Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari recently made his appearance at this year’s NCAA Wrestling Tournament was no different. The redshirt junior, who made stops at Oklahoma State, Iowa, Cal State-Bakersfield, and the University of North Carolina before landing in Lincoln, arrived as the No. 4 overall seed in the heavyweight division.
According to sources, that seeding set up a highly anticipated semifinal matchup against Iowa State’s top-seeded Yonger Bastida. The two had history. Back in 2021, both wrestlers competed at 197 lbs (89.4 kg), with Ferrari taking a 5-2 decision over Bastida before going on to claim a national championship that same season as a true freshman.
Five years later, both have moved up to the heavyweight class, and it was precisely that weight gain that became the focal point of a post-match controversy.
Bastida controlled Friday night’s semifinal from start to finish, earning a commanding 15-7 major decision victory. When Ferrari sat down with reporters afterward for his statements, he did not hold back regarding what he believed contributed to his opponent’s considerable size advantage.
“I weighed in at 224 pounds with my clothes on this morning … he went in there maybe 250, 260?” Ferrari stated. “We wrestled years ago at 197, and you saw how that went…you see what he looks like. I’m not gonna say things and make accusations, because I know the facts. But the facts are, you saw him when he was 19-20 years old, like me, no acne, no backne, no nothing. Look at him now, tons of acne, tons of backne.”
Ferrari then called for expanded testing protocols, though he framed his comments as observation rather than direct accusation.
“So, whoever’s running the testing protocol for testing HGH probably should go test some people. Not just in season but outside the season. Because he gained 30 pounds of muscle. But hey, I’m not making excuses, because hey, it might have gone my way if I’d have been healthy.”
The gap Ferrari described is significant. He stepped onto the mat at 224 lbs (101.6 kg), while estimating Bastida entered somewhere between 250 and 260 lbs (113.4 and 117.9 kg),s.
Not everyone accepted Ferrari’s post-match observations at face value. Iowa State reporter Jacqueline Cord responded by sharing a photograph of Bastida from his first season with the Cyclones that appeared to show a similar skin condition to the one Ferrari highlighted.
Ferrari did not continue in the tournament following the loss, forfeiting his remaining matches and finishing in sixth place overall.
