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  1.  The National Hall of Fame - Lifetime Service - Illinois Chapter was once again a huge success.  There were about 190 people in attendance, including the recipients and their guests.  All of the Awardees spoke and gave a good account of themselves. 

 

  2.  Kudos to George Dyche as he headed the committees involved with the Banquet.  He was ably aided by Larry Gassen and Mike Manahan.  Mike did all of the leg work in Bloomington.  Through their efforts and a few others, everything went very smoothly.  George also put together a video presentation of previous winners of this award and Randy Konstans did the showing of fit.

 

  3.  The Awardees, in case you missed the names before, were:  Medal of Courage to Greg Gardner of Springfield SE ;  Outstanding Americans:  Admiral Richard Mies of Lane Tech and Dr. Richard Manahan of Bloomington;  Lifetime Achievement:  Dr. Vern “Art”  Adams;  of Normal;  Ray Cummings of Tolona;  Renny Garshelis of Charleston;  Ed Luety of Melrose Park;  Pat O’Connor of Glasford and Robert Strange of Lawrenceville.  Pat could not attend, but two of his sons stepped in for him.  Pat is recovering from an illness at home.

 

  4.  We had some noteable absentees this year - all recovering from some medical difficulties:  Ken Kraft, who has chaired this event for years has been hospitalized;  Jim Gardner, recovering at home;  as is Sam Samorian and Gene Swierczewski.  Our prayers are extended to this group for a fast recovery.  Anyone need their address - contact me.

 

  5.  Sandy Stevens did a great job emceeing this event - brought a little color to this event as only a woman can do.  Thank you Sandy.

 

  6.  Bob Strange and Red Schmitt were both in the State Tournament at the same time in 1939 - About the only time that has happened at this event at least that far back.

 

  7. Walter Sherman was in Iowa the weekend of the 17th, being inducted into the University of Northern Iowa Hall of Fame as a member of the National Champion 1950 Team.  Congratulations to Walter.  Sandy Stevens also emceed that program, which had an overflowing crowd.

 

  8.  Dennis Hastert was also in Iowa over the 17th, as he was honored by the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum with Sport of Lincoln Award.

 

  9,  Some sad news to report:  Vikki Zimmerman, wife of Mike who is the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals has passed away.  Mike is the son of Hall of Famer Bill Zimmer, formerly of Lockport.

 

10,  Results of the Sunkist Tournamnent:  Greco:  132 - lst - Joe Betterman;  3rd - Ellis Coleman;  6th =- Chad Vandiver;  145 - lst - Jacob Curby;  163 - 4th - Jonathan Drendel;  185 - 4th - Nathan Patrick;  264 - 2nd - Peter Kowolczak.        Women:  105 - 6th - Caitlyn Chase.

 

Coaches and Officials - Be sure to check and attend the rules clinics.

Season finally starts on the 9th - let the festivities begin.

   1.  Had a recent death in the Wrestling family.  Thomas Bradley, former Wrestler at Lake Park High School.

 

 2.  The new coach at Wheaton College will be James Gruenwald.  He is a former Olympian, I believe out of Marathana College in Wisconsin.  Has a lot of success in USA Nationals, plus other.  Have not seen any kind of press release as of this date. Former coach Dan Weber out of Conant has taken a 2 or 3 year Sabbatical.  He will be in Zimbawe in Africa helping a Christian Organization.Best of luck to both men.

  3.  An old friend of years past Lanny Bryant, who is owner and Editor of Wrestling USA Magazine, is back in coaching.  He will take over at Big Sky in Missoula, Montana at the age of 70.  He previously coached at Worland, Wyoming;  Missoula, Montana and Montana State before getting involved in Wrestling publications.  Good luck to him.

  4.  Four Jewish athletes, all from Illinois l edthe United States Delagation into Ramat Gan Stadium at the World’s Third Largest International Athletic Event - The 18th Maccabiah Games.  Lindsey Durlacher out of Buffalo Grove and the U. of Illinois, a member of the Judo Team carried the United States Flag.  He is a 7 time Maccabiah Champion in Wrestling, plus an All World Medalist and USA medalist and ranked Wrestler.  The names of the other 3 men were not published to my knowledge.  Do you know them?  July 13th.

  5.  Results of the Girl’s Nationals:  98 - lst Erin Golston - she is from Lake in the Hills and is a sophomore at Northern Michigan;  128 - 8 - Angelina Fabbri - Highland Park;  146 - lst - Brittany Goebel - Lena;  146 - 7th - Chloe Besson - Evanston. 

  6.  They rated America’s Top Wrestling Girls Families:  3rd was the Paul’s of Davis Junction and 8th  the Golston’s of Lake in the Hills.

  7.  They have ranked the top 10 NCAA Division 1 Finishes since 1928.  Number 1 is Oklahoma State with 77 finishes in the top 10 with 34 lsts;  2.  Iowa State - 62 and 7;  3.  Oklahoma U. - 60 and 7;  4.  Iowa U. 57 and 22;  5.  Michnigan - 43 and 0;  6.  Penn State - 4l and 1;  7.  Lehigh - 38-0;  8.  Minnesota - 31-3;  9.  ILLINOIS - 30-0;  10.  Michigan State - 24-1;  11.  Arizona State - 18-1;  11.  University of Northern Iowa - 18-1;  11.  Oregon State - 18-0;  14.  Nebraska - 17-0;  15.  Ohio State - 14-0;  15.  Wisconsin - 14-0;  Northwestern is 24th at 6-0 and Northern Illinois is 1-0.

  8.  USA Wrestling Final Rankings for the year all classes are:  103 - 7 - Eddie Klimara - Providence;  112 - 13th - Edwin Cooper - Providence;  119 - 26th - Jameson Oster - Lockport,  27th - Steve Murphy = Marion Catholic,  28th - Keith Surber - O’Fallon;  125 - 3rd - Tony Ramos - Glenbard North, 4th - Jon Morrison - Carl Sandburg, 30th - Chris Dardanes - Oak Park;  130 - 22nd - Nick Dardanes - Oak Park;  135 - Ellis Coleman - Oak Park;  140 - 22nd - Matt Boggess - Mt. Prospect;  145 - 23rd - Ellis Larson - Marion Catholic, 30th - Dylan Reel - Washington community;  152 - 14th - Bobby Barnhisel - Fenwick;  160 - 25th - Kyle Czarnecki - Buffalo Grove, 26th - Nick Proctor - Neuqua Valley, 27th - Jahwan Akui - St. Rita;  171 - 6th - Lee Munster - Grant;  189 - 17th - Mario Gonzalez - West Aurora;  215 - no one;  285 - 17th - Curtis Blaydes - DeLaSalle.

  9.  Looking ahead to the 2010 season in Division I - Iowa is predicted number 1, followed by Ohio State,  Iowa State,  Nebraska, Cornell, Edinboro State, Missouri, ILLINOIS,  Wisconsin and Maryland for the top Ten - this is based on returning tournament points.

10.  Tyler Clark, former All Stater from Orion, who moved to Bettendorf, Iowa - then enrolled at Iowa State - has gone to the Nationals both his frosh and soph year, but did not place.  He has transferred to the U. of Iowa, where he has to sit out a year, but since he has not used his red shirt, he will still have two more years of competition.  He will be in the mix, as I am sure he will move up a weight or two in the next year - we’ll see.

11.  By now you have been apprised of the bad news coming out of USA Wrestling head office, so I will not elaborate here.  Has nothing to do with the organizationl, but dwells solely upon the conduct of l man, who has been there dfor many years and was well respected.

12.  Tom Heniff, who has been cleaning up the record book for all of us, has found another name to place in the books.  Regarding falls - George Ross of Tilden Tech had 4 falls in 5 matches in 1954, he placed Third.

13.  One of my Wrestlers at Wheaton Central, who sends me a lot of information from Iraq - is there as the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Interior in Baghdad.  He has retired from the Illinois State Police and is there involved in police training policies, etc.  Name:  George Murray - Third in the State at 137 in 1970.  As usual he has risen to the top.

14.  Illinois Results from the Nationals at Fargo:  Girls Division:  95 - 3rd - Erin Golston - Lake in the Hills;  124 - 2nd - Ali Regan - Carbondale;  139 - Champion - Veronica Carlson;  146 - 2nd - Brittany Goebel - Lena.  Team Title to Texas, followed by California;  New York;  Washington;  ILLINOIS,  Michigan, Missouri,  Ohio,  and Hawaii.   Cadet Greco Roman:  84 - 4th - Nikosi Moody;  91 - 6th - Joel Shump;  105 - 8th - Derrick Elmore - McChesney Park;  125 - CHAMPION - Zane Richards - Carbondale;  130 - 4th - Lucas Smith - Wheeling;  135 - 3rd - Dillon Cowan - Harvard,  135 - 7th - Bradley Kolb.  152 - 2nd - Dylan Reel - Washington community;  160 - 2nd - Sam Brooks - Oak Park;  215 - 2nd Josh or John Marchak - Schaumberg, 215 - 3rd - Luke Miller.  11 All Americans with l Champion.  Team placings:  1.  Wisconsin,  2.  Minnesota,  3.  ILLINOIS.  4.  California,  5.  Michigan,  6.  Pennsylvania,  7.  Iowa,  8.  Virginia,  9.  New Jersey,  10.  Colorado.   Cadet Free Style:  84 - 3rd - Nikosi Moody;  112 - 4th - Derek Elmore - McChesney Park,  119 - 3rd - Eddie Klimara - Providence;  125 - 3rd - Zane Richards - Carbondale;  125 - 5th - Jameson Oster - Lockport;  130 - CHAMPION  - Edwin Cooper - Providence;  130 - 8th - John Delmedico;  135 - 7th - Blaise Butler - Rockford Boylan;  152 - 8th - O’Shea Traylor;  160 - 5th - Jeff Koepke - Hersey;  160 - 2nd - Sam Brooks - Oak Park;  189 - CHAMPION - Austin Marsden;  189 - 4th - Brad Johnson;  189 - 6th - Jared Koch - Woodstock Marion Catholic;  215 - CHAMPION - Gage Harrah - Crystal Lake Central;  215 - 3rd - Josh or John Marchak - Schaumberg;  215 - 4th - Luke Miller. 17 All Americans, 3 Champions.  Team Results:  1.  ILLINOIS;  2.  Pennsylvania;  3.  Ohio,  4.  Iowa,  5.  Minnesota,  6.  Michigan,  7.  California;  8.  Missouri,  9.  New Jersey;  10.  Wisconsin.   Junior Greco Roman:  98 - 4th - Devon Graville;  105 - 3rd - Jake Bellis - Bloomington;  105 - 4th - Kevon Powell - Montini;  125 - 7th - Pat Scully - Hoffman Estates;  130 - 7th - Brandon Rice - Washington community;  135 - CHAMPION - Ellis Coleman - Oak Park;  135 - 7th - Bo Schlosser - Mt. Zion;  140 - Chris Gonzalez - Montini;  145 - CHAMPION - Josh Castellano - Fenton;  152 - 3rd - Joe Moorhouse - Marengo;  171 - CHAMPION - Mark Stenberg - Lockport;  215 - CHAMPION - Joe Rau - St. Patrick’s;  215 - 6 - Charles Lewis - Thornwood;  285 - 6th - Scott Helton. 14 All Americans with 4 Champions.  Team Placements:  1.  ILLINOIS;  2.  Florida;  3.  Minnesota;  4.  California;  5.  Arizona;  6.  Pennsylvania;  7.  Wisconsin;  8.  Oregon;  9.  Washington;  10.  Utah.   Junior Free Style:  98 - 4th - Kevon Powell - Montini;  105 - 8th - Kevin Malanick - Stagg;  112 - 7th - Matt Cavallaris - Neuqua Valley;  119 - 6th - Joe Roth - Dixon;  130 - 2nd - Nick Dardanes - Oak Park;  130 - 4th - Chris Dardanes - Oak Park;  130 - 6th - Colton Rasche - Montini;  135 - 7th Jed Lightfoot - Yorkville;  160 - 8th - Nick Proctor - Neuqua Valley;  171 - 2nd - Lee Munster - Grant;  189 - 7th - Ryan Garringerd - Hinsdale South;  215 - 8th - Joe Rau - St. Patrick’s.  12 All Americans - No Champions.  A couple of guys were one bout out of AA.  It seems to me that a lot of our top competitors were missing from this tournament, so a lot of credit should be given out to those who represented Illinois.  Team Placings:  1.  Pennsylvania;  2.  Minnesota;  3.  ILLINOIS;  4.  California  5.  Missouri;  6.  New Jersey;  7.  Iowa;  8.  Washington;  9.  Wisconsin;  10.  Ohio.

15.  The State of Pennsylvania routinely produces the most all americans at the collegiate level - they also are at the top of the high schools, counting cadet and junior nationals at Fargo and the National high school championships.  As of July 2008, prior to 2009  Pennsylvania had 34 at Fargo and 66 at the National High School.  2nd - New Jersey - 24 and 49;  3.  New York - 18 and 54;  4.  Californ ia 25 and 34;  5.  Ohio - 27 - 24;  6.  ILLINOIS 37 - 9*;  7.  Missouri - 33-11*;  8.  Minnesota - 34-7*;  9.  Florida - 21-13;  9.  Iowa - 30-9*.    *  I suspect that the midwestern states could do better in the National high school T., but probably do not send many due to the cost, distance, school breaks, etc.  Eastern states can easily send many to this event.  Pennsylvania’s record every year is supposedly the main reason for Sanderson’s leaving Iowa State for Penn State.  Said he couldn’t win the National title in Iowa, but could at Penn State. We’ll See.

   

Ed.  Oh Yes - I enjoyed Alaska immensely.

Ed’s Word: Number: 18 July 7, 2009

1. I leave for Alaska tomorrow, back on the 20th so if there is any real important news, send it to me, but also send it to Jeff Pape for immeidate release. Find out more info: http://www.thepapefoundation.org

2. Attended a small tribute memorial to former coach at Lyons - Bert Kraus. Bert is in the IWCOA Hall of Fame and the National Hall of Fame, Illinois Chapter and was a Grand Marshal. I believe Bert was also in the Tennis Hall of Fame too.

3. Santiago Joseph Gomez, infant son of Hector, passed away recently. Hector runs the Gomez Wrestling school and has 5 other children.

4. I don’t know how many of you get the Herald, but they had a nice article about Mike Albanese, HWT from Naperville North in it. Mike was an excellent Wrestler, but will be going to College of DuPage to further his skills in Cooking, etc. COD does not have wrestling.

5. The Illinois Junior Greco Team WON their 3rd straight National Dual Meet Championship by defeating Florida in the finals. Bryan Medlin led this team. Illinois had 34 technical falls in this tournament, which is a tournament best. On the All Dual meet team were Jake Bellis at 105 and Josh Castellano at 145. Illinois went unbeaten with a 9-0 record, they lost just 23 individual bouts. Placings of the States: l. Illinois; 2. Florida; 3. Wisconsin; 4. Minnesota; 5. Arizona; 6. California; 7. Iowa; 8. Kansas.

6. The Illinois Junior Free Style Team finished 7th in the National Duals. They lost close ones to Oklahoma on a criteria tie breaker; Ohio; Iowa and New Jersey. They had won 4 in a row, then lost 4 and then won l. Edwin Cooper made the All Tournament team; 6 Ohio Wrestlers made this team. State Placements: l. Ohio; 2. New Jersey; 3. Minnesota 1; 4. Oklahoma; 5. Iowa; 6. California;

7. Illinois; 8. Missouri. 7. Pennsylvania, which is supposed to be loaded, did not enter a team in either FS or GR. Watch out for them at Fargo.

8. Jeremy Hunter has been promoted to Assistant coach at Illinois; Mike Poeta will be the Volunteer Assistant Coach, they will join with Carl Perry.

9. Mike Tamillow, former All American just finished 3rd in the Canada Cup.in FS.

10. Asics GR Nationals in Utah held recently the following Illini placed: Champions: Age 9-10 - Jason Renteria at 65; Age 11-12 - 60 - Louis Hayes; 70 - Austin O’Connor; 95 - Kamal Berg; 112 - Dru Worker. Age 13-14 - 210 - Michael Johnson Jr. Only Champions were listed.

11. Hope a lot of you are joining us at the Smile Foundation golf outing on the 28th at White Pines in Bensonville - If you do not play golf, like me, you can still sponsor an event, and or go to the luncheon. This is July 28th.

12. Hate to miss the best tournament around during the Summer - The Midwest Nationals - held at Bloomington on Saturday July 11th. An excellent tournament for those who did not qualify for Fargo.

Scandal is the coin of contemporary celebrity. It keeps the public interested. If something is not worth doing at all, it’s not worth doing well. Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirtuality. Words are like diamonds. Polish them too much, and all you get are pebbles. There is no need to believe what an artist says, believe what he does; that’s what counts. More things grow in the garden than the gardener sows. Where there is great love, there are always miracles. Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Ed

 Ed’s Word:  Number 17                June 23, 2009

 Ed’s Word:  Number:  16           May 20, 2009

Ed’s Word:  Number:  14          April 21, 2009  

1.  I attended both Wrestling Banquets this past weekend and enjoyed both of them.  It was the 39th Annual affair and I have at tened all 39.  Is there any differences between them  - not really - just different people.  There were about 175 at each of them.  Although the Hall of Fame Banquet invitations are mailed to present Hall of Famers;  New inductees and their guests - the Banquet is open to all who care to recognize the people that are responsible or were responsible for Wrestling progressing as far as it has come.  The All State Awards was not attended as well as it should have been, considering the inclusion of a third class.  One could blame the economy, but those of us on pensions, or who are employed by a school system, really cannot use that excuse;  the weather;  the distance -  or just plain not caring.  The All staters present numbered about 4l out of 212 eligibles.  11 out of 64 in Class A;  16 out of 64 in AA and 14 out of 84 in AAA were there - hardly any coaches.  Even an award winner could not make it.  There are 441 now in the Hall of Fame - 35 Hall of famers attended - 100 are deceased and a good number live out of state, but there are at least 100 close by.  8 Hall of Famers attended the Sunday banquet also.  There are now 61 in the Illinois Lifetime Achievement category - 12 are deceased - 17 attended.  There are now 25 Persons of the Year - l is deceased - 7 attended.  You do the math.  The banquets are done very nicely - now have a video presentation, discussing the history of the IWCOA’ and displaying pictures of all Hall of Famers.  The program is completed in a decent time and is highlighted by asides that are appropriate.  Joe Pedersen emceed both banquets and did an excellent job.   I feel that if you have any complaints about the banquets in any way - you should direct them to either Joe Pedersen or Joe Cliffe, who will bring them to the Executive Committee.  However, I have always felt that if you have a complaint, then you should have a decent solution.  Anyway - As far as I am concerned if you missed them, it is your loss. 

2.  Jeff Pape was selected as the Man of the Year for all the work he has done to promote Wrestling within the state of Illinois the past few years.  A good selection - and he will continue to keep involved.  So many after receiving recognition (definitely earned) seem to drop out of sight. 

3.  The National Hall of Fame, Illinois Chapter has made their selections - the awardees will be notified, once the National Hall of Fame has approved them and when that happens the Illinois Chair will notify the public.  The Hall of Fame Induction will be at the Double tree in Bloomington on Sunday, October 25, 2009..  So keep this date in mind - plenty of time to make arrangements.  As usual there will be a funding drive, so if you can, please respond to this request. 

4.  Debbie Nason presented another 5 people with 1000.00 checks as she has done for the past 12 years.  The Gerdes Memorial Golf outing is scheduled for Monday, June 22nd at the Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort (same place as last year)  125.00 to play, includes golf and cart, Dinner and prizes For more information contact Debbie at 708-349-0304.   

5.  No information on the Illinois job - no names of any kind.   Prior to Sanderson leaving Iowa State and going to Penn State - Troy Sunderland had been told to resign.  Immediate applicants were Tim Flynn of Edinboro State;  Rob Koll of Cornell U.;l  Kerry McCoy of Maryland;  Pat Santoro of Lehigh;  John Hughes of Lehigh;  Former aa at Penn State Ken Chertow and Assistant at Iowa Terry Brands.  Sanderson got the job.  Says that $ had nothing to do with it, although some papers have placed the deal at 2.5 million in 4 years.  That beats the 137,000 he got at Iowa State and that is a lot more than Tom Brands gets at Iowa, or Brad Penrith gets at Northern Iowa.  I think one has to realize that for the most part, Wrestling is never going to be in the same ball park as basketball and football.  Iowa’s football coach is way over 2 million per year - even their girls basketball is 450,000 - so live with it.  The only rumors flying around in Iowa over the Iowa State job would be the names of Chris Bono of Tenn-Chatanooga;  Terry Brands of Iowa;  Rob Koll of Cornell U. and Jim Miller who has created a dynasty at Wartburg college in division 3.  Arizona state is open and there has been no information on that spot at all - Maybe dropping wrestling is in the air there again. 

6.Illinois hasn’t got a lot of press either - I think that job would be just as good as any of those I’ve listed and the recruiting scene is going to be ok.  Llike most schools that are going big time - you need to recruit all over, not just in your state.  Iowa State has all 10 starters back, Iowa has all but 1.  There were only 2 native Iowans that made all american this year - 0 from Oklahoma;  5 from Illinois and 12 from Pennsylvania.  Ohio is a good recruiting ground, as is California and now even New Jersey.  Athletic directors need to increase the recruiting budget - that would help most schools,  and of course if you could increase the amount of aid you could give - say from 9/.9 rides to around l5 - just like basketball for girls or even 13 like it is for boys. Football has 85 and they are all full rides. 

7.  Learned where a few Wrestlers are going next year:  Carl Foreside of Montini will go to Iowa Central Community college;  Isaih Gonzalez of Montini will go to McKendree College;  Andrew Brewer of Mahomet-Seymour will go to Eastern Illinois for football;  Ryan Warczynski of Minooka to Dubuque;  Kevin Bialka of Lockport to Northwestern;  Mark Stenberg of Lockport to Central Michigan;  Jake Murphy of Wilmington to McKendree;  Matt Boggess of Mt. Prospect to Harper;  Seth Milks our 11th 4 time State Champ from Dakota  to UW-Platteville;  Joe Roth of Dixon to Central Michigan;  Tony Ramos of Glenbard North to Iowa U.;  Jimmy Chase of Glenbard North to Binghamton;  Jon Morrison of Carl Sandburg to Oklahoma State;  David Tuomi of Walther Lutheran to Concordia;  Grant Goebel of Montini to Cal Poly for football ;  Wade Self of Lake Zurich to Case Western;  Pat Clegg of Hinsdale Central to Wabash;  Jake Pribble of Harvard to the U. of Illinois and Andre Dunn of Kewanee to Lincoln community college. 

Good luck to all.

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people half way.In politics, there’s a fine line between too much conviction and too little.High station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with graceFear and hope are alike underneath.The attempt to silence a man is the greatest honor you can bestow on him, it means that you recognize his superiority to yourself.We are all pilgrims on the same journey - but some pilgrims have better road maps.       

Ed