It's October. That means wrestling people are getting excited about the upcoming college season. The buzz around the coaching changes at Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio State and many other schools have people talking about an exciting year of wrestling. Kids clubs, junior high programs and colleges will all be in the practice room this month honing their skills for competitions starting next month.
 
I am proud to have the opportunity to help Real Pro Wrestling promote its Northern Region qualifying tournament, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 4 at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, starting with a rules clinic at 9 a.m. and wrestling at 10.
 
Hopefully, most of you had the opportunity to watch at least one of the eight episodes telecasted by PAX and FSN for the Season 1 tournament. Many Olympic caliber wrestlers competed and the action was outstanding. 
 
Doug Schwab, who won an NCAA title in 1999 as an Iowa Hawkeye, emerged at 145 pounds in a bracket that included former NCAA champions Chris Bono, Eric Larkin, Jesse Jantzen and Tony Davis. Schwab was also named Outstanding Wrestler.
 
Season 1 Champions included:
 
121 - Sammie Henson, who placed third in the World Champions in China last week at the age of 35. 
132 - Tony DeAnda
145 - Doug Schwab
163 - Joe Williams
185 - Mo Lawal
211 - Daniel Cormier
264 - Pat Cummings
 
Real Pro Wrestling matches are a mix of folkstyle combined with scoring for throws and turns/exposure similar to the freestyle/Greco-Roman format of today. Takedowns are scored for two with successful throws earning four or six points. The wrestling takes place on an elevated mat and wrestlers are rewarding for staying in the center circle and also offers the one point push-out rule adapted last year internationally. Escapes and reversals are worth one and two respectively.
 
Post collegiate wrestlers now have another outlet to showcase their talents with the opportunity to make some money while they continue to pursue Olympic and World Championship aspirations. Speaking of, how about Bill Zadick and Joe Warren! Both became World Champions last week; Zadick in freestyle at 145 and Warren in Greco-Roman at 132.  
 
The event at Cornell College is the second of four regional qualifiers. The first takes place in San Jose, Calif., on Oct. 28. Philadelphia and Tulsa are the other sites on Nov. 11 and 18. Regional winners at each of the seven weight classes will have their expenses paid to compete at the Super Challenge in San Jose on Jan. 7. 
 
Winners of the Super Challenge will wrestle against each of the RPW defending champions from Season 1 and to determine the roster of all eight teams for the dual meet portion of Season 2, which will be in the spring. 
 
The timing for the event on Nov. 4 should be good for wrestling people in Iowa. Friday, Oct. 27 is the final regular season high school football date and the state coaches and officials convention is Oct. 28-29 in Des Moines. Most college squads start wrestling in open tournaments on either Nov 11 or Nov. 18.
 
Schedule for the day at Cornell College includes:
 
9 a.m. RPW Rules clinic
10 a.m. Quarterfinals
11:30 a.m. Semifinals
2:30 p.m. Fan Fest which will include a clinic by Olympic Champions Dan Gable and Tom Brands
5 p.m. Finals
6:30 p.m. Awards
8 p.m. Celebration Party
 
We are expecting a great crowd, make sure you're part of it!
 
More information can be found on www.realprowrestling.com.