Selfishly, I've been looking forward to this interview since we started the show. Rob Jennings wrestled at Clyde High School in the mid-to-late nighties when my father was a coach in the same conference. If you talk to anyone about the level of completion and the rivalries in the Sandusky Bay Conference when it was 8 teams you will get a better understanding of the times. Needless to say, as a young 5th - 6th grader I was watching all of Rob’s matches. If not for entertainment for scouting (Sorry Rob. Sorry SMCC coaches. I’m sure my notes could have been better.)

Rob was one of those wrestlers that did everything right. He was respectful in victory and defeat and he was a part of a Murder’s Row of wrestlers. When you wrestled Clyde at that time, the dual meet could easily come down to the coin flip between the captains.

Rob shares how he got started in wrestling, what it taught him, why he became a wrestling official, and what his goals as an official are. Rob shares a lot of high school wrestling stories about the glory days in the SBC. Rob’s goal is to officiate the Ohio High School Wrestling State Championships as soon they feel he is ready. He IS ready by the way.

In this episode, Bryce speaks with Vanessa Oswalt, Brian Nicola, and Mark Niemann about the growth of girls wrestling in Ohio due to their efforts in conjunction with the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association (OHSWCA), specifically, Dominic DiSabato, Dean Conley, and Shawn Andrews. We talk about the logistics of running successful girls and boys wrestling teams, the girls wrestling surge in Ohio, the history of girls wrestling, why we need more wrestling officials, and why some of those new officials need to be women. Enjoy!

In this episode:

0:31 - Vanessa Oswalt intro

1:12 - Brian Nicola intro

2:03 - Mark Nieman intro

3:17 - Olentangy Orange Girls Wrestling

5:45 - The people behind the Girls wrestling surge in Ohio

7:12 - The OHSWCA

8:00 - The history or lack thereof support for girls/women's wrestling

8:49 - Support must come first

12:19 - The girls' programs in Central Ohio are loaded

12:56 - The logistics of girls & boys wrestling teams

15:17 - Vanessa’s transition to coaching

17:00 - Ohio wrestling officials support girls wrestling

18:47 - Battle Braids

20:11 - Sanction Ohio Girls Wrestling #sanctiongirlswrestling

21:02 - We need more wrestling officials

24:02 - New ways to gain women wrestling officials

30:18 - Mark Niemann issues a challenge

32:19 - Girls are embracing the sport of wrestling at all ages

36:00 - The historic performance by the USA’s Women’s Freestyle Wrestling Team

37:15 - Our guests share their favorite girls/women's wrestling moments

39:24 - Brian on the 2004 WFT

41:07 - Vanessa’s 2004 WFT experience

43:38 - Call To Action: Practical ways to move toward sanctioning Girls High School Wrestling with the OHSAA

46:51 - Mark Niemann’s positive energy is a thing of beauty

48:41 - Sneak peek at Episode #10 with Rob Jennings

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Matt is an NCAA wrestling official that has worked 12 D1 NCAA Wrestling Championships and officiated in the NCAA Finals 7 of those times. Before reaching the highest echelons of wrestling officiating, Matt came from a wrestling family. Matt grew up around wrestling because his father was a coach.  After winning a New York State Championship title, Matt attended Ithaca College where he continued his winning ways. While at Ithaca Matt qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Tournament 4x and was an All-American 2x. After his competitive career, he did some coaching and officiating, but ultimately Matt chose to officiate because it allowed him more freedom with his work and family schedule. The rest is history. In this episode we talk about:

Matt Sorochinsky is an NCAA wrestling official that has officiated 12 D1 NCAA Wrestling Championships and officiated in the NCAA Finals 7 of those times. Before reaching the highest echelons of wrestling officiating, Matt came from a wrestling family. Matt grew up around wrestling because his father was a coach.  After winning a New York State Championship title, Matt attended Ithaca College where he continued his winning ways. While at Ithaca he qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Tournament 4x and was an All-American 2x. After his competitive career, he did some coaching and officiating, but ultimately Matt chose to officiate because it allowed him more freedom with his work and family schedule. The rest is history. In this episode we talk about:  

0:46 - About Matt outside of wrestling 

1:45 - Matt’s Wrestling Story 

4:56 - When Matt realized he "liked" wrestling 

7:21 - You don’t know what you have until it’s gone (wrestling that is) 

13:46 - NCAA wrestling coaches say the darnedest things 

20:21 - Ithaca is a great place to be a student-athlete 

24:05 - Matt’s Cary Kolat story 

30:00 - The US Women’s team is amazing 

36:27 - Growing the sport and getting more officials 

40:42 -  “Listen, it’s a tough sport…” 

42.00  - Wrestlers in Business 

44.20 - Best college wrestling dual crowds? 

45:50 - Syner vs. Coon in 2018 50:00

50:00 - Bonus Content - The 2 mindsets of effective officials

Kevin Linich is an avid runner and +5 handicap golfer training to “live as long as possible.” In this episode we talk about running, golf, fatherhood, wrestling and eventually being an NCAA wrestling official and what it takes to become one.  

We talk about: 

1. Atreyu, The Never Ending Story, and Running Shoes (0:57) 

2. He has seen Zach Brown Band 8 times and twice at Wriggly Field with his daughter (6:56) 

3. Menards Cabinets (12.18) 

4. Starting wrestling at the historic Mayfield wrestling program (14:20)

5.  The impact of his high school wrestling coach (18:05) 

6.  By now you should be bought in. Just give it a listen.

In this episode, we catch up with Elliot Spence. Elliot got into wrestling at a young age because he and his brother used to drop Macho Man Randy Savage elbows on each other. After Elliot's parents signed him up for a youth wrestling club it all took off from there. Elliot is a: 

1. Ohio Athletic Committee Junior High State Wrestling Runner-up (To J. Jaggers nonetheless)

2. Ohio High School D1 3-Time State Placer 

3. 3-Time NCAA All American 

4. 2-time NWCA Academic All-American 

5. 2010 NCAA Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the year 

6. Former Cincinnati Elder HS and Mount St. Joseph head wrestling coach 

7. College Wrestling official

Fred Feeney is the founder of the Mid State Wrestling Officials Association (the largest official's association in the nation) a former member of the Central District Wrestling Officials Association and has been teaching and assigning new officials in Ohio and throughout the U.S. for over 2 decades. Fred talks about how his first wrestling coach stepped in when he lost his father and how wrestling has shaped his life. Watch now or listen whenever you can on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Jose was destined to be a wrestling official, baseball umpire and so much more from a very early age. Jose shares why he loves wrestling and why he chose to become a wrestling official while explaining why we need new wrestling officials to “step up.”

Tony began his love of wrestling in high school when he competed in the one-division, Ohio State Wrestling Tournament in 1968. Tony was one of 16 wrestlers representing the 138 lb. weight class at The Ohio State University’s St. John Center.  After retiring from a successful career in business, Tony decided it was time to give back to the sport(s) that gave so much to him. Tony shares why wrestling is near and dear to his heart, how he feels we can move the sport forward and gives his call to action to other people to consider officiating.

Shawn Petty is a Marine veteran and veteran wrestling official among many other things. Shawn credits a Dayton, Ohio judo instructor, Mr. Kyle,for getting him back involved in wrestling.

Shawn talks about his experience becoming a wrestling official, celebrates his son becoming a licensed wrestling official in Georgia/Ohio, and why we need more young people to take up the whistle and lead.