Season 7, Column 2: Conference Power Shift

The 23-24 regular season saw more than a bit of tumult in the SoCon as the Souths biggest D1 wrestling Conference prepares to shake off last years crash and burn performance at the NCAAs.

This column has often and correctly championed the efforts of SoCon Wrestling and loudly proclaimed last season as the best chance in recent memory for the Conference to mount an all out assault on THE NCAA Championships podium. Well, in a phrase, not so much. Injury, illness, and just plain bad luck and trouble(1) triple boojeed the whole Conference crew at last years big event. That Wile E. Coyote off the cliff performance will not be revisited here. It will be postulated, however, that the SoCon will do more with less this time around come March 21st-23rd in Kansas City. As the smoke settled on the 23-24 campaign the Campbell Camels snatched the regular season title back from Coach JohnMark Bentleys App State Mountaineers. That these two ran 1-2 again is not news. That’s where they’ve both been for multiple years now. App States 2023 Conference tournament crown broke Campbell’s hopes for a post season five-peat. Most believe the Tournament title, to be contested March 9th, will either stay in Boone (home of App State and, for the 4th st year, the Tournament) or ride Camelback to Buies Creek safe in the arms of Campbell Coach Scotti Sentes and crew. For the 1st time in a bit though there’s a good chance a reshuffle could reset 3rd-6th. No less than 3 conference teams finished with 14 wins and two will be in Tournament action. Five finished with a double digit win total. ALL nine teams had some combination of placers, finalists or champs at over a dozen different tournaments throughout the year. Want some eye openers not tied to the current bruiser boys Campbell or App State? How about newest conference squad Bellarmine upending traditional power UTC and crafting a season opening 13 match win streak? Ned Shucks Knights are in their last season of moving from the NCWA to the NCAA so they can’t compete in the D1 post-season, sadly. The Citadel set a school record with 14 dual meet wins, one of them also over UTC. Among those victories were three shutouts for Coach Ryan LeBlancs crew, ably abetted by Assistant Coach Luke Welch and GA Tim Fitzpatrick. As to long time SoCon power UTC, before you discount the Mocs take note of Coach Kyle Ruschells crew earning a double digit win season. The Mocs finished Top 10 at The Southern Scuffle while motoring through multiple MIA time spans for multiple key athletes again(2). In fact the Mocs totaled their most dual wins this year since the 2016 season. Gardner-Webbs 21 wins in three years shows the steady hand of 8th year Head Coach (and alumni) Daniel Elliott. The Bulldogs have several SoCon title contenders and a LEGIT AA threat in 184lb Jha ‘Quan Anderson. Davidson, meanwhile, moved from just one to four dual wins this season. The ONLY D1 conference the Wildcats didn’t go claws to toes with was the BIG 10 and Davidson finished on a 3 match win streak. BIG ups to the Wildcats progress under 2nd year Head Coach Nate Carr Jr. VMI had perhaps the most up and down season in all the SoCon with 30 plus point victories AND defeats scattered throughout the year. For all that though the Keydets had their 2nd straight nine win campaign. VMI ground out more wins these past two campaigns than the previous five. Coach Jim Gibson and assistants Ryan Hunsberger and Eddie Klimara are becoming a hot coaching combo. Poachers beware, though. Keydets and their athletic administrators are rumored to be armed AND dangerous. Presbyterian, while still adjusting to the rigors of the Mens D1 road, earned two D1 wins and four overall. That’s nine wins in the last two tough campaigns after several mostly unsuccessful seasons. So look for a smaller number of SoCon champs and runners-up to do more than a bit better at this years final event than last. Even if the conference has to (again) look to the at-large bids for several of their (and the Nations) best to be able to compete in Kansas City.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

[Authors note-for a deep and professional preview of the SoCon Tournament certain to be laden with facts, figures, fun and insider tidbits by all means find and read Intermat SoCon correspondent Rachel Gallardos soon to be released article].

(1)Yeah, that’s a nod to Amazon Primes wandering ex-military superhero series “Reacher.” Lead actor Alan Ritchson and the plot, writing and believability were better in the first season but this years run wasn’t too shabby.

(2) A sadly recurring theme during Coach Ruschells tenure. The Scribe has the email address of a bad-ass Strength and Conditioning guy, Coach. Just sayin. BTW, THAT uber-successful S&C guru will make a sneak appearance next column.

Season 7, Column 1:

SUPER SENIOR TRIUMPHS AND TRAVAILS, A BARGAIN BLEND, AND CONFLICT IS COLD, CRUEL, AND CONSTANT

When an athlete in any sport pushes their body well past the standard duration of a career risks and rewards often multiply at vastly different rates. Enter a fifth, sixth, or seventh year of competition in the meat grinder that is collegiate wrestling and you will pay a life long price. Only the individual involved can truly know its worth but all of us can stand and salute those who choose to share their special gifts with us just a little bit longer. This season superlative blessings have come from David Carr of Iowa State, Cole Matthews of Pitt, Trent Hidlay of NC State, Izaak Olejnik of Oklahoma State, Jared Franek of Iowa and Zach Elam of Missouri. All reached the almost unfathomable total (in modern times) of 100 or more wins in their final campaigns. They have all migrated different routes to triple digits. Carr and NC States Trent Hidlay have each had several iconic battles with transcendent foes over multiple years. Carr, a 2021 157lb National Champ now at 165 has faced uber-rival and 165lb 2X defending National Champ Keegan O’Toole of Missouri three times (winning twice) with a near certain matchup, or two, yet to come in the post-season. Hidlay, while utterly dominant in forging an undefeated senior campaign, is winless in three matches over the years vs. 3X defending National champ Aaron Brooks of Penn State. Both have moved up to 197 from 184 for their final seasons. Matthews, Pitts 141 lb star, has had a tumultuous last go-round that he has turned around. He swept his ACC foes while notching two top 15 wins. 165 lb Olejnik brought All American fame back to MAC power Northern Illinois before departing for a last go-round in Stillwater with the Cowboys. Franek, at 157 lbs, aims for a fifth straight trip to the NCAAs and a second All American honor after swapping the Green and Gold of NDSU for the Black and Gold of Iowa this off-season. Hvt. Zach Elam of Missouri has motored through six campaigns for the Tigers and so far has saved his best for last. He took his first loss of the year to fellow unbeaten Yonger Bastida of Iowa State in the last regular season match Sunday. ALL of these amazing young men deserve applause, and clap till your hands hurt. Because they deserve it AND they have hurt much more.

WINNING EARLY, OFTEN AND NEARLY ALWAYS

To give credit where credit is due this column would be SORELY remiss in not standing and nodding in the direction of those who entered 2023-24 as seniors with 100 wins already secured. 2019 165 lb National Champ Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech, undefeated and at 174 this year. Column favorite and seventh year warhorse for Binghamton, 197 lb Lou Deprez(1). 2021 165 lb National Champ Shane Griffith of Michigan, a Grad transfer from Stanford, also at 174 now. 197 lb Tanner Sloan and 141 lb Clay Carlson of SDSU. 133 lb Daton Fix, Oklahoma State.

FIVE SYLLABLES UNDER TEN AND OVER EXPECTATIONS

Cruise through your favorite stores beverage section and look for the Red Blend selections. Usually a mish mosh of average quality and inconsistent price points lorded over by “those” labels that command both respect and repeat visits to your money clip you may find a row (thinning quickly) of Cabernet-Syrah Maison Barboulot, 2022 vintage. This gem provided the Scribe a first experience with the combination and the immediate post sampling reaction was “what took so long?” As simple, smooth and refreshing as its name is unwieldy this C-SMB sat right down and made itself at home with a lunch meal of fine red meat and asparagus. Next day it quietly charmed at an off-the-norm dinner of home made Kung Pao Tofu with Broccoli Rabe. There is a high level of confidence that this low-priced ($6.99 here in San Antonio) smile bringer will be just fine for a post-workout nightcap. Rating-2.5 glasses-bought it, liked it a lot, would look for it elsewhere if not at the home store.

WAR IS HELL/FOREVER/JUST WHAT IT USED TO BE

More accurately, War is finally and inevitably returning to its roots. Gigantic, planet-shaking battles between massive Nation-States involving millions of combatants and “Shock and Awe” weapons are SO Twentieth Century, friend. Get with the program! You know, the one where small groups of assassins wipe out ruling families and upend Governments. Or where 100 or so (sometimes far less) highly trained mercenaries disguised as anyone other than who they are simultaneously destroy critical communication infrastructure or overrun an oppositions forward bases. All the while leaving multiple conflicting multi-media tracks behind. “Armies” and “soldiers” disappear and in their place? Perhaps a like-minded association of rogue students with decades of indoctrination taking the necessary chemical steps to poison a major cities water supply. The threats can and will come from any group, anywhere. These “shadow warriors” move under the cover of plausible deniability. It’s the modernity of communication, movement and disinformation combined with the re-emergence of tactics born from six thousand years of human conflict. This global chaos can best be described as “durable disorder” and it will be the face of future fighting. Think of war not like a raging inferno but rather an ever smoldering forest fire, never either blazing completely out of control nor ever fully extinguished. That future is now. Dr. Sean McFates 2019 book, “The New Rules of War,” opines that conflict has been this way since, oh, the U.S., Russia, Great Britain, France and the rest of the victors divvied up the post 1945 World. If you had told all parties involved then that Mega Wars were over as means of measuring success they would have danced the night away. Now, maybe not so much. The global failure here, according to McFate, is in not understanding that the smallest groups of people from the tiniest of land masses can and will hold the World powers at bay until the great states simply lose the will to continue. In the not so distant past the only way to victory in such a clash was the Scorched Earth policy. Slay all the men and boys, abuse then discard or kill the women. Sacrifice the babies to the Gods, poison the water, salt the Earth and leave no building standing. The cost of that type of Nation-State “victory” today? Global condemnation. Economic, social, and cultural removal from the World stage. The citizens of such a state pariahs in the eyes of all others for generations. That outcome is NO victory. Dr. McFate shrewdly lays out both sure paths of battle in his brief, extremely readable tome. Countries will either grasp that the new ways are the old ways, that massive campaigns are no longer suitable, and that victory must be measured differently if at all. Or, they will waste their blood and treasure until they fall over at the slightest outside influence or simply collapse from decades of abuse by their own hands.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) If Deprez can manage a solid run at both EIWAs and NCAAs he will surely threaten the modern record (Post 1999) for wins in a career.

Season 6, Column 85: A Bluefield State of Mind

It’s a school, athletic program, team, Coach and region where dreams are being realized and the future is bright deep in West by God Virginia.

In research for this columns previous edition an exciting bit of expansion news came to light with 3 schools set to join Conference Carolinas next wrestling season. Bluefield State is one of them. 2nd year Coach Blaze Shade has helped set in motion a strengthening addition to the powerful DII conference. A New Jersey high school All State performer and one of three talented wrestling brothers Coach Shade stepped to and straight through the “next level” while starring as a 3X All American and 2X National finalist for the UNC-Pembroke Braves. He then produced a highly successful Assistant Coaching career for long-time Braves mentor Othello “OT” Johnson. In 2022, Coach Shade became part of a group of successful coaches entering top positions for several Bluefield State programs. Here he speaks eloquently and passionately on the growth and direction of his Big Blues squad.

You came in as one of a number of high-profile new head coaching hires at Bluefield State in the same year. Is there a collective feeling amongst you to help set a new standard for Big Blues athletics?

Coach Shade: “Yes, I would definitely say all the coaches that came here with me have a vision for creating a new standard at Bluefield State. The school is a diamond when it comes to location, community, and the majors offered here for student-athletes. The collaboration amongst all the coaches is definitely our greatest trait as a staff as we are all former assistant coaches that came from established and successful programs. Being able to pick one another’s brains has been vital in building our programs as a lot of our sports teams were built from the ground up.”

What will that mean specifically for wrestling?

“…Creating a positive culture for our program, community and the sport of wrestling overall. In just a few years we have been able to establish a lot of enthusiasm in our area of the state with what we’ve brought here and how we are trying to build wrestling. We put an exciting product out there in our matches as none of our wrestlers have the same style, so audiences get to see points fly! We have a positive impact on our campus and community too. The majority of my team is in a Club or committee outside of our sport, and all those groups outreach to the town or county. For example, we had guys a part of our Student Government, the Robotics Club, Student Ambassadors, [other] student activities, you name it. I always tell my guys my first goal is to build their character as men before anything. If we can do that, building them into the wrestler they aspire to be will come easy.”

As an athlete you grew up in tough soil. All State performer in New Jersey along with two brothers. You had amazing success at UNC-Pembroke. How have those experiences shaped you?

“I would say that something that benefited me as a student-athlete was definitely my environment. I have always been very fortunate to compete for successful teams throughout my athletic career. In my own household and until my last two years of college I was never the best wrestler on any of my teams! Looking back, I feel this was a blessing because I never had to deal with the pressure of having to be the winner every time, the responsibility of being “the guy,” or the feeling that my overall results made the impression of my teams performance. I was able to keep my head down and work on being the type of wrestler I wanted to be and aspiring to the goals I truly wanted out of the sport.”

The Big Blues(1) made a big move last year into University status and this coming season Bluefield State debuts as a wrestling member of Conference Carolinas. Was this part of the process that brought you to the school?

“For sure. When I was hired, our administration and I had a plan for the trajectory of the program to go along with the Universities direction. I would say the establishment of our standalone facility, the start of our Mens and Womens(2) programs, and finding Conference Carolinas was just the result of great collaboration, foresight and letting the right people know what Bluefield State was getting done as a University and [in their] Athletics Department.”

Bluefield State has a published graduation rate of 30%. How will you leverage your own impressive academic/athletic success story into a model for current and future Bluefield State student-athletes?

“The biggest thing I tell my wrestlers and use to get them to graduation is communication. I communicate with my guys constantly about academic plans and progress. My wrestlers are required to meet with me at least once a week for academic checks and consultation. Another thing I do that sounds crazy to some is I do not allow my wrestlers to compete or train unless they are at a certain academic standard. I can’t assure them a National title, but we can assure them a college degree if they give me four to five years as their Coach.”

What’s made you happiest so far as a Head Coach? What’s kept you up at night?

“What has made me the happiest so far is that we had our first Graduate from our program this Spring. I think that for any college coach, graduation season should be the best season of all. It’s the one championship that every student-athlete can win. The one thing that keeps me up at night is probably the same thing as any other Coach; what can I do to keep making this program bigger and better? As a newer program and a HBCU, I am constantly trying to find ways to promote the program to National recognition and have people see we are building this program the right way.”

When you want visitors to have a good meal in Bluefield or nearby what places would you send them to?

“We have some great local options in town for people to enjoy. If you want a great local breakfast/brunch spot, the Blue Spoon Cafe is the place to go! If you are looking for lunch and dinner, I would go to the Railyard!”

Last words, your words, Coach. Why come to Bluefield State?

“Wrestlers should come to Bluefield State if they want to be embraced by a University and program that wants to build them academically, athletically and socially. With everything we offer from those three standpoints, we make sure that our student-athletes aren’t just ready for competition and class but for the World. We accomplished a lot of firsts this past season but we are looking to get even more done in year three. As a newer program, wrestlers have the opportunity to be the standard and set the standard for years to come.”

THANK YOU, Coach Shade, and continued success. Extremely obvious editorial observation: There are good things coming to Bluefield wrestling, folks. Keep your eyes on them.

QUICK HITS-

The World Team Trials for Mens and Womens Freestyle and Mens Greco-Roman will be contested this weekend. All winners will advance to the last step in determining Team USA 2023, the Final X competition. That’s a best two out of three series of matches across the different weight classes involving all three teams. The 30 winners will look to continue Team USAs heady run of international success this year at their respective World Championships. The FloWrestling multi-media site will broadcast most if not all the matches. Sidenote: column fav Nahshon Garrett, repping the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, will aim to earn the Mens 61kg WTT title. That would place him in Final X vs current USA top 61kg pit bull Vito Arujau. Both men won 133lb NCAA titles for Cornell and Arujau can return next season for the Big Red though an Olympic redshirt year looms as a distinct possibility.

Among a VAST number of coaching changes of late special notice should be given to a column favorite, NDSU, and their promoting Obe Blanc to the top spot following Roger Kishs departure to take the Oklahoma job. There’s always a lot of Dakotas love in this column. Why? Don’t take this column or Teddy Roosevelt’s words for it, go see for yourself.

LOTS of ugly noise coming from our friends in India with accusations of serious and possibly evil actions within the sub-continents wrestling program. QUICK solve: since it’s an international team, drop the issue on the desk on Indias Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Problem(s) identified and rectified within a week. PROMISE. Wish he worked for OUR Government.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) Bluefield States mascot is an enormous Great Dane with a decidedly different appearance, facial expression and attitude than your run of the mill gentle giant Scooby-Doo types. Think Columbia University and their “Manticore-disguised-as-a-Lion” look. Same coloration with equally poor post-encounter results.

(2) The Salisbury Posts Dave Shaws excellent article on Bluefield States Womens program and their recruiting success can be found in the May 16th Mat Talk Online Newsletter.

Season 6, Column 84: Thumbs up down South Carolina way; Big10 Tendrils; and a beloved neighbors sounds fall silent

The Lander Bearcats broke through bigly and Coach R.C. LaHaye lays it all out, A conference becoming Cronus, and Canadas gift to musical stories moves to the next, best, thing.

2nd in the nation, 1st in Super Region II and for sure on the hot list of knowledgeable South Carolina sports fans, the Lander Bearcats wrestling team completed a record breaking season in 2023. The Bearcats jumped from 13th to the Silver spot at the DII National Championships with six All Americans. The Bearcats also boasted a 20 win dual meet season, eight Scholar All Americans, four Top Four major tournament finishes and a pair of National wrestling honors, all adding up to Landers best ever showing on the mats. It’s not “Fuzzy Math” folks. It’s a singularity of success that deserves a little spotlight, and Coach R.C. Lahaye was gracious enough to help this column with the lighting.

Coach, not much to say except wow, you and the Bearcats are enjoying some rarefied air. It’s always easier to get “there” ( National prominence) than to stay “there.” How will you stay there?

Lahaye: “We are going to focus on improving, having fun, and just enjoying the experience. Last season was a lot of fun and I know our guys enjoyed competing against the top teams in the country. That being said, finishing 2nd at the Nationals did leave our guys very hungry and motivated to climb one step higher and ultimately bring home a team championship to Greenwood.”

Not to brag (OK, bragging) but this column singled out David Hunsberger as one of this years freshman stars to watch. He did the thing. How will he focus on this Freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling season and for next years college campaign?

“David had an absolutely stellar freshman campaign. He’s going to enjoy a little time off from competing this Summer and really just focus on being a college kid and really hitting the weight room and wrestling room hard. I believe the three guys that finished ahead of him at the Nationals are all graduating so he’s excited to be “the guy” next season and has set some very high goals for himself.”

Do you see your conference merging, adding a new member(s), or standing pat, and why?

“The answer is yes. Conference Carolinas is taking over as the sole sponsor for wrestling. The conference will grow to 14 teams with the addition of Allen, Bluefield State, and Montevallo. The conference is being split into two, seven team divisions, East and West. The top two teams from each division will cross-bracket and wrestle for the Conference championship in a Final Four type event in Mid-February.”

Controversial subject time-give us your take on N.I.L., the Portal, the proposed 3-point takedown for next season and who is the true G.O.A.T. of college wrestling all-time?

“I believe we are at a time now more than ever that the student-athlete experience is absolutely essential to embrace as a college coach. The more your athletes feel valued, and truly enjoy their experience the less you will see choose to enter the Portal. Also, I am all for the N.I.L. opportunities and athletes getting the chance to use (their name), image and likeness to make some extra money. I am excited for the new 3-point takedown proposal. The takedown to escape point ratio was too little in my opinion. By adding the extra point in there I believe it will reward those looking to be aggressive and score points in the neutral position.”

When you want to show off food in the Greenwood area where do you take visitors?

“Good pizza at the Millhouse, great BBQ at Fat Daddys BBQ, and great burgers at the Dixie. Also, you can’t beat the great experience at the Break on the Lake on the banks of Lake Greenwood.”

THANK YOU, Coach LaHaye, continued success and don’t think for a second that the G.O.A.T. question won’t come up again.

[A follow-up note or two on the three teams coming aboard Conference Carolinas-Allen has a long history dating back to 1860 and is a private, Christian Liberal Arts HBCU located in Columbia, South Carolina. It’s the first University named after an African-American, Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. The Yellowjackets 22 man roster had only 2 seniors last season and finished 14th at the NCWA Championships with two All Americans. Bluefield State advanced to University status in 2022 but the HBCU, located in the West Virginia town of the same name, is steeped in history as well, opening in 1895. The Big Blues saw two wrestlers place in the Division Two, Super Region III last year. Bluefield State is under the tutelage of Coach Blaze Shade, a 3X AA and two time National finalist at UNCP, with Brooke Richards listed as Head Womens Coach. Montevallo, Alabama, is the hometown of the Montevallo Falcons. The University of North Carolina Pembroke provided the head coach here also as 4X Braves All American and 2X National champ Daniel Ownbey takes the Falcons on their first flight as a new team for the 2023-24 season].

3X Cal Poly AA Bernie Truax transfers to Penn State. Minnesota All American Aaron Nagao and World medalist and Cal Baptists uber-freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink climb atop the hoard of wrestling gold buried beneath Mount Nittany as well. Rutgers welcomes Harvards internationally accomplished heavyweight Yaraslau Slavikouski and former Oklahoma 149lb Jacob Butler with 3 NCAA Championship appearances between the two wrestlers. Purdue pulls redshirt sophomore star Joey Milano away from NC State. Don’t even MENTION the intra-conference cannibalism like when mighty Michigan beckons and not one, not two, but THREE Northwestern All Americans, Mike DeAugustino, Chris Cannon, and Lucas Davison, slide over to Anne Arbor from Evanston for next season. If you don’t see it, talk about it, or write about it, maybe it will go away. Yeah, those wrestling fans pulling the covers over their respective heads are still going to HEAR their teams being chewed up and spit out. Look at what happened at the Collegiate level to Gymnastics. Obligatory and earnest nod to the BIG10 Conference for its unparalleled success, quality of coaches, athletes, fans, boosters and outreach. Maybe its the Portal, or N.I.L., or Collectives, or maybe it’s just the natural progression of things. But if this keeps up at Division One, the sport will end up like the rats on Silvas private island in SkyFall. And when you dump out that bucket that used to hold so many teams, they’ll just be a few left. Or maybe just two. And they won’t be feasting on ratings or revenue or wide acclaim and admiration. Because all they’re eating now is wrestling.

Since before many of the readers of these words were born, words, phrases, thoughts and emotions were being woven magically together with sound by a man who defined a genre for a region and embodied the soul of a nation. For over half a century the musical magic of Gordon Lightfoot reached the most disparate emotional chords across an enormous range of people. From fervent fans silently singing his every word to those who, having never heard or even heard of him, would be moved to stop by a phrase, a stanza, a chorus, or a melody that touched, ever so lightly, that opening in the cold, hard shell of existence. Lightfoot never cared if you knew his name, recognized his face, or acknowledged his talent. All that was important was that, if you heard his voice, you knew without question that it carried only truths no matter its subject and that its author lived every word with all he had to give. Gordon Lightfoot, last Monday evening, had no more to give us, and both his beloved Canada and the musical world are in mourning. The only bright and beautiful thing taken from that is this: for some time yet someone, somewhere will be moved for the first time to bend an ear to the gifts Gordon gave us. You are so envied. 🇨🇦

Ted Carreras

Season 6, Column 83: Championship Meanderings and a double dose of straight shooting

The NCAA Division I Championships have come and gone with stories large and small worth noting and two eye-opening, thought-provoking books on where America has been, where it’s going, and options for change.

First and foremost, kudos to Cael Sanderson’s Penn State Nittany Lions who blitzed the field in fully expected fashion to claim the Division I National Team title again. Tom and Terry Brands Iowa Hawkeyes finished 2nd for the 2nd time in three years with Cornell a somewhat suprising 3rd and an equally impressive Ohio State filling out the team podium placements at 4th. In reverse order from least to most shocking to the Scribe, these observations….Penn State won. The BIG 10 had five teams finish in the Top 10. Religion and a former President became hot button topics. And now the real news-this sites most beloved conference, the SoCon, bottomed out with a miniscule 15 participating athletes who collectively won 6 matches. Worst hurt-2X AA Jon Jon Millner of Appalachian State was waylaid by a wonky knee, unable to compete for a 3rd AA honor (he would have earned one), disallowed from raising his redunkulous career win total to nearly 130, and prevented from shepherding/uplifting/leading his 5 Mountaineer teammates into battle in Tulsa. Imagine Brad Pitts Achilles forced to stay in bed that morning (actually not that tough to imagine). What would have happened to Agammemnons boys? Exactly what occured to App State and, frankly, the SoCon as a whole. It can only get better, and it will. There’s too many quality coaches, too many good athletes and too much program support for there not to be a better showing in Kansas City in 2024. App State wasn’t the only powerhouse conference champ to get beaten up, though. Newly crowned PAC12 bully boy Oregon State had their pelts handed to them as the Beavers rolled into Tulsa with 7 studs and left skinned. After the 1st day only 184lb Trey Munoz was still chasing a title. And that was the way the cookie crumbled for Chris Pendletons crew as Munoz alone limped home with a All American, 6th place finish. The Beavers say bye bye to just four folks so that plus great recruiting plus the rocket speed growth going on in Corvallis should make for a better NCAAs next year. On the positive side of things was the presence and progress of athletes from two teams this column has cast an admiring eye on this season, George Mason and American University. Coach Frank Beasley’s Patriots had Grad student and Mid American Conference champ Peter Pappas at 165 as well as rs freshman 149lb Nathan Higley hit the mats in Tulsa. Those achievements capped a stellar winning season for GMU, one which saw the Patriots jump from 11th place to 6th in the MAC tournament. American made their presence known with 133lb sophomore Jack Maida. Maidas NCAA tournament consolation round win over tough, Top 20 ranked Jason Shaner of Oregon State was a big step forward for Coach Jason Borellis Eagles. So was their amazing jump from last years one to this years eight dual meet wins and going from last place, last year to this years title in the Chippewa Challenge Tournament, but this column had noted that already. Seeing Riders Ethan Laird on the podium in his 6th season was especially gratifying as was the Broncs getting 3 wrestlers overall to the event(1). Send shout outs all the way to both Dakotas as well as SDSU and NDSU had 4 athletes between them mount the podium. The JackRabbits Clay Carlson picked up his 2nd AA honor in three years in a topsy-turvy 141lb class that finally wasn’t. The cream fully rose to the top at that weight as undefeated Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado beat undefeated (no further) Iowas Real Woods. Looking very much forward to hearing Flowrestlings Bader show long form interview with the champ. SDSUs 2nd All American, 197lb multi-year stalwart Tanner Sloan, had a finals face-off with Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt who took the match 5-3. For the Bison rs freshman Mikey Caliendo III showed no fade from a sparkling 1st starting season by finishing 7th. Even better, rs senior 157lb Jared Franek finally broke through to medal in his 4th visit to the championships. Franek(2) beat everybody in front of him except Lehighs near-unstoppable Josh Humphreys. Humphreys, like Franek a hard luck rs senior, gained his 3rd place spot with 2 wins over Franek sandwiched around a tight loss to undefeated National champ Austin O’Connor, who himself had battled back from serious injuries and setbacks. 157 was a weight class of redemption, folks, and a beautiful thing it was to see. Big ups also to O’Connors UNC Tar Heels, the NC State WolfPack and the five, count ’em, FIVE AA honors earned by the Virginia Tech Hokies who collectively took home 11 of the ACCs 12 individual All American honors. The other one? Well, glory be, its Bonaccorsi, as in #1 seed, undefeated Nino Bonaccorsi. @NeenBon earned Pitts first National title since his Head Coach Keith Gavins last season as a Panther way back in 2008. If you want some smiles, and maybe a catch in your throat, watch any of Bonaccorsis post match comments. The catchy phrase #GetIn and the big red wheelbarrow to carry the fans belongs to the Princeton Tigers. All that showed up in a big way in Tulsa as Princetons Patrick Glory took the Gavin-to-Bonaccorsi time between titles gap and stacked it times five. Glorys championship at 125 was Princetons 1st at any weight in 72 years. That was so long ago the US was at least dead even in two major wars simultaneously. And they were both cold as ice, BTW. Quincy Monday fought through to 3rd in the most brutal weight class at the event, 165, to earn Princeton a 2nd AA honor. More cheers to the Big Red (the team, not the wheelbarrow) as Cornell left 20+ points in the infirmary(3) and still charged to 3rd. There was little real doubt that Yianni Diakomihalis would win his 4th title (spread over 6 regular+Covid+Ivy League bugout seasons) and he did. He also broke the USAs near 20 year international medal drought at 65kg last Freestyle season. Yassou to you, Yianni. Closing in on the biggest suprise was the double beatdown Cornell’s 133lb champ Vito Arujau laid on Daton Fix and Roman Bravo-Young to win the crown. Oklahoma States Fix was well on his way to a 4th Finals appearance. Nope, as Arujau majored him in the semis. Then, there was a last Lion to wrestle on Saturday night. That was Penn States 5th finalist, 2X undefeated champ Roman Bravo-Young. Who hadn’t lost a college match in…..well, like a really long time. It became a really long 7 minutes for RBY as VA collected both of Youngs legs repeatedly, the 133lb title, and ultimately the Most Oustanding Wrestler award. Brian Smith’s Missouri Tigers were 6 points off the podium in 5th while Michigan, Arizona State, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and NC State rounded out the Top 10. The score between #1 and #2 wasn’t close but the 9th place Hokies, the 10th place WolfPack and #11 Iowa State were each separated by a point, with the Cyclones enjoying their best finish in a decade. Easily the biggest story, and a finish that was decidedly not enjoyable for tens of thousands of wrestling fans, was the stunning semi final loss by 3X National Champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. Heavily favored to become the 5th person to win 4 NCAA D-1 titles (4) Lee looked strangely off form and was repeatedly out of position against Purdues Matt Ramos. The smooth, skilled, powerful Boilermaker lightweight took a 4-1 lead on Spencer, saw the 3X champ come back to a 7-4 advantage, then dramatically took Lee to his back for a victory by fall. That only one second was left in the match was as ironic as it was inconsequential since Ramos had secured a 2 point lead with that move. And after that Lee was going nowhere that anyone ANYWHERE had predicted for the Iowa superstar. Off the mat in stunned silence. Out of contention for college wrestlings greatest achievement. Gone from the rest of the tournament with a medical withdrawal. Any honest wrestling fan can only hope and perhaps pray for a swift and full physical, mental and psychological recovery for Lee. That special young man has given so much to so many of us for so long. Let’s give him any space he needs, any help he asks for, and all the time he desires to process the weekends events and most importantly, to move forward.

Vivek Ramaswamy is a surprisingly easy authors name to both spell and pronounce. However, the information he provides and the conclusions he draws are as difficult to chew, swallow and digest as meat from a Game of Thrones backlot. No matter. Both his first book, “Woke, Inc.” and the follow-up, “Nation of Victims” strip away every inch of veneer that modern society has been laying on thick over who and what we are as a country and where we are headed. Their very titles will unfortunately keep both publications out of the hands of tens of thousands who need to read them most. That would be your loss. Ramaswamy, a first generation American, speaks eloquently and with burning passion about the country his family chose from all others, their path, their failures and successes, and his birth in the dreamland his parents envisioned for him. A dreamland mutating into a nightmarish caricature of its essential founding beliefs. Do NOT let this mans brilliance, the breadth and depth of his knowledge, and especially his societal success cloud your perception of his writing. The themes he covers, like “The Silicon Leviathan” and “The Civil War” (with a perspective far different than probably any you have been exposed to) are massive in scope but tightly focused on narrative, cause and effect. Only one chapter in both books proved laborious but manageable. All the rest of the pages turned like a great novel speeding towards a horrific ending. Fortunately, as Ramaswamy points out, there still is time to stop the rush towards an unimagined and unbearable ( in every meaning of the word) future. The overarching question is, do we as a Nation have the energy to apply the brakes?

Have a great Spring!

Ted Carreras

(1) Can’t say enough about how much fun was had while watching the epic Rider-Princeton dual in Jadwin Gym back in late January. Getting to see AAs Laird of the Broncs and Quincy Monday of Princeton as well as National champ Patrick Glory perform and the genuine appreciation shown by members of both teams to a Lone Star State fan was pretty damn special.

(2) Franeks results, as satisfying and impressive as they are, can’t even get on the mat with his academic excellence. For the 2nd straight year MR. Franek brought home the Elite 90 award. That’s earned by the athlete with the highest GPA in the entire tournament. The award was a 2-peat for MR. Franek as he hauled it back to Fargo from Detroit after last years Championships. MR. Franek has a year of eligibility left but Bison Coach Roger Kish said in a radio interview that the jury has barely settled into their seats on that stay-or-go decision.

(3) Cornell 184lb AA Jonathan Loew and Heavyweight Lewis Fernandes, who finished a match shy of AA honors last year, were undone by injuries this year. Both may have eligibility left, though Loew was listed as a 4th year senior despite the Ivys canceling sports for the 2020-2021 season.

(4) That amazing honor went instead to Cornells Diakomihalis, who took his first two titles at 141 lbs before moving up a weight class, winning his 2nd 149lb title in Tulsa.

Season 6, Column 82: GMU hits the 33rd degree and keeps rising

An 11-8 mark, 6-2 at home, and with host duties for the MAC Tournament, Frank Beasleys GMU Patriots are putting together a luxury brownstone of a program on a cost-conscious budget.

George Mason have been column faves for a number of seasons. Why? In large part because it’s tough to tell a better story about a good guy having good success while helping plant wrestlings flag DEEP in the fertile soil of the Great Commonwealth. 6 seasons in at the program in Fairfax and Beasley’s teams athletic and academic accolades continue to accrue. Except for their 2021 “season” that wasn’t GMU has stacked 9 win season on top of 9 win season in the 2nd biggest wrestling conference in the country. Till 2023, when they smoked the entire 1st half of the campaign like a post-dinner Arturo Fuente. The only scheduled teams that seemed out of GMUs league all year, ACC tri-champ Virginia Tech, Clarion (11 wins with an 8-2 MAC record) and Rider. The Patriots took MAC East champ Lock Haven to the last two matches before falling and suffered a heartbreaking 18-18 criteria loss to Cleveland State. Folks, they’ve been in the thick of it all year long. The extremely busy and equally gracious head Patriot shot some answers and offered an opinion or two on the 2022-23 GMU squad earlier this week. He was in agreement that by any measurable statistic, this was his best season yet in Fairfax. But away from the numbers there was special growth. “The culture was the best we have had yet. There was no negativity. Everyone supported and cared about each other. It was a team. They worked and fought for each other. Everyone was bought in and it showed.” There’s a great opportunity to continue displaying that attitude as GMU hosts the MAC tournament the 1st weekend of March. “It will be great to host. Our facilities and events people are phenomenal. They do a first class job and will put on a great event. I am excited to have it (MAC Tournament) at home. There are certain comforts such as sleeping in your own bed and not worrying about travel. Our alumni and friends of the program are excited about the event.” There’s a quantifiable level of success, though, that Coaches Beasley, Mike DePalma and Camden Eppert are still looking to see their Patriots achieve. Beasley: “We need to put student athletes into the finals as we haven’t done that yet. We want to have our best ever MAC placers and several wrestlers at the NCAA Championships. The goal is to get on the podium at the NCAA Championships.” Sounds like a plan. Just one more thing, though, Coach (as your author went full Peter Falk/Columbo mode) …when Lyndsey Beasley (Coach Bs equally gracious, accomplished and bitingly witty wife/Twitter raconteur), and her Nth level Twitter female comPatriots(1) Lori Ayres (wife of Princeton Coach Chris Ayres) and Allyson Schwab (spouse of UNI Coach Doug Schwab) all are cast in the remake of The Witches of Eastwick, who gets Jack Nicholsons role? Beasley matadored his way around that one. “I have never seen the movie so I can’t make a decision on that.” The question WAS probably best left to the ladies, after all. Perhaps in a future column.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) See what we capitalized there?

Season 6, Column 81: American Uprising, Border battles, and greatness growing in Texas

Somebody somewhere needs to say something about the flight plan Jason Borelli has American on, big time showdown throwdowns, BIG 12 style, and a long overdue salute/thank you to Texas ever-improving scholastic wrestling scene.

Last year, 1 win more than a dead team. This year, seven hard fought victories heading into Fridays match with Binghamton. Last season, last place in the Inaugural Chippewa Challenge. This year, a title via a trio of one point wins over Bakersfield, Central Michigan and Campbell. It’s not just a new coaching staff, a new mat and new-look faces but a renewed attitude at American that has alumni, fans and the wrestling community excited. Americans dynamic President Sylvia Burwell was laser focused on reconfiguring the position and prominence athletics was to have in the American University presence. She had a more than willing soldier for the job in Athletic Director, Brigadier General (ret.) Dr. Billy Walker. What they perceived as needed, for wrestling at least, was a directional shift. At the absolute opposite end of that desire for improvement and completely across the country sat one of the very few schools that could tempt an A-U coaching search. A school that had SERIOUS, since well resolved, issues concerning athletic support, an unparalleled level of academic success, AND by virtue of those and other reasons, coaching staffs that just might be ready to hear what Drs. Burwell, Walker, and the A-U decision makers had to offer. Cue the dance music. In short order long time Stanford Head Coach Jason Borelli became American Head Coach Jason Borelli and the A-U reset began not with a vengeance but with a vision. That vision has produced delicious early fruit and next years season three is promising earthly delights like a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Only five seniors/grad students depart A-Us roster this time year, ably replaced (in time, no pressure) by a stellar group of recruits. Hailing from three states with high level talent nicely distributed at 125lbs through hvt. the incoming Eaglets are just what the coaching staff ordered. Rapid development is being showcased across the current roster as well. Notice A-Us 1-2 punch at 125 and 133 where Maximilian “Mad Max” Leete and sophomore Jack Maidla have 34 wins between them. Leete is a living, breathing avatar of “let it fly” with 11 pins to his credit and 3 against him with seven falls, one way or the other, in a minute or less. Do NOT, repeat, do NOT show up anytime but early for an A-U dual, folks, you will miss some fireworks. Freshman 165lb Caleb Campos amazing 11 match win streak this season has him on track for a potential two dozen victory total in one of the Nations nastiest weight classes. The young stars showing at the Chippewa Challenge made him the only Eagle to go 3-0 on the day and was a major part of A-U flipping the script from last years results. Hmm. Going from losing 3 duals in one day by EIGHTY THREE points to winning all three a year later isn’t just flipping. It’s a “break out the asbestos gloves and burn WHILE reading” effort. 197lb Connor Bourne is a lock for a 15-20 victory season and 141lb Ethan Szerencsits, while still with more consonants than wins, should approach that mark as well. Steady “hvt” (academically, not proportionally) Will Jarrells break even 11-11 mark has been forged against a gnarly heavyweight schedule featuring eight Top 25 matchups and a 4-1 record at the Navy Classic. Overall, Coach Borelli and company seem to be right where you’d want to be this time of year. From his newsletter: “…I am encouraged by our progress. The team is very motivated and I am confident that we will be wrestling our best come the E.I.W.A. Championships come March 4th and 5th in Philadelphia. With three duals remaining on the schedule we still have a chance to set a new 12 year program high for dual victories in a season.” While some of that is coachspeak and some of that is awkward(1), it’s ALL accurate, folks. Accuracy IS what you get all the time from the fine folks at A-U.

Missouri’s dominant 23-12 victory over Iowa State has already been endlessly discussed, previewed and reviewed everywhere in the wrestling universe. Let’s just say congrats to both squads, staffs and fans and accept that little was definitively decided by that particular dual. Mizzou finishes the regular season 8-3 with those losses to Top 10 Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State by five points combined. Iowa State wraps the regular season at a phenomenal 16-3, 40-7 over the last 3 years. This campaigns losses? To Mizzou, by 3 to Iowa and by 10 to the dark clad Gods of D1 wrestling Penn State. Kudos to Cyclone 3X AA, National Champ, Team USA star broadcaster/dad(2) Kyven Gadson for his astute Twitter observation on the ISU-Mizzou showdown. Gadson pointed out last years loser, Missouri, went on to take the BIG12 title and then secured a Top 10 finish at NCAAs. Think we all know where he’s going with that. Tigers-Cyclones has been settled but yet to come, the Border Bell Battle between 11-2 NDSU and 11-4 SDSU. North Dakota States heroics of late have included back to back runner-up finishes at the Southern Scuffle. South Dakota State counters with a Bronze level Scuffle result this season and a dominant 7-0 mark the last two years at the Virginia Duals. The Bison of NDSU are 6-1 in conference, the JackRabbits of SDSU 5-2, with both conference defeats coming in disappointing fashion last weekend at home to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Disappointing, you say? That’s all the take in Brookings where Coach Damion Hahns crew were set to roll into their season-ending showdown with NDSU on a record run after winning 10 straight duals. The Cowboys and the Sooners had different ideas, though(3). The Bison will unwelcome the JackRabbits to Fargo the 19th, and there’s going to be a hot time in the cold town on Sunday.

They’re coming from Amarillo and Dumas, El Paso and Weslaco, San Antonio and Austin, Houston and Hutto and Dallas and Katy and everywhere in between. The Texas State High School Wrestling Championships are taking over the Berry Center in Cypress this weekend. For sheer athletic performance our young men and women take a back seat to NO one but over the last 20 years the skill sets and college readiness of TX HS grapplers has gone through the roof. Population growth, the influx of talented out-of-state and now 2nd generation home grown coaches and the continuing emergence of junior high programs is spreading the growth of TX wrestling greatness border to border. You’ll find TX women and men on the mat in virtually every conference and every level of Collegiate competition. This column does not pretend to have anything other than a passing knowledge of who’s a top prospect, (be assured there are many) or what programs are on the rise (happening locally, regionally, and nationally). For that you are directed to both the well-known (Intermat and Flo and Rokfin) and the lesser known media sites such as the excellent Texas Wrestling. What will be given here is a collective congratulations, good luck, stay healthy and score points SHOUT OUT to each and every Ranger, Charger, Rattler, Bulldog, Maverick, Brahma, Jaguar, Warrior, Patriot, Rocket, Unicorn, Cougar, Coyote, Tiger, Panther, Hippo, Kangaroo, Lion, Whiteface, Demon, Sandie, Mustang, Eagle(4), whew, you get it. If your mascot wasn’t named, blame it on lack of space and a slow author, NOT a lack of interest or enthusiasm. You GO, TX wrestlers!

-Non wrestling nod to an icon, gone-

It wasn’t just the fur bikini, but that didn’t hurt. It wasn’t the pile of impossibly beautiful perfect-length hair, but there was that. It wasn’t the shimmery bodysuits, the devastatingly smoky smile or the 1,000 fathom eyes. It was all of those things and so much more that gave the late Racquel Welch her unequalled for decades presence. Her death at age 82 this week after a brief, unannounced illness hit with the same thunderbolt impact her 1967 big screen debut did. State of the art special effects, a primeval love triangle and that fur bikini? It couldn’t have gotten any better, but then for five decades plus it did. Until this past Wednesday. Safe to say a whole lotta folks lost just a little bit of their heart this week. Some more.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) Awkward: adjective; hard to do or deal with. Also as in A-Us Friday Night Opponent Binghamton, coached by AU Hall of Fame member Kyle Borshoff. Nothing says “yikes” like trying to beat the brakes off one of your schools “best evers” team on Senior Night.

(2) Did NOT forget ice cream flavor creator. 5 superlatives per sentence max in this column. Otherwise there’s a fee.

(3) By the time you see this Bedlam, Round 2, will likely be in the books. Oklahoma State eaked out a 21-15 win over Oklahoma in round one at the Sooners McCasland Field House back in December. The Feb. 17th rematch was shaping up to be one where OSU would be heavily favored. It IS Bedlam, though. Just sayin.

(4) However, nary a “Flying L” in sight. Way to be unique, Ft Lauderdale HS!

Season 6, Column 80: SoCon Coercions, SACC Assertions and Historic Perversions

App St and Campbell will settle the SoCon, again, Lander does the deed and a piercing light shined on the Dark Ages of American History.

For the fourth straight year the SoCon regular season title will be decided in the App State-Campbell dual. That’s an easy-to-like consistency of excellence across an entire recruiting cycle…if you’re one of the two squads involved or a wrestling fan outside of the SoCon box. If you’re former conference kingpin UTC, perennial lead dog pursuers Gardner-Webb, steady climbing VMI or the Citadel, maybe not so much. Sure, there’s program respect for and grudging admiration towards the Mountaineers and the Camels from their SoCon brethren. You just know, though, that there has to be a bit of “what does it take to beat these guys” bubbling under the surface. When American wrestling icon Cary Kolat left Buies Creek behind for the hallowed, hoary halls of the U.S. Naval Academy there was just no way the Camels would keep their edge. Not so fast, Bactrian(1) breath. All Campbell has done is run away from UTC and snatch the regular season crown clean off of 4X champ App States mascot Yousefs large, furry dome. That it resided there and not atop the superbly non-coiffed head of Mountaineers BHHHC JohnMark Bentley is strictly conjecture but probably accurate. Coach Bentley exudes the demeanor of a man who eschews excess in anything but excellence. That has been the byword in Boone since Bentley assumed the top spot 14 years ago. The climb has featured more highlights than there is space in a brief preview. Know this about these two teams headed for a conference-deciding collision course Sunday the 19th at 2 p.m. in Boone…they’re legitimately ranked, full of below the radar tough guys, established All American level talents and rising young stars, and they are going nowhere but up. Don’t think the improvement is limited to the top two squads either. Witness the swift rise of Ned Shucks Bellarmine Knights, headed into the last leg of the regular season at 11-3 and with a break-even SoCon record. UTC, despite a serious illness/injury run(2), can still secure either a .500 dual meet record or a 19th straight top three conference finish, or both. VMI enjoyed its best start since 1985 and are on point for their first winning campaign under Head Coach Jim Gibson. Gardner-Webbs baby Bulldogs have developed quite well throughout and are not just the double danger of defending 165lb SoCon champ RJ Mosley and 184lb contender Jha’Quan Anderson. Just as the last few seasons have helped established the ACCs national reknown, this year and the next few to come will show the SoCon rising to new heights. The little conference that could is moving from “fairly consistent” to EXPECTED Top 25 levels of performance. Look past current conference poohbahs Campbell and App State. You will see the presence of quality coaches and program support from Chattanooga to Lexington, Charleston to Boiling Springs to Clinton, and Louisville to Davidson. Expect more and better.

The Lander Bearcats-UNC Pembroke Braves battle for the South Atlantic Conference Carolinas title tilted quickly and decisively in the Bearcats favor last Thursday. The homestanding Bears bit early and often in a 30-7 win for their 20th dual meet win and 2nd straight conference title. At #2 in the final regular season rankings the Bearcats have just a single hurdle to climb-the Colossus known as Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos are a definitive #1 with 10 ranked athletes heading into the post-season compared to the Bearcats six. UCO pulled off a season-ending superlative of their own in downing #3 ranked Nebraska-Kearney 21-13 to secure the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title. Both Lander and UCOs next step are their respective Super Regional Tournaments. Pembroke will be the host for Region 2 while the Bronchos host the Region 4 Tournament. Then the qualifiers are off to the DII National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa the 2nd weekend of March.

Dig just a little bit into your knowledge of American history and you should be able to tie some important event or events to most of the time span the U.S. has been the U.S. Upon reflection, though, you may just find a large chunk of time both poorly documented and less tought. From the records of early 1600s East Coast landings of various would-be settlers to the bloody, decisive schism from Great Britain in the 1770s there tends to be…what, exactly? Precisely the issue award-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick addresses in the simply written, wonderfully researched and deeply moving “Mayflower”, his 2006 book. It covers the very glossed-over century and a half of Americas birth, regression, starvation, genocide, slaving, separation and rebirth. The making of a new Nation has always been and will always be a grotesque, beautiful, violent upheaval of peoples, places, languages, religions, cultures, etc. ALWAYS. Question that and you have no knowledge of even your lifetimes timeline. Think Central Europe. Not just Serbia, Bosnia, the Czech Republic, but East and West Germany. Think India and Pakistan and Bangladesh. Whoa, too far back for you? South Sudan come to mind? Maybe not as much since George Clooney hasn’t been as noticeable there of late.(3) America is excellent at showcasing its beauty and deserves to do so. It’s the ugly stuff, the Tulsa firebombing, the massacres at Wounded Knee and Mountain Meadows, that are buried or glossed over. Everyone who loves the land they live in, though, needs to know both the bad and the good, and Mayflower lays it all out. You will be amazed, suprised, saddened and sobered by what happened during these least reconstructed decades of our history and you will be the wiser for it.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) Yes, the Scribe knows Gaylord, the loveable, large and in charge Campbell mascot is a Dromedary, but how many chances do you have to work “Bactrian” into a column, right?

(2) The Tridacna clam level tightness concerning the release of any information on these situations at UTC led the author to defer to the behind the scenes skill of Intermat SoCon correspondent Rachel Gallardo for insight and inference on said matters.

(3) This to be said for the actor-he put his money AND his CO jones out into the conflict where others were saying little and doing less. Grant him that.

Season 6, Column 79: Carolinas Showdowns all around

Conference titles, area bragging rights, and post-season seeds are all on the line in multiple Carolinas clashes starting with Thursdays match between DII powerhouses Lander and Pembroke.

31-3 for a combined record, 18-0 in conference. Nine athletes ranked in the Top 12 nationally between both teams. A staggering three dozen plus podium placements plus multiple titles from multiple wrestlers at multiple tournaments for these two squads combined efforts. Gaudy achievements indeed for the Pembroke Braves and the Lander Bearcats in advance of their South Atlantic Conference Carolinas showdown this week. The series has had a decidedly UNC-P flavor as it stands 3-0 for the Braves so far. SO FAR. Please have no doubt that the Bears Den, Finis Horne Arena, will be jammed to the rafters with Lander loyals howling for the first win in this young but spirited series. National rankings definitely would point to a Bearcats victory with Lander coming in #2 and UNC-P #18. The fireworks will start from the jump as Pembrokes 125lb Logan Seliga is top ranked and should face Landers #4 in the nation James Joplin. What a boost it would be for the Bears if Joplin could hand Seliga, The Midwest Classic and Citrus Invitational champ, his first loss of the season. Wouldn’t bet on that, but certainly look for Landers Elijah Lusk (SHOUT-OUT, Merritt Island, FL, Mustangs), the Nations #6 ranked 133lb grappler, to put points on the board for the home squad. Ditto for the Bearcats 3rd big gun out the box, #1 ranked #141lb Zeth Brower. The Braves will see Lander that and raise them UNC-Ps #11 ranked 149lb Jake Piccirilli, the Pembroke Classic champ. There’s no let up at the upperweights either as Lander has two Top seven ranked guys going at 184 and 197, Logan Hall and Anthony Yacovetti. UNC-Ps 184lb star, and All Name team member Shylick Scriven, has a Pembroke Classic title and a 3rd place finish at the Citrus Invitational to his credit. He’s 21-4 and one of those losses was a 6-1 defeat by Hall at the Midwest Classic. And as to the Braves possible answer at 197? #12 ranked Bryce Walker. Saying possible because the Braves boast five, count ’em, FIVE 197lbers who have all placed at tournaments this year. More than a few D1 schools would give at least .9 of a scholarship for that kind of quality depth. True, this dual has a bunch of ranked matchups, but a guy this column has had its eye on is Lander freshman 165lb David Hunsberger. It’s a little cheesy but not double topped nacho cheesy to say he has some of Kegan O’Tooles cool and most of Ben Askrens old hair. See for yourself. With athletes galore and tickets (cue the Monster Truck commercial voice) just five bucks cash at the door, you won’t be entertained more for less anytime anywhere soon. Unless you have a Lander ID, which gets you in free, with popcorn and a drink. Nice.

The ACC regular season title will be settled Friday…IF the visiting Pitt Panthers can take down Pat Popolizios NC State WolfPack in Raleigh. Neither going to preview this match nor predict it, but fully expecting to see a magnificent clash of Titans. When the dust settles on this season this series of matches between The WolfPack, the Panthers and Tony Robies Virginia Tech Hokies will be what folks look back on as the year the ACC “arrived.” Especially those with BIG10 tinted glasses. With the recruiting classes, stable(1) and excellent coaching staffs, big time AD support, and a social media savvy fan base, the ACC is set to put, and keep, five teams in the top 25 every year and three in the Top 10.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) True, the Pitt staff suffered a large loss of talent with the departure of Associate Head Coach Jordan Leen. Leen, now Head Coach at Brown, is a consummate talent. Pitt seems positioned, though, to weather that loss.

Season 6, Column 78: Bellarmine your business when Ned Shucks Knights show up and an #UncommonlyGood season in Fairfax

Whoever said they predicted a double digit win season in year two of Division one wrestling for Bellarmine is either Ned Shuck or a deceitful carpet salesman, and #BeazleyzBoyz are reaching rarefied (for now) heights at George Mason.

The Scribe will admit to doing a double take when peeking at Bellarmines story this year. Everybody who knew diddly about wrestling knew the Knights would be bigly improved in Coach Ned Shucks second season at the helm. Shuck embraces the everywhere, all the time approach to the sport, always searching for every possible way to improve, well, everything. In NO way, though, did your author or most folks see the level jump that has occurred in 2022-23. Not sure doing a side by side season comparison does it justice, but here goes. 2021-2022: 2-15, 1-7 in conference, only three losses by less than double digits and many by 30 to 40 points while being blanked three times and held to three points or less in five other matches. Only three starters with winning records and three others with 19 or more losses. THIS year: 10-2 with three D1 victories, break even so far in conference at 2-2, with only 1 shutout loss, to Top 20 power App State. Eight out of 10 starters with winning records and five with 20 or more Ws. The national leader in pins in 285lb Thad Huff. This is where the Snidely Whiplashes and the horse sounds come in. Yeah, they’re wrestling a lot of smaller schools. They went to National Duals instead of the Southern Scuffle. ANYBODY could improve on last seasons mess. Going to agree with you on two of those points. The point is, Bellarmine is rocketing up the improvement scale and this is no FantasyLand E-ticket tide, friends. Knights be FOR REAL and gettin realer. Apologies, that 20 minute Grammys hip-hop segment bled over(1). Even Coach Shuck, when asked, had to admit to some surprise at this season’s success…”I’m not sure I’ve been part of a team that has seen this much improvement from one season to the next outside of when I was coaching a high school team in Chaska, Minnesota(2). Our returning wrestlers and our first recruiting class have meshed incredibly well and they have continued to grow closer and closer (while solidifying) our team culture on and off the mat. The energy level from our guys in the wrestling room is really high right now and they are feeding off of each other really well. There is a passion that has been continually growing, plain and simple.” Also plain to see, the incredible success of hvt. Thad Huff, leading the nation with 13 falls. So Coach, did Thad get one or two shots of SuperSoldier serum pre-season? “Thad doesn’t need any serum! The kid is a machine and we love his energy. He hails from London, Ohio, and all he does is anything that will help him and his team grow. He’s making big gains every day because of his can’t wait attitude and effort and fight in every training session.” It’s been a year so far for sure, but what will make the finish right, Coach? “Consistent performances in our last four SoCon duals (Campbell, The Citadel, at UTC, Presbyterian). Consistency in our attitude, effort and fight in 10 matches each dual. Recently I’ve been really proud of my team’s ability to do that. Then we get to see how much fun we can have in Puerto Rico at the Club Nationals event. The guys are fired up!” Understandable. THANK YOU, Coach Shuck. BTW, the Scribe has fam on the island. And can cover an event. NOT campaigning. JUST sayin.

Speaking of big time campaigns you would be hard-pressed indeed to see something better that George Masons current run. Frank Beasley’s Patriots have already guaranteed themselves a winning season after opening up 8-0. They’re coming off a non-conference Tri-meet split with EIWA teams Long Island University and Drexel and will host defending MAC champion Lock Haven this weekend. GMU then travels to Lawrenceville, NJ, to face Rider(3). It’s a tough and tricky finish with some serious seeding implications for the post-season. To the positive, the Patriots will be hosting the MAC tournament first weekend of March and don’t be surprised to see multiple Patriots push through to the NCAAs this year. GMU has been not just lights out good but “hey you, look at the lights” good too at home this season, 6-1 in Fairfax so far. How much home gym dual success will carry over come tournament time is anybody’s guess but the Scribe is feeling a fine Patriots showing down the stretch here. Why? Seven of GMUs starters are rocking winning records, and two more are break even. Freshman 125lb Markel Barker and Sophomore 174lb Logan Messer are a sparkling 47-14 between them. By the numbers, though, the Patriots front man is steady Senior 157lb Peter Pappas. At 18-2 Pappas is a poster child for 6th year success. As a team the wins and losses have mostly mirrored last years results although GMU enjoyed a nice turn around victory over column favorite Gardner-Webb following 2022s defeat by the Runnin Bulldogs. GMU need to leverage season long positives and a hopefully rowdy home crowd come tournament time. Telling you now, though, the Lock Haven match will be a Katy bar the door dual. The Bald Eagles may be 5-6 but they are nobody’s pushover. Note that Lock Haven put six in the top three at GMUS own ARMS Software Patriot Open the first weekend of December with four in the finals, two champs and eight placewinners overall. The Eagles have tasted mucho success in Fairfax this year. The Patriots would love to sour that taste, twice. As for the Rider(3) dual, on the road, last regular season weekend? It went the Broncs way 21-13 on GMUs home mat in 2022. ALL of Riders winners from that match are back. Only one of the Patriots wrestlers who won returns. Sounds like uphill sledding. Success from these kinds of challenges WOULD #BeUncommon.

See you sometime soon!

Ted Carreras

(1) So what if the Scribe was busting 60+ whiteguy moves the whole time. And? Don’t need the hips to type. Or the knees.

(2) Outside Minneapolis, home to 28,000 very hardy souls, the Hazeltine Golf Course, and below freezing from December till March. Had to look it up. Coach is probably happier in Louisville. LIKELY.

(3) A delayed and well-deserved TX SHOUT OUT to the Rider wrestling team, the Scribes families hometown school. Courtesy of a nephew your author much enjoyed catching the Broncs-Princeton Tigers dual in person at the beautiful, spacious, and extraordinarily clean Jadwin Gym a few Saturdays back. Coach John Hangeys Broncs proved to be rude guests as Rider won “The Battle of 206” by the 4th criteria after the two teams tied 18-18. Being able to share some TX wrestling enthusiasm with the Broncs Quinn Kinner, Azeem Bell, Tyler Klinsky, Ritchie Koehler and company made for a brief but memorable moment on the week-long visit to the birth state. Still embarrassed about calling Princeton Coach Sean Gray Coach Joe DuBuque by mistake but forgiveness has, it is believed, been granted. And, when in the central NJ area, DO make a stop at Grovers Mill Coffee Company. Great brew, quality people, kitschy movie decor, tasty baked goods and easy parking. And if you do see any little Green men, well, s’ok. They’ve been there before.