He's ba'ack . Trent took the last few months off from wrestling competition following his freshman campaign at Columbia University. While he hasn't competed since last March , he has still been practicing and running practices at the Lions Den . While initially planning to hang things up and move to MMA , those plans have changed as MMA competition has been put on a long hold due to Covid . He got some amazing training in with some of the top ranked UFC fighters and even had a fight scheduled before the event was then cancelled due to the Virus. Trent remains a student of Columbia University but has been in contact with other major D1 programs about a return to the mat. He was ranked very high at his weight class moving into his sophomore year and would start in most lineups .
Trent started for the Lions before suffering a shoulder injury halfway through the season and only returned to face the #1 ranked wrestler at his weight at the time versus Cornell University. While speaking to him , there was no way he would miss that match which ended in a close loss by a score of 5-2. Columbia's wrestling program probably was not the best fit for Trent nor was putting his coach in a triangle coach but he looks back and took a lot of positives from the season.
He was regularly chosen to practice with Kendall Cross and the NYC RTC athletes including Nick Suriano and cherished his time with them and what he took from that experience. Trent still stays in contact with this group and plans on working with some of them to prepare for his comeback on the mat. Working with this group regularly did not sit well with the Columbia head coach. It split his time between the college practices.
Trent also had a strong desire to continue his college wrestling career with his brother Caleb, whom he has competed with his entire life. The Columbia coaching staff promised to keep them together if he committed and went to school there, only to later go back on their end of the deal which lead to Trents decision to leave the team. Caleb went on to choose to wrestle for the University of Buffalo under MAAC conference coach of the year John Stutzman where he is currently preparing for a season in which he may end up starting as a freshman after a very strong off season and pre season.
Trents plans are to finish his Bachelors degree at Columbia University and then make a transfer to finish what will be his remaining 2 years of eligibility. Will we see him in a Buffalo Singlet , who knows but he is vey confident and optimistic on what he plans to do on the mat and is planning to compete again with his brother. As far as him competing in MMA , he plans to get a few fights in on the amateur level while he finishes up school and his wrestling career. After speaking with him on the topic last, I think the Covid break has been good for him and given him time to process things. He said , he has plenty of years ahead to compete in MMA and go pro and only 5 years left to wrestle. He will be practicing full time at the Lions Den in the meantime along with getting training in with his brother at the Buffalo RTC with plans to compete in some USA wrestling events this summer. I know a lot of people are happy to hear of this decision.