InterMat Staff

Kayle Miracle finished with a silver medal at 62 kilograms (Photo/Sachiko Hotaka, United World Wrestling) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- For the second straight day, the United States has a silver medalist at the U23 World Championships. A day after Macey Kilty won a silver at 68 kilograms, Kayla Miracle fell in the gold-medal match at 62 kilograms to multiple-time age group world champion Yuzuka Inagaki of Japan, 3-0. After a scoreless first 90 seconds, Miracle was placed on the activity clock. The 23-year-old American was unable to score in the 30 seconds, giving Inagaki the first point of the match. The Japanese wrestler would take that 1-0 lead to the break. Early in the second period, Inagaki fired off a shot and gained a two-point exposure to go up 3-0. It would turn out to be the last points scored in the match. Miracle had three falls in three matches on Thursday. It's Miracle's fourth age group world medal. In addition to her U23 silver, she won a silver medal at the Cadet World Championships and two bronze medals at the Junior World Championships. Felicity Taylor (53 kilograms) and Maya Nelson (65 kilograms) were defeated in repechage on Friday. The United States women's wrestling team finished in fifth place in the team standings. Miracle and Kilty were the lone medalists for the U.S. women's team. Japan ran away with the team title, finishing 125 points ahead of runner-up China. Tate Orndorff gets his hand raised after picking up a win at the U23 World Championships (Photo/Sachiko Hotaka, United World Wrestling) Five American Greco-Roman wrestlers eliminated, compile combined record of 1-5 It was a disappointing start for the United States Greco-Roman team at the U23 World Championships. Five wrestlers competed on Friday, with only one of the five picking up a win, Tate Orndorff (130 kilograms). All five U.S. Greco-Roman who competed on Friday were eliminated when the wrestlers who defeated them failed to advance to the finals. Orndorff, an NCAA qualifier last season as a freshman at Utah Valley, defeated Deepak Poonia of India, 6-1, in his first match at 130 kilograms. He trailed 1-0 at the break before scoring six unanswered points in the final period. Orndorff was blanked in his second match by three-time Junior world medalist Osman Yildirim of Turkey, 9-0. Brady Koontz was shut out by senior world champion Amangali Bekbolatov of Kazakhstan, 9-0, at 55 kilograms. Dalton Roberts fell to Yerner Fidakhmetov of Kazakhstan, 9-4, at 63 kilograms. Jesse Porter, competing at 77 kilograms, was defeated by Sajan Sajan of India, 6-0. At 87 kilograms, Matt Finesilver was shut out by Kiryl Maskevich of Belarus, 9-0. The final five Greco-Roman wrestlers will compete for the United States on Saturday. Those wrestlers include Taylor LaMont (60 kilograms), Peyton Omania (67 kilograms), Lenny Merkin (72 kilograms), Andrew Berreyesa (82 kilograms) and Chad Porter (97 kilograms). Wrestling is scheduled to begin Saturday at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET).

Wrestle Like A Girl held its annual fundraising gala in Washington D.C. on Oct. 30 (Photo/Justin Hoch, jhoch.com) Wrestle Like a Girl hosted its annual fundraiser Wednesday in Washington D.C. drawing a number of top influencers from within wrestling community and the sporting world at-large. The goal of the gala was to look awesome in your tux/ballgown, celebrate the journey of women's wrestling, and raise money for the organization to continue its work. The gala was hosted at the National Museum for Women in the Arts, a spectacular museum lined with influential photography and paintings of female artists. The setting felt appropriate -- an intimate space for a tightly knit community, surrounded by high art -- a creative expression not too different from that of a wrestler. There was drinking, speeches were given, and a silent auction helped drum up cash for WLAG's mission. By all measures it was a successful event driven by a clear mission and powerful leadership (more on this later). When looking on Twitter (or in the comments sure to be posted below) the wrestling community can seem divided on women's wrestling, but leadership seems in lockstep that our community needs more women in wrestling, full stop. However, among those leaders there are a variety of opinions on how to implement women's wrestling at the youth, high school, and collegiate level. The preferred rule set, how to divide mat time, when to host the collegiate season, and so on. Then there are the generational questions. With so many new programs, who will be available to coach these teams? How can we get more women involved? What are the support structures that need to be implemented to ensure success? Those second-level issues and concerns are where the success of women's wrestling will be decided. We are all on the boat, but how and where to row requires leadership. Enter Sally Roberts, the wrestler-turned-founder of WLAG. I've worked with Roberts in the past and while I've always been impressed by her outrageous supply of positive energy, this week was the first time I was able to witness her leadership in a mixed setting. She's a dynamic personality able to connect and who leads through discipline, passion, intelligence and absolute focus on positive long-term change. Most important for the future of wrestling, none of the questions raised by the other stakeholders are beneath her to address, consider or consult. That attention to the details of women's wrestling rollout on to the mainstage of collegiate athletics will be what makes it successful. If you want to support the growth of women's wrestling then please consider donating to WLAG. I'm certain that the ROI will be immediate and establish a legacy of participation in wrestling that will directly benefit our daughters and granddaughters. To your questions … Q: Greg Kerkvliet has said he's going to wrestle as a true freshman at Ohio State. Do you expect him to beat out Chase Singletary for the heavyweight spot? -- Mike C. Foley: Kerkvliet is an incredible talent. Can he beat Singletary? Of course, but as with all freshmen it'll come down to his ability to wrestle on the mat with the college guys. No matter how far freshman have come in the past 20 years (Thanks, YouTube!) there is nothing that can prepare an 18-year-old for the pressure and stinginess of a great top wrestler. My theory is that most top high school wrestlers can challenge themselves on their feet with coaches, other top-level high school wrestlers, and visiting college kids. But they also like to wrestle on their feet. None of the above are dropping by the high school room to go rideouts for 90 minutes. For Kerkvliet and others they do have additional access to the OTC, but again they are only working on their feet, not in NCAA riding situations. If Kerkvliet is to succeed in his freshman year at heavyweight it'll almost certainly be determined on the mat. Bo Nickal at Final X: Rutgers (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Q: Do you think Bo Nickal will go 86 kilograms or 97 kilograms in 2020? It's interesting that he will have to go through one of his Nittany Lion Wrestling Club teammates, David Taylor or Kyle Snyder. -- Mike C. Foley: The chatter has been Nickal can hang with Taylor and was even getting the better of the 2018 world champion in practice. Now, that is just a rumor, but if you believe Nickal is competitive with Taylor and then compare Nickal's frame to Snyder's you might conclude he has a better opportunity at 86 kilograms than he would at 97 kilograms. Ultimately, the biggest obstacle could be internal with how the NLWC would manage an internal battle for an Olympic spot. For sure there would be the tension in the room and without knowing everyone's psyche especially well I tend to think it would create the best overall competitor. Maybe it's important to also keep focused on the decision of J'den Cox and which weight he chooses for his Olympic journey. If he goes to 86 kilograms maybe that incentivizes Nickal to go up? If he goes 97 kilograms, maybe it's incentive to go down. Having already wrestled and lost to Cox has to be some type of input in Nickal's decision making process. Though it's also quite possible that Nickal doesn't give a darn what anyone thinks or where they want to wrestle. Nickal has the right combination of power, strength, focus, and technique to earn a medal for Team USA. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Tom Brands in midseason form … on the farm Bono got game … Q: Gregor Gillespie is 13-0 in MMA and fights Kevin Lee this weekend at UFC 244. It's probably his toughest challenge to date. Have you had a chance to watch Gillspie fight much? He's currently ranked No. 11, while Lee is No. 10. Do you see Gillespie as a potential title contender in the future? -- Mike C. Foley: Yes. Gillespie is a TOUGH human who has world-class wrestling, excellent submissions, and an ever-evolving striking game. He's won three bonuses in the UFC and has finished five of his six fights in the promotion. Lee is a banger, but he just can't match Gillespie's versatility or cancel his knack for winning. Gillespie's maturity as a fighter is instructive when analyzing the mixed martial arts career of once-undefeated MMA fighter Ben Askren. Looking at their bodies, skill sets, method of victory, and time spent online it's readily evident that Gillespie spends more time learning and honing the crafts necessary to be a world-class fighter. While I don't begrudge Askren for promoting himself into big paydays (and I appreciate his generosity within the sport of wrestling), the reason he's failed to win fights in the UFC is that he hasn't put in the same devotion to improvement. Askren has been fighting for 12 years and yet his standup is borderline beginner. Askren has fought 20-plus times, but his in-cage jiu-jitsu is appalling in both lack of intelligent defense and complete lack of offensive threats. Askren is paid to fight for a living but shows up on Fight Night out-of-shape and doughy. Worse still his wrestling techniques looked labored and underwhelming. To his credit, Askren does plod forward, has shown courage in the cage and has been gracious in defeat. Look, I get that it's easy to sit back and criticize, but this is an honest assessment of his technical acumen. There is no doubt he has the courage to fight and the online presence to promote those fights but were you to have awoken from a coma and not known who Askren was you'd have been highly disappointed in his fighting ability. Contrast what you saw two weeks ago from him with what you see from Gillespie this weekend and let me know in the comments if you think Gillespie and Askren have the same dedication to evolving as fighters? Do they share the same desire to be champions? One last point: I think that Demian Maia's growth is more instructive of what a good fighter and athlete should be. He is a world champion jiu-jitsu practitioner, but rather than only rely on that skill set he has sought out great wrestling partners and coaches and worked tirelessly on his striking. That's why he won. He was more versatile and when the opportunity came to end the fight his core skill was still in place (because he trains there, too) and he could execute. Kudos to Ben for making money and raising his profile. Thanks for using the platform for helping raise awareness of wrestling. But for me it's guys like Gregor and Demian who deserve the admiration of fight fans. Q: Why did the NCAA change course on allowing athletes to be paid? -- Jack R. Foley: The NCAA has chosen a commission to study the issue with recommendations to be filed in January. The athletes are not collecting checks quite yet. The NCAA doesn't have a ton of options left. The three-month delay is really a stay of execution, because once the state of California allowed for image rights for NCAA athletes more states began to entertain the option as well. All this state-level action leaves the NCAA with few cards left to play. The NCAA could seek control of the topic by the federal government, but with a Democratic House and a Republican Senate there isn't much hope for a conclusion on image rights for NCAA athletes. And that's even if there was a party-line thought on this matter (which I assure you there is not because when it comes to amateurism -- a non-legal term that should essentially equate to nostalgia). Congress is in the middle of an impeachment inquiry. Any motions made will only be symbolic. The NCAA's other option is the courts, but it's unlikely to win there since the legality of amateurism is incredibly fragile. So they are left to grab control and hope that their committee's recommendations are far-reaching enough to pull consensus from a number of states. Make no mistake this dam will break and the NCAA realizes that if they can't find short term remedy then there will be a flood of money into the ecosystem. That cash directly threatens the NCAA's grip on member institutions who adhere to their rules and regulations largely because they have ability to enforce through commercial and monetary penalties. If by taking more aggressive action the NCAA can somehow regulate this new money, then they will retain their position among member institutions. Q: The NCAA rule should mean the death of the singlet. I can get the joiziest of Suriano rash guards and in turn fund for him to buy his own shirts. Since he is never wearing them I figured he can't afford them because of the NCAA. Why the change of heart by the NCAA? -- Cary A. Foley: For wrestling this will likely mean the death of the singlet. As you so eloquently stated the homies who support their squad want to look like the guys they like to watch wrestle. But under no circumstances are they buying singlets (or wrestling shoes) to wear in public. However, training shorts, rash guards, headphones, T-shirts and whatever else will be flying off the virtual store shelves. Let's do this, NCAA. I need that Pokémon /Spencer Lee collaboration pronto. Q: Are you watching the BMF title fight on Saturday night? -- Kevin M. Foley: I had to do some googling, but apparently BMF title translates to "Baddest Mother F$%k$r" which is an absolutely brilliant marketing idea by the UFC. And I am absolutely going to be watching it. The genius of the BMF (an unofficial title) is co-opting the ridiculous non-sport farcical nature of WWE and applying to a fight between two humans who absolutely do not give a Buffalo Nickle if they die in the Octagon. Doesn't the old saying go something like "The only person you don't fight in prison is the guy with crazy eyes." Well there are four crazy eyeballs lined up for the BMF World Championship. Nate Diaz smokes weed during training sessions that creep into 3 a.m. Jorge Masvidal first found fame fighting in Kimbo Slice's backyard brawls. These guys are built to demolish other humans, have absolutely no qualms with extreme violence, and are about to put on the best fight we've ever seen. This fight is so hyped that The Rock is both cutting IG promos and handing out an BMF BELT TO THE WINNER. While not a crossover event on par with the Chicago PD, MD, 911 mashup I keep hearing about in NYC taxi cabs, I think this could be a seminal event in UFC and profession wrestling cross-contamination. Even bigger than Brock pushing Cormier! Also, this is a mindboggling stat from Bloody Elbow, "In 78 combined career fights, the two men have been finished only three times." BMF's for sure.

Macey Kilty finished with a silver medal at the U23 World Championships (Photo/Kadir Caliskan) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Macey Kilty will leave a world championship event with a silver medal for the third straight time. On Thursday, Kilty fell in the gold-medal match of the U23 World Championships at 68 kilograms to Japan's Masako Furuichi, 7-2. Earlier this year, Kilty won a silver medal at the Junior World Championships for the second straight year. Furuichi, a seven-time age group world champion and senior world medalist, scored a takedown off a single leg twenty seconds into the match. Kilty responded with a takedown of her own to grab the lead on criteria. But it was all Furuichi the rest of the way. With 30 seconds left in the first period, Furuichi scored a takedown off a double leg to go up 4-2. She extended her lead to 6-2 with another takedown in the first minute of the second period and would later add a point off a caution and one. Kilty, a Wisconsin native, now has five age group world medals. She won gold and bronze at the Cadet World Championships, two silver medals at the Junior World Championships, to go along with her most recent silver at the U23 World Championships. Emily Shilson (50 kilograms) and Dominique Parrish (55 kilograms) competed in repechage on Thursday but failed to advance to medal matches. Shilson, a gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games, claimed a 12-10 victory in her first repechage match at 50 kilograms over Azerbaijan's Turkan Nasirova of Azerbaijan, a 2015 Junior world champion and four-time world medalist. She then lost 10-0 to Russia's Nadesha Sokolova, a 2018 U23 world silver medalist and 2011 Cadet world champion. Parish fell in her first repechage match at 55 kilograms to Andrea Ana of Romania, 5-1. Kayla Miracle advanced to the finals with three falls (Photo/Sachiko Hotaka, United World Wrestling) Miracle gets three falls en route to reaching finals Kayla Miracle picked up three falls in three matches on Thursday en route to reaching the finals at 62 kilograms. Miracle found herself down 7-0 with two minutes remaining in her semifinal match against Ilona Prokopevniuk of Ukraine. The 23-year-old Miracle came back strong, putting the Ukrainian to her back multiple times before securing the fall with just under 40 seconds remaining in the match. Earlier in the day, Miracle had falls over Reka Bacsfaiova of Slovakia and Maria Kuznetkova of Russia. She will face Japan's Yuzuka Inagaki, a multiple-time age group world champion, in the gold-medal match on Friday. Two other American women, Felicity Taylor (53 kilograms) and Maya Nelson (65 kilograms), will have an opportunity to wrestle back for bronze medals on Friday. Both wrestlers went 1-1 in the opening session on Thursday but remain alive after the wrestlers who defeated them reached the finals. Taylor edged Viktoria Vilhelm of Hungary, 4-3, in her first match at 53 kilograms before losing by fall to senior world champion Haruna Okuno of Japan. Nelson, a gold medalist at the Junior World Championships, topped Nisha Nisha of India, 11-3, before being shut out by Misuzu Enamoto of Japan, 7-0. Arian Carpio (57 kilograms) and Alyvia Fiske (72 kilograms) both dropped their first match and were eliminated on Thursday.

After a long wait, the NCAA wrestling season is back this weekend. This year in particular there are many strong dual matches to start off the new year. This year's Battle on the Midway will feature dual meets between No. 7 Wisconsin, Navy, Army West Point and Fresno State. The matchups from those duals would be enough for most fans, but there are several other key matches going down this week. The following looks at some of the top individual matchups, which are scheduled to take place this weekend. 125: No. 2 Jack Mueller (Virginia) vs. Brandon Cray (Maryland) When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. ET: Maryland at Virginia (ACCNX) Mueller's journey back to the NCAA finals gets started this weekend. Last year he knocked off then No. 1 wrestler Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) in the semifinals before coming up short against No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) in the finals. Prior to that loss, Mueller had gone undefeated and won the ACC Championships. Cray came to Maryland in 2016 as a two-time New Jersey state champion. In his redshirt season, he showed flashes with a 26-7 record. However, since then he has struggled to a 19-32 record over the last two seasons. He will be looking to get a fresh start under first-year head coach Alex Clemsen. Mueller's ability to ride will almost certainly carry him to a victory here. However, this match could set the tone for the season for both wrestlers. Mueller is definitely not sneaking up on anybody this year, and Cray has a chance at a comeback season if he hang tough. Prediction: Mueller (Virginia) major decision over Cray (Maryland) 133: No. 10 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) vs. Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) When/Where: Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. ET: Cal State Bakersfield at North Dakota State (FloWrestling) Sykora is a three-time NCAA qualifier who is still looking to become an All-American. Going into this year, it looked like it would be a tough task, but some Olympic redshirts have cleared a bit of the path in front of him. Last season he picked up big wins over Tim Rooney (Kent State), Gary Wayne Harding (North Carolina) and No. 14 Noah Gonser (Campbell). Rich redshirted last season for the Road Runners. He took his lumps at times, but he hung in some matches against tough competition. In the second half of the season, he went 5-3 and did not surrender bonus points against No. 5 Austin Gomez (Iowa State). The last person to score bonus points against Rich last season was Sykora. If this is going to be the breakthrough year, he will need to get off to a solid start. He will be a favorite here against Rich, but it should still be a good early season gauge for the senior. Prediction: Sykora (North Dakota) major decision over Chane Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 141: No. 9 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) vs. Corey Shie (Army) When/Where: Friday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. ET: Wisconsin vs. Army at the 2019 Battle on the Midway (FloWrestling) After transferring from Oklahoma State, Moran got the start at 141 for Wisconsin last year. He made the NCAA tournament and ended up falling in the round of 12. During the year, he knocked off the likes of No. 11 Mike Carr (Illinois), No. 4 Mitch McKee (Minnesota) and Josh Alber (Northern Iowa). The highlight of his season was perhaps his overtime victory over No. 2 Nick Lee (Penn State) in a wild 12-10 match. After a year at the U.S. Military Academy Prep School, Shie joined the Black Knights last year. In his freshman season, he finished 27-16 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. He scored an overtime victory over No. 16 Sam Turner (Wyoming) and pinned Arizona State's Navonte Demison in a little over a minute. These two have a history. They met early last season at the SEIU invitational, and Moran won a 12-7 decision. The rematch came at the Midlands tournament, and in that bout Shie scored the first-period fall. It was a headlock, but it still proved that Shie can pull the upset. Look for Moran to score some points and cause some separation. However, he often gets himself into trouble in his matches, and Shie is a finisher. Prediction: Moran (Wisconsin) decision over Shie (Army) 149: No. 16 Khristian Olivas (Fresno State) vs. No. 14 Cole Martin (Wisconsin) When/Where: Friday, Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. ET: Wisconsin vs. Fresno State at the 2019 Battle on the Midway (FloWrestling) Olivas has made two trips to the NCAAs as a Bulldog, but he is only 1-4 in those trips. He will look to reverse that trend in his senior season. Last year he picked up several strong wins during the Big 12 conference season including victories over No. 20 Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State), Dante Rodriguez (Northern Colorado) and Chritsian Monserrat (West Virginia). Olivas also knocked off CSU Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing. Martin is a three-time NCAA qualifier who appeared to make improvements on the job last season. He fought his way through the tough Big Ten scheduled and gave several top wrestlers a scare. He also picked up wins over Brady Berge (Penn State), Malik Amine (Michigan) and No. 15 Requir van der Merwe (Stanford). Olivas might have the better offense, but Martin has shown that he can win close matches. The two have never wrestled in college, so it will be interesting to see if Martin can keep the pace slow and win a close match. Prediction: Martin (Wisconsin) decision over Olivas (Fresno State) B.C. LaPrade defeated Jarrett Jacques in the dual meet last season (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 157: No. 17 B.C. LaPrade (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 16 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. ET: Missouri at Virginia Tech (ACCNX) LaPrade went 18-11 last season and qualified for the NCAAs. He made the semifinals of the ACC Championships but dropped an overtime match against No. 5 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh). During the year he also knocked off No. 4 Larry Early (Old Dominion) and Quincy Monday (Princeton). Jacques joined Missouri as the 51st ranked recruit in his class. In his true freshman season, he qualified for the NCAA tournament. He locked down his spot in the lineup and finished the regular season on a 15-3 run and won a MAC title. Jacques also picked up wins over Chase Straw (Iowa State), Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) and No. 7 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh). These two wrestled in an early season dual last year. The match went into overtime knotted at three points each. However, in the extra time, LaPrade hit a six-point move to take the bout 9-3. Since then Jacques has really matured and adapted to the college scene. Look for him to be the one pushing the pace in this rematch. Prediction: Jacques (Missouri) decision over LaPrade (Virginia Tech) 165: No. 4 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) vs. Peyton Mocco (Missouri) When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. ET: Missouri at Virginia Tech (ACCNX) McFadden moved up in weight for the 2019 season, and he once again finished as an All-American. In his three seasons as a starter for the Hokies, he has finished sixth, fifth and fifth. In his first year at 174 pounds, he knocked off the likes of Michael Labriola (Nebraska), Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) and Trent Hidlay (NC State). Mocco redshirted last season after joining the Tigers as a top recruit. During his redshirt season, he went 9-1 and knocked off fellow blue chip recruit David Carr (Iowa State). His only defeat came against Division II opponent Isaiah Luellen (Fort Hays State). McFadden should be the clear favorite in this match due to his experience. However, Missouri has had great and occasionally unexpected success with freshman wrestlers. If Mocco is able to pull off the upset, it could mean he is yet another Tiger newcomer who could make some noise this year around tournament time. Prediction: McFadden (Virginia Tech) decision over Mocco (Missouri) 174: Andrew McNally (Kent State) vs. Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. ET: Edinboro at Kent State McNally was one of the refugees from the close program at Eastern Michigan. He found his way to Kent State where he became an NCAA qualifier for the first time. He finished the year 34-9 and score victories over the likes of Cameron Caffey (Michigan State), Jack Jessen (Northwestern) and Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin). Oliver was also a qualifier for the Fighting Scots in 2019. He went 28-7 on the year but dropped both of his matches at the NCAA tournament. He got off to a strong start to the season last year as he won the Michigan State Open. Along the way, he knocked off No. 13 Ethan Smith (Ohio State). McNally clearly made strides in his first season wrestling for Kent State. It will be interesting to see if he continues to improve. He has the better wins than Oliver, so he should be able to take this match. However, Oliver has put up some major points and picked up some upsets in the past. Prediction: McNally (Kent State) decision over Oliver (Edinboro) 184: Noah Stewart (Army) vs. Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State) When/Where: Friday, Nov. 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET: Army vs. Fresno State at the 2019 Battle on the Midway (FloWrestling) In his third year wrestling for Army, Stewart became an NCAA qualifier for the first time. He qualified through the EIWA Championships and went on the defeat Nick Gravina (Rutgers) in the NCAAs. He finished the year 20-12 with wins over No. 18 Tanner Harvey (American), Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin), Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State), No. 11 Corey Hazel (Lock Haven) and Kayne MacCallum (Oklahoma). Hemauer qualified for the NCAAs in his redshirt freshman season. During the year, he scored signature wins over MacCallum, Tyler McNutt (North Dakota State), Christian LaFragola (Brown), Owen Webster (Minnesota) and No. 20 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming). His series with Samuelson was particularly interesting. The two wrestled three times including splitting a pair of matches at the Big 12 Championships. Even though they were both NCAA qualifiers a season ago, in terms of common opponents, Hemauer has a pretty significant edge. He holds a 7-5 record when facing common opponents compared to only 2-8 for Stewart. Prediction: Hemauer (Fresno State) decision over Stewart (Army) 285: No. 6 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) vs. AJ Nevills (Fresno State) When/Where: Friday, Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. ET: Wisconsin vs. Fresno State at the 2019 Battle on the Midway (FloWrestling) Hillger exceeded expectations during his redshirt freshman year, and he finished up eighth at the NCAAs to become an All-American. He finished 3-3 at the tournament with victories over Ian Butterbrodt (Brown), Youssif Hemida (Maryland) and No. 11 Zach Elam (Missouri). During the year, he also picked up signature wins over Sam Stoll (Iowa), No. 12 Chase Singletary (Ohio State) and No. 14 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley). Nevills joined Fresno State when the program was restarted. In his two seasons with the Bulldogs, he has qualified for two NCAA tournaments. However, he is still looking to become an All-American for the first time. Last season his best wins were over Butterbrodt, Orndorff, No. 18 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) and Brandon Metz (North Dakota State). These two were actually supposed to meet in the Midlands last year. However, Hillger medically forfeited out of the bracket. Nevills has been on the cusp of being an All-American for two seasons now. If he wants to break through, these are the type of guys he should be beating. Hillger should be the favorite in this match. He is stingy on the feet and does not give up a lot of points. His ability to ride could also end up being the determining factor in this bout. Prediction: Hillger (Wisconsin) decision over Nevills (Fresno State)

Bo Nickal with the American flag after winning gold at the U23 World Championships (Photo/Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Bo Nickal capped off a dominant run to a world title at the U23 World Championships on Wednesday in Budapest, Hungary. The 23-year-old Nickal cruised to a 12-2 technical superiority over Russia's Batyrbek Tsakulov in the gold-medal match at 92 kilograms. Nickal scored first off a step out and then followed it up with a takedown to go up 3-0 at the break. He pulled away in the second period, scoring two takedowns to extend his lead to 7-0. Tsakulov would get on the scoreboard with a takedown in the final minute. With just under 30 seconds remaining in the match, Nickal fired off a shot and scored a feet-to-back takedown for four points to go up 11-2. Russia challenged the call, which was upheld, giving Nickal an additional point and the technical superiority. He finished the tournament with two technical superiorities, a fall and a 9-1 victory. Greg Kerkvliet, the nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019, was edged in his bronze-medal match at 125 kilograms by Mongolia's Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, 4-4 on criteria. Kerkvliet held the 3-3 criteria lead after the opening period. He added to his lead with a step out to go up 4-3. With eight seconds left, the Mongolian drove Kerkvliet out of bounds, which was initially ruled a step out. However, Mongolia challenged the call. The call was overturned and ruled a caution and one, which gave Munkhtur the victory on criteria. Macey Kilty gets her hand raised after winning in the semifinals (Photo/Sachiko Hotaka, United World Wrestling) Kilty cruises to finals at 68 kilograms; Shilson, Parrish earn spots in repechage Macey Kilty went unscored upon en route to reaching the finals in women's wrestling at 68 kilograms. In the semifinals, Kilty dominated Yingying Wang (China), 11-0. Earlier in the tournament she had a pair of 10-0 technical superiorities over Alexia Sherland of Canada and Alina Rudnytska of Ukraine. It marks the fourth straight age group world championship event in which Kilty has reached the finals. She was a gold medalist at the Cadet World Championships in 2018 and has been a silver medalist at the Junior World Championships in each of the past two years. Two other American women, Emily Shilson (50 kilograms) and Dominique Parrish (55 kilograms), lost prior to the semifinals but will have a chance to wrestle back for bronze on Thursday. Shilson, a Junior Olympics gold medalist, was defeated in her opening match at 50 kilograms by three-time age group world champion Kika Kagata of Japan, 8-3. Kagata would go on reach the finals, keeping Shilson's medal hopes alive. She will wrestle in repechage on Thursday. Parrish opened her tournament by shutting out India's Rana Rani, 6-0. She was edged in her next match by Japan's Saki Igarashi, a U23 and Junior world champion, 4-3. Against Igarashi, Parrish led 3-0 at the break, but the Japanese wrestler scored two late takedowns to steal the match. Igarashi advanced to the finals, giving a Parrish a spot in repechage. Abby Nette and Precious Bell also competed on Wednesday but were eliminated from the competition when the wrestlers who defeated them failed to make the finals. Nette received a forfeit to start her tournament. She then fell to Yulia Pisarenka of Belarus, 4-1. Bell blanked India's Pooja 4-0 in her first match before losing by fall in her next match to Hui Tsu Chang of Taipei. Five more American women will open their competitions on Thursday. Those wrestlers include Felicity Taylor (53 kilograms), Arian Carpio (57 kilograms), Kayla Miracle (62 kilograms), Maya Nelson (65 kilograms) and Alyvia Fiske (72 kilograms).

Six months after a prominent wrestling coach was charged with hazing and child endangering, the case has been dropped. As InterMat reported in April 2019, Bart Freidenberg, active in various aspects of youth wrestling in the state of Ohio, had been charged with child endangering and hazing, based on an alleged incident in Franklin, Ohio -- a community about halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton -- back in the summer of 2018. On Friday, the Journal-News reported that the case had been dismissed without prejudice against Freidenberg, 58, due to "the reluctance of one alleged victim and the logistics of getting another alleged out-of-state victim to testify in Franklin Municipal Court." Freidenberg of Pickerington, Ohio near Columbus, had been released on his own recognizance back in April, pending pre-trial conferences and a jury trial that was set for late November. "We ended up dismissing the case without prejudice," said Franklin City Prosecutor Steve Runge. "We couldn't put together the witnesses as most were from out of state." Runge said some of the athletes and their parents were reluctant to testify for fear it might affect future opportunities to compete. In June 2018, the Ohio All-Star Wrestling Team coached by Freidenberg rented Franklin school facilities to conduct a camp prior to heading to the West Coast for a 6-8 week trip. The All-Star Wrestling Team had competitors from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. A participant in the camp from Cincinnati contacted his parents to tell them he had been the victim of a hazing incident at a Franklin public school and wanted to go home. His parents contacted Franklin police. Freidenberg has been the Ohio AAU Wrestling Chairman since 1986, and served as a wrestling coach at a number of schools in central Ohio. In 2006, Freidenberg was inducted into the AAU Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Bo Nickal after beating Iran's Hossein Shahbazigazvar (Photo/Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Bo Nickal made it look easy on Tuesday. The 23-year Nickal reached the finals of the U23 World Championships at 92 kilograms in dominant fashion. After getting a technical superiority in his first match, Nickal followed it up with a fall in the quarterfinals before dominating the returning U23 world champion in the semifinals. Nickal trailed 1-0 early in his semifinal match against returning U23 world champion Shamil Zubairov of Azerbaijan after giving up a step out. But the former Penn State star dominated the rest of the way. He took the lead with a takedown and added another point off a caution and one to lead 3-1 in the break. Nickal continued to pour it on in the second period, getting three more takedowns to win 9-1 and punch his ticket to the finals. Nickal opened his day by earning a 12-2 technical superiority over Hossein Shahbazigazvar of Iran. He then used a cradle in his quarterfinal match to earn a first-period fall over Takumi Tanizaki of Japan. He will face Russia's Batyrbek Tcakulov in the gold-medal match at 92 kilograms on Wednesday. Greg Kerkvliet, the nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019, reached the semifinals at 125 kilograms before losing to Russia's Vitali Goloev by technical superiority, 10-0. Goloev raced out to a 6-0 lead after a takedown and two exposures. He then ended the match early with another takedown and exposure. Kerkvliet, a true freshman at Ohio State, had been dominant prior to his semifinal loss, getting a 10-0 technical superiority in his first match before winning by fall in the quarterfinals over Salim Ercan of Turkey. He will wrestle for bronze on Wednesday. Brady Berge, an NCAA qualifier for Penn State, will get an opportunity to wrestle back for a bronze medal at 74 kilograms despite losing his first match of the tournament. Berge was blanked 5-1 by Russia's Razambek Zhamalov. The Russian would go on advance to the finals, giving Berge a spot in repechage. Cornell wrestlers Chas Tucker and Max Dean were both defeated in their first match and eliminated in the opening session. Tucker fell to Iran's Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi at 61 kilograms. Dean, a returning NCAA runner-up, was defeated by Japan's Hayato Ishiguro, 12-2, at 86 kilograms. Muhamed McBryde, a former Buffalo wrestler, finished in fifth place at 79 kilograms. He fell in the bronze-medal match to Turkey's Ramazan Sari, 8-3. The women's wrestling competition begins Wednesday at the U23 World Championships. Emily Shilson (50 kilograms), Dominique Parrish (55 kilograms), Abby Nette (59 kilograms), Macey Kilty (68 kilograms) and Precious Bell (76 kilograms) will compete for the United States. Wrestling begins at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) on Wednesday.

Alyssa Lampe shoots a double leg at the 2015 Pan American Games (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Norwich University head coach Alex Whitney finalized his coaching staff with the addition of volunteer assistant coach Alyssa Lampe. Lampe joins Whitney, assistant coaches Connor Keating and Erin Clodgo to form a very experienced and decorated staff. Lampe begins her first career coaching position with the Cadets in 2019-20. She will primarily work with wrestlers on the mat as a practice coach. Lampe arrives at Norwich with a thick portfolio of success on the national stage having competed on Team USA for six years culminating in a number one ranking at 48 kg/105.5 lbs in 2015-16. In that year, she claimed top spot at the U.S. World Team Trials. Lampe is a two-time world bronze medalist having captured third place at both the 2012 and the 2013 World Championships. The 39 podium finishes, including 18 victories with Team USA highlight her competitive and professional demeanor on the mat throughout her career. "The wrestling program is extremely fortunate to have such an experienced and savvy wrestling mind such as Alyssa come aboard to help continue raising the bar," said Whitney. "Her passion for the sport and her technical ability will have a tremendous influence on our wrestlers." Prior to her time with Team USA, Lampe attended Northern Michigan University, where she was on the United States Olympic Education Center women's wrestling team. Lampe wrestled in high school at Tomahawk in Wisconsin where she made history in 2006 by becoming the first girl to place in the state high school association's wrestling tournament, finishing second at 103 pounds in Division 2. "I would like to thank Norwich and Coach Whitney for offering me the opportunity to start my coaching career and hone my craft," said Lampe. "I look forward to working with the student-athletes and helping them build on the foundation they have already laid."

Muhamed McBryde will wrestle in repechage at 79 kilograms (Photo/Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling) BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The United States U23 freestyle team failed to advance a wrestler past the quarterfinals on the opening day of the U23 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The first five American freestyle wrestlers to compete compiled a combined record of 3-5 during Monday's opening session. Muhamed McBryde, a former wrestler at the University at Buffalo, remains alive and will compete in repechage at 79 kilograms on Tuesday. McBryde started his day with a 5-0 shutout over Junior European bronze medalist Erik Reinbok of Estonia. He then dropped his next match to Junior world bronze medalist Tariel Gaphrindashvili of Georgia, 4-2. Gaphrindashvili went up 4-0 in the first period after a takedown and exposure. McBryde would get on the scoreboard in the second period with a takedown, but ultimately fall short. McBryde earned his spot in repechage when Gaphrindashvili advanced to the finals by beating 2019 U23 European silver medalist Ramazan Sari of Turkey. His opponent in repechage will be Mostafa Sayed of Egypt. NCAA All-Americans Jaydin Eierman and Alec Pantaleo both picked up wins on Monday but were eliminated in the opening session. Jaydin Eierman posted a 1-1 record at the U23 World Championships (Photo/Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling) Eierman, a three-time All-American for Missouri, opened his tournament at 65 kilograms with a fall over Iran's Abolfazl Hajipouramiji. After going up 1-0, Eierman used a spladle to get a fall late in the first period. He then lost a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair to Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan, 13-13 on criteria. Akmataliev led Eierman 2-0 at the break and extended his lead to 9-2 in the second period. Eierman battled all the way back only to lose on criteria in the final moments of a match that saw 24 points scored in the final period. Akmataliev lost narrowly in the semifinals, ending Eierman's chance at competing in repechage. Pantaleo, a three-time All-American for Michigan, looked strong in his first match at 70 kilograms, blanking past Cadet world silver medalist Stefan Tonu of Moldova, 8-0. He was then edged in his next match by Daud Ibragimov of Azerbajian, 9-0. Pantaleo was eliminated when Ibragimov lost in the quarterfinals to Cherman Valiev of Russia. Singletary, an NCAA qualifier for Ohio State last season at heavyweight, lost by technical superiority, 16-6, in his first match at 97 kilograms to Dzianis Khramiankou of Belarus. His tournament came to a close when Khramiankou dropped his semifinal match to 2017 U23 world champion Mojtaba Goleij of Iran. Gabriel Townsell, a three-time NCAA qualifier for Stanford, was defeated in his first and only match of the day at 57 kilograms by Roberti Dingashvili of Georgia, 7-5. Dingashvili used a five-point throw in the first period, which Townsell was never able to overcome. Dingashvili was defeated in the quarterfinals, which put an end to Townsell's tournament. The United States will send its final five freestyle wrestlers to the mats on Tuesday: Chas Tucker (61 kilograms), Brady Berge (74 kilograms), Max Dean (86 kilograms), Bo Nickal (92 kilograms) and Greg Kerkvliet (125 kilograms). Tuesday's action will get underway at 10:30 a.m. local time, 4:30 a.m. ET.

Demian Maia gets his hand raised after beating Ben Askren at UFC Fight Night 162 (Photo/UFC Facebook) Ben Askren -- two-time NCAA champ for University of Missouri and 2008 Olympic wrestler -- suffered only his second loss of his decade-long professional MMA career when he was choked by Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Demian Maia in their main event bout at UFC Fight Night 162 in Kallang, Singapore Saturday. In the third round, Maia seized full mount position and turned it into back control, applying a rear-naked choke on Askren, who tapped out at 3:54 of the round. "It was a shockingly efficient finish against a high-level wrestler such as Askren, who lost his second straight after going unbeaten in his first 20 career fights," is how ESPN.com described the conclusion of the Maia-Askren welterweight (170-pound) bout. "The early rounds saw Maia executing well in striking and tagging Askren with some good shots," according to MMAJunkie.com. "Askren started to find a home for his takedowns as the bout wore on, and every time the action hit the ground the fighters produced exciting back-and-forth grappling exchanges." ESPN.com added some additional detail, reporting, "The first two rounds were contested mostly with both fighters on their feet, showing stiff, awkward standup skills one might expect from grappling specialists ..." "But Maia started coming on as Round 2 wore on. When Askren took him to the canvas with under two minutes to go in the round, the Brazilian quickly reversed position and threatened a submission." Sherdog.com offered its perspective on the end of the bout: "In the third round, Askren again took Maia down, and Maia once again swept quickly, this time with a heel hook attempt. Askren would not escape this time, as Maia took three-quarter mount, inducing Askren to give up his back. From there, it was academic, as Maia cinched up a rear-naked choke that forced Askren to tap out ⁠-- and appear to go to sleep briefly ⁠-- at 3:54 of Round 3." Ben AskrenAfter the match, Askren offered this self-analysis. "We had obviously trained so much back in camp; I had a really good jiu-jitsu guy," said the four-time NCAA finalist and two-time champ for the Mizzou Tigers in 2006 and 2007. "I guess I was overconfident. I guess there's a reason why he's the best grappler in the division, possibly in MMA ever. I was fairly confident that I was gonna get the reversal, but I didn't, and I failed, and obviously that was the outcome." "(The fight went) kind of as we planned," Askren said. "A couple of positions I would've liked to have get, like a muay Thai clinch more, but he was able to stay out of that. But I was landing the punches I wanted to land. I was landing my uppercut really well. And then I was getting takedowns. I think I ended up with four or five takedowns. And then I made a really bad decision." When asked, "what's next?" Askren responded, "I don't know. I've got to go home and sit down and talk about it and think about it. Obviously had a real busy year. It was fantastic. Even coming into this fight I'm thinking, 'What's next? Who am I going to call out?' When I lost -- everyone in the division is busy. A callout would be hard. There's no one that makes a whole lot of sense right away. With that being said, I'll probably wait and sit for a second and see what happens." With the loss, the 35-year-old Askren -- a former Bellator and ONE champion -- is now 19-2, 1 NC overall, and 1-2 since coming on board at UFC with a controversial submission over Robbie Lawler at UFC 235 in Las Vegas back in March ... while Maia, 41, is now 28-9 in his MMA career stretching back to 2001, with a total of 14 submissions and three consecutive victories.

Randy Couture, a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State who went on to hold UFC heavyweight and light-heavyweight titles, was released from a Los Angeles area hospital Friday two days after undergoing emergency surgery for a heart attack. The 56-year-old Couture suffered a heart attack during a workout at his Unbreakable Performance MMA gym in West Hollywood then walked "multiple blocks" to Cedars Sinai Hospital, according to his manager and lawyer Sam Spira . Randy CoutureUpon arriving at the hospital's emergency room, Couture underwent an EKG which indicated the UFC Hall of Famer had indeed experienced a heart attack, and according to Spira, "required immediate surgery to resolve the issue." Couture said Friday his heart attack had been caused by a blood clot in his diagonal artery, the result of what he described as his "crazy thick blood and normally high bad cholesterol." He went on to say that the cardiac catheterization (cath) lab cleared out the clot and inserted a stint. After the successful procedure, Couture issued a statement of appreciation to those who cared for him at the hospital this week. "Special thanks to the amazing staff at Cedars Sinai Hospital," said Couture. "From the ER to cardiac ICU, thanks for taking care of me. Thanks to all you out there expressing your concern. Your love and support mean the world to me and my family." Couture had a long career in combat sport. As a high school wrestler, he won a Washington state title. Couture then wrestled at the storied mat program at Oklahoma State, where he was a three-time NCAA All-American and twice an NCAA runner-up in 1991 and 1992. Beyond folkstyle success, Couture became a three-time U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team alternate in 1988, 1992 and 1996. In May 1997, Couture launched his professional MMA career at UFC 13 ... became the first fighter to hold two individual titles in UFC ... fought his last bout at UFC 129 in April 2011, ending his career with a 19-11 record. Couture was welcomed into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006. Beyond the Octagon, Couture has served as an MMA commentator, appeared in more than a dozen movies (including "The Expendables" movie franchise), is currently seen in the TV series "GunnyTime" and even competed in ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

Ed Ruth gets his hand raised after beating Jason Jackson (Photo/Bellator) Past Penn State wrestling champs Phil Davis and Ed Ruth came out as winners, while Oklahoma State All-American Jake Hager was involved in a bout that ended in a no-contest at Bellator 231 at Mohegan Sun Arena at Uncasville, Conn. Friday night. "Mr. Wonderful" scores third-round TKO win "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis -- 2008 NCAA champ for the Nittany Lions -- earned a third-round TKO over Sweden's Karl Albrektsson at 3:06 of the third round in their co-main event light-heavyweight (205-pound) bout at Bellator 231. "In the first two rounds, Davis outworked Albrektsson with kicks to the body at range and strategic wrestling," MMAfighting.com reported. "In the third round, though, Davis hurt Albrektsson with a pair of kicks to the body that had the Swedish fighter backing up and all, but totally defensive. Sensing weakness, Davis started attacking Albrektsson, lighting him up with punches on the fence before taking him down and pummeling the overwhelmed fighter on the floor, eventually forcing the referee to intervene." With the win, Davis now improves to 21-5 in his 11-year pro MMA career, and 8-2 in Bellator ... while Albrektsson is now 9-3 in his third year in MMA, and 0-1 after his Bellator debut. After the win, Davis urged Bellator to host a light-heavyweight grand prix tournament. Even if that doesn't happen, MMAfighting.com's Jed Meshew wrote, "Davis will have no shortage of options going forward." Ed Ruth "squeaks out" a split decision win For Ed "Easy" Ruth, it appears that his win at Bellator 231 was anything but easy. MMAfighting.com said that the three-time NCAA champ for Penn State "squeaked out" a split decision over Jason Jackson ... yet went on to describe the welterweight (185-pound) bout as "the best fight of the evening." BloodyElbow.com offered a similar description incorporating the word "squeaked": "Despite getting rocked in the first and dropped in the third, three-time collegiate national champion Ed Ruth squeaked by Jason Jackson with a split decision." Jackson had a powerful first round, but, some reports indicated that he appeared to be running out of gas by the end of the second ... "but all thoughts of that went out the window when Jackson dropped Ruth at the start of the third round with a monster right hand," according to MMAfighting.com. "Ruth was able to recover and spent the next four minutes chasing Jackson around, trying to win the round back. Eventually, Ruth went to his wrestling and it may have been his saving grace, allowing Ruth to ride out the end of the fight with Jackson's back." By the end of three rounds, one judge scored the bout for Jackson, while the other two gave the win to Ruth. Final score: 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for the former Penn State mat great, who celebrated his 31st birthday this past week. With the win, Ruth -- who tallied three straight national titles in 2012-14 -- is now 8-1 overall in his three-year MMA career (and the same record in Bellator) ... while Jason Jackson falls to 10-4 overall, and 1-1 in Bellator bouts. Low blow = no contest for Jake Hager Less than a year after signing with Bellator, Jake Hager -- former University of Oklahoma All-American wrestler, then WWE star -- had his third bout within the promotion as a heavyweight (265 pounds) at Bellator 231 in Connecticut. The first two appearances for the former pro wrestler once known as Jack Swagger secured first-round submission wins. However, the third time did not appear to be the charm for the 37-year-old Hager. "Jake Hager seemed to be off to a solid start in his third professional MMA match against Anthony Garrett, but a pair of knees to the groin in the first round caused the bout to be waived off," according to BloodyElbow.com. "The illegal blows were deemed unintentional, therefore the match was ruled a no contest." The match was ended at 1:56 of Round 1. Hager now has two wins, no losses and one NC in his inaugural year as a MMA fighter in the Bellator promotion ... while Barrett, 29, who was making his debut in Bellator, is now 4-2 (with one NC) overall in his pro career launched three-and-a-half years ago, and 0-0-NC in Bellator.

Grand View wrestling coach Nick Mitchell (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) As another college wrestling season is about to begin, it's an unbeatable time to take a look back at the most successful collegiate mat programs. In the past month, InterMat has been sharing the results of the Takedown Report blog's analysis of the wrestling coaches who have tallied the most national team titles in NCAA Division I, II and III. Now TDR has taken a similar, detailed look at the coaches at NAIA wrestling programs who have won championships at the annual national tournament. First, a quick bit of history. The NAIA National Championships first made their debut in 1958. In the 62 years of the tournament, there have been 63 championship teams. (In 1994, two teams tied for the title.) The coach with the most NAIA mat titles is Nick Mitchell of Grand View University, with a string of eight titles starting in 2012 ... with the most recent being in spring 2019. The Des Moines-based program still competes in NAIA. In second place in the team title race are two coaches and their programs: David James of Central State of Oklahoma, in the 1980s, and Joe Parsi of Lindenwood University in the St. Louis area, from 2002 to 2009. James and Parsi guided their teams to five titles each. (Both schools now compete in NCAA Division II.) David Ray of Montana State-Northern led his teams to four titles in the span from 1989 to 2004 to claim fourth place in team championships. Four coaches with a trio of NAIA titles each are tied for fifth place: Richard Ulrich of Adams State, Russ Houck of Bloomsburg State, Eddie Griffin of Central State and Mike Machholz of Missouri Valley College. Bloomsburg won their titles in the 1960s before moving to D-I. Takedown Report's Fleming does a masterful job compiling and presenting the statistics for NAIA coaches and programs which can claim at least one national title (many more than listed here) ... along with other tidbits of information that fans of NAIA wrestling -- and, in fact, fans of college wrestling at all levels -- will find fascinating. Hungry for the same sort of info on the three divisions of NCAA wrestling? Takedown Report already shared its analysis of Division I championship coaches as well as Division II championship coaches ... and Division III championship coaches. Questions? Comments? Contact TDR editor Martin Fleming directly at martinkfleming@gmail.com.

St. Thomas University will be adding a men's intercollegiate wrestling program taking to the mats for the first time in fall 2020, the private university located in Miami Gardens, Fla. announced Wednesday. In addition, the school revealed in the same announcement it will also be welcoming new men's and women's swimming and diving programs beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year. The new wrestling program -- along with the addition of swimming and diving -- will give St. Thomas University 21 varsity sports, all which compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). "We are thrilled to add these new sports, and to provide more options for college bound student-athletes," said St. Thomas University Athletics Director, Laura Courtley-Todd. "The university's approach and vision for ethical leadership, makes it very attractive to students and there is no better way of gaining leadership skills than through sports participation." David A. Armstrong, J.D., St. Thomas University President, echoed those sentiments, saying, "We know that students who participate in athletics are more engaged, socially and academically. We look forward to these new students continuing the positive momentum." St. Thomas becomes the third collegiate program in Florida to add the sport, joining Keiser and Southeastern. St. Thomas will be part of the Mid-South Conference, becoming the eleventh team in the sport and will compete against Southeastern, Keiser, Brewton -- Parker (Ga.), Campbellsville (Ky.), Cumberland (Tenn.), Life (Ga.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Midway (Ky.), Thomas More (Ky.) and Cumberlands (Ky.). Mike Moyer, the Executive Director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, said, "The NWCA extends a heartfelt thanks to the St. Thomas University Administration for their extraordinary leadership in establishing an intercollegiate wrestling program." "There are over 390-high school wrestling teams (7,700 participants) in Florida, and until now, two intercollegiate teams," Moyer added. "We will do everything we can, as an association, to ensure that the STU program is wildly successful." St. Thomas University is a private, four-year university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. Founded in 1961, STU has an enrollment of approximately 4,200 students.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Lehigh wrestling team kicked off the 2019-20 season with the annual Brown and White Wrestle-offs Thursday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. A crowd of just under 1,200 was treated to 11 bouts, many of which were decided in the third period or beyond. Four members of Lehigh's true freshman class also competed on the mat in Grace Hall for the first time. "I was happy to see guys out competing," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "It had been a long time since last March, so to see the guys back on the mats, it's always a fun part of the year." Senior Chase Gallik had the busiest night of all Lehigh wrestlers, competing twice in the opening and closing bouts of the night at 165. In his first match, Gallik took on deferred freshman Brian Meyer, who scored a takedown in the final five seconds to rally for a 5-4 decision. Gallik then closed the night against true freshman Edmond Ruth, with the first-year Mountain Hawk scoring two first period takedowns and two more in the third to win 9-5. At 125, junior Brandon Paetzell rode a fast start to defeat sophomore Luke Resnick 6-2. Paetzell scored two first period takedowns and added a third period escape plus 1:14 of riding time advantage. Both bouts at 133 featured their fair shares of excitement. The first bout matched sophomore Kent Lane against junior Joe Lobeck, with Lobeck racing to a 4-1 lead after one period. Lane rallied in the third, scoring a takedown and two-point near fall to get to 5-5 and then adding one more takedown late for a 7-6 decision. In the other bout, freshman Connor McGonagle and Nick Farro were 2-2 through regulation, with Farro scoring the only takedown. Farro rode out the first half of the first tiebreaker, then was awarded a stalling point and an escape in the second half of the tiebreaker to win 4-3. Fifth-year senior Ryan Pomrinca met true freshman Malyke Hines at 141. Another exciting bout saw Hines in on several quality shots early but unable to finish. A second period reversal put Hines up 2-1 after two, but Pomrinca scored a takedown in the third and with a trading of escapes plus a stalling point for Hines, the match went to sudden victory tied 4-4. With 19 seconds remaining in sudden victory, Pomrinca scored a takedown to win 6-4. Sophomore Jimmy Hoffman met junior Luke Karam at 149 with Hoffman getting the upper hand 5-2 behind a late second period takedown, a third period takedown and a 1:25 riding time advantage. EIWA champion Josh Humphreys delivered the first bonus point win of the night with a 9-0 major decision over freshman A.J. Burkhart at 157. Humphreys scored a first period takedown, reversed early in the second and added another takedown plus two point near fall in the third, while accumulating more than five minutes of advantage time. Another bout at 165 matched freshman Luca Frinzi and junior Trey Cornish. It was Cornish winning the takedown battle 2-1, but after Cornish chose neutral in the third, Frinzi's escape after Cornish's second takedown gave the freshman a 5-4 victory. "The freshmen wrestled well tonight," Santoro noted. "A few of them wrestled some seniors. In this atmosphere they competed really well. They won a few. There were some competitive overtime matches as well. "We saw a lot of good things from our veteran wrestlers as well," Santoro continued. "There were positives in just about every match." The second bonus win of the night belonged to junior Chris Weiler, who won a 17-2 technical fall over sophomore Eli Grape at 184. Weiler led 4-2 after one period, added a takedown and four point near fall in the second and then closed things out at the 5:55 mark following an escape, takedown and four point near fall in the third. At 197, freshman Elijah Jones scored takedowns in each of the first two periods to defeat junior Andrew McDonald 6-0. The Mountain Hawks will send a contingent of wrestlers to the Nov. 3 Princeton Open and the Nov. 10 Journeymen Collegiate Classic before opening the dual meet season at home against Oklahoma State at Stabler Arena on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. Tickets for that dual and all Lehigh home duals can be purchased at Lehigh. "We have two tournaments that will help decide our lineup for Oklahoma State," Santoro said. "Tonight was just another step. We have the Princeton Open next week and will be really important to see how we do there. Then we'll go to the Journeymen and wrestle in a tournament there. Hopefully after those tournaments we'll have our lineup for the first couple of matches and we'll see how it goes as the season moves on." The 2019-20 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem. Results: 165 – Brian Meyer dec. Chase Gallik 5-4 125 – Brandon Paetzell dec. Luke Resnick 6-2 133 – Jaret Lane dec. Joe Lobeck 7-6 133 – Nick Farro dec. Connor McGonagle 4-3, tb 141 – Ryan Pomrinca dec. Malyke Hines 6-4, sv 149 – Jimmy Hoffman dec. Luke Karam 5-2 157 – Josh Humphreys major dec. A.J. Burkhart 9-0 165 – Luca Frinzi dec. Trey Cornish 5-4 184 – Chris Weiler tech. fall Eli Grape 17-2, 5:55 197 – Elijah Jones dec. Andrew McDonald 6-0 165 – Edmond Ruth dec. Chase Gallik 9-5 Attendance –1,181 Official – Jesse Rawls Jr.

The majority of NCAA wrestling programs will be starting their wrestle-offs in the coming week and while there aren't many top names locked in battle for starting positions, lesser known names are looking to break out in 2019. This is the start of that journey. I remember being thrashed my freshman year. Outmatched in every possible way. By the time I wrestled again in an official wrestle-off it was in just that type of breakout situation. I'll save you the dramatic blow-by-blow, but I recall feeling that the opportunity was one I might not be granted again. I understood that beating out the starter -- to become the starter -- was an opportunity at the first dual meet, first tournament, and first crack at ranked competition. That led to anxiety, but in the way that drove me to, frankly, outperform when it mattered most. There is of course the added issue of competing against teammates, which lends to tension and social awkwardness. If you're a wrestler reading this, I promise you that it won't last that long. Your teammates all want the best wrestler and if that's you, great. If it's not, then work harder, wait for your opportunity, and support that starting guy. Hurt feelings don't win championships. The wrestle-offs are a special time of year. I wish the best to all those high school and college athletes competing! To your questions … Luke Pletcher gets his hand raised after winning his wrestle-off match against Quinn Kinner (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) Q: How do you think Luke Pletcher will do moving up from 133 pounds to 141 pounds? He's pretty short. Do you see that being an issue against longer, taller wrestlers? -- Mike C. Foley: Remember, Pletcher wrestled at 141 pounds as a true freshman (when Nathan Tomasello was at 133 pounds) and did well, reaching the round of 16 at the NCAAs. Length can give plenty of wrestlers cause for concern if they aren't prepared to combat those advantages. Pletcher has plenty of coaching to help direct his techniques and preparation when facing off against any extra-lengthy opponents. That's mostly the key: game planning and drilling the positions where you understand you'll be vulnerable. Similarly, I think Pletcher will probably find some advantages in having a more direct line of attack on the legs of a taller opponent. The issues he'll face is how he finishes. If he lifts the leg, steps outside and keeps distance from his opponent there is a good chance he can avoid any funk attacks. The ranginess of tall opponents is usually best seen when they defend singles by sitting on the head and wrapping through the crotch. Stay out of those danger zones and Pletcher will be just fine. Q: Of the No. 1 ranked wrestlers, how would you rank them from most likely champ to least likely champ? -- Mike C. Foley: 125: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) 184: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 165: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 285: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) 157: Hayden Hidlay (NC State) 133: Seth Gross (Wisconsin) 197: Kollin Moore (Ohio State) 149: Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 141: Dom Demas (Oklahoma) Q: Will be there be any medalists from this year's Senior World Championships competing at the U23 World Championships? If so, who? -- Mike C. Nugzari Tsurtsumia of Georgia celebrates after winning a world title at 55 kilograms (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Foley: Yes! Georgia's Nugzari Tsurtsumia, a 2019 world champion in Greco-Roman at 55 kilograms, is scheduled to wrestle, which is awesome. He's very fun to watch compete. His teammate Zviadi Pataridze didn't compete at Worlds but has won every age level tournament, every year. Total monster. Slavik Galstyan who finished bronze at 63 kilograms will be in Budapest as will Ali Nejati who took bronze at 60 kilograms. Paliha Paliha of China earned bronze at 72 kilograms in Nur-Sultan and will be wrestling 76 kilograms for the Chinese women in Budapest. There might be a few more, because after looking at 750 names I feel confident one or two slipped past my eyes! By the way, Haruna Okuno of Japan is a 2017 world champion and though she didn't compete at the 2019 World Championships might be on the move. Rumor has it she'll be making the cut to 50 kilograms for the Japanese national team tournament in late December in the hopes of winning there and qualifying the spot at the Asian Qualifier and thus earning an Olympic spot. In her way are Olympic champion Eri Tosaka, two-time world champion Yui Susaki, and 2019 world team member Yuki Irie. Here is the freestyle team for the United States heading into Budapest: 57: Richard Townsell 61: Charles Tucker 65: Jaydin Eierman 70: Alec Pantaleo 74: Brady Berge 79: Muhamed McBryde 86: Maxwell Dean 92: Bo Nickal 97: Chase Singletary 125: Greg Kerkvliet Q: What kind of salaries do top guys/gals get for RTC membership? -- @DenholtzScience Foley: The variety in payment is sure to be dramatic. From Snyder to a long shot All-American chasing down a dream, the payment schedules for the athletes will be notably different. On the lower end a resident athlete might be gifted $1K per month. More likely the lower-level RTC's and RTC athletes pin the income to coaching the local club, and then supplement with summer camps and some modest monies from the school to be a manager of operations. The above is the most common, with there being a range of salaries dependent on the benefactors and what other hard costs are covered. Many schools have apartments and homes they've purchased or leased, which allows the RTC athletes a free or discounted place to live. Then there are meal plan options and a number of other workarounds. Between the money and the cost elimination most seem to be doing well enough to get by. The second tier are the athletes being paid in the $2K-4K per month range who have fewer responsibilities, but still enjoy a lot of those same cost savings. Bigger names will also pull bigger money in the summer and if they are on the ladder they can receive payments from USA Wrestling. It's not life-changing, but it can be a career stabilizer. Also, the longer you're on the team, the more you wrestle, and the more you win -- the more you make. That dosh is well earned. Finally, there is Jordan Burroughs, David Taylor, Kyle Dake, and Kyle Snyder sitting atop the heap. What they get paid I don't know. Their RTCs could be any number of arrangements and the soft and hard cost coverage could range from use of a vehicle to a house, to jewelry. Anything is possible for the top-level guys, so much so that I can't even determine a salary range. Certainly, more than $3K per month, but the top range is so affected by those other inputs that it could be anywhere, even as much as $10K in some circumstances. Suffice to say, they're doing just fine. Q: Is the RTC model sustainable? Or are we on a path of geographic unofficial/official OTC's, here we have a few major sites with maybe some affiliated satellites? Interested to hear your opinion and recommendation. -- @pbr54321 Foley: You hit the RTC nail on the head with a Cowboy hammer! The first issue is that RTC programs aim to capture the same 30 athletes on the freestyle national team. Expand that a bit to 50 and you're still playing with a small pool of athletes and a lot of interested money prodding them to come to their schools. The current model won't be the model in five years. As you noted the rich are getting richer and the smaller schools just can't convert their investments in RTC infrastructure into more wins. Even if their international guys do well in tournaments there is just not enough trickle-down support in terms of raw dollars to justify those expenses at every school. What they are really doing is adding technically proficient athletes and coaches to their training environment. They don't want to let that go, but inevitably when a recession hits and generosity isn't as prevalent the belt tightening will hit the smaller RTCs first. My recommendation is to let it all play out at the RTC level. There isn't much need for USA Wrestling or the NCAA to intercede just yet. We have yet to see the full potential and there is always someone in the community with a good adaptation. And hey, if the NCAA folds under the financial pressure of athlete image rights, those RTCs might prove to be powerful assets in the creation of a European-style club and league system! Q: Do you think any freshman has a chance to win an NCAA title this season? Who is the most likely to win? -- Mike C. Foley: Sammy Sasso of Ohio State has the best chance at 149 pounds. However, I mostly subscribe to the idea of waiting to see how they compete in their first few starts in order to judge their ability to win an NCAA title in their first season as the starter. Maybe Tanner Sloan from South Dakota State at 197 pounds, David Carr of Iowa State at 157 pounds or Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa at heavyweight.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Fans, many of which were lined up outside the doors an hour before they opened, were treated to an evening of Buckeye vs. Buckeye wrestling action. Ohio State hosted the 2019 wrestle-off finals for the first grappling event inside the Covelli Center. Results: 125 lbs | Malik Heinselman def. Hunter Lucas | D, 7-2 133 lbs | Jordan Decatur def. Dylan Koontz | MD, 13-4 141 lbs | Luke Pletcher def. Quinn Kinner | D, 7-3 149 lbs | Sammy Sasso def. Trey Grenier | MD, 20-7 157 lbs | Elijah Cleary def. Jaden Mattox | TB1, 4-2 165 lbs | Carson Kharchla def. Ethan Smith | D, 3-2 174 lbs | Rocky Jordan def. Kaleb Romero | TB1, 2-1 184 lbs | Zach Steiner def. Gavin Hoffman | D, 5-4 197 lbs | Kollin Moore def. Tyler Stein | TF, 19-4

Ray Judkins, considered to be the father of the wrestling program at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, has passed away on Sunday, October at age 82, the two-year public community college in Miami, Okla. announced Tuesday. Ray JudkinsJudkins had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Judkins launched the Golden Norse wrestling program at NEO in 1975. With Judkins at the helm, NEO won two regional championships, two conference titles as well as a number of invitational tournament championships. During the years 1981-1985 with Judkins as head coach, the NEO Norseman experienced 36 wins and 19 losses and 2 ties in collegiate matches. In his 6 years of coaching wrestling at NEO Judkins produced 12 NJCAA All-Americans and was named regional coach of the year. He was welcomed into the NEO Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. Born in Oklahoma City in June 1937, Raymond Laverne Judkins was a student-athlete at Northeastern Oklahoma in the 1950s, where he played football and baseball. He was an AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) wrestler. He graduated from NEO in 1957. "I am proud to follow in the footsteps of him and do what we are doing," current Norse wrestling coach Joe Renfro said. "He was probably one of the first people I met when I came to campus seven years ago. It's a great loss not only for NEO wrestling, but for NEO as an institution and the Miami community." A Celebration of Life for Judkins will take place on Friday, October 25 in the Bruce Carter Student Union Calcagno Ballroom on the NEO campus. A reception will begin at 2 p.m. followed by a brief memorial program at 2:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to send donations to the Wrestling Program at NEO A&M College Foundation, 200 I Street NE, Miami, Okla. or to the Animal Welfare and Adoption Agency at their PayPal account miamiadoptadog@gmail.com.

Mitch McKee wrestling Joey McKenna at the NCAAs (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Mitch McKee can see it from his house. The bright purple lights that glow at night from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It's the place where his beloved Minnesota Vikings play. And the place where he hopes to cap his collegiate career with an NCAA wrestling championship. "Having the 2020 NCAA tournament there is going to be amazing," McKee said. "I will have a lot of family and friends there, and it's going to be incredible having nationals in that stadium. It's going to be awesome to finish my career there." Mitch McKee gets his hand raised after win at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) McKee starts his senior season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers ranked No. 4 by InterMat at 141 pounds. McKee placed sixth nationally at 141 pounds last season after bumping up a weight class from 133 pounds. He compiled a 24-8 record as a junior. "My career has definitely gone by fast," McKee said. "It doesn't feel like it's been that long. It's been amazing, being a part of this wrestling program and this university. I like the way it has turned out so far." McKee has found the perfect fit at the University of Minnesota during an emotional time for the close-knit McKee family. Mitch McKee hugs his father Steve after claiming a state title in 2014 (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)McKee's father, Steve, lost his battle with cancer in 2014. A few months before Steve died, he shared one final magical, heartfelt moment with his son when Mitch won a Minnesota state high school title. Mitch hugged his father following the win before the wrestler he pinned in the finals, Malik Stewart, also came over to hug McKee's father. The sellout crowd at the Xcel Energy Center stood and rewarded both wrestlers with a standing ovation. The inspirational story drew national attention. When Mitch became an NCAA All-American for the first time in 2019, his thoughts immediately flashed to one person. "Every time I think about wrestling, I think about my father," Mitch said. "When I became an All-American, I thought about all of the sacrifices my parents made for me and my brother (Patrick). They took us all over the country to compete. If there was a big tournament, we were going. They invested a lot of time and money in us. You don't realize that when you're a little kid, but looking back I really appreciate what they did for us." Mitch (top right) and Patrick with mother Nina and father SteveMcKee said his father is never far from his thoughts. "Everything I do reminds me of our relationship," Mitch said. "Wrestling, going hunting, going fishing -- those were all things we enjoyed doing together. My father brought a lot of inspiration and motivation to my life. He showed great character. He was a great person and the way he treated others was impressive." McKee's mother, Nina, continues to provide stability for their family. "My mom, she's our rock," Mitch said. "Her support has been awesome. She kept us going after everything that happened with my dad. She's done a lot for us. I can't thank her enough. My mom's always been there for us." McKee has continued to thrive on the mat. His wrestling style is entertaining. He can score points in bunches with an aggressive style. He has recorded 25 career falls, leading his team in that category each of the past three seasons. "That's my mindset when I go out there," he said. "I want to score as many points for my team as I can. I work hard and try to go for a pin. That's the mentality I've always had." McKee is part of a strong Minnesota team that is ranked in the top ten. "We really like the team we have," he said. "We have some veterans and we have some good young guys in our lineup. We think this team has the potential to win a trophy at the NCAA tournament this season." McKee's brother, Patrick, also is expected to contend for a starting spot for the Gophers this winter. He is a freshman who competes at 125 pounds. "I'm very excited to have my brother in the lineup," Mitch said. "I had some good mentors when I came to Minnesota and I will help him and mentor Patrick as much as I can. He lives in the same house with me and we're very close. It's great having him on the team with me." Mitch McKee has thrived in the classroom as well, being honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the Big Ten for his academic achievements. Mitch McKee won a silver medal in freestyle at the 2017 Junior World Championships (Photo/Marion Stein, UWW) McKee also has excelled in the international style of freestyle. He was a silver medalist at the Junior World Championships in 2017. "I definitely plan on continuing to wrestle freestyle after college," he said. "I have had some good success and freestyle is my best style. I'm excited about pursuing it full-time after college." Before he pursues his freestyle aspirations, McKee has one final goal he wants to achieve in college. And with the 2020 NCAA Championships being held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, the stage will be set for him to finish in style. "I'm really looking forward to the opportunity," McKee said. "Going out and winning it would be the perfect way to end my career. Being at home, would make it that much more special. Mitch McKee gets in on a shot against Peter Lipari of Rutgers (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) No matter how he finishes, Mitch McKee knows one member of his family who will always be in his corner. "My dad was always there to support us in everything we did and that will always stay with me," McKee said. "He always wanted the best for me and our family. He always told us to work hard and follow our dreams. I wish he could be there, but I know he would be proud of me." This story also appears in the Oct. 25 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.

On Episode 39 of The MatBoss Podcast, host Chad Dennis returns with his college teammate, Jason Laflin, to talk fantasy wrestling as the two drafted after WrestleStat developed a fantasy wrestling engine for wrestling fans. The fantasy discussion centers around who's going what weights and where and how it's like other sports. How's it work and how's it going to work? About MatBoss: Created by coaches for coaches, MatBoss for iPad® integrates wrestling stats directly into the video you record for each match, completely replacing the need for labor-intensive pencil and paper scoring systems. It's the wrestling stats app our sport has been waiting for. Focus on coaching, not busy work Improve through video analysis Make data an advantage Eliminate scoring errors Increase exposure Become a digital coach For more information, visit MatBossApp.com. Follow MatBoss on Twitter and subscribe to the show @MatBossApp | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Podcasts | RSS

It's an exciting time of the year with college wrestling practices starting and the season just a few weeks away. Every season is interesting, unique and special. And the 2019-20 campaign is no different with so many compelling storylines waiting to unfold. Penn State has won four straight team titles and eight of the last nine. Will that trend continue this March in Minneapolis? That is just one of the top storylines to follow with the college season drawing closer: Zahid Valencia after winning his third Pac-12 title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Zahid ready for new challenge at 184 Arizona State's Zahid Valencia is one of the country's best wrestlers, regardless of weight class. After winning a pair of 174-pound titles, Valencia has a new weight class this season after bumping up to 184 pounds. The past Junior world silver medalist is a superb all-around wrestler with an excellent arsenal of moves. He's provided a huge boost as Zeke Jones continues to build his program at ASU. Will Seth Gross win it again at new school? 2018 NCAA champion Seth Gross is back on the mat and he is now at the University of Wisconsin as a graduate transfer. Gross placed second and first in the country for South Dakota State before suffering a season-ending back injury early in the 2018-19 campaign. He moved to Wisconsin for his final season, where he is reunited with former SDSU coaches Chris Bono and Jon Reader. Gross is a tough wrestler in all positions who is difficult to match up against. If Gross is healthy, he's going to be tough to beat at 133 pounds. Especially with returning champion Nick Suriano of Rutgers and runner-up Daton Fix of Oklahoma State taking Olympic redshirts this season. Going for three Vincenzo Joseph has won two NCAA titles, but he has been overshadowed during his Penn State career by standout teammates Zain Retherford, Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf and Mark Hall. But Joseph has a chance to finish his career as one of the best wrestlers in school history. He won nationals as a freshman and sophomore before reaching the finals again last year at 165. He starts this season ranked No. 1. Joseph isn't as flashy as some of his teammates, but he's a solid and tough wrestler who is tough to score on. He certainly will contend for another title as a senior. Can Spencer Lee do it again? It wasn't easy, but Iowa's Spencer Lee repeated as NCAA champion at 125 pounds during his sophomore season. Lee suffered losses to Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera and Oklahoma State's Nick Piccininni last season before regaining momentum in time to win his second national title. Lee, who owns three age-group world titles in freestyle, is a wrestler who knows how to peak when the stakes are highest. Rivera, Piccininni and NCAA runner-up Jack Mueller of Virginia are all back this season. It's never easy to win NCAAs, but I wouldn't bet against Lee. He's still on course to be the first Hawkeye to win four NCAA titles. David Carr after winning a gold medal at the Junior Worlds (Photo/Kadir Caliskan, United World Wrestling) ISU's David Carr set to make big impact Iowa State features one of the nation's most exciting and dynamic wrestlers in freshman David Carr, who won a Junior world freestyle title this past summer. Carr went 23-1 during his redshirt season at ISU and he should be in contention to win a national title at 157 pounds. His father, Nate, won three NCAA titles for the Cyclones in the 1980s before capturing an Olympic bronze medal. David Carr is good enough to challenge for an NCAA title as a freshman, something that has happened more frequently in recent years. It's going to be fun to see how Carr fares during his college career as Kevin Dresser's ISU program continues to progress. Contenders or pretenders? Besides Penn State and Iowa, there are a number of programs looking to grab team trophies for the first time in a while. Those schools include Wisconsin, Nebraska, Arizona State, Minnesota, Iowa State and Northern Iowa. You never know who might get hot at the right time and earn a top-four finish at NCAAs. And with so many wrestlers taking Olympic redshirts this season, it could definitely alter how the team race plays out in 2020. Is it Hayden's time? North Carolina State's Hayden Hidlay nearly stopped Jason Nolf's run to three national titles. Now Hidlay is ready to win it all during his junior season. Hidlay starts his junior season ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds and he will be the person to beat in that division. He's a gifted wrestler who also has a bright future ahead in freestyle. Gable Steveson gets in on a shot against Christian Colucci of Rutgers in a dual meet (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Can Gable earn gold at home? One of my favorite college wrestlers is Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson, who placed third as a freshman last season. He is a tremendous athlete who is unstoppable when he wrestles aggressively. Look for Steveson to come back strong and make a run at a national title this season. He's an age-group world champion with a huge upside in freestyle. He could contend for a spot on the 2020 Olympic Team. Steveson will be wrestling at home with the national tournament being held just down the street from the University of Minnesota campus. How many fans will attend 2020 NCAAs? I've always hated seeing wrestling fans being turned away from an event because there aren't enough seats available. It doesn't happen often, but it has been an issue at the NCAA Championships. It likely won't be an issue this season with the 2020 NCAAs set to be held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings will have more than enough room to accommodate fans. Now it's up to wrestling fans, and sports fans in general, to fill this place up for nationals. It's going to be interesting, and awesome, to see how it all plays out in late March. You won't want to miss it as attendance records will be shattered. Can anyone challenge the Nittany Lions? Coach Cael Sanderson has built a dynasty at Penn State and the Nittany Lions look extremely strong again this season. Penn State lost superstars Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf, but it still has three NCAA champions in its lineup with Mark Hall, Vincenzo Joseph and Anthony Cassar. The Iowa Hawkeyes return virtually everybody, including two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee, and looked poised to challenge the Nittany Lions for the team title. Iowa hasn't won NCAAs since it captured its third straight title in 2010. With a healthy Michael Kemerer coming back, this may be the year the Hawkeyes reign again in late March. As always, it will be entertaining to watch. Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.

Dremiel Byers wrestling at the 2009 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that the Class of 2020 inductees are Distinguished Members Bruce Burnett, Dremiel Byers, Mark Lieberman and Bill Zadick, Meritorious Official Tim Shiels, Order of Merit recipient Gary Abbott, Medal of Courage recipient Gary Chopp and Outstanding American Carl Eschenbach. "This group has accomplished and done so much for wrestling and they continue to give back to our great sport," said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. "We are proud to honor these remarkable individuals as our Class of 2020." The Hall of Fame Board of Governors approved the selections at its meeting in Kansas City on Oct. 16. The induction ceremony will be held at the 44th Annual Honors Weekend on June 5-6, 2020 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For more information on Honors Weekend, please telephone (405) 377-5243. Byers and Zadick were chosen as Distinguished Members for the Modern Era while Burnett and Lieberman were selected by the Veterans Committee. The Hall of Fame has reached a milestone and will induct its 200th Distinguished Member since it began in 1976. Distinguished Members can be a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in national and/or international competition; a coach who has demonstrated great leadership in the profession and who has compiled an outstanding record; or a contributor whose long-term activities have substantially enhanced the development and advancement of the sport. Bruce Burnett speaks at a press conference prior to the start of the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Bruce Burnett has been a successful coach at the high school, college and international level. He was USA Wrestling's national freestyle coach from 2014-2016 and from 1993-2000, considered the most successful Olympic cycles in U.S. history. During his tenure, five Americans won Olympic gold medals - Kendall Cross (1996), Tom Brands (1996), Kurt Angle (1996), Brandon Slay (2000) and Kyle Snyder (2016) - and 11 U.S. athletes won 13 World Championships - Bruce Baumgartner (1993 and 1995), Terry Brands (1993 and 1995), Tom Brands (1993), Melvin Douglas (1993), Angle (1995), Kevin Jackson (1995), Les Gutches (1997), Sammie Henson (1998), Stephen Neal (1999), Jordan Burroughs (2015) and Snyder (2015). From 1993-2000, U.S. wrestlers won 22 World medals (11 gold, four silver and seven bronze) and placed in the Top 10 at the World Championships as a team every year. United States won its first-ever Senior World Freestyle team title in 1993 and again in 1995. U.S. won the medal count at the 1996 Olympic Games with three gold (Angle, Tom Brands and Cross), a silver (Townsend Saunders) and a bronze (Baumgartner). Burnett coached J'den Cox to a bronze medal and Snyder to a gold medal at 2016 Olympic Games after coaching Burroughs and Snyder to World titles in 2015. He led the United States to seven World Cup team titles and five Pan American Championships, including 2011 when the U.S. had six medalists, including champions Burroughs, Jake Herbert, Jake Varner and Tervel Diagnev. From the national teams that he coached, Angle, Baumgartner, Terry Brands, Tom Brands, Cross, Douglas, Gutches, Henson, Jackson, Zeke Jones, Kenny Monday, Neal, Saunders and Dave Schultz are all Distinguished Members of the Hall of Fame. Burnett was the wrestling coach at the United States Naval Academy from 2000-13, leading his teams to a 113-57 overall dual meet record and six consecutive 10-win seasons from 2002-07. Team finished in Top Five at the EIWA Championships seven times and placed in the Top 25 at the NCAA Championships three times. Burnett coached 10 EIWA champions, 50 NCAA qualifiers and 10 wrestlers who earned All-American honors. He was an assistant coach for Joe Seay at Oklahoma State from 1987-90, helping lead the Cowboys to two NCAA team titles, two National Wrestling Coaches Association National Dual titles and three Big Eight Conference titles. OSU had 26 All-Americans and five national champions, including Distinguished Members John Smith, Cross and Pat Smith. Burnett began his coaching career at Meridian High School in Meridian, Idaho, where he led his teams to a 154-13-2 dual meet record with four state team titles, four state runner-up finishes, six district titles and nine conference titles from 1974-87. He won the Idaho Coaches Association Coach of the Year award seven times, and served as state chairperson and junior chairperson for Idaho USA Wrestling. On the mat, Burnett was undefeated in dual meets and a two-time Big Sky Conference and Mountain Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion for Idaho State University in 1971-72. He was a two-time California Junior College state champion for Bakersfield College, compiling a 55-3 career record and being named the state's outstanding wrestler in 1970. Burnett was a two-time league champion and three-time state place-winner for North Bakersfield (California) High School. He was inducted into the Idaho State Sports Hall of Fame in 1986, the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and the North High School Hall of Fame in 2013. Burnett received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Idaho Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named the Myron Roderick Man of the Year by USA Wrestling in 2016. Dremiel Byers is considered one of the best Greco-Roman wrestlers in U.S. history, joining Distinguished Member Matt Ghaffari as the only Americans to win three medals at the Greco-Roman World Championships. Byers won a gold medal at the 2002 World Championships and is one of just five Americans to win a Greco-Roman World gold medal - Mike Houck (1985), Dennis Hall (1995), Rulon Gardner (2001) and Joe Warren (2006). He added a bronze medal in 2007 and a silver medal in 2009. His bronze medal win in 2007 helped the United States win its first and only Greco-Roman World team title, by a single point over Russia. Byers made eight World Greco-Roman teams (1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and two Olympic teams, finishing seventh in 2008 and ninth in 2012. He is the winningest wrestler, in any style, in Dave Schultz Memorial International history with six gold medals and 11 total medals. Byers attended Kings Mountain High School in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, where he was an All-State wrestler and won the North Carolina state high school heavyweight championship in 1993. He attended North Carolina A&T on a football scholarship, but was forced to leave college to take care of family matters. Byers then enlisted in the U.S. Army and joined the Army's World Class Athletes Program in 1996. He retired from the Army as a Sergeant First Class and currently serves as an assistant coach for the WCAP team at Fort Benning, Georgia. Byers was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Alan and Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions in 2015. Mark Lieberman is acclaimed as Lehigh University's greatest overall wrestler, if combining all styles. He was a two-time undefeated NCAA champion at 177 pounds in 1978 and 1979 after a runner-up finish in 1977 at 167. He is part of another special wrestling family with his brother, Mike, winning the NCAA championship for Lehigh in 1975 at 177 pounds. Mark was the first four-time EIWA champion in school history pinning an unbelievable 12 of 16 wrestlers in the EIWA tournament, a record for the 110-year old event. In his senior year, he swept the EIWA's major awards, winning the Outstanding Wrestler Trophy, the Sheridan Trophy for most falls and the Fletcher Award for scoring the most team points in his career. He still holds Lehigh records for season falls (16), career falls (43) and most bonus points in a season (95.2% of his matches in 1979). Wrestling for the New York Athletic Club, he was an AAU national champion in 1977 and won the U.S. Wrestling Federation national championship in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Lieberman won a gold medal at the World Cup in 1978 and a silver medal in 1979. He won the Pan Am Wrestling Championships in 1977. He pinned his idol, 1976 Olympic gold medalist and Distinguished Member John Peterson, in the finals of the National Open in 1978 to earn the Outstanding Wrestler Award, the Most Falls Award, the U.S. Wrestling Federation Grand Champion Award and 1978 Athlete of the Year. Three of Lieberman's national open titles and all of his international medals were won as a college undergraduate. Lieberman also defeated Distinguished Members Wade Schalles, Chris Campbell and Ed Banach in freestyle competition. Helping launch the Blair Academy (New Jersey) freestyle program, he won the AAU Junior World national championship in 1974 and 1975 and was the U.S. Wrestling Federation Junior national champion in 1973. Lieberman won the National Independent Schools championship (National Preps) in 1972, 1973 and 1974 and was outstanding wrestler two times. Lieberman was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches' Hall of Fame in 1987, the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994, the EIWA Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Blair Academy Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. Bill Zadick won a gold medal at the World Championships in 2006 after finishing seventh in 2001. In 2006, he and his younger brother, Mike, became the first set of brothers since Terry and Tom Brands in 1995 to both make the same World or Olympic team. Zadick won the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2002 and had runner-up finishes in 2003, 2006 and 2008. He finished second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2000 and 2008 and was runner-up at the U.S. World Team Trials in 1999 and 2002. Zadick was an NCAA champion as a senior in 1996 after a fifth-place finish in 1995, helping the University of Iowa win back-to-back NCAA team titles. He wrestled at Great Falls (Montana) High School and is one of only 17 wrestlers to win four Montana state high school championships, which he accomplished in four different weight classes - 98 pounds (1988), 112 pounds (1989), 119 pounds (1990), and 135 pounds (1991). Zadick joined USA Wrestling as its resident coordinator and assistant national freestyle coach in 2009 and was promoted to national freestyle development coach and assistant national freestyle coach in 2010. During his four years with the age-group teams from 2011-14, the U.S. won eight Cadet World medals, nine Junior World medals and 10 medals at the University Worlds or University World Games. Included were Cadet World champions Adam Coon, Mark Hall, Spencer Lee, Mason Manville, Aaron Pico and Zain Retherford, Junior World champion Kyle Snyder and University World champions Tyler Caldwell and Tyrell Fortune. In 2014, the U.S. age group World teams reached new levels of success in freestyle as the Cadets placed third in the world, the juniors placed second in the world and the University team won the world title. In 2015, Zadick began working directly with national coach Bruce Burnett and the elite senior athletes. He was part of the coaching staff at the 2015 World Championships, where Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder won gold medals and James Green won a bronze medal. The U.S. also won the medal count at the 2015 Pan American Games with six medals, led by champions Burroughs, Brent Metcalf, Zach Rey and Snyder. Zadick was named national freestyle coach in 2016, assuming his duties after the 2016 Olympics. In 2017, the U.S. won its first World team title in 22 years led by gold medalists Burroughs and Snyder, silver medalists Thomas Gilman and Green and bronze medalists J'den Cox and Nick Gwiazdowski. Zadick and his staff also produced one of the greatest years in USA Wrestling age-group history, including winning the Junior World team title for the first time in over 30 years. At the 2017 Cadet World Championships, the United States placed second with four champions and six medalists and had two individual medalists and placed fourth at the U23 World Championships. At the 2018 Senior World Championships, the Americans finished second and had seven medalists, including World champions Cox, Kyle Dake and David Taylor. In 2019, Zadick led the United States to another successful season, including becoming the first team to win all 10 gold medals at the Senior Pan American Championships. At the Senior World Championships, the U.S. finished third and had four medalists, including Cox and Dake repeating as World champions while Burroughs earned his eighth career World/Olympic medal and Snyder picked up his fifth in a row. The Outstanding American award is presented to those individuals who have used the disciplines of wrestling to launch notable careers in other walks of life, such as science and technology, business and industry, government and the military, and the arts and humanities. Carl Eschenbach begin his wrestling career with East Stroudsburg Youth Association where he was the first ever to win six individual league championships in seven years. He was the first wrestler to be named to the Pocono Record's All-Pocono First-Team four straight years, and won a gold medal at the Centennial League wrestling tournament as a senior in 1985 after winning a silver medal in 1982 and bronze medals in 1983 and 1984. Eschenbach had a runner-up finish at District XI and a third-place finish in the Northeast Regional in 1985. He is currently a Partner with Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, California. Sequoia is an iconic venture capital firm who helps the daring build legendary companies. Prior to Sequoia Eschenbach was President and COO of VMware from 2002-2016 where he helped build the company from 200 to 20,000 employees and from $30M in revenues to $7B. Today VMware is a $60B+ market cap company. Prior to VMware he held various sales leadership positions at 3Com, Lucent, Inktomi and EMC. In 2007, Eschenbach was ranked third on a list of the Top 25 Most Innovative IT Executives in the nation. Eschenbach currently serves on the boards of Armis Security, Aurora, Cohesity, Palo Alto Networks, Snowflake Computing, UiPath, Workday and Zoom Video Communications. He also lettered three years in baseball and football and earned Most Valuable Athlete awards in wrestling in 1983, 1984 and 1985 and in baseball and football in 1985. Eschenbach was an All-Centennial League First Team selection in baseball and football in 1985 and was voted Best All-Around Male Athlete. He was captain of the wrestling team for three years and was captain of both the baseball and football teams as a senior. Eschenbach is enshrined on the East Stroudsburg-South Athletics Hall of Fame and football's Walls of Fame. He earned an electronics technical diploma from DeVry University. Eschenbach is passionate about leadership and believes that wrestling has had a massive impact on his life and professional career. The Meritorious Official award recognizes outstanding service as a referee, judge, or pairing official. Tim Shiels began officiating fulltime in 1988, working the regional and state tournaments in his home state of Minnesota. He began focusing on college officiating in 1989 and has worked 12 NCAA Division I national championships, seven NCAA Division II national championships, 19 NCAA Division III national championships, five national junior college tournaments and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament. Shiels has worked five NCAA DI finals and was selected as a Top 5 Official by the NCAA Officials Association in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He served as the head official at the NCAA DIII national tournament six times and has worked nine National Wrestling Coaches Association Dual Meet Championships and nine Big Ten Championships. Shiels became the first active official to serve on the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee when he was elected in 2013 and he has served as an evaluator of officials at the Minnesota state high school tournament since 2008. In 2015, Shiels became NCAA Wrestling's National Coordinator of Officials, replacing Hall of Fame official Dr. Pat McCormick, who had held the position for 42 years. Shiels wrestled for his father, Hall of Fame coach Dick Shiels, at Faribault (Minnesota) High School, qualifying for the state tournament twice and placing fifth as a junior. He lettered in wrestling and golf at Waldorf College, serving as team captain in wrestling, and then at the University of Minnesota Morris. Shiels earned All-American honors and helped his team finish third with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Division III tournament in 1981. He had a career record of 106-41-1 and qualified for the National Junior College tournament twice at Waldorf and qualified for the NCAA DIII championships twice at Minnesota Morris. Coaching wrestling at St. Olaf College from 1982 to 1988, Shiels coached six All-Americans and led the team to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA DIII tournament in 1986 and an 11th-place finish in 1987. Shiels was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1987 after his team won the All-Lutheran tournament and finished second at the MIAC tournament, 1/2 of a point behind champion St. Thomas. He received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. The Medal of Courage recipient is a wrestler or former wrestler who has overcome what appear to be insurmountable challenges, providing inspiration to others. A couple of months after concluding his wrestling career at Grand Valley State University with a sixth-place finish at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament, Gary Chopp went skydiving. During the 3,000-foot jump, his main and reserve parachutes malfunctioned, causing him to fall freely during the last 300 feet until he crashed into the ground. Chopp fractured his spine, shattered his pelvis, lost a kidney and spleen while suffering paralysis in one leg. He credits the physical, mental and emotional strength he gained as a wrestler for helping to not only stay alive at the time of the accident but also to achieve inspired goals during the ensuing seven months in the hospital and throughout his life. After recovering in the hospital where he lost 90 pounds as he fought to stay alive, he changed his major and returned to school. He eventually entered law school, sat on the school's first law review, graduated in the top ten percent of his class in 1981, and won the Distinguished Student Award. Successfully practicing as a trial lawyer for 35 years, Chopp continued to experience complications from the accident. He underwent several surgeries, including the amputation of a leg and the development of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a chronic pain condition that recently forced him to retire from the practice of law. Chopp lettered four years (1971-1975) in wrestling at Grand Valley State which began its wrestling program in 1968. He had a career record of 67-26, and he was one of the team leaders who helped Grand Valley achieve its goal of becoming a nationally competitive wrestling program. Chopp lettered four years in wrestling and two years in football at Grand Ledge (Michigan) High School. In wrestling, he was a conference champion as a junior and senior, helping Grand Ledge capture the team title both years. Chopp was team captain and qualified for the state tournament as a senior while also placing in Greco-Roman at the Junior World Olympics. The Order of Merit is presented to an individual that has made a significant contribution to the sport of wrestling, but who is not an athlete or a coach. Gary Abbott is Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling. He began working at USA Wrestling as Manager of Communications in 1988, was promoted to Director, and was named Director of Special Projects in 2001. Abbott has worked at major wrestling events in the United States and around the globe, including eight Olympic Games, dozens of Senior and age-group World Championships and 38 straight NCAA Championships. He is responsible for USA Wrestling communications activities, including publications and other media platforms, media relations, promotions, public relations and special projects. Abbott oversees USA Wrestling's magazine USA Wrestler and handles the organization's corporate communications program. In 2013, he was a prominent figure in the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling in wrestling's fight to remain an Olympic sport. Abbott has been a pioneer in building women's wrestling for decades, including most recently, the creation of a national girls high school wrestling poll and helping women's wrestling receive emerging sport status from the NCAA. He has promoted the growth of wrestling by providing coverage for all of wrestling's disciplines. He manages USA Wrestling's Associated Styles program, including grappling and beach wrestling. Abbott has been instrumental in the growth of Cadet and Junior Nationals, which drew a record 5,400 athletes in 2019. Prior to joining USA Wrestling, he was editor of Wrestling Masters from 1982-87, creating content and producing the national magazine. He also served as publicist for the National Wrestling Coaches Association and developed the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. He founded the ASICS Tiger High School Wrestling All-American Team in 1985. Abbott was a four-year starter on Boston University's varsity wrestling team, competing for Hall of Fame coach Carl Adams. He received the Publicist of the Year award from the National Wrestling Media Association in 1991 and won the organization's Publication of the Year in 1996. In 1992, Amateur Wrestling News presented him with its Bob Dellinger Award, presented to the wrestling writer of the year. He was the 2005 AWN Man of the Year, and received the 2005 NWCA Meritorious Service Award. Abbott was one of three founders of the NWMA in 1988 and served as its president from 1991-92. He has served as chairperson of the Hall of Fame's Distinguished Members screening committee and as a member of the selection and veterans committees. Abbott served on the steering committee of the Olympic Public Relations Association and participated in the Team USA Leadership Certificate Program, which is the flagship leadership development program for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movements. He received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University in 1982. National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum America's shrine to the sport of wrestling, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976 to honor the sport of wrestling, preserve its history, recognize extraordinary individual achievements, and inspire future generations. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame has museums in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Waterloo, Iowa. The Stillwater, Oklahoma, location reopened in June 2016 following a $3.8 million renovation while the Waterloo, Iowa, location reopened in March 2019 after undergoing a $1.4 million renovation. Both museums now feature interactive exhibits and electronic kiosks, as well as the opportunity to watch NCAA Championship matches from the 1930s to present day. Stillwater also has the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors where the greatest names in wrestling are recognized, including iconic granite plaques presented to Distinguished Members since the Hall of Fame opened in 1976. The museum has the largest collection of wrestling artifacts and memorabilia in the world, including the most collegiate and Olympic wrestling uniforms. Wrestling truly is for everyone and the diversity and accessibility of the sport continues to be highlighted through exhibits featuring females, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latino Americans. There is also a library featuring historical documents, including NCAA guides and results, as well as books on the sport. For more information about the Hall of Fame, please visit www.NWHOF.org.

Hastings College will be welcoming women's wrestling to its roster of intercollegiate sports starting in the 2020-2021 school year, the Nebraska-based school announced Monday. A new varsity men's volleyball will also take to the gym floor next year at Hastings College. With the addition of women's wrestling and men's volleyball, Hastings College will now field 26 competitive teams. Like the school's other varsity athletic teams, these new Broncos athletic programs will be affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). School administrators are eager to welcome the two new sports programs. "We're excited to launch these new athletic teams and provide opportunities for more student athletes to experience Hastings College," said Hastings College President Dr. Travis Feezell. "The teams are reflective of the institution, our athletic conference and where we want to go as a college." Director of Athletics B.J. Pumroy said Hastings College recognizes intercollegiate athletics as an important component to the College's learning community. "Women's wrestling is a fast-growing sport in intercollegiate and interscholastic levels across the country," said Pumroy. "We believe it's the right time to join the trend of schools adding the sport to meet an increasingly growing marketplace. We know Nebraska high schools traditionally have strong wrestling programs. We also believe with the national and state increase in participation in girls wrestling, the Nebraska School Activity Association may soon sanction the sport." According to the Hastings College announcement, at the NAIA level, 20 schools competed in the inaugural NAIA National Invitational Women's Wrestling Championship held in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 2019, including two from the GPAC and three from the Nebraska. There are 63 colleges and universities nationwide which sponsor women's wrestling at various levels. The NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics also recently recommended women's wrestling to be recognized as an emerging sport, which is the first step to NCAA official championship sponsorship. Eighteen states have women's wrestling championships at the high school level. In Nebraska, 168 girls competed for their high school teams in the 2018-19 school year, which is the 20th largest state participation number. Nationally there were 2,980 high school sponsoring teams and 21,124 girls wrestling at the high school level in 2018-19. Hastings College is conducting national searches to find head coaches for both programs. Founded in 1882, Hastings College is a four-year, private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Located (appropriately enough) in Hastings in south-central Nebraska, Hastings College has been named among "Great Schools, Great Prices" by U.S. News & World Report and a "Best in the Midwest" by The Princeton Review. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students.

Kenny Anderson (Photo/Getty Images) Kenny Anderson, three-time NCAA Division III wrestling champ for Wartburg College less than a decade ago, passed away Sunday, October 20 in New Orleans where he was living. He was 29. Anderson won three straight NCAA titles for the Waverly, Iowa-based Division III mat powerhouse, claiming the 125-pound championship at the 2012 NCAAs, then back-to-back crowns at 133 in 2013 and 2014. In his mat career as a Knights wrestler, Anderson crafted a 76-3 overall record, and served as team captain as a senior, helping lead his team to three D3 team titles. Not much is known at this time about Anderson's passing. Here's what sportswriter Jim Nelson of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier wrote: "According to the limited information that wrestling hall of famer Jim Miller and current Wartburg College head wrestling coach Eric Keller have learned of the situation is that Anderson was found unconscious in his residence in New Orleans by a roommate Sunday morning." Keller learned of Anderson's death in a phone call from former Wartburg wrestler Steven Kleamenakis, a native of New Orleans. Kleamenakis' brother was a roommate of Anderson's in Louisiana's largest city, where he was about to start his first season as co-head wrestling coach at Holy Cross High School, a New Orleans school which had sent a number of its wrestlers to Wartburg. "Total shock and disbelief ... it is hard to process right now," Keller told Nelson's Courier. "He was loved for who he was on the mat and who he was off the mat." "He was 29. I'm in shock," added Jim Miller, who was Wartburg's head coach when Anderson arrived in Waverly. "I'm truly at a loss for words. I'll never forget you Kenny. You will be deeply missed. Prayers for the Anderson Family," T.J. Miller posted on Facebook. After his on-the-mat career, Anderson launched his coaching career ... first as an assistant Wartburg, then more recently, at Cornell College, a Division III school in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Here's the message Wartburg wrestling posted on its Twitter account: "The entire Wartburg Wrestling family is shocked and heartbroken over the news of Kenny Anderson's passing," the school said in a release. "Kenny was one of our greats (three-time NCAA champion) and one of the fiercest competitors to put on our singlet. "We send our deepest prayers and sincerest thoughts to his family, his friends, and the entire wrestling community. He will be greatly missed and his time with our program treasured and never forgotten." Anderson's death reminded Wartburg wrestling fans of the passing of another Knight mat great, Aaron Wernimont, who passed away suddenly in 2012 at age 26. Wernimont's birthday was Oct. 20 ... the date of Anderson's passing. Prior to coming to Wartburg, Kenny Anderson had wrestled at Billerica High School outside Boston, where he won three Massachusetts state mat titles, and won the New England title at 119 pounds in 2008. He was inducted into the State Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011. "I feel very badly for Kenny, he's a great kid who was moving in the right direction in life," Anderson's high school coach, Bob Belanger, told the Boston Herald. "He was very passionate about the sport. He had a great work ethic." UPDATE 10/23/2019 Funeral arrangements for Kenneth (Kenny) J. Anderson have been announced. Visiting hours will be held Friday, October 25 from 3-7 p.m. at the Sweeney Memorial Home, 66 Concord Rd., in Anderson's hometown of Billerica, Massachusetts. A funeral mass will take place Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. at St. Theresa Church, 466 Boston Rd., Billerica at 10 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made in Kenneth's name to the Billerica Scholarship Foundation, 365 Boston Rd., Billerica, MA 01821. Burial in Fox Hill Cemetery, Billerica.

LAURINBURG, N.C. -- St. Andrews University has hired Nicholas (Nick) Soto to be the new Head Coach of the Men's Wrestling team. The Spring Hill, Florida native will start coaching the Knights wrestling team this upcoming season. Nick SotoSoto comes to us after coaching as a graduate assistant coach at Seton Hill University. Soto also has experience coaching in high school, where he helped Cleveland High School (who became State Champions), Jesuit High School and Springstead High School. Soto attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he was a decorated wrestler. While at Chattanooga, Soto was a four-time NCAA Qualifier and four-time SoCon Champion. Soto was ranked in the top 15 every year and was undefeated in conference competitions in his four years at Chattanooga. Soto is fourth on UTC's All-time Win's list. He's a Reno Tournament of Champions winner, a Southern Scuffle finalist and multiple time place winner, and a Hokie Open Champion and multiple time place winner. In high school, Soto was an NHSCA three-time All American, a two-time Florida State Champion and a three-time place winner. Soto's high school team at Springstead High School was the first athletic team in their county to win a state title. Soto graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a bachelor's in business administration in 2015. While at Chattanooga, Soto was a continuous member of the Dean's List and Athletic Director's List. Nick Soto comes to St. Andrews to fill in for long-time head wrestling coach, Joe Baranik. Baranik led the Knights wrestling team for 13 plus years, and he took special pride in re-starting the wrestling program at St. Andrews after a 36-year hiatus. Baranik developed three All-Americans and 52 athletes with academic honors. Coach Baranik said his 2009-2010 season was one of the most memorable. The Knights qualified seven individuals to Nationals, and they placed 21st. Baranik also enjoyed coaching his son, Troy, for four years. Baranik on leaving the St. Andrews Wrestling program: "It is hard to leave the kids I recruited, but the athletic department has made a great hire in Nick Soto. I appreciate SAU in giving me the opportunity for my first head coaching job on the collegiate level. I also want to thank my wife and daughter for attending all the home matches and giving me and the Knights their full support." About St. Andrews University St. Andrews University is a branch of Webber International University located in Laurinburg, NC. The University's mission is to offer students an array of business, liberal arts and sciences, and pre-professional programs of study that create a life transforming educational opportunity which is practical in its application, global in its scope, and multi-disciplinary in its general education core. Students will acquire depth of knowledge and expertise in their chosen field of study, balanced by breadth of knowledge across various disciplines, while pursuing a degree at associate, bachelor, or master level. Special emphasis is placed on enhancing oral and written communication, and critical thinking skills. The international quality of the student body enriches personal experience and promotes understanding of international cultures and influences. Through an atmosphere in which self-discipline, creativity and cultivation of ethical standards are enhanced, the University is dedicated to teaching its students the "how to learn, how to think, and how to apply method" to each new challenge.