© Aaron Doster/Imagn
It’s not hyperbole to say that Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari is unquestionably the most controversial college wrestler in the country, and Ferrari added fuel to the fire over the weekend at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament.
The redshirt junior, who has had spells at Oklahoma State, Iowa, Cal State-Bakersfield, and the University of North Carolina, before landing in Lincoln, entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 overall seed.
That set him up with a semifinal showdown against top-seeded Yonger Bastida of Iowa State. The two had previously squared off in 2021, with both competing at the 197-pound weight class and Ferrari coming out with a 5-2 victory.
He’d go on to win a national championship that season as a true freshman.
Since then, both have gained weight and now wrestle in the heavyweight division. But according to Ferrari, Bastida used a little bit of help to gain his weight.
AJ Ferrari Makes Wildly Unfounded Accusation Against Yonger Bastida
During Friday night’s NCAA semifinal between the two, Bastida was dominant, coming out with a 15-7 victory by major decision. After the match, Ferrari spoke with members of the media and wasn’t subtle about his belief that Bastida used human growth hormone in order to get bigger.
AJ Ferrari accuses Yonger Bastida of using HGH and says he needs to be tested 😂 pic.twitter.com/z6HiMGsjfT
— Bastida’s Burner 👑 (@BastidasBurner) March 21, 2026
“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.
“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.”
Now, I’m certainly no expert on semantics, but those sound like both accusations and excuses.
Meanwhile, Iowa State reporter Jacqueline Cord posted a picture of Bastida from his first season at Iowa State that appears to show a similar skin condition.
Ferrari ended up forfeiting out of the rest of the tournament and taking sixth. But we can add this to the long list of controversial statements and incidents during his college career.