InterMat Staff

2019 NCAA All-American Dom Demas (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Oklahoma Sooners OU won their first conference title under Lou Rosselli last season when they tied with Oklahoma State at the Big 12 tournament. With a lot of returning starters and a few incoming transfers, they will be trying to repeat that effort this season. TOP RETURNERS Dom Demas and Mitch Moore look poised to be conference favorites at 141 and 149 and Jake Woodley is back off an All-American finish at 197, the toughest weight in the conference. KEY DEPARTURES Mason Naifeh was the 125-pound starter for OU last season, but otherwise, the entire starting lineup for the Sooners returns. NEWCOMERS Joey Prata(125), Joe Grello(165/74), and Keegan Moore(184). Grello and Moore will be in battles to land starting spots in the lineup, but Joey Prata looks like the perfect transfer to fill in at 125. He has reasonable potential to finish high at the conference tournament and should qualify for the NCAAs. His points could play a big role if they're going to grab another conference championship next year. WRESTLERS TO WATCH Josh Heindselman. Heavyweight in college wrestling is as good as I can remember. The high-end talent is incredible and will be nearly impossible for a lot of guys to beat. But Josh is on that tier just behind the top group and has developed and improved every year in college. I think he breaks through and finishes as an All-American this year. POTENTIAL LINEUP 125-Joey Prata The transfer portal has been incredibly favorable for OU this offseason, and most notable is the addition of Joey Prata at 125. Prata was a third-place finisher in the ACC twice and an NCAA qualifier at Virginia Tech. Prata is the real deal and a huge addition for the Sooners at one of few weights they did not qualify at the NCAA tournament for. 133-Anthony Madrigal Madrigal was a Big 12 finalist and a two-time NCAA qualifier. It will be tough to jump Daton Fix on the conference ladder and become a Big 12 champion, but they'll look for a few more dual wins and a deeper NCAA run. 141-Dom Demas Demas is arguably the best wrestler on the OU roster and will be a solid favorite to win the Big 12 here. His NCAA tournament last year saw him outside the top eight, but it should be expected for him to jump back into All-American status next season. 149-Mitch Moore Mitch Moore was a Big 12 tournament finalist for OU last season and NCAA qualifier. Boo Lewallen is now graduated from OSU and Moore will look to jump into Boo's shoes as Big 12 champion this season. He ranks on the fringe of All-American status, but with the proper bracket break and a healthy season could reasonably jump into the top 8 at the NCAA tournament. 157-Justin Thomas OU will be glad to have multiple-time NCAA qualifier Justin Thomas back this season. He is one of the athletes taking advantage of the NCAA allowing an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas is at a tough weight for the conference with NCAA Champion David Carr and All-American Wyatt Sheets, among others, but there should be plenty of NCAA allocations for the conference and Thomas is a guy that should get one. He's certain to be vying for an All-American finish in his final season in Norman. 165-Joe Grello or Troy Mantanona Troy Mantanona was the spark for the OU lineup at 165 that propelled them to a Big 12 title last season. But he has a redshirt available, so incoming Rutgers transfer Joe Grello makes a lot of sense as the starter at 165. There are also some whispers that Anthony Mantanona may cut down here, too. 174-Anthony Mantanona or Grayden Penner Mantanona has been the guy here for a while in Norman, but they've got a blue-chip waiting in the wings in Grayden Penner, who may contend for the job. 184-Darrien Roberts or Keegan Moore Darrien Roberts has been the starter here for a while, but former NCAA qualifier Keegan Moore announced he's finishing out his career at OU, though he's not currently listed on their online roster. It will be interesting to see who comes out with the job here. 197-Jake Woodley The lone All-American for OU last year. Woodley is at the toughest weight in the conference and will need a monumental performance to win it, but those tests last year prepared him to do well at the NCAA tournament and could again this year. 285-Josh Heindselman Heindselman had a strong first year as the 285-pound starter for OU. He was just a little outside the realm of Big 12 title/All American contender last season but will look to make that jump this year.

2019 NCAA All-American Matt Stencel (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Central Michigan Chippewas "My thoughts for the season are to get back to a normal environment where we have fans at our duals, in season tournaments, and the postseason tournaments. Our goals are to improve upon last seasons MAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament finishes. We will have some very interesting conference regular season dual match-ups with Rider, NIU, Edinboro, and the remainder of our conference schedule. We are also looking forward to being the MAC representative at the National Duals as well as wrestling at the Midlands and non-conference in state duals with MSU and UM. We will also be hosting a quad at CMU we will call the Chippewa Challenge with American, Campbell, and Cal. Bakersfield. Each university's current head coach wrestled at CMU, so we should have a great homecoming weekend for wrestling." - Head Coach Thomas Borrelli TOP RETURNERS The Chippewas have five returning national qualifiers returning to their line-up from previous seasons. • Matt Stencel - NCAA All-American, 4x MAC champion, 4x NCAA qualifier • Dresden Simon - 2x MAC champion, 2x NCAA qualifier • Johnny Lovett - NCAA qualifier, MAC 3rd place finisher • Alex Cramer - NCAA at large berth, MAC 3rd place finisher • Drew Martin - NCAA qualifier, MAC 3rd place finisher KEY DEPARTURES Central Michigan University will be losing two of their starters this upcoming season. • Drew Hildebrandt (125) - NCAA 4th place finisher • Landon Pelham (197) - NCAA qualifier NEWCOMERS Coach Borrelli stated, "We expect our starters at 125 and 197 to have breakout seasons in 2021-22. We will have spirited competition at both weight classes but also consider Brock Bergelin and Aaron Bolo as frontrunners. Both have wrestled competitively during their time at CMU and we look for them to be very capable replacements for both Drew Hildebrandt and Landon Pelham." WRESTLERS TO WATCH "We have five wrestlers who have previously represented us at the MAC Championships and we expect each to improve considerably this season. These five are Corbyn Munson, Tracy Hubbard, Bret Fedewa, Jake Lowell, and Ben Cushman. Three of the five have been MAC Tournament placers and their improvement will determine the strength of our roster as we progress through this season" stated Coach Borrelli. POTENTIAL LINEUP 125: Brock Bergelin (JR) 133: Drew Marten (JR) 141: Dresden Simon (SR) 149: Corbyn Munson (SO) 157: Johnny Lovett (FR) 165: Tracy Hubbard (SO) (Alex Cramer possible redshirt) 174: Jake Lowell (JR) 184: Ben Cushman (SO) 197: Aaron Bolo (JR) 285: Matt Stencel (SR)

2021 NCAA All-American Parker Keckeisen (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to InterMat's Non-Power Five individual rankings. Wrestlers that were considered, currently compete in schools that are not considered "Power Five" among their entire athletic department. Like the national rankings, true freshmen were omitted for the time being. Since our preseason rankings were released a few weeks ago, there have been some weight changes that have come along. Those have been taken into account. 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 285

2020 NCAA qualifier Doug Zapf(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Penn Quakers "As a program, we are poised to breakout. Our goal is to allocate qualifiers at all 10 weights for the NCAA Tournament and 'pull our weight' at the conference tournament" - Head Coach Roger Reina. TOP RETURNERS The Quakers have five returning NCAA Qualifiers. Note, the team did not compete last year due to COVID-19. Returning qualifiers are from March 2020, or previous years. • Anthony Artalona (2018/19 - Round of 12) • Michael Colaiocco (2019/20) • Carmen Ferrante (2018/19) • Cole Urbas (2019/20) • Doug Zapf (2019/20) KEY DEPARTURES Many of the young wrestlers who were in the starting lineup a few years back were underclassmen. This young group has now become upperclassmen and is still in the starting lineup. Fortunately, Penn has not lost any starters to graduation. NEWCOMERS Keep an eye out for Ryan Miller to be the projected starter at 125 lb. He was a UWW Jr Finalist and earned a silver at the Junior Pan American Games. Let's hope the freestyle results translate to NCAA success. CJ Composto is one of the projected starters at 141 lb. Reina mentioned CJ was "under the radar" due to a torn ACL in high school, which he ultimately decided to get fixed. He missed his senior year because of surgery, so many coaches may have missed the opportunity to see him wrestle. In the 165 lb. class, the potential starter at this weight is Lucas Revano. After wrestling at 141, then 149 during the 2019/2020 season, he'll bump up a few weights with an EIWA 6th place finish already on his resume. Nick Incontrera will be a freshman who expects to see the lineup at the 174 lb. weight class. He had a fantastic high school career at Blair Academy. Recent results include 4th place at UWW Junior Nationals. Maximus Hale is one newcomer Reina mentioned to watch. With his recent freestyle success of 4th place at U23 freestyle nationals, Penn is looking for Maximus to "maximize" his folkstyle success as well. WRESTLER TO WATCH Anthony Artalona is the main guy that will look to lead the Penn Quakers. During his 2019/2020 season freshman campaign, he was an EIWA Champion at 149 lb. At the NCAA Championships in March of that same year, Anthony was one win away from being an All-American. With an incredible U23 freestyle performance, including a win over this year's NCAA 3rd place finisher Yahya Thomas (Northwestern), the staff feels Artalona is "right in the mix" to be on the podium come March. Another wrestler on the squad that Coach Reina is excited to see compete is Doug Zapf. His work ethic has been relentless. He began his college career at 133 lb., and is now expecting to hold down the 157 lb. class for Penn. Being a PA state champ at the 106 lb. weight class in 2017, he has been living in the weight room to fill into a full-sized 157 lb. wrestler. POTENTIAL LINEUP 125: Ryan Miller (FR) 133: Michael Colaiocco (SO) or Carmen Ferrante (JR) 141: CJ Composto (SO) or Rich Delsanter (FR) 149: Anthony Artalona (JR) 157: Doug Zapf (JR) 165: Lucas Revano (SO) 174: Nick Incontrera (FR) 184: Neil Antrassian (SR), Maximus Hale (SO), or Jake Hendricks (SR) 197: Cole Urbas (SO) 285: Ben Goldin (JR)

3x NCAA Champion Spencer Lee (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League. Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand. As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules: For wrestlers competing in dual meets, Standard Dual Team Scoring is used (win by Dec +3, loss by Dec -6, etc). Bonus Points are given when your wrestler beats a ranked wrestler OR if your wrestler loses to a ranked wrestler ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler. If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt. One starter per weight with two Flex classes. Two in-season competitions of Head-to-Head Duals and Cumulative Total Points. Each competition brought with it the prize of earning additional team points for the National Tournament. 1st place = +9 team points for Nationals, 2nd place = +8, etc (if you win 1st in the Duals and Total Points, you earn +18 team points for Nationals, etc) Team Gould Team Manager: Dysen Gould (@Dysgould_2005) How It Started: Dysen Gould of PA Power Wrestling is the youngest member of the MatScouts Dynasty League and was drawn as the First Pick in the inaugural draft. It didn't take long for him to make the first pick. ** Wrestling Community, please help this man get a better "Team Name". Something like "The Gould Standard" or "alliseeisGould" For Dysen's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE Hindsight Draft Review: First Round Pick (#1 Overall): With the first overall pick in the 2021 MatScouts Fantasy Wrestling Dynasty League, Dysen went with securing at least 20 team points for March. You can't go wrong with the consensus #1 at a weight, and I don't think there is anyone who will say that Spencer Lee is not worthy of a first-round pick. Great Picks: One of the best picks for Dysen was his 5th round pick (#41 overall) in 197 Tanner Sloan (SDSU). Coming into his Redshirt Freshman year, Tanner Sloan had defeated Eric Schultz (NEB), Jacob Warner (IOWA), Josh Hokit (FS), and Lucas Davison (NW). On top of that, the hype grew after Sloan won Gold at the 2019 Junior Pan -American Championships. As the #10 Fantasy Wrestler at 197 last season, Sloan amassed a bonus rate of just over 50%, but the majority of those bonus point wins were by Major. There's no question that the 197 spot is solidified for the Jackrabbits, and it's always good to have a "sure-thing" starter. In WrestleStat leagues, he was the top Fantasy Wrestler not only at 197 but across all weights in the 2021 season. Under The Radar Pick: True Freshman 174 (which turned out to be 197) Luke Surber (OKST). After pushing Freshman phenom Aj Ferrari in the wrestle-offs, Surber got multiple opportunities in extra matches, and not counting his injury and MFF, went 8-0 with four Techs and one Major. He finished as the #10 Fantasy Wrestler at 197. A Miss For This Season: It could be due to the odd, shortened, COVID season, but Team Gould had several wrestlers that did not see any mat time and thus used up some bench space. A couple wrestlers who came in with some hype and high expectations were 149 Kevon Davenport (NEB) and 133 Gabe Tagg (UNC). Both only wrestled two matches each going a combined 1-4. How The Season Played Out: Team Gould started the season off strong, winning his first dual before hitting a three dual losing streak. In all, he ended with a regular season record of 3-5, which landed him 6th in the Dual Standings and 7th in Total Points Standings to earn +7 team points added to his NCAA Total. See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE As the season rolled on, some wrestlers had to be let go for some fresh blood. Dysen jumped into the Transfer Portal and made the following add/drops: - Drop 197 Daniel Jezik (Oklahoma State), adds 133 Matt Schmidt (Missouri) - Drop 149 Kevon Davenport (Nebraska), adds 149 Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) - Drop Gage Garcia (Michigan), adds 149 Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) - Drop 133 Gabe Tagg (North Carolina), adds 174 Austin Murphy (Campbell) Team Gould was also involved in a couple trades this season: - 1/13/2021: Danny B Mobbin' traded 165 Tommy Bullard for Team Gould 174 Chris Foca (Cornell) - 3/15/2021: The Ninnie's Propaganda trades 149 Jaden Abas (Stanford) to Team Gould for a 2022 4th Round Pick ; Drop 285 Colby Whitehill (Pittsburgh) 2021 NCAA Tournament Team Gould approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster: And this is the lineup Dysen entered for Nationals: 102.5 points would be good enough for 7th place in the Final #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season. Team Gould Entering the 2022 Season Draft Next season there's going to be a mass exodus of those hang-around Seniors, including two powerhouse point getters in Spencer Lee and Jaydin Eierman, that Dysen is going to have to try and make up. His roster appears very green in the lower weights and seems overstocked at 165, but the upper weights lean more on the older side and and depth is lacking behind a 157 that will graduate after this season and a 197 who, though being the #1 Fantasy Wrestler across all weights last year, has a history of injury. Team Gould is the #4 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who? Let us know!

2x NCAA All-American Alex Marinelli (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) #25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) Next is… #24 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) Weight: 165 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 73-10 Hometown: Miamisburg, Ohio College Accomplishments: 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 7th, 2018 NCAA 6th, 3x Big Ten Champ 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #2nd at 165 lbs In the Class of 2016, the Iowa Hawkeyes landed, Alex Marinelli, one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation (#3), even though they have not had a long track record of success with the state of Ohio. The following year, with redshirt freshman Joey Gunther penciled in at 165 lbs, Marinelli was given a redshirt. Marinelli's first unattached competition was the Grand View Open, which he won without having a bout closer than six points. Next up was the Midlands Championships, a staple on the Hawkeye's schedule. Marinelli acquitted himself well and finished fourth at a difficult weight. His two losses came to two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) and Anthony Valencia (Arizona State). The final competition during Marinelli's redshirt campaign was the Missouri Valley Open. Marinelli pinned his first three opponents before meeting Hawkeye teammate Kaleb Young in the finals. In a one-point bout, it was Marinelli who got the win. He finished his redshirt campaign with a 13-2 record with the only losses coming against top-flight competition at the Midlands. The official start to Marinelli's Iowa career was delayed a bit as he didn't take the mat until the Hawkeyes dual with Rutgers in early December of 2017. The wrestler affectionately known as “The Bull” passed his first test by overcoming U23 World Champion Richie Lewis in sudden victory, 6-4. Marinelli and Lewis would meet just a few weeks later in the semifinals of the Midlands. Once again, it was a close affair (3-2), but Marinelli pulled out a win. He'd take the title after getting by Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton) 3-1 in sudden victory. Post-Midlands, Marinelli's Big Ten schedule was quite daunting, though you wouldn't notice it by looking at his spotless record. Marinelli successfully navigated a conference dual slate that included opponents like Logan Massa (Michigan) and Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), along with an out-of-conference win over Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State). Marinelli moved into the Big Ten Championships with a 14-0 record. That unblemished ledger wouldn't hold as Marinelli suffered three losses to a pair of opponents he had defeated in the past (Lewis, Massa). His sixth-place finish at B1G's ended up netting him the fifth seed at his first NCAA Tournament. Though it was the NCAA Tournament, Marinelli's first two opponents in Cleveland were Big Ten foes. He prevailed by pins in both contests of Jacob Morrissey (Purdue) and Nick Wanzek (Minnesota). It was the third win of the year over Wanzek but the first with bonus points. Those two wins propelled Marinelli into the NCAA Quarterfinal round. There he met the #4 seed Chad Walsh of Rider. The two engaged in an entertaining scrap and it was Marinelli who came out on top, 7-6. The win secured All-American status for the Hawkeye and booked a date with top-seeded and undefeated Isaiah Martinez (Illinois). In a battle of two, stout 165 lbers, the veteran, Martinez, got his hand raised, 5-2. After the Martinez loss, Marinelli took the semi-slide to sixth place. He lost back-to-back contests and surrendered bonus points for the only two times in his career. Evan Wick (Wisconsin) majored him in the consolation semifinals, before David McFadden (Virginia Tech) spladled and pinned him for fifth place. Similar to his redshirt freshman year, Marinelli got off to a blazing start in 2018-19 and never looked back. For the second consecutive season, he went undefeated during the regular season. That run included his second Midlands title. His 165 lb weight class was one of the marquee brackets of the event. Marinelli needed to go through All-Americans Josh Shields (Arizona State) and Wick to win his title. The Big Ten dual season provided another opportunity for Marinelli and Wick to clash. Again, the Hawkeye got by in an excruciatingly close, 6-4 win in sudden victory. Aside from the Wick win, Marinelli best dual conquest down the stretch in the regular season came when he shutout Isaiah White (Nebraska), 3-0. A perfect regular season mark gave Marinelli the top seed at the 2019 Big Ten Championships. Just to make the final, he needed to get by frequent combatant Wick, which he did by the score of 2-1. In the finals, Marinelli had two-time defending national champion, Vincenzo Joseph. Marinelli won all of the big exchanges and nullified the dangerous Joseph for a 9-3 win and his first Big Ten title. That led to the number one seed at nationals. In Pittsburgh, Marinelli got one of the more brutal draws for a top-seed in recent memory. Because of little 2018-19 seeding data, two-time All-American Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State) was pitted against Marinelli after a pig-tail win. Smith jumped out to an early lead, but eventually, the Hawkeye took over for a 7-4 win. After a 12-4 major decision over Thomas Bullard (NC State), Marinelli drew Virginia Tech freshman Mekhi Lewis in the quarterfinals. The Junior World Champion neutralized Marinelli and struck late to pull the upset, 3-1. At this point, just getting on the podium was not a given. In the bloodround, Marinelli needed to go through Massa, an opponent that had defeated him twice in the 2018 Big Ten Championships. Marinelli did what he needed to do and got by the Wolverine, 5-3. Next up, was Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven), who was competing in his home state for his final NCAA tournament. With the home crowd behind him, Marsteller outdueled Marinelli in a 9-6 win. The Marsteller loss relegated Marinelli to the seventh-place bout, where he'd face fellow Iowa collegiate star Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa). Marinelli ended his tournament with a 9-3 win over the Panther. Early in the 2019-20 season, Marinelli had yet another meeting with rival Evan Wick. Like their previous clashes, scoring was at a minimum, but the Hawkeye came out on top, 4-2. In what had become a late-December tradition, Marinelli grabbed his third Midlands crown. This time he pinned four of his six opponents and got past three-time All-American David McFadden in the final round. In late January, during the Hawkeyes massive dual with rival Penn State, Marinelli dropped a match to Joseph, 7-5. It was the first, and still the only, dual and regular-season loss for the star 165 lber. One of the most significant wins for Marinelli in the 2019-20 year came in the season finale against Oklahoma State's Travis Wittlake. Marinelli held off the stud freshman as Iowa blew out their hated rivals, 34-6. A possible rematch with Joseph at the 2020 Big Ten finals was one of the headliner bouts at the conference meet. It came to fruition in the championship match and Marinelli was able to even the score with a 3-2 win. The win over Joseph was enough to boost Marinelli into the top seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. As we know, that tournament never happened due to the Covid pandemic. Some of the notables on Marinelli's half of the bracket were, #4 Wittlake, #5 Isaiah White, #8 Wick, and #9 Tanner Skidgel (Navy). Based on his seeding, Marinelli was named a First-Team NWCA All-American. Alex also led the Hawkeyes with eight falls and posted the highest bonus point percentage (52.3%) of his career. The abridged 2021 season saw Marinelli only participate in two dual meets. His prep for the postseason included wins over Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) and Peyton Robb (Nebraska). That was good enough to give Marinelli the top seed at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. While Marinelli came away with his third conference title, this one was more of a workman-like performance. He had a two-point win over Cameron Amine (Michigan) in the semis and a one-point victory against Ethan Smith (Ohio State) in the championship bout. For the third time in his career, Marinelli was awarded the number one seed at the NCAA Championships. After an opening-round major decision over Austin Yant (Northern Iowa), Marinelli faced the same Round of 16 opponent from 2019, Thomas Bullard. Just like 2019, he prevailed with a major decision. Unfortunately, also like the 2019 tournament, Marinelli was upset by the eighth seed. This time it was Shane Griffith (Stanford) during his storybook run that helped get the exposure needed to save Stanford Wrestling. After the loss to Griffith, Marinelli did not wrestle in the Round of 12 due to injury. Looking at Marinelli and his ranking, it's probably one of the more controversial. One could argue that due to his limited number of losses, his three Big Ten titles, and three #1 seed's at nationals, he should be higher. On the other hand, Marinelli has never finished higher than sixth. Of course, he lost the opportunity for a potential title in 2020. Strengths: Marinelli lives up to his “bull” nickname with his wrestling style. He is very physical and an active handfighter. Marinelli keeps his stance and is typically in good position. He can score from a variety of single-leg attacks. Either from neutral or from the top position, Marinelli can rack up pins with a cow-catcher. From the top, Marinelli riding with a lot of pressure. While he typically, tries to get multiple takedowns, he can ride out, if needed. 2021-22 Outlook: Despite the results from the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Marinelli still may be the odds-on favorite to win the 165 lb weight class. This group is shaping up to be as deep as any weight class in the country, so he'll have his hands full. Despite never having finished higher than sixth, it would be a surprise if he were lower than third. 2x NCAA All-American Alex Marinelli (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Kyle Shoop at the 2019 NCAA Championships(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On Monday, August 23rd, 2021, The University at Buffalo named Kyle Shoop as their Assistant Head Coach via Twitter (@UB_Wrestling). As a standout wrestler for Lock Haven University (2015-2020), Coach Shoop is excited for the opportunity to coach at a Division I Wrestling Program, similarly in the MAC Conference. Coach Shoop was born and raised in South Central, Pennsylvania, where he was a 3x state place winner for Boiling Springs High School; 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd – respectively. He then went on to wrestle for Lock Haven University. As an Eagle, he compiled an overall record of 130-46. Of those wins, 22 of them were in his final season. In 2019, Coach Shoop placed 7th at the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships. In a recent interview with Coach Kyle Shoop, he details his process of being hired, as well as his plans for this upcoming wrestling season as a Bull. When did you first hear that The University at Buffalo was looking to hire a new Assistant Head Coach? “I first heard of the Assistant Head Coach position when Head Coach John Stutzman reached out to me in early August 2021. He asked me to come down and visit the campus. After a weekend of touring the campus, fishing, and getting to know Coach Stutzman, I was sold. I knew where I was at, and where I wanted to be. I knew that I would have an opportunity to do big things at The University at Buffalo.” How long did the hiring process take, and what did the onboarding process look like? “The hiring process was pretty quick once I officially determined that I wanted the job. Within roughly two weeks, I filled out all of the paperwork required by The University at Buffalo. I put in my two weeks at my other place of employment, The Cage Training Center, located in Mechanicsburg, PA. Bob Bender, the owner of the club, was extremely understanding and allowed me to be a Guest Clinician until I officially started at UB. He has been a great example in my life, and I will always be thankful for the opportunity to work at The Cage Training Center.” How long have you known John Stutzman, and what was your connection to him prior to officially being named the Assistant Head Coach? “Prior to being named the Assistant Head Coach and the initial contact of potential employment, there was no real connection. The only time that I had ever been around Coach Stutzman was when he was in the corner against me while I was wrestling for Lock Haven University. Once I visited the campus and started to get to know him, I really liked him as a person, and what his plans were for the UB Wrestling Program.” What are you most excited about this upcoming season as a Bull? “I'm very excited to see what our guys can do. We have a great mix of guys in our wrestling room, older and younger, all looking to achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a national champion. I'm also looking forward to building up the wrestling program in general. My plan is not just a one- or two-year deal; it's built for longevity. Coach Stutzman, Coach Ramos and I want to build a Top 10 program, and we know that we can achieve it. Right now, I'm working with student-athletes who are different from where I've come from, and it's teaching me a lot. They work hard. Ultimately, I want them to believe in themselves, and I want them to take out names every time they step on the mat.” What makes The University at Buffalo different from any other school? “The environment here at The University at Buffalo, and the community of Buffalo is great. We have great wrestlers. We have great staff. And not to mention, the academic part of our wrestlers' college experience is unlike any other university in the nation. The education our wrestlers leave with is exceptional, and second to none. We have wrestlers from all around the country who are looking to come here because they not only have an opportunity to wrestle for a Division I Wrestling Program, but they leave with an unmatched academic experience.” With Coach John Stutzman being a high-caliber coach, will you/have you been given an opportunity to show off your specific knowledge of wrestling? “Yes, absolutely! I'm complimenting the system that is already in place and slowly adding to it throughout the season. During practice, I have the opportunity to share my knowledge of top and bottom. I'm excited to show our guys new and creative positions as the season as it progresses.” Is there anything else that you want wrestling fans to know about you, or The University at Buffalo's wrestling program? “I want wrestling fans to know that I am very excited for this upcoming season. This is what I've always dreamed of doing, and I am especially grateful to Coach Stutzman and The University at Buffalo for this opportunity. After becoming a Division I athlete myself, I knew that wrestling would always be a huge part of my life, even beyond my years at Lock Haven University. I want my wrestlers to know that being a wrestler is not only an “on the mat” thing, but also living every part of your life in the best way possible, in the classroom, community, etc. As a staff, we want our wrestlers to develop the skills to succeed in life. Lastly, we're working with our athletes to help support everyone around campus. The University at Buffalo's wrestling program is working every day to create a network of connections, and outreaching to support those in and around campus.” If you'd like to hear more about The University at Buffalo's Assistant Head Coach, Kyle Shoop, you can visit Rokfin, where he details his story of success.

2021 NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to InterMat's Power Five individual rankings. Wrestlers that were considered currently compete in schools that are considered “Power Five” among their entire athletic department. Affiliate wrestling-only members were not taken into account. They will be a part of a separate forthcoming set of rankings. Like the national rankings, true freshmen were omitted for the time being. Since our preseason rankings were released a few weeks ago, there have been some weight changes that have come along. Those have been taken into account. 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 285

Patrick McKee at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League. Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand. As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules: For wrestlers competing in dual meets, Standard Dual Team Scoring is used (win by Dec +3, loss by Dec -6, etc). Bonus Points are given when your wrestler beats a ranked wrestler OR if your wrestler loses to a ranked wrestler ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler. If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt. One starter per weight with two Flex classes. Two in-season competitions of Head-to-Head Duals and Cumulative Total Points. Each competition brought with it the prize of earning additional team points for the National Tournament. 1st place = +9 team points for Nationals, 2nd place = +8, etc (if you win 1st in the Duals and Total Points, you earn +18 team points for Nationals, etc) Meeseeks & Destroy Team Manager: Todd Szewczyk (@nittanykid) How It Started: Co-host of the #FantasyCollegeWrestling podcast, Todd Szewczyk was selected to be the #9 pick in the inaugural MatScouts Dynasty League Draft. For Todd's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE Hindsight Draft Review: First Round Pick (#3 Overall): Going with an oldie but a goodie, Todd selected 174 Michael Kemerer (IOWA) with the 9th overall pick. In 2020, Kemerer entered the National Tournament as the 2-seed after going 13-0 in the regular season and having his only blemish be a loss in the Big Ten Championship Finals to Mark Hall. This season, he finished the regular season a perfect 4-0 which still landed him inside the Top-20 (#18) of Fantasy Wrestlers at 174. Great Picks: As the first true freshman selected off the board, 165 Keegan O'Toole (MIZZ) would go on to be the #3 Fantasy Wrestler at 165 in WrestleStat leagues last season and the #9 overall wrestler across all weights. 285 Deonte Wilson (NCST) was the second to last pick of the draft who would go on to win the ACC beating out his assumed heavyweight starter picked 17 rounds earlier. Though he wasn't at the top of the Fantasy Point standings, he has shown to be right there in the AA conversation. Not bad for the #249 pick out of 250. Under The Radar Pick: Call it homerism, call it "insider trading", call it what you want… but 197 True Freshman Tyler Mousaw (VMI) was once coached by Todd. That knowledge went far as Mousaw ended the 2021 regular season as the #4 Fantasy Wrestler at 197 (above Kordell Norfleet, Eric Schultz, and Nino Bonaccorsi), and only a couple points from overtaking AJ Ferrari and Rocky Elam for the #2 spot. Mousaw was taken in the 24th selection. A Miss For This Season: There were a few picks that ended up not playing out the way Todd intended, like 133 Joey Silva (MICH) or 149 Brevin Balmeceda (OKST), but Todd picked 141 Julian Chlebove (ASU) early in the 4th Round. That's not to say that the Freshman does not have a future at the NCAA level, but this season was not a memorable one where he did not start for the Sun Devils until the Pac-12 Championships where he took 6th. He ended the 2021 season with a 6-7 record. How The Season Played Out: Jumping out to a 4-1 dual record to start the season, Meeseeks & Destroy would go on to lose the last three duals of the year and finish .500 in the Dual Standings. Fluxing between 4th and 6th in Total Points during the season, at the end of the day Meeseeks & Destroy finished just under the mid-table spot at #6. That would be good for an additional 9 team points. See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE Due to some wrestlers not taking the mat and other weights needing some depth, Todd went fishing in the Transfer portal a couple times this season: - Drop 133 Joey Silva (Michigan), adds 133 Jordan Decatur (Ohio State) - Drop 125 Jakason Burks (Oklahoma State), adds 125 Pat McKee (Minnesota) - Drop 149 Brevin Balmeceda (Oklahoma State), adds 125 Brody Teske (UNI) - Drop 125 Brock Hudkins (Indiana), add 184 Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) - Drop 141 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State), add 141 DJ Lloren (Fresno State) 2021 NCAA Tournament Meeseeks & Destroys approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster: And this is the lineup Todd entered for Nationals: Finishing with 102 points, Meeseeks & Destroy took 8th place in the #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season. Meeseeks & Destroy Entering the 2022 Season Draft Lots of green on this depth chart, showing that Todd went the "build for the future" mentality. That said, It may be a season or two until the team as a whole is Championship ready. Immediate needs for depth are at 157 as Sheets has an injury history and Saldate finished the regular season 4-3, and 174. While Trey Munoz has shown he can be an everyday starter, it will be hard to replicate the team points that a "guaranteed" AA like Michael Kemerer brings to the table. This team has a solid foundation with Aaron Brooks, Keegan O'Toole, Ridge Lovett, and Hunter Catka (all with at least 2 years left of eligibility) allow Meeseeks and Destroy to set those weights and orry more on fixing the leaky pipes in the rest of the lineup. Meeseeks & Destroy has the #3 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who? Let us know!

2x NCAA All-American Evan Wick (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) Next is… #25 Evan Wick (Cal Poly) Weight: 165 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 85-17 Hometown: San Marino, California College Accomplishments: 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 4th, 2018 NCAA 3rd 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4th at 165 lbs The high school class of 2016 saw a pair of twins from California, Evan and Zander Wick, head across the country to enroll at Wisconsin. Evan was a California state champion as a senior and a two-time state placer that finished the year ranked top-three in the nation at 152 lbs. During his first year on campus in Madison, Evan redshirted and competed unattached, primarily at 157 lbs. In his first event, Wick won four of five bouts at Iowa State's Harold Nichols Open. His only setback at the event was a one-point loss to Tyler Berger (Nebraska), who would finish fifth in the country later that year. It was at the Midlands Championships that year where Wick really showed he was capable of winning at a high level. On his way to a fourth-place finish, Wick notched wins over four wrestlers that would qualify for nationals that year (Colin Heffernan - Central Michigan, Kyle Langenderfer - Illinois, Clay Ream - North Dakota State, and TJ Ruschell - Wisconsin). His win over teammate and starter, Ruschell, came via a 15-3 major decision. After the Midlands, Wick went up to 165 lbs and dominated the competition at the Duhawk and Don Parker Open. Though most of his opponents were of the non-DI variety, Wick captured bonus points in eight of his nine contests. Wick's first official competition in a Wisconsin singlet took place at the Michigan State Open. There he ran into Michigan's returning All-American Logan Massa. Wick fell to the Wolverine star in an 11-3 major decision. It wouldn't take long for Wick to get a measure of revenge against Massa. Coming into the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational as the ninth seed, Wick picked up two wins to set up a clash with Massa in the quarterfinals. The two were mired in a 4-all tie after two periods, but Wick pulled away in the final stanza to win 8-4. Wick had less trouble in the semis with Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), who he defeated by the score of 10-4. In the finals, he was pinned by returning All-American David McFadden (Virginia Tech), but Wick showed he could be a contender in year one. In the post-CKLV dual season, Wick posted six consecutive wins with bonus points. From there, the competition got much more challenging and the Badger freshman fell in his next three bouts against Isaiah White (Nebraska), Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), and Richie Lewis (Rutgers). Wick's first Big Ten Championship saw him fare well in an absolutely loaded bracket. He would tally wins against White and Massa, but lost again to Lewis during a fourth-place showing. Fourth place was good enough to provide him with the tenth seed at his first NCAA Tournament. After a first-round win against Drew Daniels (Navy), Wick was slated for yet another bout against #7 Massa. Wick continued his trend against the Wolverine All-American and prevailed in an excellent 9-6 bout. Like in Vegas, after a win against Massa, Wick was left to deal with McFadden. This time Wick was able to keep it close, but still was on the wrong side of a 3-0 decision. To lock up All-American honors, Wick needed to go through Wanzek. After only :17 seconds in the second period, Wick had pinned the Gopher and became the school's first freshman AA since Isaac Jordan in 2014. That was far from the end of the road for the freshman who reeled off three more wins to finish in third place. His victims included Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), Alex Marinelli (Iowa), and Chase Marsteller (Lock Haven). The last Badger freshman to finish in the top-three was Andrew Howe in 2009. Wick also became the final All-American during the Barry Davis era. In the offseason, the Badgers brought in Chris Bono as the school's next head coach. Wick rang in the Bono-era with 18 consecutive wins. That span includes the first five matches at the Midlands. Prior to that tournament, Wick's notable wins include Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), White, and Josh Shields (Arizona State). To make the championship bout at the Midlands, Wick majored Steiert, 9-0. The Midlands finals saw the second career meeting between Wick and Marinelli. This time the Hawkeye star returned the favor and got his hand raised after a 4-3 win. Wick's only loss during the remainder of the 2018-19 regular season? Yes, to Marinelli in dual action in sudden victory. The second loss to Marinelli gave Wick the third seed at the Big Ten Championships and put the two on the same half of the conference bracket. Seeds held and the pair met again in the B1G semis. For the third time that year, in excruciatingly close circumstances, Marinelli won, 2-1. In the third-place bout, Wick renewed acquaintances with Massa, who also prevailed by a 2-1 score. A loss to Massa in the Big Ten consolation finals didn't hurt Wick too badly in NCAA seeding. He received the fourth seed in Pittsburgh. The Badger was in top form in the early going at the 2019 NCAA Championships, as he majored Nick Kiussis (West Virginia) in his opening match, then put together a solid seven-point win over #13 Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State). In the quarters, he pinned All-American Chance Marsteller in the opening period. The Marsteller win clinched All-American status for Wick as he was in his first NCAA semifinals. Opposing Wick was the equally hot freshman Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech). Lewis had already unseated, undefeated #1 Marinelli in the quarters. The Virginia Tech freshman continued his heater versus Wick with a 4-1 win. Wick's loss dropped him into the consolation semifinals against White, where he got by with a 4-3 win. The Badger was unable to replicate his third-place showing from the previous year as he was edged by Marsteller in the final bout. 2019-20 season started with seven consecutive wins, six of which came via bonus points. That season-opening winning streak was put to a halt by Marinelli, who defeated him in dual competition, 4-2. Wick rebounded with four more wins, all coming via tech or fall, heading into the Midlands. At the Midlands, Wick ran into a familiar opponent in the semifinals, David McFadden. Again, McFadden continued his winning ways over the Badger, 6-5. For the remainder the 2019-20 regular season, Wick won eight of his final nine bouts. The only loss came to two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State). Down the stretch, Wick got banged up. He weighed in at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, but injury defaulted out after only one second and didn't compete for the rest of the tournament. Since Wick did not wrestle at the Big Ten meet, his stock took a hit by the seeding committee and he was given the #8. That didn't matter as the 2020 NCAA Championships were cancelled with the Covid pandemic. Had the tournament been conducted, Wick was set to face #25 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois). Other notables on his half of the bracket included #1 Marinelli, #4 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State), #5 White, and #9 Tanner Skidgel (Navy). Wick has always excelled in freestyle. His fourth-place finish at 2019 Senior Nationals allowed him to take an Olympic redshirt in 2020-21. At the delayed Olympic Trials, in April, Wick finished in third place at the 74 kg Challenge Tournament. After the Olympic Trials, Wick appeared in the transfer portal and later announced his intentions to transfer back to his home state and compete for Cal Poly. Strengths: First and foremost, Wick's height and length make him a difficult matchup nightmare for anyone in the nation. He's a busy handfighter with heavy hands and has good snap downs and go-behind's. Offensively, he has a good arsenal of low-leg attacks and can scramble with the best of them. Wick's top-game is pretty unusual for someone with such strong freestyle chops. He will ride with legs, use an array of tilts, and can lock up a cradle. 2021-22 Outlook: For the bulk of his career, Wick has been amongst the NCAA title contenders at 165 lbs. There's no reason to think he won't be again this year. The transfer has moved him away from rivals like Marinelli and may be beneficial as it could limit damage to his body down the stretch in the postseason. 2x NCAA All-American Evan Wick(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Hunter Bolen at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League. Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand. As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules: For wrestlers competing in dual meets, Standard Dual Team Scoring is used (win by Dec +3, loss by Dec -6, etc). Bonus Points are given when your wrestler beats a ranked wrestler OR if your wrestler loses to a ranked wrestler ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler. If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt. One starter per weight with two Flex classes. Two in-season competitions of Head-to-Head Duals and Cumulative Total Points. Each competition brought with it the prize of earning additional team points for the National Tournament. 1st place = +9 team points for Nationals, 2nd place = +8, etc (if you win 1st in the Duals and Total Points, you earn +18 team points for Nationals, etc) The Ninnie's Propaganda Team Manager: Earl Smith (@EarlBSmith20) How It Started: He accepted the invite back when he was the Earl of TOM, now he's the skipper of the InterMat crew. Earl had the #3 pick For Earl's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE Hindsight Draft Review: First Round Pick (#3 Overall): Only a Junior, Earl thought he was getting a National Contender for the next two years when he selected 285 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) with the #3 overall pick. This offseason really played with Earl's emotions, though, as it was one of the great string-them-along will he/ won't he return drama's we've seen in some time. Now we know he's signed with the WWE and he will return for one last rodeo on the folkstyle mat. He has shown through the past season that he is in another galaxy compared to the loaded heavyweight competition. He finished as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 285 and #4 overall in Fpts. Great Picks: Drafted late in the 20th round (#198 overall) 165 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) was picked up to be a reliable backup as Carson Kharchla was chosen 4th round to anchor the 165 spot. Also, some weight uncertainty loomed as it was unclear if he would be going 165 or 174 for this season. Everyone knows Anthony and the talent, but he had yet to AA which may be one reason why he slid in the draft. But, as unfortunate the injury to Kharchla was, Valencia took over the starting role and finished as the #8 Fantasy Wrestler at 165 and finally caught that elusive AA trophy Under The Radar Pick: Originally drafted for 165, a mid-season lineup change solidified Peyton Mocco into the starting 174 role for Missouri. Mocco was selected #223 overall (23rd round) after an up-and-down 2020 season in which he still was able to be #25 in Fpts at 165. This season, he finished as the #2 Fantasy wrestler at 174 and was #20 overall in Fpts in WrestleStat leagues. A Miss For This Season: 133 Stevan Micic (Michigan) was drafted in the 3rd round (#23 overall) and logged 0:00:00 mat time this season. It's a Dynasty League so luckily he was carried over, but when you're in your 3rd year of Med-School, do you have time for practice? How The Season Played Out: Some weight changes and injuries caused Earl to have to dip into the Transfer portal a couple times. The Ninnie's Propaganda went on a 4-dual win streak before losing the next two and securing 3rd in both Total Points and in the Dual Standings. His team did, however, win the last dual of the regular season so they get some momentum heading into Nationals with his earned +14 bonus team points. See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE Because of the weight changes, injuries, and some season cancellations, the Transfer Portal was used a few times: - Adds 141 Allan Hart (Missouri) with use of an open roster spot - Drop 125 Reece Whitcraft (Oklahoma State), adds 157 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) - Drop 174 Shane Reitsma (Rider), adds 125 Micah Roes (Binghamton) ​ The Ninnie's Propaganda was also involved in two trades this season (made right at the deadline): - 3/15/2021: The Ninnie's Propaganda trades 149 Jaden Abas (STAN) to Team Gould for a 2022 4th Round Pick ; Drop 285 Colby Whitehill (Pittsburgh) - 3/15/2021: The Ninnie's Propaganda trades a 2022 3rd Round Pick to Team Upson for 125 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OKST) 2021 NCAA Tournament The Ninnie's Propaganda approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster: And this is the lineup Earl entered for Nationals: Finishing with 90 total points, The Ninnie's Propaganda finished in 9th place in the #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season. The Ninnie's Propaganda Entering the 2022 Season Draft Potentially, Earl enters the 2022 draft with only one of his main 10 starters being a Senior (Micic) and a pretty young base foundation for 125, 165, and 197. Immediate needs for the future are at Heavyweight as, for all we know, this is the last Folkstyle season of Gable Steveson, and 133. It wouldn't hurt to get a little depth at the heavier weights, just in case either. In the next two seasons, 10 wrestlers will have graduated, but overall there is good balance up and down the lineup to build and not lose a step. The Ninnie's Propaganda is the #2 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who? Let us know!

Nate Jesuroga (left) and Aiden Riggins (Photo/Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) Saturday was a huge night in Iowa City on multiple fronts. In the wake of the University of Iowa's home football win over Penn State in a clash between top-five ranked teams, the wrestling squad also received verbal commitments from two massive recruits. The first came from Nate Jesuroga (Southeast Polk, IA), the #7 overall recruit in the Class of 2023 per MatScouts. Over the summer, Jesuroga earned a spot on the Cadet World Team in freestyle and came back from Budapest with a bronze medal at 51 kg. A few months earlier, Jesuroga won his first Iowa 3A state title. He was third in 2020 as a freshman. Jesuroga is expected to be in action two weeks from now at the Super 32. Last year, he was upset in the first round of the event and battled back through ten consolation matches to earn third place. Jesuroga's spotless record since the Super 32 loss has him currently at #3 in MatScouts pound-for-pound rankings. He also holds the number one ranking at 120 lbs. Jesuroga was slated to meet Blair Academy's Marc-Anthony McGowan at Who's #1 to settle the spot at 120 lbs; however, McGowan pulled out with an injury. Jesuroga cruised to a win over his replacement, #3 Joey Cruz (Bullard, CA), an Oklahoma recruit. If getting a verbal from Jesuroga wasn't enough, late last night, Aiden Riggins (Waverly-Shell Rock, IA) also voiced his intentions to wrestle for Tom Brands' Hawkeyes. Riggins is ranked #34 overall in the Class of 2022 and is a three-time state placer, never finishing lower than third. In 2021, Riggins won his first 3A state title by defeating current Hawkeye freshman Caleb Rathjen. Currently he's ranked #3 at 160 lbs. Riggins made the finals of the Cadet World Team Trials at 71 kg this spring, but fell to Penn State recruit Levi Haines (Biglerville, PA) in three matches. Later in the offseason, Riggins made the Junior freestyle finals in Fargo at 160 lbs. Jesuroga's commitment gives Iowa two top-ten recruits from the Class of 2023, joining Ben Kueter (Iowa City High, IA). Riggins is the first commit from the current high school senior class. For more recruiting information, check out InterMat's College Commitment page.

2021 NCAA Runner-Up Jake Wentzel (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) Next is… #26 Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) Weight: 165 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 62-33 Hometown: South Park, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 2nd, 2020 NWCA 2nd Team All-American, 2x ACC Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 165 lbs Not every top contender at the NCAA Championships jumps out and immediately establishes themselves as a national title contender. Some have a longer, less direct route to success at the collegiate level. One of those is Pittsburgh's Jake Wentzel. Wentzel had the credentials coming out of high school as a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and a top-50 recruit. Year one with the Panthers saw Wentzel get thrown into the mix right away and he was victorious in his first three duals. The fourth outing was against multi-time All-American for Lehigh, Jordan Kutler, and Wentzel acquitted himself well, but fell 4-1. Those were the only dual meets in which Wentzel competed during the 2016-17 season. He was sixth at the Keystone Classic, then went 2-2 at the Midlands. A week later, went won his first match at the Franklin & Marshall Open, but injured defaulted out of the rest of the event. He did not compete again that season and was able to use it as a redshirt year. In 2017-18, Wentzel moved up to 165 lbs. For the year, he went 13-13. In dual competition, Wentzel was below .500 at 6-7. During the regular season, his best dual wins came over returning qualifier Lorenzo de la Riva (CSU Bakersfield) and 2018 national qualifiers Andrew Atkinson (Virginia) and Zach Finesilver (Duke). Wentzel was the Panther's entry at the 2018 ACC Championships, but did not receive a bid to nationals after a 1-2 showing. Wentzel started coming into his own in 2018-19, but ultimately could not compete after late January due to a knee injury. Along the way, he went 3-2 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and logged wins over national qualifiers Tanner Skidgel (Navy), Nick Kiussis (West Virginia), and Andrew Shomers (Oklahoma State). For the second time in his career, Wentzel posted a record greater than .500 (9-6). It wasn't until the 2019-20 season where Wentzel established himself as a consistent threat and found a way to stay in the lineup for the duration of the season. Wentzel carried a perfect 9-0 record into the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. During that time, he notched wins over Danny Braunagel (Illinois) and Ethan Smith (Ohio State). At the Scuffle, Wentzel extended his winning streak to 11, but fell to Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) in the quarterfinals. To clinch a place in the top-eight, Wentzel defeated national qualifier Connor Flynn (Missouri), then fell to Thomas Bullard (NC State) and Joe Lee (Penn State), to settle for sixth. Post-Scuffle wasn't kind to Wentzel as he went 2-3 during the Panthers remaining regular-season duals. But, just like that, things turned on a dime at the ACC Championships and Wentzel came away with the title. To do so, he reversed two decisions from the dual season and downed Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) and three-time All-American David McFadden (Virginia Tech). The excellent showing at the conference meet allowed Wentzel to take the 11th seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. Unfortunately, due to the spread of Covid, the 2020 national tournament was canceled and Wentzel wasn't able to make an official NCAA Tournament debut. Had the tournament been conduction, Wentzel would have met #22 Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) in the opening round. Other notables on his half of the bracket included #2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), #3 Shane Griffith (Stanford), #6 Josh Shields (Arizona State), #7 McFadden, and #10 Bullard. Based on his NCAA seeding, Wentzel was named a second-team NWCA All-American. Right off the bat, Wentzel started the 2021 NCAA season with a substantial test in returning EIWA champion, Skidgel. He passed to the tune of 5-2 and earned wins in his first four matches. The only setback of the 2021 regular season came in the form of a 4-3 loss to Bullard. Wentzel rebounded in grand fashion and downed national qualifiers in his last three matches of the regular season. The most important win for Wentzel came in the final dual of the year when Pittsburgh met Virginia Tech. Wentzel and 2019 NCAA Champion, Mekhi Lewis were slated to square off. Using his elite leg-riding skills and a nasty power half, Wentzel injured the former national champion to the point where he could no longer compete and had to default. With Lewis out of the picture at the ACC Championships, Wentzel fought to his second consecutive conference crown without surrendering a single point. That performance, combined with a solid regular-season record, gave Wentzel the third seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Wentzel's NCAA debut started off slowly as he edged #30 Evan Barczak (Drexel) by the narrowest of margins, 1-0, in the opening round. He was able to have a little bit more breathing room in the Round of 16, cruising by Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 8-1. To lock up All-American honors for the first time, Wentzel won a 9-6 shootout with stud freshman Keegan O'Toole (Missouri). The former Junior World Champion's loss to Wentzel proved to be his only blemish for the entire year. After a close 4-2 win over Ethan Smith (Ohio State) in the NCAA semis, Wentzel became the first Panther to make the finals since Tyler Wilps did so in 2015. It's hard being on the “other side of history.” Wentzel was indeed in that role during the NCAA finals. He squared off with Stanford's Griffith, who was the favorite in the hearts of wrestling fans everywhere, with the exception of Pittsburgh. Since Stanford had announced it was cutting their program, Griffith's NCAA title run galvanized the wrestling community and made for a Disney-like ending. Of course, Griffith won 6-2 and helped lead the tiny number of fans allowed in the St. Louis arena in chant's of “Keep Stanford Wrestling.” The win by Griffith and the eventual resurrection of the Cardinal program overshadowed the great 2021 season that Wentzel put together and his emergence into a national title threat. Strengths: Wentzel has developed a reputation for being one of the best wrestlers from the top position in the nation. He can amass boatloads of riding time, along with some back points from his leg riding. His abilities on the mat sometimes outshine other attributes. Wentzel has excellent scrambling skills. Look no further than his NCAA quarterfinal bout with O'Toole, who is renowned for his scrambling abilities. Wentzel was able to hang with O'Toole and even came out on top in a few exchanges. Similarly, he is dangerous from the bottom and his hips help him get reversals. To really threaten to win a national title, Wentzel will have to continue to evolve on his feet and be able to consistently get a takedown and avoid any possible gameplans that nullify his strength on top. 2021-22 Outlook: The 165 lb weight class is going to be one of the most interesting to follow, just as it was in 2021. Most key components return, as does Evan Wick (Cal Poly). 174 lb All-American Demetrius Thomas (Utah Valley) is expected to drop down, too. Wentzel is certainly on the short-list of title contenders. With so many elite wrestlers at this weight, Wentzel could conceivably place anywhere from first to eighth in 2021-22. 2021 NCAA Runner-Up Jake Wentzel (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)

Yahya Thomas at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League. Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand. As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules: For wrestlers competing in dual meets, Standard Dual Team Scoring is used (win by Dec +3, loss by Dec -6, etc). Bonus Points are given when your wrestler beats a ranked wrestler OR if your wrestler loses to a ranked wrestler ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler. If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt. One starter per weight with two Flex classes. Two in-season competitions of Head-to-Head Duals and Cumulative Total Points. Each competition brought with it the prize of earning additional team points for the National Tournament. 1st place = +9 team points for Nationals, 2nd place = +8, etc (if you win 1st in the Duals and Total Points, you earn +18 team points for Nationals, etc) Brain Power Team Manager: Willie Saylor (@MatScoutWillie) How It Started: How appropriate that the finale of the first round should fall to the Leagues namesake, Willie Saylor. You may remember him from such wrestling escapades such as The #WilieTrials and “Mr. Saylor Angers The Internet.” Willie rounded out the first round as the #10 pick. For Willie's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE Hindsight Draft Review: First Round Pick (#10 Overall): The point of much controversy during the 2020 season, Willie's first pick of the MatScouts Dynasty League Draft was 197 Michael Beard (PSU). Beard went 12-3 against D1 competition with a 62.5% bonus rate in 2020 as a Redshirt, losing only to Greg Bulsak (CLAR), Nathan Traxler (STAN), and Ethan Laird (RID). He's just another spoke in the wheel that is Penn State 2021: Reloaded. Another year in the Penn State Room and another year to grow into the starting role in a weight that has been as unpredictable as milk that has been left out too long. Great Picks: One of the star freshmen to hit the mats this season was 184 Parker Keckeisen (UNI). Coming off his redshirt season where he was 16-1 against all competition, he only wrestled three D1 wrestlers going 2-1 (his only loss was 6-5 against Abe Assad). It was still not conclusive how he would do in taking over for 2020's 184 #1 seed Taylor Lujan. Even to start the season, UNI was only giving him extra matches and swapping between 184 and 197, but later pulled the trigger in starting him at 184, and finished 3rd at the National Tournament. Keckeisen was selected in the 12 Round (#111 overall) and was the #6 Fantasy Wrestler at 184. Under The Radar Pick: He got a little starting time in this short season for the Wolfpack, and even made a splash by pinning eventual ACC Champion Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT). He may have lost out on postseason duties to Nick Reenan, but in the short amount of mat time he had Trumble showed that he could be the future 197 of NC State. Trumble was selected in the 17th Round (#170 overall). A Miss For This Season: It had the potential to be a “Great Pick”, but with the last pick of the draft 141 Kaid Brock (OKST) was selected. The possibly bigger reach and miss for The Brain came in the 3rd Round (#30 overall). Again, this draft occurred in June 2020 when the sky was the limit for all wrestlers in the NCAA, but Willie selected 141 Anthony Echemendia (OHST). He has eligibility as a True Freshman and came in with a lot of hype and excitement as well, but even though the record was 4-1, he did not face any stiff competition and also lost the initial wrestle-off to Dylan D'Emilio (who got postseason duties over Echemendia either by coaches decision tor because of injury back from when he was pinned by Jaydin Eierman in their dual). This isn't to say that Echemendia won't get a better grasp on Folkstyle and get his technique up to par, but as for this season a 3rd Round pick may have been juuuust a bit too much for him. How The Season Played Out: Brain Power fell a little behind in Total Points, due in large part to wrestlers not competing, competing very little, or being injured (see Kaid Brock, Nick Suriano, Theoris Robison, AJ Nevills, and basically anyone on Lehigh for a while). And like they say, if you don't score more points than your opponent, chances are you're not going to win a lot of games. Brain Power also hit a bad luck streak in Duals, going 1-3 before repeating the same record on the back half of the season. In all, Brain Power finished in 9th place in both the Dual and Total Points Standings, and was able to secure 2 additional bonus points for his final NCAA team total See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE Some Transfer Portal Pickups were used by Brain Power to try and make up ground due to the lack of ‘Hustle' by his drafted wrestlers: - Drop 174 Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven), adds 197 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) - Drop 133 Dom Serrano (Nebraska, adds 157 Markus Hartman (Army) - Drop 149 Austin Boone (Penn State), adds 125 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) - Drop 157 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech), adds 184 Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) - Drop 157 Justin Ruffin (SIU-Edwardsville), adds 133 Jason Miranda (Stanford) - Drop 141 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State), adds 141 Grant Willits (Oregon State) - Drop 133 Jason Miranda (Stanford), adds 133 Ryan Sullivan (West Virginia) Brain Power was also involved in one trade during the season: - 1/14/2021: Traded 165 Shane Griffith (Stanford) & 157 Markus Hartman (Army) to Danny B Mobbin' for 157 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) & 149 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 2021 NCAA Tournament Brain Power approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster: And this is the lineup Willie entered for Nationals: With 71 Team points, Brain Power finished at 10th place in the #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season. Brain Power Entering the 2022 Season Draft 18 of his 25 roster spots are comprised of sophomores or younger and the true freshmen are consensus Blue-Chippers. This season may not have been a year to compete for the trophy, but a foundational draft last year potentially set this team up for the next 5 seasons allowing the Brain to build a constant stream of talent to be a year-in and year-out contender. For the immediate future, 125 will need depth especially if Suriano doesn't make his anticipated/rumored return. Maybe 197 could use some depth… or maybe not. Other than that, the 2022 draft can be used by the original MatScout to add some more green to the depth chart or snipe some remaining veterans in the Transfer Portal. Brain Power has the #1 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who? Let us know!

2x NCAA All-American Austin DeSanto (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) Next is… #27 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) Weight: 133 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 82-19 Hometown: Exeter, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 3rd, 2021 Big Ten 2nd, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 5th 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 133 lbs Though Austin DeSanto has strong credentials in-state as a Pennsylvania high schooler during his sophomore and junior years (state 5th and 2nd), he really made his presence felt nationally in his final high school bout. That was the end of DeSanto's "VisionQuest" of sorts as he prevented Spencer Lee from winning his fourth PA state title. At that point, DeSanto had already signed with Drexel, which is only about two hours away from his hometown, Exeter. DeSanto got the call right away to start at 133 lbs for the Dragons and he responded with two techs and a fall in his first three duals. Next up, Drexel traveled to Iowa State and DeSanto battled highly-touted Ian Parker, before falling 7-5. Though DeSanto picked up some solid wins on his way to a Keystone Classic title, it was at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational where he really announced himself to the collegiate wrestling world. DeSanto ultimately finished fourth with a pair of losses to returning All-American Jack Mueller (Virginia). Around those losses, DeSanto reeled off wins over Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech), Dom Forys (Pittsburgh), and Montorie Bridges (Wyoming). Biggest of all, though, was a 22-10 major decision over returning NCAA fourth-place finisher Stevan Micic (Michigan). The victory over Micic proved the Drexel freshman would likely contend for a spot on the NCAA podium in year one. During the remainder of the regular season, the only loss on DeSanto's resume was an injury default to Mueller at the Southern Scuffle. He would medically forfeit out of the tournament and took sixth. In his first postseason, DeSanto lost in the EIWA semifinals to the eventual runner-up, Chaz Tucker (Cornell), then proceeded to take third. It was a reversal, of sorts, from their dual meeting where DeSanto triumphed, 2-1. The third-place showing at the EIWA tournament, plus a sparkling 28-5 record, was good enough for the seventh seed at nationals. DeSanto's got off to a late start as he received a medical forfeit in the opening round. After that, it was a handful of familiar faces. DeSanto finally got Mueller in their next bout. He dominated with a 16-8 major decision. A win over Mueller put DeSanto in the NCAA quarters in a match that has lived in infamy since. Micic had a revenge match of his own and crushed DeSanto, to the tune of 13-1. Near the end of the bout, DeSanto applied an illegal kimura to the Wolverine's arm. For a spot on the podium, DeSanto had to go through Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers). The freshman jumped out to an early lead, but Delvecchio stormed back late and sent the match into sudden victory where he'd eventually prevail. Though DeSanto had an impressive season, he was rumored to be looking elsewhere after the NCAA Tournament. A little more than a month after the national tournament, word spread that DeSanto was seeking to head west and transfer to the University of Iowa. Hawkeye fans salivated a the thought of a wrestler with DeSanto's pace and arsenal under the tutelage of the Brands brothers. Additionally, DeSanto's in-match antics had made some scoff at the sophomore. Iowa fans embraced the talented wrestler that got under the skin of opponents and other fan bases. DeSanto started off hot in a Hawkeye singlet, winning his first four matches and earning bonus points in half of those contests. His next dual was one of the most memorable of the year, against hated rival Iowa State. DeSanto and Austin Gomez met in the duals final bout and fireworks ensued. Had DeSanto lost via fall, and he was on his back, the Cyclones would have won. He fought off and helped Iowa escape with a win. From there, DeSanto only lost once more during the regular season. He assimilated well to the Iowa lineup and Iowa style and was victorious at the Midlands, earning bonus points in every bout. After the Midlands, DeSanto's subsequent two wins came at the expense of returning national runner-up Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) and the eventual champion, Nick Suriano (Rutgers). In the final meet of the year, DeSanto was shut down by stud freshman Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 2-0. At the Big Ten Championships, Suriano was able to get the best of DeSanto with a 6-3 win. The Hawkeye rebounded to take third with a 12-8 win over Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State). That third-place finish helped DeSanto land the seventh seed in Pittsburgh. Once again, the national tournament provided DeSanto the opportunity to compete against plenty of familiar faces. In the Round of 16, he tallied a second win against Bravo-Young, 7-2. For the second consecutive year, DeSanto and Micic were opposite one another in the quarters. This time was much more tactical, but still a 3-2 win for Micic. For the second straight year, DeSanto fell in the quarters and was dropped into the bloodround. Waiting was in-state rival, Gomez. This bout was nothing like their previous meeting and DeSanto walked all over the Cyclone for a 16-5 major decision. DeSanto settled into fifth place after wins over Lizak and John Erneste (Missouri) and a shutout loss to Luke Pletcher (Ohio State). In his first year at Iowa, DeSanto amassed a 23-6 record and got onto the NCAA podium for the first time in a weight class that many historians deemed was the toughest of the last decade or so. In the early going of the 2019-20 season, DeSanto got an early test with a dual meeting against 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross (Wisconsin). DeSanto pulled the slight upset as he posted a 6-2 win over the Badger transfer. A couple weeks later, Gross returned the favor at the Midlands. After the Midlands, the most significant bout for DeSanto occurred when he took on Bravo-Young and top-ranked Penn State. Bravo-Young looked to be in an advantageous position with a cradle, but DeSanto suffered an injury and defaulted out of the match. DeSanto showed no ill effects as he returned and posted bonus points in his final two duals. The 2020 Big Ten Championships, saw many of the critical components that made the previous year's weight so tough, return. That led to a fourth-place finish at the event, but his losses were to top-five ranked opponents, Gross and Bravo-Young. Once again, DeSanto was slated to receive the sixth seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships; however, Covid wiped out the tournament. He was paired with #27 Jarrett Trombley (NC State) in the opening round. Some key contenders on his half of the bracket included #2 Gross, #3 Tucker, #7 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), #10 Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers), and #11 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State). Based on his seed, DeSanto was named an NWCA First-Team All-American. The delayed 2021 season saw DeSanto and the Hawkeyes hit the mat for the first time in mid-January with a tech fall victory over Alex Thomsen (Nebraska). During the regular season, DeSanto did not have a match closer than 12 points. That came over eventual freshman All-American Lucas Byrd (Illinois). Aside from that, DeSanto did not meet any key contenders. At the Big Ten Championships, Byrd pushed DeSanto to the brink in the semifinals, before the Hawkeye emerged the winner, 5-4. For the title, DeSanto was a 5-2 loser to Bravo-Young. After making his first Big Ten final, DeSanto was given the fourth seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. In St. Louis, DeSanto got off to a blazing start with a tech fall over #29 Paul Bianchi (Little Rock), before pinning #20 Ryan Sullivan (West Virginia). That sent DeSanto to the NCAA quarterfinals, a place he had lost in each of his previous two trips. He left nothing to question this time with a 13-5 major decision over the defensively-minded Micky Phillipi (Pittsburgh). DeSanto's first NCAA semifinal came against the top-seed Fix, who had gotten to that point after a major decision and two falls. Both were able to slow down the other, but Fix ultimately came out on top, 3-2. While DeSanto's title hopes were dashed, he was able to get "the next best thing" and bounced back to place third. In the consolation semifinals, he turned in a 19-4 tech fall over Michael McGee (Arizona State). The third-place bout saw him defeat Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech), 10-6. Heading into his final year, DeSanto is a two-time Midlands finalist (one-time champ) who has only lost to Roman Bravo-Young, Daton Fix, and Seth Gross over his last two seasons. Strengths: DeSanto has a pace and intensity that few in the country can match. He's a high-volume shooter and is always looking for his next score. As seen during his matches with RBY, DeSanto is known for his left-handed dump. It's an attack opponents know is coming, but rarely can stop. RBY has resorted to wrestling with his hand behind his back, rather than giving DeSanto his tricep. DeSanto will also try sweep and snatch singles. If he can't initially finish, he may resort back to a dump. On top, DeSanto rides with a lot of pressure. Typically his riding time comes as he amasses small chunks at a time, before cutting his opponent. 2021-22 Outlook: 133 looks like a very top-heavy weight class again. It probably won't be extremely deep with All-American possibilities. Still, there is a strong upper-tier capable of winning a title. Returning national finalists Bravo-Young and Fix, along with Micic and possibly Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers), make up that group of challengers, along with DeSanto. 2x NCAA All-American Austin DeSanto (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

G'Angelo Hancock in the 2021 World Quarterfinals (Photo/Kadir Caliskan) The second day of Greco-Roman competition from the 2021 World Championships saw a trio of young American stars hit the mat. As of the semifinals, all three (Dalton Roberts - 60 kg, G'Angelo Hancock - 97 kg, and Cohlton Schultz - 130 kg) still had shots at claiming medals. The round proved to be brutal towards the Americans and Hancock fell in the championship bracket, while repechage hopes for Roberts and Schultz were dashed in stunning fashion. Hancock started his tournament in the round of 16 and left Ibrahim Tigci (Turkey) no avenue to score in a 5-0 shutout. It was more of the same in the quarterfinals as Hancock never let 2018 World silver medalist Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) get any offense going in a 6-0 win. Hancock blew the match open after he was awarded a point for Milov's passivity. The American lifted Milov near the boundary and cartwheeled out of bounds in order to expose a squirming Milov. After a break, the semifinals resumed and Hancock found himself against 2020 Individual World Cup silver-medalist Alex Szoke (Hungary). Like his previous bouts, Hancock jumped out to an early lead. He was given the opportunity to work from par terre first and responded with a gut wrench to extend his lead to 3-0. That's where it would be after one period. As often is the case, the official reciprocated the passive ruling and put Hancock down early in the second stanza. Hancock deftly avoided a turn, but the Hungarian got on the board, 4-1. Late in the bout, the official deemed Hancock passive again and Szoke was able to take advantage with a turn to tie the match up, though he owned criteria. Hancock would push until the final whistle, but was not able to find any sort of scoring hold. Roberts and Schultz both fell in the opening matches, but watched as their opponents compiled wins and advanced to the semis. Though Roberts fell to Gevorg Gharibyan (Armenia), 8-4, his pace and physicality wore down the Armenian late in the contest. Gharibyan ended up on the wrong side of a wild, 9-6 shootout with Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) in the semifinals, which eliminated Roberts. In his first Senior World bout, Schultz had an unfortunate draw meeting 2020 Olympic silver medalist Iakobi Kajaia (Georgia). Ultimately, the veteran came out on top with a 5-3 win. Kajaia ended up on the wrong side of a tactical 2-1 loss to Zurabi Gedekhauri (Russia) in the semis. Also in action for the American's on Friday was two-time Olympian Ben Provisor at 82 kg. Provisor went 1-1 on Thursday, but was pulled into repechage after Burhan Akbudak (Turkey) made the finals. This morning, Provisor was edged by Laszlo Szabo (Hungary), 2-1 and was eliminated. He'll go on to finish in the top-eight. Tomorrow morning, Sam Jones (63 kg), Peyton Omania (67 kg), and Alan Vera (87 kg) will start their tournaments. Jones will have Deniz Menekse (Germany). Deniz has competed at the World Championships twice, never finishing higher than 12th. Omania takes on Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan), a 2021 Junior World Champion and a bronze medalist at the 2021 European U23 Championships. Vera's first opponent is Turpan Bisultanov (Denmark), a fifth-place finisher at the 2021 European Championships.

Oklahoma State All-American Jacobe Smith (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) While the best wrestlers in the world competed this week at the 2021 World Championships, there are plenty of former wrestlers ready to ply their trade this weekend in the MMA cages. The action kicks off on Friday with a high-profile debut and continues on Saturday with a UFC loaded with wrestling talent. On Friday night at XFN 374, Jacobe Smith will become the latest product of the Oklahoma State to American Kickboxing Academy pipeline. He will make his professional MMA debut against Roderick Stewart. Smith started his collegiate career on the junior college level at Northeastern Oklahoma before transferring to the Cowboy powerhouse. There he was a two-year starter. Smith qualified for the NCAA tournament twice and finished eighth as a junior to become an All-American. Stewart will also be making his professional debut, but he did win an amateur MMA fight via decision back in 2016. The card, which airs live on UFC Fight Pass at 7:00pm ET, was also expected to feature fellow former Cowboy Nick Piccininni. However, as of press time, his bout had not been announced by the promotion. UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Rodriguez takes place on Saturday at an earlier than normal start time. The preliminary card on ESPN+ starts at 1:30pm ET, while the main card on the streaming platform starts at 4:00pm ET. Both portions of the event feature some top former wrestlers. It might be a stretch to call Alexander Romanov a former wrestler, considering the Moldovan competed at both the 2019 World Championships and the 2021 Olympic Qualification Tournament. He has extensive experience in international freestyle and won a bronze medal at the 2016 World University Championships. On the MMA side, he turned professional in 2016 and joined the UFC last year. He holds an undefeated 14-0 record. His opponent on Saturday will be Jared Vanderaa, who earned a spot in the UFC via the Dana White Contender Series and recently picked up his first win for the promotion over converted kickboxer Justin Tafa. Also on the preliminary card, Damon Jackson takes on Charles Rosa. During his college days, Jackson was a member of the Missouri Valley College wrestling team. In 2012, he finished fifth at the NAIA tournament to become an All-American. In MMA, he holds an 18-4-1 record and is coming into this bout against Rosa off a loss to Ilia Topuria. The main card kicks off with a battle between former wrestlers. Phil Hawes won an NJCAA title for Iowa Central in 2010, before transferring to Iowa State. After a year with the Cyclones, he moved again and finished his career at Division III powerhouse Wartburg. On Saturday, he takes on Deron Winn. Until recently, Winn was a regular on the upperweight freestyle ladder. The NAIA All-American placed in the top four of the U.S. Open four times and finished second in the 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Winn initially competed in both href="https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/20193"target="_blank">MMA and wrestling simultaneously, but he has been focusing on MMA exclusively since 2020. He started his MMA career with six-straight victories, but he is only 2-2 since joining the UFC in 2019. Long before he won "The Ultimate Fighter" and challenged for the UFC flyweight title, Tim Elliott was a standout wrestler on both the junior college and Division II levels. His college journey began at Labette Community College, where he was a two-time All-American and national champion. Elliott then transferred to Central Oklahoma, where he placed second and fourth to finish as a four-time All-American. He holds a 17-11-1 record as a professional, but is coming off back-to-back wins. On Saturday, he faces off against Matheus Nicolau. The Brazilian has a 16-2-1 record and is 6-1 in the UFC since joining in 2015.

Three-time World Champion Helen Maroulis (Photo/Tony Rotundo/UWW) 57 kg Maroulis mauls Anshu for third world title. A couple of months after taking a bronze medal at the Olympics, Helen Maroulis is back on top of the world at 57 kgs. Maroulis started off slow and was put on the shot clock first. A violation of the :30 seconds without any scoring resulted in a point for Anshu. That accounted for the only point in the opening period. Maroulis turned up the intensity in the second and grabbed a takedown. Not content with a one-point lead, Maroulis locked up an armbar and relentlessly twisted and turned her Indian foe until her back was exposed. Smelling fall, Maroulis continued to work and buried Anshu for the fall. The win marks Maroulis' third world title and her seventh world/Olympic medal. It also completes a remarkable turnaround as Helen suffered severe head injuries that almost made her quit the sport in 2018-19. In 2021, Maroulis became the first American woman to win multiple Olympic medals and added two medals to her collection this year. The bronze medalists at this weight were Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia) and Sae Nanjo (Japan). 59 kg Dudova caps great 2021 season with gold medal. Bilyana Dudova put the finishing touches on an incredible 2021 as she defeated Japan's Akie Hanai (Japan) to claim her first world title. Earlier this year, Dudova won gold at the Kolov-Petrov, the European Championships, and the Yasar Dogu. This was not Dudova's first brush with a world title, as she was a silver medalist three years ago. In the world final itself, with Hanai, Dudova blew the match wide-open less than :40 in with a four-point arm throw to take a 4-0 lead. She never looked back and cruised to a 6-4 victory. American Maya Nelson took a 3-0 lead into the second period of her bronze medal match with Mongolia's Shoovdor Baatarjav before suffering an apparent shoulder injury. It obviously limited Nelson in the second period and she gave up a pair of takedowns to the Mongolian. Even so, Nelson almost secured a winning takedown at the buzzer, but fell 4-3. 68 kg Kyrgyzstan's wins second world championship of 2021. Kyrgyzstan continued its rise on the women's wrestling scene with their second world champion in 2021 as Meerim Zhumanazarova prevailed over Japan's Rin Miyaji. Zhumanazarova also was an Olympic bronze medalist earlier this year. In the semifinals, Zhumanazarova barely got by Khanum Velieva (Russia), winning 3-3 on criteria. There was no such drama in the finals as Zhumanazarova pinned Miyaji. Miyaji had her own shocking pin in the finals when she cradled Olympic champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Mensah-Stock claimed a bronze medal after a one-sided win over Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic). She now has her fourth World/Olympic medal. Velieva edged Olivia DiBacco (Canada) 2-1 for the other bronze medal. 72 kg Furuichi wins eighth world title at four age groups. It may have slipped under the radar based on the performances of other Japanese athletes, but Masako Furuichi elevated herself into an exclusive stratosphere by winning her eighth world title across four age groups. Now she has won at the Cadet, Junior, U23, and Senior levels. It wasn't her first Senior medal, as she was ninth in the world in 2019. She also won Junior's every year from 2014-16. In the world finals, against Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), Furuichi was victorious in a hard-fought effort, 3-0. She did the same in a close 6-2 match versus Anna Schell (Germany) in the semis. Schell and Buse Tosun (Turkey) were the other bronze medalists at the weight.

2021 World Champions Thomas Gilman (Photo Courtesy of Tony Rotundo/UWW) The U.S. men's freestyle team wrapped up at the 2021 World Championships with three gold medals and seven overall medals. As always, there were many standout performers along the way. The following looks at some of the squad's top statistical performers and some trends recognized by looking at the team as a whole. Point Differential Even though he finished with a silver medal, Daton Fix led Team USA in terms of point differential. He averaged 2.72 points per minute, allowed only 0.26 per minute and therefore finished with a +2.46 differential. Fix's measure was well ahead of the rest of the squad as J'den Cox had the second highest with 1.84. Prior to the finals, Fix outscored his opposition 41-0, and he racked up those 41 points in less than 10 minutes combined. Ultimately, he dropped a 4-1 match in the finals and now his attention returns to the college mats, where he is expected to once again contend for the 133-pound title while representing Oklahoma State. Takedowns While Fix finished with 42 match points, he only registered eight takedowns. The team leader in terms of takedowns was Cox. He scored 28 points with 13 takedowns throughout the tournament. He managed to score a takedown in five of his matches on the way to a bronze medal. He scored four takedowns against both Orgilokh Dagvadorj (Mongolia) and Jeremy Poirier (Canada). At 57kg Thomas Gilman finished with 10 takedowns, which was tied with Kyle Snyder for the second most of the team. However, he certainly made the most of his time on the mat. Broken down by most takedowns per six minutes of wrestling, Gilman was tops of the squad. He averaged 3.49 takedowns per six minutes, which edged Cox's 3.42. As a team, Team USA finished 298 match points in the tournament. 174 of those points (58%) came via takedowns. The Jordan Burroughs Return Burroughs bounced back from his two losses to Kyle Dake at the World Team Trials. In that event, he outscored his opposition 30-5 and won five straight matches. Along the way, he averaged six points per match. While that performance showed he was ready to compete again on the World stage, this performance was arguably his return to form. In his four matches at the 2021 World Championships, he outscored his opposition 34-6 and averaged 8.5 points per match. Burroughs scored nine takedowns; many were his vintage double legs, while allowing none. In fact, he allowed only one two-point score in the entire tournament. Gut Wrenches While the majority of Team USA's points came via takedown, the second-biggest share of points were produced by exposures. 76 points were earned by exposing an opponent's back to the mat, and the vast majority of those points were scored with gut wrenches. As a team, the Men's freestyle squad earned 58 points with gut wrenches throughout the tournament. Fix led the way for the team with 11 gut wrenches. Dake was second with seven as he scored three against Azamat Nurykau (Belarus) and four against Vasile Diacon (Moldova). While the squad was able to score points in par terre via folkstyle-esque moves like armbars, half nelsons and cradles, there was an odd lack of leg laces. The team collectively finished with only six points on three leg laces. Yianni Diakomihalis, David Taylor and Jordan Burroughs all finished with one successful leg lace. Collectively Team USA showed off impressive defense against exposures. They allowed only 12 such points in the entire tournament. Six on those points were from gut wrenches, while the other six came in the neutral position or in scrambles. Step Outs/Shot Clock Team USA often dominates in terms of step-out points. The ability to come forward and push the pace in the neutral position meshes well with the folkstyle background many wrestlers bring to the international scene. That was on display once again here. The team scored 27 points via the step out, while allowing only 17. That same forward pressure also manifested itself in terms of shot clock points. Team USA finished with 12 shot clock points scored, while opponents earned only six points against Team USA wrestlers via the shot clock. Interestingly enough, the U.S. went only 1-2 when allowing a shot clock point in the tournament, and every U.S. wrestler who went on the shot clock ended up going on the clock twice in the same match. Fix went on the clock twice in his finals match against Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RWF). Snyder ended up on the clock twice against Mojtaba Goleij (Iran) in the semifinals and pulled it out in dramatic fashion. He could not pull it off again as he dropped his final match against Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RWF) and ended up on the clock in both periods. Four-point moves Burroughs and James Green both contributed a pair of four-point scores to help the team reach seven. Fix, Cox and David Taylor each added one of the scores. All seven of the four-pointers were takedowns that went feet to back. The only Team USA wrestler to surrender a four-point move was Nick Gwiazdowski, and it came against eventual champion Amir Zare (Iran).

2021 NCAA finalist Nino Bonaccorsi (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) Next is… Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) Weight: 197 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 57-15 Hometown: Bethel Park, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Runner-Up, 2021 ACC Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #2 at 197 lbs It shouldn't come as a surprise that Nino Bonaccorsi ended up at Pittsburgh. His older brother Nick was a three-time NCAA qualifier and Round of 12 finisher from 2013-16. The family also grew up in the outskirts of the city, about ten miles away from campus. Bonaccorsi came into college as a 184 lber and competed at that weight during his redshirt season. He hit the ground running and won 13 of his first 14 bouts while wrestling unattached. The only loss during that run came to Dakota Geer, then of Edinboro, in the season-opening Clarion Open. Just over a month later, at the Cleveland State Open, Bonaccorsi avenged that loss to the tune of 8-5. Nino's strong run took him into the Midlands, where he fell in the quarterfinals to two-time All-American Nate Jackson, who was competing as a post-grad. Not dismayed in the least bit, Bonaccorsi won three straight consolation bouts, before getting shut out by Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan) 7-0 in the third-place match. Earlier in the tournament, he had registered another win over Geer. For the remainder of the year, Bonaccorsi only lost twice and both came to Binghamton's redshirting freshman Louie DePrez. Once at the Edinboro Open and then at the National Collegiate Open. The biggest win for Bonaccorsi during that home stretch came at the expense of Cam Caffey (Michigan State). Bonaccori's official Panther debut took place in a 2018-19 dual with CSU Bakersfield's Dom Ducharme. He would earn bonus points in a 15-5 major decision. Bonaccorsi's first official loss came in his next outing against the eventual NCAA champion Drew Foster (Northern Iowa). Marking off more “official” landmarks, in Bonaccorsi's first bracketed tournament, he took seventh at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. At that event, Bonaccorsi picked up two wins over returning NCAA qualifiers (Kayne MacCallum - Oklahoma and Will Schany - Virginia). Following the CKLV, Bonaccorsi won 12 of his remaining 14 duals. The only losses came to All-American's Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) and Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State). He was able to down one of his own in ACC-rival Chip Ness (North Carolina). At the ACC Championships, Bonaccorsi notched his second win of the year over Nick Reenan (NC State), but suffered his third loss of the year at the hands of Zavatsky in the conference finals. A runner-up finish at the ACC Championships was good enough for the 13th seed for Bonaccorsi. Wrestling at the NCAA Championships in front of his hometown crowd, Bonaccorsi did his job in the opening round with an 11-4 decision over Will Sumner (Utah Valley). In the Round of 16, Bonaccorsi scored his biggest win of the year when he upset #4 Emery Parker (Illinois), 9-7. Parker was a returning All-American and went on to rebound and finish fifth. Bonaccorsi's surprising run to the quarterfinals came to an end against #5 Max Dean (Cornell), who shut out the Panther freshman, 6-0. In a strange coincidence, that was the same score in the bloodround, where Bonaccorsi fell to old rival Dakota Geer, now at Oklahoma State. The sophomore year for Bonaccorsi began with a title at the Michigan State Open and his closest bout was a six-point win versus Jelani Embree (Michigan). A week later, Bonaccorsi was knocked off by Andrew Morgan (Campbell), 11-8 in the first dual of the season. He would win out for the rest of the 2019 calendar year, a small five-match streak that was highlighted by an 8-3 victory over 2018 NCAA Round of 12'er Chris Weiler (Lehigh). Next up was the Southern Scuffle, which could be described as “hit or miss” for Bonaccorsi. The good news is that he advanced to the semifinals and majored or teched all of his opponents. On the flip side, he was majored himself by DePrez. Undaunted, Bonaccorsi came back with two more bonus-point wins for third. In the first dual post-Scuffle, Bonaccorsi fell to Oklahoma State freshman Anthony Montalvo. Two matches later, he was beaten in a conference dual by another tough freshman, Trent Hidlay (NC State). It was during the final dual of the year when Bonaccorsi notched perhaps his most impressive win of the year. He outlasted Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) 10-8 in tiebreakers to hand the Hokie only his second loss of the year. Even with the Bolen win, Bonaccorsi still fell on Hidlay's half of the bracket at the ACC Championships. This time he was closer to Hidlay, but still was defeated 3-2 in tiebreakers. The third-place showing was enough to warrant the 10th seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. With the onset of the Covid pandemic, the 2020 national tournament did not happen and Bonaccorsi was deemed an NWCA 2nd Team All-American based on his seeding. Nino was slated to face 23rd seed Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) in the opening round had the tournament been conducted. A win would have likely set up a match with #6 Caffey, who was fresh off a finals appearance at the Big Ten Championships. Other notables on Bonaccorsi's half of the bracket include #2 Bolen, #3 Aaron Brooks (Penn State), #7 Taylor Venz (Nebraska), and #11 Abe Assad (Iowa). For the 2021 season, Bonaccorsi would move up to compete at 197 lbs. He showed no ill-effects after the move and immediately teched then pinned two opponents from Navy in his debut. Less than a week later, he logged a solid 7-2 victory over Lehigh's two-time NCAA qualifier Jake Jakobsen. In late November, Bonaccorsi suffered his only loss pre-NCAA's when he was caught by true freshman Isaac Trumble (NC State) and downed, 6-1. After an unblemished ACC mark, Bonaccorsi was given the top-seed at the conference meet. There he still needed to get past a tough Reenan to make his second ACC final. In the title match, he defeated Jay Aiello (Virginia), a 2020 ACC champion at the weight and the seventh seed at the NCAA Tournament. The win over Aiello, an ACC title, and a 9-1 record was worthy of the sixth seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships for Bonaccorsi. In St. Louis, Bonaccorsi came out on a mission, winning his first two bouts by major decision. The second of which came against Aiello; his third win of the year over the Cavalier. In the quarterfinals, Bonaccorsi was tasked with taking on the #3 seed, unbeaten Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State). Norfleet proved to be little trouble for Bonaccorsi and he prevailed, 4-1. That upset cemented his status as a 2021 NCAA All-American. Not content, Bonaccorsi had to deal with one of the Cinderella stories of the tournament in #26 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) in the semis. Midnight struck for Woodley, as Bonaccorsi again got by with a 4-1 win. The NCAA finals would see Bonaccorsi opposite one of the most-talked-about figures at the entire tournament, AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State). Less than a minute into their championship bout, Ferrari struck with a low attack off of a reshot. That takedown proved to be the difference in a 4-1 win for the Cowboy freshman. After the NCAA season, Bonaccorsi would stay active by earning a place on the U23 World Team at 92 kg. To get to the final, Bonaccorsi defeated Caffey. His opponent in the best-of-three finals, Rocky Elam (Missouri), ended up making the Junior team and won a world title at that level. Strengths: Bonaccorsi is a unique 197 lber. His footwork and pace make him difficult to deal with for most of his opposition. He's also a high-volume shooter, especially compared to the rest of the weight class. Bonaccorsi tends to operate best in space. He can convert doubles and sweep singles with regularity. His length and working from space typically prevent opponents from reaching his legs. Nino is good on top. Normally, he's not going to get many turns against top competition, but can still ride enough to surpass the riding time criteria. 2021-22 Outlook: As evidenced by his NCAA finish in March, Bonaccorsi will go into this year as one of the leading contenders for a national title. He wrestled a close bout with Ferrari in the national finals and Ferrari is still hobbled as a result. While occasionally it may get him into trouble, Bonaccorsi's style makes him a difficult matchup for anyone at this weight. 2021 NCAA finalist Nino Bonaccorsi (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Six-Time World Champion Adeline Gray (Photo/Martin Gabor/UWW) 50 kg Late takedown propels Yoshimoto over Hildebrandt. It had all the makings of a colossal clash. Far and away, the two best women in the 50 kg bracket separated themselves from the field and turned their attention to each other. Remina Yoshimoto (Japan) and Sarah Hildebrandt combined to give up one single point during seven matches before the finals. Something had to give. In the early going, it appeared that Sarah Hildebrandt would be able to capture that one Senior medal that has eluded her through her decorated career. She held a 3-2 lead over her Japanese counterpart at the break. Yoshimoto pushed hard in the final stanza and grabbed the winning takedown in the waning second of the last period to win the gold medal. The bronze medals at this weight were won by Nadezhda Sokolova (Russia) and Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia). The win by the Mongolian was quite impressive as she teched two-time world silver medalist Alina Vuc (Romania). 53 kg 17-year-old phenom Fujinami completes remarkable run. It's incredible that 17-year-old Akari Fujinami (Japan) won a world title under any circumstances. What's more unbelievable is that she did so without surrendering a single point. 41-0 was her margin of victory over the field. This tournament should serve as a wake-up call for the rest of the world, as the 53 kg weight class has a new queen for at least the next couple of quads. Moldova's Iulia Leorda attempted to win her country's first Senior world title in women's freestyle. But came up short. Later in the day, one of her teammates who have a shot too. The bronze medals at this weight were awarded to Samantha Stewart (Canada) and Katarzyna Krawczyk (Poland). Both Stewart and Krawczyk are veterans that received their first Senior-level medal. Krawczyk wrestled for bronze on two prior occasions. 57 kg Maroulis is back in the world finals. The only American woman with multiple Olympic medals took the first step in winning her third world championship Wednesday as Helen Maroulis also locked up her fourth world medal. Maroulis dominated her first two opponents to lock up a spot in the semifinals. There she engaged in one of the best bouts of the entire women's tournament against Sae Nanjo (Japan). Nanjo got out to an early lead and put Maroulis in a 4-0 hole. Maroulis grabbed a takedown in the last few seconds of the first period to trail by 4-3. In the second period, Maroulis kept up her relentless pace and eventually picked up the go-ahead takedown. Nanjo continued to pursue a winning takedown and got in on a single leg with just under :20 left in the bout. Maroulis deftly avoided giving up a score of any sort and held on to win 5-4. The other half of the bracket saw India's Anshu Malik prevail. Malik is only the sixth Indian wrestler to ever reach the world finals. She is also the first Senior Women's finalist. She crushed Solomiia Vynnyk (Ukraine) in the semis. 59 kg Hanai battled to finals; Dudova dominates. In her first Senior World Championships, Maya Nelson advanced to the semifinals opposite Akie Hanai (Japan). Hanai grinded out a tough, 4-1 win over Nelson. She was stingy on defense and did enough to win in most of her bouts. The other finalist is Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria). It will be Dudova's second world final, as she was a silver medalist in 2018. She has had a great 2021 with wins at the Kolov-Petrov, European Championships, and the Yasar Dogu. Nelson will have the winner of Diana Kayumova (Kazakhstan) and Shoovdor Baatarjav (Mongolia) for a bronze medal. The other semifinal loser was Sarita (India). She'll face either Ineta Dantaite (Lithuania). 65 kg Ringaci makes Moldovan history; Molinari breaks through. After her teammate Leorda fell in the 53 kg, the responsibility fell on Irina Ringaci to bring home a gold medal for Moldova. It wouldn't be the first one of the year for Ringaci, as she already has a Junior World title this summer. Ringaci made the finals after she logged a pin while trailing. In her gold medal match versus Miwa Morikawa (Japan), Ringaci got out to an early lead and held on to win. Ringaci never backed down and continued to attack. While leading, she hit a four-point throw to extend the margin. In one of the bronze medal matches, Forrest Molinari broke through and captured her first world medal after falling a match short on two occasions. Her opponent, Maryia Mamashuk (Belarus), has a long list of credentials, including a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. That didn't matter as Molinari wore out Mamashuk and controlled her in a 12-1 tech. An injury default in favor of Malin Mattsson (Sweden) gave her the bronze medal in the other half of the bracket. 68 kg Mensah-Stock shocked in the semis. Perhaps the most shocking moment of the 2021 World Championships occurred in the 68 kg semifinals. Olympic champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock was looking to get off to a fast start and got in on Rin Miyaji's (Japan) legs. Miyaji caught Mensah-Stock off balance and locked up a cradle. She rolled the American over her own back and secured a fall in only :21 seconds. Opposing Miyaji in the finals will be Olympic bronze medalist Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan). Just two years ago, Zhumanazarova was a Junior world finalist. She won a tight bout on criteria over Khanum Velieva (Russia) in the semifinals, 3-3. In one of the bronze medal matches, Mensah-Stock will face the winner of Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic) and Danute Domikaityte (Lithuania). 72 kg Bakbergenova is Kazakhstan's lone finalist. American phenom, Junior World Champion Kylie Welker, fell in her opening match and was eliminated when her opponent Buse Tosun (Turkey) was dropped in the semis by Zhamilia Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan). Bakbergenova is the only woman from Kazakhstan to make the finals this year. She clinched her first world medal after falling in the bronze medal match in 2019. Her opponent will be Masako Furuichi (Japan). The Japanese finalist earned her spot after a hard-fought 6-2 win over Anna Schell (Germany). 76 kg Gray rallies to win record sixth world title. The final match on Wednesday was one of the most excited and the most historically significant for Americans. Adeline Gray made history by becoming the first American to win six world titles (man or woman). Just two days ago, Jordan Burroughs joined John Smith as America's only two six-time World/Olympic champions. Now Gray is in the club. Not only did Gray get the win, but her match will be extremely memorable for the US wrestling community. After a lost challenge in the final seconds of the first period, Gray was down 4-0 to Epp Maee (Estonia). Gray, who typically opens up more in the second period, lived up to her reputation and finally was able to penetrate the defense of the Estonian. After getting a second takedown and leading on criteria, Gray locked up a trapped-arm gut to take the lead. Not content to just win on points, Gray continued pushing for a fall and got it, just before the final buzzer sounded. With the fall, Gray had successfully pinned her way through the world tournament, marking the first time she accomplished that feat. Not only does she now have six gold medals, but nine total. The remaining two medalists at the weight were Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) and Samar Hamza (Egypt).

Ben Provisor at the 2021 World Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo/UWW) 55 kg Sajjad Abbaspourragani (Iran) 2018 Cadet World Bronze Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) 2019 World Bronze, 2018 World Champion Ken Matsui (Japan) 2019 Junior World Bronze, 2017 Cadet World Champion Ekrem Ozturk (Turkey) 2019 U23 World Bronze, 2018 World Bronze Emin Sefershaev (Russia) 2019 U23 World Silver, 2x Junior World Bronze Nugzari Tsurtsumia (Georgia) 2019 World Champion, 2018 U23 World Champion, 2018 World Bronze Khorlan Zhakansha (Kazakhstan) 2019 World Silver The American Entry: Max Nowry This is the smallest bracket of today's Greco weights also could be the deepest of the bunch. A pair of past world champions (Azizli and Tsurtsumia) headline the weight, that also features another 2019 world medalist (Zhakansha). We also could see some younger wrestlers break out, as there are a handful that have age group world medals. One of those young talents is pair with Max Nowry in the opening round. He'll face 2018 Cadet World bronze medalist Sajjad Abbaspourragani of Iran. 72 kg Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) 2021 European Silver, 2018 Junior World Champion, 2017 Junior World Silver Cengiz Arslan (Turkey) 2019 European Silver, 2018 U23 World Champion Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia) 2017 U23 World Champion Robert Fristch (Hungary) 2021 European Bronze, 017 U23 World Silver Ulvi Ganizadeh (Azerbaijan) 2020 European Bronze, 2019 Junior World Silver Kharman Kissymetov (Kazakhstan) 2018 U23 World Bronze, 2016 Junior World Silver Sergey Kutuzov (Russia) 2021 European U23 Bronze Valentin Petic (Moldova) 2019 U23 World Bronze, 2019 Junior World Bronze Gevorg Sahakyan (Poland) 2018 World Bronze Ruslan Tsarev (Kyrgyzstan) 2021 Asian Silver The American Entry: Pat Smith This will be a weight where someone breaks out and establishes themselves as a star. There are plenty of entrants with strong credentials, but none that stand out more significantly than others. Cengiz Arslan and Shmagi Bolkvadze are both U23 World champions, but still haven't totally established themselves at the Senior level. One that could be rising is Malkhas Amoyan, who was a runner-up in Europe this year. Without a clear-cut tier of definitive medal contenders, a veteran like Pat Smith could thrive. We'll see how Smith fares at this new weight. He has not competed internationally below 77 kg since 2018. 77 kg Yunus Basar (Turkey) 2021 European Silver Gela Bolkvadze (Georgia) 2018 U23 World Champion, 2017 U23 World Silver, 2015 Junior World Champion Mohammadali Geraei (Iran) 2019 World Bronze, 2019 Asian Bronze Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) 2021 Junior World Bronze, 2019 Cadet World Bronze Tamas Levai (Hungary) 2018 U23 World Bronze Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) 2019 World Bronze Exauce Mukubu (Norway) 2021 Junior World Silver Viktor Nemes (Serbia) 2018 World Bronze, 2017 World Champion Kodai Sakuraba (Japan) 2019 U23 World Silver Tamerlan Shadukaev (Kazakhstan) 2020 Asian Champion, 2019 U23 World Bronze, 2016 Junior World Champion Sanen Suleyman (Azerbaijan) 2021 European Bronze, 2019 U23 World Silver Roman Vlasov (Russia) 2x Olympic gold medalist, 2x World Champion The American Entry: Jesse Porter The big question at 77 kg is just how much Roman Vlasov has left. He is far and away the most credentialed entrant at this weight with a pair of Olympic golds and two other world championships. While Vlasov won the Individual World Cup in 2020, but was eighth in 2019 and 20th in 2017 at World's. A trio of Senior World medalists Mohammadali Geraei (Iran), Viktor Nemes (Serbia), and Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) could be in the mix if Vlasov isn't up to the task. Like other weights before it, 77 kg also has plenty of young contenders with gaudy age-group resumes that could be ready to break out. After making three U23 World teams, Jesse Porter gets the opportunity to compete at the Senior World Championships for the first time. Porter had the tournament of a lifetime at the Olympic Team Trials to win the 77 kg spot. Unfortunately, the weight was not qualified for the Games and Porter was unable to do it, at the OG Qualifier. At the World Team Trials, Porter proved he was not just a one-tournament flash in the pan. Porter possesses one of the more entertaining styles of anyone on Team USA. 82 kg Burhan Akbudak (Turkey) 2017 U23 World Champion Adlan Akiev (Russia) 2021 European Champion Alex Bjurberg Kessidis (Sweden) 2019 World Silver Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) 2020 Olympic Bronze, 2019 World Silver Radzik Kuliyeu (Belarus) 2020 Individual World Cup Bronze, 2017 World Bronze Per Anders Kure (Norway) 2018 Junior World Bronze Peyman Poshtam (Iran) 2021 Asian Champion Aivengo Rikadze (Georgia) 2021 European Bronze, 2019 U23 World Bronze The American Entry: Ben Provisor 82 kg has a solid tier of possible contenders, any number of which could come away with gold on their best day. Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) is coming off a bronze medal performance at the Olympics and is a past world finalist. The same can be said for Alex Bjurberg Kessidis (Sweden), though he did not have a great Olympics. This weight also has a handful of contenders that seem to be rising at the right time. Adlan Akiev (Russia) was a European champion this year, while Peyman Poshtam (Iran) won Asia. In the same breath, Radzik Kuliyeu was a winner at the Individual World Cup last year and is a past world medal winner. Watch out for the young, upstart Grand View freshman Ben Provisor. Ok, even though Provisor is now a college student, he's anything but inexperienced. Provisor is a two-time Olympian and a 2017 world team member. Ben has a first-round bye and will face the winner of Petr Novak (Czech Republic) and Satoki Mukai (Japan).

2x NCAA All-American Mike Labriola (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) Next is… Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) Weight: 174 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 67-21 Hometown: Easton, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 3rd Place, 2021 Big Ten 3rd Place, 2020 NWCA 2nd Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 6th Place 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #3rd at 174 lbs From the hometown of Nebraska Associate Head Coach Bryan Snyder, Mike Labriola was one of the top-five recruits in the high school Class of 2017. Labriola was a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and undefeated as a senior and ranked number one in the nation by InterMat. Year one in Lincoln saw Labriola take a redshirt. During his 17 bouts that season, Labriola flashed the potential that made him such a highly sought-after recruit. Labriola was victorious at the season-opening Daktronics Open and picked up a 7-3 win over returning national qualifier David Kocer (South Dakota State). Kocer would go on to finish seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championships later that season. Two open's later, Labriola would post another excellent win. During his tear through the Bob Smith Open, Labriola defeated Oklahoma State's starter, Jacobe Smith. Once again, Smith would end up on the 2018 NCAA podium, losing to Kocer in the seventh-place bout. Labriola carried a spotless record into the Midlands Championships, where he picked up another couple of wins versus national qualifiers (Johnny Sebastian - Northwestern and Joey Gunther - Iowa). At the Midlands, Labriola suffered his only two losses of the year, both coming at the hands of Dylan Lydy (Purdue). The pair would go on to face each other numerous times in the next two seasons. Labriola ended up fourth at the tournament. After the collegiate season, Labriola took second place at both the UWW Junior Open and the Junior World Team Trials. Labriola's first official season with the Cornhuskers started the same way his redshirt year began. With a bunch of bonus point wins at the Daktronics Open, combined with an impressive win over a proven veteran. This time, Labriola spoiled Devin Skatzka's Minnesota debut with a 10-5 victory. The first time Labriola tasted defeat in a Nebraska singlet took place in his fourth dual when he was upset by Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), who pinned him right before the final buzzer sounded in the third period. Though Labriola entered the year with a lofty ranking, he justified this by finishing fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. His only true loss of the event came in the semifinals to Myles Amine (Michigan), in a bout that saw both teams' crowds almost engage in a wrestling match in the stands. In Vegas, Labriola picked up wins over national qualifiers Lorenzo de la Riva (North Dakota State) and Spencer Carey (Navy). Down the stretch, Labriola fared about as well as could be expected for a freshman during a schedule that consisted mainly of Big Ten squads. Labriola won 10 of his final 12 duals, with his only losses coming to Mark Hall (Penn State) and Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa). Some of his better wins during that span include Daniel Bullard (NC State), Ethan Smith (Ohio State), and Skatzka. Unfortunately for Labriola, Skatzka got his revenge at the Big Ten Championships. He picked up two wins over the Cornhusker, the second of which came in the third place bout. One notable win was over Lydy, who accounted for both of his losses during his redshirt campaign. A fourth place showing at his first B1G tournament was good enough for the tenth seed at the 2019 NCAA Championships. That set up a rematch with Bullard in the opening round. Though Bullard closed the gap a bit (13-4 to 7-5), Labriola still came out on top and advanced to the Round of 16. Waiting there was another familiar face, #7 Jacobe Smith. Though history was on Labriola's side, his 7-5 win over Smith was deemed an upset. The Smith win pushed Labriola into the quarterfinals against second-seeded Daniel Lewis (Missouri). The four-time All-American showed why he was special and pinned Labriola in the second period. For a place on the podium, Labriola had to go through….his old friend Lydy. The freshman was able to outlast the veteran 4-3 in tiebreaks to clinch a spot in the top-eight. Next up was another frequent combatant, Skatzka. This time it was Labriola's match, 7-5. He'd drop his final two bouts of the year (Myles Amine - Michigan and David McFadden - Virginia Tech) to finish in sixth place. As a freshman, he led Nebraska with 14 bonus point wins. Like his freshman season, Labriola started year two with an early loss. This time it came to Lehigh's All-American Jordan Kutler. Two weeks later, he also had a close defeat at the hands of Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa). Labriola was able to build upon his 2019 CKLV Invitational as he moved up a step on the podium as a sophomore. Amazingly enough, he was the victim of a sudden victory loss to Lydy and chalked up another one against Skatzka. In late January, Labriola had a rough stretch where he felt back-to-back losses to the top-two wrestlers in the nation (Mark Hall - Penn State and Michael Kemerer - Iowa). In another crazy twist, Labriola lost five matches during the remainder of the 2019-20 season. Three of them came to Skatzka, while two went to Lydy! Like the 2019 Big Ten Championships, Skatzka got to Labriola twice and he would end up in sixth place. Though he was two spots lower on the Big Ten podium, Labriola still received the tenth seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. Of course, that tournament was not held due to the spread of Covid. Had he competed, Labriola was slated to meet #23 Dean Sherry (Oklahoma) in the opening round. A win could have set up yet another match with #7 Skatzka. Other high seeds on his half of the bracket included #2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa), #3 Kutler, and #6 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State). Based on his seed, Labriola was named an NWCA Second-Team All-American. The shortened 2021 season saw Labriola go undefeated during dual action, but he didn't face any of the top contenders at the weight. His closest regular season match came against Iowa when he got by true freshman Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 7-4. At the Big Ten Championships, Labriola lost a hard-fought bout to the eventual conference runner-up and national champion Carter Starocci (Penn State) in sudden victory. Looking at his wins from the event, Labriola downed a pair of eventual All-Americans (Logan Massa - Michigan and Jackson Turley - Rutgers), along with a future Junior World Team member (Donnell Washington - Indiana). Labriola ended up in third place, his best B1G finish, to date. A third place showing at the Big Ten meet and a record with only one loss was good enough for the fourth seed in St. Louis. Labriola's tournament started in unusual fashion as he was the recipient of a medical forfeit in the opening round by Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa). That led him to start his tournament in the Round of 16 against Arizona State freshman Trey Munoz and he got by with a 5-3 win. In the quarters, Labriola would square off with #12 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly), who was fresh off an upset win over #5 Logan Massa (Michigan). Truax shocked the Cornhusker star with a 4-2 upset. That loss forced Labriola to fend for himself in the Round of 12 to secure All-American honors. Labriola came out on top of Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 8-4 to earned All-American status for a second time. That momentum didn't stop for the rest of the tournament as Labriola reeled off four straight wins to finish in third place. He downed Daniel Bullard (NC State) and #2 seed Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) to propel himself into the consolation final. Waiting in the finals was upstart Truax. This time it was all Labriola and he got a measure of revenge with an 8-3 win. Strengths: Labriola is very well-rounded. On his feet, he has heavy hands and good snapdowns. He thrives in short-offense, front headlock positions. While he can strike from various attacks on his feet, his low singles look to be the most potent. Labriola is smothering from the top position and can wear opponents out with his leg riding. He also has the intangibles that you develop from being through so many close battles early in his career and can pull out wins in tight situations. 2021-22 Outlook: Even though both NCAA finalists return at 174 lbs, don't count out Labriola. His only two matches with #1 Starocci and #2 Kemerer have been tight, two-point losses with the Starocci bout going to sudden victory. A break goes the Huskers' way and he's on top of the Big Ten or perhaps even NCAA's. Until proven differently, it looks as if the top-three in the Big Ten have separated themselves from the rest of the conference. 2x NCAA All-American Mike Labriola (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

2021 World Medalists Jenna Burkert (left) and Kayla Miracle (Burkert Photo/Kadir Caliskan; Miracle Photo/Tony Rotundo; UWW) 50 kg Will Sarah Hildebrandt finally taste gold? The pre-tournament favorites both advanced at 50 kg as Sarah Hildebrandt will meet Japan's Remina Yoshimoto in tomorrow's final. Olympic bronze medalist Hildebrandt continues to shine at 50 and dispatched all three of her opponents today with little trouble. She outscored her trio of competitors by a 22-1 margin. Yoshimoto was equally as dominant, distancing herself from her opponents 31-0, with a fall. The 2017 Cadet world champion will pose a credible threat to Hildebrandt finally standing on the top of the world podium. She has taken home silver on two occasions. Age-group star Nadezhda Sokolova (Russia) and two-time world medalist Emilia Vuc (Romania) are both semifinal losers that will compete for bronze tomorrow. 2020 Individual World Cup bronze medalist Lisa Ersel (Germany) could pose a serious threat to Sokolova's medal chances. 53 kg The berth of Japan's next superstar? In our 53 kg preview, Olivia Lichti mentioned that Japan's Akari Fujanami has created a lot of buzz about her ability to hold her own against Japan's top stars, while at 17 years old. Those rumors proved to be accurate as Fujanami cruised through the field with three straight techs and didn't surrender a point in the process. Pretty good for someone who needed a parental signature just to enter the tournament. She'll cap off her amazing run against Iulia Leorda (Moldova) in the gold medal match. Leorda picked up two falls in her trek to the finals; her semifinal win was her second pin and it came as she was trailing 10-6 on the scoreboard. Khrystyna Bereza (Ukraine) and Katarzyna Krawczyk (Poland) both fell in the semifinal and will drop into the bronze medal bouts. Both are looking for their first Senior-level world medals. Krawczyk suffered a loss in a bronze medal contest in 2018. She earned wins over American Amy Fearnside and 2021 Junior World Champion Emma Malmgren (Sweden). 55 kg Japan wins Tournament's first gold medal; Burkert claims first career Senior medal In one of the two weight classes that wrapped up on Tuesday, it was Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) that took home the first gold medal in the women's competition. Sakurai did so with a 10-0 tech of Nina Hemmer (Germany). Perhaps the most significant win of the tournament for the Japanese star came in the semis as she knocked off two-time European champion and 2019 World bronze medalist Olga Khoroshavtseva (Russia). Khoroshavtseva wasn't able to replicate her medal-winning ways from two years ago as she fell in a bronze medal shootout to Oleksandra Khomenets (Ukraine) 10-8. Khomenets also posted a strong win over Roksana Zasina (Poland), who wrestled Sakurai closer than anyone in the tournament. Hemmer had an unlikely run to the finals that almost was crushed in the semis as she spent a significant portion of the first period fighting off her back against Pinki (India). She also had a challenge overturned at the buzzer in the quarterfinals against Andreea Ana (Romania). Had Hemmer lost either bout, American Jenna Burkert would have been eliminated. Hemmer's persistence worked to Burkert's favor and she took advantage of the opportunity. Jenna defeated Ana in the repechage round and Pinki for a bronze medal, 5-2. The medal is the first for Burkert, who made her first Senior World team in 2014 and has competed at four different weights at the World Championships. 62 kg Top-Seeded Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) holds serve against Miracle in World Finals The well-decorated favorite, Aisuluu Tynybekova, added more hardware to her collection as she captured her second world title at the weight. It caps off a remarkable year for Tynybekova, who also became an Olympic silver medalist. The toughest bout of the tournament for Tynybekova came in the opening round as she came back to defeat young Japanese star Nonoka Ozaki, 6-4. Ozaki would rebound to claim a bronze medal with a win via tech over Ilona Prokopevniuk (Ukraine). This tournament marked the Senior-level breakthrough for American Kayla Miracle. Miracle has been near the top of the international heap, but fell in her only bout at the Olympics. This time, Miracle gave up four quick points in the Round of 16, before reeling off 14 for a tech. After another tech, Miracle had to face Pan-American rival Lais Nunes de Oliveira (Brazil) to lock up a medal. In a guarded, defensive contest, Miracle prevailed 2-0 and made the world final. That win guaranteed that Miracle would have earned medals at each age group (Cadet/Junior/U23/Senior). In the finals, Miracle was unable to penetrate the normally stingy defend of Tynybekova and fell 7-0. Miracle's first opponent, Gantuya Enkhbat (Mongolia), edged Nunes de Oliveira 7-6 for the second bronze medal. 65 kg Morikawa emerges from loaded half of the bracket to face Moldova's Ringaci American Forrest Molinari was a semifinalist in perhaps the most loaded half of a bracket in any of the ten women's weights. After two quick wins, Molinari engaged in a tight 3-3 win over 2018 World silver medalist Koumba Larroque (France). Molinari pulled out a clutch victory over her French opponent, by trying to finish a leg attack within the final ten seconds. Rather than completing the takedown, Molinari exposed Larroque for two points and the win. Larroque almost wasn't able to advance to meet Molinari because she was pushed by European U23 champion Tetiana Rizhko (Ukraine) in a 4-3 bout. 2019 Junior World champion Miwa Morikawa was able to out-tactic Molinari for the bulk of their semifinal match. Once Molinari pushed too hard on a seemingly gassed Morikawa, the Japanese woman took advantage of the openings and prevailed, 6-2. Molinari has the winner of Maryia Mamashuk (Belarus) and Aina Temirtassova (Kazakhstan) standing between her and a bronze medal. The other half of the bracket saw Irina Ringaci (Moldova) become her country's second finalist of the tournament. Like Leorda, Ringaci pulled off a fall while she was trailing in the semifinals against 2020 European champion Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria). Hristova will await the winner of Eyleen Sewina (Germany) and Malin Mattsson (Sweden) in the bronze medal match. 76 kg Adeline Gray on the cusp of American history Yesterday, the American wrestling community saluted Jordan Burroughs as he tied John Smith with six World/Olympic gold medals. Just two days later, Adeline Gray will have the opportunity to join the club. Gray can actually put her own spin on the accomplishment. If she were to win, Gray would be the only American, man or woman, to have won six world titles. In her three bouts today, Gray looked very close to top form as she pinned her first two opponents then teched Samar Hamza (Egypt), 11-1 in the semis. Hamza was able to keep the American legend in check for the first period, though she trailed 1-1 on criteria. Gray turned up the pace in the second period and quickly put the match out of reach. After a four-point takedown, Gray quickly racked up six more points on the mat to stun her Egyptian foe. Hamza will drop down to meet the winner of Kiran (India) and Aysegul Ozbege (Turkey) with a bronze medal in the balance. Standing between Gray and history is longtime rival Epp Maee (Estonia). Maee is a two-time world bronze medalist that has wrestled for a medal on three other occasions. Generally, she's in the mix with the best in the world at 76 kg. Maee pulled out some late-match heroics to knock off Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) in the semifinals. The Estonian exposed the 2019 U23 World bronze medalist, Medet Kyzy, in the waning second of their bout to earn her first trip to the world finals.

2021 World Silver Medalist Kyle Snyder (Photo/Tony Rotundo/UWW) #6 Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (POL) wins 70 KG world gold. Past world champion #15 Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) returns to form with world bronze. Facing off against fellow Tokyo 65 KG Olympian #7 (65) Ernazar Akhmataliev (KGZ), two-time world medalist #6 Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (POL) didn't stray from the gameplan, using strong positioning and a snatch single to win his first world title 2-1 off a passivity point and a stepout. While Gadzhiev's style is not the most entertaining to watch, it's undeniable that the consistency he shows in shutting down more offensively potent wrestler's offense means he should be considered a perennial title threat. 2017 65 KG world champion #15 Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) returned to the form that won him gold in Paris, being on the attack the whole match against the counter savant Turan Bayramov (AZE). In a pivotal sequence in the closing moments of the match, Iakobishvili got in on a head inside single that was defended with a strong limp leg by Bayramov. Bayramov, feeling Iakobishvili's pressure while reloading his shot, exposed the Georgian with a strong whizzer for the 3-3 criteria win. But controversy ensued again for Bayramov as Georgia challenged the call and was successful in getting it overturned and an ensuing failed challenge from Azerbaijan locked up the 4-3 win for Iakobishvili. Even with the controversy surrounding the match, Iakobishvili's return to his high output, high offense style was successful in winning him his third world medal. #1 Evgheni Zherbaev (RWF) rebounded from his back and forth semifinal loss to world runner-up #7 (65) Ernazar Akhmataliev (KGZ) with a convincing 6-0 win over Arman Andreasyan (ARM) for bronze. With 70 KG in Russia boasting greater talent than ever at 70 with #2 Israil Kasumov (RWF), #3 Kurban Shiraev (RWF), #4 David Baev (RWF), #10 Rezuan Kazharov (RWF) and the potential move up in weight of 65 KG world champion #3 (65) Zagir Shakhiev (RWF), Evgheni Zherbaev will have his hands full if he wants to hold down the spot and get a chance to win world gold after his bronze in Oslo. #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RWF) wins seventh World/Olympic title and Russian team title with victory over three-time World/Olympic champion #2 Kyle Snyder (USA). In one of the most highly anticipated finals of the world championships, #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RWF) and #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) met with the 97 KG and world team title on the line. Taking the lead 1-0 at the end of the first period off a passivity point, Sadulaev turned it on in the second period. With a minute and a half left on the clock and leading 2-0 off another passivity point, the Avar tank pulled the trigger on a underhook throw by to get the first takedown of the match and followed it with a powerful gut wrench to take the 6-0 lead. A charging Snyder fought valiantly to close the gap against Sadulaev, but the masterful Dagestani was able to capture his seventh World/Olympic title with a 6-0 victory. Sadulaev's triumph in Oslo further solidifies his legend status with seven World/Olympic titles matching him with Makharbek Khadartsev (RUS), one World/Olympic gold behind 8x champs Sergey Beloglasov (URS) and Valentin Jordanov (BUL), two behind 9x champion Buvaisar Saitiev (RUS) and three World/Olympic titles behind 10x champion Alexander Medved (URS). Mahamd Zakariiev (UKR) put together an impressive showing to take home world bronze with a 9-3 victory over two-time European runner-up #17 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR). Zakariiev also took a 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals of #10 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR). Zakariiev returns Ukraine to their status as a medal producing country at 97 KG, having had a run of four straight World/Olympic medals from 2012-2015. #11 Mojtaba Goleij (IRI) rebounded from a crushing last second loss to world runner-up #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) with a dominant 10-0 tech fall over Batsul Ulziisaikhan (MGL). While Goleij will be sole World/Olympic medalist out of this quad, it is to be seen if he continues to be the rep, as it's likely that Iran calls back on #7 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) or even floats the possibility of having 92 KG world champion Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) move up in weight.