InterMat Staff

Poland Open champion Alec Pantaleo (Photo/SJanickiPhoto.com) Poland Open Day One Results Men's Freestyle 57 kg Gold Medal: Stevan Micic (Serbia) Silver Medal: Beka Bujiashvili (Georgia) Bronze Medal: Makhmudjon Shavkatov (Uzbekistan) Micic over Bujiashvili 8-3 Micic over Shavkatov 10-0 70 kg Gold Medal: Alec Pantaleo (USA) Silver Medal: James Green (USA) Bronze Medal: Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Pantaleo over Oleksii Boruta (Ukraine) 10-0 Green over Pantaleo 8-0 Green over Boruta 2-1 Pantaleo over Aliyev 6-6 Green over Zurabi Iakobishvili (Georgia) 4-0 Pantaleo over Green 5-3 79 kg Gold Medal: Akhsarbek Gulaev (Slovakia) Silver Medal: Rashid Kurbanov (Uzbekistan) Bronze Medal: Mateusz Kampik (Poland); Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine) 86 kg Gold Medal: Zahid Valencia (USA) Silver Medal: Sandro Aminashvili (Georgia) Bronze Medal: Cezary Sadowski (Poland); Myles Amine (San Martino) Valencia over Sebastian Jerzierzanski (Poland) 6-5 Valencia over Deepak Punia (India) InjDef Amine over Stefan Reichmuth (Switzerland) 2-1 Valencia over Amine 7-1 Amine over Jerzierzanski 6-1 Valencia over Aminashvili 10-0 97 kg Gold Medal: Mohammadhossein Mohammadian (Iran) Silver Medal: Ali Shabanibengar (Iran) 1-1 Bronze Medal: Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan); Alireza Karimimachiani (Iran) Mohammadian over Moore 11-0 Moore over Serik Bakytkhanov (Kazakhstan) 8-2 Karimimachiani over Moore 2-2

2020 Big 12 champion Cam Sykora (Photo/CamKramerPhoto.smugmug.com) FARGO, N.D. Four-time NCAA qualifier Cam Sykora will join the North Dakota State University wrestling staff as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2021-22 season, head coach Roger Kish announced Tuesday, June 8. Sykora, originally from Wheaton, Minn., qualified for the NCAA tournament at 133 pounds from 2017 to 2020. He was a three-time Big 12 Conference placewinner and North Dakota State's first Big 12 champion in 2020. Sykora compiled an 87-34 record in four seasons with the Bison including 33 wins by technical fall, 14 major decisions and eight pins. He was 17-4 in his senior year, ranked No. 9 in the final NCAA RPI, and was a National Wrestling Coaches Association All-America second team selection. A five-time Minnesota state champion, Sykora went 37-0 and 33-0 in his final two seasons at Wheaton High School. He graduated from NDSU in May 2020 with a bachelor's degree in university studies.

Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat's collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent's will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. Our Big Ten correspondent Cody Goodwin checks in to talk about some of the big commitments within the last week. Two top sophomores committed to B1G schools, along with Austin Gomez transferring to Wisconsin. We discuss some of the conference's standouts from the U23 World Team Trials and close by discussing an upcoming dual meet between Purdue and Iowa State.

Army West Point head coach Kevin Ward (Photo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Raise your hand if you are subscribed to some website or company and you get automated emails. What percentage of those do you even read? Do you just delete them without reading? Is this really the best way to reach out to customers? To me, it seems old school. Many wrestling coaches still do this to their loyal fanbase. An email blast to hundreds or thousands of fans with very little, if any, communication back and forth. There has to be a better way to keep wrestling alumni and fans involved. What's the next "thing?" Coach Ward and his crew at Army West Point are as forward-thinking as they come. Their alumni-run podcast entitled "BHAW Radio" is the perfect idea. Before we get to the podcast, what does "BHAW" mean? BHAW is Army's team motto. If you've been inside their wrestling room recently, you'll see it written out on the walls: "Brotherhood Heart Attitude Warrior." Are there any four words that better describe the Army West Point wrestling team? Probably not. This motto was created a few years ago, after talking with academy sports psychologists. It has been the program's motto ever since, even after Coach Ward took over the program. This is a rare thing to do because, most of the time, a new coach is hired, and they introduce or create their own team motto with the team. Coach Ward bought into "BHAW" immediately. The podcast sprung up during the beginning of the COVID outbreak in March of 2020. Hosts Brian Rowan (class of 2009) and Jordan Thome (class of 2013) met with Coach Ward and introduced him to the idea. He was on board from the start. He loved that it was something new and exciting that not many programs are doing. The best part about the podcast is that Brian and Jordan have no affiliation with the school currently. They volunteer their time to do this - showing how much they support the program and really believe in what they are doing. Listening to just one episode, you can really hear their passion. After talking to Brian, he mentioned that Coach Pat Popolizio's podcast at NC State was an inspiration behind this idea. Almost all wrestling fans know how Coach Pop is on the leading edge of introducing new ideas to the sport in many different avenues. I really think more teams will start to do this in a similar fashion. During the season, Coach Ward is a typical guest on BHAW Radio and likes to discuss past results and upcoming duals. There is just something about seeing and hearing the head coach talk about these things, compared to an email blast. It really helps showcase his personality and the excitement he has towards his program when you can see and hear it for yourself. When I talked to Coach Ward about BHAW radio, he emphasized how the podcast gives fans "a more in-depth look into our program and goes on behind the scenes." Plus, it is refreshing to hear what alumni have to say about the current state of the program. Much of the time, they are pretty honest about feelings - both positive and negative. It plays very well into what Coach Ward wanted out of the podcast - "an effort to build more community around our program." BHAW radio is more than a podcast, however. It's a way to connect alumni from various generations. During the off-season, since there is not a ton of wrestling to talk about, BHAW will have guests appear on their podcasts. Many times, these guests talk about their stories about a wide range of topics. These guests get to discuss their time at Army West Point, success stories after graduation, why they decided to attend West Point, among several other things. Sometimes, there is very minimal wrestling discussed. You can only imagine the numerous potentially incredible guests this special school has to offer. It is a great way for alumni to hear how the program has changed over the decades. The listeners can really get fascinating stories in 45 to 60-minute chunks at a time. Personally, I believe this is the perfect length for a podcast. One episode I highly recommend checking out is the 9/11 special (episode #15 on their YouTube channel). Brian and Jordan brought a few of the team captains from the 2005 class. This was the first class to complete their entire four-year career at the academy after the tragic 9/11 attack in 2001. Listening to this one makes you bleed red, white, and blue. Another great episode is the story of Bob Steenlage. If interested, this is episode #16 on the YouTube channel. Bob was a Vietnam veteran who wrestled at West Point. He also was the first 4x Iowa State Champ and a very good wrestler in the 1960s. His story is simply incredible. I've always had the belief that it takes a special athlete to wrestle at the Division 1 level. Athletes who attend the military academies are (as the kids say these days) "built different." In all seriousness, the classwork, plus practices, plus extra activities they need to do, takes someone very serious about what they want in life. This makes it harder to recruit, as the number of prospects is somewhat limited. They work hard at everything, plus they're a pain in the butt to wrestle! I always hated wrestling guys from these schools. I knew I was in for a battle every time, no matter who it was. BHAW is only 45 episodes deep right now. It's still building momentum but seems to be gaining some steam. Coach Ward confirmed to me that the response has been "incredible" and that they "will definitely keep it going." Why would you not? It's a phenomenal idea that the sport needs. Co-host Brian stated the ultimate end goal of the podcast is to eventually build it into a networking tool to include former, current, and future Army West Point wrestlers. Imagine one central location where alumni can look to hire a candidate they trust with a common interest in Army wrestling. Another positive that could come from this is that it could be a great recruiting tool. Prospective student-athletes, and their parents, can watch episodes and see the success stories of former wrestlers. This is a priceless addition to help attract recruits to West Point. It's entirely possible that I'm out of the loop, but I do not know of many programs that produce a podcast like this. If there are podcasts like this out there, I cannot imagine there are many. I honestly believe this could be the future when it comes to connecting alumni of various generations. I see this as an easy way to help build up excitement for any program, and keep alumni involved with the team as much as possible. Every fan base has alumni willing to put in the work to help create this content. Why is every program not doing this; especially since podcasts are "so hot right now" (yes, that's a Zoolander reference). I would love to see every program start a podcast like this. As I mentioned before, you should check out a few of these episodes. They are entertaining, smart, and doing good things for the sport of wrestling. I'm hoping the podcast craze catches on to all wrestling programs! BHAW Radio YouTube Channel

Nick Suriano after winning his NCAA Title in 2019 (Photo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In the most recent edition of Willie's Friday Mailbag, a reader asked Willie to name the “Biggest transfer that has happened.” From an all-time standpoint, Willie mentioned Steve Mocco and Cary Kolat, who both are certainly in the discussion. Looking at more recent competitors, Willie deemed Jaydin Eierman to be the most impactful, judging by his influence on the 2021 NCAA team race. We've decided to take a deeper look at some of the most successful recent transfers. Though there were many quality candidates, we shaved the list down to the top-20. To qualify, a wrestler has had to compete for his new team sometime between 2017-21 (the last five years). With some much action in the transfer portal, expect this list to change if we attempt it again in another year or two. Just this offseason, All-Americans Patrick Brucki, Max Dean, and Kyle Parco have changed schools. Additionally, Evan Wick is in the transfer portal. Stanford wrestlers Jaden Abas, Shane Griffith, and Real Woods were in the portal and their respective statuses' are uncertain. But before getting too far ahead of ourselves, look at the top-20 wrestlers that transferred from 2017-21. 20) Grant Leeth (Missouri - Duke) Pre-Transfer: 14-4 in 2014-15 at Duke Post-Transfer: 47-11 from 2015-20 at Missouri Heralded as one of the biggest signees for Duke in the last decade, Grant Leeth put together a promising redshirt campaign for the Blue Devils before coming back home to Missouri. Leeth missed two full seasons with injuries and most assumed his collegiate career was over. 2017-18 saw Leeth make a stunning comeback and he went 26-5 and finished the year sixth in the nation. Grant started off strong in 2018-19, but suffered another season-ending injury at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He would end in his career the following season by finishing third at the MAC Championships and earning a #17 seed at the ill-fated 2020 NCAA Tournament. 19) Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State - Ohio State) Pre-Transfer: 0-0 in 2019-20 for Ohio State Post-Transfer: 10-4 in 2021 for Penn State It's safe to say that if we make this list again in a few years, Greg Kerkvliet could be significantly higher. The Nittany Lion big man has four years of eligibility remaining, so there's plenty of time to pad his stats. Kerkvliet signed with Ohio State out of high school, but did not finish the first semester before transferring to rival Penn State. Despite suffering through injuries in 2021, Kerkvliet managed to finish seventh in the nation. In St Louis, his national tournament was highlighted by a major decision win over Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) in the seventh-place bout and a major over Lehigh All-American Jordan Wood. 18) Zeke Moisey (Nebraska - West Virginia) Pre-Transfer: 84-37 from 2014-18 for West Virginia Post-Transfer: 13-12 in 2018-19 for Nebraska The run of Huskers starts here with Zeke Moisey. Moisey is better remembered for electrifying the NCAA crowd during the 2015 tournament in St. Louis. As an unseeded freshman, Moisey downed second-seeded Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) before pinning Thomas Gilman (Iowa) in the semis. A year later, Moisey earned a bid to nationals but couldn't compete due to injuries. After a redshirt season, Moisey went 26-11 and made the podium for a second time, despite coming in as the 13th seed. As had been the case for most of his career, Moisey's time at Nebraska was marred by injuries. He was only 13-12 and went two and out at NCAA's. 17) Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State - Northwestern) Pre-Transfer: 85-14 from 2013-16 for Northwestern Post-Transfer: 21-8 in 2017-18 for Arizona State One of only two NCAA Champions that has transferred and competed within the last five years is Jason Tsirtsis. The top recruit in the Class of 2012 redshirted immediately for Northwestern, then won a national title as a freshman. Just to make the finals, Tsirtsis knocked off a returning champion (Kendric Maple - Oklahoma) and a future champion (Drake Houdashelt - Missouri). Two years later, after tragedy struck his family, Tsirtsis needed a change of scenery and moved on to Arizona State. While Tsirtsis took some lumps during the regular season and was seeded lower than ever (10th) at nationals, he was able to perform at the right time and was seventh at nationals. He finished with three conference titles (2 Big Ten and 1 Pac-12) and three All-American honors. 16) Willie Miklus (Missouri - Iowa State) Pre-Transfer: 80-23 from 2014-18 for Missouri Post-Transfer: 27-6 in 2018-19 for Iowa State Especially as a younger wrestler, Willie Miklus shined when the lights were the brightest and stakes at their highest. Miklus finished seventh in the country as a freshman, despite entering the tournament without a seed. Just to get on the podium in 2015, Miklus took out the fifth, tenth, and 15th seeds. A year later, he was seeded 14th and made the NCAA semifinals. After earning All-American honors for the third time, Miklus decided he needed to return to Iowa to be near his ailing father. Miklus closed out his career by wrestling up to his pre-tournament seeding and finishing sixth, which cemented his status as a four-time NCAA All-American. 15) Eric Montoya (Nebraska - Campbell) Pre-Transfer: 33-17 in 2012-13 for Campbell Post-Transfer: 77-32 from 2014-17 for Nebraska Eric Montoya got the nod right out of the gate from Campbell and qualified for nationals after receiving an at-large berth. Montoya then went to Nebraska and sat out for a year before earning the starting role at 133 lbs in 2014-15. Despite coming into the 2015 national tournament unseeded, Montoya ended the year a match shy of earning All-American honors. He would get on the podium in each of the next two years, finishing fifth as a junior and sixth as a senior. In both years, he was fifth in the Big Ten and the seventh seed at nationals. In dual action, during his senior season, Montoya scored a win over eventual NCAA champion, Cory Clark. 14) Isaiah White (Nebraska - Notre Dame) Pre-Transfer: 28-2 in 2016-17 for Notre Dame Post-Transfer: 70-21 from 2017-20 for Nebraska The only wrestler on this list to transfer from a non-DI program is Isaiah White. As a freshman, White captured a national title for DII Notre Dame. Throughout his career with Nebraska, White was a model of consistency amongst a loaded weight class. As a junior, White was seeded seventh in the nation after finishing fifth in the Big Ten. He would outwrestle his pre-tournament ranking and take fifth at nationals. That year he handed the eventual national championship, Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), the final loss of his title-winning campaign. White was named an NWCA All-American in 2020 after finishing third in the Big Ten and receiving the fifth seed at nationals. 13) Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley - Boise State) Pre-Transfer: 21-16 in 2016-17 for Boise State Post-Transfer: 75-16 from 2017-21 for Utah Valley It seems like a lifetime ago that Boise State actually had wrestling, but Demetrius Romero was a member of that last Bronco team. He is also the only wrestler on this list that had to transfer due to his school dropping wrestling. Boise State's loss was Utah Valley's gain as Romero has thrived while in Orem. 2018-19 was Romero's breakout year, where he went 28-5 and became the first Wolverine wrestler to win a Big 12 title. He eventually came up a match shy of earning All-American honors. After an injury derailed his 2019-20 season, Romero started the 2021 campaign on fire. He entered the NCAA Championships unbeaten after claiming his second Big 12 crown. Romero was go on to make the national semifinals before settling for sixth place. 12) Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech - Edinboro) Pre-Transfer: 58-23 in 2016-18 for Edinboro Post-Transfer: 32-12 in 2018-21 for Virginia Tech Perhaps no one on this list came into his own during their senior season like Korbin Myers did in 2021 (we know, he has another one in 2021-22, too). Myers was a three-time national qualifier headed into 2021, but had never been seeded higher than 14th and won more than two matches at the Big Dance. This year Myers ran through the ACC in the regular season, before unseating two-time conference champion Micky Phillipi in the finals. That win, along with Myers' entire body of work, gave him the number three seed at nationals. At nationals, Myers earned a place in the semifinals, before coming back to place fourth. 11) Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers - Northwestern) Pre-Transfer: 74-12 from 2017-2020 for Northwestern Post-Transfer: 12-3 in 2021 for Rutgers It seems hard to believe that Sebastian Rivera was the tenth seed in 2018 as a freshman for Northwestern at his first NCAA Tournament. He ended up sixth, with two of his losses at the tournament coming to past NCAA Champions. Rivera established himself as an NCAA title favorite after a pair of wins over returning champion Spencer Lee. The second came in the Big Ten finals, which provided him with the top-seed at the NCAA Championships. A year later and a weight class higher, Rivera would win his second Big Ten title and was named the one seed again at nationals. That Big Ten win came in front of a raucous Rutgers crowd that would soon become his home fans. Rivera moved up to 141 lbs in 2021 for Rutgers and claimed a spot on the NCAA podium for the third time in his career. 10) Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven - Oklahoma State) Pre-Transfer: 6-5 in 2015-16 for Oklahoma State Post-Transfer: 72-7 from 2017-19 for Lock Haven One of the top overall recruits in the high school Class of 2014 and a Pennsylvania legend, Chance Marsteller, went to Oklahoma State for a redshirt year and then saw action in five duals during the 2015-16 season for the Cowboys. Marsteller then transferred back to his home state to compete for Lock Haven. Under the tutelage of Scott Moore, Marsteller stayed focused and earned All-American honors in both years competing for Lock Haven. He was fourth in 2018 and third in 2019 when the NCAA tournament was held in Pennsylvania. Also, as a senior, Marsteller won his first conference title and was a finalist at the Southern Scuffle. He also became Lock Haven's first two-time All-American since Mike Maney did so in 2002 and 2003. 9) Austin DeSanto (Iowa - Drexel) Pre-Transfer: 30-7 in 2017-18 for Drexel Post-Transfer: 52-12 from 2018-21 for Iowa Before he became teammates with Spencer Lee at Iowa, Austin DeSanto made himself a household name as a high school senior by handing Lee the only loss of his career in the state finals their senior season. DeSanto went on to have an interesting run at Drexel, downing All-Americans Montorie Bridges and Stevan Micic at the Cliff Keen and making the Round of 12 as a true freshman. That was a feat achieved by only four other Drexel wrestlers since 2008. DeSanto left after that season for Iowa, where his career took off immediately. He has been seeded in the top-seven at nationals every year since the move to Iowa City. At his two NCAA Tournaments for the Hawkeyes, he finished third and fifth. In 2018-19, DeSanto grabbed a win over the eventual NCAA Champion, Nick Suriano (Rutgers). 8) Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider - Binghamton) Pre-Transfer: 15-9 in 2015-16 for Binghamton Post-Transfer: 67-10 from 2018-21 for Rider Last week our MAC correspondent Courtney Woods released an excellent story detailing Jesse Dellavecchia's struggles at Binghamton and his subsequent transfer to Rider. Based on his pre-collegiate credentials, Dellavecchia would be the most surprising member of this group. Dellavecchia had an amazing final two years with the Broncs going 41-3 in 2020 and 2021. Both years he was seeded fourth at the NCAA Championships. He stunned the crowd in St. Louis and watching around the nation as he pinned top-ranked, undefeated, Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) to advance to the 2021 finals. 7) Seth Gross (Wisconsin - South Dakota State - Iowa) Pre-Transfer: 90-17 in 2015-19 for South Dakota State, Redshirted at Iowa Post-Transfer: 27-2 in 2019-20 for Wisconsin Seth Gross started his career at Iowa, but never officially competed for the Hawkeyes. He came into his own at South Dakota State, making the NCAA finals as a sophomore in 2017. Gross then went on to become the Jackrabbits first DI national champion a year later in 2017-18. That season, the only loss on Gross' resume came up a weight against Bryce Meredith (Wyoming). Following his title run, SDSU head coach Chris Bono left for Wisconsin. Gross initially tried to finish his career in 2018-19 in Brookings, but was injured in his only bout of the year. The following season he reunited with Bono in Madison. There Gross went 27-2 and finished as the Big Ten runner-up to Sebastian Rivera. He was in line to compete as the second seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. 6) Pat Lugo (Iowa - Edinboro) Pre-Transfer: 63-18 in 2015-17 for Edinboro Post-Transfer: 44-11 in 2018-20 for Iowa Speaking of student-athletes who were negatively impacted by the cancellation of the 2020 tournament, Pat Lugo sits atop of the list. Lugo was typically in the mix during his time at Edinboro, but really jumped levels while competing for the Hawkeyes. In his first year wrestling for Tom Brands' squad, Lugo posted a respectable eighth-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships. Lugo really shined as a senior and assumed the top spot in the country after winning the Midlands. In the Big Ten finals, he avenged his only setback of the year to Sammy Sasso (Ohio State). That gave Lugo the top seed at the 2020 tournament, which also ensured he would earn NWCA All-American honors. 5) Joey McKenna (Ohio State - Stanford) Pre-Transfer: 60-6 in 2015-17 for Stanford Post-Transfer: 45-5 in 2017-19 for Ohio State Joey McKenna turned in a record-breaking freshman season for Stanford, going 28-3 with all three losses coming to eventual NCAA finalists that year. McKenna became the first Cardinal freshman to earn All-American honors after placing third. He missed out on the podium as a sophomore, which led to his transfer to Ohio State. McKenna continued rolling for the Buckeyes and finished his career as a four-time conference champion. He was never seeded lower than fourth at the NCAA Championships and only lost a pair of matches to Big Ten opponents while at Ohio State. As a senior, McKenna made the NCAA finals and took defending champion, Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell), to sudden victory before falling. Yianni was responsible for two of his three losses as a senior. 4) Stevan Micic (Michigan - Northwestern) Pre-Transfer: Redshirted at Northwestern in 2014-15 Post-Transfer: 74-11 in 2016-19 for Michigan Amazingly enough, Stevan Micic still has collegiate eligibility remaining if he chooses to exercise an additional year in 2021-22. Micic never officially competed for Northwestern, but has taken a pair of Olympic redshirts and a regular one, as well, plus a COVID-year. Micic has been a title contender throughout his career with the Wolverines. He has never finished lower than fourth at the NCAA Championships and has been seeded second during each of his most recent two appearances. His first time earning the second seed was on the heels of his Big Ten title in the 2017-18 campaign. Micic's most recent dual meet (2/17/19) saw him take out Nick Suriano (Rutgers), the eventual NCAA champion, later that year. 3) Bryce Meredith (Wyoming - NC State) Pre-Transfer: 15-6 in 2014-15 at NC State Post-Transfer: 93-15 for Wyoming in 2015-18 As a true freshman, Bryce Meredith got thrown in the mix for NC State and responded with a solid, but not spectacular season. He was unable to qualify for nationals; however, after going 1-2 at the ACC Championships. Just a year later, back in his home state, Meredith made the NCAA finals after starting the tournament as the 14th seed. He earned wins over three, three-time NCAA All-Americans, Micah Jordan (Ohio State), Joey McKenna (Stanford), and former teammate, Kevin Jack (NC State). Though not a darkhorse like his sophomore season, Meredith's junior year saw him take fourth after getting seeded tenth. As a senior, Bryce was seeded first at nationals after collecting his first Big 12 championship. He would go on to lose a tight 7-4 match to freshman Yianni Diakomihalis in his second national final. Both of Meredith's 2017-18 losses came at the hands of Yianni. 2) Jaydin Eierman (Iowa - Missouri) Pre-Transfer: 91-14 for Missouri in 2016-19 Post-Transfer: 12-1 for Iowa in 2021 Because of the quirks that go along with an extra year of eligibility for COVID-related reasons, Jaydin Eierman has the opportunity to become the first wrestler on this list to All-American five teams. The more pressing issue for Eierman is to win a national title. He came ever-so-close this season before falling to Nick Lee (Penn State) in sudden victory during his first national final. Two weeks prior, Eierman was on the other end of a close decision against Lee. The win gave him his fourth conference title (three in the MAC and 1 in the B1G). Eierman was also an integral addition for Iowa on the team front. His presence helped propel the Hawkeyes to their first team title since 2010. In his previous four trips to the national tournament, Eierman has never finished lower than fifth. He is currently the only wrestler to defeat Diakomihalis current collegiate competition. 1) Nick Suriano (Rutgers - Penn State) Pre-Transfer: 16-3 for Penn State in 2016-17 Post-Transfer: 54-4 for Rutgers in 2017-19 After winning 16 of his first 17 collegiate bouts, it looked like Nick Suriano may be the replacement at 125 lbs for NCAA champion Nico Megaludis, who had graduated the previous year. Unfortunately, Suriano was injured in his final regular-season dual and was unable to compete in the postseason. That set off a change of events that led to him transferring back home to Rutgers. Suriano made history on a couple of fronts for the Scarlet Knights, becoming their first national finalist in 2018 and then champion a year later. In a Rutgers singlet, Suriano has also claimed titles at the CKLV Invitational, the Midlands, and the Big Ten Championships. Suriano also has a year of eligibility remaining though it's unclear if he'll use it, at this time.

(Photo/Mount Union athletics) Alliance, Ohio - Ryan Riggs has been named the head wrestling coach at the University of Mount Union. Riggs, a native of Perry Township, Ohio, comes to Mount Union from Ferrum (Va.) College where he started in 2016 as an assistant coach, then promoted to associate head coach in 2018 before being named head coach in March of 2020. "Ryan's experiences in coaching and his reputation in wrestling not only locally but throughout NCAA Division III was what separated him among our pool of applicants," stated Mike Parnell, interim director of athletics. "All of us at Mount Union look forward to the future of our wrestling program under his leadership." "I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to return home to Stark County, Ohio as the University of Mount Union head wrestling coach," commented Riggs. "I would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Bresse, Mike Parnell, Don Montgomery and everyone on the search committee for believing in my ability to lead the program. I am ready to get to work and start building for the future." In his time at Ferrum, he handled day-to-day operations of the program, including recruiting, fundraising, practice development and coordinating Ferrum men's wrestling social media presence. He was instrumental in helping Ferrum host the 2019 NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia. Riggs also helped the Panthers host the NCAA Southeast Regional tournaments in 2017 and 2018. He has served as tournament director for the Star City Classic, Southeast Duals and Panther Open, all tournaments hosted by Ferrum. During his time at Ferrum, the Panthers won an NCAA Southeast Region title, four Southeast Wrestling Conference Tournament titles along with top-10 finishes at prestigious national events like the Pete Willson Invitational (2nd in 2017), the NWCA National Duals (8th in 2018) and the Citrus Open (2nd in 2019). In 2017, Riggs was named Regional Assistant Coach of the Year as Ferrum had three national qualifiers that year and the program's first NCAA runner-up. He was also named Southeast Wrestling Conference Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019. Riggs attended Massillon Perry High School and was a double All-American at the Asics Greco-Roman and Freestyle Fargo National Championships. Massillon Perry achieved its first top-10 national ranking by Amateur Wrestling News during Riggs' sophomore year in 2000-01. He qualified three times for the Ohio State Tournament, was a two-time Ironman Tournament place winner and a Beast of the East Tournament finalist. Riggs was ranked nationally by USA Wrestling and Amateur Wrestling News before continuing his career at Cleveland State University as a scholarship wrestler under coach Jack Effner. He placed 5th at the Eastern Wrestling League Tournament in 2007 and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the league. Riggs has also spent time at Ferrum as the head women's wrestling coach and the head cross country coach.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2021 front row: Left to Right; Bruce Burnett, Gary Abbott, Gary Chopp, Tim Shiels; Back Row: Left to Right; Bill Zadick, Mark Lieberman, Carl Eschenbach, Dremiel Byers) (Photo/Larry Slater) Stillwater, Okla. - The National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Honors Weekend concluded this evening with the official induction ceremony for the Class of 2021. The eight individuals entering the Hall of Fame were initially scheduled to be inducted in 2020 but had their ceremony pushed back over a year due to the pandemic. This year's schedule looked different than prior years, as the first four members of the class had their individual inductions on Friday night, while the other four members were inducted earlier today. Tonight's ceremony celebrated the class in its entirety. Meritorious Official Tim Shiels was the first inductee to speak at the ceremony. Shiels has refereed 12 NCAA Division I national championships, seven NCAA Division II national championships, 19 NCAA Division III national championships, five national junior college tournaments and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament in his career. Since 2015, he has served as NCAA Wrestling's National Coordinator of Officials. Order of Merit recipient Gary Abbott followed Shiels. Abbott is the current Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling and has been with the organization since 1988, covering eight Olympic Games, 38-straight NCAA championships and dozens of Senior and age-group World Championships. Abbot, who has championed women's wrestling in the U.S. since its inception, concluded his speech with a passionate appeal to the Hall of Fame. "Now that I've been officially inducted, I'd like to make a suggestion," Abbott said. "We make the Class of 2022's Distinguished Members only include women. The Hall of Fame is behind in that regard, and I think that would be a great first step to do the right thing." Medal of Courage recipient Gary Chopp took the podium next. An NAIA All-American at Grand Valley State University, Chopp overcame incredible odds to embark on a successful 35-year career as a trial lawyer after suffering severe injuries, including an eventual leg amputation, in a skydiving accident where his parachutes failed to deploy. Carl Eschenbach was awarded the Outstanding American honors. Eschenbach is a partner in American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and a world renowned businessman who credits much of his success in life to the values he learned through wrestling including tenacity and grit. The Class of 2021 featured four Distinguished Members. The first to speak was Bruce Burnett, USA Wrestling's former Men's Freestyle National Team Coach who led the program to two World titles and some of the most successful performances in U.S. history. Burnett was followed by Dremiel Byers, a 2002 World champion and one of only two Greco-Roman wrestlers in U.S. history to earn three World medals. Byers currently serves as an assistant coach with the Army World Class Athlete Program, which he previously competed for. During his speech, Byers honed in on his excitement at the prospect of coaching the next generation of great wrestlers. "I hope at some point I encourage some heavyweights to go out there and do wonderful things for our country," he stated. Mark Lieberman, a three-time NCAA finalist and two-time NCAA champion for Lehigh University, spoke after Byers. In addition to his collegiate wrestling, Lieberman also had a tremendous freestyle career, including a pin over Olympic gold medalist John Peterson in the finals of the National Open in 1978, which earned him the outstanding wrestler award. Current Men's Freestyle National Team Coach Bill Zadick closed out the night. Zadick is a 2006 World champion and coached the men's freestyle team to their third team title in program history in 2017.

Tanner Sloan at the 2020 Big 12 Championships (Photo/Cam Kramer) When the #FantasyCollegeWrestling season comes to an end, it's usual to feel like you need a break. I get it; even WE took a little time for some needed R&R (fear not, though, the FCW Podcast returns later this month!). The amount of work and game planning is exponentially higher than Fantasy Football or other sports. There is not much to do other than research in the off-season. But just like we say in training, it's what you do when others are not looking that separates you from the pack. We are left with a lot of raw data that needs to be filtered and sorted. The off-season is devoted to not only recording and organizing that data, but grouping, interpreting, and utilizing that data to forecast and strategize for the upcoming season. Sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to look back on the past season and who is returning or names/data to remember come week 12 when you are struggling to find that 174 starter. Usually, you have names like Spencer Lee, Shane Griffith, Aaron Brooks, and Tony Cassioppi that you think of to bring you success. Together this season, they combined for 84 Fantasy Points (Fpts). Well, let me throw a couple other names at you: Codi Russell, Will Formato, Brit Wilson, and Michael McAleavey. This group totaled 185 Fpts this season. As I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." Now, this year was definitely an "asterisk" type of year as there will be quite a few instances of skewing in one way or another (see the co-Hodge announcement). In past seasons, we have stressed that match count is not always a determining factor in actual or in Fantasy Wrestling success, but this year was different. Some teams were hit with COVID precautions or wrestlers actually got COVID making an imbalance of matches wrestled between wrestlers/teams larger than in years past and causing some big names to not make the Top 20 of their respective weights. To compile these lists, we used WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling data. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat Leagues: 1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season Here are the previous #FCW 2021 Season weight class Top-20 Lists: 125: Codi Russell (Appalachian State) 133: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 141: Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) 149: Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) 157: Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 165: Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 174: Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) 184: Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) 197: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 285: Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) Notes: Every weight has a Fantasy Wrestler representative except for 133. Jacob Wright is the only wrestler from 157 to break into the Top-33 Overall, while the 141 and 165 weight classes tie for the most (five each). If you have been following along, then it may not be a surprise that Appalachian State had the most wrestlers in the Top-33 with five, Oklahoma State had the second most with four, and Missouri after that for third with three. Teams that made the Top-10 in points at the NCAA Tournament but did not have a wrestler make the Top-33 include Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, NC State, and Northwestern. Add to that Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and several others and you can see why we called this an "asterisk" year. All wrestlers that made the Top-33 were starters for their respective teams and their Conference Tournaments. Three other wrestlers had 35 Fpts but a slightly lower PPM and thus missed the Top-33. Tanner Skidgel and Zach Brown both with a PPM of 3.5 and Noah Adams with a 2.9 PPM.

Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat's collegiate coverage. Each of our conference correspondent's will release videos talking about some of the current events in their respective conference. Our SoCon correspondent Rachel Gallardo joins us for the first time to talk about some of the latest happenings in the league. As is the case with most conferences, there's plenty to talk about on the transfer front. Rachel also teases a feature she's working on regarding other factors involved with student-athletes transferring. She also hits on the vacant head coaching position at Bellarmine University and who could be good "types" of fits for the school. Finally, there is some recruiting-related information regarding a significant recruit that recently decommitted from one of the conference schools.

Adam Coon at Final X 2019 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This afternoon, NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero announced via Twitter that the Tennessee Titans have signed World silver medalist Adam Coon. He is expected to vye for a spot on the Titans offensive line. Coon has not played football since his senior year of high school in 2013. At the time, he was recruited by a handful of Big Ten programs (Michigan State, Northwestern, Wisconsin) on the gridiron, in addition to the attention he received for his wrestling prowess. Coon played on the offensive line in high school and was an All-State linebacker for Michigan's Fowlerville High School. Despite the attention for football, Coon chose to wrestle in the Big Ten for the Michigan Wolverines. He was a three-time All-American (2nd, 3rd, 2nd). Coon was also a Big Ten runner-up in both his junior and senior seasons. Both NCAA finals losses came to multiple time champions (Nick Gwiazdowski and Kyle Snyder). Coon holds the distinction of handing Snyder his last collegiate loss, which occurred in a dual meet during the 2017-18 season. After college, Coon has had a decorated career primarily in Greco-Roman. Right after his time at Michigan was up, he made the 2018 World finals. That same year, Coon advanced to Final X in freestyle, as well. In 2019, he made the Greco world team but did not come home with a medal. This year he cruised through the Olympic Trials at 130 kg with little trouble. Unfortunately, since the weight was not qualified for the Olympics, he needed to go to the Last Chance Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria. At that event, Coon logged a win, but was eliminated before the finals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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