News Page
11/12/2003
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
College Sports Television (CSTV), which created two different one-hour shows from the ASU/Sunkist Kids International Wrestling Open, will air action from this international event 19 times through late December.
The CSTV coverage of the ASU/Sunkist Kids International Open began Tuesday, November 11 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time with coverage of the men’s freestyle competition. There will be five airings of that event during the next week.
The second show, which will focus on the men’s Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle competition, will begin its broadcast schedule on Tuesday, November 18 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. This show will have eight airings through November 26.
In December, both the men’s freestyle show, as well as the men’s Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle show, will be aired a number of times.
These shows are part of the U.S. Olympic Pursuit series of programs, which will feature major Olympic sports competitions on a regular basis.
To follow when the broadcasts will be aired again, you can visit the CSTV webpage (www.cstv.com) and click on the TV schedule link.
The ASU/Sunkist Kids International Open was originally held at Arizona State Univ. in Tempe, Ariz., October 24-25. Many talented international wrestlers competed in the three Olympic styles of the sport: men’s freestyle, men’s Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle. This event, in its 19th year, is the traditional kickoff of the new wrestling season.
The broadcast team for the championships is play-by-play announcer Craig Hummer and color commentator Kendall Cross, a 1996 Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling.
Among the finals matches to be featured in men’s freestyle is the 60 kg battle between Michael Lightner and Yero Washington, the 66 kg match between Chris Bono and Mark Schwab and the 120 kg match between Steve Mocco and World champion Melvin Douglas. Numerous interviews of athletes and features on the competition will also be included in this show.
Included in the Greco-Roman finals matches on the show will be the 60 kg bout between Joe Warren and Alex Pashkov, the 96 kg match with Karim Gaber and R.C. Johnson and the 120 kg match with Olympic champion Rulon Gardner and Kevin Hoy. A special demonstration on Greco-Roman wrestling will also be included.
The women’s competition finals coverage will feature the 48 kg battle between Patricia Miranda and Clarissa Chun and the 63 kg match between Sara McMann and Shannon Samler. An in depth feature on Sara McMann is included in this broadcast.
College Sports Television is a new national cable network that features college and Olympic sports programming. According to the CSTV web page “CSTV will cover the rivalries, the passion, the human stories and everything else that makes the world of college sports a great place to be. And we will do it with a passion. We will cover something that matters to every college sports fan. The cable industry will discover one huge, united audience made up of a wide variety of consumer segments. The CSTV mission is to become the place to go for college sports, no matter the reasons why college sports are important to you, CSTV is where you want to be.”
Viewers that wish to learn if their local cable provider offers CSTV can visit the web page (www.cstv.com) and search for listings in your area. If your current cable provider does not offer CSTV, there is a program on the web page that allows you to e-mail your cable provider to request the station. In addition, visitors to the web page can also sign an on-line petition seeking CSTV on their local cable provider. Since wrestling is one of the sports that will be covered on CSTV, the wrestling community is encouraged to visit the webpage and contact their local cable provider.
The CSTV web page also offers extensive coverage of college sports news, featuring the most popular college sports, including wrestling.
COLLEGE SPORTS TELEVISION SCHEDULE FOR ASU/SUNKIST KIDS INTERNATIONAL
Tue, Nov. 11 at 9:00 pm - US Olympic Pursuit - 2003 Sunkist International Freestyle Wrestling Open
Wed, Nov. 12 at 5:00 am - US Olympic Pursuit - 2003 Sunkist International Freestyle Wrestling Open
Tue, Nov. 18 at 9:00 pm - US Olympic Pursuit - 2003 Sunkist International Wrestling Open - Greco-Roman
Wed, Nov. 19 at 5:00 am - US Olympic Pursuit - 2003 Sunkist International Wrestling Open - Greco-Roman
The Sunkist broadcast will air a total of 19 times. For the complete dates and times of the broadcast on CSTV, visit http://www.cstv.com/wrestling_index.htm
--------------------------------------------------
Women's and men’s college wrestling to be showcased as part of Boxer Wrestling Fest in Oregon, Nov. 14-16
11/12/2003
Blake Timm/Pacific University
Women’s college wrestling will be showcased alongside men’s wrestling this weekend at Pacific University as part of Pacific University’s Boxer Wrestling Fest in Forest Grove, Ore.
In past seasons, the alumni match, Pacific Junior Open and Pacific Senior Open tournaments have all fallen on different weekends in November. This year the Boxers are consolidating all three events, plus a new one, into one weekend.
Known as the Boxer Wrestling Fest, all four events will take place on the weekend on Nov. 14-16 at the Pacific Athletic Center. The alumni match will take place Friday night, Nov. 14, at 7:00 p.m. The alumni match will be combined with the Red & Black Battle, an intrasquad scrimmage to showcase the Boxers' women's wrestling team.
The Pacific Junior Open, one of the largest and longest running high school open tournaments in the northwest, will take place on Sat., Nov. 15. The Pacific Senior Open tournament will be held on Sun., Nov. 16.
“We wanted to make all of these events a big draw, and the best way to do that was to run all of them together," head coach Scott Miller said. "I believe that the Boxer Wrestling Fest will be one of the best weekends for wrestling in our area all season. Additionally, many of our alums will be back with our teams, which will add to the festiveness of the alumni night."
The 35th annual Pacific Senior Open will be the final event in Pacific's Boxer Wrestling Fest, moving to a new weekend after being run the last few years on Thanksgiving weekend. This will be the third year that there has been a women's bracket as part of the program.
In the women’s division, the Boxers will play host to teams from Lassen, Simon Fraser, Menlo and Cal State Bakersfield. In the 2002 edition of the open, Pacific received one first place finish from Desireé Lockhart (Jr., Port Townsend, Wash.) at 128 pounds. Jill Remiticado was second at 122 pounds.
In their first year as a varsity team, Pacific’s women’s team found little opportunity to show themselves off in front of the Pacific student body. This weekend, however, things will be different.
The Boxers will show themselves off against each other in the team's first intrasquad match, the Red & Black Battle, Friday night. The Red & Black Battle will run in conjunction with the men's wrestling alumni match starting at 7:00 p.m.
Last year the Boxers were home for only two competitions, neither of which gave the home crowd an opportunity to come out. They wrestled in the Pacific Senior Open, which was held on Thanksgiving weekend. The other was a set of last minute duals put together against Missouri Valley and Menlo, which took place on Valentine's Day.
"I think there are going to be a number of really good matches this year," head coach Scott Miller said. "It's a good opportunity for our team to show their skills."
For the men’s team, the alumni match is something that has become a tradition. Pacific's current roster will get the opportunity to wrestle some of the past greats of the Boxer program Friday night as the opener to Pacific's weekend long Boxer Wrestling Fest. Former Boxer greats scheduled to appear include two-time All-American and former Pacific head coach Frank Johnson, four-time All-American and current Boxer assistant coach Brian Springberg, 1994 All-American Luke Cleaver, 1993 All-American Justin Lieuallen, and recent alums Brady Richmond, Sam Baumer, Kris Sherrill and Guy Delemeau. If you are a Pacific wrestling alum that would like to participate or take part from the stands, contact Scott Miller at (503) 352-2827.
The men’s team is looking for a strong performance in the Pacific Senior Open. Last year's event drew over 200 men's and women's collegiate wrestlers from all over the northwest. Many teams look at the Senior Open as one of their season opening tournaments. In a rarity in the annals of Pacific wrestling, the Boxers were shut out of last year's individual championships. Mick Davis (Jr., Bethel, Alaska) was the top Pacific placer, finishing second at the 165-pound class. Current Boxer Josh Rhoden (Sr., Prineville, Ore.) won the 174-pound class for Pacific Lutheran.
"We will be challenged next week at our own tournament,” said Miller. “We're expecting a terrific field and look forward to measuring ourselves against the best in the northwest."
The 34th edition of the Pacific Junior Open will be the second course the Boxer Wrestling Fest. The Open is one of the largest high school wrestling meets in the northwest, outside of the Oregon state meet. In 2002, over 300 men and women competed in the high school event. All wrestlers will compete as open individuals.
For more on the Junior Open, including entry information, log on to http://goboxers.pacificu.edu/mwr/jropen/jropen.htm.