Mike Poeta was named Head Coach of the Illinois wrestling program in April of 2021. Having been a fan of his for many years as a competitor, and in his early days as an assistant with the program, I was very excited about this move. The other day I had the honor of connecting with him to talk through what we can expect from his program heading into this season. I was very excited to talk through the potential for this season, who to watch, plans for their team, new additions to the roster, and some of their additions to the coaching staff. Without further ado, allow me to share some of the highlights from that conversation.
Last season was expected to be a strong one for Illinois, but a series of unforeseen events caused the team to call an audible to some postponed plans. In the end, this should end up as a real positive for this group for the 2024/2025 season. I asked Coach Poeta about the messaging to the team as they prepared for this season:
“The messaging for everyone was to push yourself and to try to get the best version of everybody. The team we have this year is really lined up to be successful. This is the team we thought we were going to have last year, so I had to be a little more patient. The Braunagels started having a ton of success, and they wanted to take the Olympic year and I wanted to allow them to have that life-changing experience.
One of the bright spots from last season was Kannon Webster who showed in his limited action that he could be a real force at 149. Here is what Coach Poeta had to say about their young thoroughbred, along with his thoughts on more experienced returners to the lineup, Lucas Byrd and Luke Luffman:
“Kannon Webster was able to wrestle in five events and was able to get up to being ranked seventh in the country. Then you had the unfortunate part of Lucas Byrd and Luke Luffman being hurt, which can happen any year. Losing them, I look at it as having five potential All-Americans, and they were on the bench last year. These guys are the hungriest that they’ve ever been. Luffman physically looks like a different person. He looks more intimidating and tougher. Braunagels spent the year wrestling primarily Greco and came back and their shots were better. Webster is a year older and has another year of maturity, and he’s ready for the best four years moving forward. Lucas Byrd had a bad injury over the summer, so we knew he was going to be out, but he’s very ready. Additionally, Byrd has stepped up as a leader. He seems to have grown into a great leader for the younger guys.”
I asked Coach Poeta about Zac Branuagel and the upcoming All-Star Classic opportunity he will have:
He has another year of experience at 197 pounds. He moved up the last season in Folkstyle. He had some enormous wins over guys like Jacob Warner (Iowa), Yonger (Iowa State), and Beard (Lehigh) he showed where he could be in the country. He’s more confident in the weight and ready to go. The All-Star Classic is a prestigious invite, and he can look back and be proud to be chosen to wrestle in this event. We are really excited for him.
Getting back to Kannon Webster, I asked Coach Poeta about what we can expect to see and where he feels he’s had the most progression. He already has shown that he can compete with the best in the country, but more specifically I wanted to know what he’s seeing day to day that has impressed him the most:
“He is composed and more mature. In the beginning, he was hard on himself with any mistakes, but he’s been able to relax and be more calm and patient, and his wrestling is better because he’s not as concerned with a potential mistake. Austin O’Connor was wrestling with him the other day and Kannon had him on the ropes. He’s going toe-to-toe with him.”
Great time to talk about the addition of two-time NCAA Champ, Austin O’Connor, returning to his home state of Illinois to help coach the Fighting Illini:
“I think he’s a rockstar. He has brought such incredible ownership in wanting the program to be great. He grabs guys and does extra work once or twice daily above the coaching responsibilities that I have for him. Illinois wrestling right now is bad for an introvert. There is never a time when you come into the room and there aren’t other guys in the practice facility. Guys are in here nonstop throughout the day doing stuff on their own. The kids are obsessed on their own and that leads to success. Austin is a big piece of that.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t ask Coach Poeta about their returning All-American, Edmond Ruth. I don’t like to be remiss, so I asked him about Edmond and specifically around what he’s been working on coming off of a strong season:
“We are trying to get him to unleash his offense a little bit more. He has a great arsenal, and we need him to not keep it in his pocket. He shows such glimpses of greatness, and we want him to give himself more opportunities to score, and to unleash that greatness.”
Illinois also will be bolstered by a couple of transfers at 125 and 157 pounds. They were able to bring in two grad student transfers from Iowa State with Ramazan Attasauov and Jason Kraisser. Here coach talks about their impact thus far:
“Great situations and great kids. Wrestlers being obsessed, I got here at 7:30am to our facility, and Ramazon was already here working out. Being a 125-pounder, we have an RTC guy from Mongolia, Zane Richards, and Lucas Byrd, he has three world-class guys whenever he wants. Same with Jason, if he looks down he has Kannon Webster, if he looks up he has Danny Braunagel, and AOC the NCAA Champ at his weight class. We are lucky to have them and they are taking advantage of this opportunity.”
To wrap it up, I wanted to ask Coach Poetta about the postponed upgrade to their wrestling facilities. He was able to share some excellent news regarding their funds and the future of the Illinois facility upgrades:
“The positive part is that we fundraised all the money ourselves, so the money is there and we are ready. We aren’t waiting on a handout, wrestling people take ownership and we worked really hard to get the money ourselves. This will be a facility deserving of these guys, who exemplify what a student-athlete is, and they deserve something in return at that same level. When we are ready to get this going again, it’ll be ready to be built.” 
I knew ahead of this interview that Illinois was in a great position to challenge for a trophy this season. Upon speaking with Coach Poeta, I’m even more convinced. Their returning guys are all in a great spot to battle for a podium finish, and their transfers have put themselves into a positive environment for one last run at the podium themselves. The future is bright in Champaign, Illinois. Friends of the program should have a bottle of their own Champagne ready to open in March to celebrate a team that is prepared to attack this season and expects results. 

The All-330 projections are back for the 2024-25 preseason. The All-330 is a series of educated guesses on who will be the 330 wrestlers who make the trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to compete at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
So, how are these different than the national rankings, which go down to #33? There's a little bit of guesswork, projection, and opinion that goes into these, which is generally frowned upon with rankings. In some cases, we think a particular wrestler is poised for a big year (or not-so-big).
Another factor for these is conference allocations. Right now we can just speculate allocations for each conference and weight, but you can get an idea of how many each league will get based on rankings. For instance, in a Big Ten weight class with 10 of the top-15 wrestlers in the country (133), you can also assume that the conference probably steals an at-large berth as a lower-ranked wrestler only needs one win to lock up a national qualifying bid.
Wrestlers are listed by conference, in alphabetical order, based on school name, so they are not conference rankings.
The good news is that if someone is not listed or in the "just missed" category, they have the entire regular season action to go, along with a conference tournament. There's still plenty of time left to change a narrative or impress the masses.
 
125 lbs

The differences between these and the rankings are more evident at 125 than at most other weights. There are a handful of true and redshirt freshmen that are projected to go to Philadelphia, but we don’t have the ability to rank them…yet. 
The true freshman are the #1 overall recruit from the Class of 2024, Luke Lilledahl and Chris Vargo of Edinboro. Marc-Anthony McGowan was a huge recruit for Princeton last year but was injured in the preseason and didn’t enroll. He’s counted as a true freshman. 
Freshmen of the redshirt variety include Kale Peterson and Vinny Kilkeary. Peterson had a limited sample size at 133 lbs, but is attempting to go 125 for Iowa. Kilkeary is in a battle for the starting role at 125 lbs for the Buckeyes with 2024 national qualifier Brendan McCrone. 
Also, we have Iowa State’s Osmany Diversent. With Kysen Terukina moving up to 125 lbs, Diversent looks like he could have the inside track at 125 lbs. Some may be unsure about the Cuban’s transition to folkstyle; however, fellow countrymen Anthony Echemendia and Yonger Bastida didn’t have much of a learning curve. If he’s good, he’s good.
One name omitted from the rankings is Clarion’s Joey Fischer. Fischer is moving up to 133 lbs and is possibly taking a redshirt. 
 
133 lbs

This was the most difficult weight to project as it is incredibly deep with NCAA qualifier-tier talent. There were nine other quality wrestlers on the list that couldn’t fit in the “just missed” category. 
The two wrestlers in this projection who are not in the current rankings are Cael Hughes and Mason Leiphart. Whoever starts for Oklahoma State should have a good shot at NCAA qualification, Hughes was a massive recruit for the Cowboys and redshirted last year. He’s likely a beneficiary of new high-quality practice partners. 
Leiphart has put together a pair of quality seasons for F&M, but has yet to qualify for nationals. Franklin & Marshall has done well of late developing overlooked talent. James Conway and John Crawford may have snuck up on some people last year, I think Leiphart is “that guy” in 2025. 
 
141 lbs

NC State will do some weight/redshirt shuffling from 133-149 lbs, so the wrestlers considered at those weights are different from these projections and will be reflected in next week’s preseason rankings update. Here two-time All-American Kai Orine moves up. 
One factor that may bump someone from the rankings into the “just missed” category is the Pac-12 at 141 lbs. They currently do not have anyone ranked at the weight. We have Nash Singleton as the conference’s representative. Singleton had a solid 2023-24 season at 149 lbs, but didn’t qualify. He would turn out to be a great option for the Beavers and work his way into the rankings anyway. 
Keep an eye on that second qualifying slot in the MAC. The conference only earned one bid in 2024. If that’s the case again, that might make room for someone in the “just missed” category to secure a spot. 
 
149 lbs

With the movement on the NC State front, Koy Buesgens is inserted in place of Jackson Arrington, who is reportedly taking a redshirt. Buesgens was solid at 141 lbs during his redshirt season and made the finals of the U20 World Team Trials Challenge tournament in freestyle. 
We’re taking a leap with California Baptist’s true freshman Paul Kelly. He has excellent freestyle credentials and will likely get the starting nod for the Lancers in year one. 
Maryland is noted here with a Miller brother; however, it’s a different one from the rankings. It appears the plan is now to have Kal Miller at 149 lbs and Ethen moves up to 157. 
A situation we’re watching is Arizona State who will likely start Mykey Ramos, but could turn to true freshman Pierson Manville. Ramos is in the “just missed” category, but Manville might have the potential to make the big tourney in year one. 
 
157 lbs

We left 2024 All-American Daniel Cardenas out of the preseason rankings because the Cardinal will start the season under the assumption that he will redshirt. In his place is redshirt freshman Zach Hanson, who had a very good redshirt year himself. 
Rutgers true freshman Conner Harer is one of the highest-ranked true freshmen who has a path to starting immediately. We see him delivering with an NCAA berth. 
Recently, we got word that Lehigh intends on redshirting Max Brignola, which leaves this weight without a ranked wrestler from the EIWA. Both Army and Navy give their wrestlers plenty of opportunities in open tournaments to meet good competition, while also padding their W/L record against DI competition. I think that helps starters from both of their squads earn NCAA qualification. 
 
165 lbs

It looks like Iowa State’s MJ Gaitan is moving down to 165 lbs in order for the team to field their strongest lineup. He was listed at 174 lbs in the preseason rankings. 
Illinois is very high on redshirt freshman Braeden Scoles and he was the only starter for the Fighting Illini who was not mentioned in our preseason rankings. 
Staying in the Big Ten, our rankings had Bryce Hepner as the representative for Ohio State. He’ll be in the mix, along with Sammy Sasso. We’re still not sure “where” Sasso is at this point in time, but he intends on winning the spot and we’re not counting him out. 
Veterans Luka Wick and Kaya Sement were the last wrestlers added at this weight. Wick is coming off an injury that disrupted his entire 2023-24 campaign, while Sement gets his first shot at being the full-time starter for the Quakers. 
 
174 lbs

Last week, he brought you news from Nebraska - that their returning starters at 184 and 197 lbs, were planning on moving down for the 2024-25 campaign. That puts Lenny Pinto here. 
Also, the movement in the Iowa State lineup leaves an opening at 174 lbs. Tate Naaktgeboren and Aiden Riggins are the most likely candidates to fill the void. The weight is probably more ideal for Riggins, but we’ll see how it plays out. 
This weight has a lot of depth for the EIWA and MAC. As you can see between their projected qualifiers and those in the “just missed” category. There are also a handful of others from both conferences who have an argument and wouldn’t be a shock to see in Philadelphia. One of them that we’ve bought in on is from one of the Philadelphia schools - Drexel’s Jasiah Queen. He’s one of the more highly-rated recruits of late for the Dragons and had some good moments during a .500 redshirt season. 
We left Dom Baker out of the preseason rankings because there was the possibility of him taking a redshirt. Now, we’ll likely see him compete at 174 lbs. 
 
184 lbs

Aside from the Nebraska movement - Silas Allred at this weight, there isn’t much difference between these projections and our rankings. One minor difference is having AJ Heeg included. Heeg had a really solid redshirt year for Oklahoma State, despite only a few matches against DI competition. 
 
197 lbs

After 184 lbs, this is a weight with lots of differences between the rankings and this projection. We mentioned in our lineup battles article, that Virginia Tech’s 197 and 285 lb wrestle-off’s will be among the most intriguing in the nation. We’ve got the youngster going in Sasso, but Andy Smith is a returning Round of 12 finisher. 
Reading between the lines, with Nebraska’s 184 and 197 lber moving down, you have to assume that Camden McDanel is as good as advertised - maybe better. He’s included. 
This weight also had a pair of true freshmen in the projections and another in the “just missed” portion. Dillon Bechtold and Tucker Hogan are in, while Max Shulaw lurks in the first out. Bucknell had success with a pair of true freshmen in 2024 (Noah Mulvaney/Myles Takats), could they do it again with Bechtold? Hogan is one of the highest-ranked recruits to sign with Lock Haven in the Scott Moore-era - I see him winning right away. Shulaw has a tough ACC weight class with plenty of tough opponents at every turn. 
Speaking of Hogan and the MAC, there isn’t a MAC wrestler listed in the preseason rankings, so we have him and Spencer Mooberry going. 
197 could also be the deepest weight in the SoCon. It wouldn’t surprise me if a third wrestler earned a qualifying spot. Four seems like it may be too much to ask for; however, there are enough quality wrestlers to make that happen. 
 
285 lbs

In the ACC, we’ve gone with the younger guys rather than the returning starters for NC State and Virginia Tech. That might be a tall leap when you’re talking about the two-time defending conference champion and an NCAA Round of 12 finisher, but Isaac Trumble and Jimmy Mullen are excellent in their own right. 
The Ivy League did not have any ranked wrestlers at this weight, so we’ve chosen Ashton Davis to get the only bid from the conference. 
Another new face is Navy’s Jamier Ferere. He’ll take over for 2023 EIWA champion Grady Griess. Ferere was 22-7 as a sophomore and finished his season with a dual win over national qualifier Dorian Crosby of Bucknell.

Big Ten teams released their schedules, so we dove in to find the top duals and matchups to watch for this season. Plenty of the usual suspects are on the list, but there are some rivalries and some sneaky good bouts that could be fun to watch. Let’s check out the B1G duals you need to see this year and the matches that deserve the spotlight during the upcoming season.
Check out The Intermat Podcast full season preview:

 
View the full Big Ten TV Schedule here!
1. #1 Penn State vs #2 Iowa
This dual will be awesome at every single weight class. This year the Nittany Lions host the Hawkeyes in the Bryce Jordan Center, which tends to bring in a contingent of Penn State fans to warmly welcome the competition.
 
Weights to Watch
165: Mitchell Messenbrink vs Mikey Caliendo
149: Shayne Van Ness vs Kyle Parco
285: #1 Greg Kerkvliet vs Ben Kueter
 
2. #1 Penn State vs #3 Nebraska
This has the potential to be the matchup of the year and yes, I know that this is the #2 spot on the list, but the top two teams meeting should always be at the top of a must-watch list, however, these matchups just bring something different.  Last season the Huskers won three out of the first five bouts and they return each one of those guys this year. Penn State flexed on the back half and is obviously the top dog on the block, but the Huskers have some serious hammer that can compete and it should be expected that this one is going to be good.
 
Matches to Watch
141: #3 Beau Bartlett vs #4 Brock Hardy
149: #2 Shayne Van Ness vs #5 Ridge Lovett
157: #4 Antrell Taylor vs #5 Tyler Kasak
 
3. #2 Iowa vs #3 Nebraska
This dual will be a very close second for match of the year behind the bout we have second on this list. A season ago, Iowa was dominant in their 22-10 win as they took seven of the 10 bouts. And this year, these lineups look very different, but still very powerful.

Matches to watch
149: #4 Kyle Parco vs #5 Ridge Lovett
157: #1 Jacori Teemer vs #4 Antrell Taylor
174: #8 Patrick Kennedy or Gabe Arnold vs #9 (at 184) Lenny Pinto
184: #7 Nelson Brands vs #9 Silas Allred
4. #3 Nebraska vs #9 Minnesota
Both teams return a healthy helping of experience. Last year, the dual came down to the battle at heavyweight that was won by Harley Andrews with a 10-7 decision over Bennett Tabor. Both are back this year and could have to play the role of the closers again this season. Going into the season every match but one will feature a pair of ranked guys going head-to-head.

Weights to Watch
125: #4 Caleb Smith vs #10 Cooper Flynn
141: #4 Brock Hardy vs #6 Vance VomBaur
157: #4 Antrell Taylor vs #8 Tommy Askey
5. #1 Penn State vs #7 Ohio State
Let’s be honest. This matchup may lack the stars like Bo – Nickal or Jordan, take your pick – or David Taylor or Logan Stieber, but this is always a must watch dual meet. The team score was lopsided last season in favor of the Nittany Lions, but there were still upsets and very close matches between Mendez and Bartlett that has proved to be a match that demands all attention.

Weights to Watch
141: #2 Jesse Mendez vs #3 Beau Bartlett
174: #2 Levi Haines vs #3 Rocco Welsh
285: #1 Greg Kerkvliet vs #3 Nick Feldman
6. #7 Ohio State vs #9 Minnesota
Depth makes for great duals, and both teams have a lot of it. Minnesota starts the season ranked 9th as a dual meet team, with Ohio State beginning the year at 7th. The argument for Ohio State in this dual is certainly their high-level talent, and potentially higher ceiling as a result. These teams didn’t wrestle each other last season, but when they met during the 2021-2022 season tOSU won 24-14. This season should have a lot of fun battles.
 
Weights to Watch
125: #10 Cooper Flynn vs #17 Brendan McCrone
141: #2 Jesse Mendez vs #6 Vance VomBaur
197: #11 Luke Geog vs #7 Isaiah Salazar
7. #7 Ohio State vs #12 Illinois
This is a sneaky good matchup. Illinois gets a lot of fire power back in the lineup and after Ohio State recorded its largest margin of victory in the history of this dual meet a season ago with a 36-6 win, the Fighting Illini looks poised for a get back. The last time Illinois came away with a win against the Buckeyes happened in 2021 when they won 18-15. The Braunagel brothers and Lucas Byrd were all a part of that team and all recorded upset wins over higher ranked guys. Surely they’d like to finish their careers the same way they started them against OSU.
 
Weights to Watch
 #3 Lucas Byrd vs #15 Nic Bouzakis
#11 Kannon Webster vs #12 Dylan D’Emilio
#8 Edmond Ruth vs #18 Ryder Rogotzke
8. #7 Ohio State vs #14 Michigan
There are few other rivalry matchups on here, but this one always has something extra to it because it goes further than the mat. The refusal of each team to use the other’s names with Ohio State referring to the University of Michigan as TTUN (That Team Up North). It may have started with football, but it’s taken seriously on the mat as well and as they both come into the pre-season ranked in the top 10, this one is sure to be another battle for the ages between these rivals.
 
Weights to Watch
133: #4 Dylan Ragusin vs #15 Nic Bouzakis
141: #2 Jesse Mendez vs #8 Sergio Lemley
184: #17 Ryder Rogotzke vs #15 Jaden Bullock
9. #9 Minnesota vs #14 Michigan
Once again, we find Michigan up against a rival. This dual has the potential to be an absolute slobber knocker. The Battle for the Brown Jug on the football field always seems to raise the level of each of those squads, and it seems to bleed into the wrestling rivalry as well, as each block “M” squad tries to establish B1G dominance. Minnesota starts the season ranked 9th, as the Wolverines begin the season at #14.
 
Weights to Watch
133: #4 Dylan Ragusin vs #13 Tyler Wells
141: #8 Sergio Lemley vs #6 Vance VomBaur
157: #13 Chase Saldate vs #8 Tommy Askey
197: #3 Jacob Cardenas vs #7 Isaiah Salazar
10. #2 Iowa vs #12 Illinois
Last season, Illinois had a lot of their most talented guys taking redshirts. Zac Braunagel took an Olympic redshirt season, Lucas Byrd took a medical redshirt, Kannon Webster managed to maintain his redshirt status as well despite going an impressive 20-1 in his afforded competition dates. Iowa has talent top to bottom in their lineup, and added some serious fire power with transfers #4 Kyle Parco and #1 Jacori Teemer, both from Arizona State and #2 Stephen Buchanan from Oklahoma. They’ll be favored going into the dual, especially with it being in Iowa City, but there will be some exciting matches along the way.
 
Weights to Watch
133: #3 Lucas Byrd vs #7 Drake Ayala
149: #4 Kyle Parco vs. #11 Kannon Webster
197: #2 Stephen Buchanan vs #10 Zac Braunagel
11. #1 Penn State vs #14 Michigan
Michigan’s lineup has some new pieces that could make a difference in this dual, specifically at 197 where we will most likely see Cornell transfer #3 Jacob Cardenas take on Michigan native Josh Barr who claimed a silver medal at the U20 World Championships this summer. Despite the gap in the team rankings, this will be a good match and I don’t expect as wide of a margin as last year’s 27-9 win by PSU.
 
Weights to Watch
133: #4 Dylan Ragusin vs #11 Braeden Davis
141: #3 Beau Bartlett vs #8 Sergio Lemley
157: #5 Tyler Kasak vs #13 Chase Saldate
165: #1 Mitchell Messenbrink vs #13 Beau Mantanona
12. #29 Purdue vs #30 Indiana
Rivalries are always fun, especially when it’s two schools sharing the same state. We see this a couple of times in the B1G with Michigan and Michigan State and Illinois and Northwestern. Both Purdue and Indiana are schools that have a lot of pride, and you know they want to leave this dual with the knowledge that cements their belief that they are the best wrestling team in the state of Indiana. Purdue has largely been on the winning side of this rivalry since 2005, with a 13-5 record in that time frame, however, Indiana has the bragging rights having won the last matchup, 22-9. The previous two seasons (22-23 and 21-22), this dual was a 1-point match with the teams splitting 16-17 decisions. This season the Boilermakers host the Hoosiers in West Lafayette and look to re-establish themselves as the top dogs in Indiana.
Weights to Watch
125: #5 Matt Ramos vs #26 Jacob Moran
141: #26 Greyson Clark vs #32 Henry Porter