Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast RUDIS Wrestling Podcast

On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan is joined in studio by 2015 National Champion head coach for the Ohio State University, Tom Ryan. In a final RUDIS Wrestling Podcast before a hiatus, Ryan and Dernlan discuss Ryan's new book, Chosen Suffering. The book can be preordered beginning May 17, and more information is available at https://www.chosensuffering.com/

On today’s LIVE episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan is joined in studio by 4x NCAA Champion and 2016 World Champion Logan Stieber. Stieber, a coach at the Ohio RTC and founder of the Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy, has transitioned into serving the sport after capping off one of the most successful competitive careers in American wrestling history. Dernlan and Stieber discuss Logan’s entire senior season which culminated in his fourth NCAA title.

On this episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan and Jason Bryant discuss the fallout resulting from COVID-19 on wrestling programs as well as athletic programs across all sports being dropped from schools with the uncertainty ahead. The two also discuss the semantics and caveats that have come with the awarding of All-American and Honorable mentions to athletes from the 2020 season and how this will be looked at from a historical and statistics perspective in the future. Lastly, Dernlan and Bryant tackle the topic of celebration and trash talk in the sport of wrestling through the lens of the Dake and Burroughs podcast orchestrated by Ben Askren.

RUDIS Wrestling Shoes and Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy
On this special episode, Kyle Snyder and Logan Stieber join Matt Dernlan as they discuss the brand new 2019 RUDIS Wrestling Shoes. Stieber and Snyder breakdown the process of making, developing, and everything that goes into making a shoe. Snyder will also be giving away 2 free pairs of KS Infinity Shoes on his Instagram: @Snyderman45 and his Twitter @Snyder_man45

Stieber and Dernlan get into how the official first week of Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy went. They also talk about the future of Stieber Elite such as tournament season and what the future looks like for a Stieber Elite Dual Team. Stieber explains his ideology on leading and coaching these kids and how it also ties into coaching the parents.

Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford Wrestle Off
Dernlan mentions how he can’t think of anyone better to get their insight and opinion on the Yianni vs Zain than Logan Stieber who was the U.S. world representative at 65 kg last year. Stieber gives Zain a lot of credit and talks about how cool it was to see Zain’s emotion after his win. He breaks down Zain and Penn State’s gameplan and Zain’s ability to adapt quickly. He talks about Yianni’s offense and his future looking forward to next years Olympic run.

Daton Fix Podcast
On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren sits down with 4x Oklahoma State Champion, 2017 Junior World Champion, NCAA Finalist, 2019 Senior World Team Member, and 7x World Team Member Daton Fix. Fix holds many, many more accolades including the most recent Gold Medal at the Lima Pan American Games. Despite Fix’s reputation of winning, he didn’t start wrestling until 5th grade and had to catch up to the other kids who had been wrestling since they were 5. Fix says his dad was a great coach for him and set the foundation for him to succeed. He was told not to focus on results but on progression and if you do that the results will follow. He’s kept that mindset since and is something he claims has helped him throughout his career. Askren talks about how he can’t think of anyone else that wrestles in as many events, tournaments, or duals as Fix. They breakdown Fix’s decision to commit to Oklahoma State as well as his battle in the NCAA finals against Nick Suriano. Fix and Askren also breakdown his U.S. Open and Final X series with Thomas Gilman. Wrapping up the podcast Fix gives an inside look at his training for this year’s World Championships in Kazakhstan and Askren talks John Smith.

Team USA - One Step Closer to Final Form
This episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan detail and breakdown Dake vs Dieringer, Diakomihalis vs Retherford, wrestling protocol, Junior Greco, and Daton Fix joining Askren on the podcast. Askren commends Dake on his gameplan, execution, and all-around wrestling. Dernlan talks about Dake's ability to adapt to his opponent. He says he has one of the best pushouts in the world, he's great at controlling center and wrestling from space as well as controlling tempo and pace. Next, they get into the topic of Yianni vs Zain and wrestling rules protocol. They mention Cholton Schultz and acknowledge his tremendous potential at the next level. The last topic they discuss is Daton Fix and how the wrestling community has been able to witness his career from such a young age. 

Follow Wrestling: https://therudis.com/wrestling-news-media/

Stay connected with RUDIS:
Website: https://therudis.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_rudis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_rudis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rudiswrestling/
The Way: A RUDIS Wrestling Podcast: https://therudis.com/wrestling-news-m...

Subscribe to the RUDIS newsletter here: https://therudis.com/my-account/

Olympic Red Shirt and Jr. Worlds
This episode Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan cover Yianni Diakomihalis / Zain Retherford arbitration process being dragged out, Mekhi Lewis taking an Olympic redshirt, Vito Arujau at Junior Worlds, and Collegiate rosters for next season. Askren and Dernlan First get into Yianni vs Zain. They believe by the length of time the arbitration process is taking that there will a wrestle-off. What the board is trying to figure out most likely is if they count the second Final X match for Yianni and the series is tied 1-1 or if they call it a nullified match and force Yianni to win two straight matches. They’ll also have to decide when the match will happen with limited time remaining before the World Championships. The next topic they discuss is the domestic battle in the U.S. at the 57kg weight class for the Olympics. The list of elite wrestlers filtering into 57kg is extremely long from Daton Fix, Spencer Lee, Thomas Gilman, Nick Suriano, to Tyler Graff, Nathan Tomasello, and the list goes on and on. For Daton Fix it’s extremely important for him to medal in order to put himself in a final wrestle-off for the Olympic team spot. They also announce they will be going LIVE on YouTube from the RUDIS Wrestling HQ this Saturday, August 17th as they watch the Kyle Dake vs Alex Dieringer wrestle-off. Lastly the breakdown Junior Worlds and the potential of these amazing wrestlers.

Spencer Lee Before Iowa
On this special episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren sits down with 2x NCAA Champion and Iowa Hawkeye Spencer Lee for an exclusive interview. Askren first met Lee at Young Guns Camp when Lee was a sophomore or junior in high school. Even at that time, Lee was a wrestling prodigy with 3 Pennslyvania State Titles a Cadet World Title and 2 Junior World Titles. They talk about Lee’s beginning experiences with the sport of wrestling, how he developed his skills and the mindset ingrained in him from his father. Next, they get into Lee’s experience winning Cadet Worlds. Askren and Lee also talk recruitment and how it was between Iowa, Iowa State, and Penn State when he was deciding where he wanted to wrestle in college. Lee talks about the process of getting back into competition and rehabbing his knee injury.

Austin DeSanto and Wrestling Conditioning
Askren brings up the topic of Austin DeSanto. Ever since high school and DeSanto beat Lee at states they had mutual respect. Lee talks about wanting DeSanto to come to Iowa and how it all worked out in the end. The next topic Askren and Lee get into is wrestling conditioning and lifting weights. Lee works with Iowa’s strength and conditioning coach but overall doesn’t stress strength and is more focused on being a technician with a gas tank that won’t fail him during the crucial moments of a match.

Freestyle Career and Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Style
Askren asks Lee to talk about his future plans competing in freestyle and chasing Olympic Gold. Lee says he does not have plans set in stone. He will continue to discuss with the people around him and his coaches to figure out what’s best for him and his career. The last topic is about the Iowa Hawkeyes and their style of wrestling. Askren has picked Iowa to win next years team title. Lee agrees that they have more than enough talent and the opportunity is there for the taking they just have to execute and avoid injury to the best of their ability.

RTCs
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan discuss the main topics from the NWCA coach’s convention including changes/recommendations for how RTCs are being run, monitored, regulated and enforced by the NCAA. They kick off the podcast by bringing up current news of Zain Retherford not wrestling at the 2019 Pan Ams. They also briefly discuss the news of Yianni Diakomihalis officially announcing he will taking an Olympic redshirt year. Next, Askren and Dernlan talk 2019 Cadet Worlds held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notably our women’s team performance.

The Future of the Sport
Getting into the discussion of RTCs, Askren asks “Do we care more about elevating and growing the sport as well as bringing up the level of competition for the US senior-level athletes to compete internationally? Or do we care more about the fairness of the college competition?” The answer to this question will help determine the future state of RTCs. Next years NCAA Championships being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the U.S. Bank Stadium will be the first time in its history the championships are held in a stadium as opposed to an arena. Dernlan talks about how he heard at the NWCA Coach’s Convention that they have sold close to 20,000 seats and are working on unveiling a plan to grow it to close to 40,000.

One Semester Season
Another hot topic surrounding last weekends convention is switching the college wrestling season to a one-semester sport. This would benefit the academic side of the sport by not pulling athletes away from the classroom over two semesters and allowing them to schedule their classes easier. It would also allow wrestling to bump the national championship back to April instead of “competing” against basketballs march madness. Lastly, there was talk about two types of championships stretched over two semesters. One would be a dual meet champion season and the other would be a tournament championship. Askren talks about when you can win a team race with 4 wrestlers that is probably not the best way to judge the best overall team. Coming up on the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast Askren will be interviewing 2x NCAA Champion, Spencer Lee.

You Will Always Regret it
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 10 “Never Ever Quit” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about not giving up on your dreams and having the fortitude to stick to the process. Refusing to give up and standing tall against the odds makes life what you make of it. Kolat talks about the part in the book during SEAL training where the drill instructor tells the trainees if they quit now they will live with that regret forever. Kolat thinks this is a powerful statement and one many people don't bring up when motivating others to not give up.

Bear the Burden on Your Own (2:34)
Being self-sufficient is crucial. Kolat talks about how he prepped for competitions and what he took with him so even if no one had Gatorade/snacks or dry clothes for him he was prepared. When you do get help it's a welcomed relief but you have to be mentally and physically prepared for life. Dernlan talks about the role wrestling plays in teaching kids self-reliance. In a day and age of helicopter parents watching and fixing every problem or lawnmower parents knocking down obstacles in their children's way it's no wonder, kids haven't learned to be self-sufficient. This ties back to essentially teaching kids to quit. Instead of allowing them to figure it out all they have to do is step back and allow the parents/teachers/adults to fix all problems. This is not to be confused with abandoning or not helping but rather it's leading.Be

Brutally Honest with Yourself First (11:34)
Kolat and Dernlan break down the role of a coach specifically a college coach preparing their athletes for the rest of their lives. While coaching one of Dernlan's priorities was to prepare kids for the non-cushioned real life after college. If he could get them to hold themselves to a high standard with a strong sense of self-honesty he knew they would be successful.

Why Maryland?
On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan sits down with newly named University of Maryland Head Wrestling Coach Alex Clemsen. Dernlan asks Clemsen why Maryland was the right choice for him to take his storied coaching career to the next level. Clemsen speaks about the close relationships he has with many of the instrumental administration and staff surrounding Maryland. He also mentions just how good of a school it is academically on top of being in the BIG 10 wrestling the best schools in the country. When you combine great people, great education, and great competition you can’t go wrong.

The Difference (6:42)
Dernlan asks Clemsen about the things that have jumped out to him immediately as the difference moving from an associate head coach position to head coach. Coming from a unique four-year position at Missouri, Clemson was empowered with a lot of responsibility and included in decision making that most coaches in that position wouldn’t be. This had made the transition to head coach seamless.

Learning from Legends (13:22)
Since Clemsen’s athletic career at Edinboro being coached by Tim Flynn and Lou Roselli where he was an All-American and 4x NCAA qualifier he has been surrounded by legends in the sport. Clemsen goes on to tell how Flynn and Roselli played a crucial role in shaping him as a young man and ingraining into him many of the principles he lives by today. He also speaks about his time at Oregon coaching under Troy Steiner. Overall Clemsen is thankful he’s had the opportunities to be around not just good wrestling minds but good human beings.

Recruiting (26:45)
The topic of recruiting is brought up and Clemsen gives his thoughts on the ongoing trend of recruiting kids at a younger and younger age. He doesn’t believe it’s healthy for a few reasons. One reason is pushing kids to compete more is not good for their bodies or minds. From weight cutting to injuries to mental fatigue, too many repetitions and competitions are not beneficial. Another unspoken about factor about competing more is the money and time required to travel to and compete in tournaments and showcase events. Lastly, the younger you recruit the harder it is to divide your scholarships into a team without holes in the roster. You may recruit a kid thinking they’ll be a 125 lbs wrestler but they grow and become a 144 lbs.

What’s to Come (35:09)
Clemsen talks about the task ahead of him at Maryland and all that he’s excited for. He speaks on the culture he is building, the type of wrestler he is recruiting, and what it means to be a Terrapin.

Subscribe to the RUDIS newsletter here: https://therudis.com/my-account/

The Harsh Reality
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 8 “Rise to the Occasion” and Ch. 9 "Give People Hope" from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. Ch. 8 deals a lot with giving respect to those soldiers who don't make it home, the realities of war, and the true dangers involved. Kolat and Dernlan don't entertain the idea that this is comparable to wrestling. They move on to Ch. 9 that covers a topic many people are fascinated with when it comes to SEAL training, Hell Week. Kolat relays what some of his SEAL friends have told him about Hell Week and that is that Hell Week is actually not the hardest part of BUD/S but getting through the entire 6 months of being wet, cold, and sandy is. 

Hell Week (8:50)
Dernlan talks about how wrestling programs draw from the idea of a "Hell Week". You have to make sure the athlete understands what they're getting into entering a collegiate program right away. The worst thing for both the program and the individual would be if they had a false reality of what they were getting into and end up quitting. Everyone's going to question if going through this is really worth it, or if they're getting out what they're putting in but that's normal. Dernlan would remind his athletes this and tell his team to lift up their teammates when they're on the edge or ready to give up. Admiral McRaven talks about how it only takes one individual to be the change in everyone's attitude, morale, and motivation. This is true in wrestling as well. Kolat says one guy becoming a national champ can motivate the entire program to be great and achieve their goals. It also only takes one guy to quit to allow others to rationalize in their head to quit.

You're Always Under Attack (17:20)
Kolat speaks on how you're always going to be mentally tested. Who you surround yourself with is extremely important. If you're serious about your goals surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals is crucial for your success.

Developing a Wrestling Prodigy
On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren is joined by Yianni Diakomihalis for an exclusive interview. Diakomihalis explains how he started wrestling at the young age of five and by ten began training seriously with his father former Rochester Institute of Technology All-American Ilias Diakomihalis. They would watch film on YouTube of all-time greats like Buvaisar Saitev, learn what they're doing successfully, and practice their moves. Ilias's philosophy was to help Yianni become the most skilled wrestler he could possibly be and let speed and strength come secondary to skill and technician.

U.S. Recent Success on International Level (10:56)
Askren brings up the recent news of Artur Taymazov testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs for a second time after re-analysis of stored samples. He asks Diakomihalis if he believes some of the United State's recent success on the international level could be due to the fact other countries like Russia have potentially stopped using PEDs and the competition is more level now. Diakomihalis says while that isn't the only reason it is for sure a contributing factor. The next question Askren has is if Diakomihalis believes the restructure of weight classes at the Olympic Level has helped our hurt the United States. Adding 79 kg and 92 kg couldn't have been better for the U.S. For example, Kyle Dake was able to find a home and went unscored upon last year at Worlds.

Middle School and High School Success (17:10)
Diakomihalis' first high-level national success came in 2013 when he won Super 32. Sophomore Year of high school Diakomihalis won UWW Cadet Nationals against one his close friends and teammates Vitali Arjua. That year he went on to win his first UWW Cadet Gold. Diakomihalis didn't let the fact he admired many of these wrestlers impact the way he wrestled against them. In his mind, he understood and used their moves so he had the best skills from all of them so how could they beat him? After losing to Daton Fix in the 2015 Flo Nationals, Diakomihalis began training at the NY RTC. He wanted high-level training partners and prepare himself for college while also preparing for the best wrestlers in high school. Diakomihalis broke his elbow attempting a collar tie in practice near the beginning of his senior year season. He also had preventative surgery on his other elbow right after and was forced to sit out for 4-5 months.

Freshman Year of College (28:37)
During Diakomihalis' true freshman year of college at Cornell, he won the 141 lbs NCAA Title. He only lost one match and ended his rookie season 37-1. Diakomihalis breaks down his matches from the 2017-2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships. He tells the story of him tearing his ACL at the beginning of the quarterfinals and asking his trainer to spare him the details and let him wrestle without knowing how bad it was. He goes on to win two tough matches on a blown ACL and secure his first NCAA Title.

Sophomore Year of College (36:05)
Sophmore season Diakomihalis goes undefeated 29-0 securing his second NCAA Title. After the college season, Diakomihalis then moves into freestyle and wins the U.S. Open defeating Zain Retherford. Diakomihalis talks about getting his weight down post knee surgery and how once he dialed it in it all manifested at the Open.

Yianni vs Zain Announcement (40:27)
Askren asks for an update on the ongoing arbitration over the Final X controversial second match between Diakomihalis and Retherford. Diakomihalis says the decision was scheduled for last Friday but was pushed back to July 29th. There are three possible outcomes that could be announced. One would be they do not reverse the call and Retherford remains the representative at 65 kg. Another could be they decide Diakomihalis, in fact, won match 2 and the series is tied 1-1 requiring a third match. Lastly, they could decide that match 2 was an illegitimate match and require them to re-wrestle match 2 with the possibility of Diakomihalis forcing a match 3 if he wins.

On today’s LIVE episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan is joined in studio by 4x NCAA Champion and 2016 World Champion Logan Stieber. Stieber, a coach at the Ohio RTC and founder of the Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy, has transitioned into serving the sport after capping off one of the most successful competitive careers in American wrestling history. Dernlan and Stieber discuss Logan's entire freshman season which culminated in his first of four NCAA titles.

Why Fargo Is So Important
This episode Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan recap Fargo Junior Nationals and Askren Wrestling Academy results. They discuss how much Junior Nationals has grown in the past 5 years. They attribute the growth to national media coverage and high-level coaching/training partners through Regional Training Centers. Askren talks about how Fargo is the only tournament where there is a true state team feeling. Dernlan expands on the life experience and memories gained by these kids getting into busses and airplanes and traveling as a team to a national tournament. It really brings states together as one and memories you’ll talk about for the rest of your life.

Askren Wrestling Academy (17:45)
Askren talks about AWA’s results at Fargo. He elaborates on his Mental Monday from this week about balance, knowing when you’re on the right track and staying the course. This comes after AWA representatives dropped three semifinals in a row on the junior side. On the flip side, they had nine All-Americans and 27 kids win three matches or more. Askren details all the data into spreadsheets in order to compare results from previous years and overall he is pleased with the results from this year and proud of his athletes.

Phenomenal Talent (22:12)
The first result Askren brings up is Angelo Rini from Ohio who ended up winning 14-4 in the finals. The match Askren was impressed by was his semifinal match against Wyatt Henson that ended up 23-13 in Rini’s favor. Rini was down 9-13 with 25 seconds to go in the second and was able to get come back and win big. Another match they dive into is the 182 lbs semifinal between AWA’s Parker Keckeisen and Dustin Plott where Askren feels the officials made a bad call with 53 seconds left in the first. Overall, Askren thinks 182 lbs was the bracket of the tournament. Another standout performance came from Padraic Gallagher who rolled through the tournament at 160 lbs. The last guy Askren brings up is Heavyweight Braxton Amos who dominated and didn’t allow a single point scored against him the entire tournament. Dernlan explains the complexities involved when evaluating 220 lbs wrestlers moving into college. Will they go down to 197 lbs or grow into heavyweight? How much is there physical maturity helping them at the high school level and how can you develop their skills to match the collegiate level they’ll have to face.

Upcoming Podcasts (43:30)
Askren talks about upcoming podcasts including Cadet Worlds and special guest Yianni Diakamihalis getting on the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast this week.

Subscribe to the RUDIS newsletter here: https://therudis.com/my-account/

Training with Team USA
This special episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan are joined by Isaiah Martínez in Fargo at Junior Nationals as they talk Yasar Dogu, Dake vs Dieringer, and share wrestling stories from their past. Dernlan begins by asking Martínez what he’s been up to since his matches with Jordan Burroughs at Final X. Martínez has been helping the world team training and Askren talks about how different the process is since his time wrestling internationally. Martínez also gives some insight into what training camp is like and the importance of team comradery with everyone focused on a universal goal.

Alex Dieringer vs Kyle Dake (14:50)
Martínez is asked about his thoughts on the Alex Dieringer vs Kyle Dake Controversy. Imar doesn’t get into the politics of whether or not Dake should be allowed to push the match back yet at the same time compete internationally. He does say he believes if Dake is not at 100% he will have a really hard time and most likely not be able to beat Dieringer. If Dake isn’t ready to go fully Martínez gives the edge to Dieringer. Martínez doesn’t see the severity in the fact that by delaying the process both Dake and Dieringer lose the time to prepare for the international opponents.

Jumping Levels (25:17)
For Martínez balancing a college wrestling season and classes was a major distractor for his progress in freestyle. Now that his sole focus is on freestyle he feels he had the opportunity to really grow into his own and it has shown. He has dialed in his sleep and nutrition but also focuses on technical positions and details.

Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford (30:52)
Askren asks Martínez his thoughts on the Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford topic. He loves the drama/attention and the high-level wrestling these two are bringing to the sport.

Weight Cutting (40:13)
Martínez, Askren, and Dernlan share their worst/most memorable weight cutting stories.

Matt Storniolo Joins
On this special LIVE episode from the RUDIS Booth at Fargo, North Dakota Junior Nationals Ben Askren, Northwestern Head Coach Matt Storniolo, and Matt Dernlan talk collegiate wrestling and Yasar Dogu results. They kick-off by asking Storniolo about how Freestyle training is going at Northwestern. Northwestern currently has Yahya Thomas and Lucas Davison representing them on the world stage both of whom made the Junior World Team. They also discuss Sebastian Rivera’s future in freestyle wrestling and the possibility of him wrestling for Puerto Rico on the world stage. Northwestern also just had Ryan Deakin make it all the way to Final X. Askren talks about how impressive it was and what can Storniolo equate to how Deakin came off a 6th place NCAA finish to being extremely close to representing the US at Worlds. Storniolo talks about the grind of a season Deakin went through with every week taking on a top 10 opponent. He also talks about the balancing act that is the college wrestling season and the plans for 2020.

Yasar Dogu (12:15)
After Storniolo gets back to coaching, Askren and Dernlan talk about Fargo Junior Nationals, the history, and energy surrounding it and how important it is for wrestling. They then get into the 2019 Yasar Dogu wrestling tournament. The U.S. had an incredible showing and came out with great results. They first talk about how much we learned about seeing Yianni Diakomihalis compete in his first senior-level national tournament. They also breakdown Frank Chamizo defaulting out of the finals against Jordan Burroughs.

Zain vs Yianni (25:14)
The topic goes to Zain Retherford and Diakomihalis’ ongoing arbitration over the Final X official call. After Diakomihalis beat Retherford at Yasar Dogu, it opened the conversation back up from the public that these two need to wrestle match 2 from Final X again.

Dake vs Dieringer (30:25)
Askren asks how Alex Dieringer’s results impact Dernlan’s view on Dieringer vs Kyle Dake. Dernlan says it’s hard to say until you see it and either of the two will most likely be gold medalist. Askren predicted that Dieringer could and would beat Dake in a close match at Final X and Dieringer’s performance internationally solidifies his prediction.

J’Den Cox Calls his Shot (33:40)
Dernlan talks about how J’Den Cox called his shot like Babe Ruth was known for by saying he was going to show the world there is no hope for anyone else at worlds. Cox didn’t get scored on once at Yasar Dogu and beats the world 42-0.

Kyle Snyder Wins Gold (40:13)
Dernlan talks about Snyder’s concentration on his preparation for Worlds. It’s exciting to watch Snyder’s gut wrench and par terre wrestling jumping levels since last year.

The Next Chapter
On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan sits down in the studio with 2016 World Gold Medalist, four-time NCAA Champion, 2018 World Cup Champion, and 2018 Pan American Champion Logan Stieber. Stieber recently announced his retirement from active wrestling and will focus on coaching at the Ohio RTC as well as at his newest endeavor Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy. Stieber will start workouts this September and you can register at https://stieberelite.com/register?fbclid=IwAR2ffAdP0_lPR-34iTlhZHZFCaZC8JCnk-RvDmqezlpZ0xvVgTRGI90FP_M. Stieber Elite will be held at the brand new Jennings Family Wrestling Facility three times a week.

Guiding the Parents (8:52)
Stieber talks about how one of his main focuses with his academy is to help the parents of wrestlers. He has seen talented wrestlers with enormous potential form a negative connotation around competing or be hindered because of the stress put on them from parents. Wrestling is tough and as a coach, Stieber’s goal is to prepare, motivate, teach, and support. He also touches on how a drive to be a successful wrestler stems out into everything else in your life. A passion for wrestling can create so many opportunities that wouldn’t present themselves otherwise.

Having Fun by Getting Better (20:20)
Dernlan talks about how coaching youth wrestlers can be harder than coaching at the collegiate level. By the time a wrestler is recruited to a D1 program, they’re already motivated to win. Being the person that sparks love and appreciation for the sport as well as the one to give them the skills to be successful is a tough task and a huge responsibility. Part of building the love for the sport is the friendships you gain from being involved. Anyone who grew up playing sports can attest the fact that they form bonds and friendships that last a lifetime. One way Stieber speaks about having fun while wrestling is by sparring or play-wrestling. Drilling is important but things don’t happen perfectly in a match and learning to flow from position to position is crucial. Teaching young wrestlers to not get frustrated during play-wrestling and learning to be defensive is also important. Overall, developing a passion for knowledge and development is something that will not only help your wrestling but everything else in your life.

Wrestling is Evolving (30:45)
Speaking on the passion for knowledge and getting better everyday Dernlan says one of the best things about the sport is constantly looking to get better. The sport evolves at an incredible pace because the people involved are always pushing each other to grow. The way to get better in the practice room is to let your ego go at the door. Dernlan speaks on not thinking about winning or losing in the practice room but focusing on getting better.

Being the Example (41:47)
Stieber talks about his passion for wrestling and how it’s evolved into a way of life for him. Being a good mentor, coach, and role model for young athletes and their parents aligns perfectly with what he wants to be.

Balance (44:00)
Speaking on the importance of balance Dernlan knows parents have the best intentions but sometimes fall into the trap of thinking their kid needs to be 100% focused on one thing only. Balance is important and while your goals will never leave you understand that your life needs balance. Dernlan talks about going all in on everything in your life. If you’re hanging with friends focus on being the best friend you can be or if you’re in class focus on being the best student you can. When it’s time to practice, wrestle, and prepare focus on being the best wrestler you can be.

Subscribe to the RUDIS newsletter here: https://therudis.com/my-account/

Where You Find Wrestling, You Will Find RUDIS
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan discuss Fargo Junior Nationals, UFC 239, and the controversy surround Kyle Dake’s decision to delay his match with Dieringer but compete internationally. Dernlan starts by announcing RUDIS will be in Fargo, North Dakota for Junior Nationals. The RUDIS booth/tent will be located across the street from the Fargodome in the Applebee’s parking lot the same as last year. Anyone who has experienced the RUDIS booth in Fargo knows that it is an event in itself including athlete/legend appearances and poster signings. Askren won’t only be signing posters at the RUDIS booth but also coaching the 48 wrestlers attending Junior Nationals from Askren Wrestling Academy. This year beats AWA’s previous record of 30 athletes participating.

A Living Example (3:48)
Askren discusses the aftermath of UFC 239 and shares more of his thoughts on the entire situation including how to handle loss as an athlete, coach, and parent. Following his loss, Askren did exactly what he’s been teaching and speaking about for years which is not sulking or hiding but facing it and learning from adversity. Overall, it’s about harnessing the lessons and motivation from failure and using it to move on and work towards your goals as a stronger individual.

Fargo Junior Nationals or College? (10:28)
Generally speaking, most colleges have their athletes come to school early and not compete at Fargo. This is to get kids acclimated to the college scene quicker as well as get them into summer session classes in order to take the stress off of them during the season. Another benefit is the earlier you can get them into the wrestling room the better. Askren speaks to how important those extra three months can be. What college coaches really want to avoid is a high school senior athlete taking the summer off. If the athlete’s goal is to win a Junior National Freestyle Championship that is great but if it’s not it’s important to start them getting ready for college.

The Kyle Dake Disaster (19:35)
Askren jumps into the Kyle Dake wrestle off situation. Askren is frustrated with what Dake (or any returning medalist) is being allowed to do even being the returning gold medalist. Originally in order to postpone a wrestle-off for the world team spot against Alex Dieringer, Dake had a note from his Doctor stating he would not be able to compete until August 17th to allow him to recover from surgery. That was approved by the commission board and a wrestle-off date was set. He then produces a second note supporting his recovery in order to compete internationally July 6th. This is not an ideal situation for either Dake or Dieringer. By delaying the match, you’re eating away at the time focused on international competition because you have to focus on making the team against another top-tier individual.

Follow Wrestling: https://therudis.com/wrestling-news-m...

Stay connected with RUDIS:
Website: https://therudis.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_rudis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_rudis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rudiswrestling/
The Way: A RUDIS Wrestling Podcast: https://therudis.com/wrestling-news-m...

Subscribe to the RUDIS newsletter here: https://therudis.com/my-account/

Lean into Discomfort
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 7 “Stand Up to the Bullies” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter goes over standing up and overcoming adversity. Not only reacting and learning from tough situations but really leaning into discomfort in order to grow. Kolat says, if you want to get stronger you lift weights and the only way to improve is to put more weight on the bar. Once that new number becomes easy you have to put more weight on. The same process applies to wrestling. In order to get comfortable in a wrestling position, you have to put yourself in it enough times until you harness the technique and understand what to do enough to be comfortable there. Then you move on to the next area you’re not comfortable in.

Seek out the Bully (3:00)
Dernlan and Kolat talk about the idea of bullying yourself and creating bully situations. What they mean by this is pushing yourself to and past your conceived limits. Not allowing yourself to settle for mediocracy and ultimately achieving the goal you’re working toward. Admiral McRaven talks about during training they would swim in shark-infested waters. It’s a real-life scenario of literally seeking out and swimming with the sharks (your fears or bullies), not backing down, and overcoming. Kolat talks about the teaching moment for parents when your child is bullied. Bullying is a fact of life that is as old as time but it’s also an opportunity to learn, improve, and get stronger. The life lesson you’re teaching is the power in standing up for yourself. Overcoming bullies is something people deal with their whole lives and learning early on how to handle them is important.

Getting Bullied on the Mat (10:55)
Kolat uses his experience at a recent event as an example. A friend’s son was being bullied on the mat. Kolat’s advice for him was that part of wrestling is not allowing that to happen. When it does you come back and show your opponent you won’t allow it and return the favor. A part of wrestling is not only physically but also mentally dominating your opponent. Going through these tough matches is how you get stronger and learn how to not let it happen again.

Be an Overcomer (15:00)
Just as there are physical bullies there are metaphysical bullies surrounding us every day. The more we lean into the discomfort in them and learn to overcome the better we’ll become as people. Do Dernlan and Kolat approve of bullying? No. What they do approve of is standing up and the learning from those situations. They will ascend you to greatness.

The Very First Interview
On this special edition of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren sits down for an exclusive interview with founder and former CEO of FloSports and current founder and CEO of Rokfin Martin Floreani. Askren kicks off the podcast by asking Floreani how the past year has been moving away from Flo and to reflect on his new endeavor with Rokfin. Askren thinks back to when he was first introduced to FloWrestling when he was competing at Missouri being able to watch interviews with the best college and Olympic coaches. This was information, entertainment, and coverage that hadn't ever been done for the sport of wrestling. Floreani talks about one of the very first interviews with John Smith and how accommodating Smith was to a kid he didn't know and who didn't have a product or legitimate company yet but came to him with an idea of what he wanted to create for wrestling. Floreani expresses his gratitude for all of these individuals that were so helpful and accessible to him during the beginning days.

Cael Sanderson (8:03)
Askren asks Floreani his opinion on coaches like Cael Sanderson who are very protective of information and don't tell the media much of anything. Floreani understands Sanderson's thought process of not allowing even the smallest crack in the dam for his competitors to get an edge on how they can better compete against Sanderson and Penn State. Askren hopes that in the future Sanderson will feel comfortable talking about the way he is able to run such a successful program for so many years.

First Live Event (11:57)
Askren asks at what point did Floreani get the idea to execute on live streaming wrestling events. Floreani takes it back to the first event he filmed, Midlands 2006. He filmed it on a tape camcorder, drove back to Texas, uploaded all the matches and the site started to gain a lot of attention. The first live streamed event came 6 years later when Kyle Dake beat David Taylor in a super close match at the All-Star Classic. This was when Floreani was able to step away from advertisers support and turn to a subscription-based company. An idea is meaningless without the proper and best execution of that idea. Floreani was extremely detail oriented in how he went about developing this idea.

How We Can Grow the Sport (20:43)
The topic is brought up about how much Flo has contributed to the growth of wrestling. Floreani thinks back to the people that told him while they love wrestling, it's a boring sport and not for the masses. He talks about how context is everything for sports. Knowing the different storylines, drama, and adding the production adds enormously to the energy and enjoyment. He wanted people to witness the sport the way he was and he knew once they did they'd know there isn't anything more exciting out there. Speaking on the different ways the sport will and can grow over the next decade Floreani talks about women's wrestling and improving upon the competition experience for not only fans of national wrestling but local and youth wrestling.

Floreani's Newest Endeavor (32:13)
Floreani founded and is the CEO of Rokfin. Rokfin is a subscription media company and live digital platform that rewards it's content creators for the full value they generate. This is opposed to a non-subscription platform such as YouTube that can be monetized based off a percentage of Ad click revenue and deals with a host of issues that arise from external advertiser influence.

Great Wrestlers Dare Greatly
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 6 “You Must Dare Greatly” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about pushing your limits, taking risks, believing and going out and executing on your goals and dreams because if you never take the leap you'll never know what's possible. Kolat says one attribute that he doesn't like in a coach is one that steers his athletes away from "high-risk techniques" when that athlete has found success there before. When Kolat was competing he had the ability to learn technique quickly and also had the confidence to try it out in competition. Kolat says there is no such thing as a bad move if you've put in the reps and practice and there's no hesitation or doubt in competition.

Two Things Everyone Can Control (8:55)
It's easy to say what you want but it's difficult to really commit to it. It's hard to commit because there's a risk you won't reach that final goal. Dernlan explains something he would tell all his athletes, "You can't control your natural given talent but you can control your effort and attitude." If you're controlling your effort and attitude every day you'll be prepared and have the freedom to take the risk when the moment arrives. A coach will not begrudge you or be upset if you put in the effort and keep a positive attitude.

Make Mistakes. Be Vulnerable. It's Good for You (12:13)
The time to be daring first is in the practice room. Some athletes fall victim to practicing safely and not allowing themselves to fail therefore not growing and learning. Dare in practice and it'll come out when it matters in competition. vulnerability turns into comfort which turns into confidence which turns into execution. You don't take a loss as a failure you should look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

It's All About Perspective
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 5 "Failure Can Make You Stronger" from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about persevering through failures and allowing those moments to teach you and strengthen you. Dernlan starts by asking Kolat how about his summer training at Campbell and how it's developed from his first few seasons there. Dernlan points out there are a lot of parallels between learning from failure and running a wrestling program. During SEAL training, they have something called "Circus" where people who came in last during the different training they did throughout the day had an extra few hours of training. Admiral McRaven was consistently in the back of the pack and was forced to do extra training. By the end that extra training made him one of the best swimmers. Kolat breaks down and relates this to a coach and athlete relationship. You have a choice between viewing a coach pushing you as a punishment and develop a bad relationship or you can understand the necessity and reasoning to get you better. The only way to improve is to spend extra time and it comes down to the perspective you decide to take.

Put in the Work (10:08)
Kolat talks about the people who are afraid to put it on the line and fail or lose a match. You can't enter a competition with the fear of losing. The athletes who don't put the extra time in are the ones with the highest anxiety entering a match. If you know you put in the work you can have full confidence stepping on the mat knowing you did everything you could to prepare. Dernlan brings up the fact that if you're focusing on doing everything you can do that's recognized by everyone in the group. You can't go wrong with the mindset of being the first one in and the last one to leave the practice room.

How Do You Rank the Top RTCs?
This week, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan have a unique episode where they give you their Regional Training Center (RTC) power rankings. One question while coming up with this list Askren had was if they should count international wrestlers or only USA wrestlers. Another was how exactly do you qualify the strength of these RTCs. They bring up the New Jersey RTC and everything Scott Goodale is doing there. They have a true Regional Training Center in the sense that they have both Rutgers and Princeton training there whereas most others are only one school. Askren thinks it would be beneficial if more schools combined and had that added benefit of more high-level athletes learning from one and other. Dernlan brings up the concern of most regions just don’t have schools within a close enough proximity to each other. If there is an opportunity to pool resources together it would help with funding and supporting more athletes.

Number 5 (16:01)
Depth played a big factor for Askren while making his picks. Number five for Askren is Michigan RTC. Michigan will have multiple wrestlers competing at the World Championships this year not only representing the USA such as Adam Coon in Greco but also internationally like Stevan Micic, Myles and Malik Amine, and Dave Habat to name a few. Dernlan also took Michigan as his number five choice.

Number 4 (19:55)
Dernlan picks the Hawkeye Wrestling Club as his number four. When considering the HWC you have to weigh in the fact they have three women that just secured their spots on the world team. Askren’s number four is the Minnesota RTC or the Minnesota Storm. They have someone at almost every single weight class that is high level and right at the door of being world team members. Dernlan speaks about how MTC is creative with how they have their athletes play a bigger role within the organization. They might be a part-time coach or hold other roles and this could be extremely beneficial for them and their lives after competing.

Number 3 (26:55)
Askren’s number three is the Ohio RTC. When you’re talking about the Ohio RTC you compare them to their recent success and as an absolute powerhouse of producing World and Olympic team members. This year Logan Steiber announced his retirement, Nathan Tomasello has been dealing with injuries and a few other athletes didn’t have the results they hoped. One year’s results doesn’t discount the level of depth and talent they have on their roster. Since 2011 they’ve put 16 wrestlers on World and Olympic teams. Dernlan also puts Ohio RTC at number three based off this year’s results.

Number 2 (30:20)
Dernlan picks the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club at number two. NLWC has a lot of top guys but has struggled with getting their college national champions onto World teams with the exception of David Taylor. Askren takes New Jersey RTC. This was a great year for NJRTC. They have Tyler Graff and Pat Downey on the World Team as well as a stacked roster of top contenders on the national level.

Number 1 (35:45)
Dernlan takes NJRTC as his number one because of their success in the last three years. Askren has NLWC as his number one. He talks about the unparalleled depth the NLWC has and the opportunities for athletes to train together. They also host a number of top international wrestlers.

UFC 239 Askren vs Masvidal (38:40)
Askren talks a little about his upcoming fight Saturday, July 6th at UFC 239 against Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal recently missed his second UFC press conference promoting the fight and the UFC 239 card. Askren talks about how from a mental perspective if you think playing games will impact your opponent that means games likely work on you. He talks about his path to a shot at the title and how he is set up nicely after the fight on July 6th to get chance at the belt next.

On this episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan and Jason Bryant are joined by former Eastern Michigan head wrestling coach and current volunteer assistant coach at the University of Michigan, David Bolyard. Bolyard held the reigns on one of the most successful EMU wrestling programs in recent history before the program was cut in April of 2018.

Securing the Lineup
This episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk NCAA Wrestling, World Team Trials Format, and who is most likely to medal at the World Championships. Askren starts by discussing the news 2018 All-American Shakur Rasheed announced he will be returning for another year of collegiate wrestling. This comes a few days after 2019 NCAA Champion Anthony Cassar announced his return. This secures Penn State’s lineup at the upper weights for this upcoming season. Dernlan says the lower weights are always hard to recruit and when you get interrupted by injuries and transfers it’s hard to rebuild. These announcements tip the scales in Penn State’s favor continue their dominance and win yet another team title. That being said, it will a tough task for the upper weights to carry especially losing bonus point machines in Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf.

Final X Format (17:54)
Askren talks about the benefit of having Final X added to the world team trials format. Dernlan discusses the much deserved raised exposure and visibility Final X brings to the senior level athletes. The access to watch these events and follow them on social media allows fans to really get into wrestling more than ever. Getting to know the athletes through their college careers is huge for growing a fan base that follows you after graduation. As women’s wrestling grows and schools start adding NCAA women’s teams their fan base will grow.

Most Likely to Medal at Worlds (24:49)
Askren and Dernlan give their predictions on the most likely U.S. team members to get a medal at the World Championships. Askren’s No. 1 is Kyle Snyder being that every world championship he’s been a part of he’s got a medal. Dernlan agrees and adds the improvements we got to see at Final X with Snyder’s parterre offense. Askren’s No. 2 is J’Den Cox who is also in the club of medaling every time at Worlds. Dernlan agrees and says in a list of most likely to medal you have to have Snyder and Cox tied for first. Dernlan’s No. 3 pick is Daton Fix. Fix has made 6 consecutive world championship teams. Askren’s No. 3 pick is the winner of Kyle Dake vs Alex Dieringer and Dernlan takes this as his No. 4. Askren’s No. 4 is Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs has had a lot of close matches recently but Askren still thinks he’ll likely medal. Dernlan agrees talks about the undeniability of Burroughs and his ability to win. No. 5 for Askren is Nick Gwiazdowski he sees the toughness at heavyweight and if he receives a hard seed it’ll be a tough path to the top. Dernlan’s No. 5 is our representative at 65 kg whether that is Yianni Diakomihalis or Zain Retherford.

No. 6 for Askren is Fix and he’s excited to watch him at the first Team USA international tournament. With a mix up in the numbers, Dernlan and Askren both take James Green at No. 7. No. 8 for Askren is either Diakomihalis or Retherford. Dernlan’s No. 9 is Tyler Graff and Askren agrees. Lastly, that leaves Pat Downey. Having Downey at the bottom of this list of world beaters is not a slight to Downey. Compared to the rest of the team he doesn’t have as much international experience. Askren and Dernlan wouldn’t be surprised if he goes and shocks the world as that has been his thing as of late.

Final X Lincoln
During this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan recap Final X Lincoln and breakdown all the exciting moments. Askren talks about the excitement surrounding United States Wrestling and the level our team is at compared to previous years and the world. Dernlan gives some insight behind the four RUDIS athletes that competed at Final X Lincoln and the RUDIS + MARVEL singlets they were wearing.

Sarah Hildebrandt (5:08)
Hildebrandt didn't give up a single point in her two matches against a crafty veteran Katherine Shai winning 3-0 and 8-0. Speaking to how elite of a competitor Hildebrandt is, Dernlan talks about how Hildebrandt still sees the small mistakes she made even in the wake of not giving any points up.

Kayla Miracle (6:32)
Miracle wins by Tech Fall in her first match 12-2 and then allows zero offense from her opponent in her second win 4-0 over returning bronze medalist Mallory Velte. Miracle had been the alternate the previous two years and had been so close to making a senior world team at such a young age. Miracle said it best in her post-victory speech “About damn time, We’re from Iowa. We don’t get tired. We live for this two-out-of-three, but I wanted to make it two, make a statement, and create that separation.”

James Green vs Ryan Deakin (11:50)
Green came out with an 18-second tech fall in the first match. Deakin was able to slow Green down in the second match but ends up losing 4-3. Askren talks about how Green is one of the United State's best chances to medal.

Tyler Graff vs Joe Colon (13:54)
Colon took the first match but Graff dominated the next two. Dernlan talks about Graff's perseverance and determination. It was a great and heartwarming moment to see Graff earn his first world team membership. The New Jersey RTC has made a statement this year with multiple world team members on the senior level. Askren doesn't see NJRTC slowing down in the slightest.

Isaiah Martínez vs Jordan Burroughs (20:30)
Askren gives credit to how much Martínez closed the gap between him and Burroughs this year. When you look at their battles last year compared to this year it's incredible and Askren was impressed. Burroughs doesn't claim his weight cut impacted his performance. Stopping a weight cut and then having to get a sweat going again in 15 minutes is not easy. During their first match, Burroughs is down 3-4 and gets a takedown with 10 seconds left. Dernlan and Askren talk about how many times they've seen Burroughs do this. You can never count him out especially at the end of a match. Next year will be extremely exciting with elite wrestlers from three world weight classes filtering into the Olympic 74 kg weight class. Burroughs will have to fend off the likes of Kyle Dake, Isaiah Martínez, James Green and many more.

Daton Fix vs Thomas Gilman (34:57)
This series was one of the most exciting of the entire night. Fix dominates in the first match winning 9-1. Match 2 Gilman comes back and gets a second-period takedown to win 3-2 making adjustments from the first match. Fix then battled and got the 6-3 win in the third match. Fix beat the best version of Gilman we've seen. The level of scrambling in these matches was through the roof and always makes for some of the best wrestling you'll see anywhere. Fix has a great chance of medaling at worlds if not winning it all.

Failure Is a Product of Long Term Success
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan discuss Ch. 4 "Life’s Not Fair. Drive On." from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter talks about the way you look at life and how you react to adversity and obstacles in your way. It's hard to be confronted with this so directly but it's a reality. Success is built up by a series of failure and struggle that you learn to overcome. This is why you need to learn to embrace failure and truly reflect on those times in order to improve. 

Take a Risk (6:45)
Kolat has always advocated for self-sufficiency. You can't be fully dependent on another person or group and you can't blame them when something doesn't go right. When coaching, Kolat won't discipline a wrestler who is doing everything right by getting good grades and competing his hardest the same as one who is lacking in the classroom and not giving their all on the mat. Kolat talks about life not being fair and uses the example of the workplace rewarding the best. Being forced to take accountability you are going to fail but you'll reap the rewards of learning from those experiences. A good parent and coach have a balance between knowing when to hold someone's hand and when it's better for them to try themselves and learn.

Failure Is Giving Up (15:40)
Navigating his career, Kolat distinguishes the differences between a setback and a failure. If you give up, that's a failure but if you get up and try again or learn for the next time that's a setback. Kolat also discusses reality is everyone is clawing their way to the top and people don't have a problem stepping on you to get there. Where success becomes a real possibility is when you're comfortable being uncomfortable. If you learn how to truly lean into discomfort is when you open up opportunities for success. The last thing Kolat mentions is not giving up doesn't mean you endure discomfort for a week it means you dedicate months and years to the goal you're working towards.

Great Competitors, Controversial Call.
On this special episode, Matt Dernlan sits down with Ivy League’s all-time winningest wrestling coach, Cornell Head Coach Rob Koll. Along with being the Head Coach at Cornell he also coaches his wrestlers as they pursue Olympic and World Championship dreams in Freestyle wrestling. Koll was in Yianni Diakomihalis’ corner during the very controversial match between Diakomihalis and Zain Retherford at Final X Rutgers. Koll begins by talking about how great of a competitor Retherford is as well as how good of an overall person he is. Koll doesn’t believe Retherford or is coaches corner including Cael Sanderson did anything wrong by challenging the call.

After the first period and a series of exciting scrambles, Diakomihalis was up 8-6 at the end of the match. Retherford’s coach Cael Sanderson challenged the sequence that awarded Diakomihalis two exposure points with just under a minute left in the second. After a long review, they took away the points and awarded Retherford the win 6-6 with criteria.

Not Given a Chance (1:52)
Koll states that if they would have thrown the brick right after what they were challenging happened, Diakomihalis would have had a chance with those 50 seconds to wrestle and make up the points. Koll believes the head official should be sanctioned and not be able to be in a position to make these mistakes again in the future. After diving deep into the rule book and realizing all the mistakes that were made it is frustrating. It’s also frustrating when an official is rationalizing a call that contradicts another call.

Initial Reaction (5:08)
Dernlan attended Final X Rutgers and while watching his initial reaction was questioning why they didn’t stop the sequence and get a unanimous decision when the two side judges had a different score than the official on the mat. There shouldn’t be a need for a challenge from a corner when there is a score discrepancy between officials. Initially, they thought the challenge was looking at the exposure points at the very last seconds. Once they saw the officials going back 50 seconds is when they attempted to challenge the challenge. This was denied and they were told you are not allowed to do so.

USOC (11:30)
Koll asked who he can petition this call with and was told, Rick Tucci. The person that denied the protest on the mat and allowed a challenge to go back 50 seconds is who Koll was told to petition to and make his case to. Yesterday, Koll had a meeting with the United States Olympic Committee and is in the process of writing up his argument. At the end of the day, Koll is still unclear how far up he’ll have to go up through USA Wrestling, USA Olympic Committee, or UWW to get an official decision.

Life Changing (17:38)
Dernlan and Koll speak to the ramifications this has on an athletes life. It is a huge advantage to medal and sit out until the Olympic Trials next year. It is life changing to be a world medalist but even more so an Olympic Medalist. That comes with opportunities that wouldn’t present themselves otherwise so this is not a small decision without consequences on either side. They go on to discuss how much the rules change year to year. This is why it’s almost impossible to take years off and then jump into a high-level match and be expected to make the right calls.

Elevating the Sport
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk about and recap all of the exciting stories revolving around Final X Rutgers. Dernlan attended Final X Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC) and speaks about how phenomenal of an event it was. Dernlan’s opinion echos the online consensus of how much everyone enjoyed it. Wrestling is a winter sport which makes tailgating very difficult so having a huge wrestling event during summer is a welcomed change. Dernlan also gives kudos to the RAC for staging the event and making the environment spectacular.

Yianni vs Zain (4:19)
Wasting no time Askren jumps into the topic everyone is talking about the controversial official call during the second match of Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford. After the first period and a series of exciting scrambles, Diakomihalis was up 8-6 at the end of the match. Retherford’s coach Cael Sanderson challenged the sequence that awarded Diakomihalis two exposure points with just under a minute left in the second. After a long review, they took away the points and awarded Retherford the win 6-6 with criteria. Askren’s first issue is that in the rule book although ambiguous clearly states you only have five seconds after the scoreboard changes to challenge it.

Controversy (8:40)
In Askren’s estimation, he sees the scramble as a 2-2 scenario. Dernlan talks about how the three officials all had different scores and from his understanding whenever that happens they should meet automatically and make a call. He also states that even if Sanderson would have thrown the challenge brick during the sequence they wouldn’t have stopped the wrestling until the sequence was over. In freestyle, they don’t restart the clock to the time of the challenge like they do in folkstyle. If that would have been the case, Diakomihalis would have had 45-50 seconds of time to wrestle with the knowledge he needs to score. This is why Dernlan says they should have stopped the sequence because they know they have to get the score right because they can’t restart the clock.

Technicalities (22:30)
Reading from the rule book Askren talks about the rule that states no challenge can be requested after the regular time of a period (In this case it was). It goes on to say, except when the points are added to the scoreboard after the referee’s whistle (ending the period). In this case, it was not because the points were added about 50 seconds before the end of the period. Overall, both Askren and Dernlan are on board for a third winner take all match and have the wrestlers decide and not leave it up to the officials.

Bo Nickal vs J’Den Cox (28:08)
Bo Nickal weighs in at 87.7 practically 10 kg underweight and extremely close to 86 kg weight class. This is surprising because it means he most likely could have made that weight and wrestled against Pat Downey instead of facing J’Den Cox. This is if he had a heads up from his close friend David Taylor when he knew he wasn’t going to be able to compete this year. Askren understands the concept and principal of not wrestling one of your best friends but if they’re the same weight class they may not have a choice in the future. All this being said, Cox didn’t win the matches because he was the heavier wrestler, he won because he was the better wrestler. Askren’s advice for Nickal would be to go wrestle-off for a spot on the U23 team at 86 kg and get some world experience.

Gwiz vs Steveson (38:18)
Askren gives credit to Dernlan for calling Nick Gwiazdowski’s ability to get second and third re-attack points in their Final X Technical Breakdowns. Askren was also extremely impressed with Gable Steveson and his athleticism.

Golden Era (40:55)
Askren speaks about how this is the first time in a long time the U.S. has second and third guys that could medal at Worlds. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific reason why the U.S. has the depth of talent we do right now but we are not taking it for granted.

Determination Over Talent
This episode Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan continue onto Ch. 3 “Only the Size of Your Heart Matters” from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This chapter speaks about the size of your heart being a direct correlation and causation to the level of success you achieve in wrestling, life, and business. What McRaven means by your heart is your determination, resolve, grit, and ambition. It’s not the person with the most talent or genetic gifts but the person who does the most with what they’ve been given.

Prove Yourself To Yourself (4:35)
Kolat talks about how many of his favorite athletes he’s coached were not the starters. You can’t go wrong surrounding your program with people who are willing to give you everything they got every day. While Kolat was competing he was the starter who got a lot of attention. He’s not sure if he was a backup for four years if he would have stuck it out. It takes a tough kid to show up every day and pour their heart into their training knowing they probably won’t start. SEAL training is about proving something every day to yourself and everyone around you. The best wrestlers understand this as well. They continue to set new limitations and expectations on themselves.

A Mindset for Life (15:46)
McRaven gives an example in the book of seeing a skinny gentleman in a waiting room and thinking to himself how hard of a time that gentleman will have in training. He later finds out he was a retired SEAL who had won a medal of honor. It’s a perfect lesson of not judging a book by its cover. Kolat says this is true within wrestling. You can’t judge your opponent or anyone by their body shape or looks. He also points out that some of the best wrestlers in the world are long and thin and use their leverage in their favor. Dernlan and Kolat discuss how all-encompassing being a coach is. They also speak on how as a coach if you instill within your athlete the mindset of going all in and being the hardest worker in the room. This mindset will not only help them win wrestling matches but they can carry it throughout their life and find success anywhere.

On this special episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan are in the wrestling room to breakdown the Final X matchups between Yianni Diakomihalis vs Zain Retherford, Gable Steveson vs Nick Gwiazdowski, Bo Nickal vs J'Den Cox, and the postponed match Kyle Dake vs Alex Dieringer.

Tune into our YouTube Channel: RUDIS or the Media Page on therudis.com to view the breakdown step by step and keys to victory.

Anthony Cassar
On this episode, Ben Askren is in the studio with Matt Dernlan as they discuss some recent events such as the UWW Cadet & U23 Nationals, collegiate wrestling news, and. They kick off by talking about big news for Penn State, Anthony Cassar was granted two years of eligibility by the NCAA if he so wishes to compete. Judging off the quotes from Cassar he doesn't sound unequivocal about a decision to utilize both of those years wrestling in college. Dernlan talks about how hard a college wrestling season is and it is sure to drain anyone. Cassar has also had about three major surgeries. Askren brings up the school aspect of the decision as well. Grad school will take a lot of dedication in of itself. That being said, when Cassar sits down with Cael Sanderson and they discuss Cassar coming back it will be a very convincing argument from Sanderson and Askren believes Cassar returns for one more year of college wrestling.

Transfers (13:30)
133 lbs Seth Gross officially transferred from South Dakota State to Wisconsin for his 6-year Senior season. Gross won the NCAA title in 2018 but missed last season due to a back injury. The 133 lbs division, especially in the BIG 10, was the most talked about, action-packed division. Adding Gross back into the mix will only make this division even crazier. They go on to discuss how difficult it is to win a team trophy and why it takes such strategizing to even put yourself in the conversation of possibly winning.

U23 Nationals (20:03)Askren talks about how for whatever reason the U23 team isn't as sought after as the UWW Juniors or UWW Cadets. Askren guesses that the reason might be due to the fact that the best 23 and under wrestlers are making the senior world team or in strong contention. For example, Yianni Diakomihalis, Daton Fix, Gable Steveson, Zahid Valencia, Mark Hall, Jason Nolf. In order to get the best representatives at U23, Askren suggests having a special wrestle-off for athletes that place at the U.S. Open or World Team Trials.

Heavyweight (29:43)Daniel Kerkvliet beats Lehigh's Jordan Wood in a best of three championship. Askren and Dernlan were impressed by Kerkvliet's tech fall 10-0 over Aj Nevills in the semifinals. He still has a lot to learn as you can tell by him throwing a body lock the wrong way in the first match of his round-robin with Wood causing a cut on his face as well as on Wood's chin. Overall, it's positive Ohio State has a young promising heavyweight.

61 kg (33:04)Charles Tucker doesn't allow Micky Phillippi to score any points in their two matches and gets the win. Askren found this interesting because Phillippi had a better season last year. Another exciting match from this bracket was the third place match between Josh Kramer and Louie Hayes with an outrageous score of 33-22 in Hayes favor.

65 kg (35:44)Jaydin Eierman beats Luke Pletcher in two of their three matches to get the win. Askren talks about how insane these matches were and how difficult they are to officiate.

74 kg (37:28)Brady Berge hammers through this division with a finals win over Philip Conigliaro.

79 kg (38:06)
Muhamed Mcbryde beats Anthony Mantanona in a close first match and a tech fall in the second.

86 kg (38:45)
Matt Dean beats Devin Skatzka in the finals in dominant fashion.

92 kg (39:32)
Oklahoma's Jakob Woodley beats Christian Brunner in the finals.

UWW Cadet (40:25)
Askren describes this as the toughest High School tournament. Dernlan talks about how interesting it is to see these athletes compete throughout the years because of the difference in maturation that happens. Dernlan also talks about the officiating at this level and what that means for coaches and athletes and how you navigate bad calls.

Cadet Results (46:00)
41 - 45 kg: Blair Academy's Marc-Anthony Mcgowan is really promising. Askren was really impressed with him. 48 kg: Stevo Poulin tech falled his way the entire tournament. 51 kg: Richard Figueroa ll has a good chance of being a world medalist. 55 kg: Robert Howard makes his third straight world team. 60 kg: Jesse Mendez gets the win over Anthony Ferrari. 65 kg: Ryan Sokol who has dealt with some injury dominates his bracket. 71 kg: Previous world medalist Alex Facundo makes his second world team in a row. 80 kg: Clayton Ulrey looks outstanding in this tough weight class. 92 kg: Kyle Haas gets the win 110 kg: Askren refers to Hunter Catka as an animal. He has a good chance to medal at worlds.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work
This episode Cary Kolat, and Matt Dernlan continue onto Ch. 2 "You Can't Go It Alone" from the book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. The name of this chapter says it all, you need people in life to help you through difficult times, motivate, and support you. Dernlan talks about how many people think they are capable of getting through and accomplishing their goals without anyone's help and that's just unrealistic. Kolat says he was very self-sufficient when it came to training and pushing himself when no one was around to do so. You can only do so much on your own, Kolat tells his team to find a partner on the team that can be their go-to guy for training. 

Trust and Comradery (3:45)
From Kolat's first year at Penn State, Sanshiro Abe was his guy, they trained, worked out, motivated, and coached each other. After Abe retired Kolat struggled to find another deep connection with a training partner that could help him in the same way. This is when he realized how much he depended on the people around him. In the book, McRaven gives the example of a Navy Seal training tactic where they make trainees all carry a rubber boat. They know someone will either get hurt or sick and they want to see if the team turns on them or helps them and carry his load. Kolat says this is exactly like a wrestling dual meet. Sometimes a guy the team usually relies on isn't performing and everyone else needs to step up and pick up the slack.

Coaching (11:45)
Kolat says a lesson he learned early on in his coaching career was that you have to let your assistant coaches, coach. You can't micromanage and allow them to create wins for the program but also make mistakes and learn. Another thing is keeping your number two guys in check. You never know when the starter will suffer an injury or get a skin infection day before the dual. The backups have to be ready to go and understand the starter needs someone behind them pushing and chasing them. Kolat builds unity and commitment through team bonding so when one person achieves something the whole team feels it.

Wrap-up (17:05)
If you're an athlete you need to find a like-minded partner. Kolat says sometimes you have to create that partner. Hold someone accountable and ask they do the same for you. Another key lesson from this chapter is understanding a team can't rely on a few key guys. It takes everyone's full effort. You never know what's going to happen.

A Family Business
On this special episode, Matt Dernlan sits down with 4x WCWA National Champion, 3x U.S. Open Champion, 2x Junior World Medalist and recently signed RUDIS athlete Kayla Miracle. Coming off a U23 World Team Trials win and a Senior World Team Trials win, Miracle is heading to Final X Lincoln to earn her spot on the senior world team. Dernlan grew up wrestling with Miracle's dad Lee Miracle who is currently the head coach at Campbellsville University. Kayla grew up going to her brother's practices while her dad coached and after some time, she asked if she could wrestle too.

Mark Perry (7:05)
Even with all the success she had up until and throughout college, Miracle says making the decision to train with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club was when she truly dedicated everything to the sport. Miracle talks about Hawkeye Wrestling Club Coach, Mark Perry and his ability to recall specific moves or outcomes from his vast memory of matches. Dernlan affirms this about Coach Perry as well and speaks about just how unique he is and how lucky the Hawkeye Wrestling Club is to have him.

Small Circles, Big Impacts (14:55)
Miracle speaks about her friendship with Sarah Hildebrandt. In a growing sport where your hometown may not have many women wrestlers especially at the caliber these two were at it you cherish the friendships you make. It's a testament to the common saying of surrounding yourself with like-minded, supportive, and motivated individuals.

HWC (17:55)
Dernlan asks Miracle about her beginnings with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. She was invited to train with Lauren Louive, Alli Ragan, Michaela Beck, and Forrest Molinari and after a training camp was proposed with joining as a full-time resident athlete. Miracle says out of all the things that she's improved upon after making that commitment the biggest is her mental game. She believes now looking back the only thing that potentially held her back in the past was having some self-doubt in herself at the senior level. You're always your biggest critic but Miracle has turned a new page this past year and seems more than ready to go out and show everyone she's the best in the world.

Outside Wrestling (31:55)
Miracle says the people in wrestling is what makes it the best sport in the world. One thing about wrestling at the level Miracle is on, you travel the world. These are business trips first and then if you have time you can explore the culture. Miracle says one of her favorite trips was Japan for last years World Cup. But, the best meal she ever had internationally was from a small restaurant in France.

In this final episode of the series, Dernlan and Bryant break down the heavyweight team members, discuss wrestlers who they think should have made the cut, and who they'd replace. The heavyweights are Clarion’s Kurt Angle, Iowa’s Ed Banach, Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s Carlton Haselrig, Oklahoma’s Dan Hodge and Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson.

Download the full scoring breakdown at therudis.com

Current Events
This episode Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan present detailed statistics pulled from data collected by Askren and his team of the 2019 U.S. Open. Before getting into the numbers Askren talks about the sad news that hit the wrestling community this week, David Taylor will not compete at Final X as he recovers from an injury suffered at Beat The Streets. This gives Pat Downey the nod to take the 86 kg spot on Team USA. Askren talks about the importance of Taylor taking the time to heal because although it seems far away, the Olympic Trials are only 10 months away. Askren did think that if David Taylor was hurt we would have seen Bo Nickal drop down to 86 kg and take his chances beating Pat Downey over staying at 92 and facing J'Den Cox. When Nickal didn't drop down, Askren thought Taylor wasn't hurt.

How to Compare (13:26)
Askren and Dernlan will breakdown scoring statistics taken from the 2019 Men's Freestyle U.S. Open. Dernlan mentions if you're comparing the U.S. Open Stats to the 2018 World Championships Stats you should compare the percentages over the amount. Askren recorded more matches from the 2019 U.S. Open than he did from the 2018 World Championships. There are more points scored in the round of 16 at the U.S. Open. Askren says this could be due to the U.S. being more offensively aggressive but most likely it's because the defense at the international level is better.

Trends (19:20)
The two categories that scored the most points in both sets of data by a long shot is Shots and Shot Defense. Knowing how to get to the legs and finish and knowing how to defend against them getting to your legs are still the best ways to score. Another similarity is that there isn't a trend in techniques or ways of scoring by weight class. One thing Dernlan points out is that when you're looking at the wrestlers competing at the U.S. Open most of them don't have international experience and their freestyle is limited to their domestic experience.

Defensive Scores (27:58)
The number one biggest difference for Askren comes in defensive scores. At the World Championships, the number four shot defense was a dump whereas dump at the U.S. Open was number one. This shows the international wrestlers aren't as familiar with folkstyle defense. It also shows wrestlers with a folkstyle background fresh out of or currently competing in college are less dialed into and more loose with their defense not worried about giving up back exposure.

Keep it Simple
Cary Kolat and Matt Dernlan introduce a new book they will be discussing, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven. This episode they will discuss Ch. 1 "Start Your Day with a Task Completed". McRaven gave a commencement speech at his alma mater The University of Texas at Austin and Dernlan explains this is where the genesis of this book originated. The clip of this speech went viral of McRaven summarizing his military career and everything he learned from his 37 years of service in 10 simple points. Kolat and Dernlan agree when people are searching for solutions they often over complicate matters when in reality a simple approach is probably the best. 

Wake Up, Get Better
This chapter talks about the best way to start your day is with a completed task. This way you begin your day with a positive frame of reference and know you're doing something productive right from the beginning. It's a reminder that at the end of the day you've done something well and to be proud of no matter how small the task. It kicks off the mentality you start your day with, doing something right and perfect. Kolat says every athlete should start their day with something similar. For example, if you start your day with a run you feel like you're starting off being productive, doing what others aren't, getting ahead of the competition, etc. Kolat breaks down the importance of trust and comfortability between coach and athlete. Kolat and his coaching staff start the day now that it's not wrestling season by getting in contact with their wrestlers. If you're not getting to know your athletes on a personal level then you can only build so much trust. It also helps you understand how to help them improve. 

Don't Just Do the Work. Do it Right.
Dernlan talks about how most people working towards a goal are seemingly doing all the major things right. The difference is not just going through the motions but really being intentional and holding accountability to yourself even during the most mundane things. The attention to detail is everything. When you can condition yourself to do the little things right the bigger ones fall into place. 

Above and Beyond Expectations.
Kolat dives into discussing that you shouldn't expect to get a pat on the back for doing what's expected. The way you train and the way you work is what motivates everyone around you. That's when you get a pat on the back. Dernlan talks about how well informed and misinformed this day in age everyone is with the spread of information on the internet. He urges to be dialed in and disciplined on what's beneficial for your end game. If it's a distraction, distractor or takes away from your primary focus you need the discipline to stop. Pay attention to the small things and they won't steer you wrong.

The Future of Heavyweight
This episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan breakdown the World Team Trials Junior’s tournament. Askren really enjoys watching the Junior tournament because it gives you a sneak peek on the talent that is entering college. One standout performance during the Greco-Roman tournament was heavyweight high schooler Cohlton Schultz who beat Olympian 32-year-old Robert Smith in the finals. To have this amount of success at the senior level while in high school is extremely impressive. There is an enormous amount of young talent at heavyweight which has Askren and Dernlan excited for the college season.

Juniors 57 kg (6:05)
Vitali Arujau tech falls Michael Colaiocco in the finals of the mini-tournament and then is very dominant in his two wins over Malik Heinselman. Arujau showed he can compete at the senior level in the U.S. Open and according to Dernlan made the right choice by dropping down to the junior division and was able to get the win.

Juniors 61 kg (9:28)
Askren says the story of the mini-tournament is Roman Bravo-Young. During the U.S. Open, he lost to high schooler Gabe Tagg and in this tournament, he loses to 10-5 to Jaime Hernandez. Askren brings up something off topic, all Iowa Hawkeyes wrestlers didn’t participate in the Juniors World Team Trials.

Juniors 65 kg (15:16)
Keegan O’Toole wrestling out of Askren Wrestling Academy had an extremely dominant road to the best of 3 finals including 2 tech falls and an 11-6 decision. He then drops to Yahya Thomas in the finals. Askren may be biased in his opinion but tells everyone to keep and eye on O’Toole these next few years as he makes huge level changes.

Juniors 70 kg (17:57)
Brayton Lee is the story of this weight class. He went down in each match and battled back tremendously each time. Dernlan talks about how maybe the strategy for his opponents should be to keep it close don’t go up too much because Lee will start dominating. Lee beats Sam Sasso in the best of three finals. Askren says Lee is right there at the top of the heap to compete for an NCAA title next year.

Juniors 74 kg (22:14)
Someone who wasn’t on Askren’s radar in high school was Shane Griffith who tech falled his way to the finals but lost to David Carr in the best of three finals.

Juniors 79 kg (23:50)
Another wrestler out of Askren Wrestling Academy makes the finals. Parker Keckeisen who loses to Aaron Brooks in the best of three finals. Dernlan thinks Brooks ready and good enough to compete at the senior level but Askren needs some convincing. That being said Brooks is the most likely to not only medal this year but win gold on the junior team.

Juniors 86 kg (27:28)
Fourth seed Victor Marcelli makes the finals but doesn’t have quite enough to beat Trent Hidlay in the best of three finals.

Juniors 92 kg (28:43)
Askren could see the champ Lucas Davison getting a world medal this year.

Juniors 97 kg (30:41)
Tanner Sloan gets the win at 97 kg and Dernlan talks about how well the national team coaching staff is at getting guys ready to win medals.

Juniors 125 kg (31:51)
Mason Parris beats Trent Hillger. Askren and Dernlan bring up just how good heavyweight is looking.

57 kg – 61 kg
On this episode Ben Askren and Dernlan breakdown the mini-tournament of the 2019 World Team Trials. They start out at the 57 kg weight class where Thomas Gilman beat Darian Cruz to head to the best of three finals. They also discuss the 61 kg weight class which is not an Olympic weight class and where some of those guys will go whether that’s up in weight to 65 or down to 57. Nico Megaludis who lost to Tyler Graff in the mini-tournament finals is an example of a guy who announced he will be going down to 57 kg. Moving down in weight is not a small task by any means and takes a lot of time upwards of a year.

65 kg (10:17)
The first match they break down is Jason Ness who got tech falled by Dom Demas. That is not something we’ve come to expect to happen to Ness although Demas has proven himself a force to be reckoned with. Demas went on to battle Jaydin Eierman in the consolations losing in a huge scoring match 20-15. Overall there are a lot of extremely talented young wrestlers at this weight class.

70 kg (17:08)
Askren didn’t expect to Anthony Ashnault to make the finals here but he is another really young wrestler immediately making an impact on the national scene. Ashnault will most likely go down to 65 kg next year. Askren and Dernlan disagree on if James Green will go up or down in weight.

74 kg (22:00)
Askren was blown away when Logan Massa beat Thomas Gant in the semi-finals of the mini-tournament 5-4. Dernlan talks about the difference in responsibility when you’re competing for a team vs when you’re competing representing yourself in freestyle. Jason Nolf looked great throughout the tournament. Askren likes that Nolf made the move to 74 kg now and didn’t wait.

79 kg (25:20)
Askren trains closely with Nick Becker who recently signed with the Badger RTC and took third place dropping to Mark Hall. In the finals, Mark Hall lost to Zahid Valencia 5-0. Even with such a close score Askren and Dernlan agree Valencia’s win was pure dominance. After this match, no one would have expected the outcome of the best of three finals against Alex Dieringer. These three guys are all wrestler who cannot get down to 74 kg which makes 86 kg a brutal weight class to be in as the 2020 Olympics approach.

86 kg (35:35)
Nick Heflin looked good throughout the mini-tournament but couldn’t get it done in the finals. Askren and Dernlan hope David Taylor is ready to compete at Final X.

92 kg (36:37)
Michael Macchiavello beat Hayden Zillmer in the finals. Askren and Dernlan agree Macchiavello has a good opportunity to go down in weight and compete.

97 kg (38:40)
Ty Walz turned it around from the U.S. Open and did well throughout the mini-tournament to make the finals.

125 kg (39:41)
Heavyweight was an exciting weight class during the World Team Trials. Gable Steveson being the shining star throughout. Given Steveson’s age and skill Dernlan and Askren are fully on board the Steveson train and are excited for Final X.

Heavy Weight
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan will break down the Finals of the World Team Trials. Askren doesn't waste any time jumping right into his opinion on Gable Steveson vs Adam Coon in the Heavy Weight Finals. some people picked Steveson to beat Coon but not in the dominant fashion he did. Dernlan says if you had no frame of reference you would think Coon was the 18-year-old college wrestler and Steveson was the recent graduate who has proven their abilities at the senior level. Coon felt the most comfortable wrestling upper body with Steveson but once he sensed danger he tried to get out of bounds. Overall Steveson ran through the World Team Trials in such a way no one could have predicted. 

97 kg (8:36)
Kyven Gadson took on Ty Walz in the best 2 of 3 finals with Gadson getting the win in two close matches. Askren and Dernlan agree Gadson has proven himself to be a clear number two at this weight class as Kyle Snyder has proven himself a clear number one. 

92 kg (10:29)
Bo Nickal beat Michael Macchiavello first match by tech fall and second match 5-0. Dernlan talks about how Macchiavello attempted to slow it down in the second match but still couldn't get any offense going. The set up of Nickal vs J'Den Cox at Final X is one of the most anticipated and exciting match ups.

86 kg (14:39)
Pat Downey gets a flurry at the end of match number one and then holds off Nick Heflin in the second match to get the win.

79 kg (16:13) 
Alex Dieringer dominates NCAA Champ Zahid Valencia getting two tech falls in the finals. Dernlan talks about how Dieringer was definitely injured last year and how he made a big-time statement this year with his dominance. Askren thinks 100% Kyle Dake vs 100% healthy Dieringer will be a scrap and it'll be super interesting to see how these two approach their Final X match up. 

74 kg (18:10)
One of the most anticipated finals came at 74 kg Isaiah Martinez vs Jason Nolf. Imar dominated the first match and the majority of the second match but Nolf was able to get a head pinch at the very end and come up big to send it to a winner take all third match. Imar wasn't rattled and remained focused and got the tech fall in the third match. 

70 kg (23:30)
Anthony Ashnault goes down in the first match and is forced to injury default out of the second giving James Green the win. James Green was on a mission throughout this tournament to show the separation he has from the rest of this weight class and just how good he is.

65 kg (24:16)
Zain Retherford beats Jordan Oliver in two 7-6 matches. Askren talks about the strategy behind deciding when to challenge a call and when to not. Overall these two matches were so high level and technical by both guys especially during the first period it is hard to believe Oliver won't be moving on to Final X.

61 kg (30:48)
Tyler Graff beats Cody Brewer in this high scoring final. Askren breaks down the controversial referee calls. Dernlan talks about something they've talked about all Folkstyle season which is the importance of the referees understanding wrestling and not just making black and white calls. 

Current EventsThis episode Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan preview the 2019 World Team Trials. Askren starts the podcast by telling Dernlan how much he enjoyed Dernlan's interview with Anatoly Beloglazov on episode #55. Dernlan gives some insight on the interview and all the interesting pieces he took from it. Some news since the last podcast that has come out includes Jason Nolf moving up a weight class and Nick Suriano deciding not to compete at World Team Trials. Dernlan and Askren see such a great opportunity for Suriano to make the world team and don't know his reasoning why he is choosing not to wrestle. 57 kg (8:23)Dernlan gives an update on Nathan Tomasello's status and how he is choosing to take time off, heal his injuries, and return next year for an Olympic run. They also discuss the strict qualifying criteria to make the World Team Trials and how smaller brackets allow for less possible injuries. Askren and Dernlan agree the pick for this weight class is Thomas Gilman hands down. 61 kg (13:37) Askren picks by his performance at the U.S. Open Nico Megaludis will beat Cody Brewer in the finals and head to Final X to take on Joe Colon. Dernlan agrees with this pick especially with a best of three series.65 kg (16:55)The topic is brought up about where Jordan Oliver should be seeded. Askren breaks down why seeding matters and how much of a difference it makes. There is also rumors that say Oliver could jump up to 70 kg. Overall Askren and Dernlan picks Zain Retherford to get the win at World Team Trials.70 kg (24:20)Both Askren and Dernlan pick James Green to win.74 kg (25:20)In the finals, Askren picks Jason Nolf vs Isaiah Martinez with Martinez getting the win and heading to Final X. Dernlan talks about how Martinez is on a new level and has opened up a gap between him and the rest of the weight class.79 kg (27:58)Dernlan has Mark Hall breaking onto the Senior level scene with a win at World Team Trials. Askren picks Zahid Valencia to win.86 kg (32:47)Both Dernlan and Askren pick Myles Martin to get revenge on Pat Downey and head to Final X. 92 kg (35:05)Dernlan says he has to take Bo Nickal to win and Dernlan agrees.97 kg (36:16)Askren picks Ben Honis to win the trials. Dernlan has been a Honis supporter for a very long time and also picks him to win. 125 kg (38:55)With a surprise pick, Dernlan takes Gable Steveson to win the trials. Askren takes Adam Coon over Steveson.

Spreading the MessageOn this special episode, Matt Dernlan sits down with Olympic Gold Medalist, 3x World Champion, and International Coach, Anatoly Beloglazov as well as Anatoly's son Alex for an exclusive interview. Beloglazov is currently in the middle of his second tour around the USA putting on world-class wrestling clinics. Dernlan starts by asking Beloglazov what his overall goal is and why he's willing to travel across the world to share his knowledge. Beleglazov says he wants to promote wrestling around the world. He enjoys working with and teaching all levels of wrestlers.How it All Began (4:20)Dernlan asks how most kids are introduced to wrestling in Russia. Beloglazov says it is very similar to the USA but Russia doesn't have many brands that represent, sponsor, and uplift wrestling like other sports have. From an outsiders perspective, it seems wrestling is the premier sport of Russia but Beloglazov says this is far from reality. There are pockets of Russia such as Dagestan where wrestling is entrenched in their traditions and culture. Beloglazov talks about schools in Russia where athletes live, learn, and train and how every sport not only wrestling has that. The recruiting process for these schools is similar to the college one in the USA. The athletes are fully funded and paid for also similar to college athletes. Beloglazov was walking home from soccer practice and happened upon a building where they were having a wrestling practice. He was invited in and enjoyed it so he brought his brother back with him the next day.Build the Foundation (14:58)In Russia, after young wrestlers learn the basics, coaches start to introduce more difficult and technical techniques. Beloglazov says the older you get the more individualized your training becomes and you get put together with others on your level. He says in the USA he has many more parents asking him to have their very young wrestlers go live instead of technique drilling. This is different than in Russia where parents and coaches don't push inexperienced wrestlers in that way. Beloglazov's parents were very hands off when it came to wrestling and never saw a single match of his.Sports Academy (25:45)Circling back to the topic of sporting schools and the process that system entails, Dernlan asks about what the next step after an athlete has been at the school for 3-4 years. In Russia, College is between high school and University and you can get a 2-year education before moving to University. There are sporting Universities where they specialize in careers within athletics. For example, Beloglazov was a wrestler and his other classes were sports science, nutrition, history all geared towards wrestling. a difference between the USA and Russia is that most of our coaches are elected because of their accomplishments as an athlete competing in the sport. In Russia, this is not the case and to be a high-level coach you must get certification via a degree.Wrestling Then vs Now (55:08)The conversation shifts to how Russian wrestlers make money by wrestling in different countries, wrestling leagues. In the United States, we have regional training centers and high-level athletes can get paid to train there. This is not state sponsored but rather community sponsored through donors who are passionate about wrestling. While Beloglazov was coming through the ranks he was not allowed to go wrestle for another country that is no longer the case. This brings up how when the Soviet Union broke apart into different republics it was easier for Russians to make their respective national teams but harder for the USA because instead of wrestling against one super team we had to defeat up to fifteen wrestlers representing their country. Beloglazov says it was harder to make the national team than to win Worlds. Beloglazov gives insight on how the world team selections are made. Even if you're the number one ranked wrestler or win nationals it doesn't mean you make the team. If coaches don't think you'll be ready they will find someone else who is.Snyder vs Sadulaev (1:07:00)Dernlan asks how Russians reacted when Kyle Snyder beat Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Beloglazov says they told Sadulaev the things he needed to work on and get better at. In today's world wrestlers can watch any match they want online and don't have to travel to watch the best wrestlers in the world.Dave Schultz (1:15:50)Beloglazov talks about his history with Dave Schultz. He first met him in the USA in the 1970s. Russian's had a hard time figuring him out because he always had a relaxed presence and didn't get nervous. It took them time to realize Dave was a different person on and off the mat. What made Dave great was not his power or strength but rather his mind for wrestling and his relentless studying, drilling, and perfecting of technique.Featured RUDIS Gear:Matt is wearing the KS Journey Soft Shell Jacket found here: https://therudis.com/product/ks-journey-soft-shell-jacket/Anatoly is wearing the RUDIS Wrestler Block Hoodie found here: https://therudis.com/product/rudis-wrestler-block-adult-hoodie-2/Alex is wearing the RUDIS Essential Hex Performance Quarter Zip found here: https://therudis.com/product/essential-hex-performance-quarter-zip-rudis/

New Wrestling Data
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan talk about Beat the Streets, as well as all the exciting upcoming events surrounding the podcast. Askren starts off with the news that he along with a handful of wrestlers from Askren Wrestling Academy have finished collecting data from the U.S. Open Wrestling Championships. Dernlan is surprised when Askren says that are a lot of similarities in the numbers when you compare the new data to the 2018 World Championships data. He thought there would be drastic differences in certain areas when comparing an international tournament to a domestic one. One interesting difference was under defensive scores, down block go behind went from being the number one at Worlds to number four at the Open. Another point brought up is if in the future they can breakdown the data round by round to see how techniques change from the level of competition being faced.

Kayla Miracle (6:05)
4x WCWA National Champ and 3x U.S. Open Champ Kayla Miracle stopped by Columbus before heading down to Dallas for the U23 Team Trials. Miracle has an extremely busy upcoming schedule. She will compete at the U23 Trials then the Senior World Trials, and then Final X.

Giving Back (8:39)
Dernlan gives his respects to Askren for using his platform to help grow the sport and bring a lot of eyes to a great cause that is Beat the Streets. Askren had every reason not to compete including being in the middle of training camp for his upcoming UFC fight but he chose to dedicate his time to shine a light on the sport of wrestling. Askren elaborates on his quick speech after the Jordan Burroughs match when he talked about supporting not only Beat the Streets but all of wrestling because it changes lives. Askren talks about all the ways wrestling can have an amazing influence on a young person. One example is having something in your life that challenges you and forces you to be better than you already are. Askren talks about how much wrestling has done for him and his life and that is the reason why he feels it is so important to give back.

Beat the Streets (19:42)
Breaking down the event Askren brings up the electricity in the air when Yianni Diakomihalis took on Bajrang Punia. He feels like you could replicate that energy every year if you did nation vs nation, for example, USA vs Russia. Another point is that this event showed beyond a few upsets that it really takes some time to develop at the senior level to rise to that elite status. Another impressive showing at BTS was from Jack Mueller. Mueller put on a clinic against Nick Piccininni winning 10-0. Mueller is qualified for the World Team Trials for being last year’s U23 world team member. The last match they breakdown is James Green vs Anthony Ashnault. It looked like to Dernlan that James Green had motivation due to the expectations of a competitive match that came from Ashnault dominating at the Pan American Championships.

Nick Suriano vs Joe Colon (36:58)
2019 NCAA Champ Suriano beats World Bronze Medalist Colon 3-1. Dernlan breaks down Colon’s game and how Suriano’s defensive style didn’t allow for Colon to execute where he’s best at. The question before Beat the Streets was how good is Suriano at Freestyle and while that question isn’t fully answered, he looked really good and it poses the next question will we see Suriano at World Team Trials? Askren doesn’t know why Suriano wouldn’t. He has beaten Daton Fix who he would face if he drops to 57 kg and now he has beaten Joe Colon if he decides to stay at 61 kg.

David Taylor (42:44)
31 seconds into his match against Drew Foster, Taylor suffers an injury and is forced to injury default in order to not cause any further damage. Everyone is hoping the injury was not serious and Taylor can continue his dominance at Final X. Dernlan talks about how the end goal is next years Olympics so if he has to forgo the 2019 Worlds in order to get healthy and compete for Olympic Gold he’s sure he would. Overall it was very unfortunate.

J’Den Cox vs Patrick Brucki (45:26)
Dernlan talks about how Cox might be one of the most under-appreciated wrestlers in the world. He is one of the best wrestlers to come out of the United States in recent years and has a resume that can stand up to anyones. On top of all of that he’s only 24 years old.

Yianni Diakomihalis (48:26)
It’s crazy to think about the last 8 weeks Diakomihalis has had winning an NCAA Championship, U.S. Open Championship, and beating one of the best wrestlers in the world at Beat the Streets. Askren and Dernlan discuss the levels Diakomihalis has already grown and to think he’s only 20 years old is amazing.

57 & 61 kg
On this episode, Ben Askren and Matt talk about the UWW Junior Freestyle U.S. Open Wrestling Championships. They kick off the podcast by talking about the 57 kg weight class. Ohio State’s Malik Heinselman dominated his way all the way through this tournament. It’s great to see Heinselman competing and working to get on a world team. Moving to the 61 kg bracket brings one of the best matches of the whole tournament, Roman Bravo-Young vs Gabriel Tagg. After a close match, Tagg ends up getting the pin with 1:45 left in the second period. Dernlan talks about the dramatic improvements Tagg has made in the last year.

65 kg (7:33)
Yahya Thomas gets the win over Andrew Alirez 4-0 in the finals. Even though Thomas’s defensive style was able to get it done in the finals Askren and Dernlan were equally impressed with both wrestlers throughout the tournament.

70 kg (9:15)
Another Buckeye getting the finals win was Sam Sasso tech falling Brayton Lee in the finals 10-0. Ohio State has to be extremely happy with this considering Sasso has a huge task ahead of him in filling Micah Jordan’s roster spot. With a lot of schools graduating top ranked 157 lbs wrestlers there is a real opportunity for Sasso. One of the wildest matches of the bracket came in Lee’s semifinal match against Jacori Teemer ending 9-9 in Lee’s favor. Another incredible storyline from this bracket was Quincy Monday who was matched up against Sasso first round but battled all the way back 8 matches to take fourth place.

74 kg (14:44)
Iowa State’s David Carr beats Danny Braunagel in the finals 12-1.

79 kg (17:23)
Last years 79 kg junior world team member Aaron Brooks dominates this tournament yet again at no surprise to anyone. The debate gets brought up that if you medal as a junior why does that not give you a by to trials as it does for the seniors.

86 kg (21:00)
This was a stacked weight class and NC State’s Trent Hidlay beat Zachary Braunagel in the finals 10-3. Askren says he wouldn’t be surprised if Hidlay went up in weight for NC State.

92 kg (25:22)
Lucas Davison beat Jakob Woodley 6-3.

97 kg (23:18)
Two unknown guys to both Askren and Dernlan make it to the finals Sam Schuyler takes out Tanner Sloan 17-13.

125 kg (24:26)
Anthony Cassioppi dominated this bracket with a win over Seth Nevills in the finals 13-0. Askren talks about how when you look at this year’s overall potential team there isn’t a huge amount of confidence in getting a world team medal. There really isn’t any previous world medalist on the team besides Aaron Brooks.

Rule Change Proposals (27:00)
One proposal is counting medical forfeits as losses. Askren says this rule is hard to stick to when a seeding committee is looking at wrestlers records. Dernlan talks about how the seeding committees have already been doing this without an actual rule being in place. Medically forfeiting is run on the honor system and this rule poses to enforce it more strongly. Another rule being proposed that Dernlan is confident will get passed is allowing the use of sauna during the offseason. Originally this rule was put into place to protect wrestlers from unhealthy and unsafe weight cutting. In today’s age sauna would be used more for recovery than cutting water weight.

When Should You Enter the Open?
On this special episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast Kyle Snyder joins Ben Askren and Matt as they discuss the U.S. Open, Beat the Streets, and Final X. Askren starts by asking Snyder what his takeaways were from watching the U.S. Open. Snyder was surprised by a few wrestlers who wrestled even better than everyone already knew they were. One of those wrestlers being Yianni Diakomihalis who beat Jordan Oliver and then Zain Retherford who were favorites in the 65 kg weight class. Snyder is of the belief that as a college wrestler you should only enter the U.S. Open with the intentions and belief you're going to win. This is opposed to the idea of entering the tournament and testing the waters against the best senior level freestyle wrestlers. Snyder then breaks down his journey to making the world team and how he knew through reassurance in the practice room and from coaches that he was ready.

Diakomihalis vs Oliver (13:11)
From Snyder talking about his time where he knew he could surpass the best in the world, Dernlan brings up the Jordan Oliver vs Diakomihalis match. Askren talks about how some wrestlers don't let the big stage and bright lights impact their wrestling or mindset and rise to the occasion. Snyder elaborates on this point that just because you haven't beaten an opponent in the training room doesn't mean you aren't ready to beat them when it counts.

Jordan Burroughs (18:30)
Askren and Dernlan disagree on Askren's statement that the Burroughs of 2018-2019 has lost a slight edge compared to the Burroughs of previous years like 2012-2013. Dernlan says you can't use the Franklin Gomez match as a fair comparison because you're looking at one of the most athletic competitors in wrestling when you're watching Gomez. Snyder speculates that Burroughs could have been affected by the new weigh-in rules during the last World Championships. After watching him compete at Dan Kolov, Snyder says Burroughs looked just as good as he ever has if not better.

Young Guns Make a Splash (23:37)
Dernlan switches the topic back to the U.S. Open and asks Snyder if he had any surprises from the younger guys at the tournament. Snyder was impressed with Bo Nickal because he knows the level of wrestlers he was beating in Michael Macchiavello and Hayden Zillmer. He was surprised but happy for Pat Downey as he's overcome a lot of adversity. Snyder was also impressed with Daton Fix beating a strong Thomas Gilman. He noticed Fix's improvements in hand fighting and made adjustments since the NCAAs. Askren picks Fix to beat Gilman again at Final X.

Beat the Streets (34:26)
This will be Snyder's fifth time competing at Beat the Streets. Snyder talks about some of the things he loves about competing at Beat the Streets. One of those being the unique experience of competing outside at Times Square. Overall he loves the exciting matchups you won't find anywhere else and what that does for growing wrestling and strengthening its community. Snyder was surprised to hear the announcement of Jordan Burroughs vs Ben Askren and loves the conversations it has started.

On today's LIVE episode of the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast, Matt Dernlan is joined in studio by 4x NCAA Champion and 2016 World Champion Logan Stieber. Stieber, a coach at the Ohio RTC and founder of the Stieber Elite Wrestling Academy, has transitioned into serving the sport after capping off one of the most successful competitive careers in American wrestling history. Dernlan and Stieber discuss the transition from athlete to coach, how he's coached his athletes through the postponement of the 2020 Games and how people can get better physically and mentally while stuck at home. The two field questions from the live viewers to address a variety of other topics as well.

Yianni Is Living in the Matrix
On this special live broadcast Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan breakdown all the wrestling from the U.S. Open leading up to the finals and make their predictions for the finals. The first topic they jump into is someone everyone is talking about, Yianni Diakomihalis. Diakomihalis has had an amazing tournament thus far highlighted by his tech fall over Jordan Oliver. It’s exciting to see considering Diakomihalis hasn’t had many opportunities to show what he can do in freestyle. Askren and Dernlan break down his mat and body awareness. The 65 kg final between Diakomihalis and Zain Retherford will be one of the most exciting matchups of the entire tournament.

65 kg (15:18)
After talking about Diakomilhalis vs Retherford, Askren and Dernlan discuss other key matches that went down in the 65 kg bracket. One great match was Joey McKenna vs Dean Heil. Heil came up big with two, four point moves in the second period getting the win 12-9. Heil then only had 15 minutes until his next round match against Jordan Eierman. Askren says in order to save time and allow more time between matches they should consider getting rid of challenge blocks before the quarterfinals.

57 kg (21:07)
The first match they break down is Nathan Tomasello vs Thomas Gilman that ended with Tomasello cautioning out in the second period. Askren was surprised at how dominant Gilman looked after Tomasello tech falled his way to the semifinal match. Tomasello and Gilman always had very competitive matches in college. They go on to talk about Daton Fix. They point out how many tournaments Fix shows up to which is a lot more than most wrestlers.

61 kg (25:35)
Askren and Dernlan give credit to Joey Palmer making it all the way to the semifinals as a fairly unknown wrestler. He got past Tyler Graff in the quarterfinals which is a very tough task. Another wrestler Askren highlights in this bracket is Beau Bartlett. Bartlett is a high school junior and ended up finishing 8th place beating some notable collegiate wrestlers.

70 kg (29:02)
Ryan Deakin has been on a storm through this star-studded bracket. Deakin was Dernlan’s pick as a guy that could be a major disrupter at NCAAs but he faded off during the NCAA Championships. He’s been showing the world what he can do in Freestyle and will face James Green who beat Jason Nolf in their semifinal matchup.

74 kg (32:54)
Isaiah Martinez has been hammering everyone on his way to the finals. He faces Thomas Gantt in the finals. Askren says the most interesting thing about this weight class is to see what the wrestlers at non-Olympic weight levels decide to do.

79 kg (35:02)
Askren coached Nick Becker who’s wrestling out of Askren Wrestling Academy. Becker dropped to Chance Marsteller and now he will face Matthew Finesilver in the third-place match. Marsteller faces Alex Dieringer in the finals. Askren predicts Dieringer going down to 74 kg and Marsteller going up to 86 for the Olympics.

86 kg (35:43)
Pat Downey beats Myles Martin in the semis 9-7. It was all Martin in the first period up 7-0 but wasn’t able to hold off Downey in the second. Downey faces Nick Heflin in the finals.

92 kg (38:03)
Hayden Zillmer has been really impressive all tournament but he has a tough task in the finals against Bo Nickal. Askren calls for fireworks in the finals and wants to see how Nickal wrestlers a bigger wrestler in Zillmer.

97 kg (38:43)
One of Dernlan’s top wrestlers, Ben Honis has made it to the finals and will face Kyven Gadson. Honis beat Ty Walz in the semifinals. Walz is a guy many thought could give Snyder a run which shows how good Honis is.

125 kg (40:03)
Adam Coon made his way to the finals as expected and he’ll face Anthony Nelson.