The Guillotine Grapevine Jason Bryant, Mat Talk Podcast Network

Bobby Steveson came into the University of Minnesota from nearby Apple Valley High School as the top-ranked 195-pounder in the country. A champion at the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals, Steveson looked to be one of the anchors for the upper weights for the Gophers. 

But injuries took their toll and even though Steveson made one trip to the NCAA Division I Championships, his high school accolades and expectations didn’t match up.

Now with his college career over, Steveson talks about what’s next, what it’s been like to corner his younger brother Gable at the World level and the disappointment he and his Gopher teammates felt when the 2020 NCAA Championships, set for U.S. Bank Stadium, were canceled. 



Steveson talks about connecting with this musical side, his outdoorsy hobbies and how much he changed as a person after enrolling in college. Not all high school wrestling super studs have glittering careers, but Steveson’s looking back at his while moving forward with life.

A trip to Totino-Grace High School in Fridley had one goal in mind, profile the private Catholic school and its accomplished wrestling program. What happened was what makes sports great - kids doing great things to create great results. Totino-Grace wouldn’t hoist the Section 5AA trophy on Saturday, it’s be a group of kids from Orono who came into the sectional tournament with a 6-12 dual record.

Coach Joe McPherson’s Orono Spartans upended Totino-Grace to reach the team state tournament for the first time in school history.

Episode 66 of The Guillotine Grapevine unfolds the story of one wrestling program and chronicles the history making outcome of another. Learn about Totino-Grace but hear about Orono’s section championship. We talk with Totino-Grace President, Dr. Craig Junker as well as head coach Doug Svihel and Orono’s Joe McPherson and Danny Striggow.

The snow couldn't prevent Augsburg from winning the first women's dual in school history on Sunday, January 19 at Si Melby Hall. Originally scheduled for Saturday night, Augsburg beat UW-Stevens Point 30-12 in the lone home dual of the year. The win ushered in a new era of women's wrestling in the midwest and in Minnesota.

Episode 65 of The Guillotine Grapevine talks with Augsburg women's head wrestling coach Max Mejia and Athletic Director Jeff Swenson on their reaction on the outcome and how the future of women's wrestling is here before us today.

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The 18th Clash National High School Wrestling Duals got going on January 3 at Rochester Community & Technical College's Regional Sports Center. Today on The Guillotine Grapevine, we get an insight into the relevance of the tournament, its impact on Minnesota and the Rochester area as well as get insight from sponsors, visiting coaches and locals familiar with the event.

Today's show features Al Venz, a parent from Farmington and the host of the Al and Josh Show podcast, Punahou School (Hawaii) associate head coach Maika Nagata, Waverly-Shell Rock (Iowa) head coach Eric Whitcombe, event sponsor and program hustler Mike Busch of Mike Busch State Farm, and former Rochester Post-Bulletin Sports Editor Ben Pherson.

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If you'd like to SUPPORT THE SHOW and all the on-demand audio offerings, free newsletters and historical research AND you want to get some of that cool Compound gear, you can support this program by making a small monthly contribution to the network by following this link: https://patreon.com/mattalkonline/


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You like wrestling news, right? Of course you do. Did you know you can sign up for FREE to subscribe to the Mat Talk Online DAILY WRESTLING NEWS e-mail newsletter that's published EVERY morning with the previous day's top news stories from outlets all around the globe. It's free and it's a great way to start your wrestling day. Sign up at http://www.mattalkonline.com/news

Leading the Fish House Parade in Aitkin is coach Larry Liljenquist and his Aitkin Gobblers.

This episode of The Guillotine Grapevine stumbles across the Aitkin Fish House Parade the day after Thanksgiving. The Grand Marshal for this year's parade, that ran right through the center of town and right down U.S. 169 was the Aitkin wrestling program.

While up in Aitkin with my family, I had a chance to interview coach Liljenquist about the town's tradition and how Aitkin loves its wrestling.

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If you'd like to SUPPORT THE SHOW and all the on-demand audio offerings, free newsletters and historical research AND you want to get some of that cool Compound gear, you can support this program by making a small monthly contribution to the network by following this link: https://patreon.com/mattalkonline/


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You like wrestling news, right? Of course you do. Did you know you can sign up for FREE to subscribe to the Mat Talk Online DAILY WRESTLING NEWS e-mail newsletter that's published EVERY morning with the previous day's top news stories from outlets all around the globe. It's free and it's a great way to start your wrestling day. Sign up at http://www.mattalkonline.com/news

The fitting representation of the Axe of St. Olaf

What’s the most notable sports story that’s involved St. Olaf in the past 18 months outside of its announcement to drop wrestling?

The answer, known to the entire sporting world, is the school’s place in the fight to kick out Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference juggernaut St. Thomas out of the conference.

The story wasn’t just prominent in the Star Tribune here in Minnesota, but it made the AP and even ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt noted the boot. If you scratch the surface of the St. Thomas story, you find St. Olaf. So when wrestling gets cut, what are the optics?

From the top down, it looks like there’s an allusion to giving up rather than fighting. Quitting, rather than getting better. Yes, you got beat 97-0 in football to a school with more students. Let’s rally the troops and kick them out of the conference. No, you didn’t give your wrestling team and its student-athletes the basic resources teams need to be competitive – let’s penalize them even further by ruining their college experience with no option to save it. The school has made its priorities known, being competitive isn’t what they want to be known for.

I’m Hall of Fame wrestling announcer and writer Jason Bryant and today on The Guillotine Grapevine, I continue to look into the issues at St. Olaf surrounding its wrestling program and talk with alum Ryan Timmerman, a two-time All-American for the program under coach Sean Ahrar.


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If you'd like to SUPPORT THE SHOW and all the on-demand audio offerings, free newsletters and historical research AND you want to get some of that cool Compound gear, you can support this program by making a small monthly contribution to the network by following this link: https://patreon.com/mattalkonline/


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You like wrestling news, right? Of course you do. Did you know you can sign up for FREE to subscribe to the Mat Talk Online DAILY WRESTLING NEWS e-mail newsletter that's published EVERY morning with the previous day's top news stories from outlets all around the globe. It's free and it's a great way to start your wrestling day. Sign up at http://www.mattalkonline.com/news