From Coach Bartram

Recreation: Rhino wrestlers among best in state

By Jaclyn Shambaugh  http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/08/31/1024841?sac=Sports

A pair of Rhino Wrestling Club athletes tied for second place in the N.C. Top 50 Challenge. The Top 50 Challenge is a series of N.C. Amateur Wrestling Association events that give wrestlers an opportunity to earn points to place in the state's top-50 list of wrestlers. Wrestlers Samuel Bartram and Bradley Wanovich of the Rhinos each racked up 88 points in the series, falling behind top wrestler Carl Guess of Western Carolina Wrestling Club.

Three other Rhinos also made the Top 50. Jakob Kirk finished 34th, and Bradley's brothers, Kevin and Andrew, finished 30th and 22nd, respectively. Rhinos' coach Marty Bartram said the goal of the Challenge is to encourage youth wrestlers to branch out from folkstyle wrestling to freestyle and greco-roman tournaments. He used his son, Samuel, and his experience as an example of the Challenge's goals at work. "Sam had decided he wasn't going to wrestle freestyle or greco-roman at the start of the season," Bartram said. "Then he realized that he needed those events for the Top 50. It changed his perspective, and made it much more important to him to get in those events."

The Challenge got its start as a joint-venture between the Rhino Wrestling Club and the U.S. Marine Corps. This was the first season that it was run by the NCAWA. The Top 50 wrestlers will be honored at the NCAWA's annual meeting in Winston-Salem on Sept. 11.

Wesley Wes Wesley is an American Hero. We can learn a lot about the sport of wrestling and life from him. Check out all his videos on Flowrestling.

As we prepare to enter into this wrestling season, a lot will be placed on the line week after week. Invariably, someone will feel they have been wronged, violated, impuned, or otherwise unjustly treated. Tempers will flair, things will be said, words exchanged, and punches thrown. Conversely, a lot of positive things will happen as well and I hope they are publicized appropriately.

For many of us in the wrestling community, particularly here in the "Old North State", we are painfully aware of the sacrifices made daily in another subculture.
Today, more than others, I found myself putting my life and the life of my family in context as I read of the sacrifice of a 24 year old young man and his family. I encourage you to read the attached biography and not focus on the cause of the sacrifice but the sacrifice itself. Then look a little deeper and realize that in the six years this young man had been in our Army, he had completed five combat tours, and was on his sixth.

The attached is a simple biography, however, I am sure that when you read this and take the time to reflect on it, you will find a way to appreciate all the opportunities in front of you this season. And when challenges present themselves this year, and they will, I hope this helps you keep them in context and handle them positively.

Attachment

Good morning Coaches, Wrestlers, and Wrestling Fans. We need your help. Last year we included women's and girls' folkstyle divisions in our dual event. We even waived entry fee. Only one girls' team registered.

This year we did not plan on including a female division until we were approached by a couple of coaches and parents who requested we do so. We are all for supporting grassroots efforts for wrestling so we are including the division this year and are waiving the entry fee again to help offset travel costs. If you know of any team, club, state, etc. that may be interested in attending please have them contact us immediately at the nationaldualsdirector@rhinowrestling.org. Thanks and "Never Quit".

http://nationalduals.rhinowrestling.org/national_duals/nationalduals.html

~ Marty Bartram

After qualifying 11 of 14 wrestlers for the NCHSAA 3A State Championships in 2009 from a young team, the apparent big preseason story for the Vikings is starting the 2010 season with 7 returning state qualifiers including two transfer student athletes. However, if you look a little deeper, there is something going on behind the scenes. A quiet revolution in Moore County is brewing and Coach Matt Ragsdale is leading the way.

The revolution is the development of a district wide wrestling program built from a foundation of highly qualified young coaches. First Coach Brian Gray was hired as a Math teacher and assistant wrestling coach. Coach Gray wrestled for James Madison University where he was a four-year starter. Coach Gray was the head coach at Alfred State College and was a New York high school state champion. Another stone was laid in 2008 with the hiring of Coach Chris Vondruska as a Social Studies teacher and assistant wrestling coach at Union Pines High School. Coach Vondruska was a two-time NCAA Qualifier and two-time NWCA Academic All-American while in college at Hofstra and Ohio State. The National Wrestling Coaches’ Association named Vondruska the 2009-2010 North Carolina Assistant Coach of the Year, one of the most prestigious honors in the nation for a high school assistant coach. Coach Vondruska is also the head coach of the Copperheads Wrestling Club, a youth wrestling club serving Kindergarten through High School aged wrestlers from Moore and neighboring counties.

Coach John Lowery was hired over the summer as an English Teacher and head wrestling coach at Crain’s Creek Middle School. Coach Lowery is a graduate of Walsh Jesuit High School, one of the premier wrestling programs in the nation. At Walsh Jesuit, Coach Lowery was a two-time Ohio state placer finishing fifth and second as well as a two-time high school All American on Team Ohio’s national championship teams. Lowery’s collegiate wrestling career includes two years at the Virginia Military Institute as a varsity wrestler and co-captain and two years at Campbellsville University where he was a two-time NAIA national qualifier. Coach Lowery was the NAACP 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year. Coach Lowery is looking forward to his first year at Crain’s Creek, Moore County’s new middle school as well as coaching with the Copperheads Wrestling Club.

Coach Ragsdale says, “The 2010-2011 season is going to be another breakout season for Union Pines.  We have been very busy this off-season and once again we expect it to pay off.  We are looking for short term success with the additions of our coaching staff but it will surely help in the long run.”