20 World Team Trials story ideas (in no particular order)
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by USA Wrestling
20 WORLD TEAM TRIALS STORY IDEAS… (in no particular order)
Below is a list of 20 story ideas for the World Team Trials, presented by the U.S. Marines, which will be held in Council Bluffs, Iowa, May 30-31. Champions from the World Team Trials will represent the United States at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships in Herning, Denmark, Sept. 21-27.
1. Council Bluffs native Paulson twins enter as No. 1 seeds - Trent and Travis Paulson, who attended Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs before going on to success at Iowa State, enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds in freestyle. Trent won the U.S. Nationals at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Travis won the U.S. Nationals at 74 kg/163 lbs. They return to their hometown seeking their first U.S. Senior World Team berth. Both train and coach at nearby Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln.
2. Local colleges have plenty of alumni or active athletes already qualified - From the college wrestling programs from the states of Iowa and Nebraska, there are numerous athletes who have qualified to compete in Council Bluffs at the World Team Trials. As of May 6 (with just one qualifier left), here is the college tally:
- Former or current Iowa State wrestlers - Trent Paulson, Travis Paulson, Nick Gallick, Chris Bono, Jon Reader, David Bertolino, Jake Varner, Kurt Backes, Harry Lester, Eric Thompson
- Former or current Univ. of Iowa wrestlers - Mike Zadick, Brent Metcalf, Doug Schwab, Eric Luedke, Steve Mocco, Ryan Morningstar, Daniel Dennis
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska wrestlers - Travis Pascoe, B.J. Padden,
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha wrestlers - Les Sigman
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney wrestlers - Tervel Dlagnev
- Former or current Univ. of Northern Iowa wrestlers - Sean Stender, Mark Rial, Cruse Aarhus, Moza Fay
- Other athletes training in Iowa City, Iowa - Jared Frayer, Bryce Hasseman
- Note - Dlagnev trains and coaches at Northern Iowa; Sigman trained and coached at Iowa State; the Paulson twins train and coach at Nebraska
3. Five of the seven freestyle national champions were Iowa college wrestlers - Talk about a strong local angle!!! Past University of Iowa wrestlers Mike Zadick (60 kg) and Steve Mocco (120 kg), plus past Iowa State wrestlers Trent Paulson (66 kg) and Travis Paulson (74 kg), plus current Iowa State wrestler Jake Varner (96 kg) all won the U.S. Nationals and enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds.
4. "Last Chance Qualifier" in Waterloo, Iowa, May 14-16 - There is one more chance for wrestlers to qualify for the World Team Trials. The Northern Plains Senior Regionals will be held at Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa, May 15-16. The champions in all three Olympic styles qualify to compete in Council Bluffs. Will there be any other local wrestlers who get into the field in Waterloo?
5. Three current college students crowned national champions - It was a good year for college wrestlers at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, where three undergraduate students won national titles. Capturing national freestyle titles just weeks after winning NCAA Div. I crowns were Jake Herbert at 84 kg and Jake Varner at 96 kg. Herbert was a senior at Northwestern, and Varner was a junior at Iowa State. The other college wrestler with a national crown was Kelsey Campbell, the women's freestyle champion at 59 kg. Campbell is a member of the men's wrestling team at Arizona State.
6. World champion Chun continues winning ways - In October 2008, Olympian Clarissa Chun won a gold medal at the Women's World Championships held in Tokyo, Japan, becoming only the fifth U.S. women's wrestler to win a World crown. Chun has remained red hot, winning the U.S. Nationals and Pan American Championships in April. After the World Championships, she spent time in Japan teaching English to elementary school children.
7. Nebraska's Manning is Freestyle World Team Coach - Mark Manning, the head coach at the Univ. of Nebraska, is taking special interest in the World Team Trials results. Manning is one of the coaches of the 2009 U.S. Freestyle World Team, along with National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones and Oklahoma State head coach John Smith. They will lead the U.S. team at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark.
8. LiveSportsVideo to provide live internet coverage from Council Bluffs - For those unable to attend the World Team Trials, USA Wrestling sponsor LiveSportsVideo.com will stream live coverage of the action from Council Bluffs. The broadcast team for the internet coverage will be veteran play-by-play announcer Van Stokes, along with color commentator Jason Bryant of Wrestling411. There will be live streams from two mats throughout the entire competition.
9. Div. II heavyweights Sigman and Dlagnev bring local flavor - Two of the top two stars in freestyle wrestling at 120 kg were Div. II wrestling heroes from Nebraska colleges, winning six national titles between them. Les Sigman won four NCAA Div. II titles for the Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha. Tervel Dlagnev won two NCAA Div. II titles for the Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney. Dlagnev was second and Sigman was third at the U.S. Nationals, making them serious contenders for the World Team Trials title.
10. Six past Olympians come to Council Bluffs as No. 1 seeds - Six athletes who have competed at the Olympic Games enter the World Team Trials as top seeds in their weight class. They are men's freestyle wrestlers Mike Zadick (60 kg) and Steve Mocco (120 kg), Greco-Roman wrestlers T.C. Dantzler (84 kg) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg) and women's freestyle wrestlers Clarissa Chun (48 kg) and Patricia Miranda (51 kg). Five wrestled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The only one who didn't was Miranda, who won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
11. 1984 Olympic champion Lewis making comeback in Waterloo - Randy Lewis, 49, who won a freestyle gold medal at 62 kg at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, announced that he will compete at the "Last Chance Qualifier" at the Northern Plains Senior Regionals in Waterloo, Iowa, May 15-16. Lewis has not competed in a match since 1992, almost 17 years ago. There will be athletes in the field who were not born yet when Lewis won his Olympic gold in Los Angeles.
12. U.S. Army has four national Greco champions - It has been a great year for the U.S. Army Greco-Roman team so far this year, after winning four of the seven gold medals on the way to the U.S. Nationals title in Greco-Roman. Repeating as champions were 2008 Olympian Dremiel Byers (120 kg) and Brad Ahearn (96 kg), with first-time champions Jermaine Hodge (55 kg) and Faruk Sahin (66 kg). Will the Fort Carson-based team, coached by Shon Lewis, be able to get as many berths on the U.S. World Team?
13. Oh brother! Oh sister! - In addition to the No. 1 ranked Paulson twins, there are some other talented brother and sister acts who should be on the mats together in Council Bluffs. There are the Fulp-Allen sisters from California, who were both runners-up at the U.S. Nationals in women's freestyle, Sara at 48 kg and Katherine at 51 kg. In Greco-Roman, there are the Mango brothers, with 2008 Olympian Spenser (60 kg) and high school senior Ryan (55 kg). Another family story of note is the Zadicks, 2008 Olympian Mike at 60 kg, who will be watched by his older brother Bill, who now serves as USA Wrestling Assistant National Freestyle Coach.
14. Two-time World medalist Harry Lester returns from retirement - Greco-Roman star Harry Lester, who won World bronze medals in 2006 and 2007, retired from wrestling after placing third at the 2008 Olympic Trials. This winter, he changed his mind and came back to compete, moving up to 74 kg. Lester won the Dave Schultz Memorial and the U.S. Nationals, and advances directly into the best-of-three series at the World Team Trials.
15. Three 66 kg stars in Hawkeye room - Three of the top contenders for the U.S. World Team in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. all train at the same location - on the campus of the Univ. of Iowa. Seeking spots on the World Team are current Hawkeye wrestler Brent Metcalf (2nd in U.S. Nationals), Hawkeye assistant coach Doug Schwab (4th at U.S. Nationals), and strength coach Jared Frayer (5th at U.S. Nationals). Schwab has been No. 1 at this class for two years, earning a spot on the 2007 U.S. World Team and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. During the college season, Schwab and Frayer help coach Metcalf, who is a two-time NCAA finalist for Iowa.
16. Local Olympic champs Brand, Smith to be honored at event - USA Wrestling will honor a pair of local heroes who won Olympic gold medals in freestyle wrestling during the World Team Trials. The late Glen Brand, a 1948 Olympic champion, along with 1952 Olympic champion Bill Smith will receive the prestigious USA Wrestling Lifetime Achievement Award on May 30 during the championship finals series. Brand was a 1948 NCAA champion for Iowa State, and settled in the Omaha area, where he was a hydraulics engineer. Bill Smith attended Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson High School, and went on to win two NCAA titles for the Univ. of Northern Iowa.
17. USOEC high school seniors Maroulis and Gray win national titles - Two high school seniors who train with the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan Univ. won U.S. Nationals freestyle titles and enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds - Helen Maroulis at 55 kg and Adeline Gray at 67 kg. Maroulis left her home in Maryland and Gray left hers in Colorado to join the USOEC program, and both attend Marquette High School while working out with the USOEC team.
18. Numerous past age-group World Champions in the field - In addition to past Senior World champions Clarissa Chun (women's FS), Iris Smith (women's FS) and Dremiel Byers (Greco-Roman), there are a number of past age-group World champions in the field in Council Bluffs. They include past Junior World champions Whitney Conder, Adeline Gray and Nicole Woody, as well as past University World champions Stephany Lee, Elena Pirozkhova, Katherine Fulp-Allen and Tervel Dlagnev. How many past age-group World champions will make our U.S. Senior team?
19. Div. I coach Chris Bono continues to compete - Chris Bono has served three seasons as the head coach at the Univ. of Tennessee-Chattanooga, yet has not finished his own international freestyle wrestling career. Bono, 35, enters the 2009 World Team Trials after placing seventh at the U.S. Nationals. A three-time World Team member, Bono decided to continue wrestling after falling short of the 2008 Olympic team, still seeking his first World medal. He has a local angle, winning a 1996 NCAA title for Iowa State, and previously serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
20. World Team Trials hosted in Iowa often - The state of Iowa is known as a hotbed for the sport of wrestling, with a strong fan base for the sport. USA Wrestling has now hosted its World Team Trials event in Iowa three times in the last five years. In addition to this year's event being held in Council Bluffs, the World Team Trials were in Ames, Iowa in 2005 and in Sioux City, Iowa in 2006.
Below is a list of 20 story ideas for the World Team Trials, presented by the U.S. Marines, which will be held in Council Bluffs, Iowa, May 30-31. Champions from the World Team Trials will represent the United States at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships in Herning, Denmark, Sept. 21-27.
1. Council Bluffs native Paulson twins enter as No. 1 seeds - Trent and Travis Paulson, who attended Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs before going on to success at Iowa State, enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds in freestyle. Trent won the U.S. Nationals at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Travis won the U.S. Nationals at 74 kg/163 lbs. They return to their hometown seeking their first U.S. Senior World Team berth. Both train and coach at nearby Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln.
2. Local colleges have plenty of alumni or active athletes already qualified - From the college wrestling programs from the states of Iowa and Nebraska, there are numerous athletes who have qualified to compete in Council Bluffs at the World Team Trials. As of May 6 (with just one qualifier left), here is the college tally:
- Former or current Iowa State wrestlers - Trent Paulson, Travis Paulson, Nick Gallick, Chris Bono, Jon Reader, David Bertolino, Jake Varner, Kurt Backes, Harry Lester, Eric Thompson
- Former or current Univ. of Iowa wrestlers - Mike Zadick, Brent Metcalf, Doug Schwab, Eric Luedke, Steve Mocco, Ryan Morningstar, Daniel Dennis
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska wrestlers - Travis Pascoe, B.J. Padden,
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha wrestlers - Les Sigman
- Former or current Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney wrestlers - Tervel Dlagnev
- Former or current Univ. of Northern Iowa wrestlers - Sean Stender, Mark Rial, Cruse Aarhus, Moza Fay
- Other athletes training in Iowa City, Iowa - Jared Frayer, Bryce Hasseman
- Note - Dlagnev trains and coaches at Northern Iowa; Sigman trained and coached at Iowa State; the Paulson twins train and coach at Nebraska
3. Five of the seven freestyle national champions were Iowa college wrestlers - Talk about a strong local angle!!! Past University of Iowa wrestlers Mike Zadick (60 kg) and Steve Mocco (120 kg), plus past Iowa State wrestlers Trent Paulson (66 kg) and Travis Paulson (74 kg), plus current Iowa State wrestler Jake Varner (96 kg) all won the U.S. Nationals and enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds.
4. "Last Chance Qualifier" in Waterloo, Iowa, May 14-16 - There is one more chance for wrestlers to qualify for the World Team Trials. The Northern Plains Senior Regionals will be held at Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa, May 15-16. The champions in all three Olympic styles qualify to compete in Council Bluffs. Will there be any other local wrestlers who get into the field in Waterloo?
5. Three current college students crowned national champions - It was a good year for college wrestlers at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, where three undergraduate students won national titles. Capturing national freestyle titles just weeks after winning NCAA Div. I crowns were Jake Herbert at 84 kg and Jake Varner at 96 kg. Herbert was a senior at Northwestern, and Varner was a junior at Iowa State. The other college wrestler with a national crown was Kelsey Campbell, the women's freestyle champion at 59 kg. Campbell is a member of the men's wrestling team at Arizona State.
6. World champion Chun continues winning ways - In October 2008, Olympian Clarissa Chun won a gold medal at the Women's World Championships held in Tokyo, Japan, becoming only the fifth U.S. women's wrestler to win a World crown. Chun has remained red hot, winning the U.S. Nationals and Pan American Championships in April. After the World Championships, she spent time in Japan teaching English to elementary school children.
7. Nebraska's Manning is Freestyle World Team Coach - Mark Manning, the head coach at the Univ. of Nebraska, is taking special interest in the World Team Trials results. Manning is one of the coaches of the 2009 U.S. Freestyle World Team, along with National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones and Oklahoma State head coach John Smith. They will lead the U.S. team at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark.
8. LiveSportsVideo to provide live internet coverage from Council Bluffs - For those unable to attend the World Team Trials, USA Wrestling sponsor LiveSportsVideo.com will stream live coverage of the action from Council Bluffs. The broadcast team for the internet coverage will be veteran play-by-play announcer Van Stokes, along with color commentator Jason Bryant of Wrestling411. There will be live streams from two mats throughout the entire competition.
9. Div. II heavyweights Sigman and Dlagnev bring local flavor - Two of the top two stars in freestyle wrestling at 120 kg were Div. II wrestling heroes from Nebraska colleges, winning six national titles between them. Les Sigman won four NCAA Div. II titles for the Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha. Tervel Dlagnev won two NCAA Div. II titles for the Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney. Dlagnev was second and Sigman was third at the U.S. Nationals, making them serious contenders for the World Team Trials title.
10. Six past Olympians come to Council Bluffs as No. 1 seeds - Six athletes who have competed at the Olympic Games enter the World Team Trials as top seeds in their weight class. They are men's freestyle wrestlers Mike Zadick (60 kg) and Steve Mocco (120 kg), Greco-Roman wrestlers T.C. Dantzler (84 kg) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg) and women's freestyle wrestlers Clarissa Chun (48 kg) and Patricia Miranda (51 kg). Five wrestled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The only one who didn't was Miranda, who won a bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
11. 1984 Olympic champion Lewis making comeback in Waterloo - Randy Lewis, 49, who won a freestyle gold medal at 62 kg at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, announced that he will compete at the "Last Chance Qualifier" at the Northern Plains Senior Regionals in Waterloo, Iowa, May 15-16. Lewis has not competed in a match since 1992, almost 17 years ago. There will be athletes in the field who were not born yet when Lewis won his Olympic gold in Los Angeles.
12. U.S. Army has four national Greco champions - It has been a great year for the U.S. Army Greco-Roman team so far this year, after winning four of the seven gold medals on the way to the U.S. Nationals title in Greco-Roman. Repeating as champions were 2008 Olympian Dremiel Byers (120 kg) and Brad Ahearn (96 kg), with first-time champions Jermaine Hodge (55 kg) and Faruk Sahin (66 kg). Will the Fort Carson-based team, coached by Shon Lewis, be able to get as many berths on the U.S. World Team?
13. Oh brother! Oh sister! - In addition to the No. 1 ranked Paulson twins, there are some other talented brother and sister acts who should be on the mats together in Council Bluffs. There are the Fulp-Allen sisters from California, who were both runners-up at the U.S. Nationals in women's freestyle, Sara at 48 kg and Katherine at 51 kg. In Greco-Roman, there are the Mango brothers, with 2008 Olympian Spenser (60 kg) and high school senior Ryan (55 kg). Another family story of note is the Zadicks, 2008 Olympian Mike at 60 kg, who will be watched by his older brother Bill, who now serves as USA Wrestling Assistant National Freestyle Coach.
14. Two-time World medalist Harry Lester returns from retirement - Greco-Roman star Harry Lester, who won World bronze medals in 2006 and 2007, retired from wrestling after placing third at the 2008 Olympic Trials. This winter, he changed his mind and came back to compete, moving up to 74 kg. Lester won the Dave Schultz Memorial and the U.S. Nationals, and advances directly into the best-of-three series at the World Team Trials.
15. Three 66 kg stars in Hawkeye room - Three of the top contenders for the U.S. World Team in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. all train at the same location - on the campus of the Univ. of Iowa. Seeking spots on the World Team are current Hawkeye wrestler Brent Metcalf (2nd in U.S. Nationals), Hawkeye assistant coach Doug Schwab (4th at U.S. Nationals), and strength coach Jared Frayer (5th at U.S. Nationals). Schwab has been No. 1 at this class for two years, earning a spot on the 2007 U.S. World Team and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. During the college season, Schwab and Frayer help coach Metcalf, who is a two-time NCAA finalist for Iowa.
16. Local Olympic champs Brand, Smith to be honored at event - USA Wrestling will honor a pair of local heroes who won Olympic gold medals in freestyle wrestling during the World Team Trials. The late Glen Brand, a 1948 Olympic champion, along with 1952 Olympic champion Bill Smith will receive the prestigious USA Wrestling Lifetime Achievement Award on May 30 during the championship finals series. Brand was a 1948 NCAA champion for Iowa State, and settled in the Omaha area, where he was a hydraulics engineer. Bill Smith attended Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson High School, and went on to win two NCAA titles for the Univ. of Northern Iowa.
17. USOEC high school seniors Maroulis and Gray win national titles - Two high school seniors who train with the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan Univ. won U.S. Nationals freestyle titles and enter the World Team Trials as No. 1 seeds - Helen Maroulis at 55 kg and Adeline Gray at 67 kg. Maroulis left her home in Maryland and Gray left hers in Colorado to join the USOEC program, and both attend Marquette High School while working out with the USOEC team.
18. Numerous past age-group World Champions in the field - In addition to past Senior World champions Clarissa Chun (women's FS), Iris Smith (women's FS) and Dremiel Byers (Greco-Roman), there are a number of past age-group World champions in the field in Council Bluffs. They include past Junior World champions Whitney Conder, Adeline Gray and Nicole Woody, as well as past University World champions Stephany Lee, Elena Pirozkhova, Katherine Fulp-Allen and Tervel Dlagnev. How many past age-group World champions will make our U.S. Senior team?
19. Div. I coach Chris Bono continues to compete - Chris Bono has served three seasons as the head coach at the Univ. of Tennessee-Chattanooga, yet has not finished his own international freestyle wrestling career. Bono, 35, enters the 2009 World Team Trials after placing seventh at the U.S. Nationals. A three-time World Team member, Bono decided to continue wrestling after falling short of the 2008 Olympic team, still seeking his first World medal. He has a local angle, winning a 1996 NCAA title for Iowa State, and previously serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
20. World Team Trials hosted in Iowa often - The state of Iowa is known as a hotbed for the sport of wrestling, with a strong fan base for the sport. USA Wrestling has now hosted its World Team Trials event in Iowa three times in the last five years. In addition to this year's event being held in Council Bluffs, the World Team Trials were in Ames, Iowa in 2005 and in Sioux City, Iowa in 2006.
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