Big Ten Weekly Recap (2/5/2025)

The top two teams in the country faced off last week in front of a tremendous crowd and it was electric. Along with one of the most highly anticipated duals of the year taking place, the Big Ten gave us an exciting weekend.

Minnesota flexes on Rutgers

The Gophers have a very powerful lineup. They are one of a handful of teams with every single starter being ranked and last weekend they showcased their high-level lineup when they hosted Rutgers. Gable Steveson continued his gold medal ways as he maintained his 100% bonus rate by pinning No. 8 Yaraslau Slavikouski. Additionally, young up-and-comer, Max McEnelly remains flawless on the year as well. McEnelly took out Shane Cartagena-Walsh by major decision to notch his 15th win of the season. Minnesota won seven of the 10 bouts, with one of the losses coming at 133 where Dylan Shawver took Tyler Wells with a convincing 8-2 decision. The Gophers have a big matchup with Ohio State this weekend.

Fugitt gets the upset, Nebraska wins dual convincingly

Wisconsin got off to a great start with wins at 125 and 133. Specifically, the win by Zan Fugitt at 133 over Jacob Van Dee was an unexpected and dominant major decision win that put the Badgers out to a 7-0 lead. But after that, the Huskers ran the table to win eight straight bouts and get the 35-7 victory. Six of the eight wins came with bonus points. Up next, Nebraska will head to Iowa for the Big Ten dual meet of the week.

Buckeyes take third in a row against Wolverines

The Buckeyes started strong winning the first four matches, including the much-anticipated Jesse Mendez vs Sergio Lemley battle. Lemley couldn’t compete in the dual last season, so that added to the anticipation along with both guys being from the state of Indiana and having wrestled with one another in clubs growing up. Mendez ended up getting the win, as he has done against everyone this season. Overall, Ohio State won six of the 10 matches, and more importantly four of them by bonus points, which is hard to rebound from. Michigan finished the dual with important wins at 197 and heavyweight, but the dual was locked up at 184 with Ryder Rogotzke pinning Jaden Bullock in 91 seconds. Up next for the Buckeyes is Minnesota this Friday night, and for the Wolverines things get more difficult as they travel to State College to take on the top-ranked Nittany Lions.

Penn State is the best team I’ve ever seen

This season I’m trying to really appreciate what we’re seeing out of Penn State. 165 was basically the best way to illustrate how last week’s dual against Iowa went. Michael Calliendo is the second-best 165-pound wrestler in the country, and he was tech falled by Mitchell Messenbrink. Iowa is the second-best team in the country, and they were dismantled by Penn State. Even going into this, the expectation was somewhere between two or three wins for Iowa, and two wins is what they came away with. Things can change, and we’ve seen guys avenge losses from the regular season in the postseason, but for the time being Penn State left no doubt on who the best team in the country is once again this season. The debate now begins where this Penn State team ranks historically amongst the other greats. Iowa rebounded after the loss with a solid win over Maryland, with a strong finish in the second half of that dual. This also included Gabe Arnold winning over Jaxon Smith at 184, a battle between two other former club partners. Penn State hosts Michigan on Friday, with Iowa hosting Nebraska on the same night.

Illinois wins 8/10 against Purdue

The Fighting Illini continue to show their depth as they continue their B1G schedule. Illinois winning 8/10 against Purdue is impressive, but also in the way that they did it. They were favored to win the dual, but there were four ranked matchups in this dual, with Illinois winning three of them. Purdue started strong with top-ranked Matt Ramos getting the tech fall in just over two and a half minutes. Their second win of the dual came at 157 with Joey Blaze getting the win over Jason Kraisser, narrowly missing out on the major decision. Both Braunagels claimed ranked wins at 174 and 197 over Brody Baumann and Ben Vanadia respectively. Purdue takes on Wisconsin on Friday as Illinois hosts Penn State for Senior Day on Sunday afternoon.