By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen

Montell Marion grew up in Des Moines, but it took a 1,700-mile roundtrip for him to get to the Iowa wrestling room.

Marion, a two-time state champion and four-time finalist at West Des Moines Valley and Des Moines Roosevelt, said Thursday that he will join the Hawkeyes this fall, completing his winding road to Iowa.

Marion signed a letter of intent to attend Northern Iowa as a high school senior in 2006, but opted instead to spend the past year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where he started thinking about a career with the Hawkeyes.

“It had nothing to do with (UNI coach) Brad Penrith, first of all, I want to say that,” Marion said of his decision to train in Colorado Springs. “He’s a good guy; he’s real cool. The campus is good, the wrestling team is good. But to be honest, I asked myself if I wanted to be a mediocre wrestler or if I wanted to put my name on the map and if I wanted to turn some heads and if I want to walk around campus having people know me as a part of the wrestling team. I decided I had to go do some more training to be able to catch up. … I had the opportunity to catch up and really level the playing field with my future opponents.”

As most of you are probably know, the University of Oregon has announced that they will be dropping their wrestling program after the 2007-2008 season and replacing it with baseball and competitive cheerleading.

This is bad news not just for Oregon, but for wrestling in general, as athletic directors seem to be on a cutting spree these days and who knows which program will be on the chopping block next. Furthermore, if wrestling at Oregon is dissolved, it puts the whole Pac-10 conference at risk, based on having too few PAC 10 schools sponsoring wrestling.

If you have a minute this afternoon to visit the new website we just created — http://www.saveoregonwrestling.com — and sign the petition that would be great. If you have 10 minutes, please review the speaking points under ‘important facts’ on the website and write a letter to the administration demanding that wrestling be reinstated.

Please pass this along to any other members of the wrestling community that would like to get involved, or even non-wrestlers who would take the time to sign the petition. If you live in Oregon and are interested in participating in rallies and other meetings, email Kevin Roberts at keviroberts@hotmail.com, as he is the point person on the efforts to save the Oregon Program and will have the most up-to-date information.

From Call staff reports

Looking for a way to remain active during the summer months, Lehigh junior Trevor Chinn took to the beach.

Chinn captured the 165 national title at the second annual U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships on Saturday, winning all three of his matches on Sunday Beach in Rochester, N.Y.

Chinn, wrestling for Team Titan, came from behind to defeat Kevin Sackett 2-1 in the championship finals.

Beach wrestling was named an international style of wrestling by FILA in 2005. Athletes wrestle on a sand surface inside a circle marked in the sand. Matches last three minutes and can be won by fall or by being the first to accumulate two points.

Chinn earned a 2-0 decision over John Bonaldi in an earlier bout, and also won by fall over Tom Cuppernell.

With the victory, Chinn earned to right to compete in the Beach World Team Trials on Sunday, but chose not to enter. The second Beach World Championships will be held in Turkey in September.

By Jackie Friedman NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

It was game time.

Matt Mariacher got up from the towel on which he had been passed out for the last half an hour, dusted the sand off his legs, straightened out his orange swimming trunks and headed over to the ring.

“It’s a relaxing change,” Mariacher’s father Matt said of beach wrestling. “Normally we’re in a gymnasium somewhere. We figured it’d be a little bit different. They could wrestle a little bit, do what they trained hard for, yet enjoy a day at the beach.

“A large part of the public never gets to see [wrestling]. Out on the beach, the sport catches the eyes of a lot of people just walking by, and the wrestlers have a big crowd watching.”

Matt and his 20-year-old brother Reece didn’t wrestle in the Beach Nationals at Charlotte Beach in Rochester last Saturday to get exposure. The former Iroquois standouts took part in this new venture — the Rochester event was the fifth of six beach wrestling events on the summer schedule — to compete together before they head to their respective colleges.

Gary Abbott USA Wrestling

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - 2006 World Beach bronze medalist Ray Downey of East Meadow, N.Y. (East Meadow WC) won the U.S. Beach National Championships for the second year in a row, with an impressive performance at 176 pounds in the Senior division on Sunday at Charlotte Beach

Downey won four matches on the way to the title, including a 2-0 decision over Mike Morone (Unattached) in the championship finals. Downey won all four of his bouts by 2-0 decision, shutting out each of his opponents on the way to victory.

Carlos Dolmo of Bronx, N.Y. (Blast Double of NY) who was fifth at the Beach World Championships last year, captured the individual title at

Dolmo was third at last year�s U.S. Nationals then won the title at the 2006 World Team Trials to earn his spot on the U.S. Team.

The top three place winners in each weight class at the Senior level at the U.S. Beach Nationals earned a spot in the World Team Trials, which will be held on Sunday.

Dolmo�s teammate, Rawle Shewprashad of Bronx, N.Y. (Blast Double of NY) won the 210-pound title, defeating R.J. Hickey (unattached), 3-0 in the finals. Shewprashad placed second last year at the Beach Nationals.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Looking for a way to remain active during the summer months, Lehigh junior Trevor Chinn took to the beach. Saturday, Chinn captured the 165 national title at the second annual U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships, winning all three of his matches on Sunday Beach. Chinn, wrestling for Team Titan, came from behind to defeat Kevin Sackett 2-1 in the championship finals.

Beach wrestling was named an international style of wrestling by FILA in 2005. Athletes wrestle on a sand surface inside a circle marked in the sand. Matches last three minutes and can be won by fall or by being the first to accumulate two points.

Chinn earned a 2-0 decision over John Bonaldi in an earlier bout, and also won by fall Tom Cuppernell. With the victory, Chinn earned to right to compete in the Beach World Team Trials on Sunday, but chose not to enter. The second Beach World Championships will be held in Turkey in September.

A NCAA qualifier in 2006, Chinn was the Mountain Hawks- starter at 149 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury against Brown. He returned to competition in April, placing eighth at 70 kg at the University Nationals in Akron, Ohio. Chinn finished the 2006-07 season with a 12-10 record, and carries a 32-25 career mark into the 2007-08 season.

Throggs Neck, NY
By John Czarnecki
Sports Information Director
SUNY-Maritime

The Athletic Department at SUNY Maritime announced, with regret, that Men’s Tennis, Women’s Basketball, and Men’s Wrestling will not be offered for participation in the 2007-2008 academic year.

“Due to monetary constraints and low participation rates the last three seasons in these sports, it is necessary to discontinue them. Hopefully, at a later date this year, we can discuss their re- instatement”, states Maritime Athletic Director Russ Ketcham.

Maritime College offers 20 Varsity sports, as well as numerous club sports to its nearly 1200 students, one of the highest offering levels of any NCAA Division III program in the country.

Frank Edwards was an All-American 165-pounder for the Navy Wrestling Team. He has served in Iraq and now is based at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego where he commands a platoon of snipers

By Jeremy O’Kasick - TWM Freelance Writer

In the Marine Corps, there is a saying, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

That certainly holds true for 1st Lieutenant Frank Edwards, a 2004 Naval Academy graduate and former All-American wrestler. But he also kicks in his own motto.

“Above all, I am a wrestler,” says the 24-year-old Edwards. “Before I identify myself as a Marine, or a surfer, or a man, I am a wrestler.”

Beyond grappling and surfing, Lt. Edwards’ military expertise happens to be the stuff of warrior lore and action movie blockbusters. He is a sniper. In fact, he commands a platoon of snipers. Now stationed at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego, he had previously been deployed to Iraq working alongside Iraqi soldiers as an advisor. Edwards will be the first to tell you that his job is all about Leatherneck grit. Just forget all about the Hollywood glamour.

Athletes compete in beach nationals, World Team Trials

Nicole Lee
Staff writer

Mike Morone has been a wrestler for more than three decades, but even he was exposed to a new element of the sport on Saturday.

The 49-year-old Chili resident was one of more than 100 athletes who participated in this year’s USAW Beach Wrestling National Championships and World Team Trials.

The two-day competition is being held at Ontario Beach Park, 4800 Lake Ave., and was hosted by the Titan Wrestling Club of Penfield and the State University College at Brockport.

For Morone and the other mostly male competitors, wrestling barefoot in sand under the blazing sun was a definite environmental change from the typical indoor match on mats in a gymnasium.

He defeated Mike Poliszuk in a senior division match, one of several matches in which Morone wrestled. Contestants get three minutes to earn points for either pinning an opponent in the sand or pushing the opponent outside the wrestling ring.

“It’s very fast; one little mistake could be the end of it. I expect to be beaten up,” Morone joked. “I’m thankful to be healthy. I have to go to work on Monday.”

National championships, World Team Trials come to Charlotte

James Johnson

Last year’s Ontario Beach Sports and Music Festival sports lineup included professional jet skiing and beach volleyball.

More muscle has been added to this year’s event at Charlotte, as Rochester hosts sanctioned beach wrestling for the first time, on Saturday and Sunday.

Beach style was formally recognized by the sport’s sanctioning bodies two years ago. Competitors face off in a 20-foot ring marked in the sand. The object is to score two points.

A point is awarded with each takedown or removal of an opponent from the ring during the three-minute match.

“It’s really a wide-open opportunity to enjoy wrestling,” said Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling’s director of communications. “It’s really easy to follow and the matches go very quickly.

“The athletes tend to try it out, and after they do, they like it. The sand slows the action down that in some cases, allows the older athletes to succeed against younger athletes.”

Competitors grouped by sex, age and weight go after USA Wrestling National Championships, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Beach Wrestling World Team Trials take place 10 a.m. Sunday, with the winners forming the United States team at the World Championships in Turkey, Sept. 7-9.