InterMat Staff

Recruiting junkies can attest to the fact that recruiting at service academies has taken off within the last five years or so. Army West Point has made the top-25 in each of the last three editions of InterMat’s recruiting rankings. Navy made the cut in 2021 and 2022. The Air Force Academy was deemed to be #23 in InterMat’s rankings this year after receiving an honorable mention in 2021. The early indications from the Class of 2024 are that all three will fight for a spot in the 2024 rankings; however, we’re focusing on Air Force today, as their 2024 class is shaping up to be excellent. As of mid-August, Sam Barber’s team has verbal commitments from nine wrestlers in the Class of 2024, three of which are rankings on MatScouts Senior Big Board. Last week, the Falcons received a verbal from #77 Layton Schneider (Edmond North, OK), who comes in as their second-highest-ranked recruit thus far. Recently, Schneider finished seventh in Junior freestyle in Fargo. It marked the second time that Schneider has placed in Junior freestyle (he was sixth in 2022). The other top-100 recruits that have verbally committed to Air Force are #73 Karson Tompkins (Midlothian, TX) and #97 Gunner Cramblett (St. Paris Graham, OH). Additionally, Talon McCollom (Edmond North, OK) is currently ranked 15th at 170 lbs. Tompkins placed in both styles in Fargo and McCollom did so at the U16 level in 2021. When evaluating recruiting classes, especially early in the game, something I like to look at is the number of recruits. Especially, when we’re checking in on schools that aren’t your traditional national title contenders (Penn State/Iowa/Ohio State etc.). In those instances, the number of recruits is almost more important and telling than getting verbals from highly ranked recruits. The reasoning behind this is that seeing the general interest in a program that hasn’t won NCAA titles is still a very encouraging sign. Obviously, multiple recruits having committed to a particular program shows there is some belief in the vision that its respective coaching staff is pitching. And that belief isn’t just limited to one wrestler. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if there are no recruits committing early, are recruits and their families not sold on the direction of a program? Bringing that explanation back to Air Force wrestling, the Falcons have plenty of interest from the Class of 2024 and that has manifested itself into nine early verbal commitments (as of now). We had the opportunity to speak with Air Force assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Chris Heilman, about their Class of 2024. Of course, Heilman can’t talk directly about the individual recruits, but he’s given us a general overview of this class of rising high school seniors. “Those that have committed to our program are ambitious guys. They want to do things that are uncommon for college-aged kids, and they want to make an impact after graduation. They aren’t afraid of hard work and understand that in order to become the best versions of themselves, they need a challenge. The Academy certainly provides that.” Air Force is coming off a year where they sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, a number they haven’t hit since 1991. The Falcons also posted an NCAA team finish (18th place tie) that was the best in program history; one that tied perennial power Oklahoma State. A huge chunk of Air Force’s 28.5 team points were via their big man, Wyatt Hendrickson, who finished third at 285 lbs. Hendrickson became Air Force’s first All-American since fellow-heavyweight Kevin Hoy made the 2003 national finals. Along the way, Hendrickson also picked up NCAA awards for most falls (16), the Most Dominant Wrestler (for the second straight year), and the Gorriaran Award (most falls in least time at NCAA’s). Hendrickson’s success and dominance have brought the Air Force program into the national spotlight. That exposure has had to help from a recruiting standpoint. When asked about the correlation between Hendrickson’s accolades and more interest on the recruiting trail, here’s what Heilman said: “Wyatt has certainly elevated the exposure of our program to the masses. He’s an All-American and he wrestles an offensive style. He loves to go for the pin. People love to see that and it makes the sport exciting! But more so, he’s a down-to-Earth humble guy. He’s a great leader for our program and does well in his academics. He has high goals for himself in wrestling and all other areas of his life. I think recruits see that in interviews and on visits….that you can be an All-American-type wrestler and do well in school and become an outstanding leader.” In time, we’ll see whether or not any wrestlers from the Class of 2024 can come close to Hendrickson’s achievements with Air Force. What we know now is that the Air Force coaching staff will have plenty of talented wrestlers to work within the coming years. It should be noted that Hendrickson’s final Big Board ranking from the Class of 2019 was #40, so it’s not too far off from some of the recruits in 2024. While he was talented and highly-regarded, Hendrickson still needed to develop once on campus. Here are the student-athletes from the Class of 2024 that have committed to Air Force and some of their accomplishments. #73 Karson Tompkins (Midlothian, TX) - 2x Texas 5A State Champ, 2023 Junior National Freestyle 4th, 2023 Junior National Greco-Roman 5th, 2023 UWW U17 Freestyle 3rd, 2022 16U National Greco-Roman 5th #77 Layton Schneider (Edmond North, OK) - 2023 Oklahoma 6A State Champ, 2023 Junior National Freestyle 7th, 2022 Junior National Freestyle 6th, 2021 16U National Greco-Roman 6th #97 Gunner Cramblett (St. Paris Graham, OH) - 2023 Ohio DII State Champ, 2022 Walsh Ironman 6th, 2022 NHSCA Sophomore National 4th Logan Fowler (Cleveland, TN) - 2x Tennessee AA State Champ, 2023 NHSCA Junior National Champ Lincoln Gregersen (Ralston Valley, CO) - 2022 Colorado 5A State Finalist Charlie LaRocca (Center Grove, IN) - 2023 Indiana State Champ Gianni Maldonado (Lake Gibson, FL) - 2023 Florida 2A State Champ, 2022 16U National Greco-Roman 4th Talon McCollom (Edmond North, OK) - 2023 Oklahoma 6A State Champ, 2022 NHSCA Sophomore National 5th, 2021 16U National Freestyle 5th, 2021 16U National Greco-Roman 5th Carter Nogle (Mt. St. Joseph, MD) - 2x National Prep All-American (5th, 2nd), 2023 Junior National Greco-Roman 4th, 2022 Junior National Greco-Roman 2nd, 2022 UWW U17 Greco-Roman 3rd, 2021 16U Greco-Roman 4th Jesse Vanorden (Wantagh, NY) - 2023 New York DI State 3rd

A former Cowboy is making his way back home to Stillwater, OK. Last Thursday’s news cycle had everyone stirring as we got word that Coleman Scott was stepping down as the head coach at the University of North Carolina. Now, on his wife Jessica’s birthday, Oklahoma State has officially announced that Scott is headed back to his old stomping grounds to take the Associate Head Coach position. “All the great memories that we had here for 10 years through college, then post-college then coaching – just everything. I love Stillwater, we love Stillwater. The people here are awesome. Our friends are unbelievable. And I think it was the people more than anything else,” Scott said about returning to his alma mater. “I don’t know if I ever thought it would happen. Just even driving around today with Jessica, it’s just very surreal that I was given the opportunity and blessed enough and very fortunate to be in consideration and given a call.” Scott’s return to Cowboy country reunites him with his old coach, John Smith, who was in his corner for not just his NCAA finals win, but his Olympic bronze medal win in London in 2012 as well. “Being able to pick his brain and learn more is a great opportunity. In my mind, he’s the greatest wrestler and greatest coach,” Scott said. “I grew here. This is where I grew up and it was because of him and the way he led and did everything for us as a team. So, for me, it's nostalgic coming back here to learn from the greatest wrestler and coach that there is in this country. I’m excited about that, and I just want to get started and get things rolling.” Scott, who claimed his NCAA title in his final season at 133 would be looking to now coach Daton Fix to a title in the same weight class, in his final season, if he was to return to the OK State lineup this year. But outside of four-time AA Fix, there is a lot of talent that they have who are now becoming vets along with a powerful recruiting class. “I think that the staff is unbelievable. It’s a time where the roster is very deep,” he said about the Cowboys’ current talent. “But it’s hour zero per se because I haven’t been in the practice room yet, so I don’t know what’s there across the board, but I believe that they have some very special guys and it’s an opportunity to come in and raise the level. Some of the most special moments that I’ve had in my career is when we won NCAA team titles and that’s the goal – win as a team. And when you wrestle for the team, and you are a team, and you do things together it takes care of your individual goals. I think they’ve got some pieces to the puzzle that we can do that.” In 2015, Scott became the head coach at the University of North Carolina after joining the staff the year prior as the assistant coach. To say that he made an incredible impact in Chapel Hill would be a grand understatement. “[North] Carolina is a special place. They welcomed us with open arms. The community and the people. We made some lifelong friends that we’ll have forever. Our kids were in essence raised there. In the wrestling sense, the number one goal was to leave this place better than when I started whether that was two years, nine years or 30 years and I feel that I did that,” Scott said about his time in Chapel Hill. While at the helm, he led UNC to some of its best finishes since the 90’s as he coached Kizhan Clarke and Austin O’Connor to the NCAA Championship finals with O’Connor finishing his career as a four-time All-American and two-time Champion. “It was never about me, it was never about anything other than bettering the program,” Scott said. [North] Carolina wins a lot across the board, and it was all about the program. What are we going to do to put this program on the map, break the top 10, chase team trophies – that was the goal. It was never ‘What can I do for this place?’ it was always about how can we elevate what we want to do.” But the decision to leave where he got his first big opportunity as a coach wasn’t easy, even if it was for a place that means so much to him, like Stillwater, OK. “It was definitely hard,” he admitted. “The relationships and the guys and the people made it extremely hard. And I believe life’s about relationships and that’s what made this decision so tough. But at the end of the day, It’s home. Like I said, Stillwater is a place that helped me grow and made me who I am. It’s where my family started. So again, I’m just very, very fortunate to have the opportunity to even get a call from John. Again, it’s surreal right now, but I just want to get to work and better this place.”

Chattanooga's 149 lber Noah Castillo sits down with Rachel Gallardo to discuss his upcoming competition representing Puerto Rico at the U23 World Championships. Castillo discusses how the opportunity came about and his training throughout the summer. He also discusses what to expect from the Mocs during the 2023-24 campaign, his weight situation, and much more: noah castillo interview.mp4

Twin Valley

Before Cael Crebs ever stepped onto the Naval Academy - and before he ever stepped onto a wrestling mat - he was born to wrestle. With a name like Cael, that’s pretty evident. It may be more evident when you realize he has an older brother named Gable. It’s no surprise the Crebs family is a wrestling family. Naming his sons after wrestling legends, Cael and Gable’s Dad, Roger Crebs is a man of the sport. But, Roger Crebs is more than just some fan - he’s very well-known in the sport of wrestling, himself. Roger Crebs is the Head Wrestling Coach of Lycoming College. Lycoming is a small Division III school in the town of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Mostly known for its annual Little League World Series, the town has developed a rich history of wrestling, due to Lycoming College and the success of the program. Coach Crebs took over in 1993 and has never looked back. Some of his accomplishments include a 442-149-2 dual record – which is 7th most all-time in D3 history and 20th all-time across all NWCA divisions. Another 15 wins this season will bring him into the top 15. He has multiple Hall of Fame inductions and has won a variety of “Coach of the Year” honors, sometimes winning the same award multiple times. He’s coached 10 national champions, and over 30 All-Americans during his reign. As a wrestler, he was a 3X league champion at Lycoming. His resume is impressive as a coach and athlete – his resume as a father is worth noting too. I first met Roger when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. My uncle wrestled for him at Lycoming. Every time I would go to a match, Roger would take the time to talk to me and my family - plus other families in attendance. He’s one of the best guys in the sport. Interestingly, while still coaching, he has been assisting the head table at D1 NCAAs every year. His roles include tracking challenges, team point deductions, and whatever else gets thrown his way. His passion for the sport is easily noticeable. Roger’s oldest son, Gable, is currently on the Lycoming roster. He earned All-American honors in 2022, placing seventh at 197lbs wrestling for his father. “Of all the years coaching Gable, this was my favorite. I will never forget that moment.” With eligibility remaining for Gable, it is very possible a new favorite moment prevails - potentially a higher finish at NCAAs. A national title would just be icing on the cake for the duo. Lycoming was the right fit for Gable - not so much for Cael. Cael stated, “My dad didn’t really want us to wrestle for him. He wanted us at a higher level.” He continued, “Growing up, he was never my coach. But he was in my corner when I needed him.” Roger was always in Cael’s corner, however, figuratively. He was there for both of his sons. The boys, although butting heads often, were always great workout partners and pushed each other to outdo one another. The work ethic and determination were instilled in them at a young age, thanks to their father’s guidance. “He was so good at being a dad first, and a coach second,” Cael told me his dad pushed him from a distance, knowing he had to be self-motivated to find success in the sport. Once Cael started having success around his sophomore season of high school - he realized his dad may have been providing great advice all along - who would have thought! Cael smirked “Growing up, I never wanted him to be right. I thought I knew it all.” I asked Cael if he recalls any specific examples. He mentioned that his dad was telling him certain things he needed to work on in specific situations. To no one’s surprise, this was the same advice he heard from other coaches. Roger also stated Cael needed to “get out of his head and just wrestle.” I asked Cael about a memory where his dad’s advice really helped him. He discussed how he lost in the semifinals of a high school tournament, then continued to lose the next match 6-1 as he was nursing an injury. “My high school coach was very consoling, maybe making excuses for me because I was not 100%. healthy” Then Cael’s dad came up to him, as a father, and said “You need to figure it out. You cannot let a previous match affect you. You should have easily beaten that kid.” Of course, this is very father-like. But no one knows Cael like his own dad. When the time came to face that same kid at the state tournament later in the same season, Cael tech-pinned him. The match was not even close. Chalk that up as a win for Dad! Cael continued, “It really started to click when he said that my training for wrestling carried over into everyday life – my school work, my job, everything. You need to approach it all the same” Once Cael connected all these dots, things started improving for him. He smiled, “Maybe I should have listened sooner.” Later on, he mentioned having a father who is also a coach is a “blessing and a curse – but it’s 100% a blessing before it’s a curse. People come up to me and say ‘Hey, you’re Roger’s son’ and I have no clue who they are.” In all honesty, I agree that it’s a hidden blessing people know Cael and Gable through their father. It never hurts to have an extra set of eyes on you. It gives you extra support without even knowing it. Obviously, Cael and Gable were always surrounded by wrestling. His dad’s coaching career allowed him access to the sport that not many kids get the opportunity to have growing up. But, with this positive – the negative side of this is Roger’s schedule made it difficult to see his sons compete all the time. Cael understood he had to do this for his job. “I looked at it as his job was to be a coach – just like my job was to go out and wrestle. I did not mind him missing some of my events, as we were both doing what we loved.” There were times Cael did not expect to see his father at the match - but Roger made it happen, sometimes by surprise. This was a very astute observation from Cael. So, I challenged him to see if he remembers when he grasped this concept of how much his dad’s job meant to Roger. Cael instantly remembered watching D3 nationals on the computer and seeing his dad coach his guys – “watching the emotion he showed when those guys finally reached their goals – whether it was a national title or All-American honors.” Cael would stay up late on school nights watching with his mom. He continued, “Seeing that emotion on his face was something I wanted to give him through my success.” I think this is a fresh perspective, as Cael fully understands the emotion and commitment his coaches at Navy have for him and his success because of this. “My favorite moment for Cael, as a father and coach, was when he won the state title his senior year” Coach explained. Although Roger was not in Cael’s literal corner, he was doing a lot of work behind the scenes all weekend scouting opponents, working on game plans, and whatever else he felt was needed to help Cael achieve this goal. He could have easily stepped onto the mat with Cael, but chose to hang back and help in other ways. It just goes to show, it’s not about him when it comes to his son’s success. This is a refreshing take. This was the one time where the stars aligned perfectly for them. During Cael’s senior season, Roger’s Division 3 National Tournament was moved to a different weekend due to COVID. This made it possible for Roger to attend Cael’s state tournament for the first time ever - as his national tournament always fell on the same weekend. Roger was able to be in attendance and watch his son win a state title. Cael understood his dad could not always be there, but “when he did show up – it meant a lot because he made time to do so. Looking back, it meant the world to me.” Talking with Roger, he agreed with Cael regarding the “father first, coach second” philosophy. “It was never intentional. It just happened like that. I wanted them to find the love for the sport by themselves” Coach Crebs stated. He explained to me there was a time when Gable was not into wrestling during his middle school years. Roger took him on to play a team manager role at Lycoming – since he was too young to stay home by himself after school. “This really opened up Gable’s eyes and he fell in love with the sport again because of it.” Being with the team every day and on road trips was good for Gable. Even to this day, Roger claims “I am Gable’s father when he’s not on the mat. I am only his coach when he’s competing.” I am in agreement that the father/coach role needs to have a clear split – once they overlap, things can get messy. Lycoming, like most wrestling schools, hosts a summer camp every year. Attending this camp as a young wrestler growing up myself, and eventually working it as a counselor, I have become very close with the Crebs family. I have literally known Cael since he was in diapers, running around wrestling camp like a kid who had too much sugar. He loved it. Some of his favorite memories of the camp include staying in the dorm rooms with friends. It was like a sleepover every night for a week straight. Like most kids, he loved the live wrestling aspect of it. One no-so-fond memory was when Quentin Wright was a guest clinician and used Cael as a dummy partner. He lateral-dropped Cael while showing a move and gave Cael a concussion, Cael was forced to leave camp and that was the last time he was ever used as a dummy partner. Wrestling was always first, baseball and football came second. Cael explained, “I started to focus solely on wrestling come high school because I was getting hurt in other sports. I realized I cared way more about wrestling than these other sports. If I was getting injured, it kept me from achieving the highest goals I set for myself.” It was the right choice for him. He ended his high school career as a PIAA AA 3rd place finisher and a state champion at Montoursville High School. He amassed a record of 137-18. While being recruited, he was pretty set on leaving the area, and always had an interest in Navy. Unfortunately, that interest was a one-way street at first. Once Kolat and his staff took over, Navy became interested as his success became more prevalent. Cael couldn’t have been happier – even though it was picking up steam in January of his senior year. What’s the saying – “better late than never”? Cael is a political science major. Although he does not have much of an idea of what he wants to do after graduation. As of now, he’s leaning towards a military career with an interest in flying planes for the Marine Corps. He was still up in the air on what his ultimate career would be, but he loves to keep his options open. He talked about how he spent a week on a submarine this summer while in Connecticut. Also during the summer, he was at a Marine-focused training in North Carolina. Next summer, he plans to do two more training exercises – one with the Marine Corps and one for aviation. The future is an exciting time for Cael and the Crebs family. Cael was somewhat hesitant to say he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a coach. Understandably, his post-graduation commitment to serve in the Navy takes precedence over anything else. “I’m not opposed to finding a coaching job while in the Navy to help give back to the wrestling community.” He was quick to volunteer his brother, Gable, to be a full-time coach, and even at Lycoming, potentially. Only time will tell if the Crebs legacy will take over the program and continue its success Roger has built for 30 years. It’s pretty common to see a wrestling coach’s son become a wrestler. Sometimes they wrestle for them – as Gable did at Lycoming with his dad. In the EIWA, we have a similar scenario where Cade Wirnsberger will be a freshman at Bucknell University, where his dad is the head coach. There is Caden Rogers at Lehigh, whose father is the head coach at Franklin & Marshall. There may be a time when they could be on opposite sides of the mat. There is always that curiosity as to whether the son chose to wrestle, or if the dad was a little pushy towards this sport over others. We all know the stories of the latter - and sometimes those stories do not turn out great. Thankfully, Roger did it right. He allowed his kids to choose the sport and grow to love it instead of despising it. Holidays always include conversations around wrestling, which has made their relationships stronger. To top it off, Cael said “I wouldn’t change a thing the way my dad raised us. It’s honestly been a blessing.”

Friday evening, two-time NCAA finalist Sammy Sasso of Ohio State University suffered a gunshot wound during an apparent robbery attempt Columbus’ WSYX reports. Sasso was airlifted from the scene and underwent surgery immediately and again on Saturday morning. He was reportedly shot in the stomach. The incident occurred at approximately 8:23 pm on Friday and, as of now, there are no suspects in custody. A witness on scene initially stated that the victim was an Ohio State wrestler from Pennsylvania and later it was determined to be Sasso. His condition was listed as serious.

The final day of women’s freestyle competition saw one of America’s brightest stars shine when Amit Elor was victorious at the 72 kg weight class. Elor captured her third U20 world championship in the past three years and was as dominant as ever in doing so. She was the lone American woman to capture gold at the 2023 tournament. A total of five women will leave Amman, Jordan with medals (1,1 silver, 3 bronze) which was good for third place, behind India and Japan. Elor’s gold medal match was the final bout of the women’s competition and she closed out the tournament in style. She needed only 1:46 to roll to a tech fall against Turkey’s Bukrenaz Sert. After earning three points with a takedown and step out, Elor was able to counter a Sert attack for a second takedown. She then moved into a leg lace and eventually turned Sert three times for the 11-0 win. With the win, Elor now has three U20 world championships and a stunning seven world titles across all age groups. Last year, she won gold at the U20, U23, and Senior levels. Elor will have the opportunity to replicate that feat again in 2023. She’ll shoot for the second leg of the trifecta next month in Belgrade, Serbia. This year’s title saw Elor navigate through the bracket without surrendering a single point. Elor outscored her competition by the score of 31-0 across four matches and that doesn’t include a quarterfinal fall. The only other US woman in action on Friday was Katie Gomez at 53 kg. Gomez attempted to win her second consecutive U20 world bronze medal; however, she was stopped by Azerbaijan’s Gultakin Shirinova. Gomez led early in the final period 4-2, but couldn’t hold off a Shirinova onslaught that saw her finish with seven consecutive points to win 9-4. Also on Friday, the men’s Greco-Roman competition got underway. Four of the five American wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals; however, they all suffered losses in that round. Three Greco team members, Haiden Drury (63 kg), Derek Matthews (77 kg), and Wyatt Voelker (87 kg), all have medal hopes and were pulled back into repechage after their respective losses. The other two members of the Greco squad that have been eliminated, Zach Silvis (55 kg) and Aden Attao (130 kg) both picked up at least one win. The final five Greco wrestlers will start their tournaments on Saturday. Final Results Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Gold Medal Match: Antim (India) over Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine) 4-0 Bronze Medal Match: Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan) over Katie Gomez (USA) 9-4 Bronze Medal Match: Xuejing Liang (China) over Polina Lukina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 7-4 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Alina Filipovych (Ukraine) over Ichika Arai (Japan) 5-3 Bronze Medal Match: Gerda Terek (Hungary) over Gabriela Cross (Canada) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match: Reena (India) over Shugyla Omirbek (Kazakhstan)) 9-4 62 kg Gold Medal Match: Savita (India) over Astrid Montero Chirinos (Venezuela) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Suzu Sasaki (Japan) over Iris Thiebaux (France) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico) over Iryna Bondar (Ukraine) 3-3 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Eniko Elekes (Hungary) over Antim (India) 9-2 Bronze Medal Match: Martia Pantiru (Romania) over Ekaterina Koshkina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) Fall 4:29 Bronze Medal Match: Khadija Jlassi (Tunisia) over Kseniya Tsiarenia (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) Fall 5:44 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match: Harshita (India) over Emilia Crciun (Moldova) Fall 3:34 Bronze Medal Match: Yuka Fujikura (Japan) over Patrycja Cuber (Poland) 10-1 US Results Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Bronze Medal Match: Gultakin Shirinova (Azerbaijan) over Katie Gomez (USA) 9-4 72 kg Gold Medal Match: Amit Elor (USA) over Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey) 11-0 Greco-Roman 55 kg Round of 16: Zach Silvis (USA) over Dzianis Vitaroi (Belarus) Fall 5:58 Quarterfinals: Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran) over Zach Silvis (USA) 11-0 63 kg Round of 16: Landon Drury (USA) over Suhib Alhasanat (Jordan) 9-0 Quarterfinals: Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan) over Landon Drury (USA) 8-5 77 kg Round of 16: Alexandru Solovei (Moldova) over Derek Matthews (USA) 8-1 87 kg Qualification: Wyatt Voelker (USA) over Yhias Abdurazakov (Turkmenistan) 10-0 Round of 16: Wyatt Voelker (USA) over Mohit Khokhar (India) 6-3 Quarterfinals: Abolfazi Choubani (Iran) over Wyatt Voelker (USA) 7-1 130 kg Qualification: Aden Attao (USA) over Ayumu Iwasawa (Japan) 3-1 Round of 16: Aden Attao (USA) over Koppany Laszlo (Hungary) 8-7 Quarterfinals: Achilleas Chrysidis (Greece) over Aden Attao (USA) 6-4

Central Arkansas Christian

Howdy all and welcome to the InterMat Jagger Mailbag, brought to you by Carl’s Jr. I deeply regret missing last week but sometimes real life gets in the way. But now I have returned and I’m ready to start cranking out mailbags once again. A few of you reached out to me personally and I do thank you for that. As the wrestling world is focused on the U20 World Championships, some news from the college scene dominated the day so let’s get right into it. Should it be Tony time? Rhino Let’s just get into it, since this is big news for any time of year and it happened to come out in August. Perhaps even play a bit of devil’s advocate along the way. First and foremost, yes. Tony Ramos, who has already been named the North Carolina coach in the interim, seems like the logical successor to Coleman Scott. Continuity is important for a rising program and judging by some of the replies I got today, the team seems more than willing to support their new coach. So what of the Coleman Scott and OSU situation? Certainly, the timing is odd as we are roughly six weeks away from the start of practice. But I guess when the opportunity for a job that hasn’t been available in over thirty years you can’t just say you’re busy right now. That’s thirty years of John Smith disciples who at one point or another were likely mentioned as a possible successor. To end up being the name who is chosen to succeed John Smith is quite the honor, so I can’t fault someone for jumping at the chance. And what about this whole “coach-in-waiting angle?” Is the school on board with this? Did they give John W. carte blanche to pick his guy as long as he can mentor him on the staff? Will they pull the rug out from under them when the time comes? And when is that time? Is this the last year of John Smith? Two more years? Three? I guess we just have to wait and see. If you could pick one famous non-wrestling venue to host a dual or tourney what would it be? Mat Jerms Media That’s a good one and I’ll have to think about it for a minute. By non-wrestling you basically mean any non-sports venue. I thought that one dual at Moss Arts Center with Virginia Tech was pretty cool. I almost feel like watching matches from that vantage point is even better than some seat in a gym. Definitely nothing outdoors. I loathe all the outdoor gimmicks. Maybe have one in the office of Old Dominion President Brian O. Hemphill. Lord knows no wrestling goes on in that venue. (This joke has been approved by Jason Bryant) When taking the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey, why do they make it so incredibly difficult for travelers wishing to reach South Manhattan? If you don’t make it into the right lane, you get stuck going uptown. What’s the move here? Kevin McGuigan The move is to screw up the first time and never make the same mistake again. I plan my spot about two miles before the tollbooth depending on what direction I’m going, then stay as far that way as possible to avoid getting sucked into the hellscape funnel entering the tunnel and coming out on the wrong end. If you’re headed uptown stay to the left and if you’re going downtown then stay all the way to the right. Did you see the Michael Lorenzen no-hitter? What did you think about Westin Wilson's first MLB swing a home run? Mickadelphia This is actually why I needed a mental health day. What’s the O/U for number of times the feed cuts out during Helen’s series tomorrow? Thicccholas Hope you took the over. I’m new to InterMat so excuse the question. Why is California not represented at the top of the NCAA D1 stand each year? Michael C. I’m just gonna go ahead and excuse the question.

Thursday at the 2023 U23 World Championships saw the first medals awarded in women’s freestyle. After two days of competition, the United States squad sits in second place, behind India, but ahead of traditional superpower Japan. All five of the team members that started their tournaments yesterday, came into the medal round still in contention. Four left today’s final session with a world medal. The first weight class, 50 kg, featured returning U20 World silver medalist Audrey Jimenez who was the lone finalist for the American team on Thursday. Jimenez ran into a buzzsaw in China’s Yanrong Li and had to settle for silver once again. Jimenez was the aggressor and got into deep on an early leg attack; however, Li was able to expose Jimenez for the first points of the bout. During that same sequence, Li locked up a cradle and turned Jimenez three different times before securing a fall. The next American to take the mat was Amani Jones at 55 kg. Her opponent, Albina Rillia (Ukraine), struck first, but Jones was able to battle back and won a bronze medal after a 5-5 win on criteria. Yesterday, we detailed the controversial final sequence in the 59 kg semifinals where Alexis Janiak fell to Aurora Russo (Italy). After the final whistle, the Italian corner challenged the final sequence and a caution and one was awarded to Russo, which gave her a 9-8 victory. Nothing was left to the officials today as Janiak tore through Elena Kurova (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) for an 11-0 first-period tech. Janiak will leave with a bronze medal in her first world-level event. Russo went on to win gold. 2021 U20 World Champion Kennedy Blades didn’t look like herself during yesterday’s semifinal loss to India’s Priya. Blades was reportedly dealing with an illness during the lead-up to the tournament. She was able to fight through it during her bronze medal bout with Mariia Silina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) and responded with a 6-2 victory. The lone member of the team that started on Wednesday and came away without a medal was Isabella Mir at 68 kg. Alina Shauchuk (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) used a dominant first period to coast to an 8-1 victory over the American. Shauchuk got the bronze. The remainder of the women’s team started their respective tournaments on Thursday. Only one woman advanced to Friday’s final and there’s no surprise who it was. Amit Elor put herself in a position to win a third consecutive U20 world championship with another awesome showing. Elor started with a 10-0 tech and a first-period fall, before teching Japan’s Yuka Fujikura in the semifinals. Elor has yet to surrender a single point in her quest for U20 title number three. Aside from Elor, the only other woman from day two to still be in the medal hunt is Katie Gomez at 53 kg. Gomez, a 2022 U20 World bronze medalist, will have the opportunity to compete for bronze this time around, too. She advanced to the semifinals where she met Ukraine’s Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine). Early in the bout, Yefremova caught Gomez in a cradle and ended the bout in only 1:11. Final Results 50 kg Gold Medal Match - Yanrong Li (China) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) Fall 2:29 Bronze Medal Match - Miruko Sakane (Japan) over Reka Hegedus (Slovakia) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match - Viktoriia Slobodeniuk (Ukraine) over Svenja Jungo (Switzerland) Fall 5:19 55 kg Gold Medal Match - Aryna Martynava (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Georgiana Lirca (Romania) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match - Amani Jones (USA) over Albina Rillia (Ukraine) 5-5 Bronze Medal Match - Moe Kiyooka (Japan) over Roza Szenttamasi (Hungary) 10-0 59 kg Gold Medal Match - Aurora Russo (Italy) over Alesia Hetmanava (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match - Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Sevin Akbas (Turkey) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match - Alexis Janiak (USA) over Elena Kurova (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 11-0 68 kg Gold Medal Match - Ray Hoshino (Japan) over Elizaveta Petliakova (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match - Arju (India) over Elif Kurt (Turkey) 8-1 Bronze Medal Match - Alina Shauchuk (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Isabella Mir (USA) 8-1 76 kg Gold Medal Match - Priya (India) over Laura Kuehn (Germany) 5-0 Bronze Medal Match - Kennedy Blades (USA) over Mariia Silina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 6-2 Bronze Medal Match - Veronika Niykos (Hungary) over Daniela Tkachuk (Poland) Fall 4:24 US Results 50 kg Gold Medal Match - Yanrong Li (China) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) Fall 2:29 53 kg Round of 16 - Katie Gomez (USA) over Carla Jaume Soler (Spain) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Katie Gomez (USA) over Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan) 10-0 Semifinals - Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine) over Katie Gomez (USA) Fall 1:11 55 kg Bronze Medal Match - Amani Jones (USA) over Albina Rillia (Ukraine) 5-5 57 kg Round of 16 - Volha Hardzei (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Cristelle Rodriguez (USA) 8-4 59 kg Bronze Medal Match - Alexis Janiak (USA) over Elena Kurova (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 11-0 62 kg Round of 16 - Adaugo Nwachukwu (USA) over Ana Cretu (Moldova) 12-2 Quarterfinals - Melanie Jimenez Villalba (Mexico) over Adaugo Nwachukwu (USA) 9-7 65 kg Round of 16 - Kseniya Tsiarenia (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Maddie Kubicki (USA) Fall 4:00 68 kg Bronze Medal Match - Alina Shauchuk (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Isabella Mir (USA) 8-1 72 kg Round of 16 - Amit Elor (USA) over Shamshiyabanu Tastanbek (Kazakhstan) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Amit Elor (USA) over Patrycja Cuber (Poland) Fall 1:40 Semifinals - Amit Elor (USA) over Yuka Fujikura (Japan) 10-0 76 kg Bronze Medal Match - Kennedy Blades (USA) over Mariia Silina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 6-2

Huge news today on the college coaching front. University of North Carolina head coach Coleman Scott has stepped down from his position. Scott informed the team of his decision last night during a team meeting. There are sure to be many dominos that fall based on Scott leaving Chapel Hill. For the time being, Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos has been named the interim head coach. The school will conduct a national coaching search, with Ramos being one of the key applicants. North Carolina is sure to be an attractive destination as the Tar Heels have finished in the top-20 at the NCAA Tournament every year it has been held since 2018. Each year during that time frame they have improved, as well. The 2023 tournament saw Scott’s team put three wrestlers on the podium (for a second straight year), led by Austin O’Connor, who became a two-time national champion, the first for North Carolina since TJ Jaworsky’s three in 1993-95. Scott himself was once an interim head coach for a couple of months in 2015 before being named the full-time head coach in August of that year. He joined the UNC staff in 2014 as an assistant coach. We’ll monitor this situation and how it impacts the rest of the coaching landscape as a vacancy at North Carolina is sure to interest many coaches around the country. There is also plenty of speculation, much of it warranted, about Scott’s next move.

In late June, news broke that James Green was returning to competition and leaving his post as USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Development Coach. Today, USA Wrestling announced that Oklahoma State assistant coach Zack Esposito will be Green’s successor. Esposito has spent the last seven years as Oklahoma State’s Associate Head Coach and he was on staff for a total of 14 years at his alma mater. During his time on the OSU staff, Esposito saw four wrestlers combine to win 10 national titles. As a team, Oklahoma State captured 11 Big 12 championships during that time period. As a competitor, Esposito was a three-time All-American and 2005 national champion. His title came on the storied 2005 squad that featured a total of five national champions and outdistanced second-place Michigan by 70 points. The Cowboys claimed national titles in each year that Esposito started. When his collegiate career concluded, in 2006, Esposito had amassed a 120-12 record and won three Big 12 championships. The National Freestyle Development Coach position had been an important one for USA Wrestling. In 2022, the U17, U20, and U23 World Teams combined to bring home 18 medals in men’s freestyle alone. This week, in Amman, Jordan, the U20 men’s freestyle team claimed eight medals, two of which were gold, and finished in second place to Iran. In the coming days, more news should come to the forefront regarding Esposito’s replacement on the Cowboy staff.

Morristown

Edmond North

Wednesday in Amman, Jordan saw the men’s freestyle portion of the 2023 U20 World Championships come to a close. The American team finished with a remarkable eight medals, yet still finished in second place to an Iranian team that crowned four champions amongst their eight medalists. The final session on Wednesday saw Mitchell Mesenbrink put the cherry on top of an already incredible tournament when he put together a tech fall victory in the world finals at 74 kg. Mesenbrink used relentless pressure and attacking to wear down 2022 U20 World bronze medalist Hossein Mohammad Aghaei (Iran), 16-5. Right off the opening whistle, Mesenbrink was in on Aghaei’s leg and wasn’t able to lock up a takedown, but did get credit for a step-out point. Mesenbrink blew the match wide open off of the ensuing restart when he used a body lock finish to a single leg for a takedown, then transitioned into a gut wrench for two turns. Aghaei ended the sequence with a reversal and a leg lace; however, the damage was done and Mesenbrink led 7-3. Undeterred by the scoring from the Iranian, Mesenbrink got back on the offensive and split the middle to finish another takedown and led 9-3. Late in the first period, Aghaei was able to withstand Mesenbrink’s heat and grabbed a takedown of his own, only to give up a step on point and trail 11-5 at the break. Despite holding a six-point lead, Mesenbrink continued to be the aggressor and managed to get a set of exposure points, while attempting to finish a high-c. The Iranian corner challenged the ruling, which was upheld, and pushed Mesenbrink’s lead to 14-5. Mesenbrink put the finishing touches on his gold medal performance by scoring a takedown off of a low single, to push the score into tech fall territory (16-5). With his gold medal and a silver in 2022, Mesenbrink becomes only the third US man in the last decade to make the U20/Junior finals twice. The other two were Spencer Lee and Mark Hall. Mesenbrink wasn’t the only medalist for the United States men’s freestyle team. Nic Bouzakis (61 kg) and Bennett Berge (86 kg) both locked up bronze medals with strong performances. Bouzakis was all over Besir Alili (North Macedonia) from the outset and prevailed 11-1 in a first-period tech. Wrestling directly after Mesenbrink’s lap with the American flag, Berge needed just over two minutes to tech Shakjir Bislimi (North Macedonia), 11-0. Berge is now a two-time U20 world medalist after taking silver at the 2022 tournament. In addition to the exploits from the men’s freestyle team, the women’s freestyle squad saw their tournament commence today, as well. Audrey Jimenez, a 2022 U20 World silver medalist, is back on the main stage after going 3-0 on the day. In the quarterfinals, Jimenez came back from a 2-0 deficit at the break to down Japan’s Miruko Sakane, 4-2. She was also down momentarily in the semi’s against Reka Hegedus (Slovakia), but was not flustered. Jimenez responded with a takedown of her own and managed to stay in bounds to rattle off five turns via leg lace to end the contest 12-2 in just over a minute. Jimenez will head to tomorrow’s 50 kg gold medal match against China’s Yanrong Li. The performance of the women’s 50 kg fireplug was a high note, while the ending of the 59 kg semifinal was definitely a downer from an American perspective. Alexis Janiak held a seemingly comfortable 8-4 lead with less than :30 seconds left in her bout against Aurora Russo (Italy). Janiak even had the edge on criteria due to a four-point throw early in the period. Russo grabbed a pair of takedowns, to pull even with Janiak, though the Italian still trailed on criteria 8-8 with a restart with :05 remaining in the bout. Like most international wrestlers in a similar situation, Janiak did not actively attack and was totally in a defensive mode fending off potential attacks from Russo. After the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Italian corner threw a seemingly hopeless challenge brick. That closing sequence was reviewed and the official gave a point for caution and one to Russo, which gave her the bout, 9-8. It was truly a puzzling ruling given Janiak had no passivity warnings and conducted herself as most wrestlers do in that situation. Frankly, the match had no business being decided on a caution challenge after the final whistle. Janiak will try and regroup and wrestle for the bronze tomorrow after a challenger is determined via repechage. The rest of the women who wrestled on Wednesday are all still in the tournament and in the hunt for a bronze medal. Amani Jones (55 kg) and Isabella Mir (68 kg), will go through repechage, while Janiak and Kennedy Blades (76 kg) drop from the semis to a bronze medal match. Blades was teched in the semifinals by two-time U17 world champion and 2022 U20 silver medalist Priya (India). While her opponent had impressive credentials, Blades did not appear to be herself and may have been dealing with a lingering injury or another ailment. In addition to these four women, the remainder of the women’s freestyle team will be in action on Thursday morning. Final Results Men’s Freestyle 61 kg Gold Medal Match: Kumar Mohit (India) over Eldar Akhmadudinov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 9-8 Bronze Medal Match: Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Besir Alili (North Macedonia) 11-1 Bronze Medal Match: Ali Khorramdel (Iran) over Tamazi Sulamanidze (Georgia) 10-0 74 kg Gold Medal Match - Mitch Mesenbrink (USA) over Hossein Mohammad Aghaei (Iran) 16-5 Bronze Medal Match - Giorgi Gogritchiani (Georgia) over Anton Suchkov (Russia) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match - Jaideep (India) over Zhakshylyk Baitashov (Kyrgyzstan) Fall 2:07 86 kg Gold Medal Match - Rakhim Magamadov (France) over Fumiya Igarashi (Japan) 6-4 Bronze Medal Match - Bennett Berge (USA) over Shakjir Bislimi (North Macedonia) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match - Eugeniu Mihalcean (Moldova) over Mushegh Mkrtchyan (Armenia) 3-0 92 kg Gold Medal Match - Mohammadmobin Azimi (Iran) over Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) 5-4 Bronze Medal Match - Giorgi Romelashvili (Georgia) over Nurbolot Adyl Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 8-1 Bronze Medal Match - Mustafagadzhi Malachdibirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Knyaz Iboyan (Armenia) 11-0 125 kg Gold Medal Match - Amirreza Masoumi Valadi (Iran) over Said Akhmatov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match - Hakan Buyukcingil (Turkey) over Volodymyr Kochanov (Ukraine) 11-1 Bronze Medal Match - Rajat Ruhal (India) over Karanveer Mahil (Canada) 9-8 USA Results Men’s Freestyle 61 kg Repechage - Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Dmitri Carastoianov (Moldova) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match - Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Besir Alili (North Macedonia) 11-1 74 kg Gold Medal Match - Mitch Mesenbrink (USA) over Hossein Mohammad Aghaei (Iran) 16-5 86 kg Bronze Medal Match - Bennett Berge (USA) over Shakjir Bislimi (North Macedonia) 125 kg Repechage - Hakan Buyukcingil (Turkey) over Christian Carroll (USA) 13-0 Women’s Freestyle 50 kg Round of 16 - Audrey Jimenez (USA) over Zerda Demir (Turkey) 16-6 Quarterfinals - Audrey Jimenez (USA) over Miruko Sakane (Japan) 4-2 Semifinals - Audrey Jimenez (USA) over Reka Hegedus (Slovakia) 12-2 55 kg Round of 16 - Amani Jones (USA) over Lina Nita (Moldova) 11-1 Quarterfinals - Aryna Martynava (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Amani Jones (USA) 10-0 59 kg Round of 16 - Alexis Janiak (USA) over Jovana Radivojevic (Serbia) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Alexis Janiak (USA) over Annatina Lippuner (Switzerland) Fall 1:56 Semifinals - Aurora Russo (Italy) over Alexis Janiak (USA) 9-8 68 kg Round of 16 - Isabella Mir (USA) over Manola Skobelska (Ukraine) 12-8 Quarterfinals - Ray Hoshino (Japan) over Isabella Mir (USA) 12-1 76 kg Round of 16 - Kennedy Blades (USA) over Mariia Zenkina (Ukraine) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Kennedy Blades (USA) over Ayano Moro (Japan) 4-3 Semifinals - Priya (India) over Kennedy Blades (USA) 10-0

Morgan Kopitsky sat down with McKendree's Alexio Garcia on the cusp of his second year as head coach of the Bearcats' women's program. Coach Garcia talks about his expectations for the coming season individually and as a team. Coach Garcia explains how his experience coaching at various levels helps him in his current role with McKendree. The two also discuss recruiting, key dates on the Bearcats' schedule, and plenty more. Get to know more about McKendree's women's wrestling program and Coach Garcia! Interview with Coach Alexio Garcia.mp4

On day two of the U20 World Championships, the United States men’s freestyle team built off of the momentum generated by a 17-0 start to the tournament and earned five medals. Each of the wrestlers that started their tournament on Monday will leave Amman, Jordan with hardware. In addition, the remainder of the team hit the mat today and another American punched their ticket to the world finals, clinching a sixth medal for 2023. However the rest of the tournament plays out, the men’s freestyle team has already exceeded their medal output from the 2022 tournament (4; 2 gold/2 silver). Leading the way for the US contingent on Tuesday was Meyer Shapiro at 70 kg. Shapiro, an incoming freshman at Cornell who was deemed the top recruit in the Class of 2023, showed any hype surrounding him was justified by winning a U20 world championship. Shapiro got in an early hole against Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh (Iran) trailing 4-0 :30 seconds into the bout; however, that didn’t seem to matter. Shapiro chipped away at the lead and trimmed the margin to 4-3 heading into the break. Just over ten seconds into the final period, Shapiro took the lead and never looked back. Over the final three minutes, Shapiro displayed a great combination of solid defense and opportunistic offense, as he extended the score to 11-6. The win gave Shapiro his second world championship as he was a U17 gold medalist in 2021. While largely dominant in 2023, Shapiro also had to come from behind in both the Round of 16 and the finals. He’s expected to be a key addition to the Cornell lineup for the 2023-24 season. Luke Lilledahl and Jesse Mendez were both finalists on Tuesday that had to settle for silver. Lilledahl was never able to generate any offense against Japan’s Yuto Nishiuchi during a 5-0 loss. Nishiuchi is now a two-time world champion, as he won the 61 kg weight class in 2022. Lilledahl’s silver medal gives him three, but this is his first at the U20 division. Mendez was on the wrong side of a tactical affair with Mohammad Shakeri (Iran) in the 65 kg world finals. The Iranian got on the board first with a step-out point just as Mendez’s shot clock expired for a 2-0 lead. The Buckeye All-American got his first point via a shot-clock violation on Shakeri; however, the Iranian made up for it by almost simultaneously generating a step out. With approximately :40 left on the clock, Mendez got in on his best takedown attempt, but he settled for a step-out point to pull within a pair, 4-2. Shakeri put the finishing touches on his victory by earning another step-out point after countering a Mendez low shot attempt. The two wrestlers that fell in yesterday’s semifinals, Matty Singleton (79 kg) and Camden McDanel (97 kg), both rebounded today with bronze medals. Singleton was seemingly cruising in the second period against Turkey’s Ahmet Yagan. Late in the period, the two went out of bounds and Yagan was awarded a step-out and caution which led to plenty of confusion regarding the score. After some consternation, Singleton was deemed the winner 8-7. The Turkish corner challenged, which was lost, resulting in a 9-7 final score. There was no controversy surrounding the score in McDanel’s bronze medal bout with 2022 U17 world champion Kamil Kurugliev (Kazakhstan). A takedown in the opening period gave McDanel a lead at the break. After Kurugliev countered early in the second period, McDanel bounced back and poured it on to win 8-2. In addition to the first five, the second five team members started their tournaments and 2022 U20 World silver medalist Mitchell Mesenbrink advanced to the finals in stunningly dominant fashion. Mesenbrink outscored his opponent by a 43-1 margin and never was pushed into the second period. In the semifinals, Mesenbrink needed only nine seconds to secure his first takedown. He never let Zhakshylyk Baitashov (Kyrgyzstan) regroup and continued to score, making the final margin 10-0 after only :57 seconds. In tomorrow's final, Mesenbrink will draw Hossein Mohammad Aghaei (Iran). The two are familiar having met in the 2022 quarterfinals, a bout won by Mesenbrink, 9-7. Three more Americans have the opportunity to claim a medal tomorrow during the repechage process. Nic Bouzakis (61 kg) and Christian Carroll (61 kg) will both have to win a pair of matches to get the bronze medal. Bennett Berge (86 kg) fell in the semifinals, so he’ll automatically be thrust into a bronze medal match against a currently undetermined opponent. In addition to the men’s freestyle competition wrapping up, the women’s freestyle team will start their tournament Wednesday morning. Final Results 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Yuto Nishiuchi (Japan) over Luke Lilledahl (USA) 5-0 Bronze Medal Match: Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan) over Sagar (India) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Edik Harutyunyan (Armenia) over Ruslan Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) 8-4 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Mohammad Shakeri (Iran) over Jesse Mendez (USA) 5-2 Bronze Medal Match: Abdullah Toprak (Turkey) over Aden Sakybaev (Kyrgyzstan) 5-3 Bronze Medal Match: Dalgat Abdulkadryov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Kaiji Ogino (Japan) 9-2 70 kg Gold Medal Match: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh (Iran) 11-6 Bronze Medal Match: Magomed Baitukaev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Julian George (Puerto Rico) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match: Ibrahim Yaprak (Turkey) over Omurbek Taalaibek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 3-2 79 kg Gold Medal Match: Ibragim Kadiev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Sagar Jaglan (India) 17-6 Bronze Medal Match: Ali Tcokaev (Azerbaijan) over Farzad Safijahanshahi (Iran) 11-1 Bronze Medal Match: Matty Singleton (USA) over Ahmet Yagan (Turkey) 9-7 97 kg Gold Medal Match: Abolfazl Babaloo (Iran) over Ivan Prymachenko (Ukraine) 5-0 Bronze Medal Match: Camden McDanel (USA) over Kamil Kurugliev (Kazakhstan) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Deepak Chahal (India) over Uladzislau Kazlou (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 9-8 USA Results 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Yuto Nishiuchi (Japan) over Luke Lilledahl (USA) 5-0 61 kg Qualification: Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Shehabeldin Mohamed (Egypt) 4-2 Round of 16: Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Yahor Rudauski (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 9-6 Quarterfinals: Kumar Mohit (India) over Nic Bouzakis (USA) 12-11 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Mohammad Shakeri (Iran) over Jesse Mendez (USA) 5-2 70 kg Gold Medal Match: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh (Iran) 11-6 74 kg Qualification: Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) over Ion Marcu (Moldova) 10-0 Round of 16: Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) over Elkhan Garayev (Azerbaijan) 12-1 Quarterfinals: Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) over Jaideep (India) 11-0 Semifinals: Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) over Zhakshylyk Baitashov (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0 79 kg Bronze Medal Match: Matty Singleton (USA) over Ahmet Yagan (Turkey) 9-7 86 kg Round of 16: Bennett Berge (USA) over Ivan Chornohuz (Ukraine) 9-5 Quarterfinals: Bennett Berge (USA) over Slavi Stamenov (Bulgaria) 11-0 Semifinals: Rakhim Magamadov (France) over Bennett Berge (USA) 9-2 92 kg Round of 16: Giorgi Romelashvili (Georgia) over Jack Darrah 4-3 97 kg Bronze Medal Match: Camden McDanel (USA) over Kamil Kurugliev (Kazakhstan) 8-2 125 kg Round of 16: Christian Carroll (USA) over Ksawery Kaminski (Poland) 14-2 Quarterfinals: Amirreza Masoumi Valadi (Iran) over Christian Carroll (USA) 10-0

We are just about at the turning point where last season’s results and memories start to fade into the WrestleStat archives and the general wrestling community ramps up the interest and speculation of the upcoming season. And when it comes to Fantasy College Wrestling, drafters need to start thinking about who they want to pick in their 2024 draft. One way to do this is to look at the results of the 2023 season. The 2023 FCW Top-20 at each weight can give you a good idea of who the top Fantasy wrestlers in the country are. Seeing who returns, who leaves, who outplaced who, what teams made these lists more than others… all important information and data to digest. Of course, things can change quickly in college wrestling. Wrestlers can transfer, injuries can happen, and new stars can emerge. But the 2023 FCW Top-20 is a good starting point for your fantasy draft preparation, as you will see some (many, actually) repeat names from the 2022 Top-20 articles and even 2021 Top-20 articles. Take for instance: Pat Glory (PRIN), Yianni Diakomihalis (COR), Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ), and Carter Starocci (PSU). That championship group scored 223 Fpts in the 2023 season. How about these names though: Caleb Smith (APP), McKenzie Bell (RID), Evan Barczak (DREX), and Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU). That group scored 313 Fpts, and none were All-Americans. As you look at the list, keep in mind that not all of the top performers are household names. Some of the wrestlers who scored the most points in 2023 were not All-Americans. This is just one of the things that makes fantasy sports so exciting and unpredictable. So start your draft preparation today by taking a look at the 2023 FCW Top-20. You might just find some hidden gems that can help you win your league in 2024. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat leagues: 1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season Notes: Starting with his redshirt year in 2018 through 2021, Will Feldkamp had a record of 21-16 against D1 competition. Then, in 2022 at 197, he finished #10 with a 17-3 regular season record. In 2023, he is your Top Fantasy Wrestler at 184 thanks to 10 pins and one tech. What's more impressive, he had three losses against D1 competition and two of them were by bonus (one loss by pin and one by major). Trey Munoz tied for first place last season and followed it up with another stellar Fantasy showing in 2023. The same goes for Parker Keckeisen (who was also 3rd in 2022) and Trent Hidlay (who also was 4th in 2022). Both Keckeisen and Hidlay finished with just about the same number of Fpts in 2022 as well (74 and 69, respectively). Now that’s consistency. Tying for first at 184 in 2022 was Hunter Bolen, who finds himself at #13 in this Top-20. A combination of factors are to blame: In 2023 he had two fewer matches wrestled, four fewer matches won by pin, and a loss by pin. That’s potentially at least 21 Fpts, which would have slotted him at #4 in this Top-20. Graduate Transfer Neil Antrassian made his way down to UVA and with the help of his best statistical season of his career to take the #8 spot, and was sandwiched between two non-starters. Dennis Robin used the most out of his 32 D1 matches to edge Antrassian by two points, despite NINE losses which accounted for -30 Fpts. Had he won two of those matches, he would have been 3rd and tied Trey Munoz with 74 Fpts. One of those losses was to the other non-starter in the Top-10, Sam Fisher. Fisher participated in five tournaments and even started three duals, which was just enough to place higher than Marcus Coleman and Matt Finesilver. True Freshman Brian Soldano went (Taylor) Ham to start the season, going 15-3 (one win and one loss to non-D1 competitors). In that first half, he had six pins and one tech, but the reason he didn't finish better than 12th was due to the unforgiving dual season that is the Big Ten. He went 5-4 with two majors and a pin, but he also had losses by pin, maj, and tech for a net +2. Hard to jump up the ranks when you tread water. Lenny Pinto made his collegiate debut (after not wrestling in his Redshirt Freshman season), and a bonus-laden season it was, with a full season bonus rate of 55%... but also had his shares of losses by bonus too. With three losses by pin and one by major, which he was able to mitigate at the end of the regular season with two pins and an FFT win. Making his first-ever Fantasy Top-20, Abe Assad could have jumped to #13 if he hadn't lost by pin to Tyler Dow. A loss by Decision (or a win by Decision) would have vaulted him to #13 over Hunter Bolen. Who Missed The Cut: As I alluded to a few articles ago, there was one National Champ that didn't make a Top-20 at their weight. Well, the champ is here. Aaron Brooks (PSU) comes in at #25 with 39 Fpts in 10 matches wrestled in the regular season. In fact, out of any starter or the highest fantasy-ranked Penn State wrestler at each weight, he had the lowest match total. His loss to Marcus Coleman (#10 on the Top-20 at 184), did not change his fate as he would have only had 45 Fpts with a win by Decision. Redshirt Freshman Clayton Whiting (MIZZ) finished two points shy of making the Top-20 with Binghamton’s Jacob Nolan one point behind him. In his last year of eligibility, Brian Bonino (DREX) traveled south on I-95 to the City of Brotherly Love changing from a Lion to a Dragon. Before the 2023 season, he had not qualified for Nationals, and since being a starter was 22-27 against D1 competition (including postseason). 2023 was different though, as he went 24-10 and qualified for his first NCAA Tournament. Despite this jump, he wasn't able to crack the Top-20, and finished at #29 with 38 Fpts. Travis Wittlake (OKST) took a joint up a couple weights, and really the only thing that was out of the ordinary was his bonus rate. His regular season bonus rate was his lowest in his career (20%) while his full season bonus down to 14.8%, also a personal low. The main reason why he finished #24 with 40 Fpts. Other notables to miss the cut include Tate Samuelson (LEH) at #28 with 38 Fpts, Caleb Hopkins (CAMP) at #31 with 34 Fpts, John Poznanski (RUT) at #48 with 19 Fpts, and Jonathan Loew (COR) at #69 with 7 Fpts due in large part to his early season injury. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats. Previous 2023 Top-20 Articles: Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 125 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 133 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 141 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 149 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 157 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 165 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 174

Do you remember the summer after your freshman year of college? Maybe you traveled, maybe you worked, maybe you had an internship. Davidson’s Tanner Peake (157) has had a pretty unforgettable summer. After making Puerto Rico’s U20 national team at 74 kg in April, Peake hit the ground running, making preparations to compete at the Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile in July. The last time we spoke with Peake, he was wrapping up the Spring semester and getting training plans together with Head Coach Nate Carr Jr and Assistant Coach Ty Eustice, training through the newly-formed Charlotte RTC. As the semester came to a close, Tanner headed home to New Jersey to train at Rider and the NJRTC, to work with some of the same guys he grew up with. While technique is an important aspect of wrestling, staying on track with strength and conditioning goals continues to elevate the craft. Pete Shebey, a coach of Peake’s since his sophomore/junior year of high school, has worked with Tanner this summer. Morning lifts came early at around five or six in the morning, consisting of strength training with movements and techniques focused on the development of more explosiveness and improved foot movement and speed. RTC practices varied - some days Peake would head to the NJRTC for 10:00am practices led by Reece Humphrey, while other days he would go to Rider’s 11:00am practices. Peake was able to train in a variety of environments this summer, ranging from more instruction and technique at the NJRTC, while Rider’s practices were mostly self-motivated. At the end of the day, Tanner made sure to top it off with some cardio - usually sprints. Practicing in different rooms throughout the week was another way for Tanner to get to hang out with his best friend Mikey Wilson, who wrestles for Rider (174). When reflecting on the similarities in team culture and coaching styles, Peake says that “Coach Carr is very energetic, similar to Reece - he just has a lot of energy and you can tell they both love being in the room and coaching.” Preparations continued with the NCJ Camps hosted at Davidson - which included a week of training with the coaches and the team during these youth camps. The journey to the Pan-American Championships in Chile began with Coach Carr traveling to New Jersey for Peake’s final practices before heading south, real south. We’ve been experiencing quite the heat wave here in the States, and if you remember from science class the southern and northern hemispheres of Earth experience the opposite climates. That’s right - it’s wintertime in Chile. This was Peake’s first time traveling internationally - since Puerto Rico is a U.S. Commonwealth, it is considered domestic travel from the continental United States. (Y’all didn’t think you’d get science, travel, and history lessons did you?) After a 10.5-hour red-eye flight, Peake was finally in Chile. A few days later, Assistant Coach Ty Eustice arrived. Team Puerto Rico consisted of guys from all over, mostly with Puerto Rican roots. Some were from Pennsylvania, South Dakota, or even New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico, while others may have moved away from the island but returned to wrestle. Tanner experienced wrestling at the Chilean Olympic Training Center - being around other world team members. “There’s a lot of pride that comes with this, I’m so grateful for the opportunity. And it’s so cool to look down and be able to see the Puerto Rican flag on my singlet, knowing I’m representing this group and doing well for them, so I was happy to be able to go and bring back a medal. I’m so grateful I was able to get this opportunity to compete and do what I love.” Peake finished out in Santiago with a 2-1 record, defeating Peru 10-0 in the quarterfinal, then was defeated by USA’s Mitchell Mesenbrink 12-0, finally bouncing back to bronze with a 10-0 win over Colombia. When dealing with the nerves, Tanner’s mentality is “It’s just another wrestling match, I try to keep my cool.” “Not a lot of people can say they got to this point or even be a Pan-American medalist.” When Tanner reflected on his experience, his gratitude toward his family, his coaches, and Davidson was what shined the most. The takeaways for Peake from Pan-Ams have him ready to go for the next round of competition. He was able to see how different countries wrestle and become familiar with their different styles, while also leaning into owning his own style. So, what’s next for Tanner Peake? He’s headed to the U20 World Championships set to be hosted in Jordan on August 14. Coach Carr will travel as his coach, and his support system - his parents Nydia and Chris, who wrestled for Rutgers. Peake even announced a partnership with Chain Wrestling - where you can order your exclusive Peake gear. Oh yeah, and Tanner plans on staying at 157 for the SoCon regular season this year - “I’m most looking forward to going back into the conference tournament at the end of the season, I’m excited to see the team grow - with these freshmen coming in who are hard workers and the current guys who put in such hard work…I think we’re going to shock some people in the SoCon and in the NCAA this year. I’m super excited.”

The U20 World Championships got started off in a major way for the United States on Monday morning from Amman, Jordan. Men’s freestyle led off and set a pace that will be hard to match. As the first five weights were conducted, the United States won its first 17 matches of the day. That streak included three semifinal victories by Luke Lilledahl (57 kg), Jesse Mendez (65 kg), and Meyer Shapiro (70 kg). Each will wrestle for gold medals tomorrow afternoon. The other two wrestlers that hit the mat on Monday, Matthew Singleton (79 kg) and Camden McDanel (97 kg) both advanced to the semifinals but lost and will have to win a match tomorrow to claim a bronze medal. The lightest member of the team, Lilledahl, has plenty of international experience despite heading into his senior year of high school. Lilledahl is a two-time U17 world finalist and already owns a gold and silver medal. Lilledahl showed maturity way beyond his years during his semifinal clash with Ruslan Abdullayev of Azerbaijan. The pair exchanged step-out points in the first period before Lilledahl put together a sweet sweep single to get the match's first takedown. Abdullayev struck in the second period on a reshot that found him immediately in position for a pair of leg laces. In an instant, he was leading 7-3. Undeterred, Lilledahl notched a second takedown off a single leg to pull the margin to 7-5. He appeared close to taking the lead after another shot; however, with Lilledahl behind him, Abdullayev used a Peterson-like finish to get exposure and lead, 9-5. Lilledahl continued to attack and with under :15 seconds remaining in the bout, he was on the verge of another takedown. Abdullayev stuck out his right arm to block a Lilledahl spin attempt. Rather than spin. Lilledahl hopped over the block attempt and torqued Abdullayev’s shoulder in a manner that forced him onto his back. With six seconds remaining in the contest, the official signaled for a fall, which was quickly confirmed. While behind on the scoreboard and racing against time, Lilledahl forced a fall and advanced to his third age-group world championship bout. In tomorrow’s gold medal match, he’ll face Japan’s Yuto Nishiuchi, a U20 world champion at 61 kg last year. He also defeated Northern Colorado star Stevo Poulin for a U17 world bronze medal in 2019. Before you could catch your breath after Lilledah’s stunning victory, Ohio State All-American Jesse Mendez took the mat in the 65 kg semifinals against Turkey’s Abdullah Toprak. The bout didn’t have the fireworks of its predecessor, it was more of a tactical affair. A shot clock violation on Mendez resulted in a point for Toprak, which was the only score from the opening stanza. In the second period, the two wrestlers both exchanged a series of re-shots, which led to a Mendez single leg, then a takedown at the edge. Later in the period, the official put Toprak on the shot clock. When he didn’t score, another point was awarded to Mendez to make the bout 3-1. He’d fend off any further attacks from Toprak and go on to win by that score. Mendez is now in the world finals and has locked up his first world medal. The third time was the charm for the Buckeye, who had previously wrestled at the U17 and U20 World Championships and didn’t return with any hardware. He’ll face Mohammad Shakeri of Iran. Last year, at the U20 World Championships, Shakeri fell to Cornell’s Vince Cornella, 6-5 in the quarterfinals. The third finalist of the day for the United States was the most dominant in Meyer Shapiro at 70 kg. The Cornell signee only surrendered points during his Round of 16 win over Mirjavad Nabiyev of Azerbaijan. In his next match, Shapiro blanked 2021 U21 world champion, Magomed Baitukaev, (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete), 8-0 in the quarterfinals. He’d punch a ticket to the finals by teching future Wisconsin Badger Julian George (Puerto Rico), 11-0 in less than a period. In tomorrow’s gold medal match, Shapiro will square off with Iran’s Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh (Iran). The two were in the same U17 weight class in 2021, but did not meet. There Shapiro grabbed a gold medal, while the Iranian was a bronze medalist on the opposite half of the bracket. Both Singleton and McDanel will need to wait and see who emerges from repechage as an opponent in their respective bronze medal matches. The remainder of the men’s freestyle team will start their tournaments on Tuesday morning, highlighted by 2022 world silver medalists Mitchell Mesenbrink and Bennett Berge. US Results 57 kg Qualification: Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Lev Pavlov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 9-2 Round of 16: Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Tolga Ozbek (Turkey) 6-1 Quarterfinal: Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Edik Harutyunyan (Armenia) 8-3 Semifinal: Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Ruslan Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) Fall 5:54 65 kg Qualification: Jesse Mendez (USA) over Mykyta Zubal (Ukraine) 2-1 Round of 16: Jesse Mendez (USA) over Aden Sakybaev (Kyrgyzstan) 7-2 Quarterfinals: Jesse Mendez (USA) over Ion Berghi (Moldova) 13-4 Semifinal: Jesse Mendez (USA) over Abdullah Toprak (Turkey) 3-1 70 kg Qualification: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Yuma Tomiyama (Japan) 11-0 Round of 16: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Mirjavad Nabiyev (Azerbaijan) 6-4 Quarterfinals: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Magomed Baitukaev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 8-0 Semifinals: Meyer Shapiro (USA) over Julian George (Puerto Rico) 11-0 79 kg Qualification: Matthew Singleton (USA) over Denizbek Ulan Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 12-2 Round of 16: Matthew Singleton (USA) over Nandor Hajduch (Hungary) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Matthew Singleton (USA) over Narek Grigoryan (Armenia) 10-6 Semifinals: Sagar Jaglan (India) over Matthew Singleton (USA) 16-6 97 kg Round of 16: Camden McDanel (USA) over Toyoki Hamada (Japan) 12-1 Quarterfinals: Camden McDanel (USA) over Taron Shahinyan (Poland) 12-2 Semifinals: Abolfazi Babaloo (Iran) over Camden McDanel (USA) 5-1

Palm Desert

The U20 World Championships kicked off this morning and the US men’s freestyle team is officially on fire. All five of the wrestlers that started their tournament’s this morning advanced to the semifinals round at 11 am EST. That means each will at least wrestle for bronze and a win guarantees a medal. As we’re preparing to root on these five, here’s some information about their opponents in the semifinal round. 57 kg - Luke Lilledahl (USA) vs. Ruslan Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) There’s not much to go on in terms of past history for Abdullayev. He was the European U20 champion this year, which means he’s extremely tough. In the quarterfinals, Abdullayev defeated Iran’s Ahmad Mohammad Nezhad Javan, a U20 world bronze medalist in 2022. Abdullayev’s path to the semis: David Kiefer (Germany) - 10-0 Ahmad Mohammad Nezhad Javan (Iran) - Fall 4:19 65 kg - Jesse Mendez (USA) vs. Abdullah Toprak (Turkey) If the UWW profile is correct, Toprak has made world team’s in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Toprak was a U17 world bronze medalist in Greco at 50 kg back in 2016. He’s made U17 and U20 world team’s in freestyle, but never wrestled for a medal. His best freestyle credential is a bronze medal at European U17 in 2021. Toprak’s path to the semis: Said Elgahsh (Egypt) - 10-0 Sanzhar Mukhtar (Kazakhstan) - Fall 5:55 70 kg - Meyer Shapiro (USA) vs. Julian George (Puerto Rico) Meyer Shapiro will square off with a familiar face for US fans. Julian George is a three-time New Jersey state placewinner who was third in 2023 and a finalist in 2022. George was a senior in 2023 and has signed with the University of Wisconsin. Last month, George took the silver medal at the Pan-American Championships, losing to Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor in the finals. George’s path to the semis: Zafarbek Otakhonov (Uzbekistan) - 11-5 Burak Salviz (Germany) - 6-3 79 kg - Matty Singleton (USA) vs. Sagar Jaglan (India) Not only has Jaglan had success on the U20 level and below, but he’s also already made an impact on the Senior level. At the 2022 World Championships, Jaglan was in the bronze medal bout opposite Yones Emamichoghaei (Iran). Earlier in that tournament, he teched former Duke All-American Mitch Finesilver (Duke). Also in 2022, Jaglan captured a bronze medal at this very tournament. In his only international competition of 2023, Jaglan claimed gold at the Asian U23 Championships. Jaglan’s path to the semis: Radomir Stoyanov (Bulgaria) - 15-4 Abdallah Makoon (Jordan) - 10-0 Ahmet Yagan (Turkey) - 11-1 97 kg - Camden McDanel (USA) vs. Abolfazl Babaloo (Iran) There isn’t much to go off of with Iran’s Abolfazl Babaloo. His only result in the UWW database is a bronze medal finish at the Yasar Dogu in June. That event is geared towards Senior level competition, so Babaloo is quite good. Iran generally has contenders at every weight, so he’ll be ready to go. Most telling is that Babaloo notched a 6-1 win over 2022 U17 world champion Kamil Kurugliev (Kazakhstan) in the quarterfinals. At the 2022 World Championships, Kurugliev teched American Max McEnelly. Babaloo’s path to the semis: Tuxige (China) - 10-0 Kamil Kurugliev (Kazakhstan) - 6-1

Tomorrow, the 2023 U20 World Championships will get underway from Amman, Jordan. The United States will send an incredibly tough contingent with lots of previous international experience across all three styles. Altogether, 12 of the 30 wrestlers donning red, white, and blue singlets have won at least one age group world medal during their young careers. That number should increase a week from now. Before we get to the action, here are the US rosters for each of the three squads: Men’s Freestyle 57 kg - Luke Lilledahl: 2022 U17 World Champion, 2021 U17 World silver medalist 61 kg - Nic Bouzakis: 2022 U20 World Team member, 2021 World Team member (Greco-Roman) 65 kg - Jesse Mendez: 2021 U20 World Team member, 2019 U17 World Team member 70 kg - Meyer Shapiro: 2021 U17 World Champion 74 kg - Mitchell Mesenbrink: 2022 U20 World silver medalist 79 kg - Matthew Singleton: 2021 U20 World Team member (Greco-Roman) 86 kg - Bennett Berge: 2022 World silver medalist 92 kg - Jack Darrah 97 kg - Camden McDanel 125 kg - Christian Carroll: 2022 World Team member (Greco-Roman) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg - Audrey Jimenez: 2022 U20 World silver medalist, 2022 U17 World Team member 53 kg - Katie Gomez: 2022 U20 World bronze medalist, 2021 U17 World Champion 55 kg - Amani Jones 57 kg - Cristelle Rodriguez: 2019 U17 World silver medalist 59 kg - Alexis Janiak 62 kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu: 2022 U20 World bronze medalist 65 kg - Maddie Kubicki 68 kg - Isabella Mir 72 kg - Amit Elor: 2022 Senior World Champion, 2x U20 World Champion, 2021 U17 World Champion, 2019 U17 World bronze medalist 76 kg - Kennedy Blades: 2021 U20 World Champion, 2019 U17 World Team member Greco-Roman 55 kg: Zach Silvis 60 kg: Max Black: 2022 U20 World Team member 63 kg: Landon Drury 67 kg: Joel Adams: 2022 U17 World Champion 72 kg: Braden Stauffenberg: 2021 U17 World Team member 77 kg: Derek Matthews 82 kg: Michael Altomer 87 kg: Wyatt Voelker 97 kg: Sawyer Bartelt 130 kg: Aden Attao: 2022 U20 World bronze medalist

The final member of the 2023 Senior World Team was minted today as Helen Maroulis downed Xochitl Mota-Pettis in two straight matches on the campus of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The series was delayed from the rest of the Final X card as Maroulis was granted a later wrestle-off after an injury. The two 57 kg competitors had never met before and both appeared to be a bit tentative as they felt each other out for much of the first period. Maroulis grabbed the lead after a half-shot from Mota-Bettis. After stuffing Mota-Pettis, Maroulis moved into a cow-catcher and was able to break the ice with two exposure points. Since the two had not previously met, Mota-Pettis had not experienced Maroulis’ legendary footsweep firsthand. That changed in the second period as Maroulis used the signature technique to add to her lead with a takedown. Maroulis would extend it to 6-0 with exposure from a gut wrench. After a standup from the official, Maroulis used another one of her tried-and-true techniques. She caught Mota-Pettis off balance and hit an ankle-pick straight to Mota-Pettis’ back for four points, which brought the final score to 10-0. Bout two started with fireworks almost immediately. With Mota-Pettis pushing forward, Maroulis was able to counter and reach for a leg while going out of bounds. That maneuver put Mota-Pettis on her back for four points. Undeterred, Mota-Pettis stayed on the offensive and got in on a single leg, and finally finished for a takedown after a lengthy fight from Maroulis. Maroulis immediately responded and earned a fall to lock up the match and the series. With the win, Maroulis has now made 11 world teams and 13 World/Olympic squads. Her addition to the 2023 Senior World team gives the US seven past Senior medalists at ten weights.

Yesterday, Cornell released their 2023-24 schedule and it is quite impressive, to say the least. It features non-conference duals against four teams that finished in the top-ten at the 2023 NCAA Championships. That doesn’t even factor in some key EIWA/Ivy League rivals, the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, and a Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational that features six other squads that finished in the top-ten in Tulsa. Cornell was a trophy-winning team in 2022-23; finishing third at the national tournament with a pair of national champions and two other All-Americans. Though instant college legend Yianni Diakomihalis is gone, Cornell is not expected to drop off much with one of the pound-for-pound best wrestlers in the sport (Vito Arujau) combined with three others that have earned All-American honors and a #4 overall recruiting class. Based on the schedule that head coach Mike Grey has assembled, this talented squad will be repeatedly tested before the EIWA and NCAA Championships in Kansas City. Before getting into the actual schedule and some key matches to watch; here is some information to illustrate just how tough their 2023-24 slate is. Duals against teams that finished top-20 in Tulsa: #4 Ohio State, #5 Missouri, #9 Virginia Tech, #10 NC State, #13 Princeton, and #20 Lehigh. Two ACC teams: NC State, Virginia Tech One Big Ten team: Ohio State One Big 12 team: Missouri One SoCon team: Appalachian State Duals against three conference championship teams: Appalachian State, Missouri, NC State Home Slate: Binghamton, Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Missouri, Sacred Heart, Virginia Tech Away Slate: Appalachian State, Lehigh, NC State, Ohio State, Penn, Princeton Plus, however, the Collegiate Duals brackets shake out. The winning percentage of Cornell’s non-conference opponents for 2023-24 is a staggering 82.6% (57-12). November 12th - Journeymen Collegiate Classic @ Bethlehem, PA The Journeymen Collegiate Classic is typically an individual pool-style event. It’s hard to target any specific matchups as some teams are more likely to send all of their starters than others. The top pool featured eventual All-Americans at three of the ten weights and that doesn’t include weights won by Richard Figueroa (Arizona State), Silas Allred (Nebraska), and Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard). Teams with a deep roster like Cornell have the opportunity to get competitive matches for their stars and third-stringers alike at the Journeymen. November 18th - Sacred Heart Props to Sacred Heart head coach John Clark for setting up this dual with a loaded team like Cornell. He’s proven in the past that Sacred Heart won’t back down from anyone. This will be the first opportunity for Big Red fans to catch the 2023-24 squad at home. They might get a chance to see some of the lesser-known wrestlers from Cornell shine. November 26th - Mat Town Open @ Lock Haven Once again, it’s difficult to figure out which wrestlers will be in attendance for an open tournament in November, much less in early-August. The Mat Town Open typically has good-sized brackets and maybe some high-caliber freshmen slated for redshirts. December 1st/2nd - Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Cornell has been a mainstay at the CKLV, so it's no surprise they are back in Vegas. 2023 saw the CKLV re-establish itself as the toughest regular season tournament in the nation. Like any other regular season tournament these days, I wouldn’t expect every star from every team to take the mat in Vegas, but the bracket still should be loaded. Some of the notable teams heading to the CKLV this year are: Arizona State, Michigan, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon State, South Dakota State, and Virginia Tech. Including Cornell, that’s seven top-ten teams from the 2023 NCAA Championships. December 18th - Collegiate Duals @ Nashville, Tennessee As of now, the Collegiate Duals field hasn’t been completely finalized. Looking at the 2022 tournament, Cornell saw Iowa State, which resulted in one of the best duals of the entire season, along with Oregon State and North Carolina. However the event shakes out, I’d expect some quality duals for the Big Red. One thing to note is that the US Open/Senior Nationals will be during this timeframe. 2023 national champion and world team member Vito Arujau shouldn’t need to wrestle in it to qualify for the Olympic Trials, but other notable wrestlers for Cornell or their opponents might. January 5th - @ Ohio State Just the setup for this weekend’s worth of duals is impressive. Cornell travels to take on a team that finished just below them at the 2023 NCAA Tournament (4th), before traveling to meet another group that finished 9th. Some of the potential matchups here are juicy with Arujau squaring off with redshirt freshman Nic Bouzakis. EIWA champion Vince Cornella could meet 2023 All-American Jesse Mendez, who is slated to move up from 133. At 149 lbs, the top recruit in the Class of 2023 Meyer Shapiro could take on returning All-American Dylan D’Emilio. More clashes between All-Americans could take place at 174 with Chris Foca and Carson Kharchla and at 197 with Jacob Cardenas and Gavin Hoffman. January 7th - Virginia Tech The 2023 dual between these schools was a good one and this could be even better. In that meeting, Sam Latona handed Arujau his only loss of the season. Arujau got the last laugh with an 8-5 win in the NCAA quarterfinals. The two also met at the CKLV (with Arujau winning). Another match with tons of national implications is at 174 with Foca and 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis. The two New Jersey natives battled to a 3-2 tiebreaker win for Foca in the 2023 NCAA third-place match, but didn’t meet in the dual. The dual also saw Brett Ungar outlast Eddie Ventresca, who went on to finish the season in seventh place at 125 lbs for Virginia Tech. This edition could feature Shapiro against another returning All-American in Caleb Henson, who was fifth in the country last season. Between this weekend and CKLV in the previous month, Shapiro could have a very lofty ranking in mid-January. January 13th - @ Lehigh Cornell/Lehigh has traditionally been one of those rivalries where “the records go out the window.” The teams have split the last two duals with the winning squad doing so by the score of 18-15 both times. Expect an upset or two that just don’t seem to make sense on paper. The marquee matchup here is at 197 lbs between All-Americans Cardenas and Michael Beard. Beard prevailed in the dual last season, while Cardenas got even in the EIWA finals and got on the podium. This should be the first of at least two 2023-24 matches between the pair. January 27th - Brown, Harvard The New England contingent of the Ivy League travels to Ithaca to take on Cornell. Both Brown and Harvard don’t figure to threaten Ivy supremacy just yet, so both duals should see the Big Red as a heavy favorite. The 125 lb match against Harvard is very interesting considering the familiarity between its participants. Ungar edged Harvard’s Diego Sotelo 1-0 in the dual; however, Sotelo evened the score with a sudden victory win at EIWA’s. The 174 lb bout could feature a pair of past EIWA champions with Foca and Phil Congiliaro. Despite being in the same weight last year, the two did not meet. January 28th - Missouri A day after taking on two Ivy rivals, Cornell will host a dangerous non-conference opponent in Missouri. The Tigers finished fifth in the nation at the 2023 NCAA Championships with a champion and five total All-Americans. All five will return in 2023-24. That sets up possible bouts between All-Americans at 174 with Foca and Peyton Mocco and at 197 with Cardenas and Rocky Elam. There is no collegiate history in either bout. Other great matches include Shapiro against three-time All-American Brock Mauller and two-time NCAA Round of 12 finisher Julian Ramirez against two-time national champion Keegan O’Toole. Despite not getting on the podium thus far, Ramirez could be a threat to O’Toole. Back in 2021-22, Ramirez knocked off returning champion Shane Griffith in his first collegiate dual. February 3rd - Columbia An improving Columbia squad travels up to Ithaca seeking to improve upon the 30-3 drubbing that Cornell handed out in 2022-23. A loaded Cornell team just was a bad matchup for the Lions. This dual could end up featuring round six (or possibly seven) between Ramirez and Josh Ogunsanya. Ramirez holds a three-matches-to-two edge in this rivalry. Ogunsanya outplaced Ramirez at the 2022 EIWA tournament, while Ramirez returned the favor after winning the 2023 tournament. Columbia is also slated to attend the CKLV, so the two could also clash there. February 10th - @ Princeton Princeton loses a pair of NCAA finalists, but they won’t concede anything to their Ivy rivals. Once again, 197 lbs could be the focal point as Cardenas and Luke Stout are among two of the better wrestlers in the conference and the nation. Stout was third in the EIWA losing a pair of lopsided bouts to Cardenas in dual competition and at the EIWA’s. He pulled closer at nationals but still fell 3-1. One match to watch out for is at 125 lbs. Ungar was a match away from All-American status last year and should be back to that level in 2023-24. Princeton graduated their national champion, Pat Glory, but brought in a top freshman in Marc-Anthony McGowan. If McGowan is as good as advertised, he could be in the rankings at this juncture in the season. February 11th - @ Penn A day after taking on Princeton, Cornell will stay in the area and meet Penn. In last year's dual, Cornell prevailed but was pushed by Penn in a 19-15 victory. The headline match of this dual comes at 141 lbs in what could be an EIWA finals preview. 2023 champion Cornella against 2022 All-American CJ Composto. Composto took off the 2022-23 and has yet to meet Cornella. If this dual is as close as last year, 125 lbs could end up being a swing weight. They also traded victories last season with Ungar getting a 6-1 win in Tulsa. February 17th - @ NC State We’ll have plenty of familiarity on the bench in this dual as Cornell assistants Donnie Vinson and Nick Gwiazdowski each spent significant time working with NC State’s Pat Popolizio in Raleigh. Regarding the “on the mat” action, you can go up and down these lineups and pick out great potential matchups. 197 could feature two returning All-Americans with Cardenas and Trent Hidlay. By this point of the year, we’ll have a good idea of how Hidlay has acclimated to the new weight. Whoever, NC State sends out at 125 should be very competitive with Ungar. All-American Kai Orine is at 133 versus Arujau. Perennial All-American threat Ryan Jack is at 141 against Cornell, and 2023 true freshman Round of 12 finisher Jackson Arrington would meet this year’s freshman sensation, Shapiro. February 18th - @ Appalachian State Cornell will stay in North Carolina after the NC State dual to take on SoCon power Appalachian State. The Mountaineers return national qualifiers at 133 (Ethan Oakley/Sean Carter), 149 (Cody Bond), 157 (Tommy Askey), and 174 (Will Miller). ASU head coach JohnMark Bentley typically has a wrestler or two that was previously unheard of to develop into nationally ranked wrestlers. They’ll probably emerge by this point. Regardless of any talent disparity, Appalachian State will battle. February 24th - Binghamton The Big Red closes the regular season with a dual against in-state EIWA opponent Binghamton. The Bearcats return four national qualifiers (Micah Roes - 133, Brevin Cassella - 165, Jacob Nolan - 184, and Cory Day - 285). In addition, they’ll have an infusion of youth as redshirt freshman Carter Baer (157 lbs) and Will Ebert (174 lbs) and true freshman Carson Wagner (125 lbs), could find their way into the starting ten.