Each holiday season is a time to look back, as well as to plan ahead. As has been my tradition when each year comes to a close, I will share my Top 10 wrestling stories for the 2009 calendar year. 

As the first year of a new Olympic cycle, the international level had many changes and new faces. The U.S. college and high school community also had its share of drama and intrigue, as the sport continues to evolve and change at all levels.

Narrowing this down to 10 choices is difficult, because there are so many big stories in wrestling each year. Going through the season is always a fun activity, allowing me to relive many of the moments that make wrestling so special. I encourage all of our readers to take a similar journey and come up with their own Top 10.

Here's my Top 10 list of stories this year.

1. Jake Herbert's rapid rise - Coming into the year, Northwestern star Jake Herbert was expected to be a dominant force on the college level, going into his senior season after an Olympic redshirt year. That expectation was met, and then some. Herbert won his second NCAA title, went undefeated and claimed the Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler. He beat returning NCAA champion Mike Pucillo of Ohio State in the finals. It was his spring and summer which was a bit surprising, as he immediately moved to the forefront of U.S. freestyle wrestling. Herbert claimed his first Senior freestyle title at 84 kg in April, and followed it up with an exciting win over an impressive Bryce Hasseman to capture the World Team Trials in late May. After a summer of hard training, Herbert's magical year ended with a silver medal at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark in September. He defeated a tough young Russian, Junior World Champion Abdusalam Gadisov, in the semifinals, and was just a hair away from taking the gold-medal match against Zaurbek Sokhiev of Uzbekistan as well. Herbert is a talented athlete but also is very personable and great with the media. He has established himself as a top hopeful for the 2012 Olympics and somebody who will put fans in the seats to see his aggressive offensive style of wrestling.

2. The emergence of Darrion Caldwell - Everybody knew that NC State star Darrion Caldwell was loaded with talent and excitement, but few expected him to have the kind of performance he turned in this year. During the college season, he emerged as the top challenger for last year's Hodge Trophy winner, the amazing Brent Metcalf of Iowa, at 149 pounds. At the NCAA Tournament, Caldwell was relaxed and having fun, and easily reached the finals with his wide-open style. The gold-medal match against Metcalf was a classic. He put the Iowa star in danger early and dominated the positions on the way to an 11-6 upset victory which goes down in college folklore. When Caldwell did a celebration flip and was pushed in the air by Metcalf, wrestling fans went ballistic with interest. Perhaps the biggest story of his year was his excellent performance in freestyle. He had not done any international-style matches since high school, and had only a few months of practice at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Caldwell climbed to No. 3 on the National Team at the World Team Trials, beating Olympian Doug Schwab and losing only to super-talented Jared Frayer in the semis. Alas, his college rematch with Metcalf will not happen this year, as Caldwell missed the season with surgery and will redshirt until next year. Stay tuned to see just how far Caldwell can take his career.

3. Cael goes to Penn State and KJ lands at Iowa State - The big news in the college off-season was the decision by Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson to leave his alma mater and take over the reigns at Penn State. Nobody saw this one coming, even as Penn State promised its wrestling faithful that they were seeking a big-time coach. Sanderson was Iowa State's top wrestling star, and was brought on as head coach to big fanfare after winning the 2004 Olympics. While there, he brought Iowa State to a second, third and fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships. But why Penn State? Nobody completely knows for sure, but Sanderson has taken on a big task of rebuilding the proud Nittany Lion program. He brought coaches Cody Sanderson and Casey Cunningham with him, along with athlete (and younger brother) Cyler with him to Happy Valley. Who would replace Sanderson? Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard made his own splash by bringing in World and Olympic champion Kevin Jackson, the former National Freestyle Coach and a past NCAA runner-up for the Cyclones. Jackson lured Chris Bono away from UT-Chattanooga to be his top assistant and added Yero Washington to a strong coaching staff. He also lured the Paulson brothers to return to Ames for their Olympic training. Jackson inherits a strong team and is rallying Cyclone Nation behind his program. Jackson was expected to be the pick for the Arizona State job, but ended up going back to Iowa State instead. The ASU job ultimately went to Shawn Charles, a Sun Devil alum and experienced and talented college coach. Charles has also assembled an impressive staff, with Bryan Snyder, Ben Askren and Raymond Jordan coming on board, along with Brian Stith remaining on. It will be fun to see how these teams fare with their new coaching leadership.

4. New college teams in Texas, Arkansas and Georgia -  In an era when wrestling programs remained threatened due to Title IX and budget shortfalls, it was exciting to see new programs added in areas which truly need them. For the first time in 26 years, there will be a varsity wrestling program in Texas, with the announcement of a new men's and women's team at Wayland Baptist, an NAIA school in Plainview. Not to be outdone, the first college wrestling program in Arkansas in decades was created at Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, a Div. II school. The wrestling community in Georgia celebrated its first four-year program, with the announcement of a team at an NAIA school in Rome, Shorter College. Georgia now has two college teams, with Darton College, a junior college adding last year. It is great to see that many enrollment-driven colleges have discovered that adding wrestling will bring a ton of new students to campus, since there are not enough programs to meet the demands of our sport. Let's hope that this is a trend which continues for many more years.

5. Hawkeyes wins another NCAA title, but without a champion - The Div. I college season was dominated this year by the Iowa Hawkeyes, which retained its control of the NCAA title under the tutelage of head coach Tom Brands. The Hawkeyes had the best dual meet team and won the rugged Big Ten, then defended its NCAA team title with a strong overall effort in St. Louis for its 22nd NCAA team title. A bit surprising was the fact that the Hawkeyes won without an individual champion, with only runner-up Metcalf making the finals. The Hawkeyes won the tournament in the consolation bracket, which is not the tradition of this storied program. The heavy lifting came from Ryan Morningstar (165) who finished third, Phil Keddy (184) and Dan Erekson (HWT) who each took fourth and Daniel Dennis (133) who placed seventh. The new college season has begun with the Hawkeyes still at number one, looking to take care of "unfinished business" by seeking individual champions this year. Already this season, the Hawkeyes beaten No. 2 Iowa State in a major dual meet showdown in Ames in December, and is setting the standard for the rest of the college scene. 

6. Dremiel Byers makes it a full set of three World medals -  If there were any doubts about who the nation's best Greco-Roman wrestler, veteran Dremiel Byers stepped forward with another strong season to claim this recognition. Byers was very successful on the winter tour scene, then continued to dominate the super heavyweight class in the USA with victories at the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials. At the World Championships in Denmark, Byers was in great condition and wrestled with passion. Among his four straight wins was a second-round victory over five-time World silver medalist Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary. He avenged his loss at the Olympics with a victory over Sweden's Jalmar Sjoeberg. reached the gold-medal finals where he gave superstar Mijian Lopez a tough battle before getting pinned during a second-period flurry. Byers now has a World medal of every color, with a gold in 2002, a silver in 2000 and a bronze in 2007. He tied Matt Ghaffari with the most career World medals at three. This is unbelievable considering that Byers didn't wrestle his first Greco-Roman match until he joined the U.S. Army. He has already started the new season with a pair of gold medals in European events. 

7. Tervel Dlagnev steps up big in freestyle - The United States has a tradition of strong super heavyweight stars in men's freestyle. The new talent at the top of the weight class is Tervel Dlagnev, who took an unexpected road to international success. A relative unknown as a Texas high school athlete, Dlagnev went to Div. II Nebraska-Kearney, where he won a pair of D-II titles. In 2008, he showed his promise by winning a University World title. This year, Olympian Steve Mocco was expected to reign at the weight class, but Dlagnev defeated him in an exciting finals series at the World Team Trials. At the World Championships in Denmark, Dlagnev put together a strong performance, going 4-1 and emerging with a World bronze medal with a victory over Alex Modebadze of Georgia. His combination of size, strength, agility and technique makes him an international force. With new confidence after a strong season, it will be hard to take him down from the podium in future years. 

8. College kids Schlatter, Varner move to the top of freestyle rankings - The 2009 U.S. Freestyle World Team featured a pair of athletes who still had college eligibility remaining, Dustin Schlatter of the Univ. of Minnesota at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Jake Varner of Iowa State at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Varner went right to the top of the pack after winning an NCAA title as a junior by sweeping both the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials at the weight class. Schlatter, who was on a redshirt year, claimed his weight class with a win at the World Team Trials over U.S. Nationals champion Travis Paulson. Neither were able to win a medal at the World meet in Denmark, but both have returned to their senior year in college, where they hold No. 1 rankings in their divisions. There are high expectations for their futures on the international level once they complete college this spring.

9. Junior World titles captured by Bradley and Anthony - The United States had a pair of golden performances at the Junior World Championships in Ankara, Turkey. Dom Bradley, competing at super heavyweight, captured a gold in men's freestyle, while Victoria Anthony, competing at the lightest division at 44 kg, won the World title in women's freestyle. Bradley was dominant the entire tournament, throwing around his opponents on the way to victory. All four of the athletes he defeated were from former Soviet Republics, excellent competitors from strong wrestling nations. Many foreign coaches were surprised when they saw that Bradley was not on the U.S. Senior World Team based upon his performance in Turkey. Anthony, who has just graduated high school in California, had a clutch performance by winning four matches on the way to the crown. She defeated Chaiki Fujikawa from wrestling powerhouse Japan in the finals. Both Junior World champions are now focused on college wrestling. Bradley is battling NCAA champion Mark Ellis for the starting spot on the Missouri team, while Anthony crossed the border to compete for Simon Fraser Univ. in Canada. 

10. Big Ben is back - After taking off a year to concentration on Mixed Martial Arts and coaching, 2008 Olympian Ben Askren has returned to freestyle wrestling this fall. He entered the Sunkist Kids International in October, wrestling up at 84 kg, where he won a silver medal, losing to career nemesis Chris Pendleton in the finals. Askren, who is now an assistant coach at Arizona State, has announced his plans to make the 2010 U.S. World Team. However, he has not stopped competing in other combat styles. Askren won both the U.S. Grappling World Team Trials in October, then claimed a gold medal at the Grappling World Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla in December. He defeated 2008 Grappling World champion Jacob Volkmann in the finals of both events. He has also signed a contract with the Bellator event in Mixed Martial Arts, a popular tournament format. Askren will miss the U.S. Nationals, but return for the World Team Trials. Can Askren become the first to compete in MMA and remain an international wrestling star? Only time will tell. However, we can expect that the popular Askren will create headlines and bring attention to the sport, while displaying his tremendous abilities.

There are a number of other stories worth mentioning, which fell a little short of the top 10 release. A short summary of these includes

- The addition of Ricardo Liborio as USA Grappling National Coach - USA Wrestling had a wonderful addition with the selection of Ricardo Liborio as its National Grappling Coach. Liborio is highly respected in both Grappling and MMA circles, and has amazing coaching and motivation skills. He is the head coach for the successful American Top Team program. Liborio brings legitimacy to the Grappling program, and has a tremendous enthusiasm for expanding Grappling in our nation. He led the USA to the World Team title in all four divisions (men's No-Gi, women's No-Gi, men's Gi and women's Gi) at a competitive World Championships in Fort Lauderdale in December.

- Triple Crown winners in Fargo - It was a big summer for Triple Crown winners at the combined ASICS Junior and  Cadet Nationals in Fargo. To win a Triple Crown, an athlete must win USA Wrestling national titles in folkstyle, Greco-Roman and freestyle the same year. The first leg in folkstyle is at the USAW Folkstyle Nationals in Iowa in April, then the last two legs are in Fargo. This year, Jade Rauser of Montana became the first Junior Triple Crown winner, competing with dominance in all three styles. On the Cadet level, the Michigan phenom Taylor Massa won a Triple Crown for the second straight year. Also adding Triple Crowns were Jake Waste of Minnesota and Devin Peterson of Wisconsin. This elite achievement has increased in prestige and truly identifies the top athletes in the nation at their age group.

- Adeline Gray makes the big step into Senior success - A Junior World champion last year, Colorado native Adeline Gray made the transition into Senior wrestling with tremendous success. After her senior year in high school at the USOTC program at Northern Michigan, Gray won the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials at 67 kg/147. She also qualified for another Junior World Team, but was unable to defend her title, missing the medal rounds. However, at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, she had a marvelous performance, placing fifth at 

- Ohio Stare retains second place at NCAA championships - Tom Ryan's Buckeyes continue to impress, taking second at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. J Jaggers won the NCAA individual title at 141 pounds, to lead the team. Mike Pucillo and Reece Humphrey added silver medals, and the Buckeyes were in the hunt throughout the tournament. Ryan and his talented staff of assistants are not only getting strong recruits, but also seem to get the most out of the athletes who were already in the program when they arrived in Columbus.

- Cejudo sits out of wrestling, writes book - Where's Henry Cejudo? The dynamite wrestling star, who won an Olympic freestyle gold medal as a 21-year-old in Beijing, China last year, decided not to compete this past year. He was busy making appearances and speeches, conducting wrestling clinics and helping promote the sport all over the nation. Cejudo also found time to work with award-winning writer Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles to develop a book entitled "American Victory," which tells his amazing life story, the son of undocumented immigrants from Mexico who had numerous life challenges on the road to his amazing feat. The book has its official release in January, Cejudo has not ruled out returning to the mats to make a run at the 2012 Olympic team, something that wrestling fans would love to see. 

- Nickerson wins an NCAA title which his dying father saw in person - Troy Nickerson of Cornell has been one of the most successful wrestlers and impressive people in college wrestling in recent seasons. At the NCAAs in St. Louis, he competed with passion to win the 125-pound NCAA title, defeating past N CAA champion Paul Donahoe of Edinboro in the finals. Nickerson has battled injuries for the last few seasons, and needed shoulder surgery after his NCAA victory. Behind the scenes, Nickerson was dealing with the fact that his father Bob was gravely ill. With the support of many of the Cornell wrestling community, Bob needed extensive medical attention in order to fly to St. Louis and see his son compete in person. A short time after the tournament, Bob Nickerson passed away, but he was able to witness his son's greatest day as he won the NCAA crown.

- Oklahoma City is the new women's college champions - There is a new leader on the women's college wrestling scene, as Archie Randall's Oklahoma City Stars claimed the team title at the 2009 WCWA National Championships in January. Randall's second year program knocked off perennial powerhouse the Univ. of the Cumberlands, led by three champions: Michaela Hutchison at 55 kg/121 lbs., Tessa Plana at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Stefenie Shaw at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Women's college wrestling continues to grow with the addition of new teams each year, and this tournament will get better and better over time. 

- Fighting for the Fullerton program - This year, the NWCA All-Star Classic was held in Fullerton, Calif., as a way to help the Cal-State Fullerton program raise funds to help save the program. The university has challenged the wrestling team to bring in substantial funds in order to maintain the sport on campus. The leadership of coach Dan Hicks, as well as the California wrestling community and the national wrestling family helped make this opportunity a success. A standing-room only crowd of over 4,000 attended the event and enough money was raised to give Fullerton some breathing room in their daunting task.

I already know that I have missed a few really important stories. Rather than spend tons of time researching this, I am going to go with these stories because they came to mind. We would appreciate if wrestling fans would share their thoughts about the top stories of the 2009 year. Please give your opinions about what you believe were the biggest news item in the year that has passed. You can give your feedback on the following thread on the message boards.

http://www.thematforums.com/myforum/?show_topic=80391&forum_id=3

Have a blessed holiday season and a great 2010 wrestling year!!!!