Chloe is a sophomore at Vinton-Shellsburg and has had a great start to her young career. Chloe is a 2x state placewinner, finishing 2nd and 3rd. She is also having a heck of an offseason, placing 3rd at USA folkstyle nationals and 2nd at Virginia Beach. Chloe’s two older brothers, Gabe and Cooper, were talented wrestlers as well. If you haven’t already heard the name ‘Chloe Sanders’, you better start learning it because she’s a star. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Chloe...

Tyler is from Orion, Illinois and was a 3x state finalist for the Chargers, winning a state title as a sophomore. As a senior, Tyler moved to Bettendorf, Iowa and was a state runner-up for Head Coach Dan Knight. Tyler continued wrestling for Iowa State, where he was a 2x national qualifier. He then transferred to arch-rival Iowa and graduated as a Hawkeye. He was inducted into the Orion High School Hall of Fame in 2018. So, Tyler competed at both Illinois and Iowa High School state wrestling...

A couple weeks ago, the 2024 Olympic Trials took place in State College, Pennsylvania. There was a lot to unpack from all the action, both good and bad. So, I enlisted the help of my friend and former teammate Duane Richardson to come on the podcast and talk about it all. Euphoria Coffee website: https://www.drinkeuphoriacoffee2go.com/ Registration is open for the Granby Wrestling Camp in Belle Plaine, IA. The camp is from June 24th-26th and is hosted by The Granby School of Wrestling....

Behind all these great athletes we love and cheer for is an even greater support system. Kourtney Hardy is a perfect example of this. She is the wife of 2x AA and current Husker wrestler Brock Hardy. Kourtney grew up literally down the street from Brock in Brigham City, Utah. She’s currently taking classes online at Southern Utah University and lives in Lincoln. In this episode, Kourtney talks about how she handles being the wife of a wrestler in the spotlight. She talks about what it was...

Shannon is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee in the school of journalism and media. She has contributed to NCAA.com, covering wrestling for the last 6 years. Prior to this, she was a swimmer at American University. Shannon’s roots run deep in wrestling, as her dad was an All-American for Maryland. She actually wrote a piece about him that I have linked below in the show notes. Shannon is another amazing person in the sport of wrestling and I am truly honored to share a...

Brett is from Manchester, Iowa and wrestled for West Delaware. Unfortunately, injuries cut his career short. But Brett just couldn’t get away from wrestling. He’s been involved at the coaching level, holding roles at Waterloo West, Waverly Shell-Rock and Loras, to name a few. Currently, Brett is the head coach at West Des Moines Valley and guided them to a 15th place finish at state this year, which included a state finalist. In the show notes you’ll see a link to Pay It FOREward Connolly, a...

Leighton is from New Hampton, Iowa and wrestled for the Chickasaws. He was a 3x state placewinner, finishing 5th, 3rd and 3rd. After high school, Leighton wrestled for UNI and was in the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman. That same year, he won the Tim Ascherli Most Courageous Award. Leighton now resides in Kendallville, Iowa and helps out with the Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club in Decorah. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Leighton Gaul! Euphoria Coffee website:...

Tony has been involved in wrestling his entire life. He started out competing as youth in New York. Tony continued wrestling in college at the University of Buffalo. After graduating, Tony moved cross-country to San Francisco, CA, where he took on a coaching role. But after coaching for a brief period, Tony eventually found his way to behind the lens of a camera. And he knew that was his calling. Tony has been photographing wrestling ever since and is now one of the most highly-renowned...

Naomi is from Decorah, Iowa and made history this past year by becoming the first girls 4x state champion in Iowa history. Naomi also was selected as Ms. Iowa Wrestler of the Year and won a Junior Fargo national title last July. She’s committed to wrestle for the University of Iowa. Naomi is also competing at Last Chance Qualifier this weekend in an attempt to make an Olympic team. This was awesome to get to know a little more about Naomi on a personal level and no doubt she’s going to look...

Tim is a wrestling and baseball dad. He has 3 sons. Ben and Cade wrestle and both won state titles this year for Skutt Catholic. His other son, Jace, is a flamethrower for the Skutt Catholic baseball team. He’s a well-respected father in the Omaha metro area and his family is also highly praised as being a genuine group of people. I wanted to bring him on to highlight a family that is doing things the right way and pick his brain on how they do it. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Tim...

Nate is from Tucson, Arizona and was a 2x state champion for Sunnyside High School. Nate went on to wrestle at Iowa State, where he was a 3x All-American and a national champion for the Cyclones. At the senior level, he was a U.S. Senior national champion, a 4x U.S. national team member and finished 3rd at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. After a couple of brief coaching stints, Nate now works at Wells Fargo and resides in Iowa. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Nate Gallick! Let's Talk...

Jared is from Graettinger, Iowa and wrestled at Graettinger-Terrill. He was a 3x state placer, securing 3rd twice before becoming a state champion as a senior. After high school, Jared got into the world of weightlifting. He’s competed in both Strongman and Powerlifting competitions before picking up Olympic Weightlifting. In 2015, Jared switched to CrossFit full time and made the 2018 CrossFit Games. You can check him out on his instagram at jaredenderton where you can find seminars, more...

Todd is from Gilbertville, Iowa and wrestled for the Don Bosco Dons. He was a 3x state qualifier and finished as a state champion as a senior. Todd started his college career at Iowa State before transferring to Wartburg, a place he now calls home, and ended up being a national qualifier for the Knights. Todd is now an assistant coach for Wartburg and his team is gearing up to make a run this weekend at DIII nationals in La Crosse, WI. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Todd...

Dalton is from Charles City and was a 3x state qualifier for the Comets. As a senior, he broke through and finished 3rd at 189 lbs. Dalton was also a beast on the football field, earning 2nd team all-state honors his senior year and receiving an invite to the Shrine Bowl. Dalton attempted to both wrestle and play football at Grand View before transferring to Iowa Central to solely focus on football. After sustaining an injury, Dalton transferred back to Grand View, this time concentrating...

Caleb is from High Point, North Carolina and currently wrestles 125 lbs. for Nebraska. Prior to joining the Huskers, Caleb was a 2x NCAA qualifier for App. State. Wrestling in high school for Southwest Guilford, Caleb exploded onto the scene after winning a state title as a senior and placing 3rd at Virginia Beach Nationals. Caleb is also a Chain Wrestling Signature Athlete and you can purchase Caleb Smith gear at chainwrestlng.co. The link can be found in the show notes. So please, sit back,...

Aaron is from Emmetsburg, Iowa and wrestled during the peak years of the Emmetsburg/Armstrong-Ringsted era. From 2000-2006, they won 6 traditional team titles and 2 dual team titles. As for Aaron, he also enjoyed some success. He finished as a 3x placer, finishing 2nd and 4th before winning it all as a senior. Aaron went on to wrestle at the University of Iowa, where he battled some adversity but never gave up. He finished his senior year with the most wins on the team and fell one win shy of...

Levi’s story is one of great adversity and even greater success. He started wrestling like a lot of kids, competing in their local wrestling club. But in 6th grade, Levi was diagnosed with idiopathic transverse myelitis, a rare condition that occurs when there is inflammation of both sides of a section of the spinal cord. This left Levi paralyzed from the waist down. But after several months of physical therapy and countless trips to the chiropractor, Levi regained most of his ability to walk...

Ryan, or Philly as he’s known to some, was Burlington High School’s first state champion when he finished on top in 2002 at 215 lbs. Ryan took his talents to Wartburg and spent 4 years there before transferring to Upper Iowa where he won a national title. He was subsequently inducted into the Upper Iowa Hall of Fame in 2018. Ryan has had coaching stints at Upper Iowa, Labette Community College, West Burlington-Notre Dame, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and now at Marion High School. So please, sit...

Christian is from Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was a 4x state placewinner, winning a state title his senior year. In college, he wrestled for Michigan State and Head Coach Tom Minkel. Nowadays, Christian is the owner and head coach of River City Wrestling, an up-and-coming club located in Richmond, Virginia. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Christian Olanowski! Let's Talk Wrestling website: https://letstalkwrestlingpodcast.my.canva.site/ --- Support this podcast:...

Erin is currently an associate director with the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. She is a big reason why Iowa sanctioned girls wrestling. A native of Panora, Iowa, Erin graduated from Iowa State University before earning her masters at Oklahoma State. This is a very insightful episode of all the behind-the-scenes work Erin and her team puts in to make girls wrestling in Iowa as successful at it can be. It also entails where her passion for wrestling (and sports in general) all started....

Chris is from Westlake, Ohio and wrestled at St. Edward High School under legendary head coach Greg Urbas. Chris enlisted in the Air Force and wrestled at the United States Air Force Academy, earning team captain as a senior. Chris is now in the Air Force Reserve and flies for UPS. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Major Chris Szabolcs! Let's Talk Wrestling website: https://letstalkwrestlingpodcast.my.canva.site/ --- Support this podcast:...

Brett was one of those guys I could never beat growing up. I don’t know how many times we wrestled, but he always found a way to come out on top. Anyway, Brett  was a 4x state qualifier for West Delaware and placed 4th as a senior. He went on to wrestle at Wartburg and qualified for the national tournament as a senior. Nowadays, Brett is an assistant coach at Waukee Northwest and a personal trainer at Life Time Athletic. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Brett Yonkovic! Let's Talk...

Reese is from Reno, Nevada, but attended high school at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. She won a silver medal at the 15U World Combat Games in Budapest and also won both the 16U and U20 national championships. Reese currently wrestles 143 lbs. for the University of Iowa. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Reese Larramendy! Let's Talk Wrestling website: https://letstalkwrestlingpodcast.my.canva.site/ --- Support this podcast:...

Mack is a four-time state champion for Don Bosco, the 13th in Iowa High School state history. For college, Mack went north and attended the University of Minnesota. As a Golden Gopher, he was a 3x All-American at 133 lbs. Between high school and college, Mack won a total of 294 matches. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014. So please, sit back, relax and enjoy, Mack Reiter! Let's Talk Wrestling website: https://letstalkwrestlingpodcast.my.canva.site/ ---...