InterMat Staff

Christian Carroll at the Grappler Fall Classic (Photo/ SeWrestle.com) As of today, only three wrestlers from the Class of 2023 have committed to wrestle at DI schools. Two of those have committed to new Illinois head coach Mike Poeta. Christian Carroll (New Prairie, IN) has joined Kannon Webster (Washington, IL) as current sophomores that have given verbals to the Illini. Carroll was injured as a freshman so he may have snuck under the radar for some last year. Once healthy, Carroll took the nation by storm winning the Super 32 at 195 lbs. In the finals, he took out eventual Cadet Freestyle World Team member Gavin Nelson, 3-1. Around the same time, Carroll won the Grappler Fall Classic at 215 lbs. Christian was not able to compete during the high school postseason as a sophomore in Indiana, because of questions surrounding a transfer. Carroll is currently ranked second in the nation at 220 lbs by MatScouts. It's also likely that he'll fall in the top-five among the Class of 2023 in MatScouts next Big Board update. Since he's a well-built 220 lber as a sophomore in high school, it's safe to say that Carroll projects as a heavyweight at the next level. That could work out well for the Illini as current starter Luke Luffman will be a sophomore in 2021-22. He'll be able to finish up while Carroll redshirts in 2023-24. With a pair of strong recruits leading the way in the Class of 2023, Poeta has shown that Illinois may be a new force to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail. For all of the college commitment news, check InterMat's Commitment Page.

New #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov at the Last Chance Qualifiers (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG Three-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) was able to cool off 2020 U-23 Russian Nationals champion Musa Mekthikhanov (RUS) 9-5 in the finals of the Yarygin to bring home gold. Mektikhanov notched a big 10-7 win in the semifinals over 2019 Russian Nationals champion Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) who earlier in the tournament had tech falled #5 Abubakar Mutaliev (RUS) 11-0 in the round of 16. Tyutrin, Mektikhanov, and Gamzatov slot take the #9, #10, and #11 spot in the rankings for their performances at the Yarygin while #5 Abubakar Mutaliev (RUS) falls seven spots in the rankings to #12. #7 Yuki Takahashi (JPN) defeated #15 Reineri Andreu Ortega (CUB) in the semifinals of the World qualifier to qualify Japan for the Olympics. Takahashi will have a wrestle off later this month against reigning Olympic runner-up #14 Rei Higuchi (JPN) who missed weight at the Asian qualifier. #8 Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL) beat three time European champion Giorgi Edisherashvili (AZE) in the semifinals of the world qualifier to qualify for his second Olympics, his first being in Rio where he finished in 14th place, after a first round upset loss to Adama Diatta (SEN). Olympic trials runner-up Vitali Arujau (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Roberto Alejandro Blanco (MEX). 2020 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #7 Akhmed Idrisov (RUS) won the U-23 European championships with a 6-0 win over Aliabbas Rzazade (AZE). 61 KG #1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) won his first Yarygin title with a pin over #17 Rustam Karakhanov (RUS) in the finals. Russian nationals bronze medalist Zhargal Damdinov (RUS) is back in the rankings at #15 after taking bronze and defeating 2020 U-23 Russian Nationals champion #19 Alexander Sabanov (RUS) in the round of 16. Magomedov (RUS) earned 3 techs and 2 pins to win the Yarygin in dominant fashion, taking out #10 Nodar Arabidze (RUS) and #15 Zhargal Damdinov (RUS). NCFD champion #9 Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS) moved up to 65 KG where he was 5th at the Yarygin with losses to #13 Alik Khadartsev (RUS) and 2x 61 KG national runner-up Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS). Shelton Mack (USA) won the Pan-Am championships title over Juan Ramirez Beltre (DOM). Russian Nationals runner-up #2 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) was the receptient of a stunning 10-0 upset loss to Nico Megerle (GER) in the quarterfinals of the U-23 European championships. Megerle fell to eventual champion Taimuraz Vanishvili (GEO) 4-0 in the semis and would drop to 5th after a 9-5 loss to Ruhan Rasim (BUL) in the bronze medal match. Because Vanishvili has the H2H win over Megerle and won the field, he slots in the rankings at #6 behind #13 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ). Sanayev moves up seven spots due to his win over Vanishvili in the finals of the Dan Kolov in April. #2 Muslim Mektikhanov (RUS) falls six spots to #8 while the rest of the Russians (Tavitov, Arabidze, Baltuev, Abakarov) all slide to reflect the head to head matchups (Mektikhanov>Tavitov>Arabidze>Baltuev>Abakarov). Megerle takes the #7 spot for his win over Mektikhanov and Ruhan Rasim (BUL) takes the #19 spot in the rankings for his win over Megerle in the bronze medal match of the U-23 European championships. 65 KG Two time world medalist #16 Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (POL) beat #17 Jordan Oliver (USA) 3-2 in the semifinals of the world qualifier to make his second Olympics. In his first, he finished in 16th place after a 2-2 loss in the round of 16 to Frank Molinaro (USA). Giorgios Pilidis (GRE) qualified Greece for the Olympics at 65 KG with a thrilling 9-7 win over 2017 European bronze medalist David Habat (SLO). #11 David Baev (RUS) and #12 Kurban Shiraev (RUS) both moved back up to 70 KG for the Yarygin where Shiraev won and Baev took bronze after an 8-7 quarterfinal loss to Shiraev. 2019 61 KG Junior world bronze medalist Alik Khadartsev (RUS) put together a spectacular run to win gold in a loaded Yarygin field. The young talent was able to knock off three past Russian Nationals medalists in Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS), Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS) and Dasha Sharastepanov (RUS). 2018 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Dasha Sharastepanov (RUS) had his own impressive run to the Yarygin finals beating past Russian Nationals medalists #14 Naachyn Kuular (RUS) and Julian Gergenov (RUS) along with 2020 U-23 Russian Nationals champion Chaiaan Mongush (RUS). The aftermath of Khadartsev and Sharastepanov's impressive Yarygin performances sees them take the #13 and #14 spots in the ranking in Khadartsev's 65 KG debut and Sharastepanov's return after being a mainstay through 2018 and 2020. 2019 70 KG Junior world champion Erik Arushanian (UKR) won the U-23 European championships over Russian Nationals bronze medalist #8 Abdulmazhid Kudiev (RUS) 13-10 in a frontrunner for match of the year. With the departure of Baev and Shiraev, plus the aftermath of the Yarygin, and the quality of his win over Kudiev, Arushanian debuts in the rankings at #8 while Kudiev drops one spot to #9. Olympic Trials runner-up #18 Joey McKenna (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Marcos Wesley de Brito Siqueira (BRA). 70 KG 2019 world champion #11 (65) David Baev (RUS) and 2x Russian Nationals bronze medalist #12 (65) Kurban Shiraev (RUS) both made their return to 70 KG at the Yarygin. Down 2-0 in the series, Kurban Shiraev (RUS) was able to mount a big 8-7 upset win against the past world champion, Baev, in the Yarygin quarterfinals. Shiraev would go on to win his second consecutive Yarygin title with a 7-0 victory over #6 Viktor Rassadin (RUS). Shiraev and Baev return to the 70 KG rankings at #3 and #4 respectively. Rezuan Kazharov (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #20 after taking bronze at the Yarygin where he upset 2018 Russian Nationals runner-up #20 Arpak Sat (RUS) Alec Pantaleo (USA) won the Pan-Am championships Carlos Eduardo Romero Millaqueo (CHI). #3 Cherman Valiev (RUS) moved up to 74 KG where he won the U-23 European title. 2019 65 KG Cadet world champion Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (AZE) notched big wins over #8 Inalbek Sheriev (RUS) and Nicolai Grahemz (MDA) to take gold at the U-23 European championships and debut in the rankings at #8. #7 Aznaur Tavaev (RUS) moved up to 74 KG where he is now ranked #14 after beating #12 (74) Nikita Suchkov (RUS) 12-9 to win the Yarygin. 74 KG #18 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) made a huge impact at the world qualifier for the Olympics, taking gold with wins over elite competition the likes of world medalists #3 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) and Soner Demirtas (TUR), 2020 79 KG Asian champion Arsalan Budazhapov (KGZ) and Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR). For his efforts, Kadimagomedov skyrockets up the rankings to #3. Two-time World/Olympic medalist Soner Demirtas (TUR) makes a comeback to the rankings at #13 after upsetting #7 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) 8-3 in the round of 16. Tsabolov falls seven spots to #14 for his loss to Demirtas. #2 Kyle Dake (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Victor Eduardo Hernandez Luna (MEX). #3 (70 KG) Cherman Valiev (RUS) made his successful debut at 74 KG by winning the U-23 European championships over Hryar Alikhanyan (ARM). Valiev debuts in the rankings at #18. Mitch Finesilver (ISR) makes for the first Israeli in the international rankings at #20. The Duke All-American placed bronze at the World qualifier with wins over #16 Giorgios Kougiomtsidis (GRE), 79 KG Asian champion Byungmin Gong (KOR), Aimar Andruse (EST) and Julio Rafael Rodriguez Romero (DOM). #7 (70) Aznaur Tavaev (RUS) avenged a loss from January to #12 Nikita Suchkov (RUS) at the Oleg Dukanov Memorial with a 12-9 finals victory to take gold at the Yarygin and the #14 spot in the rankings. 79 KG #4 Akhmed Usmanov (RUS) won the Yarygin with a 4-1 finals victory over 2020 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #11 Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov (RUS). 2020 Junior Russian Nationals champion #14 Magomed Magomaev (RUS) had an impressive run to the Yarygin beating the likes of 2020 national runner-up #8 Gadzhimagomedo Alikhmaev (RUS) and #20 Dmitrii Zainidiinov (RUS) before falling to eventual runner-up #11 Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) 7-0. In the bronze medal match, 2020 Asian champion Arsalan Budazhapov (KGZ) beat Magomed Magomaev (RUS) for bronze. The results of the Yarygin sees #11 Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) move up three spots to #8 while #8 Gadzhimagomed Alikhmaev (RUS) falls four spots to #12 for his loss to Magomedov Magomaev (RUS) who moves up three spots to #11. Arsalan Budazhapov (KGZ) is back in the rankings at #9 after taking bronze at the Yarygin over Magomed Magomaev (RUS) and finishing in fifth at the World qualifier at 74 KG where he beat #12 (74) Soner Demirtas (TUR) in repechage. Ramazan Sari (TUR) tech falled 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #15 Khalid Yakhiev (RUS) 14-4 to win the U-23 European championships and debut in the rankings at #15. Tommy Gantt (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Nestor Taffur (COL). 86 KG 2016 74 KG Olympian Sosuke Takatani (JPN) cracks the rankings at #13 after qualifying Japan at 86 KG at the World qualifier with a 7-2 semifinal win over #5 (92) Zbigniew Baranowski (POL). Baranowski slots in now at #16 after his bronze medal finish at the World qualifier over 2018 world bronze medalist Taimuraz Friev Naskideava (ESP). 2017 world runner-up #15 Boris Makoev (SVK) qualified for his first Olympics with a 4-4 win on criteria in the semifinals over 2019 79 KG U-23 World runner-up Abubakar Abakarov (AZE). The World qualifier also saw other key results such as Abakarov (AZE) beating the likes of 2019 Intercontinental cup champion Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ) and European runner-up #13 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) to earn him a spot at #15 in the rankings. Yurieski Torreblanca (CUB) upset 2020 Individual World cup bronze medalist #18 Piotr Ianulov (MDA) and #13 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) beat #8 (92) Akhmed Magamaev (BUL) as well. Both Ianulov and Magamaev fall out of the rankings for their losses at the World qualifier. #9 Magomedsharif Biyakaev (RUS) made an explosive run to the Yarygin gold with wins over past Russian Nationals medalists #7 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) and #11 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) and Zelimkhan Minkailov (RUS). Biyakaev moves up two spots in the rankings to #7 for his Yarygin title. Amanulla Rasulov (RUS) won the U-23 European championships over Orkhan Abasov (AZE). 2018 world champion David Taylor (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Clayton Pye (CAN). 92 KG #19 Erhan Yaylacyi (TUR) made a major jump in the rankings up to #5 as the 2020 Individual World Cup bronze medalist notched an impressive 4-3 win over #6 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) to win gold at the U-23 European championships. Yaylacyi looks to be a major contender for Turkey moving forward after his U-23 European title along with past wins over the likes of #11 Selim Yasar (TUR) and #10 Georgi Rubaev (MDA). #16 Azamat Zakuev (RUS) took bronze with a 5-1 win over Arkady Pogosyan (BLR) after a 5-4 quarterfinal loss to #7 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE). #5 Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) was removed from the rankings as he cut back down to 86 KG for the world qualifier where he finished in bronze position. #8 Akhmed Magamaev (BUL) was removed from the rankings after a 6-5 qualification round loss to #17 (86) Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) at the 86 KG World qualifier. Two-time European runner-up #10 Samuel Scherrer (SUI) was removed from the rankings after he moved up to 97 KG where he lost at the world qualifier to 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #15 Albert Saritov (ROU) in the quarterfinals. Nathan Jackson (USA) won the Pan-Am championships title over Jeremy Poirier (CAN). #16 Guram Chertkoev (RUS) won the Yarygin title over #19 Tamerlan Tapsiev (RUS). 97 KG 2018 world bronze medalist Abraham Conyedo Ruano (ITA) returns to the rankings at #14 after qualifying for the Olympics with a 3-2 win in the semis of the World qualifier over Akhmed Bataev (BUL). 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #15 Albert Saritov (ROU) made his second straight Olympics with a 3-2 win over 2012 Olympic runner-up #16 Valerii Andriitsev (UKR). #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Luis Miguel Perez Sosa (DOM). Two-time Russian Nationals runner-up #19 Aslanbek Sotiev (RUS) won the U-23 European championships with a 10-0 finals win over Radu Lefter (MDA). 2020 Yarygin runner-up Magomed Magomedov (RUS) won the Yarygin over 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up Igor Ovsyannikov (RUS). 125 KG Sumit Sumit (IND) makes his debut in the rankings at #12 after a runner-up finish at the World qualifier to #7 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) where he upset #5 Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ). Anil Kilicsallyan (TUR) debuts in the rankings at #14 after pinning Russian Nationals runner-up #13 Atsamaz Tebloev (RUS) to win the U-23 European championships. Gable Steveson (USA) won the Pan-Am championships over Aly Barghout (CAN). #16 Zelimkhan Khizriev (RUS) won the Yarygin over Khamzat Khizriev (RUS). ****Sumit had faild a doping test; news of this was made public this morning*** P4P #15 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) and #16 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) were removed from the rankings. Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR) makes a major impact in the rankings taking the #10 spot after a dominating 12-4 win in the semifinals of the 74 KG World qualifier over #6 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK). 65 KG Russian Nationals runner-up Zagir Shakhiev (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #23 over 70 KG Yarygin champion Kurban Shiraev (RUS) at #24 for his win over Shiraev down at 65 KG Russian Nationals. Shiraev is in the rankings at #24 after winning the Yarygin over 2019 world champion #4 (70) David Baev (RUS), Abdulla Akhmedov (RUS), and #5 (70) Viktor Rassadin (RUS).

Fresno State All-American Josh Hokit at the 2019 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The saving of the Stanford wrestling program was such a big win for the state of California and, if we're talking 'optics,' for the sport in general. Cutting wrestling at a prestigious school with a history of otherwise embracing Olympic sports would have been a bad look. Once again, top wrestlers with big brains from Cali, and nationally, have a high-end option. With the hiring of Rob Koll and rumors of a staff that would include Damion Hahn and Vincenzo Joseph, Stanford wrestling is not only keeping on, but set up for future success. While that is a big sigh of relief for Cali and national wrestling fans alike, I'm not so sure that saving Fresno State isn't more important to the state of California. In California, wrestling ranks sixth in participation with nearly 23,000 - that's double the next closest state, Texas (who doesn't even have a single DI program (don't get me started on that). I hate to get political, but that's who the onus is on. Not having enough programs to service your state/region/community is nothing short of irresponsibility and failure by civic leaders, elected officials (it is a state school) and a clearly clueless athletic department at Fresno State who cut the program, reinstated it, only to cut it again after a couple seasons. With the most - by far - participants in wrestling than any other state or community, how can you not make it work? How can you not use it to your leverage? How can Buies Creek, North Carolina (Campbell) be home to a 2021 conference title with seven other programs in the state and just 34% of high school participants, and yet, Fresno State can't even manage to keep their team afloat? Saving Stanford was great, but Fresno State is far less prohibitive academically and hasn't provided the opportunities that FSU (and other state schools in California) could and should. Just nine of Stanford's 33-man roster went to high school in California. 67% of Fresno's roster were native Californians, while every member of Bakersfield's 26-man roster is. AND IT'S FRESNO! Name the country's best high school wrestling grounds - Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Long Island, New Jersey, Lehigh Valley, Minneapolis, Oklahoma, Iowa and....you guessed it, Fresno. Say it with me, to recap: you have the most wrestlers. You have some of the best wrestlers. It is YOUR job to provide opportunities to your citizens. DO. YOUR. JOB. Figure it out. Yesterday a press release was put out outlining a plan to strengthen wrestling within the PAC-12. Perhaps the best line item in it discussed a change in course - that they would look to add affiliate members. It's great for the conference and all of west coast wrestling - opening the doors for existing programs to cut down on costs, bolster the competitiveness of the conference, and make it more viable for schools considering adding the sport. And there's no school that it benefits more immediately than Fresno State. There's a final point I want to make, too. I'm not big on identity politics. From my view, the more we point out our differences, the more we divide. However, I have to say this… We oftentimes celebrate this group or that group in sports and business and all walks of life. We've lauded (and rightfully so) the exploits of African American wrestlers. And we laud the women pioneers of our sport. What we don't often point out is that the fabric of our history is filled with contributions of Hispanic-American wrestlers that have reached the pinnacle of the sport. And the Central Valley is filled with talented, hard-working, intelligent high school wrestlers who want to add to that legacy. They deserve a shot. I plead to the decision-makers at Fresno State to do what's right for your constituents. Hit 'em up. @FresnoState_AD , @JosephICastro , To your questions... Biggest transfer move that has happened? - @MindsetCoachBW All-time? Probably Steve Mocco from Iowa to OK State. As a Soph. he was undefeated NCAA Champ and then took an Olympic before going to Stillwater and winning the Hodge in 2005. Cary Kolat was 2nd as a Freshman and 3rd as a Soph. for Penn State before winning two titles for Lock Haven. Recently Joey McKenna and Sebastian Rivera were notable. Seth Gross from Iowa to SDSU and Wisconsin was big; however, Gross was largely unproven when he left Iowa. Suriano (Penn St. to Rutgers) basically left PSU looking for a lead-off guy for a few years. I think the two most impactful, though, can be looked at through the lens of the team race. Jaydin Eierman (5th, 4th, 3rd for Missouri) was probably the biggest. Eierman's move was a huge part of the Hawkeyes '21 team title and could be the same next year. Penn State was also on the receiving end of talent when, in 2011, Andrew Long helped them edge Cornell. Long was an NCAA Runner-Up for Iowa St. the year before. PSU beat Cornell by 14. Does each HS athlete only get 5 official visits total or 5 per year and when can they start going on those visits? - @dmax189 High school wrestlers get five official visits total, not per year. And they can start taking them on August 1st before their junior season. "Official" visits mean that the school pays your flight/hotel/meals etc. Keep in mind that you can (and many kids do) take unofficial visits that they pay out of pocket for. Additionally, I got another related question last week but didn't answer it yet. "How many visits does an athlete in the portal get?" The answer is that it resets. You get five more official visits that can start on October 15th of your Freshman year. What's the most one recruiting class has ever changed the direction of a program? - @oldestgreatest Tough question. I would say Arizona State's 2015 class. I had them ranked #1, but heck, there's a #1 every year. I picked them because Zahid and Anthony were superstars. They dominated the homepages of wrestling sites and even their peers looked up to them. If you recall, Zeke Jones had just gotten the job at ASU after leaving USA Wrestling. ASU had threatened/intimated that they were going to cut the program. Zeke landing the #1 and #2 guys on my Big Board after one year signaled that there was both belief in the staff and that ASU was ready to win. They also got Lance Benick, who was arguably the #1 197lb prospect, Tanner Hall, and Josh Maruca and Josh Shields out of PA. I think there is a difference between 'best ever class' and 'most impactful.' And I'd say the ASU Class of '15 changed their direction more than any single class did for any other program in recent memory. Likewise, yet to a different degree, I believe that Anthony Ashnault deciding to stay home and go to Rutgers in 2013 was one of the most significant moments in recruiting. To cap it off, he won a national title for the Scarlet Knights. But simply the act alone of believing he could win there was the source of pride and optimism in NJ. Wrestling in pa is not growing. Lots of small towns are combining. What is one way we can help stop that decline? @MindsetCoachBW You know how a lot of people bitch and moan when a kid that transfers in PA is ruled ineligible for a year? Yeah. That's why I don't bitch and moan about it. I said this years ago when Cody Weircioch went from Charleroi to Canon-McMillon, who was a powerhouse at the time. When a small-town kid turns into a star and bolts, it's deflating and frustrating. I don't necessarily blame the kid - he's doing what's best for him. But why would you, as a community, devote your time to developing youth if they're just gonna bounce to a powerhouse? It's gutting. And it hurts the sport (even in participation numbers, theoretically). However, I think there are some reasons to be optimistic about the restoration of small-town programs and it has a lot to do with the pandemic. The first point is that a lot more people are now allowed to work from home. They can make good money, enjoy rural life, and don't have to be in the big city. The second point is the proliferation of clubs. You can be the lone stud on your high school team and still get good training with good partners because there are more and more quality clubs. To be clear, I don't know that either are solutions that will prevent mass transfers or conglomerations. But they could. And it certainly can't get any worse. Frankly, I'm for tighter restrictions and even more measures - like private/catholic schools assigned to a separate division or kicked out altogether. If they want different, more advantageous rules, let 'em go to National Preps. Because the result is not unlike Wal-Mart making a mom-and-pop shop shut down.

Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat's collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent's will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. We'll start with our Big 12 correspondent Seth Duckworth. The biggest Big-12 related news of the offseason has been the return of the Missouri Tigers. Seth talks about how the move came about and the ramifications on mat for this move. We also discuss Fresno State and Cal Baptist. We'll finish by discussing Obe Blanc's new promotion at North Dakota State and the team's recruiting class for 2021. As a companion piece to our talk with Seth, here is his first offering for InterMat which discusses how Missouri could fit in at the Big 12 Championships. Who Should be the Big 12 Favorite?

Brent Moore prior to pinning Sammy Sasso in 2019 (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Brent Moore of Virginia Tech announced on Thursday via Twitter that he will be transferring to Clarion University, where he will join Head Coach, Keith Ferraro and Assistant Coach, Nathan Kraisser. Moore was a standout wrestler at Virginia Tech, winning the ACC Championship tournament in 2018 at 141lbs, where he was also crowned the Most Valuable Wrestler. When asked to comment on his decision to transfer, Moore said, "I dropped out of Virginia Tech in February of 2020. I was dealing with depression, and not doing well mentally. I turned my back on wrestling completely, gained a bunch of weight, and ended up moving back home with my parents in Ohio. Once I was home for a few months, I started to do a little better. I was working for my dad's construction company and started getting back into shape." He then went on to say, "After going to the NCAAs to watch my brother Mitch wrestle for Oklahoma University, I decided to enter the transfer portal. Jesse Dellavecchia from Rider University was a huge inspiration to me because we had similar journey's, and I knew I still had more gas left in the tank. Volunteer Assistant Coach Brock Zacherl and I have been working tirelessly for a few months to get another year of eligibility approved, which became official on Tuesday. It's been extremely stressful, and I honestly didn't think the NCAA was going to grant my appeal, but they did, and all of my coaches and I feel really good about it. I know they're excited to have me join the Clarion Eagles, and I am too." Moore is projected to wrestle for the Golden Eagles at 149/157lbs.

Cody Chittum at Who's #1 (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It only took two days after the recruiting period opened up for one of the biggest shoes to drop. Cody Chittum (Cleveland, TN) the top-ranked 145 lber in the country has given a verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota per his social media. Chittum will surely be one of the top sophomores in the nation during MatScouts updated Big Board for the Class of 2023. Chittum was selected to wrestle in “Who's #1” last fall and earned an 8-5 victory over Iowa-signee Wyatt Henson. He was the only sophomore invited to the event. Also in the fall, Chittum turned heads at the Elite 8 Duals when he moved up to 160 lbs and took out Arizona State signee Cael Valencia. Chittum also challenged Dean Hamiti, who finished the year #5 on the Big Board. That result didn't go Chittum's way, but his desire to bump up and compete against top-level talent like Valencia and Hamiti spoke volumes. Cody spent his freshman year at Blair Academy where he was a Beast of the East champion and a National Prep runner-up. As the pandemic hit, Chittum stayed in Tennessee and enrolled at Cleveland High School, where he won a state title earlier this year. Cody has placed in Fargo 16U division four times. Most recently, in 2019, he was a Greco-Roman runner-up and third in freestyle, while competing at 138 lbs. Chittum's physical style should fit in well with the Big Ten and Minnesota. He projects between the 149 and 157 lb weight classes. Currently Minnesota has sophomores at both weights, so he can redshirt and fill in at whichever weight is best suited for him at that point.

Joshua Saunders at 2020 Senior Nationals (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This past weekend USA Wrestling picked its U23 Freestyle World Team across all 10 weights. After an abbreviated season, there were many college wrestlers ready to get in some matches, which led to some very large brackets. Several wrestlers had impressive statistical performances and the following takes a closer look at those competitors. Point Differential While Cornell has been in the news a lot recently due to the current coaching carousel, Joshua Saunders was able to pull in some headlines of his own in the 65 kg bracket. The Big Red wrestler finished third and picked up victories over the likes of Chad Red, Clay Carlson, and Sammy Alvarez. While Saunders did not win the tournament title, he did finish with the highest points differential at +5.07. Point differential is defined as points scored per minute minus points against per minute. Saunders' +5.07 differential was far and away ahead of the field as the second-highest differential belonged to Peyton Robb at only +3.25. Saunders lost only one match during the tournament. In his first bout of the day, he held a 9-0 lead against Eddie Homrock before he surrendered an exposure and the fall. Saunders finished with at least 10 points in his other nine matches and averaged 11.4 points per match. Only Chad Red managed to score more than two points against Saunders. Other top performers in terms of striking differential were Robb, Patrick Kennedy (+3.05), Luke Surber (+3.04), and Patrick Glory (+2.83). Robb made the finals at 74 kg after winning his first five bouts by a combined 50-0 score. The Nebraska wrestler then dispatched Quincy Monday in the best-of-three final with victories coming via 12-3 and 7-5 scores. After an abbreviated true freshman season at Iowa, Kennedy had a strong performance at U23s. Kennedy finished third at 79 kg. Outside of his one loss against Michael O'Malley in the semifinals, he outscored his opposition by a combined score of 51-0. Along the way, he picked up a signature victory over Indiana's Donnell Washington. Surber went 8-1 in limited action for Oklahoma State this past season at 197 pounds. In this tournament at 92 kg, he fell against All-American Jake Woodley in the quarterfinals before fighting all the way back for third. He averaged 3.77 points per minute, which was the fifth-highest rate in the tournament. After missing the collegiate season due to the Ivy League sitting out last season, Glory returned to action in a big way, with the tournament title at 57 kg. He outscored his opponents 58-7 and did not surrender a single point in the best-of-three finals series against Utah Valley All-American Taylor LaMont. Other High Scorers Not only did Saunders have the best point differential, but he also scored at the highest rate in the tournament. His 5.61 points per minute were tops across all divisions. Not all of the top scorers finished with high differentials. The following two wrestlers excelled on the offensive end even if they allowed their opponents to score a fair share as well. Minnesota's Samuel Skillings failed to place at 79 kg, but he certainly lit up the scoreboard while he was on the match. Skillings went 4-2 and in his four victories, he scored 57 points. He finished the tournament with a 5.61 points per minute rate, which was only behind Saunders. Patrick McKee, who also wrestles for Minnesota, had the third-highest scoring rate in the tournament. He averaged 4.49 points per minute at 61 kg. McKee forfeited out of the tournament after dropping a 10-0 match against Jesse Mendez. However, before that, he defeated Alex Friddle, Daniel Leal and Carmen Ferrante by a combined 35-4 score. Toughest to Score On Jay Aiello is a three-time NCAA qualifier who will be looking to become an NCAA All-American for the first time in 2021. That campaign got off to a strong start at U23s. On the Virginia wrestler's way to winning the tournament title at 97 kg, Aiello surrendered only a single point. His 0.06 points allowed per minute was by far the lowest rate of the tournament. The second-best points allowed per minute rate belonged to Nino Bonaccorsi, who won the tournament at 92 kg. He let his opponents to score only 0.23 points per minute in his six matches. The Pittsburgh wrestler's toughest match came in the semifinals, where he needed a late score to take a 5-4 decision over Cameron Caffey of Michigan State. After a surprise runner-up performance at the 2021 NCAA tournament, he could be ready to make a return trip to the finals this year. Another Virginia wrestler had a strong defensive performance as well. At 86 kg, Michael Battista allowed his opponents to register only 0.28 points per minute and finished third in the tournament. His lone defeat on the day came against Chris Foca via a 2-1 score, and he picked up victories over Neil Antrassian, Max Lyon and Jack Jessen. Highest Scoring Match A first-round match between Hamzah Al Saudi and Austin Lane provided the highest scoring bout of the tournament. Al Saudi, who wrestled for Cerritos College during the 2020 California CC season, held a 9-5 lead at the break before the match exploded in the second period. Lane, who wrestles for NAIA Marian University, started things with an early four-point throw. However, Al Saudi would regain control and score 14 of the next 18 points to take the 23-12 victory by superiority.

Obe Blanc (center) at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) FARGO, N.D. – Obenson Blanc has been elevated to associate head coach of the North Dakota State University wrestling team for the 2021-22 season, head coach Roger Kish announced Wednesday, June 2. Blanc has spent the past two seasons with the Bison program, which has crowned two Big 12 Conference champions and qualified 10 wrestlers for the NCAA championships while compiling a 17-7 dual meet record during his time. Blanc is also the wrestling staff's academic liaison, helping the Bison perform in the classroom as well as on the mat. NDSU ranked 10th in the nation academically his first year and the Bison had the second-highest team GPA among all Division I wrestling programs in 2020-21. Blanc came to NDSU in June 2019 from North Carolina State, where he spent five years as an assistant coach with the Wolfpack mentoring two NCAA champions, 10 All-Americans, 10 conference champions and 18 NWCA Scholar All-Americans. An accomplished freestyle wrestler, Blanc made five consecutive U.S. national teams from 2009 to 2013. He was a three-time Pan-American finalist, two-time U.S. Open and U.S. World Team Trials champion in 2010 and 2013, and an alternate for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Blanc was a four-time NCAA qualifier in college and compiled a 118-41 record and 25 pins while wrestling at both Lock Haven and Oklahoma State. He was a 2007 All-American for Lock Haven and fell one win shy of All-America honors in 2009 at Oklahoma State. Blanc earned his bachelor's degree in sports administration from Lock Haven in 2008, and received his master's degree in international business from Oklahoma State in 2010.

Jacori Teemer at U23's (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Although the calendar read late May, there was plenty of action on the collegiate front over the weekend. The U23 National Championships took place in Lincoln, Nebraska and featured plenty of heavy hitters. Wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman vied for a spot on the U23 World Team and with it a trip to the world championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Our conference correspondent team has highlighted some of the notable performances from each of their respective conferences. ACC by Robbie Wendell ACC wrestling had a successful weekend at U23 Nationals, highlighted by two champions. Four schools sent wrestlers to Lincoln--Duke, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia. Wrestlers from Duke and UNC picked up some solid wins, but did not bring home any hardware last weekend. Pitt finished in 10th place as a team and had three placers, led by Nino Bonaccorsi, winning the title at 92kg. Bonaccorsi fought through a tough semifinal match against Cam Caffey and beat Rocky Elam in two straight bouts in the finals. Also on the podium for the Panthers, Mick Burnett placed 7th at 65kg and Austin Cooley finished in 8th at 97kg. UVA finished in 9th as a team with a 3rd place showing and a Champion. Michael Battista followed up a strong Senior World Team Trials performance with another podium finish. Battista fell to Chris Foca in the quarterfinals and wrestled back to take 3rd with a win over Jack Jessen. Jay Aiello put on an excellent performance all weekend--he didn't surrender a takedown in the entire tournament. Aiello beat Samuel Mitchell in two straight matches in the finals to bring home the title. Aiello and Bonaccorsi will represent the USA at the U23 World Championship in Belgrade, Serbia. Big Ten by Cody Goodwin The freestyle side of the U23 national championships, held last weekend at Nebraska's Bob Devaney Sports Center, kinda sorta turned into a Big Ten showcase. Five Big Ten wrestlers ultimately made the 10-man U23 freestyle world team when the competition concluded Saturday afternoon. Another made the Greco-Roman world team, and a dozen more turned in top-four podium finishes over the weekend. The two-day freestyle tournament is where the Big Ten mostly shined. Northwestern's Chris Cannon (61 kilos), Nebraska's Peyton Robb (74) and Mikey Labriola (79) and Iowa's Myles Wilson (86) and Tony Cassioppi (125) all made the world team. Cannon rolled through the preliminary rounds with four wins by a combined 47-14 to make the finals, punctuated by a 13-8 win over Michigan's Dylan Ragusin in the semifinals, during which he rallied from a 5-2 first-period hole to outscore Ragusin 11-3 in the second period to win the match. In the finals, Cannon won a three-match thriller over Indiana high school star Jesse Mendez. He scored a big 4-pointer to win the first match, 13-2, then Mendez used a strong first-period to anchor a 9-8 second-match victory. Mendez then injury-defaulted early in the third match, giving Cannon the title and the world team spot. The Husker duo of Robb and Labriola dominated their way to world team spots. At 74 kilos, Robb won each of his first four matches by 10-0 tech fall and defeated them in a combined 3 minutes, 42 seconds of total match time. In the finals, Robb swept North Carolina's Quincy Monday, two matches to none, by scores of 12-3 and 7-5. Labriola had to muscle his way to the title at 79. In the challenge tournament, he beat Grand View All-American Casey Randles, 7-3; Illinois's DJ Shannon, 6-0; and Indiana's Junior world-teamer Donnell Washington, 5-3, thanks to five points in the final minute. He downed Drexel's Michael O'Malley, 2-2 and 5-2, in the finals for the spot. The Hawkeye duo took identical paths to the top of the podium by rolling through their respective challenge tournaments, then winning three-match finals series. Wilson won his first four matches by a combined 44-7, then needed three matches to defeat Cornell's Chris Foca in the finals. Wilson took the first match, 6-1. In match two, Foca turned an 8-6 first-period lead into a 19-8 technical fall victory. In the decisive third match, Wilson scored five unanswered in the second period to win, 5-4. Cassioppi, the runner-up at last month's Senior freestyle national championships, blew through his first four matches by a combined 45-0, which included a 13-0 win over Hofstra's Zach Knighton-Ward and an 11-0 win over Lehigh's Jordan Wood. In the finals, Cassioppi defeated another Big Ten foe, Northwestern's Lucas Davison, two matches to one. He scored a first-match pin off a takedown midway through the first period. Davison won the second match, 14-4, thanks to a second-period explosion. Cassioppi won the third, 13-5, thanks to nine unanswered points. Those five were the highlight, obviously, but other Big Ten wrestlers turned in promising performances as well. Ragusin ultimately bounced back to take third at 61 kilos, defeating Iowa's Cullan Schriever in the third-place match. Minnesota's Brayton Lee (70), Iowa's Patrick Kennedy (79) and Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman (97) all took third. Washington, Northwestern's Jack Jessen (86) and Illinois' Luke Luffman (125) all took fourth. On the Greco side, Ohio State's Nick Boykin followed his Senior national title with a U23 title at 97 kilos. Two more Buckeyes, Brady and Dylan Koontz, both made the finals at 55 and 60 kilos, respectively. Illinois' We Rachal took third at 63 kilos. The Big Ten has long dominated college wrestling, both in terms of national team titles and individual talent. The league's performance in Nebraska this past weekend was just another sterling example. Big 12 by Seth Duckworth Seth's article for OWrestler regarding Oklahoma Oklahoma State's Luke Surber 3rd at 92 KG and Jalin Harper got 4th at 74 KG. Surber beat Michigan State's Cam Caffey and only lost to All-American Jake Woodley, who he placed higher than (Woodley 6th). It could be interesting to see what Oklahoma State does with him and AJ Ferrari in the next few years. Surber going to cut to 184? Is Ferrari serious about maybe going to HWT? New Big 12 addition Missouri had a pair of finalists with Brock Mauller at 70 kg and Rocky Elam at 92 kg. Utah Valley's Taylor LaMont was a finalist in both styles. He finished second in freestyle and won the world team spot in Greco-Roman. LaMont's former Utah Valley teammate, Dylan Gregerson, also claimed a place on the world team by edging Dylan Koontz in a pair of hard-fought bouts. A pair of big men from the Big 12 battled for the 130 kg slot on the Greco team. North Dakota State's Brandon Metz pinned Spencer Trenary in the first of their two finals bout. He later shut out his South Dakota State rival, Trenary, 5-0, to win the series. EIWA We've talked about the EIWA's struggles at the 2021 NCAA Tournament, but the conference was in full force at U23's. Patrick Glory led the way by making the freestyle world team at 57 kgs. Glory did not surrender a point to All-American Taylor LaMont during either of their two finals bouts. Quincy Monday (NJRTC/Princeton), Michael O'Malley (Penn RTC/Drexel), and Chris Foca (Spartan Combat/Cornell) all made the finals. Foca took the second match of his series, but fell in the decisive contest. Lenny Merkin (NJRTC/Princeton) was also a finalist at 74 kg on the Greco side. MAC by Courtney Woods Sam Mitchell, the lone MAC podium representative from the Bulls Wrestling Club, had a noteworthy performance at U23's with a second-place finish at 97kg. In the opening bout, Mitchell had a solid win over Cole Forrester from the Air Force Regional Training Center (13-0). In the semifinals, Mitchell came out on top over Peter Ming from Stanford-CA RTC (10-0). During the Best-of-Three Finals, Mitchell came up short in both matches against a three-time national qualifier Jay Aiello from the Cavalier Wrestling Club (11-0, 11-0). During the 2020-2021 folkstyle season, Mitchell had a 3-6 overall record, and was 3-4 in MAC duals. Mitchell scored 11 takedowns during those nine bouts. He had notable wins over Clarion's Brett Whitman and Bloomsburg's Jake Marnell. Pac-12 by Earl Smith Jacori Teemer led the way for Arizona State/Sunkist Kids as he made the U23 World Team at 70 kg. This will be Teemer's second appearance on a world team as he was a bronze medalist as a Cadet in 2017. Teemer prevailed in perhaps the deepest weight class in the tournament. After cruising through his first three bouts, Teemer faced two-time Junior National freestyle champion Anthony Artalona. It was more of the same as Teemer won via tech, 11-0. In the semis, Teemer met up with longtime rival Brayton Lee. After a long break for a video review late in the second, Teemer immediately scored the decisive takedown with a blast double and held on to win, 7-7. The Sun Devil All-American clinched his spot on the world team after taking a pair of bouts from Missouri's Brock Mauller. In the second match, Mauller jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, but Teemer chipped away for a 9-8 victory. On the Greco-Roman front, junior Chad Porter made the finals with ease after picking up a pair of tech fall victories. Porter was a U23 World Team member in 2019, after making the Junior team in 2018. Another world team wasn't in the cards this weekend, as Chad was teched in two straight matches by Nicholas Boykin. The newly formed Central Coast RTC (Cal Poly) saw one of its wrestlers make the best-of-three finals as Lawrence Saenz did so at 65 kg. Saenz truly had a breakthrough showing as he downed a pair of top 141 lbers to wrestle in the finals. In the second round, Saenz grabbed a 4-4 win on criteria over Allan Hart, the sixth seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. A match later, he survived an early onslaught from three-time All-American, Chad Red, and rallied back to win 13-8. Saenz also finished strong in the Round of 16 and semifinals against, Cayden Rooks and Justin Benjamin. Saenz wasn't able to generate any offense in either of his two 10-0 losses to Dom Demas for the slot on the world team. The Central Coast RTC had a pair of wrestlers with solid performances though they ultimately came up shy of the podium. Antonio Lorenzo went 3-2 at 57 kg, while Brawley Lamer was 4-2 at 74 kg. SoCon Only a small contingent traveled to Nebraska from the SoCon. Appalachian State had a trio of wrestlers at the tournament. Caleb Smith, Jonathan Millner, and Michael Burchell all won at least two matches but did not place. Campbell's Jason Kraisser got a 10-0 tech over 2021 national qualifier Luke Nichter in his opening match, but then lost the next two.

Jordan Oliver at the Last Chance Qualifier (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Our own Willie Saylor broke news tonight that 2021 Olympic Trials winner Jordan Oliver would be changing his training situation. Oliver has spent the last two years training at North Carolina's Tar Heel Wrestling Club. He will be moving closer to home to train with the NYCRTC, which is run by Kendall Cross at Columbia University. Late in May, news surfaced that the NYCRTC and NJRTC will join forces to train together moving forward. Oliver joins a talented NYCRTC room that includes recent Pan-American Champion, Shelton Mack, Mitch Finesilver, and Nestor Taffur. Olympic medalists Frank Chamizo and Vladimer Khinchegashivili also train there on a part-time basis. Oliver was victorious in a deep 65 kg Olympic Trials weight class that included former training partner Yianni Diakomihalis, Zain Retherford, Joey McKenna, and Nick Lee. Oliver defeated all but Retherford at the Trials. About a month later, Oliver traveled to Bulgaria in an attempt to qualify the weight for the Olympics. Despite a valiant effort, Oliver was unable to do so. He needed to make the finals in order to clinch a spot in Tokyo. Oliver advanced to the semifinals and dropped a tight 3-2 bout to Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (Poland), a two-time world medalist. Later in was revealed that Oliver was wrestling through an injury at the event. Jordan has indicated his desire to compete at the World Championship later this year throughout the next/current Olympic quad (through 2024). During his collegiate career, Oliver was a four-time NCAA All-American and two-time national champion for Oklahoma State. He finished unbeaten in his sophomore and senior seasons. Since his collegiate career has finished, Oliver has trained at Oklahoma State, Cornell, Arizona State, and North Carolina.

Austin Gomez (Left) and Nathan Traxler (Right) (Gomez Photo/Cam Kramer; CamKramerPhoto.Smugmug.com/Traxler Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) A couple of big name transfers made their destinations public Tuesday night which happens to be the first time since March 2020 that recruiting restrictions were lifted. Both, Austin Gomez and Nathan Traxler, have competed in the NCAA Round of 12 during their impressive careers. They now have new homes. The former Iowa State Cyclone, Gomez, will head to the Big Ten and wrestle for Chris Bono's Wisconsin squad. Just about six months ago, Gomez announced that he was retiring from the sport after multiple injuries. Within the last month and a half, Gomez has hinted at a return. Austin was a national qualifier in 2019 as a redshirt freshman. That year he was seeded 13th at the 133 lb weight class after taking third in the Big 12. In Pittsburgh at the national tournament, Gomez reached the quarterfinals before dropping a 1-0 decision to Micky Phillipi (Pittsburgh). In his next match, Gomez was eliminated by Austin DeSanto (Iowa). During dual competition, he downed DeSanto 14-9, in one of the most exciting bouts of the year. Gomez probably slots in at 141 lbs for the Badgers. That would come in handy as their returning starter, Dom Dentino was 0-10 in 2021. The first major transfer out of Stanford is Traxler who will enter Virginia Tech as a graduate student. Traxler is a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Cardinal. He spent the first three years of his career at 197 lbs, before going up to 285 in 2021. It would make sense for the Hokies if he competed at 197 in 2021-22. Virginia Tech has a pair of national qualifiers (Hunter Catka and John Borst) at 285 and did not qualify at 197 last season. Traxler went 78-28 for Stanford and made three Pac-12 finals (winning in 2019). He is a two-time NCAA Round of 12 finisher, doing so in both 2019 and 2021. In this year's tournament, Traxler fell in the first round to returning AA Jordan Wood (Lehigh), then proceeded to pick up three wins before losing to conference foe Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) in the bloodround.

Zahid Valencia at the 2021 Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The United States is sending 22 athletes, including 12 men's freestylers, seven women's freestylers and three Greco-Roman athletes, to Warsaw, Poland, to compete at the Ziolkowski, Pytlasinski and Poland Opens, June 8-13. The tournament serves as a UWW Ranking Series Event for the 2021 World Championships in Oslo, Norway. Among the 22 athletes are three 2021 Olympians, including 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis (57 kg WFS) and Greco-Roman Olympians Ildar Hafizov (60 kg) and Alex Sancho (67 kg). In addition to Maroulis, there are three other World medalists in the mix, all of whom are competing in men's freestyle such as two-time World champion J'den Cox (92 kg), World silver and World bronze medalist James Green (70 kg) and two-time World bronze winner Nick Gwiazdowski (125 kg). Five athletes, Ronna Heaton (53 kg WFS), Jen Page (65 kg WFS), Joey McKenna (65 kg MFS), Alec Pantaleo (70 kg MFS) and Nate Jackson (MFS 92 kg), are expected to compete just days after winning gold medals at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Guatemala last weekend. Heaton, McKenna and Gwiazdowski are also 2021 Olympic Trials runners-up. The tournament starts with men's freestyle June 8-9, followed by women's freestyle June 10-11, and closes out with Greco-Roman June 12-13. Sessions start at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) and 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET). Fans can watch all the action live on FloWrestling.org and follow along on Twitter updates from @USAWrestling. U.S. men's freestyle roster 57 kg: Nathan Tomasello (OKRTC/TMWC) 57 kg: Nick Suriano (Sunkist Kids) 65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (Spartan Combat RTC/TMWC) 65 kg: Joey McKenna (Pennsylvania RTC/TMWC) 70 kg: James Green (SERTC/TMWC) 70 kg: Alec Pantaleo (Cliff Keen WC/TMWC) 74 kg: Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC/TMWC) 86 kg: Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) 92 kg: J'den Cox (USOPTC/NJRTC/TMWC) 92 kg: Nate Jackson (NJRTC) 92 kg: Mike Macchiavello (Wolfpack RTC/TMWC) 125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (Wolfpack RTC/TMWC) National Team coach – Joe Russell, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. women's freestyle roster 50 kg: Erin Golston (Wisconsin RTC/NYAC) 53 kg: Ronna Heaton (Wisconsin RTC/Sunkist Kids) 53 kg: Amy Fearnside (USOPTC/TMWC) 57 kg: Helen Maroulis (Nittany Lion WC/Sunkist Kids) 62 kg: Jen Page (Nittany Lion WC/TMWC) 68 kg: Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids/TMWC) 76 kg: Dymond Guilford (USOPTC/TMWC) U.S. Greco-Roman roster 55 kg: Max Nowry (U.S. Army WCAP) 67 kg: Alex Sancho (U.S. Army WCAP) 87 kg: Alan Vera (NYAC) Coach – Spenser Mango, Colorado Springs, Colo. Medical – Randy Boswell, Coeur d' Alene, Idaho Medical – David Haight, Tampa, Fla. Official – Drew Hayes, Tempe, Ariz. Team leader – Paul Kieblesz, New York, N.Y. Schedule (6 hours ahead of ET) Tuesday, June 8 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 57, 70, 79, 86, 97) 6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 57, 70, 79, 86, 97) Wednesday, June 9 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (MFS 61, 65, 74, 92, 125) 6 p.m. – Finals (MFS 61, 65, 74, 92, 125) Thursday, June 10 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 50, 55, 62, 65, 76) 6 p.m. – Finals (WFS 50, 55, 62, 65, 76) Friday, June 11 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (WFS 53, 57, 59, 68, 72) 6 p.m. – Finals (WFS 53, 57, 59, 68, 72) Saturday, June 12 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 55, 67, 77, 82, 130) 6 p.m. – Finals (GR 55, 67, 77, 82, 130) Sunday, June 13 11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 60, 63, 72, 87, 97) 6 p.m. – Finals (GR 60, 63, 72, 87, 97)

(Photo/Courtesy of the Lillard family) If you're familiar with wrestling at the youth level, I'm sure you've heard the name Tyler Lillard - he was Georgia's first 8th-grade high school state champion in 2018, the 2019 FS/GR Cadet Ohio State Champion, 2019 Fargo All American, 2020 Journeyman Champion, 2021 Journeyman Runner-up, and the 2021 NE Regional FS Runner up. Despite hearing the name and undoubtedly seeing his talent on the mat, it was learning about his personal life that truly intrigued and inspired me. Tyler Lillard, a 17-year-old junior at Wyoming Seminary Prep, is wise beyond his years and has overcome more in the last nine years than most could ever imagine. While getting ready for school one morning, Tyler became very ill and could not stop vomiting, so much so, his mother grew with concern and took him to see his family doctor, who, upon arrival, immediately sent Ms. Lillard and Tyler to the emergency room. While doctors were not 100% certain what was wrong, it was clear Tyler was experiencing something that raised great concern. After weeks of EEGs, MRIs, bone scans, blood work and visiting several specialists, including neurologists, ophthalmologists, and oncologists, a long-awaited call came, "Ms. Lillard, we found a brain tumor on Tyler's optic nerve, this is also called an optic pathway glioma, which causes visual impairment because it presses on the optic nerve. We need to run some more tests. Also, those vomiting episodes that he was having, which later turned into convulsions and staring episodes, were actually seizures." (Photo/Courtesy of the Lillard family) Her son was in third grade at the time Ms. Lillard received the phone call that forever changed her life - it was the day Tyler Lillard was diagnosed with epilepsy, a neurological disorder that causes seizures. The doctors could not figure out if the tumor was causing the seizures or if the seizures were the cause of the tumor. The rest of his third-grade year was spent traveling halfway across the country to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, visiting specialists to undergo five surgeries and establish a plan for future care with an uncertain promise one day Tyler would ultimately lose his vision. Already involved with his local youth wrestling club at Johns Creek HS (Georgia), Tyler returned home with the expectation that his wrestling career was over. However, a club coach, Charlie Morris, at Morris Fitness Wrestling, had other plans. He reached out to Ms. Lillard and instructed her to bring Tyler to practice to watch on the mat, and she did just that despite Tyler's lack of interest in the sport since his diagnosis. Coach Morris knew better; he saw something special in Tyler. Little by little, practice after practice, Tyler began to drill alongside the wrestlers as they conditioned and trained. It was only a matter of time before he took to the mat once again. (Photo/Courtesy of the Lillard family) Fast forward just four years later, a few nights before the youth state tournament and Tyler suddenly was unable to see, his vision went completely black. Ms. Lillard called Coach Morris to inform him Tyler could not compete, but this persistent wrestling coach knew Tyler's journey on the mat did not end here. Instead, Coach Morris told Ms. Lillard to meet him in the wrestling room. Upon their arrival, Coach Morris blindfolded Tyler with a sock, turned off all the lights and began to drill with him. Coach Morris explained, "you don't have to see to wrestle," it was then that Tyler learned to adapt and overcome on the mat - from that moment on, he focused on perfecting three moves that keep him in constant contact with his opponents in case he does lose his vision during a match. A year later, Tyler became Georgia's first 8th grader to win a high school state title in the Georgia Independent School Association. Despite his determination, support system and his natural ability to wrestle well, Tyler had to overcome many more obstacles off the mat, "I used to have 60-70 seizures a day. Sometimes I was aware of having them, and sometimes I had no idea. After my brain tumor treatments and going to different doctors and specialists, I was put on medication to control the seizures, so now I currently have maybe two major [grand mal] seizures a year. However, I have smaller and less severe seizures on a weekly or daily basis." In fact, it was just a year after winning his first state title when Tyler experienced a major grand mal seizure while on the mat during Liberty Nationals in February of 2017, "I don't remember what happened or what led to it, I just fell down and laid there unable to control my body. My mom remained calm and talked the trainers through protocol and with their help, I was able to safely get to the hospital." Unfortunately, Tyler experienced another grand mal seizure that same year. This one was more severe than the last, as it lasted seven entire minutes and landed Tyler in the hospital for over a week. Once again, Tyler questioned if he would ever be able to wrestle again, but he met uncertainty with faith rather than fear. Although his condition has caused setbacks, it's not necessarily what Tyler focuses on; instead, he demonstrates and lives out the life of an overcomer both on and off the mat, "I never think about if I will have an episode. It's not something that crosses my mind when I get on the mat. I'm usually in a zone to think about how I plan on scoring. I do worry about if I lose my vision while wrestling; that is more of a concern for me than a seizure." This concern doesn't go unwarranted; in fact, just a few weeks ago, while Tyler was competing at the Northeast Regionals, his vision went completely dark, "This happens every now and then, and I know one day my vision will leave me for good. But I don't focus on that because if or when it does, I know at that moment God would have allowed me to see everything that I was supposed to see. Then, I can just figure out another way to train and hopefully win." Tyler with his mother (Photo/Courtesy of the Lillard family) As if that statement alone doesn't show you the type of Overcomer this young man is, Tyler and his mother formed a foundation called Team Tyler Epilepsy Foundation, which provides school supplies to children who are in the hospital and cannot start school in the classroom due to their medical conditions, "I remember being in school while I was in the hospital and teachers came around to keep us on track with our classwork, but no one had backpacks and notebooks and other cool stuff. Supplying those items, parking passes and meal vouchers for families is my way of giving back to my community because I was blessed to walk out of the hospital, and unfortunately, some kids can't and won't do that." While the reality that Tyler will struggle with his epilepsy and visual impairment for the entirety of his life may seem overwhelming to most people, let alone continuing to wrestle despite his diagnosis, Tyler was able to walk out of the hospital after each incident. Because of that, he is sure not to take a single moment of his life for granted. Tyler doesn't allow epilepsy or the thought of one day going blind, hold him back or keep him from striving toward his goals. With the support of his mother, coaches and his teammates, this high school wrestler earned his way onto a D1 wrestling program in the Big 10 conference - one Tyler has dreamed of competing in since he was younger. When he graduates high school, Tyler plans on attending and competing for Indiana University under the guidance and coaching of Angel Escobedo, "I definitely would like to be a National Champion. I'm not sure if that will happen in high school or college, but it is something that I strive for every day." Clearly built differently, this wrestler, wise beyond his years, wanted to share one final piece of advice for anyone facing adversity while chasing their dreams, "It may feel like there is nothing going your way, or your battles are not being won...never let anything or anyone get in the way of your dreams and goals. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals and reach them knowing that I believe in you and God believes in you; the battle has already been won. It's also really important that on your journey, you share your feelings and emotions with others, your coaches, teammates, parents, pastors, anyone. It feels so much better to tell someone than to keep it bottled up inside. Know you are never in this alone and you can overcome."

Jesse Dellavecchia's entrance at the 2021 NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It's no secret that collegiate and elite-level wrestling demands a tremendous amount of discipline, dedication, and unmatched work ethic from its athletes. The everyday challenges of scholastic pressure coupled with high-caliber losses, injuries, cutting copious amounts of weight, and intrinsic adversities is an all too familiar scenario for Jesse Dellavecchia, a redshirt senior who wrestles for Rider University. Dellavecchia, originally from Great River, New York (located on Long Island), became Rider's first-ever MAC Champion in 2020 and 2021 at 157lbs, while also becoming Rider's first NCAA finalist in 2021 at 157lbs; dropping a 4-0 decision to Iowa State's David Carr. He also became Rider's 18th NCAA All-American. Before Dellavecchia made the NCAA finals, only five Rider wrestlers had reached the third-place bout: Lou DiSerafino (1980), John Lucerne (1985), Adam Derengowski (1991), Rider's current head coach John Hangey (1993), and Doug Umbehauer (2009). To top off his career, Dellavecchia became Rider's first-ever MAC Wrestler of the Year. Moments before Dellavecchia pins #1 Ryan Deakin (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) From a spectator's perspective, Jesse Dellavecchia looks like every other insanely talented wrestler, right? Making it to the finals in tremendous fashion by pinning undefeated, #1 ranked Ryan Deakin. Well, you're wrong. Unbeknownst to most, Jesse has fought a battle with mental health for a majority of his collegiate wrestling career; internal and external pressures completely consuming him. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five adults suffer from at least one mental health disorder in their lifetime. Athletes for Hope - an association that aims to educate, encourage, and assist athletes - found that 35% of athletes suffer from a mental health illness during their career. Prior to Rider University, Dellavecchia wrestled for Binghamton University where he posted a 15-9 record as a freshman. It was during the 2015-2016 season that Dellavecchia's battle with mental health forced him to leave the sport and attend classes at a local community college. "It wasn't fun for me anymore. School was really hard, and my grades weren't where I wanted them to be. I was just stressed and not enjoying it anymore. I was pushing through for a long time and trying to stick with it, but I eventually couldn't do it anymore. I don't think I was mature enough at the time. Ultimately, I wasn't ready." said Dellavecchia. After making the decision to step away from the sport, Dellavecchia removed himself from wrestling completely. It took nearly five months before he started to dabble in MMA and kickboxing (FYI: He's a huge MMA junkie!). During those five months, Dellavecchia focused on his mental health, succeeding academically, and saving money. "I was taking classes at a community college and was bored. I didn't really know what to do. I really wanted to finish my degree at a four-year college, and I figured that would give me an opportunity to wrestle again" said Dellavecchia. So, there it was. An opportunity for Dellavecchia to battle again, but this time on the mat. As Dellavecchia began looking for potential colleges, he knew Rider University was the home he needed after facing countless obstacles at Binghamton. "It was different this time around. When I was coming out of high school, there were a lot of schools that wanted me. When I transferred and left Binghamton, there weren't that many. I knew a smaller school like Rider would benefit me. It's more personable with the teachers, smaller classrooms, and coaches. I'm thankful Rider gave me the opportunity to go there" said Dellavecchia. With the change of environment and roughly one-hundred miles away from home on Long Island, Jesse's battle with anxiety and depression didn't just go away. Coach Hangey said, "Jesse had a lot of pressure and stress; internally, externally, you name it. It consumed him and it killed the love of the sport for him. Jesse hides it well. But, after being around him and in his presence for a couple of months, we figured out his personality pretty quick. We would notice that he would withdraw. It's not that he wouldn't be visible at practice - he would be there laughing and joking with the guys - but then all of a sudden, we would notice he would withdraw from the group. Not terrible, but enough." Coach Hangey then went on to say, "I was always the buffer in between. The "let's go talk" guy. I would bring reason to everything that was happening, even if it was the worst thing in the world to Jesse. I would always tell him, "Well, we have to get through this. It will only get better from here." The efforts of Dellavecchia's coaches and teammates did not go unnoticed. In fact, they were the very reason that Jesse accomplished the feats he did as a Bronc. Dellavecchia stated, "I think the most important thing for me was communication, which I didn't have at Binghamton. I talked to my parents and that helped a lot, but it's not the same as always having someone to relate to in the moment. Having my coaches at Rider and talking to them every day helped me. It gave me a different opinion, which changed my mindset, especially during my first two years at Rider. They made it really fun for me while I was struggling. I always knew that if I was struggling to make it through the day and needed to talk, they were always there to help me. Over the years, and especially at Rider, I've learned how to deal with stress and external factors better." Dellavecchia hugging Rider assistant coach Nic Bedelyon (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Throughout the years at Rider, Dellavecchia developed a strong bond with Rider's Assistant Coach, Nic Bedelyon. John Hangey said, "I think the best thing that happened was that Jesse and Nic Bedelyon were attached at the hip. They often talked over the phone, practiced during the wee hours of the night, and had extra workouts in the morning before classes. Jesse and Nic developed a genuine friendship. Above and beyond being a coach and a mentor for a student athlete, Nic helped Jesse blossom as a collegiate athlete on the mat, and with his depression." He then went on to say, "Those demons don't just go away. He learned to trust me as a head coach and knew he could open up to me about anything. He treated Nic like a big brother, but had the utmost respect for him at the same time. The bonds he developed with each of us were exactly what Jesse needed to be successful." Eventually, by way of strongly built relationships and an open line of communication, Dellavecchia hit a turning point in his wrestling career. Dellavecchia explained, "My second year at Rider definitely changed everything for me. It was the year I went 165lbs. I redshirted and went to 165lbs the next. I didn't cut any weight and was in the starting lineup. During this transition to a new weight, Chad Walsh was a big inspiration to me, and the team. He was a good teammate, and an even better leader who helped me fall in love with the sport again. I was getting in extra practices with him, and totally focused on wrestling without having to cut weight. Once that happened, I continued to get better." Coach Hangey commented, "When he was at Binghamton, he was asked to cut a lot of weight and it was just expected that he would. That drove him out of the sport 100%. After making the transition to Rider, his redshirt year, we had Chad Walsh at 165lbs, and Jesse was going to sit behind him for a year. It worked out almost perfect for him. We told him to take his time and get back into the sport gradually, just seeing how it goes. We didn't put any pressure on him. Ultimately, it was the perfect scenario for Jesse. We didn't try to force him into the starting lineup; rekindling the pressure that crushed him earlier. He was slowly becoming the wrestler and kid that he once was. After that first year, he was so comfortable with us because he was able to be himself, and he was able to grow and develop as a man. That's one of the many advantages we have at Rider. There is pressure, but it's whatever you make it. Any pressure Jesse had, was pressure he put on himself. That's why he was so successful." Jesse Dellavecchia (right) in the Round of 16 at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) At the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Dellavecchia qualified for the tournament and wrestled 165lbs. He went 2-2 with losses coming from Logan Massa of Michigan and Josh Shields from Arizona State.John Hangey said, "He was competitive with them, but they were too big. After Jesse left the tournament he said, "It's the wrong weight. I have to go down." The reason this changed the course of Jesse's wrestling career was the fact that he determined that, and it wasn't forced upon him. It was everything we, as coaches, needed to hear. Jesse became a well-oiled machine. He had a diet and he stuck to it. He ate the same thing for five months and he made weight at 157lbs with no problems. It was because Jesse knew it would help him get to where he wanted to go without it being forced on him. Ultimately, I think that's what helped him fall in love with the sport again. He could really zero in on what he had to do to be the most successful." It was that very conversation and succeeding changes that allowed Dellavecchia to become the most successful wrestler in Rider's history. With his mental health mending, and his love for wrestling growing stronger than ever, Jesse paved the way for his teammates. At the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Dellavecchia had the winningest tournament in Rider's history. In the opening bout, Dellavecchia won a 4-2 decision over Oregon State's Hunter Willits. In the quarterfinals, he won by Injury Default to Penn State's Brady Berge. Moving on to one of the most electric semifinals matches of the tournament, Dellavecchia pinned Northwestern's Deakin, who was the top seed at the weight class. In the finals, Dellavecchia dropped a 4-0 decision to Iowa State's David Carr. After the conclusion of the tournament, he stated, "It's a good accomplishment. I'm very happy and proud of myself. It's weird because I knew I could make it to the finals, but there is always a lot of self-doubt along the way. After my semifinal win, it was crazy. I normally don't celebrate. My coaches told me to stay calm and not let my emotions get too up or too down, but I just let my emotions get ahead of me and I had to celebrate. It was one of the best wins of my career, and it was at the biggest tournament of my career. Ultimately, I was very happy with my performance, although I really wanted to win it." Dellavecchia after his NCAA semifinals pin (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Dellavecchia became the first Long-Islander since Jesse Jantzen in 2004 to reach the D1 NCAA Wrestling Championship finals. In response to the tremendous accomplishment, Dellavecchia stated, "It was awesome to do this for my hometown of East Islip. I love Long Island. The community showed me so much support. I received so many messages from people I hadn't talked to in a long time congratulating me, and I really felt the love. I never even won a state title, so to hear so many positive comments was really cool." Dellavecchia was a two-time New York State Finalist, three-time All-State selection, and four-time NHSCA All-American for East Islip High School prior to attending Binghamton and Rider. At the conclusion of the 2021 wrestling season, John Hangey commented the following, "As far as being a pioneer, that's what Jesse was. A pioneer paves the way for everyone after them to follow a path and broaden the horizons in their prospective futures. Previously, Rider had five wrestlers in the semifinals. All of them were super close to making it to the finals, but no one could crack that wall down. But Jesse did it, and in tremendous fashion. It was something that had been tried and failed repeatedly. We told Jesse that he could be a national champ, which took him a while to believe those words because it has never been done before in our program. But now, our wrestlers have hope." He then went on to say, "To have Jesse's parents at the NCAA's was awesome. They're Long-Island people. They were yelling "Jesse Boy" from the stands. Good for him. Good for him and his family because they deserve it. We're the ones who benefit from it. I've said it time and time again, Jesse poured his heart and soul into our program from day one as a transfer. It took him some time, but he wanted to get back to wrestling. He gave it all he had. It was really important to him, and that's why he got what he got. He's a great kid. At the end of the day, Jesse D. is Jesse D. He'll get the job done." Dellavecchia is not only a pioneer for Rider University, but in life. He has continued to battle against the stigma of mental health, and wage war against those internal struggles to accomplish what no one at Rider has ever done before. Jesse and his family were honored by the Towns of Islip and Babylon, New York in early May by presenting him with his very own day. Jesse D., an MMA junkie, active podcast listener, and video game lover, is setting his sights on some exciting opportunities. "Right now, I have a few options. I either want to coach at a University, eventually becoming a head coach. Or I want to start my own club on Long Island, which I think would be really cool," said Dellavecchia. You can never be too sure what the future holds, but after Jesse's ability to overcome and adapt to life's seemly endless challenges, his future will be bright. "I'm kind of just weighing out my options and seeing where that takes me." If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, visit National Institute of Mental Health or call 1-800-273-TALK.

Kyle Snyder 2021 Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2021 Pan-American Championships (Men's Freestyle) Gold Medal Matches 57 kg - Vito Arujau (USA) over Robert Alejandro Blanco (Mexico) 10-0 61 kg - Shelton Mack (USA) over Juan Ramirez Beltre (Dominican Republic) 2-0 65 kg - Joey McKenna (USA) over Marcos de Brito Siqueira (Brazil) 10-0 70 kg - Alec Pantaleo (USA) over Carlos Romero Millaqueo (Chile) 12-0 74 kg - Kyle Dake (USA) over Victor Hernandez Luna (Mexico) 10-0 86 kg - David Taylor (USA) over Clayton Pye (Canada) 10-0 97 kg - Kyle Snyder (USA) over Luis Perez Sosa (Dominican Republic) 11-0 125 kg - Gable Steveson (USA) over Aly Barghout (Canada) 10-0 Bronze Medal Matches 57 kg - Alexander Fernandez Pena (Dominican Republic) over Bryan de Oliveira Pereira (Brazil) 9-1 57 kg - Samuel Alva Pedragas (Peru) over Edwin Segura Guerra (Guatemala) 5-3 61 kg - Jorge Olvera Rodriguez (Mexico) over Esteban Perez Castellanos (Guatemala) 3-1 65 kg - Albaro Rudecindo Camacho (Dominician Republic) over Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) 10-0 65 kg - Jonnathan Perez Castellanos (Guatemala) over David Pinilla Rodriguez (Panama) 3-1 70 kg - Vincent DeMarinis (Canada) over Joao Dos Santos Silva (Brazil) Fall 70 kg - Enrique Perez Castellanos (Guatemala) over Sebastian Sosa Sanchez (Paraguay) 12-0 74 kg - Julio Rodriguez Romero (Dominican Republic) over Jasmit Phulka (Canada) 4-0 74 kg - Jonathan Parrilla Ramos (Puerto Rico) over Leon Peralta Lanas (Chile) 4-4 86 kg - Noel Torres Chacon (Mexico) over Juan Rivera Garcia (Colombia) 10-0 86 kg - Thales Reis Alves (Brazil) over Emanuel Chamorro (Argentina) Fall 97 kg - Maxwell Lacey Garita (Costa Rica) over Marcos Carrozzino (Brazil) Fall 125 kg - Catriel Muriel (Argentina) over Eduardo Garcia Betanzos (Mexico) 5-1

Rob Koll (right) at the 2018 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Give the Stanford administration credit (just a little). We've crushed them for the better parts of 11 months (and rightfully so). But, now that it's time to hire a new coach, they have swung for the fences and reeled in the biggest fish possible (if I'm able to mix metaphors). This wouldn't be possible without the alumni, as well, since they fought so diligently to keep the program and undoubtedly have chipped in financially to make Rob Koll's hire a reality. As Koll's name surfaced as a leading candidate for the job, it occurred to me that he is probably one of the top-five most accomplished active DI head coaches. Cael Sanderson, John Smith, and Tom Brands lead the conversation with four or more national titles and handfuls of conference crowns. Tom Ryan is also in the mix with Ohio State's 2015 championship and five runner-up finishes. After the big four, Koll is on a level of his own, as perhaps the coach with the longest track record without a national title. Here are some numbers from Koll's time in Ithaca which make a strong argument for securing his place among the coaching elites. Head Coach at Cornell from 1993-2021 Also an assistant at Cornell under Jack Spates from 1989-93 Career dual record at Cornell: 317-101-5 Cornell has earned team trophy's at the NCAA Championships (top-four) on four different occasions. Twice the Big Red has finished as the runner's-up (2010 and 2011). Ivy League dual record: 125-9-1 All-time leader in dual wins by an Ivy League coach: Former Cornell head coach Jimmy Miller had the previous record with 203. Had a 92-match Ivy League winning streak that spanned from 2001-02 to 2019-20 (snapped by Princeton). Finished top-two in the Ivy League in 26 of 27 seasons. Won 17 straight Ivy League titles between 2002-03 and 2018-19. Koll was named EIWA Coach of the Year on four occasions (2007, 2010, 2011, 2017). Despite typically wrestling a very strong out-of-conference schedule, Cornell has managed to finish with just one dual loss three times during Koll's tenure. Under Koll, ten wrestlers have combined to win 16 NCAA titles (David Hirsch, Travis Lee x2, Jordan Leen, Troy Nickerson, Kyle Dake x4, Cam Simaz, Steve Bosak, Gabe Dean x2, Nahshon Garrett, Yianni Diakomihalis x2). The program only had one multiple-time national champion before Koll's arrival. They have had four others join the club since (Lee, Dake, Dean, Diakomihalis). In the NCAA Finals, under Koll, Cornell has gone 16-7. No single wrestler has lost more than once in the national finals. Cornell has also been excellent in the Round of 12. During their last five NCAA Tournaments 2015-19, the Big Red went 7-0. No other program with more than five bloodround matches during that span is undefeated. Excluding the 2020 (cancelled) and 2021 (Ivies didn't participate) NCAA Tournaments, Cornell has had at least one All-American every year since 2000-01 (19 straight tournaments). 2001 featured 1 All-American, every other year had more than one. Also with the same disclaimer as above, Cornell has finished in the top-12 at the NCAA Championships every year since 2002-03. 15 times Cornell placed top-ten. On two occasions, half of the Big Red lineup has earned All-American honors at that respective year's NCAA Championships. (2011 and 2012). Koll saw four of his unseeded wrestlers make the NCAA podium. Jim Stanec; 7th/2001, Josh Arnone; 8th/2007, Cam Simaz; 8th/2009, Mike Nevinger; 7th/2012 During his tenure, Cornell has captured 11 EIWA titles, including every one between 2006-07 and 2016-17. Cornell has produced multiple EIWA champions every year since 2008-09. 2019-20 was the only year during that span which had less than three. Since 2003-04, Koll's team has not finished lower than second in the EIWA. The 176 points amassed by Cornell's 2015 squad at the EIWA Championships is the tournament's second-highest total ever. It was the most since 1997 when Penn produced 183. Seven current DI head coaches either assisted underneath Koll or wrestled for him. Matt Azevedo (Drexel), Steve Garland (Virginia), Mike Grey (Cornell), Damion Hahn (South Dakota State), Troy Nickerson (Northern Colorado), Brian Smith (Missouri), and Jeremy Spates (SIU Edwardsville). In 2005, Travis Lee became the first Cornell (and Ivy) wrestler to earn All-American honors four times. Since then six others have achieved the feat (Dustin Manotti, Nickerson, Simaz, Dake, Garrett, Gabe Dean). Since 1990, there have been 14 occasions where a team produced three NCAA champions in the same season. Only five programs have been able to claim this distinction. One of which was Cornell in 2012 with (Dake, Bosak, Simaz). The other teams were Iowa (x5), Oklahoma State (x2), Iowa State, and Penn State (x5). The 2012 team put up 102.5 team points at the NCAA Championships which is the highest number in school history. Kyle Dake came in and rewrote Cornell and NCAA record books. He was the first freshman (true) to win an NCAA title for Cornell. He then became the first and only wrestler to win four titles at four different weights. Dake was a Hodge Trophy winner in 2013. It marks the only time before or since that a wrestler from the EIWA has earned the honor. Dake is also the only four-time NCAA champion from the EIWA and the only one to do so without taking a redshirt. 13 times during Koll's time in Ithaca, a Cornell wrestler was named EIWA Wrestler of the Year. (Lee x 2, Leen, Nickerson, Dake x2, Simaz, Garrett x2, Gabe Dean x2, Diakomihalis x2) 5 Cornell wrestlers have won 4 EIWA titles while wrestling for Koll (Lee, Mack Lewnes, Simaz, Garrett, Gabe Dean). 9 Cornell wrestlers have earned EIWA Freshman of the Year honors while competing for Koll's teams (Lee, Nickerson, Lewnes, Simaz, Dake, Garrett, Gabe Dean, Dalton Macri, Diakomihalis). The seven winningest wrestlers in Cornell history have all wrestled during Koll's time as head coach. Seven of Koll's wrestlers have gone on to get elected to the EIWA Hall of Fame (Lee/09, Hirsch/10, Dake/14, Nickerson/16, Lewnes/17, Simaz/18, Leen/19). Cornell won the team title at the Southern Scuffle in three consecutive years 2008-09 thru 2010-11. The 2010-11 team won the championship at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. They were second four times. Koll's Cornell teams made the finals of the National Duals on four occasions (2009, 2011, 2013, 2014). The Big Red won the National Duals in 2011 after defeating Ohio State, Missouri, Minnesota, and Virginia Tech. This spring, Kyle Dake became Cornell's first Olympian since Dave Auble in 1964 (both Games were in Tokyo). Dake was also a two-time World Champion under Koll. Also on the international front, Andrew Berreyesa was a Junior World silver medalist in Greco-Roman while at Cornell.

Sarah Hildebrandt 2021 Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2021 Pan-American Championships (Women's Freestyle) Gold Medal Matches 50 kg - Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) over Jacqueline Mollocana Eleno (Ecuador) 10-0 53 kg - Ronna Heaton (USA) over Luisa Valverde Melendres (Ecuador) 9-6 57 kg - Giullia Rodrigues Penalber de Oliveira (Brazil) over Alexandria Town (Canada) Fall 62 kg - Kayla Miracle (USA) over Lais Nunes de Oliveira (Brazil) 6-0 68 kg - Tamyra Mensah-Stock (USA) over Yessica Oviedo Perez (Dominican Republic) 10-4 76 kg - Adeline Gray (USA) over Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) 12-2 Bronze Medal Matches (Some weights did not have enough entrants for two bronze medal matches) 50 kg - Patricia Bermudez (Argentina) over Madison Parks (Canada) 5-2 50 kg - Kamila Barbosa Vito da Silva (Brazil) over Yusmy Chaparro Urrego (Colombia) 3-0 53 kg - Sabrina Gama Tapajos (Brazil) over Laura Peredo Torres (Mexico) 2-2 57 kg - Cameron Guerin (USA) over Alma Valencia (Mexico) 7-4 62 kg - Alejandra Romero Bonilla (Mexico) over Leonela Ayovi Parraga (Ecuador) 11-0 68 kg - Grabriela Pedro da Rocha (Brazil) over Alexia Sherland (Canada) 10-0 68 kg - Luz Vazquez (Argentina) over Ambar Garnica Flores (Mexico) Fall 76 kg - Aline da Silva Ferreira (Brazil) over Josselyn Portillo Mejia (El Salvador) 2-1 2021 Pan-American Championships (Men's Freestyle) Gold Medal Matches 79 kg - Tommy Gantt (USA) over Nestor Taffur (Colombia) 8-0 92 kg - Nate Jackson (USA) over Jeremy Poirier (Canada) 10-0 Bronze Medal Matches (Some weights did not have enough entrants for two bronze medal matches) 79 kg - Samuel Barmish (Canada) over Jorge Llano (Argentina) 6-0 92 kg - Angel Batista Lopez (Mexico)

Mike Grey(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It didn't take long for Cornell to fill its head coaching void after Rob Koll departed for Stanford. They didn't have to look far either. Associate Head Coach Mike Grey has been named head coach of the Big Red. Grey has been with the Cornell program since 2006 as an athlete and later coach. Grey made history in New Jersey by becoming its first four-time state champion. At Cornell, Grey was a two-time EIWA champion and two-time All-American. Grey was an integral part of a team that finished second in the nation in 2010 and 2011. Upon completion of his collegiate career, Grey stepped into the coaching ranks and was named a volunteer assistant. In 2019, he was named Associate Head Coach. Grey has worked closely with Cornell's talented crop of lightweights, including Vito Arujau (Olympic Trials runner-up) and Yianni Diakomihalis (two-time NCAA champion). Both have experienced success in freestyle while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. Cornell also finished third in the nation in our recent recruiting class rankings. Grey certainly was instrumental in those efforts and that should continue as he assumes the head coaching role. Keeping Grey on staff will certainly maintain the continuity for a program that recently lost assistant coach Gabe Dean and now Koll. Cornell has the potential to return a team that should contend for an NCAA team trophy and possibly threaten Iowa and Penn State. In addition to Arujau and Diakomihalis, the Big Red returns All-American Ben Darmstadt and a whole stable of highly-regarded freshmen.

Rob Koll(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Just over a week ago, Stanford's athletic department shocked the wrestling community as they announced that the school would not drop wrestling and ten other sports, as announced in July of 2020. Today, another bombshell is in the works as we have learned that Rob Koll will be Stanford's next head coach. Koll comes to Palo Alto after spending 28 years at the helm at Cornell. He took a team from a contender in the EIWA to perennial favorite in the conference and a consistent NCAA trophy threat. Under his leadership, the Big Red have won the conference 11 times and produced 16 NCAA champions. Koll's teams have finished in the national top-ten an astounding 15 times and he has gone 317-101 in dual competition. They have won four NCAA team trophy's including runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011. Cornell has proven to be a recruiting force under Koll, as the 2021 Class was ranked third in the nation by InterMat and featured five of the top 100 wrestlers in the nation and ten of the top 300. The school has also been successful on the International scene as Kyle Dake has won world championships in 2018 and 2019 and is a member of the 2021 Olympic Team. Additionally, Vito Arujau, still a member of the Big Red team, finished as an Olympic Trials runner-up. Current team member, Andrew Berreyesa was a Junior Greco-Roman silver medalist in 2018. In addition to his accomplishments on the mat, Koll has been adept at mentoring successful head coaches. Matt Azevedo (Drexel), Steve Garland (Virginia), Damion Hahn (South Dakota State), Troy Nickerson (Northern Colorado), Brian Smith (Missouri) and Jeremy Spates (SIU Edwardsville) have all wrestled for or coached under Koll. It remains to be seen what Koll will inherit in Stanford. Most of the team is currently in the transfer portal. The 2021 squad featured the school's second NCAA champion ever, Shane Griffith, along with a All-American in freshman, Jaden Abas. Real Woods was an NWCA All-American in 2020, as well. Despite many challenges along the way, the school managed to send seven wrestlers to the national tournament last season. With Arizona State coming off a fourth-place finish in St. Louis and new life injected into the Oregon State program after the hire of Chris Pendleton, the Pac-12 should be very interesting in the future.Â

2021 77kg champion Britton Holmes (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) U23 World Team Trials (Freestyle) Best-of-three Championship Finals 57 kg - Patrick Glory over Taylor LaMont 8-0, 10-0 61 kg - Chris Cannon over Jesse Mendez 13-2, 8-9, InjDef 65 kg - Dom Demas over Lawrence Saenz 10-0, 10-0 70 kg - Jacori Teemer over Brock Mauller 4-2, 9-8 74 kg - Peyton Robb over Quincy Monday 12-3, 7-5 79 kg - Mike Labriola over Michael O'Malley 2-2, 5-2 86 kg - Myles Wilson over Chris Foca 6-1, 8-19, 5-4 92 kg - Nino Bonaccorsi over Rocky Elam 2-2, 8-1 97 kg - Jay Aiello over Sam Mitchell 11-0, 11-0 125 kg - Anthony Cassioppi over Lucas Davison Fall 1:28, 4-14, 13-5 Third Place 57 kg - Nico Provo over Joe Manchio 12-2 61 kg - Dylan Ragusin over Cullan Schriever 11-1 65 kg - Joshua Saunders over Clay Carlson 10-0 70 kg - Brayton Lee over Anthony Artalona 8-1 74 kg - Phil Conigliaro over Jalin Harper 10-0 79 kg - Patrick Kennedy over Donnell Washington 11-0 86 kg - Michael Battista over Jack Jessen 5-0 92 kg - Luke Surber over Thomas Penola 10-0 97 kg - Gavin Hoffman over Jack Flynn 10-0 125 kg - Jordan Wood over Luke Luffman 11-1 Fifth Place 57 kg - Jace Koelzer over Nick Kayal MedFFT 61 kg - Angelo Rino over Dom LaJoie 16-1 65 kg - Sammy Alvarez over Justin Benjamin 12-9 70 kg - Yahya Thomas over Ridge Lovett 12-1 74 kg - Jarrett Jacques over Derek Gilcher 10-0 79 kg - Connor Herceg over Troy Fisher 4-3 86 kg - Max Hale over John Poznanski MedFFT 92 kg - Cam Caffey over Jake Woodley MedFFT 97 kg - Cale Davidson over Peter Ming Fall 3:28 125 kg - Brandon Metz over Aaron Costello 4-0 Seventh Place 57 kg - Matt Ramos over Justin Cardani 10-0 61 kg - Alex Thomsen over Malyke Hines 15-5 65 kg - Mick Burnett over Nick James 6-2 70 kg - Doug Zapf over Connor Kievman 12-2 74 kg - Joshua Ogunsanya over Robert Kanniard 17-11 79 kg - Jackson Hemauer over Jake Marsh 12-2 86 kg - Travis Stefanik over Max Lyon MedFFT 92 kg - Luke Stout over Cole Urbas 16-5 97 kg - Austin Stith over Austin Cooley MedFFT 125 kg - Zachary Knighton-Ward over Matt Cover 11-1

Jennifer Page at the 2021 Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2021 Pan-American Championships (Greco-Roman) Gold Medal Matches 77 kg - Peyton Walsh (USA) over Joilson De Brito Ramos Junior (Brazil) 5-5 82 kg - Ben Provisor (USA) over David Choc Huoc (Guatemala) 9-0 87 kg - John Stefanowicz (USA) over Ariel Alfonso Rodriguez (Honduras) Disq Bronze Medal Matches (Some weights did not have enough entrants for two bronze medal matches) 77 kg - Marciano Ali (Puerto Rico) over Enrique Cuero Ortiz (Ecuador) Fall 77 kg - Reinier Jimenez Terry (Guatemala) over Matias Cabezas Cornejo (Chile) 8-0 82 kg - Alexis Martinez Sanchez (Mexico) 87 kg - Daniel Vicente Gomez (Mexico) over Ronisson Brandao Santiago (Brazil) 1-1 2021 Pan-American Championships (Women's Freestyle) Gold Medal Matches 55 kg - Jacarra Winchester (USA) over Virginie Gascon (Canada) Fall 59 kg - Maya Nelson (USA) over Linda Morais (Canada) 5-5 65 kg - Jennifer Page (USA) over Ashley Zarate Campbell (Panama) Fall 72 kg - Alex Glaude (USA) over Yanet Sovero Nino (Peru) 11-0 Bronze Medal Matches (Some weights did not have enough entrants for two bronze medal matches) 55 kg - Anny Ramirez Perez (Domician Republic) over Neidy Vasquez Gomez (Guatemala) 10-0 59 kg - Karoline Silva de Santana (Brazil) 65 kg - Amanda Savard (Canada) over Diana Cruz Arroyo (Peru) 2-1 72 kg - Brenda Aguiar Dos Santos (Brazil)

Tony Rotundo with Jordan Burroughs at the 2017 World Championships(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to the first podcast on InterMat from Fantasy College Wrestling. Tony and Todd have already collaborated to produce plenty of content here with their 2021 Fantasy weight class rankings. The pair will bring us podcasts with a host of different wrestling personalities and talk fantasy wrestling and much more. Today's guest is the best photographer in the business, Tony Rotundo. Tony's website, Wrestlers Are Warriors has great shots from around the country and around the world at some of the biggest wrestling tournaments on the planet. The Olympics, World Championships, NCAA Tournaments, Tony has seen it all. The guys talk about a variety of topics with Tony...See it all right here.

Xavier Johnson at Final X in 2019 (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2021 Pan-American Championships (Greco-Roman) Gold Medal Matches 60 kg - Dicther Toro Castaneda (Colombia) over Ildar Hafizov (USA) 7-3 63 kg - Andres Montano Arroyo (Ecuador) over Randon Miranda (USA) 7-6 67 kg - Xavier Johnson (USA) over Enyer Feliciano (Dominican Republic) 11-0 72 kg - Jamel Johnson (USA) over Juan Ruiz Lugo (Mexico) 9-0 97 kg - Kevin Mejia Castillo (Honduras) over Braxton Amos (USA) 9-0 130 kg - Leo Santana Heredia (Dominican Republic) over Donny Longendyke (USA) 3-0 Bronze Medal Matches (Some weights did not have enough entrants for two bronze medal matches) 60 kg - Marat Garipov (Brazil) over Joshua Medina (Puerto Rico) 9-0 60 kg - Maikol Josefa (Dominican Republic) over Victor Lopez Miranda (El Salvador) 9-0 63 kg - Emerson Felipe Ordonez (Guatemala) over Joao Benavides Rochabrun (Peru) 5-4 67 kg - Calebe Correa Ferreira (Brazil) over Nilton Soto Garcia (Peru) 6-1 67 kg - Diego Martinez DeLeija (Mexico) over Juan Palma Francis (Ecuador) 9-0 72 kg - Carlos Fuentes Peralta (Guatemala) over Gerardo Oliva Montes (Peru) 11-2 97 kg - Igor Alves DeQueiroz (Brazil) over Ricardo Mancilla Galindo (Mexico) 7-3 130 kg - Isaque Medeiros Conserva (Brazil) over Luis Roman Barrios (Mexico) Fall

2021 77kg champion Britton Holmes (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2021 U23 Greco-Roman World Team Trials Final Results Championship Finals 55 kg - Taylor LaMont over Brady Koontz 3-1, 4-0 60 kg - Dylan Gregerson over Dylan Koontz 7-5, 9-6 63 kg - David Stepanian over Mosha Schwartz 5-2, 8-3 67 kg - Alston Nutter over Jaden Enriquez 9-6, 8-5 72 kg - Benji Peak over Lenny Merkin Fall 1:00, 10-1 77 kg - Britton Holmes over Ryan Epps 4-0, 5-3 82 kg - Tommy Brackett over George Sikes 5-0, 7-0 87 kg - Spencer Woods over Job Ayala 10-0, 10-0 97 kg - Nicholas Boykin over Chad Porter 8-0, 8-0 130 kg - Brandon Metz over Spencer Trenary Fall :44, 5-0 Third Place 55 kg - Joseph Harrison over Austin Macias 10-0 60 kg - Mason Hartshorn over Camden Russell 9-0 63 kg - We Rachal over Corbin Nirschl 4-3 67 kg - Jaylen York over Aundre Beatty 16-7 72 kg - Nathan Moore over Jaron Jensen 8-0 77 kg - Cael Carlson over Jack Ervien Fall :57 82 kg - Tyler Cunningham over Jake Hendricks Fall 2:47 87 kg - Vincent Baker over Tyler Hannah 7-4 97 kg - Guy Patron over Keaton Fanning 10-1 130 kg - Lee Herrington over Kaleb Reeves Fall :56 Fifth Place 55 kg - Cole Smith over Michael Spangler 14-7 60 kg - Boo Dryden over Thomas Hicks 12-3 63 kg - Caleb Gross over Rylee Molitor 14-9 67 kg - Lydell Canady over Ratbek Erkinbekov Fall :40 72 kg - Gabriel Lewis over Noah Wachsmuth 13-12 77 kg - Josh Anderson over Brody Olson 17-6 82 kg - James Burks over Dane Harter 10-2 87 kg - Ben Lee over MacAron Kukowski MedFFT 97 kg - Austin Lane over Jaylin Harris 9-6 130 kg - Bowen McConville over Caleb Warner 9-0 Seventh Place 55 kg - Sam Braswell over Anthony Molton MedFFT 60 kg - Peter De Gallo over Raffaele Masi MedFFT 63 kg - Spencer Murphy over Graham Shore MedFFT 67 kg - McCoy Pace over Nicholas Leonetti 12-9 72 kg - Jeremy Ridge over Torry Early 9-0 77 kg - Cody Eaton over Julian Beltran Fall 2:25 82 kg - Joe Rice over DM Hallett 14-12 87 kg - Ryan Schott over Sam Osho 8-0 97 kg - Dakotah Peterson 130 kg - Austin Emerson over Jonovan Smith 7-1

2020 NWCA All-American Real Woods (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Earlier this offseason, we took a look under the hood and talked about everything associated with the vacant Illinois job. With Stanford wrestling saved and looking for a head coach, it seems logical to investigate all that comes along with the wrestling program at Stanford. No two collegiate jobs are the same and you'll notice that if you read the Illinois feature. There are some positives for Stanford that weren't there for Illinois and vice versa. In early July of 2020, the Stanford athletic department announced that they were cutting wrestling along with ten other sports, effective at the end of the 2020-21 season. That gave the supporters of the program enough time to rally the troops and raise a dollar amount that was in the eight figures. Despite a limited schedule and practice availability, the team had a successful national tournament and saw the program's second national champion crowned (Shane Griffith). Once the season concluded, head coach Jason Borrelli took the vacant head coaching position at American University. Just last week, the school announced that wrestling, along with the other ten teams, would be spared and the wrestling community rejoined. Immediately after the decision, we released an article with seven great candidates for the Stanford job. Now the question is, what are any of them, or other candidates walking into? What do they inherit? What is good about the job? What are some potential pitfalls? We've tried to outline that below as we look inside the Stanford head coaching position. The Roster Simply put, this is a huge wild card. Most new head coaches can expect some sort of attrition, whether they'll admit it or not. It's natural. When you've wrestled under a head coach that does things a certain way, many student-athletes get used to it and don't want to adjust. Conversely, coaches typically don't want to deal with a kid that doesn't want to be in his room. So we've got that, along with the unique complexities that come along with this Stanford position. A large chunk of the Cardinal roster is currently in the transfer portal. Based on the head coaching hire, some may return, while others will continue to seek other options. This is a totally unique predicament for a coach to inherit. They could have a young roster that saw a pair of wrestlers make the NCAA podium (one national champion), which led to a 17th place finish at nationals. Or they could have a bare-bones roster that will be lucky to be competitive in year one. The 2021 Stanford team sent seven wrestlers to the national tournament. Only two were seniors, Requir van der Merwe (157) and Nathan Traxler (285). Since Traxler has been linked to the transfer portal, one could assume he wants to use his additional year of eligibility. Van der Merwe we're not sure about, at this point. The remaining national qualifiers consist of sophomores, Jackson DiSario, Real Woods, and Shane Griffith, along with freshmen Jaden Abas and Nick Stemmet. All except DiSario and Stemmet are said to be in the portal. Getting a coach from in-house may help to limit the floodgates from opening in the transfer portal. If the administration goes outside of the Cardinal family, who's to say what happens. Additionally, some members of the squad have taken extremely cumbersome course loads in preparation to graduate early and transfer out of the program. If they have already received their degree, or will do so soon, they may be more likely to leave. Or they could enter a grad program at Stanford. Again, lots of moving parts are at play here. Another factor to consider is that they have no incoming recruiting class. Since the announcement to cut the program was made in July of 2020, the staff obviously did not sign any recruits this year. We'll see if any walk-on's turn up. The Conference Stanford is an actual member of a Power-Five conference, the Pac-12. There are three other affiliate members of the conference for wrestling purposes (Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Little Rock). The west coast has been hit hard over the past decade (and before) with wrestling programs that have been eliminated. Stanford almost joined a list that includes, Fresno State, Boise State, and Cal-State Fullerton. Fresno State was never a member of the Pac-12, but the loss of Boise State, Fullerton, and many others have left the league with only six teams overall. While the Pac-12 has endured some lean years, it appears to be on the upswing. After only have 17 wrestlers qualify for the 2020 national tournament and 20 in 2019, 27 wrestlers from the conference competed in St. Louis this March. Furthermore, a pair of Pac-12 wrestlers (Brandon Courtney - Arizona State and Griffith) appeared in the national finals. The last time more than one wrestler from the Pac-12 made the NCAA Championship match was in 2011 (five). Additionally, Arizona State won a team trophy (finishing fourth at NCAA's) for the first time since 1994-95. So Arizona State returns a loaded team poised to challenge for a spot in the top-four again. Oregon State has a renewed sense of enthusiasm after the 2020 hire of Chris Pendleton. In addition to six national qualifiers returning, the Beavers have added three transfers with prior NCAA experience. Cal Poly returns an NCAA semifinalist and head coach Jon Sioreads (and staff) have been crushing in-state recruiting for a few years now. CSU Bakersfield has elevated Luke Smith to a head coaching role and their program tends to get a lot out of its wrestlers. Finally, the newest member, Little Rock. In their second year of competition, Neil Erisman's team qualified its first wrestler for nationals. He has also been tearing up the recruiting trail and the fruits of his labor should be evident soon on the mat. Why does this matter to Stanford? NCAA qualifying bids and competition. The years with only 14 or 15 automatic qualifying spots available, leave little room for error at the conference meet. One slip-up could essentially end your season. With higher quality wrestlers in the league, more bids are available and more can be stolen from other conferences after upsets at the Pac-12 Tournament. Also the competition aspect. Iron sharpens Iron. The Big Ten beats up on each other all year and hardens each other for when it really counts at nationals. It's beneficial to Stanford and its conference members to have to defeat a potential All-American in the P12 finals, rather than cruise by a technical fall. The School The Stanford brand is very strong and very enticing for high school students that are focused on more than just wrestling. Stanford is a private institution in Palo Alto, California. It is one of the most selective in the country (in terms of acceptance rates - 4%) and is on par with most Ivy League schools. Even before the stench of this cutting sports debacle has worn off, many parents of academic-minded student-athletes, will probably overlook this ordeal and send their kids to a school with Stanford's academic reputation and brand name. While the 2020-21 tuition was very high ($56,000+), the school has plenty of financial aid, need-based scholarships, and grant packages available. According to US News, over 90% of those surveyed said their financial needs were fully met by the school. The Facilities The current Stanford facilities are definitely enough to get the job done, as evidenced by their success on the mat in 2021. Would they be better off with some more of the latest bells and whistles that many Power-Five programs feature? Probably. Would the next head coach like to have some upgrades? Sure. With the new money coming into the program, maybe that happens. As we mentioned above, Stanford is typically recruiting against the Ivies, Northwestern's, and Virginia's of the world. I'm not sure if having a brand-new, beautiful locker or more comfy leather seats in the team room sways a recruits opinion, when weighing these institutes against each other. It doesn't hurt having those new features and coaches will push for them, but the education, alumni connections, and the product on the mat speaks for itself. The Salary Rumors have leaked out about possible salary offers to highly sought-after candidates. If these figures are accurate (or even close to correct), the Stanford administration should have no problem landing a big fish in the head coaching role. The Administration The Administration. How will they support wrestling going forward? That's the 12 or 13 or 14 million dollar question. Those are reportedly the amounts raised by supporters of the program. Quite frankly, the school and the athletic department disrespected and ignored the wrestling program for almost a calendar year. There was little fanfare from the school after Griffith national title win and there were no discussions between the team, its alumni, and the decision-makers until late April of 2021. Had the support from the alumni and members of other sport not been so immense (physically and financially), the athletic department would be okay with letting the program die a slow death. During the interview process, potential head coaches have to pepper the interviewer with questions about the future of the program and how their bosses will support them going forward. While most coaches are aware of how their program falls on the athletic department hierarchy (Football, Basketball, everything else at most schools), the Cardinal administration showed their lack of interest and respect for wrestling. While potential candidates from within the current staff have their finger on the pulse of the situation, anyone from outside of the Stanford coaching ranks needs to do their due diligence. The department is "led" by athletic director Bernard Muir. He has been on the job for eight years. Stanford has continued to collect the Learfield IMG College Director's Cup during his tenure, which is presented to the athletic department deemed most successful in the nation. The school has long prided itself on an extensive, diverse athletic program, which made the potential cuts of 2020 so confounding. Earlier this year, Muir was implicated by fired ex-sailing coach as being knowledgeable about a scandal surrounding the program and athletic department that involved bribing coaches to secure wealthy children's admissions to the school. So far, the fallout from this scandal has not officially affected Muir. At the end of the day, the money raised by the supporters of the wrestling program should be able to help alleviate the concerns about the future of the team. The less input from and reliance on the current administration, the better. The Recruiting Base While Stanford is located in California, which is traditionally one of the top wrestling states in the nation, that shouldn't mean as much as with other jobs. Based on name and academic reputation, Stanford can recruit more on a national basis. Only 9 of the 32 members of the 2020-21 roster hail from California. It's great to have that local talent available, if needed, but the staff tends to look outside its borders more than most other schools in power states. The connection with Ray Blake (Chicago native) and Alex Tirapelle (Illinois grad) has led to a nice pipeline from Illinois. Two members of the current roster (Stemmet and Traxler) are from Illinois, while Woods went to high school in the state. Stemmet was the fourth different Illinois native to qualify for nationals representing Stanford since 2017. Oregon has provided Stanford with some of its best wrestlers in program history. 2004 NCAA champion Matt Gentry along with two-time national runner-up Nick Amuchastegui hailed from Oregon. As did, 2011 AA Zack Giesen. Two Oregon natives are currently on the Stanford roster. We'll see if the Pendleton regime at Oregon State cuts into this for the Cardinal. You may not associate New Jersey with being a natural place for Stanford to recruit, but they have some success stories there, as well. Not only did Griffin come from perennial power Bergen Catholic, but van der Merwe and the program's first freshman All-American, Joey McKenna, went to Blair Academy. Aside from Griffith and van der Merwe, there were two others from Jersey on the team in 2021.