Coach Mike R
Wrestling for Rio: NCAA Championships preview
The next stop in the road to wrestling in the 2016 Olympics in Rio is the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Odds are that one or more of the elite young athletes in the field of talent athletes at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden will represent the United States on the wrestling mats […]
Wrestling for Rio qualification edition: Will a WWE star wrestle in Rio?
Brazil’s Adrian Jaoude technically isn’t really a WWE star just yet, so some may find that headline misleading. Despite their claims stating otherwise though, he won’t be wrestling in this year’s Olympics in his home country either. Jaoude is a member of the WWE’s farm promotion NXT, and the WWE, back in January, did state […]
Wrestling for Rio part I: Reports of wrestling’s death were premature
The other day some pencil-necked geek in tight jeans and a plaid shirt came up to me and said, “Hey Coach, did you know that the 1900 Olympics were the only Olympics ever held without wrestling on the programme?” I stared at the boy with extreme disdain and retorted, “There were no Olympics in 1900 […]
2015 NCAA Wrestling Finals Live Thread: Chris Weidman’s coach takes the championship
The Ohio State University, led by head coach Tom Ryan, has won its first NCAA wrestling team title. Before Ryan took the head coaching job at Ohio State, he ran the wrestling program at Long Island’s Hofstra University. For two years during his time at Hofstra, Ryan coached current UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman. This […]
Rare footage: Brock Lesnar’s legendary ‘Wheel of Death’ wrestling move
In honor of tonight’s NCAA Wrestling Finals, we (via Flowrestling, who deserve praise for digging up this footage from the 2000 NCAA tournament highlight tape) bring you a jaw dropping moment from UFC, WWE and NCAA heavyweight champion’s time competing for the University of Minnesota. In the 275 pound semifinals of the 2000 NCAA Championships, Lesnar […]
NCAA Wrestling Championship Session I live thread
It’s finally here: the greatest spectacle in American sports. The 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have arrived. To wrestling fans, and there’s more of us than you would think (the Scottrade center is sold out for three straight days), this is like Christmas, the Super Bowl and unlimited steak night at Ryan’s all in […]
2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships: The birth of a new star, and betting lines
330 of the USA’s toughest athletes have descended on St. Louis, Missouri to do what they do every March: beat the stuffing out of one another to determine this season’s ten national wrestling champions. The 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship starts this Thursday (March 19) and runs through Saturday evening (March 21). I am […]
UFC 182 Factgrinder Guide: The wrestling of Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier
Jon Jones has the incredible distinction as the first Factgrinder subject, way before these examinations of wrestling careers were even known as Factgrinders. Before the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion’s fight with Chael Sonnen, I saw plenty of confusion regarding the wrestling backgrounds of both fighters, and wanted to resolve any misunderstandings. I enjoyed this nerdly indulgence […]
Mark Schultz tweets his extreme anger with the director of Foxcatcher, Bennett Miller
Mark Schultz, a UFC veteran and one of the very best collegiate and freestyle wrestlers the United States has ever produced, is extremely angry at Bennett Miller, the director of the recent film Foxcatcher. The basis of the film comes from Schultz’s autobiography, and the Olympic gold medalist has taken to various forms of media, […]
A Gracie in the Olympics? It could happen in 2016
Igor, Gregor and Rolles, the sons of Rolls Gracie, have been trying their hands at freestyle wrestling. All three competed this weekend in New York City’s Grapple at the Garden. It’s fun to see decorated BJJ practitioners dabble in an Olympic style of wrestling, and though none of them won on Sunday, they performed admirably. […]
Today: MMA stars face off in NYC in the Grapple at the Garden
The 2014 edition of the Grapple at the Garden, an annual showcase for the sport of wrestling in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, features some top college wrestling competition, along with a dual meet between two teams hand-picked combat sports stars, helmed by Joe Warren and Rolles Gracie. This dual meet starts at noon […]
UFN 58 Factgrinder Guide: Reminder- C.B. Dollaway and Pat Cummins are really good wrestlers
In an effort to provide fans with the accurate wrestling backgrounds of fighters before major MMA cards featuring more than one wrestler of note, we provide a Factgrinder guide. In a rare circumstance for a UFC Brazilian, Ultimate Fight Night 58 feature two very accomplished wrestlers on its main card, Pat Cummins and C.B. Dolloway. […]
All-time college wrestling great Ed Ruth trains with Jon Jones and tells MMA world that he is coming
Ed Ruth, who currently sits atop the United States freestyle wrestling Olympic ladder at 189 pounds, recently did some training at Jackson’s MMA. Below, we have an video of Ruth using some sort of jumping spinning kick to knock a pad from none other than UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ hand. The video comes […]
MMA referee Mark Smith, a retired fighter pilot, still crusades against discrimination in the Air Force
MMA referee Mark Smith may be a new face to many UFC fans, but he already has received positive commentary for his job at the third man in the cage at UFC 181. This is not the first time Smith has distinguished himself professionally, the referee and judge comes to the sport of mixed martial […]
The college wrestling community remembers fallen Ohio State athlete Kosta Karageorge
The death of Ohio State football player Kosta Karageorge has now made national news, however, there has been little discussion of his past accomplishments as a wrestler for the Ohio school. The fact of the matter is that Karageorge was an extremely accomplished wrestler, beloved by his Ohio State teammates and many other wrestlers he […]
Nice in Nice: New Bellator signee Aaron Pico defeats 2013 world wrestling champion
Only a week ago, wrestling/youth boxing standout Aaron Pico signed an unprecedented deal for a future MMA career with the world’s number-two promotion Bellator, and this week he reinforced why he is one of the world’s most vaunted young combat athletes. Already a 2016 Olympic hopeful in freestyle wrestling and under-18 world champion, Pico, barely […]
Indian MMA promotion seems to think Tacoma WA is Washington DC
Super Fight League, India’s leading mixed martial arts promotion, is generating interest for its coming event SFL 36: USA. The promotion recently tweeted about the December card: Happy to announce SFL 36 USA live from Washington December 6th at the Emerald Casino @BrianHalquist @CageSport1 pic.twitter.com/85bDRlVpHY — Super Fight League (@TheFightLeague) November 25, 2014 The tweet […]
Live Video Stream: College Wrestling- No.4 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Virginia at 7 pm Eastern
We at Bloody Elbow have the distinct pleasure, this Monday night of bringing you a big-time college wrestling match between Ohio State, whom I picked to win this year’s national title, and the University of Virginia, ranked in the top ten in some publications. Video appears below Probable lineups (via Intermat’s Britt Malinsky) 125: Nathan […]
Videos from the Wrestling Vault: T.J. Dillashaw pulls off huge upset in high school
Earl Smith, the proprietor of D1collegewrestling.net, has finally decided to open up his massive vault of old wrestling videos, and start posting the footage on Youtube. In a gesture of friendship, Earl lets Bloody Elbow know when he posts these videos, so that we can bring them to our readers immediately. In this edition of “Videos […]
The week in wrestling: Iowa answers lineup questions and Penn State’s freshmen look scary
Welcome to my second “week in college wrestling”, where I look back at interesting developments in the past week of NCAA Division I wrestling and give a look forward to the events in the coming week. I’ll repeat my warning from last time that these posts will not be exhaustive treatments of everything significant that […]
Bellator signs super-prospect Aaron Pico
At the tender the age of 18, Aaron Pico has already established himself as one of the world’s great young talents in the world of freestyle wrestling (he’s also hell on wheels in Greco-Roman and folkstyle). This year he placed second at the FILA Junior (20 and under) World Championships, and last year won gold […]
UFC 180 Factgrinder: The wrestling of Dennis Bermudez
Fighters who rely on their foundation as decorated wrestlers rarely appear on the UFC’s international cards, but UFC 180 in Mexico City features two such fighters in one bout as top featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Ricardo Lamas face off. I suppose that the UFC needs to keep its featherweight wrestlers occupied while the division’s golden […]
The week in college wrestling: opens, absences and boring press conferences
Welcome to my first “week in college wrestling”, where I look back at interesting developments in the past week of NCAA Division I wrestling and give a look forward to the events in the coming week. I’ll go right ahead and say that these posts will not be exhaustive treatments of everything significant that occurs […]
Bloody Elbow’s dirty dozen college wrestling rankings: #1 Ohio State
A couple months ago I gave an interview with SB Nation’s own Ohio State blog, Land Grant Holy Land, where I explained that I couldn’t pick The Ohio State (TOSU) to win an NCAA wrestling championship in 2015. I reasoned that while TOSU had the most talent in the country, they didn’t have enough proven winners […]
Video: UFC’s Hendricks and Rosholt prepare for fights in Oklahoma State wrestling room
Recently two Team Takedown fighters, UFC welterweight champion Johnny Hendricks and rising UFC heavyweight star Jared Rosholt, returned to their alma mater, Oklahoma State University, to sharpen their wrestling skills before upcoming fights. Oklahoma State is the most decorated college wrestling program of all time, and still boasts a roster filled with top athletes who […]
Bloody Elbow’s dirty dozen college wrestling rankings: #2 Minnesota
J Robinson, the head coach of the University of Minnesota’s wrestling program, is a tough hombre. A couple seasons ago, he coached an entire season with only one knee. I’m not talking about one healthy knee; I literally mean he only had one knee joint. Something strange happened with a knee replacement operation, doctors removed […]
Bloody Elbow’s dirty dozen college wrestling rankings: #3 Cornell
At this point in the rankings, I’m really splitting hairs. All the remaining teams are so loaded with talent that I dread putting one ahead of another. I won’t lie, I want Cornell to win its first national wrestling championship in March; I think it would really shake up the wrestling establishment as Cornell would […]
Bloody Elbow’s dirty dozen college wrestling rankings: #4 Iowa
With our number 4 entry in these rankings, we finally get to the teams with a very good shot at winning a national championship. I have a hard time believing a team as stacked as the 2014-15 Iowa Hawkeyes would be the number 4 team in the country, yet here we are. This team returns […]
Bloody Elbow’s dirty dozen college wrestling rankings: #5 Edinboro
Those unfamiliar with wrestling might find it strange that this somewhat obscure public school (I believe its official name is Edinboro University of Pennsylvania) a stone’s throw from Lake Eerie is perennially one of college wrestling’s very best teams. I actually write about Edinboro wrestling somewhat regularly; Some of their alumni have gone on to […]
Russian Wrestler who beat Daniel Cormier in Olympics trains at AKA
On Monday, Khajimurad Gatsalov visited American Kickboxing Academy’s San Jose training facility. This was not the case of a simple tourist visiting one of the world’s top MMA gyms. Gatsalov, a Russian (specifically North Ossetian) is a true living legend of freestyle wrestling.* During his amazing career, Gatsalov has won five World Championships, four European […]