July 2007 Wrestling Articles

Wrestling Adds Two-Time All-American Darrell Vasquez to Staff

Two-time All-American Darrell Vasquez joins Harvard wrestling staff as the coaching assistant for 2007-08 season.

Vasquez was a three-time PAC-10 place winner, three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time top-six finisher at the NCAA Championships for Cal Poly. After red shirting his freshman season, Vasquez compiled a 30-7 overall record, finished as the runner-up at 133 pounds at the PAC 10 tournament and took sixth at the NCAAs in St. Louis, Mo., in 2004. After a breakout first-year performance, Vasquez earned a No. 2 preseason ranking before illness… more »

Dallas, Texas, July 20, 2007 -- The National Collegiate Wrestling Association has officially announced the addition of a Women's Collegiate Division for the upcoming 2007-2008 season. This monumental addition will provide the only post high school collegiate style venue for women, thus catering to a deeply underserved wrestling population.

"We are excited to lead the way and act as pioneers for women's wrestling" said NCWA Executive Director, Jim Giunta. "Women's wrestling is rapidly growing across the nation on the youth and high school level, but there are very few options for them on the college level." more »

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma, thanks in large part to former wrestler Rodney Thornton, is set to launch a $2.4 million project at the McCasland Field House. The bulk of the construction will include a $1.3 million addition to the Port Robertson Wrestling Center. The facility serves as the practice venue for the Sooner wrestling team.

Ground will be broken on the project, which will also address the existing structure, later this month. Construction should be concluded in August 2008.

The lead gift for the project was made by Thornton, a former… more »

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After earning the No. 2 ranking by Wrestling International Newsmagazine in May, the Ohio State wrestling team’s 2007-08 incoming class was regarded the best in the nation among Division I programs by wrestling Web site intermatwrestle.com Friday. Buckeye head coach Tom Ryan’s first recruiting class consists of eight of the top wrestlers in the nation who combined for 14 state high school individual titles, while three wrestlers earned National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) All-America honors.

The Buckeye fall signees were Sean Nemec, Colt Sponseller, Bo Touris, Nikko Triggas and John Weakley.
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Columbia, Mo. –Missouri wrestling Head Coach Brian Smith has named Lee Pritts and Shawn Charles as assistant coaches while Ben Askren will serve as the Tigers’ volunteer assistant for the upcoming 2007-08 campaign.

“I lost two very experienced assistant coaches in Bart Horton and Pat McNamara,” Smith said. “But, I know that I’m replacing them with three individuals that are as equally talented and up to the challenge of coaching this team to its first National title.”

Pritts, a former Missouri assistant coach from 1998 through 2004, will fill the roll as… more »