InterMat Staff

Jordan Oliver at the 2021 Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On the first day of the World Olympic Games Qualifier from Sofia, Bulgaria, one lone member of the US men's freestyle team, Jordan Oliver, was in action attempting to qualify the 65 kg weight class for the Olympics. The two finalists at all six weights would earn berths, without any sort of “true” second-place match. When the draws were announced early yesterday, it was apparent that Oliver had his work cut out for him and most of the credentialed contenders were in his half of the bracket. Before action kicked off on Thursday, Oliver got a stroke of good luck as one of the tournament's favorites, Ilias Bekbulatov (Uzbekistan), missed weight. Oliver was slated to meet the Russian transfer with continental championships in Asia and Europe to his name. Before worrying about a second match, Oliver had to get by a tough Ruhan Rasim (Bulgaria), wrestling in his home country. While Oliver was measured in his offensive attacks, he did enough to win, 6-2. In lieu of Bekbulatov's missed weigh-in, Junsik Yun (Korea) advanced to the second round. Oliver survived a late push from the Korean wrestler to hang on 5-4. That win set up a quarterfinal matchup with a fresh Gor Ogannesyan (Ukraine). Oliver's offense was held in check for the majority of the bout; however, he converted on the winning takedown with under :25 seconds remaining. The final score was 3-3 since the criteria was in Oliver's favor. Those wins earned Oliver a spot in the semifinals in the second session of the day. Oliver's opponent was Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (Poland), a 2020 World Cup champion at 70 kg and a two-time world medalist. Since Gadzhiev came down from 70 kilos, he was the larger, more physically imposing of the pair. That was evident in the first period as Gadzhiev scored on a couple of step-out points and made his lead 3-0 after Oliver was held scoreless on the shot clock. In the second period, Oliver was able to dictate the pace more and even registered a takedown with his signature double leg. The officials did not put Gadzhiev on the clock during a second period that saw him give up more ground than the opening stanza. He also had no dedicated attacks. Oliver attempted to rally but came up short, 3-2. That means that the United States will not have a representative at 65 kg in men's freestyle. In addition to Oliver, a handful of wrestlers that attended college in the United States, but represented other nations, were. Most notably, David Habat (Slovenia/Edinboro), and Mitch Finesilver (Israel/Duke). Habat wrestled right before Oliver and did not have enough firepower to run down Georgios Pilidis (Greece), while Finesilver was directly after Oliver and was defeated by Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine) at 74 kg. The trio will wrestle for bronze on Friday. Additionally, Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico/Rutgers), Malik Amine (San Marino/Michigan), and Domenic Abounader (Lebanon), were in action. Abounader won his opening bout, while Rivera and Amine dropped theirs. No American women will be in action tomorrow as all six weights have been qualified for Tokyo. Jesse Porter (77 kg) and Adam Coon (130 kg) will take the mat on Saturday in search of Olympic berths in Greco-Roman.

Appalachian State's 125 lber Codi Russell (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) When the #FantasyCollegeWrestling season comes to an end, it's usual to feel like you need a break. I get it; even WE took a little time for some needed R&R (fear not, though, the FCW Podcast returns later this month!). The amount of work and game planning is exponentially higher than Fantasy Football or other sports. There is not much to do other than research in the off-season. But just like we say in training, it's what you do when others are not looking that separates you from the pack. We are left with a lot of raw data that needs to be filtered and sorted. The off-season is devoted to not only recording and organizing that data, but grouping, interpreting, and utilizing that data to forecast and strategize for the upcoming season. Sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to look back on the past season and who is returning or names/data to remember come week 12 when you are struggling to find that 174 starter. Usually, you have names like Spencer Lee, Shane Griffith, Aaron Brooks, and Tony Cassioppi that you think of to bring you success. Together this season, they combined for 84 Fantasy Points (Fpts). Well, let me throw a couple other names at you: Codi Russell, Will Formato, Brit Wilson, and Michael McAleavey. This group totaled 185 Fpts this season. As I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." Now, this year was definitely an "asterisk" type of year as there will be quite a few instances of skewing in one way or another (see the co-Hodge announcement). In past seasons, we have stressed that match count is not always a determining factor in actual or in Fantasy Wrestling success, but this year was different. Some teams were hit with COVID precautions or wrestlers actually got COVID making an imbalance of matches wrestled between wrestlers/teams larger than in years past and causing some big names to not make the Top 20 of their respective weights. To compile these lists, we used WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling data. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat Leagues: 1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season Notes: The 125 rundown of Top Fantasy Wrestlers probably doesn't look the way you thought it would when you first clicked on the article link. In the Top 10 of this year's list, there were only two All Americans (Brandon Courtney and Sam Latona), and only seven had 10 or more matches in the regular season. Call me a pumper, if you must, but I have been one of the biggest pushers of Codi Russell since the 2020 season, where he finished as the #10 Fantasy Wrestler at 133. Moving down to 125, and a bonus rate of 42% from the 2020 season, made him one of my favorite sneaky draft picks this year. Russell would end up going 11-1 in the regular season, with his lone loss by Decision to Jakob Camacho (NCST). Benefiting from 16 regular season matches, Danny Vega made the most of the last 12 to overcome starting the season with four straight losses ( -13 Fpts). On the flip side of that was Spencer Lee, who scored 24 Fpts with only 4 matches. If this were a "normal" season, chances are Spencer Lee would most likely be in the Top 10, if not higher, but because of certain precautions and things outside of his control, he lands at the #14 spot. Last Season's #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 125 was Drew Hildebrandt. He still was a top Fantasy option for this season, but a few spots down tied for 12th. Meanwhile, a couple wrestlers improved their place from last season, such as Jake Ferri (from #10 in 2020), Sam Latona (#14 in 2020), Logan Treaster (#19 in 2020), and Brandon Courtney (#15 in 2020). There were three wrestlers at 125 who finished the regular season with 18 Fpts, but Eric Barnett used bonus points in his last 5 matches to power his way to the best PPM of the three. The only non-starter to make this list was Caleb Smith, who upped his bonus rate from 25% in 2020 to 36.4% in 2021. Who Missed The Cut: The two remaining All Americans from the 2021 Season who didn't make the Top-20 were Killian Cardinale (#28 ranked with 16 Fpts) and Pat McKee (#42 ranked with 9 Fpts). While some wrestlers improved their Fantasy stock from 2020, some fell out of the standings, like Devin Schroder (#5 in 2020) and Gage Curry (#7 in 2020), but in all fairness to Curry, American did not wrestle any regular-season matches. The same goes for Luke Werner (#3 in 2020) and Lock Haven. True Freshman phenom Dylan Ragusin fell just short of the threshold mainly because of his loss to Roman Bravo-Young during his quick stint at 133, and transfer Connor Brown (#30 at 125) lost two sudden victory matches which, had he secured those takedowns, would have been the #12 Fantasy Wrestler this season (winning only one of those matches would have made him #19 this season). Some other notable wrestlers include Joey Prata (#26 this season), Dylan Ryder (#17 in 2020, #27 this season), and Ravon Foley (#49 this season).

Jim Zalesky (center) while coaching at Oregon State (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Yesterday news broke that former Iowa and Oregon State head coach would be taking over the vacant position at the NAIA's University of Jamestown. Coach Zalesky tells us what was attractive about this job and coaching on the NAIA level and more.

Three-time All-American Nathan Burak (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next week, we'll head into the home stretch for recruiting with the Class of 2021 and turn our attention to the Class of 2022 and beyond. Before our recruiting class rankings are released, though, InterMat has a couple of recruiting-related features that take a look back at classes of old. Today we'll focus on the diamonds in the rough for each of the top 20 teams at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Who are some unheralded recruits that have thrived since arriving on their respective campuses? In order to get a large sample size and the proper perspective, we have looked at recruiting classes from 2010-19 to find these emergent stars. With only one year of competition under their belts, it's not appropriate to pick wrestlers from the Class of 2020. Also, to be considered, a wrestler must not have cracked the final top-100 recruiting list during their last year of high school. Some schools have multiple wrestlers that deserve mention and they've been noted as honorable mentions, too. Also, we're not considering transfers for this exercise. Iowa Nathan Burak (Class of 2011) During this time, most of Iowa's damage has been done by top 100, more specifically top-50 type recruits or transfers. Nathan Burak is the Hawkeyes most recent All-American from outside of the top-100 and he was in action for Tom Brands' team from 2012-16. Burak was an undefeated, one-time state champion in Colorado that saw his stock rise late in the game, after all rankings had been finalized. Nathan went to Fargo after his senior season and made it into the top-four in both styles. He also may have flown under the radar due to an injury that prevented him from competing as a junior. Burak stepped into the Iowa lineup as a true freshman in 2013 (he spent 2011-12 at the Olympic Training Center) and was a match away from earning All-American honors. He would get on the podium in each of his final three years in Iowa City and made the Big Ten finals as a senior. Honorable Mentions: Brody Grothus (2011), Joey Gunther (2015) 2019 NCAA champion Anthony Cassar (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Penn State Anthony Cassar (Class of 2014) Penn State, like Iowa, has been able to reel in the best-of-the-best for the bulk of the last decade, and, in turn, most of those blue-chippers have paid off for Cael Sanderson's team. One diamond in the rough that emerged in a big way for the Nittany Lions, though, was Anthony Cassar. It's widely known now, but bears repeating, that Cassar never qualified for the New Jersey state tournament until his senior year. Then he went unbeaten and claimed a title at 195 lbs. After a few injury-plagued seasons in State College, Cassar went 16-2 at 197 lbs in 2017-18 and even logged a win over top-ranked Kollin Moore (Ohio State). Even so, he didn't get the nod in the postseason from the Penn State staff. A year later, up at 285 lbs, Cassar went 30-1, won Big Ten and national titles, and is responsible for the only two collegiate losses for Gable Steveson (Minnesota). Oklahoma State's two-time NCAA All-American Nolan Boyd (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Oklahoma State Nolan Boyd (Class of 2012) There's an argument to be made between who should be in this spot for the Cowboys, Nolan Boyd, or Preston Weigel. Weigel went on to place higher and was more of a title threat than Boyd; however, he was a bit more regarded coming out of high school. Boyd was also more slightly built, while Weigel had a body ready for DI wrestling. Nolan was still a three-time Oklahoma state champion in high school. Prior to enrolling in Stillwater, Boyd took third in Junior Greco in Fargo, which was his best national credential. As a redshirt freshman, Boyd found his way into the OSU lineup at 184 lbs and qualified for nationals, a feat he'd accomplish all four years. The 2015-16 season saw Boyd win the first of his two Big 12 crowns and go on to take fourth at nationals. A year later, he was seeded fourth and finished sixth. Honorable Mention: Preston Weigel (Class of 2014) Arizona State Matt Kraus (Class of 2012) Since the arrival of Zeke Jones, Arizona State has been able to recruit head-to-head with the best in the country, which has netted his team plenty of high-quality recruits. Transfers have also been a factor. They have not had many homegrown gems emerge in recent years. The most notable is 141 lber, Matt Kraus, who qualified for nationals in 2015 and 2016. The Missouri native was third in the state as a senior after winning titles as a sophomore and junior. As a true freshman, Kraus was thrust into the Sun Devils starting lineup and scuffled to a 9-18 mark. Undeterred, he improved each year and was above .500 as a sophomore, then qualified for nationals as a junior. Kraus' senior year included a second trip to the Pac-12 finals and he even received the 13th seed at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Alec Pantaleo (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Michigan Alec Pantaleo (Class of 2014) It's hard to believe that with the last name Pantaleo and the family pedigree in the state of Michigan that Alec went under the radar as a senior in high school, but it's true. Pantaleo was a Michigan state champion as a sophomore, but missed the state tournament due to an injury in his junior season. As a senior, he was beaten in the state finals. It didn't take long for Pantaleo to show that he belonged in the best conference in the nation, as he made the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational a month into his true freshman year. Though he missed out on placing at nationals that year, Pantaleo still received the sixth seed at NCAA's. It would end up being the only time Pantaleo failed to AA, as he would go 6th, 5th, and 3rd as a senior. He also finished no lower than third at the conference meet those final three years, including a B1G title as a junior. 2018 NCAA champion Mike Macchiavello (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) NC State Mike Macchiavello (Class of 2013) One of the biggest no-brainers on this list is the inclusion of 2018 NCAA champion Mike Macchiavello. The one-time state champion became the first North Carolina native to win a national title since Tab Thacker did so in 1984. Even with a pair of placements at FloNationals under his belt, Macchiavello was overlooked, as most one-time champions from North Carolina are. Mike got the call in year one and started for the Wolfpack at 184 lbs and responded with an 11-14 record. A redshirt during the 2015-16 season helped his development and once he was reinserted to the NC State lineup, Macchiavello was among the best in the nation. He was seeded tenth at the 2017 national tournament and finished in the bloodround. A year later and a weight class bigger, Macchiavello made the national final opposite ACC rival Jared Haught (Virginia Tech). Macchiavello turned the tables on Haught and claimed his national title with a late takedown in a 3-1 victory. Honorable Mention: Kevin Jack (Class of 2014) 3x All-American Lavion Mayes (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Missouri Lavion Mayes (Class of 2012) For years, Brian Smith's Missouri Tigers have had great success with top-100 recruits that weren't exactly at the tippy tops of the recruiting lists. Brock Mauller, Jaydin Eierman, Drake Houdashelt, and Daniel Lewis are all notable examples. Lavion Mayes, on the other hand, went unnoticed by those following recruiting after finishing his high school career as a two-time state medalist and one-time champion in Illinois. After a redshirt, Mayes jumped into the Mizzou lineup and qualified for nationals. In each of his final three years of collegiate competition, Mayes earned the third seed at nationals and ended up on the podium. As a senior, Mayes advanced to the NCAA finals opposite Hodge Trophy winner Zain Retherford. 2017 NCAA finalist Brett Pfarr (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Minnesota Brett Pfarr (Class of 2012) One of the hallmarks of Minnesota's recruiting over the past twenty years has been the ability to retain their top in-state kids. With the signing of Brett Pfarr, the Gopher staff was able to identify the potential in a prospect that was a one-time state champion at Minnesota's smallest classification. Pfarr underwent a huge growth spurt between his junior and senior year, as he went from 152 lbs to 182. Even so, he was able to grab an elusive state title; after finishing as a runner-up in each of the preceding two seasons. The Gophers were extremely deep at the upperweights (Logan Storley, Kevin Steinhaus, Scott Schiller - 174-197) in the mid 2010s, so Pfarr was not able to crack the lineup as a redshirt freshman. A year later, he was in the Big Ten finals and the 11th seed at nationals. Brett really took it to the next level at 197 lbs, where he would finish third and second during his final two years of competition. He also would make a second conference title match. Ohio State Gary Traub (Class of 2016) Moreso than any other school in the nation, Ohio State has been able to sign the blue-est of the blue-chippers for the last decade-plus. Dating back to 2010, the Buckeyes have nabbed five #1 overall recruits (Paddy Gallagher - 2021, Greg Kerkvliet - 2019, Kyle Snyder - 2014, Bo Jordan - 2013, Logan Stieber - 2010). With the success rate for Tom Ryan's big-time recruits, there have been very few unheralded signees that turned into All-Americans. Kollin Moore was not a "can't-miss" recruit, but he did appear in the back-half of the top 100. That leaves us with only a few options and Gary Traub could be the answer. Traub was a 195 lb state runner-up (to Cornell's Ben Darmstadt) during his senior year of high school. It took until his redshirt sophomore year for Traub to see action in a dual meet, as he did so on three occasions in the 2018-19 season. Traub had a breakout year in 2019-20 winning 23 of 32 bouts and taking sixth in the Big Ten. Though he couldn't compete at the national tournament, Traub was seeded 19th at 285 lbs. 2021 NCAA 3rd place finisher Yahya Thomas (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Northwestern Yahya Thomas (Class of 2017) Interesting enough, Northwestern is a school with plenty of options to select potential diamonds in the rough. After Yahya Thomas, there were a trio of others that warrant mention, as well. Thomas gets the nod based on his 2021 NCAA Championship performance and the fact that he has another year, possibly two, remaining on the eligibility clock. Injuries helped disrupt the first two years of high school for Thomas and he was a two-time Illinois state qualifier and a third-place finisher as a senior. Thomas tried to go 141 lbs as a redshirt freshman, but needed to move up after the New Year and ended up missing the 2019 NCAA Tournament. A few months later, he downed top-recruit Sammy Sasso for a spot on the Junior World Team. This season, Thomas needed an at-large berth to qualify for his second straight national tournament. Since he missed out on automatically qualifying and came into nationals with five losses, Thomas was given the #25 seed. That didn't matter as Yahya rebounded from a loss to top-seeded Sasso and rolled to third place. Along the way, he defeated the #3 Brock Mauller (Missouri), #4 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), #8 Jaden Abas (Stanford) twice, #9 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), and #13 Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) Honorable Mentions: Michael DeAugustino (Class of 2018), Pierce Harger (Class of 2010), Conan Jennings (Class of 2014) NCAA finalist Tyler Wilps (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Pittsburgh Tyler Wilps (Class of 2010) With the amount of talent in Pittsburgh's backyard, I'd expect the number of possible diamonds in the rough to only increase for Keith Gavin's squad going forward. Before this year, with two national finalists, the most recent Panther to compete on the raised mat was Tyler Wilps in 2015. Wilps came from nearby Chartiers Valley high school and qualified for the Pennsylvania AAA state tournament during his final two years. He finished eighth as a junior and fifth as a senior. Even though Pennsylvania is the deepest state in the country, talent-wise, finishing as a two-time placer may still cause one to get overlooked. Luckily, the Pittsburgh staff was familiar with Wilps, whose father wrestled at the school, along with his older brother, Matt. Tyler made his first appearance at the national tournament as a sophomore at 165 lbs, winning a match before his elimination. The following year he moved up to 174 and claimed the first of two ACC crowns, then earned All-American honors for the first time. As a senior, he fell in the national finals to Matt Brown (Penn State) on a controversial locked hands call. Nebraska Aaron Studebaker (Class of 2012) The bulk of Nebraska's recruiting is done on a national level because of the small population in-state and a high school scene that is now improving. Every couple of years, a homegrown kid breaks into the starting lineup and it's typically one that was not known widely out of high school. Raymond, Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker fits that mold. Studebaker was a two-time state champion for Raymond Central and was undefeated as a senior. After an excellent redshirt season, Studebaker posted a 24-5 record, but didn't get the nod for the Huskers during the Big Ten schedule or in the postseason. The following year he broke out with a 32-12 record and was seeded 15th at nationals. That season and his junior year, both ended with heartbreak in the NCAA Round of 12. As a senior, Studebaker broke through and got onto the NCAA podium with a fifth-place finish. Honorable Mention: Collin Purinton NCAA All-American Lelund Weatherspoon (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Iowa State Lelund Weatherspoon (Class of 2012) Then-Iowa State head coach Kevin Jackson didn't need to stray too far from his hometown of Lansing, Michigan, to find Lelund Weatherspoon in Jackson. Weatherspoon was a two-time Michigan state champion that only suffered a single loss during his last two years of high school competition. He was probably missed by others because of his lack of national-level credentials scholastically. Weatherspoon quickly showed he belonged by taking fifth-place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational as a freshman. Later that season, he became the first Iowa State freshman in seven years to win the Big 12 in his first year. He would go on to capture a second Big 12 title as a junior. A few weeks later, Weatherspoon became the only unseeded wrestler to earn a place in the 2016 NCAA semifinals. His most significant win came right away when he upset #2 Brian Realbuto (Cornell) in the opening round. Though he didn't get back on the podium as a senior, Weatherspoon left Iowa State as a four-time national qualifier and an NCAA sixth-place finisher. Rutgers Ken Theobold (Class of 2012) During Scott Goodale's tenure at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights have done it all recruiting-wise. Sign highly coveted recruits (Anthony Ashnault, John Poznanski, Sammy Alvarez), receive stud transfers (Nick Suriano and Sebastian Rivera), and develop less recognized talents. Two, in particular, are Ken Theobold and John Van Brill. Theobold's NCAA performance is the tiebreaker between the two. In high school, Theobold was a two-time New Jersey state placer, finishing second as a senior. Right away, Theobold hopped into the Scarlet Knights lineup and posted a winning record, despite not competing at the EIWA Championships. A third-place finish at the conference meet in 2014 sent him to the national tournament. After another trip to NCAA's and a redshirt later, Theobold placed fifth in the Big Ten, as a senior, which netted him the #15 seed at nationals. There he knocked off the #2 seed, Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State), in the second round and would go on to take seventh place. Honorable Mention: John Van Brill (Class of 2014) Virginia Tech's 3x All-American Ty Walz (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Virginia Tech Ty Walz (Class of 2012) Despite a state title as a senior for national powerhouse St. Ed's, a Cadet freestyle title in Fargo, and a top-eight finish at NHSCA Junior's, there may have been some concerns about Ty Walz's true weight class in college. Maybe he'd be a dreaded "tweener" in the middle of 197 and 285 lbs. Anyone who saw Walz compete for the Hokies; can probably laugh about that thought. He would go on to qualify for nationals in all four seasons competing for Virginia Tech, highlighted by All-American finishes in each of his last three years. As a junior and senior, Walz was seeded third in the nation and ended up in fourth place. He also went on to claim an ACC title during his senior year. Virginia Tech also has a pair of 157 lbers that, while they don't measure up to Walz's accomplishments, had very strong careers, despite coming in under the radar. One of those is Sal Mastriani, who also came to Blacksburg in the high school Class of 2012. Honorable Mentions: BC LaPrade (Class of 2016); Sal Mastriani (Class of 2012) Troy Heilmann at the 2018 NCAA Championships North Carolina Troy Heilmann (Class of 2013) The recruiting efforts at North Carolina have really been ramped up under the direction of Coleman Scott, who took the reins in the summer of 2015. One of the athletes that Scott inherited was Troy Heilmann. In high school, Heilmann finished as a three-time New Jersey state runner-up and four-time medalist. He was also fifth at the Super 32 and in FILA Cadets. Despite those accolades, Heilmann narrowly missed being named one of the top-100 prospects in the Class of 2013. Heilmann got the call, right out of the chute, and put together a true freshman season that was a match above .500. During his sophomore and junior seasons, Heilmann made the national tournament, but only combined to win one match. It all came together for Troy as a senior when he won a conference title and landed the fourth seed in Cleveland. Heilmann wrestled to that seed and came away with fourth place. That placement matched the highest (at the time) by a Tar Heel wrestler since 1996. Stanford Jim Wilson (Class of 2012) Before signing Joey McKenna in 2014, and later, Shane Griffith and Real Woods, Stanford had to depend more on their ability to develop talent rather than sign blue-chippers. Someone who just missed the cut for the top-100 in the Class of 2012 was Jim Wilson. As a high school senior, Wilson was third in California, after placing fourth in the previous two seasons. Those placements made him the first three-time state medalist in McNair wrestling history. Wilson also was an NHSCA Sophomore national champion and a Fargo placer in Greco. Right away, Wilson took Stanford by storm and became only the third Cardinal wrestler to earn Pac-12 freshman of the year honors. He was also the first freshman in more than 20 years to win a conference championship for Stanford. Wilson's sophomore year was even better as he grabbed another Pac-12 crown and finished eighth at the NCAA Championships. The following year he won a third Pac-12 title and was stopped a match shy of placing at nationals. Wilson's senior season ended up being disrupted by injuries. Honorable Mention: Keaton Subjeck Two-time All-American Emery Parker (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Illinois Emery Parker (Class of 2014) Illinois has had some success unearthing some unheralded gems, but none during this time period came close to Emery Parker. The high school state runner-up showed a hint of what's to come when he earned fourth-place at NHSCA Senior Nationals. Parker had an inauspicious debut for the Fighting Illini, going 4-4 as a redshirt freshman. A year later, he defeated the returning NCAA champion, Myles Martin, in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The tables turned in 2018 as the tenth-seeded Parker was the upset victim. Rather than hang his head, Parker proceeded to do the unthinkable and won seven straight bouts to earn third place. Along the way, he knocked off the #3, #5, #8 seeds and avenged his earlier loss. As a senior, Parker fell in the second round, then fought back for sixth place. Though he was a two-time top-five finisher, Parker never was a finalist at the Big Ten Championships. 2019 NCAA champion Drew Foster (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Northern Iowa Drew Foster (Class of 2014) One of the more remarkable stories we'll document today is that of Drew Foster. Drew was never an Iowa state champion and landed at Northern Iowa because of a relationship with assistant coach Randy Pugh. Foster was 15-18 as a freshman and only 1-9 in dual competition. A year later, he became an All-American after finishing seventh at 184 lbs. In 2017-18, Foster had his best season, to date, with his first Big 12 title and an eighth seed at the NCAA Championships. Unfortunately, he was only able to tally one win before his elimination. Foster's magical senior year started with a third-place finish at the CKLV Invitational, then a title at the Midlands. He later became the first UNI wrestler to win multiple Big 12 titles. At nationals, Drew downed Max Dean in the NCAA title bout to become the first Panther wrestler since 2000 (Tony Davis), to win an NCAA title. Honorable Mention: Jacob Holschlag Rider Ryan Wolfe (Class of 2012) You may not realize it initially, but the superstars that Rider has had in their lineup over the past decade have either been top recruits or transfers. Delaware native Ryan Wolfe is one that was lesser known coming out of high school. In high school, Wolfe was a two-time state finalist and a champion as a senior. His most noteworthy achievement was winning the Beast of the East in 2011. Even so, he wasn't able to crack the top-100, as few from Delaware typically do. Though he did not qualify for nationals as a freshman, Wolfe was named to national "all-freshman" teams. As a sophomore, Wolfe claimed his first EWL title, but was unable to win a match at the big dance. His second trip, yielded an appearance in the bloodround, after capturing EWL title number two. Wolfe saved the best for last and was seeded eighth at the 2017 NCAA Championships after winning his third conference title. He outperformed his seed and finished seventh in the country, one of two All-Americans for the Broncs that season.

#2 ranked Kyle Dake at the Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG 2019 world runner-up Suleyman Atli (TUR) made a successful return back to 57 KG by winning a European title over Russian Nationals runner-up #3 Nachyn Mongush (RUS). Atli finished runner-up earlier this year at the Matteo Pellicone to 2019 U-23 world runner-up #12 (61) Adlan Askarov (KAZ). Taking bronze at the European Championships was Kamil Kerymov (UKR) and Afghan Khasalov (AZE). In a strong return to form after a rough stretch of international competition, 2017 world runner-up Thomas Gilman (USA) won the U.S. Olympic trials with two solid matches against 2019 Junior world runner-up Vito Arujau (USA). Taking bronze in the stacked field at 57 KG was Nathan Tomasello (USA). International Ukrainian Tournament champion #13 Gulomjon Abdullaev (UZB) and 2020 61 KG Asian championships runner-up Minghiu Liu (CHN) qualified for the OIympic Games by making the finals of the Asian qualifier. Both men tallied strong wins over ranked competition, as Abdullaev beat #15 Bekbolot Myrzanazar (KGZ) in the semis and Liu beat #13 (61) Muhammad Ikromov (TJK) and 2018 61 KG world bronze medalist Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg. Finishing bronze at the Asian OG qualifier were #15 Bekbolot Myrzanazar (KGZ) and Muhammad Ikromov (TJK). Winning the Dan Kolov was Mikyay Salim Naim (BUL). Taking gold at Junior Russian nationals was Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS). Taking his second straight Asian championships title was 2019 world bronze medalist #8 Ravi Kumar (IND) over Alireza Sarlak (IRI). Bronze at the Asian championships went to #13 Nodiryun Safarov (UZB) and All-Japan runner-up Yuto Takeshita (JPN). Winning the U.S. Open at 57 KG was Jakob Camacho (USA) over Ethan Rotondo (USA) 8-6. Changes to the rankings were #11 (61) Suleyman Atli (TUR) slotting in at #2 after winning the European championships; two time world bronze medalist Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL) returning to the rankings at #13 as he will compete at the World Olympic qualifier; Thomas Gilman (USA) at #18 for winning the U.S. Olympic Trials; Afghan Khasalov (AZE) at #17 for taking bronze at Euros and Minghiu Liu (CHN) for taking silver at the Asian OG qualifier. Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Zavur Uguev RUS 1 2 Suleyman Atli TUR 11(61) 3 Nachyn Mongush RUS 2 4 Azamat Tuskaev RUS 3 5 Abubakar Mutaliev RUS 4 6 Belek-Ool Kuzuget RUS 5 7 Akhmed Idrisov RUS 6 8 Ravi Kumar IND 8 9 Rei Higuchi JPN 7 10 Reineri Andreu Ortega CUB 9 11 Yuki Takahashi JPN 10 12 Reza Atri IRI 12 13 Bekhbayar Erdenebat MGL UR 14 Gulomjon Abdullaev UZB 13 15 Nodiryon Safarov UZB 14 16 Bekbolot-Ool Myrzanazar KGZ 15 17 Makhmudjon Shavkatov UZB 16 18 Afghan Khasalov AZE UR 19 Thomas Gilman USA UR 20 Minghiu Liu CHN UR 61 KG Top ranked Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) looked sensation in his European finals match against 2019 Junior world runner-up #18 Andrey Dzhelep (UKR), scoring a dominant tech fall to win gold. Dzhelep had a spectacular run to the finals, upsetting a pair of past world medalists in the form of #3 Beka Lomtadze (GEO) and #4 Akhmednabi Gvarzatilov (AZE). Finishing with bronze at the European championships was Lomtadze (GEO) and Eduard Grigorev (POL). Dzhelep's fantastic run to the finals skyrockets him 15 spot up in the rankings to #3 while Lomtadze and Gvarzatilov fall one spot each to #4 and #5. After notching impressive wins over past Russian Nationals medalists at Senior Russian Nationals, #9 Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS) and #10 Zelimkhan Abakarov (RUS,) before losing in the quarters to #7 Nodar Arabidze (RUS), #8 Fedor Baltuev (RUS) was able to rebound in dominant fashion by winning his second straight Junior Russian national title. Taking gold at the U.S. Open was Shelton Mack (USA) over Josh Kramer (USA) by a 3-2 score. The champion of the Asian championships at 61 KG was Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB) over Matteo Pellicone runner-up #10 Adlan Askarov (KAZ). Bronze at the Asian championships was Ikromzhon Kazhimurodov (KGZ) and Shoya Shimae (JPN). From the Asian championships, Turobov enters the rankings at #11 for his win over tenth ranked Adlan Askarov (KAZ) who drops two spots to #12. Ikromzhon Kazhimurodov (KGZ) enters the rankings at #20 for beating #12 Majid Dastan (IRI) in the opening round of the Asian championships. The champion of the Dan Kolov was 2x world medalist #11 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov RUS 1 2 Muslim Mekhtikhanov RUS 2 3 Andrii Dzhelep UKR 18 4 Beka Lomtadze GEO 3 5 Akhmednabi Gvarzatilov AZE 4 6 Cherman Tavitov RUS 5 7 Nodar Arabidze RUS 6 8 Fedor Baltuev RUS 7 9 Dinislam Takhtarov RUS 8 10 Zelimkhan Abakarov RUS 9 11 Jahongmirza Turobov UZB UR 12 Adlan Askarov KAZ 10 13 Nurislam Sanayev KAZ 11(57) 14 Aldar Balzhinimaev RUS 14 15 Rustam Karakhanov RUS 15 16 Alexander Sabanov RUS 16 17 Eduard Grigorev POL UR 18 Georgi Vangelov BUL UR 19 Artem Gebek RUS 17 20 Ikromzhon Kazhimurodov KGZ UR 65 KG Notching the biggest upset of the month to qualify for the Olympics was Ernazar Akhmataliev (KGZ) who pinned past European and Asian champion #3 (70) Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB) to make the finals of the Asian OG qualifier where he beat Amir Mohammadi Yazdanicarati (IRI). Akhmataliev's spectacular showing skyrockets the Kyrgyz talent all the way up #7. Bekbulatov (UZB) makes the 65 KG rankings at #10. Taking gold at the Asian championships was 2018 world champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) by way of forfeit over #15 Bajrang Punia (IND). Otoguro returns to the rankings at #4, while Punia drops out of the rankings due to the shakeup from the U.S. Olympic Trials, as he was behind Zain Retherford and Yianni Diakomihalis, who both lost twice at Trials. Bronze medalists of the Asian championships was Yong-Seok Jong (KOR) and Morteza Hassanali Ghiasi Cheka (IRI). Capturing gold in a loaded field at the U.S. Olympic trials was Jordan Oliver (USA) over Joey McKenna (USA). Oliver beat #14 Diakomihalis (USA) and Nick Lee (USA) while Joey McKenna beat #12 Retherford (USA) to make the finals. Lee (USA) went on an impressive run on the backend of trials beating Retherford (USA) and Diakomihalis (USA) to take bronze. The results of the U.S. Olympic Trials sees Jordan Oliver (USA), Joey McKenna (USA), and Nick Lee (USA) enter the rankings at #16, #17, and #18 respectively while #12 Zain Retherford (USA) and #14 Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) fall to #19 and #20 respectively. Taking gold at Junior Russian nationals was Shamil Mamedov (RUS) over Ibragim Abutalimov (RUS). Gold at the European championships went to Russian Nationals runner-up #6 Zagir Shakhiev (RUS) over Krzysztian Bienkowski (POL). Bronze medalists were Ali Rahimzade (AZE) and Maxim Sacultan (MDA). The champion of the Dan Kolov was 2020 Individual World Cup bronze medalist Augustin Destribats (ARG). Winning the U.S. Open was Jaydin Eierman (USA) over Dom Demas (USA). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov RUS 1 2 Vazgen Tevanyan ARM 2 3 Ismail Musukaev HUN 3 4 Takoto Otogueo JPN UR 5 Haji Aliev AZE 4 6 Zagir Shakhiev RUS 5 7 Ernazar Akhmataliev KGZ UR 8 Abdulmazhid Kudiev RUS 6 9 Murshid Mutalimov RUS 7 10 Ilyas Bekbulatov UZB 3(70) 11 David Baev RUS 8 12 Kurban Shiraev RUS 9 13 Akhmed Chakaev RUS 10 14 Naachyn Kuular RUS 11 15 Magomedmurad Gadzhiev POL 13 16 Jordan Oliver USA UR 17 Joey McKenna USA UR 18 Nick Lee USA UR 19 Zain Retherford USA 12 20 Yianni Diakomihalis USA 14 70 KG Building off the momentum of his first Russian Nationals title, top ranked Israil Kasumov (RUS) was able to win his first European title by way of a 3-1 victory over 2019 65 KG U-23 world champion Turan Bayramov (AZE). Finishing in bronze at the European Championships was Igor Nikiforuv (UKR) and Arman Andreasyan (ARM). Winning gold at the Asian championships was Syrbaz Talgat (KAZ) over Sirojiddin Khasanov (UZB) with bronze medalists being Islambek Orozbekov (KGZ) and Karan (IND) Taking gold at the U.S. Open was five time world rep James Green (USA) over Alec Pantaleo (USA). The champion of the Dan Kolov was Giorgi Elbakidze (GEO). Winning Junior Russian nationals at 70 KG was Stanislav Svinoboev (RUS). Green (USA) and Bayramov (AZE) enter in the rankings at #10 and #11 for winning the U.S. Open and finishing as runner-up at the European championships respectively. Green beat Bayramov earlier this year at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix at 65 KG where he finished silver to #20 (65) Yianni Diakomihalis. Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Israil Kasumov RUS 1 2 Evgheni Zherbaev RUS 2 3 Cherman Valiev RUS 4 4 Heydar Yavuz TUR 5 5 Ramazan Ramazanov BUL 6 6 Viktor Rassadin RUS 7 7 Aznaur Tavaev RUS 8 8 Inalbek Sheriev RUS 9 9 Ayatulla Barkakadiev RUS 10 10 James Green USA UR 11 Turan Bayramov AZE UR 12 Oleksii Boruta UKR 11 13 Servet Coskun TUR 12 14 Mirza Skhulukhia GEO 13 15 Zurab Iakobishvili GEO 14 16 Islambek Orozbekov KGZ 16 17 Abdulla Akhmedov RUS 17 18 Anzor Zakuev RUS 18 19 Ildous Giniyatullin RUS 19 20 Arpak Sat RUS 20 74 KG Two time 79 KG world champion #4 Kyle Dake (USA) was finally able to beat long time rival 5x World/Olympic champion #6 Jordan Burroughs (USA) two matches to none to win the right to represent the United States at the Olympics. Qualifying for his second straight Olympics was #9 (79) Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (UZB) by making the finals of the Asian OG qualifier where he forfeited to 2019 70 KG world bronze medalist Younes Emami (IRI). Taking gold at the Asian championships was 2019 70 KG world runner-up Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ) over 2016 70 KG world bronze medalist Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI). Bronze medalists from the Asian Championships were Ikhtiyor Navruzov (UZB) and Sumiyabar Zandanbud (MGL). Winning the Dan Kolov was Jamal Ebadi (IRI) 2019 79 KG world medalist Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) put together an absolutely exceptional run to win his first Senior European title. Salkazanov upset #2 Razambek Zhamalov (RUS), #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA), and #10 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) to make the finals where he defeated Miroslav Kirov (BUL). Salkazanov's repechage bracket saw Chamizo (ITA) defeat Kentchadze (GEO) to make the bronze medal match opposite Zhamalov (RUS). Chamizo avenged his loss from the 2020 Individual World Cup finals to Zhamalov to take bronze. Another strong result from the field was Kentchadze (GEO) beating #3 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB). Winning his first European medal was past Duke all-american Mitch Finesilver (ISR) by taking bronze over Valentin Borzin (MDA). Hayden Hidlay (USA) won the U.S. Open by 2-1 decision over Joey LaValley (USA). Salkazanov (SVK) takes the #3 spot in the rankings behind Dake (USA) and #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS). Zhamalov (RUS) falls three spots in the rankings to #5 after finishing 5th at Euros with losses to Salkazanov and Chamizo (ITA). Tsabolov (SRB) dropped four spots in the rankings to #7 after his loss to Kentchadze (GEO) who climbed to the #6 spot for his effort. Nurkhoza Kaipanov (KAZ) takes the #19 spot for winning the Asian Championships while Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI) completes the rankings at #20 after his runner-up to Kaipanov at the Asian Championships. The Russian Junior national champion at 74 KG was Idar Khatanov (RUS). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Zaurbek Sidakov RUS 1 2 Kyle Dake USA 4 3 Taimuraz Salkazanov SVK UR 4 Frank Chamizo ITA 5 5 Razambek Zhamalov RUS 2 6 Avtandil Kentchadze GEO 10 7 Khetik Tsabolov SRB 3 8 Jordan Burroughs USA 6 9 Magomed Kurbanaliev RUS 7 10 Timur Bizhoev RUS 8 11 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov RUS 9 12 Nikita Suchkov RUS 11 13 Magomed Abdulkadyrov RUS 12 14 Kakhaber Khubezhty RUS 13 15 Khadzhimurad Gadzhiev AZE 14 16 Giorgios Kougiomtsidis GRE 15 17 Alipasha Umarpashaev BUL 16 18 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov BLR 17 19 Nurkhoza Kaipanov KAZ UR 20 Mostafa Hosseinkhani IRI UR 79 KG Winning the European championships and taking the top spot in the rankings is Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK). Gulaev, a 2017 U-23 world runner-up, beat #8 Nika Kentchadze (GEO) in the semis and Saifedine Alekma (FRA) to win gold. Kentchadze (GEO) upset top ranked Malik Shavaev (RUS) early in the tournament and rebounded from a semifinal loss to eventual champion Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK) to take bronze. Also finishing with bronze was Alans Amirovs (LAT). Two-time 74 KG Final X runner-up Isaiah Martinez (USA) returned to competition with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open after forfeiting in the finals to Taylor Lujan (USA). Martinez's resume has wins over #8 (74) Jordan Burroughs (USA), Magomed Dibirgadzhiev (RUS) and Adam Khasiev (RUS) and a runner-up finish at the 2019 Intercontinental Cup at 79 KG to #9 Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS), so Martinez makes the rankings at #10. Winning the Asian championships at 79 KG was Byong Min Gong (KOR) over Ali Savadkouhi (IRI). Bronze medalists were Narsingh Yadav (IND) and Saikabai Usupov (KGZ). The champion of the Dan Kolov was Hamidreza Zarinpeykar (IRI). The three major changes to the rankings are unranked Gulaev (SVK) takes the #1 spot after his European title. European bronze medalist Kentchadze (GEO) climbs up six spots to #2 after beating Shavaev (RUS). Martinez (USA) debuts in the rankings at #10. The Russian Junior national champion at 79 KG was Alik Badtiev (RUS). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Akhsarbek Gulaev SVK UR 2 Nika Kentchadze GEO 8 3 Malik Shavaev RUS 1 4 Akhmed Usmanov RUS 2 5 Gadzhi Nabiev RUS 3 6 Radik Valiev RUS 4 7 Khalil Aminov RUS 5 8 Gadzhimagomed Alikhmaev RUS 6 9 Atsamaz Sanakoev RUS 7 10 Isaiah Martinez USA UR 11 Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov RUS 10 12 Evgheni Lapshov RUS 11 13 Ernak Kardanov RUS 12 14 Magomed Magomaev RUS 13 15 Khalid Yakhiev RUS 14 16 Akhmad Tashukhadzhiev RUS 15 17 Abdulla Tsatsaev RUS 16 18 Dmitrii Zainiidinov RUS 17 19 Galymzhan Usserbaev KAZ 18 20 Muhammet Nuri Kotanoglu TUR 19 86 KG #1 David Taylor (USA) made the Olympic Team with two straight match wins over 2019 92 KG U-23 world champion Bo Nickal (USA). To make the finals opposite Taylor, Nickal notched a strong win over Henri Deglane Grand Prix bronze medalist #10 Zahid Valencia (USA). Nickal returns to the 86 KG rankings at #8 for his win over Valencia who took bronze at the Olympic trials with a win over 2019 world rep Pat Downey (USA). #2 Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) won the Asian championships in dominant fashion over 2019 world runner-up Deepak Punia (IND). Taking bronze at the Asian championships was Gwan-Uk Kim (KOR) and Mostafa Abdulbasit Al Obaidi (IRQ). Qualifying for the Olympics at 86 KG was #17 Javrail Shapiev (UZB) and Zushen Lin (CHN) by making the Asian OG Qualifier finals. The bronze at the Asian qualifier went to 2019 Intercontinental Cup champion Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ) and 2014 74 KG world runner-up Sosuke Takatani (JPN). The champion of the Dan Kolov was 2016 Olympian Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (VEN). Winning his second European title was 2019 world bronze medalist #3 Artur Naifonov (RUS) over 2015 world bronze medalist #14 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO). Naifonov notched wins over Myles Amine (SMR) and #12 Boris Makoev (SVK) while Aminashvili had strong wins over #8 Ali Shabanov (BLR) and #15 Sebastian Jezierzanski (POL). Finishing in bronze at the European championships was Amine (SMR) over Makoev (SVK) and Shabanov (BLR) over Jezierzanski (POL). The aftermath of the European championships saw #14 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO) move up two spots to #13, Myles Amine (SMR) return to the rankings at #12 for his win over Makoev (SVK) and Shabanov (BLR) fall six spots to #14 for his loss to Aminashvili (GEO). Mraz Dzhafaryan (UKR) enters the rankings at #20 for upsetting #13 Osman Gocen (TUR) at the European championships. Mark Hall (USA) won the U.S. Open 5-4 over Trent Hidlay (USA). The Russian Junior national champion at 86 KG was Islam Kartoev (RUS). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 David Taylor USA 1 2 Hassan Yazdani Charati IRI 2 3 Artur Naifonov RUS 3 4 Dauren Kurugliev RUS 4 5 Magomed Ramazanov RUS 5 6 Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov RUS 7 7 Vladislav Valiev RUS 8 8 Bo Nickal USA UR 9 Magomedsharif Biyakaev RUS 9 10 Zahid Valencia USA 10 11 Arsenali Musalaliev RUS 11 12 Myles Amine SMR 14 13 Sandro Aminashvili GEO 14 14 Ali Shabanov BLR 8 15 Boris Makoev SVK 12 16 Sebastian Jezierzanski POL 15 17 Javrail Shapiev UZB 16 18 Piotr Ianulov MDA 17 19 Dato Marsagishvili GEO 18 20 Mraz Dzhafaryan UKR UR 92 KG #5 (86) Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) moved back up to 92 KG where he won the Asian championships over Tsgotgerel Munkhbaatar (MGL). Finishing in bronze at the Asian championships was Hyeok-Boom Gwon (KOR) and Sanjeet Sanjeet (IND). Ghasempour returns to the 92 KG rankings at #2 behind #1 Magomed Kurbanov (RUS) who beat him in the finals of the 2019 Alans tournament. Kurbanov (RUS) won the European championships over 2020 European runner-up Samuel Scherrer (SUI). Taking bronze at the European championships was #13 Osman Nurmagomdov (AZE) and #16 Gadzhi Radzhabov (BLR). Important results from the European championships were Akhmed Magamaev (BUL) upsetting #6 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) in the qualification round and losing to #13 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) in the quarters. Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL) upset #15 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) 2-2 in the qualification round and lost to Kurbanov (RUS) and Andril Vlasov (UKR) in the first round of repechage. From the European championships; Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) goes up six spots to #7, Magamaev (BUL) takes the #8 spot, Samuel Scherrer (SUI) returns to the rankings at #10 and Gadzhi Radzhabov (BLR) moves up four spots to #12 for his win over Andril Vlasov (UKR) who debuts in the rankings at #17 along with Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL) at #18. #15 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) falls four spots in the rankings to #19 for his loss to #18 Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL). Nate Jackson (USA) won the U.S. Open over Kyven Gadson (USA). Miriani Maisuradze (GEO) won the Dan Kolov. Winning Junior Russian Nationals at 92 KG was Ivan Kirillov (RUS). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Magomed Kurbanov RUS 1 2 Kamran Ghasempour IRI 5(86) 3 Batyrbek Tsakulov RUS 2 4 Aslanbek Alborov AZE 3 5 Zbigniew Baranowski POL 4 6 Anzor Urishev RUS 5 7 Osman Nurmagomedov AZE 13 8 Akhmed Magamaev BUL UR 9 Irakli Mtsituri GEO 6 10 Samuel Scherrer SUI UR 11 Soslan Ktsoev RUS 7 12 Gadzhi Radzhabov BLR 16 13 Georgi Rubaev MDA 8 14 Selim Yasar TUR 9 15 Radik Nartikoev RUS 12 16 Guram Chertkoev RUS 13 17 Andril Vlasov UKR UR 18 Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz POL UR 19 Erhan Yaylaci TUR 15 20 Azamat Zakuev RUS 18 97 KG Returning Olympic champion #3 Kyle Snyder (USA) made his second U.S. Olympic team with two dominant wins over Matteo Pellicone champion #9 Kollin Moore (USA). #2 J'den Cox (USA) did not compete at the Olympic Trials due to missing weight. Cox drops two spots in the rankings to #4 while Snyder goes up two spots to #2. #13 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) won the European championships over returning 92 KG champion #5 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR) 6-4. Finishing in bronze was #6 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO) by pin over Shamil Zubairov (AZE) and Radoslaw Baran (POL) over Murazi Mchedelidze (UKR). A pair of top matches that shook the top ten went on between #4 Aleksandr Hushtyn (BLR), Odikadze (GEO), and Karadeniz (TUR). Odikadze beat Hushtyn (BLR) 2-2 in the quarterfinals and Karadeniz beat Odikadze 7-5 in the semis. This shakeup caused Karadeniz and Odikadze to stay the same and Hushtyn to drop seven spots to #11. Qualifying Iran for the Olympics at 97 KG was 2020 Matteo Pellicone champion #8 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI). Runner-up to Mohammadian was 2016 Olympic bronze medalist #17 Magomed Ibragiov (UZB). Taking gold at the Asian championships was #7 Ali Khalil Shahbenibengar (IRI) over Alisher Yergali (KAZ). Finishing with bronze at the Asian championships was Takashi Ishiguro (JPN) and Satywart Kadian (IND). Taking gold at the U.S. Open was Austin Schafer (USA) by 10-0 tech fall over Nate Rotert (USA). Winning the Dan Kolov was two time U-23 world champion Mojitaba Goleij (IRI). Winning Junior Russian nationals was Soslan Dzhagaev (RUS). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev RUS 1 2 Kyle Snyder USA 3 3 Alikhan Zhabrailov RUS 13 4 J'den Cox USA 2 5 Suleyman Karadeniz TUR 5 6 Elizbar Odikadze GEO 6 7 Ali Khalil Shahbenibengar IRI 7 8 Mohammad Mohamadian IRI 8 9 Kollin Moore USA 9 10 Alireza Karimimachiani IRI 10 11 Aleksandr Hushtyn BLR 4 12 Givi Matcharashvili GEO 11 13 Sharif Sharifov AZE 12 14 Valerii Andriitsev UKR 14 15 Erik Thiele GER 15 16 Albert Saritov ROU 16 17 Magomed Ibragimov UZB 17 18 Aslanbek Sotiev RUS 18 19 Mojitaba Goleij IRI 19 20 Khokh Khugaev RUS 20 125 KG Returning Asian champion Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) came up big at the Asian OG Qualifier defeating Asian championships runner-up Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ) to make the finals. Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) was the runner-up to Batirmurzaev. Aiaal Lazarev (KGZ) had a strong run in the month, finishing runner-up at the Asian championships to Oleg Boltin (KAZ) after pinning #2 Amin Taheri (IRI) and taking bronze at the Asian OG qualifier. The results of the Asian championships sees the pair of Kazakhs in Oleg Boltin (KAZ) and Batirmurzaev (KAZ) take the #3 and #4 spot respectively while Lazarev (KGZ) takes the #5 spot for pinning #2 Amin Taheri (IRI). In his first return to competition since the 2019 world championships, three time World/Olympic champion Taha Akgul (TUR) looked sublime in beating #1 Geno Petriashvili (GEO), #5 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS), and #4 Dzianis Khramiankov (BLR) to take back the #1 spot. Taking bronze at the European championships was #1 Geno Petriashvili (GEO) and #20 Oleksand Khotsianivski (UKR). Gable Steveson (USA) ascended to the top of the U.S. ladder by taking out two-time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) across two matches at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Winning gold at the Dan Kolov was #8 Amin Taheri (IRI). Winning the Junior Russian national title was Andrey Bestaev (RUS). Winning the U.S. Open was two time world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) over Tony Cassioppi (USA). Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Taha Akgul TUR UR 2 Geno Petriashvili GEO 1 3 Oleg Boltin KAZ UR 4 Yusup Batirmurzaev KAZ UR 5 Aiaal Lazarev KAZ UR 6 Dzianis Khramiankov KGZ 4 7 Sergey Kozyrev RUS 5 8 Amin Taheri IRI 2 9 Amir Zare IRI 3 10 Shamil Sharipov RUS 6 11 Alan Khugaev RUS 7 12 Anzor Khizriev RUS 8 13 Atsamaz Tebloev RUS 9 14 Zelimkhan Khizriev RUS 10 15 Kazbek Khubulov RUS 11 16 Batraz Gazzaev RUS 12 17 Baldan Tsyzhipov RUS 13 18 Robert Baran POL 14 19 Kamil Kosciolek POL 15 20 Oleksandr Khotsianivski UKR 16 P4P Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) spectacular run to the European championship gold at 74 KG saw him debut in the pound for pound rankings at #6 for his wins over #3 Razambek Zhamalov (RUS), #12 Frank Chamizo (ITA) and Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO). Zhamalov (RUS) falls five spots to #8 for his losses to #6 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) and #7 Frank Chamizo (ITA) at the European championships. #6 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) falls ten spots in the pound for his loss to Kentchadze (GEO) at European championships. Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) debuts in the pound for pound rankings at #15 for beating #6 Khetag Tsabolov (RUS). #11 Kyle Dake (USA) moves up six spots in the rankings to #5 after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials over #14 Jordan Burroughs (USA) along with his win last year over #7 Frank Chamizo (ITA). Completing the rankings is 2018 65 KG world champion Takoto Otoguro (JPN) at 25 who returned from a year lay off to win the Asian championships gold. Rank Name Country Past Ranking 1 Zaurbek Sidakov RUS 1 2 Abdulrashid Sadulaev RUS 2 3 Gadzhimurad Rashidov RUS 5 4 Zavur Uguev RUS 4 5 Kyle Dake USA 11 6 Taimuraz Salkazanov SVK UR 7 Frank Chamizo ITA 12 8 Razambek Zhamalov RUS 3 9 Taha Akgul TUR UR 10 Geno Petriashvili GEO 7 11 David Taylor USA 9 12 Hassan Yazdani Charati IRI 10 13 J'den Cox USA 8 14 Jordan Burroughs USA 13 15 Avtandil Kentchadze GEO UR 16 Khetik Tsabolov SRB 6 17 Magomed Kurbanaliev RUS 14 18 Timur Bizhoev RUS 15 19 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov RUS 16 20 Vazgen Tevanyan ARM 17 21 Israil Kasumov RUS 18 22 Evgheni Zherbaev RUS 19 23 Abasgadzhi Magomedov RUS 21 24 Ismail Musukaev HUN 22 25 Takoto Otoguro JPN UR

92 kg Junior World Team member Rocky Elam (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) This past weekend, USA Wrestling decided their representatives for the Junior world trials in freestyle and Greco-Roman. On the freestyle side, there were some clear statistical standout performers, including many who will represent the U.S. in Russia this August. The following looks at some of those top statistical performers across the 10 weights. Braxton Amos put himself on an island Amos set himself apart from the rest of the field on the junior level. After shutting out the field in the Greco-Roman tournament, he moved to freestyle, where he outscored his opponents by a combined 55 to 4 score and made the World team at 97 kg. On a per-minute basis, that equates to 6.48 points per minute and 0.47 points allowed per minute for a +6.01 differential. As you can see in the following scatter plot, Amos' performance basically put himself on an island statistically. Including his five matches from the Greco tournament, Amos' point differential climbs all the way to +7.79. In that bracket, he outscored his opponents by a combined 45 to 0. Another strong performer in terms of point differential was Donnell Washington. The Indiana wrestler will represent the U.S. at 79 kg. Washington scored 4.17 points per minute while allowing only 0.55 points per minute for a +3.62 differential, which was the second-highest behind Amos in the tournament. Rocky Elam shows off stingy defense After becoming an All-American as a true freshman for Missouri, Elam will now make the trip to Russia as part of the junior World team at 92 kg. A big part of his success this past weekend was his ability to prevent his opponents from scoring. He allowed only five points, or 0.22 points per minute, through four matches. No other wrestler surrendered fewer points on a per-minute basis. Arizona State's Julian Chlebove also had an impressive defensive performance on his way to the quarterfinals. Despite dropping a 3-1 decision against Jesse Mendez in that round, Chlebove allowed the second fewest points per minute in the tournament at 0.27. He allowed only four points across his four matches. Boom or bust for Cullan Schriever Schriever wrestled only three matches for Iowa during his first season on campus. He certainly made up for lost time this past weekend. He wrestled nine matches, which tied him with Tagen Jamison, Joey Bianchi, Evan Yant, AJ Kovacs and Caleb Rathjen for most in the tournament. Despite finishing fourth at 61 kg, Schriever was able to pick up seven match termination victories, which was the most of any competitor in the field. Yant and Beau Bartlett finished second with six match termination victories each. Carson Taylor only had high scoring matches Taylor went 3-2 and failed to place at 61 kg, but he certainly made the most of his time on the mat and showed himself to be a very exciting wrestler. Taylor not only scored his fair share of points, but he also let his opponents run it up. His matches had an average of 21 total points scored, which was the most among wrestlers who had at least five matches. The Grand View wrestler dropped a 22-13 match against Princeton's Nick Masters. Those 35 combined points were tied for the second-highest point total in a match behind Elise Brown and Aydin Rix McElhinney who combined for a 47-point bout in the 74 kg bracket.

Jim Zalesky on the sidelines for Oregon State University (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The University of Jamestown is pleased to announce that Jim Zalesky is the new men's wrestling head coach. A member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Zalesky brings a track record of success to the University of Jamestown. "We are thrilled that Coach Zalesky has decided to lead our men's wrestling program," says University of Jamestown Director of Athletics Sean Johnson. "He is a perfect fit for our institution and our department and will provide tremendous leadership for our men's wrestling student-athletes." "I'm excited to be part of the University of Jamestown family and look forward to leading the Jimmie men's wrestling program to success in the classroom, the community and in competition," says Zalesky. Zalesky, a native of Shueyville, Iowa, has enjoyed incredible success as a student-athlete and coach. In his 23 years as an NCAA Division 1 head coach, Zalesky won three NCAA Division 1 national championships, 13 conference championships, compiled a 274-109-2 dual match record and coached over 50 All-American wrestlers. As the head coach at Iowa (1997-2006), he led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA title in 1998, 1999 and 2000 and was national runner-up in 2001 and 2004. He was named the national Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2004. Zalesky coached 10 NCAA champions, 20 Big Ten champions, 45 All-Americans and two Olympians during his time as head coach at Iowa. During his 14 years as head coach at Oregon State (2006-2020), Zalesky captured seven Pac-12 wrestling titles and finished in the top-25 at the NCAA Tournament six times including an eighth place finish in 2013. He was named the conference Coach of the Year in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Zalesky coached 14 All-Americans, 33 conference champions, 79 NCAA Tournament qualifiers and two Olympians while in Corvallis. Prior to becoming the head coach at Iowa, Zalesky served as an assistant coach at Minnesota and Iowa. During his time at Iowa, he was an assistant under Dan Gable and helped lead the Hawkeyes to six NCAA championships and seven Big Ten titles before taking over as head coach in 1997. Zalesky was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994 and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. As a high school wrestler at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, he compiled a 99-12 record and was a two-time state champion. As a collegiate wrestler at the University of Iowa, Zalesky was a three-time NCAA individual champion for legendary coach Dan Gable. He posted a record of 131-7 and was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the 1984 NCAA Tournament. He was a four-time All-American (1981-84) and three-time Big Ten Champion (1982-84). He finished his collegiate career with 89 consecutive wins, still a record at Iowa. Zalesky earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa. Jim and his wife Teri are the parents of four children - Nicolette, Jaclyn, Zackery, and Lucas. What They Are Saying About Jim Zalesky Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling Women's National Team Coach University of Iowa graduate and NCAA champion "He is a great hire for the University of Jamestown. Jim has been successful as both an athlete and a coach at the highest level of collegiate athletics. Coach Zalesky will bring not only a great wrestling mind, but he will be a great part of the university's athletic department, the community of Jamestown, and the state of North Dakota. There is not a doubt in my mind that he will bring the wrestling program to a completely different level in Jamestown." Mike Moyer, Executive Director, National Wrestling Coaches Association "Coach Zalesky represents the gold standard in transformational coaching. He has been extraordinarily successful as a wrestler and coach at the highest levels. He has served in various national committee and board leadership roles at the highest levels in college wrestling over his tenure. The University of Jamestown should be congratulated for hiring a coach of his caliber and reputation." Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director, National Wrestling Hall of Fame "Jim Zalesky epitomizes excellence in the world of wrestling as a coach and as a competitor. He excelled in the sport as a competitor in the state of Iowa during his high school years and at the University of Iowa during his collegiate career. He continued his legacy of excellence in coaching as head wrestling coach for his alma mater at the University of Iowa from 1997-2006, and at Oregon State University from 2006-2020, before accepting what is sure to be a promising legacy ahead for the University of Jamestown's wrestling program."

Saul Ervin at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo/SIUE athletics) “Wrestling is a big thing in our family. My dad, brothers, uncles, and cousins all wrestled; it's just what we do” said Saul Ervin, a redshirt sophomore at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Saul, the third youngest of the Ervin family, was born in Morganfield, Kentucky, where he continued the Ervin legacy at Union County High School. He was coached by his father, Robert Ervin, who has won 13 Kentucky state wrestling championships, including six-in-a row since 2016. His accomplishments gave way to his nomination as the 2021 Coach of the Year. The Ervin family name is synonymous with both Kentucky wrestling and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, a public university located in Edwardsville, Illinois. Robert Ervin competed for the Cougars during the 1985-1986 national championship season. Saul's uncle, Tim Ervin, competed for the Cougars and became a three-time Division II All-American from 1979 to 1981. Finally, Saul's older brother, Isaac Ervin, competed for the Cougars during the 2010-2011 season, where he, unfortunately, suffered a season-ending injury. “Growing up, there was always a wrestling match going on in my house. I was eager to wrestle because my big brothers were already in the game. I saw them transition throughout the different stages of wrestling and traveled to different places right alongside them” said Saul. His earliest memories warrant “family vacations” to wrestling tournaments around the country, where the Ervin family bond became stronger and the boys became tougher. Saul and his older brother have had a friendly competition going since high school. They were both three-time Kentucky state champions for Union County High School, ranked in the top 10, and mimicked records since their freshman year. As Saul's older brother graduated and found his new home, it seemed like an obvious decision for him when beginning the recruiting process. “Obviously, I had a little more leniency towards SIUE when it came down to making my final college decision. It definitely had an effect on me; my dad, uncle, and brother all wrestling for the Cougars.” Saul didn't make his final college decision until he was on a separate recruiting trip, which was not what he had expected. He called Jeremy Spates, head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and said, “I want to wrestle for you. These other schools aren't for me. I'm all in. I'm your guy.” Jeremy Spates, an accomplished wrestler himself and in his eighth year as the head coach at SIUE, stated that Saul was amongst the top 20 recruiting class: alongside teammates Justin Ruffin and Aaron Schulist. “I was selling the wrestlers on each other; who they'll be working with and living with for the next five years, and more importantly, for the rest of their lives.” Luckily, Spates' plan was successful. Saul explained, “What I love most about SIUE is the guys. With how tight-knit we are, I don't think you'll find that at any other DI wrestling program.” Since making the transition to SIUE's DI wrestling program, Saul has continued to be a “student of the sport.” Spates said, “His success on the mat, and all of the work he has put in to have the success on the mat didn't just happen like it does for some. Saul has worked really hard to get to where he is.” He has continued to improve his technical side of the sport and is always looking to make adjustments, showing himself as a leader amongst the toughest wrestlers in the country. Saul stated, “If you want to be great on the mat, you have to be great in all aspects of your life. If you're living the right lifestyle, having fun, and working hard towards your goals of being a national champion, good things will happen to you, just like it is for me.” Saul, a lone representative of SIUE at this year's NCAA Wrestling Championships, dropped a 2-0 decision to North Carolina's Zachary Sherman in the opening round of wrestling. He then was taken down, 4-2, in a sudden victory overtime match to Ian Parker of Iowa State to close out his run at a national championship. With those losses behind him, Saul has a positive outlook on his future success at SIUE. “When it comes down to leaving my own legacy here at SIUE, my main goal is to become a DI All-American and bring as many of my teammates along on that journey with me. As for my family's legacy, we've had DII national champions, but I am going to do everything right so I can break that streak and out-do everyone else.” Saul Ervin, a laid-back and free-spirited outdoorsman, is anxiously awaiting his opportunity to finish what his cousins and brothers were never able to do. “When it comes to wrestling, I'm more of a go-with-the-flow and have fun kind of guy, which I think gives me an edge on the rest of the Ervin's. I will solidify not only my family's legacy, but my own.”

2021 NCAA DII 165 lb champion Fred Green (Photo/Vince Smith/Colorado Mesa athletics) At the 2021 NCAA Division II National Men's Wrestling Tournament, nearly half of all the athletes who earned All-Americans were seniors. The final total was 36 out of a possible 80 finishers in the top-eight that were in their final season of college wrestling. That is a lot of space being opened up for athletes to jump up the podium in 2022. Or that would typically be the case. Not this time, the pandemic turned the wrestling world upside down in 2020 and because of that, 2021 became a "free" year. For the seniors, it meant a chance to go out and wrestle and still have another season of eligibility left. They were given a "Reset" button that allowed them to start over again in 2022 as a senior and wrestling one more time. A lot goes into deciding to return for, in some cases, a sixth or seventh year for these student-athletes. Financial, physical, employment opportunities, University programs, etc., will all play into their reasoning. As an impartial party, I will be giving my reason for why each of them needs to come back for one more #D2Wrestle season so we can run it again. 125 Nick Daggett (UNC-Pembroke) 2021-2nd, 2020-NWCA 8th, 2019-National Qualifier, 2018-8th The UNC-Pembroke senior had an amazing run at the NCAA tournament in St Louis that saw him reach the finals. A tough loss to Cole Laya means that there is still one more mountain for him to climb. He would enter 2022 as a championship favorite and have the chance to finish as a three-time All-American. The North Carolina native has been an incredible ambassador for his home state and is only three wins (or eight depending on which tally you use) away from joining the century club for the Braves. He has also won three Super Regional II championships and a fourth would make him the best lightweight in that short history. I am sure coach O has been whispering in his ear during every meal for the last month, "remember the Hilltoppers" to motivate his decision. Joe Arroyo (Wisconsin-Parkside) 2021-3rd, 2020-NWCA 9th Joe Arroyo was a "wildcard" entrant to the NCAA tournament after finishing third in Super Regional V. The Ranger senior finished a perfect regular season and then went on a 7-2 run to finish third in the nation. Talk about a jump from his junior campaign that saw him qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time after winning Super Regional V. He is fun to watch on his feet and he has improved from the bottom position. When he returns, he will spend the season ranked towards the top and come tournament time will be a wrestler to watch. My selfish reason for his return is the NSIC has some very good lightweights and I want to see them all do battle again in 2022. Christian Wellman (Ashland) 2021-4th The Ohio native had a bit of a rough start to his NCAA tournament run, but he took off from there. He even avenged his earlier loss to Paxton Rosen to make the consolation finals, where he fell to fellow senior Arroyo. Colt Sponseller is going to have a team that could be chock full of senior athletes and a return by Wellman would boost that lineup down low. The two-time OHSAA placer has looked good since putting on the Eagles singlet and, in 2021, looked to have matured even more. Yes, this would be his sixth year, but it would only be his fourth at Ashland. I would like to see him wrestle again, and if he returns, I could have that opportunity at the Midwest Classic, NWCA national duals, and eventually the NCAA tournament in St Louis. Trenton McManus (MSU-Mankato) 2021-8th, 2020-National Qualifier The Mavericks senior finally wrestled his first NCAA national tournament match in 2021 after the cancellation of the 2020 championships. He made the most of the opportunity and finished eighth in the country. He continues to make strides in coach Makovsky's program and I am not certain that we have seen the best he has to offer. The Wisconsin native placed all four trips to his state tournament and now he is one-for-one at the national level. The Super Regional V champion has the chance to return and be even better than his 2021 All-American finish. 133 Tyler Warner (West Liberty) 2021-1st, 2020-NWCA 7th, 2019-1st, 2018-7th Tyler Warner is going to coach kids who go on to win state and national championships at some point. The young will be able to speak to them about adversity, overcoming injury, and show them some incredible wrestling techniques. Warner is now a three-time All-American and has won the last two contested national titles at 133 pounds. He forms a dynamic 1-2 punch with fellow national champion Cole Laya at the start of the Hilltopper lineup. The three-time Ohio state champion has made Claymont high school proud. He has been a large part of the success that coach Danny Irwin has had building not one, but two successful Division II wrestling programs. A return by Warner in 2022 would make the Hilltoppers not just an NCAA tournament trophy favorite but put them up in the discussion as a team that could win it all. Wesley Dawkins (Nebraska-Kearney) 2021-4th, 2020-NWCA 4th, 2019-2nd Wesley Dawkins has won back-to-back Super Regional VI crowns for the Lopers and is now a two-time NCAA All-American for coach Dalton Jensen. He is less than twenty wins away from joining the century club at one of the best college programs in the country. The Lopers have already been active once again on the recruiting trail, in the transfer portal, and at the JUCO level. The team that came within two points of unseating St. Cloud State as the champions of Division II is going to be even better in 2022. Dawkins is a Nebraska native, so another year hanging out in the state will not be a problem. If he returns, it will give him the chance to cap off his career as not only an individual but a team national champion as well. Tyler Kreith (Maryville) 2021-6th, 2019-6th Tyler Kreith had to be feeling just a little deja vu as he stood on the podium at the NCAA tournament. He was on the exact same podium step as his last trip to the championships. He has been an incredible ambassador for the Maryville program and head coach Mike Denney. He is less than 20 matches away from eclipsing the century mark for the #OOOsss program. Kreith has thrived in his home state and he just became a two-time All-American there. All that is left for him is to finish on top next season in St Louis. Home cooking seems to agree with him and that is what is in store for him next season when he returns. Jacob Dunlop (Gannon) 2021-8th, 2020-National Qualifier, 2019-National Qualifier Jacob Dunlop was part of a Gannon Knights program that had a historic season that saw them win a Super Regional I title and finish in the top-10 as a team at the NCAA tournament. He is now a three-time national qualifier and his eighth-place finish in 2021 earned him his first All-American honors. Gannon can return that entire team and work for an even better team this coming season. To do that, though, they need their talented lightweight to come back for one more go. A third of a trio of triplets, Jacob has an exciting career in accounting ahead of him, but I think that if he crunches the numbers, he's going to see that he does not have to cook the books to know he should come back for 2022. 141 Isiah Royal (Newberry) 2021-1st, 2020-NWCA 1st, 2019-2nd, 2018-National Qualifier Isiah Royal is a four-time national qualifier and after falling short in the finals in 2019, he finally stood atop the podium as the nation's best in 2021. Thirteen more wins and he will leave Cy Wainwright's program with over 100 victories and he could graduate as a three-time NCAA Super Regional champion. Wrestling down south continues to grow and produce amazing results; the Georgia native has been a big part of that. There will be challenges to his crown in 2022 when he returns to the mat, but the Wolves leader knows how to stay at the head of the pack. I also need him to come back so I can get him on tape confirming that I was spelling his name right before the NCAA got it right on Trackwrestling. Colby Smith (Lindenwood) 2021-3rd, 2020-NWCA 2nd, 2017-National Qualifier (DI) Lindenwood University had its most successful wrestling season in Division II history, earning a third-place team trophy at the 2021 championships. Colby Smith earned his first All-American honors after wrestling his first matches at a national tournament since 2017. Smith's return to the big dahce came after two straight perfect seasons against Division II competitors. That came to an end in the national semifinals against fellow senior Isiah Royal, and then Smith battled back to finish third and help the Lions in their trophy hunt. Smith has found a home since returning to Missouri, where he was named the most valuable wrestler in the state in high school. Head coach Jimmy Rollins has plans of knocking off his former coach Steve Costanzo and Smith returning is going to be a big part of it. Kelan McKenna (Notre Dame) 2021-4th, 2020-NWCA 4th, 2018-3rd Kelan McKenna carried the torch for the five-time national champion Notre Dame College Falcons this season, finishing as their only All-American. Will he return for a sixth season and a chance to become a three-time All-American? I certainly hope so; this weight class only gets stronger if these three return. McKenna is a product of New York state and with his second All-American honors in 2021, he has a chance to end his career as a three-time All-American with a run in 2022. McKenna has won two Super Regional championships and 100 wins in a Falcon singlet is well within reach with just one more season. 149 Gavin Londoff (Lindenwood) 2021-3rd, 2019-3rd Another of Jimmy Rollins's transfer grabs, Gavin Londoff, is now a two-time Division II All-American since his transfer from Appalachian State. Reunited with Colby Smith, Londoff has cemented himself as a power to be reckoned with not only in Super Regional IV but also nationally. All that is missing is a national championship and the Lions are shooting to remedy those missing parts next season. His last two losses in Division II have been to the previous two champions. Next season the sky's the limit for Londoff and Lindenwood. I have to think that Rollins has all the seniors buying into the programs' goals and I expect to see Londoff back. Sam Turner (Nebraska-Kearney) 2021-4th, 2020-NWCA 6th, 2018-National Qualifier (DI), 2017-National Qualifier (DI) Three of the top five finishers at this weight class all have wrestled for Division I programs and it shows. Sam Turner has settled into Kearney, Nebraska, after his time at the University of Wyoming. Now a two-time NCAA Division II national qualifier, Turner finally earned All-American honors in 2021. Turner was the 100th wrestler in Colorado high school history to win three state titles and was a two-time NCAA Division I national qualifier before joining Dalton Jensen and Lopers. I cannot wait to see what comes of the Lukas Martin, Gavin Londoff, Garrett Aldrich, and Sam Turner battling all season. Add in another couple of returning All-American seniors and we have ourselves an amazing weight class struggle in 2022. Turner has to come back anyways; he is fewer than 10 wins away from the 100 win plateau. Carson Speelman (Ashland) 2021-5th, 2020-NWCA 5th Ashland University has a shot at its best season in program history in 2022. They return four senior All-Americans, including the talented Carson Speelman. After the 2020 cancellation of the national tournament, Speelman made the most out of his first trip finishing fifth. The local product has qualified for back-to-back national tournaments now for the Eagles and was the 2021 NCAA Super Regional III champion. Speelman has only lost six matches in DII competition over the last two seasons and you can see the improvements he has made. If he returns in 2022, the Eagles have a real shot at a top-four finish and a trophy in St Louis. Kyle Rathman (MSU-Mankato) 2021-7th, 2020-NWCA 3rd, 2019-7th Kyle Rathman qualified for his third national tournament in 2021 and earned his second All-American honors finishing seventh for the second time. Rathman came to Mankato from the powerhouse Minnesota high school program Apple Valley and he has gotten better every year in Jim Makovsky's program. In 2020, he was named the MVP of the Mavericks wrestling team and he followed that up by joining senior Trenton McManus on the podium. I desperately want MSU to take part in the NWCA tournament this year and I really, really want Rathman to be there. I believe he is even better than his seventh-place finish in St Louis and if he returns in 2022, he will show it. 157 James Wimer (Findlay) 2021-1st, 2019-6th It is crazy to think that James Wimer made the jump from a sixth-place finish in 2019 to entering the 2021 season as the absolute favorite to win the weight class. He delivered on expectations, going a perfect 12-0 with five wins by bonus and not allowing an offensive point to be scored against him all season. Is he done? I sure hope not. Overall, Findlay had a bit of a tough postseason, but they return a lot of talent and if Wimer buys into the sixth year, he will be the undisputed senior leader of the program. Wimer also has the chance to be just the fourth multiple-time national champion for head coach Shawn Nelson and the first since 2007. Jacob Wasser (Nebraska-Kearney) 2021-7th, 2020-National Qualifier Throughout his career for the Lopers, Jacob Wasser has been in and out of the starting lineup. It was only during the second semester of 2020 that he took the reins of a weight class. The results, qualifying for the canceled NCAA national tournament. In 2021, he followed that up with an encore that saw him standing on the podium in seventh place. His two losses at the NCAA tournament in St Louis were to eventual champion Ronnie Gentile and St. Cloud redshirt freshman stud Colby Njos. 2022 would be a chance for Wasser to show what he can do throughout a full season as the established starter in a lineup that will challenge for a national title. 165 Fred Green (Colorado-Mesa) 2021-1st, 2020-NWCA 3rd Out of this entire list, the one wrestler I could see deciding to walk away would be Fred Green. A lot of wrestlers go to college for seven years and that is what it would be for him. A seventh year of cutting weight, avoiding injuries, taking part in the daily grind. On top of that, he just won a national title so he could walk away as the champion. He is a back-to-back Super Regional VI champion and he won both of those titles by defeating 2019 NCAA champion Matt Malcom. In 2020 he had his championship tournament stolen from him by a ridiculous NCAA decision. He missed his 2019 season at Oregon State with an injury. In 2018 he had a below .500 record for Virginia. And in 2017 saw his program at Boise State cut by an inept athletic director in 2017. Fred Green has traveled back and forth across this country and if he wants to walk away from the sport on top, I say, more power to him. But not so secretly, I want him to come back. Devin Fitzpatrick (St. Cloud State) 2021-3rd, 2020-NWCA 2nd, 2019-6th, 2018-National Qualifier Huskies senior Devin Fitzpatrick has now been part of three straight national championship teams at St. Cloud State. He just stood on the podium for the second time and is a four-time NCAA national tournament qualifier. In a weight class that is absolutely loaded, he has been a force to be reckoned with over the last three years culminating in a third-place finish in 2021. I cannot come up with a valid argument for why he should not return other than, give someone else a turn in that lineup. He is 57-8 over the last three seasons scoring bonus points in 50% of his victories. Matt Malcom (Nebraska-Kearney) 2021-5th, 2020-NWCA 4th, 2019-1st, 2020-4th I am not going to say that Matt Malcom wants Fred Green to skip his seventh year, Malcolm is too tough of a competitor to even think that. If I were a Loper's fan, though, I would be thinking it very hard trying to will it into existence. In the last two seasons, he has lost just five matches to DII foes and three of them have been to Fred Green, all of them coming during postseason tournaments. Malcom has a chance to graduate as a four-time All-American for Dalton Jensen and could be part of the Nebraska-Kearney team that finally ends St. Cloud State's streak of dominance. But to do that, he has to return in 2022. Mitch Dean (Belmont Abbey) 2021-6th, 2020-NWCA 6th Mitch Dean capped off a successful senior season, becoming the third All-American in Belmont Abbey history for head coach Ken Caudell. The North Carolina native spent two seasons wrestling for Clarion before transferring to Belmont Abbey. I am not 100% sure he should be on this list, though, because despite the roster listing him as a "senior" his results appear to make him a redshirt junior in 2021. I am going to err on the side of caution and I expect that someone will correct me if I am wrong and hey, maybe the Belmont Abbey wrestling SID is just updating the roster super early for 2022. Either way, he will be back in 2022, and having lost just four matches since his transfer, I expect more of the same. He will be looking to earn his third Super Regional II title as well. Jojo Gonzalez (American International) 2021-7th, 2020-NWCA 10th, 2019-National Qualifier First, shout out to head coach Rich Hasenfus for not being too harsh on me when I said that Jojo was the first All-American in American International history. He is the eighth and joins his high school coach Rafael Calixto with those honors. If you count the NWCA honors in 2020, he was just the second to become a two-time All-American and the only athlete in program history to accomplish the feat at multiple weight classes. It may be all the more impressive given that in 2021, he was unable to compete before the Super Regional I tournament. A return to the program would give him a chance to become the first to become a three-time All-American and they could just go ahead and put a plaque in the athletics hall of fame for him on campus. He is an entire season away from leaving with over 100 college victories as well, quite the feat for the young man from Ellis Technical High School in Connecticut, where he was the Dave Schultz award winner. I do not think he is done writing his history and I expect him back in 2022. 174 Noah Curreri (Queens) 2021-8th, 2020-National Qualifier How do you follow up a history-making senior season? Just go out there and do it again. Noah Curreri earned the first All-American honors in Queens College program history by finishing as an All-American in 2021 and now he has the opportunity to create even more history for head coach Rob Tate. We all know that Tate has the best hair in Division II, and one of the best smiles. He was ear to ear when I spoke with him and Noah after the bloodround victory and his enthusiasm was contagious. Curreri had a season where he battled in every match and it culminated in a win when he needed it most. You can argue that he benefited from one of the smallest weight classes at the tournament, but at the end of the day, he won when it mattered and earned his spot on the podium. He could become the first three-time national qualifier in program history. Another trip to the podium would be even more history. I do not see him backing down from this opportunity and I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in 2022. 184 Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) 2021-1st, 2020-NWCA 1st, 2019-3rd It was just confirmed last week that Heath Gray will be returning for his second senior season in 2022. The Broncs are going to need another big run from their superstar if they want to keep up with West Liberty and Lindenwood at the national tournament and Gray is their senior leader. Gray has not lost a match to a Division II opponent since the 2019 semifinals. Since that defeat, he is 35-0 and scoring bonus in right at 70% of his matches. In Division I, he would have won back-to-back Hodge trophies. The Chandler High School state champion has already won 100 matches under head coach Todd Steidley and I am sure he will win as many in 2022 as necessary to repeat as a national champion. Connor Craig (West Liberty) 2021-2nd, 2020-NWCA 4th, 2019-1st Connor Craig was the third Hilltopper to make the NCAA finals in St Louis, but unlike his teammates, he fell short of a national championship. After entering university as a 157 pounder from Ohio, he has now made the NCAA Division II finals twice. I am sure the loss left a bitter taste in his mouth and a chance to avenge that loss to Gray in 2022 will be more than enough motivation to warrant his return. Add to that, the plans that the Hilltoppers have as a program to compete for a national title, and I fully expect him to #ClimbTheHill next season. Craig is a perfect example of an athlete who has used college to hone his craft. The two-time OSHAA place winner has improved by leaps and bounds and who knows what one more year will bring for the senior. Daniel Fillipek (McKendree) 2021-3rd, 2020-NWCA 9th, 2019-National Qualifier In 2019 Daniel Filipek made the national tournament for the McKendree Bearcats; in 2021, he finished third in the nation. Head coach James Kisgen only has two possible senior returners and they are both important for his program to return to the trophy hunt. Filipek has battled injuries in his career, but the last two seasons might be what he needed to be able to return for another senior season. He has wrestled less than thirty matches since 2020 and while not "well" rested, he should be well. He can come back and be the set-up man for the hammer that Ryan Vasbinder at 197. Bailey Kelly (Maryville) 2021-6th, 2019-National Qualifier I almost missed Bailey Kelly on this list, the OOOSSS senior joined Tyler Kreith on the podium and has the same opportunity to return and impact the next generation of athletes that enter the Dojo for Mike Denney. He is part of one of the most challenging weight classes that any Super Regional has, all three qualifiers from SRIV were All-Americans. 2021 was a bounce-back season for Kelly after not making the tournament in 2020. This weight class could be the most super senior loaded and I believe that Kelly needs to be a part of it for the Saints to be successful. Aidan Pasiuk (Ashland) 2021-7th, 2020-NWCA 5th, 2019-National Qualifier, 2018-National Qualifier Ashland University needs all of their super seniors (yeah, I am going to go with that from now on, you heard it here on InterMat first "super seniors") to return for 2022 to be a truly special one for the Eagles. His senior season in high school was one for the record books that saw him finish 60-0 and win his first state championship. He has greatness in him and he will have his first full off-season under coach Sponseller and who knows what dividends that will generate. He can be a five-time national qualifier and a four-time All-American; all he has to do is return. 197 Ryan Vasbinder (McKendree) 2021-1st, 2020-NWCA 1st, 2019-7th Ryan Vasbinder has been nearly as good as Heath Gray these last two seasons and just like his fellow SRIV national champion, he has the chance to come back and add to his Division II legacy. Vasbinder can become a four-time national qualifier and multiple-time national champion if he runs it again. He has already won over 100 matches in a McKendree singlet and he is going to return with a chance to forever write his name into the incredible record book that is Bearcat history. Come on back, Ryan. Donald Negus (Colorado-Mesa) 2021-5th, 2020-National Qualifier The super senior from Douglas County High School in Elizabeth, Colorado, went from having a losing career record in his first three seasons at Colorado Mesa, to becoming a national qualifier in 2020. Now just a season later, he is an NCAA Division II All-American. I am not sure what clicked for him, but he is a totally different athlete from 2019 until now. Colorado Mesa is going to field a talented team and Negus is going to help by anchoring the lineup. With the return of three teams to Super Regional VI that missed the 2021 season, Negus will have even more opportunities to show that he is one of the nation's best at 197. Jackson Ryan (Southwest Minnesota State) 2021-6th, 2020-National Qualifier Southwest Minnesota State University had a great national tournament. Two athletes reached All-American status, and the Mustangs had their first NCAA semifinalist in over 20 years. Jackson Ryan's run at the finals came to an end in the semis against Dalton Abney, but the sixth-year senior finally earned All-American honors. Now he has the chance to return for a seventh and final, final season and make another run. This weight class is going to be packed with talent and his return would make it the most heavily senior loaded class of any. Jackson had a season cut short due to injury and another championship lost to a pandemic; I have to think he wants one more shot. Chris Droege (Lake Erie) 2021-8th, 2020-National Qualifier The Lake Erie Storm are right on the cusp of being a top-10 NCAA men's wrestling team. They are loaded with young talent right now and will have a senior class that has been battle-tested. What they do need is the return of their senior leader and All-American Chris Droege at 197, though. He is a difference-maker and, as a super senior, can help unleash his program on the rest of the nation. Droege took some tough losses last season, six of his eight defeats saw him give up bonus points, but he gutted out a tough tournament and stood on the podium. Super Regional III is full of talented athletes; he has shown he is ready to be tested against them all. I think he will do it again. 285 Kameron Teacher (St Cloud State) 2021-1st, 2019-3rd, 2018-2nd, 2017-2nd Fresh off clinching an NCAA team title and his first individual championship, Kameron Teacher is faced with a tough decision. Does he hang up his shoes as a four-time NCAA Division II All-American or does he return and go for a fifth AA finish? What does he have left to prove? He may want to return to get his shot at 2019 NCAA champion Andrew Dunn. He, too, has the option to have a super senior season for Kutztown. What about a chance to wrestle the young man who took over the starting spot at his old school? Jared Campbell has since moved on to West Liberty, but the two could settle any past wrestling room differences. Or just maybe, Kameron Teacher is a competitor without fear who refuses to shy away from a challenge. To the Huskies, he may be the most important wrestler to their quest for a repeat in 2022. Weston Hunt (Colorado-Mines) 2021-2nd, 2020-NWCA 8th, 2019-National Qualifier All of Huskies nation held their collective breath for a brief moment in the NCAA finals in St Louis as Weston Hunt rolled Kameron Teacher over his back. The Colorado School of Mines big man was unable to catch him there, though and eventually fell to Teacher in the match that sealed the team win for St. Cloud State. It does not diminish the run that Hunt put on at the tournament that saw him navigate his side of the bracket and reach the finals. He will return in 2022 as a favorite to repeat that feat even if athletes like Jared Campbell and Andrew Dunn are competing. AJ Cooper (Fort Hays State) 2021-5th AJ Cooper has flow. He has style. He has that thing that is often missing in wrestlers that can only be called "it". He has it. He is fun to watch compete. He is driven not only to be the best but to look like he is having fun while doing it. He has been a pinning machine for Fort Hays State in his career and when he returns in 2022, he will have a chance to lead the nation in falls. I also expect that he will be looking to close the gap with the athletes who finished ahead of him at the national tournament. In his first trip to the championships, he was able to finish fifth, his only losses to Jared Rennick and Lee Herrington. Cooper was able to finish ahead of Rennick on the podium showing his grit. Division II does not just want him to return in 2022, it needs his exciting style of wrestling to come back next season. Plus, I really want him to give me a hat. Tristen Weirich (Ashland) 2021-6th, 2020-NWCA 10th, 2019-6th The Eagles are going to return a senior-laden lineup that has the talent to battle for a trophy. Tristen Weirich will be in search of a third All-American finish after ending the 2019 and 2021 seasons sixth. I believe that all of Ashland is buying into how good their program will be and Weirich will be no exception. He will return for his fifth year, he will battle the nation's best all season, and in St Louis, he will have the chance to make another run at the podium for a third All-American finish. Jared Rennick (Drury) 2021-8th, 2020-NWCA 7th The Drury senior has battled injuries throughout his career and I was excited to see him compete at his first nationals in 2020. That opportunity was robbed and we had to wait until 2021 to see him take on the best at the national tournament. He did not disappoint, finishing eighth in one of the most challenging weights in St Louis. He is undoubtedly undersized at this weight, but his athleticism and drive have made him a top competitor. Does he have the will and drive to return? Yes. Physically can his body take another season of nearly 300-pound men pushing and pulling on it? I do not know. I sincerely hope so, though.

(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) CORALVILLE, Ia. - It was a busy weekend of wrestling here at Xtream Arena this weekend. The UWW Junior world team trials was the main draw, with many of the nation's best high-schoolers and young college stars vying for spots on the world team that'll compete in Russia in August. The Senior national championships, even with a not fully-stacked field, featured just enough star-power to be intriguing, especially with 2021 world team trials bids and Pan-American Championship consideration on the line. After three full days of wrestling, here's 10 noteworthy performances from Big Ten wrestlers, in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, that stuck out: Wisconsin's Braxton Amos Braxton Amos became one of wrestling's darlings this spring after qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Last Chance Qualifier, and then followed that up by making the Greco finals at 97 kilograms. This weekend, the future Badger wrestler produced yet another stellar performance by sweeping Junior titles in both styles this weekend. That Amos won the world team spots in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at 97 kilograms wasn't surprising, but his dominance was, well, impressive. In Greco, Amos went 5-0 and outscored his opponents 46-0, and wrestled a grand total of 3 minutes, 50 seconds. In freestyle, Amos again went 5-0 and outscored his opponents 55-4 and wrestled a total of 8 minutes, 29 seconds. Add that up, and Amos went a combined 10-0 and outscored his opponents by a staggering 101-4 this weekend, all while wrestling a grand total of 12 minutes and 19 seconds. Not bad. Penn State's Beau Bartlett Beau Bartlett is the Junior freestyle world team member at 65 kilos, and won a weight that included other talented freestylers, like Cornell's Josh Saunders, Missouri's Josh Edmond, Michigan signee Chance Lamer, Iowa signee Caleb Rathjen, and more. And Bartlett did it in style, too. After a first-round pin over North Carolina State's Hunter Lewis, Bartlett rattled off five more wins without allowing a point. In the finals, he swept Lamer, two matches to none, by scores of 11-3 and 3-2. In all, he went 8-0 and outscored his opponents 74-9. Indiana's Donnell Washington Donnell Washington's redshirt freshman season at Indiana produced mixed results: a 10-7 overall record, a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, and a 1-2 showing at the national tournament. There were no mixed results about Washington's performance this weekend. The Indiana redshirt freshman won the Junior world team trials at 79 kilos. He opened with five-straight technical falls, including four in under a minute and three in under 30 seconds. In the finals, he swept Lehigh's Jacob Logan by scores of 8-5 and 10-4. Illinois' Luke Luffman Much of the results so far have been focused on freestyle, but Illinois heavyweight Luke Luffman made the Junior Greco world team at 130 kilos on Friday. It was a smaller field to compete against - only six total guys in the bracket - but Luffman went 3-0 and swept Wisconsin's Peter Christensen, 12-4 and 9-4, in the best-of-three finals to win the spot. Iowa's Tony Cassioppi Another Big Ten heavyweight, Iowa's own Tony Cassioppi, wrestled Senior-level freestyle, and rolled into the 125 kilo finals from the 10-spot during Saturday's competition. Cassioppi registered wins over Derek White, a past NCAA finalist for Oklahoma State; Dom Bradley, perhaps the most seasoned heavyweight veteran in Senior men's freestyle; and Ty Walz, who bumped up to 125 kilos after wrestling 97 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in April. Cassioppi won by scores of 4-1, 5-1, and 11-1, respectively. The Iowa sophomore's tremendous run came to an end in the finals in a 12-0 defeat to Nick Gwiazdowksi, who won the Senior men's freestyle tournament outstanding wrestler after going 4-0 and outscoring his opponents 41-0 this weekend. Still, a strong showing from Cassioppi to reach the finals in his first competition since taking third at 285 pounds at the NCAA Championships. Iowa's Jaydin Eierman Another Hawkeye, Jaydin Eierman, won a Senior men's freestyle title. Eierman went 4-0 and won at 65 kilograms, notching wins over Ohio State grad Luke Pletcher and Oklahoma All-American Dom Demas en route to first. Eierman beat Pletcher, 9-5, in the semifinals, thanks to a pair of takedowns in both periods. Against Demas in the finals, he won 8-4, turning a 4-0 deficit into a 5-4 lead in the first period thanks to a mean leg lace. For the day, Eierman went 4-0 and outscored his opponents 45-21, and also finished ahead of Pat Lugo (third) and Henry Pohlmeyer (fifth). Ohio State's Nicholas Boykin Nicholas Boykin, fresh off an appearance at the U.S. Olympic Trials, added a Senior Greco title to his résumé this weekend, going 4-0 to win at 97 kilos. His first three matches went smoothly: 8-0 tech fall, 8-0 tech fall, then 39-second pin. His finals match was a different story. Boykin found himself trailing Army WCAP's James Souza 7-0 less than 90 seconds into the championship bout after Souza connected on a big 4-pointer out of a body lock. Souza went for another big throw moments later, but Boykin caught him on his back for the fall in 1:48 to secure his Senior title. Sometimes good days have wild endings. Minnesota's Matthew Ramos Matthew Ramos hasn't suited up for Minnesota yet (redshirted in' 19-20, then Olympic redshirted in' 20-21), but Gopher fans should be plenty excited about his potential after this weekend. Ramos went 7-1 and took third at 57 kilos in the Junior world team trials. His one loss came to Richie Figueroa II, a 14-1 result in the round of 16. Figueroa made the Junior world team. Ramos rattled off six-straight consolation wins by a combined 57-16. Along the way, he beat: Oregon State recruit Gabe Whisenhunt, future Minnesota teammate Troy Spratley, Michigan State's Tristan Lujan, Brown's Hunter Adrian, Iowa recruit Drake Ayala and Virginia Tech recruit Cooper Flynn. Of course, Ramos should probably beat high-schoolers, even really good ones, after being in a college room for a few years, but his performance is noteworthy because of how wide-open 57 kilos was entering the weekend. Iowa's Cullan Schriever Yes, a third Hawkeye makes the list, as Cullan Schriever, a Fargo champ as both a Cadet and Junior, returned after battling injuries the last few years. All he did was go 8-2 and take fourth at 61 kilos. Schriever took an early loss to Arizona State's Julian Chlebove, but ripped off seven-straight wrestleback wins, beating both Jakason Burks and Reece Witcraft, from Oklahoma State, Missouri's Trey Crawford, Columbia's Mason Clarke and North Carolina recruit Caden McCrary. He lost to Nebraska's Dom Serrano, 12-8, for third. It was good to see Schriever back wrestling again. When healthy, he was one of the best in the country at his age and weight. Six of his seven wrestleback wins were by technical fall. Spartan-on-Spartan medal match at 92 kilos A fun Michigan State matchup came to fruition on Saturday. Well, fun for the fans, maybe not so much the combatants. Willie Miklus, an assistant for the Spartans, and Cam Caffey, a past Big Ten finalist, wrestled each other for fifth-place at 92 kilos. Miklus, a four-time NCAA All-American for Missouri and Iowa State, returned to Senior-level action for the first time since competing at the 2019 U.S. Senior national championships in Texas. He lost to Tim Dudley in the quarterfinals, then won twice in the wrestlebacks before falling to the fifth-place match. Caffey, of course, is a two-time age-level world-teamer … in Greco-Roman. On Saturday, he, too, dropped his quarterfinal bout to Scottie Boykin, then won twice in the wrestlebacks before falling to face Miklus. This time, the teacher bested the student - Miklus won, 15-4.

(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) UWW Junior National Freestyle Best-of-three finals 57 kg - Richard Figueroa over Ryan Miller 10-1, 10-0 61 kg - Jesse Mendez over Carter Young Fall 1:32, 10-3 65 kg - Beau Bartlett over Chance Lamer 11-3, 3-2 70 kg - Bryce Andonian over Ed Scott Fall 1:01, 12-9 74 kg - Keegan O'Toole over Cade DeVos 11-1, 8-0 79 kg - Donnell Washington over Jake Logan 8-5, 10-4 86 kg - Colton Hawks over Darrien Roberts 6-5, Fall 4:00 92 kg - Rocky Elam over Zach Glazier 10-0, 3-2 97 kg - Braxton Amos over Christian Carroll 10-0, 14-4 125 kg - Wyatt Hendrickson over Josh Heindselman 8-17, 10-8, 11-0 Third Place 57 kg - Matthew Ramos over Cooper Flynn 9-4 61 kg - Dominick Serrano over Cullan Schriever 12-8 65 kg - Joshua Edmond over Caleb Rathjen 10-0 70 kg - Lucas Revano over Jack Thomsen 13-3 74 kg - Alex Facundo over Julian Ramirez 9-4 79 kg - Trent Munoz over Brayden Thompson 8-3 86 kg - Chris Foca over Jaxon Smith Fall 5:49 92 kg - Luke Surber over Max Shaw 11-0 97 kg - Gage Linahon over Kalob Runyon Fall 2:54 125 kg - Matthew Cover over Lewis Fernandes 11-0 Fifth Place 57 kg - Drake Ayala over Sheldon Seymour 12-2 61 kg - Cleveland Belton over Benjamin Alanis MedFFT 65 kg - Tagen Jamison over Kaleb Larkin InjDef 70 kg - Caleb Henson over Joey Bianchi 14-4 74 kg - Derek Fields over Clayton Ulrey Fall 4:50 79 kg - Manuel Rojas over Peyton Craft Fall 1:39 86 kg - Sam Wolf over Kyle Haas 12-4 92 kg - Isiah Pettigrew over Isaac Trumble MedFFT 97 kg - Seth Nitzel over Austin Lane 13-2 125 kg - Konner Doucet over Steven Kolcheff InjDef Seventh Place 57 kg - Noah Surtin over Hunter Adrian 11-9 61 kg - Mason Clarke over Jaxon Maroney 12-0 65 kg - Joshua Saunders over Shannon Hannah 10-0 70 kg - Evan Yant over Trevor Chumbley 10-0 74 kg - Josh Ogunsanya over AJ Kovacs 11-1 79 kg - Matthew Singleton over Cade King 10-6 86 kg - Ethan Hatcher over Kodiak Stephens :24 92 kg - John Gunderson over Trevor Tinker 10-0 97 kg - Peter Ming over Deandre Rucker 1:47 125 kg - Jacob Bullock over Colby Whitehill Fall 1:55

(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Senior Men's Freestyle Final Results Championship Finals 57 kg - Jakob Camacho over Ethan Rotondo 8-6 61 kg - Shelton Mack over Josh Kramer 3-2 65 kg - Jaydin Eierman over Dom Demas 8-4 70 kg - James Green over Alec Pantaleo 7-2 74 kg - Hayden Hidlay over Joey Lavallee 2-1 79 kg - Taylor Lujan over Isaiah Martinez MedFFT 86 kg - Mark Hall over Trent Hidlay 5-4 92 kg - Nate Jackson over Kyven Gadson 6-1 97 kg - Austin Schafer over Nate Rotert 10-0 125 kg - Nick Gwiazdowski over Tony Cassioppi 12-0 Third Place 57 kg - Brady Kyner over Austin Macias 20-17 61 kg - Daniel DeShazer over Ethan Lizak Fall 2:47 65 kg - Pat Lugo over Luke Pletcher 3-1 70 kg - Brayton Lee over Tyler Berger MedFFT 74 kg - Phil Conigliaro over Branson Ashworth 13-2 79 kg - Devin Skatzka over Michael O'Malley 10-0 86 kg - Drew Foster over Michael Battista 10-0 92 kg - TJ Dudley over Scottie Boykin 8-2 97 kg - Andy Smith over Jake Boyd 5-3 125 kg - Dom Bradley over Ty Walz 2-1 Fifth Place 57 kg - Dane Durlacher over Francisco Barrera 8-8 61 kg - Sean Fausz over Nahshon Garrett MedFFT 65 kg - Henry Pohlmeyer over Jakob Bergeland 8-7 70 kg - Elroy Perkin over Yahya Thomas 10-3 74 kg - Josh Shields over Jacori Teemer MedFFT 79 kg - Muhamed McBryde over David McFadden MedFFT 86 kg - Jack Jessen over Nick Reenan 10-0 92 kg - Willie Miklus over Cam Caffey 15-4 97 kg - Isaac Trumble over Sam Mitchell Fall 1:23 125 kg - Christian Lance over Matt Stencel 3-1 Seventh Place 57 kg - Gabriel Gray over Troy Dolan MedFFT 61 kg - Wyatt Henson over Jack Wagner 10-0 65 kg - Parker Filius over Dylan Droegemueller 21-11 70 kg - Michael Blockhus over Jake Keating 9-5 74 kg - Justin McCoy over Luke Zilverberg 8-5 79 kg - Christian Minto over Josh Kim 8-5 86 kg - Andrew Morgan over Donovan McMahill 14-4 92 kg - Beau Yineman over David Willoughby 10-0 97 kg - Morgan Smith over Austin Stith 11-0 125 kg - Lucas Davison over Shawn Streck 10-0 Junior National Freestyle Finals 57 kg - Ryan Miller vs. Richard Figueroa 61 kg - Jesse Mendez vs. Carter Young 65 kg - Beau Bartlett vs. Chance Lamer 70 kg - Bryce Andonian vs. Ed Scott 74 kg - Keegan O'Toole vs. Cade DeVos 79 kg - Jake Logan vs. Donnell Washington 86 kg - Darrien Roberts vs. Colton Hawks 92 kg - Rocky Elam vs. Zach Glazier 97 kg - Braxton Amos vs. Christian Carroll 125 kg - Wyatt Hendrickson vs. Josh Heindselman

Senior Men's Greco Final Results Championship Finals 55 kg - Max Nowry over Brady Koontz 1-1 60 kg - Dalton Roberts over Dylan Koontz 8-0 63 kg - Randon Miranda over David Stepanian 9-0 67 kg - Hayden Tuma over Alston Nutter 10-1 72 kg - Xavier Johnson over Jamel Johnson 10-0 77 kg - Alec Ortiz over Ryan Epps 2-1 82 kg - Ben Provisor over Peyton Walsh 6-3 87 kg - Spencer Woods over Tommy Brackett 9-3 97 kg - Nicholas Boykin over James Souza Fall 1:48 130 kg - Malcolm Allen over Dan Miller 5-2 Third Place 55 kg - Jacob Cochran over Dalton Duffield 12-4 60 kg - Alex Thomsen over King Sandoval 8-0 63 kg - We Rachal over Corbin Nirschl 6-5 67 kg - Nolan Baker over Jessy Williams MedFFT 72 kg - Michael Hooker over Griffin Parriott MedFFT 77 kg - Chance Marsteller over Fritz Schierl 8-0 82 kg - George Sikes over John Hagey 3-1 87 kg - Terrence Zaleski over Joel Nivar 9-0 97 kg - Vaughn Monreal-Berner over Chad Porter MedFFT 130 kg - Brandon Metz over Thomas Helton 6-0 Fifth Place 55 kg - Gabriel Gray over Cole Smith 10-0 60 kg - Kevon Powell over Thomas Hicks 8-0 63 kg - Mason Lewis over Lillashawn Coleman MedFFT 67 kg - Morgan Flaherty over Colton Rasche 7-2 72 kg - Justin Koethe over Hunter Murphy 8-0 77 kg - Britton Holmes over Zachary Grimes Fall 82 kg - Kyle Briggs over John Kent 11-8 87 kg - Dan Olsen over fall Nick Reenan 3:14 97 kg - Diante Cooper over Michael Rogers 10-0 130 kg - Kaleb Reeves over Courtney Freeman Fall :19 Seventh Place 55 kg - Dane Durlacher over Eljiah Varona MedFFT 63 kg - Jack Huffman over Raffaele Masi 7-6 67 kg - Timothy Nevarez over Ty Lydic 11-0 72 kg - Ryan Ojeda over Micah Arakawa Fall 3:17 77 kg - Eddie Smith over Tony Raupp 9-0 82 kg - Jordan Lara over Austin Dohl-Pantaleo MedFF 87 kg - Timothy Young over Job Ayala 13-5 97 kg - Christian Rouleau over Ben Hughes :19 130 kg - Lee Herrington over Tom Foote 3-1 Senior Women's Freestyle Placements 50 kg 1st) Erin Golston 2nd) Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez 3rd) Chloe Krebsbach 4th) Hannah Michael 53 kg 1st) Alex Hedrick 2nd) Alisha Howk 3rd) Vanessa Ramirez 4th) Arelys Valles 55 kg 1st) Jacarra Winchester 2nd) Amy Fearnside 3rd) Areana Villaescusa 4th) Samantha Klingel 5th) Ngao Shoua Whitethorn 57 kg 1st) Vayle Rae Baker 2nd) Lauren Mason 3rd) Sophia Smith 4th) Tateum Park 5th) Estrella Dorado Marin 59 kg 1st) Maya Nelson 2nd) Lauren Louive 3rd) Xochitl Mota-Pettis 4th) Megan Black 62 kg 1st) Gracie Figueroa 2nd) Alex Liles 3rd) Sierra Brown Ton 4th) Briana Kellin 65 kg 1st) Jennifer Page 2nd) Andrea Schlabach 3rd) Zoe Wight 68 kg 1st) Solin Pearcy 2nd) Alyvia Fiske 3rd) Rachel Watters 4th) Anna Naylor 72 kg 1st) Alex Glaude 2nd) Skylar Grote 76 kg 1st) Dymond Guilford 2nd) Precious Bell 3rd) Emily Cue 4th) Marlynne Deede 5th) Ashley Lekas 6th) Hunter Robinson Junior Greco-Roman World Team Trials Championship Best-of-Three 55 kg - Billy Sullivan over Aizayah Yacapin 1-4, 10-6, 4-1 60 kg - Nic Bouzakis over Phillip Moomey 12-2, 13-5 63 kg - Chayse LaJoie over Richard Fedalen 8-0, 10-0 67 kg - Dominic Damon over Payton Jacobson 5-4, 1-5, 5-2 72 kg - Justus Scott over Noah Wachsmuth 8-8, 7-0 77 kg - Matthew Singleton over Justin McCunn 8-6, 9-0 82 kg - Jonathon Fagen over James Burks 5-1, 0-9, 6-0 87 kg - Kodiak Stephens over Tyler Hannah 0-10, 10-2, 10-2 97 kg - Braxton Amos over Christian Carroll 8-0, 10-0 130 kg - Luke Luffman over Peter Christensen 12-4, 9-4 Third Place 55 kg - Jett Strickenberger over Jonathan Gurule 7-4 60 kg - Kase Mauger over Carter Stephenson 9-0 63 kg - Jordan Hamdan over Aidan Nutter 6-1 67 kg - Hunter Lewis over Hunter Garvin 10-1 72 kg - Niko Katsuyoshi over Brody Olson 14-4 77 kg - Jared Stricker over Dylan Kohn 10-1 82 kg - Macaron Kukowski over Cole Pence 12-4 87 kg - Connor Bourne over Wyatt Voelker 3-1 97 kg - Isaac Trumble over Kalob Runyon Fall 2:26 130 kg - Braxton Mikesell over Eli Pannell 9-1 Fifth Place 55 kg - Max Black over Angelo Lozado 5-1 60 kg - Kellyn March over Haiden Drury MedFFT 63 kg - Hagen Heistand over Dyson Kunz Fall 2:42 67 kg - Cody Chittum over Robert Perez III InjDef 72 kg - Ryan Wheeler over Aaron Gandara :46 77 kg - David Papach over Dajun Johnson 8-0 82 kg - Fernando Villaescusa over Austin Dohl-Pantaleo MedFFT 87 kg - Jack Darrah over Ryan Cody MedFFT 97 kg - Denzel Mabry over Cameron Dubose MedFFT 130 kg - Max Diaz over Keith Miley Fall 1:41 Seventh Place 55 kg - Tyler Klein over Cole Smith 19-18 60 kg - Jakason Burks over Nick Masters 10-0 63 kg - Charlie Dill over Johnny Masopust 10-0 67 kg - Dallas Koelzer over Seth Lambers 4-4 72 kg - Gabriel Lewis over RJ Weston MedFFT 77 kg - Zak Kozumplik over Matthew Doyle InjDef 82 kg - Talmage Carman over John Sexton 8-0 87 kg - Spencer Mooberry over Cayden White 8-0 97 kg - Sione Halo over Tyler Thurston 9-6

This weekend, many of the top stars in the men's freestyle world will be in action from Coralville, Iowa, as 2021 Senior Nationals takes place. The entire men's freestyle tournament will be held on Saturday. Even though the Olympics will be held later this summer, there will also be a World Championship event from Oslo, Norway, in early October. This event is the first step towards qualification for the World Championships. The top-five wrestlers from Senior Nationals will lock up a place at the World Team Trials in September. Anyone who competed at the Olympic Trials already has punched their ticket, as well. With the Olympics only having six weight classes (boo!), plenty of wrestlers had to make significant cuts to find a weight class. Now that we're focusing on the World Championships, with ten weight classes in contention, there are plenty of men that will be testing out new weight classes in Coralville. Here is a preview of the action that will go down on Saturday, along with picks for the top-six finishers. Entries are as of Thursday afternoon and could be subject to change. 57 kg Clearly, the top entrant at 57 kg has to be NC State star Jakob Camacho. The 2020 ACC champion also has some experience at the Senior level. In 2020, Camacho was seventh at Senior Nationals and 1-1 for the Wolfpack Wrestling Club. Other names to watch include Illinois RTC's Dane Durlacher and Wisconsin RTC's Ethan Rotondo. Prediction Jakob Camacho over Ethan Rotondo 61 kg As you can see here and with later weight classes, the non-Olympic weights tend to be more stacked at this event than the other six brackets. Leading the charge is Nahshon Garrett, who was a bit of a tweener with the Olympic weights. Garrett went 65 kg at the Trials, but is most effective here. In 2018, Garrett emerged victorious in a Final X series with Joe Colon that netted him a place on the World Team. Unfortunately for Garrett, he could not wrestle due to an injury and Colon went on to claim world bronze. Other veterans that have moved back to this weight include Shelton Mack, Ethan Lizak, and Sean Fausz. Mack managed to tally five wins at the Last Chance Qualifier and advanced to the third-place bout. One of those wins came at the expense of Fausz, a 2018 U23 World silver medalist at this weight. Lizak ended up going 1-2. A trio of collegiate stars will be in the mix to test themselves against Senior-level competition in 2021 All-American's Michael McGee and Chris Cannon, along with two-time ACC champ, Micky Phillipi. Phillipi was sixth at the U23 tournament in 2020. His final loss came to Josh Kramer, who also will be in the bracket. Speaking of testing themselves, high school freshman Wyatt Henson, an Iowa signee, will see how he stacks up against older competition. The two-time Pennsylvania state champ, Henson, was third in Junior Freestyle two years ago in Fargo. Predictions 1st - Nahshon Garrett over Shelton Mack 3rd - Sean Fausz over Ethan Lizak 5th - Micky Phillipi over Chris Cannon 65 kg 65 kg is not as deep as its predecessor but has a handful of high-end competitors. Pat Lugo was the top seed at the Last Chance Qualifier, but fell in the finals and then had an Olympic Trials berth wrestled away from him by Mitch McKee in a true second-place match. Lugo has done well in standalone events with wins over Luke Pletcher and Matt Kolodzik. He was also a part of Flo's 150 lb eight-man bracket. Though Lugo fell in the opening round to Bajrang Punia, he did make the match closer than the 6-1 final would indicate. Pletcher is also in the mix here. He was 3-2 at the LCQ with losses to Kolodzik and McKee. Also, in single-event action, Pletcher headlined a Pittsburgh WC event where he downed two-time NCAA champ, Dean Heil. A second Hawkeye WC member will be in the mix with Jaydin Eierman. Eierman was second at the 2021 NCAA Championships and wasn't able to get ready for the LCQ with such a quick turnaround. Last year he took fifth at Senior Nationals. One of Eierman's long-time rivals, Dom Demas, is expected to compete. The two clashed in 2019 at the NCAA Championships and at the US Open and both bouts included plenty of fireworks. Demas has plenty of international experience, making a Junior World Team in 2018 and three additional age-group world team's in Greco-Roman. Additionally, this weight class will include 2020 NWCA All-American Henry Pohlmeyer and Purdue's Parker Filius, a fifth-place finisher at U23's in 2020. Predictions 1st - Jaydin Eierman over Pat Lugo 3rd - Luke Pletcher over Dom Demas 5th - Henry Pohlmeyer over Parker Filius 70 kg There's a whole lot of talent at 70 kg as the king of the weight class domestically has returned. James Green has made every world team at this weight since 2015. Along the way, he has picked up a silver and bronze medal at the World Championships. For the second consecutive Trials, Green cut down to 65 kg, but he was not nearly as effective as at this weight. He was teched in his only match of the tournament by Joey McKenna. In 2020, Green was a finalist in Flo's 150 lb bracket, topping one of his fellow combatants, Alec Pantaleo, along the way. Pantaleo has just knocked off Jordan Oliver, who recently won the Olympic Trials at 65 kg. He also was a representative at the U23 World Championships, at this weight, in 2019. Pantaleo also made a Junior team in 2016. At the RTC Cup, Pantaleo went unbeaten, with one of his wins coming against Brayton Lee. The Minnesota All-American was on the Junior World Team in 2019 and always is a tough out in freestyle. One of Lee's teammates on the 2019 World squad was Yahya Thomas. Yahya clinched a spot on the team by downing Ohio State's Sammy Sasso. Thomas is fresh off an incredible run at the NCAA Championships that saw him finish third despite starting as the 25th seed. Yet, another entrant with prior world-level experience in this bracket is Jacori Teemer. The Arizona State All-American was a Cadet World bronze medalist back in 2017. Teemer was sixth last year, at Senior Nationals, though he did compete up at 74 kg. Finally, Green's old training partner Tyler Berger shouldn't be overlooked. Berger scored wins over Pantaleo and Ryan Deakin at the Last Chance Qualifier on his way to third place. Predictions 1st - James Green over Tyler Berger 3rd - Alec Pantaleo over Yahya Thomas 5th - Brayton Lee over Jacori Teemer 74 kg While there's a decent amount of depth at 74 kg, you'd have to consider Hayden Hidlay a distinct favorite. Hidlay is apparently on his way up to 174 lb after spending his entire collegiate career competing at 157. Last year, Hidlay amassed seven wins at Senior Nationals as he fought for third place. He clinched third place with a wild victory over Evan Wick, an opponent that was third at the Olympic Trials Challenge Tournament. One of Hidlay's victims last year at Senior's was NCAA runner-up Joey Lavallee. Joey went on to take eighth at that tournament. Recently, he was fourth at the Last Chance Qualifier, grabbing five wins along the way. Hawkeye WC's Jeremiah Moody was among the wrestlers who fell to Lavallee at the LCQ. Moody was a Junior Pan-American gold medalist in 2018 and is always a tough out in freestyle. Arizona State's All-American Josh Shields wrestled a close bout with Pantaleo at the LCQ before bowing out after a 2-2 showing. He'll have the opportunity to go far in this bracket. Postgrads, Luke Zilverberg and Quentin Perez, are also dangerous here. Some current collegiate wrestlers in the mix are Jared Franek and Phil Conigliaro. Frank was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher this year and made a pair of Junior freestyle finals in his hometown, Fargo. Conigliaro also always excels in freestyle, cracking the top-eight at the US Open in 2019 and making the U23 finals. Predictions 1st - Hayden Hidlay over Joey Lavallee 3rd - Phil Conigliaro over Jeremiah Moody 5th - Josh Shields over Quentin Perez 79 kg Lots of fun storylines at 79 kgs! First and foremost is the return of Isaiah Martinez. IMar was unable to compete at the Olympic Trials due to injuries, which is a shame as we saw him push Jordan Burroughs to a decisive third match in their Final X series. Martinez will have to be up to the task as there's no shortage of potential challengers for him this weekend. 2018 U23 World Team member David McFadden will be in the mix. McFadden competed at 86 kg for the Last Chance Qualifier, but this is a more natural weight for the four-time AA from Virginia Tech. He won this weight at the U23 tournament in 2020. One of the opponents that defeated McFadden at the LCQ is Taylor Lujan won five bouts at the tournament, before his elimination. Lujan had a breakout performance (freestyle-wise) in Flo's 195 lb eight-man bracket. He pinned Gabe Dean and cruised by Pitt head coach Keith Gavin to make the finals, opposite Myles Martin. We also have to mention Chance Marsteller, who went 1-2 at the Trials and picked up a win over Vincenzo Joseph. Marsteller has past world-level experience as a Cadet, back in 2012. As with some success on the Cadet level is Travis Wittlake. The 2021 NCAA four-place finisher captured bronze back in 2016. Two collegiate seniors from 2020 could make an impact, as well. Devin Skatzka and Dylan Lydy both clashed many times on in the Big Ten and may renew acquaintances. Skatzka actually pinned Lujan at the LCQ but went 2-2, overall. A curious entry here is Mason Manville, who has competed primarily in Greco of late. Manville was a Cadet freestyle world champion in 2014 and made the Senior team in Greco in 2017. Predictions 1st - Isaiah Martinez over Chance Marsteller 3rd - David McFadden over Taylor Lujan 5th - Travis Wittlake over Devin Skatzka 86 kg As with many of these Olympic weights, there isn't a huge field, but there are some intriguing matchups at 86 kg. Mark Hall is the most well-known name. The three-time age-group world champion was stopped at the Last Chance Qualifier by 2019 NCAA champ, Drew Foster. Foster is expected to compete here, as well. Hall did not compete often in freestyle while at Penn State, but has now moved to the rapidly improving Penn RTC and could be a factor by the 2024 Trials. Foster's win over Hall netted him third place at the LCQ; however, he was defeated in a true second-place bout. He was also selected to participate in Flo's 195 lb bracket, though he was beaten in the opening round by college foe Myles Martin. A pair of NC State teammates, Trent Hidlay and Nick Reenan, are two other contenders at this weight. Hidlay is a Junior World bronze medalist and Reenan was a Final X participant, opposite David Taylor in 2018. Hidlay also was unbeaten at the RTC Cup with wins over notables like Myles Amine, Sam Brooks, and...Foster. Predictions 1st - Trent Hidlay over Drew Foster 3rd - Mark Hall over Nick Reenan 92 kg Without the two-time world champion, J'Den Cox, this weight class is now up-for-grabs. Two of the biggest title threats have moved to this weight class in Kyven Gadson (down from 97) and Nate Jackson (up from 86). Gadson has made Final X in both years after its inception and has fallen to Kyle Snyder in both instances. He also secured a spot on the National Team with a first-period fall over Mike Macchiavello at the true third-place bout at the Olympic Trials. Kyven's lone loss at the tournament came to Ty Walz. However, he would avenge it in the Challenge Tournament consolation finals. Jackson has been the most active American wrestler since the COVID pandemic and has seen his stock rise significantly. In 2020, Jackson was a runner-up at Senior Nationals and a third-place finisher at Flo's 195 lb bracket. The only question is how he will adjust to the additional weight. Chattanooga grad Scottie Boykin barely missed out on a shot at the Trials. He was the runner-up at the Last Chance Qualifier, but was crushed in a true second-place bout by Wisconsin's freshman phenom, Braxton Amos. A pair of multiple-time college AA's in TJ Dudley and Willie Miklus could be threats, as well. One of Miklus' pupils at Michigan State, Cam Caffey, is quite formidable. Caffey was third at U23's in 2020, while competing down at 86 kg. Predictions 1st - Nate Jackson over Kyven Gadson 3rd - Scottie Boykin over TJ Dudley 5th - Willie Miklus over Cam Caffey 97 kg This weight was hurt by wrestlers going up and down in weight, so there aren't many familiar faces in the bracket. Austin Schafer has had some solid performances over the years. He was fourth at the Last Chance Qualifier and entered the event as the second seed. Wartburg's Kobe Woods was fourth at U23's in 2020 and is capable of challenging; however, Jacob Boyd, the wrestler that defeated him for third at that event, is also looming. Another non-DI wrestler to keep an eye on is Evan Hansen. Evan was a four-time national champion for NAIA power Grand View. South Dakota State's Nate Rotert represents another postgraduate that is expected to have a strong impact. Rotert was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher in 2018 after receiving the eighth seed. From the current collegiate crop is Isaac Trumble of NC State. Trumble took the collegiate world by storm after pinning eventual NCAA runner-up Nino Bonaccorsi; however, Trumble did not start in the postseason after losing a wrestle-off to Reenan. Predictions 1st - Austin Schafer over Nate Rotert 3rd - Isaac Trumble over Jake Boyd 5th - Kobe Woods over Evan Hansen 125 kg We'll end on a high note as the heavyweight class is a host of heavy hitters. Most notable two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwaizdowski who announced earlier this week he would be in action this weekend and for the foreseeable future. Despite his Trials losses, to Gable Steveson, Gwiazdowski has been a mainstay at the weight for the entire last quad. One of his primary challengers during that span, Dom Bradley, will be in action. The 2019 Senior National champion and Junior World champion fell to Gwiz in the Trials semis, 6-0. A contender that has moved up to 125 lbs is Ty Walz. Walz and Gwiazdowski clashed many times in the ACC, while in college, but Walz has spent most of his career at the Senior level competing at 97 kg. Walz has been near the top of the heap for the bulk of that time. He should do the same at 125. Also moving up is youngster Lucas Davison. The 197 lber from Northwestern was a Junior World silver medalist in 2019 at 92 kg. One has to wonder if this is a sign of things to come next year on the collegiate scene. One of the elite NCAA talent's at 285 lbs is set to compete here in Tony Cassioppi. In his first opportunity to compete at national's, Cassioppi took third. He was a two-time Triple Crown winner during high school and even had wins over Mason Parris in freestyle. One more college heavyweight of note is Matt Stencel. The Central Michigan star had an off-key NCAA Tournament but has been among the elite wrestlers at the weight for the last three seasons. Two top postgrads are Demetrius Thomas and Derek White. Thomas was a two-time ACC champion for Pitt, while White was a national finalist in 2019. Predictions 1st - Nick Gwiazdowski over Dom Bradley 3rd - Ty Walz over Tony Cassioppi 5th - Derek White over Demetrius Thomas

While the NCAA wrapped up their tournaments back in March, the NJCAA held their national tournament last week. The junior college ranks often feature a mixture of wrestlers who will go on to compete at various levels of the NCAA and NAIA. This year's tournament featured a wrestler that fans may end up seeing on the World's largest stage in the near future. Chinzorig Tsermaa of Northwest Kansas Tech entered the NJCAA tournament at 141 pounds as the 11th seed. However, it quickly became apparent that he was anything but the typical double-digit seed. His presence in the bracket promptly caught the attention of InterMat's international guru Seth Petarra. Northwest Kansas Tech is a small two-year college located in Goodland, Kansas. With a population under 5,000, the city is the county seat of Sherman County and sits near the Colorado border. One of its main attractions is an 80-foot high reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's painting 3 Sunflowers in a Vase. On April 24, 2020, Northwest Tech announced via Facebook that Tsermaa was joining the program "for one year to study in America." The post featured a graphic with the expected graphic featuring "signed" in big block letters. Below that, in much smaller print, the graphic indicated that Tsermaa was from Dornogovi Province, Mongolia. The province is located in the Gobi desert in the southeast corner of the country and along the border with China. It is also roughly 7,000 miles from Kansas. Luckily for Tsermaa he would not be alone in the new country. His older brother Chinges was already a member of the squad. Per head coach Chris Guillot, that relationship significantly contributed to the recruitment of Tsermaa and his overall success. "Chinzorig ended up at NWKTC to spend time and train with his older brother," Guillot said. "Chinges is a mentor and protector to Chin. They have a deep bond full of love and respect for one another. Chinges works on small technical details, and they are great workout partners." While Tsermaa listed learning English on the fly as one of the most challenging adjustments, he arrived on campus already fluent in the language of wrestling. He has already represented Mongolia at both the Asian and World Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2019 U23 Asian Championships and placed fifth at the 2019 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix. Tsermaa vs. 2019 Junior and U23 silver medalist Adlan Askarov (Kazakhstan) Much like Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) and Anthony Echemendia (Ohio State), who also transitioned to folkstyle after accolades in freestyle, Tsermaa had some trouble adjusting to the bottom position. However, by the end of the season, he appeared to have figured it out. At the NJCAA tournament, he won all five of his matches and the title at 141 pounds. He scored 31 takedowns and did not allow an opponent to score a single one. Tsermaa's closest match came in the semifinals against Marckis Branford. The Clackamas wrestler scored an early reversal and tried to take advantage of the freestylers' bottom game. However, Tsermaa was up to the challenge and pulled out the victory. "Bradford was ready to wrestle and did all he could to keep Chin down," Guillot. "We had worked hard on getting our arms caught underneath us, never felt in danger of being turned, but it was a good ride. He just needed to stay patient." With an NJCAA title under his belt, Tsermaa is ready to return to Mongolia and his freestyle roots. "Chinzorig was going to stick around, but with the World Championships in October, he will be leaving in late July to try to make the World team for Mongolia," his coach explained. "He then plans to train in Mongolia and Dagestan, Russia, over the next three years to win Olympic and World gold medals." With the success of the Tsermaa brothers, Guillot thinks that there will be more international competitors in the junior college ranks going forward. "The chances are high," he said. "We can learn a lot from each other. We learn a tremendous amount from the neutral position from the internationals. It is not easy to coach internationals to learn our sport in a year or two. They have the advantage on the feet, and we have a big advantage on top and bottom. Hard work and dedication are the big things. Chin, without the work on top and bottom, would not have won in the semifinals." In addition to Tsermaa, NWKTC also won the NJCAA title at 184 pounds with Jacari Deal, and the squad finished in seventh place with four All-Americans. Even with their 141 pounder returning to Mongolia, the team looks poised for another strong season next year. "We are excited about the finish this year in our first full season as coaches," Guillot explained. "We have been able to put an incredible staff together that believes in the mission of our school and wrestling program. We are dedicated as a staff to always grow, keep our program diverse and bring in quality young men and ladies to reach their goals. Our administration has stood behind our goals and let us put together a coaching staff that is second to any in the county. With myself as head coach, Lelund Weatherspoon as head assistant, Ben Kritsonis as a second assistant and part-time assistant Ramico Blackmon, we want to give what we have inside of us to our wrestlers and help them meet their potential. Our goal is to win a national title at NWKTC."

This Friday, many of the top stars in the Greco-Roman world will be in action from Coralville, Iowa, as 2021 Senior Nationals takes place. The entire Greco tournament will be held on Friday. Even though the Olympics will be held later this summer, there will also be a World Championship event from Oslo, Norway, in early October. This event is the first step towards qualification for the World Championships. The top-five wrestlers from Senior Nationals will lock up a place at the World Team Trials in September. Anyone who competed at the Olympic Trials already has punched their ticket, as well. With the Olympics only having six weight classes (boo!), plenty of wrestlers had to make significant cuts to find a weight class. Now that we're focusing on the World Championships, with ten weight classes in contention, there are plenty of men that will be testing out new weight classes in Coralville. Here is a preview of the action that will go down on Friday, along with picks for the top-two finishers. Entries are as of Tuesday afternoon and could be subject to change. 55 kg There should be a distinct favorite at 55 kg as 2019 World Team member Max Nowry is among the entrants. During his first Senior World appearance, in 2019, Nowry wrestled for a bronze medal, but ended up short. Nowry was forced to move up to 60 kg for the Olympic Trials, where he ended up taking fourth in the Challenge Tournament. 55 kg has been Nowry's best weight as he has three Pan-American Championships under his belt here. One of the top contenders has to be Dalton Duffield. Dalton was a U23 World Team member in 2018 and took silver at the Dave Schultz Memorial in early 2019. Another key player in this bracket is Brady Koontz. Brady has made World Teams at the Cadet, Junior, and U23 levels. Duffield and Koontz met in the 2019 World Team Trials, a series won by Koontz, which allowed him to face Nowry at Final X. Prediction Max Nowry over Brady Koontz 60 kg Dalton Roberts is the most seasoned competitor in this bracket on the Senior level, but he still will get pushed by some young talent. Roberts competed at the Senior World Championships while he was only 22 in 2018. He also has made a pair of Junior and U23 World Teams. His best stretch came in 2018, before World's when he was top-three at the Cerro Pelado, the Bill Farrell, and the Grand Prix of Germany. One of the more pleasant surprises on the Greco front from 2020 was Nebraska's national qualifier, Alex Thomsen. Thomsen was seeded ninth at Senior Nationals and knocked off Taylor LaMont in the second round, before grabbing two more wins and the tournament title. The Husker was not quite as successful at the Last Chance Qualifier, where he finished fourth, but was unable to lock in a spot at the Trials. A semifinalist at Senior Nationals, on the other half of the bracket, was Dylan Koontz. He ended up sixth and then went 1-2 at Last Chance. A young competitor to watch at this weight is King Sandoval. He was a Fargo Junior finalist in 2018 and earned a Cadet Pan-American bronze medal in 2017. Prediction Dalton Roberts over Alex Thomsen 63 kg Here's another example of notable wrestlers changing weight post-Trials as Randon Miranda is up from 60 kilos at the Trials. He was held without a win in a very deep weight. Miranda is trying to make his first Senior World Team after earning a spot on two Junior and one U23 squad. He was also the second seed in the Senior National bracket that was turned on its head by Thomsen. Miranda ended up fifth. While it may be difficult to foresee anyone in the field challenging Miranda, some other notables include David Stepanian and Matthew Floresca. Stepanian notched three wins at the Last Chance Qualifier and Floresca won two at Senior Nationals in 2020. Also, don't discount Lillashawn Coleman of the Army WCAP. Coleman was seventh in a deep 60 kg weight class at Senior Nationals in 2019. Predictions Randon Miranda over Lillashawn Coleman 67 kg The next two weight classes are two of the deepest and most wide open in the entire Greco-Roman portion of the tournament. Of the bunch, Nolan Baker progressed the deepest into the Olympic Trials, as he was fourth in the Challenge Tournament. The former Northern Illinois wrestler can end a match instantly with his headlocks and has been busy over the last year. He was also fifth at Senior Nationals and fourth at U23's in 2020. Another Trials participant here is Alston Nutter. The 2019 Junior World bronze medalist garnered a win before getting eliminated by Baker. Colton Rasche also competed in the Trials, though he was held without a win. Earlier this year, Rasche traveled to France and was in action at the Henri Deglane. A pair of capable competitors that participated in the Last Chance Qualifier, but were not able to clinch a spot in Forth were Hayden Tuma and Jessy Williams. Tuma has been a part of the Cadet and Junior World teams on two occasions. He also has made the Bill Farrell finals twice. Williams made the LCQ finals and was sixth at Senior Nationals after losing by fall to Baker in his final bout. Morgan Flaherty also won three matches at the LCQ, but suffered losses to Tuma and Benji Peak. Predictions Nolan Baker over Hayden Tuma 72 kg There's a large group of competitors that could come away with the title at 72 kg. Both Jamel and Xavier Johnson are US Marine Corps teammates that made Final X in 2019. Xavier was at 63 kg and Jamel was at 67. Both were in the 67 kg bracket at the Olympic Trials in early April. Xavier advanced to the Challenge Tournament semifinals before losing to Ellis Coleman. He regrouped to take third. During the consolations, both were slated to meet, though Jamel ended up forfeiting. The Marines have two contenders, so we need to have one from the Army in Michael Hooker. Hooker teched Nolan Baker in his opening match at the Trials, but proceeded to drop his next two. He was also sixth in a 2019 Senior National weight that included both Johnson's. He downed Jamel on the front side, but lost to both in the consolations. This bracket also includes Austin Morrow, who competed at the Trials at 77 kg. He clinched a spot by winning the Last Chance Qualifier and defeating the eventual Trials Champion, Jesse Porter, in the finals. Collegiate fans will be familiar with Purdue national qualifier Griffin Parriott. Parriott was a Fargo Junior champion in Greco and came from the famous PINnacle school in Minnesota. Predictions Xavier Johnson over Austin Morrow 77 kg There's a little more uncertainty at 77 kg, but Alec Ortiz and Britton Holmes could be two of the men to beat. The pair squared off in the quarterfinals of the Last Chance Qualifier. Though losing at the time, Ortiz was able to secure a fall and advance. He fell in his next bout and was unable to qualify for the Trials. Ortiz was also third at Senior Nationals in 2020, with his only loss coming to teammate Pat Smith in the semifinals. Holmes ended up reeling off four straight wins after his LCQ loss to Ortiz, though it was not enough to punch a ticket to Fort Worth. A name that has found the top-eight at most recent events is Fritz Schierl. Fritz was seventh at Senior Nationals and fifth at U23's in 2020. Also placing at both tourney's were Ryan Epps and Eddie Smith. The most unusual entry for this bracket is two-time Lock Haven All-American Chance Marsteller. Chance has a Fargo Greco title to his name but hasn't competed in the discipline in almost a decade. Predictions Alec Ortiz over Fritz Schierl 82 kg After a move down to 77 kg for the Olympic year, it looks as if we'll see Ben Provisor back at 82 kg. He seems like a strong favorite here and has an extraordinary list of credentials. Provisor made the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Teams and was a World team member in 2017. He also has a pair of Pan-American Championships to his credit, one of which came in freestyle in 2018. But, the opponent who stopped Provisor at the Olympic Trials this year, Peyton Walsh, is among the field. Walsh had quite the run teching Provisor, 12-4, and edging Jacob Fisher to earn a place in the Trials finals. Also in the field is George Sikes, who was a 2018 U23 World Team member. Sikes is coming down to 82 after competing at 87 kg and finishing third at last year's U23 tournament. Prediction Ben Provisor over Peyton Walsh 87 kg The only participant in this bracket from the Olympic Trials is Spencer Woods, who fell in a tight first-round bout, but battled back for third in the challenge tournament. Woods had a 2019 that saw him make the finals at the Bill Farrell Memorial. Some others that could challenge Woods include Tommy Brackett, the winner of the 82 kg bracket at U23's last year. Brackett picked up four wins at the Last Chance Qualifiers, but still came up shy of a Trials bid. Other names to remember from strong programs are Joel Nivar of the Marine Corps and Lukas Poloncic of the Minnesota Storm. Poloncic won four bouts at the LCQ, while Nivar had one. Also entered in both styles is NC State's 197 lb NCAA qualifier Nick Reenan. Reenan has always been known for having a nasty headlock and good hips, so he could be a wild card. Prediction Spencer Woods over Tommy Brackett 97 kg While Dan Miller is the most accomplished Greco practitioner of this group, he has a host of other credible entrants to worry about. For most of the last quad, Miller has gone back and forth with Lucas Sheridan, for second at this weight, behind Olympian G'Angelo Hancock. Miller was a Senior National champion in 2019 and was a runner-up at the World Team Trials that same year. At the Olympic Trials, Miller fell to Sheridan for third place in the Challenge Tournament. The 2020 Senior National champion is here as well, with Nicholas Boykin. Boykin was a Challenge Tournament finalist and lost to Sheridan for a place on the National Team. He was also a Junior World Team member in 2019, before taking fourth at Senior's. Arizona State's Chad Porter is another Junior World Teamer at this weight. He also made the U23 team in 2019. Porter was denied a shot at the Trials after losing to veteran Jake Clark in the semis of the Last Chance Qualifier. James Souza, the third-place finisher in that bracket, has entered here, too. Predictions Dan Miller over Nicholas Boykin 130 kg We could see a rematch from the semifinals of the Last Chance Qualifier at 130 kgs. At that event, Thomas Helton edged Lee Herrington, 1-1. Helton would later need to win a true second-place bout to secure his spot at the Trials. While he went 0-2, Helton gained valuable experience against Olympian Adam Coon in his opening bout. Herrington was the winner in 2020 at the U23 event after ending his finals bout with a first-period fall. There are also a couple of former DI national qualifiers in this bracket with Rider's Mauro Correnti and North Dakota State's Brandon Metz. Predictions Thomas Helton over Lee Herrington

Today is one of the most anticipated days of the year on the sporting calendar and it has nothing to do with an actual game or match. It's NFL Draft Day! Why the NFL Draft on a wrestling website? Why not? Let's have some fun! Earlier this year, as I was reading one of the hundreds of NFL Mock Draft's I tweeted something to the effect of, "There is nothing more useless and inaccurate than an NFL Mock Draft, yet I will read them all." Someone replies and said you could say the same about wrestling rankings and pre-tournament predictions. Touche. Since football is the most popular sport in the country (after wrestling, of course), there are plenty of wrestling people who double as hardcore football fans. Instead of the InterMat staff publishing an NFL Mock Draft, we decided to get people from all walks of the wrestling community involved in our little bit of fun. There are some wrestlers, coaches, wrestling media members, fans, an SID, along with an athletic administrator who got in the mix and made picks for their favorite teams. So were these picks serious or a joke? Well, there were no ground rules, so a couple of our guest "GMs" may have had some fun with their respective selections. Most picks came with a rationale behind their choice, too, just like an actual mock draft. 1) Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence-Clemson (QB) "There's no suspense here. Trevor Lawrence has been regarded as perhaps the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck in the 2012 NFL draft. Lawrence can do it all and should be a cornerstone for new head Urban Meyer. He'll instantly become the face of a franchise for a team who has desperately needed one for years" - Earl Smith (InterMat) 2) New York Jets: Zach Wilson-Brigham Young (QB) "If they were smart, they'd go with Justin Fields (Ohio State) because you should never trust a school that doesn't have wrestling. Remember this is the Jets we're talking about" - Matt Valenti (Associate AD; University of Pennsylvania; 2x NCAA champion) 3) San Francisco 49ers: Justin Fields-Ohio State (QB) "He can move in the pocket and run the ball, but also drop back and throw it. He reminds me of Cam Newton with a better arm and better decision-making" - Nate Engel (Assistant Coach; Oregon State) 4) Atlanta Falcons: Trey Lance-North Dakota State (QB) "Matt Ryan is on his way out whether it comes this year or next and there aren't many times a franchise gets the chance at a top-five pick. Lance has all the goods. He's big, fast, has a strong arm, and takes care of the football. (30 TD's to 1 INT in his last two years)" - Jacob Hewgley (MatGeeks on Rokfin) 5) Cincinnati Bengals: Penei Sewell-Oregon (OT) "The Bengals drafted their franchise quarterback with the number one pick last year in Joe Burrow. He went down with a torn ACL after looking the part of an elite QB. The Bengals need to prioritize protecting him and Sewell is the best option to do so" - Ben Watson (Host - The Inside Trip podcast) 6) Miami Dolphins: Kyle Pitts-Florida (TE) "Best non-QB in the draft. The Dolphins WR room isn't as bad as advertised and Pitts/Mike Gesicki will create a ton of mismatches. Pitts is a pass catcher, not just a TE" - Joe Esposito (@jespo134) 7) Detroit Lions: Micah Parsons-Penn State (LB) "He's an animal on the field, tweets about wrestling, has a crazy-fast 40 time for a linebacker, and can do it all at a need position for the Lions. Best Linebacker in the draft" - Kevin Claunch (Host - Bloodround podcast) 8) Carolina Panthers: Mac Jones-Alabama (QB) Wait… .we've got a trade. Carolina and San Francisco have swapped quarterbacks at the request of Carolina's General Manager. Mac Jones will go to the 49ers and Carolina will take Justin Fields. "Even though Fields is two inches shorter, he has similar characteristics to Cam Newton in his ability to extend plays. He's dynamic and mobile with a lot of accuracy. He'll fit in well with Christian McCaffrey and help us get to another Super Bowl" -Michael Macchiavello (2018 NCAA champion/Wolfpack WC) 9) Denver Broncos: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah-Notre Dame (LB) "We really need a QB, though" - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 10) Dallas Cowboys: Patrick Surtain II-Alabama (CB) "Best CB in the draft and Dallas needs help defending the passing game and overall on the defensive side of the ball" - Tony Ramos (Associate Head Coach - North Carolina) 11) New York Giants: Jamarr Chase-LSU (WR) "Chase will bring pure electricity to this dormant offense. With the addition of Golladay and Saquon coming back from injury, Danny Dimes has nuclear weapons at his disposal" - Joe Dubuque (Assistant Coach - Princeton) 12) Philadelphia Eagles: Asante Samuel Jr. - Florida State (CB) We're getting a little nostalgic as Samuel's father, by the same name, was a cornerback for the Eagles from 2008-11. - Kevin McGuigan (Philly Wrestling) 13) Los Angeles Chargers: Christian Darrisaw - Virginia Tech (OT) "The Chargers found their franchise QB last year with Justin Herbert; they just need to keep him upright going forward. That's where Darrisaw comes in. Good athletic ability for a lineman, especially in the run game" - Earl Smith (InterMat) 14) Minnesota Vikings: Alijah Vera-Tucker - Southern California (G/OT) "Since the highest graded Minnesotan, Trey Lance, is off the board and it's probably too early to draft Gopher Rashad Bateman, I guess the Vikings will draft for a position of need. With the 14th pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Minnesota Vikings select Alijah Vera-Tucker tackle/guard from USC. He is a versatile player and will be a much-needed upgrade on the offensive line" - Cody Arnold (@CodyOcho5) 15) New England Patriots: Devonta Smith - Alabama (WR) "I'm thrilled to select Devonta Smith. The Patriots have missed on wideout after wideout, but with Smith falling, this is a no-brainer. There are questions about his size, but no player in college consistently generated the separation Smith did at Alabama. The Patriots love versatile players and Smith brings exciting possibilities to this offense in both the slot and out wide" - Dylan Ryan (Duke Wrestling 2011-15, @rhino184) 16) Arizona Cardinals: Jaycee Horn - South Carolina (CB) "With the departure of Patrick Peterson, the Cardinals desperately need help at the cornerback position" - (Denis Ryan - Arizona/Columbia Wrestling, @denisryan52) 17) Las Vegas Raiders: Trevon Moehrig - TCU (S) "My beloved Oakland Raiders skid to the finish line in 2020 after starting the season looking like a formidable playoff contender. They are close to being an upper-echelon team, like half the other teams on any given Sunday. I think offensive tackle is in need of an upgrade, and 315 lb Christian Darrisaw of VT would be great, but he's off the board. So, ultimately the Raiders turn to Safety Trevon Moehrig of TCU, as he's one of the best overall players still available. He is a playmaker and has the size and range to play. The Raiders need to improve on some dismal defensive performances from a year ago, and will look to Moehrig for immediate help" - Kevin Roberts (RobertsWrestling.com) 18) Miami Dolphins: Rashawn Slater - Northwestern (OT) "Miami needs to continue to build a wall in front of Tua, and can't pass up top 10 value at 18" - Joe Esposito (@jespo134) 19) Washington Football Team: Caleb Farley - Virginia Tech (CB) "You could make a case that the 7-9 Football Team hurt themselves by winning late last season and making the playoffs. But I'll take the division title no matter what the record. That being said, we don't draft until #19. I winced every time an analyst gave us a defensive player. We're LOADED on defense. But the way the projections (and this mock itself) are, there's no sure thing at Wide Receiver (I'm skeptical of both Jaylen Waddle and Kadarius Toney), no uber stud O-Lineman (Slater was taken the pick prior), and all the franchise QB's are gone. So give me Caleb Farley, who, if not for injury concerns, would be the consensus #1 Corner in the draft. The guy's a unicorn. At 6'2, 207lbs, he was recorded during a game at 24.1mph. You know the fastest time Tyrek Hill EVER registered? 22.3! No one's scoring on us next year" (Willie) 20) Chicago Bears: Greg Newsome II - Northwestern (CB) "Let's keep this Northwestern stud in the 2nd city. He gave up just one reception over 10 yards in 2020 and is praised for how quickly he reacts to routes. You can always use another CB and help replacing Kyle Fuller" - Tommy Baranoski (Host - Bloodround Podcast) 21) Indianapolis Colts: Kwity Paye - Michigan (Edge) "Kwity Pay is a fast and powerful player that fits one of the Colts biggest current needs in an edge rusher. Paye is built like former Colts great, Dwight Freeney, and could slide into Matt Everflus' aggressive defense nicely. Has consistently been named one of Michigan's hardest workers, and when you match that with his other traits, it suggests he could be a future impact player" - Austin Early (Host - Changing Levels Podcast/InterMat Big Ten correspondent) 22) Tennessee Titans: Jaylen Waddle - Alabama (WR) "The Titans need some more wideout options to give them diversity as opposed to just running the ball with Derrick Henry. Jaylen Waddle may slip by because he's coming off an injury. And remember, the Titans have a history with 'Bama players" - Cody Cleveland (Chattanooga All-American) 23) New York Jets: Teven Jenkins - Oklahoma State (OT) Jake Aferiat (Daily Collegian) 24) Pittsburgh Steelers: Najee Harris - Alabama (RB) "Steelers haven't had a true RB1 who can carry the load since Le' Veon Bell and it's a huge need. Ben can carry them anymore and they rushed for less than 55 yards in seven of the last 11 games last season and the team collapsed. As the running game goes, so do the Steelers. Harris helps make them a far more complete offense and his style of running fits the franchise" - Mason Beckman (Rudis/Lehigh two-time All-American) 25) Jacksonville Jaguars: Elijah Moore - Mississippi (WR) "You've got a nice new shiny toy in top-overall pick Trevor Lawrence; you may as well get him a friend. Elijah Moore is an excellent weapon out of the slot and has the toughness you like despite not having ideal size" - Earl Smith (InterMat) 26) Cleveland Browns: Zaven Collins - Tulsa (LB) J Jaggers (Associate Head Coach - Ohio State) 27) Baltimore Ravens: Christian Barmore - Alabama (NT) Baltimore's DLine stinks. It stinks. Their best player in the unit is Calais Campbell, who was drafted two months after J Jaggers beat Chad Mendes. Jesus. Barmore will be the next Campbell. He's by far the best interior DL in the draft. (Willie) 28) New Orleans Saints: Rondale Moore - Purdue (WR) "It's a win from every angle. The Saints have been searching for another WR to take the pressure off of Michael Thomas and the last time they picked up a Boilermaker, it worked out pretty well for them. Moore has incredible big-play potential and Sean Payton will find ways to get him the ball in space" - Tanner Lipsett (Purdue - Sports Information Director) 29) Green Bay Packers: Rashod Bateman - Minnesota (WR) "Aaron Rodgers finally gets his WR! Bateman brings size, speed, and productivity to a high-powered Packers offense. Aaron Rodgers is all smiles after this pick" - Cory Kundert (@CKundert10) 30) Buffalo Bills: Azeez Ojulari - Georgia (Edge) "The Bills front seven needs to get younger and more dynamic and Ojulari fills this need. He is aggressive, has high football IQ and a frame to build on" - Scott Green (Head Coach - Wyoming Seminary) 31) Baltimore Ravens: Gregory Rousseau - Miami (DE) I'm going back to the DL. Who the heck drafts two DL's in the first round? I sincerely don't care. The Ravens unit is that bad. Kiper's 3rd best DE is here, and that's a steal. (Willie) 32) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jayson Oweh - Penn State (Edge) "I'll be flying to Tampa on Thursday to personally oversee what's going to happen at One Buccaneer Place. Since we can probably get wrestler Osa Odighizuwa of UCLA in a later round, I'm waffling between Washington's Levi Onwuzurike, Penn State's Jayson Oweh, and Clemson's Travis Etienne. The Bucs' own experts seem to think those are the top choices at the 32nd position in the first round, which, as you know, go to the Super Bowl CHAMPION Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Washington doesn't have wrestling, so Onwuzurike is out. I don't trust Jayson's, since they spell their names with unnecessary Ys. I also can't go with Etienne because the RB by committee, coupled with the fact Clemson has no wrestling, eliminates him from contention. Screw it, the Bucs can make that D even more fearsome with Oweh, so he's the pick. He went to Blair Academy and Penn State. He might not be a wrestler, but he's as close as you can get without actually wrestling simply by proximity!" - Jason Bryant (Mat Talk Online)

(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This Friday, many of the top stars in the women's freestyle world will be in action from Coralville, Iowa, as 2021 Senior Nationals takes place. The entire women's tournament will be held on Friday. Even though the Olympics will be held later this summer, there will also be a World Championship event from Oslo, Norway, in early October. This event is the first step towards qualification for the World Championships. The top-five wrestlers from Senior Nationals will lock up a place at the World Team Trials in September. Anyone who competed at the Olympic Trials already has punched their ticket, as well. With the Olympics only having six weight classes (boo!), plenty of women had to make significant cuts to find a weight class. Now that we're focusing on the World Championships, with ten weight classes in contention, there are plenty of women that will be testing out new weight classes in Coralville. We even have one Olympian (Jacarra Winchester) slated to wrestle above her Olympic weight. Here is a preview of the action that will go down on Friday, along with picks for the top-two finishers. Entries are as of Tuesday afternoon and could be subject to change. 50 kg Entrants: Alyssa Lampe (Sunkist Kids) Alleida Martinez (TMWC) Erin Golston (New York AC) Hannah Michael (Twin Cities RTC) Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez (McKendree Bearcat WC) Chloe Krebsbach (Grand View WC) The two favorites at this opening weight class are Alyssa Lampe and Erin Golston. Lampe made the National Team by winning a true-third place match at the Olympic Trials. Along the way, the two-time World bronze medalist pinned two of the top contenders at this weight, Golston and Alleida Martinez. Earlier this year, at the Captain's Cup, Lampe registered another win over Golston, 9-3. Golston won three matches at the Trials, but is still seeking to make her first World team at the Senior level. As a Junior, Golston captured a World silver medal and two bronzes. Martinez also has an impressive resume at the age-group level. She was a Cadet World silver and bronze medalist and competed on a pair of Junior teams. In the collegiate ranks, Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez was a third-place finisher this year at the NCWWC Championships. Predictions Alyssa Lampe over Erin Golston 53 kg Entrants Alisha Howk (Sunkist Kids) Alex Hedrick (TMWC) Vanessa Ramirez Arelys Valles (Grand View WC) A pair of women who have some international experience under their belt in Alisha Howk and Alex Hedrick should be the favorites in this small weight class. Hedrick has made a pair of Junior World Teams, while Howk has done so once as a Cadet and another time as a Junior. Each won three bouts at the Olympic Trials, at this weight class, but did not meet up. They hit at the Captain's Cup, earlier this year, and the bout went to Hedrick, 5-1. A pair of collegiate All-Americans will round out the weight with Vanessa Ramirez and Arelys Valles. Ramirez was fifth at the WCWA's in 2019, while Valles placed twice for University of The Cumberlands in 2015 and 2018. Predictions Alex Hedrick over Alisha Howk 55 kg Entrants Amy Fearnside (TMWC) Jacarra Winchester (TMWC) Areana Villaescusa (Army WCAP) Estrella Dorado Marin (Army WCAP) Samantha Klingel (Army WCAP) The most significant favorite at any women's weight this tournament will be Jacarra Winchester at 55 kg. Just a few weeks ago, Winchester secured a berth on the Olympic team by downing Ronna Heaton two-matches-to-none in their series at 53 kg. Winchester should have no problem up a couple of kilos as she won her 2019 world title in this class. While Winchester is a prohibitive favorite, there are a few other highly capable contenders in the bracket. Amy Fearnside competed in the Olympic Trials at 50 kg and has bumped up for the Open. She was a finalist in the Challenge Tournament at the Trials after pinning 2019 World Team member, Whitney Conder. Areana Villaescusa went 1-2 at the Trials, at 53 kg, and is a familiar face for Winchester. The two tangled in the 2019 US Open finals, a match Jacarra won by technical superiority. Samantha Klingel was a national champion for King University in 2016, while Estrella Dorado Marin was a two-time Fargo All-American. Predictions Jacarra Winchester over Amy Fearnside 57 kg Entrants Vayle Baker (Twin Cities RTC) Gabrielle Skidmore (Twin Cities RTC) Tateum Park (Twin Cities RTC) Sophia Smith Lauren Mason This weight class could be the most up-for-grabs on the women's side. There is a whole lot of familiarity between the competitors. Three women train at Augsburg's Twin Cities RTC, while Vayle Baker and Sophia Smith were high school teammates at Wyoming Seminary. The two renewed acquaintances at the Last Chance Qualifier and Smith got her hand raised after a 10-0 tech. Baker was a WCWA national runner-up in 2020, as was her teammate Gabrielle Skidmore. At the Last Chance Qualifier, Skidmore split matches with two-time WCWA All-American Lauren Mason. Mason finished third in the tournament and had the opportunity to wrestle for true second. Tateum Park was Iowa's Ms. Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year in 2020, before enrolling at Augsburg. Predictions Lauren Mason over Gabrielle Skidmore 59 kg Entrants Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Rise RTC) Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids) Megan Black (Army WCAP) Briana Kellin 59 kg could be the place with one of the best matches in the entire tournament. That is provided Xochitl Mota-Pettis and Maya Nelson both make the finals. Both are moving to 59 kgs after competing at a different weight during the Trials. Mota-Pettis was down at 57 kg, while Nelson was at 62 kg. Nelson is a two-time Junior World medalist, taking the bronze in 2016; before winning the whole tournament a year later. She also has made a pair of U23 teams. Mota-Pettis is typically a lock to put up a handful of points and is dangerous from any position. She outscored the competition at the Last Chance Qualifier 44-2. Two-time WCWA runner-up, Megan Black, could also make an impact. She earned a pair of wins at the Last Chance Qualifier, but was ultimately stopped short of earning a place at the Trials. Briana Kellin was an NAIA All-American this year at Life, but has spent the bulk of her career wrestling for King. Predictions Maya Nelson over Xochitl Mota-Pettis 62 kg Entrants Sierra Brown Ton (Twin Cities RTC) Gracie Figueroa (TMWC) Alex Liles (Army WCAP) Andrea Schlabach (Grand View WC) The two favorites at 62 kg are Gracie Figueroa and Alex Liles. Both have plenty of international experience on the age-group level. Figueroa has made three Cadet and two Junior world teams. In 2016, she was able to come away from Cadet Worlds with a bronze medal. Additionally, she was a WCWA national champion as a freshman at Menlo in 2019. Liles earned a spot on two Cadet World Teams and one Junior squad. She also has a pair of silver medals from the Dave Schultz and the Bill Farrell. These two met in the semifinals of the Last Chance Qualifier and it was Liles who grabbed a 5-3 win. The remainder of the weight class is rounded out by Andrea Schlabach and Sierra Brown Ton. Schlabach was a third-place finisher at NAIA's this year, as a sophomore. Brown Ton was a WCWA All-American in 2019, as a true freshman, for Colorado Mesa, but has since transferred to Augsburg. She entered the Last Chance Qualifier and notched a 2-2 record. Pick: Alex Liles over Gracie Figueroa 65 kg Entrants Jennifer Page (TMWC) Zoe Wight Obviously, with just two entries at this weight class, 65 kg should be easy to break down. Since action started again in 2020, Jennifer Page has been very active on Nittany Lion Wrestling Card's and in tournament action. Page was third in the Challenge Tournament at the Olympic Trials and, in late-2020, won Senior Nationals. At Senior's, she scored a win over eventual Olympic Trials runner-up, Macey Kilty. Zoe Wight is a graduate assistant at Life University, where she competed collegiately and twice made the WCWA Round of 12. Predictions Jennifer Page over Zoe Wight 68 kg Entrants Alyvia Fiske (TMWC) Rachel Watters (New York AC) Solin Pearcy (Menlo WC) Anna Naylor A solid group of experienced, young women will take the stage at 68 kg. One of the contenders is Alyvia Fiske, the 2019 US Open Champion at 72 kg and a Final X participant later that summer. Also that year, Fiske was third at WCWA's for Simon Fraser. Most probably pegged Fiske as someone who'd emerge from the Last Chance Qualifier to grab a spot at the Trials. She picked up a couple of wins before getting upset in the finals by high schooler, Kylie Welker. Since Welker ended up making the finals at 76 kg, that doesn't look like a bad loss. She was eliminated from the tournament in her next bout against Solin Pearcy. Pearcy was a 2019 WCWA national champion for Menlo and medaled three times at the event. Another collegiate national title-winner is in the group with Rachel Watters. Rachel also got on the podium two other times for Oklahoma City. Watters has made three Junior World Teams and a pair of U23 World Teams during her decorated career. In 2020, she was third at Senior Nationals and then competed at the Olympic Trials earlier this month. Finally, Anna Naylor was a two-time AA for University of The Cumberlands and is now an assistant at Life. Predictions Alyvia Fiske over Solin Pearcy 72 kg Entrants Skylar Grote (New York AC) Alex Glaude (TMWC) It's pretty cut-and-dry what we have going on at 72 kg with Skylar Grote and Alex Glaude, but it should be a solid matchup. Glaude was a two-time national champion for McKendree and earned a spot in Final X 2019. She was third at the Olympic Trials Challenge Tournament but dropped a match to Forrest Molinari for a berth on the National Team. Glaude has plenty of international experience, as she was a Junior World Team member in 2017 and a U23 World bronze medalist two years later. Grote was a second-place finisher at Senior Nationals and 2020 and the top seed at the Last Chance Qualifier. There she notched a win over Pearcy before running into phenom Kennedy Blades. Predictions Alex Glaude over Skylar Grote 76 kg Entrants Marylnn Deede (Twin Cities RTC) Dymond Guilford (TMWC) Precious Bell (TMWC) Emily Cue Hunter Robinson (Grand View WC) Ashley Lekas (Texas Pride) We've got one of the larger weights, in terms of participants, at 76 kg. The headliners are high school teammates Dymond Guilford and Precious Bell. The pair meet quite frequently with the last time coming at the Olympic Trials, where Guilford prevailed 14-1 in the consolations of the Challenge Tournament. Recently she also got the upper hand at the Captain's Cup, in the finals of 2020 U23's, and at Senior Nationals last year. Guilford was a Junior World Team member in 2018. Bell won the US Open in 2019 and then the World Team Trials, the same year, ensuring her a place in Final X, opposite Adeline Gray. If anyone may spoil another Guilford/Bell matchup, it could be 2016 Cadet World Team member Emily Cue. Emily also was a third-place finisher for Simon Fraser at the 2020 NCWWC Championships. Also in the field is Hunter Robinson and Ashley Lekas. Robinson was a fourth-place finisher at the 2021 NAIA National Championships for Grand View, while Lekas was a 2019 Texas state champion. Predictions Dymond Guilford over Precious Bell

(Photo/Sam Janicki; Sam JanickiPhoto.com) How many wrestlers hear their coach bark at them every day at some point, maybe many points, during practice : "You gotta work hard every day to be the best!"? How many coaches are guilty of using this phrase as a mechanism to get their athletes to give their best effort in a workout? What do coaches actually mean by working hard? Working hard is such a subjective concept that has different meanings to different people. For some, working hard is training at Austin Desanto's pace, and for others, it's somewhat slower. Not everyone is wired to train and wrestle at Desanto's pace. Could wrestlers and coaches be more efficient with their training if they trained smart, as opposed to just working hard? The purpose of this article is to differentiate between the concepts of working hard and training hard and smart to illustrate a better preparation model for wrestlers that they should be following in whatever cycle of training they are currently working in. Some coaches feel that working hard is training smart. Distinguishing between these concepts will also help the coach make practices much more effective and meaningful; instead of the wrestler going through the same motions day in and day out, they should strive to make every moment in a practice count. If it doesn't count, the motion is meaningless. Working Hard To the athlete, the idea of working hard focuses solely on output: number of reps, intensity of those reps, and energy throughout the practice. Working hard is a vague concept, other than the wrestler needing to get as many reps of a skill in a drill period at a very high intensity or pace, and use up as much energy as possible in the session. Working hard generally yields a significant weight loss by the end of practice, something too many wrestlers (and coaches) focus on. But working hard is not a concrete concept; it merely focuses on picking up the pace or intensity level of the workout. Shouldn't the purpose of a wrestling workout be something other than just working hard? Most wrestlers will tell you that they work hard in practice and give it their all, but did they actually improve as a wrestler during that session? Practice sessions that focus on the concept of working hard should take place the day before an event: the I need to cut a few pounds to make weight, workout, or used as a way to "shake things up" during the week to get the wrestler to build wrestling endurance, especially if the athlete gasses out at the end of a match. Simply having working hard practices every day won't help the individual improve on the things they lack; the end result is producing wrestlers who are in great shape, but make the same mistakes in competition. I was guilty of scheduling mostly working hard practices early in my coaching career. I felt that if my wrestlers were in better condition than their opponents, we could wear them down late in a match and grind out victories. Technique instruction took place early in the season, but adjustments were not addressed on a daily basis. Monday practices were work sessions to fix the mistakes made over the weekend. In retrospect, most of my wrestlers plateaued before the end of the season, because I did not consistently fix mistakes or add to their system of wrestling. It was all about getting in as many reps as possible, pushing the pace during live, and grueling conditioning activities at the end of practice. The working hard model of training does not benefit the whole; only athletes who fully embrace the grind of the model can find it as their best path to success. The rest of the team needs something else. There is nothing wrong with working hard in practice, but working hard should not be the only practice goal. Every coach wants to get the maximum output from their wrestlers every day, but if there isn't an opportunity to learn, fix, and correct technique, the wrestler will not make significant improvements. Creating a Culture to Focus on Improvement For the last thirteen years, I have been fortunate to coach in a program and work with coaches that strive for their athletes to improve every day in practice. We want our athletes to work hard, but at the same time, we focus on getting better every day. The coaching staff spends considerable time developing practice plans that address our bread and butter system, making fixes and corrections to the problem areas, all while expecting every athlete to be held accountable for working hard. This model has been pretty successful for our program. In twelve years, we have won six state titles and finished second six times, while reaching the top ten at the National Prep Wrestling Championships at Lehigh University each year. Many of our drives back to Richmond, VA, after competition, involve a lot of discussion about the things we need our athletes to improve upon for the upcoming week. We are brutally honest with each other and with our wrestlers in this regard because we want every single athlete on the roster to get better. This gives the coaching staff a framework to begin planning practices for the week. We realize that no wrestler ever reaches perfection on technique and there are always things to fix and improve upon. Training Smart Focuses the Athlete I like to use the term training smart for the model we use to focus the entire team on the correct mechanics of technique, constantly fixing mistakes, and working with them to develop focus and concentration in the teaching and learning process. Training smart does require hard work, but the main concept revolves around daily improvement and giving the best effort possible. Sure, there are periods in practices where we push the pace- especially in live wrestling, but we also incorporate time to slow things down and work on specifics of technique. The training smart model requires coaches who are extremely detail-oriented; if you have ever spent time watching Jeff Buxton teach, you know what I mean. Coach Buxton breaks down every aspect of a specific technique down, so the athlete understands the mechanics of the technique. Before coaching at my current school, I was more of a general concept coach: explaining technique in the broadest means possible so every kid would have an idea of what I am teaching. But since coaching with guys who are detail-oriented, I have adapted my teaching style to reflect the details. This has made me a more effective wrestling coach, and a better teacher in the classroom. Training smart requires the wrestler to have laser focus when the coach is teaching, so they understand every aspect of what is being taught. It also encourages the wrestler to ask questions, especially if they are unsure of the specifics. Far too many wrestlers watch what their coaches teach and accept it as perfect, even if they don't quite understand something. Training smart also allows the wrestler to learn how to drill correctly, giving their partner a good feel and not giving zero resistance while practicing. Making the drilling periods more realistic, in terms of resistance, pressure, and feel, provides the athlete with the opportunity to drill the technique correctly, so when faced with it in a match situation, they instinctively know what to do. Another positive benefit of training smart is developing communication skills between workout partners. If a wrestler is not getting the correct resistance and cooperation from their partner, they have to communicate this so their partner can adjust. Instead of getting frustrated with their partner, training smart requires wrestlers to compromise and do their best for their partner because drilling correctly will benefit both in terms of offense and defense. This concept helps both wrestlers improve and develop a rhythm that works for both sides. Athletes should reflect on their daily workouts by keeping a journal. Journaling is a great way for the wrestler to review practice and be honest with themselves about whether or not they just worked hard, trained smart, or something else. Furthermore, keeping a daily journal allows the wrestler to delve deeper into their effort during practice and what they can do to improve. Simply going through the motions of practice, just because the coach said to workout, does not provide the opportunity for growth and improvement. Coaches who use the training smart model are actively engaged in practice. They do not stand against the wall in silence. Rather, they circulate around the room, engaging with the athletes, correcting mistakes as they arise. They do not focus on "just' the best kids, but with the entire team. And while the focus may be different for different athletes, it gives every wrestler a sense of belonging and meaning. Training smart also includes activities like cardio-respiratory conditioning, strength training, and diet/nutrition in practice. Since wrestling is such a unique sport that requires multiple types of fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardio-respiratory endurance, and flexibility, it is essential that these are components in practice. There are plenty of activities that can be incorporated into practices that focus on the components of fitness; bodyweight activities such as rope climbing, push-ups, squat jumps, etc., are examples to add muscular strength and muscular endurance to practices. Proper nutrition and weight management need to be part of the training smart model. Most young wrestlers do not have a depth of knowledge about eating correctly and managing their weight, so they do not have to drop ten pounds in the days leading up to competition. If left to their own devices, many wrestlers will not eat food that will help them have energy to use for training smart and try to cut all of their weight in less than two days before a match, leading to underperforming and a lack of energy. Coaches who use the training smart concept will stress weight management over weight cutting, so the focus in practice can be on improvement. Wrestlers can and should work hard using the training smart model; maximum effort in every practice is essential. But making practices worthwhile in order for wrestlers to make improvements each day should be a primary focus of training. Coaches should strive for their athletes to learn and improve their fundamentals every day, regardless of whether they are the best or worst kid on the team. A central goal of wrestling should be to improve every day, fix things when improvements don't happen, and remain positive and working smart each day. Focusing on improvement should make the sport fun and will lead to success for all. There is much more to the training smart model. This article is a short introduction to the important concepts of training smart, as opposed to just working hard. Feel free to send me your thoughts about training smart. You can email me at: robinson.prebish@virginiawrestling.com

(Photo/Sam Janicki; Sam JanickiPhoto.com) Less than a week after elevating Mike Poeta to the head coach of Illinois' Fighting Illini the program received their first win on the recruiting trail. One of Illinois' top high school sophomores has decided to stay in-state and wrestle for the home team. Late last night, Kannon Webster (Washington, IL) announced via social media that he would wrestle for Illinois after his graduation in 2023. Webster is currently ranked 11th in the nation at 113 lbs by MatScouts and was an Illinois 2A state champion in 2020 as a freshman. Prior to his freshman year of high school, Webster was a third-place finisher at the Cadet World Team Trials in freestyle and Greco-Roman. Later in the summer of 2019, Webster went on to take third in Fargo in both styles in the 16U division. Last weekend, Webster was fifth at the Cadet WTT's while competing at 55 kg's. At this point, Webster looks to be a 125/133 lber for the Illini. That could certainly change as there will be more than two years before he officially steps on the campus for Poeta's team. Illinois is relatively young at their lightweights as 125 lb starter Justin Cardani was a sophomore in 2021 and All-American Lucas Byrd was a redshirt freshman at 133. The commitment from Webster could be symbolic for the early days of Poeta's regime. Most observers, including this one, stated that the first-year head coach would have to reel in a couple more big fish from within Illinois' border to climb up the Big Ten ranks.

Roman Bravo-Young moments after winning the 2021 NCAA championship (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Dreaming of becoming an NCAA champion is what drives most young wrestlers to continue to train past their personal setbacks, career-altering injuries, major losses and the grueling task of pushing your body and mind just beyond its breaking point. For Roman Bravo-Young, better known as RBY, becoming an NCAA champion wasn't even on his radar as a young wrestler. Instead, wrestling acted as a means of stability and survival, it was the one consistency in his life. (Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young) Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, where gangs and drugs thrive, RBY was no stranger to the streets or their struggles. When his dad left, he was forced to live in low-income housing with his brother and mother. However, soon after his little sister was born, his family was forced to move from house to house, living with different family members and friends. This meant often going without the very things so many of us take for granted, like a bed of our own, food on our table and running water or electricity. Gratitude for the small things, was a concept RBY learned at a very young age; it is this same concept of gratitude that he insists creates the winning culture at Penn State, "Cael and Cody teach us all to have a mindset of gratitude. We all are blessed to be in the position we are in and we don't take any of it for granted; we work hard to make every moment count and enjoy it while it lasts. Ultimately, we know everything we do is God's plan in motion. We won't always be wrestlers; Cael and Cody aim to make us great men." Gratitude and grace are recurring themes that seem to intertwine themselves with this phenom of a wrestler. Despite all of the struggles and adversity RBY has witnessed and overcome, he still finds peace with a purpose-filled calling over his life. We all know overcoming plays a significant role in wrestling. It's literally what produces grit and growth, which go hand in hand with a sport that is just as much a mental game, as it is a physical one. Maybe that's why RBY has seen so much success on the mat. Aside from being a 2021 NCAA Champion, he was the 2019 Junior Pan Am champ and three-time USAW Cadet National Champion. Clearly fighting was a way of life; in fact, for RBY, every day was a battle, "if I wasn't fighting my brother, I was fighting or getting in trouble in school. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to, until my coach, Sanchez, took me in to live with him." During Roman's 7th grade year, Sanchez, a well-known Arizona wrestling coach, saw something in RBY that he couldn't yet see in himself. Sanchez knew Roman could be successful, and not just on the mat, but in life. He wasn't the only one who recognized this greatness either. Other members of the wrestling community always seemed to provide for Roman when he needed it most. If that meant new wrestling gear or travel expenses paid, families were willing to, and even happy to pitch in as needed. Roman Bravo-Young in the midst of an undefeated HS career (Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young) By his freshman year in high school, RBYs commitment on and off the mat was evident. Coach Sanchez provided a roof over his head, safety and the stability every child seeks. Living with his coach allowed for the structure RBY needed to focus on schoolwork, and the guidance to help get him out of Tucson and away from the streets that slowly seemed to call so many others he grew up with. RBY recognized that wrestling was his way out of a drug-ridden city and used every opportunity within his grasp to get better, stronger, and faster. By his senior year, he was a Penn State commit with a perfect 182-0 record and four state titles under his belt. Once in college and starting for one of the most well-known and dominant wrestling programs in the past decade, RBY was able to recognize in himself what so many others previously saw within him. However, he was faced with what he felt was a responsibility to provide for those he left in Arizona. Every chance he had to step on a mat, was an opportunity to represent hope, to give back to those who sacrificed and gave so generously for him to be in this very position. Every clinic and camp was an opportunity to send money home to his mother and siblings. Early wrestling days for RBY (Photo courtesy of Roman Bravo-Young) For some of his teammates and opponents, wrestling at the DI level is merely a part of a lifelong dream, one they set their eyes on at a young age, determined to be the best, to prove themselves to their peers. But, for RBY, wrestling was still just a means of survival that allowed for a college education, housing, and food on the table. While proud of his effort and accomplishments in becoming an All-American as a freshman, RBY knew he had more to give and wasn't about to settle for eighth-place. As a sophomore, RBY continued to push himself in the classroom and on the mat. He believed he could become an NCAA National Champ and set out to do so until Covid cancelled the 2020 NCAA tournament. This roadblock didn't stop the determined wrestler, instead, it fueled him to continue the uphill battle. As he returned to Arizona for the first time in a while, RBY trained with anyone willing to get on the mat with him. When it was time to return to Penn State as a junior, although certain of his own abilities, RBY became skeptical of what the year would hold for the sport of wrestling. At no fault of his own, RBY was once again thrown into a situation that held so many uncertainties and lacked the consistency we all so deeply need. It was amid adversity that he and his teammates took the advice of their coach, and discovered a Truth that would never fail them, despite what was happening on the mat, on their campus, or in the world. These young men who came together because of their talents, and passion for the sport of wrestling, decided to begin their own Bible study where they tokened the phrase, "it's in motion." They aren't referring to their stance and motion, but rather God's plan, "whatever happens, whatever is going on, it's God's plan in motion," and that was enough for Roman; he knew whatever happened during this year of uncertainty and unpredictability, no matter how inconsistent, it was all a part of a bigger plan. With his teammate's encouragement, RBY sought to make life changes, focusing on the person he was becoming just as much as what he was doing on the mat, "It was a lifestyle change, a mindset switch. I didn't want to just follow God because it allowed for relief during a challenging point in my life. I wanted to change how I was living and why I lived that way, I wanted to grow in my relationship with Christ and that changed everything!" Anyone who is a fan of collegiate wrestling knows the path to becoming a DI NCAA Champion is treacherous, yet this tenacious young man, who has overcome adversity since a young age, set out to do what so many dream of and so few accomplish, "I look back and that moment I won nationals, I just was so overwhelmed because, for a split moment, I thought of that little boy living on section 8 housing waiting for the food stamps to eat so we could finally have some decent food instead of beans and rice...And I thought of that boy who did not even believe in going to college and realized, at that moment, I just won a national title and it was all Glory to God! Growing up, I thought wrestling was my only way to escape, but I realized the whole time I had God and no matter where I am, win or lose, He is with me." Wrestlers, especially this one, are built differently. When met with adversity and uncertainty, they don't run or make excuses; they tend to embrace the struggle and use it to create grit. In my opinion, wrestlers literally define what it means to persevere. For this talented wrestler, who once had to literally fight for a place in this world, a National title is just the beginning; RBY is currently training in San Diego with Dominick Cruz in preparation for his next fight, with plans to make his first Senior World Team at 61kg and return to Penn State to once again earn his chance at becoming a two-time NCAA champion. More importantly, he continues to pursue his goals to provide hope for all the children who come from similar backgrounds living in what seems like a hopeless situation, "I want to leave a legacy for myself and any other kids that need someone to look up to," and he plans to do just that while he connects with youth at various camps and clinics this summer.

2021 NCAA Consolation Finals between Keegan O'Toole and Travis Wittlake (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On Thursday, news broke to confirm a long whispered rumor that Missouri was on its way back to the Big 12 Conference. In the 2012-13 school year, Missouri's athletic department left the Big 12 for the SEC. The Tigers were forced to join the MAC, as a wrestling-only affiliate since the SEC does not have any other schools that sponsor the sport. During the Tigers run in the MAC, they have accounted for nine conference titles in nine tries and 40 individual conference championships. While Mizzou head coach Brian Smith has been able to secure some solid non-conference opponents, the Tigers haven't always faced the same level of competition competing in the MAC. That will change as Missouri is back in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State, who finished third at the 2021 NCAA Championships, along with traditional rivals like Iowa State and Oklahoma. Throw in others like Northern Iowa the handful of new faces that have joined in Missouri's absence and you have an extremely tough conference. So how does Missouri stack up against their new (old) rivals? The Tigers finished the 2021 regular season unbeaten in dual competition. Along the way, they crushed a handful of Big 12 teams. Iowa State, Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Wyoming, all failed to tally more than nine points against a loaded Tiger squad. So that brings us to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys racked 99.5 points, which was 35.5 more than seventh-place Missouri. So give Oklahoma State the edge there, but in dual competition, they are almost identical. Oklahoma State was also unbeaten in 2021. We've decided to delve deeper into a hypothetical dual between the schools in 2021. InterMat has picked winners at each weight, though we have deferred to actual results from 2021, if the wrestlers from each school met. Just for fun, we've also run the dual through the great site WrestleStat , which yielded some surprising results. 125 - Noah Surtin/Connor Brown (Missouri) vs. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) Missouri would have a couple of options in this hypothetical matchup. Connor Brown was well on his way to a strong seed at NCAA Championships; however, he was injured off the mat and lost for the season. His 6-2 mark saw him knock off three eventual national qualifiers. Both of his losses came at the hands of top-five seeds, #4 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) and Brody Teske (Northern Iowa). In each of those defeats, Brown took his opponent to sudden victory. With Brown out of the picture, Noah Surtin got the nod at the Cowboy Challenge and defeated Trevor Mastrogiovanni 9-6. The Cowboy freshman went on to win a pair of bouts in St. Louis, while Surtin went 1-2. But, using the head-to-head win for Surtin, we'll give this match to OSU. InterMat Pick: Surtin by decision; 3-0 Missouri WrestleStat: Surtin by decision; 3-0 Missouri 133 - Matt Schmitt (Missouri) vs. Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) On paper, this looks like one of the best matchups of the dual with the top-seeded 133 lber, Daton Fix, against number six, Matt Schmitt. It's a battle of the Big 12 and MAC champions. Even so, it's hard to envision a scenario where Schmitt is that close to Fix. Daton has amassed a 48-3 record in collegiate competition and two of those defeats came in the NCAA finals. In 2021, Fix wrestled 14 matches. He was able to roll up bonus points in 11 of his 13 wins, one of which was a pin of NCAA seventh-place finisher, Chris Cannon (Northwestern). Schmitt was in his first year competing officially for Missouri, as he transferred from West Virginia. That meant the two have squared off before and Fix was 3-0 in those contests. While Daton never broke the bonus point threshold against Schmitt, he did log a trio of one-sided decision on the then-Mountaineer. InterMat Pick: Fix by decision; 3-3 tie WrestleStat: Fix by major decision; 4-3 Oklahoma State 141 - Allan Hart (Missouri) vs. Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) 141 lbs was a problem for the Cowboys in 2021 as they lost two-time All-American, Kaid Brock, to a season-ending injury in mid-January and then Dusty Hone later in the year. That forced Kaden Gfeller to cut down to the weight for the first time at the Big 12's. Gfeller went 1-2 and did not qualify for nationals. On the other hand, Allan Hart really emerged as a force for the Tigers at a new weight class. A national qualifier in 2020 at 133, Hart rolled into the MAC Championships undefeated, though he had to settle for third at the event after getting his perfect record tarnished. As the sixth seed in St. Louis, Hart made it to the quarterfinals before suffering back-to-back losses to Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) and Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska). InterMat Pick: Hart by decision; 6-3 Missouri WrestleStat: Hart by decision; 6-4 Missouri 149 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) vs. Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) Here's a bout that would be one of the marquee attractions in a clash between Mizzou and Oklahoma State. Boo Lewallen eventually finished fourth in the country, while Brock Mauller was just behind him at number five. But looking deeper into it, the two have battled in each of the last two years, and both decisions went Mauller's way. Each contest was decided by the slimmest of margins as Mauller edged Lewallen this season in tiebreakers, 7-5, and in sudden victory in 2020. While there is a good chance that Lewallen bucks the trend and gets a win against Mauller, we'll stick with history and choose the Tiger. InterMat Pick: Mauller by decision; 9-3 Missouri WrestleStat: Mauller by decision; 9-4 Missouri 157 - Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) vs. Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) Both sides will be ready to fight over this one and really, each team could present a legitimate case for their respective 157 lber. Jarrett Jacques entered the NCAA tournament with a pair of losses on his resume, though both were to the eventual NCAA finalists. He still was granted the seventh seed, but was knocked off in the opening round by #26 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan). Jacques had majored him at the MAC Championships and picked up a win against him in dual competition. The Tiger battled through the consolations before getting eliminated by Brayton Lee in the Round of 12. Wyatt Sheets suffered a severe knee injury early in the 2021 campaign but fought through it and received a bid to nationals as a late-injury replacement and assumed the 33rd seed. Sheets also fought back through the consi's and even grabbed a win over Lovett in the process. That proved to be an All-American clinching win as he received a medical forfeit from Kendall Coleman (Purdue) in the Round of 12. If these two couldn't be any closer, consider that they've met once in 2019 and 2020, with Sheets winning the first bout and Jacques evening the score. If this match takes place in 2021, with a less-than-100% Sheets, we'll give Jacques the slight advantage. InterMat Pick: Jacques by decision; 12-3 Missouri WrestleStat: Jacques by decision; 12-4 Missouri 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) vs. Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) This was the matchup we saw in the NCAA third-place bout as true freshman Keegan O'Toole got by Travis Wittlake, 4-3. Both were probably a bit underseeded, as O'Toole was sixth and Wittlake tenth. In a typical season, O'Toole would have seen more top-flight competition and justified a better ranking. Wittlake was penalized for sudden victory loss to Luke Weber (North Dakota State) in the Big 12 finals; his only loss of the year, heading into nationals. The good news is that with O'Toole going into his second year at Mizzou and Wittlake being a redshirt sophomore, we'll have plenty of opportunities to see these two tangle for Big 12 and perhaps NCAA titles in upcoming seasons. InterMat Pick: O'Toole by decision; 15-3 Missouri WrestleStat: O'Toole by decision; 15-4 Missouri 174 - Peyton Mocco (Missouri) vs. Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Here's another one that will probably rile up both fanbases. Peyton Mocco was a MAC runner-up and received the tenth seed at nationals as that conference final was his only loss during the regular season. Mocco actually started the year at 165 lbs and grabbed a win over the Big 12 champion at the weight, Weber. He would beat three others that ended up qualifying for nationals. Dustin Plott was a true freshman in 2021 and was considered by many to be one of the top recruits in the Class of 2020. Plott was obviously slowed down by a shoulder injury and his 15-6 record wasn't truly representative of his talent. Provided he has a full recovery, this matchup could look completely different in 2021-22 or another year in the future. But looking at this hypothetical dual in 2021, you probably have to get the nod to Mocco. The two have similar records against common opponents, though the Tiger did major Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma), a foe that split matches with the Cowboy freshman. InterMat Pick: Mocco by decision: 18-3 Missouri WrestleStat: Mocco by decision; 18-4 Missouri 184 - Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) vs. Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) This is another extremely even matchup that could end up going either direction. Jeremiah Kent is yet another Tiger wrestler that cruised into the postseason with a zero in the loss column. Kent ended up as the MAC runner-up after getting pinned by Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) in the conference finals. Jeremiah was the ninth seed and went 2-2 before his elimination. One of his wins makes this matchup a little more challenging to predict. During the consolations, Kent downed the 10th seed, Tate Samuelson (Wyoming), a Big 12 runner-up. Samuelson was responsible for both of Dakota Geer's losses before the national tournament. Kent also defeated Samuelson in the regular season, too. Geer was seeded just behind Kent and Samuelson at 11. He rebounded from a second-round loss to wrestle back for fifth-place, his second time on the NCAA podium. Along the way, Geer defeated Taylor Venz (responsible for Kent's second-round loss) and Wilson, Kent's MAC finals opponent. The Cowboy was six points better than both foes. We've given Missouri the edge in a handful of these toss-up bouts, so Geer should get the nod here. InterMat Pick: Geer by decision; 18-6 Missouri WrestleStat: Geer by decision; 18-7 Missouri 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) These are a pair of blue-chip, true freshman All-Americans at 197 lbs, a rarity at the DI level. As everyone that follows college wrestling is aware, AJ Ferrari went on to win a national championship and has made himself one of the faces of the sport going forward, with his promotional skills on the microphone and his propensity to lose his shirt and flex. Kidding aside, Ferrari earned the right to flex after going 20-1 and knocking off world fifth-place finisher Myles Amine (Michigan) in the national semifinals, before shutting down Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) in the championship bout. At nationals, he downed the eventual 2nd-4th place finishers. The highest placewinner that Ferrari missed, was…..Rocky Elam. Rocky was unbeaten during the regular season and was granted the seventh seed as he did not meet any of the upper echelon 197 lbers. At nationals, Elam was upset in the first round by the 26th seed, Jake Woodley (Oklahoma). He wrestled all the way back to the fifth-place bout and avenged his loss to the Sooner, 9-3. The only other blemish on his rookie campaign came in sudden victory to Amine in the consolation semis. If you like getting into the common opponent's game, Elam has a win over Noah Adams (West Virginia), the only wrestler to defeat Ferrari at the collegiate level. On the other hand, Ferrari has three wins over Woodley, too. Take a look at who WrestleStat picked, though we're not that bold! InterMat Pick: Ferrari by decision; 18-9 Missouri WrestleStat: Elam by decision; 21-7 Missouri 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) vs. Austin Harris (Oklahoma State) At first glance, you have to give this bout Mizzou's Zach Elam! Zach was the 11th seed in 2021 and wrestled his way into the Round of 12 at the 2019 NCAA tournament as a true freshman. A year earlier, he took silver at the Junior World Championships. While his pre-NCAA record (10-4) was unsightly compared to the majority of his Missouri teammates, three of Elam's four losses came to wrestlers seeded in the top-seven this year. All signs point to Elam giving his team the win in this de facto Big 12 Champion. All except the fact that the two met in the consolations at the 2021 tournament and it was Harris who got the victory...by fall! That victory put Harris into the Round of 12, where he fell a match shy of All-American status. Pretty shocking for the 29th seed. Harris wasn't just a one-hit-wonder; he did manage to defeat returning All-American Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), a four-time MAC Champion, just to set up the match with Elam. Does lightning strike again??? InterMat Pick: Harris by fall; 18-15 Missouri (Missouri wins 18-15) WrestleStat: Elam by decision; 24-7 Missouri

195 lbs NHSCA Freshman National Champion Sawyer Bartelt (Photo/Jason Fulmore; SEWrestle.com) 2021 NHSCA Freshman National Placewinners 106 lbs placewinners 1st - Beric Jordan (OH) 2nd - Isaiah Quintero (CA) 3rd - Ethan Rivera (FL) 4th - Draegen Orine (MO) 5th - Matthew Marlow (NY) 6th - Peyton Ellis (RI) 7th - Bryson Valdez (NM) 8th - Porter Matecki (MO) 113 lbs placewinners 1st - Colby Crouch (IL) 2nd - Ryan Bennett (OH) 3rd - Mason Ziegler (PA) 4th - Tyson Sherlock (MD) 5th - Mason Kernan (PA) 6th - Brycen Arbogast (VA) 7th - Cooper Hornack (PA) 8th - Terry Langley Jr. (OH) 120 lbs placewinners 1st - Jake Crapps (GA) 2nd - Matthew Hart (OH) 3rd - Nick Jones (PA) 4th - Omar Ayoub (OH) 5th - Kyrel Leavell (IN) 6th - Michael Trujillo (AZ) 7th - Bryce Luna (CA) 8th - Blake Aumiller (PA) 126 lbs placewinners 1st - LJ Araujo (ND) 2nd - Mitchell Faglioni (VA) 3rd - Gabriel Bouyssou (RI) 4th - Gavin Linsman (MO) 5th - Andrew Wittenberg (FL) 6th - Bryce Griffin (IL) 7th - Gavin Bauder (CA) 8th - Chase Frameli (PA) 132 lbs placewinners 1st - Cameron Catrabone (NY) 2nd - Judah Aybar (MD) 3rd - D'mitri Alarcon (CO) 4th - EJ Parco (CA) 5th - Landon Desselle (TN) 6th - Tristin Greene (OH) 7th - Brandon Cody (FL) 8th - Austin Simmons (CA) 138 lbs placewinners 1st - Miguel Estrada (CA) 2nd - Ethan Birden (OH) 3rd - Jake Honey (CA) 4th - Tyler Bienus (NJ) 5th - Brent Nicolosi (MA) 6th - Luke Greiner (NY) 7th - Eli Murray (NC) 8th - Brandon Bauer (NJ) 145 lbs placewinners 1st - Seth Larson (GA) 2nd - Oliver Howard (AL) 3rd - Latrell Schafer (GA) 4th - Noah Hall (VA) 5th - Thomas Potter (VA) 6th - Tyrus Jangula (ND) 7th - Eddie Nietenbach (OH) 8th - Gunner Holland (FL) 152 lbs placewinners 1st - Zack Ryder (NY) 2nd - Bodie Morgan (PA) 3rd - Kevin Olavarria Montilla (PA) 4th - Shawn Taylor (PA) 5th - Ryan Gavick (PA) 6th - Tyler Secoy (GA) 7th - Griffin Lundeen (MN) 8th - Joseph LaPenna (PA) 160 lbs placewinners 1st - Nate Taylor (CT) 2nd - Gunner Cramblett (OH) 3rd - Hoke Poe-Hogan (GA) 4th - Creed Thomas (GA) 5th - Vincent Lee (NJ) 6th - Calvin Lachman (PA) 7th - Sam Szerlip (NY) 8th - Ryan Gallagher (PA) 170 lbs placewinners 1st - Rune Lawrence (PA) 2nd - Landen Shurtleff (UT) 3rd - Ryland Whitworth (CA) 4th - Cayaen Smith (UT) 5th - Tre Wilfong (NC) 6th - Bryce Phillips (MD) 7th - Manny Aller (OH) 8th - Jayden Ashlock (MO) 182 lbs placewinners 1st - Tucker Paynter (PA) 2nd - Landon Williams (AL) 3rd - Michael Murillo (CA) 4th - Eugenio Franco (CA) 5th - Andrew Wier (MO) 6th - Dom Iaquinto (CT) 7th - Adam Zumbar (OH) 8th - Liam Carroll (PA) 195 lbs placewinners 1st - Sawyer Bartelt (FL) 2nd - Carter Neves (OH) 3rd - Parker Ferrell (VA) 4th - Ricky Thomas (OK) 5th - Cash Henderson (UT) 6th - Jason Heming (VA) 7th - Aiden Hight (PA) 8th - Dylan Greenstein (MA) 220 lbs placewinners 1st - Dante Burns (PA) 2nd - Jaylen Young (IN) 3rd - Chefren Spodnik (CT) 4th - Mike Fell (PA) 5th - Timothy Wine (IN) 6th - Judd Harvey (CO) 7th - Diego Pelletier (KY) 8th - Garrett Shaffer (PA) 285 lbs placewinners 1st - Navarro Schunke (SD) 2nd - Spencer Lanosga (LA) 3rd - Brandon Toranzo (NJ) 4th - JaQuavian Daniels (GA) 5th - Austin McNaughtan (UT) 6th - Joe Collins (PA) 7th - Colton Naylor (WV) 8th - Connor Bushey (NY)

132 lbs NHSCA champion Carter McCallister of Missouri (Photo/J Thomas Taylor/Columbia Tribune) 2021 NHSCA Sophomore National Placewinners 106 lbs placewinners 1st - Brady Roark (MO) 2nd - Carson Wagner (PA) 3rd - Bryson Terrell (TN) 4th - Caleb Uhorchuk (TN) 5th - Ty Tice (SC) 6th - Luke Sirianni (PA) 7th - Hunter Sloan (PA) 8th - Toby Billerman (IN) 113 lbs placewinners 1st - Jackson Baglio (NC) 2nd - Jacob Joyce (RI) 3rd - Zachary Jacaruso (PA) 4th - Anthony Ferraro (PA) 5th - Clay Gates (OK) 6th - Tyler Chappell (PA) 7th - Charlie Bunting (PA) 8th - Hayden Myers (RI) 120 lbs placewinners 1st - Luke Poore (DE) 2nd - Joel Brown (MD) 3rd - Cooper Haase (FL) 4th - Jaden Pepe (PA) 5th - Amantee Mills (GA) 6th - Ethan Lebin (PA) 7th - Tyler Knox (MA) 8th - Michael Pizzuto (MD) 126 lbs placewinners 1st - Eligh Rivera (FL) 2nd - David McClelland (FL) 3rd - Spencer Barnhart (PA) 4th - David Cross (MO) 5th - Gage Owen (MD) 6th - Eric Doran (VA) 7th - Matthew Repos (PA) 8th - Ethan Kolb (PA) 132 lbs placewinners 1st - Carter McCallister (MO) 2nd - Weston Dalton (CO) 3rd - Collin Arch (MO) 4th - Zachary Marrero (CO) 5th - Brock Woodcock (MO) 6th - Nathan Roth (PA) 7th - Frank Volpe (NY) 8th - Spencer Von Savoye (CA) 138 lbs placewinners 1st - JT Chance (OH) 2nd - Collin Dupill (VA) 3rd - Antonio Rodrigues (MD) 4th - Luke Bender (DE) 5th - Andrew Harmon (PA) 6th - Jonathon Malovich (CO) 7th - Luke Belcher (TN) 8th - Cooper French (AZ) 145 lbs placewinners 1st - Jeremiah Price (NC) 2nd - Dagen Condomitti (PA) 3rd - Ethan Mojena (FL) 4th - Brayden Shelton (MO) 5th - Cale Roggie (VA) 6th - Irish Furthmyre (MT) 7th - Lane Ewing (WY) 8th - Tyler Berish (PA) 152 lbs placewinners 1st - KJ Evans (OK) 2nd - Colby Isabelle (PA) 3rd - Michael Duggan (PA) 4th - Abraham Wojckiewicz (IL) 5th - Gavin Fernandez (CA) 6th - Justin Crutchmer (AR) 7th - Hunter Andel (OH) 8th - Landon Muth (PA) 160 lbs placewinners 1st - Sergio Montoya (CA) 2nd - Markell Rivera (AZ) 3rd - Rafael Hipolito (AL) 4th - Patrick Jackson (WV) 5th - Tim McDonnell (CA) 6th - Riggin Boger (UT) 7th - Brett Smith (MO) 8th - Dakota Hagedorn (WY) 170 lbs placewinners 1st - Dylan Newsome (OH) 2nd - Omaury Alvarez (GA) 3rd - David Barrett (MA) 4th - Justin Griffith (NJ) 5th - Daniel Comer Williams (FL) 6th - Toby Schoffstall (VA) 7th - Nathan Fury (KS) 8th - Dominic Joyce (FL) 182 lbs placewinners 1st - Camden McDanel (OH) 2nd - Max Agresti (DE) 3rd - Kingsley Menifee (VA) 4th - Elijah Edge (WV) 5th - Matthew Furman (PA) 6th - Thomas Stadel (TN) 7th - John Roberts (OK) 8th - Cole DuBois (NJ) 195 lbs placewinners 1st - Sonny Sasso (PA) 2nd - Brendan Gilchrist (CT) 3rd - Brady Colbert (VA) 4th - Jacob Scheib (PA) 5th - Corey Boerio (PA) 6th - Justin Soriano (NY) 7th - Eli Makel (PA) 8th - Ronin Hammond (IN) 220 lbs placewinners 1st - Dylan Russo (OH) 2nd - Sam Sorenson (NY) 3rd - Noah Todd (TN) 4th - Myles Johnson (OH) 5th - Erick Brothers Jr. (WV) 6th - Zachary Evans (PA) 7th - John Vinciguerra (NJ) 8th - Trent Sibble (NY) 285 lbs placewinners 1st - Riley Robell (PA) 2nd - Emmanuel Ulrich (PA) 3rd - Bill Brosko (PA) 4th - Logan Looney (VA) 5th - Derrick Hart (FL) 6th - Gage Howard (UT) 7th - Nathaniel Box (FL) 8th - Maddox Sunderman (AL)

2021 NHSCA national champion Michael Kilic (Photo/Amber Cloy; SEWrestle.com) NHSCA Junior National Placewinners 106 lbs placewinners 1st - Codie Cuerbo (OH) 2nd - Billy Smith (OH) 3rd - Isiac Paulino (MA) 4th - Christian Guzman (FL) 5th - Jacob Levin (NY) 6th - Dante DiStefano (MA) 7th - Brandon Baldanado (CA) 8th - Elijah Nguyen (CA) 113 lbs placewinners 1st - Cole Hunt (GA) 2nd - Yanni Vines (AL) 3rd - Ethan Perryman (CA) 4th - Bridger Ricks (UT) 5th - Gavin Caprella (OH) 6th - Glenn Price (LA) 7th - Noah Luna (NC) 8th - Sefton Douglass (WY) 120 lbs placewinners 1st - Joey Cruz (CA) 2nd - Kyle Montaperto (NC) 3rd - Evan Binder (MO) 4th - Mason Leiphart (PA) 5th - Dylan Coy (PA) 6th - Carter Tate (NV) 7th - Zander Phaturos (PA) 8th - Damion Ryan (OH) 126 lbs placewinners 1st - Fernando Barreto (CA) 2nd - Nash Singleton (OR) 3rd - Braden Basile (FL) 4th - Damian Mendez (KS) 5th - Anthony Aniciete (NV) 6th - Cole Thomas (KY) 7th - Jackson Polo (NY) 8th - Andrew Austin (FL) 132 lbs placewinners 1st - Danny Nini (FL) 2nd - Jake Niffenegger (OH) 3rd - Jordan Soriano (NY) 4th - Jimmy Harrington (MA) 5th - Ismael Ayoub (OH) 6th - Angelo Centrone (NY) 7th - Colton Stoneking (PA) 8th - Cody Phelps (WY) 138 lbs placewinners 1st - Kelvin Griffin (PA) 2nd - Benny Rogers (NY) 3rd - Thomas Snipes (SC) 4th - Owen Cline (WA) 5th - Jacob Woodburn (NC) 6th - Reese Davis (OK) 7th - Jack Roszko (NY) 8th - Zachary Parker (CA) 145 lbs placewinners 1st - Michael Kilic (GA) 2nd - Fin Nadeau (MT) 3rd - Logan Ours (OH) 4th - Michael Bobola (MA) 5th - Jeremy Paradice (GA) 6th - Derek Raike (WV) 7th - Drake Acklin (OK) 8th - Cole Homet (PA) 152 lbs placewinners 1st - Nick Vafiadis (VA) 2nd - Nick Fea (PA) 3rd - MJ Gaitan (CA) 4th - Alex Poore (DE) 5th - Jonathan Ley (FL) 6th - Mark Takara (CA) 7th - Nick Sanko (NY) 8th - Samuel Beckett (PA) 160 lbs placewinners 1st - Luke Geog (OH) 2nd - Gunner Filipowicz (GA) 3rd - Dom Baker (VA) 4th - Derek Matthews (ID) 5th - Ceasar Garza (CA) 6th - Sergio Desiante (FL) 7th - Carter Baer (NY) 8th - Chase Kranitz (PA) 170 lbs placewinners 1st - Matthew Singleton (GA) 2nd - Jonathan Conrad (FL) 3rd - Michael Altomer (NY) 4th - Brody Conley (OH) 5th - Brock Fettig (ND) 6th - Chase Cordia (MO) 7th - Devon Bell (NC) 8th - Orion Thivierge (MT) 182 lbs placewinners 1st - Dylan Fishback (OH) 2nd - Kole Mulhauser (NY) 3rd - Gunnar Garriques (TN) 4th - Mitchell Broskie (OH) 5th - Hunter Adams (GA) 6th - Caleb Uhlenhopp (NV) 7th - Remington Peterson (CO) 8th - Royce Hall (VA) 195 lbs placewinners 1st - David Harper (TN) 2nd - Evan Anderson (OH) 3rd - Michael Bartush (CT) 4th - Jacob Meissner (MN) 5th - Luke Rasmussen (SD) 6th - Chris Murphy (CT) 7th - Owen Warren (SD) 8th - Chase Levey (PA) 220 lbs placewinners 1st - Nicholas Feldman (PA) 2nd - Eli Fortuner (VA) 3rd - Austin Kohlhofer (OH) 4th - Carson Floyd (NC) 5th - Levid Rodriguez (TN) 6th - Nico Rodriguez (ID) 7th - JT Connors (WA) 8th - Jairo Caceras (NY) 285 lbs placewinners 1st - Antonio Ramos (MA) 2nd - Jamier Ferere (NC) 3rd - Aiden LaComa (VA) 4th - Adolfo Betancur (RI) 5th - Nolan Neves (OH) 6th - Matthew Jimenez (FL) 7th - Matthew Cruise (PA) 8th - Harrison Merriman (MO)