In the House: Greco-Roman legends among the wrestling leaders seen on the final few days in Fargo

NMU-OTS head coach Rob Hermann takes in the action at the Junior Greco-Roman Nationals at the Fargodome. Photo by Jim Thrall, Matfocus.com


For the last two years, they have switched the traditional Fargo schedule to start with men’s and women’s freestyle and finish off with Greco-Roman. With the changed schedule, the timing of when the nation’s top Greco-Roman coaches and former athletes appear in the Fargodome was reversed.


In our final In the House feature, we point out some of these Greco-Roman people who are helping develop the classic style among America’s youth.


In earlier stories, we mentioned Greco-Roman stars including Brandon Paulson, Ike Anderson, Andy Bisek, Joe Betterman, Nate Engel and otthers who were spotted in the first few days.


We start off with the legendary Dan Chandler, a three-time Olympian as a Greco-Roman wrestler and coach with the Minnesota Storm. Chandler has coached U.S. Olympic and World Teams for decades, and helped develop many of the best U.S. Greco-Roman stars in history. The tradition of Greco-Roman in the state of Minnesota has thrived under his leadership, and all you have to do is watch the members of Team Minnesota in Fargo to see his influence on their performance.


Another past Olympic coach and World-class athlete in the house is Rob Hermann, the head coach of the Greco-Roman program at the Northern Michigan University-Olympic Training Site. Hermann competed for the U.S. Navy and made World Teams as an athlete, and then was a longtime coach for the U.S. Navy team. At Northern Michigan, he has worked with other coaches, including current assistant Andy Bisek, to develop Greco-Roman specialists for the United States. He also runs numerous camps and competitions up in Marquette, bringing together talent from the USA and the world together.

Mark Halvorson of California has been a longtime advocate of Greco-Roman, serving as a coach for numerous U.S. World and Olympic teams on the Senior level as well as a ton of age-group Greco-Roman World Teams as well. A high school coach that has produced great teams, Halvorson has also affected the national effort with his coaching at the respected CYC in the Bay area. Halvorson runs the annual World Junior Greco-Roman Duals, where U.S. state teams take on foreign teams.


Now the Manager of Greco-Roman programs for USA Wrestling, Gary Mayabb has long been a leader in the development of Greco-Roman. He was one of the nation’s top high school coaches in Missouri, and also a highly respected college wrestling referee. But since taking the job at USA Wrestling, Mayabb has worked tirelessly to build up a system that will help the USA improve in Greco-Roman through the youth levels and then on up to the Senior level. Nobody has travelled more to build Greco-Roman in the last year than Mayabb, a true road warrior for the sport.


A guy who did his share of both Greco-Roman and freestyle during his colorful career on the mats, the incomparable Ray Brinzer, has been here all week working with young athletes from Team New York. Brinzer was one of the few people to compete for both Oklahoma State and Iowa while in college (another was current Florida state chairperson Steve Mocco). Brinzer has a creative mind, and continues to provide great ideas on how to improve our sport.


There are some other coaches working with young athletes worth mentioning, like Pete Kowalczuk, the former Greco wrestler who is making an impact with Team Illinois, especially among the heavyweight athletes. Add in Doug Paulson, the father of Olympic medalist Brandon Paulson, who has been part of Team Minnesota for decades. Then there is Zac Dominguez, also a top Greco athlete, who is turning out a ton of great Greco talent in Nebraska, and also has coached numerous international teams for the USA. You must also sdd in all of those dedicated and talented state-level Greco-Roman coaches who have helped kids learn the style.


On another note, one of the greatest referees in the world was Stacey Davis, who went on to become a Olympic Games and World Championships official on the international scene. After retiring from officiating, Davis focused more on one of his other passions, coaching, which he has always done, even when trotting the globe as a referee. Davis was working with Team Georgia athletes all week.


Then there is the foremost expert on all things Junior and Cadet Nationals, Jason Bryant of the Mat Talk Online. A former USA Wrestling employee, and one of the greatest wrestling PA announcers on the planet, Jason has done all the research on this amazing event which is now in its 48th year. He has literally written THE BOOK on the Junior and Cadet Nationals, a 188-page anthology entitled ‘USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals All-American Almanac.” You can and should buy this book It costs $20, and you get annual updates free.. And if ever on press row in Fargo, Jason will update you every year on the historic facts of this event. You can’t do Fargo without Jason Bryant in the house.


To order the Fargo guide, visit:
gum.com/fargoguide


Special thanks to our announcers Sandy Stevens, A.L. Haislip and Dorothy Mayabb for all their work on keeping the tournament going, session after session, day after day. Sandy has been to 47 of the 48 Junior Nationals, and she is now reminding people that 2020 will be the 50th Junior Nationals, which started in Iowa City, Iowa in 1971.