InterMat Staff

Kennett

Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah are all now making the move to the Big 12 while Oregon and Washington are headed to the Big Ten. With all the conference realignment, Arizona State to the Big 12 may be one of the biggest impact moves for wrestling. These teams won’t begin Big 12 competition until the 2024-2025 seasons. Seth Duckworth dove into what the rest of the Pac-12 wrestling teams could end up doing as well. Arizona State Wrestling History Arizona State is the only Pac-12 member to have a national title in wrestling, winning the tournament in 1988. Since bringing on current head coach Zeke Jones in 2014, the team has had two team trophies and four top-ten finishes at the national tournament. The team has had eight NCAA finalists, 34 All-Americans, and 82 NCAA qualifiers with Jones at the helm. In conference competition, the team has won five team titles since 2014. In 2023, they finished 4th at the Pac-12 tournament with 110.5 points. They’ve gone 93-50 in duals since 2014 as well. In just the past four seasons they are even 8-2 against Big 12 teams. Their dual record can be deceiving; however, as even a 7-5 record in 2023 includes a win over current two-time Big 12 Champs Missouri and finished 7th at NCAA’s. In 2020, the team went 9-4 in duals but came back with a trophy with a fourth-place finish. Arizona State’s Future While roster predictions are difficult to project with NIL and the transfer portal, there are some expectations that can be looked at. Right now the Sun Devils roster includes three seniors; Jacori Teemer, Tony Negron, and Anthony Montalvo. Juniors include All-Americans Cohlton Schultz and Kyle Parco, along with Julian Chlebove and Jesse Vasquez. Add in sophomores Richie Figueroa, Emilio Ysaguirre, and Cael Valencia; and the team appears set for the future. The team also had a top-ten recruiting class in 2022 and has been active in the transfer portal. Wrestlers like Schultz, Parco, and Figueroa would be immediate Big 12 title contenders. Chlebove and Vasquez had impressive wins over Big 12 wrestlers as well. While there are sure to be changes to multiple teams in the next season, Arizona State appears that it should immediately be on the upper tier of teams in the Big 12 conference for wrestling. Could any of the other added teams add wrestling? The short answer right now is not likely. These conference realignments are driven by football, and there doesn’t seem to be a hurry to add wrestling for a lot of these programs. Arizona and Colorado both had teams, with Arizona competing from 1979-1981 in the Pac-12 and Colorado wrestling in the Big 8 until 1980. Utah didn’t have a team, but there is a current Big 12 member in Utah Valley representing the state. There is still potential for Big 12 expansion as well. Oregon State and Stanford are still official Pac-12 members, then there are affiliates Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, and Little Rock. Even if the teams aren’t officially brought into the conference, the Big 12 does have many affiliate teams. At the end of the day, this situation is continuously changing and wrestling is an afterthought for the decisions. Arizona State to the Big 12 is currently the most substantial move, and will only strengthen the conference once it officially starts.

Sunday afternoon the 2023 U17 World Championships came to a close. The U17 tournament is always excellent as it features the international stars of tomorrow or at least a few years from now. From a US perspective, there’s plenty to be excited about in the future. First and foremost, the United States came away with a gold medal in all three styles, something that we haven’t accomplished since the reinstatement of this event in 2011. The “reinstatement” will be a reoccurring theme throughout this article as many of the facts happened for the first time since then (which was in 2011). The “gold medalists in each style” nugget is just a teaser of what’s to come with some of the fun facts we’ve discovered relating to the 2023 U17 World Championships. Men’s Freestyle Japan came away with a pair of U17 world champions in men’s freestyle (Yamato Ogawa - 51 kg and Akito Maehara - 60 kg); a feat they had not previously accomplished. Those two titles were the first in men’s freestyle for Japan since 2017 (Ryuto Sakaki - 58 kg). This isn’t entirely unusual because the tournament is an age-level format, but still very rare that the past three U17 World Championships have not featured a repeat champion in men’s freestyle. Pennsylvania native Joe Bachmann competed for Puerto Rico at 48 kg. He became the first wrestler to win a medal (bronze) representing Puerto Rico since the reinstatement of the tournament in 2011. India was held without a champion after having three in the past two tournaments. Manuel Wagin (65 kg - bronze) became the first German to medal at this tournament since Ilja Matuhin (85 kg - bronze) did so in 2014. Alexandru Bors (80 kg - silver) became the first Moldovan wrestler to make the finals since Stefan Tonu (63 kg) did so in 2016. Bors is also the only multiple-time world medalist for Moldovan since the reinstatement. For whatever reason, the US has had trouble at 60 kg. Since the weight class was established in 2018, we have not medaled at the weight. It’s the only weight in that stretch where we’ve gone without a medal. Ignacio Villasenor’s bronze medal at 45 kg broke a run of champions for the United States at 45 kg. Previously, we had the past three champions at the weight. Marc-Anthony McGowan (2019), Bo Bassett (2021), Dom Munaretto (2022). Remember there was a canceled tournament in the middle of that run (2020). With Zack Ryder’s bronze medal at 80 kg, he became just the seventh US men’s freestyler, since 2011, to earn multiple U17 medals. Building off of that last note, Ryder is in Penn State’s recruiting Class of 2024, along with one other multiple-time U17 world medalist, Luke Lilledahl. Three others are currently in the PSU room (Kurt McHenry, Alex Facundo, and Greg Kerkvliet). Surprisingly enough, Paul Kenny (NJ), Marcus Blaze (OH), and Ladarion Lockett (OK) are the first U17 World Champions in freestyle for each of their respective home states since the reinstatement. Ladarion Lockett and Magomed Idrisov (Russia - AIN) were the only two champions to go through the tournament while surrendering only a single point. Lockett outscored the competition 42-1, while Idrisov did so to the tune of 30-1. Women’s Freestyle As per usual, Japan dominated with six champions and eight world finalists. After Japan, India has the longest-running streak with at least one champion. They’ve had at least one every year since 2019. This time Savita extended that streak with her title at 61 kg. The 2023 tournament featured a pair of wrestlers who claimed their second U17 world gold medals. Sowaka Uchida (Japan - 57 kg) and Savita (India - 61 kg). Croatia had their first U17 world champion with Veronika Vilk winning the title at 69 kg. She was also a world medalist last year, taking bronze at the same weight. The host country, Turkey, finished with four world medalists. That topped their previous high of three, a mark hit in each of the last two years. Italy’s Fabiana Rinella became her country’s first multi-time Cadet world medalist taking bronze at 53 kg after a bronze in 2022 at 49 kg. Yeojin Min grabbed a bronze at 57 kg. She is the first U17 world medalist from South Korea in women’s freestyle. Leah Samsonsen became Norway’s first U17 world medalist since 2014, when Grace Bullen struck gold at 60 kg. Norway also had a fifth-place finisher so maybe they’re on the way up, as a country. Also breaking a bit of a drought was Mouda Hamdoun who was Egypt’s first U17 medalist since 2016, when they had a pair of bronze medalists. Morgan Turner’s win over Mona Ezaka (Japan) in the gold medal match at 43 kg, snapped a seven-match losing streak for the US women in gold medal matches against the Japanese. Before Turner, the last US woman to defeat the Japanese in a U17 gold medal bout was Ronna Heaton in 2015. 2023 marked the third time that the United States produced multiple champions. 2018 and 2021 were the other occasions. This was the first year that the US team was without a California native on the roster. The traditional power state topped out at having six team members in 2013 (Marina Doi, Regina Doi, Sariyah Jones, Cadence Lee, Gabby Garcia, and Alyssa LaFrancis). Men’s Greco-Roman Talk about the rich getting richer! Turkey’s line of heavyweight dominance isn’t going anywhere soon. Their heavyweight, Cemal Bakir, captured his second U17 world title and was the only multi-time world champion on the Greco front this year. It also marked the third 110 kg title in five tournaments for Turkey counting Muhammet Bakir in 2018. Greco was the most balanced out of the three styles in terms of championships won. Eight different countries came away from Istanbul with a gold medal. On that note, no country has an active streak of winning gold medals longer than two years. Greece was one of those countries that crowned a gold medalist in Greco-Roman. Arionas Kolitsopoulos claimed the title at 71 kg, making him Greece’s only world champion since the 2011 reintroduction. If you’re wondering, Greece had another medalist, a bronze in 2021, which was their only previous medal since 2011. Japan grabbed a gold medal at 80 kg with Taizo Yoshida. It marked the first time since Ken Matsui in 2017 that the Japanese won a U17 world championship. Gabriel Stan became Romania’s first U17 world medalist since Nicu Ojog did so with a bronze medal at 76 kg in 2015. The inclusion of unattached wrestlers from Belarus and Russia was most evident at the Greco tournament as wrestlers from those two nations combined to win ten medals. The United States went back-to-back years with a U17 world champion (Jordyn Raney/2023 and Joel Adams/2022), which is the first time that feat has occurred. They also have a three-year streak with at least one finalist (Cory Land/2021).

We are just about at the turning point where last season’s results and memories start to fade into the WrestleStat archives and the general wrestling community ramps up the interest and speculation of the upcoming season. And when it comes to Fantasy College Wrestling, drafters need to start thinking about who they want to pick in their 2024 draft. One way to do this is to look at the results of the 2023 season. The 2023 FCW Top-20 at each weight can give you a good idea of who the top Fantasy wrestlers in the country are. Seeing who returns, who leaves, who outplaced who, what teams made these lists more than others… all important information and data to digest. Of course, things can change quickly in college wrestling. Wrestlers can transfer, injuries can happen, and new stars can emerge. But the 2023 FCW Top-20 is a good starting point for your fantasy draft preparation, as you will see some (many, actually) repeat names from the 2022 Top-20 articles and even 2021 Top-20 articles. Take for instance: Pat Glory (PRIN), Yianni Diakomihalis (COR), Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ), and Carter Starocci (PSU). That championship group scored 223 Fpts in the 2023 season. How about these names though: Caleb Smith (APP), McKenzie Bell (RID), Evan Barczak (DREX), and Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU). That group scored 313 Fpts, and none were All-Americans. As you look at the list, keep in mind that not all of the top performers are household names. Some of the wrestlers who scored the most points in 2023 were not All-Americans. This is just one of the things that makes fantasy sports so exciting and unpredictable. So start your draft preparation today by taking a look at the 2023 FCW Top-20. You might just find some hidden gems that can help you win your league in 2024. 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 Notes: Two Dragons bookend the Top-20 with Evan Barczak taking the top spot by a nine-point gap. This is the second time Barczak has made the Top-20, last year coming in at #15 with only 45 Fpts. In 2023, he used his career-best 55.6% regular season bonus rate to become the #13 overall Fantasy Wrestler of the season. Second place Izzak Olejnik and third place Peyton Hall, however, are different stories. Both are three-time Top-10 Fantasy Wrestlers at 165, and both had their best finish in 2023. Previously Olejnik had been #7 in 2022 and #4 in 2021, while Hall was #4 in 2022 and #9 in 2021. Another Top-10 staple in the FCW ranks is Princeton’s Quincy Monday. He was one point behind Peyton Hall for third, and only had one loss during the regular season (to Julian Ramirez, #11 on this Top-20). You can do the math on that one. In 2022, Dean Hamiti wrestled 21 regular season matches and finished with 93 Fpts (#1 at 165 and the #3 overall Fantasy Wrestler in 2022). He also had a PPM of 4.4. This season, he wrestled 21 matches again, but finished with 68 Fpts which was good for #7 at 165 this past season. His PPM also dropped to 3.2. Several factors here, with a drop in pins (eight in 2022 and three in 2023), a slight drop in techs (four in 2022 and three in 2023), and two additional losses than his 2022 self. Gardner Webb’s Roderick Mosley started the season going 5-4 against D1 competition, which was all in the month of November. As of December till the end of the season, Mosley went 18-1 and six of those wins were via bonus. The lowest ranked NCAA Champion across all weights to make it into a Top-20 was Keegan O’Toole coming in at #17 (there was one 2023 National Champ that did not make it into the Top-20 at their weight… more on that in a few articles later). It’s surprising, because last season as a True Freshman he finished at #3 with only 17 matches and a PPM of 4.6 (which was tied for 3rd out of any other wrestler in any other Top-20 in 2022). This past season he had an ADP of 4.84 (Average #3 overall) and had a PPM of 4.1, the best of anyone in the 165 Top-20, but with only 13 matches. Four more matches with wins by Major, he would have been #7. O’Toole tied Clarion’s Cameron Pine with 53 Fpts (who had 18 more matches than O’Toole), but a 1.7 PPM which was tied for the lowest in the 165 Top-20. Six losses will do that. Patrick Kennedy and Alex Facundo had very similar seasons: both had 18 matches, Kennedy had a PPM of 3.1 and Facundo 2.9, but Kennedy finished 3 Fpts higher and can be directly related to their match on January 27, 2023. That’s fantasy wrestling, one result is the difference between 15th and 19th place. Who Missed The Cut: The only 165 AA to not make the Top-20 was Cam Amine (MICH), who only had 12 matches in the regular season amounting to 32 Fpts. He finishes as #30 for the 2023 Fantasy season. The #21, #22, AND #23 wrestlers all wrestled 21 regular season matches, but Justin McCoy (UVA) gets the “first man out” nametag over #22 Joshua Ogunsanya (COL) and #23 Brevin Cassella. They finished with 48 Fpts, 44 Fpts, and 42 Fpts respectively. Danny Braunagel (ILL) started the season going 13-3 in qualifying Fantasy scoring matches. After that (after Midlands), Braunagel went 3-5 for a net -6 Fpts, which sunk him to #28 with 35 Fpts. At the beginning of the season, Ohio State had a surprising wrestle-off result at 165 lbs, where Bryce Hepner challenged Carson Kharchla’s place in the Buckeyes lineup. While Kharchla was solid and a bloodrounder, he only wrestled in 12 countable matches and two of those were losses by Pin (-12 Fpts). Placing 47th in the 165 ranks, he finished with 15 Fpts. His counterpart, Hepner, wrestled six matches and accumulated 12 Fpts (good for 52nd). Other notables include Cameron Steed (MIZZ) with 37 Fpts at #26, Braxton Lewis (VMI) at #29 with 33 Fpts in 33 matches, Austin Yant (UNI) with 31 Fpts at #32, and Tyler Swiderski (ISU) coming in at #50 with 13 Fpts. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats. Previous 2023 Top-20 Articles: Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 125 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 133 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 141 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 149 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 157

The final American wrestler to step on the mat in Istanbul, Turkey also happened to be the most impressive American at the 2023 U17 World Championships. Ladarion Lockett stepped on the center mat and squared off with Seyedabolfazl Hosseini (Iran) in search of a world title and gold medal at 71 kg. Hosseini got on the scoreboard first after a largely uneventful first period. He was awarded a point after a shot clock violation on Lockett. The Oklahoma native got his offense going in the second period. Lockett was snapped down but continued to wrestle and worked his way into Hosseini’s legs. Hosseini looked content to give up a step-out point; however, Lockett kept working for a takedown at the edge. Late in the finals period, with Hosseini in desperate need of a score, Lockett out-hustled his Iranian counterpart for an insurance score and a 4-1 lead. That’s how the match would end and Lockett had his hand raised as a world champion. Lockett’s win gives the US men’s freestyle team three world champions in 2023, a number they have reached six times since the event was reinstated in 2011. On Saturday, Lockett clinched a medal, but needed a win on Sunday to ensure it was gold. The last member of the US men’s freestyle team to lock up a world medal was the smallest, in Ignacio Villasenor at 45 kg. Villasenor had unattached Russian, Agashirin Agasherinov, standing between him and a world medal. The opening period saw Villasenor do all of his damage with a step-out point while Agasherinov was on the shot clock. A few seconds later, Villasenor’s lead jumped to 2-0. He would make it 3-0 before the break. In the second period, Agasherinov grabbed the only takedown of the contest, but he could get no further. Villasenor prevented any further damage and got the win and the bronze medal. The only other American in action on Sunday was Christian Castillo at 51 kg. Castillo had the opportunity to wrestle back through repechage for a bronze medal; however, he was stopped in his first contest. Castillo led early in his match with Sadraddin Hasanov (Azerbaijan). 4-2 at the break and even 6-4 with a minute remaining in the bout. The key sequence for Hasanov saw the Azeri wrestler toss Castillo to his back to take an 8-6 lead. Hasanov would continue adding to his score and eventually won 12-6. The US men’s freestyle team finished the competition in third place with three champions and six medalists. The unattached Russian wrestlers tallied the highest point total (75), with Iran just a point behind in second. Final Results Men’s Freestyle 45 kg Gold Medal Match: Ahora Khateri (Iran) over Gor Buniatyan (Armenia) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match: Ebubekir Gur (Turkey) over Nurmukhamed Turdaly (Kazakhstan) Fall :58 Bronze Medal Match: Ignacio Villasenor (USA) over Agashirin Agasherinov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 3-2 51 kg Gold Medal Match: Yamato Ogawa (Japan) over Rohit (India) 9-8 Bronze Medal Match: Sasha Petrosyan (Armenia) over Amirmohammad Navazi (Iran) 2-1 Bronze Medal Match: Usman Indirbaev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Sadraddin Hasanov (Azerbaijan) 60 kg Gold Medal Match: Akito Maehara (Japan) over Sajad Pirdayeh (Iran) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Jamal Abbasov (Azerbaijan) over Yandro Soto Rivera (Puerto Rico) 6-0 Bronze Medal Match: Iasin Bersanukaev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Zandanbat Batsaikhan (Mongolia) 7-5 71 kg Gold Medal Match: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Seyedabolfazl Hosseini (Iran) 4-1 Bronze Medal Match: Nurdaulet Seilbekov (Kazakhstan) over Narender (India) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match: Islam Kazharov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Alp Begenjov (Turkmenistan) 5-1 92 kg Gold Medal Match: Sandro Kurashvili (Georgia) over Eyyup Cetin (Turkey) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Samir Dursunov (Kazakhstan) over Vinay (India) 12-1 Bronze Medal Match: Toohid Noory (Iran) over Genki Hoki (Japan) 12-2 US Results 45 kg Bronze Medal Match: Ignacio Villasenor (USA) over Agashirin Agasherinov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 3-2 51 kg Repechage: Sadraddin Hasanov (Azerbaijan) over Christian Castillo (USA) 12-6 71 kg Gold Medal Match: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Seyedabolfazl Hosseini (Iran) 4-1

Saturday at the 2023 U17 World Championships featured the first set of medal matches in men’s freestyle and the last five weight classes got underway. In those medal matches, the United States shined going 4-4 with two gold medals and two bronzes. Paul Kenny at 48 kg set the tone for the rest of the men’s freestyle team when he captured gold early in the finals. His opponent, Yamato Furusawa (Japan) got on the board off of a shot clock point in the opening stanza. The second period saw Furusawa get in on a single leg; however, Kenny was deftly able to work his way out of bounds without surrendering a point. Furusawa would later go on the shot clock and couldn’t convert. The ensuing point proved to be the difference as the match ended 1-1 with Kenny holding criteria. The next gold medal match featured another American with Marcus Blaze taking on Ankush at 55 kg. Blaze struck first as he go in on a single leg and wouldn’t let Ankush retreat out of bounds before gathering both legs for a takedown. Ankush returned the favor as he quickly got in on a single leg, but in this instance, Blaze was able to prevent a takedown, only surrendering a step-out point. That 2-1 lead for Blaze would be the score at the break. In the second period, Blaze would extend his lead after a pair of step-out points. Ankush would finally get a takedown of his own with approximately :45 remaining to pull within a point, 4-3. For the remainder of the bout, Ankush pushed forward, but it wasn’t enough, as Blaze prevented any further scoring. Blaze was declared the winner, 4-3, and captured the gold medal at 55 kg. A big 6-0 lead after the first period in the 65 kg bronze medal match was enough for Brock Mantanona to earn a win over France’s Khizir Dasiyev. Dasiyev would get a four-pointer and a late step-to to make the score 6-5, but he could get no closer. After three nail-biters, things were much less dramatic at 80 kg, as Zack Ryder blew through Ismayil Asadli (Azerbaijan) to capture his second consecutive U17 world bronze medal. Ryder secured a fall after moving the score to 14-2 following a double leg to Asadli’s back. The star from the final five wrestlers that started their tournament today was Oklahoma native Ladarion Lockett. The 71 kg star made the world finals without surrendering a point in four matches leading up to the finals. To clinch a medal and his spot in the gold medal match, Lockett needed only :52 seconds to dispose of Narender (India) 10-0. He’ll face off with Iran’s Seyedabolfazl Hosseini, the 2023 U17 Asian champion, tomorrow. There are two other US wrestlers with medal possibilities tomorrow. At 45 kg, Ignacio Villasenor advanced to the semifinals before losing to Iran’s Ahora Khateri (Iran), 5-2. He’ll fall into a bronze medal match with repechage determining his opponent. Repechage is the name of the game for 2022 U17 World silver medalist Christian Castillo. Castillo was narrowly edged 5-4 by Rohti (India), who would advance to the finals at 51 kg. He’ll have Sadraddin Hasanov (Azerbaijan) in repechage to open the day on Sunday. Final Results Men’s Freestyle 48 kg Gold Medal Match: Paul Kenny (USA) over Yamato Furusawa (Japan) 1-1 Bronze Medal Match: Joe Bachmann (Puerto Rico) over Marian Rusu (Romania) 15-5 Bronze Medal Match: Sam Sayar (Iran) over Azymberdi Ashyrgulyyev (Turkmenistan) 10-0 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Ankush (India) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match: Akhmad Musakhadzhiev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Arshak Lulukyan (Georgia) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match: Amirreza Teymorizad (Iran) over Oubayda Itaev (France) 10-0 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Sina Khalili (Iran) over Magomed Alibakharchiev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Brock Mantanona (USA) over Khizir Dasiyev (France) 6-5 Bronze Medal Match: Manuel Wagin (Germany) over Vladimir Azaryan (Armenia) 13-13 80 kg Gold Medal Match: Magomed Idrisov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Alexandru Bors (Moldova) 2-0 Bronze Medal Match: Zack Ryder (USA) over Ismayil Asadli (Azerbaijan) Fall 2:53 Bronze Medal Match: Konstansine Petriashvili (Georgia) over Dovletgeldi Myradov (Turkmenistan) 6-4 110 kg Gold Medal Match: Yusif Dursunov (Azerbaijan) over Yedige Kassimbek (Kazakhstan) 4-2 Bronze Medal Match: Rakhman Malakhmedov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Balazs Csipkes (Romania) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Henrik Haykyan (Armenia) over Aleksandre Abramishvili (Georgia) 11-0 US Results 45 kg Qualification: Ignacio Villasenor (USA) over Frederick Bachmann (Puerto Rico) 6-0 Quarterfinals: Ignacio Villasenor (USA) over Dhanraj Shirke (India) 10-0 Semifinals: Ahora Khateri (Iran) over Ignacio Villasenor (USA) 5-2 48 kg Gold Medal Match: Paul Kenny (USA) over Yamato Furusawa (Japan) 1-1 51 kg Round of 16: Rohit (India) over Christian Castillo (USA) 5-4 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Ankush (India) 4-3 60 kg Round of 16: Jamal Abbasov (Azerbaijan) over Ben Davino 5-0 65 kg Bronze Medal Match: Brock Mantanona (USA) over Khizir Dasiyev (France) 6-5 71 kg Qualification: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Victor Soto Rivera (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Round of 16: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Felix Schmitt (Germany) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Nurdaulet Seilbekov (Kazakhstan) 8-0 Semifinals: Ladarion Lockett (USA) over Narender (India) 10-0 80 kg Bronze Medal Match: Zack Ryder (USA) over Ismayil Asadli (Azerbaijan) Fall 2:53 92 kg Qualification: Aeoden Sinclair (USA) over Bence Veress (Hungary) Fall 1:02 Round of 16: Toohid Noory (Iran) over Aeoden Sinclair (USA) 5-3

Gable Steveson certainly left his mark on the wrestling world. He is only 23 years old, and he has already won a pair of NCAA titles, two Hodge trophies and an Olympic gold medal. Despite all the success, Steveson was more than ready to move on to the more theatrical version of the sport known as professional wrestling. He famously signed with WWE while still in college and left his shoes on the mat following his second title win. At the time, it seemed like a storybook ending of one career and the beginning of a prodigious new one. However, things have not exactly turned out that way. Despite being signed with the professional wrestling company, Steveson returned to freestyle this year and looked perhaps even more dominant as he won both the U.S. Open and Final X. There is talk that he might make a run at the 2024 Olympics or even use his final season of eligibility and return for one more college season. On top of all that, Steveson finally had his first professional wrestling match last weekend at the NXT-branded Great American Bash show. There are a variety of questions swirling around the Minnesota wrestler. Will he stick with professional wrestling? Will he return to college? Will he make another run at the Olympics? Will he switch to MMA? To truly appreciate where we are, and where we might be headed, let’s start again. The following is a timeline of Steveson’s involvement with professional wrestling and how that impacts his future choices. 1/16/2019 - Steveson trains with former Gopher wrestler Brock Lesnar in the Minnesota room. During his collegiate career, Steveson would regularly appear with Lesnar and his storyline manager Paul Heyman. 5/17/2020 – Steveson tweets “I will rule the WWE soon” and then deletes the post. He would eventually post the same a week later. 10/27/2020 - Minnesota posts an article about both Steveson brothers and how their dream is to be in WWE. 8/30/2021 - The WWE announces Bobby Steveson has signed and will be part of the Performance Center’s latest class. 4/8/2021 – Steveson is shown in the crowd with WWE executives Canyon Ceman and Stephanie McMahon at an NXT live show. NXT is WWE’s developmental brand. Wrestlers usually spend a few years there before moving up to the so-called main roster. 8/6/2021 – Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer reports, “There is a lot of speculation [Steveson] will start with WWE after the Olympics and not return to college for his senior year.” 8/12/2021 – During an appearance on the Pat McAfee podcast, Steveson, now an Olympic gold medalist, alludes to potentially signing with the UFC, WWE, or even an NFL team. 8/21/2021 – Steveson along with fellow Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock were honored during WWE’s SummerSlam show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. 9/9/2021 – ESPN reported that Steveson had signed a multi-year deal with WWE. The deal was an NIL deal that would allow him to return to Minnesota for another year of college wrestling and train for professional wrestling at a “remote training facility.” 9/13/2021 – During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Steveson said, “There's a very good chance that I go straight to the main roster and not go to NXT. I'm open for anything. With the way things are going, I think I'm going to jump straight to the main roster.” 10/4/2021 – Steveson was drafted by the Raw brand. Wikipedia describes the WWE Draft as “a process used by American professional wrestling promotion WWE while in a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect…the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand’s respective television show. To date, Steveson has not wrestled for the Raw brand. 12/13/2021 - During an episode of Raw, Steveson is shown ringside and fist-bumped fellow former collegiate wrestler Bobby Lashley. 12/22/2021 - Bobby Steveson makes his WWE debut under the name of Damon Kemp. His match against Andre Chase was taped for WWE’s 205 Live show. 3/19/2022 - Steveson leaves his shoes on the mat after winning his second NCAA title for Minnesota and plans to move on to WWE full-time. 4/3/2022 – At WWE’s pinnacle event, Wrestlemania, Steveson entered the ring to celebrate with a victorious tag team. He was then accosted by 2012 Olympian Chas Betts who performs under the name Chad Gable. After some back and forth, Steveson suplexed the other Gable and celebrated. 9/5/2022 - Meltzer reported in his newsletter, “Everything is cold on Gable Steveson. His brother is doing great and they wanted to debut him some time ago, but it hasn’t happened because reviews on his training progress haven’t been good. They were going to fast-track him after he finished his last season in March, but he hasn’t even been around or talked about.” 10/6/2022 - ESPN reported that Steveson is now training full-time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. after receiving treatment for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. 12/9/2022 – Steveson appeared on an episode of WWE’s SmackDown show. He joined fellow Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle and sprayed milk on former Greco wrestlers Chad Gable (Chas Betts) and Otis (Nikola Bogojevic). 3/9/2023 – In an interview with MMA Fighting, Steveson expressed a desire to return for the 2024 Olympics without leaving WWE. “I would love a second run,” he said. “I feel I have a lot more left in the tank to showcase. I want to prove USA right and keep moving forward overall and become one of the best American amateur wrestlers ever, and I hope I can achieve the Bruce Baumgartner status of having a bunch of medals and having the accolades to show and be a part of WWE and be an entertainer, too.” 4/29/2023 – After announcing his return to freestyle wrestling only a few weeks before the U.S. Open, Steveson dominated the field and qualified for Final X. In the Open finals, he dominated rival Nick Gwiazdowski with a 10-0 match termination victory. 6/10/2023 – Steveson scored a pair of one-sided wins over Mason Parris at Final X to earn a spot on the 2023 World Team. He is expected to compete in Serbia in September. 6/12/2023 – In an article posted by Sports Illustrated, Steveson explained that he would like to return to the Olympics and 2024, but still spoke about his pending debut with WWE. "I am still doing my thing," Steveson said. "I have changed my diet, my body appearance. I wanted to be the best thing ever so when I did go on TV, it was going to be a sight that nobody has seen before. My time is coming and it's coming sooner than a lot of people think." 7/4/2023 – Steveson appeared on the NXT television show as a cornerman for wrestler Eddy Thorpe. Following the match, Steveson suplexed a bunch of folks and celebrated. One of the wrestlers he threw was world bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock who is also a developmental wrestler with WWE. 7/25/2023 – Steveson announces on NXT television that he will have his first professional wrestling match against veteran Baron Corbin on NXT’s Great American Bash show on July 30. 7/30/2023 – After years of build-up, Steveson finally has his first professional wrestling match against Corbin on the Great American Bash show. The bout ended in a “count out” after both wrestlers failed to re-enter the ring. They continued to brawl and were eventually separated by security. InterMat spoke with Mike Sempervive of Wrestling Observer radio following Steveson’s debut match. The review was rather blunt. “If that’s as good as he is, at this point, there was no reason to do it,” Sempervive said. “Joe Ariola [former Buffalo wrestler also signed to WWE] and his brother (Damon Kemp) are naturals. He’s not. And I get he’s been doing whatever pro training he’s been doing, but he’s obviously not going to be able to split time and be successful at this.” It is still early in his professional wrestling career, but with all the hype, it is natural for fans to feel some disappointment. However, it is interesting to note that his freestyle wrestling does not appear to be suffering due to his time in both sports. In some ways, he looked more dominant than ever. Is it realistic to continue to pursue both simultaneously? Will he ultimately choose to turn his back on professional wrestling and return to college? There have been so many surrounding Steveson’s future for so long, and in many ways, we are not any closer to an answer.

Friday was a big day in Istanbul at the U17 World Championships as the women’s freestyle portion of the event wrapped up, after the first five men’s freestyle weights got underway. The US women’s freestyle team finished the tournament in second place as a team and saw six young women earn world medals. As of Friday morning, four women had the opportunity to earn medals and managed to push through and claim bronze medals. Jaclyn Bouzakis (40 kg), Haylie Jaffe (61 kg), and Jasmine Robinson (69 kg) each finished with a bronze medal at their respective weight classes. Bouzakis only needed 1:27 to put ten points on the board and pin Nurana Asadli (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete). Jaffe used a second-period surge to take a 6-2 victory over local favorite Beyza Akkus (Turkey). Also beating an opponent from the host country was Jasmine Robinson, who pulled out a clutch win over Elif Kurt. Robinson and Kurt were deadlocked at one point a piece (with Kurt ahead on criteria) late in the final stanza. Robinson pulled out a throw for four points in the final :20 seconds to grab a 5-1 win. Not only did Robinson’s throw clinch a bronze medal for the Texas native, but it put the United States ahead of India for second place. A match later Veronika Vilk (Croatia) pinned Srishti (India), which clinched a second place finish for the Stars and Stripes. The six world medals are the most by a women’s freestyle Cadet/U17 in a tournament that included Japan. They had seven at the 2021 tournament (without Japan). The US men’s freestyle team got off to a great start as four of the five wrestlers active on Friday advanced to the semifinals. Two of those four (Paul Kenny - 48 kg and Joey Blaze - 55 kg) were victorious and will wrestle for gold medals tomorrow. The other two (Brock Mantanona - 65 kg and Zack Ryder - 80 kg) have bronze medal hopes. Heavyweight Sampson Stillwell was eliminated after his Armenian counterpart fell in the semifinals. Final Results Women’s Freestyle 40 kg Gold Medal Match: Koharu Akutsu (Japan) over Rachana (India) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match: Shokhista Shonazarova (Uzbekistan) over Klara Winkler (Germany) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Jaclyn Bouzakis (USA) over Nurana Asadli (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) Fall 1:17 46 kg Gold Medal Match: Natsumi Masuda (Japan) over Muskan (India) 11-6 Bronze Medal Match: Hava Konca (Turkey) over Daniella Hossein Beky (Norway) Fall 2:24 Bronze Medal Match: Diana Rybchenko (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Meiramgul Akhmetzhan (Kazakhstan) 2-0 53 kg Gold Medal Match: Sakura Onishi (Japan) over Olga Ovchinnikova (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Fabiana Rinella (Italy) over Karlee Brooks (USA) 7-4 Bronze Medal Match: Sakibjamal Esbosynova (Uzbekistan) over Amelia Tomala (Poland) Fall 1:21 61 kg Gold Medal Match: Savita (India) over Konami Ono (Japan) 9-6 Bronze Medal Match: Haylie Jaffe (USA) over Beyza Akkus (Turkey) 6-3 Bronze Medal Match: Leah Samsonsen (Norway) over Leonie Steigert (Germany) 5-3 69 kg Gold Medal Match: Veronika Vilk (Croatia) over Srishti (India) Fall :55 Bronze Medal Match: Jasmine Robinson (USA) over Elif Kurt (Turkey) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Liliana Kazmina (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Evelin Ujhelji (Serbia) 3-0 US Results Women’s Freestyle 40 kg Bronze Medal Match: Jaclyn Bouzakis (USA) over Nurana Asadli (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) Fall 1:17 53 kg Repechage: Karlee Brooks (USA) over Liliana Kapuvari (Hungary) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Fabiana Rinella (Italy) over Karlee Brooks (USA) 7-4 61 kg Bronze Medal Match: Haylie Jaffe (USA) over Beyza Akkus (Turkey) 6-3 69 kg Bronze Medal Match: Jasmine Robinson (USA) over Elif Kurt (Turkey) 5-1 Men’s Freestyle 48 kg Qualification: Paul Kenny (USA) over Oliwier Orzechowski (Poland) 11-0 Round of 16: Paul Kenny (USA) over Azymberdi Ashyrgulyyev (Turkmenistan) 4-2 Quarterfinals: Paul Kenny (USA) over Yeraly Zhetpissov (Kazakhstan) Fall 3:38 Semifinals: Paul Kenny (USA) over Sam Sayar (Iran) 8-8 55 kg Qualification: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Amirreza Teymorizad (Iran) 2-1 Round of 16: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Azatberdi Ashyrgulyyev (Turkmenistan) 12-1 Quarterfinals: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Oubayda Itaev (France) 10-0 Semifinals: Marcus Blaze (USA) over Samvel Gevorgyan (Armenia) 11-0 65 kg Qualification: Brock Mantanona (USA) over Almas Sabyr (Kazakhstan) 14-6 Round of 16: Brock Mantanona (USA) over Ankh Altangerel (Mongolia) 16-5 Quarterfinals: Brock Mantanona (USA) over Zafarbek Kamolov (Uzbekistan) 13-2 Semifinals: Magomed Alibakharchiev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Brock Mantanona (USA) 14-2 80 kg Round of 16: Zack Ryder (USA) over Askhab Khajiyev (Kazakhstan) 2-1 Quarterfinals: Zack Ryder (USA) over Saurabh Yadav (India) Fall :59 Semifinals: Alexandru Bors (Moldova) over Zack Ryder (USA) 4-1 110 kg Round of 16: Henrik Haykyan (Armenia) over Sampson Stillwell (USA) 13-3

Zane Richards makes methodical improvements to his game that fueled his Final X win over Thomas Gilman The only detail Zane Richards seemed to miss at Final X was the time of his flight home. Richards was machine-like in how he maneuvered and calculated his every move to beat Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Gilman in their best-of-three series, and he worked constantly for 12 minutes of match time to stay in favorable positions. Richards was far more successful than most anticipated and took the best-of-three series with a 4-3 win in Round 1 and a late four-point move to pull off an 8-6 victory in Round 2. In doing so, Richards won the spot at 57 kilograms on the United States world freestyle team. Richards said he made an appearance at the Beat the Streets gala later that night, met up with friends and started making his way to the airport for his flight back to Illinois. And while he did end up getting to the gate on time, it was a much closer call than it needed to be. “I read the itinerary wrong,” Richards said. “I thought the shuttle time was the flight time, so I messed that up, which is great.” That lapse in Richards’ attention span flew in the face of his biggest strengths as a wrestler, which include his mat IQ, his preparation and the cold, hard science behind his six-year rise from a very good collegiate wrestler at Illinois to jumping level after level on the senior circuit. While Richards was in tune with every detail in his quest to get the most out of himself, an occasional non-wrestling detail is known to slip through the cracks. When he got back home, Richards said he caught up with friends, family and coaches. He had a nice dinner, did a little laundry and tackled the sizzling task of paying his quarterly taxes as he reacclimated to daily life. There was undeniably extra juice in his step as he tackled those tasks as the new, undisputed top 57-kilogram wrestler in the United States. “My life was good beforehand and it’s still pretty good night now,” he said. Airport shuttles notwithstanding, Richards can use his diligence and brain power to simplify life’s daily complexities, just as he does with his wrestling. He is familiar with the art of wrestling freely, but supports his movements with a steady collection of data points before, during and after matches. Richards knows his game plans and can say with sobering honesty whether he did or didn’t execute them at a high enough level. After all, the science of getting better has no time to coddle his feelings. In the immediate aftermath of the wins over Gilman, Richards was more looking forward to tapping into all that information than he was celebrating what he achieved. The ultimate conquest wasn’t just to make the U.S. world team, but to win a world title. And in a more macro sense, his goal continues to be extracting every single ounce of improvement he can. The biggest wins of his career were no exception. “I don't think there's ever a quote-unquote perfect match,” Richards said. “There's very close and that's part of being human. But it’s a moment to learn and be excited for the fact that you have some of the best data you could possibly grab. So why not invest time into analyzing it a little bit and trying to get the most out of it?” Perhaps the most critical sequence of Richards’ series win over Gilman was the perfect marriage of intuition and information. With 45 seconds on the clock in Round 2, Richards trailed 6-4 and was pressing forward. He was moving Gilman out of his stance, but wasn’t yet at a desperation point to throw something big at him. At the same time, Richards was acutely aware of the idea that Gilman could choose to take his own shot and try to kill clock that way. Richards was ready for it and stretched Gilman out on a show-me shot. He then took him where his weight was carrying him for a takedown and exposure for that 8-6 lead. In the flow of the position, which lasted less than two seconds from Gilman’s shot to his four-point counter, Richards ran the numbers and saw zero downside in blocking Gilman out with his right leg and dragging him to the mat. He could feel in the moment that option offered the most favorable outcome of any move he could make. From Richards’ point of view, the better he prepared, the more ready he would be to capitalize when a big opportunity presented itself in a clutch situation. At Final X, that was his moment. “You've done so many reps to prepare for that moment,” Richards said. “You get repetitions to where it's so rehearsed that your body can operate, even when it's tired. You know how to operate in those stressful situations. Then, moments of inspiration can occur to where, ‘Oh, there's a chance here, if I do this well, I can score four and the drawback is nothing.’ “There's no drawback for me attempting this takedown in this direction because I either score two or four. Conveniently, it was four in that situation.” And with that, Richards delivered one of the more stunning results at Final X, just as he did at the U.S. Open two months earlier when he took down NCAA champ Nick Suriano to set up the opportunity against Gilman. Their Final X pairing marked a rematch from the 2020 Olympic Trials, when Gilman teched Richards on his way to repping the U.S. in Tokyo. Much has changed since then, not the least of which is the methodical way Richards has sharpened his entire skill set to secure the opportunity he has now. He grasps the reality that his name doesn’t give American wrestling fans the same warm, fuzzy feeling that Gilman or even Suriano would at 57 kilograms, but he’s no less deserving of his chance. Richards has growing confidence that not only can he represent the United States well at the World Championships in September, but he can keep winning bigger and bigger matches there and beyond. The science behind his training has given rise to more confidence, and the results have started to follow after years of chipping away at it. “I believe in myself,” he said. “I know I can do these things. I know I can win. And as much as I say those things and think those things, what's really important is I go and I do the things as best as I can to make sure my behavior is in line with what I value.” The joy of getting better, of course, always comes back to numbers for Richards, and he has used them to fuel his steady climb into the elite tier of U.S. wrestlers. Just don’t ask him for his flight info. “You enjoy how there are struggles, but in those moments of struggle, there's opportunity to learn,” Richards said. “It's exciting to know that, ‘Man, there's something I'm missing here. But if I can find that one piece of the puzzle, I can move up a couple of percentage points, and then I could start beating this guy that has been plaguing my nightmares forever.’”

I’ve stepped back a bit from InterMat lately, but there’s a topic I enjoy/hate following, which is conference realignment. And it’s making the rounds in sports news right now. We’re a few weeks from the start of football and the #1 thing everyone in sports is talking about is conference realignment as Colorado jumped ship from the PAC-12 to the Big 12 and, as I write this on Thursday, it looks like the PAC-12 is now on the verge of collapse as Arizona State, Arizona, and Utah are rumored to be in talks of joining the Big 12 while Oregon and Washington are in similar conversations with the Big 10. If that happens, the PAC-12 conference will drop to just four members. Oregon State, Stanford, Cal, and Washington State. It’s unknown what would happen to those schools if that were to go down. The PAC-12 could somehow grab a few new members from the Mountain West and use their brand name to stay alive as a conference. Many believe Washington State and Oregon State will get absorbed by the Mountain West, and it’s really unclear what could happen with Cal and Stanford. Admitting that no one really knows what will happen in all of this, there’s one thing I believe. In the scenario that the PAC-12 falls, the best thing for the sport of wrestling would be for the Mountain West conference to start sponsoring the sport. The Mountain West already has two teams with wrestling. Air Force and Wyoming. Both are currently affiliate members in the Big 12 conference for wrestling and have had a lot of success in it. Oregon State and Stanford both have wrestling programs and would need a home. The affiliate PAC-12 schools of Cal-Poly, CSU Bakersfield, and Arkansas Little-Rock would also need homes. The most reasonable solution for all of that? Add wrestling in the Mountain West. You would have three core members with Oregon State, Wyoming, and Air Force. You could add homes for the three current PAC-12 affiliates, and even if Stanford doesn’t join the Mountain West as a full member. Again, we have no idea what would happen here, but there are rumors they could remain an independent athletic department if they don’t join the Big Ten. That would add the brand of one of the best academic schools in the country to the Mountain West. I would also explore bringing in California Baptist. They joined the Big 12 because the PAC-12 denied their admission to the conference. They don’t make any geographic sense and travel would be much easier on them in this Mountain West version of wrestling. Making a swap with them and Little Rock could be a reasonable move to think about as Little Rock makes more geographical sense in the Big 12 also and would put the Big 12 at twelve wrestling schools. This conference of Oregon State, Wyoming, Air Force, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and Stanford would be strong. Could reasonably be considered part of the “Power Five” of college wrestling programs. Again, nothing may happen here. The PAC-12 may stay together in some form or another, and in some ways that would be better for wrestling if they do. But if it does fall, the Mountain West conference could be a savior for the sport of wrestling in the western United States if they choose to sponsor it.

Thursday marked the first day that medals were awarded in women’s freestyle at the U17 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey and the American team left with three. That total matched the number that the 2022 squad accumulated across all ten weights. The 2022 team put three in the finals but did not win any gold medals. That wasn’t the case today as not one, but two, US women struck gold. Morgan Turner (43 kg) kicked off the festivities with a clutch performance to claim the first world title. Piper Fowler finished off the session with another gold medal at 73 kg. In the interim, Heather Crull was dominant in a bronze medal-winning effort. The US women’s freestyle team will finish with multiple world champions for only the third time (2018 and 2021) since the Cadet/U17 World Championship event was reinstated in 2011. Turner’s gold medal bout started out in methodical fashion. She got on the scoreboard against Mona Ezaka (Japan) via a shot clock violation, which accounted for the only scoring in the opening stanza. Ezaka would take the lead with a shot clock point of her own in the second. With Turner trailing, she picked up the pace, but was pushed out of bounds for Ezaka to extend her lead to 2-1. With only :11 seconds remaining and a fresh restart, Ezaka dove in on a leg attack. Turner stuffed the attempt and spun almost all the way around her Japanese opponent for a takedown while sinking in a half-nelson along the way. The clock expired as the official gave Turner two points, which was later white-paddled. Though she appeared defeated, Ezaka was initially ruled the victor. The US corner challenged the ruling which was overturned and Turner was given the two points and declared the winner, 3-2. With Turner’s triumph, it snapped a seven-match losing streak by U17 women against Japan in gold medal matches. Ronna Heaton, in 2015, was previously the most recent American to defeat Japan for gold. Right after Turner’s heart-stopping win, there was a less-dramatic medal-winning performance from Crull. Needing less than :30 to secure her first takedown, Crull added another and a pair of points from exposure to lead 6-0 over Lonisa Reka (Kosovo) within the first minute. After pushing the bout to technical superiority territory, Crull got the fall and clinched a bronze medal at 49 kg. Like Turner, Fowler’s gold medal match started off slowly as a shot clock violation from Lotta Englich (Germany) accounted for the first point of the bout. Fowler appeared to be in trouble later in the first as she was extended underneath the German after a shot attempt. The American managed to build up into a better position, locked up a double leg, and finished a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break. In the second period, Fowler found herself on the shot clock and forced Englich into a front headlock. Fowler locked up a cradle and exposed the German to lead 5-0. The cradle wasn’t particularly tight and allowed Englich to slip out and catch Fowler on her back. After a few tense seconds, Fowler was able to bridge and turn off of her back out of danger. Englich could not get any closer to scoring, which meant Fowler was a 5-2 victor and a world champion. There may be more medals on the horizon with the second half of the women’s team, who started their tournament Thursday morning. The American squad saw three women advance to the semifinals and all ended up with opponents from India. Unfortunately, all suffered the same fate. They were beaten by their Indian counterparts and will have to rebound and try again for a bronze medal tomorrow. At 40 kg, Jaclyn Bouzakis struck first as she secured a takedown against India’s Rachana. Frequently, Rachana would use her length advantage to tie up Bouzakis’ wrists in a front headlock position. In the first of these exchanges, Bouzakis came out on top. Late in the first, in that same predicament, Rachana managed to get exposure to take a 2-2 lead. After the break, Bouzakis got a takedown after a sequence that mirrored her first; however, Rachana wrestled through the position and got a reversal to inch within a point at 5-3. The pair got into the familiar front headlock position late in the contest and again it was Rachana who scored to take a 5-4 lead. With less than :10 remaining in the bout, Bouzakis was left to look for a reversal to go ahead on criteria. She was dangerously close at the final whistle, but ultimately came up short, 5-4. Bouzakis will wrestle for a bronze medal tomorrow against the winner of a repechage match between Ainaz Abdykadyrova (Kyrgyzstan) and Nurana Asadli (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete). At 61 kg, the defending U17 world champion, Savita, made her presence felt early and often. Haylie Jaffe attempted to get off to a fast start but was hit with a takedown down early in the first period. Savita never let up and led 6-0 at the halfway point. The Indian star continued her onslaught and the match was stopped via tech fall in the second period with a 10-0 score. Jaffe will have to wait for repechage to generate a bronze medal opponent as she’ll face either Beyza Nur Akkas (Turkey) or Sofya Zmazneva (Kazakhstan). After two dominating performances, Jasmine Robinson met the Asian U17 champion Srishti (India) at 69 kg. Srishti looked ready for Robinson’s blast double from space and even retaliated with her own, for four points, in the first period. The second period saw Robinson adjust her strategy and go upper-body, tossing Srishti in a lateral throw for four points, taking the lead. A similar throw at the edge did not warrant the full four points but extended Robinson’s advantage to 5-4 after a step out. Down by a point, Srishti turned up the pace and worked her way into a takedown to take a late 6-5 lead. Desperate, Robinson tried a headlock in the waning seconds, which did not connect and led to a final score by Srishti. The Indian will advance to the world finals after an 8-5 victory. Robinson will have to wait to see who emerges from repechage to challenge for a bronze medal. She’ll take on the winner of Viktorija Irkle (Latvia) and Elif Sevval Kurt (Turkey). Final Results 43 kg Gold Medal Match: Morgan Turner (USA) over Mona Ezaka (Japan) 3-2 Bronze Medal Match: Nilufar Nurmukhammadova (Uzbekistan) over Alina Mazharouskaya (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Aleksandra Berezovskaia (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Maria Gkika (Greece) 5-1 49 kg Gold Medal Match: Rinka Ogawa (Japan) over Sviatlana Katenka (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 11-0 Bronze Medal Match: Heather Crull (USA) over Lonisa Reka (Kosovo) Fall 1:29 Bronze Medal Match: Tana Tiuliush (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Drishti (India) 4-4 57 kg Gold Medal Match: Sowaka Uchida (Japan) over Eylem Engin (Turkey) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Neha (India) over Yeo Jin Min (South Korea) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match: Viktoria Boynova (Bulgaria) over Aziza Keldibekova (Kyrgyzstan) 5-4 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Chisato Yoshida (Japan) over Duygu Gen (Turkey) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Mouda Hamdoun (Egypt) over Maryia Makarchanka (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) Fall 3:48 Bronze Medal Match: Margarita Salnazarian (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Mukhayyo Rakhimjonova (Uzbekistan) Fall 3:43 73 kg Gold Medal Match: Piper Fowler (USA) over Lotta Englich (Germany) 5-2 Bronze Medal Match: Elmira Yasin (Turkey) over Asaloy Amangeldieva (Uzbekistan) 6-0 Bronze Medal Match: Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Ako Uchiyama (Japan) 2-0 US Results 40 kg Quarterfinals: Rachana (India) over Jaclyn Bouzakis (USA) 5-4 43 kg Gold Medal Match: Morgan Turner (USA) over Mona Ezaka (Japan) 3-2 46 kg Qualification: Valeria Tsitova (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Rianne Murphy (USA) Fall 1:06 49 kg Bronze Medal Match: Heather Crull (USA) over Lonisa Reka (Kosovo) Fall 1:29 53 kg Round of 16: Karlee Brooks (USA) over Elmira Saparbekova (Kazakhstan) 12-1 Quarterfinals: Sakura Onishi (Japan) over Karlee Brooks (USA) 6-0 61 kg Round of 16: Haylie Jaffe (USA) over Emilia Swierczewska (Poland) 11-0 Quarterfinals: Haylie Jaffe (USA) over Ekaterina Radysheva (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 7-0 Semifinals: Savita (India) over Haylie Jaffe (USA) 10-0 69 kg Round of 16: Jasmine Robinson (USA) over Ai Sakai (Japan) 12-0 Quarterfinals: Jasmine Robinson (USA) over Nigina Rajabova (Uzbekistan) Fall 1:34 Semifinals: Srishti (India) over Jasmine Robinson (USA) 8-5 73 kg Gold Medal Match: Piper Fowler (USA) over Lotta Englich (Germany) 5-2

We are just about at the turning point where last season’s results and memories start to fade into the WrestleStat archives and the general wrestling community ramps up the interest and speculation of the upcoming season. And when it comes to Fantasy College Wrestling, drafters need to start thinking about who they want to pick in their 2024 draft. One way to do this is to look at the results of the 2023 season. The 2023 FCW Top-20 at each weight can give you a good idea of who the top Fantasy wrestlers in the country are. Seeing who returns, who leaves, who outplaced who, what teams made these lists more than others… all important information and data to digest. Of course, things can change quickly in college wrestling. Wrestlers can transfer, injuries can happen, and new stars can emerge. But the 2023 FCW Top-20 is a good starting point for your fantasy draft preparation, as you will see some (many, actually) repeat names from the 2022 Top-20 articles and even 2021 Top-20 articles. Take for instance: Pat Glory (PRIN), Yianni Diakomihalis (COR), Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ), and Carter Starocci (PSU). That championship group scored 223 Fpts in the 2023 season. How about these names though: Caleb Smith (APP), McKenzie Bell (RID), Evan Barczak (DREX), and Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU). That group scored 313 Fpts, and none were All-Americans. As you look at the list, keep in mind that not all of the top performers are household names. Some of the wrestlers who scored the most points in 2023 were not All-Americans. This is just one of the things that makes fantasy sports so exciting and unpredictable. So start your draft preparation today by taking a look at the 2023 FCW Top-20. You might just find some hidden gems that can help you win your league in 2024. 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 Notes: In 2022, Peyton Robb went down a weight and seemed to jump a level. In Fantasy though, it only amounted to a finish at #63. This past season? He’s your top 157 Fantasy Wrestler with 94 Fpts and a 4.1 PPM (in 23 matches). That’s the second-best PPM in the whole weight, only to bested by #3 Austin O’Connor on the 157 Fantasy ranks (4.6 ppm in 16 matches). Sandwiched between the top two wrestlers, Kendall Coleman started the season winning six of his first nine matches by bonus, and solidifying himself as the #2 with a pin in his final match of the regular season. Remember in the previous article I mentioned the Quaker switcheroo? The second part of that was Anthony Artalona who bumped up and finally made a Fantasy Top-20. Artalona was 5th with 65 Fpts, but had he completed his pin against Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA) instead of getting pinned, it would have been a 12-point swing and landed him as #3 instead. National Finalist Levi Haines and Stanford standout Daniel Cardenas were the only two true freshmen to make the Top-20, both wrestling 21 matches and almost identical PPMs (Haines with a 3 PPM and Cardenas 2.8 PPM). The difference looks to be that, despite both taking a loss, Haines had eight bonus matches against D1 competition to Cardenas’ four. Both had an ADP of over 118. The two non-starters of the Top-20 also had very similar seasons in that #12 Caleb Dowling (19-6 against D1 competition) and #20 Cole McComas (19-7 against D1 competition), but it was the extra loss by McComas and the almost 50% bonus rate by Dowling that was the difference in placement. Sometimes in Fantasy Wrestling, all that matters is getting the “W” on the bout sheet. That's what Peter Pappas did, wrestling 22 matches and only securing four bonus wins (one being a FFT to start the season). The transfer from Edinboro to George Mason hadn’t won more than 13 D1 wins in a regular season (2020), and this past season he had 18 along with his first qualification for Nationals. Josh Humphreys may have just made his first podium appearance at Nationals, but it’s not the first time he's made the Top20 in Fantasy Wrestling for a season. In 2022 he finished at #10 with 53 Fpts in 18 matches. This past season, he accumulated 47 Fpts in only 12 matches (due to injury) which got him to eek into the Top-20. He missed the full month of January, where Lehigh had six duals, and the way he was wrestling he could have gone 6-0 in those matches. An additional 18 Fpts would have landed him at #5. Who Missed The Cut: All-Americans Will Lewan (MICH) and Bryce Andonian (VT) not only met in the 7th place match at Nationals, but also met back-to-back in the fantasy rankings going #27 and #28. Lewan finished with 31 Fpts in 21 regular season matches while Andonian had 30 Fpts with only nine matches. #21 Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ) started the season with seven straight wins, with four of them being via tech. After that, however, Jacques only recorded one bonus win (a pin over Rider’s Jake Silverstein at the Scuffle) in his next 12 matches where he also had three losses. He finished with 45 Fpts. Kaden Gfeller (OKST) slots one spot back behind Jacques with 43 Fpts and the lowest bonus rate of his career (16.7% in the regular season and 10.3% for the entire season). The second-highest wrestler from Central Michigan in 2023 for Fantasy was Corbyn Munson at #23. He went 2-2 at the Michigan State Open to start the season (winning by major & tech and losing by tech & pin for a net -2 Fts, and a short streak at the Cleveland State Open, but where he jumped up the ranks was in the last stretch of the season (also known as “Dual Szn”), going 9-2. He finished with 37 Fts and four Fpts better than Wyoming’s Jacob Wright. Other notables include Tanner Peake (DAV) who finished with 32 Fpts, the same amount as Jacob Butler (formerly of OU) but with a 0.5 PPM better than Butler to get the #25 spot. #29 goes to Indiana’s Derek Gilcher with 30 Fpts, Jason Kraisser (ISU) edges out Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA) 29 to 27 Fpts to finish #31 and #32 respectively, and Paddy Gallagher (OHST) ends the 2023 fantasy season at #50 with 17 Fpts in 16 matches. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats. Previous 2023 Top-20 Articles: Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 125 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 133 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 141 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 149

Wednesday at the U17 World Championships marked the first day of competition in women’s freestyle. The United States had a strong showing that resulted in a pair of young women in tomorrow’s finals. A third will be competing in a bronze medal match. The 2022 women’s team featured three medalists (all silver’s) a number that was almost achieved with only the first five competitors wrestling on day one. In addition, the Greco-Roman portion of the competition wrapped up; though the American team did not have any wrestlers remaining in medal contention. The US Greco squad finished in ninth place on the strength of a gold medal showing from Jordyn Raney at 55 kg. Illinois native Morgan Turner was the first American to make the finals after a 4-2 victory over Nilufar Nurmukhammadova (Uzbekistan). Turner wasted little time in the first period, as she jumped out to an early lead on the strength of a takedown off of a blast double leg. She’d add to her lead a short time later after exposing Nurmukhammadova during a low leg attack. In the second period, Turner was close to securing a second takedown on two occasions, but was narrowly stopped by Nurmukhammadova. The Uzbek woman got on the scoreboard with a pair of points off of exposure that could have gone Turner’s way. Nurmukhammadova continued to push for a winning score during the closing seconds but was stonewalled by Turner. Prior to the semifinals, Turner notched a pair of 10-0 tech’s. Tomorrow’s gold medal matchup will feature Turner taking on Japan’s Mona Ezaka, a 2022 U17 World silver medalist at 40 kg. Also in 2022, Ezaka earned a silver medal at the Asian U20 Championships. The second finalist for the United States is Tennessee’s Piper Fowler at 73 kg. Fowler pitched a pair of shutouts in her first two wins, before meeting Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) in the semifinals. Tied at two after a period, yet trailing on criteria, Fowler got to work early in the second with a double leg at the edge for four points. At the one-minute mark, Fowler got another takedown, this time off of a sucker drag. During the last :20 seconds, Fowler withstood a barrage of headlock attempts from Kazlova’s, getting a takedown on the final attack. That made the final score 10-2 in Fowler’s favor. Fowler will meet Germany’s Lotta Englich in Thursday’s gold medal match. Englich was a bronze medal winner at the U17 European and World Championships last year. Earlier in 2023, Englich was fifth in Europe. The final American wrestling for a medal tomorrow is Indiana’s Heather Crull at 49 kg. Crull had a tech and a 13-8 victory in the quarterfinals before falling to Sviatlana Katenka (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-1 in the semifinals. Crull’s bronze medal opponent has already been determined. She’ll square off with Lonisa Reka (Kosovo). Reka was eighth at the U17 European Championships earlier this year. Everest Leydecker (57 kg) and May Prado (65 kg) both had the misfortune of losing to quality opponents, who later fell to the Japanese entrant at their respective weights, which eliminated them. Medal Round Match (Greco-Roman) 45 kg Gold Medal Match - Turan Dashdamirov (Azerbaijan) over Rustem Abatsiev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 5-4 Bronze Medal Match - Alireza Amirighasroddashti (Iran) over Kadyrbek Almanbetov (Kyrgyzstan) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match - Yurik Mkhitaryan (Armenia) over Nika Tsetskhladze (Georgia) 9-0 51 kg Gold Medal Match - Ilia Kandalin (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Artur Broyan (Armenia) 9-0 Bronze Medal Match - Manu Yadav (India) over Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan) 9-0 Bronze Medal Match - Koba Karumidze (Georgia) over Dostonbek Oripov (Uzbekistan) 3-1 60 kg Gold Medal Match - Roman Karimov (Azerbaijan) over Saba Surmanidze (Georgia) 4-3 Bronze Medal Match - Mingiian Goriaev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Varun (India) 15-6 Bronze Medal Match - Kiryl Valeuski (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan) 12-8 71 kg Gold Medal Match - Arionas Kolitsopoulos (Greece) over Ahmadreza Mohamdian (Iran) 6-5 Bronze Medal Match - Abdurakhman Abdulkadyrov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Dias Seitkaliyev (Kazakhstan) 10-0 Bronze Medal Match - Alkan Akar (Turkey) over Luka Lomadze (Georgia) 5-1 92 kg Gold Medal Match - Saba Purtseladze (Georgia) over Saipula Gadzhimagomedov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 7-7 Bronze Medal Match - Gabriel Stan (Romania) over Maxim Ukraintsev (Kazakhstan) 9-0 Bronze Medal Match - Mikayil Ismayilov (Azerbaijan) over Aliakbar Asgharivaladi (Iran) 3-1 USA Results Women’s Freestyle 43 kg Qualification: Morgan Turner (USA) over Saadat Guliyev (Azerbaijan) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Morgan Turner (USA) over Alina Mazharouskaya (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-0 Semifinals: Morgan Turner (USA) over Nilufar Nurmukhammadova (Uzbekistan) 4-2 Gold Medal Match: Morgan Turner (USA) vs. Mona Ezaka (Japan) 49 kg Qualification: Heather Crull (USA) over Nik Aktas (Turkey) 10-0 Quarterfinals: Heather Crull (USA) over Lucja Korcz (Poland) 13-8 Semifinals: Sviatlana Katenka (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Heather Crull (USA) 10-1 Bronze Medal Match: Heather Crull (USA) over Lonisa Reka (Kosovo) 57 kg Qualification: Neha (India) over Everest Leydecker (USA) 5-0 65 kg Round of 16: Mukhayyo Rakhimjonova (Uzbekistan) over May Prado (USA) 8-0 73 kg Round of 16: Piper Fowler (USA) over Ako Uchiyama (Japan) 6-0 Quarterfinals: Piper Fowler (USA) over Laia Horta Gallardo (Spain) 13-0 Semifinals: Piper Fowler (USA) over Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 10-2 Gold Medal Match: Piper Fowler (USA) vs. Lotta Englich (Germany)

NC State's 4x All-American Trent Hidlay sits down with ACC correspondent Robbie Wendell to discuss Saturday's Wrangle in the Wild III event. Trent talks about the origin of the event, between him and older brother Hayden, and runs down some of the participants. This year's card features former DI national qualifiers, an All-American, a Final X participant along with other talented local products and youth wrestlers. After talking Wrangle, Trent and Robbie hit on all of the relevant current news surrounding the NC State program. Trent Hidlay Wrangle in the Wild.mp4

Tuesday evening, 2023 Fargo U17 freestyle national champion Elijah Diakomihalis (Hilton, NY) gave a verbal to Cornell University. News of Diakomihalis' commitment was broken by the MorWrestling Twitter account. With his performance in Fargo, Diakomihalis was elevated into MatScouts national rankings at 182 lbs for the first time, coming in at #19. Diakomihalis is the first member of the Class of 2025 to commit to Cornell. He was not ranked on the Class of 2025 Big Board, but suffice it to say, he’ll be included in the next post-Fargo update. Yes, that’s a familiar last name for Cornell fans and general wrestling fans alike, as Elijah is the younger brother of four-time NCAA champion and world silver medalist, Yianni, and current Big Red team member, Greg. After Elijah’s Fargo win, Yianni noted on social media that he’s the first member of the Diakomihalis family with a Fargo championship. Yianni was a Cadet runner-up in freestyle, while Greg was third. During his high school career, Elijah has finished second and third at the New York State Championships. He was a runner-up this year at 189 lbs and third at 172 lbs, as a freshman. Seeing as Diakomihalis is already at 182/189 before his junior year of high school, 184/197 could be where he’ll make his mark for the Big Red. For more recruiting information, check out InterMat’s College Commitment Page.

Hilton

The first day of the 2023 U17 World Championships saw an American lock up a medal and advance to the Greco-Roman finals as Jordyn Raney did so at 55 kg. Tuesday he had the opportunity to decide what color that medal would be against defending world champion Suraj of India. Raney got on the board first as he established position and forced Suraj to step out, which resulted in a 1-0 lead. That would be the score after a period. Not content to sit on a lead, Raney attacked right off the whistle in the second period with an arm drag and added two points to his score. Shortly after, Suraj got on the scoreboard with a takedown off of a throw-by; however, Raney was able to thwart any further scoring chances in par terre. Once again, Raney didn’t try to let his one-point lead hold up, he added to it with two points from a headlock. As Suraj was pushing forward on the ensuing exchange, Raney hit another headlock, this time it featured exposure and gave him a 9-2 lead. Before his Indian opponent could recover, Raney used a trapped-arm gut wrench for another set of exposure points which ended the bout via technical superiority. The Indian corner challenged the sequence, but lost, resulting in a 12-2 final score for Raney. In his world championship run, Raney defeated a pair of returning world champions (Suraj and Aytjan Khalmakhanov - Uzbekistan). His title marks the first time since the Cadet/U17 World Championships were reinstated in 2011 that America has crowned champion in back-to-back years (Joel Adams - 2022). Raney wasn’t the only American to wrestle for a medal on Tuesday. Heavyweight Nicholas Sahakian scored a 5-1 victory over Tomas Rusi (Finland) to earn a spot in a bronze medal match at 110 kg. In the bronze medal contest, Sahakian squared off with Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete). The bout belonged to Emirov, who tossed Sahakian for four points late in the opening period and secured the fall right before the closing buzzer. Sahakian will settle for fifth place. The only other athlete from day one that was in the medal hunt on Tuesday was Billy Greenwood at 65 kg. Greenwood put up a valiant effort against Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece) but was defeated 9-6 during the repechage phase. Of the Americans whose tournaments started only Tuesday, only Aiden Cooley (92 kg) managed to notch a victory. Cooley defeated Serbia’s Stevan Kojic, 9-0 in the Round of 16. The remaining American contingent was eliminated from the tournament as none of their opponents made the finals. Medal Results 48 kg Gold Medal Match: Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (Iran) over Shakhzod Ruziokhunov (Uzbekistan) 4-0 Bronze Medal Match: Elnar Ziyadov (Azerbaijan) over Murat Khatit (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 5-4 Bronze Medal Match: Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia) over Ivan Seibel (Germany) Fall 1:46 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India) 12-2 Bronze Medal Match: Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) over Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran) 11-2 Bronze Medal Match: Kuttubek Rysmatov (Kyrgyzstan) over Halil Cinar (Turkey) 11-1 65 kg Gold Medal Match: Zaur Beslekoev (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan) 5-1 Bronze Medal Match: Islombek Karimjonov (Uzbekistan) over Octavian Cernetchi (Moldova) 8-0 Bronze Medal Match: Kumar Sachin (India) over Giorgi Tchikaidze (Georgia) 6-2 80 kg Gold Medal Match: Taizo Yoshida (Japan) over Mikhail Shkarin (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) 8-6 Bronze Medal Match: Erik Ter Matevosyan (Armenia) over Eleftherios Pappas (Greece) 8-2 Bronze Medal Match: Alireza Abbasi (Iran) over Uladzislau Dubrouski (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) 2-1 110 kg Gold Medal Match: Cemal Bakir (Turkey) over Ronak (India) 2-0 Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) Fall 1:59 Bronze Medal Match: Amirhossein Abdevali (Iran) over Mohamed Ahmed (Egypt) 2-0 US Results 45 kg Round of 16: Alireza Amirighasroddashti (Iran) over Henry Aslikyan (USA) 11-0 51 kg Round of 16: Husniddin Ulugbekov (Turkmenistan) over Hudson Loges (USA) 4-1 55 kg Gold Medal Match: Jordyn Raney (USA) over Suraj (India) 12-2 60 kg Qualification: Yerdaulet Lassim (Kazakhstan) over Sam Herring (USA) 6-3 71 kg Qualification: Ivan Bialiayeu (Belarus - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Arvin Khosravy (USA) 4-1 92 kg Round of 16: Aiden Cooley (USA) over Stevan Kojic (Serbia) 9-0 Quarterfinals: Gabriel Stan (Romania) over Aiden Cooley (USA) 9-0 110 kg Bronze Medal Match: Eldar Emirov (Russia - Individual Neutral Athlete) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) Fall 1:59

Southeast Polk

This off season I had the chance to catch up with head coaches Obe Blanc and Mark Branch, who are in very different positions entering next season. Blanc recently took the reins at North Dakota State and is making his first strides as the man in charge. On the other side is Branch who will be entering his 15th year at the helm for the Wyoming Cowboys. He discussed how things have changed for him over the years in so many ways along with some memories of his first few years in Laramie. It was the conversation with Branch that made me want to take a little trip down memory lane for the head coaches in the Big 12 Conference. I looked at when each coach took over their respective programs, who was their first All-American and/or champ, and for fun added a time capsule element by including the Billboard Music Year-End Hot 100 to see what the top song was the year they were named head coach. Currently, John Smith is the only active coach in the conference to capture an NCAA team title. But recently, the momentum has moved to Brian Smith’s Tigers. Of the conference’s six teams that placed in the top 20, Mizzou had the best finish placing 5th in Oklahoma last year with 64.5 points. Mizzou along with Northern Colorado had the only champs last year as well. Andrew Alirez gave Troy Nickerson his first All-American and champion all in one shot as he defeated Real Woods in the finals. But let’s go to the topic at hand. Of note, for Blanc I went with the top song during the week he took over which is coincidentally the same day. And for Roger Kish, I went back to his NDSU days for his first AA since he hasn’t had a season at OU yet.

Mount Sinai

Wantagh

We are just about at the turning point where last season’s results and memories start to fade into the WrestleStat archives and the general wrestling community ramps up the interest and speculation of the upcoming season. And when it comes to Fantasy College Wrestling, drafters need to start thinking about who they want to pick in their 2024 draft. One way to do this is to look at the results of the 2023 season. The 2023 FCW Top-20 at each weight can give you a good idea of who the top Fantasy wrestlers in the country are. Seeing who returns, who leaves, who outplaced who, what teams made these lists more than others… all important information and data to digest. Of course, things can change quickly in college wrestling. Wrestlers can transfer, injuries can happen, and new stars can emerge. But the 2023 FCW Top-20 is a good starting point for your fantasy draft preparation, as you will see some (many, actually) repeat names from the 2022 Top-20 articles and even 2021 Top-20 articles. Take for instance: Pat Glory (PRIN), Yianni Diakomihalis (COR), Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ), and Carter Starocci (PSU). That championship group scored 223 Fpts in the 2023 season. How about these names though: Caleb Smith (APP), McKenzie Bell (RID), Evan Barczak (DREX), and Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU). That group scored 313 Fpts, and none were All-Americans. As you look at the list, keep in mind that not all of the top performers are household names. Some of the wrestlers who scored the most points in 2023 were not All-Americans. This is just one of the things that makes fantasy sports so exciting and unpredictable. So start your draft preparation today by taking a look at the 2023 FCW Top-20. You might just find some hidden gems that can help you win your league in 2024. 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 Notes: Appalachian State's favorite wrestler, and a FCW favorite as well, Jon Jon Millner finishes his career as a four-time Top-10 wrestler in Fantasy Wrestling with this past season culminating in being the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 149 and #3 overall wrestler. The 2022 season was his “worst” placing (6th at 149), and he was 3rd and 4th in the 2021 and 2020 seasons, respectively. Despite all that info, he had an Average Draft Position of 26.48 and averaged as the fourth wrestler from 149 to be picked in WrestleStat drafts. Who was picked at 149 ahead of Millner? Well, Yianni Diakomihalis was the 1st (averaging as the #2 overall pick in drafts), Sammy Sasso was the 2nd (with an ADP of 21.16), and then Austin Gomez (WISC), who averaged only 0.32 better in draft position than Millner. Surprisingly, Millner and Sasso have been attached to the hip these past four years in Fantasy Wrestling, with Millner always finishing one spot better than Sasso since the 2020 season. This season, Miller 1 & Sasso 2. In 2022, Millner 6th & Sasso 7th. In 2021, Millner 3rd & Sasso 4th, and finally in 2020 with Millner finishing 4th & Sasso 5th. It’s no surprise then that they would have an ADP one pick apart (with Sasso winning that one, at least). One half of Maryland’s Miller-Time duo, and who was a part of one of the wildest opening round matches at NCAAs with #11 on this list Shayne Van Ness, finishes at #3 and Yahya Thomas makes his second Top-20 team, outshining his 2022 season by 14 spots. Although he didn't make it out of EIWA, Army’s Trae McDaniel takes the #6 spot in this year’s 141 Top-20 by way of having the most matches wrestled at 38 (with four of those not counting as they were not D1 competition). The only non-starter to make the Top-20 was true freshman, and now former Wolfpack member, Finn Solomon. Solomon finished five Fpts higher than starter Jackson Arrington with four less. He wasn’t the only true freshman to make the list, though. Caleb Henson can thank his early season upset win over Sammy Sasso for being #4 on the Fantasy Top-20. Had he lost, he would have been 7th. Jackson Arrington tied Yianni Diakomihalis with 48 Fpts, but took different paths to get there. Yianni wrestled only 13 regular season matches compared to Jackson’s 25, which is why Yianni got the #15 rank and Jackson with his 1.9 PPM got the 16th. Max Murin, who in the previous three seasons had not cracked even the Top-35, finished his AA season at #7. Had he scored one takedown in any of his three losses (granted the match with Gomez would have taken it to overtime…), he would have moved up to #4. An early season weight switcheroo for two Quakers help both of them make their respective Top-20s, with Doug Zapf making his second Top-20 in four years (#12 at 141 in 2020 and just missing out in 2022 being #21 at 157, losing out by 0.3 ppm). More on the second Quaker in the next article… By the way, all eight All-Americans made the Top-20. No other weight can claim that in 2023. Who Missed the Cut: Colin Realbuto of UNI was the first man out of the Top-20 finishing with 43Fpts. He separated himself from two others who tied him in Fpts with the slight PPM advantage of 2.2 compared to Virginia’s Jared Verkleeren who was #22 with 1.7 PPM and Lock Haven’s Nicholas Stonecheck at #23 with 1.3 PPM. Now-former Iowa State Cyclone Cameron Robinson put together a 14-3 season against D1 competition. Had he reversed one of those losses to a win, he would have finished at #16. The third highest drafted 149 lber, Austin Gomez (WISC) only wrestled 12 matches in the 2023 season due to a non-contact injury against Yahya Thomas at the end of January. He has the best PPM of any wrestler at 149 that did not make the Top-20, and if he had only lost to Yahya by Decision and won the last three Wisconsin duals by Decision as well, he would have finished 17th instead of #29. Graham Rooks (IND) wrestled 31 matches, seven of which were not D1, and finished with 1.1 PPM and 33 Fpts. That was good for the #30 spot. Meanwhile, Paniro Johnson (ISU) made waves to start the season knocking off highly-ranked Austin Gomez on the first weekend of the season, but only having three bonus wins (all Majors) and a loss by Pin held him back to #35 with 27 Fpts. Other notables include Chance Lamer (MICH), now a Cal Poly Mustang, finishing #32 with 30 Fpts, Victor Voinovich (OKST), now a Hawkeye, finishing at #51 with 20 Fpts, and Ridge Lovett (NEB) who finished at #69 (nice) with 10 Fpts. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats. Previous 2023 Top-20 Articles: Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 125 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 133 Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 141

The 2023 U17 World Championships got underway on Monday and it was Greco-Roman that led off the competition. The United States contingent was propelled by Jordyn Raney at 55 kg, who had an impressive performance and made his way into the finals. Raney wasn’t seriously pushed in his first two bouts, winning each by identical 8-0 tech’s. It was the quarterfinals where the level of competition really was ratcheted up for the American. His opponent was 2022 U17 world champion Aytjan Khalmakhanov of Uzbekistan. In a back-and-forth contest, Raney managed to avoid exposure late in the bout to take the 8-6 victory. It was wild in the semifinals, as well, when Raney squared off with Mohammadreza Gholami of Iran. In a match filled with exciting flurries, it was Raney who came out on top of the last one, one that saw him score from a four-point headlock with around :15 seconds left on the clock. Raney finished the period on top after additional action. The Iranian corner challenged the ruling and lost, making the final score 10-7 in Raney’s favor. Raney will wrestle for gold tomorrow after 11 AM Eastern against Suraj of India. He’s a returning world champion at this weight class and an Asian silver medal winner from earlier this year. With Raney reaching the world finals, it marks the third consecutive year with a U17 world finalist in Greco-Roman for the United States. In 2021, Cory Land took silver, while Joel Adams won gold last year. A streak of three straight years hasn’t happened for the United States since the U17 tournament was reintroduced in 2011. While Raney has clinched at least a silver medal, there are two other Americans that started competition today and can still wrestle for bronze medals. Billy Greenwood (65 kg) and Nicholas Sahakian (110 kg) have been pulled back into tomorrow’s repechage round. Ezekiel Witt (48 kg) and Adam Waters (80 kg) were both eliminated Monday. Monday’s US Results 48 kg Edgar Petrosyan (Armenia) over Ezekiel Witt (USA) 8-0 55 kg Jordyn Raney (USA) over Ahmed Shaban (Egypt) 8-0 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Shu Wei Chung (Chinese Taipei) 8-0 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Uzbekistan) 8-6 Jordyn Raney (USA) over Mohammadreza Gholami (Iran) 10-7 Finals: vs. Suraj (India) 65 kg Yusif Ahmadli (Azerbaijan) over Billy Greenwood (USA) 8-0 Repechage: Athanasios Efthymiadis (Greece) 80 kg Adam Waters (USA) over Miguel Vega Salazar (Colombia) 6-1 Adam Waters (USA) over Aman (India) 9-0 Eleftherios Pappas (Greece) over Adam Waters (USA) 8-1 110 kg Nicholas Sahakian (USA) over Daniel Szilagyi (Hungary) 3-1 Ronak (India) over Nicholas Sahakian (USA) 9-0 Repechage: vs. Tomas Rusi (Finland)

Clovis

Johnston