InterMat Staff

The 2016 Olympics are now history. Global Wrestling News takes a look back at the wrestling action from Rio de Janeiro, with these feature segments: Reactions from Men's Freestyle Wrestling at the Olympics Purdue head coach Tony Ersland talks U.S. freestyle performance Wayne Boyd's Olympics recap Was wrestling in Rio a success or more of the same? Kendric Maple discusses his move to join coaching staff at Purdue This half-hour Global Wrestling News broadcast presents the news about all aspects of amateur wrestling, in a fast-paced sports news format featuring Scott Casber and Tony Hager, along with comments and opinions from wrestling aficionado Wayne Eric Boyd, who champions the oldest and greatest sport. Global Wrestling News is a subsidiary of Global Wrestling Championships and owned by Titan Mercury Wrestling Club. This week's show has been posted at TheMat.com, TMWC1.com, and Takedown Wrestling's website. In addition, it is available on Takedown Wrestling's YouTube channel. What's more, you'll find Global Wrestling News on these cable, satellite and broadcast channels. (All times Central.) Cablevision: Sundays at 4 p.m. Charter Cable: Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Friday 11:30 p.m. and Monday 2:30 p.m. Cox Cable: Sunday 9:30 a.m. Fight Network HD: Sundays at 4:00 p.m. Long Lines Cable: Daily at 5:30 p.m. Mediacom Cable: Sundays at 10:30 a.m. MidCo Sports Network: Saturday 10:00 a.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m. Suddenlink Cable: Check your local listings. Multiple air times.

Chance Marsteller battled Isaiah Martinez in the finals of University Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki) Chance Marsteller, undefeated four-time Pennsylvania high school state champ who had recently returned to his home state to wrestle at Lock Haven University after two years at Oklahoma State, is "no longer associated" with his new school's wrestling program after being arrested Thursday night, as new details about his arrest have emerged. On Friday night, Lock Haven University Sports Information Director Douglas Spatafore wrote in an email to GameTimePA.com that Marsteller is no longer a member of the Lock Haven wrestling team. The university provided no further comment. Chandler Shane "Chance" Marsteller, 21, was arrested on multiple charges, including aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, disorderly conduct/fighting, six counts of recklessly endangering another, six counts of simple assault and one count of open lewdness for incidents which allegedly occurred on the LHU campus and the emergency room at Lock Haven Hospital overnight Thursday. Marsteller is currently being held at Clinton County Correctional Facility on $50,000 bail. The Lock Haven police affidavit of probable cause provided new details on two separate incidents involving Marsteller on campus and at the hospital. The city police criminal complaint says the first incident occurred at 11:35 p.m. Thursday when Marsteller was observed by others allegedly running door to door at an apartment complex for students, knocking on doors while naked, The Record of Clinton County reported Saturday. Police responded, stating that Marsteller began to argue with them about obtaining his identification. According to the police report, officers handcuffed the wrestler and placed a towel around him. Marsteller was placed in a police car to take him to the county jail. However, according to the police report, he allegedly engaged "in threatening officers and screaming obscenities" and repeatedly slammed his head against the partition separating the front and rear seats of the car. The report goes on to state that officers had to resort to pepper spray to "successfully get him to cease harming himself." After that police said they took Marsteller to the Lock Haven Hospital emergency room to "detoxify him." The police report goes on to state that Marsteller tried to lunge at an emergency room staffer but was stopped by police. Two city police officers attempted to restrain Marsteller on the floor, with the wrestler allegedly refusing to be held while "kicking, elbowing, biting, head-butting, splitting blood." An LHU police officer and two state troopers were summoned to lend assistance. During the altercation, city police said, the "ER staff did inject Marsteller with several doses of tranquilizing agent. Marsteller did continue to violently resist until those drugs took full effect at approximately 1 a.m." The Record continued. A four-time PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) wrestling champ, Marsteller compiled a perfect 166-0 record at Kennard Dale High School. The highly-recruited wrestler had originally committed to Penn State before switching to Oklahoma State. However, Marsteller struggled in his second year with the Cowboys, and was suspended in January 2016 by head coach John Smith for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Marsteller later announced his plans to return to Pennsylvania to wrestle at Lock Haven. Update -- Aug. 30: Chance Marsteller made bail and is now out of jail, having been held for approximately 24 hours, according to the York Dispatch. He is next due back in court for his preliminary hearing, which has been set for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Chancer Marsteller finished runner-up at University Nationals this year (Photo/Sam Janicki) Chance Marsteller, Pennsylvania high school wrestling star who transferred from Oklahoma State to Lock Haven University this year, is now in jail after an overnight incident on the school's campus and in the emergency room of Lock Haven Hospital, The Record reported Friday. Marsteller was arraigned before a district judge by video from the Clinton County Correctional Facility, where he is being held, charged with six counts of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, disorderly conduct/fighting, six counts of recklessly endangering another, six counts of simple assault and one count of open lewdness. The newspaper did not have details on what happened at the Lock Haven campus and at the hospital, other than a hospital sportsperson said multiple police officers were needed to subdue Marsteller. The Record had contacted LHU's sports information department, but had not received a response as of Friday evening. Marsteller had a 166-0 career record at Kennard-Dale High School, compiling four Pennsylvania state titles. The highly-recruited wrestler had originally committed to Penn State before switching to Oklahoma State. However, Marsteller's two years with the Cowboys were challenging. The wrestler who had won a 170-pound title at the 2013 PIAA championships was struggling to compete in college at 157 pounds. In his first season (2013-14) at the Stillwater school, Marsteller compiled a 14-4 record wrestling unattached as a true freshman. Last season, the Keystone State phenom went 6-5 before coach John Smith suspended him in mid-January for an undisclosed violation of team rules for the remainder of the year. At that time, Marsteller posted this message on his Twitter account: "Not a quitter but I'm done with this sport it no longer needs me and I no longer will suffer from it.'' However, Marsteller had a change of heart, and announced he was returning to his native Pennsylvania to wrestle at Lock Haven. In a feature posted Wednesday at PennLive.com, Marsteller commented on his time at Oklahoma State. "Just disappointed in my own actions," Marsteller said. "There's a lot of responsibility when you get to college, and I'd have taken care of a lot of things better before I said some of the comments I made early in the year. I was at a point in my wrestling career where things were pretty patchy. You just have to find the right people and the right mindset to get you out of that, and that's where I'm at now, getting back."

After winning her fourth Olympic gold medal, Kaori Icho paid tribute to her late mother (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The 2016 Olympic Games for wrestling might be remembered for stripping coaches, once-in-a-generation upsets and an ever-expanding refereeing controversy, but its legacy will likely be with the success of women on the mat. In no other Olympic Games have we seen such popularity and support for women's wrestling. Leading the pack was Kaori Icho's improbable, record-breaking fourth gold medal in wrestling. In addition to becoming wrestling royalty, Icho also became the first woman to ever win four gold medals in the same event across four Olympics -- making her an Olympian for the ages. We also saw Helen Maroulis win the United States' first-ever gold medal in wrestling, overcoming three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida. Ask Rulon, interrupting history has a way of leaving an indelible mark on the sporting world. All of this with the single largest collection of media for any single day of judo or wrestling. The other two major achievements by women were less celebrated, but likely more consequential. Tunisia's Marwa Amri won bronze and became her country's first-ever medalist in wrestling AND the first woman to ever medal from the continent of Africa. Equally as major an accomplishment is Sakshil Malik of India who became her country's first-ever female medalist at the Olympics and the first to ever place in wrestling. These achievements will change the world, and for the better. To paraphrase one of the Indian coaches, we are about to see 10,000 more Sakshil Maliks in India. Women who grow up in extreme poverty but through wrestling rise up and change their life for the better. This Olympics was for the women and I hope we see the sport's continued growth and support by fans. To your questions … Q: Will Kaori Icho retire after winning her fourth Olympic gold medal? Or do you see her wrestling in Tokyo 2020? -- Mike C. Foley: As you know I've been able to cover Icho extensively over the past few years. Through filming her documentary I was certain she would wrestle in Tokyo, but after her nail-biting finale in Rio I tend to think she will retire. Though she hasn't made a definitive decision, I'm betting Icho retires, heads overseas to coach, and makes an equal impact in the chair as she did on the mat. Q: In the 2000 Olympics, Rulon beat Karelin and was rewarded with an Asics shoe deal (now the Aggressors). Now we have shoes and singlet lines named for several male wrestlers who have never medaled at (or competed in) world or Olympic championships. Now that Helen Maroulis has world titles and scored the biggest Olympic win since Rulon-Karelin, will we see her break the gender barrier and be given a shoe deal like her male counterparts? Seems only fair... -- David (MA) Foley: Shoe deals aren't emotional! They need to make dollars to make sense. Helen will certainly NOT get a shoe deal from Asics as they are a Japanese company heavily invested in Saori Yoshida. However, Helen is already sponsored by Adidas and I'd expect -- or hope -- that we will in fact see the first women's shoe in the coming year. I don't KNOW that she will, but I am willing to bet. Any takers? Also, I haven't bought a pair of shoes since college. If Helen gets a deal I'm hoping that they are gender neutral because I want my first pair in over a decade. Q: What surprised you more: Jordan Burroughs failing to medal or Adeline Gray failing to medal? -- Mike C. Foley: Jordan Burroughs You can see Adeline having really bad luck with that tip-over, but Burroughs lost his matches while not looking like himself on the mat. No question, Adeline was the best wrestler in the bracket who got unlucky in three seconds, but Burroughs was beaten handily by a duo of wrestlers. In the end, after endorsements and media and expectations, not many wrestlers could deal with the pressure Burroughs was under in Rio, even Burroughs. Q: I am very frustrated with the TV coverage of the Olympics. The times and channels that wrestling was supposed to be on were often not correct. In addition, there was much better coverage of power walking, water polo, handball, etc. … sports that are much less popular or viewed as wrestling regardless of the metric used to determine popularity. I would like to know if there is any way we can help ourselves. I fear that network executives are going to say, "See, we televise wrestling and no one watches" … when the fact is it was extremely hard to find it even for the hardcore wrestling fan. The Olympics were a chance for us to "move the needle" a bit in regards to popularity. Who would be the "they" that could help wrestling in the United States? Is it USA Wrestling? I believe that the United States wrestling powers need to take a lead and hire a PR or marketing firm to take an unbiased look at the sport in the U.S. at all levels and recommend changes that can be made to improve its popularity. What are your thoughts on this? I appreciate your view. Thank you. Go USA! -- Michael S. Foley: NBC Sports came under fire from Flowrestling for this same point. I thought that Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC Olympics (who has four sons who wrestle), did a solid job of answering that criticism. Essentially he stated in tweets that NBC did cover Helen and Kyle live on NBCSN -- their station for live content -- and that they were spread around to a variety of talk shows, including the Today Show, the most-watched show in the USA. I should also point out that social media impact was well documented and no sport in America came close (within a 100 light years) to wrestling! As a sport we crushed everyone else and while that isn't creating income right away it does have an impact on their long term planning for sports. While speed walking may have been put in the spotlight for a moment, I think that wrestling came out of the Olympics in an excellent position (from a media standpoint) heading into 2020. You should be happy! Also, the positive feedback on the numbers of viewers came before the incident with the Mongolian coaching staff. Helen, Risako Kawai's slam of her coach and the interview of Jordan Burroughs were the top three most viewed items on NBC Olympics. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Kyle Snyder Level 10 Link: Helen Maroulis win Link: Risako Kawai slam Link: Jordan Burroughs interview Q: What is your opinion did on how Team USA fared in wrestling in the Olympics? Who do you see as the future Team USA? -- Gregg Y. Foley: Not an excellent showing. I'm happy for Team USA that they finished in third in men's freestyle, one place ahead of Russia, but on-level a disappointing Olympics. There doesn't need to be any wholesale change at the federation level, but I do think we all need to sit in a room and decide if we want to move college wrestling over to freestyle and Greco-Roman. Snyder and Cox didn't win at the international level because they wrestle folkstyle (that makes no sense) but it does say that the regimented schedule, constant training and Regional OTC's are a model that we should explore and expand. Here's one idea I liked from my buddy Will Durkee: make Division I freestyle/Greco-Roman and keep Division II and Division III as folkstyle. … Fight! Q: If the Olympic Games gave out Outstanding Wrestler awards, who would be your OWs in each of the three styles? -- Mike C. Foley: Soslan Ramonov of Russia was the most impressive wrestler in any styles. Creative, aggressive and tactical he improved the sport with his performance in Rio. By default he's also my Most Outstanding Wrestler for the freestyle event. Risako Kawai of Japan was wrestling up a weight class and was dominant throughout the women's tournament. Roman Vlasov of Russia is a total machine and works hard for every point. I know that people thought he earned a controversial won over Kim Hyeon-Woo of Korea, but if you look at what was awarded four point for Vlasov's throw and what some wanted awarded four points for Kim, it's obvious that one was more spectacular that the other. Also, he was ILLEGALLY choked unconscious and still won the gold medal. Q: Was this one of mat officials that was suspended? If not, he should be banned for life. He was on the video review panel for the Gomez and Yardzani matches and advocated for points for their opponents in both. If you haven't already, re-watch those matches and see his influence. -- Craig T. Foley: Suspended indefinitely (forever) after the Gomez match and removed from the floor of the Olympics. Ethics Commission is investigating along with several other complaints. Q: In the bronze-medal match between Mandakhnaran Ganzorig and Ikhtiyor Navruzov, was the fleeing call justified? I see both sides of the argument. It was clear that Ganzorig won that match and probably should have left Rio with bronze. However, it doesn't seem fair that you can run for 18 seconds and give Navruzov no chance to score. -- Mike C. Foley: It wasn't 18 seconds. Was 3 seconds. The correct call is to whistle the wrestler into attention before ever making a fleeing call. Not just correct, but the ONLY decision. It was absolutely the wrong to call to make, especially to overturn the match outcome. Infuriating to watch. RANT OF THE WEEK By EB It's time to address the elephant in the room. Rio was a step back for wrestling. The Mongolian strip show and the Franklin Gomez screw job are just the tip of the iceberg. Then throw in numerous other moments of questionable officiating, the Ukrainian bites hulk moment, the Russian doping scandal, the Narsingh Yadav soap opera, and ol Mikhail Tyson playing punch out (allegedly) on Inna Tranzhukova. Quite a week for a sport that had to fight to stay in the Olympics and isn't secured past 2020. On top of all that our best ambassador for the sport over the last couple of years was dealt a major setback. Don't get me wrong. There's still a lot right with wrestling on the international scene. There were some great moments. Icho's historic win, Burroughs candid interview, Lopez's third gold, and the Maryland duo of Kyle and Helen. The point is we still have a long way to go and this past week highlighted that. It also highlighted why wrestling is worth fighting for. I'm looking at you UWW.

Helen Maroulis after winning the Olympic gold medal (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) The 2016 Rio Olympics are now history. Sadly, it seemed that too much attention was spent on sideshow elements. Medal-winning swimmers vandalizing a gas station restroom, then concocting a story that they were robbed at gunpoint. A soccer goalie whose sour-grapes comments in defeat said more about her character than the quality of her play. Wrestling coaches who expressed their frustration over an official's call by stripping off their clothes on the mat. It wasn't all bad behavior in Brazil. In fact, the U.S. wrestling community can take pride in the words expressed by some of its Olympic mat stars and members of their families who were truly gracious in thrilling victory ... and in heartbreaking defeat. Helen Maroulis Helen Maroulis made history by becoming the first Team USA women's freestyle wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal ... and she did it by defeating one of the all-time greats in Saori Yoshida of Japan who was going for her fourth consecutive Olympic championship. Like a true champion, the 24-year-old Maroulis expressed awe and respect for her legendary rival in the gold medal match at 53 kilograms/116.5 pounds. "I've been dreaming about wrestling Saori for so long," Maroulis, a first-time Olympian, said. "She's a hero. She's the most decorated wrestler in the sport. It's such an honor to wrestle her." "When you watch that much video of an opponent, you want to think of that person as the enemy," said Maroulis. "But with Yoshida, I didn't feel that way. You could see the love she felt for wrestling pour out of her. You could see how much she put into the sport. I felt in awe of her. It's hard to explain ... I felt inspired by her." Immediately after being presented with the ultimate prize in amateur wrestling, Maroulis said, "I was crying because I thought of all the struggles that I went through. It's one thing that I'm going to sacrifice for my own dream, but it's a whole other ballgame when you know that someone else is sacrificing for your dreams, that my parents are sacrificing for my dreams, that my coach sacrificed for my dreams. He's not getting the glory that I get. He doesn't get the medal, my parents don't get the medal. I was just crying because now I have this to share with all of them." Maroulis' grace and maturity were evident when asked in a TV interview to comment on reports that NBC had chosen to focus on the not-so-mature actions of U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates at a Shell gas station in the middle of the night. "I didn't come here to win a gold medal for the media attention," Maroulis said. "I didn't come here to win a gold medal in order to find something within myself or some peace within myself. I found that self-worth before I stepped on the mat. I think that's why I won the gold medal." "If they covered Ryan Lochte over my match, well, I think that's a poor decision on their part, but I'm not running the show. My job is to be a wrestler, and I stepped on the mat and did what I needed to do. I'm happy with the results." Maroulis is an impressive role model for the next generation of emerging athletes ... especially when one realizes she wasn't always at the pinnacle of her sport. "I would not be the person you expected to be a wrestler if you knew me when I first started," Maroulis said in an interview back in March. "I was really shy. I quit every sport that I tried because I was scared or I didn't like performing in front of people ... I think girls may look at the sport and think it's for someone who's already tough and already confident. For me, I want to explain to women that it's not true. It's given me confidence." Adeline Gray lost to Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus in Rio (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Adeline Gray Adeline Gray was arguably the face of U.S. women's freestyle. She was the only amateur wrestler to be featured in ESPN: The Magazine's annual Body Issue. A number of wrestling journalists -- along with Sports Illustrated and other media outlets -- picked her to win the gold medal at 75 kilograms/165 pounds. But things didn't go her way. The Colorado native lost her second-round match, derailing any hope for gold. "It's disappointing and it's heartbreaking," said Gray after that loss. "I overlooked that girl and obviously I shouldn't overlook a girl who has world and Olympic medals. I beat that girl nine out of 10 times, but it didn't happen today. I got defensive and was just trying to protect my lead." "I know I'm still one of the best girls in the world and I've proven that on a pretty consistent basis," said Gray, a 25-year-old, four-time world champion. "It's unfortunate that today just wasn't that day. You only get this opportunity once every four years and you have to get the job done." Later on Facebook, Gray wrote: "I know in my heart that I did everything I am capable of to be the best today and I came out empty handed. This sport has a way of humbling you and showing you your weak areas on the largest stage. I am still one of the best girls in the world at wrestling. I just didn't prove it today. "It amazes me to see all the people who believed in me and I am honored to know that you believed in me as a person not just a wrestler. Thank you to everyone who supported me. A special shout out to everyone that donated to help get my family here -- they are my support system and I need them now more than ever." Despite her heartbreak, Adeline Gray displayed gracious support for her teammate who won the gold medal on the day she had been favored by many to do so herself. Here's Gray's post on Twitter: "I am so proud & honored to called @helen_maroulis my teammate! Happy that @TeamUSA has an amazing representative for our first Olympic Gold!" Jordan Burroughs fell in the quarterfinals to Aniuar Geduev of Russia (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Jordan Burroughs Jordan Burroughs' wrestling resume is one of incredible accomplishment. Among the highlights: 2006 New Jersey high school state champion. Two-time NCAA champ for University of Nebraska (2009, 2011), and 2011 recipient of the Hodge Trophy, presented to the nation's top collegiate wrestler. Three-time World freestyle wrestling champion. Olympic gold medalist at the 2012 London Games. Expectations for Burroughs were that he would repeat that gold-medal feat in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, Aug. 19. Sadly, that didn't happen, as the Team USA men's freestyle wrestling champ known on Twitter as @alliseeisgold lost his second-round match to Russia's Aniuar Geduev, ranked second in the world at 74 kilograms/163 pounds ... followed by a second heartbreaking loss to Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan to deny the New Jersey native of any possibility of earning a medal at the 2016 Olympics. "It's a tough day. I had a lot of expectations coming here. I wanted to win. I knew I was capable of winning. Sometimes things don't go according to plan," Burroughs said. "I had a lot of expectations coming in here. I wanted to win. I knew I was capable of winning. Sometimes things don't go according to plan. I am a man of faith. Something good will come out of this. It is difficult. I lost a lot of things today. But my integrity and my character remain. I am hoping I can go back, re-evaluate my career, my abilities and what I did wrong today. I have a lot to work on." "I love the sport of wrestling because it is a testament of your growth, what you are capable of, what you can do as a man. And as nervous and afraid as I was coming into this tournament, I was equally as confident and prepared. I have always made my goals public. The hard thing about being an Olympian is that your failures are public, too," Burroughs concluded. Lauren Burroughs, Jordan's wife Jordan Burroughs' wife Lauren posted this message on her Facebook page Saturday morning ... and it has generated a tidal wave of love and support from thousands of wrestling fans for its eloquence ... and heartfelt emotion. "So overwhelmed by the love and messages we have received since yesterday. Sometimes you can look at sports and athletics as a game, but we live and breathe that game. It is not only my husband's career, but his lifestyle, and mine as well. God has taught us so much through wrestling. Yesterday when Jordan embraced me in the stands he literally left sweat, tears, and blood behind on my white USA shirt. As I noticed it I thought about how for the last three years that we have been married he has come home to me from practice with sweat-soaked clothing and busted up body parts -- broken ankles, sprained knees, unrecognizable ears, stitched eyes and sore everything. And for some 13 years he came home to his mom like that. God made him a great wrestler, and blessed him with specific abilities and every day he squeezes all he can out of those gifts to honor this position he's been put in. So sports for us is more than just a game. It's life. We have become so accustomed to him winning. He's a winner. But sometimes you can prepare perfectly and it just doesn't work out. God wants to grow you in a different way. And going through loss -- no matter what kind -- always grows your spirit in one way or the other. As a friend reminded us today, Christ's greatest glory came in defeat. Today we feel so loved, and as a wife I feel so honored. I may not 'see gold' around his neck this morning, but I see it everywhere else on him. I married a true champion." J'den Cox with the American flag after winning a bronze medal (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) J'den Cox J'den Cox has returned to his hometown of Columbia, Missouri to resume his coursework as a senior at the University of Missouri ... and return to wrestling as a two-time NCAA champ for the Mizzou Tigers. He now owns some significant hardware he did not possess before his trip to Rio: a 2016 Olympic bronze medal in men's freestyle competition at 86 kilograms/189 pounds on Saturday, Aug. 20. The 21-year-old Cox did it by overcoming a crushing defeat earlier in the day that denied him the opportunity to win gold. And he did it by demonstrating a maturity and philosophical nature not always seen in young athletes. As he told reporters after the semifinal, "Failure happens. Disappointment, you can control." "Failure is always going to happen. It is a part of life. Failure happens all the time, disappointment is lingering. I don't have time for that. I have got to move on. That is what I plan to do. I am not going to be disappointed. I am going to keep moving forward. I have no time to look back." After being presented with his bronze medal, Cox said, "I represented my country the way that life is. Made mistakes, had to overcome and got to ... maybe not where I wanted to end up, but I got to where I needed to go." "I choose to enjoy what I do and realize I'm still alive, I'm still breathing and have joy in what I do and let it be the past," Cox added. " ... Time-traveling is not invented. Until that day comes, I just have to learn how to accept defeat." Cox put into words his utmost respect for his opponents. "It matters to me because ... this is a tough, grueling sport. We all travel hundreds of thousands of miles to come to one venue (and) ... get our faces ripped off by another human being. "And for six minutes ... excuse me for saying this, (of) going through hell and beyond of just pulling people and yanking people and pulling this and going through (that) ... and losing weight and all this crud that's going on and the crowd and the atmosphere. ... "It's a beautiful, wonderful thing that's out of pure chaos. "So I want to show these guys (my opponents) ... that I respect them from coming out on the mat, respect them for facing another human being and putting everything they have on the line. Every single time ... They do that, and that's amazing." Cindy Cox, J'den's mother One of the joys of following the wrestling action in Rio was reading the blog of J'den Cox's mother Cathy at MissouriWrestling.com. It provided us mere mortals a truly insightful behind-the-scenes picture of a mom watching her son in action in person, experiencing heartache and joy in the space of a few hours, thousands of miles from home, on the biggest stage in amateur wrestling. "We are so ecstatic about this bronze medal!" Cathy Cox wrote. "If you watched, you could tell J'den is, too. It's an indication of hard work, focus, blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice and dedication. My son is an Olympic medalist!" After offering congratulations to fellow Team USA member Kyle Snyder after he won his gold medal, Cathy Cox provided some interesting insight: "I think there's something to be said about he and J'den bringing home medals. Not sure what it is -- LOL -- but two guys who so many wanted to make out to be enemies, end up on the same team and work magic together. Hmmmm ..." In her blog Cathy Cox was refreshing open and disclosing, sharing a wide range of emotions. She bared her thoughts on the restless night she experienced before J'den would wrestle in Rio ... wondering what her son was thinking, worrying if he was getting enough sleep. And she enthusiastically revealed a mother's joy of J'den's Olympic accomplishment: "Clearing the arena, I hear my son's voice, 'MA! Where are my Cheez-its?' He wasn't happy I didn't bring them in. I told him how proud I was of him. He smiled that little boy grin. He's still having fun. That's what matters!" Kyle Snyder listens to the national anthem after winning the Olympic title (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Kyle Snyder What an incredible 12 months it's been for Kyle Snyder. In that time frame, the Maryland native won a his second NCAA title, defeating the defending heavyweight champ, Nick Gwaizdowski of North Carolina State, and snapping his 88-match win streak. He was named Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year. He earned a World title last fall in Las Vegas ... and, this past weekend, an Olympic gold medal at 97 kilograms/213 pounds. In fact, the last U.S. wrestler to rack up World, Olympic and national collegiate titles in the same amount of time was John Smith, six-time World and Olympic champion, who is now head coach at Oklahoma State. The 20-year-old Snyder is now the youngest U.S. man to win Olympic gold in wrestling, edging out Henry Cejudo, who earned his gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games at age 21. What's more, Snyder becomes the 50th U.S. men's wrestler to have earned an Olympic gold medal. He is first Buckeye wrestler to compete at an Olympics since 1992, and the first Olympic wrestling champion for Ohio State since Harry Steel brought home gold from the 1924 Olympics in Paris. In interviews after winning the gold medal, the Buckeye big man was reflective. "Every time the national anthem is played, I think about the sacrifices people have had to make before I was even alive for me to compete," Snyder said in an interview with NBC during the Olympics. "I think about my family and my friends who have done so much for me. There's no way I could be where I am without them ... I am grateful for everything I have." "It just comes down to what you value," Snyder told the Washington Post. "If you value winning and gold medals, the thing you're going to fear the most is losing. That causes you to tense up. It doesn't allow you to wrestle to the best of your ability. But I am very strict in the way I think about the sport. I do it because I love it. I do it because I want to be the best that I can be at it. If I were to wrestle for however long I can possibly wrestle and I don't win another one because people are better than me, then people are better than me. But I'm not going to spend time thinking about that." "My love for the sport is what keeps me motivated." Snyder is a rising junior, ready to hit the mats again for the Buckeyes this fall. In the meantime, he can sit back and bask in the glow of gold.

Two years after not having his contract renewed, former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater head wrestling coach Tim Fader has filed a federal lawsuit against school's former chancellor and its current athletics director for his treatment after he reported a sexual assault allegation to community police instead of to campus officials, according to multiple media reports this week. Tim FaderIn a complaint filed last week, Fader, now the head wrestling coach at UW-Eau Claire, accused former Chancellor Richard Telfer and athletic director Amy Edmonds of retaliating against him because his report to police made it harder to "cover up" the 2014 sexual assault report. Fader's lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin seeks unspecified damages from Telfer, who retired in 2015, and Edmonds for "retaliating against [Fader] for his exercise of constitutionally-protected speech, for unlawfully constructively terminating him from his position, and for engaging in defamatory conduct against him." The lawsuit asserts that Fader was not renewed as the school's wrestling coach in the summer of 2014 because he immediately reported an alleged sexual assault committed by one of his recruits over Easter weekend of that year directly to Whitewater city police and not to his supervisors on campus, per university policy. (Fader provided a detailed account of the situation in an exclusive interview with InterMat in November 2014.) Fader also alleges that both Telfer and Edmonds engaged in defamatory conduct. While Fader was still on staff, Telfer released a letter to the UW-Whitewater community stating that the wrestling program was under investigation -- and that Fader was on administrative suspension for potentially violating university policy -- without providing any specifics. The suit claims "the Telfer letter has caused significant damage to Fader's career." The lawsuit goes on to say that numerous colleges approached Fader about serving as a coach but did not follow up after contacting UW-Whitewater administrators. The suit provides a specific example of an unnamed Minnesota school contacting Edmonds to find out what happened, with Edmonds reportedly telling an official of that school that she wished she could tell him the whole story, but could not. That, according to the suit, "created even more mystery and implied additional but unreported misconduct on Fader's part." The suit says that UW-Whitewater changed course in September 2015, when it provided a positive reference regarding Fader to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he is now about to start his second season as head coach. Just weeks prior to the situation at UW-Whitewater unfolding, Fader had been named 2014 Division III Coach of the Year and d3wrestle.com Coach of the Year. In his dozen years at UWW, Fader had coached 42 All-Americans and 49 Scholastic All-Americans, and led the Warhawks to four top 12 finishes including a third place finish in 2013 in addition to a runner-up finish at the 2014 NCAAs. The lawsuit also states that immediately prior to Fader's non-renewal at UW-Whitewater, he and school officials had been discussing a pay increase that "would have put him among the highest-paid coaches in Division III wrestling, in the $65-$70 thousand range, with camps included." When the Wisconsin State Journal contacted UW-Whitewater spokeswoman Sara Kuhl concerning Tim Fader's lawsuit, she told the Madison, Wisconsin newspaper that the university "does not comment on pending litigation."

Navonte Demison celebrates his state titles with Bakersfield coaches Andy Varner and Frank Lomas (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Considering that only 17 schools have ended the season nationally ranked in the Fab 50 over five of the last six seasons, it is no guarantee that being ranked in one season means holding a ranking during the next season. Furthermore, it seems that about 20 teams from the final rankings of the previous season do not end up in the rankings the next season. With that being the case, let's take a look at some teams that were not ranked at the end of the 2015-16 season that could be ranked during the course of 2016-17. Bakersfield, Calif. The Drillers finished in the Fab 50 national team rankings during the first two years of their publication, No. 8 overall in 2010-11 and No. 16 in 2011-12. Interestingly, they have been ranked at some point during at least the last two seasons based on their projected roster talent. However, the in-season performance has not been as kind. For the upcoming season, Bakersfield features four returning and/or previous state medalists, led by state champion Navonte Demison, who is ranked No. 26 overall in the Class of 2017. He was a Junior National freestyle runner-up in 2015, and is a three-time state placer (3rd/2nd/1st). Izzak Olejnik placed fifth at state this past year in the 106 pound weight class, Sam Loera has placed seventh each of the last two years at 160 pounds, while J.J. Figueroa was a medalist in 2015. Three others return with state tournament experience: two-time qualifier Ricky Gonzalez, Dillon Cravens, and Anthony Arenas. Broken Arrow, Okla. Even in finishing as Class 6A runners-up in the individual state tournament and narrow semifinal losers in the state dual meet tournament, it was a relative rebuilding campaign for the Tigers, who lost five 2015 state finalists (four champions) to graduation. However, a return of seven state qualifiers, including five state medalists means a likely return to the Fab 50 this coming season. Broken Arrow will be anchored by returning state champions Zach Marcheselli and Skyler Haynes; while Tyler Lawley, Caleb Wise, and Trenton Lieurance each placed third at state this past season; Tajuan Daniels made a third straight state tournament, with Brady Mattioda making his state tournament debut. The Tigers appeared in the Fab 50 national team rankings each of the five seasons prior to 2015-16 (29th, 19th, 36th, 12th, 13th from 2011 to 2015). Detroit Catholic Central, Mich. This past season was a second straight finish outside the Fab 50 after the Shamrocks ended the initial four seasons of the national team rankings as a ranked team (49th, 15th, 18th, 17th from 2011 to 2014). However, the ending weekend of the 2015-16 season was a banner one for Detroit Catholic Central. They had a hot weekend, with eight of their nine state qualifiers finishing on the podium, including an unexpected five for five state championship finals finish. More important for the upcoming season is that eight of those nine state qualifiers return, including all five state champions: Ben Kamali, Kevon Davenport, Cameron Amine, Tyler Morland, and Nick Jenkins. Stone Moscovic and Jackson Ross also placed sixth at the state tournament, while Aidan Wagh earned an initial state tournament qualification. Gilroy, Calif. While the Mustangs have yet to end a season in the InterMat Fab 50 national team rankings, it is a program known for producing excellent wrestlers. It is the alma mater of two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado. Gilroy has also seen multiple wrestlers place on the state tournament podium in each of the last twelve seasons. For the upcoming season, they return three state medalists: Junior National freestyle champion Nico Aguilar, two-time state placer Alex Felix, and Juan Villarreal; in addition another three wrestlers finished one match away from a state tournament medal: Joseph Delgado, John Fox, and Joe Barnes. Lockport, Ill. The Porters have yet to end a season in the Fab 50 national team rankings. However, this is a program headed in the right direction, as the last two seasons have arguably been the two best in school history. They lost in the state dual meet tournament semifinal each year, finishing fourth in 2015 and third in 2016. Their other team state appearance came in the 2011-12 season. Lockport returns five state qualifiers for the 2016-17 season, including a pair of two-time state placers in Abdullah Assaf and Trevell Timmons. Additional state qualifiers include Brandon Ramos, Baylor Fernandes, and Ronald Tucker, Jr. Fernandes and Tucker, Jr. were joined by Matthew Ramos as a Cadet freestyle All-American, while Anthony Molton earned All-American honors in Greco-Roman; all four of those wrestlers are rising sophomores. North Allegheny, Pa. Even though the Tigers have never ended a season within the InterMat Fab 50 national team rankings, they are a team that has appeared in the rankings at varying points during past seasons. They had a stretch of four consecutive state dual meet tournament appearances from 2012 through 2015, culminating with a fourth place finish in 2015 after a semifinal and consolation semifinal loss in the 2014 edition of the tournament. The projected individual talent on this year's team is most excellent, anchored by a trio of returning state medalists in state champion Jake Woodley, along with two-time state placers in Jake Hinkson and Francis Duggan. Three other Tigers wrestlers made the state tournament last year: Jacob Downing, now two-time state qualifier Luke Landefeld, and A.J. Boeh; while Sean Hoover was one match away from the state tournament, losing 3-2 and 3-1 at the regional level. Parkersburg South, W.Va. Having won state titles in four straight years from 2009-2012, the Patriots then suffered a two-year state title drought before regaining their throne atop the Mountaineer State each of the last two seasons. Most impressive about their 2015-16 season was how young the key wrestlers on the team's roster were. All seven top three finishers at the individual state tournament return for the 2016-17 season. Parkersburg South will be anchored by state champions Luke Martin and Justin Allman, along with incoming freshman phenom Braxton Amos, the Cadet National double champion who is ranked No. 3 overall in the Class of 2020. Returning state runners-up include Tucker Windland, T.J. Lambiotte, Hunter DeLong, and Louden Haga; Drew Dunbar placed third at state, while Jarritt Flinn placed sixth. In fact, the whole lineup made the state tournament and consisted of underclassmen. Roseburg, Ore. The Indians ended the first two seasons of the Fab 50 national team rankings as a ranked squad, 38th in 2010-11 and 49th in 2011-12. However, they have not been ranked at the end of any of the last four seasons. Headed into the coming season they return four state champions, including national caliber wrestlers in Layne van Anrooy and Haydn Maley; each was an All-American in Junior Greco-Roman and a placer at the Flo Nationals. Van Anrooy is ranked No. 19 overall in the Class of 2017, while Maley was a champion in Junior Greco. Two other Indians return as state champions, Hunter Sparks and Bennett Mesa. Seven others return having finished on the podium this past season, including a pair of two-time medalists in Shane Sabins and Austin Harris. Additional placers include Cody Pickle, Garrett Russell, Matthew McDowell, state runner-up Brandon Jeffers, and Cameron Campbell. Simley, Minn. The Trojans program is very familiar with national excellent, having finished in the Fab 50 national team rankings during the first three seasons of their existence (6th, 11th, 39th from 2011-2013). Headed into the 2016-17 season, they return eight wrestlers with state tournament experience, including seven who made state this past season. Most notable in this group are a trio of state champions, Jake Gliva, Anthony Jackson, and Greg Kerkvleit. Ryan Sokol placed fifth at 106 pounds during his seventh grade season, rising sophomore Anthony Dawson is now a two-time state qualifier, Zach Moon is also a two-time state qualifier, and Luke Zaiser made his state tournament debut. Raven Jackson qualified for state in 2015 during his seventh grade season. Stratford, Wis. The Tigers started the 2015-16 season as a nationally ranked team, but quickly dropped out of the rankings by mid-December to never return. They dominated the individual bracket state tournament, but were then upset in a 27-26 criteria tiebreaker match to lose the Division 3 state title to Fennimore. Ten of the eleven wrestlers that made the individual state tournament last year return, including a quartet of state champions. That quartet is led by a trio of two-time champions, A.J. Schoenfuss, Jeremy Schoenherr, and Kamren Bornbach. Also winning state gold was Tyson Kauffmann. Four others medaled at the state tournament: runner-up Macey Kilty, Jake Drexler, David Marquardt, along with 2015 state champion and two-time state finalist Mason Kauffmann. Also qualifying to state were Derek Marten and Jon Aguirre.

Kyle Snyder celebrates with family and friends after winning Olympic gold (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Another Summer Olympics is now history. The 2016 Rio Games were one of incredible thrills for some Team USA wrestlers ... while for others, it was a time of heartbreaking loss. Let's review. Three U.S. wrestlers earned medals in Rio de Janeiro: gold medals for Helen Maroulis and Kyle Snyder ... and a bronze medal for J'den Cox. That means two men's freestyle medals, one for the women's freestyle squad, and none for U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers. Comparison to other nations A total of 27 different nations won at least one Olympic wrestling medal in Rio, according to WIN (Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine). Russia and Azerbaijan led the way, each with a total of nine medals. Japan earned seven medals ... followed by Iran and Turkey, each with five medals. With three medals, the U.S. is tied with five other nations: Cuba, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Georgia, and Uzbekistan. Comparison to predictions Earlier this month, Sports Illustrated predicted that six Team USA wrestlers would leave Rio with medals. The weekly sports magazine said Jordan Burroughs would win gold in men's freestyle, with gold for women's freestyle wrestler Adeline Gray ... silver for Helen Maroulis and Kyle Snyder ... and bronze medals for Elena Pirozhkova and men's Greco-Roman competitor Andy Bisek. Immediately before the start of the Olympics, TheMat.com -- the official website for USA Wrestling -- conducted an online poll, asking visitors, "How many gold medals will Team USA win in wrestling at the 2016 Olympic Games?" Thirty percent correctly predicted two gold medals for U.S. wrestlers. Comparison to the past How does the three medals Team USA wrestlers earned this summer compare to U.S. performance on the mat at recent Olympics? Four years ago at the 2012 London Games, the U.S. claimed four medals: gold medals for Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner, and bronze medals for Clarissa Chun and Coleman Scott. In other words, three medals for men's freestyle wrestlers, one for women's freestyle, and none in Greco. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Henry Cejudo won gold, while Randi Miller and Adam Wheeler each got bronze ... one medal each for men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco. A dozen years ago, the 2004 Athens Olympics were very good to Team USA wrestlers, for a total of a half-dozen medals. Three men's freestyle wrestlers medaled: Cael Sanderson won gold, while Stephen Abas and Jamill Kelly claimed silver. In the first Olympics featuring women's freestyle competition, the U.S. won two medals: Patricia Miranda got bronze, while Sara McMann got silver. Rulon Gardner added to his trophy case with a bronze medal in Greco-Roman. Women's wrestling medalists 48 kilograms/105.5 pounds (wrestled Wednesday, Aug. 17) Gold: Eri Tosaka (Japan) Silver: Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Yanan Sun (China) Bronze: Elitsa Yankova (Bulgaria) 9th place: Haley Augello (United States) 53 kilograms/116.5 pounds (wrestled Thursday, Aug. 18) Gold: Helen Maroulis (United States) Silver: Saori Yoshida (Japan) Bronze: Natalya Sinishin (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) 58 kilograms/127.5 pounds (wrestled Wednesday, Aug. 17) Gold: Kaori Icho (Japan) Silver: Valeria Koblova (Russia) Bronze: Marwa Amri (Tunisia) Bronze: Sakshi Malik (India) (No U.S. entry at in this weight class) 63 kilograms/138.75 pounds (wrestled Thursday, Aug. 18) Gold: Risako Kawai (Japan) Silver: Maryia Mamashuk (Belarus) Bronze: Yekaterina Larionova (Kazakhstan) Bronze: Monika Ewa Michalak (Poland) 5th place: Elena Pirozhkova (United States) 69 kilograms/152 pounds Gold: Sara Dosho (Japan) Silver: Natalia Vorobieva (Russia) Bronze: Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan) Bronze: Jenny Fransson (Sweden) (No U.S. entry in this weight class) 75 kilograms/165 pounds Gold: Erica Wiebe (Canada) Silver: Guzel Mayurova (Kazakhstan) Bronze: Fengliu Zhang (China) Bronze: Ekaterina Bukina (Russia) 7th place: Adeline Gray (United States) Freestyle wrestling medalists 57 kilograms/125.5 pounds (wrestled Friday, Aug. 19) Gold: Vladimer Khinchegahsvili (Georgia) Silver: Rei Higuchi (Japan) Bronze: Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Hassan Rahimi (Iran) Team USA's Daniel Dennis did not place in this weight class 65 kilograms/143 pounds (wrestled Sunday, Aug. 21) Gold: Soslan Ramonov (Russia) Silver: Toghrul Asgarov (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Frank Chamizo (Italy) Bronze: Ikhtiyor Navruzov (Uzbekistan) 5th place: Frank Molinaro (United States) 8th place: Borislav Novachkov (Bulgaria) (wrestled at Cal Poly) 9th place: Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico) (wrestled at Michigan State) 74 kilograms/163 pounds (wrestled Friday, Aug. 19) Gold: Hassan Yazdanicharati (Iran) Silver: Aniuar Geduev (Russia) Bronze: Yabrail Hasanov (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Soener Demirtas (Turkey) 5th place: Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan) (wrestled at Clarion) 9th place: Jordan Burroughs (United States) 86 kilograms/189 pounds (wrestled Saturday, Aug. 20) Gold: Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia) Silver: Selim Yasar (Turkey) Bronze: Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan) Bronze: J'den Cox (United States) 97 kilograms/213 pounds (wrestled Sunday, Aug. 21) Gold: Kyle Snyder (United States) Silver: Khetag Goziumov (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Albert Saritov (Romania) Bronze: Magomed Ibragimov (Uzbekistan) 125 kilograms/275 pounds (wrestled Saturday, Aug. 20) Gold: Taha Akgul (Turkey) Silver: Komeil Ghasemi (Iran) Bronze: Ibrahim Saidau (Belarus) Bronze: Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) 5th place: Tervel Dlagnev (United States) Greco-Roman wrestling medalists 59 kilograms/130 pounds (wrestled Sunday, Aug. 14) Gold: Ismael Borrero Molina (Cuba) Silver: Shinobu Ota (Japan) Bronze: Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) Bronze: Stig-Andre Berge (Norway) 9th place: Jesse Thielke (United States) 66 kilograms/145.5 pounds (wrestled Tuesday, Aug. 16) Gold: Davor Stefanek (Serbia) Silver: Migran Arutyunyan (Armenia) Bronze: Shmagi Bolkvadze (Georgia) Bronze: Rasul Chunayev (Azerbaijan) (No U.S. entry in this weight class) 75 kilograms/165 pounds (wrestled Sunday, Aug. 14) Gold: Roman Vlasov (Russia) Silver: Mark Madsen (Denmark) Bronze: Saeid Mourad Abdvali (Iran) Bronze: Kim Hyeon-Woo (South Korea) 9th place: Andy Bisek (United States) 85 kilograms/187 pounds (wrestled Monday, Aug. 15) Gold: David Chakvetadze (Russia) Silver: Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) Bronze: Javid Hamzatau (Belarus) Bronze: Denis Kudla (Germany) 12th place: Ben Provisor (United States) 98 kilograms/216 pounds (wrestled Tuesday, Aug. 16) Gold: Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) Silver: Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera (Cuba) Bronze: Cenk Ildem (Turkey) Bronze: Ghasem Rezaei (Iran) (No U.S. entry in this weight class) 130 kilograms/286 pounds (wrestled Monday, Aug. 15) Gold: Mijain Lopez Nunez (Cuba) Silver: Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) Bronze: Sabah Shariati (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Sergey Semenov (Russia) 12th place: Robby Smith (United States)

Franklin Gomez was on the wrong side of a call in Rio (Photo/Robbert Wijtman) For most people the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will be remembered for Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, Usain Bolt and many more champions. Unfortunately for wrestling fans, it may be remembered as the beginning of the end. That's because what got the most coverage for the sport in the mainstream media was not Helen Maroulis, America's first woman to take gold or America's youngest wrestler to take gold Kyle Snyder, but it was two Mongolian coaches so outraged by a call from the referees that cost their wrestler the chance for a bronze medal, they stripped down, one all the way to his briefs, on the mat. The story was picked up by USA Today, Deadspin, Time and the Associated Press, just to name a few. To be sure you can make the case that the Mongolian wrestler sealed his fate by putting on his track shoes for the end of the match and the refs were correct to reprimand him for running instead of wrestling, but that's not what the world outside of wrestling saw. They saw shenanigans worthy of the WWE not the Olympics. The Mongolian coaches took off clothes while disputing a call in the bronze-medal match (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In light of the tenuous nature of wrestling's place in the Olympics beyond 2024 that is not only unfortunate, it could be the death knell for one of the original Olympic sports. Wrestling fans can probably tell you where they were on the day in February of 2013 when the International Olympic Committee shockingly and seemingly out of nowhere voted to drop wrestling starting with the 2020 games. The IOC reinstated wrestling seven months later, but it is only guaranteed a spot through the 2024 games. I have a son who wrestles for the University of Iowa and who has had Olympic dreams since he was 10 years old. Regardless of whether he makes his dream come true, the dream itself has affected his life in too many positive ways to count. For him and the thousands of other young men and women, as well as kids who are just starting in the sport, dropping wrestling from the games, any games, would be a travesty. It's been well documented how many nations win medals in wrestling. In Rio 25 nations had an athlete on the wrestling podium. There is not one nation that can claim a dominant dynasty like the U.S. can in basketball. OK, maybe the Russians are a consistent force as a team every Olympics, but the competition is right there on their heels. That's because wrestling is an equal opportunity sport. You don't need a fancy gym or costly equipment to excel. You just need talent, strength, a willingness to work hard and a drive to succeed. But succeed or not, wrestling changes lives for the better. It teaches discipline, it instills drive and it cements character. Without the Olympics wrestling could lose its powers to persuade young people to put in the work and dream big. That's why the Mongolian coaches' spectacle and its prominence in mainstream news are so unfortunate. But it is certainly not the only thing that happened in Rio to put the spotlight on why the sport is in need of an overhaul. Take American Frank Molinaro's repechage match where the referee allowed Molinaro's Ukrainian opponent to slap him, bite him and twist his ankle with no repercussions. Molinaro went on to win anyway. Or the subjective passivity calls -- one of them cost American bronze medalist J'den Cox a semifinal match and the chance to go for gold. If we want to bring new fans to the sport making it difficult to understand and based on a referee's subjective call is counterproductive. I know plenty of people think the passivity calls promote action, but more often than not, as far as I can tell, they promote mistakes by the athlete who is put on the clock. Also deciding which athlete is put on the clock can be seemingly nonsensical to the casual fan, let alone someone who is new to the sport. J'den Cox was unaware he was losing in the semifinals against Turkey's Selim Yasar (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Another rule that needs to be changed was also highlighted in the match between Cox and Selim Yasar of Turkey. It's the tie-breaking criteria. In that match it's clear Cox thought he would win on criteria. It was only at the very end and when it was too late that Cox realized he needed to score just barely missing a final takedown that would have sealed a win. Why does the sport have criteria that even the athletes have trouble understanding? Why can't this be a sudden death situation, the first one to score wins? That's something every fan can understand. But the worst call made was in the match between Puerto Rican wrestler Franklin Gomez and Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan. In short, the refs called what should have been 2 points for Gomez, 2 points for his opponent, ending Gomez' tournament and keeping him from a chance at a medal. NCAA and Olympic champion Cael Sanderson took to twitter calling it a "disgrace." Wrestling's governing body United World Wrestling (UWW) issued a statement reprimanding the referees and pulling them from further duties in Rio. But that's little solace to Gomez. Unlike other sports such as track where a relay team can rerun a race, wrestling has no rule allowing for a rematch. So what much of the world will remember about wrestling in Rio is not the shock of Helen Maroulis who beat a three-time Olympic champion from Japan to win gold, not the class of Jordan Burroughs who won gold at the London Games and failed to repeat in Rio, not the strength of young Kyle Snyder who wrestled like a veteran, no, the face of wrestling from Rio will be the antics of two Mongolian coaches so frustrated by the reality of what wrestling has become they go just short of the full Monty. If this isn't a clear call to make changes, I don't know what is.

Super 32 Challenge runner-up Austin DeSanto (Exeter Township, Pa.) verbally committed to Drexel University on Monday evening. The No. 37 overall recruit in the Class of 2017 is a two-time state placer, including a runner-up finish to Spencer Lee this past season. DeSanto ended the 2015-16 scholastic season ranked No. 4 nationally at 120 pounds, and is a projected 125/133 in college.

Monday afternoon marked a terrific start of the week for the University of North Carolina wrestling program. A pair of top 50 prospects in the Class of 2017 verbally committed to the Tar Heels, both from the Chicago area. No. 11 Austin O'Connor (St. Rita) is a three-time state champion, while No. 47 Jamie Hernandez (Oak Park River Forest) is a two-time state medalist, including a runner-up finish this past season. O'Connor ended the 2015-16 season ranked No. 3 nationally at 145 pounds, after a time period that included a runner-up finish at the Super 32 Challenge during the pre-season. He was also a Junior Nationals runner-up in Greco-Roman during the summer of 2015 and a double Cadet National All-American in Fargo during 2014. O'Connor projects as either at 157 or 165 in college. After the 2015-16 season came to a conclusion, Hernandez was runner-up in the 63 kilogram (138.75 pound) weight class at the UWW Cadet freestyle nationals, and then placed eighth in Junior freestyle at 138 pounds last month in Fargo. He was also a two-time Cadet National freestyle All-American, including a runner-up finish in 2014. Hernandez projects to compete at 149 in college. O'Connor and Hernandez join No. 95 Clay Lautt (St. James Academy, Kans.) as top 100 commits in the 2017 recruiting class for North Carolina.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland announced Monday that national champion and three-time All-American Kendric Maple is joining his staff as an assistant coach. “Purdue wrestling is heading in an amazing direction,” Maple said. “I think what Coach Ersland and his staff have done in the last few years has been remarkable and I want to add to that. I want to be known as someone who has added to the success of Purdue wrestling and the program becoming a powerhouse. “Everything that Coach Ersland says he is going to do is lining up,” Maple said. “Things are happening here. It's his work ethic and how much he puts into Purdue wrestling; you can tell he's passionate about what he does. That's someone I not only want to work with, but learn from. I'm not a ‘yes man', I like to work and that's what this staff is all about.” During his two seasons, Maple had the opportunity to coach his former teammate and friend Cody Brewer to the 133-pound title at the 2015 NCAA Championships. He also coached Brewer to his fourth All-America honor in 2016 with a third-place showing at 133. Brewer also claimed back-to-back Big 12 Conference titles with Maple on the coaching staff. Maple also coached Ryan Millhof in a Big 12 title run and All-America finish at 125 pounds in 2016. Wrestling for the Sooners from 2009 to 2014, Maple became one of the most successful grapplers in program history. The three-time All-American owned a 127-25 (.836) career record, with his 127 wins ranking sixth all-time at Oklahoma. The pinnacle of Maple's career in Norman came with a 31-0 campaign and the 141-pound NCAA title as a redshirt junior. Over 60 percent of his wins from the 2012-13 season were with bonus points (8 MD, 4 TF, 7 F), including a pair of major decisions and a pin at the NCAA Championships. “Kendric was guy that could always go out and get points,” Ersland said. “The year he won his national title and went undefeated, 19 of his matches were with bonus points, which says a lot about him not being satisfied with coasting to a win, he was going to score points and keep the pedal down. That's what we talk about with being always aggressive.” As a redshirt senior in 2014, Maple bumped up to 149 pounds and became the Sooners' 25th three-time All-American with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. His earned his first All-America status by taking fourth at 141 pounds in 2012. Not only was Maple decorated on the national scene, but also in the Big 12 Conference. He captured and defended the 141-pound title in 2012 and 2013, respectively, before taking top honors at 149 in 2014. His success was not limited to the mat. Maple excelled in the classroom earning NWCA Division I All-Academic Team accolades three times (2012, 2013, 2014), twice was named Academic All-Big 12 first team (2013, 2014) and was an Academic All-Big 12 second-team selection in 2012. In his final season, Maple was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division I At-Large Team and was awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and the Big 12 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship. “I'm extremely excited for Kendric to join our staff,” Ersland said. “He is a great fit for us and what we're trying to do both from the standpoint of mentoring these young men as well as the wrestling mindset that we are trying to foster in the room. He exemplifies both as a person and as a competitor.” The Wichita, Kansas, native, obtained his Master of Education in adult and higher education, with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletic administration, from Oklahoma in May 2015. He received a bachelor's degree in heath and exercise science in May 2013. He and his wife, Jordin, have a son, Kiner.

Kyle Snyder gets his hand raised after winning the Olympic gold medal (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Kyle Snyder concluded the men's freestyle competition at the 2016 Olympics in Rio Sunday by winning the gold medal at 97 kilograms/213 pounds at age 20, becoming the youngest man in U.S. freestyle competition to be crowned an Olympic champion. Just missing out on a bronze medal was Team USA's Frank Molinaro, who placed fifth at 65 kilograms/143 pounds in the last day of wrestling in Rio, just hours before the Closing Ceremonies. Golden Buckeye Snyder, an NCAA Division I wrestling champ at Ohio State, grabbed the gold by defeating eight-time World and Olympic medalist Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan, 2-1, in the championship match at 97 kilos. Immediately after winning the gold, Snyder -- who will be returning to the Buckeyes as a junior this fall - said, "It was a tough match. I wrestled that guy like a month ago and he beat me, so I'm happy that I've been able to improve on that performance, and, I keep saying it, I'm really thankful and grateful that I've even had this opportunity wrestle and my family and friends have been down here, to share it with them." To be in contention for the gold, Snyder defeated a trio of opponents: Cuba's Javier Cortina, 10-3 ... Romania's Albert Saritov, 7-0 ... and Georgia's Elizbar Odikadze, 9-4. It's been an incredible past 12 months for Snyder. In that time frame, the Maryland native won a World title, an Olympic gold medal, and his first NCAA title, defeating the defending heavyweight champ, Nick Gwaizdowski of North Carolina State, and snapping his 88-match win streak. The last U.S. wrestler to rack up World, Olympic and national collegiate titles in the same amount of time was John Smith, six-time World and Olympic champion, who is now head coach at Oklahoma State. The 20-year-old Snyder is now the youngest U.S. man to win Olympic gold in wrestling, edging out Henry Cejudo, who earned his gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games at age 21. What's more, Snyder becomes the 50th U.S. men's wrestler to have earned an Olympic gold medal. He is first Buckeye wrestler to compete at an Olympics since 1992, and the first Olympic wrestling champion for Ohio State since Harry Steel in 1924. Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan, in Rio for the Olympics, said, "(Snyder) said at 5 years old he was going to win an Olympic gold medal. He did it. An amazing performance." A number of Buckeye mat champs weighed in with congratulations via social media. Logan Stieber, four-time NCAA champ for Ohio State, wrote, "Captain America. Kyle Snyder. Olympic champion"... while Lance Palmer, newly crowned World Series of Fighting featherweight champ posted this on Twitter: "I'm so happy for this kid. He put in the work and became World, NCAA, and Olympic champ all in one year. At 20 yrs old!" Snyder's teammate Myles Martin, 2016 NCAA champ at 174 pounds, simply said, "Speechless!" Snyder himself wasn't speechless upon winning the ultimate prize in amateur wrestling. "I've been super emotional at times on the mat when I'm wrestling. I think it's just, maybe I was in shock. I don't know. I was definitely really happy, happier than I've ever been on a wrestling mat," said Snyder. Snyder joins fellow Maryland native Helen Maroulis as Team USA gold medalists for the 2016 Rio Games. Maroulis became the first U.S. women's freestyle wrestler to win an Olympic championship, at 53 kilograms/116.5 pounds. Team USA wrestlers earned the same number of gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, with Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner claiming championships in men's freestyle four years ago. Molinaro just misses bronze Frank Molinaro made it to the bronze-medal match at 65 kilos, falling to top-ranked Frank Chamizo of Italy, 5-3, in a back and forth battle that came down to the final seconds, when what appeared to be a takedown on the former Penn State champ was not scored. "He is such a good wrestler," Molinaro said of his Italian opponent after his final match of the Olympics. "Solid. Fighting out there to win. He works as hard as I am. Sometimes it just comes down to inches. I have been very fortunate and blessed to be on the good end of a few of those. It was just his day." Molinaro was two-for-two for the day, beginning with a 2-2 criteria win over European champ Magomedmurad Gadzhiev (Poland) ... followed up by a shut-out loss to two-time Olympian Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan, 10-0. The 27-year-old New Jersey native then revived his hopes for a medal with an 8-5 win over Ukraine's Andriy Kvyatkovskyy which propelled him into the bronze-medal round. "It has been an amazing experience," said Molinaro, who was a four-time NCAA All-American - and 2012 NCAA champ - for Penn State. "Bruce (Burnett) and Cody (Sanderson) have taken me from not every knowing how to wrestle freestyle to being one of the best guys in the world. I just had another son while I was out here. I am not going home with the bronze medal, but I am going home to a healthy boy, two healthy boys, and a great life. I am still happy." Former Spartan champ Gomez loses on controversial call Franklin Gomez, former Michigan State wrestler who won the 133-pound crown at the 2009 NCAAs, suffered a heartbreaking loss representing Puerto Rico at the Olympics Sunday, losing in 65 kilo quarterfinals to Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan. Here's how the official Spartan wrestling website described that match: "The quarterfinal match action started with an early 2-0 Gomez advantage, before Navruzov countered with three points to take a 3-2 lead after the first period. Gomez opened the second and final period with a point to level the score at 3-3, but Navruzov later took a 5-3 lead. In the final minute, Gomez evened the score at 5-5 and then later appeared to score on a four-point move, but the referee signaled a two-point takedown for Navruzov. Gomez and his coaches challenged, and after a review of the match officials, the challenge was denied and the review resulted in another point for Navruzov for an 8-5 lead that remained to the end of the match." Criticism of the officiating -- and cries of foul -- lit up the internet. United World Wrestling was forced to respond, announcing the suspension of three referees - one each from South Korea, Russian, and Georgia -- along with a full investigation by the governing body for wrestling's Ethical Commission. Gomez was born in the Dominican Republic; however, after the death of his father, moved to Puerto Rico with his mom when he was a child. In high school, mother and son first relocated to New Jersey, then later to Florida, where he won a state title at nationally-ranked Brandon High School. Controversial call leads to strip show on the mat Coaches who believe their wrestler has been jobbed by a bad call have been known to hurl obscenities, shoes and even chairs at mat officials. This may be the first time that clothes came into the equation. In the final seconds of a contentious bout for a bronze medal at 65 kilos, Mongolia's Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran thought he had defeated Iktiyhor Navruzov of Uzbekistan - yes, the same wrestler who was awarded the victory over Franklin Gomez. Since Mandakhnaran was no longer wrestling Navruzov - despite their being time on the clock - mat officials awarded Navruzov a point, putting him ahead as the time ran out. Mongolia immediately protested. When the protest went Uzbekistan's way, the two Mongolian coaches jumped on the mat and laid down, pleading with the officials to change their decision. When the referees didn't reverse their decision, the coaches started angrily stripping off their clothes. One coach peeled off his jacket and shirt, while the other one took off everything but his underwear and socks. The video received tons of play online, and was the only wrestling-related footage on the NBC Nightly News' 6:30 p.m. Eastern broadcast on the network granted exclusive coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Medal results at 65 kilos In the gold-medal match at 65 kilos, Russia's Soslan Ramonov - ranked No. 2 in the world - decimated 2012 Olympic champion Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan, 11-0. In addition to Italy's Frank Chamizo (who defeated Frank Molinaro), the other bronze medalist at 65 kilos was Uzbekistan's Navruzov who edged Mongolia's Ganzorig, 8-7, in the match that ended with Mongolian coaches stripping off their clothes in anger over the controversial officiating. Frank Molinaro placed fifth. Medal results at 97 kilos In addition to Team USA's Kyle Snyder being awarded the gold medal in this weight class, two other wrestlers earned bronze medals: Uzbekistan's Magomed Ibragimov, who earned a 6-4 decision over 2012 Olympic silver medalist Valerii Andriitsev of Ukraine ... and Albert Saritov of Romania, scoring a 10-0 technical fall over Elizbar Odikadze of Georgia. Sunday was the eighth and final day of wrestling -- and all sports competition -- at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. For wrestlers with dreams of scoring Olympic hardware, their next opportunity will be the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The University of Minnesota investigation concerning possible use and sale of prescription drugs on the part of some Golden Gopher wrestlers is entering a new phase, with a focus on possible "serious discipline" of offenders, the ABC-TV affiliate in the Twin Cities reported this weekend. According to KSTP-TV, "a source with direct knowledge of the ongoing investigation" said that university officials will begin interviewing all wrestlers suspected of using the anti-anxiety drug Xanax last season in the next few weeks. The report also said that "any wrestler who is found to have been less than truthful could face suspension or a loss of their scholarship." State and federal prosecutors have declined to bring criminal charges against any Minnesota wrestlers or head coach J Robinson, who has remained on paid administrative leave since June 1. Head assistant coach Brandon Eggum was named acting head coach earlier this month. KSTP-TV also reported that emails and text messages released by the university on Friday include an email from Eggum which appears to have been sent to a number of wrestlers. It states that someone with the Office of General Counsel may be contacting them about the internal investigation, and that it's a personal decision whether they want to meet with them. The ABC affiliate said it had contacted university administrators who would not confirm that interviews of many wrestlers are imminent, nor would they comment on the status of the internal investigation because it is still ongoing. Just last week, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported that exit negotiations between long-time head coach Robinson and the university have stalled. One month ago, the same newspaper reported that all 39 Minnesota wrestlers were drug tested on Sunday, March 22, the day after the conclusion of the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. This weekend's KSTP report claimed that three Minnesota wrestlers tested positive for illegal drugs, but were not tested for Xanax.

J'den Cox with his Olympic bronze medal (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Both J'den Cox and Tervel Dlagnev made it into the bronze-medal round at the 2016 Olympics Saturday, but only Cox will leave Rio with any hardware in a match that ended in bizarre fashion ... but in favor of the University of Missouri mat champ. In his quest for bronze in men's freestyle at 125 kilograms/275 pounds, Dlagnev, a two-time NCAA Division II heavyweight titlist at University of Nebraska-Kearney, was shut out by Georgia's Geno Pertriashvili ... while Cox claimed bronze at 86 kilograms/189 pounds when Cuba's Reineris Salas Perez protested a call against him, refusing to wrestle with just seconds left in the match. Mizzou mat champ medals The last match of the day for Cox, a 21-year-old who will starting his senior year at Missouri, had an ending that would have to rank as one of the strangest in seven days of wrestling in Rio. Cox led Salas Perez 1-0 well into the second period and was placed on the shot clock with just over one minute to go. The Mizzou Tiger secured a double leg on the Cuban as the shot clock expired. Initially, Salas Perez was awarded the go-ahead point with six seconds remaining in the match. After official review Cox was awarded a takedown and a 3-0 lead. Salas Perez saw he was returning to the match with a deficit, signaling he was not going to wrestle, despite pleas from his coach. He started down the steps off the raised mat platform. Because he did not finish the match out of protest, Salas Perez was disqualified. The final score was a win for Cox by disqualification at 5:54 ... giving the U.S. its first men's freestyle medal of the Rio Games. Despite never having wrestled in international competition until this summer, Cox was impressive at the Olympics; he never had a takedown scored upon him. The Columbia, Missouri native started his Saturday with a 7-1 win over Amarhajy Mahamedau of Belarus ... followed by a 5-1 victory over Iran's Alireza Mohammed Karimimachiani. In the semifinals, Cox lost a frustrating 2-1 decision to Selim Yasar of Turkey. "It was awesome to know that I accomplished a great feat," Cox said after winning the bronze. "That wasn't my goal. I am not going to say that I accomplished my goal because my goal was to win gold. I am not bitter about it. I am happy. I accomplished a great feat, and so many people never get the chance to even come close to taste it. I got to taste it. I enjoy it and am very happy about it." Tervel Dlagnev opened with a win over Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Disappointment for Dlagnev For the 30-year-old Dlagnev -- a native of Bulgaria who came to Texas with his family as a kid -- it was his second trip to the Olympics. And, as with the 2012 London Olympics, Dlagnev, placed fifth after Georgia's Pertriashvili -- the top-ranked big man in men's freestyle -- secured a 10-0 technical fall to win in the bronze-medal match. Dlagnev had won his first two matches Saturday -- a 6-5 victory over Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan, followed by a 3-2 win over Poland's Robert Baran. However, in the semifinals, Dlagnev's persistent back injury became an issue, as he lost 10-0 to Iran's Komeil Ghasemi, then fell by the same score to Petriashvili in the bronze-medal bout, ultimately placing fifth at 125 kilos. "Yeah, it's a bummer," Dlagnev said after his last match of the day. "It has been a slow fade. I am not sure about my body. I wasn't planning on wrestling out there (in the bronze-medal bout). I kind of got talked into going out there. Hopefully it means something to somebody. "I didn't work out one day of training camp. My back locked up right when I got on the plane to leave to the Olympics. It has been a year fade. I made the Trials, but since then I have had five practices in the last four months. I have been just holding on, holding on hopefully for one big day. It didn't go my way." Dlagnev, now a member of the coaching staff at Ohio State, is a two-time world bronze medalist, two-time Olympian and four-time World Team member for the U.S. He wrestled for a bronze medal in every World Championships and Olympic Games in which he competed. Abdulrashid Sadulaev with the Russian flag after winning Olympic gold (Photo/Martin Gabor) Medal results at 86 kilos In the gold-medal match at 86 kilos, top-ranked Abdulrashid Sadulaev of Russia got a 5-0 shut-out win over Turkey's Selim Yasar. The 20-year-old Russian phenom, who outscored his opponents 28-1 on Saturday, now has an Olympic gold medal to go with two world championships. In addition to Team USA's J'den Cox, the other bronze-medal winner was 2012 Olympic gold medalist Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan. He scored a 5-1 win over Pedro Ceballos Fuentes of Venezuela for his second consecutive Olympic medal. Medal results at 125 kilos As with the 86-kilo weight class, the gold-medal winner at 125 was also ranked No. 1: Taha Akgul of Turkey. The two-time world champion defeated 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Komeil Ghasemi of Iran, 3-1. In addition to Georgia's Petriashvili, the other heavyweight to win bronze in Rio was Ibrahim Saidau of Belarus, who scored a 2-2 victory by criteria over Armenia's Levan Berianidze. Sunday will feature the last day of men's freestyle competition at the 2016 Olympics, as two Big Ten champs -- Penn State alum Frank Molinaro, and current Ohio State star Kyle Snyder -- take to the mats at 65 kilograms/143 pounds and 97 kilograms/213 pounds, respectively.

KEARNEY, Neb. -- Nebraska-Kearney wrestling coach Dalton Jensen announced today that Andrew Sorenson is the Lopers new head assistant coach. Andrew SorensonThe Iowa native joins a 2016-17 coaching staff that includes Kearney wrestling legend Tom McCann, graduate assistant Zach Ondrak and student assistants Devin Aguirre, Connor Bolling, Romero Cotton and Daniel DeShazer. An Iowa State graduate, Sorenson will be involved in all aspects in the program and begins immediately. "Andrew brings a passion and drive to help young athletes succeed. He will be an unmeasurable asset to not only the development of our men but to the recruiting of potential student-athletes with his endless connections," said Jensen. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons, Sorenson was an assistant coach at Division I South Dakota State, working primarily with the Jackrabbits 149-174 pounders. Over two seasons, Sorenson helped SDSU win 11 duals and qualify four individuals for the NCAA Championships. In his time in Brookings, he also was involved with recruiting, alumni relations and fundraising. Most recently, he was a member of the Panther Wrestling Club in Cedar Falls, Ia., competing in freestyle tournaments around the country and overseas. "Andrew comes from a background where hard work comes first and this will be evident in the work he puts in to helping our wrestlers reach their fullest potential. I have been around Andrew as a competitor and I am excited about the wealth of knowledge and mentorship he will add to this program," said Jensen. Sorenson was a two-time national qualifier for Iowa State, finishing with a 93-31 career record. He also was a two-time Big 12 Conference place winner, taking third in 2010 (157 lbs.) and second in 2012 (165 lbs.). During his time in Ames, he and Jensen were teammates. A team captain and winner of numerous awards on the mat and in the classroom, Sorenson also spent time as a volunteer strength and conditioning coach after graduation, working with various Cyclone squads. Sorenson graduated from ISU with a degree in Kinesiology-Health Fitness Management and a Master's in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. UNK officially begins the 2016-17 season in mid-October.

Jordan Burroughs fell in the quarterfinals to Russia's Anjuar Geduev (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Less than 24 hours after the excitement of Helen Maroulis becoming the first gold medalist for Team USA women's freestyle squad, it was a day of stunning disappointment for U.S. men's freestyle team, as neither 2012 Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs nor Daniel Dennis earned medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics Friday. For Dennis, it was one-and-done as the University of Iowa mat alum lost his opening-round match at 57 kilograms/125.5 pounds. For Burroughs -- arguably one of the all-time greats in U.S. wrestling -- the dream of a second Olympic gold medal was dashed in his second match at 74 kilograms/163 pounds ... then hopes of a bronze medal were derailed in the next round. A day of upsets for Burroughs Burroughs got off to a solid start on the first day of men's freestyle competition in Rio with an 8-3 win over Augusto Midana of Guinea Bissau. The two-time NCAA champ for the University of Nebraska used a takedown and lace to go up 4-0 early. In his second match of the day, the top-ranked Burroughs suffered his first-ever Olympic loss at the hands of Russia's Aniuar Geduev, ranked second in the world at 74 kilos. In a rematch of last year's Worlds semifinals, Geduev scored first off the shot clock to go up 1-0 and took that lead into the second period. The Russian added two step-out points to go up 3-0. Burroughs would score a late takedown, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit. Out of contention for a second Olympic gold medal, Burroughs then had a chance for bronze when Geduev made it to the finals. The New Jersey native faced Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan. However, the former Clarion All-American wrestler and professional MMA fighter controlled the match from start to finish, scoring five takedowns on Burroughs to win, 11-1. "I felt ready," Burroughs said. "That's the hardest part of all of this. I live my lifestyle the right way. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't go out and party. I'm a family man. I take care of business. I train hard. I'm an ambassador for the sport of wrestling. A lot of people were counting on me today." "It's a tough day. I had a lot of expectations coming here. I wanted to win. I knew I was capable of winning. Sometimes things don't go according to plan," Burroughs said. I am a man of faith. Something good will come out of this. It is difficult. I lost a lot of things today. But my integrity and my character remain. I am hoping I can go back, re-evaluate my career, my abilities and what I did wrong today. I have a lot to work on." "I love the sport of wrestling because it is a testament of your growth, what you are capable of, what you can do as a man. And as nervous and afraid as I was coming into this tournament, I was equally as confident and prepared. I have always made my goals public. The hard thing about being an Olympian is that your failures are public, too," Burroughs continued. This was the first time Burroughs had not earned a medal in a World Championships or Olympic Games since he first stepped onto the mat for senior-level competition in 2011. That said, the 28-year-old Burroughs remains one of most accomplished U.S. wrestlers in history, with an Olympic gold medal, three World titles, and a World bronze. Disappointment for Dennis Sadly for Dan Dennis, his time on the mat at the Olympics lasted less than two minutes. Team USA's representative at 57 kilos -- ranked No. 19 in the world -- suffered a technical fall at the hands of Bulgaria's Vladimir Dubov. Dubov scored a double-leg takedown on Dennis early in the first period, then quickly added four gut wrenches to end the match, 11-0. Any hope of Dennis being pulled back into medal contention was eliminated when Dubov was downed by 2015 World champion Vladimer Kinchegashvili of Georgia in the semifinals, 8-4. "It is extremely frustrating, especially after you feel like you are ready," Dennis said after his match with Dubov. "He is a good wrestler. He had a good match in the semis until the end. He could have very well been in the finals. I felt like I was in control in that match on the feet. It kind of hit the fan and he blew it open. Good for him." Vladimer Khinchegahsvili of Georgia celebrates after winning gold in Rio (Photo/Martin Gabor) Medal results at 57 kilos Winning the gold at 57 kilos was World champion Vladimer Khinchegahsvili of Georgia, who edged Japan's Rei Higuchi, 4-3. Bringing home bronze were Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan, and Iran's Hassan Rahimi ... each by fall at approximately five minutes into their respective matches. Aliyev pinned two-time World medalist Vladimir Dubov at 4:50 ... while Rahimi scored a pin over Cuba's Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez at 5:04 of their match. Team USA's Dan Dennis did not place in this weight class. Medal results at 74 kilos In the gold-medal match at 74 kilos, Iran's Hassan Yazdanicharati gave his nation its first Olympic gold medal since the 2000 Sydney Olympics with a come-from-behind victory over Russia's Aniuar Geduev. The 21-year-old Iranian -- ranked fourth in the world -- had been behind 6-0 after giving up three takedowns in the first period. In the second period, Yazdanicharati unleased a relentless pace and hit Geduev with three takedowns of his own to grab the gold with three seconds left in the match. Earning bronze medals at 74 kilos were No. 8-ranked Yabrail Hasanov of Azerbaijan and Turkey's Soener Demirtas, ranked seventh in the world. Hasanov beat Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan, 9-7 ... while Demirtas shut out Galimzhan Usserbaev of Kazakhstan, 6-0. Jordan Burroughs placed ninth in this bracket. The second day of men's freestyle wrestling will take place Saturday, with Team USA represented by No. 9-ranked J'den Cox competing at 86 kilograms/189 pounds, and two-time World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev taking to the mats at 125 kilograms/275 pounds.

India's Narsingh Yadav, banned from competing at the 2016 Olympics for a failed drug test in late July only to be reinstated on Aug. 1, has been banned again after the World Anti-Doping Agency won its appeal against his earlier exoneration late Thursday. Narsingh Yadav Originally slated to wrestle for India in men's freestyle at 74 kilograms/163 pounds, Narsignh Yadav has been prohibited from competing for four years, effective immediately, and will not be able to wrestle in Rio, having failed to get a clearance from Court of Arbitration for Sports. WADA filed an urgent application before CAS to challenge the decision of NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) of India to exonerate Narsingh Yadav following two positive anti-doping tests in June and July. The wrestler had originally claimed that his food and supplements had been sabotaged by jealous fellow wrestlers. "The CAS Panel did not accept the argument of the athlete that he was the victim of sabotage and noted that there was no evidence that he bore no fault, nor that the anti-doping rule violation was not intentional. Therefore the standard 4-year period of ineligibility was imposed by the Panel," said CAS in its verdict. "Narsingh Yadav was sanctioned with a four-year ineligibility period starting today and that any period of provisional suspension or ineligibility effectively served by the athlete before the entry into force of this award shall be credited against the total period of ineligibility to be served," it added. "It is very sad and unfortunate. We were hopeful until the last proceeding of the CAS that he will get through which unfortunately did not happen," said India's Chef de Mission Rakesh Gupta. "It is really very sad because he had a real potential to clinch a medal." Narsingh Yadav's name had originally appeared in the official schedule released for Friday after he underwent the regular weigh-in on Thursday. He was scheduled to take on France's Zelimkhan Khadjiev in the qualification round.

Helen Maroulis gets her hand raised after beating Saori Yoshida (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Team USA's Helen Maroulis won the gold medal at 53 kilograms/116.5 pounds at the 2016 Rio Games Thursday, becoming the first U.S. women's wrestler to win an Olympic championship ... and denying Japan's Saori Yoshida her fourth gold medal. Maroulis' magic; disappointment for teammates To win the gold, the 24-year-old Maroulis defeated three-time defending Olympic champion Yoshida, 4-1. The 33-year-old Yoshida, who has won 13 consecutive world championships, scored the first technical point in the first period but eventually lost ground -- and the match -- to Maroulis. Once the match was over, both wrestlers burst into tears. Maroulis dropped to her knees and started bawling ... while Yoshida wept uncontrollably. "I've dreamed of this my whole life," Maroulis said. "I put it on this pedestal." "I've been dreaming about wrestling Saori for so long," Maroulis, a first-time Olympian, added. "She's a hero. She's the most decorated wrestler in the sport. It's such an honor to wrestle her." Meanwhile, after being denied a fourth Olympic gold, Yoshida said, "I am sorry to finish with a silver medal despite all the cheers from so many people. As the Japanese captain, I should have gotten the gold medal." "I kept thinking that I would be able to win in the end, but it got to the point where I could no longer come back," the Japanese mat star added. "I'm sorry I couldn't exert all my strength." Yoshida said that she has not decided yet if she will return in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Before the gold-medal match, the top-ranked Maroulis handled a quartet of Top Ten contenders, starting with a decisive 12-1 win over No. 8-ranked Yulia Khavaldzhy Blahinya of Ukraine ... a 10-0 shutout of China's Xuechun Zhong (ranked fourth) ... a 7-4 win over fifth-ranked Myong Suk Jong of North Korea ... and with a pin of Sweden's Sofia Mattsson -- ranked second in the world -- 5:24. On the same day as Maroulis' stunning, historic achievement, her teammates, Elena Pirozhkova and Adeline Gray, failed to earn medals. In her match for bronze at 63 kilograms/138.75 pounds, Pirozhkova had been leading Yeakterina Larionova of Kazakhstan, 3-0 ... but then was thrown to her back and pinned at 4:01 of their match. Pirozhkova placed fifth. Adeline Gray fell to Vasillisa Marzaliuk of Belarus (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Gray had been on a lot of lists as a strong possibility for bringing home the gold at 75 kilograms/165 pounds, including Sports Illustrated's 2016 Olympic Preview Issue earlier this month. However, after pinning her opponent in her first match, the Colorado native lost to third-ranked Vasillisa Marzaliuk of Belarus, 4-1, dashing Gray's hopes for a gold medal. When Marzaliuk lost to Canada's Erica Wiebe in the semifinals, Gray was eliminated from medal contention, and ultimately placed seventh. U.S. women's freestyle coach Terry Steiner said, "We all need to celebrate for Helen. This is a stepping stone for this sport in our nation. For the others, Haley Augello, Adeline Gray and Elena Pirozhkova, they need to hold their head up high and be proud of who they are and what they have become through this sport. I don't think their days are done. It is a great movement for women's wrestling to have that gold medal. We needed it so very much. We finally got that done." Medal results at 53 kilos Helen Maroulis winning the gold medal at 53 kilos wasn't the only news in this weight class. In one bronze-medal match, Natalya Sinishin of Azerbaijan earned a 2-1 victory over Venezuela's Betzabeth Arguello ... while, in the other, Sweden's Sofia Mattsson made short work of Xuechun Zhong, pinning her Chinese opponent in 29 seconds. Medal results at 63 kilos In the gold medal match at 63 kilos, Japan's Risako Kawai made up for her teammate Yoshida's disappointment, shutting out European champion Maryia Mamashuk of Belarus, 6-0. In addition to the bronze medal match where Pirozhkova was pinned by her Kazakhstani opponent, Poland's Monika Ewa Michalik earned a 6-3 decision over Inna Trazhukova of Russia. Erica Wiebe celebrates after winning gold at 75 kilograms (Photo/Martin Gabor) Medal results at 75 kilos Canada's Erica Wiebe fought her way to a gold medal Thursday after holding Guzel Manyurova of Kazakhstan scoreless, 6-0. It was the 16th medal for Canada at the Rio Olympics. In one bronze-medal match, China's Fengliu Zhang defeated Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus, 8-4 ... while, in the other, Russia's Ekaterina Bukina got a 5-3 decision over Annabel Laure Ali of Cameroon. Thursday saw the end of women's freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Olympics. Friday will launch three days of men's freestyle competition. Taking to the mats tomorrow for the U.S. is three-time World champion and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs at 74 kilograms and Daniel Dennis at 57 kilograms.

Kaori Icho with the Japan flag after winning her fourth Olympic title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Japan's Kaori Icho made history by becoming the first wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals, joined by teammates Eri Tosaka and Sara Dosho who claimed their first Olympic championships on the first day of women's freestyle competition at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday. The 32-year-old Icho did something no other wrestler -- male or female -- has been able to do in the 120 years of the Modern Olympics: score four gold medals. The defending world champion did it in dramatic fashion, scoring a last-second victory over Russia's Valeria Koblova in the finals at 58 kilograms. Tosaka earned her gold medal at 48 kilograms/105.5 pounds, while Dosho won gold at 69 kilograms. With less than five seconds to go -- and trailing 2-1 -- Icho countered a Koblova shot to score the difference-making two points that gave her the victory ... and that unique place in the Olympic history books. In addition to those four consecutive Olympic titles -- the first at the 2004 Athens Games, the first to feature women's freestyle competition -- Icho also owns ten World championships, going back to 2002. Eri Tosaka celebrates after defeating Mariya Stadnik (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Eri Tosaka, despite being a three-time defending World champion at 48 kilos, was ranked only third in the world. That ranking will now change as Tosaka toppled top-ranked Mariya Stadnik of Azerbaijan, 3-2, for her first Olympic gold medal. Sara Dosho, a three-time World medalist, struck gold for her first time, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The fifth-ranked Dosho upset defending World and Olympic champion Natalia Vorobieva of Russia with a takedown in the waning moments of the 69 kilo final, winning on criteria, 2-2. With Icho, Tosaka and Dosho all winning gold Wednesday, Japan now has a record 10 gold medals and a total of 14 Olympic medals. In fact, Japan has medaled in every women's freestyle bracket contested at the Olympic Games, except one, since the sport joined the Olympic roster a dozen years ago. Japan may claim more gold in the second day of Olympic women's freestyle competition Thursday, as three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida hopes to earn her fourth gold medal. Bronze-medal match results Winning bronze medals at 48 kilos were China's Yanan Sun and World No. 8 Elitsa Yankova of Bulgaria. Sun, a 2013 World champion ranked second in the world, scored a quick technical fall over No. 4-ranked Zhuidyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan, 10-0. The win gave China its fifth Olympic medal in women's freestyle. Yanakova, ranked No. 8, became just the second Bulgarian woman to win an Olympic wrestling medal with a 7-6 decision over No. 6-ranked Patricia Bermudez of Argentina. Sakshi Malik became India's first-ever medalist in women's wrestling (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The two bronze medalists at 58 kilos -- Marwa Amri of Tunisia and India's Sakshi Malik -- were the first Olympic medalists for their respective nations in women's freestyle. Amri, ranked No. 12, scored a four-point double leg with four seconds remaining against six-time world and Olympic medalist Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan to win, 6-3. Sakshi, who had been unranked going into the Olympics, was a last-second winner with a buzzer-beating takedown of No. 6 ranked Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. After a failed challenge by Tynybekova, the final score was 8-3. The bronze medal winners at 69 kilos were Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan and Sweden's Jenny Fransson. Syzdykova, ranked No. 9 in the world, claimed Kazakhstan's third Olympic medal in women's freestyle with a 7-4 victory over Enas Ahmed of Egypt. Jenny Fransson was all smiles after winning a bronze medal (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The third time was the charm for third-ranked Fransson who won an Olympic medal after two previous attempts. Fransson defeated No. 12 Dorothy Yeats of Canada, 2-1, to capture Sweden's first Olympic medal in women's freestyle. Day 2 of women's freestyle competition Thursday will feature three U.S. wrestlers -- Helen Maroulis at 53 kilograms; Elena Pirozhkova at 63 kilograms; and, at 75 kilograms, Adeline Gray. All three have been world champions.

Haley Augello finished 1-2 in the Olympic Games (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- After three days of disappointment for Team USA wrestlers, Haley Augello managed to make it as far as the repechage round 48 kilograms in women's freestyle competition at the 2016 Olympics Wednesday, but lost the match, and has been eliminated from medal contention. Augello fell to Zhuidyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan, 3-2, in the match that determined who would move on to wrestle for a bronze medal in that weight class later today. The No. 17-ranked American was down 1-0 at the end of the first period. In the second, Augello scored a double-leg takedown to try to close the gap ... but the match ended with the final score of 3-2 for her fourth-ranked opponent, who then advanced to the bronze-medal match. Augello got off to a great start Wednesday morning with a decisive 7-0 win over No. 12-ranked Jessica Blaszka of Netherlands, a 2015 world bronze medalist. In the quarterfinal round, Augello went up against Eri Tosaka, three-time defending world champion from Japan. Augello trailed the No. 3-ranked wrestler 1-0 after the first period with a shot clock point the only difference. The Lockport, Illinois native scored a takedown midway through the second period to lead Tosaka, 2-1. However, the tide turned against Augello when Tosaka picked up a key reversal and exposure to take the lead, 7-2. Augello gave up four additional points, to fall, 11-2. "I got too high on the high gut and slipped off," Augello said after that loss. "She fell right into her leg lace and it gave her a five to seven-point lead. That is hard to come back from when you are wrestling a country like Japan who has solid basic defense, and kind of just holds you off. I should have just kept my lead, been patient on top. I made a mistake and paid for it." However, because Tosaka advanced to the gold-medal match, Augello then qualified for the repechage round, where she lost to Eshimova. Augello had journeyed further through the 2016 Olympics than any other U.S. wrestler to date. In the first three days of wrestling in Rio, all four Team USA Greco-Roman wrestlers lost in the first or second rounds of competition.

BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Head wrestling coach Logan Davis today named Blake Roulo as Southern Virginia's head assistant coach. "One of the great things Blake brings to our program is a deep technical wrestling knowledge base and the ability to connect with individual athletes and refine their methods," Coach Davis commented, "He has a great connection with the wrestling community in Virginia and he will be a great asset as we move forward." Roulo, who recently graduated from George Mason University, was a four-year starter, two-time Mid-American Conference finalist and two-time Eastern Wrestling placer. In 2013 he was a NCAA Division I national qualifier and three-time member of the Eastern Wrestling League All-Academic team. Before college Roulo was a Virginia state champion, four-time Fargo All-American and holds the record as the only seven-time National High School Coaches Association National Champion. He has worked as a private coach and clinician at every level and will be the director of camps and clinics as well as the recruiting coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Region this year. "We are in a great place right now as a program," Davis continued, "and Coach Roulo will help drive our future success."

​​Mike Wilcox will experience a homecoming this winter as the former NCAA national champion and junior college standout will return to his alma mater as the new wrestling coach at Rowan College at Gloucester County (RCGC). Mike WilcoxRCGC Executive Director for Athletics Brian Rowan announced the hiring, which he hopes will elevate the program back to its glory days as a national powerhouse among junior college schools. The Roadrunners won six JUCO national championships in its illustrious history. Wilcox has a lengthy track record of success as a competitor, winning a NCAA Division 3 national crown at 184 pounds for Delaware Valley College in 2009 and previously placing third in the JUCO Nationals for Gloucester County College (now RCGC) in 2007. In 2007, he led the Roadrunners to a junior college national title under former coach Mario Iraldi. The former standout wrestler finished his college career as a three-time All-American with a combined record of 121 wins and 17 losses. "Mike (Wilcox) is a proven performer and will be a great fit for our wrestling program," Rowan said. "Our alumni and fans will definitely rally around Mike as the new head coach. They know he will set up our program for long-term success." Wilcox, who also competes in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) professional fighting, placed fifth in the state at 189 for coach Doug Castellari at Buena Regional High School as a senior, graduating in 2005. He has served as head coach of the Bucks County (Pa.) Storm Wrestling Club since 2010 and as assistant wrestling coach at Delaware Valley College from 2009 through 2014. "This is a fantastic opportunity to come home to RCGC," Wilcox commented. "When I was here we had a lot fun and just great team morale. That's the spirit I want to bring to the team as well as build the program back into a national powerhouse." Wilcox notes he and his staff will counsel the athletes both on nutritional intake and conditioning. "During my career I've seen a lot of kids peak early and then fade out.," he said. "We'll work with them on nutrition and conditioning so they are in good shape year round and peak at the right time when we enter our national tournaments." The new RCGC coach will hold a meet and greet with his team later in August and will form a youth wrestling club at the college for interested wrestlers from South Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Davor Stefanek celebrates after winning an Olympic gold medal (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) RIO DE JANEIRO -- Davor Stefanek of Serbia became his nation's first Olympic gold medalist in wrestling by winning the 66 kilogram title, while Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan claimed gold at 98 kilograms on the third and final day of Greco-Roman competition at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday. Medal matches at 66 kilograms Stefanek, ranked No. 6 in the world, defeated Armenia's Migran Arutyunyan in the gold medal finals. The match ended in a 1-1 score, but Stefanek -- the 2014 world champion -- got the win on criteria over his eighth-ranked foe because he was the last one to be awarded a point. Immediately after winning his gold medal, Stefanek celebrated with a backflip. The bronze medals in this weight class went to Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia and Azerbaijan's Rasul Chunayev. Bolkvadze edged Tomohiro Inoue of Japan, 1-0, to pick up his first senior-level medal in World or Olympic competition. The Georgian, ranked No. 10 at 66 kilos, was a junior world champion in 2014. The top-ranked Chunayev, the 2015 World champion at 71 kilograms, had to drop down a weight class to compete at 66 kilos in Rio. The Azerbaijani shut out 2013 world champion Ryu Han-Su of South Korea by an 8-0 technical fall. No U.S. wrestlers competed in this weight class. Artur Aleksanyan gets his hand raised after winning the Olympic gold medal (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Medal matches at 98 kilograms In the gold-medal match, No. 2 ranked Aleksanyan held Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera of Cuba scoreless, 3-0, to win his third consecutive world title. In addition to winning gold today, the Armenian had won back-to-back World titles in 2014 and 2015. Bringing home bronze medals at 98 kilos were Cenk Ildem of Turkey and Ghasem Rezaei of Iran. The No. 6 ranked Ildem, a two-time World bronze medalist, added Olympic bronze to his trophy case by shutting out 19th-ranked Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu of Romania, 4-0. Rezaei scored a come-from-behind win over Sweden's Carl Fredrik Schoen. The third-ranked Iranian had been down 4-0 in the second period when he scored two gut wrenches to win the match by criteria, 4-4. Rezaei is now a two-time Olympic medalist; the bronze won in Rio joins the gold medal earned in London in 2012. The U.S. had failed to qualify a wrestler at this weight. Greco medal tally Parity is a word often used to describe the evenly-matched competition in NCAA Division I wrestling. A similar statement could be made for Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2016 Rio Games. Individual wrestlers from sixteen nations were able to win at least one medal out of the 24 Olympic medals up for grabs in three days of competition just concluded. No one country ran away with all the hardware. Two nations could claim three medals each: Cuba, with two golds and one silver … and Russia, with two golds and one bronze. A quartet of countries won two medals each: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. For the second straight Olympics, the U.S. Greco-Roman team left the Summer Games empty-handed. Greco competition concluded, women's freestyle wrestling will take center stage for the next two days in Rio. On Wednesday -- Day Four of the Olympics -- there will be women's competition at 48, 58 and 69 kilograms, with Haley Augello taking to the mats for Team USA at 48 kilos/105.5 pounds.

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Dan Neff, a 2015 NCAA All-American and a four-time national qualifier, has joined the Bucknell wrestling coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. He will also represent the Buffalo Valley Regional Training center as a resident athlete, where he will train and compete to represent the United States at the World and Olympic levels. A 2016 graduate of Lock Haven University, Neff finished in eighth place in the 149-pound bracket at the 2015 NCAA Championships, becoming the school's 39th All-American and the first in nearly a decade. He finished his career with an impressive 109-46 record, placing him 11th on Lock Haven's all-time wins list. A 2016 Eastern Wrestling League champion, Neff is a Quarryville, Pennsylvania, native who was a 2011 Pennsylvania State Champion for Solanco High School. “I am thrilled to welcome Dan to the Bucknell Wrestling family,” said Bison head wrestling coach Dan Wirnsberger. “His passion for the sport and unique style are sure to provide an immediate positive impact on our lightweights.” Neff will be joining a Bucknell coaching staff that has guided the Bison to back-to-back third-place finishes at the EIWA Championships. The Bison had a record-tying six NCAA qualifiers this past March and have now had at least two NCAA qualifiers in 10 consecutive years.