InterMat Staff

Phil Davis, NCAA wrestling champ for Penn State and former Ultimate Fighting Championships competitor, had a doubly successful Bellator Fighting Championships debut at the Bellator 142 -- Dynamite event, winning both of his bouts in the light-heavyweight four-man tournament at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday night. Phil Davis (Photo/Bellator)In his first fight of the night, Davis submitted Emanuel Newton with a kimura at 4:39 of the first round. In the follow-up to determine the winner of the mini-tourney, the former Nittany Lion titlewinner knocked out Francis Carmont -- a substitute for an injured Muhammed Lawal -- at 2:15 of Round 1. "In the tournament-s opening round, (Davis) dominated former light heavyweight champion Newton on the ground before locking on a kimura near the end of the first stanza," according to BleacherReport.com. "Newton hadn-t been finished in a fight since 2009 and had been the company-s most successful 205-pound champion before losing the title to McGeary at Bellator 134 in February." In the other preliminary light-heavyweight (205-pound) match-up, Lawal -- an Oklahoma State All-American wrestler -- defeated Linton Vassell via unanimous decision in their three-round bout. However, "King Mo" told event organizers that he had injured his ribs in that first match, and was unable to continue, dashing all hopes for a mini-tournament finals featuring two top former college wrestlers. The tournament guidelines stated that Vassell would have been next in line to advance to the finals, but, like Lawal, was unable to continue. Instead, Bellator named Carmont -- who defeated Anthony Ruiz in an earlier preliminary bout -- as the fighter who would face Davis in the finals. "The two finalists circled one another pawing with punches and kicks, until Davis connected," Sherdog.com reported. "Carmont folded at the base of the cage and did not recover in time to successfully defend himself. Davis pounced and knocked the Frenchman unconscious with a series of kneeling right hands, staking his claim as Bellator-s No. 1 contender at 205 pounds." "Man, I don-t know what just happened," Davis said inside the cage after knocking out Carmont. Davis is now 15-3 in his professional MMA career, and 2-0 in Bellator. The former Nittany Lion mat champ has won six of his last eight bouts. More importantly, Davis has vaulted ahead of the competition to become the No. 1 contender for the Bellator light-heavyweight title, currently owned by Liam McGeary. All this made the Penn State alum-s decision to leave UFC -- an organization he had joined in Feb. 2010, and where he had 14 fights, but never a title match -- and then sign with Bellator in April look that much smarter. A very appreciative Davis posted the following message on his Facebook account Sunday: "Thank you to all my family, friends, and fans. I love you guys! Also big thanks to @oakgrovetech @afflictionclothing @americanethanol @bellatormma @mmadraft @alliancemma @ericdelfierro @coachmelendrez" Long before launching his MMA career in Oct. 2008, Phil Davis had a stellar mat career at Penn State. The Harrisburg, Pa. native compiled an overall record of 109-18, with 27 falls. Davis was twice a Big Ten conference champ at 197 pounds in 2006 and 2008, and a four-time NCAA Division I All-American, concluding his collegiate career by winning the 197 crown at the 2008 NCAAs.

Justin Gaethje, an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Northern Colorado and three-time Arizona high school state champion, successfully defended his World Series of Fighting lightweight title at WSOF 23 at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix Friday night. Here's how MMAFighting.com opened its coverage of the main event: "It's about time to get Justin Gaethje a Wikipedia page. Just six months after defeating Luis Palomino in an instant Fight of the Year candidate, Gaethje somehow topped himself Friday night, starching Palomino with a sensational one-punch knockout to defend his World Series of Fighting lightweight title in the headlining rematch of WSOF 23." Justin Gaethje At Friday night's WSOF 23, Gaethje scored a TKO at 4:30 of the second round of his rematch with Palomino. Back in March, the former UNC wrestler scored a third-round TKO over Palomino at WSOF 19. "As was the case in their chaotic first encounter on March 28, neither man paid much attention to defense," wrote Brian Knapp of Sherdog.com. "They traded heavy fire -- Palomino hit the deck on the end of a right uppercut -- in the first round, but Gaethje emerged from the exchanges in better shape. The 26-year-old Grudge Training Center rep scored with a belly-to-back slam takedown and rode the momentum into the second round. There, Gaethje absorbed a number of vicious shots to the body and floored the MMA Masters export with a short, savage right hook. He then followed Palomino to the canvas and connected with another jackhammer right that forced referee Ryan Brueggeman to act, despite the Peruvian challenger's immediate protests." It's possible Gaethje and Palomino may meet yet again, as, immediately after their second bout, Palomino requested and was granted a spot in WSOF's upcoming lightweight tournament, which is expected to crown the next No. 1 contender. With the win, Gaethje not only retains his lightweight (155-pound) crown, but remains perfect at 15-0 overall, and 8-0 in WSOF competition. Palomino falls to 23-11 in his career, and is now 2-2 in WSOF. Gaethje, 26, a native of Safford, Ariz., launched his pro mixed martial arts career in August 2011. His first WSOF fight was in March 2013.

James Nakashima, a 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships qualifier for the University of Nebraska, won a unanimous decision over Chance Rencountre at Resurrection Fighting Alliance's RFA 30 event at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. Friday night. James NakashimaAll three cageside officials scored the welterweight contest 29-28 in favor of the former Cornhusker. Nakashima is now 4-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career, with all his wins by unanimous decision. Prior to turning pro in January of this year, Nakashima scored two victories in amateur MMA events in 2013-14, one by TKO, and the other by submission. "The shorter Nakashima utilized a crisp standup attack throughout, as he consistently beat Rencountre to the punch behind an accurate jab and one-two combinations," Sherdog.com reported. "Having already banked two rounds, Nakashima appeared to be cruising to victory when Recountre briefly dropped him late in round three. While that likely earned Recountre the frame, he was unable to further capitalize on the opportunity." Here's how MMAJunkie.com described the battle between the two unbeaten welterweights: "The longer limbed Rencountre was never able to establish his jab throughout the bout, leading to inside exchanges that Nakashima was able to get the better of in the first two rounds. Rencountre came on strong in the final frame but it was too little, too late as the three judges awarded the decision to Nakashima ..." A native of Dwight, Ill., Nakashima, 26, was an Illinois state championships runner-up for Dwight High School. He then wrestled at Lincoln College in Illinois, where he won the 2009 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) 174-pound title. After two years at Lincoln, Nakashima transferred to Nebraska to wrestle at 197, in part because of the success of one of their star wrestlers, Jordan Burroughs, a two-time NCAA champ, 2012 Olympic gold medalist, and, just last week, gold medal winner at the 2015 World Championships. "When I got to Nebraska, I learned from Jordan and benefited from his knowledge and work ethic," Nakashima told Amber Boone of CombatPress.com. "My wrestling career wasn't as successful as I wanted. I didn't reach my goals, but they did prepare me for what I want now. Now I am not willing to settle for anything but the best." (While his on-the-mat career may not have been all he had hoped for, Nakashima scored big in the classroom, earning First-Team Academic All-Big 12 in 2011,Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2012, and NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) All-Academic Team in 2012, among other honors.)

State champion Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.), who is ranked No. 42 overall in the Class of 2016, verbally committed to his home-state Indiana University late on Friday evening. The projected 197 pound wrestler is also a three-time state placer, having earned runner-up honors as a sophomore, after finishing seventh in his freshman campaign. During the 2014-15 season, Rypel was third in the Super 32 Challenge at 182 pounds during the preseason, and a Flo Nationals runner-up at 195 pounds right after the end of the scholastic season. He was also a runner-up at the NHSCA Junior Nationals this spring, and a silver medalist at the AAU Scholastic Duals (aka Disney Duals) this summer.

The Fight Network presents Takedown Wrestling Radio live from the iHeart Studios in Des Moines, Iowa. Powered by Kemin Industries, Takedown takes the pulse of America's sport. This week's cast of Takedown Radio includes Scott Casber, Tony Hager, Stephen Stonebraker, Jeff Murphy, Tim Harms and Brad Johnson. Join us this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (CT) live on the iHeart Radio App, KXNO.com or TakedownWrestle.com. For contests and conversation use 866-333-5966 or 515-284-5966 Every listener has a chance to win a pair of Nike Wrestling shoes and a Defense Soap travel kit. 9:00 a.m. Bruce Burnett, USA Wrestling men's freestyle coach 9:15 a.m. Kyle Snyder, 2015 World gold medalist 9:35 a.m. James Green, 2015 World bronze medalist 10:00 a.m. Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, 2015 World bronze medalist 10:20 a.m. Erin VanDiver, USA Wrestling women's assistant coach 10:35 a.m. Adeline Gray, 2015 World gold medalist Enter our Takedown Sportswear Super Sunday Singlet giveaway for a chance to win a singlet every Sunday of the year by following us on Facebook and on Twitter.

Steve Fernandes, former Western New England College wrestler who won a 1982 NCAA Division III championship at what was then called Trenton State (now College of New Jersey), died Monday, Sept. 14 at Branford Hospice in Connecticut. He was 54. Steve FernandesSteven Augustine Fernandes was born in Waterbury, Conn. in Dec. 1960. He wrestled at Southington High School in Connecticut, where he was team captain his senior year. "Steve was the most accomplished wrestler to come out of Southington," current Southington High School wrestling head coach Derek Dion told the Record-Journal. "He was excellent in high school and even better in college." Fernandes continued his wrestling career in college, first at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass. for two years (earning NCAA Division III All-American honors as a sophomore), then at College of New Jersey, where he was twice an All-American, winning the 134-pound title at the 1982 NCAA Division III Championships. Fernandes sported a combined high school-college record of 228-14-1. Tim Sullivan, a teammate of Fernandes at both Southington High and Western New England, said two things set Fernandes apart from the competition. "Number one, he was a physical specimen," Sullivan said. "Secondly, when he walked on to that mat he felt he was bullet proof. He felt no one was tougher than him. He was going to impose his will on the other guys. Physically, he was scary. Just a natural wrestler." "One characteristic of Steve was his unbridled enthusiasm. And this enthusiasm wasn't limited to wrestling, to which, of course, he dedicated every ounce of his being," said Jack Alkon, volunteer assistant coach at Southington for 35 years, told InterMat. "When he entered a room, his presence dominated it. And when he spoke about any subject, be it wrestling, his job, his family or a new restaurant, his passion shone through and was contagious. If you started out not caring about the subject, you left sharing his excitement. This rare quality allowed Steve to savor life and to encourage others to do the same. This is only one of the many reasons why his loss is so tragic, and why we must learn from it to carry on Steve's enthusiasm and spread it to others, so that life can be appreciated to its fullest." Fernandes was among the inaugural class to be inducted into the Southington Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. "It's always special when you get recognized in your hometown and the people you grew up with," said Bob Wittneben, Southington High's first head wrestling coach. "I knew he was happy about it. It meant a lot to him. He was an outstanding athlete and, for the area at that time, he went further than any other state wrestler had gone, being a three-time All-American. I'm sad he's gone; 54 is too young." Fernandes is survived by his parents, his wife Deborah, and his siblings, including professional golfer Eddie Fernandes, who wrote, "Thank you everyone for all of the outpouring of love and support through this difficult time dealing with the loss of my brother Steve. He was my idol and a huge influence on my life as a young boy and I was blessed to experience his greatness first hand. He was the most dedicated, driven and passionate athlete I ever saw and he helped mold me into the athlete I became. He was tough as nails as I remember him wrestling with a blown out knee and broken wrist. Most of his losses were due to injury but he would never say that. He never wanted to let his team down. He was a true leader and as I write this with the heaviest of hearts, I am grateful for the opportunity to have him as my brother for 44 years ... I will be putting together the Steve Fernandes memorial scholarship fund presented to the Southington wrestler that displays leadership, dedication and passion. I would like to have an annual golf Tournament in Steve's name and all proceeds will go to the fund. Visitation will be held Friday, Sept. 18 at DellaVecchia Funeral Home, 211 N. Main St., Southington, Conn. from 4-8 p.m. Funeral services will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19 at Calvary Life Church, 174 East Johnson Ave, Cheshire.

After Kyle Snyder's gold-medal performance in Las Vegas the question on every wrestling theorists mind seemed to be "Is a folkstyle season the best preparation for international freestyle success?" Simply put the answer is absolutely, unequivocally, one-hundred percent NO. The simple math remains that none of the other 30 medalists at this year's World Championships in freestyle competed in a folkstyle season in preparation for the World Championships. Therefore the odds are 16-1 in the favor of those who do not train in the American collegiate style. Yet those who train in American folkstyle wrestling year-round were two-thirds of the American medal haul. Why? The training requirements and competition schedule of the NCAA athlete is the most brutal of any combat sport on the planet. Snyder and Green each competed in more than 16 events in five months each competing in 40-plus matches. That's high intensity training that required a mental focus strong enough to be carried over into the World Championships. The success of Green and Snyder has less to do with the STYLE of collegiate wrestling and everything to do with the scheduling procedures of NCAA and high school sports, which is focused on abundance and intensity. If the season were to suddenly become freestyle instead of folkstyle there is no question -- ABSOLUTELY NONE -- that more American wrestlers would be prepared for their postseason careers as freestyle wrestlers. A kid doesn't play oboe for 20 years so he can one day become a first saxophone for the philharmonic. I'm a traditional wrestling enthusiast who also loves folkstyle for its connection to our nation's history (19th century Vermont farmers and barnstormers) and my own wrestling past. I don't know that, in good conscience, I could advocate for the removal of America's traditional style, but I do think that if the ultimate aim is Olympic and World medals then serious conversations need to be had. As of now, collegiate wrestling is a sport that rewards control. That style has helped prepare our best wrestlers for careers in MMA and jiu-jitsu, but has fallen short in prepping them for international wrestling. The simple truth is that the techniques used on the feet (funk) and on the mats (crab ride, lack of locking hands) simply don't translate to freestyle success. If those who control high school and college sports chose to migrate over to freestyle wrestling the United States would win exponentially more medals at international events like the World Championships and Olympic Games. The collegiate season, not the collegiate style, is what prepared Green and Snyder for their medal-grabbing performances in Las Vegas. Q: Do you think any other college studs will follow Dylan Ness into Greco? -- @815Ryanallen Foley: Probably, but I wouldn't expect a flood of talent. Remember that just because Greco-Roman LOOKS like a soft entry point for American wrestlers to enter the Olympic squad, does not mean it's true. The current Greco-Roman squad is tenured and talented. While Ness may see an opening at 66 kilos in light of the Saddoris injury, Bisek and Smith have already qualified 75 kilos and 130 kilos for the Olympics, respectively. Currently that leaves 59 kilos, 85 kilos and 98 kilos as weight classes where current or recently graduated NCAA wrestlers could make their mark. That's limited, and unless there is a crop of talent that we don't know about training away in log cabins all summer I find it highly unlikely that any will join the ranks in 2016. There is a chance however that some of the younger guys decide to make an attempt at making the 2020 team. They would enjoy a more reasonable amount of time preparing, practicing and competing. Q: Who deserves OW for the World Championships? -- @LilJamesDean Russian Greco-Roman wrestler Roman Vlasov dominated his competition in arguably the deepest weight class of the Worlds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Foley: If you look across the entire six-day tournament it's normally difficult to choose a single most dominant wrestler. Many champions had to fight their way past World and Olympic medalists and often times do so in a back-to-back to fashion. The typical parity among champions noted, there is one wrestler who stood out in 2015, 75-kilo Greco-Roman World champion Roman Vlasov (Russia). The uber-talented 2012 Olympic champion went 6-0, outscoring opponents 40-0 and beat defending World champion Arsen Julfalakyan (Armenia) in the opening round and 2014 80-kilo World champion Peter Bacsi (Hungary) two matches later. Vlasov's wins also came as a result of aggressive wrestling. The Russian lifted each of his opponents, never sitting back to look for cautions or penalties. For style points, Vlasov registered a 10 with referees, fans and fellow wrestlers. Per style: Men's freestyle is Frank Chamizo. Women's is Kaori Icho and Greco-Roman is Roman Vlasov. Q: Do you expect the U.S. to qualify all 18 weight classes for the Olympic Games? Seems there is a lot of work to do. -- Mike C. Foley: No. I think we will get five from men's freestyle, four from Greco-Roman and four from women's wrestling. Currently there are two from men's freestyle, two from Greco-Roman and one in women's wrestling. The continental qualification will be brutal for the men's and women's freestyle, with Cuba coming up short at weight classes the USA hoped they would qualify. A similar story goes with the women who have to beat out a strengthening South and Central America. Our Greco-Roman team just isn't at the level to qualify each weight class as of yet. As a note, attempting to qualify at the last-chance events is exceedingly difficult. All of Europe will be in Istanbul and Ulaanbaatar, as will all of Asia. Don't worry, no country qualified all 18 weights for London and no country is likely to qualify all weights for Rio. Q: Who wins: Kyle Snyder or Abdulrashid Sadulaev? -- @LilJamesDean Foley: This would be a fun matchup. Considering their success it's tough to know instinctively who would win. However, I've seen almost every match Sadulaev has wrestled the past three years and not once has he been out-muscled. For Snyder to win their matchup he'd have to bully a wrestler known as the "Russian Tank" and even with a size advantage that seems unlikely. Meanwhile Sadulaev is quicker than Snyder and more mobile, both of which factor into a close match where a step-out point could be the deciding factor. Prediction: Sadulaev dec. Snyder, 5-2 Q: Any thoughts to a UEFA-like coefficient to allocate Olympic spots in 2020? -- @wrestlingnomad Foley: No. If there were any change it would be based on a points system that also demanded minimum continental representation. Wrestling only has 18 spots per weight class, which would create a narrow window with which to create a competitive year-round atmosphere. Though not impossible, there would need to be serious thought put into how a season might look. Q: Do you think Jordan Burroughs performance at this year's World Championships would have been enough to beat Denis Tsargush? -- Scott M. Foley: There is no way to tell for certain, but I think Burroughs looked healthy enough to take all comers, including Tsargush. Burroughs has a knack for winning, even if his competitors are increasingly putting points up early. I think that Aniuar Geduev created a unique style challenge for Burroughs with baiting an overhook throw. Burroughs avoided danger and stayed in position for 99 percent of the match. Playing it straight, there is a really good chance that Geduev makes the Olympic team. Tsargush fluctuates in his performance and if he can't make it past the first round of Russian Nationals in 2015 it's tough to believe that a one year older Tsargush cruises in an Olympic year, especially with a lot of wrestlers coming up from 70 kilos. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Q: I'm sure you're hearing a good bit about James Green after taking bronze at Worlds. Has he made it known if he's planning on dropping to 65 kilos for the Olympic year? If he does go 65 kilos is he your odds-on-favorite to win the spot on the team? He looked great in Vegas, but I wasn't sure how highly ranked the guys were that he beat throughout the event. -- Bear Hugs, Ryan W. Foley: I also thought that young James Green looked impressive at the World Championships. However, I'm skeptical of how well he'll perform at 65 kilos, given that it's an 11-pound drop in weight that is sure to affect his performance. Unlike Helen Maroulis who will drop a little more than four pounds to take on Alli Ragan and then hopefully Saori Yoshida (Japan) in the Olympic year, Green's drop is much more drastic. He'll need to make the cut a few times before the Open and see how he competes. Obviously 65 kilos is his only option, but I don't think the bronze at a pretty weak 70 kilos is transferrable to a stacked 65-kilo weight class. Q: P4P best wrestler in the world? Burroughs or Sadulaev or Akgul? -- @dannyrube Foley: If I'm not mistaken, Sadulaev hasn't given up a takedown since (re)joining the senior circuit in 2014. That puts him on a 50-plus match win streak giving up no takedowns and only a handful of tactical stepouts. How could the best P4P be anyone but Sadulaev? Akgul, much like Cain Velasquez seemed to do in MMA, has elevated what it means to be a heavyweight wrestler. The Turk is a scoring machine and is never outmuscled or outhustled. He's also incredibly kind and outgoing. On the personality scale Akgul rates a ten, and though it's tough to rate him best pound-for-pound I do think he'd win a round robin with Sadulaev and Burroughs. Burroughs is probably in third place, if only because he's lost a couple of times in the past two years where the others haven't. Q: Did Kyle Snyder have to turn down money for winning a World gold? -- Mike C. Foley: No. From what I understand his money is in escrow. Q: I am thinking about planning a trip next year with my dad and brothers (all wrestling fans). Considering it is an Olympic year, what are going to be the three best wrestling events held in the U.S. in 2016? -- Dave R. Foley: For an American wrestling fan the two can't-miss tourneys are the Pan-American qualification event in March outside Dallas and the Olympic Team Trials April 9 in Iowa City. As for a third event, I'd recommend taking a trip to Sweden to check out the Klippan Lady Open, which is the very best women's tournament of the year and should be a can't-miss event in an Olympic year since nation's that have qualified their weight cannot compete at their continental qualifiers. Also, Scandinavia is awesome. All-In, Drop the Mic, Hot Take of the Week By Jacob R. Is it me or are a lot of folks in this so called "wrestling community" lazy when it comes to talking and writing about wrestling. By lazy I mean a lot of people -- and yes this includes myself -- tend to call men's freestyle wrestling simply freestyle. Whereas, we never just say freestyle when women are wrestling. We call it women's freestyle. This is a phenomenon known in gender studies as hegemonic masculinity, which essentially showcases a dominant social position for men and a subordinate position for women. Yes, folks can say this is just being nit-picky about semantics and "I am not being a sexist pig by giving a shortened naming convention for men's freestyle. It's always been called freestyle." I will throw out a big challenging HOWEVER, to those assertions and say that wrestling and folks in this so called "wrestling community" need to be willing to change their lazy speech and writing habits. Why one might ask? Well for starters wrestling had a big kick in the arse when it was dropped by the IOC a few years back. Luckily it was added back in the Olympics. One thing that I, and I would like to think others believe will cement this totally awesome sport in the Olympics is a focus on gender equity. We added women's freestyle wrestling to the Olympics in 2004, which was important. However, women's freestyle only contested four weight classes, whereas, men's freestyle and Greco contested seven weight classes each. That disparity in contested weight classes in the Olympics has been slightly addressed with the passing of the 6-6-6 weight class scheme that is set up for the 2016 Olympic Games. While the die-hard, death metal fan in me says 6-6-6 is effin metal, I believe we need to go beyond that. Where do we need to go, well adding women's Greco-Roman wrestling and devising an equitable weight scheme between the four different styles makes sense to me. Beyond that another issue that needs to be addressed is the hegemonic masculinity that is so deeply ingrained within this so called "wrestling community." That's a tough one, because it is so deeply ingrained within the society that we live in. But I say what the hell, let's stop referring to men's freestyle as just freestyle. And as a precursor for the upcoming inclusion of women's Greco-Roman wrestling we start saying men's Greco-Roman wrestling. Who knows, maybe media, fans, coaches, and other folks in this so called "wrestling community" doing something as simple as attempting (hopefully succeeding) to speak and write about wrestling in a manner that isn't so overtly biased for men might just make wrestling more appealing to younger athletes, fans, and future leaders of the IOC that want to see if there really is gender equity within international wrestling?

State champion Austin Gomez (Glenbard North, Ill.), a three-time Cadet National champion in Fargo, verbally committed to Iowa State on Thursday evening. He is ranked No. 13 overall in the Class of 2017, and ended the 2014-15 season as the nation's top-ranked 113-pound wrestler, after winning an Illinois Class 3A state title in that weight class. Gomez placed fifth in Junior freestyle this summer at 120 pounds, after placing both at the UWW Cadet and Junior Nationals in freestyle; third at 54 kilos as a Cadet, fourth at 55 kilos as a Junior. In the summer of 2014, Gomez was a Cadet National double champion (Greco-Roman and freestyle) at 113 pounds, while he was a Cadet double finalist (Greco-Roman champion) at 94 pounds in the summer of 2013. He also represented the United States at the UWW Cadet World Championships in freestyle at 42 kilos in 2013. Gomez projects as a 133-pound wrestler for Iowa State.

Dylan Ness became a fan favorite during his college wrestling career at Minnesota because of his wide-open, go-for-broke wrestling style and creativity on the mat. Ness finished his career as a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA finalist for the Gophers. His 37 career pins ranks him ninth in Gopher history. Ness will now make the transition from college wrestling to Greco-Roman wrestling. InterMat recently caught up with Bloomington, Minnesota native. Dylan Ness gets ready for a match at the NCAAs in St. Louis (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)You recently announced that you will be competing on the senior level in Greco-Roman, with your first tournament being the Bill Farrell International Open in November. What went into your decision to return to wrestling? Ness: I love the sport. I love everything about it. I plan on sticking around Minneapolis. It's hard not to compete. This summer I decided I was wrestling Greco, but wasn't sure when I was going to compete. My shoulder is feeling good. I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Last week I started wrestling and lifting again. I found out through the coaches and online that the next tournament is in November. So I've got to get my international wrestling in, and might as well start now. What other options were you considering for your career? Ness: I was considering going MMA, but I still have some fight in me for wrestling. I think I might transition to MMA after my wrestling career, but I still have that fire in me to wrestle and compete. You've had national success in all the styles of wrestling. Why Greco-Roman over freestyle? Ness: It was decision of Olympic weights. I'm in between for both styles. It was a hard decision to make. I always had a passion for Greco in high school. I love freestyle. I might wrestle freestyle next year, I don't know. Or I might just stick with Greco. I'm probably going to wrestle both quite a bit. I just love wrestling. If I can make it, I'm going 66 kilos, which is 145.5 pounds. The freestyle weight is 65 kilos, and I knew that the two-pound difference was going to matter when getting down. I don't think I can make 65. I'm not quite big enough to go 75 in Greco or 74 in freestyle. Dylan Ness works from the top position in a match at the NCAAs in St. Louis (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)You have battled a lot of injuries throughout your career. How is your health right now? Ness: I'm pretty healthy. I've been feeling good wrestling and lifting. I'm as healthy as I can be for a wrestler, I guess. College wrestling, especially in the Big Ten, is known for being a grind. Do you think training for Greco-Roman will allow you to stay healthier? Ness: Yeah, I believe so. I think the international training, freestyle and Greco, will be easier on my body. I dealt with so many injuries during my college career. It will help not having to make weight twice a weight. There won't be that college grind. I can take a little more time off when I need to. My main focus right now is wrestling and training. I think not having the stress from school will help too. What will your training situation be like? Ness: I'm sticking around the U and wrestling with the Minnesota Storm. I'm still helping out with Minnesota wrestling. I'll still go to their practices sometimes. I'll be training with Brandon Paulson, Jake Deitchler and Dan Chandler, working with the Greco guys, and also working with the freestyle guys. My brother is competing again. I'll be going in and wrestling with him when he needs a partner. I owe him one. He stopped for four or five years just to help me out, so I figure the best thing I can do is help him out. Is it fun for you to see your brother Jayson compete again? Ness: I would say it's more stressful. It's awesome to see him compete again, getting excited for training, wanting to learn more. It's a lot of stress on me, my family … just watching someone compete is stressful sometimes. But it's exciting. Dylan Ness gets his hand raised after defeating James Green in Big Ten semifinals (Photo/The Guillotine)You defeated James Green the last three times you faced him, including twice this past season. He went on to win a bronze medal at the World Championships in freestyle last week. Were you surprised by his success in freestyle this year? Ness: No. He has had success in freestyle. He was in the finals of the World Team Trials last year. He was also a silver medalist at the University World Championships last year. He's a tough guy. I don't see why he wouldn't do well in freestyle. I wasn't surprised at all. He's a tremendous athlete. He's very good on his feet. I think it was an easy transition for him to go from folkstyle to freestyle. You were considered one of the most exciting wrestlers in college wrestling. Did you take pride in being exciting and putting on a show? Ness: Yes and no. Sometimes there was a little pressure because people were hoping for pin or that crazy move. This last season I kind of calmed it down a little bit, wrestled more basic and solid. I had a lot of success with that. It's always nice to have a move in your back pocket that you can pull out anytime. Do you see yourself being an exciting Greco-Roman wrestler? Ness: Yes, definitely. I always had success in high school with Greco. It could have been one of my best styles when I was in high school. I won Fargo almost every year. It was always fun grinding it out and getting those big throws. You were a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA finalist in college. When you reflect back on your college wrestling career, is there any moment in particular that stands out the most? Dylan Ness waves to the crowd after injury defaulting in his final collegiate wrestling match (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Ness: There were a lot of exciting moments. One of my favorite matches was my freshman year in the NCAA quarters against Jamal Parks. It was an upset. He was the No. 2 seed and I was just a freshman. Getting that win was very exciting for me. Getting the fall in the Big Ten finals with the gator bacon was also exciting. My junior year getting a pin against Alton at a home dual and helping the team win was exciting, as was the fall in the NCAA quarters against Green and hearing the place erupt. Also, a big moment was getting that round of applause going out against Nick Brascetta of Virginia, just saying my farewells to the Minnesota crowd, and it ended up being goodbye to everyone in the arena who acknowledged me and that loved to watch me wrestle even though I wasn't on their team. I didn't take it in at the moment just because I trained my whole life for that national title. I was very disappointed at the time. But when I reflect back on it I really appreciate everyone who stood up, applauded and cheered for me. It didn't really sink in until a week or two after the tournament. You were one of five All-Americans that graduated this season for the University of Minnesota. The Gophers lose a lot of NCAA tournament points, but have brought in some talented recruits, including two Fargo freestyle champions. What does the future look like for the Gophers? Ness: I think the future looks bright. On paper right now the team doesn't look as good as we were last year, or the last couple years. There's a lot of young talent. Guys step up when they need to. It's going to be exciting for me to see these guys. There are a lot of tough guys who had good seasons but didn't necessarily put it together for Big Tens or NCAAs. But that happens with a lot of young guys. Matt Lindland has been the U.S. Greco-Roman national coach since June of 2014. Do you have a relationship with him yet? Ness: I can't say much about it because I've been immersed with college wrestling, knowing everyone in college wrestling, studying film on folkstyle. I've been out of the international scene for a couple years. Dylan Ness and his father Jay Ness coaching at Minnesota/USA Wrestling's state freestyle tournament (Photo/The Guillotine)Will not reaching your goals in college wrestling motivate you in your Greco-Roman wrestling career? Ness: Since I was a kid I wanted to win a national title, both individually and team-wise. That hurt a lot when I didn't achieve that goal and dream. I'm not necessarily using that as motivation. I just want to find a new goal and achieve greater things in life. What are your goals in Greco-Roman? Ness: I want to be an Olympian and Olympic champ. I want to be the best that I can possibly be in the sport Greco-Roman. I want to do everything I can to achieve my goals. How long do you plan to compete? Ness: I'm just taking it one thing at a time. We'll see how far I go with it. We'll have to see what God's plans are. Plans can always change.

Now that the Labor Day holiday weekend is history, it's time to start looking forward to fall. Most high school and college students are back in school ... and wrestlers, coaches and fans are already eagerly anticipating the upcoming wrestling season that will be starting in earnest in a couple months. With that in mind, there's no better time for wrestlers of any age and experience level to brush up on existing skills and acquire new techniques. One of the easiest -- and best -- tools available to wrestlers is available online, in the form of instructional videos at TheWrestlingSite.com. Les AndersonThe site allows wrestlers and coaches the opportunity to download and view a series of how-to-wrestle video clips created by legendary Iowa State wrestler and coach Les Anderson. The series of clear, concise videos, titled "Les Anderson's The Basics of Technique", are organized into three fundamental categories: Neutral Position, Defensive Position, and Offensive Position. Wrestlers and coaches can download the specific videos of interest to them, each at modest cost, and view them over and over at their convenience. The videos incorporate a unique three-dimensional grid system of one-foot squares on the floor and wall to help wrestlers "measure" specific moves in space as they see a particular move demonstrated onscreen. Another unique aspect of the video series is Anderson's experienced instruction, describing each move in a clear, step-by-step explanation as two young wrestlers demonstrate that particular move on the unique grid that is the hallmark of every "Basics of Technique" video. For more than 60 years, Les Anderson made his mark in wrestling, as an athlete, coach, and author of instructional books and videos. In the early 1950s, Anderson crafted a near-perfect career at Clarion High School in north-central Iowa, losing only match: the 119-pound finals at the 1955 state championships, having won the title at 103 in 1954. Despite being told by doctors to give up wrestling after high school because he had been diagnosed with polio, Anderson continued his wrestling career at Iowa State. Wrestling for Harold Nichols -- named one of three all-time greatest college wrestling coaches in a 2005 NCAA online poll -- Anderson compiled a 50-3-1 overall record, and was a three-time NCAA finalist for the Cyclones, winning national titles in 1958 and 1960. After graduation, Anderson launched his coaching career, first at Blue Earth High School in Minnesota, then returning to Ames to serve as assistant to Nichols from 1964-1974, then again from 1979-92 (after a stint as head coach of the now-defunct program at the University of Washington). During Anderson's two stints working alongside head coach Nichols, then, later, Jim Gibbons, the Cyclones won a total of six NCAA team titles, claimed 34 individual championships, and earned All-American honors 111 times. Anderson passed away in November 2012 from bladder cancer at age 74, but his website, TheWrestlingSite.com, lives on.

What is the job of a wrestling writer? Is it to share actual news about wrestling, good or bad ... or to merely promote the sport? The issue comes up when I write a story that some within the wrestling community view as negative or harmful to the sport and its participants. Most recently, this came up regarding stories I wrote for InterMat concerning the U.S. denying a visa to the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation to attend the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas. At least one reader emailed me to say that my article could do serious damage to amateur wrestling. It's not a new concern. I've certainly heard from disgruntled readers when I've written news stories about college wrestlers being charged with drunk driving or assault or other potentially serious crimes. "You're ruining that kid's life" is one often-expressed idea; "You don't write about the alleged crimes of students who aren't wrestlers" is another. I understand that some wrestling fans may think that it's not a good idea for me to write stories which may be embarrassing for the individuals involved or for their schools or for the entire sport. The duality of my professional writing background "gets" that idea. As someone with a journalism degree who sat through many hours of classes in news reporting, editing, ethics and journalism law, my general thought is, "If it involves a wrestler, coach or has some impact on wrestling -- and it's newsworthy and verifiable -- I should consider writing about it." However, as someone who spent thirty years making a living as an advertising writer -- someone hired to present a product in the best possible light, to get you to buy it -- I understand the concept of avoiding saying anything that is negative. What's more, as an amateur wrestling fan for about 45 years, I join those of you who think wrestling just doesn't get enough positive coverage from the mainstream media. I'm right there with you when a major wrestling event is ignored by Sports Illustrated or USA Today or ESPN or national jock-talk shows. All that said, does that mean we wrestling fans think our sport is so fragile that it can't withstand a news story at a leading wrestling website about a Russian mat official being denied the ability to attend the Worlds ... or a wrestler who is accused of breaking the law? Will parents tell their kid "I don't want you to wrestle because of what so-and-so did ..."? I've got to think the sport, its participants, and its fans, are tougher than that. Unlike most sportswriters, the only sport I write about is wrestling. That said, I would be surprised if basketball or football fans contact their local papers or talk radio shows or sport-specific websites to say, "I don't want to hear about so-and-so's arrest". If anything, I sense there's a great hunger among many sports fans to know that sort of behind-the-scenes stuff ... and they become angry if they believe sportswriters and sportscasters are withholding information from them. The wrestling community has been known to act this way, too. Last summer, I wrote a feature article for InterMat titled "Matmen Behaving Badly?" that sprang from my coverage of a number of incidents the previous season -- alleged DUIs, offensive tweets, rough hazing rituals that threatened the very existence of one college program. As I wrote in that article, bad behavior on the part of student-athletes -- whether it's blowing off a class, or being arrested for a potentially serious crime -- is not a new phenomenon ... nor is it limited to amateur wrestling. Another statement that has proved to be truer than I realized a year ago: wrestling fans tend to be of two minds when it comes to what could be considered bad news. They'd rather not hear it if it concerns the program they follow; however, if it's about a rival, then it's "Dig deeper! We want you to expose the truth!" I understand that many of you feel these stories may not reflect well on the accused -- or the sport. But it's not as if I am the only person in the world reporting this stuff. In most cases, for me to write about it for the wrestling world, the story has to be available online at another website. (There are the rare occasions when I've been alerted to an incident/story by an individual.) In the case of denying the Russian official a visa to visit the U.S., websites for The Moscow Times and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were reporting it as news; about the same time as my stories were appearing on InterMat, the Associated Press was also reporting the incident in a story that appeared in newspapers across the country. (A day or two before, I came across stories that some wrestlers from India had problems obtaining visas for the World Championships, and was set to write about this ... but the issue was settled within hours and the wrestlers were able to travel to Las Vegas.) In the case of college wrestlers who have been arrested, usually it's the local community newspaper and/or the college paper that breaks the story ... though, in some places (most notably, the state of Iowa), local police departments and county sheriffs post daily arrest records online for the world to see. In other words, InterMat isn't the only website providing this news. With a bit of digging and plenty of time, intrepid wrestling fans can uncover many of these stories on their own. All that said, I'm not all about the negative. Like most of you, I love those uplifting, feel-good stories related to wrestling -- the wrestler who overcame serious injury, or the program that conducted a fundraiser for a worthy cause, or had wrestlers who volunteered their services to make life better for their neighbors in their community, or the college that's just added a wrestling program. I like nothing better than to share those stories with you. However, like many of you, I want to know the story-behind-the-story when a wrestler is suspended ... or a program is threatened with elimination because of the alleged actions of a few members. Even if it may not feel so good to share that kind of information. I feel blessed to be able to write about the sport I've loved for decades. The ad writer in me wants to do all I can to help promote all that's great about wrestling and the vast majority of its athletes, coaches and fans. The journalist in me also realizes that I would not be doing my job if I chose not to write about the occasional alleged crime or potentially embarrassing incident. The sport is built to withstand the occasional "negative" news story. That toughness, that resiliency is one thing that brings so many of us to wrestling.

The last two pieces to the puzzle for the Clash XIV National High School Wrestling Duals were added on Wednesday. Park Hill, Mo. and Lincoln Way Central, Ill. became teams 31 and 32 in the 32-team field. The event, slated for January 1st and 2nd features 32 teams in dual meet competition. Day one has four eight-team brackets to determine placements from first through eighth. Then on day two, there are eight four-team pools involving round-robin competition between teams finishing in the same place on day one. Teams will wrestle three dual meets on each day of the competition. Anchoring this year's edition of The Clash are ten teams that finished in the Fab 50 national team rankings during the 2014-15 season: Oak Park River Forest, Ill., Archer, Ga., Buchanan, Calif., St. Edward, Ohio, Apple Valley, Minn., St. Michael-Albertville, Minn., Glenbard North, Ill., Tuttle, Okla., Mesa Mountain View, Ariz., and Marmion Academy, Ill. Teams from 14 different states are featured in the field. Nine schools from the host state of Minnesota mark the most, while five schools from Illinois -- including Lincoln Way Central -- are second most. There are three teams from California, while two teams each come from California, Arizona, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Single teams in the field are from Georgia, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oregon, Ohio, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Utah. Among the final two teams in the field, Park Hill, Mo. is the more notable. The Trojans return six wrestlers with state tournament experience from last season led by state champion Canten Marriott (152) and Sean Hosford (160), a state champion in 2013 and 2014. Two other wrestlers return after state placement finishes last year for Park Hill, Kelvin Eblen (106) and Weston DiBlasi (126), while Josh Steele (113) and Lucky Brockman (145) also made it to state. The Trojans were big-school state champions last year in Missouri's Class 4. Lincoln-Way Central has made three consecutive appearances in the Illinois Class 3A team state tournament. The last two years have resulted in quarterfinal appearances, while it was a fourth place finish in 2013. From an individual standpoint, they return three state qualifiers, led by third place finisher Bryan Ditchman (285); Vinnie Piunti (120) and Jake Dudeck (182) also made the state tournament.

In early September, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire announced the hiring of Tim Fader as head coach of its wrestling program. Fader is one of the most successful NCAA Division III wrestling coaches, with two decades of coaching experience. In March 2014, after ten seasons at the helm at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Fader took the Warhawks to second place at the NCAAs, the highest finish in team history ... and was named Coach of the Year by the amateur wrestling website d3wrestle.com, his third such award. Yet, two months later, Fader's contract at UW-Whitewater was "non-renewed" regarding his handling of sexual assault allegations involving a wrestling recruit and a female student at the school -- allegations that were withdrawn hours after first being made to coach Fader. Last fall, Fader told his story to InterMat ... while trying to find a full-time coaching job. He was able to work as assistant wrestling coach at Wheaton College outside Chicago. Now he will return to a head coaching position at UW-Eau Claire, a mat rival to his former employer, UW-Whitewater, as both compete in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Fader will start his new job Sept. 15, having been working with USA Wrestling at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas this past week. UW-Eau Claire announced Fader's hiring on Sept. 3, with an official statement which recounted Fader's considerable coaching credentials. In addition to those already mentioned, Fader had been named WIAC Coach of the Year four times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2014) and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Coach of the Year twice (2001, 2012). Over the course of his career, Fader had coached 42 All-Americans and 49 Scholastic All-Americans. In his six years as head coach at UW-La Crosse (1998-2004), Fader led the program to six Top 10 finishes including a National Dual Meet Championship in 2000. In a decade at UW-Whitewater (2004-14), Fader's teams tallied four top 12 NCAA finishes including a third place finish in 2013 and runner-up in 2014. Beyond Fader's credentials, the UW-Eau Claire hiring statement also included laudatory quotes from two highly respected individuals within amateur wrestling. "Tim Fader represents the gold standard of excellence in coaching," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "He has demonstrated a history of an education-based philosophy and his number one priority is helping his student-athletes reach their potential on and off the mat." "Fader is very thorough and leaves no stone unturned," said Ben Peterson, an NCAA champ for Iowa State, 1972 Olympic gold medalist and former assistant coach. "He wants a winning team and will build young men; from recruiting to fundraising to training, he will make UW-Eau Claire wrestling known. I don't know anyone that works harder than Tim Fader." When asked by InterMat to talk about his new position, Fader insisted that we instead contact the man who made it possible for him to return to a head coaching position ... UW-Eau Claire Director of Athletics Dan Schumacher, who graciously agreed to the interview. Meet the man who hired Fader Dan SchumacherFirst, a bit about Schumacher. As a student-athlete at Winona State University in Minnesota, Schumacher played football but did not wrestle. When he accepted the job as athletic director at UW-Eau Claire in June 2014, Schumacher brought nearly a decade of AD experience to the school, first, at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., then, most recently, at NCAA Division I Chicago State. Prior to that, he also served in administrative capacities at his college alma mater. At the time Schumacher became the Blugolds' AD in the summer of 2014, school Chancellor James Schmidt said, "Dan Schumacher comes to UW-Eau Claire with a proven background in successfully building and improving inter-collegiate athletic programs, while maintaining a strong academic focus for student-athletes." Fader's journey to Eau Claire When asked to describe the path that brought Tim Fader to coach the Blugold mat program, Schumacher said, "It was a situation I explored last July when I first arrived at Eau Claire. Wrestler participation numbers were down. I was without a coach. We had an interim coach. We hadn't had a full-time coach since Don Parker." (In fact, the UW-Eau Claire wrestling program had a succession of three head coaches in the space of about 18 months.) "I wanted to build the program," Schumacher continued. "Fill the roster, perhaps make us two deep -- or even two-and-a-half deep -- in each weight class ... Make us competitive in the WIAC." "I was aware of Tim's situation (at the time his contract was non-renewed) but I had been here only 30 or 60 days." "As we considered hiring a new coach this summer, Tim's name kept coming up on our lists." At this point, InterMat asked Schumacher if he personally knew Tim Fader prior to his name being up for consideration as Blugold head wrestling coach. "Only by reputation," Schumacher replied. "We saw what he had achieved at Whitewater. We also heard from lots of people who urged us to consider him for the position." What about the circumstances surrounding Tim Fader's separation from UW-Whitewater? "We properly vetted the situation," Schumacher replied. "We thought it was worth the effort." "It was one of the most thoroughly vetted situations I've been around in the course of my career. Our Chancellor and executive staff did their due diligence." Schumacher added, "Looking at his credentials and body of work, it made sense for us to make that effort." Schumacher explained that Tim Fader coming on board was handled as "an emergency hire -- an HR (human resources) term, meaning it did not require conducting a full, traditional search with job postings and so on. It was very late in the season. We were worried about losing kids (wrestlers)." In addition, Schumacher made it clear that no state funds are being used to pay any of coach Fader's salary -- "no Account 102 dollars" as he put it, adding that various revenue streams are being used to cover the hire. In the school's official announcement of his hiring, Tim Fader said, "I am really impressed with UW-Eau Claire. The supportive community, beautiful campus and just the energy you feel from this inviting, vibrant area is amazing. I've spoken with alums and past and present coaches and they all loved their experience which makes me excited to be a Blugold. "I want to thank Dan Schumacher and Chancellor James Schmidt for this opportunity. Dan has a sincere excitement for this department and university and I'm excited to be a part of his vision." All about Eau Claire Dan Schumacher added to coach Fader's positive comments about the beautiful campus and "inviting, vibrant area." "It's a very impressive school academically," Schumacher said of UW-Eau Claire, a school of approximately 11,500 students located in western Wisconsin. "A top five undergrad research institution." "The Chippewa River runs right through campus ... Some say it's the most beautiful campus in the state. The area offers unlimited opportunities to enjoy the outdoors -- fishing, hunting, hiking, camping." Schumacher also touted the city of Eau Claire itself -- a community of approximately 85,000 residents, which, as he puts it, "has a traditional downtown, and all the big-box national retailers you'd find in urban areas." (Eau Claire is the headquarters of the big-box home improvement retailer Menard's.) He also cited Eau Claire's location -- right on I-94, about an hour-and-a-half to Minneapolis-St. Paul, two hours to Madison, three to Green Bay. All these elements can help make UW-Eau Claire more attractive to potential Blugold wrestlers. When asked to describe the program's recruitment base, Schumacher responded that most student-athletes traditionally hail from western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. "However, with coach Fader being from Illinois and his successful recruiting in that state while he was at Whitewater, we may be able to draw from that area as well." (Fader wrestled at Rochelle Township High School in north-central Illinois about 90 minutes west of Chicago, then headed west to Augustana College in the Mississippi River city of Rock Island, Ill., where he was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American wrestler and three-time Academic All-American.) In the official statement issued earlier this month by UW-Eau Claire announcing its new wrestling coach, Dan Schumacher is quoted as saying, "We are excited to add Coach Fader to our staff. He has established himself as one of the top coaches in the country and we are fortunate to bring someone like him to campus. I look forward to working with Coach Fader to build a championship wrestling program." In his interview with InterMat last week, Schumacher echoed those sentiments, adding, "I'm for having Tim on board, for our school and our wrestling program, and, most importantly, for our student-athletes."

Below is a look at the top five performances in Las Vegas in freestyle (men's and women). Oksana Herhel was all smiles after winning the gold medal at 60 kilos (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Oksana Herhel (Ukraine) The Ukrainian wrestler competed at the non-Olympic weight of 60 kilos, but had one of the best performances of the tournament in dominating defending World champion Sukhee Tsendichmed (Mongolia) in the 2015 championship finals. Herhel is athletic and tough and is only second in technical proficiency to Kaori Icho. That technical acumen may be necessary next year as Herhel goes down to 58 kilos to challenge Icho in a hope to stop the Japanese star's almost pre-ordained fourth Olympic title. Natalia Vorobieva (Russia) Though a 2012 Olympic champion, a lot had been said of Vorobieva's recent inability to win when it mattered most. She's racked up several losses in 2013 and 2014 and failed to win World titles in both years. Though stronger and more athletic than most of her 69-kilo competition, she's somehow limited herself to a few select throws and carries from her feet. In some matchups, in some tournaments that has meant embarrassing defeat. However, in Las Vegas it all came together. Vorobieva now enters Rio as a likely repeat Olympic champion, and among women she'd be the first upperweight to achieve back-to-back Olympic gold medals. But to do so she will need to continue improving her technical proficiency. Zhou Feng, who she cradled in the World finals, isn't likely to fall victim to the same move and since there are two fewer matches at the Olympics than the World Championships, she's also likely to be fresh. Vladimer Khinchegashvili came from behind to win in the gold-medal match (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia) A terror when on the offensive, Khinchegashvili went fisticuffs during the European Games semifinals, preventing some competitors and fans from being reminded of what he's capable of achieving at a large tournament. Stout and spritely, Khinchegashvili is almost incomparable with his quickness and mat savvy. In a year with so much concentration of the Koreans and the Russians, Khinchegashvili proved that the 57-kilo Olympic title will have to go through Georgia and not the traditional powerhouses. Kyle Snyder (United States) If he'd come from Russia more credit would be given to the system and his future, but make no mistake, Kyle Snyder is the real deal. At only 19 years old the Ohio State sophomore knocked off the 2012 Olympic champion in the Trials and then opened up his World Championships with a win over a World silver medalist. After a day of solid wrestling he finished off his workman-like performance with a stunning 5-5 win over legendary Abdulsalam Gadisov. What was most impressive about Snyder was his maturity on the mat and his ability to navigate close matches. You only need to look at James Green (who was himself impressive at times) to see the difference between extraordinary talent and the added benefit of mature game-planning. It also doesn't hurt that at 19 Snyder has the old-man strength of a 35-year-old lumberjack. Snyder's mobility, strength, conditioning and strategy all played a part in his success and heading into the 2016 Olympics he'll be as much a favorite to win Olympic gold as Jordan Burroughs. Taha Akgul celebrates after winning his second straight World title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Taha Akgul (Turkey) Almost tortuously overlooked among the best-ever names in the sport, Taha Akgul has become an absolute dominant force in freestyle wrestling. It's been years since he last lost, and while Jordan Burroughs and other have collected more titles, nobody looks as dominant as Akgul over the past two years. A giant of a man without the barrel-chested build of his Greco-Roman compatriot Reza Kayaalp, Akgul hasn't been scored on all season and almost without fanfare teched his finals opponent in Las Vegas. No wrestler was more dominant in Vegas than Akgul and no wrestler is as surefire a gold medalist come Rio than the Turkish heavyweight.

Kanen Storr finished runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki)Two-time state champion Kanen Storr (Leslie, Mich.) has registered for the 2015 InterMat JJ Classic at 132 pounds. Storr went 54-1 last season en route to winning a state title at 135 pounds. He was an undefeated state champion as a freshman, and was a state runner-up as a sophomore. Thie past spring Storr was a runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle, losing in the finals to eventual Cadet World champion Jarod Verkleeren of Pennsylvania at 63 kilos. In June, Storr won silver medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Cadet Pan-American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. Last fall Storr placed third at the Super 32 Challenge. He finished fifth at FloNationals. Storr is currently the nation's No. 59 senior recruit by InterMat. For more information on the InterMat JJ Classic, visit the event website. To register for the InterMat JJ Classic, click here.

Registration has opened for the 2015 InterMat JJ Classic, a premier preseason high school wrestling tournament that makes place on Sunday, November 8, at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minnesota. The event is open to wrestlers in grades 7 through 12. Wrestlers who register prior to October 20 will save $10 on the entry fee. For more information on the InterMat JJ Classic, visit the event website. To register for the InterMat JJ Classic, click here.

In commemorating the 100th year of Oklahoma State wrestling, the program's website is featuring a decade-by-decade look at what they're calling A Century of Cowboy Wrestling … with a look at the 1920s posted on Friday. The latest installment opens with this bold but accurate statement: "After World War I halted college athletics, Oklahoma A&M returned to the mat with a vengeance in the 1920s." (The Big 12 school located in Stillwater was known as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College until adopting its present name in the late 1950s.) Legendary coach Ed Gallagher -- who had taken the reins of the wrestling program in its second year, in 1917 -- took his wrestlers to new heights in the Roaring Twenties, opening with a 50-0 shutout of cross-state rival Oklahoma in the long-running Bedlam Series. In 1921, the Cowboys started a dual-meet winning streak that lasted until 1932. The Cowboy wrestling website's look back at the 1920s focuses on four mat champs who found their way into eventual induction into the nearby National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Guy Lookabaugh, the first athlete to be labeled "Super Aggie", was a star on the mat and the football field who was the school's first Olympic wrestler (in the 1924 Paris Games). "Looky" was welcomed in to the Hall in 1983. Canadian native Earl McCready became the United States' first three-time NCAA champ, winning the heavyweight title in 1928-30; one of his finals matches was over in just 19 seconds, a record that stands to this day. "Moose" was inducted into the Hall in 1977. Jack VanBebber, a three-time NCAA champ for the Cowboys (1929-31), went on to win the gold medal at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and was part of the Hall's inaugural class in 1976. Conrad Caldwell was recruited by coach Gallagher out of a gym class… and, despite never having wrestled before, won the 165-pound title at the 1929 NCAAs in his first season on the mat. (He went on to add two more NCAA titles in 1930 and 1931.) Caldwell was a member of the Class of 1981 at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Find out about the inspirational story of Jack VanBebber who overcame a near-fatal childhood accident to become a wrestling champ, read this InterMat Reads feature . And to learn more about Ed Gallagher and the Oklahoma State wrestling program from 1916-1940, check out this InterMat Rewind historical feature on the legendary Cowboy coach.

Andy Hamilton and Kyle Snyder will go "On the Mat" is this Wednesday, Sept 16. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. Hamilton covers wrestling for the Des Moines Register. He is also a freelance writer for ESPN.com, USA Wrestler and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine. Hamilton will provide a recap of the 2015 World Championships. Snyder won the 2015 freestyle World Championship in Las Vegas at the age of 19. He became the youngest gold medalist in U.S. wrestling history. A podcast of the show is available on mattalkonline.com. E-mail dgmstaff@nwhof.org with any questions or comments.

Manheim, Pa. -- The National Wrestling Coaches Association has announced the 50th annual NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network will be aired live on ESPNU on November 1. The main event is slated to begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1 from the Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Ga., on the campus of Georgia Tech. This will mark the first time in the history of the event it will be aired live on an ESPN Network. "ESPN has been a great asset to the wrestling community over the years," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "Our Division I championships used to be aired on a same day tape-delay and now, with ESPN on board fully supporting the NCAA championships, fans can watch every single match of the event live on one of the ESPN platforms." "We're delighted that the college wrestling season will start and finish on an ESPN network," said Moyer. "One of the reasons we have the All-Star Classic start the college wrestling season is to continually grow our fanbase through television and mainstream media outlets." ESPNU's content centers around college sports and is also available via the WatchESPN app. "There's no question ESPN and ESPNU continues to help further expose the sporting public in this country to college wrestling," said NWCA President Mark Cody. "As an association, getting college wrestling's kickoff event on ESPNU will only help benefit our sport and showcase our great student-athletes." The NWCA All-Star Classic is an annual showcase of the nation's top college wrestling stars in a dual meet format that's kicked off the college wrestling season since 2004. It was previously a post-season or late-season event. The first NWCA All-Star Classic took place in 1967 in Stillwater, Oklahoma in what was then called the East-West All-Star Classic. The 2014 event in Philadelphia eventually saw 16 of the 23 Division I wrestlers earn All-American honors. WHAT: 50th Annual NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network Atlanta Chapter WHEN: Sunday, November 1, 2015, 5 p.m. Eastern WHERE: Hank McCamish Pavilion, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Ga. TICKETS: VIP/Social $125, Premium Floor $100, Premium $50, Reserved $25-$35; General Admission $10-$20; Student Rate $15 PURCHASE ONLINE: Click here TV/LIVE STREAMING: ESPNU (Find ESPNU on your cable or satellite provider) EVENT WEBSITE: http://www.theallstarclassic.com About the National Wrestling Coaches Association The NWCA brings the wrestling coaching community together to advance the sport and ensure that current and future generations have the opportunity to engage in a safe and educationally based wrestling experience. This is primarily done by strengthening existing programs, creating new programs, and providing coaches with progressive educational opportunities. About ESPNU The 24-hour college sports television network airs more than 650 live events annually. ESPNU is available nationwide in approximately 73 million households

Two-time state champion George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.) verbally committed to the University of Virginia on Sunday evening. The nation's No. 16 overall ranked wrestler in the Class of 2016 won state titles in 2013 and 2015, while finishing third at his state tournament as a sophomore in 2014. Phillippi was fourth in the Super 32 Challenge during the fall of 2014, after a runner-up finish in 2013. The commitment of Phillippi to the Cavaliers gives them three top 100 commitments for the 2016 class, as he joins No. 23 Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian Academy, Texas) and No. 97 Michael Murphy (The Baylor School, Tenn.). He projects as a 141 pound wrestler in college.

LAS VEGAS -- Jordan Burroughs delivered the grand finale of the World Wrestling Championships on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The 27-year-old Burroughs crushed Mongolia's Unurbat Purevjav 10-0 in the gold-medal match at 74 kilos in front of a sold-out crowd at the Orleans Arena. It was the final match on the final day of the six-day event held in Sin City. "You really can't put this moment into perspective because this is what we dream of," said Burroughs, who outscored his opposition 45-5. Jordan Burroughs jumps into the arms of his coach Mark Manning following his gold-medal victory on Saturday night (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Burroughs used his trademark double leg for a takedown midway through the first period to gain a 2-0 advantage. In the second period Burroughs fired off a shot and the Mongolian attempted to counter by exposing the American. Purevjav was initially awarded four points for the move, while Burroughs was given two points, resulting in a score of 4-4. USA challenged the call, and it was overturned, resulting in four points for Burroughs and none for the Mongolian to bring the score to 6-0. Burroughs continued the offensive assault, picking up two more takedowns and ending the match by technical superiority with just a few seconds left on the clock. "I really wanted that tech fall," said Burroughs. "I think I got the last takedown with two or three seconds left. It was the sprinkles on the sundae. It was nice." It's Burroughs' third World title to go along with his Olympic gold medal in 2012, and fifth World or Olympic medal in five years. He is now one of four American men's freestyle wrestlers to win three World titles, joining John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner and Lee Kemp. "It never gets easier," said Burroughs. "I'll tell you that much. It's always tough. We're always finding new ways to evolve." Jordan Burroughs finishes for a takedown on Mongolia's Unurbat Purevjav in the gold-medal match at 74 kilos on Saturday (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)With the victory, Burroughs finishes the year with a perfect 22-0 record. He has compiled an international career record of 114-2. "He doesn't want to just keep winning," said Burroughs' coach Mark Manning. "He wants to win and keep getting better. That's what sets him apart." Burroughs, who won two NCAA titles at Nebraska, had a message for the NCAA. "If anyone from the NCAA is watching this, change college wrestling to freestyle wrestling," said Burroughs. "That would be ideal. I love freestyle." Burroughs wasn't the only American to win a medal on Saturday night. James Green, competing in his first World Championships, captured a bronze medal at 70 kilos with a first-period fall over world No. 9 Muroslav Kirov of Bulgaria. It was his first match after losing in the semifinals to Iran's Hassan Yazdani in Saturday's first session. The 22-year-old Green was dominant from the start in the bronze-medal match, getting a takedown off a double leg 26 seconds into the match to go up 2-0. He built his lead to 4-0 after countering a Kirov attack for a takedown. Midway through the opening period Green hit a clean single let attack, and the Bulgarian tried to counter it, but ended up getting put to his back and pinned. "I knew I got that guy as soon as I stepped on the mat," said Green. "My head was in the match. My head was in the moment. Coming off that loss it kind of put fuel in the flames. I was ready to go." The two U.S. medalists on Saturday, Burroughs and Green, are both former Nebraska wrestlers who are still training in Lincoln under Manning. Both are from New Jersey. "We're young African Americans from South Jersey," said Burroughs. "We didn't really have much growing up. James' dad passed away when he was kid. Now he's gone from never winning an NCAA championship and being third at the NCAAs to being third in the world, and really creating a lot of opportunities for himself financially and just figuratively. I think he's got a bright future ahead." James Green celebrates after winning a World bronze medal at 70 kilos (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Green had high praise for his coach after his bronze-medal victory. "He's seen all types of different wrestlers, different styles," Green said of Mark Manning. "He knows how to make us better in the positions that we need a little help with, keeping our hands in front, not just trying to use our speed but use our hands and speed together, moving guys and getting them out of position. He's just a great coach. He gives you inspiration. He keeps your head up and keeps you wanting to work hard." Green's weight class, 70 kilos, is not one of the six men's freestyle weight class contested in the Olympic Games. He has already made the decision that we will drop to 65 kilos for his Olympic run. "It's a cut, but it's doable," Green said of making 65 kilos. "We've got a great plan, a great system. I'll be down quicker, still the same strength and looking to dominate guys." Green has a win this year over Italy's Frank Chamizo, who became a World champion at 65 kilos this week in Las Vegas. "With Chamizo winning, that just gives me confidence looking forward to 2016," said Green. Russia won the men's freestyle team title with 61 points, followed by Iran with 48 points and Georgia with 44. Team USA finished seventh in the team standings. "We've really got to get better as a country both technically and mentally, understanding that, listen, if you really want to be the bet you have to dedicate yourself. It's not about what you want, or what your family needs. If you want to wrestle, wrestle and listen to Bruce." Also winning World titles on Saturday night were Georgia's Vladimer Khinchegashvili (57 kilos), Russia's Magomedras Gazimagomedov (70 kilos) and Turkey's Taha Akgul (125 kilos). Vladimer Khinchegashvili came back to defeat Iran's Hassan Rahimi in the gold-medal match at 57 kilos (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Khinchegashvili won his first World title in dramatic fashion, beating Iran's Hassan Rahimi 5-4 in the gold-medal match at 57 kilos. Rahimi seemed to be in control of the match leading 4-1 in the second period. But the Georgian, a World silver medalist last year, kept attacking and picked up two late takedowns -- the final one coming off a duckunder in the last 15 seconds -- to pull out the victory. World No. 1 Gazimagomedov of Russia handled Iran's Hassan Yazdani 10-3 in the gold-medal match at 70 kilos. Akgul repeated as World champion at 125 kilos with a 10-0 technical superiority victory over Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan in just over 60 seconds. He picked up a takedown and went to his lace and turned Magomedov four times to put the match away. Russia's Bilyal Makhov became the first wrestler in 42 years to win a medal in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the same Worlds. He took home a bronze medal in both styles. Day 6 (Saturday) Medalists Men's freestyle: 57 kilos: Gold: Vladimer Khinchegashvili (Georgia) Silver: Hassan Rahimi (Iran) Bronze: Bekhbayar Erdenebat (Mongolia) Bronze: Viktor Lebedev (Russia) 70 kilos: Gold: Magomedras Gazimagomedov (Russia) Silver: Hassan Yazdani (Iran) Bronze: James Green (USA) Bronze: Yakup Gor (Turkey) 125 kilos: Gold: Taha Akgul (Turkey) Silver: Jamaladdin Magomedov (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) Bronze: Bilyal Makhov (Russia) 74 kilos: Gold: Jordan Burroughs (USA) Silver: Unurbat Purevjav (Mongolia) Bronze: Narsingh Yadav (India) Bronze: Aniuar Geduev (Russia)

LAS VEGAS -- With the clock ticking to under a minute remaining, Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs found himself trailing in his semifinal match at the World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas. Jordan Burroughs celebrates after his semifinal win at the World Championships (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Burroughs, ranked No. 1 in the world, was battling world No. 2 Aniuar Geduev of Russia. Burroughs had taken an early lead, but Geduev battled back to take the lead on criteria after a takedown in the second period. With USA chants drowning out Russia chants in the Orelans Arena, Burroughs delivered with his trademark double leg for a takedown with 50 seconds remaining in the match to take a 4-2 lead. The Russian would add a step-out point in the final 20 seconds, but Burroughs held on for 4-3 victory and a spot in the gold-medal match tonight. "It's really a battle of wills," said Burroughs. "I may not be the best wrestler technically, but I think have the biggest heart in the entire world." Burroughs won World titles in 2011 and 2013, with his Olympic title sandwiched between. Last year he lost in the World semifinals to Russia's Denis Tsargush, a three-time World champion, before coming back and winning bronze. "Unfortunately for me I always have a Russian on my side, but it made for a very exciting match," said Burroughs, who improved his season record to 21-0. Burroughs' finals opponent will be Mongolia's Unurbat Purevjav. "I really want to enjoy this moment," said Burroughs. "My family is here. My son gets to see me compete. I'm in Vegas. The crowd is chanting USA. I'm wrestling well. I'm feeling good. What else could I ask for right now? I'm in a great position to be a four-time World champion tonight. I'm excited." Burroughs blanked Iran's Alireza Gasemi 5-0 in the quarterfinals. Burroughs scored a takedown 35 seconds into the match. In the final minute of the opening period Burroughs scored a point off the shot clock, and then a takedown off a double leg to lead 5-0 at the break. The second period saw a lot of action but no more scoring. Burroughs hammered his round of 16 opponent Mihaly Nagy of Hungary 11-0. A minute into the match Burroughs scored a takedown off a double leg and transitioned to a lace and scored two more points to go up 4-0. Burroughs kept the pressure on, earning a step-out point and then a takedown with another turn off a lace to go up 9-0. He put the match away in the second with another takedown to win by technical superiority. Burroughs was dominant in his second match, earning a 10-0 technical superiority over Oleg Zakharevych of Ukraine. Burroughs scored two points off penalty points early in the first period to go up 2-0. Late in the first period Burroughs pulled away, picking up a takedown and two turns off a lace to lead 8-0 at the break. Burroughs put the match away in the second period with a takedown off a double leg. He was pushed in his first match against Poland's Krystian Brzozwski, but came out on top 5-2. Brzozwski struck first, earning a takedown midway through the first period to go up 2-0. Burroughs picked up a late first-period takedown to make the score 2-2 at the break. Midway through the second period Burroughs scored a takedown off his double leg to go up 4-2. Burroughs would add a step-out point with 45 seconds left to win by three. James Green reached the semifinals before losing to Iran's Hassan Yazdani (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)James Green will wrestle for a bronze medal tonight at 70 kilos. The 22-year-old Green was dominant in his first three matches before losing to Iran's Hassan Yazdani, a 2014 Junior World champion, in the semifinals 9-4. Against Yazdani, Green kept the match competitive and trailed just 5-4 in the second period. Yazadani turned it up late, picking up a takedown with 1:23 left, and then a short time later earned another takedown to go up five, which essentially put the match away. He will wrestle Muroslav Kirov of Bulgaria in the bronze-medal match. Green trains with Burroughs at Nebraska. "A lot of people didn't even expect him to get him that far coming into this tournament," Burroughs said of Green. "So the fact that he was able to rattle off three straight and make it to the semifinals and wrestle for a bronze tonight is I say outstanding on his behalf." Green cruised to a 10-0 technical superiority over India's Kumar Arun in the quarterfinals. The former Nebraska wrestler jumped out to a 6-0 lead after a takedown and two trapped-arm gut wrenches in the first period. Two more Green takedowns in the second period ended the match. Green was untested in the round of 16 as he beat Robert Olle of Slovakia 10-0. Green had four takedowns in the opening period to lead 8-0 at the break. After giving up a point in the second period, Green scored with a takedown and turn to end the match. Green put on a takedown clinic in his opening match against Johnathan Scott Duque of Costa Rica. Green scored three takedown in the first two minutes of the match, and then added two more takedowns in the final 30 seconds to earn the 10-0 technical superiority. Tony Ramos won two matches before losing a tight match in the round of 16 to 2013 World champion Hassan Rahimi of Iran. With the score 1-1 and Ramos leading on criteria, Rahimi secured a late takedown and held on for a 3-1 victory. Ramos was put in repechage after Rahimi advanced to the gold-medal match, but the former Hawkeye fell to Asadulla Lachinau of Belarus 7-1 in his repechage match, which ended his day. Lachinau led 1-0 after the first period and built on his lead in the second period with two takedowns and two step-out points. "I didn't get what I wanted, but I won a few matches," said Ramos. "I got back on that backside. I battled hard with the guy who I think is going to win the tournament. I've got to get over that hump and win that match." Tony Ramos celebrates after winning his second match at the Worlds (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)In the second round Ramos won a hard-fought match over Makhmudjon Shavkatov of Uzbekistan 3-3 on criteria. Shavkatov scored first off the shot clock to go up 1-0. In the second period Ramos scored off the shot clock, which made the score 1-1. Shavkatov took a one-point lead after getting a step-out point with a minute remaining. Ramos kept the pressure on, and with 25 seconds picked up a takedown to go up 3-2. Shavkatov would get a late point off a step-out, but it wasn't enough as Ramos took the match on criteria. Ramos opened with a convincing 10-1 victory over Wber Euclides Cuero Munoz. The Colombian scored first after Ramos was called for fleeing the hold. Ramos picked up a takedown in the final minute of the first period to lead 2-1 at the break. Ramos then broke the match open in the second period, picking up three takedowns and scoring with a lace. Zack Rey went 0-1 in his first trip to the World Championships at 125 kilos. The New Jersey native faced 2013 World silver medalist Alan Zasieiev of Ukraine in his first match, and fell 6-1. The Ukranian led 2-1 at the break, and then opened up the scoring in the second period, picking up two takedowns and winning the match by five points. Rey was eliminated from the competition when Zakharevych surrendered an eight-point lead in his next match, losing 16-8 to Geno Petriashvili of Georgia. "I've wrestled him in the past," said Rey. "I've lost to him in the past. I'm not here for the experience. I'm here to get a medal. I didn't get that done." Rey was a late addition to Team USA after World Team Trials champion Tervel Dlganev was unable to compete because of an injury. He said he felt ready. "I was in great shape," said Rey. "I felt good. My strength was there. I just didn't get it done today." Tonight's final session begins at 6:30 p.m. PT.