InterMat Staff

Clay Carlson after winning in the 2021 NCAA Round of 12 (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) When the #FantasyCollegeWrestling season comes to an end, it's usual to feel like you need a break. I get it; even WE took a little time for some needed R&R (fear not, though, the FCW Podcast returns later this month!). The amount of work and game planning is exponentially higher than Fantasy Football or other sports. There is not much to do other than research in the off-season. But just like we say in training, it's what you do when others are not looking that separates you from the pack. We are left with a lot of raw data that needs to be filtered and sorted. The off-season is devoted to not only recording and organizing that data, but grouping, interpreting, and utilizing that data to forecast and strategize for the upcoming season. Sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to look back on the past season and who is returning or names/data to remember come week 12 when you are struggling to find that 174 starter. Usually, you have names like Spencer Lee, Shane Griffith, Aaron Brooks, and Tony Cassioppi that you think of to bring you success. Together this season, they combined for 84 Fantasy Points (Fpts). Well, let me throw a couple other names at you: Codi Russell, Will Formato, Brit Wilson, and Michael McAleavey. This group totaled 185 Fpts this season. As I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." Now, this year was definitely an "asterisk" type of year as there will be quite a few instances of skewing in one way or another (see the co-Hodge announcement). In past seasons, we have stressed that match count is not always a determining factor in actual or in Fantasy Wrestling success, but this year was different. Some teams were hit with COVID precautions or wrestlers actually got COVID making an imbalance of matches wrestled between wrestlers/teams larger than in years past and causing some big names to not make the Top 20 of their respective weights. To compile these lists, we used WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling data. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat Leagues: 1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season Here are the previous #FCW 2021 Season weight class Top-20 Lists: 125: Codi Russell (Appalachian State) 133: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) Notes: Only one All American makes the Top-10, Clay Carlson, who took eighth place at the 2021 National Tournament. He finishes as the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 141 this season, despite four losses (-13 Fpts). Five other All Americans made the Top-20, with national runner-up (Jaydin Eierman) and champion (Nick Lee) coming in at #11 and #12, respectively. Allan Hart went from being the #25 Fantasy Wrestler at 133 in 2020 to tied for fourth in 2021. Though his bonus rate was down from 2020, he drastically improved his win percentage in 2021 (going from 69% in 2020 to 83% in 2021). Tying Hart in points and PPM this season, and making a second consecutive appearance in the 141 Top-20, is Cody Trybus. The latter jumped up from #20 in 2020. As deep and competitive as the ACC was this year at 141, the top Fantasy Wrestler was Brian Courtney mainly due to his bonus-filled start to the season (two techs and two pins). Opposite of that, Dom Demas used three straight bonus victories to help get the #7 spot (pin, tech, and major). Josh Edmond was the top non-starter out of the four that cracked the Top-20. Edmond wrestled the most D1 matches of the four non-starters, but had the lowest bonus rate of the bunch (20%). Ryan Burgos had an impressive 66.7% bonus rate (six of his nine matches) but three losses (one of which was by Tech) prevented him from being higher. Edinboro had two wrestlers at 141 make the Top-20, both True Freshmen. And speaking of True Freshmen, five made the Top-20 (compared to one at 125 and 133). Who Missed The Cut: Two All Americans who did not make the Top-20 this season were Sebastian Rivera (#30 this season) and Dylan Duncan (#44 this season). Had Rutgers been able to wrestle Maryland and Rivera were to have gotten at least a tech, he would have been the #19 Fantasy Wrestler this season (#18 if he won by pin). Had it not been for an injury midway through the season, Kaid Brock was on track to break into the Top-20. He finished with four matches on the season and 15 Fpts (#31, one spot above Sebestian Rivera). Ian Parker wrestled twelve matches this season, but unfortunately for Fantasy TMs, five of those matches were to on-D1 competition and thus did not count for Fantasy College Wrestling point totals. He finished with only one loss by Decision and 18 Fpts. Some other notables that didn't crack the Top-20 include Dylan Duncan (#45 with 8 Fpts), Zack Trampe (#48 with 7 Fpts), and True Freshman Sam Hillegas (#50 with 7 Fpts)

Two-time World Champion Zaur Uguev (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG #2 Nachyn Mongush was runner-up at the European championships to two-time world medalist #2 Suleyman Atli (TUR). #6 Akhmed Idrisov will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Ramazan Bagavudinov won Junior Russian Nationals over Said Kunkerov. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Zavur Uguev RUS 1 2 Nachyn Mongush RUS 2 3 Azamat Tuskaev RUS 3 4 Abubakar Mutaliev RUS 4 5 Kuzhuget Belek-Ool RUS 5 6 Akhmed Idrisov RUS 6 7 Ramiz Gamzatov RUS 7 8 Muslim Sadulaev RUS 8 9 Khasanhussein Badrudinov RUS 9 10 Khuresh-Ool Donduk-Ool RUS 10 61 KG #1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov won the European championships in dominant fashion with a 12-2 tech fall victory in the finals over #3 Andriy Dzhelep (UKR). National runner-up #2 Muslim Mekhtikhanov will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. #5 Fedor Baltuev was dominant throughout on his way to winning Junior Russian Nationals and beat Abdurakhman Rasulov by pin in the finals. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov RUS 1 2 Muslim Mekhtikhanov RUS 2 3 Cherman Tavitov RUS 3 4 Nodar Arabidze RUS 4 5 Fedor Baltuev RUS 5 6 Zelimkhan Abakarov RUS 6 7 Dinislam Takhtarov RUS 7 8 Aldar Balzhinimaev RUS 8 9 Zhargal Damdinov RUS 9 10 Rustam Karakhanov RUS 10 65 KG #2 Zagir Shakhiev won the European championships in dominant fashion tech falling Kryzysztian Bienkowski (POL) in the finals. Russian Nationals bronze medalist #6 Abdulmazhid Kudiev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Shamil Mamedov beat Ibragim Abutalimov 7-2 in the finals to win Junior Russian Nationals. The rankings got shifted because I had undervalued David Baev at the weight and so Abdulmazhid Kudiev moves up to #4 for beating two-time Russian Nationals medalist #5 Murshid Mutalimov, while Baev moves up two spots to #6. #4 Akhmed Chakaev and #5 Naachin Kuular both fall three slots to #7 and #8 since they don't have recent head-to-head wins to rival Baev. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Gadzhimurad Rashidov RUS 1 2 Zagir Shakhiev RUS 2 3 Kurban Shiraev RUS 3 4 Abdulmazhid Kudiev RUS 6 5 Murshid Mutalimov RUS 7 6 David Baev RUS 8 7 Akhmed Chakaev RUS 4 8 Naachin Kuular RUS 5 9 Ramazan Ferzaliev RUS 9 10 Gadzhimurad Omarov RUS 10 70 KG #1 Israil Kasumov won his first European title over 2019 65 KG U-23 world champion #11 Turan Bayramov (AZE). #3 Cherman Valiev moved up to 74 KG, where he will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. #5 Inalbek Sheriev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. With Valiev being removed from the rankings, Stanislav Svinoboev enters the rankings at #10 for winning Junior Russian Nationals over Abdulkerim Abdulaev. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Israil Kasumov RUS 1 2 Evgheni Zherbaev RUS 2 3 Viktor Rassadin RUS 4 4 Aznaur Tavaev RUS 5 5 Inalbek Sheriev RUS 6 6 Ayatulla Barkakadiev RUS 7 7 Abdulla Akhmedov RUS 8 8 Anzor Zakuev RUS 9 9 Bulat Batoev RUS 10 10 Stanislav Svinoboev RUS UR 74 KG #2 Razambek Zhamalov finished in 5th at the European championships after losses to #3 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) and #4 Frank Chamizo (ITA). #3 (70) Cherman Valiev has made the move up to 74 KG, where he will wrestle at the U-23 European championships and he debuts in the 74 KG rankings at #10. Winning Junior Russian Nationals at 74 KG was Idar Khatanov over 2019 Medved runner-up Soslanbek Budaev. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Zaurbek Sidakov RUS 1 2 Razambek Zhamalov RUS 2 3 Magomed Kurbanaliev RUS 3 4 Timur Bizhoev RUS 4 5 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov RUS 5 6 Nikita Suchkov RUS 6 7 Magomed Abdulkadyrov RUS 7 8 Kakhaber Khubezhty RUS 8 9 Magomed Dibirgadzhiev RUS 9 10 Cherman Valiev RUS 3(70) 79 KG #1 Malik Shavaev did not place at the European championships after a loss to #3 Nika Kentchadze (GEO) in the quarterfinals. 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Khalid Yakhiev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Alik Badtiev won Junior Russian Nationals over Mahmud Magomedov. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Malik Shavaev RUS 1 2 Akhmed Usmanov RUS 2 3 Radik Valiev RUS 3 4 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev RUS 4 5 Gadzhi Nabiev RUS 5 6 Khalil Aminov RUS 6 7 Atsamaz Sanakoev RUS 7 8 Evgheni Lapshov RUS 8 9 Ernak Kardanov RUS 9 10 Magomed Magomaev RUS 10 86 KG #1 Artur Naifonov won his third European championship with a win in the finals over 2015 world bronze medalist #13 Sandro Aminashvili (GEO). Amanulla Rasulov will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Islam Kartoev won Junior Russian Nationals over Arslan Bagaev. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Artur Naifonov RUS 1 2 Dauren Kurugliev RUS 2 3 Magomed Ramazanov RUS 3 4 Vladislav Valiev RUS 4 5 Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov RUS 5 6 Magomedsharif Biyakaev RUS 6 7 Arsenali Musalaliev RUS 7 8 Khabib Gadzhiev RUS 8 9 Tazhidin Akaev RUS 9 10 Zaur Makiev RUS 10 92 KG #1 Magomed Kurbanov won the European championships over #10 Samuel Scherrer (SUI). Russian Nationals bronze medalist #20 Azamat Zakuev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Ivan Kirillov won Junior Russian Nationals over Islam Kilchukov. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Magomed Kurbanov RUS 1 2 Anzor Urishev RUS 2 3 Batyrbek Tsakulov RUS 3 4 Soslan Ktsoev RUS 4 5 Guram Chertkoev RUS 5 6 Azamat Zakuev RUS 6 7 Radik Nartikoev RUS 7 8 Alan Bagaev RUS 8 9 Zagir Karimov RUS 9 10 Magomed Baibekov RUS 10 97 KG #2 Alikhan Zhabrailov won the European championships with a 6-4 win over #5 Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR). Two-time national runner-up #3 Aslanbek Sotiev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Soslan Dzhagaev won Junior Russian Nationals over Abdulla Kurbanov. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev RUS 1 2 Alikhan Zhabrailov RUS 2 3 Aslanbek Sotiev RUS 3 4 Khokh Khugaev RUS 4 5 Igor Ovsyannikov RUS 5 6 Maxim Tolmachev RUS 6 7 Aslanbek Gazzaev RUS 7 8 Shamil Musaev RUS 8 9 Tazhudin Mukhtarov RUS 9 10 Znaur Kotsiev RUS 10 125 KG #1 Sergey Kozyrev took bronze at the European championships and qualified Russia for Olympics by taking first place at the world qualifier over Sumit Sumit (IND). National runner-up #5 Atsamaz Tebloev will represent Russia at the U-23 European championships. Andrey Bestaev won Junior Russian Nationals over Arsamag Zaseev. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Sergey Kozyrev RUS 1 2 Shamil Sharipov RUS 2 3 Alan Khugaev RUS 3 4 Anzor Khizriev RUS 4 5 Atsamaz Tebloev RUS 5 6 Zelimkhan Khizriev RUS 6 7 Tamerlan Rasuev RUS 7 8 Kazbek Khubulov RUS 8 9 Batraz Gazzaev RUS 9 10 Baldan Tsyzhipov RUS 10 Pound for Pound #3 Razambek Zhamalov falls two spots in the rankings to #5 after taking fifth at the 74 KG European championships after losses to #3 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK) and #4 Frank Chamizo (ITA). #4 Gadzhimurad Rashidov and #5 Zavur Uguev take the #3 and #4 spot with Zhamalov's losses. The bottom end of the top 25 had a major shakeup and this was done for a couple of reasons. So Artur Naifonov, Dauren Kurugliev, and Magomed Ramazanov had taken up the #10, 11, and 12 spots, respectively, while competitors like two-time national champion Abasgadzhi Magomedov, Evgheni Zherbaev and Cherman Valiev were undervalued. Now I appreciate the power that Naifonov, Kurugliev and Ramazanov have shown, but they are competing in a weaker weight, at 86 KG, compared to the talent fielded by 65 and 61 KG. When I looked back at it, I realized having someone with the resume Abasgadzhi Magomedov at #19 was absurd based on his dominance. The same holds for #17 Evgheni Zherbaev, who has career wins over pound-for-pound talents #8 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov, #9 Israil Kasumov, #12 Cherman Valiev and #15 David Baev. The second part of my reasoning for the change on the pound for pound is all about head-to-head matches and 65 KG. So initially, Zagir Shakhiev, Kurban Shiraev, Akhmed Chakaev, and Naachin Kuular were all ranked ahead of Evgheni Zherbaev, Cherman Valiev, Abasgadzhi Magomedov, Abdulmazhid Kudiev, Murshid Mutalimov, and David Baev in the 61-70 KG logjam. I was absolutely wrong to do that and here's the reasoning. Zherbaev just beat Valiev at Russian nationals and Valiev was the returning national champion who beat ‘19 world champion David Baev in the finals. Baev's 70 KG results in the past year have seen him beat #14 Kurban Shiraev twice (‘20 Russian Nationals, ‘21 Russian Pro League) and that has to be factored in. Now Murshid Mutalimov upsets Baev at nationals, at 65 KG, then loses to ‘20 U-23 national runner-up Abdulmazhid Kudiev who takes bronze. Tying it all together, it all goes back to Baev. The guy's resume is insane; he has wins over #5 Razambek Zhamalov, #6 Magomed Kurbanaliev, #9 Israil Kasumov, #11 Evgheni Zherbaev, and #17 Kurban Shiraev, so he has to be the reference point for all this, you can't just throw him in the trash. So with that, the rearranged top 3 goes Abasgadzhi Magomedov based on dominance at 61, then Zherbaev for his resume and H2H over Cherman Valiev and Baev, then Cherman Valiev for his wins over Baev. Then you go into the second tier of guys who tie into Baev in the form of Abdulmazhid Kudiev and Mutalimov. Kudiev took bronze at Russian Nationals beating Mutalimov and Ramazan Ferzaliev. Mutalimov upset Baev 8-2 at Russian Nationals. So the order then makes sense to go with Kudiev, Mutalimov, then Baev. Then the final piece of 61,70, 65 KG logjam is the guys at 65 KG who don't have matches against Baev or lost to Baev. So Zagir Shakhiev is the top guy in this group for being the 65 KG national runner-up and having beaten Soslan Ramonov and Kurban Shiraev. Now Shiraev is the one in this group who has lost twice to Baev (‘20 Russian Nationals & ‘21 Russian Pro League) beat two-time world medalist Akhmed Chakaev in the quarters after Chakaev defeated 2019 national runner-up Naachin Kuular in the round of 16. So the order then is Shakhiev, Shiraev, Chakaev, and Kuular. Tying it all together, we've got Abasgadzhi Magomedov, Zherbaev, and Valiev, taking the first group ranked at #10, 11, and 12. Then the second group of Kudiev, Mutalimov, and Baev at #13, 14, and 15. Then the third and final group of Zagir Shakhiev, Kurban Shiraev, Akhmed Chakaev, and Naachin Kuular are at #16, 17, 18, and 19. Then you put in the 86 KG trio of Artur Naifonov, Dauren Kurugliev, and Magomed Ramazanov at #20, 21, and 22. Having come out on the other end of the Russian pound-for-pound rabbit hole, the only other change is #25 Sergey Kozyrev and #24 Malik Shavaev traded places because of Shavaev failing to place at 79 KG Euros. Ranking Name Country Previous Ranking 1 Zaurbek Sidakov RUS 1 2 Abdulrashid Sadulaev RUS 2 3 Gadzhiurad Rashidov RUS 4 4 Zavur Uguev RUS 5 5 Razambek Zhamalov RUS 3 6 Magomed Kurbanaliev RUS 6 7 Timur Bizhoev RUS 7 8 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov RUS 8 9 Israil Kasumov RUS 9 10 Abasgadzhi Magomedov RUS 19 11 Evgheni Zherbaev RUS 17 12 Cherman Valiev RUS 18 13 Abdulmazhid Kudiev RUS 20 14 Murshid Mutalimov RUS 21 15 David Baev RUS 22 16 Zagir Shakhiev RUS 13 17 Kurban Shiraev RUS 14 18 Akhmed Chakaev RUS 15 19 Naachin Kuular RUS 16 20 Artur Naifonov RUS 10 21 Dauren Kurugliev RUS 11 22 Magomed Ramazanov RUS 12 23 Alikhan Zhabrailov RUS 23 24 Sergey Kozyrev RUS 25 25 Malik Shavaev RUS 24

53 kg UWW U23 champion Ronna Heaton (Photo/John Sachs; Tech-Fall.com) Women's U23 National Championships Best-of-three Championship finals 50 kg - Emily Shilson over Alleida Martinez 12-2, Fall 3:19 53 kg - Ronna Heaton over Alisha Howk 5-3, 1-1 55 kg - Alex Hedrick over Sophia Mirabella 10-1, 8-0 57 kg - Cheyenne Sisenstein over Amanda Martinez 10-10, Fall 2:09, 7-5 59 kg - Michaela Beck over Brenda Reyna 5-0, 6-0 62 kg - Emma Bruntil over Ana Luciano 3-0, 2-1 65 kg - Ashlynn Ortega over Alara Boyd 4-3, 4-1 68 kg - Alyvia Fiske over Tiyahna Askew 10-0, 7-2 72 kg - Kennedy Blades over Kayla Marano 15-4, 14-3 76 kg - Kylie Welker over Yelena Makoyed 7-2, 4-2 Third Place Bouts 50 kg - Aleeah Gould over Nina Pham 10-1 53 kg - Felicity Taylor over Samara Chavez 8-3 55 kg - Melanie Mendoza over Nichole Moore 6-3 57 kg - Lauren Mason over Gabrielle Skidmore 8-4 59 kg - Nanea Estrella over Phoenix Dubose Fall 2:17 62 kg - London Houston over Kendall Bostelman 14-3 65 kg - Zoe Nowicki over Destiny Lyng 10-0 68 kg - Solin Pearcy over Jamilah McBryde 10-0 72 kg - Breanna Jennings over Yvette Garcia 12-2 76 kg - Dymond Guilford over Sydnee Kimber 10-0 Fifth Place Bouts 50 kg - Jaclyn McNichols over Stefana Jelacic 5-4 53 kg - Sage Mortimer over Taylin Long Fall 4:07 55 kg - Anja Tschohl over Ashley Morris 14-3 57 kg - Cameron Guerin over Vayle Baker InjDef 59 kg - Xochitl Mota-Pettis over Sofia Macaluso Fall 1:46 62 kg - Andrea Schlabach over Jordan Suarez Fall 5:36 65 kg - Felicity Bryant over Marisol Nugent MedFFT 68 kg - Katerina Lange over Samantha Snow Fall :16 72 kg - Jennifer Tongi over Tiyanna Leal Fall 1:04 76 kg - Emily Cue over Marlynne Deede Fall :52 Seventh Place Bouts 50 kg - Ava Bayless over Macie Stewart 14-4 53 kg - Autumn Gordon over Samantha Weeks 10-0 55 kg - Tara Othman over Anya Knappenberger MedFFT 57 kg - Montana DeLawder over Shaina Murray Fall 1:17 59 kg - Serena Cervantes over Alexandra Baudhuin Fall 4:46 62 kg - Anesia Ramirez over Rontaysia Payne Fall 1:23 65 kg - Kaylee Lacy over Maryellen Lafferty 13-0 68 kg - Zoe Gress over Adrianna Orozco 10-7 72 kg - Mhina Oseitutu over Morgan Mayginnes 10-0 76 kg - Joye Levendusky over Hunter Robinson 12-1

61 kg UWW Cadet champion Korina Blades (Photo/John Sachs; Tech-Fall.com) Women's Cadet Nationals Best-of-Three Championship Finals 40 kg - Erica Patroriza (AZ) over Gigi Bragg (MN) 2-1, 9-2 43 kg - Angie Dill (NY) over Emilie Gonzalez (CA) Fall 1:02, Fall 1:58 46 kg - Ava Ward (MO) over Rianne Murphy (IN) 8-0, Fall :40 49 kg - Audrey Jimenez (AZ) over Faith Cole (MO) 5-0, InjDef 53 kg - Katie Gomez (CA) over Jaclyn Dehney (NH) 10-0 57 kg - SaVannah Cosme (CO) over Alexis Janiak (IL) Fall 3:36, 8-2 61 kg - Korina Blades (IL) over Marissa Jimenez (ID) 12-0, 14-4 65 kg - Grace Stem (PA) over Maddie Kubicki (MO) 6-2, 4-3 69 kg - Amit Elor (CA) over Maggie Graham (TN) Fall :21, Fall :24 73 kg - Lillian Freitas (CA) over Rose Cassioppi (IL) 8-0, 7-0 Third Place Bouts 40 kg - McKayla Young (OH) over Kennedy Farrar (AZ) 10-0 43 kg - Olivia DeGeorgio (TX) over Sofia Abramson (NV) Fall 1:51 46 kg - Brianna Gonzalez (CA) over Alex Szkotnicki (MD) 8-6 49 kg - Paige Morales (CA) over Anaya Falcon (CA) 10-0 53 kg - Leah Gaitan (CA) over Carissa Qureshi (CA) 3-2 57 kg - Shelby Moore (WA) over Sarah Savidge (CO) 4-1 61 kg - Savannah Gomez (CA) over Hanna Errthum (WI) 5-0 65 kg - Reese Larramendy (NV) over Destiny Rodriguez (OR) 10-0 69 kg - Jasmine Robinson (TX) over Haley Ward (MO) 10-0 73 kg - Sabrina Nauss (MI) over Latifah McBryde (NY) Fall 3:24 Fifth Place Bouts 40 kg - Annalise Maralit (SC) over Jhaile DeGuzman (WA) Fall 2:30 43 kg - Gabriella Garcia (IL) over Emaline Hicks (MI) Fall 3:18 46 kg - Heather Crull (IN) over Eliana Martinez (TX) Fall 1:49 49 kg - Chloe Dearwester (OH) over Kiely Tabaldo (CA) Fall 1:15 53 kg - Elena Ivaldi (CA) over Ella Schmit (IA) 8-1 57 kg - Jennifer Soto (CA) over Josie Davis (OH) 10-0 61 kg - Janida Garcia (CA) over Taydem Khamjoi (CA) MedFFT 65 kg - Faith Bartoszek (WI) over Veronica Whitacre (NJ) MedFFT 69 kg - Nina Sandoval (AZ) over Briana Araujo-Batista (LA) Fall 1:45 73 kg - Ella Nichols (CT) over Abbie Miles (PA) 10-0 Seventh Place Bouts 40 kg - None 43 kg - Caley Kling (CO) over Kaitlyn Clawson (PA) Fall :23 46 kg - Klare Booe (FL) over Angelina Daoang (HI) MedFFT 49 kg - Trinity Malave (IN) over Eva Diaz (FL) Fall 3:20 53 kg - Juliana Diaz (FL) over Arieana Arias (CA) 8-4 57 kg - Alyssa Randles (ID) over Lauren Walton (KY) MedFFT 61 kg - Madyson Gray (KS) over Kryssceah Ravenelle (RI) 14-2 65 kg - Avangeline Turner (CA) over Marisa Roth (WI) 5-2 69 kg - Aspen Barber (CO) over Shannon Workinger (WA) MedFFT 73 kg - Kaitlyn Pegarella (PA) over Ella Pagel (MN) MedFFT

To celebrate Mother's Day, InterMat sat down with five prominent mothers in the wrestling community, Allyson Schwab, Kaille Grey, Lyndsey Beasley, Jaime Dubuque, and McKayla Engel. All five are married to DI coaches, as well. These women talk about how and when they met their husbands and some difficulties involved with being the wife of a DI coach. From new jobs, moving, criticism in person/on social media, time spent on the road, distance from family, these ladies hit plenty of angles that many fans forget about. They also share some fun stories about their husbands that you probably don't know (and their husbands probably don't want you to know).

Jesse Porter throws Marciano Ali for four points (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On day three of the World Olympic Games Qualifier, it was the Greco-Roman wrestlers who took center stage. The United States sent two athletes to Sofia, Bulgaria, in search of a berth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Jesse Porter (77 kg) and Adam Coon (130 kg). The qualify for the Olympics, both needed to make the finals at their respective weights. Porter had a difficult time just getting to compete in the event. His airline claimed Porter did not have the proper Covid documentation to make the flight. While Porter didn't arrive in an optimal time for a competition of this significance, he didn't show any signs of jetlag in his first bout. After his opponent, Marciano Ali (Puerto Rico), was hit for passivity, Porter hit a picturesque lift and throw to blow the match open, 5-0. He added another four-point throw to close the bout out, 9-0. Porter's opening round victory set the stage for a meeting in the Round of 16 with Fatih Cengiz (Turkey). A 2017 World bronze medalist and U23 World champion, Cengiz was tabbed as one of the key contenders pre-tournament. Late in the first period, down 1-0, Porter attempted a throw and was countered by his Turkish counterpart. That sequence also resulted in a caution for Porter, who would trail 5-0 at the break. The American tried for a late throw attempt but was thwarted by Cengiz, who went on to win 7-0. At 130 kg, Adam Coon was paired off with 2016 Olympian Murat Ramonov (Kyrgyzstan). Coon got on the board first with a point for a step-out. Ramonov then tried to go on the offensive with a headlock attempt. The 2018 World silver medalist, Coon, was able to stop the attack and put Ramonov on his back for the fall. That initial win propelled Coon into the quarterfinals, where he would face Mykola Kuchmii (Ukraine). The Ukrainian was third at the European Championships in 2020 and the Euro Games the previous year. Just under a minute into the bout, Kuchmii took a commanding 4-0 lead with an arm throw. He added another point before the break as Coon was hit for passivity. In the second stanza, Coon came out aggressive and pushed the pace against the Ukrainian. Points for a step out and a caution put the American back in the match at 6-3, but he could not pull any closer. Neither American was able to qualify for the Games, so the men's Greco-Roman team will only send four members to Tokyo. Ildar Hafizov, Alejandro Sancho, John Stefanowicz, and G'Angelo Hancock.

76 kg UWW Junior champion Kylie Welker (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Junior Women's Nationals Best of three finals 50 kg - Emily Shilson over Samara Chavez Fall 4:04, Fall 5:04 53 kg - Tiare Ikei over Jaslynn Gallegos 10-0, Fall 2:48 55 kg - Payton Stroud over Amani Jones 14-3, 10-6 57 kg - Jennifer Soto over Claire DiCugno 7-4, 0-11, 11-1 59 kg - Mia Macaluso over London Houston Fall 2:13, 4-14, Fall 5:41 62 kg - Korina Blades over Aliyah Yates 10-0, 12-1 65 kg - Alara Boyd over Katerina Lange Fall :28, 4-3, 11-1 68 kg - Amit Elor over Cheyenne Bowman Fall 1:30, 10-0 72 kg - Kennedy Blades over Lillian Frietas 76 kg - Kylie Welker over Yelena Makoyed Fall 1:17, 13-2 Third-Place Bouts 50 kg - Kendra Ryan over Ava Bayless Fall 5:08 53 kg - Sage Mortimer over Katie Gomez 13-12 55 kg - Nichole Moore over Ally Fitzgerald 10-4 57 kg - Asia Nguyen-Smith over Ngao Shoua Whitethorn 10-0 59 kg - Skye Realin over Phoenix Dubose Fall 2:37 62 kg - Marisol Nugent over Chloe Ogden Fall 4:08 65 kg - Destiny Rodriguez over Isabella Mir 10-0 68 kg - Viktorya Torres over Malea Palahniuk 4-1 72 kg - Marlynne Deede over Latifah McBryde 10-4 76 kg - Ashley Lekas over Chamira Cooper 10-0 Fifth-Place Bouts 50 kg - Stefana Jelacic over Abbygale Duke MedFFT 53 kg - Taylin Long over Mateh Roehl 12-1 55 kg - Josie Bartishofski over Anya Knappenberger 9-0 57 kg - Sofia Macaluso over Sophia Smith 9-0 59 kg - Nanea Estrella over Leidaly Rivera 16-6 62 kg - Kendall Bostleman over Jordan Suarez Fall 1:01 65 kg - Reese Larramendy over Esther Han 12-3 68 kg - Tiyahna Askew over Lydia Krauss Fall 3:24 72 kg - Jennifer Tongi over Alexandria Hernandez Fall 2:43 76 kg - Avery Ackerman over Katja Osteen MedFFT Seventh-Place Bouts 50 kg - Jenavi Alejandro over Trinity Malave Fall 1:37 53 kg - Sophia Mirabella over Caitlyn Thorne 12-4 55 kg - Carolina Moreno over Kierstyn Bockert 11-0 57 kg - Montana DeLawder over Cristelle Rodriguez MedFFT 59 kg - Athena Willden over Illyvana Martinez Fall 1:15 62 kg - Grace Stem over Abigail Varady 19-8 65 kg - Samantha Snow over Aubrey Yauger Fall 1:52 68 kg- Seda Tsarni over Elizabeth Mullendore 10-0 72 kg - Morgan Mayginnes over Ashley Reed 13-0 76 kg - Alivia White over Hunter Robinson Fall 1:29

Oklahoma State's two-time NCAA runner-up Daton Fix (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) When the #FantasyCollegeWrestling season comes to an end, it's usual to feel like you need a break. I get it; even WE took a little time for some needed R&R (fear not, though, the FCW Podcast returns later this month!). The amount of work and game planning is exponentially higher than Fantasy Football or other sports. There is not much to do other than research in the off-season. But just like we say in training, it's what you do when others are not looking that separates you from the pack. We are left with a lot of raw data that needs to be filtered and sorted. The off-season is devoted to not only recording and organizing that data, but grouping, interpreting, and utilizing that data to forecast and strategize for the upcoming season. Sometimes the best way to prepare for the future is to look back on the past season and who is returning or names/data to remember come week 12 when you are struggling to find that 174 starter. Usually, you have names like Spencer Lee, Shane Griffith, Aaron Brooks, and Tony Cassioppi that you think of to bring you success. Together this season, they combined for 84 Fantasy Points (Fpts). Well, let me throw a couple other names at you: Codi Russell, Will Formato, Brit Wilson, and Michael McAleavey. This group totaled 185 Fpts this season. As I say every year, that's the beauty and frustration of Fantasy Sports. Sometimes your top performers are not "household names." Now, this year was definitely an "asterisk" type of year as there will be quite a few instances of skewing in one way or another (see the co-Hodge announcement). In past seasons, we have stressed that match count is not always a determining factor in actual or in Fantasy Wrestling success, but this year was different. Some teams were hit with COVID precautions or wrestlers actually got COVID making an imbalance of matches wrestled between wrestlers/teams larger than in years past and causing some big names to not make the Top 20 of their respective weights. To compile these lists, we used WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling data. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat Leagues: 1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season Here are the previous #FCW 2021 Season weight class Top-20 Lists: 125: Codi Russell (Appalachian State) Notes: He may have only wrestled five matches.... in the last week of the season, but went on a Spencer Lee-esque tear winning four matches by pin and one tech. With double the matches, but two points behind, Brendon Fenton slots in as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 133 in 2021. Three wrestlers tied with 26 Fpts, but the best PPM of the three was Micky Phillippi who improved his 2020 ranking to be the #3 Fantasy Wrestler this season. Meanwhile Louie Hayes was powered by his outstanding showing at the Appalachian State Quad to get him to the #4 spot, while Zach Price finished the regular season going 8-1 and netting 22 of his 26 points. National Champion Roman Bravo-Young finished with six regular season matches wrestled and 24 Fpts, but it was Austin DeSanto who, while also having 24 Fpts this season, got the higher spot due to his 4.8 PPM thanks to his four techs and one major. Six non-starters break the Top-20, with the highest being Jake Gilva who came in at #11 powered by winning five of his eight matches by major. Oregon State's back-up Jason Shaner Jr rounds out as #20, beating starter Devan Turner (#71 this season). Little Rock's only Top-20 Wrestler this season is Paul Bianchi as the #13 Fantasy Wrestler with 21 Fpts, despite starting the season in a -8 hole. Also important to note, Bianchi was Little Rock's first National Qualifier. Who Missed The Cut: A couple Fantasy Wrestlers from last season's Top-20 did not break into the standing this year. They were Mosha Schwartz (last season #17, this year #45), Anthony Madrigal (#16 last season, #129 this season) and Jarrett Trombley who was #15 last season (#37 this season). Technically, Sammy Alvarez also slipped out of the Top-20 (was #9 last season), but only had three matches this regular season so hard to fault him on that result. Some other notables not able to crack the Top-20 this season include Bryce West (NIU), Sean Carter (APP), Mario Guillen (OHIO), Jack Medley (MICH), Devan Turner (ORST), and Zach Redding (ISU)

Hayden Hidlay in the 74 kg finals at Senior Nationals ACC wrestlers went hunting for stop signs in Coralville, Iowa, last weekend at the Senior and Junior level. Current wrestlers for NC State, UNC, UVA, and VT earned All-American honors, including three wrestlers bringing titles back to the east coast. Bryce Andonian earned top honors at 70kg Juniors, while Jakob Camacho and Hayden Hidlay picked up Senior US Open titles at 57kg and 74kg, respectively. NC State took a large contingent at both levels and brought a lot of hardware back to Raleigh. In the Senior US Open, Camacho took an 8-6 decision over Ethan Rotondo in a back and forth match to win the title at 57kg. Hidlay dominated his way to three tech falls to face off with Mizzou grad Joey Lavallee in the finals. Hidlay controlled the low-scoring defensive match to pick up the 2-1 win. The Wolfpack had another finalist at 86kg, where Trent Hidlay dropped a tight bout to former Penn State national champ Mark Hall 5-4. Rounding out the Senior field, Isaac Trumble finished 5th at 97kg while Nick Reenan doubled up with 6th place finishes in both freestyle and Greco. The Wolfpack RTC also had a championship from 2x NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski at 125kg. On the Junior side, the Wolfpack brought home three All-American honors. AJ Kovacs finished in 8th at 74kg, Isaac Trumble came in at 6th at 92kg and Ed Scott fell in the best-of-3 finals at 70kg to fellow ACC wrestler Andonian from Virginia Tech. Associate Head Coach Adam Hall was impressed by the effort shown in Junior's, "We urged our guys to use this tournament to focus on their growth through the shortened season we had. They got a lot of benefits both mentally and physically by ending this stretch with so many high-level matches". The Wolfpack had two wrestlers pull double duty: Nick Reenan placed 6th in both Greco and freestyle while Isaac Trumble placed 6th in Juniors and 5th in Seniors--qualifying for World Team Trials. "We wanted to challenge Isaac, but we left the choice up to him," said Hall, "he really answered the challenge and now is qualified for WTTs, so we are really happy with his effort." The Hokies/Southeast Regional Training Center sent six to Iowa and brought back six medals. Their performance was highlighted by a Junior title and a trip to Worlds for Bryce Andonian at 70kg. Current Hokie, Clayton Ulrey, also earned All-American honors with a fifth-place finish at 74kg. On the Senior side, SERTC had four athletes competing. They were highlighted by James Green earning the US Open title at 70kg. Hokie sophomore, Andy Smith, finished in 3rd at 97kg, former Hokie All-American Ty Walz finished 4th in his first event at 125kg, and Nashon Garrett ended the weekend in 6th at 61kg. Coach Frayer was pleased with the performance overall. "I was really happy with the way our guys competed out there, from the Senior level guys to our incoming freshman. All 6 we brought placed in the top 6 and incoming freshman Cooper Flynn had a great run to 4th at 57kg". Frayer also praised the effort from Bryce Andonian, "I'm really excited for Bryce making his first world team and a chance to compete for a world title in August!" UVA brought three All-Americans back to Charlottesville in Seniors. Jake Keating finished in 8th at 70kg, Justin McCoy took 7th at 74kg and Michael Battista finished in 4th at 86kg. Head Coach Steve Garland was proud of the progress shown by all of his wrestlers. "Keating will be moving down to 157 next year, so it was great prep for him to make weight. He did what he always does and competed really hard...his matches were insane, as usual; he leaves it all out there and is really fun to watch". Garland also said the weight adjustment was helpful for McCoy. "Justin is moving up to 165, so this tournament was a good test for him. He took 3rd at the UWW Juniors in the fall, so it's great to see the consistency". Garland was very impressed by the work at 86kg. "Battista was the story of the tournament for us. He is a great kid and beat some really tough dudes and competed against two returning NCAA champs. It was a great experience for him". North Carolina brought a young contingent to Juniors. Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos was impressed by what he saw. "It was great to be back on the mat and see some of our younger guys compete again. All of them got valuable mat time against some of the best in the world and the USA". The Tarheels brought one All-American finish back to Chapel Hill; Max Shaw finished in 4th at 92kg. Overall, it was a solid weekend for the ACC programs. Three ACC wrestlers bring home championships while another 13 earn All-American honors. Bryce Andonian will represent the USA at the Junior World Championships in August in Ufa, Russia, while Ed Scott will represent the USA at the Junior Pan-Am Championships. The top five placers in the US Open qualify for the World Team Trials to be held later this year.

Jordan Oliver at the Olympic Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) An Ode to Coming up Just Short It must have been 1995 or 1996. I was in a Blockbuster Video (you youngins don't remember those; it was a store where you could rent movies) with my girlfriend when I bumped into Barry, an alumni of my high school that I had looked up to as a star baseball player. We chatted for a moment - he asked me about wrestling, of course, before a starry-eyed little kid emerged from behind his leg and looked at me. "This is the next great wrestler," Barry told me. That was my first meeting with Jordan Oliver, Barry's nephew, who must have been about seven years old at the time. But in my town - one that's produced Olympians and a long list of NCAA Champ and AA's, that was old enough for a second grader to be shy around me - an average high school wrestler. He was already hooked on the sport, and indeed, JO became our next great one. He soaked up everything. He truly loved the sport and had an insatiable appetite to learn technique. He won Fargo and committed to John Smith at Oklahoma State. In short, he was prepared for success. Over the course of his career - 4 NCAA placings, 3 finals, 2 titles, and on to the Senior circuit with finals appearances and titles at the Open and Trials - through a '1-year' suspension that really cost him two years, JO was always a contender and always in the mix. And yet, there were always questions. Was he focused enough? Did he cut the wrong way? Why is he wrestling this style? It was part of a question not just for JO but the microcosm of a larger, national frustration - that of not having world success at 65/66kgs in decades. Which makes this year's results so much harder to stomach. Jordan Oliver was, without a doubt, as disciplined and focused as ever. And yet, in Sofia, Bulgaria, he came up one point short of a lifelong dream. I'm sure Jordan has lived the wrestling life. Loved it and hated it. Gave everything he had to it. Philosophized and re-philosophized. And now, what? I talked with Jordan after the loss. He's hurting. And though there's no way for me to fully understand his pain, I told him that he made us all proud and that a whole nation was cheering for him. To be blunt, it's really tearing me up. And then it dawned on me that my emotions were exacerbated by the relationship. It cuts a little deeper when you've known someone for years. And so I can't help but think about how difficult it was for others legends that came up just short before him. Brent Metcalf - who ruled the weight for several years, but never made an Olympic team or medaled at Worlds. And then the trickle-down. To every wrestler that ever laced 'em up, gave everything they had, and came up just short. Wrestling is more than a sport. It's a lifestyle and a dream. To the victors go the spoils. But let's not revere any less the commitments our top guys have made when they come up just short. To your questions... Can you please go over all the coaching changes? - @jdmoneytrain The current DI positions open are Assistant spots at Lehigh, Penn, Army, and - posted yesterday - Appalachian State and Indiana. There are Volunteer Asst. slots available at South Dakota State and Little Rock. And a Strength and Conditioning vacancy at Clarion. There's also an outstanding vacancy for an S&C job at Iowa, but, the way I understand it, the Covid situation put the university under a hiring freeze. Other coaching changes: Tervel left Ohio State for the Nebraska RTC position. Just yesterday, Bo Jordan and Logan Stieber were named Assistants at tOSU. Of course, at Illinois, Jim Heffernan retired and Mike Poeta got the Head Coaching job. Poeta hasn't announced his staff, but one thing for sure is that he's interested in Jordan Oliver. At Rutgers, Anthony Ashnault was hired as an Assistant with John Leonardis moving to the Scarlet Knight WC. Jason Borrelli replaced Teague Moore at American University. As far as rumors, there's been chatter that Tom Borrelli is thinking of hanging it up at Central Michigan. And Gabe Dean looms as a high-profile free agent. Here is InterMat's Job Page Shot Clock. Too subjective. How do we change this? - @EricAsselin74 I respect your wrestling, IQ, Eric. But I respectfully disagree. Name me a match that was decided on a shot clock point in which you think the loser was incredibly active. The shot clock is a needed intrusion. During the three-period era, wrestling was oh-so-lame. Even now, with cumulative scoring, there is a serious lack of offense and risk. You don't wanna try to score? Fine. You get what you get. If you lose on a shot clock point (even if it was questionable), you frankly didn't do enough. The fact of the matter is that you have to insulate yourselves from bad calls and minutiae, which is what the shot clock situation is. Listen to This Podcast - J'den on The Trials Situation What are JOs chances of getting in via covid, injury, missed weight, etc. - @XGrain_Mark Slim and none. Frank Molinaro didn't qualify at Last Chance in 2016 but got in because someone popped for PED's. That's really not likely. And I'm not sure about the contingency plans for Tokyo regarding someone who tests for Covid, but with everything being so tight and regimented, I would guess they would just not replace that athlete. Crazier things have happened, I guess. But don't count on it. What are the anticipated Covid regulations for athletes in Tokyo? - Plasmodium I hit up our old pal, TR Foley, for help with this. Recently, Pfizer and BioNTech announced a major donation of vaccines to the IOC, which has been working with all national governing bodies. The plan is to vaccinate all athletes/coaches before they get to Tokyo. The full release is here

MINOT, N.D. - MSU Director of Athletics, Andy Carter announced today, "I am proud to represent Minot State University Athletics. It is with tremendous excitement and anticipation to announce MSU will be adding Women's Wrestling as an intercollegiate varsity sport within Beaver Athletics." We will lead the state's public higher education landscape with this addition as MSU will become the first among the 11 North Dakota University System campuses to have a Women's Wrestling team. The timing is also perfect as the North Dakota High School Activities Association just a few weeks ago announced that girls wrestling would be added as an officially sanctioned sport for the first time beginning with the 2021-22 academic year." Minot State University Department of Athletics has been working with external consultants during the past year in a comprehensive and rigorous review of the Athletic Department's overall Title IX compliance. The federal Title IX Act of 1972 impacts all aspects of higher education, but specifically within Athletics it requires that institutions provide equitable treatment of student-athletes in three specific areas: athletic participation opportunities, proportional availability of athletic scholarships for males, and females, and equal treatment of male and female student-athletes. MSU is committed to ensuring equitable treatment of student-athletes and within our athletic programs. Many directives and proactive decisions have already taken place to aid in equity development. Further, and more specifically within the overall area of Athletics participation and opportunity, it is incumbent upon MSU to demonstrate a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented gender. President Steven Shirley stated, "Athletics has been an important part of the culture at Minot State University since our founding days over a century ago. Today's announcement with the addition of Women's Wrestling is yet another step along that journey at MSU, and I am excited for the new opportunities it will create in the years ahead for future female student-athletes on our campus." Women's Wrestling is recognized by the NCAA as an emerging sport for women. The designation is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for the institutions, and also help that sport achieve NCAA championship status. North Dakota will be the 30th state in the nation to have sanctioned high school girls wrestling - joining neighboring states, Montana and South Dakota. The addition of Women's Wrestling also fits well within the Department's existing athletic infrastructure used by Men's Wrestling. A national search for the inaugural Women's Wrestling head coach will commence immediately and plan to begin competing with an inaugural season in the 2022-23 year. What others are saying about Minot State University adding Women's Wrestling: Evan Forde, MSU Men's Wrestling Coach: "The rapid rise and advancement of women's and girls' wrestling in recent years have made a tremendous impact on our sport. The addition of a women's program here at Minot State University is very exciting. I am proud of our administration and University for their decision to make this addition. This program will support the continued growth of the wrestling culture on campus and in the community of Minot." Mike Moyer, Executive Director, National Wrestling Coaches Association, Wrestlers in Business Network: "We are forever grateful for the Minot State Administration's extraordinary leadership and pioneering efforts to add women's wrestling. Countless young aspiring women will now have the chance to pursue their academic and athletic dreams at Minot State University." Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling Women's National Team Coach: "As USA Wrestling's Women's Freestyle National Team Coach and a North Dakota native, I am very excited to see the opportunities for females in the sport expanding. Earlier in the year, the North Dakota State High School Activities Association added the sport of Girls Wrestling as a Sanctioned High School Sport and now Minot State University Adds Women's Wrestling as a varsity sport. These are great milestones not just for the young females in the state of North Dakota but for Women's Wrestling as a sport. What really excites me is that the people see the value of the sport on our younger generation. Education comes from many places, in the classroom, on the field of competition, and on the wrestling mats. Obviously, I believe that the sport of wrestling is a great teacher of life skills that will long outlast these athletes' competitive careers. This is a win-win-win situation for Minot State University, the State of North Dakota, and the women's wrestling community". About Minot State Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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