InterMat Staff

On Sunday, 2023 Fargo Junior National Greco-Roman champion Cadyn Coyle (Bennington, NE) made his college decision public on social media as he chose to stay in-state and wrestle for perennial DII power Nebraska-Kearney. Just over a week ago, Coyle was in the FargoDome receiving a stop sign after winning the Junior title at 106 lbs. In the finals, Coyle downed 2023 U17 Greco-Roman World Team member Ezekiel Witt via tech, 10-2. Coyle finished four of his five Fargo matches via fall or tech on his way to the title. The championship marked the second time that Coyle has earned Junior All-American honors in Fargo, as he was third at 100 lbs last year. He also was four in 16U Greco-Roman in 2021. Coyle’s best style has been Greco-Roman, as evidenced by his three All-American honors from Fargo. In 2021, Coyle also finished fourth in Greco at the UWW World Team Trials competing at 45 kg. In high school action, Coyle is a two-time state finalist for Bennington High School. He was a state runner-up as a sophomore and a 113 lb Class B state champion in 2023. Before the 2022-23 high school season, Coyle took second at Preseason Nationals. Judging by his current weight, it’s likely that Coyle becomes the elusive and valuable “career 125 lber” for the Lopers. That could come in handy as Nebraska-Kearney did not have a national qualifier at that weight class in 2023. Coyle will be a senior in 2023-24 at Bennington High School. For his profile on InterMat’s Commitment Page, click here .

Paramus

Boyertown

Life University Women's head coach Ashley Flavin sat down with Morgan to discuss all things surrounding the program. Coach Flavin talks about how the program has built and maintained a strong culture during the ten years of its existence. The two review the 2022-23 season, which was very productive, yet still bittersweet for Flavin and the team. Among the many other topics discussed are recruiting strategy, NIL, the future of women's college wrestling, and much more! For the full interview see InterMat's Rokfin page: (no paywall) Click Here

Men’s Freestyle 45 kg - Ignacio Villasenor (Colorado) 48 kg - Paul Kenny (New Jersey) 51 kg - Christian Castillo (Arizona) - 2022 World Silver Medalist 55 kg - Marcus Blaze (Ohio) 60 kg - Ben Davino (Illinois) 65 kg - Brock Mantanona (California) 71 kg - Ladarion Lockett (Oklahoma) 80 kg - Zack Ryder (New York) - 2022 World Bronze Medalist 92 kg - Aeoden Sinclair (Wisconsin) 110 kg - Sampson Stillwell (Missouri) Women’s Freestyle 40 kg - Jaclyn Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) 43 kg - Morgan Turner (Illinois) 46 kg - Rianne Murphy (Indiana) 49 kg - Heather Crull (Indiana) 53 kg - Karlee Brooks (Arizona) 57 kg - Everest Leydecker (Arizona) 61 kg - Haylie Jaffe (Pennsylvania) 65 kg - May Prado (Georgia) 69 kg - Jasmine Robinson (Texas) - 2022 U17 World 9th Place 73 kg - Piper Fowler (Tennessee) Greco-Roman 45 kg - Henry Aslikyan (California) 48 kg - Ezekiel Witt (Kansas) 51 kg - Hudson Loges (Nebraska) 55 kg - Jordyn Raney (Kentucky) 60 kg - Sam Herring (Pennsylvania) 65 kg - William Greenwood (Colorado) 71 kg - Arvin Khosravy (California) - 2022 U17 World 5th place 80 kg - Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) 92 kg - Aiden Cooley (Texas) 110 kg - Nicholas Sahakian (California)

Don’t look now, but we’re right around the corner from the start of World Championship-season with U17 World’s getting underway from Istanbul, Turkey on Monday. Greco-Roman will lead off the competition. It will be hard for the American team to top the performance from 2022, as the US came away with 14 medals. For the first time since the U17/Cadet World Championships were reinstated in 2011, we brought home at least two medals in all three styles. Speaking of, here are all of the Americans to win medal at the U17/Cadet World Championships since 2011. 2022 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Domenic Munaretto (Illinois) - Gold 48 kg: Christian Castillo (Arizona) - Silver 51 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Missouri) - Gold 55 kg: Jax Forrest (North Carolina) - Silver 65 kg: Tyler Kasak (Pennsylvania) - Silver 71 kg: Joseph Sealey (North Carolina) - Gold 80 kg: Zack Ryder (New York) - Bronze 92 kg: Max McEnelly (Minnesota) - Bronze 110 kg: Koy Hopke (Wisconsin) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 43 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Arizona) - Silver 46 kg: Gabriella Gomez (Illinois) - Silver 61 kg: Valerie Hamilton (Illinois) - Silver Greco-Roman 65 kg: Joel Adams (Nebraska) - Gold 92 kg: Cody Merrill (California) - Bronze 2021 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Bo Bassett (Pennsylvania) - Gold 48 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Missouri) - Silver 51 kg: Nate Jesuroga (Iowa) - Bronze 65 kg: Meyer Shapiro (Maryland) - Gold 80 kg: James Rowley (Oregon) - Silver 110 kg: Jim Mullen (New Jersey) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Erica Pastoriza (Arizona) - Gold 43 kg: Angie Dill (New York) - Bronze 46 kg: Ava Ward (Missouri) - Bronze 49 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Texas) - Bronze 53 kg: Katie Gomez (California) - Gold 69 kg: Amit Elor (California) - Gold 73 kg: Lillian Freitas (California) - Bronze Greco-Roman 55 kg: Cory Land (Alabama) - Silver 2019 Men’s Freestyle 45 kg: Marc-Anthony McGowan (Florida) - Gold 71 kg: Alex Facundo (Michigan) - Bronze Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Sterling Dias (Nevada) - Silver 49 kg: Cristelle Rodriguez (California) - Silver 57 kg: Skylar Hattendorf (New Hampshire) - Silver 61 kg: Kylie Welker (Wisconsin) - Bronze 69 kg: Amit Elor (California) - Bronze 2018 Men’s Freestyle 48 kg: Richie Figueroa (California) - Silver 51 kg: Matt Ramos (Illinois) - Gold 71 kg: Alex Facundo (Michigan) - Bronze 80 kg: Abe Assad (Illinois) - Bronze 92 kg: AJ Ferrari (Texas) - Bronze 110 kg: Greg Kerkvliet (Minnesota) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Sterling Dias (Nevada) - Bronze 43 kg: Emily Shilson (Minnesota) - Gold 49 kg: Tiare Ikei (Hawaii) - Bronze 69 kg: Macey Kilty (Wisconsin) - Gold Greco-Roman 92 kg: Jacob Kaminski (Illinois) - Bronze 2017 Men’s Freestyle 46 kg: Kurt McHenry (Virginia) - Gold 63 kg: Jacori Teemer (New York) - Bronze 69 kg: Will Lewan (Illinois) - Gold 76 kg: Aaron Brooks (Maryland) - Gold 85 kg: Gavin Hoffman (Pennsylvania) - Bronze 100 kg: Greg Kerkvliet (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 43 kg: Emily Shilson (Minnesota) - Silver 65 kg: Alara Boyd (Indiana) - Silver Greco-Roman 100 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Colorado) - Gold 2016 Men’s Freestyle 42 kg: Kurt McHenry (Virginia) - Gold 58 kg: Vito Arujau (New York) - Silver 63 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (New York) - Gold 69 kg: David Carr (Ohio) - Bronze 76 kg: Travis Wittlake (Oregon) - Bronze 85 kg: Jacob Warner (Illinois) - Bronze 100 kg - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 46 kg: Alleida Martinez (California) - Bronze 49 kg: Macey Kilty (Wisconsin) - Bronze 52 kg: Ronna Heaton (South Dakota) - Silver 56 kg: Gracie Figueroa (California) - Bronze 60 kg: Alara Boyd (Indiana) - Bronze 2015 Men’s Freestyle 54 kg - Daton Fix (Oklahoma) - Bronze 58 kg - Yianni Diakomihalis (New York) - Gold 63 kg - Jarod Verkleeren (Pennsylvania) - Gold 85 kg - Owen Webster (Minnesota) - Bronze 100 kg - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 46 kg: Alleida Martinez (California) - Silver 49 kg: Ronna Heaton (South Dakota) - Gold 65 kg: Kayla Marano (Georgia) - Bronze 70 kg: Alexis Bleau (New York) - Bronze 2014 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg - Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania) - Gold 69 kg - Mason Manville (Virginia) - Gold 76 kg - Mark Hall (Minnesota) - Gold 100 kg - Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania) - Silver Women’s Freestyle 56 kg: Teshya Alo (Hawaii) - Gold 2013 Men’s Freestyle 63 kg - Aaron Pico (California) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 38 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Bronze 40 kg: Regina Doi (California) - Silver 56 kg: Teshya Alo (Hawaii) - Bronze Greco-Roman 42 kg - Cade Olivas (California) - Bronze 69 kg - Jon Jay Chavez (Idaho) - Bronze 2012 Men’s Freestyle 63 kg - Zain Retherford (Pennsylvania) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 38 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Gold 56 kg: Kayla Miracle (Indiana) - Silver 70 kg: Anastasia Lobsinger (California) - Bronze 2011 Men’s Freestyle 85 kg - Sam Brooks (Illinois) - Bronze 100 kg - Adam Coon (Michigan) - Gold Women’s Freestyle 40 kg: Marina Doi (California) - Silver 46 kg: Haley Augello (Illinois) - Gold

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: Newcomer to the fantasy ranks is Brock Hardy who finished the 2023 regular season as the top 141 wrestler by two points over eventual NCAA Champion Andrew Alirez, but to Alirez’s credit he wrestled eight less regular season matches than Hardy. The last time Alirez was in the Top-10 was in 2020 when he wrestled 149 (finished as #8 in Fpts at 149). Making a jump in the standings from the previous season was Beau Bartlett. I think we can all agree that Beau was not wrestling at his preferred weight in 2022, where he was 11-6 in the regular season and finished as #44 in Fpts at 149. This past season was a different story. He improved his bonus percentage and winning percentage to climb up the fantasy ranks to #3. Hot on his tail was Rider’s McKenzie Bell (by two Fpts) who ended the regular season with a 10-match win-streak, with eight majors and one FFT. Funny enough, Bartlett and Bell met during the season where Bartlett won by pin. If Bell could have held it to a loss by major, he would have been the #3 over Bartlett. Tying at 61 Fpts were Mosha Schwartz and Lachlan McNeil, with Schwartz edging out McNeil by 0.1 PPM. One point behind both of them was Ryan Jack who had a handful of matches less. Saul Ervin finished the 2022 season and 2021 season at #28 in Fpts, but this year with a 19-7 record and a nine-match win streak to end the season. Fantasy mainstay Matt Kazimir makes his third Fantasy Top-20 in four years and Cole Matthews makes his second consecutive Top-10 at the weight (finished #4 in 2022). Pitt also had backup Ryan Michaels finish #20. And speaking of backups, Cleveland State’s true freshman Dylan Layton placed 54 spots better than the starter. Clay Carlson and Cole Matthews finished #4 and #5 in 2022, but in the 2023 season fell to #14 and #10 respectively. Carlson had seven losses in 2023 compared to three in 2022, which can be seen as the main cause for his drop in the rankings. Had he only sustained three losses like in 2022, he would have been #3 with 71 Fpts. Who Missed The Cut: Boilermaker AA Parker Filius had a couple questionable losses throughout the regular season, which held him out of the Fantasy Top-20 at the weight. Filius finished at #26 with 34 Fpts. The other AA to fall short (way short) of the Fantasy Top-20 was Dylan D’Emilio (OHST) who ended up tied at #62 with 13 Fpts. When Sammy Alvarez was a Scarlet Knight last season, he only wrestled 15 matches which got him 40 Fpts and the best PPM of any 141-pounder not in the Top-20. His midseason replacement, Joey Oliveri, wrestled 16 D1 matches to get 31 Fpts. They finished #21 and #29, respectively. Tom Crook (VT) started the season off hot, going 10-2 in his first 12 matches. Of those 10 wins to start the season, he beat Fantasy stalwart Matt Kazimir, eventual All-American Parker Filius, and Top-5 finisher Lachlan McNeil. But after CKLV, Crook went 4-5 resulting in a -2 Fpts in that span which held him back from climbing the 141 ranks. He finishes at #38 in Fpts at 141. Bartlett’s teammate David Evans only wrestled 10 D1 matches last season, going 8-2 and finishing with 31 Fpts and good to hold the #28 spot. His two losses? Both in sudden victory against Vince Cornella and Beau Bartlett. Other notables to miss out on the Top-20 include Allan Hart (MIZZ) with 38 Fpts at #23, Cole Mattin (MICH) with 27 Fpts at #33, Jesse Vasquez (ASU) with 26 Fpts at #34, and Frankie Tal-Shahar (NW) with 15 Fpts at #53. 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

The UFC hosts a big pay-per-view event this weekend, and the main event features a former Northern Colorado wrestler. Across the world in Japan, Bellator and Rizin are working together on a joint show that features some former collegiate talent as well as a Greco Olympic medalist. The following is a preview of all those MMA fights featuring wrestlers. UFC 291 Justin Gaethje vs. Dustin Poirier As a junior at Northern Colorado in 2010, Justin Gaethje finished seventh at 157 pounds at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American. In the process, he also became the first All-American for the Bears since 1970. After building an undefeated 16-0 professional MMA record, Gaethje signed with the UFC 2017. After losing two of his first three fights with the promotion, it looked like Gaethje might end up being better known for his entertaining fights than his accomplishments. However, he has now worked his way into being a perennial contender in the lightweight division. Poirier presents a very tough test for Gaethje. He is a former interim lightweight champion, and they have a history. The two faced off back in 2018, and Poirier won via fourth-round stoppage. Gaethje has improved defensively and will need that to reverse the previous result . Tony Ferguson vs. Bobby Green During his high school days, Ferguson was a three-time all-state selection in Michigan. He continued to wrestle on the collegiate level and spent time at Central Michigan, Muskegon Community College, and Grand Valley State. While at GVSU, he won the 2006 NCWA title at 165 pounds. Ferguson made his professional MMA debut in 2008 and won the 13th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2011. From 2016 to 2019, Ferguson was considered one of the top lightweights in the world. However, he is now riding a five-fight losing streak and is desperate for a win. That win might be hard to find here against a fellow veteran and wrestler. Green wrestled extensively on the high school level and was a two-time placer in the massive California state tournament for A.B. Miller High School. He has been fighting professionally since 2008 and holds a 29-14-1 record. Both of these fights will be part of the ESPN+ pay-per-view main card, which is set to begin at 10:00pm ET. Bellator MMA vs. Rizin 2 Danny Sabatello vs. Magomed Magomedov Sabatello was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Purdue where he wrestled at both 133 and 141 pounds. In the MMA cages, he has really let his brash personality come out and has built up a bit of a following. Sabatello signed with Bellator in 2021 after going 10-1 on smaller shows. He has since gone 4-1 with the promotion. In his last fight back in April, he bounced back from his first Bellator loss and scored a second-round submission victory over Marcos Breno. Magomedov is one of the top bantamweights in Bellator. He lost in the semifinals of the promotion’s championship tournament to eventual champion Patchy Mix. The defeat dropped his professional record to 19-3. This will be his first fight since that loss. The card situation here gets a bit tricky. Bellator and Rizin, two different promotions, are basically sharing a show. Sabatello vs. Magomedov will be part of the Bellator portion of the event, which will air live on Showtime from Japan at 11:00pm ET. Super Rizin 2 Juan Archuleta vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo Archuleta was a two-time CCCA champion for Sacramento City College before transferring to Purdue. As a junior for the Boilermakers, he finished fourth in the Big Ten and qualified for the NCAA tournament. He has been fighting exclusively for Bellator and Rizin since 2018. After dropping back-to-back fights, he recently got back on track with three-straight victories. Ougikubo is one of the top fighters to come out of Japan in recent memory. He competed on the 24th season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” He defeated current UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and made the finals before ultimately losing to Tim Elliott. After the show, he returned to Japan in 2018 and has stayed ever since. In his last fight, he dropped a decision to rival Kyoji Horiguchi on New Year’s Eve. Shinobu Ota vs. Kenta Takizawa Ota made the transition to MMA on New Year’s Eve 2020 after an extensive Greco-Roman career. He was an Olympic silver medalist for Japan in 2016 and won a world championship in 2019 at 63kg. Ota lost his MMA debut against veteran Hideo Tokro but has since won three of his last four. This past April, he scored a 27-second knockout over fellow former Greco wrestler Kazuma Kuramoto. The former wrestler should be a big favorite here as Takizawa has been fighting exclusively for Rizin since 2020 but has gone only 3-4 in his seven fights. He is coming off a loss against Naoki Inoue by second-round submission. These fights will be part of the Rizin portion of the show, which will begin at 3:00am ET and stream live via Internet pay-per-view on Fite.tv.

Man, these are the dog days right now. We’re about halfway through the college offseason. Worlds are still a while away. Our favorite baseball teams stink. (We’ll get to plenty of baseball talk later) It’s hot out. Twitter, which is my entire livelihood in the wrestling industry, is now called X. You know, it’s hot out, too. So what better way to cool down than read the mailbag on a nice, cool, toilet seat! The first order of business is to pretend I’m Gable Steveson. If you’re Gable Steveson, what do you do over the next year to balance WWE and prepare for the 2024 Olympics and possible college? Earl Diesel Alright, let’s just break down the whole Gable thing because it truly is a unique situation. Here’s a guy who is a generational talent who left the college and freestyle fans wanting so much more for the fame and fortune of WWE like his idol, Brock Lesnar. But you have to remember that Brock left pro wrestling after a few years while being the top guy because he realized he wanted to do other things while he was still young. He knew he had the rest of his life to go back and now he’s out there every week at 46 years old. I’m not even that old and I wrestled with Abe Lincoln. So what was the rush? Well, two college titles and Olympic gold would probably have you thinking about your next move and maybe accomplishing that dream. So he goes. Leaving a year of college and another Olympic run that would actually come a year earlier now because of the ‘rona on the table. Now, nearly two years have passed and Gable is back in the news. Is he making his WWE debut? No, he’s coming back to make a world team. That’s awesome! Then he easily makes said world team. Fair enough. He’s still got it. But then things get crazy when he says he might return for one last ride in college. Ok then. Well, if your plan is to stick with this through another Olympic run then I suppose you can sneak in half a college season while you’re training. Not to mention getting paid some nice cheddar along the way. Then things really go bonkers as Gable starts showing up on WWE television with their NXT brand. Say what? So now the arguably most talented current American wrestler is starting his WWE career while teasing a return to college and being the current 125kg rep for Belgrade. So what does it all mean? I don’t think anyone really knows what it means. I will say that what you saw on TV this week has nothing to do with what his immediate future holds. Gable was never going to announce on WWE TV that he was returning to college wrestling. What we do know is that he makes his debut in the squared circle this weekend. We also know that he will be in Belgrade in September. We don’t know if he will return to college, but he has nearly five months to make that decision anyway. We also don’t know how much allowance WWE will give him in these future endeavors? They’ve made quite an investment in him already, so I assume they don’t want him bouncing back and forth between worked wrestling and shoot wrestling for too long. If you want to see Gable in the ring then watch the Great American Bash this weekend. If you want to see Gable on the mat then tune into Flo come September. Beyond that is anyone’s guess. My guess is that if he takes gold this year then he makes an Olympic run and walks away for good. I don’t see the college thing happening. What’s the best Jersey musician/Jersey wrestler comparison you can think of, and why? Kevin Claunch, Michigan Man Burroughs is easily Springsteen. Both are not only the best to come out of the state but the best in the world at what they do for an extended period of time. Steve Mocco can be Frank Sinatra. The two Hudson County products are fascinating individuals and people tell stories about them that have become legend. Gene Mills can be Frankie Valli. Who do you think were the most impressive wrestlers at Fargo and who were your breakout athletes? SAB I admittedly didn’t follow Fargo like some others, but I enjoyed some of the big guys. Connor Mirasola, oh look, he’s going to Penn State. Glad they’re finally getting some great recruits. For the young guys, Dreshaun Ross is the next two-sport star from Iowa and Mocco Jr. (Michael) will be fun to follow. Barbie or Oppenheimer? Mickadelphia Haven’t seen either yet! I may go See Barbie this weekend if Lady Jagger wants to go. Just need to dye my jorts pink and I’m ready to go. Ok, let’s get into the baseball for a minute. Daniel Vogelbach will need something to do during the Winter. How many matches would he win for Rutgers at heavyweight? Indiana Mat Why would he need something to do during Winter? Because he won’t be in the playoffs? There are no playoffs during Winter. You blew your entire burn. Here’s a better question. Will you be alive when the Cubbies win their next title in 2124? Should the Red Sox be buyers or sellers at the deadline? Mark Rhino Eh, that’s a tough one. You’re a game and a half out of the wild card at press time, so you are absolutely in the hunt. But are you a championship team? Who exactly are you selling? You aren’t rebuilding right now to the point of tearing it down. Do you send a message to the spoiled Boston fans that you aren’t trying to win this year? They’d be throwing their Dalbec jerseys into the harbor! The toughest part of this time of year is being within range of a playoff spot yet knowing that you probably won’t make it and really not likely to win it all. But the Phillies proved last year that you just need to get in and anything can happen. My verdict: light buyers and heavy on infield defense practice because that team can’t catch. Are you willing to adopt Cincinnati for the rest of the season since the Metropolitans are dead in the water? Jon Lareau I don’t know. Maybe. Definitely, if they face any of the teams that I really don’t like. Tampa Bay has long been my fallback team, but not sure I like them much anymore. I could see myself backing Baltimore. Or I could just not watch the playoffs and go on with my life. I am happy that the Reds are back. America’s oldest team should be a top franchise. So should Baltimore. Let’s bring back the 70’s when these teams were juggernauts. How are you staying cool through this heat wave? Fantasy College Wrestling By reading the FCW year in review of course! Or whatever you are calling it. If you’re jonesing for some college wrestling info, my man TD has you covered right here. I hope Earl tagged the link right there or I’m gonna look like a bozo. As for the heat? I admit it’s been pretty bad lately. But when I’m out there sweating and ready to pass out, I just remember that I did four years of high school wrestling nearly 30 years ago. Everything else is gravy. Two years of middle school wrestling made JT Realmuto a great baseball player and it made Jagger great at drilling holes in stone when it’s triple-digit outs. Have a good weekend, all. I’ll be soaking in an ice barrel.

The 2023 offseason coaching carousel got off to a slow start, but has picked up steam. This week in particular as there were a handful of notable names that changed jobs. Movement begats movement and as new jobs are accepted, typically new positions open up. We’ll certainly have more updates as the summer progresses and fades into fall and the college preseason. Obe Blanc (North Dakota State Head Coach) - North Dakota State Associate Head Coach Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State Assistant Coach) - Oklahoma State recruiting coordinator Marcus Coleman (Davidson Assistant Coach) - Iowa State athlete Ben Freeman (Buffalo Volunteer Assistant) - Buffalo athlete BJ Futrell (Northwestern Assistant Coach) - Penn Assistant Coach Gary Wayne Harding (Oklahoma State Recruiting Coordinator) Josh Heil (Campbell Assistant Coach) - Campbell Director of Operations Hayden Hidlay (North Dakota State Assistant Coach) - NC State Student-Athlete Development Coordinator Roger Kish (Oklahoma Head Coach) - North Dakota State Head Coach Austin Marsden (Oklahoma Assistant Coach) - North Dakota State Assistant Coach Quincy Monday (Princeton Assistant Coach) - Princeton athlete Steve Mytych (Rutgers Assistant Coach) - Rutgers Director of Operations Austin O’Connor (Illinois Assistant Coach) - North Carolina athlete Ian Parker (Virginia Assistant Coach) - Army West Point Assistant Coach Charles Small (Long Island Assistant Coach) - Purdue Graduate Assistant Devin Schroder (Wyoming Assistant Coach) - Cleveland State Assistant Coach Cam Sykora (Oklahoma Volunteer Assistant) - North Dakota State Volunteer Assistant

Gilroy

Trinity

St. Peter's Prep

Tioga Central

Gloucester City

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 133 Notes: For the third season in a row, Daton Fix finishes as the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 133. In the previous two seasons, he had claimed the top spot by the smallest of margins (by two Fpts in 2021 and one in 2022), but this season he was by far the best fantasy wrestler. He outscored #2 Michael McGee by 16 Fpts. His Average Draft Position (ADP) has increased each year as well, being ADP 16.52 in 2021, to ADP 8 in 2022, and this past season as ADP 5.31. A battle for 2nd place in Fpts was won by Michael McGee by one point over Lucas Byrd, despite McGee wrestling six less regular season matches. Both McGee and Byrd have been mainstays in the fantasy top-10, both improving their finishing spots year after year: Byrd finishing 6th in 2021, 5th in 2022, and 3rd this season and McGee finishing 10th in 2021, 4th in 2022, and 2nd this season. Neither had an ADP within the top 25 in any season since 2020. Two University of Penn wrestlers make the Top-10, with starter Michael Colaiocco finishing at #4 and Evan McGoualian at #10, just beating out Sam Latona by two Fpts. Another pair of teammates make the Top-20 from Campbell with back-and-forth starters Gabe Hixenbaugh (#9) and Domenic Zaccone (#15). Both had about the same number of matches, but Hixenbaugh made the most with his matches having a PPM almost one Fpt higher than Zaccone. Finishing almost identically in the #5 and #6 spots were Gable Strickland and Kurt Phipps, respectively. Both wrestled over 35 matches, both had nine regular-season losses, the same PPM (1.8), and just one Fpt separating them. The difference looks to be Strickland's slightly higher bonus rate. A model of fantasy consistency, Roman-Bravo Young has finished 8th this past season, 7th in 2022, 8th in 2021, and (you guessed it) 7th in 2020 in the Fantasy 133 rankings. Excluding the 2021 shortened COVID season, he's also finished with 13 regular season matches and 61 Fpts in 2023, 14 matches in 2022 and (you guessed it) 61 Fpts, and in 2020 had 18 matches with 66 Fpts. Just like how the finals played out, Vito Arujau narrowly beat RBY to finish 7th by one Fpt (though Arujau had four more matches wrestled). Might be crazy to say, but this is the first time he has finished in the Fantasy Top-20 at 133… mainly because he wrestled 125 in 2022 (where he finished 14th), and he wasn't enrolled for 2020 and 2021. With his last year of eligibility available (and confirmed he WILL be wrestling the 2024 season), I expect at least a repeat in Fpts production… at 133. Who Missed The Cut: It hurts me to type this, but Micky Phillippi fell just short of making the Top-20 by four Fpts. Had he won that tiebreaker dual against Kai Orine, he would have eeked in and finished 19th. Speaking of Orine, the All-American finished 34th due mainly to five losses, four losses by decisions and one by major, equalling -16 Fpts. Another fellow All-American Aaron Nagao, formerly of Minnesota, also fell outside the Top-20 as he only had three qualifying bonus wins and a loss by pin at the Southern Scuffle by Brayden Palmer. Nagao was the #26 Fantasy Wrestler at 133. Since we talked about teammates earlier, the two Lehigh teammates finished back-to-back at the #30 and #31 positions: Connor McGonagle (27Fpts) and Ryan Crookham (26 Fpts). True freshman Nic Bouzakis finished at #29 with 29 Fpts, while Chris Cannon claimed the same number of Fpts as Crookham, with almost double the amount of matches, but finished at #32 due to his PPM of 1.2 compared to Crookahm’s 2.4. Some other notables include Dylan Ragusin (MICH) at #24 with 35 Fpts, Chance Rich (CSUB) at #41 with 21 Fpts, and Rayvon Foley with 17 Fpts at #50. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats.

Stephen Buchanan is a two-time NCAA All-American who will be one of the main title contenders at 197 lbs during the 2023-24 season. He'll be doing so in a new singlet as Buchanan transferred to Oklahoma from Wyoming last year. Buchanan sat down with James Hackney to go through his wrestling career. A reoccurring theme for Buchanan has been marked improvement at every level. With a new coaching staff and a change of scenery, could Buchanan take the next stop and win a national title? Here's the full interview with James and Buchanan: Stephen_Buchanan_Interview.mp4

Northwestern University announced via press release, the addition of BJ Futrell to the Wildcat coaching staff today. Futrell comes to Northwestern after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania. During those two seasons, Penn has sent 17 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and produced an All-American around Futrell’s size (CJ Composto - 141 lbs/2022). Futrell is an Illinois native and won a pair of state championships for Mount Carmel High School. He later stayed in-state for college to wrestle at the University of Illinois. In Champaign, Futrell was a three-time NCAA qualifier and a two-time All-American, finishing eighth at 133 lbs in 2011 and sixth at the same weight class the following year. After his collegiate career concluded, Futrell spent a couple of cycles competing on the Senior freestyle circuit. During that time, Futrell won a pair of University National titles and later a silver medal at the World University Championships in 2014. Futrell also won titles at the Bill Farrell and the Dave Schultz Memorial. Futrell kicked off his collegiate coaching career coaching at the Naval Academy prior to the 2019-20 campaign. In addition, Futrell has been a key figure coaching freestyle with the Pennsylvania RTC. Earlier this summer, Futrell was named head coach for the U20 team that competed at the Pan-American Championships. That squad went on to capture gold medals in nine of ten weights.

Another edition of the 16U and Junior National Championships, affectionately known as Fargo, is in the books. As always, the massive fields created some interesting and forgettable memories. The following is a look at the point differential leaders in each of the tournaments and the two wrestlers who put on the highest scoring match of the event. 16U Men’s Freestyle/Greco Roman Dreshaun Ross was the most statistically dominant athlete at Fargo this year, and he accomplished this in both styles. In the 16U division for men’s freestyle, he averaged 10.79 points per minute, while allowing his opponents to only average 0.76 points per minute. His resulting +10.03 point differential was the highest in the style. Ross then stepped up his game for the Greco Roman tournament. In that bracket, he averaged 12.50 points per minute and did not allow a single point. His +12.50 point differential was not only the highest in16U Greco Roman, but it was the highest of any competitor in any style across the entire event. At 195 pounds in freestyle, Ross did not allow a single point until he faced off against Jake Conroy in the finals. The Iowa representative got out to a 4-0 lead, before Conroy took a criteria lead with a four-point score. That would be the only score Ross would allow in the bracket. He scored the next 12 points and terminated the bout seven seconds into the second period. In the same weight in Greco, Ross’ first three opponents lasted only one minute combined as he charged to match termination victories. He eventually dispatched all six of his opponents in a total of only four minutes. His longest match in Greco was his quarterfinal bout against Standford Thompson of Tennessee, and it lasted only 75 seconds. While a performance like this will certainly attract the attention of college coaches, they likely will have some major competition. Ross is also apparently quite the football player. Per 247sports.com, he has already received scholarship offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Purdue. With heavyweight seemingly in the future, it is possible he could pursue both wrestling and football on the collegiate level like former Iowa prep Ben Kueter. However, that seems exceedingly difficult to an outsider. Junior Freestyle From one potential heavyweight to a current one, Koy Hopke was the standout statistical performer in the junior freestyle division. On the way to the title at heavyweight, Hopke averaged 9.85 points per minute and allowed only 0.36. His +9.49 point differential was the highest at the junior level. Hopke did not surrender a point until his semifinals match against Navarro Schunke of South Dakota. He was leading 9-0 before Schunke scored a two-point takedown on the edge of the mat. Hopke responded and still managed to end the match in the first period. The heavyweight final was a showdown between Hopke and Idaho’s Aden Attao. The expected contest certainly lived up to expectations. Attao started things off by scoring the first seven points of the bout and went to the break with a 7-1 lead. The second period was an entirely different story as Hopke came all the way back to even things at 9-9 and ultimately finished the match via fall in the final 30 seconds. This past May, Hopke announced his commitment to Minnesota and looks to be yet another in the long line of standout Gopher heavyweights. His performance at Fargo would certainly give fans in Minnesota something to get excited about. Junior Women’s Freestyle Zao Estrada came up short in her bid for a Fargo title. The South Carolina representative made the finals but ultimately came up short against Clare Booe. Estrada can take some solace in the fact that she finished with the highest point differential in any of the women’s divisions. Despite the finals loss, Estrada averaged 7.34 points per minute. She did not allow a single point until she faced off against Booe. Even after allowing 13 points in the finals match, she still only averaged 1.36 points against per minute. Estrada finished with a +5.98 point differential, which was well ahead of the field. The competitor in women’s freestyle with the second highest point differential was Taylor Graveman at 132 pounds (+4.70). Estrada, who finished fourth in the South Carolina Class 4A boys state tournament, also entered the Junior Greco tournament where she went 3-2. 16U Women’s Freestyle Down an age group, Pennsylvania's Sierra Chiesa dominated her way to a title at 117 pounds. She made her way to the finals with six-straight shutout victories. In the title match, Chiesa scored a 6-2 decision over Alexis Lazar. She finished with a 5.25 points per minute rate and allowed her opponents to only score 0.17 per minute. Thanks to that strong defense, her +5.08 differential was tops in the division. Chiesa made history this past season when she became the first female competitor in the 86-year history of the PIAA state tournament. This upcoming season, PIAA will sanction women’s wrestling as a sport for the first time. Junior Greco Roman In terms of point differential, junior Greco was a strange tournament. The wrestler with the best differential, Yannis Charles (+5.33), was forced out of the 152-pound bracket with an injury after only three bouts. Musa Tamaradze had the second best differential at +4.90. He averaged 6.26 points per minute, while only allowing his opponents to score 1.36. Despite having the second highest differential, Tamaradze settled for a third-place finish at 120 pounds after dropping his semifinal match against eventual champion Elyle Francisco. Highest Scoring Match Fargo is an opportunity for most wrestlers to let it fly. School is out for the summer, and the competitors are no longer restrained by folkstyle rules. InterMat celebrates those who are not afraid to put up points. The honor for highest scoring match belongs to Jacob Myers and Collin Mullins who combined to score 52 points when they met in the 132-pound freestyle tournament. The match happened in the consolation bracket, so it ended the tournament for Mullins. Myers won another match before ultimately being eliminated by eventual third-place finisher Cooper Hilton.

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 125 Notes: Once again, Anthony Noto (LHU) is your top fantasy wrestler at 125. Seems like the fantasy wrestling public took note of his 2022 season where he did not have any Average Draft Position (ADP) data to this year in 2023 where he had an ADP of 37.09. Finally, some of you are starting to listen to me! Now a name that has been picked time and time again for the past four years is Spencer Lee. But unlike those previous years where he has been ADP #3 in 2020, #1 in 2021, #1 in 2022, and #1 this season (2023), this is the first time he's finished within the Top-5. His last highest placement was in 2020 as the #6 Fantasy Wrestler at 125, then in 2021 when he only wrestled 4 matches and finished as the #14 Fantasy Wrestler (all pins). “Shock” National Finalist Matt Ramos wrestled up at 133 last season and finished juuuust outside the Top-20 (by 1 Fpt). This season, down to his more suitable weight, he finishes as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 125 and #14 overall. Had he won that regular season match against Spencer Lee, he would have been your #1 at 125 (or if he had beaten Anthony Molton and Richie Figueroa instead, both were close losses). At one point, Maximilian Leete was one of the leaders in pins for all of D1. Now, he didn’t end up taking that designation home at the end of the season, but he did ride that wave into being the #10 Fantasy Wrestler at 125. One of Franklin & Marshall’s two Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers this season, Mason Leiphart, finished with 36 regular season matches wrestled. He finished tied in Fpts with Pat Glory and Stevo Poulin thanks to his over 50% regular season bonus rate against D1 wrestlers, but finished at #13 behind both of them due to his lower PPM. Two non-starters make this list, one redshirt, and one backup. The redshirt, Sheldon Seymour, was able to make it into the Top-10 despite six of his matches (all but one of them a win by bonus) being against non-D1 competition. The backup, Richard Figueroa, held down the starting spot until late 2022 until Courtney returned, then started on-and-off for some duals into January. Ultimately the decision to go with Courtney was made, but Figueroa went 14-0 (all against D1 competition) and included wins over Noah Surtain and Matt Ramos. There’s a case to be made that maybe he starts the season as ranked #1 at 125 next year?? Your National Champion, Pat Glory, wrestled in just two events during the 2022 portion of the season (Princeton Open on 11/6 and the Rutgers Dual on 12/11). Once the calendar changed to 2023, though, he wrestled twice a week. He finished one spot and two Fpts behind being in the Top-10, even though he wrestled about half as many matches as #10 Leete. Who Missed The Cut: George Mason’s true freshman Markel Baker fell 2 Fpts short of tying Medley at 47 Fpts and Wyoming's true freshman Jore Volk just 4 points. They finished #21 and #22 ranked at 125, respectively Surprise 27-seed AA Eddie Ventresca (VT) finished at, surprisingly, #27 in Fpts at 125. He finished with 38 Fpts, one behind the eventual Rutgers starter Dean Peterson. With a late start to the season and only 12 matches to draw from, 2023 3rd placer Brandon Courtney wasn't able to finish the four-peat of making the 125 Fantasy Top-20 and landed at #45 for this season. He previously finished at #2 at 125 in 2022, #3 in 2021, and #15 in 2020. In the same boat as Courtney was Killian Cardinale, who made his 2023 debut at Midlands as well. He ended up with 35 Fptsin essentially 10 matches since three were “losses” by medical Forfeit. Had he won two more matches at Midlands, he'd be in the Top-25. Instead, he finishes as #30. Other notables include the usual backside bandit Pat McKee (MINN) who finished at #32 with 30 Fpts, Ryan Miller (PENN), and Brandon Kaylor (ORST) ted with points (25) and PPM (1), but Miller did it with one less match and takes the #39 spot while Kaylor is #40, and Troy Spratley (MINN) at #49. Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats.

Fenton

Jordan Leen just passed the one-year anniversary of his hiring by Brown as the school’s head coach. After Fargo, Leen spoke with Austin Sommer about building at Brown, the first year as head coach and competing in the Ivy League. Leen also touches on the structure of the 2023-24 schedule, new staffing changes and a unique opportunity to work with Brown wrestling. BrownLeenJuly23.mp4

We’ll close out our 2023 Fargo-related content by looking at some of the schools whose recruiting shined the brightest in the FargoDome. After the Junior freestyle tournament concluded on Wednesday, we highlighted the teams that had recruits who earned All-American honors. With that in mind, here are some schools that have plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future with the performance that their collective recruits showed in Fargo. Bucknell The only EIWA school with a recruit that won a Junior freestyle title? That’s right, it was Bucknell and Noah Mulvaney at 170 lbs. If you were paying attention for the past few months, you might have seen this coming for Mulvaney. After his high school career ended, Mulvaney took sixth at U20 Nationals, eight at U20 WTT and went undefeated at Junior Duals. Mulvaney’s Fargo title marked the second time he placed in Junior freestyle, as he was fifth last year. Bucknell is a school that doesn’t redshirt, so it might be hard keeping Mulvaney out of the lineup in 2023-24. In addition Mulvaney, a Bison commit from the Class of 2024 also made the podium. Dillon Bechtold, of Pennsylvania, finished seventh in both styles. Bucknell’s Class of 2023 was ranked 19th in InterMat’s recruiting rankings. The Class of 2024 is shaping up to be quite good, as well. Bechtold is one of two top-150 recruits for Dan Wirnsberger’s team and they already have five early commitments. Illinois What a week for Illini recruits as three of their Class of 2023 signees made the Junior freestyle finals and two came away with stop signs. Kannon Webster was deemed one of the top recruits in the Class of 2023 and he proved that point with more hardware to add to his collection. Webster left Fargo with his eighth All-American honor after claiming double titles at the Junior level. It was his second Junior title in both styles. The second championship for Illinois came from Braeden Scoles of Wisconsin at 160 lbs. Scoles AA’ed for his third time at the Junior freestyle tournament and improved during each showing. He went from fourth in 2021 to third last year and finished on top with a championship. Scoles won his first six matches via tech or fall and beat high-quality opponents in the semis and finals, without being seriously threatened. The surprise of the group was Chris Moore’s run to the Junior freestyle finals at 170 lbs. Moore knocked off three top-100 recruits from the Class of 2023 just to make it onto the raised stage. His performance earned him All-American honors from Fargo for the first time. Illinois also had a commit from the Class of 2024 make the podium in Junior Greco, as Anthony Ruzic was seventh at 120 lbs. Ruzic was a Junior Greco champion last year and has now placed four times in Fargo. Iowa Iowa had a pair of future Hawkeyes in the finals in back-to-back weights in Junior freestyle. Ryder Block needed only 79 seconds to wrap up his second consecutive Junior National title in freestyle. It was the sixth fall/tech for Block in seven bouts at this year’s tournament. Just before Block took center stage Kale Petersen fell in the 132 lb championship match. Though Peterson came up a match shy of winning Fargo, he still had a remarkable spring/summer. It started with a second-place finish at the Open in U20 freestyle. He’d go on to take eighth at the U20 WTT’s. In the future, Petersen/Block could make for a formidable 1-2 punch near the beginning of the Iowa lineup. Minnesota The Golden Gophers truly had the future on display as they had a pair of recruits from the Class of 2024 earn All-American honors in Junior freestyle, along with a commit from the Class of 2025. Koy Hopke finished off the Junior freestyle tournament in grand fashion with a clash against fellow age-group world medalist Aden Attao at 285 lbs. Attao had an early lead; however, Hopke battled back and ended the bout with a fall with under :30 seconds left. Hopke looks like more than a worthy candidate to carry on the Minnesota heavyweight legacy. Hopke’s Fargo teammate, Charlie Millard, also from Wisconsin, took fourth in a rough 160 lb bracket. It’s the second consecutive year that Millard has found the podium in Junior Freestyle. Like Hopke, Millard is a member of Minnesota’s Class of 2024. Minnesota already has a verbal from one of the best in-state in 2025 in Landon Robideau. Robideau finished third at a 138 lb class and logged wins over three Big Boarder’s from 2024. His only loss was 6-3 to the two-time champ, Block. Robideau was the only wrestler that went the distance with the Iowa star. Penn Penn is another school with an impressive number of early commits from the Class of 2024. Two of them managed to earn All-American honors when Davis Motyka and Calvin Lachman got on the podium. Motyka was top-four in both styles, highlighted by a third-place showing in Junior Greco. He has now placed in both styles in each of his three appearances in Fargo. Lachman, who has yet to place at the Pennsylvania State Tournament, was eight in Junior freestyle at the 220 lb weight class. The best performance from a future Quaker came from Cross Wasilewski at 145 lbs in Junior freestyle. Wasilewski made the finals opposite the two-time champion Webster and held a 4-1 lead in the second period, before falling, 7-4. Wasilewski battled through an injury-plagued senior season and this result is probably more indicative of where his abilities lie. On his way to the finals, Wasilewski put up double-digits in every match he wrestled. Penn State Opposing fans are always looking to see when Penn State may stumble. Maybe after the next wave of collegiate superstars graduate, they’ll take a step back, right? The All-American trio from Fargo demonstrated that you probably shouldn’t count on it. 195 lb champion Connor Mirasola was perhaps the most impressive wrestler at any style or age group in the entire weekend. He won a title without surrendering a single point during seven tech falls. Mirasola’s final two wins came over a pair of wrestlers that finished their high school careers ranked among the top-100 from the Class of 2023 (Joey Novak/Jersey Robb). Connor’s twin brother, Cole, was a finalist at 220 lbs, as well. Like his brother, Cole breezed through the first four rounds before having to grit out a pair of wins in the quarters and semis. Both twins have now played three times in Fargo (twice as Juniors and once at 16U). Connor heads into his senior year as a two-time Junior National champ. Penn State’s Class of 2025 was represented by Dalton Perry who was fifth at 132 lbs. Perry was involved in a back-and-forth contest with Kale Petersen in the semifinals, but eventually fell, 9-6. A fifth-place finish in Junior freestyle bodes well for Perry, a rising junior. Stanford We’re saving the school with the highest number of All-Americans for last (and we going alphabetically) as Stanford had five All-Americans. Additionally, one of those five recruits, Thor Michaelson, got on the Junior podium in both styles. The highest placing of the Stanford recruits was Grigor Cholakyan, who made the Junior freestyle finals at 152 lbs. Cholakyan fell in the title bout to Vince Bouzakis, who also defeated Cholaykan’s future teammate Zach Hanson in the quarterfinals. Hanson would rebound and win four consecutive matches to take third. That same 152 lb bracket also contained EJ Parco, a Stanford recruit that finished eighth. During the 160 lb Junior freestyle consolations Michaelson downed future teammate Collin Guffey. He would go on to finish fifth while Guffey settled for eighth. Stanford’s recruiting has taken off after Rob Koll stepped in as head coach in the spring of 2021. Since then, they’ve notched back-to-back top-ten recruiting classes. With the performance of this group (four of five AA’s are in the Class of 2024), another lofty ranking could be in the cards for the Cardinal.

Fargo has come and gone! This tournament was unlike any other previous edition of the 16U/Junior National Championships as we saw a handful of teams either win their first titles or break notable streaks to claim their championships. In addition, dozens of wrestlers etched their names into the Fargo record books as being national champions or All-Americans. As is typically the case after big events, we perused through the results and noticed some fun facts about the results of this tournament (or six tournaments, in one). Earlier we mentioned the Fargo “record books.” The unofficial record book from Fargo is Jason Bryant’s Fargo Almanac. None of these fun facts could have been noted without Jason’s countless hours of research. Please support his hard work and get an almanac, they are a must-have for Fargo fans and will be updated yearly. Each year also has new wrinkles and features. With that out of the way, let’s have some fun! It was an unusual year for team champions. Illinois claimed their first Junior women’s title on the strength of a title from Cadence Diduch (132) and three second-place finishes. Their previous high was third in 2022. At the 16U level, Pennsylvania claimed its first women’s title ever. Prior to 2023, they had never finished higher than fourth. For the fifth straight tournament, Pennsylvania prevailed in 16U Men’s freestyle. It’s their eighth total title since official scoring took place (2006). Pennsylvania’s Junior Men’s freestyle team claimed its first team title since 2016 and only they’re third since 2006. Pennsylvania’s depth shone through with 19 total AA’s and a 13-2 record in the bloodround. Illinois climbed back on top of 16U Greco-Roman. They had previously won every title between 2013-19 but were knocked off by Pennsylvania and California in the last two tournaments, respectively. Idaho stopped Illinois’ streak at the Junior Greco level. Illinois came into the week having won every Junior Greco tournament since 2008. The title is Idaho’s first ever. Last year’s third-place finish was the previous highwater mark for Idaho and they only had one other top-five finish previously. Wisconsin had five Junior National freestyle champions which is easily the most in state history. Their previous high was three in 2002 with titles from Craig Henning (145), Ben Askren (171), and Cole Konrad (285). Not a bad trio! The title-winning Pennsylvania Junior Men's freestyle team had two champions with Jax Forrest and Vince Bouzakis. Surprisingly enough, the last time Pennsylvania had multiple Junior freestyle champions was in 2009 with Josh Dziewa (135), Andrew Alton (140), and Dylan Alton (145). For the second year in a row, a member of the Bishop McCort team captured a Junior freestyle title at 126 lbs. This year it was Jax Forrest and in 2022 it was Mason Gibson. Ohio was held without a Men’s Junior freestyle champion for the second year in a row. The last time Ohio failed to crown a champion in back-to-back years in Men’s Junior freestyle was 1995 and 1996. 1995 was also the last time that Ohio went without a Junior Men’s freestyle finalist. Iowa currently has the longest streak with at least one Men’s Junior Freestyle national champion. They’ve had at least one every year since 2014. Jayden Raney was a double 16U champion for Kentucky winning both styles at 120 lbs for the second straight year. With his title(s), he became the first Kentucky wrestler, in any style or age group, to have more than one championship in a particular style. With 16U freestyle titles from Blue Stiffler and Jacob Levy, it marked the first time that Georgia had multiple 16U freestyle national champions in the same year. Shamus Regan captured Tennessee’s first 16U freestyle national title since Nicholas Boykin won the 285 lb class in 2015. Colorado had a pair of Junior Greco-Roman champions in Otto Black and Landon Drury. The last time Colorado had two in the same year was in 2016 with Brendon Garcia (100) and Ryan Deakin (145). In addition to their team title, Idaho had two Junior Greco-Roman champions, a feat it also accomplished in 2022. The last time Idaho had two champions in back-to-back years was in 2013 and 2014. Jon Jay Chavez won in both of those years, while Hayden Tuma (2013) and Dorian Sapien (2014) accounted for the other titles. Also in Idaho-related news, a pair of Idaho natives squared off of the Junior Greco-Roman title at 285 lbs, when Aden Attao defeated Shilo Jones. The last time two Idaho teammates met for a Junior Greco title was in 2010 when Trevor Rupp defeated Tanner Hall. Speaking of teammates wrestling, at 195 lbs in Junior Greco-Roman a pair of Minnesota wrestlers squared off for the title, with Joey Novak defeating Cittadino Tuttle. Not only do both represent Minnesota, but they also both train a Pinnacle; which was a first for the great club. Thomas Verrette’s 16U Greco-Roman title made him the first Colorado native to ever win two 16U (Cadet) Greco championships. New Mexico wound up with three 16U Greco-Roman All-Americans. The last time they hit that number was in 2005 with Riley Adamson, Max Ortega, and Dak Adamson. Roman Luttrell’s third-place finish was the highest since Riley Adamson was third in 2005. Emmitt Sherlock of Maryland made the 16U Greco-Roman finals at 160 lbs. The last time Maryland had a finalist in 16U Greco was in 2016 when Aaron Brooks won at 160 lbs. For the second year in a row, Florida had a pair of Junior Women’s champions (Gabriele Tedesco and Clare Booe). Prior to 2022, they had never had two in the same year. Massachusetts produced Junior Women’s champions in back-to-back years for the first time. In 2022, Skylar Hattendorf won at 138 lbs; this year Jaclyn Dehney took the title at 127 lbs. Maryland had a pair of Junior Women’s champions for the first time since 2007 when Nicole Woody (102) and Helen Maroulis (109) claimed stop signs. This year it was Alex Szkotnicki (117) and Nebi Tsarni (144). Kaidance Gerg (138) became Idaho’s first Junior Women’s champion since Anneliese DeAragon won titles in 2009 and 2010. Savannah Isaac (200) made Ohio history as she became the state’s first woman to win two Junior titles. Isaac’s finals opponent, Tirza Twoteeth, is the first woman from Montana to make a Junior championship match. Heather Crull (106) won only the fourth Junior Women’s title for Indiana. She joins a very talented group that includes Sarah Hildebrandt (121 - 2011), Kayla Miracle (121 - 2012), and Alara Boyd (138 - 2019). The previous three have all won age-group world medals. Arizona had a pair of 16U Women’s champions for the first time ever with Isis France (132) and Morgan Lucio (144). Oklahoma also had multiple 16U Women’s champions for the first time. Bella Williams (122) and Lynn Horn (127) accomplished the feat in back-to-back weight classes. Piper Fowler became the first Tennessee woman to win a stop sign at any age group when she won the 16U title at 164 lbs. She’s also the only woman from Tennessee to earn All-American honors more than once. Kaylyn Harrill is the first woman from Nebraska to make the 16U Women’s finals. She’s only the second Nebraska woman to make a championship match overall, joining Gabrielle Weyhrich, who made the Junior finals in 2010. Wrestling is a family affair and this was no more evident than seeing the prominent last names of some of the champions. Kyler Larkin (Eric), Hayden Schwab (Doug), Wyatt Medlin (Bryan), and Michael Mocco (Steve) all have famous wrestling fathers, and all took home stop signs last week.

2023 Fargo Junior/16U Greco-Roman National Championships Junior Team Scores 1. Idaho 141 2. Iowa 120 3. Illinois 106 4. California 97 5. Oklahoma 91 Championship Finals 100 lbs - Caden Correll (Illinois) over Mason Brayfield (Missouri) 13-7 106 lbs - Cadyn Coyle (Nebraska) over Ezekiel Witt (Kansas) 10-2 113 lbs - Mack Mauger (Idaho) over Kody Tanimoto (Texas) 5-1 120 lbs - Elyle Francisco (Alaska) over Ryker Graff (Iowa) 8-0 126 lbs - Isaiah Cortez (California) over Rhett Peak (Oklahoma) 9-3 132 lbs - Otto Black (Colorado) over Zan Fugitt (Missouri) 11-0 138 lbs - Landon Drury (Washington) over Isaiah Powe (Alabama) 8-0 145 lbs - Kannon Webster (Illinois) over Noah Manuel Tapia (Illinois) 6-3 152 lbs - Joel Adams (Nebraska) over Jadon Skellenger (Idaho) 4-2 160 lbs - Ashton Miess (Wisconsin) over LJ Arajuo (North Dakota) 10-0 170 lbs - Nicholas Fox (Iowa) over Tyler Secoy (Georgia) 5-4 182 lbs - Tate Naaktgeboren (Iowa) over Franklin Ordonez-Fernandez (Florida) 6-1 195 lbs - Joey Novak (Minnesota) over Cittadino Tuttle (Minnesota) Fall 4:41 220 lbs - Sawyer Bartelt (Florida) over Oscar Williams (Oklahoma) 3-1 285 lbs - Aden Attao (Idaho) over Shilo Jones (Idaho) 8-0 Third Place Matches 100 lbs - Caden Smith (Virginia) over Gabriel Rosales (Idaho) Fall 5:15 106 lbs - Damian Moreno (Arizona) over Isaac Stewart (Montana) 10-1 113 lbs - Davis Motyka (Pennsylvania) over Kaiden Powell (Kansas) 4-2 120 lbs - Musa Tamaradze (Massachusetts) over Isaac Hampton (Oregon) FFT 126 lbs - Massey Odiotti (Illinois) over Layne Kleimann (Utah) 7-3 132 lbs - Gable Porter (Iowa) over Carter Nogle (Maryland) Fall 1:32 138 lbs - Maksym Chubenko (Ohio) over Paul Kelly (California) 8-0 145 lbs - Pierson Manville (Pennsylvania) over Brady Collins (Colorado) 8-0 152 lbs - Aliaksandr Kikiniou (California) over Owen Hicks (New York) 11-3 160 lbs - Benjamin Smith (Maryland) over Brett Back (Wisconsin) 7-0 170 lbs - Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) over Caden Young (Wisconsin) 5-2 182 lbs - Brayden Gautreau (Michigan) over Aidan Squier (New Jersey) 6-5 195 lbs - Payton Thomas (Oklahoma) over Kingsley Menifee (Virginia) Fall 1:28 220 lbs - Coby Merrill (California) over Jared Thiry (Iowa) 5-3 285 lbs - Richard Thomas (Oklahoma) over Connor Aney (Washington) Fall 1:28 Fifth Place Matches 100 lbs - Hunter Anderson (Idaho) over Kaison Schreier (Missouri) 11-10 106 lbs - Hunter Sanchez (Utah) over Kiyan Simon (Alabama) 5-2 113 lbs - Lawson Eller (Minnesota) over Brayten Casey (Wisconsin) Injury Def 120 lbs - Jaxton Packer (Idaho) over Moses Mendoza (California) 11-0 126 lbs - Billy Townson (California) over Treygen Morin (Idaho) 8-0 132 lbs - Dmytro Chubenko (Ohio) over Matthew Beem (Iowa) Fall 3:52 138 lbs - Tanner Frothinger (Idaho) over Kane Naaktgeboren (Iowa) Fall :37 145 lbs - Gabriel Bouyssou (Rhode Island) over Garrett Reece (Colorado) 8-0 152 lbs - TJ Schierl (Wisconsin) over Matthew Randolph (Minnesota) 5-1 160 lbs - Patrick Brackett (Colorado) over Jude Randall (Oklahoma) 10-1 170 lbs - Deontre Buttram (Oklahoma) over Angelo Posada (California) 17-16 182 lbs - Justin Rademacher (Oregon) over De’Alcapon Veazy (Indiana) 8-0 195 lbs - Karson Tompkins (Texas) over Quinlan Morgan (Minnesota) 8-0 220 lbs - Nick Nosler (Illinois) over Torin Forsyth (Kansas) 9-0 285 lbs - Cameron Geuther (Iowa) over Soren Pirhoun (Virginia) 5-4 Seventh Place Matches 100 lbs - Brady Byrd (Indiana) over Alexander Diaz (Pennsylvania) FFT 106 lbs - Gavin Miller (Oklahoma) over Malachi Ortiz (Florida) Fall 1:31 113 lbs - Nathan Rioux (Indiana) over Anthony Alanis (Illinois) Fall 3:41 120 lbs - Anthony Ruzic (Illinois) over Easton Cooper (Wisconsin) 8-0 126 lbs - Miles Anderson (Nebraska) over Cooper Shore (Ohio) 11-2 132 lbs - Amryn Nutter (Wisconsin) over Angel Serrano (Colorado) 12-4 138 lbs - Maddox Khalimsky (Illinois) over Emil Necula (Georgia) 7-4 145 lbs - Alex Braun (Minnesota) over Daniel Zepeda (California) FFT 152 lbs - Laird Root (California) over Casper Stewart (New York) FFT 160 lbs - Kale Roth (Wisconsin) over Thor Michaelson (Washington) FFT 170 lbs - Gavin Ricketts (Kentucky) over Dominic Bambinelli (Georgia) 9-0 182 lbs - Isaiah Twait (Idaho) over Marco Christenson (Minnesota) FFT 195 lbs - Dillon Bechtold (Pennsylvania) over Sean Carroll (Kansas) 16-5 220 lbs - Jarrett Stoner (Texas) over Mason Christian (Montana) 10-2 285 lbs - Navarro Schunke (South Dakota) over Cameron Groncki (New York) 8-4 16U Team Scores 1. Illinois 213 2. Iowa 191 3. Oklahoma 131 4. Ohio 110 4. Pennsylvania 110 Championship Finals 88 lbs - Loc Webber (Ohio) over Vincent DeMarco (Illinois) 8-0 94 lbs - Hayden Schwab (Iowa) over Jarrett Smith (Michigan) 10-2 100 lbs - Caleb Noble (Illinois) over James Hemmila (Illinois) 11-0 106 lbs - Saxton Scott (Idaho) over Konner Blaney (Ohio) 8-0 113 lbs - Will Detar (Pennsylvania) over Titan Friedrichs (Minnesota) 3-3 120 lbs - Jayden Raney (Kentucky) over Austin Collins (Colorado) 10-2 126 lbs - Devon Miller (Oklahoma) over Isaiah Jones (Oklahoma) 7-3 132 lbs - Wyatt Medlin (Illinois) over Jake Miller (Oklahoma) 8-4 138 lbs - Thomas Verrette (Colorado) over Colton Weiler (Wisconsin) 6-5 145 lbs - Gabriel Logan (New Jersey) over Nolan Fellers (Iowa) 8-0 152 lbs - Kyler Knaack (Iowa) over Jimmy Mastny (Illinois) 4-3 160 lbs - Aaron Stewart (Illinois) over Emmitt Sherlock (Maryland) 5-4 170 lbs - Shawn Rounsaville Jr (Oklahoma) over Broedy Collins Hendricks (Iowa) 12-4 182 lbs - Adonis Bonar II (Nebraska) over Matt King (Washington) 16-8 195 lbs - Dreshaun Ross (Iowa) over David Calkins (California) 9-0 220 lbs - Michael Mocco (Florida) over Kai Calcutt (Illinois) 3-2 285 lbs - James Hartleroad (Indiana) over Cooper Martinson (Iowa) 8-0 Third Place Matches 88 lbs - Hudson Chittum (Tennessee) over Kaden Oldroyd (Utah) 8-0 94 lbs - Cason Craft (Oklahoma) over Jose Cordero (Tennessee) 3-0 100 lbs - Jensen Boyd (Indiana) over Gavin Landers (Iowa) 2-0 106 lbs - Rocco Cassioppi (Iowa) over Christopher Grossman (Montana) 5-4 113 lbs - Roman Luttrell (New Mexico) over Johnny Leck (Kansas) 9-0 120 lbs - Gus Cardinal (Arizona) over Evan Sanati (Virginia) 7-1 126 lbs - Zayn Navarrette (Texas) over Valentine Popadiuc (New Mexico) Fall 1:26 132 lbs - Davis Parrow (Minnesota) over Declan Koch (Wisconsin) 11-5 138 lbs - David Gleason (Missouri) over Blue Stiffler (Georgia) 4-1 145 lbs - Melvin Miller (Pennsylvania) over Nathaniel Askew (Georgia) 10-0 152 lbs - Jayden Williams (Michigan) over Eli Esguerra (Ohio) Fall :19 160 lbs - Maximus Norman (Tennessee) over Lucas Ricketts (Kentucky) 4-3 170 lbs - Anthony Kroninger (Ohio) over Gavin Craner (Michigan) 9-0 182 lbs - Ryder Wilder (Georgia) over Jackson Rotterman (Missouri) 12-8 195 lbs - Jaxon Penovich (Illinois) over Connor Smalley (Pennsylvania) 10-0 220 lbs - Alex Taylor (Ohio) over Mason Koehler (Iowa) 11-0 285 lbs - Jonathan Rulo (Illinois) over Brayden Hill (Kansas) 9-6 Fifth Place Matches 88 lbs - Eric Bice (Nevada) over Urijah Courter (Iowa) 9-0 94 lbs - Kellen Downing (Montana) over Chase Kastner (Connecticut) FFT 100 lbs - Carter Shin (Virginia) over Dylan Orta (Texas) 2-1 106 lbs - Caleb Jackson (Utah) over Alexander Pierce (Iowa) 5-5 113 lbs - Hunter Knox (Oklahoma) over Jack Baron (Pennsylvania) 10-7 120 lbs - Blaze Van Gundy (Ohio) over Maximus Riggins (Iowa) 9-0 126 lbs - Ned Kauffman (Pennsylvania) over Austin Ellis (Utah) 8-0 132 lbs - Manuel Saldate (Nevada) over Jacob Herm (Wisconsin) 10-1 138 lbs - Mason Petersen (Nebraska) over Derek Barrows (Colorado) 8-0 145 lbs - Carlos Valdez (Idaho) over Luis Alberto-Desilva (Pennsylvania) FFT 152 lbs - Brandon Dean (New Jersey) over Cooper Rowe (Minnesota) Fall 3:58 160 lbs - Ben Smith (Utah) over Bradley Rodriguez-Little (Minnesota) 6-6 170 lbs - Luke Hoag (Minnesota) over Junior Bumanglag (California) 8-0 182 lbs - Nicholas Ronchetti (Illinois) over Tavio Hoose (Pennsylvania) 5-4 195 lbs - Jake Conroy (Pennsylvania) over Wura Yinusa (Oklahoma) 10-0 220 lbs - Garett Kawczynski (Wisconsin) over James Bechter (Ohio) 2-0 285 lbs - Mark Effendian (Pennsylvania) over Micah Hach (South Dakota) FFT Seventh Place Matches 88 lbs - Landon Thoennes (Minnesota) over Charlie Boelman (Iowa) 3-0 94 lbs - Eli Herring (Pennsylvania) over Daniel Goodwin (Illinois) Fall 1:06 100 lbs - Shamus Regan (Tennessee) over Christopher Swann (Georgia) 8-5 106 lbs - Eric Casula (Oklahoma) over Bruno Cassioppi (Illinois) FFT 113 lbs - Khimari Manns (Ohio) over Chase Walker (Tennessee) 2-1 120 lbs - Justyce Zuniga (Washington) over Dale Corbin (Wisconsin) FFT 126 lbs - Timothy Koester (Iowa) over Zaydrein Hernandez (California) 11-2 132 lbs - Austin Paris (Utah) over Bryce Palmer (Texas) Fall :30 138 lbs - Easton Dircks (Minnesota) over Dane Renick (Arkansas) 5-4 145 lbs - Kawayran Vasquez (Florida) over Noah Howk-Erwin (Iowa) 4-2 152 lbs - Joseph Jeter (Oklahoma) over Keaton Moeller (Iowa) 10-1 160 lbs - Cash Bachicha (New Mexico) over Koray Kage Jones (New Jersey) Disq 170 lbs - Bridger Foss (Oregon) over Carter Brown (Missouri) Fall 3:03 182 lbs - Carter Vannest (California) over Ty Carman (Utah) 6-4 195 lbs - Jacob Duitsman (Minnesota) over Standford Thompson (Tennessee) Fall 3:19 220 lbs - Dean Bechtold (Pennsylvania) over Jackson Phillips (Ohio) 8-0 285 lbs - Trayvn Boger (Utah) over Jonathan Romo (Kansas) Fall 1:26