Bader Show podcast

Latest Episodes:

World Champion Kylie Welker | The Bader Show (Ep. 460) Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

Kylie Welker just won a U23 world title for Team USA. She also is the main character in the series HAWKEYES: The First Season With Iowa Women's Wrestling.

0:45 - Another world title

1:30 - Won her 2nd senior World Bronze, a little disappointed

2:55 - First international trip

5:00 - Kylie finally has her process down!

8:00 - Kylie can flip that switch and be mean

10:10 - Was very confident she would win U23 gold

11:00 - Watching her Gold medal match

14:40 - Kylie will take some time off the mat

17:20 - Being followed by cameras all season

19:20 - The dramatic final scene in HAWKEYES!

23:40 - Being vulnerable and sharing personal things

26:30 - Lilly Luft’s story was heart wrenching

28:15 - Watched episode 2 in Serbia one day before World Championships

28:58 - Kylie is dating Austin Gomez

29:30 - Ella Schmit is goofy as they come!

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Ben Askren | The Bader Show (Ep. 459) Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

Ben Askren continues to make progress. He updates us on his recovery, talks building a club/business, National Duals, coaching philosophies and more. 0:40 - Had a great workout and more good days than bad 3:00 - How sensitive is his chest/scar? 4:20 - Coaching from the chair 6:15 - AWA success, make the kids enjoy it 8:55 - Don’t cut any/much weight 10:00 - Don’t over compete 10:50 - LIttle to no 8th grade national success 12:15 - Mitchell Mesenbrink, take days off 13:20 - Making the wrestling room a place they love being in 14:00 - Dan Gable philosophy was meant for adults 16:20 - “They don’t go hard enough” (Stand up to the parents) 17:35 - Reading athletes and knowing what they need 19:15 - Adults talking to adults vs adults talking to kids 21:35 - Sinclair vs Ferrari at National Duals 23:44 - RAF02 28:50 - If you build it they will come 33:50 - RIP Duke Rufus #TheBaderShow

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Wyatt Hendrickson's Wake Up Call After Worlds | The Bader Show (Ep. 458) Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

Wyatt Hendrickson won and NCAA title, won the Hodge Trophy and make the US World Team. He fell short and Worlds and learned a big lesson this summer which will take him far. 1:00 - Dustin Plott bruised his face 1:30 - Reaction to FloFilm “The Year of Wyatt Hendrickson” 2:25 - Wrestling camps, hectic schedule, not ideal situation 4:00 - Subtle art of not giving a F#%K 5:00 - Not sleeping before Worlds, questioning himself and doubting 5:55 - Head pinch instead of go-behind 6:45 - Camps vs training 7:45 - RTC coaches treat you like an adult, let you make decisions 9:30 - Wyatt would do it all again the same way 11:50 - Put too much pressure and expectation on himself 12:45 - Should have reached out for some emotional support 15:00 - Comparing this situation to sophomore year NCAAs 17:30 - Always room to learn more 19:20 - Remember how you feel right now 22:00 - NCAA vs Worlds lead up and training 23:00 - 2025, Wyatt’s freshman year on senior level 25:00 - Wyatt’s whole next year is mapped out 27:15 - No one else cares. Wyatt was in his own head 28:45 - Wyatt needs to have fun and be easy going. He wasn’t that way at Worlds 33:00 - RTC athletes don’t micro manage, this was Wyatt’s fault 35:50 - This is Wyatt’s first interview since Worlds, finally ready to be honest 38:45 - Wyatt’s advice; watch the losses and learn from your mistakes #TheBaderShow

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Trent Hidlay | The Bader Show (Ep. 457) Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

Trent Hidlay just won a UWW World title at 92kg. He was a 2x NCAA runner-up and a 5x All-American for NC State. 0:45 - Has it set in yet? 2:20 - Best seats in the house for WWE RAW 5:30 - Trent first wanting to be a world champ 8:20 - Age level world experience 10:40 - Always the bridesmaid, never quite first place 14:44 - Confidence and mental process 18:40 - Calm down before the match 21:20 - Princeton match where Trent learned about approach “messy, not perfect” 24:00 - Competition anxiety and 2021 US Open 26:55 - The pressure of folkstyle and college wrestling 29:00 - Only brothers to be 5x NCAA All-Americans 29:50 - Ramping up for World Championships, being a leader 31:50 - Big fan, looking at brackets and the Worlds 34:50 - The gameplan for the finals 35:30 - Watching the World Gold medal match 50:50 - Reflecting on all the losses after the big win 52:25 - Not making results your identity 55:35 - The match represents Trent and his whole career 56:45 - Olympic weight for 2028 57:30 - What’s next and competition schedule 59:15 - Payday for winning Worlds! #TheBaderShow

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World Champion Zahid Valencia | The Bader Show (Ep. 456) Sep 25, 2025

Show notes

Zahid Valencia is fresh off a world title where he dominated the field going unscored upon through the entire tournament.

1:00 - Zahid vs Dean Heil 89lbs at Tulsa 2:30 - Feeling less pressure to be the best, doing it for himself 4:13 - High school freshman Zahid interview 6:10 - Consistency 9:00 - Prepping for Ghasempour 10:30 - Zahid breaks down World semifinal vs Ghasempour 20:15 - Zahid wants to wrestle a lot of matches this next year 21:30 - The Final Word #TheBaderShow

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What is CLAW Wrestling? | The Bader Show (Ep. 455) Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

What is this CLAW Wrestling League all about? Eric Brugel was an All-American at Penn State and is one of the founders of the professional wrestling league CLAW. 0:45 - World Championships & Penn State talk 2:00 - How CLAW got started 3:45 - Modified rules 4:50 - Pylon on the mat 7:40 - Matches are four rounds, every point counts 9:00 - Match points and team points 12:35 - We call stalling FAST 14:20 - All dual meets, willing to explore new concepts “Half ton challenge” 19:00 - CLAW draft 19:40 - Upcoming events 21:00 - Athletes getting paid 22:00 - How to make CLAW sustainable 24:15 - Dual meets are exciting 27:20 - General managers 28:30 - Adapt innovate Market (AIM) 31:25 - Fantasy wrestling 34:00 - 15% in NCAA pins come from top/bottom wrestling 38:40 - More action, more scoring, more strategy #TheBaderShow

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Max McEnelly | The Bader Show (Ep. 454) Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

Max McEnelly was 3rd at the NCAAs as a freshman this year for Minnesota. He recently won Gold at the UWW U20 World Championships at 86kg. He will start off the NCAA season ranked #1 at 184. 0:50 - Quit hockey to start wrestling 2:10 - Football was Max’s favorite sport 3:10 - Winning Fargo put wrestling at #1 4:45 - 7th & 8th grade state qualifier 6:15 - Huge jump in weight 7:35 - Freshman state champ 8:55 - Expectations going into college 9:40 - Minnesota all the way 12:00 - Carter Starocci 15:40 - NCAA Semifinals atmosphere 16:35 - Watching his semifinal vs Parker Keckeisen 18:50 - Battle back for third 21:30 - Won Fargo in his 3rd freestyle tournament 22:38 - Setting a goal to be world champion 23:55 - Watching U20 Gold medal match 34:40 - Rolling back into the college season 36:05 - Angelo Ferrari 38:30 - Wins and whoopins 40:25 - All-time favorite wrestler #TheBaderShow

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U20 World Champ Luke Stanich | The Bader Show (Ep. 453) Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

Luke Stanich just won a U20 World title at 65kg. He was an All-American for Lehigh University and has three years of eligibility left. 1:00 - Introduction to wrestling 5:00 - Taking wrestling to the next level 7:30 - Stages of goal setting 10:00 - Recruiting and going to Lehigh 13:05 - Really good at re-attacks 15:10 - Freestyle wrestling 16:55 - Stanich was confident he would make the team and win worlds 18:30 - Wrestling overseas 20:15 - Climbing a ski slope in Bulgaria 21:30 - Huge comeback from down 8-0 at Worlds! 35:00 - Luke has his own custom shoes! 36:05 - Bunch of funny tattoos 38:30 - Wins and whoopins 40:50 - All-time favorite wrestler #TheBaderShow

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MMA Legend Mike Brown | The Bader Show (Ep. 452) Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

American Top Team's head MMA coach Mike Brown was a state champion in Maine, wrestled in college at Norwich University before beginning his MMA career where he became the WEC Featherweight Champion.

1:10 - Mike Brown wrestled and LOVED it, hs state champ, college wrestler

3:55 - UFC tape brought Mike to college wrestling

6:20 - MMA training and his first fight

10:10 - Mike didn’t fight growing up, but was fascinated by it

12:10 - Becoming the champion

16:35 - After you’re not the champion anymore

18:15 - Time to retire

19:30 - We had to fight for the money

20:00 - Coach Mike Brown

21:20 - Steve Mocco

24:30 - Bo Nickal

29:25 - Askren-Masvidal and coaching teammates

33:45 - NCAA Wrestlers not as dominant in MMA

38:50 - How to become the best MMA fighter from a young age

40:00 - Aaron Pico

41:00 - The evolution of the MMA industry

42:40 - This SHOULD be the biggest sport in the world

45:30 - Mike Brown the wrestling fan

47:10 - Wins and whoopins

53:00 - All-Time favorite wrestler

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Troy Nickerson | The Bader Show (Ep. 451) Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

Troy Nickerson was and NCAA Champion at Cornell then coached the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club in Ithaca. From there he went on to be an assistant at Iowa State before becoming the head coach at Northern Colorado. This summer he was announced as the new head coach at Army West Point. 0:45 - Troy just moved in to his new house 1:30 - Co-head coach of Finger Lakes Club at Cornell 5:00 - Time and dedication it takes to be a good coach, 80-90 hours a week 6:25 - Differences between Cor nell and Iowa State, scholarships 9:10 - Importance of donor relationships 10:20 - Kyven Gadson losing his father 13:30 - Originally was not interested in UNC head job 15:20 - Early mistakes at UNC 18:55 - Troy heard from Associate AD at West Point 20:00 - What makes West Point different? 21:25 - Don’t want to work for the man, want to be the man. Set up for life 25:30 - Setting goals 27:35 - Military training during the summer 30:00 - West Point is the original NIL 32:00 - Wins and whoopins 34:40 - All-time favorite wrestler 35:30 - HS senior photo and frosted tips! 37:05 - BEAT NAVY #TheBaderShow

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