Tommy Rowlands Places Second at the Olympic Trials:
Buckeye Coach will be 2008 Olympic Alternate
Kevin Schlosser; the-ozone.net

Tommy Rowlands advanced to the finals of the Olympic Trials by winning a US national championship in April. His opponent that day was long time rival Steve Mocco. They met again in the finals in June as Mocco fought his way through the qualifier to wrestle Rowlands for the sixteenth time in their careers. Each and every match before finals of the Olympic Trials was a war and Sunday in Las Vegas was no different.

In a best of three series of matches in the championship finals; Mocco won the first the first match 1-0, 1-0. In the first period they wrestled to a scoreless tie before Mocco scored a takedown off the clinch. Rowlands stepped out of bounds in the second period to give Mocco the lead and the first match.

Rowlands came back in the second match to force a third and deciding match by winning a 3-0, 1-0 decision. Wrestling to a second scoreless tie in the first period, he picked up a three-point takedown out of the clinch. In the second period Mocco returned the favor by stepping out of bounds to give Rowlands the match winning point.

PARK RIDGE, IL – Iowa wrestler Brent Metcalf and Northwestern lacrosse standout Hannah Nielsen were respectively named the Jesse Owens Male and Suzy Favor Female Athletes of the Year, the Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.

Metcalf led the Iowa wrestling program to its 21st overall NCAA Championship in 2008, scoring 23 team points to be named the event’s Outstanding Wrestler. The sophomore earned the individual national title at 149 pounds by defeating Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, 14-8, in the finals. At the conclusion of the season, Metcalf took home the Dan Hodge Trophy, given each year to the nation’s best wrestler, and was also named the NCAA Wrestler of the Year by RevWrestling.com. The Davison, MI, native was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and the Outstanding Wrestler of the Big Ten Championships, becoming just the fourth grappler in school history to earn both awards in the same season. In 2008, his first year with the Hawkeyes, Metcalf finished with a 35-1 record, ending the season on a 35-match winning streak, posting a 21-1 dual record and a perfect 8-0 mark in Big Ten competition. He was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 16 and Jan. 23, becoming first wrestler in conference history to earn the honor in consecutive weeks. Metcalf also picked up weekly accolades from TheMat.com on Jan. 16 and Mar. 12. An academic all-Big Ten honoree and NWCA all-academic team member, Metcalf was named Division I Outstanding Wrestler at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in January. He is the fourth male Hawkeye to be named Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year and the first since Chuck Long in 1986. He is the third Iowa wrestler to receive the top conference distinction.

“I really appreciate the opportunity that Cleveland State gave me 10 years ago and I will look back on this time with a lot of great memories,” said Jack Effner, who is leaving as CSU head wrestling coach.

Cleveland State University announced this morning that Jack Effner has resigned as head wrestling coach.

Effner, who has coached at CSU for 10 seasons, has accepted a school counseling position in Virginia. His resignation is effective August 2.

“I would like to thank Jack for the dedication that he has shown during his 10 years at Cleveland State,” CSU Director of Athletics Lee Reed said in a release. “Because of his effort, he is leaving the program in good shape and it should be easy to find a successor. I wish Jack
good luck in his new position.”

Effner was only the second head coach of the modern-day CSU wrestling program after replacing Dick Bonacci for the 1998-99 season. His record at CSU was 71-91-3 and he had 37 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA tournament. His overall record in 19 seasons, including nine seasons at Army, is 158-133-8.

A 2004 Olympian, Brad Vering will make his second straight Olympic appearance at Greco-Roman’s 84kg/185 lbs division. The Nebraska native won silver at the 2007 World Championships, at which the U.S. won the team world title. The avid fisherman spoke with NBC Olympics about his previous Games experience, his pride in cauliflower ear and why fishing is his favorite hobby.

Having been to Athens, how do you feel about Beijing? Are you better prepared?
Yeah, I think all the kind of glitz and glamour of going to the Olympics is kind of past me now, and now I’m really focused on getting the job done. And not worried so much about — you know, I really enjoyed the Olympics and the Olympic spirit, but right now I’m really focused on getting a medal. That’s the most important thing for me

Wrestlers constantly need to cut weight before a competition. What’s it like to always have to be mindful of that?
It’s tough, and you’ve always got to be on top of your game. But as an elite athlete, that’s what you got to do no matter what sport you do. So you just try to do things professionally, whether they’re losing weight or gaining weight or whatever you have to do to perform at your optimum.

By: Ward Gossett

For close to five hours Wednesday, Chris Bono had nothing to do but drive and fly and think as he went from one wrestling clinic to another.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach hasn’t yet made it home after last weekend’s loss at the U.S. Olympic team trials in Las Vegas.

He flew from Las Vegas to Atlanta and then drove to the Tallahassee, Fla., area to work a camp. Wednesday he was back in the car driving to Atlanta to catch a flight for St. Louis and another one-day clinic.

“I’ve got a bag of dirty clothes and a lot of thinking to do,” said Bono, who came within a win of wrestling for a berth in the Olympic Games.

“It’s tough whenever I’m alone,” he said of the loss that might have been the last match of his career. “It is always on my mind — not so much what I could have done but how close I was. Everything fell into place. The training was perfect and I felt perfect. It was all right there.

State College, Pa. — LionHeart Management proudly announces the signing of Elite XC fighter Paul Bradley to an exclusive MMA career management contract. Bradley who was seen this season on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” will represent LionHeart and train at the LionHeart MMA complex in State College, Pa. Currently signed to a 3 fight contract with Elite XC, Bradley is undefeated in the cage with a professional record of 5-0.

LionHeat owner, Chad Dubin, who signed NCAA Wrestling Champion Phil Davis earlier this month, believes Bradley will bring an important level of national recognition to his new team. “Signing a fighter with Paul’s reputation and experience is a big step forward for us. With the national exposure of an Elite XC contract, there were plenty of other opportunities available to him. The fact that Paul chose to sign with LionHeart means we must be doing something right.”

Bradley is an Iowa State High School Wrestling Champion and a two-time All-American wrestler at The University of Iowa. “I’m really excited about signing with Lionheart and I am looking forward to representing them in the octagon. This is a great place for me to further my career as a fighter and I really appreciate the opportunity Chad has given me.”

Indianapolis, IN
By Greg Johnson
The NCAA News

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet at its June 24-25 meeting approved a new qualifier allocation formula for wrestling that will go into effect for the 2009 championship.

Cabinet members, who convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, praised the Division I Wrestling Committee for developing a plan that aligns the sport more closely with selection criteria used for other Division I championships.

Specifically, the plan eliminates the use of historical data, eliminates the practice of selecting wild-card participants and allocates enough conference and regional qualifying positions while maintaining the importance of conference and qualifying tournaments. It also balances the goals of selecting the most highly qualified individuals and achieving regional representation.

The only part of the plan that was not approved was the recommendation to increase the number of qualifiers from 330 to 360. Expansion of the field would cost $57,000.

Based on a recommendation from the cabinet’s bracket/format subcommittee, the cabinet did not take a position on the wrestling committee’s recommendation to increase the sport’s championships field by 30 participants.

Wagner Wrestler One Of Four Up For ‘Best Male Athlete With A Disability’

BY JAMES D. CIMBUREK

Wagner’s Ryan Kocer has always been a big-time athlete in South Dakota. Now he will have the chance to be recognized among the best in the world.

Kocer is one of four athletes nominated for “Best Male Athlete With A Disability” at the 2008 ESPYs. Nominations were announced by ESPN, the event’s sponsor, on Tuesday.

A three-time former state wrestling champion, Kocer lost his leg below the knee in an accident prior to the 2007 school year. He returned to wrestling in early 2008, and earned fourth in the state to help the Red Raiders to the Class B state title.

Kocer was informed of the nomination a week ago, and said that it came as a shock.

“I was very surprised when I heard about it,” he said. “I wasn’t even expecting it.”

The nomination also came as a surprise to Wagner head coach Ernie Valentine, who “didn’t know such a thing existed.”

“Ryan is very deserving. That’s for sure,” he said.

By GREG OLIVER – Producer, SLAM! Wrestling

WATERLOO — It’s one thing to read about the flood damage to the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum, but it’s another thing altogether to witness it — and to smell it.

With the museum’s 10th annual “Super Weekend” under way in Waterloo, Iowa, fans — and writers — were allowed to wander through what once was a terrific exhibition of wrestling through the centuries.

The mustiness and the wet is impossible to describe; it must be smelled. Despite a dozen fans going, the muggy air outside made its way in, mixing with the stale air inside, a sad tonic of mildew, mold and broken dreams.

According to museum staff, the cleanup cost — ripping out damaged walls, furniture, carpet, gift shop merchandise — rang in at $60,000. And the museum was hardly the only place to suffer in Iowa. Others lost their homes as the various rivers across the state overflowed following torrential rainfall a few weeks back.

Museum staff believe that storm sewer backup is more to blame for the flooding at their location than the nearby Cedar River; buildings a block away barely got water in their basement, and others were destroyed.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Chicago police officer and Pride veteran Mike Russow put the clamps on Jason Guida  on Saturday with a guillotine choke at 2:13 of the first round in Adrenaline MMA’s first offering.

Before an estimated crowd of 2,500 at the Sears Center Arena, the two local fighters, backed by raucous partisans, traded shots before Russow took Guida to the mat with a single-leg takedown. Guida immediately made his way back to his feet but was quickly taken back to the mat. His next attempt to rise off the mat led to the fight-ending submission.

As Guida posted, Russow locked up a guillotine choke and began to squeeze, forcing Guida to tap out.

In other fights, Terry Martin  landed right hand after right hand in his bout with Daiju Takase . Unfortunately for Martin, Takase landed kick after kick to his groin. Midway through the second frame, referee Rob Hinds had seen enough and called the bout after Takase landed his third kick to Martin’s groin. The stoppage came at 3:35 of the second round.