Trent Hidlay, 5X NCAA All-American, fiery kid, I wanted to quit, and more…

Hi 👋

Welcome to Week #27 of the Wrestling Snacks newsletter.

Just wanted to start off by paying tribute to the legend, John Smith. He announced his retirement yesterday after 33 years at the helm of Okie State.

Growing up, John Smith was the GOAT, and he maintained that status for 30 years until JB won his 7th World/Olympic Gold Medal in 2022. Smith won 6 World/Olympic Gold Medals, achieving this in six years in a row: 1987 (World), 1988 (Olympic), 1989 (World), 1990 (World), 1991 (World), 1992 (Olympic).

Smith is a legend and a pioneer of the sport. He set the bar that 99.99% of wrestlers will never come close to.

Look at all this gold 👇

As a coach, he’s won 5 NCAA team championships and 23 team conference championships. He’s produced 33 NCAA individual champions, 153 All-Americans, 132 individual conference champions, and two Hodge Trophy winners.

Thank you, John Smith, for all that you’ve done for the sport of wrestling!

Not much else going on this week. Just getting excited to watch the 2024 Olympic Team Trials next weekend. Make sure you tune in to watch the action!

Who have you got making the team and heading to Paris in July?

Let’s GO 💪

News Bites

• NBC Universal to present U.S. Olympic Trials coverage; Check out Wrestling Trials schedule here

• High School athlete, Jax Forrest Wins The Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier, and secures a spot at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials

• Weights that are qualified for the 2024 Olympics in wrestling by country

• 2024 NHSCA High School Nationals Results

• Beau Bartlett returning to PSU for one more college season

• Mason Gibson withdraws commitment to wrestle at Penn State

• 2X world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Frank Chamizo said he turned down a bribe of $300,000 to deliberately lose a match at Olympic qualification tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Snacks

This week's snacks come from Trent Hidlay: 5X NCAA All-American, 2X NCAA National Runner-up, 4X ACC Champion at NC State, U23 World Silver Medalist, and Junior World Bronze Medalist.

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.