The Bader Show

Yianni won 4 NCAA titles at Cornell and a Senior World silver to go along with his two cadet golds. He's recently joined the staff at Cornell as an assistant coach. 0:45 - Running his first clinic at VHS with a big brace 2:50 - Approach to coaching 4:10 - Being coached vs having a feel for positions 7:15 - Coaching vs being coached 10:45 - Working on the mental/emotional, relationship side 14:10 - Garage home practices as a kid 16:25 - Practices at Cornell 17:30 - Hip injury 20:10 - Might Yianni compete again? 27:30 - Reflecting on his career 30:00 - Has Yianni experienced burnout? 35:00 - NCAA vs World Championships - The experience 43:15 - Final X 2025 vs PJ Duke, health episode 53:00 - Coach chuzz 53:40 - The increasing number of young elite kids 56:25 - Real Woods vs Bo Bassett 58:50 - Fan questions 1:03:00 - Working with RTC and Vito 1:05:20 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aeoden Sinclair recently won a U20 World Title, after finishing 3rd at the NCAAs as a freshman. 0:30 - Becoming a world champ 1:10 - Believing he could be a world champ 2:50 - Comebacks were new for Aeoden at Worlds 4:30 - College wrestling is so hard, an advantage for hard matches 10:00 - Watching world semifinals and finals comebacks 20:30 - U20 Team Champions! 23:00 - Uniqueness of world championships 24:45 - Naked sauna, spa and the thai massage 34:00 - NCAA, RAF, USA, UWW 37:00 - Aeoden’s thoughts on his freshman year 38:00 - Aeoden considers NCAA loss to Ferrari as an upset 41:00 - Take time off the mat? Nah, just have fun 45:10 - Book reports for wrestling practice at AWA 55:00 - Fan questions #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Seidel was third at NCAAs as a true freshman for Virginia Tech and recently won a U20 World Championship in dominant fashion. 0:30 - Savage Seidel 2:00 - Making a big jump this year 3:20 - Intro to wrestling and getting hooked 5:15 - Being from PA and getting good on top 7:00 - Never won states before high school 9:20 - Chasing Jax Forrest going for his fourth state title 11:20 - Chance Marsteller, being intimidated 15:15 - Deciding to wrestle in college and Virginia Tech 18:30 - Broken hand before first college competition 25:00 - Wrecking everyone at Midlands, his first competition 28:20 - Jax Forrest and NCAAs 31:30 - Watching and attending NCAAs 35:00 - Enjoying 3rd place and freestyle season 36:30 - Winning U20 World Championship 40:45 - Bo Bassett, now a teammate 42:30 - James Green, coach and competitor 43:30 - Fan questions 46:10 - All-time favorite wrestler 47:00 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nolf recently beat Evan Wick at RAF, avenging a loss from a year ago. We dig in about a potential Olympic run but I wouldn't hold your breathe. He's coaching a wrestling club and using that experience to fuel and shape his business, Athlete's Ocean. 1:00 - Putting jiu jitsu to the side 6:00 - Wrestling in RAF 1 with 3 days of training 11:00 - Bo Nickal and timing 13:30 - Training evolution for RAF 18:40 - Nolf’s unique entrances at RAF 21:15 - Rematch vs Wick 27:30 - Any chance at Olympic run? 34:45 - The older you get, the less you train 38:55 - Texas wrestling culture vs Pennsylvania 42:45 - Nolf Wrestling Academy 44:15 - Ocean Team Spaces 46:40 - Building his product around his needs 48:00 - Questions from friends 50:15 - Nolf tore his knee in match 1 against Dake in Olympic Trials 1:00:00 - How does Nolf use AI? #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FloWrestling's Tyler Meisinger joins the show to talk about growing up in southern California, getting into wrestling, how he developed his passion for video and growth as a wrestler at the University of Michigan. 00:00 - Arm wrestling 03:25 - Growing up by the beach 04:48 - Finding wrestling 06:53 - The first practice & shark bait 10:13 - Taekwondo helped with wrestling 13:25 - Going all-in on wrestling 17:58 - Growing up in the YouTube era 24:41 - High school success and setbacks 28:26 - The driver's license goal: Winning a CIF title to earn his license 32:16 - The senior year breakthrough: Placing at the California state tournament. 37:11 - The road to Division 1, Michigan 40:43 - Freshman year at Michigan - sink or swim 43:46 - Developing video skills at Michigan 49:54 - Inspiration from the NCAA floor 51:11 - Earning the starting spot at Michigan 57:24 - The 2020 Big Ten Tournament 1:04:14 - The COVID-19 shutdown 1:08:43 - Post-college career, pre Flo 1:12:22 - The Michigan documentary 1:15:20 - Joining FloWrestling 1:21:55 - Favorite projects at Flo 1:28:49 - How Tyler uses AI for video editing, his all-time favorite wrestler, and his biggest "wins and whoopins." #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drake Ayala was a 2x NCAA finalist and 3x NCAA All-American for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He recently accepted an assistant coaching position at Iowa State. 1:00 - How healthy was Drake this season? 2:00 - The Freshman Fab Four (Jax, Davino, Blaze, Seidel) 4:10 - Last year wasn’t completely smooth for Drake and Hawkeyes 8:00 - Drake’s 2026 NCAAs11:00 - Iowa’s 2026 NCAAs13:30 - View of Iowa State as a Hawkeye 15:00 - Iowa - Iowa State rivalry 19:50 - Dealing with a tough year 22:50 - What were his plans for after graduation? 24:45 - How did Iowa State come about? 29:00 - Reactions from Iowa fans 31:45 - Being integrated at Iowa State 32:30 - Difference or similarities between Iowa and Iowa State 36:00 - Learning as a coach 40:20 - Questions from fans 44:30 - How does Drake use AI? 45:45 - Drake’s All-time favorite wrestler 47:20 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meyer Shapiro is transferring from Cornell to Nebraska after becoming a 3x All-American for Cornell. He joins the show to talk about his physical health, mental health and new home with the Huskers. 0:30 - Meyer is home in Maryland 1:35 - Health update 2:35 - Sitting out first semester 5:50 - 3 years and still no NCAA title 8:00 - The 2025 health scare 11:25 - Hurt neck, time off the mat 14:15 - Back on the mat 17:55 - Finishing 8th place at NCAAs 20:30 - Confidence & pressure 23:30 - Leaving Cornell for Nebraska 27:20 - Taking a Redshirt 30:20 - Open tournaments, freestyle? 33:30 - What will Meyer miss about Cornell? 35:45 - 157lbs and 74kg 37:00 - Questions from fans 39:20 - Build your own character 45:15 - Thinking about wrestling 48:20 - Wrestling Antrell Taylor 51:25 - Artificial intelligence 53:20 - Touring Meyer Farms, sauna and wrestling room #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In May of 2025 Amit Elor wrestled in and won the World Team Trials while she was unknowingly pregnant. She stayed active and worked out the entire pregnancy. In May of 2026, about three and a half months after giving birth, Elor once again wrestled in and won the World Team Trials. She will compete in the World Championships this fall looking to earn her fourth World/Olympic gold medal. She joins The Bader Show to share her incredible journey. 0:45 - Baby update 1:35 - Finding out she was pregnant 4:05 - Amit wrestled at 2025 WTT while unknowingly pregnant 7:50 - Amit wrestled until 38 weeks pregnant 11:15 - A little too much working out sometimes 13:30 - Doctor’s advice 16:20 - Challenging parts of the pregnancy 21:00 - Giving birth 24:35 - Back to the gym three days later 28:10 - On the mat 2 weeks postpartum! 30:10 - Considering US Open and wrestling at WTT 34:07 - Not as strong this time 37:30 - What to do w baby during World Championships & training camps 41:10 - Pressure from competition is still there 42:30 - 2028? 2032? 44:45 - Content creator extraordinaire 49:00 - Pregnancy food cravings 54:45 - Fan questions 57:25 - How does Amit use AI? 58:45 - Wins and whoopins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defending World Champion Trent Hidlay joins the show after a special Final X wrestle-off against his good friend Mike Macchiavello. Now Trent has his sights set on chasing a second consecutive World Title. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Why Trent Hidlay Missed Final X 2:27 Choosing Between Wrestling & His Wedding 6:21 Mike Macchiavello's Impact On His Career 10:19 The Brutal NC State Practice Battles 15:01 Preparing To Wrestle Your Best Friend 17:20 Was It Awkward Wrestling Mike? 20:37 Final X Win & Wedding Week 23:04 Watching Final X During His Wedding 24:03 Honeymoon In Santorini 25:38 RAF Match Preview 27:29 Thoughts On Snyder vs Sadulaev 29:24 Does Winning Really Make You Happy? 32:51 Hayden Hidlay Returns To NC State 36:46 Nobody Saw This At The World Championships 39:24 The Moment He Almost Gave Up In The World Finals 42:12 Celebrating A World Title In Croatia 43:29 Learning To Fight Through Doubt 45:46 Is Trent More Confident Now? 46:06 Life After Becoming World Champion #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wyatt Hendrickson beat World Bronze medalist Mason Parris in two straight matches at Final X to make his second straight World Team. He will represent Team USA at the World Championships later this year. 0:30 - This summer will be different from last summer 2:00 - Wrestling Mason Parris at the Ranking Series tournament 4:15 - Wyatt’s thoughts on Final X matches 5:00 - Wyatt almost got pinned 6:30 - Challenges, reviews & new rules 12:45 - Rewatching a scramble against Parris 14:40 - Extra wrestling at the end of match 2 17:00 - Teammates losing and locker room tone 20:00 - Teammates keeping Wyatt accountable 23:50 - Learned a lot wrestling Bahrain and getting pinned 26:00 - Picturing wrestling Zare 27:30 - Wyatt vs Gable? 28:50 - Sweat it out (Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma) 31:40 - Artificial Intelligence, how does Wyatt use it? 34:00 - The final word - Live the Word #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get to know the story behind FloWrestling's international guru, Jon Kozak. 0:50 - Backstory, sports nut & wrestling 7:00 - Relationship with dad and wrestling 9:45 - Wrestling success 12:35 - Broke his leg in a match 18:30 - Felt good about the end of wrestling career 19:00 - Church, Bible college 22:00 - College baseball 24:30 - Jon became a pastor, started a church 26:30 - Became a huge MMA fan 28:15 - JB success brought Kozak back to wrestling 31:30 - The Yarygin FloFilm 33:33 - Starting to create wrestling content 39:30 - Started doing rankings for Flo 42:10 - Final X talk 56:25 - Kozak’s all-time favorite wrestler 57:00 - How does Kozak use AI? 59:00 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IMG Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the country and specializes in sports. They have started a wrestling program and Director of wrestling, Enock Francois and head coach Kevin Jack join the show to talk about their school, the vision and the future. 0:45 - What is IMG Academy? 3:15 - Sports education institution 5:45 - IMG is starting a wrestling program 8:15 - Why was Enock sold, immediately? 9:50 - Wanting to reflect a D1 program 11:00 - Head coach Kevin Jack 13:00 - Director of wrestling / Athletic director for wrestling 17:00 - What will IMG’s competition schedule look like? 21:30 - How are they putting a team together? 23:00 - The financial component with tuition, financial aid 27:30 - Five years down the road 30:00 - Enock learning under Rob Koll, thinking outside the box 35:00 - New ways to be creative at IMG 40:20 - Creating something and building trust from scratch 41:30 - They will be competing next season 43:30 - The final word #TheBaderShow IMG Wrestling questionnaire: https://forms.imgacademy.com/view.php... IMG Wrestling Camps: https://shop.imgacademy.com/pages/boo... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Macchiavello won his third US Open title and is headed back to Final X for the second time. He will face returning World Champion and friend, Trent Hidlay, whose wedding he will attend this summer. 0:50 - Why the headgear in freestyle? 2:00 - The young guys are so tough and hungry 4:30 - Internal emotions tied to wrestling 8:20 - How Macch and Trent Hidlay became friends 11:00 - Trent was Macch’s Final X training partner in 2023 11:30 - Feeling Trent improve over time 13:40 - Realizing Trent could be an opponent 14:30 - “See you at Final X” - they joked 19:00 - Emotionally preparing to wrestle a friend 21:00 - Macch and Trent wrestled in Zagreb this past February 27:00 - Gameplanning for Trent Hidlay 28:30 - Trent and Macch talk lately? 31:15 - Wedding talk, when’s the Final X wrestle-off? 33:40 - Watching Trent win a World title last year! 38:00 - How does Macch use artificial intelligence? 41:45 - Who is Macch’s all-time favorite wrestler? 44:35 - Wins and whoopins 48:06 - Macch will be on staff at West Point 49:15 - Macch looks like Jorge Masvidal 51:45 - Macch’s final word #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant Leeth helped start the club wrestling program at Tarleton State in Stephenville, TX with the understanding they would be working toward becoming division 1. This week some statements came out that seemed contrary. Grant joins the show to give his perspective on the situation. 0:55 - Starting a wrestling program at Tarleton State 3:25 - Check all the boxes 4:40 - Raising money 6:25 - Allan Rogers, the big donor 7:00 - Wrestling facility 8:15 - The vision and ribbon cutting ceremony 10:10 - The coaching situation 12:50 - Highlights and success on the mat 14:25 - Communication with the administration 18:00 - Preparing to support D1 programs for 5 years 19:15 - Need a D1 conference 22:45 - Time for kids to find a new home 23:00 - False rumors that wrestling is completely done at Tarleton 24:15 - Leeth no longer wanted to be part of the program 25:30 - Could Tarleton women’s program become D1 soon? 28:40 - Need more fundraising 29:35 - Nothing in writing 31:00 - Was it ever real? 32:55 - What’s next for Grant Leeth? 35:10 - How could Leeth have handled things differently? 37:55 - It truly seemed like D1 was going to happen 39:15 - The emotions of Grant Leeth right now 43:25 - Grant Leeth’s final word #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bo Bassett just won the US Open at 65kg in both the U20 and senior divisions. He is already on the U23 world team and looks to make it on the U20 and senior teams as well. Bo is committed to wrestle at Virginia Tech and will move there this summer and prepare to be in the line up for the Hokies next year at 141 or 149. 0:50 - Junior Hodge Trophy Winner 1:45 - Wrestling two brackets at US Open 4:15 - Iowa, wait no, Virginia Tech 9:45 - Breaking down wrestling 2 brackets at US Open 13:30 - Bo vs Aden Valencia (Match breakdown) 24:00 - Final X & U20 best of three 29:00 - Challenges Real Woods presents 33:30 - Jax Forrest 36:00 - Rest and recovery 38:00 - Near-term and mid-term future for Bo 40:15 - 141 or 149 at Virginia Tech 41:45 - Reaching beyond wrestling 43:50 - Sweat it out (5 questions to make Bo sweat) 49:10 - How does Bo use AI? 50:30 - All-time favorite wrestler 51:10 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Askren and Donny Pritzlaff had a contentious rivalry back in 2007 and 2008. The two have gone on to become successful coaches, Askren with his AWA academies and Pritzlaff as head coach at Columbia University. The two join the show to talk through their past as competitors and share knowledge as coaches. In the end we see two former rivals become friends. 1:00 - Ben the content creator praised Donny the coach 1:35 - Ben watching Donny’s college career 3:00 - Donny learning who Ben was 4:05 - The mishap when Ben was recruited to Wisconsin 5:45 - Donny on Ben’s college career 7:45 - What it was like wrestling Donny 9:00 - What it feels like to wrestle Ben 9:50 - Warming up with the clinch pushouts everyday for a year 12:30 - Was it personal? 15:00 - Askren wants to know Pritzlaff’s coaching secrets 16:00 - Competitor vs paper boy 20:30 - Askren’s take on belief and confidence 22:20 - Don’t teach moves, put them in positions & figure it out 24:45 - Ben & Donny are now friends! #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent college wrestling conference realignment has seen a rebirth of the Pac 12 as several teams leave the Big 12 to join the Pac 12. Chris Pendleton and Neil Erisman, head coahces at Oregon State and Little Rock have been a part of the Pac 12 for some time now. SDSU leaves the Big 12 for the Pac 12 and Nate Engel is the director of strategy for Pac 12 wrestling. The four wrestling minds join the show to share their excitement for the opportunities that lie ahead. 1:05 - The role of college conferences 2:00 - Chris Pendleton on Pac 12 changes since 2014 3:25 - How football and money has impacted college conferences 4:30 - Pac 12 experience for Little Rock 6:00 - SDSU experience in the Big 12 and why they are leaving 9:55 - Having voting rights in the conference 13:00 - When, how and why this conference alignment got going 17:15 - We need to be proactive instead of reactive 20:30 - Coming together and think outside the box 21:30 - What happens to the Big 12? 27:30 - How important conference championships can be for Mid Major schools 30:30 - Shifting more toward dual meets 36:15 - Having options and throwing all ideas out there 40:45 - Importance of collaboration 42:45 - Pendleton’s closing words 44:20 - Ability to host conference championships 48:15 - Damion Hahn’s perspective shift after leaving Minnesota 51:15 - Damion Hahn on the late great J Rob and how innovative he was in wrestling #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cesar Alvan captured the hearts of wrestling fans at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling championships when he was relatively unknown and came into the NCAA tournament as the #12 seed. He ended up fourth and attributes a lot of his success to Columbia head coach Donny Pritzlaff and his staff. 0:30 - Who the hell is Cesar Alvan? 3:00 - Loved wrestling and combat sports 5:00 - When Alvan went all-in on wrestling & college opportunities 7:30 - Eyeing the UFC in his future 8:00 - Why Columbia University? 11:30 - Out with the old coaching staff, in with the new 12:40 - Alvan recruited Pritzlaff (you read that right) 17:15 - First practice with Pritzlaff as coach 20:00 - Jumping levels under Pritzlaff 23:00 - Cesar & coaching staff LOVED his draw in the bracket 24:00 - Alvan pins Locket in OT, he was ready 26:40 - Being the Man in the Arena 29:30- Mitchell Mesenbrink 31:30 - Day 3 at NCAAs is NOT about who’s a better wrestler 34:00 - When it all sunk it, balling for an hour 36:00 - Mohammad Ali quote 37:55 - Alvan wants to continue to wrestle for Brazil, maybe RAF 41:00 - Wrestling wizard Jeff Buxton 42:10 - Artificial Intelligence 43:00 - Honey the night before a weigh in 44:00 - Who is Alvan’s all-time favorite wrestler? 45:00 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabe Arnold had trouble with communication last summer which lead to trouble with the Iowa program. After thinking he was off the team, Arnold regrouped to help the Hawkeyes secure wins at 174, 184 and 197 this season. He capped it off with by earning All-American honors at 197 after losing his first match at the NCAAs. 0:40 - Gabe’s eventful morning 3:20 - Was Gabe kicked off the Iowa team last summer? 11:00 - Gabe wanted to wrestle 174 at the start of the year 13:30 - Getting to where Arnold was “locked in” 17:00 - Endene left, what did that mean for Gabe? 19:00 - Angelo Ferrari got hurt, Gabe fills in 22:00 - 197 for Big Tens or nah? 25:20 - Confirming with coach Brands on 197 27:40 - Pretending he liked NCAA brackets and seeds 31:45 - Iowa’s challenging season 37:10 - NCAA first round loss and the long road back 44:30 - Overwhelming emotion of earning All-American 49:30 - Gabe will wrestle 79kg at US Open 53:10 - 174 next year for the Hawkeyes #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forrest, Vega and Robideau all just won NCAA titles for Oklahoma State as true freshmen, helping the Cowboys to a second place finish at the NCAA Championships. Jax Forrest and Sergio Vega both finished the season undefeated, which had never been done before in the modern era. 0:55 - Coming home to Stillwater 2:25 - Robideau flipping from Minnesota to Oklahoma State 4:45 - Vega flipped from Cornell to Oklahoma State 8:00 - When Jax knew he wanted to wrestle at NCAAs 9:30 - Culture and development at OSU 14:25 - A lot of freedom at practice 15:30 - Robideau, Mike Meyers - Halloween - walkout 17:40 - Is Robideau a serial killer? 19:05 - When did each guy believe he could win NCAAs? 24:00 - NCAA Championship 26:15 - Robideau on semifinal vs PJ Duke 28:45 - Brock Hardy 31:15 - Jax vs Seidel 32:20 - Vega vs Jesse Mendez 39:25 - Robideau vs Antrell Taylor 45:10 - Jax vs Ben Davino 52:40 - Jax crazy story, got trapped in the arena! 56:10 - Freestyle season 57:10 - Sweat it out 1:02:30 - All-time favorite 1:03:15 - Wins and whoopins 1:08:00 - Final word #TheBaderShow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices