Abbott blog: Top 10 wrestling stories of 2024

For many years, one of my holiday traditions has been writing a Top 10 wrestling stories of the year column for TheMat.com. Finding time to write around traditional family holiday activities has always been a bit of a challenge but is something I look forward to each year.

Clearly, an Olympic year has way more story lines than the other three years of an Olympic cycle. Paris did a wonderful job running the 2024 Games, a breath of fresh air after going through the pandemic Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The USA had a strong performance if you look back at historic results, although the U.S. has been so strong in recent years that expectations were very high. The Olympics are so hard to win because of the pressure on the athletes and the high level of preparation by every single Olympian in the field. Athletes around the world dream about winning the Olympics, and they all step up big time when given that opportunity.

It has been an honor and a privilege to bring this feature to the wrestling community over the years, and I appreciate all of the amazing opportunities I have had as a USA Wrestling staff member. This has truly been a dream job for a kid who loves wrestling and journalism. From the minute that the Olympics ended in Paris, all eyes have now turned towards the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. All I can say is Go Team USA!!!

Here we go with the biggest stories of 2024, in my humble opinion…

1 –Hildebrandt, Elor win golds and U.S. women get four Olympic medals in Paris – Women first competed in Olympic wrestling in 2004 in Athens, and the USA has been one of the top nations ever since. However, it was 20 years later, at the 2024 Paris Games, where the USA women truly took center stage, claiming two gold medals for the first time and a U.S. record four total medals. Golds went to one of the veteran leaders on the team, Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kg, and the best young athlete in the world, Amit Elor at 68 kg. Hildebrandt’s run included some big-time drama, as her finals opponent Vinesh from India (who upset the favorite Yui Susaki in the first round) missed weight. UWW chose to put the semifinal loser to Vinesh in the finals against Hildebrandt, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba, and Sarah closed it out with a 3-0 win. A lifetime of hard work and persistence paid off when it most counted. Elor, who became the youngest U.S. Senior World wrestling champion at 18 in 2022, dropped to 68 kg for the Olympic year and become the youngest Olympic wrestling champion for Team USA at age 20 in Paris. Elor was her dominant self, outscoring her opponents 31-2, including a 3-0 shutout victory over Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the finals. Elor’s future seems unlimited at this point. Kennedy Blades, who beat the legendary Adeline Gray to make the U.S. team, nailed a beautiful five-point throw in her first match and powered into the finals to claim a silver medal. The amazing Helen Maroulis added a bronze medal and the U.S. women had its best Olympics ever.

2 – Maroulis wins third Olympic medal and Dake earns second Olympic medal – Winning an Olympic wrestling medal is an amazing feat. Winning more than one is very rare and especially noteworthy. Helen Maroulis further cemented her Hall of Fame career by winning a third career Olympic medal in Paris, a 2024 bronze to go with 2016 gold and 2020 bronze. Her back story is inspiring (a documentary was made about her comeback from injury and personal challenge). In Paris, Maroulis opened with two wins to reach the semifinals, where she fell 6-0 to three-time World champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, who had beaten Maroulis in previous meetings. She put an exclamation point on her third Olympics with a stunning 24-second pin of Canada’s Hannah Taylor for the bronze. Only one USA athlete has won more Olympic wrestling medals, the great Bruce Baumgartner with four. Dake’s quest for an Olympic gold after winning four career World titles, was halted in the semifinals in a wild 20-12 loss to Japan’s Daichi Takatani. Dake came back strong after the loss. It looked like Dake might fall in the bronze-medal match to past World champion Hetik Cablov of Serbia, but a late five-point toss gave him a memorable 10-4 win and a second career Olympic bronze medal. Could either come back to seek another at the 2028 Olympics? Who knows, but I wouldn’t put it past either of them if they chose to go another Olympic cycle.

3 – Lee gets healthy and powers to Olympic silver medal – As an age-group freestyle wrestler, Spencer Lee of Pennyslvania was beyond dominant. He won a 2014 U17 World title and two U20 World titles (2015, 2016), and most of his matches were over in less than a minute. It seemed like Lee was destined to win multiple World and Olympic medals for Team USA. Life does not always go according to plan, and serious injuries during his heralded college career at the University of Iowa threatened to end his career before he ever stepped on the biggest stage. In a truly remarkable comeback story, Lee persisted and was healthy enough to able to compete at a high level in 2024. He defeated World champion and Olympic medalist Thomas Gilman to win the 2024 Olympic Trials at 57 kg at Penn State, then travelled to Istanbul a few days later, winning four tough battles at the World Olympic Qualifier to earn his spot in the Paris Games. Lee, whose mother’s family is from France, continued his run at the Olympic Games. Lee opened with a 3-2 win against tough Wanhao Zou of China, then won two dominant technical falls to reach the finals. A 4-2 loss in the Olympic finals to 2022 World champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Rei Higuchi of Japan was a difficult finish to an amazing year for Lee, who was understandably not satisfied with second place. Lee is talking about turning his focus on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which means this great story should have many more chapters.

4 – Penn State’s Starocci, Brooks become four-time NCAA Div. I champions – Coming into 2024, there had only been five four-time Div. I wrestling champions (Pat Smith of OSU, Cael Sanderson of Iowa State, Kyle Dake of Cornell, Logan Stieber of Ohio State and Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell). At the 2024 NCAA Championships in Kansas City, for the first time, two great wrestlers were able to win their fourth Div. I titles the same year, Penn State teammates Aaron Brooks at 197 pounds and Carter Starocci at 174 pounds. The NCAA chose Brooks’ battle against NC State’s Trent Hidlay as the final match of the tournament, so Starocci’s 2-0 victory over Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh made him the sixth four-timer. Two matches later, Brooks powered to a 6-1 win over Hidlay to become the seventh two-timer. Brooks was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament by the NWCA. A photo of Starocci and Brooks with the NCAA team trophy after the finals was seen worldwide. Brooks went on to upset David Taylor in the Olympic Trials at Penn State, then claimed a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. Starocci, due to the pandemic eligibility rules, returned to Penn State this fall to attempt to become the first five-time NCAA champion. Up at 184 pounds this year, fans are anticipating that Starocci may face 2024 NCAA champion Parker Keckeisen of UNI in the NCAA finals in his quest to make history at the 2025 NCAAs in Philadelphia.

5 – Japan has amazing Olympic performance in Paris – For decades, the former Soviet Union (and then Russia after the USSR breakup) was considered the dominant nation in wrestling. The Russians were very strong in both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman and has developed a successful women’s freestyle program to boot. Other leading nations, including the United States, Iran, Japan and others, have pushed Russia in recent years. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the Russia and Belarus teams being banned from major events, only able to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN). Although Russian AIN athletes qualified at 16 of the 18 weight classes for Paris, the final decision by the IOC about which specific Russians were eligible for Paris (with most of their stars not invited) led to the Russian Wrestling Federation skipping the Olympic Games. In Paris, Japan had a memorable team performance, winning 11 medals, well ahead of Iran with eight and the United States with seven. Of the 11 medals, Japan scored an amazing eight Olympic champions, three in women’s freestyle golds, two in men’s freestyle and two in Greco-Roman. Japan’s success did not stop at the Olympics. At the 2024 World Championships featuring the 12 non-Olympic weights, Japan won six medals, including four gold medals. On the age-group level, Japan won five World Team trophies, including a U20 women’s team title. The big question is if Japan can sustain this level of excellence in the next Olympic quadrennium. Russia is expected to come back strong, and with the United States hosting the next Olympics in Los Angeles, Team USA is looking to climb to the top. Regardless, Japan that deserves kudos for an amazing 2024 year in all three Olympic disciplines.

6 – In first year as varsity, Iowa women claim NCWWC Nationals with heroic finish – The women’s wrestling community was excited for the 2023-24 women’s college season, as the first Power 5 women’s team, the University of Iowa, wrestled its first varsity season. Led by head coach Clarissa Chun, a World champion athlete and past USA Wrestling assistant national coach, the Hawkeyes had a talented young team full of high-level recruits. Facing high expectations, the program had a strong regular season, yet was not considered the favorite at the 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships, the national tournament for NCAA women’s teams. North Central, the 2023 NCWWC champions with tremendous talent and depth, was projected to score more points. Going into the gold-medal finals, North Central led Iowa by 17 points. Iowa had nine finalists, with two matches between Iowa teammates, while North Central had three going for gold. The finals started tough for Iowa, with a loss in the 190-pound finals. Iowa won the next three national titles, from Emilie Gonzalez (101), Ava Bayless (109) and Felicity Taylor (116). When North Central’s Amani Jones beat Iowa’s Virginia Foard in the 123 finals, it looked like the Cardinals would win again. However, the Hawkeyes won their next two finals by Reece Larramendy (143) and Marlynne Deede (155). The team race went down to the last match, with Iowa’s Kylie Welker against three-time NCWWC champion Yelena Makoyed of North Central at 170 pounds. Welker opened up her offense and scored an 11-0 technical fall over Makoyed, giving Iowa the team title by six points with six individual champions.

7 – Taylor falls in Olympic Trials, takes OSU job, then retires with a World bronze – It was a crazy year for 2020 Olympic champion David Taylor, who went into the 2024 season with three Senior World titles in his trophy case. In recent years, he had dominated 2016 Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani of Iran at 86 kg and was considered the favorite to win the gold again in Tokyo. In the best-of-three finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, he faced a fellow Nittany Lion star, four-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks, who he had beaten in two straight in their 2023 Final X series. In a big surprise to many, Brooks controlled the bouts and swept the series over Taylor, 4-1 and 3-1. In the biggest news of the college wrestling season, Oklahoma State shocked the world on May 7 by hiring Taylor to be its new wrestling coach, making a big move after Hall of Fame legend John Smith retired after 33 years leading the Cowboy program. Taylor quickly assembled an impressive staff, met with returning team members and started recruiting quality transfers for the program. The desire to complete his career on his own terms compelled Taylor to try out for the U.S. team that would compete at the Senior World Championships in the non-Olympic weight classes. Moving up to 92 kg, Taylor was dominant in the World Team Trials in Omaha, with two pins, two technical falls and a decision. In the finals series, he stopped 2023 World bronze medalist Zahid Valencia in two straight. Also entered at the Senior World Championships in Tirana, Albania at 92 kg was Russian mega-star Abdulrashid Sadulaev, who was not permitted by the IOC to wrestle in the Paris Games. The battle between these Olympic champions happened in the opening round, with Sadulaev winning 9-0. Taylor was pulled back into repechage and won two bouts, setting up another huge match against Iranian World champion Kamran Ghasempour of Iran for the bronze. Taylor’s exciting 6-2 win provided a fitting showcase to celebrate an amazing career. Although he did not put his shoes on the mat in Tirana, Taylor made it quickly clear that he will focus completely on coaching from now on.  

8 – USA brings home three age-group World Team titles – Once the last whistle was blown in the wrestling competition at the Champ de Mars Arena on the final day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, all focus quickly has turned toward the next Summer Olympics, which will be held on U.S. soil in Los Angeles in 2028. Although many of the athletes who will challenge for medals in LA28 are currently on the Senior level, many others are still competing at the age-group levels. For the USA, the pipeline is very full of talent that may be ready in time for Los Angeles. Team USA won 34 medals at the 2024 age-group Worlds, with three team titles. In Tirana, Albania, led by U23 World champions Sage Mortimer, Kylie Welker and Yelena Makoyed, the U.S. women’s freestylers won the U23 World Championships for the first time. Team USA had a pair of men’s freestyle World titles as well, with the U17 World Team and the U20 World team coming home with top honors. In Pontevedra, Spain, the U.S. U20 men’s freestyle team won medals in nine of the 10 weight classes, led by U20 World champion Luke Lilledahl.  At the U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan, the U.S. men’s freestylers were also champions with five medals, including U17 World champion Samuel Sanchez, Domenic Munaretto and Michael Mocco. Of the 34 medals, the USA had 11 age-group World champions. Don’t be surprised if many of these age-group Worlds medalists battle for a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team.

9 – Penn State wins another NCAA title, hosts Olympic Trials and gets four NLWC U.S. Olympians – If there is any doubt where the top hotbed for American wrestling is these days, the 2024 season showed the Penn State remains the center for American wrestling excellence. On the college level, Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions won its 11^th NCAA team title in the last 13 NCAA Championships. Led by individual champions Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci, (174), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State set an NCAA record with 172.5 team points in Kansas City, a full 100 points ahead of runner-up Cornell. The spotlight remained in Happy Valley in April, with the U.S. Olympic Team Trials held in a jam-packed Bryce Jordan Arena on the PSU campus. The NCAA men’s program with the most current wrestlers and alumni qualifying for the Olympic Trials was Penn State. Brooks and fellow PSU alumni Zain Retherford of the Nittany Lion WC made the Olympic Team, and two other U.S. stars who live and train in State College with the Nittany Lion WC competed in Paris, Kyle Dake and Kyle Snyder. Penn State continues to recruit the many of best high school boys into its program. Oh, Pennsylvania remains one of the best high school states for both boys and girls, dominating the team standings in Fargo in 2024, with many of those talents are from Central Pennsylvania.

10 – Wrestling grows at all levels, with USA Wrestling and high schools leading the way – During the pandemic, there was a big concern that wrestling, a combat sport which does not allow for social distancing, might take a big hit when the world was shut down. However, the absolute opposite has been the reality. Due to creative and aggressive health protocols for wrestling events, the sport bounced back quickly and is now in an impressive growth trend. In 2024, USA Wrestling set new records in membership, blowing past 300,000 members for the first time, with 334,494 at the end of the 2023-24 season. Female wrestling led the way with 30% growth during the year, but expansion happened across the board, in all age-levels, in every part of the country and for both males and females. This growth was also reflected at the high school level. According to the NFHS press release, “the two biggest story lines are the increases in all forms of high school football, and the continued rise in both girls and boys wrestling.” Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the nation, hands-down, but boys wrestling is also growing quickly. The NFHS reported that boys wrestling grew by 32,443 athletes in 2023-24 and has had a 25% increase since the 2021-22 season. Entries for both boys and girls at major USA Wrestling events are also setting records. College wrestling is seeing the addition of new programs for men and women in all of the organizations (NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, etc.). It has been said that we are in the golden era for wrestling in the United States and the data is proving this to be true. The mission for all leaders within wrestling is to fuel continued growth in strategic ways that brings the world’s greatest sport to even more people in the future.  

Other stories of note

Vito Arujau wins second NCAA title, and a second Senior World medal – Although Vito Arujau has said that winning an NCAA title was never his major goal (his focus is on Olympic and World success), he has become an outstanding folkstyle wrestler for Cornell University. Arujau won his second straight NCAA title in Kansas City, defeating four-time finalist and five-time All-American Daton Fix of Oklahoma State in the finals, 5-3. Arujau, a 2023 Senior World freestyle champion at 61 kg, pulled out of the Olympic Trials at 57 kg in the spring. However, his 2024 season was not over. Arujau made the U.S. team for the Senior World Championships at 61 kg, beating high school star Marcus Blaze in two straight matches in the finals. At the World Championships in Albania, Arujau won his first two matches before falling to young phenom Masanosuke Ono of Japan in the semifinals. Arujau rebounded with an inspiring 8-3 win for a bronze medal over Russian star Zavur Uguev, an Olympic champion and two-time World champion.

Gable Steveson returns to college wrestling – It is a very rare for an Olympic gold medalist to return from wrestling retirement and go back to college, which is exactly what 2000 Olympic champion Gable Steveson did this fall at the University of Minnesota. It makes sense financially in the era of NIL opportunities, but doesn’t make it any less remarkable. Gable’s journey included time in pro wrestling with the WWE, then his tryout with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. Should Steveson win his third NCAA title in March, what is his next move? There is talk about competing in Mixed Martial Arts. There is an opportunity to pursue a second Olympic title. With Gable, who knows what else he might come up with. Bottom line, this is an amazing athlete who is unafraid to blaze new trails.

U.S. Greco-Roman wins six age-group World medals – The United States is looking to expand its success at the Olympic and World level in Greco-Roman wrestling. The USA has not won an Olympic Greco-Roman medal since Adam Wheeler’s bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, and its last Senior World medal was the bronze medal claimed by G’Angelo Hancock at the 2021 Worlds. Things are looking up, based upon the USA winning six World medals at the age-group level in 2024. At the U17 Worlds in Jordan, Jayden Rainey won a 55 kg gold, and his brother Jordyn Raney won a 60 kg bronze (his second straight World medal in Greco to go with a 2023 gold). At the U23 Worlds in Albania, Beka Melalashvili won a silver medal at 82 kg, the first U23 Greco-Roman medal in USA history. At the U20 Worlds in Jordan, Team USA had two finalists and three medalists, with silver medals from Isaiah Cortez (55 kg) and Otto Black (63 kg) and a bronze by Aden Attao (130 kg), a second career age-group medal for Attao. As these young stars make their way to the Senior level, along with others in the pipeline, the USA could see more success in Greco-Roman moving forward.

Bommarito wins Beach World gold medal for the second straight year – The nation’s best Beach wrestler got better in 2024, as Eliana Bommarito became the Senior Beach World champion for the second straight year in the Over 70 kg weight class. Bommarito entered four of the five Beach World Series events and won them all, with wins in France, Romania, Greece and Croatia. In Beach wrestling, World champions are determined by points scored in the five World Series events. In addition, Team USA had a World bronze medalist, with Kyle Ferriter placing third in the series events at Over 90 kg among men. It was the best season yet for the USA, which was competitive in every event entered. Justin Benjamin became the first U.S. man to win a gold at an individual World Series stop, when he won the 70 kg gold medal in Acapulco, Mexico. The U.S. age-group performance took a step up on the Beach, when the Women’s U17 World Team won the World Team title, and the Women’s U20 Team was second. Credit goes to the dedicated athletes who have committed to the Beach style, but also kudos to coach Tim Box, volunteer leaders Ed Duncan and Rusty Davidson and all the coaches, referees, supporters and parents building the Beach program.

High school stars Jimenez, Blaze, Forrest make Senior National Team – With there so much big news and high drama at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Penn State, the performance of our nation’s elite high school stars was hard to miss. Just making it to the final event of the Olympic Trials process is a big honor for a high school athlete. Qualifying for the Senior National Team is even more extraordinary. Arizona prep star Audrey Jimenez powered to the Championship Series at 50 kg, where she was defeated by eventual Olympic champion Sarah Hildebrandt, earning the No. 2 spot on the National Team. At 57 kg in men’s freestyle, a pair of high school stars, Marcus Blaze of Ohio and Jax Forrest of Pennsylvania, beat some quality Senior stars to make the National Team as well. The fact that high school athletes are challenging themselves at the highest level, and doing so well, is crazy good. Add in 2024 prep hammers like Beau Bartlett and Luke Lilledahl on the boys side, and even younger talents Taina Fernandez, Morgan Turner and Epenesa Elison on the girls side, and you can’t help be psyched for the future of Team USA.

Carr beats O’Toole in NCAA semifinals then Carr wins his second title – One of the best rivalries in college wrestling in recent seasons was between David Carr of Iowa State and Keegan O’Toole of Missouri, both who won NCAA titles and went back and forth in their numerous battles. At the 2024 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, O’Toole, who beat Carr in the 2024 Big 12 finals and in the 2023 NCAA finals, was No. 1 seed and Carr was the No. 4 seed. This forced another rematch to happen in the semifinals. In his last NCAA tournament as a senior, Carr scored a takedown with 10 seconds left in the semifinals match for an 8-6 win over O’Toole. In the finals, Carr closed out his second career NCAA title with a 9-8 win over young talent Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State. O’Toole will finish up his college carrer at Missouri in 2025, aiming for a third NCAA title. Carr and O’Toole, both age-group World champions, should spar in freestyle for years to come. In fact, it has already started. O’Toole beat Carr, then lost to Levi Haines and Carr beat Haines at the Senior World Team Trials at 79 kg in September.

Welker, Kilty win World medals at U23 and Senior levels in back-to-back weeks – University of Iowa wrestlers Kylie Welker and Macey Kilty were able to qualify for two World Teams this fall, both held during the college season by the way. They won their weights at the Senior World Team Trials in Omaha to make the team for the Senior Worlds and were also eligible for the U23 World Championships. Both decided to take the challenge of travelling to Tirana, Albania to compete in back-to-back tournaments in the same arena. First up was the U23 Worlds, and Welker won the gold at 72 kg and Kilty claimed silver at 62 kg, helping the USA win the team title in women’s freestyle for the first time at the U23 level. It was Welker’s second career age-group World title, joining a 2021 U20 gold. Just a few days later, they both earned a spot in the bronze-medal round at the Senior Worlds. Kilty scored a 16-5 technical fall over AIN athlete Valeriia Dondupova for a 65 kg bronze medal, while Welker defeated veteran Alexandra Anghel of Romania, 5-2 for 72 kg bronze. It was a second Senior World medal for Kilty, who won a 2023 silver medal, while Welker won her first Senior medal.

Burroughs, Taylor, Green win World Team Trials – UWW decided to add a Senior World Championships in 2024 after the Olympic Games in the weights not contested in Paris. 2024 Olympians were not eligible to compete, and the 2024 Worlds became a showcase for the vast talent worldwide that were not in Paris. Cramming 30 World championship weights into just 18 Olympic weights, with only 16 athletes at each Olympic weight, is clearly an injustice to our sport, but something we have to live with to remain on the Olympic program. USA Wrestling held the World Team Trials in Omaha in September. In men’s freestyle, three of the veteran stars who built the USA into the world’s best men’s freestyle team made impressive runs to win the World Team Trials. 2012 Olympic champion and six-time World champion Jordan Burroughs won bouts against college star Levi Haines and super-talented Alex Dieringer, then stopped 2023 World Team member Chance Marsteller in two straight at 79 kg. 2020 Olympic champion and three-time World champion David Taylor had impressive wins over Michael Macchiavello and Trent Hidlay to face off with 2023 World bronze medalist Zahid Valencia in the finals series, who he beat in two straight at 92 kg. Two-time World medalist James Green, our nation’s top 70 kg wrestler for a decade who came back from retirement, also had a strong run, with a big win over Jordan Oliver in the semifinals and two straight wins over Alec Pantaleo in the finals. The 61 kg spot went to a younger star, Vito Arujau. Wrestling fans truly enjoyed witnessing legends Burroughs, Taylor and Green shine in Omaha, and show once again why they are such great athletes and ambassadors for our sport.

Terry Steiner coaches in sixth Olympic Games and is elected to Hall of Fame – There has been one constant in the success of the U.S. women’s freestyle program since the sport was added to the Olympic program at the 2004 Athens Games, National Women’s Coach Terry Steiner. A star at Iowa and an assistant college coach for men, Steiner took a risk by changing his career path and agreeing to coach the U.S. women’s program in 2003. Team USA has become a world power in women’s wrestling, with Steiner at the center of what has become a national movement. In Paris, the U.S. women had its best performance with two champions and four medals. Steiner quietly became the first U.S. National Team Coach in any discipline to coach in six Olympic Games. This fall, Steiner was announced as one of the Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. Although Steiner was an excellent college athlete and coach, he would not be enshrined in Stillwater without making his visionary decision to coach women. As women’s wrestling continues to grow at an amazing level, Steiner’s leadership has been the foundation to its success during the sport’s Olympic era.

Olympic Team wears AV on singlet after death of National Team wrestler Alan Vera at age 33 – Every year, the sport of wrestling loses some of its great athletes, coaches and leaders who pass away after making a huge impact on the sport during their lives. In 2024, the wrestling community was greatly saddened by the passing of a current Senior National Team member, Greco-Roman star Alan Vera at age 33. Vera, who made two Senior World Teams after coming to the United States from Cuba, qualified the USA for the 2024 Olympic Games at 97 kg through the Pan American Olympic Qualifier, then placed second in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials to Joe Rau. He was playing soccer with friends in New Jersey this summer when he suffered a cardiac incident, and never was able to fully recover, passing away in September. Vera’s wife is two-time Olympian and World champion Elena Pirozhkova, and they have an infant daughter Alina. Vera was a favorite among his wrestling peers, not only because of his inspiring personal journey, but because he was a genuinely friendly and positive person. In his honor, all three U.S. Olympic Teams (Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle) decided to wear his initials, AV, on their singlets during Olympic Games in Paris. We lost Alan Vera way too soon, and this gesture of respect and support by our Olympic teams was appropriate and meaningful.

Hamilton and Manuel become first girls to win Triple Crown in Fargo – The USA Wrestling Triple Crown has been a major honor within youth wrestling for decades, going back to the start of the program for boys in the Kids divisions back in 1997. Over the years, the program has expanded to more age levels, then added for girls. Right now, boys and girls from the 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, Cadet and Junior levels can win the Triple Crown by winning three USA Wrestling national titles in the same year. For the first two years in which girls at the 16U and Junior levels were eligible for the honor, there were no athletes who were able to win the required three titles. That all changed in Fargo this year, when Kaili Manuel of Michigan (16U) and Valerie Hamilton of Illinois (Junior) were able to claim their third national title of the year on the raised mats in Fargo, N.D. Both had impressive seasons, and were at the top of their game in Fargo. The USMC Junior/16U Nationals is the largest tournament on earth, and the 2024 version set entry levels, so the achievements of Manuel and Hamilton are even more impressive. Many great girls high school champions will follow with Triple Crowns in the future, but these two wrestlers will always be the first in their age-group.

Hail to the team champions from all of the college divisions – One of the main reasons that the United States is a world power in wrestling is the fact that the sport is included in the academic systems of our nation, with wrestling at the junior high, high school and college levels. College wrestling in the United States goes back to the late 1890’s and has become very popular among U.S. wrestling fans. We celebrated the two 2024 NCAA champion teams among our top 10 stories this year, men Div. I (Penn State) and NCWWC women  (Iowa). This year, I feel it is especially appropriate to include all of the college national champion teams among our stories of note. We are truly blessed to have college wrestling (especially in this era of drastic change in college athletics) and should never take it for granted. Here are kudos to the other college team champions of 2024: NCAA Div. II men (Central Oklahoma), NCAA Div. III men (Augsburg), NAIA women (Menlo), NAIA men (Grand View), NJCAA men (Western Wyoming), NJCAA women (Indian Hills), NCWA men (Bellarmine), NCWA women (Grays Harbor). Very few athletes ever get a chance to be on a national champion college team, and we wish to celebrate the success of all the athletes, coaches and supporters of these programs.

HBCU Delaware State adds women’s wrestling – I love this story for multiple reasons. The work of HBCU Wrestling, which is focused on bringing wrestling back at our nation’s historically black colleges and universities, has been a beacon of light in today’s college sports scene. The fact that Delaware State decided to become the first HBCU program for women is another step forward in creating new opportunity in a rapidly growing sport. And the fact that Delaware State is a Div. I program is huge. In spite of the rapid expansion of women’s wrestling among NCAA institutions, Div. I is the one area which needs the most development and attention. Congratulations to all who were involved in making Delaware State women’s wrestling a reality.

I am sure there are other great stories that I missed, but these are the ones that reached the top of my personal list this year. Here is to a great 2025 wrestling season for everybody!!!