InterMat Staff

2021 NCAA qualifier Marcus Robinson of Cleveland State (Photo/Cleveland State athletics) Unlike many other sports, wrestling provides an equal opportunity to all youth, high school, collegiate, and elite-level athletes regardless of their age, size, gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, familial structure, and various other factors. Those factors alone do not define an individual's success. What defines an individual's success in wrestling is a combination of speed, agility, technical skill, and unmatched physical and mental toughness, all of which are met by an intrinsic motivation within an individual. Every time an individual steps out onto the mat, they carry with them invisible "baggage." Although it may not be seen by spectators, coaches, teammates, or opponents, that baggage still contains weight. For many individuals, that weight is significantly heavier than their opponents, affecting their identity on and off the mat. Ideally, that individual is hoping for an opportunity to successfully reach their final destination; obtaining the chance to empty their baggage by reducing the weight those constraints once held on their life. Marcus Robinson, a redshirt sophomore at Cleveland State University, is no stranger to grappling with life's challenges and finding his identity in and through wrestling. Robinson was first introduced to the sport by his older cousin and friend; both of whom had a huge influence on him. They wrestled at a small club located in his hometown of Arkansas City, Kansas. Robinson said, "I wasn't very good at wrestling growing up, but I loved to train, and I wanted to see how far I could push myself." After years of focused training and pushing his body to unimaginable limits, Robinson told his dad, "I'm going to be the next four-time state champ, just watch." In response, his dad replied, "Son, let's just focus on making varsity first." After Robinson's four years at Arkansas City High School, he accomplished that once seemingly unattainable feat by becoming a four-time Kansas state champion, winning each title in a different weight class. In addition, he notched 177 career wins while also leading his high school team to a state championship. Robinson said, "I still remember that conversation with my dad today. Even if I feel like I don't have a lot left in the tank, that fuels me. It's something that has always grounded me back to my roots, and I continue to press forward." Marcus at the Kansas state tournament (Photo/Marcus Robinson) Robinson's roots haven't always been planted in solid ground. During high school, and amongst his most successful wrestling achievements where he was finally finding his identity, Robinson learned that he and his younger brother were adopted. Although this news would completely derail most 16-year old's, Robinson remained positive and carried this additional weight with pride. "My brother and I were adopted at a very young age; we were both babies. I feel like we were given a second chance, and the folks I have now are and will always be our parents. They raised us to be respectable young men and gave us a life we would not have otherwise had. When I found out, I felt that it served as motivation for me, not only in the wrestling room but in life. At times it was difficult to comprehend and talk about, but now I embrace it. It's part of my story. Especially now, I feel like I'm doing something that most people don't get the opportunity to do. I don't want to waste the opportunity, as I've always felt like I was going to do something bigger than myself. I just want to make my family proud," Robinson said. Robinson added, "I want to give my little hometown of Arkansas City, Kansas hope. It doesn't matter where you come from; you can be different and still accomplish great things. Ultimately, that's my story. I'm different, and I'm proud of it. I hope that I can inspire and motivate those around me, especially with how I ended up, and the accomplishments I've had in my life thus far. Your story is your story and through a lot of hard work and dedication, you truly can do anything." After grappling with this new information, Robinson set his sights on something more than himself. He wanted to become the first Division I athlete in his family. Robinson initially achieved that milestone by attending the University at Buffalo for two seasons, where he won over 40 combined bouts. Most notably, Robinson placed seventh at the MAC Championships in 2020 after winning three matches as an unseeded competitor. Robinson competed alongside teammates Bryan Lantry, Alex Smythe, Jason Estevez, Kyle Todrank, and Michael Petite; all of whom contributed to Robinson's success at the University at Buffalo. Robinson said, "Bryan Lantry was the guy I trained with every day. He brought out the competitor in me, telling me exactly what I needed to do and how I needed to do it to be the best wrestler possible. He really believed in me." After two seasons at the University at Buffalo, Robinson set his sights on another Division I wrestling program located 197 miles away in Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University. Robinson shared, "I really loved the team, and I was close to the guys, but if I wanted a better shot at becoming an All-American, it wasn't there. I wasn't enjoying myself anymore and I wanted more for myself. I was underachieving at what I had originally set out to do, and I felt like I was getting held back. If I really wanted to do this thing the right way, Cleveland State was ultimately where I had to be." Once in the transfer portal, Cleveland State's Head Coach, Joshua Moore, began to interest Robinson. When asked about the transfer process, Coach Moore said, "On our end, the first time I found out that Marcus was looking to leave Buffalo was when I saw his name pop up on the transfer portal. I remembered that Marcus wrestled Even Cheek (2018 EWL Champ) a few times that year, and they were both really good matches. From my few interactions, I could tell that Marcus was a competitor, well-mannered, had great sportsmanship, and was a very nice kid. I decided to ask another one of our guys, Justin Patrick, who also wrestled at Buffalo, about Marcus. He said that he was very quiet, humble, and a hard-working kid." Moore went on to say, "I started calling Marcus late March, and it took him two or three months to commit. He really wanted to make the right choice by going to a place that was home for him. With Marcus being so far away from home, he wanted to make sure that he had a good connection with his coaches and teammates. Although he couldn't meet too many of the guys during the transfer process, Patrick essentially served as a familiar face and friend that Marcus needed to solidify his decision." Furthermore, "Through our conversations about wrestling, what we were doing at Cleveland State, our expectations, and a little bit about what being a husband and a father meant to us individually, I think he felt really comfortable with us as a coaching staff. Ultimately, I think that's why he decided to pick Cleveland State." Luckily, only 197 miles separated Robinson from his girlfriend, Sydney, who supported him throughout the transfer process. Once again, Robinson was forced to revamp his identity after leaving behind one of the most influential factors in his support system. Robinson leaned on his girlfriend and her family for parental guidance due to being so far away from his hometown. Robinson said, "My folks back home, my family, and my girlfriend have all been important factors throughout my journey. They continue to motivate me to no end, and I am forever grateful for their influence on my life. Everything that I do is to make them proud, and hopefully get the most out of it for myself." Marcus Robinson (Photo/Cleveland State athletics) After making the move to Cleveland State, Robinson began to find his identity inside of the wrestling room and beyond. Robinson shared, "I didn't want to be just another guy at another big program. I wanted to be a part of something special. I always wanted to be a trailblazer and go somewhere where I could be a leader and make an impact. I wanted to have great coaches who could push us to that next level. I wanted to show that you don't have to go to a big school to win. You can win at these smaller schools. I wanted to be the guy, not just another guy. That's part of why I picked Cleveland State. It's an up-and-coming program and we're only getting better. Our coaches have proven they can wrestle, both of whom are NCAA finalists and multiple-time All-Americans. They know their stuff, and I fully believe in them and trust them." Robinson continued, "At Cleveland State, I am one of the biggest leaders. Even at Buffalo, I was a leader. I didn't always understand or even ask for the role, but there's just something in me that warrants the guys to rally behind me. At Cleveland State, I've learned to be more vocal. I've previously let my actions show and do everything right. But now, I rally the team and pick up guys that are down. I've stepped out of my shell a little bit. At the end of the day, I want to be something special for my team. I have a lot of passion. I have a lot of fight. It's what drives me. I try to bring that out through my work ethic, how I live my life, and what I do on and off-campus, in and out of the wrestling room, and the classroom; everything I do." Regarding Robinson's addition to Cleveland State, Coach Moore said, "Marcus is a very proactive kid. He is the guy that shows up early and sets the tone for practice. With this being the first year with him on our team, he was working his butt off every day. He was not only drilling every day to improve his own skills, but his teammates. He has taken a captain-like approach to help the guys he is competing alongside. He's showed them that there is another level that they could and should be working at." He went on to say, "We have seen a dedication in his academics as well. At Buffalo, he was a pretty good student, but he struggled a few semesters with an average GPA. At Cleveland State, after feeling comfortable and knowing what his mission was, he had two of the highest GPAs he has ever had. It shows that when a kid is doing well in a sport, academically, and socially, they can overcome adversity and do very well. As time has gone on, Marcus has become a vocal leader in the wrestling room. Everyone starts out as a leader by actions and working hard, but he slowly started to realize that he could have a bigger impact on the team and that he could influence them. He can be something bigger than himself." Robinson has utilized his unsteady roots as a diving board for his success, never letting the extraneous weight hinder his progress. Looking forward to the future, Robinson hopes to train for the world and Olympic team once he graduates from Cleveland State. There is no doubt that Robinson's challenges thus far have given him the motivation needed to be a beacon of light to everyone he meets. Robinson stated, "If there are people out there like me, I want to give them hope. Hope that you can be different, and still strive to do what you want in life. You might not always know where you come from or your past life, but you can still accomplish your dreams and your goals." 2021 Adoption Facts and Figures According to The Adoption Network 1 out of every 25 families in the United States have an adopted child. 1 out of every 50 children is adopted. There are 1.5 million children adopted in the United States. Each year, 140,000 children are adopted by American families. 6 out of every 10 Americans have had a personal experience and/or connection with adoption. If you or someone you know is interested in adoption, please visit AdoptUSKids or call 1-888-200-4005.

Suleyman Karadeniz at the 2020 European Championships (Photo/Anadolu Agency) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/6/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) Part of the Turkish resurgence along with #2 (57) Suleyman Atli (TUR), #5 (70) Heydar Yavuz (TUR), Fazli Eryilmaz (TUR), Osman Gocen (TUR) and #6 (92) Erhan Yaylaci (TUR), #6 Suleyman Karadeniz of Turkey burst onto the scene in 2020 beating past world medalists Aslanbek Alborov (AZE) and #13 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) for gold at the 92 KG European Championships. A bronze medal at the Individual World Cup to end the year and a runner-up finish at the European championships this year have cemented Karadeniz as a medal contender going into Tokyo. Today's Olympic profile will look at rising 97 KG #6 Suleyman Karadeniz of Turkey. The Stats #6 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR)- 2019 92 KG Ziolkowski champion, 2020 92 KG European champion, 2020 97 KG Individual World Cup bronze medalist, 2021 97 KG International Ukrainian Tournament champion, 2021 European Olympic Qualifier runner-up), 2021 97 KG European runner-up. Key Wins: #7 Elizbar Odikadze (2021 International Ukrainian Tournament, 2021 European championships), #6 (92) Erhan Yaylaci (2019 92 KG International Ukrainian Tournament) #15 Albert Saritov (2021 European OG Qualifier), #17 Erik Thiele (2021 European OG Qualifier), Aslanbek Alborov (2020 92 KG European championships), #13 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (2020 92 KG European championships), Shamil Zubairov (2019 92 KG world championships, 2021 97 KG European championships). Key Losses: #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (2020 97 KG Individual World Cup), #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov ( 2019 92 KG World Cup, 2019 92 KG world championships, 2021 97 Kg European championships finals), #11 Aleksandr Hushtyn (2021 97 KG European OG qualifier), Bendeguz Toth (2019 92 KG Yasar Dogu), Mojitaba Goleij (2017 Tbilisi GP finals), #13 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (2019 92 KG Dan Kolov, 2019 92 KG International Ukrainian Tournament) 2016-2018 Suleyman Karadeniz began his career in early 2016 at the 97 KG U-23 European Championships, debuting and losing against Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia. A winless performance at the Alrosa Cup would end Karadeniz' 2016 on a sour note and the start of 2017 saw him fare no better with a 17th place finish at the Yasar Dogu, after an opening-round loss to 2014 world bronze medalist Selim Erdogan (TUR). Karadeniz would make his first breakthrough in the middle of 2017, with a runner-up finish at the Tbilsi GP to 2x U-23 world champion Mojitaba Goleij (IRI). At the Tbilisi GP, Karadeniz beat a pair of tough Georgians in 2011 Junior World runner-up Mamuka Kordazia (GEO) and 2020 125 KG Georgian National runner-up Zviad Metrevelli (GEO). A bronze medal finish at the Ion Cornianu Memorial would push Karadeniz into the Intercontinental Cup. An opening-round loss to Sukhrobjon Mukaramov (UZB) saw him finish in 14th place and finish the year on a loss. Karadeniz would compete once in 2018 , in his debut at 92 KG, in a loaded field at the Tbilisi GP, where he took fifth. Karadeniz put together one of the most complete performances of his young career, beating Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational champion Iliskhan Chilayev (KAZ) and Asian championships bronze medalist Azizbek Soliev (UZB) against losses to #3 (92) Javad Ebrahimi (IRI) and #9 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) 2019-2021 Karadeniz had an absolutely maniacal schedule in 2019, competing an incredible seven times at his new weight class of 92 KG. Starting off his year would be Takhti Cup, where Karadeniz fell in his opening match to 2012 Olympic champion #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE). A 1-2 showing at the Dan Kolov secured a fifth-place finish for Karadeniz, sandwiching a win against 4x DIII NCAA champion Riley Lefever (USA) between loses to #13 (92) Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) and Ibragim Bolukbasi (TUR). A fruitless showing at the World Cup saw Karadeniz put together an 0-4 record with losses to Dato Marsagishvili (GEO), Lazaro Hernandez (CUB), #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) and Atsushi Matsumoto (JPN). The International Ukrainian Tournament would see Karadeniz rebound from an opening-round loss to #13 Irakli Mtisturi (GEO) to win bronze over #6 (92) Erhan Yaylaci (TUR). 2018 University world runner-up Bendeguez Toth (HUN) would be the man to hand Karadeniz defeat in the semifinals of the Yasar Dogu, with Karadeniz bouncing back to bronze with an 8-0 victory over Viky Viky (IND). Karadeniz's inaugural international title would come at The Ziolkowski Memorial, where he upended returning runner-up Nurgali Nurgaipuly (KAZ) for gold. Concluding 2019 at his first Senior World Championships, Karadeniz would make an immediate impact in his opening match, upsetting returning U-23 world champion Shamil Zubairov (AZE) 7-6 to get a shot at revenge from the World Cup against #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS). A big fireman's carry for Zhabrailov would hold off Karadeniz to a 4-3 loss, but the future was bright for the young Turk. The 2020 92 KG European championships bracket was in no way supposed to be up for the taking of Suleyman Karadeniz. It was supposed to be a chance at redemption for 2017 97 KG world bronze medalist Aslanbek Alborov (AZE), who was a world finals favorite in 2018 after wins over Olympic champions #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) and #12 Sharif Sharifov (AZE), but was upset early by #7 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO). Or it was to be returning world medalist #13 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) who'd beaten out two-time World/Olympic medalist Dato Marsagishvili (GEO) to win Georgian Nationals. The predictions were in and no one had forecast Karadeniz to win gold. The opinion of pundits didn't matter at all; Karadeniz didn't just win; he dominated. Simone Iannatonni (ITA) was a flawless opening round tech fall, setting up a quarterfinal against Alborov. The powerful Alborov was run roughshod by Karadeniz, who dominated him 11-1 to make the semis. Two past losses to Mtsituri had no negative impact on Karadeniz; if anything, they motivated him more to put on an absolute clinic on the dangerous Mtsituri and pin his way into the finals. Samuel Scherrer (SUI) had become a history maker in being Sweden's first Men's Freestyle European championships finalist, but Karadeniz would deny him being their first champion as he shut out the talented Swede 3-0 for European gold. A second consecutive Ziolkowski title propelled Karadeniz into the Individual World Cup, where he'd make his return to 97 KG. Facing the reigning world 5x World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) in his opening round match, Karadeniz' typical pressuring style was picked apart by the Russian technical savant in an 8-0 loss. Karadeniz path to medal would be an uphill one as he faced powerful veterans Radoslaw Baran (POL) and #16 Valerii Andriitsev (UKR). Baran was a game but overmatched opponent to Karadeniz, who got past the tough Pole 10-5 to set up a match opposite 2012 Olympic runner-up #16 Valerii Andriitsev (UKR). Andriitsev, notorious for his reputation of hand fight-heavy, low scoring matches, stayed true to himself, limiting the offense of Karadeniz, but the young Turk prevailed for a 2-1 victory and bronze at the 2020 Individual World Cup. 2021 began for Karadeniz with his second foray into the International Ukrainian Tournament. Facing a surprisingly deep field with World/Olympic medalists Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), Albert Saritov (ROU), Valerii Andriitsev (UKR) and Magomed Ibragimov (UZB), Karadeniz would further cement himself as a medal contender in Tokyo. A 10-2 quarterfinal win over returning 2x 92 KG European runner-up Samuel Scherrer set up a semifinals match opposite 2018 world bronze medalist Elizbar Odikadze (GEO). Odikadze, fresh off a win over 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Magomed Ibragimov (UZB), held Karadeniz close early in the match, but it would be Karadeniz who would pull away late to secure his spot in the finals opposite old rival Valerii Andriitsev (UKR). Even closer than their already tentative last meeting, Karadeniz walked away with a razor-thin 1-1 meeting over Andriitsev for gold. As strong as Karadeniz had been throughout 2020, he still had yet to qualify Turkey for the Olympic Games at 97 KG. Karadeniz's chance to do so would be at the European Olympic qualifier, where wins over #15 Albert Saritov (ROU), #17 Erik Thiele (GER) and Milan Korcsog (HUN) put him in the finals qualifying him for Tokyo. In the finals, he'd faced returning European runner-up #10 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR). Hushtyn, a perennial contender for Belarus with excellent reattacks, capitalized on them against Karadeniz and won 4-3 in a close match against the Turk. Karadeniz final competition before Tokyo would be at the European Championships, where looking to capture his second title at his second weight, he made the finals opposite 2019 92 KG bronze medalist #4 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) after wins over #7 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), Shamil Zubairov (AZE) and U-23 European runner-up Radu Lefter (MDA). Zhabrailov, owner of two past wins over Karadeniz in 2019, added win number three in a tight 6-4 victory for the Russian. Suleyman Karadeniz is one of the premier up-and-coming contenders in the 97 KG field but faces an uphill battle in Tokyo. While he can best the likes of the old guard in Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), Albert Saritov (ROU) and Magomed Ibragimov (UZB), I see him struggling to cover much ground against the true elites of the weight in the form of #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS), #2 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI), and #3 Kyle Snyder (USA). Given the right draw, Karadeniz is a lock to medal, but in my opinion, his chances against the big three and breaking through at this point aren't great.

Our SoCon correspondent Rachel Gallardo is back to talk about a variety of topics. First and foremost, is an update on the Bellarmine head coaching search. Could the Knights be close to a hire? Also, plenty of information about coaching vacancies in the conference and camps/fundraisers. Past SoCon Reports: June 5th, 2020

Donnie Vinson (left; front center) and Kellen Russell (right) (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) New Cornell head coach Mike Grey has announced a pair of assistant coaching hires today via the team's Instagram. Kellen Russell and Donnie Vinson will join the staff. Vinson as the Associate Head Coach and Russell as the first assistant. Vinson was a volunteer assistant with the Big Red from 2014-17, will return to join Grey's first staff at Cornell. Vinson has spent the last four years as a coach at NC State under Pat Popolizio. During his time in Raleigh, the Wolfpack have gone 52-6 in dual meets and captured three regular season and ACC Tournament titles. In Vinson's first season, NC State finished in a tie for fourth in the nation, the highest in school history. Counting the NWCA All-Americans from 2020, Vinson oversaw 12 AAs during his time with NC State. Vinson will return to New York, which is his home state. He was a two-time New York state runner-up for Whitney Point High School before enrolling at Binghamton. While at Binghamton, Vinson racked up 132 wins against only 27 defeats. The 132 wins set a Bearcat record, one that still stands to this day. During his sophomore season, Vinson defeated four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake in a dual meet. It was one of four losses for Dake during his collegiate career. Vinson qualified for the NCAA Championships on four occasions and was seeded in the top-ten three of those times. He earned All-American honors in 2012 after finishing third. That path to the consolation finals came in the most challenging way possible. As the fourth seed, Vinson lost in the opening round and proceeded to reel off seven straight wins. In those seven wins, Donnie tallied two falls, a tech, and a major decision. After Vinson's competitive career at Binghamton ended, he spent a year on the Bearcat bench as a graduate assistant. Russell comes to Ithaca after spending the last six years coaching at his alma mater, Michigan. He was initially a volunteer assistant for four years, before moving into a full-time assistant position. During his time on the Wolverine coaching staff, Russell and company produced 26 All-Americans and finished with an NCAA team trophy (fourth-place) in 2018. Despite Michigan's recent success, Russell remains the school's most recent national champion. He finished his career with back-to-back national titles at 141 lbs in 2011 and 2012. During his junior campaign, he edged Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) in the national finals, before downing Montell Marion (Iowa) in sudden victory, as a senior. Russell went a perfect, 38-0, as a junior and finished at 134-12. Russell became the first (and only) Wolverine wrestler to capture four Big Ten titles. That led to the number one seed in each of his last three seasons. As a freshman, Russell was seeded third but finished in the Round of 12. He was seventh as a sophomore. After college, Russell competed in freestyle and won the 2013 US Open. He was a runner-up at the World Team Trials later that year. Like Grey, Russell is a New Jersey native, so moving to Ithaca brings him closer to home.

From left, Anthony Echemendia, Kennedy Blades, and Ridge Lovett (Photo/John Sachs; Tech-Fall.com) We are just over a week from the Junior and 16U National Championships, otherwise simply known as "Fargo". Before we get into any previews for the 2021 action, take a look at the Junior national champions from the last ten tournaments. Of course, there was no tournament in 2020. Men's Junior Freestyle Women's Junior Freestyle Men's Junior Greco-Roman

Frank Chamizo at the 2017 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) A captivating entertainer who has backed up his talk more than anyone in the world, #5 Frank Chamizo of Italy has done it all going into his second Olympics. World medals at four weight classes starting at 55 KG to 74 KG, all throughout the time, Chamizo has turned heads for his incredible combination of athleticism, match savvy, and ridiculous counters that led him with wins over World/Olympic champions Togrul Asgarov, Soslan Ramonov and Jordan Burroughs alongside so many other credentialed competitors. Today's Olympic profile will take a look at the career of two-time world champion #5 Frank Chamizo of Italy. The Stats #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA)- 2010 55 KG world bronze medalist, 2015 65 KG world champion, 2016 65 KG Olympic bronze medalist, 2017 70 KG world champion, 2019 74 KG world runner-up, 2020 74 KG Individual World cup runner-up, Four-time European champion (‘16, ‘17, ‘19, ‘20), Two-time 74 KG European bronze medalist (‘18, ‘21) 2015 65 KG European Games runner-up, 2017 70 KG Ali Aliyev champ, 2018 Yasar Dogu champ, 2018 74 KG world 5th, 2019 world runner-up, 2021 Matteo Pellicone champion Key Wins: #8 Jordan Burroughs (2018 Yasar Dogu finals, 2021 74 KG Matteo Pellicone finals), #1 (70) Israil Kasumov (2018 74 KG Korkin semis), #3 Magomedkhabib Kadiamagomedov (2018 Dan Kolov), Soslan Ramonov (2015 65 KG Ziolkowski), #1 (79) Akhsarbek Gulaev (2018 74 KG International Ukrainian tournament, 2018 74 KG European Championships bronze medal match), #10 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov(2017 70 KG Ali Aliyev finals, 2020 74 KG European championships finals), Togrul Asgarov(2015 65 KG worlds), Ikhityor Novruzov(2015 65 KG worlds finals, 2014 Ali Aliyev quarterfinals, 2017 70 KG worlds), #7 (70) James Green (2017 70 KG world finals), #14 Khetag Tsabolov (2018 European Championships quarterfinals), #7 Avtandil Kentchadze (2018 European Championships first round match, 2021 European championships), #5 (79) Akhmed Usmanov (2018 74 KG Korkin qualification round), #13 Soner Demirtas (2020 74 KG European championships opening round), Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev ( 2019 74 KG European championships, 2020 74 KG European championships), #9 Timur Bizhoev (2019 74 KG European championships), Zelimkhan Khadjiev (2019 74 KG European finals, 2019 74 KG world championships) Key losses: #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (2017 70 KG Alans tournament, 2018 74 KG world semifinals), #2 Kyle Dake (2020 79 KG Flo Pro match), #4 Taimuraz Salkazanov (2021 74 KG European championships), #6 Razambek Zhamalov (2020 74 KG Individual World Cup finals), #8 Jordan Burroughs (2018 Beat the Streets, 2018 74 KG world bronze medal match, 2019 Dan Kolov), Soslan Ramonov (2016 Medved finals), Togrul Asgarov (2015 65 KG Euro games finals, 2016 65 KG Olympic semifinals), #7 (70) James Green (2015 70 KG Grand Prix of Spain finals match), #13 Soner Demirtas (2018 European Championships semifinals match), #12 Nikita Suchkov (2018 74 KG Korkin finals), Victor Lebedev (2010 55 KG world championships, 2011 55 KG world championships), Mihran Jaburyan (2011 55 KG world championships) 2010-2014 Chamizo's first World Championships appearance would end in disappointment. In the second round of Junior World's, he would lose to eventual World bronze medalist Rasul Mashezov of Russia, while representing Cuba. Chamizo's Senior world championships debut would fare much better as he would make the semifinals and face off against reigning world champion Viktor Lebedev of Russia. In a tightly contested semifinal bout, Chamizo would fall 1-0, 1-0 to the reigning world champion Lebedev. Going on to win bronze in a 1-0, 2-3, 5-1 match against Kim Hyo Sub of Korea, Chamizo would emerge from the world championships at 18 years old as one of the top 55 kilogram wrestlers in the world. An older, more experienced Chamizo would meet again with Lebedev, this time in the 2011 World Championships quarterfinals. Even with his experience gained, Chamizo could not stop the now 2x reigning world champion Lebedev and lost a 0-1, 1-1 match to fall into repechage. Repechage would see Chamizo fare no better as he was upset by Mihran Jaburyan of Armenia by a 3-7,7-0, 3-2 score and failed to place at the world championships. After a two-year gap in competition and up two weights, Chamizo would return to compete for Italy at 66 kilograms. A runner-up finish at the Grand Prix of Spain to Ruslan Dibirgadzhiev of Azerbaijan was Chamizo's first significant finish competing for Italy. Chamizo's performance at the Ziolkowski was even less fruitful as he took fifth after losses to Agaguseynov Mustafaev (AZE) and #11 (65) Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB). Chamizo's 2014 would be a significant turnaround in 2014, winning the Yasar Dogu and Grand Prix of Spain with wins over 2x world medalist Mandakhnaran Ganzorig (MGL), Magomed Muslimov (AZE), and Aaron Pico (USA) with a bronze at the Ali Aliyev and a loss to returning world champion Devid Safaryan (ARM) at the City of Sassari. 2015-2017 Now being able to officially compete for Italy at continental and world championships, Chamizo would be a significant factor to earn his second world bronze medal, now at 65 kilograms. Starting his year off in Belarus at the Medved, Chamizo would face off against 2013 World bronze medalist and 2016 World champion Magomed Kurbanaliev of Russia. Down 5-0 in the second period, Chamizo would rally back with a takedown to open, and with 30 seconds remaining in the match, to tighten things up to a 5-3 score. Being held off by a fading Kurbanaliev, Chamizo would lose his quarterfinal match 5-3 and fall to repechage. Facing him would be two-time world bronze medalist Mandakhnaran Ganzorig of Mongolia, 9-3. A U-23 European title and runner-up finishes at the European Games and the Grand Prix of Spain bumped up to 70 kilograms, Chamizo had garnered much praise for his wins over talents of the weight like Zurab Iakobishvili and Avtandil Kentchadze of Georgia, Magomed Muslimov of Azerbaijan, and Mustafa Kaya of Turkey but fallen short against 2012 60 KG champion Togrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan and James Green of the United States in the European Games and Grand Prix of Spain finals respectively. In what was supposed to be a tune-up tournament before the world championships, Chamizo would face returning world champion Soslan Ramonov of Russia in his first match at the Ziolkowski Memorial in Poland. A brilliant Chamizo held off a late charge from the reigning world champ to take a 4-3 victory and would go on to win the Ziolkowski returning University World runner-up George Bucur of Romania in the finals. Coming into the world championships with the momentum that he had, Chamizo was one of the favorites to win in what was an absolutely stacked field. An indication of that was the fact that Chamizo would square up against the reigning European Games runner-up at 70 kilograms, a 2010 bronze medalist at Russian Nationals, Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland. A late go behind into a double leg for Chamizo was able to win him the close match against Gadzhiev, and gave him the momentum to defeat 2012 Olympic champion Togrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan, returning world runner-up Sayed Ahmad Mohammadi of Iran, and surprise finalist Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan who had upset reigning world champion Soslan Ramonov of Russia by pin in the semis. His first competition in 2016 after a brilliant World Championships performance that culminated in gold with a 4-3 win over Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan, Chamizo would reach the finals of the Medved after wins over Logan Stieber of the US and 2001 World bronze medalist for Russia Alexander Kontoev (BLR). In the finals, he would go against World bronze medalist Soslan Ramonov of Russia. Showing no signs of lapse in performance that he had at world's, Ramonov took the match to Chamizo and came away with an impressive 7-7 win over the reigning world champion. Bronze at the Rio Olympics and coming off a lackluster showing in Bundesliga that saw him lose by pin to Alejandro Valdes Tobier of Cuba and to Kakhaber Khubezhty, Chamizo had a lot to prove making the move up to 70 kilograms. His first competition of 2017 the year would be in April at the Dan Kolov, where he made the Round of 16 to face off against 2015 world champion Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov of Russia. Chamizo was taken apart and pinned by Gazimagomedov and would default out of the tournament. Chamizo's run to his second European title saw him start out his tournament out with yet another win over Ruslan Dibirgadzhiev of Azerbaijan and it would not be until the finals against 2015 European Games runner-up Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland would he face another Dagestani transfer. In a match against two wrestlers with the defensive prowess the likes of Chamizo and Gadzhiev, it was the slick offense of Chamizo that would earn him the 4-3 win and his second Senior European title. The Ali Aliyev was set up to have a finals that would pit Gazimagomedov and Chamizo against each other and have serious implications going into the World Championships. Both men would hold their part of the bargain; Chamizo beating Murad Kuramagomedov and Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia, and avenging his 2015 Medved loss to Mandakhnaran Ganzorig of Mongolia; Gazimagomedov's path to the finals was built upon wins over Murtuz Muslimov, Renat Ramazanov, and Shamil Magomedov all of Russia. The finals match between the two was tightly contested with Gazimagomedov being able to test Chamizo with his pressure and knee pull single, but it would ultimately be the scrambling of Chamizo that would win the day with a big 8-4 win defined by a huge four-pointer off a reverse lift scored in a scramble against Gazimagomedov. Chamizo was also able to notch an injury default win over 2015 Junior world bronze medalist and future 2x 74 KG world champion Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia. Winning world's in dominant fashion with victories over five past World/Olympic medalists, Chamizo entered the Alans with the intent to make the finals and get the chance to avenge past losses to Soslan Ramonov and Magomed Kurbanaliev. So close to his second chance after wins over Dagestani Magomed Muslimov of Azerbaijan and Konstantine Khabalashvili of Georgia, Chamizo would face off against Zaurbek Sidakov in the semifinals. Sidakov wouldn't let Chamizo off the hook for a single second of the match, capitalizing off his strong underhook and scoring on the edge to upset the reigning two-time world champion in a 9-6 win. Chamizo forfeited out of the tournament and ended up taking 5th. 2018-2021 A dominating world title run at 70 kilograms over five returning World/Olympic medalists, made Chamizo the hottest commodity at 74 kilograms in 2018, even with his upset loss to Zaurbek Sidakov at the end of 2017. And Chamizo held up his end of the deal, starting the year off with two titles at the International Ukrainian Tournament and at the Dan Kolov with a signature win over 2017 70 KG Russian national champion #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) along the way. A third Senior European title for Chamizo would see him face his most formidable challenge yet in a loaded field with the returning world runner-up, 2014 70 KG world champ Khetik Tsabolov of Russia, returning European champion and two-time World/Olympic bronze medalist Soner Demirtas of Turkey, returning U-23 world runner-up Akhsarbek Gulaev of Slovakia, and returning U-23 European champion Avtandil Kentchadze of Georgia. A comfortable 9-4 opening win over Kentchadze set up a colossal quarterfinal matchup against the reigning world runner-up Tsabolov. In a stunning turn of events, Chamizo dominated the entire match and was able to step over an extended Tsabolov shot for the fall to make the semis. An upset 4-3 semifinal loss that saw him give up a stepout with less than 10 seconds left in the match against Soner Demirtas of Turkey, Chamizo would finish with bronze by way of a 10-0 technical superiority win over #1 (79) Akhsarbek Gulaev of Slovakia. Titles at the Yasar Dogu and at The Mediterranean Games gave Chamizo strong momentum going into world's, especially with his win over 5x World/Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs of the United States in the Yasar Dogu finals. All that he had left was to take gold at the Dmitri Korkin tournament in Yakutsk, Russia, before arriving in Budapest to do the same. An opening win against 2020 79 KG Individual World Cup champion #5 (79) Akhmed Usmanov of Russia began his tournament and his semifinal against three-time national runner-up Israil Kasumov of Russia would define it. An early four-point throw from Kasumov set the tone for the entire match as Kasumov and Chamizo fought tooth and nail against each other, with Chamizo eventually walking away with a 14-11 win. Perhaps tired from the shootout he had with Kasumov or underestimating two-time nationals bronze medalist Nikita Suchkov of Russia or some combination of both, Chamizo would be defeated in the finals by Suchkov 5-3 of a go behind off a stuffed shot. Emerging from what was a weak top half bracket compared to the monster he had run through the year prior at 70 kilograms, Chamizo would have a surging Zaurbek Sidakov in the semifinals for their rubber match, fresh off Sidakov's stunning upset win over returning 5x World/Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs in the quarterfinals. Sidakov was not to be denied by Chamizo, and even though he would stifle Sidakov's early attacks, the mat IQ and pressure of Sidakov would prove again to be Chamizo's undoing as he fell 3-2. Chamizo's bronze medal fight against Burroughs didn't fare much better, as while Chamizo was able to keep Burroughs extended early on his shots and out scramble him, the pressure and single legs of Burroughs would prove to be too much for Chamizo and he would take fifth with a 4-4 loss. 2019 began with an early win over Azamat Nurikov of Belarus that was then followed by a lopsided loss to Jordan Burroughs and a win over Alipasha Umarpashaev (BUL), left Chamizo with a bronze medal to start the year at the Dan Kolov. Chamizo's early struggles would have had to be corrected if he was going to win his third Senior-level European title. Standing in his way were three Russians, but only one competing for the red, white, and blue in the form of Timur Bizhoev, who had finished 5th at the Yarygin but had won a qualifying match in training camp against returning national runner-up Khetik Tsabolov. The other Russians were Dagestani Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev competing for Azerbaijan and Chechen Zelimkhan Khadjiev competing for France. Bizhoev was Chamizo's stiffest competition by far, as he was coming off a runner-up finish at U-23 world's and a very impressive run at the Alans where he beat reigning world silver medalist Avtandil Kentchadze of Georgia in the finals to avenge his U-23 world finals loss. Wrestling against the stingy Bizhoev, Chamizo's usually high octane offense was muted and he was only able to win a 3-0 win in the Round of 16. Facing Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev in the semis, Chamizo walked away with a 6-2 victory over the 2018 Junior world champion. The finals saw him take on the returning European runner-up, 2016 Olympian Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France. Running up a dominant 6-0 first period against the Chechen Frenchman, Chamizo added a final second-period takedown to ice a dominant 8-0 victory and take his third Senior European title. Chamizo's second meeting against Khetik Tsabolov would go much different than their first at the 2018 European championships, as the 2017 world runner-up for Russia was much better prepared for their semifinal match at the City of Sassari tournament. Owning a 4-3 lead over Chamizo off two first-period takedowns, Chamizo scored a slick low single with less than a minute left in the match to take a 5-4 win over the Russian. Chamizo's second world championships at 74 kilograms would fare better as in his sophomore effort, he was able to best Zelimkhan Khadjiev 4-1 in the semis to matchup against returning world champion Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia. Sidakov was still far too much for Chamizo to handle, as he completely controlled a 5-2 match to take home his second world title and leave Chamizo with his first world silver medal. In a season that was drastically shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic virus, Chamizo competed a total of three times in 2020: European championships, the Individual World Cup, and a showcase match against two-time 79 KG world champion #2 Kyle Dake (USA). Chamizo's European championships run began with a 6-4 win in a rematch two years in the making against 3x European champion #13 Soner Demirtas (TUR) after a semifinal loss from the 2018 European championships. A fellow two-time world champion, #10 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov, had cemented himself as the #2 in Russia behind reigning two-time world champion #1 Zaurbek Sidakov after an exceptional Yarygin run with wins over #13 Khetag Tsabolov and #6 Razambek Zhamalov. Chamizo clutch as ever wasn't fazed by the run of Gazimagomedov was able to negate the heavy hand fighting of the Russian for a 4-3 win and his fourth European title. As a warm-up for the Individual World Cup, Chamizo was booked in a marquee matchup opposite two-time 79 KG world champion #2 Kyle Dake of the United States. Dake's dominance would be felt by Chamizo and the talented Italian would lose 4-3. Chamizo's cruised through to the finals of the Individual World Cup, where he faced Russian phenom Razambek Zhamalov. A takedown in the first for Chamizo set the pace for the match, but Zhamalov continued to press forward and was able to get in on a bodylock with 10 seconds left and score the match winning takedown and the 3-2 win, 4-2 after a Chamizo challenge. 2021 began on Chamizo's home turf of Italy at the The Matteo Pellicone, where he'd get his shot at revenge against 5x World/Olympic champion #8 Jordan Burroughs (USA). A controversial score on the edge for Chamizo would turn the tide of the match and seal a 3-2 win. A fifth European championships title was on the verge for Chamizo in April in a loaded field with world medalists Razambek Zhamalov, Avtandil Kentchadze, Taimuraz Salkazanov and Khetag Tsabolov. In the round of 16, Chamizo was stunned by two-time World medalist Taimuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia 6-2. Pushed into the repechage after Salkazanov's wins over Avtandil Kentchadze and Razambek Zhamalov put him into the finals, Chamizo would have to fight and claw his way back to medal. Kentchadze would be a smooth 8-2 win for Chamizo to push him in a massive rematch of the Individual World Cup against Razambek Zhamalov (RUS) loomed. A visually diminished Zhamalov fought hard against Chamizo, but Chamizo prevailed 5-1 for bronze. As a final warm-up before Tokyo, Chamizo breezed past continental medalists Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan and Semen Radulov of Ukraine to make the finals of the Ziolkowski. Forfeiting out in the finals to 2016 70 KG world bronze medalist Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI), Chamizo locked up the #1 seed for the Olympics. As one of the most electrifying athletes in all of wrestling, Chamizo has carved out a spot for himself as one of the best 74 KG athletes in the past two decades. In a loaded field in Tokyo with two other 2x world champions in #1 Zaurbek Sidkaov (RUS) and #2 Kyle Dake (USA), Chamizo has the chance to truly cement himself as the best 74 KG of this generation.

2021 NCAA champion Nick Lee (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Let's take a quick look into the numbers for the last ten years at The Big Dance. The following is a compilation of finishes starting with NCAA Champions and going through finalists and Top 3's. Penn State dominated in all categories and the blue bloods along with Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State who were dominant. I'm not sure if you would have included Cornell in the 'elite' category prior to the aughts. But they're most certainly there now. Other great performances came from Missouri and Minnesota. Illinois and Northwestern had surprisingly strong decades. And Pat Popolizio ushered in a new era, and a new level of expectations, at NC State. Keep in mind that for the 2020 NCAA Championships, I plugged in their respective seeds as their final placement. Champions This Decade 1. Penn State (27): Nico Megaludis, Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Zain Retherford 3x, Frank Molinaro Jason Nolf 3x, Vincenzo Joseph 2x, David Taylor 2x, Mark Hall 2x ('20), Carter Starocci, Matt Brown, Ed Ruth 3x, Aaron Brooks, Bo Nickal 3x, Quentin Wright, Anthony Cassar 2. Ohio State (11): Nathan Tomasello, Logan Stieber 4x, Luke Pletcher ('20), Myles Martin, Kollin Moore ('20), Kyle Snyder 3x 3. Iowa (10): Spencer Lee 4x ('20), Matt McDonough, Tony Ramos, Cory Clark, Pat Lugo ('20), Derek St. John, Alex Marinelli ('20) 4. Oklahoma State (9): Jordan Oliver, Dean Heil 2x, Alex Dieringer 3x, Chris Perry 2x, AJ Ferrari 4. Cornell (9) : Nahshon Garrett, Yianni Diakomihalis 2x, Kyle Dake 2x, Steve Bosak, Cam Simaz, Gabe Dean 2x 6. Minnesota (4): Tony Nelson 2x, Gable Steveson 2x ('20) Missouri (4) : Drake Houdasheldt, J'den Cox 3x Illinois (4) : Jesse Delgado 2x, Isaiah Martinez 2x 9. Northwestern (3) : Jason Tsirtsis, Sebastian Rivera ('20), Ryan Deakin ('20) North Carolina St. (3) : Nick Gwiazdowski 2x, Mike Macchiavello 11. Iowa State (2) : David Carr, Kyven Gadsen Northern Iowa (2) : Drew Foster, Taylor Lujan ('20) Oklahoma (2) : Kendric Maple, Cody Brewer Arizona St. (2) : Zahid Valencia 2x Rutgers (2) : Nick Suriano, Anthony Ashnault 16. South Dakota St. (1) : Seth Gross Lehigh (1) : Darian Cruz North Carolina (1) : Austin O'Connor Stanford (1) : Shane Griffith Virginia Tech (1) : Mekhi Lewis Michigan (1) : Kellen Russell Notes: Twenty one schools had an NCAA Champion over this period. The top five schools - PSU, Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma St., and Cornell accounted for a whopping 66% of all champs (66 of 100). Minnesota had just two individual champs this decade. And of Missouri's four titles, J'den Cox earned three of them. Two of Northwestern's three 'titles' came from the canceled year when both Sebastian Rivera and Ryan Deakin were top seeds. Finalists This Decade The Champs listed above plus: 1. Penn St. (40): Nico Megaludis 2x, Nick Lee ('20), Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph 2x ('20), Mark Hall 2x, David Taylor, Matt Brown, Quentin Wright, Bo Nickal, Morgan McIntosh 2. Iowa (20): Thomas Gilman, Cory Clark 2x, Tony Ramos, Montell Marion, Jaydin Eierman, Brandon Sorensen, Derek St. John, Michael Kemerer 2x ('20) 3. Ohio State (19): Joey McKenna, Micah Jordan, Sammy Sasso, Bo Jordan, Myles Martin, Kollin Moore, Kyle Snyder, Nick Heflin 4. Oklahoma State (15): Daton Fix 2x, Jordan Oliver, Josh Kindig, Tyler Caldwell, Derek White 5. Cornell (13): Nahshon Garrett, Brian Realbuto, Gabe Dean, Max Dean 6. Minnesota (9): Ethan Lizak, Dylan Ness 2x, Brett Pfarr, Tony Nelson 7. NC State (7): Hayden Hidlay 2x ('20), Trent Hidlay, Nick Gwiazdowski Michigan (7): Stevan Micic, Mason Parris 2x ('20), Adam Coon 2x 9. Missouri (6): Lavion Mayes, Joey Lavallee Illinois (6): Isaiah Martinez 2x 11. Northwestern (5): Jason Welch, Mike McMullan Lehigh (5): Brandon Hatchett, Robert Hamlin, Nate Brown, Zach Rey 13. Edinboro (4): Mitchell Port 2x, David Habat, Chris Honeycutt Virginia Tech (4): Devin Carter, Hunter Bolen ('20), Jared Haught Wisconsin (4): Seth Gross ('20), Tyler Graff, Connor Medbery 16. Oklahoma (3): Andrew Howe Arizona St. (3): Brandon Courtney Rutgers (3): Nick Suriano Pitt (3): Jake Wentzel, Ty Wilps, Nino Bonaccorsi 20. South Dakota St. (2): Seth Gross Iowa State (2): Two Champs (see above) Northern Iowa (2): Two Champs (see above) North Carolina (2): Austin O'Connor ('20) Stanford (2): Nick Amuchestegui Virginia (2): Jack Mueller, George DiCamillo Nebraska (2): Tyler Berger, Tim Dudley Wyoming (2): Bryce Meredith 2x West Virginia (2): Zeke Moisey, Noah Adams ('20) 29. Boise St. (1): Jason Chamberlain Indiana (1): Taylor Walsh Princeton (1): Pat Glory ('20) Rider (1): Jesse Dellavecchia Lock Haven (1): Ronnie Perry Kent St. (1): Dustin Kilgore Maryland (1): Jimmy Sheptock Notes: Thirty-five different programs were represented in the finals over the past decade. Ohio State edged Iowa in champs, but Iowa flips that in total finalists. Minnesota (5 to 4), NC State (4 to 3), Lehigh (4 to 1) and Michigan (5 to 1), had more runners-up than champs and climb the board. Wisconsin, Edinboro, and Pitt didn't have a champ but had at least 3 runners-up. Jason Chamberlain was the last Boise St. finalist ever. Top Three Finishers Most Top 3 Finishers By School Finalists Above Plus The Following 1. Penn St. (44): Nico Megaludis, Dylan Alton, Aaron Brooks ('20), Morgan McIntosh 2. Ohio St. (29): Nathan Tomasello 3x, Joey McKenna, Hunter Stieber, Sammy Sasso ('20), Bo Jordan 2x, Myles Martin, Kollin Moore 3. Iowa (27): Thomas Gilman, Tony Ramos, Austin DeSanto, Brandon Sorenson, Tony Cassioppi 2x ('20) 4. Oklahoma St. (22): Nick Piccininni ('20), Alex Dieringer, Tyler Caldwell, Chris Perry, Cayle Byers, Preston Weigel, Alan Gelogaev 5. Cornell (17): Nahshon Garrett, Chaz Tucker ('20), Steve Bosak, Gabe Dean 6. Minnesota (15): Zach Sanders, Pat McKee, Logan Storley, Brett Pfarr, Scott Schiller, Gable Steveson 7. Michigan (14): Stevan Micic, Eric Grajales, Alec Pantaleo, Logan Massa, Myles Amine 3x, Adam Coon 8. Northwestern (12): Sebastian Rivera, Yahya Thomas, Jason Tsirtsis, Ryan Deakin, Mike McMullan 3x 9. NC State (11): Tariq Wilson 2x, Kevin Jack, Pete Renda 10. Missouri (10): Alan Waters, Jaydin Eierman, Lavion Mayes, Keegan O'Toole Nebraska (10): Tyler Berger, James Green 2x, Robert Kokesh 2x, Mikey Labriola, Tim Dudley, Eric Schultz ('20) 12. Illinois (7): Emery Parker Virginia Tech (7): Devin Carter, Nick Brascetta, Zach Epperly Edinboro (7): AJ Schopp, Mitchell Port, Vic Avery 15. Wisconsin (6): Tyler Graff, Evan Wick Lehigh (6): Jordan Kutler 17. Arizona St. (5): Zahid Valencia, Tanner Hall Stanford (5): Joey McKenna, Real Woods ('20), Shane Griffith ('20) 19. Oklahoma (4): Cody Brewer Pitt (4): Matt Wilps Northern Iowa (4): Joe Colon, Parker Keckeisen 22. North Carolina (3): Austin O'Connor Iowa State (3): David Carr ('20) Rutgers (3): See Above 25. Princeton (2): Matt Kolodzik Kent St. (2): Kyle Conel Lock Haven (2): Chance Marsteller South Dakota St. (2): See Above Virginia (2): See Above West Virginia (2): See Above Wyoming (2): See Above 32. Cal Poly (1): Boris Novachkov Binghamton (1): Donnie Vinson Clarion (1): Bekzod Abdurakhmanov Appalachian St. (1): Austin Trotman Columbia (1): Steve Santos North Dakota St. (1): Steven Monk Oregon St. (1): Amar Dhesi Indiana (1): See Above Rider (1): See Above Maryland (1): See Above Boise St. (1): See Above Notes: Ohio State had ten third place finishers to Iowa's seven enabling them to leapfrog the Hawks into second place for most Top 3's. Michigan had eight 3rds. That was tied for second most behind Ohio State with Nebraska. What might be most impressive is that Northwestern, with seven 3rd, vaults to overall #8 for the entire decade based on most Top 3's. Nebraska and Missouri, with 10, was the cutoff for the Top 10 teams best on 3rd or higher for the decade. Seven schools didn't have a finalist and did have a 3rd placer.

Ohio State's NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) July 1st, 2021, marked a historic date in college athletics. As of that day, student-athletes were given the opportunity to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness (NIL). With this in place, collegiate athletes can seek out endorsements and profit off of their name. Since July 1st, InterMat has tracked wrestlers who have announced new partnerships that capitalize on their NIL and will continue to do so. Below is a list of wrestlers who have publicly announced their new deals. There are probably others which have not been publicized as of yet. Please let us know if there is anyone that needs to be added. Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Barstool Athlete, Cameo Spencer Lee (Iowa) - Barstool Athlete, Cameo, The Player's Truck (Shirts) Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) - Shot Sled Beau Bartlett (Penn State) - Beau Knows Edits Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) - Customized Shoe Auction, Barstool Athlete, Cameo AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) - Nearfall Clothing Trent Hidlay (NC State) - Rokfin Joey Sanchez (Oklahoma State) - Merrifield Office Supply Emma Bruntil (McKendree) - Fantasy Fight League Below are the wrestlers who have been designated as "Barstool Athletes." This is a venture from the site Barstool Sports. At this time, no one is exactly sure what the label entails. It's safe to assume that these wrestlers will receive gear from Barstool to promote on social media and in their personal lives. Anything further that gear has not been made public by Barstool, as of yet. It appeared that this was not a long-term, well-thought-out project by Barstool, but something they built on the fly after July 1st. More will be posted about this project as it evolves. Joe Andrassy (Kent State) - Barstool Athlete Will Betancourt - (Ohio State) - Barstool Athlete Kyle Davis (George Mason) - Barstool Athlete Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) - Barstool Athlete Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) - Barstool Athlete Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) - Barstool Athlete Niko Katsuyoshi (Harvard) - Barstool Athlete Devin Schroder (Purdue) - Barstool Athlete Marlee Smith (Arizona State) - Barstool Athlete Mike Torzano (Oregon State) - Barstool Athlete Joseph Walker (Michigan) - Barstool Athlete Jacob Warner (Iowa) - Barstool Athlete

Kendall Coleman at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Rachel Gallardo is a Dietetic Intern at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Rachel will be graduating with her Master's in Nutrition in August and will sit for the Registered Dietitian exam following graduation. She has a background in sports and performance nutrition from working with Appalachian State's Performance Nutrition program and completing her Master's research project, NUTRITION AND BODY COMPOSITION CHANGES ACROSS A COMPETITIVE SEASON IN COLLEGIATE WRESTLERS. Staying hydrated is important during times of extreme heat. Becoming overheated and dehydrated may result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Staying hydrated is one of the best ways to prevent these from happening! Hydration is more than drinking water, but keeping mineral balance as well. Our sweat is made of sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Sodium, chloride, and potassium aid in regulating and maintaining fluid balance while magnesium and calcium are essential in optimal muscle performance as well as energy metabolism. Benefits of hydration include: - Assisting the body in thermoregulation via sweat - Providing lubrication to joints - Is the medium of transportation of the blood and across cells - Our muscles are 75% water, better hydration = better muscle function How can I tell if I'm under-hydrated? - Headache post-training with high sweat rate or low fluid intake during activity - Dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, moodiness/irritability, thirst - Heat intolerance during exercise - Decreased endurance performance - Dark, low volume of urine - Poor appetite, nausea, cramps What can cause under-hydration? - High volume of sweat - Intense, long workouts - Heavy workouts in cold weather with multiple layers - Hot and humid conditions How can I assess my hydration? - Use WUT: if two or more are present, you may be dehydrated - Weight: maintain body weight within 1% - Urine: darkened first morning urine or reduced daily frequency - Thirst: dry mouth or craving fluids What are some ways I can stay hydrated? - Pre-training: Salted watery fruits and veggies: apples, watermelon, tomatoes Water with a dash of salt: 1/16th Tablespoon per 20 fl oz. Hyperhydration beverage such as Liquid IV or high sodium broth/soup - During training: Drink appropriately a sports drink that contains approximately 7 - 9.5 g sugars, 150 - 190 mg sodium, 60 - 75 mg potassium per 8 fl oz. (ex. Gatorade/Powerade Zero) - Post-training: Urine should be clear 2-3 hours post-activity Protein + carbohydrate-based recovery smoothie Low-carbohydrate electrolyte drink (ex. Gatorade/Powerade Zero) Soups Salted watery fruits and veggies

Yui Susaki at the 2017 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) For the first time in this series, we'll profile a member of Japan's women's freestyle team, 50 kg superstar Yui Susaki. Although she is only 22, Susaki is already a two-time Senior world champion. She also has two Junior world gold medals and three at the Cadet level. Susaki has not only won at a young age, but also dominated the competition. Since women's wrestling has been a part of the Olympics, Japan has been a force, particularly at the opening weight. Susaki is attempting to become the third straight Japanese woman to win gold at the lowest weight class. She'll have the added pressure/excitement that goes along with wrestling in front of her home country, as well. So get to know one of the favorites of the 50 kg weight class, a competitor that has yet to suffer a loss to foreign competition. Key Wins: Whitney Conder (2019 World Cup), Oksana Livach (2018 World Championships; Semifinals), Yuki Irie (2018 All-Japan Invitational; Finals), Mariya Stadnik (2018 Klippan Lady Open; Finals), Emilia Vuc (2018 World Championships; Round of 16, 2017 World Championships; Finals), Victoria Anthony (2018 Klippan Lady Open; Quarterfinals, 2017 World Cup, 2017 World Championships; Quarterfinals), Son-Hyang Kim (2017 World Championships; Semifinals, 2017 Asian Championships; Finals), Yanan Sun (2019 World Cup, 2017 World Cup, 2017 Asian Championships; Quarterfinals), Maria Tiumerekova (2016 Cadet World Championships; Finals), Macey Kilty (2016 Cadet World Championships; Semifinals), Alleida Martinez (2015 Cadet World Championships; Final), Veronika Gurskaya (2014 Cadet World Championships; Round of 16) The Cadet Years (2014-16) Right after her 15th birthday, Susaki entered her first international competition, the 2014 Cadet World Championships. Susaki tore through the field and proved that she had the goods to become the next big thing in Japanese women's wrestling. Since the Japanese may not compete as frequently as other international competitors, we do not have as much background information on her. A year later, Susaki duplicated that feat and went back-to-back as a Cadet World Champion. Susaki achieved her world title without surrendering a single point in any of her four matches. The finals match would prove to be a sign of things to come. For the first time, and unfortunately, not the last, Susaki dominated an American opponent. In the gold medal bout, she disposed of Alleida Martinez for a 10-0 tech. Susaki's final year of Cadet eligibility was similar to her first two. For the third consecutive year, Susaki moved up in weight (43 kg to 46 to 49), but still managed to win gold in dominating fashion. Again, she went unscored upon by the best Cadets in the world. Like 2015, Susaki faced off with a prominent American foe (Macey Kilty), this time in the semifinals. Kilty trailed 8-0 when Susaki won by fall. The Japanese superstar clinched a third gold medal when she tech Maria Tiumerekova 10-0 in the finals. The Present (2017-21) Despite being a few months removed from Cadet competition, Susaki jumped right into Senior-level events in 2017 and never missed a beat. In the first two months of 2017, Susaki captured titles at the Ivan Yarygin and Klippan Lady Open. Despite neither event having returning world medalists at her 48 kg weight class, Susaki picked up wins over a bunch of seasoned opponents and proved she belonged despite having yet to turn 18. The 2017 Asian Championships were the spot where Susaki clashed with some decorated foes and showed that she may be a world title threat immediately. In the quarterfinals, Susaki defeated Yanan Sun of China, who had already appeared in two world finals (2012 - 2nd; 2013 - 1st) and was an Olympic bronze medalist in Rio. For the Asian title, Susaki downed 2014 Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Son-Hyang Kim of North Korea. The perfect record in 2017 helped Susaki get the nod for Japan at the 2017 World Championships. Once again, Susaki would face the American entry, this time, it was Victoria Anthony in the quarterfinals. Anthony was the third straight victim of Susaki via tech fall. Her 5-2 semifinal win over Kim proved to be her only bout that went the entire six minutes. Susaki earned the title world champion after a 14-4 tech fall over 2016 Olympian Alina Vuc (Romania). Just a couple of months after her 18th birthday, Susaki had outscored the field 53-8 to win a world championship. Also in 2017, Susaki made an appearance at the World Cup. She went unbeaten and logged wins over Sun and Anthony while helping Japan to a team title. In December, Susaki entered the Emperor's Cup and was set to clash with 2016 Olympic gold medalist Eri Tosaka. The matchup never happened because Susaki was upset earlier in the tournament by Yuki Irie. For the second straight year, Susaki traveled to Sweden and left with a gold medal at the Klippan Lady Open. This time she defeated heavily decorated Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) to claim her title. Since Susaki was still so young, she decided to enter the Junior World Championships in September. Another accomplishment was checked off her list as she earned another gold medal in Trnava. The 2018 Senior World Championships started the way the 2017 tournament ended, with Susaki facing Romanian Alina Vuc. This time Vuc was not able to mount any sort of offense and was pinned. The semifinals saw Susaki dismantle Oksana Livach (Ukraine), who has since developed into a medal contender for Tokyo. To win world title number two, Susaki would have to get by Stadnik again. This proved to be easier than one may imagine and Susaki dominated the then-eight-time World/Olympic medalist for a 10-0 tech. During this world title run, Susaki went unscored upon and outdistanced herself from the competition, 31-0, not including a fall. Because of Japan's depth, even though Susaki was a two-time world champion and had never been defeated by an international competitor, she still needed to fight to get on the 2019 world team. Standing in her way was Irie, the opponent that beat her in 2017. During Japan's multiple-event wrestle-offs, Irie scored two more wins over Susaki and was given a spot on the 2019 world team. That loss sent Susaki to the Junior World Championships, which she won for the second time. At the World Championships, Irie ended up losing in a 13-12 shootout to Sun, who in turn fell in her next bout. That eliminated Irie from the tournament and left Japan without an automatic qualifying spot in the 2020 Olympic Games. Susaki did not compete internationally in 2020, but was given an opportunity to lock up a spot for Japan in the Olympics as their representative at the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier. Four matches and a 41-0 margin later, Susaki was crowned champion at the 50 kg weight class and qualified for the Games. Susaki will be a heavy favorite in Tokyo and still hasn't suffered a defeat to anyone outside of Japan.

Jim Gibson (left) coaching at the 2019 NCAA Championships (photo/VMI athletics) Jim Gibson's journey to college wrestling wasn't a traditional route. Growing up in northwest Pennsylvania, on a horse farm between Pittsburgh and Erie, Jim wrestled throughout elementary and middle school. This was also at a time where club teams weren't common. When transitioning to high school, Jim had shifted from public to private school. Kennedy Christian, now Kennedy Catholic, housed many state placers and champions before Gibson's arrival. As a freshman and sophomore, the team wasn't too strong; however, Gibson's junior and senior seasons took an interesting turn. During team sign-ups, the wrestling team didn't get the interest it had seen in years past - only six kids signed up for the team. After seeing how small the team would have been that year, the school's administration decided to no longer sponsor the wrestling program. "Where do we go from here? What's the next step for us? What's my future in this sport?" were a few of the questions running through Jim's head. He had a couple of options: go back to public school and risk issues with eligibility due to transferring or transfer to another private school. Jim and his family decided to approach the administration at Kennedy Christian to petition the school's decision to no longer sponsor the wrestling program that year. The school agreed to keep the program but with one condition: Jim would be the sole competitor that season. No dual meets. No team tournaments. Just Jim. The coach decided to stay to help him train, with his dad filling in as the assistant coach. The season was difficult, making phone calls to get into individual tournaments throughout the school year, adding one additional slot into a weight class. Most schools were receptive to the situation and allowed Jim to wrestle in eight individual tournaments that year. At the State Tournament that season, Jim took home eighth place. Hungry for another season, Jim, his coach, and his father were able to stick to the one-man show for his senior season. Jim placed second his senior year. This situation forced him to mature quickly and take more self-responsibility in his career. Being in this unique situation, Gibson stood out as a recruit. Edinboro, Clarion, Pittsburgh, and the University of Buffalo were possible landing spots for Jim. He headed to Edinboro, where he was a four-year starter and a national qualifier as a senior. His unique junior and senior high school seasons gave him the perseverance, commitment, and accountability he needed to succeed during his college, and eventually, coaching careers. As a recruit, Gibson definitely stood out. While wrestling in college is a team sport, the dedication to training, keeping up with school, and staying healthy all typically fall on the discipline of the student-athlete. Jim's self-discipline prepared him for his career ahead. As a coach, Gibson has seen the recruiting process evolve in many ways. One of the most significant changes has been social media. Coaches are now able to hop online to see how recruits performed at tournaments and matches without having to travel to every event. Before social media, wrestlers would have to reach out to coaches individually, by sending tapes with footage or letting coaches know which tournaments they would be competing at. It's much easier for the recruiting process now with the use of social media and viewing platforms for wrestling content. Wrestling under Tim Flynn, "one of the best wrestling minds in the country," he broadened his mindset and approaches to coaching. "I think that's one of the biggest things, especially as a coach, don't ever think you should ever stop learning. There's always a different way, always a different approach. There's a new approach, an old approach, and you have to be able to really take what you've experienced around others, use what you think works and what doesn't work, and also build it into your own program." Gibson's coaching debut was made at Clarion University, as a graduate assistant under Teague Moore. Coach Gibson's first full-time coaching job was a head assistant coaching position and the recruiting coordinator at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His experience as an assistant for six years further prepared him for his first and current head coaching position at Virginia Military Institute. "Ultimately, the responsibility falls on me, to make sure I'm giving the right guidance and utilizing my assistants to their strengths. I think that's something I learned as an assistant coach is to understand how to best use assistants. I was prepared to evaluate my assistants to be able to get the most out of them and use them in the areas where I may not be as strong." Jim began coaching at VMI in March 2018, ready to get to work with staff and bringing on assistant Ty Schoffstall, who also wrestled under Tim Flynn at Edinboro. "I think any time when you put a staff together, it's important that everyone's like-minded. You have to be on the same page, relaying the same information and message to your athletes, but even if there's a disagreement within the coaching staff, that's okay. Coming from that Edinboro system with Coach Flynn and his development, I feel that we're on the same page more often than not, which is putting us on our way to being successful." The recruiting process is another important piece in a program's success. When recruiting for a military college, cadets are expected to take all aspects of their careers seriously due to the responsibilities that come with attending a military institution. Their days are meticulously planned out, with little free time nor flexibility. Coach Gibson's recruiting approach for VMI is to look for potential cadet-athletes who have high academic and athletic goals, and who are able to manage and balance the responsibilities that accompany being a cadet-athlete. Coaching for a military college can be more difficult when it comes to scheduling; however, the school sets aside time for the teams to practice. Outside of those times, there are no guarantees that team members can do one-on-one drills or extra lifts. "The most challenging aspect is the time piece related to what they have to do here and how we have to work around it. It forces us coaches to almost be extra prepared, to have a system in place of what we need to do and things we need to work on." As for next year, Coach Gibson and the VMI staff are excited to get back to a more normal season, with more normal preparation and recruiting processes. "I think COVID has taught us some things about training, preparation, and competition that maybe we wouldn't have thought about before. I was trying to find some sort of positive in every situation. Going through a pandemic, you have to persevere through it. You always talk to your guys about it, that they're going to run into adversity and tough times, but this was the time to show them how to make adjustments on the fly, try to be successful, and persevere through some adversity and this tough time."

Mark Grey at the NCAA Championships (photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) With the UFC, PFL and Bellator taking the weekend off for the holiday, there are not nearly as many high-profile domestic MMA cards this weekend. However, there are still several former wrestlers in action across Valor FC 84, Titan FC 70, and CFFC 98. Valor FC 84 takes place Friday night and is available via internet pay per view. In the main event, the promotion's amateur light heavyweight champion Torrez Finney defends his title against Tylando Mattress. Finney was a two-time Georgia state champion in high school for Jones County and reportedly earned a scholarship to wrestle for Tennessee Chattanooga. Despite this, he chose to focus on football at UTC . After his sophomore season, he returned to the wrestling mats. However, in his first match back against Devin Nye (Kent State), he suffered a knee injury and walked away from the sport. He made his amateur MMA debut last October and has won his first three fights. Also, on Friday, the Titan FC 70 card, which airs on UFC Fight Pass, features a pair of former NAIA All-Americans. Denzel Freeman, who wrestled for Cumberlands before training at the WWE Performance Center, is scheduled to face Duane Crespo. Riley Boomer, who was an NAIA champion for Missouri Valley, will face Angel Alvarez. Interestingly enough, Boomer competed at 174 pounds in college, but this fight will be all the way down at featherweight (145 pounds). CFFC 98 takes place on Saturday in Philadelphia and features several names wrestling fans likely remember. The biggest one of those names is clearly Mark Grey. On the high school level, Grey was a four-time National Prep champion before Blair Academy before going to Cornell for college . There he was a three-time NCAA qualifier and finished with an 81-42 record. Grey made his amateur MMA debut this past March. On Saturday, he faces off against Todd Box in another amateur fight. Miles Lee reportedly did not start wrestling until his sophomore year of high school. However, he still finished fifth in Pennsylvania as a senior. In 2017, he went on quite a run at Fargo and made it to the finals in freestyle before coming up short against current Iowa All-American Jacob Warner. Along the way, Lee defeated current UTC wrestler Matthew Waddell in the semifinals. Lee made his professional debut earlier this year and defeated Troy Cain. At CFFC 98, he hopes to improve to 2-0 against Liam Anderson. Bryan Diaz wrestled for former Lehigh standout Jon Trenge at Parkland high school in Pennsylvania. There he was a District XI placewinner. Diaz is currently on the roster at Division III York College, and he will take on Saige Gomez in his amateur MMA debut. Santo Curatolo was a multiple-time PSAL city individual large schools champion and actually wrestled at the 2012 edition of Beat the Streets. He will face Dilshod Zaripov at CFFC 98. Also on the card, Joseph Schick takes on Zachary Burhans. Schick wrestled collegiately for East Stroudsburg when they were at the Division I level. He currently manages a fighter career while working as a school teacher.

Roman Bravo-Young at the 2021 NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On the first day that the NCAA allowed student-athletes to make money for their services and image, the Big Ten released a list of their top individual social media stars. Three of them were wrestlers. Based on Instagram followers, Iowa's Spencer Lee was 7th with 111k followers and RBY (126k) of Penn State was #3. Gopher Gable Steveson, with 245k, has the most Instagram followers of any athlete in any sport from the Big Ten. There are several things to take away from that - the first being that it's abundantly clear how powerful our sport is in the Big Ten. Another thing is that RBY, who became a star after Spencer Lee, and has less accolades than him, has surpassed him in followers, and, you could say, ‘brand.' Winning and losing matters most, but it's not the entire equation. RBY put in A LOT of time in his social media game. His prominence has grown with his openness, his volume, and lifestyle content that often has little to do with wrestling. In that way, he's surpassed current and former wrestlers that have accomplished more on the mat than he has. And everyone will recognize that. If you're a wrestler, you're taking notes. And if you're one of those anti-social media, get-off-my-lawn types, duck for cover. More of it is coming. Another thing we do know is that the universities will embrace it. There are already courses available to athletes next fall that educate you on NIL decisions. And several schools have announced programs to help facilitate their optimization. From the media side, old vets like myself and Earl and Jason Bryant of the National Wrestling Media Association have often sung the praises of universities' Sports Information Directors that go above and beyond in wrestling. It's not just the information and accessibility that we've appreciated, but their undeniable passion helps build stars. And now, that quality will take on an even more critical and difference-making role for individuals. Better, more creative SID's will be appreciated by wrestlers as they act as de facto brand-builders. Coaches would be wise to put a portfolio of their SID's work in front of their recruits. (And let's hope the SID's get paid a little more by the schools going forward.) What lies ahead will be interesting to follow, no doubt. The advent of NIL cash flow is upon us - and regardless of how much research one did on the topic or how prescient you fancy yourself - no one can guess all the pros nor all potential pitfalls that will accompany it. Will it be a distraction? Will sometime, somewhere, a wrestler engage in a faux pas that leads to a suspension? Will it lead to more, or less, wrestling programs? I don't think anyone can speak with certainty on those matters, but it sure is a fun ride to watch. To your questions… What do you see as possible unintended consequences of the NIL? @DutrowJim I think there are a few likely scenarios. The obvious one being that a wrestler gets involved with something outside the parameters of what's legal under the NIL framework. So wrestlers. GET. SCHOOL. APPROVAL. What I hope doesn't happen is that in an effort to keep their athletes eligible in football and basketball, schools don't wind up employing 25 compliance officers that further hamstrings their balance sheets and leads to the cutting of even more Olympic programs. Another thing is that there are gonna be some really good wrestlers that try to have social media cache to build their brand and end up coming off as ultra cringeworthy. You can say that's already started. But it'll get worse. Here's one for ya, too - a wrestler wins over fans, wins a title as a sophomore, cashes in, becomes a douche, takes 6th the following year. Fans totally turn on him and chastise him for caring more about his social accounts than his riding ability. This will happen. You know why wrestlers are often the most intensely focused, goal-oriented individuals? They're hungry. Can you stay hungry when you're comfy? You know why MMA fighters tail off after a hot start to their careers? They ain't hungry no more. Another one - bad contracts. There are already really, really, really awful contracts in the wrestling world. People that are signed with certain companies (even big in our sport) have very paltry compensation. I can see current college athletes taking a deal for little more than the serotonin that comes along with the press release. Don't sign a contract for gear. Make sure you're getting your real value. And make it legal. What do you think of Barstool Athletics? RBY signed on. @Capt_AlexPerez I have no idea. And I'm pretty sure RBY has no idea. Dave Portnoy himself said that the project was thrown together at the 11th hour with no real plan. What I do know is that Barstool is a creative force that typically makes good decisions. At a minimum, I think it leads to increased popularity for the athletes that join and more opportunities. At its ceiling, I think it could be a very influential movement. Which athletes will be sponsored by The Brain? @chunkofWEAVE Haha. I don't know exactly, but some will for sure. I got some ideas. Additionally, and somewhat unexpectedly, several current college wrestlers asked me if I was interested in being their agent, and it's something I'm considering. Not sure if it will go that far, but I certainly want to connect them to the right people, so they have more opportunities. Feel free to DM or email me if you're interested. What school do you view as a dark horse that can really benefit from NIL? @TheGOATFollower The Ivies and here's why. Penns and Princetons have uber-rich alumni. Until now, what has been their method of support? Donating to RTC's? Financing a new room? There have been limitations to what they could do. The NIL deal opens another door. Forget Gatorade and Nike and Coca-Cola. I think we'll see a Penn alum at a major investment firm sponsor Michael Coliaocco. I think Mike Novogratz slaps a Galaxy Capital logo on Patrick Glory at Trials.

Iran's Amir Zare (Photo/United World Wrestling) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) A dominant Cadet champion that rapidly rose through the ranks to become one of heavyweights best, #3 Amir Zare of Iran has cut through some of the best competition in the world to establish himself as one of the top medal contenders in Tokyo. One of a trio of top young prospects along with #4 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) and #6 Gable Steveson (USA). Today's Olympic profile will look at the career so far of #3 Amir Zare of Iran. The Stats #3 Amir Zare (IRI)- 2018 110 KG Cadet Asian Champion, 2018 110 KG Cadet world champion, 2018 Youth Olympic Games runner-up, 2019 Junior Asian champ, 2019 Junior World runner-up, 2019 U-23 world champ, 2019 Alans bronze medalist, 2020 Matteo Pellicone champ, 2020 Iranian World Team Trials runner-up 2021 Ziolkowski champ. Key Wins: #2 Geno Petriashvili (2019 Club World Championships), #4 Yusup Batirmurzaev (2019 U-23 world championships, 2020 Matteo Pellicone), Bilyal Makhov (2020 Matteo Pellicone finals), Nick Gwiazdowski (2019 Alans bronze medal match, 2021 Ziolkowski finals), #8 Amin Taheri (2020 Iranian World Team Trials), Yadollah Mohebbi (2020 Iranian World Team Trials), Parviz Hadi (2020 Iranian World Team Trials), Khasanboy Rakhimov (2019 Alans), Vitali Goloev (2019 U-23 world finals). Key Losses: #6 Sergey Kozyrev (2018 110 KG Youth Olympic Games Finals), #8 Amin Taheri (2020 Iranian World Team Trials), #18 Batraz Gazzaev (2019 Alans semifinals), Mason Parris (2019 Junior world finals). 2018-2021 #3 Amir Zare (IRI) kicked off his international career with a Cadet Asian and Cadet World title at 110 KG in 2018, with his most notable win coming over Penn State All-American Greg Kerkvliet (USA) of the Cadet World finals. Zare would take on Cadet world bronze medalist #4 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) in the finals of the Youth Olympic Games and fell to the Russian to complete his Cadet eligibility. Zare's 2019 saw him begin his Junior campaign with an Asian championships title over Buheerdun of China. Going into the Junior World Championships as the returning Cadet world champion, Zare was expected to be one of the favorites to win gold. Zare looked keen on fulfilling those expectations alive as he made the world finals opposite Mason Parris of the United States. Parris, now an NCAA runner-up for the Michigan Wolverines and Senior national champion, was at the time coming off a 33-9 true freshman season that saw him make the Round of 12 at NCAA's. In a battle of prospects, it would be the powerhouse Parris who would walk away with a stunning first-period pin over Zare for the Junior world heavyweight title. After Junior World's is where Zare really made the change. Mason Parris is an absolute beast of a heavyweight, one of the most physically imposing wrestlers at any weight, who bullies the most elite of competition. Zare, finally having gotten to face that sort of Senior level power, had turned a corner. Nowhere was this improvement more evident than at the U-23 world championships. Zare outscored his competition 49-7, breaking the likes of Senior level elites 2020 Asian champion #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) and 2020 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Vitali Goloev (RUS) for gold. The prestigious Alans tournament in Vladikavkaz, Russia, would be where Zare would get another chance to prove his deserved spot among the elite. And Zare did more than prove it, as right out of the gate, he put a 12-2 clinic on World bronze medalist Khasanboy Rakhimov (UZB) in the Round of 16. #15 Atsamaz Tebloev (RUS) forfeited to Zare in the quarters, which would set up a semifinal bout against Russian Nationals bronze medalist #17 Batraz Gazzaev (RUS). Gazzaev was an absolute monster at the end of 2019, winning the Intercontinental Cup and Kadyrov Cup, where he had beaten the reigning national champion #8 Alan Khugaev (RUS). Zare was able to lead Gazzaev 2-1 throughout most of the match, but a clutch bodylock takedown for the hulking Gazzaev would earn the North-Ossetian standout a place in the finals. In the bronze medal match, tech falled two-time world bronze medalist #7 Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) 10-0. In a spectacular recovery from his bronze medal at the Alans, Zare notched a huge 15-11 upset of reigning three-time world champion #2 Geno Petriashvili of Georgia in the World club championships to end 2019. In the abbreviated 2020 season, Zare was able to compete twice at the Matteo Pellicone tournament and at the Iranian World Team Trials. At the Matteo Pellicone, Zare was excellent, beating #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) in dominant fashion and getting a monster win over 3x World champion Bilyal Makhov (RUS) in the finals. Zare's performance at the Iranian World Team Trials would be another story. Zare beat 2018 World bronze medalist Parviz Hadi and two-time world rep Yadollah Mohebbi to make the best-of-three finals against 2017 U-23 World bronze medalist #19 Amin Taheri. The structure of Iran's training camps is such that guys wrestle with the same partners throughout the whole camp with little variety, so the degree of familiarity among opponents is very high. Zare was undoubtedly the better wrestler results-wise than Taheri, but because of their familiarity, the lesser Taheri was able to win the series 2-1. However, Taheri would not go to the 2020 World Championships as Iran would only send one wrestler to the 2020 Individual World Cup in the form of two-time Cadet world champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili at 57 KG, who took bronze. With the heavyweight spot still needing deciding for Iran for Tokyo, Iran sent Amin Taheri to the Asian championships at the start of this year. Taheri was upset by Individual World Cup bronze medalist Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ), which made Zare the favorite to take a spot. But the final qualifier that would determine whether Zare or Taheri would go to Tokyo would happen in June at the Ziolkowski. Taheri opened with a win over Asian champion #20 Oleg Boltin (KAZ), but promptly lost 6-3 to 2018 U-23 World runner-up #18 Youssif Hemida (EGY) in his quarterfinal match. Zare tech falled his way to the finals and cautioned out two-time World bronze medalist #7 Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) up 6-1. It was clear, Zare was the man for Iran. Amir Zare is in a very special place right now at heavyweight. One of the premier contenders for gold at heavyweight at only 20 years old, Zare among with #4 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) and #6 Gable Steveson (USA) are part of a new group of resurgent, high offense heavyweights taking the international scene by storm. The heavyweight division is at the best it's ever been and I look forward to seeing how the new blood of Zare, Kozyrev, and Steveson clash against each other and the legends Taha Akgul and Geno Petriashvili.

AJ Ferrari at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Today is a landmark day for college athletes, not just in the wrestling world. Starting today, college athletes have the ability to make money off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL), without jeopardizing their eligibility. Even though this goes into effect on July 1st, there are still plenty of i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed, as to how this will happen. Not all states, conferences, and universities will be on the same page and operate under the same rules. Some of the fine print and actual regulations can get kind of boring, so we decided to have some fun and matched up some of college wrestling's biggest stars with potential endorsement ideas. Some of these ideas are well-thought-out and serious. Others make for a good laugh, but maybe could work, too. So enjoy and leave us some of your suggestions in the comments. AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) - The best mom-and-pop Italian restaurant in Stillwater. AJ and his family are very proud of their Italian heritage. What about a series of commercials on local TV with Ferrari being Ferrari? Hilarity ensues. The possibilities are endless for 665 lb-related shirts and such, as well. We'll look past ads for Ferrari sports cars, that's low-hanging fruit. Spencer Lee (Iowa) - Pokemon. It was his entrance music; you may as well endorse something you like. Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Nike. Nike has a history of building its respective brand around a certain athlete. Michael Jordan took the company from middle-of-the-pack to the clear number one in the athletic footwear and apparel industry. Nike Golf was virtually non-existent before Tiger Woods. Steveson could fit the bill as a dominant, hip, slightly-edgy cornerstone of their wrestling market. Plus, the Olympic exposure doesn't hurt. Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) - Nike. There's already a line of shoes for basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, the "Greek Freak." What about a similar line for the wrestling version of the same name? Trent Hidlay (NC State) - Sheetz. The Twitter handle is Hoagie Hidlay and he pulled one out after his Who's #1 win. Rumor has it that Hidlay is a Sheetz guy. Sheetz vs. WaWa is a heated topic among East Coast sandwich and convenience store connoisseurs. Michael Kemerer (Iowa) - Advil. It's always kind of a gut punch to see some of your favorite athletes endorsing products geared towards an older generation. Shaquille O'Neal, Brett Favre, and others have gone down this road. Kemerer has said his teammates refer to him as "grandpa." He seems like he has a sense of humor; you may as well lean into the joke. David Carr (Iowa State) - BMW. It's not really the brand of car that matters, any sort of sports car works. But the dad-joke teller in me can think of a hundred cheesy lines for Carr to say, "This Carr goes 0-60 in so many seconds", "High-performance Carr," etc. Shane Griffith (Stanford) - Investment Firm. Again, I can picture more cheesy lines. "Hey, I may have saved 11 sports, but I really want to help you save money". Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) - Anything. The guy gets it. For the last year, he's put up solid content on social media and built a good following. He'd be a great face of a company. 2021 NCAA Champion Austin O'Connor (Photo/Josh Conklin) Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) - Cheez-It. Why not? (courtesy of @dysgold_2005) Evan Wick (Cal Poly) - Yankee Candle. Candles with a really long wick (courtesy of @jagger712) Daton Fix (Oklahoma State)/Cam Caffey (Michigan State)/Michael Beard (Penn State) - Some sort of hair/beard products. Micky Phillipi/Jake Wentzel/Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) - Primanti Bros. - The famous sandwich shop is closely associated with Pittsburgh and we have three of the Panthers superstars from the greater Pittsburgh area. Sounds like a perfect fit.

Alec Pantaleo (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) won the Sassari City tournament up at 61 KG. 2019 European Games runner-up Stevan Micic (SRB) won the Ziolkowski in a round-robin bracket, beating #20 Makmudjon Shavkatov (UZB) and Beka Bujiashvili (GEO) to return to the rankings at #20. #17 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) avenged an earlier loss in pool action to #5 Ravi Kumar (IND) with a 5-3 win in the 61 KG finals of the Ziolkowski to move up #9 in the rankings. Abdullaev also notched a big win over #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) and #15 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB) to build momentum going into Tokyo. 2019 Russian Nationals champion #11 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) won the Ali Aliyev with 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Khasanhussein Badrudinov (RUS) and Yarygin runner-up #10 Musa Mekhtikhanov (RUS). Diamentino Fafe (GBS) won the 57 KG Sassari City tournament title. 61 KG #1 (57) Zavur Uguev won the Sassari City tournament title. #8 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) moves up three spots to #5 for winning the Ali Aliyev title over #20 Eduard Grigorev (POL). This is because Grigorev beat Taras Markovych (UKR) 14-3 in the semis after Markovych had upset #5 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) in his opening round match. The results of the Ali Aliyev see Mekhtikhanov go up three spots, Grigorev goes up fourteen spots to #6 and Markovych debut in the rankings at #7 while Sanayev drops three slots in the rankings to #8. #9 (57) Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) won the Ziolkowski title with impressive victories over #5 (57) Ravi Kumar (IND), #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) and #15 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB). 65 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist #9 Abdulmazhid Kudiev (RUS) took gold at the Ali Aliyev with an electrifying 12-9 win over two-time 61 KG Russian Nationals runner-up Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS) in the finals. Ferzaliev and Kudiev both had impressive runs; Ferzaliev beating 2020 61 KG Russian Nationals bronze Ibragim Abdurakhmanov (RUS) and 2020 61 KG Yarygin bronze medalist Kezhik Chimba (RUS), while Kudiev beat three-time World medalist Bajrang Punia (IND) and Artur Badtiev (RUS). The Ali Aliev was serious redemption for the Indian superstar Punia who returns to the rankings at #12 after making the semis with wins over 2018 Alans champion Muslim Saidulaev (RUS) and 2019 world runner-up Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ). Niyazbekov makes his return to the rankings at #14 for beating Yarygin champion #13 Alik Khadartsev (RUS) in the round of 16 at the Ali Aliev. Yianni Diakomihalis is back in the rankings for winning the 65 KG Ziolkowski title with victories over US Olympic Trials runner-up #18 Joey McKenna (USA) and Ali Aliyev runner-up #6 (61) Eduard Grigorev (POL). #1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) won the City of Sassari tournament title up at 70 KG over 2016 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Ildous Giniytatullin (RUS), while Michael Bucher (SUI) won the 65 KG City of Sassari tournament title over George Ramm (GBR). 70 KG Alec Pantaleo (USA) had an absolutely fantastic run to Ziolkowski gold that saw him overcome a pool loss to #11 James Green (USA) to beat three-time world champion #6 (65) Haji Aliyev (AZE) 6-6 to make the finals and avenge his earlier loss to Green with a 5-3 victory. For his efforts, Green was able to beat Pantaleo and 2017 65 KG world champion #16 Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) to make the finals, where he was silver to Pantaleo. From this, Pantaleo secures his first top ten spot in the rankings at #6 while Green moves up four spots to #7. Yarygin bronze medalist Rezuan Kazharov (RUS) got the biggest win of his career with a 3-3 victory over veteran Azamat Nurikov (BLR) in the finals of the Ali Aliyev. Nurikov in the semifinals upset #5 Viktor Rassadin (RUS) 8-8. Both men see a significant rise in their stock, with Kazharov skyrocketing from #20 in the rankings to #8 while the veteran Nurikov returns at #9. 2019 U-23 world champion #15 Mirza Skhulukhia (GEO) moved up to 74 KG for the Ali Aliyev, where he failed to place and has been removed from the rankings. 74 KG #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) teched Jevon Balfour (CAN) for the City of Sassari tournament title. The Ziolkowski was used as the final decider for the Olympic spot for Iran between 70 KG world bronze medalist Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI) and Younes Emami (IRI). Hosseinkhani would win the Ziolkowski by way of forfeit over #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA) and beat 2019 European Games bronze medalist #20 Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev (AZE) in the semifinals after Gadzhiev had upended Emami 4-2 in the quarterfinals. For this, Hosseinkhani returns to the rankings at #20. Another qualifier took place at the Ziolkowski, this time for Kazakhstan between two-time Asian champion Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ) and 2019 70 KG world runner-up Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ). Kaipanov was upset in the first round by Amr Hussen (EGY), while Kaisanov locked up the spot by finishing bronze with wins over Jason Nolf (USA) and Semen Radulov (UKR). Two-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #15 Nikita Suchkov (RUS) moved up three spots in the rankings to #12 after winning the Ali Aliev title over Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). Alibulatov (RUS) makes his debut in the rankings at #15 for wins at the Ali Aliev over #9 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) and Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ). #9 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) falls seven spots in the rankings to #17 after his Ali Aliyev semifinals loss to Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). Kurbanaliev rebounded for bronze over Kaisanov and confirmed by Instagram he was battling a rib injury going into the tournament. 79 KG #1 Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK) won the Ziolkowski with victories over #20 Rashid Kurbanov (UZB) and Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR) to maintain his top spot in the rankings. #13 Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS) reclaims a top-ten spot in the rankings at #4 with a victory over 2020 Individual World Cup champion #4 Akhmed Usmanov (RUS) in the finals of the Ali Aliyev. Usmanov (RUS) won his second Ali Aliyev title by way of 3-3 criteria victory over 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up #13 Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS). Sanakoev moves up four spots in the rankings to #9 after making the Ali Aliyev finals with wins over Magomedmurad Dadaev (RUS) and Asret Ulimbashev (RUS). Dadaev and Ulimbashev debut in the rankings at #11 and #12 as Ulimbashaev upset 2020 Russian Nationals runner-up #12 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (RUS) in the quarterfinals of the Ali Aliyev, and Dadaev pinned Ulimbashev for bronze. #4 Gadzhi Nabiev (RUS) moved up to 86 KG, where he lost in his opening round match to Hadi Vafaeipour (IRI) and failed to place. 86 KG #20 Javrail Shapiev (UZB) put together an exceptional run for Ali Aliev gold beating the likes of Tazhidin Akaev (RUS), 2017 world bronze medalist #8 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) and Yarygin champion #7 Magomedsharif Biyakaev (RUS) for gold and to retake his spot in the top 10 at #7. Shapiev has been improving leaps and bounds this year and put together a killer resume with wins over world medalists Piotr Ianulov (MDA), #9 Vladislav Valiev (RUS), Fatih Erdin (TUR) and Osman Gocen (TUR), plus Russian hammers #8 Magomedsharif Biyakaev (RUS) and Tazhidin Akaev (RUS). Shapiev is very much on the shortlist to contend for a medal in Tokyo and I'm excited to see how he does in a loaded field. U-23 European champion Amanulla Rasulov (RUS) got the first big win of his career over three-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #11 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) to debut in the rankings at #16 while Musalaliev fell 6 spots to #17. #11 Zahid Valencia (USA) looked impressive, winning gold at The Ziolkowski with a win over 2020 European runner-up #12 Myles Amine (SMR), #19 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) and #20 Sebastian Jezierzanski (POL). #5 Magomed Ramazanov (RUS) won the City of Sassari tournament title. 92 KG 2020 Asian champion Javad Ebrahimi (IRI) made his return to competition by winning the Ali Aliev 6-3 over #16 (86) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). 92 went through a lot of shakeups with returns from contenders at 86 and 97 KG. First, it started at the Ziolkowski where two-time 92 KG world champion #4 (97) J'den Cox (USA) made his return and dropped a shocking 2-1 semifinal loss to Illia Archaia (UKR). Archaia loses 12-3 in the finals to #16 (86) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). Fast forward to the Ali Aliyev and Archaia loses to Belarusian Nationals bronze medalist #19 Amarhadzi Magomedov (BLR) and is eliminated from the competition when Magomedov is pinned in the semis by eventual champion Javad Ebrahimi (IRI). So with Cox, Ebrahimi, and Baranowski back, what does that mean for the weight? Then throw in three-time 86 KG World/Olympic medalist #11 Selim Yasar (TUR), upsetting #5 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) in the Yasar Dogu finals and it's hard to make sense of things, but here's how it all shakes out. Ebrahimi returns to the rankings the highest #3 for winning the Ali Aliyev over Baranowski, who takes the #7 spot for his runner-up finish at the Ali Aliyev and title at the Ziolkowski and victories over Archaia, #17 Guram Chertkoev (RUS) and Alan Bagaev (RUS). Yasar takes the #5 for his win over #5 Yaylaci, who falls one spot to #6. Amarhadzhi Magomedov (BLR) moves up ten places to #9 for his victory over Archaia. Finally, J'den Cox's return to 92 KG sees the two-time world champion fall from #4 at 97 KG to #11 at 92 KG for his Ziolkowski semifinals loss to Archaia. #4 Aslanbek Alborov (AZE) was removed due to inactivity as he hasn't competed since February 2020, where he took bronze at the European championships over #13 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO). ***edit*** Russian Nationals runner-up Anzor Urishev (RUS) was returned to the rankings at #5 after I had mistakenly removed him. 97 KG #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) made the finals of the Ali Aliev with wins over Vladislav Baitsaev (RUS), Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS) and #20 Mojitaba Goleij (IRI) but forfeited to 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #18 Magomed Ibragimov (UZB) to prevent aggravating a knee injury he had going into the competition. 2018 European champion Vladislav Baitsaev's made his return to 97 KG and takes the #4 spot for past wins over #6 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO), #11 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR), #12 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) and #13 Sharif Sharifov (AZE). #8 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) ran through a loaded Ziolkowski bracket to take gold and lock up his spot for the Tokyo Olympics and move up six spots in the rankings to #2. Mohammadian tech falled Matteo Pellicone champion #9 Kollin Moore (USA) in his opening round match, three-time world medalist #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and avenged his two losses from Iranian World Team Trials to #7 Ali Khalil Shahbaninbengar (IRI) in the finals. Other significant results from the Sassari were #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) avenging his Matteo Pellicone finals loss to #9 Kollin Moore (USA) 2-2 for bronze and #14 Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) upsetting 2019 world runner-up #13 Sharif Sharifov (AZE) 2-2 in the qualifying round before being tech falled in the quarters 11-1 by #10 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI). What these results do is bump Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) up to #9 and #11, respectively, while dropping #9 Kollin Moore (USA) five spots to #14. The reason for this is that Moore's Senior-level resume (and top 10 status) were heavily dependent on his win over Karimi at the Matteo Pellicone and when Karimi avenged that loss Moore's resume doesn't really hold up to Hushtyn, Sharifov, Conyedo Ruano, or Matcharashvili (GEO). 2019 world runner-up Sharifov had an impressive run to gold at the Yasar Dogu, beating 2019 U-23 European champion Ibragim Ciftci (TUR) and 2018 U-23 world champion #13 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO). Yarygin champion Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS) returns to the rankings at #20. #4 J'den Cox (USA) was removed from the rankings as he cut back down to 92 KG, where he won world gold in 2018 and 2019 and is currently ranked 11th after a semifinal loss to #10 (92) Illia Archaia (UKR) at the Ziolkowski. 2019 world bronze medalist Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) won the City of Sassari tournament. 125 KG Heavyweight saw the most movement it has out of the whole year, with a plethora of new and old faces returning and established top ten guys plummeting in the rankings. Starting off the month at the Ziolkowski, #7 Amir Zare (IRI) cautioned out US Olympic Trials runner-up, two-time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) for gold. Gwiazdowski made the finals with impressive wins over #4 Yusup Batimurzaev (KAZ) and Youssif Hemida (EGY). Now Hemida had beaten 2020 Iranian World Team Trials champion #8 Amin Taheri (IRI), who had taken bronze at the Asian championships after being upset by #13 Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ). Taheri beat Asian champion #3 Oleg Boltin (KAZ) in his opening round match. Now the Ziolkowski was the qualifier for Iran to decide who they would send to Tokyo and Zare got the spot. Now let's fast forward to the Ali Aliev semifinals, where #4 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) is taking on 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #16 Zelimkhan Khizriev (RUS). Zelimkhan beat him 7-4 to make the finals, where he beat the brakes off 2018 U-23 European champion Kamil Kosciolek (POL) 18-8 for gold. Now having tied in the results for the USA, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Iran, let's break down how this caused the huge heavyweight shakeup. Zelimkhan Khizriev moved up eleven spots in the rankings to #11 for winning the Ali Aliyev and beating #4 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ), who now sits at #9 behind Gwiazdowski and #8 Alan Khugaev (RUS). The reason Khizriev sits ahead of #6 Gable Steveson (USA), who tech falled Gwiazdowski in the Olympic Trials finals, is because Khizriev has a deeper international resume than Steveson with wins over Zhiwei Deng, Khamzat Khizriev, Yusup Batimurzaev, and Vitali Goloev to outdo Steveson's sole big international win over Gwiazdowski. Now having just talked about Steveson's big win over Gwiazdowski at Trials does put Steveson in the rankings at #6. And for the final part of the Gwiazdowski supply chain, Zare gets a bump based on his dominating win over Gwiazdowski plus his wins over #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) and #2 Geno Petriashvili (GEO). Now let's cover the other action at heavyweight. #8 Amin Taheri (IRI) falls twelve spots in the rankings to #20 for his loss to Youssif Hemida (EGY), who slots in at #19 for beating Taheri. Asian champion #3 Oleg Boltin (KAZ) plummets out of the rankings after losing in the opening round of the Ziolkowski to #19 Amin Taheri (IRI). Boltin also lost at the Ali Aliyev to runner-up Kamil Kosciolek (POL) and finished bronze. In other action, 2x Age group world champion Abbas Foroutanrami (IRI) won the Yasar Dogu title over U-23 European champion #14 Anil Killicsallyan (TUR) to take the #14 spot. and 2020 97 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist Erik Dzhioev (RUS) won the Sassari City tournament title. Pound for Pound #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) won the 74 KG Sassari City tournament title. #2 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) forfeited in the 97 KG Ali Aliev finals to 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #18 (97) Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). #3 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) won the 70 KG City of Sassari tournament title over 2016 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Ildous Giniyatullin (RUS). #15 J'den Cox (USA) was dropped from the pound-for-pound rankings for his upset loss to #10 (92) Illia Archaia (UKR) at the 92 KG Ziolkowski. Cox is currently ranked 11th at 92 kilograms. #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) was removed from the pound for pound rankings after a semifinal upset loss to #15 (74) Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS). In the absence of Cox and Kurbanaliev, 2018 65 KG world champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) and 2019 57 KG world runner-up Suleyman Atli (TUR) take the #24 and #25 spots.

New Stanford head coach Rob Koll (left) with new Cornell head coach Mike Grey (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) We're only one day away from the calendar turning over into July and there are still dozens of DI programs looking to fill coaching vacancies. Within the last week, InterMat has published a list documenting open positions and another detailing moves that have already been made this offseason. Since this list was compiled, Bucknell and Kent State, released postings looking for new staff members. This list is also not an "official" list because there are other schools with open positions that have yet to be posted by their respective athletic departments. Unfortunately, there are no records of open positions per day in years past to compare the current phenomenon against. This year just "feels" different, though. In speaking with head coaches who are handling these coaching searches, they have noticed the uptick in vacancies and the difficulty in which they've experienced filling said positions. So the question is, "Why are so many coaching positions still available right now?" There isn't a single answer to point to, but in talking to a variety of coaches, we've been able to identify three main points. 1) The Extra Year of Eligibility Whether it's right or wrong, wrestling has the sentiment that the most accomplished athletes will make the best coaches. Of course, this isn't always the case. That is a contrast to most other sports. Still, having a national championship or a bunch of DI All-American finishes on the resume gets your foot in the door. Maybe this will change at some point, but for now, it's still a thing. Wrestling is different in that you can compete one-on-one against legendary figures in your exact role and get a feel for what makes them great. A freshman quarterback doesn't get to clash with an NFL All-Pro QB to improve himself. A first-year collegiate pitcher isn't groomed by a pitching coach who tries to hit against them. So there is a lot of merit to butting heads with an Olympian or a multiple-time national champion everyday, compared to someone with lesser credentials. If you look at the list of open positions, you'll see that the bulk of them are for volunteer or graduate assistants. Who tends to fill those positions? Wrestlers fresh off of completing their collegiate careers. With the NCAA giving an extra year of eligibility to wrestlers active in the 2020-21 (which is a good thing), it does limit the pool of candidates to choose from among graduating seniors. The vast majority of senior All-Americans from 2021 have decided to use their extra year in 2021-22. While there are a few seniors that did not publicly state their intentions to return yet, many have. Only a few have announced that they will not use the free year. Of the returning All-Americans, only Louie Hayes (Virginia), Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), Daniel Bullard (NC State), and Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) have been ruled out. Out of the coaching changes made public, as of 6/30/21, only Dellavecchia was an active competitor during the 2020-21 season. The lack of top-flight seniors to choose from could end up having a positive impact once new coaching hires have been completed. Without coaches looking for the biggest superstar to hire, they may be forced to think outside of the box more and select a candidate with all the proper coaching intangibles, yet no national titles or AA finishes. For some, just getting their first opportunity is all they need. Once a head coach sees their value, they would be more likely to expand their coaching responsibilities, or it could lead to a more prominent position. Two Big Ten programs that announced new coaching hires this week have looked outside of the standard formula for finding new staff members. Indiana brought in four-time DIII national champion Riley Lefever as an assistant. Lefever has been a part of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and has a ton of freestyle experience, so it seems like a wise move. But, with more DI All-Americans in the mix, would he have gotten that opportunity? Yesterday, Maryland announced Elijah Oliver as its volunteer assistant. Oliver was a four-time national qualifier for Indiana that finished up in 2019. By all accounts, Oliver is an excellent selection and will thrive with the young Terrapins. Does someone like him, who graduated two years ago, get lost in the mix in a typical year? Next year will be the one to watch, as far as the coaching movement goes. With two years' worth of seniors looking for jobs, competition will be hot and heavy. 2) The Accessibility of RTC's Within the last decade, Regional Training Centers (RTC) have become commonplace, which has proven to be an excellent development for wrestling at the Senior and collegiate levels. Before RTC's, the vast majority of wrestlers were forced to coach at the collegiate level, train for World/Olympic berths with low wages, or take up second jobs. Or maybe some combination of the three. RTC's have allowed wrestlers to focus on their international aspirations and train in environments conducive to their needs. Having such high-level athletes around also trickles down to the collegiate program. Even if the wrestlers aren't necessarily threatening on the domestic ladder, it still gives a team extra young, talented practice partners/unofficial coaches, if nothing else. So in years past, wrestlers didn't have that opportunity to train out of an RTC for a few years before moving into coaching or into a non-wrestling-related profession. Now that it's an option, many are pursuing that angle and why not? There are many of the perks associated with being a coach, without the actual responsibilities. RTC athletes aren't officially allowed to recruit. They don't have to work alongside the administration. While you'd ideally like for an RTC athlete to be a good role model and care about the student-athletes they work with, there is no responsibility for keeping up with their academics and such. While RTC's aren't responsible for taking away a significant part of the potential coaching population, it's a factor. 3) Covid Hiring Freezes One not-so-talked-about part of this equation is that there were plenty of schools that did not replace coaches that left after the 2019-20 season. Administrators were operating under budget crunches last summer and some teams were shorthanded last season. That has carried into this offseason and coaches are forced to deal with all of the competition for a smaller group of potential candidates. A few coaches I spoke with are just getting the "go ahead" from their bosses to make their hires and round out their staff. This shouldn't come as a surprise since many athletic departments, even in Power 5 Conferences, went through temporary layoffs or pay cuts to make it through 2020. If these schools were in the financial duress they claimed to be in, then hiring a second assistant for the wrestling team is sadly not a top priority. Especially when it was uncertain whether or not the schools would even compete. American University was one of these schools. Teague Moore did not have any assistant coaches due to the hiring freeze. Once the team parted ways with him during the season, they were forced to name Jason Grimes an interim coach. Since the school has hired Jason Borrelli. Nothing has been made public about Grimes' status; however, the team still has a few holes on the staff. Whether it's coincidental or not, the EIWA is a conference that has a lot of vacancies. Two or three on the AU staff, plus Brown, Bucknell, Cornell, Lehigh, and Penn. At least one other school in the conference has a vacancy that has yet to be announced publicly. Army West Point had an opening, but it was filled by Dellavecchia. Some of these vacancies could be filled by candidates currently coaching at other institutions, so as one is filled, others could open. Expect the coaching carousel to continue spinning into August!

Nick Suriano at the 2019 NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Ever since LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat, many NBA fans and pundits have called the current state of the league the “player empowerment era.” Obviously, college wrestling can't be a direct comparison, but the influx of transfers has allowed wrestlers to move around the country and find a spot that works for them. The transfer portal has not only had an effect on individual wrestlers, but this past season it had a pretty significant impact on the NCAA tournament team race. Iowa won their first national title since 2010 with a pair of transfers in the lineup. Those same transfers will need to contribute once again if the Hawkeyes hope to bring home another championship. The following looks at the highest NCAA tournament point scoring performances from wrestlers that previously transferred from the last five tournaments. 2021 Jaydin Eierman transferred to Iowa after three All-American seasons at Missouri. He redshirted his first season with the Hawkeyes, but entered the starting lineup this past season. Eierman won the Big Ten tournament and entered the NCAA championship with an undefeated record. On his way to the finals, he picked up bonus points in three of his four matches. Even though he came up short in the finals against Penn State's Nick Lee in sudden victory, he added 21.5 points to Iowa's team score. Eierman's total was tied for the seventh most with NCAA champions Aaron Brooks (Penn State) and AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State). If Iowa hopes to pick up another team title, they will likely need another strong performance from Eierman, who has already announced his return. 2019 After a true freshman season at Penn State, Nick Suriano returned to his home state and transferred to Rutgers. The New Jersey high school legend then became the first NCAA champion in program history as he bested Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) in a controversial sudden victory final. Suriano added 23 points to the total of the Scarlet Knights. Two weights later, his teammate Anthony Ashnault became the second NCAA champion in program history. Rutgers finished with 51.5 points, which was good enough for ninth place. After winning his title, Suriano took a redshirt to prepare for the Olympics. Unfortunately, he was eventually forced out of the Trials due to the Covid protocol. Suriano also sat out the 2021 season. In theory, he has a year remaining, but it is currently unknown if he will return to Rutgers, transfer to yet another school or walk away from college wrestling. 2018 Seth Gross started his career at Iowa before transferring to South Dakota State. While on the squad, he won an NCAA title at 133 pounds in 2018. He finished with 28 points, which was tied for third with fellow champions Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) and Michael Macchiavello (NC State). In the process, Gross became South Dakota State's first Division I NCAA champion and helped the Jackrabbits finish 12th with 42 team points. After his title, Gross had one more season of eligibility. He returned to South Dakota State but wrestled only one match before sitting out with an injury. Gross then qualified for another season and followed coach Chris Bono to Wisconsin. He went 27-2 during his final year, but never got a shot at a second title after the international pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA tournament. 2017 Gross was also the highest-scoring transfer during his sophomore season. He finished with 19.5 team points after making the finals of the 2017 NCAA tournament. There he faced off against former teammate Cory Clark in a match that was an instant classic. Gross' team point total was bolstered by a technical fall over Joseph Palmer (Oregon State) and a pair of major decisions over Eric Montoya (Nebraska) and Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State). 2016 Nick Gwiazdowski started his career at Binghamton before following coach Pat Popolizio south to North Carolina State. The accolades quickly followed as he won heavyweight NCAA titles as a sophomore and a junior. During his senior season, he was on a collision course with Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder, and the pair ultimately met in the NCAA finals. Eventually, Snyder won the match in sudden victory and denied Gwiazdowski his third NCAA title. Despite the runner-up finish, Gwiazdowski finished with 19.5 team points for the Wolfpack. His total was tied for 16th with Penn's Casey Kent. Transfers are more a part of collegiate wrestling than ever before. In some ways, the ability to attract high-quality transfers is nearly as important as signing top high school recruits for college coaches. Transfers were essential to Iowa's title run, and they will need to be again this year. During this past offseason, the Hawkeyes dipped into the transfer portal again to pick up former Northern Iowa wrestler Drew Bennett as well as Brennan Swafford, who wrestled last year for NAIA Graceland. Rival Penn State added former Cornell finalist Max Dean at 197 pounds, while Michigan added former Princeton All-American Patrick Brucki at the same weight. It remains to be seen who brings home the 2022 NCAA team title, but it does seem certain that the winning squad will receive significant contributions from a wrestler who previously transferred.

Chance Marteller with Cary Kolat (left) at the Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Navy-Marine Corps Regional Training Center announced their latest addition on Tuesday as two-time Lock Haven All-American, Chance Marsteller, will join the team. The move reunites Marsteller with Navy head coach Cary Kolat, who coached Marsteller at the club level while in high school. Marsteller and Kolat are perhaps the two best high schooler's ever to come out of Pennsylvania. Both were undefeated four-time state champions. Chance was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the state tournament on three occasions. Following high school, Marsteller enrolled at Oklahoma State University and redshirted immediately. During the 2015-16 season, Marsteller competed at 157 lbs for the Cowboys, sputtered to a 6-5 record, and had difficulty maintaining the weight. He would later transfer to Lock Haven. Back home in Pennsylvania, Marsteller experienced a renaissance and qualified for the NCAA Championships both years competing for the Bald Eagles. He amassed a 72-7 record wrestling for Scott Moore's team and placed fourth at the 2018 NCAA Championships as a junior. As a senior, wrestling in Pennsylvania at the national tournament, Marsteller finished in third place at 165 lbs after defeating notables like Evan Wick (Wisconsin), top-seeded Alex Marinelli (Iowa), and Josh Shields (Arizona State). Wick was responsible for Chance's only defeat of the tournament. Since the conclusion of his collegiate career, Marsteller has been active on the Senior level in freestyle. Earlier this year, he emerged from a talented field at the Last Chance Qualifier to secure a berth at the Olympic Trials. Marsteller downed Alec Pantaleo and Vincenzo Joseph, among others, to lock up his spot in the 74 kg Trials. In Fort Worth, at the Olympic Trials, Marsteller was paired with Joseph in his opening match and won 3-3 on criteria. He was pinned by Wick in the next round, the quarterfinals, of the Challenge Tournament. While Marsteller did not fulfill his goal of becoming an Olympian in April, his brother, John Stefanowicz, made the Greco-Roman team at 87 kg. Stefanowicz trains as a member of the US Marine Corps. Chance has previously trained with the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club.

From left; Logan Stieber, Kyle Snyder, Zack Kemmerer, Jason Welch (Photos/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) At the beginning of June, the dead period for DI recruiting was lifted and coaches were allowed to host recruits on campus or travel to make home visits. For most staffs, their attention shifted from the Class of 2021, to the rising seniors in 2022 or even the Class of 2023. With the renewed ability to focus on recruiting and projecting the collegiate careers of today's stud high schoolers, we've decided to look back at past recruiting lists to see how the elite recruits developed once in college. For purposes of this article, "elite recruits" will be considered the top-15 pound-for-pound wrestlers in a specific year. Not all years are created equal, some classes had a deeper talent pool than others, but this was an easy, uniform way to judge wrestlers from past classes against each other. Before a wrestler's collegiate career begins, it's easy to proclaim that they'll be "at least" a two or three-time NCAA champion, "easily" a four-time All-American. But, how often does that become a reality? Even amongst wrestlers that were head-and-shoulders above their respective senior classes. As we dig into it, the answers vary, but there are fewer than you'd think that go on to super-stardom (on the mat, at least). This article will track wrestlers from the 2005-2015 recruiting classes. Why, you ask? There are very few concrete recruiting rankings available before the 2004-05 school year. And anything after 2015, will include a bunch of wrestlers with collegiate eligibility remaining. Even so, there is a smattering of wrestlers from the Class of 2015, still competing in college. Those wrestlers have been denoted and highlighted in italics. Each wrestler has been grouped into ten categories based on their collegiate results. 1) Four-time NCAA Champions. 2) Two/Three-time NCAA Champions. 3) One-time NCAA Champions. 4) Four-time All-Americans (w/ no titles). 5) Two/Three-time All-Americans. 6) One-time All-Americans. 7) Four-time NCAA Qualifiers (never All-Americans). 8) Two/Three-time NCAA Qualifiers. 9) One-time NCAA Qualifiers. 10) Never Qualified for the DI National Tournament. The results may be surprising as to which group has more members than the others. Four-time NCAA Champions. This one is self-explanatory. The only information you may not realize was their recruiting ranking. Multiple-time NCAA Champions. I think it's interesting that this list is longer than the next list. It's probably a product of our era of wrestling. More kids come into the collegiate level well-equipped for success and more ready to win multiple titles. One-time NCAA Champions. It's pretty remarkable that four members of this list won titles as freshmen (Schlatter, Tsirtsis, Tomasello, and Martin). Again, a testament to the competition in this era and how difficult it is to "just" win one. Everyone here earned All-American honors at least three times. Four-time All-Americans (w/ no titles). All of these wrestlers competed in the Big Ten. I'm not sure if that correlates or is relevant to anything. Also, three are from Minnesota. Two/Three-time All-Americans (w/ no titles). This group encompasses a large segment of the population. Almost everyone on the list was a title threat throughout their entire careers and could have won once with a break or two. One-time All-Americans (w/ no titles). There are a handful of wrestlers mentioned here that dealt with a bevy of injuries that didn't allow them to be in top form for each crack at the NCAA Tournament. Four-time NCAA Qualifiers (never All-Americans). We'll take the time to mention here, actual NCAA placements were only counted here. Taylor Lujan was the top-seed at the canceled 2020 national tournament and likely would have found a place within the top-eight. Aside from the GOATs (Dake/Stieber), this group is the smallest of the bunch. It sort of makes sense. There aren't many guys that stuck it out through four (or five) years of DI competition and performed at a solid level, despite having sky-high expectations. Again, with this group, there are plenty that were banged up at the big show. Two/Three-time NCAA Qualifiers (never All-Americans). This group has the most transfers of the bunch. That makes sense, as maybe they needed a fresh start to experience some success. Many on this list did. Also, if you go, man-for-man, down the list, you'll find that most had at least a postseason (or two) wiped away due to significant injuries. Some even had careers cut short. One-time NCAA Qualifiers (never All-Americans). What an interesting group here! There's not one blanket statement to be made about this cast. Many did not have the full four years of competition in college. Never Made the DI National Tournament. It's pretty amazing that this is the largest group. A few disclaimers. You'll see Henry Cejudo's name on the list. He never went to wrestle in college, but focused on the Senior-level and won the Olympics only two years later. He made the right choice, for him. Others, mainly Joey Davis, Deron Winn, Destin McCauley, all had a lot of success at the non-DI level. It may not be suitable to lump them in with this group. Jake Deitchler also made the 2008 Olympic team in Greco-Roman. Concussions prevented his collegiate career from ever getting off the ground, but his career was very successful, in his own right. For the rest of the wrestlers on this list, there's any number of reasons why they didn't have a similar amount of success compared to the high school level. Many suffered injuries. Others had issues in the classroom or from a discipline standpoint. Some, just found college wrestling is really tough. I'd like to see if this feature is different ten years from now. Some of the earlier recruiting classes were based on much less information than is available now. There are more national-level high school tournaments for wrestlers to participate in and either shine or see their ranking drop. For those that really study the recruiting process, the advent of social media could make it easier to determine if off-the-mat issues will rear their ugly head, too. Also, with the transfer portal available, maybe it's easier for recruits to get out of a situation that's less-than-ideal, which could translate to more success on the mat. But, the big takeaway is success is not guaranteed at the collegiate level, even if you have a fancy resume coming into school. There are plenty of wrestlers not on this list and wrestled during this time period that went on to have outstanding careers. Multiple-time NCAA champions Jordan Burroughs, Kellen Russell, Tony Nelson, Jesse Delgado, and Nick Gwiazdowski are just a few examples.

Two-time world champion Zavur Uguev of Russia (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) #1 Zavur Uguev of Russia has been the pinnacle of lightweight consistency for Russia throughout the 2016-2020. National titles in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 have cemented him as the king in one of the most stacked weight classes domestically. Back-to-back world titles from 2018 to 2019 cemented him the number one spot internationally and top-five status pound-for-pound. But before he goes into Tokyo as the favorite to win Russia's first Olympic title at the weight since Mavlet Batirov in 2004, we have to start at the beginning. Today's Olympic profile will be looking at top-ranked 57 KG gold medal contender Zavur Uguev of Russia. The Stats #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS)- 2x world champion ('18,' 19), 4x Russian Nationals champion ('17, '18, '20,' 21), 2x Cadet world champion ('11,' 12), 2x Yarygin champion ('17,' 18), 2x European medalist ('17,' 18), 2019 European Games bronze medalist, 2020 Individual World Cup champion, 2019 Ali Aliev champion Key Wins: #1 (61) Abasgadzhi Magomedov (2017 Intercontinental Cup finals, 2017 Kunaev finals) #2 Suleyman Atli (2019 world finals), #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (2018 world finals), #3 Nachyn Mongush (2021 Russian Nationals finals), #4 Azamat Tuskaev (2018 Yarygin, 2019 Ali Aliev finals, 2020 Russian Nationals finals), #5 Ravi Kumar (2019 world championships), #6 Yuki Takahashi (2018 world championships), #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (2019 world championships), #10 Aryan Tyutrin ( 2016 Yarygin, 2019 Russian National Team wrestle-off), Artyom Gebekov (2017 Yarygin finals, 2017 Russian Nationals finals, 2017 Alans semifinals) Key Losses: #2 Suleyman Atli (2017 Yasar Dogu), Makhir Amiraslanov (2019 European Games), #4 Azamat Tuskaev (2017 Alans finals), Artyom Gebekov (2016 Ali Aliev, 2016 Kunaev), Dzhamal Otarsultanov (2016 Russian Nationals), Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (2016 Ali Aliyev bronze medal match), Giorgi Edisherashvili (2017 & 2018 European championships), Sandeep Tomar (2017 world championships) 2012-2016 Starting off his career with two Cadet world titles at 42 and 46 KG, Uguev made the move up to the Junior level, where he would tech fall #2 Suleyman Atli (TUR) in the finals of the 50 KG Junior World Championships. Along with two-time Cadet world champion #1 (97) Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS), Zavur Uguev was the hottest prospect in the world yet to make his Senior level debut going into 2014. But Uguev's bright career would take a sudden detour when he tested positive for a banned diuretic after the 2013 Junior World Championships and was handed a two-year ban from competition. Uguev's much-anticipated return would be at the 2016 Russian Nationals and he faced the stiffest test of his career in the form of 2012 Olympic champion Dzhamal Otarsultanov. Uguev gave the Chechen Olympic champion all he could handle but fell in his Senior debut 5-2 to the eventual bronze medalist. Uguev would make a quick turnaround and compete again at the prestigious Ali Aliyev tournament finishing fifth after losses to champion Artyom Gebekov (RUS) and bronze medalist Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (KGZ). Uguev's first senior triumph would come at the Intercontinental Cup, where he would take gold with wins over future Russian Nationals finalists Magomedrasul Idrisov (RUS), Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS), and 2016 Penn State national champion Nico Megaludis (USA). Uguev's 2016 concluded with a bronze medal at the Kunaev, where he fell again to rival Gebekov. 2017-2019 While finishing 2016 with two medals and showing himself capable of hanging in with the best at the weight, Uguev's breakthrough in 2017 was a shock to plenty of fans. Many saw the likes of Ismail Musukaev, Nariman Israpilov, and Artyom Gebekov as the frontrunners to take the reigns at 57 KG with the retirement of two-time world champion Victor Lebedev at the end of the Olympics. While Uguev was acknowledged as a contender, he wasn't by any means the frontrunner for the spot to start 2017. But that would all change with the Yarygin. Uguev was a man possessed on his way to the Yarygin finals. With each match, the competition got harder and harder and Uguev continued to shine even brighter. A rematch of the Intercontinental Cup finals against Magomedrasul Idrisov (RUS) was an 11-0 tech fall for Uguev. Nurtilek Ermekbaev (RUS) was able to score one point on Uguev for a 12-1 tech fall loss. Two-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist #9 Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) was an 8-2 bulldozing for Uguev. Now stepping against the upper echelon of contenders against 2013 World bronze medalist Nariman Israpilov (RUS), Uguev was expected to falter; it was a good run to the semis, but Israpilov would stop the young bull. Uguev thrashed the veteran Israpilov 8-3 and put the world on notice that he was the man to beat. Artyom Gebekov made the finals and had two past wins over Uguev from 2016, of anyone in the field, he should be the most capable of slowing the rise of the Kumyk hammer. Uguev's vast arsenal of offense was on display throughout the finals as he left no doubt in mind that he was the better man with a 10-0 win over Gebekov for Yarygin gold. Uguev hadn't just arrived; he had taken over. A rival from the past would come to take on Uguev in the form of 2016 Olympian #2 Suleyman Atli of Turkey. A runner-up to Uguev at the 2013 50 KG Cadet World Championships, Atli had reestablished himself as a title contender going into the 2016 Olympics with wins over world medalists Vasyl Shuptar (UKR) and #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL). An upset loss to Ivan Guidea (ROU) slowed Atli's momentum, but in a weight where the top six placers had moved up to 61 KG, Atli was suddenly in the shortlist of men who could contend for gold in Paris. A rematch four years in the making would come to fruition at the Yasar Dogu and in one of the top matches of the year, Atli was able to come out victorious 7-5 and go on to win gold over 2015 Junior World champion Makhir Amiraslanov (AZE). A rubber match between Uguev and Atli was the logical summation of the European Championships and with both men, on opposite ends of the bracket, it looked to be set in stone they'd see each other. But a pair of resurgent veterans would cut those plans short with a couple of semifinal victories. A 2013 European champion for Georgia, Giorgi Edisherashvili, transferred to Azerbaijan and, after a three-year absence, made his debut for them in 2016, capturing Yasar Dogu bronze and gold at the Baku Golden Grand Prix. Capitalizing off a pivotal flurry, Edisherashvili would upset Uguev 5-1 to make the finals against Andrei Dukov (ROU), the Dan Kolov champion who had upset Atli 7-6 in his semifinal bout. Both Uguev and Atli would rebound with bronze medal finishes, but their consistency as guaranteed title contenders for world gold was put into question leading up to Paris. While there was doubt about Uguev's contention status internationally, his performance at Russian Nationals proved definitively that he not only didn't miss a step, but had gone up another level. 34-5 was the scoring differential between Uguev and his opponents on his way to the finals against the likes of Russian Nationals medalists Ramazan Ferzaliev, #10 Aryan Tyutrin (BLR), Rasul Mashezov (RUS) and Dmitry Aksenov (RUS). In their fourth meeting, Uguev would beat a defensively stingy Gebekov 3-1 and secure his spot in Paris and chance at world gold. The second half of Uguev's 2017 would be a strange one. As a consensus medal contender in Paris, Uguev dropped a lopsided 8-2 opening round match to 2016 Olympian Sandeep Tomar (IND). With Tomar losing by 14-3 tech fall to eventual world champion #6 Yuki Takahashi (JPN), Uguev was eliminated from the competition. A title at the Intercontinental Cup over #1 (61) Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) recovered Uguev's momentum going into the inaugural Alans tournament in Vladikavkaz, Russia. A 5-3 win in their semifinal match would give Uguev his fifth match against Artyom Gebekov and secure his spot in the finals opposite U-23 European runner-up #4 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS). A two-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist, Tuskaev's renowned underhook series, short offense and reattacks made him a Russian National and world title contender when he was on, but consistency had always been a major issue with the talented North Ossetian. Against Uguev, Tuskaev put in one of his best performances of his career, beating Uguev 7-4 for Alans gold. Competing in his final competition of 2017, Uguev won gold against #1 (61) Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) at the D.A. Kunaev tournament, to complete an incredible 8 tournaments on the year with seven medals. While not on par with the dominance he showed in 2017, Uguev's second Yarygin title won him revenge for his Alans finals match against Tuskaev and gold to begin the year. A Dan Kolov title over 2014 European championships bronze medalist Zoheir El Ouarrage (FRA) was a warmup for the European championships. Stevan Micic (SRB), Zoheir El Ourarage (FRA) and Levan Metrevelli Vartanov (ESP) would all fall to Uguev to set up his rematch against reigning European champion Giorgi Edisherashvili (AZE). Leading 3-1 throughout the match, Uguev would fall prey to a lethal Edisherashvili lat drop and lose 5-3. As he had done in 2017, Uguev used the lessons learned from his loss at the European Championships to springboard him to a Russian Nationals title, winning gold over Yarygin Donduk-Ool Khuresh Ool (RUS). Not only a shot at redemption but a chance at gold, Uguev would look sublime at the World Championships in Budapest. Outscoring the likes of Mihran Jaburyan (ARM), 2017 U-23 world champion #16 Reineri Andreu Ortega (CUB) and returning world champion #6 Yuki Takahashi (JPN) 24-2, Uguev would make his first world finals. Awaiting him would be #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ), surging off of dominant wins over returning world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA) and #2 Suleyman Atli (TUR). In one of the most tightly contested matches of the World Championships, Uguev would walk away with a controversial 4-3 win over Sanayev for his first world title. Fresh off the biggest achievement of his career, Uguev would not make his 2019 debut until May at the Ali Aliyev. Beating a pair of U-23 world medalists in Parviz Ibrahimov (AZE) and Wanhao Zou (CHN), Uguev was given a chance at revenge in a rubber match against 3x European champion Edisherashvili in the quarterfinals. In one of his biggest tests of the tournament, Uguev blew through Edisherashvili, tech falling the Georgian veteran in the first period 10-0. 2018 Pan-Am champion Andreu Ortega would hold Uguev one point closer in a 9-0 semifinal loss. In their third finals match opposite each other, Uguev would take the series lead 2-1 with a 3-0 win over #4 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS). As Uguev was competing at the European Games at the end of June and with Russian Nationals in the first week of July, he was exempt from competing and would take on the winner. Going into his third European Championships/Games appearance, Uguev was determined to improve upon his bronze and silver medal performances, but a loss in the semifinals to Makhir Amiraslanov (AZE) would shut out his chances at gold and relegate him to a bronze medal. The qualification process in 2019 for Russia would be different, quite different. Because of the scheduling issues with the European Games and Russian Nationals, returning national champions/world team members got a bye for a wrestle-off at national team trials. Now, this worked out two ways: 86 KG had #3 (86) Artur Naifonov (RUS) winning Russian Nationals over 2017 world bronze medalist #9 (86) Vladislav Valiev (RUS) and then go to the Ziolkowski as a qualifying event to wrestle against returning national champion #4 (86) Dauren Kurugliev (RUS). Kurugliev gets upset by #8 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) and Naifonov gets the spot. 57 KG was different in that Russia sent national champion #11 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) and #10 Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) to decide who'd wrestle Uguev at the training camp. Now Tyutrin beats Gamzatov and returning world runner-up #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ), so he locks up the wrestle-off spot at the national team camp and loses to Uguev, who goes to worlds. A lot of steps, but still not as confusing as the Yianni/Zain qualifying in 2019. Uguev's bracket at the World Championships was absolutely brutal. An opening-round rematch from the European Games against Amiraslanov was a razor-thin 4-3 victory. Two-time world bronze medalist #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL) was next and Uguev crafted a more convincing 5-2 win to put him in the quarters opposite #17 Reza Atri (IRI). 2-0 was the margin of victory for Uguev and now in the semis, he'd have to take out surging #5 Ravi Kumar (IND), who was coming off wins over 61 KG European champion Arsen Harutyanyan (ARM) and 2017 world champion #6 Yuki Takahashi (JPN). A huge fireman's carry would elevate Uguev to a 6-4 win over the talented Indian and his second world finals. A rematch now three years in the making, Uguev would finally get his third match against Atli. A 1-0 lead in the opening period for Uguev was blown wide open to a 13-3 margin in the second that secured the tech fall win and world gold. After running the gauntlet to make the finals and against his toughest competition he'd ever faced, Uguev had come out on top and the man to beat for Tokyo, a far cry from the letdown of the start of the quad in 2017. Even with the shortened season, Zavur Uguev was still able to cement himself as the consensus top man at 57 KG. A third Russian Nationals title over Yarygin and European champion Tuskaev qualified Uguev for the Individual World Cup. The Individual World Cup would serve as the unofficial replacement for the World/Olympic championships but could not officially be considered a World/Olympic championships since it did not have all the top returning countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with that being the case, Uguev was at the most dominant he's ever been, scoring four tech falls and a pin on his way to gold over Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM). This year Uguev has further cemented his reputation as a dominant technical savant with his fourth Russian Nationals title over #3 Nachyn Mongush (RUS) and gold at the City of Sassari tournament. In a field in Tokyo that is largely the same as the ones Uguev won in impressive fashion in Budapest and Nursultan, I expect to see him bring home title number three and establish himself as one of the all-time lightweight greats of this generation.

NCAA finalist Jaydin Eierman of Iowa (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Lately on InterMat, we've talked a lot about transfers. We've run an updated transfer tracker every two weeks so that fans can keep up with all of the movement on the DI level. With the advent of the transfer portal, the process has never been easier and every couple of days, it seems like another notable name has been added. Now there are plenty of reasons for a student-athlete to transfer; disagreements with the staff, a new coaching staff in place, to get a graduate degree not offered at your previous school, your program has been dropped, get closer to home, studs ahead of them on the depth chart, moving up from the junior college/community college level, or to work with new coaches are some of the most common reasons. We're not necessarily discussing why a wrestler may transfer today, more of analyzing their performances after transferring and comparing it to their previous stop. In 2021, 45 of the 330 NCAA qualifiers (13.6%) had previously transferred at least once during their collegiate careers. Below you'll find all 45 along with information from their initial stop, along with their new location. Is this a "be-all, end-all" on the success of transferring? Of course not. Getting to the NCAA Tournament is considered a success for the bulk of the wrestlers competing. There are plenty of competitors that aren't able to crack the starting lineup, much less qualify for nationals after transferring, so keep that in mind before drawing any conclusions. Each wrestler is listed alphabetically, by weight, with the current school listed first, followed by their former team. 125 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia/Old Dominion) Before Transfer: 38-26 at Old Dominion; 2020 NCAA Qualifier, #15 Seed, MAC Runner-Up Post Transfer: 17-6 at West Virginia; 2021 NCAA 7th Place, #17 Seed, Big 12 3rd Liam Cronin (Nebraska/Indiana) Before Transfer: 54-45 at Indiana; 2020 NCAA Qualifier, #22 Seed, Big Ten 5th Post Transfer: 10-5 at Nebraska; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #13 Seed, At-Large Berth Zurich Storm (Campbell/NC State) Before Transfer: 16-6 at NC State Post Transfer: 15-10 at Campbell; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #29 Seed, At-Large Berth Brody Teske (Northern Iowa/Penn State) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Penn State Post Transfer: 19-5 at Northern Iowa; 2021 NCAA Round of 12, #5 Seed, Big 12 Champ Danny Vega (South Dakota State/Iowa State) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Iowa State Post Transfer: 39-18 at South Dakota State; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #22 Seed, Big 12 4th 133 Paul Bianchi (Little Rock/North Dakota State) Before Transfer: 27-21 at North Dakota State; 2018 NCAA Qualifier, Unseeded, Big 12 7th Post Transfer: 23-14 at Little Rock; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #29 Seed, At-Large Berth Austin DeSanto (Iowa/Drexel) Before Transfer: 30-7 at Drexel; 2018 NCAA Round of 12, #7 Seed, EIWA 3rd Post Transfer: 52-12 at Iowa; 2x NCAA All-American (3rd, 5th), Big Ten Runner-Up Boo Dryden (Minnesota/NE Oklahoma) Before Transfer: 79-9 at NE Oklahoma; 2019 NJCAA National Champion After Transfer: 19-16 at Minnesota; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #23 Seed, Big Ten 8th Michael McGee (Arizona State/Old Dominion) Before Transfer: 60-16 at Old Dominion; 2019 NCAA Round of 12, 2019 #12 Seed, 2x MAC Champion After Transfer: 13-4 at Arizona State; 2021 NCAA 6th Place, #9 Seed, At-Large Berth Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech/Edinboro) Before Transfer: 58-23 at Edinboro; 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2x EWL Champion After Transfer: 32-12 at Virginia Tech; 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2021 #3 Seed, ACC Champion Micky Phillipi (Pittsburgh/Virginia) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Virginia After Transfer: 56-7 at Pittsburgh; 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x NCAA Round of 12, 2x NCAA #4 Seed, 2x ACC Champion Matt Schmitt (Missouri/West Virginia) Before Transfer: 41-22 at West Virginia; 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2019 #16 Seed, 2x Big 12 4th After Transfer: 12-3 at Missouri, 2021 NCAA Round of 12, #6 Seed, MAC Champion Ty Smith (Utah Valley/Drexel) Before Transfer: 8-4 at Drexel After Transfer: 8-7 at Utah Valley, 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #28 Seed, At-Large Berth 141 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa/Missouri) Before Transfer: 91-14 at Missouri; 3x All-American (3rd, 4th, 5th), 3x MAC Champion After Transfer: 12-1 at Iowa; 2021 NCAA Runner-Up, #1 Seed, Big Ten Champion DJ Lloren (Fresno State/Utah Valley) Before Transfer: 19-18 at Utah Valley After Transfer: 35-10 at Fresno State; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #13 Seed, Big 12 3rd Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers/Northwestern) Before Transfer: 74-12 at Northwestern; 2x NCAA All-American (6th, 3rd), #1 Seed, Big Ten Champion After Transfer: 12-3 at Rutgers; 2021 NCAA 4th, #3 Seed, Big Ten 3rd Vinny Vespa (Hofstra/US Military Academy Prep School) Before Transfer: 5-8 at USMAPS After Transfer: 40-55 at Hofstra; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #33 Seed, EIWA 5th 149 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota/Northern Iowa) Before Transfer: 22-10 at Northern Iowa; NCAA Qualifier, #13 Seed, Big 12 5th After Transfer: 9-8 at Minnesota; NCAA Qualifier, #14 Seed, Big Ten 4th Jarrett Degen (Iowa State/Virginia Tech) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Virginia Tech After Transfer: 74-28 at Iowa State; 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2019 NCAA 7th, 2x #8 Seed, Big 12 2nd Greg Gaxiola (Hofstra/Fresno State/Cal Baptist) Before Transfer: 54-37 at Fresno State and Cal Baptist; 2020 NCAA Qualifier, #32 Seed, Big 12 5th After Transfer: 6-5 at Hofstra; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #32 Seed, EIWA 4th Mitch Moore (Oklahoma/Virginia Tech) Before Transfer: 37-17 at Virginia Tech; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #18 Seed, ACC Runner-Up After Transfer: 12-6 at Oklahoma; 2021 NCAA Round of 12, #13 Seed, Big 12 Runner-Up Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State/Buffalo) Before Transfer: 18-12 at Buffalo After Transfer: 8-6 at Cleveland State; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #30 Seed, EWL Runner-Up 157 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider/Binghamton) Before Transfer: 15-9 at Binghamton After Transfer: 67-10 at Rider; 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2021 NCAA Runner-Up, 2x #4 Seed, 2x MAC Champ Parker Kropman (Drexel/Binghamton) Before Transfer: 19-12 at Binghamton After Transfer: 28-23 at Drexel; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #25 Seed, EIWA 5th Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart/Buffalo) Before Transfer: 13-21 at Buffalo After Transfer: 18-13 at Sacred Heart; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #24 Seed, EIWA Runner-Up Jacob Wright (Wyoming/Fresno State) Before Transfer: 53-20 at Fresno State; 2020 NCAA Qualifier, #25 Seed, Big 12 5th After Transfer: 18-6 at Wyoming; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #23 Seed, At-Large Berth 165 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan/Old Dominion) Before Transfer: 18-18 at Old Dominion After Transfer: 7-4 at Central Michigan; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, At-Large Berth Jake Silverstein (Rider/Nebraska) Before Transfer: 9-7 at Nebraska After Transfer: 9-5 at Rider; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #27 Seed, At-Large Berth Luke Weber (North Dakota State/Nebraska) Before Transfer: 20-6 at Nebraska After Transfer: 41-22 at North Dakota State; 2021 NCAA Round of 12, #9 Seed, Big 12 Champ 174 Jackson Hemauer (Northern Colorado/Fresno State) Before Transfer: 33-21 at Fresno State; 2019 NCAA Qualifier, #23 Seed, Big 12 5th After Transfer: 10-4 at Northern Colorado; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #13 Seed, Big 12 Runner-Up Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois/Eastern Michigan) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Eastern Michigan After Transfer: 40-32 at Northern Illinois; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #22 Seed, At-Large Berth Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley/Boise State) Before Transfer: 21-16 at Boise State After Transfer: 75-16 at Utah Valley; 2021 NCAA 6th Place, #2 Seed, 2x Big 12 Champion 184 Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart/Appalachian State) Before Transfer: 32-18 at Appalachian State After Transfer: 19-18 at Sacred Heart; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #33 Seed, EIWA 6th Place Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado/Appalachian State) Before Transfer: 46-25 at Appalachian State; 2018 NCAA Qualifier, SoCon Runner-Up After Transfer: 36-13 at Northern Colorado; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #18 Seed, 2x Big 12 4th Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State/Edinboro) Before Transfer: 31-10 at Edinboro; 2017 NCAA Qualifier, #14 Seed, EWL Champ After Transfer: 75-20 at Oklahoma State; 2x NCAA All-American (7th, 5th), 3x Big 12 3rd Ryan Reyes (Oregon State/Fresno State) Before Transfer: 5-7 at Fresno State After Transfer: 7-6 at Oregon State; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #31 Seed, At-Large Berth Charles Small (Hofstra/NW Kansas Tech/Notre Dame) Before Transfer: 34-12 at NW Kansas Tech; 2019 NJCAA National Champion After Transfer: 19-20 at Hofstra; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #23 Seed, EIWA 3rd Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga/Oklahoma) Before Transfer: 8-21 at Oklahoma After Transfer: 33-15 at Chattanooga; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #20 Seed, 2x SoCon Runner-Up Owen Webster (Minnesota/Augsburg) Before Transfer: NCAA DIII All-American (3rd) at Augsburg After Transfer: 28-31 at Minnesota; 2x NCAA Qualifier, Round of 12, #17 Seed, Big Ten 8th Chris Weiler (Wisconsin/Lehigh) Before Transfer: 55-29 at Lehigh; 2x NCAA Qualifier, Round of 12, #13 Seed, EIWA Runner-Up After Transfer: 6-6 at Wisconsin; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #13 Seed, Big Ten 5th 197 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State/Fresno State) Before Transfer: Did not compete at Fresno State After Transfer: 9-6 at North Dakota State; 2021 NCAA Qualifier, #31 Seed, At-Large Berth 285 Brian Andrews (Wyoming/NE Oklahoma) Before Transfer: 43-5 at NE Oklahoma; 2018 NJCAA National 3rd After Transfer: 73-25 at Wyoming; 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x #13 Seed, Big 12 Champ Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State/Ohio State) Before Transfer: Redshirted at Ohio State After Transfer: 10-4 at Penn State; 2021 7th Place, #9 Seed, Big Ten 4th Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra/Nassau CC) Before Transfer: 24-4 at Nassau CC After Transfer: 31-19 at Hofstra; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #27 Seed, EIWA 3rd Tate Orndorff (Ohio State/Utah Valley) Before Transfer: 45-13 at Utah Valley; 2x NCAA Qualifier, #8 Seed, Big 12 3rd After Transfer: 11-11 at Ohio State; 2021 NCAA 8th, #21 Seed, Big Ten 6th

Four-time national champion Riley Lefever (Photo/Indiana Sports Information BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – IU head coach Angel Escobedo has announced the addition of four-time national champion Riley Lefever as an assistant coach for the Indiana wrestling program. Lefever, who grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, wrestled at Wabash College, where he was a four-time DIII National Champion (three times at 184 and once at 197). "I'm excited to welcome Riley Lefever to our staff," Escobedo said. "Riley had a tremendous career at Wabash College, becoming only the second wrestler in DIII history to win four NCAA titles. Riley also brings international experience to his resume as he trained at Penn State for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Riley will work with our upper weights and will look to help them achieve their goals on and off the mat." Lefever posted a 158-6 record at Wabash and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He was a team captain and a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. Lefever earned two NCAA DIII Most Domination Wrestler awards and was also a junior national team member in freestyle. Lefever graduated from Wabash in 2017 and moved to State College, Pa., to train freestyle with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club for the last five years. In 2018 he earned the bronze medal at the Dave Schultz International Memorial tournament at 92kg and bronze medal at the Outstanding Ukrainian Tournament. In 2019 he earned third place in the World Team Challenge Tournament. "My wife and I are very excited to return to the Hoosier state and join the Indiana community," Lefever said. "Angel Escobedo really made this decision easy for my wife and I because of the direction he has the program headed in. I think it is really special that Angel, Jason, and myself are all from Indiana and are now all on staff together. The university and wrestling program has a great group of staff and faculty who are committed to helping the program and the student-athletes achieve success and also create a culture that is comprised of men of character."

Two-time world champion Zhan Beleniuk of Ukraine (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) One of the top contenders at the 87 kg Greco-Roman weight class at the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be Ukraine's Zhan Beleniuk. At 30 years old, Beleniuk has a long track record of success and captured his second world title at the most recent world championships. This will also be his second trip to the Olympics as he was a silver medalist in Rio. Not only is Beleniuk a superstar on the mat, but he's also a trailblazer at home. Beleniuk, who has a Ukrainian mother and father from Rwanda, is the first black member of Ukraine's Parliament. He currently serves as the First Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports. Key Wins: Viktor Lorincz (2019 World Championships; Finals), Radik Kuliyeu (2019 European Games; Semifinals), Maksim Manukyan (2019 European Games; Round of 16), Hossein Nouri (2018 World Championships, Quarterfinals), Artur Shahinyan (2018 World Championships; Round of 16, 2018 International Ukrainian; Semifinals), Evgeny Saleev (2017 World Military Championships; Finals), Islam Abbasov (2019 European Games; Finals, 2019 European Championships; Finals, 2018 World Championships; Semifinals, 2018 Vehbi Emre&Hamit Kaplan; Finals, 2018 International Ukrainian; Finals, 2017 World Military Championships; Semifinals), Mikalai Stadub (2019 World Championships; Quarterfinals, 2016 Golden Grand Prix; Quarterfinals), Javid Hamzatov (2016 Olympic Games; Semifinals), Robert Kobliashvili (2016 European Championships; Finals), Denis Kudla (2019 World Championship; Semifinals, 2016 European Championships; Quarterfinals) Key Losses: Zurabi Datunashvili (2021 European Championships; Semifinals), Metehan Basar (2018 World Championships; Finals), Khalis Ghilmanou (2018 Oleg Karavaev; Quarterfinals), Evgeny Saleev (2016 Golden Grand Prix; Repechage), Islam Abbasov (2016 Golden Grand Prix; Semifinals), Davit Chakvetadze (2016 Olympic Games; Finals) The Age Group Years (2007-11) There are many wrestlers that we will profile that rose from obscurity as a young wrestler. Zhan Beleniuk is not one of those competitors. Beleniuk showed promise from the moment he stepped on the international scene and has been a contender at every age group he's entered. It was 2007 when Beleniuk got his international start, taking silver at the European Cadet Championships. Since it was prior to the Cadet World Championships being reinstated (2011), that was the farthest Beleniuk could travel. A year later, Beleniuk entered the European Cadet Championships and left with another piece of hardware. This time it was a bronze medal at the 76 kg weight class. It would be another two years before Beleniuk was able to make a difference as a Junior. By then, he moved up to 84 kg, a weight range (84-87kg) that he would maintain for the next decade-plus. Despite taking tenth at the 2010 European Junior Championships, Beleniuk would improve upon that finish at his first World Championship event. Beleniuk's only loss came at the hands of future four-time World/Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) and he would capture a bronze medal. During Beleniuk's final year as Junior-eligible, he claimed his first major victory, winning gold at the European Championships. Later in 2011, Beleniuk made the Junior world finals, but came up short against Revazi Nadareishvili (Georgia), one of his opponents at the continental championships. Also in 2011, Beleniuk got his first taste of Senior-level competition. He was fifth at Finland's Vantaa Painicup. Climbing the Ladder (2012-14) While Beleniuk was on the younger end of the spectrum on the Senior-level in 2012, he proved himself capable of competing with top-level competition. His best showing that year was a bronze medal performance at the European Championships. He was also third at the Moscow Lights and Azovmash Cup. In 2013, Beleniuk continued to grow and turned in some solid performances. At the World University Games, Beleniuk was a bronze-medal winner and he won his first Senior-level event a couple of months later. It came at the President Cup of Kazakhstan in a field that was heavy on entrants from the host country. That momentum carried into 2014, as Beleniuk started to show the consistency that he has lacked during his first couple of years on the Senior-level. He began the year with a championship at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament. Two months later, Beleniuk won his first European Championship at the Senior-level. For the gold, he downed Rami Hietaniemi (Finland), a world bronze medalist just three years prior. After a bronze medal at the German Grand Prix, Beleniuk was Ukraine's entry at the World Championships for the first time. In his first bout at worlds, Beleniuk defeated Hietaniemi again. He advanced all the way to the semifinals before getting cautioned out against Azerbaijan's Saman Tahamasebi. Beleniuk was able to regain his footing and downed Ramsin Azizsir (Germany) to come away with a bronze medal. Elite Status (2015-Present) From 2015 to 2021, Beleniuk only has lost a handful of bouts and has been in the gold medal hunt at almost every tournament he's entered. His 2015 started off with a win at the Takhti Cup, before taking silver at the European Games. Those performances set the stage for the World Championships in Las Vegas. In his second match, Beleniuk gathered a win over his bronze medal foe from the previous year, Azizsir. Next up was Viktor Lorincz (Hungary), a two-time world bronze medalist at the time. Beleniuk was able to sneak by, 3-1. A match later, Beleniuk defeated Olympic bronze medalist and world silver medalist, Damian Janikowski (Poland). That win put Beleniuk in line for a rematch with Tahamasebi, the only opponent to defeat him the previous year. Beleniuk turned the tables in a 3-1 win and earned a spot in the world finals. To claim his first world championship, Beleniuk shut out two-time Asian Champion Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan), 6-0. At 24 years old, Beleniuk was the best in the world! The win at the 2015 World Championships allowed Beleniuk a berth in his first Olympic Games in 2016. Beleniuk did not drop a match before the Olympics as he won the International Ukrainian, his second world title, and Trophee Milone. At the Olympics, Beleniuk cruised into the semifinals with a pair of lopsided wins. There he would continue his dominance by crushing 2013 World bronze medalist Javid Hamzatov (Belarus), 6-0. With an Olympic gold medal on the line, Beleniuk faced Russia's Davit Chakvetadze. Chakvetadze was also responsible for one of Beleniuk's losses in 2015, at the European Games. Once again, the Russian came out on top and Beleniuk would settle for the silver medal. Beleniuk would finish the year with losses to Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) and Evgeny Saleev (Russia) and fell to fifth-place at the Golden Grand Prix. Though he didn't compete at the World Championships in 2017, Beleniuk was able to have some good takeaways from the year. He won his first World Military Championships with wins over Abbasov and Saleev in the finals. Beleniuk would prove his win over Abbasov was not a fluke in 2018 by defeating the Azeri star at both the International Ukrainian and the Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament. 2018 also saw one of the more head-scratching losses of Beleniuk's career as he lost in the quarterfinals of the Oleg Karavaev Tournament to France's Khalis Ghilmanou. Ghilmanou didn't have much of an international pedigree before the loss and no major placements since. Less than a month after finishing eighth at the Karavaev, Beleniuk was ready for the World Championships in Budapest. After a pair of hard-fought wins, Beleniuk faced returning world medalist Hossein Nouri (Iran) in the quarterfinals. The Ukrainian star was able to squeeze out a 4-2 win, which led to yet another date with Abbasov. Once again, he Beleniuk won and earned another shot at a world title. This time it was for naught, as he was held in check by Turkey's Metehan Basar in a 2-1 loss. 2019 was different from previous years as Beleniuk only entered the big events. Just the European Championships, the European Games, and world's. It proved to be a sound strategy, as he won all three events and finished the year without a loss. His world title came at the expense of Lorincz in the finals for a second time. With a spot in the 2020 Olympics locked up, Beleniuk was a four-time world medalist, two-time champion and ready to win his second medal at the Games. That didn't happen as the Covid pandemic struck and Beleniuk did not have the opportunity to compete during the entire year. This year, Beleniuk jumped back into the fray and was a winner in his first event, the Grand Prix of Zagreb. He was unable to claim his fourth European title, though, falling to Serbia's Zurabi Datunashvili 1-1 in the quarterfinals. Beleniuk did win his next two bouts to capture bronze, which was his fifth career medal at the European's.

Quinn Kinner (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Transfers as of 6/27/2021 - received by DI schools. (New school listed first) Wrestlers added since our last edition have been bolded. Appalachian State - Diavantae Reddick (Campbell) 165 Appalachian State - Jacob Sartorio (Fresno City College) 285 Arizona State - Kyle Parco (Fresno State) 141/149 Binghamton - Ryan Anderson (Centenary) 141/149 Binghamton - Nick Lombard (Michigan) 149 Buffalo - Trent Svingala (Columbia) 141 Cal Poly - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) 165 Campbell - Anthony Molton (Fresno State) 125 Chattanooga - Brayden Palmer (Clarion) 141 Clarion - Will Feldkamp (Northern Illinois) 184/197 Clarion - Brent Moore (Virginia Tech) 149 Clarion - Cameron Pine (Campbell) 165 CSU Bakersfield - Jacob Hansen (Moorpark JC) 165 CSU Bakersfield - Mateo Morales (Fresno State) 197 CSU Bakersfield - Jayden Smith (NEO A&M) 184/197 Edinboro - Jack Kilner (Fresno City College) 197 George Mason - Laurence Kosoy (Columbia) 165 Hofstra - Michael Leandrou (American) 157 Illinois - Luke Ramussen (North Dakota State) 197 Illinois - Joe Roberts (NC State) 157 Indiana - Kasper McIntosh (Minnesota) 157 Iowa - Drew Bennett (Northern Iowa) 141 Iowa - Brennan Swafford (Graceland) 174 Iowa State - Austin Kraisser (Campbell) 165/174 Iowa State - Sam Schuyler (Buffalo) 285 Kent State - Michael Ferree (Campbell) 174 Kent State - Tyler Johnson (George Mason) 141 Kent State - Najee Lockett (Cornell) 174 Kent State - Louis Newell (Pittsburgh) 133 Lehigh - Gaige Garcia (Michigan) 197 Lock Haven - Ben Barton (Campbell) 157 Lock Haven - Jake Beeson (Pratt CC) 149/157 Lock Haven - Michael Spangler (Pratt CC) 125 Lock Haven - Colby Whitehill (Pittsburgh) 285 Maryland - John Martin Best (Air Force Prep) 165 Maryland - Zach Schrader (Cal Baptist) 285 Michigan - Patrick Brucki (Princeton) 197 Minnesota - Jared Krattiger (Wisconsin) 174 Northern Colorado - Baylor Fernandes (Minnesota) 165 Ohio - Tommy Hoskins (Oklahoma) 125 Ohio State - Will Betancourt (Lock Haven) 133 Oklahoma - Keegan Moore (Oklahoma State) 184 Oklahoma - Joey Prata (Virginia Tech) 125 Oklahoma - Gabe Vidlak (Oregon State) 125 Oregon State - Cory Crooks (Arizona State) 149 Oregon State - Cameron Enriquez (Clackamas CC) 125 Oregon State - Tanner Harvey (American) 184 Oregon State - Gary Traub (Ohio State) 285 Penn State - Max Dean (Cornell) 184/197 Pittsburgh - Gage Curry (American) 125 Pittsburgh - Elijah Cleary (Ohio State) 157 Purdue - Matt Ramos (Minnesota) 125 Rider - Quinn Kinner (Ohio State) 141/149 Rider - Jacob Perez-Eli (Iowa State) 133 Rutgers - Greg Bulsak (Clarion) 197 Rutgers - Nick Raimo (Arizona State) 133 South Dakota State - Tate Battani (Iowa State) 184 South Dakota State - AJ Nevills (Fresno State) 285 Utah Valley - Haiden Drury (Fresno State) 133/141 Virginia - Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State) 149 Virginia Tech - Nathan Traxler (Stanford) 285 West Virginia - Luke Karam (Lehigh) 149 Wisconsin - Austin Gomez (Iowa State) 141 Wisconsin - Andrew McNally (Kent State) 174