InterMat Staff

Participants of the 2014 Dream Team Classic pose for a photo (Photo/Cliff Keen Athletic) MARIETTA, Ga. -- On Sunday afternoon, Team USA handled Georgia, 37-15, at the 2014 Wrestling USA/Cliff Keen Dream Team Classic held at Lassiter High School in Marietta Ga. Team USA won nine of the 13 matches. However, Team Georgia had two of the highlight victories in the dual meet, both coming from Collins Hill wrestlers. At 120, No. 3 Sean Russell topped No. 5 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.), 5-2. At 126, No. 7 Ryan Millhoff edged No. 3 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), 5-3. Anchoring Team USA's victory was a pin from No. 11 Billy Miller at 285 pounds, and four major decision victories, including the one earned by No. 2 Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) in the featured match of the dual meet at 182 pounds. Results: 220: No. 19 Matthew Moore (Apalachee) pinned Sage Hecox (Machesney Park Harlem, Ill.) 285: No. 11 Billy Miller (Perry, Ohio) pinned M.J. Couzan (Archer) 113: Alonzo Allen (Rockdale County) dec. No. 7 Brian Rossi (Lockport, Ill.), 9-4 145: No. 2 Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) dec. Jason Alfau (Camden County), 14-8 132: No. 11 Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional, Pa.) maj. dec. Tyler Marinelli (Jefferson), 15-7 152: No. 3 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) maj. dec. Matthew Moody (Lowndes), 14-6 160: No. 3 Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) maj. dec. Jake Henson (Pope), 15-6 138: No. 6 Seth Gross (Apple Valley, Minn.) dec. Cameron Perry (Gilmer), 8-4 126: No. 7 Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill) dec. No. 3 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), 5-3 195: No. 3 Nathan Rose (Sibley East, Minn.) vs. No. 3 at 220 Chance McClure (Commerce), 5-4 170: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.) pinned Damarko Dixon (Appling County) 120: No. 3 Sean Russell (Collins Hill) dec. No. 5 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.), 5-2 182: No. 2 at 170 Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) maj. dec. No. 4 at 195 Chip Ness (Buford), 12-3

Joe Warren

The Friday Mailbag turns 2 years old today. Thank you to the readers, emailers and commenters who have helped make this weekly discussion of wrestling topics so popular. I would have expected writing a weekly column would be mind-numbing repetitiveness, but you have kept it fresh and provided adept insight into our sport's biggest issues. Thanks again for all your support and loyalty. -- Tim Zeke Jones shook up the wrestling world this week when he left his post as head freestyle coach for USA Wrestling to take over the head coaching job at Arizona State. The move made sense for Jones, but for USA Wrestling it left an uncertain future. Jones deserves a lot of praise for the job he did with the USA Wrestling men's freestyle program. A 1991 World champion and silver medalist at the Barcelona Olympics, Jones used his passion and insight into international freestyle to help revamp and retool a struggling USA program. His 2012 Olympic team was one of the country's most successful, earning two gold medals and a bronze. Jones oversaw the development of Jordan Burroughs and was brilliant in giving Mark Manning the space to coach his wrestler the way he saw appropriate. He leaves Colorado Springs with America as the No. 3 freestyle squad in the world. ASU coach Zeke Jones and wife Renee have four children (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)I ran into Jones a few months ago at the Yariguin tournament in Krasnoyarsk and he was open about the challenges of running the national team. As you might expect, bi-weekly international travel is taxing physically and emotionally. The work takes you away from your family and the home life that we often take for granted. With four children, Jones wanted to spend more time at home, but he also wanted to win. College coaching won't mean a ton of free time for Jones. But after pushing hard for several years, Jones was fortunate to be presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach at his alma mater. Even the most die-hard USA Wrestling fans would find it tough to blame Jones for making the move. But those same fans might also see the danger of making a switch mid-Olympic cycle. Jones was a master organizer and did well to get his wrestlers into a system where they knew what to expect and what was expected of them. With a coaching change the attitude and direction of the team are sure to change. Some wrestlers will enjoy and progress, while others will resist and leave. The balance between the former and the latter will depend on the transition team and how well the rules are carried over. Since Jones did such a great job, it's likely that much of his system will remain. So who's next? That's tough to predict since the job COULD appeal to any coach in the country. I would like to see Cael Sanderson take a shot at coaching the international team. He's proven that he can win several consecutive NCAA titles as a wrestler and coach, and can even lead an individual Olympic wrestler to gold. Could he also lead a team to the freestyle title? John Smith, Tom Brands, Mark Manning, Sammie Henson, Lou Rosselli, and Sean Bormet are all great names from the college ranks. Then there are those already on staff like Bruce Burnett (who is heading the transition), Brandon Slay, and Bill Zadick. Whoever USA Wrestling chooses they'll have an uphill climb in 2014. The world is getting more competitive with teams like India, Mongolia, Georgia and Azerbaijan reloading for the upcoming World Championships in Tashkent. Then there is an Iranian team that is arguably the best freestyle team to take the mat since the USSR teams of the 1970's. The Russians are deep enough to field four top-ten teams. The new freestyle coach will have to play a head-spinning game of catch-up on scouting likely opponents and figuring out which of our wrestlers are best suited for competition. He'll have to play politics, travel 200k miles a year and work his butt off just to keep the team at the level it's enjoyed during Jones' tenure. I'm cautiously optimistic that everything will be ironed out by early summer, but if it's not, that's just our luck. To your questions ... Q: I would love to see a postseason all-star/charity event that brings in one or two top-ranked wrestlers at each weight class from Division I, Division II, Division III, and NAIA to compete against each other. I think it would be exciting to see them go at it. -- Jared W. Foley: Agreed, though I'm sure that after five months of knocking heads that some of these guys just want to relax and enjoy college life. As many fans remember, the NCAA tournament once invited the best from Division II and Division III. Probably made for an interesting event, but the NCAA hates fun and segregated the tournaments. Q: Rank all the Big Ten programs (1-14) in terms of most desirable head coaching position. -- Mike T. Foley: There was only one way to make the list with any slant towards equality, and that was to create the scenario in which every position was open and you were asked to bid on becoming the coach. To do this you also have to assume their current statue within the league, the possibility of adding funding and support, and all other options I'm sure a coach weighs when choosing a job. In essence, this is as much about how I think everyone else would rate the jobs, as it is my own read. 1. Penn State 2. Iowa 3. Michigan 4. Minnesota 5. Ohio State 6. Nebraska 7. Illinois 8. Wisconsin 9. Northwestern 10. Michigan State 11. Maryland 12. Indiana 13. Rutgers 14. Purdue Q: How does the University of Texas not have a wrestling team? The Big 12 could really use another team and that athletic department has money to burn, plus I've read where high school wrestling is getting better in Texas. -- Tim J. Foley: High school wrestling in Texas is improving. The teams are performing better at the national level and the Division I talent produced seems to indicate there is more on the way. The biggest battle for wrestling in a state like Texas (and the entire Deep South) is to overcome the popularity of football and the pervasiveness of the NFL-type protect-the-shield culture. Football will always be legal in the state of Texas. Long after Connecticut moves over to flag football leagues, Texas will still allow their 9-year-old sons to ram head-first into each other. This affects wrestling because the more the sport is attacked, the more a place like Texas is likely to double-down on their love for their sport and push away anything that seems like a threat. Also, with the recent developments of student-athletes getting closer to earning a paycheck from their work, schools like Texas are going to be much more careful about how and where they spend their monies. I think that when we talk about adding Division I college programs we have to look first at the schools with proud traditions whose teams were lost to Title IX in the 90's, or to budget cuts in the Aughties. For me it's easier to imagine the reinstatement of a program because the alumni base -- which is significant in raising funds and awareness -- is already in place and motivated to achieve. Places like Clemson, Syracuse, Fresno State, Notre Dame and even Yale are the lead candidates for navigating the difficult task of reviving a lost program. Q: I read on InterMat (interview with Drew Pariano) that Jason Tsirtsis and Aaron Pico are going to wrestle at Beat the Streets on May 7. How do you see that match playing out? -- Mike C. Foley: Whoa. Love it. This is (I think) going to be freestyle so I give the edge to Pico. If he does win that also means that fans will be yapping for months about how the California Kid would have been the world's greatest ever collegiate wrestler. Except I'm choosing him because he's really, really good and been training exclusively in freestyle for more than a year. Pico's win over Russia's Emeev was impressive, especially after the latter's runner-up performance at Yariguin in January. His progression will be vital to showing the next generation of American high schoolers that they don't have to wrestle in college to win the Olympics. Should be a fantastic match. Q: In freestyle, with all the recent changes to the rules and scoring again and again ... and finally again, and with the U.S. Open just around the corner, is there a link you could share that shows the current freestyle wrestling rules as they apply today? -- Randy B. Foley: The freestyle rules are more-or-less unchanged since the end of last year. Here is the quick and dirty. 2-point takedowns 1-point reversals 1-point pushout 2-point shoulder exposure, 1-point hand-to-hand exposure All exposures from feet are now counted as point (no 5-point or 3-point) 10-point technical superiority First criteria is highest scoring maneuver As most people came to see with the World Cup in Los Angeles, the new rules have created plenty of action. No more ball draws and clinches and very few matches decided by criteria. To set the record straight on the perceived awfulness of criteria, there is criteria in college wrestling. It's just that international wrestling doesn't add a point to the winning side at the end of the match, like what happens at the end of a double OT rideout. I know we all hate the idea of no overtime, but what is gained far outweighs whatever you think is lost. If wrestling wants to get tournaments on television it needs to control the times of the matches. Though a lack of overtime might feel unfair, there is no way to implement the addition of a period without de-motivating the wrestlers from action. When the score is tied late the action is incredible, but when there is overtime, wrestlers often cruise -- choosing instead to have a quick rest and sudden victory scenario. Q: Do you reckon David Taylor of Penn State is the best four-time finalist/two-time champion in NCAA history. He's a Cyborg. Who were some other four-time finalists/two-time champions or three-time finalists/two-time champions? -- Big Iron Foley: Reckon so. The domination of opponents and only tripping up against the two opponents for a total of three losses makes Taylor and Ben Askren the top two choices. For what it's worth, I think of Taylor as a Gumby not a Cyborg. He's loose and long, where as a Cyborg is someone who can cause internal damage with a single look. Like ... Roberto "Cyborg" Abreau. This man is a Cyborg. Roberto "Cyborg" Abreau Q: I just got finished watching Boris Novachov's match against Toghrul Asgarov and I was wondering if to solve this new type of top ride/stall and to increase our success on the Olympic level (I acknowledge that we are steadily improving) do you see the NCAA ever instituting the standup rule like in freestyle if the top man is not working for the turn? I know it might sound like an extreme change but maybe one to consider! -- Jim D. Foley: Big win by Boris. When you watch the match you can FEEL Asgarov getting more and more tired. Boris' stuff was working and his four-point double leg was one of the best techniques of the weekend. Asgarov was wrestling in his first tournament since winning the 2012 Olympics, where the rules were still a little funny. He was up to a new weight and rusty, but when all was done is was Boris's training that proved the difference. The NCAA does need to consider the standup rule. Here is the history lesson on why America has mat wrestling. Ready? Set. Go! The current form of American traditional wrestling came from Irish collar-and-elbow style that showed up first in the northeast but eventually trickled across the country. Early matches would happen during March meetings when farmers and associated businessman would meet in rural New England locations to talk logistics and pricing, but would be entertained by the meeting of each town's best wrestlers. There were no points. Pin to win and on the ground wrestlers could use a variety of catch wrestling holds to incapacitate opponents. Eventually the talent gap shrank and the sport split off into two avenues: Professional and amateur wrestling, with a third much smaller catch wrestling which combined elements of both, but allowed for submissions. Amateur wrestling still wanted to see the fall, but over the years began to shed some of the more painful ways to turn over an opponent. Just like guillotines are a recent exclusion due to the pain inflicted, there are several dozen maneuvers used in the barns and backyards of the early 20th century which are now illegal. Without those holds and with points mattering more wrestlers began to feel satisfied with points victories. Pins have always been sexy, desirable and incentivizes, but as time has ticked past the 6-2 match is more common than the 62-second fall. That seems to have reached a pinnacle in 2014 with riding time playing the slim margin in an increasing number of matches. By gaming the system using maneuvers that allowed top wrestlers to move perpendicular without really trying for a fall, there were 100s of hours of college wrestling that looked like a man vs. man rodeo. Riding time dulled the action, but was ever-important in deciding the victor of razor thin matches. (Side note: riding time is also technically a criterion since no points are being scored.) The NCAA needs to address the riding time issue and the dearth of scoring in general. Though I dislike the idea, I'm willing to trust that they will find a solution to create scoring. Wrestling is a difficult sport to manage because the very essence of the sport asks for gamesmanship. Rule alterations are necessary to keep up the action on the mat. The only question left will be "how" they decide to incentivize action. I'm with you in thinking that a few more standups might not be a bad idea. Q: Do you think Nick Sulzer will become Virginia's first national champion next season? The top three placewinners at 165 pounds are graduating, clearing the way nicely for Sulzer. However, I have heard that Dieringer is moving up to 165 pounds. Sulzer vs. Dieringer in the NCAA finals perhaps? Also, supposedly J'den Cox is moving up to heavyweight next year. How do you think he will fare against guys like Adam Coon, Nick Gwiazdowski, Bobby Telford, and Mike McMullen? -- Dave T. Nick Sulzer (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Foley: Sulzer has the talent to make the NCAA finals and with an offseason of improvements comparable to gains he made last summer, he should be in the hunt. He didn't finish the season well, and wrestled tentatively at NCAAs. As an alum it's my hope that he takes a killer's attitude into next year's tournament and doesn't stop until he wins the national title. I hadn't heard much about his move up to heavyweight. Will he be big enough? I think that Gwiazdowski would have world's more trouble with Cox than he would with a heavyweight like Telford. What I like overall is that the division is getting more athletic. NCAA wrestling is better when our heavyweights are moving around and scoring points. COMMENT(S) OF THE WEEK By Brian W. Regarding stalling at the college level, if it's going to be called more often (which I absolutely agree, as a high school and college official myself, needs to be done), one major thing needs to be done. A great deal of power needs to be taken away from coaches in terms of who officiates their matches. At all levels, coaches have way too much pull with assigners with regard to blackballing officials from their duals, or keeping them off their mats in tournaments. Should a coach have an assigner/commissioner as a recourse to vent frustrations and call attention to potential errors or issue? Of course, but to be able to say that a referee will not work your matches? It's cherry-picking your own guys on some level, and it also means that the referees who work the matches are very cognizant of not pissing off the wrong guy. Has to stop, or else it's not going to get better. By Clint W. You had a few defensive pin topics/arguments in your mailbag as of late ... I have a rule that I feel would solve that inequity. If you have control (i.e. are in the top position), a pin is one-second. All other positions, it is two seconds. This would eliminate the injustice when a superior wrestler gets touch falled on a roll-through or when scrambling, etc. If you take somebody down to their back, you are awarded a two-point takedown before backs are counted, so this would not change that as you would have control, so this would just apply to scrambles and pins from the bottom position, which you should need to demonstrate an extra level of control for.

LEXINGTON, Va. -- The interim tag is off for Chris Skretkowicz. After spending the 2013-14 season as the interim head coach for the Virginia Military Institute wrestling team, athletic director Dr. Dave Diles has promoted Skretkowicz as the newest head coach for the program. “I am excited to have the opportunity to guide the VMI wrestling program into the future, said Skretkowicz. “As countless great coaches have done before me, I look forward to developing young men to become successful wrestlers as well as leaders in all walks of life. I would like to thank Dr. Diles, General Peay, and the Institute for this opportunity.” Skretkowicz becomes the 15th head coach since the program earned varsity status in 1921. “I'm very pleased to appoint Chris as our permanent head coach. He has an exceptional competitive background, a proven track record as an assistant coach, and he demonstrated excellent leadership during his interim tenure,” said Dr. Diles. “In addition, Chris' values and integrity make him a great match for VMI. The team responded very well to his coaching style and I'm looking forward to working with him to advance our wrestling program.” Skretkowicz concluded his eighth season on Post as a coach, spending his first seven years in Lexington as an assistant. This past season, he served as the interim head coach, stepping in for John “Rocky” Trudgeon, who guided the team for 28 years and logged more than any other coach in program history. In his season as an interim head coach, Skretkowicz saw red-shirt junior Juan Adams reach the podium at the 2014 Southern Conference Wrestling Championships as the heavyweight finished third overall, just missing a berth in the NCAA Tournament. During his time on Post, Skretkowicz mentored the program’s most recent Southern Conference champion, Josh Wine, who won the heavyweight title three times at VMI (2008, 2009, 2011). A 2005 graduate of Hofstra, Skretkowicz earned CAA Tournament Outstanding Wrestler honors as a senior, along with CAA Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman. Among individual tournaments, Skretkowicz was a three-time placewinner at The Midlands, while also capturing the 197 pound championship at the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Skretkowicz brings a prestigious wrestling background to the Institute, placing sixth at the NCAA tournament in 2003 and fifth in 2004. His 140-24 career record was accompanied by a perfect 26-0 mark against CAA opponents in his four years in the league. He qualified for the NCAA Championships each of his four seasons, and continues to help train Keydet wrestlers to do the same.

The Northwestern Wildcats are trending upward. They are coming off a top-10 finish at the NCAAs and return all five NCAA qualifiers, including three All-Americans. Northwestern also signed three of the nation's top 20 recruits from the Class of 2014. InterMat catches up with Northwestern coach Drew Pariano and talks to him about this past season, Jason Tsirtsis, incoming recruits, NCAA championship proposal, and more. Drew Pariano celebrates after Jason Tsirtsis wins the NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Northwestern is coming off a ninth-place finish at the NCAAs. Overall, were you and your staff pleased with the team's finish this past season? Pariano: Pleased is probably a good way to put it. But we're never satisfied. We had several guys wrestle above their seeds. Obviously, we were in some tight spots with the seeding. I feel like we're not totally taking into consideration the grind of the Big Ten tournament anymore when it comes to the seeding. We had our work cut out for us and tough guys all the way through. I'm very proud of the guys. My assistant coaches Jay Borschel, Matt Storniolo, Conor Beebe, and Tim Cysewski were instrumental to our team's success at the NCAAs. Mike McMullan coming back for third after he was disappointed, and then Pierce Harger getting his first All-American status was great. He worked really hard with Borschel and got it done, but he's not satisfied. He wants to win a national title. When the NCAA brackets were you released and you saw that Jason Tsirtsis was seeded No. 5 after winning the Big Ten title, what was your reaction? Pariano: A little bit of confusion. He had just beaten Nick Dardanes head-to-head. He lost to him in the dual. I get that. But when you beat him at Big Tens on a bigger stage that should carry a little more weight. I felt like Dardanes was sitting down there in a pretty good spot. Jason ends up getting a national champion in the quarters, and even Busler in the first round. That's a tough match. Then English in the second round, and that kid was wrestling great. Jason just really earned that championship. He beat Houdashelt in the semis, the No. 1 guy. Jason Tsirtsis defeated top-seeded Drake Houdashelt of Missouri in the NCAA semifinals at 149 pounds in Oklahoma City (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)What kind of impact has Tsirtsis had on your program since he arrived? Pariano: He's a guy that you knew was going to be very good. I think there are a lot of guys like him now that you just know are going to very good. You knew David Taylor was going to be very good, Kyle Dake ... Some of these younger guys you just know they're going to be very good. But at the same time, you have to make some adjustments. Many of those adjustments he made this season were just getting acclimated to the grind of the long season. A redshirt season doesn't necessarily prepare you for the grind of the Big Ten season. He did a good job toward the end of the year doing everything right ... dieting right, sleeping right, studying right, watching video, doing extra workouts. He did it right. Tsirtsis mentioned after winning his NCAA title that he's going to start training for freestyle. What are his competition plans for this spring and summer? Pariano: He just took a match with Aaron Pico at the Beat the Streets event in New York City on May 7, which I know is going to be heavily talked about. Then probably University Nationals, and then the Senior World Team Trials. So he has a full docket. Mike McMullan dropped a tight match in the second round to Austin Marsden, but came all the way back to finish third. What was your takeaway from his performance in Oklahoma City? Pariano: Just toughness. He knows he didn't wrestle a good match against Marsden. Marsden did what he had to do to win. There was so much frustration there. But at the same time he took it in ... and took it literally one match at a time, beats Medbery, pins Chalfant in 18 seconds, and then beats Telford, who is a hard guy to beat. He just did a great job coming back through. He did not have an easy road. You look at that heavyweight bracket ... there aren't too many easy spots in there. Stevan Micic recently won his third straight state title (Photo/Paul Tincher, IndianaMat.com)You have signed three of the nation's top 20 recruits in Bryce Brill, Johnny Sebastian, and Stevan Micic. What kind of impact do you expect those wrestlers to have on your program? Pariano: It just continues to build. I give credit to my assistant coaches and the current guys on the team for creating that environment. I think they've created an environment where we now expect to challenge for a trophy. The days of just wanting to finish in the top 15 are long gone, and I think the recruits see the vision. Another thing the recruits said is they like the fact that they can be a part of something special here at Northwestern, kind of like what we had in 2007 when we were fourth with Herbert, Lang, Tamillow, and Fox. That was a very special time for our program. Those guys felt like they earned that. They had some ownership in that. I think these guys feel the same way. I think they feel like they can make a difference. They were recruited by everybody ... Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Michigan, whoever. But they just decided that Northwestern was the place for them academically and athletically, and we're excited to get them up here as soon as possible. Do you expect the incoming recruits to challenge for spots in the lineup next season? Pariano: It's a case-by-case situation. We have to look at who we have coming back at the weight class, but at the same time we want to put our best team out there. Sometimes redshirting isn't always the best answer. Redshriting sometimes takes you out of your element. It takes you away from competing every weekend. I think we do a really good job of sitting down with the guys and figuring it all out. It's not like a dictatorship where the coach just says, 'Hey, you're going in there.' We sit down collectively as a staff with the student-athletes and decide what's best for them. Maryland and Rutgers are both competing in the Big Ten starting next season. What are your thoughts on the addition of those two programs? Pariano: I think they're both on the rise. Kerry McCoy and Scott Goodale are both doing a great job. Rutgers had an All-American this season, and then they're getting Ashnault off resdshirt and a lot of other good guys. Maryland had a national finalist this year. You're just adding two more hammers to the conference. It's going to make the conference tournament that much tougher. Now we're doing nine duals a year. There's no easy road in the Big Ten. How are plans coming along for the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships? Pariano: It's going well. I think we're going to have some teams back ... obviously, we have the mainstays. I think teams are bouncing back and forth between the Scuffle and Midlands, and for me that's OK. We're going to get a lot of East Coast teams this year and Big Ten teams. We would like to get Iowa State back. Adding Michigan a few years ago was great because they had taken kind of a long hiatus from the Midlands. It's kind of a rotating thing. We would love to see independent guys enter. I would love to see Joey Davis from Notre Dame College come in and put it on the line. That would be awesome. That's what Midlands is all about. The Division I Wrestling Committee released a recommended proposal that the championships include a team component and an individual component. Where do you and your coaching staff stand on that proposal? Pariano: People are glued to the team race at the NCAAs. If you give the top teams 50 points, 42 points, 35, whatever the break down was, I think that takes away some of the unsung heroes ... programs like Clarion, Binghamton, and Appalachian State that want to break into the top 20. I just don't see how that works. I know people say change is necessary, well, I do believe that. But let's go back to the model where we were having some success with National Duals. It was a big event at Northern Iowa. Most of the top teams were going, and then you include the other divisions. And then what I think you could do is with the Virginia Duals invite teams 17 through 32, and then that event becomes viable. I don't want to call it like the NIT, but it would still be a great national event. What's your opinion of the mat-side review and challenge system in place in college wrestling? Very few calls were overturned by challenges at the NCAAs. Pariano: Refs don't want to overturn themselves. It's like a professor admitting they're wrong after giving an exam. Who wants to overrule themselves? If that's truly going to work they need an independent ref that's watching the match, or you just take the assistant official out of there and they watch the review and make an educated decision. It's all about the kids. We want the calls right. I'm not against video review in any way, shape, or form, I just feel like we have to find a better way to do it. If you're the ref making that call and you get overturned six times in the tournament, that's going to get back to Pat McCormick and you might not be reffing the NCAA tournament the next year. Mike Mullan earned his third straight All-American honor (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Obviously, next season you return all five of your NCAA qualifiers, including three All-Americans. What's the team goal? Pariano: The team goal is to challenge for a trophy. Once you set that goal I think you even set the goal higher once you get to the tournament. This year we were in like 20th place, then 17th place, then 11th place ... We didn't get into the top 10 until after Jason won in the NCAA finals. I think that shows great resiliency on our team's part. But at the same time, after the first round next year we want to be in the top four. We want to be in a place where we can do a lot of damage. We need to qualify eight or nine guys next year. Thanks for making time to do the interview, Drew. Is there anything else you want to add? Pariano: We're very excited about the future. Alex Tsirtsis does a great job with our club. The Chicago Regional Training Center is going to be growing. Jason Welch is still training with us. My assistant coach Conor Beebe is as well. We're hoping to get more guys to move to Chicago. I think a lot of the major programs need that. We have Aaron Anspach training at the Chicago Regional Training Center. He's not necessarily competing, but he's a great resource and role model for Mike McMullan. I think that's an aspect of our program that's really going to grow. We want World teams to conduct their camps at Northwestern. We don't start school until late September, so in August that room is completely open for our guys to work out, and then also have Cadet, Junior, and senior level World teams come on in and do their thing in Chicago.

Related: Rich Bender Video Interview | Zeke Jones Video Interview Arizona State announced today that USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones of Colorado Springs, Colo. has been named as the new head wrestling coach at his alma mater Arizona State. Jones returns to Arizona State after serving 5.5 years as National Freestyle Coach with USA Wrestling, the national governing body for the sport. Under Jones leadership, the USA was able to reestablish its place among the top freestyle wrestling nations in the world. Zeke Jones talks to Nick Marable at the World Cup (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"This is a positive step forward for wrestling in America. The USA freestyle program is heading in a great direction, thanks to Zeke's efforts. The storied program at Arizona State will get a great leader to strengthen an important college program for the future. We are grateful for Zeke Jones' passion and commitment for USA Wrestling and the national freestyle program, and we wish him great success with his new opportunity," said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. "It was always my goal to come back to college wrestling. Six years ago, Rich Bender and I talked about serving our country and getting our freestyle program back on track. I wanted to take on that challenge. I feel we are at a better place than we were. Now, I am ready for a new challenge, helping elevate Arizona State's program into one of the best in the country and position its wrestlers for World and Olympic medals," said Jones. Under Jones leadership at the 2012 Olympic Games, the United States won three medals, including gold medalists Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner and bronze medalist Coleman Scott. The USA was also third in the unofficial team standings. In the four World Championships during Jones' tenure, the USA came home with a World Championships trophy once, placing third at the 2011 World Championships. The USA was also in the top seven teams in three of those years, also placing fifth in 2013 and seventh in 2009. He led the USA to five individual World Championship medals, including two-time World champion Jordan Burroughs. The United States competed in three Freestyle World Cups during the Jones era, placing third in 2012 and 2013 and sixth in 2010. Under Jones and his national staff, the USA was also successful on the world level on the age-group level. During the Jones staff era, the USA won eight Junior World medals, five University World medals and four Cadet World medals, including five gold medalists. USA Wrestling will begin its search for a new National Freestyle Coach immediately. Prior to joining USA Wrestling, Jones served as the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania for three years. Jones coached Penn's Matt Valenti to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007. Penn set school records for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament and having eight returning NCAA qualifiers. Jones was named the Rookie Head Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News his first season there. He served seven years as an assistant coach at West Virginia, helping coach three NCAA champions, five NCAA finalists and 12 All-Americans. He helped lead the team to three conference titles (2002, 2003 and 2005). He also served on the coaching staffs at Arizona State and Bloomsburg. Jones was an Olympic Freestyle Coach for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, which competed in Athens, Greece. The U.S. won three medals in Athens, with a gold by Cael Sanderson and silvers by Stephen Abas and Jamill Kelly. Jones served as head coach for the American team at the 2001 World Championships. The U.S. placed fifth in the team standings and featured a pair of silver medalists. Jones was the head coach for a pair of U.S. teams that won titles at the World Cup. He was named 2001 and 2002 Freestyle Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. He has made numerous contributions as the head coach with the Sunkist Kids, one of the most successful wrestling clubs in the world. Jones was head coach of the 2003 Pan American Games team, which won the team title and captured four individual gold medals. He also was on the U.S. coaching staff for the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. Among the athletes he coached were 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kendall Cross and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson. Jones had an outstanding career as a wrestler at the international level. He won a gold medal at the 1991 World Championships. Jones also claimed a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. He added a bronze medal at the 1995 World Championships. He placed fourth in the 1990 and 1993 World Championships. He was a member of the U.S. squads that won World team titles in 1993 and 1995. A four-time World Cup champion, Jones was the No. 1 ranked freestyle wrestler in the USA for seven straight years. He is a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Jones was voted "World's Most Technical Wrestler" by FILA. Jones wrestled at Arizona State, where he was a NCAA finalist and was a three-time All-American for the Sun Devils. Jones was a member of the 1988 Arizona State team which won the NCAA Div. I title under coach Bobby Douglas, the first national champion team in wrestling from the Western United States. He was top-ranked freestyle wrestler in the USA while still competing in college. Jones is excited about serving as head coach at his alma mater, and helping lead the Sun Devil program to prominence. "Arizona State has made it very clear. They want to not only have the best college wrestling program in America, but they also want to have the best freestyle program in America, which produces NCAA champions and World and Olympic medalists. Our goals are simple. We want to be the best we can be. We want to challenge for national championships. We want our athletes to graduate, to be leaders in society and the community and to be proud Sun Devils. We have a lot of work to do, and we want to do it the right way," said Jones. The Arizona State athletic department is excited to bring back one of its Sun Devil wrestling heroes to lead the program moving forward. His appointment will commence pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents. "I think it's a tremendous day for the sport of wrestling in the state of Arizona," Arizona State Athletics Director Ray Anderson said. "The hire of Zeke Jones makes a statement to the wrestling community within our state that Arizona State University is seeking to reestablish its program among the elite in the country. We are thrilled to welcome Zeke back to his alma mater." "I've known Zeke Jones since he was a student-athlete here," senior associate athletic director Don Bocchi said. "I've certainly been proud of his accomplishments through his coaching career and his career as a world-class athlete. He is one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport. There are few people in any sport that have single-name recognition. In the sport of wrestling, when you say Zeke, you don't have to say Jones, and that's worldwide. That says something to his accomplishments both as an athlete and as a coach." Jones is originally from Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was a state high school champion, a three-time Junior National All-American and a Dream Team selection by Wrestling USA Jones and his wife, Renee, have four children, Jessica, David, Rebecca and Jacob.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue head wrestling coach Scott Hinkel has announced his resignation, effective immediately. Scott Hinkel (Photo/Purdue Sports Information)"Purdue University has been my home for most of my adult life, but there comes a time when you feel it is in everyone's best interest to move away from home," Hinkel said. "I appreciate the support I have received from everyone at the university and our fans. It is difficult to walk away from my wrestlers and fellow alumni, but I know they will persevere and do what they can to keep this program on the right track." Hinkel, who just completed his seventh season as head coach, posted a 74-57-2 record (.564 winning percentage). Highlights included a 23rd-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Championships and a sixth-place finish at the 2010 Big Ten Championships. He is the only head coach in Purdue history to post a winning dual record in each of his first three seasons. Hinkel coached three All-Americans: Jake Patacsil (2009), Cashé Quiroga (2010) and Ivan Lopouchanski (2013). At the same time, Hinkel elevated the academic success of the Boilermakers. The program achieved its first NWCA top 30 All-Academic team ranking in 2010, and his wrestlers earned 46 Academic All-Big Ten honors. "Scott has worked tirelessly to build our wrestling program and elevate its popularity on our campus and throughout the community," said associate athletics director Calvin Williams, who oversees the wrestling program. "He cares deeply about his student-athletes and their well-being both on the mat and in the classroom. It has been a pleasure working with him the last three years." Before being selected as head coach in 2007, Hinkel served as a Purdue assistant coach for 14 seasons. As a student-athlete at Purdue, Hinkel earned All-America honors in 1987 at 126 pounds and received Academic All-Big Ten accolades, becoming the first of only two wrestlers in school history to accomplish both in the same season. He ranks first in school history in career falls (45) and second in career wins (127). "Scott is a Boilermaker through and through," athletics director Morgan Burke said. "He has been a tremendous ambassador for Purdue University for 25 years. In addition to his work with our wrestlers athletically and academically, Scott has been a strong advocate for the John Purdue Club and recruiting former student-athletes to join the Varsity P Club. I want to personally thank Scott for his contributions and wish him and his family all the best." A national search will begin for Hinkel's replacement. Hinkel will serve in an administrative capacity with the athletics department through June 30. Assistant coaches Pete Rogers and Chris Fleeger will continue in their current roles pending the hire of a new head coach.

It'll be a busy day of MMA on Friday, with both the UFC and Bellator holding events. The UFC card is anchored by a heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, an entertaining fight but not a contest that will have an impact on the title picture. Things don't get much better in the co-main, with perennial head bobber Clay Guida likely to pick up a lackluster decision win over a faded Tatsuya Kawajiri. Bellator, meanwhile, will bid farewell to respected veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. Rounding things out, former Sambo practitioner Blagoi Ivanov could be the most intriguing fighter to watch this weekend as he seeks to reach the heavyweight tournament finals. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Zahid Valencia (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) It's been exactly a month since the conclusion of the state wrestling championships season -- New Jersey wrestled their state finals on March 9. While the state championships are a major pinnacle of each season, it is not the endpoint for scholastic wrestling in the least. There's been a slew of wrestling since then -- some (senior) all-star meets, along with a couple of key national-level tournaments (NHSCA grade-level nationals, FloNationals, and the USA Wrestling Junior & Cadet Folkstyle Championships). Below is a look at five wrestlers that have had significantly positive performances over this period of time. Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) The nation's top 132-pound wrestler, and sixth-ranked overall Class of 2015 prospect, moved up four weight classes for the Junior National Folkstyle Championships this past weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Competing at 152 pounds, he won the title with an impressive performance. Valencia's tournament run started with two pins; continued with a 7-3 win over two-time state placer Dan Kelly (Cedar Falls, Iowa), who was third this past year at 138 pounds; upended Joe Smith (Stillwater, Okla.), the nation's No. 11 Class of 2015 wrestler, 2-1 in the tiebreaker of the quarterfinals; beat nationally ranked Tagen Lambotte (Rossville, Kan.), a four-time state champion, 3-1 in the semifinals; and then beat two-time state champion Jared Scharenbock (Sun Prairie, Wis.) 7-3 in the final. Nick Piccininni (Ward Mellville, N.Y.) Nick Piccininni (Photo/Joe DAquila, Phototrens.com)Currently ranked No. 4 nationally at 120 pounds, and No. 13 overall in the Class of 2015, Piccininni put himself right into the middle of the calculus for the No. 1 position at his weight class with performance in the postseason. It started with a decisive 7-1 victory in the Pinning Down Autism dual meet against state runner-up Michael Russo (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.). He then strung together seven victories on way to winning a very tough FloNationals bracket at 120 pounds this past weekend. The tournament started with three decisive wins over relative unknowns -- a 7-1 decision, followed by a 46 second pin, and then a 19-2 technical fall. The round of 16 bout was a 5-3 victory over state champion Dylan Duncan (Montini Catholic, Ill.); Piccininni then upended No. 14 George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.), runner-up at the Super 32 Challenge this fall, by 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals; and it was then a 3-1 win over four-time state placer, and 2013 state champion, Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) in the semifinal. This set up a championship bout against No. 1 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), the defending FloNationals champion and winner of the Super 32 Challenge this fall. This bout ended up as a one-sided destruction, one in which Piccininni came through with a 10-2 major decision victory. Kenneth Brinson (Marist, Ga.) Though Brinson had very strong productivity -- two straight undefeated state title seasons, NHSCA Freshman and Sophomore Nationals titles -- the junior from Georgia made his debut in the national rankings during the 2014 portion of the scholastic season. He entered the NHSCA Junior Nationals two weekends ago ranked No. 17 nationally at 220 pounds and outside the top 50 overall in the Class of 2015. In said event, he emerged as champion. Brinson's run started with a pair of first period pins, before a closer than expected 4-3 victory in the quarterfinal round over state champion Patrick Grayson (Colonial Forge, Va.). The semifinal match was a decisive 11-5 victory over New England regional champion and Super 32 Challenge runner-up Ian Butterbrodt (St. John's Prep, Mass.). That was all in prelude to the championship match against Austin Myers (Campbell County, Ky.), who is positioned No. 23 overall in the Class of 2015 and No. 7 in this weight class. It was a bout won 8-6 by Brinson. Two reasons why Brinson is not as heralded as some of his productivity suggests he should be. First, he is floating in a medium-school Georgia classification. Second, he doesn't really compete during the spring/summer, as he is nationally ranked in his age group for the discus and javelin. Brinson was a high school state champion in the discus as a sophomore. Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) It's been a very productive cycle for Wisman, starting with a double fourth place finish at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. this summer. He won his first state title this season after finishing runner-up as a freshman and sophomore. The last two weekends have been stellar for the nation's No. 45 ranked Class of 2015 prospect, and the No. 15 ranked 182-pound wrestler. First it was a title at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, including a pin at the 5:00 mark against state champion Jared Langley (Newton, Kan.) in the semifinal, and then a 3-1 decision over fellow three-time state placer and 2014 state champion Cash Wilcke (OA-BCIG, Iowa) in the final. Then, he also won the title at the FloNationals this past weekend. Key victories came by 6-3 decision in the semifinal against three-time state champion Boomer Fleming (Ridgeview, Ore.), and then a 7-3 victory over No. 11 Christian Dietrich (Greene, N.Y.) in the championship final. Jairod James (Bedford, Ohio) Never even a finalist in his state tournament, placing only seventh and fourth, James is not a nationally ranked wrestler, nor will he likely end up as one next week. However, the non-committed wrestler had a superlative NHSCA Senior Nationals tournament on the way to finishing as runner-up at 152 pounds. Leading in the championship bout, James had three very high quality wins. The first was a 9-4 round of 16 win over state placer Dennis Ferro (East Islip, N.Y.), then it was a first period pin in the quarterfinals over three-time state placer -- and this year a state champion -- Travis Willers (Pleasant Valley, Iowa), and capped off by a 7-1 win over three-time state placer Maaziah Bethea (Trenton Central, N.J.) in the semifinal. The championship loss was 4-3 in the tiebreaker against No. 13 Paul Fox (Gilroy, Calif.), despite James scoring the lone takedown in the match.

The 2014-15 NCAA Division I wrestling season is still seven months away, which makes forecasting the season both premature and speculative. A lot can (and will) change in the summer and fall months. Decisions will be made on redshirting, injuries will occur, and wrestlers will shift weight classes. For some teams, projected lineups in April will look much different than actual lineups in November. With that said, here is my early projection on the trophy (top four) teams at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. The trophy teams are not listed in projected order of finish. Ohio State Ohio State's Logan Stieber celebrates after defeating Virginia Tech's Devin Carter to win his third NCAA championship (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The Buckeyes have the "it" factor right now despite not winning a team trophy at the NCAAs since 2009. Expectations are sky-high in Columbus for good reason. Tom Ryan's Buckeyes are loaded with talent and experience. Logan Stieber returns for his senior season and will be looking to become just the fourth wrestler in NCAA Division I wrestling history to win four NCAA Division I titles. Logan's younger brother Hunter, a two-time All-American, will return to the Buckeye lineup after a redshirt season. However, what makes the Buckeyes both a title contender -- and a bit of a question mark -- is their uber-talented freshman class. Two No. 1 overall recruits Bo Jordan (Class of 2013) and Kyle Snyder (Class of 2014) will step in the lineup for Ohio State at 165 pounds and 197 pounds respectively. Jordan, a four-time state champion, is coming off an undefeated (23-0) redshirt season, while Snyder, a Junior World champion, has spent the past year battling with the nation's top senior level wrestlers at the Olympic Training Center. In addition, three-time Junior National freestyle champion Nathan Tomasello will be looking to make an impact at 125 pound after an 18-0 redshirt season. The Buckeyes also return NCAA qualifiers Nick Roberts (125), Johnni DiJulius (133), Josh Demas (157), Mark Martin (174), Kenny Courts (184), and Nick Tavanello (285). Projected lineup: 125: Nathan Tomasello, 133: Johnni DiJulius, 141: Logan Stieber, 149: Hunter Stieber, 157: Josh Demas, 165: Bo Jordan, 174: Mark Martin, 184: Kenny Courts, 197: Kyle Snyder, 285: Nick Tavanello Iowa Iowa's Tom Brands coaches heavyweight Bobby Telford at the 2014 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in Madison, Wis. (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Hawkeye fans are getting restless after four straight seasons of finishing third or lower at the NCAAs. It goes without saying that that the expectation in Iowa City is for the Hawkeyes to be contending for a national championship every season, even as college wrestling enjoys more parity than ever. Iowa finished fourth this past season, 31 points behind NCAA champion Penn State. The Hawkeyes return All-Americans Cory Clark (125), Mike Evans (174), Nathan Burak (197), and Bobby Telford, as well as NCAA qualifiers Josh Dziewa (141), Brody Grothus (149), and Nick Moore (165). Coach Tom Brands certainly has some major voids to fill in his lineup with the graduation of NCAA champions Tony Ramos (133) and Derek St. John (157), as well as two-time All-American Ethen Lofthouse (184). The blow of losing Ramos (133) is softened a little bit by Clark taking over at 133 pounds, with Thomas Gilman taking over at 125 pounds. With St. John graduating, the 157-pound weight class remains a question mark at this point for the Hawkeyes. Iowa should be in good hands at 184 pound with Sammy Brooks replacing Lofthouse. Projected lineup: 125: Thomas Gilman, 133: Cory Clark, 141: Josh Dziewa, 149: Brody Grothus/Brandon Sorensen, 157: Michael Kelly/Brandon Sorensen, 165: Nick Moore, 174: Mike Evans, 184: Sammy Brooks, 197: Nathan Burak, 285: Bobby Telford Minnesota Minnesota coaches J Robinson and Luke Becker celebrate with Logan Storley after a quarterfinal win at the 2014 NCAAs (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)This year's NCAA runner-up Minnesota is losing some heavy hitters with the graduation of multiple-time All-Americans David Thorn (133), Kevin Steinhaus (184), and Tony Nelson (285), plus 2014 All-American Danny Zilverberg (165). For most college wrestling programs, the loss of four All-Americans -- one being a three-time NCAA finalist -- would almost assure a subsequent rebuilding season, but that's far from the case with the Gophers. Multiple-time All-Americans Dylan Ness (157), Logan Storley (174), and Scott Schiller (197) return, and all three are coming off top-three finishes in Oklahoma City. In addition, Chris Dardanes (141) is a multiple-time All-American, while twin brother Nick Dardanes (149) was an All-American in 2013. The Gophers also have some talented and experienced wrestlers waiting in the wings. Brett Pfarr, a fourth-place finisher at the Southern Scuffle, is expected to replace at Steinhaus at 184 pounds. Michael Kroells will take over for Nelson. Talented young wrestlers like Jake Short (149), Brandon Kingsley (157/165), and Nick Wanzek (165) will be looking to make an impact for the Gophers in 2014-15. Projected lineup: 125: Tommy Thorn/Ethan Lizak, 133: Sam Brancale, 141: Chris Dardanes, 149: Nick Dardanes, 157: Dylan Ness, 165: Brandon Kingsley/Nick Wanzek, 174: Logan Storley, 184: Brett Pfarr, 197: Scott Schiller, 285: Michael Kroells Penn State Penn State coaches Cael Sanderson and Casey Cunningham coach David Taylor in his 2014 NCAA finals match (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The four-time defending NCAA champion Nittany Lions lose two college wrestling greats in David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (184). The two wrestlers combined to compile a record of 270-6, win five NCAA titles and reach the NCAA finals seven times. The duo scored 51.5 team points for the Nittany Lions at the 2014 NCAAs in Oklahoma City, which accounted for 47 percent of Penn State's team points. However, even with the loss of both Taylor and Ruth, Cael Sanderson has enough talent in his stable for Penn State to make another championship run in 2015. Penn State has five wrestlers returning who have earned All-American honors either this past season or in previous seasons. Three-time All-American Nico Megaludis will be after the elusive NCAA title after two runner-up finishes and a third-place finish this past season. Zain Retherford, an NCAA fifth-place finisher as a true freshman, will look to climb the podium at 141 pounds. Matt Brown has been an All-American in each of his two seasons in the Penn State lineup, and Morgan McIntosh (197) is coming off a seventh-place finish. Dylan Alton (157) will look to regain the form that made him an All-American in 2012. Projected lineup: 125: Nico Megaludis, 133: Jimmy Gulibon, 141: Zain Retherford, 149: Andrew Alton/Zack Beitz, 157: Dylan Alton, 165: Garett Hammond, 174: Matt Brown, 184: Matt McCutcheon, 197: Morgan McIntosh, 285: Jimmy Lawson/Jon Gingrich Four teams outside looking in ... Cornell: There is too much talent training in the Freidman Wrestling Center Ithaca to not include the Big Red in the conversation for a team trophy in 2015. Two-time All-American Nahshon Garrett returns and will be looking to solve the Jesse Delgado puzzle and win an NCAA title at 125 pounds. Brian Realbuto (157) and Gabe Dean (184) were freshman All-Americans, and two other freshmen, Mark Grey (133) and Dylan Palacio (165), reached the round of 12. EIWA champions Chris Villalonga (149) and Jace Bennett (197) also return. This past season Rob Koll's squad exceeded expectations in large part because of the performances of their freshmen. If Cornell's new faces in the lineup in 2014-15, like Alex Cisneros (141), exceed expectations, the Big Red could be hoisting the NCAA championship trophy on Saturday night in St. Louis. Edinboro: The Fighting Scots, under the guidance of Tim Flynn, have flown under the radar in recent seasons, but that won't be the case any longer. Edinboro nearly knocked off Iowa in an early season dual meet, which opened some eyes. Then the Fighting Scots opened even more eyes with a fifth-place finish in Oklahoma City. Edinboro returns the most points from the 2014 NCAAs. Three All-Americans return -- A.J. Schopp (133), Mitchell Port (141), and Dave Habat (149) -- plus 2014 NCAA qualifiers Kory Mines (125) and Vic Avery (184). If Schopp and Port can reach the NCAA finals, and Mines, Avery, and a few others can step up and make noise in March, Edinboro could finish in the top four in 2015. Oklahoma State: The Cowboys lose a couple major point scorers in two-time NCAA champion Chris Perry (174) and four-time All-American Tyler Caldwell (165). Jon Morrison (133) and Blake Rosholt (197), both All-Americans in 2013, also graduate. The good news for Cowboy fans is that three of Oklahoma State's 2014 All-Americans return to Stillwater: NCAA champion Alex Dieringer (157), NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig (149), and eighth-place finisher Austin Marsden (285). NCAA qualifiers Anthony Collica (141) and Nolan Boyd (184) are also back. Northwestern: Drew Pariano's Wildcats, fresh off a ninth-place finish at the NCAAs, are on the rise and should be in the hunt for a team trophy in St. Louis. They return all five NCAA qualifiers from this past season, including three All-Americans. Jason Tsirtsis (149) claimed an NCAA title as a freshman, Mike McMullan (285) earned his third All-American honor with a third-place finish, and Pierce Harger (165) earned his first All-American honor with an eighth-place finish. Northwestern also signed a tremendous recruiting class that includes three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the Class of 2014. Whether any of those wrestlers step in the lineup as true freshmen and make an impact remains to be seen.

Minnesota's state high school wrestling tournament takes place at the Xcel Energy Center (Photo/David Peterson) From an outsider standpoint, the first weekend of March in Minnesota is just another state tournament for wrestling junkies. I understand we are a small minority of the population, but this time of year wrestling fans don't leave the state. There are roughly 10,000 of us not going on cruises, not going to Florida, Arizona, or Mexico. We stay put and settle in for the best three days of the year in Minnesota. St. Paul has been the host for this event every year for a long time. There was a one-year hiatus while the current home to the Minnesota Wild, the Xcel Energy Center (or simply the X as we call it), was being built. That year the tournament was hosted at Target Center, home to the Minnesota Timberwolves in downtown Minneapolis. It was awkward and almost everyone is glad it moved across the river where it belongs. Although the format has changed over the years, the weekend in its current form, crowns three state team champions and 42 individual champions. The dual meet (team) tournament has been running all day on Thursday for several years. There is argument whether it should be moved to Saturday to prevent forfeits that are inevitable. No one argues for the team and individuals to take place on separate weekends. Having them both on the same weekend is unusual nationwide, but Minnesota fans are hooked. There are always plenty of subplots going on. Usually everyone pays attention to the numbers and throws around phrases like, "He's a two-timer." There are a few numbers that deserve special attention. This year three wrestlers have a chance to become four-time state champions. One of them will have a chance to become a five-timer next year, while another has a chance for six in two years. We are talking hallowed ground here and it's a little too early to talk about. Tommy Thorn of STMA won his fourth state championship (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Tommy Thorn of STMA finished a perfect 49-0 and easily rolled through his bracket to finish at the top of the podium. He had three pins leading to the finals and finished with a convincing 12-0 win in the championship. No one scored a point on him. Thorn capped off his career with a gaudy 199-6 record, but there was something deeper going on here. Tommy and his older brothers Mike and David combined to win 11 state championships, which set a Minnesota record for the most number of state wrestling championships won by brothers. Mike and David were both two-time All-Americans at the University of Minnesota, and Tommy has signed to wrestle for the Gophers. Cameron Sykora of Border West also cruised to his fourth state championship, outscoring his opponents 57-1. He had four technical falls and finished his junior campaign with a perfect 35-0 record. Sykora will enter his senior year with a 176-13 career record. Mark Hall of Apple Valley capped off an undefeated season (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The final athlete to win the coveted fourth was Mark Hall of Apple Valley. Hall, who is ranked No. 1 among all sophomore wrestlers in the United States by InterMat, rolled through the tournament as easily as he seemed to roll through the season. He capped off a perfect 48-0 season hitting the bonus trifecta with a pair of pins, a technical fall and a major decision. Like Thorn and Sykora, Hall did not come close to losing. Thorn, Sykora, and Hall showed the fans why every Division I wrestling coach would welcome them as future students. For most of the past two seasons in the large-school division (AAA), there has been a hot rivalry brewing at 220 pounds. Alex Hart of Prior Lake and Paul Cheney of Apple Valley have traded wins. They each have two victories over each other and most fans opened their tournament programs to that bracket to see if they were on opposite sides. Sadly, Minnesota is one of the last states to ignore seeding and it's simply a draw based on sections. Most fans drew a collective sigh of relief when they noticed these two big bruisers were on opposite sides and would likely meet in the finals. These two guys couldn't be more different. Hart is about as easy-going a young man as you will find. He's extremely laid back and has a smile that could melt snow. He's really a football player in a wrestler's body. When asked about his accomplishments, he smiles and says he has two losses he's proud of. "I lost to Destin McCauley and Broc Berge. Pretty cool, huh?" He has no intention of wrestling in college. Instead he will put on the shoulder pads and should attract a generous scholarship. Wrestling doesn't burn in his veins, but he's deeply proud of his accomplishments. He wants this title and he's certain he's going to win it. Paul Cheney is the returning gold-medal winner and the favorite. He has a distinctive personality that borders on eccentric. He will be wrestling for a Division II program, Minnesota State University-Moorhead. This will be Cheney's last match of his high school career, while Hart has one more season to go. Alex Hart won his first state championship at 220 pounds (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)In his opening match, Hart drew a tough opponent and survived a 7-6 win. He went on to pin his way through the quarterfinals and semifinals. Cheney opened his tourney with a pin and scored a pair of convincing wins to make the finals on Saturday night. When the time came for these two to square off, almost all the fans were on the edge of their seats. Hart scored a pair of takedowns in the first period and took a 4-2 lead. Neither wrestler could hold the other down as the match was decided by takedowns. Hart walked off the mat with a tough 8-5 decision and a big smile. It was his first state championship. There was plenty of intrigue in the 120 AAA bracket. There were no returning state champions, but there were some national stars: Fargo Greco-Roman champion Mitchell McKee of STMA and Cadet Triple Crown winner Gannon Volk of Apple Valley. In addition a future star, Alex Lloyd of Shakopee, an eighth-grader that entered the weekend with a perfect record of 37-0. Most experts predicted a Volk vs. McKee showdown in the quarterfinals with the winner getting Lloyd in the semifinals. Again, since the tournament is not seeded, the premier matches were going to take place early. There are deep emotions all over this anticipated McKee vs. Volk matchup. Gannon Volk fell to Mitchell McKee in the state quarterfinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Volk is a quiet and respectful senior. He has always been small and it took many years to get big enough to make the Apple Valley lineup. It finally happened last season. He was easily the favorite at 113 pounds and spent most of the season ranked No. 1. Two weeks before sections, his teammate Maolu Woiwor dropped to 113 pounds and Volk lost the wrestle-off. He was forced to put on weight and knew he would face Tommy Thorn to get that coveted state title. He came up short in the finals, losing 9-1, as Thorn won his third title. This senior season was the year for Volk. He was at the correct weight class and there wasn't going to be a teammate in the way. Although Apple Valley has a giant target on their back and is often called the "Evil Empire," Volk is one of the good guys. He's a serious student and wants to be an engineer. He handles himself with dignity and grace. Mitchell McKee's story was everywhere by the time the state tournament arrived. There were newspaper stories printed and local TV stations clamoring in on the young man who recently found out his dad is dying of cancer. The medical experts gave Mitchell's dad, Steve, the bad news about his life expectancy. He wasn't supposed to make it to the state championships. But here was Steve being pushed around in a wheelchair, cheering his son on. He was not going to miss this. No chance. Many expected McKee to already have a state title before this season, but it had not happened. He lost a close 7-4 final to Cameron Sykora as an eighth-grader. Last season, as a freshman, McKee took a surprising upset loss to Taylor Venz of Farmington in the semifinals, 9-6. So this season we had a pair of wrestlers that no one really wanted to see lose. The pressure was high on both. This was Gannon Volk's last chance. This was Mitchell McKee's chance to win it for his dad. As expected, McKee and Volk met in the quarterfinals. Volk knew he would need to win with takedowns and get out from bottom. It wasn't meant to be. The match was anti-climactic. McKee won convincingly, 7-0. In the semifinals, McKee took on Alex Lloyd and won 6-2. It wasn't as close as the score since these two wrestlers belong to the same wrestling club, PINnacle, and know each other well. Lloyd would go on to take third over Volk. Mitchell McKee hugs his father Steve after winning his title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)In the finals, Mitchell McKee's opponent was Malik Stewart of Blaine. By this time the only people cheering for Stewart were his teammates, friends and family. The other 10,000 fans wanted the storybook ending. McKee made quick work of Stewart with a first-period pin. After shaking hands with opposing coaches, McKee made it over to the front row where his dad was waiting. Steve McKee struggled to rise from his chair and embraced his son. They held each other as Mitchell's shoulders trembled as he finally let the emotions drain from his body. The crowd rose to its feet as these two men continued with their arms wrapped around each other while they both cried. Those tears were shared in some fashion with all of us. That special moment, shared with us, will live in Minnesota wrestling history long after we remember the wrestling matches.

Brian Smith

Guests: Pat Popolizio, Tom Ryan, Brian Smith, Jim Heffernan, Damion Hahn, Rich Bender Hour 1: Hour 2:

Related: Brackets Yianni Diakomihalis (Photo/Bob Blair)INDIANA, Pa. -- The 2014 edition of the FloNationals, the fifth year for the event being held, came to a conclusion on Saturday evening at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Winning repeat titles at the FloNationals were No. 8 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) at 126 pounds and No. 6 (at 152) Tyler Berger (Crook County, Ore.) at 145. Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) was able to confirm his No. 1 ranking with a championship at 106 pounds; however, Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) lost by 10-2 maj. dec. in the final to No. 4 Nick Piccininni (Ward Mellville, N.Y.). Championship and Medal Match Results 106: 1st: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) dec. No. 16 at 113 Rudy Yates (Brother Rice, Ill.), 7-4 3rd: Lucas Hall (Lowell, Mich.) maj. dec. Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio/8th grade), 13-2 5th: Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa./8th grade) dec. Gage Curry (North Hills, Pa.), 7-3 7th: No. 4 Justin Mejia (Clovis, Calif.) dec. Brian Courtney (Athens, Pa.), 13-4 113: 1st: Devin Schroder (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.) dec. No. 11 Vitali Arujau (Syosset, N.Y.), 7-3 3rd: Ryan Friedman (St. Paul's, Md.) dec. Logan Griffin (Erie Mason, Mich.), 4-0 5th: Jesse Dellavecchia (East Islip, N.Y.) dec. Alex Martinez (Ida, Mich.), 1-1, ultimate tiebreaker rideout 7th: Cornelius Elliott (Perry Meridian, Ind.) dec. Damian Short (Archbold, Ohio), 4-0 120: 1st: No. 4 Nick Piccininni (Ward Mellville, N.Y.) maj. dec. No. 1 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), 10-2 3rd: No. 18 at 132 Brandon James (Perry Meridian, Ind.) dec. Chad Red (New Palestine, Ind.), 6-3 5th: No. 14 George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.) dec. Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.), 7-5 OT 7th: Lincoln Olson (Davison, Mich.) dec. Todd Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.), 7-6 126: 1st: No. 8 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) dec. No. 16 Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.), 2-1 3rd: No. 18 A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) dec. No. 15 at 138 Jaydin Clayton (Father Tolton Catholic, Mo.), 8-7 5th: Boo Lewallen (Yukon, Okla.) dec. Davion Jeffries (Broken Arrow, Okla.), 3-2 7th: William Koll (Lansing, N.Y.) dec. Khristian Olivas (Clovis, Calif.), 5-1 132: 1st: Brent Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) dec. Robert Lee (Kaukauna, Wis.), 6-3 3rd: No. 16 Keegan Moore (Putman City, Okla.) dec. Trae Blackwell (Union County, Ky.), 3-0 5th: Tommy Cash (New Palestine, Ind.) by injury default over Jesse Rodgers (North Allegheny, Pa.) 7th: Jamal Morris (Cardinal Gibbons, Fla.) over Kent Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.) by medical forfeit 138: 1st: No. 5 Brock Zacherl (Brookville, Pa.) dec. Chandler Pyke (Woodward Academy, Ga.), 3-0 3rd: Myles Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) dec. Sergio Enloe (Poway, Calif.), 7-1 5th: Joe Grable (Deer Park, Wash.) by injury default over Chris Garcia (Montini Catholic, Ill.) 7th: Kaleb Young (Punxsatawney, Pa.) dec. Louie DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.), 7-2 145: 1st: No. 6 at 152 Tyler Berger (Crook County, Ore.) dec. No. 10 at 138 Michael Longo (Santiago Corona, Calif.), 8-5 3rd: No. 20 Ralphy Tovar (Poway, Calif.) dec. D.J. Hollingshead (Altoona, Pa.), 2-1, ultimate tiebreaker 5th: Adam Martz (Mountain Ridge, Md.) dec. Collbran Meeker (Crook County, Ore.), 5-3 7th: Vincent DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.) dec. Austin Kraisser (Centennial, Md.), 5-2 152: 1st: No. 9 Louis Hernandez (Mepham, N.Y.) dec. Kyle Bova (Coudersport, Pa.), 5-4 3rd: Devin Skatzka (Richmond, Mich.) pinned Dayton Racer (TBD, Mo.), 1:01 5th: Cole Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa.) dec. Max Elling (Phillipsburg, N.J.), 7-1 7th: Anthony DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.) dec. Ricky Padilla (Northview, Calif.), 4-2 OT 160: 1st: No. 16 at 170 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic, Ill.) dec. Josh Ugalde (Bound Brook, N.J.), 7-5 OT 3rd: Josef Johnson (Delbarton, N.J.) maj. dec. Dylan Lydy (Benjamin Davis, Ind.), 12-4 5th: Brett Donner (Wall, N.J.) over Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) by injury default 7th: Tony Palumbo (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) dec. Austin Bell (Belle Vernon, Pa.), 7-5 170: 1st: No. 10 Josh Llopez (St. Mary’s Ryken, Md.) dec. No. 13 Taylor Lujan (Carrollton, Ga.), 3-1 3rd: Evan DeLong (Kane, Pa.) by injury default over Travis Linton (Rootstown, Ohio) 5th: Max Dean (Lowell, Mich.) over Austin Flores (Clovis North, Calif.) by forfeit 7th: Jared Walker (South Fayette, Pa.) dec. Dakota Geer (Franklin, Pa.), 4-3 182: 1st: No. 15 Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) dec. No. 11 Christian Dietrich (Greene, N.Y.), 7-3 3rd: Boomer Fleming (Ridgeview, Ore.) dec. Derek Hillman (Woodhaven, Mich.), 7-4 5th: Jacob Cooper (Southport, Mich.) tech. fall Willie Bivens (East Guilford, N.C.), 19-4 7th: Drew Kasper (Lexington, Ohio) dec. Shane Rodenburg (New Kent, Mich.), 6-3 195: 1st: Tom Sleigh (DuBois, Pa.) dec. Bailey Faust (Lexington, Ohio), 4-2 3rd: Tyree Sutton (Keansburg, N.J.) dec. Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic, Ill.), 7-0 5th: No. 9 Kyle Conel (Ashtabula Lakeside) by injury default over Cody Vigoren (Lake Stevens, Wash.) 7th: Tyler Love (Centerville, Va.) dec. Anthony Mancini (Salesanium, Del.), 7-0 220: 1st: No. 5 Michael Boykin (Coatesville, Pa.) dec. Youssef Hemida (Mamaroneck, N.Y.), 11-4 3rd: Seth Brennock (Loveland, Ohio) dec. No. 16 Jordan Brandon (John Glenn, Mich.), 5-1 5th: Reynold Maines (West Branch, Pa.) dec. Carl Neff (Exeter/West Greenwich, R.I.), 10-6 7th: Landon Pelham (Tecumseh, Mich.) pinned Thomas Alcaro (Emmaus, Pa.), 3:36 285: 1st: Kevin Vough (Elyria, Ohio) dec. Ryan Prescott (Whitmore-Prescott, Mich.), 7-5 OT 3rd: Tate Orndorff (University, Wash.) dec. Tyler Poling (Brick Memorial, N.J.), 3-2 5th: Scot Augustine (Erie McDowell, Pa.) dec. Deaken McCoy (Galion, Ohio), 5-2 7th: Stephen Johnson (Bound Brook, N.J.) dec. Brian Darios (East Lansing, Mich.), 3-2

Related: Brackets CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The 2014 USA Wrestling Cliff Keen Junior & Cadet Folkstyle Nationals came to a conclusion on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday afternoon. Here are the results of the championship bouts, as well as the if-necessary matches for true-second place. Championship Matches Junior: 100: Randon Miranda (Quartz Hill, Calif.) dec. Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg, Ill.), 5-1 106: Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.) maj. dec. Drews Hildebrandt (Mishawaka Penn, Ind.), 13-0 113: Joey Cisneros (Redwood, Calif.) dec. No. 14 at 106 Matthew Schmitt (Platte County, Mo.), 6-4 OT 120: Doyle Trout (Centennial, Neb.) dec. Daniel Shear (Walled Lake Central, Mich.), 2-1 126: No. 18 at 120 Mitchell McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.) pinned Sean DeShazer (Wichita Heights, Kan.), 3:36 132: Sean Cannon (Green Valley, Nev.) dec. No. 19 Dusty Hone (Cedar City, Utah), 2-1 138: Tristan Moran (Stillwater, Okla.) maj. dec. James Berg (New Prague, Minn.), 13-4 145: No. 8 at 152 Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.) dec. Drew Hughes (Lowell, Ind.), 9-2 152: No. 1 at 132 Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) dec. Jared Scharenbock (Sun Prairie, Wis.), 8-3 160: Matthew Rundell (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.) dec. Paden Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.), 3-1 170: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.) maj. dec. No. 3 Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.), 11-2 182: Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) dec. Chase Singletary (Palmetto Ridge, Fla.), 5-3 195: No. 7 Preston Weigel (Hays, Kan.) maj. dec. Carter Isley (Albia, Iowa), 8-0 220: No. 10 Fletcher Miller (Kokomo, Ind.) dec. Ethan Andersen (Southeast Polk, Iowa), 8-2 285: No. 9 Adarios Jones (Moline, Ill.) dec. Matt Halverson (Kiel, Wis.), 6-2 Cadet: 88: Jason Holmes (Arizona/junior high) dec. Riley Gurr (Washington/junior high), 10-4 94: Cody Phippen (Kansas/junior high) dec. Michael Millage (Iowa/junior high), 6-3 100: Cade Olivas (St. John Bosco, Calif./junior high) maj. dec. Rylee Molitor (Sartell-St. Stephen, Minn.), 20-8 106: Paul Konrath (Mount Vernon, Ind.) dec. Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge, Ariz.), 3-2 113: No. 7 at 106 Ben Freeman (Walled Lake Central, Mich.) dec. Alec Hagan (Eureka, Mo.), 3-1 120: No. 3 at 113 Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) dec. Taylor LaMont (Maple Mountain, Utah), 4-2 OT 126: Corey Shie (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) dec. Colby Smith (Holt, Mo.), 8-7 132: Jaden Enriquez (Mission Oak, Calif.) dec. Parker Fillus (Havre, Mont.), 7-1 138: Devin Bahr (West Salem, Wis.) dec. Connor Penka (Mulvane, Kan.), 8-1 145: Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert, Calif.) dec. Layne Van Anrooy (Roseburg, Ore.) 5-4 152: Oscar Ramos (Kenosha Bradford, Wis.) dec. Jacob Gray (Delta, Ind.), 4-2 OT 160: Jacob Warner (Washington, Ill.) dec. Tucker Leavitt (Highland, Idaho), 3-2 170: No. 12 Beau Breske (Hartford Union, Wis.) maj. dec. James Handwerk (Lutheran West, Ohio), 14-3 182: No. 14 Keegan Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.) pinned Haydn Maley (Roseburg, Ore.), 4:43 195: Kobe Woods (Mishawaka Penn, Ind.) pinned Jacob Cavins (Milan, Ind.), 3:02 220: Gannon Gremmel (Hempstead Dubuque, Iowa) dec. Evan Ellis (Eastern, Ind.), 6-4 285: Michael Kelly (Oakes, N.D.) maj. dec. Ethan Lape (North Fayette-Valley, Iowa), 9-1 True-Second Matches Junior: 100: Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg, Ill.) maj. dec. Robert Fairchild (Archbishop Rummel, La.), 18-5 106: Drews Hildebrandt (Mishawaka Penn, Ind.) dec. Bryce Brimhall (Syracuse, Utah), 6-5 113: Matthew Schmitt (Platte County, Mo.) dec. Garrett Pepple (East Noble, Ind.), 2-0 OT 120: Sean Nickell (Bakersfield, Calif.) dec. Daniel Shear (Walled Lake Central, Mich.), 7-3 138: Griffin Parriott (New Prague, Minn.) by injury default over James Berg (New Prague, Minn.) 145: Drew Hughes (Lowell, Ind.) by injury default over No. 12 Kamaal Abdush-Shakur (Parkview, Ga.) 152: No. 5 at 145 Joe Smith (Stillwater, Okla.) dec. Jared Scharenbock (Sun Prairie, Wis.), 5-2 160: Dustin Williams (Gardner Edgerton, Kan.) dec. Paden Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.), 3-2 182: Chase Singletary (Palmetto Ridge, Fla.) by injury default over Tyler DeMoss (Hononegah, Ill.) 195: Jacob Aven (Zionsville, Ind.) dec. Carter Isley (Albia, Iowa), 2-1 TB 220: Ryan Parmely (Maquoketa Valley, Iowa) pinned Ethan Andersen (Southeast Polk, Iowa), 0:18 Cadet: 88: Kyle Biscoglia (Waukee, Iowa/junior high) pinned Riley Gurr (Washington/junior high), 3:55 94: Mason Phillips (Eau Claire, Wis./junior high) maj. dec. Michael Millage (Iowa/junior high), 9-1 100: Rylee Molitor (Sartell-St. Stephen, Minn.) dec. Cameron Hunsaker (American Fork, Utah), 5-3 120: Taylor LaMont (Maple Mountain, Utah) dec. Kanen Storr (Leslie, Mich.), 6-3 138: Steven Lawrence (Portage, Ind.) dec. Connor Penka (Mulvane, Kan.), 5-3 145: Layne Van Anrooy (Roseburg, Ore.) dec. Johnny Blankenship (Platte County, Mo.), 7-3 152: Casey Randles (Sandpoint, Idaho) pinned Jacob Gray (Delta, Ind.), 2:30 160: Tucker Leavitt (Highland, Idaho) dec. Andrew Berreyesa (Reno, Nev.), 3-0 170: Gary Jantzer (Henley, Ore.) by forfeit over James Handwerk (Lutheran West, Ohio) 182: Wyatt Koelling (Davis, Utah) pinned Haydn Maley (Roseburg, Ore.), 3:44 220: Evan Ellis (Eastern, Ind.) by forfeit over Nick Mosco (Jesuit, Fla.)

The 18th edition of the Cliff Keen/Wrestling USA Magazine Dream Team Classic will be held on Sunday, April 13 at Lassiter High School in Georgia. Wrestling will begin at 2 p.m. ET. Below are the scheduled matchups for the Team USA vs. Georgia dual meet. 113: No. 7 Brian Rossi (Lockport, Ill.) vs. Alonzo Allen (Rockdale County) 120: No. 5 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.) vs. No. 3 Sean Russell (Collins Hill) 126: No. 3 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) vs. No. 7 Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill) 132: No. 11 Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional, Pa.) vs. Tyler Marinelli (Jefferson) 138: No. 6 Seth Gross (Apple Valley, Minn.) vs. No. 12 at 145 Kamaal Abdush-Shakur (Parkview) 145: No. 2 Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) vs. Jason Alfau (Camden County) 152: No. 3 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) vs. Matthew Moody (Lowndes) 160: No. 3 Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) vs. Jake Henson (Pope) 170: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.) vs. Damarko Dixon (Appling County) 182: No. 2 at 170 Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) vs. No. 4 at 195 Chip Ness (Buford) 195: No. 3 Nathan Rose (Sibley East, Minn.) vs. No. 3 Chance McClure (Commerce) 220: Sage Hecox (Machesney Park Harlem, Ill.) vs. No. 19 Matthew Moore (Apalachee) 285: No. 11 Billy Miller (Perry, Ohio) vs. M.J. Couzan (Archer)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Day 1 of the USA Wrestling Cadet & Junior Folkstyle Nationals came to an end at the UNI-Dome. Semifinal matches will start at 8:30 a.m. CT. Also on Day 1, the top eight finishers were determined, and the All-Americans will also be wrestling consolation quarterfinal matches concurrent with the semifinals. Consolation semifinals and medal matches will be wrestled during the morning session as well. Championship matches, as well as if necessary true second matches will be wrestled at Noon in the McLeod Center. Junior 100: Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg, Ill.) vs. Trevor Giallombardo (Petoskey, Mich.) Robert Fairchild (Archbishop Rummel, La.) vs. Randon Miranda (Quartz Hill, Calif.) 106: Jordan Aquino (Vacaville, Calif.) vs. Drews Hildebrandt (Mishawaka Penn, Ind.) Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.) vs. Bryce Brimhall (Syracuse, Utah) 113: No. 14 Matthew Schmitt (Platte County, Mo.) vs. Dillon Swift (Dakota, Ill.) Joey Cisneros (Redwood, Calif.) vs. Derek Holschlag (Union, Iowa) 120: Daniel Shear (Walled Lake Central, Mich.) vs. Jacob Gardiner (Justin-Siena, Calif.) Sean Nickell (Bakersfield, Calif.) vs. Doyle Trout (Centennial, Neb.) 126: No. 18 at 120 Mitchell McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.) vs. Josh Temple (Green Valley, Nev.) Sean DeShazer (Wichita Heights, Kan.) vs. Skyler Petry (Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Minn.) 132: Sean Cannon (Green Valley, Nev.) vs. Jordan Biehn (Jackson County Central, Minn.) Will Roark (Seneca, Mo.) vs. No. 19 Dusty Hone (Cedar City, Utah) 138: Jake Woods (Lee’s Summit West, Mo.) vs. James Berg (New Prague, Minn.) Tristan Moran (Stillwater, Okla.) vs. Zander Wick (San Marino, Calif.) 145: Carlson Brolsma (Osseo, Minn.) vs. Drew Hughes (Lowell, Ind.) No. 8 at 152 Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.) vs. No. 12 Kamaal Abdush-Shakur (Parkview, Ga.) 152: No. 1 at 132 Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) vs. No. 20 Tagen Lambotte (Rossville, Kan.) Chase Straw (Independence, Iowa) vs. Jared Scharenbock (Sun Prairie, Wis.) 160: Mason Reinhardt (Merrill, Wis.) vs. Paden Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.) Matthew Rundell (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.) vs. Dustin Williams (Gardner Edgerton, Kan.) 170: No. 3 Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) vs. No. 20 Bryce Martin (Bakersfield, Calif.) Kieffer Taylor (Mesa Mountain View, Ariz.) vs. No. 6 Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.) 182: Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) vs. Jordan Dieringer (Stillwater, Okla.) Chase Singletary (Palmetto Ridge, Fla.) vs. Eric Schultz (Tinley Park, Ill.) 195: No. 7 Preston Weigel (Hays, Kan.) vs. Kez Flomo (Totino Grace, Minn.) Carter Isley (Albia, Iowa) vs. Wesley Schultz (Sun Prairie, Wis.) 220: No. 10 Fletcher Miller (Kokomo, Ind.) vs. Ryan Parmely (Maquoketa Valley, Iowa) Ethan Andersen (Southeast Polk, Iowa) vs. Tyler Scott (Hanover Central, Ind.) 285: No. 9 Adarios Jones (Moline, Ill.) vs. Dalton Mortensen (Granger, Utah) Jake Minshew (Casa Robles, Calif.) vs. Matt Halverson (Kiel, Wis.) Cadet 88: Blaine Rodolf (Sheldon, Ore./junior high) vs. Jason Holmes (Arizona/junior high) Riley Gurr (Washington/junior high) vs. Patrick McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn./junior high) 94: Michael Millage (Iowa/junior high) vs. Holden Richards (Bear River, Utah) Cody Phippen (Kansas/junior high) vs. Mason Phillips (Eau Claire, Wis./junior high) 100: Cade Olivas (St. John Bosco, Calif./junior high) vs. Cameron Hunsaker (American Fork, Utah) Rylee Molitor (Sartell-St. Stephen, Minn.) vs. Marcus Povlik (Illinois/junior high) 106: Paul Konrath (Mount Vernon, Ind.) vs. Ian Timmins (Wooster, Nev.) Alexander Crowe (Shakopee, Minn.) vs. Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge, Ariz.) 113: Justin Ratkovec (Waterford, Wis.) vs. No. 7 at 106 Ben Freeman (Walled Lake Central, Mich.) Josh Portillo (Clarion-Goldfield, Iowa) vs. Alec Hagan (Eureka, Mo.) 120: Taylor LaMont (Maple Mountain, Utah) vs. Ryan Leisure (Clear Lake, Iowa) Kanen Storr (Leslie, Mich.) vs. No. 3 at 113 Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) 126: Colby Smith (Holt, Mo.) vs. Alex Lloyd (Shakopee, Minn.) Corey Shie (Cincinnati LaSalle, Ohio) vs. Gaige Torres (Portage, Ind.) 132: Logan Wood (Rapid City Stevens, S.D.) vs. Jaden Enriquez (Mission Oak, Calif.) Michael Peters (Quincy, Ill.) vs. Parker Fillus (Havre, Mont.) 138: Connor Penka (Mulvane, Kan.) vs. Jace Brownlee (Stillwater, Okla.) Colin Clingenpeel (Council Bluffs Jefferson, Iowa) vs. Devin Bahr (West Salem, Wis.) 145: Layne Van Anrooy (Roseburg, Ore.) vs. Jacob Covaciu (Merrillville, Ind.) Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert, Calif.) vs. Johnny Blankenship (Platte County, Mo.) 152: Jerod Novak (Aitkin, Minn.) vs. Jacob Gray (Delta, Ind.) David Engstrom (Social Circle, Ga.) vs. Oscar Ramos (Kenosha Bradford, Wis.) 160: Jack Jessen (Illinois/junior high) vs. Jacob Warner (Washington, Ill.) Tucker Leavitt (Highland, Idaho) vs. Sam Loera (Bakersfield, Calif.) 170: No. 12 Beau Breske (Hartford Union, Wis.) vs. Gary Jantzer (Henley, Ore.) James Handwerk (Lutheran West, Ohio) vs. Mason Stokke (Menomonie, Wis.) 182: No. 14 Keegan Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.) vs. Guy Patron, Jr. (Jesuit, La.) Jordan Will (Bishop Ryan, N.D.) vs. Haydn Maley (Roseburg, Ore.) 195: Bailey Kelly (Topeka Seaman, Kan.) vs. Jacob Cavins (Milan, Ind.) Kobe Woods (Mishawaka Penn, Ind.) vs. Ethan Hofacker (Spring Valley, Wis.) 220: Gannon Gremmel (Hempstead Dubuque, Iowa) vs. Nick Mosco (Jesuit, Fla.) Evan Ellis (Eastern, Ind.) vs. Nick Rueth (Neillsville/Greenwood/Loyal, Wis.) 285: Michael Kelly (Oakes, N.D.) vs. Aaron Costello (Western Dubuque, Iowa) Ethan Lape (North Fayette-Valley, Iowa) vs. Michael McCauley (Vacaville, Calif.)

INDIANA, Pa. -- Wrestling on Friday at the FloNationals set up the quarterfinals, which will be wrestled starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Indiana University in Pennsylvania. Consolation wrestling made it so that only sixteen wrestlers remain in each weight class. Below are the quarterfinal pairings. 106: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) vs. Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio/8th grade) Gage Curry (North Hills, Pa.) vs. Brian Courtney (Athens, Pa.) No. 16 at 113 Rudy Yates (Brother Rice, Ill.) vs. Vincent Vespa (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa./8th grade) vs. No. 4 Justin Mejia (Clovis, Calif.) 113: No. 11 Vitali Arujau (Syosset, N.Y.) vs. Cornelius Elliott (Perry Meridian, Ind.) Logan Griffin (Erie Mason, Mich.) vs. Jesse Dellavecchia (East Islip, N.Y.) Ryan Friedman (St. Paul's, Md.) vs. Alex Martinez (Ida, Mich.) Tito Colom (Dunkirk, N.Y.) vs. Devin Schroder (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.) 120: No. 1 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) vs. Lincoln Olson (Davison, Mich.) No. 20 Jake Gromacki (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.) vs. Chad Red (New Palestine, Ind.) Todd Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.) vs. Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) No. 14 George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.) vs. No. 4 Nick Piccinnini (Ward Mellville, N.Y.) 126: No. 8 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) vs. William Koll (Lansing, N.Y.) Jamel Morris (Cardinal Gibbons, Fla.) vs. Boo Lewallen (Yukon, Okla.) No. 13 Travis Passaro (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) vs. No. 16 Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.) Davion Jeffries (Broken Arrow, Okla.) vs. No. 15 at 138 Jaydin Clayton (Father Tolton Catholic, Mo.) 132: No. 16 Keegan Moore (Putman City, Okla.) vs. Jesse Rodgers (North Allegheny, Pa.) Brent Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) vs. Kent Lane (Southern Columbia, Pa.) Trae Blackwell (Union County, Ky.) vs. Jamal Morris (Cardinal Gibbons, Fla.) Tommy Cash (Lawrence North, Ind.) vs. Robert Lee (Kaukauna, Wis.) 138: No. 5 Brock Zacherl (Brookville, Pa.) vs. Kaleb Young (Punxsatawney, Pa.) Myles Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) vs. Sergio Enloe (Poway, Calif.) Chris Garcia (Montini Catholic, Ill.) vs. Joe Grable (Deer Park, Wash.) Chandler Pyke (Woodward Academy, Ga.) vs. Louie DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.) 145: No. 6 at 152 Tyler Berger (Crook County, Ore.) vs. A.J. Pedro (Phillips Exeter, R.I.) No. 20 Ralphy Tovar (Poway, Calif.) vs. Vincent DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.) Austin Kraisser (Centennial, Md.) vs. Adam Martz (Mountain Ridge, Md.) Jakob Restrepo (Sachem North, N.Y.) vs. No. 10 at 138 Michael Longo (Santiago Corona, Calif.) 152: No. 9 Louis Hernandez (Mepham, N.Y.) vs. Dominic Lampe (St. Xavier, Ky.) Cole Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa.) vs. Dominic Kincaid (Clovis, Calif.) Kyle Bova (Coudersport, Pa.) vs. Devin Skatzka (Richmond, Mich.) Andrew McNally (Uniontown Lake, Ohio) vs. Dayton Racer (TBD, Mo.) 160: No. 16 at 170 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic, Ill.) vs. Devon Pingel (North Branch, Mich.) Josef Johnson (Delbarton, N.J.) vs. Josh Hokit (Clovis, Calif.) Josh Ugalde (Bound Brook, N.J.) vs. Connor Lawrence (Duanesburg, N.Y.) Brett Donner (Wall, N.J.) vs. Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) 170: No. 10 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) vs. Jared Walker (South Fayette, Pa.) Max Dean (Lowell, Mich.) vs. Evan Delong (Kane, Pa.) Travis Linton (Rootstown, Ohio) vs. Austin Flores (Clovis North, Calif.) Dakota Geer (Franklin, Pa.) vs. No. 13 Taylor Lujan (Carrollton, Ga.) 182: No. 11 Christian Dietrich (Greene, N.Y.) Willie Bivens (East Guilford, N.C.) Shane Rodenburg (Kent City, Mich.) vs. Derek Hillman (Woodhaven, Mich.) Boomer Fleming (Ridgeview, Ore.) vs. Jacob Cooper (Springport, Mich.) Drew Kasper (Lexington, Ohio) vs. No. 15 Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) 195: No. 9 Kyle Conel (Ashtabula Lakeside, Ohio) vs. Tyree Sutton (Keansburg, N.J.) Drew Phipps (Norwin, Pa.) vs. Bailey Faust (Lexington, Ohio) Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic, Ill.) vs. Toby Cahill (Berlin, Pa.) Anthony Mancini (Salesanium, Del.) vs. Tom Sleigh (DuBois, Pa.) 220: No. 5 Michael Boykin (Coatesville, Pa.) vs. Seth Brennock (Loveland, Ohio) Landon Pelham (Tecumseh, Mich.) vs. Carl Neff (Exeter/West Greenwich, R.I.) Reynold Maines (West Branch, Pa.) vs. Thomas Alcaro (Emmaus, Pa.) Youssef Hemida (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) vs. No. 16 Jordan Brandon (John Glenn, Mich.) 285: Ryan Prescott (Whitmore-Prescott, Mich.) vs. Jake Beistel (Southmoreland, Pa.) Scot Augustine (Erie McDowell, Pa.) vs. Brian Darios (East Lansing, Mich.) Stephen Johnson (Bound Brook, N.J.) vs. Kevin Vough (Elyria, Ohio) Tyler Poling (Brick Memorial, N.J.) vs. Tate Orndorff (University, Wash.)

POMPTON LAKES, N.J. -- He's been on NCAA promos with them, tweeted pictures of them, and been interviewed on FloWrestling with them. Now, he'll formally endorse them. FlipsWrestling is proud to announce that David Taylor has signed a multi-year endorsement agreement to represent FlipsWrestling. And, not just for headphones, but for FlipsWrestling's burgeoning line of signature socks. "We started this company 1 year ago with the hopes of getting some attention in the wrestling world, and I think we have started to meet that goal," says FlipsWrestling's Don Beshada. "To kick-off year 2 by signing the biggest name in college wrestling is, obviously, huge for us and we are as excited as we have ever been as a company. While we think David's signature headphones will be a ‘must have' for young wrestlers, we are equally excited about his line of M-Squared signature wrestling socks. Compound Clothing did an amazing job designing them and we expect that they will become the staple in the community." "I used FlipsWrestling headphones all year and love the product, so, when they approached me after NCAAs, I was thrilled to do a deal with them," said Taylor. "FlipsWrestling came in and did a ton for wrestling this year, and it is that type of company that I want to partner with." Commenting on the socks, Taylor said, "Socks have always been a really important part of my persona on and off the mat. I truly believe in the ‘look good, feel good, wrestle good' philosophy, and my M-Squared signature socks are, bottom line, sick!" Taylor is a staple of the Penn State wrestling program, having made four (4) NCAA finals in his 4 years there, winning twice and collecting two (2) Hodge Trophies in the process. He will continue his wrestling career with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and chase his Olympic dreams in freestyle wrestling. "David Taylor represents everything that we admire – excellence, passion, and a down-to-earth personality that is contagious. We look forward to working with him over the next few years," concludes Beshada.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced on Friday that Joel Sharratt has been named Navy's new head wrestling coach. A former assistant coach at the Naval Academy under Bruce Burnett, Sharratt has spent the last eight years as the head wrestling coach at the Air Force Academy. Joel Sharratt"Joel's leadership, respect by peers, extraordinary accomplishments, and passion for wrestling are reflected in every step of his career," said Gladchuk. "He returns to the Naval Academy a seasoned professional who is a proven master of his profession. Thirteen years of developing winners and leaders to serve our nation have given him a unique perspective of how to succeed at a service academy. He is a perfect fit for Navy and we have every expectation his tenure in Annapolis will be one of great academic and athletic success for our midshipmen." "It's an honor to be back at the Naval Academy building leaders of character who are ready to serve our country," said Sharratt. "I want to acknowledge Mr. Gladchuk and the institution for their support of me and the Navy wrestling program. It's a great honor to take over such a historic program and after meeting with the team and staff today, I feel very excited about the opportunities the program has in the future. I look forward to reconnecting with the Naval Academy alumni base, former wrestlers and fans." Sharratt began engineering the turnaround in the Air Force wrestling program when he was introduced as the Falcons' head coach in the summer of 2006. Although faced with a rebuilding task in his first season as head coach, Sharratt helped lead Air Force to a 3-1 mark in its inaugural season in the Western Wrestling Conference. With the Falcons earning a sixth-place team finish at the NCAA West Regional, Crozier and Devlin led Air Force as third-team all-conference selections. In 2008, Sharratt was named the Western Wrestling Conference Coach of the Year after leading Air Force to a second-place finish at the 2008 NCAA West Regional, matching the program's best showing at the tournament (also finishing second in 2003). Jake Kriegbaum, named the Outstanding Wrestler at the West Regional, and Tyler French both won their respective weight classes at the NCAA West Regional/WWC Championships, while three others placed second. To cap off the season, the Falcons also sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Championship for the third time in the past four seasons. All four won at least one match at the national meet. In 2010, Sharratt helped guide a young team to six wins and a fifth-place showing at the NCAA West Regional. In addition, he began to develop Cole VonOhlen into a national contender, as the newcomer became the first Air Force freshman since 2005 to earn a spot at the NCAA Championship. VonOhlen, nationally ranked at 141 pounds for most of the 2010 season, was named the Western Wrestling Conference Freshman of the Year and earned a second-place showing at the West Regional. In 2011, Sharratt led Air Force to a 12-5 dual record. Seven Falcons notched at least 20 wins on the season, including a nation's-best 44 victories from VonOhlen, while the Falcons captured third place at the NCAA West Regional. VonOhlen, ranked in the top 10 nationally, was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the West Regional and went on to his second NCAA bid in as many years. In 2012, both VonOhlen and Josh Kreimier advanced to the round of 12 at the NCAA Championship. In addition, Sharratt was named the College Coach of the Year by the Colorado Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Sharratt guided Air Force to an 11-4 dual record during the 2013 campagin. Four Falcons qualified for the NCAA Championship, including VonOhlen who became just the third four-time NCAA qualifier in program history. VonOhlen, who finished in the top 12 despite battling a significant shoulder injury, was joined at the national tournament by West Regional champions Josh Kreimier and Dylan Hyder and WWC Freshman of the Year Josh Martinez. This past season, Sharratt led the Falcons to an 11-6-3 record and a third-place finish at the NCAA West Regional. Senior 133-pound Greg Rinker captured the individual title at 133 points, while Josh Martinez (125) and freshman Natrelle Demison (149) finished as the runner-up at their respective weight class. Once again, four Falcons earned NCAA Tournament bids, including Martinez who became just the 12th wrestler in school history to earn an NCAA Tournament bid at least three times. Sharratt's influence has been notable off the mat as well. Josh Larson served as the Cadet Wing Commander in the spring of 2011, supporting the team's leadership role in military development. Academically, the Falcons have been consistently in the top 10 percent of the NCAA APR (Academic Progress Rate) rankings among all Division I wrestling institutions, while earning NWCA All-Academic honors as a team in 2009. In addition, Stephen Crozier was named to the NWCA All-Academic team in 2008 and 2009, and was also a three-time member of the WWC All-Academic team. In 2013, the Falcons had two more wrestlers earn NWCA All-Academic honors. One of the nation's most passionate coaches, Sharratt believes in leadership from the front and when given the opportunity to deploy to Balad AB, Iraq, in the spring of 2011, he humbly accepted the chance to go overseas, serving as a part of General Neubauer's Combatives Mobile Training Team. As combatives instructor at the Air Force Academy, Sharratt worked with the Air Force Center of Excellence, housed here at USAFA to help offer the greater Air Force the best combatives training possible. Sharratt spent six seasons as an assistant coach at the Naval Academy under the tutelage of former U.S. National Coach Bruce Burnett. In 2005-06, Sharratt helped lead the Midshipmen to a 13-2 dual record, marking the most wins by the program since the 1990-91 season, while also sending five wrestlers to the NCAA Championship. A tenured assistant professor at the Naval Academy, he also served as the faculty chair of the USNA combative courses. A 1995 graduate of the University of Iowa, Sharratt was a three-time All-American, earning three trips to the NCAA Finals, winning the championship in 1994. Training under the tutelage of legendary coach Dan Gable during his college career, Sharratt was a four-year letterwinner for the Hawkeyes, and was twice selected as the team captain. Sharratt led his team to the 1995 Big Ten Championship and NCAA Championship, winning the Big Ten individual championship that season. Sharratt also competed as a member of the 1993 and 1994 Big Ten Championship teams, as well as the 1992 and 1994 NCAA Championship teams. Following his college career, Sharratt was a two-time member of the U.S. National Team, earning the bronze medal at both the 1996 Olympic Trials and 1997 Pan American Championships. While competing on the international level, Sharratt represented the United States around the world including trips to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Italy, France and Canada. His accomplishments as a coach in the freestyle arena included cadet national champions and junior national champions, as well as multiple national team members and world medalists. Sharratt also served as a graduate assistant at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his master's degree in sports administration in 2000, serving a two year position as the Developmental Freestyle Coach for the state of Minnesota. Sharratt also worked as an assistant coach at Lehigh from 1996-98 and as a graduate assistant at his alma mater during the 1995-96 season. A native of Bloomington, Minn., Sharratt was inducted into the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011. Honored as an athlete, Sharratt was recognized for his accomplishments both as a state champion at Bloomington-Kennedy High School and as an All-American and NCAA champion at Iowa. Sharratt and his wife, Jamie, are the parents of four daughters, Tori (10), Taylor (8), Carly (5) and Trista (4).

From the Brute Studios, Fight Now TV Presents Takedown Wrestling Radio. Takedown is proudly presented by Kemin Agricultural Products and Blue 04 Water. Join Scott Casber and producer Brad Johnson and Jeff Murphy with the Kemin Report this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. to noon ET from Clear Channel's KXNO studios in Des Moines, Iowa. This week's guests: 9 a.m. Pat Popolizio 9:20 a.m. Tom Ryan 9:35 a.m. Brian Smith 9:50 a.m. Joey Boyens 10 a.m. Jim Heffernan 10:20 a.m. Damion Hahn 10:35 a.m. Rich Bender 10:50 a.m. Amy Ruble Fans, athletes, coaches: This is your sport. Join in the conversation live. Ask questions. Call 866-333-5966 or 515-204-5966. Takedown Wrestling is available on radio on AM 1460 KXNO in Iowa, online at Livesportsvideo.com, or on your Blackberry or iPhone with the iHeart Radio app. (Click on KXNO under Sportsradio.)

By most accounts ESPN's coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships was the best-produced wrestling event in the history of the sport. Better than the 2014 World Cup, better than the 2013 NCAA Championships, better than the Big Ten Championships (even a touch better than Iowa Public Television's college wrestling events circa 1993). It was a major success for ESPN and wrestling fans around the world. Tim Johnson and Adam Amin were on the call for ESPN during the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling ChampionshipsThe internal metrics and social media feedback seem to support that otherwise subjective claim. According to ESPN, viewership of the championships jumped an incredible 39 percent from 2013 to 2014 and the feedback from fans at home varied from signing online letters of thanks to ESPN to what were solemn head nods of acknowledgement. For a moment it seemed like the wrestling community felt something like contentment. The veneer of universal gratitude was cracked on March 28 when Flowrestling's PR guy Nick Velliquette wrote an article that ran counter to the popular belief that ESPN had done a commendable job covering the NCAA Championships. The article was titled, "ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports? Not in Wrestling ..." Writing contrarian articles is essential in journalism, and when done well can create vital discussion about commonly held beliefs. However, when poorly done the contrarian article often works to highlight the shortcomings of the author and, when applicable, supporting organization. When the author shoots aimlessly from uncertain ground the result can often be a self-inflicted wound. From his perch at Flo, Velliquette took aim at the NCAA's production value with vacuous, unsubstantiated claims that the media giant lacked "excitement" and that during the course of their 30-plus hours of programming there were -- shock! -- some mistakes. Too dry, too bland, too un-Flo. The article was panned in social media as being poorly written, nitpicky and just flat wrongheaded. But what the article -- and discussion surrounding the article -- really exposed was the growing frustration with the "bro culture" and growing disconnect between Flowrestling and their audience. The assault on ESPN came across more like the petulant tirade of the beauty pageant's first runner-up than it did an informative look at improving the coverage of our sport. What Velliquette's article wanted to achieve was to earn a few extra clicks for Flo and to possibly move the media company into the "Hot Take!" business. Flo wants to be known as "wrestling" and the success of ESPN showed the fallibility of that claim, ostensibly prompting the site's response. Velliquette and Flo have overestimated their role as the video production leader or thought leader in the sport of wrestling. Their entry into the national conversation suffered a mighty thud this week and seemed to betray an institutionalized Icarus complex, suffering from a fatal hubris that led them to address the wrestling community in a wanton and disrespectful manner. Five years ago Flo's anti-authoritarian, anti-intellectualism landed with wrestling fans because they were rebelling against an often-static media landscape. Fans of the sport were willing to forgive the headbands, chewing tobacco and breathless screaming because the employees hustled to create content. They loved the sport and let it show. But now that original wrestling-focused altruism has been replaced by feckless website management and an altogether disdain for spellcheck. Where at first there was a small army of volunteers providing shaky handycam footage of coaches talking hi-crotch crackdown defense, five years later there is a double premium service that provides mediocre quality videos (in comparison to ESPN) filled in part with content ripped from other sites and YouTube. Today the Flo-to-customer relationship has matured from their original "never charge for content" missive to a fully monetized for-profit model. The altruism has died, and to a large extent that's totally fine. But as the business has grown the intellectual and professional attitudes of the company have failed to develop. There are constant complaints of billing difficulties, constant encroachment on media licensing and a general sense of entitlement that matches the 20-something bro-aesthetic. Velliquette's article signaled that type of untethered institutional arrogance -- willing to compare themselves to an international broadcast channel without providing any content in the same cosmic zip code. Hubris at work, but since they are profitable and aligned with the interests of USA Wrestling, NWCA and the NCAA, the idea of becoming a bigger force in the marketplace is their idea to pursue. Just the same it's the right of other media to respond to Velliquette's claim and challenge them on their professionalism and quality of product. What Velliquette and Flo will learn if they choose to continue with Hot Takes is that launching a wide-angled tirade against professional journalists from a position of power requires more than bro-speak and half-truths to convince the masses. Criticism requires a reputation, facts and hard work. Wrestling has real journalists. I read Andy Hamilton, K.J. Pilcher and Jason Bryant every chance I get. They are some of the thought leaders and when they concentrate on assignment they let the facts guide their interpretation. Hamilton moved the discussion around stalling this year by researching his article on the dearth of scoring in the NCAA. I hopped on and have been pushing for change. Hamilton planted the idea in my head, and I'm happy to add to it as I can. That's what good journalism does. It informs by outlining problems with facts and then offers clear-headed solutions. It's not about throwing drunk haymakers to impress your bros. The Flo article didn't move forward any new idea about ESPN. It only worked to expose the company's own set of NCAA coverage inaccuracies. The only substantive online discussion became their lack of professionalism and quality increasingly expensive service. As pointed out by Flo's own readers the ESPN coverage was more accurate, watchable and professional. ESPN3 had a feature called "Off the Mat" during the finalsThat's not a surprise. ESPN pays close to $40 million for the rights to broadcast several NCAA championships, including wrestling, and with that investment they provide an array of viewing options for the wrestling community on multiple free platforms. Flo provided poor quality footage shot by amateur cameraman, narrated by over-caffeinated announcers as interested in their own "Oh's" as they were the action on the mat. When it came time to lay down critiques, Velliquette not only fired blanks, but he did so against a company who'd outperformed his own. The Flo crew works very, very hard. They are passionate bunch, and I don't doubt that to a person Nick, Christian, Joe, Mark, Willie, and Ryan are in this for the right reasons. I know that a healthy secondary market of video services will help wrestling grow, but the half-cocked M.O. and brashness has now tipped past inane and into offensive. Flo simply can't compete with ESPN. The Worldwide Leader had dozens of cameras at the event, manned by grizzled sports vets who were supported by an array of super talented and professional employees with hundreds of years of sports production experience. Though Velliquette states that this year's NCAA's was done with "a crew that doesn't cover a single event" all year, ESPN does in fact cover other wrestling events. Earlier this year I was part of the broadcast team that covered the ACC Wrestling Championships in Blacksburg, Va., and saw first-hand how a professional broadcast is managed. That crew, myself included, worked on location in Oklahoma City. The ESPN3 crew on-site was led by a sports producer with 30-plus years of big truck experience. He had only worked a dozen or so wrestling events, but to compensate for his lack of precise understanding he often asked for input from the experts. That's the opposite of hubris. That's modesty -- to be good enough in the mechanics of your employ to not have to overcompensate with emotion or fudge facts. T.R. Foley and Shawn KenneyMy job as color commentator was simple, but ONLY because I had Shawn Kenney, a broadcast veteran with a huge future, leading the play-by-play. One of the most frustrating aspects of Velliquette's Hot Take was his ignorance of the skill and work put in by professional play-by-play announcers. Though I don't know much about Adam Amin, I do know that Kenney is the single most well-prepared professional broadcast journalist I've ever met, and I'm not exaggerating. When I first met Kenney at the 2013 ACC Wrestling Championships he had several stacks of 5x7's and color-coded folders filled with back stories to help us fill the 10-plus hours of content. Kenney is from Iowa and knows wrestling, but to get involved in the ACC stories he'd watched previous matches (likely on Flo) and knew scores, coaches, athletes and storylines by memory. His work was near-brilliant. And still, despite all that prep time he also found the confidence to NOT speak. He let the wrestling breathe and when the time was right he told fans about a wrestler's past, or their plans for the future. When the action got complicated he let me explain the technique. I'm not polished, but with his leadership -- and a voice that could soothe a Mother Grizzly suffering from postpartum depression -- I sounded intelligent. His hard work at those tournaments and efficacy in connecting with listeners landed him at the NCAA tournament. Work ethic and skill is rewarded by a professional organization and Kenney deserved better than to be belittled en masse by Velliquette. If Flo wants to scream into the microphone while calling the 2014 Wyoming Middle School Wrestling Championships for the sake of proud grandmothers and 14-year-olds who found their parents' credit card, then that is their right. But taking unfounded shin kicks at the competition only opens them up for the type of criticism that starts as murmurs, but ends in shouts. I believe they can look at their own product and find a way to improve, but until then it's best to let the professionals take the lead. Post by Flowrestling. To your questions ... Q: Assuming that David Taylor got better between his junior and senior seasons, do you think that a senior David Taylor beats a senior Kyle Dake? -- Philip M. Foley: Tough to justify a David Taylor victory simply because he had one more year on the mats. Both he and Kyle Dake have been wrestling since they were knee-high to a pissing pot. Sure, another month matters, but it's just too ambitious to say that Taylor improved enough. The duo's collegiate matches were as close as a wrestling match can get and I think I'd be devaluing Dake's performances in 2012-13 and the Magic Man's insane 2013-14 campaign if I bet on one side or the other. But hey, we'll have the U.S. Open and U.S. World Team Trials where we might see these two get back at each other. Q: How much weight does the typical Division I wrestler cut? How much weight does the typical MMA fighter cut? -- B. H. Foley: The main differences between the weight cutting habits of a Division I wrestler and an MMA fighter are time before competition and flexibility of the governing body overseeing the final weight. In Division I, wrestling competitors weigh in two hours before a tournament and one hour before a dual meet. Most MMA organizations have night-before weigh-ins and often that means 30-plus hours of recovery. That time difference allows for much more recovery of the athlete and that translates to HUGE differences in weight cut. There is no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to MMA fighters, but on average they are cutting up to 15 percent of their body weight in the week leading up to a fight. For a guy who fights at 185 pounds that means they will train at 215 pounds and then use a two-step weight-loss program, the second part of which is the accelerated sauna-based water cut for which you're probably familiar. Wrestlers tend to cut significantly less weight. There is no recovering from a single-day crash cut of 15 pounds in time to wrestle with any level of fitness. Still, wrestlers at the Division I level tend to cut 5-10 percent of their body weight in the days leading up to a weigh-in. When I was in school our training programs were in no way as year-round or as sophisticated as today's programs. When I wrestled 157 pounds I'd start the season at about 190 pounds of pudgy belly fat but with conditioning work could whittle that down to about 180 pounds by Oct. 1. The real practices started and we stopped boozing, which helped me get down to about 170 pounds by Nov. 1. To make hydration we'd make a single crash diet (like the MMA guys) and pass with ease. (Spoiler: Every wrestler cheats the hydration test, and mostly because it's a totally asinine way to determine how much a kid is cutting.) The first couple of weight cuts came from a combination of food and water restriction and often felt like they might be my death. Throughout the season I'd never get higher than about 164 pounds and that was because I was suffering from a terrible caloric restriction. Things changed a bit my senior season. I grew a little more and because the NCAA had rear-ended me on my eligibility I was eating and drinking more heavily than normal. I was at the Cornell wrestling camp as an instructor, weighed in at 200 pounds, and immediately called my head wrestling coach to let him know that if I came back it would be at 165 pounds. To that point in my life it was the best decision I'd ever made. At 165 pounds I was able to eat healthier, and was fortunate to have a better nutrition program. The water cut was no more than 5-7 pounds a tournament, which is what I think most wrestlers are now pulling per tournament. Q: David Taylor was "only" a two-time NCAA champ and had three losses, but is he possibly the most dominant NCAA wrestler of all time with 125 out 136 victories earning bonus points? Has anyone else even come close to that metric? -- Go H. David Taylor (Photo/Rob Preston)Foley: I'm not able to access the entire database, but none come to mind, although I'm told Yojiro Uetake Obata from Oklahoma State was basically unchallenged in the course of going undefeated and winning his three NCAA titles. His matches would often finish with 3-5 point gaps, but according to Lee Roy Smith, who runs the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, they were never matches. Taylor was special because he was always trying to score. As we sit back and bemoan the riding time game in wrestling, we have to acknowledge that Taylor never rested on winning by a single point. He was always looking for a major decision, technical fall or fall. He's the type of wrestler we all want to be, and compared to Kyle Dake's fuzzy black and white outcome-focused version of wrestling, Taylor is an IMAX 3D Dolby Digital surround sound. He looks to entertain and enjoy. That aggressiveness is what has endeared him to fans. He's "only" a two-time champion, but in a time and space where doing less has been rewarded he was an outlier. He was a wrestler looking to dominate. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Time to unionize! Borislav Novachkov knocks off an Olympic champion Women's World Cup HL -- They can wrestle! Power of sport Q: This question may sound absurd, but allow me to back it up. Do you think the Olympics removing wrestling turned out to be a good thing for the sport? First it forced wrestling to change some rules to make it more exciting (at least in the international disciplines). Second, it caused an increase in support from everyone. So is this increase in popularity related to the removal from the Olympics? -- Tyler M. Foley: There is no question that in terms of popularity, improvement of the governance and improvement of product the elimination of wrestling from the Olympics was a HUGE gift. I wrote this a few months ago, but when I was in Krasnoyarsk for the Ivan Yarygin tournament, Buvaisar Saitiev was telling people that their gym in Krasnoyarsk had DOUBLED in enrollment in the 209 days of the Save Olympic Wrestling movement. Moms and dads of these little Russian bears (and American cowboys) were forced to consider the actual value of sport, and specifically the value of wrestling. For most the evaluation ended with an acknowledgement that it builds strong men and women. Wrestling spent upwards of $10 million on the Save Olympic Wrestling campaign, but what the upheaval did to eliminate corruption within FILA and improve the rules -- which we now see are MUCH more exciting that collegiate -- ended up being priceless. That doesn't mean that we should go through it again. Once was enough to learn our lesson. Right? Q: At this point, less than a whole week after the 2014 NCAAs finished up, who are your NCAA finalists in each weight class and your top five team finishers in 2015? -- Nick M. Foley: This all depends on the rule changes in the offseason. If riding time, stalling and out of bounds are amended then this will need to be updated. But assuming that a more aggressive style of the sport will be called ... 125: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) vs. Thomas Gilman (Iowa) 133: A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) vs. Cory Clark (Iowa) 141: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) vs. Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) 149: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) vs. Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) 157: James Green (Nebraska) vs. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 165: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. Nick Sulzer (Virginia) 174: Taylor Massa (Michigan) vs. Bob Kokesh (Nebraska) 184: Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) 197: J'den Cox (Missouri) vs. Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 285: Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) vs. Mike McMullan (Northwestern) Top five teams: 1. Iowa 2. Penn State 3. Ohio State 4. Minnesota 5. Oklahoma State Q: My friends and I have been talking about who the best guys are that never won a title. Some names that come up are Tyrone Lewis, Sam Hazewinkel, Nick Simmons, and Montell Marion. -- Sean M. Foley: All those names sound delightful. I would add Daniel Cormier. COMMENT(S) OF THE WEEK By Jared H. Now that it is the end of the college wrestling season, what are your thoughts on the flash takedown? There were many instances of it not being called, as well as it being called wrong (in regards to the video the NCAA issued prior to conference tournaments). My issue with it is that it gets called a takedown and immediately whatever 'control' there was is lost in a nanosecond and an escape is awarded, then another flash takedown is scored. OKC saw this happen quite often. On a side note, two defensive falls the first day in OKC then never seen again. Consistency and the balls to call stalling are lacking. I own a rule book. I understand the objectiveness of the stall call. But just inform the coaches prior to the match that you will in fact call it as it is in the book. By Dan B. Regarding Ohio State AD Gene Smith receiving $18,000 for Logan Stieber winning an NCAA title ... Is this an opportunity for USA Wrestling to take advantage of considering the national attention the story has received? It really wasn't about Logan Stieber, more of an AD's personal gain off of an individual that he had no effect upon. But our sport is still in the spotlight. Currently, USA Wrestling compensates athletes who succeed internationally and this may sound really odd considering how opposed everyone is to Smith's contract, but what if USA Wrestling gave every AD who had a national champion $18,000? It would "only" be $180,000 a year (yes, it is always easy to spend other people's money so the logistics might not be as doable) or less if you capped it for multiple champs. Hire a PR firm to spin the money as a fight against Title IX's current enforcement and an effort to save the sport. Would that be an incentive for AD's of lower-level programs to keep wrestling when budget cuts come around? Make the payments public knowledge so ADs may feel pressure to give the money to the school, but give it to them nonetheless. How many programs have been cut even though they produced individual champions? Perhaps a personal incentive would have altered their thinking. I have to believe Trev Alberts might not have cut UNO's wrestling program if he had such an incentive given that program's success at the Division II level. Would Boston U's AD thought a little longer? I realize the answer may be no and it could have no effect, but it could also turn a bad story's focus back onto wrestling.

Starting this morning, and going through Saturday afternoon, over 1300 Cadet and Junior wrestlers will assemble on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa for the USA Wrestling Folkstyle National Championships. Zahid Valencia (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)There will be two sessions of wrestling on Friday at the UNI-Dome to narrow the field down to the semifinals on the championship side, those rounds starting at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CT. Wrestling on Saturday will take place in two sessions. The first session at 8:30 a.m. will take place at the UNI-Dome, and include the semifinals as well as all consolation including matches for third through eighth place. The championship match, as well as those necessary for true second, will be conducted at the McLeod Center starting at noon. Nineteen wrestlers ranked in their scholastic weight class will compete in the Junior folkstyle event, with five such wrestlers competing in the Cadet event. Below is a listing of those wrestlers by competing weight class. Junior Folkstyle: 113: No. 14 at 106 Matthew Schmitt (Platte County, Mo.) 126: No. 18 at 120 Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.) 132: No. 19 Dusty Hone (Cedar City, Utah) 145: No. 8 at 152 Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.), No. 12 Kamaal Abdush-Shakur (Parkview, Ga.), No. 18 at 138 Max Thomsen (Union, Iowa) 152: No. 1 at 132 Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.), No. 5 at 145 Joe Smith (Stillwater, Okla.), No. 11 at 145 Tommy Forte (Mishawaka, Ind.), No. 18 at 145 Bryce Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa), No. 20 Tagen Lambotte (Rossville, Kan.) 170: No. 3 Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.), No. 6 Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.), No. 8 Kimball (Maple Mountain, Utah), No. 20 Bryce Martin (Bakersfield, Calif.) 195: No. 7 Preston Weigel (Hays, Kan.), No. 16 Derek Maisonet (Plano, Ill.) 220: No. 10 Fletcher Miller (Kokomo, Ind.) 285: No. 9 Adarios Jones (Moline, Ill.) Cadet Folkstyle: 113: No. 7 at 106 Ben Freeman (Walled Lake Central, Mich.), No. 17 at 106 Corbin Nirschl (Basheor-Linwood, Kan.) 120: No. 3 at 113 Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) 170: No. 12 Beau Breske (Hartford Union, Wis.) 182: No. 14 at 170 Keegan Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.)