US Wrestlers bring 3 medals home.
HENRY CEJUDO FREESTYLE GOLD 55KG
ADAM WHEELER GRECO BRONZE 96KG
RANDI MILLER WOMEN FREESTYLE 63KG
Schwab, Askren received draws for Olympic freestyle competition on Wednesday August 20th.
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|  BEIJING, CHINA - The U.S. wrestlers competing on the second day of men’s freestyle wrestling have weighed in and received their draws, Doug Schwab (Iowa City, Iowa/Gator WC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Ben Askren (Columbia, Mo./Sunkist Kids) at 74 kg/163 lbs. Both are competing in their first Olympic Games.
Schwab will compete against 2006 World bronze medalist Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine in his opening match. If he wins, he will compete against Sushil Kumar of India. On Schwab’s side of the bracket is 2007 World bronze medalist Irbek Farniev of Russia. “Doug is wrestling as well as he ever has,†said National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson. “He has solidified some positions he needed to work on. If he excels from these positions, as he did in training, he will have success. I am excited about Doug. He has been very energetic and in tune with what we have been doing in Beijing and Colorado Springs. I like where his head is at. I expect him to compete like he has been training.†Schwab was fifth at the 2007 World Championships. He is a native of Osage, Iowa, and was a NCAA champion for the Univ. of Iowa. He is currently an assistant wrestling coach at Iowa. Schwab was married a few days after the Olympic Trials. He beat 2006 World champion Bill Zadick in the finals of the Olympic Trials. His older brother Mark was a talented freestyle wrestler. Askren has drawn Istvan Vereb of Hungary in his first match. If he wins, he will then draw the winner of the match between Si Riguleng of China and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Ivan Fundora of Cuba. In his half-bracket is two-time Olympic champion and six-time World champion Buvaisa Saitiev of Russia, who he potentially would face in the quarterfinals. Also on his side is 2006 World champion Ibraghim Aldatov of Ukraine, who he would not face until the semifinals. “Ben is a wildcard in the mix,†said National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson. “He is bringing special skills to the mat that people have not seen before. I expect him to beat these guys. His training has gone fabulous. He listened to what we asked him to do. He followed the plan. He has adopted to what we need him to use against world-level competition. He has accepted the plan. He is going to go out and compete. I expect him to do very well. Askren is competing on first U.S. Senior team. He is from Hartland, Wis., and was a two-time NCAA champion for the Univ. of Missouri. Askren won two Hodge Awards as the nation’s top college wrestler. Askren is known for his flair on the mat and his personality off the mat. He has often worn his hair long, and fans wear Ben Askren wigs in the crowd. However, Askren cut his hair early in the Olympic Games seeking an edge on the competition. His younger brother Max is his training partner in Beijing. The morning session begins at 9:30 a.m. The final session, which includes repechage, then the gold and bronze medal matches, is slated for 4:00 p.m. |
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US Wrestler Henry Cejudo wins Olympic Gold!
Cejudo Shines on Big Stage
By ALAN ROBINSON,
AP Sports Writer
BEIJING (Aug. 19) - Henry Cejudo, the 21-year-old prodigy who had competed in only one world-level senior tournament before Beijing, won the gold medal Tuesday at Olympic freestyle 55-kilogram wrestling.
Cejudo, crying the moment the match ended and wrapping himself in an American flag, defeated Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan 2-2 on tiebreaker and 3-0 in the best-of-three match. Cejudo was 31st in last year’s world championships, his only prior tournament at this level.
Cejudo, who bypassed a college career to try to become an Olympian, assures of the United States of winning a freestyle wrestling gold for the ninth consecutive Olympics at which it has competed.
The bronze medalists were last year’s world champion, Besik Kudukhov of Russia, and Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria. Kudukhov was pinned by Matsunaga in the semifinals.
Two years after U.S. coach Kevin Jackson called him the future of wrestling, the future became the present in a dazzling four-match flurry, making Cejudo the youngest American to win an Olympic wrestling gold medal.
None of the other 49 did it the way he did.
“I always knew I was going to be here,” Cejudo said, his blackened right eye a contrast to the gold medal he clutched ever-so-tight. “I watched the Olympics as a kid and I knew I’d be here. It was tough. But it’s all worth it.”
The tears that fell moments after he defeated Matsunaga gave way to a smile as wide as a wrestling mat, as he realized what he had done it. And, too, how he had done it.
American wrestlers are supposed to go to college, then enter the Olympic program when they’re experienced and ready; Cejudo did so at age 17 and is the only wrestler to win a national senior championship before leaving high school.
From high school to the big time - the same path LeBron James and Kobe Bryant took in basketball.
On his day of days, Cejudo all but gave away periods, gambling he’d have enough energy to wear down his opponents in the last two periods, admittedly causing Jackson moments of panic.
“I’m kind of unorthodox,” Cejudo said.
The whiz kid won because he was every bit a wizard against wrestlers older and more wizened. His success story is the kind that seems hackneyed and a cliche, at least until it happens with the Olympics as a backdrop.
“This proves that whatever you want to do as an American, you can do it,” Cejudo said.
His parents were undocumented Mexicans who met in Los Angeles. His mother had six kids, four with his father, Jorge, who was in and out of prison until dying of heart problems at age 44 last year. Henry never saw him after age 4.
The family was miserably poor, sometimes moving from apartment to apartment under the cover of night because they lacked rent money. His mom worked several jobs at a time, stealing home for a few hours to make sure her family wasn’t in trouble.
Sometimes they stayed with friends, sometimes with relatives, sleeping six or seven to a room in bad neighborhoods, drug deals going on down the street. Always, though, someone was there to offer a helping hand
 Henry and older brother Angel emulated the pro wrestlers they saw on TV and the Mexican boxers they revered, and they entered a youth wrestling program in Phoenix. Angel was the first ace, winning four high school state titles, and Henry did the same.
Neither liked studying, so when Angel was invited to the Olympic training center, Henry tagged along and won his last two state titles while living there. Within a year, younger brother was the rising star.
But winning an Olympics so soon, with so little world-level experience, almost never happens. Cael Sanderson was the only U.S. freestyle gold medalist in Athens, but he had a long and storied amateur career and was a four-time unbeaten NCAA champion.
Cejudo’s first match was a tipoff of what was to come as he defeated Velikov 0-1, 3-2, 4-3, his first victory on the world level.
Cejudo then beat Besarion Gochashvili of Georgia 1-3, 3-2, 3-0, using single-leg takedowns to get the deciding points in each of the final two periods. He again lost the first period in the semifinals, but rallied to beat Namig Sevdimov of Azerbaijan 3-5, 3-2, 4-3, on another single-leg takedown.
Matsunaga helped by pinning Kudukhov in a major upset, and the Japanese wrestler appeared to lose his edge against Cejudo and didn’t wrestle nearly as well.
Several of Cejudo’s brothers and sisters were there to watch it, including Angel, who, Cejudo said, “Made it tough on me, with a few knuckle sandwiches along the way. But he’s the reason I’m here. We won this gold together.”
Their mom, Nelly Rico, didn’t make the long trip but, Henry said, will get the gold medal that he planned to sleep with Tuesday night.
“I’m not letting go of this,” he said, holding it up proudly. “It’s beautiful.”
His story produced the 125th Olympic wrestling medal for the United States and its 50th gold. Only swimming and track and field, with far more events, have produced more American golds.
“I’m proud of my Mexican heritage,” Cejudo said. “But I’m an American. It’s the best country in the world. They call it the land of opportunity, and it is. Maybe if some other kid watches this, he can do the same.”
The bronze medalists were last year’s world champion, Kudukhov, and Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria.
Wrestling Tournament August 30, 2008
| Date | Location | Style/Age | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday Aug. 30, 2008 |
Lancer SCWA Folkstyle Tournament | ||
| La Serna HS 15301 Youngwood Dr. Whittier, CA 90605 (Map) |
O, J, C, S & K | Coach Mike Osborne 562-201-2252 mookswrestling@gmail.com |
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All SCWA tournaments weigh-ins from 7:00 to 8:30 AM. Wrestling begins at 9:30 AM. For additional info check with contact person.
Entry fee $10.00 per style and weight class. Grappling $20.00.
Must have USA card. (On sale at tournaments.)
Weight Classes
Weight classes for all divisions will be determined for each tournament using USA Wrestling guidelines.
Pre-Season Wrestling is here!!!!!
2008 SCWA Fall Tour Schedule
September 6, 2008
North Torrance
3620 W. 182nd St.
Torrance, CA 90504
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Luke Santos
School Number:310.533.4412
September 13, 2008
Sonora High School
401 South Palm Street
La Habra, CA 90631
Division: High school and Open (divided by grade and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style: Folkstyle
pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Mike Hohl
Phone number:714.269.3431
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e…wloc=addr&om=1
September 20, 2008
El Dorado High School
1651 N Valencia Ave
Placentia CA
92870-3030
Division: Kids through Open (divided by grade, age and ability)
Style: Folkstyle
pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact:Steve Lawson
School number:714.993.5350
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e…1&iwstate1=dir
September 27, 2008
Lakewood High School
4400 Briercrest Ave
Lakewood, CA 90713
(562) 425-1281
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Andy Miramontes
School Number:562.425.1281
Directions:http://www.google.com/search?sourcei…ol+lakewood+ca
October 4, 2008
San Clemente High School
700 Avenida Pico
San Clemente, CA 92673
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Mark Calentino
School Number:949.492.4165
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid…num=1&ct=image
October 11, 2008
Canyon High School
220 S Imperial Hwy
Anaheim, CA 92807
San Clemente, CA 92673
Divisions:kids through open (divided by grade, age and ability)
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Scott Lawson
School Number:714.931.0060
Directions:http:http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid…=1&sa=N&tab=wl
Lancaster High School
44701 32nd Street
Lancaster, CA 93536
Divisions:kids through open (divided by grade, age and ability)
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Pat Hayhurst (Howard Lawson’s Twin)
School Number:661-726-7649
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid…=1&sa=N&tab=wl
October 18, 2008
West Covina High School
1609 Cameron Avenue
West Covina, California 91791
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact:Sirley or Donnie Stephens
School Phone:626.859.2900
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um…&cd=1&resnum=1
October 25-26
Halloween Open at Cerritos College
11110 Alondra Blvd
Cerritos, CA 90650
Kids through Open
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Further Information TBA
Contact: Donnie Garriott
School phone:562.467.2451
November 1, 2008
Esperanza High School
1830 N Kellogg Dr
Anaheim, CA 92807
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact:Mark Honig
School Phone:714.779.7870
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um…&cd=1&resnum=1
November 8, 2008
John Glenn High School
13520 Shoemaker Ave
Norwalk, CA 90650
Divisions:High School and open (divided by grade, age and ability) Check with tournament host for other Divisions.
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact:Monico Enriquez
School number
562) 921-8523
Directions:http://www.thecaliforniawrestler.com…ad.php?t=46808
November 15, 2008 (NOTE: PARTICIPATION IN THIS TOURNAMENT DOES NOT VIOLATE CIF SOUTHERN SECTION RULES ON OUTSIDE COMPETETION SINCE IT FALLS PRIOR TO THE FIRST AVAILABLE DATE OF COMPETITION FOR THE 2008-09 SEASON)
Valencia High SChool
500 N Bradford Ave
Placentia, CA 92870
Divisions:kids through open (divided by grade, age and ability)
Style:Folkstyle
Pooled weight classes
Weigh-ins:7:00-8:30 AM
Cost:$10.00
USA Card Required, however per Ca-USAW requirements all cards not purchased online will cost $40.00 at the tournament site. Coach cards must be purchased online.
Contact: Gerardo Rodriguez
Phone number:714.318.2077
Directions:http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um…&cd=1&resnum=1
Adam Wheeler wins Olympic bronze.
Adam  Wheeler wins bronze medal at 96 kg in Greco-Roman for the first U.S. wrestling medal
Gary Abbott USA Wrestling 08/15/2008
 Adam Wheeler (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) won a bronze medal at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. on the final day of Greco-Rosaid Wheeler during his press conference after the victory. “We have 19 people who cameman wrestling at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium on Thursday evening. He defeated Han Tae-Young of Korea in the bronze medal match, 3-1, 4-1. It was the first medal won by the United States in wrestling at the Beijing Games. Wheeler won the first period after scoring two-points on a high gut wrench during the final par terre position. In the second period, Wheeler scored a two-point reversal from the bottom in the final par terre position to clinch the victory.
“My wife and my mother are here,” here for me, and it can’t get any better than that.” Han was a 2006 Asian Games champion. His best finish at the World Championships was his 10th place performance at the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China.
During the morning session, Wheeler won his first two matches, then was defeated in the semifinals by Mirko Englich of Germany, which placed him into the bronze-medal match. “I am very happy for Adam,” said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. “He has worked hard for many years, especially the last few months. He has a great attitude. He is a wonderful, coachable kid.” Wheeler is competing on his first U.S. Senior World-level team after a number of years on the national scene. He is originally from Lancaster, Calif. Wheeler competed for the U.S. Navy, then the USOEC program at Northern Michigan Univ. before becoming a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
 It was the final day of Greco-Roman competition at the Olympics. Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), who was eliminated on Thursday morning at 120 kg/264.5 lbs., placed seventh in his weight class. Two-time Olympian Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), finished in 12th at 84 kg/185 lbs. The wrestling competition resumes on Saturday, August 16 with the beginning of the women?s freestyle tournament.
Mountain Metaphor
Pretty slow these days, so here is the final metaphor:Â
PATH UP THE MOUNTAIN METAPHOR
Suppose you are taking a hike in the mountains. You know how mountain trails are constructed, especially if the slopes are steep. They wind back and forth; often they have “switchbacks†which make you literally walk back and forth, and sometimes a trail will even drop back to below a level you had reached earlier. If I asked you at a number of points on such a trail to evaluate how well you are accomplishing your goal of reaching the mountain top, I would hear a different story every time. If you were in switchback mode, you would probably tell me that things were not going well, that you were never going to reach the top. If you were in a stretch of open territory where you could see the mountaintop and the path leading up to it, you would probably say that things were going very well. Now imagine that we are across the valley with binoculars, looking at people hiking on this trail. If we were asked how they were doing, we would have a positive progress report every time. We would be able to see that the overall direction of the trail, not what it looks like at a given moment, is the key to progress. We would see that following this crazy, winding trail is exactly what leads to the top.
Source: Steven Hayes, Ph.D.
Cal Alumni to Compete in MMA Fight Night
Andres Cordova, Gogo Gomez, and Nik Noriega will be fighting on a MMA event.
Saturday August 23rd
Door opens at 6:30 pm Competition starts at 8pm
Lets support our alumni. Tickets are $25. I have room for three more people if you want to carpool.
Call Andres at (562) 536-8946 if you are interested in getting some tickets.
High School Wrestling Websites
I will keep adding to these first ten.
OLYMPIC WRESTLING COVERAGE ON TV
Olympic Wrestling Coverage on TV
DATE —–TIME —–STYLE ——- CHANNELTues August 12 - 5am - 9:30am - Greco - MSNBC
Wed August 13 - 5am-5pm - Greco - MSNBC
Thurs August 14 - LIVE 5am-5pm - Greco - MSNBC
Sat August 16 - LIVE 5am-5pm - Greco & Womens - MSNBC
Sun August 17 - LIVE 5am-5pm - Greco & Womens - MSNBC
Tues August 19 - Live Midnight-2am - Qualifying Freestyle - CNBC
5am-5pm - Finals - MSNBC
Wed August 20 - 5am-5pm - Freestyle Finals - MSNBC
Thurs August 21 - 2am-noon - Freestyle - USA
5pm-8pm - ALL Gold Medal Matches - CNBC