Gerry Abas, journey not a destination, Starocci vs Ferrari drama, and more…

Hi 👋

Welcome to Week #49 of the Wrestling Snacks newsletter.

Hope ya’ll are doing well. We’ve got the Senior World Team Trials this weekend for all of the ‘non-Olympic’ weight classes. The World Team Trials will determine the U.S. athletes who will compete at the World Championships in Tirana, Albania, from October 28-31.

You can watch the event live on FloWrestling. Here’s the full schedule and list of weight classes that will be competing:

• Men’s freestyle: 61 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg, 92 kg

• Women’s freestyle: 55 kg, 59 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg

• Greco-Roman: 55 kg, 63 kg, 72 kg, 82 kg

Not much else going on, except the beef and drama between Carter Starocci and AJ Ferrari. I’m reluctant to post this because it’s not really appropriate, so view at your own discretion. Starocci called out AJ [HERE] (it has since been deleted) and AJ responded [HERE].

Reply and let me know your thoughts on their beef. Is this good for the sport? Is this how we grow it, or is it classless and not what we want? I have mixed feelings about it, but I’d love to hear yours.

News Bites

• Team USA wins the U20 Men’s freestyle world team title over Iran & Russia!

  • Team USA Results At The 2024 U20 World Wrestling Championships

• It’s official. Per an Oklahoma State release, David Taylor will be competing at the World Team Trials

• Pre-seeds released for Senior World Team Trials in Omaha this weekend:

  • Men’s freestyle

  • Greco-Roman

  • Women’s freestyle

• 1988 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman coach Pavel Katsen, 79, passed away last night

• Legendary Pitt-Johnstown wrestling coach Pat Pecora dies at age 70

• CBU Wrestling adds some firepower to their coaching staff! NCAA Champions, Nathan Tomasello and Mark Munoz

Snacks

This week's Snacks come from Gerry Abas: 4X NCAA All-American, 3X NCAA Finalist, 3X WAC Champion at Fresno State. He has held NCAA coaching positions at Fresno State and CSU Bakersfield, along with extensive experience coaching at the high school and youth levels.

Below are some excerpts from our conversation, along with key takeaways and tips that can be applied to improve yourself as a Coach, Athlete, or wrestling Parent.