Cole Matthews’ biggest concern upon finding out that he’ll be a late replacement to represent the U.S. at the Under-23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, wasn’t about switching from folkstyle back to freestyle or how he was going to make weight.
The Pitt senior’s biggest concern was if he could get a passport in time.
“I’m pretty excited,” Matthews said. “I was more upset with myself that I didn’t go get a passport earlier.”
Matthews won the 65-kilogram weight class at the U-23 World Team Trials in Ohio in June, but didn’t get the spot because Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, who made the Senior World Team, opted to take both spots. Last week, Diakomihalis backed out of the U-23 tournament, opening the spot for Matthews.
“We’re excited for him,” Pitt coach Keith Gavin said. “We kind of thought that might happen. He was really bummed when he found out he wasn’t going to go the first time around.”
Matthews will travel to Spain on Oct. 18 and compete on Oct. 21. While he’s been preparing for the folkstyle season, he said it shouldn’t be too difficult to get ready for the world championships.
“Nothing really changes. The week before this, we were training with a college team from Japan. I was wrestling freestyle already,” he said. “It’s a little annoying that I found out this close to it, but I’d rather know on short notice and still go. I’m not complaining about that.”
Matthews is also slated to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 22. He will face Iowa’s Real Woods in the event, which is returning after a four-year absence. Matthews, who enters the season ranked first in the country at 141 by Intermat, beat Woods – who was then wrestling for Stanford – 7-3 in the fifth-place bout at the NCAA tournament in March.
Matthews does not expect to compete in the Blue-Gold Dual on Oct. 28 or the Clarion Open on Nov. 6. The early season schedule also includes a dual at Cleveland State (Nov. 11) and home matches with Maryland (Nov. 18) and Lehigh (Nov. 19) before the NWCA event.
This marks the second year in a row that the Panthers will be represented at the U-23 championships. Nino Bonaccorsi was the 92-kilogram representative last year.
Regularly putting representatives on the world team isn’t just good for the current team. It also could help bring more top-notch wrestlers to the program in the future.
“You’re trying to recruit kids that love to wrestle,” Gavin said. “Those kids wrestle in the offseason. They’re trying to make junior world teams, U-23 world teams and cadet world teams. When we have guys like that, we’re showing that we’re into that stuff, too. You can come here and be a national champion and make world teams and represent the U.S.”
