InterMat Staff

Tyler Graff at the 2019 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) USA Wrestling has released the pre-seeds for the men's freestyle division of the Senior World Team Trials, which will be held in Lincoln, Neb., September 11-12. A seeding committee met on Wednesday afternoon and voted on the pre-seeds. MEN'S FREESTYLE PRE-SEEDS 61 kg 1. Tyler Graff (NJRTC/Titan Mercury WC) 2. Joe Colon (Cyclone RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 3. Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids) 4. Daton Fix (Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 5. Seth Gross (Wisconsin RTC/Sunkist Kids) 6. Nathan Tomasello (Oklahoma RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 7. Nahshon Garrett (Spartan Combat WC/Titan Mercury WC) 8. Shelton Mack (NYCRTC/Titan Mercury WC) 9. Josh Kramer (Sunkist Kids) 10. Zane Richards (Illinois RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 11. Daniel DeShazer (Gopher WC RTC) 12. Ethan Lizak (Pennsylvania RTC/New York AC) 65 kg 1. Yianni Diakomihalis (Spartan Combat WC/Titan Mercury WC) 2. Joseph McKenna (Pennsylvania RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 3. Evan Henderson (NYCRTC/Titan Mercury WC) 4. Luke Pletcher (Pitt WC/Titan Mercury WC) 5. Dean Heil (USNMC RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 6. Henry Pohlmeyer (Sunkist Kids) 70 kg 1. James Green (SERTC/Titan Mercury WC) 2. Alec Pantaleo (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 3. Ryan Deakin (Wildcat WC/Titan Mercury WC) 4. Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 5. Jordan Oliver (NYCRTC/Sunkist Kids) 6. Tyler Berger (Nebraska WTC/Titan Mercury WC) 7. Brayton Lee (Gopher WC RTC) 8. Elroy Perkin (Gopher WC RTC) 9. Brock Mauller (Tiger Style WC) 10. Jarrett Jacques (Tiger Style WC) 79 kg 1. Jordan Burroughs (Pennsylvania RTC/Sunkist Kids) 2. Alex Dieringer (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) 3. Isaiah Martinez (Beaver WC/ Titan Mercury WC) 4. Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC/ Titan Mercury WC) 5. Evan Wick (SoCal RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 6. Taylor Lujan (Panther WC/Titan Mercury WC) 7. Devin Skatzka (Cliff Keen WC) 8. Tommy Gantt (Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC) 9. Chance Marsteller (NMCRTC/Titan Mercury WC) 10. David McFadden (Pennsylvania RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 11. Carter Starocci (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) 12. Mickey O'Malley (Pennsylvania RTC) 13. Pat Downey (Florida) 92 kg 1. J'den Cox (NJRTC/USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC) 2. Nathan Jackson (NJRTC/New York AC) 3. Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 4. Kyven Gadson (Cyclone RTC/Sunkist Kids) 5. Myles Martin (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) 6. Michael Macchiavello (Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC) 7. Trent Hidlay (Wolfpack WC/Titan Mercury WC) 8. Timothy Dudley (Sunkist Kids) 125 kg 1. Nick Gwiazdowski (Titan Mercury WC) 2. Mason Parris (Cliff Keen WC) 3. Dominique Bradley (Cyclone RTC/Sunkist Kids) 4. Ty Walz (SERTC/Titan Mercury WC) 5. Jordan Wood (Oklahoma RTC) 6. Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC RTC)

Jacarra Winchester (left) and Pat Smith (Photos/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) USA Wrestling has released the pre-seeds for the women's freestyle division and thee Greco-Roman division of the Senior World Team Trials, which will be held in Lincoln, Neb., September 11-12. Seeding committees in those styles met on Tuesday. Note: Four Olympic medalists in women's freestyle have decided to compete at the 2021 Senior Worlds in Oslo, so there will not be any competition at those weight classes. Men's freestyle pre-seeds are expected by mid-day on Wednesday, after that style has its seeding meeting. Women's freestyle pre-seeds 53 kg 1. Ronna Heaton (Sunkist Kids) 2. Dom Parrish (Sunkist Kids) 3. Alyssa Lampe (Sunkist Kids) 4. Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) 5. Areana Villaescusa (Army WCAP) 6. Alisha Howk (Sunkist Kids) 7. Amy Fearnside (Titan Mercury WC) 8. Erin Golson (NYAC) 9. Emily Shilson (Titan Mercury WC) 10. Alleida Martinez (Titan Mercury WC) 55 kg Olympian Jacarra Winchester (5th at 53 kg) sits out, placed into bottom semifinal. 1. Jenna Burkert (Army WCAP) 2. Cheyenne Sisenstein (Team Tornado WC) 3. Amanda Martinez (Cardinal WC) 4. Melanie Mendoza (Team Tornado WC) 5. Marissa Gallegos (Colorado Mesa WC) 59 kg 1. Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids) 2. Michaela Beck (Sunkist Kids) 3. Cameron Guerin (Titan Mercury WC) 4. Brenda Reyna (Titan Mercury WC) 5. Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Rise RTC) 6. Megan Black (Army WCAP) 62 kg 1. Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids) 2. Mallory Velte (Titan Mercury WC) 3. Jennifer Page (Titan Mercury WC) 4. Grace Figueroa (Titan Mercury WC) 5. Ana Luciano (Osceola High School Wrestling) 6. Desiree Zavala (Washington) 65 kg 1. Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids) 2. Emma Bruntil (Titan Mercury WC) 3. Julia Salata (NYAC) 4. Ashlynn Ortega (Colorado) 5. Skyler Grote (NYAC) 6. Solin Piearcy (Menlo WC) 72 kg 1. Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids) 2. Kylie Welker (Titan Mercury WC) 3. Yelena Makoyed (Cardinal WC) 4. Dymond Guilford (Titan Mercury WC) 5. Alivia Fiske (Titan Mercury WC) 6. Nahiela Magee (Army WCAP) 7. Rachel Watters (NYAC) Greco-Roman pre-seeds 55 kg 1. Max Nowry (Army WCAP) 2. Brady Koontz (Titan Mercury WC) 3, Billy Sullivan (Legends of Gold Las Vegas) 4. Jacob Cochran (Florida) 5. Dalton Duffield (Army WCAP) 60 kg 1. Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP) 2. Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP) 3. Randon Miranda (Rise RTC) 4. Dylan Koontz (Titan Mercury WC) 5. King Sandoval (Bandits WC) 6. Aiden Nutter (NMU-NTC) 63 kg 1. Leslie Fuenffinger (Army WCAP) 2. Sam Jones (NYAC) 3. David Stepanian (NYAC) 4. Dylan Gregerson (Brunson UVRTC) 5. We Rachal (Illinois RTC/Illini WC) 6. Corbin Nirschl (MWC Wrestling Academy) 7. Chayse LaJoie (Michigan) 8. Mason Lewis (Pennsylvania) 67 kg 1. Alejandro Sancho (Army WCAP) 2. Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP) 3. Hayden Tuma (Suples) 4. Calvin Germinaro (Minnesota Storm)) 5. Alston Nutter (Sunkist Kids) 6. Peyton Omania (NYAC) 72 kg 1. Patrick Smith (Minnesota Storm) 2. Benjamin Peak (Sunkist Kids) 3. Jamel Johnson (Marines) 4. Michael Hooker (Army WCAP) 5. Payton Jacobson (Wisconsin) 6. Justus Scott (Legends of Gold Las Vegas) 7. Brandon Mueller (505 Wrestling) 8. Griffin Parriott (Minnesota) 77 kg 1. Jesse Porter (NYAC) 2. Peyton Walsh (Marines) 3. Austin Morrow (NYAC) 4. Alec Ortiz (Minnesota Storm) 5. Britton Holmes (Army WCAP) 6. Ryan Epps (Minnesota Storm) 7. Fritz Schierl (Titan Mercury) 8. Zachary Grimes (Colorado) 82 kg 1. Ben Provisor (NYAC) 2. Spencer Woods (Army WCAP) 3. Tommy Brackett (Tennessee) 4. Richard Carlson (Minnesota Storm) 5. Tyler Cunningham (MWC Wrestling Academy) 87 kg 1. Alan Vera (NYAC) 2. George Sikes (NYAC) 3. Tyler Hannah (Combat WC School of Wrestling) 97 kg 1. G'Angelo Hancock (Sunkist Kids) 2. Lucas Sheridan (Army WCAP) 3. Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids) 4. James Souza (Army WCAP) 5/ Khymba Johnson (NYAC) 6. Chad Porter (Sunkist Kids) 130 kg 1. Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids) 2. Jacob Mitchell (Army WCAP) 3. Donny Longendyke (Minnesota) 4. Tanner Farmer (NYAC) 5. Malcom Allen (Legends of Gold) 6. West Cathcart (NYAC) 7. Lee Herrington (Nebraska Golden Eagles WC). 8. Keaton Fanning (NMU-NTC)

Nick Suriano at Beat the Streets NYC in 2019 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Just over a month after the Olympics wrapped up, we have another critical event scheduled for this weekend on the Senior level, the 2021 World Team Trials. USA Wrestling has stated that any Olympic medalist could claim a spot (at that same weight) on the world team, if they chose. 8 of the 9 medalists elected to compete at the 2021 World Championships October 2-10th. Only Gable Steveson declined the invitation. So the non-Olympic weights, along with weights where the United States did not medal, and 125 kg in men's freestyle, will be up-for-grabs. These limited numbers of available weights have created an Olympic Trials-like effect for competitors who have moved up or down in search of a berth on the world team. Of course, that can only benefit wrestling fans who should be treated to some incredible matchups. We'll start our 2021 World Team Trials previews by looking at the men's freestyle team. Remember, Thomas Gilman (57kg), Kyle Dake (74kg), David Taylor (86kg), and Kyle Snyder (97kg) have already secured a spot on the team based on the 2020 Olympic medals. 61 kg The bulk of this weight is composed of participants from the 57 kg weight class at the 2020 Olympic Trials. With 57 kg being such a drastic cut for most of these competitors, we could see an entirely different set of results at a more manageable weight class. Of course, the big elephant in the room is Nick Suriano, who was deemed one of the favorites heading into the Olympic Trials. At the time, Suriano was a few months removed from a gold medal at the Henri DeGlane and a silver at the Matteo Pellicone. At the DeGlane, he won a weight class that featured eventual Olympic bronze medalist and Trials champion, Thomas Gilman, though the two did not meet. Suriano wasn't able to compete at the Trials due to a failed Covid test. If in top form, he'll be difficult to defeat. Suriano's 2019 NCAA finals opponent, Daton Fix, is on the shortlist of opponents capable of downing the former Rutgers national champion. Fix already has a world team appearance under his belt in 2019. The only member of this bracket with world hardware is Joe Colon, who captured a world bronze medal in 2018 at this weight. Of course, Colon had the opportunity to compete due to Nahshon Garrett pulling out of worlds due to an injury. The two engaged in an excellent Final X series that led to Garrett getting the spot. Nahshon is actually coming down from 65 kg, where he lacked the necessary horsepower to compete with the division's elite. We can't discuss Colon without mentioning Seth Gross. When the two clash, it's guaranteed fireworks. Gross has been on the cusp of breaking through and grabbing a World/Olympic Team spot. He defaulted out of the Trials after a 9-8 loss to Colon. Another past world team member in this group is Tyler Graff, who shocked the American wrestling public by knocking off Colon in Final X 2019. Like many on this list, Graff is most effective at 61 kg. We've gone this far without mentioning Nathan Tomasello, who finished third at the Trials to clinch a spot on the National Team. Tomasello earned wins over Zane Richards and Sean Russell during his run through the backside of the bracket. He'll be in his first major competition since moving to the Oklahoma RTC. Richards, along with Ethan Lizak, Shelton Mack, Daniel DeShazer, and Zach Sanders, are all veterans that are capable of stringing together credible wins in a bracket of this magnitude. Champion Prediction: Nick Suriano 65 kg The 2020 Olympic Trials were a showcase for Joey McKenna, who stepped forward and announced himself as a contender for Olympic/World teams at the weight for the foreseeable future. McKenna dominated James Green and turned in a stunning 8-5 win over two-time world team member Zain Retherford on his way to the finals. The former Junior World silver medalist has thrived training at the suddenly-loaded, Penn RTC. McKenna's collegiate rival, Yianni Diakomihalis, is also an age-group world medalist and may have something to say about McKenna's ascent. Diakomihalis defeated McKenna in a tight NCAA final in 2019 and went on to narrowly miss out on a world team berth, losing to Retherford. Regardless of who prevails at 65 kg, it will be fun to see a new face on the world scene. One of the fastest risers at this weight is Pat Lugo, who finished up his collegiate career in 2019-20. During the Covid-disrupted fall/winter, Lugo was very active and was able to notch some key wins, though he ultimately did not qualify for the Trials. Another representative from the Hawkeye Wrestling Club at this weight is Jaydin Eierman. The four-time All-American was a member of the 2019 U23 World Team and is somehow more dangerous after relocating to Iowa. You may not remember, but one of the contenders here with a boatload of international experience is Oklahoma All-American Dom Demas. Dom made a pair of Cadet World Teams in Greco-Roman and a Junior team in both Greco and freestyle. With his array of trips and throws, Demas is always a threat to rack up points in a hurry. Lugo isn't the only 2020 NCAA title favorite at this weight who had his final national tournament disrupted by Covid. Luke Pletcher is also in the mix. He currently trains and coaches at Pittsburgh and will likely make noise here. Finally, a pair of veterans in, Dean Heil and Evan Henderson, could make things difficult for the favorites at the weights. Champion Prediction: Joey McKenna 70 kg While 70 kg doesn't have the longest list of entrants, it does feature some of the more intriguing possible matchups of any bracket in the men's freestyle tournament. The most decorated member of this group is two-time world medalist James Green. James has owned this weight class domestically since 2015. He is the only wrestler to appear at the world championships at 70 kg. Back at his best weight, Green will be difficult to unseat. Even with the ever-present Green at 70 kg, he'll have to contend with a talented field of competitors, led by Jordan Oliver. Oliver won the 2020 Olympic Trials at 65 kg, but wasn't able to qualify the weight for Tokyo. Like Green, this weight class suits Oliver much better 65 kg, so we should see the best of JO. One of the few domestic opponents to claim victory over Green, while at 70 kg, is Ryan Deakin, who did so at the 2019 US Open. Green did avenge the loss with little pushback at Final X later in the year. That win, along with a Junior World silver medal, is proof that Deakin could come away with the title at this weight and, if so, it shouldn't be considered a huge upset. He's the lone top contender in this field still in college. We've gotten this far without discussing the wrestler at this weight with the best international ranking, Alec Pantaleo. The three-time All-American from Michigan is currently seeded #1 in the world at 70 kg. He just needs to make the team now. Pantaleo earned that seed via gold medal-winning performances at the Matteo Pellicone and the Pan-American Championships. While it doesn't count for seeding purposes, Pantaleo was third at FloWrestling's 150 lb 8-man challenge, after a close loss to Green in the semifinals. His big win at the event was over Oliver in the first round. Green isn't the only multi-time world team member in this field; we also have Zain Retherford. This will be Zain's first major competition up at 70 kgs. Retherford defeated Rutgers national champion Anthony Ashnault to make the semifinals of the Olympic Trials, but fell to McKenna and fellow Nittany Lion, Nick Lee, and did not earn a place on the national team. If this is a more suitable weight for Retherford, the rest of the field should watch out! Finally, we have former NCAA runner-up from Nebraska, Tyler Berger. Tyler recently relocated to the California RTC to continue his freestyle career training out of Stanford. After working so closely with Green for so many years, could he have the secret to knocking off the reigning king at 70 kg? Champion Prediction: Jordan Oliver 79 kg What an absurdly, ridiculous field at 79 kg! Any adjective you use to describe this would be appropriate. First of all, we have one of the all-time greats, Jordan Burroughs, up a weight class from his customary 74 kgs. He has intimated that this could be more appropriate for him going forward anyways. The five-time World/Olympic champion will be in action for his first full domestic tournament since 2017. It will also be his first tournament since arriving back east to train at the Penn RTC. While it's never a good idea to bet against Burroughs, there are plenty of high-level opponents capable of downing the king. The one opponent at this weight that owns a win over Burroughs is Isaiah Martinez. IMar was narrowly defeated by Burroughs two-matches-to-one in Final X 2019. Since that time, Martinez has dealt with significant injuries that have sidelined him. He wasn't even able to compete at the 2020 Olympic Trials. If close to 2019 form, Martinez is not only capable of defeating Burroughs, but challenging for a world medal. The same can be said for 2016 Hodge Trophy winner Alex Dieringer. At one point, many American observers considered Dieringer and Kyle Dake number one and number two in the world at the weight. The injury bug has struck Dieringer too and prevented him from competing at the Olympic Trials. Unlike Martinez, Dieringer will be coming down from 86 kgs; however, 79 looks like the best fit for him. A semifinal matchup between any combination of Burroughs/Martinez/Dieringer is worth the price of admission. You would think that the “big three” would be a lock for the semis, but with a weight class this deep, it's far from a sure thing. Olympic Trials third-place finisher Evan Wick will be one to watch. While highly decorated on the folkstyle circuit, Wick tends to shine even more in freestyle. Two of his noteworthy wins at the Trials came against Tommy Gantt. The former NC State All-American as a US Open finalist in 2019 opposite Martinez. Gantt's fellow Wolfpack teammate Hayden Hidlay should also be a factor. Hidlay is in the process of moving up from 157 lbs to 174 lbs, collegiately, so this will be a good preview of what he looks like at his new weight. Hidlay was a 2018 U23 World Team member down at 70 kg. A pair of Penn State national champions are in the fold here with Jason Nolf and Carter Starocci. Nolf was at 74 kg for the Olympic Trials, while Starocci was at 86. Neither was able to garner a win at the Trials, but that underscores their true talent. Nolf is older and more experienced on the Senior freestyle scene than Starocci and presents more of a threat this weekend. Another pair of training partners could meet at this loaded 79 kg bracket with Quentin Perez and Chance Marsteller. Both currently train at the Navy-Marine Corps RTC. Perez wrestled for Navy head coach Cary Kolat while at Campbell and Marsteller grew up training with Kolat in high school. Marsteller is now reunited with Kolat on a full-time basis. Chance won his opening bout at the Olympic Trials over Vincenzo Joseph, but fell to Wick in the next round. One of Burroughs' new teammates, David McFadden, is also poised for a strong showing. McFadden was recently added to Drexel's staff and has flourished at the Penn RTC. He was a silver medalist earlier this year at the Matteo Pellicone. Also, remember Taylor Lujan. The former Northern Iowa Panthers had a breakout freestyle performance at FloWrestling's 195 lb 8-man bracket, pinning Gabe Dean and getting back Pitt head coach, Keith Gavin, to make the finals. Finally, we have the mercurial Pat Downey. The 2019 World Team member is slated to compete at a weight significantly lower than he was wrestled at in over a decade. In an ideal training environment, Downey could be a threat at this weight, though it's unclear if he'll be able to make it. Champion Prediction: Jordan Burroughs 92 kg We'll get the opportunity to see the domestic return of two-time 92 kg world champion J'den Cox. J'den was expected to push Kyle Snyder for the 97 kg spot on the Olympic team; however, he was not allowed to wrestle at the Trials due to a weigh-in timing snafu. Cox has competed since this at the Ziolkowski Open in Poland and suffered an uncharacteristic loss to Illia Archaia of Ukraine in the semifinals. If Cox is anywhere near his peak, the tournament could be a race for second place. With J'den out of the equation at the Trials, Kollin Moore cruised to the finals opposite his ex-Ohio State teammate Snyder. Moore has world medals at the Junior and U23 levels and is looking to make his first Senior team and add to the collection. One of the mainstays at 97 kg, Kyven Gadson, has dropped down to challenge for the spot here. Gadson has been blocked from world team's in the past by Snyder, who defeated him in 2018 and 2019. He suffered a slight upset at the hands of Ty Walz in the first round of the Olympic Trials, but battled back to defeat Walz for third place and then secured a spot on the national team. Over the last year-plus, Nate Jackson has developed into a legit contender for national team berths at this weight and 86 kg. Jackson earned wins over Brett Pfarr and Myles Martin before getting eliminated from the Olympic Trials. Speaking of Martin, he'll be in action, as well. Myles handed Jackson his only loss of the FloWrestling 195 lb 8-man bracket and pocketed $20,000. A pair of wrestlers with NC State lineage could be a force at this weight with Mike Macchiavello and Trent Hidlay. Macchiavello was a silver medalist at the Bill Farrell in 2019 and made the semifinals of the Olympic Trials. Hidlay was a Junior World silver medalist in 2019. He also earned a win over eventual Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine at the RTC Cup. Finally, Drew Foster, an NCAA champion for Northern Iowa in 2019, could be a wild card. He doesn't have a long history in freestyle, but he could grow rapidly. Champion Prediction: J'den Cox 125 kg For the bulk of the last quad, 125 kg had been the domain of Nick Gwiazdowski. He made three consecutive world teams and was able to claim a pair of world bronze medals in the process. However, he was soundly beaten by Gable Steveson at the Olympic Trials. Now, after seeing what Gable did to the rest of the world, does that change your opinion on where Gwiazdowski stands in the grand scheme of things? He's still a contender for a world medal that happened to run into a once-in-a-generation buzzsaw. Because Steveson declined his invitation to the 2021 World Championships, this weight will be conducted. Now, the same disclaimer we used for Gwiazdowski could be applied to Mason Parris, as well. Parris was the victim of Steveson in a one-sided NCAA finals bout. This is the same Parris who pinned his way to a Junior World title in 2019 and crushed 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Amir Zare (Iran) in the process. Maybe Parris is the young phenom that would make the UFC and WWE brass salivate if not for Steveson's presence. With Gable out of the equation, someone will get the chance to step up. Parris and Gwiazdowski have a recent history with each other. Gwiz teched Parris in the round-robin portion of the RTC Cup, while Parris managed a 10-8 victory in the team tournament. Aside from those two, there are plenty of other savvy vets at this weight. Longtime contender Dom Bradley is still seeking his first world team berth on the Senior level. Bradley was a 2019 Senior National Champion and took gold at Junior Worlds back in 2009. But, both of his losses at the 2020 Olympic Trials came at the hands of the wrestlers mentioned first. Ty Walz is someone that has bounced between the 97 and 125 kg weight classes over the years. He moved back up for the 2021 WTT's. Walz split matches with Gadson at the Olympic Trials and ended up fourth in the Challenge Tournament. Though he may be a little unsized for the weight, he'll use that quickness to his advantage offensively. Another wrestler moving up in weight here is Hayden Zillmer. In 2018, Zillmer fell to J'den Cox in Final X Bethlehem, while at 92 kg. In the 2016 Olympic Trials, Ziller was at 85 kg. It's unclear exactly what to expect from him this weekend. Two more notables to mention are Austin Schafer and Jordan Wood. Schafer has been a nice development as someone who is competitive domestically on the Senior level. Wood, a two-time All-American for Lehigh, qualified for the 2020 Trials and is a past Cadet World silver medalist. Champion Prediction: Mason Parris

Play Fantasy for the World Team Trials The World Team Trials are just a few days away. Don't have any rooting interests? Creating a fantasy team will make watching the event more interesting. Play Fantasy Wrestling There are three games up right now on Fantasy Fight League - one for each style at the Trials. You have to pick a lowerweight, middleweight and upperweight starter for each style and the total points your athletes score will earn you leaderboard points. There are prizes for the top ten finishers this month. You can win a pair of Rudis shoes, a Team USA singlet, InterMat subscription and more. View all of this month's prizes here.

Columbia head coach Zach Tanelli (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On Friday afternoon, the Penn Quakers received a verbal commitment from Jude Swisher, the #95 overall prospect in the Class of 2022. Swisher's commitment gave Penn five top-100 recruits for this year's high school seniors. While the Quakers are putting together a remarkable class, this is also representative of the uptick in recruiting for the entire Ivy League. For almost 20 years, Cornell has been the class of the EIWA and, more specifically, the Ivies. On the mat and the recruiting trail. Within the last five years, Princeton has been able to penetrate the recruiting market and it even paid off in 2020 as the Tigers knocked off Cornell for the first time since 1986 and stopped the Big Red's 92-match winning streak. Lately, Cornell and Princeton have been getting a run for their money by Ivy League rivals Columbia and Penn. While Cornell was featured prominently in InterMat's Class of 2021 recruiting rankings (at third), Penn slipped in at #23 and Columbia rounded out the top-25. For Penn, they have put together a strong three (going on four) year stretch of impressive recruiting. Columbia should make it back-to-back years in the top-25 with the 2022 crop. Not only have Columbia and Penn been able to lock in vast groups of commits, but they have also been able to nab some of the best prospects in the nation. The Quakers recent run of recruiting started in 2018 when they brought in two-time Junior National freestyle champion Anthony Artalona (#26 in the class). A year later, they added #19 Michael Colaiocco. Their 2022 class is led by another blue-chipper, #23 Martin Cosgrove, a New Jersey state champion as a sophomore. Columbia also has a highly sought-after recruit as the cornerstone of their 2022 class in #25 Jack Wehmeyer. Jack is likely the top-ranked wrestler to commit to Columbia since Matt Palmer, who did so 20 years ago. Recruiting rankings are sketchy-to-non-existent during those years, but considering Palmer was an NHSCA Senior National Champion and a two-time National Prep champ for Blair Academy and finished the year on the Asics First-Team, he would probably have fallen within the top-25. Aside from Palmer, the top recruit for the Lions over the last 20 years would have to be Eren Civan, who was #55 in the Class of 2007. With the resurgence of Penn and the emergence of Columbia as a national player on the recruiting trail, it has not diminished the caliber of kids coming into Cornell. The Big Red brought in 9 of the top 300 wrestlers in the nation last year and already have commitments from two of the top-70 in the country. #46 Daniel Cardenas is a past 16U national freestyle champion, while #67 Erik Gibson was a double Junior placewinner this year in Fargo. That bodes well for a couple years down the line, as Gibson's younger brother, Mason, is currently the top wrestler in the Class of 2024. Without Rob Koll at the helm in Ithaca, the recruiting situation bears monitoring going forward; however, his trusty lieutenant, Mike Grey, is now the head coach. I'd expect Cornell to continue its excellent recruiting under Grey, especially considering his close work with Kyle Dake and Yianni Diakomihalis. The school with the highest-ranked recruit from the Class of 2022 under verbal commitment is Princeton, which claims #18 Ty Whalen. An excellent performance at the 2020 Super 32 led to a breakout season for Whalen that culminated in a New Jersey state title. Princeton continues to keep some of the top New Jersey talent at home, which is a recipe for success. Keep an eye on this, as Penn has infiltrated New Jersey in a big way, especially with the Class of 2022. Even though we've mentioned the foursome from NJ/NY/PA, the New England Ivies have been solid on the recruiting trail themselves. Harvard brought in a sneaky-good 2021 class that featured one top-100 recruit (Diego Sotelo) and two others on the Big Board. The same can be said for Brown, who was able to land five of the top-300 recruits. None were in the top-100, but #112 AJ Corrado, a two-time Pennsylvania finalist (one-time champ), was knocking on the door. Another one of Brown's top recruits from 2021, Drew Clearie, was won in a recruiting battle with Princeton. Below you'll find the list of wrestlers from the top-200 of the Class of 2022 that have committed to Ivy League institutions. Overall, 69 of the top 100 wrestlers have committed to DI schools. Ten of those 69 wrestlers are headed towards the Ivy League. That number (10) is identical to the number of top-100 wrestlers that inked with the Ivies in 2021. That figure was higher until recently when Dean Peterson switched his commitment from Princeton to Rutgers. Over the weekend, Nico Provo decided to follow Rob Koll to Stanford. Columbia #25 Jack Wehmeyer (Malvern Prep, PA) #109 Richard Fedalen (McDonogh, MD) #142 Evan Frost (Dowling Catholic, IA) #175 Yianni Vines (Thompson, AL) #193 Jacob Frost (Dowling Catholic, IA) Cornell #46 Daniel Cardenas (Pomona, CO) #67 Erik Gibson (Bishop McCort, PA) Harvard #117 Joe Cangro (Bergen Catholic, NJ) Penn #23 Martin Cosgrove (Camden Catholic, NJ) #73 Evan Mougalian (Kinnelon, NJ) #75 Andrew Troczynski (Delbarton, NJ) #77 Alex Almeyda (St. Joe's Regional, NJ) #95 Jude Swisher (Bellefonte, PA) #113 Jackson Polo (Cold Spring Harbor, NY) #131 Andrew Connelly (Malvern Prep, PA) Princeton #18 Ty Whalen (Clearview Regional, NJ) #82 Kole Mulhauser (Central Square, NY) Now that you've seen the wrestlers from the Class of 2022 committed to Ivy League schools, here are the top-100 recruits from 2021 that landed in the Ivy League. Columbia #79 Jack McGill (Spring-Ford, PA) #87 Aaron Ayzerov (Paramus, NJ) Cornell #26 Brett Ungar (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA) #46 Ryan Sokol (Simley, MN) #50 Vince Cornella (Monarch, CO) #61 Cooper Kropman (Penfield, NY) Harvard #98 Diego Sotelo (Montini Catholic, IL) Penn #84 Nico Nardone (Delbarton, NJ) #85 Cole Spencer (Pine-Richland, PA) #96 Kyle Hauserman (Council Rock North, PA) Overall from the Class of 2021: #3 Cornell (9 Big Boarders); #23 Penn (5 Big Boarders); #25 Columbia (6 Big Boarders); NR Brown (5 Big Boarders) NR Harvard (3 Big Boarders); NR Princeton (3 Big Boarders)

Cory Land at the Cadet World Team Trials (Photo/Josh Conklin, JoshConklinPhotos.com) The Labor Day weekend was not one of rest for the Northern Iowa coaching staff. Doug Schwab's crew landed not one, but two stud lightweights over the past two days. First the Panthers received a verbal from an in-state product, Garrett Funk of Don Bosco. Funk is a two-time state placewinner taking third as a junior and fifth as a sophomore. Both of those placements came at 120 lbs. Today the Panthers received a commitment from Cory Land of Moody, Alabama. This summer, Moody earned a silver medal in Budapest while competing at the Cadet World Championships. He made the Greco-Roman team at 55 kg by defeating Iowa-native Gable Porter in two straight matches. This was the second Cadet World team for Land; he also made it in 2019, as well. That year, Land was in the freestyle finals in Akron, but came up ust short. Land has already captured four Alabama state titles. In addition, he is a two-time placer at the Super 32, taking third in 2020 and second in 2019. Cory was named the #19 overall wrestler in the Class of 2022 by MatScouts. Once he signs, he'll be the highest ranked UNI recruit since Parker Keckeisen who was ranked #14 in the Class of 2019. Both Funk and Land will join #136 Chet Buss (North Butler, IA) who has already committed in the Class of 2022. The Panthers don't have a pressing need at 125 lbs since sophomore #7 Brody Teske returns. They also have freshman Kyle Gollhoffer, who went 6-2 in limited action last year. Even so, you can never have enough lightweights, as invariably, most tend to move up to 133, at some point. For Northern Iowa's recruits and all over the college commitments from the Class of 2022, check out InterMat's College Commitment page.

2021 NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) If you've followed wrestling for any length of time, you've heard the expression "rankings don't mean anything" or some variation of the saying hundreds of times. That's the beauty of our sport; two wrestlers get to settle it on the mat without help from teammates or other variables. You win or lose. If you're the lower-ranked wrestler, you have the opportunity to control your own destiny and prevail. To use another common phrase in wrestling circles, "that's why matches aren't wrestled on paper." Looking at it from a high school to college transition standpoint, we have heard plenty of stories of unheralded wrestlers thriving once they reach college and outperforming more highly ranked studs. You don't have to go very far back in time to see some excellent examples of wrestlers that were unknown nationally coming out of high school, yet ended up on the top of the podium in late March. Again, that's another fun aspect of our sport, seeing who adjusts (or doesn't) to the next level of competition. It's unpredictable and keeps fans/wrestlers/coaches/media members on their toes. Having said all that, it would be foolhardy to use the blanket statement that "rankings are worthless." Word on the street is that we could have a new set of Big Board rankings courtesy of MatScouts in the near future. With that in mind, we've decided to check out the last five years of worth of NCAA champions to see exactly how these wrestlers were viewed coming out of high school. By and large, the wrestlers that have been the best during this time span were targeted early as having potential for greatness. Sure, there are a few exceptions, and that's what keeps everyone motivated. Now, this isn't to diminish the accomplishments of the top-ranked wrestlers that have found success in college. They still have had to put in the time and work to make it at the collegiate level. At a later date, we may delve deeper into these types of Big Board analysis. Part of the reason why higher-ranked wrestlers are having such success is because of the rankings process itself. When there were fewer national-level events, rankers had less information to use when tabulating Big Boards. With Cadet/Junior Trials, Fargo, Junior/16U Duals, In-season tournaments, the Super 32, Who's #1, NHSCA grade-level nationals, USAW regionals, there are plenty of opportunities for wrestlers to make a name for themselves and knock off a ranked opponent or two. Below you'll find the NCAA champions from 2017-21 (#1 seeds in 2020) and their respective Big Board ranking during their senior year of high school. 2021 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) #2 Class of 2017 133: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) #12 Class of 2018 141: Nick Lee (Penn State) #9 Class of 2017 149: Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) #12 Class of 2017 157: David Carr (Iowa State) #5 Class of 2018 165: Shane Griffith (Stanford) #19 Class of 2018 174: Carter Starocci (Penn State) #9 Class of 2019 184: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #2 Class of 2018 197: AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) #1 Class of 2020 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) #1 Class of 2018 This is remarkable! All ten NCAA champions from this past year finished in the top-20 of their respective senior class. The "lowest" of the group being Shane Griffith who was 19th in the Class of 2018. That particular class already has five NCAA titles and it's top two wrestlers each have one. 10/10 in the top 20 2020 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) #2 Class of 2017 133: Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) #78 Class of 2016 141: Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) #9 Class of 2016 149: Pat Lugo (Iowa) #74 Class of 2015 157: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) #97 Class of 2016 165: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) #3 Class of 2016 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) #1 Class of 2016 184: Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) #13 Class of 2015 197: Kollin Moore (Ohio State) #44 Class of 2015 285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) #1 Class of 2018 Of course, these are the number one seeds from the 2020 NCAA Championships in lieu of actual champions. While some of the usual suspects (#1-3 ranked wrestlers) were represented, there were some wrestlers in the back half of the Big Board that earned top seeds (Rivera, Lugo, Deakin). 5/10 in Top 20 7/10 in Top 50 10/10 in the Top 100 2019 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) #2 Class of 2017 133: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) #2 Class of 2016 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) #3 Class of 2017 149: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) #12 Class of 2013 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) #4 Class of 2014 165: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #19 Class of 2017 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) #1 Class of 2015 184: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) Not Ranked in Class of 2014 197: Bo Nickal (Penn State) #6 Class of 2014 285: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) Not Ranked in Class of 2014 The 2019 class is the most recent that includes a wrestler(s) that did not appear on his senior Big Board. Drew Foster was a remarkable in-state find for the UNI coaching staff. He went from 15-18 as a redshirt freshman to the program's first national champion since 2000. Also at 285 lbs, Anthony Cassar prevailed highlighted by a win over Gable Steveson in the semis. Cassar only qualified for the New Jersey state tournament once (which he won) and was off the radar for most observers. 8/10 in Top 20 2/10 Not Ranked 2018 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) #2 Class of 2017 133: Seth Gross (South Dakota State) #47 Class 2014 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) #3 Class of 2017 149: Zain Retherford (Penn State) #2 Class of 2013 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) #4 Class of 2014 165: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) #3 Class of 2015 174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) #1 Class of 2015 184: Bo Nickal (Penn State) #6 Class of 2014 197: Mike Macchiavello (NC State) Not Ranked in Class of 2013 285: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) #1 Class of 2014 Overall, a class full of high school superstars! Eight of the ten national champions were ranked in the top-six or higher of their respective classes. Of course, Mike Macchiavello was an excellent signing from NC State and one that developed significantly once in Raleigh. After his first two years, Macchiavello was 20-22. He took a redshirt and them emerged as a contender on the national level. 8/10 top 20 9/10 top 50 1/10 Not Ranked 2017 125: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) #37 Class of 2013 133: Cory Clark (Iowa) #23 Class of 2012 141: Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) #15 Class of 2013 149: Zain Retherford (Penn State) #2 Class of 2013 157: Jason Nolf (Penn State) #4 Class of 2014 165: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) #3 Class of 2015 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) #1 Class of 2016 184: Bo Nickal (Penn State) #6 Class of 2014 197: J'den Cox (Missouri) #5 Class of 2013 285: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) #1 Class of 2014 If it wasn't for the 2021 crop of national champions, we'd think of this group as one of the hallmarks for wrestling up to your rankings. Eight of the ten champions were ranked in the top-15 overall coming out of high school. Even the other two, Cruz and Clark, were in the top-40 so they were very highly thought of and regarded. This is also a testament to Penn State's excellent recruiting. Not only do they have five national champions, they had winners from four different recruiting classes (2013-16). 8/10 top 20 10/10 top 50

2016 NCAA qualifier Mauro Correnti (Photo Courtesy of Rider Athletics) In this week's edition of the coaching carousel, a trio of big men found new homes as Eric Thompson, Matt Meuleners, and Mauro Correnti all took new positions. The first announcement came from Arizona State who has hired Thompson to round out their coaching staff. He will assume the volunteer assistant position. Thompson has most recently coached with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, working with Olympic gold medalists David Taylor and Kyle Snyder. He has also spent time coaching at Taylor's M2 Training Center. As a competitor, Thompson started his collegiate career at Iowa State and finished as a three-time NAIA national champion at Grand View. He also competed in the 2016 Olympic Trials, finishing fifth. The addition of Thompson allows Mark Perry, the previous volunteer assistant, to move into a full-time role coaching the Sunkist Kids freestyle program, which is closely aligned with the ASU program. Also in the Pac-12, CSU Bakersfield added Meuleners to its staff. Meuleners spent the past five years at Brown University and spearheaded the Bears' recruiting efforts. While at Brown, half the teams' eighth national qualifiers came at weights 184 and above. Most notably, 285 lber Ian Butterbrodt, who had an incredible run to the NCAA Round of 12. Meuleners also had great success in college, as he was a two-time DII national champion for Northern State. Before arriving at Brown, Meuleners spent four years as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska. Finally, Hofstra added Correnti, who comes to the team after spending the past three-plus years training with the Pennsylvania RTC. Correnti was a national qualifier for Rider in 2016 at the 285 lb weight class. In 2016 and 2017, he finished third in the EWL.

Jude Swisher in Fargo (Photos/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Friday Morning, the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team received a verbal from their fifth top-100 recruit from the Class of 2022. Jude Swisher (Bellefonte, PA), #95 among current seniors, will join a star-studded group of wrestlers headed to Philadelphia next year. Swisher is ranked ninth in the nation at 138 lbs in MatScouts most recent rankings. Swisher is a two-time Pennsylvania AAA state placewinner. He was fourth as a sophomore and third during his junior season. His most recent trip to the podium came at 132 lbs. Over the summer, Swisher moved up to 138 lbs and took fifth in Fargo in Junior National freestyle. During his first two years of high school, Swisher captured regional championships, as well. The commitment from Swisher gives the Quakers seven of the top 150 wrestlers on MatScouts' Big Board. He joins #23 Martin Cosgrove (Camden Catholic, NJ), #73 Evan Mougalian (Kinnelon, NJ), #75 Andrew Troczynski (Delbarton, NJ), and #77 Alex Almeyda (St. Joseph, NJ) as top-100 wrestlers that have given verbals to Roger Reina's team. Penn's incoming Class of 2021 was ranked 23rd in the nation by InterMat and this group is almost sure to surpass that mark. Swisher became known nationally a few years ago as he broke on the scene along with Sam Herring and their Home Mat Advantage podcast. That led to the pair earning "Journalist of the Year" honors from WIN Magazine in 2020. With such strong recruiting over the past three or four years, Penn doesn't have any glaring holes without young talent. 157, Swisher's projected weight, is no exception. The Quakers current projected starter at 157 lbs, Doug Zapf, is listed as a junior on Penn's updated roster. For all of Penn recruits and other college commitments, check out InterMat's college commitment page.

2021 NCAA Champion Carter Starocci (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Yesterday, InterMat released our first set of NCAA Division One rankings for the 2021-22 season. As we compiled the rankings and even afterwards, one thing that stuck out was just how deep each and every weight will be this season. With the majority of elite seniors electing to utilize the additional year of eligibility handed out in conjunction with the 2021 season, there are virtually no weights hit hard by graduation. To illustrate just how difficult each weight class will be in 2021-22, we have scoured through the rankings and tabulated how each group ranks in a variety of categories. These are based on the participants of that weight's past performance at NCAA tournaments. 125 lbs 1 National Champion (Lee) 2 NCAA Finalists (Courtney, Lee) 4 NCAA Semifinalists (Courtney, Hildebrandt, LaMont, Lee) 11 NCAA All-Americans (Arujau, Barnett, Cardinale, Courtney, Foley, Glory, Hildebrandt, LaMont, Latona, Lee, McKee) 16 Round of 12 or Better (Arujau, Barnett, Camacho, Cardinale, Courtney, DeAugustino, Foley, Glory, Hildebrandt, Hudkins, LaMont, Latona, Lee, McKee, Schroder, Teske) 12 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Arujau, Camacho, Courtney, DeAugustino, Foley, Glory, Hildebrandt, Latona, LaMont, Lee, Schroder, Teske) 3 Age-Group World Medalists (Arujau, Lee, LaMont) 133 lbs 1 National Champions (Bravo-Young) 2 NCAA Finalists (Bravo-Young, Fix) 5 NCAA Semifinalists (Bravo-Young, DeSanto, Fix, Myers, Rivera) 8 NCAA All-Americans (Bravo-Young, Byrd, Cannon, DeSanto, Fix, McGee, Myers, Rivera) 11 Round of 12 or Better (Bravo-Young, Byrd, Cannon, DeSanto, Fix, McGee, Myers, Philippi, Rich, Rivera, Schmitt) 10 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Bravo-Young, Byrd, Cannon, DeSanto, Fix, Myers, Paetzell, Philippi, Rivera, Schmitt) 2 Age-Group World Medalist (Fix---also Matt Ramos; though not in rankings) 141 lbs 1 National Champion (Lee) 2 NCAA Finalists (Eierman, Lee) 2 NCAA Semifinalists (Eierman, Lee) 7 NCAA All-Americans (Carlson, Demas, Duncan, Eierman, Lee, Red Jr, Sherman) 11 Round of 12 or Better (Carlson, Demas, Duncan, Eierman, Gomez, Hart, Lee, Red Jr, Sherman, Simon, Woods) 7 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Demas, Eierman, Hart, Lee, Parker, Red Jr, Woods) 149 lbs 1 National Champion (Diakomihalis) 2 NCAA Finalists (Diakomihalis, Sasso) 4 NCAA Semifinalists (Diakomihalis, Mauller, Sasso, Wilson) 9 NCAA All-Americans (Abas, Degen, Diakomihalis, Mauller, Millner, Parco, Sasso, Thomas, Wilson) 16 Round of 12 or Better (Abas, Andonian, Artalona, Carr, Degen, Diakomihalis, Finesilver, Mauller, Millner, Moore, Murin, Parco, Price, Sasso, Thomas, Wilson) 14 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Abas, Andonian, Carr, Degen, Diakomihalis, Gfeller, Heil, Lovett, Mauller, Millner, Murin, Sasso, Storr, Wilson) 3 Age-Group World Medalists (Andonian, Diakomihalis, Verkleeren---also Peyton Omania; though not in rankings) 157 lbs 2 National Champions (Carr, O'Connor) 2 NCAA Finalists (Carr, O'Connor) 4 NCAA Semifinalists (Carr, Deakin, O'Connor, Young) 7 NCAA All-Americans (Carr, Deakin, Lee, O'Connor, Sheets, Teemer, Young) 12 Round of 12 or Better (Carr, Deakin, Franek, Humphreys, Jacques, Lee, O'Connor, Sheets, Teemer, Thomas, Wright, Young) 10 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Carr, Coleman, Deakin, Franek, Humphreys, Jacques, Lee, Monday, O'Connor, Young) 4 Age-Group World Medalists (Carr, Deakin, Lewan, Teemer) 165 lbs 1 National Champion (Griffith) 2 NCAA Finalists (Griffith, Wentzel) 6 NCAA Semifinalists (Griffith, Hartman, Marinelli, Romero, Wentzel, Wick) 10 NCAA All-Americans (Amine, Griffith, Hartman, Marinelli, O'Toole, Romero, Valencia, Wentzel, Wick, Wittlake) 12 Round of 12 or Better (Amine, Griffith, Hall, Hartman, Marinelli, O'Toole, Romero, Valencia, Weber, Wentzel, Wick, Wittlake) 9 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Griffith, Hartman, Marinelli, O'Toole, Romero, Valencia, Wentzel, Wick, Wittlake) 2 Age-Group World Medalists (O'Toole, Wittlake) 174 lbs 2 National Champions (Lewis, Starocci) 4 NCAA Finalists (Hidlay, Kemerer, Lewis, Starocci) 6 NCAA Semifinalists (Hidlay, Kemerer, Lewis, Massa, Smith, Starocci) 8 NCAA All-Americans (Hidlay, Kemerer, Labriola, Lewis, Massa, Smith, Starocci, Turley) 11 Round of 12 or Better (Hidlay, Kemerer, Labriola, Lautt, Lewis, Massa, McNally, Murphy, Smith, Starocci, Turley) 8 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Hidlay, Kemerer, Labriola, Lewis, Massa, McNally, Smith, Starocci) 1 Age-Group World Medalist (Lewis) 184 lbs 1 National Champion (Brooks) 2 National Finalists (Brooks, Hidlay) 6 NCAA Semifinalists (Amine, Brooks, Hidlay, Keckeisen, Poznanski, Truax) 11 NCAA All-Americans (Amine, Bolen, Brooks, DePrez, Geer, Hidlay, Keckeisen, Poznanski, Truax, Venz, Wilson) 13 Round of 12 or Better (Amine, Bolen, Brooks, DePrez, Geer, Hidlay, Keckeisen, Poznanski, Romero, Truax, Venz, Weiler, Wilson) 10 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Amine, Bolen, Brooks, DePrez, Hidlay, Keckeisen, Poznanski, Romero, Venz, Wilson) 3 Age-Group World Medalist (Amine, Brooks, Hidlay) 197 lbs 1 National Champion (Ferrari) 3 National Finalists (Bonaccorsi, Dean, Ferrari) 6 NCAA Semifinalists (Bonaccorsi, Brucki, Darmstadt, Dean, Ferrari, Woodley) 10 NCAA All-Americans (Bonaccorsi, Brucki, Buchanan, Darmstadt, Dean, Elam, Ferrari, Holschlag, Warner, Woodley) 16 Round of 12 or Better (Bonaccorsi, Brucki, Buchanan, Caffey, Darmstadt, Dean, Elam, Ferrari, Holschlag, Jordan, Norfleet, Penola, Schultz, Sloan, Warner, Woodley) 12 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Aiello, Bonaccorsi, Brucki, Buchanan, Caffey, Darmstadt, Dean, Elam, Ferrari, Norfleet, Schultz, Warner) 4 Age-Group World Medalists (Elam, Ferrari, Warner---Braxton Amos; though not in the rankings yet) 285 lbs 1 National Champion (Steveson) 2 National Finalists (Parris, Steveson) 4 NCAA Semifinalists (Cassioppi, Parris, Steveson, Wood) 9 NCAA All-Americans (Cassioppi, Hillger, Kerkvliet, Orndorff, Parris, Schultz, Stencel, Steveson, Wood) 13 Round of 12 or Better (Cassioppi, Elam, Hendrickson, Harris, Hillger, Kerkvliet, Orndorff, Parris, Schultz, Stencel, Steveson, Traxler, Wood) 8 Top-8 NCAA Seeds (Cassioppi, Hillger, Orndorff, Parris, Schultz, Stencel, Steveson, Wood) 7 Age-Group World Medalists (Davison, Elam, Kerkvliet, Parris, Schultz, Steveson, Wood) Most by Weight Class National Champions: 2 (157 and 174) Most National Finalists: 4 (174) Most NCAA Semifinalists: 6 (165, 174, 184) Most NCAA All-Americans: 11 (125, and 184) Most in the Round of 12 or better: 16 (125, 149, 197) Most Top-8 NCAA Seeds: 14 (149) Most Age-Group World Medalists: 7 (285) As you can see, the final results are very inconclusive. 174 lbs shows up atop or tied for the lead in three separate categories. 125, 149, and 184 are featured twice.

Shawn Bunch at the 2009 World Team Trials (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As always there are plenty of top wrestlers competing in a variety of MMA shows across the globe. This week has a bit more international flavor as the preview features shows from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and, of course, Las Vegas. The MMA weekend gets off to an early start with the main card of ONE Championship: Empower airing live on YouTube at 8:30am ET. On the card, Ritu Phogat of the famous Indian Phogat family takes on Bo Meng. Phogat had an extensive freestyle wrestling career before transitioning to MMA. She picked up a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Championships, a bronze at the 2017 Asian Championships and a silver at the U23 World Championships. Her cousin, Vinesh Phogat, recently represented India at the 2020 Olympics and holds a World bronze medal. Phogat has gone 5-1 in MMA and bounced back from her only career defeat this past July. This Friday, she takes on Bo Meng. The Chinese fighter holds a 17-5 record and has not lost since 2017. Shawn Bunch, who was a two-time All-American at Edinboro and a member of the 2009 U.S. freestyle World team, will headline UAE Warriors 22. The card takes place at 9:00am ET on Saturday. In the main event, Bunch will face Rany Saadeh. Bunch is now 38 years old and holds a 9-5 record in MMA. Last year he finished a second stint in Bellator with a 2-2 record. Saadeh fights out of Berlin and holds a 12-3 record as a professional. Polish promotion KSW is back with their 63rd card on Saturday, which features the colorful name "Crime of the Century." In one of the featured bouts, Greco Roman wrestler Damian Janikowski will take on Pawel Pawlak. The main card airs live on internet pay per view at 2:00pm ET. Janikowski competed extensively for Poland on the Greco scene. He holds an Olympic bronze medal from 2012, a silver from the 2011 World Championships as well as a pair of medals from the European Championships. The 32-year-old fighter made his professional MMA debut in 2017 and has built a 6-3 record. Pawlak went 1-2 in the UFC back in 2014-2015. Since leaving the promotion, he has gotten back on track with a 7-1-1 run. It seems like there is a UFC event every Saturday, and that is likely because there is a UFC event almost every Saturday. In the main event of this weekend's show former UNC Pembroke wrestler Derek Brunson is back in action against Darren Till. The card is an unusual day time show with the main card airing live on ESPN+ at 4:00pm ET. Brunson was a three-time Division II All-American for the North Carolina school. He has strongly relied on his wrestling background in the UFC. In his last fight, he attempted 12 takedowns and landed six against Kevin Holland on the way to an upset victory. In the fight, he held control positions for 16:55 of the 25-minute fight. On this card, he takes on Till who fought for the UFC welterweight title in 2018 and came up short against Tyron Woodley. Since that fight, Till has gone 1-2 with his line win coming over Kelvin Gastelum. Also on the undercard of the UFC event Liudvik Sholinain will make his official UFC debut after competing on the recent season of "The Ultimate Fighter." Sholinain has claimed he was national champion in his native Ukraine, but he does not have a record in the UWW database. He takes on Welsh fighter Jack Shore.

Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson at the 2020 Olympics (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG Olympics results GOLD: #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) over #6 Ravi Kumar (IND) 7-4 BRONZE: Thomas Gilman (USA) over #18 Reza Atri (IRI) 9-1 BRONZE: #11 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) over Georgi Vangelov (BUL) 5-1 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS) over Muhammet Karavuz (TUR) 11-11 BRONZE: Manvel Khndzrtsyn (ARM) over Abdymalik Karachov (KGZ) 6-2 BRONZE: Assylzhan Yessengeldi (KAZ) over Nuraddin Novruzov (AZE) 12-6 Two-time world champion #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) was able to cap off his quad with an Olympic title by way of a 7-4 win over returning world bronze medalist #6 Ravi Kumar (IND). The path to the title wasn't an easy win for the brilliant Russian technician as he had to put together back-to-back last-second takedowns in matches against 2017 world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA) to win 5-4 and against Ziolkowski champion #5 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) 6-6. In the semis, Uguev didn't need the late match heroics of before as he beat a surging #18 Reza Atri (IRI), who'd booked his spot opposite Uguev by way of stunning upset wins over returning world runner-up #2 Suleyman Atli (TUR) and 2x world bronze medalist #9 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL). Returning world bronze medalist Kumar earned back-to-back tech falls over Oscar Tigreros Urbano (COL) and Georgi Vangelov (BUL) to make the semis where after falling behind two-time world medalist #11 Nurislam Sanayaev (KAZ), the Indian standout rallied back to get a stunning pin and book his spot in the finals opposite Uguev. In the finals, the short offense of Uguev would win over the length of Kumar and seal his third World/Olympic title. 2017 world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA) was in a career-best form in Tokyo, pushing Uguev to the brink in a 5-4 opening-round loss and coming back in repechage and absolutely running through #5 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) and Atri for bronze. Gilman's knee pull single, his ever-present punishing hand fighting and a brilliant leg lace sealed his first World/Olympic medal since his world silver in 2017 and re-established him as one of the best at the weight. Sanayev (KAZ) won his third medal to finish off the quad with a 5-1 victory over Georgi Vangelov (BUL). Through 2016-2021 Sanayev was able to notch a world silver in 2018 and a world bronze in 2019 to go along with his bronze medal in Tokyo. At 30 years old, Sanayev is right at his peak and it will be really interesting to see where he goes moving forward for this quad. Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS) overcame a massive 9-0 deficit in the Junior world finals against Muhammet Karavuz (TUR) to win 11-11 and seal the title victory for Russia. Taking bronze in the field was Manvel Khndzrtsyn (ARM) and Assylzhan Yessengeldi (KAZ). The major movers for this month were Gilman and Atri, who made major waves in Tokyo. Atri moves up fourteen spots in the rankings to #4 after wins over Atli and Erdenebat, while Gilman goes from unranked to #3 for his victories over Abdullaev and Atri to take bronze. #7 Yuki Takahashi (JPN) fell four spots in the rankings to #11 after a 4-4 quarterfinal loss to Sanayev, who moved up one place to #10 in the rankings. Atli fell three spots to #5 and Erdenebat (MGL) did as well, to get to #12. 61 KG Junior World Championships Results GOLD: #16 Rahman Amouzadkhalili (IRI) over Ravinder Ravinder (IND) 9-3 BRONZE: #12 Fedor Baltuev (RUS) over Abulfaz Nasirov (AZE) 14-3 BRONZE: Alibeg Alibegov (BRN) over Levik Mikayelan (ARM) 7-0 #16 Rahman Amouzadkhalili (IRI) won his third age-group world title with a resounding 9-3 victory over Ravinder Ravinder (IND) for Junior world gold. Amouzadkhalili, a Cadet world champion in 2018 and 2019, made his senior debut at the end of 2020 with a bronze medal at the 57 KG Individual World Cup with a victory over 2014 world medalist Vladislav Andreev (BLR). Amouzadkhalili was in peak form in Ufa, outsourcing his competition 22-2 into the semis, where he took on domestic favorite #12 Fedor Baltuev (RUS). Baltuev, another huge prospect who'd made serious noise with a quarterfinal run at Senior Russian Nationals that saw him upset past medalists #14 Zelimkhan Abakarov (RUS) and 2019 U-23 world bronze medalist Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS), was Amouzadkhalili's best match of the competition. In an absolute slugfest, Amouzadkhalili fell behind 7-3 at the end of the first but surged back in the second to put away Baltuev with a huge throw to win by pin, up 10-7. Taking bronze at Junior world's was #12 Fedor Baltuev (RUS) and Alibeg Alibegov (BRN). Amouzadkhalili made huge waves in the rankings with his win over Baltuev, climbing up eight spots to #8. Why Amouzadkhalili is able to be ranked ahead of guys with a higher-ranked singular win like #10 Nico Megerle (teched Russian Nationals runner-up, Ali Aliyev champ #5 Muslim Mekhtikhanov at U-23 Euros) and #9 Taimuraz Vanishvili (beat Megerle at U-23 Euros) was Amouzadkhalili's whole resume is more well rounded than the pair of them and warrants higher placement. A new addition to the rankings at #20 is Assyl Aitakyn (KAZ), who was runner-up at the Yasar Dogu in June to Amouzadkhalili and beat two-time European bronze medalist Recep Topal (TUR) along with 2020 Ziolkowski champion Ahmet Duman (TUR). 65 KG Olympics Results GOLD: #5 Takuto Otoguro (JPN) over #6 Haji Aliyev (AZE) 5-4 BRONZE: #12 Bajrang Punia (IND) over #14 Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ) 8-0 BRONZE: #1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) over #4 Ismail Musukaev (HUN) 5-0 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Shamil Mamedov (RUS) over Ziraddin Bayramov (AZE) 4-1 BRONZE: Beau Bartlett (USA) over Mustafo Akhmedov (TJK) 7-4 BRONZE: Bekzat Yermekbay (KAZ) over Seyedhassan Ebadimermeti (IRI) 8-5 2018 world champion #5 Takuto Otoguro (JPN) won gold in spectacular fashion, disposing of back-to-back world champions in #1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) and #6 Haji Aliyev (AZE) to take the gold. Another loss avenged for Otoguro was against 2019 world bronze medalist #4 Ismail Musukaev (HUN), who beat Otoguro in the 2019 world bronze medal match. Otoguro was victorious against the Hungarian 4-1 in the quarterfinals. Aliyev, a 3x world champion at 61 KG and returning 57 KG Olympic bronze medalist, finally broke through for a World/Olympic medal at his third weight class of 65 KG, when he dominated 2018 world runner-up #12 Bajrang Punia (IND) 12-5 in the semifinals. Aliyev also made easy work of returning world runner-up #14 Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ) as well on his way to the finals, where leading 2018 world champion Otoguro 4-3 late in the match, he fell by last-second takedown 5-4 to the Japanese standout. Punia took Olympic bronze with impressive wins over #7 Ernazar Akhmataliev (KGZ), Morteza Ghiasi Cheka (IRI) and a dominant 8-0 win over returning world runner-up Niyazbekov. Rashidov rebounded from his 3-2 semifinals loss to eventual champion #5 Takuto Otoguro (JPN) with a 5-0 win over #4 Ismail Musukaev (HUN) to take bronze. Other significant results were Rashidov beating #2 Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM) 6-0 in his opening round match and Niyazbekov coming back from a 9-2 deficit against 2x world bronze medalist Alejandro Valdes Tobier (CUB) to tech fall him 21-11 to move onto the quarterfinals. Shamil Mamedov (RUS) won the Junior world championships title in impressive fashion beating the powerful Ziraddin Bayramov (AZE) by 4-1 decision. Mamedov, a bronze medalist at last year's U-23 Russian Nationals championships, outscored his competition 52-13 on his way to Junior world gold and figures to be a domestic and international contender for Russia moving forward at 65 KG. Taking bronze at Junior world's was Beau Bartlett (USA) and Bekzat Yermekbay (KAZ). The biggest change to the rankings all happened within the top 10, as Otoguro (JPN) ascends to the top spot after winning Olympic gold with victories over Rashidov, Aliyev and Musukaev. Punia moves up eight spots to #4 for beating Akhmataliev and Niyazbekov, while Aliyev moves up three spots to #3 for beating Punia and Niyazbekov. Rashidov falls one spot to #2 after losing in the semis to Otoguro, while Tevanyan falls four spots in the rankings to #6 after failing to place after an opening-round loss to Rashidov. #4 Musukaev (HUN) fell six spots to #10 and the reason for that is, Musukaev had strong wins in 2019 and 2020 over Otoguro and Aliyev, but when both guys are hurt and in the meantime, lost matches to Nyurgun Skryabin (BLR), Ali Rahimzade (AZE) and Tevanyan. When you couple the success of Otoguro, Rashidov, Aliyev, and Punia with their consistency and Musukaev's lack thereof and his bad losses, the only decision is to drop him to #10 right outside of the elite-of-the-elites of the weight. 70 KG Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Erfan Elahi (IRI) over #18 (74) Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (AZE) 6-5 BRONZE: Bryce Andonian (USA) over Stanislav Novic (MDA) 18-8 BRONZE: Stanislav Svinoboev (RUS) over Kevin Makota Stroem (SWE) 12-1 #18 (74) Dzhabrail Gadzhiev made his return to 70 KG for Junior world's after having won gold at the Junior European championships at 74 KG. 70 KG is where Gadzhiev had made a serious name for himself and earned a spot in the top ten early this year by way of winning the U-23 European championships and beating #12 Inalbek Sheriev (RUS). In his pursuit of his third title of the year, Gadzhiev outscored his competition 29-4 to make the finals opposite Yasar Dogu bronze medalist Erfan Elahi (IRI). Elahi, who'd beaten American standout Bryce Andonian and Junior European runner-up Stanislav Novac (MDA), was able to pull away from the talented Azeri for a 6-5 victory and world gold. Taking bronze at Junior world's was Bryce Andonian (USA) and Stanislav Svinoboev (RUS). Elahi and Gadzhiev were the major movers for this month in the rankings. Gadzhiev makes his return to the rankings at #12, while Elahi makes his debut at #11 for beating the U-23 European and Junior European champion Gadzhiev. 74 KG Olympics Results GOLD: #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) over #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) 7-0 BRONZE: Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (UZB) over Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ) 13-2 BRONZE: #2 Kyle Dake (USA) over #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA) 5-0 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Keegan O'Toole (USA) over Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay (KAZ) 11-0 BRONZE: Yash Yash (IND) over Stambul Zhanybek Uulu (KGZ) 12-6 BRONZE: Turan Bayramov (AZE) over Idar Khatanov (RUS) 2-1 #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) finished off his quad in style with a dominating 7-0 victory over the red hot #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) to win Olympic gold and his third World/Olympic gold medal. Kadimagomedov went on a major run to make the finals, with the Belarusian standout upending a pair of two-time world champions in #2 Kyle Dake (USA) by tech fall and #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA) by a 9-7 victory in the semifinals along with a 12-8 barn burner with four-time world medalist Geandry Garzon (CUB). Taking bronze was Dake over Chamizo and Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (UZB) 13-2 over Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ). Keegan O'Toole made a major statement by winning the Junior world championships with two techs and two pins. Most notably, O'Toole upset returning Olympian and Junior European champion Turan Bayramov (AZE), who led the American 5-1 at the end of the first period before O'Toole used a lethal cradle to pin the Azeri standout to make the semis. The semifinals was much of the same story for O'Toole as an 8-3 lead by his Russian opponent Idar Khatanov (RUS) looked to spell the end of O'Toole's great run, but another lethal cradle put O'Toole into the finals where he cruised in an 11-0 tech fall win against Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay (KAZ). Taking bronze at the Junior world championships was Bayramov and Yash Yash (IND). Kicking off the changes to the rankings from The Olympics and Junior World's was #3 Kadimagomedov moving up to #2 after taking silver with wins over Dake and Chamizo. Abdurakhmanov returned to the rankings at #17 after taking bronze. O'Toole makes his debut in the rankings at #20 after winning Junior world's, where he beat the Olympian, Bayramov. #18 Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (AZE) moved back down to 70 KG, where he is ranked #12 and #19 Magomed Abdulkadyrov (RUS) was removed from the rankings. 79 KG Junior World Championships Results GOLD: #17 Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (IRI) over Ashraf Ashirov (AZE) 7-5 BRONZE: Baliyan Gourav (IND) over Richard Schroeder (GER) 10-0 BRONZE: Mukhammed Abdulaev (KGZ) over Makhambet Nurzhaubayev (KAZ) 4-1 Runner-up at the 2019 74 KG U-23 world championships to #6 (74) Razambek Zhamalov (RUS), #17 Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (IRI) made a serious impact with wins over 2017 70 KG Intercontinental Cup champion Murad Kuramagomedov (HUN) and 2018 70 KG senior world 5th place finisher Byambadorj Bat-Erdene (MGL). In his return to competition, Nokhodilarimi looked impressive in winning the 79 KG Junior world championships with wins over Donnell Washington (USA), Richard Schroeder (GER), 2020 Asian championships runner-up Baliyan Gourav (IND) and Ashraf Ashirov (AZE). Nokhodilarimi stays put at #17 in the rankings as he didn't beat any ranked competitors to win Junior gold, but he remains one of Iran's brightest prospects and, if he continues to progress, will be a serious Senior world medal contender for years to come at 79 KG. 86 KG Olympics Results GOLD: #1 David Taylor (USA) over #2 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) 4-3 BRONZE: #12 Myles Amine (SMR) over Deepak Punia (IND) 4-2 BRONZE: #3 Artur Naifonov (RUS) over #7 Javrail Shapiev (UZB) 2-0 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) over Rakhim Magamedov (FRA) 10-0 BRONZE: Islam Kartoev (RUS) over Davit Koguashvili (GEO) 9-6 BRONZE: Sagadulla Agaev (AZE) over Emre Ciftci (TUR) 3-3 #1 David Taylor (USA) took out returning 74 KG Olympic champion #2 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) with a late double-leg to win Olympic gold 4-3. Taylor was excellent on his path to the finals, outscoring #12 Myles Amine (SMR), Deepak Punia (IND) and #20 Ali Shabanov (BLR) by a combined 33-2 score. Yazdani Charati was also impressive on his way to his second Olympic finals as the 3x World/Olympic champion beat #3 Artur Naifonov (RUS), #7 Javrail Shapiev (UZB) and 2019 world bronze medalist Stefan Reichmuth (SUI). Taking bronze in Tokyo was Naifonov 2-0 over Shapiev and Amine (SMR) 4-2 over Punia. Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) won Junior world gold over Rakhman Magamedov (FRA) while Islam Kartoev (RUS) and Sagadulla Agaev (AZE) took bronze. The only ranking change from the Olympics was Osman Gocen (TUR) returning to the rankings at #13 after upsetting #13 Sosuke Takatani (JPN) in his opening round loss before being tech falled 12-1 by Naifonov in the quarterfinals. 92 KG Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Rocky Elam (USA) over Mahdi Hajiloueianmorafah (IRI) 4-2 BRONZE: Pruthviraj Patil (IND) over Ivan Kirillov (RUS) 2-1 BRONZE: Nicolass De Lange (RSA) over Muhammad Gimri (TUR) 8-6 Rocky Elam (USA), an All-American at the University of Missouri where he took fifth at the 197 LB weight class, broke through for his first world title after having established himself as a premier age group talent by way of placing at the 86 KG US Open in 2020. To win gold, Elam beat Mahdi Hajiloueianmorafah (IRI) in the finals, along with victories over Ivan Kirillov (RUS), Mukhammadrasul Rakhimov (UZB) and Pruthviraj Patil (IND). Two-time 86 KG U-23 world champion #2 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) won Iranian World Team Trials over Ali Aliyev champion #3 Javad Ebrahimi (IRI) in a 3 match series (2-1 for Ebrahimi in the first with 3-2 and 4-0 victories for Ghasempour). 97 KG Olympics Results GOLD: #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) over #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) 6-3 BRONZE: #11 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) over #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) 6-2 BRONZE: Reineris Salas Perez (CUB) over #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) 3-3 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Braxton Amos (USA) over Polat Polatci (TUR) 11-4 BRONZE: Deepak Deepak (IND) over Milan Korcsog (HUN) 3-2 BRONZE: Ali Abdollahi (IRI) over Radu Lefter (MDA) 5-4 #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) continues to add onto his legendary career with his second Olympic title /sixth World and Olympic title with a 6-3 win over 3x World/Olympic champion #3 Kyle Snyder (USA). Sadulaev looked strong on his path to the finals, beating past world medalists #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE), Reineris Salas Perez (CUB) and #7 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO). Snyder, looking to win his second Olympic title cemented his spot opposite Sadulaev by way of wins over #11 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA), #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) and Jordan Steen (CAN). There was a slew of upsets at the Olympics, the biggest one being Odikadze's opening round 6-3 win over #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI). Following it was Sharifov beating Odikadze to qualify for the bronze medal match where he lost to Salas Perez, who'd broken through with great wins over #10 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR) and Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD). 2018 world bronze medalist #11 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) also put together an exceptional run that concluded in bronze after wins over returning Olympic bronze medalist #17 Albert Saritov (ROU) and European runner-up #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR). Winning gold at the Junior world championships was Braxton Amos of The United States, who would also take bronze in Greco-Roman action. Amos won by 11-4 victory over Polat Polatci (TUR), while Deepak Deepak (IND) and Ali Abdollahi (IRI) took bronze. The biggest mover in the rankings after The Olympics was Salas Perez, who cured a 7-year medal drought with gold in Tokyo. Salas Perez beat Sharifov (AZE) and Hushtyn (BLR) to return to the rankings at #3. #2 Mohammadian (IRI) falls five spots in the rankings to #7 after his opening-round loss in Tokyo to Odikadze. Sharifov moves up seven spots in the rankings to #5 after beating Odikadze and taking fifth in Tokyo. Mojitaba Goleij (IRI) returns to the rankings at #11 after winning a two-match series against Ziolkowski runner-up #8 Ali Khalil Shahbanibengar (IRI) at Iranian World Team Trials. 2018 world bronze medalist, Conyedo Ruano, moves up seven spots in the rankings to #4 after beating Karadeniz for bronze. 125 KG Olympics Results GOLD: #6 Gable Steveson (USA) over #2 Geno Petriashvili (GEO) 10-8 BRONZE: #1 Taha Akgul (TUR) over Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) 5-0 BRONZE: #3 Amir Zare (IRI) over Zhiwei Deng (CHN) 5-0 Junior World Championships Results GOLD: Ali Akbarpourkhordouni (IRI) over Lyova Gevorgyan (ARM) 4-4 BRONZE: Kumar Anirudh (IND) over Aydin Ahmadov (AZE) 7-2 BRONZE: Andrei Bestaev (RUS) over Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) 7-3 #6 Gable Steveson (USA) has long been heralded as one of the America's best upperweight prospects ever seen, and Steveson lived up to that potential and more win by way of going on a spectacular run for Olympic gold. After a 10-0 routing of #13 Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ) in his opening round match, Steveson dominated the reigning Olympic champion, top-ranked Taha Akgul (TUR), 8-0 to make the semis. The semis saw Steveson stop another surging contender in Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL), a U-23 world bronze medalist in 2019, who'd upset #10 Dzianis Khramiankov (BLR) in his opening round match, by way of a 5-0 score to secure his spot opposite reigning 3x World champion #2 Geno Petriashvili (GEO). Petriashvili, making his way to the finals with wins over 2018 world runner-up Zhiwei Deng (CHN) and 2019 U-23 world champion #3 Amir Zare (IRI), looked was neck and neck with the powerful Steveson and leading in the match late, looking to have secured his fourth straight World/Olympic gold medal, it would be Steveson who crushed his dreams with two last-second takedowns to win Olympic gold by way of a 10-8 decision. Taking bronze at the Olympics was Akgul by 5-0 decision over Munkhtur (MGL) and Zare by 5-0 decision over Deng. Ali Akbarpourkhordouni (IRI) won gold at Junior world's over Lyova Gevorgyan (ARM) 4-4 with Andrei Bestaev (RUS) and Kumar Anirudh (IND) taking bronze. #6 Steveson ascends to the top spot with wins over Akgul, Petriashvili, Munkhtur and Lazarev to take Olympic gold. Munkhtur makes his debut in the rankings at #9 for taking fifth in Tokyo and beating #10 Dzianis Khramiankov (BLR) and #17 Gennadij Cudinovic (GER). 2018 world runner-up Deng makes his return to the rankings at #5 after a fifth-place showing in Tokyo, where he upset Russian contender #4 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) against losses to Petriashvili and Zare. Cudinovic debuts in the rankings at #17 for pinning #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) to make the quarterfinals, where he lost 6-5 to Munkhtur. #9 Batirmurzaev falls nine spots in the rankings to #18 after a pin loss in his opening round match to Cudinovic after being up 10-2. P4P 3x 74 KG World/Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) sits atop the rankings while 6x 97 KG World/Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) takes the number two spot. 65 KG Olympic champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) and 125 KG Olympic champion Gable Steveson (USA) were the biggest movers in the pound-for pound-rankings, as Otoguro moved up twenty spots in the rankings to #4 while Steveson makes his debut at #5. Otoguro beat #3 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) and #22 Haji Aliyev (AZE) to win gold, while Steveson beat #6 Taha Akgul (TUR) and #7 Geno Petriashvili (GEO) for his title. #5 Kyle Dake (USA) falls six spots in the rankings to #11 after his upset tech fall loss to #7 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR).

#15 ranked 133 lber Michael Colaiocco (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Penn Quakers released their wrestling schedule this morning, and boy, it's a good one! Let's look at some dates I am excited about that you should add to your calendar. Sunday, November 21st - The Keystone classic will resume this year after last year's COVID-hiatus. The 26th annual classic will continue with nine total teams. Campbell of the SoCon is this year's new addition. The Quakers will be looking to repeat as champions over incoming Keystone Classic competitors such as Appalachian State, Rider, and George Mason, plus familiar foes from the EIWA in Franklin and Marshall, Sacred Heart, Drexel, and Harvard. Friday, December 3rd - The Penn State Nittany Lions will be coming to town, along with their four returning national champions. During the 2019-2020 season, Penn took on the returning champs in their home gym in State College, PA. This year, Penn State will travel to the Palestra. Coach Reina was excited for this match as it will be a "good test early in the season to see where our team is at." Penn State has a large following, so get tickets to this one early if you plan to be in attendance. Coincidentally, two of the four coaches on Penn's staff are Penn State alums (Bryan Pearsall and Mark Hall). Sunday, January 9th - Oregon State will travel to the City of Brotherly Love to wrestle both Drexel and Penn on the same weekend, actually the same day. Pretty interesting to travel nearly 3,000 miles to wrestle one team, then literally walk 3 blocks to wrestle the other team. The Oregon State Beavers are slowly improving under second-year head coach, Chris Pendleton and staff. Sunday, February 6th - A unique event, in which Cornell will bring both their wrestling and gymnastics team to the Palestra in Philadelphia. Penn and Cornell will have a wrestling dual meet simultaneously with the gymnastics meet, calling it a "Rumble & Tumble" event. This has been done before by other programs, but not very often. What a great way to display some of the most underappreciated athletes in all of sports. The one-of-a-kind Cheeseteak Trophy Sunday, February 13th - The friendly Drexel-Penn Rivalry will battle for the Cheesesteak Trophy, which may be the coolest trophy in all of wrestling. Drexel has had the honor of showcasing the trophy on their campus for the past 5 years. The match is always high in attendance, competitive, and most importantly, competitive! These guys train in the off-season with the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center - causing so much familiarity between athletes. Expect this dual to be a thriller, coming down to the last match. Looking further down the line, for those of you who prefer to plan at least a year ahead of time, the EIWA Conference Championships will be held at Penn in March of 2023. The year 2025 will be a huge year for wrestling in Philadelphia, as Penn and Drexel will co-host the NCAA D1 Championships. The last time the event was held here was in 2011. After 16 cities put in bids to host in 2025, Philadelphia was chosen. The Wells Fargo Center and greater Philadelphia area better be ready for the wrestling fans to ascend in March of 2025. Here is the full schedule.

The 2021 individual NCAA champions (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) InterMat's 2021-22 preseason rankings have been released! They can be found here ! Since it is early September, these are very fluid. Many schools are trying to figure out weights, so we will likely see some shuffling between now and November. After doing extensive homework for the rankings, we have included wrestlers we expect to see compete during the 2021-22 campaign. Freshmen from the Class of 2021 have not been included. They will be added as they compete and if they warrant inclusion. Freshmen from the Class of 2020 that did not enroll in school last year have not been included. They will be added as they compete and if they warrant inclusion. Most of the time, preseason rankings focus only on results that occurred during the previous season. This time we have given some additional weight to results before the 2021 season. The reasoning behind this decision is that Ivy League schools did not compete at all and some conferences were limited as to where they could compete. There are some notable wrestlers in the transfer portal. They have not been included. Once they make their transfer intentions known, they may be added. Dual Meet and Tournament rankings only factor in wrestlers considered for the rankings. Teams with true freshmen projected to start may appear lower than their actual levels initially. Due to the "free year" eligibility-wise in 2021, there are very few notable wrestlers that competed last year and are not back for this season. Therefore every weight class could be considered "stacked". This should benefit the fans with some incredible matchups. But, keep that in mind when looking at the rankings! Have fun!

Gabe LaVey competing for NC State On August 18th, it was back to school for students at Averett University in Danville, Virginia. Of course, that included a large contingent of wrestlers seeking to compete for head coach Blake Roulo's Division III program. But, back to school had an entirely different connotation for one of the team's newest faces, Gabe LaVey. As a 28-year-old, who will turn 29 before the start of the season, LaVey is looking to get some form of closure on a journey he started a decade ago at NC State. This sort of thing happens from time to time at non-DI schools, so why exactly is LaVey's story different from others of this ilk? Well, Gabe has already established himself as one of the top high school and club coaches in the Commonwealth of Virginia. LaVey even has the hardware to prove it, as he was named the state "Club Coach of the Year" at the Cadet/Junior level by VAWA (Virginia's USA Wrestling Chapter). At the high school level, LaVey's Atlee Raiders crowned a pair of 5A state champions and finished as runner-up's in 2021. In the sometimes cut-throat world of club coaching, LaVey is one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the state. His Hanover Hawkeye Club, located less than 20 miles from downtown Richmond, is one of the more consistent clubs in the state. They consistently send talented middle schoolers to high school and multiple high school wrestlers to college each year. But amid this success, LaVey has decided to temporarily step away from coaching to return to competition. Gabe LaVey (right) receiving his VAWA Coach of the Year award from VAWA executive director Jack Harcourt (Photos/Gabe LaVey Instagram) So who is Gabe LaVey? Gabe is originally from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania and got into wrestling in seventh grade at the urging of his football coach. A year later, he decided to forget about football and concentrate on wrestling year-round. He appreciated that starters on the wrestling team were determined via wrestle-offs rather than coaches' decisions. LaVey didn't crack the starting lineup as a freshman but was able to get a ton of mat time and won 30 or 35 bouts. After that school year, he decided to move to the Mechanicsville, Virginia area with his aunt, who could "provide any opportunity I needed." Wrestling was still a central part of LaVey's life as he assimilated to life in Virginia. Though he initially caught on in the club scene with the Head twins, Dalton and Geoff, a pair of ex-Virginia Tech wrestlers coaching at Hermitage High School, LaVey decided that Hanover High School was a better fit for him socially. It was "more like where I came from" in Pennsylvania. While LaVey found success in Virginia during his sophomore year of high school (District and Regional champ and fifth in the state), Gabe admits he "struggled against anyone really elite." One of those elite wrestlers that put a beat down on him at the state tournament was Hayfield's Raymond Borja, an eventual NCAA qualifier at the Naval Academy. During the spring after his sophomore season, LaVey ran into "Big" Joe Dance, father of future Virginia Tech's two-time All-American Joey Dance. They were living in Mechanicsville at the time and recommended LaVey try out a practice at Team Predator. Ran by JUCO national champion and NCAA Round of 12 finisher for Old Dominion, Mark Strickland, Predator had become "the place" to train in Central Virginia. During his initial visit, LaVey "got the dog piss beat out of me by Strickland" and loved every second of it. He knew immediately that "it was the place I needed to be." After a slight adjustment to Predator's intense, grueling schedule, LaVey began to flourish. A couple months after finishing 1-2 at the Super 32, LaVey took eighth place at the Beast of the East, defeating a young Zach Epperly (future 2x All-American for Virginia Tech) along the way. That same year, Gabe won a Virginia AAA state title (when there were only three classes). Interestingly enough, LaVey's regional final in 2010 saw him defeat Deep Run High School's Peyton Walsh in the marquee bout of the evening. Walsh went on to qualify for the NCAA Tournament on three occasions at the Naval Academy and even made the Olympic Trials finals this year in Greco-Roman. LaVey would call his senior year "not spectacular, but always right there." He was eliminated in the bloodround at the Super 32, the Beast, and NHSCA Senior Nationals. Sandwiched in there was a sixth-place finish at the Ironman. This time, LaVey was on the right side of the Round of 12. He clinched a podium spot by pinning eventual Old Dominion 2x All-American Chris Mecate. Now that it was time for college, LaVey turned to one of Strickland's roommates from Garden City Community College, Lee Pritts, then an assistant at NC State. When looking at Pritts, LaVey saw many similarities to Strickland in terms of their intensity and technique. He also loved how, "if you were one of Pritts' guys, he'd go to war for you." Year one in Raleigh was about as expected. While LaVey had some of the usual freshman struggles, on and off the mat, overall, he felt like it was a good year. That offseason, the NC State brass decided a leadership change was necessary and Pat Popolizio was hired from Binghamton. In our recent feature about the rise of Popolizio during his early days at Binghamton, he noted that he needed a culture change and controlled the times the Bearcats trained, aiming for early-morning workouts. A similar situation occurred at NC State and the new head coach came in "with the intention of cleaning house," said LaVey. "He obviously wanted to create a new environment, which he did and did well." This was difficult for LaVey to comprehend while he was in the heat of the moment as a student-athlete. Looking back, with his coaching experience, LaVey understands why such changes were necessary. At the time, LaVey made the decision to give the new staff a shot. Though he followed the rules, the experience wasn't the same and wrestling was more like a job than ever better. He even questioned his love for the sport. Once winter break rolled around and LaVey went back home, he decided he was done with wrestling at NC State. He would finish the spring semester and explore transfer opportunities. Unfortunately, LaVey admits he didn't do everything he needed academically to transfer and couldn't latch on anywhere else. That forced Gabe to return home to Mechanicsville, where he worked construction and assisted at the club and high school level, but was just generally "kinda lost." As luck would have it, LaVey was offered a head coaching position with the Hanover Hawkeye club. Knowing the level of maturity he'd need to demonstrate to the young kids looking up to him, LaVey spent the entire summer living in the Outer Banks (NC) and "partying my butt off. I had to get it all out of my system. I knew what I would expect out of my coaches if I was one of those kids." After the summer in the Outer Banks, LaVey has been 100% committed to Hanover Hawkeye. As with most people, living in 2020 under Covid conditions, things changed for LaVey. He decided to take some classes part-time, along with his job at the local middle school and his various coaching responsibilities. Limited time for classes was frustrating and Gabe figured "it would be much faster going full-time." And he could wrestle! Also, he didn't have to look too far to find inspiration, in terms of an older guy returning to college. In 2020-21, Alex Turley (older brother of Rutgers AA Jackson) enrolled at Averett as a 26-year-old freshman. Turley went 20-3 overall and finished seventh and earned All-American honors at the NWCA National Tournament. Turley, along with Averett head coach Blake Roulo and LaVey, all trained together at Team Predator. LaVey and Turley were actually in the same regional weight class in 2011. He won that bracket, along with a state title, while Turley was third in the region. Seeing Turley's success made Gabe think, "I can do that too." Overall, LaVey isn't too concerned about the transition on the mat back to competing. "I've been on the mat six or seven days a week since I left school, between private workouts, practices, and camps. Deep waters are where I need to go." The main focal point this summer was working on his mobility and cardio-type workouts. LaVey did have a setback over the summer working out with the University of Virginia's volunteer assistant Jack Mueller. He suffered an upper injury which prevented him from getting on the mat until last week. Gabe LaVey with his Hanover Hawkeye wrestlers at Fargo in 2019 (Gabe LaVey Instagram) Now that you know a little bit about Gabe LaVey, you probably have some of the same questions that I had about his return to the mat. As someone who is in their late 20's, what is your living situation like? Will you stay in the dorms? Originally, Gabe had the idea to "convert a van into a tiny home and live in it. It would be useful for late on while I do camps and such." Unfortunately, that van idea did not come to fruition and LaVey has taken a more conventional route of renting a room in house with a teammate and an ex-baseball player. How will the relationship between yourself and head coach Blake Roulo work out? "We'll have to see. We've been teammates and friends in the past; I think I'm actually older than him. (Blake is 28). But he trusts me. I want to take on a leadership role in the room and help out in any way I can. I think it will be a healthy relationship and a smooth transition." Having coached at the club level for years and being active coaching on state-level teams, how will you feel possibly competing against kids you previously worked with? "They're gonna get it. I'm gonna treat them the same as anyone else. I'd expect them to do the same." What weight will you go? "Still undecided, but leaning toward 149. I sit around 152, but can fluctuate. We'll see what the hydration tests say. I'm not sure how I feel about cutting weight for an extended period at almost 30, but 141 is a possibility." What happens to Hanover Hawkeyes while you are at Averett? 3x Division III All-American Kevin Donahue of Cornell College has assumed head coaching responsibilities. Donahue is also a Mechanicsville native and wrestled in high school at St. Christopher's in Richmond. Outside of the actual season, LaVey plans to make the almost-three hour commute on the weekends and help out at the Sunday practices at Hanover Hawkeye. Since he recently purchased a house in the area, he doesn't intend on selling. How will your mentality change from being the athlete as opposed to being the coach? "I'm going in with an open mind. It will be different being the athlete every single day and focusing on myself rather than planning practices and such. I'll get to focus on what I need to do rather than everyone else. It will probably be kind of a relief." Do you see yourself being a better/smarter wrestler now getting to compete after years of coaching others? "Oh yeah. As a coach, I worked with anyone from beginners to Evan Buchanan (three-time state champion currently at the University of Virginia). Before, as an athlete, I was just doing things by muscle memory. But having to break down the little details and explain them to little kids, those were details I never thought about while I was wrestling. Now I have a much better feel on the mat." What's the endgame? What do you hope to achieve at Averett? "Just to see what I got. It's an opportunity to prove to myself that I can do it. I can get on the podium...on the top. I always thought I could do it….why not now?" Throughout the year, we'll follow up with Gabe and Averett to document his return to the mat.

Zach Hartman at the 2021 EIWA Championships (Photos/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com.com) *updated from the original article on MatScouts from May 5, 2021* If you are reading this article, it means you are slightly intrigued by the notion of adding Fantasy College Wrestling to your stable of Fantasy Games: Rotisserie Baseball, Snake or Auction Fantasy Football, Daily Fantasy, even filling out your NCAA Brackets with your friends. Be prepared though, this isn't going to be as easy as you think. Fantasy College Wrestling is a different animal entirely. Unlike Fantasy Football, Jane from Accounting is not walking away with the football crown in your office league. Wrestling is secretive. It requires research, scouring message boards, listening to any and all podcasts to get that 7-second snippet of information. And sometimes, you just don't know if that wrestler you picked up with your only Add/Drop for the week is actually going to wrestle in that tournament he was entered into until an hour before it starts. Some coaches keep their information close to the chest, while others will be forthcoming. Depends on the team, the wrestler, and the situation. Remember, “[Suriano is] down in the room now wrestling.” Until recently though, we wrestling fans didn't really have any great options to participate in our own kind of fantasy season. It's time-consuming, even though it's roughly the same length as the fantasy football season. Either each team tallies their own points for the week, where every other team will be suspicious if the numbers add up, or one person does the score sheet for each team which can take for-ev-er. Lucky for us, the guys at

Joey Butler (left) with teammate Isaiah Poppe (photo courtesy of the Butler family) How it started: 2017 InterMat Article on Joey Butler How it's going: Joey Butler, a Cadet-athlete at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, is no ordinary college freshman. With aspirations to go into the military from a young age, he knew that attending military college was a goal of his. The journey to wrestling at The Citadel started when he was in kindergarten playing tee-ball, when a parent talked to his dad, Joe Sr., about the recreational youth wrestling program. Joey, who loved WWE at the time, figured it was like what he saw on tv, so he decided to try it out and stuck with it. In around the fourth grade, Joey had joined a local club team and was wrestling in larger tournaments, while playing football and lacrosse, but after seeing his success on the mat, he decided to focus on wrestling. After earning multiple accolades in New Jersey's Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling, Joey was a Maccabi Games placer, traveling to Israel in 2017 to wrestle with athletes from Israel and Russia. Fast-forward to his junior year of high school and Joey took a visit to The Citadel, where he knew it was the program for him. Joey is the recipient of an Army ROTC scholarship, which means that he will serve five years in the Army upon graduation. “It's really a disciplinary thing; you're being taught the military way,” Joey says of his future experience as a Cadet-athlete. Joey wrestled his freshman year of high school in the 106lb weight class, and is projected to wrestle 165 this season with The Citadel. Wrestle in My Shoes began when Joey was in the fourth grade at 10 years old, when he noticed at a wrestling tournament that four or five kids were sharing the same pair of wrestling shoes. He asked his dad why these kids had to do this, and his father, Joe Sr., told Joey that these kids weren't able to afford their own pairs of wrestling shoes. During this time, Joey was also attending Hebrew school, so he could have a Bar Mitzvah which requires a social action project, or a mitzvah project. He knew what he wanted to do: collect wrestling shoes for kids who couldn't afford them. And Wrestle in My Shoes was born. While he didn't continue with Hebrew school or have a Bar Mitzvah, Wrestle in My Shoes took off and has continued to be a great success globally. Over 3,000 pairs of shoes, over 50 mats, and other wrestling gear have been donated worldwide. The most recent large donations have been wrestling shoes and mats to Puerto Rico, which involved clubs throughout New Jersey serving as collection sites for wrestling shoes. “We do whatever it takes to help out and whatever is best for everybody.” Joey's attitude toward helping others is a perfect fit for The Citadel's vision statement: “Achieving excellence in the education and development of principled leaders,” as well as their core values of honor, duty, and respect. When asked what he looks forward to most about his college experience, Joey is excited to find the balance between academics, cadet responsibilities, ROTC, and Division I wrestling. We wish Joey much success as he has given so much to the wrestling community, promoting the world's greatest and oldest sport! To make a donation or to apply to be a donation site please visit:

Braxton Amos at the UWW JR Trials earlier this year (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com Braxton Amos is telling a funny story about his roommates, Ethan Rotundo and Graham Calhoun. They have a wall in their house in Wisconsin, a Wall of Fame, or Wall of Shame, where letters and certificates and other things are on display. "My bronze certificate will go up there," Amos says with a chuckle, referencing his recent bronze-medal finish at the Junior Greco-Roman world championships. The rest of his newest awards - the actual bronze medal, plus the freestyle gold, the first-place certificate, the world championship belt - will go home with him to West Virginia. It's been a busy summer, and Wisconsin students don't start class until after Labor Day, so he planned a trip to see his family before the fall semester begins. When he returns to Madison, he will leave his medals, certificates, and championship belt behind. This is by design, Amos explains. He does not need reminders of what he's done because he would rather focus on what he wants to do next. And Braxton Amos has some big, big plans. "The belt and medals, I'll leave them with mom and dad," Amos says. "It's good to sit back and smile and look at the medals and the belt for a little bit. To some extent, it's sunk in, but there are other goals we're chasing. "My goal is not to be a world champ. My goal is to be an Olympic champ. And at the end of the day, my job is to keep winning and not relax until we have an NCAA trophy sitting in the team room." 'It's going to be good for me, it's going to suck for him, and it's going to be a lot of fun for everybody else' Amos became one of the wrestling world's newest darlings over the last six months. Surely you know the results by now. At the Last Chance qualifier in late March, Amos qualified for the Olympic Trials in both freestyle and Greco at 97 kilograms (213 pounds). At the Trials a week later, he made the Greco finals by beating Eric Twohey, a long-standing contender; Lucas Sheridan, a three-time national team member; and Nick Boykin, a U.S. Open champ. G'Angelo Hancock swept Amos in the finals, but the message was clear: he had arrived. A month after, in May, Amos made both the men's freestyle and Greco Junior world teams at 97 kilos. He went 10-0 with 10 technical falls across both tournaments and outscored his opponents by a combined 101-4. He wrestled a total of 12 minutes and 19 seconds across those 10 matches, including 3:50 total in his five Greco matches. He won them all in the first period, and won six in less than a minute. "I felt great," Amos says. "It actually made my dad mad at trials. He would say things like, 'Hey, this kid is really tough,' and I'd be like, 'Who cares? It's going to be good for me, it's going to suck for him, and it's going to be a lot of fun for everybody else.' "That's just how the training had my confidence. I had confidence in who I was training with, where I was training." The onslaught continued at the Junior World Championships in Russia. Amos stormed to a freestyle title, outscoring his four opponents 36-9. He punctuated his gold-medal run with an explosive 5-point throw in the finals, capping an 11-4 win over Turkey's Polat Polatci. He was the first of three men's freestyle world champs for the United States, which finished third in the team standings behind Iran and Russia. Four days later, Amos went 3-1 and won bronze in Greco. He is just the third American to win medals in both freestyle and Greco at the Junior world championships in the same year, joining Gary Albright (1983) and Adam Coon (2014). He is the only one of those three to win a title while doing so. Taken altogether, Amos's last six months have looked like this: a 28-5 overall record at the Junior and Senior levels; a collective scoring advantage of 251-69; 18 shutouts; and his five losses came to Ben Honis, an All-American from Cornell; Kollin Moore, an NCAA finalist and Olympic Trials finalist; twice to Hancock, an Olympian, and Russia's Aleksei Mileshin in the Junior Greco world semifinals. He did all of this, by the way, after separate bouts with both COVID-19 and mono in December 2020. Amos says his training basically started from "rock bottom" to start 2021 and they built up from there. He only hoped to qualify for the Olympic Trials in Greco and "maybe third or fourth" in freestyle. Not bad, kid. "When we first got him 12 months ago, he wasn't talking like this," says Jon Reader, Wisconsin's associate head coach. "He wasn't this confident. The progression he's made over the last year, you see a guy who's blossomed into a killer. "The reason he's so special is because he's willing to do whatever it takes. It's really special to see a young kid come in, recognize it, understand it, wrap his head around it, and just go to work. He's bought in on every level." That's what's going to make his collegiate encore so intriguing. 'He expects to be a national champion … we are fired up to get this season started' Because of his performance over the last six months, the expectations for Amos - as well as the Wisconsin program - have surged skyward. Consider: between 2015 and 2019, seven U.S. wrestlers combined to win nine Junior men's freestyle world titles: 2015: Spencer Lee 2016: Lee and Mark Hall 2017: Hall, Daton Fix and Gable Steveson 2018: Mekhi Lewis 2019: Mason Parris and David Carr All seven have either won an NCAA title or at least made the finals. In that same span, 14 other U.S. wrestlers have won medals at the Junior world championships: 2015: Stevan Micic (bronze), Aaron Pico (bronze), Nathan Butler (bronze) 2017: Mitch McKee (silver), Ryan Deakin (silver), Zahid Valencia (silver), Kollin Moore (bronze) 2018: Aaron Brooks (silver), Zach Elam (silver), Brady Berge (bronze) 2019: Vito Arujau (silver), Lucas Davison (silver), Trent Hidlay (bronze), Gabe Tagg (bronze) Eight of them - Micic, McKee, Deakin, Valencia, Moore, Brooks, Arujau, Hidlay - have become NCAA All-Americans. Valencia and Brooks both won titles. Micic, Moore and Hidlay all made the finals. (Also, that's not including Fix's two other Junior world medals; he won bronze in both 2016 and 2018.) Four others have qualified for the NCAA Championships: Butler (bloodround), Elam (bloodround), Berge (bloodround) and Davison (round-of-16). Tagg spent two years at North Carolina before entering the transfer portal, and Pico forwent a college career to fight, but also reached the finals of the 2016 Olympic Trials. And that's not even counting both Keegan O'Toole and Rocky Elam, the two Missouri stars who won men's freestyle world titles alongside Amos in Russia after earning All-American finishes for the Tigers in March. Or even Taylor LaMont and Cohlton Schultz, both Junior Greco world medalists who became NCAA All-Americans, too (Schultz won Greco bronze in 2018, then gold in 2019; LaMont won Greco bronze in 2016). There are some high expectations here, in other words, and Amos, only a true freshman for the' 21-22 season, is perfectly fine with that. "This was something we expected," says Chris Bono, Wisconsin's head wrestling coach. "He expects to be a national champion. That's why we recruited him. He expects to wrestle at the highest level and be the best version of himself." Amos will step into a Badger lineup that could be sneaky good in' 21-22. He plans to start at 197, sandwiched between two-time All-American Trent Hillger at 285, and, possibly, Chris Weiler at 184, who reached the NCAA quarterfinals for Lehigh in 2018 before transferring to Wisconsin and qualifying for the NCAA Championships in 2021. Elsewhere, the Badgers have plenty of talent and potential. Eric Barnett returns at 125 pounds after earning All-American honors in 2021. Kyle Burwick, an NCAA qualifier at 133, is also back. Wisconsin also added a pair of immediate-impact transfers: Austin Gomez, a past Cadet and Junior world-teamer who reached the bloodround in 2019, and Andrew McNally, a 2021 MAC champ who reached the bloodround in 2021. The collective talent will make Wisconsin a team worth following throughout' 21-22. If all things go according to plan, the Badgers could be a quiet darkhorse contender for a trophy at the NCAA Championships. More realistically, they'll be highly-competitive in the top-half of the Division I ranks, a welcomed change after going 1-6 and finishing 12th at last season's Big Ten Championships. At the front of that surge will be the 20-year-old freight train that is Braxton Amos. He became a star this past spring and summer, and is only expected to shine brighter over the next five years in Wisconsin - and perhaps decorate that Wall of Fame, or Wall of Shame, a little more along the way.

Cornell Robinson (right) at the 2018 Walsh Ironman (Photo Courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) About three weeks after we reported that Wyoming Seminary's head coach Scott Green was leaving the program to pursue a coaching position with Army West Point, the school filled their vacancy by hiring Cornell Robinson as its next head coach. Robinson comes to Wyoming Seminary after serving as the head coach at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He has led the Christian Brothers program since the 2014-15 season. Along the way, Robinson's team captured Missouri state titles in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In addition to his high school coaching accolades, Robinson and his wrestlers have enjoyed success on the international stage. Joshua Saunders made a Cadet and Junior World Team while at CBC in 2018. Cevion Severado was a Junior World silver medalist in 2017 in Greco Roman. Severado also captured a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships the following year. Robinson has become an integral part of USA Wrestling's coaching staff. He was a coach on the 2021 Cadet World team that finished second in men's freestyle with six world medalists. One of those medalists was another of his CBC wrestlers, Luke Lilledahl. Luke was a silver medalist at 48 kg. Robinson will take over a team that is expected to contend for a National Prep title and the number one spot in the national high school rankings. At least eight members of the 2021-22 team are currently in the national rankings, courtesy of MatScouts.

The North Idaho College staff with Head Athletic Trainer Randy Boswell (Photo/Anna-Lee Marie;anna-leemariephotography.mypixieset.com) Wrestling coaching staffs across the country are defined by household wrestling names. Often overlooked are support staff members, whose primary responsibility is keeping athletes on the mat, which is crucial to the competition process. Inclusive in the 2021 NJCAA Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee class is a name not familiar to many households, but a face that is no stranger to wrestling's greatest moments. Randy Boswell has been a part of four NJCAA Wrestling Championship team titles as the North Idaho College Head Athletic Trainer. He traveled with the 2013 World Freestyle team to Russia and Armenia, and was requested to work both the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, and the 2017 World Championships in Paris, France. Boswell's resume is extensive on both the NJCAA and USA Wrestling platforms. What has developed immensely, and has grown his success, is the investment of relationships with both athletes and coaching staff personnel. “I didn't get [to the Hall of Fame] on my own. That wasn't me,” Boswell said. “If those coaches don't ask you to get on the bus, that never happens. I'm grateful [to] those people for asking me to tag along.” Boswell has been a crucial part of the North Idaho College Athletic Training Staff for over 28 years. The first four years, he worked with the Cardinals Head Coach John Owen, who in 1993, introduced Boswell to working international wrestling events. Boswell's four years with Owen were followed by 22 years with Head Coach Pat Whitcomb. During Whitcomb's tenure, Boswell and Whitcomb found themselves a part of some of North Idaho's most prominent historical NJCAA moments. “Whether it's an individual that's winning [a championship], to know what they've gone through to make it to that point, or a team title,” Boswell said. “We've seen some very good moments.” Boswell's tenure with North Idaho continues under Coach Mike Sebaaly. As Sebaaly continues on the tradition of success at North Idaho, Boswell continues to be a crucial part of the Cardinal Family. “When you talk about North Idaho College, if there is one person that has been here for it all, it's Randy Boswell,” Sebaaly said. “He bleeds Cardinal Red.” Boswell stressed the importance of the relationships he has developed with the coaching staffs at North Idaho, but also his family's willingness to allow his athletic training success to carry onto other levels and locations. “It takes a special person,” Boswell said in regards to Jennifer running the household when he was traveling. “It does start there, but even when I was traveling, there were coaches that said, ‘Hey, do you want to bring your [son or daughter] along?'” Relationships, both at home and with his coaching staff, have been most important in Boswell's successful career. Boswell and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, and two grandchildren. North Idaho College Head Athletic Trainer Randy Boswell (Photo/Anna-Lee Marie;anna-leemariephotography.mypixieset.com)

Marine Infantryman Rylee McCollum (left) and Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak (right) On Thursday, two explosions rocked the gates at Hamid Karzai International Airport killing 13 U.S. Service members and an estimated more than 100 Afghan civilians. In a sport that's often viewed as synonymous with character and toughness, it's no secret that many that come from it often go on to serve in the military. Unfortunately, some became casualties here. Marine Infantryman Rylee McCollum and Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak were two of the servicemen killed in action Thursday. McCollum wrestled for Jackson High School in Wyoming. He was a state qualifier in 2017 at 120 and again in 2018 at 126. At the state tournament in 2018, he fell in the first round to the eventual state champ. He scrapped all the way back through the consolation side of the bracket before falling in the consolation semifinals, then eventually finishing in sixth place. Rylee was just three weeks away from becoming a father. His sister stated his plan after the military was to go to school to become a history teacher and coach wrestling. "He wanted to be a Marine his whole life and carried around his rifle in his diapers and cowboy boots," she said. "He was determined to be in infantry… Rylee wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach when he finished serving his country." Max Soviak was a Navy Hospital Corpsman from Milan, Ohio. He was a member of the Edison High School Charger wrestling team. According to reports, Soviak was a multi-sport athlete that competed in football, wrestling, and track. Soviak was the lone Navy Corpsman killed in the attack. His wrestling team posted their condolences on Twitter.

2021 Junior World Champion Kennedy Blades (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Last Friday, Kennedy Blades showed the rest of the world what wrestling fans in the United States have known for years. Not only was she capable of winning a world title, but she's the next big thing in women's wrestling. That'll happen when you cap an incredible Junior World Tournament with a : 16-second fall in the finals. In reality, the fall probably should have been called in half that time, but you can excuse an official who is not accustomed to seeing such a performance in a gold medal match. Blades' 16-second fall over Germany's Lilly Schneider wasn't the only dominating showing of the tournament. It was almost par for the course. None of her four opponents managed a single point and only one was able to survive past the first period. A couple months ago, at the Olympic Team Trials, Blades made the best-of-three finals by downing 2019 Final X participant Alex Glaude, 5-0, before teching two-time world team member Forrest Molinari, 11-1. Though she fell in the Trials finals, Blades acquitted herself against eventual Olympic Gold Medalist Tamyra Stock-Mensah, better than almost anyone in the world. Past Senior world medalists and champions couldn't amass the five points she tallied on Mensah-Stock over two matches. Not bad for a high school senior! (or junior at the time of the Trials) So the question is, "What Next," for Blades? A possible berth on the Senior World Team in 2021 at 72 kg and the U23 World Championships are on the docket in the short term, but we're talking about after that. If Blades were a boy growing up in America, every major DI program in the nation would have fought for her services. Similar to the warranted hype surrounding Gable Steveson coming out of high school in 2018. Chances are, with the way that recruiting works, she would have already committed to one of those DI superpowers. But, since only two "true" DI schools have women's wrestling (Presbyterian and Sacred Heart), projecting her future plans gets a little murky. We've come up with a couple possible pathways for Blades and her long-term plans. 1) Go to the US Olympic & Paralympic Training Center Traditionally, this has been a route for women's wrestlers with talent levels close to Blades (though there are not many). The women's national team coaches are excellent, so it would certainly be a good decision, strictly wrestling-wise, for Blades to work closely with Terry Steiner, Clarrisa Chun, Jessica Medina, and crew on a daily basis. Two Olympic finalists around Blades' weight, Mensah-Stock and Adeline Gray, also train out of Colorado Springs. You couldn't ask for better partners than those two. Other high-quality women around that range are also in the Springs. Now looking forward to 2024, Blades would have to go through either Mensah-Stock or Gray to make the Olympic team (if both are still wrestling). That probably isn't an immediate concern, though. She won her world title at the non-Olympic weight 72 kg. A caveat to this is that on the Baschamania podcast, released yesterday, Blades mentioned her desire to "go to the same college" as her sister, Korina. Which leads us to other avenues. 2) Take the traditional Women's Collegiate Wrestling Route There are plenty of great options for Blades if she wants to wrestle in college at a school with an existing program. Heck, if she doesn't want to leave her home state (Illinois), she can find McKendree and North Central. Both are relatively young programs that have torn up the recruiting trail and have teams that will vie for national team titles. Outside of Illinois, King University, Simon Fraser, and Campbellsville all put wrestlers on the 2020 Olympic Team and consistently have national title threats. There's something to be said about being part of a team and going straight to the Olympic Training Center may not be for everyone. As fans, we tend to overlook our favorite athletes' personal lives and pretend they are robots, just focused on wrestling. Would living on a campus with three other teammates, doing the everyday things that college students do, be best for her long-term development as a person? Really, only Kennedy and those closest to her know the answer. From a strictly wrestling standpoint, does rolling through collegiate competition benefit her most? I know matches aren't wrestled on paper, but Blades has crushed domestic competition at her age group for years. We have to mention another 2021 World Champion, Emily Shilson, who has gone this route and wrestles for Augsburg. Shilson was a mega-star at the age-group level and obviously, wrestling in college hasn't hampered her development. Maybe a rivalry with fellow Junior World Champions Amit Elor or Kylie Welker could develop if any of the three are at the same collegiate weights? That could go a long way in growing a fanbase for women's college wrestling. 3) RTC/Powerhouse Colleges As mentioned earlier, the Penn State's and Iowa's of the world, ones that would typically be all over a recruit of Blades' stature, currently do not offer women's wrestling. But there are plenty of RTC's that have had success with women's wrestlers. Arizona State/Sunkist Kids, Penn State/NLWC, Oregon State/Dam RTC, North Carolina/Tar Heel WC, Virginia Tech/SERTC, Iowa's Hawkeye Wrestling Club previously had a large contingent. In today's mailbag, Willie mentioned how there is plenty of traction behind the scenes for Power 5 and Ivy League schools to add women's wrestling. Could Blades attend one of these schools and train with their RTC's, hoping they will add? Or maybe she joins an RTC without going to school at the affiliated University. At the Olympic Trials, there were whispers that a prominent DI school that is pushing for women's wrestling already had visions of Blades wrestling in their singlet. Doing that would be a combination of these options. Don't rule out Blades doing more than one of these items. Maybe she goes to the OPTC for a year, while the college administrators are getting their ducks in a row, regarding adding women's wrestling. Then goes to school. Or goes to school and then the OPTC. However, this plays out, it will be fascinating, as this is a scenario that we have not encountered thus far with a girl's high school wrestling prodigy of Blades' caliber. We'd be remiss not to mention her fellow world champions Elor and Welker. Like Kennedy, both are still in high school and already have gold medals at a U20 world bracket. They will both have similar options and decisions to make. Hopefully, all of these young women have the people closest to them giving them the best information to make the best decision for their respective situations.

Penn State's Bryce Jordan Arena (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's a rather slow time of year. In between Cadet Worlds, Tokyo, and Junior Worlds, there is a lull right now before we all ramp up for World Team Trials. Most of the questions that I've received asked about Trials predictions. We'll get to that. Next week, you'll be inundated with analysis for the Trials on InterMat, MatScouts, and probably every other wrestling media outlet. So I'll hold off till then. In the meantime, there were two major news spikes to perk up our ears during an otherwise period in wrestling. The first was Tulsa's new President, Brad Carson, responding to a report that Tulsa was considering adding wrestling, perhaps for both women and men. Carson attended The University of Virginia and has a Senior Associate Athletic Director, Brian Scislo, that coached wrestling at Ohio University. After our Big 12 Correspondent, Seth Duckworth, broke the news, wrestling aficionados flooded Carson's inboxes and timelines with positive messages on the value and virtues of wrestling. Carson responded thusly: I don't know if Tulsa will start wrestling programs. But what I do know is that I'm proud of the wrestling community. That's the way to advocate and that's the way to communicate. A few days later, report came out via StateCollege.com discussing Penn State's need to satisfy proportionality requirements; PSU has 15 women's sports and 16 men's teams. Some wrestling fans showed support, but probably not to the level they did for Tulsa. The prospect of women's wrestling at Penn State makes a lot of sense. It's a wrestling-crazed state, has a huge, national brand, and is in a location that makes traveling to competitions easy and cost-effective (Lock Haven, which already began a women's program, is 20 minutes up the road). But Penn State could also be the snowball that begins an avalanche of movement by major universities bringing women's programs to life. Several major schools - from Oklahoma State to most of the Ivies - have basically indicated that it was only a matter of time. Someone - some blue blood wrestling power or some academic monolith - is going to be the first major school to launch the sport. Why not PSU? We have to strike now. We have to use the momentum (and social media buzz) that our Olympians just provided for us. Women wrestlers can be college stars. And their performance in Tokyo exceeded almost all other women's sports by every metric: success, social media visibility, and television coverage. Tamyra Mensah was featured at SummerSlam, people! Write to Athletic Director Sandy Barbour. Athletic_Director@athletics.psu.edu Tweet at her: @SandyB_PSUAD Let your voices be heard. This Week's questions: Why do international wrestling venues refuse to get normal mats instead of tarps? It looks 2nd class; like a high school dual in the 60's. - @redblackwrestlr Yes. Yes, it does look 2nd class. And I hate it. You'll often hear that some wrestlers like the feel of those tarps better. But, let's be real - the actual issue is that they are much cheaper both in terms of materials and shipping (to far-flung places such as Ufa, Russia). UWW has done an outstanding job at elevating the level of presentation at World events. You can see it on the stream, and it's even more impressive in person. It's obvious that a lot of work goes into it and that it is a point of emphasis. So I don't think the tarp-mat decision is one that isn't deliberated on. Remember that UWW mats underwent wholesale changes over the past six or seven years. There's not a ton of regular UWW-specific mats floating around across the world. I can't believe I'm doing this right now, but, let's go back a few years. This is since the new orange/blue scheme was implemented: 2021, Tokyo - Tarps 2019, Nur Sultan - Tarps 2018, Budapest - Tarps 2017, Paris - Mats 2016, Rio - Tarps 2015, Las Vegas - Mats Perhaps it's a decision of the host nation. Perhaps it's as simple as availability. If I were to guess, I'd imagine that you'll continue to see tarps sometimes, but that as more and more UWW Orange/Blue mats are produced, their usage will go up. Now that I tackled that hard-hitting, controversial question… "Will the Big Ten Pac 12 ACC alliance thing have any major impact on wrestling or just a couple duals between the conferences here and there?" @oldestgreatest It's more difficult to get Dems & Republicans to agree on something on Capitol Hill than it is to get college coaches on the same page. There were some significant talks about an ACC - Big Ten challenge type thing in wrestling this year among coaches. But hell will freeze over before anything official, requiring all Big Ten programs to participate, would be passed. There's only one thing mandatory - conference championships. And that ain't changing anytime soon. If college wrestling were to add an 11th weight where should it be? @jagger712 I hate this question. 1) Because I think college has it nailed perfectly and 2) because it's going to make me reconsider a previous take. That being said, an 11th weight is a good (best) problem solver for a tied dual. As the nature of wrestling currently is and considering the talent of those who participate, if you're forcing me to add an 11th weight, I'd want to spend it on another weight within the current first five. Something like this: 124-130-137-142-150. But here's where I am reconsidering… I've always said adding a 215/220 is totally idiotic. And it is. There's absolutely no need for it other than a few outlying tweeners. If you weigh 215, you can cut down or bulk up. You're fine. Just like every other freakin' weight class. If you disagree, go cry me a river. Plus, adding 215/220 would just dilute the already uninspiring depth at 197 and 285. You'd be making two ho-hum weight classes three really eye-rolling weight classes. This is not about the size of the average male. It's about the size of the average talent and adjusting for the general population would do nothing but make the sport worse. Now - that being said… I think we're seeing a lot more athletes stick with wrestling and becoming stars rather than play DIII football. Should that trend continue, I'd be more than open to revisiting the discussion down the road. 125-133-141-149-158-168-178-190-215-285 Do you think head coaches need to look outside their program to hire at least 1 assistant? I use OK state as an example. Everyone on staff wrestled for John. Not saying they aren't good coaches, just maybe an outside perspective couldn't hurt. - @jferg24 No. You crazy? First, let's use your example. Oklahoma State has at least four guys on their staff that are DI head coach material. Espo's been tutored by John W. for two decades now. Chris Perry should single-handedly made AJ Ferrari's title become a reality. And Tyler Caldwell is the best young recruiter in the entire country. But let's venture outside of OK State. Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State… All have had very few coaching changes. Outside perspective is very, very helpful. And some programs should look to bring new voices in. But don't force it. Ok, fine, I'll do one WTT question… Who is most likely to shock us all at WTT's? - @matsquatch3 Ryan Deakin. The guy always plays with our emotions. He's had a full summer of both getting healthy and getting fresh looks at RTC's all around the country.

Ethan Aguigui competing for Guam (Photo courtesy of Ethan Aguigui) If you are immersed in the world of Wrestling Twitter, you have probably seen the name Ethan Aguigui. But who is this man and how did he get to Blacksburg, Virginia, from the beautiful island of Guam? Ethan was born and raised in Guam and came from a very tight-knit family. "My family always pushed the importance of education, so going to college was expected." Aguigui looked at the University of Hawaii and several schools on the west coast but ultimately ended up at the University of Michigan. "The west coast schools and Hawaii are a lot more culturally similar to growing up in Guam, but Michigan is a great school and was an opportunity I couldn't pass up." In Ann Arbor, he studied English and Communications and wrestled for the UM Club Wrestling team. "I had never wrestled folkstyle before, so it was pretty eye-opening. Folkstyle is tiring! I grew up just wrestling freestyle, so it was an adjustment for sure." After graduating, he stayed on with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club and trained while representing Guam on the world stage. Aguigui had hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio; he was unable to qualify through his Continental, so he made the trip to Mongolia for the Last Chance Qualifier. Though he didn't qualify for Rio, this tournament would be life-changing in another way. Here he met Frank Molinaro and his coach with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, Cody Sanderson. "We met in the sauna in Mongolia when we were both making our final weight cut, but I didn't think much about it after the tournament," said Molinaro. After Rio, Molinaro was an Assistant Coach at Penn State when he ran into Aguigui taking a tour of the wrestling facilities. The two realized where they had met previously and Molinaro invited him to train at the NLWC. "I immediately saw how hard of a worker he was and knew that it could benefit the program to keep him around." He trained in State College for 10 months, and when Molinaro was hired by Tony Robie to join the staff at Virginia Tech in 2017, Molinaro asked him to make the move to Blacksburg as well. Aguigui started in Blacksburg during the beginning of Tony Robie's head coaching tenure and has been a big part of the growth of the SERTC. "The whole time I was in Blacksburg, Ethan lived with us; he was just another part of the family. He is an amazing person and it has been great to see his growth both on the mat and professionally," said Molinaro. Aguigui plays many roles within the RTC in addition to training and recently has helped manage the online and social media profile of VT Wrestling. "We've seen the importance of social media and how it gets more eyes on the program….we are proud that we are consistently near the top in social engagement". Across social platforms, the Hokie's social media is regularly in the top 10 of all programs in engagement on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Ethan Aguigui (Photo courtesy of UWW) Aguigui continues to train and compete for Guam. He won the Oceania Championships in 2018 at 65kg and again in 2019 at 61kg. He was a favorite to qualify for the Tokyo Games in the Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier, but was derailed by an injury. "Watching that from the stands was difficult, to see someone else getting your dream. But I don't stay mad; I repurpose it for motivation." Aguigui contemplated ending his competitive career after the Tokyo Olympics, but hasn't made a firm decision yet. "I thought about leaving my shoes out on the mat, but since it is a shorter time until the next games, I think I'll give it a try." His days at 57kg might be at an end--Aguigui is a 'tweener and competes in non-Olympic years at 61kg. "I'm going to listen to my body and that is going to tell me what I'll do for the next few years." The NJRTC/SERTC team at the RTC Cup; (Aguigui far right) (Photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) There is no shortage of talent in the SERTC room to help push him to the next level. Aguigui speaks very highly of the work ethic and overall demeanor of the resident-athletes in Blacksburg-James Green, Ty Walz, Jenna Burkert, and Nahshon Garrett, as well as the VT wrestlers who compete for the RTC in freestyle and Greco--including Bryce Andonian, who just won a Bronze at the Junior World Championships. "We are set up for a lot of success in both programs and I'm grateful and excited that I get the chance to be a part of it." Both the SERTC and VT programs have the feel of a very close family, and that is a big part of their current success. "I'm beyond thankful for how Coach Robie, the staff, and the team welcomed me to Blacksburg. They have made me feel like family since the day I got here."