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    Christopher Miller •

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    Five weekend takeaways in college wrestling

    Wyoming Stephen Buchanan snapped WVU's Noah Adams' 39-match winning streak (Photo/Wyoming Athletics)

    Another weekend of college wrestling action is in the books. Thematically speaking, the action can be described by upsets (both individual and team), some compelling individual matchups and, regrettably, the continued presence of COVID-19 within the sport. That last point aside, the triangulars, quadrangulars, and singular dual meets still delivered a phenomenal weekend of NCAA wrestling.

    Here are five things that caught my eye from this past weekend (Feb. 5-7) in college wrestling.

    The winning streak ends at 39

    While arguably the biggest story heard around the wrestling world this weekend was the nation-s No. 1 at 197-pounder, WVU's Noah Adams, suffering his first loss since two seasons ago, West Virginia head coach Tim Flynn isn't concerned, according to his post-match comments.

    The match certainly was a strange one to say the least. No. 17 Stephen Buchanan, who Adams beat twice last year, hit a reversal in the second period to take a brief 3-2 lead, but Adams took control in the third period. It looked as if the match was over and Adams would escape victorious, but Buchanan hit two takedowns in the final 30 seconds to earn the win to make the dual 12-0. The loss was Adams' first since Nov. 3, 2019.

    Since the stumble, Adams responded with a fall and a technical fall in his next two matches. Odd as it sounds, maybe this loss is exactly what Adams needed. Not only does the loss take away the pressure of keeping a lengthy winning streak alive, but also it serves as a "wakeup call" prior to the postseason.

    Despite the loss, Adams is still a serious threat for anyone wrestling at 197 pounds. The Coal City, West Virginia native is a definite title contender and a probable All-American in 2021.

    Down goes No. 4 NC State

    Friday night, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) treated wrestling fans to quite the dual meet spectacle in a match that was decided at the last possible moment. No. 6 Virginia Tech downed No. 4 NC State 17-16 on criterion 3.21.c. It was decided by a takedown and near fall in the final seconds of the dual by redshirt freshman No. 8 Sam Latona against No. 4 Jakob Camacho. You can relive the various twists and turns of 2021's best dual meet here.


    This dual showed two things: The ACC may be the smallest Power Five conference that offers Division I wrestling, but what the conference lacks in size, it more than makes up for in terms of top-to-bottom strength and overall parity. It also showed the importance of keeping as many dual meets on the schedule as possible -- under normal circumstances of course. Simply put, there is no substitute for that type of back-and-forth, down-to-the-wire dual meet excitement.



    Iowa looked 'dominant' but different this weekend

    Yes, Iowa went 2-0 this weekend, and did so in fairly dominant fashion. But the Hawkeye lineup looked different at the middle-weights -- 157 and 165 in particular. No 5 Kaleb Young (157) and No. 2 Alex Marinelli (165) were not in the lineup in either match Sunday due to COVID-19-related protocols. Iowa Hawkeye head coach Tom Brands also missed the duals after testing positive earlier this week.

    These absences weren't terribly important to the results of either match on Sunday, both of which ended as Hawkeye wins against Purdue and Ohio State respectively. However, these absences will loom large when No. 1 Iowa hits the road for a dual against No. 3 Penn State in State College on Feb. 12.

    Should these two Hawkeye All-American grapplers miss the PSU meet, the dual meet score becomes instantly much closer. Couple that with the motivation that comes with helping Cael get career win No. 200 over a rival like Iowa -- that's the perfect recipe for an upset.

    I still think Iowa comes out on top this Friday, but the match will be far closer than we all thought it would be just a few weeks ago. It also feels strange to still have so many question marks about the Penn State and Iowa starting lineups heading into such a high-profile dual. No matter who the 20 starters will be, the dual is sure to be a fun one.

    Holy cradle

    Certain wrestlers have unique stylistic calling cards to their own individual wrestling: Some have lightning quick shots, some are dominant riders, some are excellent throwers, some are vicious hand fighters and some have absolutely lethal cradles.

    If you want to talk cradles, look no further than Iowa's Jaydin Eierman (141) and Ohio State's Sammy Sasso (149).

    In Sunday's dual meet between Iowa and Ohio State, we saw both top-rarnked wrestlers execute their cradles to perfection in back-to-back bouts, both resulting in falls and six team points each.

    Each cradle was a thing of beauty. Let's watch.



    Something tells me this isn't the last cradle to a fall combination we will see from these No. 1-ranked wrestlers this season.

    Spencer Lee and Gable Steveson really don't like wrestling a full seven minutes

    Iowa's Spencer Lee (125) and Minnesota's Gable Steveson (285) proved once again why they are both No. 1 at their respective weights and are the favorites to be 2021 Big Ten and NCAA champions.

    For Lee, he improved to 4-0 on the year after defeating Ohio State's Brady Koontz. Each of the wins for the Hawkeye 125-pounder have come via fall in the first period.


    In Steveson's case, he added a pin of his own in just 33 seconds over No. 9 Luke Luffman of Illinois. The fall was matched with an equally impressive celebration.

    With the win, the Minnesota Golden Gophers' big man improves to 7-0, with two pins, four technical falls and a major decision.

    I realize that both Lee and Steveson are two of the most talented wrestlers in the world right now, let alone that NCAA. However, this is still Division I wrestling. It should not be as easy as these two make it look. They both may spend short time on the mat, but when they wrestle live, it's quite a show.
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