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Sisters grapple way to silver

By NickJackson 11/2/07

WRESTLING sisters Liz and Kelly Kay picked up silver medals from a comeptition in France.

Harper Green schoolgirls Liz, aged 16, and Kelly, aged 14, who were representing Great Britain, both won two of their three fights, but each lost their final match.

The girls, who train with Eddy Kavanagh, at Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club in Wigan Road, Bolton, already have a string of titles to their credit in their respective weight classes.

Kelly has won the British, Scottish and English wrestling titles at her weight for the last five years and has won the Welsh championship for the last two years.

Liz is the English and Scottish champion at her wieght and has previously been an Enlish champion before taking a break from the sport for a year.

Kelly is now regarded as a serious contender for a medal at the Olympics of 2012.

Her father Paul, said: "The girls are doing really well, but it's their coach Eddy I want to thank. He's a superb coach, reputed to be the best in Britain and his work is paying dividends."

Former Hawkeye wrestler may become Olympic women's coach


November 2, 2007
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Thumbs up Women's College Wrestling ... First Dual Match in State Nov. 10th

Women's College Wrestling ... First Dual in State on Nov. 10th
OCU Women wrestle in Oklahoma only three times during the 2007-08 season.

The first is one of two Royal Blue-White Ranking Matches on 11/6/2007 at 6p.m. in El Reno Oklahoma. They open their dual season with defending national champion Cumberlands (Ky.) at noon Nov. 10 at Abe Lemons Arena.

If you are a wrestling fan, we need to support this. I believe there are more high school girls wrestling and teams for them than the boys in Texas.

http://www.ocusports.com/News/wwrest...2010-26-07.asp

http://www.ocusports.com/index.asp?path=wwrestling

Hatta, Scherr, Steiner, Weikel-Magden named finalists for U.S. Olympic Team Women’s Coach positions

Gary Abbott Gary Abbott
11/02/2007

 USA Wrestling has chosen four finalist candidates to serve as coaches for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in women’s freestyle wrestling.

Named as finalists for the volunteer women’s coaching position for the U.S. team that will compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China are:
• Tadaaki Hatta of Elyria, Ohio
• Bill Scherr of Glenview, Ill.
• Troy Steiner of Corvallis, Ore.
• Levi Weikel-Magden of Colorado Springs, Colo.

The four finalists were selected by USA Wrestling’s Women’s Coach Selection Committee.

One of these four volunteer coaches will be selected to serve on the coaching staff at the Beijing Games, along with USA Wrestling’s National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner.

Three of the finalists have served as official Women’s World Team Coaches at recent World Championships: Hatta (1991), Scherr (2005, 2006) and Steiner (2007). Weikel-Magden has been on the coaching staff of a number of U.S. World Teams.

Hatta was a coach for the 2007 Pan American Games team, as well as a number of U.S. age-group World Teams.

Scherr was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic freestyle team as an athlete, winning a bronze medal at 100 kg/220 lbs. He also won four World medals in his career, including a 1985 World gold medal.

Both Hatta and Steiner were finalists for the Olympic Coach positions for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.

Complete biographies of each of the finalists are below.

All four finalists will be given a formal telephone interview with the Women’s Coach Selection Committee. After the interview process, the Women’s Coach Selection Committee will select the two coaches which the committee recommends for the Olympic coaching positions.

USA Wrestling’s Executive Committee will then meet to approve the selections of the Women’s Coach Selection Committee. The decision of the Executive Committee will be forwarded to the U.S. Olympic Committee for final approval as USA Wrestling’s nominees for the Olympic Coach positions.

USA Wrestling expects its Olympic Coach selection process to be completed by late-November.

Tadaaki Hatta, Elyria, Ohio

Hatta served as Pan American Coach for the 2007 Pan American Games team, which competed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The U.S. won medals in all four weight classes, including individual champions Sara McMann and Kristie Marano.

He was the head coach of the 1991 U.S. Women’s World Team that placed fifth in the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan and featured two medalists.

He was the coach of the 2006 World University Championships in Ulan Batar, Mongolia, where the United States placed fourth in the standings, with two medalists. Hatta was also the coach of the 2005 World University Games team in Izmir, Turkey, where the U.S. team placed fourth, led by four medalists.

He was on the coaching staff for the women’s team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He was a finalist for the Women’s Freestyle coaching position for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team.

He served as the Assistant Coach of the 2003 U.S. Women’s World Team that placed second at the World Championships in New York, N.Y., and featured seven individual medalists, including champion Kristie Marano.

Hatta was also a member of the 1988, 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic team coaching staff in men’s freestyle wrestling. He was also a coach of the 1968 and 1984 Japanese Olympic team, as well as the 1972 Mexican Olympic team.

Hatta was also head coach of the Women’s 1999 Cadet World Team, the 2001 and 2002 Women’s Junior World Team and the 2002 Women’s University World Team. He was also the boy’s Cadet World Team coach in 1998. Hatta served on the coaching staff for numerous men’s freestyle World Teams prior to concentrating on the women’s program.

He is a USA Wrestling Gold Certified Coach. Hatta was a leader within USA Wrestling Ohio for many years, previously serving as Director of Wrestling Development and Coaches Education Director. Hatta is also an M-1 referee within USA Wrestling.

Hatta is a coach for women wrestlers with the New York AC. He also coaches with the All-American Wrestling Club, a youth club in LaGrange, Ohio. Hatta previously was a coach with the Dave Schultz WC and the Sunkist Kids.

Hatta was active as a coach on the high school levels in Ohio, serving 20 years (1978-98) in positions with Oberlin High School, Ravenna High School, St. Edward High School and Walsh Jesuit High School. He also served nine years as the rugby coach at St. Edward. Professionally, he works as an art teacher for Ravenna High School.

He competed for Oklahoma State Univ., where he was a 1965 NCAA champion and third in the 1966 NCAA Championships. Hatta also won two Big Eight titles for the Cowboys. He was a national runner-up in freestyle three times. Hatta has received a Master’s degree from Northwestern Univ.

Bill Scherr, Glenview, Ill.

Scherr served as a World Team coach of the 2006 U.S. Women’s World Team, which competed in Guangzhou, China and placed seventh in the World Championships, led by two medalists

Scherr was a World Team coach of the 2005 U.S. Women’s World Team which competed in Budapest, Hungary, placed third in the team standings and featured four medalists, including World champion Iris Smith.

He is a coach for the women wrestlers with the Sunkist Kids, which won the 2007 U.S. Nationals team title and placed five athletes on the 2007 U.S. World Team.

Scherr was an assistant coach at Northwestern Univ. last year, which placed fourth at the NCAA Championships, its highest finish in school history. He currently coaches the Wildcat WC freestyle wrestlers and is a volunteer with Northwestern Univ. program.

He was an assistant coach at Indiana University for five years, from 1984-89, working with coach Jim Humphrey. The team was 2-17 the season before his arrival and had a 15-0 record his final year with the program. Scherr is also a widely respected clinician, working numerous camps and clinics around the nation.

Scherr was one of the greatest wrestlers in U.S. freestyle history. He was a 1985 World champion and a 1988 Olympic bronze medalist. He ran off an amazing five-year run of consecutive World-level medals for the United States from 1985-89. He was also a 1986 and 1989 World silver medalist and a 1987 World bronze medalist. His five consecutive World-level medals is one of U.S. wrestling’s greatest feats.

Bill Scherr was a two-time World Cup champion, a Pan American Games champion, a World Grand Masters champion, a Goodwill Games champion and a four-time U.S. Nationals champion. In 1992, he made a late comeback to the sport, winning the U.S. Nationals title and making the finals of the Olympic Team Trials where he placed second. He is a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Scherr was a 1984 NCAA champion at the Univ. of Nebraska, where he starred alongside his twin brother Jim. He was also a two-time high school state champion from Mobridge, S.D.

He is a leader in the effort to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago, serving as chairman of World Sport Chicago as well as serving on the Board of Directors of Chicago 2016.

Professionally, he is a Vice President with Goldman Sachs & Co.

Troy Steiner, Corvallis, Ore.

Steiner served as World Team Coach for the 2007 U.S. Women’s World Team, which placed fifth in the team standings and featured three individual medalists in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Steiner has coached a number of U.S. teams in international competition and has participated in Women’s Team USA training camps. He was selected as a finalist for the U.S. Olympic Team women’s wrestling coaching position in 2004. He is the twin brother of USA Wrestling National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner.

Steiner enters his second season as an assistant wrestling coach at Oregon State Univ., where he helped head coach Jim Zalesky lead the Beavers to the Pac-10 title in their first year there. Steiner worked the two previous seasons as an assistant coach under Zalesky at the Univ. of Iowa.

He also served as an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 1997-2001 and Minnesota in 1996-97 and at Oregon State under Joe Wills for the 1995-96 season. Steiner also owned and operated the ADVANCE School of Wrestling in Madison, Wis., for four years.

Steiner was a four-time all-American at Iowa from 1990-93 and a NCAA champion in 1992. He won three Big Ten titles at Iowa, compiling a 148-13 career record at 134 and 142 pounds. He was part of three national and four Big Ten championship teams. Steiner shares Iowa’s school record for best season winning percentage for the 42-0 record he compiled during his junior season.

He was a top freestyle wrestler, winning gold medals at the 1992 World Cup and the 1996 Pan American Championships. He was third in the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, and fifth in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

A native of Bismarck, N.D., Steiner was inducted into the North Dakota Hall of Fame in 1998.

Levi Weikel-Magden, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Weikel-Magden served as coach for the 2006 and 2007 U.S. Women’s World Cup team. In 2006, the U.S. placed third in the tournament held in Nagoya, Japan, led by champion Sally Roberts. In 2007, the U.S. team placed fifth in the tournament, held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, led by champions Sara McMann and Patricia Miranda.

He was on the coaching staff for the U.S. team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He has served as a member of the U.S. World Team coaching staff many times, assisting the team at the 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007 World Championships

Weikel-Magden currently assists coaching the women freestyle wrestlers at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., working daily with the resident athletes there.

He is a club coach for the Sunkist Kids, and previously coached with the Dave Schultz WC and the Gator WC. The Sunkist Kids won the 2007 U.S. Nationals team title and placed five athletes on the 2007 U.S. World Team.

Weikel-Magden is the coach for 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Patricia Miranda, who has also won three World medals.

He has coached numerous U.S. women’s teams on international tours during the last seven years.

Weiken-Magden served as a club coach and volunteer assistant coach for the Univ. of Virginia for three years.

He competed at Stanford Univ., where he was an NCAA Championships qualifier, two-time Pac-10 placewinner and four-year starter for the Cardinal team, serving as the team captain his senior year. Weikel-Magden was a three-time state placewinner for Riverside High School in Oregon. He competed nationally in freestyle for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club. He is a graduate of the Univ. of Virginia Law School


Skyview wrestlers defeat Mariners



MATTHEW CARROLL
Peninsula Clarion 11/3/07

Claude Mraz enjoys the pressure.

In fact, he revels in it.

On Tuesday, the Skyview senior showed he knows how to handle it, too.

Knowing full well he needed more than three points for the Panthers to beat visiting Homer at Skyview High School, Mraz wasted no time at all, pinning Ben Harville in a mere 17 seconds to propel Skyview to an exciting 39-36 dual-meet victory.

"I love it," he said. "That's why I wrestle heavyweight. I would like to do 215, but really when it comes down to the team, I like having it heavy."

With the Panthers trailing by 18, Mraz studied the lineup card, calculating what needed to happen for his team to pull out the win.

After Patrick Sheridan (171 pounds) earned a hard-fought 7-3 decision over Homer's Zach Hinsberger and Skyview subsequently won two forfeits, the Mariners owned a slim three-point lead entering the final match.

Mraz then knew what had to be done.

"I knew what the objective was and I took it," he said. "Pin the kid."

Skyview coach Neldon Gardner, who also knew a few matches in advance that it was going to come down to his heavyweight, told Mraz, "You win. We win."

And that's exactly what happened.

Although even Gardner was a little shocked with Mraz's deft performance.

"I didn't think it was going to be that fast," he said. "But I told him, 'Go out hard and fast.' So, he listened well."

In just his first season with the Panthers after only practicing with the team last year, Mraz is a pleasant surprise on a squad full of them.

"He's doing real well," Gardner said. "I'm real impressed with him."

But he didn't stop there.

"I'm just impressed with all the kids. They fought hard," he added. "Homer's got some tough, tough competitors. They always have half-a-dozen really good kids. They battled us."

Skyview's Bryce Wilson (103) started things out with a bang by pinning Eli Gravey in 1:05.

"Bryce is looking real tough," Gardner said. "He's working exceptionally hard."

Then, in her first match of the season due to conflicts with volleyball, Monica Hutchison (112) showed no signs of rust in pinning Dimond Edge in 1:25.

Following Brittany Wyatt's pin (3:10) of Skyview's Megan Janorschke (119), former state champion Michaela Hutchison (125) worked Brandon Smith to the tune of a 26-second pin as the Panthers jumped in front, 18-6.

But Homer proceeded to go on a roll. Ben Daigle (130) earned a 6-2 decision over Alex Janorschke, Tom Applehanz (135) pinned Rhett Jackson in 1:35 and Robby Brymer (140) pinned Jared Thomas in 3:38.

Another two forfeits by Skyview left the Mariners in front, 34-18.

That's when Mraz put his math skills to the test.

"I already had it worked out before I went on the mat," he explained. "We had two forfeits and then if (Sheridan) won by a tech and then I needed to win that."

Needing a decision to tie, or a major decision, technical fall or a pin to win, Mraz decided to shoot for the latter.

"You've got to go for it," he said.

Immediately diving at Harville's legs, Mraz turned him onto his back and quickly finished him off.

"Claude is working exceptionally hard this year," Gardner said. "The whole team has just stepped it up this year. They really are working hard.

"It was a battle with Homer. We were bouncing back-and-forth." he added. "They forfeited two. We forfeited two. It was pretty even."

Skyview also dominated most of the exhibition matches with Cody Stephenson (pin, 2:30), Nathan Orloff (pin, 1:19), Thomas (decision, 3-2), Fred Pollard (pin, 17 seconds), Michael Eyre (pin, 3:29) and Nick Van Bruggen (pin, 33 seconds) all winning. Homer's Tris Brymer (pin, 38 seconds) also won while Daigle edged Hutchison, 3-0.

DUAL

At Skyview High School

Skyview 39, Homer 36

103 Wilson, Sky, p. Gravey, Hom, 1:05

112 Mon. Hutchison, Sky, p. Edge, Hom, 1:25

119 B. Wyatt, Hom, p. M. Janorschke, Sky, 3:10

125 Mich. Hutchison, Sky, p. Smith, Hom, :26

130 Daigle, Hom, dec. A. Janorschke, Sky, 6-2

135 Applehanz, Hom, p. Jackson, Sky, 1:35

140 R. Brymer, Hom, p. Thomas, Sky, 3:38

145 M. Wyatt, Hom, won by forfeit

152 Mayes, Hom, won by forfeit

160 Weinfurter, Hom, dec. Job, Sky, 5-0

171 Sheridan, Sky, dec. Hinsberger, Hom, 7-3

189 Buffington, Sky, won by forfeit

215 Byrne, Sky, won by forfeit

HWT Mraz, Sky, p. Harville, Hom, :17


Mustang wrestling captain takes gold at McMaster Invitational

LondonTopic.ca
11/03/2007

Strength in leadership rang true Saturday (Nov. 3) as the captain of the Mustang men's wrestling team grabbed up on the gold at the McMaster Invitational tournament.

Jeff Werden won the individual gold medal at 54 kg defeating Gildo Domingos of Humber College in two rounds straight.

The mustang captain and fourth-year Kinesiology student won two preliminary matches to advance to the final, while teammate, Matt Steele finished fourth at the same weight with a 2-2 win-loss record.

Though Steele lost to Domingos and third-place finisher Shujon Mazumder, from the University of Toronto, he won a hard fought match against Mike Asseltine, from the University of Alberta. That match required a third round tie-breaker that saw Steele coming out on top 2-1.

Werden defeated Mazumder in two close rounds, 1-0, 2-0, but showed control throughout the match utilizing strong defensive sprawls.

"Jeff is our most consistent performer," said coach, Ray Takahashi. "He's always in good condition so he can keep a good tempo throughout the match and wear down his opponents."

In the 72kg class, Josh Dawson placed fifth with a 2-2 win-loss record. Sunday (Nov. 4) the Mustang women will take to the mats facing what Takahashi calls a strong field.

The women's team will compete without top performer, Jennifer Nguyen, who is competing at the Harbinger International in Surrey, B.C., along with teammate Terri McNutt , both representing the London-Western Wrestling Club.

Takahashi, who also plays a coaching role with London-Western, said the Harbinger tournament attracts top wrestlers across Canada since it is used for national team points and carding.

Nguyen competed at the Junior World Championships in Beijing in August placing ninth at 55 kg. McNutt is a past CIS champion for the Mustangs winning gold in the 51 kg weight class in 2005.

Both men's and women's Mustang teams will also compete at the Toronto Open November 10.


Johnson living dream training with Team USA

Published 11/3/2007

Beth Johnson is living her dream.

She's an 18-year-old high school student training to be a part of what many athletes dream of one day becoming, an Olympian. In the world of Women's Freestyle Wrestling, the Garden City native and two-time USDGWA national champion is hoping to accomplish that feat.

As a part of the United States Olympic Education Team, she's is getting that chance.

But before Johnson can progress through the training that she has taken part in at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., she needs a little help.

This year, each member from the Education Team is being challenged to raise $3,500 to help in making it a success in the overall development and education.

Sponsorships from corporate and individuals are being asked to help. Donations exceeding $25 made to the Northern Michigan Foundation in support of the team are tax deductible.

The total amount is to sponsor Johnson for travels to Japan and all across the United States as a member of the women's wrestling team.

Donations can be sent to the Northern Michigan University Foundation, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, Mich., 49855.

More information is available on the team website link, www.freestylefemales.com, and to visit Johnson's profile it is located at webb.nmu.edu/SportsUSOEC/Sports/Freestyle Wrestling/Roster.shtml.