Takedowns to Tackles: Wrestlers get NFL chances

It appears that some NCAA Division I heavyweights are catpuring the attention of National Football League squads. According to College Wrestling Examiner's Mark Palmer at examiner.com, former Illinois Heavyweight John Wise has been signed to a contract with the New England Patriots, according to an Associated Press Report.

This news came on the heels of a report that Iowa State NCAA champion David Zabriskie was one of two wrestlers invited to a Cleveland Browns free-agent minicamp. Zabriskie was a three-time All-American heavyweight for the Cyclones, winning the 2010 national championship. He became the 34th ISU wrestler with 100 career wins, going 116-22 including a 26-2 senior season. Zabriskie, from Branchville, N.J., did not play football at Iowa State and there are no records of him playing as a prep at New Jersey's High Point High School in Sussex County, N.J.

He was listed as a linebacker for the three-day tryout. Zabriskie will be joined by Missouri's Mark Ellis, the 2009 NCAA heavyweight champ. Ellis is listed as a lineman. It'll be interesting to see if anyone sticks around for more than a cup of coffee.

The Patroits struck gold with signing former Cal-State Bakersfield NCAA champion heavyweight Stephen Neal, who became a mainstay on their offensive line. There's been a couple examples of heavyweights carving a niche in the NFL, including Carleton Haselrig, who won six NCAA titles for Pittsburgh-Johnstown from 1987-89. Haselrig went on to play five seasons in the NFL, earning a Pro Bowl selection in one of his four seasons with the Steelers before retiring after one season with the New York Jets. Like Neal, Haselrig did not play college football.

NFL fullback Lorenzo Neal, who was one of the best fullback's in the NFL blocking for the likes of Tennessee Titan's Eddie George, Cincinnati Bengal's Corey Dillon and San Diego Charger's LaDainian Tomlinson, was a heavyweight All-American in 1992 for Fresno State. Unlike, Stephen Neal and Haselrig, Neal played football in college, ending his college career as one of the top rushers in Bulldog history.

Of course, they could end up like Minnesota's Brock Lesnar, who was cut by the Minnesota Vikings, Ohio State's Tommy Rowlands and Cole Konrad of Minnesota, who were invited but not kept by the New York Jets in 2007 and Kurt Angle, who tried out as a fullback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995.