InterMat Staff

Patricio Lugo was a runner-up at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Fighting Scot will be a Hawkeye. After weeks of speculation, Edinboro's Patricio Lugo has announced he is transferring to the University of Iowa to wrestle. The rising junior 149-pounder and two-time NCAA qualifier shared his news over the Fourth of July holiday on Twitter with this simple two-word message -- "Iowa bound…" -- accompanied by two images: a digitally-altered photo of himself in a black-and-gold singlet, and a picture of Iowa's Herky mascot. Edinboro coach Tim Flynn confirmed Lugo's departure in a text message Tuesday evening to GoErie.com wrestling writer John Dudley. Flynn also confirmed that Lugo's brother, Ozzy, a true freshman last season, has also left the program. Meanwhile, Pat Lugo is already anticipating his move from Pennsylvania to Iowa. "I am more than excited to work with the Brands Bros. and the rest of the staff," Lugo told K.J. Pilcher of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. "Can't wait to get the train rolling." In expressing his eagerness to wrestle for the Hawkeyes, Lugo also disclosed some frustration with delays in getting released from his scholarship, telling The Gazette that Edinboro had denied his request twice. "I love and respect what Edinboro had done for me in the past two years," Lugo said in a text to the Cedar Rapids paper, "but I just don't understand why I wasn't granted a full release." Lugo must sit out the entire 2017-18 season, and will do so as a redshirt, with two years' eligibility remaining. Once his redshirt season is complete, the Florida native is expected to remain at 149 pounds, stepping into the opening created when NCAA finalist and All-American Brandon Sorensen completes his Hawkeye career in 2018. In the past two seasons at Edinboro, Lugo compiled 63-18 record, the second-highest number of wins of an active Fighting Scot wrestler. Lugo won the EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) championships this past season, and has qualified for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships the past two years, just missing All-American status by one win as a true freshman. Just last month, Lugo was a runner-up at the USA Wrestling Junior World Team Trials in Lincoln, Neb. Prior to college, Lugo was a two-time Florida state champion at South Dade High School in Homestead, finishing his career with 132 consecutive victories. He was ranked as the nation's No. 75 recruit in the Class of 2015 by InterMat.

Anthony Cassioppi (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Double champion at the Pan-Am Junior Championships last month, Anthony Cassioppi (Hononegah, Ill.) has verbally committed to the University of Iowa, as first reported by Trackwrestling's Andy Hamilton. He does so this Independence Day having previously committed to Northwestern close to nine months ago. The No. 32 overall wrestler in the 2018 class was a state champion this past season after earning All-American honors in both styles in Fargo last summer, third in Greco-Roman and runner-up in freestyle. After the scholastic season was done, Cassioppi was a Junior National folkstyle champion this spring before earning placement finishes at the UWW Junior Nationals in both Greco-Roman and freestyle. He joins No. 60 Nelson Brands (Iowa City West, Iowa) as a top 100 Hawkeyes commitment for their 2018 class, and projects to compete collegiately at 285. Link: Cassioppi's amazing summer

Mike Van Arsdale and Terry Allen will be guests for the "On The Mat" broadcast this Wednesday, July 5. Van Arsdale was a three-time All-American and 1988 NCAA champion for Iowa State before entering mixed martial arts. Allen, known in his pro wrestling career as Magnum T.A., was a Virginia high school state wrestling champ for Norfolk Collegiate in 1977. Both men will be honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum on July 21-22. Van Arsdale will receive the George Tragos Award, which is given to an exceptionally competitive wrestler who adapted his wrestling skills and competitive nature to excel in mixed martial arts. Allen will be presented with the Lou Thesz World Heavyweight Championship Award, given to an individual in wrestling who has taken the skills of the sport into the realm of public service. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa this Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on mattalkonline.com.

Greg Barner has been named top assistant wrestling coach at Simpson College, the Iowa-based NCAA Division III school announced Monday. Greg BarnerBarner comes to Simpson as former head coach at Northeastern Junior College, having successfully relaunched the intercollegiate wrestling program at the Sterling, Colo. two-year school nearly four decades after it had been eliminated. With Barner at the reins, the NJC Plainsmen sent three wrestlers to the National Junior College Athletic Association wrestling championships, with one earning NJCAA All-American honors. The team placed 23rd overall in the nation in its first season. Despite having spent the past year in Colorado, Barner has deep wrestling roots within the state of Iowa. Prior to taking over at Northeastern, Barner spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. While at the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) school, Barner coached eight national qualifiers, two All-Americans and six first team all-conference wrestlers. He helped the Chargers to a school-record 7-2 mark in 2014-15. Barner's on-the-mat collegiate career is also based in Iowa. He started at Iowa Central Community College, where he was part of two national championship teams and earned NJCAA All-American honors… then transferred to Central College in Pella, Iowa where he earned three varsity letters for the Dutch wrestling team. Barner graduated from Iowa's Central College in 2014 with a major in exercise science, then earned a Masters in business administration from Briar Cliff. "We are very enthusiastic about the addition of Greg as a full-time member of the Simpson wrestling program," head coach Nate Hansen said. "Coach Barner brings a quality combination of coaching experience, competitive desire and a passion for developing himself and those he works with. I have no doubt this addition will further advance all areas of our program." Simpson College is a private, four-year school located in Indianola, Iowa, about a dozen miles south of Des Moines. Founded in 1860, Simpson has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students. Simpson athletic teams -- including the Storm wrestlers -- compete in NCAA Division III and the IIAC (Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).

Dan Hodge and Tim Woodin Let's go back in time, 60 years ago ... On one side of the mat, a two-time defending conference and national collegiate wrestling champ. This 177 pounder had a perfect unbeaten record, defeating two past NCAA champs (Oklahoma State's Ned Blass and Jim Gregson) in a total of three bouts ... and pinning approximately four out of five of his other collegiate opponents, including twice pinning a guy who would go on to win Big Ten and NCAA titles himself (Iowa's Gary Kurdelmeier). Across the mat ... his powerfully-built opponent who would eventually score falls in seven out of ten of his bouts (one of his victims: Gary Kurdelmeier), losing only two matches. A wrestler who reportedly transferred to his school with the purpose of defeating the guy described above. The first wrestler is none other than Dan Hodge of the Oklahoma Sooners. The other guy: Tim Woodin, who left upstate New York to wrestle at Oklahoma State, supposedly so that he could take on Hodge at least twice in one season as part of the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State Bedlam Series dual meets in 1957. Did these two prolific pinners of the 1950s ever meet on the mat? The idea of a college match between Hodge and Woodin is not the stuff of speculation on social media; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram didn't exist 60 years ago. Nor is it merely wishful thinking on the part of this history-obsessed writer. Some books and articles aimed at the professional wrestling community have claimed Woodin enrolled at Oklahoma State in 1956 for the expressed purpose of defeating Dan Hodge of the Oklahoma Sooners. (A possible reason for pro wrestling interest: both Hodge and Woodin – as Tim Woods, and masked good-guy Mr. Wrestling – had long, lucrative careers in the pro ring.) InterMat wanted to learn more about this potential rivalry between two top fall guys of the 1950s. Did Woodin go to school in Stillwater? Did he ever wrestle for the Cowboys ... and, if so, did Woodin get his wish to face off against the guy known as "Dangerous Dan" and "Homicide Hodge" whose fame remains 60 years after his last collegiate match? In case you don't know Dan Hodge ... Six decades after stepping off the mat for the last time, Dan Hodge remains a familiar name and figure in amateur wrestling. Even those who were not alive during his amateur wrestling days recognize his name as adorning the Hodge Trophy, presented each year to the nation's best collegiate wrestler ... and owning the distinction of being the only amateur wrestler to have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler (April 1, 1957). In more recent years, Hodge has been shown on ESPN telecasts of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships demonstrating his incredibly powerful grip by crushing apples on TV. Dan HodgeDan Allen Hodge grew up in Perry, Okla. where he won an Oklahoma high school state title in 1951. He continued his wrestling career in the U.S. Navy, earning a place on two U.S. Olympic men's freestyle teams in the 1950s, winning a silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He turned down a scholarship offer to wrestle at Northwestern, instead enrolling at University of Oklahoma, where he was a three-time Big Seven (now Big 12) champ and three-time NCAA titlewinner (1955-57), all at 177 pounds. As a Sooner, Hodge compiled a perfect 46-0 record, with 36 of those wins by fall, for a 76 percent pinning percentage, one of the all-time highest in the history of NCAA collegiate wrestling. Hodge celebrated his 85th birthday in May 2017. Introducing Tim Woodin Hodge's would-be college rival, Tim Woodin, was born George Burrell Woodin in upstate New York in 1934. (He took on the name Tim at age eleven.) Woodin started his mat career at Ithaca High School, then transferred to Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he placed second in the National Prep championships in 1953. Later that year, Woodin returned to Ithaca, enrolling at Cornell University, where he wrestled for the freshman team during the 1953-54 season. He was not listed on the Big Red roster for the 1954-55 season nor featured in the Cornellian yearbooks as a wrestler beyond his freshman year. However, Woodin graduated from Cornell with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. That said, it's not as if Tim Woodin vanished from wrestling. He won the 191.5-pound title at 1955 National AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) championships in Amityville, N.Y., listed as being from Ithaca. In 1956, Woodin wrestled at the NAAUs at Stillwater, Okla. to defend his title, but was pinned in the first round by Dan McNair, 1953 NCAA heavyweight champ for Auburn University ... then lost a decision to Jerry Strindberg. That year, Woodin was listed as being from Oklahoma A&M ... then the name of the university now known as Oklahoma State. (Woodin won a second NAAU title in 1957 at 191.5 pounds.) Woodin the Cowboy? As noted earlier, at the 1956 NAAU wrestling championships held at Stillwater, Tim Woodin was identified as being from Oklahoma A&M, the name for Oklahoma State until 1957. Does that mean Woodin was actually a student at Oklahoma State? Did he wrestle for the Cowboys? Did he meet Dan Hodge on the mat? And -- knowing that he later wrestled at Michigan State -- why did he leave? All this has been the topic of some speculation within the pro wrestling community. There are multiple versions of the story, some more detailed than others. Here are some of the basics. Woodin went to Oklahoma State in 1957 with the idea of defeating unbeaten Dan Hodge of cross-state rival Oklahoma a loss or two, much the same way Larry Owings dropped two weight classes for the 1970 NCAAs with the openly expressed purpose of handing Dan Gable his first college loss. Why would Woodin have wanted to be a Cowboy? For starters, Oklahoma State was still considered to be THE program in college wrestling, claiming the most individual national champs and the greatest number of NCAA team titles. And, thanks to the long-running Bedlam Series -- which each year included one Cowboys vs. Sooners dual in Stillwater, and one in Norman, home to OU -- Woodin would have had at least two regular-season opportunities to wrestle Hodge. So ... what happened? Some versions of the story in pro wrestling books and media claim that Woodin and Oklahoma State's brand-new coach Myron Roderick had issues with each other. One version states that Roderick brought in Adnan Kaisy from Iraq to take the slot at 177 -- the weight where Woodin wanted to wrestle because it was Dan Hodge's weight. Woodin reportedly left the Cowboys before wrestling a single match, transferring to Michigan State, where he completed his collegiate wrestling career with two conference titles and NCAA All-American honors. Checking the papers, yearbooks and other resources Sadly, Woodin and Roderick have passed away. However, there are elements of the story that can be verified -- or dismissed -- by other sources. In an online search of the 1956 and 1957 editions of the Oklahoma State yearbook, The Redskin, there is no listing for Tim Woodin or any variation of his name. He is not mentioned in nor is he pictured in the pages covering wrestling. Conducting a similar online search of the archives of The Daily O'Collegian -- the Oklahoma State student newspaper -- Tim Woodin's name appears just once. In the December 12, 1956 issue of the O'Colly, Woodin gets a quick mention in a season-preview article which lists returning wrestlers and the new arrivals: "Tim Woodin, Ithaca, N.Y., 191 (pounds)." Yet another online tool for learning about Oklahoma State wrestlers is WrestlingStats.com. Established by the late Jay Hammond -- one of the go-to sources for historical information on amateur wrestling -- it provides a wealth of stats on college wrestling (including NCAA championships brackets) ... and individual and team results for a handful of top college programs, including Oklahoma State. In searching the section for Oklahoma State, Tim Woodin is not listed in the individual wrestler search function ... nor is he listed as a member of the team for the 1956-57 season. Teammates weigh in on Woodin InterMat interviewed two individuals who wrestled at Oklahoma State during the time Tim Woodin would have been on campus and in the wrestling room: Shelby Wilson and Fred Davis. Wilson was a sophomore during the 1956-57 season ... while Davis would have been completing his athletic and academic career at the time. As a Cowboy, Wilson was the 137-pound starter from January 1957 through March 1959. (Back then, freshmen were not allowed to wrestle varsity.) The Ponca City, Okla. native compiled an overall record of 34-2-1, and was a two-time Big Eight (now Big 12) champ in 1958 and 1959. Wilson's only two losses as a Cowboy were in the NCAA finals those two years -- to Oklahoma's Stan Abel in '58, and Larry Hayes of Iowa State the following year. Wilson went on to win a gold medal in freestyle at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, joining fellow Oklahoma State mat alum Doug Blubaugh and University of Iowa grad Terry McCann as Olympic champs. When asked if he had any memory of Tim Woodin being a wrestler at Oklahoma State, Shelby Wilson immediately responded, "Yeah, we lived in the same dorm." Wilson then followed up with, "Woodin would have been only the third out-of-state wrestler at Oklahoma State." A few minutes into the conversation, Wilson said, "I remember (Woodin) in the room. He was a stud. But I don't remember him wrestling any matches." The Cowboy-turned-Olympic gold medalist had high praise for Woodin's would-be rival. "(Dan) Hodge was a power wrestler. He was incredibly strong. He was physical. He would do well today." Shelby Wilson then suggested calling fellow Oklahoma State mat alum Fred Davis, who was a two-time NCAA finalist at 167 pounds, winning the title in 1955. "I remember Tim working out with the team," Davis told InterMat. "He was really well-built," the three-time NCAA All-American continued. "A decent wrestler. A fine, decent man. But he had a hard time with us." Did Woodin wrestle Hodge? Based on match records at WrestlingStats.com -- and the personal recollections of Shelby Wilson and Fred Davis -- Tim Woodin did not wrestle Dan Hodge. Neither of the former Oklahoma State wrestlers InterMat interviewed remember Woodin wrestling any matches as a Cowboy ... let alone stepping onto the mat vs. Oklahoma's Hodge. According to WrestlingStats.com, at the first Oklahoma-Oklahoma State dual meet in January 1957 at Norman, Ray Strickland was sent out to battle "Dangerous Dan" ... and, in his only match as a Cowboy, Strickland was pinned at 5:05 in Hodge's home gym. (Wilson did not remember Strickland wrestling Hodge, but Davis did.) In the second Bedlam Series dual, held six weeks later in Stillwater, Jimmy Harding got the assignment, and was pinned by Hodge at what was then called Gallagher Hall (now Gallagher-Iba Arena) in 50 seconds. (The Harding-Hodge match is described in incredible detail in the 1957 Sports Illustrated cover story about Dan Hodge.) Shelby Wilson recalled the Harding-Hodge match. "When Jimmy Harding went out onto the mat vs. Hodge, we had him all fired up," Wilson told InterMat. "But we knew what was going to happen to him." At the 1957 Big Eight conference championships, Dan Hodge was crowned 177-pound champ for the third consecutive year. No Oklahoma State wrestler is listed in the 177-pound bracket. A couple weeks later, Hodge concluded his college career by winning his third national title -- and his second Outstanding Wrestler trophy -- at the 1957 NCAAs in Pittsburgh. What about Adnan Kaisy? As mentioned earlier, some versions of the Woodin-at-Oklahoma-State story state that Cowboy coach Myron Roderick picked Adnan Kaisy -- who had been a wrestling champ in his native Iraq -- over Woodin as the starter at 177 pounds. Adnan KaisyThat story has some elements of truth. Kaisy indeed wrestled at Oklahoma State. In fact, he was the first foreign-born athlete to wrestle for Roderick's Cowboys, paving the way for others, most notably, future Olympic gold medalist and three-time NCAA champ Yojiro Uetake of Japan in the mid-1960s. While at Oklahoma State, Kaisy compiled an overall record of 13-6-0. He was two-time NCAA All-American, placing fourth at the 1958 NCAAs and again at the 1959 NCAAs. According to WrestlingStats.com, Kaisy wrestled for the Cowboys from February 1958 through March 1959, which was after Dan Hodge had graduated from Oklahoma in spring 1957. In other words, Kaisy and Hodge could not have wrestled each other in college. There's no overlap in their collegiate wrestling careers. Kaisy wrestled at both 191 pounds and at heavyweight. He never wrestled at 177, according to his record at WrestlingStats.com. (Hodge consistently wrestled at 177 throughout his career at University of Oklahoma.) Now that we've eliminated any possibility that Hodge and Kaisy would have wrestled ... let's address the Woodin-Kaisy issue. A number of factors would indicate there was no teammate rivalry between Woodin and Kaisy -- either on its own, or generated by coach Myron Roderick "picking favorites" -- which would lead to Woodin's departure. For starters, Kaisy's collegiate career at Oklahoma State did not coincide with Woodin's. Even if Kaisy and Woodin had been in Stillwater at the same time, it's highly unlikely that any "rivalry" for a starting position would have been settled merely by coach's choice. Throughout the early history of the Oklahoma State wrestling program going back to the early 1920s when Ed Gallagher was head coach, starting positions were determined by wrestle-offs, or what were referred to as "ranking matches" at the school. Even in the 1950s and into the 60s under Roderick, ranking matches usually occurred each week before dual meets and tournaments. These ranking matches were covered in the Daily O'Collegian student paper on a regular basis, usually in detail much like one would expect for dual meets and tournaments open to the public. Again, in searching the online version of the O'Colly, there are no articles mentioning any ranking matches/wrestle-offs involving Tim Woodin during the 1956-57 season. The fact Kaisy never wrestled at 177 -- and that he wasn't on the active roster at Oklahoma State while Woodin was there -- seems to contradict stories that would indicate there was some sort of rivalry between Woodin and Kaisy and/or that coach Roderick was "playing favorites" which led to Woodin's departure. Fun Fact No. 1: Adnan Kaisy and Shelby Wilson were roommates, renting a one-bedroom apartment in a garage owned by the local Dairy Queen operator. Fun Fact No. 2: Dan Hodge, Tim Woodin, and Adnan Kaisy all went into professional wrestling. Kaisy launched his professional career immediately after completing his mat career at Oklahoma State. He wrestled and served as a manager under the names Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, Billy White Wolf, and General Adnan. Cowboy Tim becomes Woodin the Spartan Tim WoodinAt some point during the 1956-57 school year, Tim Woodin left Oklahoma State, heading north to Michigan State. NCAA rules required transferees like Woodin to sit out a season, so he did not wrestle for the Spartans until the 1957-58 season. (By then, Dan Hodge had graduated from Oklahoma, and traded in his wrestling tights for boxing gloves, first as an amateur boxer, then, briefly, as a pro boxer before launching his professional wrestling career.) During the regular 1958 dual-meet season, Woodin won all three of his matches, scoring falls in two of those vs. Michigan and Minnesota. At the 1958 Big Ten conference championships at the University of Illinois, Woodin pinned all of his opponents in the 177-pound bracket, including Indiana's George Ihnat at 1:55 of the semifinals. By the finals, Woodin was on a pin streak ... which, sadly for Iowa's Gary Kurdelmeier, continued into the 177-pound title match. The Spartan put the hirsute Hawkeye's shoulders to the mat at 8:21, using a half-Nelson and body scissors, according to Amateur Wrestling News, to win the conference crown. A couple weeks later, at the 1958 NCAAs at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Tim Woodin was the No. 2 seed in the 177-pound bracket; Big Eight champ Frank Powell of Iowa State was the top seed, and Kurdelmeier was seeded fourth. After drawing a bye in the first round, Woodin pinned his next two opponents (Russ Camilleri of San Jose State at 5:04; then Kansas State's Gary Haller at 3:52) before facing Oregon State's John Dustin in the semifinals. Woodin failed to get the fall, but shut out the third-seeded Beaver, 3-0, setting the stage for a rematch with his Big Ten finals foe, Gary Kurdelmeier. This time, the outcome was different. A vengeful Kurdelmeier managed to "out-horse the Spartan with his leg ride" (to quote Amateur Wrestling News) with a 6-2 win, denying Woodin a national title. Woodin the Spartan's senior season During the 1958-59 season -- Woodin's last for NCAA eligibility -- the former Big Red-turned-Cowboy-turned-Spartan continued to dominate opponents in dual-meet competition and at the championships. At the 1959 Big Tens at University of Iowa, Woodin moved up to the heavyweight class, where he pinned his first two opponents -- Northwestern's Bob Deasy, and Purdue's Ron Maltony -- then got a 7-2 decision over Bob Salata of Illinois in the semifinals. In the finals, Woodin went up against Iowa's Gordon Trapp, getting a 6-4 win over the Hawkeye big guy, earning his second conference championship. At the 1959 NCAAs -- also hosted by Iowa -- Woodin dropped down from heavyweight to the 191-pound bracket (a weight class wrestled only at the NCAAs at the time) where he was the top seed. Woodin pinned his first three opponents from Oklahoma, Pacific Oregon, and Yale before facing Oklahoma State's Adnan Kaisy -- yes, the same guy we wrote about earlier -- in the semifinals. Woodin defeated the Cowboy originally from Iraq, 8-2, to find himself in the finals for the second year in a row. The 191-pound title bout featured a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the bracket, with top-seeded Woodin going up against Art Baker, football star at Syracuse University. Baker said in a 2013 interview that he told Woodin at the start of the match, "I hate to tell you this, young man, but I'm about to be the first brother to win this." While Baker was wrong about being the first African-American NCAA wrestling champ (Iowa's Simon Roberts earned that honor two years earlier, winning the 147-pound title at the 1957 NCAAs), the lithe, fast-on-his-feet Orangeman running back got the 9-5 win over Woodin to take the national title at 191, becoming only the second black champ in NCAA history. Tim Woodin concluded his collegiate wrestling career with two Big Ten championships, and as a two-time NCAA All-American, all as a Michigan State Spartan. He graduated from the East Lansing school with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Woodin goes pro In 1962, Tim Woodin entered the pro wrestling ring at age 29, wrestling under the name Tim Woods. A few years later, he became one of the first masked good-guy pro wrestlers in the U.S., Mr. Wrestling, who wore a white mask, trunks and boots. A bit later in his career, Woodin would alternate between the masked Mr. Wrestling and unmasked Tim Woods, usually competing in the South and mid-Atlantic states. The world of pro wrestling today is worlds different than it was when Tim Woods/Mr. Wrestling ruled the squared circle. Back in the 1960s and 70s, pro wrestling was conducted under a code called "kayfabe" which is defined as the portrayal of actual matches as "real" or "true" with the rivalries and relationships among participants presented as genuine and not of a staged or predetermined nature. With that in mind, articles about Woods in pro wrestling publications of the 1960s and 70s were careful about not revealing too much about his amateur wrestling background. There were mentions about him using amateur wrestling moves or having been a collegiate mat star without naming his alma maters or his honors. And, in the pre-internet era, it was easy to keep that information under wraps from fans. Woods took the kayfabe code to incredible lengths in 1975, when he was a passenger on a small plane containing pro wrestling "heels" ("bad guys") that crash-landed in the South, killing the pilot and causing serious -- in some cases, career-ending -- injuries to the wrestlers onboard. The notion that a "good guy" like Woods would be traveling with heels like Ric Flair would have been scandalous 40 years ago. Woods identified himself at the hospital as promoter George Burrell Woodin -- his birth name -- so the press did not question why he would have been on that plane. In his autobiography, Flair labeled Woods as "the man who single-handedly saved pro wrestling." Woodin died of a heart attack in November 2002 at age 68. Hodge and Woodin: top pinners Both Dan Hodge and Tim Woodin were respected -- and feared -- for their pinning prowess. The statistics back that up. In fact, in a listing of NCAA college wrestlers with the highest pin percentage between 1928-2016 -- put together by the University of Michigan -- Hodge and Woodin are both listed among the top ten of all time. Hodge was undefeated in three years wrestling varsity at University of Oklahoma. Of his 46 wins, 36 were by fall ... for a pinning percentage of 78 percent. Woodin wrestled varsity for Michigan State for two seasons, compiling a 26-2 record. Of those 26 wins, 18 were by pin. That translates into a 69 percent pin percentage. How do those percentages stack up against legendary wrestlers who are well-known as "fall guys"? Gene Mills scored 107 pins in his 150 wins at Syracuse, for a 71 percent pin rate ... while Clarion's Wade Schalles got 106 falls out of 159 wins, translating to a 66 percent pin percentage. Iowa State's Dan Gable got a 64 percent pin percentage, having pinned 76 opponents in his 118 wins. Two great heavyweights who actually pinned a higher percentage of opponents than either Dan Hodge or Tim Woodin are Earl McCready, three-time NCAA champ for Oklahoma State (1928-30), who got 22 pins in his 25 wins for an 88 percent pin percentage ... and 400+ pound Chris Taylor of Iowa State, two-time NCAA champ (1972-73), who pinned 80 wrestlers on his way to 87 victories, for a mind-blowing pin percentage of 92 percent. Now that we've provided some historical perspective ... how would Hodge's and Woodin's pinning percentages stack up against today's top NCAA Division I fall guys? For the 2016-17 season, Cornell's Gabe Dean, and Penn State's Zack Retherford and Bo Nickal each scored 17 pins. That translates into a 50 percent pin rate for Dean this past season, 61 percent pin percentage for Retherford, and 65 percent for Nickal. Anyway, back to our two fall guys of the Fifties, Dan Hodge and Tim Woodin. Yes, Woodin went to great lengths -- including a move of hundreds of miles from upstate New York to Oklahoma State -- all in an attempt to take on not only one the top collegiate pinners of the era, but one of the true all-time greats of college wrestling. Both men were not just great pinners, but were also physical specimens. Hodge stood 5'10" of lean muscle ... while Woodin was 6 feet tall, with a powerful physique featuring broad shoulders and muscular chest. What's more, in 1957, both were a bit older than typical. That year, Hodge was a 24-year-old married man with an infant son ... while Woodin was coming up on his 23rd birthday (yet had two full years left in his college mat career). No, they never wrestled each other in college ... but it's fun to imagine what a Hodge vs. Woodin match would have been like. *Note that this list does not have any stipulations such as minimum number of matches -- or years -- wrestled. And ... realize that recordkeeping has not always been an exact science, and there has been some discussion among wrestling historians as to how many matches and/or falls some all-time great wrestlers of the past actually achieved. Thanks to Jim Rooney for providing valuable research information, and to Oklahoma State wrestling legends Shelby Wilson and Fred Davis for sharing their memories of Tim Woodin and Dan Hodge.

Carson Manville was a runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle (Photo/Sam Janicki) The Class of 2021 becomes a "self-contained" group in the rankings, extending from a top 15 for all junior high wrestlers to a top 25 overall ranking of the rising freshmen. The unequivocal leader of this group is Carson Manville (Shakopee, Minn.), who has seemingly done about "everything under the sun" so far in his wrestling career, including winning a high school varsity title in Minnesota's big-school division at 126 pounds this past season. Most recently, Manville went undefeated in both styles at the Cadet Duals competing at 126 pounds, and was a UWW Cadet National runner-up in freestyle at 58 kilograms, as well as finishing third in Greco-Roman. Also this spring, he won double titles at the Northeast, Northern Plains, and Southeast Cadet regional tournaments. Most notable in moving up the rankings among the rising freshman group is Ryan Sokol (Simley, Minn.), who has a pair of state medals in high school varsity competition (third at 113, fifth at 106) prior to entering the ninth grade. He jumps from being unranked in junior high to third overall in the Class of 2021. This spring, Sokol was a champion in both styles at the Northern Plains regional before going undefeated in freestyle at the Cadet Duals, including wins over an Illinois state champion and a National Prep champion from New Jersey. The third Minnesota wrestler in the top 25 is Reid Ballantyne (Stillwater), who was a state champion this year at 106 pounds in the big-school division. Ballantyne also claimed a title at the InterMat JJ Classic in the fall. Among the ranked rising freshmen, five of them are from Ohio and California respectively. Leading the contingent from the Buckeye State is No. 4 Padraic Gallagher (St. Edward), who placed eighth at 63 kilograms in the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament earlier this month. Also ranked is No. 7 Victor Voinovich (Brecksville), a FloNationals high school division placer; No. 9 Cole Skinner, the Cadet World Team member in freestyle at 42 kilograms; No. 17 Alek Martin (St. Paris Graham); and No. 22 Hudson Hightower (St. Edward). The Golden State contingent is led by No. 6 Isaac Salas (St. John Bosco), who was runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals at 50 kilograms and a Cadet National folkstyle champion at 106 pounds; also ranked are No. 8 Ryan Franco (Clovis North), a Cadet folkstyle runner-up at 120 pounds; No. 12 Joseph Martin (Buchanan) placed fourth in Cadet folkstyle also at 120; No. 16 Richard Figueroa (Selma) was seventh in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals at 46 kilograms; along with No. 24 Maximo Renteria. Also with three wrestlers ranked is the state of New Jersey, with Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) holding the No. 2 position, who went 5-1 in freestyle at the Cadet Duals, his lone loss coming to Manville by 16-6 technical fall. Also ranked are No. 10 Dean Peterson (St. John Vianney) and No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy). Link: Top 25 Freshmen (Platinum) Among the junior high wrestlers, which consist of those in the Class of 2022 or younger, Jordan Williams (Collinsville, Okla.) will lead the group of 15. He was a Schoolboy Nationals champion in folkstyle at 91 pounds this spring, while during the 2016-17 year he also won titles in the Super 32 Challenge and Preseason Nationals middle school divisions, and the 12U division at the Tulsa Kickoff Classic and Tulsa Nationals. Ranked second in this group is Nic Bouzakis (Citrus Park Christian, Fla.), who won a high school varsity state title in the small-school division at 106 pounds in addition to a Preseason Nationals middle school division title and 15U division titles at the Tulsa Nationals and Reno Worlds. Third-ranked Chance Lamer (Oregon) was a Cadet National folkstyle champion at 88 pounds this spring and a UWW Cadet National freestyle runner-up at 42 kilograms earlier this month; while No. 4 Ryan Crookham (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) was a Super 32 middle school division champion in the fall and a UWW Cadet National freestyle All-American at 46 kilograms earlier this month. Link: Top 15 Junior High Wrestlers (Platinum)

Kendric Maple reached the finals of the Freestyle World Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The University of Nebraska's head wrestling coach Mark Manning announced the hiring of Kendric Maple as an assistant coach on Friday. "We're extremely excited to have Kendric, (his wife) Jordin and (his son) Kiner join our program," Manning said. "Kendric comes to us as a highly accomplished wrestler on the mat and a man of high character off the mat. He will be very impactful to our program and will add to the excellence that we have established here." Maple is a two-time U.S. Open Men's Freestyle finalist (61 kg), winning the title in April 2017. He was also a finalist in the 61kg at the 2017 U.S. World Team Trials and is currently ranked No. 2 in the country at that weight. He was the runner-up in 2015, which qualified him for the U.S. Freestyle World Team Trials, where he earned a fourth-place finish "I'm really excited to join the Nebraska wrestling program," Maple said. "My family and I enjoyed our time at Purdue, but we are really excited for our future at Nebraska. I feel I'm ready for this opportunity and I can't wait to begin working with the student-athletes." Maple comes to Nebraska after spending one year at Purdue as an assistant coach, where he helped lead three Boilermakers to the 2017 NCAA Championships. Prior to joining the Purdue staff, Maple was a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma. During his two seasons on staff, Maple coached friend and former teammate Cody Brewer to the 133-pound title at the 2015 NCAA Championships. In 2016, Maple helped Brewer claim his fourth All-America honor with a third-place finish at 133 pounds at the NCAA Championships. Maple also played a key role in Ryan Millhof's 2016 Big 12 title run and All-America finish at 125 pounds. As an athlete for the Sooners (2009-14), Maple became one of the most successful grapplers in program history, grabbing three All-America awards and owning a 127-25 (.836) record. His 127 wins rank sixth all-time at Oklahoma. Maple concluded his 2012-13 season by claiming the 141-pound NCAA title and finishing a perfect 31-0. The following year, after moving to 149 pounds, Maple became OU's 25th three-time All-American after placing eighth at the NCAA Championships. He took fourth in 141 pounds in 2012. Off the mat, Maple was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division I At-Large Team. Additionally, he was a three-time NWCA All-Academic Team member (2012, 2013, 2014), a two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree (2013, 2014) and a second-team Academic All-Big 12 selection (2012). He also won the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, as well as the Big 12 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship. Originally from Wichita, Kan., Maple received his master's degree in adult and higher education, with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletic administration from Oklahoma in May 2015. He earned his bachelor's degree from OU in health and exercise science in May 2013. He and his wife, Jordin, have one son, Kiner.

Gregg Lewis Gregg Lewis announced he was retiring as head wrestling coach at University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the school's acting Director of Athletics Steve Wallner announced Wednesday. UW-Parkside had recently announced its intention of making what had been a part-time position into a full-time job, and Lewis decided to put family first. "Quite honestly, I need to spend more time with my family," Lewis told the Kenosha Times. College coaching is very demanding. It was an easy decision. I have two kids and a wife I need to spend more time with." "My son is a high school wrestler who will be a senior, graduate and possibly wrestle in college. And I have a daughter who is a pretty big soccer player and runs track. I want to focus on them and obviously spend time with my wife." "(The decision has) been overdue," Lewis continued. "The vision was to have the position be full time. Every year, that conversation would happen. When that opportunity came (this year), I knew I couldn't take the position, so I resigned. I'm very excited for the wrestling position to be full time again." Lewis concludes a long run at UW-Parkside, having started as assistant wrestling coach at the southeast Wisconsin school in 1995. In 2011, Lewis was promoted to head up the Rangers mat program, taking over after Jim Koch, the man who launched the program in 1970, announced his retirement after 41 seasons. (Koch died in March after being struck by a car while in St. Louis to attend the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.) During his six years as head coach, Lewis led the Rangers to a 40-24 record in dual match competition and qualified wrestlers for the NCAA Division II Championship in each of his seasons. He produced 12 All-Americans in his six seasons and had 33 student-athletes named to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic teams. One of Lewis' great achievements: to have coached Nick Becker to back-to-back national titles at 174 pounds at the 2016 and 2017 NCAAs. Becker was named the NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year at the end of this season. "We appreciate all that Gregg has done for the Wisconsin-Parkside wrestling program during his time as both a head coach and an assistant coach," said Wallner. "His student-athletes achieved at a high level on the mat and in the classroom and he carried on the legacy of success the program has enjoyed." A search for a new head wrestling coach is already underway.

Boise State at the Pac-12 Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Two months after Boise State University announced it was eliminating its NCAA Division I wrestling program effective immediately, at least two groups are actively working to reverse that decision. This week, two Idaho politicians reported on their meeting with Boise State president Bob Kustra … while the organization Save Boise State Wrestling updated its members on its efforts on behalf of sport at the school. Politicians go to the mat with BSU's president Two Idaho state senators -- Chuck Winder and Marv Hagedorn -- have issued a letter concerning their meeting last week with Kustra on his decision in April to eliminate the school's NCAA Division I wrestling program effective immediately. "While we had open and frank discussions with Dr. Kustra, we were unfortunately unable to change his mind and get him to reverse his decision," the two state senators wrote. Winder and Hagedorn reported that Kustra based his decision on axing the Bronco wrestling program on these factors: There are no other wrestling programs in the Mountain West; [Note: There are actually three programs in the conference: Air Force, Wyoming, and, coming on board this fall, Fresno State.] Kustra's characterization that "wrestling is a dying collegiate sport"; "The wrestling program was failing to succeed"; Despite strong support from the community, the thousands of pledged donations, and the wrestling program's history of success, Kustra sees no future for wrestling at the school as a Division I sport. Kustra also asserted that Boise State's football program is funding all other varsity sports, with the exception of men's basketball. He added that season ticket sales for Bronco football were "significantly down over the past two seasons." The two Idaho state senators went on to write, "No amount of discussion or options could sway him (Kustra). He told us that he had heard very little opposition to his decision to terminate the program. He also mentioned the community support he had heard for his decision to begin varsity men's baseball." The BSU president is a baseball fan At the time Kustra announced his decision to eliminate wrestling, the BSU president openly stated his preference for bringing baseball back to the school after it was eliminated in 1980. Kustra has been reportedly working on baseball's return to his school for at least the past two years, despite not having a baseball stadium for that new program on campus or elsewhere in the city of Boise. Estimates for building such a facility hover around $40 million. However, Kustra's desire to launch a Division I men's baseball program -- with its related costs, including construction of new facilities -- would appear to fly in the face of the Boise State president's statements to Winder and Hagedorn about financial issues for Bronco sports. "My most serious takeaway from the meeting was learning of the financial challenges faced by the entire athletic department at the university." "Declining football season ticket sales means Boise State must take a hard look at many other smaller sports at the school." Winder and Hagedorn went on to write that if Boise State is indeed struggling to support its current athletic programs, this represents a much larger program for the school … an issue of importance to be addressed by the Idaho State Board of Education, as well as other Idaho state legislators. Kustra's push to make wrestling a club sport According to the letter from the two Idaho state senators, Kustra suggested the wrestling community put its time and effort into endowing the Boise State wrestling program as a non-varsity club sport. He also expressed a willingness to keep Mike Mendoza (who had been brought to BSU just last year as head wrestling coach from Cal State Bakersfield) at the school "in an administrative role in the athletic department should he want to stay at BSU." "(Mendoza) would be given the opportunity to continue coaching at the school should there be an interest in continuing wrestling as a non-varsity club sport," the legislators' letter quotes Kustra. The president went on to say that this option would allow "continued use of the current facilities, school logos, and other benefits the school can offer to the program, coaches and athletes." After presenting this wrestling-as-a-club-sport option in their letter to Boise State wrestling supporters, Winder and Hagedorn go on state, "While (we) appreciate and see Dr. Kustra's endowment offer to continue wrestling as a well-supported club sport, (we) know it offers little comfort to the many people who want wrestling to continue at the Division I level." That said, the legislators try to offer Bronco mat supporters some encouragement, concluding their letter by suggesting a two-prong approach: 1.Take up the BSU president's offer for a non-varsity club program for wrestling that will give the wrestling community three to five years which give them time to raise funds to … 2. Build the endowment for returning and sustaining an NCAA Division I wrestling program. The letter concludes: "We hope that we can eventually see the wrestling program return to varsity status at BSU!" Meanwhile, Save BSU Wrestling discusses its options While Idaho politicians were meeting with the Boise State president, at least one other organization is openly exploring options for keeping college wrestling within the state of Iowa. On Thursday InterMat obtained a letter from Matt Klinger of Save BSU Wrestling which he sent to that organization's supporters today. In his letter, Klinger presents two possible directions supporters can take. The most obvious: to continue the fight to retain a Division I wrestling program at Boise State by considering various potential options, including endowments (and how much would need to be in that fund) and the possibility of funding a companion women's program. Klinger cautions supporters with this reminder: "It took Fresno (State) over five years to get their program back. It's possible, but we need constant pressure." A second group within Save BSU Wrestling is exploring the possibility of bringing a varsity wrestling program to another four-year college in Idaho. The two schools that have been approached for this possibility are Northwest Nazarene University, and College of Idaho. Both are private, four-year schools. Northwest Nazarene, located in Nampa, Idaho, has an enrollment of 2,000 students; its sports teams compete in NCAA Division II. College of Idaho, situated in Caldwell, Idaho, has approximately 1,140 students. C of I sports programs are in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics). Klinger disclosed that Mike Moyer of the National Wrestling Coaches Association has already been talking to the athletic directors at both schools about adding intercollegiate wrestling programs. Save Boise State Wrestling reported that, in just two months, the group has raised over $275,000 in pledges, including over $68,000 raised at their GoFundMe page and gathered over 17,500 signatures to an online petition supporting the reinstatement of the Boise State wrestling program. The 411 on Boise State wrestling Boise State announced the elimination of its Division I mat program in mid-April, effective immediately. The statement issued by the school said, "The move was made to better align its programs with the Mountain West, and with the intent to add baseball in the future." As InterMat reported back in April, Boise State has a strong wrestling tradition. The Broncos have won six conference team championships. The program has had 12 top-20 NCAA team finishes and five top-10 NCAA team finishes. However, the Broncos had struggled this past season, finishing 2-9 in dual meets this past season and fifth at the Pac-12 Championships. Three weeks later, InterMat outlined the impact of Boise State's decision in Idaho (eliminating the only Division I program in the state) as well as far beyond Boise, eliminating opportunities for wrestlers in the mountain West, a region already lacking in college wrestling programs. Earlier this month, NWCA's Mike Moyer wrote a passionate plea for keeping the Division I wrestling program at Boise State for the Idaho Press-Tribune.

Once-prized wrestling star Aaron Pico made his professional mixed martial arts debut last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, losing via guillotine choke in less than 30 seconds of the opening round. Pico, a Bellator-signed fighter with massive hype behind his potential, had never actually competed in MMA until Saturday night when he was handed his loss by 8-2 veteran Zach Freeman. In wake of the news the wrestling community seemed fractured. There were those who (wisely) told Pico to keep his head up, but then there were those who mocked his performance and/or insisted it was karma for leaving the sport too early. Still, a third argument appeared, which was those in the community challenging the naysayers, and a fourth which claimed that there was entirely no bad blood being spewed at all. Wrestling in America has a predictable value set -- one leader within the sport once referring to the crowd as disciples of "Jesus, Guns and Trump." But I think that Pico's loss showed that there is a much broader cross section of individuals involved in our sport than we tend to recognize. Forgiving the political leanings, the biggest divide is between those who think wrestling is that which delivers salvation and purity to one and all, and those who believe the sport and its followers can, and are, flawed. The social media kerfuffle is too confusing to unwind with any certainty, but it's clear that there is a growing separation in belief systems within our sport. As more intense media is delivered to fans via sophomore class rankings, live recruiting announcements, and other forms of cotton candy entertainment the divided wrestling community is either skeptical of that direction, or wholeheartedly embracing that fanaticism as the sport's core value. Wrestling is wonderful. I'm dedicating my professional life to its coverage and like anyone in a role they love I hope to make a positive impact. But I'm also aware that it's just a small part of the world at-large and that the sport is not a religion, but a place for men (flawed and gnarled by the world) to test their mettle. Some leave the sport to follow their passion into a whole new career as prosecutors, professors, chefs, bankers and myriad professions. The true value of the sport is like that of a parent -- to arm young men and women with the skills necessary to succeed at their life's passions. Criticizing is easy. Doing is scary. Aaron Pico is a hard-working, respectful, young man who is now facing a very public disappointment. The wrestling public may also be disappointed by his choice to enter MMA, but Pico's past with the sport and his attempts to take those lessons forward should be admired, not admonished. To your questions … Tervel Dlagnev with Tom Ryan coaching Kyle Snyder in the NCAA finals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Q: Many rave about Tervel Dlagnev as a coach. What are his coaching aspirations? Does he want to become a Division I head coach? If so, when do you think that could happen? -- Mike C. Foley: Dlagnev is an honest, good man with a wealth of wrestling knowledge and the proper temperament to lead. Kyle Snyder swears by him, so that's good enough for me, too. Q: If you could choose a style for women's Division I wrestling programs, would you choose folkstyle or freestyle, and why? Women's folkstyle programs could be modeled after Canadian universities where the men and women are under one roof/coach. A women's freestyle program would likely increase our success at the senior level, which would likely boost popularity/funding. -- Mike W. Foley: Freestyle as it is already the style in use for existing collegiate programs and has a direct and positive impact on the success of Team USA's chances for earning medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games. The larger universities are inching towards the idea. Columbia University has made big strides in supporting female athletes through the NYCRTC and the school has admitted a woman wrestler. However, as you mentioned the big gain will come with a top ten, well-funded school choosing to add a women's wrestling. That type of action could prompt others and establish the first conference. From there, anything is possible, including their own NCAA Division I tournament. Q: With Helen Maroulis becoming the first women's Olympic champion in the United States, how long until she is the first head coach of a Division I wrestling program? She already has the credentials, and what she lacks in coaching experience could easily be made up for with a well-rounded staff. Someone who cares about the growth of the sport, like J Robinson, comes to mind. What are your thoughts? -- Mike W. Foley: Helen is still young and very much in a competitive mindset. While I gather she likes doing clinics it's unlikely she's flirting with coaching jobs until after the 2020 Games in Tokyo. At that point a women's program may snatch her up as an assistant and she could make her way through the ranks. However, with a lack of training in collegiate style she might be find limited opportunities within men's programs. As for J Robinson, that's a very interesting concept. J is currently a free agent, has a brilliant mind for marketing and I'm certain would love to bring his experience and know-how to the leading edge of the sport. While I'd still prefer to see the majority of coaches in women's wrestling be female, it's been proven again and again that to effect a positive change in sports there is always a need for strong male advocates. J could be that advocate. Q: If Zahid Valencia moves up to 184 pounds for NCAA wrestling, do you favor him over Bo Nickal? Valencia has beaten him in freestyle. -- Mike C. Foley: I favor Bo Nickal, but I'm a little dubious on his new association with social media provocateur and jiu-jitsu celebrity Dillon Danis. I know Danis well from our time together at Marcelo Garcia's. He's not a bad dude, but where he is in life (self-promotion for a yet-to-begin career in MMA) and where Nickal is (college athlete from a program known for modesty) I don't see this being a fruitful union. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME I'm biased, but once you take a scroll through these videos you'll have to agree that wrestling's best video content is now on the United World Wrestling YouTube page. Emotional, engaging, topical and timely these videos can help our sport grow in the United States. Win some, lose some New faces of freestyle wrestling Silver and Gold Day 3 news wrap from European Juniors Q: There are rumblings that there will not be a National Duals in 2017-18. Thoughts? -- Mike C. Foley: If true, I don't think it's surprising. Last year's lawsuit and subsequent failed Flo broadcast I'm certain left the NWCA with a sour taste in its mouth. The coaches all want something different and a clear way forward hasn't been presented. I hope the National Duals continue, but if they don't I couldn't blame the NWCA for saying good riddance. Q: Are Ben Askren and Logan Storley in your opinion the best wrestlers turned MMA fighters? -- Gregg Y. Foley: No. Daniel Cormier, Urijah Faber, Dan Henderson, T.J. Dillashaw -- there are quite a few wrestlers from California alone who have enjoyed more success in the cage. Askren has done well to stay undefeated in two young organizations: Bellator and ONE, but he's lacked serious competition. Storley could end up a legend, but he'll need to prove it in Bellator first. Q: What happened to Fox Baldwin? I noticed that he's no longer listed on the University of Virginia roster. -- Mike C. Foley: Baldwin and the 'Hoos parted ways and he's looking for a new school at which to wrestle. Q: The Saint John's University (Minnesota/DIII program) head wrestling coaching job just opened up when Saint John's coach Tony Willaert accepted the head coaching job at Augustana (Ill.), replacing Eric Juergens, who stepped down to spend more time with his family. The last time the Saint John's coaching position was open, former Apple Valley (Minn.) High School head wrestling coach, and current Shakopee High School head wrestling coach Jim Jackson indicated in an article he would have liked to apply for the Saint John's job (and the Augsburg job when that was open), but he could not because both jobs required previous collegiate coaching experience, which he does not have. It seems to me that Jackson would be a great choice for the Saint John's job based on his outstanding high school coaching success. And I have talked to Saint John's alum who would welcome giving one of the most successful high school coaches in the country an opportunity to advance a currently average Saint John's program. Sure, high school and college are vastly different, but Jackson has proven to win everywhere (recently turning Shakopee from a decent program to a state power in a few years). The question is, however, are college programs limiting good coaching candidates who may want to move to the collegiate ranks by requiring them to have previous collegiate coaching experience? Do you think there should be exceptions? There are surely other talented HS coaches who would welcome collegiate jobs, who may not have collegiate coaching experience. What are your thoughts? -- K.M. Foley: I recently heard an architect say that the catch-22 of designing your first building is that nobody will hire you to design a building until you've already designed a building. This feels similar. Wrestling is wrestling and leadership is leadership. While there are always preferences within the hiring process I think it's foolish to require prior experience at the higher level. Admittedly, I can see their point, given that being a college coach is more similar to being a CEO than it is being a teacher. Still, if the expectations are laid out and the candidate can present a plan for the program I see no reason they shouldn't be considered.

Penn State battled Oklahoma State in the finals of the 2017 NWCA National Duals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) The National Wrestling Coaches Association's National Duals for NCAA Division I teams will not take place in 2018. NWCA executive director Mike Moyer cited a need to resolve ongoing issues with the event, including timing and format. "At the very least, we're going to take a year off," Moyer told Trackwrestling.com Thursday. "There needs to be a lot more discussion around this topic. The challenges are this: Our coaches have such varied circumstances and it's very challenging trying to get them to agree to a standardized format. A lot of coaches have great ideas on how it should be done, but it's just proven to be more challenging to get everyone to agree to a single idea." The National Duals had been a staple of the college wrestling calendar for nearly three decades, with the NWCA taking over the management of the event in 1992. For most of the history of the National Duals, it included programs from all college wrestling divisions. For a number of years, the event was held at the UNI-Dome at University of Northern Iowa every January until 2011, when the Division I National Duals was spun off from the multi-divisional event. While the NWCA Division I National Duals is taking a break for the upcoming season, the NWCA Multi Divisional National Duals, featuring wrestling programs from NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association), and WCWA (Women's College Wrestling Association) tournaments, will still be held in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2018.

Todd Allen WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. -- The Williams Baptist College athletic department has announced the hiring of Todd Allen as the new head coach of its wrestling program. Allen becomes the second head coach in school history and will take over a program that finished in fourth place in the NAIA for the 2016-17 season. "Todd Allen is a great fit for Williams Baptist College and the ideal coach to lead our wrestling program. He has a strong record of success coaching at the college level and understands the mission of Williams. We are very pleased to have him as the new head coach for the Eagles wrestling program," said Jeff Rider, WBC's director of athletics. Allen takes over a WBC program that has been highly successful in its first three years of existence. It has produced six All-Americans and one national champion, as well as two American Midwest Conference team championships. It also finished the year ranked in the NAIA Wrestling Coaches' Top 20 Poll in two of the three years. The program returns one national champion, as well as four All-Americans for the 2017-18 season. Todd Allen"The commitment to excellence is apparent at WBC. It is a privilege to have an opportunity to be a part of what is happening on this campus. The culture that has been cultivated here from faculty and staff towards the students is remarkable. I am excited to continue the success that the program has seen, and look forward to building on the foundation that has been laid by Coach Kerry Regner," said Allen. In his coaching career, Allen has coached one national champion, as well as 11 All-American wrestlers. He led his team at Cumberland University to a sixth place finish at the NAIA National Championships in 2014. Allen joins WBC after serving as the head coach at Ouachita Baptist University. "I believe hard work is the cornerstone of a team and sets the stage to create a family atmosphere and brotherhood that breeds success. My philosophy consists of creating men through the sport of wrestling and developing them in every aspect of their lives," Allen noted. The coach is a native of Kentucky and previously served in the Army National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn, earning a Bronze Star for his service. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Cumberlands and earned his MBA from Cumberland University. He is married to Kristin Allen, and they have three children. Allen replaces Kerry Regner as head coach of the Eagles wrestling team. Regner, who founded the Williams program and led it for three years, recently accepted a university coaching position in his native Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryan Pearsall has joined the Penn Wrestling coaching staff as an assistant coach as announced today by head coach Roger Reina. Pearsall will join Mike McMullan as assistant coaches for the Quakers heading into the 2017-18 season. Bryan Pearsall"I am thrilled to add Bryan to our coaching group," said Reina. "He has strong working knowledge of the EIWA from his coaching stops at Army West Point and Rutgers, and his experience as a member of three NCAA championship teams during his collegiate career at Penn State will be of great benefit to our program as we aim for big goals of our own." Pearsall was on staff at Army West Point in each of the last three seasons, working primarily with the lower and middle weights. During his tenure with the Black Knights, Pearsall coached 13 NCAA Championships qualifiers and 18 EIWA Championships placewinners helping Army climb the EIWA rankings in both competitive results and recruiting success. Pearsall's work in recruiting student-athletes to West Point helped the Black Knights land a 2017 recruiting class ranked No. 16 by WIN Magazine, No. 21 by InterMat and No. 23 by The Open Mat. "First and foremost, I want to thank Roger Reina for this amazing opportunity," said Pearsall. "I am excited to join him and Mike McMullan on the Penn coaching staff. I have had the benefit of having great mentors in my life thus far and cannot wait to work with another in Hall of Fame head coach Roger Reina. His track record of success speaks for itself. I am grateful for the opportunity to coach at an institution with such a deep history of wrestling success and look forward to working with Roger and Mike and also partnering with Brandon Slay and Matt Valenti to continue the upward trajectory of both the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center and Penn Wrestling's proud involvement with Beat The Streets Philadelphia. I would also like to thank Kevin Ward and everyone at Army West Point. The three years I spent working with great coaching minds and impressive student-athletes was an amazing experience." Before his stint at Army West Point, Pearsall spent the 2013-14 season at Rutgers where he also coached the Scarlet Knight Wrestling Club - a regional training center hosted by Rutgers. In their last season in the EIWA before transitioning to the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights posted an 11-5 record in dual meets and finished third at a highly competitive EIWA Championships in The Palestra. Competing for Penn State in college, Pearsall was a four-year starter for the Nittany Lions and a member of Penn State's 2011, 2012, and 2013 NCAA championship teams under head coach Cael Sanderson. In 2013, Pearsall was fifth at the Big Ten Championships and a NCAA qualifier at 141 pounds. Pearsall graduated from Penn State in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation and human services. A product of Lititz, Pa., Pearsall was a high school standout at Warwick High School. Pearsall competed in freestyle for PAWF, earning USAW Junior freestyle All-American honors. A USA Wrestling Bronze Certified coach, Pearsall previously served as Director of the West Point Wrestling Club, coaching athletes at UWW Junior Nationals and the U.S. Open in Las Vegas. In addition, he has continued his involvement with PAWF as a coach including this season as he preps Pennsylvania's entries for the upcoming Cadet and Junior National championships in Fargo. "I am very excited about coming back home to Pennsylvania. Between Penn Wrestling, the Pennsylvania RTC, and Beat the Streets Philly, the combined wrestling ecosystem is one of the strongest in the country. The University of Pennsylvania is among our nation's elite academic institutions and the wrestling program also has a storied history of success. It is an impressive and distinct combination and Coach Reina has a powerful vision and lofty goals for the team. I cannot wait to help our wrestlers achieve those goals. I'm excited, motivated, and eager to get to work." Pearsall's official start date with the Red and Blue is July 3.

Mark Ellis, Andy Barth and the Wick wrestling family are among the guests to be featured on the Takedown Radio broadcast this Saturday, July 1. Join Scott Casber, Brad Johnson and Allix Williamson for the two-hour broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Central available on KXNO 1460 AM radio and online at www.KXNO.iHeart.com or TakedownWrestle.com Here's this Saturday's guest list: 9:00 a.m. Milena and Bill Wick, parents of wrestlers Zander, Evan and Luka Wick. Milena is also Titan Mercury Wrestling Club's executive assistant 9:15 a.m. Andy Barth, co-founder of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club 9:20 a.m. Martin Dushaj, and Evan, Zander and Luka Wick 10:40 a.m. Mark Ellis, 2009 NCAA heavyweight champ -- and two-time All-American -- for University of Missouri.

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. -- Ouachita Baptist University athletic director David Sharp announced a nationwide search for the next head coach of the Ouachita Tiger wrestling program. The Tigers' wrestling program has five top-25 finishes over the past six seasons and produced 15 All-America selections and one national champion over the course of its seven-year existence. The search was initiated after head coach Todd Allen announced he was accepting a position with another university. “I am extremely grateful to coach Allen and the work he's put in at Ouachita over the past two seasons and we wish him well,” Sharp said. “Now it's time for us to find the right individual who will continue the tradition of developing our student-athletes, both on and off the mat.” Interested candidates can send their résumé to David Sharp at sharpd@obu.edu.

After winning a UWW Cadet National freestyle title at 54 kilograms, Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) moves up five positions to earn the No. 1 spot overall in the Class of 2020. He ran an impressive gauntlet with victories over two-time state champion Kyle Gollhoffer (Woodland, Ga.), No. 34 rising senior Brady Teske (Fort Dodge, Iowa), 2016 Cadet World team member Aaron Cashman (Shakopee, Minn.), and then a two match sweep over No. 15 rising junior Chris Cannon (Blair Academy, N.J.) Prior to the 2016-17 season, Howard was runner-up at the Super 32 Challenge in the 113 pound weight class, while he earned runner-up honors at the state tournament. During his eighth grade year, he was a Roller World of Wrestling triple crown winner with titles at the Tulsa Kickoff Classic, Tulsa Nationals, and Reno World tournaments. Previous top-ranked Class of 2020 wrestler Beau Barlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) drops one position to second after a second straight placement finish in a robust 58 kilogram freestyle weight class at the UWW Cadet Nationals. Rounding out the top five are Albert Ferrari (Allen, Texas), Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), and Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) Nevan Snodgrass The most notable upward mover was Nevan Snodgrass (Kettering Fairmont, Ohio), who placed fourth at state as a freshman, earned an eighth place finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle, and went undefeated at the Cadet Duals in freestyle duals; he moves up six positions to No. 15 nationally. There are two newcomers in the top 25 portion of the rankings, David Ferrante (Huntley, Ill.) and Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heritage, Fla.) Seven wrestlers from the state of Pennsylvania lead the way within the first top 50 rankings for the Class of 2020. Bartlett is joined by No. 8 Sam Hillegas (North Hills), No. 1 Gerritt Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan), No. 20 Gaige Garcia (Southern Columbia), No. 34 Gage McClenahan (Bald Eagle Area), No. 40 Alfonso Martinez (Wyoming Seminary), and No. 42 Luke Nichter (Chamersburg). Five in the rankings from California and Ohio are the next most for a specific state, while four ranked wrestlers come from Illinois, Missouri, and New Jersey respectively. Link: Top 50 Sophomores (Platinum)

Four-time state champion Jared Franek (West Fargo, N.D.) verbally committed to North Dakota State on Wednesday evening. The No. 76 overall Class of 2018 wrestler won a state title in eighth grade at 106 pounds before winning titles at 120, 138, and 152 the last three seasons. Within the last fifteen months, Franek was a Cadet National folkstyle and freestyle champion, a Flo Nationals runner-up, and a UWW Cadet National freestyle fourth place finisher. He projects to compete at 165 pounds in college.

Justin Mejia celebrates after winning the Doc Buchanan Invitational title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Four-time state champ Justin Mejia (Clovis, Calif.) re-opened his recruiting last month after Mark Perry left his assistant coach position at the University of Illinois to become the head coach at the Hawkeye Wrestling Club in Iowa City. The No. 22 overall recruit in the Class of 2017 was granted a release from his National Letter of Intent by the Illini, and has now committed to enroll at the University of Iowa for the fall semester. Mejia will join four other top 100 recruits as part of the Hawkeyes' 2017-18 roster. Those include No. 1 Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.), No. 7 Jacob Warner (Washington, Ill.), No. 30 Max Murin (Central Cambria, Pa.), and No. 75 Aaron Costello (Western Dubuque, Iowa). He projects to compete as a 125/133 in college.

Check out this week's Takedown TV, featuring … Beat the Streets New York feature One-on-one with 2012 Olympian Jake Herbert on the International Olympic Committee's recent announcement that there will be 56 few slots for wrestling at the 2020 Tokyo Games compared to Rio Feature on Chuck Yagla, legendary Iowa Hawkeye and new member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, from Dave Bennett Zeke Jones is on the Nike Wrestling Hot Seat to discuss the upcoming season for the reigning Pac 12 champions Watch online or on these cable networks/channels: 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. Comcast Cable: Friday at 5 p.m. Cox Cable: Sunday 9:30 a.m. Fight Network HD: Sundays at 4 p.m. KCWI 23: Saturday 4 p.m. KWEM Stillwater, Oklahoma: Tuesday 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Long Lines Cable: Daily at 5:30 p.m. Mediacom Cable: Sundays at 10:30 a.m. MidCo Sports Network: Saturday 10 a.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m. SECV8: Friday at 5 p.m. Suddenlink Cable: Check your local listings. Multiple air times. Time Warner Cable Sports: Saturday at 12 p.m. Western Reserve Cable: Tuesday at 11 p.m., Friday at 5:30 p.m., Saturday at 10 p.m.

When a college or a high school launches a brand-new wrestling program, it's great news. When one public school district brings the oldest and greatest sport to at all seven of its high schools, that's something to celebrate. The only thing that could make that kind of news even bigger? When that school district is in South Carolina, not necessary on most wrestling fans' lists of the nation's "high school wrestling hotbeds." The great news worth celebrating is from South Carolina's Aiken County Public Schools, a 25,000-student district located in the southern part of the state, along the South Carolina-Georgia border. (In fact, the nearest big city to Aiken County is Augusta, Ga.) Aiken County was the fourth-largest in South Carolina not to have wrestling. Until now. The rollout of wrestling at Aiken County's seven public high schools is taking place over a two-year period. The wrestling programs at four high schools just completed their first season; the remaining three schools will have wrestling for the first time this fall. Sean AlfordThe effort has been driven by Aiken County Schools Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford, who made sure all seven programs had a brand-new wrestling mat as well as home and away singlets at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. Alford believes in wrestling. He coached youth wrestling. Two of his sons wrestled in high school (in another district) and went on to post-secondary mat careers -- one at The Citadel, the other, A.J., currently wrestling at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. "They were lucky to gain the core principles that wrestling offers to its participants," Alford told InterMat. "Aiken County has a great tradition of producing athletes in various sports, some who have had success in pro sports," Alford continued. "When I came here, I was surprised, given the track record of sports success, that this district did not have wrestling in its high schools." Why a two-year plan to bring wrestling to Aiken County's seven high schools, rather than launching all the programs in a single season? "I wanted to make sure to get these programs off to a solid start," said Alford. "It was the most cost-efficient way to do this." "The first four to get wrestling were the largest schools in the district. They are located near each other. Their athletic programs compete in the same class." One of Aiken County's first four wrestling programs is at Midland Valley, a 1,500-student high school. Its head wrestling coach is Kevin Emily, a South Carolina native who grew up in one of the hottest of the wrestling hotbed states, Iowa ... in Waterloo, Iowa, to be exact, Dan Gable's hometown. In fact, Emily coached at Waterloo West High, Gable's prep alma mater. Coach Emily describes Midland Valley High students and the surrounding community as being "hard-working, blue collar." The school has been successful in sports, especially basketball and football; "a lot of kids around here go play football in the SEC (Southeast Conference) and on to the NFL," according to Emily. Given that hard-working background and passion for excellence in sports, Kevin Emily thought that wrestling would appeal to local athletes, their parents, and the community. "No other sport can teach you what wrestling does. None," Emily told the Aiken (S.C.) Standard. "This is the toughest sport in the world. The toughest athletes, the hardest working athletes at any school are the wrestlers. Hands down." "We started out this summer with four guys," Kevin Emily said to the Augusta Chronicle in mid-November 2016, just as the Midland Valley program was getting started. "The four seniors, as soon as I got here, they were waiting on me. They were calling me. The second day I got here, we practiced. Bit by bit, it started growing." The Midland Valley Mustangs first-year wrestling team quickly galloped to double-digit participation numbers. Another one of the first four Aiken County high schools to have wrestling last fall was North Augusta. Its mat program is headed up by Matt Franklin. "I think being a part of the first wrestling program in North Augusta is big to these kids," Franklin told the Augusta Chronicle. "Our motto is, 'The tradition starts today with you.' North Augusta is based on tradition. You want to set a good example, and I think that's what motivates them to show up every day." Midland Valley's Kevin Emily echoes that sentiment. Although he recently coached at Iowa's Waterloo West -- truly a legacy program with a long, rich history of on-the-mat success -- this was the first time he launched a new wrestling program from scratch. "Most of the kids here had never wrestled a match in their lives, but were completely gung-ho," Emily told InterMat. "The kids are like sponges. They absorbed all the info." "There's none of that 'That's not the way we did it before' attitude here." So ... how did that first season go for Emily and his first-time wrestlers? "My team Midland Valley HS cracked the top 4A 20 rankings with kids who had never wrestled a day in their lives," Coach Emily told InterMat. "We got ranked 17th" "I had one kid, a junior, end up being ranked sixth in the state, beat a ranked wrestler, beat an eventual state place winner earlier in the season and Raekwon (Jackson) came one match from placing at state. All of that with less than three months of wrestling experience. "I know my kids think I'm crazy but they know I care about them."

Kyle Snyder went 17-0 and won his second NCAA title at Ohio State (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Following a 12-month period that saw him win a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio along with Big Ten and NCAA wrestling crowns for the Buckeyes, Kyle Snyder now has to make more room in his trophy case. Today, he was announced as the recipient of the Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, marking the second time in three years that a Buckeye wrestler has won the prestigious award. "I'm honored to win this incredible award, especially because of what its namesake, Jesse Owens, means to the Big Ten and specifically Ohio State," said Snyder. "To be in the company of the many exceptional student-athletes who have earned this award in the past is humbling. I could not have achieved any of my success without the constant help and encouragement of my family, coaches, teammates and friends. I love competing for Ohio State and representing my country." Last summer, Snyder etched him name amongst wrestling's all-time greats when he won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Games. In the process, he became the youngest United States wrestling champion (20 years old), first active Ohio State student-athlete to win Olympic gold in 66 years and first Buckeye wrestler to win an Olympic medal in 92 years. After the Olympics, Snyder returned to Ohio State and went 17-0 during the 2016-17 campaign for the Buckeyes, culminating in a Big Ten and NCAA title at heavyweight. Thanks to Snyder - and three other conference champions - Ohio State won its second Big Ten crown in the last three years. It was the national runner-up at the NCAA Championships with a program-record six All-Americans. Snyder's NCAA schedule was abbreviated this year, as he traveled overseas to compete in three major international events. In December, he was in Ukraine for the Club Cup Championships and then traveled to Russia for a week at the end of January and won a gold medal at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, considered the toughest open tournament in the world. In February, just weeks before the Big Ten Championships, he represented Team USA at the Freestyle World Cup in Iran. Snyder is just the fifth Buckeye to win the Big Ten's Male Athlete of the Year award and joins elite company that includes Eddie George (football, 1996), Blaine Wilson (gymnastics, 1997), Evan Turner (basketball, 2010) and teammate Logan Stieber (2015). In the 35 years that it's been award by the conference, wrestlers have claimed the honor 10 times. In three seasons for the Scarlet and Gray, Snyder is 58-4 with 28 consecutive victories, two Big Ten titles, two NCAA championships and three All-America honors. This season, 13 of his 17 wins were via bonus points and he went 9-0 against ranked opponents. Both his Big Ten and NCAA finals victories came against second-ranked Connor Medbery of Wisconsin. During the regular season, he defeated the No. 3 and No. 4-ranked opponents by an aggregate score of 39-17 and won by matches via major decision. At the Big Ten Championships, he averaged 16.0 points/match and upped his output to 17.0 points/match in five wins at the NCAA Championships. As impressive as Snyder's on-mat accomplishments were, his successful was equaled in the classroom. An OSU Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Snyder - a sport industry major - also claimed CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America honors. Earlier this month, he was named Ohio State's Male Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year. Most recently, Snyder earned a spot on the United States Senior World Team two weeks ago in Lincoln, Neb. and will compete in the World Championships for Team USA Aug. 21-26 in Paris, France. At the last World Championships, in 2015, he became the youngest American to win gold (19 years old) with his victory over Russia's Abdusalam Gadisov.

The big-man talent right now is as impressive as it's been any time in recent memory for scholastic wrestling. The top two wrestlers in the Class of 2018 are projected collegiate heavyweights, with a third wrestler inside the top ten qualifying as such; an additional top ten prospects projects to compete as a 184/197 (more likely 197) in college. Within the rising junior Class of 2019, its top wrestler is also a likely heavyweight in Cohlton Schultz (Ponderosa, Colo.) The two-time state champion at 220 pounds qualified for his second straight Cadet World Team in Greco-Roman at 100 kilograms this spring, while also making the Junior World Team in Greco-Roman at 120 kilograms. Schultz is a two-time Fargo champion at the Cadet Nationals, winning a Greco-Roman title in 2015 and a freestyle title last year, both coming at 220 pounds. He has been ranked at the top of the Class of 2019 since the middle of last January, and ended the 2016-17 high school season as the No. 2 ranked 220-pound wrestler in the country. An additional upperweight is among those ranked inside the top ten of this rising junior class, as two-time state champion Daniel Kerkvliet (Simley, Minn.) occupies the No. 5 position in the rankings. He will be competing for the United States in the Cadet World championships this summer at 100 kilograms in freestyle. Within the last calendar year, he also placed third at Cadet freestyle in Fargo and fourth at the Super 32 Challenge at 195 pounds while winning a Cadet folkstyle title this spring at 220 pounds. Jordan Decatur earned a spot on the Cadet World Team at 58 kilograms (Photo/Sam Janicki) The other two Class of 2019 wrestlers to join Kerkvliet with spots on the Cadet World Team in freestyle going to Athens, Greece are also ranked within the top ten of this class: No. 2 Jordan Decatur (CVCA, Ohio) and No. 10 Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.). Decatur moves up eight spots in the rankings after winning a very robust UWW Cadet National tournament at 58 kilograms, including outplacing now No. 3 Nick Raimo (Hanover Park, N.J.); Decatur is a two-time Cadet National freestyle champion in Fargo, also placing second and fourth the previous two years at the UWW Cadet National freestyle tournament in Akron. McHenry, last year a Cadet world champion at 42 kilograms, moves up three positions after qualifying for the team at 46 kilograms. The most notable upward mover in the rankings is Jason Kraisser (Centennial, Md.), who moves up 20 positions in the rankings to No. 22 after a third-place finish at 63 kilograms in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals; that performance included a pair of wins over No. 27 Kevon Davenport (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.). Others moving up by five or more positions include Carter Starocci (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.), up 12 positions to No. 20 after a fifth-place finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle and other excellent performance this spring; Connor McGonagle (Timberlane, N.H.) up five positions to No. 21; and Cole Urbas (State College, Pa.) up six positions to No. 35 Four wrestlers are new to the top 50 for the Class of 2019 from the previous edition of the rankings in April. Luke Luffman (Urbana, Ill.) enters at No. 43 after a third-place finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle and an undefeated Cadet Duals in freestyle; Cade Devos (Southeast Polk, Iowa) is now No. 47 after a placement finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle and an undefeated Cadet Duals in freestyle; Lucas Byrd (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) is No. 48 after some quality performances at the Junior Duals and earning a Cadet World team spot in Greco-Roman at 50 kilograms; while two-time state placer Noah Blake (Del Oro, Calif.) is ranked No. 50 Leading the way with seven wrestlers contained in the top 50 is the Buckeye State of Ohio, a group that is anchored by Decatur but also includes No. 6 Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty), who placed at the Super 32, Ironman, and UWW Cadet freestyle tournaments this year; No. 28 Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa), a three-time Fargo freestyle finalist; state champion No. 34 Jordan Crace (St. Paris Graham); two-time state placer No. 36 Sam Dover (St. Edward); No. 39 Gabriel Tagg (Brecksville), a Walsh Ironman champion; and Byrd. New Jersey is next with six ranked wrestlers, while California and Pennsylvania have five each within the top 50. Link: Top 50 Juniors (Platinum)

Gerald Brisco will be the one and only guest for the “On The Mat” broadcast this Wednesday, June 28. Brisco wrestled for Oklahoma State in the mid-1960s along with his brother Jack Brisco. The two later were a professional wrestling tag team. Gerald Brisco is now a talent scout for the WWE. "On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa this Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on mattalkonline.com.

Kyven Gadson reached the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) AMES, Iowa -- Kyven Gadson will remain a Cyclone. The 2017 U.S. Open Champion announced Monday that he would be joining Kevin Dresser's Cyclone Regional Training Center. Gadson is now the first official full time C-RTC athlete. "I grew up an Iowa State fan based off the legacy that my Uncle Charlie and my late father Willie Gadson helped create in the 1970s," Gadson said. "Family and legacy are huge to me. I want to thank coaches Kevin Dresser, Mike Zadick, Derek St. John and Brent Metcalf for inviting me to be a part of the new vision and continue the legacy." Gadson chose to stay at home after talking with Minnesota, Arizona State, Penn State, Northern Iowa and Northwestern. "Getting Kyven locked into the C-RTC was one of our first priorities," Dresser said. "You look at a guy who represents the University, this team, like Kyven does and is also a stud on the mat, it was a must have for us. His impeccable character is also noticeable." Along with training for his senior level competition, Gadson will be a vital tool in the Iowa State wrestling room. Dresser and his staff plan to use Gadson as an extension of their coaching staff. "Kyven is incredibly bright," Dresser added. "We're going to look to him to mentor our team and be a spokesperson among many things as he continues to train and develop." After claiming the 2015 197-pound NCAA title, Gadson decided to continue his wrestling career. After making the transition to freestyle, Gadson has become a force at 97 kg. He competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials, and claimed a University Nationals title that same summer, earning a spot on the University World Team. To begin 2017, he finished runner-up at the Dave Schultz Memorial International and third at the Granma y Cerro Pelado Cup. Gadson's crowning senior-level achievement thus far was winning the 2017 U.S. Open. Most recently, Gadson qualified for his firstUnited States National Team, earning runner-up honors at the World Team Trials. Signing Gadson is a step in the right direction, Dresser noted. Their staff will continue to evaluate other athletes this summer, and will look to make a couple more additions before school starts. "We're looking at a few guys, some former CWC athletes," Dresser said. "But we're not just going to go out and spend money, just to spend money. We want to make sure we are getting the right guys. This is a process."

As the Class of 2018 has ended their junior years of school within the last month, Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, Minn.) remains the top-ranked wrestler in the now senior class. This is a position that he has held for the last two years, after his first UWW Cadet National freestyle title victory. The University of Minnesota verbal commit ended the 2016-17 season as the No. 1 ranked 285-pound wrestler in the country after winning a third straight state title. He is 131-0 in his freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons; the last in-season loss coming in the state finals match of his eighth grade year, when competing at 195 pounds. Steveson is a two-time UWW Cadet National and world champion in freestyle at 100 kilograms, and was a UWW Junior National freestyle champion in freestyle at 120 kilograms this spring. While he is still age eligible to compete at the Cadet World Championships, he has outgrown the upper-most weight class (100 kilograms), and will be competing this summer at the Junior World Championships. The next five wrestlers in the Class of 2018 prospect rankings are all verbally committed to Penn State, the two-time defending national champions and winners of six national titles in the last seven seasons. No. 2 Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) is also a three-time state champion and a 285-pound wrestler; No. 3 Travis Wittlake (Marshfield, Ore.) was a Cadet world bronze medalist last year in freestyle at 76 kilograms, and seeks to improve upon the finish this summer; No. 4 Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson-Morgan, Pa.) and No. 5 Roman Bravo-Young (Sunnyside, Ariz.) are both projected light-weight wrestlers with Cadet World Championships experience; while No. 6 Michael Beard (Malvern Prep, Pa.) is a two-time National Prep champion and three-time finalist. Jacori Teemer swept Sammy Sasso in the finals of the UWW Cadet Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki) Three other elite Class of 2018 wrestlers join Wittlake as participants on the Cadet World team in freestyle that will be competing later this summer in Athens, Greece: No. 10 Jacori Teemer (Long Beach, N.Y.) at 63 kilograms, No. 13 Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.) at 85 kilograms, and No. 19 Will Lewan (Montini Catholic, Ill.) at 69 kilograms; Lewan also qualified to compete in Greco-Roman. All three wrestlers were upward movers from their April ranking: Teemer moved up from No. 27 after sweeping now No. 11 Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa.) in the best-of-three series; Hoffman moved up from No. 17 after sweeping now No. 29 Ryan Karoly (Malvern Prep, Pa.); and Lewan moved up from No. 26 after his sweep of now No. 24 Peyton Robb (Owatonna, Minn.). Peyton Robb had a strong showing at UWW Cadet Nationals, finishing second in freestyle and third in Greco-Roman (Photo/Sam Janicki) Robb was also a significant upward mover after finishing as runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals at 69 kilograms, and third in Greco-Roman with a semifinal loss to Lewan in the tournament. He had a very notable quarterfinal win over now No. 25 Frankie Gissendanner (Penfield, N.Y.), also winning a title at the Northern Plains Junior regional tournament and going undefeated at Junior Duals, those coming at 160 pounds. Three others moved five-plus positions within the top 50: Alex Lloyd (Shakopee, Minn.) went up 18 spots to No. 23, Malik Heinselman (Castle View, Colo.) is up five spots to No. 42, and Aaron Brooks (North Hagerstown, Md.) is up six spots to No. 43 Wrestlers attending high schools in 28 states are part of the initial top 100 for the Class of 2018. Leading the way with 13 wrestlers ranked in the top 100 is the state of Pennsylvania, while New Jersey has the second most with 11, and Ohio is third in line with 10. Other states with five or more ranked wrestlers include California with 8, Minnesota and Illinois with 7, Missouri with 6, while New York and Iowa have five each. Link: Top 100 Seniors (Platinum)