InterMat Staff

Russian Nationals Russian Nationals (freestyle) took place in Siberia this past weekend. Surprisingly dependable, though production-free, video streams provided a live look at the premier domestic tournament in the world's premier wrestling country. The venue for the tournament appeared to be a smallish, strangely shaped, sparsely attended (seats were empty at least while I was watching) field house. The Russian republics of the Caucuses yield most of Russia's best wrestlers from fairly substantial populations where wrestling is extremely popular, yet the national championships are contested in Krasnoyarsk, thousands of miles away. You could fit Australia in between the epicenter of Russian wrestling and the location of Russian nationals. This makes no sense to me, but then again I'm the practical sort who would like to make a few bucks from ticket sales. Watching the Russians wrestle, I'm reassured that even on the other side of the world, wrestling still is wrestling. Very few techniques used by the Russians appear totally alien, and the vast majority of neutral positions you could see in a college dual meet, though some Russian reactions in certain situations may seem somewhat counter intuitive to the American eye. I find that where Russian wrestling separates itself from ours is in its creativity. Russians seem to have a knack for executing the utterly unexpected, producing original solutions to the puzzle presented by their opponent. Speaking of the unexpected, if Russia's uses its national champions as its World Team, it will mark the first time a Russian team has entered a World Championships or Olympics without a past World/Olympic champion. In the 20 years since Russia has been sending wrestlers to world events as Russia, they have sent at least one past champion, and usually multiple. Among this year's Russian national champs there isn't even a past World/Olympic medalist, nor are there any wrestlers who have competed at the World Championships or Olympics. Oddsmakers for this year's wrestling World Championships, if they exist, have a tough task ahead of them. Abdusalam GadisovAt this point last year, I thought that Russia's Abdusalam Gadisov represented the next big thing in world wrestling. I figured that much like Khadshimourad Gatsalov, Gadisov would move from 84 to 96 kilograms and not lose for many years. London should have been his coronation, yet he received a murderous draw, and reigning World champ Reza Yazdani eliminated him in an early match. This year, instead of widening the gap between him and his domestic competition, he has suffered two losses in Russia this year to the much more lightly touted Anzor Boltukaev. The first was an ugly affair in the quarters of the Ivan Yarigin, and the second was this weekend in the finals of Russian Nationals, where Gadisov paid for the cynical strategy of sitting on a one-point move for most of the match. Now the question is not whether or not Gadisov will ever claim his place as one of the all-time greats, but if he'll ever again make it out of Russia. U.S. World Team Trials I have question, if USA Wrestling bucks the new FILA rules by adding overtime, why not also go ahead and add a multi-day format for each weight? Come on guys, if you rebel a little, why not just go all the way? A tournament where all the best-of-3 finals are held on the final day offers a vastly superior fan experience for those in attendance and in the case that the event is ever televised. One reason that NCAAs have achieved their level of success lies in the fact that the best is saved for last, and the final night consists of one giant television friendly climax. The Trials should seek to become the other big annual wrestling event in the United States. If eschewing the established international tournament style means better prospects for future television coverage, then so be it. Two-day tournament or not, I can feel my heart beat just a little bit faster in anticipation for the Trials this week. With the new rules and overtime, this should be the best Olympic style wrestling event the USA has seen in years. NCAA proposal They were not lying about wrestling having no offseason. Even after the college season ended this year it seems that one crazy wrestling story after another have bombarded us. Now the NCAA has proposed that the performance at National Duals earns points towards the NCAA tournament. The question remains as to whether this splits the baby with Solomon-esque wisdom, or if whether it is just another crappy compromise. Ratification of this proposal would not have National Duals crown the team champion, as was the rather radical change discussed in the fall, but it would definitely make the duals relevant. At the very least, Division I wrestling needs a dual meet showcase tournament that ... Bears some degree of meaning in the national team championship race Attracts all of the nation's top teams Attracts the attention of fans and television cameras. Louden SwainThis NCAA proposal will definitely accomplish the first two, team tournament points will be up for grabs, and every top team in the nation will have no choice be to compete for them. As to bringing bodies to watch, and attention from broadcasters, perhaps if it's built, they will come. I still think nothing would be cooler than a national team title determined by dual meet, where teammates rush the mat and carry the victor of the deciding match on their shoulders as he flings his headgear in celebration a la Loudon Swain. Of course, I'm not so shortsighted as to understand why this will never be a reality.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Team Illinois swept championships at the Cadet National Duals this past weekend in freestyle and Greco-Roman. The competitions were held Wednesday through Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla. Squads from the Land of Lincoln went 13-0 over the four-day event, 7-0 in freestyle and 6-0 in Greco-Roman. In each style of competition, Illinois had to defeat the top squad from Pennsylvania for the preliminary bracket title and then in the championship pool final. Between the Schoolboy and Cadet National Duals, each of the four finals has featured Illinois against Pennsylvania, with the Illinois team winning all but the one in Schoolboy Greco-Roman. Illinois beat Pennsylvania 45-31 in the preliminary bracket final and 60-18 in the championship match during Greco-Roman; and in freestyle the victories came by scores of 40-37 during the preliminary bracket final, and 43-31 in the championship match. The following are a list of notable performances by wrestlers going undefeated in at least six contested matches for a given style, Greco-Roman and/or freestyle … Both Styles: 100: Ben Freeman (Michigan) 106: Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania) 120: Taylor LaMont (Utah) 138: Patricio Lugo (Florida), Conner Myers (Michigan) 152: Taylor Lujan (Georgia) 170: Jelani Embree (Michigan) 182: Mason Litz (Michigan) 285: Shawn Streck (Indiana) Greco-Roman: 88: Cade Olivas (California) 100: Coltan Williams (Texas) 106: Matthew Schmitt (Missouri) 126: Richard Montoya (New Mexico) 132: Clayton Arellano (New Mexico), Jaden Enriquez (California) 138: Cameron Harrell (Maryland) 152: Blake Montrie (Michigan) 160: Mitchell Owens (Washington), Nick Reenan (Texas) 182: Roberto Rivera (Georgia) 220: Michael Smith (Maryland) 285: Tate Ondorff (Washington) Freestyle: 94: Jaxon Cole (Utah), Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma) 100: Jeremy Nygard (Washington), Jimmy Pawleski (Illinois) 106: Daton Fix (Oklahoma) 113: Jack Mueller (Texas), Dylan Udero (New Mexico), Brock Hudkins (Indiana) 120: Ethan Karsten (Missouri), C.J. Red (Indiana) 126: Nick Lee (Indiana) 132: Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma) 160: Joseph Grello (New Jersey) 170: Seth Avis (California) 182: Trevor Eicher (Washington) 195: Bailey Faust (Ohio), Emilio Fowler (Kansas), Tyler Johnson (Illinois) 220: Frank Carrasco (New Mexico), Dallas Goodpaster (Washington) Link to full brackets, results, etc.: Freestyle Greco-Roman

Tom Brands

The top Olympic-caliber wrestlers in the United States will come together to battle for spots on Team USA at the 2013 ASICS U.S. World Team Trials at Gallagher-Iba Arena on the Oklahoma State campus, June 21-23. The event will feature the top hopefuls for the 2016 Olympic Games in the Senior division, as well as future Olympic hopefuls in the FILA Junior division. The U.S. Senior World Team Trials will be hosted Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22, featuring athletes in the three Olympic styles of wrestling: men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman. Champions will qualify to represent the United States at the 2013 World Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 16-22. Top stars are expected to compete, including Olympic and World champion Jordan Burroughs at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott at 60 kg/132 lbs., both in men's freestyle. Joining Burroughs as past World champions in the field are two-time World champion Kristie Davis at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in women's freestyle, plus World champions Elena Pirozhkova at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Adeline Gray at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. in women's freestyle and World champion Dremiel Byers at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. in Greco-Roman. Numerous past Olympians and World Team members will be in the field in all three styles. Scott and Davis are among the local stars in the field. Scott was an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State and trains and coaches in Stillwater. Davis won two WCWA women's college national titles for Oklahoma City Univ. 2012 Olympian Sam Hazewinkel at 55 kg/121 lbs. and 2012 Olympic Trials runner-up Andrew Howe both train at the Univ. of Oklahoma. Stars who competed for Oklahoma State include U.S. Open champion Obe Blanc at 55 kg/121 lbs. and U.S. Open runners-up Jordan Oliver at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., Clayton Foster at 84 kg/185 lbs. and Chris Pendleton at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. U.S. Open champion Brittney Roberts at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. is among the many women's entries from Oklahoma City Univ. All of the weight classes will be very competitive, but wrestling fans are especially excited about the battle at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men's freestyle. World and Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs headlines the division. Expected to compete are four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake, U.S. Open runner-up David Taylor, Olympic Trials runner-up Andrew Howe, 2009 World Team member Trent Paulson, past U.S. Open runner-up Nick Marable and other stars. Based upon the approved World Team Trials procedures, champions from the 2013 U.S. Open in Las Vegas in men's freestyle and women's freestyle will advance directly to the best-of-three Championship Series in their weight class. None of the Greco-Roman U.S. Open champions advance to the finals series, but will receive the top seed in the Challenge Tournament. The U.S. FILA Junior World Team Trials, featuring the nation's best 17-20 year old athletes in men's freestyle and Greco-Roman, is scheduled for Sunday, June 23. Champions will qualify to represent the United States at the 2013 FILA Junior World Wrestling Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, August 13-18. The ASICS U.S. World Team Trials has been declared an official event for Olympic Day 2013 by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Olympic Day is celebrated worldwide each year to promote the Olympic values and participation in sport across the globe, regardless of age, gender or athletic ability. USA Wrestling has invited Olympians from all sports as guests at the World Team Trials as part of the Olympic Day celebration. Oklahoma Olympians who would like to attend as special guests of the hosts should contact Krista Graff of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame by email at kgraff@nwhof.org or by phone at 405-377-5243. The local organizing committee for the event will include Oklahoma State University, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and the Stillwater Wrestling Club. All-session tickets are still available through the Oklahoma State ticket office or at theworldteamtrials.com. General admission is $30 and reserved 200-level tickets are $50. Single session tickets will also be sold for the event. 2013 ASICS U.S. WORLD TEAM TRIALS At Stillwater, Okla. June 21-23 Event Schedule Friday, June 21 -- U.S. World Team Trials 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. – Session 1: Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Challenge Finals/Consolations and 3rd Place, Challenge Tournament Finals Men's Freestyle: 60 kg, 74 kg and 96 kg Greco-Roman: 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg Women's Freestyle: 55 kg and 72 kg 6:00 -- 8:00 p.m. – Session 2: Final World Team Trials and True Second Matches Men's Freestyle: 60 kg, 74 kg and 96 kg Greco-Roman: 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg Women's Freestyle: 55 kg and 72 kg Saturday, June 22 -- U.S. World Team Trials 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. – Session 1: Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Challenge Finals/Consolations and 3rd Place, Challenge Tournament Finals Men's Freestyle: 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg Greco-Roman: 60 kg, 74 kg and 96 kg Women's Freestyle: 48 kg and 63 kg 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Final World Team Trials and True Second Matches Men's Freestyle: 55 kg, 66 kg, 84 kg and 120 kg Greco-Roman: 60 kg, 74 kg and 96 kg Women's Freestyle: 48 kg and 63 kg Following the conclusion of competition – Presentation of the 2013 World Championship Teams Sunday, June 23 -- U.S. FILA Junior World Team Trials 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. – Challenge Tournament -- Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals FILA Junior Greco-Roman: All Weights FILA Junior Freestyle: All Weights 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. -- Final Trials: Match #1, Match #2 and Match #3 (if needed) FILA Junior Greco-Roman: All Weights FILA Junior Freestyle: All Weights 2013 U.S. Open National Champions Freestyle Champions 55 kg/121 lbs. - Obe Blanc, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC) 60 kg/132 lbs. - Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Kellen Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC) 74 kg/163 lbs. - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska RTC) 84 kg/185 lbs. - Keith Gavin, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. - J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC) 120 kg /264.5 lbs.- Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC)* Greco-Roman Champions 55 kg/121 lbs. - Spenser Mango, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Army WCAP) 60 kg/132 lbs. - Joseph Betterman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Army WCAP) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) 74 kg/163 lbs.- Ben Provisor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) 84 kg/185 lbs. - Jordan Holm, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) 96 kg/211.5 lbs. - John Wechter, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) 120 kg/264.5 lbs. - David Arendt Jr., Camp Lejeune, N.C. (U.S. Marine Corps) Women's Freestyle Champions 48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Alyssa Lampe, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) 55 kg/121 lbs. - Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (Sunkist Kids) 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) 72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Brittany Roberts, Santa Fe, Texas (OKCU Gator Women`s RTC) *Dlagnev moves into best-of-three Championship Series after U.S. Open champion Dom Bradley withdrew from the World Team Trials.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Todd Beckerman, former Nebraska All-American, has been named the head wrestling coach at Brown University in an announcement made by Brown Director of Athletics Jack Hayes on Friday. Beckerman will head the Bears' coaching staff following eight successful seasons at the University of Maryland, where he served as the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. "We're excited to have Todd Beckerman lead our wrestling program," said Hayes. "Todd was an outstanding student-athlete and he has continued that success as an accomplished coach with proven credentials. He brings tremendous experience and leadership to the position as well as a clear commitment to the direction of the program." Todd Beckerman (Photo/Scott Morgan)"I'm honored and excited to become the head coach at Brown, one of the most prestigious universities in the country," said Beckerman. "I would like to thank Jack Hayes and the rest of the search committee for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to working with the student-athletes, administration, and alumni to honor Brown's legacy while building a successful, nationally recognized program." Beckerman, who has 12 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, comes to Brown following an impressive stint at Maryland, where he helped lead the Terrapins to four ACC Championships in the last eight years, including back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012. Individually, Maryland has produced 16 different and 26 total conference champions during Beckerman's tenure, while six ACC champions directly trained with the two-time All-American. Under Beckerman's tutelage, seven wrestlers have earned All-American honors, including a trio of multiple winners. Beckerman also coached Steven Bell to a sixth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Championships and an eighth-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships. Since 2006, 38 Maryland wrestlers were named to the All-ACC team, while two earned ACC Wrestler of the Year honors. In addition to assisting with recruiting, coaching, travel, budgeting, academic support and several other administrative and development duties, Beckerman spearheaded a social media campaign that launched the Maryland program into the national spotlight. For his social media efforts, Beckerman and Maryland won the "The Gold Standard" award by the National Wrestling Coaches Association Best of Brand Awards in 2012. Prior to his arrival at Maryland, Beckerman spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the Naval Academy. In 2004, Navy posted its best record since 1993 and had a school-record eight wrestlers record 25-win seasons. In addition to stints at Maryland and Navy, Beckerman served as a volunteer coach at Nebraska during the 2002-03 season, where he primarily coached the lower weight classes and assisted with recruiting. He began his career as an administrative assistant at Penn State in 2001-02, where he worked one-on-one with student-athletes and directed summer camps. A four-year letterwinner and two-time All-American at Nebraska, Beckerman graduated in 2001 with a B.S. in human resources and family sciences. In addition, he also earned a Master's in Education from Nebraska with an emphasis in post-secondary athletics in 2007. As a student-athlete, Beckman put together a decorated career on the mat and racked up a lofty list of accolades while wrestling for the Huskers. He earned All-American status at the 2000 and 2001 NCAA Championships and also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in both seasons. As a senior, the team captain was named the 2000-01 Nebraska Male Athlete of the Year and the Husker Power lifter of the Year, and also competed internationally in 1999 and 2000 with the Big 12 All-Star Wrestling Team. Beckerman and his wife, Christina, have one daughter, Grace. "What They're Saying About Todd Beckerman" "I had the pleasure of coaching Todd at the University of Nebraska and he had an outstanding career there. Todd has definitely paid his dues as an assistant coach and is a true professional in every sense of the word. I am happy for both Brown University, for choosing Todd, and for the sport of wrestling. Having a young coach with his character will help not only Brown, but also our sport." Mark Cody – University of Oklahoma Head Coach "Brown University is getting a super coach, one of the best young coaches in the business. Todd has developed and prepared to put himself in this position. The student-athletes who are currently at Brown, along with future student-athletes, will be benefiting from a coach who will prepare them for life." Mark Manning – University of Nebraska Head Coach "I am really excited for Todd. This is a great opportunity. It's a bitter sweet moment for us and our program, because he does mean so much to the Maryland Wrestling Family. But, we are really excited for his opportunity and look forward to some great things from him as the head coach at Brown." Kerry McCoy – University of Maryland Head Coach "As a Brown graduate, I am very excited about the hiring of Todd Beckerman. He is a proven leader with a demonstrated history of success as a wrestler and a coach. He has mentored under some of our top coaches and is uniquely positioned to build on the rich history of Brown wrestling." Pat Tocci '93 – Director of Administration and Public Relations at the National Wrestling Coaches Association

WATERLOO, Iowa -- Five former NCAA wrestling champions, a historic wrestling family, a standout high school wrestling coach, and one of the nation’s premiere wrestling photographers highlighted a memorable evening at the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Festivities took place on Sunday, June 9 at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa. The Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa was established in 2002 to honor people who have made an impact on the sport on a national level, or who have done extraordinary work in the State of Iowa. The hall recognizes native-born Iowans, and those who achieved their fame while wrestling or coaching for an Iowa school. The Hall of Fame is located inside the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. Sandy Stevens, a member of the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa who has announced at every major wrestling tournament throughout the world, served as the master of ceremonies. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “The speeches by the honorees were some of the most heartfelt and poignant speeches I’ve ever heard at such an event,” said Stevens. “That was a feeling held by virtually everyone I talked with after the dinner. It was a memorable night for everyone involved.” Each award winner was introduced by Stevens and presented his award by Museum namesake Dan Gable. Gable, a native of Waterloo, won the 1972 Olympics without surrendering a point. He also coached the University of Iowa wrestling team to 15 NCAA titles and 21 consecutive Big Ten titles during his 21 year career. “I don’t think I’ve been to a banquet where I’ve felt that much emotion,” said Gable. “We in wrestling are now appreciating our sport more than ever. We know we need to make it better and I think we’re on the right track. “People were very appreciative at the event. That goes inside me and it makes me step up a little more. There’s more that I can do.” Wyatt Schultz received the Russ Smith Community Impact Award. The award is given to a person demonstrating exceptional local impact on wrestling within the state of Iowa. Schultz is the owner and publisher of The Predicament, a publication that covers wrestling within the state of Iowa. He is a sports photographer, covering wrestling tournaments statewide. Jason Christenson received the inaugural Bob Siddens High School Coaching Excellence Award. The award is given to an Iowa high school wrestling coach who exhibits the high standards that Bob Siddens set during his legendary coaching career. Siddens coached West Waterloo to 11 state team titles and a 327-26 dual meet record. Christenson is the head wrestling coach at Southeast Polk High School. He led his team to a 3A Iowa state team championship earlier this year. During his speech, Christenson alluded to the influence that Bob Siddens has had on his career as a coach. When Christenson began coaching he found an article from a 1985 issue of “Wrestling USA” that Bob Siddens wrote. The story included 11 principles on what makes a great wrestler. Christenson has used the article during the entirety of his 22 years of coaching -- and the article hangs proudly in the Southeast Polk wrestling room for all of his wrestlers to read. “It was surreal to be the first award winner,” said Christenson. “Even though he hasn’t been in the wrestling room, Bob Siddens has been a part of my coaching career every day. It was humbling to receive an award named in his honor.” The Huff family of Waterloo received the Family Legacy Award. Lewis and Louise Huff had four sons and one daughter, all of whom attended West Waterloo High School. Charles was a two-time state runner-up (1951-1952), Dale finished third as a senior (1954), Don was a state champion in 1956 and 1957, and Tom was a state champion in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Tom—an NCAA runner-up for the University of Iowa in 1963 and a third place finisher in 1962 -- spoke on behalf of the family. This year’s Hall of Fame induction class included Dale Brand (Cornell), Kirk Myers (Northern Iowa), Troy Steiner (Iowa), Terry Steiner (Iowa), and Heskett Iowa State. Brand was an NCAA champion for Cornell College in 1937 and a runner-up in 1936. He was also an alternate on the 1936 Olympic wrestling team that competed in Berlin, Germany. Brand was the head wrestling coach at Clarion High School from 1946 through 1976, compiling a 252-76-2 dual meet record. He coached 23 individual state champions and six runner-up teams. Dale’s most famous wrestler at Clarion was Glen Brand, 1948 Olympic champion and namesake of the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa. Dale and Glen were first cousins. Dale Brand died in 2004 at the age of 90. Myers was a three-time Division II NCAA champion for the University of Northern Iowa (1978-1980) and a three-time Division I All-American. He placed sixth at the NCAA tournament in 1979, third in 1980, and fifth 1982. Myers set the single season record for pins at Northern Iowa in 1982 at 21. He was also a state champion for Algona in 1977. Troy and Terry Steiner, identical twins who wrestled at the University of Iowa, each won an individual NCAA championship. Troy was a four-time All-American and an NCAA champion for the Hawkeyes, placing fifth, second, first, and third at the NCAA tournament (1990-1993). Terry was a three-time All-American and an NCAA champion, placing third, fifth, and first at the NCAA tournament (1991-1993). “I would like to thank the Dan Gable Museum and the selection committee for the induction” said Terry. “Wrestling is part of our lives and it has affected our entire family. It’s a great honor. The opportunity we were afforded by the University of Iowa and Dan Gable is something we are very grateful for. The passion Iowa fans bring to wrestling is second to none. We hope we can pass along the same passion and opportunity the next generation. The entire Steiner family was humbled to be part of this event.” Troy currently serves as an assistant wrestling coach at Oregon State. Terry is the U.S. National women’s head wrestling coach for USA Wrestling. Heskett was an NCAA champion and a four-time All-American (1999-2002) for Iowa State. He placed third at the NCAA tournament as a freshman, second as a sophomore and as a junior, and first as a senior. The former Cyclone compiled a 143-9 career college record with 58 pins. He also placed fifth at the 2007 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Heskett is the current head wrestling coach at Army. “I want to thank the Hall of Fame for executing a first class event,” said Heskett. “It was not just a humbling honor being inducted, but having the opportunity to listen to the passionate speeches of the other inductees made for a remarkable evening. What the Hall of Fame does for our sport is a true gift and I would like to thank all of the individuals involved.” On Monday, June 10 the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum hosted the 14th annual Dan Gable Celebrity Golf Tournament. Celebrities from baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, wrestling, and television converged for a memorable day at Sunnyside Country Club for a round of golf. “I’m a little in shock about the golf tournament,” said Gable. “I was planning on speaking twice and I felt like I let some people down, but I had to put priorities in place due to a funeral. The reason I’m in shock is because I couldn’t believe the number of celebrities that were there playing in the golf tournament. I can’t get over it. Every one of the celebrities was capable of being a guest speaker at high level functions throughout the nation. Putting them together is a little overwhelming for me. “My message is we’re still going to do a better job. We’ll never settle for okay. I’ve never settled for okay at any point in my life. However, I can’t express my appreciation enough to those people involved in both events.” One of the celebrities participating in the golf tournament was former major league baseball player Casey Blake. A native of Indianola, Iowa, Blake played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and Los Angeles Dodgers during his 13 year career. “I’m a wrestling fan. I’ve said from the beginning that you can’t take wrestling out of the Olympics,” said Blake. “They deserve to be in there more so than baseball, softball, and squash.”

Fight Now TV Presents Takedown Wrestling in the Brute studios. Takedown Wrestling is proudly presented by Kemin, Inspired Molecular Solutions! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/ 10 a.m. to noon ET. Join Scott Casber, Kurt Backes, Steve Foster, Terry Cook, our own Jeff Murphy and Brad Johnson live from Des Moines, Iowa. This week's guests: 9:03 JohnMark Bentley, Appalachian State head wrestling coach 9:20 Brooks Reynolds, Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival CEO/Founder 9:40 Alex Clemson, Virginia assistant head wrestling coach 9:50 Tyler Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update 10:00 Jeff Buxton, Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club coach 10:20 Tom Brands, Iowa head wrestling coach 10:40 Jim Heffernan, Illinois head wrestling coach 10:50 Peg Johnson, Wildrose Casino and Resort 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.)

InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. You have until Thursday night every week to send questions to Foley's Twitter or email account. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives. Because much of the Friday Mailbag is dedicated to discussing how wrestling can progress from the provincial to the profitable, I think it's best to lead with some upbeat news. The World Team Trials are next weekend, and for the first time in the event's history, there is a top-of-the-line promotional advertisement that encourages fans to attend the event, or at least care about the outcome. Geoffrey Riccio (RiccioProductions.com) has spent the last few years making highlight videos for wrestling, and though all are good, this one captures the drama of the event at a time when wrestling needs above-the-norm production value. What Riccio does that few others have is utilize HD video and graphics to package Olympic and world medalist into a 90-second video. Watchable, shareable, loveable. Riccio also understands his audience and puts the top freestylers in the world alongside images of Kyle Dake, David Taylor and Logan Stieber -- all three being assured to increase the imprint of the video. Though an imperfect weekend based on the distant geographic location, USA Wrestling should be commended for the expert marketing employed here. If there is a critique it's that the video wasn't out a month sooner, but in times of transition lag time for change can be greater than normal. I'm thrilled with this video and hopeful that as USA Wrestling, NWCA and the wrestling community at-large sees the positive response to this type of marketing we will also realize that to survive our sport needs better presentation and marketing. Wrestling needs to make fans our top priority and to honor their needs we need to recommit ourselves to growth and constantly asking for and accepting bold new ideas. Congrats to Geoffrey. I love this video and what its release could signify for the direction of the sport. Q: Why are the World Team Trials being held in Stillwater? Yes I know they have lots of fans and will fill the place, but it does absolutely nothing to promote wrestling on a big time stage. The Midwest is dead. When will the powers at be realize you can't be in small media markets for major events? The Super Bowl isn't held in Stillwater for a reason. NYC, Philadelphia, or another huge East Coast city is where it should be held. Heck, have it in Bristol on ESPN's campus, maybe it would get on TV, especially this year of all years. So frustrated with the sport. -- Tim J. Foley: Hey! I live in Chicago and we happen to have plenty going on right now! #GoHAWKS. You're right that Stillwater could be considered an underwhelming selection for a host city. Not to knock Oklahoma, but we can't keep having our sport's biggest events in the middle of wide-open prairies, or distant desert outpost built by gangsters in the pursuit of sin. (NOTE: This terribly composed sentence was not intended to knock on the hard work of those in Stillwater or to doubt the attendance or popularity of this weekend's event. It was a poor attempt at sarcastic humor (with a slight towards Vegas as well), written in a lazy manner that was deserving of backlash and critique. The larger point I was trying to make, but at which I failed miserably, was that I think going forward we need to ensure that our events occur closer to population centers where there is more national media and solid attendance. My apologies. I missed badly on this one and promise to do better the next time around. -- Tim) Wrestling needs to improve our selection of tournament locations. However, even if USA Wrestling had wanted a venue change after the Olympic decision, it would have been impossible given the timeframe and existing contracts with vendors in Stillwater. Moving forward you have to trust USA Wrestling (I'd still cut the cards) will start to seek out areas with higher population densities. There is some indication that progress is underway. The NWCA All-Star Classic, which for several years was held in front of small crowds in California and Arizona, made an enormous splash this season in Washington DC. Building off that momentum the NWCA is again hosting the event in Washington DC and this time hosting the event in George Mason's Patriot Center, a venue that can hold close to 10k people. The NWCA could set the example for USA Wrestling to follow. Put your events in well-lit, well-traveled areas and there is a better chance that people will attend. Invest in marketing, trust your product and you'll be surprised with the outcome. Q: I have heard of beach wrestling before but never knew it was a FILA-approved international sport. I think beach wrestling would make a great Olympic event for the sport of wrestling. It has simple rules, shorter matches, and is probably way more entertaining and interesting to non-wrestlers then a Greco-Roman match. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the future of beach wrestling, and the possible inclusion of it in the Olympics? (God willing there is Olympic wrestling.) -- Jake M. Foley: Anything is possible, including the addition of beach wrestling as an Olympic sport at some point in the future. The discipline will need time to grow and mature into a sport that several countries take seriously. Right now the wrestlers that are interested in traveling for events and training are doing so for the prize money and sponsorships in freestyle and Greco-Roman. To grow, beach wrestling will need to create larger incentives for athletes and become more marketable than its competitors. That, and it would need a strong advocate within the FILA Bureau. As we know, the shortcoming with FILA's revamped Olympic proposal is that it remains the only sport out of alignment with the IOC's demands for gender inequality. Traditional African wrestling, the continental cousin of beach wrestling, gives us good insight into the universality of the form and its potential marketability worldwide. Beach wrestling, or some variation thereof, could become the female answer to Greco-Roman, especially since the IOC would grant more medal latitude for a sport that allowed high numbers of female participation. Action from Batumi Beach Wrestling World ChampionshipsFemale beach wrestling does sniff of sexual opportunism, but understand that by creating this as a dual individual/team event FILA would not only start to level their numbers (16 countries with five Olympians per team is 80 athletes for 3 team medals and 15 individual), but also provide real opportunities to the world's least fortunate. For example, the women on Vietnam, Chad and Bolivia would be on the same starting sands as women from America, Brazil and Russia. In some of these countries, their traditional styles might even give them the opportunity to bring home much-coveted team medals. Beach wrestling might have a very bright future if the FILA Bureau members can see that this is a marketable and gender-equitable solution to their current IOC problem. Q: My question to you is, what official obstacles will I run into putting rash guards and singlets on youth and middle school wrestlers? Would the officials NOT let them wrestle? Will it take just one team moving forward for this to start grassroots style? As a progressive coach willing to push the envelope, what can be done to get this started? -- Brad A. Foley: Cost and fit. The parents probably won't mind that their 9-year-old isn't wearing a single piece of shiny spandex in front of a few hundred strangers, but you'll need to find a short that is sturdy, fits well, doesn't cause much snagging, and can be recycled year-to-year. There are a number of ways to change rules, but I'd start with empirical evidence to counter those who truly believe Jacob wrestled the Angel in a singlet. The singlet is NOT THE TRADITIONAL OUTFIT OF WRESTLING, and by starting with evidence that combats the power-half of nostalgia you can open up some minds to change. Overall, I'd recommend you approach this like you would any proposal. Acknowledge the arguments against the rash guard and shorts combo then dismiss them point-by-point. Next, create and present a list of problems with singlets (lower participations rates, lack of marketability, etc.) and show how the "modest, cost-efficient and technically superior" rash guards and fight shorts have short-term and long-term benefits. Now you start to win your audience. The atom-bomb approach would be to encourage and support your youth wrestlers who don't want to wear the singlets to simply refuse. Such insubordination might move your case into the school board where you would find a much friendlier set of bureaucrats who could see past the traditionalism and note that not every 7-13 year-old boy and girl MIGHT not feel cozy in a single sheet of spandex. The singlet is dead. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Senegalese Wrestling has been making a stir in the popular media this week. Check out the trailer for this documentary on the style. Q: You still don't think that Rafael Nadal would make a great wrestler? Did you see his match today? Since your previous answer was basically "no, because he grew up in Spain," what if Nadal's parents had moved to Pennsylvania (or Moscow) when he was 2 years old? If not Nadal, what non-combat sport athlete do you think would be a better candidate for Olympic gold under the "what if his/her parents had moved to PA/Moscow when he/she was two years old?" -- Ronald M. Foley: You love tennis. I can admit that you have a point -- the great athletes in one sport, given the time and coaching at an early age, would have been equally as talented in another sport. That's an argument for innate athleticism and mental outlook as the main drivers for any athlete's success. I can buy that. However, I think there is some variance within that model. My uncle was a national champion tennis player in college and at one point was the top-ranked amateur player in the world. He played his whole life, went to Bollettieri's Academy and as mentioned won championships at every level. After dropping the sport and starting a family he did what most men in their late 30s do and picked up the 9-iron. Boom. Guy is a savant, and after a few years was close to being eligible for qualification to play in the U.S. Open. Does that mean he could've also been a good wrestler? Maybe, but maybe not. From up close what I can tell you about my uncle is that he's able to maintain hyper-focus without rattling or questioning his position. He plays forward, never with regret or shame for where his ball now lies. This is a skill that makes him awesome under long durations of self-applied pressure -- situations that occur all the time on the tennis courts and on the golf course. Golfers are balancing the technique of their swing against the consequence of a poor performance on every hole. My uncle, and the great tennis and golf players, don't focus on the negative or dwell on past letdowns. Nadal does this as well. He is more confident and more sure than most of his opponents. He plays going forward. He has a certainty to every motion he makes, which is similar to pre-cheating scandal Tiger Woods. He makes the remarkable happen because to him it's not remarkable, just the course of the game. Wrestling is a sport that requires a wholly different set of emotional and mental skills. Good wrestlers are long-term focused, but short-term insecure. Don't believe me? Look at the language used in almost every popular wrestling trope. Wrestlers thrive off insecurity. We need to feel like we are the underdog, the one with something about to be taken. We measure all of our actions in terms of emotional aesthetics and breaking our opponents. Ours is a direct measure of will against the strength and balance of an opponent, not simply the execution of a game plan or technique. Wrestling requires that its athletes have a driving insecurity that leads them onto the mat to prove something. Wrestling's definition is that of a struggle, and that is indicative not just of what happens on the mat, but in the emotional characteristics of its participants. Nadal would've been a great wrestler for many reasons, but I don't think the tennis outlook is directly applicable to the wrestler's mindset, and that the difference between the two would limit Nadal's success on the mat. Q: I am a high school coach, and you and others have been talking about getting rid of the singlet, which I do think would help get some kids initially interested in the sport. However, another piece of wrestling equipment that I think is an even bigger problem is the headgear. Of my 35 to 40 kids, I might have 3-4 wear it during practice (and it's just because their ears are banged up). Since most kids don't wear it unless they are required, and it slows matches down with it coming off and sometimes even becomes potentially harmful when it gets around the eyes or throat, do you think there is a chance we could ever get rid of the required wearing of headgear during matches, and make it optional ? Sorta like the freestyle guys. If so, who do we contact? -- Mike C. Foley: I'd contact your most trusted deity, because only the act of a god could get the American parent to back down from preventing a perceived health risk in high school athletics (with the exception of safety in football, where is makes perfect sense to allow your child to throw themselves headlong into each other at a full sprint, thereby turning their delicate, developing minds into gray mush). There is NO CHANCE that a Snowplow Parent is allowing their child to develop cauliflower ear. How would that affect their college applications? Potential careers? Oy, the more I think about it, this has less than a zero-percent chance to work. There is literally a better chance of Tim Tebow leading the New England Patriots to an undefeated season, than there is a chance that parents would allow their kids to compete without a headgear. I like your outlook, and appreciate that you've joined the movement to change, but let's focus on the singlets first and choose our battles carefully! RANT OF THE WEEK! (Note: Not really a RANT) Q: Your 'tag-tucking' story is fascinating. Troy Letters did it throughout Lehigh and though I don't know if he did in in high school I always just kinda thought it was HIS "thing!" In his last season at Lehigh, Troy wrestled-off against Mike Galante in the finals of the team's wrestle-offs. At the start of the second period, Troy chose down, and Mike tucked Troy's tag in on one of the re-starts. Troy spun around, furious that HIS move had been used against him. A moment later he reversed Galante and threw him around the mat a bit for the dominant W. -- Mike

Logan Storley

If you've followed MMA news for the last couple of months, you might've forgotten about UFC 161, with the main two feature bouts getting scratched because of injuries. On the flip side, if you've seen commercials for this weekend's pay per view, be warned that Shogun vs. Nogueira and Barao vs. Wineland aren't happening. With that confusion cleared up, Richard and John break down the UFC 161 main card and debate whether Bellator can really afford the move to Friday nights. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Over the last few days, the outcry of the wrestling public over FILA's newly published rules for Olympic wrestling has been intense. FILA has promulgated rules which include seven-point tech falls, and throw rules where matches end by a single five-point throw, or two three-point throws (so long as the wrestler is winning after the move). These rules diverge a bit from those agreed upon at the recent FILA congress, and wrestling fans feel a bit betrayed. Some feel that FILA has taken a step back after many steps forward. I'd rather look at it as a shirt with another wrinkle left to iron. Progress is being made, but invariably we will encounter some difficulties. One can be happy about two things. First the rules as they stand now are still better than the old rules, and second, those responsible for creating these rules are making overtures towards transparency, something heretofore unprecedented among the higher ups at FILA. While the seven-point tech fall does bother people, I think the majority of the issue is taken up by the throw rules. The idea that a single well-executed throw can end a match is a concept native to judo. At wrestling's most fundamental center lies the idea that the ultimate end of a match is the pinning of a competitor's back to the mat. While rewarding what are now referred to as "grand amplitude" throws (rather than "high amplitude," though I think the qualifier "grand" is an old term in the sport that has been resurrected) with instant victory may incentivize more aesthetically pleasing throws, it takes us farther away from the idea of the match-ending pin. I should also note that the introduction of the throw rules skew noticeably in favor of Greco-Roman, which may need to resort to radical measures, such as these throw rules, to increase its appeal to viewers on the Olympic level. I'm sure the throw rules were introduced with visions of poster worthy throws dancing in the heads of the authors. This is a clear attempt to use the rules to engineer excitement in the sport. The problem is that freestyle, even under the previous rules, wasn't really in need of excitement. Its rules just needed to be streamlined. Greco is the sport which suffers from rampant inaction and a dearth of scoring. I have to imagine that the throw rules were included almost exclusively to benefit Greco. Previously I alluded to the gesture of transparency which accompanied the publication of the rules. FILA vice president and former World champion Stan Dziedzic produced a document on Facebook defending each of the rule changes item by item. We should be encouraged by this, this shows that FILA takes seriously the need for openness and accountability. That said, Mr. Dziedzic's attempt at clearing the air ironically generates its own murk. I notice three issues in the document which could use additional explanation. First Mr. Dziedzic's discussion of the HERACLES system ...Some of the suggested changes, unfortunately, required too much time to reprogram the HERACLES system and possibly would require previously signed venue contracts to be renegotiated. Therefore, because of these logistical problems, it was agreed to table these changes for further discussion at a later date. I am a simple fan. I don't know what the HERACLES system is. I assume it is some sort of scoring software. This makes me wonder, why would changes in software constitute material enough changes to necessitate the renegotiation of venue contracts? Furthermore, I really believe that Mr. Dziedzic ought to have taken this opportunity to explain exactly which suggested rule changes had to be tabled.Allow me to make it clear; none of the suggestions is either Mikhail Mamashvili's or mine. Instead, they are the collective views of spectators, media; AND MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, some of the BEST WRESTLERS and COACHES in the WORLD -- past and present. I never suspected that Mr. Mamashvili exerted any undue influence over these rule changes, that is, until this denial of his undue influence was issued in Mr. Dziedzic's statement. This passage raises the additional process question. We have input in the form of opinions from a world's worth of great coaches and athletes, and we have the output in the form of these new rules; what methodology was put into place to change the input into output? One would like to know the answers to several questions. How were the opinions collected? How were they tabulated? Was the same weight given to each opinion? Stan Dziedzic (Photo/Larry Slater)Simply stating that the opinion of many others was involved in a decision without explaining how does not provide transparency, it actually fosters opacity. My last issue with Mr. Dziedzic's statement has to do with an omission rather than an assertion. Nowhere in the document does he address the most radical and controversial aspect of the new rules -- the throw rules. The problem with publicly defending one's actions lies with the fact that the entirety of the actions must be defended; picking and choosing undermines the rest of the defense. I like the fact that FILA is trying to explain itself. I am optimistic that the substance of these explanations will improve in the future.

Zeke Jones

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Illinois and Pennsylvania were double finalists at this past week's USA Wrestling Schoolboy Duals held at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, Ind. The Keystone State squad struck first with a 39-36 victory over Illinois in the Greco-Roman final, as Pennsylvania used pins from Josiah Jones (190), Cole Rickert (210), and Brendan Furman (265) to rally back from a twelve point deficit with three matches to go and secure the victory. Team Illinois avenged the Greco-Roman defeat with a 41-34 victory in freestyle. Six consecutive middleweight victories for the squad from the Land of Lincoln reversed a 16-4 deficit into a 25-16 lead. The advantage would hold through the last six matches, which the teams split three apiece. Victories in that winning streak came from Jason Renteria (105), Jake Polka (112), Blaize Punke (120), Jaime Hernandez (128), Trevell Timmons (136), and Jack Jessen (144). Undefeated records (at least six contested matches in the given style): Both Styles: 70: Jace Koelzer (Kansas) 77: Mark Heinselman (Colorado), Connor Keivman (Pennsylvania) 84: Mason Phillips (Washington), Van Schmidt (Georgia) 98: Andrew Merola (New Jersey) 105: Kyran Hagan (Missouri) 120: Anthony Artalona (Florida), Brock Hardy (Utah), Owen Brown (Georgia) 128: Payton Scott (Oklahoma) 136: Jermain Herring (Oklahoma), Max Wohlabaugh (Florida), Braedon Orrino (Washington) 144: Eric Byelick (Flordia), Jack Jessen (Illinois) 160: Brandon Whitman (Michigan) 175: Bryce Baumgartner (Indiana) 190: Josiah Jones (Pennsylvania) Greco-Roman: 70: Kurt McHenry (Virginia) 77: Manny Drexler (Wisconsin) 84: Job Greenwood (Colorado), Parker Huss (Minnesota) 91: Nathan Lendt (Iowa) 98: Peyton Robb (Minnesota) 105: Ryan Hansen (Utah), Joe Lee (Indiana) 112: Alec Hagan (Missouri), Justin Ruffin (Georgia) 120: McCoy Tekautz (Minnesota) 128: Jimmy Deitz (Arizona) 144: Matt Ceparano (North Carolina) 152: Mackoy Turpen (Idaho), Sangobunmi Smith (Georgia) 160: Alex Peplinski (Wisconsin) 175: Jacob Warner (Illinois), Brandon Closson (Utah) 190: Jacob Ruboy (New Jersey) 210: Matt Naig (Iowa), Tage McNutt (Missouri) Freestyle: 70: Max Crowe (Minnesota) 77: Cody Phippen (Kansas) 84: Matt Parker (Pennsylvania) 91: Tony Madrigal (Illinois) 98: Jacori Teemer (New York) 112: Beau Bratcher (Oklahoma), Chase Hauck (Pennsylvania) 120: Hayden Krein (Wisconsin), Anthony Scantlin (Kansas) 128: David Carr (Ohio), Braeden Redlin (Texas), Jaime Hernandez (Illinois) 136: Ryan Angeloni (Texas) 144: Bo McIntosh (Ohio), Kameron Bush (Michigan) 152: Nathan Walton (Indiana), Blake Berrick (Pennsylvania) 160: Andrew Davison (Indiana) 210: Brady Shepherd (Indiana) Placement Match Results, Greco-Roman: Championship: Pennsylvania Blue over Illinois, 39-36 Third: Wisconsin Red over Washington, 47-26 Fifth: Minnesota 1 over Indiana Gold, 40-39 Seventh: Kansas Gold over Ohio, 45-34 Consolation Final (Ninth): New Jersey over Iowa, 54-20 Placement Match Results, Freestyle: Championship: Illinois over Pennsylvania Blue, 41-34 Third: Oklahoma Red over Kansas Gold, 44-35 Fifth: Minnesota 1 over Iowa, 55-23 Seventh: New Jersey over Utah, 56-23 Consolation Final (Ninth): Indiana Gold over Wisconsin Red, 41-36 Full information, brackets, results: Greco-Roman Freestyle

Bismarck, N.D. -- University of Mary Athletic Director Roger Thomas today announced the hiring of Adam Aho as head wrestling coach. Aho joins U-Mary after serving as an assistant at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Mavericks finished eighth in 2012-13 at the NCAA Division II National Championship. Adam Aho"Adam Aho is an exciting young coach who we believe will build on the recent strides we have taken with our wrestling program. A major part of winning programs while wrestling in high school and college, Adam has spent the past two years coaching at one of the top programs in the nation. We look forward to Adam bringing all of those successes with him as he takes over the Marauders wrestling program," stated Thomas. Adam Aho Aho is equally excited to have a chance to be a part of U-Mary athletics, explaining that, "The sincere hospitality and the commitment to excellence from all of the athletic staff made the decision extremely easy for me to accept the position. I feel that the University of Mary is the perfect fit for me." Optimistic for the future of Marauders athletics, Aho added, "Roger Thomas is a great leader and has a clear vision for the future of U-Mary athletics." Aho joins the U-Mary staff after serving the past two seasons at Minnesota State University. While at Minnesota State Aho worked with hall of fame coaches Jim Makovsky (head coach) and Mike Niemczyk (assistant). During his tenure at MSU, Aho coached four All-Americans and six all-conference wrestlers. The Mavericks were ranked as high as eighth in the country in 2012-13. As a student-athlete Aho was a four-year starter at North Dakota State University. Graduating in 2009, Aho served as a team captain his senior season. During his prep career at Frazee High School, Aho placed three times at the Minnesota Class A State Tournament including a state championship in 2004. Aho replaces Ben Berogan, who resigned the Marauders wrestling head coaching position earlier this spring due to career opportunities for his family in another city. After joining U-Mary as an assistant wrestling coach in 2003, Berogan became the Marauders interim head coach in January 2007 and the full-time head coach in 2008. Berogan coached all three Marauders NCAA All-Americans (Jesse Laber in 2008 and Taylor Nagel and Trevor Johnson in 2012) and led U-Mary to 19th place at the 2012 national championships. The Marauders also were named the nation�s top academic wrestling team in 2012 and have finished in the top seven the past three years. U-Mary received votes in the national poll much of the 2012-13 season and returns All-American Trevor Johnson. Aho is confident the program is on the right track. "I believe 100 percent that I can be successful and elevate the wrestling program to become contenders in the Northern Sun and be nationally competitive in the next few years. It has been my lifelong goal and dream to become a head wrestling coach at the college level. I am driven and determined to make the best of this opportunity," said Aho. Aho has already assumed full responsibilities of the wrestling program and is in the process of moving to the Bismarck area, where he will live with his wife LaBreena and 11-month old son Brayden.

Fight Now TV Presents Takedown Wrestling in the Brute studios. Takedown Wrestling is proudly presented by Kemin, Inspired Molecular Solutions! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/ 10 a.m. to noon ET. Join Scott Casber, Kurt Backes, Steve Foster, Terry Cook, our own Jeff Murphy and Brad Johnson live from Des Moines, Iowa. This week's guests: 9:03 Henry Wiles, AMA pro flat track star and former wrestler 9:20 Carl Perry, Fellowship of Christian Athletes 9:40 Andre Antoine, BTS New York/ Kent State 9:50 Tyler Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update 10:00 Doug Dake, Kent State alum & father of Kyle Dake 10:20 Matt Moos, BTS Toledo & Brian Murphy, Toledo Public Schools 10:40 Teague Moore, American head wrestling coach 10:50 Amy Ruble, Wildrose Casino and Resort, Emmetsburg, Iowa 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.)

InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. You have until Thursday night every week to send questions to Foley's Twitter or email account. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives. This week's mailbag is massive, so I'll keep the proselytizing brief ... In an effort to create a wider base of support for the Olympic bid and to substantiate the sport's worldwide popularity, FILA is making a push for increased participation with their social media. Part of their outreach is to use my #WrestlingIsEverywhere as a drive of the campaign by collecting unique, engaging and heartfelt photos from around the world that tell the story of wrestling. FILA sees this user-generated series of photos as a robust social media successor to the popular and effective #SaveOlympicWrestling and #KeepOlympicWrestling campaigns that helped wrestling make it through St. Petersburg. With the long summer and a weariness of the general public to our message of quasi-desperation the tenor of the campaign needs to become more inclusive, upbeat and engaging. You can be part of the movement. In addition to liking the Facebook page and sharing the content with your friends, you can also submit your best wrestling photos to WrestlingIsEverywhere@gmail.com. The photos will then be used on the FILA Facebook page and distributed on Twitter. Check out the first 90 days worth of photos on my website WrestlingIsEverywhere.com and the first four official photos of the Facebook at FILA Official. Details of what to submit can also be found on my website. The #WrestlingIsEverywhere campaign is intended to capture the attention of the IOC voters, so remember that while photos of high-amplitude throws and Jordan Burroughs' double legs will be used, the campaign also needs photos that speak to the universality of the sport. We need photos that display humor, compassion, and inclusion. We want to inform and inspire. We want to show the IOC in one image what it would take 1,000 words to tell otherwise. Your photos don't have to be perfect. They just have to be yours. Choose to participate and we WILL create the type of organic social media campaign that can effect change and help influence the decision of IOC voters around the world. If the warm and fuzzy appeal of photography doesn't get you amped up to win the fight, here's empirical evidence that wrestling is in last place heading into the Sept. 8 meeting. Our goal should be to have 100k LIKES by Aug. 1. FACEBOOK: Squash2020: 42,291 PlayBall2020: 17,057 FILA: 11,540 #WrestlingIsEverywhere To your questions ... Q: There are two kids that have transferred from ODU in the last two months or so. What is going on down there? It seems that Coach Martin is doing great things at ODU. What are your thoughts or do you have inside information? -- Nick Foley: That number is now three. Justin LaValle (North Dakota State), Rob Deutsch (Rider) and John Nicholson (Iowa State) all left this season due to individual concerns. I don't like to speculate on why each left, but you're correct to wonder about the stability of the program. Retention is vital to medium-size programs with average support. Coach Martin is a proven winner, but his program has seen a small slide over the the past few seasons both on the mat and in anecdotes like the number of wrestlers leaving the program. Think of transferring like immigration. You might have your qualms with America (What the hell?!), but balancing how many people are trying to get in, versus how many are trying to flee is a good barometer. America is on the right side of that balance, ODU right now is not. As a Virginian, I pull for Old Dominion. As a journalist who will eventually have to answer the emails of alumnus Jason Bryant should something be misstated I'll leave it with you whether or not this is all cause for concern. My only advice is that if you're an alum of ODU, or even a fan of the Monarch program, now would be an exceptional time to show some financial support, and create some outreach among your community. Q: Nenad Lalovic seems to getting a lot of positive praise lately for spearheading FILA's much needed change. Does he deserve the credit he's getting or is he just in the right place at the right time making the obvious moves? -- Jeff N. Foley: Oof. I wrote a piece about Lalovic last month in which another FILA bureau member stated that it's too early to tell if he's the right guy. Essentially the response has been that he IS the guy, so we need to back our horse. All leaders have deficiencies (You've got to be kidding me?!) and Lalovic is not different. He's the son of a diplomat and successful businessman who so far has chosen the right time to say something in public and the right time to keep quiet. That's a lesson I wish I knew better. Lalovic will only be the savior of wrestling if he keeps the tent open for more participation and transparency. Already FILA is 100,000 times more transparent that FILA under Roi fainéant Raphie Martinetti. There are big actions in place that should they keep grinding correctly will change the face of the sport. However, FILA, and that means Lalovic, will be judged on their ability to stick to current reforms and expand opportunities for those outside the power three (USA, Russia, Iran). The IOC showed us that to be in their Olympics we need to play by their set of rules. Lalovic is making all the right moves in public, and should that continue of the next 91 days and wrestling earns reinstatement he will deserve much of the credit. Lalovic won't be alone in fathering this Olympic wrestling comeback story. Just on the American side there are a dozen individuals whose effort in this process has meant substantial and vital results. I won't name names because I don't want to leave off anyone whose played a key role, but there are plenty of men and women who are in a position to claim a piece of the success should wrestling be chosen by the IOC in Buenos Aires. The money, the labor, the intelligence and the overall collection of talent that has been assembled is remarkable. However, if wrestling is eliminated from Olympic contention it'll be Lalovic alone who suffers the brunt of the criticism. And it's because he chose in February to lead a movement that at the time had little hope of victory, that I'm happy to defer all public praise in his direction. Lalovic put himself in the crosshairs and that takes the type of courage we as wrestlers should all notice and respect. Q: I thought this might give you some ammo to write something comical for your mailbag in the midst of all the serious questions regarding money, the Olympics, and rule changes. What was the worst beating you took in college? For me two come to mind -- a non-competitive 7-1 thrashing by Travis Doto and a 16-4 thrashing that was borderline criminal by T.J. Williams. Doto took me down relatively quickly then proceeded to power half me without turning me. For what seemed like an eternity. Six minutes or so of power half time. And T.J. double legged me infinity times! Maybe only eight, but who is really counting? -- Scott G. Yoshi NakamuraFoley: Yoshi Nakamura from Penn teched me at the 2002 NCAA tournament in Albany. Whipped me silly. He wasn't just hitting takedowns, he managed to twice land five-point moves that were caught on film and later distributed on the NCAA highlight film. If you go back and watch the film you can see spindly legged me getting double overhook tossed twice and both times the referee was considerate enough to be out of the camera shot. The most comical part of being tossed around by the black belt judoka and two-time All-American was that every time he returned to top he tucked in the tag on the back of my singlet. I felt him do it, and thought to myself AS WE WERE WRESTLING, "Why did he tuck in my tag? Why? Seriously ... why?" Then he'd toss me on my head again and scramble my thoughts back to survival. Yoshi Nakamura. Guy laid a beating on me. Q: Thoughts on Spencer Lee announcing move from Saegertown High School (Saegertown, Pa.) to Franklin Regional? Seems a legit reason as his father took a job from the Saegertown area to Carnegie Mellon University. -- Ryan P. Foley: Sounds like you answered your own question! If my father took a job and moved the family, I'd also attend the high school in the area. Q: I think we need another event late this summer for freestyle wrestling to show its popularity and universality. It's great to rent out a Grand Central Terminal, but we need to sell out an arena. Pick a Midwest city (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, etc.) and have an event where you can sell out an arena in a wrestling area. I think the event should be a four-team or eight-team event that shows off the global reach of wrestling. So many Olympic sports are dominated by one or two countries. It's a rare quality wrestling needs to show off. Have teams from all reaches (Mongolia, Georgia, Columbia, Egypt, Azerbaijan, India, Lithuania, etc.) I know this is a vague description, but I would like to see more stuff like this happen anyway. Soccer "friendlies" happen all the time. USA Wrestling should be a leader in bringing "friendlies" to prominence. -- Tom B. Foley: Excellent idea. We need another high profile event leading into the final month of the campaign to ensure that the IOC voters understand the universality of the sport, and its ability to bridge cultural gaps. My only critique is that we should do it outside the United States. Though we are the media capital of the planet, it might make more sense to move away from the American-centric approach to the sport, and towards something with more of a worldly component. Wrestling at the Giza Pyramids or under the Eiffel Tower might not mean much in terms of immediate viewership, but when reported it doesn't need a heavy coat of wax to shine the way we want. We could even go a step further and host an event in a place even more remote. I'd vote Mongolia or Tajikistan, but those might be too out of the way. I'm ready to hear some big ideas so please feel free to submit ideas to my email. Remember, #WrestlingIsEverywhere not just in the United States. Q: With everyone tired and bored with Greco-Roman at the world level (especially in the USA), is there a chance the two styles could ever be freestyle and folkstyle? -- Mike C. Foley: We very well could adapt a new style, and that style might be traditional or folkstyle, but it won't be American. Though there are big differences between freestyle and American folkstyle, the differences are nearly wide enough to generate worldwide interest. We like our scholastic style because it embodies a lot about what we like in America. Our wrestling style demands toughness, aggression and sacrifice over technique. We like action, but feel the need for fair results. Worldwide attitudes are much different and their traditional styles tell that story. My guess would be that beach wrestling, largely derived from traditional African wrestling would be the next style of wrestling to see in the Olympics. Takedowns are clear and easy to dictate, the action is bigger in the sand, and there is much more room for the marketability of the sport to the general sports audience who might not know how to score a leg lace but could tell you when someone earns a takedown in the sand. So, no, American folkstyle wrestling will never see the Olympics. I love it, and you love it, but for now we'll keep it American. Q: Regarding board shorts and rash guards, I have to disagree. Can you imagine Nico Megaludis trying to drop into the splits in the NCAA finals and getting caught up by his shorts, or Ben Askren's funk being stopped by his shorts? I think the shorts would limit the ability of funky and flexible wrestlers in a way that may affect the outcome of matches, which is basically the main thing you do not want in a uniform. Additionally, I'm not sure the wrestling community wants a change in uniform. Remember in 2007 when someone tried to popularize shorts/T-shirt (see video)? It faded pretty quickly. -- DB Foley: Your video shows the DoubleSport brand that was pushed in the middle of last decade. As you mentioned the changes advocated by many would be shorts and a rash guard, which have been improved over the past several years. As for the flexibility and funk argument, I think you're incorrect in assuming that fabric would hamper the flexibility. World-class grapplers who rely almost solely on their flexibility to create submission attacks have adopted this outfit as their uniform. Additionally, wrestlers wear these outfits EVERY DAY in the practice room. The only time American collegiate wrestlers don't wear shorts and a T-shirt is during competition, when suddenly we put on a tight, overly revealing piece of shiny spandex. It's totally odd once you think about it. We don't feel comfortable wearing only a singlet during practice, but suddenly in front of 17k people we are forced to wear them? Better uniforms mean more participation which means more fans, more dollars and more exposure. The singlet is dead. Lets parlay that highlight reel into a halftime dedicated to the marketing brilliance of BJJ and the Gracie Family ... MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Who could argue that this is the type of highlight and hype that wrestling needs ... I want this for next year! Always enjoy watching how the other guys are promoting their product ... For equal rights ... Q: Who would win in a NCAA finals match: Jordan Oliver from 2013 or Brent Metcalf from 2010? -- Nick T. Foley: Metcalf, 3-1, with a takedown at the end of the third. Q: The new freestyle rule changes seem like an improvement to the sport, with the exception of the passivity rule. It seems complicated, making it difficult for the casual fan to understand. Plus, it seems that the best strategy for the non-passive wrestler would be to be defensive, not take risks, during the 30 seconds and get his penalty point. Why not just give the point if a wrestler is passive. Signal it, award it, keep wrestling. Simple and easy to understand. -- Clay C. Foley: The 30-second clock has been working to create more offense from the wrestler who has been warned for stalling. Like a reverse power play, the defensive wrestler has to be weary not to lose his advantage and can't risk nullifying the point by being pushed out of the circle. That creates an odd mentality where he or she has to continue interacting, even as one wrestler is more incentivized to score. Wrestling rules aren't often brilliant, but my guess is that most fans won't even know that there is a 30 second clock for the stall point which means they'll just see more action. Assume that no action takes place, then the match is stopped and the aggressive wrestler earns the point -- exactly what you wanted in the first place. I heart this rule change. Q: It seems you have recently amped up your displeasure with the Greco-Roman style. Is this style outdated? Or are their improvements that can be made to make this entertaining and viable? -- NGM Foley: "Outdated" is an interesting way to state the issues within Greco-Roman. I'll answer your question with a question: What simple solutions can be enacted in Greco to overcome the inaction? I'm optimistic, but the style has fallen behind freestlye both because of the boredom, and lack of gender equality. RANT OF THE WEEK! Q: Now that we've made the "Final Four" in Olympic inclusion (I count baseball/softball as two and along with squash and wrestling) the wrestling community may need to use a different tactic for the final vote in September. With that said, two arguments I haven't quite heard yet are as follows. First off, and this is the biased one, is the fact I've heard no "top of the sport" individual for baseball -- which I'll assume will get included as a package with softball -- come out publicly to support its inclusion. The major players of wrestling -- and you only have so many hours in the evening to read all their names so I won't print them -- have all either met in a public forum or gone out of their way to publicly plead the case for wrestling. Where's Albert Pujols? Ryan Braun? Justin Verlander? Derek Jeter? Not a word about it and I haven't seen anyone from the media ever inquire/ask about such a topic to any Major League baseball player. That alone should clarify the support, or lack thereof, of the influential individuals amongst the leaders of the sport. Secondly -- and I'd like to think this may be the "clinch" argument (if I may use a wrestling term for it) to get it in -- the sport of wrestling embodies what Pierre de Coubertin was describing when he brought back the Olympics in 1896. De Coubertin envisioned Olympics as promoting peace in a very volatile world at the time. (No one in over a 1000 years had seen a war that was about to commence about 18 years after 1896, but many feared such a conflict would occur.) De Coubertin wanted to promote cultural relativity, and lessening the dangers of potential war. All sports have had at least a fraction of accomplishing this, but anyone has to see that wrestling has done this the most. The best example I can make of this are the medal winners from our most recent 2012 Olympic Games. If you were to go to pretty much any weight class in any style you would find various political and economic ideologies as well as nations that are industrialized, post-industrialized, and even agrarian. For example, the Men's 60-kilo medalists are Azerbaijan, Russia, USA, and India. All four of these wrestlers were at the pinnacle of the sport at the same time and I venture to say that their paths to that stage were remarkably different. The United States and Russia have facilities for wrestlers in every corner of their country's geography. However, I'll guess that India and Azerbaijan aren't quite as fortunate in their training facilities. And speaking of geography, if you were to draw a line from each of these nations and connect the dots, you'd about circumnavigate the globe. Not too many other sports, or even events within sports (Think track & field and sprints as opposed to a distance event.) could do that. I'll go out on a limb and say that I don't think these nations, or even nations similar, were represented in the men's or women's 50-meter freestyle finals in swimming. I don't think I remember these nations in the lead pack at any point in the men's or women's marathon. And I'll bet this wasn't a safe assumption for the semifinals of tennis played on Centre Court at the 2012 Olympics either. I don't want to come across as facetious here, but what other sport at what other time every four years will there be "finalists" from Cuba, Estonia, Turkey, and Sweden (men's 120-kilo medalists)? None! These countries have vastly different economic systems; natural resources; imports; exports; cultures; languages; and belief and value systems. Yet they are unified in the sport of wrestling. When de Coubertin said, "The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well." Does that not fit the sport of wrestling; whatever mat, grass patch, earthen field, or any other piece of ground you may be doing it on in the world; better than any other sport? -- Gregg B.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Former Bakersfield wrestling coach T.J. Kerr has passed away. Kerr was 64. T.J. Kerr"Today is a sad day for the CSUB wrestling program as we mourn the loss of Coach Kerr," said current Roadrunners head coach Mike Mendoza, a former wrestler and assistant coach at Bakersfield for Kerr. "He was such a big part of this program and had a huge impact on so many lives. Coach Kerr was a big influence in my life and in the lives of the many wrestlers he coached at San Jose State and here at CSUB. He was demanding, pointed, and was not shy about telling it how he saw it. He wanted to get the most out of every one of his guys and that sometimes resulted in hurting feelings. But I along with many of his wrestlers respected him for that quality." Kerr spent 26 years as the 'Runners head coach. He was a three-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, winning the award in 1996 when the Roadrunners won their first Pac-10 title. That honor was sandwiched by awards in 1991 and 1997, years in which CSUB placed second in the conference. In addition, Kerr was honored in 2005 by being inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame and in 2007, was named the Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year. Kerr led the Roadrunners to a second Pac-10 title in 1999. Since joining the conference in 1988, CSUB has finished in the top three of the Pac-10 on nine different occasions. Since moving the 'Runners up to Division I in 1988, Kerr led CSUB to a 236-142-4 (.624) dual meet record and seven top-12 finishes at the NCAA Division I Championships. The pinnacle of his success came in 1996 when the Roadrunners placed third at the NCAA Division I Championships behind Iowa and Iowa State. That achievement, coupled with a Pac-10 title in the same year, earned Kerr National Wrestling Coach of the Year honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). Before the move to Division I, Kerr coached Bakersfield for three seasons at the Division II level. During that time, the Roadrunners won three Division II West Regional titles and were national champions in 1987. In each of CSUB's three seasons in Division II under Kerr, the Roadrunners finished no lower than seventh place. Kerr was also named the Division II Coach of the Year in 1987, the same season that Darryl Pope was named Outstanding Wrestler. T.J. Kerr (Photo/Kirby Lee, Image of Sport)Kerr coached at his alma mater, San Jose State, for 12 seasons before coming to CSUB. In that time, the Spartans won 10 Pacific Coast Athletic Association titles and finished second in the other two years. For his dominating efforts at SJSU, Kerr won PCAA Coach of the Year honors seven times. The high point for Kerr in his tenure at San Jose State came in 1982 when the Spartans not only won the PCAA title, but also placed ninth at the NCAA Division I Championships, their highest finish with Kerr at the helm. In 2008, Kerr was inducted into the Spartan Athletic Hall of Fame. Kerr was awarded with the highest honor in wrestling in the state of California in 2005 when he was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame. That honor follows his earlier hall of fame induction in 1999 when he was inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame. KERR'S HIGHLIGHTS 236-142-4 (.624) dual meet record in 26 years Pac-10 conference champions in 1996 and 1999 11 top-25 national finishes Five top-10 national finishes Third-place NCAA Division I finish in 1996 10 top-three finishes in the Pac-10 (20 years) 2007 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year 1996 NWCA Coach of the Year Three-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1991, 1996, 1997) 1987 NCAA Division II National Championship Three NCAA Division I champions Six NCAA Division II champions 29 NCAA Division I All-Americans 17 NCAA Division II All-Americans 29 Pac-10 champions 166 Pac-10 placewinners Five Olympians One world champion Five world championships qualifiers Three world championship placewinners Five USA National Freestyle champions One USA National Greco-Roman champion Three Pan-Am Games Freestyle champions One Pan-Am Games Greco-Roman champion

Troy Letters recently completed his first season as head wrestling coach at Clarion. He qualified two wrestlers for the NCAAs and coached his first All-American as a head coach. He also landed the nation's No. 14 recruiting class. InterMat caught up with Letters and talked to him about this past season, recruiting, competitive days, and much more. In your first season as Clarion's head coach you went 5-10 in dual meets, qualified two wrestlers for the NCAAs, and coached your first All-American in James Fleming. How would you characterize this past season? Troy Letters (Photo/Clarion Sports Information)Letters: This past season for me was a big learning curve, taking over as head coach for the first time, really getting to understand the full scope of being a head coach. Here at Clarion we have a lot more responsibilities than other places I've been because we're understaffed. We have a staff of three guys. It was definitely an eye-opener on the amount of work that needed to be done. At the same time trying to get these guys to accomplish their goals. We were expecting to take four or five guys to NCAAs, and some guys fell short of their goals. That was a disappointment. The positive note was James Fleming leaving here a two-time All-American and tied for fourth on the all-time wins list. He's tied with Mark Angle for 126 college victories. That's something to celebrate. Our schedule is not easy. We wrestle the best teams. Next year we're wrestling the best teams. We're wrestling Oklahoma State and Penn State in a dual meet. That's something that I promised my guys and my recruits that are coming in. We're going to wrestle the best teams. We're going to seek out the NCAA champions at each weight class. We're going to try to put you in front of them as many times as we can. My ultimate goal isn't to go 20-0 in dual meets and beat up on a bunch of teams. My ultimate goal is to sit in the corner and watch my wrestlers win NCAA titles. For me, that was the ultimate ... You can't even put it into words. I was able to win a national title, and when I did it the feeling that you get it's just all emotions, and hard work, your workout partners, and your coaches, and your family, and support structure, everything at once just hits you when your arm is raised during that match. The feeling is really indescribable. I want to be there when my guys do it. I want to be a part of it again. That's what I'm coaching for. That's what I'm looking forward to doing. What was the biggest adjustment for you going from an assistant coach to a head coach? Troy Letters (Photo/Clarion Sports Information)Letters: More responsibility. When I was an assistant coach I could be a partner wrestling with the guys a lot more, banging heads, making them better. As a head coach, juggling working on the schedule, doing the recruiting, plus overseeing practice, I wasn't able to be in the room as much as I wanted to be this year. I was more on the road, talking to kids, talking to parents, recruiting. More of a role in recruiting, building this program back up, and filling our roster up, as opposed to being in the room three or four times a day wrestling with guys. I plan to get back to that this year. We really hustled and worked hard this year to make that possible. So the biggest adjustment for me was not being in the room banging heads with the guys as much as I wanted to be or needed to be. I was more running the workouts, overseeing practices, and obviously on the road recruiting more. There was speculation that James Fleming would possibly go the MMA route after his college wrestling career. Is that something he's pursuing? Letters: Coaching and/or MMA. I don't know what order. It's pretty close. People don't know this about James, but he's a two-time Golden Gloves boxer. Obviously, on the mats they know how flexible he is and how unique of a style he has. I think it will fit into MMA very well. I have some pretty good connections with wrestlers who are in MMA that could give him a shot to bring him to a training camp to see what he can do. So I do think MMA is a possibility for James Fleming. You have landed a large recruiting class. How are you feeling about your recruiting class? Troy Letters spent one season as an assistant coach under Matt Dernlan at Clarion prior to taking over as head coach (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Letters: I'm fired up about it. We have a great class coming in. More importantly, we have great character coming in. I recruit talent, obviously, but more so I'm recruiting an attitude. I'm going to take the guy who has a better attitude over the super talented wrestler any day of the week. This year, when I said I was focusing on recruiting, I was really focusing on getting to know these kids, finding out what their attitudes are like, talking with their coaches, talking with their parents. Attitude is what wins in Division I wrestling. Attitude takes you a long way. If you get attitude with talent, then you have something special. That's when you're winning NCAA titles and you're dominating. Attitude means a lot of things. When I say it I mean sacrifice, commitment, dedication, hard work, holding yourself to a higher standard than every student on campus. We're Division I athletes training to win a Division I title. Students here can't even fathom what it takes to do something like that. I want guys coming in knowing they have to sacrifice something. For everyone it's something different. For some guys it's cutting weight right. For some guys it's going to class every day. Sacrifice is different for everybody. But I need 30 guys to buy into that and realize they need to give up something to accomplish their goals. That's why I'm excited about this recruiting class coming in. I have a lot of guys who are on board with my coaching staff, my game plan of where Clarion is heading, where it should be, and the future of our program. They're on board with what we're doing and what we're trying to do. We're really going to look at these freshmen as leaders. They're going to be the majority of my team. We recruited a lot of guys. We're going to have a very, very young team. I'm going to look for these guys to be leaders immediately. I've already been telling them that. I have been telling them, 'I'm putting a lot of pressure and expectations on your back because I know you can handle it. But you guys are going to be leaders and we're going to create a big snowball effect here.' We're just going to keep building and building and building until we have 30 guys or a full roster of guys who are willing to sacrifice and dedicate themselves to being a Division I wrestler. For me, the standard is super high. Austin Matthews, a Pennsylvania state champion and three-time state finalist, is one of your most credentialed recruits. What do you like specifically about him? Austin MatthewsLetters: I've gotten to know Austin really well over the last few months. I look for a particular style when I watch guys. I watch little habits that guys do. He's got everything that I'm looking for from top to bottom as far as attitude, commitment, and the way he wrestles. He's a mat wrestler. I was a mat wrestler. People underestimate how good Pennsylvania mat wrestling is. That is one of the biggest challenges that freshmen have coming into a college room, getting out on bottom and holding guys down. Austin is very, very talented on the mat, riding, turning, and pinning guys, and getting out on bottom. He can come in ... and who knows, the sky is the limit for that guy. There is no glass ceiling on how good he can be, especially with the attitude he has. Is there a possibility that some of the true freshmen will be in the lineup immediately? Or do you expect to redshirt all of them? Letters: That's really been up in the air. I've been going back and forth on that. If a guy is ready to go, I'm putting him in there. That's the way we're going to do it. I'm going to start my ten best guys. In some situations I may have to redshirt guys. I have a kid coming in named Justin Arthur from West Virginia ... He could be anywhere from a 149-pounder to a 174-pounder. He has the body frame of guys I've coached in the past like David Taylor and Ed Ruth ... When they fill out, you don't know what weight they will end up. There is a good possibility we're going to see three to four true freshmen starting next year. A decade ago you were on of the most dominant wrestlers in college. You won an NCAA title as a sophomore and finished in the top three in each of your first three seasons. Obviously, your senior season you battled an injury that hindered your performance. When you reflect back on your collegiate career, how do you feel about it? Troy Letters after winning the NCAA title in 2004 over Oklahoma State's Tyrone Lewis (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)Letters: It's something I think about daily. Going into my senior year I was 99-3 and then injury-plagued and my attitude changed. I reflect on it daily. To tell you the truth it's something that eats at me. I came in as a freshman with a chip on my shoulder. I wanted to be the best right now. Why wait until I'm a senior to win an NCAA title? I want to do it right now. I feel like I've worked hard enough and I'm talented enough to do it. That's the kind of chip I had on my shoulder. I made it to the NCAA finals my freshman year. I didn't quite get there. But I kept that chip on my shoulder and won it the next year. Then I was undefeated going into the nationals my junior year and got upset in the semifinals and took third. I kind of lost that chip on my shoulder. Once you lose that chip on your shoulder that you want to be the best, that you want to prove to everyone in the country that I'm the best wrestler in Division I, not only in my weight class but in our sport. Once you lose that type of attitude and commitment to yourself, you fall short of your goals ... and then you add an injury to it. I think about it daily. I think about how maybe if I would have followed that path maybe I would have won a World title or been an Olympian ... Who knows? It's something I think about a lot. But as a coach it really helps me because I can tell these guys I've been on both ends of the spectrum. I've seen it all. I've been lucky enough to coach a national championship team. I've coached a team that was dead last when I first started coaching. As an athlete, I've been on both ends. I've wanted it to so bad. Lehigh was built on a mountain. I lived about a mile away from the university. I wouldn't take car rides. I would walk to every class. People would ask me if I wanted to be dropped off on top of the hill, and I would say, 'No, I'm going to walk the stairs.' I would think, 'I'm doing this and Johny Hendricks isn't going to do this. He would take a ride in that vehicle. Or Tyrone Lewis. Or whoever was in my weight class that I knew I would have to beat to be an NCAA champion. These guys aren't willing to make these type of sacrifices. They would jump in a car and take a ride. I'm going to walk or I'm going to run.' It's that type of attitude that wins at this level. Talent takes you so far. Attitude takes you a long way. That's what I'm going to preach to my incoming freshmen and what I'm preaching to these guys right now. Attitude takes you a long way in this sport. Add a little bit of talent to that, and a little bit of fight to that, and you're going to have a successful season. When you were going through your collegiate career, did you have plans to wrestle on the senior level when you finished at Lehigh? Or did you always know you wanted to get into coaching? Letters: During my collegiate career I considered wrestling. I spent time out at the Training Center wrestling with Joe Williams and Donny Pritzlaff, who was the guy. I was right there with those guys, going back and forth, beating them and them beating me. I thought, 'Hey, I'm going to be ready when I graduate to pursue this Olympic dream of mine.' And then something happened and I ended up getting right into coaching instead. I started realizing that I'm going to be a coach because I started doing camps and clinics and really loved working with kids and seemed to have a good chemistry working with the kids. I knew this is something I could be good at. I know what I'm doing. After I graduated from Lehigh, my roommate Derek Zinck, who had the same major as me, went on to law school, which was both of our plans at one point. I ended up going into wrestling. Now here I am head coach at Clarion University. I grew up 45 minutes down the road from here. My brother went to school here. So coaching kind of found me. I never really thought about it. I just kind of fell into it. It was just a natural transition. InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley was an ACC champion and NCAA Division I All-American in 2004 while wrestling at the University of VirginiaYou wrestled InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley during your college days, and came out on top 5-4. What do you remember most about your match against Foley? Letters: I underestimated T.R. Foley. I can tell you that much. I was on a run that year. I think I had majored, teched, and pinned everyone except four or five guys. I was a frontrunner for the Hodge Trophy. I was like, 'I'm wrestling a kid from Virginia.' I knew who he was. But I still thought I was going to go out and pin this guy. He was very goofy. You take a guy down, you expect him to fall a certain way ... well, he would fall the opposite way. I underestimated how good he was at scrambling and how funky he was. It ended up turning into a hard-fought match. He and I laugh about it today, but ... yeah, it was a tight match. I would say I underestimated how talented he was. I heard that you initially said no to joining the coaching staff at Clarion. What changed for you to decide to take a coaching position on the staff? Troy Letters was on Penn State's coaching staff when the Nittany Lions won the NCAA championship in 2011 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Letters: I was a part of something so unbelievable at Penn State. Casey, Cody, and Cael are good friends of mine. The opportunity to coach there with them was awesome. I planned on staying there and not leaving. I loved it there that much. It was just one of those things ... I woke up one morning after I had said no to going to Clarion. I talked to my wife a little bit about it. She works in Pittsburgh, so she commutes every other week. I just said, 'How would you feel about moving to Clarion?' She said, 'It's up to you, Troy.' I just woke up and made the decision. I loved it at Penn State. I love my friends and the guys I was working with who I'm still very, very tight with ... Eddie Ruth, David Taylor, Nico, Quentin, the Alton boys. Those are guys I wrestled with every day and I still talk to them a lot. David Taylor comes over to my house a lot. I'm really close with his father and mother. It was hard for me to leave. But to tell you the truth, I just woke up one day and just decided to make the move. Eight months later I end up being named head coach at Clarion. I didn't expect it to happen, but it ended up working out pretty well. I do miss my friends and the guys I was working with dearly. But I'm not too far away from them. I have those guys to call when I need help. I'm a young coach who is learning the ropes right now. I've been blessed to have good friends that I can always call ... Pat Santoro, Greg Strobel, Cael Sanderson, Cody Sanderson, Casey Cunningham ... and ask for advice. That's the greatest thing about wrestling. I could call anyone in the EWL. I could call Coach Flynn from Edinboro for advice or John Stutzman, who is now leaving the EWL. I can talk to all these guys. They're all open and willing to give advice and help any way they can. I'm a lucky man. I have a good wife that is supportive of what I do. She knows me. She knows that I'm not going to stop until I have 30 guys that want to be NCAA champions. It might be 30 guys who don't have the talent to do it, but they want to do it. If they're willing to put in the sacrifice and dedication, I'm going to be happy coaching them. What's your vision for the Clarion wrestling program? Letters: My vision is to get into the top ten and have All-Americans and NCAA champions year in and year out. That's my vision and where I see it going. We're getting a brand new wrestling facility. It's going to be one of the biggest in NCAA Division I wrestling. We're getting all brand new mats. Brand new weight room. I'm in a good place. Right now everything is just piling up. We just need one more thing to tip it over and Clarion wrestling is going to be one of the programs that people are going to be afraid to wrestle. I want Penn State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, and all these top teams to want to wrestle us, and know that when they come to wrestle us they're going to have bring their A-game because we're going to fight you from whistle to whistle and line to line.

It's only been a couple of seasons, but I wonder if the people of Brazil are as bored with The Ultimate Fighter format as we are? In case you didn't know that the Brazilian TUF just finished up a season, this weekend's UFC on FUEL card will feature a bout between finalists Leo Santos and William Macario. Headlining the card is a heavyweight bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum. Nogueira beat Werdum in 2006, but big Nog hasn't gotten older and punchier, while Werdum has steadily improved. Guess who we're picking? In other news, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is officially headed to Bellator, complete with his own reality show that will likely feature lots of "your breath stank" jokes. Is Bellator making a mistake by moving away from its format of signing and developing young talent? Time will tell. Speaking of time, we better find out soon before the average age of fighters in Bellator's 205-pound division hits 40. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Dan Gable will go "On the Mat" this Wednesday, June 6. "On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. CT on AM 1650, The Fan. This week's show will air from 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. due to a Chicago Cubs game. E-mail dgmstaff@nwhof.org with any questions or comments about the show. A podcast of the show is available on theopenmat.com. Gable was an Olympic champion in 1972 and the namesake of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. He will discuss the Dan Gable Celebrity Golf Tournament, the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa, and the fight to keep wrestling in the Olympic Games.

PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Plymouth State University has introduced a new head wrestling coach for the 2013-14 season. Ryan Schieding has been named the new head wrestling coach at Plymouth State. Schieding is a former standout wrestler at PSU who previously served one season as an assistant coach for the Panthers. He has been the head wrestling coach at Memorial High School in Manchester, N.H., since 2009. Ryan Schieding"I am very excited about being selected for the coaching position at Plymouth State," said Schieding. "I'd like to thank my two college coaches, Jason Holder and especially Tommy Prairie for helping me get here. I'm excited for the season and the challenge of taking over a new team, as well as bringing Plymouth wrestling back to being a conference contending team. Being a former Plymouth State wrestler myself it’s a great feeling to come back to my former school and be in the position that I am. We have a young team with a lot of promise and should make for a fun season." A native of Manchester, N.H./Memorial H.S., Schieding was a four-year wrestler and two-year co-captain for the Panthers from 2004-08, posting a 62-47 overall record. He was 17-13 in the 157-pound weight class as a junior, and went 23-10 at 174 pounds as a senior, earning All-New England honors with a fifth-place performance at the New England Championships. Schieding was also an assistant coach for the Panthers under Tommy Prairie in 2008-09. "We are excited to name Ryan Schieding as our new wrestling coach," said PSU Director of Athletics John P. Clark. "We know Ryan takes great pride in returning to his alma mater, and we look forward to watching him and working with him to build our wrestling program. He has great knowledge of the sport and a lot of positive energy and enthusiasm, and we know our student-athletes are now in good hands."

It's funny how things change. This week I come not to bury FILA, but to praise FILA. A friend suggested to me this week that the IOC board's recommended exclusion of wrestling might be the best thing that ever happened to the sport. He may be right. I hate to portray the IOC as a benign avian mother, but sometimes you need to toss the eaglet out of the nest if it's ever going to fly. Nenad Lalovic (Photo/Alexander Oreshnikov)To switch analogies, perhaps the IOC board's recommendation provided the dynamite blast necessary to uproot the misguided leadership which had a stranglehold on the sport. While it is too early to credit new FILA president Nenad Lalovic as the savior of wrestling, his rise to power seems to have spurred some positive changes. FILA has made some administrative changes in response to previous IOC criticism. It has increased its presence on social media (the previous presence was astonishingly close to zero), and redesigned their website. The last FILA congress resulted in a total overhaul of the rules of the sport which have yielded exciting early returns. FILA, and its product, look to be quite improved. Unfortunately if the IOC assembly doesn't vote for wrestling in September, these changes will prove to be for naught. The weight of a sport's meaningful existence now lay on the shoulders of Lalovic and the FILA leadership. If wrestling retains its Olympic status, we ought to all sing their praise. If the IOC assembly decides to throw wrestling into the bottomless abyss of irrelevance, then a heaping pile of blame should be at their feet. It's feast or famine, this time no credit is awarded for silver or bronze. My advice, for what it's worth, to FILA would be to keep implementing improvements between now and September, and implement those improvements as swiftly as possible. If I were in charge of international wrestling (maybe one day), my strategy would focus on three areas. First would be an expansion of national, continental, and World championships in the schoolboy/girl age group. Also seeing how English is one of FILA's two official languages, change the age group's name to something that doesn't sound so silly in English. Cadet and Junior are fine, but the thought of a "Schoolboy" World champion lacks a certain amount of gravity. Increasing the amount of international competition at a younger age could only have positive effects on the growth of the sport. Young wrestlers will have greater incentive to specialize in the sport sooner in their athletic lives. Additionally, wrestlers can start generating buzz for their eventual senior level debuts if they build a strong international pedigree at a younger age. Second, I would take a more active hand in providing worldwide high quality Internet broadcasts of importance and encouraging event coverage from a wider array of media outlets. I haven't a clue exactly how I would do either. Perhaps I would farm the broadcasts out to a capable third party. Attracting media coverage is outside my wheelhouse, but a good place to start would be in finding human interest stories among the athletes and floating these stories to interested corners of the media world. Third, I would commission a talent development wing of my organization to cultivate wrestling in far flung areas around the globe which are important but perhaps not as highly represented in worldwide wrestling as we would like. Because I couldn't develop the wrestling program in every country I would like, I would target the programs in four strategically important countries. First would be China and India. Both possess monstrous populations and growing economic footprints with millions of potential fans hungry to get behind a countryman (or woman) who will bring home World and Olympic medals. Particularly in India, wrestling holds vital cultural significance and its three world/Olympic medalists of the last decade have garnered attention from the country's mainstream media. Second I would target both Nigeria and Venezuela. Wrestling needs established powers in Africa and South America, and these are the best candidates. Both, two years ago, had male freestyle wrestlers in the bronze-medal match at the World Championship. Nigeria's Sinivie Boltic carried Nigeria's flag in London's opening ceremony, and while Daniel Igali won Olympic gold for Canada, he first learned to wrestle in his native Nigeria. While both of these countries lack general wealth, they are both members of OPEC. This sweetens the pot, as it is never a bad thing to have more petroleum money on the side of wrestling. Wrestling isn't out of the woods yet, but FILA has shown the ability to change and to shepherd the sport through a particularly hairy situation. The, hard work, however, is only just beginning. Wrestling could still do a great deal to help itself in the coming vote and secure its position in the future. Unlike before, I think that FILA might actually be listening.

Jordan Oliver

Hoboken, N.J. -- After finishing college with a 4.0 grade point average, Brad Warren is the valedictorian of the Class of 2013 at Stevens Institute of Technology. Warren will earn a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science at the university's 141st Commencement on May 23, 2013. Brad WarrenWarren, a native of Brookeville, Md. and the son of a software engineer, excelled in math and programming classes in high school and decided he wanted to study computer science in college. A National Merit Scholar Finalist in high school, he came to Stevens on a full-tuition Ann P. Neupauer Scholarship, the university's most prestigious academic award. "I enjoyed programming and math and figured I could be an application developer," Warren said. "I was drawn to Stevens' location near New York City and also thought the Cooperative Education program at Stevens was an interesting opportunity." At Stevens, Warren developed an interest in the field of quantitative finance, taking extra math and financial engineering courses to prepare him for a career in the field. He learned more through self-study and, for his master's degree, did independent study research related to options and volatility modeling. He also acquired substantial work experience in the field through Co-op, holding analyst positions at two of the nation's top financial companies – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – where he was exposed to derivatives operations technology, trading desk strategy and residential mortgages. "At Morgan Stanley, I got to work with the modelers and traders, building tools for the desk," Warren said. After graduation, Warren will begin his career in options automated market making at Morgan Stanley, where he will research and develop models and strategies for trading risk management. "I was really happy I was able to get this position in quantitative finance," Warren said. "It's a good combination of math and programming and really fits my interests." While Warren is proud of his academic accomplishments and excited to launch his career, many of his best times at Stevens came outside of the classroom. Recruited for both baseball and wrestling, Warren spent four years on the Stevens varsity wrestling team and consistently made the President's List, which recognizes academically-outstanding college athletes. Off season, he is a fitness nut who has competed in three Tough Mudder adventure races and is training in CrossFit. "Sports have always been a big part of my life," Warren said. "Wrestling especially taught me discipline and mental toughness that transfers over to everything in life." He is also an avid poker and blackjack player who used his math prowess to learn to count cards, but he said he never takes money from his friends. "I've probably won more than I've lost over the years, but at least in blackjack I'm usually just beating the dealer," he said. One of Warren's favorite memories is being named Castle Point King as the representative of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, where he was a brother for four years. Castle Point King is a popular male-only pageant hosted by a Stevens sorority. For the talent portion, Warren showed off his dance moves and even choreographed a dance performance using his computer science skills. "We made suits with electroluminescent wire and a chip to turn the lights on and off," Warren said. "I programmed it so we could dance in the dark. It was a lot of fun; one of my favorite times at Stevens." Warren's message to his peers on graduation day will be find their passion. "You'll be more successful if you really like what you're doing, in both work and other interests," he said. For more information on Stevens' 141st Commencement, visit http://www.stevens.edu/sit/commencement. About Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University®, is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, N.J. overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Founded in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark and legacy of Stevens' education and research programs for more than 140 years. Within the university's three schools and one college, more than 6,100 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate with more than 350 faculty members in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment to advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront global challenges. Stevens is home to three national research centers of excellence, as well as joint research programs focused on critical industries such as healthcare, energy, finance, defense and STEM education. The university is the fastest-rising college in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best national universities, and it is consistently ranked among the nation's elite for return on investment for students, career services programs, and mid-career salaries of alumni. Stevens is in the midst of a 10-year strategic plan, The Future. Ours to Create., designed to further extend the Stevens legacy to create a forward-looking and far-reaching institution with global impact.

InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. You have until Thursday night every week to send questions to Foley's Twitter or email account. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives. Don't get comfy, wrestling fans. Wrestling is now the Olympic frontrunner, and while that should be cause for measured optimism, it means we'll have to be twice as smart about our messaging. The first 100 days of this movement were about shock and aww -- the final 100 need to be about outreach and growth. To win the final stage of the contest for Olympic renewal, wrestling will need to adopt new messaging. The word "Save" will be stricken from the wrestling nomenclature, and replaced by a simple message of unity, tradition and change. UFC interview specialist Ariel Helwani has already shown his growing agitation with the "Save" movement, when moments after the Olympics decision he tweeted "... hopefully if this happens we can cool it on the telethons et al." Annoying as he may be, Helwani is part of the core audience wrestling needs to retain (interested media figure) and though snarky, he makes a valid point. The strategy and focus of the Olympic wrestling movement needs to shift from "woe-is-wrestling" to something more proactive, interactive and intellectually stimulating. There are some great ideas being floated around, but no matter the PR strategy, or media support, wrestling will not remain the preferred darling of voters and the media for the remainder of the next 14 weeks. The leaders of the baseball/softball bid are already putting our issues with gender equality into focus, while squash has started to aim at wrestling's current inability to utilize technology (live video feeds and playback). The traditional wrestling mentality would be to take these affronts as a personal attack and fire back insults without regard for effect on the larger process. That cannot happen. Wrestling can't afford any missteps by high-ranking members of our community. We are the 180-pound Great Dane, the magnanimous and rightful leader of the sporting pack. We can't be seen trifling with the attacks of the smaller breeds. We need to keep our heads up and looking forward. Wrestling interprets these criticisms as constructive critiques and do even more to become gender equitable, and to improve the rules, fan experience and the competitiveness of Greco-Roman. There will be more disparagement over the next 100 days -- some justified, some not -- and our job as fans will be to stay focused on positive messaging and discussing the attributes of wrestling, not the pettiness of our detractors or the perceived lesser value of their product. Baseball/softball and squash are fearful because they know they are outmatched by something they can't buy, cajole or fake. Sure they can influence voters, but they can never duplicate our community's willpower to see this through or our willingness to volunteer. They know they will lose every poll, have fewer followers on social media sites, and lose out in discussion of historical merits or societal good. Their only hope in the public forum is to make us look provincial, to goad us into saying or doing something stupid. Wrestling needs to stay focused. We need to make decisions that lead to the advancement of our sport. Our victory won't come in the form of a snide Twitter remark or Facebook confrontation, but in Buenos Aires when a majority of the 101 voting members of the International Olympic Committee, put their pen to paper and make a majority decision to the first sport of man to continue its competition inside its rightful home. To your questions ... Q: You really think baseball/softball has a chance? This seems like a two-horse race between wrestling and squash. -- @GatorsWrestling Foley: Softball and baseball were eliminated in 2005 by a single vote. That vote should have been in place, but an Olympic voter with ties to the financial side of the sport decided to abstain from the voting rather than show a conflict of interest. Without his decision to sit in the dugout, they'd still be on the field. Wrestling is up against enormous organizations with sophisticated political actors and deep pocketbooks. To take them lightly, or disregard their ability to capture votes would be the death knell of our bid. Remember that it was baseball/softball that won the second bid, not squash. They certainly are facing a difficult set of obstacles, especially in the insistence by the MLB not to have their players participate, but given enough time, and with momentum, that could change. Put simply, we might be the top seed at the NCAA tournament, but that in no way guarantees us a national title. Q: The support people like Mike Novogratz have given to the Olympic Wrestling campaign has been phenomenal. Being a non-billionaire, how can the average wrestling fan help the cause? I have seen various petitions and the EB recommending wrestling as a finalist for the IOC vote in September is a great sign, but is there a centralized vehicle where we can let the IOC hear the collective voice of the wrestling world? -- NGM Foley: You don't have a billion dollars? Peasant. Novogratz, Barth, Bardis and many others have been exceedingly generous in donating their resources to the challenge of reinstating Olympic wrestling. For the rest of us the job is to simply interact with the organizations leading our efforts. For example, on Tuesday I was prompted by a member of FILA's social media outreach campaign into igniting a charge to get the Twitter numbers of FILA past that of squash. The count could have been used as part of the IOC's decision-making process, and with only short time before the vote, the wrestling community responded by almost doubling up squash in adding 10k followers in less than 24 hours. An absolute success that showed how powerful our community can be when focused on a single, well-defined goal. FILA and CPOW will set many more goals for the community over the next 100 days. From stuffing online ballot boxes to selling T-shirts and books, the guys in charge will let us know when it's time to act. Hell, I will let you know when it's time to act. Being an active member in these will help lessen the expected backlash discussed in the opening. Mouthpieces like Helwani will lose their ammunition and we can keep our core audience excited, while also branching out into new communities. Still a little socked you're not a billionaire. Pssh. Didn't you know to invest in Apple? Q: How much money do you think is needed to start up a Division I program? I know a lot of things need to go into it like the sustainability of the program, academics, and a whole lot of red tape, but do you have an estimate of how much money it would take to relaunch a program at say Syracuse or Notre Dame? A lot of Notre Dame football rivals (UM, MSU, Purdue, Navy, etc.) all have DI wrestling programs and with Notre Dame and Syracuse both joining the ACC, I wonder what the likelihood is of either school bringing back varsity wrestling. -- Justin W. Foley: The money isn't the problem. Given the right conditions a program like Syracuse could raise the $6 million to endow a program, but what it needs is a female counterpart to offset the roster numbers of the male team and stay Title IX compliant. This is doable with women's wrestling, or possibly competitive cheer, but so far the NCAA and members of the female athletic administration have deemed women's wrestling too combative for inclusion and women's tumbling too stereotypical. That's a problem. Wrestling leaders need to win over these administrators when re-launching a program, and to do that they need to think about this as a problem of marketing, rather than just money. Don't think so? Look at what has gone down at Rutgers over the past two months. Crazy and abusive coach is fired along with a possibly negligent athletic director, who was more-or-less collateral damage. That was a big sting for the Rutgers brand. Instead of thinking of Rutgers as "that Jersey school that did really well in football a few years ago," consumers (and that means potential college students) are now thinking of them as a place to get their butts whipped. To make matters worse when the school finally rehired an athletic director, her past abuse of players became a three-day media story. That type of misstep could cost Rutgers millions in tuition and donation dollars. As the money goes, the rankings drop, which causes fewer entrants with lower GPA's and test scores. More than 95 percent of the time you see or hear the name Rutgers it's because of sports, or something related to sports. Their medals for winning poetry contests aren't widely reported. And it's there, in the marketability of all sports, where wrestling can capitalize. We can go into a program and explain to the AD the myriad of positive press his program will receive by adding a men's program and a companion women's team -- the FIRST at the Division I level. Positive press means more money because students looking to enroll in school want to be associated with the positive. It's not about our money, it's about our ability to sell wrestling as a positive PR move for schools who can then generate more of their own income. Of course we'll still need big cash to do anything, but with creative leadership and the right combination of timing and marketing wrestling can see an expansion in our opportunities at the Division I level. Who knows, maybe the Olympic mess makes this the perfect time for a college to act in favor of wrestling? Imagine the press ... Jordan Burroughs is riding a 54-match win streak (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: Last week you mentioned that Jordan Burroughs will "likely" eventually lose at the international level. Though I agree in your theory of why, do you think with the new rules that he just got that much tougher to beat? I felt he was more likely to get a controversial decision against him in a shorter period with scores not being cumulative. -- Jeff N. Foley: The new rules do make him tougher to beat. However, that doesn't preclude him from simply having a bad day on the mats or getting caught in a tight leg lace. My point was although he's undefeated and on a large winning streak, the more important point is that he's dominant and will win the tournaments that matter for a world ranking. I'd love to see Burroughs win three straight Olympic gold medals and never lose a match. What's the line on that happening given the current fight for reinstatement? MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME I'm announcing the Beta launch of my website WrestlingisEverywhere.com at the site WrestlingisEverywhere.wordpress.com. What I need from you is your very best wrestling photos, preferably high-definition and that help tell the story of wrestling. I DO NOT WANT or NEED every high-amplitude throw from the past 100 years. I want cowboys wrestling Indians, your grandfather head-locking your son, and a photo of an Grecian bowl with wrestlers engraved on the side. I want tradition and storytelling, something that is instant in its connection and shareable over multimedia. Please make sure that you OWN these photos, and that you describe the Who, What and When of the submission. Photos submitted to WrestlingisEverywhere@gmail.com will become mine to distribute across social media, and may be put into print. More details will be mailed to those who submit photographs, but those whose work is accepted can expect a very large distribution and credit for the submission. Categories: Save Olympic Wrestling Efforts (National Photos, Banners, Images Created) Historical Artifacts, Fine Art and Sculptures Non-Traditional Historical Photos (Tierra del Fuego, Cowboys, etc) Women-Only Traditional/Folkstyle (By nation, geographical area, ethnic group Traditional/Folkstyle Pre-1990's (same) Appearance in Other Sports: Rugby, MMA, Football, Kabbadi, etc. Famous People: Politicians, religious leaders, businessman Quirky: Anything and everything else you can imagine Wrestling in Nature All Ages: Youth, Babies, the Elderly Olympic Freestyle: Men (1920-) Olympic Freestyle Women (1992-) Olympic Greco-Roman (1920-) Though you can see all the examples you want on the website, and at my Instagram, @WrestlingisEverywhere, I thought I'd share my favorite of the project and one that matches well with my favorite-ever wrestling quote: Day 106: Wrestling is Everywhere. Sketching of Vermont Scufflers "Irish Wrestling" in 1880. (Braintree, VT, USA) "Almost certainly wrestling is the oldest sport of mankind ... It came to town with the Olympiads of Ancient Greece and went back to the country after the decline of Rome -- there to remain, at least in greatest part, for nearly two thousand years. Preponderantly in and because of the country the sport has lived on in the general manner of pasture bluets, or field daisies, or other more or less global and substantially invincible wildflowers. Time and time again pasture bluets can be and have been burned away by the heavy hoofs or close-grazing herds. Yet with mystic stubbornness and effectiveness the pasture bluets somehow rise and bloom again. Wrestling is like that. It thrives, meets apparent destruction or widespread abandonment only to rise again, taking resurrection from a good and folkish earth. This has come to pass in many nations and it keeps happening in our own." -- Charles Morrow Wilson, The Magnificent Scufflers, 1959 Q: By all accounts, the new freestyle rules are a positive change and a step in the right direction. Freestylers were able to adapt to the changes in a matter of hours and make the LA event entertaining for spectators. Participants University Nationals & FILA Cadet Nationals were putting up HUGE points. But what is preventing the NCAA from taking note of this success, and making drastic changes to simplify college wrestling? Some recognize the need for rule changes and are creating a tournament with new rules called Tour ACW. I personally feel that we need rule changes that cater to non-wrestling junkies. If you look around at a college dual meet, you will not see members of a school's student body. The extremely well-attended Penn State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, and the like matches garner such tremendous attendance because they have storied programs with great alumni networks and tradition. Which preventive measures do you feel we should be taking to ensure that we preserve NCAA wrestling before it gets placed on the chopping block? -- Jordan L. Foley: American collegiate wrestling is the traditional form of the sport developed over generations from a combination of Irish collar-and-elbow wrestling and catch-as-catch-can. These traditions tell a story and it's meaningful. Over the course of the last 80 years every rule change, every outfit improvement, every legendary program happened for a reason. Following that path and investigating the influences helps Americans understand the values of the past. They act as a living and breathing history of our nation and culture as much as they do the sport that we both love. American collegiate wrestling has never been healthier, and though excitement wanes, I will never accept the idea of abandoning it in the hopes of winning more Olympic medals. We are doing just fine on the international stage. For more on the power of traditional wrestling be sure to check out the work of my non-profit, WrestlingRoots.org. Good luck with Tour ACW! Q: As a follow up to your recent mention of the Indian wrestling league, is this an opportunity for graduating American college wrestlers to have a professional sports outlet (other than MMA) after graduation? If so, would participation in this league affect their amateur status? -- NGM Foley: Absolutely, and if anyone is interested I can put them in touch with the organizers. I'm waiting for someone to understand that I'm 100 percent serious about the idea of a takedown-only wrestling league. There are a million ways this thing could fail, but another million on how this could be the world's most popular new sporting event. Here are five ideas about how this would work. If anyone is interested in helping me finance this and learning more, I'm at the ready. Sand or soft dirt Takedown-only (combo of any three points, side/buttocks, both knees) Teams of 11 (7 male, 4 female) First team to six wins is declared the winner Hour long television program There are 100 more ideas, but I can't focus on creating this league at the moment. However, if interested, please feel free to shoot me an email. Q: I am curious why international wrestling has not followed the model of all other adult sports. If we look at basketball, football, and baseball, the length of the contests increases as the age of the contestants increases. For example, college basketball is a forty-minute game and the NBA is a forty-eight minute game. Why then is the current match length for international wrestling a minute less than NCAA matches? I think the international matches should be at least eight minutes long thereby truly testing the conditioning of the adult athletes. -- Ken S. Foley: I like your thinking. College is longer than high school, but when it comes to international their rules aren't based off American traditional wrestling and therefore there is no substantial correlation. Q: I know you continually push for the expansion of women's wrestling. I am a supporter as well. Can you explain what steps need to occur to expand this side of wrestling? Also, what can we do to convince states, like high school powerhouse Pennsylvania, to add women's wrestling as a high school sport? How do we grow it? -- Beau E. Foley: The online forums are filled with people willing to help, and then nameless others that never want to see a female wrestle. Promotion starts at the grassroots level. We need coaches willing to start women's wrestling programs and recruit the girls to come out and compete. We also need for the larger wrestling community to understand that our gender imbalance is what got us axed from 1972-2013, and yet we've been slow to see that correcting the imbalance will help save male opportunities. Finally, if your kid loses to a girl, so freaking what?! Not wrestling them just shows that you're incapable of understanding they have the right to act how ever they want, when ever they want. No amount of patronizing is going to get them off the mat. Wrestle, and if you win, great. If you lose, shake her hand and go train harder. Women benefit from wrestling, and wrestling needs women to survive. That simple. Maybe the takedown-only league will help change minds?! Q: I saw James Green wrestle at 66 kilos (145.5 pounds) this past week. Is wrestling 149 pounds something he might pursue next season? -- Reed K. Foley: Something needs to happen to accommodate for Destin McCauley. If James Green going to 149 allows a shuffle to occur that gets McCauley in, then I'm sure Nebraska will attempt it. Let's see where the rest of the fellas shake out in the early season tournaments. Q: Your point on fight shorts and rash guards replacing the singlet is interesting. How would you propose implementing this idea? Does the NCAA have to be first? FILA? -- NGM Foley: On the international level it would start with FILA Cadets and then progress to FILA Juniors. After 3-5 years we could start seeing it at the senior level. Or FILA could just mandate it happen at the start of the 2014 season on January 1. As for the United States, it's a no-brainer. Youth league coaches I've spoken to are already starting to eliminate it. We are standing at an obvious choice, and only our nostalgia is standing in the way. Wrestling will increase in popularity and profitability the MOMENT we allow for fight shorts and rash guards. The singlet is dead. RANT OF THE WEEK! Q: Why is Greco still an Olympic Sport? I love the new freestyle rules, so much scoring. No forced par terre, but if you can't stop from being turned, the match is over quickly. Greco on the other had I think is incapable of being fixed. It is so hard to understand, the scoring is still non-existent, and worst of all it is boring. But most importantly against Greco is we are fighting for our Olympic life as a sport. Arguing for Greco and freestyle, having a mismatch of weights between men and woman is just stupid at this point. I love wrestling. I wish sambo and beach and every type of wrestling was in the Olympics, but the IOC is challenging the existence of our sport, why can't we put away our pride and find one style we all enjoy? One style, equal amount of weights woman and men, and let's go. That's it. Greco can still have their World Championships and people can compete in it, just not in the Olympics. Would a Greco guy rather have wrestling dropped completely or learn how to adapt his style to freestyle. Sam Hazewinkel made the transition. It is not impossible. I saw plenty of great throws this weekend too. Tyrell Fortune could be a great Greco guy. Why don't we adapt the new freestyle rules to the NCAA rules? I understand waiting a year or two to see if the success is maintained. But it is so much better. The pushout is great as it keeps the guys wrestling the whole time, but with the takedown being worth two they are trying to finish most of the time. Then with no escape point the takedown is worth so much more. The shot clock needs some small adjustments, but as the refs get more used to the rules I think it will work itself out. The quicker techs are great too. Guys can't hang around anymore and steal matches. I don't know, maybe I got too excited with this weekend but I bet this will be the best World Team Trials in a long time. Slowly start a grassroots movement to change NCAA wrestling rules. Let's go. -- Rob H.