Mid-May Report! There is just so much news and we are going to be so many places in the next two weeks -- AND we compete the first weekend of June -- so I felt a second MAY newsletter was in order. Here goes, starting with a word or two from Coach Zadick. Hello Cyclone Country, This is Coach Mike Zadick reporting to you all! First off, I would like to say hello and tell you how much I have enjoyed the support in Ames and around the State of Iowa! It has been a great transition and our staff has definitely felt that from you all, so Thank You! A quick wrestling report on our Cyclone RTC athletes who competed in Las Vegas two weeks ago! At 97kg, (213lbs) Kyven Gadson won his first Senior level US Open National Championship, beating Micah Burak in the finals! Along with Kyven at the Senior Level was Heavyweight Dom Bradley, who placed 3rd in Vegas and most recently just returned home to Ames from Brazil after winning the Pan American Championships! We also had a strong showing from Heavyweight Ben Durbin with an 8th place finish at the Senior level. As for our college kids in the 20 and under division, we had 7 wrestling to make the Junior World Team...Kanen Storr finished 2nd place and Sam Colbray finished 3rd place. That qualifies them for the World Team Trials (WTT) in Lincoln, NE the second week in June! The trip to Las Vegas with our team of athletes was great in that this coaching staff has been around for only 3 weeks and we all were able to get our feet wet, so to speak! We learn, grow, and keep developing and this was an opportunity to learn a lot about the individuals who competed and the dynamics of the team. I have slowly watched our guys buying in with the new staff, corners being turned, and gains being made.
I will add (and second) one thing from Coach Zadick's report, and that is the fact that I really see a lot of guys BUYING into new things that we have been asking of them. We are looking forward to watching them compete June 2-4 at University FS Nationals in Akron. Here is a list of the guys planning on competing that weekend: Vega, Baker, Parker, Simmons, Cochran, Straw, Rodriguez, Dewitt, DiBlasi, Jennings, Entzel, Swalla, Hilleman, Teague, Pestano, Gremmel, Harrington, Stowe, and Silberstein. Of course, Kanen Storr and Sam Colbray will be competing the following weekend at the World Team Trials in Lincoln along with incoming freshman, Austin Gomez. After those competitions, we will be taking some time off as a team and then we will reconvene on June 24 to do some summer training. Many of our incoming freshmen will join us this summer both for summer school, to help them acclimate to college life, and for summer training. I will list ALL of the incoming freshmen and transfers in my next newsletter. RTC PRACTICES. A quick update on RTC workouts. We are training three days a week and workouts are going great and the numbers are growing. Our 5 p.m. workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays are inching up to almost 60 athletes training per session. They include some of the best HS kids in the area, current Cyclones, and our RTC post graduates. It is really fun to watch it grow! HOME SCHEDULE. Eight (8) HOME dates -- plus the Cyclone Open -- highlight our schedule next season. I will release the entire schedule in our next newsletter, but here are the dates and times at home next season. First, note that we will do a HOME date at CY Stephens on Sunday, Nov. 26! You will love it! All the dates here are subject to change as we get closer, but I think they are secure enough that you can pencil them in on your calendar. Season ticket packages will be available starting later this summer so stay tuned! HOME MEETS FOR 2017-18 (tentative schedule) Saturday, November 4th Cyclone Open ALL DAY Sunday, November 12th Drexel 12 p.m. Sunday, November 26th Rider 2 p.m. (LOCATION: CY STEPHENS) Saturday, December 9th Iowa 7 p.m. Friday, January 5th Northern Colorado 7 p.m. Sunday, January 7th Oregon State 2 pm. Sunday, January 21st West Virginia 2 p.m. Friday, February 9th Fresno State 7 p.m. Sunday, February 18th Wyoming -- 2 p.m. NOTE: ALL matches are in Hilton Coliseum, except for the Rider match. CYCLONE TAILGATE TOUR. Starting tomorrow, I am on the road doing my first Cyclone Tailgate Tour with many other Head Coaches at ISU! The first week is six cities in three days. Go here to see our stops. Please come out and see me/us. I want my boss to see all the excited ISU wrestling fans in the crowd!! So visit us along the way and take the time to reach out to me. It is important for me to meet the ISU wrestling fans in these cities! The following week, I will be in six more cities so again, find the closest location and come support ISU. Note that Coach Zadick will attend the Council Bluffs, Clear Lake, and Cedar Rapids events. I will not be able to attend the Clear Lake event but will be at all of the other stops! A couple of other special events coming up in May Wednesday, May 17. Humboldt area Town Hall Social. We will be gathering starting at 7 p.m. at Rustix Restaurant, 716 Sumner Ave. I am very excited to go HOME and see all the wrestling fans, regardless of their affiliation. This is a WRESTLING social, so I hope all can make. Free Admission, Free Food, Cash Bar, and lots of talent in the building. Former ISU greats Keith Abens, Bill Fjetland, and former NFL great (and my former Humboldt HS teammate) Bruce Reimers will all speak, along with my assistant coaches Zadick, St. John, and Metcalf. It will be a great night!! Wednesday, May 31. Longtime Cyclone Supporter Gary Lynch and his loyal crew of Cyclones will host a Cyclone Regional Training Center (C-RTC) fund raiser in NEW HAMPTON. Coach Zadick and Coach St. John will join me that evening at the Pub at the Pinicon, 2205 S. Linn Ave., in New Hampton. I challenge anyone within 100 miles to come out and help support our cause. I hear Gary can really cook! We WILL have a BBQ dinner with all the fix-in's -- $50 per person, $100 per family. PLUS a Live Auction. This is a benefit for the C-RTC and tax deductible. Please go online to pay and register in advance here -- scroll down until you see the Upcoming Events!! OR pay at the door, but RSVP first by calling Hanna Reick at 563-776-3035 or emailing: hanna.rieck@lynchlivestock.com. We need you to RSVP SO we can plan accordingly. ISU Wrestling Director of Operations! Please help me welcome Robin Wilson to ISU as our new Director of Wrestling Operations! Robin and her husband, Darryl, relocated earlier this month from VA to Ames, IA. Robin was my director of Ops at VT the past two years and she is awesome. She is the mother of two former college wrestlers so she has been in the wrestling business for a long time. Feel free to email her at robinw@iastate.edu and welcome her, or to share any of your comments and concerns. C-RTC Report. I am happy to report that we have a C-RTC checking account set up and money in the bank. We opened up with $100k-plus in our first two weeks and continue to get donations through PayPal and from checks in the mail. Very good stuff and VITAL to the growth of our overall program. We have some very exciting pledges happening this month and in early June. It was my goal to have 50 donors by this newsletter and as you can see from our list of DONORS below, we didnt quite get there. But we are CLOSE!! I encourage you to get your name on the board. Please note that it is OK to DONATE as a group at any level. Thank you so much to this first group! Year One is about setting a new standard and building -- both in the wrestling room and out of the wrestling room. So I conclude by thanking all of you for coming out and seeing us at our Town Hall Meetings and Socials. I hope to see many of you these next two weeks. If you cant make it out and want to talk about doing something in your town or city, contact Robin at robinw@iastate.edu. Lets keep this momentum rolling into the 17-18 season OUR C-RTC DONORS Abens, Robert Anonymous* Anonymous Bjustrom, David and Portlind Borel, James & Marcia* Borel, Michael Burns, Jim* Caruth, Tom* Dresser, Dan Dresser, Kevin & Penny Elswick, Curtis Friederichs, Dennie Gianos, John Gibbons, Pamela Hart, Geno Heathman, Douglas Hellickson, Jason Hemesath, Thomas Hoff, Carol & Kenneth Iowa Realty of Fort Dodge Kerber, Jeffrey & Robin Koch, Brenton Lapcewich, Margaret Mattoon, Richard & Laura Metcalf, Brent & Kristen Moench, David & Jean Moore, Jim & Joan Mowrey, Daniel Pearson, Alex Pollard, Jamie & Ellen Shay, Cody* Smith, Kurt & Angela St. John, Derek Stewart, Ramona & William Simmons, Lee Vogel, Jerald & Arlene Warner, Brett Wilson, Eric Wilson, Robin & Ozias, Darryl Zadick, Michael *CARDINAL CLUB These donors contributed $10,000 or more. |