Articles: Articleshttps://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/page/4/?d=1Articles: ArticlesenFoley's Friday Mailbag: February 26, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-february-26-2021-r88737/PSU coaches Cody Sanderson and Cody Sanderson talk to Nick Lee during a dual vs. Michigan (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)
The conference tournaments start this weekend with the EIWA, MAC, ACC, Pac-12 and SoCon all taking place.

The athletes have been through a tremendous season unlike any in the last 70 years and while there is tremendous frustration with the allocations and the number of matches everyone was able to wrestle, it's incredible that the sport has made it this far in 2021.

I had my doubts. Here and in private conversations I saw no way for the NCAA to allow football, much less wrestling, to compete in this school year. Part of that doubt was naivete about the NCAA's drive to see a financial return on their investment, and at least some part was not recognizing that fewer deaths was not seen as universally a good thing.

No matter the circumstances on how the season got its push to start, it was always on the athletes to follow the regulations to make sure that they could continue to compete. These young men were seeing friends, taking classes remotely, eating alone, training in pods, wearing masks everywhere, and in general being asked to sacrifice more than any other class before them.

And they succeeded.

There is plenty of on-the-mat action to consume this weekend and next, but before the first whistle blows take a moment and recognize just how sizable an accomplishment it was for these athletes to make it from the searing center of a plague to the mat at their conference tournament.

Bravo to them, their families, their coaches and their universities.

To your questions …

Q: With Penn State now adding Greg Kerkvliet, Beau Bartlett and Robbie Howard to the lineup, do you think the Nittany Lions can challenge Iowa?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Greg Kerkvliet re-emerged this weekend in a Penn State stomping of Big Ten foe Maryland. The heavyweight had an expectedly great performance and gave rise to the thought that Penn State would have enough horsepower to challenge top-ranked Iowa.

The addition of Kerkvliet is certainly a positive for the Nittany Lions, as are Bartlett and Howard, both of whom seem like top All-American candidates in 2021. If you look at the updated points as predicted by the InterMat rankings there is a 71-point difference in their expected outcomes. That might get chipped away with some top-level performances by the above trio, and maybe further whittled down by some bonus points. However, a 10-touchdown difference is extremely difficult to overcome.

The Big Ten weekend will be the test of each team's strengths and weaknesses, but from a higher perspective it would seem you should always favor the experienced winners over the newcomers. There are plenty of ways in which I can and probably will be proven wrong, but if you're putting money on the outcome of the NCAAs I think it's foolish to discount the Hawkeyes.

Q: Which college match that has not happened yet are most looking forward to this postseason?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Richard Mann wrote a great article this week on that topic. Check it out.

For me it'll be anytime there is a direct matchup between Penn State and Iowa, but also Daton Fix vs. RBY

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Trailer for the Pellicone!

Q: What are you most looking forward to seeing at the Matteo Pellicone?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Matteo Pellicone is the first Ranking Series tournament of the 2021 season. The outcome of the tournament won't impact the 2021 seeds or points, but it will influence the seeds at the world championships and who will end up winning the Ranking Series at the end of the season.

The Belgrade Individual World Cup last December has proven to be a success with few issues arising from the health protocols and efforts to create a bubble resulting in a safe environment. Now, with vaccines being rolled out around the world and in-airport testing becoming more prevalent, a number of the top wrestlers in the world are expected to compete in next week's competition.

More importantly, I'm finally being released to start covering events in person again and am looking forward to seeing the action on the mats and maybe tipping back a few glasses of Barolo.

The tournament itself is built around 74 kilograms and the expected matchup between Jordan Burroughs and Italy's own favorite adopted son, Frank Chamizo. The duo has met a number of times and each episode of their saga tells us something new about their outlook and techniques.

While I think that Burroughs is the favorite, what is most compelling to me is his eagerness to travel so close to the Olympic Trials. That will certainly mean it'll be a more cautious Burroughs on the mat, though he's certain to be as competitive as ever.

The weight class also features Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico) and world bronze medalist Daniyar Kaisanov (Kazakhstan).

All eyes will be on 74 kilograms.

Q: The Capitol Cup this weekend will feature a women's Greco-Roman exhibition match between Xochitl Mota-Pettis and Koral Sugiyama. What do you think about this? Do you think women's Greco could have a future in the wrestling landscape?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm interested in seeing the response to the match. The Canadians had a program for some time, but didn't see a lot of excess interest in the sport. In Europe its essentially a non-starter for most federations as they think Greco-Roman is far too brutal for women to undertake. You might agree or disagree with that perspective, but the buy-in of the European and Asian nations is necessary for the sport to be undertaken in any meaningful manner.

The IOC is serious about sports accomplishing gender equity, and soon, equality. The 2022 YOG in Senegal were meant to be the first gender equal games. They are now postponed, but that is the direction the sporting landscape has taken into the future.

For wrestling, the pressure to be gender equal will almost certainly result in even more investment in beach wrestling. The sport is consumer friendly and can be practiced anywhere at any time. There is no necessary equipment and nations that might otherwise be disadvantaged in Olympic style might find growth and success in beach wrestling.

To me, beach wrestling has always been the answer. Greco-Roman on the men's side has faced issues for the better part of 40 years so I think it would be unwise for the sport to point in the direction of the past, rather than the future.]]>88737Fri, 26 Feb 2021 08:08:09 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: February 19, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-february-19-2021-r88706/
With case numbers plummeting, deaths receding, and the number (and rate) of vaccinations increasing it's safe to assume that the 2021 season will be the only one competed under the stringent COVID protocols of the NCAA and its member institutions.

While there is reason to be optimistic and look forward to normalcy, now is not the time to lose focus or give into COVID fatigue. And that goes for the wrestlers!
Coaches I've spoken to are extremely proud of their wrestlers and how much discipline they've shown the past several months. When this started most athletes were wrestling in masks. They're getting tested three times a week and several times before competitions, not to mention the number of tests they have to take to get out of COVID protocol.

Teams are often broken into small groups where they can only train with a certain number of athletes. Then, when they go home they are restricted to who they can see. No dining out, church, pickup basketball, or whatever. The lives of these college athletes is completely controlled by COVID and the consequences brought down by potentially falling out of line and infecting teammates and/or bringing them into protocol.

For the number of teams active this season and the asks being made of these young men, it's incredible to me just how successful the season has been thus far. There have been more than two dozen match cancellations, but given all that's at risk, and how often it's begin risked, that's an obscenely low number for a bunch of 18-23-year-old men on a college campus.

Nobody can predict what will happen next, but for now, on the cusp of the conclusion of the regular season it's impressive to me, and I'm sure all fans, that these coaches and their athletes have navigated these difficult times so well. It's an impressive nod to the resiliency and toughness of our community.

To your questions …

Virginia Tech head coach Tony Robie, along with assistant coach Jared Frayer (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

Q: Who will be the first ACC program to win an NCAA team title? How far away is that from being a reality?
-- @DHoff_dissident

Foley: Virginia Tech has looked sharp this season. Any question marks around the program following the departure of Kevin Dresser have been answered several times over. This program is a powerhouse and Tony Robie is one of the absolute best wrestling coaches in the nation. Given current momentum there is every reason to believe that Virginia Tech earns a team trophy this year and can be on top inside five years. Anything is possible!

NC State is equally impressive and while not as powerful as years past, can very easily find a year to sprint to the top. Their teams are unique, scrappy, and give fits to all their opponents. The only catch has been an inability to overperform at the NCAAs. That's not to say they always underperform, they just haven't had a year where everyone is exceeding their seeds, pinning opponents and bringing heft into the final rounds. Given another successful few years the stability of the lineup could provide that type of return and a march to the top of the team podium.

Q: Did Penn State finally find its answer at 125 pounds with Robert Howard? Where do you see him fitting in the mix?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Bergen Catholic for the win! When talent meets coaching, the fans win, but nobody more than Penn State. I have no idea if he is the answer

Q: When do you think there will be an announcement on tickets for NCAAs? How many fans will be allowed to attend?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Olympic Trials in April will host 5,000 fans in Fort Worth for a stadium that holds 15,000. Social distancing, mask-wearing, and at 30% capacity.

The NCAA hasn't announced any plans to sell tickets for the tournament, but the word on the street is that they won't be moving any tickets to fans. Coaches are still waiting to find out about their allocations.

Q: Any takeaways from the Captains' Cup?
-- Mike C.

Foley: We need more women's wrestling at the college level. I loved seeing the enthusiasm and direction that the event took. What the women wanted to achieve on the mat was exactly the same as the men -- win. But on camera the mood of the wrestlers, the feeling, the interactions were all a little different than the men and it was much appreciated.

Q: After a hard work week, do you think fans of wrestling prefer escapism or to have politics mingled in with the sport they love?
@NathanJohn_319

Foley: The idea that a columnist needs to provide his/her audience with escapism is nonsense. Am I meant to 'stick to sports' because a joking reference to a callous, cement-headed choice by an American senator? There are plenty of reasons to read columns, and plenty of reasons to avoid them, but don't pearl clutch because the author takes a jab at a member of your political team. We're all big boys and girls and those in power need to be held accountable.

Anyway, that's enough mingling for this week.

Q: Are you paying for this vacation with GameStop profits?
-- @knarkill

Foley: Sunny Cancun for Cruz. NYC flurries for Foley.

The GameStop phenomenon was an incredible watch albeit from the sidelines. I have a very normal level of risk tolerance. I like surfing but avoid big waves. I love motorcycles but keep it inside the speed limit. I enjoy making a profit from doing nothing, but almost completely avoid the stock market. In the end I agree with the adage that in a gold rush it's better to sell the shovels.

The GameStop pump was insane for 450 million reasons, but I was shocked by how many people I knew in the wrestling community were posting about their gains and losses. My theory is that the community has long been involved in cryptocurrencies and because some of the monied leaders in the sport (e.g. Novo) have such an outsized presence in the space (and hires wrestlers) that the trickle down has meant more wrestlers in crypto. Being that crypto is a highly volatile 'asset' the risk tolerance needed to trade GameStop or Dogecoin was already baked into the Wrestling Investor's DNA.

Of course, there is no way to know if our community is more risk tolerant than say swimming or track and field, but from my very stable, very boring investment portfolio I was gobsmacked by how many 18-55-year-old white men I knew who had $1000+ invested into a brick-and-mortar video game store most popular in 2009.

My gut is you and many others made it out alive and for that I'm thrilled. You guys take the big waves -- I'm happy on the long board.

Q: Any predictions on Tuesday's NLWC event? Some wrestlers will be competing in multiple matches.
-- Mike C.

Foley: First, let's recognize the brilliance of the Rokfin model. They don't produce the event, or pay the athletes, or advertise, or promote, or have any financial interest in the storylines. They just have a place for creators to post and for customers to put their credit card information. When people do sign up to watch the content the company takes a $9.99 cash rip, while the creators are given tokens worth a price that can, and does, fluctuate.

Forgive the lack of nuance in this business model, but if you told me 20 years ago that I could pay people with a currency of my own creation, while I was being paid in cash for people to watch THEIR content, while also simultaneously creating the rules for the currency AND being the largest holder of said currency -- I'd have asked where I could sign up. As stated previously, I'm remarkably risk-averse when it comes to these types of things, but am I alone in wondering how this will pan out in a few years? Gotta be some hiccups, right?

Anyway, I have a genuine curiosity in how this plays out in the long run and will watch with wonder (and maybe some envy) as it proceeds. No predictios. Just super interested.

Vito Arujau df. Zach Sanders, 10-3
Vito Arujau df. Sean Russell, 11-8
Thomas Gilman df. Zach Sanders, 10-2
Thomas Gilman df. Sean Russell, 5-0
Yianni Diakomihalis df. Nahshon Garrett, 10-0
Zain Retherford df. Nahshon Garrett, 6-2
Zain Retherford df. Evan Henderson, 7-4
Kyle Snyder df. Nate Jackson, 6-4
Kyle Snyder df. Gabe Dean, 8-3
Kyle Snyder df. Scottie Boykin, 10-0
Gabe Dean df. Bo Nickal, 3-2
David Taylor df. Max Dean, 10-0
Kyle Dake df. Vincenzo Joseph, 7-2
Jason Nolf df. Kyle Dake, 4-2]]>88706Fri, 19 Feb 2021 12:54:34 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: February 12, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-february-12-2021-r88676/
Their addition is sure to add a wrinkle into the conference tournament, but with so many cancellations this season and so few opportunities for anyone to compete they are on the same playing field with the teams who have managed to eke out a few matches. Rust won't be an issue since everyone will seem to share that issue.

Congrats for Coach Moore and his team for the opportunity to compete.

The other big news Thursday was the announcement by the Ivy League that due to the cancellation of this season the senior athletes unable to compete will be granted a graduate season in which to play their respective sport.

That's an incredible gesture for a normally stuffy league but does present the difficulty of the athletes earning post-graduate admissions at an Ivy League school. I'd assume that most will simply take off this semester, but for those that don't, or can't, it'll be an interesting process to see how they continue their educational requirements for the season.

To your questions …

Daton Fix at the 2019 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: Daton Fix is expected to return to competition this weekend. Where do you think he fits into the mix for the Olympic spot at 57 kilograms?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Right now, Daton Fix is the last person to compete at the World Championships on behalf of the United States. His close loss to Yuki Takahashi was mostly due to poor match management and a very bad challenge. And while he wasn't dragged into the repechage because of Yuki's loss to Ravi Kumar, he was -- in my opinion -- one of the top five wrestlers at the weight.

Now, post-suspension, he can start to compete for his spot. He's older, but there hasn't been a ton of competition. Thomas Gilman earned the spot in Ottawa and has been pretty active since. Add in Spencer Lee, who looks as good as anyone in the world, and you have a three-person race for the 57-kilogram crown.

I see Spencer Lee winning the Trials, but I also see that all three of the athletes mentioned are top-rate competitors who are able to train hard and place in Tokyo.

Q: I am hearing Myles Amine will be competing at 197 starting this weekend. Do you see him as the favorite to win the title at 197?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Of course, he's the favorite!

The competition at 197 pounds is pretty open with Eric Schultz the new No.1, but an array of other guys who could hold the top spot by conference. Given his international success, I think Myles Amine is the best upperweight in the country not named Gable. Regardless of the reasons he's moving up, I'm sure that being able to keep a weight above what he needs to make for the Olympic Games is a massive factor in consideration. The Olympics are every four years and while the NCAA title might be a nice title to earn I'm sure that Amine's focus is on Tokyo 2021 and earing medals there.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Fix vs. Yuki

Usman with the win over Downey!

Q: It was announced this week that Penn State will not be hosting the Olympic Trials this year. I saw a tweet (rumor) that it will be moving to Fort Worth, Texas. Any idea whether this is true?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The answer to this question came in after I started writing, but I like my response …

Seems like a super-specific guess, no.

I'd think that the Trials would need to move somewhere with extremely lax COVID protocols and infrastructure able to accommodate the quick arrival of a large sporting event. Additionally, it would need to be an area with no current college team since most universities are looking to take on LESS risk.

So from my estimation that would have left Texas and Florida. The latter is swimming in COVID cases, including the new variants and has limited options for host cities: Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville. The former believes itself to be a republic only loosely tethered to the norms, rules, and laws of the upper 48.

Texas would make sense! Dallas, Ft. Worth, or Houston are all great options, but we will see what USA Wrestling says!]]>88676Fri, 12 Feb 2021 13:26:40 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: February 5, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-february-5-2021-r88615/Oklahoma State's Kaid Brock opened his season 4-0 before suffering an injury (Photo/Oklahoma State Athletics)
It was announced this week that Oklahoma State wrestler Kaid Brock suffered an injury that will end his season and potentially his college career.

The injury announcement was the third of Brock's career, which started promising but had been riddled with injuries. His opening match was against Oklahoma's Cody Brewer. Brock won by fall, in what must be the first wrestler to ever open their career defeating an NCAA champion.

The NCAA season is usually long and brutal. This one is truncated by plague, but the injuries and disappointments will still be with us in 2021. The act of wrestling -- traveling against your will from your feet to the mat and from your belly to your back -- relies on the resistance of muscles and toughness of the mind. What's most disheartening for Brock and other athletes is that no matter how much your mind can endure, sometimes the body doesn't play its part.

As fans we spend a good amount of time on X's and O's, rankings and melodramas, and the managerial side of the NCAA wrestling experience. Brock's career, ending as it might with yet another injury, is a powerful reminder that these 18-23-year-old men and women are on the mats fighting for a spot on the roster, a place in the lineup, a spot on the NCAA tournament, and ultimately the satisfaction to know that they tried their best in each endeavor.

I trust that Kaid Brock, no matter the disappointment he must be feeling, recognizes that he's done more than most could ever hope, and gave us all a little inspiration along the way.

To your questions …

Q: Why did the NCAA cancel the DIII Championships? Are the DII Championships going to follow suit?
-- Ethan S.

Foley: The NCAA believed that there wasn't enough participation in 2021 season to support the expense (and risk) associated with hosting the 2021 NCAA Division III Championships. That was true in all sports.

The NCAA is currently at-risk regarding its treatment of student-athletes and their welfare at-large. The various image rights cases in the courts are an existential threat to the way the NCAA funds its largess for use in the championships of the non-revenue sports. Additionally, COVID has severally restricted their money-making efforts while also leaving them vulnerable to lawsuits for any type of competition management that would put the athletes at-risk.

The latter can be overcome when the incentives of the former are in play. Without the money of the larger institutions and TV deals there is an incredibly low incentive for the NCAA to host tournaments where they burn much-needed cash, expose themselves to lawsuits, and probably don't field a large number of programs for participation given their localized debts and obligations from the COVID fallout.

The same might happen with Division II sports. When you line up the incentives and the costs it would seem to still be a risky proposition for the NCAA to host 30-plus national gatherings of athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans if there isn't a large financial windfall. I don't know how it'll end up balancing out but given the cost of what it will take to host the Division I Championships I'd be optimistic in saying 50/50.

And that's to say nothing of Division I non-revenue sports who are still at risk of finding their year-end tournaments reduced in size or canceled. It's a frustrating time to be alive, much less trying to compete in collegiate athletics, but the organizations that host these events are responsible for the health and safety of those in attendance. If something happens to jeopardize that safety, then they will act accordingly.

The national wrestling community has been living in a bit of a bubble when it comes to competitions, camps, clinics, and tournaments. Many of the states with relaxed regulations about COVID also severely under report and do no contact tracing. When tournaments were being held with no quarantining, social distancing, and poor mask etiquette there was a 100% chance of COVID transmission. But no tests, and nobody cared. Just last week a tournament in Louisiana had more than 40 known cases of transmission due to their event. And it was a relatively small tournament. What was the COVID infection rate from the larger tournaments that aren't regulated?

We won't know and never will, but we can't lie to ourselves and say that COVID isn't being transmitted at these tournaments and club practices and whatnot. While I understand some people want to move past COVID, the NCAA and institutions who are held liable for their events can't go forward without costly protocols and an increased risk profile. That means tournaments get canceled, teams pull out of competitions, and seasons end early.

Wear a mask. Take the vaccine. And let's all enjoy a healthy second half of 2021.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Link: Etched in Stone Podcast Series

Kaid Brock pins Cody Brewer

Good Throwback to Yazdani Taking 2017 World Title

Q: It's the 2021 NCAA Championships. Spencer Lee must tech or pin his opponent to win the match and he's aware of the conditions, but his competition is not (to avoid intentional stalling). Is he favored?
-- @theNFish

Foley: Are you asking if Spencer Lee -- with the entire weight of Iowa's 2021 titles hope riding on the outcome of the match -- would be able to find a technical fall or pin against an opponent thinking only of NOT letting that happen?

If that is the question, then I think there is nothing this poor soul could do to stop Spencer Lee from earning the technical fall. I truly believe that he would win the match via technical fall or pin even if there were not title hopes on the line. The Spencer Lee we have seen so far in 2021 is about the best a wrestler has ever looked at any weight class, for any amount of time, in the history of the NCAA.

This is generational excellence. Spencer Lee is stronger, faster, tougher, more technical, and more committed than his peers. That's not to say the rest of the 125-pounders class doesn't have those attributes, I don't think any wrestler at any weight class is as pound-for-pound dominant as Spencer Lee.

One influencing factor for this year's performance might be the extra focus on earning the starting spot on the 2021 Olympic squad. To do that he'll need to better former teammate (and current rival?) Thomas Gilman. That won't be an easy match, and it might be one where Lee is the underdog but being underestimated is also motivation to keep pushing himself in the early months of the year.

So yes, regardless of the situation I believe that Spencer Lee wins NCAA by technical fall or pin in 99/100 championship simulations.

Q: Any idea what impact Tom Brands' positive COVID test will have on the season? Will it affect Iowa's upcoming dual meets?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Coach Brands said in the press release that he would continue to work from home until it was appropriate for him to return to action. My feeling is that indicates he was exposed much earlier than the release and had already taken factors into account regarding dual meet eligibility and exposure to athletes.

No impact on the student-athletes or the outcome of the duals unless one of the athletes is somehow dragged into COVID protocol. Coach Brands has complete control of his team and the lessons of the Hawkeyes aren't lost because there is a substitute coach at the helm. More than most programs, Iowa Hawkeye wrestling is a vibe.

Q: With it being Black History Month, who do you view as the five greatest Black wrestlers in American history?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Here are my top five …

1. Jordan Burroughs
2. Kenny Monday
3. Kevin Jackson
4. J'den Cox
5. Lee Kemp/Dremel Byers

Q: Kamaru Usman is a UFC champion who is 12-0 in the UFC. Why doesn't he get more respect? Is it his style? Or personality? Shouldn't he be the face of the organization?
--Mike C.

Foley: Interesting follow-up on the Black History Month. I think you're probably referencing your own thoughts in the way this question trailed the last.

The UFC is about the draw and for whatever the reason fans haven't been as attracted to Usman as they were to Colby Covington. Maybe that's a race thing, and maybe it's because Ben Askren so often tore down Usman? Unclear.

What is clear is that Usman has his work cut out for him against Gilbert Burns. The UFC is testing Usman's ground game against one of the most effective jiu-jitsu fighters in the league, who also happens to throw his hands with bad intent. Usman has survived Demian Maia, but Burns will have more opportunities on the ground than did Maia. Both have great wrestling, but Burns is a little better than Maia at bullying the positions on the fence. If he closes distance and gets Usman to the ground, I can see there being an issue for Usman.

All that said, I want to see more of Usman in the octagon, but I don't think he has the star power (yet) to be the face. It takes a charisma that so far has eluded him and his fans.]]>88615Fri, 05 Feb 2021 13:17:28 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 29, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-january-29-2021-r88581/
I'm sure the payday is excellent, but with Askren having a new hip and being an objectively terrible boxer, it'll be difficult to (once again) watch a longtime combat sports veteran allow himself to be humiliated for cash. Askren wrestling Burroughs makes sense. He was going to lose, but he's an Olympian and two-time NCAA champion.

Accepting a fight where you are knowingly going to be posterized by an absolutely insufferable human is a much sadder setup and outcome than most are acknowledging on Twitter. I wish that combat sport athletes didn't have to make money like this late in their career. It's sad to watch. Maybe Ben makes a miracle happen, but Jake Paul knows how to throw a punch and odds are this is going to hurt.

To your questions …

Q: Penn State is finally expected to begin its season with this weekend. The Nittany Lions have some new faces in the lineup. Do you see PSU challenging Iowa for the national title?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Something tells me that Penn State isn't going to wrestle this weekend. I hope that I'm wrong, but with their luck one of their competitors will have a COVID case or otherwise fall into protocol.

Iowa is just too strong this year. From top to bottom they have the best team in the nation and there just really isn't much challenging their ascendency to the NCAA title in 2021. If you look at Penn State's lineup the fresh faces would need to be massive to their overall success at the NCAA tournament, but may don't have the experience on the mat and won't be getting enough prior to March.

One thing I think indicates the uphill battle is that there no top-ranked Penn State wrestlers in 2021. None. Looking back 2-3 years ago and there were as many as five top-ranked guys midseason. While you can get the job done without an NCAA champion the Nittany Lion firepower isn't available this year.

Q: Mark Hall announced that he is moving up to 86 kilograms. How do you think he will do there? Any thoughts on his match against Nate Jackson on Friday night?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I appreciate Mark Hall's abilities and I think he's probably going to have a great future at 79 kilograms after the 2021 Games in Tokyo. As for moving up to 86 kilograms for a match with Nate Jackson, I'm in full endorsement. The match is probably going to have some great exchanges.

As for the outlook in making the 2021 squad, I imagine that Taylor still gets the better of him, though their time spent training together is a variable that I can't control in prognosticating. It's possible, though unlikely, that Taylor gets smoked by Hall in training. If so, seeing how Hall stacks up against the field is important to see if he can make it to a finals matchup with Taylor.

Overall, great move by Hall and one that will work to strengthen Team USA for the 2024 Olympic cycle.

Who would win a hypothetical matchup between 2021 Gable Steveson (left) and 1999 Stephen Neal (right)?

Q: Stephen Neal won the Hodge as a senior, then went on to become a world champ in freestyle the same year. How do you think a college match between 1999 Stephen Neal and 2021 Gable Steveson go?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Whew. That's tough to say, but I like Stephen Neal hitting a few double legs. A lot of time has passed since we saw Neal wrestle so it's easy to forget that he has one of the best double legs of any heavyweight in history. He also didn't have a ton of trouble with mobility at the time.

What screwed Neal from becoming an Olympic team member was a set of rules that were truly, truly atrocious. The match is linked below, but what you'll see is two of the best heavyweights in the world being put into par terre SIX TIMES. Why?! How did anyone think that ruleset was going to create action. Seeing this match has made me a true believer in the current rule set, which has been wildly successful at creating actions for the past eight years.

Oh, as for Gable. I quit betting against him months ago. Should we create a time machine I'd back away from my prediction and place big money on Gable. He might just be the man in 2021.

Q: It was the 25th anniversary of Dave Schultz's death this week. What comes to mind when you think about Dave Schultz?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I wasn't into wrestling when Dave was enjoying the best parts of his career, and I was hardly into wrestling when he was murdered. The legacy I see is the one that's been shared with me online and through stories. When I read the question my first response was that Dave appeared to be laid back, focused, and yet brutal on the mat.

Dave seemed to be both savage and scholar, which is something that I think can be powerful for top wrestlers to grasp. The time he spent thinking about wrestling and studying, and showing interest in others techniques, was just as valuable as the time he spent conditioning his body.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Jake Paul can box

Ben Askren can … ??

Neal vs. McCoy

Conor McGregor stance breakdown: This is a great concept for technique breakdowns in wrestling, too.

Q: Michael Chandler made his UFC debut last weekend and was impressive, winning by TKO over Dan Hooker in the first round. Do you see think Chandler has the tools to become a UFC champion?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Mike Chandler looked better in his UFC debut than he looked in all his years at Bellator. The striking that he's been working on for almost a decade has become a go to attack with devastating effect. Add- n his ability to fight off ground attacks and he starts to remind you of Dustin Poirier where he gets better with age.

There is absolutely no cap for Chandler. There are matchups that could stall his rise, but the UFC is incentivized to see him climb the ranks and will likely give him the title shot versus Dustin should the post-fight hype continue in earnest as it has for several days.

Chandler wouldn't be favored in early betting, but I'm guessing that as the day of the fight comes closer the line will tighten significantly.

Q: Any idea what happened with Teague Moore at American? Was he let go because of the program's performance? Or was it something else?

Foley: The school wasn't forthcoming about the circumstances, nor did Coach Moore given an explanation. However, there has been mention that Moore's political beliefs negatively impacted his relationship with the school. That can't be confirmed, but I'm sure that as the weeks pass more information will emerge that might bring more clarity.

What is certain is that the fallout was not related to the on-the-mat performance. Also, many parents seemed to enjoy Coach Moore and have vocally supported him during this process.

Until there is a public statement it's not possible to confirm. On a personal level, I like Coach Moore and wish him the best success in whatever he chooses to do next. He's a good guy.]]>88581Fri, 29 Jan 2021 13:35:05 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 22, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-january-22-2021-r88536/
The weekend's most notable performance was that of Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis who walloped a series of opponents on his way to gold at 65 kilograms. Yianni avenged a close loss to 2016 Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili with an impressive 13-2 shellacking of the Georgian star. He also drummed wrestlers from France and Poland.

Most notably, Yianni bested fellow American James Green 5-0. The commanding win against one of America's best 65-kilogram wrestlers, and a beating of King Vlad, means Yianni has cemented himself as the top candidate to earn a spot on the United States Olympic team for Tokyo 2021. Going a bit further, I think that Yianni has a slightly better than 50/50 chance to medal at the Olympic Games should he continue to improve over the next several months.

Domestically, Yianni will have to face JO and Jaydin Eierman, who could give him fits in certain positions, but where Yianni would still be heavily favored. However, it's Zain Retherford, the 65-kilogram representative from Nur-Sultan who has every chance to beat Yianni come April. He's stronger, quicker, and has plenty of international experience. Will that mean he can beat Yianni who is obviously a different wrestler that he was 18 months ago, or even six months ago? No clue. We'll just have to see how it plays out on the mats.

It's important to keep in mind that whoever wins the battle at 65 kilograms will be facing long odds at qualifying for the Olympic Games. The World Qualifier in May will almost certainly feature either Haji Aliev, King Vlad, or Selahattin Kilicsallayan or Turkey. If one of those guys ends up on the same side then it's possible that an Olympic berth would be a coin flip, at best. (Forgiving that Yianni would be favored over King Vlad.)

In other Deglane news, Thomas Gilman stifled Vito Arujau and came home with bronze. However, for the moment that really is the side show as the nation waits for what should be an incredible showdown between Gilman and his Hawkeye brethren Spencer Lee. The winner of the 57-kilogram tournament will have an advantage for the Olympic Games since the qualification strife was sorted in March, whereas the rest of the world still needs to go through their final two tournaments.

Should Spencer Lee come out on top, I'm certain there will be a lot of European wrestling fans who will be greatly disappointed -- after his comeback performance in Macon in 2016 the world has grown to respect his ability and his heart.

To your questions …

Cary Kolat drills with one of his Navy wrestlers (Photo/Navy Athletics)

Q: Cary Kolat seems to be having early success at Navy. They beat Lehigh for the first time since 2011 and broke into the top 25. Do you think Kolat will ever be able to get Navy into the top 10 and eventually contending for a team trophy? Or is the ceiling lower at a service academy?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Cary Kolat is having an incredible start to his coaching campaign at the Naval Academy. Put aside the things that make him a great coach, the situation at the Naval Academy is absolutely fantastic. The room can see as many as 100 wrestlers in a day, who are all in quarantine, and who are not drinking or breaking rules with anything like regularity. In that way, the less desirable part of coaching in the 2020's has been taken care of by the situation.

The Naval Academy has had a few multiyear runs with top-25 appearances, largely during the Bruce Burnett era. There were All-Americans, conference titles, and wins over big-name programs. They competed tough and would give teams fits. On level they still had holes in the lineup largely due to restrictions on recruiting, but found ways to win.

Here's my theory on why Coach Kolat is much better situated in 2021 than Coach Burnett was in 2010.

The baseline technique and skill of the common high school wrestler is far greater today than it was 10 or 20 years ago. With online instruction and sport specialization there has been an incredible improvement across the board. Now, the top athletes and finishers may still end up in the Big 10 or ACC, but Kolat doesn't need to work near as hard to provide operational techniques to his wrestlers and thus can spend more time on high level techniques. The building blocks are in place and Kolat just needs to provide the intelligence and inspiration.

The other thing that will work in Kolat's favor is that he's extremely well known by the wrestling dad's now searching for a school to send their children. Wrestling parents and the broader socioeconomic class we embody, is attracted to military service. A dash of Kolat, a pop of discipline, and the garnish of a "free" education is highly attractive to any parent in our world.

I have a lot of confidence in saying that Kolat will finish in the top 10 in the next five years. He will have a season with multiple All-Americans in the next three, and he will beat - or place higher - than several top 25 teams in 2021.

Kolat is a great coach in the right spot at the right time.

Q: Any idea what's up with American University? They haven't wrested or released a schedule yet. They were supposed to wrestle Navy twice, but I believe those matches were canceled.
-- Mike C.

Foley: According to the communications department at American: "We have had delays to start training due to health and safety protocols, and there are a few items holding up our schedule release, but the program is not on hold. I will let you know as soon as it is determined."

Q: I've noticed a lot of the international competitors wearing some seriously vintage wrestling shoes in competitions of late. Asics Dave Schultz Ultraflex's, Asics Gables (the original ones), Adidas Combat Speeds (not new), etc. These don't look like they're old versions either, they're in good shape, and almost seem new or new old stock. All of those models are long since discontinued, at least state side, and fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay in good condition or common sizes. Any idea where these teams are getting their shoes? Is vintage just in right now and they're scouring eBay? Do their teams have piles of deadstock? Are Asics and Adidas still offering older models in the non-U.S. markets?
-- Jon G.

Foley: The shoe game overseas is pretty incredible, but I can't provide much insight on the shoes or who is supplying them. Are we certain they are vintage? From my eye a lot of the shoes are the basic Adidas that we've seen over the last several years -- unfussy, tight to the foot, and bold colors. To my eye, most look to be the Combat Speeds, but the light blue version isn't available in the USA.

Comment section have any insight? Maybe you could email me, too. I'll also be sure to get a bug in the ear of these international guys and see if I can find the supplier!

Q: Gable Steveson and Anthony Cassioppi meet Friday night. Last season Gable beat him 9-4 at the Big Tens and 7-5 in a dual meet. How do you see Friday's match going?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Love me a good heavyweight matchup, but the space between Gable Steveson and most every other heavyweight in the United States has widened past the point of being competitive. Gable by a touchdown.

Q: How do you think the Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier fight Saturday night will go?
-- Mike C.

Foley: With a beautiful new Powers John's Lane Release Irish Whiskey I was gifted by a friend for Christmas!

As for in-the-cage, I'd suspect the UFC is keen to see Conor stay competitive until another high-level fight can be booked and the organization profit. That means they know, or believe, that Dustin is little better than a tomato can opponent. That's not to say Dustin can't give Conor fits, or go the distance, it just means there was a reason they didn't find a wrestler for Conor to fight, or someone who could submit the Irishman from their own back.

What I do think we will see is blood, and lots of it. There are going to be a lot of eye-level jabs landed by both men and given the UFC's lust for blood-spattered, standing brawls is what they are expecting too.]]>88536Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:08:19 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 15, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-january-15-2021-r88512/
Though the billing was hyperbolic it did speak honestly to the excitement of the American community in watching its two biggest stars clash in the revival of their once red-hot rivalry. I watched, my parents watched, and there were more than a few text chains about the matchup and who would win. The excitement built as expected and oncer the whistle blew fans were given an exciting on-the-mat performance.

Though the anti-criteria crowd chirped and tweeted, there isn't much reason to relitigate the efficacy of having the scoring system since it was enacted several years ago and has been the backbone of the sport's growth in worldwide marketability. Athletes, fans, and television producers alike all know the time limitations and can prepare accordingly, which has meant more intense matchups, watched by more fans, and streamed to more localities than ever before.

As for the match itself, Taylor was able to control the distance with numerous head slaps (likely to be called flagrant at an international tournament) and tying up Jordan's hands. Taylor was so effective that in six minutes Burroughs was only able to penetrate once on a shot. While Taylor arguably could have stopped the shot entirely, he wisely allowed himself to be pushed out and thus only gave up one point, as opposed to the potential for two and Burroughs working from top position.

Taylor's weight advantage also played a factor in Wednesday night's outcome. While close enough in weight to make it competitive, Taylor's length and weight equaled added leverage that it didn't seem Burroughs could wear down in a six-minute match. To Taylor's credit he was in shape and prepared for the late push, but I'd guess that Burroughs gets through a 74-kilogram wrestler's similar defense, which I'm assuming we will see from Kyle Dake should the two meet at the Olympic Team Trials in April.

Overall, it was a fun night with a compelling set of what-if's that were answered on the mat rather than on an online forum. As a side note, it could not have been easy for FloWrestling to put together an additional card in only four days. That's an enormous lift in a short period of time.

To your questions …

Stanford associate head coach Ray Blake and head coach Jason Borrelli (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: I saw something about Stanford University barring Stanford's wrestling program from using their official Stanford wrestling Twitter account. What's that about?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Last week the Stanford University athletics department informed the wrestling program follow a strict protocol regarding their social media messaging. The school even went so far as to lock out the coaches from using the official Twitter handle. In response, the Stanford wrestling staff began using the "Keep Stanford Wrestling" Twitter account (@KeepStanfordWRE), where they planned to continue discussing their ongoing battle for reinstatement.


While an uneasy truth, the Stanford Athletics department has every right to prevent employees from posting information or ideas that they find to counteract their position. Thus, a social media account that says its future elimination is unjust would be an issue for the school, and frankly, any business.

That's not to say they are right to have eliminated the program. The Stanford wrestling program is in a renaissance with some of the very best wrestlers in the nation supporting the The Farm. From what's being shared online there also seems to be more than $10 million in donations dedicated to the creation of a women's wrestling program and the continuation of a men's wrestling program. Short of saving face, there is little logic in sticking to the school's decision from the spring. The money, the interest, and the gender balance are all in place.

Good luck to the coaching staff, athletes, and alumni. We are all holding on to hope.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Henri Deglane Trailer

Zagreb Open Trailer

Helen Maroulis will be on the mats this weekend!


Q: Penn State was supposed to open its season this weekend against Rutgers, but the dual meet was canceled because of COVID. Now the team is pausing all activities. What are the rules on when they can return to competition? Does it vary by conference?
-- Mike C.

Foley: While I expected there to be several COVID-related pauses within the 2021 season, I'm nevertheless bummed to see it happen so early in the year and to two of the best programs in the country. From what I saw online and in the results, the first two weeks of the season progressed with little issue, which gave me hope that there was adequate containment everywhere. That was probably foolish, and it's good that our programs are keeping an eye on the problem.

How long? That's not clear at the moment, but the typical waiting period for quarantine is 14 days or two negative tests over a few days. I'd suspect it'll land somewhere in that window.

For what it's worth to the discussion, I have a friend who runs a successful gym that has stayed in operation during the last several months. Most the athletes and coaches suspected they'd already had CVOID early in the pandemic and hadn't seen ay cases. Last week, in a matter of days, the entire gym came down with COVID. Thankfully, there were no serious cases in the gym but it's unclear the spread that might have taken place in the community.

While stopping is frustrating, his gym's battle with COVID was a good reminder that this disease is incredibly contagious and can't be ignored when a positive case is logged.

Here's to hoping there aren't too many more and that we can start getting vaccines into the arms of more and more people in the coming months.

Q: How many Americans do you expect to win gold at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix across all three styles?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Deglane lost a little bit of firepower last week with Cuba and Canada choosing to forgo the tournament after the post-competition camp was canceled due to local concerns of COVID transmission. The Cubans were bringing an incredible lineup capable of taking gold in almost each freestyle weight and the Canadians were bringing the defending Olympic champion, Erica Weibe on the women's side.

The tournament will be the first opportunity for several of our top athletes to compete and I'd guess that we will medal in each weight and probably be in each of the finals in freestyle. In women's wrestling you can expect to see a large number of finalists, but the entry lists on the women's side has some heavy hitters including world champion Yuliya Tkach.

Can't wait to watch.

Remember there is also a Zagreb Open this weekend.]]>88512Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:42:43 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 8, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-january-8-2021-r88482/
Burroughs, who competes at 74 kilograms (163 pounds), and Taylor who competes at 86 kilograms, will meet at Taylor's s weight. The obvious advantage is to Taylor, but it's important to factor in Burroughs being at a higher walking around weight of ~80 kilograms. Weight aside the matchup provides fans -- largely still starving for competitions -- the opportunity to watch one of the best what-if's in the sport bear out on the mats.

COVID has left an awful mark on our nation and our sport. Putting aside a moment the negative impacts, it's important to see that the adaptations made have added something to our overall wrestling community's outlook on the future of event making. Burroughs vs. Taylor is something of a silver lining that the time and space provided by the dearth of international competitions has enabled the country's biggest stars to compete in what is essentially a pride-only match. No matter who wins there is no reckoning to be had about Olympic spots or dings to one's self-confidence.

On the mat the predictions have been everywhere, but the favorite sentiment among fans seems to be "heart is with Burroughs, head is with Taylor." While the justification would vary among individuals the instinct is that Burroughs will always find a way to win and having faced and beaten Taylor last time would easily do it again. Alas, that Taylor and this Taylor are far different animals, and then there is the weight.

The technical breakdowns could last 4000 words and two hours of video, but the keys to victory are pretty clear. Burroughs will need to finish double legs definitively and avoid at all costs getting stuck under Taylor while attempting any single legs. Burroughs, coming over top and finding an ankle from the outside is a great start, but if he lingers below and allows Taylor time to find an edge it'll be a difficult scramble for Burroughs to win.

For Taylor there needs to be some type of molasses added to Burroughs' level changes. If he tries to match and mistimes it'll spell disappointment. Putting hands on Burroughs will allow Taylor head pressure that can also direct the action where he chooses, rather than be reactionary to his faster opponent. Taylor will also want to find some offense. Burroughs has spectacular defense from a distance but is less effective the deeper the action goes. Putting Burroughs' weight on his back leg by driving on a single leg and crunching down on an angle will give Taylor the momentum he needs to keep Burroughs close during the finish.

No matter the outcome I'm interested in the matchup, the match, and the post bout interviews.

The co-main event is also a must-see, with five-time world champion Adeline Gray meeting defending world champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock. I covered the matchup in last week's bag, but from a larger perspective I'm very appreciative that FloWrestling was able to make this happen. The ability to watch the top women compete will give a larger number of American wrestling fans a real connection to the athletes heading into the 2021 Olympic Games. That could mean more T-shirt purchases to help support their training, or simply following on Instagram. We live in the attention economy and these wrestlers deserve the opportunity to be seen by more of our die-hard fan base. Their inclusion in the event is a big moment for women's wrestling in the United States.

To your questions …

Q: Predictions for the Burroughs vs. Taylor card?
-- Mike C.

Foley: My predictions are below.

Mitch McKee df. Tristan Moran, 3-1
Ronna Heaton df. Desiree Zavala, 9-4
Nate Jackson df. Wynn Michalak, via tech fall
Seth Gross df. Zane Richards, 11-3
Matt McDonough df. Ethan Lizak, 6-2
Joey McKenna df. Nahshon Garrett, 7-0
Erin Golston df. Emily Shilson, 6-5
James Green df. Pat Lugo, 8-4
J'den Cox df. Hayden Zillmer, 9-0
Adeline Gray df. Tamyra Mensah-Stock, 5-2
Jordan Burroughs df. David Taylor, 3-2

Q: How do you think the Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Anthony Ashnault will go Friday night?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yianni! The guy has all the right moves for a massive career on the freestyle circuit. Assuming that he's in decent shape and ready for Ashnault's strength I think the matchup favors Yianni in 9/10 matches.

The one factor that Ashnault brings to the match is a real understanding of Yianni's scrambling style and instincts. I think Yianni is almost unmatched in his creativity, but I also see that the Americans who've done well in the college arena tend to also perform better against our top guys than some of the international competition. I tend to think it's the familiarity.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Jordan Burroughs on the Joe Rogan Experience?


Tom Brands Press Conference

Tom Brands speaking at Iowa's media day (Photo/Iowa Athletics)

Q: What did you think of Tom Brands' media day press conference? What was the "propaganda" he was referring to just before the 10-minute mark?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Oh, he was 100% percent talking about Penn State and their fan base. No question. I think we are in a place where it's OK to say that Tom Brands is in a position where he has an active dislike of all things State College. He's probably personalizing any perceived slights, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I for one love me a good rivalry.

There was some feedback about Tom's COVID comments, but I think they were measured and largely correct. I believe that Tom Brands understands the deadliness of COVID and that he wants to protect his wrestlers and their families from any harm the virus might cause. I also think that as an educator he's seeing the impact that not wrestling is having on some of his athletes. This is their life. This is his life. Being on the mats is akin to breathing. I still remember the heartache of having my fifth year being (briefly) stolen from me -- if they are feeling even a fraction of that pain then there is no faulting a coach who wants to see that alleviated through providing them a purpose-driven season.

Tom is a competitor and loves the sport, full-stop. He just wants the opportunity to have his kids get out there and kick somebody's butt. Not to mention he wants to win an NCAA title, which he would have done last year, and is primed to do in 2021.

Q: What can you tell us about the Henri Deglane? Who is going and what is happening?
Bobby O.

Foley: The Henri Deglane will be the first international wrestling tournament for Team USA since international sports was shut down in mid-March. The tournament has been competitive for several years, but in 2021 it will look to host a larger-than-normal constituency of athletes from Europe and the Americas.

Key among the entries will be Team Cuba and Team Azerbaijan, each of whom are bringing entire teams. Team Turkey will also bring a large group, including Riza Kayaalp.

I'd suspect there will be more than a few Americans facing each other in the tournament, but also remember that every wrestler will be guaranteed at least two matches, which reduces the letdown from a possible first-round matchup with a training partner or countrymen. Also, the freestyle weights are fairly robust with wrestlers from Italy, Spain, and France which gives our wrestlers a new feel before facing off against Turkey and Azerbaijan.

I'll be on-site to do interviews with some athletes we are featuring in documentaries this spring, namely Mijain Lopez. The USA Wrestling social media accounts and the UWW social media accounts will (fingers crossed) be updating results and sending out usable links to the livestream. However, it's important to remember that neither body is hosting the event -- that's the job of the French Wrestling Federation.

Watch today for the full entry list.]]>88482Fri, 08 Jan 2021 13:29:54 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: January 1, 2021https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-january-1-2021-r88457/
The NCAA Division I wrestling season will start in earnest this week, with several programs competing in dual meets, triangulars and quadranglers. The goal of the meets is to limit the amount of cross-contamination of possibly COVID positive wrestlers, while also allows for the maximum number of matches and fewest number of travel dates.

For those in folkstyle wrestling withdraw it will be a fun week of action.

The qualification process for the NCAAs is (to put it mildly) confusing. The system will consist of a five-year historic review of the conference to determine how many spots can be pre-allocated to the conference, above and beyond the conference champion allocation (70 in total). The number of these pre-allocated spots will range from 170 to 240 depending on the number of athletes the NCAA will allow to compete at the tournament. There will also be 40 at-large selections made by the committee.

You can find the full allocation review at the NCAA website here.

While many are happy to have the season returning, there should be a collective acknowledgement of the dangers the season will present to wrestlers, coaches, administration, and support staff -- to say nothing of the sport in general. Each known instance of COVID transmission from the NCAA football season was well-documented. Their benefit was that with so many people on the field the contact tracking wasn't as obvious as it will be if an outbreak happens during a meet. Should that occur we should expect media scrutiny about the safety of wrestling during a raging pandemic. When there is an outbreak, I'm fearful for both the health of the athletes and the negative perception of the sport it will cause.

The NCAA and its member institutions seem prepared to take on that challenge and I'm optimistic that they will have sanitary controls that encourage distancing and the limitation of unnecessary risk. However, as I've seen in seven years of traveling to various countries to attend wrestling events, no standard is so well-written as to not be willfully ignored.

Also, a reminder from my sardonic Algebra teacher who wrote dark witticisms on the chalkboard each day to greet students, "Smile. Tomorrow will be worse."

To your questions …

Adeline Gray and Tamyra Mensah-Stock at a Beat the Streets event in 2017 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: What do you think of the Adeline Gray vs. Tamyra Mensah-Stock match on Jan. 9? How do you see it going?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I think Adeline Gray would only accept a match she was confident she could win via leg lace. Which, to be fair, is basically any match.

Adeline is the type of match that Tamyra needs to remind her to improve her par terre defense. Two years ago Tamyra would lose because she didn't trust her offense and made mistakes on the edge of the mat. Heading into the Olympic Games her biggest obstacle might be a lack of focus when in par terre almost BECAUSE she's so good on her feet and trusts her ability to score there.

For Adeline, preparing for Tamyra is great preparation for the Olympic Games. She fell short in 2016 but not because she was outwrestled -- she just didn't meet the moment. In facing someone as talented as Tamyra on a site with all her fans watching it'll give Adeline a feel for that big pressure moment she'll need to master come Tokyo this summer.

I think she'll meet the moment next week and in Tokyo. As will Tamyra.

Q: What was the biggest wrestling story of 2020?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Tough to see any story outstripping COVID and the impact it has had on two NCAA wrestling seasons. The loss of the 2020 NCAA Championships and the truncated 2021 schedule is a once-in-a-century type of occurrence. The last postponement of the NCAA championships was in the 1940's due to World War II. Let's hope that with vaccinations we can get to a 2021-2022 with a stable schedule and fans back in arenas.

The important thing to remember is that the vaccinations only work when we as a society choose to take them. Do your best to avoid the false information spreading about the vaccines and put trust in the incredible doctors and researchers who've performed a miracle in creating a safe, effective vaccine in record time.

Don't be these people.

Q: Who do you think will be the breakout star of the college wrestling season?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Cubans. They have tremendous talent, resources at their disposal, and are both ready-made media stories for the press come March 18.

From our staff article this week:

Yonger Bastida (Iowa State, 197)

Bastida, a native of Cuba, won a silver medal at the 2019 Junior World Championships in freestyle. He has notched wins in his freestyle career over the likes of NCAA champion Kyven Gadson, two-time-All-American Hayden Zillmer and three-time NCAA qualifier Blaize Cabell.

Anthony Echemendia (Ohio State, 141)

Like Bastida, Echemendia is an immensely talented freestyle wrestler from Cuba. He has more folkstyle experience than Bastida having competed as a high school senior in Arizona. Echemendia posted a perfect 52-0 record and won a state championship in 2019.

The article also mentions A.J. Ferrari who I'd agree will be a breakout performer this year, though I don't think he has as much ability to penetrate the mainstream as the Cubans will. Still he's a top five finisher with an unintentionally hilarious trove of social media posts, with more sure to come.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Wowza

Kudukhov vs. Gomez

Q: Will fans be permitted to attend the college postseason events (conference championships, NCAAs)?
-- Mike C.

Foley: My guess is you'll see some limited attendance at the conference championships, but only a family-based attendance at the NCAAs. There isn't much logic in cramming people into the arena. Our demographic is dramatically older than you'd expect and with that will come increased vulnerability to COVID.

Best guess? The NCAA will allocate the same division of tickets to each school, but only give them a percentage of their full allocation. There would also need to be distancing protocols, masks, and other sanitary conditions met.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Captains' Cup in mid-February?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Amazing format. Perfect for women's wrestling, which doesn't have as deep of rosters in their RTC's, but has plenty of competitors. Allowing for a captain's choice model will generate plenty of discussion about the talents of each athlete and how they might match up at each weight class and against their Canadian opponents.

We've been blessed with plenty of innovation in 2020 and I'm happy to see that extending into the New Year with the Captains Cup.]]>88457Fri, 01 Jan 2021 06:22:59 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: December 18, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-december-18-2020-r88447/Abdulrashid Sadulaev after winning a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
The Individual World Cup wraps up today in Belgrade with the freestyle finals, including 97 kilograms where Abdulrashid Sadulaev looks to continue his three-year winning streak.

No wrestler has continued to capture the imagination of the international wrestling community more than Sadulaev. From that first steam rolling of the competition at the 2013 Cadet World Championships, to the first senior world title in 2014, and even the 2017 loss to Kyle Snyder, there is no wrestler in the world that is more admired, pursued, discussed, respected, emulated, and sought after than the Russian captain.

Americans want to see Sadulaev beaten. Maybe by J'den Cox, maybe Kyle Snyder, but the aim of fans is to have the Stars and Stripes upend arguably the best wrestler of the past ten years. That type of singular focus by the United States media and fans on an exalted athlete is what could make the 2021 Tokyo Games the most watched wrestling event in history.

Those lofty expectations come with an assumption that the United States puts its 97-kilogram representative into the Olympic finals against Sadualev. But should it happen the broader international media won't hesitate to make the matchup a marquee event for that day of the Olympic Games.

We've seen this before. When Rulon faced Karelin at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney the media was in attendance. The IOC president was even in the audience. The match wasn't meant to be a Miracle on Ice Olympic redux; rather a coronation of Alexander Karelin, who over 13 years had gone unscathed on the mats, as the greatest wrestler who ever lived. That moment was vanquished by an antiquated rule set and a rotund midwestern belly, but gave rise to the now most-fabled moment in wrestling's long history.

For the wrestling purist the Karelin loss didn't sit well. The Soviet-then-Russian wrestler was beyond anything we'd seen before: strong, intelligent, and fierce. His posters were in the workout rooms of Americans and his Sports Illustrated articles read over-and-over again. I know of one wrestler who'd named his mother's dog "Karelin."

That mismatch and outcome won't be what is drawing eyes to a potential USA vs. Sadulaev matchup. The draw is the intrigue that the sport has built around these characters and how their story has developed in front of our eyes like no other story in wrestling history. Just think, every match Sadulaev has wrestled is on video, as is every match from Snyder and Cox. There are no dark spots or unknown results. The clarity of their story and the detail in which it can be told can be molded for a variety of audiences, bringing in those quadrennial crowds that make our sport one of the most discussed at each Games.

The ecosystem created around wrestling has worked to create stars and provide easy access points to fans around the world. When I started working with then-FILA in 2013 we had 5,000 Facebook fans, no streaming, and zero impact on the sports landscape. This week, IOC president Thomas Bach said United World Wrestling was the seventh-best international federation in sports. The media probably plays a small role in that, but I think it's important. The ranking by the IOC shows that we will be part of the Olympic program for as long as we'd like to continue to tell stories, innovate, provide equal opportunities and develop the sport in new regions.

So, when you're watching Sadulaev in today's finals think about all of that. How far we've come, where we can go, and the feeling you'll be experiencing when next summer an American beats "The Tank" on the biggest sporting stage in the world with tens of millions of eyeballs ooh'ing and aww'ing the whole time.

To your questions …

Q: 57 kilograms in the United States seems pretty balanced. Seth Gross defeated Thomas Gilman Wednesday night. Vito looked great at the RTC Cup. Spencer Lee and Daton Fix are there and possibly Joe Colon. If you had to predict now, who will wrestle for the Olympic spot?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I agree. The depth, especially when you focus on their battles with each other, makes 57 kilograms one of the most intriguing weights in the United States.

Let me throw a little cold water on the discussion of the weight. Unless the United States representative does something at the Ranking Series event in Poland, or another international event prior, whomever is sent won't be a heavy favorite to medal. There are a lot of talented 57-kilogram wrestlers in the world right now, with Zaur Uguev head-and-shoulders above them all. While I think that Daton, Spencer, and to a lesser extent Vito, could make waves at the Olympics they are far from being an outright medal contender. Again, that's unless the representative who emerges also scores some significant international wins before July.

I feel like I have a bias, but for my money Spencer Lee is the most likely to win the spot, represent the United States, and medal at the Olympic Games. He's a generational talent and though he's been off the mats for a bit he's well-equipped to win the weight here at home.

Only caveat to that is the growth of Vito as evidenced by his outstanding wins at the RTC Cup. Should he keep up the progression, and the seeding separates them, I'd expect a final between Vito and Spencer.

Q: What do you make of the match at the NLWC event between RBY and UFC fighter Aljamain Sterling? Six minutes of wrestling and three minutes of BJJ. With Sterling having a big following, it seems like a good way to bring more attention to wrestling.
-- Mike C.

Foley: The mixed-style events are always an interest to fans, but like watching a pit bull fight a puma there is something that always feels icky about the scene. The matchup -- unless there is something I'm not aware of -- pits RBY (who doesn't know any jiu-jitsu) against Sterling (who is a black belt) for three minutes.

Are there rule considerations? No heel hooks or chokes? No submissions at all? While Sterling isn't a top-flight jiu-jitsu competitor he is a fantastic fighter and the black belt would indicate a higher-than-average competency on the mat. Sterling should have little issue finding a submission.

In the wrestling portion, I'm sure it'll be a nice RBY victory not unlike we saw when Caldwell stepped on the mat against Luke Pletcher. There might be flashes, but otherwise it shouldn't be a tightly competed match.

As for attention … sure. Sterling is a big name, but I think wrestling has progressed past the point of always needing sideshow events to draw in new fans. We do perfectly fine building on our core audience and retaining them with solid production values and quality, meaningful matchups. Chasing the outliers gives us a false sense that their money and attention is more valuable than our own, and that's not the case.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

He's not easy on the eyes, but Eric Olanowski is crushing these recaps

Uguev is no joke

Destribas won …


Q: What do you think of Russia's doping ban being reduced from four years to two years? What does this mean for international wrestling?
-- Mike C.

Foley: There is far too much political entanglement to the story of Russia, doping, and the Olympic Games for me to give you an answer that would be somehow more enlightening than what was already put online by CAS and investigators. In short, they seemed to have cheated but have made changes to their anti-doping programs and a two Olympic Games ban was deemed bad enough. After reviewing the case, CAS halved the number of years.

There isn't much impact on international wrestling outside of not having to hear the Russian anthem after each gold medal. Truthfully, I think that stings for the athletes who feel national pride in what they have achieved. The wrestlers will still compete, but with no national representation it must be under a neutral flag.

The only decision to be determined is whether or not the 2022 World Championships will still be held in Krasnoyarsk. I don't think that has been sorted since it was awarded prior to the announcement of the investigations. Watch the UWW homepage for announcements when its made clear by the IOC what needs to occur.

Q: Were you surprised Yoel Romero was cut by the UFC? Bellator picked him up.
-- Mike C.

Foley: No. The UFC goes through a mass culling four-times a year and Yoel, while explosive and fun to watch, is long in the tooth and wasn't lining up for another championship run. Bellator's lineup is exciting and he'll have plenty of opportunity for good money matchups and a place for him to showcase his full talent. I'd always had the impression that Yoel was given the opportunities but wasn't able to fully match the moment. Maybe in Bellator he'll have less pressure and find big victories that eluded him in the Octagon.

Love Yoel and hope to see him fight many more times.]]>88447Fri, 18 Dec 2020 13:07:40 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: December 11, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-december-11-2020-r88439/
The international wrestling community has been inactive since the Pan American Olympic qualification tournament in March. In the eight months since the world has battled the worst pandemic in 100 years, some nations are having more success in their fight than others. Wrestling, unlike other sports, has had to wait to resume competitions because of the safety protocols required and nations interested in hosting. And with one of the deadliest days in American history happening yesterday it can feel wrong to watch wrestling knowing that the spread of the virus here is uncontrolled.

On the topic of safety, there are a number of protocols in place for the IWC. The Serbian government is supporting United World Wrestling's effort to test all athletes, coaches, and staff prior to entering the country. The teams and the individuals will be in a bubble environment for the two weeks and everything, including dining, will be socially spaced and on a strict schedule. There are pages of protocols which will guide the behavior of the athletes and the event. There will be no fans or press allowed in the venue.

We are in the midst of a pandemic and protocols are important, but as we've seen with the American tournaments that's mostly becoming the background noise. The wrestling public, in general just wants to see some competition. As was stated last month, the United States won't be in attendance, but several European nations are bringing their starting lineups, including Russia who is bringing their full team of top wrestlers. With 300,000 CHF in prize money who can blame them?

There are myriad storylines to follow, including a Greco-Roman 97-kilogram weight class that is absolutely stacked with killers including defending Rio Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan and defending world champion Musa Evloev.

The tournament schedule is here, and you can watch on Trackwrestling and follow along on United World Wrestling via Twitter, Instagram, TikTok (@unitedworldwrestling), YouTube, and Facebook.

To your questions …

Q: Does the news of Pennsylvania shutting down sports surprise you?
-- Jed R.

Foley: Yes. Pennsylvania had announced there were to be no rule modifications for the upcoming season and that competitions were to go forward as planned. Right now the soonest they can return is Jan. 8, 2021 but given the current numbers, planned holiday travel, the unstopped spread of the virus its highly unlikely that the date will stay unmoved.

A month off is a long time, but states seem to be reacting to immense pressure from educators, parents, and health officials.

I'm really interested to see how this will affect the collegiate wrestling season. As of today there is the abbreviated season to start in January, but will the NCAA (and the member institutions) just plow ahead if another 100,000 Americans die of COVID in January? I struggle to think of a situation in which several colleges would even choose to reopen for in-person classes and thus risk massive travel spread. If there are not in-person classes, then those same schools might follow the example of the Ivy League and shut down their seasons.

The NCAA has benchmarks for how many schools must be competing in order to qualify 33, 16 or fewer wrestlers for the tournament. Those may change. The entire thing could shut down. But as of right now it's the 2021 season with an aim to have a full bracket for the tournament.

Q: Initial thoughts on the announcement of Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor meeting on Jan. 9?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Gimme. This feels like a fresh matchup with a fun backstory and an exciting style comparison. The size and strength of David Taylor will be a factor, especially early, but it could be for naught if Taylor shuts down in the second period.

The Zahid match might be instructive for Taylor as he prepares. Wrestling low prevents doubles and reattack outside singles, but it does open up the defensive wrestler to front headlocks, snaps, and passbys. Taylor has shown himself to be aggressive of late. He's attacking opponents early and running up the score. That's likely to prevent any nasty entanglements like the one which caused his knee injury at Beat the Streets, but it also serves to give him a much larger cushion should he fade in the second period.

They haven't wrestled in six years and their lifetime results are close-close.

A 4-0 shutout at the 2013 U.S. Open, before the rule changes (3-0, 1-0), the epic 7-6 at the 2014 U.S. Open and then the back-to-back 5-2 and 6-5 matches at the 2014 World Team Trials.

That was a lifetime ago and at a different weight, but Burroughs is my favorite here. So much of wrestling is mental and until the King is Dead, Long Live the King.

Gabe Steveson (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

Q: Do you view Gable Steveson as the favorite over Nick Gwiazdowski now?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yes. He's gotten bigger, which is key for a heavyweight. He's gotten stronger. That's key for just about everyone. Gable has also improved his mat sense tremendously and seems focused on taking opportunities to compete and prepare for the Olympic Games. On the technical side, he also found a way to finish the knee pick he attempted in their prior two meetings, which indicates a legitimate game plan.

Where I thought Gable's youth was a disadvantage for a July 2020 Games, I think it's now a huge advantage. With Nick getting older and a number of the international heavyweights aging quickly, the thought of Gable on the Olympic stage would translate to a medal.

One concern is that he's chatting about this being his last year wrestling. I don't know what that means, or if that is a UFC type of ploy to gain attention and money, but it would be heartbreaking given he's a frontrunner to win the 2024 Olympics and whatever other pursuits he's interested in pursuing will still be around in three years.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

#WrestleBelgrade

Burroughs vs. Taylor is going to be … outrageous



Nate Parker's new movie American Skin debuts in January

Q: What do you think of James Green's chances at 65 kilograms? Do you think he is capable of making the team and qualifying the weight for the Olympics?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Of course. He's a world silver medalist and a top-level international competitor. The 65-kilogram field in America is extremely competitive. Yianni's first criteria win was an important match for both men, but heading into their first match I'd heavily favored Yianni and came away thinking Green is more effective at 65 kilograms than I'd previously thought. By the second match I thought Yianni had a gamesmanship advantage.

Green will face a tough Bryce Meredith in the first round of Flo's 8-Man Challenge, likely followed by a matchup with Jordan Oliver. Should he make it through that mess he will almost certainly face Bajrang Punia who is top three in the world.

I can speculate all I want about his ability to compete, but fortunately we will see it play out over the next several weeks.

On a separate note, I think Jordan Oliver is the wrestler best suited to qualify the weight class at the international level, followed closely by Jaydin Eierman and then Yianni.

Q: Who do you think will win Flo's 8-Man Challenge at 150 pounds?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Bajrang]]>88439Fri, 11 Dec 2020 07:48:09 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: December 4, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-december-4-2020-r88407/
The New Jersey RTC, Spartan Combat, Ohio RTC, Wolfpack RTC, Minnesota Storm, and the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club are being drawn into pools with a dual meet structure. Titan Mercury, who is not an RTC, is sponsoring the event, which comes with a $200,000 prize for the winning club.

Pool A includes Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, Wolfpack WC and Gopher Wrestling Club, while Pool B is the Spartan Combat RTC, NJRTC/SERTC and the Ohio RTC. Wrestlers from clubs not entered in the competition were allowed to join those in the tournament in an effort to fill out rosters.

The action on the mat is interesting and for a full breakdown of matchups and storylines you can check out InterMat's breakdown and some multimedia content from Flo. While the level of competition is going to be world class the larger story around the RTC Cup is the way in which it looks to rejigger how American wrestlers prepare for their freestyle careers.

The low point for USA Wrestling was the output (and preparation) for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The lackluster performance at the 2008 Games gave USA Wrestling the opportunity to change and find new solutions. Part of that was to create the Living the Dream Fund, which created direct financial compensation for good performance. The other was to create increased traction with the NCAA for RTC growth (and eventually) a more lenient set of rules by which the Olympic athletes could participate in practice.

Add in increased media opportunities for athletes (aka more money) and the number of stable training opportunities available to post-graduate Olympic athletes has grown to the level where additional competitions inside the states are possible. Going forward it's likely that the NYAC and Sunkist will be just one of several competitions each year, rather than the only two cost-effective ways for most post-graduates to get top-level competition.

The RTC Cup has the ability to be an annual event, and the variety of head-to-head duals on other platforms may also prove to provide monthly competitions. The question remains how all these will be affected by a return to normalcy in the spring when the international calendar returns with opportunities for ranking series points and access to European and Asian opponents.

For now we should enjoy this pandemic-primed response by the community. We are adapting as best we can for an uncertain future and in doing so creating an organic structure that should be repeatable for years to come.

To your questions …

James Green is expected to compete at 65 kilograms at the RTC Cup (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: Who is competing at the RTC Cup? Any must-see matchups?
-- John G.

Foley: First, the rosters are posted on Flo. They also have a tremendous amount of content around each wrestler and you should go watch. While the United States loves its NCAA wrestlers and most of us know these guys, the fact that they are competing in freestyle is a great opportunity to learn more about their thinking and approach to competition.

I'm tuning into the 65-kilogram matchups between Anthony Echemendia, Yianni Diakomihalis and James Green. This is the big ticket pull. We are going to watch a world silver medalist in Green and potential future world medalists in Echemendia and Yianni. Who will beat who and what will the matches look like? Heaven knows. Creative defenses, blast attacks, and three proven winners in one weekend of wrestling. We are lucky to watch. I'll take Yianni.

The heavyweight trifecta of Gable, Gwiz, and Parris is also one of the more discussed matchup triangles of the RTC Cup. That is a tremendous amount of talent (and heft) for any nation to have, but especially to have it at the upperweights is a gift for the United States. I'd guess Gwiz is the slight favorite over Gable and Parris, but to see Gable go undefeated wouldn't surprise me too much. I'd need to see more out of Parris before predicting that he's winning his weight, but I equally wouldn't be surprised to see him take a match from Gwiz or Gable.

My only fear is that there might be some personnel shifting and we the fans would be denied a marquee matchup.

Q: There will be a couple Cuban wrestlers in Division I. Anthony Echemendia at Ohio State and Yonger Bastida at Iowa State. What are realistic expectations for these wrestlers in their first year of Division I wrestling? Do you think this could be a trend where Division I coaches recruit from outside the country?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Cubans have arrived! I'm not sure what is happening on the larger level that has led to TWO Cubans in the same year, but it's wonderful for NCAA wrestling to have some international flare. Ohio State and Iowa State are sure to get better because of their presence, but I think the larger NCAA pool of athletes will also benefit from seeing their international style melding with the NCAA rules.

As for what we will see from Echemendia and Yonger you can bet heavily on both being All-Americans. Most fans are aware of Echemendia and know he will compete right off the whistle. Yonger is lesser-known, but is an absolute monster with a slew of big wins in his recent past. In addition to being a junior world silver medalist and U23 bronze medalist, Yonger has wins over Hayden Zilmer, Blaize Cabell, and Kyven Gadson. He can place right away.

There have been a number of wrestlers from foreign countries who've competed in the NCAA championships over the last two decades. Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Russia are the most prevalent, but it'll be interesting to see if the recent Cuban additions becomes a pipeline, or if it's a coincidence that both were able to make it over in 2020.

If the United States starts adopting collegiate women's wrestling my guess is we'll begin to see an incredible pipeline from Japan, Mongolia, and the Nordic countries and possibly India.

Should be an interesting few years.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Yonger No. 1

Yonger No. 2

Great Burroughs throwback

Musukaev!

Link: Excellent read from Patrick Wyman

Q: Nice to see some women's matches as co-main events in these recent RTC events, don't you think? The Wisconsin RTC had Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Alyssa Lampe as the co-main event, while the Tar Heel Wrestling Open has Macey Kilty vs. Emma Bruntil as the main event.
-- Mike C.

Foley: Wonderful to see. The women are exciting competitors and I think that every time our consumers have the opportunity to watch they come back. When the consumers get to know backstories they tend to tune in. We've seen that at United World Wrestling. Just this week we hosted a Legends vs. Stars bracket for women's wrestling and there were almost 200,000 votes for just the final matchup. That's insane. Those are NBA numbers.

Our community is growing and the growth is through women's wrestling.

As an example, I love watching Macey Kilty wrestle, but haven't caught much of Emma Bruntil -- and now I have the chance because I want to watch Macey and now I can learn about Emma. It's perfect.

It was great seeing Sarah and Alyssa as the co-main event at WRTC Underground 1. Both world-class competitors.

Q: Legendary boxers Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. recently fought. Both are over 50 years old. What's one match you would like to see between wrestling greats over the age of 50?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Valentin Jordanov vs. John Smith]]>88407Fri, 04 Dec 2020 13:58:55 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: November 20, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-november-20-2020-r88409/
While the loss of life is among the largest mass death events in American history, there is something about the disease and the way it kills that has numbed the populace. Those who die often do so in isolation. No family or friends to hold their hands and no funerals for loved ones to grieve. What keeps us separated from each other (the fear of the virus) is also what keeps it successful because too many Americans aren't able to witness its awfulness up close and avoid it at all costs. We don't see the deaths firsthand and have enough alternative facts in our realm to make us think it's a diminished threat.

Previous catastrophic events in American society were widely televised, surprise one-offs and generally accepted as having evil roots. Think about the reaction to 911 and the nationalism it sparked. Now think about the sustained response to that singular event one fall day twenty years ago. In response to 4,000 American deaths the government launched the longest war in American history, costing taxpayers trillions of dollars, and leading to the death of millions internationally.

The difference in reactions matters because right now more than EIGHTY times more people have died from COVID and yet the response of the federal government has been impotent at best.

Read the internet for 12 minutes and you can see that COVID isn't treated with the same respect as 911 or Pearl Harbor. The nationalism those attacks triggered allowed everyone on the same team, but with COVID there are myriad teams, none of whom seem too concerned with saving lives.

The broadcasting of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was evidence of tragedy that was too overwhelming for 99% of Americans to ignore. With COVID too many individuals simply don't believe the disease is real or that any coordinated response is required, necessary, or within the overarching ideology of the United States. "Freedom" as Jim Jordan tweeted last night is being defined as individual liberty to do as one sees fit. However, real freedom is not being burdened by those in society who prioritize their comfort over your health. Freedom is the idea that everyone can enjoy something after shared sacrifice and response, not that you get to wave a coiled snake flag in the air and regurgitate Alex Jones conspiracy theories.

The simple truth is that we are failing. America has been the most vivid example of failed leadership among a self-governed democracy in the last 100 years. COVID is exposing that the idea of individual liberty topping all other needs is incompatible with successfully fighting a pandemic.

Unfortunately, the bull-headedness of that ideology will cost the American people hundreds of thousands of lives, and for the wrestling community it will mean two consecutive seasons of our sport lost to the selfishness of a sub-section of society that believes their comfort is worth more than your life.

To your questions …

Q: With the Ivy League canceling, as well as Lock Haven, from where I sit it seems unlikely there will be NCAA wrestling in 2020-21. What are your thoughts?
-- Mike C.

Foley: When I sit back and imagine a situation in which the NCAA approves a wrestling season, I'm consistently finding myself frustrated with a lack of options. A vaccine won't be in play for this year. Travel this winter is shaping up to be the most difficult in American history, with travel restrictions and local bans on gathering. Finally, I don't think many schools will be returning students in January.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in America has not stopped. It stalled for a while in the summer, but it never went away. Where in March the large metropolitan areas like New York City were taken aback by the power of the virus, today the virus is ravaging rural and suburban communities who seem to be suffering from virus fatigue.

Ultimately that will lead to the elimination of the NCAA season. There is no way forward in the winter. I hope that something dramatic happens in the meantime and that I'm proven wrong, but that's not happening. The vaccine is on the other side of the season and unfortunately we haven't done enough as a country to control the virus.

Jordan Burroughs came from behind to defeat Zahid Valencia on Nov. 14 (Photo/Justin Hoch, JHoch.com)

Q: How would international referees officiate the JB vs. Zahid match? Specifically in regard to all that time spent on their knees?
-- Don C.

Foley: First, that was a great match for JB. He's the Roy Kent of wrestling. He's here, he's there, he's everywhere.

Wrestling from the knees is meant to be a disadvantage if the referee stays vigilant in warning the knees-down wrestler to progress their position. The problem becomes single-knee wrestling with the hand to the face and other defensive-first positions. If the wrestler who gets to their knees is doing so to look for a second attack it's fine. If they are earning Marriot Bonvoy points then it's an issue to be addressed by the referee.

I thought Zahid relied too heavily on wrestling from his knees, but you eventually saw that it backfired as his lack of lateral movement cost him two takedowns. The referee should have brought him onto the center in the first period and finger-wagged him to remind him to stand up after that first attack.

Zahid is a brilliant wrestler and I think he has a huge future. Everyone makes mistakes, but I think that his recent issues are in the past and he's on his way to a big international career.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Legends vs. Stars on Instagram: Burroughs got close.

Official trailer of The Last Champion

Q: David Taylor is facing Gabe Dean at Tuesday's NLWC event. Do you think it could be a competitive match?
-- Mike C.

Foley: No. However, I completely whiffed on last week's match predictions. Evan Henderson looked AWESOME!

Q: The Division I council extended the dead period for recruiting through April. 15. Tony Robie tweeted that Division II and Division III have had no restrictions during the pandemic. Any idea why?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I don't know why they are without restrictions. That's definitely odd.

My opinion is that if nobody is doing home visits or face-to-face contact then it shouldn't matter if you aren't able to do so. That it's a level playing field is all that really matters, right?

If I had a guess about the dead period it would be that the rule is being transposed from other sports and that the decision is a CYA so that there isn't a case of a famous basketball coach killing his top recruits grandmother. That's a bad look and the NCAA is already taking heat for its labor practices. If they then rubber stamp home visits they aren't leading by example and are opening themselves up for prosecution.]]>88409Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:04:14 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: November 13, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-november-13-2020-r88309/
There is plenty to discuss about the United States' horrendous management of the virus and its outcomes. We've become fatigued. Leadership is non-existent. Conspiracy theories distract and misinform. People are dying in record numbers.

But the wrestling community is about to feel the impact in a very real and direct way. The number of cases is terrifying because there is an exponential spread. What is 144K today will be 300K in a few weeks without proper mitigation, and given the exhaustion there is unlikely to be new restrictions put into place until it's far too late.

There will be new restrictions and they will impact wrestling. Even in the states where rules have been lax there is an inevitable change coming when hospitals become overrun and constituents demand government action. I don't know for certain, but I'd guess that the first sport to be canned in the winter will be wrestling.

Even before this recent spike we were seeing states placing limits on competitions. That is certain to expand as cases and deaths increase. Wrestling won't be a priority for any state administrator.

I hope that we can accept this as the cost of the virus and not blame the administrators who are being put in this impossible decision. We will wrestle again, but I don't know if it'll be until the Summer of 2021.

To your questions …

Q: What are your predictions for this weekend's Burroughs-Zahid event on Flo? Aside from JB vs. Zahid, what match on the card are you most excited about?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Predictions are below.

Match 1: Kyven Gadson df Kollin Moore, 4-2
Match 2: Kayla Miracle df. Ana Godinez, 10-0
Match 3: Sammy Sasso df Tyler Berger, 6-1
Match 4: Alli Ragan df Lauren Louive via Fall
Match 5: Alan Vera df. G'angelo Hancock, via TF
Match 6: Anthony Echemendia df. Evan Henderson, 8-3
Match 7: Jordan Burroughs df Zahid Valencia, 9-2

Jordan is always must-watch TV. He's a superstar who always delivers an entertaining match. The sock pulls, the double legs, the moments of trash talking and posturing. I love it all and won't be missing him compete this weekend.

Anthony Echemendia after winning a Fargo title in freestyle (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

I'm intrigued by Anthony Echemendia. He's being touted as the next superstar from the United States and it'll be interesting to see how he handles a veteran like Evan Henderson. From what I've seen of Echemendia it'll be a good test and allow him to showcase his on-the-mat personality rather than just his online persona.

This will be a great event. Very interested in how it all plays out.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Always enjoy watching this match. UWW is going through the Top 100 most-watched videos on its YouTube page. Be sure to subscribe!

Q: I read the article about UWW's Individual World Cup. What do you expect the field to be like? Will we see several world champions and world medalists? How large do you expect the brackets to be?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The Individual World Cup is the first event planned by United World Wrestling since the completion of the Pan Am Qualifier in March. To not have a tournament for nine months is an incredible amount of time for an international federation to be idle.

While cases are increasing globally the event is being planned for Serbia in December. There will be a number of protocols in place, which I think will be announced in the coming weeks.

As for the field, I think we will see the full lineups from Russia, Turkey, Georgia, India, and Iran. That's just a guess as they haven't opened the new entries up, but those nations had shown original interest. I'm hopeful for 40-plus nations and average brackets of more than 16 wrestlers per category and that will almost certainly include a large number of world champions and medalists.

I'm hopeful for a good turnout!

Q: Jordan Burroughs has used his social media to speak out about police brutality in the past. He tweeted this past weekend that he's proud to be an American and mentioned how the new president will represent the country with class and dignity. Do you wish more of America's top wrestlers would use their platform to speak out on issues?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I think that a lot of our top athletes and coaches do express their political opinions online, but the vast majority are on the other side of the issues from Jordan Burroughs. That's why when Jordan mentions something "political" online he is attacked in a broader manner than some of the Division I coaches who have more conservative opinions.

Jordan has a platform and he knows there will be blowback but takes his responsibility seriously. He's a leader in our community and has always conducted himself with dignity. Can't imagine there is value in tuning him out or shouting down his ideas.]]>88309Fri, 13 Nov 2020 14:02:15 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: November 6, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-november-6-2020-r88363/
How you feel about the election outcome is dependent on where you live and who you wanted to represent you. Some lost representatives they liked, while others gained some they hope will be their advocates in Congress.

The big-ticket prize hasn't been awarded (as of Friday morning), but it looks like the United States will almost certainly have a new president in January.

How will that affect wrestling?

Nothing is certain, but if there is proper implementation and distribution of a vaccine then we can expect a return to normal life by the end of 2021. That includes schooling, work, dining, and of course wrestling practice and tournaments.

Good management by the new president could also mean a vaccine that is distributed worldwide fast enough to ensure a safe Olympic Games in 2021 and allow our sports greatest days to be shared with the world.

If the economy improves, we might get some more money in the ecosystem that supports our star athletes.

There are a number of ways in which new, clear leadership might help wrestling, but it will always come through the lens of helping the nation at-large. The best we can hope for is that we can come together and accept small sacrifices in the short term to ensure that we have a functioning society to enjoy in 2021 and beyond.

To your questions …

Q: Did you watch the Flo 8-Man Challenge? If so, any takeaways?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Sadly, at the time I was only able to read the highlights as I was busy building a small deck for my trashcans, which had been put off for too long. However, I went back and watched them on demand.

The takeaway is that AS EXPECTED Keith Gavin is a monster not to be trifled with, but at 35 years old is long in the tooth for a weekend of bashing heads with men in the mid-20's. The other takeaway is that Myles Martin is a threat to disrupt the hierarchy at 86 kilograms for the 2024 cycle. I'm not sure that he's tested his style at the highest level and adapted it towards beating David Taylor, but you can see that his defensive positions from the mat are now offensive, and that from his feet he steers clear of extra exposures.

Myles Martin won the Flo 8-Man Challenge at 195 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

You saw that in the finals with his shot selection in the first period against Taylor Lujan. Rather than get his head out in front of him, or extended in a sprawl on the mat, Martin stayed compact and sought angles. The armpit drag was sharp, but the no-touch, knee pull single with head outside and no extension of his body was brilliant. It reminded me a little of what you see from Aaron Pico and Bajrang, where they can attack but completely limit their exposure to counter attacks. Even the outside single he attempted halfway through the period was done with his head completely up.

That is a style meant to cause a scramble-happy Taylor some problems in 12-24 months.

So, Martin is the big takeaway. Strong, composed, and always in position. He's going to be a problem at 86 kilograms.

Q: What do you make of Kamal Bey's suspension by USADA? He explained it on Twitter.
-- Mike C.

Foley: Makes sense. There is no completely fair way to apply drug testing to athletes out-of-season and during a pandemic. However, most athletes aren't finding themselves in this mess and there are simple ways to avoid these issues so long as you communicate with USADA and give them the information they require.

I've personally never had their attentive eyes following me around the nation so I can only speculate on what that frustration must feel like, but I'm certain that at some point filling out a whereabouts form feels unnecessary and intrusive. Still, those are the rules.

This is a terrible development for Bey and I feel bad for him and his loved ones that he won't be at the 2021 Olympic Games. As bummed as we are for him, I think that he has a shorter window to Paris in 2024 and will only grow as a competitor.

Wishing him the best of luck.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

McCain Concession Speech

Bob Good, who won the Virginia 5th district, had the most on-brand wrestling advert of all-time. I'm very disappointed that I didn't know about this ad during the election. I've failed at my expertise -- the intersection of wrestling and politics.

Q: Has COVID been good for U.S. freestyle wrestling? Are the various one-night cards finally forcing wrestling to come up with a non-tournament format that works? Is the dual meet dead given the boxing/MMA style promotions COVID has encouraged?
-- @NHoughSnee

Foley: The professional leagues will always have room during downtime in the calendar. This COVID-drive dead period prior to the Olympic Games is especially fertile soil by which the various RTCs and other broadcasters can access talent and get positive financial return. The lack of an international event schedule is awesome for the business model. However, that is somewhat short term, as the events will return in 2021 and take more than a few of the top names off the league mats and into the international season.

As for a single league? I'm doubtful that concentrating significant investment and risk will attract anyone that the sport wants involved. The localized structure we see emerging where fan bases can execute for their own audience is much more sustainable. It feels a little bit more like what you see out of high school football where there can be a sellout for the right game in Texas, but nobody at a collegiate game up the street. The passion at the local level is key to keeping these events financially viable.

The tournaments are not the way forward, unless its super simple to watch, single day, and non-stop action. Way back in 2015 I was at a grappling tournament in Rio and inspired by the single night 8-person event with 4-man round robins on each side. I'd applied it to the thought of an international Grand Prix, but as we've seen there is an appetite for local tournaments with similar structure. Here is that question and answer from 2015. (I've been doing this WAY longer than I remember!)

Q: Has anybody ever tried to have a pro wrestling tournament? Make it golf-style results, top X amount of finishers in each weight class get guaranteed money. It seems to me that when companies pick certain wrestlers to wrestle for money or try to create leagues, they come off as too manufactured. Everybody likes a tournament where the underdog can pull upsets and the winner is the actual best of that weight class. If sports like running, sailing, golf, spelling bees, etc. can get air time and sponsors, wrestling should be able to get them easily, in my somewhat unbiased opinion. Start off small and over time increase the money as popularity grows and so will the wrestlers and sponsors. This seems like a more stable platform for pro wrestling than coming up with semi-arbitrary dual meets. Your takedown tournaments would work in this format as well.
-- Tom V.

Foley: I have the solution: The Weight Class Grand Prix System.

You invite the top, most marketable wrestlers in the world for a one-day weight class grand prix. Two groups of five with the top finishers in the group going for a cash prize. Sponsorships, livestreaming and media coverage would be easier than ever to access as the model has already proven effective in other sports, including the Copa Podio in jiu-jitsu.

For example, the USA could host the 74 kilos Grand Prix in New Jersey. Get a well-outfitted 4K seat arena with VIP areas, beer sales and some good in-arena effects. Invite Burroughs, Dake, Howe and Taylor who are all guys from the region, throw in Tsargush (Russian from Brighton Beach) and any Iranian you choose (as we've seen, they travel very well). Now make the prize to win $100K and you will have a media frenzy.

There would need to be 18 Grand Prix events and some of these would need to be doubled up within a country, but by spreading the wealth and making the event about one weight class, it's likely that the talent will concentrate for the experience, attention and cash.

I still believe this is one of the most entraining and sustainable ways to fund professional wrestling in the United States.

Q: We are already into November and there still seems to be so much uncertainty about the NCAA wrestling season. When do you think we will start seeing some more concrete plans or a schedule?
-- Mike C.

Foley: What if I told you that nobody knows the answer to your questions?

The NCAA is trying its best, but like United World Wrestling and the IOC there are a number of relationships, contracts, and publicity exposures to consider before green lighting any plans to take to the mats. Not to mention that the NCAA's focus is split three ways: 70-percent to football, 28.5% to basketball, and 1.5% to the rest of the sports. That's not a dig, that's just the reality of running a (non-profit, wink-wink) business with immediate needs and a changing landscape.

The outsider opinion is that the season might be reduced to a few tri-meets and a 16-man NCAA tournament. However, given that the first chilly weeks of the year has delivered the largest number of single-day cases and most daily deaths since April, there is a very real possibility that the season might become a victim. The Super 32 and other regional level tournaments are run for-profit and have the approval of the local governments. The NCAA has to make decisions using a much more complex set of considerations.

I wouldn't expect a national lockdown or anything of the sort, but I do think that there will be a readjustment made to the amount of exposure to each other most citizens can handle. Who knows? With better mask wearing and some common-sense leadership from the top it could turn around in the new year.]]>88363Fri, 06 Nov 2020 13:38:47 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: October 30, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-october-30-2020-r88335/
Want to know where or how to vote in your town come Tuesday. Use this website and make a plan. Also, you might want to bring a good book and a lawn chair as this is expected to be the largest voter turnout in American history.

To your questions …

Q: What are your predictions for the HWC Showdown Open main card?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Predictions below.

Spencer Lee df. Zach Sanders, 11-0
Sarah Hildebrandt df. Erin Golston, 8-2
Austin DeSanto df. Bryce Meredith, 13-11
Vladimer Khinchegashvili df. Jaydin Eierman, 9-3
Pat Lugo df. Matthew Kolodzik, 4-2
Jordan Nelson df. Precious Bell, 3-1
James Green df. Alex Marinelli, 4-3
Michael Kemerer df. Tommy Gantt, 8-0
Nick Gwiazdowski df. Tony Cassioppi, 6-2

Q: Khabib announced his retirement after beating Justin Gaethje. Do you view Khabib as the GOAT?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I do. After 29 fights he'd never been cut, taken down, or otherwise damaged. He fought at the very highest levels, overcame a number of personal issues, and maintained a level of fighting we've never seen before.

Compare his accomplishments to the two names most commonly associated with GOAT in MMA. GSP took losses and a lot of damage throughout his career, including in fights where he won but probably should have been declared the loser. The counterpoint is that GSP was the first true MMA fighter with a long-standing record of accomplishment based on unique training, innovative game plans, and success in his non-specialty areas (e.g. wrestling).

Jon Jones has a loss from throwing a bad elbow, but that doesn't really impact the way his career is viewed. Jones took an absolute beating by Alexander Gustafsson and then again with Dominick Reyes (who also probably won the fight). The counterpoint supporting Jones as GOAT is the way he elevated the sport and uses distance and creative striking to create finishing opportunities. However, he's also a proven drug cheat and has been arrested for a variety of reasons over the course of his career, both altering the consistency of his in-cage appearances and making him a somewhat unreliable title holder.

Khabib hasn't been cut. Look at the photos of GSP and Jones after fights. They are a mess. To not take damage, while also simultaneously inflicting enough on your opponent to end the fight is the point of MMA and NOBODY has ever done that better than Khabib.

Q: In the Oct. 2 mailbag you predicted Gabe Dean to place fifth in the Flo 8-Man Challenge. Dean has won Senior Nationals since then. Have you changed your prediction after seeing Dean win Senior Nationals?
-- Mike C.

Pitt coach Keith Gavin (right) coaching with Jordan Leen at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Foley: Updated predictions …

Keith Gavin df. Shakur Rasheed
Gabe Dean df. Taylor Lujan
Sammy Brooks df. Nate Jackson
Myles Martin df. Drew Foster

Keith Gavin df. Gabe Dean
Myles Martin df. Sammy Brooks

Myles Martin df. Keith Gavin

I'm just now grasping that a Division I head wrestling coach, whose team was recently ranked in the top ten, is competing in a legit wrestling competition. Coaches are strapped for time so for Gavin to feel like he can go out there and compete means he has an incredible work ethic and Tim Ferriss-like time management skills. I'm 39 and speeding towards 40. If I abandon Keith and his dream then I can't believe in my dream to run a marathon next year, or cycle 200 miles.

I suggest that all former wrestlers and out-of-shape dads with pandemic bods unite in support of our new light of inspiration, Keith Gavin.

Q: When will a final determination be made on the 2020 World Championships? What's the process? With COVID cases surging around the world, it seems more and more unlikely.
-- Mike C.

Foley: The final decision will be made on Nov. 5 or Nov. 6 following the final registration deadline and a meeting of the United World Wrestling executive board. The decision will focus on the number of entries, the nations who choose to enter, and any additional information being presented by health officials prior to the meeting.

I can't tell you how that meeting will play out, but I would agree with your assessment that nations around the world have already started shutdowns with more to come in the next few days and weeks.

The conclusions should be out by next Friday.

Q: The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced that wrestlers must wear masks to practice or compete. I read there was some uproar about this. Do you see it as an issue?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm not sure that a mask will be the most effective at that distance, but I also don't think it will hurt any of the athletes. There will need to be specific guidance on the types of mask and how much air is allowed to pass through, but in the meantime, I think it's nice that they have a solution for wrestling as part of their overall plan.

We shouldn't take for granted that we've already seen the worst of this disease. There are STILL more than 900 people dying per day with a huge increase expected in the next two weeks as the rise in cases precedes death tolls. There is a lot of soul searching we all need to do about what risks we can and cannot manage and I would warn that there is a very strong likelihood that if cases continue to spike through the winter we will see a total abandonment of close contact sports like wrestling in the United States.

I know that's a tough image to conjure up, but this is a worldwide pandemic and we need to show strength and resilience like generations before have done through war and famine. This is something we know how to beat. We just need to do the right things and follow the advice of medical professionals.]]>88335Fri, 30 Oct 2020 11:46:21 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: October 23, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-october-23-2020-r88342/
USA Wrestling announced late Tuesday night that they would not be attending the 2020 Senior World Championships scheduled for mid-December in Belgrade, Serbia. The decision came after several days of internal discussions, athlete feedback, and the influence of medical experts.

At the center of the decision to not attend was USA Wrestling's belief that the risk of taking athletes and staff to Serbia (one of the only open-border nations left during the pandemic) far outweighed the gains. At the top of the list of concerns was that an athlete or staff member would get ill and have no way to receive proper medical attention and/or leave the country -- given their inability to board while positive with COVID. The concern that a number of individuals might be stuck in-country also weighed into their decision.

I don't (or maybe can't given my role with United World Wrestling) have a strong opinion on the decision of the United States. As I wrote about last week there are strong arguments against attending and some interesting counter points as to why they could attend. More interesting to me is not "why" they should attend, but that there was an inherent hypocrisy perceived in that the USA, which has one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the world, is hosting national tournaments sans testing, but won't attend one where there is testing.

That's not really a position that anyone can directly defend. It's true. The only logic is that the medical attention inside the country is better, as is the guarantee that athletes could return home rather than remain in some type of quarantine. Also, without testing at the USA Wrestling events there can't be a large number of cases attached to them running it.

Still, USA Wrestling does send out questionnaires about symptoms and anyone who may have tested positive, which is a step in the right direction.

The wrestlers directly affected by the decision seem to be supportive overall. Some outside of the top three are disappointed that they can't challenge for these spots, and some national team members would like to attend, but taken together the athletes seem relieved to not have to worry about the risks.

These are crazy times. American leadership has failed and left citizens and organizations to fend for themselves, which is creating alternate realities, conspiracies, and ill-informed grievances. USA Wrestling had to make the best decision they could and they feel confident that it was to miss out on this championships.

The one hyper-annoying counter argument being made online is that the wrestlers should have the opportunity to go by themselves to these events. First, that's not possible since there would still need to be a trials process and you can't have a trials process for a tournament you're not attending. Also, the act of asking to go anyway is petulant. USA Wrestling pays for training, travel, food, and financial incentives. Because they make a decision in the best interest of everyone some feel like they should have individual exclusions to allow them to solely attend because … personal responsibility? Give it a rest. You are welcome to be individually responsible with your own money and your own organization -- you can't force someone to support an ill-advised solo wrestling mission because you're willing to risk catching a disease that is causing the fourth largest mass death event in American history (1918 Flu, Civil War, WWII). The inanity of it all…

Things will get better. We will wrestle again. And if there is a world championships without the United States then so it goes. Americans are resilient and our wrestlers will find a way to train and prepare -- likely at a UWW event in 2021.

To your questions …

Q: Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor traded comments on Twitter and alluded to a potential meeting later this year. Thoughts on that potential matchup?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I could use the entertainment but have no interest in picking a winner until there are some contracts signed and the Twitter jousting begins in earnest. The first round of online combat went to Jordan by tech fall …


Q: How do you see the Justin Gaethje vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight going Saturday?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm outrageously excited about this fight. At a 10/10. Here is me aggressively outsourcing the technical factors influencing this fight. Luke Thomas does an incredible job of assessing the fight from the perspective of what Gaethje might be able to do in order to win …

I'll take Khabib by decision.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Khabib and Abdulmanap

Oooh, lovely lovely.

TBT to Yoel and Adam Satiev


Q: Any idea how much money the wrestlers are making at these pro events put on by Flo, NLWC and others?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Depends on the athlete but it ranges from a low-end average of $2,500 to a top price of $50,000 for top level talent (sometimes even more). As a safe bet, you can assume most are making just about $5,000 a bout, which is better than many UFC fighters receive on their initial contracts, which can be as low as $3K to show and $3K to win.

That size purse won't make anyone rich, but it's a solid return on the training hours and keeps the American wrestlers sharp for competition. There are a lot of Americans out of work so it's nice to see that these platforms, and the community at large, is able to support our top athletes who are here to pursue their dreams and give us some entertainment along the way.]]>88342Fri, 23 Oct 2020 11:28:13 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: October 16, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-october-16-2020-r88337/
The recognition is meaningful. Wrestling has often struggled in the shadows and to have someone like Coach Gable determined to have provided the United States with a "meritorious contribution" to the "cultural or other significant public or private endeavors" is a powerful moment in our sports history. Leaders of nations like India, Turkey, and Mongolia go to great lengths to ensure recognition for their folkstyle wrestlers, largely because they are seen as keepers of a past time -- humans who can tell the stories of the nation and embody its principles.

Most would agree that Dan Gable has had a tremendous impact on the sport of wrestling in America. When you look at young wrestlers across the United States you can almost see the focus of Gable's eyes in their stares. The head-slapping, the post-match sprints, the grueling sauna sessions -- all harken back to the images of Gable, eye bandaged, standing almost-joyless atop the podium in Munich.

The intensity of his on-the-mat wrestling style was transferred to his coaching style, which helped his teams secure 15 NCAA titles while the head coach at the University of Iowa. Arguably that work did more to promote and multiply his death-before-dishonor type of leadership than his years at Iowa State winning titles on the collegiate mat. Like a father he sent off yearlings to grow and mature under his style. To name the number of coaches born from his coaching tree would feel almost futile -- Gable is on a third generation of coaches and the impact of his teaching expands annually.

Yes, Gable was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in October of 2020 as a means to influence voter turnout. But ultimately, the politics of the day should only be footnote for an honor that correctly recognizes Gable's oversized impact on the sport of wrestling as a coach and wrestler in the United States.

Congrats to Coach Gable and all who have benefited from his influence.

To your questions …

Andrew Alirez takes down Yahya Thomas in the semifinals of Senior Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

Q: Who impressed you the most at Senior Nationals in each of the three styles?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I was off-the-grid and wasn't able to watch the Senior Nationals live, but in reviewing the weekend I think a hat tip to Andrew Alirez feels appropriate. While the United States has been overall disappointing at 65 kilograms, its plain to see that it's the most competitive weight inside the nation. For Alirez to top that field is quite the accomplishment.

The injury to Snyder is a little concerning for fans of the 2016 Olympic gold medalist. I don't suspect it's an entirely severe injury, and a setback now is certainly not a season-ender, but I'm ever-more interested in the Olympic Team Trials and how this will impact his expected matchup with J'den Cox.

On the women's side it was nice to see Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kilograms and to see Adeline Gray win her 100th (or so) Senior Nationals title. As a side note, Adeline is a first ballot Hall of Famer in both the United States and with United World Wrestling. To win five world championships is an American record and I think she has an Olympic gold on the way.

For Greco-Roman it was seeing Alan Vera in the USA singlet. He's cleared to compete at the World Championships but isn't yet cleared for takeoff with the IOC for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Q: Do you think the United States will send a team to the Senior World Championships? If so, how will the world team be determined?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm always happy to share my thoughts, but for this one it's tough for me to have anything like an objective opinion, so I'll share the main arguments for/against:

For: The United States is experiencing the largest outbreak of COVID in the world and yet USA Wrestling held Senior Nationals last weekend with no testing prior to competition. Competitors flew in, trained together, competed, and then flew out. Isn't the likelihood of infection GREATER from that event than from a worldwide event? Isn't the boogeyman already IN the house?

Against: Should someone contract COVID and immediately show life-threatening symptoms how will they be taken care of in Serbia? Also, the return for that individual (or anyone who tests positive) would be two weeks before they could return home. There will likely be testing on arrival, and that testing will almost certainly find COVID positive people, which is a good thing. However, what impact will that have on those who have been in touch with that individual. Overall, is the juice worth the squeeze?

Q: Is there a world where Zahid upsets JB? Regardless, how do you see the match going?
-- Ethan S.

Foley: No world. Zahid can be a challenge and wrestling up a weight might be concerning for some, but I don't think Burroughs is at risk of being caught underneath, thrown, or bullied on the edge. Also, Zahid is far too tall to clear his midsection from double attacks with even 75 percent success.

Q: What are your thoughts on the NCAA granting winter athletes an additional season? Was it the right decision? What are some possible ramifications?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Fine decision, but why not extend it to those seniors who lost their eligibility and ability to compete for an NCAA title in 2020? That seems fair, though I think that extending it backwards creates a myriad issue with scholarships, enrollment, and other more minor details.

The big question is what NCAA institutions will do now that they have the exemption to be under the allotted number of programs to remain Division I eligible as an institution. When I read that I heard blades sharpening around the country.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Link: Dan Gable: Creating a modern blueprint for wrestling

A tribute to a great man: Greg Strobel

Greg Strobel induction video

Q: Tulsa, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Cleveland were chosen as the locations for the NCAA Division I Championships from 2023-2026. Thoughts?
-- Jon D.

Foley: I'm happy for each of the cities and the schools who will be hosting the events. Tulsa seems like the newest (and riskiest) of the choices given the number of flights that will needed to accommodate the 20,000 visitors to the city. I remember the number of flights being an issue in Oklahoma City in 2006, but I suppose everyone eventually got home.

Kansas City is fine, too. Could be a nice place to visit and has capacity. Cleveland will be awesome for fans coming in from the Midwest AND the WPIAL!

The best choice is Philadelphia. Great transportation options, wrestling culture in the area, and plenty of press able to cover. Restaurants, bars, and hotels are also all world class.

Q: Greg Strobel passed away last week. Seemed like a beloved figure in the wrestling world. Any memories of him or stories to share?
-- Mike C.

Foley: My interactions with Coach Strobel were limited, but I remember his voice always adding kindness to the conversation. He seemed positive and encouraging, where sometimes coaches can take out larger frustrations on their athletes he seemed to shield them from unnecessary negativity.

In reading noted from his former wrestlers and colleagues, Strobel seemed to be the type of coach that athletes respected enough to talk to with ease, and like Coach Gable has a nice coaching tree, including Pat Santoro.

Santoro was probably closest to Strobel and had a few words to share after his death, as posted on LehighValleyLive.com:

"I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around Greg's passing," said current Lehigh head wrestling coach Pat Santoro, who served as an assistant under Strobel for eight seasons, and eventually was named his successor following Strobel's retirement in 2008. "He was a man so full of life and has been a part of mine for many years. He was a great mentor coach, and friend.

"Greg lived an amazing life and accomplished so much. "He made such a positive impact on the sport of wrestling and an even greater impact on his wrestlers. He loved to teach, whether it was wrestling, fishing or woodworking, and was good at it. He always taught great habits to and shared wisdom with his teams … things they will remember and use the rest of their lives. His energy and positive attitude were unrivaled by anyone I know."]]>88337Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:16:33 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: October 2, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-october-2-2020-r88296/
The bout is a submission only bout with no holds being determined off limits. The wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu matchups have happened in the past where leg locks were determined to be off limits due to the potential for long term injury, but Ramos accepted an agreement that allowed all ADCC allowable attacks.

Wrestlers who have migrated from wrestling to jiu-jitsu will attest that leg locks are a scary place to be with anyone who has passing knowledge of the "dark arts." The instincts from wrestling don't translate well in leg lock defense and given the number of traps that can be set there is no way someone can crib sheet an exit plan from each position. The consequences come quick and with Nicky Ryan being out muscled I'd expect the attacks to come quick and often.

I doubt Ramos is coming into the match with high expectations for a submission, but I'm desperate to find out his game plan.

Extreme forward pressure will work to get Nicky to the ground, but once there Ramos will need to keep his shoulders low and elbows tight to avoid arm bars and Nicky trying capture Ramos' free leg from a deep half guard. Once that split happens, Ramos would need to keep a crossface with the inside of his elbow turning Nicky's chin upward to cut off the leverage. If he takes the pressure off he'll enter into the leg attacks and a likely submission.

From his butt, Nicky will look to trap an ankle (De La Riva) and try to force Ramos to fight that off, and therefore stabilize him long enough for another entry into the leg locking game. He wants leg entries from a false X-guard and will also try to invert. For new eyes it can be confusing and lock your legs in place.

The simplest defense is the one Marcelo most utilizes when he wants to clear out -- jump forward towards your opponent's head and rip your leg out at full force -- almost like clearing a low single by jumping over an opponent's back and kicking the back of their shoulder to clear your ankle. The move won't progress the action, but it'll clear the position and give Ramos a chance to find another entry point with his legs behind him.

My secret hope is that Ramos has a super-secret submission preceded by a fairly elaborate setup. For most submissions to work it's the threat of something else (distraction) that gives most attackers the perfect position. Nicky will be expecting an arm-in guillotine and won't present his head so any attacks will need to be new and come from a position where Nicky allows the match to take place. That could be from standing, but in a perfect world Ramos would find and secure the back. Again, that's highly unlikely, but it would present offensive options for Ramos.

In the main event it will be Marcelo Garcia black belt (and good friend) Matheus Diniz facing Nicky's brother Gordon Ryan. Both are ADCC champions, but Gordon has a much longer list of no-gi accomplishments and is widely regarded as the best no-gi grappler in the world. Gordon will be the heavy favorite, but I hope that wrestling fans will choose to root for Matheus who spends a tremendous amount of time learning to wrestle and does everything right in his life to ensure he's ready for match day. He doesn't dope. He is kind to everyone around him. And is an absolute savage when he turns it on.

No matter who wins I think it will be a fun night of grappling.

To your questions …

Manny Rivera (Photo/CSU Bakersfield Athletics)

Q: Manny Rivera resigned as head wrestling coach at CSU Bakersfield to "pursue opportunities outside of coaching." Luke Smith was named interim coach. Do you think Smith will get the job? Or will they do a national search and look to replace Rivera with someone outside the program?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The wrestling community focuses a lot of attention on wining programs and teams that are improving each year. For coverage of the college wrestling community, I'd estimate there is chatter about Penn State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Ohio State consuming about half of all media. Either their current rosters, who they are recruiting, or how their alumni are doing at the next level. They also have coaches who attract more attention and the resources to ensure they are constantly getting the attention they need to drive interest.

Another 35 percent of the attention goes to the next tier of teams (Cornell, Rutgers, Michigan, etc.) who do the same, but not to the same extent. We see contract extension news, salary information, and inside info on all the dramas, just not to the extent we do with the top tier.

With 85 percent of our discussions focused on the top programs we often forget that the vast majority of our programs are barely hanging on, operating on shoestring budgets, and with coaches working 80-hour weeks for $60,000 a year.

I don't know Manny's personal life, but I do know there are many, many other ways to make more money and spend more time with your family than coaching a Division I wrestling team. The payoff comes in victories and the growth of your program, but if that is being outweighed by the enormous sacrifices of travel, recruiting, and financial hardship then there should be an adjustment.

Every time we have a coach leave for new opportunities it should be a reminder that there is not a lot of financial upside in these jobs. Most are steady employment and a good life, but with a pandemic raging, salary cuts, and limited opportunity to compete there just isn't much to be gained for some individuals. While I can't say these are Manny's reasons, I've spoken with plenty of coaches who feel this strain all the time. As a final note, I started coaching in 2005 and my first-year salary was $20,000 and a housing stipend. That's it. No insurance or benefits. While coaches are definitely making more than that, it should serve as a reminder to those who can donate to their programs to still do so.

And yes, I think Coach Smith will do a fantastic job. I'm excited to see the Roadrunners back on the mat in good time.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

The world's best MMA photographer has retired after too many trolls and too many personal attacks over too many years. Sad to see a sport lose talent due to a fan base that is horrific to its media.

Esther Lin: "Reading all this stuff just makes me so incredibly sad."


Nicky Ryan in action

More Nicky

Q: Who are you taking in Flo's 8-man 195-pound bracket?
-- Mike C.

Foley: In order …

1. Myles Martin
2. Sammy Brooks
3. Shakur Rasheed
4. Taylor Lujan
5. Gabe Dean
6. Drew Foster
7. Nate Jackson
8. Keith Gavin

But I wonder why we aren't seeing David Taylor our there collecting the easy money?]]>88296Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:34:23 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: September 25, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-september-25-2020-r88230/
On a card with an Olympic champion, the main event was actually two-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal facing off against Oklahoma State alumnus and three-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer. Both wrestlers have created dazzling performances in recent past and the matchup had the hallmark of an instant classic. However, the back-and-forth affair was short on offensive exchanges, but instead a handing off of passive behavior.

The match ended in a highly unusual 1-1 tie. According to Jon Kozak, who compiles stats on freestyle wrestling online, the 1-1 match happens roughly 1/1000 matches, or roughly four world championships in the one style. The 1-1 match is an extremely rare occurrence because the vast majority of referees will force a third activity period if there has been zero action. This will push the match towards better short-term action.

Despite the non-call the match showcased that neither Nickal or Dieringer had a game plan to win the match, but rather not to lose. If the two had wrestled each other for years we could expect a familiarity that might slow down their offensive attacks. As that wasn't the case, the sluggish performance was likely borne from the "Don't lose" mentality that has sometimes plagued our top international wrestlers.

After the match Nickal announced he'd be cutting to 86 kilograms to face David Taylor for the Olympic spot -- a matchup, as previously mentioned, of two wrestlers with incredible familiarity with each other. However, if Nickal does make it into the semifinals or finals to face Taylor he'll need to bring a far more offensive mindset to the match. There had been a number of whispers that when Taylor was injured last year that Nickal was upset Taylor hadn't mentioned the severity, the premise being that Nickal would have gone down and beat up Pat Downey. The stinky tail end of the rumor was often something about Nickal having the upper hand in practice.

I can't say if that's true, but even if it were, there is something very different about wrestling under practice lights and competing for a spot on the Olympic team. That Nickal sees his best chance for Olympic glory at 86 kilograms is fairly apparent when balanced against the tall task of going up to take on J'den Cox -- who defeated him last year in the 92-kilogram finals of the World Team Trials -- and defending Olympic champion Kyle Snyder.

The United States can benefit from Nickal and Dieringer competing at 86 kilograms, but they'll need t bring more energy and offense to their next competition, whether that's at the Olympic Team Trials, or sometime before.

Gable Steveson battling Wisconsin's Trent Hillger (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)

Q: Gable Steveson looks much bigger and stronger. Do you think he has a real shot to knock off Nick Gwiazdowski and make the Olympic team?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yes. 100x yes. He's much, much bigger and stronger than he was last year and has improved his mat awareness. With Gable there is no limit to his potential based on his physical talents. His biggest failure to date was his underwhelming performance at the 2019 Junior World Championships. He was outwardly confident but was out of sorts on the mats.

There is no room for a hiccup in 2021. The schedule is narrower than years past and will provide limited opportunities for Gable to grab extra matches (part of the reason he's been active now) and any adjustments will need to be in real time. I hope we see him take an overseas tournament prior to the Trials.

I really believe he can hang with the second tier of international heavyweight talent. Geno and Taha are at a different level right now, but the rest of the field is beatable, including Zheng of China who has beaten Gwiz in the past.

No predictions, but excited to see the rest of Gable's development.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Dan Gable winning the 1969 NCAA Championship

Video Link: Mitch Finesilver and King Vlad getting in some down blocks

Q: Sacred Heart became the second Division I school to add a women's wrestling program. Which Division I school do you think will be the next to add a women's wrestling program?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Stanford.

It will all come down to whether or not they are able to secure the funding, but if they can get the checks and have the administration agree to reinstatement I feel confident that women's wrestling will be a vital component to that formula.

I'd like to see some of the Ivy League schools move to form a league, but can also understand that for a limited pool of talent it can be extra difficult to apply obscenely high academic requirements to the growing sport.

The ACC is also a great candidate conference with schools who could benefit from the Title IX offsets.]]>88230Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:50:51 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: September 18, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-september-18-2020-r88270/
The Big Ten announced that it would be returning to the football field with games scheduled to begin in late October. The move, advocated for by several prominent alumni and focused on creating income for the school's at-risk athletic department budgets, will put more than 1200 student athletes into a travel and competition schedule.

As we know, college athletes are unpaid for their work. We also know that COVID is a highly transmittable disease that has killed 200,000 in only six months. There are also known, and unknown, long-term consequences resulting from the disease. As I'm apt to share online, I still suffer from parasomnia, an ailment in which leads my brain to misinterpret smells and make me believe I'm smelling rotten eggs. Minor, but hyper annoying.

The short term economic benefit of the unpaid labor force taking on the risk of death in order to compete in a football contest will make the Big Ten and other conferences vulnerable to lawsuits, and eventually a system that will require the players to have greater agency in their health and career choices. The current system, which limits the complaints of players to their internal "NCAA-approved" communication channels doesn't provide players with enough voice in their health.

Add in that a large majority of NCAA football and basketball players (especially starters) are Black and you can readily see that their voices aren't being heard because they are hardly considered by a largely white, and wealthy, governance structure.

The return of the players is however good for the nation's NCAA wrestlers. While ODU and Stanford have dropped, the income from football -- even if at 50% pre-COVID expectations -- will help preserve many programs. That preservation won't come without a cost to the wrestlers, too.

Should there be events, they will be held in 2021. The window for competition will be limited to something like 8-10 weeks and will be regional-only dual meets. Tournaments, like the ones being held in Pennsylvania, are simply not healthy for the wrestlers or fans. Finally, the NCAA tournament will be held the same time and likely without fans.

That's best case. The other option might be something more extreme than we are seeing in football, where some schools compete, and others sit out. And if there are enough schools that sit out, we could be looking at another lost season. Devastating as that might be, it could preserve the future of many wrestling programs who would see significant cost savings through a year of competition hibernation.

For now, the benefit of football players taking the field is evident, and real, for wrestling programs around the country. However, after only one week of the current season we still don't know what the spread will be, or if there will be any additional stoppages to conference schedules. Should those occur it will alter the landscape once more.

To your questions …

Q: Predictions on the NLWC event? What do you think will be the most exciting match?
-- Mike C.

Foley:
Malik Amine (CKWC) df. Rick Durso (F&M) via FALL
Nick Nevills (NLWC) df. Jordan Wood (LVWC) via TF
Jennifer Page (NLWC) df. Desiree Zavala (Team Takedown), 6-0
Dom Abounader (CKWC) df. Jaime Espinal (NLWC), 7-4
Zain Retherford (NLWC) df. Alec Pantaleo (CKWC), 3-2
Jason Nolf (NLWC) df. David McFadden (Penn RTC), 5-4
Vincenzo Joseph (NLWC) df. Dan Vallimont (PRTC), 11-5
Greg Kerkvliet (NLWC) df. Youssif Hemida (CKWC), 3-3
Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (NLWC) df. Logan Massa (CKWC), 9-1
Jane Valencia (NLWC) df. Julia Salata (Kings), 5-4
Thomas Gilman (NLWC) df. Darian Cruz (LVWC), 7-2
Kyle Snyder (NLWC) df. Mike Macchiavello (Wolfpack WC), 8-3
Alex Dieringer (CKWC) df. Bo Nickal (NLWC), 5-4

Tough to turn away from the action when it comes to this card. The NLWC-based card will be the first on Rokfin, a new cyber coin-based payout system that is supported by $9.99 USD subscriptions -- it'll be interesting to see the quality of the presentation.

Outside of the NLWC guys, which will attract a great online audience and feed the need to see our recent graduates and top competitors back on the mat I'm most excited to see the growth of our national team members. The last Flo card showed that David Taylor was back in tip-top shape and I think we will get time to analyze several of our Olympic hopefuls on this card all the same.

Weirdly, I'm most excited to see Thomas Gilman and what adjustments he's made since coming to State College. Darian Cruz has a great game to challenge Gilman and push his style adaptations in a real competition. The main goal for him ins 202-2021 is to get on the Olympic team and to do that he has a Murderers Row of familiar faces to look forward to. His approach to this match and specifically if he's created new offensive attacks, will give us insight into how he will matchup up with Spencer Lee, Jack Mueller, Daton Fix, and more in 2021.

Jane Valencia was the first women's wrestler from Mexico to qualify for wrestling at the Olympic Games. She's not widely known by fans, but she is a tough-as-nails competitor who is strong, agile, and scores in bunches. Her husband Jaime Espinal was part of the reason she moved to the NLWC and her development has been incredible. Julia Salata brings a solid game to the match. It'll be a match that gives Salata an updated measurement on her standing in the world and provides Valencia the top-level competition she needs in 2021.

The Dieringer and Nickal match is an unknown to me. I have no idea what's going to happen once the whistle blows. Nickal is often of two minds; he spends a lot of time attacking when he feels confident in his upper body leverage but will also sit back and absorb attacks in order to rely on his score-heavy defense. Which Nickal will we see? And will Dieringer's typically shoot-first approach be stifled by fear of a Nickal scramble, or does he have a game plan on how to finish quickly? Very interested in how they compete against each other and if either is impressive enough to substantiate a serious challenge at 86 kilograms or 97 kilograms.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Cool interview with King Vlad

Reupping this cool Behind the Scenes

Q: Any thoughts on the recruiting dead period being extended until January 1? No campus visits, no off-campus visits and no face-to-face contact.
-- Mike C.

Foley: Makes total and complete sense given the pandemic. We shouldn't be encouraging the coaches to zig zag the country, or worse still feel like they are compelled to travel in order to keep up with other coaches who might be more willing to take the risk. The rules are in place to keep everyone on a level playing field and I think this rule helps accomplish that goal.

Q: Michael Chandler signed with the UFC. How do you think he will do? Do you think he has the potential to challenge Khabib?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I think of Mike Chandler as one of the most sincere and hard-working fighters in the world. Making the UFC and earning a chance to climb that rungs of the organization was no doubt a career goal for him and one that we should all be happy he's achieved.

Right now I don't think he can hang with Khabib, but let's wait to see what happens with him and Dustin Poirier, who is a former champion and someone we know will give Chandler a proper welcome to the UFC.]]>88270Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:35:09 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: September 11, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-september-11-2020-r88259/
The event is one of a handful that has been launched since the start of the COVID pandemic and will be the second such event on FloWrestling. The concerns for safety and rule following seem to be at the top of the billing, starting with the location in New Jersey in part being determined by New York State's stringent guidelines for activities (jiu-jitsu and wrestling aren't acceptable yet).

The testing, on-the-mat protocols, and health requirements all being met is an incredible testament to the organization that they are once again able to pull together a card and get athletes ready for the spotlight. It's more than just an event -- it's a fundraiser and the monies help to provide programming and opportunities for the young wrestlers of New York City.

Our community spends a lot of time discussing innovation and nowhere is it better seen at the grassroots level than in New York City. Yes, they are able to support the purchasing of gear and mats, as well as the education of coaches, but where they really excelled is in addressing the changing needs of the wrestling population. Nowhere is that better seen than in the implementation of mixed gender dual meet teams.

With fewer overall competitors per school, Beat the Streets worked with the PSAL via Ken Bigley to implement a mixed gender program. This would allow for one coach to teach both styles, for the athletes to remain on the mat in their school, and to eliminate the unappealing look of a forfeit. Also, it allowed for the general population who may have skipped the women's side of the sport to also see them compete, and hopefully become fans.

That simple idea was scaled and its now a reality in the largest public-school system in the United States. Would that also be possible in Pittsburgh, or Denver, or Orlando? Well, it's now been tested so it just requires adoption by local and state officials.

As we move forward with the hype for the match there will be plenty of guessing (I do some below) but remember that behind this great event is a large organization that is directly impacting the lives of youths across New York, while also providing a roadmap for positive change in other wrestling communities around the country.

Support as you can.

To your questions …

Daton Fix talks to Oklahoma State assistant coach Chris Perry during the NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: What is the deal with Chris Perry and the Ostarine in the Daton Fix case?
-- Eddy P.

Foley: The fact that the consent award reads that Chris Perry recommended the use of Ostarine is very, very interesting. There really isn't much to know, but I don't think that tidbit provided any extra clearance for Daton in the eyes of USADA or WADA.

The excuse that maybe resonated was the water bottle in the fridge. I highly doubt that USADA or WADA would accept that at face value so there would have needed to be proof of a prescription that was dated and verified. There are also likely supporting details that were left out of the brief.

I don't know much about the Ostarine, but I think it's the same drug that got Obe Blanc a two-year ban in 2014 after a positive test at the World Team Trials in Stillwater.

The good news is that Daton Fix is eligible to compete in the 2021 Olympic Team Trials, which I think will improve the field and the chances that the United States could medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Beat the Streets card? Any predictions?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm super excited to see live wrestling in the tri-state area and this card has plenty of top-level action for the fans.

Vito Arujau vs. Jack Mueller: Mueller looked a little slow in his match against Roman Bravo-Young, but I think he will be in a better competitive spot against the slightly smaller Arujau. Still, I'm bullish on Arujau and think that his two world silver medals in age group categories gives some insight on his ever-growing chance of being a world team member before he leaves college. Who knows? Maybe an Olympic team.

Gable Steveson vs. Trent Hillger: If focused, maybe nobody in the country can beat Gable Steveson in freestyle. I'm not certain of his future plans, but in some previous online posts it seemed that MMA and WWE were attractive professional opportunities for him to pursue, post-college. However, I think that he can make the team in 2021 and 2024, with a legitimate chance to medal. Gwizdowski is the guy to beat and he has the potential to win a medal, so by the transitive property Steveson would upset Gwiz and have that same opportunity or set his sights on winning an Olympic gold.

Joe Colon vs. Seth Gross: Don't get taken down! Both these wrestlers are fantastic on top, with Colon possessing an especially wicked, rib popping gut wrench. Look for a slow match out of the gate, but some decent single leg defenses that convert to quick scoring opportunities. Genuinely unsure who is the favorite here.

Emily Shilson vs. Felicity Taylor: Felicity is a sophomore wrestler at McKendree and is looking to get her career kicking into high gear with an upset of Emily Shilson. Chalk it up to confirmation bias, but after seeing Shilson wrestle several times on the international level I'm bullish on her future. At about 105 pounds, Shilson will need to pack on more muscle before becoming a serious threat at the senior level, but her technical approach to the sport and extreme focus have paid off well for her winning the Youth Olympic Games and Cadet World Championships in 2018. She also won the WCWA national championship.

Victoria Francis vs. Alexandria Glaude: Fun match. The two met in the 2019 World Team Trials semifinal with Victoria Francis taking the win, 3-2. Francis has placed in several international events and has been traveling with Team USA for several years on the senior circuit. She took fifth at the Worlds in 2019 and was on the world team in 2017. There are plenty of medals in her past, but it'll be interesting to see how she's performing in 2020 with limited training due to COVID. Another McKendree wrestler, Alexandria Glaude is a Final X runner-up and took bronze at the U23 in 2018. She's positioned to be one of America's best upper weights and could maybe take the 76-kilograms reigns from Adeline Gray after her illustrious career ends.

Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia): Adjusting for a variety of unknowns (training schedules, weight, and COVID) I think that you have to give King Vlad a good chance of picking up the victory. However, that might be a 2019 assumption that doesn't stand to reason in 2020 or 2021 given that Vlad has been training less, has gotten older, and is coming up to 65 kilograms where he has experienced limited success. On the contrary, Yianni is in his element. At last year's event Bajrang saw just how crafty Yianni was capable of wrestling and suffered a loss. Yianni might be able to repeat that performance if he is able to successfully drag King Vlad into a match that more mirrors interpretive dance than that of freestyle wrestling. Even if Yianni is able to get into more scrambles with Vlad, it's likely that he won't finish as often as he did with Bajrang. Vlad is flexible, creative and a Hall of Fame competitor. The scrambles that Yianni needs to win can be initiated, but I'm suspect they will have the same level of success as normal.

Q: I spent my entire childhood wrestling and took up BJJ about a year ago after one of my fellow ex-wrestler friends recommended it to me. I'm still a novice but have thoroughly enjoyed my experience with BJJ during my brief time with the sport (pre-COVID, of course).

While there are certainly some similarities between wrestling and BJJ, I have also noticed some differences, particularly as it relates to the cultures of the two sports. Since you have an expertise in both sports, which aspects of BJJ culture do you think that wrestling should adopt/emulate and vice versa?
-- John G.

Foley: Wrestlers are as sensitive as jiu-jitsu guys are weird. That's the first thing to recognize. You won't find too many BJJ fighters who don't have a few screws loose or aren't constantly discussing the sport in a way that is mostly absent in the wrestling community.

The biggest thing I've noticed is that wrestling should adapt the chess-playing perspective of the best athletes and coaches in jiu-jitsu. They spend hours practicing new moves, setups, and concepts for all sorts of moves and finishes, whereas in wrestling we tend to blow past the technique and focus on conditioning and hours spent training live.

On the opposite side of that same coin, the jiu-jitsu community could do more to widen their approach to competition and have more of a killer mindset on the mat. As jiu-jitsu has been sportified, there is a temptation to play for advantages and single point wins that is eerily similar to that of wrestling pre-2013. While there are always submission hunters the rule set allows for far too much gaming of the rules, which creates what can often become boring matches played from the seat of the pants.

Jiu-jitsu could also put a greater incentive on takedowns, which I think would create more dynamic competition.

Another note is that wrestling could adapt some of the martial arts "respect" that we see in jiu-jitsu. There are elements, but it's definitely part of the culture and is something that most schools treat with a high level of seriousness.

Q: If there is an NCAA tournament next March, do you expect the arena to be full capacity? Or do you think they would limit the number of seats/tickets?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I expect there to be an NCAA tournament. I do not expect there will be fans unless there is instant testing and a vaccine. I'm doubtful that either will be available in time, or for use by the NCAA wrestling community.]]>88259Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:49:40 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: September 4, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-september-4-2020-r88244/
Competed in a cage with several alternative rules in play, the matches were not easily identifiable as freestyle or Greco-Roman. In one match a key gut wrench was halted and in others the fence played a major factor in delegating points. No rule set is perfect, but these felt out of place and reminiscent of the free market push in 2013 to see overtime added to the Olympics (where criteria has been a clear benefit to the pace of matches).

The event was also hosted by Chael Sonnen, who spoke … and spoke … and spoke … and spoke some more. Never that interesting and almost always professing something either untrue or ill informed. But, oh well, that's Chael.

(I did like the camera work at the event.)

Unfortunately, the night featured something that was more than a mild irritant -- a fixed match. While I understand the urge for athletes to bring positive light to their chosen style, the idea that athletes would pre-arrange maneuvers runs counter to everything the sport is meant to represent. If you would like to make pre-arranged lateral drops there is always space for you in the regional circuits of professional wrestling.

These types of matches had so far avoided the temptation to promote through fixed fights, but that ended with Wrestling Underground. Will the promotion do it again? Will fans care? It's unclear, but for the future of the sport and the authenticity it's meant to represent in modern culture I'd ask that our national team members and others avoid stooping to that level.

Greco-Roman can be fun. It doesn't have to be make believe. To showcase it in that way is, to me, runs antithetical to the promotional goals the athletes had in fixing the match in the first place.

To your questions …

Cael Sanderson battles Russia's Albert Saritov at the 2011 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: How many Americans do you think could beat Cael in a match right now if Cael was given one month notice to prepare?
-- @VNCAAs via @OldestandGreatest

Foley: Half a dozen?

Cael is 41 years old! That is not the age group that should be taking on J'den Cox, Kyle Snyder, Kyven Gadson, and others (to say nothing of the heavyweights). If you figure he lost twice in 2011 and TEN YEARS have passed since, then you have to acknowledge that there is some young blood in the wings that can push Cael for six minutes, score points, and come out with a victory.

Also, you figure the 74-kilogram and 86-kilogram crew could also take a few wins off of Cael. For one, Jordan Burroughs, for two Kyle Dake. They could easily score and shut down a match.

Q: What do you think of the NLWC event on Sept. 19? Seems like some good matchups.
-- Mike C.

Foley: Agreed! Let's hope the matches aren't fixed.

I'm excited to see Bo Nickal wrestle in another main event. I know that he has his eyes set on MMA, but he can be a dangerous competitor and has always displayed brilliant techniques and mat savvy that is second-to-none. Facing Alex Dieringer is a massive challenge, given the former Cowboy's explosive attacks.

Thomas Gilman and Darian Cruz will be fireworks and it should be interesting to see who gets world bronze medalist Bekzod Abdurakhmanov.

Jane Valencia, who qualified Mexico for the 2021 games at 57 kilograms, will also be taking on Lauren Louive. Valencia is an awesome example of what the right coaching and training environment can mean for a talented and focused wrestler.

Bo Nickal (NLWC) vs. Alex Dieringer (Cliff Keen Wrestling Club)
Kyle Snyder (NLWC) vs. Mike Macchiavello (Wolfpack RTC)
Jason Nolf (NLWC) vs. David McFadden (Pennsylvania RTC)
Zain Retherford (NLWC) vs. Alec Pantaleo (CKWC)
Thomas Gilman (NLWC) vs. Darian Cruz (Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club)
Greg Kerkvliet (NLWC) vs. Youssif Hemida (CKWC)
Nick Nevills (NLWC) vs. Jordan Wood (LVWC)
Jennifer Page (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) vs. Desiree Zavala (Unattached)
Jane Valencia (NLWC) vs. Lauren Louive (Hawkeye Wrestling Club)

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

The greatest!

Cool conversation

Do it.


Q: What's the status of Daton Fix? Is he eligible to wrestle in college and/or compete for the Olympic team?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Unclear at the moment, but I think we can expect to see him again in the coming weeks and months.

Q: I know the Senior, Junior and U23 World Championships are still on the UWW calendar for 2020. When will the final determination be made on these events?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The United World Wrestling Bureau is meeting in the next few weeks to determine the future of these events. For now, they are still on the schedule and with judo announcing recently that they are intending to complete their calendar starting in late October I'm guessing that cancellations of these events held later in the year could be delayed.

The real issue is testing and ease of travel. If rapid tests are more readily available and are made available to the athletes, staff, and team leaders then its plausible tournaments could proceed. You'd have to undertake measures to ensure that the spread at the events were contained, but that is much more achievable given what we now know about how the virus is spread.

I can't tell you what is going to happen, but the leadership of many European leaders in containing the virus could lead to sports coming back sooner in that part of the world. I can't say the same for the United States or Brazil who are facing uncontained outbreaks with more than 1000 people dying each day.]]>88244Fri, 04 Sep 2020 12:25:28 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: August 21, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-august-21-2020-r88231/
There is the Herman Cain tragedy -- a man who promoted not wearing a mask before attending a political rally where he contracted the virus and later died from its complications. There is the refusal to shut down airports, and Texas' decision to reopen too soon. On the flip side there will be the efforts of New Zealand and Germany who've done brilliantly to combat the disease.

Though something we discuss often a lesser historical point will be the impact on sports and how the easy transmission of the disease prevented most mass gatherings, cancelled tournaments, and delayed seasons.

Inside that chapter could be a discussion of this weekend's historically terrible idea: The Rocky Mountain Nationals in Kansas City where 2500 wrestlers from 40 states are expected to gather in the Hy-Vee Arena to compete in a three-day tournament. The tournament is proceeding in spite of warnings from local health officials, the Mayor of Kansas City, and a multitude of organizations who say they don't have protocols in place and are in a state with an active outbreak. The tournament is only being allowed to go forward because the organizers are using the health advisories initial broad language to justify allowing minors to be mask-free.

The organizers understand that their tournament is a grift. They are knowingly placing minors in harm's way so that they can make a financial profit (they are not a 501c3) from the actions of those children. The wrestling teams and individuals headed to compete should share some burden of responsibility as well given more than 160,000 Americans have been killed by the virus in five months. But, hey, a trophy.

The Kansas City health department warned organizers of the tournament that they will be in attendance and are prepared to the shut down the tournament should protocols not be followed. The warning, and the pressure from the government, are almost certain to cause a cancellation, which the organizers also understand. But the grift must go on and so they will offer discounted sign-up for next year's event or something similarly stupid and insulting to those families who traveled out to the event.

I get that we want to see wrestling. I get that we want to be wrestling. And I even get that we want to make money off wrestling. But this is a pandemic and no matter what anyone on your Facebook feed says there is no long-term mental health consequence from not participating in one season of wrestling. If that were the case the injured athletes who miss seasons would all have ongoing mental health complications. Is it frustrating? Yes. Is it sad? Yes. Will it cause long-term damage? Unequivocally not.

That arguments and those in the same stratosphere of self-serving strawman arguments are being made by fathers desperate to live through their child's achievements, coaches in need of validation, and an organizer willing to create a super-spreader event because they want to make money.

To your questions …

Roman Bravo-Young with his coaches Cael Sanderson and Cody Sanderson (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: How awesome is RBY? Does he have a chance to become "The guy" at any weight?
-- Fred G.

Foley: I'm not sure RBY is done growing as a wrestler. If RBY is able to cut down and compete at 57 kilograms or add bulk and wrestle 65 kilograms at the international level he could make himself an option on the international scene. RBY's game isn't too dependent on doing a few things well it's mostly dependent on his creativity, athleticism, and willingness to outwork opponents on the mat.

Recently I saw a post from him on Twitter that acknowledged how important it was to train with a variety of opponents and to make yourself uncomfortable in training. That's something almost every coach has said to their team, but it's been my experience that very few wrestlers like to be disadvantaged while training. Egos in our sport can be fragile so it was positive to see someone of RBY's trajectory making those type of statements.

I'm interested to see where he competes in the coming months and years. There is probably a bit of time before he can beat Bajrang Punia or Vladimer Khinchegashvili, but with his concentration on improvement its certainly possible that he is in position to make a big leap in the near future.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Link: Gevorgyan becomes first Armenian to win freestyle world gold

Sweet slide-by

Karelin Interview

Q: Who is the world's most popular wrestler in each of the three styles?
Mike C.

Foley: See below.

Women's wrestling: Helen Maroulis. The win over Saori and the dominance at the 2017 World Championships proved that she is the most technical wrestler in the world and has a personality that people want to know more about. With her looking to compete at the 2021 Olympic Games her popularity will only grow in the coming years.

The other option is Vinesh Phogat. She's a massive star in India and has an appeal that is tough to describe, but impossible to deny.

Greco-Roman: Artur Aleksanyan. When UWW posts a video of him walking down the street it'll be watched more than two million times. There are no other athletes that receive that level of immediate and overwhelming response when fans see an image.

Freestyle: Abdulrashid Sadulaev. More than one million followers on Instagram and a huge presence in the minds of all wrestlers. With only one loss in his recent senior-level career he's the standard bearer in wrestling celebrity.

Q: The NCAA Division I council recommended that fall sports move to the spring. What do you think this means, if anything, for NCAA wrestling?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The guidance here is that wrestling won't start prior to January 1 and that is still dependent on the success of the football season, vaccine, or an increase in available testing. There is some thought that the season will still be dual meet only and truncated to still end in March. Qualifications will also need to be adjusted.

For now, I'd guess we are at 50/50 to see the NCAA tournament, but it will mostly depend on the level of testing applied to the other sports and applying the lessons from these first sports.

Q: Will the handshake be dead in wrestling?
-- Mike C.

Foley: For now, yes. However, once we have a vaccine it's likely to return.]]>88231Fri, 21 Aug 2020 11:12:17 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: August 14, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-august-14-2020-r88218/Photo/Sam Janicki,SJanickiPhoto.com
The Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences announced this week that they would not be playing football in the fall semester, or 2020. The decision would push any season to 2021, possibly abutting the NCAA basketball season.

Like everything from birthday cakes to the postal service, this decision has been politicized. As a non-football fan I don't care much about the loss of games as it's not part of my weekend tradition. The athletes will suffer from not being able to play, the fans will miss their teams, but the biggest impact will be on the non-revenue sports whose budgets depend on the income from football.

As with almost anything in the United States, football has also become big business. Profit drives the motivations for the decisions, which itself is bothersome. Then there is the issue of athletes pay, oversized administrative budgets, Title IX scapegoating, and the list goes on. The pandemic isn't so much causing these larger issues as it's stress testing the systems already in place, and as we've seen clearly they are largely unjust, over levered, and patently ridiculous in their vulnerabilities.

Wrestling will be affected by the recent decisions. Several programs will be cut and the future of college sports will change forever. That change got me thinking about the next system and what could become of wrestling were we to move solely to a non-academic setting. What would it look like? What are the positives and negatives? Who stands to gain the most?

First, I don't think we should eliminate sports from the academic experience as I think it enriches the lives of so many who would otherwise never have the opportunity to attend a four-year school. There are also those on campus who are inspired by their classmates who show great effort on the field. Sports are representative battles that allows for comradery and community in a way that science competitions can't mimic.

But, we need to look to the future and what a club-based system in the United States would look like and how it would operate and under whose direction.

The last question is the most straightforward. Rather than create an entirely new governing body to replace the NCAA rules and structure, USA Wrestling could form a subsidiary organization to govern a folkstyle wrestling league in the United States. The benefits would be tremendous in allowing a seasoned organization to lend its expertise to the development of a brand-new league. They can leverage relationships and have an active understanding of what each asset is worth, whether it's negotiating with a bid city for the National Championships, the value of marketing, TV/streaming rights, or even the cost to operate and run a tournament.

With USA Wrestling controlling the length of season, eligibility, weight categories, rule changes, and everything else there would be tremendous opportunity for a more reactive governing body -- one that is more in tune with the needs of the athletes and invested in the outcomes. Committees and commissions of wrestlers and their trusted advisors would ensure that the best information and ideas are making their way to the mat.

The number of club teams would be dramatically lower than the number of college programs, but there would be year-round competition, more money in the till for each of these programs via rights and advertising and far less overhead on monies to be raised for scholarships. Teams would continue to be regional, but the degree to which they recruit is up to them. If coaches in Western Pennsylvania wanted to make Top Guns into a national powerhouse and the post high school level they could keep their kids home since the incentive to wrestle at Iowa or Nebraska or NC State would lessen. Arguably, the grip on local pride would deepen and the regional aspect of the competitions would come alive.

Without school as the main driver the athletes would feel free to pursue their wrestling careers as professionals and could profit from their image in a myriad way. They'd be paid by local car dealerships, Condom Depot, and whomever else feels like sponsoring their action. Individual athletes would also receive stipends from the club, win bonuses, and just about every other financial incentive imaginable. They could freely travel to train overseas. Or they could stay put. Their call. And when Top Gun wants to travel overseas together and take on the top Kazakhstan club? It would be achievable.

The total number of competitions could also increase along with two competition seasons; freestyle/Greco-Roman and folkstyle. There could be a relegation system used by the clubs that would help generate sustained interest in each competition. Team scoring could even reflect the ongoing battles in the standings, i.e. knowing that your athletes needed to win by a certain number of technical points to secure a top four placement in their league and thus some financial incentive.

We don't HAVE to live inside the NCAA's bubble. They will leave us behind the moment we aren't practical to their bottom line. They force us into archaic rules about eligibility and make athletes follow outdated protocols. What's in it for wrestling? Why not take a chance and break away? Why make the NCAA a priority when they don't care enough about the sport to protect it from elimination? Why give power to a mostly nameless and faceless institution when we can create our own?

The pandemic has stressed an antiquated system that's tried to leave wrestling again and again. How we choose to react in this moment will determine the next 50 years of the sport in the United States. Let's look for ways to be independent from the cult of football and the overlord in Indianapolis. We should rely on our diverse and capable community and create a system that can grow and change with our needs, and that we will be proud of for generations to come.

To your questions …

Q: The moment(s) we've been anticipating around college football are starting to happen. Both the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their seasons with the intent of hopefully having a spring season. SEC and ACC are saying they're continuing forward and will make decisions as they get more information. Big 12 is saying they're going forward with the season. Clearly professional sports with all of their resources and the money tied up in it, haven't been able to find a good solution yet and that's with sports like baseball where the person-to-person contact is far lower than most other major sports. To me this has a duel effect on wrestling: first this reduces the likelihood of a season this winter or even spring and second is the beginning of a probable worst case lack of funding in athletic departments countrywide due to lost tuition, football revenue, 2020 March Madness, and likely lost or vastly depressed revenue from 2020/2021 basketball.

With all that in mind, how does college athletics proceed as a whole? To me, wrestling should be looking to join forces strategically with other teams/sports to figure out ways to survive as offered sports for the long haul now versus being focused on a 2020/2021 season? We, wrestling, will not be the only potential chopping block sport when budgets tighten. As with many things, COVID-19 has wrenched open the cracks in college athletics. Big existential questions can and should be addressed: Do NCAA athletes finally get paid if indeed seasons proceed and they're essentially working in a hazardous environment? Is now the time that basketball and football rosters get pulled out of the evaluation of Title IX due to their disproportionate impact on those numbers? (The intent only being to then reduce the likelihood that schools chop smaller sports both women's and men's in the short term to retain the viability of their money-making sports.) Do athletes get a players' union so they have a voice and bargaining ability at the NCAA level versus being tied to their scholarships?
-- Jon G.

Foley: There are very concerning issues everywhere you look. The simple truth remains that without representation and payment you cannot force these kids to go out and compete in a sport where they don't have any say in the health decisions. A players' union could advocate for them, or the ability to strike, but without that the athletes are being held hostage by the whims of the administrators.

I covered above how I think wrestling can adapt to the sea of changes, but it won't happen overnight. There will be a culling of programs and what they do to survive will largely determine how wrestling will operate in the United States in 5, 10, and 20 years.

I don't think that Title IX should remove football from the equation, but I do think that schools should find creative low-cost solutions to fund sports with bigger head counts while also reducing the overall scholarship amount for the sport of football in general.

Q: How do you see the Daniel Cormier-Stipe Miocic fight playing out? Do you think DC will rely more on his wrestling? Seems like that would be his best path to victory.
-- Mike C.

Foley: I'm pulling for Daniel Cormier, but with another wrestler standing across the cage I feel like even a loss for DC would be somewhat OK. The man is retiring!

If history has taught us anything it's that this fight is kill or be killed with a knockout being served in the first and second bouts. They are evenly matched and have punching power that can equate to stunning turns in momentum.

DC is getting a little long in the tooth and had a pretty significant weight cut, so if the fight lasts longer than the third round it's more likely that Miocic will find his way to victory. For DC to win he needs to pour pressure on Miocic in the first minute and see if he can get Miocic to create an early mistake. If not, he needs to find the cage and make Miocic fight in close. Uppercuts have a way of working well when your opponent's chin is above your head.

As for the wrestling, he'll focus on the upper-body control he can force on Miocic and look for takedowns from the tie-up. Wouldn't expect him to attack from too far away and risk getting his head too far in front of his hips. Miocic is a lot of weight to carry and a legit wrestler himself.

I'm excited for the fight.

Q: The 2016 Olympics were four years ago. What was your favorite wrestling moment from Rio 2016?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Maybe just that it happened. There is a lot of disappointment in not being in Tokyo right now providing fans great content from the Games. There are certainly good reasons for not hosting the Games, but it's such a wonderful event that it's OK to mourn their disappearance this year.

As for my favorite on-the-mat moment it was probably Helen upsetting Yoshida. The energy was incredible and the moment felt historic in a way I hadn't been a part of since Cael won his fourth NCAA title. Beating a legend like Yoshida to become the Olympic champion is just a one-of-a-kind moment.

Kaori Icho after winning gold in Rio (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

My second favorite moment was watching Icho win her fourth and then immediately embrace a photo of her mother who had passed a few months prior. Icho doesn't show a lot of emotion on the mat and to know that she felt secure in recognizing her mother just off the mat was something I'll think about for a long time. A lot going on in one moment.

I can definitively tell you that the Mongolians stripping down was my least favorite moment of the Games. Not that funny to me at the time, nor is it now. Just a sad moment for the sport.

But hey, 2021 will be wrestling's best Olympic Games to date. I promise.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Helen

Icho

Q: What do you make of the WUG wrestling event on Aug. 30?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Any professional event that has controls in place to protect the athletes and officials, and is OK by local laws, seems to be achievable. Look at the NBA! I'm not sure where this is being held or how much COVID testing is in place, but I'm suspect that they will be over-testing the athletes.

Also, this very well could be a great opportunity for the wrestler to make money. However, with Chael involved I'd recommend that anyone competing ask for half their money up front.]]>88218Fri, 14 Aug 2020 08:45:37 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: August 7, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-august-7-2020-r88206/
For young athletes it's a social experience with elements of competition and physical output. As wrestlers get older the sport becomes part of their identity a la "Mark from the wrestling team." For parents it's a way to show pride in their children, for coaches a chance to teach life lessons and maybe scratch a few competitive urges. Journalists in wrestling enjoy the stats, the storytelling, and being members of a community they don't want to leave behind.

Motivations vary, but ultimately wrestling binds together generations of fans, professionals, and athletes in their shared experience inside the sport.

Still, everyone in the wrestling community shares the same values in life. Like any sport or organization there is the full range of personalities in our sport -- those who want to help, those who want to take, and those who simply see it as another job. There are bad influences and there are good.

Despite political or social differences, our community has tended to be in sync is regarding the health of the athletes. We spend a lot of money, time, and effort limiting the spread of skin diseases like ringworm, impetigo, and herpes. Athletes shower after practice, apply special soaps, and disinfect their rooms with sprays and lights. Parents, athletes, administrators and businesses all have the goal to keep our young athletes out of harm's way.

So, it's confusing and angering that now -- with the deadliest, most transmissible disease in 100 years running rampant across the country -- members of our community would choose to eschew their responsibility to keep each other healthy and hold youth wrestling practices.

We are living through a pandemic. More than 1,000 people have been dying per day for more than two weeks and there are more than 50,000 new cases every day. Almost 160,000 Americans have died of the disease since March.

And the response to this widespread death and suffering is to … have kids wrestle?

We can blame the federal government's absolutely abhorrent response as a driving cause for the lack of clarity on how to proceed, but too many coaches are taking that high-level confusion and using it as an excuse for practicing when they know damn well it endangers the lives of athletes.

Professional athletes -- those who are paid to wrestle for a living -- at least have an argument to why they would want to continue wrestling. It feeds their family and they want to be prepared for the next tournament (whenever that is) and many are practicing in pods, getting frequent testing, and following stringent protocols. The professional jiu-jitsu community is similar with one well-known athlete recently returning to the mats but making note that he's doing so with the knowledge he can no longer see his parents and keeping a tight training circle. Maybe not ideal, but as an adult who can weigh the consequences of his actions he's doing his best to maintain a heathy environment.

Children don't have that option to self-isolate or create a training pod. They live at home with Mom and Dad and their brothers and sisters. They see grandma and grandad. It's obnoxious that the coaches who are meant to help children make community-based decisions have chosen their pocketbooks over the health and safety of the children they are meant to lead.

Stop practicing. Stop competing. Americans do not have this virus under control and risking the lives of the next generation of wrestlers for personal gain is the most selfish act we've seen in our community.

We are all paying a financial price for the incompetence of our government and the ravages of this disease. But there is no reason to make our children carry that burden when it is ours to shoulder.

To your questions …

Q: Who are the most exciting, active pinners in freestyle wrestling? Pick the top men and women who are all about that #PinfallLife
-- @NHoughSnee

Foley: First, no nation goes for the kill more often than Mongolia. Men and women both are constantly looking to throw from their feet and control for a fall. Watching one of their matches can be incredibly frustrating because they will consistently risk multiple point leads in the hopes of hitting some outrageous foot sweep or lateral drop. But also, its just fun to watch.

Freestyle has a few throwers, but I think David Taylor is the one most consistently looking to pin opponents. He has more control on top and transitions out of his defensive positions into cradles. Frank Chamizo is another guy who is always searching for a step over or to create chaos from a scramble position. Basically, in freestyle anyone who is willing to let gut wrench action progress far enough to search for a step over is considered a pinner.

The Chinese men, while not altogether impressive, also spend a lot of time searching for cradles, pancakes, and front head roll throughs.

Maria Stadnik works for the fall (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

On the women's side it's Maria Stadnick. She has zero quit and because she's so strong a lot of her forward pressure isn't properly combatted, and she just steamrolls opponents to their backs. Qian Zhou of China and Feng Zhou of China also wrestle into opponents when they are on their haunches and catch a lot of opponents on their back. Their teammate Yanan Sun is probably the most aggressive big-move athlete in the world and has had success versus younger or less experienced in finding the fall, but less so against quality talent.

Vinesh is another uber-athletic talent with eyes on the fall. Lots of step overs, foot sweeps, headlocks, and pancakes from India's wrestling start. She's arguably the most dangerous wrestler in the world.

Q: Wonder if you saw this because some of the debates on Twitter.
-- @pareyouwithme

Foley: Frankie Quintana is an excellent example of a young and healthy individual who is being directly affected by COVID-19. That he is alive is remarkable and a blessing. He needs our support now more than ever so if you can please donate plasma!

Again, it speaks to the point that we know what this disease can do and we know how to prevent its spread. There is no mystery in how to defeat this disease, but a lack of self-discipline and a rampant me-first culture among some in the community is making our sport vulnerable.

This can't be said or written enough: Wrestling will not cease to exist if we stop practicing for a few months. Young wrestlers won't miss a scholarship opportunity. Coaches will make money again in the future. On the flip side if an infected wrestler comes to practice you are running then you have endangered the life of everyone on your team. If you are sick and you knowingly practice you are endangering everyone in that room. You are also endangering their parents and grandparents.

I don't know where Frankie was infected, but I can assure you that he won't be the only wrestler affected by this terrible disease if we still have coaches who are holding practices.

Please keep Frankie in your thoughts.

Q: I see all this talk about the college wrestling season potentially starting in January. It doesn't seem realistic until there is a vaccine. Could you see college wrestlers opting out, like we are seeing with college football players and pro athletes?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Even if there is a vaccine I highly doubt that enough Americans will take it and create something like a herd immunity. Unfortunately our information systems in America have been rotted away by Facebook with the uncle of your buddy's post from PatriotEagleOne News Blog getting as much credence as reports from the NYT and the Washington Post.

The anti-vaxxers are going to get us all killed because they saw a short video on YouTube and think Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci cooked up COVID in a lab somewhere so they could take over the world. These conspiracy theories would be hysterical if it wasn't so pathetic, self-interested, and deadly.

If football makes it through then I think they will try to start a wrestling season, but I just don't think we can last long with the numbers of outbreaks we can expect in teams around the country. Even if we advocate for bubbles these are college kids we are talking about. I'm highly skeptical we are going to keep them out of high-density group environments.

Ultimately, there is nothing we can do about the sport launching in January until the whole of America decides to drop the bullcrap and start wearing a mask, socially distance themselves, and implement a robust nationwide testing and tracing program

Do you see that happening? I don't.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Just because these are awesome



Q: What rule changes could be made to make Greco more fan-friendly?
-- @RichardAMann

Foley: When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's dreadful.

Greco-Roman has moments where it's fan friendly -- sky-high five-point throws, over-the-head lifts, and brutal front headlocks. However, over the past five years the balance of matches can seem slow. The hand-fighting and positioning of the feet are high-level techniques that wrestling aficionados tend to enjoy, but to your question that's not entirely fan-friendly.

An idea floated in 2013 was to have the Greco-Roman athletes wear compression tops with additional tack on the back to allow for better grip. That way you'd see the difference in freestyle and Greco-Roman, but also allow for better traction when attempting throws. Ultimately the idea didn't make it very far, but the inspiration was on point. There is far too much sweaty skin exposed to allow for great grips and throws, especially after the first minute.

I'd be against any clinching, but I don't mind the recent action with referees doing a better job rewarding positive wrestling and dinging negative wrestling. Referee education and oversight will ultimately determine the success of Greco-Roman on the world stage. The best refs can get the athletes to engage and wrestle with intent.

Q: How many Division I programs will we have this time in 2022?
-- @ZingherPolisci

Foley: So much of what will happen with Division I athletics is going to depend on the next four weeks and how the NCAA handles football.

There are already COVID outbreaks on teams across the country and some schools have cancelled their seasons, but the health of wrestling will still depend on the Power 5 conferences and how they choose to handle these outbreaks.

As of now, I think they are going to disregard the health of the athletes and just go forward as we've seen in baseball. The only caveat to that is some administrators with a backbone might find the courage to end the seasons of teams with sustained outbreaks.

If the football season is truncated, or collapses under the weight of the outbreak, we are looking at something like 5-8 at-risk programs being dropped in the fall and winter. If basketball is canceled, then the number will balloon to 10-15. This really might end up being an apocalyptic event for all Division I athletics and the systems that have previously kept them afloat.

What if I said I could introduce you to the mysterious Bajrang Bois?
-- @Jagger712

Foley: I'd say send the invite.

Bajrang.]]>88206Fri, 07 Aug 2020 06:41:29 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: July 31, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-july-31-2020-r88207/
The obvious failure was the feed going dead by the start of the first match. That stuff happens to FloWrestling, Trackwrestling, United World Wrestling and other internet broadcasters. Sometimes when too many people are online, or there isn't enough oomph (layman terminology) to get the signal out to viewers. Both are preventable, but failures are common.

The delayed start ate away at the event's energy. Heading into the event there was significant stumbling about women's matches, Pat Downey, and last-minute changes, but with 24 hours to go much of the wrestling world had resigned itself to enjoying a much-needed night of sports entertainment. The commentary was knowledgeable and entertaining, and the creative packages were well done.

There was FAR too much time between the cards. While I agree that some hype helps, it's better done in the days leading up to the event than in the first minutes. Some footage had leaked out, but a 24/7 or Embedded type program would have helped fans gain new perspective into the lives of the athletes. It's a huge task and with everything else happening in the world it would have been a big ask.

The packages felt like a Fight Night from UFC 2013 with a swinging lightbulb bringing the wrestlers faces into and out of focus. Meh. It's much better than nothing, but it only really reminded me of the UFC and there is plenty of room for wrestling to have its own look for big events. And again, watching them three to four times before each match got to be a repetitive and annoying. I was probably not alone in having other screens on and just keeping one eye on the promotion. (Side note: This seems better suited to an actual PPV card where people are buying it as a one-off.)

A faster card would have made for a better card, though I don't think the matches needed to roll back-to-back-to-back. A 12-minute delay with one airing of the promotional reel and then listening to the hype from the commentators (like all sporting events) would have been an improvement for the fan experience. Keep us interested but stay focused on the content we want to consume.

The wrestling was OK. The referee allowed far too much time for Dake to work at the edge of the mat. He earned the turn, but the wrestlers should have been back to their feet a few moments before the turn was attempted.

The scrambles were complex and compelling with both grapplers showcasing some of their defensive skill, but the overall number of exchanges left me wanting more. If an organizer is paying $75-100K for a main event I'd hope that the athletes feel compelled to pull the trigger a little more often. Getting shooters is important because this event is part spectacle and part sport, whereas a world championship event is run for a sporting outcome. Something to consider.

What's next? Tough to say what matchups may come through in the next few weeks. Much will depend on FloWrestling and what they are willing to pay and the preparation and timeline of the biggest athletes. The matches will be limited to foreign wrestlers from only one country or else it becomes a United World Wrestling level event, which currently aren't allowed to occur. Though that doesn't matter much since America isn't open to foreign business quite like it was six months ago.

Overall, I enjoyed the evening if it was delayed and suffered from too many pauses. We all wanted something sporting and entertaining and I think that's what we received. Good job by FloWrestling to get it together and to follow the strict COVID protocols.

To your questions …

David Taylor takes down Myles Martin at FloWrestling's event this past Saturday (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: David Taylor called out Abdulrashid Sadulaev. If they faced off at a catchweight, how do you see that match going?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I really don't have any idea who would win, but that's also due in part to not knowing if a catchweight would be possible. While Sadulaev did only weigh in the mid 90's for much of the 2017 season, he was trimming some kilos in 2019 and he's even larger in the COVID-era of less working out and more dining. Would "The Tank" have to cut down to 92 kilograms for a match with someone who can eat up to 92 kilograms? Meh. Seems like a lot to consider for Sadulaev who both doesn't need the money and doesn't care about the attention.

OK, but what if he did decide to workout, cut a bunch of weight, and fly to Texas …

When attacking, David Taylor is arguably the best freestyle wrestler in the world. When defending he's creative and opportunistic, but he does give up points when opponents make it past his hands and elbows and connect to good shots. Sadulaev is beefy, but he's also outrageously athletic -- would a scoot to the corner and ankle grab work against him? I'm doubtful. This sets up an interesting dynamic of giving the aggressor the upper hand.

Pacing would determine the winner. If Taylor opened up and found solid attacks with clean finishes I think he can snatch a few early takedowns from Sadualev. He'd then need to stay on the offense because as the match would progress Sadulaev would tire Taylor and open up more attacks. If Sadualev attacks, especially late, I think Taylor is not in a good position to defend.

While Taylor is the better wrestler from neutral there is the issue of par terre. If Sadulaev ends up on top of Taylor there is a rib-cracking gut wrench coming that is very difficult to stop.

Maybe we will be fortunate enough to see the matchup, but probably not. What is nice to know is that we have the wrestling IQ among fans to start fantasizing about this type of international matchup. I don't think we had that group knowledge as recently as five years ago, much less ten or twenty.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Sadulaev responds: Eat and train and maybe I'll see you in the fall


Truth


Q: If the Senior Nationals event goes off as planned in October, what type of field do you expect?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Big if …

There should be a number of top-tier athletes competing at the Olympic weights because the tournament would be a good opportunity to warm up before the Olympic Trials in April. I wouldn't expect Kyle Snyder, Jordan Burroughs, David Taylor, J'den Cox, Nick Gwiazdowski or Thomas Gilman but I think it's plausible we'll see athletes a little further down the ladder.

Again, I'm guessing the tournament is a BIG 'if' in that it relies heavily on the outcome of United World Wrestling's upcoming bureau meetings this August. Should it be decided that something is to change with the 2020 World Championships it would almost certainly mean the elimination of the trials.

However, if not, it's important that the athletes start the process by having national tournaments to train and prepare for.

Q: I saw the NCAA announced that student-athletes may wear social justice patches and statements on their uniforms. Do you think we will see any on wrestling singlets?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yes. The NCAA allowing freedom of expression is comical. They've allowed sponsors to buy the field of play and the bodies of the athletes, through no direct compensation to those same athletes. That's farcical, but it's happening. That they then say it's "allowable" to make a statement for equal treatment is antithetical to the very idea of self-determination and dominion over one's self.

Pay the athletes. End this sham.]]>88207Fri, 31 Jul 2020 12:31:09 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: July 24, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-july-24-2020-r88188/
The event, which has been well-documented to not include women, has a variety of star power from around the country and includes the ultra-sellable Frank Chamizo as the headlining act. If FloWrestling is hoping to sell subscriptions, there is no question this event will draw in eyeballs.

However, with those eyeballs will come at an additional risk to the sport of wrestling. With big names and media coverage will come the scrutiny of health officials, political leaders, and the wrestling community. Deaths from COVID are well above 1000-a-day nationwide and Texas is in the midst of its worst-ever outbreak. Should COVID protocols not be followed there is potential for serious backlash among stakeholders and those influential in national sports.

The rooftop event held in Chicago a few weeks ago did not follow strict protocols and the local press and wrestling media covered those shortcomings. This event is much larger -- it's being hosted by the largest wrestling broadcaster in the nation, advertised heavily, and will have more organic interest in the outcomes due to there being three world champions on the card. Should mistakes like those in Chicago be made in Austin there is risk of serious blowback for the sport of wrestling.

I don't subscribe to the logic that wrestling is more dangerous than basketball or football in terms of transmission. In fact, the argument can be made that dual meets and controlled settings have less risk of transmission than team sports with lots of intermingling of athletes.

The public won't see that comparison -- they will only see two individuals standing face-to-face, breathing on each other, and ask themselves if that exact moment is a highly transmissible situation. We have to understand that this event will do nothing to make the situation better for the perception of wrestling. The best we can hope for is that nothing goes horribly wrong.

Wear a mask …

Q: Who wins this weekend?
-- Will D.

Foley: Predictions below.

Kyle Dake vs. Frank Chamizo

Stylistically this is an incredible matchup of two ultra-defensive wrestlers with unique scrambling ability and sense of their positioning on the mats. The only issue I see is that neither is likely to attack early or often, and when they do it will be the ultimate shutdown mode to follow.

For the fans, the most entertaining match might start with a Dake attack countered for four points by Chamizo. We know that Chamizo will shut down the action after that many points and that Dake becomes far less tactical when he is trailing in a match. With the score 4-0 I'd think another pushout or two, and maybe a takedown would move the score to 4-3 heading into the break.

Chamizo reverses a sure-thing pushout and scores to go up 5-3. Dake does something miraculous with about 30 seconds left on the clock to tie it up, but trail on criteria. We then get 25 seconds of fans yelling for a penalty point as Chamizo flees and we end up with a last-second attempt from Dake to push Chamizo out of bounds that ends up deciding the match.

That's best case for fans. The worst case might be something more like watching paint dry and neither is willing to attack, and we get offsetting shot clocks to decide the match.

I'll take Dake.

Myles Martin vs. David Taylor

David Taylor is among the best overall wrestlers in the world. He's creative, punishing, attack-minded, and strong-willed. He has great coaching and doesn't seem content to rest on his 2018 world championship. Taylor's recent knee surgery has healed and his last return to the mats was to capture the Olympic qualification spot for the United States at 86 kilograms.

Martin is taking the match on short notice and while he has the skills to become one of the best in the world, he won't be challenging Taylor too much on scrambles, not in leg defense. My main concern is that both men stay healthy for their runs at the Olympic Games and that Martin can make it a competitive match for Taylor who will need every opportunity to tune-up for Tokyo 2021 where a super-charged Yazdani is waiting for his opportunity to seek revenge.

Jack Mueller scores with a chest wrap against Nick Piccininni at Beat the Streets in 2019 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Jack Mueller vs. Roman Bravo-Young

Fun matchup. I'm biased, but I think far too many people underestimate Jack Mueller in general, but especially in freestyle. Mueller has an awesome style for international success, endless gas tank, and coaching under Kendall Cross. He's competitive with Spencer Lee and has been on a U23 world team. Give the man his props.

Roman Bravo-Young is a lot for any wrestler to handle, but where he's best in scrambles is where Mueller has always found opportunities to score. RBY's attacks will need to be clean and his finishes immediate if he's to avoid a situation where Mueller wears down the pace and ties up RBY before actualizing points.

Mueller by a field goal.

Vito Arujau vs. Sammy Alvarez

There is a compelling case to be made for Arujau to end up on the Olympic team. I don't think he will, but he's top level 57-kilogram talent for the United States and will be on a senior team before the end of his career. (I still think it'll be Spencer Lee in 2021.)

The matchup with Sammy Alvarez is a nice tune-up for the recently announced Senior Nationals in October, but I don't think there will be much of a competitive back-and-forth. Mostly, I am interested to see Arjuau's gains in freestyle and if he has something special to offer at the world level.

Darrion Caldwell vs. Luke Pletcher

I'd really, really hope that Pletcher has zero issues with Caldwell. When is the last time Caldwell wrestled a full match? 2012? He's had an incredible MMA career, but the tactical side of the sport, conditioning, and the mentality of wrestling are very different than they were when Caldwell last wrestled. That is to say nothing of the rule set and game planning that accompanies a perfect knowledge of the current sport and interpretations.

Hope to see the best of Pletcher and for Caldwell to keep it competitive enough for a flash of his former brilliance to come through for fans

Q: I don't think many wrestling fans are as opposed to women's wrestling as you think but rather are frustrated that the ladies would ask for more money than DT and then accuse Flo of sexism when Flo declines. It seems like a fairly dishonest charge against Flo because there's a reasonable argument to be made that DT will draw more eyeballs for the event. This is obviously hard to measure but one metric we can use is DT has ~85K followers where Jacarra Winchester only has 2.5K. I understand your point about wrestling not operating in the free market but isn't there still a threshold where the girls are asking for too much money? Am I missing something here?
-- Steven L.

Foley: Fair. I think you make a valid point that the wrestling community isn't all-in against women. I also agree that David Taylor should be paid more than Jacarra based on his ability to draw eyeballs and his success on the NCAA and international level.

Equal pay is the goal, but FloWrestling (or any private company) can't be compelled retroactively to adhere to a standard that is outside of their contractual responsibilities as partners. The larger goal for this event, and probably for many other independent events (non-USA Wrestling) is to have there be some representation. With the ability to compete on the undercard a number of interested men's freestyle fans might find entertainment in the women's side. It's how you promote young boxers and how the UFC limped into female-led fight cards.

Complicated topic all around, but from my perspective we can all work hard on increasing representation and shifting the spotlight when there is an opportunity to expand the reach of women's wrestling at home and abroad.

And this isn't really necessary to write, but women's wrestling is WILDLY entertaining. For anyone who says they aren't as good as the boys I don't see them making the same arguments for not watching high school wrestling, or college wrestling, or age group level wrestling.

And lastly Jacarra has 11K Instagram followers!

Q: Aaron Pico makes his MMA return on Friday. His career has not gone as planned so far, but he's still young. Do you still think he could be a champion in Bellator or UFC?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Of course.

Pico was young when he was introduced to the MMA community and his successes and failures are more like early season wrestling tournaments than they are performances at the state championships. Getting KO'ed or choked is part of a longer learning process that can't be stifled due to setbacks. Pico seems to understand this and has been powering through the early bumps.

Fighting is crazy, but Pico is building a skill set and mental outlook that will benefit him in the long term. He has the talent and the discipline to succeed at anything he does so his career will largely be dependent on how he manages his health, the skills he chooses to improve, and the impact his management has on who he chooses to fight. Anyone who knows Pico understands that he doesn't spend much time away from the mats, and if he does it's to be with his family or his horses.

Pico will be a Bellator champion. After a few defenses I can see him make the transition to the UFC after a handful of title defenses. How he does there is anyone's guess, but you should never underestimate Pico.]]>88188Fri, 24 Jul 2020 11:52:28 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: July 17, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-july-17-2020-r88175/Kayla Miracle, Helen Maroulis, Jacarra Winchester and Sarah Hildebrandt (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
Even by the lofty standards of the wrestling community, last weekend was one of the most controversial and dramatic in recent memory.

In short, FloWrestling refused to add women to their upcoming Dake vs. Chamizo card, claiming there was no economic benefit, thus roiling many female wrestlers and their advocates. In the fallout, Pat Downey backed Flo's positions with some pretty aggressive tweeting, but was ultimately pulled from the card when it was rumored/revealed he'd sent inappropriate text messages. Since then a number of other smaller fires have popped up but have been so far been less dramatic than the original discussion.

At its core though the weekend's discussion revolved around women's wrestling and the fight for representation and the role "for-profit" business models should play in supporting larger community aspirations.

First, while FloSports airs niche content -- largely of Olympic style sports -- the industry they covered is almost entirely funded through taxation, donation, and non-profit means. It's hard to think of wrestling and not get confused, so imagine you sell livestreaming for a church service. You run a for-profit business, but that business is entirely dependent on the health and success of the non-profit.

For example, USA Wrestling pays prize money to its athletes, which in part comes from the funds provided by the USOPC. The USOPC monies come from a combination of sponsorship deals derived from an agreement with the IOC, other Games revenue, and governmental support. Therefore, the events and athletes that are being elevated and promoted by Flo aren't themselves working inside a free market -- like they would be in MMA or jiu-jitsu -- they are supported by the IOC and the Olympic structure.

A large part of the Olympic movement is about equality of opportunity and representation. Not having enough women on the mat was part of the reason FILA was shown the guillotine in 2013. When wrestling chose to increase the number of women and improve governance the IOC saw the change and welcomed wrestling back into the Olympics (which provides $15-20 million in direct funding of wrestling per cycle).

Therefore, when women are excluded from participating in events based on their gender there is ample reason to be upset. The "we don't make money" off women's wrestling is circular logic insomuch as nobody can make money off something they don't promote. At the moment, I have 200-plus film cameras and vintage lenses I'd like to sell, but I can't because nobody has shown interest in them. No, I haven't posted them on eBay or taken the time to explain their value, but why would I take the time to do that if they haven't already sold?

See the fallacy of the argument?

I know that women's wrestling sells because United World Wrestling has contracts in two massive media markets (Japan and India) where the value is largely driven by the access to women's wrestling competition. India's program only found success starting in 2016, but with investment from partners in India and a culture who actively welcomes their participation, the sport is blossoming. In Japan the women wrestlers have huge marketing deals and are often so popular as to be subject to tabloid press.

In short, women's wrestling is marketable in Japan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Brazil, and Canada. However, it's not in the United States?

One of the ways United World Wrestling became better at identifying women's stories and delivering them to our audience was by -- wait for it -- hiring women! Of our full-time staff for the Olympic Games just about half will be women. They were hired because they are capable, talented and driven to deliver good work. They didn't need to have wrestled, and having them on staff has been wildly beneficial (and yes profitable).

Take for example an ad-hoc hire of Russian translator Karina. Any interview you've seen with a Russian speaking wrestler from Europeans to Worlds has been done by Karina. I've tried to get these interviews. Other wrestlers have tried. But for whatever reason -- maybe because athletes don't tend to be rude to a female reporter -- Karina gets the interview, has it translated immediately, and delivered. Same with Nazerke, who runs on Russian social media accounts. Need insight on Russian memes -- ask Nazerke..

When it comes to understanding emotional moments or being in the right place at the right time the media team tends to select Helena as the lead videographer. She can feel a moment, gets the best shot, and is respectful of distance and the need to have space. Sometimes male shooters (myself included) can leave too quickly or take a shooting posture that could impact the wrestler and the moment. Certainly, that's not always the case, but having a diversity of experience means we can choose from different individuals to meet a variety of moments and expectations.

USA Wrestling also enjoys the benefit of diversity, which we access, too. Taylor Gregorio brings a fresh perspective to the view of wrestling in North America. She also speaks fluent Spanish and has helped the United World Wrestling team reach into new markets with well-asked questions and even helping produce documentaries with Spanish-speaking athletes. Yes, we could have had a male who spoke Spanish do the same, but we didn't. We had Taylor and she's a bad ass.

Sachiko's photography, Ana's video editing, and Rita's marketing. The teams we create have women because it would be incredibly short-sighted to have five people in one room who've all had the same experiences. If I hired five American men aged 30-45 with wrestling experience and Big Ten degrees I'd have one arrow in my quiver. With a diverse group of five individuals it often feels like I have 10.

As for the wrestlers affected, the American women's wrestlers I know are intelligent, hardworking, tough and marketable. These women are superstars who deserve 100 times the coverage they are currently provided in the United States.

I agree that the men might be more popular or cost-effective right now, but it's foolish to ignore a growing segment of the wrestling world. If Toyota sells 100,000 Camry's it doesn't mean they can't also sell some Tacomas. The two aren't related. If anything you grow your audience by tapping into the new networks and exposure that comes with women's wrestling.

The COVID era is difficult. Spending is limited, but that's not an excuse for a lack of creativity. Quite the opposite, the times require more inclusive-minded solutions and community creativity. Growing wrestling means growing the size and diversity of our community.

Failing to invest in something marketable might seem like the prevention of a short-term cash drain, but in fact it has devastating downstream consequences. We are the stories that we tell and the relationships we create. Ignoring the existence of a gender, or reducing them to an equation of profitability, is not something I believe this community should value.

I hope that we can all work together over the coming months and create space for our female athletes that allows them the same opportunity for success as we provide the men.

To your questions …

Q: What are your thoughts on Jordan Burroughs' decision to leave Lincoln next year? What do you think was the main draw? I always assumed this Olympic cycle would be his last, but I guess not.
-- Mike C.

Foley: I hadn't given much thought to if he'd continue, but a majority of athletes tend to base their long-term plans on their last performance, say the Olympic Games or worst case, the Olympic Team Trials. Even so, Burroughs has plenty left to keep competing, its more just a matter of priority and what goals he has left to accomplish.

The timing of the decision is a little odd. Why not go now? You want to be with Coach Manning, which I think is a good idea, but then why announce a change in July 2020 that won't take effect for 14 months? Seems like a lot of anticipation and could very well distract from training in the short term. I'm not a psychologist, and Burroughs is mentally tough, but I wonder if it splits focus. Who knows, maybe it makes him energized to finish off his time in Nebraska with maximum effort.

Also, the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center is snatching up a lot of top talent. Could be an excellent place for wrestlers to train for the 2021 World Championships and beyond. Congrats to Coach Slay for creating a positive atmosphere that welcomes so many top-level athletes.

Q: Did the NJRTC make the right decision to drop Pat Downey?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yes. Downey hasn't shown to be a person of high character. Starting in college he has been given multiple opportunities to correct his behavior and has chosen each time to revert to bad habits.

Downey's playing the bad boy because he feels he can monetize the wrestling audience who he believes wants that type of personal drama. Add on the accusations of illegal behavior, constant disrespect for opponents, coaches, teammates, and a variety of other people invested in his success and you can conclusively say he should not have been receiving the time, money, and coaching investment of the NJRTC.

Q: Conferences like the Ivy League and PSAC announced they will not be competing in any sports in the fall season. What does this mean for wrestling programs in those conferences if there is competition? Does it exclude them from competing in events like the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and open tournaments?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The college wrestling season won't begin in the fall semester, save the introduction of a vaccine or a treatment that can immediately combat the deadliness of the disease. The best solution would be for 100-percent of the nation to wear a mask every time they were in public, wash hands, socially distance, and comply with a nationwide contact tracing protocol that could immediately reduce the number of infections.

If, for the sake of college athletics (or human lives, whichever is more important to you) the country could get on board then we would likely see football in the fall, wrestling in the spring, and something resembling normalcy come the 2021-2022 school year. Right now, we are a country without a plan and thousands of people are dying for no reason.

MULTIMEDIA SHOWCASE OF WOMEN'S WRESTLING

The Rise of Indian women's wrestling

Signature Move: Grace Bullen

Battsetseg documentary

Most watched match in UWW history

Belarus vs. Ukraine 76-kilogram quarterfinal (27K views)

Signature Move: Vicky Anthony

Dope comeback by Adeline

Domination by Helen

]]>88175Fri, 17 Jul 2020 12:14:48 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: July 10, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-july-10-2020-r88159/
The expected budget shortfalls in athletic departments is due to the lack of revenue generated by football, due to the inability to play as caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But this is really only a stress test for a system that has spent decades overspending and valuing the personal gains of those in the NCAA bureaucracy more than the labor of those on the field.

College sports was professionalized by career-focused athletic administrators who overleveraged football teams and infrastructure project to boost their personal brand. The C-Suite athletic directors (largely white, largely wealthy) saw riskless career advancement on the backs of a largely unpaid Black labor force. The majority of those in charge could bankrupt an ATM, but it their estimation a recyclable, unpaid labor force, who could be pushed past all modern labor laws by nostalgic friends on America's benches as a means to increase ticket sales, build larger stadiums, pump up their own notoriety and lever it all to the hilt.

The athletic directors at Power 5 conferences could give two cents about anything but the way they are perceived by their peers as they oversee their programs. Academic All-Americans is a pretty column in the recruiting column, but the only paper these athletes want is the cash everyone else is using as currency to buy goods. But for the athletic directors there is only enough money to line their pockets.

Greed and poor fiscal management are why Stanford announced the elimination of 11 sports. But it also accounts for the survival of the bureaucracy. As of today there weren't any additional layoffs among the 200-plus support positions at Stanford. Why? Bureaucracies like those at Stanford don't die because they are inside a self-affirming system that spirals up to the NCAA. It's interwoven and unkillable. "Of course we can't fire the associate director for academic performance!" If Stanford axed the non-contributing fat, they'd have to admit that the metrics and support systems were all a smokescreen for not having to pay individuals for the services they perform.

Boise State AD Curt Apsey

Curt Apsey, the much-maligned AD at Boise State, is probably the most abysmal of the bureaucratic dinosaurs who believes that shuffling personnel and setting outlandish goals is positive career juice. After working his way up the ranks at Boise State he took a short stint as an AD of a smaller school, only to be called back by Boise State in 2016. What's that first plan? Cut wrestling and add baseball. A program with little overhead and plenty of success being replaced by one that requires immense overhead and has no players. Now baseball is being cut and Apsey essentially spent the last four years of his life figuring out how to light $4 million on fire.

Apsey is just one of many examples of athletic directors with no economic expertise who've convinced alumni and school officials to expand expensive offerings in order to boos the "brand identity" and reputation of the school through sports. The interesting part missing from Apsey's plan was that Boise State winning the College World Series would, at best, result in the program being self-sufficient for a year or two. However, his resume would be padded and the reputation he sells up the NCAA food chain and to other schools would be improved.

Apsey has failed in spectacular fashion, but nothing will happen. He's entrenched and COVID will take the blame, because his generation is devoid of accepting responsibility for their actions. The AD's in his sphere thought the money tree would never stop delivering. But it did and now there is a baseball team off the field and a broken legacy of Broncos wrestlers. Apsey? Employed and happy. Maybe that will change, but he'll have a golden parachute to ease his return to Applebee's and nights out talking about the time he ruined a state's favorite athletic institution.

It's not just the Apseys of the world that take the blame. We do too. Off campus we elected the officials who've so far created the limpest, most lethargic, self-defeating, and toothless response to the COVID pandemic in the world. Truly, leading the world in incompetence. Make no mistake that we could be back on the mats, on the field, and in restaurants were it not the intent of those in power to watch us die. If the American government had tested, contact traced, and encourage us to wear masks this column wouldn't be live. We'd be talking about the upcoming football season and we'd have wrestling at Stanford.

But that didn't happen, because masks have been bastardized and weaponized by insecure milquetoast racists like Tucker Carlson and promoted by the weakest national leadership in American history. But hey, we elected these racist clowns, so we have to own some responsibility.

As for Stanford wrestling? I get it and we all know the steps to this dance. The community is going to fundraise for Stanford. Their alumni, mid-stickup, will fork over $10 million to save wrestling in the process probably even add women's wrestling. That could be an awesome moment, but we aren't solving any larger issues in college athletics by capitulating to the short-sighted economic hijacking of the wrestling team.

Right now, the model is free labor in support of all activities. While there is a lot of fat in the athletic programs at its core it's a system run by largely white athletic directors using the labor of Black America to generate profits for themselves and their corporate partners. COVID is bringing that much into focus so if you ask me what we should do right now? Save Stanford, sure. But it's time to drop the hose and turn off the alarms.

Let it burn.]]>88159Fri, 10 Jul 2020 11:38:06 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: July 3, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-july-3-2020-r88145/Fans gather to watch Rumble on the Rooftop in Chicago (Photo/Justin Hoch, jhoch.com)
Last weekend's Rumble on the Rooftop in Chicago became wrestling's first substantial competition since the conference tournaments in mid-March. The meet was competed on a rooftop with limitations on size of crowd and a myriad interaction that might cause viral spread.

The match went down at a time that the United States has seen the single most daily cases since the virus began. In Texas, Arizona, and Florida the virus is almost totally out of control. While the virus hasn't changed to meet these new numbers, the behavior of those in America has. After 12 weeks of trying to social distance and the government enforcing closures and strict measures many of those mechanism had been undone. People have simply lost interest in following government guidelines.

According to this week's article on InterMat much of what happened at Rumble on the Rooftop can be seen as a microcosm of the United States' larger failure to organize behind an effective, life-saving response to COVID-19. USA Wrestling sent specific instructions on protocols to follow and yet none were met. According to the nurse at the event the lack of discipline in following protocol could lead to it becoming a super-spreader event.

Do we want this for our sport? Wrestling won't be taken from the earth because a pandemic has made it unsafe to practice or compete. In fact, the only way to safely return to practicing and competition is to have wholesale buy-in on wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands, getting tested, and believing scientists. Right now, due to unnecessary politicization of a deadly virus, the United States has the worst outbreak in the world. We are unable to travel to the E.U. and may of the things we might have been able to do by this point in a well-executed quarantine (like wrestling) simply are not available.

I miss jiu-jitsu. It's my connection to friends, an outlet for creativity, and a way to destress and decompress. I'm also someone who has had COVID-19 and could maybe even roll safely without fear of getting sick. However, I don't because it's not clear what is going on with this virus and the risk of transmission to friends and family is far too great.

On a recent podcast my jiu-jitsu professor (jiu-jitsu athletes call them "professor") Marcelo Garcia said something I hadn't thought about in regard to jiu-jitsu and the outbreak. In short, he said that jiu-jitsu trains its athletes for these moments. Marcelo's outlook on being in a bad position isn't that you fall back on aggression, but instead remain calm and think your way to a solution. Patience is required even when you are suffocating, because there is almost always air to breathe and enough blood to keep you awake. In COVID we can feel desperate and frustrates, but flailing in an unplanned counterattack against an invisible virus is not a solution.

Sitting back may not work well for an antsier and aggressive wrestling community. Offense is in our DNA. During the 90's when the outcry over program elimination prompted the wrestling community to fund an attack of Title IX. The community wanted the rules changed and the mechanisms eliminated -- in order to fix a problem most knew was unchangeable. But instead of thinking up a solution (women's wrestling!) we poured millions of dollars into legal fees and corporate-level brain damage.

We might be making the same mistakes with COVID-19. It's doubtful that we are going to look back and be thrilled that on some random June evening we were able to host two club teams on the top of a building. We will however look back and ask ourselves if that type of event was worth the risk of exposure, or that it made us look out of touch with those in need around the country.

We will wrestle again. But for now, let us all try to re-flatten the curve and get ourselves to place where we can test, contact trace, and travel overseas. To get there will require the discipline of patience, not the insecurity of haste.

To your questions …

Q: What do you think of some colleges canceling wrestling for first semester?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Each college and individual education institution will need to make the decision that is best for their local community, teachers, and students. There is no secret that all resources will be allocated to protect the idea of a football season. Without athletes having independent representation there is little chance that the players can stop the season, even if they fear for their safety.

That aside, I think that the few schools who have canceled it the first semester are really just actuating the most feasible outcomes for their schools from a financial perspective. The idea of mass nationwide travel to attend college when this week the United States saw the single most cases in a single day does not compute.

I feel sad for the wrestlers, but I don't see the sense in complaining. Parts of the country that didn't take this virus seriously -- and individuals who chose their "freedom" to not wear a mask over the needs of the common good -- have left us without the college season in the first semester.

Q: Could you see a scenario in which some states have high school wrestling this season and some do not?
-- Mike C.

Foley: That absolutely will happen. You can be all but certain that California, New York, Texas, and other large states will cancel their high school wrestling season should the outbreak not be under control by September. Currently there is no indication that the outbreak will be contained. I'd be surprised if more than Iowa, Oklahoma, and a few other Midwestern states held seasons. It won't be responsible to do so under these conditions.

Q: What do you think of the NJCAA's decision to move the season to one semester?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Harbinger.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Bekzod!

Grace Bullen

Q: What do you think of Boise State dropping swimming and baseball? They cut wrestling in part to fund baseball?!
-- Joe V.

Foley: The Boise State debacle is a test case in the positives (and negatives) of pinning the development of a college athletics' foundation around the success of football. The model has worked for Boise State. Long a regional player, they brought in Houston Nutt in the mid 1990's and moved up to Division I-A and joined a larger conference. Soon, Chris Peterson became their leader and Boise State was playing to packed stadiums and selling enough merchandise to keep the show going.

Then in 2018, with their football cash quickly diminishing, the school looked to baseball to be their lifeline to more conference and national money. The West Coast baseball scene is extremely lucrative and their thinking was they could recoup dollars on the diamond. To summon the cas hflow and Title IX compliance they chose to cut wrestling. The story has been well covered by Andrew Spey at FloWrestling and here at InterMat.

Today they announced that the baseball experiment was over. Too much money out with very little chance to recoup it in the COVID-19 era of no fans and football on the rocks.

The opinion here is that Boise State is the absolute shining example of what terrible leadership and lack of imagination can lead to at a Division I institution. The athletic departments are run by pseudo executives applying quasi-business approaches to their schools du jour as a means to trade their way up the NCAA hierarchy. The politics and relationships that dole out these jobs is as corrupt as any in the international business world, with seemingly no consequence.

The best run athletic programs are the ones that have prioritized the welfare of the student-athletes and the students. The worst, like Boise State, prioritize the idea that executives can find addition through subtraction. Their lack of ingenuity and spine have been exposed through COVID-19 and they should feel the shame that they've worked so hard to avoid.

Q: Do you think we will see a sportsbook pick up betting on Olympic level and/or college wrestling? Looks like BetDSI does not do it anymore.
-- John M.

Foley: I do. There have been some awesome odds in the past, but without new events it's impossible to predict their commitment level.]]>88145Fri, 03 Jul 2020 13:09:05 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: June 19, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-june-19-2020-r88110/
As most wrestling fans are now aware the push to include women at the Division I level has been going, in earnest, for roughly five years. Once only relegated to the WCWA the sport has quickly become the administrative-favored add at several enrollment-based schools, especially at the Division II and Division III levels. Even smaller Division I schools for whom enrollment is a concern have added programs, including Lock Haven.

The growth is dependent on state sanctioning to ensure that more women have the chance to compete when they are girls. This week South Dakota sanctioned girl's wrestling, becoming the 25th state nationwide to do so. That's an extraordinary number and one that helps support that growing number of collegiate programs and provide USA Wrestling with a much larger crop of potential Olympic and world champions on the women's side.

The best news nugget in the decision was that the program will all be freestyle, rather than folkstyle. It's a huge boon not only to the pool of American athletes, but also will become a destination for international athletes looking for an education.

As always, there is some concern with the rapid growth in the time of COVID-19. The budgets of most programs are being cut due to the economic concerns of limited, or canceled, college football seasons. That would've made the effort to add and retain new Division I programs on the women's side ever-more difficult, but the target of 40 programs to earn championship status is only one away. That's right, with Emerging Sports status officially starting August 1, it's not impossible that women's wrestling could immediately qualify for an NCAA Division I championships.

There are other angles to COVID-19 that might prove helpful. Right now there are athletic departments looking to save money, but also remain NCAA viable with 8-plus programs. If they already have a men's program and want to trade up for a low-cost Title IX compliant sport, women's wrestling is now available.

Congratulations to all the youth, high school and college coaches who've been toiling for years to get this status approved. An obvious acknowledgement of Sally Roberts, too, who has been the tip of the spear with Wrestle Like a Girl and has orchestrated much of the success we saw last week.

Let's keep it up. There is no time to rest.

To your questions …


Q: What do you think about The Citadel firing Rob Hjerling? Who takes that job?
-- Wayne P.

Foley: There were some solid years at The Citadel in the early 2010's, but they've since faded from prominence. These things are cyclical and also driven by momentum. I'm certain that Coach Hjerling will do well in his next pursuit and has fond memories of his time as the head wrestling coach at The Citadel.

The next hire will be very interesting. The school presents a number of challenges given that it's a military institution in the south without a strong history if winning championships. Maybe Lee Roper would be a good fit, given his familiarity with wrestlers from the Mid-Atlantic and south. He has a strong history of success on the mat, as a club coach, and at Northern Iowa that could see him get the nod for the job.

You also have Jordan Leen from Tennessee, who is currently at Pittsburgh but also coached at Virginia.

Q: What do you make of the Rumble on the Rooftop event on June 28?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Same question as always: Why? There is no tangible benefit to a competition of that size for the athletes or the fans. The jiu-jitsu world has been doing some competitions, too, so maybe I'm in the minority, but I see absolutely zero reason to start now. What is the plan if there is an infection? What if a competitor spreads it to someone, who then unknowingly infects someone with a health condition? What if someone dies?

The "don't be a pansy" crowd can yell all they want about a return to normal life and masks being for the weak, but I'll remind you that more than 115,000 Americans have died since March and 1000 die EACH DAY. I love wrestling and have spent my life circling the globe to write stories and produce videos for our audience. Like many of you, I feel the deepest of connections. But there is nothing more important to me than the health of my family and community and I can't find a way to justify these types of events that seem to have little oversight and even less at stake.

The time will come for a return to mats, but right now -- without contact tracing, testing, and other precautions there is not enough evidence that this will be a safe event.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Powerful story

King Vlad



Max Rohskopf (Photo/NC State Athletics)

Q: Former NC State wrestler Max Rohskopf is making his UFC debut this weekend. What kind of future do you think he has in MMA?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Rohskopf has shown a lot of promise in his first several fights. Like a number of wrestlers, he seems to have heeded the warning about the necessity of standup game, but unlike other wrestlers he also seems to have focused a lot on his jiu-jitsu. The ability to avoid submissions, while also hunting for your own makes any fighter -- especially a Division I wrestler -- extremely dangerous on the mats.]]>88110Fri, 19 Jun 2020 12:18:08 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: June 12, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-june-12-2020-r88103/
The wrestling community is filled with powerful and effective leaders. But only this week have many in the community seen, heard, and read the stories of turmoil and aspirations from members of our black leadership class. Theirs is a voice the community had long needed to hear.

Whether through Victoria Anthony, Kyven Gadson or Jordan Burroughs, the black experience and insight is finally being given respect and the wrestling community is better served by experiencing these glimpses. That people of color are feeling comfortable to express their viewpoints without fear of pushback in a largely white, conservative community means this moment has heft. There is significance to what is happening here, and there is a real opportunity for a more inclusive future -- one that recognizes and corrects the mistakes of the past.

Let's all continue to support members our wrestling community this week, next week, and next year. We have the strength to make compassion a habit and no excuses to sit this out.

To your questions …

Q: What did you think of Seth Gross, Anthony Ashnault and Jason Nolf ending their sponsorship deals with ScrapLife?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Last Friday, ScrapLife executive Don Beshada posted an indefensible screed about race, activism, and other topics on the brand's official social media account. The post was quickly deleted but not before being screen captured and shared widely in the wrestling community. Beshada was fired, ScrapLife is attempting to push him out of his partnership, and the wrestling community reacted strongly to the language.

What's so interesting to me is that it took the confluence of events for our community to directly address the racism and illiberalism in the community. Even last week I mentioned that our community had a history of saying angry, racist things but that it often progressed without being called out. Like clockwork, Beshada's post brought out the necessary conversation.

I don't know if the conversation will continue with as much passion, but I'm hopeful that there are changes in the leadership structure of many leading clubs, teams, and brands. Representation matters because it helps inform those who otherwise may resist change, or growth. Also, to ensure the betterment of our society it's essential to have black voices in the room to instruct on how to reach new athletes and markets.


As for the individual wrestlers, I commend their decisions and statements. Money is tight in wrestling and with COVID-19 I think that these wrestlers will miss the extra income. In that one way I wish this incident hadn't happened, or better said I wish these wrestlers had been associated with better leadership from the jump.

This is a time of reflection for us all and action for some. These wrestlers didn't hesitate in acting, which I think shows courage and leadership.

Kerry McCoy (Maryland Athletics)

Q: What are your thoughts on Kerry McCoy returning to Stanford to coach the RTC?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Kery McCoy -- former head wrestling coach at Stanford and the University of Maryland -- is an excellent club hire for Stanford.

McCoy is known as a good mat coach and has extensive connections with high school and club coaches around the country. He is a selling point for the Cardinal program and is another indication that Coach Borrelli is on his way to creating a West Coast contender.

Stanford has advantages, largely that of affluence and alumni structure, but also faces challenges such as admissions standards and lack of quality competition nearby. To have someone like McCoy help you navigate the myriad issues a college program can face will mean a lot to Borrelli and further increase his growth and improve relationships with the alumni, staff, and his wrestlers.

Congrats to Coach McCoy and the Stanford wrestling program.

Multimedia Halftime

Give it a once-over: Bad Blood: Dake vs Burroughs

On Reparations (MUST WATCH)

Link: NASCAR Boots the Flag of a Traitor Nation

Q: I saw an advertisement for a youth wrestling tournament called Youth Crush COVID. Any idea if it's still on? And what are your thoughts on a wrestling tournament taking place right now?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Not intelligent. What is the purpose in creating a wrestling tournament to combat COVID-19 when you're likely creating a situation in which the athletes are then at greater risk of catching the illness? I see no good outcomes in a multi-day wrestling event in the middle of pandemic.

Even the guidelines in place are horribly insufficient and toothless. There were plenty of "recommendations" and very few hard rules. One example is spectators over 60 are encouraged not to attend. Encouraged. Face masks are not required, merely suggested. Those over 99.9 will need "further" evaluation. And they "ask" that anyone with cough, sore throat, or runny nose not wrestle or attend.

This is not the opening event that will make the sport look good. There are only bad outcomes and it's disappointing that so many people in states yet-to-be-effected by COVID-19 somehow think that the disease has been vanquished. This week was the single highest week for new infections in several states and around the world. There are epidemiologists suggesting that another 100,000 people will die by September.

Truly a terrible idea.

Q: When do you think we will know for sure whether there will be a college wrestling season in 2020-21?
-- Mike C.

Foley: First, a delay to the start of the season is almost certain, with Jan. 15 or so a target date set by the NWCA and their constituents. Should that be decided as the start date then it's also highly likely that the St. Louis location and date will remain unchanged. That leaves the wrestling community with something like an eight-week season, which would consist largely of regional travel, only dual meets, and a controlled conference tournament.

When will it be decided if that goes forward? I think the opposite question is most likely the case: When will the season most likely be canceled (or when is it most at-risk of cancellation)? The best guess there would be during the end of the football season, or as late as December. Schools will be trying to figure out in real time what plans they can make past football, and right now that is only to decide what they can achieve in basketball.

The other consideration is that not all schools will participate. Some will have COVID-19 outbreaks and need to cease their season, while others will be forced to close due to local governmental restrictions brought on by bad outbreaks in certain locations. Finally, there is the possibility that the NCAA forgoes the risk altogether and cancels all the seasons -- a highly unlikely outcome but one to consider.

I'm hopeful, but also extremely cautious in voicing that optimism.]]>88103Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:56:23 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: June 5, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-june-5-2020-r88090/Jordan Burroughs at the 2020 Pan American Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
This week, the wrestling community joined with many citizens to acknowledge the voices of Black America and people of color in acknowledging the ongoing pervasive racial injustices in America.

From social media posts to articles, podcasts and television appearances, personalities and politicians of all types have acknowledged that racial inequalities in America have been ignored for far too long and that the damage caused is both real and inter-generational.

Wrestling is a simple sport, but a complex community. On one hand we encourage diversity, but many of those in our community work hard to prevent women's wrestling. We celebrate Jordan Burroughs, James Green, Tamyrah Mensah, and more but there are only a handful of black Division I head wrestling coaches. Why the disconnect in career advancement?

Mostly it's the privilege of white people to hand jobs to their friends and those in their social circle, rather than forcing themselves to expand their social networks and take chances on more young black professionals, coaches and administrators. But is that something we can blame on anyone? Am I to blame because United World Wrestling doesn't have any full-time media members from the Black community? Yes. I know that we hire freelancers from all communities, but nobody full-time. That's on me to improve.

The wrestling community also faces a lack of positive leadership from its most powerful youth coaches. We've dealt with anti-vaccine movement, Sandy Hook deniers, Alex Jones wannabes, and a pervasive culture of general white supremacy and selfishness. Not all of it in-your-face, but all of it strikes the same chord -- I matter, you don't and your failures are OK by me.

But they aren't. White Americans hold a tremendous amount of wealth and power and it won't be until we decide to share it with our community members that we will see any positive change. There has been plenty of opportunity to make positive change, but most of it has been squandered. What can we do moving forward?

I commend USA Wrestling for having hired black Americans, supporting their black athletes and having absolutely zero tolerance for poor behavior. The statement written this week with the input of several athletes is the standard bearer for how to go about creating positive solutions and acknowledging struggle. There is no perfect solution or magic bullet, but the efforts of their staff to be inclusive was impressive and will have a lasting impact.

Black America has been telling America with incredible clarity and consistency that they are being hunted, beaten, and murdered by law enforcement and racist white people. Those with means and those who have privilege need to advocate on their behalf in a meaningful way. I know that there are members of our community who will come out of this with a drive to effect positive change and I include myself in that group.

I benefit every single day from the fact I'm white. This is not a neutral treatment by society, but an active display of opportunity and ease in almost all my interactions. I know almost nothing of the black experience in America, but what I have seen through friends and teammates is a world that is far different than the one I passively enjoy each and every day. Like many I've only seen their world through a keyhole -- this moment in American history is jarring because what we see now is something larger, the picture is wider and enhanced by the voices of Black Americans explaining very clearly all the ways in which they are targeted and oppressed.

To do nothing now is to willfully neglect our responsibility as American citizens. There is no nationwide healing until we peel back the layers of racism in our society and start indicting those around us for being too selfish to consider the emotions of others. That goes double for the wrestling community. We've lacked the empathy necessary to understand the journeys of our Black athletes and people of color. From cutting dreads to racist language in the locker room, we all know racist sentiments exist in our community and those need to be immediately addressed and corrected.

The good news is that the architecture of the racism in the United States will be demolished and replaced. The youth of America are interconnected, motivated and hungry for positive change. The leadership class will expand and strengthen in the black community so long as we remain active.

For now, that's enough from the middle-class white guy with a weekly column for ten years. It's probably better if we listen to those who have been directly affected by racism.

View this post on Instagram

I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I'm sad. We've been marginalized. We've been oppressed. And even more than one hundred years after Jim Crow, it is evident that we're still regarded as less than human. This week's events have become way too common in American society. We're slowly being desensitized to death. As we watch COVID-19 cases rise worldwide, we've relegated human lives to meaningless numbers. We'd rather be outside, risking the lives of others, than staying home and keeping people safe. We'd rather force our knee into the back of someone's head, than diffuse a situation gracefully. I'm just tired. Anyone who needs to see more video evidence or a person's criminal history before passing judgment on the video of George Floyd being killed, shame on you. I'm an Olympic Gold Medalist. I make a solid living and I own a home in a safe neighborhood. My wife is white and Hispanic. My kids are about as mixed as you get. However out of touch you may think that I am, understand that no matter what circle I move in, my skin color remains the same. I am a black man. And most importantly, I am human. Let's grieve together, feel the range of emotions, and then decide to choose justice. Law enforcement needs to be held accountable. Police are supposed to protect and serve the people, not themselves. If your daily mission as an officer is to simply survive, you're probably in the wrong profession. A badge shouldn't replace a heart. Salute to all the officers out there who protect and serve us with integrity. We all have a platform. We can all positively influence our communities so that the evil that we're facing in the world will not win. Each one of us has a corner of the world that we can unite. Let's put our energy into work, not just words. RIP George Floyd

A post shared by Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) on




And read this.]]>88090Fri, 05 Jun 2020 12:07:36 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: May 29, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-may-29-2020-r88071/
While the decision had long been expected, the cancellation of the event marks an important moment in wrestling's story during this crisis. We are now left to deal with a second major break to the normalcy of the wrestling calendar. The kids won't be able to win their titles and college coaches won't have a chance to recruit in-person. It's yet another in a series of minor setbacks that when added together signal a larger loss to the continuity and health of the community.

For now, we are all isolated, and because of wrestling's tight quarters we can expect that to continue for some time. Mat time is coveted and for those who can achieve a safe workout operation might soon be some chances to get back to action. However, the large-scale intermingling of wrestlers, along with fans and coaches is far, far off. Several months in the best-case situation; a couple of years in the worst-case scenarios.

There are a number of small ways we as a community can counterbalance that loss of kinship found on the mats, but we know that nothing can replace the act of wrestling. We are the world's oldest and greatest sport because we allow for the facade of toughness to be torn down through proximity and invite close friendship through shared struggle. Zoom calls won't replace the lessons of the mat and it's foolish to think it could. For now, we mourn the loss of our sport, but soon we will be back.

Like many of you my heart goes out to the young wrestlers who are having these moments lost to the pandemic and poor response of our leaders. These young men and women deserve the opportunity to compete and form bonds with friends and teammates. To lose that is something that they can't replicate at home or recover in the future.

To your questions …

Mark Madsen with the Denmark flag after winning silver at the 2016 Olympics (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: Mark Madsen is undefeated in MMA and fighting in the UFC. At 35 years old, do you think he could be a UFC champion someday? Or do you think his window has closed?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I was able to hire Madsen as a color commentator for the United World Wrestling World Championships in 2019 and because he was training for a fight we spent the breaks rolling jiu-jitsu. Though he's not a black belt in jiu-jitsu he has the perfect mentality for a wrestler fighting on the ground in MMA. He doesn't pause on his butt. He fires up to his feet and immediately tries to reverse control. Also, his neck is massive and he's basically impossible to submit because as a Greco-Roman wrestler he's used to not extending his arms.

All this is to say that he does have a real chance of competing for a belt in the next 18 months. He's a foreign fighter, which makes it tough, but because he has the Olympic credentials, he could be used as a certifying win for another up-and-comer. Given that opportunity, I could see him winning that type of matchup and making his way into a title fight.

Window is wide open.

Q: I've heard that the NWCA is proposing to delay the start of the NCAA wrestling season to January? Do you have any insight or clarification on this? Is there any traction?
-- Rich C.

Foley: As of today the single-semester season has become the most popular logic among coaches and administrators. There are already myriad benefits to the single semester season, but in a year of uncertainty in public health and football (which controls the purse strings) the delay to a single season allows for preparation.

Wrestling -- by virtue of the fact it's antithetical to "social distancing" -- won't be the first sport out of the gate. The best option, according to those who make these types of decisions, seems to be to delay and hope for the best.

It's the right strategy. We have no idea of predicting what will happen in the summer and fall, much less the winter which we could guess would be prime for a re-emergence of COVID-19. Still, there is A LOT of jockeying that'll need to take place both by the NWCA and the NCAA, not to mention the various stakeholders for conference and national tournament hosts. To think of a shortened season gives me faith that there is a path forward. Even an 8-week spring seasons is preferable to what could become a 20-month break from the sport at the collegiate level.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Jordan Burroughs released a statement on the murder of George Floyd. Please read.

View this post on Instagram

I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I'm sad. We've been marginalized. We've been oppressed. And even more than one hundred years after Jim Crow, it is evident that we're still regarded as less than human. This week's events have become way too common in American society. We're slowly being desensitized to death. As we watch COVID-19 cases rise worldwide, we've relegated human lives to meaningless numbers. We'd rather be outside, risking the lives of others, than staying home and keeping people safe. We'd rather force our knee into the back of someone's head, than diffuse a situation gracefully. I'm just tired. Anyone who needs to see more video evidence or a person's criminal history before passing judgment on the video of George Floyd being killed, shame on you. I'm an Olympic Gold Medalist. I make a solid living and I own a home in a safe neighborhood. My wife is white and Hispanic. My kids are about as mixed as you get. However out of touch you may think that I am, understand that no matter what circle I move in, my skin color remains the same. I am a black man. And most importantly, I am human. Let's grieve together, feel the range of emotions, and then decide to choose justice. Law enforcement needs to be held accountable. Police are supposed to protect and serve the people, not themselves. If your daily mission as an officer is to simply survive, you're probably in the wrong profession. A badge shouldn't replace a heart. Salute to all the officers out there who protect and serve us with integrity. We all have a platform. We can all positively influence our communities so that the evil that we're facing in the world will not win. Each one of us has a corner of the world that we can unite. Let's put our energy into work, not just words. RIP George Floyd

A post shared by Jordan Burroughs (@alliseeisgold) on


Q: The United States has been producing some successful women's wrestlers. Sara McMann, Tatiana (Padilla) Suarez and a few others have done well. Do you think we will see any from the current crop transition to MMA after this Olympic cycle? Who do you think could do well in MMA?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The move to MMA is an obvious one for several male fighters, but for women the calculus has always been more complex. The age at which some women are finding success at the top-level is a little bit later than the male average, and those who do finish their careers don't have a tradition of running into the gym.

Now, that could all change with the addition of an atomweight division and a larger number of overall women's wrestlers at the collegiate and international level. Wrestlers like Haley Augello and Victoria Anthony have a real chance of being superstars in MMA, with the latter having the potential for mega super stardom. Inside trips, great takedowns, seemingly unafraid of injury and a great personality that also translates online is a recipe for success in Bellator and the UFC.

I'm not so familiar with the intentions of the women, but I do feel that almost all of the middleweights would have the potential to compete at the top level rather quickly. Helen Maroulis may avoid it due to her history of head injuries, but Mallory Velte is someone who could really find a path in the cage post-wrestling.

Let's also not forget the international wrestling community. There is some thought that a number of the Russian women will transition to MMA, including Ektarina Bukina who though she is kind, has the look of someone you'd never want to fight.

Q: Fargo was the last shoe to drop. The pandemic started right before a busy spring and summer competition calendar for USA Wrestling. I saw a tweet from someone at USA Wrestling last week that "Not a single person laid off or furloughed from @USAWrestling during this trying time." Any idea what the financial fallout will be for USA Wrestling?
-- Mike C.

Foley: That's remarkable nobody was furloughed or laid off. Really impressive. I don't know the fallout, but I'm sure they are girding for some hit to revenue based on fewer licenses and the lost income from Fargo.]]>88071Fri, 29 May 2020 09:50:57 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: May 22, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-may-22-2020-r88046/
With COVID-19 there are no perfect scenarios, only slightly less bad options. While bringing football players back signals the possibility of a season it would likely be truncated, definitely without fans, and likely with a pushed off start date. Still, any sign that the revenue from televised football could enter athletic departments should be celebrated. Without that money there is high likelihood that wrestling programs around the country could be eliminated.

The cuts have already started. According to Jason Bryant, 110 college sports teams have been eliminated (60 from schools that have completely closed) since the outbreak of COVID-19, a sobering reminder that even with some restaurants opening up there is a significant distinction between a taste of normalcy in daily life and financial stability within higher education.

The next several weeks will be instructive as to how the virus operates in the warmer months and how well social distancing guidelines are followed. Will the face masks, distance, and handwashing have a positive effect? Yes. Will it be enough to allay the fears of those in the larger school systems as to allow the return of students and athletes? That's still to be determined.

For those who can afford the expense, now is a great time to send funds to your respective programs. If you can collect monies from a group of donors, all the better. Make it known you support the program in both the size of the gift and in the number of donors. Being active is a positive sign that gets transmitted up the ranks and helps protect programs if and when cuts are to be made.

To your questions …

Matt McDonough (left) coaching Wisconsin against Army West Point (Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: There was a job posting for a Wisconsin assistant coaching position. Did Matt McDonough leave? Any details? Are they making room for Seth Gross to join the staff?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Yes, Seth Gross is staying in Wisconsin, but no information if he is getting the job. However, Jon Reader (associate head coach) and Ben Askren (RTC coach) just got extensions so it would seem somewhat clear that McDonough is leaving and that the short application window means they are keeping Gross.

Q: Where do you see NCAA and international wrestling in four years?
-- Bobby P.

Foley: That's a tough question because with every setback due to COVID-19 I remember all the progress we'd been making on both fronts. On one hand, wrestling has never been watched by a larger, more enthusiastic audience at home and abroad. The international federation has something close to a dozen distribution deals with TV outlets and OTT providers on every continent. Just this week Eurosport replayed the 2019 World championships from Nur-Sultan. There is also increased participation as seen through the number of licenses at USA Wrestling and United World Wrestling, as well as an expansion of Division II programs and the addition of Division I women's wrestling seemingly imminent. There are women's programs being added in state after state and the possibility of being in all fifty by 2026. The international governing body is floating women's beach wrestling as a possible addition to the 2024 Games in Paris.

On the other hand there is COVID-19 and what might be an extended economic recession at home and abroad that will absolutely affect all of the above mentioned gains.

Where do we fall in four years? I remain really hopeful. The entire focus of human intelligence and ingenuity is laser-focused on finding a cure, or vaccine, for COVID-19 and there is no way it will elude us much longer. There will be short term economic pain and the heartbreak of losing those we love, but in four years I think we will be in a place that has tremendous focus on public health and a vibrant worldwide wrestling community to witness and enjoy.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Henry Cejudo on UWW Live

Top wrestlers of the 2000s

Q: Henry Cejudo said he wants to be in the UWW Hall of Fame. Do you think there is any chance of that happening?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Maybe. Really it depends on who is running the committee and if Cejudo dedicates more time and energy to the sport of wrestling. He's been an incredible advocate for the sport while fighting in the UFC and will be successful at whatever he chooses, but the UWW Hall of Fame typically inducts those with multiple Olympic and world medals. Could change, but that's the current standard. One more caveat, there is the option of a different category for those who have made a large impact through MMA and/or celebrity.

Q: Kaori Icho and Aleksandr Karelin both had 13-year unbeaten streaks. Do you think we will ever see an international winning streak like those again in our lifetime?
-- Mike C.

Foley: One of the reasons wrestlers were able to stay undefeated so long is that the international calendar was pretty sparsely populated with events. Typically, competitors in the 80's and 90's would show up to the continental and a world championships and sometimes they'd skip entire years. Really that was the trend until the last few years where there was more incentive to compete on a semi-regular basis with Ranking Series events and more clear outcomes for competitions.

If someone competes enough, and with the reduced number of weight categories, it's very difficult to think anyone could go more than 4-5 years undefeated. The quality of the athletes, the spread of Russian wrestlers worldwide, the increase in women's wrestling participation, and the advent of technical coaching on the internet means there is much more parity at the top ranks of the sport.

So, summarily, not zero, but very close to zero.]]>88046Fri, 22 May 2020 12:56:57 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: May 15, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-may-15-2020-r88033/
Unlike their original schematics for Fight Island, the UFC's plans seemed to properly incentivize athletes to compete while also limiting the exposure risk to the staff. A fighter did test positive, and though his treatment was somewhat suspect the containment procedures in place for the event largely helped.

On a personal note, I had a wonderful time watching the fights. Seeing Justin Gaethje rise to the occasion to put a drumming on Tony Ferguson and Henry Cejudo knock out professional excuse-maker Dominic Cruz were awesome wrestler-based storylines I appreciated. There was beer, wine, and cocktails as well as friendly wagering and screaming at the television. Overall, a much-needed escape from the stress of the COVID-19 world.

As I watched I thought about the path wrestling will need to take in order to find this same level of acceptance in the AC (after-COVID) world. As part of my work I think a lot about the topic of the safe return to sports. Some found my early predictions on the shutting down of the NCAA tournament as alarmist, but then, as now, I'm having trouble finding a strong way forward given the current state of affairs in the United States.

We have incredibly far to travel as a society before the myriad stakeholders in youth and collegiate athletics meet their risk tolerance. I'm not a public health expert, but to think that the UFC investment into Saturday's event could be expanded exponentially to accommodate thousands of college football players on hundreds of teams, nationwide, over the course of a five-month season just isn't feasible. The UFC needed the buy-in of 100 fighters, staff, and one state commission. The NCAA will need the buy-in of 100% of member schools, state governments, athletic departments, and the governing body itself. If by some miracle that happens the restrictions and raw number of tests would be well beyond what is affordable for most programs.

Polls show only a small portion of the United States are demanding the country reopen, no matter the loss of life. Losing the elderly, or those with pre-existing conditions is more acceptable to them than the economic downtown. (It also assumes young people are immune, which of course isn't true.) The motivation for may comes from a frustration that not enough people have died in their community to warrant a nationwide shutdown, which is akin to thinking world hunger has ended because you just ate a sandwich.

Really these carnival barkers are playing an active role in avoiding the very obvious, very deadly, and very taboo topic that America has failed. As a nation we are allowing people to die due to a massive void in effective leadership and planning. And because there is no plan (or hopes for one) that loud minority has landed on, "Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death."

It needn't be this way -- for every problem there is a solution. The only real difficulty is believing we don't have, or can't find answers to the problems we face. As wrestlers we know how to navigate out of a tough spot. We've fought off our backs in matches and in the protection of our favorite programs. In 2013 we clawed our way back on to the Olympic program. But all those times we fought off certain defeat was because we didn't give up and we organized, or adapted, and showed humility in adapting to necessary changes.

I know this pandemic has made us miss sports, but with people dying across the nation the sports cannot be our first concern, and we cannot accept that because a few people up top have walked away from the table that we all should follow.

Just as there are sensible solutions and ways that localities can react in more or less stringent ways based on their levels of exposure (Wyoming and NYC shouldn't have the same plan), there is a way for wrestling to adapt in this space. There may even be opportunity for growth, for us to pick up on ideas that have long been laying around (criteria!). But in the short term we will be hamstrung by the fact that sports are a nationwide undertaking and there is yet to be a workable solution.

Also … my parents are grandparents. I'm sure a lot of people who read this article are either grandparents themselves or still enjoy being around grandparents. They should never be sacrificed because someone else wants to eat a hot dog at Wrigley or fetch a beer at the Meadowlands. Yes, they are old(er), but they deserve the same type of respect, humanity and care that was given to the 20-or-so healthy cage fighters who competed last weekend.

We owe at least owe it to them to not give up.

To your questions …

Q: As an avid wrestling traveler, what were the best tournaments you have been to as a spectator, journalist and competitor? Thinking of venues, logistics, amenities, crowds, and competition, broadly writ. Stay safe and keep the flame of wrestling enthusiasm burning hot until competition resumes!
-- Nate S.

The 2016 NCAA Division I Championships took place at Madison Square Garden in NYC (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Foley: The best event I have ever attended as a fan was the 2016 NCAA Championships at Madison Square Garden. I live one stop away from the Garden (via the 2/3 express) which meant that my hotel and transportation costs were nearly zero. I wasn't working the event (for once!) and was able to drink adult cocktails while watching the action with my former teammates. I gambled on the outcomes, ate expensive luke-warm hot dogs and enjoyed the event at face value. Also, I think the event itself was one of the best I'd have attended as a journalist, had I been working.

I've only attended a few events as a journalist, but when you add in those events where I worked in a media capacity it's a competitive list. The first event that comes to mind is the 2017 World Championships in Paris. The hotel was connected to the arena, the food was world class, the nightlife was one-of-a-kind and the structure of the event was without fault. There were strict rules in place (maybe too strict in some cases) about where you could travel as a member of the press, but in a weird way it was less stressful for most because the rules kept everyone's roles very simple. Also, the storybook ending of Kyle Snyder beating Abdulrashid Sadualev to win the team title was absolutely brilliant for fans of the sport. Also, Eric Olanowski arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport for the return flight home and realized that he'd forgotten to bring his luggage from the hotel, which gave me the perfect amount of schadenfreude satisfaction to cap off the weekend.

I also think of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio because I was able to see firsthand just how perfect an operation can run with more resources. They had insanely tight rules but it forced a lot of creativity that otherwise may not have been unlocked by me and our media team. The 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan were also really well done, though I wasn't able to travel out of the arena as much as I liked since we were so busy with work.

Oddly, the 2014 Cadet World Championships in Snina, Slovakia, was also one of my favorite events. They served sausages and cold beer in the parking lot before the finals, which made the evening session all the more pleasant.

It's been a second since I've competed at a wrestling tournament, but I have fond memories of the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. Also, I think the space given to the athletes at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest was some of the best I've seen.

Q: The California state schools announced they will keep their campuses closed for the fall semester. The California Community College wrestling season takes place in the fall (starts in August). Do you think that season will happen?
-- Mike C.

Foley: No. The NCAA stated clearly that unless students are in school there will be no college sports season this fall. The community college teams are not going to risk that exposure especially when the state will have guidelines that will make it impossible to hold a competition.

Q: It seems pretty obvious the world will never be the same after this pandemic. What do you think the biggest change to wrestling will be when the sport does eventually return?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Post-vaccine? I think wrestlers will have to prove they have taken the vaccine or vaccines. It will be like a yellow card you would carry when traveling to certain nations to prove you have any number of vital vaccinations. I also think there might be requests for athletes to shower before practice and competitions. Also medical checks will include temperature checks as well as other biometrics.

The temperature checks could be problematic, because when you sweat to cut weight it spikes your temperature. Assuming that does get implemented you'd see a massive drop off in weight cutting.

Off the mat we will continue to see a reduction in the numbers of college programs as schools go online and close their campuses. There will be a decoupling of the non-revenue sports from the educational model, starting in college but moving its way into the high schools as the level of risk to the institutions increases.

Gloomy outlook, but until there is more information on the vaccines and cures we owe it to ourselves to be prepared for what's coming.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Top 5 Active American Wrestlers

Jazz and Wrestling

Q: Mike Novogratz tweeted out that he would love to see a mini tournament with Kyle Dake, Zaurbek Sidakov, Jordan Burroughs and Frank Chamizo. Do you think a one-off PPV wrestling event like this could happen during these times if they took UFC-like measures where all the athletes were tested beforehand and held in front of no fans?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Absolutely could but would be tough to envision any two competitors who might meet in the coming Olympic year choosing to go through the process of self-isolation and limited training only to maybe lose the match and a possible mental edge on their opponent.

I think that this is a great idea, but I think that logistics and how much training these athletes receive would be a huge factor in any decision to compete. I'm not aware of any, but does anyone in the comments know if any senior-level athletes in America are still training?

My best guess is you could get Bajrang, Chamizo and a few top Americans to train at some location, go through testing and then have a small event with a PPV crowd. But again, it's essentially a large donation to those athletes since I'm assuming the testing, housing, and other protocols would eat away at any other gains seen in selling the event.

Anthony Echemendia wrestling Joshua Saunders at Who's Number One (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

Q: Anthony Echemendia is very good in freestyle. Have you seen much of him? What are realistic expectations for him in college?
-- Mike C.

Foley: I've only seen him compete a few times and that was only online. I'm not sure how he will translate to the college mats, but I'm guessing with that speed and determination he's a three-time All-American and NCAA champion.]]>88033Fri, 15 May 2020 12:48:52 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: May 8, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-may-8-2020-r88011/
For the last ten weeks I've done my part to quarantine and follow the CDC guidelines for social distancing and the rest. Still, I sit in bed and talk with my wife about our favorite meals and the excitement we'll feel when we order that first cocktail or favorite bottle of wine to celebrate the end of this pandemic and return to something like normal. There is a future to look towards and I see it in food.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what to do to with the next several months of time before those moments become a reality. There is no chance that we will continue to stay in strict quarantine for more than another month, but how we act when we go back will influence the lives of our neighbors and loved ones. It's a real social responsibility.

The fight against COVID-19 isn't over and any premature celebrations will prove to be deadly for our communities and families. Moving forward we have to balance the approach to reopening, and that includes sports.

I want there to be football. I want there to be soccer, and track, and wrestling. But as much as I can envision a scenario where I can enjoy a glass of wine in a half-filled restaurant, I can't yet figure out how these athletic competitions return in the next few months.

So for now it's patience and more patience. We aren't done fighting the virus, but when we beat this thing (and we will) I think we will all look back fondly at our discipline and patience. We will become old men and women who patiently explain to our grandchildren that we buy so much toilet paper and hand sanitizer because …

You get the point. This too shall end, and we will all be back to normal in due time.

To your questions …

Wrestlers train during camp at Augsburg University in Minneapolis in the summer of 2019 (Photo/David Peterson)

Q: Many colleges host wrestling camps, which will be canceled this summer. While I am sure it varies considerably by school, how much revenue can these wrestling camps generate? And how do you think if will affect the programs?
-- Mike C.

Foley: All college wrestling camps will, or should, be canceled. There is simply no way to safely conduct a large gathering of athletes this summer, much less those on campuses where sensitivity to liability is high. If there are some still proceeding as planned, I'd love to hear what protocols they established since they would be groundbreaking in sport.

Coaches earn a lot of money from camps so this is sure to make a massive impact on their personal financials. The programs won't feel significant long-term pain since this is a single-year incident and the revenue rarely goes back into the program in any large, meaningful way, but the assistant coaches tend to rely heavily on that income and its unclear what will happen if they aren't able to supplement.

Q: How do you see the wrestlers Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo doing this weekend in UFC?
-- Mike C.

Foley: First, I'm happy to see there be a card. I know that it's imperfect and there are some downstream consequences and impacts that weren't added in to the actuaries numbers (e.g. training partners over the past few weeks), but overall the plan laid out by the UFC is achievable and relatively safe. This isn't going to be risk-free, but I don't think it'll spark an outbreak or kill grandma.

Why? Because there is a lot of money at risk for to put on this event. The payoff for successful promotion and a successful event are huge for the company, but they are also taking precautions to ensure there aren't any additional tie-ups that pop up 14 days after the event, like a positive test.

The single event, man-to-man sports, will be the first to come back alongside larger scale sports where there is zero personal contact (golf, tennis). That will be good for our psyche, but there won't be crowds and I am a little concerned about the indication we are all clear well before we are ready to move forward as a nation.

As for the fights themselves, I think Cejudo makes a mockery of Dominick Cruz. The timing for Cruz is gone and his wrestling, while adequate in the past, won't do well when tied up with Cejudo. The biggest risk to Cejudo are the leg kicks and the fact he might not be in top form due to the virus and interruptions in his training schedule.

Uh, good luck to Gaethje, but I don't have good feeling. Tony Ferguson is just too … I don't know? Too, Tony?

Good preview here.

MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

Top 5: Active American wrestlers

UFC 249 Countdown: Ferguson vs. Gaethje

UFC 249 Countdown: Cejudo vs. Cruz

Q: Thoughts on sumo wrestling going forward during the pandemic? Any other forms of wrestling going on across the world?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Sumo is the only form of wrestling I've seen. The traditional styles all seem to have wound down and the summer tournaments in places like Mongolia aren't going to have their outcomes determined for several more weeks. In fact, with Mongolia I'm sure there will be some wrestling, though I'm not sure about the national naadam which is held the same three days each year.

The Japanese are likely to keep sumo going as long as there is no negative press surrounding their events such as a transmission of coronavirus or complaints by competitors of unsafe conditions. That said, those more attune to the situation seem to be unsure which way the JSA will fall in determining if there will be a summer basho:

The Japan Sumo Association operates under the country's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, so the league is likely to stay the course absent a government mandate. "Though I haven't heard it said outright, I am sure the JSA is following the government's lead on this one and waiting to hear what will be done nationally before it makes a move," the proprietor of the sumo gear seller Sumo Soul wrote in an email. "The common wisdom is that though it is waffling to do so, that the government will extend, if not strengthen the restrictions put in place and the JSA will very likely follow suit and cancel the honbasho [tournament]."

For now sumo is navigating the waters well. The one critical advantage they have is the limited number of interactions per day. The athletes meet each other so briefly on the ring and since they aren't wrestling with additional people that same day there can be controls put in place to limit further transmissions. Ultimately, this is just about the perfect sport to consider going forward in that it has money to spend on the problem, thousands of years of tradition, a compliant population, brief interpersonal contact, and the momentum to keep going.

Q: Cael Sanderson's only college loss (as a redshirt) came against Iowa's Paul Jenn. Have you seen the match? Has anyone? Or has the footage been destroyed for nobody to see?! You would think it would have shown up on YouTube by now if someone had it!
-- Mike C.

Foley: This is one for the comment section!

I highly doubt there were cameras rolling at the time and if there were, I'm not sure that Cael would have been where the camera team trained their lens. At the time he wasn't Cael, but a redshirt from Iowa State who was having a decent year in smaller tournaments. Big name, but probably not getting major exposure like he would in today's climate.

As you may know Paul Jenn died a few years after school. Tough loss as his story would certainly be one that we'd all likely enjoy.]]>88011Fri, 08 May 2020 11:48:53 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: May 1, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-may-1-2020-r87201/
And yet here I am, and here you are, and we are making it work. It's never perfect, but when I'm really frustrated, I think of my friends in New York City who are cramped into impossibly small apartments, having just lost their income, and still finding a way to cheer on front line workers.

I'm not always optimistic about humanity but keeping these people in mind has given me some hope for what comes the day after this all ends.

And that optimism grows even more when I consider the worldwide response to this pandemic. In almost every nation there are teams of scientists, virologists, biologists striving to find a vaccine, a cure, and a treatment. That collective brainpower and the immeasurable willpower of our frontline workers -- all focused on solving a single problem is incredible in its scope.

The wrestling community has felt these feelings of unity in the past. In 2013 we fought together to save our sport's place in the Olympics. Not only did we get back on the Olympic program, we widened our community, made significant improvements, and influenced a massive growth in worldwide participation. That effort wasn't the result of a silver bullet. It was hard work and a sense of common purpose.

The world is not free of COVID-19 and it's not entirely clear the effect this virus will have on our sport in the short or long term. It's frightening, but at the moment it's largely outside our direct control. So, when you get down about the lack of competition, or training, or the fact your 20-month-old banged on the keys of your computer and called up some unknown setting in Photoshop -- just remember that we as a people and a sport have an excellent track record of success and we are on our way to another victory.

To your questions …


Q: Tim, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Flo's recent film, Bad Cut. Do you think the timing of its release could negatively influence the shot callers of universities with at-risk programs? Would it be a stretch to presume the film (a) reaches this audience and (b) has a significant impact?
-- Ethan S.

Foley: I haven't watched the film but have heard positive feedback in terms of its quality, storytelling, and cinematography. I will give it a shot this weekend.

Though I missed the primary content I did see some of the kids telling their stories of tremendous weight loss, many of whom seemed to take some pride, or joy, in their accomplishment. That's maybe disheartening en masse, but it makes sense when we stop to acknowledge that those moments also create moments of incredible comradery. Overcoming a daunting weight cut does show tremendous discipline and dedication to yourself and your teammates.

On the other hand, I think that those stories are just another side effect. In my opinion, we have to air our dirty laundry at times to help inform each other of the pitfalls and the other options that remain available to athletes and coaches. More information is almost always going to influence a better set of outcomes, and I think that exposing these stories to the masses will create positive change.

Olympic champ Vladimer Khinchegashvili is still looking to qualify for the Olympics (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Q: What's the likelihood the United States qualifies 65 kilograms in freestyle for the Olympics? Who are some notable wrestlers the U.S. rep will have to beat?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The unqualified 65-kilogram freestyle wrestlers are arguably the single best in any weight category. There is world champion Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia) and a ton of talent with Selahattin Kilicsallayan (Turkey), Amirmohammad Yazdanicherati (Iran) and Erik Arushanian (Ukraine).

Not all those guys will qualify at their respective continental championships, which means that they could appear at the Last Chance Qualifier. Worst case, Aliyev or King Vlad don't qualify out of Europe and are sent to Last Chance where they land on the same side of the bracket with the American representative.

It's a little early to set the expectation that the USA will or won't qualify given we don't know who is competing for the USA, nor who will show up at the Last Chance. I will say that the loss at Pan Am Qualification put the qualification at-risk in a way that we all recognize. But everything happens for a reason and I think that the team we field in Tokyo will be positioned to win the most golds in over 20 years.

Q: The NWCA announced the All-Americans. Do you think national champions (team and individual) should have been named also?
-- Mike C.

Foley: No. That is an outcome that should not be measured off the mat. The norms are just too in place to award the titles on paper. They used to do this with football (that feels like forever ago), but it was often derided as unfair. There was enough going on in the world that felt negative and combative, and awarding those titles may have only made things feel a little crappier than need be.

I did like the All-America honors as that matched the other norms in the sporting world and could be accepted as an outcome of the season's performance.

Q: When do you think wrestling will resume in the United States?
-- Mike C.

Foley: Certainly I can't answer that question with any clarity, but I might be able to provide some context for how decisions are sometimes made. For this problem -- a global pandemic featuring a virus passed through close contact -- wrestling is ill fit to lead the march back to sports. More likely, we will be the sport featured as a capstone to a worldwide effort to defeat this awful virus and return to normalcy. Other sports will filter on and off our screens for months or years before we see wrestling. But it will be when we, the world, first watch a wrestling match and not think of transmission, that we will know we've won the battle against the disease. That will be the role of wrestling -- to welcome us back to something like normal.

It's not scripture, but to me it can feel that way now as it did in 2013. The opening of "Magnificent Scufflers" perfectly encapsulates the notion that you can't kill off wrestling. It might suffer, it may be ignored, but it always, always, always rises again.

Almost certainly wrestling is the oldest sport of mankind … It came to town with the Olympiads of Ancient Greece and went back to the country after the decline of Rome -- there to remain, at least in greatest part, for nearly two thousand years.

Preponderantly in and because of the country the sport has lived on in the general manner of pasture bluets, or field daisies, or other more or less global and substantially invincible wildflowers. Time and time again pasture bluets can be and have been burned away by the heavy hoofs or close-grazing herds. Yet with mystic stubbornness and effectiveness the pasture bluets somehow rise and bloom again.

Wrestling is like that. It thrives, meets apparent destruction or widespread abandonment only to rise again, taking resurrection from a good and folkish earth. This has come to pass in many nations and it keeps happening in our own.

Q: Any show recommendations during the quarantine?
-- Mike C.

Foley: The coloring is AWFUL, but I'm trying to get back into Ozark, which I hear has a great third season. We just finished the final episode of "Homeland" and found that to always be a great show, though I don't know how it would feel to binge. Some friends are going back and watching the Sopranos start to finish. I'm thinking of starting Downton Abbey. Season 2 of Killing Eve is out (I think) and you can start Waco, which is an eye-opening adventure through that terrible event and what led up to it.

I'm also watching a lot of TikTok videos. I would recommend, "Dadasaurus" …]]>87201Fri, 01 May 2020 12:39:54 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: April 24, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-april-24-2020-r87966/
While the national and international styles aren't being asked to start anytime soon there is an increasing itchiness for individuals to get back on the mats and reconnect with the sport they love.

I understand the feeling. For me jiu-jitsu replaced my need to be on the wrestling mat, but many of the benefits I found on the wrestling mats I've since found in jiu-jitsu. My poor wife has just about had enough of my Berimbolo attempts.

In the best rooms there is a shared purpose, driven forward by strong leadership. We like to be inspired, and in wrestling we've been able to look across the room and see our teammates pushing harder than normal, or a coach taking extra time to be with an athlete. We recognize it, but hardly appreciate it how we should. If you're like me then you are missing those simple moments we took for granted, not to mention the obvious indulgence of working out until your body cramps up and you have to fight for a deep breath.

No matter what else happens in your day, a wrestling room workout can make it feel accomplished. When you've trained hard and the endorphins are pumping through your bloodstream everything else fades away.

More stress and less inspiration can cause incredible frustration, not to mention we are all weighed down with cramped living situations, reduced incomes, and some having to home school their children. These are incredibly tough times and the outlet we've always used is simply not available.

That's why I was impressed by Cliff Fretwell's recent decision to keep his gym closed even as the Governor of Georgia begins opening the state on Friday. Cliff is a true believer in the power of wrestling, and I know this wasn't an easy decision, but it's the one that protects his athletes and allows for more time to pass before making a very cautious return to the mats.

(For an example of how careful some sports are being, look at what Spanish soccer league La Liga is undertaking for their maybe-just-maybe return in June.)

Congrats to Cliff and the rest of our wrestling family who is facing this pandemic with a clear head and a deep reserve of patience -- something the wrestling community has rarely been accused of having.

To your questions …


Q: I know you are a great fan of Cary Kolat. Me too. But Yianni has an insane career as well high school/college/international. Who do you take in the following Yianni vs Kolat battles?

  • High school seniors
  • NCAA seniors
  • Olympic team rivals
    -- Gabe W.

    Foley: Cary Kolat placed at Midlands while still wrestling in high school. His development at that age and the strength he showed would probably be a little much for Yianni. I'll take high school Cary.

    While we will need to see how Yianni's college career finishes, the thought of a senior Yianni is impressive. He's been constantly improving over the past few seasons, and though we missed him in 2019-2020 I think that it's obvious that his style, knack for winning, and match management will only improve as he matures physically. Cary was also a monster in college, but I think that the scrambling in college wrestling would benefit Yianni and allow him to score in positions where Cary might not be as prepared. I'll take Yianni.

    The senior level question is the toughest. While Yianni has shown the ability to beat top-level opponents and win world titles, he is yet to crack into the starting lineup. In my opinion, he's one of the best 65-kilogram wrestler in the world (best lawyers, too … am I right?!) with massive, massive potential. It might be a little early to judge his ability, but that will all change next April when he will likely be tapped to go to Sofia, Bulgaria, and win the Olympic spot for the United States. If he can do that, under the massive pressure he'll face, then he'll become the USA's long-term solution for 65 kilograms.

    I think Cary was one of the best to ever compete and was already bronze and silver in two world championships before his controversial exit from the Sydney Games. Should he have won that title he would have stayed around and we might be having a different discussion.

    So right now, Cary for the senior level, but I really like Yianni's future.

    Q: In an article, "A Group of Five athletic director said as much as he hates to admit it, he predicts that men's soccer and wrestling programs will soon be on the 'extinct list.' And it could get even worse without a football season." Thoughts?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I wonder if it's the same AD who was anonymously quoted as saying "There's too much money at stake, it impacts too many people," a Power Five AD said. "If there's no football, we will have bigger issues. This will be worse than the Great Depression and make the 1930s look like a cakewalk."

    What's he comparing here? The lack of college football will induce a Great Depression? Or that it would indicate economic times were worse than the Great Depression? Overall, a dumb, dumb quote.

    There were some optimistic quotes, too. "I'm not thinking of eliminating some of my Olympic sports," a Group of Five AD said, "but I'm definitely thinking about suspending seasons. If football revenue is drastically cut, it may be inevitable."

    I wrote about this last week and in summary the decisions being made need to focus on the overall health of the school and what we want out of sports in general. If a one season hiccup in the payment of television contracts is enough to end the athletic pursuits for many of the nation's Olympic sports athletes, then it is indicative of a much larger problem.

    What bothers me about this discussion is that nobody has thought to cut the necessary scholarships to from 85 to 70. Everyone could take a haircut in year one and by year two you'd be seeing massive cost savings. If you could bake that into your five-year model it would mean the ability to save the programs at your own school.

    Still, in the short term the programs will first look for the easy decisions. They can trim salaries, furlough employees, implement their PPP draws, eliminate all non-essential travel, and take on other cost-cutting measures. There are also a number of savings that are part of a school and program shutting down that might help the overall numbers to be somewhere more in line with a budget that can be carried across a football-less year.

    I hope, pray, wish for there to be a college football season and a college basketball season. At the moment, I'm not able to see how that happens, but agree that without a coherent national policy on testing and our path forward the wrestling community is facing a bleak existence in 2021.

    Q: With non-revenue sports in possible fatal financial straits at schools throughout the U.S. due to the COVID-19 epidemic, do you think it's time to move wrestling to an exclusively club sport and take it out of colleges, high school and junior high schools, like the model we see in Europe, Russia, and much of the rest of the world?
    -- Ken B.

    Foley: So that is the other direction this takes. Wrestling could become disassociated from the schools and moved into privately held clubs and camps, which would allow for better adaptation and independence. There would be drawbacks, like a massive reduction in the number of overall wrestlers and programs, but there would be an increased focus on making better rules and providing real opportunity to wrestlers who couldn't afford school or qualify for entry at their chosen program.

    Fundamentally it would mean a total and complete shift in thought about how (and why) we run athletics. Essentially, we'd recognize that the schools and their funding aren't enough to keep us afloat as a sport. Right now, I think we have more programs because they are supported by the schools, but with a 20-program cut we'd be getting close to a level of collegiate participation that would be seen as inefficient in supporting the sport in a meaningful way.

    Would USA Wrestling run that organization? Probably not as it would be for-profit. Also, it's very difficult to wrap my head around the idea that wrestling could be completely independent of the NCAA oversight. Imagine a council being able to decide and change the rules of folkstyle? Or better still, would this change to a club system invite freestyle into our youth levels?

    I think it's all very forward thinking and worth considering as an adaptation to sever cuts, but at the moment I think it would be unwise to lose the current funding we receive in the academic model, not to mention I think wrestling (and wrestlers) adds to campus life and a positive educational experience.

    Q: With the NFL holding its draft, it got me thinking about a draft for wrestling. Who would be the top five picks (in order) in a draft for a pro wrestling league? College wrestlers only. Can include 2020 seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen.
    -- Mike C.

    Foley:
    1. Spencer Lee
    2. Gable Steveson
    3. Mark Hall
    4. Ryan Deakin
    5. Kollin Moore

    Q: Are you surprised Alex Dieringer is leaving Stillwater to train in Ann Arbor? What percentage chance do you give him at beating David Taylor and making the U.S. Olympic team?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: Ann Arbor is a great location right now. Sergei Beloglazov is a master technician and the RTC has produced two Olympic qualifiers this year in Myles Amine and Stevan Micic. That's quite the accomplishment. While John Smith is certainly an incredible coach there is some added value in being inside a room with like-minded individuals.

    The lack of a college wrestling season may also have affected Dieringer's decision. Without that commitment to season-long training, and the lack of international partners, Dieringer would have struggled to find the workouts he needed in Stillwater. In Ann Arbor they are in the room daily and able to help him achieve and improve.

    While it's certainly possible that Dieringer could beat Taylor in the Olympic Trials, I'd find it tough to believe he has more than a 25% chance. The one HUGE advantage was the delay of one year as it will allow Dieringer more time to grow into the weight. The same was true with Taylor, but once he was able to oxygenate the weight the flashes of Taylor's brilliance came into a full and constant view.

    The physical growth, training situation, and the extra time to game plan improve Dieringer's chances at a competitive match. However, I just don't' see the matchup working in his favor. 75-25 Taylor.]]>87966Fri, 24 Apr 2020 13:13:35 +0000Foley's Friday Mailbag: April 17, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-april-17-2020-r87950/
    This week the sporting world has started to come to grips with the reality that the economic losses of this pandemic will dramatically impact their community for the next 12-18 months, including a restriction of fans, elimination of seasons, and a general lack of funds.

    Nowhere are nerves more frayed than with non-revenue sports like wrestling, where funding is tight and the lack of institutional support is commonplace.

    In a move that may end up being evidence of a coming cull, this week the Group of 5 schools requested a four-year forgiveness from the NCAA on their general enrollment standards, including the minimum number of programs. The G5 schools include Fresno State, Wyoming, and Air Force in the Mountain West; Kent State, Buffalo, Ohio, and Central Michigan in the MAC; Navy in the AAC; and already-dropped Old Dominion in Conference USA. If passed by the NCAA each of these schools (save Navy) will be directly in the line of fire by athletic departments with mandates to curtail costs.

    The state of college athletics is trending poorly for the wrestling community, but what ideas are out there that can work on the institutional level and which ideas are out there that could preserve wrestling programs specifically?

    The No. 1 way to ensure that athletic departments remain intact is rational thinking about what things actually cost, where money is being saved, and to be reminded that with the development of a vaccine will come the end of the pandemic.

    The cost of a scholarship is the "free-market" value as determined by that school's administration. If out-of-state is $63,000 then the athletic department (at big schools) are meant to send a check for $63,000 to the school for the athlete. The real cost is of course much less since the only hard costs are room and board. What if those requirements were reduced or eliminated altogether? For example, the schools could ask for only the in-state amount of tuition from the athletic department or give one-year from paying. If in-state is $25K then a wrestling program could be off-the-hook for $400K.

    The university at-large is able to absorb these losses of revenue more easily since they have much larger operational budgets and are able to charge for online courses in the fall. The cost savings should go into providing tuition remissions, which is relatively simple to engineer and would provide incredible relief for programs who can then use that money to pay the other costs that aren't transferable or able to be eliminated, like salaries.

    The second quick fix is for schools to up the pull from their respective endowments from ~5% to 8%. The school draws 5% in years that it makes 10%, so it stands to reason that increasing the pull can in the short term be seen as a loan for the future. Surviving is the object of the game, not thriving.

    The third quick fix is the reduction of ancillary benefits for athletes, like study programs, specialized meal plans, equipment purchases, et. al. These are likely already happening alongside staff-wide reductions in salary, but it's worth a look especially for benefits provided to the major sports.

    The next set of options might not be as popular, but they could have a positive effect on the sport, namely reducing the number of scholarships in wrestling from 9.9 to 7.9. That cost savings would show good faith, minimize risk in a financially healthy environment, and would encourage more schools to adopt wrestling programs as they could become more competitive. Again the object is survival.

    However, the quickest and easiest solution to the funding problem in college athletics is to eliminate 15-20 scholarships from the football team. As with the above wrestling example, it would lighten the load for each school, create a more competitive landscape in their sport, and lessen the impact of a massive economic incident such as COVID-19. There is no real math behind 85 full scholarships on a football team, so why continue with the unsubstantiated inflated numbers? If you all have the same number of scholarships then nothing has really changed.

    This is a money problem, but it's exposing the larger cultural problem that college athletics has become about making money. There is so much more value in the experience including academic opportunities for those of a lower SES, introduction to classmates with vastly different personal experiences, expert-level insight into, well, being an expert.

    All these things (and more) have real value in a college community. If the system can't adapt from a one-year economic event, then was it ever really a system that was working for everyone? Or was this always just about sponsorships, ticket sales, and broadcast revenue?

    I hope that the leaders of our sports institutions can see that there is something more to protect, and real actionable ways to achieve them before simply dropping sports.

    To your questions …

    Thomas Gilman topped Cuba's Reineri Andreu Ortega at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

    Q: What are your thoughts on Thomas Gilman's move to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club? He downplayed the Spencer Lee angle, but how much do you think Lee factored into his decision?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: While you have to take Gilman at his word, there is no way to divorce Spencer Lee from the decision to move. One spot, one club, one alumni base, and two athletes. I think that if Spencer Lee never shows up then Gilman stays, but I don't think it means his decision was based on avoiding Lee as much as it was giving himself clarity of mind and focus on his purpose.

    When you consider that the outcome of their match is uncertain (at least to me) then you also must realize it was a necessary for Gilman to have full and complete trust in the intentions of his coaches. I don't think for a moment that Brands + Co. would want anything but the best for Gilman, but even in steady seas an athlete can question the motives of a teammate or coach. In turbulent times that would likely be compounded.

    I wouldn't look at the situation as Gilman "running away." We should all be able to agree that he's not the type to be intimidated. He just needed a better environment and that the move for personal and professional reasons makes a lot of sense. Also, be reminded that the NLWC has arguably the best wrestling club outside of Dagestan with an abundance of Olympic and world medalists in the room.

    I'm a fan of both wrestlers and am glad that we can now have a less-awkward situation around their training and instead just watch a good ol' fashioned scrap.

    Q: If there is no NCAA football season, or if it's postponed, do you think that could cripple college wrestling? I would imagine most athletic departments will be really hurting and wrestling could be one of the first programs to go.
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: After an unprecedented stay-at-home effort, trillions of dollars spent in economic assistance, and more than 30,000 deaths in just eight weeks the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a costly and deadly setback for the world. There is an immense amount of grief, anger, frustration, and boredom.

    The world wants a distraction. I want a distraction. We all want something to discuss beside Tiger King, and something to do outside of video conference. Sports can fill that void, but we have to think about the cost.

    Until there is a vaccine no fans will be attending sporting events. There just isn't a way to guarantee they don't create a massive "biological bomb" like was seen in Italy after a Series A match. Packing 105,000 fans into the Big House would lead to a risk profile that is absolutely intolerable for a civilized nation to justify.

    There is a small chance that with incredible oversight, rigorous testing, and other controls that some sports would be allowed to be played without the presence of fans. Tennis and golf are quick to come to mind as examples of sports that would be first to return due to the natural social distancing. However, contact sports like football and wrestling will be far, far down the list of sports that can be reopened.

    In short, there will be no NCAA football season in 2020 and I'm doubtful there will be a wrestling season. Now, what will that mean for schools and their athletic funding?

    As I mentioned before there needs to be a wider discussion over the role of sport, who should take a haircut right now, and why. Without massive interventions by the NCAA to restrict the elimination of programs there will be a 10% reduction in the number of Division I wrestling programs in the next two years. This is a black swan event for which no athletic department was prepared to encounter and for which few have voiced or proposed logical solutions.

    MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

    Gilman on his move

    Rivalry: Taha vs. Geno

    Women's wrestling highlight from Nur-Sultan World Championships

    Q: Did you see the back-and-forth between Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake? If so, did you think it was authentic? Or manufactured?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: By nature, trash-talk is the choice to use uncommon language and conversational style to create discussion around your idea. The language can be inflammatory, controversial, or even just impolite in its directness. Burroughs has done this in the past with Ben Askren (who hosted the show) and has a knack for exploiting his opponent's sensitivities.

    Dake, on the other hand, wears trash-talking as well as I wear polka dots. It was awkward.

    I think that the jawing was mostly good-natured and might prove to be the type of competitive release both needed during the quarantine. We are all trying to learn new schools, explore new hobbies, and it's nice to see that athletes are taking advantage of the dead air to create some sparks.

    I would note, however, that this is not a sprint. Wrestling won't be back from quite some time and if there needs to be this media-first approach, I can be supportive of some friendly jostling among competitors.

    Q: A.C. Slater was offered a wrestling scholarship to Iowa in the episode that aired in October of 1992. Had Slater competed for the Hawkeyes (starting in 1993-94), how do you think his career would have gone? Seems like he had a style that could have done well in college. But would he have even cracked the lineup? These are the All-Americans in Slater's first two college years.

    1993-94
    Lincoln McIlravy (1st, 150)
    Jeff McGinness (5th, 126)
    Mike Mena (7th, 118)
    Joel Sharratt (1st, 190)
    Daryl Weber (6th, 142)
    Joe Williams (7th, 158)

    1994-95
    Ray Brinzer (3rd, 177)
    Mark Ironside (6th, 134)
    Jeff McGinness (1st, 126)
    Lincoln McIlravy (2nd, 150)
    Mike Mena (3rd, 118)
    Matt Nerem (6th, 167)
    Joel Sharratt (2nd, 190)
    Daryl Weber (6th, 158)
    Bill Zadick (5th, 142)
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I think Daryl Weber and Bill Zadick need to be grateful that Slater didn't bring those curls to the Midwest and distribute a hearty helping of Hollywood whipass.

    On a Lighter Note
    By Ethan S.

    On a lighter note, Dollamur is currently sold out of home wrestling mats. Personally, I hope many of the kids using home mats are not getting kids to come over/disregarding social distancing, but instead kicking the [crap] out of their fathers who have been offering them armchair and unsolicited advice for years. Time for payback.]]>    87950Fri, 17 Apr 2020 11:13:35 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: April 10, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-april-10-2020-r87931/Old Dominion's wrestling room (Photo/Old Dominion Athletics)
    Old Dominion announced last Thursday night that they would be eliminating wrestling as a varsity sport, effective immediately. Initial justification for the cut was focused on expected budget shortfall due to COVID-19, but later documentation also showed the school had hired consultants who pointed to the sport's "decreasing" national reach as further justification.

    If you want to follow the daily updates on the elimination, the school's abysmal rollout/response, and insight into what could be done to find reinstatement you should follow Jason Bryant on Twitter. He's a graduate of the school and has long been one of their most vocal cheerleaders. He's prepared to bring the heat.

    At the macro level there is a lot to discuss about Old Dominion's choice to eliminate wrestling that might instruct what may happen over the next few months.

    Right now, we know that the economy at-large will be depressed for the next 6-12 months. Total jobless claims are roughly 16.5 million with an expected undercount of several million because of closed offices, backup in open offices, and undocumented workers who cannot file. The effective unemployment is something like 11% and even with a $1200 check and some weekly unemployment boosts it's likely that spending will be down for a while due to fear of the virus.

    Even if you're bullish on the market whipsawing back into place as testing increases and people return to work, the process will take a while and it will cost a lot of jobs.

    How does this all affect wrestling? First, there will be less money donated to each individual NCAA program. With salary reductions the amount of disposable income will decrease significantly. Second, the kick-off from endowments will be down significantly, some even returning 0%. Third, there will be less institutional support due to a lack of money from TV deals lost to the virus in March/April, and the likely elimination of football revenue (TV, tickets, merchandise).

    In all the elimination of the ODU program may prove to be a death knell event for non-revenue NCAA sports at the Division I level. And when you look at wrestling itself, the damage could be multiplied by a decrease in long term interest due to a "proximity bias" likely to evolve from this crisis. Social distancing will become more than a buzzword -- it will absolutely guide everything from the capacity of restaurants to corporations, and the sports world won't be spared.

    In the new normal, parents are going to be discouraged from allowing their children to wrestle given the higher likelihood of viral transmission between practice partners and competitors. We've all been at tournaments, or on teams, where herpes and impetigo have spread rapidly and uncontrolled. With a virus as deadly as COVID-19 the risk to the athlete (and the parents) will need to be totally mitigated before there is a total elimination of doubt. Even then, I'm doubtful there will be a full and immediate embrace of close contact sports at the scholastic level.

    There will be more losses at all levels. The growth we've experienced at the Division II, III, NAIA and junior college level will be somewhat insulated since they are enrollment-based schools able to make money off the programs they hire. However, the Division I level will be affected, sometimes in very visible ways like the elimination of programs, some in less visible ways like budget cuts, and finally in obscure ways like when an administration thinking of adding a team has to scuttle that notion because of the pandemic.

    I want to save Old Dominion and I want to see the at-risk programs preserved. So far my wife and I are still employed and are still scheduled for normal donations, but I'd be lying if I told you that there weren't fears of how this will all end up. Nobody knows. The stock market is all treasury money and speculation, the jobless numbers are awful but could completely rebound, the federal government has stopped supported testing (but states haven't). There is just no clear vision of what tomorrow will bring, much less October and the start of the collegiate season.

    The best we can do is keep these programs in our mind and dispatch to as many alumni as we can that the time to support is now. The time to write a nice letter to the AD is now. The time to make any gesture you can in support of a collegiate program or at-risk program is now.

    Also, the time to innovate is now. You might not be able to create a vaccine, but in this time you can come up with solutions to issues in our community around any number of topics regarding the sport's vulnerabilities. Improved approaches to funding, increasing attendance, decreasing liabilities … literally anything and everything.

    Send me an email or leave a comment below, I think a community brainstorming session can bring out some ideas that have a chance for top-level implementation and a real chance to positively impact the direction of our sport during this crisis.

    Multimedia

    Stay Strong, Stay Home

    Stay Strong, Stay Home 2

    An interview with Abdulrashid Sadulaev

    Awesome throwback match

    ]]>    87931Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:37:58 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: April 3, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-april-3-2020-r87906/
    By the time the call arrives I was confident that my results would come back positive, but how I'd gotten to that point (and the signs that I'd missed) made me realize that others -- especially those outside the hot zone of New York City -- might also overlook signs they were carrying the virus.

    My timeline starts sometime between March 4 and March 11. I'd gone to the Pan American Championships, leaving on Friday, March 6 and returned on the morning of March 9. On the ground, my days were packed with work, but I'd found time for dinner and trip to the local casino. When I returned to the office on Tuesday, March 10, I felt totally fine.

    On Wednesday, March 11, I was informed that an upcoming trip to Japan would be canceled and that Tom Hanks had tested positive. He was among the first celebrity and a new barometer for how many people might have been impacted by the disease.

    The number of positive cases and deaths in New York City were also ticking up on March 11, but it still felt distant. There was no real clarity on what this virus was or was not to be handled. While some state-level leaders were ringing the bell there was a lot at the national level who weren't. Overall, a lack of knowing led me to wonder aloud to my wife just what we should do to prepare.

    On Thursday, March 12, it became clear (to me) through the actions on Wall Street, the rumors being flung around online about lockdowns, and the sense of dread in the air that New York City was not going to fare well in the coming weeks and months. With a 19-month-old and a 900-square-foot apartment I knew it was important to get to more space and a location my daughter could access reliable non-COVID health care options.

    That afternoon I purchased a one-way rental car from my West Village Hertz and took the 6.5-hour drive to Ocean View, Norfolk, where my parents have a home on the Chesapeake Bay. Space for the baby, space to work, and some help watching the baby should I need some during the work week. The drive was mostly miserable as my daughter thought it was a great adventure and stayed awake until 10:45 p.m. When she did sleep I was too nervous to listen to music or call friends and mostly sat in silence as I passed through the forgotten towns on the Eastern Shore.

    I arrived at 1:30 a.m. and headed to bed with my daughter. When she woke up at 630 a.m. on Friday, March 1m feeling I felt like I'd been double legged by Stephen Neal. The stress of the quick-pack, long drive, and little sleep seemed to be affecting me, I thought. "Toughen up," was my constant thought as I limped through a series of chores to get her well-situated in her new environment.

    On Saturday and Sunday the feeling got worse, but I fought it off and explained it away as a mixture of allergies (to be fair, pollen is caked on the deck furniture) and exhaustion from watching my kid all day.

    I was out-of-my-head, sleeping a full 9-10 hours at night and napping alongside my daughter for three hours during the day and yet never feeling rested. No matter how long I slept, I never felt energized enough to type text messages, hold decent conversations, or live my everyday life.

    March 16 was my parents 46th (!!) wedding anniversary and they had a nice Irish whiskey to finish the meal. I'd thought the food we ate that night was simply bland, but I knew that the whiskey had a nice flavor profile. I swirled., smelled, sipped and swished. Nothing. I could sense none of it.

    The morning of March 17 I couldn't smell my daughter's dirty diaper, couldn't taste the bacon I cooked for breakfast, or sense the garlic in that evening's dinner. I was totally nose deaf and tasteless.

    I called my sister-in-law, a pediatrician in Oakland, and asked her what it could be. She thought it was highly odd but that the rundown feeling could be allergies or a deeper sinus infection. I used a Neti Pot to try and clear my sinuses (I could breathe fine), but that and nasal spray had no effect.

    Then on March 22 my other sister-in-law texted a link to the New York Times story about the peculiar case of losing smell and taste when contracting coronavirus. Reading that article was the first time I'd even considered my symptoms to be COVID-19. It didn't seem real.

    On Monday, March 23, I went to the yard and tried to overcome my nose deafness through exercise and finished 50 burpees. As a consequence I felt as close to death as I will ever feel --coughing uncontrollably, unable to open my eyes, and laid motionless for an hour before going to bed. (I realize this is dumb behavior, but I really thought I was just being 'weak.')

    On Tuesday, March 24, I drove to a Sentara Medical drive through and was tested. In a too-stupid-for-a-novel twist, the car I was driving broke down as soon as the line started moving. Fortunately, because I was so out of it I'd also forgotten my wallet and my father had just delivered it to me in the car. He headed back and we quickly switched cars, allowing me to get the test.

    The New York residency, fatigue, absence of smell, and cough were all symptoms enough to determine a test. While I could tell that I wasn't going to be one of the lucky ones to not get deathly ill from COVID-19 (at least in the short term) it was imperative I know for the sake of my wife, daughter, and my parents. Knowing I was sick allows us to better adjust our routines, clean up with more determination and attention to detail, and to create timelines for when they will be clear of the virus.

    I received my results on Sunday and we discussed with the nurses what to do next. Fortunately, we'd been practicing distancing and some amount of quarantining and separation, like using my own bathroom, towels, and the rest. We were also hyper vigilant about wiping down surfaces. Maybe the best example of our efforts is that I've yet to hug my parents in the three weeks I've been here.

    My daughter is currently fine. Her major concern seems to be how often we go to the beach to see the waves and how often I will draw her an Elmo. Between the diaper changes, sticking her hands in my mouth, and co-sleeping it's unlikely she avoided the virus, which if she's asymptomatic is certainly a blessing.

    There is still some fear. I fear for my wife, my parents, and if I somehow affected someone else unknowingly. My parents are heathy, but they are in their 60's and this virus is unpredictable in who it chooses for its most ferocious attacks. Coming to Virginia was a decision we all came to, but I worry it will somehow backfire.

    In all, that's my story from start to finish. I hope that if nothing else it can provide a little more clarity into any of your situations that you're now facing or may face. These are uncertain times, but we will get through it together. Our worlds will feel different. We will interact in new ways and make adjustments for all types of new technology in our life. We will lose friends and loved ones, but at some point this too will have passed.

    For now, I'm signing up for plasma donation in New York and investigating the same here in Virginia. Once I'm 14 days post-test I'll also be heading out more to grab groceries and essentials for my family members and any friends who feel they are immuno-compromised. If wrestling needs me to travel somewhere, I'll do that, too.

    In the meantime, please be sure to keep watching your hands and watch out for each other.

    To your questions …

    Chris Pendleton with Zahid Valencia at the 2019 Senior Nationals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

    Q: What do you think of the Chris Pendleton hiring at Oregon State?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't considered Pendleton in a lot of recent hiring opportunities. Part of that is because he's been an assistant in the Pac-12 and I -- like most readers -- has a bias for East Coast programs and individuals. However, if you look at the accomplishments he can claim as an assistant it would have been surprising for them to NOT hire Pendleton. Guy is a two-time NCAA champion, recruited and coached Zahid Valencia to two titles, has been a top assistant as Arizona State grew to become a top-five program.

    Check out the release. I think it's well-written and covers all the highlights.

    Congrats and good luck to Coach Pendleton.

    Q: Frank Molinaro chose to retire this week after the Olympics were postponed a year. Do you think we will see some other wrestlers do the same?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: Frank Molinaro will be the highest profile athlete to retire. He's an Olympian in his 30's who had a slim chance of capturing the starting spot this year under perfect conditions. No shame in him seeing the end of his career during the pandemic. I've heard he's a good coach and should he choose that route I think the sport would welcome his expertise and motivation. To mention nothing of that hair.

    I do think we might see a few overseas guys retire. When you can't work out for long enough you both have time for injuries to heal and to spend time with your family, eat donuts, and think about a post-wrestling life. Bound to be a few guys who that more directly impacts.

    Q: It seems like a lot of summer sporting events are getting canceled. Wimbledon and the British Open are the latest. Do you think USA Wrestling will cancel the Junior Nationals in Fargo this summer?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: Yes, it's really just a matter of seeing how the next month goes on the ground. As the virus spreads to new locations and the death toll rises it will be difficult to imagine wrestling will take place in the summer.

    The fallout from these canceled events could be immediate and severe. We have not taken enough time (yet) as a community to focus on how the economic impact most directly impacts sports of lower socio-economic status, and how there could be a negative connotation connected with the close contact involved with wrestling. The perception of disease could be a major PR battle we'll need to tackle as a community.

    Assume, for example, that parents are out of work for several months. The discretionary income that might once have gone to a USA Wrestling membership, club signup, shoes, and gear will now be used for the rent and groceries. That money is what allows large tournaments to go forward, but it's also vital for the local wrestling communities. Now add in concerned mothers -- will they quickly embrace the idea that their son or daughter should step on a mat with 40-plus random strangers?

    I'm in love with jiu-jitsu and trained 4-5 times a week before the outbreak and I can't imagine heading back into the gym unless there was a vaccine and new increased standards for cleanliness. Wrestling has a powerful story to tell in terms of protecting the health of its athletes with skin and medical checks already commonplace, but we will need to be a leader in addressing the new normal. Parents and athletes will need to feel protected or they won't show up on the mats. That will require ingenuity and broad buy-in and implementation.

    The other issue is what will happen to many collegiate programs who are run with the assistance of their for-profit brethren. Does the NCAA college wrestling season happen if there is no football season? Will the lost revenue directly and negatively affect the winter sports season? There is no answer to the hypothetical, but we need to start considering ways to backstop that type of situation. We can't allow this become the trigger for widespread elimination of the sport at the NCAA level, and I fear that without a comprehensive plan to explain the sport's relative value to the individual organization's stability could become an issue.]]>    87906Fri, 03 Apr 2020 12:13:24 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: March 27, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-march-27-2020-r87877/
    The announcement comes after a massive worldwide lockdown in response to the global spread of COVID-19. Athletes, National Olympic Committees, and international federations had all expressed concern about the Tokyo Games scheduled July start and most believed that their athletes would be ill-prepared for the Games, and/or they'd be unable to qualify athletes in a fair manner. With the outcome clear the IOC made the historic decision to delay the Games.

    Ultimately, the decision means the Olympics will take place sometime in 2021, but it's unclear the effect that it will have on the qualification process for wrestling and other sports. Guidance on the process should come out this week, or early next week, though it could be delayed given the range and scope of concerns from stakeholders.

    For wrestling the process is hopefully/probably/maybe straightforward. If the IOC doesn't create an overarching stipulation that all sports must start from scratch, then wrestling is just in an extended qualification pause. The remaining continental qualifiers would be rescheduled for later in 2020, or early 2021, and the "Last Chance" World qualifier would be a few weeks later. Come spring/summer 2021 all the wrestlers would have been qualified normally and Bob's your uncle.

    There would still be the issue of when to schedule final Ranking Series event, the manner in which the tournaments would be operated regarding the health of the athletes, finding suitable locations, adjusting costs to local organizers in addition to about a million other concerns. If you wonder why there are delays, think about the organizational effort it will take for wrestling to reorganize these events and then multiply it by 30 -- that's what the international sports community is facing over the next 18 months.

    The construction of the international qualification calendar is also important for the national federations, like the United States, who have yet to complete their national trials. The USA could technically finish those trials until just before United World Wrestling is required to send the names of the athletes to the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee. However, USA has yet to qualify two weight classes in Greco-Roman and one in freestyle, a tournament for which I'm assuming they'd prefer to send their top athletes. They would also need to reschedule and rebook the facilities, line up sponsors, and do in only a few weeks what initially required months.

    This is all to say that the next 12 months will be incredibly fluid in the world of wrestling. The moratorium on competitions is likely to last several more months and even as athletes find their ways into more credible training situations the time for high level competition will be even further down the road.

    The real goal remains the same. It's time to stay inside, to keep distance from those vulnerable to the disease, and to help each other as we can. Sport is an amazing gift and wrestling is its premier offering, but it is vital that for the foreseeable future that we each do our part to get past this plague.

    To your questions …

    Cary Kolat coaching at the Midlands Championships (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

    Q: Were you surprised Cary Kolat took the Navy head coaching position? Other than his ties to Maryland, what do you think attracted him to the job?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: The Navy job has typically gone to men who either have a service background, understand service, or look like they could be in Special ops. The only reason that Cary Kolat seemed like a surprise hire was that he is known to be a bit of a contrarian -- to think outside the normal parameters and push the boundaries. Those aren't military-first instincts.

    However, I think that he was unquestionably the best available coach in the nation and Navy did an incredible job to attract him to campus. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for him to be successful, but Navy has every opportunity to be a big-time program. Huge numbers of disciplined, easy-to-coach athletes can always lend itself to positive outcomes.

    Q: Maybe use rankings, coaches polls and NCAA seeds to award All-Americans to the top 12 wrestlers (top 12 allows for error/upsets)? No great way to solve this but All-Americans should be awarded.
    -- Rich H.

    Foley: I agree. There should be a vote. These are unprecedented times and some type of acknowledgment of these athletes and their seasons is overdue. Though there would be intense controversy over any number of factors, I think that it will reward those athletes who had long productive seasons and were lining up for All-American honors.

    I think the makeup should be media (30%), coaches (30%), seeds (30%), and fan vote (10%).

    Q: Every year since 2014, at least one freshman has won an NCAA title. An unprecedented streak.

    2014: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern), J'Den Cox (Missouri)
    2015: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State)
    2016: Myles Martin (Ohio State)
    2017: Mark Hall, Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State)
    2018: Spencer Lee (Iowa), Yiani Diakomihalis (Cornell)
    2019: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech).

    Who do predict (if any) would have been the freshman champ in 2020? Real Woods (Stanford), Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), David Carr (Iowa State), Shane Griffith (Stanford), Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State), Trent Hidlay (NC State), Aaron Brooks (Penn State), Tony Cassioppi (Iowa), or someone I missed?
    -- D.B.

    Foley: Good list.

    Foley: Off the top I think Tony Cassioppi, Real Woods, David Carr, Travis Wittlake, and Trent Hidlay are longer shots at winning the whole thing.

    I'm guessing the smart money is on Sammy Sasso, but how do you overlook an undefeated 165-pound wrestler with several wins against top ten opponents? Alex While Marinelli and Vincenzo Joseph have an ever-entertaining rivalry, they aren't leaps better than the rest of the 165-pound class. Assuming Griffith got Joseph in the semifinals I'd have him favored. With Marinelli in the finals it would depend on how both were wrestling.

    A lot of the reason he doesn't get more respect is that Stanford is on the West Coast and sometimes overlooked in both hype and accurate assessments. It's too bad he wasn't able to show what he could do at the NCAAs.

    Q: What do you suspect will happen with the Olympic Team Trials? Could you see a scenario in which they were held with no fans or at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I discussed this a bit at the top, but I'm guessing they attempt to go with the Bryce Jordan Center at a time later in the year when public gatherings are once again allowable. If that isn't available, or the timeline is too crunched or filled with conflicts, then the OTC is always an option.

    Ultimately, it would be an unlikely scenario that USA Wrestling would voluntarily push for something closed off since the event draws a lot of funding for the federation's operating costs. Yet, that might be the necessary pivot if there is a lack of available options, or those willing to pay to host because they'd fear not recouping their money.

    One benefit to a closed-off event would be the ability to create a dynamic and clean broadcast while also limiting the exposure of the athletes to anyone who might have COVID-19.

    MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

    Parental post game


    El Sayed pummels with his father


    Q: Do you think the NCAA will give winter athletes additional eligibility? Just seems like it would be too messy and difficult.
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: Given the NCAAs more recent player-first approach there is a fair chance that some athletes would be granted an additional year. I don't think that every athlete would receive additional eligibility, but just those who qualified for the NCAAs.

    Also, I'm not certain that the NCAA's decision on the start time of the 2020 season will come in time to keep the best wrestlers "on-campus" for another several months. Not to mention that there are certain to be several seniors who see this as a good time to get out and leave school. Imagine that most haven't worked out at all in the past several weeks and they won't again for several more.

    Q: Any thoughts about the UFC trying to hold events?
    -- Ben W.

    Foley: Yeah, Dana White is a stone-cold nincompoop who puts the profits of the company above the safety of any individual. He's a total suck-up to certain powerful people and will do anything to "show" the world that the COVID-19 outbreak is an overblown media circus. While I don't disagree that in a bubble the idea of a closed event would be pretty cool, there are several factors that he's ignoring -- primarily how will any of his athletes prepare for the fight with limited or no access to their gym?

    Let's say he gets a few to sign up for the fight (they are underpaid and probably struggling) then there is no guarantee that a fight commission would allow the fights to take place. Also, no matter how small a card you'll need so much support staff that it'll be impossible to successfully screen each individual for COVID-19, especially since getting tested with accurate results is exceedingly difficult.

    White is a blowhard who puts his interests and the monied concern of his bosses above all else.

    Q: Jon Jones can't seem to get out of his own way. Do you even include him in the conversation for greatest fighter ever? He has tested positive for steroids and has had other outside-the-cage incidents.
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I never have. He's a proven drug cheat and repeat offender with an incredible lack of imagination. Look at Daniel Cormier. He's trailblazing as a fighter and high school wrestling coach who is also arguably one of the best commentators in the sport. Beloved by all. That's an original man with an original story to tell and something to give back to the world around him.

    Jones is a bad, tired cliché of the gifted fighter who contributed nothing to the world and only complains about how he's been wronged. He deserves to be behind bars. No more second chances, no more of the MMA community heaping praises on him because he hit a few spinning back elbows in fights seven years ago

    Bye, Jon.]]>    87877Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:58:11 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: March 20, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-march-20-2020-r87844/Wrestlers and coaches get ready to enter the arena at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
    If today were normal, it would be the second day of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis. The arena would be quiet. Workers would be cleaning mats as the lights of the concession stand would flicker to attention. Overworked vendors would be ripping open boxes of T-shirts as agents headed to collect tickets paced by.

    If today were normal, the wrestlers who'd made it through the grueling first day of competition would be weighing in for their chance to punch a ticket to Saturday's finals, or make their way to the title of All-American. They'd be anxious to get on the scale, their hair askew, eyes glossy from a night of poor sleep. Some would be returning from last-minute sprints to shed a pound or two, or stripping off their weight cutting clothes -- sweat streaming out from beneath the trim of their sweatshirts forming wet, darkened circles on the cement ground.

    If today were normal, groups of coaches would be standing huddled in their chosen corners of the arena with small white cups of coffee in one hand, and a rolled-up bracket in the other. They'd be in their Friday best: an athletic polo with school crest emblazoned on their left pectoral, tucked evenly into their single-pleated khaki pants. They'd be breaking down the technical aspects of an upcoming matchup; who should avoid what next match, who should attack where, and how they matchup up when the next opponent is clear.

    If today were normal, referees would be streaming out of their hotels -- well-appointed in their black and white striped uniforms. The blue NCAA logo placed just-so, and their outfit impeccable and ready for the 1080 broadcasts. They'd find their place in the arena to sit, prepare and head off to their respective pre-tournament meetings about what to watch for, what they learned on the first day, and how to call difficult scenarios.

    If today were normal, parents of competitors would be in the breakfast room of a well-lit hotel lobby talking about team points, matchups, and yesterday's terrible officiating. They'd be wearing the school colors, with moms and sisters, wives and daughters wearing the logos of their team on the cheek. Maybe a weight class or two makes it on to a face. The grandparents would sit by and toss in their stories of NCAA tournaments of the past, talk of various cities and finals. They'd be laughing, carrying on, noticing the importance of the moment, but through jokes acknowledging it's temporary and fleeting relevance.

    If today were normal, the wrestler would soon be leaving weigh-ins and huddling over an offering of bagels, fruit, cream cheeses, and energy bars inside their respective team's locker room. (Penn State's being a well-coordinated complex of rooms scouted out days in advance; Iowa an aggregation of tables in a medical office; the remainder of the teams spread buckshot around arena offices and visitor locker rooms.) After each drink the gaunt faces of wrestlers would start to ripen with color, their eyes moistening as their blood sugar rises and they return to a physical state something more like normal.

    If today were normal, the journalists -- disrespected by their seat location, hungover from a late night of writing under the influence of craft brews and searching for a chew -- would be milling about their selected row of seats talking shop. Some would post an arm up on a colleague's chair and take a glance at their story, or graphic -- maybe share some gossip about the round's action, or remind each other of future results. Most would be looking for updated brackets.

    If today were normal, the announcers would be walking across the mats to get to the dais overseeing the action. There would be some sound checks, and off-mic consultations about proper annunciation. The individual mat announcers would be seated at their mats dressed in the suits of a salesman, with slicked back hair accompanying high shone shoes. They'd tighten up to the table, strap on the Flips-like headphones and give their first words to the mat producer on the other end of the microphone.

    If today were normal, fans would now have started to stream-in, row-by-row filling up the arena according to school allegiances, their color creating a pinwheel of Oklahoma State Orange, Iowa Black + Yellow, Penn State Blue + White, Ohio State Crimson + Gray. Moms and dads brothers and sisters would all be pointing out towards the mats, the grandparents sitting alongside flipping through the day's program.

    If today were normal, the wrestlers would be littering the mat doing a combination of light jogging, forward rolling, and drilling. They'd be wearing full grey sweat suits -- their tops tucked into the pants, the pants tucked into the socks. One setup, two, and a quick high crotch -- no finish. Setups only. Some would have hit the ground, peeling hands as they go through the motions of their explosive standups. Coaches would be lording over, their brackets clinched in a hand under one arm pit and the other hand sits posted pensively on their mouth. They are the generals reviewing their respective armies.

    If today were normal, music in the arena would be picking up. More wrestlers would begin to fill the mat, forcing the arena deejay to pump up the volume on DJ Khaled as the schools begin to jockey for spots on the mat. Moms and dads would be sitting in the upper decks, craning down, hands over their eyes, pointing to a "Where's Waldo" drawing trying to find their son amongst a landscape a 200-plus similar looking 18-23 year-old men.

    If today were normal, the last of morning sessions fans would be arriving through the front gates. Hurried. Anxious to not miss a moment of this, their favorite time of year, their favorite day of the year.

    If today were normal, referees would be assigned to mats, announcers would be taking one last deep breath, journalists would belly up to their seats, coaches would head into the underbelly of the arena.

    If today were normal, Jason Bryant would clear his throat, pause, and then bellow out those words we all love to hear, "Wrestlers! Please clear the …"

    If only today were normal.]]>    87844Fri, 20 Mar 2020 13:25:51 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: March 13, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-march-13-2020-r87824/Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com
    Fallout from the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19, has reached the global sports world. All major professional sports organizations have canceled or suspended their seasons and the NCAA, no doubt feeling immense pressure, has canceled the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

    For the wrestlers and coaches who have worked so hard this season and who have sacrificed so much over their career, today is day of loss and grieving. The cancellation of the NCAA wrestling tournament is not comparable to the NBA season, because for our athletes the focus of their entire lives has been on winning an NCAA title. The stair-running, weight-cutting and months of sacrifice were all in a pursuit of a single three-day period at the end of a five-month season. The coronavirus has taken away that opportunity.

    We are accustomed to stability in the United States. For those that travel often planes are generally on time, hotels keep reservations, and planned events go on without many cancellations. The free movement of people here is something most of us don't consider. We've been largely inoculated from the pain and suffering that conflict outside of our control can bring to our families and friends. As we feel this pain of lost sporting events and lives interrupted, it's important to also take lessons forward about how we can be better stewards to those less fortunate. We are lucky and we need to do more coming out of this to take care of those who are less fortunate.

    Perspective is hard in a time of personal loss, but the wrestling community needs to be reminded that doctors, epidemiologists, virologists, and world leaders are calling for the immediate and widespread containment of coronavirus in order to SAVE LIVES. The number of cases is growing by the hour and that number could see exponential growth once testing kits in the United States are made in large order and calculated by a central source. Those numbers will further sink the stock market, drive many of us into a fearful state, and all but shut down the economy of the United States. It's terrifying, but by limiting these events there will be less spread and a quicker return to normalcy.

    Don't panic, but also don't make light of the serious life-altering effect this disease is poised to have on the United States. Limit your risks, and maybe more importantly treat others (online and off) with compassion and patience. Everyone will handle this differently. Also, by God's grace, it seems the virus doesn't attack our children, but it does affect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Be mindful and stay vigilant of their needs.

    Good luck and stay safe.]]>    87824Fri, 13 Mar 2020 13:21:48 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: March 6, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-march-6-2020-r87747/
    Other nations, namely Japan and Italy, have responded to the threat by shuddering schools, quarantining neighborhoods, and canceling all events with large gatherings. So far, the United States hasn't taken any of these actions.

    Self-quarantining should be a consideration taken by individuals, local governments, and large organizations. I'm currently not rolling jiu-jitsu out both of an abundance of caution and the realization disease spreads rapidly in both that setting and NYC.

    So what about the NCAA wrestling tournament and this weekend's conference championships?

    Obviously, it's too late to cancel or postpone the conference tournaments, but attendees -- especially those over the age of 50 or with compromised immune systems -- should take extra caution. Wrestling gyms are notably unclean with plenty of shoes also making their way from bathroom floors to the mats. And maybe there are more unwashed hands? I don't know, but please take extreme precaution.

    As for the NCAA tournament, I also think it's almost an impossible call for someone to cancel. However, if we were to separate our anticipation for the event there is something questionable about hosting the largest-ever collegiate wrestling tournament in American history in Minnesota, while the largest and scariest pandemic in 100 years spreads quickly in enclosed environments and the cold.

    That's to say nothing of the tournament goers average age being in the band of those most-vulnerable to serious complications caused by the virus.

    Most readers probably read the past few weeks that Kyrgyzstan and Morocco canceled their hosting obligations for the Asian and African/Oceania Olympic qualifying tournaments. They are going to be rescheduled, but it brings into focus just how important a decision it is to protect the public from a global pandemic.

    The idea of cancellation will not be popular, but we do need to discuss it and know that our leaders at the NCAA are entertaining the options and preparing for these massive crowds. To note, Japan has kept their sumo tournament in place, but have made them closed to the public to avoid any transmissions among the public. Maybe that's an idea that the NCAA could also entertain.

    Don't panic, don't be alarmist, but do keep in mind that this disease has infected 80,000-plus people and killed almost 4,000 -- and those numbers are very, very raw with likely infections and unattributed deaths much higher.

    Take it seriously and please -- really, please -- wash your hands, and don't attend if you are feeling ill.

    To your questions …

    Q: Which conference tournament are you most looking forward to this weekend?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: The ACC, which is the most concentrated and competitive conference in the nation. The matchups are in some places going to inform who will be the top seed in Minnesota, and who has the best shot at placing in the team standings.

    That's a kind of a tongue-in-cheek statement, but it's true that this is the most competitive the ACC has ever been. Never has there been three teams ranked in the top ten -- a thought that would've been laughed out of your head 15 or 20 years ago. The conference has built on the new qualification systems and the individual school's ability to recruit top-level athletes to top-flight academic institutions with beautiful campuses (and weather).

    I don't see this trend subsiding, either. The ACC schools and the support they've acquired are trending well headed into the Roaring 20's. Is this the best season the conference will ever have? No. I think the best is still in front of many schools, my alma mater and Duke University included.

    Trent Hidlay enters the ACC Championships seeded No. 2 at 184 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

    Q: The ACC Championships has three of the top 184-pounders. Who do you think will win the weight class?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I'll take Trent Hidlay over Hunter Bolen in the finals. Hunter has the last win, 3-2, only a few weeks ago, but Trent is having a monster freshman season and if he can keep it trucking through the semifinals and get past Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt I think he comes out on top in the finals.

    MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME

    There has been a Frank sighting at the UFC event this weekend

    Not a bad Vlog

    Q: Yoel Romero fights for the title this weekend at UFC 248. Think he has a chance against the The Last Style Bender?
    -- Ben M.

    Foley: I do! How in the ever-loving hell is Israel Adesanya going to stay with Yoel as he wrestles him again and again and again. If anything is leveling the odds it's that Yoel is kinda slowing down and has a real knack for getting tired in the championship rounds. A ground and pound offensive for the ages early in the second period could do the job for Yoel. Otherwise he needs to keep his output low and save his energy for the fourth and fifth rounds where a better conditioned and younger Style Bender will be looking to inflict damage.

    If Yoel comes out of the third looking in good shape then he has a chance to win. If he's sucking wind then there is almost no chance of him escaping those final rounds.

    Q: It seems like we will finally get Gable Steveson vs. Mason Parris this weekend. What is your prediction if the match goes down?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: If the line is Parris +1.5 then I'll take Parris with the points. Heads up I have Steveson.

    Why don't we think the match will happen? Because they aren't meant to walk through their opponents, or because one of the coaches might protect a seed heading into the NCAA Championships?

    I don't know, but it's unfortunate that we are left to think about forfeits and NCAA wrestling in 2020.]]>    87747Fri, 06 Mar 2020 12:57:44 +0000    Foley's Friday Mailbag: February 28, 2020https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/mailbag/foleys-friday-mailbag-february-28-2020-r87727/

    The intention of the graphic was to excite fans about the possibility of 40K-plus wrestling fans packed into a football stadium to enjoy their favorite sport. However, due to Oregon Trail-worthy graphics the net effect for many fans (including me) was to take the mockup literally. Which in our defense you'd expect when the official Twitter account for the host organization released the information less than a month before the start of the action.

    While the quality was akin to the stick figure drawings, it was all the inconvenient items left out that irked the masses. Prime among the exclusions were the head table, scorer's tables, score clocks, and coaches' chairs. There was also a noticeable lack of TV cameras, photographers, and the staff necessary to escort wrestlers to and from waiting areas.

    Another concern was the warmup area for the wrestlers. While the mockup still shows eight mats, they are separated by wide gaps of floor space -- a tough pill for anyone who has ever tried to warm up on the mats in previous years and found them already a little tight.

    But in the end it was the message the image was trying to send about epic crowds and increased exposure that lends itself to constructive critique.

    The idea of more seats equating to anything more than increased revenue is likely misplaced. There is probably a small bump in secondary news stories that cover the number of people attending, but it'll be marginal especially when compared to the impact of improved fan experience in the arena. Revisiting the setup for the field of play, AV interactions with the audience, and ensuring a full social media experience is available would likely promote the sport (and the NCAA) in a more productive way.

    Let's also not forget that adding a dual meet championship, moving to a single semester, and avoiding the start of the basketball season would all be better revenue generators for the NCAA and create more opportunities for fans to watch healthy wrestlers compete.

    Baby steps? Maybe. I can see this being the first big initiative of many more, but to get to a new place college wrestling needs its stakeholders to agree on new initiatives. That, unfortunately, is a gap even wider than the floor space between the mats in Minneapolis.

    To your questions …

    Wrestlers from Team Taylor at the inaugral AWL event (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)

    Q: It seemed like AWL had some potential as a professional wrestling league, but seems to have folded. Why has it been so difficult to create a sustainable wrestling league in the United States? Where have the organizations gone wrong or made the biggest missteps?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: In journalism we call this an evergreen topic -- one that will always be relevant to readers. Seven years after the launch of several leagues and we are no closer to implementing a sustainable wrestling league here in the states.

    Each has failed for their own reasons, but one major reason is there hasn't been proper alignment of incentives between the athletes, networks (streaming and linear), and sponsors. The stakes need to be high enough to interest the athletes to not only participate but to train for and promote the event. In the past the athletes have been focused on maximizing their personal return (fair) but they haven't always delivered proper promotion. Likewise sponsors are adding money, but not activating on those dollars which means they see absolutely zero positive feedback.

    Our Olympic athletes aren't always able to hop off the four-year cycle and dedicate time. So what's the best solution? It could be a Joes vs. Sports Stars method where local income producing competitions are held between jiu jitsu fighters, strongmen, CrossFit guys, and rugby players. Allow the individuals to dress up how they like and treat it as a festival setting. Use a TBD takedown-focused style and allow for lots of creativity and promotion. Events in major cities will draw sponsors and the best of the best -- usually former wrestlers -- graduate to a national stage where they take on current champions of this TBD style and some of America's biggest mat stars.

    This system allows for maximum return on sponsorship dollars, IG-worthy events, and a sustainable mode for supporting our sport's biggest stars while also distributing the sport to a larger audience.

    If interested in making this happen, please send me an email!

    Greg Kerkvliet wrestling Jordan Wood at the U23 Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)

    Q: It sounds like there is a possibility Greg Kerkvliet enters the Penn State lineup at heavyweight for the postseason. Do you see him as a game changer, someone who could help put the Nittany Lions in the thick of the team race?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: I don't. I'm all for dramatic WWE surprise walkouts but this would be unprecedented in our sport's history to transfer, sit, and suddenly be eligible come plat season. How is this OK? I could never have transferred from U.Va. to UNC and expected to wrestle in the same season.

    Kerkvliet is unquestionably very talented but that talent hasn't been on the collegiate mats. To debut at the Big Tens is like never having ice skated and then expecting to impress Michelle Kwan on a first date. That's not to say Kerkvliet couldn't win a match or two more than Nevills at the NCAAs, but does that guarantee Penn State will overcome Iowa? Is risking his redshirt worth the squeeze?

    Not my call, but I think this isn't a well thought out plan, and it's bound to end with some bruised egos.

    Q: What did you make of Iowa State not sending most of their starters to a dual meet against Missouri last Saturday, instead sending key starters to their home open? It seems as though there was gaming going on, getting some starters questionable wins to increase their chances to qualify for the NCAAs.
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: We all know this was a blatant disregard for how the wrestling world works, but look around you. Look at the world -- nothing matters in a battle of morality. The only thing is winning or the perception that you did everything you could to WIN. We don't have right and wrong. We have winning and losing. Exploitation of anything so long as it helps get another tick in the W column.

    I'm saddened and disappointed that the Iowa State administration allowed this to happen, and I think that the NCAA should take aggressive measures to ensure than it doesn't happen again and that the results of the tournament are invalidated.

    Q: Is Zahid Valencia out of the Olympic Team Trials in April?
    -- Josh K.

    Foley: Yes. Given the timing and initial reports, his positive test would have been international, which would preclude his participation. However, there is an appeal process and he's very able to submit to that process and possibly be vindicated.

    The entire episode is regrettable. I hope that there is something pending that could vindicate him or at least dampen the disappointment of his teammates and fan base.

    Q: There have been a lot of media reports about how the coronavirus could cancel the Olympic Games. Do you see this as a real possibility?
    -- Mike C.

    Foley: As of now there is no real indication the Olympic Games will be moved or canceled. Some sporting events, especially those in Asia, are being canceled or reassigned to other nations. The virus is spreading rapidly, but the vitality and severity have yet to be determined. Death rates range from two percent to four percent of infections. In the scope of sports, it's an unrealistic risk to ask for those infections to spread for the benefit of game playing.

    But if we're honest with ourselves we also have to recognize that that the virus' two-week incubation makes it perfect for a drip-drip of developing news that creates fear. Japanese school closings, unknown transmission sources in the USA, and the quarantine of northern Italy all drive the fear that makes it difficult for political leaders to sanction activity.

    I think the decision point will be June 1. That's 90 days from now, which would imply a further knowledge of how the disease is behaving and a more accurate indication of its deadliness. If things are still gloomy you could expect that some news might be expected.]]>    87727Fri, 28 Feb 2020 13:33:22 +0000