InterMat Staff

The 2016 Olympic Games (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The unbalanced bracket. Just reading that phrase raises blood pressures, starts rants, and makes folkstyle purists wear a smug smile. Ever since United World Wrestling (UWW) went to it for World Championship and Olympic competition, starting in 2005, questions have been asked and debates have raged. Today we'll take on one of those questions to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Does the unbalanced bracket often produce bottom-side bronze medalists that are stronger than their top-side counterparts? One aspect of the unbalanced bracket that some have highlighted as a potential benefit is that it would seem to make a fluke bronze medalist more likely, expanding the number of countries that have a chance to medal, which could benefit struggling or emerging programs. Whether you see this as a good thing or not might depend on your role in the sport. A fan of pure competition might already think the double-bronze is a handout. Those who support a wrestler stuck on the bottom of the bracket with the three best in the weight might rage at a top side with half as many competitors. Wrestling leaders from a country that snagged an unexpected bronze and have seen their funding rise since might sing the praises of the system. Regardless of where you fall, it seems obvious that the unbalanced bracket has the potential to skew competitions. For those that don't know, UWW uses a random draw system for most events. In the past, the Olympics and World Championships were a completely random draw as well, though some seeding has been introduced over the past five years. The unbalanced part comes into play with how the wrestlers are placed in the bracket after the draw. Effectively, the bottom of the bracket is filled first and it is filled from the bottom up. This means that in an unseeded bracket with 24 competitors, you end up with 8 wrestlers on the top side and 16 on the bottom. This is a worst-case scenario and seeding does help this a bit as the 2 and 3 seed now receive byes, pushing 2 more wrestlers to the top side of the bracket. Still, the bottom of the bracket is almost always larger, increasing the chances that the best wrestlers end up together down there. To highlight the issue, here are the chances of the best wrestlers being drawn into the same side of an unseeded bracket of varying sizes. 24 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 16 down 48 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 32 down These two are similar worst-case scenarios, but the numbers are slightly different. You won't see 48 wrestlers in any weight in Tokyo, but it does happen at the World Championships. With no seeding, we'd be looking at better than 1 in 4 of these brackets having the 3 best wrestlers on the bottom side and a greater than 30% chance of them being on the same side overall. There is greater than a 10% chance that the 5 best athletes will all be on the bottom. With the repechage system where any loss to a wrestler that fails to make the finals means no medal chance, having the 5 best on the same side is a disaster. 3 of the top 5 would fail to medal, even without any upsets, while the 6th and 7th best wrestlers might stand on the podium if they were bracketed up top. That level of imbalance doesn't happen that often, though, so let's look at something between a perfect bracket and the worst-case. 20 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 12 down 40 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 24 down In these two brackets, there are 50% more competitors in the bottom half compared to the top. All of the extra, in an unseeded scenario, would be in the same quarter, so we can again thank the addition of some seeding for avoiding that, at least. Still, though, we have a chance of the top 3 being on the same side that is around 1 in 4 brackets. The chance for the top 5 to all end up on the same side is higher than I'd like to see, but it is around half what it was in the worst-case brackets above. The 20 wrestler bracket is close to what we saw in Rio, with many weights featuring 19 competitors. To be fair, any bracket that is randomly drawn could result in a doomsday scenario. So, we need to also look at perfect brackets to see what the chances would be. 16 wrestler bracket, 8 up, 8 down 32 wrestler bracket, 16 up, 16 down As you can see, there is still a risk, especially of getting the top 3 on the same side. It is lower than with the other brackets we've looked at and both sides of the draw have the same chance, of course. The odds of the 4 or 5 toughest athletes showing up together is lower still, but it will never be zero without perfect seeding, which is likely impossible. Now, you might be objecting to the fact that I've been using unseeded brackets for my numbers when seeding is now happening at the World Championship and Olympic level. However, most of the tournaments in the unbalanced bracket era, top-level events included, featured no seeding, so I wanted to explore those odds so that we'd have a good basis for exploring the question of whether bottom side bronze medalists are, overall, stronger than top-side. The other issue in play is that the seeding UWW uses does not guarantee that the strongest athletes in a weight are rewarded. Comparing the men's freestyle initial seeds with Seth Petarra's June 4th MFS rankings, we find that just over half of the seeds will go to athletes ranked in the top 5 at their weights. At 57 kg, the top 2 in our rankings, Zavur Uguev (RUS) and Suleyman Atli (TUR), will be the 2 and 3 seeds, putting them on the same side of the bracket. Even worse, they'll be on the larger, bottom half. If Yuki Takahashi (JPN), 6th ranked, unseeded, and Bekhbayar Erdenebat (MGL), 8th ranked, unseeded, were to also get drawn into the lower half, it would have 4 of the top 5 ranked athletes who are eligible to compete. This is not a unique situation either. Only 97 kg with Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) and Kyle Snyder (USA) has the top two ranked wrestlers in the world guaranteed to be on opposite sides. Having one or two of the best on the top side does help, given the lower number of slots available on that side, but even that is hit or miss with this seeding system. Having a system set up to encourage competition and eliminating subjectivity is, on many levels, a good thing. However, it doesn't always help separate the best in the end. While it is clear that the chances of a terrible draw increase with the unbalanced bracket and that the bottom side should see that happen more often than the top, we still need some hard data to investigate whether the bottom side bronze wrestlers are consistently tougher than their top side brothers and sisters. I've gathered data on the World and Olympic bronze medalists since the unbalanced brackets started. For each, I looked at how unbalanced the bracket was and what other World and Olympic medals the wrestlers won in their careers. I then compared medal totals, both weighted and unweighted, to see which side of the bracket prevailed. Factoring in all brackets, I came up with the following results: By pure medal count, the bottom bronze medal winners have an incredibly slim advantage, having won more than their top side competition in 134 cases, less 132 times, with 87 ties. Weighting the medals won in a couple of different manners increases the amount that the bottom side comes out on top, but it remains remarkably close. The other metrics I looked at saw the same trend. 96 bottom-side bronze medalists won a gold medal at the world level at some point during their career. 89 top-side bronze medalists accomplished that. 113 bottom-side bronze medalists never won another medal compared to 114 topsiders. While I would have expected a more pronounced difference, this data set does include many brackets which were either perfect or not unbalanced by much. So, I decided to look only at those brackets with at least 50% more competitors on the bottom side compared to the top. Here is what I found: This, to me, is stunning. In the most unbalanced brackets, the top side bronze medalist has had a more decorated world-level career than the other bronze medalist more often than the other way around. The fact that the bottom side leads overall means that the bottom side is dominating those brackets with the smallest imbalances. This is completely counter-intuitive. We do, once again, see that the weighted medal counts shift the results towards the bottom siders, but it isn't enough to see them prevail. In the other metrics, we see the same theme. Bottom-side bronze-medalists in the most unbalanced brackets count 34 gold medalists among their ranks while the top-side has 33. There have been 31 top-side bronze medalists in these brackets that never won another medal, while 37 bottom-side bronze medalists suffered that fate. What happened here? What seemed to be an obvious theory hasn't been backed by the data at all. There are several possibilities. It could be that measuring the strength of a wrestler only by world-level medals isn't accurate enough. We could also be seeing that the system does a decent job of identifying the correct medalists even with the imbalance. Perhaps investigating the fifth-place finishers or those who lost to the bronze medalists would have revealed something different. It is also possible that the unbalanced bracket has such a small effect that we'd need a much larger sample size to see it. I would have thought 15 years of world-level championships across three styles would have been a large enough data set, but that gets cut down quite a bit when you filter for only the most unbalanced instances. To be clear, this has to be a macro-level analysis. I would never want to besmirch those who won a bronze medal regardless of their path. To do so without investigating their bracket would be incredibly unfair. As we saw with the numbers, the top side can have the bad draw on occasion. It just happens less often than the bottom side, especially with certain numbers of competitors. That said, the theory that the unbalanced bracket can produce fluke bronze medalists isn't entirely debunked. It still stands to reason and the math doesn't lie. How often those flukes occur, though, should be in question. If we can't see a clear difference after 15 years, perhaps it isn't very likely. Add to that the Olympic brackets won't come close to the worst-case scenario sizing and it may not be worth worrying about in Tokyo at all. Until your favorite athlete gets the bad end, that is.

Sarah Hildebrandt (left), Jacarra Winchester (center), and Helen Maroulis (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll move on to the women's freestyle competition with the first three weights (50, 53, and 57 kg). If you missed our Greco-Roman previews, they are below. Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) Greco-Roman Part Two (87, 97, 130kg) 50 kg Women's Freestyle Seema Bisla (India) - 2021 Asian Bronze Medalist Evin Demirhan (Turkey) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2x European Bronze Medalist Yusneylys Guzman (Cuba) - 2019 Pan-American Champion Sarra Hamdi (Tunisia) - 2x African Silver Medalist Adijat Idriss (Nigeria) - Valentina Islamova (Kazakhstan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 Asian Champion Oksana Livach (Ukraine) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Champion Tsogt-Ochiryn Namuuntsetseg (Mongolia) - 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist Stalvira Orhush (Russia) - 3x European Champion Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) - 3x Olympic Medalist, 2x World Champion, 6x World Medalist, 8x European Champion Miglena Selishka (Bulgaria) - 2020 European Champion Yanan Sun (China) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2013 World Champion, 3x World Medalist Yui Susaki (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 2x Junior World Champion, 3x Cadet World Champion Alina Vuc (Romania) - 2x World Silver Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2x European Silver Medalist Lucia Yepez (Ecuador) - The Seeds 1) Stadnik 2) Vuc 3) Livach 4) Islamova The American Entry Sarah Hildebrandt - Sarah Hildebrandt spent the bulk of the last quad establishing herself as a consistent medal threat at 53 kilos. She reached the medal stand in Budapest for the first time, taking silver at the 2018 World Championships. After missing out on placing in 2019, Hildebrandt decided to drop to 50 kg for the Olympic year. The leadoff weight (48/50kg) for the US has been one of the deepest, but has failed to yield a medal in World/Olympic competition since Alyssa Lampe in 2013. The move has been a sound one and Hildebrandt has been dominant at 50 kg. Hildebrandt's first competition at the new weight was the Matteo Pellicone and she came away with the gold medal in an impressive field. That gave her the nod to travel to Ottawa to the 2020 Pan-American Olympic qualifying event. There Hildebrandt demolished 2012 world champion Jessica MacDonald (Canada) to make the tournament finals and qualify America for the Olympics at 50 kg. Her performance in the qualifier led to a bye to the finals of the Olympic Team Trials. There Hildebrandt would square off with two-time world team member Victoria Anthony. Hildebrandt won both of her bouts via tech and had little trouble with the dangerous Anthony. Aside from the Trials, Hildebrandt has competed twice in 2021, winning titles at both the Henri DeGlane and the Pan-American Championships. Though the weight has some imposing threats atop class, Hildebrandt should be on the shortlist of gold medal contenders. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Stadnik, Sun, Susaki) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Demirhan, Hildebrandt, Islamova, Livach, Stadnik, Sun, Susaki, Vuc) The top seed at this weight, Mariya Stadnik, is one of the most decorated women competing in this tournament. She's also in the mix for the gold and figures to be here, again. Of course, her and the rest of this weight will have to contend with Yui Susaki. The Japanese sensation has never lost to an international opponent and won her first Senior world title at just 18 years old (in 2017). She'll get drawn into the bracket somewhere. Hildebrandt will, as well. Since dropping to 50 kg, Hildebrandt has a win over the second seed Alina Vuc (2020 Pellicone) and past world medalist Evin Demirhan. She also placed higher than the third seed Oksana Livach. The other non-seeded title threat is China's Yanan Sun. However, the bulk of her accomplishments were accumulated in the prior quad. 53 kg Women's Freestyle Tatyana Akhmetova (Kazakhstan) - 3x World fifth-place finisher, 4x Asian Champion Andreea Ana (Romania) - 2x European Bronze Medalist Rckaela Aquina (Guam) - 2x Oceania Champion Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa (Mongolia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Joseph Essombe (Cameroon) - 2020 African Champion, 2016 Olympian Laura Herin Avila (Cuba) - Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (Belarus) - 2x World Champion, 2012 Olympian, 2x European Champion Olga Khoroshavtseva (Russia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2x European Champion Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2009 World Champion, 6x World Medalist, 4x European Champion Mayu Mukaida (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2019 Asian Silver Medalist Qianyu Pang (China) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Asian Champion Vinesh Phogat (India) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2018 Asian Champion Maria Prevolaraki (Greece) - 2x Olympian, 2x World Bronze Medalist, 3x European Silver Medalist Luisa Valverde (Ecuador) - 2020 Pan-American Champion Roksana Zasina (Poland) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2013 European Champion The Seeds 1) Phogat 2) Mukaida 3) Valverde 4) Pang The American Entry Jacarra Winchester - One of the most improved US women's freestylers over the past three years has to be Jacarra Winchester. From 2018 to 2019, Winchester went from losing in a bronze medal match to winning a 55 kg world title. Since 55 is a non-Olympic weight, Winchester had to move down to 53. That is a bit of a cut for someone who had been at 57 kg, even for the bulk of the 2018 season. Even though Winchester was a 2019 world champion, she still needed to qualify 53 kg for the US at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In her first match at 53 kg, Winchester got by her stiffest competition, Lianna Montero Herrera (Cuba), 6-2. She then defeated opponents from Mexico and Canada to make the qualifier finals and ensure the US was going to Tokyo at 53 kg. Winchester confirmed she would be the one heading to the Olympics by holding off Ronna Heaton in two matches at the Olympic Team Trials. Heaton made things interesting in bout one, before falling, 7-4. In the second match, Winchester pulled away for a 12-2 tech. Winchester has competed twice in 2021, aside from the Trials. She was a silver medalist at the Henri DeGlane, losing in the finals to veteran Sofia Mattsson (Sweden), 7-4. While Mattsson's only world title came in 2009, she's typically in the mix for a medal at world-level events. Winchester also moved up to 55 kg and captured a Pan-American Championship. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 4 (Kaladzinskaya, Mattsson, Mukaida, Winchester) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 10 (Bolortuyaa, Kaladzinskaya, Khoroshavtseva, Mattsson, Mukaida, Pang, Phogat, Prevolaraki, Winchester, Zasina) You saw that right! 10 of the 16 entrants at 53 kilos have at least a world medal on their resumes. Some weights will have a "bad draw" or two based on unseeded stars getting paired up with seeded wrestlers. 53 kg won't have any of that. The outliers will be the lopsided first-round matches. The favorite, Mukaida, is seeded, but second. First seeded Vinesh Phogat defeated Hildebrandt at the 2019 World Championships, but still is considered a step or two behind Mukaida. Aside from a strong push from Mukaida, good luck at trying to forecast anything with this weight. Something to consider, though, is that some of these competitors (Mattsson, Kaladzinskaya, Zasina) are now a few years removed from some of their best performances. 57 kg Women's Freestyle Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 5x African Champion Siwar Bousetta (Tunisia) - Fatoumata Camara (Guinea) - Alina Hrushyna (Ukraine) - 2020 European Silver Medalist Risako Kawai (Japan) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 3x World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 4x Asian Champion Boldsaikhany Khongorzul (Mongolia) - 2017 Cadet World Bronze Medalist Valeria Koblova (Russia) - 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2014 World Silver Medalist, 2x World Medalist, 2014 European Champion Irina Kurachkina (Belarus) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2018 European Champion Anshu Malik (India) - 2021 Asian Champion, 2017 Cadet World Champion Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) - 2019 World fifth-place finisher, 2020 European Champion Evelina Nikolova (Bulgaria) - 2015 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Mathilde Riviere (France) - 2017 World fifth-place finisher, 2017 European Bronze Medalist Ningning Rong (China) - 2018 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Alma Valencia (Mexico) - Jowita Wrzesien (Poland) - The Seeds 1) Kawai 2) Adekuoroye 3) Kurachina 4) Rong The American Entry Helen Maroulis - Five years ago, Helen Maroulis made wrestling history by becoming the first American woman to capture a gold medal in the sport. She also pulled one of the biggest upsets in women's wrestling history by knocking off three-time Olympic champion and 13-time world champion Saori Yoshida (Japan). The trip back to the Olympics has been anything but a smooth ride for Maroulis, though. In 2017, Maroulis absolutely dismantled the field at the World Championships for her second world title. After winning worlds in 2017, Maroulis traveled to India to compete in their pro league and suffered a severe concussion. That kept her out of action for the bulk of 2018 and delayed her Final X wrestle-off. When she did wrestle at the 2018 World Championships, Maroulis suffered a shoulder injury, which kept her out of action for 2019. Maroulis returned in 2020 to qualify 57 kg for the Olympics as she blew through the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. That win gave her a bye to the finals of the Trials, where she met up with Jenna Burkert. In a series that will be remembered for the ages, Maroulis prevailed in match one, before getting edged by Burkert in the second bout. With an Olympic berth hanging in the balance, Maroulis used her signature footsweep to shock Burkert and pin her in :24 seconds. Since the Trials, Maroulis has competed once at the Poland Open. She did not look her usual self in a lopsided 13-0 loss to Adekuoroye. She is obviously a wild card. In top form, she is a threat to claim gold medal number two. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Kawai, Maroulis, Rong) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 7 (Adekuoroye , Kawai, Koblova, Kurachkina, Maroulis, Nkolova, Rong) As with most women's weights, you have to look at the entry of the home team Japan first and foremost. At 57 kg is Risako Kawai, who won Olympic gold in 2016 at 63 kg. Kawai has steadily moved down to 57 kg and has not lost at the current weight. The other past world champion in this bracket, Ningning Rong, is slated to meet Kawai in the semifinals, provided chalk prevails. Rong is a young start that has only lost a few matches since 2018. Of course, since Maroulis is not seeded, she could run into either of the two, as well. The two and three seeds Adekuoroye and Kurachkina both have world medals to their credit, but neither has higher than bronze. Could Adekuoroye's victory over Maroulis be a signal that she's ready to put herself into the upper echelon at this weight? Finally, look out for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Valeria Koblova. She is unseeded and has not competed frequently over the past three years. She'll be a wild card here.

David McFadden (Graphic courtesy of Drexel Athletics) PHILADELPHIA - The Mert '67 and Joanne '69 Hill Head Coach of Wrestling Matt Azevedo announced today the addition of four-time All-American David McFadden as a volunteer assistant coach. A graduate of Virginia Tech, McFadden will bring knowledge and experience to help Drexel continue its climb up the national ranks. Drexel Wrestling has high expectations for the 2021-22 season and the addition of McFadden will benefit the already highly talented line-up. "David has had success as a competitor at every level and I know his wisdom and expertise will be a huge asset for our program," Azevedo said. "David brings passion and excitement to everything he does and more importantly he embodies what it means to Bring the HEAT. His energy is contagious, and I can't wait for him to get to work with our team." McFadden was a member of the Hokies' wrestling program from 2015 until 2020 and was a four-time All-American, a two-time ACC Champion and the 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year. In addition, McFadden was a part of the U23 World Team in 2018 and was a U23 National Champion in 2020. The West Milford, N.J. native, graduated in 2020 from Virginia Tech with a degree in human development and arrived in Philadelphia to pursue his goal of making the U.S. Olympic/World Team while training at the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC). "I am super excited to join the Drexel wrestling program as the volunteer assistant coach," McFadden said, "Not only does this allow me to keep training and competing but allows me to impact the Drexel University wrestling team directly."

138 lb Junior National Champion Tagen Jamison of Texas (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The future of the Big Ten balled out in Fargo. The Junior men's freestyle and Greco national championships are often a proving ground for the nation's best wrestling prospects. It was even more so this year, with a record number of entries. As many as 17 wrestlers that have committed or signed with Big Ten programs earned All-American honors between the two competitions. Here's a lot at a few of the standout performances: ILLINOIS Two future Illini wrestlers won Junior freestyle titles. Christian Carroll, from Indiana, bulldozed his way to gold at 220 pounds. He went 7-0 and outscored his opponents 68-10 - and all 10 points he surrendered came in his one match that went the distance, a 15-10 quarterfinal win over Bennett Tabor. His other six wins: two pins in under 30 seconds, two technical falls in 40 seconds or faster, a 10-0 semifinal technical fall over Georgia's Noah Pettigrew, and a 12-0 finals win over Iowa's Ben Kueter. If not for Drake Ayala (more on him in a minute), Carroll had a strong case as the Junior men's freestyle Most Outstanding Wrestler. Kannon Webster was the other Illinois commit to win a title, dominating his way to first at 120 pounds. He outscored his seven opponents 79-11 en route to gold, and beat the wrestlers who finished second (Washington's Yusief Lillie), third (Tennessee's Cooper Flynn) and fourth (Colorado's Jett Strickenberger) by a combined 29-5. What's more, Webster also took third in Junior Greco at the same weight. He went 8-1 and won six wrestleback matches. His one loss, 8-7 to California's Paul Kelly, came in the Round-of-16, and he scored a revenge win over Kelly, 8-3, in the wrestlebacks. Across both styles, Webster went a combined15-1 overall with a 174-37 scoring advantage. IOWA The Hawkeyes had two future stars competing in Junior men's freestyle, and both brought their A-game in ridiculously tough brackets. Drake Ayala knifed through what many considered to be one of the deepest weights in the entire Junior men's freestyle competition, going 7-0 to win at 126 pounds. It was his second national title in Junior men's freestyle (he also won in 2019) and third overall (he won a Cadet title in 2017). Ayala registered six technical falls and one pin and outscored his opponents 72-4. None of his matches got out of the first period, and only three of them got out of the first minute. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Caleb Rathjen was the other, reaching the finals at 145 pounds. He went 7-1 and blew through his first seven matches by a combined 75-4 with six technical falls - including a 7-2 quarterfinal win over Maryland's Richard Fedalen, who finished sixth, and a 10-0 semifinal win over California's Nico Ruiz. Rathjen's only loss came in the championship match that was decided in the final seconds. He led Oklahoma's Jordan Williams, 3-1, when Williams scored a second-period exposure at the gun to win the match. It was Rathjen's second trip to the freestyle national finals. He also took second as a Cadet in 2018. MICHIGAN Rylan Rogers was the lone future Wolverine to earn All-American honors, third at 195 in Junior men's freestyle. Rogers, from Washington, went 8-1, with four technical falls and a pin and three wins over other All-Americans in the field. He avenged his one loss, to Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin in the quarters, by winning 10-2 in a rematch for third. MINNESOTA A trio of future Gophers made the podium in Junior men's freestyle - including two in the same weight. At 138 pounds, both Tegan Jamison (Texas) and Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin) finished in the top six last week. Jamison went 8-0 and won the whole thing, outscoring his foes 79-8. That included a 10-0 quarterfinal win over Brenner, who ultimately went 6-3 and finished sixth, winning twice in the wrestlebacks after losing to Jamison. The third Minnesota recruit: big Bennett Tabor, who took fifth at 220. Tabor went 6-2 overall, losing to eventual champ Christian Carroll (Indiana), 15-10, in the quarterfinals, then 8-1 to New Jersey's Martin Cosgrove in the wrestlebacks. NEBRASKA Three future Husker wrestlers earned All-American status in Junior men's freestyle - and just like Minnesota, two finished in the top eight at the same weight. Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) and Adam Thebeau (Illinois) took fifth and eighth, respectively, at 160. They actually both lost to Iowa's Aiden Riggins, who made the finals. Thebeau lost to Riggins, 12-2, in the quarters, then Taylor lost to Riggins, 19-6, in the semifinals. Thebeau then rallied from down 6-0 to beat Indiana's J Conway, 9-8, in the bloodround before injury-defaulting to eighth. He finished 6-3 overall. Taylor actually led Riggins, 6-0, before losing. He ultimately slid to the fifth-place match and finished 6-2 overall. The third Nebraska recruit: Harley Andrews, eighth at 285. Andrews made the quarters, where he lost to Georgia's Chase Horne, the eventual runner-up. He rebounded with a wild 18-17 win over Idaho's Aden Attao in the bloodround to finish on the podium. OHIO STATE Seth Shumate made up half of the all-Ohio final at 195 pounds. He stormed into the finals with big wins over Oklahoma's AJ Heeg (8-1), Indiana's Evan Bates (11-0) and Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin (10-10 thanks to a big 4-pointer in the first period). In the finals, Shumate ran into fellow Ohio native Dylan Fishback, who won by fall in the second period. Shumate actually led 2-0 in the first period, but Fishback led 6-2 after connecting on a big 5-pointer on the edge. Shumate came within 6-3 in the second, but Fishback took him took his back for the fall with less than a minute left. That epic final may not be the last time those two wrestle. At least we hope not. RUTGERS Brian Soldano, one of five Junior men's freestyle All-Americans from New Jersey, was the runner-up at 182 pounds. Soldano made the finals by winning his first six matches by a combined 66-17, which included a 13-11 quarterfinal win over Clayton Whiting (Wisconsin) and a 10-0 semifinal win over Bennett Berge (Minnesota). He fell only to Maryland's Thomas Stewart, 8-4, in the championship match. WISCONSIN We focused a lot on the men's freestyle side of the Junior national championships, but we'll close here with a shout-out to Cale Anderson, a future Badger who made the finals in the Greco-Roman tournament at 152 pounds. Anderson, who went 3-2 and made the Round-of-16 in freestyle, stormed into the finals by winning his first six matches - five by technical fall - by a combined 62-5. In the finals, he ran into Nebraska's Nick Hamilton and lost a nailbiter, 2-1. Anderson led 1-1 on criteria late, but Hamilton scored a reversal to hang on for the victory. Other Big Ten recruits: INDIANA CA's Henry Porter, 7th at 145 pounds NORTHWESTERN IN's Evan Bates, 7th at 195 PURDUE OH's Ben Vanadia, 8th at 220

2019 World bronze medalist Ravi Kumar (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/20/21 - Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) #5 Ravi Kumar of India had a pair of runner-up finishes at the 2015 Junior and 2018 U-23 World Championships that put his name on the map, but it would be his incredible run through the 2019 World Championships that solidified him as a talent to watch in Tokyo. An impressive 2020 and 2021 have seen continued momentum from Kumar, but will he be able to capitalize in Tokyo? Today's Olympic profile will look at the career of 2019 world bronze medalist #5 Ravi Kumar of India. The Stats #5 Ravi Kumar (IND)- 2015 Junior Asian champion, 2015 Junior world runner-up, 2018 U-23 world runner-up, 2019 Asian championships 5th, 2019 Medved bronze medalist, 2019 world bronze medalist, 2020 Matteo Pellicone champion, 2020 Asian champion, 2021 Asian champion, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski runner-up. Key Wins: #6 Yuki Takahashi (2019 world championships, 2020 Asian championships), Arsen Harutyunyan (2019 world championships), #17 Reza Atri (2019 world bronze medal match, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #7 (61) Taras Markovych (2018 U-23 world championships), #8 (61) Nurislam Sanayev (2020 Matteo Pellicone, 2020 Asian championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), #15 (61) Jahongirmirza Turobov (2018 U-23 world championships), #16 (61) Adlan Askarov (2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), Makhmudjon Shavkatov (2019 Medved), #20 Stevan Micic (2015 Junior world championships), Zanabazar Zandanbud (2015 Junior world championships). Key Losses: Toshihiro Hasegawa (2018 U-23 world finals), #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (2016 Junior world championships, 2021 61 KG Ziolkowski), Afghan Khasalov (2016 Junior world championships), #1 Zavur Uguev (2019 world championships), #17 Reza Atri (2019 Asian championships), Makhmudjon Shavkatov (2019 Asian championships), Vladimir Burukov (2019 61 KG Dan Kolov), Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (2020 Individual World Cup), Vladislav Andreev (2019 Medved), Zanabazar Zandanbud (2013 54 KG Cadet Asian Championships, 2013 54 KG Cadet world championships), Andrey Yatsenko (2013 54 KG Cadet world championships quarterfinals), Daton Fix (2014 54 KG Cadet world championships), Daiki Araki (2017 Junior Asian championships), Makhir Amiraslanov (2015 Junior world finals). 2013-2018 Ravi Kumar's career began at the 2013 54 KG Cadet Asian Championships, where he finished runner-up to eventual world bronze medalist Zanabzar Zandanbud of Mongolia. The World Championships would come around and Kumar made the quarterfinals against returning world champion Andrey Yatsenko of Ukraine. Falling by pin to Yatsenko, Kumar was pushed into the repechage bracket, where he lost in a rematch of the Asian championship finals to Zanabazar Zandanbud (MGL) and was eliminated from the competition. Kumar only competed once in 2014, where he placed 17th at the Cadet World Championships after an opening-round loss to Daton Fix of the United States. Kumar's 2015 would be the most successful year of his young career as he made the move up to the Junior level and took gold at the Asian Championships and finished as a runner-up at the World Championships to Makhir Amiraslanov of Azerbaijan. Kumar was able to get his first real big wins at that event over #20 Stevan Micic (SRB) and avenging two past 2013 losses to Zanabazar Zandanbud (MGL) and really announced himself to the international scene. As the returning Junior world runner-up, Kumar was expected to contend for gold at the 2016 Junior world championships, but the Round of 16 would crush any title aspirations of Kumar, when he was tech-falled by Afghan Khasalov of Azerbaijan. With Khasalov making the finals and going on to win gold over Khasanhussein Badrudinov (RUS), Kumar was pulled into repechage where he'd face Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) in the first round. The counters of the Uzbek proved to be too much for Kumar and he would be eliminated from the World Championships after a 12-7 loss. Kumar's final year of Junior eligibility would see him compete once in 2017, taking ninth at the Junior Asian Championships after an opening-round loss to Daiki Araki (JPN). 2018-2021 Kumar's international Senior-level debut would be at the end of 2018 in November at the U-23 World Championships. Putting together an exceptional run through the tournament, Kumar beat #7 Taras Markovych (UKR) and #16 Jahongirmirza Turobov (UZB) in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the finals against Toshihiro Hasegawa of Japan, Kumar's momentum would hit a hard stop as Hasegawa throttled Kumar from start to finish for a pin win and U-23 world gold. Kumar's 2019 campaign began with a 12th place finish at the 61 KG Dan Kolov after an opening-round loss to eventual bronze medalist Vladimir Burukov (UKR). Kumar's next competition at the Asian Championships would fare better as he took fifth with losses to champion #17 Reza Atri (IRI) and 2017 Asian Indoor Games champion Makhmudjon Shavkatov (UZB). Kumar's final competition before his first Senior World Championships would take place at the Medved, where he'd put together a bronze medal performance with wins over Petr Konstantinov (RUS) and Makhmudjon Shavkatov (UZB) to a loss to champion Vladislav Andreev (BLR). Kumar's 2019 World Championship would bring on a major transition in his career. In his first full year as a Senior, Kumar ran through his way to the semifinals, outscoring elite competition the likes of Kim Sung-Gwon (KOR), 61 KG European champion Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM), and 2017 world champion #6 Yuki Takahashi (JPN) 34-7. Against the reigning world champion #1 Zavur Uguev of Russia, Kumar fell behind 2-0 at the end of the first but roared back with four points in the second period. A big fireman's carry for Uguev would seal a 6-4 win and put Kumar into the bronze medal match. Kumar was in command the whole time throughout his match against Asian champion Atri, walking away with a 6-3 win and world bronze to establish himself as a contender for Tokyo. Kumar's 2020 campaign built upon the momentum from his 2019 world bronze medal, winning the Matteo Pellicone and the Asian Championships with wins over world medalist #8 Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ). With gold at the Matteo Pellicone and Asian championships with victories over elite contenders, Kumar was a lock for the finals of the Individual World Cup to get revenge against two-time world champion #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS). But that wouldn't happen. What would happen was a shocking upset to 2019 61 KG Junior European bronze medalist Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (HUN), who pinned Kumar in the Round of 16 to eliminate him from the competition. 2021 began with Kumar winning his second Asian Championship title over Alireza Sarlak (IRI) and competing at the 61 KG Ziolkowski for his final competition before the Olympics. In a round-robin tournament format, Kumar avenged his loss from the 2016 Junior world championships to #9 Gulomyon Abdullaev (UZB) 10-1. Kumar's next match wouldn't come as handedly as against 2019 U-23 world runner-up #16 Adlan Askarov (KAZ), who was coming off a title at the Matteo Pellicone and silver at the Asian championships. A 6-0 lead at the end of the first period had Kumar on the ropes, but a furious second period for the returning world bronze medalist would net him a 13-8 win. US Olympic Trials bronze medalist Nathan Tomasello (USA) was a 9-5 win for Kumar that put him in the semifinals opposite Atri. In a rematch from their 2019 world bronze medal match, Kumar beat Atri 7-4 to make the against Abdullaev. Leading 2-1 at the end of the first, Kumar would fall to Abdullaev's counters and lose the finals match 5-3. Over the past two years, Kumar has taken over at 57 KG and established himself as one of the premier challengers to two-time world champion Uguev. As one of the leaders of the resurgent Indian wrestling movement, Kumar is a contender to watch in Tokyo.

John Stefanowicz (left) and G'Angelo Hancock (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. Today we'll wrap up Greco-Roman with the final three weights (87 kg, 97 kg, and 130 kg). Greco-Roman Part One (60, 67, 77kg) 87 kg Greco-Roman Islam Abbasov (Azerbaijan) - 2x World fifth-place, 2x U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) - 2x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) - 3x African Champion Atabek Azisbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x World fifth-place, 3x Asian Silver Medalist Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) - 2x World Champion, 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Zurab Datunashvili (Serbia) - 2x Olympian, 2x World fifth-place, 3x European Champion Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) - 2019 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Daniel Gregorich Hechavarria (Cuba) - 2x U23 World Medalist, 2018 Pan-American Champion Ivan Huklek (Croatia) - 2017 U23 World Silver Medalist, Denis Kudla (Germany) - 2x World Medalist, 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x European Bronze Medalist Viktor Lorincz (Hungary) - 3x World Medalist, 2017 European Champion Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 European Silver Medalist Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) - 2x African Champion Fei Peng (China) - 2016 Olympian, 2x Asian Bronze Medalist Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) - 2014 Asian Champion The Seeds 1) Lorincz 2) Beleniuk 3) Assakalov 4) Gregorich Hechavarria The American Entry John Stefanowicz - When John Stefanowicz takes the mat for the United States, he'll become the first Marine to compete in wrestling at the Olympics since Buddy Lee did so in 1992. Much has already been made about Stefanowicz's rise from never qualifying for the Pennsylvania state tournament to competing on the biggest stage in the sport. Stefanowicz burst onto the international scene in late 2018 and made his first world team, just a year later, at 82 kg. Since 82 kg is not an Olympic weight, he needed to move up for the Olympic year. With 2016 Olympic Trials winner Joe Rau having already qualified the United States for the Olympics, Rau was awarded a bye to the finals of the 2020 Olympic Trials. That meant Stefanowicz had to fight through a challenge tournament field that included Senior National champion Alan Vera and three-time world team member Patrick Martinez. Stefanowicz got by Vera 6-3 before a 1-1 win over Martinez in the challenge tournament finals. Against Rau, Stefanowicz took a controversial match one 6-5, before claiming the series 2-1 in the second bout. After securing his spot on the Olympic team, Stefanowicz went to the Pan-American Championships and came away with his second career gold medal at the event. While no one in that field will compete in the Olympics, it was a good tune-up for the Marine. With his continued growth, don't be surprised to see him in the medal mix. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Beleniuk, Gobadze) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 5 (Assakalov, Beleniuk, Gobadze, Kudla, Lorincz) The seeding at this weight looks pretty good. The two favorites are split from each other and two of the top medal contenders inhabit the third and fourth seeds. Maybe the lone exception is Georgia's Lasha Gobadze. He is a past world champion, though his title came at a non-Olympic weight. He could be a bad draw for one of the top-four. While anything short of a Beleniuk/Lorincz final would be a mild upset, this could be a bracket where we see some younger stars emerge. Abbasov, Gregorich Hechavarria, Huklek, and Maskevich are all recent U23 world medalists. This could be the time and place for one or more of them to step up and become threats at the Senior level. 97 kg Greco-Roman Haykel Achouri (Tunisia) - 2x Olympian, 6x African Champion Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) - 4x World/Olympic Champion, 7x World/Olympic Medalist, 5x European Champion Adem Boudjemline (Algeria) - 2016 Olympian, 4x African Champion Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2019 Asian Champion Musa Evloev (Russia) - 2x World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Cenk Ildem (Turkey) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 4x World/Olympic Medalist, 2014 European Silver Medalist Mikheil Kajaia (Serbia) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2018 European Silver Medalist Giorgi Melia (Georgia) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2x U23 World Medalist, 2016 Junior World Champion Tadeusz Michalik (Poland) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2016 European Bronze Medalist Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Silver Medalist Artur Omarov (Czech Republic) - Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (Cuba) - 2019 Junior World Champion, 2019 Pan-American Champion Mohammad Saravi (Iran) - 2019 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 Asian Champion, 2018 Junior World Champion Arvi Savolainen (Finland) - 2019 U23 World Champion, 2018 Junior World Champion Alex Szoke (Hungary) - 2016 Cadet World Champion The Seeds 1) Evloev 2) Aleksanyan 3) Saravi 4) Michalik The American Entry G'Angelo Hancock - The new face of US Greco-Roman wrestling, G'Angelo Hancock represents the best chance at a medal for any of the Americans in Tokyo. For the last quad, Hancock has been dominant domestically, making every Senior world team from 2017-19, and has rarely been tested. Hancock announced that he would be an international medal threat for the foreseeable future in 2018 when he pinned the second seed at the weight, the legendary Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia), in Poland. But in the following two World Championships, Hancock has not placed higher than 15th. Since Hancock was unable to qualify the weight for the Olympics at the 2019 World Championships, he was forced to attend the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier in early 2020. There he rolled into the finals, outsourcing his competition 35-0, before running into Gabriel Rosillo Kindelan (Cuba). He fell to the Cuban in that bout, though he beat Rosillo Kindelan at the Pan-American Championships earlier in the week. At the 2020 Olympic Trials, Hancock was paired off against upstart Braxton Amos. The Wisconsin recruit turned the rest of the bracket on its head and was a surprise finalist. That didn't bother Hancock, as he dispatched Amos like most other domestic foes, 8-0, 8-0. Hancock hasn't competed since the Trials. We've seen that when he's on top of his game, he can beat the best in the world at 97 kg. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Aleksanyan, Evloev) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 5 (Aleksanyan, Evloev, Ildem, Kajaia, Milov) The big takeaway from the seeding at this weight is that the two favorites Aleksanyan and Musa Evloev, are separated from each other as the top two seeds. Some top medal contenders with proven track records are going in without seeds, ones like Cenk Ildem (Turkey), Kiril Milov (Bulgaria), and Mikheil Kajaia (Serbia). They could be in for an unfortunate draw as at least one could meet one of the favorites. Like 87 kg, this weight has a lot of younger wrestlers that had success at the age-group levels. Saravi, Giorgi Melia (Georgia), Rosillo Kindelan, Arvi Savolainen (Finland), and Hancock are some that could step up and announced themselves as next-in-line at 97 kg. While those new faces, coupled with the veterans, could fight for the two bronze medals, it's hard to project anything other than an Aleksanyan/Evloev final here. 130 kg Greco-Roman Muminjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) - 2x Olympian, 2x Asian Silver Medalist Yasmani Acosta (Chile) - 2017 World Bronze Medalist, 2011 Pan-American Champion Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu (Romania) - 2016 Olympic fifth-place, 2x World fifth-place, 2020 European Champion Amine Guennichi (Tunisia) - 2x African Champion Iakob Kajaia (Georgia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2016 Olympian, 2x European Silver Medalist Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) - 4x World Champion, 2x Olympic Medalist, 8x World Medalist, 9x European Champion Min-Seok Kim (South Korea) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2020 Asian Silver Medalist Elias Kousmanen (Finland) - 2017 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2x European Bronze Medalist Mantas Knystautas (Lithuania) - 2017 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 2014 Junior World Silver Medalist Mijain Lopez (Cuba) - 3x Olympic Gold Medalist, 5x World Champion, 8x World Medalist, 9x Pan-American Champion Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) - 2018 Junior World Champion, 2020 Asian Champion Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) - 2016 Olympian, 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist, 4x African Champion Eduard Popp (Germany) - 2016 Olympic fifth-place, 3x World fifth-place, 2021 European Bronze Medalist Sergey Semenov (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Eduard Soghomonyan (Brazil) - 2016 Olympian; 2016 Pan-American Silver Medalist Artur Vititin (Estonia) - The Seeds 1) Kayaalp 2) Mohamed 3) Abdullaev 4) Mirzazadeh The American Entry None - In 2019, American Adam Coon went 0-1 with a loss to Lingzhe Meng (China) at the World Championships. Though he was a world silver medalist in 2018, since he didn't finish in the top-five that year, he did not qualify the US for the Olympics. That forced Coon to compete at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In the opening round in Ottawa, Coon drew former world bronze medalist Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (Chile). He was defeated 3-2 in that bout and settled for third place. Only the top two at that event qualified for Tokyo. Coon's last shot at qualifying came in Bulgaria less than a month after winning the Olympic Trials. He would go 1-1 at the event and was eliminated by Mykola Kuchmii (Ukraine) 6-3. The Ukrainian got a four-point arm throw on Coon and sat on that lead for the remainder of the bout. Since Coon fell before the finals, he did not qualify for the Olympics. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 3 (Kayaalp, Lopez, Semenov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 6 (Acosta, Kajaia, Kayaalp, Kim, Lopez, Semenov) This weight class has the potential to be an all-timer. Two absolute legends of the sport in Riza Kayaalp and Mijain Lopez on a possible collision course. Between the two, they account for 12 World/Olympic gold medals and all but two World/Olympic titles since 2008. The pair have a long history with each other. Most recently, Lopez defeated Kayaalp in the 2016 Olympic finals. The two split in 2014 and 2015, with Lopez winning in the 2014 World finals and Kayaalp getting revenge the following year. In fact, Kayaalp got his first world title in 2011, by downing Lopez in the gold medal match. A year later, Lopez returned the favor in the semifinals of the London Olympics. Let's hope another chapter is written in the rivalry in Tokyo. The only problem is that Lopez, who has not competed internationally in almost two years, was not seeded, so theoretically, the two could hit in round one. Also, at 38, does Lopez still “have it”? A potential wrench into the Kayaalp/Lopez super match is Russian Sergei Semenov. Semenov is responsible for one of those two world titles not won by the pair, in 2018.

Kyle Dake at the 2020 Olympic Trials (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Wrestling odds for the Olympic Games in Tokyo are posted on several sites including Draft Kings, Fan Duel and Barstool Sportsbook. For the purposes of this article I used Barstools' the same logic applies to any similar set of odds on other books. Keep in mind that the American fans have drastically altered lines from their original open. For instance, Gable Steveson was +1100 and is now down to +200. Pay attention to the giant swings and check on updated lines often as plays - particularly for foreigners - became more enticing. Here's my top plays. Men's Freestyle 57 KG Best Bet - Zaur Uguev (RUS) -112 Uguev has owned this weight and is worth the price. I'd put a couple hundo on it. He won Yarygin in '17 and '18 and SR Worlds in '18 and '19. He's only lost twice during that time frame which is about as consistent as you get at 57kg in freestyle. He's not a lock because nothing at 57 is ever a lock (which the odds reflect because he's a massive favorite and a real value at almost even money. 57 KG Long Money - Nurislam Sanayev (KAZ) +2300 He's prone to take a loss here and there but he was Silver in '18 to Uguev and Bronze in '19 (to Atli) and with those odds: ten bucks to win $230, I'm in. 65 KG Best Bet - Rashidov (RUS) +100 I know. Boring pick. Rashidov has survived some scares but he's been one of the most consistent wrestlers in the World getting Silver at 61kg at Worlds in both '17 and '18 before moving up and winning the monster bracket at 65kg in 2019. He's susceptible, but he's the favorite for sure. I also like the fact that he's on the other side of the bracket from Bajrang (IND / +325). Having a day to scout benefits Rashidov more than Bajrang, in my opinion.If you feel differently, Bajrang is a great value as well at that price. I have to tell you though, both paths are scary. The way the bracket is set up, Rashidov has to get past Muszukajev (HUN / +700) in his semi and Bajrang will have Niyazbekov (KAZ / +1500). Last time these guys met, Rashidov beat Musz 3-2 and Niyazbekov beat Bajrang 9-9. 65 KG Long Money - Haji Aliev (AZE) +1500 He's getting old but he's still the filthiest wrestler in the world with a bag of tricks that awe you. He was Bronze in Rio and won Worlds in '17 but didn't medal at the next two Worlds. However in '19 he gave Rashidov all he could handle. Many would tell you he got hosed in that bout. I would also recommend Niyazbekov at the same price. 74 KG Best Bet - Kyle Dake (USA) - 125 I almost went with Chamizo here. But let's not get cute. Chamizo is the best value. But Dake is going to win. He's just too good and too smart. 74 KG Long Money - Frank Chamizo (ITA) +700 Ok so this isn't really a long shot as Chamizo is the third lowest price but +700? Look, I don't think he can beat Dake but Chamizo is the #1 seed so there's a chance he sees NO ONE that can go with him until the finals. Sidakov is the 3-seed. If Dake is on Sidakov's side, Chamizo walks to the finals. Chamizo at +700 to win one match? Sign me up. 86 KG Best Bet - Pick Your Poison - David Taylor (USA) -150 or Hassan Yazdani (IRI) +150 We've seen how this match goes - twice. Yazdani threatens early, DT grinds him into a pulp late. That being said, it's not a layup, and it's not a foregone conclusion. And then there is the draw. Yaz is the #1 seed which may or may not mean something depending where David gets drawn in. This is one spot where you pick who you think wins out of just two guys and bet a few units on it. I.E. if you think David beats Yaz, lay $450 or $600. 86 KG Long Money - No One There's no one, at any price, that I would risk money on to win the Olympics over DT or Yaz. 97 KG Best Bet - Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS / -286) Sadulaev has made the finals at the last 8 Worlds/OLY's he's wrestled in. And he won 7 of 8. He's the biggest betting favorite in all of Olympic wrestling this year. And the price isn't prohibitive. Laying $900 to win $300 isn't very scary. He's the top seed with Mohammadian (IRI / +400) on the opposite side as the 2. The only other guy you have to worry about is Kyle Snyder (USA / +450) who will be drawn in. It's possible that the most dominant wrestler on the planet has to see just one guy that's in his galaxy (if there is one) on his quest for another OLY Gold. 97 KG Long Money - No One Snyder has proven he can beat anyone (including Sadulaev). But are you picking it? I get going with it as a believer and an American fan. But that's it. If you bet on any other human to beat Sadulaev... 125 KG Best Bet - Geno Petriashvili (GEO / +145) Hold up. Geno, the winner of the last three World titles, is PLUS money?! WTF? Yes Taha has beaten him as recently as April of 2019 (at Euros), but Geno has made it clear that at this point he's the guy. Two of his last three titles went directly through Taha - he beat him in the finals in two of them. And in 2018 he beat the guy who beat him. They are on opposite sides of the bracket as the #1 and #3 seeds with only Gable as a possible threat. 125 KG Long Money - Gable Steveson (USA / +200) I really don't want to write this. Listing Gable as a good bet seems...I don't know...disrespectful to Geno and Taha who have been staples in World and Olympic finals. Gable just now made his first SR team. Frankly, Gable and Taha at the same price is lunacy. Gable's opening line was over +1000 and the American betting public bet the crap out of it to drop it to its current figure. That all being said, I'm 100% convinced Gable can go with these guys. But 'go with' and 'beat everyone in the field' are two different things. I'm not ready to lay money on it - Gable's never (ever. ever, ever, ever) wrestled guys as good as Geno and Taha. But he's also the only guy in the field outside of those two that's worth betting on. Other Plays In GR and WFS I Like WFS 50 KG Best Bet - Yui Susaki (JPN +125) 2019 World Champ Maryia Stadnik (AZE / -112) is the favorite and hasn't lost since the 2018 World finals to... Susaki. Who has never lost! Ever! In international competition. WFS 53 KG Long Money - Jacarra Winchester (USA +900) I don't get the odds at this weight. Vinesh Phogat (IND / +100) is the favorite and she's largely unproven. She's never won a World Championship at any age level and doesn't have an extensive hit list. Enter Jacarra who is the reigning World Champ coming down a weight. Yes, she's lost to Sofia Mattsson (at DeGlane) but +900 is absurd and I'm all over it. WFS 57 KG Best Bet - Risako Kawai (JPN -125) This is a sort of 'next topic' situation and this price is way too low. Jump on it. WFS 62 KG Best Bet - Aisuluu Tynybekova (KGZ + 125) The reigning World Champ and top price is plus money. I thought she was the most outstanding wrestler of the women's field at 2019 Worlds. It's no easy path. This weight is loaded. And she'll have Yukako Kawai (JPN +300) in the semi's. Kawai is the only human to beat Tynybekova in two years. But the value is nice. GR 60 KG Best Bet - Kenchiro Fumita (JPN -125) Won two SR Worlds and one U23 Worlds since '17. GR 67 KG Best Bet - Ismael Borrero (CUB -286) He's the P4P Greco king. Read what I wrote about Sadulaev above. GR 77 KG Best Bet - Aleksandr Chekhirkin (RUS +300) The tournament favorite is 2019 World Champion Tamas Lorincz (HUN / -143). But he's wrestled four tournaments since that time and lost in two of them. I like Chekhirkin with that price. GR 130 KG Best Bet - Mijain Lopez (CUB) +150 The greatest Greco wrestler ever? At plus money? He may be long in the tooth. He may have been inactive recently. And Riza Kayaalp (TUR / -250) has beaten him before. But still. He's a GOAT and he's plus money in what might be his last competition ever. GR 130 KG Long Money - Sergey Semenov (RUS) +1500 I think this weight is a two horse race with Mijain and Riza. But crazier things have happened. Mijain will be unseeded, which means he could be on the same side of the bracket as Riza, with a real possibility of Semenov avoiding both of them before the finals. Semenov went 0-1 at Worlds in 2019 but that was the single time he hadn't medaled in a major event dating back to 2015. He took Bronze at the Rio Olympics losing only to Mijain in the semi's. He's only lost three times in the five years since.

Ildar Hafizov (left) and Alex Sancho (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next six days, we will bring you weight class previews for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Each preview will include three Olympic weights. They will highlight notable past achievements of the competitors in each weight, the American entry, and what to look for during the competition. We'll get things kicked off with the first three Greco-Roman weights (60 kg, 67 kg, and 77 kg). 60 kg Greco-Roman Meirambek Ainagulov (Kazakhstan) - 2x World Medalist, 3x Asian Bronze Medalist Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2019 European Champion Sergey Emelin (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2x World Medalist, 2018 European Champion Abdelkarim Fergat (Algeria) - 3x African Champion Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) - 2x World Champion, 2x Asian Champion, 2018 U23 World Champion Kerem Kamal (Turkey) - 3x Junior World Champion, 2018 U23 World Bronze Medalist Etienne Kinsinger (Germany) - 2016 Junior World Silver Medalist Haithem Mahmoud (Egypt) - 2x African Champion Armen Melikyan (Armenia) - 2019 U23 World Champion Alireza Nejati (Iran) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) - 2x Pan-American Champion Walihan Sailike (China) - 2018 World Bronze Medalist Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2018 World Silver Medalist, 2018 Asian Silver Medalist, 2019 U23 World Silver Medalist Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) - 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3x World Medalist, 5x Asian Champion Lenur Temirov (Ukraine) - 2020 European Silver Medalist, 2018 World Bronze Medalist, 2012 Olympian The Seeds 1) Fumita 2) Emelin 3) Kamal 4) ??? The American Entry Ildar Hafizov - Hafizov will be wrestling in his second Olympic Games. He competed in 2008 for his native Uzbekistan, before gaining US citizenship. Hafizov has made a pair of world teams (2017 and 2019) while competing for the United States. In early 2020, Hafizov went to the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier and qualified the country for the Olympics after making the finals. Along the way, he picked up wins over two-time Pan-American champion Andres Montano Arroyo (Ecuador) and former Asian bronze medalist Marat Garipov (Brazil). Hafizov's success at the continental championships allowed him to sit in the Olympic Trials finals and wait for an opponent to emerge. It ended up being 2019 World Team member Ryan Mango. Hafizov had little trouble with Mango and cruised to a 7-0 win in his first bout, before an 8-0 tech in the clincher. Since the Trials, Hafizov placed second at the 2021 Pan-American Championships. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Emelin, Fumita) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 9 (Ainagulov, Ciobanu, Emelin, Fumita, Nejati, Sailike, Sharshenbekov, Tasmuradov, Temirov) This weight class is extremely deep, with more than half of its participants already owning a world/Olympic medal. Even with seeding, we'll see some incredible matchups right off the bat. Speaking of seeding, we'll see who jumps up to take the fourth seed. Uzbekistan's Islamjon Bakramov earned the spot; however, he is not their entry, Elmurat Tasmuradov is. Though there are potential landmines around every turn, this weight class could be one where chalk prevails and the two top-seeds meet in the finals. Both are the only past world champions at the weight. If so, that would be a rematch of their 2019 world finals, who by Fumita, 10-5. 67 kg Greco-Roman Karen Aslanyan (Armenia) - 2x European Bronze Medalist, 2013 Junior World Champion Fredrik Bjerrehuus (Demark) - 2019 World fifth-place Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) - 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2x World Champion Mohamed El-Sayed (Egypt) - 2x U23 World Champion, 4x African Champion Mohammed Geraei (Iran) - 2019 U23 World Champion, 2019 Asian Champion Julian Horta Acevedo (Colombia) - 2x Pan-American Silver Medalist Balint Korpasi (Hungary) - 2016 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2017 European Champion Souleymen Nasr (Tunisia) - 2x African Silver Medalist Mate Nemes (Serbia) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2021 European Champion Han-Su Ryu (South Korea) - 2x World Champion, 3x World Medalist, 2x Asian Champion Frank Staebler (Germany) - 3x World Champion, 5x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Artem Surkov (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 2x European Champion Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia) - 2018 U23 World Silver Medalist, 2x European U23 Champion The Seeds 1) Borrero Molina 2) El-Sayed 3) Surkov 4) Nemes The American Entry Alex Sancho - Longtime domestic contender Alex Sancho seems to be continuing to evolve and wrestling at his best at the proper time. Prior to making the Olympic team, Sancho had never made a Senior level world team. He does have some world-level experience as he was on the Junior World Team in 2014 and the U23 team in 2017. Though this was his first world/Olympic team, Sancho has been on the cusp for years. Three times he finished as a runner-up at the World Team Trials. On two occasions, those losses came to 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman. Sancho finally got his revenge at the 2020 Olympic Trials by winning a pair of close matches against Coleman, 2-0 and 3-1. Last year, Sancho got the call to travel to Canada to qualify 67 kg for the Olympics. He did his job and breezed by Enyer Feliciano (Dominican Republic) and Miguel Lopez Salcedo (Mexico) to make the finals and lock up a place for the US at the Games. His most recent competition was the Poland Open, where he finished in seventh place. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 5 (Borrero Molina, Korpasi, Ryu, Staebler, Surkov) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 6 (Borrero Molina, Korpasi, Nemes, Ryu, Staebler, Surkov) Compared to 60 kg, this weight class is extremely top-heavy. Having five past world or Olympic champions will have that effect! Now the first round could get dicey as only two of those past champions have seeds (Borrero Molina/1 and Surkov/3). While these well-established veterans have experience on their side, could the Games serve as a changing of the guard at this weight? Are recent U23 world champions like Mohamed El-Sayed (Egypt) and Mohammed Geraei (Iran) ready to take the next step and threaten to win their first Senior-level medals? Provided there is proper separation in the brackets, I wouldn't expect any darkhorse to come out of nowhere and medal, based on the strength of the upper echelon of this weight. But, we likely seed an unseeded wrestler or two in the finals. 77 kg Greco-Roman Jalgasbay Berdimuratov (Uzbekistan) - 2019 World Bronze Medalist, 2012 Asian Champion Alex Bjurberg Kessidis (Sweden) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2020 European Bronze Medalist Karapet Chalyan (Armenia) - 2019 World fifth-place, 2013 Junior World Champion, 2x European Bronze Medalist Aleksandr Chekhirkin (Russia) - 2018 World Champion, 2014 European Champion Mohammed Geraei (Iran) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2x Asian Silver Medalist Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) - 2019 World Silver Medalist, 2x European Champion Alfonso Leyva Yepez (Mexico) - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) - 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2019 World Champion, 4x World Medalist, 3x European Champion Lamjed Maafi (Tunisia) - 2020 African Silver Medalist Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) - 2x Junior World Medalist Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) - 2x World Bronze Medalist, 2019 European Bronze Medalist Zied Ait Ouagram (Morocco) - 2x Olympian, 10x African Champion Yosvanys Pena Flores (Cuba) - 2x Pan-American Champion Yabiku Shohei (Japan) - 2013 Junior World Bronze Medalist Bozo Starcevic (Croatia) - 2016 Olympian, 2013 European Bronze Medalist Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) - 2017 World Silver Medalist, 2018 Asian Silver Medalist The Seeds 1) Lorincz 2) Bjurberg Kessidis 3) Chalyan 4) Geraei The American Entry None. Jesse Porter won the Olympic Team Trials, but this weight was not qualified for the Games. Porter went to the Last Chance Qualifier in Bulgaria and went 1-1, falling short of the finals. Our 2019 World rep at the weight, Pat Smith, finished 23rd at the 2019 World Championships and third at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. Number of Senior World/Olympic Champions: 2 (Chekhirkin, Lorincz) Number of Senior World/Olympic Medalists: 8 (Berdimuratov, Bjurberg Kessidis, Chekhirkin, Geraei, Huseynov, Lorincz, Mnatsakanian, Zhadrayev) This is probably the most wide-open of any weight we've covered so far. The Russian, Aleksandr Chekhirkin, is one of only two past champions in the bracket. He gets the nod for Russia, rather than two-time Olympic gold medalist Roman Vlasov. He'll get drawn into the bracket somewhere. The second world champion at this weight is Tamas Lorincz, who won the most recent World Championship in 2019. Lorincz also has the longest track record in this field and was an Olympic silver medalist in 2016. As the top seed, he'll have an excellent opportunity to get a step higher on the podium this time. If there's a young face that could break through and knock off some of the more established veterans at this weight, it could be Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan). American fans probably remember him as the finals opponent for Kamal Bey in the 2017 Junior World Championships. Though he lost that time, Makhmudov came back the following year and defeated Bey for Junior World bronze.

2021 Cadet World silver medalist Cory Land (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) The Men's Greco-Roman team wrapped up competition on Saturday from the Cadet World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Cory Land, at 55 kg, was the only American to finish with a medal. Two others fell in bronze medal matches today. All five of the team members that started competition on Saturday were eliminated from the competition. Land's run through the bracket was abruptly halted by Russian Valerii Mangutov in the finals via an 8-0 tech. Late in the first period, the Russian blew the match open by throwing Land for four points as he was defending from a quad-pod position. After the period break, Land came out strong and was pushing the pace. He tried for an arm-spin but was counted by Mangutov, who scored a takedown, then a gut wrench. That put the match into technical superiority territory and the Russian was declared the winner. After a heartbreaking loss in yesterday's semifinals, Otto Black dropped into a bronze medal contest with Faraim Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) at 48 kg. In the early going, Mustafayev was able to get a pair of takedowns and earned a 4-0 lead. Black quickly responded with a takedown via a duckunder. Unfortunately, that was all the offense he was able to muster and 4-2 is how the match ended, in favor of Mustafayev. Also wrestling for a medal was Jim Mullen at 110 kg. Mullen already claimed a silver medal in the freestyle portion of the event. Mullen was able to compete for the Greco bronze after coming back to defeat Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia) via fall. Sargsyan was up by six points and ready to earn a tech as he had Mullen in a gut wrench. The American stepped over the attempt and caught Sargsyan on his back where he stayed, resulting in a fall. The tables were turned in the bronze medal bout; however, Mullen had a 5-0 lead on Artur Sarkisjan (Czech Republic) and looked poised to capture a second world medal. Sarkisjan locked in an over/under lock and tossed Mullen to his back. Despite a valiant effort, Sarkisjan was able to gain the fall. Of the remaining five Americans who started their tournament today, only Kaedyn Williams at 51 kg was able to tally a win. He posted a 6-3 win over Iran's Abolfazl Shahrakiniya in the qualifying round. Saturday's Results Greco-Roman 45 kg - Bo Bassett (USA) (L) vs. Ruslan Lukiaev (Russia) 8-0 48 kg - Otto Black (USA) (L) vs. Faraim Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) 4-2 -- Bronze Medal Match 51 kg - Kaedyn Williams (USA) (W) vs. Abolfazl Shahrakiniya (Iran) 6-3 (L) vs. Kuvonchbek Yakhshiboev (Uzbekistan) 8-0 55 kg - Cory Land (USA) (L) vs. Valerii Mangutov (Russia) 8-0 -- Gold Medal Match 60 kg - Brock Bobzien (USA) (L) vs. Bagdat Sabaz (Kazakhstan) 10-1 71 kg - Braden Stauffenberg (USA) (L) vs. Ruslan Nurullayev (Azerbaijan) 9-0 92 kg - Nathaniel Wemstrom (USA) (L) vs. Rasmus Liisma (Estonia) 3-1 110 kg - Jim Mullen (USA) (W) vs. Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia) Fall 1:06 (L) vs. Artur Sarkisjan (Czech Republic) Fall

Brady Berge at the 2021 NCAA Championships (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) South Dakota State announced today that they have hired Brady Berge to fill the role of volunteer assistant for the 2021-22 campaign. "I'm from small-town Minnesota and Brookings made me feel at home," said Berge. "Not only that, but I am not too far away from my family which was important to me because I am very close with them. The staff has welcomed me with open arms and I'm grateful for the opportunity they have given me," Berge added. In April, Berge announced that he was retiring from the sport due to various injuries, including his widely known struggles with concussions. Berge was a two-time national qualifier for Penn State. Jumping into the coaching ranks in college wasn't necessarily a given for Berge, "I didn't have intentions of coaching college wrestling until this opportunity arose this summer." In both of those NCAA qualifying seasons, he finished sixth in the Big Ten and received the 12th seed at the NCAA Championships. Berge looked poised to make the NCAA podium in 2021 after a second-round upset of #5 Kaleb Young (Iowa). However, in his next match, Berge went down with an apparent knee injury against the eventual runner-up Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider). That injury forced him to default in the quarterfinals, then forfeit in the NCAA Round of 12. It allowed #33 Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) to advance into the All-American rounds. Berge's final record at Penn State was 31-9 across two-plus actual seasons of competition. In addition to his win over Young, Berge also defeated All-Americans Pat Lugo (Iowa) and Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) at one point in his career. His win over Degen came during a third-place showing at the 2019 Southern Scuffle. Not only did Berge star on the collegiate scene, he also is experienced on the international stage. He made age-group world level teams at the Cadet, Junior, and U23 levels. In 2018, Berge came home from Trnava, Slovakia with a bronze medal at Junior World's. Berge fits in well with the Jackrabbits as they have a strong Minnesota influence already. Their 2021 team had seven of 29 members from the state. They also have a pair of top-100 recruits (Derrick Cardinal and Cael Swensen) headed to Brookings, too. Additional connections within the state, like the Mantorville native, can only help. This addition is also interesting on the current recruiting front as his younger brother, Bennett, is currently uncommitted and ranked sixth in the nation at 182 lbs and #36 overall in the Class of 2022. Earlier this week, Bennett was fourth in Junior freestyle in Fargo. Could the Jackrabbits be in the drivers seat for Bennett now?

The 2021 Cadet World Championship team (Photo courtesy of USA Wrestling) Friday, July 23rd, 2021, will go down as a historic day in American women's wrestling history. That was the day that the US Women's Cadet team won its first world championship. Seven of the ten team members will leave Budapest with a world medal. The team capped today's competition with three gold medals and a bronze. Like the men's freestyle portion of the competition, the team race came down to the US and India. The tournament's final match, the 69kg gold medal bout, was responsible for determining the winner. 2019 Cadet World bronze medalist Amit Elor was representing the Americans against Yevheniia Siedykh (Ukraine). It took less than :30 for Elor to get on the scoreboard and, once she did, she never looked back. Late in the period, Elor whipped Siedykh over to her back for the winning takedown, but didn't settle for just a 10-0 tech; she pursued more and got the fall. Also winning gold medals today for team USA were Erica Pastoriza (40 kg) and Katie Gomez (53 kg). Pastoriza did not surrender a point in her pre-finals tests and was just as good in the gold medal match. She needed only 1:34 to secure a fall over Romania's Alexandra Voiculescu. Interestingly enough, Gomez's final match was her biggest blowout of the tournament. She teched Natalia Khramenkova (Russia) 10-0 for the world title. Her stiffest test of the competition came in the quarterfinals when she edged Antim (India) 5-4, after a last-second rally. In addition, to the American gold medalists, Ava Ward also claimed a bronze medal today at 46 kg. Ward got the team off to a good start by racking up a fall in the repechage round, which locked up a date with Sviatlana Katenka (Belarus) for the bronze. Ward was never seriously threatened and rolled to an 8-1 win. The entire women's team went 7-0 during medal round matches at the tournament. Not only did the US women put the finishing touches on their team title, but the Greco-Roman team got their tournament started, as well. The Greco team seemingly build off the other two teams' momentum and turned in a strong performance, too. The Greco team placed two in the semifinals, Otto Black (48 kg) and Cory Land (55 kg), with Land clinching a medal and earning a berth in the world finals. The Alabama native systematically dismantled Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan) 5-0, which vaulted him into the gold medal match. Black had a fall and a 4-0 shutout before dropping a 5-5 heartbreaker to Servet Angl (Turkey) in the semis. Cadet World Freestyle silver medalist Jim Mullen will have the opportunity to wrestle for another medal tomorrow. He fell in the opening round to Germany's Nikita Ovsjanikov, 7-2, but has been pulled into repechage since Ovsjanikov made the finals. He'll need to defeat Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia) to compete for the bronze medal. Friday Cadet World Championship Results Women's Freestyle 40 kg - Erica Pastoriza (USA) (W) vs. Alexandra Voiculescu (Romania) Fall 1:34 - Gold Medal Match 46 kg - Ava Ward (USA) (W) vs. Sviatlana Katenka (Belarus) 8-1 - Bronze Medal Match 53 kg - Katie Gomez (USA) (W) vs. Natalia Khramenkova (Russia) 10-0 - Gold Medal Match 69 kg - Amit Elor (USA) (W) vs. Yevheniia Siedykh (Ukraine) Fall 1:56 - Gold Medal Match Greco-Roman 48 kg - Otto Black (USA) (W) vs. Yuri Karapetyan (Armenia) Fall 3:36 (W) vs. Peter Totok (Hungary) 4-0 (L) vs. Servet Angl (Turkey) 5-5 Bronze Medal Opponent - Winner of Dzmitry Darahi (Belarus)/Faraim Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) 55 kg - Cory Land (USA) (W) vs. Berati Inac (Turkey) 10-0 (W) vs. Adam Silverin (Sweden) 9-6 (W) vs. Zhantoro Mirzaliev (Kyrgyzstan) 4-0 65 kg - Jadon Skellenger (USA) (W) vs. Rokas Cepauskas (Lithuania) Fall 3:07 (W) vs. Ashot Poghosyan (Bulgaria) 8-0 (L) vs. Ankit Gulia (India) 14-6 80 kg - Ryder Rogotzke (USA) (W) vs. Mihael Salajec (Croatia) 8-0 (L) vs. Joju Samadov (Azerbaijan) 11-4 110 kg - Jim Mullen (USA) (L) vs. Nikita Ovsjanikov (Germany) 7-2 Repechage Opponent - Lyova Sargsyan (Armenia)

New Northern Colorado volunteer assistant Earl Hall (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) With all that was going on in the wrestling world in Fargo and the Cadet World Championships, as well as the looming Olympic Games, college news may have taken a back seat this week. We don't blame you if you missed out on three new assistant coaching hires that were made public earlier this week. Brown, Northern Colorado, and Ohio added to their respective staffs. Here is a little bit about each of the new assistant coaches. Earl Hall (Northern Colorado) Northern Colorado made an announcement yesterday that they were adding Earl Hall as a volunteer assistant. Hall held the same role for the University of Virginia in 2021. He is no stranger to Bears head coach Troy Nickerson, as Nickerson was an assistant coach at Iowa State, while Hall was competing for the Cyclones. During his days at Iowa State, Hall earned All-American honors on two occasions. He was eighth as a freshman, at 125 lbs, and seventh during his junior campaign, up at 133. Hall qualified for the NCAA Championships four times and was seeded in the top-13 during his last three trips. Prior to nationals, Hall made the Big 12 finals twice. Hall will undoubtedly bolster the Bears lightweights as he did at UVA. The 2021 campaign saw the Cavaliers send wrestlers to nationals at 125-141 and 133 lber Louie Hayes got onto the NCAA podium for the first time in his career. Their 125 lber Patrick McCormick developed as the year progressed and avenged a regular-season loss to Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) at the ACC meet, which helped him automatically qualify for nationals. Hall also has worked with Virginia's Cavalier Wrestling Club, so he'll also contribute on the freestyle side. TJ Dudley (Brown) Tuesday, Brown University announced the addition of TJ Dudley as the team's volunteer assistant. Dudley was a three-time All-American for Nebraska from 2014-17. He finished eighth, second, and third during his final three years competing for the Huskers (the same alma mater as Bears head coach Todd Beckerman). Dudley was a four-time national qualifier for Nebraska and had his best Big Ten finish as a junior when he made the finals, opposite Iowa's Sam Brooks. Brown has a young, talented crop of upperweights for Dudley to work with. Harrison Trahan (174), Drew Clearie (184), James Araneo (197), and Tony Pray (197) are all part of an underrated recruiting Class of 2021 headed to Providence. Shakur Laney (Ohio) Also this week, Shakur Laney returned to take an assistant coaching position with his alma mater, Ohio University. Laney was a three-time NCAA qualifier for the Bobcats, competing from 2016-20. Laney's best year came in 2017 when he won the MAC title and received the 13th seed at 125 lbs. He later would move up and finish his career at 141 lbs. Like the rest of the nation, Laney wasn't able to finish his 2020 season due to the cancellation of the national tournament during the onset of the Covid pandemic. Laney received an at-large bid to the tournament and was set to be the 23rd seed. His record during the 2019-20 campaign was 21-10 and he finished at 85-14 for head coach Joel Greenlee. Some of Ohio's top grapplers could be in Laney's range. Lone NCAA qualifier from the 2021 season, Mario Guillen, is at 133 lbs, while 2020 qualifier Alec Hagan is expected to be at 149. Additionally, Ohio has transfer Tommy Hoskins and a host of fresh faces expected to contribute at 125.

220 lb Junior Freestyle National Champion Christian Carroll of Indiana (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Junior Freestyle at this year's Fargo tournament wrapped up on Tuesday. As always, the event featured some of the top high school wrestlers across the country and some very large brackets. The following looks at some of the statistical trends and top performers from the tournament. This year, in particular, there were an astonishing number of matches finished before the full six minutes. Only 24% of matches ended via VPO or VPO1 during the event. The most common match result was a shutout by superiority with 36% of the matches ended via that method. The high number of finishes contributed to a very low average match time. The average match across the tournament lasted only 3:17. The weight division with the quickest average match time was actually 220 pounds where the matches lasted only 2:40. The division with the longest average match time of 4:40 was 106 pounds. Many coaches are probably pleased to see the brightest stars of the next generation of wrestlers lighting up the scoreboard. After all, coaches often praise an offensive mindset. It will be interesting to see if this style is here to stay or if the aggregate scoring will come down after these wrestlers are introduced to the grind of the collegiate wrestling scene that can emphasize situational scoring and close matches. Point Differential Drake Ayala dominated his way through the 126-pound bracket. Along the way, he defeated seven opponents, surrendered only two points and finished all of his bouts in the first period. Following the event, he was named "Outstanding Wrestler." Ayala also had the highest point differential in the entire tournament. He scored 7.05 points per minute, allowed 0.39 points per minute for a +6.66 differential. The future Hawkeye really stood out in the event as his differential was nearly a point higher than the rest of the field. Zane Donley who won the tournament at 100 pounds finished second in terms of point differential with +5.87, while the 220-pound champion had the fifth highest with +4.30. Top Five Point Differentials (Minimum Four Matches) 126: Drake Ayala 6.66 100: Zane Donley 5.87 285: Xavier Doolin 5.58 132: Maxximus Martinez 4.41 220: Christian Carroll 4.30 Points per Minute While Ayala had the highest differential, he was slightly edged in terms of pure scoring by heavyweight Xavier Doolin. He averaged 7.21 points per minute while he was on the mat. Doolin did suffer a fall against Ryan Boersma and defaulted out of a match against Gage Cook. However, in his other five matches, he scored 46 points in under four minutes. Doolin is part of Northern Colorado's 2021 recruiting class, which was ranked 19th by InterMat. It should be interesting to see if his high scoring will carry over to the Big 12. Top Five Points per Minute Rates (Minimum Four Matches) 285: Xavier Doolin 7.21 126: Drake Ayala 7.05 100: Zane Donley 6.33 170: Jackson Rosado 6.22 170: Simon Swan 5.71 Points Against per Minute While top recruit Cooper Flynn was one of the favorites going into this tournament at 120-pounds, he suffered an upset against eventual champion Kannon Webster in the quarterfinals. He did recover and wrestle back for third place. Even though Flynn did not take the tournament title, the soon-to-be Virginia Tech wrestler did earn the distinction of allowing the fewest points per minute (0.20) among all wrestlers with at least four matches. During the tournament, Flynn wrestled a total of nine matches and allowed only seven points. Four of those points came in his 4-2 loss against Webster. 138-pound champion Tagen Jamison leaned heavily on his defense as he allowed only 0.25 points per minute on his way to the title. Also, Manuel Rojas allowed only 0.28 points per minute as he won the title at 170 pounds. Top Points Against per Minute Rates (Minimum Four Matches) 120: Cooper Flynn 0.20 138: Tagen Jamison 0.25 170: Manuel Rojas 0.28 145: Caleb Rathjen 0.32 160: Joshua Barr 0.33 195: Rylan Rogers 0.33 132: Maxximus Martinez 0.33 Highest Scoring Matches As previously stated, this was a very high scoring tournament. While most of these matches were one-sided blowouts, there were also several bouts where both wrestlers were regular contributors to the scoreboard. The highest scoring match of the event came in the 132-pound bracket. Aliazer Alicea and Kyler Neuberger met in the round of 128, which was the first bout for each wrestler. The match got off to a wild start as Alicea scored a takedown and an exposure in the first 40 seconds before Neuberger came back with a five-point throw. Alicea held a 14-13 lead at the break before breaking things open in the second period. Neuberger did not stop scoring either, but Alicea put up a five-point throw of his own and took the bout via a 30-23 score. Their combined 53 points was the highest combined total of the tournament. The only wrestler to both place and finish in the top five for highest scoring matches was Hank Kriegler. The 100-pound wrestler had a 49-point match against Drew Dolphin and eventually finished sixth at the weight. Top Five Highest Scoring Matches 132: Aliazer Alicea over Kyler Neuberger 30-23 100: Hank Kriegler over Drew Dolphin 26-23 170: Tate Entriken over Samajay Alboyd 24-18 195: Diego Chavez over Ryan Cody 23-18 195: Connor Barket over Blake Schaffer 21-19

Oklahoma All-American Dom Demas (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Reports surfaced on Wednesday from the Houston Chronicle that OU and Texas had reached out to the SEC to discuss the possibility of leaving the Big 12 and joining the SEC. Since then, rumors have swirled in every direction, some assuming it is a done deal and the schools are both headed out, some saying it's purely hearsay and there's no truth at all to it, and there's just about everything in between. But what would happen with the OU wrestling program if the rest of the school's sports went to the SEC? As most know, the SEC does not sponsor wrestling, so OU would have to wrestle in another conference. We've seen this exact scenario play out once before. Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC in 2011, and when that occurred, Mizzou went to the MAC for wrestling. Ten years later, the Big 12 announced Missouri would be coming back and this upcoming wrestling season, we'll see their return. If OU were to bail on the conference, theoretically, they could be allowed to stay in the Big 12 for wrestling. But as we've seen with Missouri, the powers that be in the Big 12 aren't likely to take their exit kindly and would probably not allow that immediately. So, where would OU wrestling go? The MAC makes a reasonable amount of sense. OU head coach Lou Rosselli is from New York and has coached in both Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the MAC has schools in all those states. There would be some benefits for Rosselli as the travel and competition in those locations would give him even more recruiting inroads in the area. OU would also quickly be a power in the conference as we saw with Missouri, but their competition would certainly not be on the level they currently see in the Big 12. The Pac-12 recently announced steps they were taking to bolster wrestling membership in the conference. They've recently added Little Rock, which is, of course, not far from Norman. And given the direction they seem to be pushing with wrestling, it's safe to assume they would be in the conversation. The bigger conversation surrounding this is what it could do to the conference as a whole? If OU and Texas, the Big 12 cash cows, were to leave, many believe that could create chaos across the college sports landscape and even potentially lead to the demise of the entire Big 12. If this happens, it's not only bad for the Big 12, but also bad for the sport of wrestling. The Big 12 conference and commissioner Bob Bowlsby have been good for wrestling. You can go back to the old Big 8 days, which helped developed traditional national powers like Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma. And absorbing the Western Wrestling Conference has been a wonderful thing for wrestling and put the affiliate programs on a national stage. South Dakota State got an NCAA champion and is on the way to getting some of the best facilities in the country; Wyoming was squarely in the mix for the Big 12 title at the conference tournament last year, and on and on. If the Big 12 goes away, who knows what could happen with some of these programs that have almost all been moving in a positive direction recently? There's a lot of uncertainty with this right now and most things surrounding this are all speculation, so who knows what will happen? Maybe nothing. But if this does happen, it's sure to cause a ripple effect across the wrestling world in one way or another.

Double Outstanding Wrestler Jasmine Robinson(Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Junior Women's Freestyle National Championships ended the same way that the 16U tournament did, with Texas 152 lber Jasmine Robinson (Texas) earning Outstanding Wrestler honors, while California celebrated a team title. Robinson went 6-0 on her way to a Junior National title and did not have a match that lasted longer than 1:52. In the Junior tournament, she rolled with four falls and two techs. She did not surrender a point in the entire competition. Robinson's Junior opponent, Rose Cassioppi (Illinois), entered the tournament ranked fifth in the nation at 164 lbs. For the 11th straight Junior Women's tournament, it was California that prevailed. The traditional powerhouse had five individual champions, two more finalists, and outdistanced themselves from second-place Texas by more than 80 points. A total of 14 California natives earned All-American honors. At the opening weight, 100 lbs, California had co-champions as twins Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez did not wrestle each other. Brianna earned her berth in the finals after knocking off former UWW Cadet World Team member Alex Szkotnicki (Maryland), 4-2. In the second bout, a pair of California natives squared off at 106 lbs. Both Paige Morales and Kiely Tabaldo also met in the 16U national finals. Like that meeting, it was Morales that prevailed. This time it was 8-4. Another title for California came at 138 lbs as Savannah Gomez was able to gain a fall over North Central recruit Sara Sulejmani (Illinois). The rising junior dominated the tempo of the bout and held an 8-2 lead at the time of the fall, only :30 seconds into the second period. California's final title came at 200 lbs when Sam Calkins prevailed 2-2 on criteria over Riley Dempewolf (Indiana). Calkins walked into the finals without surrendering a point, but had to dig deep to defeat Dempewolf. The Indiana native scored two points via a step-out and a shot clock violation in the opening period. Calkins got her winning points midway through the second and was able to hold on to win. One of the most storied women's careers in Fargo ended after Sage Mortimer (Utah) claimed her fourth national title at 112. She did so by holding off talented Samara Chavez (Texas), 12-7. Despite a 10-2 lead from Mortimer, Chavez nearly pinned the Utah native during a second-period surge. Mortimer finishes her high school career as a five-time Fargo finalist, four-time champ (twice at Juniors and 16U). She also placed in Junior Greco-Roman in 2018. Both Mortimer and Chavez will be teammates at King University in the fall. Also joining the pair at King is 132 lb champion London Houston (Washington). London left no doubt about the outcome and needed only :56 seconds to amass a dozen points en route to a 12-1 tech of Hanna Errthum (Wisconsin). Another dominating performance and potential OW candidate came in the form of Cadet World bronze medalist and Olympic Trials finalist Kylie Welker (Wisconsin). Welker's championship bout, against Ashley Reed (Connecticut) was her longest of the tournament (1:24). She outscored her competition 45-0 and that doesn't count a victory via fall. Aside from California, the only other states with multiple champions were Texas and Washington. After Robinson won at 152 lbs, Brittyn Corbishley became the second Texan to earn a stop sign. Though Corbishley had a challenging field to navigate, you wouldn't know by judging her results. She did not give up a single point all tournament and never wrestled into the second period. Her last two wins came over a former Fargo 16U champion (Jaycee Foeller - Missouri) and a 16U runner-up (Taryn Martin). Washington's other finalist was Shelby Moore at 122 lbs. Moore was one of three women to double-up and win at both age groups (Morales and Robinson). Her finals opponent, Jennifer Soto (California), nearly pulled off the feat in 2019. Soto was a 16U champion and Junior runner-up. In the 2021 finals, Soto could not generate any offense and fell 5-1 to Moore. There were a pair of bouts that appeared to be marquee matchups, based on the credentials of its participants, that would end up as blowouts. At 127 lbs, 2019 16U runner-up Alexis Janiak (Illinois) squared off with 2019 16U champion Sofia Macaluso (New York). Janiak got an early takedown and managed to turn Macaluso four times with a leg lace for a quick 10-0 win. At 144 lbs, a pair of returning 16U national champions, Destiny Rodriguez (Oregon) and Reese Larramendy (Nevada), clashed. Larramendy opened up the scoring with a pair of points via exposure; however, Rodriguez scored 13 of the last 14 points to earn a win via tech. Aside from Gomez at 138 lbs, two other finals matched ended with a fall; Ngao Shoua Whitethorn (Minnesota) at 117 and Eliana Bommarito (Michigan) at 225. Whitethorn finished her tournament with four falls overall. Bommarito had two pins throughout the tournament and was never seriously threatened. Final Junior Women's Freestyle Championship Results 100 lbs - No Contest (Brianna Gonzalez/Emilie Gonzalez) 106 lbs - Paige Morales (California) over Kiely Tabaldo (California) 112 lbs - Sage Mortimer (Utah) over Samara Chavez (Texas) 117 lbs - Ngao Shoua Whitethorn (Minnesota) over Jaclyn Dehney (Massachusetts) Fall 3:34 122 lbs - Shelby Moore (Washington) over Jennifer Soto (California) 5-1 127 lbs - Alexis Janiak (Illinois) over Sofia Macaluso (New York) 10-0 132 lbs - London Houston (Washington) over Hanna Errthum (Wisconsin) 12-1 138 lbs - Savannah Gomez (California) over Sara Sulejmani (Illinois) 8-2 144 lbs - Destiny Rodriguez (Oregon) over Reese Larramendy (Nevada) 13-3 152 lbs - Jasmine Robinson (Texas) over Rose Cassioppi (Illinois) 164 lbs - Kylie Welker (Wisconsin) over Ashley Reed (Connecticut) 13-0 180 lbs - Brittyn Corbishley (Texas) over Taryn Martin (Ohio) 11-0 200 lbs - Sam Calkins (California) over Riley Dempewolf (Indiana) 2-2 225 lbs - Eliana Bommarito (Michigan) over Lexie Cole (Missouri) 2:34

Donnie Vinson (Cornell) Neil Erisman (Little Rock) Zach Tanelli (Columbia) Cody Caldwell (South Dakota State) Adam Hall (NC State)

2021 Cadet World Champion Bo Bassett (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) On the final day of competition in men's freestyle at the Cadet World Championships, the American team won two out of three medal round matches. The highlight of the day was the performance by Bo Bassett in the 45 kg finals. Bassett only needed a minute and 27 seconds to dispose of Alikhan Ashinov (Russia) to clinch his world title. Despite giving up the initial takedown, Bassett was undeterred and picked up a pair of his own before muscling Ashinov to his back with a cow catcher. A few seconds later the Russian was pinned. Two previous opponents met the same fate as Ashinov, since Bassett pinned three and teched his semifinal opponent 13-2. Also picking up hardware was Nate Jesuroga at 51 kg. In the bronze medal match, the Iowa native also surrendered the first takedown, but gave up nothing afterwards. Jesuroga tied the match (though he owned criteria) in the waning seconds of the opening period, then blew the bout open in the second. He would go on to win, 6-2. Gavin Nelson at 92 kg was shut out by Kazakhstan's Kamil Kurugliyev 4-0 in his bid for a bronze medal. Team USA's final medal haul includes a pair of golds (Bassett, Meyer Shapiro), three silvers (Luke Lilledahl, James Rowley, Jim Mullen), and a bronze (Jesuroga). That was good enough for a second place finish, as a team, just four points behind India. The American's did finish ahead of third-place Russia, for the first time in Cadet World competition. Also, on Wednesday, the Cadet Women's team took the mat for the first time. Four of the five who competed today are still in the medal hunt on Thursday. Audrey Jimenez (49 kg) and Lillian Freitas (73 kg) advanced to the semifinals and will wrestle for a bronze medal. Angie Dill (43 kg) and Savannah Cosme (57 kg) have to fight through repechage matches before wrestling for a medal. Jimenez led all American women's competitors with three victories on the day, each coming via technical superiority, 10-0. Freitas had a pair of wins, one via tech and another by fall. Both fell in the semis by two points. Wednesday's Cadet World Championship Results Men's Freestyle 45 kg - Bo Bassett (USA) (W) vs. Alikhan Ashinov (Russia) Fall 1:27 - Gold Medal Match 51 kg - Nate Jesuroga (USA) (W) vs. Tigran Buniatyan (Armenia) 6-2 - Bronze Medal Match 92 kg - Gavin Nelson (USA) (W) vs. Kamil Kurugliyev (Kazakhstan) - Bronze Medal Match Women's Freestyle 43 kg - Angie Dill (USA) (W) vs. Julia Dolna (Poland) Fall :55 (L) vs. Tannu (India) 13-0 Repechage Opponent - Yelyzaveta Kulakivska (Ukraine) 49 kg - Audrey Jimenez (USA) (W) vs. Neha Kiran Chougale (India) 10-0 (W) vs. Laura Ganikyzy (Kazakhstan) 10-0 (W) vs. Sarah Lins (Austria) 10-0 (L) vs. Svenja Jungo (Switzerland) 8-6 Bronze Medal Opponent - Winner of Fabiana Rinella (Italy)/Delia Voiculescu (Romania) 57 kg - Savannah Cosme (USA) (L) vs. Selvi Ilyasgolu (Turkey) 6-0 Repechage Opponent - Khaliun Byambasuren (Mongolia) 65 kg - Grace Stem (USA) (L) vs. Duygu Gen (Turkey) 6-6 73 kg - Lillian Freitas (USA) (W) vs. Patrycja Dorota Cuber (Poland) Fall :36 (W) vs. Valentina Toreniyazova (Uzbekistan) 10-0 (L) vs. Kseniya Patapovich (Belarus) 3-1 Bronze Medal Opponent - Winner of Milla Andelic (Croatia)/Veronika Nyikos (Hungary)

Two-time Junior National freestyle champion Drake Ayala (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The big one is in the books; The Men's Junior Freestyle National Championships held their All-American matches on Tuesday and 120 wrestlers were able to get onto the national podium. This portion of “Fargo” included almost 1600 wrestlers competing for 15 stop signs. Needless to say, competition was fierce and there are plenty of quality competitors that missed the top-eight. Today we're looking at those that finished the tournament as All-American's and which colleges they will attend in the future. Cal Poly Luka Wick - California (4th at 152 lbs) Campbell Sebastian Melguizo - Florida (8th at 126 lbs) Cleveland State Benjamin Aranda - Illinois (2nd at 113 lbs) Columbia Richard Fedalen - Maryland (6th at 145 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Cornell Erik Gibson - Pennsylvania (6th at 152 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Nico Provo - Connecticut (7th at 126 lbs) Illinois Christian Carroll - Indiana (1st at 220 lbs) -- Class of 2023 Kannon Webster - Illinois (1st at 120 lbs) -- Class of 2023 Indiana Henry Porter - California (7th at 145 lbs) Iowa Drake Ayala - Iowa (1st at 126 lbs) Caleb Rathjen - Iowa (2nd at 145 lbs) Iowa State Paniro Johnson - Pennsylvania (3rd at 152 lbs) Manuel Rojas - Michigan (1st at 170 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Casey Swiderski - Michigan (2nd at 138 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Lehigh Caden Rogers - Pennsylvania (5th at 195 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Little Rock Matt Bianchi - Wisconsin (3rd at 145 lbs) Michigan Rylan Rogers - Washington (3rd at 195 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Minnesota Blaine Brenner - Wisconsin (6th at 138 lbs) Tagen Jamison - Texas (1st at 138 lbs) Bennett Tabor - Minnesota (5th at 220 lbs) Missouri Ryan Boersma - Illinois (3rd at 285 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Zeke Seltzer - Indiana (5th at 132 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Clayton Whiting - Wisconsin (5th at 182 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Navy Danny Wask - New Jersey (2nd at 152 lbs) -- Class of 2022 NC State Jackson Arrington - Pennsylvania (4th at 145 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Chase Horne - Georgia (2nd at 285 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Dylan Fishback - Ohio (1st at 195 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Nebraska Harley Andrews - Oklahoma (8th at 285 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Antrell Taylor - Nebraska (5th at 160 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Adam Thebeau - Illinois (8th at 160 lbs) North Carolina Cole Hunt - Georgia (6th at 113 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Noah Pettigrew - Georgia (3rd at 220 lbs) -- Class of 2022 North Dakota State DeAnthony Parker - Illinois (7th at 182 lbs) Northern Colorado Benjamin Alanis - Arizona (8th at 145 lbs) Northern Iowa Jared Simma - Kansas (6th at 182 lbs) Northwestern Evan Bates - Indiana (7th at 195 lbs) Ohio State Seth Shumate - Ohio (2nd at 195 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Oklahoma Christian Forbes - Oklahoma (4th at 106 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Oklahoma State Luke Mechler - Wisconsin (6th at 160 lbs) Penn Martin Cosgrove - New Jersey (4th at 220 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Sean Seefeldt - Ohio (8th at 120 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Princeton Ty Whalen - New Jersey (3rd at 138 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Purdue Ben Vanadia - Ohio (8th at 220 lbs) Rutgers Brian Soldano - New Jersey (2nd at 182 lbs) -- Class of 2022 South Dakota State Cael Swensen - Minnesota (5th at 152 lbs) Utah Valley Yusief Lillie - Washington (2nd at 120 lbs) UW-LaCrosse Ben Kawczynski - Wisconsin (1st at 285 lbs) Virginia Garrett Grice - Nebraska (6th at 132 lbs) Virginia Tech Cooper Flynn - Tennessee (3rd at 120 lbs) Caleb Henson - Georgia (1st at 152 lbs) -- Class of 2022 Wyoming Jore Volk - Minnesota (3rd at 126 lbs) -- Class of 2022

120 lb Junior National Champion Kannon Webster (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) A month after falling at the Junior National Duals, Team Illinois returned to the top of the heap in Men's Junior freestyle. Illinois claimed their fourth consecutive team title behind a pair of champions and 11 All-Americans. The first of the two winners for Illinois was Kannon Webster at 120 lbs. Just a rising junior, Webster dominated graduating senior Yusief Lillie. Despite the age discrepancy and an opponent that was the decorated of any wrestler in any of the tournaments in Fargo (he entered as a five-time medalist), Webster was never in danger during a 12-1 tech. Along with his win over Lillie, Webster defeated past 16U finalists Jett Stickenberger (Colorado) and Mitchell Neiner (Washington), as well as top-seeded Cooper Flynn. The second champion for Illinois was 132 lber Nasir Bailey. Bailey scored a clutch takedown over Emilio Ysaguirre (Arizona) as time expired to win the stop sign 4-4 with criteria in his favor. Bailey had quite the run himself downing South Dakota State recruit Derrick Cardinal (Minnesota), Virginia signee Kyren Butler (Ohio), and Missouri recruit Zeke Seltzer (Indiana), just for a place in the finals. Even in defeat, Ysaguirre made himself a household name by knocking off pound-for-pound #1 Nic Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) in the quarterfinals. Outstanding Wrestler honors were given to Drake Ayala (Iowa), who logged a 10-0 tech of Sergio Lemley (Indiana), within the first minute. Ayala was the only wrestler at the tournament to win his second Junior freestyle national title. In fact, none of Ayala's seven bouts lasted into the second period. He won in his opening match via fall before reeling off six straight tech falls, outscoring the opposition 64-2. The championship finals started with a run of lopsided bouts. Each of the first five matches were decided by techs. Zane Donley (Oklahoma - 100), Hunter Taylor (Missouri - 106), Braeden Davis (Michigan - 106), Webster, then Ayala logged wins without much resistance. Davis was one of the trio champions for Team Michigan, the only state to produce three. Josh Barr and Manuel Rojas went back-to-back at 160 and 170 lbs for Michigan. Rojas finally got over the hump after taking second at the 16U division in both 2018 and 2019. Barr was a prominent finisher in 2019, as well, placing fourth. While Ayala grabbed his second Junior title and third overall, it was Jordan Williams (Oklahoma) at 145 that also claimed his third stop sign. Williams won a pair at the 16U level in 2018 and 2019. His win featured one of the more dramatic endings of the afternoon. Caleb Rathjen generally controlled the bulk of the bout and held a 3-1 lead into the waning seconds. Williams was able to gain a pair of points via exposure as the clock expired. A lost challenge by the Iowa bench made the final score, 4-3. Another competitor that is no stranger to the top step on the Fargo podium is the winner at 182 lbs, TJ Stewart (Maryland). Stewart won a 16U freestyle title in 2019. This time he was paired with the top-ranked 182 lber in the nation, Brian Soldano (New Jersey). Stewart jumped out to a 6-0 Aside from Ayala, the only graduated seniors that claimed national titles on Tuesday were Tagen Jamison (Texas) and Ben Kawczynski (Wisconsin). Jamison cruised to a 7-2 win over Iowa State recruit Casey Swiderski (Michigan). Jamison will continue his career at Minnesota. Kawczynski was relentless with his reattacks and stopped the top-ranked big man, Chase Horne (Georgia), 12-4. He will enroll at UW-LaCrosse in the fall. Before Kawczynski took the mat, 220 lber Christian Carroll (Indiana) put on a clinic. Carroll teched Iowa's Ben Kueter 12-0 for his title. Only one of Carroll's seven bouts went the distance, as he racked up two falls and four techs. Finally, a pair of rising seniors that have committed to ACC schools won titles at 160 and 195. Caleb Henson (Georgia) was the top-seed and held serve during a back-and-forth bout against Danny Wask (New Jersey), 9-9. The lead changed hands seven times throughout the six minutes and the Virginia Tech recruit was able to fend off a scrappy Wask. In the battle of Ohio natives, at 195 lbs, it was a future NC State Wolfpack, Dylan Fishback, that prevailed. Fishback scored a five-pointer early in the contest and never let up. He would go on to secure a fall over Ohio State recruit Seth Shumate, a double 16U champion from 2019. Junior National Freestyle Finals 100 lbs - Zane Donley (OK) over Nate Smith (IN) 13-2 106 lbs - Hunter Taylor (MO) over Brandon Morvari (MN) 10-0 113 lbs - Braeden Davis (MI) over Benjamin Aranda (IL) 11-1 120 lbs - Kannon Webster (IL) over Yusief Lillie (WA) 12-1 126 lbs - Drake Ayala (IA) over Sergio Lemley (IN) 10-0 132 lbs - Nasir Bailey (IL) over Emilio Ysaguirre (AZ) 4-4 138 lbs - Tagen Jamison (TX) over Casey Swiderski (MI) 7-2 145 lbs - Jordan Williams (OK) over Caleb Rathjen (IA) 4-3 152 lbs - Caleb Henson (GA) Danny Wask (NJ) 9-9 160 lbs - Josh Barr (MI) over Aiden Riggins (IA) 4-4 170 lbs - Manuel Rojas (MI) over Brayden Thompson (IL) 5-2 182 lbs - Thomas Stewart (MD) over Brian Soldano (NJ) 8-4 195 lbs - Dylan Fishback (OH) over Seth Shumate (OH) Fall 5:25 220 lbs - Christian Carroll (IN) over Ben Kueter (IA) 12-0 285 lbs - Ben Kawczynski (WI) over Chase Horne (GA) 12-4

Cadet World Champion Meyer Shapiro (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) The second day of competition at the Cadet World Championships in Budapest, Hungary saw medals handed out for the first time at the event. Four Americans earned some hardware led by 65 kg gold medalist Meyer Shairpo. Luke Lilledahl (48 kg), James Rowley (80 kg), and Jim Mullen (110 kg) all settled for silver medals. Shapiro jumped out to an early lead on his finals opponent, Giorgi Gogritchiani (Georgia) after a shot clock point. Eager to add to his lead, Shapiro stayed on the offensive, but was caught in a chin whip for four points by the Georgian. During the sequence, Shapiro did earn a point for a reversal. The American's heavy hands and pace were too much, as Shapiro grabbed a pair of late takedowns to take a 6-4 lead. He was able to withstand the final charge from Gogritchiani and stuffed the Georgian's takedown attempt straight to his back for a fall with one second remaining in the bout. In addition to the finals matches, the remaining five men's freestyle weights got underway. Bo Bassett at 45 kg earned a place in tomorrow's finals after racking up two pins and a tech fall in the semifinals. Two others, Nate Jesuroga (51 kg) and Gavin Nelson (92 kg), will wrestle for bronze medals tomorrow. Tuesday's Cadet World Championship Results 45 kg - Bo Bassett (USA) (W) vs. Malkhazi Khelaia (Georgia) Fall (W) vs. Yusif Isparov (Azerbaijan) Fall (W) vs. Umidjon Iskandarov (Uzbekistan) 13-2 Finals Opponent - Alikhan Ashinov (Russia) 48 kg - Luke Lilledahl (USA) (L) vs. Aman (India) 5-2 - Gold Medal Match 51 kg - Nate Jesuroga (USA) (W) vs. Resul Dogan (Turkey) 4-2 (L) vs. Nodirbek Jumanazarov (Uzbekistan) 10-0 Bronze Medal Opponent - Tigran Buniatyan (Armenia) 60 kg - Beau Mantanona (USA) (L) vs. Abdulrahman Ibrahimov (Azerbaijan) 6-2 65 kg - Meyer Shapiro (USA) (W) vs. Giorgi Gogritchiani (Georgia) Fall - Gold Medal Match 71 kg - Levi Haines (USA) (W) vs. Asadbek Karimov (Uzbekistan) Fall (L) vs. Cengizhan Dogan (Turkey) 4-3 80 kg - James Rowley (USA) (L) vs. Sagar Jaglan (India) 4-0 - Gold Medal Match 92 kg - Gavin Nelson (USA) (W) vs. Khaleifah Alhefeiti (UAE) Fall (W) vs. Georgian Tripon (Romania) 2-0 (L) vs. Zhorik Dzhioev (Russia) 8-0 110 kg - Jim Mullen (USA) (L) vs. Amirreza Masoumi Valardi (Iran) 10-0 - Gold Medal Match

Two-time world champion Zaurbek Sidakov (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we'll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo. 7/15/21 - Taha Akgul (Turkey) 7/13/21 - Artur Naifonov (Russia) 7/11/21 - Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7/10/21 - Khadzhimurad Ghadzhiev (Azerbaijan) 7/8/21 - Ali Shabanov (Belarus) 7/7/21 - Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) 7/6/21 - Suleyman Karadeniz (Turkey) 7/5/21 - Frank Chamizo (Italy) 7/3/21 - Yui Susaki (Japan) 7/1/21 - Amir Zare (Iran) 6/28/21 - Zavur Uguev (Russia) 6/27/21 - Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) 6/26/21 - Sergey Kozyrev (Russia) 6/24/21 - Kenchiro Fumita (Japan) 6/23/21 - Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (Belarus) 6/22/21 - Erica Wiebe (Canada) 6/21/21 - Myles Amine (San Marino) 6/20/21 - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 6/19/21 - Hassan Yazdani Charati (Iran) 6/18/21 - Tamas Lorincz (Hungary) 6/17/21 - Takuro Otoguro (Japan) 6/16/21 - Elizbar Odikadze (Georgia) 6/15/21 - Koumba Larroque (France) 6/14/21 - Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 6/13/21 - Ningning Rong (China) 6/12/21 - Bajrang Punia (India) 6/11/21 - Frank Staebler (Germany) 6/10/21 - Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) An age group prospect who turned the corner into a legend at the end of the 2016-2020 quad, #1 Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia has become a history maker for Russia at 74 KG. Coming into his own during a renaissance for the deepest weight in wrestling, Sidakov has ascended to the top of the pound-for-pound standings with back-to-back world titles beating divisional elites the likes of 5x World/Olympic champion #8 Jordan Burroughs (USA) and 2x World champion #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA) to take his crown. With a huge matchup against two-time 79 KG world champion #2 Kyle Dake (USA) looming at the Tokyo Olympics, today our Olympic profile will cover the career of two-time 74 KG world champion #1 Zaurbek Sidakov of Russia. The Stats #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) - 2017 70 KG Russian Nationals 5th, 2016 70 KG Russian Nationals 1st, 2017 70 KG Yarygin 2nd, 2016 U-23 European Championships 3rd, 2016 74 KG Junior European Championships 3rd, 2016 Yarygin 70 KG 1st, 2016 70 KG European Championships 5th, 2015 65 KG Junior World Championships 3rd, 2015 65 KG Olympia Tournament 3rd, 2015 65 KG Yarygin 3rd. 2014 65 KG Copa Brasil 1st, 2017 70 KG Alans tournament runner-up, 2018 74 KG Yarygin runner-up, 2018 74 KG Military world champion(74), 2018 U-23 74 KG European Champ, 2018 Russian Nationals champ(74), 2018 74 KG world champ, 2019 74 KG Yarygin champion, 2019 74 KG European Games champion, 2019 74 KG world champion, 2020 74 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist, 2021 74 KG Russian Nationals champion, 2021 74 KG Sassari City tournament champion. Key Wins: #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (2017 70 KG Yarygin), #2 (70) Evgeni Zherbaev (2016 70 KG Nationals, 2017 70 KG Russian Nationals), #5 (79) Radik Valiev (2016 70 KG National finals), #5 Frank Chamizo (2017 70 KG Alans, 2018 74 KG world championships, 2019 74 KG world championships), #6 Razambek Zhamalov (2021 74 KG Russian Nationals finals), #7 Avtandil Kentchadze (2015 66 KG Junior world bronze medal match, 2018 74 KG U-23 Euros, 2018 74 KG world finals, 2019 European Games), #8 Jordan Burroughs (2018 74 KG world quarterfinals, 2019 74 KG world championships), #9 Timur Bizhoev (2018 74 KG Russian Nationals quarters, 2017 70 KG Yarygin, 2021 74 KG Russian Nationals), #1 (79) Akhsarbek Gulaev (2018 74 KG U-23 Euro finals), #14 Khetag Tsabolov (2018 74 KG Russian Nationals finals) #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (2019 74 KG Russian Nationals wrestle-off, 2020 Russian Nationals 74 KG bronze medal match, 2021 74 KG Russian Nationals), Kakhaber Khubezhty (2018 74 KG Yarygin semis), Khusey Suyunchev (2016 Nationals), #9 (79) Atsamaz Sanakoev (2016 Yarygin), Kamal Malikov (2016 70 KG Yarygin), Alibek Akbaev (2016 70 KG Yarygin), Batzorig Buyanjav (2016 70 KG Yarygin), Devid Safaryan (2016 70 KG European Championships), Alibegghadzi Emeev (2015 65 KG Yarygin bronze medal match), Khabib magomedov(2016 Nationals), Rasul Dzhukaev (2017 70 KG Yarygin), #14 (79) Evgeni Lapshov (2018 74 KG Russian Nationals semis), Timur Nikolaev (2017 70 KG Yarygin), Ildous Giniyatullin (2016 70 KG Nationals), Aaron Pico (2014 65 KG Yuri Gusov Tournament), #9 (70) Azamat Nurikov (2019 74 KG European Games). Key Losses: Brent Metcalf (2015 65 KG Yarygin), Murad Suleymanov (2016 74 KG Junior European Championships), #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (2015 65 KG Intercontinental Cup, 2015 65 KG Russian Nationals, 2017 70 KG Alans tournament), Magomed Muslimov (2015 65 KG World Cup) Franklin Mauren Castillo( 2015 65 KG world cup), Mandakhnaran Ganzorig (2015 65 KG World Cup), Israil Kasumov (2017 70 KG Yarygin finals), Yuji Fujinami (2015 66 KG Junior worlds), #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (2017 70 KG Russian Nationals), Rasul Dzhukaev (2017 70 KG Russian Nationals), Gadjimurad Omarov (2017 70 KG U-23 European Championships), #14 Khetag Tsabolov (2018 Yarygin finals, 2021 74 KG Russian Nationals) 2014-2017 Beginning his career at the 65 KG weight class, #1 Zaurbek Sidakov would turn heads with a win in the finals over 2013 Cadet world champion and U.S. phenom Aaron Pico in the finals of the Yuri Gusov tournament in early 2014. Pico would go onto to take bronze at the 66 KG Junior World Championships behind future 3x World/Olympic champion #2 (86) Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI), while Sidakov finished his successful 2014 campaign with a Copa Brasil title over 2014 Senior national runner-up Shikhsaid Jalilov of Russia. 2015 began with Sidakov's debut at the legendary Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, Russia's unofficial “Russian Nationals before Russian Nationals,” where the brackets are boasted to be deeper than that of the World and Olympic championships. Along with sheer depth, there is another important function of the Yarygin in that the highest Russian medalist will be sent as the European Championship representative with the runner-up or second-highest medalist then being sent as the representative for the World Cup. Competing in the Senior's division while only 19 years old, Sidakov would make the quarterfinals against 2013 Yarygin runner-up Brent Metcalf of the United States and fall 9-1 to the American standout. With Metcalf making the finals with a victory over 2013 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Alibegghadzi Emeev (RUS) in the semifinals, Sidakov qualified for the bronze medal match. In the bronze medal match, Sidakov would beat Emeev 3-2 for bronze. Sidakov was selected to represent Russia at the World Cup, while champion #11 (65) Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB) was chosen to compete at the European Games and fellow bronze medalist #2 (70) Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS) represented Russia at the inaugural U23 European championships. Coming off his bronze medal finish at the Yarygin, the World cup debut of Sidakov was highly anticipated. But in a field as deep as the World Cup and as young as Sidakov was, there was to be growing pains. Going 0-3, Sidakov dropped matches to two world bronze medalists Mandakhnaran Ganzorig (MGL), 2018 70 KG world bronze medalist Franklin Maren Castillo (CUB) and Magomed Muslimov (AZE). Coming off the rough showing at the World Cup, Sidakov entered his first Senior Russian Nationals tournament and drew returning 2014 European champion #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) in the first round of action. Kurbanaliev would walk away the winner and Sidakov was eliminated after Kurbanaliev's loss to eventual champion Bekbulatov. Competing only nine days later at the Olympia tournament at 70 KG in Greece, Sidakov came away with gold over 2014 65 KG world bronze medalist Mihail Sava of Moldova. Competing at his final Senior-level event before his debut at the Junior World Championships, Sidakov would draw old rival Kurbanaliev in the opening round of the Ali Aliev. The veteran Kurbanaliev was still too much for Sidakov and the North Ossetian standout was eliminated after Kurbanaliev's loss to eventual runner-up Emeev, a wrestler who'd Sidakov beaten earlier in the year at the Yarygin. As the favorite to win gold at the Junior World Championships, after impressive wins over Russian Nationals medalists Emeev (RUS) and Shikhsaid Jalilov (RUS), along with beating returning runner-up Aaron Pico (USA) in 2014, Sidakov would make the semifinal against 2013 63 KG Cadet World runner-up Yuji Fujinami of Japan. Sidakov, length with a powerful slideby and impressive swim high crotch, was overpowered by the powerful leg attacks and finishes of his Japanese opponent and while he mounted a comeback late, he'd fall 5-4 to Fujinami, who'd go on to take silver to Teymur Mammadov (AZE). Rebounding from his semifinal loss to Fujinami, Sidakov would take bronze at the Junior World Championships with a 9-4 win over #7 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO). 2016 began for Sidakov with a move up to 70 KG, where he'd debut at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial. Beginning his tournament with a win over Alibek Akbaev (RUS), Sidakov notched the biggest win of his career in the quarterfinals over three-time Russian Nationals bronze medalist Kamal Malikov (RUS) to move onto the semifinals, where he'd take on 2013 74 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist #9 (79) Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS). Sidakov, proving himself ever capable of wrestling up to and past the levels of his elders, beat out credentialed Sanakoev 1-1 to move onto the finals to take on Khusey Suyunchev (RUS). Upsetting two-time Russian Nationals runner-up #1 (70) Israil Kasumov (RUS) to make the finals of the Kadyrov Cup in 2015, Suyunchev led Sidakov throughout most of their finals match, but a late takedown in the second period would seal the 2-2 criteria win and the chance to represent Russia at the European Championships. In his opening match at the European championships, Sidakov took on 2010 Russian Nationals bronze medalist, 2010 European runner-up #18 (65) Magomedmurad Gadzhiev of Poland. Gadzhiev, who'd announced himself as a world title contender upon his move to 70 KG in 2015, was one of the favorites in a loaded 65 KG field at the Tokyo Olympics. Against the heavily credentialed Gadzhiev, Sidakov fell behind 4-4 and lost. Offered a chance at repechage with Gadzhiev making the finals, Sidakov would put together wins over Muhammad Ilkhan (TUR) and 2013 65 KG world champion Devid Safaryan (ARM) to make the bronze medal match opposite two-time world fifth-place finisher #9 (70) Azamat Nurikov (BLR). Nurikov, a dangerous upper body wrestler who capitalizes on the mistakes of his opponents, was able to pull away with a 9-7 win for the bronze medal and leave Sidakov in 5th place at his first Senior European championships. Coming off his Yarygin title and showing himself capable of hanging with the best of the world at 70 KG at the European Championships, Sidakov entered the Senior Russian Nationals championships. Outscoring his competition 31-5 on his to the finals that included a win over returning Russian Nationals bronze medalist #2 (70) Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS), Zherbaev faced off against 2014 69 KG Cadet world runner-up #5 (79) Radik Valiev (RUS). In a battle between the two evenly matched age group standouts, it would be Sidakov who'd pull away for the 4-2 win and his first Senior Russian Nationals title. Finishing 2016, competing up at 74 KG for the Junior European championships, Sidakov was dominant on his path to the finals with a 33-2 scoring difference between him and the rest of the competition. The man standing opposite Sidakov would be the powerful Murad Suleymanov of Azerbaijan. Suleymanov is an absolute bear of a wrestler, as physical as they come and one of the best leg attack finishers in the middleweights but who failed to fulfill his potential off bad match I.Q. and poor conditioning. The smaller Sidakov saw his size disadvantage used against him by the hulking Suleymanov, who peppered Sidakov with leg attacks for the 9-4 win securing Junior European gold. After an early finish to 2016, taking silver at the 74 KG Junior European Championships in May, Sidakov returned after his six-month layoff, looking to claim his second 70 KG Yarygin title to start off 2017. Sidakov's tournament began with a 5-0 victory over 2009 66 KG world runner-up Rasul Dzhukaev (RUS) that was followed by a win over Timur Nikolaev (RUS) in the Round of 16 that secured him a spot in the quarterfinals opposite 2013 69 KG Cadet world bronze medalist #9 Timur Bizhoev (RUS). Bizhoev, as stingy and heavy-handed of a wrestler as they came, pushed the returning champion Sidakov but fell to the North Ossetian in a close 3-1 loss. The close win over Bizhoev set up a wild semifinal match against #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR), who'd just upset 2016 74 KG Russian Nationals bronze medalist Khusey Suyunchev (RUS) 5-3 in the quarterfinals. Sidakov and Kadimagomedov went to war in the semifinals with Sidakov taking the 2-0 lead to end the first, but Kadimagomedov came roaring back to score 7 points and Sidakov returning the favor to pull away with a 9-7 win and stave off the upset-minded Kadimagomedov. The finals saw Sidakov taking on the fearsome #1 (70) Israil Kasumov (RUS), the returning three-time national runner-up. In what would be the critical point of the match, the athletic specimen Kasumov would high leg over a takedown attempt from Sidakov for exposure and take a 5-2 win over the North Ossetian for gold. Following the finals loss to Kasumov, Sidakov was selected as the representative for the U23 European Championships. A dominant Sidakov crushed his competition 35-5 on his path to the finals, where he'd meet returning U23 European runner-up Gadjimurad Omarov (AZE). Omarov, taking away the impressive offense of talented North Ossetian, would neutralize Sidakov for a 1-1 win and U23 European gold. After runner-up finishes at the Yarygin and U23 European championships, Sidakov was determined to break through for gold at the Senior Russian Nationals. Wins over Zherbaev, Nikolaev, and Shamil Magomedov (RUS) put Sidakov in the finals opposite #3 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). In what would be one of the craziest sequences of the entire Russian Nationals championships, Sidakov shot in on a swim-high crotch and Kadimagomedov deftly countered and clamped in like a boa constrictor on a crushing head pinch that exposed Sidakov and was awarded exposure and a critical match lead. The North-Ossetian corner exploded in protest and like adding kerosene to the fire, the crowd joined into the rioting and it was not until after 15 minutes of chaos that Sidakov and Kadimagomedov's match presumed with Kadimagomedov in the lead over the returning national champion Sidakov. A charging Sidakov would try his best, but he could not unseat the surging Kadimagomedov, who walked away with a 4-2 upset win over the returning national champion. With a 3-1 win over 2015 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Rasul Dzhukaev (RUS), who'd upset three-time returning national runner-up #1 (70) Israil Kasumov (RUS), Kadimagomedov made the Russian Nationals finals and Sidakov was pulled into the bronze medal match opposite Dzhukaev. Holding a 1-1 lead over Dzhukaev with short time leading in the second, a high crotch reattack from the Chechen veteran would spell doom for Sidakov in a 3-1 loss and have him finish in 5th place at Russian Nationals. Coming off the disappointment of Russian Nationals, Sidakov would be a very busy man to end 2017. First came a title at the Stepan Sargsyan title over Konstantine Khabalashvili of Georgia and next a runner-up finish at the Ugra Cup to #1 (70) Israil Kasumov (RUS). Finishing the year at the Alans in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, on his home turf, Sidakov would have the breakthrough tournament of his career. Making the semifinals off a win over 2016 Junior World bronze medalist Shmagi Todua (GEO), Sidakov faced off against reigning two-time world champion #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA). Chamizo had been seen as untouchable after his run at the world championships where he put on an offensive clinic against five World/Olympic medalists in Elamin Dogdurbek Uulu (KGZ), Ikhtiyor Navruzov (UZB), Akzhurek Tanatarov (KAZ), Yakup Gor (TUR) and #7 (70) James Green (USA). Chamizo was going to be another elite that Sidakov would be close against but fall all the same. Except Sidakov wasn't close at all, Sidakov was the front runner, Sidakov exhausted Chamizo, completely stymying the brilliant offense of the Italian champion from building momentum in a career-defining 9-6 victory. Seeking to build off his momentum from his massive win over Chamizo, Sidakov sought revenge for his two past losses to 2016 world champion Kurbanaliev. Sidakov looked keen to actualize a win over Kurbanaliev and throughout the majority of the match led the Dagestani standout, but a critical mistake from Sidakov off a slideby gave Kurbanaliev the opportunity to use his underhooks to get to a bodylock and score a massive four-point throw that would change the entire course of the match and win him the Alans title 7-5. 2018-2021 Announcing his contender status with his 70 KG runner-up finish at the Alans, Sidakov made the move up to 74 KG in 2018, as he had outgrown the 70 KG weight class. Debuting at his new weight class at the Yarygin, Sidakov would make the finals opposite returning world runner-up #14 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB). Falling behind the returning Russian national champion 1-0 at the end of the first, a clutch head outside single early in the second for Tsabolov would push his lead over Sidakov to 3-0 and seal the win a 3-1 win for him after a late Sidakov push. Coming off his silver medal at the Yarygin, Sidakov competed at the World Military Championships, winning gold over Hamed Rashidi of Iran before going into an impressive field at the U23 European Championships. A 12-1 win over returning champion #7 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) put Sidakov in the finals opposite the returning world runner-up #1 (79) Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK). Against his fellow North-Ossetian Gulaev, Sidakov would be limited to a 3-1 for U23 European gold for his final competition before the Russian Nationals in August. Making his second Russian Nationals finals match with victories over #9 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) and #14 (79) Evgheni Lapshov (RUS) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Sidakov would get his chance of revenge from his Yarygin finals loss to Tsabolov. In the match-winning takedown, Sidakov was able to secure a double leg takedown with short time in the second on the edge of the mat to take his second national title with a 2-2 win over Tsabolov. Beginning his first Senior World Championships with a 10-0 win over Miroslav Kirov of Bulgaria in the qualification round, Sidakov moved onto the Round of 16 against 2011 60 KG world runner-up Franklin Gomez Matos (PUR) and won 6-0 to set up a huge quarterfinal match against returning world champion Jordan Burroughs (USA). After an opening takedown from Burroughs, Sidakov took the 2-2 lead in the final minute of the match with a beautiful slideby. The second period began with Burroughs charging in on a single leg to retake the lead 3-2 with a pushout. A clean high crotch for Sidakov would take the 4-2 match lead with 32 seconds left. Converting a single leg takedown with 10 seconds left, Burroughs took the 5-4 lead. Immediately on the restart of the match, Sidakov dives in on a swim high crotch and gets in on Burroughs' legs and driving up to his feet with every ounce of strength left in his body and driving across a double leg Sidakov is able to get the step out with one second remaining in the match to take the 5-5 win over the returning world champion. A last-second challenge for Burroughs was waved off, and so sealed the 6-5 win for Sidakov. Getting no relief in his next match, Sidakov would face off against reigning 70 KG world champion Frank Chamizo of Italy. A 1-0 lead led Sidakov through the first period and late in the second period, with Chamizo up 1-1 off a shot clock violation, Sidakov would convert off a bodylock takedown with under a minute left in the match to take the 3-1 lead. A high crotch to a double leg for Chamizo earned him a stepout, but it was not enough to stop Sidakov, who would make the world finals with a 3-2 win over the reigning 70 KG world champion. In the world finals match against Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) would bank off a high crotch takedown in the first period to conclude his spectacular run with world gold. Off the high of his world title, Sidakov began 2019 by winning his second Yarygin title with wins over #9 Timur Bizhoev (RUS), #9 (70) Azamat Nurikov (BLR) and 2x World medalist Yakup Gor (TUR). Sidakov would put together a 2-0 record at the World Cup, alternating action with #9 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) that saw him beat Geandry Garzon (CUB) and 2014 Asian champion Reza Afzali Paemani (IRI). Not competing at the Russian Nationals due to a scheduling issue with the European Games, Sidakov would wrestle the winner of the Russian Nationals at a later date to decide who would compete at the World Championships. At the European Games, Sidakov would begin his tournament with a 5-3 win over #7 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO) in a rematch of their 2018 world finals. An early chest wrap in the semifinals against #9 (70) Azamat Nurikov (BLR) looked to spell trouble for Sidakov, but the North Ossetian world champ recovered for the 6-4 win. In the finals, Sidakov was completely dominant with a first-period pin over two-time World/Olympic medalist #13 Soner Demirtas (TUR). Winning his wrestle-off against Russian National champion Kurbanaliev at the Russian National team training camp, Sidakov went into the World Championships looking to claim his second consecutive world title. Sidakov's first real test of the world championships wouldn't come until the semifinals against Burroughs. Trailing the American with 5 seconds left in the match, Sidakov was able to pull off a miraculous pushout to walk away with a 4-3 win in another razor-thin victory over the American great. Facing a familiar opponent in Italy's Chamizo, Sidakov pulled away from the Italian with a 5-2 finals win for world title number two. Sidakov would only compete once in 2020 at the Russian Nationals championships looking to win his third national title. In his opening round match, he would face returning national runner-up Tsabolov in a rematch of their 2018 national finals match. Tsabolov was on fire and peppered Sidakov with head outside singles and a crucial set of exposures would give Tsabolov the huge 12-3 upset over the reigning two-time world champion Sidakov. With Tsabolov making the finals off an 8-7 criteria win over returning national champion #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS), Sidakov was pulled into repechage where he'd face his old foe Kurbanaliev for bronze. Sidakov showed the Dagestani no mercy and punished the past national champion 9-1 for bronze. Sidakov's path to Olympic gold in 2021 would begin with first winning arguably the tougher tournament in Russian Nationals. Buyan Tsyrenov (RUS), Darsam Dzhaparov (RUS), #16 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) and #9 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) would fall to Sidakov on his path to the finals where he'd face returning national champion Razambek Zhamalov of Russia. A spectacular rise through the rankings saw Zhamalov take out world champions Tsabolov and Chamizo to conclude 2020 and be a contender in Tokyo. In the battle of the two best 74's in the world, it would again come down to the last second heroics of Sidakov in big matches that would seal the win with two stepouts for the 2-2 win over the 2020 Individual World Cup champion and Russian Nationals title number three. To finalize his 2021 competition schedule before the Tokyo Olympics, Sidakov won the City of Sassari tournament title over Jasmit Phulka (CAN). #1 Zaurbek Sidkaov (RUS) is in elite company in a loaded field at the 74 KG Olympics along with a pair of two-time world champions in #2 Kyle Dake (USA) and #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA). The trio are all in the runnings to make history and if Sidakov is able to come away beating them and the ever dangerous Kadimagomedov who's also in the bracket, then he will have put his name on the shortlist of best 74 KG wrestlers of the past generation. A man who, time and time, has come up clutch, the Olympics will be Sidakov's greatest test and there is no bigger or better story to me than that going into Tokyo.

#1 Ranked Gabe Arnold after winning the 170 lb 16U freestyle title (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) It took a total team effort for Team Pennsylvania to claim their third straight 16U Men's Freestyle national championship. Despite not finishing with a champion for the first time since 2016, Pennsylvania put 21 wrestlers on the podium, including four in the finals. In total, nine Pennsylvania wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weights. New Jersey led the way with three national champions, Anthony Knox (106), Leo Deluca (113), and Lou Cerchio (NJ). Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio were the only other states with multiple champions. One of Arizona's two champions, Kyler Larkin (126), was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestling. Larkin became a crowd favorite after pulling a stunning upset of #2 Mason Gibson (PA) in the semifinals. He completed his title run by downing two-time Minnesota runner-up Landon Robideau for a crown. Larkin's Valiant Prep teammate Adrian Meza (120) won Arizona's other title by shutting out Aden Valencia (CA), 3-0. The first of two titles for Ohio took place in the opening match of the finals when Javaan Yarbrough outscored Haakon Peterson (WI) 10-4. Ohio was bound to get a win at 182 as both finalists call the state home. Camden McDanel got the best of Luke Vanadia in a back-and-forth contest that featured plenty of action. Scoring continued to be prevalent in the next bout as Max McEnelly (MN) hung on against Sonny Sasso (PA), 11-8. A key sequence in the match initially gave four points only to McEnelly. After a review, it was deemed that Sasso should get a pair of points for exposure, while McEnelly added another for exposure. Sasso pushed the pace, but couldn't close the gap and had to settle for second place. Minnesota's second title came at 132 lbs, where Zach Hanson won a battle of attrition with Christopher Coates (MO), 2-1. All three points in the match were awarded via shot clock violations. After the freestyle competition, two 16U wrestlers were still in the running for the Triple Crown, Mack Mauger (ID) and Koy Hopke (WI). Mauger jumped out to an 8-0 lead over Cadell Lee (VA) in the first round and was held in check during the second period. Four out of Hopke's five bouts ended via technical superiority or fall. He needed only 1:28 to dispatch Jake Walker (IA) in the finals. One USAW Folkstyle National champion, Pierson Manville (PA), was prevented from continuing towards the Triple Crown. He was beaten 4-2 by Connecticut's William Henckel in the championship bout. The last time Connecticut had a 16U national champion (Anthony Valles - 2005) was before Henckel was born. The only top-ranked wrestler in the field, Gabe Arnold (GA), lived up to his billing and captured a national title. He was pushed by #13 Cody Merrill (CA) and battled to a 3-1 victory. One of the most exciting bouts of the finals took place at 138 lbs as Joel Adams (NE) needed exposure points in the closing seconds to claim an 8-7 win over Tyler Kasak (PA). Kasak got in on an attack against Adams as the clock expired, but it was ultimately too late. Two matches later, Zack Ryder (NY) and KJ Evans (OK) put 19 points on the board in a contest that would go in favor of Ryder. Despite Evans putting seven points up in the second, it was Ryder who held on. Two of the most dominating tournaments were put together by Seth Mendoza (IL) at 100 lbs and Navarro Schunke (SD) at 285 lbs. Mendoza won 7-0 in the finals and rolled to four techs throughout the tournament. Schunke also had four. He became just the third South Dakota native to win a 16U national title in freestyle. Full Finals Results Below: 88 lbs - Javaan Yarbrough (OH) over Haakon Peterson (WI) 10-4 94 lbs - Mack Mauger (ID) over Cadell (Lee (VA) 8-3 100 lbs - Seth Mendoza (IL) over Christian Castillo (AZ) 7-0 106 lbs - Anthony Knox (NJ) over Sam Herring (PA) 18-6 113 lbs - Leo Deluca (NJ) over Brock Mantanona (CA) 10-0 120 lbs - Adrian Meza (AZ) over Aden Valencia (CA) 3-0 126 lbs - Kyler Larkin (AZ) over Landon Robideau (MN) 3-1 132 lbs - Zach Hanson (MN) over Christopher Coates (MO) 2-1 138 lbs - Joel Adams (NE) over Tyler Kasak (PA) 7-6 145 lbs - William Henckel (CT) over Pierson Manville (PA) 4-2 152 lbs - Zack Ryder (NY) over KJ Evans (OK) 10-9 160 lbs - Lou Cerchio (NJ) over Daschle Lamer (OR) 8-4 170 lbs - Gabe Arnold (GA) over Cody Merrill (CA) 3-1 182 lbs - Camden McDanel (OH) over Luke Vanadia (OH) 9-6 195 lbs - Max McEnelly (MN) over Sonny Sasso (PA) 11-8 220 lbs - Koy Hopke (WI) over Jacob Walker (IA) 10-0 285 lbs - Navarro Schunke (SD) over Will Sather (MN) 11-0

Luke Lilledahl at the Cadet World Team Trials(Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) 48 kg - Luke Lilledahl (USA) (W) vs. Akhmad Musakhadzhiev (Russia) 9-9 (W) vs. Azim Abdykalykov (Kyrgyystan) 8-1 (W) vs. Nurdanat Aitanov (Kazakhstan) 4-3 Finals Opponent - Aman (India) 55 kg - Spencer Moore (USA) (L) vs. Andranik Avetisyan (Armenia) 6-0 65 kg - Meyer Shapiro (USA) (W) vs. Tymur Yusov (Ukraine) Fall (W) vs. Khabib Zavurbekov (Russia) 8-6 (W) vs. Aghanazar Novruzov (Azerbaijan) 10-0 Finals Opponent - Giorgi Gogritchiani (Georgia) 80 kg - James Rowley (USA) (W) vs. Mustafagazhi Malachdibirov (Russia) 10-6 (W) vs. Oleksandr Mamrosh (Ukraine) 8-6 (W) vs. Gabriele Niccolini (Italy) 12-2 Finals Opponent - Sagar Jaglan (India) 110 kg - James Mullen (USA) (W) vs. Sahil (India) 8-8 (W) vs. Milan Gellen (Hungary) 6-1 (W) vs. Alikhan Kussainov (Kazakhstan) 7-1 Finals Opponent - Amirreza Masoumi Valadi (Iran)

Kyler Larkin after his semifinal win(Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin) 16U Men's Freestyle Finals Matchups (Rankings courtesy of MatScouts) 88 lbs - Javaan Yarbrough (OH) vs. Haakon Peterson (WI) 94 lbs - #17 (106) Mack Mauger (ID) vs. Cadell Lee (VA) 100 lbs - Seth Mendoza (IL) vs. #14 (106) Christian Castillo (AZ) 106 lbs - #9 (113) Anthony Knox (NJ) vs. Sam Herring (PA) 113 lbs - #12 Beau Mantanona (CA) vs. Leo Deluca (NJ) 120 lbs - #7 (113) Aden Valencia (CA) vs. #19 Adrian Meza (AZ) 126 lbs - #25 Landon Robideau (MN) vs. Kyler Larkin (AZ) 132 lbs - #12 Christopher Coates (MO) vs. Zach Hanson (MN) 138 lbs - #9 Tyler Kasak (PA) vs. #14 Joel Adams (NE) 145 lbs - William Henckel (CT) vs. #20 Pierson Manville (PA) 152 lbs - #7 Zack Ryder (NY) vs. KJ Evans (OK) 160 lbs - Lou Cerchio (NJ) vs. Daschle Lamer (OR) 170 lbs - #1 Gabe Arnold (GA) vs. #13 Cody Merrill (CA) 182 lbs - #24 Luke Vanadia (OH) vs. Connor McDanel (OH) 195 lbs - #11 Max McEnelly (MN) vs. #16 Sonny Sasso (PA) 220 lbs - #8 Koy Hopke (WI) vs. #21 Jake Walker (IA) 285 lbs - #6 Navarro Schunke (SD) vs. Will Sather (MN) 16U Men's Freestyle Finals by State (19 States Represented) Pennsylvania - 4 Minnesota - 4 Arizona - 3 California - 3 New Jersey - 3 Ohio - 3 Wisconsin - 2 Connecticut - 1 New York - 1 Georgia - 1 Idaho - 1 Illinois - 1 Iowa - 1 Missouri - 1 Nebraska - 1 Oklahoma - 1 Oregon - 1 South Dakota - 1 Virginia - 1 U16 Men's Freestyle All-American's by Home State (32 states represented) Pennsylvania - 21 Minnesota - 11 Ohio - 10 Wisconsin - 10 New Jersey - 9 California - 7 Iowa - 6 Georgia - 5 Florida - 5 Missouri - 5 Arizona - 4 Colorado - 4 Illinois - 4 Indiana - 4 Idaho - 3 Oklahoma - 3 Oregon - 3 Virginia - 3 Connecticut - 2 Kansas - 2 Michigan - 2 Nebraska - 2 Washington - 2 Delaware - 1 Louisiana - 1 Maryland - 1 New York - 1 North Carolina - 1 Rhode Island - 1 South Dakota - 1 Texas - 1 Utah - 1

16U Women's Freestyle OW Jasmine Robinson (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin) The first of the six tournaments at the 16U and Junior National Championships wrapped up this afternoon as the 16U Women's National Championships concluded. The 2021 tournament ended the same way as the last eight championships did, with the California girls holding the trophy on the raised mat. Four California girls earned a place in the championship finals, with only 106 lber Paige Morales coming away victorious. She earned her stop sign by shutting out fellow California native Kiely Tabaldo, 4-0. A total of 13 wrestlers from California earned All-American honors. The state outdistanced second place Illinois by 48 points. Illinois had four wrestlers in the finals and saw Cadence Diduch win a title. Like California, Diduch faced a teammate in the championship bout and won by an identical 4-0 score. Despite the large margin of victory from California, parity was the theme of the finals, as 12 different states were represented by the 14 champions. 152 lber Jasmine Robinson earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after a dominating performance in the finals. Robinson did not surrender a point in any of her four matches. Only her finals opponent, Genesis Gilmore (TN), even lasted more than a minute. Even so, that bout ended via fall in 1:45. It was her second fall of the tournament. Despite her loss in the finals, Gilmore became the first Tennessee 16U women's freestyle All-American. More history was made in the previous bout as Nebi Tsarni beat the buzzer and got a winning takedown at 144 lbs to defeat Amarisa Manuel of Michigan. The win made Tsarni the first 16U women's freestyle national champion from Maryland. Minnesota also made some history as they crowned a pair of 16U national champions for the first time in the same year. Skylar Little Soldier and Ella Pagel both rolled to dominating wins. Aside from Minnesota, Michigan was the only school with multiple champions. Cecilia Williams (112) and Sabrina Nauss (180) both won their respective weight classes. The finals were kicked off by Valarie Solorio who broke a long champion-less drought. She became the first national champion from the state since Nadine Fiege in 2013. Makenzie Smith also stopped a long, dry-spell by becoming Indiana's first winner since 2020 Olympian Kayla Miracle in 2011. Two of the fourteen finals ended with falls by Smith and Pagel. Below are the final results from the 16U Women's Freestyle Finals. 94 lbs Championship - Valarie Solorio (FL) over Gabriella Gomez (IL) 6-3 100 lbs Championship - Makenzie Smith (IN) over Mikayla Garcia (CA) Fall 1:39 106 lbs Championship - Paige Morales (CA) over Kiely Tabaldo (CA) 4-0 112 lbs Championship - Cecilia Williams (MI) over Zao Estrada (SC) 4-2 117 lbs Championship - Cadence Diduch (IL) over Valerie Hamilton (IL) 4-0 122 lbs Championship - Shelby Moore (WA) over Julianna Morris (CT) 10-0 127 lbs Championship - Skylar Little Soldier (MN) over Taydem Khamjoi (CA) 13-4 132 lbs Championship - Cassia Zammit (OH) over Sydney Perry (IL) 8-2 138 lbs Championship - Alessandra Elliott (NY) over Lydia Roope (MI) 6-2 144 lbs Championship - Nebi Tsarni (MD) over Amarisa Manuel (MI) 3-2 152 lbs Championship - Jasmine Robinson (TX) over Genesis Gilmore (TN) 10-0 164 lbs Championship - Ella Pagel (MN) over Ali Haiser (MO) Fall 2:28 180 lbs Championship - Sabrina Nauss (MI) over Kiara Ganey (IL) 13-2 200 lbs Championship - Catherine Dutton (MO) over Mariyah Brumley (MO) 12-0