Wrestling Mailbag: Final World Cup thoughts, freestyle wrestling, Battle of Waterloo preview, more

The coolest wrestling story this weekend, by far, was Ukraine winning United World Wrestling's women's freestyle World Cup.

Ukraine ran the gauntlet to win their first-ever women's freestyle World Cup title, toppling top-seeded Japan, a strong Mongolia squad, then third-seeded China in Sunday night's final. The victorious run ends Japan's six-year reign as women's World Cup champs.

There are a lot of layers about why Ukraine's triumph was the best story of the weekend — yes, bigger and better than the U.S. men's finals win over Iran. Let's start with the wrestling portion of this.

Ukraine has always been a regular international presence in women's wrestling, finishing sixth or better at every Senior world championship event since 2018. There's been a few lean years — no medals at the 2016 Olympics, just one at the 2017 world championships — but three Ukrainian women have won world titles since 2014.

In recent years, Ukraine has steadily grown into a force. Maybe not quite on the same tier as Japan or the USA, but not far behind. In 2021, Ukraine ran away with the team titles at the U23 European Championships and U23 world championships, signaling that a new generation was ready to challenge the top dogs.

But there's also the off-the-mat turmoil and adversity that Ukraine continues to deal with back home.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine last February, resulting in many deaths and the displacement of countless more, including Ukrainian athletes. The wrestlers, especially, haven't had much in the way of regular training and preparation for many of the high-level competitions over the last year.

According to UWW, a few trained in Budapest, Warsaw and even parts of Western Ukraine, away from the conflict. Despite it all, the Ukraine women took fifth at the 2022 world championships in September, 10 points ahead of sixth-place Canada, which qualified them for this weekend.

To help, USA Wrestling invited Ukraine to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs two weeks before the World Cup. There, they got the first consistent period of training together as a program for the first time all year. No doubt that played a role in them winning this past weekend.

Ukraine finished the weekend 3-0. They thumped Mongolia, 7-3, then rallied from down 2-0 and 4-3 for a 5-5 criteria win over Japan, thanks to a 24-17 classification point advantage. Against China, Ukraine never trailed, taking the title dual 6-4 thanks to clutch wins and timely pins.

They recorded a tournament-best seven pins while every other women's freestyle team combined for six, total. They went 10-6 in matches decided by four points or less and won five after they scored points in the final minute of their matches. A mix of established veterans and young stars all contributed:

• Alina Hrushyna, a U23 world champ in 2021; Yulia Ostapchuk, a three-time Senior world medalist; and Rizhko, a 2022 European champ, all went 3-0.

• Iryna Bondar, a U23 world silver medalist; Alla Belinska, a five-time Senior world championship participant; and Anastasiia Shustova, U23 world bronze medalist, all went 2-1.

• Oksana Livach, a 2018 world bronze medalist, went just 1-2, but her one win came by scoring a 4-pointer in the final 30 seconds against China's Jian Zhu. Iryna Koliadenko also went 1-2, but came up clutch with a first-period cradle for the pin against China's Xinyuan Sun, scoring huge classification points when the dual was still in doubt.

As Ukraine continued to win, the crowd inside Xtream Arena recognized the moment and began pulling for them, too. When Shustova won 9-5 over China's Juan Wang at 76 kilograms to cap the championship dual, everybody in Xtream Arena stood in applause, as if to celebrate the accomplishment with them.

On a weekend that had so many cool wrestling stories and moments, seeing the Ukraine women win, despite everything they've been through and what their home country continues to go through, is a memory that'll last.

OK, onto the Wrestling Mailbag. One of these days, I would love for someone to take a selfie with me when I get done writing so I can feel like Jordan Burroughs for a day.

Please give me a follow on Twitter and I’ll keep you up to date on all things wrestling in Iowa. Don't forget to tune into the Register's wrestling podcast, In the Room, each week. You can find the latest episodes below.

Thanks for your help here, and for reading.

Attendance at Xtream Arena for the UWW World Cup

From Josh via Email: Just wondering what attendance was like this weekend. Everyone did a great job of promoting, and there was certainly a lot of hype going into the weekend. But to me, it looked like most photos showed nearly empty stands. I'm sure it varied from round to round. We were there for state volleyball and the arena was PACKED. I know we aren't talking apples to apples. Just curious what your thoughts were.

I was told the official attendance for the first day was 2,461, which sounds about right based on what I saw. Never got an official number for the second day, but I can tell you the crowd was bigger — like north of 3,000 bigger. That puts you somewhere in the ballpark of 5,500-6,000, total, for the entire weekend.

And the crowds were awesome the whole time.

Most of the fans were there to watch the United States, understandably, so the crowd was at its peak during the first and last sessions on Saturday, when the U.S. women wrestled for bronze on Sunday morning, and when the U.S. men wrestled Iran for gold on Sunday evening. The only real lull came during the middle session on Saturday, when the U.S. wasn't wrestling at all, but there were still people who stayed to watch those duals.

There was a good mix of fanbases for literally every team. Mongolia had a small segment of fans, and they were most vocal when the Mongolian women beat the U.S. for bronze. Japan and China both had a fanbase presence. Everybody ended up cheering for the Ukraine women by the end.

Iran had two sets of passionate crowds there, one that exclusively cheered for the wrestling and another that brought awareness to the suppression of protests in Iran. They were upset that the Xtream Arena staff didn't allow them to bring flags or posters into the event, but they wore shirts that read "Woman Life Freedom" and yelled that same slogan and were equally as loud as those who only rooted for the wrestling.

This was never going to be a sold-out, jam-packed wrestling event. Or at least I didn't think so. UWW moved the event to December, right smack in the middle of our folkstyle season. I was impressed with Saturday's crowd given that most wrestling fans here in Iowa (and elsewhere) were probably at high school or youth tournaments all day. On top of that, USA Wrestling didn't send the full A-Teams to the event. People want to see the stars.

So with all of that in consideration, to still get north of 5,500 over the two-day event? That's a success in my book.

MORE:‘The world is coming to Coralville’: Why the men’s and women’s wrestling World Cups returned to Iowa

Folkstyle wrestling vs. freestyle wrestling

This is the easiest way I can explain the fundamental differences between folkstyle and freestyle wrestling:

Folkstyle is based almost exclusively and entirely on control. You have to gather control of your opponent to score a takedown or reversal. You have to exert control over your opponent to turn them for a near fall. You have to escape control to earn an escape. The riding-time point on the mat is literally built on controlling your opponent.

Freestyle is all about action and putting your opponent in danger. That's why going feet-to-back is worth four points or taking them there with a high-amplitude throw scores five. That's why turns are immediately worth two, because you're exposing your opponent to danger. That's why freestyle officials don't care for a ton of mat wrestling, why they have touch falls and criteria over overtime, and why someone is always losing 90 seconds.

That leads to some funny loopholes, yes, like scoring an exposure for just two points rather than getting the two for the takedown then the two for the turn. The element of control is still there, but primarily, your job is to stay out of danger and to put your opponent in danger.

It's a weird thing for traditional folkstyle diehards to grasp, but once you do, I promise you'll see the upside. Imagine in folkstyle if you take your opponent to their back in a scramble, but score no points because your opponent hung onto your leg, so the ref didn't think you had control of the sequence. Whistle for stalemate, restart in the middle, still tied 0-0. In freestyle, you would've gotten the two points.

MORE:Team USA tops Iran in epic men's freestyle World Cup final; USA women finish fourth

What happened to the Midlands Championships?

From Drew via Twitter DM: What happened to the Midlands? Is it even happening this year? I get that COVID really messed it up, but I can’t even find a functioning website.

There is a website. The 2022 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships will happen. Set for Dec. 29-30. There will be men's and women's divisions, which is awesome. Click here for some nuts-and-bolts info.

For the first time in what seems like forever, Iowa won't be there, opting instead for the inaugural Soldier Salute, set for the same dates at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

But your question was about the Midlands, and honestly, the best answer I have is that tournaments generally, and somewhat naturally, ebb and flow with time.

This is just part of wrestling. The one tournament that continues to be a banger is the NCAA Championships every March, because duh. But it seems like every other tournament has years of amazing action and popularity, and then years where it doesn't. Look around. You see it all the time.

The Midlands used to be the premiere midseason college wrestling competition, and because it operates as an open tournament, you sometimes get post-graduate wrestlers there competing against high-level college wrestlers. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into it the last two seasons, yes, but also, the Southern Scuffle blew up and supplanted the Midlands for a few years, and wasn't nearly axed altogether by the pandemic.

There's still elite-level wrestling at both tournaments each year. The Midlands could have wrestlers from No. 6 Arizona State, No. 7 Northwestern, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 13 Pittsburgh, and more this year; the Scuffle could have No. 3 Missouri, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Minnesota, No. 21 North Dakota State. They are still going to be tournaments worth following and watching.

But, again, look around. The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has become the marquee early-season event. The Collegiate Duals, hosted by Journeymen, were a success last year and are back again this year. More locally, there are years when the Grand View and UNI Opens are absolutely stacked, and others where there's maybe one or two interesting weights.

These things ebb and flow. We'll see if the CKLV can continue to be a banger, and we'll see if the Collegiate Duals can keep attracting top programs. Coaches like to send their teams to these high-level competitions to get big matches and test them against some of the best programs in the country.

Now the folks at Xtream Arena — the same ones who host USA Wrestling events, the World Cup, who host the girls state wrestling championships, who created the Dan Gable Donnybrook — have created yet another college open tournament. Maybe it'll grow into a big, fun midseason tournament. Maybe not as big as the Midlands or Scuffle once was, but who knows? With the way these things ebb and flow, there's a chance it just might.

RELATED:How Coralville and Xtream Arena became America’s wrestling hotspot

Why can't Iowa high school teams compete at out-of-state events?

There needs to be a formal recommendation filed with the Iowa High School Athletic Association (and also the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union). It would follow the same operating procedure for anything that Iowa schools want changed. A recommendation goes to a committee, then to the IHSAA's Board of Control, then a vote — then, boom, a change.

Obviously, there are more details involved, but that's the quick version. It's really not that hard of a process if enough people actually cared about changing it — and clearly, that's not the case, since this really isn't a hot-button issue.

Maybe it's just me, but this conversation is really only brought up during the weekend of the Walsh Ironman every year … and that's it. If schools felt strong enough about this issue and got organized, it could literally change next month. The IHSAA has outlined the process, but instead, people tweet because it's easier.

That sounds harsh, but this is also coming from a guy who would love to see Waverly-Shell Rock and Southeast Polk and others go to the Ironman and wrestle some of the best teams in the country.

There are still plenty of tournaments in bordering states plus Kansas for Iowa teams to get good competition during the year — The Clash, Cheesehead, KC Stampede and more — but obviously the Ironman is the toughest high school tournament in the country, so of course we want to see how Iowa's best teams stack up there.

I'm just a little tired of all the tweets and lack of action, which is why I mostly ignore the tweets.

RELATED:Introducing the top 50 boys wrestlers for the 2022-23 Iowa high school wrestling season

Matchups and teams to watch at the 2022 Battle of Waterloo

The top four seeds at this year's boys Battle of Waterloo, with IAWrestle's team rankings:

• Osage, No. 1 in Class 2A

• West Delaware, No. 3 in Class 2A

• Linn-Mar, No. 6 in Class 3A

• Waverly-Shell Rock, No. 1 in Class 3A

That'd be a fun final group on Saturday if it happens — but there are teams they'll each have to beat first in order to advance.

Osage opens with Columbus Catholic, which is ranked No. 6 in Class 1A. A highlight matchup there could come at 170 pounds, between Nick Fox, a returning state champ, and Max Magayna, a two-time state champ as a junior. The winner could see Iowa City High, ranked No. 7 in 3A, then possibly Alburnett, No. 5 in 1A, or Cedar Rapids Prairie.

West Delaware could hit Nashua-Plainfield, currently No. 4 in 1A, and then Don Bosco, No. 1 in 1A, to reach Saturday's championship group. Linn-Mar opens against Union, No. 9 in 2A, then could see either Cedar Falls or Pleasant Valley, then possibly Indianola or Ankeny, currently No. 9 in 3A. Waverly-Shell Rock could see Lisbon, current No. 2 in 1A, then either North Scott or West Des Moines Valley.

There will be dozens and dozens of high-level individual matchups that could unfold with all of those duals, too, which is part of the fun of the Battle of Waterloo.

The top four seeds at this year's girls Battle of Waterloo are:

• Waverly-Shell Rock, the four-time defending state team champs

• Osage, the returning third-place team from last year's girls state tournament

• Bettendorf, the returning fourth-place team from last year's girls state tournament

• Cedar Falls, one of the stronger girls programs through the first half of the season

The fun part of this year's inaugural girls wrestling season is all the things we'll learn from each competition. We know teams like Waverly-Shell Rock and Osage and even Decorah and Ankeny and Charles City are all pretty good, but how do they fare against each other in a tournament setting versus a dual-meet setting?

Enter the Battle of Waterloo, which came after the Linn-Mar Dual tournament, which came after the Donnybrook, which came after the Decorah girls tournament. The more competitions we see, the more we'll learn about the hierarchy of the Iowa girls wrestling landscape.

Plus, dual meets are just super dope.

From Last Year:27 things we learned after Waverly-Shell Rock wins the 2021 Battle of Waterloo

Cheering for Crown Point (Ind.) wrestler Cody Goodwin

I love how much of a thing this has become.

For the uninitiated, there's a senior wrestler from Indiana's Crown Point named Cody Goodwin. I first saw him wrestle at USA Wrestling's 16U/Junior folkstyle national championships last March. Naturally, I followed his results. Went 2-2 there. He wrestled at the Ironman this weekend. Went 2-2 again. Maybe that's just his thing.

A little bit of research revealed that this Cody Goodwin is pretty good! He's gone in and out of MatScouts' national rankings and 2023 Big Board. Got a write-up in the Chicago Tribune his sophomore year. Took fourth at the Indiana state wrestling tournament last year, helping Crown Point (led by one Jesse Mendez) to a runaway team title. Indiana hosts a single-class state wrestling tournament, so fourth is pretty good.

In any case, that Cody Goodwin has a new fan here in Iowa, for obvious reasons. It's fun to crack Twitter jokes, but there is an actual time investment in looking up his results and seeing how he does at major competitions — which includes the Ironman, of course, where he went: first-round bye, 3-2 upset loss, bye, 4-2 win, 3-2 win, then loss by fall in the Round-of-16. Tough sport.

This is a fun subplot within the mailbag/my wrestling coverage. It helps that that Cody Goodwin is one of the best wrestlers in Indiana and, when he's on, probably one of the top competitors in the country, too.

As for competing in the 175-pound weight class, that's far too large for me, personally. I walk around at 162-165 most days. Probably more of a natural 157-pounder or, if I commit to a diet well enough, a very large 149-pounder. Also, I am probably out of shape, too, or at least I'm nowhere near actual wrestling shape.

More HS Wrestling:The 25 best Iowa girls wrestlers for the 2022-23 wrestling season

This week, I'm grateful to work in sports in the era of Mike Leach, who passed away Monday night due to heart-related complications. He was 61, but he was also a one-of-one human being and a dang good football coach. Not everybody liked or agreed with him, former players included, but he revolutionized the game of football and I'll miss his presence, his wacky quotes and his perspective on life. May he rest in peace.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Wrestling Mailbag: Final World Cup thoughts, Battle of Waterloo, more