InterMat Staff

The Big 12 is well represented at this year’s Olympic Trials, with eight teams having at least one current or former wrestler qualified. There’s at least one in every freestyle weight and two weights in Greco. Oklahoma State and Missouri are tied for most athletes with four each, including current collegiate wrestlers. The Olympic Team Trials will be held at Penn State on April 19th-20th. Air Force: Wyatt Hendrickson (125kg), Sidney Flores (GR - 60kg), Vincent Dolce (GR - 77kg) The Falcons are represented in both styles with three graduate wrestlers. Flores and Dolce both graduated in 2022 and qualified for the trials with runner-up finishes at the 2024 Armed Forces tournament. Wyatt Hendrickson is arguably the best wrestler in Air Force’s history and will be looking to make the Olympic team after a dominant run to a U23 World title last summer. Iowa State: David Carr (74kg) After finishing his collegiate career with a second national title Carr will be looking to add to his already lengthy freestyle resume. He was on the 2022 U23 world team, was a 2022 Senior national team member, and won a Junior world title in 2019. Missouri: Keegan O’Toole (74kg), Jarrett Jacques (74kg), J’den Cox (97kg), Dom Bradley (125kg) Jarrett Jacques qualified for his first Olympic Trials with a fourth-place finish at Senior Nationals. Keegan O’Toole outscored his opponents 46-4 along the way to a 2023 U23 world title at 74kg to qualify for the Trials. He also won a 2021 Junior World title. J’den Cox has won multiple Olympic and World medals and is looking to make his first team since 2022 while representing the Cliff Keen WC. One of the most veteran wrestlers competing, Dom Bradley qualified for his fourth Olympic Trials by winning Senior Nationals for the third time in his career. North Dakota State: Hayden Zillmer (125kg) Currently competing for the Gopher WC RTC, Zillmer was a 2015 All-American for the Bison at 184lbs. This will be his third Olympic Trials and second in freestyle. He was third in Greco (2016) and third in freestyle (2021). Sandwiched between that was 2022 where he was the World team member and he lost in the quarterfinals. Northern Colorado: Andrew Alirez (65kg) Alirez took an Olympic redshirt after a dominant title for the Bears in 2023 and will be one of the strongest contenders at his weight. Alirez has a lengthy age-level freestyle resume, placing top three at the 2018 and 2019 Junior World Team Trials. He had multiple impressive wins during his Olympic redshirt, including Alec Pantaleo, Beau Bartlett, Austin DeSanto, and multiple-time world champion Haji Aliyev. Oklahoma State: Daton Fix (57kg), Ladarion Lockett (74kg), Alex Dieringer (86kg), Christian Carroll (97kg) Another Big 12 school well represented at the Trials, the Cowboys have past, present, and future wrestlers competing. Ladarion Lockett is one of the top recruits of 2025 and is qualified after winning U17 worlds at 71 kg. Initially, it was announced that he was going 65kg, but it sounds like he will be in a deep 74 kg weight class. Christian Carroll redshirted at heavyweight as a true freshman this year, but it sounds like he is making his way to 197 lbs and competed at 97 kg to qualify. He won the Last Chance Open to qualify, including an impressive tech fall in the finals and an 8-7 win over Jacob Warner in the semis. Two of the more credentialed recent OSU wrestling graduates, Daton Fix and Alex Dieringer are both looking to make their first Olympic team. Fix won a World silver at 2021 Senior Worlds at 61 kg, and will compete at 57 kg for the first time since 2021 where he lost in the semis of the Olympic Trials. He is qualified as a 2019 World Team member at 57kg. Dieringer won Senior Nationals and has come razor close to making teams before. He now competes for the Cliff Keen WC, but was the Cowboy’s last Hodge Trophy winner in 2016. South Dakota State: Seth Gross (65kg) Before finishing his career and starting his coaching career at Wisconsin, Gross was a two-time All-American and the Jackrabbit’s first Division I champ in 2018. He qualified as a 2022 World Team member at 61 kg and is forced to move up with the Olympic weights. Utah Valley: Taylor LaMont (GR - 60kg) Another former Big 12 wrestler who finished his career at Wisconsin, LaMont was a 2021 All-American and four-time qualifier for the Wolverines. He won a bronze medal at 2016 Junior Worlds and was on eight consecutive age-level World teams (three Cadet, three Junior, two U23). He qualified for the trials with a fourth-place finish at the Senior Nationals.

Over the weekend in Spokane, Washington, the 2024 edition of Women’s Nationals took place. Girls and Women aged 8 through 23 competed for the chance to call themselves national champions and All-Americans. The event also serves as a World Team Trials event for women at the U17, U20, and U23 levels. Below are results from the final, best-of-three wrestle off’s at each of those three age groups. U17 Women’s Final Results 40 kg: Francesca Gusfa (NJ) fall Lily Enos (IL) :29, 10-0 43 kg: Hailey Delgado (TX) over Lisa Pastoriza (AZ) 4-1, 10-0 46 kg: Morgan Turner (IL) over Jaclyn Bouzakis (PA) 10-0, 5-3 49 kg: Epenesa Elison (CA) over Julianna Ocampo (IN) 10-0, 10-0 53 kg: Isabella Marie Gonzales (CA) over Charlie Wylie (NJ) 1-5, 7-2, 3-0 57 kg: Everest Leydecker (AZ) over Emma Bacon (PA) 7-9, 10-1, 7-0 61 kg: Taina Fernandez (MD) over Jordyn Fouse (PA) 10-0, 12-2 65 kg: Bella Williams (OK) over Isis France (AZ) 10-6, 2-10, 9-2 69 kg: Kaili Manuel (MI) over Sarah Pulk (MN) 7-13, 9-2, Fall 3:59 73 kg: Piper Fowler (TN) over Alexandria Alli (OH) 5-4, 10-3 U20 Women’s Final Results 50 kg: Anaya Falcon (CA) over Nyla Valencia (CA) 14-6, 10-0 53 kg: Brianna Gonzalez (CA) over Clare Booe (FL) 6-7, 10-0, 12-2 55 kg: Cristelle Rodriguez (CA) over Zao Estrada (SC) Fall 1:25, Fall :55 57 kg: Carissa Qureshi (CA) over Everest Leydecker (AZ) 6-6, 14-1 59 kg: Alexis Janiak (IL) over Aubre Krazer (PA) 11-0, 8-4 62 kg: Cadence Diduch (IL) over Skylar Hattendorf (NH) 0-10, 6-0, 2-1 65 kg: Reese Larramendy (NV) over Ella Schmit (IA) 12-1, 10-0 68 kg: Caitlyn Davis (SC) over Destiny Rodriguez (OR) 9-0, 4-1 72 kg: Jasmine Robinson (TX) over Shannon Workinger (WA) Fall :54, 13-2 76 kg: Naomi Simon (IA) over Kalila Shrive (CA) 14-3, 12-0 U23 Women’s Final Results 50 kg: Heather Crull (IN) over Sterling Dias (NV) 10-3, 10-0 53 kg: Elena Ivaldi (CA) over Jaslynn Gallegos (CO) Fall 5:18 10-6 55 kg: Amani Jones (GA) over Montana DeLawder (PA) 5-1, 8-1 57 kg: Sofia Macaluso (NY) over Carissa Qureshi (CA) Fall 5:31, Fall 4:36 59 kg: Skye Realin (HI) over YeLe Aycock (NM) 9-5, 3-5, 3-2 62 kg: Adaugo Nwachukwu (CO) over Marisol Nugent (MA) 8-1, 12-0 65 kg: Aine Drury (CA) over Alara Boyd (IN) 6-1, 5-3 68 kg: Brooklyn Hays (UT) over Nina Makem (MN) 2-3, Fall 5:12, Fall 3:49 72 kg: Jasmine Robinson (TX) over London Houston (WA) Injury Default 76 kg: Tristan Kelly (CO) over Bo Geibe (MI) Fall :34, Fall 1:00

The 2024 Season is in the books, and the year end awards are starting to be handed out. As per usual, we took a look at the best Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2024 season. 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. So, on to the Top-20 at each weight. Make sure to bookmark these articles because it’s a great resource to fall back to in a few months when your 2025 season draft research begins. 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 125 Top-20 Notes: The preseason and end of the regular season #1 ranked wrestler, Matt Ramos, finished atop the 125 fantasy rankings. Of his 25 countable matches for Fantasy, 11 were by bonus and despite the three countable losses (the loss to high schooler Marcus Blaze didn't count), they were only by decision, which softened the blow. . Campbell’s Anthony Molton finishes 2nd at 125 edging out Eric Barnett by two points, even though Barnett had five extra regular season matches. Molton actually started the season a little late, and with a 3-4 record through December. But once the calendar turned to 2024, Molton rattled off 15 straight wins (and no losses). In fact, 11 of those 15 victories were by pin, tech, or FFT. Statistically, it’s his best season of his career, though he did not make the NCAA Tournament. Barnett fell just two points shy of Molton and, while all matches matter for the end point total, it can be directly attributed to his loss by pin to Patrick McKee at the end of the regular season. A loss by decision, he’s your #2. Two Wests round out your 125 Top-5 (both with 29 matches wrestled), but Drew West got the better by 8 Fpts. Diego Sotelo put together a solid season, including a win over top ranked Anthony Noto. Noah Surtin fell two Fpts behind Sotelo, but edges out true freshman Luke Stanich on PPM. Speaking of Anthony Noto, the previous 2-time #1 Fantasy Wrestler of 125 (in 2022 and 2023), finds himself at #9 this season. How did he slip so far? It wasn’t because of his two losses (same as his 2023 season), and it wasn't for lack of bonus (with more than half of his matches in 2024 won by tech or pin), but rather the lack of quantity. This season, only 16 countable matches compared to 2023 where he wrestled 27 matches and even 2022 where he wrestled 22. Braeden Davis, the second and final true freshman in the 125 Top-20, rounds out at #10 thanks to a couple controversial wins. The only Iowa Hawkeye to make the Finals, and keep their streak alive, was #15 Drake Ayala. Stevo Poulin had the same Fpts as Ayala, but the better PPM landed him one spot better than Ayala. The two highest seeds to AA at 125, Caleb Smith (15 seed) and Tanner Jordan (23 seed), both make the back end of this Top-20 with almost the same number of Fpts. Only two non-starters make the list in Charlie Farmer, who actually basically tied his starting counterpart Ethan Berginc, and Ryan Miller who was the Penn starter for part of the season. Six of the eight All-Americans from 2024 made the Top-20. Who Missed The Cut: The 125 National Champion Richie Figueroa (ASU) missed a decent chunk of the season, which will always hurt a fantasy season, but when he did come back he hit a string of losses to make things worse. Figueroa finishes at #80 with 3 Fpts. The last AA not to crack the Top-20 was Jore Volk (WYO), who had almost as many bonus wins as he did losses in the regular season (seven bonus wins, six losses). He finished the regular season with 31 Fpts and the #38 standing. Greg Diakomihalis (COR) backed up Brett Ungar but finished at #21, only two Fpts behind Caleb Smith and only facing 13 countable opponents. Ungar wrestled 21 matches and comes in at #34 with 37 Fpts. NC State’s Jakob Camacho hit a rough patch right in the middle of the schedule, losing four straight for a combined -15 Fpts. Because of this, Camacho finished the 2024 season with 42 Fpts which was good for #23. Jeremiah Reno (LR) also had 42 Fpts but is one spot behind because of his 1.8 PPM compared to Camacho’s 2.5. The highest ranked redshirt was NC State’s Vincent Robinson with 40 Fpts (#25) while the second highest Redshirt, Vincent Kilkeary (OHST) ranks at #32 with 38 Fpts. Other notable wrestlers to not make the Top-20 include: Brayden Palmer (CHAT) at #26 with 40 Fpts, Eli Griffin (CBU) at @28 with 40 Fpts, Nico Provo (STAN) at #36 with 33 Fpts, Dean Peterson (RUT) at #40 with 28 Fpts, and Michael DeAugustino (MICH) at #46 with 20 Fpts.

It’s almost here! The field has been set and the eyes of the American wrestling world are ready to collectively focus on State College, Pennsylvania, the setting of the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials. The Trials are always incredible and a must-see for fans; however, this one is a bit more special after the most recent Trials. Delayed by a year, because of COVID, the 2020(1) Trials were moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and did not have the type of crowd that is expected to pack the Bryce Jordan Center this time. Our previews have been broken down to half of a particular style at a time. Earlier in the week, we started with men's freestyle - now we're on to women's freestyle. The good news is that all six weights have been qualified for women's freestyle - either at the 2023 World Championships or at the 2024 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In a rule unique only to women's freestyle, the wrestler who earned the allocation bid for the United States can sit out until the best-of-three finals. For each weight, we’ll mention the qualifiers, along with how they qualified, and notes about each of the participants, followed by a finals prediction. 50 kg qualifiers 2023 Senior World medalist at Olympic weight: Sarah Hildebrandt 2023 U20/U23 World silver medalist: Audrey Jimenez 2023 Bill Farrell Runner-Up: Erin Golston Senior National champion: Sage Mortimer Senior National runner-up: Samara Chavez Senior National third place: Kendra Ryan Senior National fourth place: Kaelani Shufeldt Senior National fifth place: Mia Palumbo Last Chance Qualifier champion: Nyla Valencia 2024 NCWWC national champion: Emilie Gonzalez 2024 NCWWC national champion: Ava Bayless While some of her teammates get more attention and acclaim, Sarah Hildebrandt is putting together one of the best careers of an American woman…ever. Hildebrandt is seeking to make her second consecutive Olympic team and her eighth world/Olympic squad. During that time, she’s come away with five medals - including a bronze medal at the 2020(1) Olympics. Domestically, it’s been a long time since Hildebrandt has been seriously tested. She’s the only wrestler who has appeared in every Final X event and has yet to surrender a single point (64-0 in six matches). At the Olympic Trials, she had 12-2 and 10-0 techs. Hildebrandt’s 2023 Final X opponent was high school phenom Audrey Jimenez. Jimenez made the 2023 US Open finals after teching Erin Golston and then stunned another veteran, Alyssa Lampe, in the championship match. She would go on to make world teams at both the U20 and U23 age groups and advanced to the finals in both tournaments. As of now, Jimenez appears to have separated herself from the rest of the field excluding Hildebrandt. The aforementioned veteran Golston is back and seeking to make her first Olympic team. She had a very busy 2023 which was highlighted by a final appearance at the Bill Farrell and a run to the semifinals at Senior Nationals. Golston also advanced to a bronze medal match in four international tournaments last year. The opponent that put a halt to Golston’s Senior National run was Sage Mortimer - who would go on to take the title. That reversed a result from the third-place bout at the 2023 US Open, when Golston teched Mortimer, 10-0. To win Senior Nationals, Mortimer had to take out her former King University teammate Samara Chavez in a 12-10 shootout. Chavez was a US Open finalist last year while competing at 53 kg. Aside from Hildebrandt and Golston, this bracket has a very young feel and there are plenty of current collegiate stars among the field. Iowa teammates Emilie Gonzalez and Ava Bayless both won national titles in 2024 and earned a spot in the bracket. Gonzalez at 101 lbs and Bayless at 109 lbs. Kaelani Shufeldt was the runner-up to Bayless and Kendra Ryan was fourth in the same weight class. They both locked up a place in State College by placing top-five at Senior Nationals. An NAIA national title for William Penn would have given Mia Palumbo a place in the Trials; however, she already earned her spot by taking fifth at Senior’s. The last woman to make the field is Last Chance Qualifier champion Nyla Valencia. Valencia was a 2022 U23 team member and fell to Jimenez in the U20 finals at Women’s Nationals last year. Prediction: Sarah Hildebrandt over Audrey Jimenez 53 kg qualifiers 2024 Pan-American Olympic Games Qualifier finalist: Dom Parrish 2023 World Medalist at Non-Olympic Weight (55 kg): Jacarra Winchester 2021 World Team member: Amy Mason 2023 Bill Farrell runner-up: Alisha Howk Senior Nationals champion: Vayle Baker Senior National runner-up: Katie Gomez Senior National third place: Haley Augello Senior National fourth place: Areana Villescusa Senior National fifth place: Sydney Petzinger Last Chance Qualifier champion: Brianna Gonzalez 2023 U20 World bronze medalist: Amani Jones 2024 NCWWC national champion: Felicity Taylor 2024 NAIA national champion: Juliana Diaz After making the finals of the Pan-American Olympic qualifier, Dom Parrish ensured that the US women would be competing in Paris at this weight. For her troubles, Parrish was given a bye to the best-of-three finals. A 2022 world champion, Parrish has made the last two world championship events at this weight and will be a favorite considering she can wait for a challenger to emerge from the rest of the bracket. Looking at Parrish’s slate in 2024, in addition to her wins at the Pan-American qualifier, she also wrestled in the bronze medal match at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. Even though Parrish has been a fixture at this weight for the last two seasons, owning a world title, and holding the bracketing advantage, her making the team is not a formality mainly due to the presence of two-time world medalist Jacarra Winchester. Winchester earned her second world medal last year when she made the 55 kg world finals. Like Parrish, Winchester is also a past world champion (2019 - 55kg). Though she already had a spot in the Trials, Winchester competed at Senior Nationals and won her bracket….at 62 kg. Winchester was the American representative at this weight class in 2021. Speaking of past Olympians. It seems like we always have one or two that come out of retirement in the lead-up to the Olympic year. This time around it’s Haley Augello. Our 48 kg representative at the 2016 Games, Augello had retired and focused on coaching in the Chicago area. Augello returned for the Bill Farrell and then competed at Senior Nationals. She finished third at Senior Nationals after losing on criteria in the semis to Katie Gomez. As Augello has more mat time, she could reverse that result in State College. Gomez was Parrish’s Final X opponent in 2023. She was pinned by the 2022 world champ in match one and fell 5-0 in match two. Gomez has that opportunity by winning the 2023 US Open. Also in 2023, Gomez was a member of the U20 world team and came up a match shy of winning a bronze medal. Beating Gomez in the Senior National finals was Vayle Baker. It was truly a high point of a 2023 that featured a few uneven performances. Baker has plenty of big-match experience as she was a part of two Cadet World teams in 2015 and 2017. This weight is deep weight veterans like Amy Mason, Alisha Howk, and Areana Villaescusa. Mason, formerly Fearnside was a Senior World team member in 2021 and has made teams at the U23 and Junior level. In her most recent appearance, Mason made the 2023 US Open semifinals where she lost an 18-17 barnburner to Samara Chavez. Howk was a participant in Final X last year, where she fell via tech in two straight matches to Winchester at 55 kg. She earned her berth in the Trials after making the Bill Farrell finals and losing to an international opponent. Howk was a U23 world bronze medalist in 2022 and has made teams at the Cadet and Junior levels. Villaescusa lost a one-point bout to Augello for third place at Senior Nationals. That placement helped her clinch a spot at the Trials. Also in 2023, Villaescusa was fourth at the Bill Farrell, third at the US Open, and fell to Winchester in the finals of the World Team Trials. Now onto the collegiate contenders from this bracket. North Central has a pair of entrants at this weight with Amani Jones and Sydney Petzinger. In 2023, Jones won an NCWWC national title and then went on to grab a silver medal at the U20 World Championships. Petzinger’s fifth-place finisher at Senior Nationals allowed her to compete at the Trials. She also appeared in the NWCA All-Star Match. Another set of collegiate teammates at this weight are Felicity Taylor and Brianna Gonzalez. Taylor, a 2024 NCWWC national champion, is a two-time U23 world team member and was Parrish’s Final X opponent in 2022. Gonzalez made the national finals for Iowa, then won the Last Chance Qualifier. Finally, we have Missouri Baptist’s Juliana Diaz who was a national champion in the NAIA ranks this season. Prediction: Jacarra Winchester over Dom Parrish 57 kg qualifiers 2023 Senior World medalist at Olympic Weight: Helen Maroulis 2022 World Team member (59 kg): Abby Nette 2023 U20 World bronze medalist: Alexis Janiak 2023 Bill Farrell runner-up: Xochitl Mota-Pettis Senior Nationals champion: Amanda Martinez Senior Nationals runner-up: Alex Hedrick Senior Nationals third place: Shelby Moore Senior Nationals fourth place: Cristelle Rodriguez Senior Nationals fifth place: Cameron Guerin 2024 NAIA national champion: Carolina Moreno Last Chance Qualifier champion: Bridgette Duty There’s plenty of history to be made by Helen Maroulis who has already established herself as one of the all-time greats in the annals of USA Wrestling. With a Trials win, Maroulis could become the first American woman to make three Olympic teams. Even more remarkable is that Maroulis could make her 13th World/Olympic team. Her bronze medal finish at the 2023 Olympic Games provided her with her ninth World/Olympic medal. The Trials are the scene of Maroulis’ last domestic loss, as she was pushed to three matches in her finals series with Jenna Burkert. In Maroulis’ only competition this calendar year she captured a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships. The only other entrant in this bracket who’s made a Senior World team is Abby Nette, who was on the 2022 team at 59 kg. In 2023, Nette finished fourth at the US Open then injury defaulted out of the semifinals of the World Team Trials. Late in the year, Nette went to Senior Nationals and defaulted out after a quarterfinal loss to Jacarra Winchester at 62 kg. There are a pair of women in this bracket who have met up with Maroulis in a Final X series with Xochitl Mota-Pettis and Alex Hedrick. Last year, Maroulis had to delay her series due to injury but managed to defeat Mota-Pettis once via tech and the second time with a fall. While Mota-Pettis didn’t make the 2023 Senior World Team, she did qualify for the U23 squad. She locked up her place in the Trials by making the Bill Farrell finals and losing to an international opponent. Not only did Hedrick meet Maroulis once in a Final X series, but she’s done it on two occasions. In 2023, Hedrick was quite busy with plenty of competitions. Most notable were a runner-up finish at Senior Nationals and the chance to wrestle for bronze at the Poland Open. Defeating Hedrick in the Senior National Finals and in the third-place bout at Final X in 2023 was Amanda Martinez. Martinez also lost a high-scoring affair to Mota-Pettis in the 2023 US Open semifinals; she would bounce back to finish third. The remaining qualifiers from Senior Nationals are Shelby Moore, Cristelle Rodriguez, and Cam Guerin. Moore fell in the 2023 US Open third-place bout to Martinez. She represented the United States at the U20 Pan-American Championships. Her collegiate teammate at McKendree, Cam Guerin, recently wrapped up an incredible collegiate career with her fourth NCWWC national title. She has plenty of international experience with a pair of berths on the U20 world team. So has Rodriguez, who was a 2019 Cadet World silver medalist and a part of last year’s U20 squad. Speaking of the U20 world team, Alexis Janiak was a bronze medalist last year at that event. Janiak fell to Guerin in the NCWWC semifinals and rebounded to take third place. It was her second top-three finish for Aurora University. Guerin isn’t the only woman in this weight who just finished her collegiate career with an impressive milestone. Carolina Moreno just captured her third NAIA national championship for Southern Oregon. She was fifth at the 2023 Open losing to Hedrick and Martinez. The last woman to lock up a berth in the Trials was the Army WCAP’s Bridgette Duty. Last year, Duty was third at the US Open, while competing at 62 kg. Later in the year, she was eighth at Senior Nationals, competing at this weight. Prediction: Helen Maroulis over Xochitl Mota-Pettis

Before the 2024 Olympic Team Trials brackets have been released, we’ve already received a massive shake-up at 57 kg in men's freestyle. Vito Arujau’s father, Vougar, took to Facebook this afternoon to say: “After good conversation We decided Vito just will train and prepare for 61kg world trials. 57 kg is big cut and after big injury is just not worth it!” Arujau won a world title at 61 kg last year which gave him a bye to the semifinals in the 57 kg Olympic Team Trials. In such a wide-open weight class, Arujau seemed to stand as good of a chance as anyone at winning the Trials. Arujau just wrapped up his final year at Cornell where he captured his second national title and earned All-American honors for a fourth time. Arujau dealt with a lingering injury throughout the 2023-24 campaign and the Cornell staff had to pick and choose when they utilized him. It wasn’t until the NCAA Tournament where Arujau resembled the wrestler that won the 2023 World Championships and was named Outstanding Wrestler at NCAA’s that same year.

April 12 PFL 2 2024 (ESPN/ESPN+) Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) vs. Impa Kasanganay Josh Silveira (Arizona State) vs. Sadibou Sy April 12 CFFC 131 (UFC Fight Pass) Greg Velasco (Rider) vs. Bailey Schoenfelder Mark Grey (Cornell) vs. Vilson Ndregjoni CJ LaFragola (Brown) vs. Kevin Pease April 12 XFC 50 (Triller TV) Tim Johnson (Minnesota State-Moorhead) vs. Darion Abbey Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) vs. Dylan O’Sullivan April 13 UFC 300 (ESPN Pay Per View) Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado) vs. Max Holloway Aljamain Sterling (Cortland) vs. Calvin Kattar Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. Cody Brundage (Newberry College) Cody Garbrandt (Newberry College) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo Jim Miller (Virginia Tech) vs. Bobby Green April 19 PFL 3 2024 (ESPN/ESPN+) Logan Storley (Minnesota) vs. Shamil Musaev Bubba Jenkins (Penn State/Arizona State) vs. Kai Kamaka III Brennan Ward (Johnson & Wales) vs. Don Madge Tyler Diamond (North Dakota State) vs. Otto Rodrigues Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) vs. TBA April 27 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Alex Perez (West Hills) vs. Matheus Nicolau May 11 UFC Fight Night (ESPN/ESPN+) Terrance McKinney (North Idaho College/Chadron State) vs. Esteban Ribovics May 17 Bellator Champions Series: Paris (MAX) Archie Colgan (Wyoming) vs. Thibault Gouti May 18 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Emily Ducote (Oklahoma City) vs. Vanessa Demoupoulos Tim Elliottt (Central Oklahoma) vs. Tatsuro Taira June 1 UFC 302 (ESPN Pay Per View) Alexander Romanov (World University bronze) vs. Jailton Almeida June 8 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Cody Stamann (Grand Valley State) vs. Taylor Lapilus Brad Katona (Dakota Collegiate) vs. Jesse Butler --

Another year is in the books for the ACC, and it was another strong season for the conference. There were some heartbreaking finishes at the NCAAs that kept the All-American total lower than expected, but there were some huge triumphs as well. Let’s take a look at our 3rd Annual ACC Postseason Awards. Redshirt of the Year: Isaac Trumble, NC State There were several good options for this award this year from across the conference. Vince Robinson from NC State, Rafael Hipolito Jimmy Mullen from Virginia Tech, and Gable Porter from UVA all had strong showings with some big wins throughout the season. Ultimately, Isaac Trumble’s dominant performance at Midlands and his undefeated record while moving up a weight class earns him the honors as the Redshirt of the Year. Coach of the Year: Tony Robie, Virginia Tech While the Hokies may not have won the ACC title, they continued their impressive performance streak at the NCAAs. Caleb Henson was crowned as an NCAA Champion and the Hokies added another year to their now 11-year streak of having three or more All-Americans. The Hokies had a 9-4 dual record with losses to top-10 dual teams in Ohio State, Cornell, Mizzou, and NC State. BONUS Machine: Trent Hidlay, NC State Hidlay made it his mission to put on a show for the fans this season, and he delivered. He ran up a 28-1 record on his way to an NCAA Finals appearance with an impressive 79% bonus rate. He earned four major decisions, 15 tech falls, and four wins by pinfall to make 23 of his 28 wins by BONUS. Freshman of the Year: TJ Stewart, Virginia Tech The second-half run of TJ Stewart is beyond impressive. He came to Blacksburg as a blue-chip recruit with a ton of potential, he had a good redshirt year while adjusting to going down a weight and balancing the rigors of college. When he confidently made the cut to 184 and got his chance to start he immediately showed what could be for the Hokies. Stewart talked about feeling more comfortable and confident at the weight as the year went on. After assuming the starting spot in the second semester he put together a 13-3 record and earned his first All-American honor, finishing in 7th in Kansas City. Stewart has a ton of potential and I think this is just the start for him. Best Facial Hair: Clayton Ulrey, Virginia Tech Between the hair and the impressive beard, Ulrey constantly has the look that he may have wandered into the Virginia Tech room fresh off the Appalachian Trail. I appreciate the dedication. Newcomer of the Year: Finn Solomon, Pittsburgh I had to stretch a bit for this one. While Solomon is a newcomer to the Pitt lineup, he transferred in-conference after an impressive redshirt year at NC State. Solomon was a solid addition in the middle of the lineup for the Panthers this year putting together an 18-12 record--10 of those losses were to top-12 ranked wrestlers--and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Solomon will be a great, reliable anchor in the lineup moving forward. Singlet of the Year: Pitt Black The ACC continues to roll out some of the best singlets in the country and this year was no exception. The Panthers get the nod this year with my favorite of their singlets being the black singlet with the Script Pitt. North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and NC State all had solid new offerings this year as well; if only the UVA powers that be would allow them more flexibility in their designs… Most Improved: Marlon Yarbrough, Virginia Yarbrough went through some serious growing pains last season after assuming the starting spot late in the season and ended with a 5-10 overall record. His performance this year was a complete 180 from last year. Yarbrough earned the starting spot early and never looked back, putting together a 15-9 record, placing 3rd at the ACC tournament, and making his first trip to the NCAA championships. Yarbrough also bounced back from a midseason injury suffered at the Midlands--several of his losses were after the injury and prior to being back to 100%. His highlight win of the year was a major decision over Sam Latona at home in the Commonwealth Clash. I expect continued growth from Yarbrough and think he has big potential. The Nathan Traxler ACC Best Hair Award: Frankly, I was disappointed in the state of the hair quality in the ACC this year. Nathan Traxler and his luxurious locks started this award and it’s unfortunate that wrestlers aren’t clamoring to live up to that standard. Somehow this has to be Owen Trephan’s fault for cutting his hair midseason last year… This year’s honoree is Gaetano Console from Duke. He pulled off the short curly mop balanced with a solid beard. Honorable Mention to Krystian Kinsey of Virginia. The 2nd Annual #BaldHero Award in honor of Jarod Verkleeren is given to Trent Paulson, assistant coach at UVA. Wrestler of the Year: Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech After battling Ridge Lovett to take a 1-0 win in the NCAA semifinals, Henson made a quiet, but confident remark in the press conference. Speaking about the impact that winning an NCAA title could have, he corrected the questioner that it isn’t if he wins, it is “when he wins”. This confidence has been evident since Henson won his first (of 3 straight) Southeast Open titles as a high school senior. The Hokie staff knew they had something special in Henson and it was just a matter of time before the rest of the country saw that. He had a strong freshman season, going 27-5, winning his first ACC title, and placing 5th at NCAAs to earn his first All-American honors. Henson was on a different level this year. He navigated a very challenging schedule, facing multiple All-Americans throughout the regular season on his way to a 24-1 regular season record; his lone loss was in sudden victory to Ridge Lovett in the CKLV finals. His only other loss on the season was to Jackson Arrington in a controversial match in the ACC finals. This loss led to a more challenging path in the NCAA tournament for Henson, having what many thought would be the NCAA final matchup with Lovett in the semifinals. After that gritty win, he went on to have a dominant performance over Austin Gomez in the NCAA finals. Gomez got the first takedown, then it was all Henson for the rest of the match, taking a 15-7 major decision over the Wolverine. Henson brings the second-ever national title back to Blacksburg and sets himself up as the favorite moving into next season.

Before we get going here I just want to send my regards to the great John Smith who retired yesterday after 33 seasons at the helm of Oklahoma State. I’ll leave the more sentimental stuff to the professionals, but it truly is the end of an era. It was a weird Thursday as OJ Simpson died yesterday. Both had a wild 1994 as Coach Smith won his first title as head coach and OJ had that whole thing with the car chase. Perhaps it’s best we just move on to the questions. Is this JB’s last stand? Or will he rise up and cash in his money in the bank briefcase and go to France? Brandon from NJ Certainly, you have to think that this is the last hurrah for Jordan Burroughs, but I’m not so sure that’s true. I reckon he’s factoring in a few different outcomes towards his decision to leave his shoes on the mat. Let’s say he makes the team and gets on that plane to France. If flies back with gold then he’s probably shoeless. That’s obviously the ideal way to go out. Even a loss in Paris likely seals the deal on the magnificent career of one Jordan Burroughs. But what if he doesn’t make the team? Does it all end a week from now in Pennsylvania? Why can’t he try for another title at 79kg later in the year? No, I don't believe Jordan will be trying to make the Olympic team in 2028. Even for JB, that’s a tall task for a 40-year-old man. You can’t tell me he’s not still a top-two contender for that spot. It all plays out the same way whether you make the team, win a title, or lose at trials. I predict that one way or another this isn’t the last weekend that we see Jordan Burroughs on the mat. What do you predict will be the three biggest "WOAH!" moments at this year's trials? Thicccolas I’ll break this down into three different categories of “Whoa” based on excitement and surprise. 80’s heartthrob Keanu Reeves classic “Whoa” A subtle whoa that lets the viewer know he’s taken aback by what he just saw. It doesn’t blow him away because he’s too cool for that. But he is stunned. This will be my reaction if Pat Downey shows up and beats a few guys. 90’s heartthrob Joey Lawrence “Woah!” You can’t believe what you’re seeing. Just overloading your brain. Confused, even. You won’t believe this is really happening. Basically any moment of wrestling during the first few rounds. The sheer level of talent in these brackets is too much for one to handle over the course of two days. You could do a weight a weekend for the next couple of months and I’d be fine with it. Hip-hop heartthrobs The Beastie Boys “Sabotage Whoa” The biggest whoa you can get. The kind you scream loudly for an eternity because your brain just broke. Like seeing one of the high school kids come out on top at 57kg. I know these kids are beyond their years in talent but Nick Suriano is here. Daton Fix is in the bracket. Thomas Gilman and all his accolades. Spencer friggin’ Lee! Some dude named Vito doesn’t even have to show up until the semifinals. Get through all these guys and I’ll simply bend the knee. Who were you most impressed by at the Last Chance Open and are you ready for #WrestlingShirtADayinMay? Jim Dutrow Well, the easy answer is Jax Forrest winning the damn thing. But hats off to David McFadden for fighting back like he did. The Virginia Tech product via New Jersey got hit with the Jagger Curse by breaking his ankle a mere few weeks after I met him. Proving once again you should never meet your heroes. Especially when that hero is a chain-smoking middle-aged man who’s only there because he inexplicably named a night after himself like a fool. But seriously, go listen to his interview after the tournament. It’s worth a watch. May you say? Brother, my birthday is in May and they really seem to be coming up a lot faster than they used to. So even though I get closer to death with every shirt, I’m still fired up about it. Should we rebrand the last chance qualifier as the money in the bank tournament? Rhino Oh, no doubt. But there’s a caveat to this. If you win the MITB Open, you can’t enter trials. You have a three-month window to cash in your briefcase on the winner and take the spot. You see Kyle Dake resting in a field backside directly facing the sun? Drag Angel Rivera with you and try to roll him up for a fall. Is that David Taylor lying on the beach and way too enthralled in a fantasy football magazine? Lock in a leg lace and go for it. But you have to choose to take your chances with that or the classic way of winning the tournament. It can’t be both. If you do not qualify for the Olympic team mailbag, will you abscond to Team Italy? Burger King of Kings Man, the last thing I need to do in August is Olympic-level mailbagging. That’s vacation time. Who are the top five wrestling follows on Rokfin? The original Mark Hall who wrestled at Buffalo I don’t really have an answer for you. My advice is to support Coach Scott Green. A Jagger Guy of the highest order. And probably the best man for the job at your alma mater. And likely the best man at many a wedding.

Thursday afternoon American legend John Smith shook up the wrestling world as he announced his retirement from his position as head coach at Oklahoma State University. After a legendary career as a competitor that included six world and Olympic titles, to go along with a pair of NCAA titles, Smith had spent the last 33 years as the Cowboys head coach and forged an incredible career on the bench at his alma mater. Smith oversaw a Cowboy program that won five national titles, 33 individual national championships, and crowned 153 All-Americans. His final dual record in Stillwater was 490-73-6, which is good enough for third all-time amongst DI head coaches. Smith’s Cowboys also dominated in conference competition with 23 team titles and 132 conference champs. Additionally, two OSU wrestlers won the coveted Hodge Trophy and two of his wrestlers (Jamill Kelly and Coleman Scott) claimed Olympic medals. Smith’s final Cowboy team finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 14-1 record and was 10th in the nation with 56 team points - 3 Oklahoma State wrestlers made the NCAA podium, led by Daton Fix, who earned All-American honors for a fifth time. Smith is a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the first wrestler to earn the James E. Sullivan Award (1990) for the nation’s top amateur athlete, and one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All-Time - among many other awards and honors. With Smith stepping down, Coleman Scott has been named Oklahoma State’s interim head coach.

It’s almost here! The field has been set and the eyes of the American wrestling world are ready to collectively focus on State College, Pennsylvania, the setting of the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials. The Trials are always incredible and a must-see for fans; however, this one is a bit more special after the most recent Trials. Delayed by a year, because of COVID, the 2020(1) Trials were moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and did not have the type of crowd that is expected to pack the Bryce Jordan Center this time. Our previews have been broken down to half of a particular style at a time. Yesterday, we started with the first three men’s freestyle weights. Two of them are not currently qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, so there’s more work to be done for the winners at 57 and 65 kg. Today's we've moved on the the final there weights (86,97,125 kg) For each weight, we’ll mention the qualifiers, along with how they qualified, and notes about each of the participants, followed by a finals prediction. 86 kg qualifiers 2023 World Champion at Olympic weight: David Taylor 2023 World Medalist at non-Olympic weight: Zahid Valencia (92 kg) 2023 World Team member at non-Olympic weight: Chance Marsteller (79 kg) 2019 World Team member: Patrick Downey 2023 Bill Farrell champion: Trent Hidlay Senior National champion: Alex Dieringer Senior National runner-up: Mark Hall Senior National third place: Max Dean Senior National fourth place: Connor Mirasola Senior National fifth place: Evan Wick 2023 U23 World Champion: Aaron Brooks Last Chance Qualifier champion: David McFadden This is an extremely Penn State-laden weight class led by one of the school’s legend’s David Taylor. Taylor has ruled this weight domestically (and generally internationally) since 2018. The only year during that span in which he didn’t make the Olympic or World team was in 2019, when he suffered a knee injury before the Final X. During his run atop the 86 kg weight class, Taylor has claimed three world titles, an Olympic gold medal and a world silver in 2021. His latest world title allows him to wait for a challenger to emerge in the best-of-three finals. Taylor isn’t the only world medalist in this weight, Zahid Valencia will also be there and gets a bye to the semifinals after his bronze medal at 92 kg last year. Taylor and Valencia squared off in the 2022 version of Final X and Taylor was victorious 4-2 and 10-0. Many fans expected a rematch in 2023; however, Valencia was stunned by Aaron Brooks in the US Open finals. Brooks got the Final X berth and Valencia was forced to bump up and win the World Team Trials before downing Mike Macchiavello two straight matches at Final X. There’s a chance that we’ll see another version of Brooks and Valencia, as Brooks is likely to receive the number two seed after his US Open win, a Final X appearance, and a U23 world title in 2023. Brooks, fresh off his fourth NCAA title, could be the biggest hurdle between Taylor and a second Olympic Team berth. While Taylor won the first match of their Final X series, 6-0, the second one was 5-4. The only other wrestler to make a world team during Taylor’s run was Patrick Downey in 2019. When properly motivated and trained, Downey has shown he’s a force to be reckoned with domestically and internationally. At the 2019 World Championships, Downey picked up two wins before his elimination. He could be a wild card wherever he’s inserted into the bracket. Moving up from 79 kg is Chance Marsteller. Marsteller had the memorable upset over Jordan Burroughs in three matches at Final X in 2023, to make his first Senior World team. In 2024, Marsteller has captured a bronze medal at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series tournament (at 86 kg) and then won the Pan-American Championships. One of the best current men’s freestyle wrestlers to never have made a World or Olympic Team is former Hodge Trophy winner Alex Dieringer. In 2019, Dieringer appeared to be one of the top two or three wrestlers in the world (behind Kyle Dake) at 79 kg. He lost a pair of razor-thin matches to Dake for the rights to the world team spot. Since then, Dieringer has battled injuries and moved up to 86 kg, where he earned a berth after cruising through Senior Nationals. Earlier this year, Dieringer captured an international title at the Dan Kolov. Brooks NCAA finals opponent this March (and in March of 2021), Trent Hidlay, has plenty of international accolades to his name. Hidlay qualified by winning the Bill Farrell and he claimed a U20 bronze medal in 2019. To win the Farrell, Hidlay edged Dieringer by a point. Aside from Taylor and Brooks, the rest of the current/former/future Penn State contingent at 86 kg includes Mark Hall, Max Dean, and Connor Mirasola. Hall was third at the Bill Farrell, but it was his runner-up finish to Dieringer at Senior Nationals that allowed him to compete on campus at his alma mater. Earlier this year, Hall was a silver medalist at the Henri DeGlane. At both events, Hall posted wins over Nittany Lion signee Connor Mirasola. The high school senior was a semifinalist at the Bill Farrell and finished fourth at Senior Nationals. Mirasola is a two-time Junior freestyle in Fargo and a two-time UWW U17 Trials runner-up. Beating Mirasola for third place at Senior Nationals was Max Dean. Earlier this year, Dean traveled to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event and went 1-2. We mentioned Mark Hall and some of his Penn State brethren - one of his new, Pennsylvania RTC teammates David McFadden, made the field via the Last Chance Qualifier. McFadden was injured at Senior Nationals and was able to quickly rehab to participate in the Last Chance event. In 2023, McFadden was third at the US Open (at 79 kg) and won the Poland Open. Finally, we have Evan Wick who was fifth at Senior Nationals. Wick was a bronze medalist at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. Looking into his results - Wick’s only loss came to a three-time world medalist from Iran and it came via criteria. Prediction: David Taylor over Aaron Brooks 97 kg qualifiers 2023 World medalist at Olympic weight: Kyle Snyder 2022 World Team member: J’den Cox 2023 Bill Farrell champion: Michael Macchiavello Senior National champion: Kollin Moore Senior National runner-up: Nate Jackson Senior National third place: Jay Aiello Senior National fourth place: Eric Schultz Senior National fifth place: Tony Cassioppi 2023 U23 World Champion: Isaac Trumble Last Chance Qualifier champion: Christian Carroll Will we finally get another chapter in the Kyle Snyder/J’den Cox rivalry? The two battled in Fargo during their high school years and Snyder took their only collegiate meeting. Cox famously was late in 2020(1) and did not officially weigh in during the last Olympic Trials. The two were slated to clash at Final X in 2023; however, a very late injury forced Cox to forfeit the series. Snyder has made every World/Olympic Team since 2015 and is looking to make his third Olympic squad. In each year, Snyder has brought home some sort of hardware. Nine medals overall with an Olympic title, and three world gold medals. Will his other world team teammates have gotten more attention, Snyder is in the midst of one of the best careers EVER for USA Wrestling. All of this before turning 29. Even with the odd circumstances surrounding his potential matches with Snyder, Cox has had an excellent career, himself. He earned a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics (at 86 kg) and has two World titles (at 92 kg) and five world medals. Cox has been out of action for almost a year, but when he was last on the mat, he had three techs and a nine-point win on the way to a US Open title. The opponent that prevented Cox from teching his way through the 2023 Open was NC State star Isaac Trumble. Trumble went on to put on an impressive showing of his own at the U23 World Championship where none of his four matches went the distance. Early in 2024, Trumble went to the Zagreb Open and came away with a bronze medal. NC State alum Michael Macchaivello should have an impact here. Macchiavello did not place at the Zagreb Open, but did strike gold at the Henri DeGlane. In the finals, he defeated fellow Trials participant Nate Jackson. Macchiavello, a 2023 Final X participant at 92 kg, earned his spot in the Trials with a title at the Bill Farrell. Snyder’s Ohio State teammate, Kollin Moore, was his opponent in the 2020(1) Trials and could very well do so again in 2024. Moore was banged up during the 2023 Open and was not able to book a second straight Final X series against Snyder. To earn his place here, Moore won Senior Nationals by teching Jackson. Jackson nearly knocked off Cox in the 92 kg series at Final X in 2022. He took Cox to a winner-take-all third match in their best-of-three series. In addition to a runner-up finish at Senior Nationals in late 2023, Jackson captured a 2024 Pan-American title with two falls and two techs. In his last Olympic Trials appearance, Jackson competed down at 86 kg. The rest of the contingent that qualified through Senior Nationals includes Jay Aiello, Eric Schultz, and Tony Cassioppi. At the end of 2023, Aiello was third at the Bill Farrell and then replicated that placement at Seniors, He finished his tournament with a 9-4 win over Schultz. Last month, Aiello was a silver medalist at the Yasar Dogu - losing only to the reigning world champion. Schultz was edged by a point in his Senior National semifinal match against Jackson, then settled for fourth place. He was also fourth in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. The final piece to this puzzle is Oklahoma State freshman Christian Carroll. Last summer, Carroll made the U20 world team competing at 125 kg. In making the world team, Carroll teched five out of his six WTT opponents. At the Last Chance Qualifier, Carroll defeated fellow U20 teammate Camden McDanel via an 11-0 tech after edging Iowa national finalist Jacob Warner by a point in the semis. Prediction: Kyle Snyder over J’den Cox 125 kg 2023 World medalist at Olympic weight: Mason Parris 2022 World Team member: Hayden Zillmer 2021 World Team member: Nick Gwiazdowski 2023 Bill Farrell runner-up: Christian Lance 2023 U23 World champion: Wyatt Hendrickson Senior National champion: Dom Bradley Senior National third-place: Gary Traub Senior National fourth-place: Demetrius Thomas Senior National fifth-place: Trent Hillger 2024 NCAA DI Champion: Greg Kerkvliet Last Chance Qualifier champion: Jaron Smith Last year, we thought the return of Gable Steveson was upon us; however, he withdrew from the world team on short notice and his Final X opponent Mason Parris took over. Parris took the ball and ran with it, all the way to a World bronze medal, qualifying the United States for the 2024 Olympic Games. Since then, Parris has been fairly active winning gold medals at the Pan-Am Games and the Pan-American Championships; along with a bronze at the Zagreb Open. For the bronze medal in Zagreb, Parris defeated European bronze medalist and recent Olympic qualifier Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan). We could see a recreation of the top of the 2023 NCAA DI weight class at 285 lbs as the two wrestlers that finished by Parris are both in the field - Greg Kerkvliet and Wyatt Hendrickson. Kerkvliet, a two-time Cadet World finalist, actually defeated Parris on criteria at the 2020(1) Olympic Trials. Hendrickson earned in spot in the Trials after winning the 2023 U23 World Championships. He then parlayed that success into a second consecutive NCAA third-place finish for Air Force. Even with some talented younger faces, you can’t write off the older guard at heavyweight. Nick Gwiazdowski and Hayden Zillmer are both past world team members, while Dom Bradley has been at the top of the domestic ladder for the last decade. Gwiazdowski has won a pair of world bronze medals, but hasn’t been able to make a team since 2021. Zillmer prevented Gwiz from making the 2022 World Team as he pulled the slight upset in three matches at Madison Garden in Final X. Lately, Bradley won Senior Nationals, by grinding out a pair of wins in the semis and final. Bradley posted identical 2-1 wins in both of his final Senior National matches against Trent Hillger and Christian Lance. Though he placed in the top-two at Senior’s, Lance has already secured his place in State College with a second-place finish at the Bill Farrell. He fell in the finals to Gwiazdowski who had already qualified. After his narrow loss to Bradley, Hillger finished fifth which was good enough to earn him a spot in the Trials. Hillger fell to Zillmer in the gold medal match at the Henri DeGlane in January. Above Hillger at Senior Nationals were Gary Traub, in third, and Demetrius Thomas. Traub got by Hillger on criteria and defeated Thomas 8-5. The final wrestler to make the field was the surprising Jaron Smith at the Last Chance Qualifier. Smith, a national qualifier from Maryland, competed in the event because it was local to him; however, he tallied wins over Jordan Wood and Jacob Bullock to punch his ticket to the Trials. Prediction: Mason Parris over Nick Gwiazdowski

With the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling tournament and the calendar changing over to April, you’d think that it means it’s the offseason for college wrestling and all focus should turn to the Olympic styles, right? Maybe in the past, but in a new era of collegiate athletics, once the final whistle has blown on a particular postseason, it means it’s time to turn your attention to the transfer portal. Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. In just a week and a half since the NCAA finals, there have already been some huge names that have gone into the portal. Some have already announced their new homes, while others are still being courted. The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Some (like Jacob Cardenas and Lennox Wolak) knew they were graduating and were unable to continue competing at their Ivy League schools and went into the portal before the season started. Others have just submitted their names. Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State Iowa State: Evan Bockman (197) - Utah Valley Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State Minnesota: Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - North Carolina Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia Wednesday saw a pair of prominent national qualifiers announce their transfer destinations and other quality wrestlers enter the portal. First, we had Evan Bockman, a three-time national qualifier for Utah Valley choosing to stay in the Big 12 and finish his career at Iowa State. The move makes sense as Bockman fits a weight of need for the Cyclones. 197 lbs was the only weight in which Iowa State did not qualify for nationals this year. In each of his last two appearances at NCAA’s, Bockman went 1-2. This year, he scored a slight upset in the opening round with a 2-2 win in riding time tiebreakers over #13 Levi Hopkins. Bockman has managed to post a 19-9 record in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. This will be his second transfer as Bockman started his career at California Baptist. It appears as if he’s received a waiver for a seventh year of eligibility; as he did not compete at all during the 2019-20 campaign due to injury. Minnesota also got stronger via the portal on Wednesday. The Gophers lost All-American Michael Blockhus to graduation at 157 lbs, but have a very strong replacement in former Appalachian State wrestler Tommy Askey. Askey has twice qualified for nationals after winning the SoCon championship. This year, Askey shocked the field in a loaded 157 lb weight class by advancing to the Round of 12. Along the way, Askey recorded wins over #14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State; via major decision) and #11 Brayton Lee (Indiana). He was stopped from getting on the NCAA podium after a 9-4 loss to #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska). Askey finished the year with a sparkling 25-7 record. Looking deeper into his results, all seven losses came to wrestlers who ended up on the NCAA podium or had in the past. During his career at Appalachian State, Askey amassed a 61-25 record. Since Askey did not compete attached in the 2021-22 season, he appears to have two years of eligibility remaining for the Gophers. On the other end of the portal, a top-50 recruit from the Class of 2023 entered on Wednesday as Ethan Stiles of Nebraska had his name entered. Stiles went 15-3 while redshirting at 157 lbs for the Cornhuskers in 2023-24. He saw action in three duals and went 1-2 in that setting, though the two losses came to NCAA runner-up Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) and national qualifier Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern). Just a year ago, Stiles was named the #43 overall prospect on the strength of an Ironman title and a fifth-place Junior freestyle finish in Fargo. Another NCAA qualifier was added to the portal in Oklahoma’s Jared Hill. Hill has qualified for nationals in each of the last two seasons after placing sixth at 157 lbs in the Big 12. Hill was 34-26 during his two years of official competition for the Sooners. Portal Ryan Boersma (285) - Missouri Connor Brady (165) - Virginia Tech Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh Caleb Coyle (133) - Oregon State Dorian Crosby (285) - Bucknell Charlie Darracott (165) - Stanford Brock DelSignore (184) - NC State Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech Max Hale (184) - Penn Nathan Higley (149) - George Mason Jared Hill (157) - Oklahoma Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State Carson Martinson (165) - Iowa Carter Martinson (157) - Iowa Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh Sam Mitchell (197) - Buffalo Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri Kyle Mosher (165) - Columbia Danny Nini (157) - North Carolina Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa Chris Rivera (141) - Campbell Justin Rivera (149) - Campbell Rylan Rogers (184) - Michigan Korbin Shepherd (133) - Missouri Yaraslau Slavikouski (285) - Rutgers Ethan Stiles (157) - Nebraska Clayton Ulrey (157) - Virginia Tech

It’s almost here! The field has been set and the eyes of the American wrestling world are ready to collectively focus on State College, Pennsylvania, the setting of the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials. The Trials are always incredible and a must-see for fans; however, this one is a bit more special after the most recent Trials. Delayed by a year, because of COVID, the 2020(1) Trials were moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and did not have the type of crowd that is expected to pack the Bryce Jordan Center this time. Our previews have been broken down to half of a particular style at a time. Today we’re starting with the first three men’s freestyle weights. Two of them are not currently qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, so there’s more work to be done for the winners at 57 and 65 kg. For each weight, we’ll mention the qualifiers, along with how they qualified, and notes about each of the participants, followed by a finals prediction. 57 kg Qualifiers 2023 World Champion at Non-Olympic Weight: Vito Arujau (bye to the semifinals) 2023 World Team member: Zane Richards 2020(1) Olympic Team Member: Thomas Gilman 2019 World Team member: Daton Fix 2023 Bill Farrell champion: Spencer Lee Senior Nationals Runner-Up: Nico Megaludis Senior Nationals third place: Liam Cronin Senior Nationals fourth place: Daniel DeShazer Senior Nationals fifth place: Luke Lilledahl Pan-American champion (61kg): Nick Suriano 2023 U17 World champion (55kg): Marcus Blaze Last Chance Qualifier champion: Jax Forrest Right off the bat, we have an interesting weight class with no true favorite. It’s a good mix of youth and experience, proven results versus potential. The returning world team member is Zane Richards, who shocked the wrestling world with a win over Nick Suriano at the 2023 US Open followed by a pair of wins over world champion Thomas Gilman at Final X. It was a great feel-good story as Richards has been grinding away on the Senior circuit since his collegiate career ended in 2017. Unfortunately, Richards’ results while being “the man” at 57 kg have been uneven and he wasn’t able to qualify the weight at the 2023 World Championships or at the Pan-American Qualifier. Therefore, the celebration for the winner in this bracket will be muted as they will need to head to Istanbul for the World OG Qualifier in early-May. Because of his status on the 2023 world team, Richards will assume the top seed at this weight. After Richards is a pair of world champions and three total Senior world medalists. Vito Arujau won the 2023 61 kg world championship in stunning fashion and gets a bye to the semifinals, because his win came at a non-Olympic weight. Arujau dealt with a nagging injury throughout the collegiate season, while wrestling for Cornell, but seemed to have it all figured out at NCAA’s. There he claimed his second national title with a finals win over Daton Fix. Fix, a two-time world team member and 2021 silver medalist, will be a key threat at this weight too. He’ll be back down to 57 kg for the first time since the last Olympic Trials, when he lost to Arujau in the semifinals. The most decorated wrestler of the bunch (on the Senior level) is five-time World/Olympic Team member, Thomas Gilman. Gilman defeated Arujau in two straight matches in the most recent Olympic Trials to make the team at 57 kg. He would go on to win a bronze medal. Gilman now has hardware from four of his five World/Olympic appearances, highlighted by a world title in 2021. Because of Arujau getting a bye to the semifinals and Richards getting the number one seed, there’s a good chance we see Arujau/Gilman/Fix on the bottom half of the bracket, which is bonkers. If the bottom half of the bracket has stars with “proven results” the top half could have the guys with the most potential - domestically and internationally. Speaking of stars, they have yet to align and give us another Spencer Lee versus Nick Suriano match in years; however, State College could be the setting for the next matchup. We’ve been able to see Lee compete relatively regularly now on the freestyle circuit with titles at the Bill Farrell and Senior Nationals in November and December, respectively, plus a dominating showing at the Pan-American Championships earlier this year. Suriano remains an enigma, but one that has the potential to win the entire tournament, should he be in top form. He earned a spot in the Trials by crushing the field at the Pan-American Championships, competing at 61 kg. It appeared as if we were going to get a Suriano/Lee match at the 2023 US Open semifinals; however, Lee medically forfeited out of the tournament. Suriano would get shocked by Richards in the finals. This bracket contains three high school phenoms in Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, and Jax Forrest. Despite their age, each has proven they can compete (and defeat) older competitors. Last weekend, Forrest earned his spot by teching 2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello in the finals of the Last Chance Qualifier. All three of these youngsters are no strangers to international competition and have won world medals at the age group level. Lilledahl and Blaze are U17 world champions, while Forrest was a silver medalist. Internationally and domestically, 57 kg has been the weight where age matters the least (and even might be a slight advantage to younger wrestlers), so don’t be surprised if one or more of these high schoolers puts together a deep run. Senior National placers Nico Megaludis, Liam Cronin, and Daniel DeShazer make up the remainder of this weight. Megaludis has been back down to 57 kg after spending the bulk of the last few years up at 61 kg. His best result during that period was a 2022 US Open title. Back at 57, Megaludis lost to Lee, in relatively close matches, at the Bill Farrell and Senior Nationals. At Seniors, Megaludis posted a 7-0 quarterfinal win over Cronin. Cronin finished up his collegiate career in 2023 with a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Championships for Nebraska. Since then, he’s competed at Senior Nationals and Yasar Dogu in Turkey. To claim third place at Senior’s, Cronin shutout DeShazer, 5-0. Like Megaludis, DeShazer has typically competed at 61 kg, but dropped for the Olympic year. One of DeShazer’s best wins at the new weight came over Puerto Rico’s Olympian, Darian Cruz, (10-0) at the Henri DeGlane. He also logged a win over Lilledahl at Senior Nationals. Prediction: Thomas Gilman over Spencer Lee 65 kg Qualifiers 2023 World Champion at Non-Olympic Weight: Zain Retherford (bye to the semifinals) 2023 World Team member: Nick Lee 2022 World Team member: Yianni Diakomihalis 2023 Bill Farrell champion: Kaleb Larkin Senior Nationals champion: Andrew Alirez Senior Nationals runner-up: Beau Bartlett Senior Nationals third-place: Joey McKenna Senior Nationals fifth-place: Austin DeSanto Last Chance Qualifier champion: Matt Koldozik 2022 World Team member (non-Olympic weight): Seth Gross 2021 World Team member (non-Olympic weight): James Green 2018 Trials Champion: Nahshon Garrett 2024 Pan-American champion (70 kg): Alec Pantaleo 2024 NCAA champion (141 lbs): Jesse Mendez Like 57 kg, we have a bye to the semifinals for a world medalist at a non-Olympic weight in this bracket. That honor goes to Zain Retherford after his world title at 70 kg. It marked back-to-back years for Retherford with a world medal after missing out on a medal in his first two attempts. Those first two came at 65 kg in 2017 and 2019. Like a handful of others in this weight, Retherford is probably ideally suited for 70 kg more than 65 kg, but that’s not an option. In the last Olympic Trials, Retherford fell to Joey McKenna in the semifinals, then suffered a loss in the consolations to fellow Penn State star Nick Lee. Lee was the world team member in 2023 and will get the top seed in this bracket. He was able to pick up three wins at the 2023 World Championships, but that wasn’t enough to qualify the weight for the Olympics and he suffered a loss to Austin Gomez (Mexico) in the Pan-American Qualifiers, so the winner of this bracket will also need to head to Istanbul to qualify the weight. Before the Pan-American Qualifier, Lee grabbed the gold at the Pan-American Championships. Another favorite in this weight will be a frequent opponent of both of these former Penn State stars, Yianni Diakomihalis. Diakomihalis has a pair of world team appearances on his resume and claimed a silver medal from the 2022 tournament. Yianni wasn’t able to make a third consecutive world team at this weight after losing a pair of razor-thin matches to Lee at Final X in 2023. At the most recent Olympic Trials, Diakomihalis fell to Jordan Oliver on criteria in the semifinals, then to Lee for third place. The other past world medalist in this group is James Green, a bronze medal winner in 2015 and a silver medalist in 2017. Green retired and moved into coaching a few years ago; however, after surgery, he reportedly feels as good as ever and is back. All of Green’s damage internationally has been done at 70 kg. He’s tried to move up and down from that weight to uneven results. If, and it’s a big if, the weight isn’t an issue, Green can be a new contender at this weight. In a similar vein, Alec Pantaleo is seeking to make his first World/Olympic team. Pantaleo is one of the best in the world at 70 kg, but hasn’t been able to put things together at a World Team Trials-type event. In some domestic tournaments, you may have a lesser match or two to work through off the scale, but at the Olympic Trials, however the brackets break, he’ll have a difficult match in the first round. 57 kg had a trio of high schoolers in the mix. This bracket doesn’t have any, but rather, some active collegiate wrestlers that can legitimately make an impact. Andrew Alirez, Jesse Mendez, Beau Bartlett, and Kaleb Larkin all have collegiate eligibility remaining and have had very good results on the Senior level. Alirez took the 2023-24 collegiate season off with an Olympic redshirt and it’s proven to be a good decision. In the Poland Open, in July of 2023, Alirez won the gold medal and defeated three-time world champion Haji Aliyev in the process. He claimed the title at Senior Nationals after going through Austin DeSanto, Pantaleo, and Bartlett. Mendez gets in based on his NCAA title, which came at the expense of Bartlett. He has plenty of high-level freestyle experience, though, taking a silver medal at the 2023 U20 World Championships and two other age-group world appearances. Bartlett captured a bronze medal at U20’s in 2021. He nearly knocked off Lee in the 2023 US Open semifinals (and appeared to before a scoring error was revealed) before taking fourth place. At Senior Nationals, Bartlett showed his cool demeanor in tight matches and edged McKenna and Matt Kolodzik by criteria in back-to-back matches. Larkin has yet to wrestle an official college match but is here based on his title at the Bill Farrell. It was quite the bracket, yet Larkin posted wins over Pat Lugo, Mendez, and Kolodzik. Last month, Larkin went to Turkey’s Yasar Dogu and picked up two victories before his elimination. A returning Olympic Trials finalist at this weight is Joey McKenna. McKenna is another competitor who posted some incredible results but has yet to make a Senior World Team. Earlier this year, he captured a bronze medal at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. He clinched a medal with a win over returning world silver medalist Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico). At the 2020(1) Trials, McKenna teched Green and defeated Retherford before losing the best-of-three series to Oliver. Four other veterans could shake things up with Seth Gross, Nahshon Garrett, Austin DeSanto, and Matt Kolodzik. The first three are probably best suited for 61 kg, but shouldn’t be overlooked. Gross was a 2022 World Team member at 61 kg and came up a match shy of earning a world medal. Garrett won in the inaugural edition of Final X, but was injured and couldn’t compete. Last year, Garrett narrowly lost a pair of wild bouts to Arujau in Final X (6-5, 13-10) - then saw Arujau claim a world title. At the tail end of 2023, DeSanto was a bronze medalist at the Bill Farrell and fifth at Senior Nationals. Between the two tournaments, he posted wins over notables like Michael McGee, Aden Valencia, Pat Lugo, and Ian Parker. Kolodzik is the final piece of the puzzle in this 65 kg bracket. He earned his spot after stopping the run of high school star Bo Bassett in the Last Chance finals. Kolodzik is more naturally suited for 65 kg than a lot of the wrestlers in the bracket and seems to be wrestling as good as ever, so he could be a dark horse in this bracket. Prediction: Yianni Diakomihalis over Nick Lee 74 kg Qualifiers Senior World medalist at Olympic weight: Kyle Dake (sits out until best-of-three finals) 2019 World Team member: Jordan Burroughs 2023 Bill Farrell champion: Jason Nolf Senior National champion: Quincy Monday Senior National runner-up: Alex Marinelli Senior National third place: Alex Facundo Senior National fourth place: Jarrett Jacques Senior National fifth place: Tyler Berger Last Chance Qualifier champion: Vincenzo Joseph 2024 NCAA DI champion: Levi Haines 2024 NCAA DI champion: David Carr 2024 NCAA DI champion: Carter Starocci 2023 U23 World Champion: Keegan O’Toole 2023 U20 World Champion: Meyer Shapiro 2023 U20 World Champion: Mitchell Mesenbrink 2023 U17 World Champion: Ladarion Lockett This is the big one! Perhaps the most anticipated bracket of the entire Olympic Trials. In the last edition of the Olympic Trials, Kyle Dake finally unseated Jordan Burroughs from his throne at 74 kg and was not in much danger, in doing so. Most assumed that was the end of the line for Burroughs; however, he moved up to 79 kg and added a pair of world titles to his illustrious resume. Dake went on to take bronze at the Olympics and claimed two world championships and a silver medal from the 2023 World Championships. That 2023 world medal allows Dake to have the advantage and let the rest of this loaded bracket sort itself out until he has an opponent in the best-of-three finals. With father-time being undefeated, we could be witnessing the final Trials appearance for both Dake and Burroughs. I’m sure the rest of the bracket isn’t focused on the historical aspect surrounding the competition - they’re looking to turn the page in State College and focus on the future. And the future is extremely bright at this weight class. There are six 2024 NCAA finalists who are expected to compete in this bracket and each could make an impact. Since Dake is sitting in the finals and there are no other wrestlers in the bracket with a Senior World Team appearance to their name, I’d guess Burroughs gets the top seed, even though he didn’t make the 2023 world team. This is the type of weight class where seeding might just go out the window. There are no easy sides of the bracket or soft matches. Dake’s opponent in the last two editions of Final X, Jason Nolf, also figures to be seeded prominently. Earlier this year, Nolf crushed the field at the Zagreb Open and downed a pair of Olympians along the way. He earned his place in the Trials with a win at the Bill Farrell. Though Nolf won comfortably in the finals, he was pushed by Quincy Monday in a one-point quarterfinal match. Monday has been impressive since finishing his career at Princeton in 2023. He was third at the Farrell and won Senior Nationals with a tech over Alex Marinelli. Monday’s 6-0 win in the semifinals represented his “closest” match of the tournament. He obviously has the bloodlines for success at the Senior level. Marinelli, Alex Facundo, Jarrett Jacques, and Tyler Berger represented the remaining qualifiers from Senior Nationals. Berger made Final X last year, at 70 kg, and dropped a one-point match to Zain Retherford in the second match of their best-of-three series. That appearance took place after his remarkable showing in winning the 2023 US Open. A two-time U17 world bronze medalist, Facundo, took off the 2023-24 campaign to focus on freestyle rather than compete at Penn State. After an injury-filled career at Iowa, Marinelli has done well for himself on the Senior level. In addition to his runner-up finish at Senior Nationals, he was a finalist at the Bill Farrell and fourth at the 2023 US Open. The same can be said for Jacques, who was fourth at Senior Nationals, and the Bill Farrell. The last of the veterans is Penn State’s two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph. Joseph got into the Trials via the Last Chance Qualifier. While known as a “big-move guy,” Joseph was more tactical during his final few matches in Fairfax. He’s also made the finals of the past two US Open’s. This bracket provides a glimpse of the future with a handful of talented collegiate competitors. 2024 NCAA champions Levi Haines, David Carr, and Carter Starocci, along with Keegan O’Toole, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and Meyer Shapiro are expected to compete. Starocci recently won his fourth NCAA title, while Carr and O’Toole both have two. Haines went undefeated to claim his first. With the exception of Haines, the other five have won an age-group world medal at some point in their careers. Carr, O’Toole, Mesenbrink, and Shapiro all have U20 world championships. Speaking of age-group world medals, the weight class is rounded out by 2023 U17 world champion Ladarion Lockett. The Oklahoma State commit is currently ranked as the #2 overall recruit in the high school Class of 2025. Also, with the fallout from Jordan Burroughs and Bo Nickal’s back-and-forth - there appears to be some underlying feeling between the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (who has often clashed on the mat with Burroughs) and the legend. There are plenty of current and former members of the NLWC who could come across Burroughs at some point in the tournament. That’s just an added level of intrigue for perhaps the best bracket in the entire Trials. Prediction: Kyle Dake over Jordan Burroughs

Tuesday, April 9th, marked the 10th anniversary of Arizona State University hiring Zeke Jones. At the time, Arizona State was a program that was only a few years removed (2008) from an attempt to cut the program by the athletic department. The Arizona State name was strong; however, they had recently experienced some up-and-down results. The Sun Devils finished sixth in the country in 2011; behind a pair of national champions, but that was the only time they finished higher than 20th in the nation between 2007-14. Change was on the horizon as the ASU administration looked to a familiar face in alum, Zeke Jones. While hiring an alum is not typically a surprise, this move was a bit unexpected as Jones had spent the previous seven years leading the men’s freestyle team for USA Wrestling. It was Jones’ first college head coaching job, though he has plenty of experience on the collegiate bench. In addition to a stint at ASU, Jones also served as an assistant at Bloomsburg, West Virginia, and Penn. Right away, Jones showed that a new era of Sun Devil wrestling was dawning by signing the top recruiting class in the nation, during his first full recruiting cycle. Not only did he sign highly-touted recruits, but they developed into wrestlers that laid the groundwork for ASU being thought of as a perennial NCAA team trophy contender. That class included the Valencia brothers, Josh Shields, and Josh Maruca. With that foundation in place, ASU has continued to recruit well and produce on the mat. Now top-ten finishes at nationals have been commonplace for the Sun Devils, as have multiple-time All-Americans. Just how regular have those items become? That and more below as we have some facts to highlight a decade of success for Zeke Jones at his alma mater. Jones has produced 64 national qualifiers during his tenure at ASU. Three times they have sent eight wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament (including 2024) ASU wrestlers have won 43 individual Pac-12 titles under Jones 2 wrestlers have combined to win three NCAA Titles (Zahid Valencia x2; Richie Figueroa x1) 13 wrestlers have combined to earn NCAA All-American honors 27 times (in only 9 national tournaments) 7 of those wrestlers have earned NCAA All-American honors on more than one occasion Figueroa is the seventh wrestler to be named Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year under Jones. Jones has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year on three occasions. Since 2014, his staff has signed six top-ten overall recruits. They Inked the top overall recruiting class in 2015, headlined by #1 Zahid Valencia and #2 Anthony Valencia. The Sun Devils did not place in the top-20 at nationals in each of his first two seasons. They haven’t missed it since then. Placed in the top-ten at nationals five times. Won a pair of NCAA team trophies (4th in 2021 and 4th in 2022). In both of those seasons the Sun Devils had five All-Americans The team high in NCAA points under Jones is 74 in 2021. Haven’t finished lower than seventh at each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. During this recent four-year run of top seven finishes, Arizona State wrestlers have combined to go 92-58 at the NCAA Tournament. In the decade before Jones’ hire ASU had placed in the top-20 at the NCAA Tournament on four occasions and inside the top-ten twice. In November of 2019, ASU stopped Penn State’s 60-dual winning streak with a 19-18 upset. The previous season, Penn State beat the Sun Devils, 41-3. Arizona State has won six Pac-12 team titles under Jones’ direction. The first Pac-12 title for Jones at ASU came in 2017. It snapped a decade-plus drought without a conference title that started after their 2006 win. In dual competition, ASU is 91-45 since Jones’ arrival.

In addition to the USA Wrestling Last Chance Qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Trials this past weekend, the 2024 European Olympic Games Qualifier also took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. Two wrestlers at each weight, in all three disciplines, punched their tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris, later this summer. While two wrestlers/countries qualified for the Olympics, it also threw a handful of other wrestlers/countries into the mix as needing Olympic berths. They will now need to head to Istanbul, Turkey for the World Olympic Games Qualifier in early May in the last chance available to earn a slot in the Olympics. There are five weights (across the three styles) where the United States has not qualified for the Olympics - after missing out on the 2023 World Championships and the Pan-American Qualifier. So, the question is, “What does the path to Olympic qualification look like for our American representatives?” In addition to the European’s needing quotas, there will be others from Asia, the Pan-American qualifier, and the African/Oceania qualifier in the mix, as well. In order to earn a quota at the OG Last Chance Qualifier, wrestlers will need to place in the top three in their weight class. The Asian continental qualifier takes place during the same weekend as our Olympic Trials, so we don’t have a perfect read on the situation just yet. Today, we’re focusing on the competitors in men’s freestyle. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the three weights America needs to qualify in Greco-Roman. There won’t be a women’s freestyle article because all six of their weights have been qualified! 57 kg These wrestlers at 57 kg are from Europe and have yet to qualify their country for the 2024 Olympic Games. Of course, their governing body could choose someone else to represent them at the Last Chance Qualifier. Suleyman Atli (Turkey) - 2x World Medalist; 2x Olympian, 2x European Champion, 0-1 @ 2023 Worlds; 1-1 @ European Qualifier - In 2019, Atli defeated Stevan Micic in the World quarters; Would go on to take silver - In 2018, Atli defeated Thomas Gilman in the bronze medal match at the World Championships - Six-time European medalist with two gold medals. The most recent was in 2021. Roberti Dingashvili (Georgia) - 2024 European bronze medalist, 0-1 @ European Qualifier Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia) - 2022 European Champion, 1-1 @ 2023 Worlds; 2-1 @ European Qualifier - Defeated Aliabbas Rzazade (Azerbaijan) in 2022 European gold medal match; Rzazade defeated Egorov at 2024 European Olympic Qualifier - Two-time European medalist; 2022 gold and 2019 bronze - Defeated Dingashvili at 2023 World Championships and 2024 European Olympic Qualifier Horst Lehr (Germany) - 2021 World Bronze Medalist, 0-1 @ European Qualifier - Lost 15-5 to Thomas Gilman in 2021 World semifinals - Two-time European bronze medalist; Most recent was 2023 - Defeated Georgi Vangelov in the 2020 European Bronze Medal match - 2022 European U23 gold medalist Georgi Vangelov (Bulgaria) - 2020(1) Olympic fifth place, 2022 World fifth place; 2023 European bronze medalist; 0-1 @ 2023 World’s; 1-1 @ European Qualifier - 2023 European Championships; Lost to Suleyman Atli (5-4), Defeated Roberti Dingashvili (10-0) in bronze medal match - 2-2 at 2023 World Championships (at 61 kg) Summary: There aren’t any real world beaters from Europe at this weight. Suleyman Atli has the longest track record and the most impressive credentials; however, he is on the verge of turning 30 in July. In a weight class dominated by the speed, flexibility, and explosiveness of youth, that’s quite old. The same can be said for Georgi Vangelov, who had already turned 30. But both have wrestled in the Olympic Games and on the biggest stages, so neither will be intimidated by the high stakes of the OG Qualifier. Either, or both, could end up finding their way to Paris, though it may not be at the expense of an American opponent. Vladimir Egorov is close to the other two in age, but has had a European gold medal within the last two years. He also missed out on Olympic qualification by the narrowest of margins. Egorov lost in the European Qualifier semifinals by a point to an opponent he defeated for European gold in 2022. We’ll deal with the Asians needing quotas once their qualifier occurs and, at this point in the game, the Asian competitors look to be more in number and quality than their European counterparts. So, while these wrestlers may not pose a huge threat to whoever emerges from our Trials, combined with four or five Asian wrestlers, it could be a tough mountain to climb. 65 kg These wrestlers at 65 kg are from Europe and have yet to qualify their country for the 2024 Olympic Games. Of course, their governing body could choose someone else to represent them at the Last Chance Qualifier. Erik Arushanian (Ukraine) - 2022 U23 World Bronze Medalist; 1-1 @ 2023 Worlds - Two-time European bronze medalist - Win (7-1) over Kizhan Clarke at 2024 European Qualifier - Defeated Maxim Sacultan (7-2) at 2024 European Championships - 2023 World Championships; Defeated Lachlan McNeil (11-0), Lost to Otoguro (10-0) - Defeated Saculaton and Clarke at 2023 European Championships - 2019 Junior World Champion in a weight class that contained Brayton Lee Islam Dudaev (Albania) - 2024 European Champion; 0-1 @ 2023 Worlds; 2-2 @ European Qualifier - Defeated Gadzhimurad Rashidov in 2024 European gold medal match - Competed at 61 kg in 2022 World Championships (1-2) - Bronze medal at 2023 Polyak Imre & Varga Janos; Lost to Nick Lee (6-4) in semifinals - Silver medalist at 2023 Dan Kolov; Defeated Joey McKenna (10-3) in semifinals Mikyay Naim (Bulgaria) - 2023 European Silver Medalist; 0-1 @ 2023 Worlds; 1-1 @ European Qualifier Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) - 2023 World 5th Place; 2021 European Bronze Medalist, 4-3 @ 2023 Worlds; 1-1 @ European Qualifier - Defeated Colin Realbuto (7-3) at 2023 World Championships - Lost to Sebastian Rivera (15-4) at 2023 World Championship quarterfinals Niurgun Skriabin (Belarus) - 0-1 @ 2023 Worlds; 1-1 at European Qualifier - 2020 European silver medalist; Quarterfinal win over Iszmail Muszukajev (12-1) Summary: The biggest name on this list is Russian transfer Islam Dudaev, now competing for Albania. Dudaev was a victim of bracketing at both the 2023 World Championships and the European Qualifier. At World’s, Dudaev was paired with 2020(1) Olympic champion Takuto Otoguro (Japan) in the Round of 64 and fell 5-2. Otoguro ended up losing to the eventual gold medalist Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) in the Round of 16 - eliminating Dudaev. Last weekend, Dudaev was defeated by three-time world champion Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) in the bout where the quota was decided, 6-3. It would be surprising if Dudaev wasn’t able to earn one of the three available quotas in Istanbul. Truthfully, the rest of the weight class isn’t particularly loaded from a European standpoint. There are some experienced competitors, but no one else that would be favored over whoever emerges from the Olympic Trials. Again, Asia may present more of a threat on that front, but we’ll discuss that later. But, there is little room for error when you assume that Dudaev will be in the mix for a berth to Paris.

With the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling tournament and the calendar changing over to April, you’d think that it means it’s the offseason for college wrestling and all focus should turn to the Olympic styles, right? Maybe in the past, but in a new era of collegiate athletics, once the final whistle has blown on a particular postseason, it means it’s time to turn your attention to the transfer portal. Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. In just a week and a half since the NCAA finals, there have already been some huge names that have gone into the portal. Some have already announced their new homes, while others are still being courted. The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Some (like Jacob Cardenas and Lennox Wolak) knew they were graduating and were unable to continue competing at their Ivy League schools and went into the portal before the season started. Others have just submitted their names. Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - Columbia Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia Over the weekend, we saw Ogunsanya, Fish, and Harman commit. Like his Columbia teammate, Wolak, Ogunsanya entered the portal in the fall because the Ivy League prevented him from using his final year of eligibility at Columbia. He’ll keep the same shade of blue in his wardrobe and move to North Carolina. Ogunsanya’s commitment graphic showed him wrestling at 174 lbs. That is a need for the Tar Heels after losing national qualifier Tyler Eischens - who was a graduate transfer himself. Ogunsanya was a two-time national qualifier for Columbia after finishing second and third in the EIWA. He only saw action at the Clarion Open this year, before getting injured. The most notable name of the bunch is Caleb Fish, who will be moving from Michigan State to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys already brought in a star 165 lber in Dean Hamiti - Fish has also competed at that same weight. Expect Hamiti to either move up to 174 lbs and Brayden Thompson to redshirt or Hamiti to redshirt. Fish also has a redshirt available, so he could take one and let Hamiti go 165, also. Fish was a three-time national qualifier for the Spartans, advancing to the Round of 12 in 2022 (as the #29 seed). He came in as the #21 seed this year and earned a pair of wins before his elimination. Finally, Sean Harman goes back to his home state and will wrestle for Chris Pendleton’s Oregon State Beavers. His previous school, Missouri, has had a logjam of talent between 174-184 for the last few years, leading to few dual opportunities for Harman. During the 2021-22 season, while competing at 174 lbs, Harman defeated Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) and Hayden Hastings (Wyoming). We’ve also seen the first domino fall in the coaching transition at Buffalo. National qualifier Nick Stampoulos will stay in the MAC and wrestle for Lock Haven. The Bulls other 2024 qualifier, Sam Mitchell, and a host of other teammates have entered the portal and are looking for new homes. In addition, some of their top recruits have re-opened the recruiting process. Portal Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State Connor Brady (165) - Virginia Tech Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh Caleb Coyle (133) - Oregon State Dorian Crosby (285) - Bucknell Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech Max Hale (184) - Penn Nathan Higley (149) - George Mason Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State Carson Martinson (165) - Iowa Carter Martinson (157) - Iowa Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh Sam Mitchell (197) - Buffalo Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa Chris Rivera (141) - Campbell Justin Rivera (149) - Campbell Rylan Rogers (184) - Michigan Yaraslau Slavikouski (285) - Rutgers

College Park

Clovis West

Mount Carmel

Shikellamy

Over the weekend, the European Olympic Games Qualifier took place from Baku, Azerbaijan. With the depth that Europe has in all three styles, paying attention to European results is essential in the lead up to the Olympic Games or even the Olympic Trials. Since the United States still needs to qualify two men’s freestyle weights and three Greco-Roman weights, there are likely some talented European wrestlers who will present problems for our American representatives. With the results from the European qualifier, combined with results from the 2023 World Championships and the Pan-American and African and Oceania Qualifier, we almost have the entire Olympic entry list. The final continent to hold their qualifier is Asia, which will take place at the same time as our Olympic Trials. The final three spots (per weight class) will be decided at the World OG Qualifier (aka Last Chance Qualifier) May 9th-12th. If a country needs to qualify a weight class for the Olympics, they’ll have to enter and finish in the top-three spots at the World OG Qualifier. Remember, these Olympic quotas earned at the World Championships or continental qualifiers are for the country, not necessarily the individual. Some countries will give the Olympic spot to the individual that qualified the weight; however, that’s up to each country. Below is an updated list of countries who have qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games at each weight, across all three styles. Men’s Freestyle 57 kg 2023 World Championships: Albania, Armenia, Japan, Russia*, Serbia Pan-American Qualifier: Mexico, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Guinea-Bissau European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* 65 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Hungary, Iran, Puerto Rico, Russia* Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Mexico African and Oceania Qualifier: Australia, Samoa European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Georgia 74 kg 2023 World Championships: Greece, Japan, Russia*, Serbia, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Guinea-Bissau European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* 86 kg 2023 World Championships: Iran, Kazakhstan, San Marino, United States, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Australia European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Russia* 97 kg 2023 World Championships: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Dominican Republic African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, South Africa European Qualifier: Belarus*, Russia* 125 kg 2023 World Championships: Georgia, Iran, Russia*, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Nigeria European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* Women's Freestyle 50 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Japan, Mongolia, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, Cuba African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Russia*, Ukraine 53 kg 2023 World Championships: Belarus*, Ecuador, India, Japan, Sweden Pan-American Qualifier: United States, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Guam, Nigeria European Qualifier: Romania, Russia* 57 kg 2023 World Championships: Japan, Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Guam European Qualifier: Belarus*, Germany 62 kg 2023 World Championships: Germany, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Ukraine Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Nigeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: Bulgaria, Russia* 68 kg 2023 World Championships: France, Japan, Moldova, Mongolia, Turkey Pan-American Qualifier: United States, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: New Zealand, Nigeria European Qualifier: Poland, Russia* 76 kg 2023 World Championships: Colombia, Cuba, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Nigeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: Hungary, Turkey Greco-Roman 60 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Iran, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Moldova, Turkey 67 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Iran, Serbia Pan-American Qualifier: Chile, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: France, Ukraine 77 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, Cuba African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Finland, Turkey 87 kg 2023 World Championships: Bulgaria, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Ukraine Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Russia*, Serbia 97 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Iran, Lithuania Pan-American Qualifier: Honduras, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Georgia, Lithuania 130 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Turkey Pan-American Qualifier: Chile, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Morocco, Tunisia European Qualifier: Germany, Russia* *Wrestlers who have competed for Belarus or Russia have had to compete under the name Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) rather than their respective country. Since they have been permitted to compete at the European OG Qualifier, we assume their representatives will be able to compete in Paris. Or it could be on a case-by-case basis. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulaev was not permitted to compete at the European tournament.

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