InterMat Staff

Five former college wrestlers left as victors at UFC 210, including defending light-heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, at the Ultimate Fighting Championships "Cormier-Jackson 2" event at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Saturday night. Cormier holds onto title; Weidman falls Daniel CormierCormier, two-time U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestler, held onto his 205-pound title by submitting Anthony Johnson with a rear-naked choke at 3:37 in the second round. It was the second meeting for the two in the Octagon, with Cormier coming out the winner under similar circumstances at UFC 187 in May 2015 after having been knocked down by Johnson in the first round. After the loss, Johnson announced his retirement in a what mixed martial arts website Sherdog.com described as "a bizarre post-fight speech." It may have been a fitting ending to an event which saw some controversy regarding Cormier's earlier Friday weigh-in, where, at first, the former Oklahoma State All-American failed to make weight ... then returned to the official scale a few minutes later coming in under the 205-pound limit. "It was crazy because I weighed in upstairs and I was like 'man, I'm OK, I can go down and do this.' Took a lot longer than normally but we figured we had it done," Cormier explained. "We went downstairs and the scale was weighing different. So I went in the back and they informed me that New York state rule is that you can actually re-weigh and if you don't make it, you have two hours to actually make the weight. "So I started feeling pretty confident after that." Prior to the Cormier-Johnson II main event, there was a controversial ending in the bout featuring former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman vs. Gegard Mousasi. The two-time NCAA All-American for Hofstra University suffered a TKO at 3:13 of Round Two but only after the match had been temporarily halted when Mousasi landed what the referee believed to be an illegal knee while Weidman had both hands on the canvas. Replays showed that Mousasi lifted Weidman's hand off the mat while landing the knee, making it legal. Initially, Weidman was given a five-minute recovery period, but cageside physicians entered the Octagon and ruled that the Long Island native was unfit to continue. With that, Mousasi had his fifth consecutive victory, while Weidman suffered his third straight defeat, falling to 13-3. Wrestlers perfect in preliminaries Former college wrestlers went 4-0 in preliminary bouts at UFC 210. The first one-time wrestler to enter the Octagon at UFC 210 was Desmond Green. The three-time NCAA Division I qualifier at University at Buffalo scored a split decision victory, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29, over Josh Emmert in an early-evening three-round lightweight (155-pound) bout. MMA website Sherdog.com's trio of reporters unofficially scored the first round to Emmert but declared the former two-time Mid-American Conference champ (2009, 2010) and New York high school state champ the victor in the second and third rounds. The 27-year-old Green, who launched his professional MMA career in April 2012, now has an overall record of 20-5. Another native New York State mat star, Gregor Gillespie, NCAA wrestling champ for Edinboro University, made short work of his opponent at UFC 210. The former Fighting Scot knocked out Andrew Holbrook with a left hook in just 21 seconds in what had been scheduled as a three-round lightweight bout. A native of Webster, N.Y., Gillespie was a four-time NCAA All-American at Edinboro, winning the 149-pound title at the 2007 NCAAs. Former Ring of Combat champ Gillespie, who earned a $50,000 "Performance of the Night" bonus from UFC, remains undefeated as a pro in MMA with a 9-0 record. Former Penn State heavyweight Patrick Cummins earned a majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28) over Jan Blachowicz in their three-round heavyweight fight. Sherdog.com journalists scored the first round for Blachowicz but awarded the second and third to the two-time NCAA All-American for the Nittany Lions. Cummins is now 9-4 in his pro MMA career, coming off back-to-back losses. Kamaru Usman made it four-for-four for former college wrestlers in the prelims at UFC 210. The Nigerian native -- and former William Penn and University of Nebraska-Kearney wrestler -- earned a unanimous decision over Sean Strickland in a three-round welterweight (170-pound) bout. Doctors examined Strickland's injured left eye at the beginning of Round Three but cleared him to continue. Usman, "The Ultimate Fighter 21" winner who claimed the 174-pound crown at the 2010 NCAA Division II championships for UNK, is now 10-1 overall in a career he launched in Nov. 2012.

BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech wrestling head coach Tony Robie has announced the hiring of Jared Frayer as an assistant coach. Frayer joins Frank Molinaro as an assistant on Robie's first coaching staff leading the Hokie wrestling program. Jared Frayer (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Frayer was most recently an assistant coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma, where he was a two-time All-American and a Big 12 champion. On the international stage, Frayer represented the United States at the 2012 London Olympics wrestling freestyle at 66 kg. "I am thrilled to welcome Jared and his family to the Hokie Nation," Robie said. "His coaching acumen, coupled with his collegiate and international experience on the mat, will be a huge asset to our program. He has proven that he can recruit, train and develop elite level wrestlers. I look forward to working with him in our pursuit of greatness here at Virginia Tech." Frayer returned to Norman in 2011 after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Wisconsin. He coached the Badgers to consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships (2010-11) and helped develop seven All-Americans and an individual national champion. On the recruiting trail, he brought the nation's No. 4-ranked recruiting class to Madison in 2011. Frayer once served as the strength and conditioning coach at Iowa for the 2008-09 season and was an assistant coach for three years at Harvard from 2003-06. In Cambridge, Frayer headed the Crimson's recruiting efforts while also coaching five All-Americans and an NCAA champion. A two-time team captain and a two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree, Frayer left Oklahoma with a 129-38 career record and was the NCAA runner-up at 149 pounds as a senior in 2002. He was also the recipient of the Wade Schalles award in 2000 for recording the most pins of any collegiate wrestler that season. After graduating from Oklahoma in 2002 with a degree in secondary education, Frayer went on to win the 2010 U.S. Open Championship and was named to the United States national team five times. At the U.S. World and Olympic Team Trials, he turned in seven top six finishes. Frayer returns to the college coaching ranks after spending the last two years as a sales representative for Stryker Spine, selling spine implants to orthopedic spine and neurosurgeons in the greater Tampa Bay area. He and his wife, Nicole, have two daughters, Khloe and Beckett.

JohnMark Bentley BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State director of athletics Doug Gillin announced a new three-year contract for Appalachian State wrestling head coach JohnMark Bentley on Friday. The new three-year deal begins on July 1, 2017 and runs through July 30, 2020. "I am excited that JohnMark Bentley will remain the leader of our wrestling program," Gillin said. "The growth and success of the program under JohnMark in both the Southern Conference and at the national level continues to be impressive. On top of all of the success on the mat, I am especially proud of the commitment that our wrestling program makes to campus and community involvement as well as its work in the classroom," Gillin continued. "I'm thankful to Coach Bentley for his continued commitment to Appalachian State and am thrilled that he and his family will remain a part of the Appalachian family." A three-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, Bentley has been at the helm of Appalachian State wrestling for the past nine years, guiding them to three SoCon regular season championships and one SoCon Tournament championship. "Appalachian is a very special place to me and my family," Bentley said. "I am excited to continue the work of growing the App State wrestling tradition." The Mountaineers are coming off back-to-back historic seasons, garnering the team's first national ranking in the USA Today/NWCA poll at No. 23 in 2015-16 and then pushing that further in 2016-17 by climbing all the way up to No. 20 in the country. In the national rankings, App State also reached No. 16 this season in InterMat while also making No. 6 in the newly formed NWCA/National Duals Selection Committee Mid-Major Top 20 Poll. Appalachian has gone 13-1 in the SoCon the previous two seasons and won 22 of 27 dual matches for exceptional recent dominance in the mid-majors, downing five Power 5 programs and two top-25 teams. In back-to-back years, the Black and Gold have been selected to participate in the NWCA National Duals, which pits the nation's top wrestling programs against Big Ten teams each year. This year, Boone and wrestling home Varsity Gym played host to the big stage, welcoming Indiana University to the mountain to cap off the season. Under Bentley's tutelage, Mountaineer wrestling has had three NCAA All-Americans, a SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler, two SoCon Freshmen of the Year, four SoCon Wrestlers of the Year, 10 wrestlers named SoCon all-freshmen, 18 named SoCon all-conference and 17 SoCon Champions.

Tom Brands Collegiate coaches Tom Brands and Glen Lanham -- along with iconic mat great Dan Gable --will be among the featured guests on the Takedown Radio broadcast this Saturday, April 8. Join Scott Casber, Tony Hager, Steve Foster and Brad Johnson for the two-hour broadcast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Central available on KXNO 1460 AM radio and online at www.KXNO.iHeart.com Here's this Saturday's guest list: 9 a.m. -- Tom Brands, University of Iowa head coach 9:20 a.m. -- Glen Lanham, Duke University head coach 9:40 a.m. -- Dorothy Milakovich Mayabb, wrestling announcer 10 a.m. -- Jacob Kasper, 2017 NCAA 285lb All-American from Duke University 10:20 a.m. -- Greg Warren, former wrestler and comedian 10:40 a.m. -- Dan Gable, Hall of Fame wrestler and coach

Chad Walsh and Gary Taylor embrace (Photo/Roy DeBoer) LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Rider University two-time All-American redshirt junior wrestler Chad Walsh (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) has been selected Eastern Wrestling League Wrestler of the Year and Head Coach Gary Taylor has been picked EWL Coach of the Year, the league has announced. Walsh takes the award for the second-straight year, while Taylor earned his ninth career Coach of the Year award. Walsh posted a 33-4 record this season, winning the EWL Championship at 165 and finishing seventh at NCAA's. His only four losses on the season came to wrestlers who finished in the top five at NCAA's - 2017 National Champion Vincenzo Joseph (Penn St.), 2015 and 2016 National Champion Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), 2016 National Runner-Up Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) and 2017 fifth-place finisher Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) on the controversial overturning of a takedown that would've given Walsh the victory in the medal rounds at NCAA's. Walsh won eight matches over the Top 20 wrestlers according to FloWrestling.com, including No. 9 Brandon Womack (Cornell), three victories over No. 11 Austin Matthews (Edinboro), No. 13 Drew Hughes (Michigan State), No. 17 Dylan Cottrell (West Virginia) and No. 20 Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield). "Chad is a very special kid in a lot of ways," said Taylor. "Chad just keeps getting better each year. His confidence just keeps growing and his work ethic is second to none. His production on the mat is second to none. That's why he's had the success that he has. He's good for wrestling and a lot of fun to watch because he brings it for the entire time." Taylor capped an illustrious 39-year career by coaching a pair of wrestlers to All-America honors in Walsh and Ryan Wolfe (New Castle, DE/Caravel Academy). It marked the 16th and 17th times in Taylor's career that he'd mentored a wrestler to All-American status, including six in the last 11 years. On the strength of 13 victories this season, Taylor passed former Minnesota Head Coach J Robinson for third all-time at Division I with 442 career dual wins. The Broncs finished 21st at NCAA's, with four of Taylor's wrestlers advancing to the tournament, bringing his career total to 173 NCAA Qualifiers. "It's certainly a great honor," said Taylor. The EWL has a very strong tradition and to end up Coach of the Year in the EWL is an honor that I greatly appreciate."

ISU coaches (left to right): Kevin Dresser, Mike Zadick, Brent Metcalf, Derek St. John (Photo/Cyclones.com) Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser introduced his coaching staff for the first time this week, and boy was it black and gold. Joining the Iowa native on the dais for a short press conference were three former Iowa Hawkeyes: Mike Zadick, Derek St. John and Brent Metcalf. Adding in Dresser who won a national title as a wrestler for Dan Gable and you have an all-Iowa coaching staff at Iowa State. Unless this is something out of "The Americans" it's safe to assume that the Iowa-forever loyalties built under Gable have seemed to fade. However, that might be more a function of the appeal of the color green than it is crimson and gold. The Iowa State hiring spree didn't come cheap. Brent Metcalf, who will serve as the volunteer assistant coach, is rumored to be earning $150,000. That's a fantastic amount of money, which I have no doubt Metcalf could warrant. I'm told he's a smart, engaging coach capable of motivation and technical assistance. Add in the proven compatibility of St. John and Zadick (along with their hefty salaries) and you get a lot of potential and a tractor-sized portion of expectation. Iowa State's moves also spun the coaching carousel at Virginia Tech, with newly-minted head wrestling coach Tony Robie hiring Oklahoma alumnus and Olympian Jared Frayer, along with 2016 Olympian Frank Molinaro. Big names with big polo shirts to fill. With Virginia Tech and Iowa State making decisive moves, it's the lack of movement on the Pitt job search creating the most gossip. Pitt hired Heather Lyke last month as their new AD, which means she's been short on preparation time. However, the anxiety about the job's massive potential spurred Lehigh and Edinboro to announce plans to compensate and retain Pat Santoro and Tim Flynn respectively. Santoro and Flynn were the most logical choices and without them as options Lyke will need to either get creative or look at current Pitt interim coaches Matt Kocher and Drew Headlee, or former wrestler and NCAA champion Keith Gavin. The creative option would be Jody Strittmatter, who coaches Top Gun Wrestling Club in the area. It's also rumored that Pitt will try to lure SDSU coach Chris Bono. Coaching is a tough and tiring game, but for many it's the perfect way to stay invested in the sport they love. Don't forget that while these leaders are tasked to win they are also tasked to create the next generation of coaches, administrators and key stake holders for our sport. The hiring of Dresser, and the retention of Robie, Santoro and Flynn mean that our sport will be awash is talent for another generation. To your questions … Q: Could you please explain how the 9.9 scholarships system works? Who determines the amount of a full scholarship? Let's say that it is determined that a full scholarship is worth $20,000 at Penn State. Does that mean PSU has $198,000 (9.9 x 20,000) to divide out? As an illustration, after all other financial aid is taken into account, suppose the final school bill for PSU's national champs is as follows: Retherford - $5,000, Nolf - $7,500, Joseph - $7,500, Hall - $10,000, and Nickal - $10,000. Does that mean Hall and Nickal would be able to share one full scholarship (10G + 10G) and the other 3 another full scholarship (5G + 7500 + 7500)? Or is there some other method of computation? All these questions arise as I see elite recruits headed to Happy Valley, when seemingly more scholarship money is available elsewhere. -- Brian S. Foley: There are a variety of scholarships structures in use by coaches around the country. Most programs no longer give out 100 percent scholarships to incoming freshmen, instead opting for what would look like a four-year contract with incentives. For example, let's say Vincenzo Joseph came in on 70 percent, he would have the ability to be bumped up based on performance at the NCAA tournament. So next year he might make the full 100 percent, or head to whatever cap the coaching staff has in place. One reason coaches have moved to this structure is that they can often come up with the rest of the money through financial aid packages, but also because there is tremendous cost savings in spreading out the money among more top athletes. Everyone needs a workout partner and getting the athletes (literal) buy-in with forgoing scholarship dollars helps get more talent into the room. As for what constitutes the scholarship, a school will have a cap amount they can spend on scholarships at whatever amount they have on tap, but the percentages are based on residency and amount paid. For example, Penn State's out-of-state tuition is roughly $50,000/year and in-state is $35,000. If Mark Hall gets $40,000 or his $50,000 paid for he is considered on .8 scholarship. Jason Nolf is paid $30,000 of $35,000 and he's taking up almost .9. The dollars aren't as important as the percentage, for which they only get 9.9. Q: How terrible is the athletic department at Pitt? They sit in the best area in the country, have a major airport for a regional training center (RTC) and have a large budget with all the ACC money. They should be able to get a slam-dunk hire. -- Steve M. Foley: As I glossed over up above, the athletic department is in turnover, which means that the incoming administration is behind on recruitment. Imagine the myriad concerns Heather Lyke has to review and where her priorities likely lie. In addition to the life changes she must undergo, she needs to meet her assistant AD's, coaching staff and athletes. From there she has to meet with the school's president and board, listening carefully to their concerns and priorities before ever making an action. Once she gets to wrestling I agree that she should be able to offer a new coach something enticing. However, I wouldn't assume she will hire a "slam-dunk" candidate. Who else is left and looking to move? My vote is Jody Strittmatter. Q: I saw you tweet something about big news coming about Rei Higuchi with hashtags #college #wrestling. Can you share anything? -- Mike C. Foley: Higuchi is staying at Nippon Sports Science University! MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Rei Higuchi and Shinobu Ota Q: What are your thought on eliminating the stalling warning and making the first stall call a point for the other wrestling? Second stall call is another point and third stall call is two points. Maybe a fourth stall call would be another two points and if person gets five, he forfeits the match. This might make the person winning the match late stay in the circle, especially if it's a one or two-point match. Thoughts? -- Ed T. Foley: I'm a little hesitant to give referees the ability to give points for stalling. The new Greco-Roman rules allowed for this and it led to a lot of random referee fingers being pointed in the air! Stalling will always be an issue for wrestling officials to figure out. For the NCAA, stalling is most associated with the arcane out-of-bounds regulations and the riding time point. Correcting those should promote a more aggressive style of wrestling and prevent referees from becoming too involved in the moment-to-moment of the match. Q: Which do you think is more likely now that Iowa State has completed their staff and can focus on the roster, a scholarship offer to PD3 (Pat Downey) or Nelson Brands? -- Mark M. Foley: At this point, you'd much rather have Nelson Brands on your team. Great pedigree, proven winner and the coaches have probably known him for a long time. The PD3 situation is a mess and made no better by Twitter! Q: Daniel Cormier defends his light heavyweight title against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson Saturday night at UFC 210. Do you have a prediction on the outcome of the fight? Also, Chris Weidman is on the card, fighting Gegard Mousasi. Weidman last two of his last three fights, but to very good fighters. Now he's a betting underdog in this one. Who do you like in Weidman-Mousasi? -- Mike C. Foley: I'm sticking with DC. Assuming he can avoid the first 10 minutes of haymakers he has a much more technical ground game than Johnson, endurance and an impressive hands. But seriously, he has to make sure to stay the hell away from Johnson's homerun swings. Those things could decapitate a horse. Man, I love Chris Weidman and I want to see him win. To be fair, I don't see a lot of fighters come back from a knockout loss like he suffered against Yoel Romero and succeed. Hell, I don't see people come back from the beating he got from Luke Rockhold and make a serious comeback. Mousasi gives Weidman a fair chance at redemption. If he's confident in his neck and in good shape he's as good as 50/50 to pull out a win. The underdog position is not a bad place to bet him.

Ed Ruth Ed Ruth and Tyrell Fortune are hoping that lightning strikes twice in the same place, as the two former college wrestling champs are returning to the site where both made their successful professional mixed martial arts debuts for the same promotion at the same location on the same night at Bellator 163 in November 2016. Bellator announced Wednesday that Ruth and Fortune will both be on the preliminary card for the organization's Bellator 178 event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. on Friday, April 21, the same venue which hosted their first pro MMA appearances at Bellator 163. Ruth, three-time NCAA Division I mat champ for Penn State, will take on Aaron Goodwine in a middleweight match-up, while Fortune, a two-time NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) heavyweight champ at Oregon's Clackamas Community College and 2013 NCAA Division II titlewinner at Grand Canyon University in Arizona, will face Branko Busick. Since making his debut at Bellator 163 -- where he scored a first-round TKO over Dustin Collins-Miles -- the 26-year-old Ruth added another Round One TKO victory over Emanuele Palombi at Bellator 168 in Florence, Italy in mid-December 2016 for a 2-0 pro record. His Bellator 178 opponent Goodwine is 1-0 as a professional. Fortune, also 26, made an impressive debut at Bellator 163 with a TKO over Cody Miskell. In January, Fortune notched his second victory -- also by TKO -- this time over Will Johnson at Bellator 171 in Kansas in late January. Busick is making his professional debut. Bellator 178 is headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Daniel Straus and Patricio Freire. The main card will be televised on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, with prelims streaming on Bellator.com immediately prior. UPDATE 4/19/17: Ed Ruth will face a different opponent. Instead of Aaron Goodwine, the former Penn State champ will go up against David Mundell, who has a 6-2 pro record.

Former Michigan State wrestler Curran Jacobs will be on the card at the KnockOut Promotions KOP 55 mixed martial arts event at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. Saturday, April 29. Curran JacobsThe two-time NCAA qualifier will be facing Brian Hawkins in a 185-pound amateur bout. Hawkins, who brings a 2-1-0 amateur record, is coming off a TKO victory in KOP 54. Jacobs is 1-0 in his amateur MMA career, having scored a 19-second TKO with punches vs. Bryn Tiemeyer at KOP 44. Jacobs, 28, is affiliated with Murcielago MMA, one of the top MMA programs in Michigan, which is headed up by Joaquin Rodriguez, Rashad Evans' first MMA coach. "I teach Catch Wrestling in the gym," Jacobs told InterMat. "I've been working a lot on my feet since I could hang with the best fighters in the world on the ground." Jacobs specifically cited his boxing coach, Leroy Ortega, for helping in his MMA development. "He makes you break," said the former Spartan mat star. "Doesn't matter if you're in shape to fight for an hour straight. He'll push you and make you question how bad you really want it. "He strengthens your mental toughness and I believe that's always the key to victory. He's a big reason why I feel I'll get the knockout on the 29th." In addition to Jacobs-Hawkins, KOP 55 will feature both amateur and professional MMA matches. At the top of the card: Cody Stamann (13-1) vs Zac Church (8-4) in the 145-pound pro main event. For more information, including other match-ups and ticket prices, visit the DeltaPlex website for KOP 55.

Sears Centre Arena EVANSTON, Ill. -- The 2017 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships will be held at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, due to the ongoing $110 million renovation of Welsh-Ryan Arena. The prestigious two-day event will be the 55th annual and will take place December 29-30, 2017. Last year's competition had the biggest field ever and featured 71 ranked wrestlers, including 38 that were ranked in the top-10 at their respective weight classes. The Sears Centre is a multi-purpose arena which currently serves as the home of the Windy City Bulls, the D-League affiliate of the Chicago Bulls. Additionally, the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament has been hosted at the Sears Centre in two of the last four years. The arena is about 35 miles west of Welsh-Ryan Arena and right off of I-90. Ticketing, hotel, and media credential information will be announced as they become available.

Artur Taymazov after winning an Olympic gold medal in London (Photo/Andrew Hipps) Two freestyle wrestlers, Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan) and Vasyl Fedoryshyn (Ukraine), have been stripped of their medals from the 2008 Olympic Games for doping with anabolic steroids, the International Olympic Committee announced. Taymazov won gold at 120 kilograms, while Fedoryshyn earned a silver medal at 60 kilograms. Taymazov was previously one of only three three-time Olympic gold medalists in freestyle wrestling. He now becomes a two-time Olympic champion. The re-analysis of his samples from 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substances turinabol and stanozolol. With the announcement, medal changes are expected to occur. Bakhtiyar Akhmedov (Russia) will become the 2008 Olympic champion at 120 kilograms. David Musulbes (Slovakia) will upgrade from bronze to silver at 120 kilograms, while Fardin Masoumi (Iran) will take the bronze medal. At 60 kilograms, Kenichi Yumoto (Japan) will move up to silver, while Bazar Bazarguruev (Kyrgyzstan) will take the bronze.

Brandon Metz, Fargo Grec-Roman champion, is representing Team USA at 285 pounds (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) The Dream Team Classic, in its 20th edition, is being held this year at Elmhurst College just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Sponsored by Wrestling USA Magazine and presented by IKWF/IL-USAW, the event will be on Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. CT, featuring some of the nation's best seniors against those from the host state of Illinois. A live webcast will be provided by Trackwrestling. Below is an overview of the matches. 113: Jason Holmes (Chandler, Ariz.) vs. No. 16 (at 120) Dack Punke (Washington) Holmes is a two-time Junior National freestyle champion, while earning All-American honors in Greco-Roman during both tournament weeks, those did come at 100 and 106 pounds during the last two summers. He competed at 120 during this regular season, but did not participate in the state tournament series. Punke is a two-time state champion, including this season at 120 pounds. He is also a two-time Junior National Greco-Roman champion and a two-time Cadet World Team member in Greco-Roman. 120: Esco Walker, Jr. (Hopewell, N.C.) vs. No. 4 Michael McGee (Plainfield East) Walker never won a state title, third the last two years after a runner-up finish as a freshman. However, he was a NHSCA Junior Nationals champion and FloNationals placer last year, while also placing fifth at NHSCA Senior Nationals this year. McGee is a two-time state champion and three-time state finalist, including an undefeated senior campaign; he has a 116-5 mark over the last three seasons. 126: No. 7 (at 120) Connor Brown (Oak Grove, Mo.) vs. Zach Villarreal (Lyons Township) Brown is a four-time state champion, going without a loss since midway through his freshman season. He competed the last two years at 120 pounds after going 106 the first two seasons, and placed third at Junior Folkstyle last spring. Villarreal is a two-time state placer, including a third place finish this season, as well as earning a runner-up finish at the Preseason Nationals this past fall. 132: No. 7 Brian Courtney (Athens, Pa.) vs. No. 8 Jason Renteria (Oak Park River Forest) These wrestlers met in early October at the Journeymen Classic, with Courtney pulling out a 5-4 victory on that occasion. Courtney is a four-time state placer, including state titles each of the last two seasons. He also placed third at the Super 32 Challenge this fall, and is a three-time FloNationals placer, winning gold in 2016. Renteria is a four-time state finalist, including a pair of state titles the last two seasons. In the Olympic styles, Renteria was a Cadet National double All-American in 2015 as well as a UWW Cadet National double All-American last spring. 138: No. 4 Kaden Gfeller (Heritage Hall, Okla.) vs. Nolan Baker (Byron) Gfeller is a four-time state champion and four-time Fargo All-American, including a third in Junior freestyle in 2015 and a Cadet freestyle title in 2013. He also is a three-time UWW Cadet National All-American in freestyle and in calendar year 2015 won the FloNationals while placing at the Super 32 Challenge. Baker is a four-time state placer and two-time state champion, including this year's title at 145 pounds. He also is a three-time Fargo All-American in Greco-Roman, including a fourth-place finish at the Junior level in 2015. 145: No. 7 Dominick Demas (Dublin Coffman, Ohio) vs. Gavin Sutton (Richmond-Burton) Demas was a four-time state placer, three time state finalist, winning state titles in 2015 and 2017. He is also a two-time Cadet World Team member in Greco-Roman. Sutton placed at state three times, including finals appearances the last two years, winning state this past season. He also was a placer at the Preseason Nationals the last two years. 152: No. 4 Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook, N.J.) vs. No. 6 Austin O'Connor (St. Rita) Glasgow was a three-time state finalist in the Garden State, winning titles the last two years, including this season in a state champ vs. state champ showdown against two-time state champ Shane Griffith. He also placed third at the Super 32 Challenge in the fall, and made the finals all four years at the NHSCA grade-level nationals, winning as a freshman and senior. O'Connor is a four-time state champion, going undefeated each of the last two seasons, while amassing a career record of 181-4. He is also a two-time placer at the Super 32 Challenge, a 2015 Junior Greco-Roman runner-up, and a Cadet double All-American in 2014. 160: No. 14 Georgio Poullas (Canfield, Ohio) vs. Trevell Timmons (Lockport) Poullas is a four-time state placer, winning state as a junior and finishing as runner-up this season. He was a champion of this season's Walsh Ironman, placed third at the NHSCA Senior Nationals and FloNationals after this current season, and placed at the Super 32 Challenge in 2015. Timmons is a three-time state placer, winning a state title this season; he also was a Cadet National freestyle champion in 2015, and is a two-time UWW Cadet freestyle All-American. 170: No. 6 (at 182) Bryce Rogers (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) vs. David Riojas (Chicago Mt. Carmel) Rogers is a three-time state champion, and in the last thirteen months has won three major out of season tournaments - NHSCA Junior Nationals, the Super 32 Challenge, and the NHSCA Senior Nationals. Riojas is a three-time state placer, including this season's state championship. 182: No. 3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park, Pa.) vs. Cameron Caffey (Carbondale) Bonaccorsi is a three-time state placer, finishing runner-up each of the last two years. He is also a two-time placer at both the Super 32 Challenge (runner-up in fall 2015) and FloNationals (champion in spring 2015). Caffey is a three-time state placer, including a state title this past season; he also placed fifth at the just completed Junior folkstyle tournament. 195: No. 8 Andrew Davison (Chesterton, Ind.) vs. No. 1 Jacob Warner (Washington) Davison is a two-time state placer, including an undefeated state championship season this past year. In addition, he placed third at the Super 32 Challenge this past fall and was seventh in both styles at the Junior Nationals in Fargo this past summer. Warner is a three-time state champion, finishing runner-up as a freshman. He was a Cadet World bronze medalist in freestyle this past fall. In addition, Warner was a three-time UWW Cadet freestyle All-American and a 2015 Cadet National double champion. 220: No. 5 Jared Campbell (St. Edward, Ohio) vs. No. 5 (at 195) Patrick Brucki (Carl Sandburg) Campbell is a three-time state finalist, winning a title this past season. He was a NHSCA Junior Nationals and FloNationals champion last spring. Brucki has finished top three at state each of the last three seasons, including his state title this season at 195 pounds. He also placed third in Junior freestyle this past summer. Note: Warner and Brucki are both listed as 195 in the flyer posted online, so they could end up switching opposition. 285: No. 4 Brandon Metz (West Fargo, N.D.) vs. Zach Muller (Westmont) Metz is a three-time state champion, and a five-time Fargo All-American. This includes a pair of titles in Greco-Roman (2016 at the Junior level, 2014 at the Cadet level) and a third place finish in Junior freestyle this past summer. Muller is a two-time state placer, including a state title this past season. He also placed third in the fall at the Super 32 Challenge and finished fifth in Junior freestyle this past summer.

Kyle Temple has been hired as the new head coach of the men's wrestling program at Umpqua Community College, the two-year Oregon school announced. Kyle TempleTemple joins the Umpqua sports coaching staff less than two weeks after Asia DeWeese had been named head coach of the new RiverHawk women's wrestling program. Both new programs will take to the mat for the first time in fall 2017. Temple has deep wrestling roots within the region. He has served as the head wrestling coach at Cottage Grove High School since 2015. He has also been the head coach at Stayton and Sprague High Schools. Temple, who wrestled at Southern Oregon University from 2003-08, is a 2003 Sweet Home High graduate who later served as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater. In addition, Temple has worked with the Oregon Wrestling Association, helping the group grow from 15 members to its current 52. He was voted the Western Region Junior person of the year in 2016 by representatives from 11 western states. “We are very excited to have someone with Kyle's experience to head up RiverHawk wrestling,” said Umpqua Director of Athletics Craig Jackson. “We feel that his enthusiasm and contacts throughout Oregon and the western United States make him an outstanding fit for what we are trying to accomplish with our new program. He is very well thought of by his peers and will work to show athletes that UCC is an outstanding destination for collegiate wrestlers.” In early January, InterMat reported that men's and women's wrestling -- along with men's and women's cross country, and men's and women's obstacle course racing -- would be joining the roster of sports offered by Umpqua Community College starting this fall. The women's program is a completely new sport for UCC, while men's wrestling was offered by the school until the early 1980s. https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/17381 Located in Roseburg in southwest Oregon, Umpqua Community College was founded in 1964. The two-year public school has an enrollment of 3,300 full-time and approximately 16,000 part-time students.

J'den Cox was named MAC Wrestler of the Year (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference announced today three wrestling postseason awards for the 2017 season as Missouri swept this year's awards. Missouri Tigers wrestling coach Brian Smith was named MAC Wrestling Coach of the Year, while Missouri freshman Jaydin Eierman was selected as MAC Freshman of the Year and senior J'den Cox was named MAC Wrestler of the Year. All three awards were voted on by the conference's head wrestling coaches following the conclusion of the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Tournament. Smith was named MAC Wrestling Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. Smith led Missouri to the Tigers fifth consecutive MAC Tournament Wrestling Title in the programs fifth year as an affiliate member in wrestling. Smith and his Tigers earned a 11-4 overall record this past season, including 7-1 in the MAC. Missouri earned its fifth overall consecutive conference tournament title as the Tigers won the MAC Wrestling Championships Title. Missouri entered the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships ranked 10th in the nation and concluded with 86.5 points to finish fifth overall and five Tigers earned All-American status, including J'den Cox winning the National Championship at the 197-weight class. This season marked the 19th for Smith at the helm of the Tigers wrestling program. Under his leadership, Missouri has posted a 248-93-3 record and 24 of his wrestlers have become All-Americans claiming a total of 47 medals. In addition, Smith's squads have posted 16 consecutive winning seasons. Smith witnessed Missouri junior J'den Cox became the 12th MAC wrestler in Conference history to win a National Championship. Cox won the 197-weight class for the third time in his collegiate career with an 8-2 win over Minnesota's Brett Pfarr of Minnesota at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships. A native of Columbia, Mo., Cox became the first wrestler in Missouri history and MAC history to become a three-time NCAA Champion. Cox also was the fifth MAC National Champion in the last seven years -- joining Kent State's Dustin Kilgore in 2011 (197 weight class), Cox in 2014, 2016 and 2017 (197 weight class) and Missouri's Drake Houdashelt in 2015 (149 weight class). During his collegiate career, Cox has won the MAC 197 weight class four consecutive years, won three NCAA National Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2017, while finishing fifth in 2015. In addition to winning MAC Wrestler of the Year for the third time in his career, Cox, who won an Olympic Bronze medal in men's freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, previously won the national title at 197 pounds in 2014 and 2016. Cox finished the season with a record of 28-0, becoming just the second Tiger wrestler to finish a season with a perfect record. Of Cox's 28 victories, he scored 19 bonus point victories with six falls, six technical falls, and seven major-decisions. For his career, Cox finished with the best winning percentage in program history among any wrestler with over 100 wins (96.4 percent, 136-5), tied for second-most wins (136), second in technical falls (20), third in major decisions (31) and tied for eighth in falls (27). Cox is one of two wrestlers in program history to record four All-America honors (Ben Askren, 2004-07). Missouri redshirt freshman Jaydin Eierman finished fifth overall at the 141-weight class at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships to earn All-American status. Eierman finished the NCAA Championships with a record 5-2 with two major decisions while knocking off four seed wrestlers, including the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. Eierman also won the MAC Wrestling Championship at 141 with a 10-1 major decision over Ohio's Noah Forrider. He finished the season with a record of 29-7 with 16 wins by bonus points (seven major decisions, five falls and four technical falls). Eierman became the fourth consecutive Tiger freshman to earn All-America status, following Cox (1st at 197 pounds in 2014), redshirt junior 184-pounder Willie Miklus (7th at 184 pounds in 2015) and Daniel Lewis (4th at 165 pounds in 2016).

Tim Flynn (Photo/GoFightingScots.com) EDINBORO, Pa. -- With a number of attractive coaching positions available at the Division I level, Edinboro University wrestling coach Tim Flynn's name had figured prominently in recent days. That included the University of Pittsburgh, where Flynn pulled his name from consideration over the weekend. After recently completing his 20th season as Edinboro's head coach, Flynn has reaffirmed his commitment to the University and its wrestling program. "I'm not going anywhere," emphasized Flynn. "Edinboro is a special place. It would be very, very hard for me to ever leave. "I talked to the administration and I like the plan for the future for the University. I like the vision and I want to be a part of that. I still believe Edinboro is a great place and will be a great place to get an education and win national championships." Flynn has served as Edinboro's head coach since 1997. He owns the career record for victories with a 215-90-5 record while leading Edinboro to 15 Eastern Wrestling League championships and 17 PSAC crowns. He has been named the PSAC Coach of the Year 14 times, and has been the EWL Coach of the Year seven times. All told, Flynn has coached three national champions and 38 All-Americans, including Sean Russell this past season. He has led Edinboro to six Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Division I National Championships. That includes a third place finish in 2015, the first time the Fighting Scots reached the medal stand, along with a fifth place finish in 2014, and a sixth place showing in 2009.

Luke Moffitt and Dayton Racer Iowa Central head wrestling coach Luke Moffitt and 2017 Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa inductee Tom Kettman will go "On the Mat" on Wednesday, April 5. "On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on mattalkonline.com. E-mail dgmstaff@nwhof.org with any questions or comments.

As a college wrestling fan, you've come to expect that NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are held in arenas of a certain size (19,000 seats) usually in large Midwestern cities. Now all that might change as the NCAA considers sites to host March Matness in 2019 and beyond. The organization governing collegiate athletics is looking at a very different type of venue -- domed stadiums -- and a host city that once would have been considered "off-limits" for college sports: Las Vegas. A new home in domes? Could future editions of the NCAA wrestling championships be held in dome stadiums originally designed for NFL football? In its March 13 issue published prior to the 2017 NCAAs in St. Louis, WIN -- Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine -- wrote of one possibility in its NCAA Notebook feature: hold the college wrestling championships in a domed facility. As the magazine pointed out, on April 18 the NCAA is slated to announce the host sites for the NCAAs in 2019-2022. (Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena -- home to the NBA's Cavaliers -- has already been named the site for the 2018 NCAAs.) Which facilities might be in the running to host March Matness in the next few years? WIN interviewed Anthony Holman, the NCAA Associate Director in charge of wrestling championships ... and, while he didn't reveal that list, he did disclose that NCAA is taking a look at domed stadiums. "It certainly is intriguing to look at that idea," Holman told WIN. "(Holding the Nationals in a dome) would allow you to do three things." "One, it will provide us more space to spread out mats and get score tables away from mats. It provides a more appealing and attractive setting; it will allow more space for athletes to warm up; it will allow more space for media; things that we have been challenged with." "Second, we have been fortunate to have a really rabid fan base that routinely attends our Championships," Holman continued. "It's not uncommon to see fans who have been to 20 or 30 consecutive NCAA championships. Typically we have about 92,000 fans who are repeat attendees, which is a wonderful thing. But with a small number of tickets available, it's hard to introduce the sport to a new fan base." "Thirdly, we have not been able to accommodate our institutional ticket requests. Being at a large venue would allow that." In recent years, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been held in large-city arenas with a seating capacity of approximately 19,000. For example, at the 2017 NCAAs held at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, 19,657 fans witnessed the finals in person -- just shy of an all-time finals record set at the 2015 NCAAs at the same venue. March Matness has not always been held in arenas of that size. In fact, it's only been since 2002 that the NCAAs have taken place in big-city arenas with approximately 19,000 seats. Since the first NCAA wrestling championships were held at the Armory on the Iowa State campus in Ames in 1928, in the first decades, the Nationals took place in a college gym or fieldhouse with a seating capacity of 2,000 or so. That first NCAA event had 40 participating wrestlers from a dozen schools. In subsequent years, the number of participating schools and athletes grew. For example, the 1970 NCAAs, a record 394 wrestlers took to the mats. According to published reports at the time, 8,800 fans filled McGaw Hall (now Welsh-Ryan Arena) at Northwestern University outside Chicago to witness the epic title match in which Washington's Larry Owings upset Iowa State's Dan Gable. For the next decade or so, the NCAAs were usually held in arenas seating approximately 13,000-15,000 fans. These venues were almost always on the campus of the host school. The last NCAAs to be held on campus: the 2001 NCAAs at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at the University of Iowa. The 2002 Nationals took place in Albany, N.Y. Other major cities which have welcomed the NCAAs include St. Louis, Des Moines, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, and, just last year, New York City ... all at facilities with approximately 19,000 seats. (Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena has an advertised seating capacity of 20,562.) Domed facilities primarily designed for football provide seating capacities of three to four times that of a traditional arena like those which have hosted NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for the past fifteen years. For example, the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis has approximately 62,400 seats for Colts games ... while the Dome at America's Center in downtown St. Louis can accommodate 70,000 fans. Houston's NRG Stadium -- which hosted Super Bowl LI earlier this year -- has a seating capacity of 71,500. In addition to more seats, these dome football facilities would offer much greater floor space -- the size of a football field -- to accommodate more wrestling mats ... or, if the present maximum number of mats (eight) is maintained, much more room to accommodate scoring tables and the ever-growing number of media representatives. (Those who attended the National Duals when held at the UNI Dome at Northern Iowa a decade ago can testify to the ability for a football field to hold lots of wrestling mats. That said, the home to the UNI Panthers football team has a seating capacity of "only" 16,324.) Of course, if the NCAA were to start holding its Division I Wrestling Championships in a domed football stadium, they may choose not to use the entire seating capacity ... as some seats would provide less-than-ideal views of the action on the mat. At least one legendary figure in college wrestling seems to be asking, "Why worry about providing more seats ... when there's a problem filling those you have now?" In his latest blog, Wade Schalles, two-time NCAA mat champ (and 1972 NCAA Outstanding Wrestler) at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, raised concerns about attendance at the 2017 NCAAs held a couple weeks ago in St. Louis. "It's probably not a good sign when the NCAA was selling tickets the day before the championships started and the NWCA [National Wrestling Coaches Association] still had a bunch of lower bowl tickets they needed to dump," Schalles wrote, serving up some photos which showed a number of empty seats at Scottrade Center during various sessions of the event. "I mention this as a reminder to everyone that our spectator numbers are melting faster than the arctic icepack. So I wonder if and when we need to panic? Or have we already passed that juncture and prefer denial or indifference to the energy that's necessary for change? Either way please don't point to the incredible number of spectators that Penn State is attracting as evidence that all is well with our sport. Any team that's America's best will pack their arena just as Iowa, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Oklahoma did decades before; but sadly no longer." Schalles then addressed the "aging" of attendees. "What isn't so noticeable is the average age of those in attendance," Schalles continued. "Now I don't have any evidence to support this but it certainly appeared from walking around the arena that the average age of our fan base is heading north faster than the number of millennials are back-filling our losses." Concern about the aging of attendees at the Nationals is legitimate. In fact, it was the subject of a May 2015 InterMat feature titled "The Graying of the NCAAs" which shared stats compiled by the NCAA in surveying attendees of the 2014 NCAAs in Oklahoma City. According to that survey, the average age of attendees is 42 ... with more than a third of fans are age 50 or greater. Could the NCAAs find a home in Las Vegas? Betting on Las Vegas? Within the past year, there's been talk that the NCAA is looking at allowing its championship sporting events -- including wrestling -- to be held in Las Vegas, contrary to long-standing policy of the NCAA which does not allow championship events to be placed in states where sports gambling is legal, including Nevada. That said, CBSSports.com reported a year ago that NCAA president Mark Emmert had said in December 2015 that there would be a "robust conversation" about taking a look at making it possible for NCAA championships to be held in Vegas. That same website reported that, in a 2016 meeting, the NCAA's competition oversight committee had demonstrated "strong support" for opening the possibility of NCAA championships in Nevada, one of the four states previously off-limits for hosting NCAA events such as the collegiate wrestling championships because of laws allowing gambling on sports. A number of regional collegiate conferences have been holding their championships in various sports in Las Vegas in recent years, including the Mountain West Conference. Addressing the concerns about having college sports championships in Las Vegas, Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said, "The stigma -- if you will -- is not as pronounced as it once was." As CBS Sports.com's Dennis Dodd wrote, "There hasn't been a hint of scandal" in any of the college conference championships held in Nevada's largest city. Las Vegas certainly has many of the amenities the NCAA considers when choosing a location for a Division I Wrestling Championships event -- ease of accessibility (such as great numbers of flights), scores of hotels, restaurants and entertainment options -- along with a new 19,000-seat arena. And, with the NFL Oakland Raiders announcing a move to Vegas in two years, Nevada is looking to build a new domed stadium that could be used for sporting events beyond pro football. Will the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships find a home under a dome? Or in Las Vegas? The answer may be uncovered on April 18. What criteria does the NCAA use in selecting a host facility? Take a look at this InterMat feature.

BLACKSBURG -- Head coach Tony Robie has announced the hiring of Frank Molinaro as an assistant coach on his first coaching staff leading the Virginia Tech wrestling program. Frank Molinaro battles Aaron Pico in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Molinaro was most recently a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Penn State, where he was a two-time Big Ten champion, a four-time All-American and an NCAA champion at 149 pounds in 2012. Last summer, placed fifth at 65 kg at 2016 Olympics in Rio as a member of the USA wrestling men's freestyle team. "I am extremely excited to welcome Frank and his family to Blacksburg," Robie said. "Frank is world-class wrestler coming off a run at last summer's Olympic Team Trails and the Rio games that inspired the wrestling world. His success and experience as a collegiate athlete and now on the international level will be a tremendous asset to our wrestlers. Competing, coaching and training at the top program in the nation has given Frank a unique perspective that will be very beneficial to our student-athletes." A native of Barnegat, New Jersey, Molinaro jumped right into coaching after wrapping up his collegiate career at Penn State. He was on the staff at Rutgers for two years as an assistant coach, where he helped develop the Scarlet Knights' first All-American since 2002. Molinaro then returned to Happy Valley as a volunteer assistant in 2014 and helped lead the Nittany Lions to a national team championship in 2016. Molinaro boasts one of the most decorated careers in the history of Penn State wrestling. He turned in finishes of eighth, fifth and second at the NCAA Championships before claiming the 2012 national title at 149 pounds as senior. That season, he went 33-0, won his second consecutive Big Ten title and wrapped up a career that ended with a 121-29 record. On the international stage, Molinaro's fifth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics tied for the best finish ever for a Nittany Lion wrestling for the United States. His road to Rio surprised many in the wrestling community as he won five of six matches as the No. 9 seed to take the 65 kg class at Olympic Team Trials. His resume also includes the 70 kg championship at 2016 Pan American games.

Brent Metcalf at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser solidified his coaching staff with the announcement today that Mike Zadick, Derek St. John and Brent Metcalf will join the ISU wrestling program. Hires are pending administrative approval. Zadick and St. John were both on Dresser's staff at Virginia Tech and Metcalf was most recently the National Freestyle Developmental Coach for USA Wrestling. Dresser, Zadick and St. John helped the Hokies record a 34-3 dual mark over the past two seasons while leading VT in its march to national prominence. In the two seasons Zadick and St. John were on staff, 11 Hokies earned All-America status and eight wrestlers won ACC individual titles. In 2016, the Hokies finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, their first trophy-finish in program history and the best by an ACC squad ever. In 2017, Virginia Tech won its third ACC tournament title and posted its fifth-straight top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships. Metcalf joined USA Wrestling in November of 2016 where he worked under National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick, the older brother of Mike Zadick. Metcalf's duties included coaching the age-group men's freestyle World Teams, directing the freestyle resident athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and serving as an assistant coach on the Senior national team. Zadick, St. John and Metcalf all had stellar collegiate careers on the mat for the University of Iowa. Zadick, who will be an Associate Head Coach for the Cyclones, was a three-time All-American (2000-02), winning the 149-pound Big Ten title in 2002. With Zadick in the lineup, Iowa set school records for longest dual unbeaten (84) and winning streaks (69). A native of Great Falls, Mont., Zadick continued to excel as a wrestler internationally. Zadick was 2006 World silver medalist. He also was the 2009 U.S. Senior Nationals freestyle champion at 60kg, won the 2008 U.S. Freestyle Olympic Team Trials at 132 pounds (60 kg) and earned a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. St. John, who won the 2013 NCAA title at 157 pounds, became the 18th four-time All-American in Iowa history in 2014. He placed fourth at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, second as a sophomore, first as a junior and fifth as a senior, claiming his spot as one of the most successful Hawkeye wrestlers of all time. The Parnell, Iowa, native concluded his collegiate career with a record of 106-17. St. John was the 2012 Big Ten champion and a two-time Big Ten runner-up at 157 pounds. He posted a record of 31-2 in his national championship campaign of 2012-13, earning Iowa's Mike Howard Most Valuable Wrestler Award. Metcalf is one of the most decorated wrestlers in Iowa history. He won two NCAA titles (2008, 2010) and was three-time NCAA finalist (2008-10) in his three seasons wrestling for the Hawkeyes. A native of Davison, Mich., Metcalf won the 2008 Dan Hodge trophy, given annually to the nation's best collegiate wrestler, and helped the Hawkeyes to three NCAA team titles (2008, 2009, 2010). Metcalf was a member of four U.S. Freestyle World Teams (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015). He won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Canada, and claimed World Cup gold medals in 2014 and 2015 in Los Angeles. Other major international events he won included the 2014 UWW Golden Grand Prix Finals in Azerbaijan and a silver medal at the 2013 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia. Metcalf qualified for the U.S. Freestyle National Team for six straight years from 2010-16, winning U.S. Open titles in 2014 and 2015.

Cael Sanderson celebrates with Bo Nickal after a victory in the NCAA semifinals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Cael Sanderson, four-time NCAA Division I wrestling champ, is now a four-time InterMat Coach of the Year, winning the honor again in 2017, the amateur wrestling website announced on Monday. In addition to being voted 2017 Coach of the Year by InterMat, Sanderson has also received the award in 2007 (as coach at Iowa State), as well as in 2012 and 2016 at the helm at Penn State. Presented each year to the best college coach in all divisions, the award is based solely on the votes of writers and executives at InterMat prior to the announcement of any other national wrestling media awards. Each staff member is asked to select five coaches and rank them from first to fifth. Point values are assigned to each placement, ranging from one point for a coach listed fifth on a voter's ballot, up to nine points for a first-place choice. Sanderson received seven of ten first-place votes from InterMat staffer ballots, for a total of 80 votes. Ohio State's Tom Ryan placed second in the balloting with 37 points, despite not having received any first-place votes. Brandon Eggum, who was promoted to the head coaching position at University of Minnesota after the school dismissed long-time coach J Robinson in September 2016, got three first-place votes for a total of 35 votes, putting him in third place in the overall vote count. During the 2016-17 season, Sanderson led Penn State to another perfect 14-0 dual-meet season, 9-0 vs. Big Ten conference competition. Most of the dual-meet final scores were decidedly lopsided; the closest dual was with Oklahoma State in Stillwater, with the Nittany Lions coming out on top, 27-13. At the 2017 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Indiana University, Penn State tried to battle back from a deficit, coming up short vs. conference titlewinner Ohio State in the final team standings. The Nittany Lions left Bloomington with two individual champs: Zain Retherford at 149 pounds (named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament) and Jason Nolf at 157 (Big Ten Wrestler of the Year). Two weeks later, Penn State brought nine wrestlers to the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis ... and left the Gateway City with five individual champs (in addition to Retherford and Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph at 165, 174-pounder Mark Hall, and Bo Nickal at 184) and the team title -- the Lions' sixth in the past seven years. Sanderson winning the InterMat 2017 Coach of the Year honors completes a sweep of all three national collegiate awards presented by InterMat this year. Earlier, the website announced Zain Retherford as InterMat 2017 Wrestler of the Year, and Mark Hall as InterMat 2017 Freshman of the Year. 2017 InterMat Coach of the Year Voting Results 1st-5th-Place Votes: 9-7-5-3-1 Total Votes/(First-Place Votes) 1. Cael Sanderson, Penn State 80 (7) 2. Tom Ryan, Ohio State 37 3. Brandon Eggum, Minnesota 35 (3) 4. John Smith, Oklahoma State 23 5. Brian Smith, Missouri 19 6. Nick Mitchell, Grand View 12 7. Chris Bono, South Dakota State 9 7. Eric Keller, Wartburg 9 9. Zeke Jones, Arizona State 8 10. Kevin Dresser, Virginia Tech 7 11. Tom Brands, Iowa 3 11. Cary Kolat, Campbell 3 13. Frank Romano, Notre Dame 2 13. Pat Santoro, Lehigh 2 15. Lonnie Morris, Johnson & Wales InterMat Coach of the Year Past Winners: 2016: Cael Sanderson, Penn State 2015: Tom Ryan, Ohio State 2014: Tim Flynn, Edinboro and J Robinson, Minnesota 2013: John Smith, Oklahoma State 2012: Cael Sanderson, Penn State 2011: Mike Denney, Nebraska-Omaha 2010: Rob Koll, Cornell 2009: Tom Ryan, Ohio State 2008: Tom Ryan, Ohio State 2007: Cael Sanderson, Iowa State 2006: John Smith, Oklahoma State

A Ford pickup autographed twice by former President George W. Bush will be up for auction next Saturday ... with some of the sale proceeds designated to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Iowa, Newswire.com reported Friday. George Bush signs dashboard of truckThe truck -- a white 2009 Ford 150 Super Crew 4x4 pickup in top-of-the-line King Ranch level trim -- will be auctioned Saturday afternoon, April 8 at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern by the prestigious classic/collectible auto auction company Barrett-Jackson at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach, Fla. The auction will be televised live on the Velocity channel. According to the auction house, this is the only known vehicle to have been signed twice by a U.S. president, and therefore will be very last auction item in the three-day event featuring hundreds of rare, collectible cars and trucks, including classic 1960s and 70s muscle cars, as well as sports cars. So how did this Ford F-150 pick-up come to be signed twice by George W. Bush, U.S. president from 2001-2009? The truck, which had been used by Bush at his Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas after leaving the White House, was purchased by Allan Jones, the founder and CEO of Check Into Cash at the 2013 Palm Beach Barrett-Jackson auction with proceeds from that sale to benefit the National Guard Youth Foundation. Jones explained that after he purchased the truck in 2013, the Bush signature on the passenger side of the instrument panel was accidentally washed off during routine maintenance. When Jones realized what had happened, he asked the President if he would sign it again so that truck could be resold for charity. "President Bush graciously agreed to help us and the rest is history," Jones said. "He autographed the F-150 in the exact same location on the right airbag panel. Once word got out, everyone wanted to know when the auction was taking place." Jones, a long-time supporter of amateur wrestling, has designated that all the proceeds from the April 8 sale of the truck will go to two organizations that serve to grow youth wrestling: the Higher Calling Wrestling Club in Tennessee ... and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. "Dan Gable is a wrestling legend whose name is famous all over the world," said Jones. "He had a high school and college record of 181-1 and as an Olympic competitor in the Munich Games of 1972, he brought home the Gold Medal and was undefeated and unscored upon. As a college wrestler at Iowa State University, he was a two-time NCAA champion/three-time finalist and as a coach brought Iowa 15 NCAA titles -- nine in a row from 1978 to 1986 -- and 21 straight Big Ten team titles, not to mention Coach of the Year three times. It is our pleasure to honor this legend and help continue the fine work that he does." Dan Gable weighed in on the significance of some of the auction proceeds would go to the museum in his hometown that bears his name. "Now, thanks to Janie and Allan Jones and the new purchaser, this special truck will help countless young boys and girls participating in many wrestling programs," said Gable. "It will also benefit the Dan Gable Museum's expansion of its Teaching Center, Wrestling Room, Theater and Museum." "The monies from this auction will benefit thousands of youth wrestlers in the next few years as well as the museum," Gable added. "This is history." In addition to knowing that the winning bidder will be supporting wrestling, he or she will be getting an impressively-equipped truck with an impressive pedigree. This F-150 Super Crew 4x4 features a 5.4-liter, 310-horsepower V8 engine and four-speed automatic transmission, and a luxurious adobe-color King Ranch premium leather interior, according to the description at its listing on the Barrett-Jackson auction website. The truck was used by George W. and Laura Bush at the Crawford ranch for everything from basic chores to transporting visiting dignitaries. There is no reserve on this auction item.

No fooling: Sixty years ago -- April 1, 1957 -- Oklahoma Sooner mat champ Dan Hodge earned a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated ... and remains the only amateur wrestler to appear on the cover of the iconic sports magazine in its nearly 65-year history. Because it's a once-in-a-most-of-our-lifetimes event for a wrestler to make the SI cover, InterMat thought it would be appropriate to honor this incredible milestone ... by taking a look back at the cover story and a couple other times Hodge appeared within the pages of Sports Illustrated. "Are you sure Hodge is the one and only wrestler on the SI cover?" Before we get too far along, let's share some basic ground rules for this article. Some of you might be able to name an MMA star, NFL player or pro wrestler who once wrestled in high school or college, and was featured on a Sports Illustrated cover. Unless the guy you're thinking of appeared as an amateur wrestler and not years later as a professional athlete or sports entertainment personality, that doesn't count for our purposes. So don't expect InterMat to do a story about any of those cover boys. Then there are you doubting Thomases, who are immediately thinking of names of high-achieving amateur wrestlers who surely must have been the subject of SI cover stories: Doug Blubaugh. Dan Gable. John Smith. Pat Smith. Cael Sanderson. Alexander Karelin. Rulon Gardner. Helen Maroulis. The answer is no, nope, sorry. None of these mat superstars has, to our knowledge, graced the SI cover. (If you have an actual Sports Illustrated magazine cover that features an amateur wrestler as an amateur wrestler, we'd like to see it. Note: regional special editions don't count.) And, for the smart aleck who says, "Woah, what about the other wrestler on the SI cover with Dan?" ... well, all I can say is, "Point taken." To our knowledge, the other wrestler is Rex Edgar, teammate of Hodge's at University of Oklahoma who placed third at 167 pounds at the 1957 NCAAs. A word about Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is arguably the leading newsweekly magazine devoted to covering sports. It was launched in August 1954 ... just less than three years before Dan Hodge appeared on the cover. Published by media giant Time, Inc., Sports Illustrated today has a paid circulation of approximately 3,000,000 ... with a total readership of nearly 18,000,000. Among the ongoing annual features that have become a hallmark of SI: the Sportsman/Sportsperson of the Year ... and the annual Swimsuit Edition which is by far the magazine's biggest newsstand seller. From its beginning in the 1950s, Sports Illustrated sought to set itself apart from other sports publications in a couple ways. For starters, unlike many sports magazines and newspapers that focus on local athletes, teams and events, SI has an international perspective, covering teams and sporting events from around the world. In addition, the magazine provides more than a report of scores and player trades and other news that are the focus of most daily newspapers, sports websites and cable sports channels such as ESPN ... instead, providing at least one long-form, in-depth feature story on a particular athlete or event. The Dan Hodge cover story in the April 1, 1957 issue of Sports Illustrated fits that description. Dan Hodge: More than a "trophy wrestler" Some in the wrestling community may only know the name Dan Hodge as gracing the trophy presented each year at this time by WIN magazine and Culture House to the nation's best collegiate wrestler ... without realizing that there is a real guy by that name (still very much alive at age 84) who struck terror in the hearts of high school wrestlers in his native Oklahoma, in college wrestling in the mid-1950s, and at two Olympics (at the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Games). Dan HodgeDan Allen Hodge was born in May 1932 on a farm outside Perry, Oklahoma. He wrestled at Perry High School -- one of the all-time great prep programs in the nation -- where he won an Oklahoma state title in 1951. Immediately upon graduation, he signed up for the U.S. Navy, where he was able to continue his wrestling career, earning a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic men's freestyle team. Having completed his service to Uncle Sam, Hodge was heavily recruited by Northwestern University ... but the Oklahoma native was persuaded to return to his home state by University of Oklahoma head coach Port Robertson. The Sooners were one of the leading college wrestling programs of that era, and still rank fourth in total number of NCAA team titles won (seven), behind Oklahoma State, University of Iowa, and Iowa State. Hodge was the 177-pound starter for Oklahoma for three seasons, from 1955-1957. (Back then, freshmen were not allowed to wrestle varsity.) He compiled a perfect 46-0 record. Of those wins, 36 were by fall, for a pinning percentage of 78 percent, one of the all-time highest in NCAA history. Because of his pinning power, Hodge was often referred to as "Dangerous Dan" and "Homicide Hodge" by sportswriters across the nation. Hodge won three Big Seven conference titles (1955-57), and three NCAA titles those same years. In the 85-year history of the NCAA wrestling championships, he is only one of two three-time Nationals titlists to have won all three of his finals bouts by pin; the other wrestler who earned that distinction was Oklahoma State heavyweight Earl McCready, the first three-time NCAA champ (1928-30). (Like Hodge, McCready had a perfect college record and was a fall guy, pinning 20 of his 25 opponents, for an 80 percent pin rate.) Hodge and the April '57 Sports Illustrated The story on the SI cover ... The April 1, 1957 issue of Sports Illustrated featured Dan Hodge prominently on the cover ... and inside the magazine. However, it wasn't the only story featured in that issue. Among the other sports stories: "Twilight of the Bums" (about baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers, before they moved to Los Angeles) ... "King of the Hill" (a profile of an NCAA skiing champ) ... a preview of the Masters golf tournament ... coverage of the Sebring 12-hour Grand Prix auto race ... and the NCAA basketball tournament. Back to the cover guy. In the full-color photo, Hodge is shown "working over" his University of Oklahoma teammate Rex Edgar. Both are wearing the Sooner uniforms of that era -- trunks over tights, with no shirt -- which showcased Hodge's lean-muscled physique. (Shirts were optional back then, until the NCAA outlawed bare-chested wrestling in the mid 1960s.) Edgar is wearing headgear, which was optional at the time. No college wrestler of 60 years ago wore a singlet; believe it or not, they were actually banned by the NCAA until the late 1960s. Alongside the two Sooner matmen is the caption: "Oklahoma's Dan Hodge: Best U.S. wrestler." The inside story The four-page 1957 SI cover story, written by Don Parker, is titled "The Man to Beat" accompanied by this explanatory subhead: "Wrestler Dan Hodge has never been beaten in college. His 41-match win streak -- the last 19 by falls -- makes him a top favorite and the man to watch at the NCAA championships." (The story also includes two black-and-white photos of Hodge: one, a head-and-shoulders shot of the all-time great wrestler ... the second, Hodge, dressed as he was on the front cover, conferring with Oklahoma head wrestling coach (and assistant football coach) Port Robertson.) Parker takes SI readers on the road trip with Hodge and the Oklahoma wrestlers for their last dual meet of the season vs. hated in-state rival Oklahoma State (called Oklahoma A&M -- Agricultural and Mechanical -- as it was called back then) as part of the two schools' Bedlam Series which first started in the 1920s. Here's the opening paragraph of the Hodge profile that paints a word picture a wrestler of any era will most likely recognize: "The weigh-in was over now and there was nothing to occupy Dan Hodge's mind but the man he must wrestle in five hours. For two days his immediate enemy had been food and drink. But now he weighed 177 pounds officially and his weight no longer mattered. The thick steak gave his belly a pleasant, packed feeling, but the pleasure of anticipation was gone. He had talked all morning of eating. 'Ice cream. Steak. I'm going to get me some ice cream and steak.' Now he was not hungry anymore and his thoughts turned to the match at 8 o'clock. Thinking about it made him nervous." The article goes on to share the conversation between Hodge and coach Robertson about how to kill time until the dual meet at what was then called Gallagher Hall -- Hodge went to the movies with some of his teammates -- then explains what that night's match will lead up to: "This weekend, March 29 and 30, more than 200 wrestlers from 60 colleges and universities will gather at the University of Pittsburgh for the national college wrestling championships. Of them all, the man to watch is Hodge. Not only will he be after his third straight intercollegiate 177-pound championship -- a feat rare in itself -- but he will also be trying to gain recognition for the second straight year as the tournament's outstanding wrestler." Hodge conducts a wrestling lesson on the SI writer ... To provide readers with a sense of what it must have been like to wrestle Dan Hodge in his collegiate prime, the author -- who admits to having participated in "some schoolboy wrestling" -- agrees to get on the mat with the undefeated Sooner. "Dan decided that the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED man should learn firsthand what some of his holds feel like. 'I'll just use quarter-pressure, so don't be nervous.' I agreed. We got down in the referee's position ... At the signal to start he backed into me and my head went over his shoulder. Next thing I knew, my neck was in a vise grip. My torso and legs were up there somewhere, miles above my head in free flight. I landed on my back, pinned as neatly as a basted hemline." "'Shouldn't have stuck your head over my shoulder,' said Hodge in a gently reproving tone. "'That's a basic mistake.'" ... then schools his Oklahoma State opponent Later that day, Dan Hodge provided a similar wrestling lesson to Oklahoma State's Jimmy Harding, who SI described as "a well-muscled youngster." "Dan went for an arm first," Parker wrote. "He grabbed just above the elbow, but with wrestler instinct Harding pulled away from the danger. Again Hodge went for the arm and again Harding started to pull back, but he had made his mistake. He had allowed his leg to get in too far and Dan snagged it below the knee. Harding's backward momentum tripped him and he went down, Dan on top and in control. Harding scrambled frantically to get belly-down, to keep shoulders as far from the mat as possible. But Hodge was too strong. As Harding twisted, Dan moved with him, gained a clasping double grapevine with his legs, and began to apply constrictor pressure[MP1] ." Dan Hodge"Now Harding was powerless from the waist down, and on his back. The double bar arm was easy: both of Harding's arms were forced up over his head in agonizing parallel, squeezed and held viselike -- not the 'punishment' hold of pro wrestling but a preliminary in Dan's book to the pin. Then Dan increased the grapevine pressure. The muscles where shoulders make a V at the base of the neck bunched. His legs stiffened and he pushed down, down, down. All his strength was focused against the man beneath him, striving for the moment when a wordless surrender passes to him from his opponent -- when resistance is gone and muscles relax." "Now the sequence of motion on the white square was very nearly complete. Harding's eyes bulged and he gasped for air like a man drowning. He resisted for only a second or so." It was all over in 50 seconds. Hodge had put another opponent's shoulders to the mat. After receiving a hug from his wife Delores (Hodge was a married 24-year-old father of an infant son at the time Sports Illustrated came to cover him) and being mobbed by autograph-seekers, Hodge took a shower, put on his street clothes, and treated himself to a two-scoop bowl of vanilla ice cream at a Stillwater soda fountain. What happened in Pittsburgh at the '57 NCAAs The SI cover story was written just before the 1957 NCAAs in Pittsburgh at 4,100-seat Fitzgerald Fieldhouse on the Pitt campus. The two-day championships the last weekend of March welcomed 213 wrestlers from 63 schools, according to Jay Hammond's "The History of Collegiate Wrestling." At the end of the competition, University of Oklahoma won the team title with 73 points, followed by host school Pittsburgh with 66 points. Iowa State was a distant third with 38, closely followed by Oklahoma State with 37. Penn State placed fifth with 33, while Michigan and Illinois tied for sixth with 30 points. The 1957 NCAA finals were notable for at least three reasons. First, Pittsburgh's Ed Peery won his third NCAA title (at 123 pounds), joining his older brother Hugh and his dad -- and college coach -- Rex Peery as three-time NCAA champs, making the Peerys the most-decorated NCAA championships family with a total of nine titles among them. (Hugh also wrestled for Pitt earlier in the 1950s; Rex wrestled for Oklahoma State in the 1930s.) Simon Roberts of the University of Iowa won the 147-pound title, becoming the first African-American to be a collegiate mat champ. He defeated Ron Gray of Iowa State in the finals ... the same guy Roberts beat in the 1953 Iowa high school state championships to become the first black state titlist in the state of Iowa. And, last but not least, Dan Hodge concluded his third NCAA championships with the title at 177 pounds. Hodge was the top seed in the 24-man bracket. In the opening round, "Dangerous Dan" pinned unseeded Dick Garretson of Rutgers at 5:50. In his second match, Hodge pinned unseeded hometown hero Alex Skirpan of Pitt in 50 seconds. Hodge continued his pin parade in the quarterfinals, putting unseeded Kansas State's Gary Haller's shoulders to the mat in just 28 seconds. However, the pin streak ended in the semifinals, as No. 4 seed John Dustin of Oregon State went the distance ... but came out on the losing end, 8-2. The finals were a battle of the top two wrestlers in the weight class, with the Sooner pinning second-seeded Ron Flemming of Franklin & Marshall at 7:31. Hodge was also presented with his second Outstanding Wrestler award at the 1957 NCAAs, to join the OW trophy he received at the 1956 NCAAs. Among the other NCAA champs crowned in Pittsburgh that year: Hodge's Sooner teammate Dick Delgado at 115 pounds ... Oklahoma State's Doug Blubaugh at 157 ... and Bob Norman, first heavyweight champ from the University of Illinois. Pitt had the most individual titles (three), followed by Oklahoma (two), and one each for Penn State, Lehigh, Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Illinois. At least three more appearances in SI for Hodge In addition to being one of the all-time great college wrestlers -- and the only one to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler -- Dan Hodge was the subject of at least three other SI stories over the years, written at various stages of his life and career. Eight months later: Hodge returns to SI ... as a boxer A few months after making the cover of Sports Illustrated, Dan Hodge found himself the subject of yet another SI profile. The November 18, 1957 issue featured the Don Granger article "Dan Hodge: Boxer" with a subhead that lays out the story: "America's best wrestler has turned boxer -- here's the story of his amateur debut the other night before a Kansas fight crowd." "The chances are that the last time you heard of the University of Oklahoma's Dan Hodge (SI, April 1) he had just won the national intercollegiate wrestling championship, had just confirmed his informal title of best amateur wrestler in America, and was planning to settle down as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Oklahoma," wrote Granger in the opening of the November profile. "Well, the Oklahoma schoolboys who looked forward to learning to wrestle under Dan Hodge's tutelage will have to wait. Dan is a boxer now, and it looks as if he's going to be one for a long time. "Dan's plans were changed by a former (1937-41) University of Oklahoma wrestler named Art Freeman, now an independent oil operator in Wichita, Kansas, who has 1) put Dan to work for a drilling outfit he owns and 2) hired a boxing coach, with the aim of getting Dan ready for the heavyweight division of the Golden Gloves this winter." Granger goes on to paint the scene at an old arena in Hutchinson, Kan. where Hodge is slated to make his boxing debut against a tubby fighter who hasn't stepped into the ring in at least two -- perhaps three -- years. Hodge went on to win a Golden Gloves amateur boxing title in 1958 ... but not long after, became disillusioned by the fight game (claiming to have been cheated out of money by his manager), and entered a different sort of squared circle: the professional wrestling ring. 1999: Recounting Hodge's 1976 near-death experience Approximately 40 years after his first two appearances within the pages of Sports Illustrated, Dan Hodge was the subject of a third, much briefer profile written by Josh Elliott, titled: "Dan Hodge: Unbeatable Wrestler April 1, 1957." The story had a grabber of an opening: "Dan Hodge knew he was whipped. Icy water flooded through the broken windows of the battered Volkswagen station wagon in which, on the night of March 15, 1976, he'd fallen asleep at the wheel, allowing the car to veer off a bridge into a Louisiana creek. The VW sank into nine feet of water, quickly encasing Hodge as if in a coffin. Searing pain crackled through his neck, and his mouth was a bloody mess of broken teeth. There he sat, having never been taken to the mat from a standing position as a collegiate wrestler, now pinned and helpless. What a lousy way to go, he thought." "'I heard a voice say, 'Hold your neck,'" Hodge, 67, recalls. "It was a guardian angel, snapping me out of my fog.' Hodge did as he was told and also managed, with his free hand, to pull himself through a broken window. After Hodge had risen to the surface and struggled to the creek's bank, a passing trucker radioed for help and he was rushed to a nearby hospital. There doctors fused a portion of his hip to the base of his broken neck. That he survived, he was told, was nothing short of a miracle." At the time of his near-fatal car wreck, Hodge was a popular professional wrestler. After a long rehab period, Hodge returned to his hometown of Perry, Okla. where, at the time the article was published, would drop by the high school to share his wrestling knowledge with hands-on demonstrations. 2009: Picturing Hodge in MMA A decade after Sports Illustrated recounted the car wreck that nearly ended Hodge's life, the magazine revisited the champ in college wrestling, Golden Gloves boxing, and professional wrestling to speculate on what kind of career the wrestler known as "Dangerous Dan" in his collegiate prime would have had in MMA. In the September 15, 2009 issue, Josh Gross penned an article titled "Hodge still a staple in Oklahoma" to coincide with the first Ultimate Fighting Championships event to be held in the Sooner State. Thanks to his unique sports background, Hodge had been named the first chairman of Oklahoma's commission governing MMA events. "While Hodge may not have had the opportunity to fight as a professional mixed martial artist, he played an important part in the legalization of MMA in Oklahoma by personally selling state legislators on the sport," according to that SI article from nearly a decade ago. "With the gravitas of a man experienced at overcoming challenges and challengers, 77-year-old Dan Hodge says with certainty he would have been a great mixed martial artist. Ask anyone who claims Hodge as a friend to elaborate. They'll tell you the only amateur wrestler to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated knows what he's talking about." "He was just five decades too early." Back in 2009, Hodge was still able to demonstrate his incredible grip strength by crushing apples into applesauce and breaking a set of pliers. That grip strength made him unbeatable on the college wrestling mats of the mid 1950s ... and widely feared by opponents. One, who later became a conference and NCAA champ, said something to the effect of "When you knew you would be wrestling Dan Hodge, you didn't get too many good nights' sleep." Another mentioned still having black-and-blue marks on his wrists and lower arms days after he had been in the grips of wrestling "Homicide Hodge." Hodge still has a grip on the wrestling world Sixty years after posing for that iconic Sports Illustrated cover, Dan Allen Hodge continues to make news ... Hodge Trophy: Often referred to as "the Heisman of college wrestling," the Hodge Trophy has been presented each year since 1995 by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN) and Culture House to the top college wrestler in any division, or to use the words of the folks who give the award, "to the nation's most dominant college wrestler." The voting committee consists of all previous Hodge winners, national wrestling media, retired college coaches from different regions of the country and a representative of each of the national wrestling organizations. In addition, now fans have some input as they are able to cast a vote online. Criteria for the award includes a wrestler's record, number of pins, dominance on the mat, past credentials, quality of competition, sportsmanship/citizenship and heart. A number of famous wrestlers have won the Hodge Trophy, including Cael Sanderson, Ben Askren, Jordan Burroughs, Stephen Neal, Kerry McCoy, Logan Stieber and Alex Dieringer. NCAA 75th Anniversary Team honoree: To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, in 2005 the NCAA and the National Wrestling Coaches Association came up with a list of 45 top collegiate wrestlers over the years, and asked the wrestling community to vote for the 15 all-time greatest wrestlers. The final list had only three individuals who wrestled prior to 1970 ... with Dan Hodge being one of them. Perry Wrestling Monument Park: Just last year, Hodge's hometown of Perry, Oklahoma dedicated a new park -- the Perry Wrestling Monument Park -- designed to honor the rich legacy of wrestling at Perry High School -- one of the nation's top high school programs -- and the great coaches and wrestlers who made that happen. Dozens of Perry Maroon wrestlers have won state and national titles, with two earning medals at the Olympics: Jack VanBebber (gold medal, 1932 Los Angeles) and Dan Hodge (silver, 1956 Melbourne). In May 2016, a bronze statue of Hodge was unveiled in the Perry Wrestling Monument Park to coincide with his 84th birthday. Want to know more about Dan Hodge? Start with this 2016 InterMat feature "The Greatness of Dan Hodge" that provides perspective on his impressive collegiate wrestling career. Then, check out these two books: "Oklahoma Shooter: The Story of Dan Hodge" by Mike Chapman ... and Ed Frost's book about Hodge's college wrestling coach, titled, "Port Robertson: Behind the Scenes of Sooner Sports."

Day one of the Junior Folkstyle Nationals at the UNI Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls saw the determination of semifinalists as well as top eight All-American finishers through the consolation bracket. Wrestling resumes on Saturday with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals, as well as the eventual medal matches. 100 pounds: Collin Benson (New Lisbon, Wis.) vs. Daniel Kimball (Don Bosco, Iowa) Devin Harmison (Southeast Polk, Iowa) vs. Richard Lopez (Merrill West, Calif.) 106 pounds: No. 8 Jonathan Prata (Downey, Calif.) vs. Anthony King (East St. Louis, Ill.) Destin Summers (Snake River, Idaho) vs. Juan Tapia (Moline, Ill.) 113 pounds: No. 15 Kyle Biscoglia (Waukee, Wis.) vs. Cody Phippen (Platte County, Mo.) Darrick Stacey (Shelley, Idaho) vs. Blake Mateu (Archbishop Rummel, La.) 120 pounds: Clayton Glendy (Broken Bow, Neb.) vs. No. 11 (at 106) Eddie Flores (Northview, Calif.) Cristian Duron () vs. Christian Nunez (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 126 pounds: Jake Gliva (Simley, Minn.) vs. Marcus Castillo (Mountain View Marana, Ariz.) Chance Rich (Valencia, Calif.) vs. Jackson Stauffacher (Scott West, Minn.) 132 pounds: Paul Konrath (Connections Academy, Ind.) vs. Dylan Droegemueller (Anoka, Minn.) Chris Deloza (Clovis North, Calif.) vs. Clayton Currier (Colstrip, Mont.) 138 pounds: Bernie Truax (Rancho Buena Vista, Calif.) vs. No. 8 (at 145) Parker Filius (Havre, Mont.) No. 19 Jake Bergeland (Centennial, Minn.) vs. No. 17 Jaden Enriquez (Mission Oak, Calif.) 145 pounds: Zach Barnes (Southeast Polk, Iowa) vs. Jake Watters (Dowling Catholic, Iowa) Tyler Shilson (Centennial, Minn.) vs. No. 15 Brock Mauller (Father Tolton Catholic, Mo.) 152 pounds: No. 12 (at 145) Alex Lloyd (Shakopee, Minn.) vs. Isaac Wilcox (Olympus, Utah) Calvin Germinaro (Anoka, Minn.) vs. Harlan Steffensmeier (Fort Madison, Iowa) 160 pounds: Noah Jackson (Kenosha Temper, Wis.) vs. Hunter Mullin (Clay Center Community, Kansas) Luke Clark (St. Croix, Wis.) vs. Austin Yant (Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa) 170 pounds: Josh Ramirez (Archbishop Rummel, La.) vs. Jacob Mintzmyer (Marysville, Kansas) No. 5 Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert, Calif.) vs. No. 6 Marcus Coleman (Ames, Iowa) 182 pounds: No. 9 Jack Jessen (Willowbrook, Ill.) vs. Caden Steffen (Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Minn.) Cameron Caffey (Carbondale, Ill.) vs. No. 13 Max Lyon (Western Dubuque, Iowa) 195 pounds: Andrew Wenger (Dakota, Ill.) vs. No. 10 Jake Boyd (Smithville, Mo.) Tyler Buesgens (Scott West, Minn.) vs. Bobby Striggow (Orono, Minn.) 220 pounds: Casey Jumps (Platte County, Mo.) vs. No. 17 Cade Belshay (Buchanan, Calif.) No. 14 (at 195) Zach Elam (Staley, Mo.) vs. No. 13 (at 195) Cale Davidson (Goddard, Kansas) 285 pounds: Gavin Nye (Corning, Calif.) vs. No. 5 Anthony Cassioppi (Hononegah, Ill.) Brady Briskey (Weber, Utah) vs. No. 7 Aaron Costello (Western Dubuque, Iowa)

Day one of the Cadet Folkstyle Nationals at the UNI Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls saw the determination of semifinalists as well as top eight All-American finishers through the consolation bracket. Wrestling resumes on Saturday with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals, as well as the eventual medal matches. 88 pounds: Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa – 8th) vs. Chance Lamer (Cheldelin, Ore. – 8th) Ronan Schuelke (Glenbard North, Ill.) vs. Mark Marum (North Bend, Wash. – 8th) 94 pounds: Eli Griffin (Cascia Hall, Okla. – 8th) vs. Nick Novak (New Prague, Minn. – 8th) Kase Mauger (Twin Falls, Idaho) vs. Nolan Hansen (Two Rivers, Wis.) 100 pounds: Sam Freeman (Walled Lake Central, Mich.) vs. Colton Drousias (Chicago Mt. Carmel, Ill.) Andrew Hughes (Grand Ledge, Mich.) vs. Logan Brown (Dundee, Mich. – 8th) 106 pounds: Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) vs. Isaac Salas (Calif. – 8th) No. 6 Jeremiah Reno (Liberty, Mo.) vs. William Giron (Turlock, Calif.) 113 pounds: Caydin Wickard (Golden Valley, Calif.) vs. Keegan Slyter (Olathe North, Kansas) William Zernich (Green Valley, Nev.) vs. Noah Surtin (Edwardsville, Ill.) 120 pounds: No. 20 Cleveland Belton (Temescal Canyon, Calif.) vs. Joseph Martin (Calif. – 8th) Ryan Franco (Calif. – 8th) vs. Bret Minor (St. Thomas Aquinas, Calif.) 126 pounds: Marc Shaeffer (Davison, Mich.) vs. Colby Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) Marcos Polanco (Servite, Calif.) vs. Bryce Bosman (Luxemburg-Casco, Wis.) 132 pounds: Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) vs. Josh Edmond (St. Mary Prep, Mich.) Dawson Sihavong (Bullard, Calif.) vs. Aidan Medora (St. John's Military Academy, Wis.) 138 pounds: Manzona Bryant (Culver Academies, Ind.) vs. Devin Gomez (Valley Center, Kansas) Luka Wick (San Marino, Calif. – 8th) vs. Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich. – 8th) 145 pounds: Drew Eller (Evans, Ga.) vs. Justus Scott (Green Valley, Calif.) Michael Weber (Forsyth, Mont.) vs. Christian Hudson (Caldwell, Idaho) 152 pounds: Greyden Penner (Liberty, Mo.) vs. Aaron Gandara (Cibola, Ariz.) Jadyen Terronez (Moline, Ill.) vs. Jace Luchau (Selma, Calif.) 160 pounds: Dajun Johnson (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) vs. Ryan Neu (Dodgeland, Wis.) Cade King (Owatonna, Minn.) vs. Austin McCurdy (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) 170 pounds: James Anding (Pacific, Mo.) vs. Anthony Williams (Charlotte, Mich.) Chase Dressel (Mounds View, Minn.) vs. Lincoln Shinn (Wilmar, Minn.) 182 pounds: Ryan Cosio (Temecula Valley, Calif.) vs. Steven Speaker (Mercer County, Ill.) Gavin Carter (Topeka-Washburn Rural, Kansas) vs. Dawson Kellogg (Perham, Minn.) 195 pounds: Brayden Wolf (Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa) vs. Brennan Rutt (New Prague, Minn.) Ashton Sharp (Park Hill, Mo.) vs. Rowan Morgan (Mounds View, Minn.) 220 pounds: Luke Luffman (Urbana, Ill.) vs. Rigo Estrada (Northview, Calif.) Joseph Harper (Imlay City, Mich.) vs. No. 7 (at 195) Daniel Kerkvleit (Simley, Minn.) 285 pounds: Branden Lange (Evansville/Albany, Wis.) vs. Joey Slackman (Commack, N.Y.) Xavier Sanchez (Antioch, Ill.) vs. Andy Garcia (Pueblo East, Colo.)

Quarterfinal matches were determined on Friday at the Flo Nationals, which are held on the campus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Wrestling resumes on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the quarterfinals scheduled to take place after a round of consolation that will pare the field down from 24 to 16 wrestlers remaining in the tournament. Medal matches for first through eighth place will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday 106 pounds: No. 14 (at 113) Ben Kamali (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) vs. Jacob Moran (Portage, Ind.) No. 12 Zach Shupp (Fairfield, Ohio) vs. Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.) No. 15 Dylan Ryder (Half Hollow Hills West, N.Y.) vs. Doug Zapf (Downington West, Pa.) Beau Bayless (Reynolds, Pa.) vs. No. 19 (at 113) Brandon Kaylor (Bonney Lake, Wash.) 113 pounds: Jaret Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.) vs. Anthony Sciotto (Rocky Point, N.Y.) Louis Newell (Seneca Valley, Pa.) vs. Keegan O'Toole (Arrowhead, Wis.) Corey Gamet (Parma Western, Mich.) vs. Dalton Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove, Pa.) Ed Scott (DuBois, Pa.) vs. No. 3 Antonio Mininno (Gateway Woodbury, N.J.) 120 pounds: No. 2 Julian Chlebove (Northampton, Pa.) vs. Luke Martin (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) Ryan Moore (Walton Verona, Ky.) vs. Orion Anderson (Schuylerville, N.Y.) No. 14 Jakob Camacho (Danbury, Ct.) vs. Gabe Hixenbaugh (Thompson, Ala.) Nick Coy (Penn Trafford, Pa.) vs. Joshua Saunders (Christian Brothers College, Mo.) 126 pounds: No. 17 (at 132) K.J. Fenstermacher (Northampton, Pa.) vs. Elan Heard (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) Trace Kinner (Kingsway Regional, N.J.) vs. Sam Stuhl (Ellsworth, Wis.) Jackson Henson (University, W.Va./USOTC) vs. Randy Earl (John Jay Fishkill, N.Y.) Patrick Gould (East Stroudsburg South, Pa.) vs. No. 18 (at 132) Cole Manley (Altoona, Pa.) 132 pounds: No. 9 Jacori Teemer (Long Beach, N.Y.) vs. Ethan Woods (Manchester, Mich.) Russell Benson (Raritan, N.J.) vs. Carnell Andrews (Bishop McCort, Pa.) Marshall Keller (Christiansburg, Va.) vs. Quincy Monday (Carrboro, N.C.) Jason Kraisser (Centennial, Md.) vs. No. 20 Quinn Kinner (Kingsway Regional, N.J.) 138 pounds: No. 5 (at 132) Zack Donathan (Mason, Ohio) vs. Todd Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.) Cameron Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) vs. Trey Grenier (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II, Pa.) vs. Anthony Fisher (Dover, Del.) Joey Blumer (Kiski Area, Pa.) vs. No. 11 Cole Matthews (Reynolds, Pa.) 145 pounds: No. 2 (at 138) Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa.) vs. Kasper McIntosh (Portage, Ind.) Peyton Mocco (West Allis Nathan Hale, Wis.) vs. Jamar Williams (South Carroll, Md.) Brock Wilson (Nazareth, Pa.) vs. Zane Brown (Louisville Male, Ky.) Dallas Bulsak (South Park, Pa.) vs. Justin McCoy (Chestnut Ridge, Pa.) 152 pounds: No. 5 Jaden Mattox (Grove City Central Crossing, Ohio) vs. Kolin Leyrer (Holt, Mich.) Robert Patrick (Ligonier Valley, Pa.) vs. Edmond Ruth (Susquehanna Township, Pa.) Josh Stillings (Pennridge, Pa.) vs. Carter Starocci (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.) Danny Braunagel (Althoff Catholic, Ill.) vs. Jared Franek (West Fargo, N.D.) 160 pounds: No. 6 Trent Hilday (Mifflin County, Pa.) vs. David Cox (Oxford, Pa.) Jared McGill (Chestnut Ridge, Pa.) vs. Dale Tiongson (St. Paul's, Md.) No. 15 (at 170) Hayden Hastings (Sheridan, Wyo.) vs. Noah Curreri (Eldred-Liberty, N.Y.) Cornell Beachem (Winton Woods, Ohio) vs. No. 14 Georgio Poullas (Canfield, Ohio) 170 pounds: No. 8 (at 182) Ethan Smith (Sparrows Point, Md.) vs. Colbey Harlan (Oakdale, Calif.) Jordan Wallace (New Rochelle, N.Y.) vs. Tyler Barnes (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) No. 16 Brit Wilson (Mexico, Mo.) vs. Jared Ball (Hilliard Darby, Ohio) Dalton Group (Susquenita, Pa.) vs. No. 11 Casey Cornett (Simon Kenton, Ky.) 182 pounds: No. 4 Jelani Embree (Warren Lincoln, Mich.) vs. Noah Cressell (Wabash, Ind.) Victor Marcelli (Massillon Jackson, Ohio) vs. Levko Higgins (Palmyra, Pa.) Cody Mulligan (Saegertown, Pa.) vs. Blake Barrick (Big Spring, Pa.) Kyle Davis (Beacon, N.Y.) vs. No. 11 (at 195) Jacob Raschka (Pewaukee, Wis.) 195 pounds: No. 6 Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.) vs. Jarod Miller (Reynolds, Pa.) Jake Koser (Northern York, Pa.) vs. No. 19 Ryan Vasbinder (Grandville, Mich.) No. 20 Anthony Walters (Bishop McCort, Pa.) vs. Dennis Karas (Exeter Township, Pa.) Colin Gussman (Kaneland, Ill.) vs. Colin McKiernan (Richmond, Mich.) 220 pounds: No. 3 Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) vs. Mansur Abdul-Malik (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) Owen Trephan (Ashley Ridge, S.C.) vs. Billy Korber (Belle Vernon Area, Pa.) No. 13 Josiah Jones (Bishop McCort, Pa.) vs. Garyn Huntley (Oxford Academy, N.Y.) Mason Giordano (Canfield, Ohio) vs. No. 11 Brian Kennerly (Upper Darby, Pa.) 285 pounds: No. 2 Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) vs. Brandon Reed (Iroquois, Ky.) Keaton Kluever (Kaukauna, Wis.) vs. Shaun Stockwell (Corner Canyon, Utah) Terrese Aaron (Mexico, Mo.) vs. Cole Rickert (Reynolds, Pa.) Derek Smith (Defiance Tinora, Ohio) vs. No. 16 Brandon Furman (Canon-McMillan, Pa.)

Pat Santoro celebrates after Darian Cruz wins the NCAA title at 125 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Lehigh Athletics has announced that Pat Santoro has made a long-term commitment to continue as the Lawrence White '64 Head Coach of Wrestling. Santoro recently completed his ninth season in Bethlehem, which was capped with a strong performance at the NCAA Championships, where Darian Cruz '18 won the 28th individual national championship in Lehigh wrestling history. "I'm committed to Lehigh and always have been," Santoro said. "I love the people associated with Lehigh and am grateful for the support the athletic department and the University have provided for Lehigh wrestling. Most importantly, I love being around this team. They're a special group that's capable of some special things. I'm excited to continue to work to accomplish the goals we've set for this program." A three-time EIWA Coach of the Year, Santoro has now mentored two Lehigh wrestlers to NCAA titles in Cruz and Zach Rey '12. He has guided 11 men to a total of 20 All-America honors, with Scott Parker '19 joining Cruz on the podium earlier this month with an eighth place finish at 133. The Mountain Hawks finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, and under Santoro's leadership posted top 10 team finishes in 2011 and 2012. At the conference level, Santoro has led 13 individuals to a total of 16 EIWA titles, with Cruz and Parker both capturing EIWA crowns this past season. Santoro owns a 123-41-1 dual meet record in nine seasons at Lehigh, including a 10-4 mark in 2016-17. Santoro's Lehigh teams have also been successful in the classroom and as ambassadors for the University off the mats. Over the last six seasons, 22 Lehigh wrestlers have been named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association's All-Academic Team. Lehigh's has also been recognized by the NWCA as one of the top programs in Division I in terms of team GPA in four of the last five seasons. "Pat Santoro is an exceptional coach -- a superb teacher of his sport, a great mentor for young men, and a terrific representative of the values of our University," said Lehigh Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett '76. "His program is one of integrity, high character and consistent competitiveness at the highest levels. I am honored and proud to work with him. All of us at Lehigh could not be more pleased that he has committed to remain at Lehigh for the foreseeable future." In addition to Cruz and Parker, Lehigh returns three NCAA qualifiers plus a young nucleus that includes members of nationally-ranked recruiting classes in 2015 and 2016.