InterMat Staff

2021 NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Today, the Stillwater Police Department filed a charge of sexual battery against 2021 NCAA champion AJ Ferrari in Payne County District Court. A warrant was issued for Ferrari's arrest and bond has been set at $25,000. The charge comes almost a month to the day after an emergency protective order was granted to a Stillwater woman who reported the incident to the police department. Ferrari was an NCAA champion in 2021 as a true freshman for Oklahoma State University. He was undefeated in 2021-22 when a car accident sidelined him for the remainder of the year. Ferrari was not a part of the Cowboy wrestling team when the incident in question occurred in early-July. Ferrari's lawyer, Derek Chance released the following statement Wednesday. "The Ferrari family is disappointed by the State's decision to file this charge. We remain confident that through the legal process AJ Jr. will be exonerated, as he is innocent and the facts will no doubt prove it. " - Derek Chance - Attorney for AJ Ferrari

2021 NCAA All-American Brit Wilson (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...Northern Illinois! NCAA Qualifiers (29) 2022 #11 Izzak Olejnik (165 lbs); #22 Mason Kauffman (174 lbs); #12 Brit Wilson (184 lbs) 2021 #33 Bryce West (133 lbs); #26 Anthony Cheloni (149 lbs); #18 Izzak Olejnik (165 lbs); #22 Mason Kauffman (174 lbs); #7 Brit Wilson (184 lbs) 2020 #25 Izzak Olejnik (165 lbs); #19 Brit Wilson (184 lbs); #24 Gage Braun (197 lbs); #33 Max Ihry (285 lbs) 2019 #30 Bryce West (125 lbs); #13 Brit Wilson (174 lbs) 2018 Brock Hudkins (125 lbs); Bryce Gorman (184 lbs) 2017 Brock Hudkins (125 lbs); #14 Steve Bleise (149 lbs); Shaun'Que McMurtry (165 lbs); #15 Trace Engelkes (174 lbs); #11 Shawn Scott (197 lbs) 2016 Austin Eicher (133 lbs); #13 Steve Bleise (141 lbs); Andrew Morse (157 lbs); Shawn Scott (197 lbs) 2015 Shawn Scott (197 lbs) 2014 Nick Smith (133 lbs); Robert Jillard (149 lbs) 2013 Matt Mougin (174 lbs) NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans 2021: Brit Wilson (184 - 6th) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Brock Hudkins (2017 - 125) Steve Bleise (2017 - 141) Shawn Scott (2016, 2017 - 197) Matt Mougin (2013 - 174) MAC Conference Champions 2022: Izzak Olejnik (165); Mason Kauffman (174); Brit Wilson (184) 2021: Brit Wilson (184) 2020: Brit Wilson (184) 2016: Austin Eicher (133) Dual Record 2021-22: 6-10 2021: 6-3 2019-20: 13-4 2018-19: 8-10 2017-18: 3-10 2016-17: 8-8 2015-16: 6-10 2014-15: 10-12 2013-14: 7-11 2012-13: 10-8 MAC Tournament Placement 2021-22: 3rd 2021: 4th 2019-20: 3rd 2018-19: 6th 2017-18: 8th 2016-17: 5th 2015-16: 6th 2014-15: 7th 2013-14: 8th 2012-13: 5th 2021-22: 6-10 NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 38th-tie (4.5 points) 2021: 29th (13.5 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 56th (0.5 points) 2017-18: 48th-tie (2.5 points) 2016-17: 30th (11.5 points) 2015-16: 50th (3 points) 2014-15: 67th-tie (0 points) 2013-14: 53rd-tie (3 points) 2012-13: 41st-tie (4 points) Head Coaching History Ryan Ludwig (2011-present) Best Lineup (comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Brock Hudkins: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2017 NCAA Round of 12 Finisher; 2018 MAC Runner-Up 133 - Austin Eicher: 2016 NCAA Qualifier, 2016 MAC Champion 141 - Steve Bleise: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2017 NCAA Round of 12 Finisher 149 - Anthony Cheloni: 2021 NCAA Qualifier 157 - Andrew Morse: 2016 NCAA Qualifier 165 - Izzak Olejnik: 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 MAC Champion, 3x MAC finalist 174 - Mason Kauffman: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2022 MAC Champion 184 - Brit Wilson: 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2021 NCAA All-American (6th), 3x MAC Champion 197 - Shawn Scott: 3x NCAA Qualifier, 2x NCAA Round of 12 Finisher 285 - Max Ihry: 2020 NCAA Qualifier Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #216 Jacob Brya (MI) 2021: #63 Blake West (MN); #222 Hayden Pummel (OH); #296 Noah Mis (IL) 2020: #168 Jimmy Carmany (OH) 2017: #73 Breyden Bailey (IN); #96 Bryce West (IA) 2015: #136 Ryan Prescott (MI) 2014: #126 Chris Garcia (IL); #146 Alijah Jeffrey (IA) 2013: #180 Jordan Northrup (IL) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State Nebraska North Carolina North Dakota State Northern Colorado

VMI head coach Jim Gibson (right) and assistant coach Ryan Hunsberger (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Continuing our "schedule breakdown" series, VMI released their 2022-23 schedule on Tuesday, so we're diving into it today. VMI competes out of the Southern Conference and is led by head coach Jim Gibson. The Keydets are looking to push through their first national qualifiers since 2020, when Neal Richards won his second SoCon crown and was named an NWCA second-team All-American. Coach Gibson had this to say about VMI's schedule, "I think we have the right schedule to give our cadet-athletes every opportunity to make a name for themselves this season. We have a heavy focus on individual tournaments for the first half of the season, most notably the new Soldier Salute in Iowa. We are all excited for that event." In order to book a trip to Tulsa for the national tournament, VMI wrestlers will have to navigate through the schedule below: November 4th - Southern Virginia November 6th - Southeast Open @ Salem, Virginia November 13th - Journeyman Classic @ Bethlehem, Pennsylvania November 19th - Navy Classic @ Annapolis, Maryland December 4th - Duke, Franklin & Marshall December 10th - Fairmont State, Shenandoah December 28th/29th - Soldier Salute @ Iowa City, Iowa January 6th - Chattanooga January 14th - Clarion, Long Island @ Brooklyn, New York January 15th - Sacred Heart @ Fairfield, Connecticut January 20th - Appalachian State January 22nd - Presbyterian @ Clinton, South Carolina January 27th - Bellarmine @ Louisville, Kentucky January 29th - Campbell February 3rd - Gardner-Webb @ Boiling Springs, North Carolina February 4th - Davidson @ Davidson, North Carolina February 18th - The Citadel March 4th - SoCon Championships @ Boone, North Carolina Conference Slate: VMI gets the three top teams in the SoCon in their own gym as Chattanooga, Appalachian State, and Campbell each come into Cormack Hall for duals. In 2021-22, each of those three teams shut out the Keydets, so they'll have their hands full in front of the home crowd. The weekend dual schedule only features one weekend with back-to-back away meets, as they'll have Gardner-Webb and Davidson on a Friday/Saturday in early February. The other two conference away duals have a home meet on the same weekend. Out-of-Conference Duals: The Keydets kick their season off with a dual against neighboring DII school, Southern Virginia. VMI and Southern Virginia are only separated by about seven miles, so it's a good idea to get a local fanbase excited in this local rivalry. About a month later, another DIII school from in-state, Shenandoah, will come by with West Virginia DII Fairmont State. The week prior Duke and Franklin & Marshall will visit. It's uncertain exactly what either team will look like, but each should provide a competitive dual meet for VMI. As they move into the second semester, VMI will take a road trip to the northeast and dual Clarion, Long Island, and Sacred Heart. Clarion should have a scrappy team and Sacred Heart has huge numbers and improves yearly. Tournaments: Some of VMI's best out-of-conference competition could come from the Southeast Open. Host Virginia Tech typically has a large contingent in action. Excluding Pittsburgh, most of the ACC schools tend to have some sort of presence at the tournament. The Journeyman Classic is an individual, round-robin event hosted by Lehigh. There will be plenty of competition there, as well, which is important to boost RPI ratings. The first bracketed, fully attached tournament for VMI is the Navy Classic. The host Midshipmen tend to shine at their home tournament. From a previously released schedule, we can see that Nebraska will attend. This isn't a typical occurrence for the Huskers, but they'll raise the level of competition in Annapolis. The last regular season tournament on VMI's docket is the Soldier Salute from Iowa City. This is an event that the University of Iowa has put together, so any Hawkeyes involved makes it a significant date on the calendar. Other military institutions should be in attendance, as well. The postseason: Once VMI navigates through the regular season and February, they'll have to head south for the conference meet at Appalachian State. That should be a rowdy atmosphere, as the Mountaineers fans show out well for home events (along with other SoCon fans). With a good schedule, hopefully, VMI and the rest of the league can have individuals jump into the rankings and post solid RPI numbers, so the SoCon can improve upon the 15 automatic qualifiers from 2022.

Newly ranked 61kg star Joe Colon (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57KG #2 Thomas Gilman (USA won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament over Udit Udit (IND) with 2021 world runner-up Alireza Sarlak (IRI) taking bronze. Gilman drops one spot in the rankings to #3 after a round-robin loss to #16 Horst Lehr (GER), Udit Udit (IND) debuts in the rankings at #16 for beating #16 Horst Lehr (GER) in the semifinals, 2021 world runner-up Alireza Sarlak (IRI) returns to the rankings at #12. Kamyl Kerymov (UKR) won the Ziolkowski tournament over 2017 world bronze medalist Andrey Yatsenko (UKR) with Vito Arujau (USA) and Manvel Khndrtzyan (ARM) taking bronze. Andre Gonzales (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am championships over Enrique Herrera Huacre (PER) with Treye Trotman (CAN) and Hernan Almendra (ARG) taking bronze. Levan Metrevelli (ESP) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Darian Cruz (PUR) with Darthe Capellan (CAN) and Logan Sloan (CAN) taking bronze. Logan Sloan (CAN) won the Canada Cup over Freddie Aziz (CAN). Merey Bazarbaev (KAZ) won the Junior Asian Championships over Reza Momenijoujadeh (IRI) with Aman Aman (IND) and Vladislav Nikandrov (KGZ) taking bronze. Oscar Tigreros Urbanos (COL) won the Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos over Enrique Herrera Huacre (PER) with Juan Ramirez Beltre (DOM) taking bronze. 61KG #11 Eduard Grigorev (POL) moved up to 65 KG where he won the Ziolkowski over Tsogbadrakh Tseveensuren (MGL) and is currently ranked 19th. 2018 world bronze medalist Joe Colon (USA) returns to the rankings at #16 for winning the Ziolkowski over Taras Markovich (UKR). 2018 U23 world bronze medalist Markovich is back in the rankings at #17 for finishing runner-up at the Ziolkowski to Colon and beating #18 Daniel DeShazer (USA), along with his 2021 wins over 3x World/Olympic medalist Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) and #10 Fedor Baltuev (RUS). Austin DeSanto (USA) debuts in the international rankings at #19 for beating DeShazer for bronze at the Ziolkowski. #4 Seth Gross (USA) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament with Aman Aman (IND) finishing silver and Suleyman Atli (TUR) taking bronze. Viktor Lyzen (GER) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Angel Tinoco Torres (PER) with Agustin Sanchez Parra (ESP) taking bronze. Nic Bouzakis (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over William Betancourt (PUR) with Gavin Eldridge (CAN) taking bronze. Armin Habizadeh Saroukolaei (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Kohit Kumar (KAZ) with Malis Aliyev (KAZ) and Arslan Rakhimov (UZB) taking bronze. 65KG Wilfredo Rodriguez (VEN) won the Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos over Mauricio Sanchez Saltos (ECU) with Albaro Camacho (DOM) and Sixto Auccapina Pedragas (PER) taking bronze. Sujeet Sujeet (IND) won the Junior Asian Championships over Makoto Hosokawa (JPN) with Umidjon Jalolov (UZB) and Olzhas Olzhakhanov (KAZ) taking bronze. Sujeet Sujeet (IND) took gold at the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament with #11 Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) taking silver and Adlan Askarov (KAZ) taking bronze. Sujeet debuts in the rankings at #13 for his win over Diakomihalis and Diakomihalis drops three spots to #14, due to his loss to Sujeet, plus the superior resumes of #11 Islam Dudaev (ALB) and #12 Tulga Tumur Ochir (MGL) over the past year compared to his (Dudaev head-to-head win over Tumur Ochir, Tumur Ochir beating #16 Abbos Rakhmonov, Umidjon Jalolov, #9 (70) Vazgen Tevanyan compared to Diakomihalis's best wins over 2019 unranked Ismail Musukaev, unranked Joey McKenna and 2019 Bajrang who's now ranked at #17). Sebastian Rivera (PUR) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Nikolai Okhlopkov (ROU) with Krzystof Bienkowski (POL) and Lachlan McNeil (CAN) taking bronze. Robert Cornella (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Erick Barroso Bautista (MEX) with Gregor McNeil (CAN) and Dom Martins Ferreira (BRA) taking bronze. 70KG Arman Andreasyan (ARM) won the Ziolkowski over Alec Pantaleo (USA) with #12 Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) and Oleksii Boruta (UKR) taking bronze. Pantaleo is back in the rankings at #14 for beating #12 Iakobishvili, Andreasyan slots in at #13 for beating Pantaleo, Iakobishvili falls five spots to #17 for his losses to Servet Coskun and Pantaleo, Kota Takahashi (JPN) moves up seven spots to #12 from #19 because he has the best win (#7 Taishi Narikuni at the Meiji Cup this year compared to Azimov>Coskun>Iakobishvili) and doesn't have as many losses as Andreasyan (Iakobishvili at Euros) or Pantaleo (Kudzoev at Yarygin, Retherford and Sasso at World Team Trials). The final piece of the Pantaleo puzzle is the Russian trio of #18 Aznaur Tavaev (RUS), #19 Alan Kudzoev (RUS), and #20 Ruslan Bogatyrev (RUS), (for a refresher, Kudzoev beat Pantaleo at the Yarygin and then lost to #4 Anzor Zakuev and #5 Ruslan Zhendaev at the Yarygin, Kudzoev beat Bogatyrev who beat #4 Anzor Zakuev at the Poddubny in May, then lost to Tavaev next round at Russian Nationals) because they have better records than other guys who made it into the rankings off wins over Pantaleo and each other (Tyler Berger, Ryan Deakin, Sammy Sasso). #10 Zain Retherford (USA) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament over Syrbaz Talgat (KAZ) with Koussay Aljimi (TUN) and Karan (IND) taking bronze. Kevin Henkel (GER) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Shamil Ustaev (BEL) with Emmanuel Olapade (CAN) taking bronze. Hossein Mohammad Aghaei (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Mulaym Yadav (IND) with Zafarbek Otakhanov (UZB) and Daiju Suzuki (JPN) taking bronze. Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over William Oyola (ARG) with Royglen Temple Batista (PAN) and Cesar Escamilla Menchaca (MEX) taking bronze. Guseyn Ruslanzada (CAN) won the Canada Cup over Younchai Seo (KOR) with Adam Thomson (CAN) taking bronze. 74KG Asian champion #14 Younes Emami (IRI) won the Zouhaier Saghaeir tournament over Sagar Jaglan (IND) and Cesar Bordeuax Rego Alvan (BRA) in round robin action. Jaglan took silver and Rego Alvan took bronze. Logan Sloan (CAN) won the Canada Cup over Freddie Aziz (CAN). Anthony Jose Montero Chirinos (VEN) won the Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos over Andres Alexander Ramirez Mejias (COL) with Angel Eduardo Cortes Bonilla (PAN) taking bronze. Alex Facundo (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Alexander Matias Cusinga Gomez (PER) with Amaan Ali Gulacha (CAN) and Lautaro Augustin Seghesso (ARG) taking bronze. 2019 Junior world champion David Carr won the Ziolkowski over Zelimkhan Toguzov (UKR). Bronze medalists were #18 Giorgi Sulava (GEO) and Hrayar Alikanyan (ARM). Carr rejoins the rankings at #18 for teching European bronze medalist Giorgi Sulava (GEO) on his way to the finals. 2017 Iranian Junior world bronze medalist Mohammad Mottaghinia (ESP) made his international debut for Spain by winning the Grand Prix of Spain over Zurab Kapraev (ROU) with #19 Mitch Finesilver (ISR) and Vasile Diacone (MDA). Mottaghinia joins the rankings at #19 for beating Kapraev in the finals after Kapraev had upset Finesilver 7-6 in the semifinals. 2021 70 KG Junior world champion Erfan Elahi (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Jaideep Jaideep (IND) with Ryotaro Togiya (JPN) and Hassan Al Jammali (EGY) taking bronze. Elahi slots in at #20 for his Junior Asian championships title plus his win over #20 Dzhabrail Gadzhiev (AZE) in last year's Junior world finals. 79KG #15 Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (IRI) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament over Bolat Sakaev (KAZ) with #3 Chance Marsteller (USA) taking bronze. Because this tournament also included a round-robin format, there was a group of important head-to-head results. #16 Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) beat Nokhodilarimi 5-5 first round. Marsteller beats #16 Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) next round 9-6. The third and final round of round-robin action sees #3 Chance Marsteller fall to Nokhodilarimi 10-0. From the aftermath of the round-robin action, #15 Nokhodilarimi (2-1), Baliyan Gourav (1-1), Bolat Sakaev (2-0), #3 Chance Marsteller (2-1) made the semis. In the semis, Sakaev beats Marsteller 9-1 and then Nokhodilarimi techs Baliyan Gourav (IND) 10-0. The aftermath of the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament is that Nokhodilarimi moves up 12 spots to #3 for beating Marsteller and Sakaev. Sakaev debuts in the rankings at #6 for beating Marsteller (USA) in the semifinals, Marsteller drops four spots to #7 for his losses to Nokhodilarimi and Sakaev, and Savadkouhi moves up eight spots to #8 because of his win over Nokhodilarimi. Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR) won the Ziolkowski over Arman Avagyan (ARM) with #8 David McFadden (USA) and Yevshem Shvelidze (GEO) taking bronze. Mykhailov is back in the rankings at #12 for beating McFadden, while McFadden drops six spots to #14 for his loss to Mykhailov. Jasmit Phulka (CAN) won the Canada Cup over Gage Mettier (CAN) with Arjun Cheeme (CAN) taking bronze. Erik Reinbok (EST) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Aimar Andruse (EST) with Marcel Kaeppeler (GER) and Yakup Shikhdzhamalov (ROU) taking bronze. Yakup Shikhdzhamalov (ROU) won the Ion Corneanu tournament over Zhiger Zakirov (KAZ). Luca Augustine (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Guilherme Barros De Arrunda Porto (BRA) with Connor Church (CAN) taking bronze. Sobhan Yari (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Subaru Takahara (JPN) with Yelnar Shildebay (KAZ) and Deepak Deepak (IND) taking bronze. 86KG 2018 world bronze medalist Taimuraz Friev Naskideava (ESP) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Ethan Ramos (PUR) with Adrian Grosul (ROU) and Cesary Sadowski (POL) taking bronze. Friev slots back in at #17 for his past wins over #9 Fatih Erdin (TUR) and #18 Abubakar Abakarov (AZE). Zushen Lin (CHN) won the Ziolkowski over Sebastian Jezierzanski (POL) with #19 Ivars Samusonoks (LAT) and Muhammad Aliiev (UKR) taking bronze. Lin debuts in the rankings at #20. Aref Ranjbari (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Abtbilguun Naadambat (MGL) with Jointy Kumar (IND) and Mustafa Al Jamie (EGY) taking bronze. Samuel Fisher (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Jhon Sanchez Solis (VEN) with Cesar Ubico Erstrada (GUA) and Jose Cano Lopez (MEX) taking bronze. 2016 Olympic fifth place finisher Pedro Ceballos Fuentes (VEN) won the Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos over Eduardo Gajardo Meneses (CHI). #10 Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament with #16 Osman Gocen (TUR) taking silver and Sabri Mnasira (TUN) taking bronze. 92KG Abdimanap Baigenzheev (KAZ) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament with Viky Viky (IND) taking silver and Imed Kaddidi (TUN) taking bronze. Jay Aiello (USA) won the Ziolkowski over Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL) with Patrick Dublinowski (POL) and Andriy Vlasov (UKR) taking bronze. Aiello debuts in the 92 KG rankings at #20 and made his second weight class rankings after being ranked in 2021 after taking bronze at the 97 KG U23 world championships. Andrew Johnson (CAN) won the Canada Cup with Tejvar Boal (CAN) finishing with silver and Aiden Stevenson (CAN) taking bronze. Radoslaw Marcinkiewicz (POL) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Johannes Mayer (GER) with Andrew Johnson (CAN) taking bronze. Jaxon Smith (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Juan Iturizza Ruiz (MEX) with Karanpreet Gill (CAN) taking bronze. Mohammad Azimi (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Nurdaulet Bekenov (KAZ) with Akash Akash (IND) and Ravshanbek Jumaboev (UZB) taking bronze. 97KG #5 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO) won the Ziolkowski over 2021 world bronze medalist #15 Magomed Zakariev (UKR). Bronze medalists at the Ziolkowski were #13 Elizbar Odikadze (GEO) and Eric Thiele (GER). Matcharashvili's win over 2018 world bronze medalist Odikadze was a huge domestic win for him and looks to have locked up his spot for the Georgian world team going into the senior world championships in September. Ben Kueter (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Samuel Pereira (CAN) with Adrian Zapata Jacobo (MEX) taking bronze. 2021 U23 world champion Amirali Azarpira (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Ashish Ashish (IND) with Zelimkhan Mussikhanov (KAZ) taking bronze. Richard Deschateles (CAN) won the Canada Cup by default, being the only entry in the bracket. European bronze medalist #14 Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) won the Grand Prix of Spain over Eric Thiele (GER) with Nishan Randhawa (CAN) and Radoslaw Baran (POL) taking bronze. #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament over Mamed Ibragimov (KAZ) with Deepak Deepak (IND) and Burak Sahin (TUR) taking bronze. Cristian Sarco Colmenarez (VEN) won the Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos over Luis Miguel Perez Sosa (DOM) with Miller Mondragon Arboleda (COL) taking bronze. 125KG #3 Geno Petriashvili (GEO) won the Zouhaier Sghaier tournament over #20 Hayden Zillmer (USA) with Alisher Yergali (KAZ) beating #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) for bronze. Yergali beat #9 Yusup Batirmurzaev (KAZ) twice, once in pool action and for the bronze medal. Zhiwei Deng (CHN) returned to action after a year-long layoff to win the Ion Corniaunu over Batirmurzaev and then failed to place at the Ziolkowski after a loss to Derek White (USA). Robert Baran (POL) won the Ziolkowski over 2021 U23 world champion Tony Cassioppi (USA) with Yuri Idzinsky (UKR) and Kamil Kosciolek (POL) taking bronze. So what happens out of all of this is Zillmer (USA) moves up ten spots to #10 after finishing runner-up at the Zouhaier Sghaier and beating Yergali. Then Baran is back in the rankings at #11 for beating 2021 U23 world champion Cassioppi who slots in at #12 for his past win over #14 Saipudin Magomedov (RUS) at U23 world's and his win over Kosciolek, who got ranked by beating White, who debuted in the rankings at #17 for beating 2018 world runner-up Zhiwei Deng (CHN), who was ranked 6th back in June and returns at #18 while Batirmurzaev falls ten spots to #19 for his losses to Yergali and Deng while Daniel Ligeti (HUN) completes the rankings at #20 for beating White in pool action at the Ziolkowski. Baran won the Grand Prix of Spain over Kosciolek with Gennadij Cudinovic (GER) taking bronze. Aaron Johnson (JAM) won the Canada Cup over Roger Li (CAN). Nick Feldman (USA) won the Junior Pan-Am Championships over Roger Li (CAN) with Jhoan Ocoro Palomino (COL) taking bronze. Salar Habiehsani (IRI) won the Junior Asian Championships over Mahendra Gaikwad (IND) with Bekzhat Tazhi (KAZ) taking bronze. Pound for Pound Chance Marsteller (USA) has been dropped from the #24 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings due to losses to Nokhodilarimi and Sakaev at the Zouhaier Sghaeir tournament. 65 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist #25 Aripgadzhi Abdulaev (RUS) moves up one spot to #24 and filling the final spots in the rankings is #3 (97) Mohamad Mohammadian (IRI).

2022 Big 12 champion Andrew Alirez (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...Northern Colorado! NCAA Qualifiers (27) 2022 #30 Jace Koelzer (125 lbs); #5 Andrew Alirez (141 lbs); #27 Alan Clothier (197 lbs) 2021 #15 Mosha Schwartz (133 lbs); Andrew Alirez (149 lbs); #13 Jackson Hemauer (174 lbs); #18 Alan Clothier (184 lbs) 2020 #15 Mosha Schwartz (133 lbs); #14 Andrew Alirez (149 lbs); #27 Alan Clothier (184 lbs); #25 Jacob Seely (197 lbs); #16 Dalton Robertson (285 lbs) 2019 #24 Rico Montoya (125 lbs); #32 Chris Sandoval (141 lbs); #30 Jacob Seely (197 lbs) 2018 Rico Montoya (133 lbs); Keilan Torres (165 lbs); Dylan Gabel (184 lbs); Jacob Seely (197 lbs) 2017 Rico Montoya (133 lbs); Timmy Box (141 lbs); Keilan Torres (165 lbs); Dylan Gabel (184 lbs) 2016 Trent Noon (197 lbs) 2015 Trey Andrews (125 lbs); Mitchell Polkowske (165 lbs); Trent Noon (197 lbs) NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans None NWCA All-Americans Mosha Schwartz (133 - Honorable Mention) Andrew Alirez (149 - Honorable Mention) Dalton Robertson (285 - Honorable Mention) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Andrew Alirez (2022 - 141) Conference Champions Big 12 2022: Andrew Alirez (141 lbs) West Region/WWC 2015: Mitch Polkowske (165 lbs) Dual Record 2021-22: 6-6 2021: 4-2 2019-20: 3-8 2018-19: 4-10 2017-18: 3-10 2016-17: 2-10 2015-16: 4-7 2014-15: 5-6 2013-14: 4-10-1 2012-13: 1-10 Conference Tournament Placement 2021-22: 11th 2021: 7th 2019-20: 8th 2018-19: 12th 2017-18: 10th 2016-17: 8th 2015-16: 10th West Region/WWC 2014-15: 5th 2013-14: 6th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 44th-tie 2021: 48th-tie 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 49th-tie 2017-18: 38th-tie 2016-17: 47th-tie 2015-16: 72nd 2014-15: 46th-tie 2013-14: No Qualifiers Head Coaching History Troy Nickerson (2014-Present) Ben Cherrington (2009-14) Best Lineup (comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Rico Montoya: 3x NCAA Qualifier 133 - Mosha Schwartz: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#15 seed x2), 2020 Big 12 runner-up, 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American 141 - Timmy Box: 2017 NCAA Qualifier 149 - Andrew Alirez: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#5 and #14 seeds), 2022 Big 12 champion, 2022 NCAA Round of 12 finisher, 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American 157 - Eleazar Deluca: 2016 Big 12 fourth place (17-6 record) 165 - Mitchell Polkowske: 2015 NCAA Qualifier, 2015 West Regional Champion 174 - Jackson Hemauer: 2021 NCAA Qualifier, 2021 Big 12 runner-up 184 - Dylan Gabel: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2x Big 12 runner-up 197 - Alan Clothier: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#18 seed) 285 - Dalton Robertson: 2020 NCAA Qualifier (#16 seed), 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #83 Derek Matthews (ID); #97 Quentin Saunders (KS); #135 Andrew Blackburn-Forst (IL); #141 Brady Hankin (CO) 2021: #25 Ben Alanis (AZ); #89 Xavier Doolin (MO); #107 Branson Britten (TX); #202 Rudy Lopez (CO); #236 Franklin Cruz (CO); #290 Kenny Sailas (CO) 2020: #166 Daemyen Middlebrooks (IL) 2019: #2 Andrew Alirez (CO); #45 Mosha Schwartz (CO); #51 Theorius Robison (CO) 2017: #93 Chris Sandoval (CO) 2016: #144 Robert Winters (VA) 2015: #82 Rico Montoya (NM); #94 Jacob Seely (CO); #138 Sean Cannon (NV) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State Nebraska North Carolina North Dakota State

Luke Lilledahl in the 2022 U17 World Champion gold medal match (photo courtesy of Martin Gabor/UWW) Last week and into the weekend, the U17 (Cadet) World Championships took place in Rome, Italy. It was a memorable tournament for the American contingent as there were notable achievements across all three styles and plenty of room for optimism across the board. As we do with many big events, InterMat has gone back through the three tournaments and found notable facts and trends that have occurred, based on the final results. Some you may have read about along the way and others you may hear for the first time. Greco-Roman Joel Adams' gold medal at 65 kg is the first for the United States since Cohlton Schultz (100 kg) in 2017. Adams was the only Greco wrestler to win without surrendering a single point in any of his matches. He outscored the competition 36-0. With Adams and Cody Merrill winning medals, it marked only the second title since 2013 that the American team has brought home multiple medals in the same year. Cade Olivas and Jon Jay Chavez both previously got bronze medals in 2013. Since the reinstatement of U17/Cadet Worlds (in 2011), the US has had only three finalists at this age group. With Adams' title and Cory Land's silver medal in 2021, it became the first time the American team has had a finalist in back-to-back World Championships. For the second consecutive year, a wrestler from Ukraine defeated an opponent from Uzbekistan in the 45 kg world finals. This time it was Yevhen Pokovba over Shakhzod Ruziokhunov. Ukraine is also the only nation to have a wrestler win a world title in each of the last three world championships. They had one in 2019 (Mykyta Alieksieiev), two in 2021 (Nikita Dementiev and Imed Khudzhadze), and one in 2022 (Pokovba). India's Suraj won gold at 55 kg. He is the first Indian wrestler since the reinstatement to win a Greco world championship. There were no repeat or previous champions at the Greco-Roman level. Lucas LoGrasso (60 kg) became the first world finalist for France in this era of the tournament. For the second consecutive year, Germany had a world runner-up. This year it was Darius Kiefer at 92 kg. Prior to 2021, the last time a German made a Cadet/U17 world final was in 2013, when Etienne Kinsinger won the 58 kg bracket. Omar Mourad (60 kg - bronze) was the first Egyptian wrestler to medal at this event since Mohamed El Sayed did so in 2015 (63 kg - silver). Women's Freestyle The United States finished with three medals (all silvers), which was their lowest total since 2017, when both Emily Shilson and Alara Boyd took silver. Erica Pastoriza joined a short list of multiple-time American Cadet/U17 world finalists. She joins Emily Shilson (2017-18), Ronna Heaton (2015-16), and Marina Doi (2011-12) in this exclusive group. Illinois produced a pair of 2022 world medalists in Gabriella Gomez and Valerie Hamilton. The last Illinois native to place at this event was…Haley Augello in 2011. Coming full circle, Augello was in Gomez' corner last week. Despite being an early adopter of girls high school wrestling and a traditional power, Washington had never put a woman on the Cadet/U17 world team until Shelby Moore did so this year. Moore finished fifth at 57 kg. Conversely, California has had three on the women's squad for the past three years. This time it was Megan Valdez (40 kg), Elena Ivaldi (53 kg), and Kaiulani Garcia (73 kg). India and Japan dominated the competition and accounted for eight of the ten gold medals. Japan also had four silver medalists. The women's tournament saw a pair of wrestlers capture their second world championships, Mariia Yefremova (Ukraine - 53 kg) and Priya (India - 73 kg). Since 2019, three Indian women have won multiple world titles: Priya, Komal (2019/2021), and Sonam (2017/2019). India has produced multiple gold medalists in each of the last three tournaments. The 2022 winners were: Muksan (40 kg), Rikita (43 kg), Savita (61 kg), Harshita (69 kg), and Priya. Japan's three champions was actually their lowest total since the return of the tournament in 2011. For the first time since the tournament resumed, in 2011, Hungary had finalists in back-to-back years. Gerda Terek (2nd at 57 kg) this year and Enikoe Elekes (1st at 65 kg) in 2021. Romania's Maria Pantiru fell in the 65 kg finals, 5-2. Her country is now 0-6 in the world finals since 2011. Her countrymate, Alexandra Voiculescu, lost in the 2021 finals at 40 kg. Lilyan Cohen earned a bronze medal at 53 kg for France. In doing so, she became the country's first medalist since the great Koumba Larroque won a world title in 2015. Reka Van Os was a bronze medalist at 65 kg representing the Netherlands. This was the first medal for the Dutch since this tournament was reintroduced in 2011. The same goes for Croatia's Veronika Vilk who claimed a bronze medal at 69 kg. Muskan (India - 40 kg), Ritika (India - 43 kg), Koko Matsuda (Japan - 46 kg) and Sowaka Uchida (Japan - 57 kg) all ran through their respective brackets without allowing a single point. Men's Freestyle The US men's team won their first world title in dominating fashion. Second place India was a distant 64 points behind. The 190 points amassed by the American squad set a new UWW record. Nine of the ten US wrestlers left with a medal and the team went 34-6 overall at the tournament. Of the six losses for the Americans, only Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan registered multiple wins against Team USA. The US was 1-2 against Azerbaijan and 3-2 versus Kazakhstan. The American team is now 15-5 in bronze medal matches since 2017. It was the second time since the reinstatement that Team USA has produced four champions. This time it was Domenic Munaretto (45 kg), Luke Lilledahl (51 kg), Joseph Sealey (71 kg), and Koy Hopke (110 kg). The only other group to hit that make was the 2017 team with Kurt McHenry, Will Lewan, Aaron Brooks, and Greg Kerkvliet. Lilledahl joined a select group of multiple-time world finalists for the American team, since the return of this tournament. Kerkvliet, McHenry, Yianni Diakomihalis, and Gable Steveson all made two world finals. Koy Hopke continued an incredible run for American heavyweights at the Cadet/U17 level. The US has had a finalist in seven of the last eight world championships. Jordan Wood started the run with a silver medal in 2014, Gable Steveson had back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, Kerkvliet won gold and silver in 2017 and 2018, while Jim Mullan was a silver medalist last year. Along those same line, the US has had the world champion at 45 kg in each of the last three World Championships. Munaretto, Bo Bassett (2021) and Marc-Anthony McGowan (2019). The USA has had at least one champion in every year since the tournament was brought back in 2011. Kazakhstan had a pair of world champions, Daryn Askerbek (55 kg) and Kamil Kurugliev (92 kg), for the first time since 2011. That duo was Vladimir Kudrin (46 kg) and Elkhan Assadov (76 kg). India had six world medalists for the second consecutive year. From 2011-19, they had 24 combined. Kyrgyzstan's Bilol Sharip Uulu (60 kg) became his country's first finalist since that magical 2011 date. Host Italy also had a silver medalist in Raul Caso (71 kg). Italy did not previously have a finalist since 2011, either. Usually more known for their Greco prowess, Hungary actually had a freestyle finalist in Musza Arsunkaev (92 kg). It's their first finalist in this era of the Cadet/U17 Championships. France also had a similar situation. 110 kg world silver medalist, Levan Lagvilava, was its first finalist. Ben Tarik (51 kg) won a bronze medal for Morocco. He is the first medalist for his country since the reintroduction of this tournament.

Josh Barr (right) and Rocco Welsh in the 170 lb Junior freestyle finals (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Michigan standout Josh Barr knew what he was in for with Pennsylvania's Rocco Welsh in one of the most highly anticipated junior freestyle finals in Fargo. But as Barr found out, scouting Welsh and wrestling him were totally different things that called for all of Barr's scoring prowess and poise to beat him in the 170-pound finals. The matchup between Barr, a Penn State commit, and Welsh, an Ohio State pledge, was the marquee match of the biggest high school freestyle tournament in the country. It was also a showdown with plenty of potential to put the clash of styles on center stage in even higher-leverage situations in the future. Barr took this one, 8-5, but had to plow through Welsh's strength and rally late for the winning points. Welsh first seized control by dictating the ties and using his power to keep the match in his wheelhouse until Barr chipped away and opened the floodgates late. Adjustments were critical, first by Welsh to get the looks he wanted and later by Barr as he found the right distance and got Welsh moving his feet. Along the way, Barr got the message loud and clear that he had to be ready to scrap. "He's very, very, very strong," Barr said. "Very, very strong. The first time he clubbed me, I've told a couple people, my whole body rung. I got a little tingly and was like, 'He's stronger than I thought,' but one of my main training partners is Remy Cotton and he wrestled 195 at Fargo. I wrestle with Logan Massa, too, and he is very, very strong, so I was ready for it, I think." Barr scored the first point of the match in the first period when Welsh was unable to score after he was put on the shot clock. Bell rung or not, Barr fired off the first quality shot, but got stuck under Welsh's heavy hips early in the first period. Barr also got stuffed on a good throw-by attempt when Welsh proved an immovable object. Just as he started the match with a quick single, Barr went after Welsh off the second-period whistle and liked the look he got. Even so, Welsh was able to stymie his momentum and power him backwards for two exposure points. Barr went from liking his look to trailing 2-1, but still took more positives than negatives away from the sequence. "It was like, 'Oh, crap, this guy's even good there when I'm starting to get up a little bit,'" Barr said. "I just had to stay the course and continue to attack because I know it's where I'm going to score. I couldn't let it really faze me the rest of the match. I had to keep shooting. "Ultimately, I kind of made adjustments to the next couple shots I got and made sure that didn't happen again." After that sequence, Welsh got the tie he wanted and managed to power Barr out of bounds for a step out and 3-1 lead. Welsh felt the momentum swing in his direction and was in his comfort zone when he got his hooks into Barr again, then dropped levels out of nowhere to blast through Welsh for another takedown and a 5-1 lead. With 2:22 left on the clock, Barr was working hard, angling for his offense and pushing the pace, but Welsh was doing the actual scoring. He made his opportunities count. "He waited for me to hang a little bit and popped and ran through me like he does a lot of people," Barr said. Barr returned to the center losing the battle, but still feeling more encouraged he could win the war. The pace, he felt, was wearing on Welsh so he committed to pressing, working his motion, changing levels and making Welsh keep working hard. Barr thought the work he was doing would soon pay off and that the tide was going to turn, and he was right. "After he doubled me out of bounds and got the two, I felt him breathing pretty heavy," Barr said. "It was one of those moments where it's just like, 'Keep on going.' I felt like I had him cracking a little bit, and I felt like, even though he did expose me on that shot, that was a really deep shot. "I felt like, if I just got there again and made a couple adjustments, I'm going to start scoring on those." Barr did start dictating the action off that restart and made those adjustments to get in deep and finish for his first takedown to close the gap to 5-3. Before he ultimately took him down, he brought Welsh to his knees once and drew a phantom sprawl with a series of hard fakes. With about 30 seconds remaining, Barr attacked and countered a Welsh re-attack to take the lead on criteria, 5-5. They landed near the edge with Welsh flat and his hips open enough that Barr could swing the leg over and power Welsh to his back. Barr got two exposure points and another for a step out, and he turned a 5-1 deficit into an 8-5 win. Mindset made a difference for Barr in those final moments, and so did his conditioning and confidence in what he was doing. He focused on scoring the next point until he had suddenly scored seven straight to win his second straight Fargo title. "I always tell myself, whenever there's a break in the match, 'Just keep on going,'" Barr said. "I try and just stay focused on what I need to do to score points. And that's all I'm really focused on, scoring the next point every single time. Whether it's a situation like this in freestyle or I'm up 14-0 on somebody in folkstyle, it's just scoring the next point, no matter what the situation is." Josh Barr after the Junior freestyle finals (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) After Barr finished off the win, he squatted at the center of the mat and flashed a couple of twos for the matside cameras. Then he stood up, shook Welsh's hand and expressed to him what many anticipate will be the case: these two will likely be seeing more of each other, whether in Big Ten duals, NCAAs or in battles to make United States world teams in the future. Barr went into Fargo ranked No. 4 in MatScouts' pound-for-pound national rankings, and Welsh was No. 13. They were also Nos. 1 and 2 in the 170-pound rankings, where they will likely stay until they move to the next level and try to climb the ladder to Big Ten glory together. Barr expects nothing less. "It's Rocco, and he's very talented, but I did tell him after the match, 'We'll do it again,'" Barr said. "We're going to be wrestling for a long time. I imagine that we're going to be wrestling to make world teams and Olympic teams. "I think that we're the top two guys in our class and in this weight class. We're going to be wrestling for a long time, NCAA titles, everything, so I'm ready for it."

2014 NCAA 3rd Place finisher Steven Monk (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...North Dakota State! NCAA Qualifiers (45) 2022 #21 Dylan Droegemueller (141 lbs); #6 Jared Franek (157 lbs); #16 Luke Weber (165 lbs); #22 Owen Pentz (197 lbs); #29 Brandon Metz (285 lbs) 2021 #8 Jared Franek (157 lbs); #9 Luke Weber (165 lbs); #31 Owen Pentz (197 lbs); #22 Brandon Metz (285 lbs) 2020 #11 Cam Sykora (133 lbs); #33 Dylan Droegemueller (141 lbs); #16 Jared Franek (157 lbs); #14 Andrew Fogarty (165 lbs); #31 Cordell Eaton (197 lbs); #20 Brandon Metz (285 lbs) 2019 #10 Brent Fleetwood (125 lbs); #21 Cam Sykora (133 lbs); #13 Andrew Fogarty (165 lbs); #24 Lorenzo de la Riva (174 lbs) 2018 Paul Bianchi (125 lbs); Cam Sykora (133 lbs); #11 Clay Ream (157 lbs); Andrew Fogarty (165 lbs) 2017 #9 Josh Rodriguez (125 lbs); Cam Sykora (133 lbs); #6 Clay Ream (157 lbs); Andrew Fogarty (165 lbs); Ben Tynan (285 lbs) 2016 #14 Josh Rodriguez (125 lbs); Clay Ream (149 lbs); #12 Hayden Zillmer (184 lbs) 2015 #14 Josh Rodriguez (125 lbs); Mitch Bengtson (141 lbs); Clay Ream (149 lbs); Kurtis Julson (174 lbs); #6 Hayden Zillmer (184 lbs); Evan Knutson (285 lbs) 2014 #4 Steven Monk (165 lbs); #13 Hayden Zillmer (174 lbs); Kurtis Julson (184 lbs); Evan Knutson (285 lbs) 2013 #9 Trent Sprenkle (125 lbs); #5 Steven Monk (165 lbs); Mac Stoll (184 lbs); Evan Knutson (285 lbs) NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans 2015: Kurtis Julson (174 - 8th), Hayden Zillmer (184 - 6th) 2014: Steven Monk (165 - 3rd) 2013: Trent Sprenkle (125 - 5th) NWCA All-Americans Cam Sykora (133 - Second Team) Jared Franek (157 - Honorable Mention) Andrew Fogarty (165 - Honorable Mention) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Jared Franek (2021, 2022 - 157) Luke Weber (2021 - 165) Brent Fleetwood (2019 - 125) Josh Rodriguez (2016 - 125) Steven Monk (2013 - 165) Conference Champions Big 12 2021: Luke Weber (165 lbs) 2020: Cam Sykora (133 lbs) West Region/WWC 2015: Josh Rodriguez (125); Mitch Bengtson (141); Clay Ream (149); Kurtis Julson (174); Hayden Zillmer (184) 2014: Steven Monk (165); Hayden Zillmer (174); Evan Knutson (285) 2013: Trent Sprenkle (125); Steven Monk (165) Dual Record 2021-22: 10-4 2021: 7-3 2019-20: 10-4 2018-19: 10-6 2017-18: 7-10 2016-17: 14-5 2015-16: 4-6 2014-15: 9-4 2013-14: 11-7 2012-13: 10-8 Conference Tournament Placement Big 12 2021-22: 7th-tie 2021: 6th 2019-20: 5th 2018-19: 8th 2017-18: 5th 2016-17: 4th 2015-16: 7th West Region/WWC 2014-15: 1st 2013-14: 1st 2012-13: 1st NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 34th 2021: 34th-tie 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 39th 2017-18: 45th-tie 2016-17: 47th-tie 2015-16: 42th-tie 2014-15: 23rd 2013-14: 21st 2012-13: 30th Head Coaching History Roger Kish (2011-Present) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 -Trent Sprenkle: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#9 seed); 2013 NCAA All-American (5th); 2x West Region Champion 133 - Cam Sykora: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#11 and #21 seed); 2020 Big 12 Champion, 2020 NWCA Second Team All-American 141 - Dylan Droegemueller: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#21 seed); 2x Big 12 4th Place 149 - Clay Ream: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#6 and #11 seed); 2x Big 12 Runner-Up 157 - Jared Franek: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#6 and #8 seed); 2x Big 12 Runner-Up; 2x NCAA Round of 12 Finisher 165 - Steven Monk: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#4, #5, and #12 seed); 2014 NCAA All-American (3rd); 3x West Region Champion 174 - Kurtis Julson: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2015 NCAA All-American (8th); 2015 West Region Champion 184 - Hayden Zillmer: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#6, #12, and #13 seed); 2015 NCAA All-American (6th); 2x West Region Champion 197 - Owen Pentz: 2x NCAA Qualifier 285 - Evan Knutson: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2014 West Region Champion Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #92 Fernando Barreto (CA); #98 Max Petersen (MN); #126 Gavin Drexler (WI); #138 Damian Mendez (KS); #152 Landen Johnson (MN) 2021: #57 Carlos Negrete (CA); #68 Alex Ramirez (CA); #73 Mikey Caliendo (CA); #77 DJ Parker (IL); #86 Juan Mora (CA); #104 Dom Vacura (MN); #231 Spencer Mooberry (IA); #241 Cole Gripka (MO) 2020: #80 Kellyn March (ND); #118 Gaven Sax (MO); #159 Ryan Henningson (MN) 2018: #37 Jared Franek (ND) 2017: #53 Brandon Metz (ND) 2016: #78 Colton Clingenpeel (IA); #98 Paul Bianchi (WI) 2015: #89 Andrew Fogarty (MN) 2013: #60 Mitch Bengtson (MN); #70 Preston Lehmann (ND); #146 Clay Ream (MO); #166 Kyle Gliva (MN); #173 Tommy Peterson (MN); #181 Cole Sladek (MN) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State Nebraska North Carolina

Air Force's Big 12 champion Wyatt Hendrickson (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) To steal the line from last year's FCW Top-20 Articles, everyone knows 125 Pat Glory, 133 Roman Bravo-Young, 174 Carter Starocci, 184 Aaron Brooks, and 285 Gable Steveson are bonus point monsters, and this season they totaled 283 Fpts. Top names and all NCAA Champions or Finalists (Nick Suriano did not make the Top-20). But here's five names that totaled 328 Fpts: 125 Caleb Smith (APP), 133 Joshua Koderhandt (NAVY), 174 Logan Messer (GMU), 184 Jonathan Loew (COR), and 285 Ben Goldin (PENN). This group only has one All-American (Loew finishing 8th). And as I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." So, with that, let's take a look at this past season's Top-20 at each weight to help give you an early start to win each week this coming year. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. 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: It shouldn't be a surprise that Wyatt Hendrickson sits as the #1 Fantasy Wrestler for 285 after the season. Hendrickson may have started a month late, but he finished as the Pin King in 2022 with 13 regular season falls against D1 competition. The pins alone would still make him the #2 overall Fantasy Wrestler this season. Just as everyone had predicted, Navy's Grady Greiss finished as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 285. Greiss went to six opens throughout the year, but won only the Mat Town Open II at the end of the season. Griess also started for Navy twice (going 1-1), and despite six losses on the season, he was able to get the most out of his other 21 matches to maximize his Fantasy potential. To quote Larry David, coming into this season some people did not “respect wood” and maybe didn't have high expectations for Jordan Wood. Well, naysayers, Wood powered his way to an 18-2 regular season, first announcing his mark on the season by taking out Matt Stencel (the perennial pinner) at the Journeyman Classic. His only two losses were each by one point (to Tony Cassioppi and in TB to Cohlton Schultz). Lehigh also had Redshirt Nathan Taylor make the Top-10. In 2021, Michael McAlevey was one of the top pinners which helped him take the #1 spot at Heavyweight. This past season, he had just about the same number of pins, but also had nine losses (127 Fpts) which anchored him down to #8 at 285. The highest amount of matches wrestled in the Top-20 goes to recent transfer AJ Nevills of South Dakota State. The least amount goes to your 2022 Champion Gable Steveson. Steveson wrestled only one more match than he did in the 2021 season but scored two less Fpts. That said, he finished just inside of the Top-20 with the #19 spot. Seven All-Americans made the Top-20 this season at 285. Who Missed The Cut: The only All-American to miss the Top-20 was Nebraska's Christian Lance who was the 12 seed at Nationals. With only four wins by major and ending the regular season with five losses in his last eight matches slotted him at #40 with 21 Fpts. Ethan Laird redshirted this past season for Rider, only wrestling in 12 matches and losing only one. He finished at #21 with 41 Fpts and edged out the true freshmen Ryan Catka (NAVY) on PPM differential (Laird bested Catka by 2.0 PPM more at 3.4 PPM) Owen Trephan was the highest NC State heavyweight in Fantasy last season at #24 with Tyrie Houghton at #31. From a Fantasy perspective, the NC State Heavyweight situation was the equivalent of a Football “Backfield By Committee,” and unless you have “the Committee” on your roster, it never works out well for Fantasy Team Managers. With only two losses on the season, Taye Ghadiali (CAMP) finished just outside the list to #25 and 37 Fpts. Other notables to miss the cut include: Quinn Miller (UVA) at #26 with 36 Fpts, Zach Elam (MIZZ) at #33 with 28 Fpts, Hunter Catka (VT) at #36 with 25 Fpts, Sam Schuyler (ISU) at #44 with 18 Fpts, Luke Surber (OKST) #48 with 16 Fpts, and Tate Orndorff (OHST) at #55 with 10 Fpts.

2021 NCAA champion Austin O'Connor (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...North Carolina! NCAA Qualifiers (63) 2022 #18 Joe Heilmann (133 lbs); #15 Kizhan Clarke (141); #32 Zach Sherman (149); #11 Austin O'Connor (157); #10 Clay Lautt (174 lbs); #14 Gavin Kane (184 lbs) 2021 #10 Zach Sherman (141 lbs); #2 Austin O'Connor (149 lbs); #29 Josh McClure (157 lbs); #22 Kennedy Monday (165 lbs); #16 Clay Lautt (174 lbs); #22 Devin Kane (184 lbs); #20 Max Shaw (197 lbs); #31 Andrew Gunning (285) 2020 #23 Jaime Hernandez (133 lbs); #11 Zach Sherman (141 lbs); #2 Austin O'Connor (149 lbs); #18 AC Headlee (157 lbs); #18 Kennedy Monday (165 lbs); #14 Clay Lautt (174 lbs); #30 Andrew Gunning (285 lbs) 2019 #18 Gary Wayne Harding (133 lbs); #21 AC Headlee (141 lbs); #6 Austin O'Connor (149 lbs); #24 Josh McClure (157 lbs); #33 Devin Kane (174 lbs); #15 Chip Ness (184 lbs); #29 Brandon Whitman (197 lbs); #21 Cory Daniel (285 lbs) 2018 Zach Sherman (133 lbs); AC Headlee (141 lbs); #4 Troy Heilmann (149 lbs); Kennedy Monday (157 lbs); #10 Ethan Ramos (174 lbs); Chip Ness (184 lbs); Daniel Chaid (197 lbs); Cory Daniel (285 lbs) 2017 #7 Joey Ward (141 lbs); Troy Heilmann (149 lbs); #8 Ethan Ramos (174 lbs); Daniel Chaid (197 lbs); Cory Daniel (285 lbs) 2016 #8 Joey Ward (141 lbs); #8 Evan Henderson (149 lbs); Robert Henderson (157 lbs); #11 John Staudenmayer (165 lbs); #4 Ethan Ramos (174 lbs); Alex Utley (184 lbs); Chip Ness (197 lbs) 2015 Troy Heilmann (133 lbs); #12 Joey Ward (141 lbs); Christian Barber (149 lbs); #15 Ethan Ramos (165 lbs); John Staudenmayer (174 lbs) 2014 Nathan Kraisser (125 lbs); #9 Evan Henderson (141 lbs); Christian Barber (149 lbs); John Staudenmayer (165 lbs) 2013 #7 Nathan Kraisser (125 lbs); Joey Ward (133 lbs); #5 Evan Henderson (141 lbs); John Staudenmayer (165 lbs); Alex Utley (184 lbs) NCAA Champions Austin O'Connor (149 - 2021) NCAA All-Americans 2022: Kizhan Clarke (141 - 2nd); Austin O'Connor (157 - 8th); Clay Lautt (174 - 8th) 2021: Zach Sherman (141 - 7th); Austin O'Connor (149 - 1st) 2019: Austin O'Connor (149 - 3rd); Chip Ness (184 - 6th) 2018: Troy Heilmann (149 - 4th); Chip Ness (184 - 7th) 2016: Joey Ward (141 - 7th) 2015: Ethan Ramos (165 - 6th) 2014: Evan Henderson (141 - 4th) 2013: Evan Henderson (141 - 6th) NWCA All-Americans Zach Sherman (141 - Second Team) Austin O'Connor (149 - First Team) Clay Lautt (174 - Honorable Mention) Round of 12 Finishers Clay Lautt (2021 - 174) Devin Kane (2019, 2021 - 174, 184) Kennedy Monday (2018 - 157) Daniel Chaid (2017 - 197) Nathan Kraisser (2013 - 125) John Staudenmayer (2013 - 165) ACC Champions 2021: Austin O'Connor (149) 2020: Zach Sherman (141); Austin O'Connor (149); Clay Lautt (174) 2018: Troy Heilmann (149); Ethan Ramos (174) 2016: Evan Henderson (149); Ethan Ramos (174) 2014: Nathan Kraisser (125) 2013: Evan Henderson (141) Dual Record 2021-22: 8-6 2021: 5-2 2019-20: 14-3 2018-19: 12-7 2017-18: 9-11 2016-17: 8-6 2015-16: 13-5 2014-15: 11-6 2013-14: 7-12 2012-13: 9-6 ACC Tournament Placement 2021-22: 4th 2021: 3rd 2019-20: 3rd 2018-19: 3rd 2017-18: 3rd 2016-17: 5th 2015-16: 3rd 2014-15: 5th 2013-14: 4th 2012-13: 4th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 18th (32 points) 2021: 16th (36 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 19th (28.5 points) 2017-18: 20th-tie (27 points) 2016-17: 41st-tie (4.5 points) 2015-16: 32-tie (10 points) 2014-15: 24th-tie (18 points) 2013-14: 25th-tie (15.5 points) 2012-13: 22nd (21.5 points) Head Coaching History Coleman Scott (2015-Present) CD Mock (2002-2015) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Nathan Kraisser: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#7 seed), 2014 ACC Champion, 2017 NCAA All-American (8th) for Campbell 133 - Troy Heilmann: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#4 seed), 2018 NCAA All-American (4th), 2018 ACC Champion 141 - Kizhan Clarke: 2022 NCAA Qualifier (#15 seed), 2022 NCAA Runner-Up 149 - Evan Henderson: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#5, #8, and #9 seeds), 2x NCAA All-American (4th, 6th), 2x ACC Champion 157 - Austin O'Connor: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#2 x2, #6 and #11 seeds), 2021 NCAA Champion, 3x NCAA All-American (1st, 3rd, 8th), 2x ACC Champion 165 - Ethan Ramos: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#4, #8, #10 and #15 seeds), 2015 NCAA All-American (6th), 2x ACC Champion 174 - Clay Lautt: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#10, #14, and #16 seeds), 2022 NCAA All-American (8th), 2020 ACC Champion, 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American 184 - Chip Ness: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#15 seed), 2x NCAA All-American (6th, 7th) 197 - Daniel Chaid: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2017 ACC Runner-Up, 2017 NCAA Round of 12 finisher 285 - Cory Daniel: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#21 seed), 2x ACC Runner-Up Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #41 Danny Nini (FL); #49 Jayden Scott (NY); #52 Cole Hunt (GA); #65 Noah Pettigrew (GA); #110 Nick Fea (NJ) 2021: #18 Caden McCrary (GA); #64 Spencer Moore (KY); #165 Isaias Estrada (CO); #232 Sincere Bailey (IL) 2020: #7 Lachlan McNeil (Can); #20 Julian Tagg (OH); #31 Cade Lautt (KS); #42 Gavin Kane (GA); #47 Sonny Santiago (CA) 2019: #37 Gabe Tagg (OH) 2018: #22 Brandon Whitman (MI); #38 Joey Melendez (IL); #46 Mason Phillips (WA); #61 Ryan Karoly (PA) 2017: #12 Austin O'Connor (IL); #48 Zach Sherman (FL); #100 Jaime Hernandez (IL) 2016: #64 Matt Rowland (IL); #147 Jake Gunning (PA) 2015: #25 AC Headlee (PA); #128 Matt Rundell (IL) 2014: #30 Chip Ness (GA); #57 Jack Clark (NJ) 2013: #63 Ethan Ramos (NJ); Troy Heilmann (NJ); #124 Josh Lehner (OH) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State Nebraska

71 kg U17 World Champion Joseph Sealey (photos courtesy of Martin Gabor/UWW) Competition from the U17 World Championships wrapped up on Sunday and for the first time since the revival of the event, in 2011, the United States won the team title in men's freestyle. Not only did team USA win, they dominated the field. If there were any doubts about that statement, the four wrestlers in action on Sunday reaffirmed them with their performance. All three of the American finalists (Domenic Munaretto, Luke Lilledahl, and Joseph Sealey) all captured gold medals, while Max McEnelly claimed a bronze medal. The four Americans on Sunday outscored their competition by a 35-1 margin. That was a microcosm of the men's freestyle team's entire tournament. The team went 34-6 and posted 190 team points, which was a new record for the event. Second place India finished with a distant 64 points. Of the ten wrestlers on the 2022 team, nine came away with medals and four were gold. That marked the second team that the US produced four world gold medalists, as the 2017 squad did the same thing (Kurt McHenry, Will Lewan, Aaron Brooks, Greg Kerkvliet). Below are the results from the final day of action in Rome. 45 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Domenic Munaretto (USA) over Bashir Verdiyev (Azerbaijan) 2-0 51 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Mohammad Asadi (Iran) 10-1 71 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Joseph Sealey (USA) over Raul Caso (Italy) 12-0 92 kg Men's Freestyle Bronze Medal Match - Max McEnelly (USA) over Sahil Jaglan (India) 11-0

110 kg U17 World Champion Koy Hopke (photos courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) It was more of the same for the men's freestyle team in session one of Saturday at the U17 World Championships from Rome, Italy. Three of the five wrestlers who started their tournaments this morning (Domenic Munaretto - 45 kg; Luke Lilledahl - 51 kg; and Joseph Sealey - 71 kg) all advanced to the gold medal match at their respective weights. This trio combined to win ten bouts on the day and only two of them went the full distance. In the medal matches, things were a bit more difficult for the Americans as they lost three of their four gold medal contests. The lone winner for the USA was big man Koy Hopke at 110 kg. Hopke survived an early onslaught from Levan Lagvilava (France), who immediately registered a pair of points on step out's. As had been the case in the semifinals, Lagvilava ran out of steam as the match progressed. Once the French heavyweight started to slow, Hopke took over. After a takedown and exposure from a deep armbar, Hopke looked poised to seal the deal with a fall. However, the official stopped the hold as Lagvilava grimaced and grabbed at the injured appendage. From that point, it was all Hopke and he cruised to an 11-6 win. Settling for the silver medal on the day were Christian Castillo (48 kg), Jax Forrest (55 kg), and Tyler Kasak (65 kg). The fifth member of the first day's worth of competitors, Zack Ryder, was the only one who didn't have a medal locked in at the start of the day. That changed as Ryder dominated Muhammadamin Abduloev (Tajikistan) physically in an 8-0 victory. Before Saturday's medal rounds began, the United States team already had clinched the team title, a feat they had never accomplished since the reinstatement of Cadet Worlds in 2011. The last two teams (2019 and 2021) brought home silver. The U17 World Championships will wrap up tomorrow as Munaretto, Lilledahl, and Sealey look to win gold medals, while Max McEnelly looks for bronze. 45 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification - Domenic Munaretto (USA) over Ningappa Genannavar (India) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Domenic Munaretto (USA) over Arman Harutyunyan (Armenia) 10-0 Semifinals - Domenic Munaretto (USA) over Amirmohammad Navazi (Iran) 8-2 Gold Medal Match - Domenic Munaretto (USA) vs. Bashir Verdiyev (Azerbaijan) 48 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Vasif Baghirov (Azerbaijan) over Christian Castillo (USA) 5-3 51 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Ben Tarik (Morocco) 12-1 Quarterfinals - Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Dimitar Biserkov (Bulgaria) 10-0 Semifinals - Luke Lilledahl (USA) over Nurdanat Aitanov (Kazakhstan) 4-1 Gold Medal Match - Luke Lilledahl (USA) vs. Mohammad Asadi (Iran) 55 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Daryn Askerbek (Kazakhstan) over Jax Forrest (USA) 11-10 60 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Kyler Larkin (USA) over Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia) 5-2 Quarterfinals - Taiga Ogino (Japan) over Kyler Larkin (USA) 2-1 ***Eliminated from medal contention*** 65 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Ilyas Isayev (Azerbaijan) over Tyler Kasak (USA) 5-3 71 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification - Joe Sealey (USA) over Bleonit Bytyci (Kosovo) 10-0 Round of 16 - Joe Sealey (USA) over Alisher Zholdasaby (Kazakhstan) 12-1 Quarterfinals - Joe Sealey (USA) over Aslan Ozturk (Turkey) 10-0 Semifinals - Joe Sealey (USA) over Razmik Yepremyan (Armenia) 11-0 Gold Medal Match - Joe Sealey (USA) vs. Raul Caso (Italy) 80 kg Men's Freestyle Bronze medal match - Zack Ryder (USA) over Muhammadamin Abduloev (Tajikistan) 8-0 92 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Max McEnelly (USA) over Sherzod Poyonov (Uzbekistan) 11-1 Quarterfinals - Max McEnelly (USA) over Andriyan Valkanov (Bulgaria) 11-0 Semifinals - Kamil Kurugliyev (Kazakhstan) over Max McEnelly (USA) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match - Max McEnelly (USA) vs. Ibrahim Benekli (Turkey)/Sahil Jaglan (India) - Winner 110 kg Men's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Koy Hopke (USA) over Levan Lagvilava (France) 11-6

2021 All-American Louie DePrez (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) To steal the line from last year's FCW Top-20 Articles, everyone knows 125 Pat Glory, 133 Roman Bravo-Young, 174 Carter Starocci, 184 Aaron Brooks, and 285 Gable Steveson are bonus point monsters, and this season they totaled 283 Fpts. Top names and all NCAA Champions or Finalists (Nick Suriano did not make the Top-20). But here's five names that totaled 328 Fpts: 125 Caleb Smith (APP), 133 Joshua Koderhandt (NAVY), 174 Logan Messer (GMU), 184 Jonathan Loew (COR), and 285 Ben Goldin (PENN). This group only has one All-American (Loew finishing 8th). And as I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." So, with that, let's take a look at this past season's Top-20 at each weight to help give you an early start to win each week this coming year. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. 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 Binghamton Bearcat Lou DePrez makes his third consecutive Top-20 list in as many years, this time as the Top Cat. Despite three losses and moving up a weight, DePrez only had two majors of his nine bonus point wins which helped him claim the 1 spot. Close on DePrez's tail was Jaxon Smith and Cam Caffey, who both wrestled 29 regular season matches (the most wrestled by any in the Top-20), though technically Smith wrestled 28 and Caffey 27, as they had some non-D1 competition. Smith finished as the highest Redshirt in any Top-20, with the help of five pins and two majors in his last 11 matches of the season. Caffey had a similar streak, winning his last 10 matches, but of those matches, only two were won by bonus (two majors). Whenever a wrestler transfers into the Big Ten, their Fantasy Stock gets questioned. As was the case with Greg Bulsak moving from Clarion to Rutgers for his final season of eligibility. Bulsak proved the doubters (yes me, I had some hesitation) wrong. With almost a 60% bonus rate against D1 competition in the regular season, Bulsak actually had a fighter's chance of finishing 2nd at the weight. Two of his four losses were in sudden victory and, had he won those two matches, would have been right behind DePrez as a runner-up. Tied for the Best PPM in the 197 Top-20, Stephen Buchanan finds himself at #6 solely because of his loss by pin to #12 on the list (Owen Pentz). Had Buchanan only lost by decision? He'd be in the Top-4. National Champion Max Dean came out firing with six straight bonus wins to start the season. He would go on to only have one loss (by decision), and only three wins by decisions, but in a weight where 90% of the Top-20 wrestled over 20 matches, 16 by Dean just wasn't enough firepower. Four All-Americans made the 197 Top-20 this season. Who Missed The Cut: Missing the cut by 0.2 PPM, Yonger Bastida (ISU) finished at #21 with the same number of Fantasy Points as Rocky Elam, despite beating him in the last match of the regular season. What did him in? Probably that loss by pin against Silas Allred (NEB) at the Daktronics Open. Cleveland State's Ben Smith also finished with 44 Fpts and a PPM of 2.1 to be #22. National Finalist Jacob Warner (IOWA), may have wrestled four matches at the Luther Open, but from a Fantasy perspective, it's like he didn't even weigh in. He won three matches by bonus over non-D21 competition and then Medically Forfeited to teammate Zach Glaser in the Finals. That left Warner with 13 countable matches, which he only won by bonus twice (two majors) and lost by decision three times. Warner finished at #39 with 23 Fpts. One of the biggest surprises of the NCAA Tournament was Gavin Hoffman (OHST) taking home 6th place as a 21 seed. With seven losses in the regular season, it's no wonder how he didn't crack the Top-20. Especially when he only recorded two countable bonus wins of his 18 matches. Even though he was injured mid-season and only wrestled in 10 matches, AJ Ferrari (formerly of OKST), only had two wins by decision to finish at #23 with 43 Fpts. Eric Schultz (NEB) and Jay Aiello (UVA) finished out their senior seasons as #24 and #25 respectively (42 and 41 Fpts). And, tell me if you've heard this before in this article, the main reason they are not higher on this list is due to the low match count totals (15 for Schultz and 12 for Aiello). Other notables to miss the cut include: Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT) at #26 with 40 Fpts, Braxton Amos (WISC) at #27 with 39 Fpts, Kordell Norfleet (ASU) at #29 with 38 Fpts, and Michael Beard (formerly of PSU) at #35 with 26 Fpts.

Christian Castillo's last-second quarterfinal win (photo courtesy of UWW/Kadir Caliskan) On Friday morning, the men's freestyle team hit the mat for the first time at the U17 World Championships in Rome, Italy. Things couldn't have gone too much better as the American team won 13 of 14 matches and put four wrestlers into tomorrow's gold medal matches. Christian Castillo (48 kg), Jax Forrest (55 kg), Tyler Kasak (65 kg), and Koy Hopke (110 kg) all have only one match standing between them and a world championship. Hopke was the outlier and was generally dominant throughout his three bouts today. Only one went the entire four minutes and that was “just” a nine-point victory (11-2). Castillo, Forrest, and Kasak all were pushed and looked to be vulnerable, at one point or another; however, each persevered and clinched a spot in the finals. Castillo has one of the highlights of the tournament, when he found himself down to Arshia Haddadi (Iran) on criteria (after a questionable challenge was ruled in favor of the Iranian), with only four seconds remaining in the bout. Unphased, Castillo attempted a flying squirrel and actually got the two points needed for a victory. Forrest also had a last-second win, but his came in the semifinals rather than the quarters. Trailing by a point with :15 seconds left on a restart, Forrest was on the offensive. After a brief scramble, Vaibhav Patil (India) appeared to be very close to a takedown; however, Forrest wrestled through the position and locked up one of his own at the edge with :02 seconds remaining to win 8-7. A failed challenge made it 9-7. Kasak used a beautiful throw-by with under ten seconds left in the Round of 16 contest to take a 6-6 lead on criteria. His opponent, Akobir Rahimov (Uzbekistan), challenged the call, which ended up being upheld, leading to a 7-6 final score for the American. Two American women, Gabriella Gomez (46 kg) and Valerie Hamilton (61 kg), both wrestled for gold medals on Friday. Both were on the losing end of one-sided bouts against opponents from powerhouse nations. Gomez was bested 13-0 by Koko Matsuda (Japan) and Hamilton fell to Savita (India), 12-0. The final medal tally for the women's squad is three. Gomez and Hamilton, along with Erica Pastoriza (43 kg) all came away with silver medals. Tomorrow the final five men's freestyle wrestlers will start their tournament, while the first half will wrestle for medals. 48 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Christian Castillo (USA) over Ozgur Caglayan (Turkey) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Christian Castillo (USA) over Arshia Haddadi (Iran) 8-6 Semifinals - Christian Castillo (USA) over Rassoul Galbouraev (France) Fall Gold Medal Matchup - Christian Castillo (USA) vs. Vasif Baghirov (Azerbaijan) 55 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification - Jax Forrest (USA) over Takuto Osedo (Japan) 12-2 Round of 16 - Jax Forrest (USA) over Sandro Hungerbuehler (Switzerland) 10-0 Quarterfinals - Jax Forrest (USA) over Zalkarbek Tabaldiev (Kyrgyzstan) 10-6 Semifinals - Jax Forrest (USA) over Vaibhav Patil (India) 9-7 Gold Medal Matchup - Jax Forrest (USA) vs. Daryn Askerbek (Kazakhstan) 65 kg Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Tyler Kasak (USA) over Akobir Rahimov (Uzbekistan) 7-6 Quarterfinals - Tyler Kasak (USA) over Bohdan Oliinyk (Ukraine) Fall Semifinals - Tyler Kasak (USA) over Ankit (India) Fall Gold Medal Matchup - Tyler Kasak (USA) vs. Ilyas Isayev (Azerbaijan) 80 kg Men's Freestyle Qualification - Reza Soleimanian (Iran) over Zack Ryder (USA) 10-0 Repechage Matchup - Zack Ryder vs. Slavi Stamenov (Bulgaria) 110 Men's Freestyle Round of 16 - Koy Hopke (USA) over Ramini Gulitashvili (Georgia) 14-3 Quarterfinals - Koy Hopke (USA) over Mateusz Pudlowski (Poland) 11-2 Semifinals - Koy Hopke (USA) over Khikmatullo Kurbonov (Uzbekistan) 12-2 Gold Medal Matchup - Koy Hopke (USA) vs. Levan Lagvilava (France) 46 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Matchup - Koko Matsuda (Japan) over Gabriella Gomez (USA) 13-0 61 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Matchup - Savita (India) over Valerie Hamilton (USA) 12-0

American University's Maximillian Leete (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) If you have ever seen American University's Maximillian Leete wrestle, you may notice his matches are a little unique. You may notice his style is very "in your face" while grabbing wrists and trying to maintain hand control the entire time while in the neutral position. Then suddenly the opponent breaks Max's grip, freeing his arms. They separate right in the middle of the mat, and the whistle blows. The ref re-positions them in the middle. They both slightly grasp each other's wrist/hand area before the whistle blows to restart them. This is one example of how the sport of wrestling has implemented a rule to allow athletes with certain disabilities (in this case, blindness) to compete, and succeed, in the sport. This reset in position is clearly stated in the handbook. According to the NCAA rule book, "…each wrestler shall have the fingers on one hand over and the fingers of the other hand under the opponent's fingers. Fingers shall not extend to the palms." Basically, the wrestlers must remain in constant contact with at least one hand without ever breaking apart once the whistle blows. To get some more clarification on the rule, I spoke with NCAA Division 1 referee, Scott Bricker. Fortunately, he has refereed Max in the past, among other EIWA matches. He explained that before the individual match, he flips his disc. Whichever color earns choice, that wrestler gets to choose if they want to start with their right hand on top, or right hand underneath their opponent's. The position was explained to me by Scott, "if your right hand is on top of your opponent's, your left hand will be on the bottom of theirs, and vice versa." To better visualize for me, I imagine the over-under position, but with hands (one is over, the other is under). Once contact is broken, the wrestlers restart. Every restart, the wrestlers must reverse positions with their opponent's hands, in the scenario described above. Because of Max's official diagnosis, his opponents must follow these sets of rules. Max stated his diagnosis is "Degenerative Myopia." Myopia, as some of you may know, is nearsightedness. Since his case is more severe than most, he is considered legally blind by today's standards. Degenerative, unfortunately, means that his case is getting worse as time passes. This condition is one you are born with and is also genetic on his mother's side. Max explained he has a cousin with the same condition, who is, interestingly, a D1 soccer prospect - as a goalie. Not kidding. The family's athletic abilities are impressive. Maximillian Leete was a three-sport varsity athlete in all four years of high school. He understands the humor when he told me he was the tennis captain his senior year. His exact words after telling me this were "which is kind of funny." He was also one of the state's best field goal kickers. He was so talented, in fact, he was looking to kick for the football team and wrestle in college. He had a few options to do so but chose to wrestle at American. American University does not have a varsity football team, so his kicking days may be over. It is great to see his sense of humor about it. When he described his vision to me, "what I see is mostly shapes and colors, and shadowy figures." As an example, it starts every morning when he wakes up. If his glasses are not right by his nightstand, it can be a real struggle to find them. This is just one of the few issues he deals with on a daily basis due to his vision. It's certainly one of those things we all take for granted. It was not until after his freshman year in high school that Maximillian even realized his diagnosis allowed him to "level the playing field" against his opponents, thanks to another EIWA assistant coach. Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov, the current assistant coach at Harvard University, helped Maximillian realize his full potential in the sport of wrestling. Leete's family is from the greater Boston area. Coach "Muz" runs a wrestling club, where Max has wrestled since he started at a young age. Coincidentally, Muzaffar is an American University alum, where he was a two-time EIWA champion, one-time NCAA All-American and represented Uzbekistan at the Senior level. After discussions with the family, they all came to an agreement that he should start utilizing this specialized rule set, mostly as a form of safety for Max. As a former wrestler at this level, I can undoubtedly see why this is a danger for both wrestlers. With the emphasis on head injuries within the last decade, this is a no-brainer. I'm sure I am in the majority when I say, safety is the top priority. As we discussed this topic for a few minutes, I finally summed up the audacity to ask (playing devil's advocate, of course) if he felt that forcing opponents to wrestle his style was an advantage to him. For the record, I gulped as I asked this hard-hitting question - not knowing how he'd handle it. He was a good sport and understood my point of view, while somewhat agreeing with me. "Some wrestlers, especially at the 125lb weight class, do not like to hand fight," he said. It's pretty evident that the lighter the weight class, the less hand fighting you see. He continued, "I've adapted to wrestle by feel. I am more comfortable in the upper body." You do not see many opponents who are able to sustain the constant pace and pressure Maximillian engulfs them in. American University's Maximillian Leete (photo courtesy of Jay Mutchnik) Unfortunately, Max did have to deal with negativity in high school every now and then. The accusations of him faking his disability (even with legal paperwork signed by doctors), and claiming this rule was "unfair" to the opponent would occur from unruly parents - not shocking right? He did not let it rattle him, as he kept wrestling unphased when it would happen. On a positive note, the outrageous claims have been pretty much non-existent at the college level. "Everyone is more understanding of the situation, and of the sport in general," he said. "From the whistle, it's all about the hand fight." I have to agree with him; it's still wrestling. After our conversation, I've concluded that, yes, this rule may be a slight advantage to him and his style - but, when compared to his opponent's ability to see, his advantage is far outweighed by the advantage of having full eyesight. When it comes to coaching Max, you also need to adapt your way of doing things. Max, for obvious reasons, cannot sit and watch coaches explain technique at practice. They must physically do the move on Max. "I just have to be honest with them when I need to throw on my glasses and physically feel the move in order to learn it." When it comes to coaching during a match, Max has special nonverbal cues he orchestrates with his leaders in the corner. Since he cannot see the scoreboard, his coaches need to have excellent communication with him. A wrist tap to the corner is him asking for the time left in the period. A head tap is asking for the score and time. Maximillian praised Coach Joey Dance, who was a 2x All-American at Virginia Tech as a 125lb wrestler. The way Coach Dance, and the rest of the staff, have adapted to helping Max meet his needs is what was most impressive to him. With only Coach Dance's fourth year of coaching in the books (his first at American), this is a unique circumstance to find yourself in as such a young coach at this level. Being able to adapt to something so unique, while still finding your feet in the coaching aspect is something worth noting. Coach Dance agreed that he has been "challenged to adapt" as well. It's a learning process for him as much as it is for Maximillian. Dance returned the praise, stating that Leete "always asks the right questions, and has put in countless hours on the mat to add to his technique." Coach Dance explained how the wrestler is constantly reaching out for individual work over the summer, which is evident by his fourth-place finish in freestyle at the U20 U.S. Championships during the early summer. The confidence within Max, himself, is growing according to Coach Joey Dance. Dance told me, "One of my favorite things about Max is that he always stays true to himself, no matter the situation." This year's team and individual goals for Maximillian Leete prove his confidence may be higher than it's ever been. "There's no more excuses this year. No more 'first-season with a new staff' excuses. No more 'all freshman line-up' excuses. We had our growing year. It's time to go." He believes the Eagles of American University can be a .500 team this year. After winning only one dual meet last season, there is room to improve. Individually, he sees himself as an EIWA finalist and finding himself on the podium at NCAAs. "These are the goals I laid out with my coaches. Now, it's time to get myself in the best physical and mental shape to do that. I'm so excited for pre-season to begin." When Maximillian is not on the mat, you can find him working towards his goal of becoming a registered yoga instructor. Personally, I'm a huge yoga fan for athletes - especially when it comes to wrestlers. The stretching helps with flexibility and, maybe the most underrated aspect, it helps with the mind helping visualize goals and assist with "shutting off outside noise" as he poetically describes. It is great for non-athletic goals too. He remembers his first hot yoga experience as "competitive against yourself" as he drew parallels to the sport of wrestling, he continued "…at the end of the day, that's all wrestling is." I concur. The training process in this sport is, largely, being better than you were yesterday. You need to have a competitive nature. Well put, by the astute young man! Leete's hard work translates to the classroom as well. He was one of five American University wrestlers named to the NWCA D1 Scholar All-American Team. Sidenote, the team's combined GPA last season was 3.419, good enough for 15th best in the nation. His leadership will be expected next season to help lead the team down the right path to success. He is a pre-justice and law major, with a minor in women, gender, and sexuality studies. During his recruiting process, his main focus was academics, while wrestling was secondary. He mentioned looking at other academically prestigious universities like Brown and The University of Virginia. When asked why he chose American, he said the internships, and overall job opportunities in the nation's capital are unmatched. There are very few, if any, better cities to study pre-law as a college undergrad. In the future, he plans to attend law school, furthering his education. "I'm very passionate about pursuing being a lawyer. There are always guest speakers in our classes that give honest opinions and reviews of the occupation from a day-to-day perspective." He mentioned former and current district attorneys, and public defenders, among others in similar careers, that have been speakers. For Max, his current focus is on family law or divorce law, connecting portions of his minor studies into his law career. "Anything with people and relationships and how we interact with each other," he explained was his passion. He would like to write, research, and publish papers on this exact topic. In a world where a majority of people (especially of college-age) interact via social media in short-form exchanges, it is refreshing to see someone like Maximillian interested in breaking that mold to understand it better. It takes one wrestler like Maximillian Leete to better your wrestling team. More importantly, it takes one person like Maximillian Leete to make the world a better place.

Arizona State head coach Zeke Jones (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Arizona State's head coach Zeke Jones has agreed to a five-year contract extension to keep him in Tempe through the 2026-2027 season. "Zeke has proven himself to be one of the best wrestling coaches in the country," Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson said. "The way he's managed to turn the Arizona State program around and return us to prominence is inspiring and exactly what we brought him on to do eight years ago.” Jones responded that the contract extension starts at the top of the ladder. “It always starts with the president and athletic director,” Jones said. “They care about the sport and want to see it be successful. Guys like Sun Devil Wrestling Executive Board, they are supportive, love the sport and willing to give time and resources to the program too.” Since Jones took over the program in 2014, he has become one of the winningest coaches in ASU history, leading the Sun Devils to back-to-back NCAA team trophies, four Pac-12 team titles, 25 All-America honors, and 32 individual conference titles. “We have done some monumental things, broke a lot of records and reset history,” Jones said. Jones decided to take the offer because Arizona State has always felt like home to him and his family. “It's where I started my journey after high school,” Jones said. “I have loved wrestling since I was a kid but made my biggest gains when I went off to college. It was life-forming. It was where I was able to grow as a man, husband, coach, and father. ASU created all that for me.” In addition, Jones decided to stay in the desert because he could not pass up on an opportunity that very few are handed. “There's no guarantee in life with anything,” Jones said. “The opportunity to lead the Sun Devils in the future is an opportunity that very few get to experience. It's a fantastic school with a great wrestling tradition and I'm excited about what we can do in the future.” ASU staff and wrestlers did celebrate the extension. However, they kept it calm and collected. “They were congratulatory, which was nice,” Jones said. “However, it was more of a formality because we love this partnership we are in. The commitment was on both sides from my family and I to the athletic department and the university side too. It's like a marriage that's good.” In the next few years, Jones hopes to help his wrestlers succeed on and off the mat, earning their degrees and winning at the highest levels. However, there is one goal Jones has still yet to check off his box. “We want more Master's degrees, more Pac-12 Championships, more NCAA champions.,” Jones said. “ Ultimately, we are still striving for the big one. We want to add to some of our success and get into some uncharted territory.” Although he is eager to hunt down an NCAA team title, he is grateful for the contract extension. Plus, he is thankful for the Sun Devil community which has been supporting him all the way. “Thanks to everybody who has supported our effort at Arizona State, to my family and I, we are excited,” Jones said. “We are not going to stop until we get on top.”

The 2022 NCAA Champions; 5 from Penn State (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to another edition of the summer mailbag! It's Friday morning and I'm dabbling in some U17 Worlds while writing this. The problem I've always had with some of these events is having to watch in the middle of the night. I just can't do it. But I do love some early morning competition. There's nothing quite like the sounds of whistles and squeaking shoes on the mat to jolt you awake. It's almost Pavlovian at this point since we all grew up going to some tournaments and camps that start at the crack of dawn. Sometimes I even cut a little weight when I wake up and then hit the scales before having a bagel and a juice box just to get that old-time feeling back. Alright, I'm rambling. Let's get to the mailbag as very important matters like Penn State champs and painting toenails are on the docket this morning. What school would you most like to see add wrestling and why that team? Wiems19 Notre Dame of course. Toss in a Clemson and now you have an ACC with eight teams. Both schools already have wrestling history and enough money to fund programs that can find immediate success. The ACC already has a TV deal with ESPN (and the ACC Network). With these additions, the conference can become the clear number two in the country. Next thing you know, the Worldwide Leader is regularly airing duals on one of their actual networks. Next thing you know, Friday Night Duals with Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison is the hottest thing on ESPN2. That's how you grow the sport. If Gable does not come back, how likely is it that Penn State ends up with five champions? What are we going to do with Clay Sauertieg if this happens? Richard Mann I give it about a fifteen percent chance. The Fightin' Caels seem to make the extraordinary look easy these days, as they've already accomplished this feat twice in the last few years, but it's still a tall task. Even after all we've seen I can't just lock in RBY as “next topic.” Fix is just too good and you never know when he finally puts it together in the finals. I am starting to think Starocci is “next topic,” but his two finals wins were both in overtime and Mekhi Lewis isn't going anywhere. After a year of adjusting to 174 under his belt, anything is possible for the New Jersey Hokie. Think 2017 Sadulaev compared to 2018 and beyond Sadualev. Once he adjusted, it was all over for the rest of the world. Aaron Brooks might be the biggest lock of the bunch. I'll never pick against him. But he's not invincible and still has two monsters at his weight in Hoagie Hidlay and Parker Keckeisen. The road will not be easy. Max Dean also had to scratch and claw his way to the top of the podium last season and will have his share of landmines to deal with if he wants to get there again. He's no lock. Now we get to G.D. Kerkvliet. Is he good enough to win it all? Absolutely. A lock? Far from it. This is why I'm not keen on Gable Steveson coming back. It takes away all the fun of the weight. We know he can beat Mason Parris. We also know he has problems with Cassioppi of Iowa. On top of that, Parris tends to beat Cassioppi on the reg. I haven't even mentioned Cohlton Schultz yet and he made the finals last year. So can they do five champs again? Sure they can. It will be tough but one thing we do know is that when Cael's guys get to the finals, they usually perform quite well. As far as our dear friend Clay is concerned, he has to spend the rest of the year rooting for the Cowboys and Phillies. We can let him have this one. I often let my daughters paint my toenails (girl dad life). Sometimes they let me pick the colors. What color should I choose? Luke Wise I'm not sure asking a color-blind person this question is the best idea. Your best bet is probably something to match your eye color. Or maybe something light to bring out the summer vibes. A light blue or green might be your best bet. Maybe paint a couple of flowers on there. It's open-toe season and if we have to stare at your nasty feet for three months at least give us some art. I repeat my question from last week, plus if a picture is worth a thousand words, please give me your interpretation of this. Seth Petarra First off, I don't remember your question from last week and I don't think you do, either. For those without access to Twitter, this man sent me a picture of Danny DeVito wearing a derby, holding some kind of stringed instrument along and a lemon, while holding a limoncello in the other hand. It's quite the scene. All it makes me think about is when the Always Sunny in Philadelphia star made a drunken appearance on The View, because he was up all night knocking back limoncellos with George Clooney. How many people can say that “Yo T, remember when I showed up hammered on that talk show, because I got wasted with George Clooney the night before?” Saying I passed out on Willie's couch because I had too many Bud Heavies at the local Easton watering hole just doesn't have the same charm to it. Alright all you Jagoffs and Jaggettes, this guy needs to put the keyboard away and get to his day job. Enjoy Cadet/U17/U16 or whatever they are calling Worlds this weekend. There's nothing better than watching the future stars of the sport make their mark. I shall cheer for them. This Iranian on right now looks about 27 years old.

Minnesota's Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott McWilliams (photo courtesy of Minnesota athletics) Wrestlers are known for their unique mental toughness and work ethic on and off the mat. Strength and conditioning coaches play an important role in not only developing them as athletes, but play an important role in keeping them healthy through the season. With load management becoming increasingly common across all sports, their importance is only increasing. I had the chance to interview strength and conditioning coaches Gary Calgano of Oklahoma State, Scott McWilliams of Minnesota, and Seth Diters of Virginia Tech. All work extensively with their schools' wrestling programs. Here are their responses to questions about their roles with collegiate wrestling. How did you begin working with the wrestling team? Gary Calgano (OSU) - I literally was assigned wrestling here at Oklahoma State by the former AD, Terry Don Phillips. Stroke of luck you could say. Seth Diters (VT) - I accepted this position at VT a year ago and the job is baseball and wrestling. I've worked baseball my entire career but grew up wrestling, so I always had a passion for the sport. So this job couldn't be a better fit. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - I got hired as the Gophers Wrestling Strength Coach in September 2016. Prior to this, I was an assistant wrestling coach and strength coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. A good friend of mine from grad school was one of the hockey strength coaches here, at the time, and when the wrestling strength coach position opened, he gave me a heads up, and I was fortunate enough to be hired on staff. How would you describe your experiences working with wrestlers compared to athletes in other sports? Gary Calgano (OSU) - The intensity level is off the charts. Plus the willingness to put in the work for them is learned at an early age. I truly believe that's what sets them apart from most other sports. Seth Diters (VT) - These guys are awesome. Hardworking and respectful. These guys want to be the best and it shows in their work ethic, but that's ultimately most kids. Athletes don't commit to a school to be mediocre. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - My experience working with wrestlers is what makes this career so enjoyable for me. I have worked with a wide variety of different sports teams along the way and have immense appreciation for the talent and dedication any athlete has, but I've grown up around wrestling, so I have a natural bias towards it. I think having the passion and appreciation for this sport goes a long way in getting quality work out of the wrestlers when I'm with them. While I'm sure it's fun to get to work with wrestlers, what's one thing that's hard about working with wrestlers, even if it's not a serious issue? Gary Calgano (OSU) - One thing that took me some getting used to is the team/individual dynamic. We can have a big dual win but a young man may have gotten beat in his individual match. So I had to learn to temper my enthusiasm during the next lift to make sure everyone kept their head up. I hope that made sense. Seth Diters (VT) - They are such tough kids, sometimes it's hard to get them to understand it's okay to go light sometimes. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - One of the most difficult things about working with wrestlers is helping them with weight management. Especially when guys first get to college, they've maybe been able to cut corners or think they have a system that works, but in reality, is not going to be effective at this level. Wrestlers are creatures of habit and to help educate each one of them on how their individual routines need to improve takes a lot of trial and error. Getting them to be professionals and utilize every hour of the day, as a chance to increase their performance, not just the hours of practice or lifting, is an ever-changing puzzle to figure out. Do you work with the coaches to develop training programs? Gary Calgano (OSU) - Yes sir. I absolutely do. I talk regularly with Coach Smith and the staff. I never wrestled myself, so I try to get as much information from them as I possibly can. Seth Diters (VT) - Absolutely. I'm here to complement what the coaches do. The kids don't sign to lift weights, they come to wrestle, so I have to compliment the program. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - My coaches are awesome. They give me complete autonomy when it comes to strength and conditioning with the guys. I think other strength coaches who do not have a background in the sport that get "assigned" wrestling as one of their teams do not get the freedom I do. My coaches will certainly let me know if I'm missing something, but for the most part, they have too much other stuff to focus on to micromanage the help I'm trying to provide. How does your training change throughout the season? Gary Calgano (OSU) - It changes from the amount of days we lift per week to the volume of each workout. I am constantly switching exercises as well to provide the CNS (central nervous system) with proper stimulation. We try to keep the intensity high no matter what phase we are in. Seth Diters (VT) - Just depends on what time of year it is. Offseason we go pretty hard, but as we near competition we shift focus to a lot more mat work. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - Our training throughout the season is ultimately dictated by (upcoming) competition and travel. Early in the season, our weight room volume decreases and we start to move away from absolute strength. October into November is one of the more difficult times of the year and my focus is on helping the guys adjust to making weight routinely, while still getting quality work in. As the season goes along, we'll always touch on maintaining strength as much as possible, but the majority of the weight room work shifts to a velocity-based philosophy. As soon as duals are done and we're peaking for Big Tens and NCAAs, I give the starting ten guys some autonomy to pick certain movements they like (or don't like) to get the most out of shorter lifts. With load management becoming more prominent in the sport, do you play a role in those decisions and if yes how so? What effect does this have on training? Gary Calgano (OSU) - Yes and no. Coach Smith has been crazy successful as an athlete and also as a head coach, so he knows what to look for especially during the season. If he notices a guy needs to be off the mat, then he will send them down to me to get an extra lift in for the week. I will visit with him and the staff if I notice any wrestler that is dragging for some reason. Good, open lines of communication are key. Seth Diters (VT) - We do some basic jump monitoring, but so much of the monitoring comes from building relationships with these kids and adjusting based on how they feel day-to-day. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - Load management is rapidly becoming such a big topic of conversation, as I think it shows there is an approach to help wrestlers perform better than the old school thought process of 'more is better.' I have learned a lot from our wrestling coaching staff on how they try to peak the guys. Our wrestlers consistently outwrestle their seeds at the conference and national tournament, and I think a huge reason behind it is because my coaches care so much about when to push, but more importantly when to back off. Intentional focus on quality work will help an athlete a lot more than doing a bunch of extra work for the sake of quantity. In season, I weigh the guys in every day before practice and am at every practice (and obviously lifts too), so I have a good amount of insight from the guys on how I think they're operating. For my role in load management, I get to sit in on daily staff meetings where upcoming practice plans are discussed and the coaches are really receptive to hearing my feedback on what I'm noticing on any given individual. I use these conversations to match the work I have planned in the weight room. I see load management making a big shift towards wearable technology such as Whoop or Oura Rings. I am fascinated by anything to help educate the athletes on understanding how their habits affect performance but in reality, it comes down to having a good coach's eye and simple, honest conversations with the athletes. Why is a good strength and conditioning coach or coaching team important for college athletes? Gary Calgano (OSU) - I think that a good strength coach can teach so many valuable life lessons. From the little things like being on time, to learning to give your best effort every single day. Not just to provide a good workout program but also to provide them with the confidence they need to power past any obstacle life might throw at you. Seth Diters (VT) - We wear so many different “hats” other than S&C. We are here to create high-functioning, good young men and women, so it's so important to have a well-rounded person in strength and conditioning. Scott McWilliams (UMN) - A strength and conditioning coach only gets a couple hours with the athletes each week to help them move better, make them a little faster, stronger, and more injury resilient. During the year, those hours spent together really only add up to play a small role in the athlete's overall development. But every athlete across the country at this level is extremely talented, works hard, and has the resources to succeed. A good strength coach is hopefully able to embrace the fact their impact might be small but it also might be that small aspect that separates their athletes from the majority.

46 kg U17 world finalist Gabriella Gomez (photo courtesy of Martin Gabor; UWW) The action continued today from Rome as the second five weights in women's freestyle got underway and the first series of medals were handed out. The star of Wednesday's action, Erica Pastoriza, squared off with the 2022 Asian Champion, Ritika, and had to settle for the silver medal after losing via fall. Even in her loss, Pastoriza joined an elite company of women's wrestlers in the United States. Since the reintroduction of Cadet Worlds, in 2011, Pastoriza is only the fourth American woman to make the finals on two occasions. Marina Doi (11/12), Ronna Heaton (15/16), and Emily Shilson (17/18) are the only others to do so. In addition to Pastoriza, three of her teammates also competed for medals, Thursday. Shelby Moore (57 kg), Sydney Perry (65 kg), and Kaiulani Garcia (73 kg) all came up short in their quest for hardware. Moore and Perry both had to win repechage bouts earlier in the day, just for the chance to compete for bronze. The second crop of women in action for the American team yielded two additional finalists, Gabriella Gomez (46 kg) and Valerie Hamilton (61 kg). Gomez's path to the finals included a fall and a tech, before a bout decided by criteria in the semifinals. She'll have Japan's Koko Matsuda in the gold medal match. The UWW database doesn't have any information on Matsuda; however, since she's Japan's representative it suffices to say, she'll be very tough. Hamilton was sternly tested in her first two bouts. She prevailed over Yen Yi Li (Chinese Taipei), 7-6, before pinning Petra Mrackova (Czech Republic), while trailing on the scoreboard. Hamilton will have India's Savita, a 2022 Asian Champion, in tomorrow's gold medal match. Before these women competed for their gold medals, the men's freestyle team will get underway. 40 kg Women's Freestyle Quarterfinals - Yagmur Karabacak (Turkey) over Megan Valdez (USA) 8-6 ***Eliminated from medal contention*** 43 kg Women's Freestyle Gold Medal Match - Ritika (India) over Erica Pastoriza (USA) Fall 46 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification - Gabriella Gomez (USA) over Yelyzaveta Kulakivska (Ukraine) Fall Quarterfinals - Gabriella Gomez (USA) over Daniella Beky (Norway) 12-1 Semifinals - Gabriella Gomez (USA) over Kornelia Laszlo (Hungary) 3-3 Gold Medal Match - Gabriella Gomez (USA) vs. Koko Matsuda (Japan) 53 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Elena Ivaldi (USA) over Manar Elmasry (Egypt) 8-7 Quarterfinals - Khaliun Byambasuren (Mongolia) over Elena Ivaldi (USA) Fall 57 kg Women's Freestyle Repechage - Shelby Moore (USA) over Annatina Lippuner (Switzerland) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match - Ulmeken Esenbaeva (Uzbekistan) over Shelby Moore (USA) 4-2 61 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Valerie Hamilton (USA) over Yen Yi Li (Chinese Taipei) 7-6 Quarterfinals - Valerie Hamilton (USA) over Petra Mrackova (Czech Republic) Fall Semifinals - Valerie Hamilton (USA) over Sevinch Sultonova (Uzbekistan) 5-0 Gold Medal Match - Valerie Hamilton (USA) vs. Savita (India) 65 kg Women's Freestyle Repechage - Sydney Perry (USA) over Daria Konstantynova (Ukraine) 6-6 Bronze Medal Match - Zharkynai Nurlan Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Sydney Perry (USA) 7-0 69 kg Women's Freestyle Quarterfinals - Veronika Vilk (Croatia) over Jasmine Robinson (USA) Fall ***Eliminated from medal contention*** 73 kg Women's Freestyle Bronze Medal Match - Alina Yertostik (Kazakhstan) over Kaiulani Garcia (USA) Fall

Top fantasy 184 lbers Hunter Bolen (left) and Trey Munoz (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki/Tony Rotundo) To steal the line from last year's FCW Top-20 Articles, everyone knows 125 Pat Glory, 133 Roman Bravo-Young, 174 Carter Starocci, 184 Aaron Brooks, and 285 Gable Steveson are bonus point monsters, and this season they totaled 283 Fpts. Top names and all NCAA Champions or Finalists (Nick Suriano did not make the Top-20). But here's five names that totaled 328 Fpts: 125 Caleb Smith (APP), 133 Joshua Koderhandt (NAVY), 174 Logan Messer (GMU), 184 Jonathan Loew (COR), and 285 Ben Goldin (PENN). This group only has one All-American (Loew finishing 8th). And as I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." So, with that, let's take a look at this past season's Top-20 at each weight to help give you an early start to win each week this coming year. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. 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: #1 at 184 this year was… a tie! Both wrestled 23 matches, both had 3.3 PPM averages, and both ended with 76 Fpts. Trey Munoz and Hunter Bolen took different paths this season but ended up at the same destination: Bolen had seven wins by pin, four techs, and two majors while Munoz tallied five pins, three techs, and four majors. Munoz had one less loss and two more decisions than Bolen. The two-time All-American freshman (yeah, you read that right), Parker Keckeisen put in a dominant regular season that had only one loss (a close 3-2 decision to Aaron Brooks at the National Collegiate Duals). Of his 20 matches won, only two were within four points and one within two points with the rest being well out of reach of his opponent. The Wolfpack holds the #4 AND #5 spots this year with the Hoagie Boy edging out the redshirt Joey Milano by one Fpt. National Champ Aaron Brooks only wrestled 14 matches, but his bonus rate was 71.4% with only three decisions in the regular season, which helped propel him to #8 over wrestlers like Kyle Cochran or Lane Malczewski, who wrestled twice as many matches. Speaking of Kyle Cochran, he showed up and showed out this past season. In 2021, Cochran was 4-5 and in 2020 (at 165) went 12-9. This past season, he posted career bests in win percentage, bonus rate, and fantasy production landing at #11 on this list. Donnell Washington started the season looking like he was destined to wear the Pin Crown for the 2022 season. Eight of his first nine matches were won by Fall, but then only wrestled seven more matches going 4-3 (netting only 4 Fpts). Needless to say, that fantasy head start helped with getting juuuust inside of the Top-10. San Marino's favorite son started his season just outside of the New Year at the Illinois Matmen Open. Myles Amine won the bracket and finally got that win over Mark Hall (though that didn't count for fantasy). About half his matches were won by bonus and only one loss to eventual Champ Aaron Brooks. All eight All-Americans made the Top-20 at 184 this season. Who Missed The Cut: Even with only three losses and one more match than the tied #20 wrestlers, Gavin Kane (UNC) fell one Fpt short to end the season as #22. Now, Kane spent the beginning of the 2022 season down at 174, where he suffered two of his three losses and recorded one bonus point win. After bumping to 184, Kane rattled off 11 straight wins (five being by bonus). Jeremiah Kent (MIZZ) finished one point behind Kane, despite wrestling five more D1 matches than Kane. Kent looked to be starting strong, with his first four matches totaling +21 Fpts (two pins, one tech, and one major). But with four losses totaling -16 Fpts, it was just a little too much to overcome and landed Kent as #23. #24 Fantasy wrestler Michael Battista (UVA) had a string of 12 wins and one loss to start the season, but in his last five matches, he either won (twice) or lost (three times) by Major to end with 34 Fpts. Other notables to miss the cut include: Taylor Venz at #25 with 32 Fpts, David Key (NAVY) at #28 with 29 Fpts, Cade King (SDSU) at #41 with 20 Fpts, Abe Assad (IOWA) at #44 with 16 Fpts (and an average of 1 PPM), and Tate Samuelson (formerly of WYO) at #45 also with 16 Fpts (and a 0.8 PPM average).

2021 U17 World Champion Erica Pastoriza in the 2022 semifinals Competition in Greco-Roman at the U17 World Championships wrapped up on Wednesday, while the women's freestyle team hit the mat for the first time. Yesterday, the Greco team hit an important milestone as Joel Adams won the first gold medal by an American since Cohlton Schultz did so in 2017. Today more history was rewritten as Cody Merrill won a bronze medal at 92 kg. It marked the first time since 2013 that the American Greco squad had earned more than one medal at U17 Worlds. In 2013, it was Cade Olivas and Jon Jay Chavez who brought home the hardware. Merrill made it to the semifinals on Tuesday, which clinched a berth in today's bronze medal matchup. His opponent was Marcell Gyuricza (Hungary), an eleventh-place finisher at the European Championships in freestyle. Gyuricza got on the board first with a point via passivity, but could not add to it in the ensuing par terre exchange. With just over :20 seconds remaining in the opening period, Merrill got on the board with a push and led via criteria. Despite his lead, Merrill pushed the pace in the second and seemingly wore down his Hungarian opponent. With under a minute remaining in the contest, Gyuricza pulled Merrill into a front headlock; however, the American quickly drug out of it and hustled around for an insurance takedown. Gyucricza conceded victory and sat down with about :04 seconds left on the clock and didn't pursue a winning score. That made the final 3-1 in Merrill's favor. While the majority of the world team's focused on Rome, Merrill was in action less than a week ago, winning a Junior National freestyle title at one of the deepest weights in Fargo (195 lbs) Day one in women's freestyle was productive as 2021 U17 world champion Erica Pastoriza put herself in a position to repeat as she made the 43 kg finals. Right off the bat, Pastoriza faced what proved to be her toughest challenge of the day with Elvina Karimzada (Azerbaijan). Pastoriza prevailed 7-4, but not without a fight from Karimzada. At the 2021 World Championships, Karimzada was fifth in the 40 kg weight class won by Pastoriza, though the two did not meet. In both the quarter and semifinals, Pastoriza was able to open up her offense and won via tech. All that's standing between her and a date with US history (possibly the first woman to win multiple U17 world titles) is 2022 Asian Champion Ritika (India). In addition to Pastoriza, three other US women are in the medal hunt. Shelby Moore (57 kg), Sydney Perry (65 kg), and Kaiulani Garcia (73 kg) are all in repechage at their respective weights. Each will need two wins tomorrow to claim a bronze medal. 92 kg Greco-Roman Bronze Medal Match - Cody Merrill (USA) over Marcell Gyuricza (Hungary) 3-1 60 kg Greco-Roman Repechage - Yussuf Ashrapov (Kazakhstan) over Zan Fugitt 14-5 71 kg Greco-Roman Repechage - Arvin Khosravy (USA) over Mihael Lukac (Croatia) 3-1 Bronze Medal Match - Ibrahim Ozdemire (Turkey) over Arvin Khosravy (USA) 5-3 43 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification - Erica Pastoriza (USA) over Elvina Karimzada (Azerbaijan) 7-4 Quarterfinals - Erica Pastoriza (USA) over Dominika Konkel (Poland) 10-0 Semifinals - Erica Pastoriza (USA) over Arina Abdullina (Kazakhstan) 12-2 Finals Matchup Erica Pastoriza (USA) vs. Ritika (India) 49 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Fabiana Rinella (Italy) over Audrey Jimenez (USA) 9-2 57 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification - Shelby Moore (USA) over Michalina Ignaszak (Poland) 11-0 Round of 16 - Shelby Moore (USA) over Alina Filipovych (Ukraine) 11-8 Quarterfinals - Sowaka Uchida (Japan) over Shelby Moore (USA) 10-0 Repechage Matchup - Shelby Moore (USA) vs. Mirijam Hansen (Norway)/Annatina Lippuner (Switzerland) winner 65 kg Women's Freestyle Round of 16 - Sydney Perry (USA) over Szonja Szabo (Hungary) 5-0 Quarterfinals - Anju Sato (Japan) over Sydney Perry (USA) 3-0 Repechage Matchup - Sydney Perry (USA) vs. Daria Konstantynova (Ukraine) 73 kg Women's Freestyle Qualification - Priya (India) over Kaiulani Garcia (USA) 3-1 Repechage Matchup - Dominika Pochowska (Poland) vs. Kaiulani Garcia (USA)

2022 NCAA runner-up Ridge Lovett (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is...Nebraska! NCAA Qualifiers (82) 2022 #19 Chad Red (141); #10 Ridge Lovett (149); #10 Peyton Robb (157); #27 Bubba Wilson (165); #9 Mikey Labriola (174); #10 Taylor Venz (184); #3 Eric Schultz (197); #12 Christian Lance (285) 2021 #13 Liam Cronin (125); #8 Chad Red (141); #5 Ridge Lovett (149); #28 Caleb Licking (157); #14 Peyton Robb (165); #4 Mikey Labriola (174); #8 Taylor Venz (184); #2 Eric Schultz (197); #12 Christian Lance (285) 2020 #29 Alex Thomsen (125); #14 Ridge Lovett (133); #6 Chad Red (141); #9 Collin Purinton (149); #13 Peyton Robb (157); #5 Isaiah White (165); #10 Mikey Labriola (174); #7 Taylor Venz (184); #3 Eric Schultz (197); #21 David Jensen (285) 2019 #18 Zeke Moisey (125); #16 Chad Red (141); #2 Tyler Berger (157); #7 Isaiah White (165); #10 Mikey Labriola (174); #9 Taylor Venz (184); #14 Eric Schultz (197); #17 David Jensen (285) 2018 Jason Renteria (133); Chad Red (141); #13 Colton McCrystal (149); #8 Tyler Berger (157); #11 Isaiah White (165); #7 Taylor Venz (184); Eric Schultz (197) 2017 #5 Tim Lambert (125); #7 Eric Montoya (133); #9 Colton McCrystal (141); #4 Tyler Berger (157); #7 TJ Dudley (184); #7 Aaron Studebaker (197); #13 Collin Jensen (285) 2016 #13 Tim Lambert (125); #7 Eric Montoya (133); Anthony Abidin (141); #7 Jake Sueflohn (149); Tyler Berger (157); #10 Austin Wilson (165); #16 Micah Barnes (174); #7 TJ Dudley (184); #8 Aaron Studebaker (197); Collin Jensen (285) 2015 Tim Lambert (125); Eric Montoya (133); #9 Anthony Abidin (141); #4 James Green (157); Austin Wilson (165); #1 Robert Kokesh (174); #16 TJ Dudley (184); #15 Aaron Studebaker (197); Collin Jensen (285) 2014 #12 Tim Lambert (125); #6 Jake Sueflohn (149); #1 James Green (157); Austin Wilson (165); #3 Robert Kokesh (174); #8 TJ Dudley (184); Collin Jensen (285) 2013 Ridge Kiley (141); #9 Jake Sueflohn (149); #4 James Green (157); Austin Wilson (165); #4 Robert Kokesh (174); #8 Josh Ihnen (184); Caleb Kolb (197) NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans 2022: Ridge Lovett (149 - 2nd); Peyton Robb (157 - 4th); Mikey Labriola (174 - 7th); Eric Schultz (197 - 7th); Christian Lance (285 - 8th) 2021: Chad Red (141 - 6th); Mikey Labriola (174 - 3rd) 2019: Chad Red (141 - 8th); Tyler Berger (157 - 2nd); Isaiah White (165 - 5th); Mikey Labriola (174 - 6th) 2018: Chad Red (141 - 7th); Tyler Berger (157 - 3rd); Taylor Venz (184 - 4th) 2017: Eric Montoya (133 - 6th); Tyler Berger (157 - 5th); TJ Dudley (184 - 3rd); Aaron Studebaker (197 - 5th) 2016: Eric Montoya (133 - 5th); Austin Wilson (165 - 7th); TJ Dudley (184 - 2nd) 2015: James Green (157 - 3rd); Robert Kokesh (174 - 3rd); TJ Dudley (184 - 8th) 2014: James Green (157 - 3rd); Robert Kokesh (174 - 4th) 2013: James Green (157 - 7th); Robert Kokesh (174 - 3rd) NWCA All-Americans Chad Red (141 - First Team) Collin Purinton (149 - Second Team) Isaiah White (165 - First Team) Mikey Labriola (174 - Second Team) Taylor Venz (184 - First Team) Eric Schultz (197 - First Team) Round of 12 Finishers Chad Red (2022 - 141) Taylor Venz (2019, 2021, 2022 - 184) Isaiah White (2018 - 165) Tim Lambert (2017 - 125) Colton McCrystal (2017 - 141) Anthony Abidin (2015, 2016 - 141) Jake Sueflohn (2013, 2016 - 149) Tyler Berger (2016 - 157) Aaron Studebaker (2015, 2016 - 197) Eric Montoya (2015 - 133) Josh Ihnen (2013 - 184) Big Ten Champions 2015: Robert Kokesh (174) 2014: James Green (157); Robert Kokesh (174) Big Ten Runner's-Up 2022: Eric Schultz (197) 2021: Ridge Lovett (149); Taylor Venz (184); Eric Schultz (197) 2020: Eric Schultz (197) 2019: Chad Red (141); Tyler Berger (157) 2017: Tim Lambert (125) 2016: TJ Dudley (184) 2014: Jake Sueflohn (149) 2013: Jake Sueflohn (149); James Green (157) Dual Record 2021-22: 6-5 2021: 7-1 2019-20: 11-3 2018-19: 12-5 2017-18: 10-4 2016-17: 12-4 2015-16: 11-6 2014-15: 14-1 2013-14: 12-2 2012-13: 11-6 Big Ten Tournament Placement 2021-22: 7th 2021: 3rd 2019-20: 2nd 2018-19: 5th 2017-18: 5th 2016-17: 4th 2015-16: 4th 2014-15: 7th 2013-14: 5th 2012-13: 7th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 5th (59.5 points) 2021: 12th (38 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 10th (51 points) 2017-18: 9th (47 points) 2016-17: 9th (59.5 points) 2015-16: 8th (58 points) 2014-15: 9th (59 points) 2013-14: 11th (43.5 points) 2012-13: 13th (38 points) Head Coaching History Mark Manning (2000 - present) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Tim Lambert: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#5, #12, #13 seeds), 2017 Big Ten runner-up, 2017 NCAA Round of 12 Finisher 133 - Eric Montoya: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#7 seed x2), 2x NCAA All-American (5th, 6th), NCAA Qualifier for Campbell 141 - Chad Red: 5x NCAA Qualifier (#6, #8, #16, #19 seeds), 3x NCAA All-American (6th, 7th, 8th), 2020 NWCA First Team All-American, 2019 Big Ten runner-up 149 - Ridge Lovett: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#5, #10, #14 seeds), 2022 NCAA runner-up, 2021 Big Ten runner-up 157 - James Green: 4x NCAA All-American (3rd, 3rd, 7th, 7th), 2014 NCAA #1 seed, 2014 Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten finalist 165 - Robert Kokesh: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#1, #3, #4, #8 seeds), 3x NCAA All-American (3rd, 4th, 3rd), 2x Big Ten Champion, 2012 NCAA Round of 12 Finisher 174 - Mikey Labriola: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#4, #9, #10 x2 seeds), 3x NCAA All-American (3rd, 6th, 7th), 2020 NWCA Second Team All-American 184 - TJ Dudley: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#7 x2, #8, #16 seeds), 3x NCAA All-American (2nd, 3rd, 8th), 2016 Big Ten Runner-Up 197 - Eric Schultz: 5x NCAA Qualifier (#2, #3 x2, #14 seeds), 2022 NCAA 7th Place, 2020 NWCA First Team All-American, 3x Big Ten runner-up 285 - Christian Lance: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#12 seed x2), 2022 NCAA 8th Place Recruiting Number of Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #17 Harley Andrews (OK); #25 Antrell Taylor (NE); #84 Jacob Van Dee (PA); #130 Reese Davis (OK) 2021: #7 Lenny Pinto (PA); #17 Jagger Condomitti (PA); #138 Adam Thebeau (IL) 2020: #12 Dominick Serrano (CO); #35 Jeremiah Reno (MO); #38 Silas Allred (IN); #81 Nathan Haas (CA); #90 Elise Brown Ton (TX) 2019: #29 Ridge Lovett (ID); #34 Kevon Davenport (MI) 2018: #20 Brock Hardy (UT); #21 Peyton Robb (MN); #23 Alex Thomsen (IA) 2017: #5 Mikey Labriola (PA); #32 Jason Renteria (IL); #56 Wyatt Wriedt (IA) 2016: #6 Chad Red (IN); #9 Beau Breske (WI); #30 Eric Schultz (IL); #99 Taylor Venz (MN); #126 Johnny Blankenship (MO); #145 Luke Weber (MT) 2015: #50 Kris Williams (IL); #71 Jacob Armstrong (UT); #97 Patrick Grayson (VA) 2014: #17 Tyler Berger (OR); #21 Hayden Tuma (ID); #45 Derek White (OK); #74 Colton Adams (NE); #85 Nick Bennett (MI) 2013: #142 Colton McCrystal (IA) For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point Binghamton Bloomsburg Brown Bucknell Buffalo Cal Poly Campbell Central Michigan Chattanooga Clarion Cleveland State Columbia Cornell CSU Bakersfield Davidson Drexel Duke Edinboro Franklin & Marshall Gardner-Webb George Mason Harvard Hofstra Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Lehigh Lock Haven Maryland Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Navy NC State

Top fantasy 174 lber Matt Finesilver (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) To steal the line from last year's FCW Top-20 Articles, everyone knows 125 Pat Glory, 133 Roman Bravo-Young, 174 Carter Starocci, 184 Aaron Brooks, and 285 Gable Steveson are bonus point monsters, and this season they totaled 283 Fpts. Top names and all NCAA Champions or Finalists (Nick Suriano did not make the Top-20). But here's five names that totaled 328 Fpts: 125 Caleb Smith (APP), 133 Joshua Koderhandt (NAVY), 174 Logan Messer (GMU), 184 Jonathan Loew (COR), and 285 Ben Goldin (PENN). This group only has one All-American (Loew finishing 8th). And as I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." So, with that, let's take a look at this past season's Top-20 at each weight to help give you an early start to win each week this coming year. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. 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: Atop the 174 standings sits a Blue Devil by the name of Matt Finesilver who edged out a Dragon, in Michael O'Malley, by one Fpt, despite O'Malley wrestling in 10 less regular season matches. Even with Finesilver having five losses, including one loss by pin, and O'Malley having 10 pins (against D1 competition), the top spot came down to their match on December 4, 2021, where Finesilver ended the day with his hand raised over O'Malley's. The two NCAA finalists were separated by only two points with Mekhi Lewis getting the #3 spot while Carter Starocci, though having less matches and a higher PPM, slotted in at #5. Breaking them up was Logan Messer of George Mason, who used three tournaments to power his way in between the two finalists (though he did not qualify for the tournament himself). True freshman Sal Perrine had a quietly wonderful regular season having only two losses to Ethan Smith (OHST) and Mason Kauffman (NIU) from his 22 total D1 matches. He did so despite only five wins by bonus (including a win by DQ in his last match of the regular season). Comparatively, Cade DeVos had 10 more matches wrestled, five not being D1 competition, but due to having more losses, his PPM fell slightly lower to land him at #7. Rounding out the Top-10 are two All-Americans who, from a Fantasy perspective, were almost identical in Logan Massa and Michael Labriola. Once again, just as in the #1 and #2 at this weight, the better placing came due to their head-to-head match on February 2, 2022. Massa was victorious 4-1 and got the #8 placement. Moving up two weights from his 2021 campaign, Hayden Hidlay only had 13 matches to work with, but still was able to get the #14 spot. That with a loss by going to #20 on this list Clay Lautt. Had Hidlay won that match, he would have overtaken Chris Foca for the #10 spot. One Redshirt made the Top-20 at 174 with NC State's Jacob Null grabbing the #12 spot, though this coming year, he'll be working those points for the Boilermakers. Six All-Americans made the 174 Top-20 this season. Who Missed the Cut: Two All-Americans fell short of the 37 Fpts and 2.1 PPM thresholds: 4th Place Michael Kemerer (IOWA) and 6th Place Dustin Plott (OKST). Kemerer only had nine matches under his belt for the regular season, due to lingering injuries. Despite some counting him out, Kemerer battled to a fourth palace finish, but could only get the #39 spot with 24 Fpts. Meanwhile, Dustin Plott was 27th with a few more matches than Dr. Kemerer, and had 32 Fpts. Last season's All-American Ethan Smith (OHST) fell two points shy of making the Top-20, but it was teammate Fritz Schierl, who had the same number of Fpts as #20 Lautt, but his PPM was slightly lower (by 0.4) to land him as #21. Peyton Mocco and Dustin Plott had the same number of matches for the regular season, and were separated by only one Fpt. Both had -12 Fpts from matches lost, but Mocco won in the bonus percentage battle to Plott 31.3% to Plott's 18.8%. Mocco finished as #25 and Plott at #27, it was Sam Wolf (AF) who split them at #26 (same Fpts as Mocco but 0.6 less PPM). Last season, Thomas Flitz (APP) was the #6 Fantasy Wrestler at 174. This season, he didn't have enough firepower to overcome four regular season losses. Especially since he did not record a pin, tech, or win by injury. Other notables to miss the cut include Anthony Mantanona (OU) at #23 with 35 Fpts, Mason Kauffman (NIU) at #41 with 24 Fpts, Adam Kemp (CP) at #43 with 22 Fpts, Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR) at #55 with 16 Fpts, and Andrew McNally (WISC) at #76 with 5 Fpts.

Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X NYC (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 17 U.S. Senior National Team athletes have accepted their opportunities to represent the United States at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, in October. Per the World Team selection procedures, the highest-ranked, age-eligible 2022 U.S. National Team member has the first right of refusal for the U23 World Team spot at their respective style and weight class and must have accepted by June 27, 2022. If no one from the Senior National Team meets the requirement at a weight or declines the spot, then the wrestler that won the U23 Nationals tournaments in May and June would earn the nod. As a result, Senior National Team members accepting their U23 World Team spots are: Senior World Team members (5): Yianni Diakomihalis (MFS 65 kg) Amit Elor (WFS 72 kg) Dymond Guilford (WFS 76 kg) Benji Peak (GR 72 kg) Cohlton Schultz (GR 130 kg) Senior Nationals Team Nos. 2 (7): Vito Arujau (MFS 57 kg) Felicity Taylor (WFS 53 kg) Alex Hedrick (WFS 57 kg) Lexie Basham (WFS 59 kg) Sienna Ramirez (WFS 68 kg) Alston Nutter (GR 67 kg) Britton Holmes (GR 77 kg) Senior National Team Nos. 3 (5): David Carr (MFS 74 kg) Carter Starocci (MFS 79 kg) Alex Liles (WFS 62 kg) Emma Bruntil (WFS 65 kg) Mason Hartshorn (GR 63 kg) Find the complete results of Final X Stillwater, Final X New York , World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, U23 Women's Freestyle Nationals, and U23 Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman Nationals on FloArena. U.S. U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ROSTER Men's freestyle 57 kg: Vito Arujau* 61 kg: Aaron Nagao 65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis* 70 kg: Yahya Thomas 74 kg: David Carr* 79 kg: Carter Starocci* 86 kg: Trent Hidlay 92 kg: Jacob Cardenas 97 kg: Tanner Sloan 125 kg: Tony Cassioppi Women's freestyle 50 kg: Nyla Valencia 53 kg: Felicity Taylor* 55 kg: Alisha Howk 57 kg: Alexandria Hedrick* 59 kg: Lexie Basham* 62 kg: Alex Liles* 65 kg: Emma Bruntil* 68 kg: Sienna Ramirez* 72 kg: Amit Elor* 76 kg: Dymond Guilford* Greco-Roman 55 kg: Camden Russell 60 kg: Phillip Moomey 63 kg: Mason Hartshorn* 67 kg: Alston Nutter* 72 kg: Benjamin Peak* 77 kg: Britton Holmes* 82 kg: Tyler Cunningham 87 kg: Michial Foy 97 kg: Nicholas Boykin 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz* *Denotes Senior National Team member accepting their opportunity

U17 World Champion Joel Adams (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On the first day that medals were awarded from the 2022 Cadet World Championships in Rome, Italy, the United States crowned its first U17 Greco-Roman champion in five years. Joel Adams, the entrant at 65 kg, finished his tournament in style with a 6-0 shutout of Iran's Ahoura Bouveiri Piani. Adams jumped on the board quickly with a snapdown and arm drag in the opening stanza. Late in the period, Adams deftly escaped surrendering any points when he was driven to his backside by his Iranian counterpart. A well-placed whizzer prevented Bouveiri Piani from either exposure points or spinning for a takedown. In what would be a reoccurring theme, Adams extended his lead to 4-0 with a second takedown off of an arm drag. Nursing a 4-0 lead and with the Iranian pushing, Adams was warned against circling inbounds with about :30 seconds left in the bout. Shortly thereafter, Adams secured yet another takedown via the drag, which pushed his lead to 6-0 and was the finishing touches on a dominant performance. Not only did Adams blank the Iranian in the gold medal match, but the Nebraska native also did not yield a single point in the entire tournament. He outscored the competition 36-0 across five matches yesterday and today. Adams' title is the first by a United State Greco-Roman wrestler since Cohlton Schultz did so in 2017. At the 2021 World Championships, Cory Land (silver at 55 kg), was the lone medalist. The remainder of the Greco team took the mat on Tuesday and three still have a shot at winning a medal. Zan Fugitt (60 kg) and Arvin Khosravy (71 kg) were both pulled back into repechage after their opponents made the finals. Both will need to win a repechage match before having a shot at the bronze. Cody Merrill (92 kg) notched a pair of falls which landed him in the semifinals. A loss to German Darius Kiefer knocked Merrill out of the gold medal hunt, but he automatically falls into a bronze medal match tomorrow. 65 kg Greco-Roman Gold Medal Match Joel Adams (USA) over Ahoura Bouveiri Piani (Iran) 6-0 45 kg Greco-Roman Results Qualification: Ionut Mereuta (Romania) over Davis Motyka (USA) 2-1 ***Eliminated from medal contention*** Gold Medal Match: Yevhen Pokovba (Ukraine) vs. Shakhzod Ruziokhunov (Uzbekistan) 51 kg Greco-Roman Results Qualification: Peter Totok (Hungary) over Elyle Francisco (USA) 12-3 ***Eliminated from medal contention*** Gold Medal Match: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) vs. Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran) 60 kg Greco-Roman Results Qualification: Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia) over Zan Fugitt (USA) 9-0 Repechage Matchup: Zan Fugitt vs. Yussuf Ashrapov (Kazakhstan) Gold Medal Match: Gaspar Terteryan (Armenia) vs. Lucas LoGrasso (France) 71 kg Greco-Roman Results Round of 16: Arvin Khosravy (USA) over Marco Begle (Austria) 9-0 Quarterfinals: Anri Putkaradze (Georgia) over Arvin Khosravy 10-0 Repechage Matchup: Arvin Khosravy vs. Mihael Lukac (Croatia)/Dominik Czuczor (Hungary) winner Gold Medal Match: Anri Putkaradze (Georgia) vs. Davud Mammadov (Azerbaijan) 92 kg Greco-Roman Results Round of 16: Cody Merrill (USA) over Arsen Ruslanov (Kyrgyzstan) Fall Quarterfinals: Cody Merrill (USA) over Florin Manolache (Romania) Fall Semifinals: Darius Kiefer (Germany) over Cody Merrill 9-0 Bronze Medal Matchup: Cody Merrill vs. Marcell Gyuricza (Hungary)/Josip Benko (Croatia) winner Gold Medal Match: Darius Kiefer (Germany) vs. Gor Ayvazyan (Georgia)