InterMat Staff

Related Link: The MMA Outsider Podcast Archives Most everyone at this point is kicking dirt at the Nevada State Athletic Commission for its uneven handling of Nick Diaz's marijuana use and Chael Sonnen's supposed medical need for extra testosterone. Sonnen's been called a lot of things, but "honest" wasn't one of them until Nevada's commissioners finished sucking up to him. So we figured we'd jump on the bandwagon and point out their blatant stupidity. Moving on to less aggravating matters, in this episode we also discuss Daniel Cormier's big win in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix and where he now stands in the division, and preview the weekend's heavyweight-heavy UFC 146 main card.

Philippi, W. Va -- Alderson-Broaddus College and Athletic Director Dennis Creehan are pleased to announced the hiring of Mitch Smith as the first head coach of the new A-B Wrestling Team that will begin Division II competition during the 2013-14 season. "We are very excited about our new wrestling program and more importantly, we are very excited to have Mitch Smith as our leader when we begin," said Mr. Creehan. "While many other colleges have dropped wrestling, we see Alderson-Broaddus as a home for wrestlers who would like to continue their careers beyond high school. Mitch has done an outstanding job with the West Liberty program and we believe he is the right man to begin and lead our program." Mitch SmithSmith comes to Philippi after a two year stint as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at West Liberty University. "I want to thank President Richard Creehan, Athletic Director Dennis Creehan and all the members of the selection committee for giving me this great opportunity. I'm excited to start a program from the ground up and look forward to getting Alderson-Broaddus College nationally recognized as an up-and-coming wrestling powerhouse. I look forward to having the right student athletes come to Alderson-Broaddus College and am excited about the future of the wrestling program." During his time with the Hilltoppers he helped the program to a 17th place national finish in both 2011 and 2012, while producing three All-Americans and seven national qualifiers. In addition to those honors, eight Hilltopper Wrestlers earned Academic All-American status during his tenure. Prior to his coaching career, Smith was a highly decorated high school and collegiate wrestler. While at Ripley H.S., he compiled a 190-3 record on his way to winning three Class AAA State Wrestling Championships and earning seven National High School Wrestling All-American Honors. Following his high school career, Smith went on to be a two time NCAA All American at West Liberty University finishing 2nd and 4th at the NCAA D2 National Tournament. For more information on the new Alderson-Broaddus Battler Wrestling program, go to www.gobattlers.com

Fight Now USA Presents Takedown Wrestling from the Brute studios in Des Moines, Iowa at 1460 KXNO. Takedown Wrestling is brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio. Join Scott Casber and Brad Johnson with the Takedown Wrestling Headline News this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/ 10 a.m. to noon ET. 222 athletes started the Olympic Trials process and some of the 17 we've qualified join us on Takedown Wrestling Radio this Saturday 9 to 11 a.m. CT. This week's guests: 9:03 Tim Sylvia, Former UFC heavyweight champion 9:20 Mark Cody, Oklahoma head wrestling coach 9:40 Josh Liebman, Adam Frey Classic organizer 9:50 Ty Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update 10:00 Michael Novogratz, Beat the Streets chairman 10:20 Monty Cox, MMA agent 10:40 Michael Jernigan, Westside High School (Neb.) 10:50 Amy Ruble Wildrose Casino and Resort GM

The college wrestling season is five months long, poorly monetized and left uncovered by the main stream media. The time has come to make significant changes, starting with the schedule. The five-month, two semester college wrestling season culminates with NCAA Wrestling Championships in March (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Think about the basic frustrations of a college wrestling season. Why is it one of the only sports to fully straddle two semesters? Why do our athletes miss several major holidays and spring break? Why do our teams spend the winter months competing in dank gymnasiums, largely ignored by fans and media, only to emerge for one enormous weekend of traditional media coverage? The answer seems to be the one mothers recite all too often, "Well, because I said so." In this case, Mother is the NCAA. When the season schedule for wrestling was first outlined, presumably by men in the 1960s puffing cigars, wearing sweater vests, and watching "I Love Lucy," there was no script for how non-revenue sports might one day adapt to current for-profit demands of NCAA member institutions. Likewise, when they met to come up with a schedule they in no way could have predicted that in the new century non-revenue sports would be capability to become profitable. That is of course the new reality, but as sports like lacrosse speed by wrestling, the current NCAA administrators seem to be content to hang back and watch the opportunity to make significant and positive changes. Can you blame them? It can be tough to find the motivation to assist the student-athletes of one of your founding sports when you're flying in private jets and resting your haunches inside a headquarters which recently underwent a modest $40 million renovation. To please the ever-expanding kingdom of OZ, college wrestling must provide an appropriate tribute, or specifically: cash-money. If that ploy doesn't pull them in, we could also compel them with stories of wrestling welfare. (Five months is WAY too long to keep you weight down.) Wrestling is profitable to the NCAA, but because we seem partial to our current schedule, or we lack the political capital to make changes we are putting at risk the chance to see what a single semester season might look like. A four-month season, January to April, with an emphasis on national exposure could help the sport's long-term financial feasibility and provide increased potential for social connectivity. But what about tradition? College sports are about TRADITION! Greg Turnbull and his WVU Mountaineers are Big 12-bound (Photo/WVU Sports Information)Put down your team's colors for a moment and step away from the Big Ten Network and you'll see that the only thing sacred in college sports is money. Just look at the recent conference realignments. The football team from Morgantown will be competing in the Big 12, while the team from Columbia, Missouri will be playing in the SEC. The laws of conference alignment by region have been obliterated by the capitalist hammer. But that loss of warm-and-cuddly tradition can be exploited for financial gain. Wrestling needs to capitalize on this tumult and secure it's long-term viability in the amateur sports marketplace. Let's be clear, this is not just an issue of money. College wrestlers begin unofficial practices the day they step on a college campus, and after four weeks those practices become mandated and turn into full-fledged combat hours. That level of intensity is carried on for five months! When compared to other nation's traditional wrestling, or even the schedule of countries that have robust freestyle and Greco-Roman schedules, the college system looks dangerously dense with competition and practices. Hell, even NFL players only practice with pads on a dozen times after the start of the season. Wrestling's sustained exertion, weight loss, and competition schedule are brutal enough that they eliminate a portion of wrestlers due to injury, stress, and frustration (ten percent fo each squad, each season?). Understandably that culling process is part of what makes wrestling special -- that the sport is sometimes too difficult to ask everyone to make it to the end. Yet what if the season were 4-6 weeks shorter and placed within ONE semester? What would be the outcome? Would we have more wrestlers? Happier wrestlers? What about HEALTHIER wrestlers? Student-athletes would benefit from enjoying some time with their families on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. By allowing them a first semester of moderate training first-year athletes will have a better acclimation to college life and better focus on their schoolwork and find a functioning balance in their social life. Wrestling purists like to think of sacrifice as part of the sport, another layer that separates wrestlers from that of the athletes who play games. But they're wrong. Having to suffer through a sauna workout on Thanksgiving doesn't fill you with toughness, or imbue you with courage. It drains your cells of water. Wrestling has momentum from which to build its case. We are making money for the NCAA and with a solid plan by members of the NCAA Wrestling Committee they might be able to compel the organization to take a look at the issue from a social welfare and academic standpoint, if not a monetary one. (It's also expensive to keep kids over holiday breaks.) The committee is rumored to have once against discussed the idea of a schedule change at this year's mid-April meeting in Indianapolis, but we won't receive the report for a few more weeks. It's inevitable that there will be some resistance. Scheduling changes would upset the balance that many schools have come to enjoy and wrestling would have to re-imagine the placement of our top secondary events like the NWCA All-Star Classic, Cliff Keen Vegas Invitational, Midlands, and National Duals. It'll be challenging, but these are doable because the upshot is better competition and more fans. Should our leaders find that they have the political capital to move the schedule to better organize the season we could very likely see a major rebirth of the sport, potentially additional programs. This is not some pipe dream. When colleges see the exposure that they could receive from having a member of their team win an NCAA title and make the top ten highlights, they might just feel it's time to take a chance. The potential for profit has made minds wander to odder business models. Cornell fans cheer after Kyle Dake wins his third NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Want to take a peek at what more severe scheduling restrictions look like for the outcome of a program? Cornell, because of Ivy League restrictions, has fewer dates and fewer official practices. Before they changed their methodology form rise-and-grind to student welfare, who would've ever thought the Big Red would be a perennial powerhouse at the NCAA tournament? Crazy things are possible when we are willing to examine the benefits and eschew our natural inclination towards traditionalism. College wrestling has never been more popular. Now is the time to make it better, to attack, not sit back and play defense.

Andrew Howe

The U.S. Olympic Team Wrestle-off for the 60 kg/132 lbs. position on the U.S. Olympic Team in men’s freestyle wrestling will be held in New York City on Thursday, June 7. The event will be held alongside the USA vs. Russia international freestyle dual meet set for Times Square in New York City, also on Thursday, June 7. Three wrestlers will participate in the U.S. Olympic Team Wrestle-off: Shawn Bunch, Columbus, Ohio (Gator WC) Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC) Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC) The U.S. Olympic Team Wrestle-off became necessary because the United States had not yet qualified to compete at the London Olympic Games at 60 kg/132 lbs. in men’s freestyle prior to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling in Iowa City, Iowa, April 21-22. According to the Olympic Trials Procedures for Men’s Freestyle Wrestling, USA Wrestling could hold athletes out of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in order to participate in Olympic Games Qualifying Events. Bunch and Humphrey were chosen to train for the Olympic Games Qualifiers. Also according to the Olympic Trials Procedures, the winner of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the weight class would also become eligible for the Secondary Olympic Trials if the United States was able to qualify the weight class. Scott was the champion at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City. On April 27, Bunch placed third in the World Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament in Taiyuan, China, which qualified the United States to compete in the London Games at 60 kg/132 lbs. At that event, the top three athletes in each weight class qualified their nation to participate in the Olympics. Based upon the Olympic Trials Procedures, as the athlete who qualified the USA for the Olympics, Bunch moves directly into the best-of-three Championship Series for the Olympic berth. Earlier on June 7, there will be a single preliminary match between Humphrey and Scott to determine which athlete advances to the Championship Series against Bunch. The match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Times Square. Bunch will face the Humphrey/Scott winner in the first match of the Championship Series at 6:00 p.m. in Times Square. The second match will be held at approximately 7:20 p.m. If necessary, the third match will be held at approximately 8:20 p.m. Bunch was ranked No. 2 at 60 kg/132 lbs. on 2011-2012 Freestyle Team USA. He placed second in both the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2011 World Team Trials. He was a member of the 2009 U.S. World Team and has won two U.S. Open titles. He was an NCAA runner-up and two-time All-American for Edinboro and hails from Leavenworth, Kan. Humphrey was ranked No. 1 on 2011-2012 Freestyle Team USA. He placed ninth in the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Humphrey won the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2011 U.S. World Team Trials. He is a two-time University World Championships medalist. He was an NCAA runner-up and two-time All-American for Ohio State and hails from Indianapolis, Ind. Scott was ranked No. 3 on 2011-2012 Freestyle Team USA. He won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, defeating Logan Stieber in the Championship Series. He went undefeated in five matches at the 2012 Freestyle World Cup. He was third at the World Team Trials the last three years and was a 2008 U.S. Open runner-up. Scott was a 2008 NCAA champion and four-time All-American for Oklahoma State and hails from Waynesburg, Pa. The international dual meet between the United States and Russia will feature the other six U.S. men’s freestyle wrestlers who won titles at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and will represent the United States this summer at the London Games. The U.S. lineup will feature Olympic Trials champions Sam Hazewinkel (55 kg), Jared Frayer (66 kg), Jordan Burroughs (74 kg), Jake Herbert (84 kg), Jake Varner (96 kg) and Tervel Dlagnev (120 kg). Competing in the dual at 60 kg will be Olympic Trials runner-up Logan Stieber. Beat the Streets Wrestling, Inc. has also announced two additional Senior-level exhibition matches featuring top stars in both men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling. There will be a battle at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men’s freestyle between college wrestling sensation and three-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y./New York AC) and a two-time Olympian and NCAA champion Matt Gentry of Canada. Dake has won three NCAA titles for Cornell University, and became the first wrestler ever to win NCAA Div. I national titles at three different weight classes. Dake placed an impressive fourth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in freestyle wrestling. Gentry, who grew up in Oregon, was an NCAA champion for Stanford University. He competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for Canada and has qualified to compete again at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. Gentry recently beat a strong international field to win the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament in Florida. The women’s match will be a battle between two-time U.S. World Team member and three-time FILA Junior World medalist Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./New York AC) and 2011 U.S. World Team Trials runner-up Ashley Hudson (Wildwood, Mo./Gator WC-OCU). Maroulis competed in the 2008 and 2011 World Championships for the United States. She was recently second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Hudson was a WCWA college national champion for Oklahoma City University, and has won a USA Wrestling University Nationals title. In addition to the U.S. Olympic Trials Wrestle-off at 60 kg, the USA vs. Russia dual meet and the two Senior-level exhibition matches, there will be a number of Beat the Streets high school and junior high school youth wrestling matches held in Times Square at 3:00 p.m. Below is the most current tentative schedule for all of the wrestling competition set for Times Square on Thursday, June 7. U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS WRESTLE-OFF AT 60 KG At Duffy Square in Times Square, New York, N.Y., June 7 Preliminary Match Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC) vs. Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC) Best of Three Championship Series Shawn Bunch, Columbus, Ohio (Gator WC) vs. winner of Humphrey vs. Scott match TENTATIVE BEAT THE STREETS GALA COMPETITION SCHEDULE At Duffy Square in Times Square, New York, N.Y., June 7 1:00 PM – U.S. Olympic Trials Wrestle-off at 60 kg – Humphrey vs. Scott preliminary 3:00 PM – Beat the Streets youth wrestling exhibition matches 6:00 PM - U.S. Olympic Trials Wrestle-off at 60 kg – Championship Series Match 1 – Bunch vs. Humphrey/Scott winner 6:10 PM – 55 kg women’s freestyle exhibition – Maroulis vs. Hudson 6:40 PM – USA vs. Russia freestyle dual meet – 55 kg, 60 kg, 66 kg matches 7:10 PM – 74 kg men’s freestyle exhibition – Dake vs. Gentry 7:25 PM - U.S. Olympic Trials Wrestle-off at 60 kg – Championship Series Match 2 – Bunch vs. Humphrey/Scott winner 7:40 PM - USA vs. Russia freestyle dual meet – 74 kg, 84 kg, 96 kg, 120 kg matches 8:20 PM - U.S. Olympic Trials Wrestle-off at 60 kg – Championship Series Match 3 (if necessary)– Bunch vs. Humphrey/Scott winner ABOUT BEAT THE STREETS The Mission of the Beat the Streets Wrestling Program is to expand and develop wrestling in the New York City Metropolitan area from the youth through the Olympic level. Our dream is to provide opportunities for boys and girls in the activity of wrestling, building lifelong skills. If you share this mission and would like to volunteer to help, please contact volunteer@beat-the-streets.org.

Kip Janvrin and Chas Betts will go “On the Mat” this Wednesday, May 23. "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. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. An archive of the show can be found on www.themat.tv. Email dgmstaff@nwhof.org with questions or comments about the show. Janvrin is the co-head track coach at the University of Central Missouri. A native of Panora, Iowa, he was an Olympian in the decathlon in 2000. Janvrin will play as a celebrity in the Dan Gable Celebrity Golf Tournament on Monday, June 11. Betts will compete at the 2012 London Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling at 185 pounds. He was also a member of the 2009 U.S. World championship team. Betts competes for the Minnesota Storm Wrestling Club.

When it comes to success in college wrestling -- be it at the team or individual level -- there is no substitute for pure talent and ability. The key driver in team success at the college level is procuring those talented individuals, and rankings are one indicator of that. Rankings include the individual weight class rankings and grade rankings, as well as these recruiting class rankings that seek to measure how Division I programs did in procuring the talent of the present class. 2012 Recruiting Class Rankings 1. Iowa 2. Lehigh 3. Oklahoma 4. Cornell 5. Oklahoma State 6. Nebraska 7. Michigan 8. Illinois 9. Iowa State 10. Wisconsin 11. Minnesota 12. Ohio State 13. North Carolina 14. Stanford 15. Northern Iowa 16. Penn State 17. Cal Poly 18. Indiana 19. Northwestern 20. Harvard 21. Drexel 22. Oregon State 23. Old Dominion 24. Virginia Tech 25. OhioAn analysis of the NCAA tournament qualifiers for two-time defending Division I national champion Penn State more than confirms this premise. Out of the 12 wrestlers that captured the 17 qualification spots in the last two seasons (eight in 2011, nine in 2012), 10 of them were multiple-time state champions and all had won at least one state or National Prep title. It should also be noted that during their high school career, 10 of these wrestlers were also finalists at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals (Fargo), and/or a FILA Junior World freestyle medalist There is also a clear correlation between being talented as a prep wrestler and the potential for success as a Division I college wrestler. Among this year's eight NCAA finalists from the Classes of 2009 through 2011, five were top five recruits in their graduating class, and all were inside the Top 50. Among this year's Division I All-Americans from the Class of 2009, right around two-thirds of them were Top 100 recruits coming out of high school. For immediate impact stars, the correlation is even greater. Seven of the eight wrestlers to earn All-American honors at this year's NCAA tournament from the Class of 2010 were ranked as Top 100 recruits, six of them inside the Top 25. Finally, for the ultimate of immediate impact, all six true freshman All-Americans were ranked inside the Top 30 of the Class of 2011 -- with eight other Top 30 members earning qualifying spots in the NCAA tournament. Without further ado here are the 2012 team recruiting class rankings. 1. Iowa Top 100 Recruits: No. 8 Nate Skonieczny (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), No. 10 Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic, Neb.), No. 14 Sam Brooks (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), No. 15 Cory Clark (Southeast Polk, Iowa), and No. 49 Alex Meyer (Southeast Polk, Iowa) Impact Newcomer: Nathan Burak (Coronado, Colo./USOTC) Other Notables: Topher Carton (Davenport Assumption, Iowa), Connor Ryan (Bettendorf, Iowa) Commentary: This marks a second No. 1 class in three years, and third top five class in four years for Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes. Even though Penn State has won the last two national titles, Dan Gable and the Brands brothers have established Iowa as the brand in college wrestling. All aspects of the program sell itself, and the nation's elite have bought in. Gilman, Brooks, Clark, Meyer, and Burak were all Junior National freestyle All-Americans last summer; while Skonieczny brings significant off-season folkstyle credentials to the table (success at the Super 32, FloNationals, and Disney Duals). Read analysis for all 25 teams. Not an InterMat Platinum subscriber? Subscribe now!

When it comes to success in college wrestling -- be it at the team or individual level -- there is no substitute for pure talent and ability. The key driver in team success at the college level is procuring those talented individuals, and rankings are one indicator of that. Rankings include the individual weight class rankings and grade rankings, as well as these recruiting class rankings that seek to measure how Division I programs did in procuring the talent of the present class. 2012 Recruiting Class Rankings 1. Iowa 2. Lehigh 3. Oklahoma 4. Cornell 5. Oklahoma State 6. Nebraska 7. Michigan 8. Illinois 9. Iowa State 10. Wisconsin 11. Minnesota 12. Ohio State 13. North Carolina 14. Stanford 15. Northern Iowa 16. Penn State 17. Cal Poly 18. Indiana 19. Northwestern 20. Harvard 21. Drexel 22. Oregon State 23. Old Dominion 24. Virginia Tech 25. OhioAn analysis of the NCAA tournament qualifiers for two-time defending Division I national champion Penn State more than confirms this premise. Out of the 12 wrestlers that captured the 17 qualification spots in the last two seasons (eight in 2011, nine in 2012), 10 of them were multiple-time state champions and all had won at least one state or National Prep title. It should also be noted that during their high school career, 10 of these wrestlers were also finalists at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals (Fargo), and/or a FILA Junior World freestyle medalist There is also a clear correlation between being talented as a prep wrestler and the potential for success as a Division I college wrestler. Among this year's eight NCAA finalists from the Classes of 2009 through 2011, five were top five recruits in their graduating class, and all were inside the Top 50. Among this year's Division I All-Americans from the Class of 2009, right around two-thirds of them were Top 100 recruits coming out of high school. For immediate impact stars, the correlation is even greater. Seven of the eight wrestlers to earn All-American honors at this year's NCAA tournament from the Class of 2010 were ranked as Top 100 recruits, six of them inside the Top 25. Finally, for the ultimate of immediate impact, all six true freshman All-Americans were ranked inside the Top 30 of the Class of 2011 -- with eight other Top 30 members earning qualifying spots in the NCAA tournament. Without further ado here are the 2012 team recruiting class rankings. 1. Iowa Top 100 Recruits: No. 8 Nate Skonieczny (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), No. 10 Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic, Neb.), No. 14 Sam Brooks (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), No. 15 Cory Clark (Southeast Polk, Iowa), and No. 49 Alex Meyer (Southeast Polk, Iowa) Impact Newcomer: Nathan Burak (Coronado, Colo./USOTC) Other Notables: Topher Carton (Davenport Assumption, Iowa), Connor Ryan (Bettendorf, Iowa) Commentary: This marks a second No. 1 class in three years, and third top five class in four years for Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes. Even though Penn State has won the last two national titles, Dan Gable and the Brands brothers have established Iowa as the brand in college wrestling. All aspects of the program sell itself, and the nation's elite have bought in. Gilman, Brooks, Clark, Meyer, and Burak were all Junior National freestyle All-Americans last summer; while Skonieczny brings significant off-season folkstyle credentials to the table (success at the Super 32, FloNationals, and Disney Duals). 2. Lehigh Top 100 Recruits: No. 12 Doug Vollaro (Pine Castle Christian, Fla.), No. 23 Brandon Griffin (Sprague, Ore.), No. 31 Mitch Minotti (Easton, Pa.), No. 37 Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), No. 45 Brian Brill (Central Mountain, Pa.), and No. 72 Elliott Riddick (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) Other Notables: Laike Gardner (Biglerville, Pa.), Ben Haas (Salamanca, N.Y.), Zach Diekel (Whitehall, N.Y.), Arty Walsh (Schuylkill Valley, Pa.), and David Jeffrey (Parkersburg South, W.V.) Commentary: Even with being a perennially strong program, this recruiting class represents a significant milestone for the Mountain Hawks. It is a group that restocks the roster across the weight classes, and does so with extreme talent that has thrived on the biggest stages (i.e. Fargo, Super 32, and some of the most rigorous in-season and state tournaments). 3. Oklahoma Top 100 Recruits: No. 43 Clark Glass (Brandon, Fla.), No. 54 Brad Johnson (Lockport, Ill.), No. 61 Ross Larson (Ankeny, Iowa), No. 66 Matt Reed (Wichita Heights, Kan.), and No. 94 Kyle Garcia (Choctaw, Okla.) Impact Transfers: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) and Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) Other Notable: Greg Wilson (Keller Central, Tex.) Commentary: Unlike at American University, where head coach Mark Cody started with a less than ideal environment, things in his second year with the Sooners are ideal to say the least. The administrative commitment is exceedingly strong, and he has one of the best sets of assistant coaches in Division I wrestling (Michael Lightner, Jared Frayer, and Tyrone Lewis). That environment has attracted five Top 100 recruits into the fold, along with the services of NCAA Division I All-Americans Howe and Rutt for their senior seasons. 4. Cornell Top 100 Recruits: No. 5 Mark Grey (Blair Academy, N.J.), No. 9 Alex Cisneros (Selma, Calif.), No. 18 Brian Realbuto (Somers, N.Y.), No. 25 Steve Congenie (Villa Park, Ill.), and No. 64 Dylan Palacio (Long Beach, N.Y.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Gabe Dean (Lowell, Mich.) Other Notables: Angelo Silvestro (Marmion Academy, Ill.) and Taylor Simaz (Allegan, Mich.) Commentary: For four straight years, the Big Red have found themselves in the top five of the standings at the NCAA Tournament, including runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011. Strong recruiting hauls, such as this one, have been key in building success for Rob Koll's program. Grey and Palacio were champions at the NHSCA Senior Nationals, Cisneros won a FloNationals title, and Congenie returned to the mats with a Junior National folkstyle title after missing his senior season due to injury. 5. Oklahoma State Top 100 Recruits: No. 4 Jordan Rogers (Mead, Wash.), No. 22 Kyle Crutchmer (Tulsa Union, Okla.), No. 77 Chase Ferman (Broken Arrow, Okla.), No. 79 Case Garrison (St. Paris Graham, Ohio), and No. 100 Nolan Boyd (Deer Creek, Okla.) Impact Transfer: Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma) Other Notable: Brian Crutchmer (Tulsa Union, Okla.) Commentary: Yet again, it's more of the same for John Smith and staff in Stillwater. Another terrific haul of prospects led by the Rogers, who finished the season No. 1 in his weight class, and a solid group of Oklahoma natives led by NHSCA Senior All-Americans Kyle Crutchmer and Boyd. Also key to the class is 2011 NCAA runner-up Caldwell, who has two years of competitive eligibility remaining. 6. Nebraska Top 100 Recruits: No. 17 Tim Dudley (Irmo, S.C.), No. 52 Tim Lambert (Forest Hills Eastern, Mich.), No. 60 Ben Morgan (Forest Lake, Minn.), and No. 96 Shaun'Qae McMurtry (Lockport, Ill.) Impact Transfer: Frank Cagnina (Iowa Central) Other Notables: Skyler Wood (Platte County, Missouri) and McCoy Newberg (Independence, Tenn.) Commentary: Head coach Mark Manning continues to bring in excellent wrestlers to Lincoln on a yearly basis, with this being a fourth straight top six recruiting class for the Cornhuskers. This class addresses a cross-section of the lineup, with the lower-weights being a primary focus, as four of the seven listed wrestlers fit into the first two-to-three weight classes. 7. Michigan Top 100 Recruits: No. 2 Taylor Massa (St. Johns, Mich.), No. 13 Rossi Bruno (Brandon, Fla.), and No. 28 Jordan Thomas (Greenville, Mich.) Impact Transfer: Conor Youtsey (Mason, Mich.) Commentary: One of the major stories of last off-season was the coaching staff and cultural overhaul in the Michigan wrestling wrestling program. The Wolverines added Sean Bormet and Donny Pritzlaff as assistant coaches, while the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club became a bona fide regional training center -- the home of U.S. Olympian Jake Herbert among others. A residual benefit is an excellent recruiting class that includes three top 30 prospects, including the very impressive Massa who went undefeated in high school. 8. Illinois Top 100 Recruits: No. 21 Zane Richards (Carbondale, Ill.), No. 24 Nikko Reyes (Clovis West, Calif.), and No. 47 Zac Brunson (Churchill, Ore.) Impact Transfer: Steven Rodrigues (Fox Lane, N.Y.) Other Notable: John Fahy (Trinity, Ky.) Commentary: Similar to Michigan, the Fighting Illini underwent a transformation last summer with coaching staff changes, as Mark Perry and Cory Cooperman came into the fold. The effect of those changes was felt immediately in terms of on the mat performance, as well as with this excellent group of recruits -- Junior National freestyle champions Richards and Brunson, FloNationals champion Reyes, along with newcomer Rodrigues who was a FILA Junior freestyle champion last month. 9. Iowa State Top 100 Recruits: No. 6 John Meeks (Des Moines Roosevelt, Iowa), No. 29 Gabriel Moreno (Urbandale, Iowa), and No. 99 Dakota Bauer (Iowa City West, Iowa) Impact Newcomer: Destin McCauley (Apple Valley, Minn./USOTC) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Kyle Larson (West Des Moines Valley, Iowa) Other Notable: Jesse Doyle (Wheatmore, N.C.) Commentary: Things in Ames have been very “up-and-down” since Cael Sanderson left for Happy Valley. Recruiting has been very uneven, as the 2009 and 2011 classes were barren, with this class and the 2010 class residing inside the top ten. The lone All-American over the last two seasons was national champion Jon Reader in 2011. Led by four-time state champion Meeks, who did not lose a match in his prep career, the Cyclones capitalized on an excellent in-state senior class. This group, combined with those from 2010, should held return the program to its rightful state of national relevance. 10. Wisconsin Top 100 Recruits: No. 19 Isaac Jordan (St. Paris Graham, Ohio), No. 44 Ryan Taylor (St. Paris Graham, Ohio), and No. 92 Rylan Lubeck (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestlers: Phillip Laux (Iowa City West, Iowa), Justin Koethe (Iowa City West, Iowa), and Keegan Gennrich (Hortonville, Wis.) Commentary: Like at Iowa State, there has been some tension in the wrestling program air up in Madison. The loss of assistant coach Donnie Pritzlaff to Michigan, Destin McCauley choosing to matriculate as a Cyclone instead of a Badger, and the transfers of Howe and Rutt to Oklahoma leave some questions in the mind of Wisconsin fans. However, there are clear positives with 2011 All-American Tyler Graff returning from Olympic redshirt and a second consecutive top ten recruiting haul coming to campus. 11. Minnesota Top 100 Recruits: No. 41 Michael Kroells (Scott West, Minn.), No. 58 Sam Brancale (Eden Prairie, Minn.), No. 62 Brandon Kingsley (Apple Valley, Minn.), No. 80 Dylan Reel (Washington, Ill.), and No. 88 Dakota Trom (Apple Valley, Minn.) Other Notables: Jordan Bremer (Woodbury Central Moville, Iowa), Cody Phillips (Union County, Ind.), and Zane Zeman (Avon, Ohio) Commentary: Though this is a second consecutive Golden Gopher class that is outside the top ten, it is yet again another class that will provide significant talent and depth for J. Robinson and crew, in particular in the lower three weight classes -- with four of these prospects projected to fit in at those weights. With the Gophers having a stacked roster this coming year, the incoming freshmen will have time to develop and refine their craft before taking their turns in the starting lineup. 12. Ohio State Top 100 Recruits: No. 39 Nick Roberts (North Star, Pa.) and No. 40 Mark Martin (St. Edward, Ohio) Impact newcomer: Chris Phillips (Monroeville, Ohio) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Nick Tavanello (Wadsworth, Ohio) Commentary: Though it is a small class in terms of quantity, all four wrestlers are high quality. It is led by Phillips, a four-time state champion, and high school teammate of national champion Logan Stieber, as well as Hunter Stieber and Cam Tessari, who both earned All-American honors last year as true freshmen. Despite graduating high school in 2011, Fall 2012 will mark his collegiate debut. The additional wrestlers in this class are Roberts, a three-time state champion, seems to be a possible career 125 -- which is a hard find; Martin, a two-time state champion, is a wrestler with tremendous upside; while Tavanello is a three-time state champion, and enters a terrific environment for upper-weights with a whole litany of training partners and instruction available. 13. North Carolina Top 100 Recruits: No. 33 Joey Ward (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio), No. 42 Nathan Kraisser (Centennial, Md.), and No. 89 Jacob Crawford (Millbrook, Va.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestlers: Cody Klempay (Canon McMillan, Pa.) Other Notables: Ryan Harrington (West Morris Mendham, N.J.) and Joey Moon (Southern Alamance, N.C.) Commentary: Following last year's tenth-ranked recruiting class, the Tar Heels bring another excellent group of wrestlers to campus anchored by lower weight stars in Kraisser and Ward; while Moon, Crawford, and Harrington are multi-time state champions as projected middleweights; and Klempay fits in as a heavyweight. 14. Stanford Top 100 Recruits: No. 50 Josh Marchok (Schaumburg, Ill.), No. 68 Zach Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), No. 87 James Wilson (McNair, Calif.), and No. 95 Max Hvolbek (Blair Academy, N.J.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Matt Garelli (Oak Park Fenwick, Ill.) Other Notable: Peter Galli (St. Paul's, Md.) Commentary: This marks a third top 20 recruiting class in four years under the leadership of Jason Borelli, and builds upon the momentum of another excellent season for the Cardinal -- as they finished 16th at the NCAA tournament with a pair of wrestlers earning All-American honors. Borelli continues to find high-level wrestlers with the athletic and academic talent necessary to thrive in Palo Alto. 15. Northern Iowa Top 100 Recruits: No. 53 Cooper Moore (Jackson County Central, Minn.), No. 65 Dylan Peters (Denver-Tripoli, Iowa), and No. 76 Zach Witte (Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Jared Bartel (Mason City, Iowa) Other Notable: Curt Maas (Medford, Minn.) Commentary: Head coach Doug Schwab capitalized upon excellent senior classes in Iowa and Minnesota to procure a strong group of wrestlers, as all five listed here earned state championship medals this year. In all these wrestlers combined for eleven state titles during their prep careers. Peters, a three-time state champion, projects as a lower-weight; while the other four should fill slots in the middle-to-upper portion of the lineup. 16. Penn State Top 100 Recruit: No. 3 Jimmy Gulibon (Derry Area, Pa.) Impact Transfer: Jimmy Lawson (Monmouth University) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Wes Phipps (Grove City, Pa.) Other Notable: Zach Beitz (Juniata, Pa.) Commentary: After consecutive banner recruiting classes, the Nittany Lions drop back a bit in the recruiting rankings this year. Despite that, head Coach Cael Sanderson has a stacked lineup for 2012-13 and is on the verge of building an empire in Happy Valley. Four-time state champion Gulibon, and multi-time New Jersey state champion Lawson could be called on to step into the lineup immediately; Gulibon at 125 or 133, while the Lawson would fit in at 285 after playing football at Monmouth the last couple of years. Phipps and Beitz are solid wrestlers, who won state titles this past year in the Keystone State. 17. Cal Poly Top 100 Recruits: No. 16 Max Schneider (Chicago Lane Tech, Ill.) and No. 74 Victor Pereira (Newark Memorial, Calif.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestlers: Blake Kastl (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) and J.T. Goodwin (Bear Creek, Calif.) Other Notables: Colt Shorts (Canon McMillan, Pa.), Devon Lotito (Bethlehem Liberty, Pa.), Conor King (Poway, Calif.), and Justin Walker (De La Salle, Calif.) Commentary: Using a California core, along with a smattering of Midwest and mid-Atlantic wrestlers, head coach Brendan Buckley has assembled an excellent group of wrestlers to come on board at Cal Poly. Two-time state champion Schneider, a Cadet World champion in Judo, is the anchor of this class along with three-time state medalist Pereira. The prospects address roster needs throughout the whole lineup in terms of quality and depth. 18. Indiana Top 100 Recruits: No. 34 Quinton Murphy (Holley Central, N.Y.) and No. 75 Jared McKinley (Perry Meridian, Ind.) Impact Transfer: Erik Spjut (Virginia Tech) Other Notable: Nathan Jackson (Marian Catholic, Ill.) Commentary: This marks the fourth consecutive year that the Hoosiers have earned a top 25 ranking for their recruiting class. Headlining the group is three-time state champion Murphy and two-time state champion McKinley, both of whom were Junior National freestyle All-Americans last summer. In addition, Spjut was a NCAA Division I qualifier this past year and should fit in the lineup immediately with two years of eligibility remaining. 19. Northwestern Top 100 Recruits: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point, Ind.) and No. 32 Dominick Malone (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) Other Notables: Garrison White (Robinson, N.C.) and Ben Sullivan (Apple Valley, Minn.) Commentary: The Wildcats recruiting haul is anchored by the top prospect in all the Class of 2012 in four-time state champion Tsirtsis. He was absolutely dominant in both all-star matches, and has thrived on the big stages of major national competitions over his four year high school career. Likewise, four-time National Prep placer (two-time champ) Malone should also do big things over his career in Evanston. 20. Harvard Top 100 Recruits: No. 36 Devon Gobbo (Delbarton, N.J.) and No. 57 Todd Preston (Blair Academy, N.J.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Nick Gajdzik (Stoney Creek, Mich.) Other Notables: Jeffrey Ott (Belmont Hill, Mass.) Commentary: Despite missing his senior year, Gobbo has a lot of talent the potential to achieve big things during his time with the Crimson. He won the Beast of the East during his junior campaign, and had already earned two placements in the Garden State and at the Super 32, before sustaining an injury during the quarterfinals of the Super 32 this past October. Augmenting this solid class for the Crimson are three-time National Prep champion Preston, state champion Gajdzik, and 2010 Nation Prep champion Ott; Preston and Ott each earned Junior National freestyle All-American honors last summer. 21. Drexel Top 100 Recruits: No. 56 Matt Cimato (LaSalle, Pa.) and No. 59 Gage Harrah (Crystal Lake Central, Ill.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Steven Elicegui (Wooster, Nev.) Other Notable: Connor Moran (Solanco, Pa.) Commentary: For a first recruiting class as head coach, Matt Azevedo -- formerly a Cornell assistant -- has brought an excellent group of wrestlers into the fold. The class is anchored by a pair of two-time Junior National freestyle All-Americans in Cimato and Harrah, both of whom also finished as runners-up at the FloNationals held on the Drexel campus this April. Moran marks a third FloNationals runner-up in the Dragons recruiting haul. 22. Oregon State Top 100 Recruit: No. 67 Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West, Iowa) Impact Newcomer: Patrick Downey (North County, Md./USOTC) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestler: Mick Dougharity (Barlow, Ore.) Other Notables: Joey Delgado (Hermiston, Ore.), Joey Palmer (Tahoma, Wash.), and Jared Reis (Napoleon, N.D.) Commentary: It's an impressive group of wrestlers heading to Corvallis, which is anchored by 2011 NHSCA Senior National champion Downey; who was also a Junior National freestyle champion last summer and a FILA Junior freestyle champion last month. Delgado, Palmer, and Reis are multiple time state champions, who have competed and thrived in national competition; while Hathaway and Dougharity have done the same but have just a single state title each. 23. Old Dominion Top 100 Recruit: No. 55 Micah Barnes (Simley, Minn.) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestlers: Alexander Richardson (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), Jack Dechow (Richmond Burton, Ill.), and Kevin Beazley (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) Other Notable: Joe Jessen (Millbrook, Va.) Commentary: Entering his ninth year as head coach, Steve Martin has done an excellent job of injecting quality into the Monarchs program, and that starts on the recruiting trail. Though this is the lowest rated recruiting class in the last four years, it still is an excellent group, as all five wrestlers won state championships this past year and have shown high levels of success in major tournaments. Despite seeing its four year string of producing an All-American end in 2012, Old Dominion did qualify a record seven wrestlers to the NCAA Division I tournament. 24. Virginia Tech Top 100 Recruit: No. 30 Huston Evans (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) Additional Weight Class Ranked Wrestlers: Salvatore Mastriani (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) and Ty Walz (St. Edward, Ohio) Other Notables: Jake Balestieri (Franklin Regional, N.J.) and Dawson Peck (Chambersburg, Pa.) Commentary: Kevin Dresser is yet another former high school coach (like Steve Martin) who has done an excellent job of raising the bar since taking over the program. Though this is the lowest rated recruiting class in the last four years, it is still an excellent group headlined by Walsh Ironman champ Evans, a four-time state finalist (champion as a sophomore in 2010). Walz was a state champion this past year, and a Junior National freestyle All-American over the summer; while Mastriani, Balestieri, and Peck each earned All-American honors at the NHSCA Senior Nationals. 25. Ohio Top 100 Recruits: No. 26 Chaz Gresham (Goshen, Ohio) and No. 90 Joey Munos (South St. Paul, Minn.) Other Notables: Kevon Powell (Montini Catholic, Ill.), Kagan Squire (Wadsworth, Ohio), and T.J. Fox (Field, Ohio) Commentary: An impressive recruiting haul for the Bobcats gives them an appearance in the recruiting rankings for the first time in awhile, and should help them in their quest to crack the Central Michigan/Kent State duopoly that leads the MAC conference at present. The group is led by four-time state placer and two-time state champion/Super 32 third-place finisher Chaz Gresham. In all, it's a group of wrestlers that addresses needs across the lineup and has great potential.

Joe Russell took over as head coach at George Mason in July of 2011 after 17 seasons as an assistant coach at Minnesota. In his first season as head coach at George Mason, Russell led the Patriots to six more wins than the previous season, and sent two wrestlers to the NCAAs in St. Louis. InterMat caught up with Russell and talked to him about the season, his team, vision for the George Mason wrestling program, and much more. Joe RussellDid you attend the recent UFC event held at George Mason? Russell: I did. It's actually right across the street from my office, so it was pretty convenient. With Marcus LeVesseur getting a last-minute call to fight, he was able to get Tommy Owen and me tickets to go watch him. Are you a fan of MMA? Russell: No, I'm not a big fan. I'm happy the wrestlers are making good money. I like that. It's just a little rough for me. What was the biggest eye-opener for you going from Minnesota to George Mason? Russell: I would say kind of going from the haves to the have-nots. Things that I would get frustrated about at Minnesota I would give anything to have now. There was a little bigger budget, more options with scholarships, and more emphasis on the wrestling program. Here it's different in those regards. Do you still stay in touch with some of the coaches and wrestlers at Minnesota? Russell: Yeah. I was at Minnesota most of my life, so it's definitely home to me. I love those guys. I was happy to see their success this year and sad they came up short. But I definitely miss those guys a lot. You took over a team that was 0-21 in dual meets and won six dual meets in your first season. I know you have high expectations, but are you where you thought you would be after Year 1? Russell: In Year 1 I just wanted to understand the needs of the program and what we needed to do to move it forward. There were simple, obvious decisions. But for the most part I wanted to figure things out here and make sure we're headed in the right direction. Right now we have a long, long ways to go, but I definitely feel like we're making progress, just trying to change the attitude and culture a little bit of the guys on the team, and expectations of the program from people outside ... That stuff is going to take time, but I think it's important. My big thing is trying to build something that can stand the test of time. I'm thinking more long term with a lot of decisions, not trying to do the expedient thing, but trying to think what will help us build stability here. What are some of the obstacles you face with building the program at George Mason? Joe Russell (Photo/George Mason Sports Information)Russell: There are a lot of obstacles. Scholarships are obviously a big one. Budget for the program is another one. It's hard without the financial aspects. Little things. Needing a proper-sized wrestling room. Our wrestling is pretty small. We had 12 guys returning, but I had 18 new guys on the team because I wanted to build the numbers up. I thought that would be important. You have to run two practices when you have 30 guys on the team because the room is not big enough. Those little obstacles that you take for granted or don't think about when you come in. Also, just trying to get people to understand what it takes to be a successful Division I program, or what it takes to be a successful Division I wrestler. You had two NCAA qualifiers this past season. One of those NCAA qualifiers, Vince Rodriguez, has three more seasons of eligibility. What is he capable of accomplishing? Russell: Vince is really good. I was excited when I got here and saw him on the team. He was a national qualifier as a true freshman, which is never an easy thing to do. He was a guy who was sacrificing a lot as far as cutting a lot of weight to be a 125-pounder this past season. He's got a huge upside. He's a guy I'm definitely excited to have three more years with here. You mentioned that he was cutting a lot of weight. Do you expect that he will move up in weight? Russell: Yeah. He'll need to move up. He got to school and we were able to get him certified at 125 and then he kept growing. I was like, 'Well, sorry, Vince, you're going to have to make it to March.' You could see in some of his competitions that it was affecting him. We're trying to put some good size on him and see where he ends up. But he will definitely need to move up. It has been 17 years since George Mason had had an NCAA All-American. How important is it for your program to get wrestlers on the NCAA podium in March? Joe Russell (Photo/George Mason Sports Information)Russell: When you have an-American it gives you a lot of visibility and let's people know, 'Yeah, I can get the job done at George Mason.' When I was at Minnesota I would call somebody and they would know a lot about the program. When I first started recruiting here I'd call people and the first thing was, 'What division are you? And where are you located?' So it was kind of a different thing. I definitely want to be calling people and they know we're a Division I program in the CAA Conference. I think when you get an All-American that really helps you with your national notoriety. That's something we're definitely trying to change. When you have All-Americans in the room it gives guys a good model to follow. What's the wrestling culture like in Virginia? Russell: There are some great people in this Northern Virginia area that are fired up about wrestling and doing great things, and that's exciting to see. I've been to a bunch of schools that I hadn't been to before ... I had never been to the Naval Academy, and we wrestled there last year. Bloomsburg, I had never been on their campus. So things like that have been fun for me. But there are some really fired up high school coaches in Northern Virginia. Last fall you added Tommy Owen, one of your former wrestlers, to your staff. What has he brought to the program? Tommy OwenRussell: I knew that Tommy would be a really good fit for me just personality-wise and with his experiences. He's done a great job with the team. He has been leading our recruiting, and he's been leading a lot of training and practices. He grew up on a wrestling mat. His dad was the head coach at North Idaho when they won a lot of junior college national titles. He saw that you could be successful in a program with not a huge budget. They're fairly isolated out there and did great things ... and I think he had a great example in his father. I thought he would be a good fit for this type of program. Another CAA program, Binghamton, finished 14th at the NCAAs this past season, but then lost its head coach when Pat Popolizio resigned to accept a position at North Carolina State. Were you surprised that Popolozio left Binghamton? Russell: Well, I really don't know his situation out there, but it's pretty amazing what he had done. Pat was a godsend for me coming to the CAA Conference not knowing people. I had to call him a lot for simple things like 'How does this work in the CAA?' to bigger questions like 'With this type of program, what do you need to do?' He was a wealth of knowledge for me, and he was doing great things at Binghamton. So in that respect it's hard to see him leave. Without knowing, my assumption is that he saw increased odds for better success at North Carolina State ... I don't know if it was better resources or whatnot. It's good for wrestling that he's still in it and moving up. And then with Bighamton getting Dernlan, you know he's going to do a great job. I think Binghamton is in a good place. You are putting together a strong recruiting class that includes a mix of high school talent and college transfers ... Russell: Yeah, we want to be a place where people are attracted to looking at, whether it's coming out of high school or if they don't have a fit that works for them at the college they're at. We definitely want to be a program that attracts guys that want to get their degree and guys that want to put forth their best effort and have a great attitude. Those are the kind of guys we need. If we get them here, it will really help this program excel. So we're looking for any guys who fit that mold. One of your recruits is Matt Meadows, a nationally ranked 220-pounder. What do you like about him? Matt MeadowsRussell: Meeting with Matt and getting to know him a little bit, I was just really impressed with him as a person. He has a great family too. Watching him wrestle, you can see he moves real well and competes well. Calling around to get some background information on him, the only thing people told me was what a great kid he is. We were really excited that he has decided to join us. He has big goals and he's a hard worker. I think you put those two things together and you're going to have some good things that will happen. I know you're a strong proponent of freestyle wrestling. Will any of the George Mason wrestlers be competing at University Nationals in a couple weeks? Russell: Yeah, we'll be taking a bunch of guys to University Nationals. That's something we're trying to do more of here ... Letting them know what it takes to be successful at the Division I level, and that's training year-round and getting in competitions whenever you can. You'll be seeing George Mason wrestlers at USA Wrestling events in the spring and summer. I see that you're running a couple wrestling camps this summer. What are the Georg Mason wrestling camps all about? Russell: The big things we're trying to do with the camps is just let people know about George Mason and get people on campus and offer an opportunity for people to have a good camp experience, close to Washington D.C. and on a beautiful campus. So we're trying to get things started here. Hopefully it's something we do well and people benefit from. What's your vision for George Mason wrestling? Russell: The big thing is trying to think long term and what's going to make George Mason a stable program. It's a great school, a great area of the country to be in. I think there is something special that can be built here.

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Jackson announced the hiring of former NCAA champion Troy Nickerson on Friday. Nickerson went 97-8 in his career at Cornell University, including an NCAA Championship in 2009 at 125 pounds. Troy Nickerson (Photo/Larry Slater)"(Nickerson) was a perfect fit for us," Jackson said. "His major role will be to solidify the lighter weights on our team. He is a very intelligent guy, having wrestled on an Ivy League team with a top-notch wrestling tradition. It became obvious in his interview that he was the right man for the job." Nickerson, a four-time All-American at Cornell, was an NCAA finalist twice and won three EIWA wrestling titles during his collegiate career. The Chenango Forks, N.Y. native was the first five-time New York high school state champion and also won six national high school championships. "Iowa State is one of the most historic programs in the nation and when I came out there to visit, I really liked the tradition and the support that Iowa State commanded," Nickerson said. "It really seems like they have things going in the right direction and I’m looking to be part of something special. It’s just exciting to be part of such a historic program." Most recently, Nickerson served as an assistant wrestling coach for the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club in Ithaca, N.Y. While coaching at FLWC, Nickerson constructed and ran wrestling practices for youth, high school, college and senior age divisions. He was the head coach of the FLWC college team during the 2010-11 season. "I think I bring some youth and a different perspective coming from the east coast and Cornell," Nickerson said. "I’m going to be able to bring in a lot of east coast recruiting and just a different perspective to the Big 12 kind of training philosophy. Coaching the college team up there in Ithaca, I really developed a deep satisfaction for being able to help those guys achieve their goals, so I’m excited to bring that passion to Iowa State and help bring a national title back to Ames."

Fight Now USA Presents Takedown Wrestling from the mobile Brute studios in Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Ill. at 1460 KXNO. Takedown Wrestling is brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio. Join Scott Casber and Brad Johnson with the Takedown Wrestling Headline News this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. to noon ET. Live from 9 to 11 a.m. the Greco Roman Olympic Athletes and Coaches join us for two hours of talk prior to the 5 p.m. start of the 2012 Curby Cup. 2012 US Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Team vs. 2012 Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Team from the nation of Georgia It's your chance to see the USA Olympic wrestling team is here. Lyons Township High School, 100 S. Brainard Ave, La Grange, IL, 60525. Bring your friends and pass along this email. Tickets available at the door. www.curbycup.com. Fans, athletes, coaches: Join in the conversation live by calling 866-333-5966 or 515-204-5966. Listen on radio, computer, Blackberry, or iPhone with the iHeart Radio app.

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. Want to view a past mailbag? View archives. Q: I respectfully disagree (with your last mailbag comments about St. Ed's). Being that every wrestler at St. Ed's lives within a 40-mile radius and always has. The Eagles get it done by using local talent. How many Blair wrestlers that are currently on their team grew up living within 40 miles of Blair? My bet one or two. I do agree with a lot of what you said. Coaching brings great wrestlers to the schools mentioned. But having the ability to house their wrestlers gives Blair an advantage. -- Joe D. Foley: The question becomes: How many public schools in major metropolitan areas across the country have a 40-mile radius to pull from? The answer: Not many. The St. Ed's model is local, but let's not confuse this to mean that there are 14 kids living on the same street who by some chance all happen to have the genetic gift of becoming a Division I-caliber wrestler. The Cleveland area is one of the most wrestling-rich in the country, so even if you only pull from a 40-mile radius, you're going to have a lineup where kids don't have to make insane leaps between "serviceable" and "Ryan Bertin." Cleveland wrestling is good but no pocket is the equivalent of Mud City football. St. Ed's is private and all-male, and based on the area it covers is probably very similar to the academic magnet schools that tend to pop up in wealthy suburbs (Thomas Jefferson High School, Va.) and give kids with calculators and an intellectual man-crush Neil deGrasse Tyson a place to let their talents blossom. (Neil deGrasse Tyson was captain of his high school wrestling team jump to 29:10.) But those magnet schools don't charge tuition. St. Ed's does. Imagine if I started a private school in Pittsburgh and was able to hire Cael Sanderson as my head wrestling coach. Let's limit his reach to a 40-mile radius around Pittsburgh. Don't you agree they'd be pretty tough? Do you think some guys might leave Shaler, Reynolds, or North Allegheny for the chance to wrestle with Cael at a private school? Is attracting only the local talent in an 80-mile diameter around Cleveland much different than getting kids from all over the country? I don't think so. Greg Urbas of St. Edward (Ohio) is a coaching legend (Photo/Bob Tuneberg, BuckeyeWrestling.com)I also believe it's difficult for Blair to sell every quasi-interested 16-year-old wrestler to leave his teammates, his mother's cooking, and his girlfriend for the opportunity to live in a dorm room and wrestle year-round. Boarding is a benefit, no question, but if you've been to Blairstown you know that there is NO CHANCE they could field a whole team on local kids. Coach Urbas is a legend and St. Ed's is an impressive program. Also, the majority of the guys I've wrestled with from St. Ed's have been great people in addition to being technically proficient wrestlers. YES, they are all from the Cleveland area, and NO there is not a boarding option, but I don't think you can equate St. Ed's with just another public school. Q: Any reason why Troy Letters was named interim coach and not given the job outright? It seems like he would be a "win/win" for all involved. Also, I watched a Chance Marsteller match last year in mid-December then attended the Midlands shortly after? Am I dumb for assuming he would have placed at 157? -- Jason R. Foley: I was excited to break the news on Monday that Troy Letters was going to be named the interim head coach at Clarion. Letters and I actually wrestled each other in 2004, with him getting the better side of a 5-4 decision. It was a fun match, and though I was upset at the time to not get the last-second takedown (I felt like I was so close!), Letters went on to win the NCAA title that season, taking off a little of the sting. He's a tough, tough wrestler and really nice guy. Troy Letters (Photo/Clarion Sports Information)Universities have very particular standards for hiring new coaches. It could be that Clarion wants to open the position for a national search, or that they are still trying to figure out the internal logistics of ceding power to Letters. By making him the interim head coach they give themselves the grey area where bureaucrats find the room to exert control. Also, it's been my experience that athletics programs tend to move slowly, mostly to make sure that they follow all the NCAA regulations as well as any bylaws the university has in place to safeguard against nepotism, or good 'ol boy promotions. The position could become full-time in a matter of weeks, or it could be interim for an entire season. It's just up to the AD. Judging by the language in their press release, I think Letters will be hired as the full-time head coach very soon. As for Chance Marstellar? Well, yeah, he's a stud. I've never seen him wrestle in person, but you're probably right that he could've placed at the Midlands this year. Maybe he'll enter the 2012 tourney? Q: What is your take on the new coach here at Binghamton, Matt Denrlan? Also, are you still feeling comfortable about your Barry Davis prediction from last week? -- Josh Z. Foley: Matt Dernlan is a great hire for Binghamton. He's been at enough successful programs to understand the complexity of creating a winning formula. When we talked Monday he told me that his goal is to eventually compete for a team title. He said that the BU administration made promises that would ensure he'd receive the type of support that would make a title run possible in the future. It seems obvious, but when your coach is openly discussing what it takes to win NCAA titles, you've made the right decision. It might sound surprising, but not all coaches vocalize their goal to win an NCAA team title. The dirty little secret is that most know it's impossible for their programs to compete with those in the top ten and try and do their best to just crack into the top fifteen at the NCAA tournament. That outlook might seem defeatist or depressing, but most coaches make those goals because they see the rational limitations of their budgets and scholarships. WE ARE not all Penn State. I still believe in Barry. Q: What do you think of Mark Cody snaring both Andrew Howe and Travis Rutt? Pretty amazing to me. -- Mark S. Foley: Boomer Sooner! What a pair of transfers. The mood in Norman, which had been abuzz with the Olympic team qualifications of assistant coach Jared Frayer and former Sooner Sam Hazewinkel, had dimmed ever so slightly when Tyler Caldwell announced he'd be making the leap upstate to wrestle for John Smith. But that didn't last long as the Sooner staff added an NCAA champion and an All-American in Andrew Howe and Travis Rutt. Why Oklahoma? I'd guess that the move had as much to do with Frayer being on staff as it did with the significant and impressive recruitment capabilities of Oklahoma head coach Mark Cody (One head coach told me he thought Cody's best recruiting was luring in transfers.) Here it seemed to be a combination of Frayer's pre-existing relationship with the boys, his making the Olympic Team, and a little bit of Coach Cody's considerable charisma. I'm sure that having Michael Lightner on staff didn't hurt either. Q: I'm really excited to hear that Jay Borschel is back in the college wrestling world and glad he is at Northwestern. How do you see him fitting in with the Wildcats? Also, who on the team do you think will benefit the most from having him in the room? -- Betty G. Foley: Biggest benefit? The man's piano playing ability! To have an NCAA champion as your full-time volunteer is a BIG deal. What's interesting about Borschel is that he also seems exceedingly intelligent, which allows him to help the kids at Northwestern unwind whatever is being thrown at them in class. I've seen the ball of stress that the academic-minded wrestler can put themselves under and another voice to help them untangle the complexity of it all is valuable. Let's not over-analyze this too much. As likely as Borschel is to understand some math problems, the biggest advantage is that he's a stud former NCAA champion and for once a true upper-weight coach who is committed to coaching. (Herbert was on staff but traveled for competition, which of course paid off well in 2012.) Q: Coleman Scott just went undefeated at the World Cup in Azerbaijan. What's the plan for who makes the U.S. Olympic Team at 60 kilos? Are they still wrestling a round-robin? -- Geoff D. Coleman Scott is the hot hand right now at 60 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Foley: Cowboy Up! Coleman Scott is the hot hand right now, begging the question: "Should there even be a wrestle-off?" Of course, but he did win the World Cup. It's natural to want to "play" him when it matters most. Even if Bunch or Humphrey beat him, I think most fans would agree it wouldn't be as meaningful as what Scott was able to accomplish last week. That doesn't mean America should institute a system that favors the discretion of the coaching staff and fan base, but I'll admit it's tough to look at the situation and not want to see Scott representing America in the Olympics. The plan is for USA Wrestling to host the matches during the "Grapple in the Big Apple" on June 7. Q: With the recent signing of top recruit Devin Peterson, and a handful of other accomplished recruits, how would Iowa Western's recruiting class rank compared to its peers in Division I. -- Mark M. Foley: There is only one person to consult when discussing recruiting class rankings, InterMat's Josh Lowe. Based on the InterMat commitment list, Iowa Western has seven committed wrestlers. Two of those committed wrestlers are Top 100 recruits (Peterson inside the Top 50, Dunlap outside the Top 50). Both of those wrestlers are in the top ten of their respective weight class. None of their other wrestlers were weight class ranked. As of now, 14 Division I schools have brought in three-plus Top 100 prospects, while another 8 brought in two Top 100 prospects. That does not account for the fact those schools may have brought in additional wrestlers that are weight class ranked. Additionally, there are programs with one Top 100 but multiple others in the weight class rankings that would merit Top 25 consideration. I would say it fits clearly in the upper half of Division I programs for sure and possibly right around the upper third. Don't mess with Josh Lowe! My boy's wicked smaht. Q: Each time I go to Google News and type in "wrestling," I get stories about obese men wearing a cape and elf shoes. As a journalist for the sport of wrestling, does it bother you when people get confused between wrestling and 'rasslin'? -- A. Stevenson Foley: I have the news alert for "wrestling" and have noticed that the stories are very streaky. One day it's articles in the New York Times about Iowa and its "losing streak" and the next day it's a blog post by a guy in Connecticut about the '14 Things to Look For at Royal Rumble.' The best is when an unrelated news story pops up, like, "North Korea Wrestling with Trading Nuclear Material for Food." That's when you and I learn the most, isn't it? (Trivia fact: The highest wrestling attendance is 190,000 at the Pyongyang Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea for the World Peace Festival April 29, 1995.) I'm surprisingly not that upset by the constant confusion between the amateur and professional ranks. There was a professor of mine who always said "You know something is wrong when it's on the cover of TIME Magazine. He didn't mean that breast-feeding toddlers is necessarily wrong just that there is a market for a journalist when he can look around and recognize when everyone agrees (or disagrees) on one thing. Though admittedly this cover was meant to be controversial, rather than widely agreed upon, I just added it for shock value. There are few truths in the world, and if everyone thinks that professional wrestling is the only meaningful form of the sport, it means that we as a community, and I as a journalist have an opportunity to redirect the conversation. You'd be surprised how many books are written every year about professional wrestling, and there are some that are interested in the roots of the sport. My current book project (October/November release) addresses just this phenomenon. I tell you a lot of things you never knew about Mongolia, but I spend the bulk of my time connecting what you've experienced as a wrestler to the fundamentals of human nature. I answer questions like "Why do wrestlers tend to be so sensitive?" "Why is professional wrestling so popular?" "Why do so many quality wrestlers come from PA?" I've included some pretty compelling science and theories and I hope it'll be an entertaining read for anyone interested in the sport -- even that dimwitted cousin we all have who just can't understand why we don't just use folding chairs. Q: I know that there have been many professional football players who were accomplished wrestlers (Jim Nance and Carlton Haselrig, to name two multiple-time NCAA Division I wrestling champs who were, respectively, an AFL MVP and NFL Pro Bowler, and who grew up in hometowns within 30 miles of each other). Which current professional athlete do you think would make the best international wrestler? I think that tennis player Rafael Nadal could be great at 84-kilo freestyler. He's got great upper-body strength, and has such fast-twitch explosiveness that I think he'd have an awesome double leg. -- Ronald M. Great freestyle wrestler?Foley: Rafael Nadal? Agree to disagree. He's a winner, and had he focused on wrestling from a young age he might have been a quality competitor. However, he's Spanish and wrestling success tends to have significant ties to geography. Tennis players do have big 'ol legs, though. So, yeah, maybe a win or two at the World Championships. I have to go with a pretty safe pick. Georges St. Pierre. Courage? Check. Hardworking? Intelligent? Athletic? Yes to all. Had he not dorked around in the dojo as a kid he'd be a World and Olympic champion wrestler. Q: How do you see a Kyle Dake vs. David Taylor folkstyle match being different than what happened at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials? -- Mike S. Kyle Dake won by fall over David Taylor in the second period (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Foley: I don't see how I could construct an argument that would create a different outcome. You can win and lose in freestyle and never be at a risk of losing the same way in folkstyle (push outs, funky exposure), but what I saw was a whipping. Ask yourself this? Who can ride Kyle Dake? I'm willing to bet that nobody this side of J.P. O'Connor has a chance in hell and even he would find the task difficult. Top control would strike me as Taylor's best chance for victory, and without it he just loses at his own game, he's outgunned and outmanned ... he loses that battle, he loses that battle nine times out of ten. Q: Who would win in a wrestling match: Seth Rogan or Jonah Hill? -- Jake H. Foley: Didn't they both lose a bunch of weight? Jonah Hill looked like shit running around in his police uniform on 21 Jump Street, partly because he was co-starring with mega-male himbo Channing Tatum, but partly because he has the athleticism of my 55-year-old aunt. Seth Rogan seems solid. He apparently also just showed up in Hollywood one day, auditioned and got a quasi-leading role in a big budget movie. You should be thankful for his success though, not jealous. Rogan's is the kind of insta-success story that ensures LA will never run out of gorgeous baristas and screenplay-carrying waiters. I gotta take Seth Rogan with a VERY quick fall in the first.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler Demetrius Johnson was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA this week. Johnson, a two-time Southern Conference Champion, was the preseason favorite to win the 125-pound title in 2012 before reinjuring his right knee. Demetrius Johnson (Photo/GoMocs.com)"I am pretty ecstatic about the news," stated Johnson, a native of Memphis, Tenn. "I thought I had a 50/50 chance at getting the extra year, and then I got antsy waiting to hear from the NCAA. I am so pumped right not that I want to start training today, but I am going to have to take it slow to make sure it doesn't happen again." Johnson was expected to compete as a true freshman in 2007-08, but a bout with Mono forced him to redshirt. He made the SoCon All-Freshman team in 2008-09 when he went 11-8 and won his first SoCon title at 125 pounds. He went on to earn All-SoCon honors in 2009-10 as a sophomore, posting a 20-8 record at 125. It was during the summer of 2010 that Johnson first injured his right knee. That cost him most of his junior season, but he made it back for the majority of the conference slate. Bumping up to 133 pounds, he went 3-1 in league matches and won his second SoCon trophy. He also made his second appearance at the NCAA Tournament in 2011. Heading into the 2011-12 campaign, Johnson was back at 125 where he was a preseason All-SoCon pick. He reinjured his right knee just prior to the season-opener against Old Dominion. He tried to stay on the mat, posting a big win in the Mocs 22-15 upset over No. 12 Stanford on Nov. 20. However, that would be his only appearance of the season. "Demetrius is definitely a proven commodity on the mat and in the classroom," stated head coach Heath Eslinger. "He is definitely someone that can make it to the podium in March. We are thankful he is getting another opportunity since last season was cut short." A two-time Academic All-NWCA and Academic All-SoCon honoree, Johnson has been on the Dean's List every semester of his collegiate career. He earned his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice in May of 2011 and is currently working on a Master's degree in the same major. He has a 37-19 overall record, including an 11-2 mark in SoCon regular season matches. "I think this is a great opportunity for me to come back and be a leader for this team," stated Johnson. "We had a good year last year and we have a great coaching staff in place. It really hasn't sunk in yet, but once we start training, I will be ready to go."

Jay Borschel

For the past decade the NWCA All-Star Classic has been a showcase for some of the most exciting early-season matchups in college wrestling. Fans have been treated to matches featuring top-ranked wrestlers in off-the-record battles meant to build awareness of the sport and its potential. The NWCA All-Star Classic is an opportunity for the wrestling community to show it can compete with other sports for those all-important entertainment dollars. Unfortunately in recent years the All-Star Classic has failed to deliver. Last year only nine weight classes competed in the All-Star portion of the event. Not a single wrestler that competed in the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic won an NCAA title in March, and only 11 competitors earned All-American honors. The competitiveness that drew fans and reporters was missing. Gone too were the fans. That's all disconcerting, but even the delivery of the event, over LiveSportsVideo, was so glitchy that it became unwatchable. For many fans last year's All-Star Classic was a wake-up call for the sport. The event seemed poorly considered and it became obvious that substantial changes needed to be made to ensure that the sport could recapture the appeal the event once held. The 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic drew a sparse crowd in Tempe (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Part of what has made the event seem so dull is that fans have become accustomed to better quality video experiences. The NWCA and LiveSportsVideo.com never had much competition, but with online sites posting new videos daily and big money networks like ESPN and the BTN pouring money into production, the amateur value of the All-Star Classic became more clear to even passive viewers. The wrestling community can't afford to miss with events like the All-Star Classic, even if the demands of the wrestling community have increased, it only means that the NWCA needs to adjust appropriately and provide a commercially viable product to fans. Again. In terms of appeal the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic in Tempe, Ariz., only drew a few hundred fans and the Web stream provided by LiveSportsVideo.com was unwatchable. So, should the All-Star Classic be suspended? Or should it just be re-imagined and redesigned? Mike Moyer, president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), the organization that puts on the event, says that he shares some of the concerns over the quality of the content the All-Star Classic, but that the event did more good than most people realize. "Last year we were able to raise the visibility of vulnerable programs," says Moyer. "When we were at Fresno State we raised $100k, which went to hiring a lobbying firm to help advance our cause in the state." The cause was a bill in the legislature that demands universities ask students to vote on programs before they can be cut. If students deny the request then the university must return student fees for athletics in the amount saved by cutting the program. Ostensibly this would prevent schools from cutting programs to put the savings into football. "I think that was a pretty substantial gain for wrestling," says Moyer. NWCA executive director Mike Moyer with Takedown's Scott Casber at the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic in Tempe, Ariz. (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The efforts of the NWCA to raise money are respectable, but fans, especially those who don't follow the sport closely, couldn't help but be turned off by the dismal show of support at last year's event. The poorly-attended event was rebroadcast on FOX College Sports "over fifty times" which is excellent distribution (54 million homes), but not desirable when you're rebroadcasting what amounted to a failure in terms of entertainment value. To account for the lack of fan and wrestler involvement in 2011, Moyer says that the NWCA is shopping for a location in the Washington DC area. He believes a new East Coast location will draw more fans to the event and allow for easier access by wrestlers traveling from the Midwest. "We wanted to bring the sport some recognition in the troubled areas out West but it became difficult to get wrestlers in and out," says Moyer. "We think bringing the event to the East Coast is the best thing we can do to create a more competitive event." Competition has been lacking in recent years. Like the football players who don't tackle at the NFL Pro Bowl, and basketball players who don't play defense at the NBA All Star game, our wrestlers are choosing not to show up for the event because of the perception that it could affect their postseason seeding -- even as it's earned an exemption from consideration. To counter, the NWCA is appealing to the NCAA to allow them to alter the match to include period lengths of 2-2-2, rather than the traditional three-minute first period. That effort, Moyer says, will alleviate the speculation by coaches that the event will negatively affect seeding. The NWCA is also moving the event two weeks earlier to Sunday, Nov. 4 to prevent any conflicts with important early-season dual meets. Anthony Robles signs autographs at the 2010 NWCA All-Star Classic (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Will all these changes make a difference in the event? Will all this result in 12k fans watching Penn State's David Taylor and Cornell's Kyle Dake wrestle at 165 pounds? It remains to be seen, but as wrestling fans we want to be noticed, and if the event is larger, better marketed, and more spectacular it could possibly attract new fans through the national broadcast. Last year, FOX College Sports captured video that only cemented an outsider's opinion of the sport: that it's poorly attended -- that nobody cares to watch a sport that is the also-ran to basketball. No matter where the future All-Star Classics are held, an event like the one that happened in 2011 absolutely cannot happen again. If it does, the sport will continue to suffer the consequences. The college wrestling community deserves a premier early-season event. Done well the NWCA All-Star Classic can catapult the discussions over which individuals are primed for a championship run, and which teams look prepared after the long offseason. Interest creates revenue, and revenue helps protect programs.

Troy Letters, 29, a 2001 Shaler High grad and former PIAA & NCAA Division I Champion, who was the assistant head coach at Clarion University during the 2011-12 season, was named today as the Interim Head Wrestling Coach for the Golden Eagles by Athletic Director Dave Katis. Troy Letters (Photo/Clarion Sports Information) Letters replaces Matt Dernlan, who was the Golden Eagles head coach in 2012 and accepted the head coaching position at Binghamton University today. “I am very happy to announce the hiring of Troy Letters as the Interim Wrestling Coach at Clarion,” said Katis. “We were impressed this season with the job Troy did in preparing our team for the rigors of NCAA Division I wrestling both on and off the mat. Troy is an outstanding person with strong character and leadership skills, plus brings a strong wrestling expertise to the program. We feel he is the right person to continue to move our program forward and back to national prominence. We are very fortunate to have him leading our program,” he continued. “We are making this announcement today to show how much we believe in Troy and feel it shows Clarion’s commitment to a strong, competitive NCAA Division I Wrestling program.” “I am truly honored to be named the interim head coach here at Clarion and look forward to continuing the job that Matt (Dernlan) and I started on a year ago, which is returning Clarion’s storied NCAA Division I wrestling tradition back to national prominence,” said Letters. “My dream was to become a Division I head coach at a quality program, and I truly believe I have found a home at Clarion.” Letters came to Clarion a year ago from Penn State, where he spent the previous three years helping develop Nittany Lion wrestlers. In 2008-09 he was the Director of Wrestling Operations, and his last two years (2009-10; 2010-11) as an assistant coach. Penn State won the NCAA Division I National Championship in 2011 with Cael Sanderson as head coach. A native of Pittsburgh and a 2001 graduate of Shaler High School, Letters wrestled under coach Rick Laferriere and compiled a 145-5 record at Shaler and won PIAA State titles as a junior in 2000 (152-pounds) and a senior in 2001 (160-pounds). He also placed second at PIAA’s as a sophomore in 1999 (145-pounds). He had over 100 falls in his high school career and as a senior won the Wade Schalles Pinner Award (former Golden Eagle standout) for most falls in a single season. Letters went on to wrestle at Lehigh under coach Greg Strobel and amassed a career record of 115-9 (31 falls) from 2003-2006. Troy was an NCAA runner-up as a freshman in 2003 at 165-pounds with a season record of 34-2, then won the NCAA D-I title at 165 in 2004 with a record of 36-1. He placed third at nationals in 2005 at 165-pounds with a record of 27-1 and qualified for nationals his senior year, but an injury kept him out the second half of the year and hampered him at nationals. Troy was a 3-time EIWA Champion and had a dual meet career record of 65-2. After graduating from Lehigh with a degree in Political Science, he was the head assistant coach at Princeton in 2006-07 and then ran his own wrestling club for a year before joining the Penn State staff. “I have great memories of Clarion – especially coming to wrestling camp here as a youth wrestler, and remember the tradition that Clarion enjoyed then,” reflected Letters. “We used to come to matches and root for Clarion. Hopefully I can take what I’ve learned in the past year here at Clarion, as a coach at Penn State and as a wrestler and apply that knowledge to help our wrestlers become their absolute best. Wrestling is a blue collar sport and Clarion is a blue collar community. I love being part of this community and look forward to working with the administration, staff, faculty, wrestlers and the community and look forward to making Clarion a special place in the wrestling world.” Letters and wife Concepcion have daughters Blythe and Concetta. The family resides in Clarion. Troy is the son of Jeff and Kathy Letters. CLARION WRESTLING NOTES: Troy Letters is only the seventh (7th) head coach at NCAA Division I Clarion since 1960. Frank Lignelli re-started the wrestling program in the Fall of 1959 and coached through 1966. Bob Bubb elevated the program to elite NCAA Division I status as head coach from 1967- 92, while Jack Davis mentored from 1993-97, Ken Nellis from 1998-2006. Teague Moore from 2007 – 2011 and Dernlan in 2012. In dual meet history the Golden Eagles are 516-323-17 over that time… The program was re-started in the 1959-60 season under head coach Frank Lignelli ... Lignelli was the coach from 1960-66 with a record of 61-12... He passed the torch to Bob Bubb, who from 1966-92, put Clarion wrestling on the national stage... Bubb had a career record of 322-121-4 ... Bubb led Clarion to a 4th place team finish at D-I nationals in 1973, sixth in 1972 and 87 and eighth in 1992, his final season... Bubb coached 7 D-I champions, 3 college division champs, 27 All-Americans, 29 EWL winners and 68 PSAC champs ... Bubb will be remembered for two special athletes, namely Wade Schalles and Kurt Angle... Both were named to the NCAA/NWCA 75th Anniversary Team in March of 2005... Schalles had an amazing career record of 153-5-1, won 2 NCAA titles and posted an NCAA record 106 pins ... Angle also was a 2-time NCAA D-I Champion, posted a record of 116-10-2 and also won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996 ... On June 4, 2005, Bubb was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma .... Jack Davis was Clarion’s head coach from 1993-97 with a record of 43-34-5, Nellis (47-89-3; 1998-2006), and Moore (37-60-1)... Clarion has 8 D-I National Champions, 45 All-Americans, 54 EWL winners and 112 PSAC Champions... That also includes 14 PSAC and 3 EWL team titles…. In 2011 Clarion won the PSAC team title, placed fourth at EWL’s and qualified two wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Nationals in 157-lb James Fleming (West Mifflin) and 165-lb Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)… In 2012 Clarion was third at PSAC’s, fourth at EWL’s and 18th at the NCAA Division I National Championships… Clarion had 2 D-I All-Americans in 2012 when Abdurakhmonov, a senior, finished third at 165-pounds, and Fleming, a junior, finished fifth at 157-pounds… Interestingly, Frank Lignelli (Monongahela), Ken Nellis (Shaler), Troy Letters (Shaler) and Teague Moore (North Allegheny) are all Western Pa. products… Letters and Nellis both from Shaler High School … Coach Bubb was a native of Lock Haven, but a Pitt grad and All-American… Jack Davis, from Lake Lehman, also was a Clarion grad and long-time clarion assistant coach.

Related Link: The MMA Outsider Podcast Archives It's been a long time coming, but the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix is finally about to reach a conclusion. It began more than a year ago and featured an impressive list of top-ten-level talent that probably helped pique the UFC's interest and pave the way for Zuffa's buyout of Strikeforce. Despite some bumps in the road, the tournament final this Saturday features an intriguing matchup, with old school contender Josh Barnett facing top heavyweight prospect Daniel Cormier. Richard and John break down that fight and the rest of the main card before interviewing newly-signed UFC bantamweight Chico "King" Camus. Camus, who trains out of the highly-vaunted Roufusport academy, talks about his MMA career, his big break, training with the likes of Anthony Pettis and Erik Koch, and much more.

The wait is over. After several weeks of searching for a head wrestling coach, Binghamton has hired Clarion head coach Matt Dernlan. Dernlan, a longtime assistant coach, accepted the position this week and is already on campus. He takes over Pat Popolizio, who was hired as North Carolina State's head coach last month. Matt Dernlan and Troy Letters coaching at the 2012 NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"I'm thrilled to be the new head coach at Binghamton," said Dernaln who only nine months ago was hired by Clarion to turn around its struggling wrestling program. "You don't head into the job and think 'I'm about to jump.' Clarion has lots of great alumni and a history of distinguished wrestlers. I would never have considered the jump, but they contacted and pursued me. And when I saw that they were excited about the program level at the administrative level, that really appealed to me." Dernlan leaves behind a Clarion program that finished 18th in the nation with two All-Americans, James Fleming (157) and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (165). Clarion is expected to name head assistant coach Troy Letters as the interim head coach and then will open up the position for a national search. "Obviously, Troy is one of my closest friends," said Dernlan. "He's like a brother to me. One of the things I wanted to do when I took the Clarion job last year was to position him to eventually become a head coach. If I could bring him over her to Binghamton I would do anything in the world to make it happen, but for him to have this chance is a really exciting thing. Knowing Troy, I think he'll take that opportunity and run with it."

Geordan Speiller won a Junior National title last summer in Fargo (Photo/Dave Jedlicka, jedicheetah.com) Geordan Speiller (Pine Castle Christian, Fla.), one of the nation's top seniors, won't be seen on a college campus for at least another year. Speiller will be taking a greyshirt season to focus on Greco-Roman. "My plans are to take a greyshirt year and compete on the international level," said Speiller, who finished this past season ranked No. 4 nationally at 170 pounds by InterMat. "Being that this is a Olympic year most of your veteran seniors won't be competing internationally after the Olympics. So I felt this would be a good year to transition into the senior level. I will be training between the OTC in Colorado Springs and the Southeast Regional Training Center in Orlando. I plan on attending college fall of 2013." Speiller compiled a 41-1 record this past season en route to winning his third state championship. He won a FILA Junior Nationals Greco-Roman title this spring, and will attempt to make the Junior World Team this year. Speiller was also a Junior National Greco-Roman champion last summer in Fargo.

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As the NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy reaches its fourth year of existence, a modified Academy curriculum is being offered to college coaches who are currently coaching at or wish to pursue coaching positions at faith-based schools. This is in response to the surging number of new intercollegiate wrestling teams being established at faith-based schools. In the past fifteen months fourteen of the nineteen new teams established are at faith-based colleges. This Academy Workshop represents a collaborated effort between the NWCA and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes – Wrestling Ministry (FCA). Carl Perry, the new FCA National Director for wrestling, will oversee the delivery of the faith-based component of the curriculum. The two-day workshop is being hosted by FCA Board member, Mark Mestemacher and the staff at the Jon Davis Wrestling Center in Edwardsville, Illinois. This is the third year that Mestemacher has hosted this event in his wrestling specific facility. The NWCA and FCA-Wrestling have awarded a full "scholarship" to each of these coaches which covers transportation, meals, lodging, and tuition. This year's Academy will be co-sponsored by Anthony Cimmarrusti, a former Harvard Wrestler and Men of Iron, a faith based non-profit organization based in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Both of these donors firmly believe in coaches who are committed to their coaching philosophy with biblical principles. Twenty-four coaches have been selected to join in this Academy. Joining them will be six mentors and three presenters who will be there to convey the important lessons that life has taught them. The group will be facilitated by Dr. Dan Gould of Michigan State University a nationally renowned coaching development expert and the architect of the NWCA Leadership Academy. The 2012 NWCA/FCA Leadership Academy Coaches are: Tim Alger, Clinton Campbell, Tom Carr, David Copp, Rick Dahl, Gralan Early, Enock Francois, Benjamin Friedl, Marques Gales, Cody Garcia, Nate Hansen, Joe Johnston, Kyle Kanaga, Jeff Linn, Jacob Marrs, Donovan McMahill, Mike Mena, Dominic Moyer, James Reynolds, Joe Russell, Luke Salazar, Kyle Sand, Steve Smith and Dana Vote. Mentors for the FCA Workshop are: Tim Dernlan – head coach at Ashland University Steve Garland – head coach at the University of Virginia Jesse Castro – former head coach at Liberty University Jack Spates – retired coach/former head coach at the University of Oklahoma Heath Eslinger –head coach at Chattanooga Franky James – head coach at Campbelsville University Guest speakers for this workshop include: Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert , wrestled at Wheaton College then went on to teach and coach both wrestling and football. In 1999 he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and to date is the longest serving Republican Speaker in history. Tom Jarman is the former head coach and Athletic Director at Manchester College. He co-authored Wrestling for Beginners, which remains one of the top-selling books for young wrestlers. He was 1963 NCAA national wrestling champion at 158 pounds and a two-time All-American while a student at Wheaton College. "The fact that the collaborative efforts of the NWCA and FCA-Wrestling are able to once again host this Academy and are able to scholarship these twenty-four coaches to this workshop is a testament of the belief we have in the sport of wrestling and the coaches who are mentoring our future leaders. Being able to pair this endeavor with FCA- Wrestling is a great opportunity for us to help educate coaches who want to coach at faith-based schools around the country, which right now are the fastest growing group of colleges adding wrestling," said Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director.