AWL I preview at 92 kg: Deron Winn (Team Dake) vs. Mike Macchiavello (Team Taylor)
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by Andy Hamilton, TrackWrestling
It’s been a year of breakthroughs for Mike Macchiavello and Deron Winn, the 92-kilogram contestants Friday night at AWL I: The Beginning.
Macchiavello capped his career at North Carolina State in March by winning an NCAA title, completing an improbable rise for a wrestler who compiled a 20-22 record during his first two seasons with the Wolfpack.
He followed that up by winning the U23 World Team Trials in June, only to learn weeks later that he was ineligible to compete at the U23 World Championships. Though he’s still 23, Macchiavello missed the age cutoff because he’ll turn 24 on Dec. 24.
Nonetheless, winning the U23 Trials opened the door for him to participate in National Team training camps, which gave him the opportunity to accompany Kyle Snyder as his training partner for the World Championships. And that gave him exposure to David Taylor, who selected Macchiavello as his 92-kilogram starter for Friday night’s event at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“When I look back at everything I’ve gotten to do over the past two and a half months, not being able to go to the U23 Worlds is not something I’ve been thinking about a whole lot,” Macchiavello said. “I definitely thought about it during the three days they were wrestling (at the U23 World Championships in Romania). I was like, ‘Man, I wish I could be there.’ But prior to that and afterwards, I was like, ‘The opportunities that came from making that team, like getting to go to the National Team camp and rolling around with those guys, like Dave and Kyle and J’den (Cox) and Kyle asking me to be his training partner I think trumps that.
“I think that experience is more valuable than the U23 World tournament, in my opinion, just because you’re around the U.S. National Team, guys who have won World and Olympic gold medals and if you’re a wrestler and that’s what you’re trying to do, what better group of people to learn from?”
Macchiavello’s travels this summer took him to Colorado Springs for a National Team training camp where he spent a couple weeks hanging out with Winn. They were drill partners there, but Friday night will mark their first match.
“I’m really, really excited about my matchup with Deron,” Macchiavello said. “We’re actually buddies and we’ve been talking trash to each other. We texted and just joked with each other. I wished him good luck with his fight and stuff like that. He had T-shirts and I bought one to support him. We got close out at the Olympic Training Center at the National Team camp for two weeks. You’re there for two weeks and you’re around the same group of guys, so I got to hang out with him a good bit and he’s just a good guy.”
Winn earned a National Team spot for the first time in his career this year when he finished third on the American ladder at 92 kilograms behind Cox, the reigning World champ at the weight, and Hayden Zillmer. The 29-year-old Missouri native has been going back and forth this year between the mat and the octagon.
Winn is coming off a victory Saturday night against UFC veteran Tom Lawlor in Golden Boy MMA’s debut event that ran his career record in the octagon to 5-0.
“I knew it was going to be my coming out party,” Winn said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “It was definitely the most exposure I was ever going to get and I knew I had to seize the moment. I’m ready. I’ve competed at a high level for a long time in wrestling. There’s a saying — seize the moment, don’t let the moment seize you, so I knew what I had to do to perform that night and kind of steal the show. I just went out there and trusted in my training, I trusted my camp, I trusted everybody who supports me and being able to do that allows me to go out there and let it fly.”
Both wrestlers will pick up $2,500 for the match. The winner will take home an additional $5,000.
For Macchiavello, it’s a payday that likely wouldn’t have come his way if he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to spend time around Taylor during the months leading up to the World Championships. The lessons he learned while traveling with the American men’s freestyle team and serving as Snyder’s training partner might turn out to be more valuable than his paycheck for Friday night’s match.
“I was there for Kyle and anytime Kyle didn’t need me I grabbed whoever I could, whether it was Tervel (Dlagnev) or Casey Cunningham or Bill Zadick or Bo (Nickal) or Kyle (Dake), maybe I was asking Dake questions,” Macchiavello said. “I was trying to pick everybody’s brain as much as I could. I took so many notes and I just tried to take advantage of the opportunity. I’ve been working on a lot of stuff since I’ve been back. I go to U23 Worlds and I don’t get to do all that and I think I don’t learn as much. When I compare the two experiences, I was able to take so much away from being a training partner and being around those guys. I was really, really thankful and I got really excited and motivated for what’s to come.”
Tickets for AWL I: The Beginning can be purchased at www.americanwrestling.org.
The event will be broadcast live by TrackWrestling
TEAM DAKE – 92 kg
Deron Winn, San Jose, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
College: Meramec, Lindenwood
High School: Liberty (Mo.)
Born: June 13, 1989
• Second in 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
• Fourth at 2014, 2015 and 2018 U.S. Open
• Fourth in 2014 U.S. World Team Trials
• Second in 2014 and 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International
• Second in 2014 and 2018 Bill Farrell International
• Third in 2014 Pan American Championships
• Third in 2016 Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial
• Third in 2013 Cerro Pellado International (Cuba)
• Two-time junior-college national champion for Meramec
• NAIA All-American for Lindenwood University…
• Three-time Missouri state champion
TEAM TAYLOR – 92 kg
Mike Macchiavello, Raleigh, N.C. (Wolfpack WC)
College: NC State
High School: Monroe, N.C. (Sun Valley)
Born: December 24, 1994
• 2018 U23 World Team Trials champion
• 2018 NCAA champion for NC State
• 2017 and 2018 ACC runner-up
• 2013 North Carolina state champion
Macchiavello capped his career at North Carolina State in March by winning an NCAA title, completing an improbable rise for a wrestler who compiled a 20-22 record during his first two seasons with the Wolfpack.
He followed that up by winning the U23 World Team Trials in June, only to learn weeks later that he was ineligible to compete at the U23 World Championships. Though he’s still 23, Macchiavello missed the age cutoff because he’ll turn 24 on Dec. 24.
Nonetheless, winning the U23 Trials opened the door for him to participate in National Team training camps, which gave him the opportunity to accompany Kyle Snyder as his training partner for the World Championships. And that gave him exposure to David Taylor, who selected Macchiavello as his 92-kilogram starter for Friday night’s event at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“When I look back at everything I’ve gotten to do over the past two and a half months, not being able to go to the U23 Worlds is not something I’ve been thinking about a whole lot,” Macchiavello said. “I definitely thought about it during the three days they were wrestling (at the U23 World Championships in Romania). I was like, ‘Man, I wish I could be there.’ But prior to that and afterwards, I was like, ‘The opportunities that came from making that team, like getting to go to the National Team camp and rolling around with those guys, like Dave and Kyle and J’den (Cox) and Kyle asking me to be his training partner I think trumps that.
“I think that experience is more valuable than the U23 World tournament, in my opinion, just because you’re around the U.S. National Team, guys who have won World and Olympic gold medals and if you’re a wrestler and that’s what you’re trying to do, what better group of people to learn from?”
Macchiavello’s travels this summer took him to Colorado Springs for a National Team training camp where he spent a couple weeks hanging out with Winn. They were drill partners there, but Friday night will mark their first match.
“I’m really, really excited about my matchup with Deron,” Macchiavello said. “We’re actually buddies and we’ve been talking trash to each other. We texted and just joked with each other. I wished him good luck with his fight and stuff like that. He had T-shirts and I bought one to support him. We got close out at the Olympic Training Center at the National Team camp for two weeks. You’re there for two weeks and you’re around the same group of guys, so I got to hang out with him a good bit and he’s just a good guy.”
Winn earned a National Team spot for the first time in his career this year when he finished third on the American ladder at 92 kilograms behind Cox, the reigning World champ at the weight, and Hayden Zillmer. The 29-year-old Missouri native has been going back and forth this year between the mat and the octagon.
Winn is coming off a victory Saturday night against UFC veteran Tom Lawlor in Golden Boy MMA’s debut event that ran his career record in the octagon to 5-0.
“I knew it was going to be my coming out party,” Winn said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “It was definitely the most exposure I was ever going to get and I knew I had to seize the moment. I’m ready. I’ve competed at a high level for a long time in wrestling. There’s a saying — seize the moment, don’t let the moment seize you, so I knew what I had to do to perform that night and kind of steal the show. I just went out there and trusted in my training, I trusted my camp, I trusted everybody who supports me and being able to do that allows me to go out there and let it fly.”
Both wrestlers will pick up $2,500 for the match. The winner will take home an additional $5,000.
For Macchiavello, it’s a payday that likely wouldn’t have come his way if he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to spend time around Taylor during the months leading up to the World Championships. The lessons he learned while traveling with the American men’s freestyle team and serving as Snyder’s training partner might turn out to be more valuable than his paycheck for Friday night’s match.
“I was there for Kyle and anytime Kyle didn’t need me I grabbed whoever I could, whether it was Tervel (Dlagnev) or Casey Cunningham or Bill Zadick or Bo (Nickal) or Kyle (Dake), maybe I was asking Dake questions,” Macchiavello said. “I was trying to pick everybody’s brain as much as I could. I took so many notes and I just tried to take advantage of the opportunity. I’ve been working on a lot of stuff since I’ve been back. I go to U23 Worlds and I don’t get to do all that and I think I don’t learn as much. When I compare the two experiences, I was able to take so much away from being a training partner and being around those guys. I was really, really thankful and I got really excited and motivated for what’s to come.”
Tickets for AWL I: The Beginning can be purchased at www.americanwrestling.org.
The event will be broadcast live by TrackWrestling
TEAM DAKE – 92 kg
Deron Winn, San Jose, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
College: Meramec, Lindenwood
High School: Liberty (Mo.)
Born: June 13, 1989
• Second in 2018 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament
• Fourth at 2014, 2015 and 2018 U.S. Open
• Fourth in 2014 U.S. World Team Trials
• Second in 2014 and 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International
• Second in 2014 and 2018 Bill Farrell International
• Third in 2014 Pan American Championships
• Third in 2016 Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial
• Third in 2013 Cerro Pellado International (Cuba)
• Two-time junior-college national champion for Meramec
• NAIA All-American for Lindenwood University…
• Three-time Missouri state champion
TEAM TAYLOR – 92 kg
Mike Macchiavello, Raleigh, N.C. (Wolfpack WC)
College: NC State
High School: Monroe, N.C. (Sun Valley)
Born: December 24, 1994
• 2018 U23 World Team Trials champion
• 2018 NCAA champion for NC State
• 2017 and 2018 ACC runner-up
• 2013 North Carolina state champion
