Anthony Ashnault defeated Matthew Kolodzik in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2017 (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)After a weekend dominated by conversations regarding Iowa's No. 2 Spencer Lee sitting out against Northwestern's No. 1 Sebastian Rivera, it's only fitting that we get a showdown of top-two opponents this weekend. It will take place at 149 pounds when No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) takes on second-ranked Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers).
If there was any question whether the match would happen, Princeton's head wrestling coach Chris Ayres quickly squashed it on Twitter.
You see our schedule...we don't duck anyone. Kolo will be there Sunday. Anyone, ANYTIME, anywhere.
�" Coach Chris Ayres (@tigercoachayres) January 28, 2019
That match will take place on Sunday, but first the weekend will get kick-started with the top-five matchup between the Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions.
Friday
No. 4 Michigan at No. 1 Penn State (7 p.m.)
Coach Sean Bormet's No.4-ranked Michigan Wolverines head into Happy Valley to take on top-ranked Penn State while riding the high of last weekend's rivalry win over No.5 Ohio State.
Both teams bring undefeated 9-0 records into this all-star lined dual that features five of the ten No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the nation, while also featuring at least one top-20 guy at each of the ten weight classes.
Penn State's lineup boasts four of those five top-ranked wrestlers. They're Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), and Bo Nickel (197).
Michigan has the remaining No. 1-ranked wrestler, Stevan Micic (133).
Arguably the biggest match of the dual is the third career meeting between 2017 NCAA Champion Mark Hall and Michigan's two-time All-American and third-ranked Myles Amine.
Hall has edged Amine by one point in both of those previous meetings, winning 6-5 and 4-3 respectively.
Hall comes into this match with an undefeated 18-0 record, while Amine is 14-1 on the season and has only lost to reigning NCAA champion Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), who Mark Hall defeated earlier this year 4-0.
Other ranked matchups:
133: No. 1 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs. No. 15 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)
141: No. 5 Kanen Storr (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Nick Lee (Penn State)
157: No. 5 Alec Pantaleo Michigan vs. No. 1 Jason Nolf Penn State
174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 1 Mark Hall
285: No. 8 Mason Parris (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State)
No. 9 North Carolina State at No. 21 Virginia (7 p.m.)
Coach Pat Popolizo and the ninth-ranked Wolf Pack head to Charlottesville for an ACC clash against the No. 21 Virginia Cavaliers.
Undefeated and fifth-ranked Jack Mueller (Virginia) will kick start the dual at 125 with a top-15 matchup against No. 12 Sean Fausz (North Carolina State).
Although Fausz, who brings a 6-1 record into this match, is ranked behind Mueller, he owns the only head-to-head victory, which came two years ago at the ACC Championships. Fausz was victorious in that match, 12-5.
Other ranked matchups:
No. 20 Malik McDonald (NC State) vs. No. 8 Jay Aiello (Virginia)
No. 17 Northern Iowa at No. 2 Oklahoma State (8 p.m.)
The Northern Iowa Panthers will try to flip the script from the seven previous ranked teams who have worked to knock off the second-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys won all seven of those duals against ranked opponents, and are 10-0 on the season, while the Panthers are 5-4 on the season.
There will be five top-20 matches in this dual meet, but none more important than the 174-pound match between fifth-ranked Joe Smith (OSU) and No. 8 Taylor Lujan (UNI).
Smith is 14-1 this season and is riding a five-match win streak after falling to Penn State's No. 1 Mark Hall 5-1 at the Southern Scuffle.
His opponent, Taylor Lujan, is 19-3 this season and is riding a three-match win streak. Two of those three losses came to Missouri's No.4-ranked Daniel Lewis, and the final loss came to No. 2 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State)
Other ranked matchups:
141: No. 6 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 15 Kaid Brock (OSU)
149: No. 10 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 5 Kaden Gfeller (OSU)
165: No. 12 Bryce Steiert (UNI) vs. No. 10 Chandler Rogers (OSU)
184: No. 6 Drew Foster (UNI) vs. No. 11 Jacobe Smith (OSU)
Other ranked dual:
No. 11 Nebraska at No. 13 Rutgers, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday
No. 18 Princeton at No. 13 Rutgers (12 p.m.)
Coach Ayres and the No. 18 Princeton Tigers head to Piscataway for their yearly meeting with their in-state rival, Coach Goodale's No. 13 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has won at least 17 straight duals against Princeton (results end there on each team's website), with their closest win coming in 2005-2006 when they beat the Tigers 22-21.
This dual meet will be highlight by this week's top match in the country when top-ranked Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) takes on second-ranked Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) for the fifth time in college. Each wrestler has a pair of wins against each other.
These guys combine for a 31-0 season record this season. Kolodzik is 14-0, while Ashnault is 17-0.
Sunday's dual will be Ashnault's second match of the weekend. If he wins against Nebraska on Friday night and knocks off Kolodzik, he'll be tied with Jon Forster for fifth most wins in Rutgers history (110 wins).
No. 3 Iowa at No. 11 Nebraska, (1 p.m.)
The 10-0 Iowa Hawkeyes travel to Lincoln for a Big Ten matchup against coach Manning's 9-3 Huskers.
The Hawks are coming off five straight wins over ranked opponents, while the Huskers are 4-1 in their last five duals. That one blemish came against the top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions.
There will be a pair of top-ten matchups, and they'll come back-to-back, at 157 and 165.
At 157 pounds, second-ranked Tyler Berger (Nebraska) will take on No. 7 Kaleb Young (Iowa).
Berger is 9-1 in his last 10 matches and got back in the win column, pinning Illinois' Eric Barone last weekend after falling to No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) two weeks ago.
Kaleb Young, who is 13-2 this season, is looking to get back to his winning ways after falling to Barone in overtime.
Sunday's meeting will be the first time that Berger and Young have faced each other in college.
At 165 pounds, second-ranked Alex Marinelli (Iowa) will meet sixth-ranked Isaiah White (Nebraska) for the first time in their careers.
Marinelli has a perfect 15-0 record this season, and White has a 12-4 record this season.
Other ranked matchups:
125 No 2 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 16 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska)
133: No. 16 Max Murin (Iowa) vs. No. 19 Chad Red (Nebraska)
184: No. 12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Taylor Venz (Nebraska)
197: No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. No. 11 Eric Schultz (Nebraska)
285: No. 3 Sam Stoll (Iowa) No. 14 David Jensen (Nebraska)
Other ranked dual:
No. 20 Lehigh at No. 2 Oklahoma State (2:30 p.m.)
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