Kollin Moore

Moore attended Norwayne High School in Creston, Ohio, where he was a multiple–sport-athlete, competing in soccer, track, football and wrestling.[3] He went 51–0 as a senior, not giving up an offensive point throughout the whole season and becoming the first OHSAA state champion of the school with a 23–8 technical fall in the finals, before graduating in 2015.[4] A two–time Garfield Heights district champion, two–time state finalist and NHSCA All–American, Moore was the eleventh Ohioan to compile more than 200 victories, with a record of 204 wins and 11 losses (ten of them came in his first two years).[5] As a soccer player, he was named the WCAL Player of the Year in 2014.[6] He was also a standout student, with a 3.8 GPA.[7] After capping off his high school career, Moore was recruited by the Ohio State Buckeyes.[8]

Redshirt; While competing at 197 pounds, Moore compiled 25 wins and 4 losses, was the Findlay Open champion and placed second at the Eastern Michigan Open, third at the Penn State Open and fourth at the Michigan State Open.[9]

Freshman; Tying Ohio State's record for total wins by a freshman, Moore racked up a 33–4 record, all four losses coming in the hands of the two NCAA finalists; J'den Cox, '16 Olympic Bronze medalist from Missouri and Brett Pfarr, returning All-American from Minnesota. He averaged 18 points per match that didn't end via pin,[10] won the Eastern Michigan Open championship,[11] placed third at the Cliff Keen Invitational[12] and added up bonus points in 19 of his 33 victories.[13] Moore claimed his first Big Ten Conference title after beating top-seeded Brett Pfarr and helped to clinch the team title,[14] entering the NCAA's as the third seed.[15] At the National Tournament, Moore was on a ride with three majors (two of them over the fourteenth and sixth seeds) on his way to the semifinals,[16] but was topped by Pfarr in a frenetic 9–13 match to end the series 3–1 in favor of the Gopher.[15] He was able to bounce back with a decision over seventh-seeded Aaron Studebaker from Nebraska and a pin over the fourth-seeded Jared Haught from Virginia Tech in the third-place match to claim the bronze, and All–American status.[17] Moore was then named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.[18]

Sophomore; Moore started off the season with 18 straight wins and a Cliff Keen Invitational title, where he recorded a notable fall over Jared Haught from Virginia Tech.[19] His losses of regular season came in the hands of future NCAA champions Anthony Cassar in a dual against Penn State and Michael Macchiavello in a dual against NC State.[20] The number one seed, Moore won his second back–to–back Big Ten title.[21] At the NCAA's, he reached the quarterfinals before being dropped by the unseeded Kyle Conel from KSU.[22] After a series of victories over the second, fifth and fourteenth seeds, Moore was once again defeated by Conel to place fourth and become a two-time All-American.[23]

Junior; To start off the season, Moore claimed his second straight prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational title[24] and won seven dual meets in a row before suffering his first and only loss of the regular season, as he was pinned by two-time NCAA champion (184lbs) and returning Schalles Award winner from PSU Bo Nickal in the first period, in a match of undefeated-in-the-season wrestlers.[25][26] Before regular season concluded, he racked up three more wins for the Buckeyes.[27] At the Big Ten Conference Championships, the two-time and defending champion Moore made his third straight final, but fell once again to Bo Nickal in the finals.[28] At the NCAA's, Moore, the second seed, hit a three–match win streak to reach the semis, where he dominantly defeated the third seeded Preston Weigel from Oklahoma State.[29] In the finals, he was once again stopped by Bo Nickal, claiming runner–up honors.[30]

Senior; In his final season as a collegiate athlete, Moore went undefeated at 27–0, claiming the Michigan State Open and the Cliff Keen Invitational titles, as well as going 14–0 in dual meets where he posted high–ranked victories.[31] At the Big Ten Championships, the top–seeded Moore went 3–0 and cleaned out the bracket, defeating Nebraska's Eric Schultz in the finale to claim his third and last Conference title.[32] Moore was a big favorite to claim his first NCAA title and the top–seed, however, the 2020 NCAA Division I National Championships was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, losing his opportunity of becoming an NCAA champion.[33] After the season, Moore was voted as a runner–up for the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy, behind Spencer Lee.[34]

Moore did not compete actively in freestyle during the folkstyle off-season, as he participated in other sports.[3] In 2016, he placed seventh at the UWW US Junior National Championships, but despite that, was able to overcome the field from the US Junior World Team Trials and competed at the World Championships, placing twelfth.[35] The returning US World Team Member, Moore made back-to-back team, by sweeping everyone in the bracket by technical fall.[36] He earned a bronze medal from the World Championships.[37]

A 21-year old junior, Moore made the '18 US U23 World Team on June, while also avenging his loss from the NCAA championships to Kyle Conel, defeating him twice by technical fall.[38] On November, he competed at the U23 World Championships, defeating '18 Russian National bronze medalist Igor Ovsyannikov, two-time junior Pan American champion Nishan Randhawa, '16 University World Championship runner-up Yunus Dede and Magomed Zakariev to make the finals, where he was outclassed by '18 U23 European bronze medalist Givi Matcharashvili, claiming the silver medal for the United States.[39]

Moore returned to competition in April 2019, and dropped down to 92 kilograms for the US Open as the fourth seed.[40] After winning his first three matches, notably tech'ing '17 Henri Deglane International champion Timmy McCall, Moore was defeated by Hayden Zillmer in the semifinals, getting thrown to consolations, where he also lost to three–time NCAA DI All-American Timothy Dudley, but finally came back to defeat four-time NCAA DIII National Champion Riley Lefever, placing fifth.[41] At the US World Team Trials of May, Moore tech'd Lefever for the second time, was defeated in a razor close bout against Zillmer, defeated McCall and was shockingly tech'd by Lefever.[42]

On December, Moore competed at the US Senior Nationals, where after defeating '19 NCAA runner-up Derek White '18 Pan American Championship runner-up and '15 NCAA champion Kyven Gadson, he was downed in another closely contested 20-point bout against '15 US University National champion Hayden Zillmer, claiming runner-up honors and qualifying for the '20 US Olympic Team Trials.[43]

Moore was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4–5, however, the event was postponed along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[44] After a long lay-off due to the pandemic, Moore came back and flawlessly defeated '14 Pan American Championship bronze medalist and multiple time US Open All-American turned MMA fighter Deron Winn at the Chael Sonnen's Wrestling Underground I, on August.[45]

Moore then demonstrated his improved skills when he claimed the US National Championship on October, defeating '19 Pac-12 Conference champion Nathan Traxler and '19 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion Ty Walz to make the semifinals, avenging his losses over Hayden Zillmer and once again defeating Kyven Gadson.[46] A rematch with Gadson took place at the FloWrestling: Burroughs vs. Valencia card on November, where Gadson was forced to forfeit due to injury early in the match.[47] On December, Moore represented the Ohio RTC at the FloWrestling RTC Cup, where after defeating Ty Walz and Scottie Boykin by technical fall, he was downed by Michael Macchiavello, in a bout where he Moore the edge but committed to his offense and was countered with a late takedown, dropping the match by criteria. He then defeated Hayden Zillmer once again, helping his team place fifth.[48]

To start off the 2021 year, Moore competed at the prestigious Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series on March.[49] In the quarter and semifinals, he took out '19 Junior European Champion Feuzullah Aktürk with ease, and dominated '20 Asian Championship bronze medalist Alisher Yergali to make the finale. In the finals, he faced '19 World Championship runner-up and '18 Asian Games gold medalist Alireza Karimi, and in a razor close match, Moore was able to edge the Iranian on criteria to claim the prestigious championship for the United States.[50]

In April 2–3, Moore competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials as the top–seed, aside from Kyle Snyder and J'den Cox, as both were sitting out for later in the tournament (Cox would later be pulled from the event).[51] He ran through the challenge bracket, defeating Braxton Amos, Ty Walz and dominantly avenging his last loss to Michael Macchiavello, scoring a flawless technical fall to advance to the best–of–three.[52][53] In the finals, he faced former teammate and three–time World and Olympic champion Kyle Snyder, whom he was soundly defeated by twice, claiming runner–up honors.[54]

Moore came back at the prestigious Poland Open on June 8, where he placed fifth after going 1–2, suffering losses to the dominant Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian and '19 World Championship runner–up Alireza Karimi in a rematch from their Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series bout.[55]

Moore trimmed back down to 92 kilograms and registered to compete at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12 as the third-seed, intending to represent the country at the World Championships at his former weight class.[56] After sweeping out the field on his way to the finals, Moore was downed twice in a row by the dominant two-time World Champion J'den Cox, losing the best-of-three series.[57]

In 2022, he won one of the bronze medals in his event at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.

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