InterMat Staff

Woodbury

Becker

Pictured above is Michael Mocco Now that we’re squarely in the collegiate preseason and the fall weather is ready to set in (at least in parts of the country) another rite of passage is upon us. Football season? Yes, and it’s semi-relevant here, as many fall recruiting weekends are built around football Saturdays, especially, at your Power Five (now four) schools. Sure, there are plenty of recruiting visits in the spring and summer, but we saw almost all of the top recruits from the Class of 2025 commit to schools by the end of the calendar year in 2023, so the Class of 2026 recruits have begun to visit campus and probably will start to commit soon. One of the things that makes following recruiting fun is the cloak-and-dagger secrecy surrounding parts of the process. For every Bo Bassett who routinely keeps the public informed on recruiting decisions, there are plenty of others who don’t discuss it as much. Therefore, it can be difficult to follow which recruit is interested in which school and vice versa. I suppose it’s fun, but you’re left wanting more! In order to try and help our fanbase feel more knowledgeable about the process, we’ll have a weekly column that recaps the recruiting weekend. Who has visited where? Maybe some background information on the recruits or the process from the school. If we've missed a recruit or you'd like to provide info on future visits play let me know: earl@matscouts.com Air Force Will Detar: Trinity, PA - #96 Class of 2026 The Air Force Academy has had top-25 recruiting classes in each of the last two years and continues to target top-notch recruits. Pennsylvania state finalist and two-time Fargo champion Will Detar certainly fits that criteria. Detar has also recently taken visits to Cornell and Virginia in each of the previous two weekends. Brown Jackson Angelo: Frazier, PA - Class of 2026 Kase Chopp: Butler, PA - Class of 2025 Tyler Conroy: Malvern Prep, PA - Class of 2026 Lukas Littleton Mascaro: Malvern Prep, PA - #43 Class of 2026 Owen McMullen: Faith Christian Academy, PA - Class of 2026 Titus Norman: Baylor School, TN - Class of 2026 Dylan Reel: Woodward Academy, GA - Class of 2026 Santino Sloboda: Butler, PA - Class of 2026 Gabe Swann: Carroll Central, GA - Class of 2026 Joe Uhorchuk: Signal Mountain, TN - #49 Class of 2026 Cael Weidemoyer: Faith Christian Academy, PA - #25 Class of 2026 Wow! What a massive group in Providence over the weekend. It actually makes back-to-back weekends with a large number of recruits on campus at Brown. Last week included #50 James Bechter, Nate Consigli, Kole Davidheiser, Joey Joyce, Ryan Kennedy, Nevin Mattessich, Ryan Meier, David Perez, Alexander Pierce, and Julian Rios. There’s too much here to get into specifics on each recruit; however, I like the patterns you can notice with this week’s crop. Very heavy Pennsylvania influence. That makes sense with Jordan Leen spending time at Pitt, along with Micky Phillippi and Michael Kemerer on staff. Leen is from Tennessee and there’s a little Southern flavor in this group too. Also, there are plenty of private/boarding schools included which tend to make sense for an Ivy League institution like Brown. All geography and academics aside, you also have a list of guys who really get after it on the mat. With three top-50 recruits, this Brown staff is swinging for the fences. Clarion Luke Fugazatto: Northwestern Lehigh, PA - #83 Class of 2026 Dom Sumpolec: Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA - #121 Class of 2026 We love to see Clarion in the mix with a pair of Big Boarder’s from the Class of 2026. Both are state placewinners from the AA classification. Being a small school, Clarion tends to fit for those wrestlers. Getting a talented recruit from a consistent program like Notre Dame-Green Pond is great to hit up again and again in the future. Cornell Waylon Cressell: Warren Central, IN - #68 Class of 2026 Joseph Jeter: Edmond North, OK - #22 Class of 2026 Nevin Mattessich: Don Bosco Prep, NJ - #53 Class of 2026 Tommy Verrette: Pomona, CO - #32 Class of 2026 Cornell has an absolutely loaded Class of 2025 - perhaps the best in the nation. There probably aren’t many spots left in that group, so they’re looking at some top prospects from 2026. This weekend they had four of the top-68 wrestlers in the country in the room. Each of these four have excellent national-level credentials and are the caliber you’d expect from Cornell. Joseph Jeter recently competed at the U17 World Championships in Greco and Tommy Verrette has nearly made a pair of U17 teams, also in Greco. Cressell recently placed in both styles at the Junior level in Fargo. Mattessich was fifth at a deep New Jersey state weight class as a sophomore. Cressell and Mattessich have both been busy on campus visit circuit. Cressell was at Wyoming two weeks ago and Oklahoma last weekend. Mattessich was a part of a massive recruiting push at Brown last weekend. George Mason Evan Sanati: Brentsville, VA - Class of 2026 Virginia’s high school class of 2025 and 2026 is better than typically the state usually produces and George Mason could be one of the schools that reap the benefits. The Patriots already have a homegrown Big Boarder committed from 2025. This weekend they had a visit from a very solid local product in Evan Sanati. Sanati is a three-time Fargo All-American and two-time Beast of the East sixth-place finisher. Indiana Reagan Milheim: Warrior Run, PA - #34 Class of 2026 Sullivan Ramos: Indian Trail, WI - Class of 2025 Parker Reynolds: Brownsburg, IN - Class of 2026 Jarrett Smith: Lowell, MI - #91 Class of 2026 Brennan Warwick: Massillon Perry, OH - Class of 2026 The Hoosiers inked a top-15 class in 2024 and look to be off on a good start for 2025, now they have their attention on some key 2026 recruits. The 2024 class showed that Indiana can go into Pennsylvania and pull Big Boarders. They had another one on campus this weekend with 2024 state champion and two-time finalist Reagan Milheim. Milheim has a brother at American and another committed to the Eagles, so you’d have to figure they’re in play too. The other Big Boarder is Jarrett Smith who has placed in the top-three at Fargo on four occasions (three in freestyle). Indiana has done well recruiting in Michigan, so it’s not a surprise to see Smith on their radar. A couple of under-the-radar prospects round out the group. Sullivan Ramos was a Greco All-American this spring at the UWW U17 Trials, Parker Reynolds was an NHSCA Sophomore All-American, and Brennan Warwick was a Fargo placer. Maryland Dom Deputy: Chestnut Ridge, PA - #58 Class of 2026 Ryder Smith: Chattanooga Christian, TN - #61 Class of 2026 Nate Rioux: Avon, IN - Class of 2026 A weekend with a pair of top-100 recruits bodes well for a Maryland program that has been very active on the recruiting front this fall. The highest ranked of the bunch is two-time Pennsylvania runner-up Dom Deputy. Deputy has placed at most of the major national tournaments and was a Junior freestyle AA this summer. Ryder Smith shined a the NHSCA grade-level tournaments, but really broke out with a 16U freestyle finals appearance in Fargo. Nathan Rioux is also a two-time state finalist who already has five Fargo medals on the resume. He’d provide a boost to the lower weights. Deputy has been logging the miles over the last month. He visited Cornell the weekend of August 17th, then NC State, and West Virginia. Unrelated to these three, over the weekend, Maryland got a verbal commitment from their first 2026 recruit Jojo Gigliotti (South Carroll, MD). Gigliotti is a two-time state champion and one of the better juniors in the state. Michigan Blake Cosby: Dundee, MI - #19 Class of 2026 Jayden James: Delbarton, NJ - #11 Class of 2026 Adam Waters: Faith Christian Academy, PA - #17 Class of 2026 Rocklin Zinkin: Buchanan, CA - #44 Class of 2026 Although their football game didn’t turn out as hoped, the Michigan wrestling team had a talented group on hand at the Big House. Three of the top-20 prospects in the nation from the Class of 2026! Plus, Rocklin Zinkin, a California champion and two-time finalist. This is the first known visit for Blake Cosby, the highest-ranked in-state wrestler from the Class of 2026. Cosby saw his stock significantly rise after winning his first state title in 2024. Two-time Fargo 16U freestyle champion Jayden James is simply one of the best prospects in the entire class. He comes from a power program that constantly churns out top recruits. Last weekend, James took a visit to Virginia Tech. With two years of high school remaining, Adam Waters is already a six-time Fargo All-American, two-time Pennsylvania champion, and a U17 World Team member in Greco. Waters is from a Faith Christian program that has a ton of talent in the next few classes. This fall, Waters has already visited Missouri along with high school teammate Cael Weidemoyer. Nebraska Dean Bechtold: Owen J. Roberts, PA - #20 Class of 2026 Noah Bull: Layton, UT - #99 Class of 2026 Keanu Dillard: Bethlehem Catholic, PA - #16 Class of 2026 Riley Johnson: Skutt Catholic, NE - #87 Class of 2026 Nebraska also had a marquee football game as the centerpiece of their recruiting weekend. A quartet of top-100 recruits were able to watch the Cornhuskers shut down the Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes. The Cornhuskers occasionally go back to associate head coach Bryan Snyder’s Pennsylvania District XI roots for recruiting purposes and they’ve done so here with Keanu Dillard. The two-time state champion was also a member of the U17 freestyle world team this year. Also from Pennsylvania is state finalist Dean Bechtold, a U17 Trials finalist and double Fargo Junior All-American. Also sticking to their typical gameplan, Nebraska is in the mix an in-state Big Boarder in Riley Johnson and they’ve touched base with a top prospect from Utah, Noah Bull. Bull was one of the biggest breakout stars from Fargo winning the 16U freestyle tournament and taking third in Greco. Dillard came to Nebraska after visiting the University of Virginia last weekend. Bechtold was also in ACC country last weekend, but down at NC State. He’s the younger brother of Bucknell’s stud incoming freshman Dillon Bechtold. You’d have to assume Bucknell will be a player for him, as well. Riley Johnson was at Oklahoma State last weekend. North Dakota State Tyler Harrill: Skutt Catholic, NE - Class of 2026 North Dakota State has been extremely busy on the recruiting trail as they had to make up ground after the coaching transition in the summer of 2023. Obe Blanc’s staff inked a huge class in 2024 and I’d expect the same in 2025. Right now, we’re focused on 2026 and two-time Nebraska state champion Tyler Herrill. This is the first known visit we’ve logged for Herrill. Ohio State Michael Mocco: Cardinal Gibbons, FL - #6 Class of 2026 Dom Munaretto: St. Charles East, IL - #7 Class of 2026 Dreshaun Ross: Fort Dodge, IA - #3 Class of 2026 Whoa! What a trio of recruits in Columbus over the weekend! Three of the top seven juniors in the nation. Dom Munaretto and Michael Mocco were recently teammates on the U17 World Team and each came home from Jordan with a gold medal. For Munaretto, it was his second. Dreshaun Ross was supposed to join the pair; however, he had to withdraw from the team due to an injury. Ohio State already has a young, talented core with a couple of the top recruits in 2025 already committed. Another couple of that caliber from 2026 could put the Buckeyes back in the hunt for a national title on a consistent basis. There’s probably not a way to get both Mocco and Ross in the lineup. Both are expected to wrestle heavyweight at the next level. Ross was set to wrestle 92 kg (202.8 lbs) at the World Championships, but maybe there’s a world where he goes 197 in college. Ross visited Iowa State last weekend. This is the first visit we’ve seen for both Mocco and Munaretto. Oklahoma State Kody Routledge: Edmond North, OK - #16 Class of 2025 About a month before Fargo, Kody Routledge announced he was flipping his commitment from Nebraska to Oklahoma State. He’s one of a handful of recruits who have made that decision since David Taylor was hired. After that news, Routledge proceeded to take third in Junior freestyle in Fargo. Since Routledge has already committed to Fargo and the proximity from Edmond to Stillwater, his showing up on campus isn’t groundbreaking news - but he was there. Virginia Joey Favia: Marmion Academy, IL - Class of 2026 Nicholas Garcia: Marmion Academy, IL - #24 Class of 2026 Cooper Merli: Newburgh Free Academy, NY - Class of 2026 Alexander Pierce: Iowa City West, IA - Class of 2026 Zach Stewart: Marmion Academy, IL - #79 Class of 2026 There’s an extremely talented group of juniors at Illinois’ Marmion Academy and they happened to be at Virginia this weekend. The highest-ranked of the bunch is Nicholas Garcia (who beat Munaretto in the state finals). Garcia is also a freestyle All-American in Fargo at both age groups. Teammate Zach Stewart was a state champion in 2024, while Joey Favia was a runner-up. Since the Paulson twins have been in Charlottesville, Virginia has had a good recruiting footprint in Iowa/Nebraska. That makes sense with the visit from Alexander Pierce. Pierce is a two-time Iowa state finalist - who won as a freshman. In Fargo this summer, Pierce won the 16U Greco tournament and was third in freestyle. Finally, we have Cooper Merli who is from head coach Steve Garland’s stomping grounds in New York. Merli is a potential career 125 lber, who has a pair of New York state titles at the larger classification. Merli has already taken trips to Buffalo and Army West Point, in each of the last two weeks. Pierce is obviously looking at elite academic institutes as he was at Brown last weekend. VMI Blake Jacobson: Clarke County, VA - Class of 2025 Three-time Virginia 2A third-place finisher Blake Jacobson took a trip down south over the weekend to visit VMI. Of late, VMI has honed in on some of the better overlooked wrestlers in their own backyard. Jacobson could be another one for Jim Gibson’s team. West Virginia Mason Jakob: Dobyns-Bennett, TN - #119 Class of 2026 Griffin LaPlante: St. Francis, NY - #27 Class of 2026 Curtis Nelson: Ridley, PA - #145 Class of 2025 Liston Seibert: Brecksville, OH - Class of 2026 It was back-to-back big recruiting weekends for West Virginia. Last weekend, WVU had three top-100 recruits from the Class of 2026 (Deputy, #28 Kross Cassidy, #74 Gage Wentzel) and this week they had two Big Boarders from 2026 and one from 2025. Griffin LaPlante is the highest-ranked of the bunch and an NHSCA Sophomore national champion. Mason Jakob has made the NHSCA finals in both of his first two years of high school and has made the podium at the Beast twice. We’ve already seen West Virginia venture into Tennessee with a verbal from the Class of 2025’s #119 Casen Roark. Curtis Nelson is a senior who may still be overlooked despite making the Pennsylvania AAA state finals in 2024. Fellow lightweight, Liston Seibert, was an Ohio DI state third-place finisher in 2024. Jakob was at George Mason last weekend. LaPlante was in his home state last weekend visiting Army West Point. His older brother, Gage, was a Class of 2024 graduate who is at Army’s prep school. Seibert was also in his home state last weekend, as he was at Ohio State. West Virginia also just received a verbal from one of the wrestlers who visited last week, Ramil Islamov (Baldwin, PA). Islamov was fourth in the AAA state tournament last year at 133 lbs. Wisconsin Collin McDowell: Arrowhead, WI: Class of 2025 Haakon Peterson: Dodgeville, WI - #35 Class of 2026 Kellen Wolbert: Oconomowoc, WI - #18 Class of 2026 It was a big weekend for the Badgers. Wrestling at the high school level in Wisconsin is at an all-time high. The Badgers need to be able to capitalize on this rise. That’s obviously on the mind of Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono as his team hosted two of the state’s best juniors in Kellen Wolbert and Haakon Peterson. Wolbert was a runner-up in UWW U17 freestyle trials this year and has won Fargo 16U freestyle. Peterson already has four stop signs from Fargo and five total placements. He also has three at UWW’s. Collin McDowell is a senior who has placed third, fourth, and fifth at the Wisconsin state tournament. He hails from Arrowhead High School, home to Keegan O’Toole and the Askren brothers. This is the first visit for Wolbert and McDowell. Peterson already visited NC State two weeks ago. Wyoming Joel Friederichs: Watertown, MN - Class of 2026 Titan Friederichs: Watertown, MN - #52 Class of 2026 John Murphy: St. Michael-Albertville, MN - Class of 2025 Jarrett Wadsen: St. Michael-Albertville, MN - Class of 2025 Wyoming has been very successful recruiting Minnesota over the past few recruiting cycles, so why stop? This weekend they had a pair of high school teammates in. True to Wyoming’s track record of grit and development, only one is currently ranked. The Friederichs twins from the Class of 2026 are both well accomplished in the international styles, particularly Greco. Both placed at UWW’s in Greco and Titan did so in freestyle, as well. St. Michael-Albertville teammates John Murphy and Jarrett Wadsen have both earned All-American honors in Fargo. Murphy last year at the 16U level in freestyle, Wadsen this summer in Junior Greco. Murphy was a state champion last season, while Wadsen was fourth. Both Friederichs and Murphy were all in Oklahoma last weekend. This is the first known visit for Wadsen. We also understand that there was a large continent at Binghamton over the weekend. At this time, we’re still trying to identify those recruits and will bring them to you next week.

The data has been processed, the charts have been reviewed, and the evaluations are complete. The 2024 breakdown of the Top Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2024 season is here to help you start your 2025 season research. Just like in the past few years, some names are going to be expected, while a lot more may not be. That's the beauty of Fantasy Wrestling, where any wrestler can be the star of the weekend and win the dual for you. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat leagues: 1) The scoring used was standard team scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or losses by medical forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season 174 Top-20 Notes: The first of three weight classes that doesn't have a Big Ten wrestler in the Top-5 and only two in the Top-10 in Fpts. Little Rock’s Tyler Brennan put together a career year with a best in wins (19), losses (three), and a bonus rate of almost 50%, almost doubling his wins and bonus rate from any previous season. Helping power his way to the top spot was his ten pins and one FFT dual win and surprisingly did not have a win by major or tech in 2024. Pins and decisions only. Unfortunately for Brennan, he’s the only #1 Fantasy Wrestler of a weight to not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Phil Conigliaro started the 2024 season with Midlands, which is where he had his only regular season loss (loss by major to Edmund Ruth). He comes in at the #2 spot, only five points out of first which is either two matches or a win over Ruth at Midlands. Only one point behind Conigliaro, but wrestling 12 more matches was Noah Fox of Franklin & Marshall. In wrestling his 31 countable D1 matches during the regular season, he lost seven times for a total of -24 Fpts. Despite this, he ends up at #3 on the 174 Top-20, but fell short of the NCAA tournament. The highest ranked AA to make the list was Cade DeVos at #5, which turns out to be the lowest rank for an All-American across all ten Top-20 lists. DeVos fell four points behind Penn’s Nick Incontrera. Edmond Ruth slots right in behind DeVos at the #6 spot. While having only one less match than DeVos, the difference seems to be in the type of win that explains the seven-point difference. DeVos had five countable techs in the 2024 regular season, compared to Ruth’s one. In the past four seasons, Ben Pasuik has worked his way up the Fantasy Rankings. IN 2021, the COVID season, he was #16 with a whopping 19 Fpts, then in 2022 improved to #13 at 174 with 47 Fpts. He broke into the Top-10 at #9 with 61 Fpts in 2023, and finally ended his career in 2024 at #7 with 57 Fpts. Your 174 NCAA Champ only wrestled in 11 regular season matches, but comes in at #8 with an amazing PPM of 5.0., and the only reason it wasnt higher is because of his win by decision against Rocco Welsh and being “held” to a major by Patrick Kennedy. Tying with 52 Fpts was Mekhi Lewis and Rocco Welsh, though Lewis had the better PPM (4 compared to Welsh’s 2.5) to take the #11 spot. Despite being injured and not finishing the season, Carson Kharchla put in just enough in his 16 matches to finish at #16, beating out Justin McCoy and Alex Cramer with a better PPM. Rounding out the Top-20 is Buffalo’s only wrestler to make a Top-20 in the 2024 season, Marcus Petite. Who Missed The Cut: Two All-Americans missed the Top-20 at 174 in Shane Griffith (MICH) and Lennox Wolak (COL). Griffith had a shortened season, only wrestling in 14 regular season matches, and fell under the #20 rank for the first time in four years with 40 Fpts. Wolak also had a shortened season, wrestling only 15 countable matches and amassing 30 Fpts. Caleb Campos (AMER) was the first man out, being only one Fpt shy of taking the #20 spot. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) finishes at the #29 spot with 36 Fpts, beating out Jackson Turley (RUT) by one Fpt. Turley tied Jared Simma (UNI) in Fpts as well, but got the #30 spot with a better PPM (2.3 for Turley compared to Simma’s 1.7). Other notables to miss the cut include Max Maylor (WISC) with 35 Fpts, Peyton Mocco (MIZZ) and Adam Kemp (CP) each with 34 Fpts, and Tyler Eischens (UNC) with 13 Fpts.

Action from the U20 World Championships wrapped up Sunday from Pontevedra, Spain. Although the US men’s freestyle team day didn’t necessarily end well, the team outdistanced Iran for the team championship. The final five team members were in action and all wrestled in medal matches. Only one of them, Marcus Blaze, was victorious on the day. In the opening period of his 61 kg bronze medal match with Turkiye’s Tolga Ozbek, with the American on the shot clock, Blaze used a low single to lock up a take and seize an early 2-0 lead. He’d add to the lead in the second after Ozbek couldn’t score while on the shot clock. With time running out, Ozbek tried for a huge headlock and was unsuccessful resulting in another takedown for Blaze and a 5-0 win. Blaze now has a pair of age-group world medals. He was a U17 world champion last year. A trio of Americans competed in gold medal matches, but were ultimately beaten on Sunday with Ladarion Lockett, Josh Barr (86 kg), and Ben Kueter (125 kg). Lockett was leading the returning U20 world silver medalist, Ali Rezaei (Iran) 3-1, and took an errant shot, which Rezaei immediately countered for the go-ahead takedown. In the final minute of the contest, Lockett wasn’t able to lock up a winning score and would settle for silver. In his first world-level appearance, Barr fell to the returning U20 world champion Ibragim Kadiev (Russia), 8-2. Also facing a 2023 U20 champion was Kueter against Amirreza Valadi (Iran). In a battle between the last two U20 world champions at the weight, Valadi came out on top, 4-2. Valadi led 2-0 after the first period on the strength of a shot clock violation and a step-out point. In the second period, Valadi used a staple of the Iranian repertoire the underhook, which he violently threw by for a takedown. Late in the match, Kueter was able to catch Valadi off balance with a low-leg attack and converted it for two points. Kueter wasn’t able to get another and fell, 4-2. Also on Sunday, Connor Mirasola was the victim of a second-period barrage from Anar Jafarli (Azerbaijan) as he lost 6-2 in a bronze medal bout at 92 kg. When it was all said and done, the U20 men’s freestyle team hauled in nine medals (one gold, four silver, and four bronze). Second place Iran only had seven. In 2023, the team had eight medals.

The fun in men’s freestyle at the U20 World Championships continued on Saturday as the final five members of the team took the mat for the first time. Like the first five, they were perfect through the quarterfinals - this time going 13-0 and putting all five in the semis. Of course, that is too much of a start to continue through the semifinals, but the US team did manage to put three more wrestlers in Sunday’s gold medal matches (Ladarion Lockett - 74 kg, Josh Barr - 86 kg, and Ben Kueter - 125 kg). Those three combined with Friday’s results mean that half of the men’s freestyle team earned a berth in the U20 world finals. One of those wrestlers who earned a berth in the finals on Friday was Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg. The incoming freshman at Penn State locked up an age-group medal for the fourth consecutive year. Lilledahl followed the pattern from his U17 days, making the finals one year and winning the next. Lilledahl made the 2023 U20 finals and claimed the gold this time. Lilledahl’s gold medal came against a relatively familiar opponent, Russia’s Lev Pavlov. The two met in the Round of 32 at last year’s tournament and Lilledahl prevailed, 9-2. In this edition between the two, Lilledahl got on the board with a point from a shot clock violation on Pavlov. That accounted for the only scoring in the opening stanza. The match continued to be tactical in the second period as the roles were reversed and Pavlov earned a point from a shot clock violation on Lilledahl. Shortly thereafter, with criteria in his back pocket at the time, Pavlov was put on the shot clock for a second time. Lilledahl prevented him from scoring in the :30 seconds that followed resulting in a point for Lilledahl. The shot clock violations accounted for the only scoring in the contest. Lilledahl was able to keep Pavlov at bay during a final push in the closing moments of the bout. Lilledahl’s win marks the second time in three years that the American squad has produced a U20 world champion at 57 kg, as Jore Volk won gold in 2022. The other wrestler in the finals on Saturday was Lilledahl’s Penn State classmate Zach Ryder. Ryder could never solve the defensive riddle that was Turkmenistan’s Alp Begenjov. Ryder was close to earning a takedown and making things interesting in the second period. Still, Begenjov was able to prevent a potential Ryder score though his leg was elevated at the edge. Ryder has now won three age-group world medals with two U17 bronze medals and a silver this year at U20’s. The three wrestlers from Friday who lost in the semifinals and dropped down to bronze medal matches all got their hands raised on Saturday - winning bronze medals, Bo Bassett (65 kg), PJ Duke (70 kg), and Justin Rademacher (97 kg). Bassett only needed a portion of the first period to tally three takedowns and ten points against Georgia’s Nikoloz Beshidze. Duke fell in an early four-point hole to Kazakhstan’s Aikyn Bolatuly, but quickly made up for it…and more. He posted 13 straight points in the opening period to lead 13-7 at the break. In the second, Duke continued to pour it on and ended the match early with a tech, 18-7. There’s a good chance we see Duke on the 2025 team as he is just starting his final year of high school. Rademacher’s opponent, Nikolaos Karavanos (Greece), also didn’t make it to the second period. Rademacher continued to use stellar defense and timely re-attacks to systematically dismantle his Greek opponent. He’ll be a sophomore at Oregon State during the 2024-25 school year. The only returning U20 world champion for the United States is on track for title number two. Iowa two-sport star, Ben Kueter picked up where he left off in 2022 with a dominant run to the finals. Kueter needed less than :30 seconds to pin his Russian opponent in the quarterfinals before posting a 13-3 tech over Mongolia’s Nambardagva Batbayar in the semi’s. Tomorrow’s gold medal match at 125 kgs will be a massive showdown between the last two U20 champions, Kueter and Iran’s Amirreza Masoumi Valadi. Within the last year, Masoumi Valadi has beaten American’s Mason Parris and Christian Carroll, along with Olympic bronze medalist Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan). 2023 U17 world champion, Ladarion Lockett, will try to go back-to-back at two different age groups as he’s made the 74 kg finals. The normally high-scoring Lockett had to grind out a semifinals win Saturday over Azerbaijan’s Aghanazar Novruzov. Lockett got the scoring started with a point from a shot clock violation and led 1-0 at the break. In the second, he added a point via a step-out, as he elevated a single leg and ran Novruzov out of bounds. After Novruzov earned a point from a shot-clock violation. The bout would end at 2-1; however, the Azerbaijani corner challenged the final seconds, presumably for Lockett not engaging; however, that ruling was confirmed. Lockett moves on to the finals against Iran’s Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh. That name might sound familiar to American fans as he was the opponent that defeated in last year’s 70 kg gold medal match, 11-6. The last finalist for the Americans is Penn State redshirt freshman Josh Barr. Barr posted three consecutive 10-0 first-period techs on his way to the finals. In tomorrow’s gold medal match, Barr will face a returning U20 world champion in Russia’s Ibragim Kadiev. Kadiev also had three techs to clinch a spot in the finals. Marcus Blaze (61 kg) and Connor Mirasola (92 kg) both fell in the semifinals and will wrestle in a bronze medal match.

Competition in women’s freestyle wrapped up on Friday at the U20 World Championships, but not before another American woman came away with a gold medal. Yesterday, we saw Cristelle Rodriguez and Alexis Janiak compete for world titles. Rodriguez became the first American to win gold this year and Janiak settled for silver. Today, the attention fell solely on the shoulders of Jasmine Robinson in the 72 kg gold medal match. Robinson’s three matches leading up to the finals didn’t combine for more than three minutes. In those bouts, Robinson simply destroyed the competition. The same could be said for her opponent, China’s Yuqi Liu. Liu ended her first three matches with first-period techs. If you just looked at the final score, you might assume that Robinson rolled like in her previous bouts, but that wasn’t the case. She was tested on multiple occasions by Liu and even worked back from an early deficit before getting a fall. Liu struck first with a takedown and quickly looked for a quick leg lace - her weapon of choice in her first three wins. Robinson was able to limit any additional damage and did not allow any exposure points and the two were brought back to their feet. Rather than rely on counter-offense, Robinson decided to strike but was thwarted by Liu with some heavy hips and a whizzer. Robinson used that whizzer to throw Liu to her back for four points and then earned an additional four points from exposure after a chin whip. The two big moves gave Robinson a 9-4 advantage at the break. In the second period, Liu continued to attack, earning another second, and seemed to gain momentum. With hopes of a comeback on her mind, Liu got in on another leg attack but was greeted by another chip whip. This one was very tight and Liu was unable to get off her back and surrendered a fall. With Robinson’s gold medal, the US women finished the tournament with four medals - two of which were gold. This was actually the first time since 2019 that the women’s team did not win at least five. The women’s team had multiple champions, which was a feat they hadn’t accomplished since 2021. The United States has now produced a U20 world champion at 72 kg in four straight tournaments - with Amit Elor winning the last two and Kennedy Blades winning in 2021. Robinson now has a pair of age-group world medals as she earned a bronze medal at the U17 level last year. Before Robinson took center stage, the men’s freestyle team participated in the semifinals. All five of the American men who started their tournament today advanced to the semis; 14 straight wins. Of course, a crazy run like that at a world-level tournament can’t last forever and the semifinals is where the Americans suffered their first losses. The session started with Luke Lilledahl taking the mat at 57 kg. The top recruit in the high school Class of 2024 and an incoming freshman at Penn State, Lilledahl looked to add to an already-impressive international resume. Standing in his way of a second consecutive U20 finals berth was Armenia’s Hayko Gasparyan. The opening period was a very tactical affair with Lilledahl’s lone point coming via a shot clock violation from Gasparyan. Lilledahl added to that lead in the second period with a low leg attack he finished after a fun flurry. With Gasparyan opening up late in the match, Lilledahl was able to put an additional point on the board via a step out and he’d win, 4-1. Lilledahl has now made four straight world finals across two age groups. In 2021 and 2022, he made the U17 finals - taking silver and then gold. Last year, Lilledahl fell in the U20 finals. Does the pattern repeat itself? Speaking of repeating, Lilledahl will need to replicate his 2023 performance against Russia’s Lev Pavlov. Lilledahl defeated the Russian, 9-2, in the 2023 Round of 32 and will face him tomorrow with a gold medal on the line. Also advancing to the finals is fellow Penn State classmate, Zach Ryder at 79 kg. Ryder had another gritty win, this time over Russian Said Saidulov. In the opening period, Ryder controlled the mat and the action earning two points for Saidulov stepping out of the cylinder. In the second period, Saidulov briefly held the lead after Ryder exposed his back during a scramble. A few seconds later, the shot clock expired on Ryder. That meant Saidulov had a 3-2 advantage. It would be short-lived as Ryder blew through Saidulov with a double leg. During the final seconds, Saidulov went all-out trying for a winning score. That allowed Ryder to counter and score himself with a takedown to win, 6-3. Ryder now has earned three age group world medals. He had two bronze medals at the U17 level before making the U20 finals. In the wildest match of the round. 70 kg representative PJ Duke came up just short in a 5-5 loss on criteria to Magomed Baitukaev (Russia). Baitukaev had an early lead, but the constant pressure from Duke led to Baitukaev tiring and Duke to mount a comeback. In the final ten seconds, trailing by a point, it appeared as if Duke may have won the match with a high-amplitude throw at the edge of the mat; however, it was just ruled a step-out. Duke along with Bo Bassett (65 kg) and Justin Rademacher (97 kg) each dropped to a bronze medal match on Saturday after their semifinal losses today. Bassett was stunned with a takedown and leg laces by Makoto Hosokawa (Japan) in a :45 second tech fall. Rademacher went toe-to-toe win 2023 Senior World Champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) in a match that was closer than a 9-1 final score might indicate. On Saturday, the final five members of the men’s freestyle team will start their tournaments. They are Marcus Blaze (61 kg), Ladarion Lockett (74 kg), Josh Barr (86 kg), Connor Mirasola (92 kg), and Ben Kueter (125 kg).

Expectations couldn’t be higher for the 2024 U20 men’s freestyle team. Just a few days after its team members secured a spot on the team, InterMat wrote an article comparing this year’s squad to great U20 teams of the past. As it turns out, there are plenty of reasons for such high expectations. The kids are good. They’re really good! Friday morning the U20 men’s freestyle team took the mat for the first time in Pontevedra, Spain, and the team got off to a blazing start. All five of the wrestlers who started on Friday won their quarterfinal matches and will wrestle in the semifinals in a few hours. There were different types of performances - as some of the Americans crushed their competition, while others had to grind out their wins. Either way, the US men went 14-0 during the morning session. Two that blew through their opposition were PJ Duke and Zach Ryder. Ryder, an incoming freshman at Penn State, did not surrender a point in his three matches and posted three wins via tech. The deepest he needed to go in one single match was in the Round of 16 - a bout that made it :40 seconds in the second period. In the semifinals, Ryder will face Russia Said Saidulov. Saidulov was a gold medalist at the 2024 European U20 Championships. Duke, the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2025, showed why he is so highly thought of as he also teched all three of his opponents. Mongolia’s Ankh Erdene Altangerel was the only wrestler to score on him and that came in the second period of a 12-1 match. Duke’s semifinal opponent is also a European U20 gold medalist in Magomed Baitukaev. Baitukaev might be familiar as he was the foe that Meyer Shapiro defeated last year (8-0) at this tournament in the 70 kg quarterfinals. The Russian eventually rebounded for a bronze medal. One of two returning U20 world medalists on the team, Luke Lilledahl, needed to use his grit to move into the semifinals. Trailing on criteria in the second period of his quarterfinal match, Lilledahl secured a go-ahead takedown on U20 Asian champion Ankush of India. Lilledahl held off Ankush’s late attacks and was penalized with a caution, but still held on to win, 4-3. Lilledahl will face Hayko Gasparyan (Armenia) in the semifinals. Gasparyan blitzed one of the tournament favorites, Iranian Milad Valizadeh in a 10-0 tech barely made it to the second period. At 65 kg, Bo Bassett was deadlocked with India’s Nikhil Pilanagoila at four, though he trailed on criteria, early in the second period. During a scramble, Bassett found a cradle and took Pilanagoila to his back for the lead, but more importantly, it would result in a match-ending fall. Bassett moves on to face Japan’s Makoto Hosokawa in the semifinals. This is the first world-level event for Hosokawa, but he has claimed Asian U20 silver and bronze medals in the past. The largest member of the American contingent to compete today was Oregon State’s Justin Rademacher at 97 kg. Rademacher’s stout defense came into play repeatedly on Friday. In a Round of 16 match that was closer than the score may indicate, Radmacher continually stuffed Japan’s Genki Hoki and scored off of his counterattacks. In the quarterfinals against an opponent that didn’t offer much in the way of offense, Rademacher played the tactical game against Ramini Gulitashvili (Georgia) and earned the first two points of the contest after shot clock violations. He put an emphatic exclamation point on the win with a big double leg late in the contest - sealing a 4-0 win. Rademacher has perhaps the toughest semifinal match of the crew. He’ll face 2023 world champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan). Aitmukhan won his Senior world title at 92 kg and was a U20 silver medalist last year. In 2024, Aitmukhan made the Asian Senior finals. Action from Pontevedra resumes at 10:45 am Eastern.

And we’re back for another edition of the Friday mailbag and the first of September. College football is in full swing, the NFL just kicked off last night with some teams that nobody cares about, baseball is down to the last few weeks with the Mets making things interesting, and Junior Worlds presently going on. What a time to be alive. Or what a time to be dead if you hate sports. And if you do, why are you reading this? But since you are, let’s get to it! What’s the best/most hype/most intimidating high school dual meet entrance style and song? AC/DC, Metallica, Welcome to the Jungle? Running the circle? Just walking to the edge? We ran out to “Fantasy” by Aldo Nova and I still get hyped when I hear it. Coach Sganga Mother Tell your children not to walk my way Tell your children not to hear my words What they mean What they say Mother Mother Can you keep them in the dark for life? Can you hide them from the waiting world? Oh mother Crank that in your gym and see how confident the other team feels. Plus, you’re literally telling the other team's moms that you are about to hurt their children. Or pick something that doesn’t predate the Berlin Wall falling down, but they just don’t make good jock rock like they used to. My other option is that god-awful Steal My Sunshine by Len and hope the other team just leaves on account of bloody ears. The public is betting on Iowa, the big money is on State...so who you got? Burger King of Kings Is this true? Do you actually have a read on the public and the big money? Is the big money coming from all the new Hawkeye wrestlers? Why is your rivalry game so early? Does Iowahave any offense yet? And why am I asking the questions? Give me State and the under and sleep like a baby. How/when does Ferrari’s season end? Natty? Podium? Jail? Let’s Go Exploring Jail seems like a stretch, but I have to assume he at least stays out of trouble for the season. Technically, it was only a car accident that halted him last time followed by a three-year break for a variety of reasons. Regardless of what did happen or didn’t happen, he’s back now and obviously a major title contender at 197. But remember, he’s yet to actually wrestle for a full season as 2021 was a short season and 2022 was cut short for him. Is he the same guy after three long years off? Will he get the proper competition being out in a very small conference? Will CSUB hit all the big tournaments for the best competition? Does Starocci or Keckeisen go up to 197? Nobody knows these answers, but the AJ Ferrari return is likely the biggest storyline of the upcoming season. The Citadel football recently beat Charleston Southern in the inaugural Low Country Boil Bowl where the winner receives a trophy that is then filled with boiled seafood. What are some food-related rivalry trophies that wrestling could implement to take things to the next level? Richard Mann As someone who can’t stand the sight or smell of seafood, that sounds extremely unappealing. But wrestlers are constantly dieting so I’m not sure a trophy filled with the local cuisine is the best idea. What even is the local cuisine of some of these places? Gas station hot dogs for Bedlam? The Hardees Cup for North Carolina and North Carolina State? A pasta bowl for Rutgers and Princeton? Scrapple for the winners of the Keystone Classic? Do I have to keep going or can I move on with my day? I think I’ll just move on with my day. Hopefully, these questions get better as the season approaches or I’ ’ll be bagging groceries. Shoot, they don’t even have bags anymore so that turn of phrase doesn’t even apply anymore. Either way, enjoy week one of the NFL season. I’m about to smoke the Mat Scout in fantasy football.

Poway

Greenwood

Ponderosa

Thursday at the U20 World Championships saw the first American win gold at the 2024 event. Cristelle Rodriguez continued her dominance in the gold medal match at 55 kg - needing less than a minute to pin Mongolia’s Khaliun Byambasuren. Rodriguez nearly got a takedown after shooting within seconds of the opening whistle; however, Byambasuren was able to momentarily stop her. That wouldn’t last for long as Byambasuren tried to throw Rodriguez. Not only did Rodriguez hold her ground, but she countered with a huge throw of her own. Rodriguez was awarded four points for the throw, but the most important development was that Byambasuren remained on her back, very close to a fall. Rodriguez kept the pressure on and never let Byambasuren off her back. The official signaled for the fall at only :57 seconds into the contest. The fall capped off an excellent two days for Rodriguez. She never went the full six minutes in any of her four matches - finishing with two falls and two techs. An early takedown in the semifinals to European U20 champion Tuba Demir (Turkiye) accounted for the only points she surrendered the entire tournament. Rodriguez now has won medals at both the U20 and U17 levels. In 2019, Rodriguez earned a silver medal at the U17 World Championships in the 49 kg weight class. With Rodriguez’s world title, the US women have won at least one gold medal in the last four U20 World Championships. The American women will have another opportunity to come away with a gold medal on Friday as Jasmine Robinson stormed her way to the 72 kg gold medal match today. As difficult as it may be to believe, Robinson’s path to the finals might have been more impressive than Rodriguez’s. Robinson pinned all three of her opponents in a combined time of two minutes and 25 seconds. Her semifinal win over Hungary’s Noemi Osvath Nagy was her “longest” match of the day at only 1:23. Robinson might have been able to end that match even quicker, but her freight train double leg blasted Osvath Nagy out of bounds and she had to settle for a four-point lead. A few moments later, Robinson tried another double and finished high. Osvath Nagy’s arm was out and susceptible to a half nelson, which Robinson sunk in deeply. She patiently waited for the official to call the fall. With a gold medal in the balance, Robinson will face China’s Yuqi Liu - a 2024 Asian U20 champion. Liu was very overwhelming herself. All three of her pre-finals matches ended 10-0 in the opening period. Robinson’s finals appearance has clinched her second career world medal. A year ago, she was a bronze medalist at the U17 World Championships at 69 kg. Another American to grab some hardware on Thursday was Naomi Simon at 76 kg. Simon squared off with Japan’s Chisato Yoshida in a bronze medal match. After Simon controlled the mat for the first minute and a half Yoshida was put on the activity clock. Almost simultaneously, the clock expired as Simon was finishing off a takedown from a front headlock, giving her a 3-0 lead. In the next sequence, Simon avoided a headlock attempt from Yoshida, spun behind and hit a gut wrench at the edge of the mat. The officials initially gave Yoshida a takedown, but after a review, it was overturned and deemed a takedown, then exposure for Simon and a 7-0 lead. With around :30 remaining in the bout Yoshida went into desperation mode. She tried a head pinch and then a neck wrench, both of which were unsuccessful and ultimately, led to a Simon takedown to ice the match at 9-0. The other American in the gold medal finals on Thursday, Alexis Janiak, wasn’t as fortunate. She ran into a Japanese opponent (Sakura Onishi) who was a buzzsaw all tournament. Onishi got a quick takedown and transitioned into a series of leg laces that quickly ended the match after only :43 seconds. The American women have already clinched four medals with a fifth as a possibility on Friday. Carissa Qureshi has been pulled into repechage at 57 kg. She’ll face India’s Neha Sharma with a berth in the bronze medal match looming. Also on Friday, the US men’s freestyle team will take the mat for the first time. 57, 65, 70, 79, and 97 kg will start their tournaments.

2024 Olympian Darian Cruz is on the move as he was announced as a new assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania today. Cruz recently represented Puerto Rico at the Olympic Games and advanced to the 57 kg bronze medal match before losing to India’s Aman Sehrawat, 13-5. Cruz qualified for the Olympic Games after getting to the finals of the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In the semifinals, Cruz downed the American representative Zane Richards. Richards had defeated Cruz 8-2 in late-2023 at the Pan-American Games. The move isn’t too far away from Cruz’s current home - which also happens to be his hometown. A high school star at Bethlehem Catholic, Cruz wrestled collegiately at Lehigh and has previously trained out of the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club. At Lehigh, Cruz earned All-American honors on three occasions, highlighted by a national championship in 2017 at 125 lbs. At that tournament, Cruz shocked top-seeded Thomas Gilman (Iowa) in the semifinals, before defeating fellow Pennsylvania District XI native Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) for the title. Cruz also won an EIWA championship in each of his final three years with the Mountain Hawks. The Penn was looking for new staff members after Mark Hall retired from competition and moved to Oklahoma to work as the Sooners Director of Operations. Former associate head coach Bryan Pearsall also left for Oklahoma, but to take a job as the recruiting coordinator for David Taylor at Oklahoma State. Penn also added Matt Valenti and Doug Zapf of their staff this offseason. Cruz’s addition should bolster the University of Pennsylvania’s lightweights. The Quakers have a pair of returning national qualifiers slated to handle the two lightest weights with Max Gallagher at 125 and Ryan Miller at 133 lbs.

Pictured: Oregon State commit Manny Saldate Week one of the college football season kicked off last weekend which is always fun. From a wrestling standpoint, that means that fall visits, oftentimes centered around football games, are off and running. I imagine in the coming days/weeks the verbals will start rolling in as more and more recruits have the opportunity to visit their future home campuses. Before the football boost, there were a handful of nationally-ranked recruits that have made recent commitments. Here are some of the latest. For all the current recruits that have committed, check InterMat’s commitment page. #100 Manny Saldate (SLAM Academy, Nevada) Oregon State continues to reel in recruits from the Class of 2025. At this point, they have four Big Boarder’s and five total commitments. Nevada’s Manny Saldate gives Chris Pendleton’s squad a pair of wrestlers currently ranked in the top-100 nationally. Saldate is a three-time Nevada 5A state champion who is a fixture on the national scene. Over the summer, Saldate placed in both styles in Fargo, at the Junior level, taking eighth in freestyle and third in Greco. With those placements, Saldate has now gotten onto the medal stand five times during his Fargo career. Earlier this year, Saldate also finished in the top-eight in both styles at the UWW U17 Trials. He was a finalist in Greco and seventh in freestyle. It was his first time placing in freestyle after cracking the top-eight in Greco in each of the previous two years. During the 2023-24 high school season, Saldate was third at both the Powerade and the Doc Buchanan Invitational. The first few years of Pendleton’s tenure at Oregon State have produced huge recruiting classes, so Oregon State doesn’t have a pressing need in Saldate’s weight range (133/141); however, more talent across the board is always welcomed. Saldate, along with, #78 Adrian Reyes (Clovis, CA), #118 Koy Davidson (Fort Dodge, IA), and #148 Jeff Lopez (Clovis West, CA) give the Beavers a really strong start to recruiting in the Class of 2025. #140 Max Nevlin (St. Peter’s Prep, New Jersey) A commitment from New Jersey state placewinner, Max Nevlin, gives Campbell a trio of Big Boarder’s amongst their 2025 verbals. Nevlin is a three-time New Jersey state qualifier, who made the podium for the first time in 2024 with a fifth-place finish at the 157 lb weight class. Nevlin also has some national credentials to his name as he was third in 16U freestyle in Fargo in 2022. Later that year, he was fourth at the Beast of the East. Nevlin appears to project at the 174 lb weight class for Scotti Sentes’ team. For the long haul, Campbell doesn’t have an entrenched starter at that weight, though they do have some recruits from the Class of 2024. Nevlin joins #93 EJ Solis (South Dade, FL) and #193 Max Brady (Mariner, FL) as members of Campbell’s Class of 2025. Campbell’s 2024 recruiting class was tabbed by InterMat as the #22 group in the country. #149 Cole Evans (Perrysburg, Ohio) We’ve already touched on West Virginia’s recruiting in previous updates, but we’ll have to do it again as the Mountaineers received a verbal commitment from their fourth Big Boarder of 2025, Cole Evans. Evans is a three-time Ohio state qualifier and two-time champion. As a freshman, Evans won the DI 106 lb bracket by defeating current UVA recruit Adam Butler (St. Edward) in the finals. Evans had a huge jump to 132 lbs in his sophomore year and qualified for the state tournament, but missed out on the podium. That year, Perrysburg had state champions at the two weights below Evans. As a junior and back towards his normal weight, Evans won the 126 lb weight class at the DI classification. On his way to the title, he downed Brown recruit Khimari Manns (St. Edward) in the semifinals and top-200 recruit Phoenix Contos (Waite) in the championship finals. Though Evans doesn’t have any major national credentials just yet, he narrowly missed out on placing at the 2023 Walsh Ironman. Evans advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over Oklahoma recruit Sebastian DeGennaro (Jensen Beach, FL) before losing a one-point match to JJ McComas (Stillwater, OK). In the bloodround he was edged by Navy recruit Andrew Binni (Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania) in the ultimate tiebreaker rideout. For now, we have Evans in the 133/141 lb range at the collegiate level, though he could grow into 149 lbs. Though there are already Class of 2025 recruits at 133 and 141 lbs for WVU, they are weights of need in the long term. NR Elliott Humphries (Northfield Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts) One of the breakout stars from Fargo has recently given a verbal commitment to Penn. Elliott Humphries went 2-2 and missed the podium for Northfield Mt. Hermon at the 2024 National Prep Championships. A few months later, Humphries made the Fargo Junior freestyle finals at 165 lbs. In the opening round at Fargo, Humphries shocked #30 Jordan Chapman (Cranford, NJ) in a 20-19 barnburner. It was one of three wins over ranked opponents on his way to the raised center mat. Despite not placing at National Preps, Humphries now holds a national ranking of #12 at 165 lbs. Penn’s Class of 2025 already includes five members of the Big Board and a pair of top-100 recruits. The Quakers did not receive a national ranking for their 2024 Class; however, they were ranked in each of the previous three years.

Women’s wrestling kicked off on Wednesday at the U20 World Championships and the US team started off strong with two women in world finals and another in the hunt for bronze. The two wrestlers that advanced to Thursday’s gold medal matches both happen to be veterans of the U20 world scene. Cristelle Rodriguez and Alexis Janiak were on the 2023 U20 world team and their experience helped propel them to wrestle for world titles tomorrow. Rodriguez was 12th in 2023 and outwrestled that placement already - and then some! The NAIA national champion from Doane actually wasn’t seriously tested during any of her three bouts at 55 kg on Wednesday. Rodriguez needed just over a minute to dispatch Poland’s Amelia Tomala, 11-0. In her second match, Rodriguez came out hot again breezing through Russian, Ekaterina Chikanova with a first takedown in only :38 seconds. Rodriguez continued to pour it on with a 9-0 lead early in the second period. She would put an emphatic stamp on her victory with a big, four-point finish to a leg attack and a 13-0 victory. In the day’s second session, Rodriguez continued to dominate despite surrendering a takedown and her first points of the event to European U20 champion Tuba Demir (Turkiye). Rodriguez got to her offense with a single leg and switched to a double leg with a strong finish for four points and nearly secured a fall after the two hit the mat. Late in the opening period, Rodriguez stopped a Demir shot and threw her an opponent by for a takedown and a 6-2 lead. Early in the second period, Demir attempted a throw, which Rodriguez anticipated, putting Demir to her back. Rodriguez sunk in a deep half and was able to notch the fall. Rodriguez will face Mongolia’s Khaliun Byambasuren in tomorrow’s gold medal match. Byambasuren got to the finals on the strength of a 3-1 semifinal win over Japan’s Karina Honda. The only returning U20 medalist on the women’s team this year is Alexis Janiak - who is now a two-time U20 medalist after her run to the finals on Wednesday. Janiak was a bronze medalist at 59 kg last year. She returned to that same weight class in 2024. Like Rodriguez, Janiak wasn’t overly challenged on Wednesday; however, she did need to wrestle the full six minutes in all three of her matches. Despite the lack of close scores for Janiak, it didn’t mean that she didn’t have to dig deep to earn her wins. In the semifinals against Uladzislava Kudzin (Belarus - AIN), Janiak had to fight back from a 2-0 deficit early in the second period. Janiak scored a takedown off of a low double leg and held both legs for a leg lace. She was able to get four turns to quickly take a 10-2 lead. That is how the bout would end and Janiak earned a spot in tomorrow’s gold medal match. That was almost a carbon copy of Janiak’s quarterfinal win over Viktoria Borsos (Hungary). Borsos led 3-1 with about a minute and a half remaining in the bout, but surrendered a takedown to Janiak who also broke the match open with leg laces. She would win, 11-3. Janiak will take on Japan’s Sakura Onishi for the gold. Onishi advanced to the finals after a pair of 10-0 techs and a fall in the semifinals. The other American woman in the medal hunt is Naomi Simon at 76 kg. Simon nearly was able to pull off a comeback win in the quarterfinals against Ukraine’s Mariia Orlevych, but just fell short at 9-8. Orlevych was able to win her next match, pulling Simon into medal contention. Simon will face Japan’s Chisato Yoshida in a bronze medal match tomorrow. At 50 kg, Anaya Falcon posted a first-round win, but was defeated in her second match and has been eliminated from the medal chase. The remainder of the women’s team will take the mat tomorrow. That group includes two-time U20 team member Reese Larramendy (65 kg) and U17 world bronze medalist Jasmine Robinson (72 kg).

The top prospect in the high school Class of 2026, Bo Bassett, has vowed to keep fans abreast of his recruiting with daily Wednesday updates. Well, today is Wednesday and true to his word, Bassett has posted an updated graphic which has eliminated three more schools from consideration. Earlier this year, Bassett posted a graphic that contained the logos of approximately 80 schools, most of the DI variety, but some DII’s as well, to signify that he’s totally open in the recruiting process. After more than a month of removing schools from the list, he’s down to 20. These three schools were removed from this week's graphic: American, North Carolina, Wisconsin The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia Tech. These three schools were removed from last week's graphic: Clarion, Little Rock, Minnesota The following schools were removed from the 8/21 graphic: Penn, Oklahoma, Oregon State The following schools were removed from the 8/14 graphic: Bucknell, Virginia, Wyoming The following schools were removed from the 8/7 graphic: Brown, Northern Colorado, Purdue The following schools were removed from the 7/31 graphic: California Baptist, Michigan State, Navy The following schools were removed from the 7/24 graphic: Army West Point, Campbell, Edinboro, Harvard, Illinois, North Dakota State, South Dakota State The following schools were removed from the 7/17 graphic: Cal Poly, Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Millersville, The Citadel, and West Virginia The following schools were removed from the 7/10 graphic: CSU Bakersfield, George Mason, Hofstra, Northwestern, Rider, UW Parkside, West Liberty The following schools were removed from the 7/3 graphic: Appalachian State, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Drexel, Kent State, Ohio, and St. Cloud State The following schools were removed from the 6/26 graphic: Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Northern Illinois, Sacred Heart, SIU Edwardsville As you would expect, most traditional DI power programs are still in the hunt for the two-time Super 32 and Ironman champion. Bassett recently competed at the U20 Pan-American Championships and dominated for a gold medal. In three matches, Bassett posted two falls and a tech. Bassett will also be in action this week at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. Bassett has already been selected to take part in a Who's #1 rematch with Daniel Zepeda. The event will take place close to home, at Pitt-Johnstown, on September 29th. In 2021, Bassett captured gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the U17 Pan-American Championships. That same year, at the U17 World Championships, Bassett claimed a gold medal in freestyle and was 12th in Greco. He’ll compete this year just in freestyle.

Perrysburg

The transfer portal has long since closed so that means that transfer season has been over for months right….right? That is definitely not the case as there has been plenty of movement on the transfer front within the last few weeks. As we have discovered in this transfer portal era, even though there’s a rule in place, there typically seem to be some sort of ways to get around them. Iowa stole the headlines last week as the Hawkeyes added multi-time All-Americans Jacori Teemer and Stephen Buchanan - both of which could open the preseason as the top-ranked wrestlers at their respective weight classes (157 and 197). Adding the pair has led to a handful of wrestlers leaving Iowa City, so in this instance, South Dakota State benefited by adding a Big Ten finalist (Zach Glazier), a national qualifier (Cobe Siebrecht), and a couple other former Hawkeyes (Drake Rhodes and Cade Siebrecht). Additionally, Aiden Riggins left for in-state rival, Iowa State, and Bradley Hill has moved on to Oklahoma. And technically, these wrestlers didn’t enter the portal! We think (and think being the key word) this may be the final transfer portal update before the start of the 2024-25 season; however, plenty can change over the next few weeks. Here’s the updated list of transfers to DI schools: Arizona State: Max Acciardi (197) - California Baptist Arizona State: Aziz Fayzullaev (184) - Northwest College Bellarmine: Nathan Higley (141/149) - George Mason Brown: Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford California Baptist: Tristan Kemp (285) - West Virginia California Baptist: Carter Schmidt (174) - Iowa State Cal Poly: Joel Jesuroga (149) - Iowa Cal Poly: Korbin Shepherd (133/141) - Missouri Chattanooga: Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa Chattanooga: Connor Strong (184) - Penn CSU Bakersfield: Gerrit Nijenhuis (174) - Oklahoma Drexel: Malachi Bordovsky (141) - Iowa Western Drexel: Giuseppe Hoose (184) - Oklahoma Edinboro: Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh Edinboro: Ryan Michaels (149) - Pittsburgh Edinboro: Cheaney Schoeff (133) - Indiana Franklin & Marshall: Michael Duggan (157) - Bloomsburg Hofstra: Kyle Mosher (174) - Columbia Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State Illinois: Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State Illinois: Danny Nini (157) - North Carolina Indiana: Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech Indiana: Angelo Rini (133) - Columbia Iowa: Stephen Buchanan (197) - Oklahoma Iowa: Kyle Parco (149) - Arizona State Iowa: Jacori Teemer (157) - Arizona State Iowa State: Evan Bockman (184) - Utah Valley Iowa State: Christian Carroll (197) - Oklahoma State Iowa State: Aiden Riggins (174) - Iowa Lehigh: Rylan Rogers (174/184) - Michigan Little Rock: Branson Britten (184) - Northern Colorado Little Rock: Brock DelSignore (184) - NC State Little Rock: Jaivon Jones (149) - Northern Illinois Little Rock: Jordan Williams (149) - Oklahoma State Lock Haven: Caden Dobbins (165) - Bloomsburg Lock Haven: James Lledo (184) - Pittsburgh Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State Michigan State: Jay Nivison (174) - Buffalo Michigan State: Kyle Rowan (141) - Stanford Michigan State: Cody Phelps (133) - Western Wyoming Minnesota: Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State Minnesota: Cooper Flynn (125) - Virginia Tech Minnesota: Clayton Whiting (174/184) - Missouri Morgan State: Xavier Doolin (285) - Northern Colorado Morgan State: Darrien Roberts (184) - Oklahoma North Carolina: Nolan Neves (285) - Columbia North Carolina: Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - North Carolina North Dakota State: Michael Baker (197) - Columbia North Dakota State: Andrew Blackburn-Forst (285) - Northern Colorado North Dakota State: Kyle Burwick (133) - Nebraska North Dakota State: Tristan Daugherty (125) - Buffalo North Dakota State: Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri North Dakota State: Devin Wasley (184) - Minnesota North Dakota State: Bradley Whitright (197) - North Idaho Northern Colorado: AJ Heeg (174/184) - Oklahoma State Northern Colorado: Clayton Ulrey (157/165) - Virginia Tech Northern Illinois: Markel Baker (133) - George Mason Northern Illinois: Devon Dawson (285) - North Dakota State) Northern Illinois: Spencer Mooberry (197) - North Dakota State Ohio: TJ England (133) - Clarion Oklahoma: Fernando Barreto (133) - North Dakota State Oklahoma: Cleveland Belton (133) - Oregon State Oklahoma: Gaven Sax (174) - North Dakota State Oklahoma: Carter Schubert (165) - California Baptist Oklahoma State: Cam Amine (165) - Michigan Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin Oklahoma State: Wyatt Hendrickson (285) - Air Force Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri Oregon State: Ethan Stiles (157) - Nebraska Pittsburgh: Nick Babin (125) - Columbia Pittsburgh: Mateo de la Pena (165) - California Baptist Pittsburgh: Chase Kranitz (184) - Buffalo Pittsburgh: Evan Tallmadge (125) - Navy Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State Rutgers: Dagen Condomitti (157) - Oregon State Sacred Heart: Braxton Appello (125) - Ohio State Sacred Heart: Felix Lettini (157) - Wisconsin SIU Edwardsville: Ben Lunn (141) - Minnesota SIU Edwardsville: Luke Odom (157) - Illinois SIU Edwardsville: Griffin Ray (165) - Nebraska South Dakota State: Zach Glazier (197) - Iowa South Dakota State: Drake Rhodes (165) - Iowa South Dakota State: Cade Siebrecht (149) - Iowa South Dakota State: Cobe Siebrecht (157) - Iowa The Citadel: Tyler Badgett (157) - Pittsburgh The Citadel: Billy Janzer (184) - Rutgers Utah Valley: Terrell Barraclough (165) - Penn State Utah Valley: Tanner Frothinger (141) - Nebraska Utah Valley: Bridger Ricks (125) - Western Wyoming Virginia: Charlie Darracott (165) - Stanford Virginia: Justin Phillips (174) - California Baptist Virginia Tech: Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh Virginia Tech: Tyler Stewart (285) - Morgan State Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia West Virginia: Tommy Maddox (133) - Buffalo Wisconsin: Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg Wisconsin: Wyatt Skebba (125) - Central Michigan Wyoming: Jared Hill (157) - Oklahoma Wyoming: Sam Mitchell (285) - Buffalo Wyoming: Brant Whitaker (165) - Missouri

The first day of competition from the U20 World Championships saw the US Greco team put a pair of wrestlers into the world finals, for the first time in seven years, and two others with medal hopes still alive in repechage. Things took a turn on Tuesday as the two finalists both fell in their respective gold medal matches and the final five Greco wrestlers took the mat and were eliminated from medal contention. The best development for the American Greco contingent came at heavyweight as Aden Attao won three matches to claim a bronze medal at 130 kg. Attao joins fellow big man Cohlton Schultz as the most recent American to win multiple world medals in Greco-Roman at the U20 age group. Attao started his run through repechage with an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico’s Ethan Vergara. In his second bout, Attao faced a much stiffer challenge in Turkiye’s Cemal Bakir - a European U20 silver medalist earlier this year. Attao got on the board first as Bakir was hit was passivity and the American gained the opportunity to work from par terre. Eschewing a typical gut wrench, Attao sunk in a reverse lock around the front of Bakir, but managed to take him across his back for a set of exposure points and a 3-0 lead. Still in the opening period, Bakir used a throw-by to secure a takedown then locked up a gut wrench and turned Attao for a second set of points. He would lead by a 4-3 margin heading into the second period. In the final stanza, Attao was deemed passive and Bakir was given the point and the favorable position in par terre. That didn’t result in any additional points and the pair stood up, with Bakir leading 5-3. Attao pressed the action for the remainder of regulation, but was unable to score. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Bakir headbutted Attao. The judge called for a caution and two; however, it was not awarded. The American corner challenged the ruling which was overturned and two points were awarded to Attao. Criteria made him the winner at 5-5. For the bronze medal, Attao faced Russian Aleksandr Melekhov who was wrestling under the Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) distinction. Trailing 3-0 in the first period, after two step-out points and a passivity call, Attao pummeled and fought for positioning and each had an over/under tie. It was Attao who was able to win the position and tossed Melekhov for four points, but more importantly, was able to gain a fall. That ensured Attao would win a second world medal in three years. Unfortunately, both of the wrestlers who qualified for Tuesday’s gold medal matches, Isaiah Cortez (55 kg) and Otto Black (63 kg), fell via tech in their finals. Both will come away with silver medals. The pair, combined with Attao, gives the Americans three medals in Greco-Roman, a number they also achieved in 2019. Wednesday marks the first day of competition in women’s freestyle. The 50, 55, 59, 68, and 76 kg weight classes will begin action.

The ankle bands have been removed and gently placed in the center of the wrestling mat for the last time. Last week, Jason Nolf made a bit of a surprising announcement when he declared that he was retiring from the sport of wrestling. Nolf has a much-deserved reputation as one of the most entertaining and outstanding collegiate wrestlers of his generation. During his career at Penn State, Nolf was an integral part of four national title-winning teams and garnered three individual championships himself, amongst four NCAA finals appearances. Despite a lofty recruiting ranking (fourth in the Class of 2014), a very strong redshirt campaign, and an excellent start to his career, Nolf really introduced himself to the collegiate wrestling community with a shocking pin of Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) in their 2015-16 dual. Martinez was a returning national champion at the weight and was unbeaten in his career, up to that point. For the bulk of Nolf’s career, he was the second part of a back-to-back, 1-2 punch, with Zain Retherford, in the middle of Penn State’s lineup that was as good as any we’ve ever seen. Nolf also came in during the same recruiting class as Bo Nickal and the pair both finished with tons of bonus points and three national titles a piece. The final tally on Nolf’s impressive collegiate career includes a sparkling 117-3 career record with bonus points in nearly 86% of his matches. Despite the recent run of legendary wrestlers through State College, Nolf finished his Penn State career as the all-time leader in pins with 60 - just one ahead of Nickal. His winning percentage (.975) is the fifth highest in school history though one of his losses came via injury default. While we didn’t realize it at the time, Nolf’s competitive career came to an end at Penn State’s Bryce-Jordan Arena at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials. Nolf made the finals after beating the legendary Jordan Burroughs; however, he was beaten in the best-of-three finals by fellow Nittany Lion Wrestling Club teammate Kyle Dake. Since the Trials, Nolf has participated in grappling events and plans to continue down that road, while also getting into coaching. Nolf’s retirement reminded me that he’s one of the best wrestlers of the last 25 years to not own a Hodge Trophy. In fact, Nolf has put up two of the best seasons of the last decade for wrestlers who did not win the Hodge. Unfortunately, being on the same team and in the same era as wrestlers like Retherford and Nickal blocked Nolf from taking home college wrestling’s most coveted trophy. So, taking it a step further, who are others who put up incredible single-season numbers, yet did not win the Hodge Trophy in that particular season? An exercise like this is always made easier by our friends at WrestleStat. Unfortunately, as you go further back, there are less reliable stats, which means we have less information on the older wrestlers on this list. Below are some of those unfortunate wrestlers who had excellent years, but were overshadowed by other greats. They are listed with some of the key numbers signifying their dominance and some sort of a fun fact related to their season in question, plus the Hodge winner from that year. Remember, we’re only listing wrestlers who excelled in the categories valued in Hodge criteria. Kyle Snyder never won because he generally wrestled a limited schedule. Yianni Diakomihalis and J’den Cox had incredible careers but didn’t always compare to the Hodge winners when it came to bonus points and falls. Others may have taken a loss or two before the NCAA Tournament. Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa - 2024) Stats: 31-0; National champion at 184 lbs. 90% bonus point rate (28 bonus-point wins), 2 falls, 12 techs, 14 major decisions. Miscellaneous: Scored bonus points in all five of his NCAA wins. Hodge Winner: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Carter Starocci (Penn State - 2023) Stats: 24-0; National champion at 174 lbs (third title). 67% bonus point rate (16 bonus-point wins), 4 falls, 3 techs, 9 major decisions. Miscellaneous: Had a fall over Mikey Labriola in the NCAA finals. Hodge Winner: Mason Parris (Michigan) Jason Nolf (Penn State - 2019) Stats: 31-0; National champion at 157 lbs (third title). 87% bonus point rate (27 bonus-point wins), 15 falls, 5 techs, 6 major decisions, 1 injury default. Miscellaneous: Pinned nine of his first 11 opponents Hodge Winner: Bo Nickal Bo Nickal (Penn State - 2018) Stats: 31-0; National champion at 184 lbs (second title). 74% bonus point rate (23 bonus-point wins), 16 falls, 1 tech, 6 major decisions. Miscellaneous: Pinned NCAA champion Myles Martin in the national finals to secure team title for Penn State. Hodge Winner: Zain Retherford (Penn State) Jason Nolf (Penn State - 2017) Stats: 27-0; National champion at 157 lbs. 93% bonus point rate (25 bonus-point wins), 14 falls, 8 techs, 3 major decisions. Miscellaneous: Michael Kemerer was the only wrestler that Nolf did not hang bonus points on. He defeated Kemerer by five and six points in their two meetings. Hodge Winner: Zain Retherford (Penn State) Zain Retherford (Penn State - 2016) Stats: 35-0; National champion at 149 lbs. 89% bonus point rate (31 bonus-point wins), 16 falls, 8 techs, 7 major decisions. Miscellaneous: Closest NCAA match was a 10-1 major decision over Brandon Sorensen in the finals. Hodge Winner: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State - 2015) Stats: 32-0; National champion at 165 lbs (second title). 84% bonus point rate (27 bonus-point wins), 11 falls, 4 techs, 12 major decisions Miscellaneous: Ended the year on a 48-match winning streak and put together his first undefeated season Hodge Winner: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) Ed Ruth (Penn State - 2013) Stats: 33-0; National champion at 184 lbs (second title). 79% bonus point rate (26 bonus-point wins), 12 falls, 4 techs, 10 major decisions Miscellaneous: Finished the year on a 68-match winning streak Hodge Winner: Kyle Dake (Cornell) Ed Ruth (Penn State - 2012) Stats: 31-0; National champion at 174 lbs. 84% bonus point rate (26 bonus-point wins), 10 falls, 7 techs, 9 major decisions Miscellaneous: Majored Nick Amuchastegui in the NCAA finals. Amuchastegui’s win via injury default in 2011 was Ruth’s only career loss at the NCAA Tournament. Hodge Winner: David Taylor (Penn State) Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State - 2011) Stats: 29-0; National champion at 133 lbs. 83% bonus point rate (24 bonus-point wins), 11 falls, 6 techs, 7 major decisions Miscellaneous: Prevailed in an excellent weight class that featured 11 current/future All-Americans and five current/future national finalists. Hodge Winner: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh - 2008) Stats: 33-0; National champion at 174 lbs; 45% bonus point rate (15 bonus-point wins), 6 falls, 2 techs, 7 major decisions Miscellaneous: Gavin was the only undefeated national champion in 2008; however, he did not win the Hodge. One-loss Brent Metcalf was awarded the Hodge. Hodge Winner: Brent Metcalf (Iowa) Cole Konrad (Minnesota - 2007) Stats: 35-0; National champion at 285 lbs (second title), 13 falls Miscellaneous: Finished his career on a 76-match winning streak with a fall in the NCAA finals. Hodge Winner: Ben Askren (Missouri) Greg Jones (West Virginia - 2005) Stats: 26-0; National champion at 184 lbs (third title) Miscellaneous: Gave up 10 career takedowns in 130 matches Hodge Winner: Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State) Stephen Abas (Fresno State - 2002) Stats: 35-0; National champion at 125 lbs (third title), 12 falls Miscellaneous: Finished career on a 95-match winning streak Hodge Winner: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State)

St. Peter's Prep

Southeast Polk

The Binghamton Bearcats have had Kyle Borshoff as head coach for seven years. Entering his eighth season at the helm, the program has improved in many aspects. The overall GPA has been on the rise. The performance on the mat has been on a steady incline. He’s been a busy man building the program’s brand into what it is today thanks to his cerebral approach to wrestling and other wrestling-adjacent hobbies. Before he was involved with the Binghamton program. He was a successful athlete at American University in Washington DC. Borshoff earned All-American honors in 2009 and 2010 while qualifying for NCAA’s three times in total. The upstate New York native’s father is also a Binghamton Athletic Hall of Fame member. It’s the perfect place for Kyle to thrive, almost as if it was destined. Kyle’s father, Tim Borshoff, was an NCAA finalist in 1975. He was Binghamton’s first to achieve this feat, helping the team finish in fifth place. It also earned him the Athlete of the Year award. Kyle’s father still attends every match. “Watching wrestling is his hobby. Others play golf – not my dad.” Kyle explained. He continued, “I am always meeting people who knew my dad. His coach started the wrestling program at the university. I guess there’s some pressure on me!” Kyle said in a half-serious, half-joking manner. Coach Borshoff saw his father get inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001. He still remembers his speech to this day. Hall of Fame inductions must run in the family. Due to his success on the mat, Kyle was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at his alma mater. Kyle’s father was present at his induction. It’s not every day that a father and son are able to see one another get inducted into the Hall of Fame – especially at two great institutions. Coincidentally, both schools are in the EIWA conference. Kyle Borshoff is not only an excellent wrestler, coach, father, and mentor. To add to the list, he’s recently been promoted to a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Jiu-jitsu is a hobby he’s recently got back into within the last two years. The first time he ever “rolled” was when he was an assistant at American right after college with an athlete he coached named David Terao. It was a hobby Terao enjoyed and also excelled at. Terao was (and still is) a very high-level judo athlete. If you do not remember Terao, be sure to watch his matches from NCAA’s in 2016 when he claimed fourth place. He was one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch! The entire arena was “ooh-ing and aah-ing” at every wild sequence during his matches. Terao, a Hawaii native, is still training to compete at the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Borshoff really took a liking to jiu-jitsu because it’s similar to wrestling in many aspects, but also different. Once he was named the head coach at Binghamton, he was less involved in it. He had more responsibilities as a head coach and family man. His curiosity grew more thanks to a particular wrestler on his team named, Dimitri Gamkrelidze. Dimitri only wrestled his senior year in high school – but he excelled at Judo and Sambo while dabbling in jiu-jitsu. His work ethic and skill set helped him improve every year as he ended his career with an eighth-place finish at EIWA’s. Regarding Terao and Gamkrelidze, Borshoff stated “It made me think differently about wrestling. How can this guy (Gamkrelidze) be competitive in D1 wrestling with only one year of wrestling experience?” Coach started doing BJJ (rolling) three to four weeks at Broome County Martial Arts, which is owned and operated by Tamden “The Barn Cat” McCrory. McCrory had a very respectable MMA career – fighting in both the UFC and Bellator. Borshoff has found that BJJ athletes really benefit from working with him because he gives a different feel compared to typical jiu-jitsu grapplers. The inverse assumption can be made as well. BJJ athletes who can wrestle, benefit wrestlers. Borshoff’s preference is Gi BJJ. For those unfamiliar, there is Gi BJJ and No Gi BJJ. The Gi is the (in layman’s terms) fancy robe they wear as they compete. The Gi can be used to help take opponents any position needed to get a submission. So, how do these correlate? Think about the main position in BJJ. Most athletes prefer to be on their back – which is the exact opposite of wrestling. If you get into certain positions enough times, you can figure out how to maneuver your opponent in a certain way you may not have felt before. For instance, when you feel an athlete try to pull you onto them in BJJ, something can click in your “wrestling mind” on how to utilize that action, or reaction, in wrestling to force your opponent onto their back. The difference in rules, such as leg locks, submissions, and choke outs, make you aware of positions you may not worry about in wrestling. This particularly comes in handy during a play-wrestle session when both wrestlers are feeling unorthodox positions and working to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations. “The biggest crossover between the two is takedown defense. You see foot sweeps too. Things like hip position and grip too are familiar to most wrestlers.” Borshoff explained positions that overlap the two disciplines. He continued, “Taking guard (in BJJ) is similar to a leg pass (in wrestling) where you can end up in a double boots position.” At the risk of pissing off jiu-jitsu diehards, he stated that a high-level wrestler who walks into a BJJ practice can hold their own most of the time and pick it up very quickly. In his experience, these high-level wrestlers seem to learn quicker than average due to body awareness and the positions discussed. We discussed wrestlers like Jason Nolf's success in various forms of grappling and numerous UFC champions who have wrestling backgrounds. You can bet that some of Borshoff’s techniques he teaches to his wrestlers incorporate BJJ. Occasionally, to switch things up, they’ll do a jiu-jitsu workout while wearing a gi. He hopes to expand this discipline to his team to the point where they really think about wrestling from a different angle. With the increasing popularity of BJJ, more wrestlers are finding themselves doing it as a hobby. Borshoff is at the forefront of integrating these sets of skills into wrestling as a way to not only cross-train, but to improve wrestling skills as well. There was one point Coach Borshoff made that stuck with me. How can wrestling learn from BJJ? “Literally anyone can walk into a gym and learn BJJ. We can teach it to a 90-year-old woman. Wrestling does not have that capability. There is nowhere for adults to go and physically learn wrestling.” It’s my opinion that this is a niche that needs to be filled if wrestling wants to gain popularity amongst the general population. Why are there so few clubs, gyms, etc. that teach wrestling? It’s proven to be the best baseline for MMA. Maybe that’s a topic for another day. Until then, keep an eye out for the Bearcats of Binghamton. The success on and off the mat is noticeable. Head Coach, Kyle Borshoff, has played a huge part in that with his willingness to think outside the box and approach the sport in a unique fashion. photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com