Podcast · Sport

Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal

by The Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal · English · Sport

Welcome to "The Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal" where we delve into the world of college and youth wrestling. Join Mike, the head coach of Poway RTC, as he sits down with guests from all levels of the sport, including high school, club, college, and senior-level coaches and athletes. Each week, Mik

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 54 min
Latest: 14 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026 · 52 minNew

Ep 192 - Master Phill Ross

Phil Ross broke his back at 16, got told he was done, and came back to take 2nd in Greco at Eastern Nationals that summer. Fifty years later, surgeons send him their patients. He talks with Mike about fixing backs without surgery, the 90 Days of Suck, and the year that changed how he thinks about control. Guest: Coach Phil Ross, 9th-degree black belt, master kettlebell instructor, college professor, author of Managing Back Pain For Dummies and Exercise Snacks Topics: back pain and strength training, the least invasive fix first, the 90 Days of Suck, not scouting your opponent, 9/11 and…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S1 · E191 · 7 Oct 2026 · 54 min
191 -- Bo Basset
Bo Bassett is chasing three world titles in one year, and he says he doesn't feel any pressure doing it. Mike goes through his Final X series against Real Woods with him, asks how a loss to one side of the body six years ago changed his attacks, and gets his take on what Virginia Tech needs to catch Penn State. Guest: Bo Bassett, world champion and Virginia Tech freshman, 2026 U.S. Senior World Team member at 65 kg Topics: the Real Woods film breakdown, training with Aaron Seidel and James Green, no fear of losing, learning from losses, Virginia Tech's lineup, rapid fire with the Mount…
S1 · E190 · 30 Sep 2026 · 51 min
Why Alex Marinelli Thinks Iowa Is One Takedown From A Title | Athletor Podcast Ep 190
Alex Marinelli is back, this time to talk Iowa. Mike runs him through the numbers behind the Hawkeyes' No. 6 preseason ranking, and Alex explains why he thinks the gap to a team title comes down to one takedown at a time. He also shares what he's learned coaching 140 kids who all say they want to be elite. Guest: Alex Marinelli, Iowa four-time All-American and four-time Big Ten champion, founder and head coach of the Hawkeye Wrestling Academy Topics: Iowa's 2026-27 lineup, Ryder Block and Nasir Bailey, riding time and reversals, the jump from fourth to a team title, first-period aggression,…
S1 · E189 · 23 Sep 2026 · 45 min
Ep 189 - Sebastian Rivera
Sebastian Rivera won an Olympic bronze medal and a World silver, and then walked away from his coaching job at Columbia to go back to being a full-time athlete. In this episode, he explains the "find peace in suffering" mindset that keeps him improving at 27, breaks down the front head and crackdown positions with Mike, and talks about what it took to bring Big Ten intensity to an Ivy League wrestling room. Guest: Sebastian Rivera, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist (65kg, Puerto Rico), 2023 World silver medalist, 5x NCAA All-American (Northwestern/Rutgers) Topics: stepping down from coaching to…
S1 · E188 · 16 Sep 2026 · 54 min
Ep 188 - Jason Borrelli
American head coach Jason Borrelli sees his program's AthletorIQ development score for the first time, and he's not satisfied being #4. We dig into what the data says about who's really developing wrestlers, the 86% first-takedown win rate at NCAAs, and what Borrelli looks for in recruits that numbers can't capture. Guest : Jason Borrelli, Head Coach at American University, formerly Stanford's all-time winningest coach Topics : development scoring, data-driven recruiting, the 85-150 recruit band, overperformer mindset, first-takedown data, growing the sport 🔗 Recruitable : Your step-by-step…
S1 · E187 · 9 Sep 2026 · 51 min
Ep 187 - TJ Sebolt
J Sebolt went 207-1 in high school, won four Iowa state titles, and then built one of the best youth wrestling programs in the country from scratch — starting with 4 kids in a two-mat room. He talks with Mike Mal about what it's really like coaching your own daughter at the international level, the moment he realized he'd pushed a kid too far, and why his wrestling room has world team boards but no state championship board. Guest: TJ Sebolt, 4x Iowa state champion, founder/head coach of Sebolt Wrestling Academy Topics: dad coaching, youth wrestling culture, building an elite club, state vs.…
S1 · E186 · 2 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep. 186 — Jeff Buxton
Jeff Buxton built Blair Academy into a 30-time consecutive National Prep champion, produced 10 NCAA individual champs, and earned the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Lifetime Service award. Now coaching at Columbia under Donnie Pritzlaff, he talks about what it really takes to rebuild a program, why he split his own team to develop younger wrestlers, and what Bruce Burnett taught him about ankle laces. Guest: Jeff Buxton, Columbia University Assistant Wrestling Coach, Hall of Fame honoree, 30x National Prep Champion coach Topics: Columbia wrestling rebuild, Blair Academy dynasty, coaching…
S1 · E185 · 26 Aug 2026 · 56 min
Ep. 185 – Matt Ciampa
Mike wears two hats, dad and coach. Matt Ciampa texted him to say that's wrong, and then came on to explain why. Thirty-five years into coaching, he's never found the seam between the two, and he'll tell you exactly what the one hat actually is. Guest: Matt Ciampa, head coach of Eclipse Wrestling Club (NJ), assistant men's wrestling coach at East Stroudsburg University, 2013 New Jersey Freestyle and Greco-Roman Coach of the Year Topics: coaching your own kid, the dad hat vs. coach hat debate, controlling behavior instead of feelings, wrestling as a sport of affluence, the disappearing…
S1 · E184 · 19 Aug 2026 · 57 min
Ep 184 - Nelson Brands
Nelson Brands wrestled at Iowa for his dad and his uncle, and says neither coached him until college. Now on staff at Cal Poly, he makes a specific case that beginners should learn to hand fight before they ever take a penetration step. Guest: Nelson Brands, former Iowa Hawkeye, son of Terry Brands and nephew of Tom Brands, assistant coach at Cal Poly. Topics: hand fighting before the penetration step, wrestling as an infinite puzzle, being raised by the principles of wrestling, identity versus winning, wrestling parents, clubs that gatekeep, out-of-season contact rules, getting rid of…
S1 · E183 · 12 Aug 2026 · 59 min
Ep 183 — Coleman Scott
Coleman Scott won an NCAA title, an Olympic medal, and ran a D1 program. He'd rather do what he's doing now. Inside the Farm in Stillwater, and a blunt read on what NIL money is doing to recruiting and development. Guest: Coleman Scott, 2008 NCAA champion at Oklahoma State, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, former head coach at North Carolina, owner of the Farm in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Topics: running 77 straight days of camp, starting a state-accredited school, the three-pillar club model, what NIL did to development, chasing money versus chasing fit, the questions to ask a recruit, youth…
S1 · E182 · 5 Aug 2026 · 47 min
Ep 182 - Barry Davis
Barry Davis has three NCAA titles, an Olympic silver, and 24 years as a Big Ten head coach. He just took a club job, and this is his case for why the RTC seat is the best one in wrestling. Head coach John Stutzman joins to explain the rebuild at Bloomsburg. Guest: Barry Davis, 3x NCAA champion at Iowa, 1984 Olympic silver medalist, head coach at Wisconsin 1993-2017, now RTC and club coach at Bloomsburg. With John Stutzman, head coach at Bloomsburg. Topics: the RTC role and the recruiting loophole, the April-of-junior-year contact rule, what to look for in a recruit and his family,…
S1 · E181 · 29 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep. 181 - Doug Schwab
We brought Doug Schwab the data on his own program: 13 of UNI's 19 NCAA qualifiers since 2021 were completely unranked high school recruits, and Parker Keckeisen carried up to 66% of the team's national tournament points. His answer: "I don't think we're overachieving at all." Then he explains exactly how UNI develops kids nobody ranked, how he recruited his own son, and why verbal commitments mean nothing in 2026. Guest: Doug Schwab, head coach at the University of Northern Iowa, NCAA champion, 2008 U.S. Olympian Topics: recruiting your own kids, the extra year decision, home visit red…
S1 · E180 · 22 Jul 2026 · 58 min
Ep 180 - Scott Green
Scott Green built Wyoming Seminary into the most feared prep program in the country, then helped put Army wrestling back on the map. Now he's rebuilding New York Military Academy from the keel up, with a four-year clock on winning Prep Nationals. This one is a masterclass in program building: why buy-in beats technique, how to recruit 8th graders honestly, and what happens to wrestlers who have nothing but wrestling. Guest: Scott Green, two-time National Prep champion coach at Wyoming Seminary (208-9 in duals), former Army West Point associate head coach, now Chief of Staff at New York…
S1 · E179 · 15 Jul 2026 · 39 min
Why Wrestling's #1 Recruiting Pipeline Refuses NIL Deals | Athletor Podcast Ep 179
Wyoming Seminary sent 26 ranked recruits to D1 in six years and put 4.5% of this year's NCAA tournament field on the mat, all without handing out a single NIL deal. Head coach Will Weber explains how a Marine's standards, two wrestle-offs a season, and brutal honesty with blue-chip recruits built wrestling's best college prep pipeline. Guest: Will Weber, Head Coach at Wyoming Seminary; 12 years with the Blue Knights program, Marine Corps veteran Topics : D1 recruiting pipeline, wrestle-off culture, coaching entitled blue-chip recruits, program fundraising without NIL, building a club from…
S1 · E179 · 8 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 19 min
"I Care About the 22,000 Kids, Not the 141 D1 Recruits" | Athletor Podcast Ep 178
Shane Sparks, the voice of Big Ten wrestling, joins Mike for the argument they've been having over drinks for years: should California's 22,000 wrestlers really compete for one state title? Shane's case is participation and community. Mike's case is data: every top recruit since 2020 mapped by state, and the budgets behind the programs that produce them. Two sides, real receipts, and a middle ground neither expected. Guest: Shane Sparks, play-by-play broadcaster for Big Ten Network, FloWrestling, ESPN, and the NCAA Championships Topics: the state championship debate, big board recruiting…
S1 · E177 · 1 Jul 2026 · 33 min
"It's just a fist fight for 7 minutes": Tommy Gantt on Wrestling to the UFC
NC State All-American Tommy Gantt left wrestling for one amateur fight and never looked back. Now an undefeated UFC lightweight training with Daniel Cormier, he breaks down what actually transfers from the mat to the cage, plus the Pat Popolizio speech that still drives him. Guest: Tommy Gantt, 2016 ACC champion and NCAA All-American at NC State, former Wolfpack assistant coach, undefeated UFC lightweight Topics: wrestling-to-MMA transition, the cardio and length edge, building fight IQ, why MMA coaching lags wrestling, Pat Popolizio and NC State's rise, the mindset switch Championship…
S1 · E176 · 24 Jun 2026 · 44 min
Navy's Blaize Cabell on Camps, Coaching Feel, and the Rise of Danny Wass | Athletor Podcast Ep 176
Navy assistant coach Blaize Cabell breaks down how the Midshipmen train, from SEAL-run summer camps to teaching the "feel" that turns good scramblers into great ones, and why heavyweight All-American Danny Wass is about to surprise people. A former three-time NCAA qualifier at Northern Iowa, Cabell coaches the Naval Academy's upper weights.🔗 Championship Fundraising Challenge - Raise your first $500 in 2 weeks or your money back: https://www.athletorlive.com/product/championship-fundraising-challenge🔗 Full Championship Fundraising Course:…
S1 · E175 · 17 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Stop Cutting Weight: Damion Hahn's Case for Wrestling Up | Athletor Podcast Ep 175
Damion Hahn helped pull five programs into a rebuilt Pac-12, and he is rebuilding South Dakota State at the same time. He sits down with Mike Malinconico to get into the conference move, developing wrestlers when you can't just plug in a transfer, and the case for building guys up in weight instead of cutting them down. He has the resume to back it: a worn-down 184-pounder who moved up and won two national titles at 197.Guest: Damion Hahn, head coach at South Dakota State, two-time NCAA champion, New Jersey wrestling legendTopics: SDSU's move to the Pac-12, rebuilding a program, wrestler…
S1 · E174 · 10 Jun 2026 · 52 min
How Air Force Builds NCAA All-Americans Without NIL or the Portal | Sam Barber | Athletor Podcast Ep 174
Air Force wrestling doesn't buy transfers and doesn't play the NIL game — yet they're keeping pace with the top 5 programs in the country. Head coach Sam Barber sits down with Mike Malinconico to explain how. Guest: Sam Barber, head wrestling coach at the United States Air Force Academy (12th season), former head coach at Upper Iowa and part of three NCAA DIII title teams at Augsburg. Topics: building a developmental program, Carter Nogle's All-American run, the "Camp Bruiser" COVID experiment, the move to the Pac-12, NIL and the transfer portal, and why culture beats money in recruiting. 🔗…
S1 · E173 · 3 Jun 2026 · 41 min
"I Couldn't Ride for 30 Seconds to Win a Title. That Made Me Obsessed" | Athletor Podcast Ep 173
Coach Bryan Snyder, associate head coach at Nebraska and the winningest wrestler in Husker history, joins Mike to go deep on the numbers behind Nebraska's riding game, how they evaluate recruits for top-game potential, and why their transfer portal picks keep turning into All-Americans. Guest: Bryan Snyder, Associate Head Coach, Nebraska Wrestling. 4x All-American, Big 12 Champion, .925 career winning percentage Topics: Nebraska's near-fall and riding time dominance, transfer portal recruiting strategy, Ridge Lovett's wrestling IQ, recruiting from non-traditional states, AthletorIQ data…
S1 · E172 · 27 May 2026 · 52 min
Half a Million or Olympic Dreams — That's the Choice These Kids Face" | Athletor Podcast Ep 172
UPenn assistant coach Darian Cruz sits down with Mike to talk about what the data says about Ivy League wrestling at the NCAA tournament, why coaching at Penn means competing with Wall Street for your athletes' attention, and how a post-COVID conversation led him to represent Puerto Rico on the international stage. Guest: Darian Cruz — 2017 NCAA Champion (Lehigh), 2024 Paris Olympian (Puerto Rico), UPenn Assistant Coach Topics: Ivy League vs EIWA NCAA performance, conference scoring data, student-athlete culture at UPenn, competing for Puerto Rico, overtime rule changes, Japan training trip
S1 · E171 · 20 May 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
"I Just Don't Care What Other Programs Are Doing" — Chris Ayres | Athletor Podcast Ep 171
Stanford just had its best NCAA tournament ever — and then half the lineup walked into the transfer portal. Coach Chris Ayres breaks down how he kept his team together, what the data actually says about transfer performance, and why a Stanford degree might be the best NIL weapon in wrestling.Guest: Chris Ayres, Head Wrestling Coach at Stanford University (formerly 17 years at Princeton)Topics: NCAA tournament performance, transfer portal data and ROI, NIL in college wrestling, Stanford administration support, third-period finishing, recruiting at elite academic institutions🔗 Championship…
S1 · E170 · 13 May 2026 · 57 min
"Pressure Is Fabricated" — Mike Macchiavello on What Really Wins Matches | Athletor Podcast Ep 170
Mike Macchiavello just took his second US Open title at 92kg and punched his ticket to Final X — but the 2018 NCAA champ says pressure on the mat is "purely fabricated." In this one, Mock breaks down the mental game that most wrestlers don't figure out until it's too late: what an "honest 100%" really looks like, why getting teched in practice might be the best thing for you, and how parents can sabotage their kid's confidence without saying a word. Guest: Mike Macchiavello, 2018 NCAA Champion (NC State), 2x US Open Champion (92kg), USA Wrestling Athlete Advisory & Executive Committee member…
S1 · E170 · 6 May 2026 · 51 min
What Brent Metcalf Told Iowa State's AD About One-Year Transfers | Athletor Podcast Ep 169
Iowa State's new head coach Brent Metcalf joins the show just four days into the job. He lays out his vision for building the Cyclone program the right way — no shortcuts, no one-year portal rentals — and reflects on what nine years alongside Kevin Dresser taught him about running a program that lasts. Guest: Brent Metcalf, Head Coach – Iowa State Wrestling. Two-time NCAA champion, four-time U.S. World Team member. Topics: head coaching transition, transfer portal philosophy, beating Iowa after 23 years, teaching feel in wrestling, sports science in training, building team culture 🔗…
S1 · E168 · 29 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Gabe Arnold On Making All-American At The Wrong Weight And Chasing A Title At 174 | Athletor Podcast Ep 168
Iowa's Gabe Arnold made All-American at 197 — a weight class two above his natural size — after stepping up when a teammate went down. Now he's going back to 174 with one goal: a national championship. He breaks down the text he sent Tom Brands, what the AthletorIQ data says about winning at 174, and the scoring target he's building his offseason around. Guest : Gabe Arnold, 197-pound All-American at the University of Iowa, coached by Tom Brands Topics : Making All-American at the wrong weight, weight management, AthletorIQ data analysis, scoring targets, national championship mindset, NCAA…
S1 · E164 · 22 Apr 2026 · 53 min
John Hangey On Zero NIL, Developing All-Americans, And The Rider Way | Athletor Podcast Ep 167
Rider head coach John Hangey on building a program with zero NIL money that still sends wrestlers to the podium. He breaks down the transfer portal strategy of taking "broken" Power 4 athletes, the tiered development system that produced six All-Americans, and why the David-and-Goliath identity inherited from Coach Gary Taylor is Rider's greatest recruiting tool. Guest: John Hangey, Head Coach at Rider University Wrestling, 1993 NCAA All-American, Rider Athletics Hall of Fame Topics: Zero NIL recruiting, developing homegrown wrestlers, portal transfers, small-school development, Gary…
S1 · E166 · 15 Apr 2026 · 59 min
Donny Pritzlaff On Recruiting, Buy-In, And Building Columbia Wrestling | Athletor Podcast Ep 166
National Coach of the Year Donny Pritzlaff on how Columbia cracked the top 20 — without NIL, without a fancy facility, and without recruiting through the transfer portal. He breaks down the Cesar Alvan recruiting story, why he hired an "all iron fist" staff, and the recruiting philosophy that targets development over star power. Guest: Donny Pritzlaff, Head Coach at Columbia Wrestling, 2026 NWCA Coach of the Year, two-time NCAA Champion at Wisconsin Topics: Building a development program, recruiting without NIL, coaching to a wrestler's natural style, hiring assistant coaches, Cesar Alvan's…
S1 · E165 · 8 Apr 2026 · 38 min
Mike Van Brill vs Jordan Oliver Breakdown + Life After College Wrestling | Athletor Podcast Ep 165
Mike Van Brill went from 0-2 at States to three-time Big Ten medalist at Rutgers — and built one of college wrestling’s biggest brands along the way. He breaks down his upcoming RAF match against Jordan Oliver in Philly, the blood round mindset shift that saved his career, and why the business world is just another wrestling match. Guest: Mike Van Brill, 3x Big Ten medalist, 3x NCAA qualifier (Rutgers), RAF featherweight competitor Topics: RAF vs Jordan Oliver game plan, weight class management, flow state and gratitude in competition, building a wrestling brand, ClickFunnels and…
S1 · E164 · 1 Apr 2026 · 44 min
Ep. 164 - James Green
On episode #164 of the Athletor Podcast, James Green joins the show to talk about his return to competition, life after injury, and what fuels his decision to keep wrestling at the highest level. As Assistant Coach at Nebraska and an active athlete, James opens up about balancing coaching responsibilities with his own training cycle, how his body has responded after hip surgery, and why he is still motivated to compete. He shares what this second chapter in his wrestling career means to him and why he is taking it one year at a time. The conversation also dives into the technical side of the…
S1 · E163 · 25 Mar 2026 · 58 min
Ep. 163 - Ryan LeBlanc
In this episode, Ryan LeBlanc shares what it takes to lead and build a program at Binghamton. He breaks down the transition from his previous coaching stops and what stood out when stepping into a new environment. He explains how the university’s academic strength shapes recruiting and why bringing in the right student-athletes impacts culture, development, and long-term success. LeBlanc also speaks on the day-to-day realities of running a program. He highlights the balance between competition, academics, and personal growth. He gives insight into how he evaluates talent, builds…

About Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal

Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal is a English sport podcast from The Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: The Athletor Podcast with Mike Mal
Language: English
Category: Sport
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 54 min
Latest episode: 14 Oct 2026
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