May 3 CES 77 (Triller TV)
Nodirjon Safarov (Northwest Wyoming/Asian bronze) vs. Chris Vega (Springfield Tech)
 
May 3 ONE Fight Night 22 (Amazon Prime)
Chihiro Sawada (Silver at Junior Asian championships) vs. Noelle Grandjean
 
May 11 UFC Fight Night (ESPN/ESPN+)
Terrance McKinney (North Idaho College/Chadron State) vs. Esteban Ribovics
 
May 17 Bellator Champions Series: Paris (MAX)
Archie Colgan (Wyoming) vs. Thibault Gouti
 
May 17 LFA 184 (UFC Fight Pass)
Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) vs. Oseyiomon Oiyemhonian
 
May 18 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+)
Emily Ducote (Oklahoma City) vs. Vanessa Demoupoulos
 
June 1 UFC 302 (ESPN Pay Per View)
Alexander Romanov (World University bronze) vs. Jailton Almeida
 
June 8 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+)
Cody Stamann (Grand Valley State) vs. Taylor Lapilus
Julian Marquez (Missouri Valley) vs. Zachary Reese
John Castaneda (Minnesota State Mankato) vs. Daniel Marco
 
June 13 PFL 4 2024 (ESPN+)
Tyrell Fortune (Grand Canyon) vs. Daniel James
 
June 21 PFL 5 2024 (ESPN+)
Josh Silveira (Arizona State) vs. Rob Wilkinson
Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
 
June 22 UFC on ABC 6 (ABC/ESPN+)
Khamzat Chimaev (Swedish national champion) vs. Robert Whittaker (Australian national champion)
Kelvin Gastelum (North Idaho) vs. Daniel Rodriguez
 
June 29 UFC 303 (ESPN PPV)
Michael Chandler (Missouri) vs. Conor McGregor

“And May is one damned fine month to be working outdoors” 
That’s what Red says in Shawshank Redemption while he and the boys secure the roof job and he couldn’t be more correct. Unfortunately, it’s not a great month for wrestling competitions. Well, except for that thing going on in Turkey next week which might have some important ramifications going forward. And that’s fine. We don’t need to be wrestling right now. We have baseball and horse racing. Basketball and hockey playoffs. Communions and proms for some. We have lawns to mow and grills to fire up. We have garages that need cleaning and roofs that need tarring. Eh, who am I fooling here? I’ll fire up five screens tomorrow and drink lemonade in the air conditioning if you give me a tournament with an alliterative name. Sunshine is overrated. So is Shawshank Redemption. Just kidding, don’t cancel me. Let’s move on to the questions so you can get to all those things I just mentioned. 
You can't choose the Senior level. What is your favorite age group to watch after that? The Jerm 
I guess I have to go with what is formerly called Juniors over the division formerly known as Cadets. I enjoy the mix of upperclassmen high school guys mixing it up with first and second-year college guys. We just had Aden Valencia face Sergio Lemley, who recently beat Real Woods, who once faced Luke Pletcher, who faced Jimmy Gulibon. That’s Valencia to Gulibon in like four moves. All thanks to the U20 US Open. Pletcher also faced Colton McCrystal, who wrestled Logan Stieber at least once. We could go on and on but someone is asking about Kyle Schwarber who is teammates with JT Realmuto who wrestled in fifth grade I think. 
I have two questions…Do you think Kyle Schwarber will have more or less than 100 runs this season? How many RBIs do you think he’ll have? Kevin McGuigan. 
I was hoping someone would ask me about the Schwarbs. I predict the big man will have a triple hundo this year. Over 100 runs and runs batted in with a batting average somewhere between .190 and .196 - with probably a good 45 bombs. 
Speaking of Schwarbs and bombs, the great Earl B. Smith once went to a Nats game and purchased a shirt that said Schwarb Bombs on it just to watch him get hurt that night. By the time Schwarber was healthy, he was leading off for Boston before signing with the Phillies. I hear he’s saving it for “Bozo Shirt-A-Day in June.” 
Editor’s Note: I bought the overpriced Schwarber shirt in the team store only to watch him injure his hamstring and never play for the Nationals again. A horrific rainstorm canceled the game in the fourth inning. My wife told me to run ahead of her to get a seat at a local restaurant as the entire stadium was leaving at once. After sitting down, I realized I didn’t have my wallet - neither did my wife. It must have fallen out of the bottom pocket of my cargo shorts as I was sprinting. I snuck back into the stadium, and looked around our seats to no avail. I was directed to customer service where my wallet was waiting. Someone had turned it in. All of the cash and cards were left intact (though soaked). The Schwarber shirt has very weird karma - I’m not sure why I still have it, though I’d gladly give it to a Phillies fan and let them take their chances with it.  

You’re stranded on an island for 11 days. Which d1 coach, head, or assistant, would you want to be stranded with? Madison Hollenbeck
Likely someone from the John Smith coaching tree. They seem to enjoy the whole “Country Boy Can Survive” gimmick. Or maybe Scott Green. We can bring a radio and die together listening to the Mets. 
Favorite pick of the first round and why was it Drake Maye? Mark Rhino 
Obviously, it was Drake Maye! Have I heard of him before last week? Not at all. But we all want New England to get a franchise quarterback who can play for 25 years and win about nine titles. Little baby Rhino gets cranky when he doesn’t get his Super Bowl titles. We can’t have this. 
What is your strategy for wrestling shirt a day in May? Mickadelphia 
Just to get dressed before I leave the house in the morning. It’s a simple and effective strategy.

Late Wednesday night, four-time NCAA Champion Carter Starocci put out a graphic on social media that indicated he’ll be back in a Penn State singlet for the 2024-25, using his final year of eligibility. 
In the past, Starocci has made comments that lead you to believe he’d be done after the 2023-24 season. Personally, I was pretty confident we’d see Starocci using his final year of eligibility. 
As we’ve learned from the past couple of offseasons, the “will he, won’t he” questions surrounding whether or not a wrestler will exercise that final year of eligibility gives them some leverage if NIL is what they’re looking for. 
Whether or not that’s the case isn’t important. What matters is that one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the nation will be back for the 2024-25 season. Starocci is chasing history as he can become the first (and probably last) five-time NCAA wrestling champion…ever. He also will have to be considered a preseason favorite for the Hodge Trophy and strengthen an already imposing Penn State lineup, as they look to claim a fourth straight national title. 
Starocci’s return does create some questions surrounding the Nittany Lions lineup for the 2024-25 season. While he has not directly mentioned what weight he intends on wrestling, early speculation has placed up moving up to weights to go 197 lbs. Whether or not that’s accurate remains to be seen. 
Before we get a definitive answer, we’ll look at the three possible weights for Starocci:
 
If he goes 174: 
This doesn’t seem likely as Starocci has stated he’ll move up and did alright at the Olympic Trials competing at 86 kg (189.6 lbs). 
Were this to happen, Penn State would squeeze a talented upperclassman, without a redshirt available, out of the lineup. Most likely that would be Alex Facundo. 
Freshman Josh Barr looks like the most likely candidate to man 184 lbs after going undefeated during his redshirt season and downing a pair of national qualifiers. 
Should the Penn State staff choose to redshirt the Mirasola twins, Lucas Cochran looks like the best choice for a 197 lber. Cochran famously bumped up to heavyweight and upset eventual All-American Yaraslau Slavikouski during the Nittany Lions romp over Rutgers. At 197 lbs, Cochran’s only losses were to All-Americans and he generally put plenty of points on the board. 
 
If he goes 184:
Having Starocci above 174 lbs opens the door for Alex Facundo. Assuming some combination of Levi Haines/Mitchell Mesenbrink handle 157 and 165 lbs, Facundo can move up and go 174. In 2022-23, Facundo went 19-6 with a seventh-place showing at the Big Ten Championships. He would finish his redshirt freshman season by going 0-2 at NCAA’s. Since then, Facundo has focused on freestyle and earned a spot at the Olympic Team Trials, where he battled the legendary Jordan Burroughs in a hard-fought loss. 
With Starocci at 184 lbs, it pushes Barr up to 197 lbs. Either Cochran or a likely undersized Barr is left to handle 197 lbs. Additionally, Starocci probably has his toughest individual test in Parker Keckeisen, an undefeated national champion who earned bonus points in over 90% of his contests in 2023-24. 
 
If he goes 197:
You probably have Facundo and Barr at their ideal weights. Starocci is probably undersized too at 197 lbs. At the Trials, he fell to Trent Hidlay, who doesn’t have the length of your typical 197 lber, but is extremely strong. The top three returners at the weight, Stephen Buchanan, Jacob Cardenas, and Rocky Elam, should all have a considerable reach advantage on Starocci. 
That being said, would you pick any of the three over the four-time NCAA champion? Starocci stymied an impressive field at 174 lbs despite being hampered by a knee injury in late-February. Could any of those three beat Starocci? Sure, but until proven otherwise, I’ll take a slightly small-for-the-weight Starocci, someone who hasn’t been beaten by a collegiate opponent in a non-injury default matchup in over three years. 
If continuing to break team scoring records is the goal, having Starocci at 197 lbs seems to put Penn State in the best position to do so.