Chris Caldwell is the founder of Wrestling4More, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping wrestlers with disadvantages succeed. Most recently, he had spent a month in Costa Rica, helping them build on their system of wrestling and helping them overcome the specific challenges that are unique to their country. In this episode, we talk about how Wrestling4More came to be, their experiences in Costa Rica, and their next project.

Israel Silva is the Director of Collegiate Recruiting for Iridium Sports agency, as well as the Director of Operations for Meathead Movers. In this episode, we discuss the state of wrestling in California, some of Silva's coaching experiences, and Iridium's camp over the summer, which brought in guest clinicians including David Taylor, Chris Pendleton, Kevin Ward, and Adam Hall. Silva has had an extensive coaching career by serving as an assistant coach at multiple universities: Chattanooga, SDSU, George Mason, Northwest Wrestling RTC, and Fresno State. Competitively, Silva was a four-time World Team member for Mexico and a SoCon champ at heavyweight for Chattanooga. Silva had transferred to Chattanooga from North Idaho College where he was a two-time National JUCO All-American.

Josh Hokit is a current MMA fighter in the Bellator organization with a 1-0 record. In this episode, we talk about his upbringing, his unique college path, and his transition from NFL fullback to heavyweight fighter. Hokit played in the NFL from 2020 until 2022 when he began transitioning into MMA. In College, Hokit wrestled and played football for the Bulldogs of Fresno State. In 2019, he finished 5th at 197 in the NCAA tournament. He was the 12th seed at 285 for the 2020 NCAA tournament before the tournament was canceled due to COVID. In high school, Hokit was a state champion and a three-time state medalist for Clovis High School.

Lennie Zalesky discusses his past several months as he comes out of retirement to take on the recently brought back DII Cal Poly Humboldt Wrestling program as the Head Coach. Zalesky had spent 11 years as the Head Coach at Cal Baptist, and 9 years before that as the Head Coach of UC Davis before they dropped their program. In college, Zalesky was a three-time All-American and two-time National Finalist under Dan Gable at the University of Iowa.

Laird Root is a three-time state placer and two-time California state finalist out of Poway High School. Root will be competing for the Tarheels at the University of North Carolina. In this episode, we talk about his love for the sport, his guitar playing skills, and how he is able to respond to setbacks.

Michael Murillo is a three-time California State placer, finishing 3rd his Sophomore through Senior year after missing his Freshman season due to COVID. Murillo will be wrestling for the Marauders of the University of Mary this fall. In this episode, we share Murillo’s wrestling story

Hunter Garvin is an All-American for Stanford University who recently won Gold at the inaugural U23 Pan Ams event in Columbia. Garvin will be representing the United States at the U23 World Championships for Greco in Albania this fall. Garvin earned his spot on the world team after winning both the Greco and Freestyle events at the U23 Nationals. In high school, Garvin attended Iowa City West High School where he was a three-time state champion. In this episode, Garvin talks about his wrestling experiences, how he balances school and wrestling, and his mental approach to the sport.

In this episode, Brian and Bryan talk about some California wrestling news, wrestling camps, and answer some fan questions.

Abram Cline is a two-time placer in California finishing 3rd twice out of Granite Hills High School. Cline is going to be competing for the Terps in Maryland this fall under Coach Alex Clemsen. In this episode, we share Cline’s wrestling story, focusing on when he transferred to Granite Hills High School to finishing his first college practice with Maryland wrestling.

Collin Guffey is a State Champion and 3x CA state placer (5th, 2nd, 1st) from Granite Hills High School, who went undefeated as a senior this past season accumulating 39 pins at 165 pounds. Guffey is ranked #44 on FloWrestling’s Class of 2024 High School Big Board and #8 nationally for his weight class. Guffey is heading to Palo Alto to continue his wrestling career at Stanford this fall.

In this episode, Bryan, Brian, and Carlo talk about Greco wrestling as a product after U23’s, how the state tournament might look next year in the team race, and comment on whats happening at Oklahoma State University

Anaya Falcon is 3-time State Champion from Walnut High School who went undefeated in 118 matches.

She is currently ranked #8 in FloWrestling’s pound for pound High School National Rankings, ranked #1 nationally by Flo at 105 pounds for high school, and ranked #7 at 50 kg in the Women’s Freestyle Domestic Rankings.

Anaya made the U20 World Team at 50kg by taking out Iowa’s Nyla Valencia twice in a best of 3 series. She will be competing in the world championships this fall in Spain.

In addition to competing for the United States this fall, she will also be continuing to wrestle in college for Life University in Georgia.

Jason Kraft owner and Head Wrestling Coach at Dethrone Mixed Martial Arts in Fresno, California where he has been for the last 15 years.

Kraft has been involved with the development of numerous California state placers and champions, cementing Dethrone as one of the premier programs in the state.

In this conversation, we talk about Krafts competitive career at Nebraska, coaching youth, and the relationship between high school coaches and club coaches.

Mike Mendoza is currently the Head Men’s Wrestling Coach for Colorado Mesa. This past season, Mendoza led a group of six first time national qualifiers, three of whom finished in the blood round at the D2 NCAA tournament. Colorado Mesa finished 3rd at their Super Region.

In 2023, he was named as the RMAC Coach of the Year and the Super Region VI Coach of the Year in his first season as Head Coach. He began coaching at Colorado Mesa after spending two years at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado. Before that, he served as the Head Coach for Boise State for a year before the university cut the program in 2017. Mendoza had served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Cal State Bakersfield, from 2002 until 2010, when he took over as Head Coach until 2016. He has spent the previous two years as a graduate assistant at Adams State before heading back to Bakersfield.

In college, Mendoza was a three-time NCAA D1 qualifier and a PAC-10 Finalist for CSUB. He helped lead the team to a 3rd place finish at the 1996 National Tournament, and two PAC-10 championships.

Mitch Finesilver has been wrestling for the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club based out of Ann Arbor Michigan with his brother, Matt. He had spent the last four years as a resident athlete with the NYC Regional Training Center, and had represented Israel in the last three world championships. His summer plans for representing Israel in the upcoming Olympic games were canceled due to safety concerns.

In college, Mitch was a 4x NCAA Qualifier, an NCAA All-American in 2019 as the ACC Champion in that same year.

In high school, Mitch wrestled for Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, where he was a 2x State Champion and 4x state qualifier. He also finished 5th his senior year at the NHSCA tournament.

Throughout high school and college, Mitch was able to be on the same teams as his twin brother Zach, and his younger brothers Matt and Josh (who are also twins).

Justin Signorelli just finished his 5th year at Alfred State, where the program was able to repeat as conference team champions and garnered their first All-American since the school transitioned to Division III.

Before Alfred State, Signorelli was a graduate assistant coach at Western New England University, the Head Coach at SUNY Ulster Community College, and an assistant coach for Highland High School, his alma mater.

In college, Signorelli wrestled for DIII SUNY Cortland, where he served as team captain for two seasons and helped lead the Red Dragons to a 4th place team finish at the NCWA DIII National Duals.

In this episode, we talk about Alfred State’s growth in the last 5 years with Signorelli at the helm, coaching philosophies, and our summer as J Rob Camp counselors.

In this episode, we talk with Rick McKinney about the new high school rules being implemented in California, including the new out of bounds rule, the 3-point takedown, and the 4-point nearfall. We also give our thoughts on the OSU-David Taylor saga.

Rick McKinney is a 2017 inductee to the California Wrestling Hall of Fame. He has been a referee for 17 years and was an educator and coach in the Central Valley before that.

Riley Orozco coached at CSU Bakersfield from 2011-2016, helping build CSUB into a Top-25 nationally ranked program, despite being community funded. In 2016, he followed CSUB’s Head Coach Mike Mendoza to Boise State to coach for a year before the school dropped their wrestling program.

Orozco is currently a Senior Firefighter in Boise, Idaho, and works with Meridian High School and their youth program.

In college, Orozco was a four-time NCAA qualifier, was a PAC-12 Champion his Junior year, and eclipsed over 100 wins.

In high school, Orozco was a state champion in Nevada out of Churchill County High School.

In this episode, we talk about our shared experiences at CSUB, coaching philosophies, and his move from Bakersfield to Boise.

Adam Hall is the new Head Coach for Utah Valley University. Hall comes from NC State where he was the Associate Head Coach and had been coaching in Raleigh for 9 years.

In college, Hall was a two-time All-American for Boise State #saveboisestatewrestling

In this episode, we talk to Hall about his unique coaching transition, what it is like taking a program by the reigns, and the vision he has created for Utah Valley wrestling.

The Wright Brothers jump on the show to talk about their wrestling experiences through youth, high school, and college and how those experiences have influenced what they are doing now at the high school and club level.

Michael Wright II is an assistant coach at Redwood High School, which just captured their second straight Central Section D2 championship, and sent four wrestlers to the state tournament.