Photo: Heavy tire lifting can be an effective overall-body exercise for wrestlers. This is one of the non-traditional training methods that Zach Even-Esh recommends and has used at his Underground Strength Gym in New Jersey. (Even-Esh photo) By Zach Even-Esh I was recently training a group of athletes and one of them was struggling on all levels, both physically and mentally. Coach Zach from 15+ years ago would have flipped out on the athlete and kicked him out; no questions asked. Today, I have learned that a lot of athletes require time to “turn the corner” and create change from within. It ..read more

Photo:Robin (left) and William (right) Chesley invited Dan Gable to speak to a group of wrestling advocates in Maryland earlier this month. By John Klessinger For a minute, I wasn’t sure if I was in a Jurassic Park movie or an event to promote wrestling. I looked around the room, where there was an impressive display of deer, bear and other game … as well as the legendary Dan Gable. “I feel protected here with all the wrestlers and the animals in this room,” Gable joked to the crowd of former coaches, wrestlers and fans May 3 at the home of William and Robin Chesley in Harwood, Md. This colum ..read more

The United States’ best men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers will be on display June 10 in Newark, N.J., for Final X, the annual event where 30 wrestlers win spots on the U.S. Senior World Team that will compete in the 2023 UWW World Championships this September in Serbia. But before that special event, USA Wrestling created two qualifying events: the U.S. Open in April and the World Team Trials Challenge tournament in May that sent 47 of the 60 wrestlers who will compete in the Best-of-3 matches at the Prudential Center. The other competitors who qualified were medal winners ..read more

Photo: Ryder Rogotzke (left) pinned 45 of 50 opponents this past season, including Marco Christiansen of Minnetonka in the Minnesota Christmas Tournament last December to earn a second straight Junior Schalles Award. (Jeff Beshey photo) By Mike Finn Statistically, Ryder Rogotzke did not have the season in 2022-23 that the wrestler from Stillwater (Minn.) High School enjoyed a year earlier when he won the 182-pound Minnesota state championship and posted a 56-1 record as a junior. He also pinned 44 of 47 opponents that he actually wrestled and was named the 2022 Junior Schalles Award for p ..read more

Photo: Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson (top) put the finishing touches on his first All-American honor when he pinned Iowa’s Anthony Cassioppi for third place. (Sam Janicki photo) By Mike Finn Wyatt Hendrickson came up short in accomplishing his biggest goal of the 2022-23 college season — winning a national championship in Tulsa on March 17 — when the Air Force heavyweight lost 4-2 in the semifinals to Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet. So how did the No. 2 seed Falcon junior respond to such the loss in the BOK Center? Hendrickson responded by pinning both Northwestern’s Lucas Davison and Iowa’s Anth ..read more

Photo: Since winning an NCAA championship, with just one leg, for Arizona State in 2011, Anthony Robles travels around as a motivational speaker, while also returning to coach at his alma mater, Mesa High School. (Anthony Robles photo) By Mike Finn With the help of his mother, Judy, Anthony Robles remembers becoming “Unstoppable” soon after the Arizona native was born without his right leg on July 15, 1988. “From day one in the hospital when I was born, doctors were telling her to have no expectations, basically they set the bar very low,” said Anthony. “But my mom refused to think that w ..read more

Photo: Cael Hughes (top) started his final high school season at Stillwater, Okla., by defeating Sergio Lemley of Mt. Carmel (Ill.) High School, 5-2, for the 132-pound title at the 2022 Walsh Jesuit Ironman last December. (Sam Janicki photo) By Tristan Warner Shortly after winning his second-straight Oklahoma state high school championship as a sophomore in 2021, Cael Hughes aggravated an already nagging back injury at a national freestyle event.  Hughes made the difficult decision to get surgery, which left him unable to wrestle for six months, and forego his chances at Fargo that s ..read more

Photos: From left, Dalton Roberts, Kamal Bey and Cohlton Schultz all beat more experienced wrestlers and advanced to USA Wrestling’s Final X event in June, which will determine this year’s USA World Team in Greco-Roman. Roberts avenged a 2022 Final X loss to three-time Ildar Hafizov at 60 kilos, Bey had no trouble at 77 kilos with Aliaksandr Kikiniou, a 43-year-old World bronze medalist, originally from Belarus and Cohlton Schultz defeated Adam Coon, a 2018 World silver medalist in the 130k final. All of these wrestlers could meet again at Final X if the U.S. Open finals loser win a special Wo ..read more

Photos: Clockwise from left, Xochitl Mota-Pettis, Audrey Jimenez and Kennedy Blades all defeated more veteran wrestlers during the women’s freestyle tournament at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, and hope to make their first Senior World Team this summer. Jimenez rallied to beat two-time World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe at 50k; Mota-Pettis threw top-seed Alexandra Hedrick at 57k; and Blades defeated six-time World champion Adeline Gray at 76k. (Sam Janicki photos) The following is a breakdown of the women’s freestyle tournament from the 2023 U.S. Open, which was held April 27-30 in Las Vegas, Nev ..read more

Photos: Clockwise from left, Xochitl Mota-Pettism Audrey Jimenez and Kennedy Blades all defeated more veteran wrestlers during the women’s freestyle tournament at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, and hope to make their first Senior World Team this summer. Jimenez rallied to beat two-time World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe at 50k; Mota-Pettis threw Alexandra Hedrick at 57k and Blades defeated six-time World champion Adeline Gray at 76k. (Sam Janicki photos) The following is a breakdown of the women’s freestyle tournament from the 2023 U.S. Open, which was held April 27-30 in Las Vegas, Nev., where t ..read more