AJ Ferrari recently shared an apology for Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida for accusing him of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) consumption after losing to him at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. However, the Nebraska wrestler has again received online backlash, as he spelled Bastida’s name wrong in his apology tweet.
Ferrari and Bastida met each other at the heavyweight semifinal round at the NCAA championships on March 20. Bastida managed to secure the victory with an early takedown and a seven-point move in the first period. He advanced to the finals with a 15-7 major decision over Ferrari.
However, the thing that attracted the fans’ attention was the Nebraska wrestler’s accusation of Bastida using HGH and performance-enhancing drugs. Days after this, the latter’s strength coach, Durbin, bashed Ferrari, demanding an apology. The No. 4 seed recently posted a video on Nebraska Wrestling’s X handle, where he admitted his mistake and said that he respects Bastida.
“Wrestling is a very, very emotional sport. After my semi-finals match, you know, I was speaking in the heat of the moment. I was not at all saying that, you know, Yonger Bastida is on HGH, if that was taken the wrong way. I feel very badly about that as I respect Yonger a lot,” said Ferarri.
Reposting this video on his X handle, he penned a message that read:
“I just got off the phone with Younger, and we’re both excited to embrace the future and the opportunities ahead of us. Respect, integrity, and faith are important to both of us. We remain great friends and have deep respect for each other, both on and off the wrestling mat,” wrote AJ Ferrari.
Even though the Nebraska wrestler showed humility and apologized, one thing that overshadowed all his efforts was him spelling the Iowa wrestler’s name wrong. One of the fans immediately slammed him for the same, writing:
“If you’re going to apologize and say you’re friends, you should probably at least spell his name correctly.”
What Did AJ Ferrari Say About Yonger Bastida After Losing at the NCAA Wrestling Championships?
After losing in the heavyweight semifinals at the NCAA Wrestling Championships against Yonger Bastida, AJ Ferrari addressed the media, where he accused the Iowa State wrestler of consuming performance-enhancing drugs. Highlighting the major changes in the wrestler, including his 30-pound weight gain and the visible acne and back acne, Ferrari suggested potential consumption of drugs and also mentioned the testing of HGH.
“I weighed in at 224 pounds with my clothes on this morning … he went in there maybe 250, 260? 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,” said AJ Ferrari.
He added:
“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.”
Ahead of the 2026 NCAA Championships, AJ Ferrari competed at the Big Ten Championships, where he ended up in second place, losing to Taye Ghadiali in a 5-2 decision in the finals.
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