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In the House (Monday): Olympic champs Baumgartner and Jackson, plus a boatload more college coaches
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono and assistant coach Jon Reader on the floor of the FargoDome. Photo by Adam Engel.
If you threw a rock in the FargoDome today, you would hit a men’s college wrestling coach.
Really, the Monday of Fargo week, with the 16U men’s freestyle finals and the tough rounds leading up to the Junior Freestyle semifinals, is a huge recruiting opportunity for college coaches at all levels. Today, as in the past, the college coaches are here in droves.
We already had a bunch of coaches listed in the first two days, but will add a ton more today. But, let’s start with our Olympic and World team athletes we have added on the list.
The biggest U.S. wrestling star in history (literally) is in the house, as two-time Olympic champion, three-time World champion, four-time Olympic medalist and 13-time World medalist Bruce Baumgarter is here. Baumgartner is USA Wrestling’s President, and has committed to attending the major events in the sport at all levels. He checks other boxes such as NCAA champion. By the way, he won his Junior Nationals title back in 1978 in Iowa City (I know, I saw it in person).
Another World and Olympic hero in the building is Kevin Jackson, an Olympic champion and two-time World champion, who is currently an assistant with the University of Michigan coaching staff. Let’s add in a World champion and Olympic silver medalist Zeke Jones, who is here as head coach for Arizona State. Both of these men are Michigan natives, and both served stints as National Freestyle Coach with USA Wrestling.
Two other Olympians who we saw here today were freestyle Olympian Eric Guerrero and Greco-Roman Olympian Shawn Sheldon. Both work with youth wrestlers as coaches, Sheldon in Florida and Guerrero in Oklahoma. Add Guerrero to the NCAA champion list for his titles at Oklahoma State. Add Sheldon to the list of World medalists.
Brandon Eggum, a World silver medalist and head coach at the University of Minnesota, is also here today.
Our NCAA champion list expanded with Baumgartner and Guerrero, plus Mike Sheets (Oklahoma State), Chris Bono (Iowa State), Jon Reader (Iowa State) and Derek St. John (Iowa),
OK, let’s get back to all those college coaches. We added 10 more NCAA Div. I men’s coaches in the early session, and that was without even doing it intentionally. Joining Zeke Jones on this list are Neil Erisman of Little Rock, Chris Bono of Wisconsin, Sam Barber of Air Force, Dan Wirnsberger of Bucknell, Mike Grey of Cornell, Jordan Leen of Brown, Ned Shuck of Bellarmine, Troy Nickerson of Northern Colorado and Jason Borrelli of American.
Then there are more men’s college assistant coaches, with Kevin Jackson, plus Kevin LeValley of Bucknell, Lee Pritts of Arizona State, Jon Reader of Wisconsin, Derek St. John of Iowa State, Joey Dance of American, Jason Chamberlain of Utah Valley, McCade Ford of Wyoming, Lee Roper of UNI, Kevin Jackson of Michigan, Josh Churella of Michigan, Jake Sueflohn of Purdue, Brendan Murphy of Bellarmine and Zeke Andrade of Northern State.
By tomorrow, this list should be even bigger. And with the start of the Junior Women’s Nationals, more women’s college coaches should be out and about in the FargoDome as well.
IN THE HOUSE – So far this week in Fargo… (as of July 18)
Olympic champions - Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Jordan Burroughs,
World champions – Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Les Gutches, Jordan Burroughs
Olympic medalists – Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Brandon Paulson, Jordan Burroughs, Tervel Dlagnev
World medalists: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Brandon Eggum, Shawn Sheldon, Daniel Cormier, Brandon Paulson, Les Gutches, Ali Bernard, Andre Metzger, Becka Leathers, Tervel Dlagnev, Jordan Burroughs,
Olympians: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Shawn Sheldon, Eric Guerrero, Zeke Jones, Daniel Cormier, Les Gutches, Ali Bernard, Ike Anderson, Brandon Paulson, Jordan Burroughs, Robby Smith, Steve Mocco, Ben Askren, Tervel Dlagnev, Haley Augello, Georgi Ivanov
World Team members: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Shawn Sheldon, Eric Guerrero, Brandon Eggum, Chris Bono, Daniel Cormier, Brandon Paulson, Les Gutches, John Oostendorp, Ali Bernard, Veronica Carlson, Ike Anderson, Doug Schwab, Keith Gavin, Andre Metzger, Zach Rey, Joe Betterman, Deanna Betterman, Danny Felix, Robby Smith, Obe Blanc
NCAA Div. I champions: Bruce Baumgartner (Indiana State), Eric Guerrero (Oklahoma State), Mike Sheets (Oklahoma State), Chris Bono (Iowa State), Jon Reader (Iowa State), Derek St. John (Iowa), Alan Fried (Oklahoma State), Andre Metzger (Oklahoma), Joe Dubuque (Indiana), Doug Schwab (Iowa), Les Gutches (Oregon State), Jayson Ness (Minnesota), Zach Rey (Lehigh), Jared Lawrence (Minnesota), Ben Askren (Missouri, Max Askren (Missouri), Steve Mocco (Iowa/Oklahoma State), Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska)
NCAA Div. II champions: Tervel Dlagnev (UN-Kearney), Georgi Ivanov (UN-Omaha)
WCWA women’s champions: Emily Webster Dew (Oklahoma City), Julia Salata (King), Cody Pfau (Oklahoma City), Jessica Rottier (Cumberlands), Becka Leathers (Oklahoma City),
NAIA women’s champion: McKayla Campbell (Campbellsville)
NCWWC champions (NCAA): Alara Boyd (McKendree), Jessika Rottier (UW-Stevens Point)
Head Men’s College Coaches – Brandon Eggum of Minnesota, Zeke Jones of Arizona State, Neil Erisman of Little Rock, Chris Bono of Wisconsin, Sam Barber of Air Force, Dan Wirnsberger of Bucknell, Mike Grey of Cornell, Jordan Leen of Brown, Ned Shuck of Bellarmine, Troy Nickerson of Northern Colorado, Jason Borrelli of American, Aaron Scott of William Penn, Keith Gavin of Pitt, Damian Hahn of South Dakota State, Chris Ayres of Princeton, Roger Reina of Penn, Frank Beasley of George Mason, Doug Schwab of Northern Iowa, Leo Kocher of Chicago, Trevor Kittleson of UW-Platteville, Chayse Jackson of Southwest Minnesota State, John Oostendorp of Coe, Peter Hanson of Emory and Henry, Bruce Haberli of NYU, Roger Kish of North Dakota State, Luke Smith of Cal-State Bakersfield, Jason Reitmeier of Augustana, Blake Roulo of Averett, Brandon Bradley of Nebraska Wesleyan, Ryan Riggs of Mount Union
Head Women’s College Coaches - Paul Rademacher of Indiana Tech, Shannyn Gillespie of Lakeland, Connor Lapresi of Ferrum
Assistant College Men’s Coaches: Kevin LeValley of Bucknell, Lee Pritts of Arizona State, Jon Reader of Wisconsin, Derek St. John of Iowa State, Joey Dance of American, Jason Chamberlain of Utah Valley, McCade Ford of Wyoming, Lee Roper of UNI, Kevin Jackson of Michigan, Josh Churella of Michigan, Jake Sueflohn of Purdue, Brendan Murphy of Bellarmine, Zeke Andrade of Northern State, Zach Esposito of Oklahoma State, Ryan Morningstar of Iowa, Brad Dillon of Lehigh, Wynn Michalak of Campbell, B.J. Futrell of Penn, Muzafar Abdurachmanov of Harvard, Joe Dubuque of Indiana, Elroy Perkin of Cal Baptist, Grant Zamin of North Central, Austin Marsden of North Dakota State, Adam Hall of NC State, Zach Rey of Lehigh, Drew Headlee of Pitt, Joe Nord of Columbia, Eric Morrill of Bucknell, Colin Heffernan of Central Michigan, Matt Stencel of Central Michigan, Chad Walsh of Davidson
Assistant College Women’s Coaches: Gary Mayabb of Iowa, Jessika Rottier of Gannon, McKayla Campbell of Campbellsville
RTC Coaches: Jeff Buxton of Scarlet Knight WC
Legends: Ron Mirikitani, Rick Tucci
Current National Team member - Tanner Farmer, Jordan Burroughs
If you threw a rock in the FargoDome today, you would hit a men’s college wrestling coach.
Really, the Monday of Fargo week, with the 16U men’s freestyle finals and the tough rounds leading up to the Junior Freestyle semifinals, is a huge recruiting opportunity for college coaches at all levels. Today, as in the past, the college coaches are here in droves.
We already had a bunch of coaches listed in the first two days, but will add a ton more today. But, let’s start with our Olympic and World team athletes we have added on the list.
The biggest U.S. wrestling star in history (literally) is in the house, as two-time Olympic champion, three-time World champion, four-time Olympic medalist and 13-time World medalist Bruce Baumgarter is here. Baumgartner is USA Wrestling’s President, and has committed to attending the major events in the sport at all levels. He checks other boxes such as NCAA champion. By the way, he won his Junior Nationals title back in 1978 in Iowa City (I know, I saw it in person).
Another World and Olympic hero in the building is Kevin Jackson, an Olympic champion and two-time World champion, who is currently an assistant with the University of Michigan coaching staff. Let’s add in a World champion and Olympic silver medalist Zeke Jones, who is here as head coach for Arizona State. Both of these men are Michigan natives, and both served stints as National Freestyle Coach with USA Wrestling.
Two other Olympians who we saw here today were freestyle Olympian Eric Guerrero and Greco-Roman Olympian Shawn Sheldon. Both work with youth wrestlers as coaches, Sheldon in Florida and Guerrero in Oklahoma. Add Guerrero to the NCAA champion list for his titles at Oklahoma State. Add Sheldon to the list of World medalists.
Brandon Eggum, a World silver medalist and head coach at the University of Minnesota, is also here today.
Our NCAA champion list expanded with Baumgartner and Guerrero, plus Mike Sheets (Oklahoma State), Chris Bono (Iowa State), Jon Reader (Iowa State) and Derek St. John (Iowa),
OK, let’s get back to all those college coaches. We added 10 more NCAA Div. I men’s coaches in the early session, and that was without even doing it intentionally. Joining Zeke Jones on this list are Neil Erisman of Little Rock, Chris Bono of Wisconsin, Sam Barber of Air Force, Dan Wirnsberger of Bucknell, Mike Grey of Cornell, Jordan Leen of Brown, Ned Shuck of Bellarmine, Troy Nickerson of Northern Colorado and Jason Borrelli of American.
Then there are more men’s college assistant coaches, with Kevin Jackson, plus Kevin LeValley of Bucknell, Lee Pritts of Arizona State, Jon Reader of Wisconsin, Derek St. John of Iowa State, Joey Dance of American, Jason Chamberlain of Utah Valley, McCade Ford of Wyoming, Lee Roper of UNI, Kevin Jackson of Michigan, Josh Churella of Michigan, Jake Sueflohn of Purdue, Brendan Murphy of Bellarmine and Zeke Andrade of Northern State.
By tomorrow, this list should be even bigger. And with the start of the Junior Women’s Nationals, more women’s college coaches should be out and about in the FargoDome as well.
IN THE HOUSE – So far this week in Fargo… (as of July 18)
Olympic champions - Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Jordan Burroughs,
World champions – Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Les Gutches, Jordan Burroughs
Olympic medalists – Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Brandon Paulson, Jordan Burroughs, Tervel Dlagnev
World medalists: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Brandon Eggum, Shawn Sheldon, Daniel Cormier, Brandon Paulson, Les Gutches, Ali Bernard, Andre Metzger, Becka Leathers, Tervel Dlagnev, Jordan Burroughs,
Olympians: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Shawn Sheldon, Eric Guerrero, Zeke Jones, Daniel Cormier, Les Gutches, Ali Bernard, Ike Anderson, Brandon Paulson, Jordan Burroughs, Robby Smith, Steve Mocco, Ben Askren, Tervel Dlagnev, Haley Augello, Georgi Ivanov
World Team members: Bruce Baumgartner, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Shawn Sheldon, Eric Guerrero, Brandon Eggum, Chris Bono, Daniel Cormier, Brandon Paulson, Les Gutches, John Oostendorp, Ali Bernard, Veronica Carlson, Ike Anderson, Doug Schwab, Keith Gavin, Andre Metzger, Zach Rey, Joe Betterman, Deanna Betterman, Danny Felix, Robby Smith, Obe Blanc
NCAA Div. I champions: Bruce Baumgartner (Indiana State), Eric Guerrero (Oklahoma State), Mike Sheets (Oklahoma State), Chris Bono (Iowa State), Jon Reader (Iowa State), Derek St. John (Iowa), Alan Fried (Oklahoma State), Andre Metzger (Oklahoma), Joe Dubuque (Indiana), Doug Schwab (Iowa), Les Gutches (Oregon State), Jayson Ness (Minnesota), Zach Rey (Lehigh), Jared Lawrence (Minnesota), Ben Askren (Missouri, Max Askren (Missouri), Steve Mocco (Iowa/Oklahoma State), Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska)
NCAA Div. II champions: Tervel Dlagnev (UN-Kearney), Georgi Ivanov (UN-Omaha)
WCWA women’s champions: Emily Webster Dew (Oklahoma City), Julia Salata (King), Cody Pfau (Oklahoma City), Jessica Rottier (Cumberlands), Becka Leathers (Oklahoma City),
NAIA women’s champion: McKayla Campbell (Campbellsville)
NCWWC champions (NCAA): Alara Boyd (McKendree), Jessika Rottier (UW-Stevens Point)
Head Men’s College Coaches – Brandon Eggum of Minnesota, Zeke Jones of Arizona State, Neil Erisman of Little Rock, Chris Bono of Wisconsin, Sam Barber of Air Force, Dan Wirnsberger of Bucknell, Mike Grey of Cornell, Jordan Leen of Brown, Ned Shuck of Bellarmine, Troy Nickerson of Northern Colorado, Jason Borrelli of American, Aaron Scott of William Penn, Keith Gavin of Pitt, Damian Hahn of South Dakota State, Chris Ayres of Princeton, Roger Reina of Penn, Frank Beasley of George Mason, Doug Schwab of Northern Iowa, Leo Kocher of Chicago, Trevor Kittleson of UW-Platteville, Chayse Jackson of Southwest Minnesota State, John Oostendorp of Coe, Peter Hanson of Emory and Henry, Bruce Haberli of NYU, Roger Kish of North Dakota State, Luke Smith of Cal-State Bakersfield, Jason Reitmeier of Augustana, Blake Roulo of Averett, Brandon Bradley of Nebraska Wesleyan, Ryan Riggs of Mount Union
Head Women’s College Coaches - Paul Rademacher of Indiana Tech, Shannyn Gillespie of Lakeland, Connor Lapresi of Ferrum
Assistant College Men’s Coaches: Kevin LeValley of Bucknell, Lee Pritts of Arizona State, Jon Reader of Wisconsin, Derek St. John of Iowa State, Joey Dance of American, Jason Chamberlain of Utah Valley, McCade Ford of Wyoming, Lee Roper of UNI, Kevin Jackson of Michigan, Josh Churella of Michigan, Jake Sueflohn of Purdue, Brendan Murphy of Bellarmine, Zeke Andrade of Northern State, Zach Esposito of Oklahoma State, Ryan Morningstar of Iowa, Brad Dillon of Lehigh, Wynn Michalak of Campbell, B.J. Futrell of Penn, Muzafar Abdurachmanov of Harvard, Joe Dubuque of Indiana, Elroy Perkin of Cal Baptist, Grant Zamin of North Central, Austin Marsden of North Dakota State, Adam Hall of NC State, Zach Rey of Lehigh, Drew Headlee of Pitt, Joe Nord of Columbia, Eric Morrill of Bucknell, Colin Heffernan of Central Michigan, Matt Stencel of Central Michigan, Chad Walsh of Davidson
Assistant College Women’s Coaches: Gary Mayabb of Iowa, Jessika Rottier of Gannon, McKayla Campbell of Campbellsville
RTC Coaches: Jeff Buxton of Scarlet Knight WC
Legends: Ron Mirikitani, Rick Tucci
Current National Team member - Tanner Farmer, Jordan Burroughs