NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Iowa State Wrestling's trio of 2016 NCAA All-Americans: Earl Hall, Lelund Weatherspoon, and Pat Downey. We also spoke with former Iowa State wrestler, 2015 NCAA champion, and Olympic hopeful Kyven Gadson. We spoke with them at the Cyclone Wrestling Club social, held right after the conclusion of the 2016 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Earl Hall finished his Iowa State college wrestling career by finishing seventh at 133 pounds to win his second All-American honors. Lelund Weatherspoon, a redshirt junior who was unseeded in this tournament, finished sixth at 174 pounds to win his first All-American honors. Pat Downey, a sophomore in his first season with Iowa State and who was also unseeded, finished fifth at 197 pounds.

As a team, Iowa State finished in 12th place, after being ranked 17th before the tournament.

We discussed with these All-American wrestlers how their tournament went, their backgrounds, and their future plans.

Kyven Gadson discussed how Iowa State performed at the NCAAs, his upcoming competition at the 2016 Olympic Trials, and what he wants to see changed in wrestling.

In addition, we open with a commentary on the rarely-discussed issue of diversity in college wrestling.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

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Labels: college, Cyclones, diversity, Earl Hall, Eddie Goldman, Iowa State, Kyven Gadson, Lelund Weatherspoon, NCAA, No Holds Barred, Pat Downey, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with LGBT sports advocate, former Terrapin Wrestling Club director, and a member of USA Wrestling's diversity committee, Akil Patterson.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

Although he had been a top college football player, he was also a wrestler and a wrestling coach. "I'm a wrestler at heart," he said. Akil identifies himself as a Black, gay, Christian male.

We thus focused on the issues of overcoming homophobia and transphobia, and fighting for diversity and inclusion, in wrestling and other sports.

"I try to help bring along some new initiatives to frame some new and outstanding information that's going to be going out to the wrestling communities," he said. "And also just to kind of bridge the gap between what is considered D and I, what really is diversity and inclusion in America, and how we can not only take the LGBT part, but also a minority perspective, and really make sure that everyone understands and is culturally aware and competent about what wrestling really means."

He explained, "The crux of it is, is you're out there to compete. You're out there to have fun. And at the end of the day, we're one big family. We really are."

We discussed why acceptance and equality for LGBT athletes will come, but "a little slower than we like it." We also discussed his own experiences in sports when he came out as gay, the treatment of LGBT athletes in many sports today, the support he has been given in his efforts, his work with Athlete Ally, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.com.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.

Labels: Akil Patterson, diversity, Eddie Goldman, gay, inclusion, LGBT, No Holds Barred, sports, wrestling