Bader Show podcast

Latest Episodes:

Amit Elor | The Bader Show (Ep. 490) Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

In May of 2025 Amit Elor wrestled in and won the World Team Trials while she was unknowingly pregnant. She stayed active and worked out the entire pregnancy. In May of 2026, about three and a half months after giving birth, Elor once again wrestled in and won the World Team Trials.

She will compete in the World Championships this fall looking to earn her fourth World/Olympic gold medal. She joins The Bader Show to share her incredible journey.

0:45 - Baby update

1:35 - Finding out she was pregnant

4:05 - Amit wrestled at 2025 WTT while unknowingly pregnant

7:50 - Amit wrestled until 38 weeks pregnant

11:15 - A little too much working out sometimes

13:30 - Doctor’s advice

16:20 - Challenging parts of the pregnancy

21:00 - Giving birth

24:35 - Back to the gym three days later

28:10 - On the mat 2 weeks postpartum!

30:10 - Considering US Open and wrestling at WTT

34:07 - Not as strong this time

37:30 - What to do w baby during World Championships & training camps

41:10 - Pressure from competition is still there

42:30 - 2028? 2032?

44:45 - Content creator extraordinaire

49:00 - Pregnancy food cravings

54:45 - Fan questions

57:25 - How does Amit use AI?

58:45 - Wins and whoopins

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Trent Hidlay: Final X. Wedding. World Championships. | The Bader Show (Ep. 489) Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

Defending World Champion Trent Hidlay joins the show after a special Final X wrestle-off against his good friend Mike Macchiavello. Now Trent has his sights set on chasing a second consecutive World Title. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Why Trent Hidlay Missed Final X 2:27 Choosing Between Wrestling & His Wedding 6:21 Mike Macchiavello's Impact On His Career 10:19 The Brutal NC State Practice Battles 15:01 Preparing To Wrestle Your Best Friend 17:20 Was It Awkward Wrestling Mike? 20:37 Final X Win & Wedding Week 23:04 Watching Final X During His Wedding 24:03 Honeymoon In Santorini 25:38 RAF Match Preview 27:29 Thoughts On Snyder vs Sadulaev 29:24 Does Winning Really Make You Happy? 32:51 Hayden Hidlay Returns To NC State 36:46 Nobody Saw This At The World Championships 39:24 The Moment He Almost Gave Up In The World Finals 42:12 Celebrating A World Title In Croatia 43:29 Learning To Fight Through Doubt 45:46 Is Trent More Confident Now? 46:06 Life After Becoming World Champion #TheBaderShow

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Wyatt Hendrickson | The Bader Show (Ep. 488) Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Wyatt Hendrickson beat World Bronze medalist Mason Parris in two straight matches at Final X to make his second straight World Team. He will represent Team USA at the World Championships later this year. 0:30 - This summer will be different from last summer 2:00 - Wrestling Mason Parris at the Ranking Series tournament 4:15 - Wyatt’s thoughts on Final X matches 5:00 - Wyatt almost got pinned 6:30 - Challenges, reviews & new rules 12:45 - Rewatching a scramble against Parris 14:40 - Extra wrestling at the end of match 2 17:00 - Teammates losing and locker room tone 20:00 - Teammates keeping Wyatt accountable 23:50 - Learned a lot wrestling Bahrain and getting pinned 26:00 - Picturing wrestling Zare 27:30 - Wyatt vs Gable? 28:50 - Sweat it out (Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma) 31:40 - Artificial Intelligence, how does Wyatt use it? 34:00 - The final word - Live the Word #TheBaderShow

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Jon Kozak | The Bader Show (Ep. 487) Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Get to know the story behind FloWrestling's international guru, Jon Kozak. 0:50 - Backstory, sports nut & wrestling 7:00 - Relationship with dad and wrestling 9:45 - Wrestling success 12:35 - Broke his leg in a match 18:30 - Felt good about the end of wrestling career 19:00 - Church, Bible college 22:00 - College baseball 24:30 - Jon became a pastor, started a church 26:30 - Became a huge MMA fan 28:15 - JB success brought Kozak back to wrestling 31:30 - The Yarygin FloFilm 33:33 - Starting to create wrestling content 39:30 - Started doing rankings for Flo 42:10 - Final X talk 56:25 - Kozak’s all-time favorite wrestler 57:00 - How does Kozak use AI? 59:00 - Wins and whoopins #TheBaderShow

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Enock Francois & Kevin Jack | The Bader Show (Ep. 486) Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

IMG Academy is one of the most prestigious schools in the country and specializes in sports. They have started a wrestling program and Director of wrestling, Enock Francois and head coach Kevin Jack join the show to talk about their school, the vision and the future. 0:45 - What is IMG Academy? 3:15 - Sports education institution 5:45 - IMG is starting a wrestling program 8:15 - Why was Enock sold, immediately? 9:50 - Wanting to reflect a D1 program 11:00 - Head coach Kevin Jack 13:00 - Director of wrestling / Athletic director for wrestling 17:00 - What will IMG’s competition schedule look like? 21:30 - How are they putting a team together? 23:00 - The financial component with tuition, financial aid 27:30 - Five years down the road 30:00 - Enock learning under Rob Koll, thinking outside the box 35:00 - New ways to be creative at IMG 40:20 - Creating something and building trust from scratch 41:30 - They will be competing next season 43:30 - The final word #TheBaderShow IMG Wrestling questionnaire: https://forms.imgacademy.com/view.php... IMG Wrestling Camps: https://shop.imgacademy.com/pages/boo...

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Mike Macchiavello | The Bader Show (Ep. 485) Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Mike Macchiavello won his third US Open title and is headed back to Final X for the second time. He will face returning World Champion and friend, Trent Hidlay, whose wedding he will attend this summer. 0:50 - Why the headgear in freestyle? 2:00 - The young guys are so tough and hungry 4:30 - Internal emotions tied to wrestling 8:20 - How Macch and Trent Hidlay became friends 11:00 - Trent was Macch’s Final X training partner in 2023 11:30 - Feeling Trent improve over time 13:40 - Realizing Trent could be an opponent 14:30 - “See you at Final X” - they joked 19:00 - Emotionally preparing to wrestle a friend 21:00 - Macch and Trent wrestled in Zagreb this past February 27:00 - Gameplanning for Trent Hidlay 28:30 - Trent and Macch talk lately? 31:15 - Wedding talk, when’s the Final X wrestle-off? 33:40 - Watching Trent win a World title last year! 38:00 - How does Macch use artificial intelligence? 41:45 - Who is Macch’s all-time favorite wrestler? 44:35 - Wins and whoopins 48:06 - Macch will be on staff at West Point 49:15 - Macch looks like Jorge Masvidal 51:45 - Macch’s final word #TheBaderShow

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What Happened At Tarleton State? Grant Leeth | The Bader Show (Ep. 484) May 20, 2026

Show notes

Grant Leeth helped start the club wrestling program at Tarleton State in Stephenville, TX with the understanding they would be working toward becoming division 1. This week some statements came out that seemed contrary. Grant joins the show to give his perspective on the situation.

0:55 - Starting a wrestling program at Tarleton State

3:25 - Check all the boxes

4:40 - Raising money

6:25 - Allan Rogers, the big donor

7:00 - Wrestling facility

8:15 - The vision and ribbon cutting ceremony

10:10 - The coaching situation

12:50 - Highlights and success on the mat

14:25 - Communication with the administration

18:00 - Preparing to support D1 programs for 5 years

19:15 - Need a D1 conference

22:45 - Time for kids to find a new home

23:00 - False rumors that wrestling is completely done at Tarleton

24:15 - Leeth no longer wanted to be part of the program

25:30 - Could Tarleton women’s program become D1 soon?

28:40 - Need more fundraising

29:35 - Nothing in writing

31:00 - Was it ever real?

32:55 - What’s next for Grant Leeth?

35:10 - How could Leeth have handled things differently?

37:55 - It truly seemed like D1 was going to happen

39:15 - The emotions of Grant Leeth right now

43:25 - Grant Leeth’s final word #TheBaderShow

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Bo Bassett | The Bader Show (Ep. 483) May 06, 2026

Show notes

Bo Bassett just won the US Open at 65kg in both the U20 and senior divisions. He is already on the U23 world team and looks to make it on the U20 and senior teams as well.

Bo is committed to wrestle at Virginia Tech and will move there this summer and prepare to be in the line up for the Hokies next year at 141 or 149.

0:50 - Junior Hodge Trophy Winner

1:45 - Wrestling two brackets at US Open

4:15 - Iowa, wait no, Virginia Tech

9:45 - Breaking down wrestling 2 brackets at US Open

13:30 - Bo vs Aden Valencia (Match breakdown)

24:00 - Final X & U20 best of three

29:00 - Challenges Real Woods presents

33:30 - Jax Forrest

36:00 - Rest and recovery

38:00 - Near-term and mid-term future for Bo

40:15 - 141 or 149 at Virginia Tech

41:45 - Reaching beyond wrestling

43:50 - Sweat it out (5 questions to make Bo sweat)

49:10 - How does Bo use AI?

50:30 - All-time favorite wrestler

51:10 - Wins and whoopins

#TheBaderShow

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Ben Askren & Donny Pritzlaff | The Bader Show (Ep. 482) Apr 15, 2026

Show notes

Ben Askren and Donny Pritzlaff had a contentious rivalry back in 2007 and 2008. The two have gone on to become successful coaches, Askren with his AWA academies and Pritzlaff as head coach at Columbia University. The two join the show to talk through their past as competitors and share knowledge as coaches. In the end we see two former rivals become friends. 1:00 - Ben the content creator praised Donny the coach 1:35 - Ben watching Donny’s college career 3:00 - Donny learning who Ben was 4:05 - The mishap when Ben was recruited to Wisconsin 5:45 - Donny on Ben’s college career 7:45 - What it was like wrestling Donny 9:00 - What it feels like to wrestle Ben 9:50 - Warming up with the clinch pushouts everyday for a year 12:30 - Was it personal? 15:00 - Askren wants to know Pritzlaff’s coaching secrets 16:00 - Competitor vs paper boy 20:30 - Askren’s take on belief and confidence 22:20 - Don’t teach moves, put them in positions & figure it out 24:45 - Ben & Donny are now friends! #TheBaderShow

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Pac 12 Realignment | The Bader Show (Ep. 481) Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

Recent college wrestling conference realignment has seen a rebirth of the Pac 12 as several teams leave the Big 12 to join the Pac 12. Chris Pendleton and Neil Erisman, head coahces at Oregon State and Little Rock have been a part of the Pac 12 for some time now. SDSU leaves the Big 12 for the Pac 12 and Nate Engel is the director of strategy for Pac 12 wrestling. The four wrestling minds join the show to share their excitement for the opportunities that lie ahead. 1:05 - The role of college conferences 2:00 - Chris Pendleton on Pac 12 changes since 2014 3:25 - How football and money has impacted college conferences 4:30 - Pac 12 experience for Little Rock 6:00 - SDSU experience in the Big 12 and why they are leaving 9:55 - Having voting rights in the conference 13:00 - When, how and why this conference alignment got going 17:15 - We need to be proactive instead of reactive 20:30 - Coming together and think outside the box 21:30 - What happens to the Big 12? 27:30 - How important conference championships can be for Mid Major schools 30:30 - Shifting more toward dual meets 36:15 - Having options and throwing all ideas out there 40:45 - Importance of collaboration 42:45 - Pendleton’s closing words 44:20 - Ability to host conference championships 48:15 - Damion Hahn’s perspective shift after leaving Minnesota 51:15 - Damion Hahn on the late great J Rob and how innovative he was in wrestling #TheBaderShow

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