Let's take it outside: Grapple on the Gridiron
The original idea behind Grapple on the Gridiron -- the outdoor dual meet between University of Iowa and Oklahoma State held on the football field at Iowa's Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14 -- may have been to break the official dual-meet attendance record and put it out of reach of any other college wrestling program. However, the event ultimately did so much more.
Grapple on the Gridiron, which took place on Nov. 14 in Iowa City, drew 42,287 fans, which set a national attendance record for a wrestling meet (Photo/Mark Lundy, LutteLens.com)Outdoor wrestling isn't totally unprecedented; colleges in Arizona and California have been hosting al fresco dual meets for decades. Grapple on the Gridiron took that idea to a new level, by taking wrestling outdoors at an unexpected time and place (Iowa City in mid-November) ... featuring the two legacy programs that have won the most NCAA Division I team titles -- a combined 57 in the 85-year history of the championships.
The positive buzz about Grapple on the Gridiron started long before the wrestlers stepped onto the mat. Just about every media outlet in Iowa and Oklahoma served up stories in advance of the dual, joined by NCAA, ESPN and Washington Post websites, among others. While the action was still underway, positive feedback was pouring in on social media. Seemingly countless photos and upbeat assessments appeared on Facebook, Twitter and other online outlets. Once the event was over, wrestling and non-wrestling media alike served up favorable accounts of the groundbreaking, record-breaking dual meet ... generating even more priceless publicity, not just for the University of Iowa and Oklahoma State, but for amateur wrestling in general.
Newly expanded Big 12
In 2015, the Big 12 got a bit bigger, as the conference announced the addition of six affiliate members to its postseason wrestling competition as Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming joined legacy members Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia, effective this season.
Now that there are ten Big 12 wrestling programs, the single-day conference championships of recent years are now a thing of the past. Starting this year, the Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championships will be a two-day event, taking place March 5-6, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
"We are excited to announce the addition of affiliate members in sports where the league already maintains a strong competition level," Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. "The additional institutions will improve and strengthen what are already strong postseason events for the Big 12."
A (mostly) quiet year for coaching changes
What a difference a year makes. In 2014, the coaching carousel seemed to spin at warp speed, with a dozen NCAA Division I wrestling programs hiring new head coaches (not to mention dozens more assistant coaching positions filled). By contrast, 2015 was a slow year for coaching changes. Arguably the most newsworthy was University of North Carolina announcing the departure of C.D. Mock, 1982 NCAA champ for the Tar Heels who has headed up the program for 12 seasons, saying the coach "has been relieved of his duties as the head wrestling coach." The official press release also went to say that Coleman Scott, who came to UNC as an assistant coach last May, would be interim head coach. (UNC later deleted the word "interim" from Scott's title.)
Mock admitted that he was blindsided by what took place during his visit with the athletic director. "I went in, frankly, thinking I was going to get an, 'Atta boy,'" Mock told a Durham, N.C. newspaper a week after his dismissal. "A lot of really good things happened this year. Instead, I was asked to resign. I was kind of blown away ..."
While the Tar Heels could claim an NCAA All-American and a place among the top 25 teams at the NCAAs for the third straight year, there have been off-the-mat issues involving coach Mock which may have been a factor with his dismissal. Since January, Mock had been writing a blog to defend his son Corey, who had been a student-wrestler at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, who he believes was falsely accused of sexual assault of a fellow student. In his blog, the former UNC coach has criticized the handling of the case, going so far as to name the alleged victim. Some within the UNC community have openly criticized statements in Mock's blog. (In August, the original decision to expel ex-UTC wrestler Corey Mock was reversed in court.)
One other major coaching change announced in 2015 won't go into effect until 2016 ... In what Michigan State described as a "coaching succession plan for wrestling", the East Lansing school revealed that Tom Minkel would be retiring at the end of the 2015-16 season -- his 25th as head coach -- with associate head coach Roger Chandler being promoted to "head coach designate" in 2015 until he officially takes the reins of the Spartans in fall 2016.
Wronged coach finds new position
In 2014, Tim Fader was considered one of the nation's most successful NCAA Division III wrestling coaches. After ten seasons at the helm at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Fader took the Warhawks to second place at the NCAAs, the highest finish in team history ... and was named Coach of the Year by the amateur wrestling website d3wrestle.com, his third such award. Yet, two months later, Fader's contract at UW-Whitewater was "non-renewed" regarding his handling of sexual assault allegations involving a wrestling recruit and a female student at the school -- allegations that were withdrawn hours after first being made to coach Fader.
In fall 2014, Fader shared his story with InterMat ... while trying to find a full-time coaching job. A year later, Fader was hired as head coach at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a mat rival to his former employer.
How did Fader end up at Eau Claire? The school's Athletic Director Dan Schumacher told InterMat, "As we considered hiring a new coach this summer, Tim's name kept coming up on our lists."
"We saw what he had achieved at Whitewater. We also heard from lots of people who urged us to consider him for the position."
"It was one of the most thoroughly vetted situations I've been around in the course of my career. Our Chancellor and executive staff did their due diligence."
Schumacher added, "Looking at his credentials and body of work, it made sense for us to make that effort."
Bafflements
Two late-in-the-year announcements left many in the college wrestling community baffled.
Northwestern dismissed head coach Drew Pariano two years after having renewed his contract through 2018. No reasons were provided. Pariano had deep roots with the Evanston, Ill.-based Big Ten mat program, having wrestled for the Wildcats from 1995-99. He returned to Northwestern as an assistant coach in 2005, then promoted to associate head coach before taking the helm in June 2010.
In a second surprise, Sandy Stevens revealed on her Facebook account that she would not be announcing at the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City ... and the decision was not hers.
"I was notified today [Wednesday, Oct. 21] that the NCAA and NYC LOC [Local Organizing Committee] have chosen to go in a 'different direction' for the 2016 Div. I Championships; after 34 years, my announcing voice is no longer included," wrote Stevens. "I am sad and deeply disappointed, but I thank the administrators, fans, officials, volunteers, coaches, and wrestlers with whom I've worked, many of whom have become friends. You have blessed me."
Stevens has continued to announce major amateur wrestling events throughout the U.S., including this week's 2015 Ken Kraft Midlands Classic (where she was welcomed into the event's Hall of Fame) ... but, come March 2016, will not be voicing the NCAA D1 championships for the first time in 34 years.
Foxcatcher
Although officially released in New York City and Los Angeles in 2014, the much-anticipated Hollywood film Foxcatcher was made available nationwide in 2015, first in theaters in a slow rollout, then on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming services in March.
Pros: The movie earned a number of awards, made many film critics' Top Ten lists for 2014, and was nominated for Golden Globe and Oscar awards. The performances of the three lead male actors (Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and Steve Carell) were nothing short of amazing. It was fun to see so many wrestlers, coaches and others in the wrestling community up on the big screen ... and the film provided new career opportunities (and royalty checks) for these folks.
Cons: Foxcatcher the movie did not track 100% with actual events as they occurred. The studio did little to try to promote the film to the wrestling community, first, by not providing info to wrestling publications and websites ... then, with a rollout schedule where the film opened first in large Sunbelt cities where there's little or no high school or college wrestling, leaving wrestlers and their families in traditional wrestling hotbeds to wait till February or later ... or until available on DVD or streaming services. Then again, one could argue the film was not a "wrestling film" per se, with perhaps 2-3 minutes of actual mat action in a 2 hour, 15-minute movie.
For those who would like to see a film that is more realistic portrayal of life and events at Foxcatcher Farm -- including the murder of legendary wrestler/coach Dave Schultz at the hands of multi-millionaire wrestling benefactor John du Pont -- check out ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary tilted "The Prince of Pennsylvania" which debuted in fall 2015.
Dennis Hastert's fall
Six months ago, J. Dennis Hastert was thought of as the former Wheaton College wrestler who became a teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School outside Chicago, who then crafted a successful political career that culminated with him becoming the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House before retiring in 2007.
That all came crashing down in late May 2015, when Hastert was indicted for setting up cash withdrawals to avoid bank reporting requirements to make payments to an unnamed individual to "compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct" against that person. In late October, the two-time National Wrestling Hall of Fame honoree (Order of Merit, 1996; Outstanding American, 2000) reached a plea deal in federal district court in Chicago, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 29. However, in the past couple weeks, it was revealed that Hastert (who turned 74 on Jan. 2) had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, which may have an impact on sentencing.
Long finds redemption in his return to wrestling
This year saw the return of Andrew Long to college wrestling. The former Iowa State and Penn State All-American is now on the roster at Grand View University, the Des Moines-based school that won the 2015 NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Wrestling Championships team title. This past week, Long won the 141-pound championship at the 2015 Ken Kraft Midlands Classic tournament at Northwestern, becoming the first champ from a NAIA school at the prestigious post-Christmas event in a dozen years. Long also earned the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler award, and, in a vote of first-place finishers at the tournament, was named the Art Kraft Champion of Champions.
"Being part of a team and surrounding myself with good, healthy guys, coaches and athletes," Long said after achieving his first Midlands title. "Being a student again is a way to finish what I started and continue to head down the right path on the right track."
Long, a three-time Iowa high school state champion from Creston High School, first competed at Iowa State, where he was 125-pound runner-up at the 2010 NCAAs. However, Long had a number of run-ins with police in Ames; issues continued after the wrestler transferred to Penn State. In the summer of 2013, Long pled guilty to assaulting a 55-year-old mother of a fellow student in State College, Pa., and was sentenced to 1-2 years in county jail. When he was accepted by Grand View, Long, now a 26-year-old junior, pledged to comply with all aspects of his probation, abstain from alcohol, and stay out of trouble.
"It feels good. My first competition was a little surreal, but it's a blessing to be a part of the wrestling community and have the support of my family, fans and those who were involved in kind of keeping track of me throughout the process," said Long.
NCAA champ, New Jersey state champ reveal they're gay
Months before the Supreme Court ruled on same-sex marriage in the summer of 2015, two U.S. college wrestlers -- one who wrestled nearly a decade ago, the other, just embarking on his collegiate career -- came out in the media as gay.
Just after the conclusion of the 2014-15 college wrestling season, Mike Pucillo, three-time NCAA All-American and 2008 NCAA 184-pound champ for Ohio State, revealed his sexual orientation in an exclusive interview with wrestling journalist Jason Bryant ... becoming the first NCAA mat champ to do so.
A few weeks later, Alec Donovan -- a 2015 New Jersey state champ at 145 pounds for Brick Memorial High School -- was asked about his sexual orientation on a recruiting trip to Limestone College, an NCAA Division II program in Gaffney, S.C. Donovan -- who was actively recruited by a number of colleges, including Edinboro University -- signed with Division I Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif., becoming the first openly gay college wrestler in the nation.
While Pucillo's and Donovan's revelations generated coverage in mainstream and gay media, the news seemed to cause barely a ripple in the college wrestling world. In fact, for the most part, openly-stated reaction was mostly positive, leading Pucillo to post this message on his Twitter account: "Just want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support and kind messages. You have made this very easy for me. #thankyou."
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