Cadet Wednesday morning recap: Ferrari reaches medal round, Shilson rolls into semis

Good morning and Happy Fourth of July, folks. If you’re just getting up, here’s what you missed during the early session on Day 3 of the Cadet World Championships (the full brackets are linked below):

A.J. Ferrari handled a pair of Asian Cadet medalists to reach the bronze medal bout at 92 kilograms. He’s one of four Americans who will wrestle in today’s men’s freestyle medal round, which is scheduled to begin at noon ET after the conclusion of the women’s freestyle semifinals.

Ferrari started his day with an 8-2 win against Asian Cadet silver Yunus Gafurov of Kazakhstan and followed that up with an 8-1 victory against India’s Monu Dahiya, an Asian Cadet bronze medalist. The Texas native will wrestle Germany’s Johannes Mayer for bronze.

Even with Ferrari’s performance, the United States merely held serve with Iran in the team race during Wednesday’s first session. The Iranians, who entered the day with the lead, picked up two wins from Aliakbar Fazlikhalili, who reached the 60-kilogram bronze medal bout.

The first session of women’s freestyle produced a mixed bag of United States results. Emily Shilson reached the 43-kilogram semifinals with two dominant performances, but she was the only American to get through the first session unscathed.

Shilson kicked off her tournament with a fall against Romania’s Ana Maria Gabriela Cristescu and dismantled India’s Simran Simran 10-0 in the quarterfinals. The Minnesota native’s performance resembled her early-round work last September in Greece when she collected a Cadet World silver.

Shilson mowed down everybody in here path to the finals last year before falling to Japan’s Umi Ito in the gold medal bout. Shilson won’t have to go through a Japanese opponent this time to take home gold. Azerbaijan’s Shahana Nazarova handled Japan’s Anna Ueno 9-2 in the opening round at 43 kilograms. It was the only loss of the session for Japan.

The United States experienced a bumpier ride Wednesday morning. The Americans were down one wrestler right off the bat when Cheyenne Bowman forfeited her first bout of the day. Russia’s Valeriia Trifonova downed Tristan Kelly 12-0 in the first round at 73 kilograms.

Tiare Ikei and Kiana Pugh each notched a fall before suffering defeats in the quarterfinal round. Pugh spotted Ukraine’s Oksana Chudyk an 8-0 lead before falling 9-5 at 65 kilograms.

(Photo: Cadet World silver medalist Emily Shilson scored a fall and a technical superiority win in her two bouts Wednesday morning/Richard Immel)

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Cadet Day 2 Wrap and Day 3 Preview: USA claims two silvers and a bronze; Ramos takes aim at gold on Wednesday and women’s freestyle begins

CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

TUESDAY’S RAPID RECAP

The United States finished the day with four medals in the bag and an opportunity to increase that number to seven when men’s freestyle competition wraps up on Wednesday. Richard Figueroa II and Daniel Kerkvliet dropped decisions in the finals and claimed silver medals, Abe Assad won three matches Tuesday to grab a bronze and Matthew Ramos wrestled his way into Wednesday’s gold medal match at 51 kilograms. Americans Chance Lamer and Alex Facundo will wrestle Wednesday for bronze and A.J. Ferrari needs two wins to reach the medal round.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

4:30 a.m. ET — Men’s freestyle repechage at 45, 51, 60, 71 and 92 kilograms and women’s freestyle qualification rounds at 43, 49, 57, 65 and 73 kilograms.

11:30 a.m. ET — Women’s freestyle semifinals at 43, 49, 57, 65 and 73 kilograms.

Noon ET — Men’s freestyle medal matches at 45, 51, 60, 71 and 92 kilograms.

TUESDAY’S STORY

The pendulum was bound to swing back the other way at some point. The United States had been on a men’s freestyle roll at the Cadet World Championships that defied the law of percentages.

The Americans reached the Cadet finals 18 times in the seven years since United World Wrestling reinstated the tournament. They won 16 of those 18 title bouts, including 10 of 11 during the past three years.

Greg Kerkvliet was part of that gold rush. He was one of four American gold medalists last year in Greece when he took home the title at 100 kilograms. But UWW increased the weight limit this year at heavyweight to 110 kilograms, and Kerkvliet — who will wrestle at 97 kilograms in September at the Junior World Championships — ran into a full-grown man with a beard in Tuesday’s heavyweight gold medal bout.

Iran’s Amir Hossein Abbas Zare controlled the center of the mat and stymied Kerkvliet with underhooks, driving the Minnesota native out four times for step-out points, saddling Kerkvliet with two cautions in the process, and tacking on another takedown on the edge to win a 7-4 decision.

Kerkvliet was bidding to become the fourth men’s freestyle repeat Cadet World champ in American history.

“I just got a chance to watch the video again and I don’t know if we underestimated the kid a little bit, but it looked like we underestimated him a little bit,” USA Wrestling freestyle developmental coach Kevin Jackson said in an interview with USA Wrestling. “We have to stay in that handfight. Being able to handfight, being able to defend yourself from distance — head and hands position — that’s a world-class skill, and we just didn’t stay consistent with the handfight, we didn’t stay consistent with addressing the underhook when it happened right now.”

It brought an end to a day when the United States made a charge in the team race but lost critical ground late to the Iranians.

Abe Assad battled back Tuesday with three wins to bag a bronze at 80 kilograms, but Chance Lamer and Alex Facundo dropped semifinal matches and the other American finalist, Richard Figueroa II, fell victim to a four-point takedown in the second period that gave Azerbaijan’s Alihasan Amirli the lead on his way to a 6-1 win at 48 kilograms and his second Cadet gold.

“It was a tough day — tough session,” Jackson said. “Obviously, we thought we had some opportunities to advance to the finals. We had an opportunity to win a gold medal at 48 kilos and got caught with a four-point move. I like our guy’s effort, there’s just some areas we need to spend more time in, especially at that age group — those handfights, those underhooks, beating those positions and really being able to counter those strong tie-ups. I think we need to get better in those positions. Obviously, our guys are wrestling hard, bringing home some medals, but this was a tough, tough session tonight.”

Assad’s run through the repechage and the performance of Matthew Ramos, another Illinois native, eased some of the sting.

Ramos had to get a late takedown to seal a 5-3 win against Greece’s Ioannis Martidis in his first match of the day at 51 kilograms and rallied back from a 5-0 deficit to post a 10-5 win against Mongolia’s Dashtseren Purvee in the quarterfinals. He made a two-point exposure stand as the difference in the semifinals when he downed Iran’s Seyederfan Jafariangelyerdi 2-2.

“Man, he’s a competitor,” Jackson said of Ramos, who will face Japan’s Kota Takahashi in Wednesday’s gold medal bout. “He’s got some offensive skills I didn’t know he had and I think other people didn’t know he had. He’s been known as a defensive wrestler, but at a World Championship you have to bring your skills, you have to be able to take guys down and get your offense off, and he’s been able to do that.”

Lamer gritted through a pair of matches in Tuesday’s early session, stopping Pavel Sagdy’s go-ahead gutwrench attempt in the closing seconds and holding the Russia on his back for a fall and breaking open a tight match after the break to defeat Japan’s Shusei Yamashita 12-3 in the quarterfinals at 45 kilograms.

The Oregon native, though, ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals. Armenia’s Rafayel Harutyunyan scored a quick takedown and locked up a gut for four turns to register his third 10-0 tech of the day, bouncing Lamer into the bronze medal bout.

Facundo led 5-2 with less than a minute left in the 71-kilogram semifinals, but India’s Baliyan Gourav scored a pair of takedowns to win a 6-5 decision.

Ferrari got pulled back into the repechage when Iran’s Alireza Abdollahi reached the 92-kilogram gold medal bout. The Texan will try to duplicate what Assad did Tuesday when he reeled off three straight victories to claim a bronze. Assad finished his run with a 7-6 victory against Azerbaijan’s Sagadulla Agaev.

“Abe battled the whole tournament,” Jackson said. “He kind of had to refocus three or four times throughout the course of this tournament. Throughout the course of matches he kind of got down on himself, but then he got it back together and he competed like a champion.

Courtesy of trackwrestling.com

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Cadet Day 1 Wrap and Day 2 Preview: Figueroa and Kerkvliet reach freestyle finals, five Americans to make World debuts Tuesday

Cadet World Championships

RAPID RECAP FROM MONDAY

Richard Figueroa II and Greg Kerkvliet reached the freestyle finals on the tournament’s first day and will wrestle Tuesday for gold. Abe Assad remains in medal contention and will compete in Tuesday’s repechage. He needs three victories to bag a bronze.

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

4:30 a.m. ET — Qualification rounds at 45, 51, 60, 71 and 92 kilograms and repechage at 48, 55, 65, 80 and 110 kilograms.

11:30 a.m. ET — Semifinals at 45, 51, 60, 71 and 92 kilograms.

Noon ET — Medal matches at 48, 55, 65, 80 and 110 kilograms.

MONDAY’S STORY

Richard Figueroa wrecked everybody in his path Monday.

Greg Kerkvliet dusted his first three opponents and did just enough to get past a fourth to complete his return to the World finals.

The United States finished the opening day of the Cadet World Championships with bookend finalists. Figueroa started the semifinal round with a 10-4 victory against Ukraine’s Mykyta Abramov at 48 kilograms and Kerkvliet capped the session with a 2-2 criteria win against Russia’s Sergey Kozyrev at 110 kg to give the U.S. its first two medalists of the week in Zagreb, Croatia.

All five Americans who wrestled Monday registered a victory, but Robert Howard and Carson Manville were eliminated from medal contention. Abe Assad of Illinois will compete Tuesday in the repechage at 80 kilograms and needs to win three bouts to capture a bronze.

“I’d say overall the performance has been solid,” Cadet freestyle coach Lee Pritts said in an interview with USA Wrestling. “I don’t think we’ve performed up to our capabilities yet. But I also remember last year at this time after that first round we were going, ‘Oh man, we’re in trouble.’ And then (USA Wrestling freestyle developmental coach Kevin Jackson) brought the team in and had a conversation and next thing you know they pulled together as a unit and started firing on all cylinders and ended up with a great tournament.”

The Americans left Greece last September with four freestyle golds, including Kerkvliet’s at 100 kilograms. The Minnesota native who’s committed to Oklahoma State is up against bigger opponents this go-round with the heavyweight limit pushed up to 110 kg this year.

He got through a full-sized heavyweight in Monday’s semifinals when he used a second-period takedown to defeat Kozyrev, a European Cadet champion.

“I could be wrestling better,” Kerkvliet, who opened the tournament with three shutout technical superiority wins, told USA Wrestling. “We’ll find out tomorrow. The tournament’s not done yet and I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Kerkvliet’s bid to become the third repeat Cadet champion in American history goes through Iran’s Amir Hosse Zare, who outscored his three opponents by a combined 32-0 count Monday.

Figueroa was nearly as dominant Monday during his run to the 48-kilogram final. The California state champ pinned China’s Xiaolong Ye in 54 seconds to start the tournament, dismantled Russia’s Valerii Androsov 10-0 in the quarterfinals and took out Ukraine’s Abramov in the semis. Figueroa will wrestle Azerbaijan’s Alihasan Amirli, a 2018 European Cadet bronze medalist, in Tuesday’s gold medal bout.

“He came out firing,” Pritts said of Figueroa. “First match, first World Championship and all of a sudden he’s got his headphones on and he’s bobbing and I’m like, ‘Look at this dude. He’s ready.’ And Izzy Martinez was here and Kellen Russell and we were watching him and I said, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, but this dude is about to bring heat.’ And he went out in his first match and just lit the gym up. When he came off, I was like, ‘Everybody else in the weight class is in trouble because he is coming hard.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO TUESDAY

Five more Americans will make their Cadet World debuts on Tuesday during the second day of men’s freestyle competition.

Chance Lamer of Oregon, Matthew Ramos of Illinois, Josh Saunders of Missouri, Alex Facundo of Michigan and A.J. Ferrari of Texas received their draws on Monday. All five have wrestled in the Fargo Cadet freestyle finals and Saunders, Facundo and Ferrari won titles last summer.

Here are the draws:

45 kilograms — Chance Lamer (Oregon) vs. Pavel Sagdy (Russia) — Lamer is an Oregon state champ who reached the Fargo finals last summer. Sagdy is a Russian Cadet Nationals champion.

51 kilograms — Matthew Ramos (Illinois) vs. Ioannis Martidis (Greece) — Ramos was a Fargo Cadet freestyle finalist last year. Martidis placed fifth this year at the European Cadet Championships. Martidis placed 15th and 12th in two previous trips to the Cadet World Championships.

60 kilograms — Josh Saunders (Missouri) vs. Benedikt Huber (Austria) — Saunders, a two-time Missouri state champ and Fargo Cadet freestyle champion, has had an impressive 2018, performing well against Junior-level opponents in the U.S. Huber dropped a 12-2 tech against Ukraine’s Vladyslav Ostapenko in his only bout at last year’s Cadet World Championships. A Saunders win would set him up for a bout in the second round against India’s Ravinder Ravinder, an Asian Cadet champ this year.

71 kilograms — Alex Facundo (Michigan) vs. Damian Dan Korbus (Poland) — Facundo, one of the top prospects nationally in the 2021 class, won a Fargo Cadet title last year before his freshman year in high school. This is Korbus’ first major international tournament.

80 kilograms — A.J. Ferrari (Texas) vs. Banzragch Munkhbat (Mongolia) — Ferrari, a two-time Texas state champ and Fargo Cadet freestyle champion last year, is one of the top wrestlers in the 2020 class. Munkhbat placed fifth this year at the Asian Cadet Championships.

Courtesy of Trackwrestling.com

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Gwiazdowski, Conder, Cox, Hildebrandt, Garrett, Molinari make World Team with wins at Final X at Lehigh

Nick Gwiazdowski celebrates his victory over Adam Coon at Final X in Lehigh. Photo by Geoff Riccio.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Six more spots on the U.S. World Team in men’s and women’s freestyle were determined in an exciting night of action at Final X at Lehigh, which was held in Grace Hall on the campus of Lehigh University on Saturday night.

2017 World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski of the Titan Mercury WC needed just two matches to stop 2018 Greco-Roman World Team member Adam Coon of the New York AC at 125 kg in men’s freestyle.

Gwiazdowski was in control in both matches. In the first match, Gwiazdowski scored three leg attack takedowns, while Coon forced a stepout, on the way to a 6-1 victory. The second match ended with the same score, 6-1, as Coon scored first on a stepout, then Gwiazdowski scored a pair of takedowns and a turn for the victory.

Coon won his Greco-Roman team spot on Friday in Tulsa, Okla., got immediately on a plane, flew to Pennsylvania and weighed in Saturday afternoon to face Gwiazdowski. He was attempting to be the first U.S. athlete to make the Senior World Team in both styles since 1982, when Greg Gibson competed in both styles at the World Championships.

Gwiazdowski was asked about Coon’s Greco-Roman success as well as his size.

On Greco-Roman

“Different style. Different rules. He had an opportunity in both. He is a tough dude. He is going to come at you and turn it into a fight,” said Gwiazdowski.

On Coon’s size

“That is like part of the job description. These guys are going to be big. You have the weight limit and he made the weight limit, and that’s that. I have done it my entire life. Whenever they are that heavy, I know I’ve wrestled guys taller than him and heavier than him,” said Gwiazdowski.

Gwiazdowski was a two-time NCAA champion and three-time finalist for NC State, and also was an NCAA All-American as a freshman for Binghamton. Coon, a three-time All-American for Michigan, was the 2018 U.S. Open champion in freestyle and the runner-up in Greco-Roman. In 2014, Coon won Junior World bronze medals in both styles.

The event determined the 2018 U.S. Senior World Teams in men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling in six weight classes. The winner earned a spot on Team USA at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, October 20-28.

Making her fourth World Team, but needing all three bouts to clinch her spot, was Whitney Conder of the U.S. Army WCAP, who got past two-time World Team member Victoria Anthony of the Sunkist Kids at 50 kg.

Conder won the first match, 10-4. Conder went up 4-0 at the break on a pair of takedowns, but Anthony tied it up at 4-4 early in the second period on a throw. Conder closed it out with a double leg takedown, a gut wrench and another takedown.

Anthony came back strong in the second bout, coming out with a 4-2 win. Anthony got the first takedown, but Conder answered late in the first to tie it at 2-2. In the second period, Anthony converted a front headlock to a spin-behind takedown for the win.

In the deciding third match, Conder scored first with a takedown on the edge early. She added another takedown for a 4-0 lead, then scored a pair of turns on high gut wrenches. Anthony challenged the call and was denied, making the score 9-0. Conder scored a takedown with two seconds left for the 11-0 technical fall.

“There have been a lot of changes in my life since I made my last World Championships. I went down a weight class. I have been changing my lifestyle. I love everything that I am eating. I am doing more cardio. Every day I am working out more. I am fighting more, finding ways to score more points. I have new techniques that my coaches have been on me about. I have been training as hard as possible and finding new partners to get in the room and train as hard as we possibly can,” said Conder.

Both are past Junior World champions, with Conder winning in 2007 and Anthony claiming Junior World titles in both 2009 and 2010. Conder was a 2015 Pan American Games champion. Anthony won four WCWA national titles for Simon Fraser.

2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 World bronze medalist J’den Cox of the Titan Mercury WC made his third straight U.S. World or Olympic team with a two-match sweep over 2018 U.S. Open runner-up Hayden Zillmer of the Minnesota Storm at 92 kg.

Cox won the first match, scoring two takedowns and forcing a stepout, winning 5-1. In the second match, after a quick takedown, Cox secured an ankle lace and hit four straight turns, getting a 10-0 technical fall for the sweep.

“I knew what I was capable of. I knew that I have done the things to commit myself more to the sport. I am making my goals so I know what I want to accomplish. I made the move to Colorado. I knew I paid the price to do what I had to do to get here. I will do whatever it takes to get where I want to be in the future,” said Cox.

Cox won three NCAA titles and was a four-time All-American for Missouri. Zillmer, a North Dakota State All-American, has made the Senior National Team in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

2016 World Team member Sarah Hildebrandt of the New York AC won a two match sweep over a former teammate, 2016 Olympian and 2017 World Team member Haley Augello of the New York AC at 53 kg.

Hildebrandt shut out Augello in both matches, not giving up a single point. In the first match, Hildebrandt won 6-0, then added to her dominance with an 8-0 win in bout two.

Hildebrandt talked a bit about the 2017 World Team Trials, where she injured her elbow severely and could not complete her matches in the finals.

“It was a matter of putting it behind me and pushing me as well. I did a little bit of both. I couldn’t put it in front of me, where it was crippling me and making me afraid. I put it behind me to where I said, ‘look, it is time for you to get the job done.’ I doesn’t matter what happened before. Right now is your time,” she said.

Hildebrandt won their battle at the 2018 U.S. Open, 6-1. Both were stars for King University, with Augello winning three WCWA titles and Hildebrandt winning two WCWA golds.

Cornell NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett of the Sunkist Kids at 61 kg made his first World Team with a three-match victory over 2018 U.S. Open champion Joe Colon of the Titan Mercury WC.

Colon struck first in bout one, winning a close 7-5 win. Garrett rebounded to win the second bout, 10-5.

The third bout was all Garrett. He scored a takedown and a turn for a 4-0 lead, then did it again with another takedown and turn for an 8-0 lead. He finished it off with a big four-point throw to get a 12-0 technical fall.

“My first match, I came out slow. The thing is, I can’t wrestle slow against him. He is too good in his positions. So, every match, I had to pick it up, a little bit more, a little bit more. That is what I meant to do that first match. I didn’t want to over-wrestle, but I think it was just more that constricted aggressiveness. Just get to him. Clean shots, clean finishes, get to his legs and take him down and finish it,” said Garrett.

Garrett earned four All-American honors for the Big Red and is a past University Nationals freestyle champion. Colon was an All-American for Northern Iowa and NJCAA champion for Iowa Central.

In another battle of past teammates, Forrest Molinari of the Titan Mercury WC avenged a loss in the 2018 U.S. Open finals to Julia Salata of the New York AC and come away with a two-match sweep at 65 kg.

In the first match, Molinari shut down Salata for a 5-0 victory. In the second match, she ran off to an 8-0 lead, getting a four-point takedown and two other takedowns. Salata came from underneath to reverse Molinari to her back to make it 8-2, but Molinari scored a final takedown for a 10-2 win.

“This is very different than the usual Trials process. It was hard, but I am so glad I got to go to all three. I got to experience it all, and know my teammates. It has been an awesome year, going to all of these tournaments, helping my teammates out, and finally making that Senior team,” said Molinari.

Salata won two WCWA titles for King (2014, 2015), while Molinari was a 2016 WCWA champion. Salata won their showdown in the 2018 U.S. Open finals, 5-0.

USA Wrestling also held six National Team True Third Place wrestle-offs, which determined the No. 3 spot on the National Team. A true-third wrestle-off occurs when the overall runner-up and third-place finishers from the Freestyle World Team Trials Challenge Tournament did not meet in the bracket.

Winning their true third bouts for the men were Tony Ramos of the Sunkist Kids at 57 kg, Jaydin Eierman of the Titan Mercury WC at 65 kg and Richard Perry of the New York AC at 86 kg. Also advancing with a forfeit win was Ty Walz of the Titan Mercury WC at 97 kg.

Women winners in the True Third bouts were Cody Pfau of the Titan Mercury WC at 53 kg, Kelsey Campbell of the Sunkist Kids at 59 kg and Alex Glaude of the McKendree Bearcat WC at 68 kg.

FloWrestling provided exclusive live and on-demand coverage of the three-event Final X series. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Roku, or Apple TV 4, as well as on desktop or mobile web via FloWrestling.com

FINAL X AT LEHIGH
Saturday, June 23 at Grace Hall, Bethlehem, Pa.

The Main Card

Men’s freestyle 61 kg
Nahshon Garrett, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids) dec. Joe Colon, Fresno, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC), two matches to one
Bout One – Colon dec. Garrett, 7-5
Bout Two – Garrett dec. Colon, 10-5
Bout Three – Garrett tech. fall Colon, 12-0

Women’s freestyle 50 kg
Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Army WCAP) dec. Victoria Anthony, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids), two matches to one
Bout One – Conder dec. Anthony, 10-4
Bout Two – Anthony dec. Conder, 4-2
Bout Three – Conder tech. fall Anthony, 11-0

Men’s freestyle 92 kg
J’den Cox, Columbia, Mo. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Hayden Zillmer, Crosby, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), two matches to none
Bout One – Cox dec. Zillmer, 5-2
Bout Two – Cox tech. fall Zillmer, 10-0

Women’s freestyle 53 kg
Sarah Hildebrandt, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) dec. Haley Augello, Lockport, Ill. (New York AC), two matches to none
Bout One – Hildebrandt dec. Augello, 6-0
Bout Two – Hildebrandt dec. Augello, 8-0

Women’s freestyle 65 kg
Forrest Molinari, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC) dec. Julia Salata, Bristol, Tenn. (New York AC), two matches to none
Bout One – Molinari dec. Salata, 5-0
Bout Two – Molinari dec. Salata, 10-2

Men’s freestyle 125 kg
Nick Gwiazdowski, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC/Wolfpack RTC) dec. Adam Coon, Fowlerville, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC), two matches to none
Bout One – Gwiazdowski dec. Coon, 6-1
Bout Two – Gwiazdowski dec. Coon, 6-1

Andy Barth and Wayne Boyd have a big vision and a big purse of prize money and the co-founders of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club plan to have a lineup filled with big stars in August when they launch a new professional league.

The American Wrestling League is scheduled to debut Aug. 18 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with top American freestyle stars competing for what Boyd said will be a prize money purse of up to $100,000. The event will be streamed live on Trackwrestling.

“This is going to be the greatest wrestling show on Earth,” Boyd said. “They’re going to be action-packed, high-scoring matches. … This is showbusiness. This is entertainment. The only pressure is money. Who’s going to win the most money?”

Boyd said there will likely be 10 pro freestyle matches on the Cedar Rapids card with wrestlers getting $2,500 to compete and an additional $5,000 to win. His hope is to create a series of showcase matchups — he tossed out Kyle Snyder versus J’den Cox and David Taylor against Alex Dieringer as possibilities — and build a league with four to six events a year in wrestling hotbeds.

Boyd said the plan is to eventually establish teams around the United States that will compete for a league championship.

Barth said there are some multi-pronged objectives behind the American Wrestling League.

“One is to popularize our sport and make our sport more viewer or fan friendly, more interesting and give the sport the opportunity to create more excitement, more personalities to draw more attention to wrestling,” he said. ““The idea is not to do that just for the sake of drawing more attention to wrestling. If we’re able to do that, we feel we’ll be able to create the opportunity for more of our top wrestlers to really earn a living through their sport, to be able to support themselves and support their training.

“One of the things we want to do and why we at Titan Mercury are involved with the sport is really to help more American athletes achieve World and Olympic medals so that the U.S. can win more World championships and Americans can realize their dreams in the sport of wrestling. They’re all kind of connected in a way.”

Other professional wrestling leagues have come and gone and Boyd realizes there will be skeptics.

“I think people, for the most part, are going to say, ‘They’ve tried that before and it never worked,’” he said. “The difference is Wayne Boyd and Andy Barth are behind this and we know how to make things work. We proved that with Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.”

Barth said the American Wrestling League has “interest and a desire from really all the top wrestlers to be involved.”

“I think we’ve started to learn more and more about how the sport can be displayed in a way that’s exciting and interesting,” Barth said. “I think we’re going to need, in the early stages, to rely on the areas of the country where wrestling is extremely popular. If we put that together, I think we’ll be able to make it work.”

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Gwiazdowski healthy, strong, motivated heading into Final X

Nick Gwiazdowski is a heavyweight, so he’s used to waiting for his turn to wrestle.

Gwiazdowski spent the past two weekends watching the first seven world freestyle team spots determined at Final X events in Lincoln and State College.

“We’ve got some really great wrestlers and it was fun to watch,” he said. “It definitely got my competitive juices flowing.”

Now it’s Gwiazdowski’s turn.

The 2017 world bronze medalist will battle long-time rival Adam Coon when the third and final stage of the Final X is contested Saturday night at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

Gwiazdowski and Coon will meet in a best-of-three match series at 125 kilograms. The winner advances to October’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

“I’m really excited and motivated to wrestle,” Gwiazdowski said. “I’m healthy and strong — I’m ready to go. I can’t wait to get out there and have my opportunity to compete.”

Gwiazdowski, a two-time NCAA champion, has had a strong season. He placed third at January’s prestigious Ivan Yarygin event in Russia before going 2-1 for the U.S. team that won April’s World Cup.

He dropped a 4-3 decision to 2015 world silver medalist Jamaladdin Magomedov of Azerbaijan in the gold-medal dual at the World Cup.

“I feel like I’ve continued to make progress and I’ve improved a lot over the last 10 months since the World Championships,” he said. “I have tried to build on that performance from last year. A big part of what I’ve worked on is getting stronger and increasing my attack rate with my offense.

“This is the strongest I’ve been in a long time. I have had some really good training and I’ve had really good preparation leading up to this event.”

The 6-foot-1, 258-pound Gwiazdowski will face a familiar foe in the massive 6-foot-5, 285-pound Coon, who is trying to make U.S. world teams in both freestyle and Greco-Roman this year.

Nick Gwiazdowski defeated Adam Coon multiple times at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Gwiazdowski earned one-point wins over Coon in the 2015 NCAA finals and 2016 NCAA semifinals. He also beat Coon by 12-2 technical superiority in freestyle at the 2015 U.S. World Team Trials.

Coon does have a win over Gwiazdowski, a 3-1 victory in overtime in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Coon won the U.S. Open and World Team Trials Challenge Tournament this year to earn a shot at Gwiazdowski, who earned a Final X berth by virtue of being a returning world medalist. Coon is a past Cadet world champion and Junior world bronze medalist in freestyle.

“Adam has had a really solid year — he beat a world champion,” Gwiazdowski said. “He is a big, strong guy, but you expect everyone to be strong that you face at this level. I expect guys to be 275 pounds and be physical. I respect Adam and what he does. I’m looking forward to the challenge of facing him. He always brings a fight. He’s in your face and he wrestles hard.”

Gwiazdowski is ready to match Coon’s hard-charging style and approach.

“I’m in great shape,” he said, “and I feel really confident with my conditioning.”

The 25-year-old Gwiazdowski is an athletic heavyweight who has excelled with an array of lethal leg attacks. He’s a tough matchup for most heavyweights who don’t possess his speed and mobility.

“I’m going to be fast and explosive,” he said, “and ready for whatever happens out there.”

Gwiazdowski is looking to join an already loaded 2018 American world team that includes Olympic and world champions Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder, world champion Logan Stieber, world silver medalists Thomas Gilman and James Green, and Hodge Trophy winners Kyle Dake and David Taylor.

Nick Gwiazdowski won a world bronze medal in Paris (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Gwiazdowski was a member of the 2017 United States squad that won the world team title in men’s freestyle wrestling last year in Paris. It was the first U.S. team title in that style since 1995.

“This year’s world team is really good already,” he said. “I’ve been around this group the last couple of years and I’ve been able to see what they do. It’s an impressive group of guys who compete and train at a very high level. I’ve learned a lot from being around them.”

Gwiazdowski and coach Pat Popolizio led a resurgence of the wrestling program at North Carolina State. The Wolfpack are coming off their best season in school history after winning a team trophy when they tied for fourth at the 2018 NCAA tournament in Cleveland.

And the best may be yet to come as N.C. State continues to bring in top-level recruits.

“It’s really exciting to see what is going on here,” said Gwiazdowski, who continues to train in Raleigh. “A lot of things have changed since I first got here. The intensity of guys and the skill level they have now is really impressive. Pat’s done a great job and he’s put together a great coaching staff. It’s fun to see them continue to bring in talented wrestlers and see the program having so much success. It’s awesome.”

Popolizio is impressed with what Gwiazdowski has done after a standout collegiate career where he was a three-time NCAA finalist.

Nick Gwiazdowski with coaches Obe Blanc (left) and Bill Zadick (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

“Nick is an extremely motivated individual and he has been working very hard to accomplish his ultimate goal of becoming a world champion,” Popolizio said. “Coach (Obe) Blanc has been leading our RTC’s training and our staff feels very confident about Nick’s preparation heading into this weekend.

“Nick excels on the Senior level because he takes the sport and his training very seriously. He is a true professional, he does everything right and he expects the best.”

So what is the key for Gwiazdowski to achieve his lofty goals?

“Some of it is technical, and some of it is intensity and fight,” he said. “I have to stay focused and believe that I’m good enough to be a world champion. You need to develop that mindset and I feel like I can beat anybody in the world right now.”

Courtesy of Intermatwrestling.com