EXECUTIVE NOTES By Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director
Historic NCAA Championships and Ohio State victory shows strength of Regional Training Center program We are fresh off one of the most exciting and entertaining
NCAA Wrestling Championships ever, hosted over three memo- rable days at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Record crowds came out to see our nation’s top college wrestlers in action, with 19,715 fans at the championship finals, and a new all-time attendance record of 113,013 total fans for six sessions. It was also the most accessible to the general public ever, as every single match was televised on one of the ESPN platforms. Congratulations go to the amazing Logan Stieber on his fourth
NCAA title, and to the Ohio State Buckeyes for winning their first NCAA team title. Ohio State’s success is a perfect example of how the
partnership between USA Wrestling and the college community through Regional Training Centers is a tremendous benefit to all involved. The Ohio Regional Training Center, based at Ohio State, has developed into one of the most successful training sites for America’s Olympic wrestling hopefuls. Numerous stars for Team USA, including Olympian and World medalist Tervel Dlagnev and World Team members Shawn Bunch, J.D. Bergman, Reece Humphrey, Angel Escobedo and Keith Gavin have prepared for international success there. Buckeye assistant coach Lou Rosselli and a talented staff have provided guidance for these athletes who are pursuing Olympic dreams. This goes hand-in-hand with the college program, which has
access to these tremendous wrestlers as mentors and training partners for their current college team members. It is fair to say that many of those in the Ohio State lineup are expected to compete for Team USA in the future. For example, all three Buckeye NCAA finalists, Stieber, Nathan Tomasello and Kyle Snyder, have bright futures in the international styles. Ohio State is not the only college program that has success-
fully developed a Regional Training Center. A majority of the most successful Div. I college teams have made a commitment
to the Olympic program and to the future of their undergraduate student-athletes by providing the facilities, staff, financial sup- port and structure for a Regional Training Center. These programs also provides so much to the wrestling community in their local region, as their resident athletes get involved in the community in many ways. This is truly a WIN-WIN situation.
Major television deal to bring more wrestling to public USA Wrestling is proud to announce its record television deal
with the NBC Sports Group and the Universal Sports Network for this season. Between the two networks, we will provide nine broadcasts from five major events, with more than 12 hours of national television coverage. More people will be able to see top U.S. athletes in competition than ever before on television. There is a lot of credit to go around here. USA Wrestling’s Finance Committee and Board of Directors provided the vision by investing last year to raise wrestling’s television profile. Because we were able to show that international wrestling drives viewership, this new historic deal came to fruition. A spe- cial thanks to the U.S. Olympic Committee, NBC Sports and Universal Sports Network for their belief in wrestling. This would not have been possible without the work of Alan Finehirsh, Christian Holiday and others, and the support of Beat the Streets New York. We encourage you to visit
TheMat.com for scheduling information as we roll out these shows in the upcom- ing months.
Don’t wait to buy your World Championships tickets Tickets are going quickly for the 2015 World Wrestling Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 7-12. This event is expected to be a sellout, and fans who want to attend need to get their tickets before they are gone. We are asking U.S. fans to come out and support Team USA on the mats this year. Your attendance will make a big difference for the American athletes. For more information on the event and to buy tickets, visit
VegasWorlds2015.com.
4 USA Wrestler
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