check out what's new on our site!!





Casamayor seeks big fights with recent victory

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

JOEL CASAMAYOR

SEEKS BIG FIGHTS WITH RECENT VICTORY

Press Release For Immediate Release
joel casamayor
Photo By Team Casamayor

March 14, 2011 – With his recent victory over once beaten Manuel Leyva (18-2, 10 KO’s), former three time World Champion and Olympic Gold medal winner, Joel Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KO’s) is seeking fights against anyone in the top ten at Lightweight and Jr. Welterweight.

 

“I know I can compete at the top level,” said Casamayor. “I just beat Leyva who had only been beaten once in eighteen fights. My only losses in the past five years are to Juan Manuel Marquez and Robert Guerrero, who many consider to be the best in the lightweight division.  My track record shows that I’ll fight anyone, anytime so I want to let everyone know that I’m not going anywhere.  My goal is to keep wining, and eventually get another title shot at Lightweight or Jr. Welterweight.”

 

Luis Decubas Jr., who manages Casamayor went on to say, “Joel is an elite fighter and anyone he fights will have their hands full.  I’m looking to get him right back in the ring against a top level opponent as soon as possible.”

 

Jim Miller’s Knights of Wartburg get it done Again! Talks to Takedown Wrestling

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

And then there were Eight!

LA CROSSE, WIS. – With two matches remaining in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships, Coach Jim Miller and the Knights were looking for a way to put an exclamation point on the program’s eighth national title.

They got it in the form of two individual national titles from junior 197-pounder Byron Tate of Clinton and senior heavyweight John Helgerson of West Union.

“It was awesome to get the team title wrapped up early, but those two wins for Byron and John were sort of icing on the cake,” he said. “I am so happy for those two. I think I jumped 10 feet when John won, too.

“This entire team got up here and earned this championship,” he added. “I’m very proud of these guys.”

Tate’s second national title was paved with a flurry of second period takedowns to defeat Jared Massey of Augsburg 9-4. Helgerson took his first trip to the top of the awards stand with a thrilling 3-1 win over Elmhurst’s Mark Corsello. He caught Corsello’s legs towards the edge of the mat and scored the winning points with three seconds left.

“It just feels unbelievable right now,” Helgerson said. “I can’t even put it into words how this feels for me and for the entire team. We’ve been battling back and forth the past few years with Augsburg, and we knew coming into this weekend it was going to be a battle. That was one of our biggest goals this year was to get the title back in Waverly. We knew, as a team headed into the final session tonight, we had a pretty good hold on it all. On the individual side of things, to cap off my career with a national title feels absolutely amazing.”

“I am honored to be a part of the Wartburg wrestling program,” Tate said. “We took it one match at a time this year. First, I wanted to give my entire effort to win a team title, and then focus on my individual title here at La Crosse. I feel like I have accomplished a lot this season.”

Junior 174-pounder Bradley Banks of Stockbridge, Ga., who hoped to join Helgerson and Tate on the top of the podium, ended as a national runner-up. Wartburg ended the meet with 117 points, besting the field by 28.5 points.

NOTES – Wartburg’s seven individual All-Americans (senior 125-pounder Mark Kist of Eagle Grove – third; sophomore 133-pounder Tommy Mirocha of Davenport – fourth; senior 149-pounder Jacob Groth of Marshalltown – sixth; senior 157-pounder Carrington Banks of Stockbridge, Ga., fourth; Bradley Banks second; Tate and Helgerson national champions), crowned at the end of Friday’s session, continued a string of 16 years of five-or-more such honors. … The Knights’ two individual champions marked the eighth consecutive championship in which the Orange and Black have had at least one. … Helgerson ended his Wartburg career on a 21-match win streak, while Tate’s roll now stands at 50 wins in his last 51 matches.

Takedown Wrestling to provide Live Coverage of the NCAA Championships

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

Takedown Wrestling will again offer coverage of this years NCAA championships. Join Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Jeff Murphy and Caleb Nemmers along with a great cast of guests.

Our schedule is as follows: Takedownradio.com

Session 1 (Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers)
Thursday, March 17
Session I Wells Fargo Center 10:30 A.M..
NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-6:30 p.m.
USA Wrestling National Team All-Star Dual Meet Wells Fargo Center After Session I
Wrestling Trivia Contest Fan Festival Stage 3:30-4:15 p.m.
“Family Ties” Wrestling Hall of Fame Presentation Fan Festival Stage 4:30-5:15 p.m.
Wrestling Families Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 5:15-6 p.m.

2:30 NCAA Preview show taping- Scott Casber, Nate Carr, Wade Schalles

Session 2 (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers)
Thursday, March 17
Session II Wells Fargo Center
6:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. or so

Session 3 (Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers)
Friday, March 18
Session 3 Wells Fargo Center
10:30 a.m.
NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-7 p.m.
USA Wrestling Team Practice Fan Festival Mats 2-3:30 p.m.
Wrestling Trivia Contest Fan Festival Stage 2:30-3:15 p.m.
Hall of Fame Wrestlers Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 3:15-4 p.m.
USA Wrestling Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 4-4:45 p.m.
Semifinals Preview Show Fan Festival Stage 5-6 P.M. with Scott Casber, Wade, Nate

Session 4 (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers)
Friday, March 18
Wells Fargo Center
7 p.m.

Session 5 (Radio 10 AM Eastern to 12 Noon, Scott Casber, Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster) then at 12 Noon, Scott Casber is out and Caleb Nemmers is in)

Saturday, March 19
Wells Fargo Center
11 a.m.
NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-7 p.m.
USA Wrestling Team Practice Fan Festival Mats 3-4:30 p.m.
Wrestling Trivia Contest (Finals) Fan Festival Stage 4:30-5 p.m.
Hall of Fame Wrestlers Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 5:15-6:15 p.m.

Parade of All-Americans Wells Fargo Center 7:05-7:20 p.m.
Session 6 The Championships (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers)
Saturday, March 19
Session 6 Wells Fargo Center
7:00

UNCG’s Jason Loukidas Needs to Rally the Troops, Talks to Takedown Wrestling

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG and Director of Athletics Kim Record announced today the elimination of the wrestling program as a part of UNCG intercollegiate athletics.

Record met with the team’s coaches and student-athletes earlier in the day to inform them of the decision.

“The University’s Strategic Plan has a goal of increasing the competitiveness, accessibility and visibility of its intercollegiate athletics program. Over the past 18 months we have considered many strategies to accomplish this goal and it became obvious that painful decisions needed to be made.” said Record. “It pains us as a department that things have come to this point, but in today’s economic climate, tough decisions like this are having to be made around the nation. I would like to thank Jason (Loukides) and Daren (Burns) for all of the hard work they have put into the program, and we will do whatever is possible in order to help them further themselves professionally.”

One major objective of UNCG’s Strategic Plan is to elevate the profile of the athletic department. In order to accomplish this in the most efficient manner, limited resources must be invested wisely. The elimination of the wrestling program will result in a cost savings of approximately $308,000 annually.

Additionally, the 2010-2011 state budget repealed eligibility for out-of-state students on full athletic scholarships to be classified as in-state for tuition purposes. For UNCG, this resulted in a loss of $750,000 in student-athlete scholarship funds.

“This decision demonstrates that every division at the university is doing its part to share the burden of cost-saving initiatives,” said UNCG Chancellor Linda P. Brady. “These decisions are especially painful when students are directly impacted.”

Two full-time coaches and 35 student-athletes will be directly affected by this decision. The contracts of the two coaches will be honored through June 30, 2011. The 23 student-athletes who receive scholarship funds will have their current scholarship levels honored if they choose to remain at UNCG to continue their education.

For those student-athletes who wish to continue their athletics pursuits elsewhere, the university will provide assistance to them. Per NCAA guidelines, student-athletes who transfer because their athletic programs have been eliminated will be able to compete immediately upon transferring.

Rise to the Challenge: UNO’s Mike Denney Needs your Help, Talks to Takedown

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

By Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
03/13/2011

KEARNEY, Neb. – It was late Saturday night and it was celebration time for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.

Top-ranked UNO had overcome its share of adversity, including the loss of a returning national champion and All-American, to win its third straight NCAA Division II championship in wrestling.

The Mavericks edged a strong St. Cloud State squad for the team title on Saturday night at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Hall of Fame Coach Mike Denney’s decorated UNO program had won its sixth national title in the last eight years, and the seventh in Denney’s tenure in Omaha.

The entire Maverick team – starters, backups, redshirts, coaches and trainers – posed excitedly for the championship team photo. The wrestlers held up three fingers for the three straight titles the team has won.

Just a few hours after the team’s post-tournament celebration at the Country Inn and Suites in Kearney, my cell phone rang in my hotel room at 1:24 a.m.

UNO assistant coach Ron Higdon delivered the stunning news to me. Nebraska-Omaha was going to drop its wrestling program.

UNO reportedly is trying to join the Summit League in Division I. The Summit League does not offer football and wrestling, so the plan is to drop both those sports at Nebraska-Omaha.

The decision to drop wrestling, made by UNO athletic director Trev Alberts and chancellor John Christensen, was not only heartless, gutless and unfathomable, but the timing couldn’t have been any worse. It was like someone ripping your heart out of your chest, tossing it on the ground and stomping on it.

At least have the decency to let the UNO wrestling team have a little bit of time to enjoy winning a national championship. Alberts broke the news to Denney by phone, during the team’s celebration at the hotel, instead of doing it in person. It couldn’t have waited until later, after the team arrived at home?

The lack of support from Christensen is a little baffling. He has a wrestling background. His son, Anders, is the head wrestling coach at Omaha North High School. John Christensen was in attendance in Las Vegas in 2007 to support UNO four-time national champion Les Sigman and three-time national Todd Meneely at the U.S. World Team Trials for freestyle wrestling.

How could Christensen not go to bat for the UNO wrestling program? It doesn’t make sense.

UNO would add men’s golf and soccer, since those sports are offered in the Summit League. Are you kidding me? At the expense of strong, well-established programs in football and wrestling? Wow.

South Dakota State and North Dakota State, which were previously in the North Central Conference with UNO, compete in the Summit League. Both schools also compete in other leagues in football and wrestling, since that conference doesn’t offer those sports. Wrestling doesn’t have to be dropped.

Football is another high-profile sport at UNO and a large contribution was just made to the school for a new scoreboard. It is crazy to think that Alberts, a star football player who was a college football analyst on ESPN, is going to get rid of the Maverick football program as well.

I covered the UNO wrestling team for six years as a sportswriter for the Omaha World-Herald newspaper from 2000 to 2006, and I have continued to cover them with my job as communications manager at USA Wrestling.

I haven’t, in my life, dealt with a better coach and person than Mike Denney. He’s a total, 100 percent class act all the way who cares about every kid on his team from the national champions to the incoming freshmen. He is a man of high integrity and principles. His coaching contemporaries hold him in very high regard.

Coach Denney said he spoke with Alberts late Saturday night about the decision to drop the program. Denney said Alberts told him the decision wasn’t even about money. Denney raises almost all of the money for his own program’s expenses with all his tournaments, camps and fundraisers.

Alberts said the decision was because the Summit League did not offer wrestling.

Denney is one of the most respected coaches, in any sport, in the country. He handles himself in a dignified manner and has coached more than 40 Academic All-Americans. Wrestling is by far the most successful program in that school’s history.

He has positively impacted hundreds of young men. Quite frankly, he’s saved a lot of kids by giving them an opportunity to be a student-athlete at UNO. It is a shame the way the NCAA is structured that opportunities are being taken away from young men because of money.

The early season Kaufman-Brand Open is the biggest college wrestling tournament in the country, with top programs like Iowa, Oklahoma State and Minnesota competing every November at UNO.

Alberts is a guy who has done virtually nothing to support wrestling.

Shortly after Alberts arrived on campus, Denney said Alberts asked him if wrestling was a “club sport” at UNO. Talk about a slap in the face to Denney, who puts in countless hours during and outside the season to keep his program thriving.

Last year, Denney had set up a USA Wrestling press conference prior to the U.S. World Team Trials. The tournament was in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa. Denney agreed to hold a press conference for Sigman in the Maverick wrestling room. When Alberts heard about it, he ordered Denney not to hold it there.

Sigman ended up making the U.S. team and wrestled at the 2010 World Championships in Russia. He is a top contender to make the U.S. Olympic Team next year, but Alberts wouldn’t allow a press conference for him on the UNO campus.

Alberts also told Denney following its 2010 national championship season that the team couldn’t hold a banquet. Denney annually holds a season-ending banquet that honors the team. He also uses the banquet as a place to bring in recruits to see what the program is all about. Denney, determined to honor the championship team, held the banquet anyway.

What Alberts is doing is despicable and disgusting.

A teary-eyed Denney tried to make sense of it all, barely speaking above a whisper around 2:30 in the morning as a downcast group of wrestlers, coaches and parents sat in the hotel lobby.

I sat straight across from UNO’s Mario Morgan, a senior from Chicago who had just capped a fabulous career by winning the 141-pound national title on Saturday night.

I interviewed Mario after he won his title. He was being recruited by a number of Division I schools coming out of high school, but when he met Denney he was sold on UNO. He said he made the perfect decision to wrestle collegiately at the Division II level in Omaha.

The program Morgan had poured five years of his life into may now be gone. Morgan sat at a table early Sunday morning, shaking his head in disbelief and trying to make sense of all that had just transpired.

Denney is a guy who should have been able to go out on his own terms. He’s built a program that is recognized as one of the best in college wrestling at any level.

He’s been an institution at UNO for the past 32 years.

I’ve never met a better man in my life than Mike Denney. He’s the best coach I’ve dealt with in my 22 years as a professional in the communications business. He treats everyone with respect. He didn’t deserve to be disrespected and mistreated like this.

It is heart-wrenching to see this happen when it didn’t even have to.

It is really sad to see a guy like Alberts, who has very little experience as an administrator, make such an unnecessary decision.

It’s sickening, it really is.

This may not be over yet. The UNO wrestling program plans to fight for what they’ve worked so hard to build.

UNO wrestling backers are planning to be at Sapp Fieldhouse at 5 p.m. Sunday to rally and support a cause to help save the wrestling program.

It would be a shame if we never see the black and red Maverick singlets on the mat again in college wrestling.

They’ve provided so many great moments over the years and provided so many great opportunities for so many young men.

It’s a shame that arrogant, egotistical, clueless administrators chose to make such a cold-hearted decision. An absolute shame.

Cotto-Mayorga Highlights – Rebroadcast on Saturday, March 19 at 10pm on SHOWTIME

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

SHOWTIME delivers yet another intense Saturday night fight!

For boxing fans who missed the Cotto vs. Mayorga: Relentless PPV

Catch the replay!  This Saturday at 10pm ET/PT on SHOWTIME

Followed by the LIVE broadcast of Lucian Bute vs. Brian Magee.

Click below to watch, share, and embed the official Cotto vs. Mayorga recap

Wrestling Links (3-14-11)

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

Nebraska-Omaha leaving MIAA for Summit, dropping football and wrestling
Kansas City Star
The University of Nebraska at Omaha announced Sunday that it plans to leave the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, drop football and wrestling and move up to NCAA Division I. Nebraska-Omaha athletic director Trev Alberts said the school 
See all stories on this topic »


Regulating Wrestling
NBC Connecticut
By SCOTT BEAULIEU Wrestling might not be a sport, but it certainly involves plenty of physical risk, so why isn’t treated like a sport in the state? That’s the question some are asking lawmakers. This is all coming about because the state is working to 
See all stories on this topic »


An alphabetical approach to PIAA wrestling championships
The Express Times – LehighValleyLive.com
By Brad Wilson Enlarge Matt Smith | The Express-Times Nazareth wrestler Zach Horan reacts after winning the 130 pound weight class during the PIAA Class AAA Individual Wrestling Championship Finals Saturday evening at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. 
See all stories on this topic »



The Express Times – LehighValleyLive.com
World Wrestling Entertainment’s Monday Night RAW
Riverfront Times
By Mark Fischer Tonight, all of St. Louis will be pinned to their seats as the WorldWrestling Entertainment’s Raw broadcasts live from the Scottrade Center (1401 Clark Avenue; 314-241-1888 or www.scottradecenter.com) starting at 7:15 pm At the time of
See all stories on this topic »



Riverfront Times
Sexton grad wins his second straight NCAA wrestling title
Lansing State Journal
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior Bebeto Yewah won the 141-pound title at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Saturday with a 4-3 decision over Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca (NY) at the La Crosse Center. It was the second national title 
See all stories on this topic »


Wrestlers experience highs, lows in Hershey
Citizens Voice
Every year, a minority of wrestlers leave the PIAA Championships satisfied with their accomplishments and the majority of wrestlers leave wanting more. Lackawanna Trail’s Eric Laytos and Delaware Valley’s CJ Palmer came to Hershey with title 
See all stories on this topic »



Citizens Voice
Staples SLOBS no slouches as arm-wrestling record is smacked down
Stamford Advocate
Juniors Jonathan Friedman (left) and Jacob Epstein arm wrestle at Staples High School in Westport, Conn. March 11th, 2011. Students and faculty held a fundraising arm wrestling match to benefit the school’s Service League of Boys (SLOBs). 
See all stories on this topic »


Preview For This Thursday’s TNA Wrestling iMPACT! – Jeff Hardy Not Advertised
Wrestle Heat
TNA Wrestling has announced the following for this Thursday’s iMPACT, taping Monday night in Orlando. Jeff Hardy is not mentioned in the preview but is still listed on TNA’s iMPACT preview page. Teased for this Thursday’s show is the aftermath of Sting
See all stories on this topic »



Wrestle Heat
College Wrestling Division III | Schmitz finishes third
Post-Bulletin
By Post-Bulletin staff LA CROSSE, Wis. — University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 174-pound junior Mike Schmitz landed third Saturday in the Division III Championships at the La Crosse enter. Schmitz, a Stewartville graduate who won a national title for the 
See all stories on this topic »


Three-time state champ already thinking about his future
Centre Daily Times
HERSHEY — Franklin Regional’s Nico Megaludis hasn’t spent a day on a college wrestling team and he already gets the Penn State-Iowa thing. AP photo/Matt Slocum Franklin Regional’s Nico Megaludis, left, working against McDowell’s Shawn Spearman last 
See all stories on this topic »

 

Blogs
Gresham, Ward: Wrestling prodigies | Press Preps
By sspringer
(Scott Springer/Staff) Left to right– Goshen’s Division II 189-pound champion Chaz Gresham, Nate Carr, director of wrestling at Prodigy Training Center in Springboro and Joey Ward Division I champ at 125 pounds from Moeller. 
Press Preps – http://cincinnati.com/blogs/presspreps/

 

Web
PAX: Fire Pro Wrestling Gets Simple on Xbox 360 – Xbox 360 Preview 
For years, the Fire Pro Wrestling franchise has been the game hardcore wrestling fans buy — or import — to satiate their need to have complete control. 
xboxlive.ign.com/articles/115/1155270p1.html

 

An open letter from Les Sigman: UNO To Drop Wrestling and Football

Posted on | March 14, 2011 | No Comments

3/13/11

University of Nebraska at Omaha won their third team title in a row last night.  You would think that a National Championship team loading the bus to head back home to Omaha would be nothing but smiles, but not much of that today.  Instead many are concerned with the program’s future and how something like this could happen so suddenly and just take the wind out of their sails.

I watched my Alma mater win its 8th National Championship in wrestling last night via web cast where they crowned 3 individual National Champions and had 7 All-Americans.  It was another great year for the Mavericks and Coach Mike Denney.  Just after UNO was wrapping up their National Championship celebration Coach Denney received a phone call from Athletic Director Trev Alberts notifying him that UNO will be dropping the sport of wrestling and shocking the wrestling community.

What kind of man would do this over the phone let alone a couple hours after they had won the National Tournament???  A gutless one that is not man enough to do it face to face and one who doesn’t care about the most successful sport at UNO.

On the other side of the spectrum is Coach Denney.  A man who stands up and will fight for what he believes in and is a man of his word.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to wrestle for and remain close friends with Coach Denney.  The UNO Wresting program instilled values in me that I will have with me forever.  I can’t imagine going anywhere else, and it would be a shame for future student-athletes not to have the same opportunity that I was blessed with.  I was on three National Championship teams in my four varsity years at UNO from 2003-06.  UNO is the team that everyone is gunning to be like.

Coach Denney has been the head coach at UNO for 32 years and has won 314 duals, 7 National Team Titles, and placed in the top three 22 of those 32 years.  Although these stats are incredible, I feel that is second to what he has passed on to his athletes.  His mission statement is “To teach and build good people, and to get them from good to great.” He has great values and leads by example.  He has great faith, which is his foundation.  Denney grew up a farm boy in Nebraska and has a great work ethic, which shows in results year after year.

Coach Denney has always told us that “If you want to be great, surround yourself with great people.”  He has done that with his Assistant Coach Ron Higdon who has been on staff with him for 19 years.  Higdon has a great work ethic and among many tasks with the team, has been vital in all of the tournaments and fundraising events that UNO had to put on to raise 4x their budget from the University, which is the same as it was in 1980!

I find it hard to believe that UNO’s Wrestling Room, aka ”The Dojo,” ceasing to exist.  It has shaped so many lives by teaching how to fight through adversity.  It is a special place in there.  Coach Denney has worked hard to give his athletes the tools they need to be successful.

A big surprise to me is that the Chancellor of the University is behind this decision also.  Dr. Christensen has attended many tournaments but has turned against the wrestling program and thinks that dropping the wrestling team is necessary for the school to be able to make the move to Division I and the Summit league.  It is a little contradicting when they say that they are dropping football and wrestling to be able to align with the teams within the Summit League when there are schools with wrestling programs that are apart of the conference.

AD Trev Alberts, who grew up in Cedar Falls, IA, has had a big ego since entering the position two years ago.  After playing football for the University of Nebraska he was drafted to the NFL where he was one of the top 20 Biggest busts in the NFL Draft (MC3 Sports Medic.)  Now he is my #1 biggest bust in Athletic Directors.   Prior to UNO he was fired by ESPN Game-day for not showing up because “He felt he was playing second fiddle.” (SI.com) Sounds like the same ego to me.

UNO wrestling team is one of the most successful teams in the Division and is way to valuable to just be “dropped.”  Teaching and Building good people here needs to continue as well as bringing National Titles back to Omaha Nebraska as the team did this year and years to come if given the opportunity.

 

With the UNO Wrestling teams future at stake, I ask for your help.

 

« go backkeep looking »

About

This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

Subscribe to our feed

Search

Admin

leaderboard