InterMat Staff

2021 NCAA All-American Travis Wittlake (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.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) Next is… Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) Weight: 165 lbs Year: Sophomore Career Record: 50-5 Hometown: Coos Bay, Oregon College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2020 Big 12 Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #6 at 165 lbs Four Oregon state titles and a Cadet World bronze medal helped make Travis Wittlake one of the most sought-after recruits (#6) in the Class of 2018. With a handful of capable 165/174 lbers already waiting in the Cowboy wrestling room, Wittlake was allowed to redshirt during his first year in Stillwater. Wittlake's redshirt season saw him compete at 174 lbs and rack up a record of 16-2. He won his first 14 matches, which included titles at the OCU Open, the Lindenwood Open, and the Bob Smith Open. His only two defeats came at his last event of the year, the Reno Tournament of Champions. There he fell to NCAA qualifier Seldon Wright (Old Dominion) and California CC state champion Abner Romero (Fresno City College). While Wittlake was generally dominant (11 bonus point wins), he did not face any past/2019 national qualifiers. For Wittlake's first official year of competition with the Cowboys, he dropped down to 165 lbs. That didn't prove to be a problem as he got his hand raised in his first 13 matches in an OSU singlet. Wittlake's first dual victory came over Drexel's Ebed Jarrell, who was seeded 12th at the NCAA Championships the previous year. The site of Wittlake's first loss came in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle when he met fellow unbeaten freshman Shane Griffith (Stanford). After dropping a 4-1 decision, Wittlake bounced back to take third place. At the Scuffle, he logged wins over notable opponents like Thomas Bullard (NC State), Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh), and redshirting freshman Joe Lee (Penn State). After the Scuffle, Wittlake went on another winning spree. He picked up a second win against Wentzel, along with one over Peyton Mocco (Missouri) during a ten-match streak. The final dual of the regular season, against bitter-rival Iowa, saw Wittlake dropped a razor-thin decision (3-2) to Alex Marinelli. The Big 12 Championships proved to be no match for Wittlake as he won all three of his bouts and didn't have a margin of score closer than four points. Two of his opponents (Andrew Fogarty - North Dakota State and Tanner Cook - South Dakota State) would go on to qualify for nationals. With only two losses on the year, opposed to 28 wins, Wittlake was awarded the number four seed at the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Of course, the tournament never happened due to Covid. Some of the top contenders on Wittlake's half of the bracket included #1 Marinelli, #5 Isaiah White (Nebraska), #8 Evan Wick (Wisconsin), #9 Tanner Skidgel (Navy). In 2021, Wittlake was about as active as anyone on the DI front. He was able to compete in 12 bouts prior to the postseason. By happenstance, Wittlake did not meet any top contenders during the regular season. He did dominate, as you would expect, and posted bonus point wins in 7 of those contests. On the way to capturing his second consecutive Big 12 title, Wittlake was upended by Luke Weber (North Dakota State) in the semifinals of the conference meet, 5-3 in sudden victory. He would come back to take third and get an automatic berth in St. Louis. The loss to Weber proved to be costly and controversial as Wittlake dropped all the way down to the 10th seed. That would pit Wittlake against #23 Joe Lee in the opening round of his first national tournament. The Nittany Lion freshman was no match for Wittlake in an 8-1 decision. In the Round of 16, Wittlake ran into Ohio State's Ethan Smith and dropped a 4-3 decision and was relegated to the consolation bracket. In the consis, Wittlake had back-to-back one-sided wins over Jake Tucker (Michigan State) and Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois), which put him in the bloodround. Wrestling's most intense round proved to be anticlimactic as 2019 NCAA champion, Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), could not compete against the Cowboy due to injury. Wittlake received an injury default to clinch All-American status for the first time. After a win over Michigan freshman Cameron Amine, Wittlake got a measure of revenge on Smith, by downing him 7-4. That win propelled Wittlake into the NCAA third-place match opposite freshman Keegan O'Toole (Missouri). The Tiger, O'Toole, ended up the victor in a close 4-3 contest. Through two years of competition, Wittlake has amassed a 90.9 winning percentage, which places him within the top-30 all-time at Oklahoma State. Strengths: Wittlake has very heavy hands, which lead to snapdowns and either go-behind's or him dropping down to a leg. Like you may expect from a Cowboy, he has solid low-leg attacks. Wittlake can dictate the pace of matches with an underhook and uses throw-by's and shucks. He has strong head/hands defense and is typically difficult to score against. On the mat, Wittlake can grind his opponents down with double boots and can get turns from that situation, as well. 2021-22 Outlook: Wittlake happens to be in one of the toughest brackets in the nation. Aside from him, there are nine other All-Americans returning at the weight. Both 2021 national finalists, along with a Junior World Champion (O'Toole), and two other favorites (Marinelli, Evan Wick), are currently ranked above him. That isn't to say that Wittlake can't win this weight. He can. He'll have an incredibly difficult time doing so. The Big 12 alone should have O'Toole and two-time conference champion Demetrius Romero, along with Weber. Let's have some fun!!! 2021 NCAA All-American Travis Wittlake (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

2021 NCAA All-American Brayton Lee (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.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) Next is… Brayton Lee (Minnesota) Weight: 157 lbs Year: Sophomore Career Record: 39-12 Hometown: Brownsburg, Indiana College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 6th Place, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2021 Big Ten 3rd Place 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #5 at 157 lbs The 2018 recruiting class for the Minnesota Golden Gophers will be best remembered as it was the year they signed top-recruit and future Olympic gold medalist, Gable Steveson. But, during that same class, the Gopher staff also inked a big-time recruit from Indiana in #13 Brayton Lee. Through two years of collegiate competition, Lee has carved out an impressive career in his own right. Unlike Steveson, Lee sat for his initial year in Minneapolis and took a redshirt. Lee was extremely active during his redshirt campaign and saw action in 33 bouts. He came away a winner in 26 of those bouts and won two tournaments (North Country Open and the National Collegiate Open). Lee's most significant win during the redshirt season was over Penn's Anthony Artalona at the Midlands. Artalona went on to finish in the NCAA Round of 12 later that year. After his redshirt season, Lee earned a place on the 2019 Junior World Team after defeating Ohio State redshirt Sammy Sasso. The Buckeye jumped out to a big lead, but Lee battled back and grabbed match one, 11-8. The two had also met during their redshirt seasons and Sasso was victorious, 6-4. Lee's official collegiate debut came against two-time returning NCAA qualifier Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield). The youngster was able to outlast the veteran in an 8-7 win. Following that win, Lee reeled off seven more victories before suffering a loss to returning AA Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State). It's safe to say Lee rebounded nicely from his first collegiate setback as his next event was the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Just to make the finals, Lee took out notables like Josh Maruca (Arizona State), Brock Zacherl (Clarion), and All-American Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa). For the title, he'd face….Sasso, again. Lee was able to take this round from his Buckeye rival to the tune of 6-4. Less than two months later, Sasso and Lee would clash again. A 4-2 win for Sasso, coupled with a win over Pat Lugo that same weekend, would give the Buckeye the national #1 ranking. Speaking of Lugo, he handed Lee a 3-2 loss down the stretch of the Big Ten dual season, also. At his first Big Ten Championship event, Lee fell victim to Lugo again in the semifinals, 4-1. The young Gopher would lose again, this time for third place, against a surging Collin Purinton (Nebraska), 3-0. That loss to Purinton didn't entirely crush Lee's NCAA seed as he was awarded the #6 slot. Since Covid stuck, Lee couldn't compete in front of his new hometown fans in Minneapolis. He was slated to meet #27 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) in the opening round. The pair did not see each other in the regular season or the conference meet. A win over Thomas would have set up a match with #11 Zacherl/#22 Tanner Smith (Chattanooga). Sasso would have likely been looming as the #3 seed in the quarterfinals. After the season, Lee was named a first-team NWCA All-American. The 2021 season saw Lee move up to 157 lbs, so the rivalry with Sasso would be put on hold. Brayton got off to a solid 3-0 start in January before losing a nailbiter to Iowa All-American Kaleb Young in tiebreakers. Just over a week later, Lee got back on track by downing Purdue star Kendall Coleman. 3-2. He continued to win until the final match of the dual season when undefeated Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) handed him the most lopsided loss of his collegiate career, 12-0. Lee narrowly missed a trip to the Big Ten finals after suffering another close loss to Young in tiebreakers. He rebounded to take third after a clutch sudden victory win over Brady Berge (Penn State) and an 8-3 win over Chase Saldate (Michigan State). For the second straight year, Lee was named the sixth seed at the NCAA Championships. As is normally the case, the Gopher grinded out a pair of wins in the first two rounds, 2-0 over Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) and 4-3 over Jacori Teemer (Arizona State). That set the stage for a quarterfinal meeting with undefeated third seed, David Carr (Iowa State). It's probably no solace to Lee, but he wrestled Carr closer than any opponent all year, before a 4-2 loss in sudden victory. Carr would go on to capture the NCAA title. Lee would drop to the NCAA Round of 12 and had #7 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) standing between him and All-American status. The Gopher would get by Jacques 4-1 and secure a spot on the podium. Next up, Lee exorcised some past demons with a 3-2 victory over Young, which gave him a place in the top-six. Old friend Deakin made sure Lee did not advance any future with another major decision loss. Lee's season came to a close after he fell to NC State's Hayden Hidlay 11-2 in the NCAA fifth-place bout. Strengths: Lee has an old-school style about him that makes you think he could have fit into Minnesota's national title-winning teams of the early and mid-2000's. He has a great gas tank and gets better as the match progresses. Lee has your basic attacks from the feet and an excellent feel for his reattacks. Since Lee typically wrestles very close bouts against top competition, he is a strong rider. Defensively, his handfighting skills and baseline defense make him difficult to score against. But, don't underestimate his scrambling ability either. 2021-22 Outlook: Lee has demonstrated that he can hang with the best in the country, excluding the bad stylistic matches against Deakin. In a big tournament setting, he's capable of turning it into a fistfight and advancing against the likes of Carr, Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) and the rest of the upper-echelon of title contenders at 157 lbs. It would be surprising to see Lee finish much lower than his current preseason ranking (5th). 2021 NCAA All-American Brayton Lee (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)

2021 NCAA All-American John Poznanski (Photo/Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Yesterday, the University of Iowa made the groundbreaking announcement that they would be the first Power Five school to offer women's wrestling. There have been plenty of rumors swirling around which school would be the first to take the leap, but it ultimately was the Hawkeyes who did so. Expect others to follow suit in the coming months. Before we get to that, let's throw around some possible candidates for the first head coach for Iowa's women's program. The team is pegged to start competition in the 2023-24 season, but per the Iowa press release, the school will begin its head coaching search this fall. So who should Iowa choose? We've put together a list of qualified, proven coaches that all would be great selections in their own right. While these coaches have different strengths and backgrounds, Iowa would be in good hands under their leadership. National Team Coaches Terry Steiner Currently, the head coach of the Women's National Team, Terry Steiner, has overseen the program from before women's wrestling was offered in the Olympics until the present day. Just a few months ago, his team came home from the Olympics in Tokyo with four medals, two of which were gold. So the question is, why would Steiner want to take a step down and coach in college? The answer is twofold. Coaches are always looking for a new challenge. He has led a charge in women's wrestling that has the United States on the brink of knocking off Japan for world supremacy. Where do you go after that? Plus, Steiner is an Iowa alum. He AA'ed three times for the Hawkeyes, including a national title in 1993 at 150 lbs. Clarissa Chun One of the early pioneers of women's wrestling in the United States and first superstars was Clarissa Chun. Currently. Chun serves as an assistant coach for the Women's National Team. Getting someone like Steiner or Chun not only brings in high-level technical knowledge to the team, but a Rolodex deep with current and former wrestlers that could assist in some capacity. On the mat, Chun was a 2008 world champion and two-time Olympian that brought home bronze in 2012. Of course, with Steiner and Chun, one of the potential hurdles is that it's been decades since either worked closely at the collegiate level. Women's Collegiate Coaches Ashley Sword Head coach of Life University since 2017-18, Ashley Sword, has built the Running Eagles from a three-year-old program into one that has produced a WCWA individual champion and finished second at the 2021 NAIA National Championships. She also has been a force on the recruiting front, getting top-five recruiting classes this year and in 2019. While the Iowa program will "recruit itself" initially, it helps to have someone adept at recruit in charge. Sword has also worked closely with two-time world team member Victoria Francis and had three of her wrestlers qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials. There are some ties to Iowa now, too. Francis and former Life All-American Jordan Nelson have signed on to train with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Additionally, Sword, the Life staff, and some team members were clinicians in Iowa at July's "Wrestle Like a Girl" camp. There's already some level of familiarity with on both sides. Sam Schmitz Iowa wrestling loves winners. That's exactly what Sam Schmitz has assembled as the head coach at McKendree University. Each year the Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship has been held, McKendree has walked away as team champions. More accurately, they ran away with the title behind six individual champions. The success of Schmitz's team is not just limited to the collegiate ranks. A stunning seven of his current team members have made an age-group world team at some point in their careers (Alara Boyd, Emma Bruntil, Cameron Guerin, Kayla Marano, Brenda Reyna, Payton Stroud, and Felicity Taylor). Although McKendree is one of the powers on the women's collegiate front, the program itself is relatively young. Its first year was 2013-14 and they did not crown a single national champion until 2019. Schmitz is the only coach the program has ever known, so he'd be a great figure to lead a program like Iowa's that is starting from scratch. Julia Salata Currently, an assistant coach at her alma mater, King University, Julia Salata, is winding down on a competitive career that has seen her near the top of the domestic ladder at the Senior level for a lengthy time. While at King, Salata has spearheaded the Tornado recruiting efforts and has assembled two consecutive classes that have lapped the competition. Salata also has a position with "Wrestle Like a Girl" and has been a fierce advocate for promoting the sport on various levels. Her past coaching experience at King, coupled with her work off the mat, lead one to believe she'd be able to handle the administrative responsibilities that fall under the "other" less-glamorous parts of college coaching. Lastly, Salata has the fire and attitude that Iowa fans would embrace. Iowa fans are extremely passionate about their wrestling and it's not hard to picture her charging up to the head table to advocate for her wrestlers or team during a dual against Oklahoma State. Joe Norton Right behind Salata and King University in the 2021 recruiting rankings was Joe Norton's North Central team. Norton actually had more ranked recruits (12 to 7) in his current crop of freshmen and is assembling a powerhouse in Illinois. While Norton has also led the Cardinals men's team since 2014-15, the women's program is still in its infancy. Despite competing for the first time in 2019-20, the women's team has established itself as one to watch going forward. Last season, the Cardinals placed sixth at the national tournament and produced their first national champion in Yelena Makoyed. Makoyed has been a standout for Norton's team finishing as the runner-up to Junior World Champion, Kylie Welker, at the Junior and U23 World Trials this year. At the most recent World Team Trials, Makoyed locked up a spot on the national team, while teammate Amanda Martinez came up just short in fourth. Current Men's Collegiate Coaches Tony Ramos Oh, how things would come full circle! North Carolina associate head coach Tony Ramos had an excellent career at the University of Iowa, earning All-American honors on three occasions and capping his career with a national title in 2014. After that, he made two world teams while competing for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. After the 2016 Olympic Trials, Ramos famously left for North Carolina after losing to HWC member Dan Dennis. While in Chapel Hill, Ramos has become an outspoken advocate for women's wrestling and important in the development of former Tar Heel WC's members Haley Augello and Becka Leathers, along with current star Macey Kilty. It seems like a good match and would be an extremely high-profile hire, but the question is, could fences get mended first? Nate Engel Heading into his second year at Oregon State, Nate Engel has been an integral part of Beaver Dam RTC. While he is known for his strong Greco background, Engel worked closely with Adeline Gray at the California RTC, as he coached at Stanford. Once he moved to Corvallis, Gray has trained there, as well. In addition to Gray, the Beaver Dam RTC boasts female competitors such as Alyssa Lampe, Alex Glaude, Mallory Velte, and Skylar Grote. Engel has the experience coaching DI at the collegiate level (Oregon State/Stanford/Navy), along with training high-level women. Seems like a great fit? Mark Perry Another name that is no stranger to Hawkeye fans is two-time NCAA champion Mark Perry. Perry led the HWC from 2017-20 and oversaw a program that had five Senior-level women come through its doors. In 2020, when Perry left, the former HWC women relocated to Arizona State to train with him and the Sunkist Kids. Perry is charismatic and has a loyal following, so there's no doubt that some women would make the change and move to Iowa City to train under him. Perry also has plenty of collegiate coaching experience (Penn State, Cal Poly, Illinois, Arizona State), so the typical challenges associated with running a program wouldn't be foreign to him. Of course, don't count out current Senior-level stars like Helen Maroulis, Adeline Gray, and Tamyra Mensah-Stock if they want to pursue coaching at the collegiate level.

Bo Nickal at the 2020 Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This weekend features the MMA debut of a Dan Hodge Trophy winner as well as the return of a Greco Roman World champion, and that is before the UFC hosts one of their biggest shows of the year. As always, InterMat has a breakdown of all the top wrestlers competing in the combat sport. The main card of ONE Championship “Revolution” will be live and free on YouTube at 8:30am on Friday. On that card, Amir Aliakbari will return to action after suffering his second professional MMA defeat. Aliakbari won a gold medal in Greco at the 2010 World Championships at 96kg. He then moved up to 120kg and made the top of the podium again in 2013. However, he was then banned for life and stripped of the medal due to a doping offense. Aliakbari turned to MMA in 2015 and made the finals of the Rizin World Grand-Prix before falling against Mirko Cro Cop. He signed with the UFC in 2019 but left the company without fighting. In his last outing, Aliakbari suffered an upset against Kang Ji Won. On Friday, he faces off against Anatoly Malykihn, a Russian fighter with an undefeated 9-0 record. Things kick into high gear for wrestling fans on Friday night. Late last week, three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal announced he would be making his MMA debut at Island Fights 69. The card, headlined by a celebrity boxing match between social media influencers, is available on pay-per-view via FITE TV. Nickal recently finished second at the Olympic Trials after picking up wins over Carter Starocci, Pat Downey and Zahid Valencia. In his MMA debut, he will face off against David Conley, who fought once as an amateur in 2014 and lost via second-round submission. The LFA 115 card, which airs live on UFC Fight Pass at 9:00pm ET, features a main event between Josh Silveira and Tee Cummins. To MMA fans, Silveira is likely known as the son of veteran MMA fighter and long-time coach Marcus “Conan” Silveira. However, wrestling fans probably remember him as Josh DaSilveira, who wrestled at Arizona State. As a senior, he went 22-11 and qualified for the NCAA tournament through the Pac-12. Also on the LFA card, former Iowa wrestler Edwin Cooper Jr. will return to the cage against Andrew Johnson. Cooper also qualified for the NCAA tournament as a senior in 2016. He finished the year 18-11 with victories over Tyler Berger, Richie Lewis and John Van Brill. In MMA, Cooper holds a 4-1 record, while his opponent brings an 2-0-1 record into the event. On Saturday, the biggest MMA promotion in the World returns with UFC 266, one of their biggest pay-per-view events of the year. As you might expect, the card is full of former wrestlers. Curtis Blaydes, who was an NJCAA champion at Harper College, will be looking to get back on track after dropping his last fight against Derrick Lewis. At UFC 266, he faces off against converted kickboxer Jairzinho Rozenstruik who holds a 12-2 record as a professional. Merab Dvalishvili may not have wrestled in college, but he is probably one of the most wrestling-centric style fighters in the promotions. He has an extremely high motor and lands a whopping 7.38 takedowns per 15 minutes of fight time. He takes on Marlon Moraes in a battle that could move the winner into contendership for the bantamweight title. Nick Maximov was a California high school wrestler who went on to wrestle at Clackamas at the NJCAA level. He earned a spot in the UFC after competing on the Contenders Series. Maximov takes on Cody Brundage, who holds a 6-1 record.

2021 NCAA All-American John Poznanski (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) Next is… John Poznanski Weight: 184 lbs Year: Freshman Career Record: 11-4 Hometown: Colonia, New Jersey College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2021 Big Ten 3rd Place 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #5 at 184 lbs The top New Jersey high school senior in the Class of 2020, John Poznanski, decided to stay in-state and wrestle for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. #16 overall Poznanski was the cornerstone of a recruiting class that featured three top-100 recruits after finishing in the top-three at the New Jersey state tournament on three occasions. His state title, as a senior, marked the first from his high school in over four decades. Right out of the gate, Poznanski got the nod for Rutgers at 184 lbs. Since it was a ‘free year” eligibility-wise, the Scarlet Knights staff could give Poznanski a shot and see where he stood in relation to the rest of the Big Ten. Since Covid issues impacted the Rutgers season more than most other programs, Poznanski didn't get to compete too frequently in the regular season. He only saw action in four dual meets, all of which came in January. Win number one came over Michigan's Joseph Walker by the score of 6-1. His remaining opponents were all past national qualifiers who spent significant time in the national rankings. Poznanski's 9-6 win over Ohio State's Rocky Jordan almost led the Scarlet Knights to an upset against the Buckeyes. He also did his part in the school's close loss to Purdue. Poznanski dropped Max Lyon, 7-4. Poznanski's lone setback occurred in his last dual against Minnesota's Owen Webster, 6-4. As luck would have it, Poznanski was bracketed to meet Webster again in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Championships. A win over Jaden Bullock (Michigan) confirmed a second meeting between the two. This time Poznanski left no doubt and pinned the Gopher in the middle stanza. That win earned the freshman a berth in the semifinals opposite top-ranked Aaron Brooks (Penn State). After a 10-2 major decision loss to Brooks, Poznanski dropped into the consolation semis against Layne Malczewski (Michigan State). The Spartan would have to injury default in the second period. For third place, Poznanski got his hand raised after a hard-fought battle against Nelson Brands (Iowa). The third-place finish for Poznanski was good enough for a sixth-seed at his first NCAA Championship event. The bright lights of the national tournament in St. Louis were not too big for the true freshman as he majored Taylor Brown (Army West Point) 14-2 in his opening bout. Though he was the higher seed, most may have pegged Poznanski as the underdog in the Round of 16 against returning All-American Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State). No one mentioned that to Poznanski, who cruised to a 7-3 win. After the Geer win, Poznanski was into the quarterfinals against the third seed, EIWA champion Louie DePrez (Binghamton). Poznanski put eight points up on the board with an 8-4 upset of DePrez. That win locked up All-American status for the true freshman and also put him in the semifinals opposite #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State). In a battle of attrition, the normal stingy Hidlay was able to nullify Poznanski for a 2-1 win in tiebreakers. Undeterred, Poznanski would be paired off against Geer again in the consolation semifinals. Once again, it was all Poznanski in a 10-6 win. Poznanski would have to settle for fourth place after getting edged by fellow freshman Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa), 5-4. Of the four losses on Poznanski's 2021 ledger, three came to the top-three finishers at the NCAA Championships and two came via a single point. The fourth-place finish for Poznanski was the highest by a Rutgers freshman in school history. Strengths: Poznanski has heavy hands and good level changes. On his feet, he doesn't necessarily have a “go-to” takedown; rather, he can score with various attacks. The level changes help foster his explosiveness and he tends to have quick, decisive finishes. While just a freshman, Poznanski is solid on the mat. He can amass riding time here and there. From the bottom, he's active and is capable of using his good hips to get a reversal or two. 2021-22 Outlook: It will be interesting to see how Poznanski develops with another summer in the Scarlet Knight room under his belt. He also should have a more “normal” season rather than one that was disrupted by team Covid issues. Aside from the loss to Brooks, Poznanski was neck-and-neck with the other top contenders at the weight, so a possible finals berth is not out of the question. In the Big Ten (and at nationals), Poznanski will have to deal with another championship threat as Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine (Michigan) is expected to be in action at 184. 2021 NCAA All-American John Poznanski (Photo/Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Greg Kerkvliet (left) and Mason Parris at the 2020 Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The college wrestling season is right around the corner. While the competitors have been done with a folkstyle since March, there was plenty of action in freestyle over the summer. Though the two styles are different, the summer freestyle matches are often seen as previews of sorts for the upcoming season. The following are nine matches that took place over the freestyle season that college fans are dying to see again this winter. HWT: No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) at Olympic Trials After a wild recruiting saga and time missed due to injury, Kerkvliet finally made his varsity debut last February. He wrestled only two matches before the Big Ten tournament and eventually finished seventh at the NCAA tournament and became an All-American. At the conference tournament, he faced off against Michigan's Mason Parris, who had established himself as the number-two heavyweight in the country. In the bout, Parris was dominant and took an 11-3 major decision. The two met again at the Olympic Trials. Not only was the rematch much closer, but Kerkvliet also reversed the result. He won a 4-4 match on criteria. The Penn State faithful will be eager to see the folkstyle rematch this season. It is entirely possible that Kerkvliet's experience edge in freestyle allowed him to turn a major decision loss into a criteria victory. However, it could also be a sign that he is rounding into form after missing significant time. Penn State and Michigan are set for a dual on Jan. 21, 2022. 141: No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) vs. No. 8 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) at Senior Nationals Eierman and Demas are two of the most fan-friendly wrestlers at 141 pounds. Each has their own unique style that can lead to some very exciting matches. However, their only collegiate match came during the 2019 NCAA tournament, and Eierman took a 2-0 victory. This past summer, they faced off once again at 2021 Senior Nationals. Demas was able to get to his inside trip early and secured a 2-0 lead. The Oklahoma wrestler then extended the lead to 4-0 with a chest wrap. However, he allowed Eierman to score the reversal. The Hawkeye not only locked up the reversal point, but he also added a pair of leg laces to pull ahead 5-4. The pace slowed after the early action, and Eierman walked away with an 8-4 victory. In a folkstyle match, Eierman's ability to work from the top position will likely be amplified. However, if Demas can turn up the aggression, he has the ability to hit big moves on pretty much everyone at the NCAA level. 165: No. 5 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) vs. Alex Facundo (Penn State) at UWW Junior Nationals O'Toole had himself quite the summer. He not only won Junior Nationals, but he went on to bring home a gold medal from the Junior World Championships. On his way to the domestic title, he picked up a 7-0 victory over Facundo. Facundo was one of the top recruits in his class and many expect him to take over the 165-pound starting spot for the perennial NCAA title contenders. While the 7-0 victory from O'Toole appeared to be the type of match that transfers well to folkstyle, the result could be much different after Facundo spends some time in the college room. 125: No. 2 Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. No. 8 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) at U23 Nationals Despite not competing last year, Glory has already been awarded the number-two spot at 125 pounds in the preseason rankings. In his last season on the college mats, he put together an undefeated 24-0, including victories over Nick Piccininni, Chris Cannon (Northwestern), No. 15 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) and Nic Aguilar. Glory has an equally impressive summer highlighted by a championship at the U23 Nationals back in May. In the finals, he picked up a pair of shutout victories over Taylor LaMont to earn a spot on the World team. Despite coming up short in the finals, LaMont also had a strong weekend and ended up joining the U23 World team on the Greco side. This past college season, LaMont finished fifth to become an All-American for the first time. He scored a pair of victories over No. 9 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) and knocked off Robbie Howard (Penn State) on the way to the title. While Glory had a strong edge in the freestyle series, it would be an interesting test on the folkstyle side. If Glory could control the match once again, it could solidify his claim as the top contender to No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa). 133: No. 8 Chris Cannon (Northwestern) vs. No. 18 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) at U23 Nationals Ragusin made a lot of noise in the wrestling community in the fall of 2020. He made the finals of the 2020 Senior Nationals with impressive wins over veterans Darian Cruz and Sean Russell. He turned around one month later and won Junior Nationals. Despite the freestyle success, Ragusin appeared to struggle to stay down at 125 pounds during the season. He qualified for the NCAA tournament but eventually went 1-2 in the bracket. The Michigan wrestler is expected to move up to 133 pounds permanently this upcoming season after wrestling a pair of matches at the weight last season. The move up in weight started over the summer where he wrestled at 61 kg at U23 Nationals. In that bracket, he ran into Northwestern's Cannon. During the collegiate season, Cannon finished seventh at 133 to become an All-American in his first year in the lineup. In their freestyle match, Ragusin scored the first five points and held a 5-2 lead at the break. The second period was an entirely different story as Cannon took over and ultimately won 13-8. These two Big Ten competitors will almost certainly hit at least once during this upcoming season. Both wrestlers showed they could score in their freestyle encounter, and that could end up leading to an entertaining folkstyle clash. 157: No. 17 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) vs. No. 8 Quincy Monday (Princeton) at U23 Nationals Robb and Monday both have two NCAA qualifying seasons on their resume, but both are looking for their first All-American season. Monday, who sat out last year along with the rest of the Ivy League, comes into this season right on the cusp on All-American status in the preseason rankings. Despite that, Robb certainly had their edge in their finals series at the U23 Nationals. The Nebraska wrestler was able to score a two-match sweep over Monday. He took the first match 12-3 before closing it out with a 7-5 victory. This is the type of match that could easily end up being rematched in the blood round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. 197: No. 5 Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) at U23 Nationals Elam was one of the many Missouri wrestlers to have a strong summer. He won a Junior Nationals title and followed that up with a gold medal at the Junior World championships. He also made the finals of the U23 Nationals, where he ran into Bonaccorsi. The Pittsburgh representative had a breakout junior year that saw him go from NCAA qualifier to national finalist. At the NCAA tournament, he picked up signature wins over No. 16 Jay Aiello (Virginia), No. 8 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) and No. 10 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) before dropping a two-point match against No. 1 AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) in the finals. While Bonaccorsi won the three-match finals series via sweep, the first match was extremely close. Neither wrestler registered a two-point move, and Bonaccorsi won on criteria. In the second match, he pulled away and won 8-1. Under folkstyle rules, this could be a different match entirely. 157: No. 5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) vs. No. 10 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) at World Team Trials Lee and Jacques met at the last NCAA tournament in the Round of 12. The Minnesota wrestler was able to control the pace and advance with a 4-1 victory. He went on to finish sixth, while Jacques finished short of All-American status. Jacques recently received a shot at redemption in the first round of the World Team Trials. Unfortunately for him, Lee once again controlled the match. If anything, he was more dominant in the rematch and won a 12-1 bout. 125: Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) vs. Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) at UWW Junior Nationals While many of the matches on this list are between ranked wrestlers, this one features two wrestlers who may not end up in the starting lineup. Figueroa was one of the top recruits in the country this past year, while Flynn was a highly ranked prospect at 125 pounds. Even if this match is not a high-stakes encounter this year, it will likely have implications during upcoming seasons. The two met in the quarterfinals of the UWW Junior Nationals. Figueroa got out to a 4-0 lead in the match. Flynn fought hard to get back into the match with four one-point scores. However, it was not enough and the Arizona State wrestler moved on with a 6-4 victory. He would go on to win the tournament and represent the U.S. at the Junior World championships.

Iowa's Carver Hawkeye Arena (Photo Courtesy of Iowa Athletics) IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa Athletics Department is adding women's wrestling as an intercollegiate program, becoming the first NCAA Division I, Power Five conference institution to offer the sport. "This is an exciting day for the university, our department and the sport of women's wrestling," said Gary Barta, the Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. "Our wrestling history and success makes this a perfect fit. We are confident that at Iowa, our women's wrestling student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete at the highest level athletically and academically." The NCAA recognized women's wrestling as an emerging sport in 2020 for all three divisions. Currently, there are 45 intercollegiate women's wrestling programs, including five in the state of Iowa. In addition, 32 states have a sanctioned high school girl's wrestling state championships. In Iowa, the state tournament is sponsored by the Iowa Coaches Association and over 600 girls participated in high school wrestling a year ago. "This is important to a lot of people for a lot of reasons," said Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands. "This is historic. This needed to happen and it's appropriate that it is happening first at the University of Iowa. There is no greater place in the world to wrestle than Iowa City, Iowa, and with our new wrestling facility we are prepared to offer world-class training for both our Hawkeye men and women." Iowa athletics is in the midst of the Carver Circle Campaign, a campaign that supports a new world-class wrestling training facility. The facility, which will be funded entirely by gifts, will be located south of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and connected to the arena by a tunnel. It will include coaches' offices, locker rooms and expanded training space for the men's and women's programs. "Enthusiasm and financial support from our wrestling fans and alumni is tremendous. There is continued momentum with the Carver Circle Campaign along with private support to fund the start-up of women's wrestling," said Barta. With the addition of women's wrestling, Iowa will offer 22 sports, including 14 women's teams and eight men's teams. The university previously added women's rowing in 1994 and women's soccer in 1996 "We are committed to gender equity and Title IX compliance," said Barta. "As the national landscape related to enrollment continues to change, adding women's wrestling puts us in a better position for the future." A national search for Iowa's women's wrestling head coach will begin this fall with plans to begin competing in the 2023-24 year. QUOTES FROM THE WRESTLING COMMUNITY Tamyra Mensah-Stock - U.S.A. Wrestling, 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist "This is amazing news for women's wrestling. It's good to see these changes taking place, especially because there are so many states sanctioning female wrestling. It makes me happy to see this is happening and I want to thank Iowa for being a pioneer in the sport. With this decision I know it'll only be a matter of time before other Division I schools follow their lead." Mike Moyer, Executive Director, NWCA "This extraordinary announcement represents the 100th intercollegiate women's wrestling program in all divisions and governing bodies that has been established since 1999. I know I speak for our NWCA Board of Directors and staff when I say that the University of Iowa is a trailblazer for all NCAA Division I Power 5 Conference Athletic Departments to follow. Creating this new opportunity for women wrestlers at a university with so much history and tradition in wrestling builds incredible momentum for our sport. Most important, this means more opportunities for more students. This is a win we should all be celebrating." Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling Women's National Coach "The University of Iowa starting a women's program puts women's wrestling at the highest level of NCAA Athletics. It helps our national team become an even stronger power of the world stage. As a University of Iowa graduate and former student-athlete, it makes me proud to see Iowa step up as a leader in the fastest growing sport for women in our nation. This is also good news for men's wrestling at the college level as our sport will have a bigger footprint on college campuses nationwide." Josh Schamberger, President Think Iowa City & Iowa City Area Sports Commission "Today's news is incredibly special and in so many ways monumental. It was only a matter of time for Iowa City, Iowa, Wrestling Town USA. Our community plays host to the annual girls state wrestling tournament, and we have directly assisted with the launch of three area girls high school programs. We regularly host Coach Steiner and the U.S. women's national team, and we are honored to play a small part in making it a reality." Cathy Zaharis - Chair, Iowa Presidential Committee on Athletics and Women's Wrestling and Carver Circle Contributor "The University of Iowa continues to be a leader in academics and athletics, and this is another shining example. As Chair of the PCA, I am delighted we can provide this opportunity for student-athletes to achieve their educational goals at the University of Iowa. As a fan, I'm excited for young women to come to the University of Iowa and compete for Big Ten and NCAA championships as Hawkeyes."

2021 NCAA All-American Cohlton Schultz (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) Next is… Cohlton Schultz Weight: 285 lbs Year: Freshman Career Record: 17-2 Hometown: Parker, Colorado College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2021 Pac-12 Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 285 lbs One of the most highly accomplished US Greco-Roman wrestlers at the age-group level, Cohlton Schultz still chose to wrestle in college and signed with Arizona State. Before enrolling at ASU, Schultz won a Cadet World title and took silver at the Junior World Championships. Schultz was tabbed the number two overall recruit in the Class of 2019 and earned a spot in Final X, opposite Adam Coon, before ever arriving in Tempe. With his sights set on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials, Schultz redshirted the 2019-20 campaign. On the international front, Schultz won Senior Nationals in late-2019. That, coupled with his past world-level accolades, earned him a spot at the Olympic Trials. Collegiately, Schultz competed sparingly, wrestling in only two events. He started his redshirt year off with a win at the Northern Colorado Open. Two weeks later, Schultz took second at the Roadrunner Open, losing only to two-time national qualifier AJ Nevills (Fresno State), 5-2. In January 2021, Schultz made his official debut for the Sun Devils. That proved successful as Cohlton won a pair of bouts against Little Rock, including his first collegiate pin. Since international results, particularly in Greco, can be challenging to interpret when it comes to college rankings, it was difficult to figure where Schultz belonged in the crowded 285 lb weight class. A sense of clarity came to this situation in late January as Schultz knocked off the returning Big 12 champion Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 4-2. Schultz grabbed two more wins in tiebreakers to bring his season record up to 6-0. In the last event of the regular season, Schultz notched two excellent wins as he defeated Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) and Carter Isley (Northern Iowa). Both were top-15 seeds at the 2020 NCAA Tournament. The wins over the two Iowa studs marked the end of an undefeated regular season for Schultz, as he was 10-0 heading into the Pac-12. At the conference meet, Schultz won three bouts, the last coming over three-time national qualifier Nathan Traxler (Stanford) for his Pac-12 title. Now unbeaten and a conference champion, Schultz was awarded the fourth seed at his first NCAA Tournament. In the opening round, Schultz tallied bonus points with a 9-0 major decision over Austin Harris (Oklahoma State). That was one of five bonus-point wins on the year for Schultz. Next up was Andrews, who ended up getting disqualified due to stalling calls. In the NCAA quarterfinals, Schultz suffered his first loss of the year to Tony Cassioppi (Iowa), 4-1. That put Schultz into the Round of 12 against Traxler. He left nothing to chance and pinned Traxler in :44 seconds to confirm his status as an All-American. In the consolation quarterfinals, Schultz took on fellow age-group world champion Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State). Schultz was able to match the high-scoring output of Kerkvliet and tallied 14 points, his highest total of the year. That led to a 14-8 win. Schultz claimed a spot in the third-place bout after getting by Gremmel again, this time 3-1 in sudden victory. Once again, Schultz would face Cassioppi with third-place hanging in the balance. Schultz wasn't able to generate any offense on the Hawkeye and fell 5-0. About a week and a half ago. Schultz defeated Jacob Mitchell of the Army WCAP in three bouts to earn his first berth on the Senior World Team. Strengths: With Schultz's strong Greco-Roman pedigree, you know that he has plenty of upperbody throws in his repertoire. That being said, he doesn't resort to those types of maneuvers too frequently against top competition. What he does take from his Greco background is the ability to control ties and handfight with the best of them. In high school, Schultz was a prolific pinner decking 152 opponents in 188 wins. As he continues to develop, those numbers should increase on the collegiate level, too. 2021-22 Outlook: With Olympic champion Gable Steveson returning and atop the 285 lb weight class, it's difficult to picture anyone beating him in the upcoming season. Schultz fits comfortably into that next tier of title contenders with Mason Parris and Cassioppi. It's hard to imagine Schultz too far outside of the top half of the All-Americans next year and going forward. 2021 NCAA All-American Cohlton Schultz (Photo/Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Princeton Head Coach Chris Ayres (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It was the summer of 2006. Coach Chris Ayres left his comfortable assistant coaching job at perennial powerhouse Lehigh to become the head coach at Princeton. Why do I say comfortable? Well, Lehigh was, essentially, a top ten team year in and year out. Princeton was constantly in the basement of the Ivy League standings. Coach Ayres knew he had a tall order ahead of him. How tall exactly? In his first two seasons, the team had a dual meet record of 0-35. Yes, that is not a typo. Zero and thirty-five. Ayres was no stranger to putting in hard work, even if his results did not show it as much as he'd like. He was, what I consider, a late bloomer himself. He walked onto the Lehigh team without ever winning a state medal in high school. With determination, and finally getting things to "click" on the mat, Ayres earned All-American honors at 157 lbs. Plus, his 120 career wins are good enough for second all-time in Lehigh History. Only Jon Trenge has more, while Lehigh's latest National Champion, Darian Cruz, is tied with Ayres. He also currently holds the season record for number of wins with 39, while never missing a dual meet in 4 years. Looking at how far Princeton has come, it is literally night and day. From being dead last in the Ivy League every year, unable to bring a complete ten-man line up to dual meets, to now being ranked in the top 25 every year and winning the Ivy League Wrestling Title in 2020. Coincidentally, this title was the university's 500th Ivy League title across all thirty-seven varsity sports. Princeton is the first Ivy League school to reach this monumental achievement. The wrestling team will always be the face of the university's 500th Ivy League Championship and be forever etched into the university's athletic department's history. This is a huge deal. "Well, maybe until another sports program wins the school's 1,000th title," Coach Ayres jokes. This Ivy League Championship was the wrestling program's first in 34 years. The team has become one of the most respected teams on campus and Coach Ayres feels like there is more to come. This is no short feat, with the rich tradition and vast quantity of sports offered. But before we discuss the future, let's look more in-depth at what got them here. Rome was not built in a day, and neither was Princeton wrestling. Coach Chris Ayres is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the nation. Things may seem like a well-oiled machine now. But they were not always that way. When he first got the job, he explained, there simply were not enough "people." When it came to support staff, coaches, and wrestlers. The "people" aspect was the first hurdle to overcome. "It was the best time I never want to have again" is what Ayres said about his first few years. This is where he learned to motivate, and focus on the good outcomes, no matter how big or small. Plus, he had to rally, not only his wrestlers, but also the staff, community, and rest of the university behind him and his goals, which were lofty at that time. Imagine what people were thinking, "You want to be a top ten team in the nation, and you can't even field a full team?" This did not deter Ayres and his mission. With motivation and his "going to the good" model, things started to turn around. Sitting down with Coach Ayres, I asked him where he got this positive lifestyle from. He accredited much of his coaching style to the legendary Lehigh coach, Greg Strobel. Sadly, we recently lost Coach Strobel in October of 2020. Anyone in the wrestling community knew how incredible Strobel was, both on and off the wrestling mat. Coach Ayres told me a story of when he was wrestling for Lehigh, and Strobel was his coach. They flew out to wrestle Oregon State, the alma mater of Strobel. After a shutout loss, the team was in the locker room, expected to be screamed at. Coach Strobel entered the room quietly and said in a passive voice, "Well, it could have been worse." Now, just imagine all the puzzled looks on the wrestlers' faces, after an embarrassing shutout loss. Coach Strobel continued, "You all could have gotten pinned." This was the type of positive attitude that Ayres transferred into his coaching style. There always must be some positive out of a negative situation. This is what his phrase "going to the good" means. As an example, he would never focus on the team results, rather individual highlights to show progression, even if it was a tiny improvement from the previous week. What's the old saying? "Rome wasn't built in a day" or "slow and steady wins the race." Whichever you prefer, Ayres had to be somewhat creative and highlight the flashes of greatness that his wrestlers would portray on the mat and in the classroom. Mind you, he was one of the youngest coaches to be a head coach of a Division 1 program, at only 32 years of age. He had to be years ahead of his time when it came to patience and wisdom but required the energy of a young and hungry new head coach. Ayres's first year at Princeton was challenging. With only thirteen wrestlers on the roster, it was impossible to field a complete dual meet lineup. It's very easy to see how the team went winless in its first thirty-five attempts with Ayres in charge. It takes a special character to be able to gain the trust of these student-athletes while they keep losing. Ayres explained he quickly realized how much of a toll the demands of academics took on his athletes. Practices were (and still are) "light and fun" to keep wrestlers motivated, as they eventually "bought-in" to Ayres and his ways. Any successful program needs this to achieve goals. Lastly, he did not waste much time focusing on the negative challenges and issues. "Positivity breeds positivity. Negativity breeds negativity." This line from my conversation with Coach Ayres really stuck with me. It seems like something the fictional character, and AFC Richmond coach, Ted Lasso, would say. If you have not seen this show on Apple TV, I highly recommend it. Associate Head Coach Sean Gray (left) and Ayres (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) After the first initial years of hiccups, things started coming together for Ayres and the Princeton squad. Once they placed third in the Ivy League somewhere around year five of Ayres being at the helm, he noticed things starting to come together. A few potentially program-changing wrestlers committed to the program. He started getting more support, coaching positions he never had before, and the community was beginning to get excited. Then, in March of 2016, Brett Harner became just the ninth All-American in Princeton history when he finished 8h place at the NCAA Championships. Harner was the first All-American under Coach Ayres at Princeton. This was the momentum the program, needed to prove to the EIWA that Princeton was here to stay. It was only a matter of time until prospects like Matt Kolodzik and Pat Glory committed to wrestle for the Tigers out of high school and, ultimately, becoming NCAA All-Americans, and real national championship threats at their respective weights. Glory (listed as JR) is currently ranked second overall in the 125 lb. weight class behind three-time champ from Iowa, Spencer Lee. If you have been around the Princeton program, you may notice their black and orange wheelbarrow with the Princeton emblem. This is where the team motto #GetIn stems from. It all began with a story from a former wrestler named Mike Alvarez. The story goes something like this… which Coach Ayres warned may or may not be slightly embellished, but it really gets the point across. Back in the early 1900s, there was an amazing tightrope walker. Let's name him Bob. One day he announced he would show up to Niagara Falls and walk across on a tight rope. Due to windy, water, etc., it was a very arduous mission. A huge crowd showed up to watch him fail miserably. To everyone's surprise, he makes it no problem. He tells the crowd something along the lines of "come back tomorrow, for something better." A larger crowd shows up the next day, and he says he will walk across without his long balancing stick. Everyone gasps in horror, as they all pretty much think they will see Bob die today. Surprisingly, Bob walks across the falls without his balancing stick. Everyone is amazed, and Bob says something like, "Come back tomorrow for something more spectacular." The next day, an even larger crowd shows up. He tells them all he will ride his bicycle across the falls. The crowd, as I imagine, is probably making side bets on whether this lunatic makes it across or not. Guess what. Yep, he makes it across. The crowd goes wild. Yet again, he announces, "Come back tomorrow and it will be my best performance yet." The next day comes. The crowd is the largest it's ever been. There is a big-time reporter there writing an article about Bob and his dangerous achievements. Today's challenge is an empty wheelbarrow. As the crowd settles in and quiets down, he asks the simple question, "Who thinks I can walk across this rope with a wheelbarrow?" Everyone looks around confused. The feat with the bike was way more difficult than this. This should be easy money for him. He asks a few people in the crowd if they think he can do it. They all reply similarly, "Yes, of course." Bob looks at the reporter and asks the same question. The reporter looks at him and says, "Absolutely, you can. You are the best tight rope walker the world has ever seen." Bob replies again, "Are you sure, though?" The reporter says with 100% confidence, "Yes." With a smirk on his face, Bob walks over to the wheelbarrow and looks the reporter dead in the eyes. He smacks the inside of the wheelbarrow with his hand as it makes a "clank, clank, clank" noise. "Well then, get in," he said to the reporter. What does this mean? Bob emphasized that if you truly believed he would make the dangerous trek across the falls, you'd have no problem doing it with him. This draws parallels to the Princeton program. There is a lot of trust the athletes have in the coaching staff. The wrestlers have "bought into" Ayres and his staff's ways. As cheesy of a comparison it may be, they entrust the staff, so they have no issue "getting into the wheelbarrow." Drawing other parallels to the tale, it took Bob a lot of courage to get the crowd excited and coming back each day. Bob can be compared to Ayres in this way, as he had to get his athletes excited to come back and work, even if winning matches was not always the result. The story summed up, according to Ayres, "Yeah, you believe in me. But… do you trust me?" Because of this philosophy, Princeton has done more winning than losing as of late. Coach Ayres contributes a great deal of this to the New Jersey Regional Training Center (NJRTC). "The RTC is one thing that has really elevated our program," Ayres said. At first, it was a way of "keeping up with the Joneses," now it's almost a requirement for recruits. The NJRTC has been making a ton of noise lately, both on social media and on the mats. Head Coach Reese Humphrey has had his share of wild, and sometimes, viral videos showcasing athleticism. When it comes to results since the start of 2020, there is a valid argument that can be made where NJRTC is a top-3 RTC program in the country. Both former and current Princeton wrestlers Matt Kolodzik, Pat Glory, and Leonard Merkin all made a U-23 World Team. Unfortunately, the championships were canceled overseas. Coach mentioned that Princeton had 7 All Americans in the top 8 at the most recent U-23 trials. These performances were enough for a runner-up showing based on team points of all participating RTCs. Success is coming at all levels, not just the university level. Post collegiate athletes like Tyler Graff and Pat Downey made world teams repping the NJRTC singlet. Nate Jackson (Princeton's volunteer assistant) won the U.S. Open and has wrestled nearly non-stop on various wrestling cards during the pandemic. If this isn't enough, recently signed athlete, J'den Cox just made the U.S. World Team for the World Championships in October. Princeton is now the only program involved with the NJRTC. Originally, it was a joint effort between them, and Rutgers before Rutgers branched out and started their own. There are no hard feelings between the two programs. Being 45 minutes apart is tough and makes logistics more difficult. This has not slowed the NJRTC down at all. Get out your sunglasses because the future continues to look very bright in Princeton! Chris Ayres with his daughter Chloe (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Coach Ayres is optimistic about the future of the program. He mentions three main goals in line for the next half-decade. Firstly, his main goal is to get that first NCAA team trophy, while continuing to win in both the Ivy League and EIWA Conference. Coach thinks the program has what it takes can be a top 10 team right away. Secondly, he is ready to start looking into facilities upgrades. This seems to be the new way of improving college wrestling marketability. These types of upgrades are occurring across the nation with programs of all sizes. Everything from new mats, to the renovated locker room, upgrades to a brand-new state-of-the-art complex for wrestling only. Thirdly, Coach Ayres wishes to introduce women's wrestling to the university as an official NCAA-sanctioned sport. Women's wrestling is very close to the heart of the Ayres family. Chris's daughter, Chloe, was a very successful wrestler in high school and now attends the university her father coaches. Coach Chris Ayres's wife, Lori, is heavily involved with getting communities behind the sport of women's wrestling. She is an advocate for the sport we all need when it comes to bridging the gap between men's and women's wrestling. In the coming years, we will see an uptick in programs that sanction women's wrestling, and she will have played a large part in it. After sitting down with Coach Ayres, I cannot help but root for the program even more than I already have been. Besides their fantastic school colors (shoutout Northampton K-Kids), he literally built the program from the bottom. His infectious positive attitude, along with his patience, are not common characteristics in the sports world (especially the latter). Everyone wants to see results right away, or the coach gets fired. It goes without saying, we need to send props to the Princeton athletic department, university, and community and everyone involved who had faith from the beginning. They gave Ayres the chance to create something special from the ground up, and they trusted that he would do it the right way. Referencing my little story before, they got into that black and orange wheelbarrow while Chris Ayres walked that tight rope over Niagara Falls. I feel like a broken record when I say this, but Ayres is one of a kind. It takes a special type of person to do what he did. Was it easy? Heck no. Did Ayres ever think about leaving when he felt like his efforts were maybe a bit unnoticed and a possibly unmatched? Of course - many coaches do. But it would have gone against everything he has preached over the years. Stick to the positive attitude and good things will eventually go your way. Sixteen years later, no one would have ever predicted Princeton to be a top-10 team. In the present time, it seems inevitable. My final, most important, question to Coach Ayres may help settle the ultimate debate: Pork Roll or Taylor Ham? Being a New Jersey native, no surprise that his answer was Taylor Ham, and he jokingly stated he did not know what this "pork roll" mystery meat was. Doing my own highly educational research, I ran a Twitter poll. 67% of the people said it was pork roll - maybe because I have a slightly larger Pennsylvania following? Anyway, the debate lives on for at least another day. Speaking of Twitter, follow Princeton Wrestling on their new Twitter handle. They need some more followers after their previous one was permanently suspended due to the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act." They are back and ready for followers.Princeton Wrestling

2x NCAA All-American Brock Mauller (Photo/Larry Slater; 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) Next is… #43 Brock Mauller (Missouri) Weight: 149 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 83-8 Hometown: Columbia, Missouri College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 5th Place, 2019 NCAA 6th Place, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 3x MAC Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #5 at 149 lbs The 2018 Missouri recruiting class was incredible and featured seven top-100 signees. The fifth-highest wrestler in the group and 73rd overall, Brock Mauller, has proven to be the most successful at the collegiate level. Like the bulk of this class, Mauller seemed poised to take a redshirt season during his first year on campus. During his first appearance in open competition, Mauller showed he was ready to compete at a high level immediately. He captured a title at the Cyclone Open and knocked off the home team's returning NCAA Round of 12 finisher, Jarrett Degen. A week later, Mauller cruised to a title at the Maryville Open. Degen got a small measure of revenge the following week as he posted a 7-4 win over Mauller at the Lindenwood Open. In early December, Mauller would claim his third open title of the year by grabbing four wins at the UNI Open. The UNI Open ended up being Mauller's final competition under redshirt. Tiger head coach Brian Smith must have thought a 14-1 record unattached was enough to show Mauller was ready for a spot in the Mizzou lineup. He debuted on December 16th with an 8-2 win over Buffalo's Jason Estevez. Mauller would go one to get his hand raised in his first 12 dual meets. That span included a win over returning All-American Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) and stud freshman Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State). His only dual loss of the year came in the last weekend of the regular season to the same opponent who handed him his only defeat, Degen. A flawless MAC record gave Mauller the top seed at his first conference tournament and he lived up to his billing. In a conference with only one automatic qualifier allocation, Mueller needed to be perfect, and he was. Three wins, none closer than four points, allowed Mauller to win his first MAC Championship. As a freshman with a sparkling 29-2 record, Mauller was awarded the fourth seed at his first NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh. His first match at the NCAA Tournament was a 10-2 major decision over Appalachian State's Matt Zovistoski. Next up, was past All-American Tommy Thorn. Mauller cruised to a 5-1 decision over the Gopher star to earn a spot in the quarterfinals opposite Matt Kolodzik (Princeton). The Princeton wrestler was victorious in the battle of Tigers by the score of 5-3. A loss in the quarters sent Mauller to the Round of 12, where he'd need to win to secure All-American status. A familiar face was waiting in the opposite corner in Northern Iowa's Thomsen. The two battled into the sudden victory period, where Mauller not only got a takedown, but finished with a fall. Next was the collegiate opponent who was most familiar with Mauller, in Degen. Brock evened up the season score to two matches apiece after his 10-7 win. Mauller dropped his final two matches at the tournament to Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) and Kolodzik to finish in sixth place. He finished his true freshman season with a 33-5 record, was named the MAC's Freshman of the Year and became only the fifth Mizzou freshman to claim All-American honors. There was no sophomore slump for Mauller as he began his second year in Columbia in similar fashion to the first. He won his first 13 bouts of the year, before suffering a 6-5 loss to Jaron Jensen (Wyoming) at the South Beach Duals. That streak included tournament titles at the Southeast Open and the Cougar Clash. Once the calendar flipped over to 2020, Mauller did not lose again. He picked up sudden victory wins over a pair of past All-Americans in Thomsen and Boo Lewallen during the remainder of the dual season. Mauller then collected his second MAC title after winning four bouts, one of which came over a game Brock Zacherl (Clarion) in the conference final. A 29-1 regular season provided Mauller with the fourth seed again at nationals. Unfortunately, he, along with the other 329 NCAA qualifiers were unable to compete as the tournament was canceled due to Covid. The Tiger sophomore was set to square off in the opening round with #29 Jared Prince (Navy). Awaiting him in the Round of 16 was either #13 Thomsen or #20 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech). The other high seeds on his half of the bracket were #5 Lewallen and #1 Pat Lugo (Iowa). Mauller would be named a first-time NWCA All-American for his exploits up to the national tournament. Last season, Mauller started off streaking and didn't end until the NCAA Championships. He went unbeaten during the regular season with a 13-0 record. The highlight of the regular season was a win in sudden victory over Lewallen. Before the NCAA Championships, Mauller logged victories over four eventual national qualifiers. Before nationals, Mauller had business to tend to at the MAC Championships. He claimed his third title in as many tries and didn't have a match closer than six points. An unbeaten record and strong track record gave Mueller the third seed at the 2021 NCAA Tournament. In front of a home crowd in St. Louis, Mauller had a MAC finals rematch with Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) during the opening round. He had little trouble with Robinson and posted his sixth bonus-point win of the year amid a 10-2 major decision. Wins over #14 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) and #6 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) propelled Mauller to his first NCAA semifinal, opposite Austin O'Connor. This was the same opponent who defeated Brock in the consolations his freshman year. The two embarked on a hard-fought defensive struggle and O'Connor came out on top 2-1 in sudden victory. He would go on to win a national title the following evening. Mauller, on the other hand, wasn't able to rebound Saturday morning and suffered a consolation semifinal loss to #25 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern). Brock finished his tournament with an 8-5 win over surprising Fresno State freshman Kyle Parco to clinch fifth-place, one spot higher than his 2019 placement. Strengths: Mauller is a high IQ wrestler. From his feet, he'll typically control the center of the mat and the ties. He's a high-percentage shooter, rarely taking a bad shot. More common is that he'll lure an opponent into a poor shot or nullify an attack with his heavy hips. On the mat, he can be a smothering rider. Against the top-shelf competition, Mauller probably won't get turns, but can get riding time. He does have some tilts in his arsenal, though. 2021-22 Outlook: For the past three years, Mauller has been among the elite 149 lber and a national title contender. That was evident by his match against O'Connor in the 2021 NCAA semifinals. O'Connor has decided to move up to 157, but two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) is expected back and up at 149 lbs. That will make him the distinct favorite; however, Mauller is on the shortlist of candidates that can push Yianni and threaten for a chip himself. 2x NCAA All-American Brock Mauller (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

NC State recruit Jackson Arrington (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Over the weekend, FloWrestling held the ninth annual Who's Number One event. This dual meet has routinely pitted some of the nation's top high schooler's against each other in a preseason showcase for the top spot in the rankings. In the second year of the event, we saw a pair of future NCAA champions clash (Zahid Valencia over Myles Martin), along with one of the best high school matches in recent memory (Nick Suriano over Daton Fix). Those two would later meet in the 2019 NCAA finals. With the field of wrestlers selected to compete in 2021, there's no doubt that we saw some future college and international superstars in action. So, with that in mind, the question is which college's “won” Who's Number One? (A few months from now, this list could look drastically different since many of the participants are currently uncommitted). NC State This was easy enough. No other school had multiple recruits (yet) earn wins on Saturday night. Both Jackson Arrington (145) and Dylan Fishback (195) got their hands raised and have pledged to Pat Popolizio's team next year. While both have been near the top of the national rankings for some time, neither seems to get the type of attention that wrestlers of their caliber typically do. Arrington earned his invitation to Who's Number One by finishing fourth in Junior freestyle at 145 lbs. Two of the other placewinners above him were graduating seniors, while Jordan Williams was up at 152. Fishback was a Junior National champion at the weight in Fargo. Arrington's opponent was Hunter Garvin (IA), who was considered a potential high-finisher in Fargo that didn't end up competing due to injury. Fishback had Cadet World fifth-place finisher Gavin Nelson, who was ranked at 220 lbs. Both Arrington and Fishback had to grind out wins. Neither was particularly flashy, but they got the job done. That's fine, as most big-time collegiate matches play out that way anyways. Getting two Who's Number One winners, both in the same class, is not common. Add in 2020 winner Chase Horne and the Wolfpack's 2022 class is another great one. Iowa State The Cyclones had a pair of Who's Number One participants in Casey Swiderski (138) and Manny Rojas (170). Only Swiderski came out victorious, but it was quite the notable win. Facing, Jesse Mendez, the top pound-for-pound wrestler in high school, Swiderski never backed down and pulled the stunning upset. Typically, when a top-ranked wrestler goes down, it can come in a tactical, low-scoring affair. Basically, the lower-ranked wrestler gets creative (stalls) and makes it a one-move match. This was not the case. Swiderski came out from the opening whistle and showed he wasn't afraid of the Junior World team member and his lofty ranking. That mindset and mentality are more indicative of success at the collegiate level than the actual result of the bout itself. In the match, Swiderski was able to lock up a pair of takedowns on Mendez and even tossed him in a non-scoring maneuver at the edge of the mat, that got the crowd on its feet, if nothing else. The win was the next step in the evolution of Swiderski, who has flown up the rankings within the last year and a half. While he already had some strong national credentials, Swiderski made the country take notice when he defeated Drake Ayala (who was up a couple of weights) at the Ironman Duals. Since, Swiderski has placed fourth at the Super 32 and made the Junior freestyle finals in Fargo. Fellow Michigan native and future Cyclone Manny Rojas participated in the four-man mini-tournament at 170 lbs. While he fell in the opening match to Rocco Welsh, 6-4, Rojas is still one of the top wrestlers in the Class of 2022. He claimed a Junior freestyle national title in Fargo this summer after finishing as a 16U runner-up in his previous two trips. Swiderski's win gives Iowa State their first victory at Who's Number One since David Carr downed Joe Lee in 2017. Virginia Tech You'll have to go back even farther to find a Virginia Tech recruit that was a winner at Who's Number One. That happened to be one of the most decorated wrestlers in Hokie history, David McFadden, in 2014. He defeated future All-American Isaiah White. That match occurred at 152 lbs, the same weight as the most recent Virginia Tech recruit, Caleb Henson. I'm sure Tony Robie and the Hokie staff would be delighted if Henson's career mirrored McFadden's. To grab a win at Who's Number One, Henson, a Fargo Junior freestyle champ, had to go through Oklahoma's Jordan Williams, also a 2021 Fargo champ. Williams was also making his third appearance at the event. Unphased, Henson quickly struck first with a double leg and set the tone for the rest of the bout. Though the match was marred by a controversial sequence that saw Henson use a keylock which was deemed “potentially dangerous” instead of illegal. Following an injury timeout from Williams, Henson chose down and got an escape. Had that been handled differently, we could've seen a different result. But focusing on the big picture, Virginia Tech is getting a middleweight who had been near the top of the 145/152 lb rankings for over two years. While the Hokies have freshmen at 157/165, Henson is sure to make an impact at the next level. Ohio State Who's Number One in 2020 was really the breakout showcase for Nicholas Feldman. Everyone knew he was good, just not THAT good. He dismantled Cadet World Teamer Kyle Haas 13-5 to claim the top spot at 220 lbs and hasn't looked back since. This year, Feldman was part of the main event, taking on Junior Freestyle national champion Christian Carroll. The Illinois recruit had steamrolled the field in Fargo and is one of the top wrestlers in the Class of 2023. Leave it to the veteran Feldman to get an early takedown on Carroll to hold off the hard-charging junior, 3-2. The win put Feldman in rarified air, as far as Who's Number One goes. He becomes only the sixth wrestler to win matches at multiple Who's Number One events. Looking at the pound-for-pound rankings, Feldman entered the event at number two, behind Mendez. You'd have to think after Mendez's loss and a spotless record from Feldman, he'd ascend to that coveted number one spot, especially after defeating Carroll, who came in at number three.

2021 NCAA Champion David Carr (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you've been following our top collegiate wrestlers countdown, you'll realize that we are less than 50 days away from the start of the season. Since our last All-330 projection was released in June, it's way past time for another. Remember, this will be a reoccurring feature that will be updated more regularly as we approach the season and throughout the year. A reoccurring feature between now and then will be our All-330 projections. What is the all-330? That number represents the total number of wrestlers in action at the tournament. 33 per weight class. Here is our latest stab at projecting the wrestlers that will qualify for the 2022 NCAA Championships. Since we are so early in the year, these lists will evolve as wrestlers transfer, go up or down in weight, or change redshirt status. There are some true freshmen listed among the 330. Each weight has been broken up into their respective conference. All wrestlers are listed by their school's name, these are not rankings. To the bottom right of each weight you'll see seven wrestlers in the "just missed" category. Those are the wrestlers that were considered for the top-33 but didn't make the cut...for now. Underlined wrestlers are one's that were not a part of our last projections. 125lbs This weight sees the 125/133's from two of the Ivy League schools (Cornell and Penn) swapping spots. Cornell's is still up in the air, but we're going with Arujau for now. A notable omission is All-American Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan), who announced his was finished competing. 133lbs Lots of changes here! Again, we have the swap with Cornell and Penn, along with Paetzell returning for Lehigh. Recent Minnesota transfer Matt Ramos should make an impact at this weight. 141lbs Here is some of the latest skinny. More recent developments than were included in our preseason rankings. UNC could be switching their 141 and 149 lbers. Speaking of UNC, the other one, Northern Colorado has Andrew Alirez at 141. Plenty of others have been added, too. 149lbs South Dakota State has a couple of their stars moving up; one of which is Zach Price from 133. Penn has Anthony Artalona moving down. It also appears the Austin Gomez is on the move too. 157lbs The big move associated with this weight class is bringing Ryan Deakin back to 157, which seems hard to fathom given his size. NCAA qualifier at 141 Doug Zapf will come back at 157. 165lbs Moving Joe Lee down to opens up a spot in the lineup for Penn State's top recruit from the Class of 2021, Alex Facundo. The Big 12 has a pair of notables that are expected to come down from 174 lbs in Demetrius Romero and Anthony Mantanona. With Peyton Robb going 157, it appears that Bubba Wilson will be his replacement. 174lbs Lots of movement out west! Trey Munoz is heading to Oregon State, which could free up an opportunity for Cael Valencia to start in year one. Another big jump from SDSU is Cade DeVos who comes up from 157. Though he didn't compete last year, we're projecting a big year from Greyden Penner at Oklahoma. 184lbs After AA'ing at 174, Bernie Truax is expected to make another move up to 184 lbs. Conversely, Marcus Coleman comes down from 197, as does Bryan McLaughlin. In limited action, Isaiah Salazar was impressive last year. He should be the guy for the Gophers this year. 197lbs One to watch here is Isaac Trumble at 197. He was impressive last season, but some recent social media postings may hint at him moving on. 285lbs 2021's NCAA 7th seed Ethan Laird is projected to take a redshirt, so he was removed. Also John Birchmeier from Navy was replaced since he is not on the current roster and is not projected as the starter.

2021 NCAA runner-up Brandon Courtney (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) Next is… #44 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) Weight: 125 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 54-17 Hometown: Goodyear, Arizona College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Runner-Up, 2020 NWCA 2nd Team All-American, 2x Pac-12 Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 125 lbs Getting three-time Arizona state champion and Fargo Junior freestyle champion Brandon Courtney to stay in-state and wrestle for Arizona State was the biggest in-state "get" of Zeke Jones' tenure with the Sun Devils. Coming out of high school, Courtney was ranked #76 overall in the Class of 2017. With All-American Ryan Millhof in the ASU lineup in 2017-18, Courtney was able to use a redshirt. He saw action in three open events and was victorious in one, the freshman/sophomore division at Michigan State Open. At that event, Courtney logged wins over opponents that have become household names in Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) and Jack Medley (Michigan). Courtney's only two losses that year came to All-American Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) and Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), who won two matches at nationals. After the season, Courtney was victorious at the Junior World Team Trials at 57 kg. He was not able to represent the US at World's because returning world medalist Daton Fix was granted a special wrestle-off and took the spot in Fargo. Unfortunately for Courtney, Millhof was still around during his redshirt freshman season, so most expected he'd back up the veteran. That year, Millhof dealt with a variety of injuries, so Courtney was able to see plenty of time in the Sun Devil lineup. In his dual debut, Courtney defeated Devin Schnupp (Penn State) 13-7 and provided ASU their only win in a 41-3 loss to the national champions. Ultimately, Courtney saw action in 12 dual meets, winning seven of them during a 14-11 campaign. When it was all said and done, Millhof got the nod at 125 lbs during the postseason. There were plenty of positives to take away from Courtney's freshman year as he posted wins over four 2019 national qualifiers Trey Chalifoux (Army West Point), Christian Moody (Oklahoma), Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga), and Dack Punke (Missouri). With the 125 lbs slot all to himself in 2019-20, Courtney started the year winning eight of his first nine bouts. For the second year in a row, he was victorious in the Penn State dual. This one was much more impactful, as his 19-7 major decision over Brody Teske helped spark the Sun Devils to a 19-18 upset, which snapped a 60-match dual winning streak. In Courtney's next outing, he finished sixth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. At the CKLV Invitational, he suffered losses to Devin Schroder (Purdue) and Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), both of which would emerge as top 125's, along with Alex Mackall. Courtney's best wins from the tournament came over Northern Iowa's national qualifier Jay Schwarm and Nebraska-Kearney's DII AA Josh Portillo. The performance in Vegas seemed to spark Courtney, who went on a ten-match winning streak, which lasted until the final week of the regular season. During that time, Courtney avenged his defeat to Mackall, beat Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) and the entire Pac-12. In his first postseason, Courtney cruised to a conference title with a major decision over Alex Hernandez-Figueroa (CSU Bakersfield) and a 4-1 decision against Jackson DiSario for the Pac-12 title. Covid shut down the 2020 NCAA Tournament, so Courtney did not have the opportunity to compete at nationals for the first time. He was slated to have the ninth seed and meet freshman Patrick McKee (Minnesota) in the opening round. A first-round win would have likely set the stage for a rematch with DeAugustino. For his body of work during the 2019-20 season, Courtney was named an NWCA second-team All-American. The late-starting 2021 season saw Courtney take it to the next level. After a regular decision in his first bout, Courtney reeled off seven straight bonus-point victories. During the final match of the dual slate, he defeated Teske, who was now competing for Northern Iowa. Teske went on to capture a Big 12 title. For the second consecutive year, Courtney was unchallenged in the conference and downed DiSario for a Pac-12 title. His perfect 11-0 record gave him the #3 seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Courtney's first NCAA Tournament started with a 19-7 major decision victory over Binghamton's Micah Roes. Next up was a shootout with the dangerous Eric Barnett (Wisconsin). While Courtney prevailed, Barnett went on to get on the NCAA podium. A match later, Courtney clinched All-American honors himself after outlasting #6 Jakob Camacho (NC State), 4-2. With a spot in the NCAA finals hanging in the balance, Courtney and Utah Valley's Taylor LaMont battled to a stalemate of sorts. Eventually, Courtney was able to overcome LaMont to the tune of 2-1 in tiebreakers and lock up a spot in the championship bout. Standing between Courtney and a national title was an imposing figure, two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee. The defending Hodge Trophy winner had captured bonus points in all of his previous 2021 bouts and led Iowa to the first national title in over a decade. Courtney was able to limit the damage done by Lee, like few have been able to do. The pair scrapped to a scoreless first period and Lee headed into the final stanza leading "only" 4-0. Ultimately, Lee would pull away with a 7-0 win. It ended up being the only regular decision of his season. Courtney's 2021 season saw him run up bonus points in half of his 16 contests, a percentage that mirrored his total in 2019-20, as well. Strengths: Brandon is exceptionally talented on his feet. His quickness allows him to work from space and in ties. He also has good level changes and timing which allows him to be deadly with reattacks. From distance, he'll often look for a sweep single, while choosing for duck unders up close. Oftentimes, the duck unders lead to leg attacks. Courtney tends to do most of his damage from his feet, but is capable on the mat too. He can score with cross-wrist tilts and such. 2021-22 Outlook: With Spencer Lee atop the 125 lb weight class, it makes it a severe uphill climb for anyone to win an NCAA title. Also, you have to factor in the two Ivy League wrestlers that didn't compete last year (Pat Glory - Princeton and Vito Arujau - Cornell) and are currently ranked ahead of Courtney. As he has progressed, Courtney should be in the mix with those two for a spot in the finals opposite Lee. I'll be eager to see Courtney against the ASU schedule in 2021-22, as he did not face many top contenders during the abridged 2021 season. 2021 NCAA runner-up Brandon Courtney (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)

2021 Junior National freestyle runner-up Ben Kueter (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Even though the Iowa Hawkeyes have yet to receive a verbal commitment from the current senior class, head coach Tom Brands' Class of 2023 is off to a great start. Sunday, the Hawkeyes got a commitment from the #9 overall junior in the nation Ben Kueter (Iowa City, Iowa). Not only will Kueter take the mat for Iowa, but he's also expected to play on the gridiron for legendary football coach Kirk Ferentz. Kueter is two-for-two in capturing state titles in Iowa's 3A classification. He won the 160 lb weight class as a freshman before making the massive jump to 195 in 2020-21. This summer, in Fargo, Kueter made the Junior Freestyle National final at 220 lbs. Not only has Kueter starred in wrestling and football, but he's also actually a four-sport athlete for City High, competing at a high level in baseball and track, as well. On the football field, Kueter is a tight end and linebacker, while playing centerfield for the baseball team. He was also a part of the school's distance relay team. As we learn more about Kueter's commitment, it could be a no-lose situation for the Iowa wrestling program. Kueter's scholarship dollars are expected to be absorbed by the football team, which is helpful when wrestling is only allotted 9.9 total. That means Brands' team will get the services of a blue-chip athlete at 285 lbs without allocating any money towards him. Of course, this arrangement would limit the amount of time Kueter gets to compete wrestling-wise, since Iowa's football program typically is in the hunt for major bowl games in late-December/early January. Our Big Ten correspondent Cody Goodwin wrote about wrestlers playing football at Iowa in December of 2019. Iowa has been notorious for having football players with wrestling experience; however, they haven't really had an athlete like Kueter that attempts to do both. In Cody's article, both coaches alluded to the same and Brands even admitted to deferring to football if both he and Ferentz are interested in a prospect, “But if it's somebody we really want, we'd have a conversation.” I think that sums up Brands and the wrestling staff's interest in Kueter.

3x NCAA All-American Chad Red Jr. (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) Next is… #45 Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) Weight: 141 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 84-38 Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 6th Place, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 8th Place, 2018 NCAA 7th Place, 2019 Big Ten Runner-Up 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 141 lbs A mainstay near the top of the 141 lbs rankings for the last four-plus years has been Nebraska star Chad Red Jr. Plenty of fanfare surrounded Red Jr. as he arrived in Lincoln. Red Jr. was a four-time, undefeated (183-0) Indiana state champion and only the third wrestler in the state's history to finish unbeaten. To win his final title, Red Jr. prevailed in a super-match with future Penn State national champion, Nick Lee. Right away, Red Jr. showed why he was such a highly coveted recruit during his redshirt year. After winning 15 of his first 16 bouts (including two tournaments), Red Jr. entered the Midlands Championships. There he ended up in fourth place, losing only to Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) and Matt Kolodzik (Princeton). When his redshirt season ended, Red Jr. claimed three wins over NCAA qualifiers that year (Jack Hathaway - Oregon State, Russell Rohlfing - CSU Bakersfield, Cole Martin - Wisconsin). It didn't take long for Red Jr. to make an impact as a redshirt freshman. In his first tournament of the year, Red Jr. knocked off returning All-American Tommy Thorn en route to a title at the Daktronics Open. Just under a month later, he would take fourth place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. After Vegas, Red Jr. hit a bit of a rough patch during the dual season. He went 4-4 with losses to Kevin Jack (NC State), Mike Carr (Illinois), Nate Limmex (Purdue), and Cole Weaver (Indiana). Following the Weaver loss, Red Jr. managed to straighten things out and rolled into his first Big Ten tournament on a four-match winning streak. At the Big Ten Championships, it was Limmex who got to Red Jr. again, along with Vince Turk (Iowa), which dropped Red Jr. into seventh place; however, it did secure a berth at nationals for the Husker freshman. In 2018, only 16 wrestlers were seeded at nationals and Red Jr.'s seventh-place showing at the Big Ten meet wasn't enough to warrant a seed, so he was drawn in against #7 Brock Zacherl (Clarion). The higher seeded Zacherl got by with a 4-2 win. As can be the case sometimes, Red Jr. started to gain momentum on the backside after his early loss. His next win was another over the All-American Thorn. He also cooled off a hot Ryan Diehl (Maryland), who had pinned Lee earlier in the tournament. Next up was a rematch with Turk. This time Red Jr. came out on top with a 3-2 victory. Those wins catapulted Red Jr. into the Round of 12, where he'd face his most imposing opponent of the year, two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil (Oklahoma State). Unphased, Red Jr. used a mixer to flip Heil onto his back and, after some fighting, pinned the Cowboy. Red Jr. finished his first NCAA tournament with another fall as he pinned fellow unseeded All-American Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan) for seventh-place. The sophomore year got off to a rocky start for Red Jr. as he dropped dual matches to Sam Krivus (Virginia) and Matt Findlay (Utah Valley) during the first event of the year. A couple of weeks later, Red Jr. went 1-2 at the CKLV Invitational. A possible sophomore slump, combined with a loaded Big Ten weight class, made for a rough regular season for Red Jr. He pulled into the Big Ten Championships with a 16-10 record. Even so, the postseason allowed for a clean slate and Red Jr. went on an excellent run at the conference meet, which resulted in his highest finish to date at the event. The Husker star made the championship match after downing Mike Carr and Kanen Storr (Michigan), two opponents who had defeated him in tiebreakers earlier in that season. Red Jr. would settle for second place after a 9-2 loss to Joey McKenna (Ohio State). The big wins at the Big Ten Championships helped Red Jr. gain the 16th seed at his second NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. In one of the toughest opening round matches, at any weight, Red Jr. pinned Iowa State's Ian Parker to make the Round of 16. That's where Red Jr.'s championship hopes would end as he lost to the defending national champion, Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell), 7-3. A pair of consolation wins put Red Jr. back into the Round of 12, this time against Iowa's Max Murin. Like Red Jr., Murin was a highly capable competitor that has scuffled at times during the brutal Big Ten season. The 22nd seeded Murin has pulled off a couple of upsets to advance to the national quarterfinals. There would be no more upsets for Murin, as Red Jr. controlled the Hawkeye, to the tune of 4-1, to secure All-American status for a second consecutive year. Red Jr. would drop his next two matches to finish in eighth place. Right away in 2019-20, Red Jr. got an early test against one of the top returners at the weight, when he fell to Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 11-4 at the Journeyman Collegiate Classic. The two ended up in the same weight class in Vegas, but did not meet as Red Jr. settled for fifth place. While Red Jr. suffered a loss to Parker, he did pin former All-American Tariq Wilson (NC State) in just over :30 seconds. The highlight of a 5-3 Big Ten dual season in 2020 was his victory by fall over Mitch McKee (Minnesota). The Gopher star had dominated Red Jr. the previous year in the NCAA consolation quarterfinals. All in all, the 2020 Big Ten Championships proved to be one of the more consistent events of Red Jr.'s career. He made the semifinals and pushed top-seeded Nick Lee before falling, 7-5. In the dual season, Lee had majored him. After the Lee loss, Red Jr. rebounded for third place by defeating Murin and Tristan Moran (Wisconsin). It was the second time in the tournament that Red Jr. downed Moran, an opponent that beat him in dual action. Unfortunately, Covid wiped out the 2020 national tournament, an event that had Red Jr. locked in as the sixth seed. He was poised to meet freshman #27 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the opening round and some combination of #11 Zach Sherman (North Carolina)/#22 Noah Baughman (Cornell) in the Round of 16. Likely waiting in the quarters would have been #3 Real Woods (Stanford). The shortened 2021 season included dual-action between only Big Ten schools. Despite that, Red Jr. did not his most of the top contenders at the weight in the regular season. His second match was a 7-5 loss to new Hawkeye Jaydin Eierman and proved to be the only blemish on his record before B1G's. Chad would lock in the fourth seed at the meet after defeating Dylan Duncan (Illinois) in the season finale. Since Red Jr. was the fourth seed, another bout with Eierman loomed in the semifinals. This one would not be as close and Eierman cruised 7-1. After another win over Duncan, Red Jr. met 2x Big Ten champion Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) for third. Rivera came out on top in a close decision, 4-3. The fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships yielded the eighth seed for Red Jr. in St. Louis. After a first-round win, Red Jr. suffered an ever-so-slight-upset loss to #9 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) in the Round of 16. As Red Jr. has been known to do, he buckled down in the consolations and downed a pair of top-eight seeds to ensure another place on the NCAA podium. His consolation victims included #6 Allan Hart (Missouri) and #7 Ian Parker (Iowa State). Chad won his next bout against Sherman to clinch a spot in the top-six. From there, he would drop back-to-back matches to opponents he's defeated in the past (Wilson, Duncan) to settle into sixth-place. Strengths: There's a whole lot to account for when facing Red Jr. He is probably best known for his big-move potential. Like facing Heil, Red Jr. has the potential to end the match quickly with mixers, cradles, and throws. In a more conventional sense, Red Jr.'s is quick and crisp with his leg attacks. His speed and scrambling ability proves to be the best defense from his feet. Not only can Red cradle from the top, but he is also a strong rider and capable of getting riding time points and exposure from tilts. You can't be complacent with him while riding either. Red Jr. isn't just satisfied with getting escape points. His good hips lend themselves to getting reversals. 2021-22 Outlook: Making predictions for Chad Red Jr. can always be a difficult task. During his full seasons, he's typically taken a loss or two that is unforeseen, but generally shines in the postseason. He is currently ranked fourth in the country at 141, behind a wrestler he has defeated multiple times. Chad will have to show he's ready to take the next step to beat the likes of Lee and Eierman. Despite his high school success against Lee, he's a combined 0-5 in college against those top two. Another confounding note regarding Red Jr.'s history is the fact that he has not made it to the NCAA quarterfinals, during any of these three trips to nationals. While he's gotten it done and posted some impressive wins in the consis, Red Jr. hasn't finished higher than sixth at NCAA's. Here's to hoping the super-senior takes advantage of his extra year of eligibility and challenges that top tier in the regular season and at nationals. 3x NCAA All-American Chad Red Jr. (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)

Casey Swiderski (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Who's Number One Boys Results 170 lbs - Rocco Welsh (PA) over Manny Rojas (MI) 6-4 170 lbs - Gabe Arnold (GA) over Brayden Thompson (IL) 3-2 106 lbs - Bo Bassett (PA) over Seth Mendoza (IL) 19-8 182 lbs - TJ Stewart (MD) over Jack Wehmeyer (PA) 7-4 145 lbs - Jackson Arrington (PA) over Hunter Garvin (IA) 4-3 113 lbs - Braeden Davis (MI) over Leo DeLuca (NJ) 15-7 160 lbs - Levi Haines (PA) over Josh Barr (MI) 4-1 106 lbs - Anthony Knox (NJ) over Luke Lilledahl (MO) 10-3 152 lbs - Caleb Henson (GA) over Jordan Williams (OK) 5-4 195 lbs - Dylan Fishback (OH) over Gavin Nelson (MN) 6-1 138 lbs - Casey Swiderski (MI) over Jesse Mendez (IN) 7-6 120 lbs - Nate Jesuroga (IA) over Joey Cruz (CA) 6-1 170 lbs - Gabe Arnold (GA) over Rocco Welsh (PA) 2-1TB 285 lbs - Nicholas Feldman (PA) over Christian Carroll (IN) 3-2 Saturday evening, the boys took the mat on the second day of action at Who's Number One. As expected there were plenty of upsets and outstanding performances. Most notably at 138 lbs as the top pound-for-pound high schooler in the country, Jesse Mendez, was knocked off by #2 Casey Swiderski. It was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Iowa State recruit come out on top, 7-6. The main event featured the top two big men in the nation clashing. #2 220 lber Christian Carroll took on top-ranked Nicholas Feldman. Feldman was able to pull out a hard-fought 3-2 win. He entered the night ranked #2 overall in the pound-for-pound rankings and likely will ascend to the top spot during the next update. There could be a new top-ranked 170 lber as Gabe Arnold emerged from the four-man mini-tournament with a pair of one-point wins. He edged Brayden Thompson in the second bout of the night, then outlasted Rocco Welsh in tiebreakers. Thompson was a late replacement for #2 James Rowley. We'll see whether Arnold (then #3) jumps Rowley in the next set of rankings. Fans were given a glimpse of the future when 2021 Cadet World Champion, and current eighth-grader, Bo Bassett posted a dominant 19-8 major decision over freshman Seth Mendoza.

2021 NCAA All-American and Junior World Champion Rocky Elam (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) Next is… #46 Rocky Elam (Missouri) Weight: 197 lbs Year: Freshman Career Record: 17-2 Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 5th Place, 2021 MAC Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #5 at 197 lbs For a few years now, MatScouts founder Willie Saylor has beat the drum that Rocky Elam is the most overlooked wrestler in the Class of 2020. Even as the #9 overall wrestler in his senior class, Elam certainly did not receive the national attention that others of his caliber received. That may be partially because he spent his senior year at the Olympic Training Center as part of USA Wrestling's Elite Accelerator Program. As a senior, Rocky signed with Missouri to join his brother, Zach, already a starter at 285 lbs for the Tigers. After a year at Missouri and his offseason exploits, it's safe to say that Elam is probably a household name for even casual collegiate fans. Since the 2021 season was a "free year" in terms of eligibility for collegiate athletes, many freshman wrestlers were able to dip their toes into the waters to see if they could cut it at the next level. Right away, we noticed that Elam belonged in the Tiger's starting lineup. Elam's first collegiate competition saw him down returning NCAA qualifier Landon Pelham (Central Michigan), 7-3. He also got a win via injury default over another returning qualifier, Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming). For the most part, Elam wasn't tested by any top-level competition for the remainder of the regular season. In his second competition of the season, Elam edged Iowa State's Cuban newcomer Yonger Bastida by a point. The rest of his regular-season wins came with bonus points. The MAC Championships proved to be little more of a challenge than the regular season as he picked up four wins and none of which were particularly close. In the finals, he took out Ben Smith (Cleveland State) by a 10-4 margin. An 11-0 record for Elam was good enough to give him the seventh seed at his first NCAA Tournament. In round one, Elam ran into a buzzsaw, the underranked #26 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma). Jake prevailed 4-1 and would eventually make the NCAA semis. While many freshmen who suffered an upset in the first round of the national tournament would have been content to pack it in, Elam took the opposite approach and began his trek through the backside of the bracket. He picked up a major decision win in the first wrestleback match, which set up a meeting with #9 Noah Adams (West Virginia). The previous year, Adams was undefeated and earned the second seed at the ill-fated 2020 NCAA Tournament. Elam was able to get back Adams, 4-3, with his most significant win of the year to date. Continuing his run through the consis, Elam majored the #2 seed Eric Schultz (Nebraska), 12-3. That assured him a spot in the Round of 12 against #3 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State). Again, Elam blew out a higher-seeded opponent as he majored Norfleet, 9-1. Once he clinched All-American status, Elam shut out Penn State's Michael Beard, 5-0. He suffered his second loss of the tournament 8-6 in sudden victory, as he gave Myles Amine (Michigan) all he could handle before losing. The silver lining was that Elam fell into the fifth-place match against Woodley. This time it was all in favor of the Tiger freshman as he claimed fifth with a 9-3 win over Woodley. Elam's first national tournament saw him pick up wins over three of the top nine seeds in the country, avenge his first loss, and end up on the wrong side of a nailbiter against an eventual Olympic bronze medalist. Though the majority of these rankings are based on collegiate results, we'd be remiss not to mention the offseason that Elam put together. He made the Junior World Team in freestyle at 92 kg after wins over promising freshmen, Luke Surber (Oklahoma State), Isaac Trumble (NC State), and Zach Glazier (Iowa). At the World Championships in Ufa, Russia, Elam used a late takedown over his Iranian opponent to win a Junior World gold medal. Strengths: Rocky has a tall, muscular frame that is ideal for 197 lbs. That length allows him to keep most competitors at bay and thwart offensive attacks. While he has a deep arsenal himself, his best shot is the sweep single to the left leg. When it's crunch time, like the world finals, that's what Elam resorts to. He also has the ability to build up nicely and readjust if he finds himself overextended on a leg attack. As he grows, I'd expect more scoring on the mat, as well. 2021-22 Outlook: Ahead of Elam in the preseason NCAA rankings are a national champion (AJ Ferrari) and two finalists (Nino Bonaccorsi and Max Dean). It's not unreasonable to think that with a full year in the Tiger room and fresh off the physical and emotional development that comes with winning at the world level, Elam could take the next step and challenge Ferrari and crew for a collegiate title. With Mizzou moving into the Big 12 (for wrestling purposes), he should have multiple shots at Ferrari before getting to Detroit. Their weight class will be extremely tough with three others in the preseason top-11 (Woodley, Tanner Sloan, Buchanan). 2021 NCAA All-American and Junior World Champion Rocky Elam (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Destiny Rodriguez (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2021 Who's Number One Girls Results 127: Savannah Cosme (Colorado) over Alexis Janiak (Illinois) 8-3 132: Janida Garcia (California) over Hanna Errthum (Wisconsin) 16-8 112: Cecilia Williams (Michigan) over Jenavi Alejandro (Nevada) 6-3 117: Cadene Diduch (Illinois) over Zao Estrada (South Carolina) 3:32 152: Destiny Rodriguez (Oregon) over Jasmine Robinson (Texas) 11-4 94: Erica Pastoriza (Arizona) over Valarie Solorio (Florida) Fall 2:57 100: Brianna Gonzalez (California) over Ava Ward (Missouri) 6-3 164: Lillian Freitas (California) over Rose Cassioppi (Illinois) 9-3 106: Audrey Jimenez (Arizona) over Paige Morales (California) 5:06 122: Katie Gomez (California) over Shelby Moore (Washington) 11-10 The first-ever all-girls version of Who's Number One featured and exciting card of matches between many of the top girls in the country. Based on the girls high school rankings provided by USA Wrestling, the match between the two highest-ranked girls on the pound-for-pound scale was the main event between #5 Katie Gomez and #8 Shelby Moore. That bout proved to be one of the best of the evening as Gomez survived a late charge from Moore to win 11-10. One of the breakout stars of Fargo was in action in Jasmine Robinson at 152 lbs. She went down to fellow Fargo champion Destiny Rodriguez. While the result wasn't necessarily a shocker, the margin of victory in favor of Rodriguez was impressive. Current freshman Cecilia Williams proved her number one ranking was accurate by defeating senior #3 Jenavi Alejandro, 6-3. The event featured three falls, two of which were tallied by girls from Arizona. Erica Pastoriza (94 lbs) and Audrey Jimenez (106) both picked up pins. The other was done by Cadence Diduch.

2x All-American Kaleb Young(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.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) Next is... #47 Kaleb Young (Iowa) Weight: 157 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 58-22 Hometown: Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2x NCAA All-American (7th/2021; 5th/2019); 2021 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2019 Big Ten 4th Place, 2019 Midlands Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #6 at 157 lbs Once Michael Kemerer broke through and started the pipeline from Western Pennsylvania to Iowa in the Class of 2015, it paved the way for Kaleb Young a year later. The PA state champion arrived in Iowa City and immediately posted a 21-6 record while competing unattached. While redshirting, Young took fifth at the Midlands and picked up a win over Clark Glass (Oklahoma), who went on to earn the #12 seed at nationals, along with two other national qualifiers (Andrew Fogarty - North Dakota State and Lorenzo De La Riva - CSU Bakersfield). As a redshirt freshman, Young wasn't able to secure a full-time starting role due to the fact that an All-American (Kemerer) was at 157 and classmate Alex Marinelli was at 165 lbs. Even so, Young saw action in eight dual meets. Some of those bouts even took place at 174. Again, Young entered the Midlands and finished in fifth place. In 2018-19, with Kemerer poised to move up in weight, then injured for the year, a place at 157 lbs opened up in the Hawkeye lineup. Though Young competed in the previous season down a weight class, he showed no ill-effects at 157 and won his first 11 bouts of the year. The first setback of the year came in the finals of the Midlands against Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) by a 6-2 score. His only two dual losses for the remainder of the season came in sudden victory. At Young's first Big Ten Championship, he would settle for fourth place after a pair of losses to Alec Pantaleo (Michigan). The 2019 NCAA Tournament started with Young as the sixth seed less than 80 miles away from his hometown. In front of the Pittsburgh crowd, Young racked up bonus points in each of his first two bouts. That set the stage for a quarterfinal contest against #3 Deakin. Young pulled the slight upset, 7-5, in sudden victory to claim a place in the semifinals. His championship run would come to an end in the next match as you dropped a 5-3 match to Tyler Berger (Nebraska). A third loss to Pantaleo put Young in the fifth-place match; a rematch against Deakin. Like their first meeting, Young prevailed by the exact same score, in sudden victory. Two losses in the first four bouts marked the start of the 2019-20 season for Young. One came to freshman sensation David Carr (Iowa State) and the second was to a rapidly improving Quincy Monday (Princeton). The loss to Monday proved to be the last one for the Hawkeye for more than two months. Young finally was able to get to the top step of the podium at the Midlands. He proceeded to pick up dual wins against talented freshmen Kendall Coleman (Purdue), Peyton Robb (Nebraska), and Will Lewan (Michigan), before closing the regular season with a loss against Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State). The 2020 Big Ten Championships ended up being a rough tournament for Young as he went 0-2 with losses to Eric Barone (Illinois) and Robb and did not place. Even with the losses, Young was still rewarded with the eighth seed at the 2020 national tournament. Since the tournament didn't happen, Young was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA. In the 2021 season, Young was in limited action in what was already an abridged season. He only was in Iowa's dual lineup on three occasions. During those three matches, Young logged two major decisions and a win in tiebreakers over Brayton Lee (Minnesota). At the Big Ten Championships, Young posted another close win over the Gopher star in tiebreakers. He advanced to the final and was unable to score upon the undefeated top-seed, Deakin. It was a 6-0 shutout for the Northwestern star. Young's efforts at the conference meet led to a fifth seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Young was able to pick up a first-round win in St. Louis before falling to #12 Brady Berge (Penn State) in the Round of 16. In order to clinch his spot on the podium for a second time, Young posted consolation wins over Ben Barton (Campbell) and Hunter Willits (Oregon State), before majoring Jacob Wright (Wyoming) in the Round of 12. He would settle for seventh place after a loss to Lee in the following round, before closing the year with a win over Sheets. Strengths: Kaleb Young has a solid set of head/hands defense from his feet. He doesn't do anything out of the ordinary offensively and has a decent array of attacks. Young can work from an underhook and has a solid double leg. His short offense is very reliable, as well. He may not get enough credit for it, but he's also an underrated scrambler. On the mat, Young is a strong rider. Against most opponents, he won't be able to get a turn, but he can rack up the riding time. 2021-22 Outlook: The 157 lb weight class will be extremely top-heavy, with a pair of NCAA champions sitting atop the group. Though it's been a few years, Young has wins over Deakin and has been close with Carr. While garnering multiple victories over the likes of Carr/Deakin/Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) and other top contenders may be too much to ask, Young could steal a match against any of them in a "one-off" dual situation. Young starts his final season ranked #6 and should be a pretty solid bet to finish in the top-eight in Detroit.

Jesse Delgado at the 2013 NCAA semifinals (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In some way, the MMA weekend for former wrestlers got off to an early start this week. On Tuesday, Canadian nationals placer Jasmine Jasudavicius and three-time NCAA Division II All-American Mo Miller competed on an episode of Dana White's Contenders Series. Both competitors won their bouts, but only Jasudavicius was offered a contract. Despite not getting a shot, the former Notre Dame College wrestler will likely find his way to the big show soon as he has outclassed his competition since making his professional debut in 2019. Bellator MMA returns to action on Saturday, and the Bellator 266 is full of former wrestlers as always. In fact, the main event features six-time World/Olympic medalist Yoel Romero taking on NCAA champion Phil Davis. Romero will be fighting for the first time since leaving the UFC last year. Davis last competed in the Bellator light heavyweight tournament and dropped a decision against current champion Vadim Nemkov. Alex Polizzi was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Northwestern who finished his eligibility in 2015. Earlier this year, he improved his professional record to 8-1 with a first-round armbar victory over Gustavo Trujillo. Back in 2020, Polizzi put himself on the map with an upset over former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho. He takes on Grant Neal, who was a two-time Colorado state champion before heading to CSU Pueblo for football. While many former wrestlers get plenty of attention and fanfare for their MMA debuts, that does not appear to be the case for Jesse Delgado. The two-time NCAA champion is set to make his professional MMA debut in the very first fight of the night. The former Illinois wrestler will take on Joshua Dillon, who currently holds a 1-1 record. Delgado had a legendary junior season at Illinois where he defeated the likes of Cory Clark, Joey Dance, Nahshon Garrett and Nico Megaludis and won the NCAA title. The main card of Bellator 266 will air live on Showtime. The preliminary card, which will feature Delgado and Polizzi, begins at 7:00pm ET on YouTube. The UFC show this week is a little lighter on wrestlers than normal. However, there is still some representation on the card. Tony Gravely was a two-time NCAA qualifier and a SoCon champion for Appalachian State. He will take on Nate Maness on the undercard of UFC Anthony Smith vs. Ryan Spann. The undercard will air live on ESPN+ at 4:00pm ET.

2x All-American Dakota Geer (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) Next is... #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) Weight: 184 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 106-30 Hometown: Franklin, Pennsylvania College Accomplishments: 2x NCAA All-American (5th/2021; 7th/2019), 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American, 3x Big 12 3rd Place, 2017 EWL Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #7 at 184 lbs While wrestling on a high-profile team that has featured a handful of more recognizable names, Dakota Geer has quietly put together an excellent career wearing an Oklahoma State singlet. That wasn't always the case, though, as the Pennsylvania native initially chose to stay in-state and compete for the Edinboro Fighting Scots. Geer got the call for Edinboro, right out the shute, and responded with an excellent true freshman season. He was typical of the under-the-radar in-state recruits that Tim Flynn routinely pulled in a while at Edinboro. Dakota had his breakout effort at the 2017 Southern Scuffle when he finished fourth at a 184 lb weight class, ahead of notables like Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), Jacob Holschlag (Northern Iowa), and Chip Ness (North Carolina). In his first postseason, Geer controlled the rest of the EWL and coasted to a conference title, with a 6-3 win over Nick Corba (Cleveland State), being the closest bout of the tournament. Geer acquitted himself well at the 2017 NCAA Championships with a 2-2 showing. His two losses came to the eventual fourth-place finisher (Sam Brooks - Iowa) and the returning national champion, Myles Martin (Ohio State). He was able to avenge an early-season loss to Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin) and prevailed with a 3-0 shutout. Geer chose to redshirt the 2017-18 season and captured a title at the season-opening Clarion Open and won 16 of his 20 bouts on the year. Following the 2018 national tournament, Flynn was hired by West Virginia. That started a large exodus from Edinboro and Geer was among the notables who chose to finish their collegiate career elsewhere. Geer ended up with an excellent landing spot as he decided to transfer to Oklahoma State. The transition to the storied Cowboy program went smoothly on the mat, as Geer got his hand raised in his first 15 bouts in an OSU singlet. That span included a title at the Reno Tournament of Champions and the early rounds at the Southern Scuffle, where he'd go on to take fourth, again. The 2018-19 Oklahoma State lineup was undecided for the bulk of the year and as a result, Geer was asked to contribute at multiple weights. After competing at 184 for the first five events of the year, Geer moved up to 197 lbs for the remainder of the regular season. Even up a weight, Geer notched wins over the likes of Chris Weiler (Lehigh) and Noah Adams (West Virginia). Before the postseason, the Cowboy lineup shifted again and Geer was the guy at 184 lbs. At his first Big 12 Championships, Geer finished third, losing only to the eventual national champion, Foster. The lack of a 2018-19 body of work at 184 lbs left Geer with the 26th seed in Pittsburgh at the NCAA Championships. Right away, Geer demonstrated his true ability and shutout seventh-seeded Nick Reenan (NC State). After a Round of 16 loss to #10 Sam Colbray (Iowa State), Geer posted back-to-back wins to earn a berth in the bloodround. His second came over the 184 lb bracket's second seed, Shakur Rasheed (Penn State). Geer clinched his first set of All-American honors after a 6-0 win over Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh). His tournament would wrap up by edging third-seeded Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 5-4. Though he entered as the 26th seed, Geer had registered wins over three of the tournament's top-seven seeds. A trip on the podium was enough to lock in a place in the Cowboy lineup, right? Well, not exactly. Geer's first tournament in 2019-20 was at 184 lbs and he outclassed the field at the Oklahoma City Open. Following that event, he moved up to 197 lbs for the remainder of the year. For the third time, Geer got onto the podium at the Southern Scuffle; this time, he finished in fifth. The dual-only portion of the 2019-20 season proved to be challenging for Geer as the Big 12 was deep with young talent. Like the previous year, Geer would take third in the Big 12. That allowed Geer to receive the 14th seed at the ill-fated 2020 NCAA Championships. After the tournament was canceled, Geer was named an NWCA All-American based on his seeding. The abridged 2021 season saw Geer move back down to 184 lbs and put together an 11-2 regular season. Once again, he would take third at the conference meet. The third-place finish at the Big 12 Championships provided Geer with the 11th seed in St. Louis. There the Cowboy would only lose to a single opponent (twice), Rutgers freshman sensation, John Poznanski. Poznanski downed Geer in the Round of 16 and in the consolation semifinals. Along the way, Geer amassed quite the hit-list. He picked up wins over three of the top-eight seeds (#5 Hunter Bolen - Virginia Tech, #7 Brit Wilson - Northern Illinois, #8 Taylor Venz - Nebraska), en route to a fifth-place finish. Not only had Geer become a two-time All-American, but he also drastically outperformed his pretournament seeding for a second time. Strengths: Geer is a strong handfighter with heavy hands. These help with his normal baseline defense from his feet. Some of his best attacks are of the low-leg variety. On the mat, Geer is a very controlling rider. He tends to control wrists, while racking up riding time. Against high-level opponents, he may not always get turns, but can get riding time points. 2021-22 Outlook: Like most other weights this season, 184 is completely loaded. The top-three is expected to include both 2021 national finalists (Aaron Brooks - Penn State and Trent Hidlay - NC State), along with Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine (Michigan). It may take a big upset or two for anyone to penetrate that top-three. Geer is certainly among that next group of contenders and has a shot at knocking off those favorites based on his abilities on the mat. If he can wear down an opponent on the mat and make it a one-takedown match, who knows? Geer has been in some deep Big 12 bracket and this year will be no different. Freshman sensation Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa), along with Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) and Jeremiah Kent (Missouri), could stand between him and that elusive conference title. 2x All-American Dakota Geer (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

2021 World Team Member Maya Nelson(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Due to an extremely strong showing at the recent Olympics, the U.S. did not hold trials for multiple weights. Medalists from the Games could choose to return for the 2021 World Championships and many have made that decision. The rest of the representatives were decided at last weekend's World Team Trials. The following looks at the top statistical performance from that event. Points Against per Minute At this point, calling J'Den Cox the best defensive wrestler in the country might be an understatement. The multiple-time World medalist put his skill on display once again this past weekend at the 2021 World Team Trials. After missing out on a trip to the recent Olympics, he qualified for the upcoming World Championships without surrendering a single point. Cox was the only wrestler across all three styles to complete the tournament without giving up an individual match point. Nick Gwiazdowski, who will also be returning to the World stage, allowed three points or 0.13 points per minute, which was the second-lowest rate of points allowed. Max Nowry (0.15), Zain Retherford (0.16) and Ben Provisor (0.17) rounded out the top five in terms of points allowed per minute. Points per Minute In terms of offensive production, the tournament belonged to Xochitl Mota-Pettis. After making the finals of the 2020 Senior, U23 and Junior nationals, Mota-Pettis finished third this past weekend. She averaged 4.35 points per minute, and her only loss was the highest-scoring match of the tournament (more on that later). That scoring rate was far away tops for the tournament. Austin Morrow, who wrestled only two matches in the 77kg Greco bracket, finished second with 3.08 points per minute. The third highest point score was an interesting story. Current Maryland wrestler King Sandoval made an unlikely run to finish third at 60kg Greco. His only defeat came against 2020 Olympian Ildar Hafizov, and Sandoval averaged 2.96 points per minute. Along the way, he defeated Dylan Koontz (twice) and Aidan Nutter by a combined score of 19 to 2. Point Differential Mota-Pettis' dynamic scoring allowed her to bring home the highest point differential of the tournament. She allowed 22 points across her five matches with 20 coming in her only defeat against eventual champion Maya Nelson. This resulted in a 2.31 point differential (points per minute minus points allowed per minute). She edged out Sam Jones, who earned a spot on the Greco team at 63kg. He finished with a 2.20 differential and actually picked up two 9-0 superiority victories that eclipsed the 8-0 the threshold for match termination in the style. Zain Retherford had the fifth-highest point differential across all three styles and the highest in men's freestyle. He allowed only two points with both coming in his criteria loss against Jordan Oliver. The former Penn State national champion rolled in his other matches, scoring 21 points combined against Tyler Berger and Jarrett Jacques in under six total minutes. Highest Scoring Matches As previously stated, the Nelson vs. Mota-Pettis match was tied for the highest-scoring match of the tournament with 27 points. Even when losing by superiority, Mota-Pettis still managed to score seven points. Nelson opened the scoring with a two-point exposure in a scramble. However, Mota-Pettis quickly pulled ahead with a four-point throw along the edge. Nelson regained control and went to the break with a 10-7 lead. The second period was an entirely different story. Nelson dominated throughout. She scored a pair of four-pointers and threw in a two-point score to terminate the match. On the men's freestyle side, Carter Young and Seth Gross were able to equal Nelson and Mota-Pettis with a 27-point match of their own. While Gross has been known to find himself in high-scoring matches over the years, Young was a revelation in the tournament and bested Gross at his own game. The bout was the third-place match at 61kg, and unlike the Nelson vs. Mota-Pettis match, it was close throughout. Neither wrestler ever had more than a two-point lead in the first period. Young started the scoring in the second with an early stepout. However, Gross stormed back with a takedown, an exposure in a scramble and a trap-arm gut wrench. He nearly collected the touch fall on the gut wrench and appeared to be in control in the bout. Unfortunately for him, Young was not done. He got back into the match and eventually closed it out 15-12 with three-straight takedowns. Results by Style Women's freestyle had the highest percentage of matches to end via match termination. 65 of the 111 bouts (59%) ended prior to the full six minutes. The majority of Greco Roman matches also ended early as 62 of 112 (55%) came via match termination. Men's freestyle was the only style that saw VPO/VPO1 result as the most common. 74 of the 133 (56%) matches went the full time. Across all three styles, 176 of the 356 matches ended via match termination.

2018 All-American Ben Darmstadt (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) Next is... #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) Weight: 197 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 62-10 Hometown: Elyria, Ohio College Accomplishments: 2018 NCAA 6th Place; 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American; 2x EIWA Champion 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #6 at 197 lbs Even though he's only competed in one collegiate season since 2018-19, Ben Darmstadt has still done plenty to warrant his inclusion here amongst the top-50 in the nation. Like many Cornell wrestlers, Darmstadt took a greyshirt year to get acclimated to DI wrestling and gave plenty of hints that he could follow in the footsteps of Steve Bosak, Gabe Dean, and Cam Simaz as elite upperweights for the Big Red. During his year of unattached competition, Darmstadt split matches with Cornell's starter at 197 lbs, Ben Honis. He only dropped four of 22 bouts on the year, two of which came to Cornell teammates and another was via injury default. Though he wasn't always competing against top-level competition, Darmstadt did earn bonus points in over half of his matches and came away with five falls. The 2017-18 season saw Darmstadt claim the starting role for Cornell and he did so with authority. In his first official outing for Cornell, in mid-November, he fell via major decision to Penn's Frank Mattiace. That loss would be his only until the NCAA Tournament in March. He would get revenge on Mattiace twice during the season with major decision wins in their Ivy League dual meet and in the EIWA finals. During Darmstadt's 31-match winning streak, he claimed titles at the New York State Intercollegiate Championship and the Cleveland State Open. His fantastic run led to the number two seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships. In his home state, Darmstadt advanced to the NCAA semifinals before getting pinned by Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) and sliding to sixth place. When it was all said and done, Darmstadt had established a Cornell freshman pin record with 18 and was unblemished in dual competition. The following year, Darmstadt did not compete at all due to injury. In 2019-20, Darmstadt started at 184 lbs and had some uneven results, compared to the dominance of his freshman year. Within the first month of the season, Ben suffered a pair of losses to tough freshmen Louie DePrez (Binghamton) and Trent Hidlay (NC State). At the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, he was pinned twice and settled for seventh place. Once Darmstadt reemerged, at the South Beach Duals, he was back at 197 lbs. At his customary weight, Darmstadt won 11 of 13 matches, and one of those losses came via injury default. He managed to come away with his second conference crown, in as many tries, while competing in a deep EIWA weight class that saw six others qualify for nationals. A strong conference finish allowed Darmstadt to receive the fourth seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. Of course, due to Covid, that tournament did not occur. He was slated to do battle on a top-half of the bracket that included #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State), #5 Jacob Warner (Iowa), #8 Patrick Brucki (Princeton), and #9 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State). Because of his high seed, Darmstadt was noted as a first-team All-American by the NWCA. Through two years of competition, Darmstadt has amassed a 62-10 record (49-6 at 197) and 32 falls. He is 27-2 in dual meets. Strengths: In a weight class that is typically filled with brawlers, Darmstadt is long and unorthodox. His combination of length, hips, and flexibility make him an excellent scrambler. There aren't many 197lbers that can come out on top of flurries with him. From the mat is where Ben really does his damage. He's a great leg rider and can get near-fall points from a variety of situations. Also, he is one of the wrestlers that made the “assassin” pinning combination popular. 2021-22 Outlook: It sounds strange to say for someone listed in the top-50, but Darmstadt could be in a bit of a fight for his starting role in the upcoming season. Cornell has Jacob Cardenas, who excelled in 2019-20, during his greyshirt season. At 24-4, with wins over three NCAA qualifiers, Cardenas should push the veteran, a bit. Darmstadt returns to a 197 lb weight class that is absolutely stacked. Aside from him, nine other past All-Americans are expected to compete at the weight. Both national finalists, along with 2019 runner-up and former teammate Max Dean (Penn State), are among the favorites. If healthy, Darmstadt will be a matchup nightmare for anyone at this weight, save for Dean's familiarity, and could win a title on his best day. Ben Darmstadt in the 2018 NCAA Quarterfinals (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Jaydin Eierman and Nick Lee at the 2021 Big Ten Championships (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Big Ten wrestling schedule is officially on the calendar, and this winter, like all winters, looks like it's going to be a boatload of fun. The 14-team league has 11 programs in InterMat's preseason dual meet rankings, including seven in the top-15 and five in the top-10. Not everybody will hit this year, as the Big Ten scheduled eight league duals for each team: four at home, four on the road. The Big Ten portion of the college wrestling season begins Jan. 7, and there are plenty of matchups worth watching this season. Here are some quick thoughts on each weekend of Big Ten wrestling: WEEK 1 Friday, Jan. 7 #15 Minnesota at #1 Iowa #22 Purdue at #9 Nebraska #18 Northwestern at #17 Wisconsin #4 Penn State at Maryland Indiana at #14 Rutgers #7 Ohio State at Michigan State* Sunday, Jan. 9 #22 Purdue at #1 Iowa #18 Northwestern at #15 Minnesota #14 Rutgers at #17 Wisconsin Indiana at Penn State Thoughts: Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson opens the Big Ten portion of his season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Expect a large crowd for that one. The Purdue-Nebraska and Northwestern-Wisconsin matchups are going to be sneaky fun on Friday night. Brutal travel weekend for Rutgers: in Piscataway on Friday, Wisconsin on Sunday. After Wisconsin, Northwestern gets Minnesota. Fun opening weekend. Ohio State-Michigan State could be either Friday or Sunday, according to the Big Ten. WEEK 2 Friday, Jan. 14 #21 Illinois at #14 Rutgers #1 Iowa at #18 Northwestern #5 Michigan at #7 Ohio State #9 Nebraska at #15 Minnesota Saturday, Jan. 15 Michigan State at #22 Purdue Sunday, Jan. 16 #1 Iowa at #21 Illinois #17 Wisconsin at #15 Minnesota #14 Rutgers at #4 Penn State Monday, Jan. 17 Michigan State at Indiana Thoughts: Love the standalone duals on Saturday and Monday. Cool opportunity there for the Spartans. Minnesota gets two fun home duals, against Nebraska and Wisconsin, while Iowa has a road doubleheader. Illinois gets the funny travel schedule this weekend: at Piscataway on Friday, back home on Sunday. The Michigan-Ohio State dual is likely the highlight of the weekend, featuring Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine, but don't sleep on Rutgers-Penn State, either. WEEK 3 Friday, Jan. 21 #4 Penn State at #5 Michigan #14 Rutgers at Michigan State #1 Iowa at #7 Ohio State #21 Illinois at #22 Purdue #9 Nebraska at #17 Wisconsin Maryland at Indiana Sunday, Jan. 23 #14 Rutgers at #5 Michigan #4 Penn State at Michigan State #9 Nebraska at #18 Northwestern Maryland at #7 Ohio State #17 Wisconsin at #22 Purdue Thoughts: Big Friday night here, with Penn State-Michigan and Iowa-Ohio State. Tons of fireworks in those duals. Illinois-Purdue will be all sorts of fun, too, and Nebraska-Wisconsin should be exciting. Rutgers and Penn State will both spend this weekend in Michigan. The Huskers go from Wisconsin to Northwestern, while Purdue gets two home duals. WEEK 4 Friday, Jan. 28 #4 Penn State at #1 Iowa #17 Wisconsin at Maryland #15 Minnesota at #5 Michigan Saturday, Jan. 29 #18 Northwestern at #21 Illinois #22 Purdue at Indiana Sunday, Jan. 30 #5 Michigan at Maryland Thoughts: Lighter schedule, but Friday night will be action-packed. Iowa-Penn State is always a big deal. The Nittany Lions are going back to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That same night, Mason Parris gets another crack at Gable. Northwestern-Illinois and Purdue-Indiana will be a couple of fun intrastate battles on Saturday. After hosting Minnesota on Friday, the Wolverines head to Maryland on Sunday. WEEK 5 Friday, Feb. 4 #15 Minnesota at #21 Illinois Michigan State at Maryland #5 Michigan at #9 Nebraska #7 Ohio State at #4 Penn State Saturday, Feb. 5 #17 Wisconsin at #1 Iowa Sunday, Feb. 6 Indiana at #21 Illinois Maryland at #18 Northwestern #15 Minnesota at #22 Purdue #7 Ohio State at #14 Rutgers #9 Nebraska at #4 Penn State* Thoughts: Another standalone dual on Saturday that could be very, very fun. But it's sandwiched between two fun days of loaded wrestling. The Buckeyes travel to both Penn State and Rutgers while Nebraska wrestles Michigan at home, then, potentially, at the Nittany Lions (that dual could get flexed to Feb. 11, according to the Big Ten). Minnesota travels to both Illinois and Purdue. WEEK 6 Friday, Feb. 11 #5 Michigan at Indiana #18 Northwestern at Michigan State #7 Ohio State at #15 Minnesota #21 Illinois at #17 Wisconsin Saturday, Feb. 12 Maryland at #14 Rutgers Sunday, Feb. 13 Michigan State at #5 Michigan #21 Illinois at #9 Nebraska Indiana at #7 Ohio State Thoughts: Maryland-Rutgers could be a sneaky fun dual on that Saturday. Ohio State-Minnesota and Illinois-Wisconsin highlight a fun Friday night slate, then Illinois travels to Nebraska and we get another intrastate battle between the Spartans and Wolverines on Sunday. WEEK 7 Saturday, Feb. 19 #22 Purdue at #18 Northwestern Sunday, Feb. 20 #1 Iowa at #9 Nebraska Thoughts: Final weekend of Big Ten dual action features just two matchups: Purdue-Northwestern on Saturday, then the Hawkeyes at the Huskers on Sunday. Then everybody will head to Lincoln a couple weeks later for the Big Ten Championships. Giddy up.

2021 All-American Demetrius Romero (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) “Sports is what we do. Our parents taught us to be champions. They taught us to be winners. We don't make excuses. If you lose, you lose, but figure it out,” said Demetrius Romero, a redshirt senior at Utah Valley University. Demetrius, the oldest boy in a family of nine brothers and sisters, was born just outside of Boise, Idaho, where he attended Mountain View High School. As the oldest boy in the family, Demetrius knew that his success would soon be met, or surpassed, by a younger sibling looking to take the top spot. With a champions-like mentality, growing up in the Romero household was always grounds for competition. In his youth, Demetrius played football, basketball, and ran track, alongside his twin brothers Andre and Adrian; both of whom are currently on the track and field team at Utah Valley University. Right before freshman year, Demetrius moved to a new town, which meant being the “new kid” at his high school. Being familiar with football, he joined the football team and made plenty of friends; some of which were on the wrestling team and spotted his double leg takedown during multiple football games. He tried out for the wrestling team, and the rest is history. As a senior, Demetrius captured the 152-pound Idaho State Championship title, while wrestling for Head Coach Kevin Wood. He earned first-team all-state and first-team All-Southern Idaho Conference accolades during his senior campaign, posting a 47-3 record. Demetrius said, “Wrestling was the first sport I did where I didn't take to it right away. It was the one sport that I had to really work to get good at it. That's ultimately why I chose to wrestle in college, instead of playing football. I like to be the guy that's in control. If I win, it's because of me. If I lose, it's because of me.” When it came time to make a college decision, Demetrius targeted four schools: Utah Valley University, Boise State, The University of North Carolina, and Oregon State. “In the end, it came down to Boise State and Utah Valley University. A big part of why I didn't come to Utah Valley originally was to support my family, and my younger brothers who were still in high school,” Demetrius stated. Thus, Demetrius attended Boise State from 2015-2017, being forced to transfer when he learned that the wrestling program was being cut. Throughout his time at Boise State, Demetrius heard rumors of the program being in jeopardy, but it wasn't until he was in the car with his father, where he learned that his college had finalized the long-awaited decision. Demetrius said, “I heard it on the radio (KTIK: The Ticket) before we were even told by our athletic department; before our coaches even had the opportunity to tell us. It wasn't the way I wanted to find out, but at the time, there was nothing I could do.” With Boise State in his rearview mirror, it was time to get back to the drawing board and set his sights on a new wrestling program. This time around, Demetrius was looking for a program that would enable him to become the best version of himself, on and off the mat. Time after time, Utah Valley University was at the top of Demetrius' list. After speaking with Utah Valley University's Head Coach, Greg Williams, and expressing his desire to compete at a higher level, Demetrius made the decision to commit to Utah Valley University. “I called Utah Valley and talked with Coach Williams. He already knew that my brothers were out there, and I would be attending school there anyway. He also knew that I liked Associate Head Coach Ethen Lofthouse a lot, and I had an unbreakable bond with him. I reassured both Coach Williams and Coach Lofthouse that even if I went on recruiting trips, I would still be attending Utah Valley University,” Demetrius said. When asked about Demetrius' recruiting process, Coach Williams said, “We were watching him early on in high school. Ethen and I went to the Tournament of Champions, and we watched Demetrius there. Ethen noticed him, and we saw some things about him that we really liked. After Boise State dropped their program, they allowed their team the chance to transfer. As soon as Boise State announced they dropped their program, I received a text from Demetrius' father asking if we were still interested. So, transfer portal? Not really. They dropped the program, so it was an open season. The transfer portal is not the main source of information. I was first notified because we recruited him previously, and his dad wanted to know if we were still interested in him. We were.” Coach Williams went on to say, “And, not to mention, Ethen has always been Demetrius' guy. That trust was there, and the bond that they have on the mat is special.” When asked about that special bond, Demetrius said, “Coach Lofthouse has always been an influential person throughout my wrestling career. He has a lot of qualities that my high school coach, Kevin Wood, had. It drew me in. He had given me a lot of guidance. And now, I've connected with him, not only on an athlete-coach level or wrestling level, but as a human being.” A few months later, Demetrius was on campus, and ready to set his sights on becoming the best version of himself, on and off the mat. Luckily for him, throughout his first few years at Utah Valley University, Demetrius and his teammates had the opportunity to play a crucial role in a “renovation” plan, devised by Coach Williams and his coaching staff. After the coaches and wrestlers reflected upon previous seasons, they agreed that a renovation plan was just what they needed. One team. One goal. 100% buy-in. Coach Williams stated, “We needed a culture change. We needed everyone on the team to buy-in.” Utah Valley head coach Greg Williams (right) (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) First, Coach Williams and his staff displayed four words in their facility: Goals. Attitude. Ownership. And, Grit. These four words would become the cornerstone to Utah Valley University's wrestling program. Coach Williams summarized the following, “Goals are the “why” behind every student-athlete that walks into the wrestling room. Why do you want to be a wrestler? Why do you want to be a champion? Why? Attitude encompasses a wrestler's eating habits, sleeping habits, utilizing a journal to write down one's goals, being efficient in practice, being efficient in the classroom, being efficient in your personal life, etc. Attitude is reflected in each and every wrestler's behavior throughout daily tasks, and their ability to effectively complete them. Ownership is buying into and realizing that 90% of one's success is on them, and 10% is due to family, friends, and surroundings. When you take ownership of something, you ask yourself, “Who is the first person that I should be looking at?” Myself. Wrestlers must self-evaluate on a consistent basis to ensure their goals are being met. When we decide to self-evaluate, we stop blaming. We stop whining. If what you're doing at that point is trying to solve the problem, you're probably on the right track. If what you're doing is not going to solve the problem, you're expending energy in the wrong places. Finally, Grit. If you want to know what grit looks like, don't look any further than this right here [Demetrius].” Although Demetrius, and his teammates, played a crucial role in the wrestling program's new renovation plan, there wasn't always 100% buy-in. Over time, and through a lot of trial and error, Demetrius understood the importance of this culture change, and was willing to look within to be the best leader for his team that he could be. Coach Williams stated, “Demetrius still struggled at first to understand the complete role he could play in the growth of the program. The new words and theme helped with unity, and Demetrius, by sincerely trying to implement these ideas into his own goals and daily process. He has grown more this past year as a leader than we could have ever hoped for.” Second, Coach Williams and his staff instilled a theme that would course through every wrestler's veins. “Next Point.” Coach Williams explained, ““Next Point” is your next opportunity. Your next opportunity to grow, or do better, or be better. I want my wrestlers to think, “If I'm losing 9-1 and I feel like the match is out of my hands, and I don't have anything to hold on to, I have to make the most of every single moment. I have to score. I have to create the next opportunity. I have to create the next point, regardless of my position on the mat.” This applies to school. This applies to our personal life. I want my wrestlers to think, “It's my chance to create the next opportunity.” Luckily, Demetrius is an opportunity guy. Fortunately, Demetrius made the most of his “next point” and became an All-American for Utah Valley University after placing sixth at 174 pounds at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Prior to that, he won his second Big 12 title, going 4-0 at the Big 12 Championships. Demetrius earned both NWCA Scholar All-American and First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors. In addition, Demetrius earned the highest national seed in Utah Valley University's wrestling program history, as he entered the NCAA Championships in 2021 as the No. 2 seed in his weight class. Demetrius capitalized on and bought into Coach Williams' program renovation. At the NCAA Championship tournament, Coach Williams was impressed by Demetrius, and his counterpart, Taylor Lamont, Utah Valley University's 125-pounder after becoming All-Americans for the first time, following their quarterfinal bouts. Coach Williams said, “It was the first time Demetrius and Taylor were All-Americans. They walked off the mat the exact same way that they normally walk off the mat, because it wasn't about that match. If they had won nationals, it would have been different because that was the end goal. They didn't reach that end goal. But in the moment, there was no overexcitement. They both acknowledged their families in the stands, paying tribute to the roles both of their families played in their success and went back into the locker room the same way they always do. That's exactly where we wanted their mindset to be. It's one thing to say that you believe in our programs' culture change, but in that type of a moment, you can't fake that they truly believed it. We have needed that from the top end, and from our younger guys. I want them to think, “If I'm not the starter now, I'm going to be. In the next moment. In the next opportunity. In the next point.”” 2021 All-American Demetrius Romero (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) When asked about Demetrius' role on the team, Coach Williams said, “Demetrius has a great grasp of what the team's goals are, and not just his own. He understands the big picture. They see him as an example because he is doing everything right. He has grown on the mat. He has grown off the mat. He has grown as a leader. He gets it. He knows how to be a leader in every aspect of his life; school, on the mat, and in his personal life.” Demetrius went on to say, “My role on Utah Valley University's wrestling team is to be a leader for my teammates, but also to be a positive role model in the community. Within the community, there is a mentor program. You always have to give back. We're in positions where younger children are looking up to us and expect us to be role models. I've realized that it's not about an image; it's about the children. I want to be a leader for my community, and the children.” Demetrius went on to say, “I'll admit, I've struggled at being a leader in the past, but with the culture change at Utah Valley University, I've been able to step outside of my comfort zone and really learn to accept other people's perspectives and opinions. My main goal is to help the culture and build a winning dynasty. I've been able to communicate openly with our coaches, and they've allowed Taylor and I to participate in making decisions for the team. This has helped me grow immensely and allowed our team's goals to be unified.” Upon reflection, and after a record-breaking program season, and many successful individual wins, Demetrius attributes his success to a variety of contributing factors. Demetrius said, “There are a lot of reasons why I've been so successful. I attribute that success to how our team was on the same page, alongside our coaches. There has been a huge culture change, which was much needed, even for me. In previous years, we've had a lot of talent, but everyone had their own agenda. This season, the team was all firing off the same cylinder, with the same mindset that we must buy in 100%. I contribute that success to my workout partners. They pushed me every day in the wrestling room, and beyond. I attribute that success to my family. Our dad taught us to make sacrifices and to recognize what is important to us. My family's athletic success is due to my parents. They've always put us in a good athletic position and gave us access to the best resources. My parents know how good I can be, and they've always pushed me to accomplish my goals. Lastly, I attribute my success to Coach Williams, and my relationship with Coach Lofthouse. He is the guy who sits down and watches my film, over and over again. He doesn't teach me to wrestle like him. Instead, he gives me the individualized tools that I need to be successful on the mat with the resources and abilities I have. He is always in my corner, and I have faith that he will lead me towards the most successful path as possible.” Looking ahead into his final season as a Wolverine, Demetrius said the following, “Obviously, I want to become a national champion. I know that I'm there. I will win the Big 12's. It's only a stepping stone. Beyond that, I want to build the team here at Utah Valley University, where I can leave a mark on it. I want people to know that this is Utah Valley University wrestling. This is what we do. We know where we want to go. We are a Top 10 team. I want Utah Valley University to be a Top 10 team. I want to look good. I want my teammates to look good. I want Utah Valley University to look good.” In closing remarks, Coach Williams said, “After implementing this culture change and shifted mindset, the buy-in was so good that at the end of the season, we had 34 end-of-year interviews, and not one person was blaming anybody for their lack of success in reaching their individual and team goals. It's not about blame. It's about improvement. It's about using what I have now and being able to correctly use those resources to make use of my next point. It's about communicating one's needs as an individual, and as an athlete. At the end of the day, if my athletes' goals are not to be on the podium or to become a national champion, then they shouldn't be in our program. That is our program. That is our culture change. It's not to simply be on the team. It's not to be a starter. What matters is that you've made progress and you're trying your best to be the best that you can be, reaching every day to accomplish those champion-like goals. Control what you can control. Your process. Your decisions. Your actions. Finally, as a coaching staff, we feel that the results at nationals, the growth and attitude of all the guys on and off the mat, and the exit interviews were a result of the implementation of these words and themes into their daily process' and the buy-in and leadership on the team.” Beyond Demetrius' success on the mat, he has worked tirelessly to capitalize on the new NCAA rule changes that went into effect on July 1st, 2021. Athletes are now provided with varying degrees of new protections and opportunities to obtain earnings based on their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Demetrius has partnered with Cumulus Sport to provide a signature collection of kneepads and knee sleeves. In addition, he has partnered with Dash Sport Apparel to create a signature collection clothing line. If you'd like to stay up to date with all of Demetrius' partnerships, you can follow him on Twitter (@DemetriusR97) and Instagram (@dmo_1997). Lastly, Demetrius will be hosting an All-American Camp at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah on September 24th (4:30pm-7:00pm) and September 25th (9:00am-3:00pm). This includes one lunch break, where pizza will be provided. Cost of attendance is $75. You can sign up on myschoolfees.com found in public items under Bruin Wrestling Club. 2021 All-American Demetrius Romero (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)