BASCHAMANIA

He's no stranger to March! NCAA Champ Jon Reader has had some iconic March memories both competing and coaching. It was great chatting with Jon and the timing just a few days before Big 10's couldn't have been more perfect! Enjoy ep. 40 of BASCHAMANIA everywhere now.  - Relationship with Cael Sanderson - Early Success - Being Recruited On - Being Undefeated Senior Year - Importance of Gratitu...

Ahead of next weekend's Big Ten Championships, I caught up with Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera. In this episode, we chat about his start in wrestling, how tough Jersey is and transition to his career at Northwestern and the upcoming Big 10's, NCAA's & 2020 Olympics. We even dive into his future in MMA and talk about when he currently thinks he'll stop wrestling. Order of The Conversation: - G...

The wrestling success he's had is just a portion of who J'den Cox is. The 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist and 2020 Olympic Hopeful has endured levels of hardship and adversity that few know about, but he's overcome, and he continues to press on. It was great talking to J'den about his faith, his perspective, and recent events such as the move to 97kg and the move to the Ohio RTC. Even the non-wrestli...

It was hard to keep this conversation with NCAA Champ & 2x World Team Member Tony Ramos down to one simple podcast episode that's around an hour long. He's got so many stories and so much insight! Enjoy this episode with the former Iowa Hawkeye athlete & current North Carolina Tarheel coach. Order of Topics: - Hawkeye or Tarheel? - Starting Wrestling at 3 Years Old - Getting Connected With...

2x NCAA All-American Jacob Kasper and I couldn't keep this conversation short. He is one of the most passionate wrestlers out there and between his Olympic aspirations and his WWE aspirations, this man is the definition of passion and a dreamer. Had a ton of fun chatting about Jacob's amateur wrestling career, the journey to the Olympic Trials, and what lies ahead after this Olympic run. Enjoy the...

2x World Bronze Medalist & 2x NCAA Champion Gwiazdowski has been the  USA’s heavyweight for 3 straight years and he’s looking for it to become 4 as he aims for his first Olympic team in 2020. We’re now less than 2 months out from that dream being a reality or being shattered.  Enjoy this conversation with the highly-accomplished heavyweight,  Gwiazdowski, on his journey to being...

Reigning World Team Member. Olympic Hopeful. American Soldier. Jenna Burkert has no slew of titles and accolades. This was a fun conversation to dive into with Jenna just before a best-of-3 wrestle-off series against the winner of Helen Maroulis vs Alli Ragan. Enjoy the conversation! Order of Topics: - Getting Started in Wrestling - A Non-Traditional College Route - Women’s Wrestling Evolving - Be...

Women’s wrestling has been exploding lately. Part of that is in response to 
the great women who are creating such a dominant scene right now and leading the charge. Victoria Anthony, who has a slew of accomplishments from US Open Champion and Bill Farrell Champion to  Junior World Champion, is no exception. Victoria and I sit down on this episode to chat about her career, women's wrestling,...

He won a Hodge Trophy while winning 4 NCAA Championships in a row at 4 consecutive weights. After a storied college career at Cornell no one will soon forget, he became a 2x World Champ... in dominant fashion. The only box left to check? Olympic Champion. And he'll have to go through someone he hasn't been able to beat, 5x World/Olympic Champion Jordan Burroughs, to do that. We talk about all this...

3x NCAA All-American and 2020 Olympic Hopeful Bryce Meredith joined the show to talk about growing up in Wyoming, his wrestling career, and his future in MMA. We dive into a ton of topics around perspective and mindset including opportunity, sacrifice, success, happiness, and more. - Growing up in Wyoming - Opportunity > Sacrifice - Going to NC State and Coming Home - Going to the NJ RTC - Losi...

2x All-American and 2020 Olympic Hopeful Nick Lee has already developed quite the wrestling career. Episode 30 catches up with the Nittany Lion as he's in the heart of the grind towards a Big 10, NCAA, and Olympic Championship in 2020. Before those big competitions, Justin had a  conversation with Nick Lee to get to know the Penn State junior a bit more! - Start in Wrestling - Getting Better...

He doesn't do many interviews and isn't in media much, but that's not because the 3x NCAA Champion/4x NCAA Finalist doesn't have the stories and insight. 2020 Olympic Hopeful Jason Nolf left a legacy at Penn State of being one of the best collegiate wrestlers of all time. How did he do it? What're the backstories?  What's next? We talk about all that and more. Order of Conversation & Topi...

It was great chatting with 2017 World Silver Medalist Thomas Gilman just ahead of his trip to Italy & Russia to compete in a few tough tournaments. The Iowa Hawkeye and Olympic Hopeful is loved by many and has one of the biggest personalities in the sport, but his internet absence keeps many of his stories from being heard as much as they ought to be! Today, enjoy 45 minutes of stories and ins...

What 2x NCAA Champ/3x NCAA Finalist doesn't have a good story? 2020 Olympic Hopeful Vincenzo Joseph is no different. On Episode 27, the Nittany Lion Senior stops by to talk about his wrestling story; from practicing at a young age with Spencer Lee to wrestling Nolf at the Farrell to what it's like to run out at Rec Hall. Cenzo has no shortage of good stories, laughs and high-level insight. Enjoy!...

Being the wife to arguably the greatest wrestler in the world, Lauren has insights no one else has been privileged with.  It was a pleasure catching up with good friend Lauren Burroughs and chatting about her story, her relationship with Jordan and diving into the personal brand-building and social media discussion.  General Flow Of Topics: - Building a Brand in Wrestling & Putting I...

Fresh off an awesome performance at the US Open/Senior Nationals, Joey McKenna joins the show as we talk about his story & his faith. Many of us are guilty of not giving God the glory due because honestly, so often we're focused on what we don't have.  Joey set his mind & heart right after leaving Stanford and he says its the best thing he did in his wrestling career! Here's the order...

Pumped to have coach Izzy Martinez on the show for episode 24. I got a lot of good feedback on the Chris Bono episode and to play off of that, I wanted to bring another high-level coach with value & entertainment on the show! Before he was coaching Jon Jones & Holly Holm to championships in the UFC Octagon, and coaching a top 10 high school program, Izzy was an elite-level youth & amat...

He's had a ton of success throughout his career, but an Olympic/World Championship alludes James Green. His losses that led to Bronze & Silver Medals at the '15 and '17 World Championships were to Olympic & World Champions. Now, he'll have to win a bracket that includes multiple World & Olympics Champions just to make the team. What will James have to do to make the team and win an Oly...

Chris Bono has had a wild career as both an athlete and a coach. Over the past decade, Coach Bono has continued to jump levels as a coach, much as he did as an athlete, using the same principles and mindset throughout both. He's not done yet and fresh into his second season as Wisconsin head coach, he's more excited than ever! It was fun diving into a plethora of topics in this conversation. ...

NCAA Champion & Olympic Hopeful Darian Cruz stops by the BASCHAMANIA podcast for Episode 21. It was great to spend an hour with Darian getting to know him and peeking behind the curtain of the mind of someone who already has such a storied career and isn't done yet! Anyone who spends an hour listening to this episode should walk away with a ton of golden nuggets. General Order of Topics: 1. Th...

It was great to chat with Minnesota's Gable Steveson after qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials at the Bill Farrell.  Gable has won Junior and Cadet World Championships and now has sights on Olympic Gold, all while also keeping a focus on winning an NCAA Championship in his home state of Minnesota this March. Great 20-minute+ conversation with the 19-year-old phenom on Episode 20! Among oth...

The Bill Farrell is this weekend and everyone in the wrestling community is HYPED about it. NJ RTC Head Coach Reece Humphrey is no exception.  People are noticing there is something in the water in New Jersey and quite frankly, it's Reece! Reece is a 3x World Team Member and 3x US Open Champ and he knows wrestling. He also really knows freestyle wrestling.  Reece and I catch up a bit and...

Days away from competing at 86kg @ the Bill Farrell in NYC and starting his quest to the Olympic Trials in April, I caught up with 3x NCAA Champ Alex Dieringer. Alex and I talked about his start in wrestling in Wisconsin, what led him to Oklahoma State, the transition to the RTC after college, his recent success and setbacks in wrestling and what his thought process is heading into 2020 competitio...

Grateful to have WWE Hall of Famer & Current Talent Scout for the WWE, Gerald Brisco, on the show! Tis former Oklahoma State Cowboy knows college wrestling and now recruits the best of them! The topics and order of our conversation was as follows: How did you get started in Wrestling? How did you make to the Oklahoma University Wrestling Team? How did you get started in Pro Wrestling? What was...

David Taylor is not only as successful of a wrestler as it gets, already having won titles from the State level to the NCAA & Big 10 level on up to a World Championships & currently training for an Olympic Championship, The Magic Man is also an accomplished Entrepreneur involved with multiple companies.  My friend David and I caught up today and covered a variety of topics in a short...