Big 12 Weekly Recap (1/15/2025)

This week was highlighted by Northern Iowa winning the NWCA National Duals in dominant fashion, only dropping five individual matches in four duals. South Dakota State (2nd), Northern Colorado (4th), and Wyoming (6th) all had solid performances as well. A number of teams continue to have lineup questions and changes with a handful of different starters. Injuries have hit the conference hard, with Jore Volk, Casey Swiderski, Ty Watters, and Rocky Elam as returning All-Americans out with injuries this season. 

Notable Results:

Wednesday (1/08): 

Iowa State over West Virginia (24-18)

125: Jett Strickenberger Dec. #19 Kysen Terukina (4-1)

174: #28 Brody Conley Maj. #11 MJ Gaitan (14-2)

285: Michael Wolfgram Dec. #26 Daniel Herrera (5-3)

Some notable lineup notes from both teams in this one. Jett Strickenberger is back down at 125 and immediately got a ranked win with a late takedown over Terukina. Aiden Riggins and MJ Gaitan switched, with Riggins down at 165 and Gaitan back up at 174. Brody Conley got a big win in the rankings, but Gaitan had a tough weekend. Michael Wolfgram hasn’t been in the rankings this season but the former two-time qualifier scored a ranked win here. 

Friday/Saturday (1/11): Full Results

NWCA National Duals: Brackets

Northern Iowa: Champs

The Panthers not only won but looked dominant, with wins over Sacred Heart (38-7), Ohio (48-3), Northern Colorado (38-3), and South Dakota State (31-3). The only starters to lose were Jared Simma and Trever Anderson. Simma also had an upset over Cade DeVos. Julian Farber was one of the standouts with upsets over Derrick Cardinal and Dom Serrano. 

South Dakota State: Runner-Up

South Dakota State fell short to UNI in the finals but won three duals themselves to make it. They beat Central Michigan (20-13), Penn (21-16), and Little Rock (23-13). Cade DeVos had some tough matches with losses to Alex Cramer and Jared Simma, although he did beat Nick Incontrera in overtime. Julian Tagg and Caleb Gross both wrestled two matches at 141, with Tagg going 2-0 with a win over CJ Composto. Moses and Marcus Espinoza-Owens had ranked wins at 157 and 165 respectively. Moses beat Johnny Lovett in OT while Marcus beat Joey Bianchi. Of note, Zach Glazier didn’t compete here and hasn’t since a loss to Mac Stout in December. 

Northern Colorado: 4th

Northern Colorado had a solid performance themselves, going 2-2 on the day. They beat CSUB (32-10) and Wyoming (22-12) before the loss to Northern Iowa in the semis. Then in the 3rd place match they fell to Little Rock (30-14). Andrew Alirez made his return but only competed on the first day, getting a forfeit and a fall over Cole Brooks. Stevo Poulin was the only wrestler to go 4-0 for the Bears. Vinny Zerban got back in the win column with upsets over Jared Hill and Matty Bianchi. 

Wyoming: 6th

Coming off the announcement of Jore Volk out for the year, the Cowboys went a solid 3-2. They won their first-round match against Drexel (20-18) before the loss to Northern Colorado. Then, in consolations, they reeled off consecutive wins against George Mason (30-12) and Central Michigan (17-15) before a loss to Penn (26-14) in the 5th place match. Garrett Ricks appears to be the starter at 125 in place of Jore Volk and went 2-3. Sam Mitchell had one of the highlights of the weekend with an overtime upset over Bryan Caves in rideouts to beat Central Michigan. 

Iowa State over Rider (30-9)

Iowa State over Bucknell (28-12)

174: #32 Myles Takats Dec. #11 MJ Gaitan (9-6)

Sunday (1/12): Full Results

Pitt over West Virginia (25-17)

125: Jett Strickenberger Maj. #17 Nick Babin (9-0)

197: #11 Mac Stout Maj. Ian Bush (13-3)

WVU came up short in the Backyard Brawl in an entertaining matchup, winning four matches. Strickenberger got another ranked win in dominant fashion, establishing him as a threat at 125. Another lineup change for the Mountaineers is at 197, where Ian Bush has bumped up to 197. 

Stanford over Missouri (27-15)

157: #28 Grigor Cholakyan Dec. #32 J Conway (8-6)

Missouri’s struggles continued in this dual as they continued to compete without Keegan O’Toole. The 157lb bout wasn’t an upset, but I listed it as one to watch as a highly entertaining bout. 

Arizona State over California Baptist (34-10)

125: Richie Figueroa Dec. Mitchell Neiner (7-1)

Not too much to take from this one but Richie Figueroa made his long-awaited return and looked solid in a win here. 

Monday (1/13): 

Oklahoma State over NC State (34-3)

125: #11 Vincent Robinson Dec. #2 Troy Spratley (7-3)

133: Cael Hughes Fall #7 Kai Orine (5:20)

157: #14 Caleb Fish Dec. #12 Ed Scott (12-5)

This was a one-sided team score in a dual filled with exciting competitive matches. A wrestler from each team seemingly introduced themselves as a high podium contender with Vincent Robinson and Cael Hughes getting big upsets. For the Cowboys, 133 continues to be an intriguing lineup battle. The broadcast mentioned Reece Witcraft being injured, but a freshman Hughes is going to be hard to keep on the bench. Caleb Fish also got an upset over Scott with a late takedown to backs to clinch it. 

Upcoming Competitions: 

Air Force: South Dakota State (Jan. 18); North Dakota State (Jan. 19)

Arizona State: Northern Iowa (Jan. 17); AT Stanford (Jan. 19)

California Baptist: South Dakota State (Jan. 16)

Iowa State: Cyclone Open (Jan. 19)

Missouri: Utah Valley (Jan. 17)

Northern Colorado: North Dakota State (Jan. 17)

North Dakota State: AT Northern Colorado (Jan. 17); AT Air Force (Jan. 19)

Northern Iowa: AT Arizona State (Jan. 17)

Oklahoma: West Virginia (Jan. 17)

Oklahoma State: West Virginia (Jan. 19)

South Dakota State: AT Cal Baptist (Jan. 16); AT Air Force (Jan. 18)

Utah Valley: AT Missouri (Jan. 17)

West Virginia: AT Oklahoma (Jan. 17); AT Oklahoma State (Jan. 19)

Wyoming: AT Oregon State (Jan. 19)