Jason Bryant’s College Wrestling Wrap Sheet is a look at five topics from the world of college wrestling with highlights, things you know and things you don’t. Here’s the five for November 10, 2021.
1. Bobo leading the way
Wednesday’s men’s and women’s dual with Central Methodist and Grand View was cancelled as Central Missouri is in the midst of a rather abrupt coaching change on the men’s side of things. With the previous head coach, Terrel Wilbourn, no longer at CMU, the school’s website lists its the school’s women’s wrestling coach as its interim men’s coach.
Seems logical, right? That interim men’s coach is Brieana Delgado, who will become the first woman to be a head coach of a men’s college wrestling team the next time the Eagles take the mat, which according to their schedule could be at this weekend’s Grand View Open or at next week’s dual against Briar Cliff. I’m always that guy who says “you can’t be certain” or “there’s no stats to validate that” when it comes to unknown firsts or records, but I’ve got to believe this will be the first time in college sports history it’s happened. Women have led men’s teams at tournaments and such, like current Limestone women’s coach Brandy Green, who took a crew of guys to an open tournament when she was the graduate assistant at NAIA Ottawa in Kansas. But the line “head coach” hasn’t been placed upon any woman in the sport on the men’s side, until now. Delgado comes from a wrestling family, I first was introduced to them when I saw her older sister mauling dudes in Jacksonville at Southeast Regionals one year. I’ve seen Brieana Delgado wrestle since she was a kid – through Fargo – and on to the college mats at Oklahoma City where she was a four-time All-American. She’s in her second year as the head coach at Central Methodist and now might be dealing with a little bit of pressure. Here’s the thing, CMU is a second-year team, it’s going to be some added responsibility for sure, maybe a quick refresher in the folkstyle side of things, but for now, she’s done something, to my knowledge, no one in this sport has ever done. I don’t expect Central Methodist to wait long to name a permanent head coach, giving Delgado the time she needs to tend to team she was hired to coach, the women’s team. Former Lindenwood head coach Dr. Joe Parisi is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at the school. He may be called out of retirement, or he’s got someone in mind, but in the meantime, we’re all witness to history. Good luck Bobo.
2. W&L beats Roanoke in Maroons first-ever dual
If you haven’t seen the pictures of the Roanoke College facilities on Twitter, MY GOODNESS. One of those facilities got put into use on Wednesday as Nate Yetzer’s Roanoke College Maroons hosted the school’s first dual meet in history against likely-rival Washington & Lee. Coach Nate Shearer wasn’t very gracious as his Generals came away with a 31-15 win. Roanoke became, at the time, the seventh Division III school in Virginia to add the sport since 2013. Hampden-Sydney didn’t really give the sport a chance, dropping it for a second time four years after re-launching. Same AD who dropped the sport at Knox, by the way. Anyway, Yetzer guided Ferrum, which added the sport in 2013 until taking the task of building the new team, something he’s done before. W&L does deserve a tip of the cap, too. They’ve done a tremendous job in becoming a tough squad in Division III.
3. Friends does one better
While Roanoke got stung in its first-ever dual, the Falcons of Friends University, which is in Wichita, Kansas, opened up its dual meet existence with a 33-18 KCAC win over Bethany in the first win for head coach Aaron Meister at his new place. Friends did benefit from three forfeits in the middle weights, it’s important to remember Kansas has been a crucial point in the growth of wrestling, with Friends’ men’s and women’s teams starting this season, it means the state has seen 20 of its 23 teams start since 2004. Bethany, by the way, is the Swedes!
4. Whitewater drinks from the Sake Bottle
Did you know there’s a traveling trophy in wrestling? It’s in Wisconsin and it’s called the Sake Bottle. If I may borrow this explanation from the UW-Whitewater website: The Sake Bottle rivalry trophy originated in 1975 when UW-Parkside coach Jim Koch and UW-Whitewater coach Willie Myers toured Japan and Korea with an NAIA All-State Team. Mr. Hatta, the former president of Japanese wrestling who is considered the father of the sport in Japan, presented the two coaches with a Sake Bottle, which became the traveling trophy in the rivalry dual. That bottle went back to Whitewater as heavyweight Cadin Koeppel picked up a 3-1 win to cap a come-from-behind 18-17 victory for coach Matt Zwaschka’s Warhawks.
5. King beats Emmanuel on the women’s mats
There’s a bit of a gap in the women’s rankings at the moment, evidenced by second-ranked King’s 44-2 win over fifth-ranked Emmanuel on Wednesday. The Tornado registered five tech falls and two additional pins, including one from second-ranked Ana Luciano at 136. Tightest match of the night was a 2-1 win at 170 by King’s Tiffani Baublitz over Passion Hollins. King’s men beat Emmanuel 25-15.
Bonus Points
Central Oklahoma’s backup 125-pounder, Studd Morris, picked up a 9-6 win over Jaxson Roney of Carl Albert, a first-year junior college program from Poteau, Oklahoma. Two things. Yes, Studd Morris. Bro, where’s your NIL deal? Secondly, I learned how to say Poteau this past weekend in Little Rock, where the Vikings competed at the Trojan Open. Keep an eye on 149-pounder Kayson Kenney in the NJCAA this season. Oh by the way, Central Oklahoma beat NAIA Oklahoma City 48-(-1) and Carl Albert 38-8.
This is only the five, but you can get all the day’s wrestling news delivered to you daily in your email for free by going to mattalkonline.com/news and signing up for free, courtesy of Resilite. You can also subscribe directly through my twitter page @jasonmbryant, too. All the scores can be found at collegewrestlingscoreboard.com.
