Sudden History | Looking Back At The History Of College Wrestling | Mat Talk Podcast Network

Troy Nickerson entered the college wrestling scene as one of the most decorated high school wrestlers ever and is still the only wrestler to win 5 New York State Titles. Troy sits down with Sudden History to discuss his injury plagued, yet still successful collegiate career, which included an NCAA Title and 4 top 4 finishes. Nickerson was also one of the first blue chip recruits for Cornell and helped make Ithaca, New York a destination for wrestlers to win NCAA titles and compete on top ten teams. Currently, Troy is the Head Coach at Northern Colorado, a team on the rise competing in the always-difficult Big 12. Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music | RSS    

Sudden History is lucky enough to feature it's most highly credentialed guest thus far when 2008 World Champion and 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Clarissa Chun stops by. Currently a coach on the Women's National Team, Clarissa talks about the current state of the women's program, as well a recap on the recent World Championships. As we normally do on Sudden History, Earl turns back the clock with Clarissa and discusses her career competitively.  Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music | RSS    

One of the mainstays of the D1CW website is the Coaches Poll which is reborn on this episode of Sudden History. Earl has surveyed DI coaches and asked them questions like the "Best Pound for Pound" wrestler, "Best Incoming Freshman" and "Best Pinner". Who did the coaches select? Is there anyone they missed? Listen to find out. In addition to the survey, the coaches also provided answer to two questions that routinely come up on the message boards. One is "What is your ideal National Duals Format" and the second is "If you could change one rule to make wrestling better, what would it be?. Earl sifts through the varying responses. Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS    

The Back to the Future Part II episode. Earl explores how some situations and decisions changed wrestling history, or at least could have. What were some possible obstacles that 4x NCAA Champs Kyle Dake and Logan Stieber managed to avoid? Who could have won the 2009 NCAA Team Title? Could David Taylor's storied collegiate career have been even more legendary? How Jordan Burroughs almost never was Jordan Burroughs. The grand finale includes a big decision by a big man that may have shaped the current college landscape as we know it. Open up your imagination and enjoy..

Sudden History sits down with 2x Oklahoma State All-American Kyle Crutchmer to discuss his recently completed career as a wrestler. Kyle talks about his love for competing having to get tough in order to rise through the ranks of the storied Cowboy wrestling program. He also shares a John Smith story from his recruiting days. Currently Kyle is training with AKA for a future in MMA. He shares with Sudden History his timetable for his fighting career. 

A week after the stunning news that Boise State would be eliminating its wrestling program, Sudden History sat down with the Broncos most recent (and hopefully not last) NCAA Champion Ben Cherrington. Ben gives a behind the scenes look into the interview process with the current athletic administration, the hollow promises that followed, and an unprofessional way to find out that he was not hired. He is very forthcoming in sharing his feelings towards the program that he poured his heart and soul into a decade ago.    Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS    

Sudden History sits down and explores the career of 2x Wisconsin All-American Tom Clum. Tom shares his unique outlook on the great sport of wrestling. He has a blend of passion and love for the sport, yet at the same time he doesn't let his achievements or shortcomings on the mat define him as a wrestler or person. Clum shares his memories from being on the receiving end of the biggest upset in Colorado High School wrestling history, though it didn't seem to phase him. Currently Tom is able to devote his time to a couple of his biggest hobbies, his love for the outdoors and coaching youth wrestling.  Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS    

Boise State's 2x All-American and current NC State assistant coach Adam Hall sits down with Sudden History to explore his career leading up to and competing for the Broncos. Hear firsthand the highs and lows of wrestling in the Round of 12 four consecutive seasons. Adam also gets into his early experiences in the sport and his opinions on the state of youth wrestling today. We finish with the closing of Adam's competitive career and the answer to the question, "Who is the Wolfpack's Best Dressed Coach?"  Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS    

With the 2017 NCAA Championships in the books, Sudden History has to go back through those books to see some of the facts, stats, and anomalies that went along with the tournament. As you would expect some National Championship and All-American related tidbits. After all of the stats, pay attention for the homework assignment, it's a good one

After a long hiatus Sudden History is back!!! Since Cael Sanderson pulled Mark Hall from his redshirt in mid-January, it got Earl to thinking. He looks into the precedent for moves involving high profile true Freshman so late in the year. A list of 15 top 100-ish recruits are mentioned and Earl looks into the circumstances surrounding their shirts being pulled, their debuts, how their Freshman season concluded and finally the results of their career overall. Some of them are households names, some...not so much. Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS    

We wrap up the Big Ten preview by talking with three excellent assistant coaches. First up is Purdue's head assistant coach Tyrel Todd. Tyrel makes his second appearance on the podcast which makes him the first person to be a guest multiple times. He goes in depth to discuss the Boilermakers highly ranked recruiting class and his vision for the Purdue progam. Next up is Nebraska's volunteer assistant Matt Meuleners. Matt talk about the depth and competition that the Cornhuskers now have at multiple weights. They are another school with a top ten ranked Freshman class. The closer is Minnesota's Dustin Schlatter. He briefly touches on the rough summer surrounding the Gopher program, their NWCA All-Star participant Brett Pfarr and a couple of Freshman that should impact the Minnesota lineup.   Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS  

In this weeks edition of Sudden History we travel to the heart of collegiate wrestling, the toughest conference in the country, the Big Ten. This will be the first part of a two part series. We start with a first year head coach, Michigan State's Roger Chandler. Though not a stranger to the MSU program Coach Chandler takes us through the changes surrounding the team and the circumstances that led to him being designated the teams next head coach.  Next up is Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale. We learn about the enviable depth that the Scarlet Knights program now has and the expectations surrounding this new perennial powerhouse. Coach Goodale also fills us in on the particulars surrounding the teams upcoming "Battle at the Birthplace". We close with Ohio State assistant coach J Jaggers. Much of the conversation centers around Buckeye wrestlers that will be moving up a weight class. Coach Jaggers is not one to make predictions, but you better believe this will be one of the teams that is in the NCAA Title hunt.

This week's episode of Sudden History will take us cross country to the West Coast, as we cover the Pac 12. This is a conference that is changing rapidly. Three of the six schools will feature new head coaches. Sudden History was able to speak to two of these new head coaches and a assistant from the third school.  The podcast will start with Cal Poly's new head coach Jon Sioredas. Jon explains what brought him to San Luis Obispo and how his number one priority has been building relationships with the Mustang wrestlers and his coaching staff. Next up is CSU Bakersfield Associate head coach Jeff Silveira. Coach Silveira was at Bakersfield for two season prior to Manny Rivera getting the head coaching position and has retained his role. He enlightens Sudden History on a newfound commitment to the wrestling program from the school. We have another Associate head coach on board, this time Oregon State's Kevin Roberts. He is candid about the Beavers team and how they have struggled to maintain a top ten NCAA finis

Sudden History moves from the East Coach to the Midwest to talk MAC wrestling in the latest preview. With additions from Missouri, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion over the past few seasons, this has become one of the toughest leagues in the nation.  We start off by talking to Buffalo Head Coach John Stutzman. The Bulls leader has a enthusiasm about Buffalo wrestling and his student-athletes that is evident from just ten seconds of listening. Listen to the entire interview though, as Coach Stutzman talks about how Buffalo's next All-American's are likely already in the room. Next we speak to the Dean of MAC Coaches Central Michigan's Tom Borrelli. Prior to Missouri and Northern Iowa's arrival the Chippewas were the consistent leader of the conference. Coach Borrelli discusses getting back to that level and the upper echelon of NCAA teams in general. Northern Illinois Head Coach Ryan Ludwig stops by to about his team. The Huskies come off a season in which they qualified their highest number of wrestlers for Nat

We wrap up the EIWA with part two of the preview. All the interviews in this episode feature coaches from the Ivy League.  Our leadoff hitter is the most recent hire first year Head Coach of Columbia Zach Tanelli. Coach Tanelli explains what stood out about Columbia when he applied for the position and his hopes for the future of Lion Wrestling using his hands-on, physical approach. Princeton's Head Coach Chris Ayres is next in line on the podcast and possibly in the standings. The Tigers had their first All-American in 13 years and don't appear to be looking back. Coach Ayres addresses the excitement surrounding the program. Next we speak with the leader of a reinvigorated Brown program, Head Coach Todd Beckerman. He introduces us to his two new assistant coaches and talks about the recent improvements in the Bears recruiting. Now we move to Penn to speak with the Head Coach of the Quakers Alex Tirapelle. Coach Tirapelle explains his coaching roots and the tie-in with academics.  Finally, we close with the D

Sudden History next preview takes place in the EIWA, the largest conference in the country with 16 teams. We decided that this deserves a giant podcast, so this will be part one in a two part series. This episode will focus on a few of the "non-Ivy League" school in the conference. These will be Bucknell, Army West Point and Lehigh. Bucknell Head Coach Dan Wirnsberger gets it started and he gives us a description of the school's new state-of-the art facility, which he hopes will catapult the school into the top two teams in the EIWA. Wirnsberger has a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it comes to the respect (or lack thereof) that his Bison squad has received nationwide. Listen as he directs his wrestlers to become "the best version of themselves". Next up is Army West Point Head Coach Kevin Ward. Coach Ward gives us an insiders point of view on just how special and even fun their rivalry is with Navy. He is optimistic that his room full of leaders will be able to usher in a new era of wrestling at West Poin

Wrestling season is almost upon us! What better way to get ready for the season, than to hear some of the nation's top coaches talk about their programs and their outlook for the upcoming season.  This episode features the ACC and contains four interviews with coaches from the conference. We lead off with Virginia Head Coach Steve Garland. Coach Garland's passion for the Cavalier program is contagious and he drops a bomb about a weight change which has gone unnoticed up to this point. Next in line is North Carolina's Coleman Scott. We get insight into the idea to bring in Tony Ramos as an assistant coach and Kenny Monday to lead the Tar Heel RTC. Staying in North Carolina, Earl speaks with NC State Head Coach Pat Popolizio. "The Skip" addresses redshirting questions, possible weight changes and he thoughts on the Wolfpack's historic 2015-16 season. We close with the 2016 NWCA Coach of the Year, Virginia Tech's Kevin Dresser. Coach Dresser addresses lineup questions of his own, Joey Dance's recent NCAA struggl

Sudden History gets a chance to speak with the fourth wrestler so far from the our list of the "Best Non-NCAA Champions" of the 2000's, Mack Lewnes. Along with Travis Lee, Troy Nickerson and Mike Grey, Lewnes made Cornell a destination where top recruits could flourish and would become a part of a consistent national powerhouse. Mack is very appreciative and understanding of his place on Sudden History's list and in the history of our sport. He is also very open about one of the lowest points of his career, an 0-2 performance at the 2009 NCAA Championships, when he came in as the undefeated top seed. Earl also starts the show off with a story of their first interview together. Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS  

From Bozeman, Montana to the Big Ten and buying a house in the suburbs of Indiana, Tyrel Todd is in the process of an unbelievable journey. He established himself as one of the top upperweights of his era in the tail end of the 2000's first decade. Todd was a 3x All-American and Big Ten Champion for the Michigan Wolverines wrestling at 184 and 197lbs. Todd gives Sudden History a glimpse into his biggest influences from a wrestling standpoint and even the story behind how wrestling brought him to meet his future wife. Now Tyrel Todd is an assistant coach for Purdue and talks about their highly touted incoming Freshman class, as well as the recruiting process altogether. 

It's time again for another crazy breakdown episode. Earl discusses four of the best NCAA Championship teams from the 2000's and what facts made each team unique and memorable. He mentions each NCAA Qualifier from each team and their championship accomplishments. There are also a few teams that garner honorable mentions, too.  In a possible new segment for the show Earl answers a tweet from a listener which leads him into a look at some seeding anomalies and errors at recent NCAA Championships. Subscribe to Sudden History iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | SoundCloud | Google Play Music | RSS