Brent Metcalf joins the Full Tilt Podcast for a deep dive into one of wrestling’s most respected minds. He walks through the legendary Davidson, Michigan room with Roy Hall, his undefeated high school career and Fargo dominance, the Virginia Tech-to-Iowa transfer storm, Carver-Hawkeye showdowns, wild overseas trips to Russia, Dagestan, and Iran, and why he believes in “chasing losing” to become the best. Metcalf also breaks down his relationship with Jordan Burroughs, what he’s learned from Kevin Dresser, coaching David Carr, and his vision for turning Iowa State into a world-level factory.

Timed Highlights:
00:49 New Cyclone head coach Brent Metcalf joins the show
02:12 How a public school in Michigan built three NCAA champs
06:37 Seventh grader in high school practice and free open rooms
09:11 Six Fargo titles, chasing tough brackets, and never protecting a record
15:24 Big Ten battles with Dustin Schlater
16:04 Following Tom Brands, Virginia Tech days, and transfer controversy
19:12 Losing a year, going overseas, and realizing he could beat world champs
22:31 Why getting beat can be the best thing for young wrestlers
27:25 Culture and accountability inside the Iowa room
33:18 Training with Borschel, Morningstar, Montell and others
35:34 Carver-Hawkeye roar vs World Cup in Iran
47:20 The reality of his international career: big wins, no medals
53:15 Beating Sidakov, wrestling Yaminitsu, and getting schooled by Gadzalov
58:06 The Iran World Cup: 15,000 fans, drums, and staying through intermission
1:09:03 Sketchy trips to Dagestan and early overseas experiences
1:16:18 Turning down other college jobs to support his wife’s PhD
1:19:26 The call from Kevin Dresser that brought him to Ames
1:27:03 What Metcalf learned from Dresser about building programs and fanbases
1:30:57 His vision for Cyclone Wrestling and putting guys on the world wall
1:38:30 Coaching David Carr and “failing forward” at the senior level
1:40:48 Roy Hall, his parents, and the legacy he wants his wrestlers to build

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Produced by: ItsYourShow.co

Jeff McGinness sits down to go full tilt on his journey from Iowa City mat rat to Hawkeye legend, and how that path eventually led him to build a powerhouse women’s program at Simpson College. From brutal 90s Iowa room stories to modern sports science, NIL, and recruiting women in a fast-changing landscape, this is a deep dive into what greatness really looks like in wrestling.

Timed highlights:

• 01:00 – Reuniting in the studio and early days in the Iowa room
• 04:30 – Training under Gable, Brands, J Rob, and the “old torture equipment”
• 09:45 – Late-blooming greatness: when wrestling finally “clicked” for Jeff
• 17:15 – Cadets, Juniors, and winning Junior Worlds at 16
• 23:30 – Freestyle vs Greco, learning to throw, and why Greco guys are different
• 31:00 – Iowa high school culture, hazing, leadership, and growing up fast
• 39:10 – The pressure of chasing perfection and how weight cutting nearly broke him
• 46:20 – Midlands war stories, massive cuts, and learning the hard way
• 54:00 – Strategy vs athleticism: beating better athletes by being smarter
• 1:03:20 – Abe, Henson, Cunningham, and Jeff’s toughest college rivals
• 1:12:10 – Life after Iowa: law school, senior-level runs, and walking away too early
• 1:20:40 – Finding coaching again, loss in the family, and saying yes to Simpson
• 1:27:30 – Why Jeff chose women’s wrestling and the trust-over-respect difference
• 1:34:30 – Building a non-scholarship winner in a scholarship world
• 1:43:10 – NIL, transfer portal, and why loyalty is disappearing from college sports
• 1:51:40 – The wild 90s: Russian saunas, boxing gloves, and stories you couldn’t tell today
• 1:59:30 – The people, the fans, and the legacy Jeff wants to leave in women’s wrestling

If you enjoy this episode, hit subscribe, drop a comment with your favorite story, and tell us which wrestling legend you want to hear from next!

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Olympic gold medalist and three-time Olympian Kenny Monday sits down to go full tilt on a lifetime in wrestling. From getting beat up as the smallest kid in the Tulsa YMCA room to conquering the brutal Tbilisi tournament and winning Olympic gold, Kenny breaks down the mindset, rivalries, and turning points that shaped his career.

He shares inside stories on his legendary battles with Nate Carr and Dave Schultz, what it took to finally crack the “Russian code,” and how he’s now rebuilding Division I wrestling at Morgan State, an HBCU with deep history in the sport. We also get personal: raising wrestling sons, coaching in today’s NIL era, and why this is the best time ever to be a wrestler.

If you enjoy this episode, hit subscribe, drop a comment with your favorite story, and tell us which wrestling legend you want to hear from next!

www.thefulltiltpodcast.com

Timed highlights:

0:00 Custom Community ad and Full Tilt intro
0:49 Why Kenny Monday was a “must have” guest
2:20 Growing up in North Tulsa and discovering wrestling at the YMCA
5:19 Getting beat up daily as the smallest kid – and the power of “don’t quit”
9:11 His mother’s belief and building a lifelong belief system
10:25 Oklahoma as a wrestling hotbed and the Park System dual meets
13:16 Junior Olympics/Tulsa Nationals and early rivalries
22:10 Winning Junior Nationals as a freshman and high school dominance
26:20 The only blemish in high school and rivalry with Mike Sheets
28:47 Choosing Oklahoma State over Oklahoma and early college struggles
39:12 The worst beating he ever took in a practice room
44:40 The Kenny Monday vs Nate Carr rivalry – 11 matches and mutual respect
55:45 Learning freestyle and getting humbled in Russia
58:52 Surviving and then winning the brutal Tbilisi tournament
1:20:35 Beating world and Olympic champions: Variev, Fadzaev, and others
1:35:12 The politics, weigh‑in controversy, and World Team trials gauntlet
1:43:57 Hyperextending his elbow days before the 1992 Olympics
1:49:41 Which year was “peak” Kenny Monday?
1:56:25 Training with John Smith and the evolution of the low single
2:06:55 Rebuilding Morgan State wrestling and joining the EIWA
2:15:06 Coaching his sons and the pressure of being “Monday’s kids”
2:25:18 The Copenhagen nightclub dance contest story

#Wrestling #KennyMonday #FullTiltPodcast #Olympics #MorganState #NCAAWrestling #NateCarr #DaveSchultz #WrestlingHistory