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Hall of Famer [24782]
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Whoa whoa. Why have I never heard of Sammy Henson before?
Mar 29, 2016, 12:53 PM
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I cannot believe that I have never heard of Sammy Henson until a few days ago.I have been around Clemson ever since I can remember and was there all the way through my graduation. I went to all kinds of sporting events, been in all kinds of athletic and academic buildings and I have never heard of this guy?
Maybe you are scratching your head as well right now and saying who? Sammy Henson was a wrestler for Clemson. He won the NCAA individual national championship in 1993 and in 1994. back to back at the 118 pound level. He went 71-0 in his career at Clemson!! (He transferred from Missouri after his sophomore year) 71-0!! In his final dual he beat Eric Akin of Iowa State in overtime to finish his career at Clemson perfect and repeat as the 118 champion. You can see it here. His celebration is great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNvenVyu7SI
I know we do not have wrestling anymore and have not had it for almost 20 years now. 1994 was the 2nd to last season. Can't believe we dropped the program so soon after finishing #7 in the nation as a team in the NCAAs in 1994.
I cannot believe this athlete does not get more admiration. I got into wrestling this year and now I understand just how amazing it is to go unbeaten for two straight years. Only a handful of college wrestlers have ever done it. (Cael Sanderson of Iowa State went undefeated in all 4 years. He's the walking god among men).
He should be in the thick of any discussion about greatest Clemson athlete ever. And yet I never hear his name mentioned when that is discussed ever. Oh btw he also has an olympic silver medal in freestyle wrestling from the 2000 games in Sydney and a gold medal at the 1998 world wrestling championships in Tehran.
He is now the head coach at West Virginia.
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CU Medallion [67662]
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Re: Whoa whoa. Why have I never heard of Sammy Henson before?
Mar 29, 2016, 12:56 PM
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Started the Muppets, right?
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Orange Blooded [3788]
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There are pictures of him in TigerTownTavern
Mar 29, 2016, 2:18 PM
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back left of the bar past the doors to the patio.
Clemson's wrestling program was ranked in the top 20 or so nationally when it was cancelled due in large part to Title IX.
Sammie also won Silver at the Sydney Olympics and Gold at the 1998 World Championships in Tehran and has been the head coach at West Virginia for the last 2 years
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CU Medallion [64517]
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Title IX had very little if anything to do with....
Mar 29, 2016, 3:20 PM
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the wrestling program being discontinued.
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All-American [598]
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Re: Title IX had very little if anything to do with....
Mar 29, 2016, 5:59 PM
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Actually, title IX had most of why the wrestling program was cancelled. Trust me I know. As Title 9 was being pushed across the country, there were many non revenue producing mens sports that were cancelled and for some schools it was sports like wrestling, swimming, diving, etc. Those were replaced by women's rowing, field hockey etc.
There used to be over 70 men's gymnastics programs in the NCAA and now there are about 13 or 14, all of which had to do with Title 9....
Clemson was no exception to the rule. Wrestling got the axe. Wrestling was a tremendously popular sport at Clemson. I for one wish it would come back.
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Varsity [203]
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Re: Title IX had very little if anything to do with....
Mar 29, 2016, 6:12 PM
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there was also some ncaa infractions involving our wrestling coach that made the decision easy.
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All-American [598]
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Re: Title IX had very little if anything to do with....
Mar 29, 2016, 6:21 PM
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None more than any other program that was out there...... The problems they had with the coach became the excuse for axing the program instead of just saying it was the title 9 push.... but I agree, it made an easy call for the Clemson administration to play title 9 off and blame the coach....
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CU Medallion [64517]
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The head coach at the time (Gil Sanchez I believe)...
Mar 5, 2023, 8:10 AM
[ in reply to Re: Title IX had very little if anything to do with.... ] |
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was being investigated by the NCAA for using an ineligible wrestler in competition under the name of an injured teammate who was eligible. As a result, he was forced to resign during the season.
This would have equated to a second major violation for Clemson and a second major violation in any other sport could have resulted in the NCAA imposing some pretty serious sanctions on the University and its athletic department.
In addition, due largely to Title IX, a lot of other schools were dropping their wrestling programs as well so travel and regional competition became an issue.
Several different reasons have been given for the decision to end the program and at the end of the day, it was probably a combination of all of the above.
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Hall of Famer [24782]
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Sanchez is now the assistant coach at Nebraska***
Mar 30, 2016, 2:12 PM
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Hall of Famer [24782]
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Orange Blooded [3788]
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Surprisingly, 7 of those 75 are in North Carolina
Mar 30, 2016, 1:51 PM
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Add in the Citadel and UT Chatanooga and there are quite a few D1 wrestling programs within driving distance of Clemson.
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110%er [6650]
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Rather watch a team sport any day!***
Mar 29, 2016, 9:01 PM
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Orange Blooded [3788]
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Like Women's rowing?***
Mar 30, 2016, 1:55 PM
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All-TigerNet [12016]
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Ever heard of a guy by the name of Noel Loban?
Mar 29, 2016, 9:18 PM
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He won the NCAA Wrestling Championship in the 190lb weight class while at Clemson. I only know this because I was a Junior at Clemson at the time.
Why do I even mention this? Because Loban was Clemson's first NCAA Champion in any sport. He also won a bronze medal at the 1980 Olympics for England.
Here's the front and back of his "trading card."
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All-TigerNet [12016]
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Orange Blooded [2721]
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Re: Whoa whoa. Why have I never heard of Sammy Henson before?
Mar 30, 2016, 1:48 AM
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1994 was my freshman year at CU and had some friends who were scholarship freshmen wrestlers. Title IX was certainly a major part of the equation and these guys had no program going forward. Tough situation to face after committing to Clemson's wrestling program at a time when they were heading towards national prominence.
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Hall of Famer [24782]
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in a sport dominated by the big ten and ok State
Mar 30, 2016, 2:38 PM
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It was mighty impressive for any ACC school to finish as high as 7th. Which we did in 1994
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110%er [9023]
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