There are a handful of wrestling-related news items I thought worthy of mention, but that didn't necessarily merit the full front-page treatment. So think of this as the WMDs of the Wrestling beat, perhaps.
Here goes:
Michigan picks up Iowa State transfer
As reported last week, Michigan wrestling coach Joe McFarland retired after 19 years at the helm of his alma mater. That news doesn't appear to have upset the apple cart much in terms of recruiting, as the Wolverines picked up a transfer just days after McFarland's announcement because public news.
Kanen Storr (what a great name for a wrestler, right?), a redshirt freshman at Iowa State who cut his season short after going just 15-7 in his redshirt freshman campaign, and announced plans in late January to leave Ames. As IAWrestle.com notes, Storr's situation was tinged with drama related to allegations of tampering by former Iowa State staffers.
Storr is expected to compete with Sal Profaci for the starting position at 141 pounds. Profaci was an NCAA qualifier this season.
Yianni D Won a Natty With a Torn ACL
The legend of Cornell star Yianni Diakomihalis grew a little larger in recent days, as TrackWrestling broke the news that the freshman phenom wrestled the last three matches of his NCAA title run with a torn ACL. In other words, he defeated a two-time NCAA champion and two additional title contenders after blowing out his knee.
Let that sink in a minute.
The extent of the injury was discovered after the match and confirmed by a post-tournament MRI: Diakomihalis wrestled the last three matches of his NCAA title run — posting wins over Heil, Jaydin Eierman and Bryce Meredith — with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“It’s just remarkable,” Cornell coach Rob Koll said Friday afternoon. “It just shows the kind of kid he is and he wasn’t 100 percent. But when you get to the national championship, you do what you’ve got to do. We always say, this time of year there are no such thing as injuries. You’re not hurt. No one cares. You’ve got all summer to get healed up.”
Koll said Diakomihalis is scheduled to undergo surgery next week.
Yianni D went 34-1 in an incredible true-freshman campaign, becoming just the 19th true freshman in history to win an NCAA wrestling title.
Ben Stehura Resigns as Head Wrestling Coach at Cleveland State
Ohio State wrestles the Vikings just about yearly now as part of the Thanksgiving Throwdown, or this might not have crossed my radar.
Over his 10 seasons as head coach at Cleveland State, Stehura has coached Viking student-athletes to five Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) titles and nine NCAA Championships berths.
In each of his final two seasons, Stehura guided a Viking grappler to a noteworthy individual achievement. Evan Cheek won an EWL title this past season by topping an undefeated competitor in the final and subsequently earned Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships honors. In the 2016-17 season, Nick Corba earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships and posted a pair of bonus-point wins at the event.
Stehura was just the third wrestling coach in school history. A national search is underway for his replacement.
Eastern Michigan Cans Wrestling Program
Eastern Michigan University announced last week that it would shutter four varsity sports, cutting its athletic department to just 17 programs. Along with softball, men's swimming and diving, and women's tennis, the athletic department will cancel wrestling; the announcement came just days after Sa'Derian Perry become the program’s first All-American since 1999.
The school said the move would save $2.4 million and affect 83 student athletes (not to mention coaches and staffers and their families).
"We are very saddened by having to make this move, which is necessary as we continue to align the University budget with enrollment and state funding trends," said University President James Smith. "This aligns us with our Mid-American Conference peers in total number of sports, and is part of our ongoing effort to realign resources to ensure that we continue to invest in high-demand high-quality academic programs and world-class facilities."
The Open Mat pointed out that although EMU isn't the first program in recent years to cut wrestling (Boise State infamously did so last season), the Eagles' decision to axe wrestling was a particularly surprising one:
Coach David Bolyard’s team has a full complement of scholarships, 9.9, to offer, had managed to piece together a $500,000 endowment fund, and was successful academically, holding the top Academic Progress Rate of any men’s program at the school in addition to seeing four Academic All-Americans crowned this season according to Bolyard. That was not enough to keep them off the chopping block. Unfortunately, the endowment fund was not nearly large enough to offset the cost of the program allowing the administration to see a cost savings in this move. However, it does prove that Eastern Michigan was moving in the right direction to ensure their survival. Now, the fight is on to save a fully-funded program, something all too rare in DI wrestling.
The likelihood that a GoFundMe campaign will save the program seems remote, but TOM makes the case that supporters of the sport need to be proactive in backing their program of choice, before it's their turn on the chopping block.
Illinois Wrestler Francis Edelen Killed in Hit and Run
In a tragic development, Illinois redshirt sophomore Francis Edelen was killed in what was initially described by the university as a "tragic accident," but what CBS Chicago Friday report was actually a hit-and-run along I-57 in Champaign County.
Illinois State Police believe Edelen got into an accident near Rantoul and went out to check on the other driver. Then, for some reason, police say he began walking down the interstate.
“Mr. Edelen may have been initially struck by a large vehicle,” says Captain Louis Kink of the Illinois State Police.
Likely a semi.
Then, they believe a second car hit him.
A witness told police he saw a green car, white SUV and another vehicle pulled over near the student’s body. But all drove off when the witness approached.
While investigators try to piece together what happened to the young grappler, his teammates and nine siblings grieve the loss of their brother.
