A Weekend to Remember

Some weekends during the college wrestling season, you just know will be full of notable items and buzz. Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, National Duals Invitational, to name a few. This past weekend didn’t appear to be one that was out of the ordinary; however, it proved to be one of the best of the season. Several storylines emerged, many of which were not necessarily predictable on Thursday or Friday.

In one of the more surprising results of the weekend, North Central’s women’s program took out Iowa in the semifinals, 23-21. North Central took control of the dual by winning three of the first four weight classes; however, Iowa responded with five straight wins - leading to the 207 lb contest, which would decide the dual. North Central’s Dasia Yearby pinned Iowa’s Jaycee Foeller, a national runner-up in each of the last two years, to clinch the dual for North Central. It was Iowa’s first dual loss in the history of the program.

Even with a win over Iowa, North Central wasn’t done. That was just the semifinals. To win the National Duals, they needed to be a loaded McKendree team in the championship match. What ended up happening was a dual with razor-thin margins. Only one match was decided by tech or fall. North Central’s upperweights came through, winning four of the last five matches to give Joe Norton’s team a 21-18 win.

Coming into the Duals, North Central was ranked third behind Iowa(#1) and McKendree. The win marks the first National Duals title in program history for North Central.

Speaking of firsts, at the men’s Division III level, Roanoke College captured its first National Duals title in program history. A history that only dates back to the 2021-22 season. To claim their title, Roanoke needed to get by the top two teams in the nation in the semifinals and championship. They downed #2 Augsburg 23-11 in the semis and top-ranked Wartburg 19-16 for the title. This is an event that has been dominated by Augsburg and Wartburg since its inception in 2002. Roanoke is only the second team, other than those traditional powers, that have won the DIII duals.

At the DI level, the National Duals featured “mid-major” programs. That’s a bit of a misnomer, as both teams in the finals have consistently been able to compete and, more often than not, beat teams from power-four conferences. In the finals, Northern Iowa got help from a handful of wrestlers who do not normally start for them in a 20-14 win over South Dakota State. These two teams will meet on February 8th in their regularly scheduled dual meet and likely have plenty of important head-to-head matches at the Big 12 Championships.

What a way to make an introduction! In last night’s Bedlam dual meet, Jax Forrest made his Oklahoma State debut and nearly blew the roof off of Gallagher-Iba Arena with a :47 second fall over Oklahoma’s Carter Schmidt. We’ll have to monitor second-year head coach David Taylor's comments in the coming days and weeks regarding Forrest’s status. He is eligible to use five dates and still redshirt; however, the potential of the 2025 Senior World Team member might be too great to keep in the bag.

Having covered college wrestling for nearly two decades, I’ve witnessed a large number of mid-season weight changes. Usually, they don’t work out. Or there is a sign of a struggling wrestler who wants to take a massive weight cut out of the equation. They rarely happen, like Kaleb Larkin’s situation. Larkin was the third-ranked 149 lber and a legitimate title contender at the weight. He showed up for last Tuesday’s dual with Iowa State and shocked #3 Vinny Zerban at 157 lbs in a 4-1 victory. Just a couple of days later, Larkin topped himself with a 4-2 win over the top-ranked 157 lber in the nation, Ty Watters of West Virginia.

And just like that, Larkin is another title contender at 157 lbs in a weight class full of them. In addition to the wrestlers he’s beaten, you also have #2 Brandon Cannon (Ohio State), #4 PJ Duke (Penn State), returning champion #5 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), #6 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State), #7 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell), and much more! 157 will be one of the most fun weight classes to follow in the postseason.

Lehigh came into our September preseason rankings as #7 in the nation in both tournaments and duals. Unfortunately, they fell quickly as news that All-Americans Ryan Crookham and Luke Stanich, along with podium contender Nathan Taylor, would miss significant time this season. During the first two months of the season, Lehigh scuffled to a 3-6 record.

Saturday marked the first time that Lehigh had close to their ideal lineup in place (157 lber Logan Rozynski did not wrestle). Crookham and Stanich were available for their dual with former EIWA rival Cornell. The dual started at 133 lbs, so we got to see Crookham and Stanich immediately. Stanich got a late takedown to beat a top-ten opponent and brought the Grace Hall crowd to their feet. The Mountain Hawks ended up getting a 20-17 win over the Big Red. It was a good sign that both wrestlers were available and in the lineup the following day as Lehigh crushed American, 32-7.

With a pair of national title threats in the lineup, Lehigh is very formidable once again. They’ll be the favorites in the EIWA and perhaps an outside NCAA team trophy threat if all things come together. Crookham will now be inserted in a 133 lb weight class loaded with talent, young and old. Stanich adds some more depth to a 141 lb bracket that is lacking for depth after the top four contenders.

It appears as if Penn State might have an answer for their 141 lb weight class. It seemed as if veteran Aaron Nagao would be the starter, but he’s battled injuries throughout the year (and previous seasons). Undersized true freshman Nate Desmond was an option, but it appears the PSU staff would rather wisely keep him in redshirt. Cael Nasdeo has seen time, as well. On Saturday, Penn State unveiled Braeden Davis, a 2025 All-American at 133 lbs, who appeared to be redshirting. The “five dates” rule only applies to true freshmen, so Davis’ appearance in the win over Rutgers should signal that he’s “the guy” going forward for the Nittany Lions.

Saturday night marked Real American Freestyle’s fifth show and it was the organization's most unique one. It faced a handful of challenges with three wrestlers not making weight, but ultimately was a quality show. In the most anticipated bout (for hardcore wrestling fans), Kyle Dake got a small measure of revenge for the 2020 Olympics with his 11-7 win over Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov. The bout started slowly, but the third period was incredible and packed full of quality action from both competitors.

Because of the presence of MMA stars Colby Covington and Luke Rockhold, plus some weigh-in/matchmaking controversy surrounding Bo Nickal and Yoel Romero, this event had more social media buzz from the MMA community and wrestling fans compared to its four predecessors. It’s good to see that kind of positive momentum surrounding the organization.