NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman continues our coverage of the rebirth of real professional wrestling, with comments from Frank Molinaro, Mike Van Arsdale, and Ben Askren.

Frank Molinaro has already competed in two of these events. A 2012 NCAA Div. I champion at Penn State and now an assistant wrestling coach at Rutgers, on October 20, he defeated two-time All-American Kyle Borshoff by a score of 10-1 at the inaugural Tour ACW event in Pittsburgh. He was a late replacement for the injured Kyle Dake at the second annual Grapple at the Garden event held December 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York. There he faced 2011 NCAA Div. I national champion and 2007 junior world freestyle wrestling champion Bubba Jenkins, who also is an MMA fighter for Bellator. The match was held under American folkstyle rules. Tied 2-2 after three periods, it went to sudden victory overtime, with Jenkins scoring a takedown to win 4-2.

We spoke with Frank Molinaro after his match at Madison Square Garden.

While he is aiming at representing the USA in freestyle wrestling at the 2016 Olympics, he has his eyes on this rebirth of real professional wrestling. But he believes that much more needs to be done to guarantee its success.

"I kind of feel like everybody is out on their own plan and everyone's trying to start their own wrestling league," he said. "And I think at some point we're all going to have to come together and make one organization and have everyone contribute a piece to the puzzle and maybe get a great wrestling league out there."

We also replay comments on real professional wrestling from recent interviews on No Holds Barred with another NCAA Div. I champion and retired MMA fighter Mike Van Arsdale. He advocated "some kind of a tournament format." And we close with a response by two-time NCAA Div. I champion, 2008 Olympian, undefeated MMA fighter, and a victor at the first Agon Wrestling Championships on October 27, Ben Askren, about what the vast majority of wrestlers who have entered MMA would do if they could earn the same from wrestling as they do in MMA.

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Labels: Agon, Ben Askren, Eddie Goldman, Frank Molinaro, Grapple, Madison Square Garden, Mike Van Arsdale, MMA, No Holds Barred, real professional wrestling, Tour ACW