Mark Perry Jr. spent 45 hours hauling his belongings across the country last month, moving out of his apartment near Penn State’s campus, lugging everything back home to Oklahoma and packing up again for the next stop on the journey to his ultimate goal as a wrestling coach.

The trip could have been considerably less time consuming for the former Iowa star had he traded in the U-Haul and hopped on one of the sport’s established bandwagons in the Big Ten or Big 12 instead. But the two-time NCAA champion thinks the route he’s taking could be the best path to becoming a college head coach.

Perry was officially hired Friday as the top assistant to John Azevedo at Cal Poly.

“I don’t think jumping on whoever’s bandwagon and trying to shoot for the top right now is going to develop me as a coach as much,” Perry said. “I’d play a role, but just not the same type of role I’ll play here.”  Read more... (505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

EVANSTON, Ill. — Matt Storniolo, a two-time All-American at 149 pounds while wrestling for Oklahoma, is the newest addition to Northwestern’s coaching staff, head coach Tim Cysewski announced on Friday. Storniolo has spent the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Old Dominion where he trained closely with Ryan Williams, the 2009 NCAA runner-up at 141 pounds.

“Matt was an outstanding college wrestler and we saw in person the influence he had on the wrestlers he coached at Old Dominion,” Cysewski said. “We think his experience, technical skill and passion for the sport will really help our guys, particularly at the middle weights.”

“We’re really excited to bring in an individual like Matt who has gone deep in the NCAA Championships as a wrestler and a coach,” said associate head coach Andrew Pariano. “He’s going to play a huge part in all aspects of our program moving forward.”

Storniolo began his college wrestling career at Penn State, reaching the finals of the Big Ten Championships on his way to winning the conference’s Freshman of the Year honors. After transferring to Oklahoma, Storniolo reached the Big XII Tournament finals each of the next three years, claiming the league championship as a senior in 2007.  Read more... (391 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Terps Seek To Regain Stranglehold On Sport In Which They Once Were Major Players

By Joe Platania

Athletically, the University of Maryland is quite typical.

It is a large, Division I school situated near well-populated urban areas that funnel their share of elite athletes toward the campus. It is a member of a competitive, high-level, high-profile conference, producing national contenders in all sports.

The Terrapins have tasted ultimate success in many varied endeavors, winning NCAA championships in many different sports: from football to lacrosse, from field hockey to basketball to soccer, and so on.

But, just as Winston Churchill lectured all about “blood, toil, tears and sweat,” there’s one Maryland squad that has had to employ plenty of strength, speed, character and sweat to find its own way into the spotlight.

It is the most primal of sports where the body is asked, at one and the same time, to perform its most basic movements while occasionally defying physics.

It is a team sport that relies on individual effort, a curious paradox where a participant is cheered on heartily but is not allowed to receive assistance.

It is a plural effort whose results rely on singular strength.  Read more... (1988 words, 3 images, estimated 7:57 mins reading time)

GREELEY, Colo. — After spending nearly his whole life in a wrestling room, Jack Maughan has decided it’s time for a change.

And with that, an era has ended for Bears athletics.

Maughan this past season finished his 22nd year leading the Northern Colorado wrestling program, but he has announced his decision to step down from that leadership role and devote all of his energy to his duties as the athletic department’s director of development, which he has also held in a dual-role for a little more than a year.

Maughan, who has memories of being less than a year old and rolling around on a mat with his father, Bucky, a legendary wrestling coach at North Dakota State, says his decision is effective immediately.

“This was a really, really difficult choice for me and my family,” said Maughan, who also coached the men’s and women’s golf teams during his time at Northern Colorado. “I think the hardest thing for me, now that I’ve made my decision, is that I’m not the coach anymore. That’s a hard thing to come to terms with. It’s a position of respect, and you get such a good feeling about working with bright, great kids. I’ll certainly miss that.  Read more... (1083 words, estimated 4:20 mins reading time)

FARGO, N.D. – Incoming Purdue wrestling freshman Kendrick Sanders won the U.S.A. Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman National Championship at 152 pounds on Tuesday in Fargo, N.D. The national title was the second for the Florida native, who joins the Boilermakers this fall.

Sanders posted a flawless 9-0 record over the four-day tournament, surrendering only two points throughout the week. He notched a pair of falls and three technical falls en route to the title, beating out some of the nation’s top high school talent along the way. He closed out the tournament in grand fashion, blanking Kalvin York of Wisconsin by technical fall, 6-0, 6-0, and earning most outstanding wrestler of the championship honors.

He was tabbed the No. 55 recruit in the nation and the No. 7 wrestler in the country at 145 pounds in 2009 by InterMat Wrestling, helping the Boilermakers’ to the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation this year. Sanders was a three-time Florida State Champion at South Dade High School near Miami, Fla., and competed in the prestigious Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in March and was named an Asics All-America honorable mention in 2009. Sanders won his first national championship at the U.S.A. Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman championships in 2007.  Read more... (229 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

LAS VEGAS – So Brock Lesnar, in the parlance of pro wrestling, had gone straight heel.

After bludgeoning Frank Mir to retain the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship at the hyped UFC 100, the former pro wrestling star decided to put on a real show.

Lesnar ran around the octagon flipping off the Mandalay Bay Events Center crowd with both middle fingers. He shouted at Mir as the challenger sat on a stool trying to regain his equilibrium. Mir stood up and they went sort of nose-to-broken nose before Lesnar cackled with laughter.

In the post-fight interview, Lesnar encouraged the booing fans to “keep going” before continuing to taunt Mir.

No one and nothing was spared. Lesnar even turned his attention to the UFC itself, which paid him an estimated $3 million for the fight, pointing at the giant Bud Light advertisement in the middle of the octagon.

“I’m drinking a cooler full of Coors Light, Coors Light because Bud Light won’t pay me anything.”

Anything for the children at home, big guy?

“Hell, I might even get on top of my wife tonight.”  Read more... (1062 words, estimated 4:15 mins reading time)

The National Wrestling Coaches Association is pleased to announce their 2009 Annual Convention, to be held at the Bahia Mar Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on August 6-9th.

This year’s convention features many informative sessions that will be beneficial to both the scholastic and collegiate coaching communities.

The NWCA Convention is the time for coaches to interact with one another outside of the wrestling season, paired with informational sessions on how to take a more proactive approach to being the coach and “CEO” of your team. This year’s focus for the collegiate divisions is, “To Protect and Promote Your College Program.” Scholastic Coaches will focus on: Leadership, coaching development, technique and networking.

For the Scholastic Coach:

• Creating and sustaining a positive team culture
• Coaching Development (risk management, recruitment and retention of wrestlers)
• Systematic teaching for success on the mat
• NFHS rules review
• Being a leader in “off the mat” areas

For the Collegiate Coach:

• Best Practices for improving retention and graduation rates of student-athletes
• Creating and sustaining a positive team culture
• Division I “Mock NCAA Selection Process”
• Protecting your intercollegiate wrestling team
• Change of Season Discussion  Read more... (704 words, estimated 2:49 mins reading time)

The career: Punching guys in the face in the world of mixed martial arts.

The job candidates: Two wrestling state champions from St. Edward, two accomplished college wrestlers, two athletes looking for a way to turn their sport into a job.

The difference: Timing.

Six years ago, after he left Michigan State, Gray Maynard stumbled into his new life in a Las Vegas gym. For the latest generation of wrestlers such as Ohio State senior Lance Palmer, ultimate fighting is part of the plan.

Maynard and Palmer may wind up in the same place, but Palmer is starting his path much sooner

College basketball players have the NBA, college football players have the NFL, and now, college wrestlers have the adrenaline-stoked combat sport that combines the jabs and hooks of boxing, the takedowns and holds of wrestling and the kicks and attacks of judo and jujitsu.

For years, the booming world of mixed martial arts, led by its leading organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC, has been populated by former college wrestlers, including big-name champions such as Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz. Former Ohio State national champion Mark Coleman helped introduce wrestling techniques to UFC as it entered the mainstream 13 years ago.  Read more... (1590 words, 1 image, estimated 6:22 mins reading time)

ENZO Films is embarking on the making of an Independent Film that promotes and supports our beloved sport of wrestling.

The film, which was inspired by actual events, is entitled CARTER-145. It is a Midwestern, sports drama that focuses on a high school wrestler who has just arrived to a small town obsessed with its wrestling team and the legendary coach that leads them. The wrestling program primed for its fourth state title in a row, begins to spiral out of control, when some devastating truths are uncovered about the coach’s winning ways.

Bob Hoskins will play the role of the coach.

Bob Hoskins’ first appearance to mainstream American audiences was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, for which he received a second Golden Globe nomination. Some of Hoskins’ other notable appearances include playing opposite Cher in Mermaids (1990), the foreign film Mona Lisa which won him an Oscar nomination as well as a Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globe Awards), boatswain Smee to Captain Hook in Hook (1991), and Uncle Bart, the violent “owner” of Jet Li in Unleashed.

The filmmaker, Joshua J. Smith, was a former coach and wrestler in the Midwest.  Read more... (285 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Brent Metcalf has been a national champion. He has been a national runner-up. He has been an All-American — twice. He has been a Big Ten champion — twice. He has been the Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten championships — twice. He has been the Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA championships. He has been the Dan Hodge Trophy winner. He has a 69-match winning streak.

Yet, he is not satisfied.

Accolades such as that could make anybody’s head swell. But Metcalf is not the pompous type. While the 23-year-old exudes cool confidence, he has remained grounded. He doesn’t bask in the glory of his victories; instead, he chooses to find motivation in his few losses.

The Hawkeye senior has been wrestling since he was 8. From the moment he first stepped onto the mat, he has been an opponent to be feared.

He began in the novice division of youth wrestling, but that didn’t last long. In just one weekend, he advanced to the regular division, a transition that took other successful wrestlers months. After that, he won the youth state championships in his home state of Michigan as well as tournaments across the country.  Read more... (276 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)