InterMat Staff

Ty Walz against Dom Bradley at the 2022 US Open Newly retired Ty Walz talks with ACC correspondent Robbie Wendell about leaving his shoes on the mat in Colorado Springs, his new role with his alma mater, and the future of the Virginia Tech program. Walz gets into how he initially ended up at Virginia Tech, along with providing commentary for the ACC and his other relatively new role, fatherhood. The interview can be found on InterMat's Rokfin Page.

62 kg Final X qualifier Adaugo Nwachukwu (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In just under a week, two-time NAIA champion and current William Penn wrestler, Adaugo Nwachukwu will compete at Final X for a spot on the Senior World Team. Nwachukwu will face off against a familiar opponent in Kayla Miracle in a best-of-three match-up for the 62kg spot. When asked how she was feeling about the event, Nwachukwu expressed her optimistic mindset. “After the U.S. Open, in my mind, I thought, ‘there’s two more matches left to wrestle to make the world team,’ so I am ready to go. I’m excited.” She continued discussing her mindset about the best-of-three format for Final X, which would mean she could secure a spot with just two wins in a row. “I know that if I do win the first match, that doesn’t mean I’m already on the World Team. I still have to stay ready, stay in the game, wrestle the second match and win.,” Nwachukwu said. “And if I lose [the first match], I can’t beat myself up because I have another opportunity to wrestle and win it back. I think that’s helping my mentality preparing for it.” Nwachukwu secured her spot at Final X by winning this year’s U.S. Open with a dominant run of two falls and a tech before meeting Jennifer Page in the finals and coming out on top in a back-and-forth 10-8 match. Interestingly, Page was Miracle’s opponent last year at Final X in a highly competitive set of matches. Nwachukwu’s win over Page at the Open only increases the uncertainty of the outcome of this year’s Final X matchup. Miracle is a formidable opponent, but Nwachukwu says she has been developing and training a lot since their last meeting. “I think I’ve grown a lot, especially after I moved to college. I had the opportunity to train more with my coaches and other wrestlers that have more experience with freestyle and other skills,” Nwachukwu said. She has also been doing some specific training since the Open to get prepared for FinalX. “After school closed, most of my teammates went back home, so I’ve been training mostly with my two coaches, Cash [Wilcke] and Jake [Kadel],” Nwachukwu said. “But last week we went up to Oregon to train with Mallory Velte, so that was a good push. I worked on a lot of my stuff but also some things Kayla does. Defense, offense, upper body stuff, I worked on a lot, so that went good too.” Nwachukwu dropped her last match to Kayla Miracle at the 2022 U.S. Open, where Miracle got a go-behind and was able to utilize a trapped-arm gutwrench to turn Nwachukwu repeatedly on her way to the tech fall. Nwachukwu is excited for the rematch and has been honing her skills to be successful. “I’m focusing more on my offense and my upper body stuff, but I also know she likes the single leg and the throw she does, so I’ve been working on defense for that,” she said. Nwachukwu appears to be up a level based on her record since her last meeting with Miracle. In her sophomore season at Iowa Wesleyan, she had a 31-0 record with 29 wins by pin or tech fall and was the NAIA champion for the second year in a row. She was even one of the 6 finalists for USA Wrestling’s Women’s Collegiate Wrestler of the Year. She attributes a lot of success to her hard work and dedication, but also to her coaches, Jake Kadel and Cash Wilcke. “I think I have that relationship with my coaches where I trust them and I know that if they’re telling me something, it’s probably right and it’s probably gonna work,” Nwachukwu said. “The trust in them has helped me a lot.” Nwachukwu announced after her U.S. Open win that she would be following her coaches to William Penn to continue her college career after Iowa Wesleyan announced the school would be closing due to financial issues. She reiterated that because of that solid relationship with her coaches, it was not a difficult choice. “I already knew that wherever my coaches were going after the school shut down was where I was gonna go too,” she said. “I wasn’t even looking at other schools.” It seems that the trust she has in her coaches and in her own abilities and strengths is keeping her cool and collected heading into Final X. When asked what she still needed to do to prepare for her matches, she kept it simple. “I am just working on getting down to weight and staying in good health,” she said. “I am ready to go.” Final X will be held on June 10 with events in Men’s and Women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Check out the full list of matchups here.

2x All-American Marcus Coleman (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Today, Davidson College announced that they have hired Iowa State's two-time All-American Marcus Coleman as an assistant coach. Coleman just concluded his career in Ames this March finishing fifth in the 184 lb weight class. He was 24-5 overall and made his first appearance in the Big 12 finals. The win in the NCAA fifth-place bout was the 99th of Coleman's career against only 42 losses. Coleman qualified for the NCAA tournament on five occasions at three different weight classes (174-197). He got on the podium for the first time in 2022 taking seventh at 184. During his senior year, Coleman pulled off one of the most memorable upsets of the season, knocking off then-two-time national champion Aaron Brooks, 9-7. Coleman nearly ended the match via fall after locking up a cradle. The two did not end up meeting at the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa. Coleman joins a Davidson program led by second-year head coach Nate Carr Jr, also a former Cyclone. During his first year at the helm for the Wildcats, Carr Jr.'s team had a SoCon finalist in true freshman Tanner Peake at 157 lbs. Peake also became the first Davidson wrestler to make a World Team at any level when he made the U20 team for Puerto Rico.

79 kg U20 men's freestyle champion Dustin Plott (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Sunday from the SPIRE Institute, it was U23 men's freestyle who took center stage. Here are the champions from the U23 Trials after their wins they spoke with the media: 57 kg - Cooper Flynn 61 kg - Julian Chlebove 65 kg - Brock Hardy 70 kg - Doug Zapf 74 kg - Julian Ramirez 79 kg - Dustin Plott 86 kg - Dylan Fishback 92 kg - Jacob Cardenas 97 kg - Nick Stemmet 125 kg - Wyatt Hendrickson

70 kg U20 men's freestyle champion Meyer Shapiro (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Saturday from the SPIRE Institute, it was men's freestyle who took center stage. Our U20 men's freestyle team was established and after their wins they spoke with the media: 57 kg - Luke Lilledahl 61 kg - Nic Bouzakis 65 kg - Jesse Mendez 70 kg - Meyer Shapiro 74 kg - Mitchell Mesenbrink 79 kg - Matthew Singleton 86 kg - Bennett Berge 92 kg - Jack Darrah 97 kg - Camden McDanel 125 kg - Christian Carroll

Jesse Mendez at 2023 U20 World Team Trials (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday at the U20/U23 World Team Trials marked the first day of freestyle action. Both age groups started competition; however, the U20 tournament had qualifying criteria that resulted in significantly smaller brackets. Because of this, the U20 tournament finished in one day and a world team was set. A pair of Ohio State teammates went back-to-back and clinched spots on the U20 at 61 and 65 kg as Nic Bouzakis and Jesse Mendez both swept their respective series'. Bouzakis never made it to the second period in either of his two finals bouts. He pitched a pair of 10-0 shutouts against Oklahoma State's Cael Hughes. Winners of the UWW Junior Open automatically advanced to the best-of-three series, while the remaining qualifiers had to battle through a mini-tournament to wrestle for the world team berth. Only two competitors made it through the mini-tournament and prevailed in the best-of-three series'. One of which was Mendez at 65 kg. Mendez had three wins via tech before getting by Open runner-up Kannon Webster in the challenge tournament finals. With the world team spot on the line, Mendez downed U17 world silver medalist Tyler Kasak 4-3 and 9-1. All-in-all, the 2023 U20 men's freestyle team will feature three members from the 2022 squad, Bouzakis, along with world silver medalists Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kg) and Bennett Berge (86 kg). Mendez was also on the U20 team in 2021. 79 kg champion Matthew Singleton has U20 world experience on the Greco-Roman front from 2021. 125 kg winner Christian Carroll also made the Greco squad last year. Both Mesenbrink and Berge had little resistance in returning to the U20 team. Mesenbrink won a wild 17-8 first match over Stanford's Hunter Garvin, then cruised to a 10-0 tech. Berge won 6-2 against Oklahoma State's incoming freshman Brayden Thompson in match one. He also clinched the trip to Poland with a 10-0 tech. The 2023 team also features a pair of U17 world champions who are looking to continue their medal-winning ways at a new age group. Luke Lilledahl and Meyer Shapiro will be on the team at 57 kg and 70 kg, respectively. Lilledahl, a rising high school senior, got by new Oklahoma State Cowboy Troy Spratley, 9-4, 4-2. Shapiro looked ready to contend for a U20 medal as he downed Nebraska's Antrell Taylor, 8-0, 11-0. Only two of the ten series' went the full three matches, 79 kg and 92 kg. At 79, a pair of Georgia natives squared off with Singleton and Iowa signee Gabe Arnold. The two are close friends and have spent plenty of time working out together, which likely led to some tight matches. Singleton took the first and third matches from Arnold to claim the world team spot. Up to weights at 92 kg, Stanford's Jack Darrah rebounded from a loss in the first matches to beat Little Rock's Stephen Little in bouts two and three in the series. Oklahoma State had four current or future Cowboys in the finals; however, the first three were defeated. Avoiding the sweep was Carroll who defeated Aden Attao 10-0 in two straight matches. Yesterday, Attao earned his second consecutive berth on the U20 Greco world team. Last year, Camden McDanel fell in the U17 trials in three heartbreaking matches. This time, in front of a large contingent of friends and family, the Ohio native secured the 97 kg berth. McDanel needed a late rally in match one to win 11-6, but had no such drama in match two, winning, 8-2. 2023 U20 World Team Trials: Men's Freestyle Best-of-three Finals: 57 kg: Luke Lilledahl (X-Calibur Athletics WC) over Troy Spratley (Cowboy RTC) 9-4, 4-2 61 kg: Nic Bouzakis (X-Calibur Athletics WC) over Cael Hughes (Cowboy RTC) 10-0, 10-0 65 kg: Jesse Mendez (TMWC) over Tyler Kasak (M2 Training Center) 4-3, 9-1 70 kg: Meyer Shapiro (Spartan Combat WC) over Antrell Taylor (MWC Wrestling Academy) 8-0, 11-0 74 kg: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Askren Wrestling Academy) over Hunter Garvin (Iowa) 17-8, 10-0 79 kg: Matthew Singleton (Wolfpack WC) over Gabe Arnold (Sebolt Wrestling Academy) 6-1, 2-2, 5-4 86 kg: Bennett Berge (Jackrabbit WC) over Brayden Thompson (Cowboy RTC) 6-2, 10-0 92 kg: Jack Darrah (Missouri) over Stephen Little (Arkansas RTC) 3-5, 2-1, 4-4 97 kg: Camden McDanel (Ohio) over Stephen Burrell Jr. (New York) 11-6, 8-2 125 kg: Christian Carroll (Cowboy RTC) over Aden Attao (Suples WC) 10-0, 10-0

72 kg U23 Greco-Roman champion Hunter Lewis (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Friday from the SPIRE Institute, it was Greco-Roman who took center stage. Our U20 Greco-Roman team was established, while ten winners at the U23 level were crowned. Here are interviews with all ten U23 champions 55 kg - Yusief Lillie 60 kg - Phillip Moomey 63 kg - Jordan Hamdan 67 kg - David Stepanian 72 kg - Hunter Lewis 77 kg - Payton Jacobson 82 kg - Tyler Eichens 87 kg - Michael Altomer 97 kg - Tereus Henry 125 kg - Aden Reeves

U20 and U23 champion Michael Altomer (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On the first day of the U20 and U23 World Team Trials, 20 champions were crowned. Actually, that’s not accurate, 19 different wrestlers won titles because Michael Altomer won both the U20 and U23 divisions. Altomer did not need to wrestle in the challenge tournament portion of U20’s due to his tournament title at the U20 Open. Even when he was on the mat in the best-of-three finals, it was very brief. In his first match against Brayden Gautreau in the U20 82 kg finals, Altomer only needed :36 seconds to rack up the eight points needed for a tech. Match two was longer, but not by much. There he spent :51 seconds on the match to put up a 9-0 tech. In the U23 finals, Altomer moved up to 87 kg and faced some stronger competition. He had to grind out a pair of wins against Keenan Wyatt, 9-4, 5-4. The rest of the U20 World Team was settled and features a pair of 2022 team members in Max Black and Aden Attao. A world bronze medalist last year, Attao was the only wrestler from the 2022 squad that came back with any hardware. That doesn’t mean he’s the only medalist on the team as 2022 U17 world champion Joel Adams moves up and captured a spot on the team. To do so, Adams knocked off 2021 U17 world team member Jadon Skellenger. Because of true-third place matches at Final X, the full U23 team won’t be established until after next week. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of great action at the U23 level. U23 saw two matches go the full three bouts. At 55 kg, Yusief Lillie lost the first match to Davian Guanajuanto, then rallied to win 5-1 and 5-2. The final contest of the evening was at 97 kg as Fort Hays State’s Tereus Henry stepped over a gut-wrench attempt from Thomas Godbee to earn the fall and the series. A captured a win in the first round in a similar circumstance. The only member of the U23 world team that was victorious on Friday afternoon was Phillip Moomey at 60 kg. Moomey cruised to 7-2 and 3-1 wins over Jonathan Gurule. 2023 U20 Greco-Roman World Team Trials 55 kg - Zachary Silvis (Pinnacle) over Kenneth Crosby (Northern Michigan) 0-9, 7-6, 4-1 60 kg - Max Black (Northern Michigan) over Rhett Peak (Cowboy WC) 9-0, 8-0 63 kg - Landon Drury (Betterman Elite) over Rhett Koenig (Combat WC) 10-0, 11-0 67 kg - Joel Adams (The Best Wrestler) over Jadon Skellenger (Team Idaho) 4-3, 9-0 72 kg - Braden Stauffenberg (Michigan WC) over Richard Fedalen (NYC RTC) 8-5, 12-9 77 kg - Derek Matthews (Northern Colorado WC) over Aydin Rix McElhinney (Northern Colorado WC) 10-0, 10-0 82 kg - Michael Altomer (Curby 3 Style WC) over Brayden Gautreau (Northern Exposure WC) 8-0, 9-0 87 kg - Wyatt Voelker (Panther WC RTC) over Tate Naaktgeboren (Big Game WC) 10-1, 8-0 97 kg - Sawyer Bartelt (Gladiator Wrestling) over Jack Darrah (Missouri) 2-1, 9-0 130 kg - Aden Attao (Suples WC) over Alex Semenenko (Brown RTC) 10-2, 8-0 2023 U23 Greco-Roman World Team Trials 55 kg - Yusief Lillie (Brunson UVRTC) over Davian Guanajuato (Southern Illinois RTC) 1-4, 5-1, 5-2 60 kg - Phillip Moomey (Spartan Combat RTC) over Jonathan Gurule (Northern Michigan) 7-2, 3-1 63 kg - Jordan Hamdan (Michigan WC) over Kyle Rowan (Ohio) 6-5, 11-0 67 kg - David Stepanian (NYAC) over Max Schierl (Northern Michigan) 11-0, 11-0 72 kg - Hunter Lewis (Wolfpack WC) over Jack Ervien (Viking WC) 16-11, Fall :43 77 kg - Payton Jacobson (Sunkist Kids) over Caleb Fish (Michigan WC) 10-0, 8-0 82 kg - Tyler Eichens (California RTC) over Tyler Dow (Minnesota Storm) 11-9, 10-2 87 kg - Michael Altomer (Curby 3 Style WC) over Keenan Wyatt (Knights RTC) 9-4, 5-4 97 kg - Tereus Henry (Tiger Den WC) over Thomas Godbee (West Point WC) Fall 4:05, 4-6, Fall 4:49 130 kg - Kaleb Reeves (Iowa) over Spencer Trenary (Jackrabbit WC) Fall 1:16; Fall :59

Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis at the U20 Open (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Geneva, Ohio will host the U20 World Team Trials and the U23 Nationals from June 2-4. Some of the best wrestlers in the nation will take part in this competition, which will also choose the world team for each age group. The wrestlers I am looking forward to seeing in Geneva are listed below. Names that immediately stand out to me at 57 kg, we have Luke Lilledahl, Jore Volk, Troy Spratley, Cael Nasdeo, and Bo Bassett. Luke Lilledahl breezed through the Open save for a 2-2 match in his quarterfinal encounter against Kenneth Hendriksen. There are already big hopes for Lilledahl as the 2022 U17 World champion and a recent Penn State commit. However, I am anticipating Lilledahl to win gold again if he joins the team given that he defeated 2022 U20 World champion Jore Volk in the finals 10-4 at the Open. Troy Spratley, who won the 57 kg Open last year, did not take part in this year's competition. In the finals of the previous year, Volk and Spratley wrestled one, in my opinion, of the best three-match series. The 57 kg wrestlers are just so fast and I love continuous action at this weight. Despite losing the series, Spratley managed to defeat Volk in one match. If they do meet each other this year, he'll only need to triumph once. Although Adrian Meza is the only competitor in the field to have recently defeated Lilledahl, he may be too young for this to be his tournament. With all that being said, I wouldn’t exactly count out Braeden Davis or Cael Nasdeo who are also both Penn State commits, and of course Bo Bassett, who is hands down one of the best high school wrestlers I have ever seen. Realistically, I see the finals match being Lilledahl and Volk, but Spratley could surprise me. A healthy Nasdeo could do some damage. Bassett could also just come in and put everyone to shame. It would be electric to see two of the same school commits in the finals as well. *Jax Forrest just entered the tournament, too, as of June 1.* Names that immediately stand out to me at 61 kg, Nic Bouzakis, Aden Valencia, Emilio Ysaguirre Jr., and Andre Gonzales. The finals are currently being watched by longtime standout Nic Bouzakis. Bouzakis has switched things up the past couple of years switching from Greco to freestyle in a dominating fashion. Aden Valencia is currently the most popular name in town, the town of Madison that is. At the Open, Valencia competed in the Senior division and defeated Daniel DeShazer, Josh Rodriguez, Shelton Mack, and Michael Colaiocco. While Bouzakis has a significant edge against Valencia by waiting until the finals, Valencia has gained vital experience competing at these Senior competitions. Emilio Ysaguirre dropped a 7-6 decision for fourth place in the open competition. He is an extremely dangerous opponent for anyone due to his electrictrifying style, and at Arizona State, he has only gotten stronger. Arizona State must drink different water than most of us in the country. Again, it would be fun to see Bouzakis wrestle Gonzales with them being current teammates at Ohio State. Realistically, I see it being Bouzakis and Valencia, though. Names that immediately stand out at 65 kg, Tyler Kasak, Jesse Mendez, Vince Cornella, Ryder Block, and Pierson Manville. 65 kg is my favorite weight class in freestyle. 61 kg being a close second. Tyler Kasak has a significant advantage by waiting until the finals because the field is so deep. By defeating Vince Cornella, Kannon Webster, and Pierson Manville at the US Open, Kasak gained that advantage. Kasak demonstrated he can compete at the highest level by winning a U17 World silver medal the previous year. Jesse Mendez is a different breed on the mat. He was in the 61 kg bracket last year. He was one of the best true freshman wrestlers this past NCAA season. No matter what bracket he is in, he has a phenomenal shot for that top spot. He struggled to get going offensively against Kannon Webster in the Open. A rematch between these two wrestlers would be electric. I think Block, Iowa commit, and Manville, uncommitted, are very much the underdogs here, and I think they have some more growing pains to really make their presence known in the 65 kg bracket, but anything can happen in wrestling. I have really enjoyed watching Cornella the past year, and I think he could give Kasak a run for his money this weekend. Names that stick out at 70 kg, Meyer Shapiro, Paniro Johnson, Beau Mantanona, and Daniel Cardenas. Although 70 kg is exceedingly difficult, Meyer Shapiro, the top dawg, is waiting for the winner in the finals. Shapiro, who is ranked first overall among wrestlers in the Class of 2023, dominated the Open, never winning a match by less than five points. He defeated Paniro Johnson 12-1 in the Open semifinals. Beau Mantanona's Open performance was lacking. Mantanona is one of the few wrestlers who can accept defeat and move on, so I decided to place him among the top guys who have a good chance of being in the finals. After having a difficult summer in losing at Fargo and going 0-2 at U20s, he recovered by defeating Tyler Kasak at Who's Number One. I see Shapiro and Johnson in the finals, but Shapiro coming out victorious. They are both extremely good, but I just think Shapiro is quicker on his feet. Cardenas is impressive with his technique, too. Names that stand out at 74 kg, recent Penn State transfer, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Joe Sealey, another Penn State commit, Hunter Garvin, and Matt Bianchi. One of my most eagerly awaited prospective matches is Mesenbrink versus Sealey. Garvin's victory over Sealey in the US Open semifinals prevented us from seeing this match. The final match saw Garvin fall to Mesenbrink 16-6. Sealey and Mesenbrink may face off on the roster in the future due to both committing to Penn State. I’ve seen Bianchi a few times this past season and think he can make a splash in this bracket. I see Mesenbrink coming out on top against Sealey, though. 79 kg is such a deep weight class with Gabe Arnold, Rocco Welsh, Josh Barr, Luca Augustine, Matthew Singleton, and Tate Picklo. Welsh is so impressive for his age, and he is no stranger to any of the guys in this bracket. Welsh, Arnold, and Barr are all top 20 recruits for the 2023 recruiting class. They have met more than once in the past. Arnold holds one above Welsh while Welsh holds one over Barr. Arnold just beat Welsh in the Open finals. Arnold vs. Barr was prevented from occurring when Augustine defeated Barr 10-2 at the Open. Later, Arnold defeated Augustine 8-1. Another freshman to keep an eye on is Singleton. I have high hopes for him. I also want to see how Picklo can do in this bracket. I do see another rematch for Arnold and Welsh, though. Turning my attention to the U23 bracket, the Names I'm drawn to in the 57 kg bracket are Bobby Garnder, Brett Ungar, Stevo Poulin, Blake West, and Marco Vespa just to name a few. My eyes draw to the regular MAC conference guys and the guys that are starters at other NCAA schools. I’d really like to see West and Caleb Smith medal higher than they did last year. I could see Ungar, Poulin, or Smith in the finals. 61 kg is the bracket you can’t blink during, you’ll miss all the action. Names that are sticking out to me are Isaac Crowell, 3x NAIA AA for SEU Wrestling, Julian Farber, Julian Chlebove, Ethan Oakley, and Tristan Lujan. I would love to see Farber make adjustments and medal higher. Crowell is a force in the NAIA world, so it would be fun to see what damage he can do in the freestyle world. If Farber makes the necessary adjustments, he could slide into the finals. 65 kg is loaded with names like Cole Matthews, Jeffrey Boyd, Josh Saunders, Matthew Rodriguez, and Jesse Vasquez. Saunders and Matthews placed last year in the same bracket, Matthews coming out victorious. Saunders taking sixth. Vasquez is electric in Arizona State’s room, and I think with the right moves we could see him and Matthews in the finals. Rodriguez can be sneaky, being the brother of NWLC’s Josh Rodriguez, who has medaled in a multitude of freestyle tournaments such as second in the US Open, fourth at World Team Trials, and 2019 Pan Am Champion throughout the years. Daniel Manibog and Ed Scott are the most notable contenders 70 kg bracket. Last year, Manibog took seventh over NC State’s Scott, 10-0. They could meet Cade Balestrini, Cayden Henschel, Caleb Tyus, Doug Zapf, and Jaden Abas to name a few. Henschel is naturally a D2 wrestler, but also open on his social media about how he has made a lot of changes to improve his wrestling and be better than before. Tyus, Zapf, and Abas are no strangers to tough competition all being D1 National Qualifiers. I would like to see if Scott can avenge his loss to Manibog. I love to watch tough wrestling and see the guys improve better than they did the last time. 70 kg feels like a wildcard bracket. Anyone can go into the finals, anyone can place. Peyton Hall returns to the 74 kg bracket, and I can safely say I believe he could come out on top. He dropped the best two out of three matches to Patrick Kennedy last year. With Kennedy at the senior level, the world is Hall’s oyster. Hall is going to have to wrestle through (possibly) Matt Lee and Bubba Wilson. Wilson and Hall could be a finals match we see. Julian Ramirez sits in the bracket, too, and Spartan Combat doesn’t mess around in their freestyle. There is a lot of wrestling to be covered this weekend, and these are just a “few” guys I’ll be anticipating watching this weekend. The U23 Nationals champions will earn a position on Team USA's U23 World Team and compete at the U23 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, from October 23–29. The Senior national team member (top 3 in each weight class) who is under 23 years of age will, nevertheless, take precedence over the U23 Nationals champion.

SIU Edwardsville recruit Deion Johnson In doing research for our forthcoming recruiting rankings, InterMat stumbled about a huge list of DI recruits that have not necessarily been widespread. Some were late signees, others may have been overlooked or featured a wrestler that doesn't have a huge social media footprint. Whichever the case, here are a bunch of recruits to add to your notes, along with 2023 state tournament credentials (for the most part). Arizona State Phil Chobot (South Kitsap, WA) 2023 Washington 4A State Champ - 182 lbs Aidan Hernandez (Francis Howell Central, MO) 2023 Missouri Class 4 State Champ - 165 lbs Luke Izaak (Shadow Mountain, AZ) 2023 Arizona D3 State Champ - 190 lbs Daniel Miranda (Mountain View, AZ) 2023 Arizona D2 State Champ - 132 lbs Trent Wikel (Desert Mountain, AZ) 2023 Arizona D2 State Champ - 157 lbs Binghamton Marco Albanese (Emmaus, PA) - 145 lbs Bloomsburg Nik Antonelli (Annapolis, MD) 2023 Maryland 4A/3A State 4th Place - 145 lbs Leo Hess (Mansfield, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State 4th Place - 175 lbs Riley Hughes (Bethlehem Catholic, PA) - 145 lbs Major Lewis (Trinity, PA) 2022 Pennsylvania AA State 7th Place - 106 lbs Luke Thomas (Bethlehem Catholic, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State 5th Place - 172 lbs Nolen Zeigler (West Perry, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State Qualifier - 152 lbs Brown Alex Hamrick (IL) 2023 Illinois 2A State 3rd Place - 220 lbs Bucknell Owen Bell (Hereford, MD) 2023 Maryland 2A/1A State Champ - 126 lbs Dylan McCullough (River Hill, MD) 2023 Maryland 4A/3A State Champ - 170 lbs Hunter Sloan (Hill School, PA) 2022 National Prep 6th Place - 144 lbs Buffalo Magnus Bibla (Crestwood, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State 6th Place - 215 lbs Zachary Gallagher (Starpoint, NY) 2023 New York DI State Qualifier - 189 lbs Aaron Lanster (Miami Beach, FL) 2023 Florida 3A State Runner-Up: 138 lbs Braydon Pennell (Pine Bush, NY) 2023 New York DI State 5th Place - 189 lbs Cal Poly Devin Alexander (Buchanan, CA) 2023 California State Qualifier - 145 lbs Ryan Badgett (Rancho Bernardo, CA) 2022 California State 7th Place Caleb Park (Calvary Chapel, CA) Chattanooga Kendrick Curtis (Fairview, TN) 2023 Tennessee A State 3rd Place - 195 lbs Wyatt Gibbs (Brentwood, TN) 2023 Tennessee AA State Runner-Up - 170 lbs Ethan Lipsey (Bradley Central, TN) 2023 Tennessee AA State Champ - 132 lbs Chaz McDonald (Jefferson, GA) 2023 Georgia 5A State Champ - 120 lbs Collin Mullins (North Paulding, GA) 2023 Georgia 7A State 3rd Place - 132 lbs Yuta Otera (Landstown, VA) 2023 Virginia 6A State Champ - 132 lbs Isaiah Powe (Gardendale, AL) 2023 Alabama 6A State Champ - 145 lbs Ty Tice (Eastside, SC) 2023 South Carolina AAAA State Champ - 120 lbs Ethan Vergara (FL) - Class of 2022 Clarion Transfer: Tye Varndall (Edinboro) Cleveland State Mekhi Bradley (Mansfield, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State 4th Place - 215 lbs Shane Cook (Whitehall, MI) 2023 Michigan D3 State Champ - 285 lbs Kaiden Haines (Minerva, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State 3rd Place - 190 lbs Ethan Mitchell (Findlay, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State Qualifier - 144 lbs AJ Parish (Perrysburg, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State 6th Place - 144 lbs Ruben Pina-Lorenzana (Firelands, OH) 2022 Ohio DI State 3rd Place - 120 lbs Gavin Ricketts (Union County, KY) - Kentucky State Runner-Up - 175 lbs Columbia Joe Curtis (La Costa Canyon, CA) - Class of 2020 Karl Monaco (Montville, NJ) Nolan Neves (St. Paris, OH/Blair, NJ) - Class of 2022 Cornell Zahir McLean-Felix (Green Farms Academy, CT) Ernie Perry (Airline, LA) 2023 Louisiana DI State Champ - 126 lbs CSU Bakersfield Ray Ray Harris (Buchanan, CA) - 2023 California State 5th Place - 125 lbs Steve Caday (Calvary Chapel, CA) - 2023 California State Qualifier - 149 lbs Davidson Bryce Clement (The American School, Japan) Johnny Hager (Delbarton, NJ) 2022 New Jersey State Qualifier - 126 lbs Enis Lijkovic (Barron Collier, FL) 2023 Florida 2A State 5th Place - 120 lbs Tyler McKnight (Cass, GA) Georgia 5A State Champ - 144 lbs Savoy New (Cardinal Gibbons, NC) 2023 North Carolina 4A State Runner-Up - 170 lbs Dylan Smith (Foard, NC) 2023 North Carolina 3A State Champ - 195 lbs DJ Spring (Maiden, NC) 2023 North Carolina 2A State Champ - 285 lbs Drexel Trey Friedman (Lenape, NJ) 2022 New Jersey State Qualifier - 113 lbs George Rhodes (Absegami, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Qualifier - 190 lbs Justin Soriano (Clarke, NY) 2023 New York DI State Qualifier - 172 lbs Duke Raymond Adams (Calhoun, NY) 2023 New York DI State 3rd Place - 126 lbs Kwasi Bonsu (Baldwin, NY) 2023 New York DI State 4th Place - 189 lbs Peter Chacon (Montour, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State Qualifier - 133 lbs Logan Fite (Central Academy, NC) 2023 North Carolina 3A State 3rd Place - 152 lbs Sean O'Donnell (Malvern Prep, PA) 2023 National Prep 7th Place - 144 lbs Logan Richey (Quaker Valley, PA) 2022 Pennsylvania AA State 8th Place - 145 lbs Edinboro Hunter Hutcheson (Mansfield Madison, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State 5th Place - 190 lbs Hunter Johnson (Mifflin County, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State 3rd Place - 121 lbs Steffan Lynch (North East, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 7th Place - 152 lbs Gabe Stafford (Canon-McMillan, PA) 2022 Pennsylvania AAA State Qualifier - 189 lbs Gardner-Webb Brixon Burgess (North Iredell, NC) 2023 North Carolina 3A State Runner-Up - 182 lbs TK Davis (Rockmart, GA) 2023 Georgia AA State Champ - 120 lbs Joey Giordano (Long Branch, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State 4th Place - 138 lbs Eddie Flores (North Iredell, NC) 2023 North Carolina 3A State Champ - 220 lbs Tyler Hicks (Beavercreek, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State Qualifier - 165 lbs Hunter Jones (Hickory Ridge, NC) 2023 North Carolina 4A State Qualifier - 152 lbs Jackson Lusk (SPIRE Academy, OH/NC) - 150 lbs Ty Porter (Salem, VA) 2023 Virginia 4A State Qualifier - 120 lbs Josh Ward (Page, TN) 2023 Tennessee A State Qualifier - 160 lbs George Mason Gunner Chambers (Rockmart, GA) 2023 Georgia 2A State Champ - 126 lbs Ruben Karapetyan (St. John's, DC) 2023 National Prep 8th Place - 190 lbs Cameron McKay (Glen Allen, VA) 2023 Virginia 5A State Champ - 150 lbs Remus Montalvo (Brooke Point, VA) 2023 Virginia 5A State Champ - 190 lbs Collin Pederson (First Colonial, VA) 2023 Virginia 5A State Champ - 285 lbs Harvard Isaiah Adams (Avon, CT) 2023 New England 3rd Place - 113 lbs Kylar Kurtz (El Reno, OK) 2023 Oklahoma 5A State Runner-Up - 120 lbs Logan Marrisal (Saratoga Springs, NY) - 285 lbs Solo Mthethwa (Orange, VA) - 2023 Virginia 4A State 3rd Place - 175 lbs Matthew Walsh (Bedford, MA) 2023 New England 3rd Place - 182 lbs Hofstra Ryan Arbeit (Wantagh, NY) 2023 New York DI State Qualifier - 132 lbs Danny Church (Fort LeBoeuf, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 3rd Place - 215 lbs Will Conlon (Spain Park, AL) 2023 Alabama 7A State Champ - 182 lbs Cam Ice (Minnechaug, MA) 2023 New England 5th Place - 138 lbs Gavin Proffitt (McIntosh, GA) 2023 Georgia 5A State 3rd Place - 285 lbs Jacob Slotnick (St. Augustine Prep, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State 6th - 165 lbs Dylan Zenion (Wyoming Seminary, PA) - 144 lbs Iowa Isaiah Fenton (Notre Dame Burlington, IA) - Iowa 2A State Champ - 152 lbs Transfer: Joey Cruz (Oklahoma) Iowa State Thomas Freking (Jackson County Central, MN) - Minnesota A State Champ - 138 lbs Colby Runner (Severance, CO) - Colorado 3A State Champ - 190 lbs Logan Stotts (Waukee NW, IA) - Iowa 3A State 5th Place - 162 lbs Transfer: Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Kent State Cael Andrews III (Batavia, IL) 2023 Illinois 3A State 6th Place - 145 lbs Adan Benavidez (Bloomfield, NM) 2023 New Mexico 4A State Champ - 133 lbs Jackson Collins (Berea Midpark, OH) Hunter Gundry (Cardinal Gibbons, NC) 2022 North Carolina 4A State Runner-Up - 126 lbs Elijah Llewellyn (Indian Creek, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State Runner-Up - 215 lbs Holden Martin (Westmoore, OK) 2023 Oklahoma 6A State Runner-Up - 175 lbs Harris Mitchell (Vestavia Hills, AL) 2023 Alabama 7A State Runner-Up - 160 lbs Dominic Paterra (Indian Creek, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State Runner-Up - 157 lbs Nate Roth (Greater Latrobe, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State 7th Place - 139 lbs Brentan Simmerman (Morrow Little Miami, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State 4th Place - 215 lbs CJ Spencer (Indian Creek, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State 4th Place -150 lbs Trent Thomas (Bedford, OH) 2023 Ohio DII State Qualifier - 190 lbs Waylon Wehler (St. Mary's, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 3rd Place - 172 lbs Lehigh Ethan Smith (Paramus Catholic, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State 7th Place - 113 lbs Lock Haven Chase Burke (Benton, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 7th Place - 145 lbs Conner Heckman (Midd-West, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State Runner-Up - 133 lbs Lucas Kapusta (Hempfield Area, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 5th Place - 152 lbs Austin Pollard (Brooke Point, VA) 2022 Virginia 5A State Champ - 126 lbs Gunner Singleton (Huntingdon, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State Qualifier - 285 lbs Maryland Jule Dolci (Northern Burlington, NJ) 2022 New Jersey State Qualifier - 285 lbs Ryan Money (Severn School, MD) 2022 National Prep Qualifier - 145 lbs Nathan Perry (Avon Lake, OH) - 138 lbs Joey Schneck (PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State 5th Place - 285 lbs Damian Weaver (Lyndhurst/North Arlington, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Qualifier - 157 lbs Michigan Amann Gulacha (Hillfield Strathallen, Ontario) - 165 lbs Connor Owens (Powers Catholic, MI - 165 lbs) 2023 Michigan D3 State Runner-Up - 165 lbs Zack Ramsey (The Meadows, NV - 157 lbs) 2023 Nevada 5A State Champ - 150 lbs Michigan State Brady Benson (Goodrich, MI) 2023 Michigan D2 State 4th Place - 175 lbs Jack Conley (Lake Fenton, MI) 2023 Michigan D2 State Runner-Up - 150 lbs Jaden Crumpler (Niagara Falls, NY) 2023 New York DI State Champ - 126 lbs Clayton Jones III (Detroit Central Catholic, MI) 2023 Michigan DI State Champ - 144 lbs Bryce Shingleton (Linden, MI) 2023 Michigan D2 State Runner-Up - 126 lbs Minnesota Kyler Wong (Wayzata, MN) 2022 Minnesota AAA State 3rd Place - 145 lbs NC State Joshua Boykin (Lake Highland Prep, FL) 2023 National Prep 3rd Place - 165 lbs Matt Karagias (Stuart Cramer, NC) 2023 North Carolina 3A State Champ - 160 lbs North Carolina Collin Nugent (Phillips Andover, MA) 2023 National Prep Qualifier - 150 lbs North Dakota State Jesse Aarness (Billings West, MT) 2023 Montana AA State Runner-Up - 138 lbs Transfer: Devon Dawson (Pratt CC) Oklahoma State Mitchell Borynack (Stillwater, OK) 2023 Oklahoma 6A State 3rd Place - 144 lbs Jeremy Manibog (Katy, TX) 2023 Texas 6A State Champ - 175 lbs Penn State Transfer: Kurt McHenry (Michigan) Pittsburgh Anthony Santaniello (Brick Memorial, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Champion - 132 lbs Transfer: Finn Solomon (NC State) Rider Lucas Ainbinder (Middletown North, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Qualifier - 215 lbs Eric Broadie (Bergen Catholic, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Qualifier - 165 lbs Kevin McBride (St. John Vianney, NJ) 2022 New Jersey State Qualifier - 150 lbs Branden Palcko (Paul VI, NJ) 2023 New Jersey State Qualifier - 138 lbs Liam Scrivanich (Saucon Valley, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 5th Place - 152 lbs Luke Tracey (Long Branch, NJ) Transfers: Kyle Davis (George Mason) Mason Lynch (Kent State) Rutgers Shane Cartagena-Walsh (St. Benedict's, NJ) 2023 National Prep 4th Place - 175 lbs Transfer: Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) SIU Edwardsville Gavin Alexander (Hillsboro, MO) 2023 Missouri Class 3 State Runner-Up - 126 lbs Aaron Cramer (Grayslake Central, IL) 2022 Illinois 2A State Runner-Up - 170 lbs Deion Johnson (Homewood-Flossmoor, IL) 2023 Illinois 3A State Runner-Up - 113 lbs Dom Lopez (New London, IA) - 2023 Iowa 1A State Runner-Up - 160 lbs South Dakota State Avery Allen (Bozeman, MT) 2023 Montana AA State Champ - 145 lbs Jared Thiry (Don Bosco, IA) 2023 Iowa 1A State 4th Place - 170 lbs Stanford Jackson Mankowski (LaFollette, WI) 2023 Wisconsin DI State 3rd Place - 285 lbs Transfer: Dom LaJoie (Cornell) Utah Valley Kael Bennie (Layton, UT) 2023 Utah 6A State Champ - 190 lbs Trevor Frank (Payson, UT) 2023 Utah 5A State Champ - 157 lbs Q'Veli Quintanilla (University, WA) 2023 Washington 3A State Champ - 145 lbs Virginia Steven Burrell Jr. (Green Farms Academy, CT) 2023 National Prep Champ - 215 lbs Dylan Newsome (Bishop Hartley, OH) Ohio DII State Champ - 175 lbs Transfers: Ryan Catka (Navy) Sammie Hayes (Illinois) VMI Phoenix Alyea (Skyline, VA) 2023 Virginia 3A State Runner-Up - 132 lbs Luke Bryant (Riverheads, VA) 2023 Virginia 1A State Champion - 190 lbs Sam Dickey (Sherwood, MD) 2023 Maryland 4A/3A 5th Place - 195 lbs Jayson Flener (North Allegheny, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AAA State Qualifier - 145 lbs Christian Moffett (Woodgrove, VA) 2023 Virginia 5A State 4th Place - 175 lbs Caleb Richardson (East Hamilton, TN) 2023 Tennessee A State 6th Place - 182 lbs River Smith (Glenvar, VA) 2023 Virginia 2A State Runner-Up - 126 lbs Caleb Swanson (Northside, VA) 2023 Virginia 3A State 4th Place - 150 lbs Mohammed Zangneh (Glen Allen, VA) 2023 Virginia 5A State Champ - 120 lbs West Virginia Erick Brothers (Wheeling Park, WV) 2023 West Virginia AAA State Runner-Up - 220 lbs Garhett Dickenson (Linganore, MD) 2023 Maryland 4A/3A State Champ - 132 lbs Luke Eschenheimer (Cascia Hall, OK) 2023 Oklahoma 4A State Champ - 190 lbs Alex Gavronsky (Belmont Hill, MA) 2023 National Prep 5th Place - 157 lbs Dom Parker (University, WV) 2023 West Virginia AAA State Runner-Up - 152 lbs Wilson Spires (General McLane, PA) 2023 Pennsylvania AA State 7th Place - 285 lbs Transfer: Jett Strickenberger (NW Kansas Tech) Wisconsin Simon Kruse (St. Clair/Mankato Loyola, MN) Minnesota A State Runner-Up - 120 lbs Royce Nilo (Milton, WI) Wisconsin D1 State 3rd Place - 145 lbs Dylan Russo (Olentangy Liberty, OH) 2023 Ohio DI State Champ - 215 lbs Wyoming Austin Richens (Uintah, UT) Utah 5A State 3rd Place - 190 lbs Paolo Salminen (Billings Skyview, MT) Montana AA State Champ - 170 lbs Transfers: Cooper Birdwell (Oklahoma State) Stockton O'Brien (Utah Valley) David Saenz (Mt. San Antonio)

Tony Ersland (left) in the 2023 NCAA Semifinals Purdue head coach Tony Ersland sits down with Big Ten correspondent Kevin Claunch to recap an interesting 2022-23 season. The Boilermakers took their lumps during the dual season but finished in the top-20 in Tulsa on the strength of an NCAA finals appearance from Matt Ramos and a podium finish from veteran Parker Filius. Ersland goes through Ramos and Filius big matches and touches on other notables. Looking ahead to next season, Purdue has an excellent recruiting class and some high-quality transfers ready to go. Coach Ersland talks about some of the incoming recruits and the transfers. The interview can be found on InterMat's Rokfin Page.

New Iowa recruit Angelo Ferrari at the 2022 Walsh Ironman (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This evening, live on FloWrestling, Angelo Ferrari (Melissa, TX) made his college commitment. Ferrari, the top-ranked 170 lber in the nation and the #5 overall wrestler in the Class of 2024, had narrowed his college choices down to three; Iowa, Rutgers, and Virginia Tech. Ultimately, Ferrari chose Iowa and put on a Hawkeye cap, but not before pulling out a Penn State hat and tossing it aside. Ferrari projects as a 184 lber at the next level. That bodes well for the Hawkeyes who don’t have an obvious successor to Abe Assad in the works. UWW U20 Open champion Gabe Arnold, an incoming freshman, is probably more of a 174 lber, at least in the beginning of his career. The Hawkeyes also have redshirt freshmen Drake Rhodes and Mickey Griffith as possibilities at the weight. He’ll join #28 Miguel Estrada (CA) and unranked Keyan Hernandez (MT) in what’s shaping up to be a very strong recruiting Class of 2024 for Tom Brands’ team. Ferrari is a two-time state champion, winning as a sophomore in Oklahoma and in February for Melissa High School in Texas. He owns a pair of Walsh Ironman titles with the most recent coming last December at 165 lbs. In 2021, Ferrari was third in UWW U17 freestyle and at the Super 32. Expected to join Angelo is older brother Anthony. He has been working out in Iowa City, but has yet to enroll and officially join the Hawkeye wrestling team. Anthony was MatScouts #23 recruit in the Class of 2022.

2023 NCAA runner-up Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Big 12 stories kept on coming throughout the month of May. There’s certainly been no shortage of news (and rumors) floating around. So, let’s recap some of the things that had our attention. Coaching moves New Face For The Sooners Let’s be honest, the Oklahoma coaching search had all types of stories flying around. Everyone was wondering who was going to be the guy after it was announced that Lou Rosselli would no longer be the Sooners’ Head Coach. Then two days into the month it was announced that Roger Kish was hired for the position. Kish, who spent 12 seasons as the Head Coach at North Dakota State and amassed a 108-70 dual meet record while coaching the Bison, will take the reins at OU after they had an unfavorable 40th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Kish won’t be the only newcomer rocking crimson and cream this season. Since Kish’s arrival both Nick Heflin and Sam Hazewinkel have announced that they will not be staying with the program. So far nothing official has been announced as to who will be on staff at OU, but sources believe that Dom Sykora and Austin Marsden will be following him to Norman. In addition, it’s being said that Teyon Ware, who was part of the previous staff, would be staying on staff. Check out the history of Big 12 coaching since 2000. A New Bison Regime With the departure of Kish to OU after what was considered to be a process riddled with rumors of who would be taking over, NDSU didn’t waste any time filling the position as they quickly elevated Obe Blanc to Head Coach just three days after his predecessor was announced as the coach at OU. Blanc coached under Kish for four seasons with the last two as the Associate Head Coach. I had the pleasure of catching up with Blanc the day it was announced he was taking the position where he said the following: "We want to continue our growth in all facets. I want to build our current RTC/club to allow our student-athletes to pursue more NCAA titles, but also World and Olympic titles as well," Blanc said about his outlook for the NDSU program. You can read his comments from our conversation here. In addition to Blanc taking over the program, he brought in former NC State stud Hayden Hidlay as his Assistant Coach. Hidlay was coached by Blanc from 2017-19 as Hidlay claimed a number of his AA finishes for the Wolfpack. I was able to talk with Hidlay about making the move to Fargo, ND along with his feelings about leaving his brother, Trent, and the Wolfpack for the first time since stepping on campus. Watch the full interview here. Newcomer In Laramie After spending last season in the MAC at Cleveland State, Devin Schroder is on his way to Laramie to be an Assistant Coach on Mark Branch’s staff. Schroder joined CSU after completing his collegiate career at Purdue where he was a four-time NCAA qualifier. "We are very excited to welcome Devin to Laramie." Head Wrestling Coach Mark Branch said in the school’s announcement, "We have a great stable of lightweight wrestlers in our room and Devin is going to be able to make a big impact on their development. I think he's going to be a great fit to round out an amazing staff." Read the full announcement here. Roster Changes Short Trip For A New Home After spending his gray shirt year in Iowa City, Cody Chittum heads to Ames and signs with the Cyclones. Chittum was a highly sought-after recruit who originally made his commitment to Minnesota in 2021 before changing course and heading to Iowa where he spent the last year training. But, after the year of training, it seems the time in Hawkeye’s room has come to an end. "I cried leaving. "I love those guys (in the Iowa program). I'm going to miss them," Chittum said in an article by Cody Goodwin in the Des Moines Register. Ultimately, instead of Hawks black and gold it will be Cyclone cardinal and gold for the Junior National Champ and former No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound wrestler in Matscouts’ 2021-22 standings. Dresser Scoops An AA From the Portal As if Iowa State’s lineup didn’t look tough enough with the addition of Cody Chittum, the ascension of Yonger Bastida to heavyweight from 197-pounds and of course David Carr returning, they now add 184-pound All-American Will Feldkamp to the mix. Feldkamp, who is coming from Clarion, finished the season with a 29-6 record, a MAC title and a 7th-place finish at NCAAs. With Bastida moving up, Feldkamp can be the Cyclones’ answer for the vacant spot at 197, where Feldkamp spent the 2021-22 season and was an NCAA qualifier. Read the full school announcement here. All-American Bison Going Grazing With all the moves being made on the NDSU and OU coaching staffs, there was bound to be a little movement with the rosters as well. Just last weekend (May 28) it was announced that Mikey Caliendo, who capped off last season with a seventh-place finish at 165 pounds, would be entering the transfer portal. At the time of writing this, his destination was unknown. Yesterday, NDSU’s other All-American, Jared Franek, entered the portal. The NCAA fourth-place finisher at 157 lbs has another year of eligibility remaining. Leaving Big 12 Country After a season where he finished as an NCAA qualifier, Victor Voinovich has left Stillwater, OK. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy reached the round of 16 at the NCAA tournament last season after finishing 17-13 as a redshirt freshman. Voinovich will be a potential replacement for All-American Max Murin at 149. Mitch Moore won’t be in Norman anymore. Moore, who started his college career at Virginia Tech before making the move to OU, announced via Instagram that he will be applying for a medical hardship year and entering the transfer portal. He started out at 141 for the Hokies in his first 2 seasons then moved up to 149 for the Sooners. Could we see him make another move up in weight? So far, his landing spot – both in weight and school – is yet to be determined. In addition to Moore’s departure, 125-pounder Joey Cruz will be leaving Sooner country as well as he’s headed to Iowa. Cruz took a redshirt season last year and only wrestled four times at the beginning of the season and going 2-2 before not returning to open competition for the rest of the year due to an injury. The California high school state champion will have four years of eligibility and will certainly add depths to the Iowa lineup with Spencer Lee now gone. The Return One More Year After finishing the season as an NCAA finalist, South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan announced that he will be coming back for one final year. Sloan lost in the finals at 197-pounds to Nino Bonaccorsi, 5-3 to finish as the runner-up and claim NCAA All-American honors for the first time in his career with a 27-3 record.

West Virginia's Peyton Hall (left) and Iowa's Patrick Kennedy in the 2022 U23 Men's Freestyle finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This weekend the U20 and U23 World Team Trials for men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman will take place from the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. InterMat will be at the event with all sorts of coverage. Before getting to this year, take a look back at the results from the 2023 best-of-three-finals in both age groups and styles. As you can see from the results below, there were some incredibly loaded weights with great finals matchups. U20 Men’s Freestyle Results 57 kg - Jore Volk (Wyoming) over Troy Spratley (Minnesota; now Oklahoma State) 4-2, 3-6, 5-5 61 kg - Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) over Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 6-14, 12-7, 15-4 65 kg - Vince Cornella (Cornell) over Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 3-4, 12-10, 4-1 70 kg - Mitchell Mesenbrink (California Baptist; now Penn State) over Levi Haines (Penn State) 2-2, 7-2 74 kg - Alex Facundo (Penn State) over Jack Thomsen (South Dakota State; now Northern Iowa) 10-0, 12-0 79 kg - Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) over Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) 3-1, 2-2 86 kg - Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) over Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) 6-11, 13-3, 11-0 92 kg - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) over Silas Allred (Nebraska) 13-6, 10-0 97 kg - Ben Kueter (Iowa) over Noah Pettigrew (North Carolina) 5-0, 7-0 125 kg - Nick Feldman (Ohio State) over Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) Fall 3:39; 5-0 U23 Men’s Freestyle Results 57 kg - Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) over Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) Fall, 4-0, 4-2 61 kg - Aaron Nagao (Minnesota; now Penn State) over Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 12-2, 13-6 65 kg - Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) over Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) 10-6, 8-4 70 kg - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) over JonJon Millner (Appalachian State) 13-0, 10-0 74 kg - Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) over Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 8-3, 5-0 79 kg - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) over Mickey O’Malley (Drexel) 6-2, 8-0 86 kg - Trent Hidlay (NC State) over Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 12-1, 10-1 92 kg - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) over Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 7-2, 4-2 97 kg - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) over Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 10-0, 10-3 125 kg - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) over Zach Elam (Missouri) 11-4, 13-2 U20 Men’s Greco-Roman 55 kg - Jonathan Gurule over Jakason Burks 9-0, 5-1 60 kg - Joseph Couch over Dyson Kunz No Contest, 13-11 63 kg - Haiden Drury over Pierson Manville 5-3, 6-3 67 kg - Robert Perez III over Hunter Garvin 7-0, disq 72 kg - Richard Fedalen over Braden Stauffenberg 8-0, 6-0 77 kg - Payton Jacobson over Jared Stricker No Contest, 8-0 82 kg - Adrian Arsisheuskiy over Michael Altomer 9-0, 8-0 87 kg - Kodiak Stephens over Tyler Hannah 6-3, 5-2 97 kg - Christian Carroll over Robert Plympton 8-0, 8-0 130 kg - Aden Attao over Gary Powell Fall :52, Fall 1:18 U23 Men’s Greco-Roman 55 kg - Camden Russell over Sam Braswell 8-4, 9-0 60 kg - Phillip Moomey over Max Black Fall 5:02, 8-0 63 kg - Savion Haywood over Zachary Westlund 8-0, 9-0 67 kg - Job Greenwood over Cayden Henschel 7-8, 6-5, 10-0 72 kg - PJ Ogunsanya over Dom Damon Injury Default 77 kg - Justin McCunn over Cody Eaton Fall 3:29, Fall 2:05, Injury Default 82 kg - Tyler Cunningham over Jake Hendricks 11-3, 3-6, 13-6 87 kg - Michial Foy over Vincent Baker 5-9, 8-0, 8-0 97 kg - Nicholas Boykin over Ryan Tiers 8-0, 8-0 130 kg - Matthew Cover over Gary Powell 9-0, 4-0

New Penn State transfer Kurt McHenry (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's been a week since InterMat has updated the Transfer Tracker and there has been plenty of action in the transfer portal. Though the window for entry in the portal has temporarily closed, there are still lots of talented wrestlers in the portal or who have recently made decisions on where to transfer. Here is the updated list of wrestlers who have transferred into DI institutions for the 2023-24 season. There are some notables (Cody Chittum) who loosely may be called transfers, they were not enrolled at their previous institution, merely training under a wrestling club or RTC. That is a reason why he is not listed for Iowa State. Arizona State Chance McLane (Oklahoma State) Bloomsburg Harrison Levans (West Virginia) Kordell Waiter (Lackawanna CC) Buffalo Caleb Brooks (Northern Illinois) Eric Tigue (Niagara CC) California Baptist Darren Green (Wyoming) Justin Phillips (Virginia) Eli Sheeran (Buffalo) Cal Poly Michael Goldfeder (North Carolina) Chance Lamer (Michigan) Clarion Tye Varndall (Edinboro) Drexel Ibrahim Ameer (Cloud CC) Shane Whitney (Camden CC) George Mason Brandon Wittenberg (Virginia Tech) Hofstra Joe Russo (Nassau CC) Illinois Charlie Heydorn (Ohio) Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) Indiana Roman Rogotzke (South Dakota State) Iowa Joey Cruz (Oklahoma) Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) Iowa State Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Garrett Grice (Virginia) Lehigh Hunter Mays (Rider) Maryland Seth Nevills (Penn State) Michigan Chris Cannon (Northwestern) Lucas Davison (Northwestern) Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) Shane Griffith (Stanford) Nebraska Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) Northern Colorado Adam Busiello (Nassau CC) Northern Illinois Tommy Curran (NC State) Northern Iowa Jack Thomsen (South Dakota State) Northwestern Patrick Adams (Buffalo) Oklahoma Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) Juan Mora (North Dakota State) Oklahoma State Tagen Jamison (Minnesota) Mirzo Khayitov (Ellsworth CC) Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) Troy Spratley (Minnesota) Oregon State Steele Starren (Clackamas CC) Penn State Kurt McHenry (Michigan) Mitchell Mesenbrink (California Baptist) Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) Purdue Joey Milano (NC State) Marcos Polanco (Minnesota) James Rowley (Wisconsin) Rider Kyle Davis (George Mason) Mason Lynch (Kent State) Enrique Munguia (Kent State) Rutgers Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) Stanford Dom LaJoie (Cornell) The Citadel Jeffrey Boyd (West Virginia) Virginia Ryan Catka (Navy) Sammie Hayes (Illinois) West Virginia Jett Strickenberger (NW Kansas Tech) Wisconsin Shane Liegel (Loras) Max Maylor (Michigan) Luke Mechler (Oklahoma State) Wyoming Cooper Birdwell (Oklahoma State) Ethan Ducca (Edinboro) Stockton O'Brien (Utah Valley) David Saenz (Mt. San Antonio CC) Gabe Willochell (Edinboro)

The top point-scorer in fantasy wrestling for the 2022-23 season Mason Parris (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We are now a couple months out from when the final whistle in Tulsa signaled the conclusion of the 2023 NCAA season, and we took that time to dive into everything that came with the #FCW23 season. That, and just about everyone else’s “Year End Awards” articles are done. Like other major sports, the NBA in particular which just recently came out with their All-NBA 1st/2nd/3rd teams, we have a season-end tradition of awarding those wrestlers that showed up and stepped on the line with our annual All Fantasy Teams. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat Leagues: The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc.) Scoring only counted against D1 competition Wins via Forfeits (FFT) Injury (INJ) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total. Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total. Points were only accumulated only during the regular season. Compared to last season, this group of 36 wrestlers outscored their 2022 counterparts by 257 Fpts (2,979 Fpts this season compared to 2,722 in 2022). This year also outplaced 2022 with 25 All Americans: 2022 - 1st Place (2), 2nd Place (2), 3rd Place (4), 4th Place (2), 5th Place (2), 6th Place (2), 7th Place (0), 8th Place (2) = Total (16) 2023 - 1st Place (3), 2nd Place (5), 3rd Place (5), 4th Place (3), 5th Place (1), 6th Place (5), 7th Place (2), 8th Place (1) = Total (25) All Fantasy First Team 125: Anthony Noto (LHU)- 91 Fpts 133: Daton Fix (OKST)- 87 Fpts 141: Brock Hardy (NEB)- 90 Fpts 149: Jon Jon Millner (APP)- 108 Fpts 157: Peyton Robb (NEB)- 94 Fpts 165: Evan Barczak (DREX)- 85 Fpts 174: Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU)- 87 Fpts 184: Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- 82 Fpts 197: Tanner Sloan (SDSU)- 86 Fpts 285: Mason Parris (MICH)- 116 Fpts Floater 1: Wyatt Hendrickson (AF)- 114 Fpts [@ 285] Floater 2: Sammy Sasso (OHST)- 98 Fpts [@ 149] Like last season, the All Fantasy First Team only had one National Champion (Parris), and scored a total of 1,138. That shadows last year’s team by 119 Fpts! Three wrestlers in the 2024 First Team All Fantasy reached the 100 point club, with Hendrickson reaching it for the second consecutive season. Noto finds himself on his second consecutive All Fantasy First Team, while Daton Fix makes his third. Noto and Fix bested their previous season Fantasy Point totals by five and 11 Fpts, respectively. Hendrickson also makes his second straight Fantasy First Team, but this time as the first Floater. He too bested his score from 2022, by 10 points. Millner is technically the only wrestler not to wrestle at NCAAs in any of the three teams, but that was due to injury/infection so we won't count that against him. He was the #9 seed after winning the SoCon before withdrawing. Eligibility wise, this team had no true Freshmen make the list this year. Brock Hardy was the only Freshman (due to the COVID year) and two Sophomores, five Juniors, and three Seniors round out the team. Fun fact, of the Average Draft Position data for #FCW23 (which goes up to 221), he did not have an ADP to be within that 221. Same goes for 174 Tyler Stoltzfus. The #1 overall wrestler this season, Mason Parris, had his best bonus rate (full season, excluding the 2021 COVID year), which helped him eek out Fantasy Wrestler of the Year over Floater #1 Wyatt Hendrickson… and I guess helped in securing the Hodge Trophy too. All Fantasy Second Team 125: Matt Ramos (PUR)- 84 Fpts 133: Michael McGee (ASU)- 71 Fpts 141: Andrew Alirez (UNCO)- 88 Fpts 149: Ethen Miller (MD)- 74 Fpts 157: Kendall Coleman (PUR)- 81 Fpts 165: Izzak Olejnik (NIU)- 76 Fpts 174: Michael Labriola (NEB)- 82 Fpts 184: Trey Munoz (ORST)- 74 Fpts 197: Max Dean (PSU)- 78 Fpts 285: Grady Greiss (NAVY)- 90 Fpts Floater 1: Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA)- 82 Fpts [@ 285] Floater 2: Colton McKiernan (SIUE)- 82 Fpts [@ 285] Like the First Team, the All Fantasy Second team only had one Champion with Alirez at 141. This is the first time in the past four seasons that Alirez has been in the Top-10 at any weight for Fantasy, with his last highest placing in 2020 at 8th in the 149 weight class. Even though he only had three decisions and fell two Fpts behind the top spot at 141, he wrestled eight total less matches than Hardy and had the highest PPM in the weight class (4.4). Kendall Coleman put together his best season since his Redshirt Freshman campaign (coincidently he had the same record of 29-8). The difference this year? Having a better bonus rate of 33% compared to his 2020 rate of 21.6%. Even though he had a perfect regular season, and even though he had a regular season bonus rate over 50%, Michael Labirola finds himself just slightly behind Tyler Stolzfuz (LHU) on the First Team due solely for Stolzfus wrestling in 18 more matches. The two floater spots are occupied by two more heavyweights, which bring the total to five between the First and Second Teams. Grady Greiss makes his second consecutive Second Team as the 285 starter, The 2023 All Fantasy Second Team scored 962 total Fpts, which outscored the 2022 squad by 59 Fpts All Fantasy Third Team 125: Spencer Lee (IOWA)- 73 Fpts 133: Lucas Byrd (ILL)- 70 Fpts 141: Beau Bartlett (PSU)- 70 Fpts 149: Caleb Henson (VT)- 67 Fpts 157: Austin O’Connor (UNC)- 74 Fpts 165: Peyton Hall (WVU)- 74 Fpts 174: Chris Foca (COR)- 79 Fpts 184: Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- 72 Fpts 197: Ethan Laird (RID)- 75 Fpts 285: Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- 80 Fpts Floater 1: Quincy Monday (PRIN)- 73 Fpts [@ 165] Floater 2: Caleb Smith (APP)- 72 Fpts [@ 125] Spencer Lee makes his first All Fantasy team in the past four years, with #3 at 125 being his highest placing, even though he’s held the #1 Overall ADP of in 2023, 2022, 2021, and #3 in 2020. The last time Lee was in the Top-10 of Fpts was in 2020 were he was #6. He was #16 in 2021 and #51 in 2022 (where he only wrestled at the Collegiate Duals in Destin, FL). Just like the other two teams this year, there was only one Champion on the All Fantasy Third Team with Austin O’Connor at 157. Caleb Smith just makes the cut as the last floater to make his second consecutive Third Team roster. He was the 2022 All Fantasy Third Team 125 rep a season ago. This group of 12 scored just 29 more Fpts than the 2022 Third Team squad (850 Fpts). ************************************ Be on the lookout for our upcoming articles of the Top-20 wrestlers of each weight from the #FCW23 season!

Illinois signee Kannon Webster at the 2022 Walsh Ironman (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We’re on track to release our team recruiting rankings on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, so thank you to everyone for their patience! But, before starting you’re holiday weekend, here’s a little taste of recruiting reading for fans of that particular area. Yesterday, Pittsburgh announced the signing of New Jersey state champion Anthony Santaniello. On MatScouts’ final Class of 2023 Big Board rankings Santaniello came in at a cool #18. He was certainly the highest-ranked signee of the still-young Keith Gavin era. So that begged the question, when was the last time Pittsburgh hauled in a recruit equal to or higher than Santaniello’s ranking? After finding out the answer (it’s below), we’ve decided to look at the Class of 2023 and see how many of these “highest ranked recruit since…” we could discover. As usual, the parameters. We just looked at MatScouts Top-50 for the Class of 2023. We didn’t include every single program. For a program like Penn State or Ohio State, they tend to get extremely highly ranked recruits every year, so saying “the highest-ranked recruit since 2022” is sort of unnecessary. So, let’s get down to it! I didn’t expect to include the first two wrestlers (schools) on this list: #1 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) Shapiro is the first Cornell recruit to hold the number one overall spot in his respective classes' recruiting rankings since these types of lists became prevalent in 2005. Before Shapiro, the highest-ranked recruits coming into Ithaca were Yianni Diakomihalis (2017), Chris Villalonga (2010), and his future head coach Mike Grey (2006). Those three were all ranked #3 overall. #7 Beau Mantanona (Michigan) It’s a good sign that the last Michigan wrestler to have a top-seven ranking was the Wolverines most recent national champion, Mason Parris. He also became the first Michigan wrestler to win the Hodge Trophy and already has a spot in Final X, just less than three months removed from his final collegiate bout. #10 Kannon Webster (Illinois) Like Mantanona/Michigan, there’s some good karma associated with the Illini’s most recent top-ten recruit. Prior to Kannon Webster, you have to go back to 2013 to find the last time Illinois signed a top-ten wrestler (#8). He was Isaiah Martinez who went on to become one of the all-time greats in school history with two national titles and four finals appearances. Webster was also the first recruit to commit after the hiring of Mike Poeta as the school’s head coach in 2021. #12 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) Princeton has really stepped up its recruiting results within the last decade or so. Even so, you have to go back to 2015 to find the last time Princeton hauled in a recruit ranked #12 overall or higher. Of course, that recruit ended up being one of the trailblazers of the program, Matt Kolodzik (#8). He would become the team’s first freshman All-American and got on the NCAA podium three times before the cancelation in 2020. #18 Anthony Santaniello (Pittsburgh) On Thursday news came out that Anthony Santaniello had been released from his NLI commitment to Oklahoma and would be signing with Pittsburgh, joining his older brother Vince. The last time Pitt had a top-20 recruit? 2013 with #7 overall Cody Wiercioch. That was a highly acclaimed recruiting class that didn’t necessarily work out well for the Panthers. Pittsburgh also brought in a top-20 recruit, early in his career via transfer, when Micky Phillipi came in from Virginia. #21 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) This is a relatively easy one to figure out. Nasir Bailey is the highest-ranked recruit ever signed by Neil Erisman’s program. Of course, Little Rock has only been in existence since 2018 and its first year of competition was 2019-20. Erisman’s team has had some huge recruiting classes (numbers-wise) over the first couple of years, as you’d expect, but a recruit of Bailey’s caliber could take the program to the next level. #25 Dario Lemus (Maryland) You would think that Jaxon Smith or one of the members of Maryland's #8 ranked recruiting class would have cracked the top-25 in the Class of 2021, but they weren’t. Smith was the highest at #36. So, you’d have to go all the way back to 2005 to find the last time Maryland had a top-25 recruit. He was #17 Hudson Taylor who went on to be one of the top wrestlers in Maryland history, a three-time All-American and perennial title contender. #34 Jasiah Queen (Drexel) One of the more under-the-radar top 50 recruits from 2023 was New Jersey state runner-up Jasiah Queen. Queen was a Fargo All-American last summer and a Beast of the East runner-up in the regular season. He’s the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Drexel since #17 Austin DeSanto in 2017. Drexel fans hope that Queen has the accomplishments that DeSanto had, yet does it in a Dragon singlet. #43 Cooper Haase (Army West Point) The Army West Point team continues to get better on the recruiting trail. They’ve been on an upward trajectory for about the last five years or so. The centerpiece of this year’s recruiting class is Super 32 fourth place finisher Cooper Haase. Haase is the highest-ranked recruit to commit to Kevin Ward’s team since Markus Hartman (#30) in 2018. Hartman went on to qualify for the NCAA tournament on three occasions.

Austin Sommer (right) and Hofstra assistant coach Mauro Correnti Hofstra assistant coach Mauro Correnti sat down with EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer to talk about some of the Pride's upperweights from the 2022-23 campaign. Coach Correnti also hits on the leadership of Jacob Ferreira, Hofstra's increased roster size and room improvement, and Tom Ryan going into the school's HOF. The two finish by swapping dad stories. The interview can be found on InterMat's Rokfin Page.

Thomas Gilman (right) and Daton Fix at Final X Lincoln in 2018 (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As we move closer to Final X (June 10th), we’ll have previews and special features on the actual matchups that will take place from Newark’s Prudential Center. Before then, let’s take a look back at the results from every Final X match throughout the three years of the event. 2022 Final X Stillwater Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Thomas Gilman over Vito Arujau (12-2, 14-2) 61 kg: Seth Gross over Daton Fix (5-5, 5-4, 9-5) 70 kg: Zain Retherford over Jordan Oliver (8-3, 4-5, 4-3) 92 kg: J’den Cox over Nate Jackson (4-2, 2-3, 3-0) 97 kg: Kyle Snyder over Kollin Moore (11-0, 12-2) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg: Jacarra Winchester over Jenna Burkert (4-6, Injury Default) 59 kg: Abby Nette over Lexie Bashman (12-4, 8-5) 65 kg: Mallory Velte over Forrest Molinari (9-1, 1-3, 10-0) 68 kg: Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Sienna Ramirez (14-3, 10-0) 76 kg: Dymond Guilford over Yelena Makoyed (10-5, 12-2) Greco-Roman 55 kg: Max Nowry over Brady Koontz (1-1, 1-1) 63 kg: Jesse Thielke over Sammy Jones (4-4, 3-2) 72 kg: Benji Peak over Patrick Smith (3-5, 3-2, 6-2) 82 kg: Ben Provisor over Spencer Woods (8-0, 5-3) 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz over Tanner Farmer (5-1, 5-2) Final X NYC Men’s Freestyle 65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis over Evan Henderson (11-9, 14-4) 74 kg: Kyle Dake over Jason Nolf (4-2, 2-1) 79 kg: Jordan Burroughs over Chance Marsteller (4-0, 2-2, 5-0) 86 kg: David Taylor over Zahid Valencia (4-2, 10-0) 125 kg: Hayden Zillmer over Nick Gwiazdowski (0-5, 4-3, 5-5) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Sarah Hildebrandt over Alyssa Lampe (10-0, 10-0) 53 kg: Dom Parrish over Felicity Taylor (7-2, 8-2) 57 kg: Helen Maroulis over Alex Hedrick (10-0, 10-0) 72 kg: Amit Elor over Skylar Grote (10-0, 10-0) Greco-Roman 60 kg: Ildar Hafizov over Dalton Roberts (11-7, 2-3, 4-1) 67 kg: Alex Sancho over Alston Nutter (10-9, 5-2) 77 kg: Kamal Bey over Britton Holmes (Fall 5:12, 10-0) 87 kg: Alan Vera over Timothy Young (Fall 1:00, 9-1) 97 kg: G’Angelo Hancock over Braxton Amos (8-0, 8-2) Special Wrestle-Off (Lancaster) Women’s Freestyle 62 kg: Kayla Miracle over Jennifer Page (2-13, 12-2, 5-3) 2019 Final X Rutgers Men’s Freestyle 65 kg: Zain Retherford over Yianni Diakomihalis (10-4, 6-6) ****Special Wrestle-Off Needed: Won by Retherford, 2-1 86 kg: Patrick Downey over David Taylor (Forfeit) 92 kg: J’den Cox over Bo Nickal (4-2, 5-0) 125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski over Gable Steveson (4-4, 3-3) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Whitney Conder over Victoria Anthony (7-4, Fall 1:57) 57 kg: Jenna Burkert over Becka Leathers (4-2, 5-0) 65 kg: Forrest Molinari over Maya Nelson (3-5, 12-2, 4-1) 68 kg: Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Alex Glaude (Fall 4:50, 10-0) 72 kg - Victoria Francis over Alyvia Fiske (7-2, Fall 3:30) Greco-Roman 55 kg: Max Nowry over Brady Koontz (3-0, 11-5) 67 kg: Ellis Coleman over Jamel Johnson (Fall 4:05, 6-0) 77 kg: Patrick Smith over Kamal Bey (2-11, 2-1, 6-3) 82 kg: John Stefanowicz over Kendrick Sanders (8-5, 3-2) 87 kg: Joe Rau over Ben Provisor (2-1, 5-1) Final X Lincoln Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Daton Fix over Thomas Gilman (9-1, 2-3, 6-3) 61 kg: Tyler Graff over Joe Colon (4-6, 9-2, 12-2) 70 kg: James Green over Ryan Deakin (11-0, 4-2) 74 kg: Jordan Burroughs over Isaiah Martinez (5-4, 5-6, 7-1) 97 kg: Kyle Snyder over Kyven Gadson (4-0, 12-1) Women’s Freestyle 53 kg: Sarah Hildebrandt over Katherine Shai (3-0, 8-0) 55 kg: Jacarra Winchester over Dom Parrish (10-0, 8-3) 59 kg: Alli Ragan over Lauren Louive (10-0, 10-0) 62 kg: Kayla Miracle over Mallory Velte (12-2, 4-0) 76 kg: Adeline Gray over Precious Bell (Fall 1:57, 10-0) Greco-Roman 60 kg: Ildar Hafizov over Leslie Fuenffinger (7-5, 9-0) 63 kg: Ryan Mango over Xavier Johnson (13-2, 6-5) 72 kg: Raymond Bunker over Alex Mossing (3-1, 7-0) 97 kg: G’Angelo Hancock over Lucas Sheridan (8-0, 5-2) 130 kg: Adam Coon over Cohlton Schultz (8-0, 5-1) Special Wrestle-Off (Round Rock) Men’s Freestyle 79 kg: Kyle Dake over Alex Dieringer (3-2, 4-2) 2018 Final X Lincoln Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Thomas Gilman over Daton Fix (6-3, 2-1) 70 kg: James Green over Jason Chamberlain (2-0, 2-1) 74 kg: Jordan Burroughs over Isaiah Martinez (4-1, 11-1) 97 kg: Kyle Snyder over Kyven Gadson (9-0, 10-2) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg: Jacarra Winchester over Becka Leathers (10-6, 5-1) 59 kg: Alli Ragan over Jenna Burkert (4-0, 5-0) 68 kg: Tamyra Mensah-Stock over Randi Beltz (10-0, 10-0) Final X State College Men’s Freestyle 65 kg: Logan Stieber over Joey McKenna (8-8, 8-0) 79 kg: Kyle Dake over Zahid Valencia (4-0, 4-3) 86 kg: David Taylor over Nick Reenan (13-2, 10-0) Women’s Freestyle 62 kg: Mallory Velte over Kayla Miracle (2-4, 4-2, 7-1) 72 kg: Erin Clodgo over Rachel Watters (4-2, 0-8, 4-4) 76 kg: Adeline Gray over Korinahe Bullock (10-0, Fall 1:04) Final X Bethlehem Men’s Freestyle 61 kg: Nahshon Garrett over Joe Colon (5-7, 10-5, 12-0) 92 kg: J’den Cox over Hayden Zillmer (5-2, 10-0) 125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski over Adam Coon (6-1, 6-1) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Whitney Conder over Victoria Anthony (10-4, 2-4, 11-0) 53 kg: Sarah Hildebrandt over Haley Augello (6-0, 8-0) 65 kg: Forrest Molinari over Julia Salata (5-0, 10-2) Special Wrestle-Off (Bethlehem) Women’s Freestyle 57 kg: Helen Maroulis over Alex Hedrick (10-0, 12-0)

Jesse Mendez, one of the cornerstones of Ohio State recruiting class of 2022 (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We’re ever-so-close to releasing team recruiting rankings. It seems like forever, I know! Before we get to those, let’s take a look back at how the last ten #1 overall recruiting classes actually panned out in college. The general consensus is that these recruiting classes either played integral parts in a team title or helped elevate a team from good to team trophy contender. Or it’s too early to tell. One would expect with an exercise like this that the Big Ten would dominate and generally that’s the case. However, four different conferences have seen one of their teams earn the top spot during the last decade. During the last ten recruiting cycles, four different Big Ten teams have assumed the number one slot in InterMat’s recruiting rankings: Penn State (x3), Ohio State (x2), Iowa, and Michigan. Arizona State, NC State and Oklahoma State have all earned top billing once. Below we’re looked at the #1 recruiting class each year for the last decade, highlighting some of the key recruits and their ranking at the time. There’s also a brief summary of how this class impacted their respective schools. 2022: Ohio State The Class: #1 Nick Feldman (PA), #4 Jesse Mendez (IN), #5 Nic Bouzakis (FL), #22 Luke Geog (OH), #50 Seth Shumate (OH), #131 Gavin Brown (OH) It’s still too early to make judgments on this class, but there’s plenty of potential. Jesse Mendez already earned All-American honors, while Nick Feldman and Nic Bouzakis have flashed high-AA potential. Two years down the road, I think this class starts living up to the hype. 2021: Penn State The Class: #2 Alex Facundo (MI), #5 Shayne Van Ness (NJ), #55 Gary Steen (PA), #76 Luke Cochran (UT), Max Dean (Cornell - transfer) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Jordan Burroughs at Final X NYC in 2022 (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Last weekend, the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament was held and determined the last 17 wrestlers to qualify for Final X. Established in 2018, Final X has become a hallmark of the domestic international season. As its name suggests, Final X is the last step in qualification for our Senior world team members. Each edition of Final X has a bit of a different twist. The initial Final X did not include Greco-Roman and took place on the campus of three different schools, in three consecutive weeks. 2019 added Greco and cut down on sites to two. After Covid and the Olympic Trials interrupted 2021, the event returned last year. For the first time, Final X was held at two different venues, but in the same week. It also ventured off-campus for the first time, going to Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, a few days after Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba Arena. There are a few new wrinkles to Final X 2023. For the first time, Final X will take place at one site on one day. There will be three mats; one for each style. In addition, Newark’s Prudential Center is the first full-sized arena to host the event. Last year’s Hulu Theater has a capacity of between 2-5k based on the event. The Prudential Center has room for 16,000 fans in its hockey configuration. Hopefully, its proximity to a handful of great wrestling states will result in a large amount of those seats being filled. Since we know who’s wrestling in Final X, it’s a good time to look back at some of the trends that have emerged from the first three iterations of the event, along with some new ones that we can find based on the 60 participants for 2023. These are the only wrestlers to appear in every edition of Final X. This will be the fourth incarnation of Final X for men’s and women’s freestyle, while only the third for Greco-Roman. Men’s Freestyle: Thomas Gilman, Kyle Dake, Jordan Burroughs, J’den Cox, Kyle Snyder, Nick Gwiazdowski Women’s Freestyle: Sarah Hildebrandt, Jacarra Winchester, Kayla Miracle, Mallory Velte, Forrest Molinari Greco-Roman: Brady Koontz, Ildar Hafizov, Pat Smith, Kamal Bey, Cohlton Schultz Kyle Dake, Jordan Burroughs, Sarah Hildebrandt, and Jacarra Winchester all have the opportunity to win their fourth Final X series in 2023. J’den Cox and Kyle Snyder do as well; however, they’ll square off against each other at 97 kg. J’den Cox, Sarah Hildebrandt, Jacarra Winchester, and Forrest Molinari will all be wrestling a fourth different opponent in four different Final X’s. Conversely, Jordan Burroughs has only had two opponents (Chance Marsteller and Isaiah Martinez) during four Final X appearances. There have been 18 Final X Series’ that went three matches. 9 of those came in 2022. Nine of the three-match series have seen the winner lose the first bout. For the third consecutive Final X, Ildar Hafizov will wrestle an Army WCAP teammate. He’ll wrestle Dalton Roberts for a second consecutive year after wrestling Leslie Fuenffinger in 2019. Aside from yet another chapter in the Hafizov/Roberts dynasty, the only other Greco series that is a rematch from a past year is at 130 kg with Cohlton Schultz and Adam Coon. The two met back in 2019 and Coon won in two straight matches. Nick Lee and Aaron Brooks will be the fifth and sixth Penn State alums who have qualified for Final X since its inception joining, Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, David Taylor, and Bo Nickal. Final X Newark will feature four Penn State alums and four Cornell alums. There will be an all-Cornell match at 61 kg MFS (Vito Arujau and Nahshon Garrett) and an all-Penn State match at 86 kg MFS (David Taylor and Aaron Brooks). That has happened twice with Ohio State grads as Kyle Snyder and Kollin Moore wrestled at 97 kg last year and Logan Stieber and Joey McKenna battled at 65 kg in 2018. Eight of the 20 men’s freestyle contestants in Final X train out of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Two will be going head-to-head with Taylor/Brooks and Kyle Dake versus Jason Nolf. On the women’s freestyle side, Jennifer Page also trains out of the NLWC. Nahshon Garrett will have an opportunity to make and wrestle in his first World Championship event in this edition of Final X, despite winning in his only previous appearance. Garrett defeated Joe Colon in 2018, but had to pull out of the World Championship process due to injury. Colon replaced him and came away with a bronze medal. Prior to the 2022 World Championships, he was the only wrestler to win a Final X series, yet not compete at world’s. That changed last year as G’Angelo Hancock, Jesse Thielke, and Ben Provisor all did not wrestle at world’s after winning Final X. Most of the men’s freestyle participants were extremely highly ranked recruits coming out of high school. The biggest disparity between recruiting rankings in this year’s matchups comes at 92 kg. Zahid Valencia was considered the top recruit in the high school Class of 2015, while his opponent Mike Macchiavello was largely unknown coming to NC State as a walk-on. Jordan Burroughs, Kayla Miracle, Mallory Velte, and Forrest Molinari are all tied for the most individual Final X matches since the format was introduced. Each has wrestled in eight matches during their previous three appearances. The meeting between J’den Cox and Kyle Snyder at 97 kg in men’s freestyle is the only match between past Senior world medalists among all three styles. Zahid Valencia has now qualified for Final X at three different weights (92 kg, 86/2022, 79/2018). That hasn’t been done before in men’s freestyle or Greco-Roman. Jenna Burkert did it in women’s freestyle (55/2022, 57/2019, 59/2018). Nebraska alums are now 5-0 in Final X series’ (Jordan Burroughs 3-0 and James Green 2-0). Could Tyler Berger carry on this trend at 70 kg in MFS? There is at least one Army WCAP wrestler in each of the first seven Greco-Roman weights. Eight total. Three wrestlers changed weights from the US Open to the World Team Trials and ended up qualifying for Final X. Zahid Valencia, Jennifer Page and Emma Bruntil. Our women’s freestyle matches are bookended by a pair of bouts with significant age disparities. 50 kg features high school junior Audrey Jimenez against Sarah Hildebrandt. Jimenez was a U17 world team member last year, while Hildebrandt made the Junior (U20) team in 2013. At 76 kg, Adeline Gray made her first Senior World team (2009) a few weeks after Kennedy Blades’ sixth birthday. Men’s freestyle has seven first-time Final X participants. Women’s freestyle has 10. Greco-Roman has 8. Just because women’s freestyle has the most first-time Final X qualifiers, doesn’t mean they are inexperienced in big situations. Three of those 10 first-time participants have Cadet/Junior world titles to their name (Katie Gomez, Macey Kilty, Kennedy Blades). Both men’s heavyweight matches feature a big man that attended Michigan (Mason Parris and Adam Coon). Additionally, both men’s heavyweight matches feature competitors that are highly decorated on the age-group level. Both Parris and Gable Steveson were Junior world champions, while Coon and Schultz were Cadet world champions (Coon’s was in freestyle). California has always been a powerhouse for women’s wrestling. That’s evident here as seven of the ten matches feature at least one woman from California. The 53 kg contest between Dom Parrish and Katie Gomez pits a pair of California natives against each other. The most dominant wrestler in the history of Final X? Try Sarah Hildebrandt. She is the only wrestler that has participated in all three previous Final X’s and has yet to surrender a single point. 2018 vs. Haley Augello: 6-0, 8-0 2019 vs. Katherine Shai: 3-0, 8-0 2022 vs. Alyssa Lampe: 10-0, 10-0 The only wrestler with more than one fall during their Final X “career” is Adeline Gray. She pinned Korinahe Bullock in match two in 2018 and Precious Bell in their first bout in 2019.