Friday, February 10, 2012
No Holds Barred: Kevin Jackson on Mat Mayhem
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Kevin Jackson, the Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion freestyle wrestler, who is the head wrestling coach for the legendary Iowa State Cyclones.
This weekend, February 11 and 12, the 2012 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, the national dual meet championship for Division I NCAA wrestling, will take place with a new format, which has been dubbed Mat Mayhem. There will be four regional tournaments, each featuring six of the top teams in the U.S. The winners of each tournament will face each other on February 19, making Mat Mayhem a college wrestling version of the Final Four in college basketball. The four regional tournaments will be held Saturday, February 11, at Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Sunday, February 12, at Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and at Cornell in Ithaca, New York.
Iowa State has received the number three seed for the National Duals Midwest Regional in their home building, Hilton Coliseum. The first round will begin at 11 a.m. CST with Iowa State vs. Wisconsin on Mat 1 and Northern Iowa vs. Virginia Tech on Mat 2. Both Iowa and Oregon State will have first-round byes. The winner of Northern Iowa/Virginia Tech will face Iowa in the second round beginning at 1 p.m. CST. Oregon State will square off against the winner of Iowa State/Wisconsin in round two. The final round will begin at 3 p.m. CST. with the championship bout and extra match between the losing first-round teams.
We spoke with Coach Jackson by phone Thursday afternoon about Mat Mayhem and how he expects Iowa State to do.
"College wrestling is as good as it has been," said Coach Jackson. Besides having better coaches than ever, he explained, "the wrestling has gotten better."
We also discussed the overall performance of the Iowa State team, which has a large percentage of freshmen who have been starting, as well as some key starters who have been sidelined with injuries. But with the success of Andrew Sorenson, the return of Jerome Ward and Chris Spangler, and the maturation of this young team, Coach Jackson expects them to be peaking just as the season approaches the Big 12 and NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. We also discussed the upcoming U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials in April, what wrestling needs to do to make it easier for fans to watch it, and more.
There is a special section on Mat Mayhem on TheMat.com.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
DARE Championship. Based in Thailand, DARE is a mixed martial arts event where fighters from all over the world compete to become the DARE Champion. DARE is one of the first MMA promotions in Thailand, and has been televised in many countries and online. For more information, go to their web site, at DareFightSports.com.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.
Labels: college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, Iowa State Cyclones, Kevin Jackson, Mat Mayhem, NCAA, No Holds Barred
Comments:
Post a Comment
