If you’re using Firefox as your web browser, which you should be, you can now get an amateur wrestling persona theme created by WrestlingPod.

Check out the screen shots.

Mac Screenshot

Windows Screenshot

If you’re not running Firefox, you can download the free web browser for Mac, Windows and Linux. If you’re still running Internet Explorer, click the download link to find out why Firefox is safer and better.

If you have Firefox, but not the Personas extension, you can grab that for free at GetPersonas.com.

Once both Firefox and the Personas extension are installed, click to install the Amateur Wrestling – Blue theme.

This works on Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems and is free so check it out.

YOKOHAMA – Greco-Roman wrestling champion Joe Warren upset local favorite Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto Tuesday at the Dream 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round.

“Kid Yamamoto is a champion, and I respect him,” said the 32-year-old American from the winner’s circle, “but a lot of these champions have been on top for a long time, and it’s my job to crush them!”

Yamamoto, who had not fought since New Year’s Eve 2007, got a bye in the Featherweight GP’s first round. His return to action from knee surgery was the big story on tonight’s card – but Warren had his own ideas regarding the ending.

The tone for this one was set during the referee’s pre-fight instructions, when Yamamoto appeared ready to hug his opponent. Warren accepted a handshake, but swatted away Yamamoto’s second hand. This was a hard-fought bout that went the distance.

Warren started light on his feet, and Yamamoto sent him reeling with an early front kick. The American reset, and closed with uppercuts before getting the first of his throwdowns from the clinch. Repeatedly, Warren the wrestler closed for takedowns. Yamamoto, who has a pretty good ground game himself, elected to stand and strike here, and made a strategy of meeting his opponent’s advances with kicks, knees and the clinch. Warren accepted, going into the over-and-under clinch and trading knees with the Kid.

Dakota Wesleyan University athletic director Curt Hart announced Tuesday afternoon that he has hired former Tiger wrestler and assistant coach Matt Sedivy to be the 10th head wrestling coach in school history.

Sedivy, a 2006 graduate of Dakota Wesleyan, emerged as the favorite from an excellent pool of candidates thanks to his passion for coaching, his knowledge of the sport and his ties to the school, the community and South Dakota wrestling. Hart said he is excited for Sedivy to pick up where former coach Josh Hardman left off.

“We’re extremely excited to announce Matt as the new DWU head wrestling coach,” Hart said Tuesday. “We felt very fortunate that a number of outstanding, qualified individuals were interested in the job, and it was great for us that one of our alumni emerged as our top candidate. Matt’s passion and enthusiasm for Dakota Wesleyan will make him a great fit here, and we think he’ll be able to take our wrestling program where we want it to go.”

Seven wrestlers from the Lexington Wrestling Club qualified for the National High School Coaches Association National Tournament with strong showings this weekend at a state qualifying tournament at Trinity High School.

Tyler Davis (103) and Keyonne Redfearn (heavyweight) won their weight classes in the high school division. Kabron Horton (171) placed second, and Ronal Canales (135) and Darel Martin Jr. (140) placed third in the high school division to qualify.

In the middle school division, Brandon Martin (112) was second, and Josh Rojas (145) finished third.

All of these wrestlers will compete in the national tournament in Salisbury, Md. from July 2-4.

Lewis talks about return to the mat

Randy Lewis created quite a buzz in the wrestling world when he returned to the mat for the first time in 17 years for the Senior Freestyle competition at the Northern Plains Regional held  in Waterloo.

The 1984 Olympic gold medalist won his first two matches before falling to Northern Iowa two-time All-American Moza Fay in the semifinals (pictured).

Find out what Lewis had to say about his return to the mat and also what Fay thought about wrestling the legendary grappler in our Full Access article.

Also, check out our photos from the event, which includes all three of Lewis’ matches and bouts from Junior and Senior freestyle action, on DotPhoto.

Click here to view tournament results

Sadly, for all too many of us, we’ve lost sight of the purpose of Memorial Day. We think of it as the unofficial kickoff of summer – time to open up the swimming pool, fire up the backyard grill, and gas up the car for the first warm-weather road trip.

At this time when we should remember and honor those who have served our country in the military, it’s an especially appropriate time to acknowledge the contributions of those who once were amateur wrestlers.

After all, there’s a powerful link between the sport of wrestling and warfare that goes back centuries. That link continues today; modern soldiers are still being schooled in wrestling and other personal combat techniques.

Even folks who don’t know the difference between a takedown and a touchdown – or confuse NCAA-sanctioned wrestling with what goes on in the WWE – may be aware of the amateur wrestling backgrounds of Greg “Pappy” Boyington, leader of the “Black Sheep Squadron” during World War II… Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief of Operations for Desert Storm in the early 1990s… and Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, who, after winning an Illinois high school state wrestling title, was a three-year starter at Princeton University.

Another honor for Howe
MADISON, Wis.

Amateur Wrestling News released its All-Rookie Teams in the May issue, and after making it all the way to the NCAA finals at 165 lbs. as a true freshman, Andrew Howe was tabbed the publication’s 2009 Rookie of the Year. Earlier this spring, Howe was also named freshman of the year by RevWrestling.com and D1CollegeWrestling.net. He also earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year accolades after winning the title at 165 lbs. at the 2009 Big Ten Championships.

Howe was featured in the latest issue of Amateur Wrestling News and you can see the article below, or visit the publication’s Web site to find information on how you can get your own copy of Amateur Wrestling News.

NEWTON, Iowa — Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN) is announcing the winners of six of the magazine’s major awards for 2009.

The following is a list of the awards and the recipients:

Mike Chapman Impact Award:
Scott Casber, Takedown Radio/TV
Bob Ferraro, National High School Coaches Association

Dan Gable Coach of the Year:
Mark Manning, University of Nebraska

Junior Hodge Trophy:
Chris Perry, Stillwater (Okla.) High School

Schalles (Pinning) Award:
Josh Patterson, Binghamton University

Junior Schalles (Pinning) Award:
Eloheim Palma, Cary (N.C.) High School

Journalist of the Year:
Tim Johnson, Big Ten Network/ESPN

(Note: WIN had already announced the winner of the Hodge Trophy — for the nation’s best collegiate wrestler — in late March, when Jake Herbert of Northwestern was honored.)

The following are biographical sketches of each of the award winners:

Mike Chapman Impact Award — Named after Mike Chapman, the founder of WIN and current director of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

Scott Casber is the founder of Takedown Radio/TV, which is beginning its 13th year of providing wrestling fans an Internet site (TakeDownRadio.com) to follow national events on nearly every level of amateur wrestling, including the NCAA championships, NWCA National Duals and World Team Trials.

By Randy Griffith
THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT

Johnstown’s Carlton Haselrig’s first mixed martial arts cage fight in his hometown started the same way countless others have: With a takedown by the former six-time national NCAA wrestling champion.

But Haselrig’s debut in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena got a little more interesting when opponent Chris Larkin managed a vicious headlock and the two grappled intensely until Hasselrig freed his head and took control.

Unlike NCAA rules, punching is allowed in mixed martial arts. The hometown crowd erupted as Haselrig pushed the more-experienced fighter against the cage fence and opened what he later called “a barrage of punches” on Larkin’s head, face and body.

It didn’t take long for the referee to see Larkin had enough.

He stopped the fight at 3:18 in the first round, upping Haselrig’s professional record to 3-1. Larkin drops to 6-6-1.

After the fight, Haselrig took time to greet fans and pose for pictures with former coaches at Pitt-Johnstown, where he earned six national wrestling championships before going on to a pro football career as a lineman for the Steelers.

Home cooking was the icing on his latest victory, Haselrig said.

By Mike Mooneyham

A serious car accident nearly 33 years ago ended one of the most heralded careers in wrestling history.

But it didn’t come close to ending the still-unfolding legacy of Danny Hodge.

Hodge, who suffered a broken neck but miraculously survived the near-death experience, notes that he can’t look backwards anymore due to the injuries.

“I have to turn around to look back.”

But that’s no problem, the easy-going Oklahoman explains. “I’ve already seen it.”

What Hodge has seen from the rear-view mirror of life is the American Dream. A small-town boy who grew up in Depression-era Oklahoma survived the hardships and rigors of the time to become one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live.

As a youth Hodge, the son of an alcoholic father and a mother who dealt with severe depression, picked cotton and plucked chickens to help ends meet. His home burned down when he was 9, and his mother suffered severe burns over 70 percent of her body, necessitating blood transfusions, a number of skin grafts and lengthy hospital stays.

A product of a splintered family, he was raised in later years by a grandfather described by Hodge as “always drinking, always mad,” and was the recipient of numerous beatings.