NO HOLDS BARRED

                                         Columbia head wrestling coach Carl Fronhofer.

Columbia heavyweight Wyatt Baker going for pin over Buffalo heavyweight James Benjamin, January 17, 2014. Baker won, 10-4.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Columbia University head wrestling coach Carl Fronhofer.

Coach Fronhofer, now in his fourth year as head coach at Columbia after serving as an assistant coach, was himself an NCAA Div. I runner-up in 2003 at the University of Pittsburgh and a member of the U.S. national team in freestyle wrestling in 2009. Columbia has the oldest college wrestling program which has been continuously running in the U.S., dating back to 1903.

We spoke with Coach Fronhofer Wednesday in his office on the campus of Columbia University in New York.

Speaking about this coming season, he said, "We have three returning national qualifiers. We think all three of those guys are capable of placing in the tournament this year," referring to sophomore 157-pound wrestler Markus Scheidel, junior 184-pound wrestler Zack Hernandez, and senior 174-pound wrestler Shane Hughes.

"They all had good regular seasons and they had, I think, pretty solid postseasons as well."

We discussed the prospects for Columbia wrestling for this upcoming season, why it is realistic to expect that Columbia can have All-Americans and even national champions this season, what Columbia's wrestlers need to do to advance to the next level, why elite academic institutions like Columbia have and can produce national champion and All-American wrestlers, the place of Columbia wrestling in the Columbia community and its presence on campus, the support given Columbia wrestling by the university administration and alumni, why the program is in very good shape, why he finds it "exciting" to be in New York, Columbia wrestling as the only Division I program in New York City, the need to support the sport of wrestling by watching matches live, and more.

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Labels: Carl Fronhofer, college, Columbia Wrestling, Eddie Goldman, NCAA, No Holds Barred