Jones accepts position as U.S. freestyle head coach

University of Pennsylania Sports Information

PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania’s head wrestling coach Zeke Jones has announced his resignation to accept a position as the head coach of the United States freestyle national team.

With Jones’ resignation, Penn has also announced that assistant coach Rob Eiter has been appointed interim head coach of the program.

“Penn has been a tremendous place for me and my family,” Jones said. “It has been a great place to work and live. Penn is one of the best places for a student-athlete to achieve success academically and athletically and working with men as gifted as the ones at Penn has been a blessing.”

“This is a great opportunity for Zeke and we wish him the best with U.S.A. Wrestling,” Penn’s Director of Athletics Steve Bilsky said. “At the same time, we feel very fortunate to have someone with Rob’s ability and credentials to step up to the head coaching position.”

Penn begins its 2008-09 wrestling season on November 22 with a pair of dual matches against Princeton (noon) and Michigan (2 p.m.) at The Palestra.

By Jeff Beshey

A few weeks after the Sydney Games were over I sat down with Olympic Bronze Medalist and University of Minnesota heavyweight Garrett Lowney. Although the 21 year old Lowney has been a student/athlete at the U of MN for two years, he still has four years of college eligibility left and has yet to step on the mat as a Gopher. I asked him about his Olympic experience and what he expects as a college wrestler.

What are some of the ways your life has changed since winning the Olympic bronze medal?
Overall my life really hasn’t changed. I’m a student again going through all the same things everyone else goes through. I’ll soon be back with the team just like always. There are a few different things like signing autographs, going to speak with people and getting noticed every once in a while, which is a little different for me, but overall my life really hasn’t changed that much.

When did being an Olympian become your goal?
My mom says that I told her when I first started wresting, at five or six years old, that I wanted to be in the Olympics. I don’t really remember that, but she swears by it. I do remember watching wrestling as a very young kid and dreaming about being there.

Wrestling coach Jackson calls for program ‘overhaul’

After winning wrestling gold for the USA in his first Olympics in 2000, Brandon Slay left the sport and now is in real estate in Dallas. Cael Sanderson won the Olympics in his first try in 2004, retired from the mat and now coaches at Iowa State.This week, Russia’s Bouvaisa Saitiev won his third Olympic wrestling gold and Mavlet Batirov won his second.

“Our Olympic champions, Brandon Slay, Cael Sanderson, one (Olympic) cycle in them. … That’s not conducive to beating guys who are on this circuit continuously,” U.S. national freestyle coach Kevin Jackson said after a disappointing finish by his squad.

Seven U.S. freestyle wrestlers combined for one medal, albeit a gold by Henry Cejudo.

Daniel Cormier, the only team member who had been to the Olympics before, didn’t wrestle Thursday after being hospitalized because of dehydration from weight cutting.
U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers won a bronze, as did the women’s freestyle team.

“We’ve got to make an overhaul of our whole system. We have to allow our guys to be able to compete in two or three cycles,” Jackson said.