InterMat Staff

Tuesday evening, 2023 Fargo U17 freestyle national champion Elijah Diakomihalis (Hilton, NY) gave a verbal to Cornell University. News of Diakomihalis' commitment was broken by the MorWrestling Twitter account. With his performance in Fargo, Diakomihalis was elevated into MatScouts national rankings at 182 lbs for the first time, coming in at #19. Diakomihalis is the first member of the Class of 2025 to commit to Cornell. He was not ranked on the Class of 2025 Big Board, but suffice it to say, he’ll be included in the next post-Fargo update. Yes, that’s a familiar last name for Cornell fans and general wrestling fans alike, as Elijah is the younger brother of four-time NCAA champion and world silver medalist, Yianni, and current Big Red team member, Greg. After Elijah’s Fargo win, Yianni noted on social media that he’s the first member of the Diakomihalis family with a Fargo championship. Yianni was a Cadet runner-up in freestyle, while Greg was third. During his high school career, Elijah has finished second and third at the New York State Championships. He was a runner-up this year at 189 lbs and third at 172 lbs, as a freshman. Seeing as Diakomihalis is already at 182/189 before his junior year of high school, 184/197 could be where he’ll make his mark for the Big Red. For more recruiting information, check out InterMat’s College Commitment Page.

Hilton

The first day of the 2023 U17 World Championships saw an American lock up a medal and advance to the Greco-Roman finals as Jordyn Raney did so at 55 kg. Tuesday he had the opportunity to decide what color that medal would be against defending world champion Suraj of India. Raney got on the board first as he established position and forced Suraj to step out, which resulted in a 1-0 lead. That would be the score after a period. Not content to sit on a lead, Raney attacked right off the whistle in the second period with an arm drag and added two points to his score. Shortly after, Suraj got on the scoreboard with a takedown off of a throw-by; however, Raney was able to thwart any further scoring chances in par terre. Once again, Raney didn’t try to let his one-point lead hold up, he added to it with two points from a headlock. As Suraj was pushing forward on the ensuing exchange, Raney hit another headlock, this time it featured exposure and gave him a 9-2 lead. Before his Indian opponent could recover, Raney used a trapped-arm gut wrench for another set of exposure points which ended the bout via technical superiority. The Indian corner challenged the sequence, but lost, resulting in a 12-2 final score for Raney. In his world championship run, Raney defeated a pair of returning world champions (Suraj and Aytjan Khalmakhanov - Uzbekistan). His title marks the first time since the Cadet/U17 World Championships were reinstated in 2011 that America has crowned champion in back-to-back years (Joel Adams - 2022). Raney wasn’t the only American to wrestle for a medal on Tuesday. Heavyweight Nicholas Sahakian scored a 5-1 victory over Tomas Rusi (Finland) to earn a spot in a bronze medal match at 110 kg. In the bronze medal contest, Sahakian squared off with Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete). The bout belonged to Emirov, who tossed Sahakian for four points late in the opening period and secured the fall right before the closing buzzer. Sahakian will settle for fifth place. The only other athlete from day one that was in the medal hunt on Tuesday was Billy Greenwood at 65 kg. Greenwood put up a valiant effort against Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece) but was defeated 9-6 during the repechage phase. Of the Americans whose tournaments started only Tuesday, only Aiden Cooley (92 kg) managed to notch a victory. Cooley defeated Serbia’s Stevan Kojic, 9-0 in the Round of 16. The remaining American contingent was eliminated from the tournament as none of their opponents made the finals. Medal Results 48 kg Gold Medal Match: Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (Iran) over Shakhzod Ruziokhunov (Uzbekistan) 4-0 Bronze Medal Match: Elnar Ziyadov (Azerbaijan) over Murat Khatit (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 5-4 Bronze Medal Match: Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia) over Ivan Seibel (Germany) Fall 1:46 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) over Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran) 11-2 Bronze Medal Match: Kuttubek Rysmatov (Kyrgyzstan) over Halil Cinar (Turkey) 11-1 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Zaur Beslekoev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Islombek Karimjonov (Uzbekistan) over Octavian Cernetchi (Moldova) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Kumar Sachin (India) over Giorgi Tchikaidze (Georgia) 6-2 80 kg Gold Medal Match: Taizo Yoshida (Japan) over Mikhail Shkarin (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 8-6 Bronze Medal Match: Erik Ter Matevosyan (Armenia) over Eleftherios Pappas (Greece) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Alireza Abbasi (Iran) over Uladzislau Dubrouski (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 2-1 110 kg Gold Medal Match: Cemal Bakir (Turkey) over Ronak (India) 2-0 Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) Fall 1:59 Bronze Medal Match: Amirhossein Abdevali (Iran) over Mohamed Ahmed (Egypt) 2-0 US Results 45 kg Round of 16: Alireza Amirighasroddashti (Iran) over Henry Aslikyan (USA) 11-0 51 kg Round of 16: Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan) over Hudson Loges (USA) 4-1 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India) 12-2 60 kg Qualification: Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan) over Sam Herring (USA) 6-3 71 kg Qualification: Ivan Bialiayeu (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Arvin Khosravy (USA) 4-1 92 kg Round of 16: Aiden Cooley (USA) over Stevan Kojic (Serbia) 9-0 Quarterfinals: Gabriel Stan (Romania) over Aiden Cooley (USA) 9-0 110 kg Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) Fall 1:59

Southeast Polk

This off season I had the chance to catch up with head coaches Obe Blanc and Mark Branch, who are in very different positions entering next season. Blanc recently took the reins at North Dakota State and is making his first strides as the man in charge. On the other side is Branch who will be entering his 15th year at the helm for the Wyoming Cowboys. He discussed how things have changed for him over the years in so many ways along with some memories of his first few years in Laramie. It was the conversation with Branch that made me want to take a little trip down memory lane for the head coaches in the Big 12 Conference. I looked at when each coach took over their respective programs, who was their first All-American and/or champ, and for fun added a time capsule element by including the Billboard Music Year-End Hot 100 to see what the top song was the year they were named head coach. Currently, John Smith is the only active coach in the conference to capture an NCAA team title. But recently, the momentum has moved to Brian Smith’s Tigers. Of the conference’s six teams that placed in the top 20, Mizzou had the best finish placing 5th in Oklahoma last year with 64.5 points. Mizzou along with Northern Colorado had the only champs last year as well. Andrew Alirez gave Troy Nickerson his first All-American and champion all in one shot as he defeated Real Woods in the finals. But let’s go to the topic at hand. Of note, for Blanc I went with the top song during the week he took over which is coincidentally the same day. And for Roger Kish, I went back to his NDSU days for his first AA since he hasn’t had a season at OU yet.

Mount Sinai

Wantagh

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: Appalachian State's favorite wrestler, and a FCW favorite as well, Jon Jon Millner finishes his career as a four-time Top-10 wrestler in Fantasy Wrestling with this past season culminating in being the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 149 and #3 overall wrestler. The 2022 season was his “worst” placing (6th at 149), and he was 3rd and 4th in the 2021 and 2020 seasons, respectively. Despite all that info, he had an Average Draft Position of 26.48 and averaged as the fourth wrestler from 149 to be picked in WrestleStat drafts. Who was picked at 149 ahead of Millner? Well, Yianni Diakomihalis was the 1st (averaging as the #2 overall pick in drafts), Sammy Sasso was the 2nd (with an ADP of 21.16), and then Austin Gomez (WISC), who averaged only 0.32 better in draft position than Millner. Surprisingly, Millner and Sasso have been attached to the hip these past four years in Fantasy Wrestling, with Millner always finishing one spot better than Sasso since the 2020 season. This season, Miller 1 & Sasso 2. In 2022, Millner 6th & Sasso 7th. In 2021, Millner 3rd & Sasso 4th, and finally in 2020 with Millner finishing 4th & Sasso 5th. It’s no surprise then that they would have an ADP one pick apart (with Sasso winning that one, at least). One half of Maryland’s Miller-Time duo, and who was a part of one of the wildest opening round matches at NCAAs with #11 on this list Shayne Van Ness, finishes at #3 and Yahya Thomas makes his second Top-20 team, outshining his 2022 season by 14 spots. Although he didn't make it out of EIWA, Army’s Trae McDaniel takes the #6 spot in this year’s 141 Top-20 by way of having the most matches wrestled at 38 (with four of those not counting as they were not D1 competition). The only non-starter to make the Top-20 was true freshman, and now former Wolfpack member, Finn Solomon. Solomon finished five Fpts higher than starter Jackson Arrington with four less. He wasn’t the only true freshman to make the list, though. Caleb Henson can thank his early season upset win over Sammy Sasso for being #4 on the Fantasy Top-20. Had he lost, he would have been 7th. Jackson Arrington tied Yianni Diakomihalis with 48 Fpts, but took different paths to get there. Yianni wrestled only 13 regular season matches compared to Jackson’s 25, which is why Yianni got the #15 rank and Jackson with his 1.9 PPM got the 16th. Max Murin, who in the previous three seasons had not cracked even the Top-35, finished his AA season at #7. Had he scored one takedown in any of his three losses (granted the match with Gomez would have taken it to overtime…), he would have moved up to #4. An early season weight switcheroo for two Quakers help both of them make their respective Top-20s, with Doug Zapf making his second Top-20 in four years (#12 at 141 in 2020 and just missing out in 2022 being #21 at 157, losing out by 0.3 ppm). More on the second Quaker in the next article… By the way, all eight All-Americans made the Top-20. No other weight can claim that in 2023. Who Missed the Cut: Colin Realbuto of UNI was the first man out of the Top-20 finishing with 43Fpts. He separated himself from two others who tied him in Fpts with the slight PPM advantage of 2.2 compared to Virginia’s Jared Verkleeren who was #22 with 1.7 PPM and Lock Haven’s Nicholas Stonecheck at #23 with 1.3 PPM. Now-former Iowa State Cyclone Cameron Robinson put together a 14-3 season against D1 competition. Had he reversed one of those losses to a win, he would have finished at #16. The third highest drafted 149 lber, Austin Gomez (WISC) only wrestled 12 matches in the 2023 season due to a non-contact injury against Yahya Thomas at the end of January. He has the best PPM of any wrestler at 149 that did not make the Top-20, and if he had only lost to Yahya by Decision and won the last three Wisconsin duals by Decision as well, he would have finished 17th instead of #29. Graham Rooks (IND) wrestled 31 matches, seven of which were not D1, and finished with 1.1 PPM and 33 Fpts. That was good for the #30 spot. Meanwhile, Paniro Johnson (ISU) made waves to start the season knocking off highly-ranked Austin Gomez on the first weekend of the season, but only having three bonus wins (all Majors) and a loss by Pin held him back to #35 with 27 Fpts. Other notables include Chance Lamer (MICH), now a Cal Poly Mustang, finishing #32 with 30 Fpts, Victor Voinovich (OKST), now a Hawkeye, finishing at #51 with 20 Fpts, and Ridge Lovett (NEB) who finished at #69 (nice) with 10 Fpts. 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

The 2023 U17 World Championships got underway on Monday and it was Greco-Roman that led off the competition. The United States contingent was propelled by Jordyn Raney at 55 kg, who had an impressive performance and made his way into the finals. Raney wasn’t seriously pushed in his first two bouts, winning each by identical 8-0 tech’s. It was the quarterfinals where the level of competition really was ratcheted up for the American. His opponent was 2022 U17 world champion Aytjan Khalmakhanov of Uzbekistan. In a back-and-forth contest, Raney managed to avoid exposure late in the bout to take the 8-6 victory. It was wild in the semifinals, as well, when Raney squared off with Mohammadreza Gholami of Iran. In a match filled with exciting flurries, it was Raney who came out on top of the last one, one that saw him score from a four-point headlock with around :15 seconds left on the clock. Raney finished the period on top after additional action. The Iranian corner challenged the ruling and lost, making the final score 10-7 in Raney’s favor. Raney will wrestle for gold tomorrow after 11 AM Eastern against Suraj of India. He’s a returning world champion at this weight class and an Asian silver medal winner from earlier this year. With Raney reaching the world finals, it marks the third consecutive year with a U17 world finalist in Greco-Roman for the United States. In 2021, Cory Land took silver, while Joel Adams won gold last year. A streak of three straight years hasn’t happened for the United States since the U17 tournament was reintroduced in 2011. While Raney has clinched at least a silver medal, there are two other Americans that started competition today and can still wrestle for bronze medals. Billy Greenwood (65 kg) and Nicholas Sahakian (110 kg) have been pulled back into tomorrow’s repechage round. Ezekiel Witt (48 kg) and Adam Waters (80 kg) were both eliminated Monday. Monday’s US Results 48 kg Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia) over Ezekiel Witt (USA) 8-0 55 kg Jordyn Raney (USA) over Ahmed Shaban (Egypt) 8-0 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Shu Wei Chung (Chinese Taipei) 8-0 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) 8-6 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran) 10-7 Finals: vs. Suraj (India) 65 kg Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan) over Billy Greenwood (USA) 8-0 Repechage: Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece) 80 kg Adam Waters (USA) over Miguel Vega Salazar (Colombia) 6-1 Adam Waters (USA) over Aman (India) 9-0 Eleftherios Pappas (Greece) over Adam Waters (USA) 8-1 110 kg Nicholas Sahakian (USA) over Daniel Szilagyi (Hungary) 3-1 Ronak (India) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) 9-0 Repechage: vs. Tomas Rusi (Finland)

Clovis

Johnston

On Sunday, 2023 Fargo Junior National Greco-Roman champion Cadyn Coyle (Bennington, NE) made his college decision public on social media as he chose to stay in-state and wrestle for perennial DII power Nebraska-Kearney. Just over a week ago, Coyle was in the FargoDome receiving a stop sign after winning the Junior title at 106 lbs. In the finals, Coyle downed 2023 U17 Greco-Roman World Team member Ezekiel Witt via tech, 10-2. Coyle finished four of his five Fargo matches via fall or tech on his way to the title. The championship marked the second time that Coyle has earned Junior All-American honors in Fargo, as he was third at 100 lbs last year. He also was four in 16U Greco-Roman in 2021. Coyle’s best style has been Greco-Roman, as evidenced by his three All-American honors from Fargo. In 2021, Coyle also finished fourth in Greco at the UWW World Team Trials competing at 45 kg. In high school action, Coyle is a two-time state finalist for Bennington High School. He was a state runner-up as a sophomore and a 113 lb Class B state champion in 2023. Before the 2022-23 high school season, Coyle took second at Preseason Nationals. Judging by his current weight, it’s likely that Coyle becomes the elusive and valuable “career 125 lber” for the Lopers. That could come in handy as Nebraska-Kearney did not have a national qualifier at that weight class in 2023. Coyle will be a senior in 2023-24 at Bennington High School. For his profile on InterMat’s Commitment Page, click here .

Paramus

Boyertown

Life University Women's head coach Ashley Flavin sat down with Morgan to discuss all things surrounding the program. Coach Flavin talks about how the program has built and maintained a strong culture during the ten years of its existence. The two review the 2022-23 season, which was very productive, yet still bittersweet for Flavin and the team. Among the many other topics discussed are recruiting strategy, NIL, the future of women's college wrestling, and much more! For the full interview see InterMat's Rokfin page: (no paywall) Click Here

Men’s Freestyle 45 kg - Ignacio Villasenor (Colorado) 48 kg - Paul Kenny (New Jersey) 51 kg - Christian Castillo (Arizona) - 2022 World Silver Medalist 55 kg - Marcus Blaze (Ohio) 60 kg - Ben Davino (Illinois) 65 kg - Brock Mantanona (California) 71 kg - Ladarion Lockett (Oklahoma) 80 kg - Zack Ryder (New York) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist 92 kg - Aeoden Sinclair (Wisconsin) 110 kg - Sampson Stillwell (Missouri) Women’s Freestyle 40 kg - Jaclyn Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) 43 kg - Morgan Turner (Illinois) 46 kg - Rianne Murphy (Indiana) 49 kg - Heather Crull (Indiana) 53 kg - Karlee Brooks (Arizona) 57 kg - Everest Leydecker (Arizona) 61 kg - Haylie Jaffe (Pennsylvania) 65 kg - May Prado (Georgia) 69 kg - Jasmine Robinson (Texas) - 2022 U17 World 9th Place 73 kg - Piper Fowler (Tennessee) Greco-Roman 45 kg - Henry Aslikyan (California) 48 kg - Ezekiel Witt (Kansas) 51 kg - Hudson Loges (Nebraska) 55 kg - Jordyn Raney (Kentucky) 60 kg - Sam Herring (Pennsylvania) 65 kg - William Greenwood (Colorado) 71 kg - Arvin Khosravy (California) - 2022 U17 World 5th place 80 kg - Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) 92 kg - Aiden Cooley (Texas) 110 kg - Nicholas Sahakian (California)

Don’t look now, but we’re right around the corner from the start of World Championship-season with U17 World’s getting underway from Istanbul, Turkey on Monday. Greco-Roman will lead off the competition. It will be hard for the American team to top the performance from 2022, as the US came away with 14 medals. For the first time since the U17/Cadet World Championships were reinstated in 2011, we brought home at least two medals in all three styles. Speaking of, here are all of the Americans to win medal at the U17/Cadet World Championships since 2011. 2022 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Domenic Munaretto (Illinois) - Gold 48 kg: Christian Castillo (Arizona) - Silver 51 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Missouri) - Gold 55 kg: Jax Forrest (North Carolina) - Silver 65 kg: Tyler Kasak (Pennsylvania) - Silver 71 kg: Joseph Sealey (North Carolina) - Gold 80 kg: Zack Ryder (New York) - Bronze 92 kg: Max McEnelly (Minnesota) - Bronze 110 kg: Koy Hopke (Wisconsin) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 43 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Arizona) - Silver 46 kg: Gabriella Gomez (Illinois) - Silver 61 kg: Valerie Hamilton (Illinois) - Silver Greco-Roman 65 kg: Joel Adams (Nebraska) - Gold 92 kg: Cody Merrill (California) - Bronze 2021 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Bo Bassett (Pennsylvania) - Gold 48 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Missouri) - Silver 51 kg: Nate Jesuroga (Iowa) - Bronze 65 kg: Meyer Shapiro (Maryland) - Gold 80 kg: James Rowley (Oregon) - Silver 110 kg: Jim Mullen (New Jersey) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Arizona) - Gold 43 kg: Angie Dill (New York) - Bronze 46 kg: Ava Ward (Missouri) - Bronze 49 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Texas) - Bronze 53 kg: Katie Gomez (California) - Gold 69 kg: Amit Elor (California) - Gold 73 kg: Lillian Freitas (California) - Bronze Greco-Roman 55 kg: Cory Land (Alabama) - Silver 2019 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Marc-Anthony McGowan (Florida) - Gold 71 kg: Alex Facundo (Michigan) - Bronze Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Sterling Dias (Nevada) - Silver 49 kg: Cristelle Rodriguez (California) - Silver 57 kg: Skylar Hattendorf (New Hampshire) - Silver 61 kg: Kylie Welker (Wisconsin) - Bronze 69 kg: Amit Elor (California) - Bronze 2018 Men’s Freestyle 48 kg: Richie Figueroa (California) - Silver 51 kg: Matt Ramos (Illinois) - Gold 71 kg: Alex Facundo (Michigan) - Bronze 80 kg: Abe Assad (Illinois) - Bronze 92 kg: AJ Ferrari (Texas) - Bronze 110 kg: Greg Kerkvliet (Minnesota) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Sterling Dias (Nevada) - Bronze 43 kg: Emily Shilson (Minnesota) - Gold 49 kg: Tiare Ikei (Hawaii) - Bronze 69 kg: Macey Kilty (Wisconsin) - Gold Greco-Roman 92 kg: Jacob Kaminski (Illinois) - Bronze 2017 Men’s Freestyle 46 kg: Kurt McHenry (Virginia) - Gold 63 kg: Jacori Teemer (New York) - Bronze 69 kg: Will Lewan (Illinois) - Gold 76 kg: Aaron Brooks (Maryland) - Gold 85 kg: Gavin Hoffman (Pennsylvania) - Bronze 100 kg: Greg Kerkvliet (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 43 kg: Emily Shilson (Minnesota) - Silver 65 kg: Alara Boyd (Indiana) - Silver Greco-Roman 100 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Colorado) - Gold 2016 Men’s Freestyle 42 kg: Kurt McHenry (Virginia) - Gold 58 kg: Vito Arujau (New York) - Silver 63 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (New York) - Gold 69 kg: David Carr (Ohio) - Bronze 76 kg: Travis Wittlake (Oregon) - Bronze 85 kg: Jacob Warner (Illinois) - Bronze 100 kg - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 46 kg: Alleida Martinez (California) - Bronze 49 kg: Macey Kilty (Wisconsin) - Bronze 52 kg: Ronna Heaton (South Dakota) - Silver 56 kg: Gracie Figueroa (California) - Bronze 60 kg: Alara Boyd (Indiana) - Bronze 2015 Men’s Freestyle 54 kg - Daton Fix (Oklahoma) - Bronze 58 kg - Yianni Diakomihalis (New York) - Gold 63 kg - Jarod Verkleeren (Pennsylvania) - Gold 85 kg - Owen Webster (Minnesota) - Bronze 100 kg - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 46 kg: Alleida Martinez (California) - Silver 49 kg: Ronna Heaton (South Dakota) - Gold 65 kg: Kayla Marano (Georgia) - Bronze 70 kg: Alexis Bleau (New York) - Bronze 2014 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg - Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania) - Gold 69 kg - Mason Manville (Virginia) - Gold 76 kg - Mark Hall (Minnesota) - Gold 100 kg - Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 56 kg: Teshya Alo (Hawaii) - Gold 2013 Men’s Freestyle 63 kg - Aaron Pico (California) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 38 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Bronze 40 kg: Regina Doi (California) - Silver 56 kg: Teshya Alo (Hawaii) - Bronze Greco-Roman 42 kg - Cade Olivas (California) - Bronze 69 kg - Jon Jay Chavez (Idaho) - Bronze 2012 Men’s Freestyle 63 kg - Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 38 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Gold 56 kg: Kayla Miracle (Indiana) - Silver 70 kg: Anastasia Lobsinger (California) - Bronze 2011 Men’s Freestyle 85 kg - Sam Brooks (Illinois) - Bronze 100 kg - Adam Coon (Michigan) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Silver 46 kg: Haley Augello (Illinois) - Gold

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: Newcomer to the fantasy ranks is Brock Hardy who finished the 2023 regular season as the top 141 wrestler by two points over eventual NCAA Champion Andrew Alirez, but to Alirez’s credit he wrestled eight less regular season matches than Hardy. The last time Alirez was in the Top-10 was in 2020 when he wrestled 149 (finished as #8 in Fpts at 149). Making a jump in the standings from the previous season was Beau Bartlett. I think we can all agree that Beau was not wrestling at his preferred weight in 2022, where he was 11-6 in the regular season and finished as #44 in Fpts at 149. This past season was a different story. He improved his bonus percentage and winning percentage to climb up the fantasy ranks to #3. Hot on his tail was Rider’s McKenzie Bell (by two Fpts) who ended the regular season with a 10-match win-streak, with eight majors and one FFT. Funny enough, Bartlett and Bell met during the season where Bartlett won by pin. If Bell could have held it to a loss by major, he would have been the #3 over Bartlett. Tying at 61 Fpts were Mosha Schwartz and Lachlan McNeil, with Schwartz edging out McNeil by 0.1 PPM. One point behind both of them was Ryan Jack who had a handful of matches less. Saul Ervin finished the 2022 season and 2021 season at #28 in Fpts, but this year with a 19-7 record and a nine-match win streak to end the season. Fantasy mainstay Matt Kazimir makes his third Fantasy Top-20 in four years and Cole Matthews makes his second consecutive Top-10 at the weight (finished #4 in 2022). Pitt also had backup Ryan Michaels finish #20. And speaking of backups, Cleveland State’s true freshman Dylan Layton placed 54 spots better than the starter. Clay Carlson and Cole Matthews finished #4 and #5 in 2022, but in the 2023 season fell to #14 and #10 respectively. Carlson had seven losses in 2023 compared to three in 2022, which can be seen as the main cause for his drop in the rankings. Had he only sustained three losses like in 2022, he would have been #3 with 71 Fpts. Who Missed The Cut: Boilermaker AA Parker Filius had a couple questionable losses throughout the regular season, which held him out of the Fantasy Top-20 at the weight. Filius finished at #26 with 34 Fpts. The other AA to fall short (way short) of the Fantasy Top-20 was Dylan D’Emilio (OHST) who ended up tied at #62 with 13 Fpts. When Sammy Alvarez was a Scarlet Knight last season, he only wrestled 15 matches which got him 40 Fpts and the best PPM of any 141-pounder not in the Top-20. His midseason replacement, Joey Oliveri, wrestled 16 D1 matches to get 31 Fpts. They finished #21 and #29, respectively. Tom Crook (VT) started the season off hot, going 10-2 in his first 12 matches. Of those 10 wins to start the season, he beat Fantasy stalwart Matt Kazimir, eventual All-American Parker Filius, and Top-5 finisher Lachlan McNeil. But after CKLV, Crook went 4-5 resulting in a -2 Fpts in that span which held him back from climbing the 141 ranks. He finishes at #38 in Fpts at 141. Bartlett’s teammate David Evans only wrestled 10 D1 matches last season, going 8-2 and finishing with 31 Fpts and good to hold the #28 spot. His two losses? Both in sudden victory against Vince Cornella and Beau Bartlett. Other notables to miss out on the Top-20 include Allan Hart (MIZZ) with 38 Fpts at #23, Cole Mattin (MICH) with 27 Fpts at #33, Jesse Vasquez (ASU) with 26 Fpts at #34, and Frankie Tal-Shahar (NW) with 15 Fpts at #53. 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

The UFC hosts a big pay-per-view event this weekend, and the main event features a former Northern Colorado wrestler. Across the world in Japan, Bellator and Rizin are working together on a joint show that features some former collegiate talent as well as a Greco Olympic medalist. The following is a preview of all those MMA fights featuring wrestlers. UFC 291 Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier As a junior at Northern Colorado in 2010, Justin Gaethje finished seventh at 157 pounds at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American. In the process, he also became the first All-American for the Bears since 1970. After building an undefeated 16-0 professional MMA record, Gaethje signed with the UFC 2017. After losing two of his first three fights with the promotion, it looked like Gaethje might end up being better known for his entertaining fights than his accomplishments. However, he has now worked his way into being a perennial contender in the lightweight division. Poirier presents a very tough test for Gaethje. He is a former interim lightweight champion, and they have a history. The two faced off back in 2018, and Poirier won via fourth-round stoppage. Gaethje has improved defensively and will need that to reverse the previous result . Tony Ferguson vs. Bobby Green During his high school days, Ferguson was a three-time all-state selection in Michigan. He continued to wrestle on the collegiate level and spent time at Central Michigan, Muskegon Community College, and Grand Valley State. While at GVSU, he won the 2006 NCWA title at 165 pounds. Ferguson made his professional MMA debut in 2008 and won the 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2011. From 2016 to 2019, Ferguson was considered one of the top lightweights in the world. However, he is now riding a five-fight losing streak and is desperate for a win. That win might be hard to find here against a fellow veteran and wrestler. Green wrestled extensively on the high school level and was a two-time placer in the massive California state tournament for A.B. Miller High School. He has been fighting professionally since 2008 and holds a 29-14-1 record. Both of these fights will be part of the ESPN+ pay-per-view main card, which is set to begin at 10:00pm ET. Bellator MMA vs. Rizin 2 Danny Sabatello vs. Magomed Magomedov Sabatello was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Purdue where he wrestled at both 133 and 141 pounds. In the MMA cages, he has really let his brash personality come out and has built up a bit of a following. Sabatello signed with Bellator in 2021 after going 10-1 on smaller shows. He has since gone 4-1 with the promotion. In his last fight back in April, he bounced back from his first Bellator loss and scored a second-round submission victory over Marcos Breno. Magomedov is one of the top bantamweights in Bellator. He lost in the semifinals of the promotion’s championship tournament to eventual champion Patchy Mix. The defeat dropped his professional record to 19-3. This will be his first fight since that loss. The card situation here gets a bit tricky. Bellator and Rizin, two different promotions, are basically sharing a show. Sabatello vs. Magomedov will be part of the Bellator portion of the event, which will air live on Showtime from Japan at 11:00pm ET. Super Rizin 2 Juan Archuleta vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo Archuleta was a two-time CCCA champion for Sacramento City College before transferring to Purdue. As a junior for the Boilermakers, he finished fourth in the Big Ten and qualified for the NCAA tournament. He has been fighting exclusively for Bellator and Rizin since 2018. After dropping back-to-back fights, he recently got back on track with three-straight victories. Ougikubo is one of the top fighters to come out of Japan in recent memory. He competed on the 24th season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He defeated current UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and made the finals before ultimately losing to Tim Elliott. After the show, he returned to Japan in 2018 and has stayed ever since. In his last fight, he dropped a decision to rival Kyoji Horiguchi on New Year’s Eve. Shinobu Ota vs. Kenta Takizawa Ota made the transition to MMA on New Year’s Eve 2020 after an extensive Greco-Roman career. He was an Olympic silver medalist for Japan in 2016 and won a world championship in 2019 at 63kg. Ota lost his MMA debut against veteran Hideo Tokro but has since won three of his last four. This past April, he scored a 27-second knockout over fellow former Greco wrestler Kazuma Kuramoto. The former wrestler should be a big favorite here as Takizawa has been fighting exclusively for Rizin since 2020 but has gone only 3-4 in his seven fights. He is coming off a loss against Naoki Inoue by second-round submission. These fights will be part of the Rizin portion of the show, which will begin at 3:00am ET and stream live via Internet pay-per-view on Fite.tv.

Man, these are the dog days right now. We’re about halfway through the college offseason. Worlds are still a while away. Our favorite baseball teams stink. (We’ll get to plenty of baseball talk later) It’s hot out. Twitter, which is my entire livelihood in the wrestling industry, is now called X. You know, it’s hot out, too. So what better way to cool down than read the mailbag on a nice, cool, toilet seat! The first order of business is to pretend I’m Gable Steveson. If you’re Gable Steveson, what do you do over the next year to balance WWE and prepare for the 2024 Olympics and possible college? Earl Diesel Alright, let’s just break down the whole Gable thing because it truly is a unique situation. Here’s a guy who is a generational talent who left the college and freestyle fans wanting so much more for the fame and fortune of WWE like his idol, Brock Lesnar. But you have to remember that Brock left pro wrestling after a few years while being the top guy because he realized he wanted to do other things while he was still young. He knew he had the rest of his life to go back and now he’s out there every week at 46 years old. I’m not even that old and I wrestled with Abe Lincoln. So what was the rush? Well, two college titles and Olympic gold would probably have you thinking about your next move and maybe accomplishing that dream. So he goes. Leaving a year of college and another Olympic run that would actually come a year earlier now because of the ‘rona on the table. Now, nearly two years have passed and Gable is back in the news. Is he making his WWE debut? No, he’s coming back to make a world team. That’s awesome! Then he easily makes said world team. Fair enough. He’s still got it. But then things get crazy when he says he might return for one last ride in college. Ok then. Well, if your plan is to stick with this through another Olympic run then I suppose you can sneak in half a college season while you’re training. Not to mention getting paid some nice cheddar along the way. Then things really go bonkers as Gable starts showing up on WWE television with their NXT brand. Say what? So now the arguably most talented current American wrestler is starting his WWE career while teasing a return to college and being the current 125kg rep for Belgrade. So what does it all mean? I don’t think anyone really knows what it means. I will say that what you saw on TV this week has nothing to do with what his immediate future holds. Gable was never going to announce on WWE TV that he was returning to college wrestling. What we do know is that he makes his debut in the squared circle this weekend. We also know that he will be in Belgrade in September. We don’t know if he will return to college, but he has nearly five months to make that decision anyway. We also don’t know how much allowance WWE will give him in these future endeavors? They’ve made quite an investment in him already, so I assume they don’t want him bouncing back and forth between worked wrestling and shoot wrestling for too long. If you want to see Gable in the ring then watch the Great American Bash this weekend. If you want to see Gable on the mat then tune into Flo come September. Beyond that is anyone’s guess. My guess is that if he takes gold this year then he makes an Olympic run and walks away for good. I don’t see the college thing happening. What’s the best Jersey musician/Jersey wrestler comparison you can think of, and why? Kevin Claunch, Michigan Man Burroughs is easily Springsteen. Both are not only the best to come out of the state but the best in the world at what they do for an extended period of time. Steve Mocco can be Frank Sinatra. The two Hudson County products are fascinating individuals and people tell stories about them that have become legend. Gene Mills can be Frankie Valli. Who do you think were the most impressive wrestlers at Fargo and who were your breakout athletes? SAB I admittedly didn’t follow Fargo like some others, but I enjoyed some of the big guys. Connor Mirasola, oh look, he’s going to Penn State. Glad they’re finally getting some great recruits. For the young guys, Dreshaun Ross is the next two-sport star from Iowa and Mocco Jr. (Michael) will be fun to follow. Barbie or Oppenheimer? Mickadelphia Haven’t seen either yet! I may go See Barbie this weekend if Lady Jagger wants to go. Just need to dye my jorts pink and I’m ready to go. Ok, let’s get into the baseball for a minute. Daniel Vogelbach will need something to do during the Winter. How many matches would he win for Rutgers at heavyweight? Indiana Mat Why would he need something to do during Winter? Because he won’t be in the playoffs? There are no playoffs during Winter. You blew your entire burn. Here’s a better question. Will you be alive when the Cubbies win their next title in 2124? Should the Red Sox be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Mark Rhino Eh, that’s a tough one. You’re a game and a half out of the wild card at press time, so you are absolutely in the hunt. But are you a championship team? Who exactly are you selling? You aren’t rebuilding right now to the point of tearing it down. Do you send a message to the spoiled Boston fans that you aren’t trying to win this year? They’d be throwing their Dalbec jerseys into the harbor! The toughest part of this time of year is being within range of a playoff spot yet knowing that you probably won’t make it and really not likely to win it all. But the Phillies proved last year that you just need to get in and anything can happen. My verdict: light buyers and heavy on infield defense practice because that team can’t catch. Are you willing to adopt Cincinnati for the rest of the season since the Metropolitans are dead in the water? Jon Lareau I don’t know. Maybe. Definitely, if they face any of the teams that I really don’t like. Tampa Bay has long been my fallback team, but not sure I like them much anymore. I could see myself backing Baltimore. Or I could just not watch the playoffs and go on with my life. I am happy that the Reds are back. America’s oldest team should be a top franchise. So should Baltimore. Let’s bring back the 70’s when these teams were juggernauts. How are you staying cool through this heat wave? Fantasy College Wrestling By reading the FCW year in review of course! Or whatever you are calling it. If you’re jonesing for some college wrestling info, my man TD has you covered right here. I hope Earl tagged the link right there or I’m gonna look like a bozo. As for the heat? I admit it’s been pretty bad lately. But when I’m out there sweating and ready to pass out, I just remember that I did four years of high school wrestling nearly 30 years ago. Everything else is gravy. Two years of middle school wrestling made JT Realmuto a great baseball player and it made Jagger great at drilling holes in stone when it’s triple-digit outs. Have a good weekend, all. I’ll be soaking in an ice barrel.

The 2023 offseason coaching carousel got off to a slow start, but has picked up steam. This week in particular as there were a handful of notable names that changed jobs. Movement begats movement and as new jobs are accepted, typically new positions open up. We’ll certainly have more updates as the summer progresses and fades into fall and the college preseason. Obe Blanc (North Dakota State Head Coach) - North Dakota State Associate Head Coach Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State Assistant Coach) - Oklahoma State recruiting coordinator Marcus Coleman (Davidson Assistant Coach) - Iowa State athlete Ben Freeman (Buffalo Volunteer Assistant) - Buffalo athlete BJ Futrell (Northwestern Assistant Coach) - Penn Assistant Coach Gary Wayne Harding (Oklahoma State Recruiting Coordinator) Josh Heil (Campbell Assistant Coach) - Campbell Director of Operations Hayden Hidlay (North Dakota State Assistant Coach) - NC State Student-Athlete Development Coordinator Roger Kish (Oklahoma Head Coach) - North Dakota State Head Coach Austin Marsden (Oklahoma Assistant Coach) - North Dakota State Assistant Coach Quincy Monday (Princeton Assistant Coach) - Princeton athlete Steve Mytych (Rutgers Assistant Coach) - Rutgers Director of Operations Austin O’Connor (Illinois Assistant Coach) - North Carolina athlete Ian Parker (Virginia Assistant Coach) - Army West Point Assistant Coach Charles Small (Long Island Assistant Coach) - Purdue Graduate Assistant Devin Schroder (Wyoming Assistant Coach) - Cleveland State Assistant Coach Cam Sykora (Oklahoma Volunteer Assistant) - North Dakota State Volunteer Assistant

Trinity

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