Wrestling Blogs - Noel Thompson

Walk with me as I retrace Jesus foot steps and the site of the crucifixion. I documented every time Jesus fell under the weight of the cross and where he was sentenced by Pontius Pilate and site of the earthquake after his death. Not to get to religious but the history in itself was jaw dropping. I also visited the Western Wall the Holiest place to the Jewish faith which is part of the sacred temple built by Herod. The Dome of the Rock which represents when Mohamed ascended through heaven one of the Holiest places in the Muslim faith.… more »

The Munich Memorial Grand Prix is dedicated to the athletes that died in the hands of terrorist at the Olympic games in Munich Germany in 1972 Out of the 11 athletes that died 4 were wrestlers. One athlete escaped who was a 48kg wrestler who I met at the memorial along with the widows of the fallen. It was a great honor to represent the USA and pay repsect to our fallen comrads. Highlight matches to watch 74kg final was an all out war between Canada and Belrus. Also the 55kg between USA & Israel has allot of drama at… more »

Lindsey Durlacher kicked of the Maccabiah Games by carrying the the flag for the free world. This is the 18th Maccabiah Games. The number 18 means life in The Jewish faith. Luck was on the side if the USA as we took home the most gold medals in the Maccabiah Games. I posted the opening ceremony and finals matches. Check out the 96kg Russian Wrestler Junior Wolrd champion and the 66kg Ukrain 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. Coming soon: The Holiest Place on Earth Jerusalem the site of the Crusifiction & The Munich Memroial Grand Prix more »

One of the most interesting things about the Middle East especially Israel is that the most sacred land to all religions is here... While we here are to see some wrestling and experience Israel I thought it would be fitting to visit some of the most sacred religious places to man. To give you a brief background according to the gospel of Luke Jesus grew up in Nazareth. We visited the Annunciation Church (which is where Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as her son). Modern scholars believe Jesus grew up and was born… more »

From Iran to Israel wrestling is the one brotherhood that takes you around the world... I flew in on Sunday from JFK NYC direct to the holy land. I flew El Al which I was told the most secure airline in the world. I learned that very quickly. Coming into this trip I knew there would be questions at customs and by government about my trip to Israel being that I went to Iran( and vise versa if it were the other way around). I was waiting for my contingent at JFK in front of the airline when I was… more »

In life sometimes you have to live with your glass half empty to be able to take yourself out of your comfort zone in order to learn about others. Life is a journey in which we are all different in our own ways. Different does not mean good or bad. It just means different. People of all nations and walks of life just want respect. If you have followed this blog continue to be intellectually curious about others so you get to understand yourself and the world more. Iran is a traditional society wrestling to reconcile itself with the present.… more »

We approach the arena we walk through the corridors. Security guards approache us as they prepare to battle the crowd. A camera flash goes of then another and another. The media has found us they are intrigued by Americans in Tehran. Our wrestlers today took the back entrance with the coaches. Novo, Dave & I are in a paparazzi fiesta… These people live sleep and breathe wrestling. The US team is like an interesting society that very rarely ventures into this part of the world. I look up above. Hanging is a banner with the Supreme leader Iman Komeni. There… more »

We arrive at the Bazar (mall). Security tells us to make sure to watch our valuables...We are briefed to walk in packs and stop very five minutes to regroup. Its like entering a recon mission making sure we are all buddied up... As we proceed it must of been 300,000 people at the bazar women wearing the traditional grab very conservative.... We are dodging push carts and people as it becomes a clustered mosh pit... You think traveling through a college bar is tough in group... Food and clothes carpets everyone selling something from their shops as we make our… more »

You pull into the guarded gates as they open. The guard at the door says "Salem" We jump out out of our ten seat van like mercenaries dropped into a new world.We have just arrived at the wrestling facillity called the "The House of Wrestling".I proceed through the glass doors as I greet all the old Persian warriors with Salem (hello) as we proceed to the corridor of their practice facillty which can hold 1500 people.There are four full sized mats Fila mats....The banner on the wall says welcome to the "Islamic Republic of Iran"...If look to the left at… more »

From NYC I took a 6 hour flight to Frankfurt. From Fankfurt we caught a connecting flight to Tehran after a 7 hour layover... Lufhansa air is the most efficient way into Tehran I'm told. For security reasons, Lufthansa changes the gate of the flight to Tehran. There was no explanation. My boarding pass listed one gate, the overhead monitor list no gate at all. The actual gate is somewhere else... We are breifed 1 hour before take off where our gate is going to be . As we board the plane everyone notices our team USA warmups. We were… more »