Six Individual Matches to Watch in Upcoming Weekend Duals

The 2025-26 college wrestling season gets underway in a few short days. While this first week is filled with open tournaments, there are a few duals squeezed in. With open tournaments, it’s difficult to project potential matchups because we don’t have full entries and brackets, plus you never know who will advance. However, we can discuss some individual dual matchups we’re excited about. Below, we have six matchups we’re excited to see this weekend - mostly between ranked wrestlers, but some involve promising freshmen. Initially, we had seven, as Dylan Shawver/TK Davis has a good backstory. However, since Shawver is participating in Saturday night’s All-Star Classic, he’ll probably be unavailable on Sunday. 125 lbs: #9 Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin) vs. #30 Ezekiel Witt (North Dakota State) Redshirt freshman Ezekiel Witt will get his season started with a tough matchup against returning NCAA bloodround finisher Nicolar Rivera. The two actually met last year in this dual when Witt was able to compete while maintaining his redshirt status. The bout went Rivera’s way via a 17-7 major decision. Witt ended up with a solid 14-4 record overall. We’ll see if an offseason under the tutelage of former world team member Obe Blanc will help Witt make up that deficit. 141 lbs: #4 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) vs. #18 Greyson Clark (Purdue) All-American Zeth Romney is slated to move up to 141 lbs this season and he’ll get the year started with a good litmus test in national qualifier Greyson Clark. Though Clark had a bit of a rough regular season, he finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships and won a match at nationals. Last season, he won via bonus points over two of Romney’s teammates. 141 lbs: #32 Briar Priest (Pittsburgh) vs. NR Caedyn Ricciardi (Navy) A fourth-place finish at the ACC Championships helped boost Briar Priest into his first NCAA Championship event in 2025. He ended up posting a win before his elimination and starts the year in the national rankings. Priest could have his hands full with Navy freshman Caedyn Ricciardi. Ricciardi was the #42 overall recruit in the Class of 2025 after winning two New Jersey state titles. As a high school senior, Ricciardi posted three bonus-point wins over two DI opponents at the East Stroudsburg Open. 149 lbs: #19 David Evans (Utah Valley) vs. #18 EJ Parco/NR Aden Valencia (Stanford) Last year, we saw Utah Valley get a graduate transfer from Penn State (Terrell Barraclough), who was never the Nittany Lions full-time starter, and he earned All-American honors. Could they do it with David Evans? Evans showed his potential two years ago with a win over AA CJ Composto (Penn) at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Whoever he faces from Stanford should present a tough test. Redshirt freshmen EJ Parco and Aden Valencia are both available for the Cardinal. Parco had a strong redshirt campaign at 149 lbs (7-3) in 2024-25. Valencia is also ready to move up from 141 lbs. His record was not impressive (3-3), but every one of his bouts in 2024-25 was against an opponent with NCAA experience. Valencia also has a stellar freestyle resume. 174 lbs: #6 Danny Wask (Navy) vs. #15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) It’s setting up to be the fourth career meeting between these stalwarts at 174 lbs. Luca Augustine holds the head-to-head advantage with a 2-1 record and wins in the two most recent meetings. Wask has the coveted All-American honor. He was eighth at nationals last season, while Augustine was eliminated in the bloodround. This is certainly a match that could have postseason seeding implications on the line. 184 lbs: #23 James Rowley (Purdue) vs. #28 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) After a tough redshirt freshman year, it looked like James Rowley was ready for a big 2024-25 campaign; however, he suffered a season-ending injury at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Rowley had a 10-3 record when his season came to an abrupt end. He’ll kick off his season with a match against a former B1G wrestler Ceasar Garza. Garza went 14-15 for Michigan State last season at 174 lbs. Though he did not qualify for nationals, Garza did notch two 2024-25 wins over qualifiers.

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Six Individual Matches to Watch in Upcoming Weekend Duals

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