Real American Freestyle (RAF) announced a huge signing today as they made an announcement on social media that UFC star Bo Nickal had signed with the organization. Earlier today, Nickal was on Ariel Helwani’s show and stated that he would be fighting on RAF’s inaugural card on August 30th. As of now, an opponent has not been named. In the interview, he did mention potential matches with 2025 World Team representative Trent Hidlay or 2024 national champion Parker Keckeisen. 
Nickal has a professional MMA record of 7-1 and is 4-1 in UFC events not including two wins on Dana White’s Contender Series. In his most recent outing, Nickal suffered a loss via TKO to Dutch fighter Reinier de Ridder. 
Before getting into the cage, Nickal put together a remarkable career at Penn State. He was a four-time national finalist and three-time NCAA champion. Nickal also captured three Big Ten titles.
As a senior, Nickal was named the Hodge Trophy recipient after going 30-0 with 18 falls. Nickal finished his collegiate career on a 68-match winning streak. 
Penn State won national titles in each of Nickal’s four years as a starter. In 2018, he clinched the team title with his fall over Ohio State’s national champion Myles Martin. 
On the freestyle scene, Nickal captured a U23 world championship in 2019. Nickal also made the finals of the 2020(1) Olympic Team Trials but fell to fellow Penn State grad, David Taylor, the eventual gold medalist. 
We’ll keep you posted once an opponent for Nickal has been named or any other RAF updates. 
With Nickal’s addition, the RAF roster now looks like this: 
Ben Askren
Beau Bartlett
Kennedy Blades
Aaron Brooks
Darrion Caldwell
David Carr
Kyle Dake
Austin Gomez
James Green
Seth Gross
Wyatt Hendrickson
Zeltzin Hernandez
Sarah Hildebrandt
Trent Hidlay
Parker Keckeisen
Will Lewan
Bo Nickal
Austin O'Connor
Lance Palmer
Matt Ramos
Alejandra Rivera
Nathan Tomasello
Zahid Valencia
Evan Wick
Real Woods
Hayden Zillmer
 
The matches announced thus far for RAF’s first event on August 30th are:
Real Woods vs. Darrion Caldwell (145 lbs) Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer (155 lbs) Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra (120 lbs) Kennedy Blades vs. Alejandra Rivera Arriaga (150 lbs) James Green vs. Austin O'Connor (155 lbs) Aaron Brooks vs. Hayden Zillmer (UNL)

Last week, InterMat’s Class of 2025 Recruiting Rankings were released and they featured the top-25 recruiting classes in the nation. Trying to cut down to the top 25 is an arduous task and one that involves splitting hairs and being very picky. 
Just because a team may not have made the top 25 doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a good recruiting class. That’s why we end up mentioning five additional classes that didn’t make the top-25, yet will likely be very productive for their school. Even after this list, there are still some really good classes out there, and ones that will be extremely helpful, though they didn’t feature a handful of ranked wrestlers. 
Bucknell
Top Recruits: #124 Lucas Lawler (Bishop McDevitt, PA), #129 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt, Pennsylvania), #163 Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic, PA), #172 Blue Stiffler (Mill Creek, GA), #217 Bryce Manera (Southern Regional, NJ), NR Will Greenberg (Hawken, OH)
Bucknell continues to get it done. They now have three straight years with a mention in the recruiting rankings. It has translated onto the mat, as well. Each of the previous two ranked classes has yielded at least one true freshman national qualifier (all at 165 or above). The Lawlers were both PA state finalists in 2025 and Shane McFillin was third at the AAA level. A potential dark horse here is Blue Stiffler who was a 16U Fargo freestyle champion and a double All-American at the UWW U17 Trials.
Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (25), 2023 (19), 2022 (NR), 2021 (NR)
 
Lehigh
Top Recruits: #44 Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Point, VA), #110 Vaughn Spencer (Pine-Richland, PA), #118 Rowan Holmes (Somerset, PA), #220 Brady Collins (Clearfield, PA), NR Anthony Evanitsky (Wyoming Seminary, PA), NR Chase Quenault (Delbarton, NJ)
It’s back-to-back honorable mentions for Lehigh. There’s a lot of excitement around this program with three returning All-Americans and a high-profile assistant coaching hire. Plus, a huge recruiting class is on the horizon in 2026. This one isn’t quite as loaded as next year’s appears to be, but it’s very solid. With Vaughn Spencer and Rowan Holmes, the Mountain Hawks get help in the upperweights, a place where they could use more depth immediately and in the future. 
Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (HM), 2023 (21), 2022 (17), 2021 (NR)
 
Little Rock
Top Recruits: #123 Jackson Tucker (Hillsboro, MO), #149 Landon Jobber-Spence (Staunton River, VA), #162 Jadyn Johnson (Melissa, TX), #189 Billy Greenwood (Poudre, CO), #215 Taye Wilson (Pratt, KS), #221 Isael Perez (Hope, RI)
Years of huge recruiting classes have allowed Little Rock to dial it back a bit with this class - in terms of the actual number of wrestlers in the class. The quality is still there with six Big Boarders. That’s typically a number that gets a slot in the top 25; however, this year they just missed. The Trojans continue to expand their recruiting footprint each year. Most of the recruits come from Little Rock’s usual stomping grounds, but this year they’ve added ones from Colorado, Rhode Island, and Virginia. 
Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (NR), 2023 (NR), 2022 (19), 2021 (HM)
 
Princeton
Top Recruits: #64 Vincenzo Lavalle (Hanover Park, NJ), #66 Matthew Martino (Eagle, ID), #159 Blaise Mele (Princeton, NJ), #176 Gavin Hawk (Phillipsburg, NJ), NR Conor Delaney (Rumson Fair Haven, NJ), NR Conor McCloskey (Buford, GA)
This will be the first mention in the recruiting rankings for Princeton with Joe Dubuque at the helm. A pair of top 75 recruits is always a good sign. The Tigers finished with four Big Boarders; however, their other two top recruits have been ranked at one point or another in their careers. This class focused heavily on the upperweights. If one of them (Lavalle, Delaney, McCloskey) can contribute and win early on, then Princeton will be a very tough dual team. 
Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (NR), 2023 (12), 2022 (20), 2021 (NR)
 
West Virginia
Top Recruits: #74 Brock Kehler (University, WV), #76 Cole Evans (Perrysburg, OH), #102 Leo Contino (Buchanan, CA), #141 Casen Roark (Father Ryan, TN), #161 Luke Satriano (Valley Central, NY), #169 Gunnar Andrick (Point Pleasant, WV), NR Carmine Lenzi (Berks Catholic, PA), NR Jason Torres (Malvern Prep, PA), NR Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville, PA)
It appears as if Tim Flynn and company have really found their groove on the recruiting trail at West Virginia. The Mountaineers 2024 class was their first ranking in about a decade, now they have back-to-back classes with mentions. This is a massive class that features help at most weight classes. Though top recruit Brock Kehler is a heavyweight prospect, the WVU staff really focused on the light and middleweights. West Virginia could be pretty senior-laden in 2025-26, but a class like this will ensure there’s no huge drop-off after March. 
Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (17), 2023 (NR), 2022 (NR), 2021 (NR)

The University of Northern Colorado announced this afternoon that they’ve hired Oklahoma assistant coach Teyon Ware to be their next head coach. Ware had spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Before his return to Oklahoma, Ware was an assistant on the Wyoming staff for eight years. Ware got his collegiate coaching career started with a three-year stint at Binghamton. Before Binghamton, Ware was on staff at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. 
While at Oklahoma, Ware helped oversee a squad that sent 18 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships during his three years. The Sooners had one All-American during that span (Stephen Buchanan). Ware also played a role in helping the Sooners ink the #3 overall recruiting class in 2024. 
Buchanan was also an All-American for Ware at Wyoming. During his time in Laramie, six Wyoming wrestlers earned a spot on the NCAA podium. 
As an athlete, Ware was a four-time All-American and two-time national champion for the Sooners. He won his first title as a true freshman in 2003 (when it was a rare feat) and again in 2005. He was a three-time Big 12 champion and three-time national finalist. He also made an impact on the international scene with a berth on the 2011 World Team in freestyle and two Pan-American medals. 
Ware inherits a Northern Colorado squad that finished fifth in the Big 12 and produced a pair of All-Americans (a first in their DI era). Unfortunately, during the coaching transition, both All-Americans (Stevo Poulin and Vinny Zerban) transferred to Iowa State. The Bears still have 2025 Big 12 champion Dominick Serrano returning. 
Ware’s addition makes him the eighth head coach in the history of Northern Colorado wrestling. The position was open after Troy Nickerson accepted the heading coaching position at Army West Point.