Undefeated Phenom Bo Bassett, 17, Set to Battle Former NCAA Champ Darrion Caldwell at RAF 03

The Bishop McCort wrestling star — 126-0 in high school — will face the 37-year-old former Bellator champion on FOX Nation in a 145-pound freestyle bout

Bo Bassett, right, who will be a senior at Bishop McCort High School, will wrestle the at the Real American Freestyle 03 event Nov. 29 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Bassett is a two-time PIAA champion and has a 126-0 record in high school. / Harrison Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If anyone is taking attendance, please don’t mark Bo Bassett absent.

The Bishop McCort senior wrestler and Virginia Tech commit is open to any opportunity to lock horns with worthy competition. With the speed his skills accelerate at, it takes some searching to find it.

Bassett ready for any challenge

Bassett’s next challenge will come during the Real American Freestyle 03 event Nov. 29 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The event will be streamed on FOX Nation.

“I don’t miss an event,” said Bassett, who lives in Windber, Pa. “I will compete absolutely everywhere. I’ve never missed an event. I’ll be at IronMan, Powerade, Beat of the East, Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, state tournament, U.S. Open and senior trials. If there’s an opportunity to compete in freestyle or folkstyle, I’m in.”

Bassett, who has a large social media following and recently won the 149-pound weight class at the Clarion Open, will be tasked with taking on an opponent twice his age at RAF 03.

Darrion Caldwell, 37, will wrestle Bassett in a 145-pound featherweight bout. Caldwell was the 2009 NCAA champion at 149 pounds and went on to become the Bellator bantamweight champion.

“(Caldwell) won the NCAA championships when I was 3-years-old,” Bassett said. “As I was growing up, he was dominating Bellator. It's pretty cool to watch a legend growing up, and then it's even cooler to be able to compete against him. So, I'm looking forward to that. I think that I'm aware of what Darrion does. But I try to stay more focused on what I can do and what I can control. And so that's what I'm looking at.”

Building the brand

Part of the idea behind RAF was to try and provide amateur wrestlers with professional opportunities beyond college. RAF encourages wrestlers to promote themselves in a manner more like professional wrestlers or MMA fighters do.

Bassett already knew the highs and lows of engaging with the social media stake pit. He has already felt the scorn, particularly after he chose to decommit from Iowa.

“I think that people realize I’m just trying to work hard, have fun and grow the sport of wrestling,” Bassett said. “Those are my main priorities, right? To use my platform to grow the sport and grow my faith in God. I think people are starting to realize that. Anybody that ever had negative feedback, they are starting to turn to the good side.”

He feels the sentiment has mostly cooled off recently.

Bassett felt the change when he got an apology from renowned UFC trash talker Chael Sonnen. Sonnen criticized Bassett when he decommitted from Iowa.

“I even got an apology from my man, Chael,” Bassett said. “At first, he was a little bit more negative after the decommit and all stuff like that, but I think he’s made it known since then that he’s a fan. And so it was pretty cool that he hopped on the positive side and that kind of started the shift for me.  But I think dealing with all that type of stuff's fun. I think it's motivation, it's exciting, and you just gotta make sure that you're holding yourself to a high standard.”

Building the resume

Bassett entered the Clarion Open earlier this month as an unseeded wrestler. He ended up walking away as the champion at 149 pounds. In the final, he beat Cornell’s Jaxon Joy, who is ranked No. 3 in the country by InterMat, 11-1.

Bassett said he doesn’t vary his approach too much from event to event.

“Obviously, those guys are a little older, but the way you approach it is the same,” Bassett said. “It was exciting. I think the mindset was to sprint, score points and have a lot of fun. But I was able to wrestle a couple NCAA qualifiers and then a guy who knocked off the No. 3 kid in the country in the semis.”

Bassett is 126-0 during his high school career, going 52-0 during his junior season, and is a two-time PIAA Class 2A champion. Bassett wasn’t allowed to participate in the postseason during his freshman season because Bishop McCort was banned from the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 due to recruiting violations.

Full Circle

Bassett is excited to be on the same card as Franklin Regional graduate Spencer Lee. Lee, who was a three-time PIAA champion with the Panthers, was a silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics and will also compete on the same card. Lee will wrestle Andrii Yatsenko in a bantamweight bout.

Bassett also trained at Young Guns Wrestling Club, which has been the building ground for many of the top wrestlers Western Pennsylvania.

“It’s an honor,” Bassett said. “When I was the youngest guy in the room, he was kind of the oldest guy in the room and, and starting to make his way into, you know, high school into college. And so I got to watch a little bit of him growing up.”

Lee said he appreciated the variety of athletes who will compete on the card. The main event is between former UFC title challengers Michael Chandler and Chad Mendes, who both have extensive amateur wrestling backgrounds.

“I think it’s awesome,” Lee said. “(Bo) has a big name and a lot of social media followers. Having him wrestle is a benefit to the sport. People are going to tune in.”

Catching Caldwell

Bassett will soon be taking the mat to pursue another state championship. But having another match on a big stage is something he is laser focused on.

Bassett felt one of his advantages is that he has a lot less to worry about than Caldwell does.

“ I have a lot less responsibilities than Darrion does,” Bassett said. “He's a grown man. He has a job. He has a family and he has to take care of a lot of different things when I just gotta take care of my grades and wrestling.”

There’s no need to guess what Bassett’s gameplan is. He wants to score points and have fun.

"It's definitely important to respect areas that he's good in and be ready for the things he likes to go after,” Bassett said. “But for me it's more so trying to control my style, my pace, my positioning and the things that I can control.”

--Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo