AJ Ferrari’s Shocking HGH Accusation, Demands Drug Test on Yonger Bastida After NCAA SF Loss

AJ Ferrari recently accused top seed Yonger Bastida of using human growth hormone (HGH), following his loss against the Iowa State wrestler at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Ferrari locked horns with Bastida in the semifinal round of the heavyweight category at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

After competing for the Oklahoma State Cowboy Wrestling in the 197-pound weight class, Ferrari bulked up to 235 pounds and competed in the heavyweight, 285-pound weight class in 2026 for Nebraska. In the semifinal round, Iowa State’s Bastida, who also competed in the 197 lbs category earlier, transitioned to the heavyweight division, defeating Ferrari by major decision (15–7) to advance in the final round.

In an interview following their bout, the Nebraska program’s wrestler and former NCAA champion, accused Bastida of using performance enhancing drugs like HGH. He claimed that the Iowa State wrestler experienced unnatural muscle growth while transitioning from  197 to 285lbs category. He highlighted the changes, including tons of acne on the top seed’s body to support his claims.

“I weighed in at 224 pounds with my clothes on 2-22 underwear. In the morning he went into maybe what 250-260. You know what it means we wrestled years ago at 197, you saw how that went. He didn’t vote with me at all. But guess what? You see it looks like, listen I’m not gonna say things and make accusations because I know facts and the facts are you saw him when he was 19-20 years like me, no acne look at him.”

“Now tons acnes and back acnes. So whoever is running the testing protocol for test HGH probably should go testing people not just in the season but outside this season because he gained 30 pounds of muscles. I’m not making excuses because listen it might have gone my way if I have been healthy.”

AJ Ferrari defeated Bastida in 2021 when they vied in the 197lbs category.

AJ Ferrari and Nebraska at the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships

AJ Ferrari competed at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championshoips after his appearance at the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling tournament. He advanced to the final round after defeating Ohio State’s Nick Feldman in the semifinal round. He dominated the faceoff with a decision over 2-1.

In the final round, the 2021 NCAA Champion in the 197lbs category Ferrari, fell short against Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali in the 285lbs category. Ghadiali won over Ferrari  by decision 5-2 to claim the title. The Nebraska program setteled in third place in the ranking table with 116.5 points. The were surpassed by Penn State and Ohio State, who posted 184.0 and 148.5 respectively.