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PRINT;
Wednesday,Feb.27,2013
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Wrestling
not pinned!
byl.O.C.
decision
Sports
Cougars perform
triumphantly at Nationals
A .M .
SPORTS | |
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor ,.
“People who work together util \
win, whether it be against complex
football defenses, or the problem s
o f modem society.’’
— Vince Lombardi
.. , ;
For wrestling fans every
where in this country; it was a
major blow. It was unexpected
and below the belt, too. Two
weeks ago, the executive board
of the International Olympic
Committee voted to eliminate
wrestling from the Summer .
Games, beginning in 2020.
Freestyle and Greco-
Roman wrestling will still be |
contested at the 2016 Olympics |
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but
both will be dropped from the
2020 games. The sport could |
still win an appeal at the I.O.CY j
board meeting in May, with
a final decision set for this
September.
I hope the 'board reconsid
ers and looks to the past before
making what seems like an
arbitrary decision based solely
on money. Wrestling does not
draw the crowds that other
sports do and is being trashed,
without looking at its rich his
tory.
Wrestling is one o f
most ancient sports, depicted ih-|
cave paintings in France ftogfel
15,000 years ago. It is one of
the original Olympic sports,
added with boxing in 708
It also was the final event
the pentathlon, a five event
dion, long
and discus throw. Wrestling has
been contested at every modem
Olympic Games since 1904.
Simply put, wrestling is a •
big part of the history of sport.
It is one o f the most basic C
forms o f exercise ahd strength 1
building. It is one of the best
ways for growing boys to leam 1
about their bodies and to exert 1
that invisible and boundless J
physical energy that lies inside.
Growing up with two
brothers and an athletic father
who was a coach, wrestling is i
how we learned to compete.
When my brothers and I got
tired o f beating on each other,
we could always team up and
try to takedown Dad, although
it never worked.
The announcement was
certainly a blow to the wres
tling community in our stateife
Oregon has a rich history o f
wrestling. An Oregonian won
one o f the most famous match- |
es in history. Canby’s Larry
Owings, wrestling for the
University of Washington, beat
Iowa State’s legendary Dan
Gable, 13-11, in the NCAA
finals at 142 pounds in 1970,/.
It was Gable’s first and only
career loss. He finished with I
a 182-1 career record in high
school and college. Gable went: *
on to win a gold medal in
freestyle wrestling at the 1972
Olympics and then, as a head I
coach, he led the University
of Iowa to 16 NCAA team
titles from 1976-1997. Gable ’
credits much o f his success,«!
the Olympics and as a coach to
that one defeat.
I have a feeling that wres
tlers everywhere will band ,
together and push the I.O.C.
to reverse course and re-instate
both forms o f in te m ario n ^
al wrestling to the Olympic
schedule. This is not just one '
loss for the most famous wres
tler of all-time; it is a gigantic
loss for the entire sport
Wrestlers are fighters. They '
have a huge worldwide support
system. They will fight this
ruling hard, and I mean hard. In «
the end they will win. I’m just
glad to be in their comer.
'*
Champions Trent Noon and Jacob Mitchell display their individual first place awards at the NJCAA Wrestling Tournament. From left to right: Assistant Coach
Rich Vigor ito, Trent Noon, Beau Roberts, Jacob Mitchell, A J Palmer, Sage Ornelas and head coach Josh Rhoden. Clackamas took 3rd overall.
David Beasley
Associate Sports Editor
Facing fierce competition in
Des Moines, Iowa last weekend,
eight Clackamas wrestlers battled
for national recognition at the
Richard Ck-Jacobson-Exhibition
Center for this year’s NJCAA
Championship. It was an impres
sive campaign against savvy
opponents.
ÍÍ
ffe had three
finalists, which is
the best in school
history.99
Beau Roberts
2 n d place 149 lb division
Five All-Americans sur
faced from the aftermath of the
strife: Sage Ornelas, C.J. Palmer,
Roberts, Trent Noon and Jacob
Mitchell. The five dominant
wrestlers added to Josh Rhoden’s
competitive coaching resume of
35 All-Americans over seven
years.
Finishing third overall as a
team, the Cougars maintained
their reputation as a top tier team.
The road to team success and
individual victories was a game
of patience and attrition. Ranked
fourth going into the tournament,
Clackamas rallied a powerful
team performance.
All eight wrestlers racked up
points throughout the weekend.
Steve Conn, Jacob Laden and
A.J. Ballard were knocked out
early, but still earned team points.
Sage Ornelas secured his All-
American title by placing sixth in
the 125 pound division; he earned
nine points for the team. Despite
injuries and illness, C.J. Palmer
joined the top ranks with a fourth
place finish in the 133 pound
division.
“Palmer did very well. He
got tonsillitis Thursday and still
competed, he’s really mentally
tough,” said Rhoden.
Palmer battled through shoul
der injuries as well, earning 17
team points.
Beau Roberts displayed the
■tenacity of Clackamas wrestlers.
He bested four 'opponents on his
way to the finals.
“It was a real good experience,
a lot of good competition and
’Tough wrestlers,” said Roberts.
“I knew I had to get in there and
battle. I was ranked amongst the
top kids that were in my weight
class and I knew it was going to
be tough all the way through.”
The championship match in
the 149 pound division pitted
Roberts against Josh Tardy of
Harper College. Roberts initiated
the action with a takedown after
a measured feeling out process.
Roberts had a one point lead at
the end of the first round.
Beginning round two, Roberts
secured a two point takedown,
but Tardy scrambled to bring his
score up to five quickly. With
Tardy leading 5-4, Roberts
regained momentum with a
reversal, gamering a 6-5 lead at
the end of round two.
Round three began methodi
cally with back and forth hand
fighting. Tardy was awarded a
point for Roberts going out of
bounds. Gaining advantage over
Roberts, Tardy finished the match
with two more points.
“He just hesitated a little bit,
gave up a takedown, came back
and got an escape. It was a good
match but a tough loss,” said
Rhoden. Roberts lost 7-6, but
nabbed second place in the 149
pound division, earning All-
American honors and 18 team
points.
“Losing at the end was real
tough,” said Roberts. “I wanted it
so bad. It’s almost worse having
it right there in your grasp. The
one thing that is good about it is
it keeps me hungry.”
Trent Noon blazed through the
174 pound division, pinning three
out of four opponents on his way
to the final match.
“The first round and a half of
the semis was toughest. Midway
through the second round the
other guy got tired and broke so
I put him on his back and pinned
him,” said Noon. “He had the
first takedown, besides the quar
ters and finals the other guys got
the first takedowns.”
Noon had no trouble securing
a two point takedown in the final
match against Chanse Menendez.
Menendez grabbed a high sin
gle leg, but Noon demonstrated
impeccable balance and flex
ibility defending the takedown
attempt.
Menendez tried for more take
downs and was routinely shut
down throughout the match. With
stockier Mudassar, avoiding take
downs and controlling distance.
The two behemoths locked
arms, vying for head control. The
match was a clinic of defense
and exhibition o f strength
by Mitchell. With 15 seconds
remaining, Mitchell pitched a
twp-point takedown and won
3-2, to become the heavyweight
national champion. Mitchell con
a considerable amount o f stand t r i b u t e d 23 team points, edging
ing wrestling, the match was
calculated and defensive. Noon
snatched a couple impressive two
point takedowns during round
three and won 9-5 in a dominat
ing display.
Noon achieved his year-long
goal of becoming national cham
pion at 174 pounds, while also
accruing 26 points for the team.
“I knew that I could do it,”
said Noon. “I didn’t think about
it, took it one match at a time. I
didn’t even look at the bracket.”
Jacob Mitchell ended the
Cougars run through the competi
tion at 285 pounds versus Yaseen
Mudassar of Nassau Community
College. Mitchell used his height
advantage against the shorter,
Clackamas into third place with
97.5 points.
The Cougars were satisfied in
the end with another solid plac
ing at nationals. It is the third
straight year that Clackamas has
finished in the top four nationally
as a team.
“The week went good. Three
of us were in the finals and two
of us won,” said Mitchell. “It was
fun. All that hard work paid off.”
“Our team stepped up at the
end and everyone did their part,”
added Roberts. “As a team I feel
like we really came together,
third place was really gratifying.”
Complete event results are
available at: www.trackwrestling.
com.
Attend the
A-Z of
Learn how to
pay for college. ,
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Aid and
Scholarships
Workshop
6 - 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7
Student Services Center, room 101
FREE and open to all, no matter where
you choose to go to college.
Visit vancouver.wsu.edu/finaid for details.
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