1988 Olympic Greco Roman team with Ike Anderson
(front row, second wrestler on left)
Two years ago SCMAT ran a series of articles entitled "Where are they now?"
We looked at former South Carolina wrestlers such as Tom Borrelli, Dan Wirnsberger
and Shelton Benjamin to catch up with where they were in 2005. Within this series
we covered two Lower Richland H.S. wrestlers, Ike Anderson and David Patten.
Today we are going to give Isaac "Ike" Anderson some additional coverage after
the USA Greco-Roman team won the team title at the 2007 World Championships.
It was the first World team title in the history of the USA program.
Since 1998, Ike Anderson has been the USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Developmental Coach.
Certainly it was a dream come true for Ike to be on the coaching staff for the
World Champions. It's been a 30+ year investment on Ike's part and an achievement
that deserves some extended coverage from his home state of South Carolina.
You see, Ike competed in the 1988 Olympics with the Greco-Roman team and placed 6th.
An amazing accomplishment for a South Carolina wrestler that first started out at
Lower Richland high school. Though several other wrestlers with South Carolina
connections have competed in the Olympics, Ike has been the only true S.C. wrestler
to make it to the Olympics. Sam Henson and Noel Loban competed at Clemson University
prior to their Olympic medalist performances.
SC Wrestling Records - Olympic Medalists with SC ties
2000 - Sam Henson - 2nd Freestyle, 55-kg (wrestled at Clemson University)
1988 - Ike Anderson - 6th Greco, 136.5 lbs. (wrestled at Lower Richland)
1984 - Noel Loban - 3rd Freestyle, 90-kg (wrestled for England in Olympics, wrestled at Clemson University)
2007 Baku, AzerbaijanLet's take a look at what this 2007 USA Greco-Roman team accomplished: Greco-Roman Team Standings (top 20) 1 UNITED STATES, 31 pts. 2 RUSSIA, 30 pts. 3 GEORGIA, 28 pts. 4 IRAN, 26 pts. 5 SOUTH KOREA, 24 pts. 6 FRANCE, 23 pts. 7 KAZAKHSTAN, 21 pts. 8 HUNGARY, 19 pts. 9 BULGARIA, 18 pts. 10 LITHUANIA, 17 pts. 11 JAPAN, 15 pts. 12 ARMENIA, 14 pts. 12 ROMANIA, 14 pts. 14 CUBA, 12 pts. 14 DENMARK, 12 pts. 16 AZERBAIJAN, 11 pts. 16 BELARUS, 11 pts. 18 SERBIA, 10 pts. 19 UZBEKISTAN, 9 pts. 20 CZECH REPUBLIC, 8 pts. And, these articles are must reads if you missed these: SHOUT IT OUT: U.S. Wrestlers Win Historic Greco-Roman Team Title at 2007 World Championships HOW’D THEY DO IT? Comments from leaders on the U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Title WORLD CHAMPIONS! - they did it in dramatic fashion in an action-packed, tension filled final night! W.I.N. Magazine provided excellent coverage in their October 5, 2007 edition. I wish there were an online edition of these articles to link you to but unfortunately it's just available in print, so subscribe at www.win-magazine.com! Included in their series of articles were Mike Chapman's article on "Greco's World success stems from its pioneers" and Bryan Van Kley's article "Greco title a result of many years of doing things right." In reading these articles it's obvious that Ike Anderson has been one of the instrumental pioneers of Greco-Roman wrestling in the USA. Let's glance back 20 years and see what Ike was doing Internationally before reaching 2007's pinnacle on the world stage. 1988 Seoul, South Korea
Top 8 placers in Greco-Roman 62 kg (136.5 lbs) from 1988 1 Kamandar Madzhidov URS 2 Jivko Vangelov BUL 3 An Dae-hyun KOR 4 Jeno Bódi HUN 5 Peter Behl FRG 6 Isaac Anderson USA 7 Gilles Jalabert FRA 8 Hugo Dietsche SUI USA team - 1988 Greco-Roman wrestlers in Seoul, South Korea dnp - (did not place) Mark Fuller 105.5 lbs. dnp Shawn Sheldon 114.5 lbs. dnp Anthony Amado 125.5 lbs. dnp Ike Anderson 136.5 lbs. 6th Andy Seras 149.5 lbs. dnp David Butler 163 lbs. dnp John Morgan 180.5 lbs. 7th Michial Foy 198 lbs. dnp Dennis Koslowski 220 lbs. 3rd Duane Koslowski HWT 8th USA team - 1988 Freestyle wrestlers in Seoul, South Korea Tim Vanni 105.5 lbs. 4th Ken Chertow 114.5 lbs. dnp Barry Davis 125.5 lbs. dnp John Smith 136.5 lbs. 1st Nate Carr 149.5 lbs. 3rd Kenny Monday 163 lbs. 1st Mark Schultz 180.5 lbs. 6th Jim Scherr 198 lbs. 5th Bill Scherr 220 lbs. 3rd Bruce Baumgartner HWT 2nd 1988 Summer Olympics wrestling summary - with team medal standings In addition to Ike Anderson's spot on the 1988 Olympic team, he achieved 7 years of top National success: 1st U.S. Senior Greco-Roman Championships - 1989, 1990 2nd U.S. Senior Greco-Roman Championships - 1991, 1992, 1993 and one additional year For those that remember Ike from 20 years ago, many considered his matches with Buddy Lee at the Senior Nationals as one of the best all-time rivalries in Greco-Roman wrestling history. Ike made the 1988 Greco-Roman Olympic team and Buddy Greco-Roman made the 1992 Olympic team (both at 62 kg). Ike and Buddy were World placewinners and among the best wrestlers in the U.S. during their 10+ year competitive careers. They became better through the rivalry, which helped Ike later gain his position as USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Developmental Coach and Buddy would become one of the leading jump rope specialists in the world. Ike and Buddy are in the recordbooks for having the longest American overtime wrestling match: 19 min. and 58 sec. - at 1988 Olympic Trials. 1988 - 2000 If you are a current USA Wrestling Member and sign-up to get a passport for free videos, here is the match: 1988 Olympic Trials Ike Anderson vs. Buddy Lee video If you are not a USA Wrestling Member, but want to see Ike Anderson in action, check this video out: 1988 Summer Olympics wrestling video - with Ike Anderson getting most of the coverage! Here were some additional links I hope you find of interest on Ike's impact in Greco-Roman wrestling: Isaac Anderson - Wrestling Championships from National events Wrestlers At The Trials - with Ike Anderson's contribution Technique video presented by USA Wrestling National Greco-Roman Developmental Coach Ike Anderson 1975 Lower Richland, South Carolina
Ike Anderson would only place in South Carolina States one year, his senior year 1975. The match in the 105 lbs. State Finals that year would be a memorable one. 4A-3A-2A-1A were all combined at that time in one tournament. Ike made the Finals as a senior wrestling for Lower Richland under Coach Jim Fitzpatrick. A superstar freshman by the name of James Gillings would be Ike's finals opponent. Gillings wrestled for Airport under Coach Jim Barnes. The match went into overtime and Ike pulled out a 6-4 OT decision. Ike would graduate and wrestle for Appalachian State University and compete in the NCAA Tournament one year, 1979. Here are the 1979 NCAA Brackets - Ike was in the 126 lbs. class, losing in the pigtail round to eventual All-American Mike Bauer of Oregon State. If you really like interesting trivia from South Carolina wrestling lore, the rivalry between Lower Richland and Airport began to change SC history in 1975 during those battles. Lower Richland had won the team title in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975. Ike graduated and Airport would capture the next three straight state titles in 1976, 1977 and 1978. James Gillings would become a 3x State Champion and a 4x Finalist, losing his likely chance to become the first 4x SC State Champion due to the overtime loss with Ike in the 1975 Finals. Gillings was a senior in 1978 at 126 lbs. when he won his third state title while Airport teammate Carl Van Sewell, in the 155 lbs. class, would capture his fourth state title and forever be known as the first 4x SC State Champion. Ike had a little bit to do with that piece of history. Ike Anderson is a South Carolina wrestling success story that continues to inspire us with his contributions year in and year out! His GOLD moment Internationally this summer started with Gold as a state champion in South Carolina in 1975. Congratulations Ike on 32 years of winning on every stage - SC, USA, World! Hopefully in this SCMAT exclusive article for 2007-2008 the history of SC wrestling is defining itself as an exciting past with a future awaiting more greatness. These historical articles at SCMAT will hopefully provide accurate facts though we may always have missed some data at some point. If you notice a correction, addition or just want to comment please send a reply to scmat@hotmail.com thanks, Mark Buford