NOTES FROM PRESS ROW IN FARGO, Tuesday, July 22
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by various journalists
Schmitt, York use lifts to their advantage
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. Prep Editor
http://www.win-magazine.com
They've got the look. They got the style.
And tonight, they're both Junior National Greco-Roman champions.
Cole Schmitt and Kalvin York went on to win titles at 140 and 152 pounds, respectively.
In beating opponents from Pennsylvania, both wrestlers used lifts to their advantage.
Schmitt, a three-time state champion who's headed to the University of Wisconsin, had three-point lift in the first period, then closed out the match with a five-pointer in the second in a 6-1, 6-0 technical fall over New York state champion Zach Clemente.
York, who will be a senior next year, also closed out his match with a lift off the second-half restart, closing out a 3-2, 7-1 technical fall over Pennsylvania state champion Dirk Cowburn.
The two have been friends and teammates since the third grade, even though they go to different schools. Schmitt graduated from New Glarus High and York attends Belleville High, but the two schools combine with Monticello High to form a co-op program that competes in the state's Division 2 state meet.
It's hard to keep from laughing when you see the two wearing their flowing, frizzy perms. But the way they destroyed their opponents is no laughing matter.
"We don't want to look like all those other guys," Schmitt said.
Added York: "After the match, a little kid came up to me and asked me if we were twins."
A complete effort
By Jason Bryant, InterMat
http://www.intermatwrestle.com
There are a number of scenarios which can affect the technology on display at the Fargodome here on the campus of North Dakota State Uninversity in Fargo, N.D. One of which is bandwidth, the other is the age of the technology and then there's the actual people putting things together.
One of those tasks was put on Tony Black, Manager of State Services for USA Wrestling. Black's computer was put into use to manage the web broadcast of the finals of all five individual tournament finals. He had the camera, the computer, but lacked a microphone and a broadcaster -- enter Radio Shack and one Jason Bryant.
While this is a shameless display of self promotion on my part -- I think people know by know why I'm making the move to Minnesota and the USA Wrestling opportunity to head up the broadcast is something I really enjoy doing. Is it smooth? Sometimes, but when someone has fun up there and has enough stats and information to inform the masses, I think it sooths the savage wrestling fan beast.
For the Cadet Greco-Roman tournament, we had some kinks to work through with some video settings. Today, that wasn't the case. Mike Raite at LiveSportsVideo gave us some tweaks to make and they went well.
One added dynamic was the live blog from InterMat. Yes, Themat.com and InterMat and LiveSportsVideo and everyone in the building working together. I was again on the call, Black worked the camera settings and had some better camera angles, although we're still limited by mobility. InterMat did a live blog the previous portion of the tournament, but because there's only two hands controlling it, it made the webcast and blog tough to manage ... until the laptop was moved over to the broadcast area.
With Pat Tocci back at the NWCA office monitoring the comments, I threw up blog updates, well, more chat room-style, and was broadcasting at the same time. While the discussion was mostly about wrestling, we had some fun, but it was a total cooperative effort between three factions in wrestling to bring a live final to everyone. The overall total of unique users was roughly 1,000 -- so even though doing two things at once was difficult, the interactive part for those in the chat room AND watching LSV's feed added another dimension to the broadcast.
It was loads of fun, and while it wasn't the most seasoned or professionally produced broadcast, the wrestling news was there, the stats were there, the fan interaction was there and most of all, it worked and it worked well. Thanks to everyone involved. We've got two more finals to go, and we're hoping this is even more fun. Thanks to the USA Wrestling staff for affording me the opportunity to help out the tournament in an added role.
And yes, I'm still calling it soda.
Rising stars… watch out for the shooting star!
By John Punwani
In the wrestling world, a shooting star is someone who comes in unknown, comes on like gangbusters and after one tournament at the very top, disappears distantly into the universe, shining no more.
Why is that important? Because in the process, he beats some very big-name, talented wrestlers with winning records, temporarily, at least, killing their chance at immortality. And…who or when he strikes…one can never know.
In the early days of theJunior tournament, a 175-pound "Joe" from Cincinnati, Ohio - Joe East was his name - won the Junior Freestyle back in the old University of Iowa field house in Iowa City. In the finals, he pinned fellow Ohioan Eli Blazeff, from Stow, with a vicious headlock.
Blazeff went on to place third in the NCAAs for Michigan State and win the Most Falls award.
East? He was a shooting star!
Editor's Note: John Punwani has attended every Junior Nationals event, going back to 1971
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. Prep Editor
http://www.win-magazine.com
They've got the look. They got the style.
And tonight, they're both Junior National Greco-Roman champions.
Cole Schmitt and Kalvin York went on to win titles at 140 and 152 pounds, respectively.
In beating opponents from Pennsylvania, both wrestlers used lifts to their advantage.
Schmitt, a three-time state champion who's headed to the University of Wisconsin, had three-point lift in the first period, then closed out the match with a five-pointer in the second in a 6-1, 6-0 technical fall over New York state champion Zach Clemente.
York, who will be a senior next year, also closed out his match with a lift off the second-half restart, closing out a 3-2, 7-1 technical fall over Pennsylvania state champion Dirk Cowburn.
The two have been friends and teammates since the third grade, even though they go to different schools. Schmitt graduated from New Glarus High and York attends Belleville High, but the two schools combine with Monticello High to form a co-op program that competes in the state's Division 2 state meet.
It's hard to keep from laughing when you see the two wearing their flowing, frizzy perms. But the way they destroyed their opponents is no laughing matter.
"We don't want to look like all those other guys," Schmitt said.
Added York: "After the match, a little kid came up to me and asked me if we were twins."
A complete effort
By Jason Bryant, InterMat
http://www.intermatwrestle.com
There are a number of scenarios which can affect the technology on display at the Fargodome here on the campus of North Dakota State Uninversity in Fargo, N.D. One of which is bandwidth, the other is the age of the technology and then there's the actual people putting things together.
One of those tasks was put on Tony Black, Manager of State Services for USA Wrestling. Black's computer was put into use to manage the web broadcast of the finals of all five individual tournament finals. He had the camera, the computer, but lacked a microphone and a broadcaster -- enter Radio Shack and one Jason Bryant.
While this is a shameless display of self promotion on my part -- I think people know by know why I'm making the move to Minnesota and the USA Wrestling opportunity to head up the broadcast is something I really enjoy doing. Is it smooth? Sometimes, but when someone has fun up there and has enough stats and information to inform the masses, I think it sooths the savage wrestling fan beast.
For the Cadet Greco-Roman tournament, we had some kinks to work through with some video settings. Today, that wasn't the case. Mike Raite at LiveSportsVideo gave us some tweaks to make and they went well.
One added dynamic was the live blog from InterMat. Yes, Themat.com and InterMat and LiveSportsVideo and everyone in the building working together. I was again on the call, Black worked the camera settings and had some better camera angles, although we're still limited by mobility. InterMat did a live blog the previous portion of the tournament, but because there's only two hands controlling it, it made the webcast and blog tough to manage ... until the laptop was moved over to the broadcast area.
With Pat Tocci back at the NWCA office monitoring the comments, I threw up blog updates, well, more chat room-style, and was broadcasting at the same time. While the discussion was mostly about wrestling, we had some fun, but it was a total cooperative effort between three factions in wrestling to bring a live final to everyone. The overall total of unique users was roughly 1,000 -- so even though doing two things at once was difficult, the interactive part for those in the chat room AND watching LSV's feed added another dimension to the broadcast.
It was loads of fun, and while it wasn't the most seasoned or professionally produced broadcast, the wrestling news was there, the stats were there, the fan interaction was there and most of all, it worked and it worked well. Thanks to everyone involved. We've got two more finals to go, and we're hoping this is even more fun. Thanks to the USA Wrestling staff for affording me the opportunity to help out the tournament in an added role.
And yes, I'm still calling it soda.
Rising stars… watch out for the shooting star!
By John Punwani
In the wrestling world, a shooting star is someone who comes in unknown, comes on like gangbusters and after one tournament at the very top, disappears distantly into the universe, shining no more.
Why is that important? Because in the process, he beats some very big-name, talented wrestlers with winning records, temporarily, at least, killing their chance at immortality. And…who or when he strikes…one can never know.
In the early days of theJunior tournament, a 175-pound "Joe" from Cincinnati, Ohio - Joe East was his name - won the Junior Freestyle back in the old University of Iowa field house in Iowa City. In the finals, he pinned fellow Ohioan Eli Blazeff, from Stow, with a vicious headlock.
Blazeff went on to place third in the NCAAs for Michigan State and win the Most Falls award.
East? He was a shooting star!
Editor's Note: John Punwani has attended every Junior Nationals event, going back to 1971
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