InterMat Staff

2021 Junior World Champion Kylie Welker (Kadir Caliskan; UWW) Men's Freestyle 57 kg Gold - Ramazan Bagavudinov (Russia) Silver - Muhammet Karavus (Turkey) Bronze - Manvel Khndzrtsyan (Armenia) Bronze - Assylzhan Yessengeldi (Kazakhstan) 61 kg Gold - Rahman Amouzadkhalili (Iran) Silver - Ravinder (India) Bronze - Fedor Baltuev (Russia) Bronze - Alibeg Alibegov (Bahrain) 65 kg Gold - Shamil Mamedov (Russia) Silver - Ziraddin Bayramov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Bekzat Yermekbay (Kazakhstan) Bronze - Beau Bartlett (USA) 70 kg Gold - Erfan Elahi (Iran) Silver - Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Bryce Andonian (USA) Bronze - Stanislav Svinoboev (Russia) 74 kg Gold - Keegan O'Toole (USA) Silver - Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay (Kazakhstan) Bronze - Yash (India) Bronze - Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) 79 kg Gold - Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) Silver - Ashraf Ashirov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Mukhammad Abdullaev (Kyrgyzstan) Bronze - Baliyan Gourav (India) 86 kg Gold - Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (Iran) Silver - Rakhim Magamadov (France) Bronze - Islam Kartoev (Russia) Bronze - Sagadulla Agaev (Azerbaijan) 92 kg Gold - Rocky Elam (USA) Silver - Mahdi Hajiloueianmorafah (Iran) Bronze - Pruthviraj Patil (India) Bronze - Nicolaas DeLange (South Africa) 97 kg Gold - Braxton Amos (USA) Silver - Polat Polatci (Turkey) Bronze - Deepak (India) Bronze - Ali Abdollahi (Iran) 125 kg Gold - Ali Akbarpourkhordoouni (Iran) Silver - Lyova Gevorgyan (Armenia) Bronze - Kumar Andirudh (India) Bronze - Andrei Bestaev (Russia) Women's Freestyle 50 kg Gold - Emily Shilson (USA) Silver - Enkhzul Batbaatar (Mongolia) Bronze - Simran (India) Bronze - Zehra Demirhan (Turkey) 53 kg Gold - Emma Malmgren (Sweden) Silver - Mihaela Samoil (Moldova) Bronze - Emine Cakmak (Turkey) Bronze - Choigana Tumat (Russia) 55 kg Gold - Alesia Hetmanava (Belarus) Silver - Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) Bronze - Munkhgerel Munkhbat (Mongolia) Bronze - Sito (India) 57 kg Gold - Nilufar Raimova (Kazakhstan) Silver - Aurora Russo (Italy) Bronze - Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) Bronze - Sezim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) 59 kg Gold - Anastasiia Sidelnikova (Russia) Silver - Aryna Martynava (Belarus) Bronze - Madina Aman (Kazakhstan) Bronze - Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) 62 kg Gold - Alina Kasabieva (Russia) Silver - Devi Sanju (India) Bronze - Korina Blades (USA) Bronze - Birgul Soltanova (Azerbaijan) 65 kg Gold - Irina Ringaci (Moldova) Silver - Bhateri (India) Bronze - Viktoria Vesso (Estonia) Bronze - Amina Capezan (Romania) 68 kg Gold - Amit Elor (USA) Silver - Elizaveta Petliakova (Russia) Bronze - Zsuzanna Molnar (Slovakia) Bronze - Nesrin Bas (Turkey) 72 kg Gold - Kennedy Blades (USA) Silver - Lilly Schneider (Germany) Bronze - Mariam Guseinova (Russia) Bronze - Daniela Tkachuk (Poland) 76 kg Gold - Kylie Welker (USA) Silver - Bipasha (India) Bronze - Kseniya Dzibuk (Belarus) Bronze - Dilnaz Mulkinova (Kazakhstan) Men's Greco-Roman 55 kg Gold - Amirreza Dehbozorgi (Iran) Silver - Alimardon Abduallev (Uzbekistan) Bronze - Elmir Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Akyikat Kulzhigit Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) 60 kg Gold - Dinislam Bammatov (Russia) Silver - Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi (Iran) Bronze - Mert Ilbars (Turkey) Bronze - Nihat Mammadli (Azerbaijan) 63 kg Gold - Said Bakaev (Russia) Silver - Diego Chkhikvadze (Georgia) Bronze - Niklas Oehlen (Sweden) Bronze - Iman Mohammadi (Iran) 67 kg Gold - Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) Silver - Sahak Hovhannisyan (Armenia) Bronze - Muslim Imadaev (Russia) Bronze - Marian Holubovskyi (Ukraine) 72 kg Gold - Evgenii Baidusov (Russia) Silver - Giorgi Chkhikvadze (Georgia) Bronze - Attila Toesmagi (Hungary) Bronze - Shant Khachatryan (Armenia) 77 kg Gold - Islam Aliev (Russia) Silver - Exauce Mukubu (Norway) Bronze - Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) Bronze - Mohammadhossein Azarmdokht (Iran) 82 kg Gold - Marcel Sterkenburg (Netherlands) Silver - Karen Khachatryan (Armenia) Bronze - Mohammad Naghousi (Iran) Bronze - Saba Mamaladze (Georgia) 87 kg Gold - Adlan Amriev (Russia) Silver - Tyrone Sterkenburg (Netherlands) Bronze - Oleksandr Prymachenko (Ukraine) Bronze - Tansel Ortucu (Turkey) 97 kg Gold - Pavel Hlinchuk (Belarus) Silver - Aleksei Mileshin (Russia) Bronze - Morteza Alghosi (Iran) Bronze - Braxton Amos (USA) 130 kg Gold - Muhammet Bakir (Turkey) Silver - Sarkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Amirmohammad Bayat (Iran) Bronze - Armen Choloian (Russia)

(Photo courtesy of Tulsa athletics) OU is headed for the SEC, which leads to some uncertainty about their future in wrestling as the conference doesn't sponsor the sport. Though there is a chance they could stay as an affiliate in the Big 12, most don't expect the conference will allow that. In a unique chain of events, it looks like there is at least some level of a possibility that the conference could have a replacement in the city that hosts their tournament. The University of Tulsa has publicly stated that they are looking to potentially add sports to grow their enrollment. Wrestling has been a sport that's been successfully used to do that in recent years, especially at the smaller college level. Most reading this know enough of the sport to understand why this could make sense. Oklahoma has been a traditional power historically on all levels of wrestling; they would have easy scheduling with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and would quickly develop a fanbase comparable to many other wrestling programs. But ultimately starting a new program takes a lot of things. Funding being a huge piece, and this early in the conversation would certainly be a bit of an unknown. But buy-in from the administration is just as if not more important than the funding piece. The Senior Associate Athletic Director for Tulsa is Dr. Brian Scislo. To say Scislo knows wrestling would be an understatement. The following is from Scislo's bio on the University of Tulsa website. "Scislo came to Tulsa following two years as a senior staff assistant in the office of the Director of Athletics at the University of Notre Dame. Before that, Scislo spent three years at Ohio University as an assistant wrestling coach while pursuing his master's degree in business administration in 2004 and sports administration in 2005. He earned his bachelor's degree in comprehensive social studies and political science from the University of Findlay (Ohio) in 2002. Scislo was a member of the wrestling team where he was a three-time All-American and two-time Academic All-America selection." You don't get to Scislo's position by doing things that are not best for the university you work for, but it's hard not to think that Scislo's familiarity with the sport and knowledge on how to develop a program could play a role in the decision making on what programs they may add. Further, the President of the University of Tulsa even seems open to the idea. Brad Carson Tweeted that he read the initial story suggesting wrestling as an option. Ultimately who knows how seriously the university is considering wrestling? Wrestling could be very much in play for Tulsa, or it could be an afterthought and they're simply humoring our sports' rowdy fanbase, who are obviously very excited at the prospect of a new wrestling program. But this warm reception is certainly a positive sign and if they add the sport, Tulsa could be the program that replaces OU if the conference holds together after their exit.

Braxton Amos (Kadir Caliskan; UWW) The last group of American wrestlers took the mat Saturday morning in Ufa, Russia, during the second day of men's Greco-Roman competition at the Junior World Championships. Day one of the Greco tournament yielded no wins for the US team; however, Kodiak Stephens was pulled into the repechage phase at 87 kgs. Stephens was eliminated from the tournament today as he fell 8-0 to Maksat Sailau (Kazakhstan) in his first repechage bout. This phase of Greco wrestlers fared better than the opening day, led by Braxton Amos at 97 kg. The Junior world freestyle champion was seeking to double up and win titles in both disciplines. Amos got off to an excellent start towards achieving those goals, as he tore through his first two opponents. In the Round of 16, Amos used a four-point throw to start the match and continued to post points in an 8-0 tech. A match later, he finished strong and scored seven points in the last 92 seconds of the bout to distance himself from Mustafa Olgun (Turkey), 8-1. The second win earned Amos a place in the semifinals opposite Aleksei Mileshin (Russia). Mileshin proved to be more Greco-savvy and blew the match open after a passivity call. Already ahead 3-0, Mileshin was able to expose Amos twice to bring his lead to 7-0. That forced Amos to push even harder for a score and Mileshin was able to avoid Amos' overtures and secure another first period takedown. The final takedown brought the match into the criteria for technical superiority. Since Amos advanced to the semifinals he'll automatically drop down into a bronze medal match. Tomorrow's repechage round will determine his opponent, but it will be the winner of Antti Henrik Haanpaeae (Finland) and Arkyt Orozbekov (Kyrgyzstan). Both fell via tech to Mileshin. The other American to post a victory on Saturday was one of the top recruits in the Class of 2022, Nic Bouzakis. Despite starting with an early two-point deficit, Bouzakis was able to pour on the scoring and down Spain's Miguel Loureiro dos Santos during an 11-2 tech. In his second bout, Bouzakis got down early again. This time it was to Arslanbek Salimov (Poland). Bouzakis couldn't replicate the comeback feat of his first bout and fell 12-5. He would get eliminated when Salimov lost in the semifinals. American Results 60 kg Nic Bouzakis (USA) over Miguel Loureiro dos Santos (Spain) 11-2 Arslanbek Salimov (Poland) over Nic Bouzakis (USA) 12-5 67 kg Muslim Imadaev (Russia) over Domenic Damon (USA) 10-0 72 kg Omer Dogan (Turkey) over Justus Scott (USA) 8-0 82 kg Mikhail Khachaturau (Belarus) over Jonathon Fagen (USA) 7-2 87 kg Repechage Maksat Sailau (Kazakhstan) over Kodiak Stephens (USA) 8-0 97 kg Braxton Amos (USA) over Yerzat Yerlanov (Kazakhstan) 8-0 Braxton Amos (USA) over Mustafa Olgun (Turkey) 8-1 Aleksei Mileshin (Russia) over Braxton Amos (USA) 9-0

Kadir Caliskan; UWW) The team race in the women's freestyle portion of the 2021 Junior World Championships came down to the very last weight class of the entire tournament. A loss by India in a bronze medal bout at 72 kg crushed any hopes they had of catching the United States. The US also had an ace-in-the-hole, Kennedy Blades, who was competing for the gold one match later. As it turns out, it may have taken longer to read this introduction than it did for Blades' entire bout. Like her semifinal bout, Blades didn't waste any time feeling out her opponent, Lilly Schneider (Germany). After a pair of level changes, Blades blew through her German counterpart with a big double leg. She elevated Schneider above her head for an incredible high-amplitude finish. Sensing a possible fall, Blades sunk in a half and looked for the kill. The official was too busy trying to signal four points for the maneuver and likely missed the fall at the eight-second mark! Even so, after a few seconds of squirming by Schneider, Blades was able to control her opponent for the pin. After only 16 seconds, Blades had become a Junior world champion. Yesterday we saw, Amit Elor and Kylie Welker put the finishing touches on tournaments that are absurdly dominant. Blades' performance in Ufa, Russia, is just as impressive, if not more! She outscored her first three opponents 31-0 before her quick finals pin. Only one of her four opponents managed to make it out of the first period. Looking ahead, three weeks from now, Blades has already registered for Senior Nationals at 72 kg. Blades' title gave the American women four for the tournament, which adds onto an already record-setting figure. Team USA also claimed five total medals. The other medal captured on Friday came from Kennedy's younger sister Korina. Competing at 62 kg, with Cadet eligibility, Korina notched an 11-1 victory over Viktoria Oeverby (Norway) to claim her medal. Two other American women competed for bronze medals on Friday, with Jaslynn Gallegos and Alara Boyd. Both were embroiled in back-and-forth, action-packed contests and were caught and lost via fall. Friday also marked the beginning of the Men's Greco-Roman tournament. The United States saw five wrestlers start their tournaments, but none of the group were able to come away with victories. Kodiak Stephens, at 87 kg, is the only of the bunch that was pulled back into repechage. He'll have to win three bouts tomorrow to come away with a medal. His journey back towards medal contention starts with a match against Maksat Sailau (Kazakhstan). Tomorrow the final group of Greco-Roman wrestlers hit the mat. Freestyle world champion Braxton Amos will be among the US contingent as he seeks to medal in both styles. American Women's Freestyle Results 53 kg Bronze Medal Match Choigana Tumat (Russia) over Jaslynn Gallegos (USA) Fall 4:10 62 kg Bronze Medal Match Korina Blades (USA) over Viktoria Oeverby (Norway) 11-1 65 kg Bronze Medal Match Viktoria Vesso (Estônia) fall Alara Boyd (USA) 3:58 72 kg Gold Medal Match Kennedy Blades (USA) fall Lilly Schneider (Germany) :16 American Greco-Roman Results 55 kg Iskhar Kurbayev (Kazakhstan) over Billy Sullivan (USA) 11-2 63 kg Iman Mohammadi (Iran) over Chayse LaJoie (USA) 8-0 77 kg Andreas Vasilakopoulos (Greece) over Matthew Singleton (USA) 7-0 87 kg Tyrone Sterkenburg (Netherlands) over Kodiak Stephens (USA) 8-0 130 kg Razmik Kurdyan (Armenia) over Luke Luffman (USA) 6-1

Clay Guida (left) and Mark Madsen(Photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) There has been plenty of wrestling to watch over the last few weeks, but the MMA machine keeps on moving. This weekend, in particular, there are a variety of shows complete with former wrestlers. The slate, which consists of shows from Bellator and the UFC, features multiple former Division I wrestlers, a multiple-time All-American and even an Olympic medalist. Bellator 265 Logan Storley was a four-time All-American at Minnesota who completed his eligibility in 2015. Later that same year, he made his MMA debut and has since built an 11-1 record. He returns to action here after suffering his first professional defeat against current champion Yaroslav Amosov. The comeback trail starts against a fellow wrestler as Dante Schiro was on the squad for Division III Wisconsin Whitewater. Taylor Johnson wrestled for Oregon State before transferring to Southern Oregon. At the new school, he became a three-time NAIA All-American and won a title in 2014. He defeated Lance Wright this past June and makes a quick turnaround here against Fabio Aguiar. Mike Hamel started his college career at Wyoming before returning to his home state to wrestle for Grand Canyon. There he became a Division II All-American. He currently holds a 7-5 record and takes on Bryce Logan on Friday. Archie Colgan also wrestled at Wyoming, where he was a four-year starter and a two-time NCAA qualifier. He came the closest to the All-American podium as a junior, where he made the bloodround but ultimately dropped an overtime match against Paul Fox of Stanford. Colgan has started his professional MMA career with back-to-back wins and is looking to make it three in a row against Ben Simons. Bailey Schoenfelder was a South Dakota state champion for Huron before playing football at Minnesota. He takes on another former high school wrestler from the Midwest as Kevin Childs wrestled for Ottumwa in Iowa. Childs will not be the only former Ottumwa wrestler on the card as fellow alumnus Kory Moegenburg fights Jeff Nielsen. This bout will also be another contest between two former wrestlers as Jeff Nielsen competed in college at Augustana. The preliminary card of Friday's Bellator 265 airs live on YouTube at 6:25pm ET. Showtime broadcasts the main card at 9:00pm ET. UFC Vegas 34 In the main event of this weekend's UFC show, Kelvin Gastelum will take on Jared Cannonier. Gastelum was a state champion in Arizona at the high school level. He then competed for a time for North Idaho College, but ultimately left the sport to focus on MMA. Gastelum will be an underdog against Jared Cannonier, and the former "The Ultimate Fighter" winner really needs a win after dropping four of his last five fights. Clay Guida wrestled at Harper College and has stayed true to his roots throughout his MMA career. However, he might be up against it here. He takes on Mark Madsen, who was a six-time World/Olympic medalist in Greco. Madsen made the finals of the 2016 Olympics at 75 kg and finished with a silver medal after coming up short against Roman Vlasov. William Knight was a state champion for Manchester High in Connecticut . He made the UFC after an impressive performance on Dana White's Contender Series. Knight takes on Fabio Cherant this weekend. Saturday's entire UFC card airs live on ESPN+ starting at 7:00pm ET.

NC State All-American Tariq Wilson (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As we hit the midway point in August and the collegiate regular season is within arms reach, it's almost time for preseason rankings. While InterMat is in the preliminary stages of amassing national rankings, we've had to find out potential lineup information about teams all over the country. During this research phase, plenty of interesting lineup-related tidbits were unearthed. Some are well-known; others may not have been mentioned publicly, yet. With so much to discuss and so many teams, we've had to break this up into two parts. Part number one covered team names (A-K), while this edition will include the remaining schools. Some schools have not been included as they don't have significant/unexpected changes, or we are still working to find information regarding their team. (Remember: this is still August, so information can change between now and November) Lehigh: Like many teams, Lehigh has plenty of options at their disposal in late summer. Their NCAA qualifiers at 125-149 are all back and expected at their same weights as last year. However, veteran Brandon Paetzell, the seventh seed at nationals in 2020, is projected to compete at 133 or 141. There's also the chance that 133 lber, Malyke Hines moves up to 141. The Mountain Hawks will get a boost at 157 lbs from two-time EIWA champ, Josh Humphreys, who missed the 2021 season due to an injury. NCAA qualifiers Brian Meyer and Jake Logan are back at 165 and 174, respectively, but will get a challenge from top Class of 2020 recruit, Thayne Lawrence. There should be a lot of competition at 184 and 197. 184 could see any of JT Davis, AJ Burkhart, or Jack Wilt prevailing. Michigan transfer Gaige Garcia and, possibly, Davis will contend at 197. Maryland: The Terps had a top-ten ranked recruiting class sign this spring, but for now, they could be headed for a redshirt. Both Zach Spence and King Sandoval saw time at 125 for Maryland in 2021, expect to see Spence there again and Sandoval moves up to 133. One key addition to the lineup will be John Martin Best at 165, who spent last year at the Air Force Academy's Prep School. He was a top-100 recruit coming out of high school. Another solid transfer for Maryland is their possible starter at 285 lbs, Zach Schrader. Zach was 25-5 for Cal Baptist in 2019-20 and 5-3 last year. A youngster that may crack the lineup at 174 lbs is Dominic Solis, who went 1-1 last year, but did not see action in any duals. Michigan: There are still too many moving parts to really get into Michigan, yet. Michigan State: It's still up in the air exactly where All-American Rayvon Foley may end up. He could go 125 lbs again, but 133 is also an option. If he moves up to 133, Tristan Lujan would be next in line at 125. Lujan has a redshirt available if needed. 2021 NCAA qualifier Jordan Hamdan stays at 133 if Foley remains down at 125. Hamdan could go up, as well. He, along with, Matt Santos and Jaden Enriquez, are in the mix at 141. NCAA qualifiers Peyton Omania, Chase Saldate, and Jake Tucker should be back in their 2021 weights. Four-time national qualifier Drew Hughes will not return, so Nate Jimenez and Caleb Fish should get a shot at locking down 174 lbs. Minnesota: The Gophers have a "Big" decision up in the air. Missouri: What a squad Mizzou has returning! All ten 2021 national qualifiers are set to return and at their same weights. The depth the Tiger coaching staff has begun to amass has led to more high-quality wrestlers in the mix for Brian Smith's team. Connor Brown (125), Josh Edmond (141), Sean Harman (174), and Colton Hawks (184) could start for most other teams and will still push for a place in the lineup. Don't be surprised if one or two ends up starting. NC State: Unlike many teams, NC State was very public in announcing some possible lineup changes in the early spring, so this may not seem like "new" or "groundbreaking" information. The Wolfpack sent nine wrestlers to the 2021 NCAA Championships and only Daniel Bullard (174) isn't going to return. Nick Reenan may or may not, too. With the hole at 174, there will be some movement. There should be some combination of Ryan Jack and Jarrett Trombley at 133 and 141, possibly with Jack at 133. That movement will lead to Tariq Wilson moving up to 149. In turn, Ed Scott will go up to 157 and four-time All-American Hayden Hidlay will bump up two weights to assume the role at 174. If Reenan is not back, Isaac Trumble will be the guy to beat at 197. Nebraska: A veteran Nebraska squad will undoubtedly be in the trophy hunt. Five super-seniors will return and assume their weight classes from 2021. The only real change for the Huskers will take place at 157/165. Peyton Robb went up to 165 last season and ended up with the #14 seed at nationals and a 2-2 record in St. Louis. He's set to move back to 157. That frees up a place for Bubba Wilson, who was 19-1 in 2019-20 while redshirting. Recently it was announced that Minnesota's 133 lb national qualifier Boo Dryden would transfer to Lincoln. He's expected to redshirt in 2021-22. Besides, Nebraska has depth at 133 as Tucker Sjomeling, Alex Thomsen, and Dominick Serrano are all vying for the starting role there. North Carolina: The most significant addition for North Carolina was receiving the services of graduate transfer Kizhan Clarke from American. The last time (2020) Clarke was able to compete in a regular season, he earned the #15 seed at nationals. Clarke fills a void at 149 because 2021 NCAA champion Austin O'Connor is slated to move up to 157. With Kennedy Monday gone at 165 lbs, freshman Sonny Santiago should step in. Santiago was 4-1 at 157 last season, with his only loss coming via injury default. 184 lbs is expected to be handled by a Kane, but it's the younger one, Gavin, a top recruit from 2020. Gavin was 4-1 at 174 lbs last year. Also in 2021, Brandon Whitman saw some action at 285 lbs. He'll continue to compete at that weight going forward. North Dakota State: The North Dakota State lineup may end up looking like you would expect it to look. No serious changes. However, one possibility is at 149, where Gaven Sax may emerge as the starter. Sax didn't get to see any mat time during his initial year in Fargo. A positional battle to watch takes place at 174 with Austin Brenner and Riley Habisch. Brenner won a one-point match between the two and ended up getting the nod in the postseason. Northern Illinois: Like NDSU before them, we're generally looking at a similar lineup for Northern Illinois in 2021-22. The one big difference comes at 285 lbs, where Terrese Aaron is inserted since Max Ihry has graduated and will not return. Aaron was 10-2 in primarily open competition in 2019-20, as a redshirt freshman. Ohio: Ohio-native Tommy Hoskins transferred back home from Oklahoma and will be in the mix to start at 125, alongside Oscar Sanchez. Aside from a possible new starter at 125, the other weight class to monitor is 197. Freshman Jordan Greer will have the opportunity to establish himself as "the guy" at the weight. Ohio State: There's a lot of if/then associated with the Buckeyes lineup. Anthony Echemendia could go down to 133 lbs, a weight that also could feature Jordan Decatur, Dylan Koontz, and Will Betancourt. Echemendia also could stay at 141, which is where national qualifier Dylan D'Emilio returns. The Buckeyes signed the top recruit in the Class of 2021, Paddy Gallagher, who projects at 157. Gallagher could get the nod, initially. Tom Ryan hasn't ever been shy about using true freshmen. Now getting to the fun part. 165 could either be Carson Kharchla or Ethan Smith. Smith also could go 174 with Kaleb Romero. Now, Romero could end up at 184, along with Rocky Jordan. And, Jordan could go up to 197, along with Gavin Hoffman. Oklahoma: A second Virginia Tech transfer in as many years is expected to contribute to the Sooners. This one is Joey Prata, a past national qualifier, that has the leg up on the 125 lb weight class. A couple of young kids could challenge Tony Madrigal at 133 lbs. They are Caleb Tanner and Oregon State-transfer Gabe Vidlak. Business as usual between 141-157. How about a double-take at 165 with national qualifier Anthony Mantanona down a weight. He's also joined by Rutgers graduate transfer Joe Grello. We can interpret that Greyden Penner should be ready to rock and roll at 174 lbs. There will be plenty of competition at 184 lbs, with Darrien Roberts/Keegan Moore/Talen Borror/Carson Berryhill all in the mix. Oklahoma State: There always seem to be a few questions surrounding the Oklahoma State lineup and this year is no different. Rumors are that Daton Fix may drop to 125. That hasn't been set in stone. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (125) and Reece Witcraft (133) are the most likely options for wherever Fix is not. Though talented, Kaden Gfeller has missed significant time during his tenure in Stillwater. He could go at 149, but if not ready true freshmen Victor Voinovich and Travis Mastrogiovanni may get the nod. 157 also has some depth with Wyatt Sheets, Jalin Harper, and Penn State transfer Austin Boone. There's less uncertainty in the back half of the lineup with Anthony Montalvo at 174 as an additional option to Dustin Plott, being the only thing out of the ordinary. Oregon State: The first year under head coach Chris Pendleton saw six Oregon State wrestlers qualify for nationals. That number could jump significantly as all six returns and THREE past NQ's have transferred in. Cory Crooks (149) and Gary Traub (285) fill potential holes. Tanner Harvey will help make a strength even more potent at 184 lbs. Harvey and Ryan Reyes could compete for that spot or Reyes could move up to challenge JJ Dixon. Other transfers that could end up helping out in 2021-22 are Matthew Olguin at 165 and Mason Reiniche at 174. Penn: It's been more than a year since we saw Penn in action and that team should look significantly different. UWW Junior runner-up Ryan Miller is probably the guy at 125 lbs. That allows Michael Colaiocco, an #11 seed in 2020, to move up to 133. One of the Quakers most improved wrestlers in 2019-20, Doug Zapf, is expected to make another significant weight jump and move up to 157 lbs. With that, 2019 Round of 12 finisher Anthony Artalona can move back to 149. CJ Composto could round out the lightweights at 141. Another big weight jump could come at 165 with Lucas Revano. Revano was 18-15 in 2019-20 at 149. There are plenty of options between 174-184, but Nick Incontrera and Max Hale may get the first crack at those weights, respectively. As one may project, Cole Urbas and Ben Goldin are veterans handling the final two weights. Penn State: Led by four NCAA champions, Penn State could threaten Iowa if the rest of the lineup falls in place properly. True freshman Gary Steen along with Baylor Shunk, are probably the options at 125. Some combination of Junior World bronze medalist Beau Bartlett, top 2021 recruit Shayne Van Ness, and Terrell Barraclough will handle 149. Joe Lee will move down to 157 to make room for Dave Schultz Award Winner Alex Facundo. Facundo has all the makings of "the next great" PSU star. Some of the biggest transfer news of the offseason included Max Dean moving to State College with the intention of starting at 197. He and Michael Beard will make for an interesting positional battle. Perhaps the biggest "new addition" would be a healthy Greg Kerkvliet at 285 lbs. He could contend for a national title, if so. Pittsburgh: The ACC continues to get better and Pittsburgh has done so in the offseason and could threaten the teams down south for regular-season supremacy. Two transfers could plug potential holes (Gage Curry - 125 and Elijah Cleary - 157) and fortify the lineup. Curry is a three-time national qualifier and Pittsburgh native. Cleary has shown flashes for Ohio State, but hasn't been able to maintain that momentum in the rugged Big Ten. Incumbent Colton Camacho will not go quietly at 125, though. The other unsettled weight is 149 lbs with Luke Kemerer, Mick Burnett, and Dan Mancini. Princeton: Time to "Get-In" for another exciting year of Princeton wrestling. Two mainstays will be back for the Tigers (Pat Glory - 125 and Quincy Monday - 157) and are capable of high All-American finishes. Some young Tigers will get the chance to shine at 133 with Anthony Clark, Nick Kayal, and Nick Masters as possibilities. Canadian Daniel Coles is an under-the-radar pickup and may be the answer at 141. That would allow Marshall Keller to go 149. Another uncertain weight is 165 with Grant Cuomo and Jake Marsh in competition. 184 has veteran Travis Stefanik, while the Tigers could go young at 174 and the two biggest weights. Nathan Dugan is a good option at 174, while stud freshman Luke Stout is ready to go at 197. Finally, Matt Cover may have the early upperhand at 285. Purdue: Generally, the Purdue lineup is what you'd expect. 133 may be the only exception. Freshman national qualifier Jake Rundell could get a chance to redshirt, while Minnesota transfer Matt Ramos goes. As of now, we have Gerrit Nijenhuis at 165 and Emil Soehnlen at 174, but there's the chance that the two could swap. Rider: The Broncs will have a new 125 lber since Jonathan Tropea is not expected to return. That lets Tyler Klinsky get a shot. Richie Koehler and Iowa State transfer Jacob Perez-Eli are the two options at 133. Perhaps the biggest offseason pickup for Rider was Ohio State transfer Quinn Kinner. He is expected to compete at 141 or 149. If he goes 141, it will allow McKenzie Bell to redshirt. With NCAA runner-up Jesse Dellavecchia in the coaching ranks, 165 lb national qualifier Jake Silverstein will move down to 157. After he drops, either Angel Garcia or Joe Casey could contribute at 165. 197 will have a familiar face as 2017 national qualifier Matt Correnti is back for a sixth year. Rider kept one of the state's top big men in-state with David Szuba. He's expected to go right away, while NCAA Round of 12 finisher Ethan Laird redshirts. Rutgers: There's a lot to still be decided with Rutgers' lineup. Last week, news broke that three-time New Jersey state champion Dean Peterson chose to flip his commitment from Princeton to Rutgers. If he can make 125, he may contribute immediately. If not, Dylan Shawver will be back. Some combination of Sebastian Rivera and Sammy Alvarez will handle 133/141. Rivera going down to 133 looks like it may be the answer. Also, in the mix at 133 is Arizona State transfer Nick Raimo, who comes back home. A pair of second-year freshmen will be vying for the 165 lb starting job with Andy Clark and Connor O'Neil. With graduate transfer Greg Bulsak coming in at 197 lbs, we could see Billy Janzer at 184. 2021 All-American John Poznanski does have a redshirt available, but will they use it? The lineup could be rounded out by either Boone McDermott or Alex Esposito, but 285 is a weight with plenty of options. SIU Edwardsville: No real surprises for SIUE. The biggest being 184 and 197 lbers Ryan Yarnell and Sergio Villalobos flip-flopping. Yarnell was 7-3 at 197 and Villalobos also posted a winning record at 184. South Dakota State: Lots of changes possible for a South Dakota State team that returns five national qualifiers. One of them, Danny Vega (125), will not be back. He's expected to be replaced by Tanner Jordan, who won eight of 16 matches last year. NCAA Round of 12 finisher, Zach Price, is ready to jump two weights and compete at 149. That frees up room at 133 for either Trayton Anderson or Caleb Gross. The previous starter at 149, Hunter Marko, will move up to 157 and battle Jack Thomsen for the starting role. That means 2021 national qualifier Cade DeVos will be up at 174 lbs. Don't forget about 165 lber Tanner Cook, who had a breakout year in 2019-20, but was injured last year. Some combination of Cade King, Jacob Schoon, or Tate Battani will handle 184. Finally, transfer AJ Nevills will be an anchor at heavyweight and solidify the lineup. Utah Valley: The Wolverines could be an interesting squad in 2021-22. A pair of transfers that barely missed the NCAA Tournament for Fresno State could be involved. Haiden Drury was 8-7 last year and picked up a win over NCAA #15 seed Mosha Schwartz. He'll be penciled in at 133. That moves 2021 national qualifier, Ty Smith, up to 141. The second FSU transfer is Hunter Cruz at 184. Cruz was 6-1 last season, but unable to compete at Big 12's. The big news regarding the Wolverines is that 2021 NCAA sixth-place finisher Demetrius Romero is set to drop down to 165 lbs. He'll make an incredibly strong weight class even deeper. Romero moving down opens a spot for Kekana Fouret, who was 6-4 as a freshman last year. Another useful transfer for UVU is Evan Bockman at 197. He was 4-3 for Cal Baptist last year, though all three losses came to eventual national qualifiers. Finally, Chase Trussell and Jayden Woodruff are returners that will both see time at 285 lbs. Virginia: There are a lot of familiar faces in new places for UVA, but the one significant addition from outside the ranks is graduate transfer Jarod Verkleeren. The 19th seed in 2020, Verkleeren was in and out of the Nittany Lion lineup the past two years, but should help stabilize a weight that could have been an issue for Virginia. Returner Denton Spencer will also be in the mix. Since All-American Louie Hayes won't return, 133 may have been a problem, as well. No longer as 2021 national qualifier Brian Courtney will move down from 141. Taking his spot will be Dylan Cedeno, who went 6-1 in extra matches last year with his only loss coming via one-point to 2020 national qualifier Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech). The Cavs will also flip-flop their 157 and 165 lbers. Jake Keating moves down to 157 and Justin McCoy will go up. A positional battle to eye is at 174 with national qualifier Vic Marcelli and past starter Robby Patrick. Virginia Tech: The big news and it's not particularly groundbreaking is that the Hokies NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis will go up to 174. That leaves a void at 165, which freshman Clayton Ulrey try to fill. He was 6-1 last season and appeared in one dual meet. His only setback came to two-time national qualifier Ben Barton (Campbell). Stanford grad transfer Nathan Traxler gives the Hokies a podium threat at 285 lbs and allows blue-chip recruit Hunter Catka an opportunity to redshirt. At 197 lbs, look for Andy Smith to continue to develop and get the call. An ongoing battle for a spot in the lineup will take place between Sam Hillegas and Gerardi. Hillegas was a top recruit from 2020 that went 5-5 last season and has a redshirt available, while Gerardi was a starter in 2019-20. VMI: VMI has quietly been going about their business and improving on the recruiting front. 197 lber Tyler Mousaw was an underrated pickup and nearly made the Big Dance as a true freshman. Now, the Keydets have a strong 1-2 punch of true freshmen at the front of their lineup. Two-time California placewinner Brayden Abell is expected to get unleashed from day one at 125. At 133 is New Jersey state sixth-place finisher Mike Tandurella. Job Chishko has posted winning records both years competing for VMI and is one of the team's top grapplers. He'll jump two weights to 165 for the season. Josh Yost is expected to take over the reins at 149. The move to 165 also signals that Jon Hoover will be at 174 lbs. There are a lot of young faces at 285 lbs, but it could be freshman Josh Evans that emerges as the guy. West Virginia: The elephant in the room regarding the WVU lineup is that former NCAA #2 seed Noah Adams has graduated and will not compete. In his absence, junior Jackson Moomau should see the bulk of the action at 197 lbs. Moomau was 4-5 last year. Perhaps the top recruit in the Class of 2021 for West Virginia, Jordan Titus, could be the frontrunner at 133 lbs. It's unclear exactly where Lehigh transfer Luke Karam will land. He may go 141 or 149. Without Karam, Jeff Boyd (141) and Brayden Roberts (149) are the two best options for head coach Tim Flynn's team. The remainder of the Mountaineer lineup is about what you'd expect based on last year's returners. Wisconsin: One of the team's that's used the transfer portal wisely, Wisconsin has continued to plug potential holes with proven talent. First is Andrew McNally at 174 lbs. McNally was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher and a three-time MAC finalist for Kent State. Another former Round of 12'er is Austin Gomez, who wrestled at Iowa State, like coaches Chris Bono and Jon Reader. Gomez initially was set to retire due to injuries, but has decided to give it another go with the Badgers. If he's anywhere near close to top form, it'll be a steal for Wisconsin. There was the assumption that blue-chip recruit Dean Hamiti would go right away at 157 lbs. Not initially, as incumbent Garrett Model will get the first crack at stabilizing the weight. A true freshman who IS expected to get unleashed from day one is Junior World Champion Braxton Amos at 197 lbs. Amos should rise to contender/favorite status at the weight immediately. The Badgers still have a lot to sort out at 149 and 165. Devin Bahr, Drew Scharenbrock, and Joe Zargo are in the hunt at 149. Joshua Otto, Tyler Dow, and Anders Lantz at 165. Wyoming: Not a whole lot of changes to Wyoming's 2021-22 lineup. And that's a good thing. Their teams tend to be a little underrated and tough from top to bottom. From 141 up, it should be the same as you remembered from the 2021 postseason. 125 could see either Jake Svihel or Brendon Garcia emerge as the starter. Garcia saw some time in dual action last year, while Svihel moves down from 133. Returning starter Job Greenwood is back at 133. Though he did not qualify for nationals, he picked up two wins over nationals qualifiers in the extremely deep Big 12. He'll face some internal competition from North Carolina transfer Jordan Ward. Ward did not compete for the Tar Heels in 2021, but was 1-2 the previous year.

2021 Junior World Champions Kylie Welker (left), Amit Elor (center), Emily Shilson (Photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) Coming into Thursday, the United States Junior Women's program had never crowned more than a single world champion in the same year. That fact was blown out of the water by three women who earned the honor and another that could achieve the feat tomorrow. Not only did three American women win world championships, but they also did so by dominating the competition. Emily Shilson (50 kg), Amit Elor (68 kg), and Kylie Welker (76 kg) all won their gold medal matches via technical superiority, none of which went scored upon, and each one finished the job in the first period. Shilson took the mat first and earned an early takedown off an arm drag. Fighting from behind, her opponent, Enkhzul Batbaatar (Mongolia), felt the need to initiate offense and attempted a shot on the American. Shilson blocked the attempt and spun for a second takedown. That's when the match spiraled out of control, in favor of Shilson, as she turned Batbaatar at least three times for a 10-0 win via technical superiority. The win marked the first Junior World title for an American woman since Maya Nelson did so in 2017. It's also the second world title for Shilson, a Cadet World Champion in 2018. Shilson's concise victory was a sign of things to come as Amit Elor stepped onto the raised stage just a few matches later. For Elor, a stout defensive ended up being the best offense, as she turned away an attempt from Elizaveta Petliakova (Russia) and grabbed an early takedown. From there, Elor proceeded to rack up exposure points from three leg laces, to lead 8-0. With such a substantial advantage, Elor used an underhook and bullied Petliakova around the mat. She appeared ready to set up a throw and end the match in grand fashion, but settled for a pair of step-out points. Elor only needed a minute and 51 seconds to win a Junior title. In three matches, Elor outscored her opponents 31-0 and never wrestled longer than 2:11. This win comes less than a month after Elor won a Cadet World Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Concluding a monumental day for the American women was Kylie Welker at 76 kg. Welker also appeared to be in a class of her own. She secured an early single-leg versus Bipasha (India) and earned four points for completing the hold and taking her opponent to her back. Just a short time later, Welker nullified a Bipasha shot attempt and spun for a takedown. Immediately, she transitioned into a leg lace and rolled twice for a sufficient point total to terminate the bout. Welker also won her world title by a 10-0 margin. During her run through the 76 kg weight class, Welker posted 31-0 scores, along with a first-period fall in the semis. Only one of her four contests made it past the halfway mark. This is now her second world medal (3rd at Cadet's in 2019) and first as a Junior. A possible fourth champion is standing by in the world finals as Kennedy Blades is slated to meet Lilly Schneider (Germany) with a 72 kg gold medal hanging in the balance. Blades entered the tournament as perhaps the most significant favorite among the American team. She has not disappointed either, outscoring her three opponents by a 31-0 clip. Blades' semifinal match will make any and all wrestling highlight reels after she started the bout with a five-pointer. Eager to jump on the scoreboard, just a few seconds into the match, Blades took a double-leg attempt but was stopped by her opponent, Saneh (India). Even though she couldn't convert the initial shot, Blades took Saneh's back and executed a picturesque back arch. Somehow, Saneh survived the first period, but only lasted 20 seconds in the final stanza before surrendering 10 points for a tech. Also chasing hardware is Kennedy's younger sister Korina, at 62 kg. The younger Blades had one of the more memorable moments in a day packed full of them. She trailed Turkey's Yagmur Cakmak by a 9-1 score and was endanger of falling via tech. While in charge of a front headlock, Blades hit a perfect dump, straight to the Turk's back and quickly held her down for a fall. While Blades lost in the semifinals, she still has the opportunity to capture bronze. She'll have to defeat the winner of the German and Croatian entry to bring home a medal. The next US woman with medal hopes is Jaslynn Gallegos at 53 kgs. Gallegos used an impressive array of big moves to log a 13-1 win over Chamodya Maduravalage Don (Sri Lanka) in the quarterfinals. The semis were not kind to her as it was all Emma Malmgren (Sweden), all the time. Malmgren put the finishing touches on a 12-1 tech as the final buzzer sounded in the first period. Gallegos will need to win one more bout to lock up a bronze medal. Finally, Alara Boyd is still in the medal hunt. The two-time Cadet world medalist had a rough draw and faced 2021 European Senior and U23 Champion Irina Ringaci (Moldova) in the opening round. Ringaci rolled to a 9-2 win. Since Ringaci made the finals, Body has been ruled into repechage. Boyd win need to win two bouts to earn bronze. Her first opponent will be Belarus' Yana Tretsiak. Full American Results 50 kg Gold Medal Match Emily Shilson (USA) over Enkhzul Batbaatar (Mongolia) 10-0 53 kg Jaslynn Gallegos (USA) over Chamodya Maduravalage Don (Sri Lanka) 13-1 Emma Malmgren (Sweden) over Jaslynn Gallegos (USA) 12-1 55 kg Repechage Munkhgerel Munkhbat (Mongolia) over Payton Stroud (USA) 10-0 57 kg Mansi (India) over Claire DiCugno (USA) 16-4 62 kg Korina Blades (USA) over Nadzeya Bulanaya (Belarus) 8-2 Korina Blades (USA) over Yagmur Cakmak (Turkey) Fall 5:03 Alina Kasabieva (Russia) over Korina Blades (USA) 10-0 65 kg Irina Ringaci (Moldova) over Alara Boyd (USA) 9-2 68 kg Gold Medal Match Amit Elor (USA) over Elizaveta Petliakova (Russia) 10-0 72 kg Kennedy Blades (USA) over Mariam Guseinova (Russia) 10-0 Kennedy Blades (USA) over Nurzat Nurtaeva (Kyrgyzstan) 10-0 Kennedy Blades (USA) over Saneh (India) 11-0 76 kg Gold Medal Match Kylie Welker (USA) over Bipasha (India) 10-0

2021 Junior World Champions Keegan O'Toole (left) and Rocky Elam (Photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) "Make sure the stars are in your right hand." Those were the instructions from Junior National freestyle coach Kevin Jackson to his newly-minted 74 kg world champion, Keegan O'Toole. They also may have consisted of the most in-match coaching O'Toole needed during Wednesday's gold medal match. O'Toole made the finals after pulling out remarkable comebacks in each of the quarter and semifinals. During both rounds, he won via fall from a cradle while trailing. Today, there was no such drama as O'Toole cruised to an 11-0 win on technical superiority over Kazakhstan's Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay. Though Kuanyshbay's first four opponents combined to score nine points (eight came in one match) against him, O'Toole didn't have much of a problem scoring on his Kazakh opponent. The bulk of the bout saw O'Toole stick to the basics and mount a 7-0 point lead over Kuanyshbay. But in the second period, Kuanyshbay tried to get on the scoreboard and expose O'Toole. That didn't work in his favor and O'Toole got the two points. He would end up in a familiar position, in a cradle, which the Missouri All-American used again to end the bout. This time he only needed two points for the tech, rather than a fall. O'Toole's win marks the fifth consecutive Junior World Championship won by an American at 74 kg. David Carr did so in 2019 after Mekhi Lewis won in 2018. Mark Hall captured the previous two titles in 2016 and 2017. Shockingly enough, O'Toole isn't the only Missouri wrestler to come home with a championship belt and a gold medal. Teammate Rocky Elam accomplished the feat, as well, at 92 kgs. While O'Toole used flash and flair to wow the crowd, Elam gritted and grinded his way through the tournament. Three of Elam's four wins came with a five-point margin of victory or less. Though Elam was in control for the first two close victories, he needed some dramatics to secure a gold medal. Rocky seemed to be cruising again after gaining two first-period points via a shot clock violation and a step-out. He got in on Mahdi Hajiloueianmorfah's (Iran) legs and appeared to be ready to add another two points to his tally. That wasn't the case, as the tall, rangy Iranian stuffed his advances and grabbed a takedown of his own. Since the scoring hold was larger than Elam's pair of one-pointer's, he held criteria. After more than a minute of struggling to deal with Hajiloueianmorfah's length, Elam finally penetrated the Iranian's defense. He would have to work for the takedown, however. Elam needed to adjust and readjust his finish attempts before finally corralling the legs for two go-ahead points, with only 15 seconds remaining. The official allowed Elam to work for a turn as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Elam won his own gold medal by the score of 4-2. He is the second member of his family to win a Junior World medal, as older brother Zach took silver at 97 kg in 2018. Shortly after Elam's bout, Wyatt Hendrickson took the stage at 125 kgs in a bronze medal bout. The Air Force sophomore held a 3-0 lead after the first period, but saw that fade away with a four-point takedown from Russian Andrei Bestaev. Hendrickson could never recover and fell, 7-3 and was denied a medal. That closed the book on the Junior men's freestyle tournament. The team amassed five world medals (three golds) and finished third behind Iran and Russia. Those three teams accounted for all ten world championships awarded (Russia - 2; Iran - 5). The last time the men's freestyle squad finished with a trio of titleists was 2017, when Hall, Daton Fix, and Gable Steveson won gold. Before the men took center stage Wednesday, the women's freestyle team kicked off their tournament. Three women ensured places in tomorrow's gold medal matches, Emily Shilson (50 kg), Amit Elor (68 kg), and Kylie Welker (76 kg). All three are no strangers to international hardware. Shilson is a two-time Cadet world champion and a Youth Olympic Games gold medalist from 2018. Elor dominated her way to Cadet gold just about a month ago. Welker was a Cadet World bronze medalist in 2019 and made the 2020 Olympic Trials finals, while still in high school. Shilson was tested in each of her first two bouts. Both were hard-fought bouts decided by three points. Shilson was down with under a minute remaining in the quarters and had to reel off six points to grab the win. The last match of the day ended up being the easiest for Shilson, as she needed just over two minutes to amass a 10-0 win against Simran (India). Neither Elor nor Welker surrendered a single point during their respective runs to the finals. The pair combined to outscored the opposition 42-0 (with a fall). Only one of their five bouts made it to the second period. At 55 kg, Payton Stroud is still in the medal hunt. She logged a 5-2 first-round win over Chile's Antonia Valdez Arriagada, before running into a buzzsaw in Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan). Bilimbek Kyzy teched Stroud 10-0, then won by fall in the semis. Stroud's path to a bronze medal starts with a repechage bout against Munkhgerel Munkhbat (Mongolia) tomorrow morning. The fifth member of the women's team that started competition on Wednesday was Mia Macaluso at 59 kgs. Mia started off strong but was stunned with a takedown to her back by Ebru Dagbasi (Turkey), which resulted in a first-period fall. Dagbasi fell in her next bout, which eliminated Macaluso. The remainder of the women's team will get their tournament underway tomorrow, too. Full American Results Men's Freestyle 74 kg Gold Medal Match Keegan O'Toole (USA) over Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay (Kazakhstan) 11-0 92 kg Gold Medal Match Rocky Elam (USA) over Mahdi Hajiloueianmorfah (Iran) 4-2 125 kg Bronze Medal Match Andrei Bestaev (Russia) over Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) 7-3 Women's Freestyle 50 kg Emily Shilson (USA) over Natallia Varakina (Belarus) 6-3 Emily Shilson (USA) over Viktoriia Aleksandrova (Russia) 10-7 Emily Shilson (USA) over Simran (India) 10-0 55 kg Payton Stroud (USA) over Antonia Valdez Arriagada (Chile) 5-2 Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Payton Stroud (USA) 10-0 59 kg Ebru Dagbasi (Turkey) over Mia Macaluso (USA) Fall 1:35 68 kg Amit Elor (USA) over Arju (India) 10-0 Amit Elor (USA) over Zsuzsanna Molnar (Slovakia) 11-0 76 kg Kylie Welker (USA) over Laura Kuehn (Germany) 10-0 Kylie Welker (USA) over Mariia Silina (Russia) 11-0 Kylie Welker (USA) over Kseniya Dzibuk (Belarus) Fall 1:04

2021 All-American Bernie Truax (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As we hit the midway point in August and the collegiate regular season is within arms reach, it's almost time for preseason rankings. While InterMat is in the preliminary stages of amassing national rankings, we've had to find out potential lineup information about teams all over the country. During this research phase, plenty of interesting lineup-related tidbits were unearthed. Some are well-known; others may not have been mentioned publicly, yet. With so much to discuss and so many teams, we've had to break this up into two parts. Part number one will cover team names (A-K), while the second will include the remaining schools. Some schools have not been included as they don't have significant/unexpected changes or we are still working to find information regarding their team. (Remember: this is still August, so information can change between now and November) American: Expect to see a lot of freshmen. There were a handful of veterans that entered the portal at the end of the year and ended up transferring out. The Eagles lone returning national qualifier, Tim Fitzpatrick, should be at 165 rather than 174, where he made the national tournament. Appalachian State: The Mountaineers return seven national qualifiers, each at the first seven weights. Those are all expected to be the same in 2021-22. At 184, Barrett Blakely may have the inside track on the weight. He hasn't seen dual-action yet, but is 23-14 over the past two years. Two true freshmen, Wyatt Miller and Triston Norris, along with incumbent Mason Fiscella, could start at 197. Arizona State: The four returning All-Americans for ASU are expected to maintain their same weights this season. Fresno State transfer Kyle Parco should slide in at 149 lbs. A weight class battle to watch should take place at 141 between Julian Chlebove and Jesse Vasquez. True freshman could be in the mix at 174 and 184 lbs. 174 will see Cael Valencia and Ryan Rochford compete. Redshirt freshman Josh Nummer could get pushed by Max Wilner at 184. Cade Belshay has graduated and may not return. Army West Point: The military academies do not benefit from the "free year" in 2021, so Army West Point's seniors last year have moved on to fulfill other commitments. At 141, Logan Brown and Corey Shie will fill in for Lane Peters. Rising seniors, PJ Ogunsanya, Markus Hartman, and JT Brown, are expected back at the same weights. Past national qualifier Ben Sullivan assumes the role at 285, as Robert Heald was a senior in 2021. A freshman could be in the mix at 165 in Dalton Harkins. Harkins had a tremendous senior year for Malvern Prep (PA) in 2019-20. Filling in for graduated senior Taylor Brown, at 184, is veteran Sahm AbdulRazzaq. He was 3-0 in limited action last year. Binghamton: The four Bearcat national qualifiers from 2021 are all expected back at their same weights this season. Past national qualifier, Zack Trampe, is not likely to return and DIII transfer Ryan Anderson should take his place at 141. Anderson was a huge recruit in the Class of 2019 and could be a difference-maker for Coach Kyle Borshoff's team. There is some uncertainty in the middle of the lineup as Michigan-transfer Nick Lombard could see time at 149 or 157. Also in the mix at those weights are Mike Zarif (149) and Alex Strashinsky (157). Last year, Cory Day saw his only action at 285 lbs. This year he's expected to contribute at 197. Bucknell: Perhaps the best positional battle for Bucknell will take place at 157 as both Nick Delp and Jaden Fisher are each capable in their own right. Bucknell does not use redshirts, so a few freshmen could push for time in 2020-21, even though the Bison lineup is primarily a veteran outfit. Kolby DePron (149), Nolan Springer (174), and Logan Deceatis (184) are first-year wrestlers that could test veterans ahead of them. Cal Poly: Cal Poly could be a tough team to deal with in the Pac-12 this year. The biggest news is the addition of three-time All-American Evan Wick at 165 lbs. There were some whispers above him moving up, but it appears he'll be at 65. But, one guy who is expected to move up is the Mustang's other All-American, Bernie Truax. Look for him at 184. Slotting in between the two is Adam Kemp, who went 4-5 at 165 last season. One of the freshmen that could see action in year one is Abe Hinrichsen at 133. Another change could come at 197, as Trent Tracy, who was at 184 in 2019-20 as a true freshman, is expected to bump up. Campbell: The back half of the Campbell lineup was its strength in 2021 and it will be this year too, with three SoCon champs and a runner-up. Each qualified for nationals and will return at the same weight. Also returning at their 2021 weights are national qualifiers Zurich Storm (125) and Josh Heil (149. Storm will face stiff competition for the starting role at 125, with two-time SoCon champion Korbin Meink and Fresno State transfer Anthony Molton lurking. Clarion: The Golden Eagles lost their only 2021 national qualifier (Greg Bulsak) via a grad transfer, but picked up a transfer themselves in Brent Moore (149). Another new face in Clarion's lineup is Will Feldkamp at 197 lbs. Feldkamp had a winning record for Northern Illinois; he just needs to stay healthy. Aside from swiping Feldkamp for Bulsak, the back half of the Golden Eagles lineup is basically the same. They'll have 2020 national qualifier Ty Bagoly as the anchor at 285 lbs. Clarion's top recruit from 2021, Joey Fischer, will be in an extremely deep weight (125) for Clarion, but still may emerge as the starter. Cleveland State: The Vikings had three national qualifiers in 2021, which was its best number since 2007. Each of those national qualifiers is expected back at their 2021 weights. Logan Heil won 24 matches in 2019-20 at 125 lbs, but went up to 133 last year. He should be back at 125 this time around. Heil will flip-flop with Cody Moosman, who was CSU entry at 125 in the postseason in 2021. Columbia: The cancelation of winter sports by the Ivy League robbed us of the opportunity to see the improvements in the Columbia program. Both of head coach Zach Tanelli's 2020 national qualifiers, Joe Manchio and Matt Kazimir, are back at 125 and 141, respectively. Insert Angelo Rini at 133 and the Lions have a nice, 1-2-3, punch to start off duals. 149 lber Danny Fongaro sat out the 2019-20 season and should be much improved. We'll likely see Class of 2020 Big Boarder Josh Ogunsanya make his debut for Columbia at 157. Also back from a year away is 165 lber David Berkovich. With the strong recruiting from Columbia, some freshmen could see significant time, as well. Cornell: For years, there have been rumors about Vito Arujau moving up to 133 lbs. Again, chances are he'll be back at 125, with 133 being handled by a combination of Greg Diakomihalis and Phillip Moomey. There has also been plenty of speculation about how Yianni Diakomihalis and Joshua Saunders will fit in at 141 and 149. For now, it appears that Yianni will go 149 with Saunders at 141. The majority of the lineup is young and should move up the rankings quickly. Perhaps the best positional fight to monitor is at 197 with All-American Ben Darmstadt and Jacob Cardenas. Drexel: Don't look now, but the Dragons could send out a lineup with six past NCAA qualifiers. One of those, Bryan McLaughlin, will be down a weight class from 2021. He was at 197 the past two seasons, but will compete at 184 lbs in 2021-22. Duke: Both Josh and Matt Finesilver should be back in action for the Blue Devils. Josh at 149 and Matt at 174. Duke also will get the services of Stanford transfer Gabe Dinette at 165 lbs. Dinette did not see mat time for Stanford in 2020, but went 6-4 the previous year. Franklin & Marshall: In addition to the Ivy League, Franklin & Marshall did not compete in 2021. The Diplomats have a 141 lber that should be a force in the EIWA in Wil Gil. In 2020, Gil earned two wins over eventual NCAA qualifiers. He's gone 81-38 during his first three years of competition. George Mason: The Patriots NCAA qualifier, Alex Madrigal, will make his return to the mat at 149 lbs. Madrigal has battled injuries over the years and did not see any action in 2021. Graduate transfer Laurence Kosoy was a past NCAA alternate and slots in at 165 lbs. There is some uncertainty at 197/285 as Austin Stith has the potential to go either weight at this point. Freshman Jon List (197) and Ali Salem (285) will provide competition to Stith in either scenario. Harvard: Another team that didn't compete last year due to Ivy League restrictions was Harvard. Leading off for the Crimson could either be returner Beau Bayless or freshman Diego Sotelo. One of Harvard's top grapplers, AJ Jaffe, should compete at 157, up from 149. Jaffe hasn't competed officially for Havard since 2017-18, but went 25-10 that season. Another top recruit that is set to return is Josh Kim at 174. Kim went 15-6 while competing unattached in 2019-20. Hofstra: Frankly, there are too many moving parts to properly project a Hofstra lineup, at this point. The positives are that head coach Dennis Papadatos has more options than in years past. Hofstra had seven national qualifiers last year and only lost Vinny Vespa (141). Returner Justin Hoyle should fill in for Vespa. Top freshman from Illinois, Joel Mylin, is likely to see a lot of mat time at 133. National qualifier Greg Gaxiola could go at 149 or 157. The team also has returning EIWA champion Holden Heller at 157. Word is Ross McFarland is much improved and could push at either 174 or 184. Sage Heller is probably the favorite at 174 but missed 2021 due to injury. Iowa: Generally, the Iowa lineup is pretty straightforward. There are some injury/recovery concerns to consider. Mainly Spencer Lee and his zero ACL's at 125. Maybe he is on a "pitch count" in 2021-22. The same can be said for Michael Kemerer at 174, who may not compete until the second semester. The big question in the lineup is at 184. Nelson Brands is the returning starter and was seeded 12th at nationals last year. The Hawkeyes 2019-20 starter, Abe Assad, is said to be healthy and ready to compete for the spot again. Iowa State: The Cyclones should be loaded in 2021-22. They will have returning national qualifiers at the first five weights. That's right, David Carr at 157 lbs. There was some speculation that Carr may move up to 165, but that may not be the case this year. It remains to be seen who will rise as the starter at 165. Last year's starter at 174, Julien Broderson, is expected back at the same weight. Where things get interesting are at 184/197. Marcus Coleman bounced between 174/184 in 2019-20, then went up to 197 last season. He is expected back at 184 this season. Cuban Younger Bastida will be at 197. That means that Iowa State is not expected to have Sam Colbray back. A new face at the back end of the Cyclone lineup is Sam Schuyler, who comes in from Buffalo. Schuyler was the 26th seed at nationals last year and picked up a win in St. Louis. Kent State: There will be a handful of new faces in the Kent State lineup next year and it should result in the team being very competitive in the MAC if everyone pans out. Louis Newell (133), Tyler Johnson (157), Najee Lockett (165), and Michael Ferre (174) are all transfers that will slide in the KSU lineup and contribute immediately. Lockett was the highest regarded recruit of the bunch but never officially competed for Cornell. National qualifiers Jake Ferri and Kody Komara are back at the 2021 weights. Another NQ, Colin McCracken, is expected to move down to 184, which opens up a place for Tyler Bates at 197. Bates went 5-6 at 184 last season.

2021 Junior World Champion Braxton Amos (Photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) On the first day that medals were awarded at the Junior World Championships, the Americans came away with three. Braxton Amos (gold), Beau Bartlett (bronze), and Bryce Andonian (bronze) all have some extra hardware with them for their journey back from Ufa, Russia. In addition, Missouri teammates Keegan O'Toole and Rocky Elam have secured a spot in tomorrow's gold medal matches at their respective weights. Finally, Wyatt Henderickson made the semifinals and dropped to a bronze medal bout after an excruciatingly close loss. In his gold medal match, Amos had to contend with a Turkish opponent, Polat Polatci, that was fearless in his attempts to score and has displayed some clutchness, by earning a last-second win in the semis via exposure. The Wisconsin freshman did his best to ensure there were no buzzer-beating heroics from the Turk, as he got to his offense early and often. Amos needed only :12 to register his first step-out point of the bout, then added two more before the one-minute mark. Another two made the bout 5-0 in favor of Amos late in the opening period. Polatci grew closer in a hurry after turning the tables on an Amos throw attempt for one of his own. Despite holding a 5-4 advantage in the closing period, Amos was not reluctant to sit on his lead or go conservative. Both big men were vying for position and a possible throw attempt during the bout's final minute. Polatci's momentum helped spark an incredible five-point throw from Amos that will be replayed thousands of times today by American fans. Just for good measure, Amos kept attacking and was able to add a final point via step-out to win 11-4. With his win, Amos made sure the men's freestyle team would have at least one Junior World Champion in 2021. The Americans have a current streak with one or more that dates back to 2015. The other two medalists were able to lock up their bronze medals with comebacks, though each was a bit different. Bartlett was not able to generate any offensive for the bulk of his 65 kg contest with Tajikistan's Mustafo Akhmedov and saw himself down 4-1 with under :30 remaining in the bout. Finally, the Penn State freshman broke through and landed a big double leg for four points, giving him a late lead. Akhmedov continued to push and that led to a counter takedown from Bartlett at the buzzer to win 7-4. Up a weight class, at 70 kg, Andonian found himself in a daunting hole, 8-2, with only a few seconds into the final period. The Virginia Tech 149 lber never wavered and continued to pressure and attack Moldova's Stanislav Novac. The tactics worked and Novac began to wilt under the American's pace. Andonian was able to tie the match at eight points, apiece, less than a minute later. He blew the bout open with a takedown and a pair of gut wrenches just after the 5:00 minute mark of the match. Finally, Andonian ended the bout at 18-8 with another takedown of the exhausted Novac. The two wrestlers with a shot to win gold tomorrow, O'Toole and Elam, both went about making the finals very differently. O'Toole had a ridiculous path that included 2020 Olympian Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) in the quarterfinals. Down 5-3, O'Toole locked up a cradle and recorded the upset. Next up was Russian Idar Khatanov in the semis. In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, but down on the scoreboard in the second period, O'Toole grabbed a takedown after prevailing from the quad-pod position. He got the points as a result of sinking in a far-side cradle on his Russian opponent. O'Toole then proceeded to roll across his back and stuck the stunned Russian. He'll move on to face Nurdaulet Kuanyshbay (Kazakhstan) for the 74 kg gold. Elam has used stingy defense and opportune offense to grab three wins at the 92 kg weight class. Like O'Toole, Elam had to dispose of a Russian in the semifinals, Ivan Kirillov. He'll meet Madhi Hajiloueianmorafah (Iran) in the gold medal match. The other medal contender in the bunch is Wyatt Hendrickson at 125 kgs. Hendrickson was bolstered by an opening-round forfeit, before steamrolling Jakub Czerczak (Poland) in the quarterfinals. He needed just :49 to rack up 10 unanswered points for the tech. In the semifinals, Hendrickson and Ali Akbarpourkhordouni (Iran) exchanged the lead five times before the Iranian settled in with a go-ahead step-out to take the lead with under :20 remaining. As the clock expired, Hendrickson almost was able to post a tying takedown, but came up just shy. He'll have to wait to see his opponent in the bronze medal match, based on repechage results. Full American Results 61 kg Jesse Mendez (USA) over Hamza Zopali (Turkey) 9-6 Fedor Baltuev (Russia) over Jesse Mendez (USA) 10-0 65 kg Bronze Medal Match Beau Bartlett (USA) over Mustafo Akhmedov (Tajikistan) 7-4 70 kg Repechage Bryce Andonian (USA) over Josley Dibo (Congo) Fall :24 Bryce Andonian (USA) over Asset Bauyrzhanov (Kazakhstan) 9-6 Bronze Medal Match Bryce Andonian (USA) over Stanislav Novac (Moldova) 18-8 74 kg Keegan O'Toole (USA) over Balint Balazs (Hungary) 10-0 Keegan O'Toole (USA) over Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) Fall 4:47 Keegan O'Toole (USA) over Idar Khatanov (Russia) Fall 4:54 79 kg Repechage Richard Schroeder (Germany) over Donnell Washington (USA) 9-6 86 kg Colton Hawks (USA) over Ilya Khamtsou (Belarus) 12-1 Daviti Kogoashvili (Georgia) over Colton Hawks (USA) 11-9 92 kg Rocky Elam (USA) over Mukhammadrasul Rakhimov (Uzbekistan) 8-3 Rocky Elam (USA) over Pruthviraj Patil (India) 12-2 Rocky Elam (USA) over Ivan Kirillov (Russia) 5-3 97 kg Gold Medal Match Braxton Amos (USA) over Polat Polatci (Turkey) 11-4 125 kg Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) over Danila Danilov (Belarus) FFT Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) over Jakub Czerczak (Poland) 10-0 Ali Akbarpourkhordouni (Iran) over Wyatt Hendrickson (USA) 8-5

2021 16U freestyle National Champion Gabe Arnold (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinphotos.com) "It's just wrestling, it's just a game," I remember hearing J'den Cox utter these words in his 2017 post World Team Trials victory interview, after defeating the favored David Taylor, and being in complete disgust. Just wrestling--a game?! Just hours beforehand, my husband and then, father of two, Richard Perry, got caught in a chest lock and lost to Nick Heflin on his path to the 2017 World Team Finals. I saw the disappointment on my husband's face as he exited the mat and left his dream of earning a 2017 National Team place and extra stipend behind. The countless hours of physical, mental and emotional preparation, the missed birthdays and anniversaries so he could attend extra training camps and trips with some of the best wrestlers in the world, the weeks apart from our children, and the endless studying of his opponents--it was not just a game. Wrestling, for many at the senior level, is a full-blown career; it's how these athletes support their families and secure their future as coaches. Each match, every tournament is an opportunity for a bonus check, accolades to propel your career, sponsorship opportunities and the ability to extend your resume. When I heard J'den Cox utter these words, I was furious; It took weeks, if not months, before I truly understood what J'den meant, and about a year before I actually knew where this philosophy developed and why it was so important to him. If you've followed J'den's career, you know his skill set is unmatched, and his work ethic, if measured by sweat, is insane. You also know his family plays a huge role as his support system--his mother, his sister, his grandma are always seen screaming and crying as they praise the Lord for each victory at almost every single domestic tournament. Typically, they are accompanied by Phil Arnold, J'dens uncle. While he is a little more on the quiet side than J's mom, he definitely is known for allowing his emotions to show, bursting into tears as though each of J'dens victories was his own. But that's just it, of all the family members found in J'dens cheering section, it's Phil who understands just how much is sacrificed to compete at this level, it's Phil who pours into J'den on the phone for hours at a time, it's Phil who helped to instill this, "it's just a game, it's just wrestling," mentality. Phil Arnold, if you know Missouri wrestling, you know the name. The 2x State Champion, who began wrestling at the age of 14, was no stranger to hard work. "Too large to join the basketball team," at 171 pounds as a freshman, Phil tried wrestling, determined to become a 4x state champion. Despite never achieving his ideal High School goal, Phil found success on the mat when he became a 2x State Champion (90' & 91'). Although his success led to piquing interest from D1 College programs around the country, Phil knew from the start where he belonged. From the beginning of his wrestling career, Phil held a special place for the University of Missouri and had long dreamed of becoming a Tiger. While his family was unable to financially support Phil's dream of becoming a great high school wrestler, we all know camps are not cheap; Phil worked out a deal to attended the wrestling camps held every summer at the University of Missouri, which ultimately landed him at his dream school, "Wes Roper worked out a deal with me that if I cleaned the mats everyday, I would be allowed to attend the camps for free. Columbia, Missouri, was my home, so it only made sense that I would be a Tiger… .that's where I signed my national letter of intent to wrestle. I had a scholarship, school was paid for, and it was time to set goals again!" With one goal achieved, more were set. Unfortunately, these would not come to fruition, "I was going to be Missouri's first multiple-time NCAA Champion, plus a world and Olympic champion, but that never came to be." For Phil, a very outgoing and social guy, wrestling and community was everything, and his grades, well, they never took priority, "I partied, hung out with the cool guys on the wrestling team, got in a lot of trouble academically and legally, and found myself kicked out of Mizzou. My career as a Missouri Tiger never even got to see me putting on the singlet. Dreams gone. No NCAA titles. But I got a second chance! Missouri Valley College reached out and offered me a scholarship to attend there. So I jumped on it!" One thing you'll notice about the Arnold's, they never seem to linger in the past. Sure they enjoy reminiscing about the good ol' days and family functions, old matches and such, but they don't dwell on the hard stuff--they use it to learn from and propel themselves forward, "I was the big D1 wrestler in a small college, I was going to shine," Phil remembers. With plans to continue down the track that which would hopefully one day land him on a World and Olympic team, Phil was ecstatic about this new opportunity to shine on the mat. Sadly, during his third week of practice, Phil Arnold blew out his knee and had to undergo surgery. The injury was so severe, rehab wasn't enough and his wrestling career ended. If you've ever witnessed a talented wrestler be told they would never wrestle again, you can understand the heartache and pain Phil, and so many others have felt. In a pivotal turn of events, wrestling, Phil's entire future, completely changed, "The one thing I loved more than life itself, was taken away from me. And now it was my job to hate it--I hated wrestling and everything about it. To me, I had just wasted the last 6 years of my life. I would spend the next twenty years cursing the sport and everything about it." While wrestling no longer existed in Phil's mind, his family, who fell in love with the sport alongside him, saw success on the mat. That's the funny thing about wrestling. Sure, physically it's just you out there on the mat with your opponent, but every wrestler knows that they have their family in their corner, their aunts, their uncles, their cousins and so on. The Arnold family was no different; Phil's two nephews, Zach and Drea Cox, were at almost every match and practice following their uncle's career and learning a thing or two. Both saw success on the mat and ironically, did so in their uncle's headgear, along with the most decorated wrestler in their family, 2016 Olympian, World Team Member and NCAA champion, J'den Cox, "From 1989-2013 I can't imagine how many matches that thing went through. But, at the end of the day, it was, and is, just a piece of equipment." This same mentality of it is and always will be, "just a game," that's what this article is about anyway, isn't it? You see, the Arnold/Cox family fell in love with the sport of wrestling. While Phil allowed the sport to consume his every thought, his every dream, he learned the hard way that in doing so, you put all your eggs in one basket, you go big or literally go home. Either the dream comes to fruition, or you're left bitter wondering what could have been if only. Witnessing his nephews, and eventually, both of his own sons take to the mat, Phil knew he couldn't stay away from the sport for long--Phil found himself in the stands cheering on his family as they had done for him, and loving every moment of it. In return, his family was able to learn from Phil's mistakes, they knew wrestling as a means of being a part of a community, earning scholarships and propelling themselves forward, but it should never be the only thing, because, with one wrong move, it could all end. This concept of, "it's just wrestling," was born long before Phil, his nephew J'den or Phil's son, Gabe, ever coined it; they just weren't yet aware. In 2014, decades after his wrestling career ended, Phil was asked a very peculiar question as he said his goodbyes to his passing father, "When are you going back to wrestling?" I figured it was the medication talking. I told him, "Daddy, I don't wrestle anymore." I'll never forget him looking at me, and saying, "That's always been your problem, Phillip. You've always thought it was about you. Your job was simply to plant the seed. Now you're supposed to be watering it." Phil's dad passed away in February of 2014. A month later, J'den won his first of 3 NCAA titles at Mizzou as a true freshman. I was in the stands that day and I can clearly remember J'dens mother yelling out, "that's my baby," as he stood in the middle of the mat with his hand raised. Phil remembers it slightly different--on one side of things, Phil was pained as he realized his dream never came to be; on the other hand, he was ecstatic to see his nephew win an NCAA title. Despite several family members pouring into the sport and showing great promise, J'den was the first and only to achieve such a tall task for the Arnold/Cox family. J'den Cox winning the first of his three NCAA Championships (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It was no surprise when Phil's younger son, Gabe, also took an interest in the sport at the age of 6. "It was a disaster; he was horrible. Gabe was the chunky little kid that rolled, not wrestled. In his first tournament, he was so excited because he took 3rd place and got a medal--out of three wrestlers. I couldn't take it and was so happy when he started playing soccer. My kid just didn't have it." That was until, a few years later, because all good things take time, and Gabe, well he is good. Fast forward four years and a few of Phil's CrossFit buddies put together money and essentially told Phil he would coach their new wrestling club. If you're a coach, your kids follow and play the sport, "I didn't want my kids to have the pain and heartache that I did as a wrestler. I wanted them to have fun, to enjoy it. That's when it really dawned on me, 'It's just wrestling,' all my kids were brand new to the sport, so I reminded them often. The only thing they need to worry about were three things: Wrestle Hard. Wrestle Smart. Have Fun. Win or Lose. It's just wrestling." This mantra, mindset, tokened phrase, was already put into motion--it was one J'den was already tied to. Phil recalls, "J'den and I would talk a lot of how the sport would never define him; it was only a small facet of who he really was. Those conversations passed over to the same conversations with Gabe. To this day, wherever either one of them are wrestling, no matter what they are doing, they have each received a simple text from me that just says, Wrestle Hard. Wrestle Smart. Have fun." Just as J'den has taken career-changing advice from his uncle Phil, "it's just wrestling," Gabe has learned something from his older cousin and wrestling superstar J'den Cox, "don't allow the sport to define you, create your own path." Gabe is doing just that; he is the first to never compete in the 30+-year-old headgear, as Phil remarks, "Remember, the headgear was the reminder to everyone of who we are. Make sure they remember who we are. Gabe made me understand that he didn't need the headgear to remind others of that. He'd do it on the mat. So the text messages to Gabe before his matches have an extra line to it: MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE." Gabe has a legacy of wrestlers behind him, one that started with his father then passed to his three older cousins and has now landed at his own feet. While the vision remains the same--NCAA Champ, World Team Member, Olympian--the mindset has evolved. It's not about wins or losses; it's a genuine passion for the sport. Spend five minutes with Gabe and you'll realize there is so much to this high school kid. His love for the sport is evident, but so is his love of life and he is so full of it; Everything he does, whether it's his music or sharing his vast knowledge of reptiles, he radiates joy and never passes up an opportunity for a challenge. In 7th grade, Gabe passed up an opportunity to compete at Nationals to train at the OTC with his older cousin. It was then he realized he, too, wanted to be the best in the world. By the 8th grade, Gabe and his parents decided it would be best for this Georgia boy to move a thousand miles away and attend Wyoming Seminary, the #2 school wrestling school in the nation with one of the best academic programs. Gabe notes, "Some felt I didn't deserve that opportunity, some felt I wasn't good enough, some felt disrespected cause I left Georgia, and a lot of them voiced these feelings. Whether it has been on Facebook, Instagram, direct message, or any other platform, they voiced it. At the end of the day, though, my parents and I were happy with the decision we had made. Of course, being 1000 miles from home wasn't easy, but the sacrifices my family and I made were worth it." In fact, Gabe ended his freshman year ranked top 10 in the nation, and #1 recruit in the class of 2023. His sophomore year, Gabe was predicted to earn his spot on the 2021 Cadet World Team, but in a matter of seconds during his first match, that dream dissolved as Gabe found himself in an unfamiliar place, on his back and pinned in less than a minute, "The hard work felt like it was a waste a time, wrestling was no longer fun for me the rest of the tournament. I felt like I was forced to do something I thought I loved." Years later, generations between them, yet the pain of losing, of not accomplishing, was still there and Phil ached for his son. Yet he knew, "it's just wrestling!" Phil gave Gabe time and space to process, as he reminded his son that this loss does not define him, just as much as any win does not define him. "It will never define me as a person. Although the goal of being a 2021 world champ was gone, the dream of still being a world champ was still there. The burn and desire to be the best in the world was still there. After World Team Trials, I immediately had Prep Nationals a week after. At first, I didn't want to wrestle because I wanted to be done with the sport for awhile, but through a little encouragement through my coaches and my dad, the decision to compete became a no-brainer." Like most athletes who face a difficult loss, many questions circled in Gabe's mind as he wondered if he was good enough, if he could win and if he is prepared. "These thoughts circled in my head all the way up to my first match of the tournament and then I was quickly reminded of who I was, and it was time to remind the rest of the nation who Gabriel Arnold is. They were going to need a lot more than one tournament to tear me down. After National Preps, the grind continued. I continue to get better and I focused on achieving a new goal, 2021 USAW 16U Fargo National Champion. I worked hard and I ultimately wound up achieving that goal, arguably my biggest wrestling accomplishment. The feeling of being back on top was and is indescribable." On cloud nine, as he relived his moments on the podium, Gabe reminds himself, "But once again, "It's Just Wrestling," and achieving that goal meant I have to set an even bigger and better goal! This sport will always be a part, but it'll never define the type of person I am and who I will become." It's just wrestling, is a mindset that was born amid heartache, yet evolved over time to create perspective and lighten the load of hefty goals; It has helped lead J'den Cox to achieve more on the wrestling mat than most can even fathom, and no doubt will help take Gabe to new heights as he continues his journey on the mat, "For now though, I will continue to strive to be the best that I can be both on and off the mat because in this life there is so much more than wrestling. I'm blessed to have such success in this sport, but even if I didn't, I would still love this sport." From successful wrestler, to inspiring coach, and even now as father, Phil has seen all this sport of wrestling has to offer and finds the greatest love for it now, as he watches the sport shape his son into the independent, God-fearing man he always wanted him to become, "My job as Gabe's dad is really simple: Keep him motivated. Give him 110% support. Listen to him. Guide him when it is needed. But most importantly, just be there for him. I don't need him to be a great wrestler; our family is well established in great wrestlers. I just need him to be a great person, and if wrestling is a facet of that, then so be it. The journey we've been on has taken us around the world. All those things that I dreamed of doing when I was in high school and college, I've had the complete pleasure of sitting front row watching my son and my nephew fulfill every single one of them. It's not living vicariously through them--It's realizing that my job was just to plant the seed for them. All I have to do is continue to water and nurture it and see it grow into something beautiful. There are NO expectations, I have placed on Gabe. All he has to do is Wrestle Smart. Wrestle Hard. Have Fun. It's just wrestling. And that's all it ever will be." 1991/Phil; 2004/Zach; 2008/Drea; 2010/J'den

Braxton Amos at the 2021 Junior World Championships (Photo courtesy of Cliff Fretwell) Day one at the Junior World Championships yielded one finalist for the men's freestyle squad, along with three others that are in bronze medal contention. Five men's freestyle brackets began action Monday from Ufa, Russia. Wrestling for the gold medal tomorrow will be Wisconsin freshman Braxton Amos. For the most part, Amos was untested on day one. In his first match of the tournament, Amos was whipped through to his back by Yunus Gafurov (Kazakhstan), but quickly responded with a double leg for four points. He controlled the center of the mat for the duration of the bout and fended off any potential attacks from Gafurov. A takedown in the closing seconds made the final score 6-4 for Amos. The quarterfinals saw Amos dispatch Milan Korcsog (Hungary) in 4:24 seconds, 10-0. For a trip to the finals, Amos had another one-sided affair, this time against Deepak (India). After cruising to a 3-0 lead at the break, Amos blew the bout open in the second with exposure from a crotch-lock and then nearly pinned his Indian foe in a cradle. For the gold medal, Amos will square off with Polat Polatci (Turkey), who earned his place in the finals after coming out on top in a wild semifinal. He earned a pair of exposure points at the buzzer to edge Ali Abdollah (Iran), 9-8. Amos will pull ironman duties this week, as he is also competing in the Greco-Roman tournament at 97 kg. Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's final, he'll have three days to rest and prepare for Greco. The only other American to reach the semifinals was Penn State's Beau Bartlett at 65 kg. Bartlett outscored his first two opponents by a 23-1 margin, en route to the final four. More often than not, his hustle and motor earned him points. Bartlett was tripped up in the semifinals by Azerbaijan's Ziraddin Bayramov, 6-2. He'll face the winner of Mustafo Akhmedov (Tajikistan) and Giorgi Tcholadze (Georgia) in a bronze medal bout. Also still in the medal hunt are Bryce Andonian (70 kg) and Donnell Washington (79 kg). Both met an Iranian opponent who later made the finals and the opening round. In each instance, the American wrestler gave the Iranian his toughest bout of the tournament. Andonian will face Josely Dibo (Ivory Coast) in the first round of repechage matches. He'll need to win a second bout before competing for the bronze. Washington has Germany's Richard Schroeder. If Washington wins, he'll earn a berth in a bronze medal match. American Results 57 kg Ali Gholi Zadegan Koloukhi (Iran) over Richard Figueroa (USA) 13-2 65 kg Beau Bartlett (USA) over Marcell Budai Kovacs (Hungary) 11-0 Beau Bartlett (USA) over Davit Margaryan (Armenia) 11-0 Ziraddin Bayramov (Azerbaijan) over Beau Bartlett 6-2 70 kg Efran Elahi (Iran) over Bryce Andonian (USA) 8-7 79 kg Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (Iran) over Donnell Washington (USA) 6-3 97 kg Braxton Amos (USA) over Yunus Gafurov (Kazakhstan) 6-4 Braxton Amos (USA) over Milan Gorcsog (Hungary) 10-0 Braxton Amos (USA) over Deepak (India) 9-1

2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) A few days into June, with the summer ahead of us, the Pac-12 Conference front office announced a set of policy changes that sent waves through the collegiate wrestling landscape. After over a decade of dwindling membership, the Pac-12 is now set to welcome new members to cement its place as a premier wrestling conference. The welcome change of tone from the conference front office sets the stage for the development of collegiate wrestling at the Division I level and beyond, across the American West; it marks a step towards securing the prosperity of the sport in-conference for the future. With the Pac-12 now a proactive proponent in wrestling, the conference may quickly find itself as a major player at negotiating tables in athletic departments across the country as well as on the competitive wrestling mat. 2021 NCAA fourth-place Arizona State Sun Devils (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The conference announcement came off the heels of a successful 2021 NCAA tournament across the Pac-12, led by Arizona State's 4th-place team-trophy, the first for seven-year head coach Zeke Jones and a rare feat in recent conference memory. Only a handful of performances from the Sun Devils' (6th-place, 2011; 10th-place, 2018), defunct-for-now Boise State (9th-place, 2011), and Oregon State (10th-place, 2012; 8th-place, 2013) can compare from the last decade. Cal Poly had a stellar weekend in March '21, propelled to a top-25 performance thanks in large part to a 4th-place All-American finish by Bernie Truax. It was the Mustangs' first placewinner and top-25 finish since 2012, the first of fifth-year head coach Jon Sioredas's tenure. CSU Bakersfield extended its remarkable program-streak of NCAA appearances to 48-years under now full-fledged head coach Luke Smith, and nearly earned the Roadrunners' first All-American since 2014, with Chance Rich reaching the NCAA Round of 12 at 133lbs. The Oregon State Beavers, led by first-year head coach Chris Pendleton, qualified a respectable six wrestlers to the national tournament, finishing with three wrestlers in the top-16. The young Little Rock Trojans, under head coach Neil Erisman, made its tournament debut with Paul Bianchi earning the first Trojans match-victory at NCAAs in program history. Stanford, of course, became the darling program of the national wrestling community as Shane Griffith, NCAA Champion at 165lbs., and Jaden Abas, 7th-place All-American at 149lbs., rallied their team to a 17th-place finish in Jason Borrelli's 13th and final year at the helm. (Former Cornell head coach Rob Koll has since taken the leading role for the Cardinal.) The Cardinal wrestlers fought to keep their program alive and their 2021 tournament was, in the opinion of this wrestling fan, instrumental in the decision by Stanford brass to reinstate the wrestling program among eleven total programs initially axed. As Stanford's performance spurred change in its athletic department, the conference's aggregate NCAA performance spurred reform among the conference administration. So the release reads: The Pac-12 Conference announced today a series of measures to strengthen and grow the sport of wrestling in the Conference, including an initiative to add members to its wrestling ranks beyond the current membership of six programs for the first time in more than a decade.. The decision … represents a significant commitment to both bolster competitive opportunities and success for Pac-12 wrestling student-athletes, and strengthen collegiate wrestling on the West Coast. Membership in the Pac-12 has trended downward since 2009. Recent changes in conference policy aims to reverse this trend in the immediate future Among the conference's coaches, the news of proactive reform from the conference was well-received, to say the least. "We were on the brink of looking at survival," Coach Pendleton of Oregon State admitted frankly. The narrowly avoided loss of Stanford, a charter member of the Pac-12, would have devastated the sport in the conference. Not only would charter members be further discouraged from fielding programs, the remaining Pac-12 wrestling institutions would face the loss of their auto-qualifications to the NCAA tournament. Such an event would have surely threatened all four remaining programs. Instead, with Cardinal wrestlers capturing the heart of the sporting public, the Pac-12 powers-that-be have seen fit to right the ship. "I thought it was fantastic. It was great news," said Coach Jones of Arizona State. Jones praised the work of Pac-12 Senior Commissioner Teresa Gould for advocating for wrestling and other "bubble sports" in the conference. Gould, who previously held lengthy tenures at Cal and UC Davis, joined the Pac-12 administration in August of 2018 to "manage sports administration and championships for Pac-12 women's basketball and all Olympic sports," among other responsibilities. It appears wrestling is already seeing the impacts of her (welcome) efforts to support the Olympic sports. Perhaps the most important portion of the conference's release pertained to the changes enacted. The release continues: To support the growth of Pac-12 wrestling, the Conference recently adjusted some of its wrestling policies, including the following: The Conference eliminated a restriction that capped the number of wrestling affiliates to the minimum number needed to keep NCAA AQ status. The Conference approved a policy change that will allow affiliate members to host the conference championships in future years. The Conference approved the hiring of an officials assigner for conference matches and the conference championships, starting with the 2021-22 academic year. The Conference will establish a wrestling schedule rotation so as to evenly balance home and away matches during the conference season. The changes enacted have had immediate resonance among current members of the Pac-12. The first policy change is the lynchpin of them all: removing the "restriction" that placed an arbitrary ceiling for Pac-12 wrestling membership at 6 total teams, legislating that the sport minimizes the use of affiliate-members. With the restriction, growth was literally impossible in the Pac-12. ​​"Living on the perpetual bubble of six teams and not being able to grow past six has been difficult," Jones reflected. With the restriction null and void, Coach Pendleton welcomes the progressive shift in the conference. "Instead of forcing us into a box, the conference is open to new ideas and open to growing the sport and open to trying new things." For long-time affiliate-member Cal Poly and others like them, "[t]he ability to host the [Pac-12] Championships will also bring value to campus and community." Sioredas added that the structuring of a balanced conference dual-schedule, "will also alleviate some of our extensive travel by allowing us to cluster our away conference schedule geographically -- allowing us to compete against multiple schools at a time while on the road." Future affiliate-members, too, will benefit from the new, affiliate-friendly policies. In a conference where affiliate-members already have voting rights (a rarity in collegiate athletic conferences), they will also be eligible for hosting the conference tournament, a privilege previously reserved for the charter members (Arizona State, Oregon State, and Stanford). The economics of such perks are not lost on conference coaches. "We want to truly elevate [affiliate-members'] position in the conference, to provide them strength, provide them an opportunity to provide exposure to their school, their program, as well as the potential to generate revenue," posits Jones. "We want to make all our teams in the conference stronger; that's the goal." In a sport where many programs rely heavily on fundraising to generate revenue, the ability to generate upwards of $100,000 by hosting the conference tournament is no small opportunity. Taken altogether, conference coaches are pleased with the outlook of the Pac-12 Conference. "These changes will strengthen our conference from a competitive standpoint, and more importantly, illustrate that wrestling is important to the Pac-12. It also creates [an] opportunity for any west coast institutions considering starting or transition[ing] to Division I wrestling, to have a conference that makes sense geographically and monetarily," concludes Sioredas. Jon Sioredas and Chris Chionuma with Bernie Traux (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The question remains, who will join the Pac-12 in the future? Personal wishes and dreams have Cal Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, Oregon, and USC at the top of the list. For the conference coaches, they are not limiting themselves to the West Coast; they enter into the future with open minds. "We want to be greedy, we're being very proactive, we want top-level competition, we want as many programs as we can take on, we want to become one of the preeminent conferences in the nation," Pendleton stated, short of listing potential teams of interest. For Jones, teams "that want to be in the Pac-12" from coast-to-coast are all welcome, including the geographically proximal Northern Colorado, Utah Valley, and Wyoming. Sioredas included additional former Western Wrestling Conference programs Air Force, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State as potential future affiliates. The elephant in the room, of course, is the recent and ongoing Big XII split involving the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas moving out of the Big XII for the SEC, in a football-heavy decision by those respective campuses. For wrestling, there are significant implications to consider as Oklahoma's storied-wrestling program is set to leave the Big XII. If rumors of Oklahoma State's intention to leave for the B1G come to pass, we may face a wrestling landscape where Iowa State is the remaining BigXII charter member. The situation would become incredibly tenuous for the sport of wrestling in the BigXII. Conversely, the ongoing BigXII split may present unique opportunities for affiliate membership additions in the Pac-12. "Who wouldn't want Oklahoma State, or Iowa State, or West Virginia in the Pac-12? You'd be crazy to not want them," Jones remarked. "Hopefully, we can revisit Cal Baptist," added Sioredas. Cal Baptist, a successful Division II program led by once-upon-a-time UC Davis head coach Lenny Zalesky and the national champion for the Aggies Derek Moore, is set to join the BigXII as it finally completes its transition to the Division I level in the 2022-2023 season. With hope, former BigXII affiliate Fresno State will reinstate its program (again) and rejoin the conversation. Could we one day see all California programs competing in the same conference? A wrestling fan can dream. Amidst the turmoil among the national athletic conferences, the Pac-12 has found an opportune time to seek growth and development. Where trepidation previously existed for over a decade, 'stability' has taken its place. "The stability of the Pac12 is definitely a selling point," Pendleton asserts. The hope for the wrestling community, in the American West, to the Midwest, and beyond to New England, is that this newfound stability is enduring. "With the Pac12 stabilizing itself and now getting into a growth position, now you have the opportunity where if a [charter] program down the road wanted to add, they could," Jones explained. It is yet to be seen which programs will join the Pacific-12 Conference, but the possibilities are, now, limitless. May we see the conference grow back to its 'Pac-10' roots of the early 2000s? To 12? 16? We very well may. One thing is for sure: there hasn't been a better time to be a fan of Pac-12 Wrestling.

2021 Olympic bronze medalist Helen Maroulis (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Today was the deadline for Olympic medalists to announce their intentions to compete at the 2021 World Championships. USA Wrestling ruled that any 2020 Olympic medalists would be able to lock in a spot at the World Championships without having to compete at the World Team Trials. Eight of the nine Olympic medalists accepted invitations to compete in Oslo, Norway at the World Championships. The only one that will not compete is Gable Steveson, Olympic champion at 125 kgs. That further fuels the speculation that Steveson may have wrestled his last match. Since the other eight Olympic medalist will head to Oslo, there will be a handful of weight classes not contested at the World Team Trials, September 11th and 12th in Lincoln, Nebraska. The only men's freestyle weights take will take place at the WTT's are 61, 65, 70, 79, 92, and 125 kg. The women's freestyle tournament will include 53, 55, 59, 62, 65, and 72. All of the Greco-Roman weights will be contested.

New Cornell volunteer assistant Nick Gwiazdowski (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As we head into the dog days of summer, the coaching vacancies are beginning to dwindle a bit. Many schools have rounded out their coaching staffs, while a few others are still searching. It's been about a month since we last updated the 2021 NCAA DI Coaching Carousel Tracker, so here are the coaches that have been added this offseason.

Daton Fix (left), Maya Nelson (center), Kamal Bey (right) at the 2017 Junior World Championships (Photo courtesy of Richard Immel; RImmelPics.com) We're only days away from the start of the Junior World Championships in Ufa, Russia. This will be the first time since 2019 that this tournament will be held. In the past, it has been a window to see some of the future stars domestically and around the world. Five (Gilman, Snyder, Steveson, Maroulis, Gray) of our nine Olympic medalists from 2020 earned Junior World medals at some point during their illustrious careers. Below are lists of Americans that have earned Junior World medals since 2010. Hopefully in over a week from now we can add a handful of new names to these lists. Men's Freestyle (2015-2019) Men's Freestyle (2010-14) Women's Freestyle Men's Greco-Roman

2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (Photo courtesy of Larry Slater; LBSphoto.smugmug.com) Less than a week after winning an Olympic gold medal at the 125 kg weight class, did Gable Steveson just announce his retirement from wrestling? This was posted via his Instagram page today. Gable has not-so-subtlety hinted at a future in the WWE, as well as the UFC, and even the NFL earlier this week. Steveson's remarkable comeback in the gold medal match stirred up plenty of mainstream media attention and has made his stock rise even more significantly in those areas. We will have more information as Steveson makes his next step known to the public.

Raufeon Stots at Nebraska-Kearney (Photo courtesy of Adam Konruff; Kearney Hub) The UFC is taking this weekend off, which has allowed the PFL and Bellator to compete for attention on Friday night. As always, there are plenty of former wrestlers competing in the combat sports world this weekend. The following are some of the most notable competitors competing this weekend. PFL 2021 #7 In the main event of Friday's PFL show, Ray Cooper III will take on former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald. Cooper is a legacy MMA competitor and has done some of his best work throwing heavy strikes at range. However, he does come from a wrestling background. During his prep days at Pearl City High School , he was a three-time Hawaii state champion. MacDonald is the favorite going into this fight, but he has looked vulnerable at times in his recent career. This fight has the potential to turn into a wild main event. The main card of PFL 2021 #7 will air live on ESPN2 starting at 9:00 pm ET. Bellator 264 The Bellator event will also feature a veteran wrestler. John Salter won an NAIA title for Lindenwood University in 2007 at 174 pounds . He made his professional MMA debut two years later and signed with the UFC after only four pro fights. Salter left the promotion in 2010 and eventually signed with Bellator in 2015. At his new home, he has gone 8-1, with his only loss coming against former champion Rafael Lovator Jr. Salter will face off against middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi with the title on the line. Mousasi is much more well-known in the MMA world and is as high as a -400 favorite on the books, but he has struggled against wrestlers in the past. Salter will likely need to stick to his roots to pull off this upset. Raufeon Stots was an NJCAA champion for Labette Community College in 2009 before transferring to Nebraska Kearney. There he trained with current UFC champion Kamaru Usman and won NCAA Division II titles in 2012 and 2013. He followed Usman into MMA and made his professional debut in 2015. He currently holds a 16-1 record, with his only loss coming against current UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili. Despite the record, the competition gets much more challenging here. The former Nebraska Kearney wrestler is set to take on Magomed Magomedov, who is a top prospect in his own right. He is 18-1 with a victory over recent UFC title challenger Petr Yan. Yan also handed Magomedov his only defeat in a rematch. "Tiger" signed with Bellator last year and has won his first two bouts with the promotion. This bout could easily be considered a battle between two of the brightest prospects in Bellator. Davion Franklin wrestled on the high school level in Minnesota for Watertown-Mayer. He then moved to the junior college ranks, where he was an NJCAA qualifier for Iowa Lakes in 2014. Franklin moved to MMA in 2020 and earned a scholarship of sorts from Bellator to train at the Jackson Wink team and has since gone 3-0 . On Friday, he faces off against Everett Cummings, who holds an undefeated record through his first 15 fights.

StaleMates. You've heard of them, yeah? If you haven't, you probably aren't keeping up with the trends. StaleMates is one of the fastest-growing wrestling-based media companies in 2021. Co-founders Zach Bogle and Tyler Walker have utilized social media in a unique and electrifying way, entertaining roughly 6,000 followers daily. StaleMates aims to capture the drama that occurs on and off the wrestling mat, providing their followers with a behind-the-scenes take on all things wrestling. If you think you know everything about StaleMates, you don't! I was lucky enough to sit down with co-founder and co-host, Zach Bogle, to discuss a variety of interesting facts that you didn't know about StaleMates, until today. StaleMates was originally started a full season before their first episode. Zach and Tyler were hard at work a full season before their first episode officially aired. Due to COVID and the cancellation of nationals, StaleMates was temporarily put on hold to the public. During that time, StaleMates recorded roughly six episodes that were never released. Zach and Tyler chose not to release those episodes in an effort to pinpoint exactly what they wanted to cover in wrestling, and how they would deliver that content to the public. Co-Host, Tyler Walker, has one of the first YouTube videos, ever. Roughly fifteen years ago, Tyler created a YouTube channel where he posted one of the first videos, ever. Although it didn't go viral as expected, Tyler was still eager to show all of his friends and family. With YouTube being newly established in February 2005, Tyler didn't know how to utilize the search feature to show his friends and family. In order to view the video, Tyler would give out his login information. Tyler's video may or may not still be on YouTube. But if you're curious, the username is Jammer2000, and the password is Nirvana69. Co-Host, Zach Bogle, made Facebook pages go viral in high school. When Zach was in high school, he would create Facebook pages, with the sole purpose of building them up to receive as many likes as possible; essentially going viral. One Facebook page reached 30,000 likes. Zach primarily created Facebook pages when he was bored, but still received enjoyment out of the not-so-common hobby. StaleMates co-founders attended a well-known high school in Centerville, Iowa. Zach and Tyler both attended Centerville High School, located in Centerville, Iowa. Centerville High School is the alma mater of two very well-known wrestlers; TJ Sebolt and Chad Zaputil. TJ Sebolt posted a 207-1 record in high school, winning four Iowa state titles. Of those 207 wins, he recorded 137 pins and a 192-match win streak. Currently, Sebolt is the Owner and Head Coach at Sebolt Wrestling Academy, one of the countries most prestigious wrestling academies. In high school, Chad Zaputil was a four-time Iowa state representative and two-time Iowa state champion. In college, Zaputil became a three-time Big Ten Conference champion and three-time NCAA championship finalist for The University of Iowa. StaleMates stardom partially occurred because of The Willie Trials. StaleMates stardom is most notably linked to their proactive participation during The Willie Trials. After each trial day, StaleMates would give a brief synopsis for the public, and break down crucial points within the court case. After the trial ended, one of the defendants' lawyers sent StaleMates a "thank you" letter. In that letter, the lawyers disclosed that the videos posted by StaleMates were utilized to better shape the strategy used in the court case. But wait, there's more! Here are a few additional interesting facts about StaleMates. Zach and Tyler can't remember how they came up with the name, StaleMates. When StaleMates first started, they wanted to build their brand by creating highlight videos for high school wrestlers. StaleMates bought a van solely for their Kevin Dresser interview in Ames, Iowa, and it has never been driven since. Zach (in his own words) sucked at wrestling in high school. Well, there you have it. Now you know everything about StaleMates. Or do you? When asking StaleMates what they wanted wrestling fans to know moving forward, they stated, "We want people to know that we like all of the new creatives that are also trying to do new and cool stuff in wrestling media. We might not talk about it a lot, but we do pay attention to all of the podcasts, videos, and interviews that are posted. This past year, we have learned a lot from everyone." If you'd like to support StaleMates, you can follow them on Twitter (@stalematesshow), Instagram (@stalematesshow), Facebook (StaleMates), and YouTube (StaleMates). But wait, there's more, again! StaleMates is streaming StaleMates Street League live on Patreon tonight at 7:00pm! You can subscribe to StaleMates on Patreon for $3.99 to stream the event. **Subscriptions require a monthly payment of $3.99. You can cancel at any time.**

2020 Olympic bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt (Photo courtesy of Larry Slater; LBSphoto.smugmug.com) Team USA brought home nine medals from the recent 2020 Olympic Games. Along the way, there were several standout statistical performances by individuals and the team in general. The following looks at some of the statistical trends at play and what it could mean for the U.S. on the international level going forward. Most Match Points Olympic bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt scored 42 points across her four matches at 50 kg, which was the most on Team USA. All three of her victories came via match termination, and she still managed to score seven points in her only defeat. 26 of those points came via her leg lace. Her 26 points via the leg lace were by far the most on the team. Tamyra Mensah-Stock scored the second-most points with the leg lace with six. Gut Wrench Offense/Defense While Team USA, particularly the women, were able to rack up points with the leg lace, it was not all positive in the par terre position. The U.S. scored 18 points with the gut wrench from the top with Dake leading the way with six points. However, opponents of Team USA were able to score 28 points with the technique. This was a particular issue for the Greco squad as Artem Surkov and Sergey Emelin both put up six points via the gut-wrench against Alejandro Sancho and Ildar Hafizov, respectively. Shutouts Team USA finished with 17 shutout victories in the tournament. Gable Steveson and Dake both contributed three of these victories to lead the squad. On the other hand, in 46 matches, Team USA only failed to score three times: Ildar Hafizov vs. Luis Orta Sanchez, Jacarra Winchester vs. Vanesa Kaldzinskaya and Dake vs. Muhamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau. Point Differential David Taylor averaged 2.34 points per minute during the event and allowed only five points in his four matches (0.32 per minute). That left him with a +2.02 point differential, which was the highest on the team. Taylor gave up the first takedown in his quarterfinal match against Myles Amine, but other than that, he did not surrender a two-point score. In the finals against Hassan Yazdani, he gave up a step out, allowed a shot clock point and was hit with a caution. Hildebrandt averaged slightly more points per minute (2.58), but she allowed 13 points and finished with a +1.79 differential. Shot Clock/Passive Points Team USA combined to score nine points via the shot clock in men's and women's freestyle. The team also gave up exactly nine points via the clock in those two styles. In Greco, Team USA earned four passive points while giving up seven. No Team USA wrestler scored more than one shot clock point in a match. However, Risako Kawai was able to best Helen Maroulis with a pair of shot clock points in the 57 kg semifinal. Four-point Moves Team USA managed only two four-point moves in the entire tournament. Taylor went feet to back against Ali Shabanau, and Sancho hit a four-point throw against Artem Surkov in his only match of the event. On four occasions, opponents of Team USA were able to put four on the board with a single move. Kadzimahamedau against Dake, Aline Rotter-Focken against Gray, Sun Yanan against Hildebrandt and Kaladzinskaya against Jacarra Winchester. All four of those throws turned out to be decisive as Team USA dropped all four of those matches. Leg Attacks The freestyle teams dominated the competition in terms of takedowns via leg attacks. Those attacks earned 112 points across both styles. Opponents managed only 20 points on leg attacks. Taylor and Mensah led the way for Team USA by scoring 20 points each via leg attack takedowns. In addition to those takedown points, Team USA also scored 13 points via step-outs that began as leg attacks. Kyle Snyder was particularly effective with this technique. He scored six points via the step out in the tournament and five of these scores began as leg attacks. It was clearly a part of his game plan going into this tournament. In both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, Snyder started the scoring with a quick leg attack into a step out. He then waited for his opponent to go on the shot clock before turning on his full arsenal of offense. In the finals against Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Snyder was unable to set the tone with an attack into a step out and ended up going on the clock himself. Thomas Gilman finished with four step-outs on his way to a bronze medal. During many of his domestic matches leading up to the Games, he seemed more than happy to settle for the one-point score. However, at the Games, he made it a point to finish for the full two points, even when going out of bounds, and finished with seven takedowns in three matches. Gable Steveson Takedown Spree Continues Per Quant Wrestling, Steveson averaged 4.8 takedowns per minute during this past season at Minnesota on his way to an NCAA title. He carried that momentum into the Olympic Trials. After winning those tournaments, he took on the best in the World at the Olympics. Steveson scored 14 takedowns on his way to the gold medal. Those 14 takedowns came in only four matches, which means his takedown per match rate fell to only 3.5 when taking on the best in the World.

2020 Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman (Photo courtesy of Larry Slater; LBSphoto.smugmug.com) We've had a few days to digest the feast that was seven days of high-intensity wrestling competition at the 2020 Olympic Games. Like any other wrestling tournament, Team USA was on the positive end of some upsets and exceptional finishes, while also absorbing the bitter taste of defeat from some of our top athletes. Since this was the Olympics, those successes and setbacks were multiplied. Remember, this is a tournament that only comes around every four years (five this time). What we're doing today is reviewing the performances of our nine (yes, NINE!) Olympic medalists and attributing one singular word to their tournaments. Of course, we'll describe why exactly that word fits with more than a few words. Thomas Gilman - Respect Think about the whispers you've heard regarding Thomas Gilman and the 57 kg weight class domestically over the past four years. Sure, he made the world finals straight off the collegiate mat in 2017. Critics may have poo-pooed his side of the bracket. Well, the following year, he made the team, but fell in the semifinals to a then-relatively unknown Nurislam Sanayev (Kazakhstan). For the bronze, Gilman lost to young Suleyman Atli (Turkey). A couple years later, those losses don't seem as bad, considering the pair have been ranked in the top-five at 57 kg. In 2019, Gilman lost his spot on the world team to college phenom Daton Fix. This was a close, three-match series, one that could have gone Gilman's way based on a call or two. During the pandemic, Gilman moved from Iowa to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Whispers out of Iowa were that he wouldn't have been the Hawkeye Wrestling Club's number one guy anyways, with Spencer Lee in the pipeline. Oftentimes, in life, we want the new shiny toy rather than being satisfied with what we currently have. The 57 kg weight class is a perfect example. Going into the Olympic Trials, most favored Nick Suriano, Vito Arujau, Fix, and Lee, if he were to wrestle. Not many picked Gilman and I'm sure there were a few that were ready to move on to the next generation. Gilman went out and did it at the Olympic Trials, then he did it at the Olympic Games. When the lights were the brightest and pressure was at its peak, Gilman pushed the two-time world champion to the brink, only to suffer a heartbreaking defeat. Even so, he rebounded and crushed his next two opponents to claim the silver medal. There's a lot of young talent at 57 kg and plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the future. But for now, let's put some respect on Thomas Gilman's name. He's an Olympic medalist and the first American at the lowest weight to medal since Henry Cejudo in 2008. Kyle Dake - Motivation Let's face it, the only one ever undefeated in sports is father time. Sooner or later, an athlete's body breaks down and it's time to hang up the wrestling shoes. At 30 years old, Kyle Dake is at a crossroads for a Senior-level wrestler. International wrestling, particularly at the lower and middleweights (not 97-125kg), is dominated by youth. Speed and explosiveness are key traits needed for success against the best of the best and, at some point, those characteristics can fade. What we're getting at is that Dake was in a perfect position to win an Olympic gold medal and head off into the sunset. He already had a pair of world championships, put together one of the most incredible and unique folkstyle careers ever, and just hit the 30-year-old mark. It would be an excellent time to walk away. But, with the way that his tournament played out, retiring on the strength of a gold medal isn't possible. Dake was suffering the after-effects of an injury and was dominated in a way we've never seen, in the Olympic quarterfinals against Mahmedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus). A day later, Dake looked more like his usual self and defeated Frank Chamizo (Italy) for the bronze. Now, competing until 2024 may have been in Dake's plans all along. But, with an uncharacteristic performance against the Belarussian in the quarters, I imagine Dake has just a little more motivation to keep himself going towards Paris. Earlier this week, Dake already announced his intentions to compete at the 2021 World Championships, which he was entitled to after winning an Olympic medal. I don't care who is in the field in Oslo, would you bet against Dake with a chip on his shoulder? David Taylor - History David Taylor is in a similar position as his former rival/teammate/friend Kyle Dake. He's also 30 years old and will turn 31 before the end of the year. While Taylor does an incredible job at maintaining himself in top physical condition, you have to wonder if he'll be as effective at 33 years old, the next time the Olympics roll around. But, with an Olympic gold medal on the resume, to go along with a world title in 2018, combined with a boatload of credentials from Penn State, Taylor's fate is sealed as one of the legends of our sport. Anything he does from now on just adds to it. A loss somewhere in Tokyo would have forced him to “chase” that first gold medal. That's something that will be difficult for a 33-year-old. Taylor has already stated that he'll compete at the 2021 World Championships. While he'll always put pressure on himself to perform at the highest level and win, there isn't that additional monkey on his back. As he stated in his post-match interview, he'll “always be an Olympic champion.” The 2021 World Championships and anything beyond, just adds to his legacy. Kyle Snyder - Consistency Let's face it, we probably take Kyle Snyder for granted! Is he this generation's Bruce Baumgartner? Big Bruce amassed 13 World/Olympic medals during his illustrious career with two Olympic gold medals and three world titles. At only 25 years old, Snyder has six in his collection. He has an Olympic gold medal and two world titles. Considering his love for the sport and the fact that he's an upperweight, there's no reason why Snyder can't push for Baumgartner's 13 medals. Snyder has now earned World/Olympic medals at the last six tournaments. That's a streak that current legends like Jordan Burroughs, Helen Maroulis, and Adeline Gray haven't been able to maintain. Of those five world medals, only one is bronze. And in the tournament where Snyder left with bronze, he suffered a semifinal loss to Olympic and World champion Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan). He also has the 2017 gold medal at the expense of Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia). As the years pass, that win looks even better. Sadulaev is on the fast track to being remembered as one of the best EVER in the sport. For all of Sadulaev's greatness, Snyder wasn't that far away from defeating him in the 2020 Olympic gold medal match. Two separate pairs of exposure points for Sadulaev were the primary difference in the bout. Snyder remained the only wrestler that threatened the Russian. Snyder has already indicated that he'll compete at the World Championships this year, so expect him to add more hardware to his collection. Gable Steveson - Superstardom As someone who picked Gable Steveson to win the gold pre-tournament, I figured that winning it all would probably catapult Steveson into mainstream stardom that few wrestlers obtain. What I couldn't account for was the manner in which he won. Steveson dismantled the reigning Olympic champion, Taha Akgul (Turkey), and waved the Turkish stud back to the center of the mat as he seemingly gave up, down 8-0. For the gold medal, Steveson pulled off a sensational comeback that will live on in American wrestling lore until the end of time. The Minnesota heavyweight took down three-time World Champion, Geno Petriashvili (Georgia), twice in the last :13, including securing the winning takedown with only .02 left on the clock. Steveson's brash gesture's against Akgul, combined with his buzzer-beater against Petriashvili, resonated with mainstream sports media exponentially. Hours after his win, Barstool Sports was selling a pair of Gable-themed shirts. Steveson has made the rounds appearing on some of the more widely heard shows and podcasts in the nation since. Of course, before the Olympics, there were not-so-subtle hints that there was a mutual attraction between Steveson and the WWE. The UFC is also an option for Gable. On Tuesday, Steveson and the Minnesota Vikings exchanged tweets and teased a possible future together. It goes without saying that, but Steveson has more career prospects outside of wrestling than any other wrestler before him. And more power to him. Sarah Hildebrandt - Validation Whenever fans talk about the top active American women's Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Adeline Gray, and Helen Maroulis typically get mentioned first. And for good reason. Each are world champions that have displayed consistency over a decent amount of time. One name that may get overlooked is Sarah Hildebrandt. It says a lot about the growth of our women's program that a past world silver medalist isn't automatically thrown into the conversation for best in the nation. The word we chose to describe Hildebrandt's Olympic tournament was validation. This is true on multiple fronts. Her bronze medal performance validated her choice to drop from 53 kg, a weight where she earned her world medal, to 50 kg at the beginning of 2020. As someone who competed at 55 kg, as recently as 2017, that cut couldn't have been ideal. But with the drop in weight, Hildebrandt has encountered unmatched success on a consistent basis. Her semifinal loss to Yanan Sun (China) was the first setback at her current weight. The loss to Sun was a heartbreaking one. Hildebrandt led 7-0 at one point and 7-6 in the closing seconds. Sun was able to notch a four-point trip as a last resort move and advanced to the finals. Many a wrestler has packed it in and lost their following match after losing such a close, high-profile bout. Not Hildebrandt. She demolished 2018 world bronze medalist Oskana Livach (Ukraine) for the Olympic bronze, marking her third win of the tournament by technical superiority. I'm sure the loss to Sun will continue to sting, but Hildebrandt was able to pick herself up, dust herself off and bounce back in unbelievable fashion. The bronze medal that followed serves as validation that she belongs in the conversation with the triumvirate of women atop the US ranks. Helen Maroulis - Resilience During one of Helen Maroulis' bouts in Tokyo, fellow Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs made the accurate assessment that “winning a gold medal usually improves your life, but Maroulis has faced more difficulties since winning hers.” A year after pulling a stunning upset in Rio, Maroulis appeared to be the best woman in the world...pound for pound. She outscored her competition 52-0 and grabbed her second world title. In early 2018, Maroulis suffered a severe concussion while competing in the India Pro League, and injury that hindered her for the bulk of the year. Despite the setback, she made the 2018 world team, but suffered a shoulder injury in her only bout at the World Championships. The lingering effects from the concussion almost forced Maroulis to hang up her shoes on multiple occasions. Maroulis finally was able to get in position to compete for another spot on the Olympic team, but suffered a knee injury before the Trials in early April. She gutted through the injury and secured her place on the team by winning an emotional, three-match series with Jenna Burkert. Along the way, Maroulis changed her training situation a couple of times, too. She settled on Sunkist Kids at Arizona State before the Games, and had Sun Devil coach Mark Perry in her corner in Tokyo. Unless you were training with Maroulis, you were probably uncertain how her 2020 Olympic Games would play out. In her only tune-up before the Games, Maroulis dropped matches to a pair of talented opponents that she normally would defeat. Her opening match seemed daunting, as well. After about 15-20 seconds of movement, it was apparent that this version of Helen would be closer to the Helen we all remember. She turned in solid performances in her opening two matches, both against past world medalists, the second coming at the expense of Tatyana Kit (Ukraine), one of the foes that downed her in Poland. Maroulis would come up on the short side of a 2-1 loss to fellow 2016 gold medalist Risako Kawai (Japan), in a tentative, defensive struggle. She rebounded to dominate for a bronze medal. While her 2016 gold medal win was one for the ages, the resilience Maroulis showed by winning a spot on the team and leaving with a medal could be a more rewarding gift. Tamyra Mensah-Stock - Royalty Despite the long list of credentials possessed by Helen Maroulis and Adeline Gray, Tamyra Mensah-Stock was arguably the top American woman, pre-Tokyo. After Tokyo, there are no doubts. Tokyo provided the coronation of the new queen of American women's wrestling. While some may have gotten uneasy looking at Mensah-Stock's draw, she didn't even flinch. Mensah-Stock's tournament began with a pair of 10-0 technical superiority wins over 2016 Olympic champion Sara Dosho (Japan) and world silver medalist Feng Zhou (China). You wouldn't have known by the result, but Zhou was the last opponent to defeat Mensah-Stock. The semifinals saw Mensah-Stock “only” defeat Alla Cherkasova (Ukraine) by the score of 10-4. Cherkasova was a 2018 world champion in a weight class where Mensah-Stock took bronze. Mensah-Stock capped her tournament off with a controlled 4-1 win over Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria). In winning the gold, she became only the second American woman to do so and the first Black female to win Olympic gold. As I suspected, the post-match interview went viral and exposed a national audience to the irreverent, yet genuine, and loveable character that the wrestling community had already fallen in love with. Like Steveson, Mensah-Stock could have more national media appearances and endorsement opportunities abound after her wins on the mat and personality off of it. Regardless, she has clearly staked her claim as the queen of American wrestling (along with the future) and perhaps one of the top pound-for-pound women in the world. Adeline Gray - Closure Regardless of whether or not Adeline Gray wrestles another match, the hypothetical Mount Rushmore of American women's wrestling already has a spot carved out for Gray. Prior to this year, Gray had been on eight world teams and the 2016 Olympic squad. During that time, she's hauled in seven world medals, five of which were of the gold persuasion. Gray's five world titles are the most by an American, male or female. The one honor that was missing from Gray's lengthy resume was Olympic medalist. In 2016, Gray was considered a favorite to take the gold, but she was stunned in her second bout by Vasilisa Marzaliuk (Belarus) 4-1. When Marzaliuk failed to make the finals, Gray was eliminated from the tournament. This time, many of the key players were the same at Gray's 76 kg weight class. It was the deepest of any women's freestyle bracket, with 12 of its 16 entrants owning a past World/Olympic medal. Three wins from Adeline locked up a silver medal and put her in the finals opposite longtime rival and friend Aline Rotter-Focken (Germany). A gold medal wasn't in the cards for Gray as she gave up a few uncharacteristic points to Rotter-Focken and fell into an early hole. The loss shocked American wrestling fans who expected the bout to go Gray's way and give her that elusive gold medal. While the wrestling public was shocked, Gray proceeded to give a remarkable interview just a short time after the match. Though probably stunned and deeply disappointed, Gray was able to put her medal into perspective and displayed the professionalism that we have become accustomed to hearing from her. Not winning it all is a letdown, but earning a silver medal at the Olympics is an honor that a minuscule fraction of the wrestling population can ever fathom. With her Olympic silver medal, Gray can get some semblance of closure on her Olympic career. Like others above, at 30, it's hard to say whether or not Gray will want to continue shooting for the 2024 Olympics. However, she did mention preparing for the World Championships in that interview. It should be noted that Adeline hasn't officially committed to entering the world's this year, that quote may have been attributed to raw emotion, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did.

Olivia Brown (Photo courtesy of John Sachs; Tech-Fall.com) The National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced that Olivia Brown of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, is the 2021 national winner of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award (TSHSEA). “I am honored to receive the Tricia Saunders Award,” said Brown. “Wrestling has given me both physical and mental strength. I have been able to travel to the different areas of the country to compete and to train with some of my role models. “Now, I want to be a role model to other young girls so that they can pursue their dreams,” she added. “I want to thank my family for always supporting my goals and for teaching me to care for others, and also, my coaches for pushing me to be the best wrestler I can be.” First presented in 2014, the TSHSEA is named for Saunders, a four-time World Champion and women's wrestling pioneer. Saunders was the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011. The TSHSEA recognizes and celebrates the nation's most outstanding high school senior female wrestlers for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service. “We are excited to honor Olivia Brown as the national winner of the 2020 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award,” said Executive Director Lee Roy Smith. “This award and honor represents the Hall of Fame's pride in a young woman who has demonstrated a commitment to balancing her pursuit of excellence on the wrestling mat with academics and community service.” The daughter of Michael T. Brown and Suzanne M. Caruso, Brown was an Oklahoma state girls champion in 2021 and 2020 for Broken Arrow High School. The top-ranked 200-pound wrestler in the National Girls High School Rankings, she will continue her wrestling career at Grand View University. Brown was Miss Wrestling Oklahoma in 2021 and was named the Joey Miller Wrestler of the Year in 2020. She was a National Cadet champion in freestyle and folkstyle in 2018 and 2019. Brown finished second at the Folkstyle Nationals in 2019 and fourth in 2018 while finishing third at Freestyle Nationals in 2019 and seventh in 2018. Brown received the John and Jonna Cockrell Award of Excellence in 2020 and was also named Most Valuable Junior Wrestler for Broken Arrow in 2020. She was Wrestler of the Year at Holland Hall in 2018. She was team captain for Broken Arrow from 2019 to 2021 after being team captain at Holland Hall from 2017 to 2019. Brown also lettered in softball two years and in track for one year at Holland Hall. A National Honor Society officer, Brown was AP English Student of the Year in 2019-20 and Magna Cum Laude in 2018-19 and Maxima Cum Laude in 2017-18 for the National Latin Examination. Brown placed second in Business Law and Ethics, sixth in Entrepreneurship and seventh in Quick Service Restaurant Management at the Oklahoma D.E.C.A. competition. Beginning in 2017 as a core volunteer, Brown is very involved with BrightSpot Mobile Family Services, an organization that delivers free meals directly to people who live in food deserts, meaning there is no access to fresh food within three miles. During the pandemic, Brown walked miles to help deliver groceries and meals to those in need. She has also organized clothing drives and created personal hygiene bags for teenage girls while encouraging other teens to get involved and bringing them to volunteer. Viewed as a group leader by BrightSpot administrators, Brown helps set up monthly outreaches and interacts and assists residents. She also served on the Diversity and Inclusivity Council at Holland Hall. Brown was named as the national winner of USA TODAY's Female Wrestling Athlete of the Year on August 6. For the third consecutive year, the Hall of Fame recognized a record number of TSHSEA state winners with 47, up from 46 in 2020, 35 in 2019 and 32 in 2018. Women's wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports with participation growing by 71 percent in the last two years to more than 28,000 female high school wrestlers competing across the nation. Winners are evaluated and selected on the basis of three criteria: success and standout performances and sportsmanship in wrestling; review of GPA and class rank, academic honors and distinctions; and participation in activities that demonstrate commitment to character and community. Twenty-four states have hosted an official girls championship and eight more are scheduled to host in the future. Hawaii was the first state to host a girls state championship in 1998 while Texas began its girls tournament in 1999. The number grew to six states by 2015 and has exploded in the last three years to 32 states. States that are hosting state-sanctioned girls wrestling championships are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington. Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin are scheduled to host their first official girls tournament in 2021-22. There are 92 intercollegiate women's wrestling teams. The NCAA has approved “Emerging Sport Status” for women's wrestling at the Division I, Division II and Division III levels and the NAIA also recognizes women's wrestling as an emerging sport. The Hall of Fame accepts nominations for its high school excellence awards from state chapters and coaches. The nominations are reviewed by a committee, which selects state and regional winners. The committee then determines the national winners from the regional winners. All-Time National Winners of Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award 2021 -Olivia Brown, Broken Arrow High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 2020 -Nanea Estrella, Lahainaluna High School, Makawao, Hawaii 2019 -Emily Shilson, Mounds View High School, North Oaks, Minnesota 2018 -Alleida Martinez, Selma High School, Selma, California 2017 -Cierra Foster, Post Falls High School, Post Falls, Idaho 2016 -Katie Brock, Sequatchie County High School, Whitwell, Tennessee 2015 -Marizza Birrueta, Grandview High School, Grandview, Washington 2014 -Marina Doi, Kingsburg High School, Kingsburg, California

King University signee Sage Mortimer (Photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Wow, what a summer it's been for women's wrestling. Women's Nationals, Fargo, a stunning Olympic performance by Team USA - and suddenly we're just a few weeks away from the World Team Trials. As our post-Olympic withdrawal sets in, it's a good time to look at recruiting classes, as we now know where the top Class of 2021 women stack up. USA Wrestling provided us with their final set of rankings for the season to kick off July, and after taking a look at where each ranked senior will lace up her shoes in the fall, we can assemble recruiting class rankings based on two main factors: quality and quantity. It's important to note that now that the NAIA, NCAA and NJCAA have each granted emerging sport status to women's wrestling, the days of everyone coming together at the WCWA Championships are behind us. The NAIA schools have their own championship event, while the NCAA schools assemble at the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships, or NCWW. The NJCAA hosted their first championship event in 2021 as well. We will rank the Top-10 classes across all three organizations, but note for you the school's division. This is important as it makes a big difference particularly in the world of recruiting, where some schools have athletic scholarships to offer while others do not. All NAIA, NCAA Division 1 and Division 2, and select NJCAA schools have the option to offer wrestling scholarships, while NCAA Division 3 institutions do not. 1. King University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 7 Ranked Recruits: Samara Chavez (#1 at 112), Sage Mortimer (#1 at 117), London Houston (#1 at 132), Cheyenne Bowman (#3 at 152) Montana Delawder (#8 at 127), Tiffany Baublitz (#9 at 164) Dianna Holmes (#12 at 112). King takes the top spot in this year's class because of a mixture of both of our ranking criteria. This class certainly has the quantity a top class needs, with seven ranked wrestlers, but also boasts three #1s, more than any other school in the country. Mortimer and Chavez actually just wrestled each other in the Fargo Junior finals last month, with Mortimer taking the stop sign in a 12-7 victory over her future teammate. Both wrestlers earned a spot on the Junior National team after a 2nd place finish for Chavez, at 50kg, and a 3rd for Mortimer at 53kg at Women's Nationals in May. The two then hit two days later in the U23 bracket at 53kg, where it was Chavez pinning Mortimer in the consolation semis. London Houston is another rising star who opened eyes at Women's Nationals, earning a runner-up finish in the Junior division and a third in the U23 bracket. She represented Team USA at the Junior Pan Ams in June, where she came home with a gold medal, and stormed her way to the Fargo Junior title at 132 pounds last month. Bowman and Delawder each earned All-American awards at Women's Nationals as well, with Bowman falling in the Junior finals to Amit Elor. ***Editor's Note***: King also will receive transfer Vayle Baker from Augsburg. Baker is a two-time Cadet World Team member, a runner-up at WCWA's, and an All-American at NCWWC's. 2. North Central College (NCAA DIII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 12 Ranked Recruits: Amani Jones (#1 at 122), Traeh Haynes (#2 at 225), Kendra Ryan (#3 at 112), Tiera Jimerson (#5 at 132), Ashley Reed (#8 at 164), Fiona McConnell (#9 at 180), Sara Sulejmani (#11 at 138), Emily Alvis (#13 at 122), Adaugo Nwachukwu (#14 at 127), Sydney Petzinger (#16 at 106), Yele Aycock (#20 at 132), Emma Grimm (#24 at 127). No scholarships, no problem for Coach Norton and the Cardinals, as they landed a whopping 12 ranked recruits. They win the quantity award, but make no mistake, this class contains some seriously quality wrestlers as well. Amani Jones headlines the class as the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 122 pounds. Jones was a young star winning a Super 32 title in 2018 and a Fargo 16U title in 2019, and recently proved that she can do it at the Junior level as well. She was the runner-up at Women's Nationals in May and brought home a gold medal from the Junior Pan Ams in June. She was fifth at Fargo Juniors last month, dropping a couple matches to wrestlers ranked at 127, butavenging one of them in the fifth place match. Traeh Haynes won back-to-back state championships in Texas, earning falls in six of her seven state tournament matches. Kendra Ryan had a coming out party at Women's Nationals in May, defeating the wrestlers who took third in both the NCWW and NAIA Championships last season before falling to Chavez in the semifinals - in a match where Ryan held a 9-4 lead before being put to her back and pinned in the second period. Jimerson and Nwachukwu both won California state titles as High School juniors in 2020, and Jimerson was fourth at UWW Juniors in November. Reed made the Fargo Junior finals last month at 164 pounds, where she fell to Kylie Welker. Sulejmani also made the finals at 138, earning her third career runner-up finish in Fargo. 3. Grand View University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 4 Ranked Recruits: Olivia Brown (#1 at 200), Abby McIntyre (#8 at 144), Adrienna Turner (#9 at 127), Madison Diaz (#22 at 152) A good haul of new Vikings for Coach Crinzi at Grand View. Olivia Brown headlines the class. The Broken Arrow senior did not compete in Fargo this year, but was a Cadet champ in 2018 and third in Juniors the following summer. She also pinned her way to an Oklahoma State Championship in 2020. Diaz and McIntyre both dominated their way to lowa State titles in 2021, the second state championship for McIntyre, who also won a Folkstye National title as a senior. Adrienna Turner has been ranked as high as #1 during her senior season, and just showed out well at Fargo last month, earning All-American honors with a sixth place finish in a loaded bracket. 4. Texas Wesleyan University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 4 Ranked Recruits: Brittyn Corbishley (#2 at 180), Hannah Francis (#2 at 200), Devin Patton (#17 at 127), Aalyah Villareal (#20 at 180) The young Texas Wesleyan women's program is off to a hot start, and Head Coach Ray Beford is keeping some of the state's best talent home in 2021 to aid their climb up the NAIA ranks. Brittyn Corbishley pinned her way to back-to-back Texas state titles as a junior and senior, and is fresh off a Fargo Junior National Championship, a run which saw her exact revenge on top-ranked Jaycee Foeller, who had pinned her at Junior Duals in Tulsa just one month prior. Hannah Francis is coming off a third place finish at Fargo and also has a win over Foeller in late 2020. Devin Patton was an undefeated state champ in 2020 and a Fargo 16U All-American in 2019. 5. Life University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 5 Ranked Recruits: Salyna Shotwell (#4 at 117), Jaylen Hyman (#7 at 180), Sylvia Pierce (#12 at 138), Emma Burk (#19 at 152), Paige Denke (#23 at 122) Five ranked recruits headline Life U's 2021 class, with Salyna Shotwell leading the way. Shotwell burst onto the scene when she stormed her way to the finals of the 2020 UWW Junior Nationals last fall in Omaha. The run included a win by fall over Samara Chavez and a narrow 4-2 loss to Emily Shilson in the final. She was also third at Fargo Juniors last month. Hyman, Pierce and Denke each won state championships in their respective states and will look to contribute for the Running Eagles. 6. Augsburg University (NCAA DIII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 3 Ranked Recruits: Katerina Lange (#1 at 144), Nina Makem (#15 at 138), Charlotte Kouyoumtjian (#18 at 122) We'll see a new Head Coach at Augsburg in former Minnesota wrestler Jake Short, and he will have some new young talent to work with. Katerina Lange was in and out of the rankings during her senior year, but made a statement at Women's Nationals in May. Lange made the finals and even took a match in the 2-of-3 series against McKendree's NCWW National Champion Alara Boyd. She followed that up with a gold medal at the Junior Pan-Ams in June in a dominating performance. She was upset by #3 Destiny Rodriguez in the semifinals at Fargo last month, but bounced back to finish third. Lange was also the UWW Junior Nationals runner-up at 65kg last fall in Omaha. Nina Makem fell short of the podium at Fargo in 2019, but made sure her name was known at the event in 2021. She wrestled to a third place finish this time around, earning an exciting second period fall in the consolation final. Charlotte Kouyoumtjian was a California state runner-up in 2020 and a Fargo 16U All-American in 2019. 7. Tiffin University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 3 Ranked Recruits: Olivia Shore (#3 at 106), Solana Mottola (#7 at 127), Taryn Martin (#10 at 164) Three top-10 recruits for the Dragons makes for a very strong class in 2021 and an equally strong argument that this ranking could have been moved up a notch. Olivia Shore is a two-time Cadet World Team member, finishing 5th in 2018. She was also a Super 32 champ, two-time Girls State Champ, and placed in the Boys State Tournament this year in Ohio - an amazing accomplishment for the young star. Solana Mottola was third at the California State Tournament in 2020 and Round of 12 at Women's Nationals in May. Taryn Martin won Ohio state titles in her junior and senior year and is fresh off a Fargo Junior runner-up finish last month. 8. Colorado Mesa University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 2 Ranked Recruits: Claire Dicugno (#1 at 127), Jayleen Sekona (#8 at 200) Just two ranked recruits for Coach Mercado and Colorado Mesa this year, but if the focus was on landing a star, they certainly did so. Claire Dicugno is the headliner here, and as one of the top overall seniors in the class, she gives the Mavericks the nod at #8. She will represent Team USA at the Junior World Championships in Ufa, Russia later this summer after winning the 57kg bracket at Women's Nationals in May. She was an undefeated Washington state champion in 2020, after finishing as the runner-up in 2019. Dicugno was also third at Folkstyle Nationals in 2021 and fourth at Fargo Cadets in 2019. Jayleen Sekona was a Fargo and UWW Cadet All-American in 2018 and was the runner-up at Preseason Nationals in 2020. 9. McKendree University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 2 Ranked Recruits: Jaycee Foeller (#1 at 180), Hannah Hall (#4 at 112) The returning champs in the NCAA division have a small contingent coming in as far as ranked recruits go, but both have performed well on the national stage. Jaycee Foeller is the nation's top-ranked 180 pounder after pinning Brittyn Corbishley at Junior Duals in June, though Corbishley got revenge in the semis at Fargo just last month. Foeller dropped another match on the back side, but finished strong with a win in the fifth place match to earn her 6th Fargo All-American award. She has also dominated the state of Missouri, winning three straight undefeated state championships, pinning her way through the tournament each time. Hannah Hall is a two-time Florida state champion who has earned two All-American finishes at Fargo and has consistently climbed the rankings in her senior year. 10. Simon Fraser University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 2 Ranked Recruits: Katja Osteen (#3 at 180), Julia Richey (#4 at 225) Coach Justin Abdou and the Simon Fraser women's wrestling team haven't taken the mat since their runner-up finish at the 2020 NCWW Championships, as they did not compete during the 2020-2021 season due to the pandemic. They have traditionally recruited very well in California and managed to lure two of the state's best north of the border again in 2021. Katja Osteen was sixth at Women's Nationals in the UWW Junior Division in May after not appearing on the national scene for a couple of years. She was a California State Champ and Folkstyle National Champ in 2018, and finished as a runner-up at both Fargo Cadets and Women's Nationals in UWW Cadets that same year. Julia Richey was a California state champ in 2020, pinning her way to the title. Honorable Mention: Sacred Heart University (NCAA DI) Number of Ranked Recruits: 2 Ranked Recruits Ally Fitzgerald (#3 at 122), Madison Sandquist (#8 at 138) Central Methodist University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 4 Ranked Recruits: Allison Hynes (#12 at 117), Alexis Miller (#17 at 106), Lillian Gough (#22 at 132), Sabrina King (#23 at 132) lowa Wesleyan University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 3 Ranked Recruits: Mia Palumbo (#10 at 112), Nonnie Justice (#15 at 127), Sydney Manos (#15 at 152) Gannon University (NCAA DII) Number of Ranked Recruits: 2 Ranked Recruits: Anya Knappenberger (#4 at 122), Julianne Moccia (#9 at 106) Indiana Tech University (NAIA) Number of Ranked Recruits: 3 Ranked Recruits: Grace Doering (#16 at 164), Alicia Pieper (#25 at 132), Alyssa Pirro (#25 at 138) Teams (# of Ranked Recruits in parenthesis) North Central - 12 King - 7 Life - 5 Central Methodist - 4 Grand View - 4 Texas Wesleyan - 4 Augsburg - 3 Indiana Tech - 3 lowa Wesleyan - 3 Tiffin - 3 Campbellsville - 2 Colorado Mesa - 2 Gannon - 2 Lock Haven - 2 McKendree - 2 Sacred Heart - 2 Simon Fraser - 2 Southern Oregon - 2 Adrian - 1 Brewton Parker - 1 Corban - 1 Dixie State - 1 East Stroudsburg - 1 Elmira - 1 Emory and Henry - 1 Life Pacific - 1 Lindenwood - 1 Lourdes - 1 Menlo - 1 Midland - 1 Northern Michigan - 1 Ottawa - 1 Presbyterian - 1 Saint Mary - 1 St. Andrews - 1 Umpqua - 1 Wayland Baptist - 1 William Jewell - 1

Four-time Minnesota state champion Bennett Berge (Photo courtesy of Mark Beshey; TheGuillotine.com) The South Dakota State Jackrabbits received a huge commitment today as the #36 overall wrestler in the Class of 2022, Bennett Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, MN) verbally committed to the school. Berge, the sixth-ranked 182 lber in the nation, is already a four-time Minnesota AA state champion heading into his senior year. This summer, Berge finished fourth in Fargo's Junior freestyle tournament at 182 lbs. He has placed in the Super 32 on two occasions, taking eighth in 2019 and making the finals in 2020. Also in 2019, Berge captured a stop sign in Fargo at the 16U freestyle tournament. Berge will join his older brother, Brady, who was announced as the team's volunteer assistant in the days following Fargo. Bennett is the third wrestler from the Class of 2022 to give head coach Damion Hahn a verbal commitment. Two other members of the Big Board, Christian Noble (#159 Big Lake, MN) and Luke Rasmussen (#181 Brookings, SD) have already done so. The Jackrabbit staff is looking to build off of last season's recruiting class that was tabbed #12 in the nation and featured four top-100 signees, three of which hailed from Minnesota. Looking over the South Dakota State roster, there are plenty of potential suitors for the 184 lb weight class that appears to be Berge's home. None have established themselves as the team's long-term starter, as of yet, and none have the pre-collegiate pedigree of Berge. For the full list of current recruits check our commitment page.

The college wrestling season is right around the corner! With that in mind, Tony and Todd are ready to talk fantasy wrestling. Today they talk with Kevin Claunch of the world-famous Bloodround podcast. As you may expect, all things Michigan wrestling are discussed as well as a variety of topics.