The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C.: Tab Thacker, an NCAA championship wrestler who appeared in two “Police Academy” films and other Hollywood movies, died Friday after several years of declining health, according to North Carolina State University. He was 45.

The 6-foot-4 Thacker, who once tipped the scale at almost 450 pounds, got his first movie role when Clint Eastwood saw his photograph in Time magazine and took note of Thacker’s enormous frame, which helped the three-time All-American finish his senior season 31-0 at N.C. State in 1984.

Thacker was cast as a bouncer in the 1930s-era “City Heat” with Burt Reynolds and Eastwood, then played an underdog football player who made the climactic ending play in 1986’s “Wildcats,” starring Goldie Hawn. He was a cast member in two “Police Academy” films and later appeared in “Identity Crisis.”

Thacker won the NCAA heavyweight championship in 1984 and earned four Atlantic Coast Conference titles. He finished his college career 92-11-1, ranking second in N.C. State history with an .889 winning percentage and 54 pins, according to the university.

by Guy Cipriano
First, let’s look at how wrestling is received in some other parts of the country.

Only 801 fans attended Ohio State’s Big Ten opener against Wisconsin on Dec. 10. Illinois, a Top 20 program, attracted just 525 fans to a tri-meet on Dec. 8.

The numbers might not mean much to somebody living in central Pennsylvania.

But they demonstrate how lucky we are to live in an area where the bleachers are often occupied.

The concept of the big match is still alive in this area.

Penn State finished fourth nationally in attendance last year behind powers Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota. Earlier this season, more than 1,700 fans attended the Nittany Lions’ wrestle-offs a Rec Hall. Most Division I programs can’t attract crowds that big for regular-season events.

The interest extends to the high school level, where Big 7 matches involving Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Central Mountain have filled gyms this season. Penn State’s second-semester schedule begins Jan. 4 against Cornell at Rec Hall.

When Bellefonte wrestled at BEA on Dec. 4, a capacity crowd witnessed every move. When Central Mountain wrestled at Bellefonte last Tuesday, a capacity crowd watched the first wrestling event in the Red Raiders’ new gym.

For Illinois Prep Wrestling Stars, There Is No Place Like Home

Andrew Tanker/Northwestern Sports Information

EVANSTON, Ill.– From Oklahoma to Minnesota to North Carolina, Illinois natives are dominating the college-wrestling scene.

With more than 200 wrestlers from the state of Illinois now populating the country’s wrestling teams, Illinois has become a state to reckon with as far as high school wrestling goes. A total of 30 wrestlers from University of Illinois’ roster are homegrown, while at Northwestern, 12 student-athletes decided to stay in state for college.

Among those wrestlers are former state champions, NCAA All-Americans and 2008 NCAA Championship contenders.

At Illinois, there are none better than Mike Poeta and Jimmy Kennedy.

Poeta brought home two state championships in high school and did not slow down once he became an Illini wrestler. As a redshirt freshman, he won the Missouri Open and finished the year 9-1 in open competition. From there, he qualified for the NCAA Championships, finished 7-1 in the Big Ten and placed second at the Midlands. His sophomore season, Poeta wrestled to an 18-0 start to the season, holding the No. 1 spot in the nation for nine-straight weeks before sustaining his first loss of the season to C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota) in the semifinals at Big Tens. A title at the 44th annual Midlands Championships also highlighted his season. This season, Poeta has gotten off to an unbeaten start in the first month of the season and holds the No. 1 ranking yet again. On Dec. 5, he was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

James Naismith was born in Canada and graduated from McGill University and the Presbyterian seminary in Toronto. In 1890 he entered the YMCA college in Springfield, Massachusetts, and it was there that James Naismith invented basketball, using peach baskets as the goal.

Designed as something different that could be played indoors with a limited number of players, basketball was an immediate success with the Springfield students. By the turn of the century several schools in the east had begun intercollegiate competition. From Springfield, Naismith went to Denver where he acquired a medical degree which qualified him to join the University of Kansas faculty as a physical education professor and chaplain. He remained in Lawrence until his death in 1939.

Dr. Naismith regarded his invention of the game as just an episode in a long career devoted to the improvement of the physical condition of succeeding generations. He thought wrestling was better exercise than basketball and one reporter said he drew as much pleasure from watching gymnasts as he did from K.U. basketball. When one of his former students, Forrest “Phog” Allen, told him he was going to Baker University to coach basketball Naismith said, “Why, basketball is just a game to play. It doesn’t need a coach.”

By Ryan Maus
GopherSports.com

Tickets for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena March 8 and 9, will go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17. All-session tickets are $30 and may be purchased through gophersports.com, in person at the Minnesota athletics ticket office in Mariucci Arena or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER or 612-624-8080.

Big Ten Championship all-session tickets will also be available for sale at all Minnesota home wrestling meets this season.

“We’re extremely excited to be hosting the Big Ten Championships this year,” said J Robinson, head coach of the defending national champion Gophers. “This event always features some of the best collegiate wrestling in the country and we expect to get a lot of support from wrestling fans around the Upper Midwest.”

The 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will feature a three-session format, with the Session 1 preliminary matches beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 8. Session 2 will get underway at 6 p.m. that same day, and the Session 3 championship matches will start at noon on Sunday, March 9. Doors to Williams Arena open approximately one hour prior to the beginning of each session.

WATERLOO – Six new legends of wrestling will enter the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame on April 19, 2008. It will be the seventh class to go into the hall.

The group includes two men who each won a pair of NCAA championships (Mike Natvig of Army by way of Decorah and Tim Krieger of Iowa State), another NCAA champion who became a mixed martial arts star (Mike Van Arsdale of Iowa State), an NCAA champion who is now a Big Ten coach (Duane Goldman of Iowa) and two of the most respected coaches in Iowa history (Chuck Patten and Dan Mashek, both of UNI).

The inductions will be held 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, in the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame inside the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo. It is part of a two-day weekend that includes the Dan Gable Coaching Clinic on Friday and Saturday, with some of the top coaches in the country holding sessions.

Mike Natvig won two NCAA championships for the West Point team, capturing titles at 147 pounds in both 1962 and ‘63. He graduated with an overall record of 47-7-1 and is considered the most successful wrestler in the history of West Point.

A pilot program will have the coaches picking weight order.

By Gary R. Blockus | Of The Morning Call
When Lehigh hosts No. 5 Penn State in wrestling at Stabler Arena on Friday night, the 96th meeting in one of the oldest wrestling rivalries in the nation will feature a new twist.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association, in cooperation with the NCAA, Penn State and Lehigh, will feature a never-before-used format to determine the order of matches.

And any fan who can predict the exact order of bouts has the chance to win two tickets plus hotel accommodations to the 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships that will be held in St. Louis in March.

Since the 1998-99 season, coaches have conducted a random draw for a starting weight, and matches proceed in order from that weight. Under rare circumstances, a few bouts have been contested out of order.

Mike Moyer, the executive director of the NWCA, said this approach to modifying the traditional wrestling format is a pilot program.

A Public Breakthrough

The first 13 years of the Walsh Ironman, one thing was standard — a private school would win. There have been some challengers, but in the 14th edition of the Ironman, Graham High School out of St. Paris, Ohio broke the stranglehold and gave public schools a first team championship. Graham outdistanced Blair Academy 249.5 to 207.5. Monroeville freshman Chris Phillips was voted the tournament’s outstanding wrestler after taking home the crown at 171 pounds. For all the news, notes, facts and stats, check out InterMat’s rolling notes from the tournament and a finals recap by clicking more.
More…

Wrestling reaches required 40 schools
BY NICK WALKER

When Greg Hatcher and Don Schuler first thought of expanding high school wrestling in Arkansas in September 2006, there were only three schools with programs.

As of today, there are 40 schools with wrestling, and two more plan to begin wrestling in 2008-2009.

Not bad for a group whose original goal was to just get 16 programs up and running.

“The theory was that we had to get 16 teams to get sanctioning,” Hatcher said. “We had 18 by the time the [Arkansas Activities Association ] met and they said, ‘No’. But they passed a sunset clause that said if we had 40 by 2008-2009, they would sanction the sport.” When Athletic Director Jim Rowland committed Fort Smith Southside and Fort Smith Northside to wrestling earlier this month, it marked the 39 th and 40 th schools to join.

“I’m proud to say that we are at 40 a year ahead of schedule,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher and Schuler contacted Rowland before the start of last season about joining, but the movement hadn’t quite caught on at that point.

By Elizabeth Conlisk
Big Ten Network

Every Big Ten wrestling team will make at least one live appearance this winter on the Big Ten Network. The network will televise 11 total events and 10 of those, including the Big Ten Championships and portions of the Midlands Classic, will be carried live.

The network will have a live wrestling and hockey doubleheader on six consecutive Fridays in January and February. The wrestling coverage begins with the Iowa at Ohio State dual meet at 6 PM ET on January 18.

“The Big Ten is the nation’s most powerful wrestling conference and there is a strong following for the sport in Big Ten Country,” network president Mark Silverman said. “We look forward to bringing the best of college wrestling to a national audience.”

The Big Ten Network will provide live coverage of the Midlands Classic Championship Finals at 8 PM ET Sunday, December 30. That presentation will be preceded by a one-hour program recapping the event’s Consolation Finals. Hosted by Northwestern University, the Midlands Classic will also feature five other Big Ten teams including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue.