Big 12 Weekly Recap (1/31/2024)

Air Force (Overall: 3-4; Conference: 1-3): Dual Results (SDSU) | Dual Results (NDSU)

Taking on the Dakota schools at home Air Force took a 32-9 loss to SDSU but got their first conference win 21-13 over NDSU. After dropping 133-157 the Falcons won the rest of the matches, including major decisions from Giano Petrucelli and Sam Wolf. While they didn’t have that same success against the Jackrabbits they did get bonus points from Wyatt Hendrickson. Sam Wolf was majored by Bennett Berge, only his third loss of the season. While they didn’t win these matches, Air Force was within a takedown from 125-141 against ranked opponents. 

Next Up: Air Force hosts California Baptist on February 3rd. 

California Baptist (Overall: 3-8; Conference: 0-5): No Competition.

Next Up: California Baptist hits the road for a dual against Air Force on February 3rd. 

Iowa State (Overall: 10-2; Conference: 3-1): Dual Results (OU) | Dual Results (OKST)

Iowa State took a trip to the Oklahoma schools and came back with another win and their first conference loss this season. They got Casey Swiderski back in the lineup at 149, but lost Cody Chittum for the weekend with a concussion. Against OU, they dominated to a 37-4 win, winning nine matches and six bonus point victories. Casey Swiderski beat 2022 Big 12 finalist Willie McDougald 8-3. Jason Kraisser stepped in for Chittum and beat a ranked Jared Hill. MJ Gaitan made a statement with a second-period pin over Tate Picklo and Yonger Bastida continued to dominate from neutral with a 14-4 major over Josh Heindselman. 

The next day the Cyclones took on fellow top five OK State but lost 21-12. They dropped the first three matches as Terukina and Echemendia were unable to score and Evan Frost was unable to slow down Daton Fix. Jason Kraisser lost some scrambles to Teague Travis, while Will Feldkamp couldn't keep up with Plott’s pressure, narrowly avoiding being teched. Casey Swiderski got another strong win over Sammy Alvarez. David Carr handled Izzak Olejnik 8-1, while MJ Gaitan beat Brayden Thompson in overtime. Julien Broderson gave up a dual-changing major decision to true freshman Jersey Robb, giving a deficit that Yonger Bastida’s win over Doucet was unable to cover. 

Next Up: Iowa State duals West Virginia at home on February 2nd. 

Missouri (Overall: 8-1; Conference: 4-0): Dual Results (WVU) | Dual Results (CORN)

The Tigers went on a long road trip east and came back with another conference win and their first loss of the season. They started with a 30-6 win over a tough West Virginia team that saw bonus points from Noah Surtin, Kade Moore, and Brock Mauller. Josh Edmond and Logan Gioffre lost competitive matches to Jordan Titus and Ty Watters in entertaining matches. Gioffre took injury time for a rib injury against Watters and proceeded to miss the Cornell dual, an injury to monitor with OK State coming up.

Two days later, they traveled to top-ten Cornell and lost 20-16. They started hot as Noah Surtin hit a mixer to pin Brett Ungar, the same move and period he pinned him with at the 2022 Southern Scuffle. Kade Moore followed that up with a big move against returning champ Vito Arujau, putting him on his back for a takedown and nearfall. Vito ended up scoring two rapid-fire takedowns and getting riding time for a 10-9 win. 

The Tigers struggled from there, dropping the next three, including Mauller giving up bonus points for the first time in his career to Meyer Shapiro. O’Toole majored Julian Ramirez and Peyton Mocco won 8-2, but a major decision loss by Clayton Whiting and Rocky Elam being upset by Jacob Cardenas clinched the Tigers first loss. Zach Elam won a close against Lewis Fernandes 2-1. OK State is up next and could decide the unofficial dual champs and set the stage for the Big 12 tournament. 

Next Up: Missouri hosts OK State in a massive Big 12 conference dual on February 4th.  

North Dakota State (Overall: 3-7; Conference: 2-2): Dual Results

The Bison fell to .500 on the year in conference duals with a 21-13 loss to Air Force. They won consecutive matches from 133-157, but were missing ranked starter Gaven Sax at 174. His backup Mason Gode lost a one-point decision. Devon Dawson, at heavyweight, gave Wyatt Hendrickson a tough 9-4 match, the closest match Hendrickson has had all year. 

Next Up: NDSU has road duals at Utah Valley on February 2nd and at Wyoming on February 4th. 

Northern Colorado (Overall): 8-5; Conference: 1-4): Dual Results

The Bears dropped a conference dual against Wyoming 23-16, but not without getting some quality wins. The dual started with Stevo Poulin taking out Jore Volk 3-1, then Dom Serrano majored Garrett Ricks for a strong lead. The team dropped six of the next eight, but Travis Mastrogiovanni at 174 is starting to look like a potential factor for the team. While he doesn’t have ranked wins this season he is now 10-4 on the year and won three of his last four. 

Next Up: The Bears have their last home dual against Utah Valley on February 10th. 

Northern Iowa (Overall: 4-5; Conference: 3-1): Dual Results (OKST) | Dual Results (OU)

The always-tough Panther team visited the state of Oklahoma and came back after going 1-1 against OK State and OU. They dropped the dual to top-five OK State 22-12 but got big wins at 141, 157, 184, and 197. Cael Happel and Ryder Downey won their matches with a lone takedown against ranked opponents. Parker Keckeisen vs Dustin Plott was the match of the night and Keckeisen took round one 12-6, including two nearfall that were waived off after review. Trever Anderson and Tyrell Gordon came close to upsets, but dropped one-point matches to ranked wrestlers. 

The team rebounded the next day with a dominant 30-12 win over the Sooners that saw them win six matches, all by bonus. Ryder Downey and Jared Simma scored a major decision and a fall against Jared Hill and Tate Picklo respectively. Anderson, RJ Weston, and Tyrell Gordon went 0-2 on the weekend. Anderson and Gordon again lost close matches, with Gordon going to overtime. Northern Iowa has now won the past seven duals against OU, going back to the 2018 season. 

Next Up: The Panthers compete against West Virginia at home on February 4th. 

Oklahoma State (Overall: 10-0; Conference: 5-0): Dual Results (UNI) | Dual Results (ISU)

The Cowboys stayed undefeated and got another top-five win this weekend with dual victories over Northern Iowa and Iowa State on back-to-back days. Against Northern Iowa, they won six matches with bonus points from Daton Fix and Jordan Williams. Troy Spratley won another close match against Trever Anderson. Tagen Jamison and Teague Travis lost one takedown matches to higher-ranked opponents. Konner Doucet was 0-2 against Tyrell Gordon, but got a win in rideouts here. Plott lost the first match to Keckeisen, but both wrestlers are likely walking away with plenty of notes in a back-and-forth match that saw Keckeisen score a takedown late. 

The team continued their strong performance the next day with a 21-12 win over Iowa State. They won the first three, including a bonus from Daton Fix over Evan Frost and Tagen Jamison showing some great defense to beat Anthony Echemendia in sudden victory. Sammy Alvarez lost 8-2 to Casey Swiderski, and with Williams' strong performance against UNI is continuing to look like a relevant lineup battle. Izzak Olejnik and Konner Doucet couldn’t keep up with David Carr and Yonger Bastida but held their losses to decisions. Dustin Plott nearly teched Will Feldkamp and continues to look like a title contender. After coming into the season outside the top ten, the Cowboys are now looking like potentially the top Big 12 dual team. 

Next Up: Oklahoma State duals Arizona State at home on February 2nd before heading to Columbia, MO on February 4th. 

Oklahoma (Overall: 5-5; Conference: 2-4): Dual Results (ISU) | Dual Results (UNI)

The Sooners went 0-2 against the state of Iowa, losing one-sided duals to Iowa State and Northern Iowa. Iowa State won the dual 37-4, with the lone win coming from Stephen Buchanan and a 19-5 major decision over Caleb Helgeson. Jared Hill and Conrad Hendriksen lost close matches, with Hendriksen going to OT against Kysen Terukina. 

Against UNI they dropped the dual 30-12, but won four matches. Hendriksen continues to put himself in the conversation at 125, beating Trever Anderson in a 7-6 match. Willie McDougald and Cael Carlson won one-point matches, while Josh Heindselman took out Tyrell Gordon in sudden victory. Jared Hill and Tate Picklo both dropped ranked matches by bonus points and the team was without Stephen Buchanan. 

Next Up: The Sooners host SDSU on February 9th. 

South Dakota State (Overall: 9-2; Conference: 3-0): Dual Results

SDSU won eight matches against Air Force to take the dual 32-9. It started off with close wins from 125-141, but the Jackrabbits separated with bonus points from Alek Martin, Cael Swensen, Cade DeVos, Bennett Berge, and Tanner Sloan. This was actually Sloan’s first pin of the year, a surprising stat with his 79% bonus rate and seven techs. Berge has firmly established himself as a podium contender at 184, as he has won his last six and majored Sam Wolf 8-0. After a slow start in the first semester SDSU is making a statement in 2024.

Next Up: South Dakota State wrestles Wyoming on February 1st followed by Utah Valley on February 3rd, both on the road. 

Utah Valley (Overall: 1-3; Conference: 0-3): No Competition.

Next Up: Utah Valley has duals against North Dakota State and South Dakota State on February 2nd and 3rd. 

West Virginia (Overall: 9-3; Conference: 2-3): Dual Results (MIZ) | Dual Results (MSU)

The Mountaineers went 1-1 on the weekend, dropping a 30-6 dual to Mizzou and getting a 40-3 win over Morgan State. Their conference dual against the Tigers was filled with wild matches early. After giving up bonus points at 125 and 133 they battled back. Jordan Titus beat Josh Edmond in rideouts in a must-watch low-scoring match with almost nonstop action. Ty Watters beat a game Logan Gioffre, separating after Gioffre took injury time with some solid scrambles. One of the best matches of the night came against WVU, as Peyton Hall dropped a barnburner 8-7 match against #1 Keegan O’Toole. Hall had a 6-1 lead after the first period, but couldn’t stop O’Toole late in what could be a Big 12 semifinal. 

The team rebounded well against Morgan State, winning nine matches with seven bonus point wins. Jace Schafer, Jordan Titus, Ty Watters, and Austin Cooley all scored tech falls. Peyton Hall was right there with a 23-10 major decision as well. Now at #17 in the NWCA polls, this is the highest they have been ranked since being #16 in 2005. 

Next Up: West Virginia heads to the state of Iowa to wrestle Iowa State on February 2nd and Northern Iowa on February 4th. 

Wyoming (Overall: 6-5; Conference: 4-3): Dual Results

Wyoming used a come-from-behind performance to get their third win in a row against Northern Colorado. After Jore Volk lost 3-1 to Stevo Poulin and Garrett Ricks was majored by Dom Serrano, the Cowboys won six of the last eight to win 23-16. Ethan Ducca made his return from injury with a strong decision win. True freshmen Cole Brooks, Sloan Swan, and Joey Novak continue to impress with Brooks and Novak scoring bonus points. Last year Wyoming was 1-9 in the conference and 1-10 overall but have now gone over 0.500 overall and in the conference. 

Next Up: Wyoming Hosts South Dakota State on February 1st then North Dakota State on February 4th.