Purdue University Sports Information

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue head wrestling coach Scott Hinkel was named the 2008 Amateur Wrestling News (AWN) Rookie Coach of the Year on Tuesday. Joining him with first-year honors were freshmen Luke Manuel, Logan Brown and A.J. Kissel, who were all named to the AWN Freshman All-American Team.

Hinkel led the Boilermakers to a 10-8 dual record in his inaugural campaign, and the squad placed 30th at the 2008 NCAA Championships. He has been a significant part of Purdue wrestling for the last three decades, wrestling for the Old Gold and Black from 1984-to-1987, serving as an assistant coach in 1989 and 1990, again from 1993-to-2007, and then taking over as the Boilermakers’ head coach in 2007. He’s just the third coach in school history to post a winning dual record in his rookie season, joining Herb Miller and Don Corrigan, and led Purdue to more Big Ten Dual wins in 2008, than the previous two seasons combined. He also guided the Boilermakers to their first win over archrival Indiana University since 2004, as they topped the 17th-ranked Hoosiers 18-16 on February 8.

Newark, NJ
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

The Prudential Center in northern New Jersey is the brand-spanking new gleaming home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils.

On Tuesday, USA Wrestling made “The Rock” the backdrop for an announcement of a new fundraising initiative aimed at helping not only the athletes who will represent the United States at the 2008 Games in Beijing, but their families as well.

“Fuel the Dream” will help the families of the 2008 Olympians with travel, lodging and overall accommodations in Beijing, something costly to the athletes since the dawn of the Olympiad.

“One of the starters for this program was back when John Smith was on the team,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “Seagram’s sponsored a program that helped with those costs. It doesn’t exist today, so we saw this as an opportunity to really make a difference for the athletes beyond getting them the best coaches, training schedules and facilities.”

“I was on two Olympic teams and I was fortunate enough to win two gold medals there,” said current Oklahoma State head wrestling coach John Smith. “It was nice to have family there.”

Sports Illustrated recently provided a list of the “top ten up-and-coming stars in Mixed Martial Arts”… and three had US collegiate wrestling backgrounds.

Thanks to the Yahoo group Fight_Planet for providing the information seen here…

C B Dollaway – known as The Doberman, is the favorite in this season’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” and with good reason. The former All-America wrestler at Arizona State already has a perfect 6-0 record.

Cain Velasquez – The former Arizona State wrestling standout looked good in his UFC debut, and so far hasn’t shown any of the lay-and-pray tendencies of other wrestlers-turned-MMA fighters. He’s talented and explosive, and may be more so if he considers a drop to light heavyweight.

Jake Rosholt – The Team Takedown member and former three-time wrestling champ at Oklahoma State owns an impressive 4-0 record since turning pro in July 2007. After turning down the chance to be on The Ultimate Fighter, Rosholt’s moving rapidly along the path to stardom.

Johny Hendricks – Another member of Team Takedown, Hendricks was a two-time NCAA wrestling champion at Oklahoma State. So far, he’s continued his dominant ways in MMA, claiming an early 3-0 pro record, including two TKOs.

Arizona State University Sports Information

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State University Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love announced Friday that the athletic department is fully reinstating the sport of varsity wrestling, effective immediately, due to financial support from local civic leadership. The reinstatement of wrestling gives ASU 21 sports in its varsity athletic program.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce the reinstatement of the varsity sport of wrestling at ASU,” says Love. “The wrestling community, both locally and nationally, accepted this as a challenge to do something wonderful for the sport. ASU is forever grateful for that passion and unwavering support. Something special is happening on our campus thanks to civic leadership that cares deeply about ASU wrestling.”

ASU had announced on May 13, 2008 that it was discontinuing the sport of wrestling due to the rising cost of operating a 22-sport varsity program. It was determined at that time that sponsoring a 20-sport program would better fit ASU¹s athletic financial profile. Love indicated at the time that if the wrestling community were able to raise enough financial support the sport could be reinstated. That commitment is there and the sport will continue at Arizona State.

Former Missouri wrestler Ben Askren, top, is competing at the Olympic Trials on June 13-15 in Las Vegas.

By DAVID THIESSEN

It would be wise not to doubt Ben Askren.

He is competing at the Olympic Trials in Las Vegas on June 13-15, and he has faced his share of doubters along the way.

The former Missouri wrestler faced doubts that he could win in college because he was not fast or strong enough. Askren adopted his ‘funky’ style, utilizing his unique ability as a scrambler to win NCAA national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Even then, the doubters did not go away.

While Askren’s style worked in college with folkstyle wrestling, which places more emphasis on scrambling, it did not fit as well on the international level with freestyle wrestling. In freestyle, wrestlers stay on their feet most of the time.

Once again, Askren quieted the doubters, climbing the United States Senior Freestyle rankings at 74 kilograms/163 pounds to the top. He also represented the United States at the World Championships in February.

Of course, the doubters returned before the ASICS U.S. National Championships, which were held on April 23-25. Askren was seeded third at 163 pounds.

Ackerman’s win recognized by magazine

Simpson College Sports Information

NCAA Champion Magazine has named Simpson College wrestler Nick Ackerman’s 2001 National Championship victory the No. 1 most dramatic championship victory in NCAA history. Ackerman, who lost his legs due ot bacterial meningitis as a baby, won the 174-pound national championship 13-11 over Nick Slack of Augsburg. At the time, Slack was the defending national champion and entered the contest on a 60-match winning streak.

NCAA Champion Magazine’s top 10 list encompasses championships over since the start of the 1982-83 season, which also marked the beginning of NCAA Women’s Championships.

‘Don’t call me disabled. Call me national champion.’
When fans of your conference rival are standing to applaud, you know you’ve accomplished something great.

Simpson wrestler Nick Ackerman’s 13-11 victory in the final of the 174-pound weight division over defending Division III national champion Nick Slack of Augsburg, winner of 60 straight matches, was an upset in itself.

But what makes this the most memorable championship performance of the past 25 years is that Ackerman won the title despite having his lower legs amputated when he was 18 months old to stop an aggressive form of bacterial meningitis.

Mike Rodriguez was one of the great college wrestlers of the 1950s — a three-time Big Ten champ and two-time NCAA finalist for the University of Michigan…

Then he became a long-time high school coach in Detroit, molding Michigan high school state champions.

Now there’s a neat video tribute to Mike Rodriguez as wrestler and coach, including black-and-white footage of some of his most thrilling college matches on YouTube.

Part 1:

Part 2:

National Wrestling Hall of Fame

STILLWATER, Okla. — Jason Chamberlain, a high school senior from Springville High School in Springville, Utah has been selected as the national winner of the 2008 Dave Schultz High School Excellence National Award presented by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum.

Jason Chamberlain (left)

The High School Excellence Award is named in honor of Olympic and World Champion Dave Schultz. Each award recipient is evaluated on excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, character, citizenship, and community service.

Chamberlain was selected from the 49 state winners and five regional winners that were announced earlier this week.

“I was shocked when they told me I had been selected for this award,” Chamberlain said. “There are so many good wrestlers, to be selected is such an honor.”

His career record of 191-2 includes 98 pins and four state championships. He was a captain on his high school wrestling team and was honored by USA Utah as the “Wrestler of the Year” in 2007. He was a USA Wrestling Junior National Freestyle champion and Greco-Roman runner-up in 2007. In both 2006 and 2007, he was the National High School Coaches Association wrestling national champion. He has been the recipient of the Academic All-Region award from the Utah High School Activities Association the past four years.

By GREG TUFARO

Sophomore Darrion Caldwell, an NCAA All-American wrestler who asked for his release from North Carolina State University, has been granted permission to speak with three schools, including Rutgers, where he would like to continue to wrestle and possibly try to resume his football career.

It remains to be seen, however, whether or not N.C. State officials will release Caldwell from his wrestling scholarship commitment. If they don’t, Caldwell’s father, Kevin, said his son will still transfer.

Without an NCAA one-time transfer release, Caldwell would lose a year of wrestling eligibility, hindering his chances of winning a national title and perhaps one day realizing his ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.

Caldwell is N.C. State’s first All-American since 1996. A two-time NCAA qualifier and owner of a 62-9 career record, Caldwell won his second straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship this season. He also placed fifth in the NCAA Tournament at 149 pounds. As a 141-pounder, Caldwell was named the ACC’s 2006-07 Wrestler of the Year. He is the jewel of N.C. State’s program.