TAKEDOWN RADIO REPORT

Posted on | June 30, 2008 | No Comments

This past weekend we had a great time helping to raise awareness for the flood ravaged museum in Waterloo. Pro Wrestling star Rowdy Roddy Piper quipped to museum founder Mike Chapman, “It’s a little rain, a little water Mike, Get over it.” I wish it were that simple. They desperately need the help of the community. Please visit the Museum’s web site at http://www.wrestlingmuseum.org

Many have turned out to help with muscle and some with donations. the museum and our sports heritage need you now! Please help- Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum 303 Jefferson St., Waterloo, IA 50701, 319.233.0745 • fax 319.233.3477, info@wrestlingmuseum.org

We return this 4th of July weekend to our Brute Adidas studios for another great show. We’ll go back in time, just a little, take a look at some of the news from your sport and visit with some of America’s greatest athletes and coaches. Each Saturday from 9 AM to 11 AM CST we dive head first down to the mat with interesting interviews and conversation. Miss a show? Miss a lot! Listen to the archives at Takedownradio.com or subscribe to the TDR Pod Cast at no charge.

This week on TDR-

Dan Wirnsberger- Head Coach of the Bison of Bucknell returns to TDR to discuss summer camps and their importance in our sport. The Bucknell wrestling program will welcome eight newcomers to the squad for the 2008-09 season, head coach Dan Wirnsberger announced on Wednesday. The recruiting class, which is the third for Wirnsberger as the front man for the Bison, is comprised of student-athletes from five different states, including three from Pennsylvania, two from New Jersey and one each from New York, Ohio and Virginia. “I am excited to bring these young men into our Bison wrestling family,” said Wirnsberger. “It is a talented group, but more importantly, these young men are scholar-athletes. They understand the importance of higher education and the commitment needed to reach their individual athletic goals. I look forward to the development process.”

Troy Steiner- Asst Head Coach of the Beavers of Oregon State. This 4 x All American and NCAA Champion (Iowa) will join us Live from Corvallis, Ore. – The 2008-09 Oregon State wrestling recruiting class has been ranked 18th in the nation, announced Sunday by D1CollegeWrestling.net. Oregon State signed Michael Mangrum (Auburn, Wash.) and Jarrett “Bubba” Owens (Tillamook, Ore.) during the early signing period, before Caleb Valloton (Bella Vista, Calif.) and Ty Vinson (Great Falls, Mont.) in May.

The Beavers’ four-man recruiting class beat out over 60 other NCAA Division I teams, including all but one Pac-10 school. All four incoming student-athletes placed at last summer’s Freestyle/Greco tournament. Mangrum won his second junior Freestyle title, two years after winning both titles at the Cadet level. Vinson and Owens were both two-time state champs in Montana and Oregon, respectively. Wrestling will kick off the 2008-09 season in Auburn, Wash., on Saturday, Nov. 15, hosting Simon Fraser at 7:00 p.m.

Terry Brands- American Olympic wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. While wrestling at the University of Iowa, Brands won NCAA titles in 1990 and 1992, both at 126 pounds. He was a two-time world freestyle champion at 58 kg, winning titles in 1993 and 1995. His twin brother, Tom Brands (Head Coach at Iowa), a fellow wrestler, won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Presently, Terry is a coach for the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Terry lost to Kendall Cross (Amateur Wrestler) in the 1996 Olympic trials in one of the most exciting series of matches in the history of the trials. Cross went on to win the gold medal in Atlanta.

Rande Stottlemyer- Head Coach of the Panthers of Pitt. University of Pittsburgh head wrestling coach Rande Stottlemyer and 2008 National Champion Keith Gavin have been honored by the Eastern Wrestling League for a stellar 2007-08 season, it was announced today by the league office. Stottlemyer was named as the conference’s Coach of the Year and Gavin its Wrestler of the Year.Stottlemyer led the Panthers to a 13-4 dual meet record, including a 5-1 mark in conference action, and program-best finishes at the Midlands Championships and the EWL Tournament this season. At the conference championships, his squad captured four EWL crowns, the most in Pitt’s rich wrestling history, and grabbed second place in the team standings, tying the school’s highest finish at the tournament.

During his 29 years at the helm of Pitt Wrestling, Stottlemyer has produced two NCAA National Champions – Gavin and two-time champion Pat Santoro – 26 All-Americans, 113 national qualifiers and 29 EWL champions. In 19 of the past 25 years, he and his staff have coached at least one NCAA All-American and have seen their teams finish within the top-30 at the NCAA Championships. Pitt finished the 2008 regular season at No. 23 in the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA poll, marking the sixth time in the past 11 seasons that the Panthers have ended the year in the nation’s top-25. The honor marks Stottlemyer’s third Coach of the Year accolade, as he was also bestowed the award in 1986 and 1989.

Scott Hinkle- Head Coach of the Boilermakers of Purdue in 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 arch rival Indiana University since 2004, as they topped the 17th-ranked Hoosiers 18-16 on February 8. The Boilermakers took 10th at this year’s Big Ten Championships, but scored 51.5 team points, their highest total since the 2004 season and just the fourth time in the last 14 years they’ve surpassed the 50-point plateau. With four NCAA qualifiers, Hinkel’s squad amassed 14.5 points en route to its 30th-place finish, and had a pair of wrestlers reach the Round of 12 in their respective brackets and fall one win shy of NCAA All-America honors.

Mitch Clark- Yes, the author of the famous “Scrambled legs Video”, When then Buckeye wrestler Mitch Clark won the national collegiate championships at 177 pounds in 1998, he reached a life’s dream after years of overcoming obstacles that were personal, athletic, geographical, and acts of fate. Mitch Clark knows what every high school and college athlete endures in pursuing goals, balancing sports with everything else, feeling pressures, and finding what makes one strong – and capitalizing on it. Mitch’s book Make It Happen: The Inspiring Story of an NCAA Wrestling Champion by Scott Conroe, a longtime sports writer. (White Pillars Press,130 p). is a page turner and keeps you involved to the end.

Mitch now makes his home with his lovely new bride Kristin in Ithica, NY and expecting their first child tomorrow. Mitch is the Club Coach for Rob Koll’s Big Red of Cornell. Mitch Clark’s annual summer Boot Camp takes place July 20th through the 24th at Clarkson University in up State New York. For more information visit MitchClark.com

Coaches, Moms and Dads, we’ll kick off our new High School Wrestler of the month program in the coming weeks. This is your chance to nominate and recognize an excellent student athlete who has gone above and beyond. Check out the Takedownradio.com web site and WIN Magazines full page ad’s for more details. Our thanks go to our presenting sponsors: Resilite, WIN Magazine, Brute/Adidas, Sunflower Wrestling Supply and Intermatwrestle.com