Season Opening Recap: 5 Notes From The Big Ten

The season has begun. All over the country Big Ten teams hit the mats in various open tournaments and non-conference duals. The athletes looked to be just as excited about the season as we are to have them back in actions. So, let’s get to some results that stood out to us in the first weekend of the 2024-25 season.

Indiana has successful trip to California
During his pre-season interview, head coach Angel Escobedo said that his team was eager to get the season started and wanted to face off with a different opponent other than their teammates. And to get things started the Hoosier headed to California where they dominated in their duals against Cal Baptist and Cal Poly. Indiana lost just three matches combined in their season-opening cross-country road trip with a 34-4 win over CBU and a 31-11 win over Cal Poly. 

Illinois welcomes back the big guns
Last season, Illinois was without a few of its top guys, but they have returned in a big way. Notably there were five guys that made a big impact over the weekend that weren’t in the lineup last season and they all recorded bonus point wins. Lucas Byrd won by major decision at 133, Kannon Webster recorded a technical fall at 149 followed by transfer Jason Kraisser’s pin at 157 and then the Braunagels – Danny and Zac – each had tech falls as well. Needless to say, the Illini got its power back this season.

Maryland begins the season 2-0
Maryland hosted Kent State and Bucknell in a tri-meet this weekend in College Park and finished with solid wins over both programs. Notably, Braxton Brown got a win over #11-ranked Kurt Phipps of Bucknell in an exciting matchup. Brown was undefeated on the weekend with a major decision over Tyeler Hagensen of Kent State. Others to go undefeated included Kal and Ethen Miller at 149 and 157, respectively, and Jaxon Smith and Seth Nevills at 184 and 285. Maryland heads to the Tiger Style Invite on November 9th this week. 

Michigan and Ohio State look good at the Clarion Open
Is 7 titles and 10 finalists good? Seems good. That’s what Ohio State did this weekend at the Clarion Open. The Buckeyes even had both finalists at 125- and 133-pounds with Brendan McCrone getting the win over Vincent Kilkeary, 5-3, and Ben Davino defeating Nic Bouzakis, 5-3 as well. Very interesting result at 133 with Bouzakis being the expected starter for the season, but highly touted freshman Davino showed that he is ready for the big time. Jesse Mendez had a dominant victory over returning All-American Luke Stanich, who is up from 125, in the finals. Dylan D’Emilio got the win at 149 over Kade Brown of Pittsburgh and redshirt freshman Brock Herman was dominant on his way to a title. Interestingly, Rocco Welsh last year’s 174-pound NCAA runner-up, competed at 184 for this tournament. This will probably not be long term, but it’s certainly noteworthy. Bumping up was not a problem though, as he beat a Wolverine in Jaden Bullock in the finals. The big guys also made the finals with Luke Geog dropping his match to Michael Beard of Lehigh, 7-5, while Nick Feldman got the win in the finals against his Lehigh opponent, Nathan Taylor. The Buckeyes welcome University of Tennessee Chattanooga next on November 14th at the Covelli Center. 

Michigan also brought a contingent of athletes to Clarion, with some solid results. 8 place winners are coming home from PA, with 3 making the finals, and 1 champion. Joseph Walker was the lone champion at 174 pounds with a win over John Worthing of Clarion in the finals. Brock Mantanona (165) and Bullock also made the finals. Mantanona failed in his comeback attempt against Lehigh’s Max Brignola, while Bullock fell to Rocco Welsh, as previously mentioned. Mantanona had a strong tournament with three of his first four wins being by technical fall. Additional bright spots came from Sergio Lemley (141) and Dylan Gilcher (149) both rebounding from semifinal losses to claim third, along with Zack Mattin at 157. Lemley lost to Lehigh’s Stanich in overtime, while Gilcher dropped his semifinal match to D’Emilio of Ohio State. The Wolverines will be back in action this weekend at the MSU Open on November 9th. 

Iowa looks every bit as advertised
The Hawkeyes traveled to Corvallis, Oregon this past Saturday to face Oregon State. They showed no signs of weariness from the travel as they took eight of the 10 matches. Not only did they win most of the matches, they were dominant in doing so. Of those eight wins three were by technical fall, and they won the marquee matchup of the evening as #2-ranked Stephen Buchanan claimed a come from behind win over #7-ranked Trey Munoz. Munoz started strong in the match, but as it went on, Buchanan imposed his will as he rattled off two takedowns in the third, paired with riding time, to take the 9-5 win. Jacori Teemer, another big transfer for the Hawkeyes, did not compete in this dual but the other part of the ASU to Iowa acquisition, Kyle Parco, got his first win in an Iowa singlet (5-1). Nelson Brands made his triumphant return to the Hawkeyes for his final season got a hard fought 2-1 win, followed by Gabe Arnold firing off attack after attack as he dominated in his first match of his first full season. The Hawkeyes host Stanford in Carver Hawkeye this coming weekend on November 9th, which should be an exciting out of conference battle.