January's Top Non-Conference Duals

In each of the previous two months of the 2024-25 season, we have released an article detailing the top duals for the upcoming month. Since we are almost finished with the open tournament season, it’s almost all duals from here on out. That means that January will be filled with too many good duals to highlight in one concise article. Instead, we’re pivoting and focusing on some of the top non-conference duals of the month. These will be few and far between as most schools are diving into conference competition in January. That being said, there are some good ones on the horizon for January. We’ll highlight those duals along with a top match to watch in those respective duals. January 3rd #11 Cornell at #18 Missouri Match to Watch: 184 lbs This is a dual between a Cornell team that was never really at full strength through the first two months of the season and a Missouri team that dealt with more than their share of injuries. Cornell, at least, has veterans Julian Ramirez (165) and Chris Foca (184) back as they had to sit out the first semester due to Ivy League eligibility restrictions. Foca is at the center of the spotlight in this dual as he’ll square off with Colton Hawks in a battle of top-ten opponents. Foca comes in at #8 and Hawks is right behind him at #9. The Big Red star is a 2023 NCAA All-American and both wrestlers came up a match shy of All-American status in 2024. Last year, these two teams clashed in Ithaca and Foca majored Clayton Whiting. That was one of the difference-makers in a 20-16 win for the hosts. January 5th Oregon State at #5 Ohio State Match to Watch: 125 lbs Oregon State already took on Oklahoma State - now they’ll face another OSU in Ohio State. I’m keeping an eye on the 125 lb bout that features a pair of top-15 lightweights in #6 Brendan McCrone and #13 Maximo Renteria. Despite getting pushed by top prospect Vinny Kilkeary, McCrone has a stranglehold on the starting role at this weight, winning 15 of his first 17 bouts this year. Renteria has finally gotten the opportunity to be Oregon State’s full-time starter and responded well. Last season, he managed a win over the eventual national champion, Richie Figueroa - this year he’s shown it wasn’t a fluke, Renteria is a podium contender. Both wrestlers were top-eight finishers at the CKLV as McCrone pinned Renteria for sixth place. Can Renteria even the score? #3 Nebraska at #9 Northern Iowa Match to Watch: 157 lbs Perhaps the most high-profile individual (and team) matchup of this upcoming weekend will be when #3 Antrell Taylor and #5 Ryder Downey renew acquaintances. Almost a month ago, the pair met in the CKLV finals and Taylor managed to hold off Downey, 4-3. In that match, Downey put Taylor on his back for a pair of one-counts and did not receive any nearfall points, but surrendered a reversal to the Husker All-American. That sequence was reviewed and scrutinized but was ruled in Taylor’s favor. It shows just how thin the margin of error is between these two. It’s the type of match we could see again in the NCAA semifinals or perhaps the championship match. Also in this dual are potential matches between #5 Brock Hardy/#8 Cael Happel (141), #16 Jared Simma/#17 Lenny Pinto, and #2 Parker Keckeisen/#5 Silas Allred. January 11th #14 Iowa State vs. Rider (@ Virginia Duals) Match to Watch: 149 lbs The DI portion of the 2025 Virginia Duals will see Iowa State face Rider and Bucknell. While Iowa State is a heavy favorite, Rider has proven that they can be highly competitive and will present a few intriguing matchups in the this dual. We’ll focus on the 149 lb weight class which looks to be in transition for the Cyclones. Anthony Echemendia started the year at the weight and acquitted himself well. Echemendia is currently nursing an injury and is in the process of moving down to 141 lbs again. That means Paniro Johnson is coming down from 157 lbs. A matchup with #15 Sammy Alvarez would go a long way toward determining where Johnson fits in the tier of contenders at 149 lbs. Alvarez had a solid sixth-place showing in Vegas with two wins over national qualifiers and followed it up with a perfect 3-0 day during Rider’s quad with Maryland, Pittsburgh, and South Dakota State. January 12th #23 Lehigh at #11 Cornell Match to Watch: Maybe 125 lbs Since Cornell will qualify for nationals through the Ivy League in 2025, this is no longer a conference match. Even so, it’s good to see these longtime rivals continue their duals with each other. Looking at how these two lineups clash, there isn’t a surefire matchup between their biggest stars. The best matchup could occur at 125 lbs with #12 Greg Diakomihalis and #15 Sheldon Seymour. Diakomihalis hasn’t seen action in over a month, so we’ll have to monitor whether he’s even able to go for Cornell. The Big Red wrestles on Friday, so maybe we’ll have an answer then. Both Diakomihalis and Seymour sat behind some talented teammates in 2023-24. Each probably would have been able to qualify for nationals if they were given the opportunity. Now both are featured prominently in the national rankings and could be outside podium threats. #8 NC State at #4 Oklahoma State Match to Watch: 125 lbs The 125 lber with the best collection of wins throughout the first two months of the season is #2 Troy Spratley. Just this year, he has beaten the wrestlers currently ranked #4-#7 at the weight. Along the way, he finished third at CKLV and posted a win over one of the finalists, Eddie Ventresca, a few weeks after the event. Next up on Spratley’s list happens the be the #8 ranked wrestler, Vincent Robinson. Robinson was one of the pleasant surprises of the first half of the year. He supplanted veteran Jakob Camacho as the Wolfpack starter and has won his first 13 bouts of the year, downing three returning national qualifiers. Robinson entered the CKLV but forfeited out before the quarterfinals. Hopefully, he’ll be able to go this time. In addition to 125 lbs, this dual has interesting matchups at 149, 157, 174, and 184 lbs. The heavyweight matchup is a rematch of the CKLV finals won by Wyatt Henrickson via fall. #27 Pittsburgh at #21 West Virginia Match to Watch: 133 lbs The 2025 edition of the “Backyard Brawl” doesn’t have the marquee matchup that you might expect with a pair of ranked squads, so let's look toward 133 lbs. The 133 lb weight class is very deep and features about 40-45 wrestlers that could qualify for nationals on the right day. The two 133 lbers in this match are both unranked but fit into that category. Jett Strickenberger started the year at 125 lbs and moved up with a couple of bumps along the way. He was 0-2 in Vegas, but posted a solid win over Zan Fugitt in Florida. He’ll have to contend with Vince Santaniello, who was previously ranked and spent significant time in the rankings last year. Santaniello has a rough 2-4 record; however, his four losses have come to four quality opponents. With a close dual anticipated, this could swing the dual from one side to the other. This dual did not occur in 2023-24, so it’s good that both schools were able to make this regional rivalry happen again. Pitt has plenty of homegrown talent and West Virginia recruits well in the WPIAL. #12 Stanford at #18 Missouri Match to Watch: 165 lbs If I had finished this article earlier in the day, as intended, it would have highlighted the 174 lb bout between top-ranked Keegan O’Toole and #5 Lorenzo Norman. Since then, we learned that Missouri will be without O’Toole for the next month, so that match isn’t happening. Hopefully, we’ll get to see the 165 lb contest. Coming into the year, myself and James Hackney had Missouri’s Cam Steed tabbed as a breakout candidate. In the early going, that looked to be accurate; however, Steed suffered an injury that sidelined him for about a month. In his return at the Collegiate Duals, Steed appeared to get knocked out and had to injury default. His opponent would be 2024 All-American Hunter Gavin, who has entertaining matches no matter who he wrestles. These two tangled at the 2023 Southern Scuffle and Steed prevailed with an 11-2 major decision. Of course, more than two years will have passed before this potential rematch, but it’s an interesting side note. Without O’Toole (and Rocky Elam), it should be difficult for the Tigers to pull off the upset. January 16th #15 Little Rock vs Lock Haven (@ Davidson Duals) Match to Watch: 133 lbs I’d love to see a Little Rock/Lock Haven matchup become a regular thing. Lock Haven has been a program that always seems to punch above their weight and Little Rock’s emergence became one of the top stories from the 2024 national tournament. Now, we have two returning All-Americans set to square off at 133 lbs. Nasir Bailey finished fourth in the nation at this weight class, as a true freshman, and was selected to compete in the 2024 NWCA All-Star Match. Bailey has taken a few losses so far this season, but still remains on the short list of national title threats in Philadelphia. Anthony Noto held the #1 ranking at one point last season, down at 125 lbs, but he dropped to the #12 seed in Kansas City after a loss to an unranked opponent in February. No worries for Noto, who wrestled to third place for his second All-American honor. In both instances, he significantly outperformed his pre-tournament seed. With this weight class being a bit wacky nationally, it’s hard to say where either will be ranked two weeks from now. January 17th #27 Pittsburgh at Bucknell Match to Watch: 197 lbs The Panthers step out of the ACC twice in January - this time to take on in-state foe Bucknell. There are quite a few solid matchups in this dual (133/165/174); however, I’ll focus on the 197 lb bout. We just saw it a week ago at the Midlands, as Mac Stout posted a 10-3 win over Dillon Bechtold on his way to a title. Bechtold is a true freshman who has the look of someone who will get better as the year progresses. Will he be able to make the proper adjustments to reverse that result just a few weeks later? Stout, on the other hand, has been Pitt’s most consistent wrestler this season. His Midlands title pushed him up to #12 in the latest set of national rankings. January 19th #20 Arizona State at #12 Stanford Match to Watch: 149 lbs With the craziness that is conference realignment, this is now a non-conference dual rather than a potential matchup for the top of the Pac-12. With Arizona State typically having a large presence from California in their lineup, this will be the only time that the Sun Devils wrestle in Cali in the 2024-25 season. One of the prominent ASU wrestlers from California is Jesse Vasquez, one of only four wrestlers to win four CIF state titles. He’ll face a California native from Stanford in 2021 All-American Jaden Abas. Abas is fresh off a Midlands championship last week. Because Vasquez is in his first year at 149 lbs, this will be their first collegiate meeting. If Nico Provo and Richie Figueroa are both back at 125 lbs for their respective squads, that would be the marquee matchup. Provo has yet to compete and may end up redshirting. Figueroa was injured in mid-November and has yet to return. #6 Virginia Tech at Appalachian State Match to Watch: 165 lbs Appalachian State does have to look very far to get some high-quality out of conference competition. They’ll dual top-ten opponents from the ACC in NC State and Virginia Tech. 165 lbs is where Appalachian State’s top-ranked grappler appears - #8 Will Miller. Miller has a 10-1 record with his only setback coming to a multi-time All-American (Peyton Hall). He’ll have to contend with Mac Church, who jumped up from 141 lbs in the offseason and has generally been able to keep it close with most of his competition. Last year, Miller split matches with the Hokies starter, Connor Brady.

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