing two big issues. One, the right sidebar was displaying after the content and two, it kept alerting some error at line 72. Both have been fixed.

If you are in Internet Explorer, I urge you to check out Opera, Flock or Firefox. All three browsers are better than Internet Explorer because they have better security, more features and they comply with web standards much more than IE. They are all free and can import any of your favorites and settings. Switching takes just a few minutes and the joy of using a better browser lasts a long time!

Regarding the Virginia Tech wrestling saga involving those players who want to transfer to Iowa, several of the Iowa parents have thrown out the word commitment and promise when talking about the alleged communication by Jim Weaver of a general release policy (general policies are subject to being applied on a case by case basis of course).

I would also like to know if (former Tech wrestling coach Tom) Brands told his recruits there was a good chance he would leave Virginia Tech for another job soon.

For me the issue is not whether or not Weaver issued a statement saying that Virginia Tech generally had a release policy nor is the issue for me whether or not some of these recruits want to follow Brands to Iowa rather than stay at Tech, the main thing I want is for the parents and players to stop using the word “commitment” and “promise.”

It rings hollow when these same players are not looking to fulfill their own commitment to wrestle for Tech.

Written by Sandy Stevens

As the second oldest in a family of eight kids, Paul Molin started wrestling as so many do.

“We’d moved from California to Indiana, and I joined a freestyle program for kids,” he said. “All (four) boys started in around second grade. Dad (Doug) officiated tournaments and helped run practices; Mom (Paula) scored, and the girls scored.”

But Molin, now 27, learned more than just technique from the sport.. What he learned as a wrestler, he maintains, helped propel him to a job with ESPN and an Emmy in May.

“It almost sounds like a cliché to a point, but when people think of wrestlers in general, they think of work ethic,” said Molin, an associate producer for ESPN. “They think, ‘We don’t have to worry about it. It’s going to get done.’

“I definitely had had opportunities given to me because they know that whatever they give me is going to get done –and done right to the best of my ability.”

JOE HABINA
Special Correspondent

Wrestling and auto racing don’t have much in common, except if you consider the professional sports’ appeal with a similar demographic.

For recent high school graduate Ben Smith, the two couldn’t have been more different. Coming from a “wrestling family,” Smith said, he grew up understanding more about takedowns, pins and reversals than springs, rotors and valves.

Though he couldn’t do much more than change a car’s oil at the time, his loyalties quickly transferred from wrestling to racing when Smith got his first look inside an automobile engine four years ago.

Now he has emerged as one of the lead racers in the Fast and Furious Fours division at Concord Motorsport Park.

A June graduate of Central Cabarrus High, Smith, 18, will start classes at UNC Charlotte in the fall, majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in motorsports engineering.

The former all-state wrestler wants to make racing a career.

Instantly enthralled

He’s an inspiration to such notables as Oprah, Arnold Schwarzenegger, soccer star David Beckham, and football great Troy Aikman. Athlete, college student, and inspirational speaker Kyle Maynard, now 20, was born with congenital amputation, a rare disorder in which the arms and legs do not form below the elbows and knees. Nevertheless, endowed with the belief that he “could do anything,” he was able to participate in sports like swimming, baseball, street hockey, and even football and wrestling (he was one of the top high school wrestlers in Georgia).  He is currently training for his next Jiu-Jitsu competition.  In the following excerpt from his book, “No Excuses,” Kyle describes trying out for his middle-school football team–and convincing his mom that it was a good idea.

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At home I dreamed about being a professional athlete and playing on one of my favorite Atlanta sports teams. My dreams made me the star athlete who performed coolly under pressure; I’d imagine replacing John Smoltz as the clutch pitcher on the mound for the Atlanta Braves in the middle of their pennant race.

Chapel Hill, N.C.
By John Martin
Tarheelblue.com

In the tradition of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge in men’s basketball, the University of North Carolina will host the first annual ACC/Big Ten Clash, a six-team wrestling event scheduled for Nov. 18 at Carmichael Auditorium.

Joining the host Tar Heels on the Atlantic Coast Conference side will be NC State and Virginia, while traditional powers Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin will represent the Big Ten Conference. Each team will wrestle the three schools from the opposing conference in a dual match format, and the league with the most victories will bring home the ACC/Big Ten Clash Cup. Fans will be able to watch simultaneous action on three mats.

“We want to put on a good show and keep the event here,” said UNC head assistant coach Glen Lanham. “We want to try to get our local high schools and local media out to create a fan-friendly event. If we can get enough people to come and watch some top-notch wrestling, the Clash could really take off and be huge..”

WDC MEDIA NEWS
Christian News and Media Agency

Georgia Town Blesses Pastor Family with Extreme Makeover

(AgapePress) - A Georgia pastor and his family received the surprise of their lives last week when they returned from vacation to find that the community had renovated their house. And the coordinator of the bigger-than-anticipated makeover testifies that the effort not only strengthened her faith in God, but also demonstrated to her how God works through caring people.

As a young man, wrestler Nate Carr brought home two Big Eight titles and three NCAA titles while at Iowa State University, then capped off a noteworthy athletic career by winning the bronze medal for his country in freestyle wrestling in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Now, however, Pastor Nate Carr wrestles not against “flesh and blood,” but against the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness.

Carr shares that when he gave his life to the Lord, God told him He wanted him to be a “champion for Him — and then to produce champions.” He testifies that “just as hard as I went for the [Olympic] medal and winning championships, that’s how hard I go out to win people for Christ — to impact them for all of eternity.” And continuing the wrestling analogy, he says he can attest to the fact that “the spiritual wrestling is a lot tougher than the physical wrestling.”

Josh Lashley/Real Pro Wrestling

Having a dream in life is very important, for it gives one the ability to wakeup each morning with the energy and enthusiasm which is vital to thrive toward their goals. Sometimes, dreams are even realized. For fans of wrestling, the dream of a professional Olympic-style league has now become very much a reality in the form of Real Pro Wrestling.

Through the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, from the athletes on the mat to those behind the scenes, Season One of Real Pro Wrestling was a success and its full steam ahead with Season Two, which gets going this fall. World class athletes, who are soon to be known to those outside the hardcore wrestling community, will face off in the anticipated second season of RPW. RPW president Matt Case was very impressed with the reaction to Season One and is ready to help deliver a very good product in the coming months.

Offseason tournaments help wrestlers prepare
Falcons hope this saying is true for them: ‘Summer wrestling makes winter champs’

By Steve Brooks
Star correspondent
Officially, the high school wrestling season ends at the end of February. Unofficially, it’s still going on for many area wrestlers, a trend unlikely to end any time soon.

Thirteen Perry Meridian wrestlers are participating in Team Indiana training camp this week at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer in preparation for the USA Wrestling Cadet & Junior Nationals tournament this month in Fargo, N.D.
That came on the heels of the Falcons putting together full varsity and reserve teams to compete in the Disney Duals in Orlando, Fla., where the Falcons placed 15th among 50 teams, losing three close dual meets.

“We didn’t take any of our state placers to that tournament,” Perry Meridian coach Jim Tonte said. “We took what we basically figured would be our team this season. We have 13 kids up here this week, and no other school has that amount. Our kids have just bought into our offseason approach. We have a saying that summer wrestling makes winter champs.”

Odeen Domingo
The Arizona Republic

One unwanted word branded Anthony Robles when he was born.

It’s a word that bothers him still.

Disability.

The word makes him feel like he’s restricted, confined to a prison with no athletic realm he can cross. As if no matter how hard he tries, how much he puts his heart and mind into something, he can’t do it. All because he was born with one leg.

But Robles, who just graduated from Mesa High, knows he’s not restricted to anything. He grew up the same as his sister and three brothers, who are considered normal. When they played games, he played alongside them. When others ran past him playing football, he caught up by hopping. And when he tried wrestling, he was unstoppable.

Over the past two years, Robles compiled a 96-0 record, helping his team win the Class 5A state championship this past season. He won the state championship in the 103-pound division as a junior and the 112-pound division as a senior. Since winning the 112-pound division in the national high school wrestling tournament in late March, Robles’ story has gone national. He’s done morning TV shows and was a special guest at a few entertainment and sporting events.