InterMat Staff

WATERLOO, Iowa -- The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum is going to undergo a $1.4 million renovation and will be better than ever, but it is going to require closing the facility for four months. National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable MuseumThe museum will close on Monday, August 6, to begin preparations for the renovation, which is scheduled to begin on September 1 and be completed by Dec. 15. The project will transform the facility into a state-of-the-art museum with interactive displays. It will also expand the wrestling room, teaching center and theater, providing more opportunities for youth wrestlers to practice and receive instruction. Located in a refurbished section of downtown Waterloo, the museum is named for wrestling legend and Waterloo native Dan Gable. Gable was a two-time NCAA champion and three-time finalist for Iowa State and an Olympic gold medalist. He coached the University of Iowa to 15 NCAA team championships, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1980. "It's not just a building; it's a place you want to go to, time and time again, and it never gets old," said Gable. "There are more than 110 years of wrestling on display." "We want the museum to be a symbol of excellence and a source of pride for the community," said Gable. "These improvements will make the museum more modern and appealing and a place you want to go, but more importantly, they will give us the ability to impact more young lives and make a big difference in their future." Exhibits are being developed by Dimensional Innovations of Kansas City, creators of the exhibit spaces and kiosks for the $3.8 million makeover of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum in Stillwater, which was completed in June 2016. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum's wrestling room will remain open through August. Please contact the Gable Museum at (319) 233-0745 or dgmstaff@nwhof.org with questions.

USA Wrestling announced on Thursday that Helen Maroulis will face Alex Hedrick for her spot on the 2018 U.S. World Team on Oct. 6 at Grace Hall on the campus of Lehigh University. Maroulis has been recovering from a practice room injury and was granted time to recover, as stated in the USA Wrestling guidelines Should she make the team, Maroulis will be looking to defend her world title for the fourth straight year having won the 2015 World Championships, 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championships (where she outscored her opponents 53-0). If she wins in Budapest she'll be the first American to win four straight world titles since John Smith pulled off that feat in 1990 winning his fourth world title at the world championships in Tokyo. Kyle Snyder may pull off the same recognition. If the three-time defending world title holder does make it a fourth straight it'll likely come after besting rival Abdulrashid Sadualev. Though don't get too excited for Snyderlaev II, since the Russian Tank needs to first best teammate Batciev at the Russian Nationals this weekend. Streams to that tournament are linked below. To your questions … Q: Will there ever be a time when the World Championships are just for the best wrestlers and not just the qualifiers from countries? Imagine every country only being able to send one representative to Wimbledon. -- @jagger712 Foley: The question of who to invite to the World Championships, or rather who qualifies, has been discussed since the Soviets were running through the competition in the 1970's. The thought then was that there were a number of nations who had top-level talent unable to make the team. While the question has been around for a while, a lot of the discussion around implementation has disappeared, due in equal parts to: the breakup of the Soviet Union, success of the Olympic Games in spreading the sport to new nations, and the failure of any nation to qualify a wrestler for every spot in 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games. (Russia qualified all open spots in 2008.) The breakup of the Soviet Union allowed for a number of new nations to enter the Olympic movement, including powerhouse wrestling nations like Azerbaijan and Georgia. But there were several more that came with the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Now the nations who were once backlogged had more options in terms of competing nations. The Olympic Games at 7-7-4 and now at 6-6-6 has led to a tremendous growth in the number of active nations participating in the sport of wrestling. To understand the system, first imagine that you don't live in the United States (the richest nation in the history of the world) and instead lived in Macedonia. The only funding you receive in Macedonia comes through the government -- a government without a bunch of excess monies to distribute. The only way to get them to back wrestling is to have individuals succeed at the sport. That dynamic can often feel like a Catch-22 (succeed and you get paid, but the only way to succeed is through funding) but in fact there are a lot of inexpensive options for tournament success for smaller nations through the continental development funds and Olympic Solidarity. Look at nations like Nigeria, Croatia, Brazil, and India to see how even a modicum of success at the World Championships can lead to a windfall of financial support for training, coaching and even stipends for housing and food. That model is adversely affected if Russia, Azerbaijan, and the United States close out the majority of the medals. The final reason for no need to add spots per nation is that in the past two Olympic cycles no nation has qualified all 18 Olympic weight categories. While seeing a backlog of talent in the United States at 74 kilograms might have seemed like a pressing matter, it's part of the trade-off the United States makes for having access to top-level training and almost endless financial support. Yes, some potential medalists might stay home, but that doesn't outweigh the overall mission of the Olympic sports to bring nations together and grow the sport around the world. As a tangential note to this inquiry it should be noted that world and continental championships are also moved around the world in order to help facilitate ease of travel for participating nations, and to allow for host nations to build their financial coffers in support of their programs. The money made at the tournament helps fund that nation's programs, which is instrumental in growing the sport in new areas. Also, that government officials -- who hold purse strings -- also get to watch the sport is an added bonus that sometimes helps jiggle loose funding in future years. As for Wimbledon, that is a Grand Slam event not run by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which is the equivalent of United World Wrestling for tennis. The Grand Slams each have their own unique qualifying procedures, though players do earn ATP points for their performances at the Grand Slams. Q: Picks for Russian Nationals? -- @kozakjon Foley: 57: Zaur Uguev 61: (Rashidov in waiting) 65: Kuular (Bekbulatov in waiting) 74: Ketik Tsabalov 79: Magomed Gadzhimagamedov 86: Vladislav Valiev 97: Abdulrashid Sadulaev 125: Alan Khugaev David Taylor wrestling Aleksander Gostiyev of Azerbaijan at the World Cup (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Q: Kyle Dake and David Taylor have had some nice international wins, but neither wrestler has competed at the World Championships. Wrestling fans are talking like they are locks to make the World finals. Don't you think American wrestling fans need to pump the breaks a little bit on Dake and Taylor? -- Mike C. Foley: Putting aside Kyle Dake for a moment, I think that it's an understatement to say that David Taylor has had "some nice international wins." He just decked four dudes in one weekend! At a top-level international tournament! He hasn't lost this year and has a 2017 win (via pin) over the 2016 Olympic champion at 74 kilograms. David Taylor is arguably the hottest wrestler in the world right now. If you're a foreigner preparing for the World Championships where you might see David Taylor, what do you prepare for? What set of moves can you predict from your feet, from par terre, from a clinch that could possibly stop him? When facing Taylor a foreign wrestler has to be 100 percent effective at implementing their strategy for six minutes. There can't even be so much as a hesitation on a low single (cradled), laziness in defending a high gut wrench (leg and deep half), or a lack of energy (positional dominance). Any mistake and it's hasta lasagna. I think there are some answers to beating Taylor, but right now I think that it'll take a while before the international wrestling community comes up with all the details necessary to knock him off his game. Oh, and the other thing, Taylor adapts and morphs. He's got new stuff all the time. It might not be new-new, but I bet that if you watched his matches from Yarygin the thought occurred that you hadn't seen anyone hit THAT before in an international match. The guy is out there treating grown-ass Turkish men like they are sophomores from Brecksville stepping on the mat for the Ironman quarterfinals. And Dake is equally terrifying, but for a whole different set of reasons. He's the strongest 79-kilogram wrestler in the world. Save the Yarygin finals where he looked a little tuckered out, he seems unwavering in his determination to capture a gold in Budapest. No matter how bad the loss was in January, you'd be a fool to bet against him in October. All the guy does is win big tournaments. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Kushti being taught to Indian youngsters Russian Nationals promo Russian Nationals streams Q: Why are the World Championships so spread out for Cadet (July), Junior (September), U23 (November) and Senior (October)? -- Mike C. Foley: If for no other reason than the staff at United World Wrestling can remain happily married. I'm (kinda) kidding, but the scheduling is the toughest part since you have to ensure the resources of the host nation and the international federation are in place. Also, this allows for some of the 18-23 crowd to float through tournaments and gain as much access as possible to top-level competition. Q: Thoughts on this American Wrestling League? Who scheduled their first event in August? Smart to push the event back until after the World Championships? -- @EricOlanowski Foley: Information has been difficult to come by, but the idea was to loop in with events in Iowa. The only problem is that the Iowa State Fair will likely be pulling fans to the other side of the state. Also, there is some issue with pulling wrestlers from other countries since almost none of them would be willing to travel so close to the World Championships. Would be interesting to me if that effort was put towards hosting a grand finale for the Ranking Series. Big prize event with lots of media attention, kind of like what we see with Beat the Streets, but on an even more international scale. Athletes making real money while fans get a show on-par with what we've seen with the World finals and Final X. Q: Daton Fix and Spencer Lee both going to wrestle at 125 pounds this fall? If so, how do you see that working out? -- @german663 Foley: I suspect Daton Fix will wrestle 133 pounds with Nick Piccininni at 125 pounds. Q: If Greg Kerkvliet does what everyone expects and signs with Penn State, what do you think Seth Nevills will do? Stay at Penn State? Sign elsewhere? -- Mike C. Foley: I have a blind spot for the transferring of athletes and their motivations. Was this move because he lost at the World Championships? Why is Penn State the frontrunner? And why would that then cause Nevills to transfer? I'm guessing the answers are something like: kinda, Cael, and competition.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced today that Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) has joined the league as an associate member in the sport of wrestling, effective immediately. Ouachita Baptist, which is the lone full-time member of the Great American Conference to sponsor the sport, becomes the GLVC's six wrestling institution. For the 2018-19 season, Ouachita Baptist, which is located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, will compete in NCAA Super Region Four - a nine-team region comprised of three other GLVC members in Drury University, Maryville University and McKendree University, as well as five members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Bellarmine University and the University of Indianapolis will represent the GLVC in Super Region Three. Now entering its third season, GLVC wrestling had previously operated with seven member institutions, however the resignation of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and the elimination of the Truman State University program, dropped membership to five institutions, one shy of NCAA sport sponsorship standards. "The Great Lakes Valley Conference is pleased to welcome Ouachita Baptist University to our wrestling family," said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. "Given its position in one of our two Super Regions, OBU is an ideal fit for the GLVC, and we are excited to provide all the opportunities that come with conference affiliation to its student-athletes." Not only will OBU student-athletes wrestle for a GLVC Championship this year, they will also be eligible for all major postseason honors such as GLVC Wrestler and Freshman of the Year, All-Conference awards, the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award, GLVC Wrestler of the Week, and all end-of-year academic awards. "We are excited about our wrestling team becoming an associate member of the GLVC," said Ouachita Baptist Athletic Director David Sharp. "This will provide our student athletes the opportunity to compete for both an individual and team conference championship." Kevin Crutchmer, who is set to begin his second season at OBU, echoed those sentiments. "We are very excited and honored to compete in such an established conference with a lot of tradition in all sports," Crutchmer said. "We can't say thanks enough to the Great Lakes Valley Conference administrators, coaches of the five teams that we will be competing against, David Sharp and Dr. Ben Sells, for allowing us this opportunity to compete for an attainable goal for our program. Our student athletes will be able to accomplish personal goals inside the conference that will be honored for a lifetime. That's really important to athletes in a program trying to excel in all facets of growth." The GLVC Championship will be determined in a new format this year as the past two seasons have featured Conference dual matches over a three-week period in late January and early February. In 2018-19, the six GLVC programs will be paired with a travel partner, with whom they will compete against any time during the week of Jan. 21-27. The season-opening duals will feature UIndy at Bellarmine, McKendree at Maryville, and Drury at Ouachita Baptist. All six teams will then compete in their final four duals during a one-day, five-round competition at UIndy on Saturday, Feb. 2. The team with the best winning percentage from its five GLVC dual matches will be crowned GLVC Champion. To add to the championship environment and experience for the student-athletes, GLVC coaches will conduct All-Conference and major postseason awards voting at the conclusion of the competition, with the honors being presented shortly thereafter at the GLVC Championship banquet. The GLVC Championship will be streamed live on all GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN) platforms, including GLVCSN.com, its iOS/Android mobile apps, and its Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV OTT platforms. The first GLVC duals are expected to be streamed by the host institutions. In the brief two-year existence of sponsoring wrestling, the GLVC has been represented by three NCAA individual champions, two NWCA National Wrestler of the Year honorees, 16 All-Americans, and 38 NCAA qualifiers. Additionally, the GLVC has placed at least one team in the top 10 at the NCAA Championship in each of the past two years and seen three programs finish in the top 20 of NWCA All-Academic Team honors, including the past two academic champions in Indianapolis (2017) and Maryville (2018) for highest team GPA. This past season, OBU saw incoming 165-pound senior Tyler Mann finish fourth at the NCAA Championships to become the eighth different All-American in program history. As a team, OBU finished 23rd overall, marking the sixth time in eight years the team earned a top-25 finish. For more information on GLVC wrestling, stay tuned online at GLVCsports.com and @GLVCsports (#GLVCwrestle) on Twitter.

Dale Anderson, two-time NCAA champ and key member of the 1967 Spartan wrestling team that won that school's first national mat team title, is one of five athletic alums who will be welcomed into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame this fall, the East Lansing-based school announced Tuesday. Dale AndersonIn announcing Dale Anderson's place in the Class of 2018 for the MSU Hall of Fame, school athletics director Bill Beekman said, "Dale Anderson is one of the most decorated Michigan State wrestlers of all time. He excelled on the mat, as one of just five two-time NCAA Champion wrestlers in school history. His individual success included three Big Ten titles and three All-American honors. But he's just as proud of the team's success of three conference championships and one national title during his wrestling career. For all his athletic success, his academic performance was just as strong, posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during his NCAA Championship season in 1967, and being selected as MSU's 1968 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient." Anderson won back-to-back NCAA titles at 137 pounds in 1967 and 1968, and is considered instrumental in helping Michigan State win the team title at the 1967 NCAAs, earning that honor before other Big Ten mat programs such as University of Iowa, Penn State, or Minnesota. "Things fell into place that season," Anderson, a Spartan from 1965-1968, is quoted as saying in the Michigan State Hall of Fame announcement. "We certainly didn't go into year thinking that we were going to win the national championship; we were nobodies in the wrestling world. We just wanted respect." Before coming to Michigan State to wrestle for legendary coaches Grady Peninger and Doug Blubaugh, Anderson had deep wrestling roots in the state of Iowa. He was born in Fort Dodge, but eventually ended up in Waterloo, where he attended Waterloo West High. Anderson wrestled for legendary coach Bob Siddens, and was a teammate of Dan Gable's, though, as he pointed out in a 2016 interview with InterMat for his book "A Spartan Journey: Michigan State's 1967 Miracle on the Mat", "There was very little intersection with Dan Gable, but a lot with his dad," as Anderson was a senior, and Gable was a sophomore. Anderson won two Iowa high school state titles at Waterloo West. Then, after generating considerable interest among college wrestling programs, Anderson headed east to East Lansing to continue his on-the-mat success which has now resulted in being honored by his college alma mater's athletics hall of fame. Anderson and the other four Class of 2018 honorees -- Savatheda (Fynes) Coke (track & field), Rachel Miller (rowing), Jimmy Raye (football), and Bill Wehrwein (track & field) -- will be welcomed into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday, Sept. 27 as part of the school's annual "Celebrate" weekend. The Celebrate 2018 weekend includes the ninth-annual Varsity Letter Jacket Presentation and Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 27 and then a special recognition of the Hall of Famers during the Michigan State-Central Michigan football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29. The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays key moments in Spartan Athletics history as well as plaques of the 144 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992. "I'm in awe at the list of credentials for this year's Hall of Fame class," said MSU AD Bill Beekman. "This group has combined for 14 All-American honors, 12 individual Big Ten Championships, six individual NCAA Championships and three team NCAA Championships."

Jerry Best coaching at the Walsh Ironman (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) In Episode 1 of The MatBoss Podcast, Chad Dennis talks with Allen (Texas) High School head wrestling coach Jerry Best. They discuss what it takes to build a top national program, Bo Nickal, transferring, scheduling, women's wrestling, fundraising, college wrestling in Texas and much more. 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 | RSS (Coming Soon to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spreaker and Spotify)

NCAA All-American wrestler and former UFC champ Cain Velasquez is one of seven former Arizona State athletes who will be welcomed into the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018, the school announced Tuesday. Cain VelasquezVelasquez came to Arizona State after one year at Iowa Central Community College where he won the 2002 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Heavyweight National Championship. At ASU, Velasquez won the 2005 Pac-10 conference crown -- and was named Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year -- then went on to earn NCAA Division All-America honors by placing fifth at the 2005 NCAAs. After graduating from ASU, Velasquez launched his pro mixed martial arts career, becoming heavyweight superstar by winning 13 of 15 fights at the start of his career, all but two were KOs and eight of them were first round KOs. Velasquez won the UFC heavyweight crown in 2010, becoming the first Mexican-American to win a heavyweight title in MMA or boxing history. Velasquez will join fellow ASU alums Derrick Rodgers (football), Katie Burkhart (softball), Ashley Kelly (gymnastics), Jackie Johnson (track), Desiree Davila-Linden (track & field/cross country), and Francisco Sanchez (swimming) as members of the Class of 2018 Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame. Velasquez and his fellow honorees will be inducted to the Hall of Fame during ASU's football game on Saturday, Sept. 29 against Oregon State. The Hall of Fame Luncheon will take place on Friday, Sept. 28 at The Pera Club (1 E. Continental Dr., Tempe, AZ 85281) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The luncheon will include a formal induction ceremony into the SDA Hall of Fame by the ASU Athletic Heritage Committee. Tickets are $50 per person or $500 for a table of 10. The Sun Devil Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to honor Arizona State's most distinguished student-athletes in all sports. The ASU Athletics Hall of Distinction, inaugurated in 1982, recognizes outstanding contributions from coaches and administrators. Student-athletes become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame ten years after graduation.

Sam Barber (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- USA Wrestling has announced Sam Barber as the head coach of Team USA's youth wrestling team who will compete at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Barber enters his fifth season as head coach for Air Force, and was an assistant coach at the Academy for five previous years. Barber is a former Manager of Coaches Education for USA Wrestling. He has been a head coach for Augsburg College (Minn.) and Upper Iowa University (Iowa). Barber has coached numerous international teams for USA Wrestling, including Cadet and Junior Pan American teams. Wrestling is one of 32 sports which will be featured at the Youth Olympic Games, an elite, multi-sport event for athletes between the ages of 15-18 that is organized by the International Olympic Committee and held every four years. This is only the third Summer Youth Olympic Games, and competing in this event is a major honor. Barber will lead four athletes representing Team USA. Emily Shilson of Maple Grove, Minn. at 43 kg/94.5 lbs and Tiare Ikei of Honolulu, Hawaii at 49 kg/108 lbs, will compete in women's freestyle. The U.S. athletes in men's freestyle wrestling are Robert Howard of Cranford, N.J. at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Carson Manville of Kingston, Pa. at 65 kg/143 lbs. "I am extremely honored and humbled to lead and coach our Olympic hopefuls," exclaimed Barber. "As the head coach at the United States Air Force Academy, I am thrilled to represent our outstanding Academy and our nation at the Youth Olympic Games." "The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of amateur athletics," continued Barber. "I am excited for the opportunity to represent the United States of America with the goal of hearing our national anthem being played and our flag raised as our athletes bring home gold medals." The Youth Olympic Games will be held Oct. 6-18, with the wrestling competition to take place Oct. 12-14 in Argentina.

Eric Olanowski (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On this episode of Matside, Richard Mann chats with United World Wrestling Web Content and Social Media Coordinator Eric Olanowski. The two discuss the performance of Team USA at the Yasar Dogu International including Jordan Burroughs vs. Frank Chamizo II, David Taylor's festival of pins, Kyle Dake's dominant run, Kyle Snyder taking a loss, Thomas Gilman getting back into top form and more. Follow InterMat on Twitter and subscribe to the show @InterMat | Apple Podcasts | Google Play Music | Stitcher | Spreaker | RSS

Scott DelVecchio HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Stevens Institute of Technology Head Wrestling Coach Joe Favia has named 2018 All-American Scott DelVecchio an assistant coach, it was announced Monday. DelVecchio arrives on Castle Point after a distinguished four-year career at Rutgers University, where the South Plainfield, New Jersey native finished tied for 23rd in program history with 88 wins and qualified for three NCAA Championships. "Our goal has always been to provide our wrestlers with the best environment to win," Favia commented. "The addition of Scott is just another step in the right direction. He believes in our system and our pursuit of a national title. Scott lived the Big Ten mentality we preach and he will bring that level of intensity to our room every day. We are very happy to welcome Scott to our family." DelVecchio, who was a two-time Big Ten championship placewinner at 133 pounds, became just the fourth Scarlet Knight since 1979 to enter the national championship unseeded and earn All-American status, with a come-from-behind win over Drexel's seventh-seeded Anthony DeSanto. He will be charged with working with Stevens' lightweight wrestlers, assisting with technique and match preparation, calling upon his wealth of high-level experience to enhance an an already dominant area of the program. The Ducks earned individual championships at 125, 133, 141, 149, 157 and 165 pounds en route to a fourth consecutive Centennial Conference Championship and rising sophomore Brett Kaliner posted the highest individual finish in program history as the national runner-up at 141 pounds, earning the program's second consecutive d3wrestle.com Rookie of the Year accolade. Additionally, rising 133-pound junior Troy Stanich is coming off back-to-back third place finishes at the NCAA Championship and rising senior Joey Borai also earned 32 wins at 125 pounds, while earning the Centennial's Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and Google Cloud Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). "I am grateful for the opportunity to step into a great program and continue to build on what [Coach Favia] has started," DelVecchio added. "This team has been on the rise and I am excited to help take this team to a new level. I believe in this team and staff and fully believe that we can accomplish our goal of a national title and multiple All-Americans and national champions." Stevens returns to the mat in late October, looking to build off a fourth-place finish in the 2017 national championships, the highest-ever finish for the program. Wrestling also ranked third in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) academic team standings, matching the highest placement in team history.

"Any body can wrestle." It's a popular phrase in the wrestling world, illustrating the idea that, unlike other sports that are designed for a specific body-build, wrestling is open to athletes of all shapes, sizes, heights and weights. (One of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's most popular exhibits is a display showing life-size images of a wide range of amateur wrestlers where visitors can compare themselves to Stephen Neal or Adeline Gray or the other three wrestling champs featured.) A similar image could be created for NCAA heavyweight champions ... as athletes who won this prestigious title in nearly 90 years of the Nationals have stood 5'10" up to 6'6" ... and tipped the scales from 190 pounds to nearly 450. (As you can imagine, these champs had a wide range of body-builds, from shredded musculatures that made them look like Greek statues ... to something more resembling the Michelin man, Teletubbies, or the Pillsbury Doughboy ... and everything in between.) In fact, a handful of NCAA heavyweight titlists weighed in at more than 300 pounds. How is this possible, you ask? After all, there's an upper weight limit of 285 pounds for the top weight class. But it hasn't always been so ... as the weight class nicknamed "heavyweight" was once called "unlimited" because there was no top limit until about 30 years ago. Kyle Snyder and Adam Coon battled in the NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) InterMat thought it would be fun to do some research into the actual heights and weights of the best big men of college wrestling, going back to 1928, the year of the first NCAA college wrestling championships. It's an expansion of a feature story we did back in February 2018 about the heftiest of the heavyweight champs ... after Michigan's Adam Coon handed Ohio State's Kyle Snyder his first loss in three years in a regular-season dual meet. (Much had been made of the weight difference, as the Wolverine outweighed the Buckeye by 55 pounds in that February bout. Snyder avenged that regular-season loss in the 2018 NCAA heavyweight finals.) Along the way, you'll meet a menagerie of men with animalistic nicknames – the Bear, the Zebra Kid, Pig, Moose, Goose… along with Wojo, Farmboy and other champs who earned the ultimate title “NCAA heavyweight champ.” Note: Most of this data has been verified by the school or other reliable sources (including, in one case, the son of one of the champs). We were unable to locate pertinent information on some of the past champs; hence, the blank space at the end of some of the capsule bios. If you have this data, please email this writer at mark@intermatwrestle.com. 1928-1942 NCAAs: Big men in the beginning The very first NCAA wrestling championships took place at Iowa State in Ames. During the next decade-and-a-half, Oklahoma State wrestling was THE dominant program in terms of individual champs and official team titles (when awarded). 1928-1930: Earl McCready, Oklahoma State. Earl Grey McCready was a man of many firsts: first three-time NCAA champ at any weight. First to win all three titles by pinning his finals opponent (a feat equaled only by Dan Hodge of Oklahoma in the mid-1950s). First foreign-born champ (McCready was born in Canada). First NCAA heavyweight champ to go pro, with a career in the squared circle that spanned nearly three decades. The man known as "Moose" was 25-0 as a Cowboy, with all but three of those wins by pin. 5'11", 238 pounds. Jack Riley1931-1932: Jack Riley, Northwestern. Riley, who grew up in a Chicago suburb on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of the Northwestern campus, hadn't wrestled until he arrived in Evanston. Famed -- and feared -- for the painful keylock/wrist lock that forced an opponent's arm up towards his shoulders, usually forcing the other guy to roll onto his back for the fall. (It was banned after he graduated.) While at Northwestern, Riley won a silver medal in freestyle at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. After graduation, Riley played in the NFL ... then dabbled in pro wrestling ... served in World War II ... then became head wrestling coach at Northwestern ... then closed out his life as a successful businessman. 6'2", 218 pounds. 1933-34: Ralph Teague, Southwestern Oklahoma State. Teague won back-to-back NCAA titles for this small public school once known as Weatherford State Teachers College located west of Oklahoma City. Teague was also an AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) champ who earned a place on the 1932 U.S. Olympic team ... but, sadly, was not able to compete because on an injury. The only national wrestling champ from the school (and probably the last, as the school eliminated its mat program years ago). Charles McDaniel1935, 1938: Charles McDaniel, Indiana University. McDaniel, a three-time Indiana state champ for what was then Bloomington High (now Bloomington South), stayed in town for his collegiate career with the Hoosiers, one of the top college programs in the nation in the 1930s. McDaniel was a three-time NCAA finalist; in addition to winning two heavyweight titles, he was runner-up at 191 pounds in 1936. Head wrestling coach at IU from 1946-1972. 6'3", 190 lbs. (according to his son Monty.) 1936: Howell Scobey, Lehigh University. Scobey was a two-time NCAA championships finalist, placing second at the 1935 NCAAs at heavyweight before winning that title at the 1936 NCAAs. Those same years he also won EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) titles, pinning every opponent in the championships, and earning EIWA Outstanding Wrestler honors in 1936. He was a two-sport athlete at Lehigh, playing tackle for the football team as well as wrestling. Scobey was also a member of the U.S. wrestling squad for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. 6'1", 205 pounds. Lloyd Ricks1937: Lloyd Ricks, Oklahoma State. Ricks was a two-time Oklahoma state champion (165 lbs. in 1931, heavyweight in 1933) for Stillwater High who stayed in town for college, wrestling for the Cowboys and legendary coach Ed Gallagher. Ricks was a two-time NCAA finalist, placing second at 175 lbs. at the 1935 NCAAs; two years later, the senior won the heavyweight crown, defeating Minnesota's Clifton Gustafson, a Big Ten boxing and wrestling champ. 1939: Johnny Harrell, Oklahoma State. Originally from Ardmore, Oklahoma -- where he won the 1935 Oklahoma high school state championship at 185 pounds -- Harrell was the primary Cowboy heavyweight at the end of the 1930s. At the 1939 NCAAs, Harrell won the unlimited title by pinning his finals rival from Illinois. After winning the title, Harrell transferred to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he was undefeated. Harrell was instrumental in the establishment of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater. 1940: George Downes, Ohio State. Long before "light" Buckeye heavyweights Tommy Rowlands and Kyle Snyder won a total of five titles between them, there was George Downes, the Buckeyes' first big man to win a national crown ... and, in fact, was the program's first national champ at any weight. Downes, who was team captain for two seasons, was welcomed posthumously into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. 6'5", weight unknown (though his hometown paper said he was outweighed by most opponents). 1941: Leonard "Butch" Levy, Minnesota. Levy was a two-time Minnesota state champ for Minneapolis Marshall High who came to "the U" to play football and wrestle. Levy was the first of a number of Golden Gopher heavyweight champs (Minnesota is second only to Oklahoma State in big-man titlists). After serving in the U.S. Navy for World War II, Levy launched a pro wrestling career. 6', 240 pounds. 1942: Loyd Arms, Oklahoma State. Nicknamed "Pig" (not sure why; it's not as if he looked porky), Arms won back-to-back Oklahoma state titles for Sulphur High School in 1938-1939. Arms then enrolled at Oklahoma State, becoming the fourth Cowboy heavyweight in the first fifteen years of the NCAAs to win an individual championship. He later played left guard for the Chicago Cardinals pro football team for three seasons. 6'1", 215 pounds. 1946-1962: After World War II, through the Nifty Fifties The NCAA championships were not held during the height of World War II, as large numbers of college athletes -- and students in general -- enlisted in the war effort. Once the war concluded in 1945, veterans enrolled in college in record numbers, fueled in part by the GI Bill which opened the door to educational and competitive opportunities which may not have been available prior to the war. 1946: George Bollas, Ohio State. Bollas was the first of the supersized heavyweight champs, nicknamed "the Dreadnaught" (as in "a huge ship") and "the Zebra Kid" (because of stretch marks visible on his bare torso). In fact, when he turned pro, one of Bollas' ring names was Zebra Kid. 5'10", 325 pounds. Dick Hutton1947-48, 1950: Dick Hutton, Oklahoma State. Richard Avis Herron Hutton was born in Texas but grew up in Tulsa. He wrestled at Daniel Webster High, but never won an Oklahoma state title. After serving in World War II, Hutton chose Oklahoma State because of their architecture program. As a Cowboy, Hutton came incredibly close to becoming college wrestling's first four-time NCAA champ, having won back-to-back titles in 1947 and '48. (He also placed fifth in freestyle at the '48 London Olympics.) At the 1949 NCAA finals, Hutton lost on a controversial referee's decision to Minnesota's Verne Gagne (this was before there was overtime to settle tie scores in regulation). Hutton bounced back from that only college loss to win his third title in 1950. Hutton returned to the Army after graduation, then became a professional wrestler, defeating legendary Lou Thesz for the world championship in 1957. 5'10", 245 pounds. 1949: Verne Gagne, Minnesota. LaVerne "Verne" Gagne was a two-sport star in high school and college, in football and in wrestling. He was a two-time Minnesota state mat champ for Robbinsdale High who joined the U.S. Marines as a hand-to-hand combat instructor during World War II ... then returned to the University of Minnesota, where he was a two-time NCAA wrestling champ in 1948 (at 191 pounds) and 1949 (at heavyweight). After graduation, Gagne launched a pro wrestling career that spanned the decades (up into the 1980s). 5'11", 215 pounds. 1951: Brad Glass, Princeton. Born in Evanston, Ill. just outside Chicago, Glass won the heavyweight title at the 1947 Illinois state championships for New Trier High School, where he was teammates with future Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Glass continued his academic and athletic career at Princeton University, an Ivy League school in New Jersey. He was a two-time EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) champ who won the unlimited title at the 1951 NCAAs, becoming the school's first (and only) national champ. Glass became an attorney and environmentalist in Wisconsin before his death in 2015. 1952, 1954: Gene Nicks, Oklahoma State. Nicks grew up in northern Oklahoma, winning two state mat titles for Ponca City High, alma mater to 1960 Olympic gold medalists Doug Blubaugh and Shelby Wilson. Nicks was a three-time Big Seven champ and NCAA heavyweight finalist, winning the crown in 1952 and '54 after losing in '53. Nicknamed "Ninety-Second Nicks" reportedly for his propensity to pin foes fast. 6' 1", 228 pounds. 1953: Dan McNair, Auburn. McNair's background might make him one of the unlikeliest college heavyweight champs ever. He grew up in New Orleans, wrestling at 165 pounds. McNair then headed east to Auburn University, where, wrestling for legendary coach "Swede" Umbach, he upset defending champ Gene Nicks in the '53 NCAA finals, becoming the first big man to win a mat title for a school in the Deep South. (Auburn axed its wrestling program decades ago.) 6' 2", 210 pounds. 1955: Bill Oberly, Penn State. This square-jawed big man was a two-time New Jersey state mat champ, wrestling for Washington High. Oberly then made a name for himself at Penn State, becoming that school's first NCAA heavyweight champ, four decades before Kerry McCoy. 6' 1", 220 pounds. 1956: Gordon Roesler, Oklahoma. The wrestler affectionately known as "Goose" reportedly wanted to play in the marching band at Perry High in Oklahoma, but there weren't enough of the instruments he wanted to play ... so he went out for the legendary Maroon wrestling program, where he was a teammate of Dan Hodge. The two ended up together again at University of Oklahoma in the mid-1950s, where the lean-and-lanky Roesler won three Big Seven/Big Eight conference crowns, and was a two-time NCAA finalist, winning the title in 1956 despite being unseeded in the unlimited bracket. 6' 2", 218 pounds. Bob Norman1957-58: Bob Norman, Illinois. Norman came to the University of Illinois to play football ... but a knee injury ended his gridiron career, so he concentrated on wrestling. Norman was the Fighting Illini's first NCAA heavyweight champ, winning back-to-back titles. Bob Norman started a family affair at Illinois; his son Tim played football at Champaign-Urbana then for the Chicago Bears ... while grandson Jake Norman wrestled for the Illini. 6' 4", 225 pounds. 1959: Ted Ellis, Oklahoma State. Ellis was a two-time Oklahoma mat champ for Blackwell High School. He won his NCAA title defeating a Bob Marella of Ithaca College, a 300-pound-plus wrestler who eventually became pro wrestler and WWE announcer Gorilla Monsoon. Ellis' prime college rival was Oklahoma's Dale Lewis. The two big men clashed seven times in college; Ellis won two, Lewis came out on top four times, with one bout ending in a tie. 245-260 pounds. 1960-61: Dale Lewis, Oklahoma. Despite becoming a two-time college champ -- and earning a place on two U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman teams (1956, 1960) -- Lewis never wrestled in high school ... nor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, the first college he attended. After wrestling for the Sooners, Lewis made a name for himself in the pro wrestling ring. 6' 1", 245 pounds. 1962: Sherwyn Thorsen, Iowa. Thorsen wrestled at Fort Dodge High in north-central Iowa, but never won a state title. He enrolled at University of Iowa to play football and wrestle. In team wrestle-offs, Thorsen repeatedly defeated the guy who beat him in the state finals to earn a spot among the Hawkeye starters. Thorsen was one of the first college wrestlers to openly work out with weights (back then, most mat coaches banned weight work, saying it would make wrestlers "muscle-bound"). Later played pro football in Canada. 6' 1", 235 pounds. 1963-1985: Innovation, integration ... and era of the biggest big men This era was a time of great change in college wrestling. It was an era of innovation, with Resilite foam-core mats, shoes specifically designed for wrestling, and synthetic-fabric uniforms (and beginning of the end of wrestlers competing bare-chested). It was also a time of integration, with the first African-American heavyweight champs, starting in 1963. (The first black college champ was Iowa's Simon Roberts, 147-pound champ at the 1957 NCAAs.) It was also the era of the heftiest of the heavyweight champs, including Chris Taylor and Tab Thacker, each weighing more than 400 pounds. 1963, 1965: Jim Nance, Syracuse. A two-time PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) state champ from Indiana, Pa., Nance was the first African-American NCAA heavyweight champ. He was also a three-time EIWA champ at the upstate New York university where he was perhaps even better known for his exploits on the football field. After graduation, Nance signed with the Boston Patriots of the AFL (American Football League, later merged with the NFL), where he had a successful decade-long career that spanned a number of teams. 6'1", 260 pounds. Joe James1964: Joe James, Oklahoma State. James was the first African-American to wrestle for the storied Oklahoma State mat program ... but ask most fans of the early 1960s about him and they'll mention his ripped physique. One wrestler of the era said James had the broadest shoulders and tiniest waist of any collegian he'd seen. A product of Chicago's Tilden Tech, James was a two-time NCAA finalist, losing the 191-pound title bout at the 1962 NCAAs in his home gym ... but two years later, won the unlimited title. 6'3", 223 pounds. 1966, 1968: Dave Porter, Michigan. A product of Lansing, Mich., Porter was a two-time NCAA heavyweight champ and two-time football letter winner for the Wolverines and long-tie coach Cliff Keen. After turning down an opportunity to compete in 1968 Olympics, Porter was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the NFL draft. He taught and coached at Grand Ledge High in Michigan for 30 years after his pro gridiron career was cut short by injury. 6'3", 231 pounds. 1967: Curley Culp, Arizona State. At Yuma (Arizona) High, Culp was a football star who also excelled at wrestling, winning two state titles before heading to wrestle and play football for the Sun Devils. He won his heavyweight title win a pin less than a minute into the finals. After graduation, Culp built an enduring NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Houston Oilers and the Detroit Lions spanning fourteen seasons. He was welcomed into the National Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2013. 6'2", 265 pounds. 1969-70: Jess Lewis, Oregon State. Yet another football/wrestling star. The Beaver big man was a three-time NCAA heavyweight finalist, twice winning the title after placing second in 1968 (his only loss in college), the year he earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman squad. 6' 3", 214 pounds. 1971: Greg Wojciechowski, University of Toledo. A native of Toledo, the wrestler nicknamed "Wojo" was twice an Ohio state heavyweight champ at Toledo Whitmer High in 1967 and 1968. He was a three-time NCAA heavyweight finalist, winning the title at the 1971 Nationals. He also earned a place on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not get to compete, thanks to the American boycott of the Moscow Games. Wojo was yet another amateur wrestler who spent some time in the pro wrestling ring after college. 6', 260 pounds. Chris Taylor (Photo/NWHOF) 1972-73: Chris Taylor, Iowa State. A native of Dowagiac, Michigan known as the "Gentle Giant", Taylor was a larger-than-life figure in the sport who was loved by fans well beyond the state of Iowa. Wrestling for long-time coach Harold Nichols, Taylor owned one of the all-time highest pining percentages of any college wrestler. He earned a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. After college, Taylor had a brief career in pro wrestling ... but, sadly, passed away at age 29 from complications caused by a blood clot. 6'5", 410-450 pounds. 1974: Jim Woods, Western Illinois University. Woods was a four-year letterwinner at Bloom Township High in Chicago Heights who stayed in state to wrestle at the public university in Macomb, Ill. He was the first heavyweight champ to win both NCAA Division II and Division I titles (back when D2 and D3 champs automatically qualified to compete at the Division I championships). The first and only mat champ for WIU (which no longer has the sport). 6'5", 270 pounds. 1975: Larry Bielenberg, Oregon State. A four-time NCAA All-American and two-time championships finalist, Bielenberg won the title in 1975. 6'2", 220 pounds. Jimmy Jackson (Photo/NWHOF) 1976-78: Jimmy Jackson, Oklahoma State. This Michigander had a larger-than-life mat career at Oklahoma State in the late 1970s, compiling an 88-9-2 overall record (with 44 falls) with three Big Eight titles and three national crowns. Among the tallest and heaviest of all heavyweight champs, Jackson died in 2008 at age 51 of diabetes and congestive heart failure. 6'6", 370 pounds. 1979: Fred Bohna, UCLA. Bohna, UCLA's only national wrestling champion, closed out his collegiate career with a number of senior-year accomplishments, including an undefeated record, winning the 1979 NCAA and Pac-10 heavyweight titles, and being named Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year. He won the national title defeating a wrestler who outweighed him by 90 pounds, Eastern Illinois' 318-pound Dave Klemm. After graduation, Bohna competed internationally, winning a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games. He died in July 2010 after a long battle with cancer. 228 pounds. 1980: Howard Harris, Oregon State. The third Beaver big man to win a national heavyweight title in a decade, Harris won the unlimited bracket at the 1980 NCAAs, and was voted the event's Outstanding Wrestler. He was a four-time NCAA All-American. 6'3", 220 pounds. 1981, 1983: Lou Banach, Iowa. Twin brother of teammate Ed Banach, Lou made a name for himself in college and freestyle competition. Lou was a three-time NCAA All-American, winning heavyweight titles in 191 and 1983, and placing third at the 1982 NCAAs ... despite being one of the lightest wrestlers to ever wrestle in that weight class. He concluded his Hawkeye mat career with an overall record of 90-14-2 ... then went on to win a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 6'0", 209 pounds. 1982: Bruce Baumgartner, Indiana State. This New Jersey native made it to the NJHSAA state finals but did not win a title ... but that didn't stop Baumgartner from great things on the mat. A three-time NCAA All-American at Indiana State in Terre Haute, Baumgartner was a three-time finalist who won the heavyweight crown at the 1982 NCAAs. His true calling was freestyle, where he won four Olympic medals (two gold, one silver, one bronze), nine World championship medals (including three gold), and three golds at Pan American Games. Baumgartner is now athletic director at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. 6'2", 287 pounds. Tab Thacker (Photo/NWHOF) 1984: Tab Thacker, North Carolina State. The native of Winston-Salem, N.C. never won a state title in high school, but certainly made a name for himself in college, as a three-time NCAA All-American in what was then called the unlimited bracket, placing eighth and sixth at the 1982 and 1983 NCAAs, then concluding his collegiate career with the title in 1984. He was also a four-time ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) champ. After hanging up his singlet, Talmadge Layne Thacker discovered Hollywood, or, more accurately, Hollywood discovered him, as he had roles in a number of films including the comedies "Wildcats" and the "Police Academy" series. Thacker battled a number of serious health issues, passing away in December 2007 after a stroke. 6'5", 447.5 pounds (according to the New York Times) 1985-2000: New weight limits don't limit the possibilities Tab Thacker was the last of the "supersize" 300+ pound heavyweight champs. By the mid-1980s, the NCAA installed new top weight limits for what had been officially called the "unlimited" weight class ... starting with a top limit of 265 pounds, later increased to 285. Even with these new requirements, heavyweight champs of the past 30+ years have remained a diverse group of athletes of widely varying weights and heights. 1985: Bill Hyman, Temple. Hyman won a New Jersey state title for Saddle Brook High School in 1981. He then went on to Temple University in Philadelphia, where he was twice an EIWA champ and a two-time NCAA All-American, placing fourth in 1984, and winning the heavyweight title in 1985. , Bill won the New Jersey high school state championship. He went on to become, arguably, the most outstanding wrestler in the history of Temple University, twice winning the EIWA league championship and then winning the NCAA heavyweight championship as a senior in 1985. 1986: Kirk Trost, Michigan. A four-year Michigan letterwinner (1983-86), Trost compiled a 139-48 career mark. He capped an outstanding collegiate career by winning the 1986 NCAA heavyweight title. A two-time NCAA All-American, Trost was the heavyweight runner-up in 1985. Trost joined the Wolverine coaching staff in 1987, serving as an assistant coach for nearly a quarter-century. 5'11", 224 pounds. Carlton Haselrig 1987-89: Carlton Haselrig, Pitt-Johnstown. Haselrig holds the distinction of being the only individual to win six NCAA titles in wrestling, claiming three consecutive championships in NCAA Division II (where University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown normally competed), then three times in Division I those same years. (Back then, Division II and III champs automatically qualified to compete at the D1 championships that same year.) After graduation, Haselrig spent five years in the NFL, four of those with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also had a one-year career in mixed martial arts. In 2005, Haselrig was one of fifteen named to the NCAA 75th Anniversary as one of the greatest college wrestlers since 1928; in 2016, he was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. 6'2". 263 pounds. 1990, 1992: Kurt Angle, Clarion. As a wrestler at Mt. Lebanon High outside Pittsburgh, Angle won a state title at the 1987 Pennsylvania state championships. He then headed to Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he was a three-time NCAA All-American and finalist, placing second at the 1991 NCAAs, and winning the heavyweight title in 1990 and 1992. Angle also competed in freestyle, culminating with winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Angle has had a long and successful career in pro wrestling. 6', 237 pounds. 1991: Jon Llewellyn, Illinois. This native of Illinois became the first three-time NCAA All- American in the history of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, winning the heavyweight title at the 1991 NCAAs. At the Big Ten Championships, Llewellyn placed third in 1989 and 1990, going on to become the 1991 conference champion. In addition to his collegiate career, Llewellyn wrestled freestyle, placing third in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic wrestling trials. 6'3", 220 pounds. 1993: Sylvester Terkay, North Carolina State. A native of Pennsylvania, Terkay was a walk-on for the Wolfpack wrestling team. By the conclusion of his collegiate mat career at N.C. State, Terkay qualified for the wrestling team, earned a scholarship, won four straight ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) crowns, and the 1993 NCAA heavyweight title. He was also a three-time first-team Academic All-American. Like a number of collegiate big men, Terkay became a professional wrestler and also fought in MMA. In 2013, Terkay was welcomed into the N.C. State Athletic Hall of Fame. 6'6", 265 pounds. 1994, 1997: Kerry McCoy, Penn State. McCoy launched his wrestling career at Longwood High on Long Island, N.Y. He then went on to Penn State, where he was a three-time Big Ten champ, three-time NCAA All-American, and twice a national heavyweight champion in 1994 and 1997. As a Nittany Lion, McCoy compiled an overall record of 150-18 (including an 88-match win streak), and received the Hodge Award as top collegiate wrestler of 1997. McCoy was a major force in U.S. freestyle wrestling, as a Pan American Games gold medalist, and two-time Olympic qualifier, taking fifth place at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and seventh at the 2004 Athens Games. McCoy is now head coach at the University of Maryland, having previously coached at Lehigh and Stanford. 6'2", 220 pounds. 1995: Tolly Thompson, Nebraska. Born in Janesville, Iowa, Tolland Thompson wrestled for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, tallying a 157-21 overall record. He was a three-time Big Eight/Big 12 conference champ and three-time NCAA All-American, winning the national title at the 1995 NCAAs. Thompson has served as an assistant coach at University of Northern Iowa for a dozen seasons. 6'4", 265 pounds. 1996: Jeff Walter, Wisconsin. A two-time Pennsylvania Class AAA state champ at 189 pounds for Shikellamy High, Walter headed west to Madison to wrestle for the Badgers, where he twice earned NCAA All-American honors, placing fourth as a junior, and crowned champ at as senior, becoming Wisconsin's first heavyweight champ, and the program's fourth NCAA champ overall. 225 pounds. 1998-99: Stephen Neal, Cal State Bakersfield. Neal attended San Diego High, where he participated in wrestling, football, swimming, tennis, and track and field. He placed fourth in the California state championships at 189 pounds. At California State University, Bakersfield, Neal was a four-time Pac-10 conference champ, four-time NCAA All-American, three-time NCAA finalist, and twice crowned heavyweight champ in his junior and senior years. He was also a major force in freestyle, winning the World Championship in 1999. Neal played guard for the New England Patriots for a decade, earning three Super Bowl rings. 6'4", 265 pounds. Brock Lesnar wrestled Stephen Neal in the NCAA finals 2000: Brock Lesnar, Minnesota. The guy who became The Next Big Thing in pro wrestling and MMA grew up on a farm near Webster, S.D. Lesnar launched his college career at Bismarck Junior College in North Dakota where he won the 1998 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) heavyweight title ... and the attention of Minnesota head coach J Robinson. As a Golden Gopher, Lesnar and his massive musculature "turned more heads than Cindy Crawford in a thong" (to quote Dan Gable during a college wrestling telecast), winning two Big Ten titles and becoming a two-time NCAA finalist, winning the title in 2000. After college, Lesnar started in the WWE, switched to MMA in 2004, retired in 2011, then returned to the pro ring ... only to consider a return to the UFC at the time of this writing. 6'3", 265 pounds. 2001-present: The best big men of the new century At the dawn of the 21st century, NCAA Division I heavyweight champs came in all shapes and sizes, from lean-muscled guys who competed around 225 pounds ... to some big men who barely made it under the 285-pound top limit. 2001: John Lockhart, Illinois. The Fighting Illini's third NCAA heavyweight champ played football, baseball and wrestled at Mahomet High, winning an Illinois state title as a senior. Lockhart caught the attention of Mark Johnson, then head coach at nearby University of Illinois, where he was a two-time NCAA All-American, winning the national title in 2001, as well as the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The wrestler once nicknamed "Farmboy" is now a pediatrician. 6'1", 260 pounds. Tommy Rowlands2002, 2004: Tommy Rowlands, Ohio State. A two-time Ohio high school state champ for Bishop Ready in Columbus, Rowlands stayed in town to continue his academic and athletic career at Ohio State, where he was a four-time NCAA All-American, a three-time finalist, and twice an NCAA champ and Big Ten titlewinner. Rowlands also competed in freestyle, where he was a University World Champion and Pan-Am champ. 6'4", 220 pounds. 2003, 2005: Steve Mocco, Iowa/Oklahoma State. Mocco grew up in New Jersey and wrestled at Blair Academy, where he was a four-time prep school champ. He started his college career at University of Iowa, where he won the 2003 Big Ten and NCAA heavyweight titles. After taking an Olympic redshirt during the 2003-04 season, Mocco stunned the wrestling world by transferring to Oklahoma State, where, in his first season, won 2005 Big 12 and NCAA championships. In 2006, Mocco claimed his second Big 12 title but failed to win the national title. The only NCAA heavyweight champ to win titles at two different schools. 6', 265 pounds. 2006-07: Cole Konrad, Minnesota. The man from Freedom won a Wisconsin state title, then came to the University of Minnesota, where he became the school's fourth heavyweight champ. Konrad won back-to-back NCAA big man titles, and three Big Ten conference crowns. Konrad then launched a successful pro MMA career, winning the Bellator heavyweight belt before entering the world of commodities trading. 6'5", 285 pounds. 2008: Dustin Fox, Northwestern. A native of Galion, Ohio, Fox was a four-time NCAA qualifier, and two-time NCAA All-American. Everything came together for the Wildcat big man in 2008 when he won the Big Ten heavyweight title, followed two weeks later by the NCAA championship, becoming only the second Northwestern heavyweight to win the Nationals, 76 years after Jack Riley did it. 6'2", 285 pounds. 2009: Mark Ellis, Missouri. Ellis grew up in suburban Kansas City, Mo. and continued his academic and athletic career at the University of Missouri. Ellis was a two-time NCAA All-American, winning the heavyweight crown at the 2009 NCAAs, becoming only the second national mat champ for Mizzou (the other being Ben Askren). Ellis has served on the coaching staffs at Tennessee-Chattanooga, Grand Canyon, and University of Virginia. 6'3", 247 pounds. 2010: David Zabriskie, Iowa State. Zabriskie got his first taste of titlewinning in 2005 when he won the 215-pound New Jersey state championship for High Point High School. Five years later, Zabriskie won the heavyweight title for Iowa State at the 2010 NCAAs, only the second Cyclone big man to do (following in the formidable footsteps of Chris Taylor). Zabriskie is now part of the Lehigh Wrestling Club. 6'1", 228 pounds. 2011: Zack Rey, Lehigh. A two-time New Jersey state champ for Hopatcong High (2006, 2007), Rey was a four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time NCAA All-American, culminating with the heavyweight title at the 2011 NCAAs, 75 years after Howell Scobey did it for Lehigh. Rey also wrestled freestyle, earning a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. 6'1", 265 pounds. 2012-13: Tony Nelson, Minnesota. This two-time Minnesota state mat champ was a three-time NCAA All-American, winning back-to-back national crowns in 2012 and 2013 to become only the second Gopher to win two national heavyweight titles. A lean-muscled big man who was considerably less bulky and lighter on his feet than his 21st century predecessors Brock Lesnar or Cole Konrad. 6'2", 245 pounds. Nick Gwiazdowski wrestling Kyle Snyder in the NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2014-15: Nick Gwiazdowski, North Carolina State. Gwiazdowski was twice a New York state champ for Duanesburg High. He started his college career at Binghamton, where he won the Colonial Athletic Association title in 2012, and earned his first NCAA All-American honor. Gwiz followed his head coach Pat Popolizio to North Carolina State, where he was twice crowned Atlantic Coast Conference champ, and twice an NCAA heavyweight champ, following in the footsteps of past Wolfpack champs Sylvester Terkay and Tab Thacker. 6'1", 256 pounds. 2016-18: Kyle Snyder, Ohio State. Snyder is the only American matman to have won three NCAA heavyweight titles, two World freestyle championships, and an Olympic gold medal (at the 2016 Rio Games). The Maryland native has piled up the titles ... and honors: 2017 and 2018 Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, 2018 AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Sullivan Award as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the U.S., and nominated for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. 5'11", 225 pounds. Heavyweight fun facts Heftiest heavyweight champs: Chris Taylor, Iowa State, 450 pounds Tab Thacker, North Carolina State, 447 pounds Jimmy Jackson, Oklahoma State, 370 pounds George Bollas, Ohio State, 325 pounds Bruce Baumgartner, Indiana State, 287 pounds Lightest heavyweight champs: Charles McDaniel, Indiana, 190 pounds Howell Scobey, Lehigh, 205 pounds Lou Banach, Iowa, 209 pounds Dan McNair, Auburn, 210 pounds Jess Lewis, Oregon State, 214 pounds (A good number of champs tipped the scales at 215-225 pounds) Tallest heavyweight champs: Jimmy Jackson, Oklahoma State, 6'6" Sylvester Terkay, North Carolina State, 6'6" George Downes, Ohio State, 6'5" Chris Taylor, Iowa State, 6'5" Jim Woods, Western Illinois, 6'5" Tab Thacker, North Carolina State, 6'5" Cole Konrad, Minnesota, 6'5" Shortest heavyweight champs: George Bollas, Ohio State, 5'10" Dick Hutton, Oklahoma State, 5'10" Earl McCready, Oklahoma State, 5'11" Verne Gagne, Minnesota, 5'11" Kirk Trost, Michigan, 5'11" Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, 5'11" Most titles: Five NCAA Division I heavyweight champs have earned three individual titles in that weight class: Earl McCready (Oklahoma State, 1928-30) Dick Hutton (Oklahoma State, 1947-48; 1950) Jimmy Jackson (Oklahoma State, 1976-78) Carlton Haselrig (Pitt-Johnstown, 1987-89 -- three Div. I titles after winning three D2 championships) Kyle Snyder (Ohio State, 2016-18) Note: This weight class has the fewest three-time NCAA champs of all weight classes Two-timers: Nearly two dozen NCAA champs won exactly two heavyweight titles: Jack Riley, Northwestern (1931-32) Ralph Teague, Southwestern State (1933-34) Charles McDaniel, Indiana (1935, 1938) Gene Nicks, Oklahoma State (1952, 1954) Bob Norman, Illinois (1957-58) Dale Lewis, Oklahoma (1960-61) Jim Nance, Syracuse (1963, 1965) Dave Porter, Michigan (1966, 1968) Jess Lewis, Oregon State (1969-70) Chris Taylor, Iowa State (1972-73) Lou Banach, Iowa (1981, 1983) Kurt Angle, Clarion (1990, 1992) Kerry McCoy, Penn State (1994, 1997) Stephen Neal, Cal State Bakersfield (1998-99) Tommy Rowlands, Ohio State (2002, 2004) Steve Mocco, Iowa/Oklahoma State (2003, 2005) Cole Konrad, Minnesota (2006-07) Tony Nelson, Minnesota (2012-13) Nick Gwiazdowski, North Carolina State (2014-15) Multiplier effect: Schools with the multiple Division I heavyweight champs: Oklahoma State -- 10: Earl McCready ... Lloyd Ricks ... Johnny Harrell ... Loyd Arms .... Dick Hutton ... Gene Nicks ... Ted Ellis ... Joe James ... Jimmy Jackson ... Steve Mocco (one title while at Oklahoma State, one while at Iowa) Minnesota -- 5: Butch Levy ... Verne Gagne ... Brock Lesnar ... Cole Konrad ... Tony Nelson Ohio State -- 4: George Downes ... George Bollas ... Tommy Rowlands ... Kyle Snyder Illinois -- 3: Bob Norman ... Jon Llewellyn ... John Lockhart Iowa -- 3: Sherwyn Thorsen ... Lou Banach ... Steve Mocco (one at Iowa, one at Oklahoma State) North Carolina State -- 3: Tab Thacker .... Sylvester Terkay ... Nick Gwaizdowski Oregon State -- 3: Jess Lewis ... Larry Bielenberg ... Howard Harris Iowa State -- 2: Chris Taylor ... David Zabriskie Lehigh -- 2: Howell Scobey ... Zack Rey Michigan -- 2: Dave Porter ... Kirk Trost Northwestern -- 2: Jack Riley ... Dustin Fox Oklahoma -- 2: Gordon Roesler ... Dale Lewis Penn State -- 2: Bill Oberly… Kerry McCoy Orphans: Heavyweight champs from schools that no longer have intercollegiate wrestling: Ralph Teague, Southwest Oklahoma State Dan McNair, Auburn Jim Nance, Syracuse Greg Wojociechowski, Toledo Jim Woods, Western Illinois Fred Bohna, UCLA Bill Hyman, Temple

USA won the team title at the Yasar Dogu ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Led by six medalists, including three individual champions, the United States won the team title at the respected Yasar Dogu International, a UWW ranking tournament, on Sunday. In the three day event, the United States scored 150 points, ahead of runner-up Iran with 146 points and third place Turkey with 125 points in a very strong field of competitors. The United States is the defending World Team Champions in men's freestyle wrestling and all 10 of its 2018 World Team members competed in the Yasar Dogu event. Team USA used the Yasar Dogu in its preparations for the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in October. UWW ranking events set the seeds for the 2018 World Championships. Gold medals went to 2017 World silver medalist Thomas Gilman (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC) at 57 kg/125.5 lbs., Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y./Titan Mercury WC/New York RTC) won a gold medal at 79 kg/174 lbs.and David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) at 86 kg/189 lbs. A silver medal went to 2012 Olympic champion and four-time World champion Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC) at 74 kg/163 lbs. Bronze medals went to 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) at 97 kg/213.75 lbs. and 2017 World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski (Raleigh, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC) at 125 kg/275 lbs. "There has been high-level wrestling at the Yasar Dogu. Our team has wrestled very well and given great effort the last couple of days. We won several medals and earned some points towards seeds at the World Championships. Technically and tactically, we have done some very good things and have some areas where we can and will make adjustments. We will definitely take everything we can learn from this event to improve over the next 2 ½ months. Our men remain hungry and eager to move forward, excited for this future opportunity," said National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick. Taylor had a dominant performance to remember. Four matches. Four pins. In the championship finals, Taylor came out and put away 2017 European silver medalist Murad Suleymanov of Azerbaijan in 1:22, the fastest of his four falls. To reach the finals, he put away Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan in 4:37, 2017 World silver medalist Boris Makoev of Slovakia in 3:50 and Ahmet Bilici of Turkey in 4:05. Dake faced 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Ibrahim Yusubov of Azerbaijan in the finals. He scored a first-period technical call, reeling off three takedowns and two gut wrenches to reach the 11-0 victory. To reach the finals, he had a pair of pins, putting away Olympic medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan in 5:37 and Ayhan Sucu of Turkey in 1:01. Dake and Taylor will be competing in their first Senior World Championships in Budapest, after a successful career in many other international competitions. Dake won four NCAA titles for Cornell and Taylor won a pair for Penn State. Gilman defeated 2018 Takhti Cup bronze medalist Dzmichyk Rynchynau of Belarus, 10-5 in the finals. Gilman converted a double leg takedown for four points to blow the match open. He won all four of his bouts by decision, including a clutch 6-6 victory over 2018 European U23 bronze medalist Taras Markoych of Ukraine in the semifinals. Gilman was a star at the University of Iowa. In a highly anticipated finals, Burroughs dropped a controversial 10-10 match by criteria to two-time World champion and Olympic bronze medalist Frank Chamizo of Italy. It was a rematch of their "Super Match" feature at the 2018 Beat the Streets Benefit in New York City, won by Burroughs. Burroughs was a two-time NCAA champion for Nebraska. With about 35 seconds left and Burroughs in the lead, Burroughs scored a takedown and Chamizo reversed him for one. Chamizo challenged and officials gave Chamizo four points on the reversal to tie it 8-8. Another Chamizo takedown made it 10-8. Burroughs came hard, got a caution and one against Chamizo and another stepout to tie it at 10-10. Burroughs almost got a takedown as time ran out. The criteria went to Chamizo. Snyder manhandled 2017 European champion Riza Yilidrim of Turkey in an 11-0 technical fall for the bronze. Snyder recovered strong from a 3-3 criteria loss to Aslanbek Alborov of Azerbaijan in the semifinals. Snyder won three NCAA titles for Ohio State. Gwiazdowski need some last-second heroics to secure a 6-4 win over Nick Matuhin of Germany in the bronze-medal match. With the bout tied at 4-4, and criteria in favor of Matuhin, Gwiazdowski was able to score two points for exposure during the scramble as time was running out to get the final two points for victory. Gwiazdowski was a two-time NCAA champion for NC State. YASAR DOGU INTERNATIONAL At Istanbul, Turkey, July 29 Men's freestyle medalists 57 kg/125.5 lbs. Gold - Thomas Gilman (USA) Silver - Dzmichyk Rynchynau (Belarus) Bronze - Vicky Vicky (India) Bronze - Suleyman Atli (Turkey) Gold match - Gilman dec. Rynchynau, 12-5 Bronze Match - Atli dec. Markoyvch, 10-6 Bronze match - Vicky dec. Arakelian, 9-7 61 kg/134 lbs. Gold - Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi (Iran) Silver - Sandeep Tomar (India) Bronze - Hasanzada Mircalal (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Andrei Bekreneu (Belarus) Gold bout - Yakhkeshi dec. Tomar, 8-2 Bronze bout - Mircalal dec. Andreyeu, 2-1 Bronze bout - Bekreneu dec. Gasimov, 4-1 65 kg/143 lbs. Gold - Mehran Nasiriafrachali (Iran) Silver- Ali Rahimzada (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Madiyar Burkhan (Kazakshtan) Bronze - Daulet Niyazbekov (Kazakhstan) Gold bout - Nasiriafrachali dec. Rahimzada , 2-0 Bronze bout - Burkhan dec. Moradgholiei, 14-9 Bronze bout - Niyazbekov tech. fall Svyryd, 10-0 70 kg Gold - Bajrang Bajrang (India) Silver - Andriy Kvyatkovskyy (Ukraine) Bronze- Aghahuseyn Mustafayev (Azerbaijan) Bronze- Mustafa Kaya (Turkey) Gold bout - Bajrang inj. dft. Kvyatkovskyy, 0:00 Bronze bout - Mustafayev dec. Aksoy, 3-0 Bronze bout - Kaya dec. Emamichogaei, 12-5 74 kg/163 lbs. Gold - Frank Chamizo (Italy) Silver - Jordan Burroughs (USA) Bronze - Bolat Sakayev (Kazakshtan) Bronze - Nurlan Bekzhanov (Kazakhstan) Gold bout - Chamizo dec. Burroughs, 10-10 Bronze bout - Sakayev dec. Azamat, 3-2 Bronze bout - Bekzhanov dec. Dadashpourkerikalaei, 4-4 79 kg/174 lbs. Gold - Kyle Dake (USA) Silver - Ibrahim Yusubov (Azerbaijan) Bronze- Cabrayil Hasanov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Rustam Dudaiev (Ukraine) Gold bout - Dake tech. fall Yusubov, 11-0 Bronze bout - Hasanov dec. Sucu, 4-0 Bronze bout - Dudaiev dec. Izbassarov, 7-0 86 kg/189 lbs. Gold - David Taylor (USA) Silver- Murad Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) Bronze - Boris Makoev (Slovakia) Bronze - Fatih Erdin (Turkey) Gold bout - Taylor pin Suleymanov, 1:22 Bronze bout - Makoev dec. Bilici, 10-9 Bronze bout - Erdin tech. fall Ziantdinov, 12-2 92 kg/202.5 lbs. Gold - Mohammadjavad Ebrahimizivlaei (Iran) Silver - Alireza Karimimachiani (Iran) Bronze - Ivan Yankouski (Belarus) Bronze - Hajy Rajabau (Belarus) Gold Bout - Ebrahimizivlaei dec. Karimimachiani, 2-2 Bronze bout - Yankouski dec. Sagaliuk, 2-1 Bronze bout - Rajabau inj. dft. Boke, 0:00 97 kg/213 lbs. Gold - Aslanbek Alborov (Azerbaijan) Silver - Mojtaba Goleij (Iran) Bronze - Kyle Snyder (USA) Bronze - Faith Yasarli (Turkey) Gold bout - Alborov inj. dft. Goleij Bronze bout - Snyder tech. fall Yildirim, 11-0 Bronze bout - Yasarli dec. Antriitsev, 1-1 125 kg/275 lbs. Gold - Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (Ukraine) Silver - Yadollah Mohebi (Iran) Bronze - Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) Bronze - Danylo Kartavyi (Ukraine) Gold bout - Khotsianivskyi dec. Mohebi, 9-6 Bronze bout - Gwiazdowski dec. Matuhin, 6-4 Bronze bout - Kartavyi dec. Civelek, 12-3 Team standings 1. USA, 150 pts. 2. Iran, 146 3. Turkey, 125 4. Azerbaijan, 121 5. Ukraine, 117 6. India, 111 7. Kazakhstan, 100 8. Belarus, 98 9. Italy, 25 10. Turkmenistan, 18

One year after his last MMA fight - and days after an interview where he spoke his mind about Penn State, his former college home -- Bubba Jenkins has made news yet again. Bubba Jenkins (Photo/Bellator)Jenkins has signed a multi-fight contract with Brave Combat Federation, promotion officials told MMA Fighting. Brave has yet to announce a date and opponent for Jenkins' debut with that organization. Jenkins announced plans to enter MMA immediately after winning the 157-pound title as an Arizona State wrestler at the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, having pinned his former Penn State teammate David Taylor in the finals. About a year-and-a-half after making his pro MMA debut, Jenkins signed with Bellator ... compiling an 8-3 record with that promotion. However, Bellator dropped the former college wrestler in February 2017. Jenkins' last pro MMA bout was in September 2017. He has an overall record of 12-4. Just last week, Jenkins made headlines with a lengthy interview with MyMMAnews.com, where he unloaded on Cael Sanderson, his head coach at Penn State, and on former teammate Frank Molinaro.

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y./Titan Mercury WC/New York RTC) won a gold medal at 79 kg/174 lbs. and Nick Gwiazdowski (Raleigh, N.C./Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC) added a bronze medal at 125 kg/275 lbs. on the final day at the respected Yasar Dogu International, a UWW ranking tournament, on Sunday Dake faced 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Ibrahim Yusubov of Azerbaijan in the finals. He scored a first-period technical call, reeling off three takedowns and two gut wrenches to reach the 11-0 victory. It was a dominant performance for Dake over the two days. To reach the finals, he had a pair of pins, putting away Olympic medalist Jabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan in 5:37 and Ayhan Sucu of Turkey in 1:01. Dake, a four-time NCAA champion at Cornell, will be on his first Senior World Team this year. He has been very strong this year at a new weight class, 79 kg, with a silver medal at the Ivan Yarygin International and was dominant at the Freestyle World Cup also. Read complete story on TheMat.com ...

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The World champion USA men's freestyle placed three men in the first set of finals at the UWW ranking tournament Yasar Dogu International on Saturday. Team USA came home with two gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal to boot. Winning titles were 2017 World silver medalist Thomas Gilman, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC) at 57 kilograms/125.5 pounds and two-time World Cup champion David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC) at 86 kilograms/189 pounds. Taylor had a dominant performance to remember. Four matches. Four pins. In the toughest pre-World summer event that served as a UWW Ranking Tournament, which sets the seeds at the World Championships. In the championship finals, Taylor came out and put away 2017 European silver medalist Murad Suleymanov of Azerbaijan in 1:22, the fastest of his four falls. To reach the finals, he put away Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan in 4:37, 2017 World silver medalist Boris Makoev of Slovakia in 3:50 and Ahmet Bilici of Turkey in 4:05. Taylor will be competing in his first Senior World Championships in October. With this victory, he will for sure be in a good position to receive one of those seeds at the Worlds. Read complete story on TheMat.com ...

James A. White James A. White, long-time Washington & Jefferson College administrator and coach of a number of sports, including wrestling, passed away on Wednesday, July 25, the Washington, Pa. school announced Thursday. He was 84. White served as the wrestling coach as well as men's tennis coach from 1965-1997. He also spent 21 years as an assistant football coach at the college. For over 20 years, he coached a sport during every season of the academic year: football in the fall, wrestling in winter, and, in the spring, tennis. A native of Pennsylvania, White guided the Presidents' wrestling program to three of the program's five Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championships (1965, 1966, 1995). The 1965 title came during his first year as a coach. White's tennis teams also enjoyed tremendous success, winning the only four conference team championships in school history (1967, 1968, 1969, 1986). White coached 66 PAC individual tennis or wrestling champions, five NCAA All-Americans and two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. White also served as associate director of athletics towards the end of his 34-year career at W&J. "Jim White was beloved by the student-athletes he coached and the colleagues he worked with," said Scott McGuinness, director of athletics at W&J. "Our current coaching staff strives to make meaningful impacts like Jim accomplished every day of his career. A true W&J President, he will be greatly missed by the W&J community." "He was more than a coach, but also a mentor and a father figure," said Angelo Morascyzk, 1976 W&J graduate who wrestled for White in the 1970s, then later served as an assistant wrestling coach with White when starting his coaching career. "As an 18-year-old trying to make a decision on where to attend college, I knew I'd be in great hands with Coach White. His caring and compassionate side was easy to see. Coach White was a natural fit for NCAA Division III athletics. His teams had a lot of success, but it wasn't about the wins and losses. For Coach White, he wanted his athletes to enjoy the entire student experience at W&J." Tom Elling, author and historian on all things wrestling in the state of Pennsylvania, told InterMat Friday evening, "Coach White certainly was versatile and was outstanding in everything he did. W&J was better for having him as their 'face' for those years. While I never had the pleasure of meeting him face-to-face, I certainly appreciated his impact on wrestling in Pennsylvania." Born in Linesville, Pa. in April 1934, Jim White graduated from Harrisburg High School. He continued his education at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, then earned master's degree in physical education from Michigan State. Upon his retirement from W&J in 1997, White received an honorary doctorate from the school he had served for more than three decades. He and with his wife Claire, relocated to Long Beach Island, N.J. White was welcomed into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and was a 2013 inductee into the Washington & Jefferson College Athletic Hall of Fame. Visitation for James A. White will be held on Sunday, July 29, 2018 at the Thomas L. Shinn Funeral Home, 10 Hilliard Dr., Manahawkin, NJ from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. A Mass will be held on Monday, July 30 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary of the Pines Catholic Church, 100 Bishop Lane, Manahawkin, NJ. Committal service will follow at St. Mary Cemetery, Beachview Ave., Manahawkin. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim White's name may be made to either Serenity Hospice Care, 56 Georgetown Rd., Bordentown, NJ 08505 or Ken's Kitchen of St. Mary, 747 W. Bay Ave., Barnegat, NJ 08008. Those wishing to leave online condolences for the family may visit the funeral home's website. Founded in 1781, Washington & Jefferson College is a private, liberal arts college located in Washington, Pa., about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. W&J has a total enrollment of approximately 1,500 students. The school's varsity sports teams, named the Presidents, compete in NCAA Division III.

Frank Chamizo gets to the leg of Jordan Burroughs at Beat the Streets' "Rumble on the River" event (Photo/Juan Garcia) NEW YORK, NY -- Two-time world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Frank Chamizo will train with the Columbia Wrestling's New York City Regional Training Center (NYC RTC), the club announced Friday. An experienced, veteran athlete on the international stage, Chamizo brings an explosive and dynamic style of wrestling to New York. "When we launched the NYC RTC last April, I had a vision for creating a training environment that is not only the best in the Ivy League, but the best in the United States," Columbia Head Wrestling Coach Zach Tanelli said. "With the great support of our alumni and donors, we were able to take another step closer to that goal today with the addition of Frank Chamizo. "Frank is arguably the most exciting wrestler competing in the world right now," Tanelli noted. "Being in New York City, we have the ability to attract not only the best athletes in the country, but also the best in the world and that is what we are going to continue to do at Columbia. It is an exciting time for our program." "I am extremely excited to become a part of the NYC RTC and the Columbia Wrestling family," Chamizo said. "This is a special place and a special city. I look forward to helping young wrestlers develop while continuing my training in the greatest city in the world." "We all know that he can wrestle, and that he is one of the best on the international circuit now," Regional Training Center coach and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kendall Cross added, "but the unique intangibles that Frank Chamizo brings to our RTC and to the Columbia program are what will make this training environment so extraordinary. "He will elevate our training on the technical side," Cross continued, "but will also bring an important energy into the wrestling room. Frank works extremely hard and does so with charisma and passion for the sport. We are lucky to have him at the NYC RTC." Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Chamizo earned the 55kg bronze medal for his home country at the 2010 UWW World Championships in Moscow, Russia when he was just 18 years old. After becoming a naturalized citizen of Italy, he now competes under the Italian flag. Ending the 35-year drought of World and Olympic gold medals, Chamizo captured two World Championships titles for Italy (2015 at 65kg and 2017 at 70 kg). Chamizo is also the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist at 65kg, bringing home the medal from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Columbia's New York City Regional Training Center is a USA Wrestling-recognized RTC working in the support and cultivation of Columbia University wrestling student-athletes, as well as the ambitions of senior-level Olympic hopefuls.

Christian Brothers Academy has named William Ashnault as the Colts' new head wrestling coach, as announced by Director of Athletics Vito Chiaravalloti on Thursday morning. "This is a great moment for CBA Wrestling as Coach Ashnault is one of the most highly respected and exciting young coaches in the scholastic wrestling world right now," Chiaravalloti said. "We could not be happier to welcome him to Christian Brothers Academy. He not only comes to us with incredible experience and knowledge at both the high school and collegiate levels, but he also has a coaching philosophy consistent with our Lasallian mission. I'm confident that Coach Ashnault will quickly build a program that will compete for state titles, but more importantly will make the CBA wrestling community extremely proud." Billy AshnaultAshnault comes to CBA from Rutgers University, where he has spent the last six years as Director of Wrestling Operations. In this role, Ashnault was responsible for coordinating logistics between the nationally-ranked wrestling team and the University's athletic department. He also assisted the coaching staff, which produced eight All-Americans, two top-10 national individual finishes, six top-25 finishes as a team during his six years. Prior to joining the Rutgers staff, Ashnault was the senior captain for the Rutgers team as a student-athlete. Over his collegiate career, which spanned both Lock Haven University and Rutgers, he was a three-time NCAA Tournament qualifier and sported an 81-66 overall record. During his senior season at Rutgers, he finished ranked top-12 in his Division I weight class. Ashnault graduated Rutgers with a degree in Exercise Science & Sport Management. He originally hails from South Plainfield High School in New Jersey. During his high school tenure, Ashnault finished with a 128-25 record and was a four-time state tournament individual qualifier, reaching the state finals in his sophomore season. His South Plainfield team was crowned state champions in three of his four high school seasons. "It's humbling to be the next head coach at a unique institution like Christian Bothers Academy, where they are committed to excellence in both the classroom and athletics," Ashnault said. "My goal is to bring excitement to the CBA wrestling community, while building a program that our alumni, parents and fans can be pleased with. I look forward to the challenge of continuing the great wrestling tradition at CBA." Ashnault will helm a wrestling program that has seen great success since 2010. The Colts won three straight NJSIAA district titles from 2014 to 2016, captured the 2016 Shore Conference Team Championship, and had an individual state champion in 2016. They have consistently ranked in the top-10 in both the Shore and the state. The Colts will kick-off their 2018-2019 season with the CBA Colt Classic Tournament in mid-December.

Southwest Virginia Community College is planning to offer a number of intercollegiate sports -- including wrestling -- beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, the two-year school located in Wardell, Va. announced Thursday. SWCC will field competitive scholarship teams in wrestling, baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, golf, tennis, cross country and soccer. The school has signed a commitment letter to become part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) which oversees intercollegiate sports at two-year colleges. Southwest Virginia has hired an athletic director, Jason Vencill, who told the Bristol Herald Courier that 2018 will be a recruiting year for the school's new NJCAA sports. Coaches are being hired and athletes being signed in anticipation of starting competition in August 2019. The college already has a number of facilities to accommodate these sports, including a full-size gymnasium, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts and trails for cross country. Established in 1968, Southwest Virginia Community College is located in Richlands, Va.

Brian Vutianitis replaces Jason Signorelli as SUNY Ulster's wrestling coach Brian Vutianitis has been named interim head wrestling coach at SUNY Ulster, the two-year public college announced Thursday. Vutianitis replaces Jason Signorelli who had hired in spring 2016 to head up the mat program, which had been resurrected after a 40-year absence. Signorelli stepped down from SUNY Ulster to pursue a Master's degree at Western New England University and coach its NCAA Division III wrestling program as a graduate assistant, the Times Herald-Record reported Friday. Vutianitis, a 2016 SUNY Cortland grad, was a member of the school's Red Dragons wrestling program for four seasons. Prior to that, Vutianitis wrestled at Warwick High School, where he won the Section 9 140-pound title as a senior. SUNY Ulster -- also known as Ulster County Community College -- is a public two-year college supported by Ulster County, New York, and the State University of New York. The school, established in 1961, has a total enrollment of approximately 3,800 students.

Jason Schweer has been named the head wrestling coach at Kansas Wesleyan University, the Salina, Kansas-based school announced Thursday. Jason SchweerSchweer replaces Matt Oney, who left KWU after two seasons to take the helm of the wrestling program at his college alma mater, Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Schweer comes to Kansas Wesleyan after serving as an assistant coach at University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. for the past three seasons, where he helped develop a new program into a competitive program at the NCAA Division III level. While at Ozarks, he helped the Eagles post their first-ever winning season in 2016-17 while also earning the program's first-ever individual win at a NCAA Regional that year. The Eagles placed fourth in the 2017 Southeast Conference Tournament and had nine Top-7 finishers at the event. Schweer sees similarities between Kansas Wesleyan and Ozarks. "Similar in population as far as the student body, both very awesome campus communities and very supportive," Schweer told the Salina Journal. "I think Salina's the perfect spot to get things going. This university's beautiful, it's a close-knit environment, lot of great things going on here for us to get things going. "I got to Ozarks in their second year, so I'm familiar with the new program aspect of things. It is a lot of fun to get things up and running and show people what wrestling looks like at the college level and experience it." Prior to Ozarks, Schweer served as an assistant coach for two seasons for his college alma mater, Grand View University in Des Moines. While at Grand View, the Vikings won two NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) National Championships, part of their current run of seven-straight titles, had 24 National Qualifiers, 20 NAIA All-Americans and six NAIA National Champions. Schweer's career as a student-athlete was also impressive. He was part of Grand View's 2012 NAIA National Championship team and was a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete. Before arriving at Grand View, Schweer wrestled at North Iowa Area Community College, where he helped the Trojans to a fourth-place finish at the 2008 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) National Championships and a second place finish at the 2009 NJCAA National Duals. Schweer was a two-time NJCAA Academic All-American Award recipient. In Kansas Wesleyan's official announcement of his hiring, Schweer said, "I want to thank President Dr. Matt Thompson and Athletic Director Mike Hermann for believing in me and giving me a chance to become a head coach." "Kansas Wesleyan is a close-knit community, and that was evident the second I stepped on campus. From the top down, I am confident I will have the support and structure to help the program grow and flourish. Outside of the on-campus support, the community of Salina has a rich wrestling history and many supportive community members that are hungry to be involved in the growth of the Coyote Wrestling family." "I am fired up to take the reins of this program in this community," Schweer added. "This is a great environment for a young program to grow and develop, and to be a part of getting this program off the ground is an amazing opportunity. We have all the tools we need to be very successful here, now it's time to get work." Kansas Wesleyan University is a private four-year Christian-based college located in Salina, Kansas. Founded in 1886, KWU has approximately 850 students.

Deep in the middle of summer -- about four months before the 2018-19 college wrestling season is slated to start, and eight months before the 2019 NCAA Division I championships take place in Pittsburgh -- the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee has issued its 2018 annual report. Among the top recommendations for the upcom ing season: new scheduling flexibility for dual meets ... and seeding all 33 wrestlers in each weight class at the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Recommendation for scheduling flexibility In its latest report, the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Committee has made a recommendation "to allow institutions to count not more than two two-day meets and not more than four occasions in which the dual meets are held over a three-day period each as a single date of competition." In justifying its recommendation, the Committee stated, "This change will reduce the number of trips required, allow teams to host more home dual matches, allow teams to travel to different regions of the country and compete against multiple teams in that area over a three-day period. It also will result in less missed class time, allow for flexibility with venue and broadcast windows, and assist with student-athlete well-being by allowing a day between competition." For Division I mat programs and their wrestlers to gain this new flexibility, NCAA Bylaw 17.27.5.1.1 would need to be amended. Seeds for every NCAA championships qualifier For a number of years, only the top sixteen wrestlers in each 33-man bracket at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were seeded. The Wrestling Committee recommends that this current ranking system be expanded to ALL athletes within a bracket; in other words, continuing that same process to order the seeds from 17-33, with the stipulation that "seeds 29-33 may be assigned randomly to the brackets but will always be paired with the top four seeds and assigned to all pigtail matches." The NCAA states the reason for proposing this change to the seeding process provides more balanced brackets, therefore reducing (if not eliminating) random matchups. Matters of convenience ... and timing The NCAA D1 Wrestling Committee has also recommended additional changes designed to make the national wrestling championships a better experience for fans ... and for the athletes. Starting with the 2019 NCAAs, fans will be able to pick up tickets for all six sessions on the first day of the championships ... reducing the amount of time spent standing in line. In another move to make the fan experience better, doors to the host facility will now be open 90 minutes before the start of each session. A proposed change for wrestlers: weigh-ins will be conducted two hours prior to the start of each day's competition. If these changes are approved, they would be expected to be implemented before the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships, to take place March 21-23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena, a 19,500-seat arena in downtown Pittsburgh which opened in 2010 as Consol Energy Center, and serves as the home to the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. It is the first time the Nationals have been held in Steel City in more than six decades. The 1957 NCAAs were hosted by the University of Pittsburgh at Fitzgerald Field House, a 5,000-seat on-campus facility built in the early 1950s. The '57 NCAAs were historic for a number of reasons: first to feature an African-American NCAA champ (Iowa's Simon Roberts, 147-pound titlist) ... Oklahoma's Dan Hodge concluding his perfect 46-0 collegiate career with his third NCAA title at 177 pounds (and second Outstanding Wrestler award) ... and Pitt's Ed Peery won his third national title in his home gym, joining his older brother Hugh and his father (and college coach) Rex Peery as the only family with three NCAA championships each.

The Yasar Dogu gets underway Friday in Istanbul with the entire United States World Team set to compete. Though always a competitive tournament, the Yasar Dogu was only recently named a Ranking Series event, after South Africa announced in April that it was unable to host the event. With the last-minute change, the stream is being provided for free on Trackwrestling.com. Due to the change, entry lists for the event have been difficult to find, but we do know of at least top-level matchups American fans will be excited to see: Jordan Burroughs vs. Frank Chamizo, Haji Aliyev vs. Logan Stieber and J'den Cox vs. Sharif Sharifov. For Burroughs, a Chamizo rematch will be instructive on how they will compete against each other in Budapest. Burroughs' NYC Beat the Streets win was important, but did plenty of preparation, generous weight allowances and no other matches benefit Burroughs? We'll see. I tend to think it matters when they meet. On day one I could see it favoring Chamizo who wouldn't have cut as much weight. That said, a second day finals matchup benefits Burroughs who tends to use the first match or two of the day to shake loose the competitive cobwebs and find his footing (literally in the case of BTS). I think that by the second day he'll have a real advantage over Chamizo. Either way, it'll be fun wrestling to watch. Ukraine, Turkey, and Azerbaijan are expected to show up with their starting world team lineups as is a questionable lineup from Iran. Action starts Friday at 4 a.m. ET. You can see the full schedule here. To your questions… Helen Maroulis before competing at Beat the Streets' "Rumble on the River" event (Photo/Juan Garcia) Q: What's the status of Helen Maroulis? Has a wrestle-off date been set? Is there a chance she might be out for the World Championships? -- Mike C. Foley: From her social media, it looks like she's on the road to recovery. Injuries are tricky to report since the athlete reserves the right (as they should) to publish their own health information. Given what I'm hearing she has every plan to challenge for the spot, but I don't know that a date has been decided. In my opinion anyone who bets against Helen is only playing themselves. Anzor Boltukayev defeated multiple Olympic champs leading up to the Rio Games, including Jake Varner Q: Leading up to the 2016 Olympics, there was a 10-12 month period from the 2015 World Championships to Rio where Anzor Boltukayev appeared to be the most ferocious 97-kilogram wrestler in the history of the weight class. In one calendar year he had victories over the following wrestlers: Kyle Snyder, Jake Varner (Snyder and Varner in the same tournament -- 2016 Yarygin), 2012 Olympic silver medalist Valerii Andriitsev, 2015 European silver medalist Elizbar Odikadze (Andriisev and Odikadze in the same tournament -- 2016 European Championships), and six-time world/Olympic champion Khadzhimurat Gatsalov at the 2016 Russian National Championships. He gassed out in his first match in Rio and got knocked out of the tournament. Other than a world bronze in 2013 he hasn't done much on the world level. How do you explain someone like this exploding on to the scene and then seemingly dropping off the map just as fast? Injuries? Russian vitamins? -- James R. Foley: I remember it well. During Boltukayev's run I made a low-rent highlight film of him for UWW where he was helicoptering out of underhooks and massaging his beard and it combined for more than 500K views on Facebook and YouTube. Boltukayev had all the trappings of a star wrestler: big frame, gnarly facial hair, and interesting backstory (Chechen Special Forces). Working against him was an issue of age and, as you saw, endurance. His Olympic performance was justified by the Russian media as a case of food poisoning, but with the last-minute banning of Meldonium and the extra pre-Olympic tests of Russian athletes' rumors of the drug testing persisted. Who's to say? However, that precipitous drop-off in attention was actually due to a real, positive drug test in April of 2017 for Higenamine, which is a Beta-2 Agonist. The ingestion was deemed accidental and Boltukayev completed his one-year suspension on April 5. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Link: WEEEEBZ Bringing the Truth Chinese President Xi on hand for the opening of Senegal's newest wrestling stadium. Americans tend to express love for the military and want to see it in use, but in my opinion nothing can connect you faster to the people of a country and persuade outcomes better than a little humanitarian action. This isn't exactly humanitarian, but it'll continue to improve China's relationship with Africa and allow them preferential trade deals. Brilliant move. Sport swap with Sofia Mattsson Q: With Heath Eslinger resigning as Chattanooga's head wrestling coach, who do you see as potential candidates at UTC? Hearing any names? -- Mike C. Foley: No names have been circulated, but I think the level of commitment from the alumni and university dictate that the next coach will be a formidable hire. Any coach who chooses to go south will certainly be in the position Q: I generally enjoy your view of the positives of freestyle wrestling relative to folkstyle. You recently posted a video of Zare vs. Kerkvliet, and mentioned that Zare looked like he is on pace to be a monster at 125 kilograms. I watched the match, and if he is an example of great freestyle wrestling, I can't see how you advocate for the pushout score as better than the scoring in folkstyle. Zare won 7-4. By my count, Kerkvliet had nine legitimate takedown attempts, not including his flurry in the closing seconds. Zare had one, and I'm being really generous with that. All Zare did was grab an underhook or two, lock it tight, and drive. Without a doubt, the strategy worked, and that is something Kerkvliet will need to work on if he plans on competing in international freestyle. Perhaps the biggest joke was Kerkvliet getting a passivity warning 34 seconds into the match, 12 seconds after he had taken the only real offensive attempt of the match and gotten in deep enough to grab Zare's leg. I'm told that passivity is often hard to call, but the refs have to make a call if there is no scoring. The benefit of the doubt is given to the wrestler who seems to control the mat by keeping his (or her) butt toward the middle of the mat. This is the only possible explanation I can see for calling passivity on the guy who was trying to score. In that case, then Zare worked the system perfectly. If you notice, after each stoppage he returned to the center of the mat so that Kervliet was outside the center circle. In that way, if they tied up and nothing more happened, Kerkvliet would always be called for being passive just because of the starting position. If the butt-to-the-middle criterion is actually used, then they should use the folkstyle start with one foot on each line, so the wrestlers start in equal position. Bottom line, I don't see any way that changing the folkstyle rules to encourage that kind of wrestling will help grow the sport. Zare might turn into a sumo-style monster, but I'll watch a sport where they try to score takedowns. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. -- Mike D. Foley: I think that Zare was in control of the match from start-to-finish. While he wasn't as offensive in terms of shooting he controlled the match and chased Kerkvliet around the edge of the circle. In my experience, the referees like to see the wrestler who is working the edge to commit to tie-ups and good shots. The diving shots don't motivate many referees unless it's followed up with an attempt to engage. Overall there are a few points to keep in mind when watching the match again (as I just did to make sure I understood fully what you meant). The Iranians are famous for underhooks and position and make it a centerpiece of their strategy. In that way it's not too dissimilar from the Iowa-style of wrestling we are used to seeing at the collegiate level -- heavy pressure leads to mistakes, stall calls or poor positioning. With only a handful of clearances on the edge by Kerkvliet (including a takedown) the tempo was dominated by Zare. Note also that it is illegal to "push" an opponent out of bounds. Points can only be given as the result of a wrestling action. There are admittedly few calls for shoving, but the rule does exist. Kerkvliet was pushed around a lot, but I don't agree that it was Zare's fault. Taken from the Iranian perspective the American just failed to engage and instead hung from an overhook for much of the second period. Improved hand fighting and clearing ties would've meant more opportunities for Kerkvliet to score from distance, or in transitioning out of positions like the underhook. Last point, but sumo is legit. I can't overstate how strong, flexible and athletic those men are. It defies reason. Q: Aside from Gable Steveson, who do you see as the best heavyweight prospect under the age of 20? Seems like there are a lot of talented young heavyweights like Greg Kerkvliet, Cohlton Schultz, Seth Nevills, Anthony Cassioppi and Mason Paris. -- Mike C. Foley: The best NCAA prospect: Greg Kerkvliet. The best international prospect: Mason Paris. The best sumo prospect: Seth Nevills. No prediction will land, but I do feel this might be the best generation of heavyweights we've ever seen in the United States. A few weeks ago I wrote that an increase in competitions and visibility may have helped earn these wrestlers more acclaim than some of their predecessors. I still think that it's true, but after watching some of the matches from Fargo and the Cadet World Championships I think that we are seeing something special. Where do they all land? Unclear. I think that Gable and Co. will swap NCAA trophies with each other but also begin to assert real dominance on the international stage between 2020 and 2028. I'll go one step further and lay 2-1 odds that an American wins the Olympic gold medal at heavyweight in 2024 or 2028. Fact of the Week By @GiantBallofOil The Big Ten scooped the top four spots at 125 pounds and 184 pounds this year. That's only happened four times over the last twenty years (all Big Ten), and two were this year! 2018-125 2018-184 2017-165 2002-285. Big Ten wrestling is the best and still getting better.

Alex Madrigal Alex Madrigal, a two-time NCAA qualifier, announced Thursday on Twitter that he is transferring from Old Dominion to George Mason. "Excited to announce that I will be transferring and finishing my last two years at George Mason University!" tweeted Madrigal. "Incredibly grateful to be joining this amazing staff, and great group of guys. Ready to accomplish my goals these next two years. Thanks to everyone who has helped me get here. Pumped to join the Mason wrestling family and #BeUncommon. Let's get to wrork." Marigal qualified for the NCAAs at 141 pounds this past season after qualifying in 2017 as a redshirt freshman at 133 pounds. Madrigal attended Oak Park River Forest (Ill.), where he was a state finalist as a senior in 2015.

Services for Mark Jacovitte, former Maryland high wrestling coach for 50 years, have been announced. Mark JacovitteVisitation for Jacovitte will take place Saturday, July 28 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at McComas Funeral Home, 1317 Cokesbury Road, Abingdon, Md. The funeral service will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Jacovitte died on July 21 from cancer at age 68. Born in Baltimore, Mark Nicholas Jacovitte coached in Maryland area schools for a half-century. From 1974-1982 Mark was the head wrestling coach at Bel Air High where he also coached football. In the 1990's he coached wrestling and football at C. Milton Wright High. Just this year, Jacovitte was honored at the Maryland State Wrestling Tournament with a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award for his 50 years of service to the sport. Mark graduated from Bel Air High School in 1967, and was a 1970 graduate of Harford Community College. In 1971 he attended Towson State University and also took graduate classes at Morgan State University. “Mark Jacovitte was a fixture of Harford County high school sports. His wit and unique way of looking at the world was always funny and refreshing,” Keith Watson, one of Jacovitte's wrestlers, told the Baltimore Sun. “His personality drew me and many others into a new sport (to us) called wrestling, because he was so much fun to be around.”

Dustin Kilgore U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.-- Air Force has announced the return of NCAA wrestling champion and three-time wrestling All-American Dustin Kilgore to the wrestling staff where he will also serve as the head coach of the Air Force Regional Training Center (AFRTC). The Berea, Ohio comes to Air Force after spending a season with Rider University as the assistant coach. Kilgore is a four-time MAC champion and boasts the accolade of being the only national champion Kent State has ever produced in wrestling. "I'm pumped to be back at the Air Force Academy," said Kilgore. "I'd like to thank coach Barber for the opportunity to assist the team as they battle in the Big 12 wrestling conference and also for the chance to coach, lead and develop aspiring athletes at the AFRTC." After earning his bachelor's in criminal justice at Kent State, Kilgore broadened his wrestling resume by earning a silver medal at the World University Championships in 2014 and a third-place finish at the Olympic Trials in 2016. He is a four-time USA National Team member. While at Rider, Kilgore helped lead the Broncs to a 13-5 dual record and a second-place finish at the EWL conference tournament where the Broncs had two individual champions. "We're excited to have Dustin return to our staff" claims Sam Barber, head wrestling coach. "A guy of his caliber and competition credentials is going to have a tremendous impact on the growth and improvement of our collegiate wrestlers as well as on our AFRTC athletes." "I'm looking forward to developing quality Air Force and AFRTC athletes," said Kilgore. "With five years of Division I wrestling experience and over 20 years of experience on the mat, I know what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level and I cannot wait to share my skills and knowledge with this growing program." Kilgore currently resides in Colorado Springs with his wife Abby and their sphynx cat, Koshka. He will be mat side with the Falcons as competition kicks off later this year.