The offensive genius of Vince Lombardi comes alive!
Extraordinarily rare, long lost playbooks found after 50 years!

“Lombardi, a certain magic still lingers in the name.
It speaks of duels in the snow and the cold November mud.”
John Facenda, NFL Films

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Editor’s note: The Rizzuti family has announced that they have uncovered a long lost and historic set of playbooks that were the property of Vince Lombardi while he was the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants during the 1955 season. The five books include hundreds of Lombardi’s personal notes, play sketches and doodles. The books include the QB series, offensive line blocking, passing game, running game and overall NY offense. The estimated value of this secret collection is unknown but believed to be huge, perhaps up to $20,000.

Here is the true story:

(more…)

ITW Presents the Top Five Texas-born and/or bred College Wrestlers of All-Time!

Number 5 Ben Heizer Northern Illinois
Two-time NCAA All-American and 2004 finalist wrestling out of Arlington Bowie H.S. , Heizer was the only Texas H.S. All-American at Fargo seven years ago winning AA honors in both Greco (2nd) and freestyle (4th) in a Herculean double duty. Heizer placed 6th the year before in the NCAAs. During his 2004 run he wrestled 2-time NCAA Champion from Oklahoma State Jake Rosholt and in perhaps the match of Heizer’s life he dominated Rosholt on his way to a 4-1 win. It was bittersweet for Heizer as he wanted to go to OSU but they showed no interest in him while he was in high school.

(more…)

Ben Ashmore is one happy camper. Wednesday, Nov. 9th, he is signing a letter of intent to attend Oklahoma State University and compete for the Cowboy national championship wrestling team. While he recived letters from alomost every elite program in college wrestling, Ben gave serious consideration only to Arizona State and OSU.

When ITW asked the reasons why he picked OSU, Ben told us that the tradition, the great workout partners and a great coach made it an easy decision.

“I know that if I want to accomplish my goal of being an NCAA champion, I have to have the best coaching and the best workout partners. (At OSU) I’ll wrestle guys who are national champions and Olympians and get coached by a world champion. That’s what I need.” Ben will study Business Adminstration at OSU and wants to follow on and take over his dad’s flooring business after Ben Sr.’s retirement and also build houses, probably working with his brother.

Look for Ben to compete mostly at 125 this year to get ready to go 125 at OSU and drop down to 119 for the big national tournaments like “Beast of the East” and National Preps.

ITW asked Ben if his brother Luke (a Fargo National Champion and MOW award-winner) can beat him. “No, not yet,” he said with a smile on his face. “But we have some pretty intense practices.”

Anyone care to guess where Luke Asmore will be headed after next year? Didn’t think so!

Just out . . . WIN Magazine in their Nov. 15 issue has ranked Bishop Lynch High School 3rd in the nation behind perrrienial powerhouses Blair Academy (NJ) and St. Edwards (Lakewood, Ohio).

WIN says, “With the Ashmore Brothers, Silver & Koepp, perhaps the best pure tournament team in America. Six transfers headed by the Adamsons (NM) and Staines (LA): New upperweights crucial to top-five finish.

Our preview on B-L “Natural Born Thrillers” was right on the mark!

WIN Top Twelve

1. Blair
2. St Eds
3. B-L
4. Parkersburg, PA
5. Christiansburg (VA) ITW note: Alex Meade has transferred out and gone back home to Del
6. Nazareth (PA)
7. Carl Sandberg (IL)
8. Owatonna (MN)
9. Great Bridge (VA)
10. Oak Park (MO)
11. Brandon (FL)
12. Oviedo (FL)

I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to post your comments on the return of ITW and especially for those who have written me. When you hear things like these kind words it makes all the effort worthwhile. From all the ITW team, we say “thanks.”

Click the more button below to view the Fan Feedback

(more…)

Cutting weight, the dark side of wrestling. Almost everyone who has ever wrestled, with the exception of some heavyweights, has had to cut weight at some point in their careers. Many wrestlers, at all levels, have at times cut way more than they should have. At times in my career, I also fell into this category. Most wrestlers have their own “weight cutting stories,” and in this article I will regale you with a few of my own.

This article will not discuss the proper diet, nor will it discuss the correct way to slowly lose weight, but rather it will give you some of my insights and thoughts as to why myself and others cut weight, and how it affected both our mental and physical abilities. To me, cutting weight has always been the hardest part of wrestling, both physically, and especially mentally.

(more…)

by Peter Dewey

The first season was tough, to say the least. One measly victory and 12 brutal losses in dual meets. Not a single wrestler won a match in the district tournament. That was 1982-83. It was their last losing season. It took four years to win District, but since 1987, they’ve compiled 18 District Championships in 19 years. And since UIL has sanctioned Texas wrestling, (the last seven seasons), they’ve won-

–Six UIL Regional Championships
–Six State Dual Team Titles
–Four UIL State Championships
–Two UIL State Runner-ups

That, my friends, is a dynasty, and the real story of Highland Park wrestling.

(more…)