The 70th episode of the Five Point Move Podcast features 2026 World Team member Timothy Young (97 kg, Army/WCAP), who has had quite the wrestling journey leading up to his first World Championships appearance.
Young was a Division I athlete for Old Dominion University — just prior to the school deciding to shutter its wrestling program. That occurrence produced one area of uncertainty for Young. The next factor was the pandemic. Young, who was at the time only 23 years of age, was unsure as to whether or not he might continue wrestling. However, the one-time Cadet World Team member and Illinois native found his way back to Greco-Roman competition when the sport began opening back up and immediately impressed observers with his offensive instincts. Young was hungry to score points, and did so, all while accumulating experience for later use.
By the spring of ’22, Young had become a legitimate contender at 87 kg and eventually qualified for Final X: New York against the late Alan Vera. That series went to Vera and, not long after, Young joined the Army for its World Class Athlete Program. He remained a top domestic threat over the course of the next two-plus years, but struggled to break through when Team selection arrived. That changed this past April.
Following a strong performance in his bracket, Young went on to defeat Arian Khosravy (CA) in what was an exciting best-of-three finals series. The next month saw Young earn bronze at the Pan-American Championships and, since that point, he has been hard at work preparing for the Worlds, which begins on October 26 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
In his initial pop-in on the podcast, Young details what the process has entailed dating back to April, as well as how he has adjusted to 97 kg after having made the jump up from 87 two years ago. An extremely insightful athlete, Young delivers interesting, valuable perspectives as he takes listeners along for the ride.
A Few Highlights
Young on joining Army/WCAP in 2022
“I had went to a Pan-Am camp when (Matt) Lindland was still the coach. I was still just trying to figure out where to go and he had not quite gotten a room for me yet. He was like, ‘Hey Tim, if you do well at these tournaments, I’ll get you a room.’ But still, in the back of my mind, the WCAP program was in my head. I saw Bruce Robinson there. I said, ‘Hey, Bruce, you know, I’m interested in being part of WCAP. So he goes, ‘Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for you but you have to do well at these tournaments.’ Once I had met the qualifications for WCAP, I was like, This is what I want to do.”
Young on training during the summer
“I really liked the Poland camp because I got to see myself, and try out some new things, some strategy. I was like, Yo, these guys aren’t really all that I thought they were, to be honest. I’ve adjusted to it, I’ve adjusted to it. And I think a little bit of it was remembering what got me far in the wrestling world before — even on the folkstyle side. It was, Okay, what do I like? I like misdirections, I like pull-snap, I like arm drags. Okay, how can I incorporate that into my wrestling? How can I do a misdirection? It might not be on the legs, it might be on the arms. So maybe I’ll pick on this side, and then boom, drag the other side. And that’s really what I’ve been working on.”
Young on match strategy
“I feel like I’ve had a game plan for my matches, so I like to just expand on that with the coaches. I think before that I was just going out there and kind of wrestling. It wasn’t as much of a game plan. It was just push the pace and try to get that passivity call, which that’s not always a possibility as far as you have to have a way to get the passivity call. You’ve got to get something. Either you’re going to hang on a two-on-one, or get an underhook, and you’re walking him down or something. Off-balance him. This is the first time when I’ve felt like I really have a game plan of attack going into a match.”
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