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This weekend the Super 32 took place in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Super 32 has long been the most difficult high school folkstyle tournament in the country and serves as an unofficial kickoff for the upcoming high school season. Representatives from nearly every DI school in the nation were on hand to get a first-hand look at some of the top prospects in the nation. Some of those top recruits have already been spoken for and have committed to wrestle at the next level. Those wrestlers that made the top-eight at the Super 32 and have committed to wrestle collegiately are listed below, by their future school. Wrestlers without a class listed next to their name are from the Class of 2024. Air Force Karson Tompkins (Texas) - 190 lbs 4th Place American JJ Peace (South Carolina) - 113 lbs 6th Place Arizona State Kyler Larkin (Arizona) - 132 lbs 4th Place Harvey Ludington (New Jersey) - 190 lbs 6th Place: Class of 2025 Nicholas Sahakian (California) - 285 lbs champion: Class of 2025 Army West Point Joey Antonio (California) - 157 lbs runner-up: Class of 2025 Nik O’Neill (Pennsylvania) - 126 lbs 4th Place Bucknell Dillon Bechtold (Pennsylvania) - 215 lbs 5th Place California Baptist Paul Kelly (California) - 138 lbs 4th Place Columbia Dom Federici (Pennsylvania) - 175 lbs 3rd Place Cornell Jaxon Joy (Ohio) - 144 lbs 3rd Place Anthony Knox (New Jersey) - 120 lbs champion: Class of 2025 Alessio Perentin (New Jersey) - 165 lbs 5th Place; Class of 2025 Ayden Smith (Pennsylvania) - 113 lbs 5th Place Davidson Bryce Griffin (Illinois) - 157 lbs 7th Place Harvard Hudson Skove (New Jersey) - 285 lbs 8th Place Indiana Nicholas Pavlechko (Pennsylvania) - 285 lbs 4th Place Carson Thomas (Ohio) - 175 lbs 5th Place: Class of 2025 Iowa State Daniel Herrera (Iowa) - 285 lbs runner-up Adrian Meza (Arizona) - 132 lbs 6th Place Lehigh Calvin Lachman (Pennsylvania) - 285 lbs 6th Place Lock Haven Tucker Hogan (Pennsylvania) - 190 lbs 3rd Place Maryland Oscar Williams (Oklahoma) - 215 lbs 3rd Place Michigan Cam Catrabone (New York) - 144 lbs runner-up Michigan State Cory Thomas (Michigan) - 157 lbs 7th Place Minnesota Landon Robideau (Minnesota) - 138 lbs runner-up: Class of 2025 Missouri Jake Crapps (Georgia) - 126 lbs 8th Place Aeoden Sinclair (Wisconsin) - 190 lbs champion Navy Spencer Lanosga (Louisiana) - 285 lbs 3rd Place NC State Will Denny (Illinois) - 150 lbs 6th Place: Class of 2025 Gavin Linsman (Missouri) - 144 lbs 8th Place Latrell Schafer (Georgia) - 165 lbs 4th Place Ohio State Ethan Birden (Ohio) - 165 lbs 3rd Place Ben Davino (Illinois) - 132 lbs 3rd Place Oklahoma Alex Braun (Minnesota) - 138 lbs 3rd Place Oklahoma State JJ McComas (Oklahoma) - 126 lbs runner-up Penn Eren Sement (Pennsylvania) - 126 lbs 6th Place: Class of 2025 Luke Simcox (Pennsylvania) - 138 lbs 6th Place Penn State Dalton Perry (Pennsylvania) - 138 lbs 8th Place: Class of 2025 Princeton Xavier Giles (New York) - 165 lbs 6th Place Ethan Rivera (Florida) - 120 lbs 5th Place Rutgers Conner Harer (Pennsylvania) - 157 lbs 3rd Place Tahir Parkins (Pennsylvania) - 132 lbs 8th Place: Class of 2025 South Dakota State Logan Swensen (Minnesota) - 132 lbs 7th Place Stanford Cole Han-Lindemyer (Minnesota) - 174 lbs runner-up EJ Parco (California) - 150 lbs 7th Place Virginia Tech Ryan Burton (New Jersey) - 175 lbs champion: Class of 2025 Drew Gorman (Georgia) - 132 lbs 5th Place: Class of 2025 Matt Henrich (New Jersey) - 157 lbs 5th Place Kollin Rath (Pennsylvania) - 150 lbs champion: Class of 2025 Aaron Seidel (Pennsylvania) - 113 lbs champion: Class of 2025 West Virginia Rune Lawrence (Pennsylvania) - 190 lbs runner-up Wyoming Gunner Henry (Indiana) - 220 lbs 8th Place: Class of 2025 Anders Thompson (Montana) - 190 lbs 5th Place

No matter what sport you play, what hobby you enjoy, or what game you tinker at, there's always some work that has to be put in, to not only make it fulfilling but also to become the best you can be at it. Fantasy Wrestling is not like fantasy football. Well, it is, but there’s a lot more that goes into it. In a typical office fantasy football league, Jane from accounting (who said her favorite team is the Oilers because that’s who her brother liked when growing up in the late 70s) can't just walk in, auto-draft, and take home the league trophy. Fantasy Wrestling requires work. Right now, you can go to your favorite fantasy sports app and bring up the current medical condition of Austin Ekler and the likelihood of him playing on Sunday. Hell, even college football discloses basic information on player availability. And if you have been a fan of wrestling for more than two seconds, you know that coaches' heads would probably explode if they were held to the same standard. Wrestling coaches like to keep their plans secret (Remember, “[Suriano is] down in the room now wrestling.”) As you have seen before, potential match-ups are announced but the actual matches that occur (sometimes the anticipated matches of the dual) don't happen. I've even seen Twitter accounts post promotional material featuring specific wrestlers who don't end up competing! But that fantasy sports for you. The glory and the frustration, the pain of the woulda-shoulda-coulda, and that Sunday night dual miracle with the last match on the West Coast. Luckily, as I noted in the Fantasy 101 article last week, the guys at WrestleStat have created a fully interactive and fantasy football-like game experience to make each tournament, dual, and individual match that much more exciting. Snake draft and weekly competitions to help get through the next 20-os-so weeks until Nationals. So to help navigate you through the 2024 Fantasy College Wrestling season (#FCW24), here are some tips and tricks that have helped me to be competitive (and a winner) year in and year out since 2014 when I started doing season-long Fantasy Wrestling (back then it was all by “paper and pencil”, as they say). 1. Research Information is king and knowing what wrestlers are going to an unscheduled Open or who is getting the start this weekend with three dual meets on tap is extremely valuable. While we have a robust media presence for our sport, we still don't get the same type of access that major professional and college sports have. Podcasts, articles, and forums/message boards. Despite the sometimes toxic and biased nature of some boards, there are usually some flakes of gold through all that dirt. Podcasts and short interviews/press conferences have been a recent go-to as some coaches have been more transparent (shoutout Kevin Dresser), but they are not going to always be so easy to find. Sometimes the hour-long podcast has just that one snippet about the Storm Open participants from Ohio State. Matthew Berry does a “Draft Day Manifesto” every year and one sentence has always stuck with me no matter what fantasy sport I play (especially FCW): You can't always win your league in the first few rounds, but you can lose it. Something to think about. 2. Mock Draft, Mock Draft, Mock Draft Wrestlestat allows users to prepare for their draft by creating Mock Draft lobbies which can be set to just about any league size and filled with friends, fans, or simulated users if you want to get in a quickie. Random snake draft placement, so you can test your skills and put that research to work in different situations. Because you know, YOU KNOW, Jim is going to take Mitchell Mesenbrink RIGHT BEFORE IT IS YOUR TURN TO PICK. So instead of going in blind, know how to adapt and pivot and, as they say, practice makes perfect. 3. Redshirts Are Wrestlers Too… During the draft, and especially during the season, your high-ranked starters are not always going to wrestle week-in and week-out. You’re going to need some bench wrestlers to step up, especially in the first part of the season. For example: In the 2020 season, the top Fantasy Wrestler across all weights was redshirt 157 lber Jonathan Ross (Lock Haven) with a record of 52-8 and 135 Fantasy points. Seth Gross (Wisconsin) was 7th with 103 Fantasy points. Now, that's an extreme outlier, right? 60 matches in a season?! Did he have a death wish? But in 2022, Ethen Miller (MD) had more fantasy points than Nick Lee (PSU) and Joey Milano (NCST) had more than Myles Amine (MICH). This past season, Sheldon Seymour (LEH) had more fantasy points than Liam Cronin (NEB) and Pat Glory (PRIN). In fact, Spencer Lee (IOWA) had an Average Draft Position (ADP) of #3 in 2020, #1 in 2021, #1 in 2022, and #1 this past season (2023), but this is the first time he's finished within the Top-5. You aren’t going to win NCAAs with them, but they are the unsung heroes that you need in order to win your league. When your go-to starters are injured, ducking, or are questionable to compete, redshirts and backups can be that bridge to guide you to Fantasy College Wrestling success. 4. First Semester Freshmen The past couple of years have seen some pretty substantial rule changes, but one that impacted Fantasy Wrestling more than the others has been the True Freshman First Semester Attachment. In the past, true freshmen could be that surprise Michigan State Open placer or Daktronics Open champion to rack up some much-needed points. However, with now needing them to be attached if wrestling anytime in the first semester, coaches are more strategic in when they use their True Freshmen five competition dates. 5. Add/Drop Like It’s A Business We all have favorite teams and wrestlers, but sometimes you have to make tough decisions to look past your fan allegiances and drop a beloved guy. There’s no debate that Pat McKee (MINN) is a hammer and one of the top wrestlers at 125. But to close out the 2023 season, he faced #4 Matt Ramos (PUR- loss Dec), Unranked Maximo Renteria (ILL- win by Maj), #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa- loss Dec), and #6 Eric Barnett (WISC- loss Dec) for a total net of -5 Fpts. If you started someone like Braxton Brown in that same time frame, you would have net +7 instead. That doesn’t mean that everyone is droppable. Even though Vito Arujau (COR) may be on a “pitch count,” you know that when he wrestles, it’s going to be a win by bonus. You don’t have a lot of roster space, but guys like Arujau ought to be one of those 15-16 spots for the entire season. It can be difficult to drop a beloved wrestler, but sometimes it is necessary to make tough decisions and look past your fan allegiances. Use the Transfer Portal (Free Agency) to its fullest, but only if the favorable matchups are there. Which is a great transition to…. 6. Look For The Matchup, Don’t Force The Matchup All these tips have a foundation based on tip #1, Research. One great in-season resource is the #FCWpodcast and the @FantasyD1Wrestl Weekly Outlooks for waiver wire pickups and tournament entry info. The InterMat FCW Forum page is also pretty neat too (wink wink, nudge nudge) Things to consider are the number of matches in a given scoring week and the opposing competition. The instinctual reaction is that the greater the number of potential matches, the better. Yes and no. Yes, because it gives your wrestler more room for error. A wrestler with three matches in a week could lose one and still net a positive Fantasy point total. If your opposing team only has a total of 20 potential matches, and you have a potential 24 matches, the probability of winning may be in your favor. No, because it can also bite you if a wrestler loses and MFF’s out of a tournament or only wrestles in one or two of the matches in a team’s quad-meet. Or, sometimes taking the “sure thing” is the safer play. Sometimes starting 174 Carter Starocci (PSU) is a better play than Rider’s Quinn Kinner, even though Kinner has two matches against unranked opponents that same week. An example from 2020 for instance: No one can honestly say that 165 Alex Marinelli (IOWA) was not a title contender in 2020. He was an almost absolute start in every week, but there were exceptions. On January 18, 2020, Nebraska rolled into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a Saturday Dual. Alex Marinelli vs. Isaiah White was slated to be one of the marquee matchups. I didn’t (really) have a doubt that Marinelli would come out victorious, but I did not include him on my Weekly Outlook as a good start. Why? Because there was too much risk. I didn’t expect Marinelli to get bonus against White, even though his 2020 bonus rate was 52%. **************************************** There’s more to it than those six tips, but at the end of the day, the buck stops with you. Like a day trader in the stock market, do your DD (Due Diligence) and set your lineup how you think it can perform to its optimal potential.

What has become a preseason staple for us at InterMat, counting down the top 50 wrestlers for the upcoming season, is back for 2023-24. With a large chunk of sixth and seventh-year seniors gone, there is plenty of turnover from last year’s list to this one. That makes for a lot of fun and perhaps some spirited debates. Like last year, the third iteration of this feature will show five wrestlers at a time, counting down from #50 to #1. For each wrestler, we’ll have some basic information along with career highlights, and a brief analysis of their career (with an emphasis on last season), followed by an outlook for the upcoming season. Here are #26-30 #31-35 #36-40 #41-45 #46-50 25) Brock Hardy (Nebraska) Weight: 141 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA 6th Place; 2023 Big Ten Runner-Up 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked A top recruit from the high school Class of 2018, Brock Hardy took two years to go on a mission directly after high school, then got the free year in 2021 and redshirted in 2021-22. So technically, Hardy was a freshman last season and jumped into the Cornhusker lineup and became a stalwart. After losing two of his first three matches, Hardy went on an 18-match winning streak that included tournament titles at the Navy Classic and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In Vegas, Hardy was able to avenge one of his early-season losses to Ryan Jack (NC State). In his first collegiate postseason, Hardy made the Big Ten finals and nearly knocked off top-seeded Real Woods (Iowa) in the championship bout. That performance was good enough for the fourth seed in Tulsa where Hardy advanced all the way to the semifinals before falling to Woods again. After a consolation loss and an injury default, Hardy ended up in sixth place. 2023-24 Outlook: Hardy will enter the 2023-24 season ranked fourth at 141 lbs. He could be as high as second seeing as wrestlers two-through-four all have exchanged wins against each other. The weight has lost one title favorite as 2023 champion Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) is slated to take an Olympic redshirt. Even so, Hardy will need to go through his new nemesis, Woods, to accomplish his goals at the Big Ten and national level. 24) Bernie Truax (Penn State) Weight: 184 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 3x NCAA 4th Place Finisher, 2x Pac-12 Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #42 Short of Kyle Dake, there may not be a better, recent example of a wrestler who has jumped multiple weight classes in his career and maintained a high level of success like Bernie Truax. Truax came to Cal Poly as a 149 lber and wrestled at every weight between 149-197 since then. Last year, Truax moved up to 197 lbs and started the year with seven straight victories. Truax had a bit of a limited schedule in 2022-23 but entered the 2023 NCAA Championships with a 13-1 record and holding the second seed. Although he had the best bracketing situation of his career, Truax failed to make the NCAA semifinals, something he did in each of the previous two tournaments. This time, Truax has to navigate through the consolations and he earned All-American honors after a win over past AA Michael Beard (Lehigh). A match later, he took out the returning national champion, Max Dean (Penn State). He’d settle in for fourth place after losing his final bout to Rocky Elam (Missouri). 2023-24 Outlook: In the offseason, Truax joined Penn State as a graduate transfer. With the Nittany Lions, he’ll be expected to move back down to 184 lbs. Truax admitted at the 2023 NCAA Tournament he was significantly under 197. He starts the year ranked second at 184 lbs; however, he does own a career win (and loss) against top-ranked Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa). The change of scenery should be beneficial for Truax, as he’ll be sandwiched between a pair of multiple-time national champions for the Nittany Lions. Between the team and Nittany Lion WC members, there’s no shortage of excellent practice partners for the California native. 23) Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) Weight: 197 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA Runner-Up, 3x Big 12 Runner-Up 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked The 2023 national tournament saw Tanner Sloan become the second wrestler to make the NCAA finals for South Dakota State since the school moved to DI status. Every match that Sloan wrestled at the 2023 tournament took place against a returning or eventual All-American. His 8-1 first-round win over Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) exercised some demons, as it was Hoffman, who upset Sloan in the first round of the 2022 tournament. He also got a measure of revenge in the semifinals by downing Missouri’s Rocky Elam, 7-2. Just two weeks earlier, Elam had outlasted Sloan 2-1 in tiebreakers during the Big 12 Championship match. For the year, Sloan finished 27-3 with a perfect dual record and a third-place finish at the 2022 CKLV Invitational. 2023-24 Outlook: The graduation of Sloan’s finals opponent, Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), leaves 197 lbs up-for-grabs. Sloan is part of a strong Big 12 contingent that contains a trio of title contenders. Based on SDSU’s schedule, he’s supposed to see those other two contenders (Elam and Stephen Buchanan - Oklahoma) in dual competition, plus the Jackrabbits are making a return trip to Vegas. With that kind of a potential schedule, Sloan’s ranking/NCAA seeding could be in his own hands. Outside of the Big Ten, NCAA finalists Aaron Brooks (Penn State) and Trent Hidlay (NC State) are both moving up. Brooks has three NCAA titles and a great freestyle pedigree to his name; however, he has dropped a match in each of the last two years, so he is beatable and title number four isn’t a mere formality. With Sloan’s size and length, he could present a staunch challenge for Brooks should that match ever materialize. 22) Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) Weight: 197 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2x NCAA All-American (3,8), 2022 Big 12 Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #27 We haven’t seen Stephen Buchanan in awhile, but a year ago at this time, he was deemed to be the 27th wrestler in the nation. Buchanan transferred from Wyoming to Oklahoma last year and ended up redshirting the 2022-23 season. While at Wyoming, Buchanan never redshirted and immediately stepped into the Cowboy lineup and made the national tournament with a 26-13 record. In 2021, Buchanan had a breakout campaign and finished eighth in the nation. That proved to be a springboard for more as Buchanan elevated himself into national contender status during the 2021-22 season. He started the year with a title at the CKLV Invitational and only lost twice before the postseason. Buchanan would capture a Big 12 title with wins over notables like Tanner Sloan and Yonger Bastida (Iowa State), which gave him the second seed at nationals. In Detroit, Buchanan advanced to the semifinals before losing a close bout. He’d rebound with his second win of the tournament over Missouri’s Rocky Elam in the third-place match. 2023-24 Outlook: This marks the first year of Roger Kish’s tenure in Norman and what better way to start than with a potential title contender in Buchanan at 197 lbs. The revamped Sooner team looks solid in dual competition and with an anticipated high finish from Buchanan, the squad could be in for a nice placement at nationals. Buchanan starts the year ranked number two at that weight and is a serious favorite for the upcoming season. As mentioned above, the Big 12 is loaded with title contenders at this weight. Buchanan will have to contend with Sloan and Elam multiple times this year, before even getting to Kansas City. 21) Trent Hidlay (NC State) Weight: 197 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 3x NCAA All-American (4,5,2), 3x ACC Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #20 Another year and another set of All-American honors for the leader of the Pack, Trent Hidlay. Hidlay started his 2022-23 campaign with 12 straight wins and had bonus points in eight of those contests. That winning streak included a tournament title at the CKLV Invitational. In the finals, Hidlay notched an 8-2 victory over rival Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa). Later that month, Keckeisen would get his revenge on Hidlay, handing him only loss of the year, pre-NCAA’s. After claiming his third consecutive ACC crown, Hidlay was awarded the #2 seed in Tulsa. Hidlay would advance to the semifinals before getting beaten by the eventual three-time champ, Aaron Brooks (Penn State). Over the last three years, Hidlay has only had seven total losses; however, five of them came from Brooks or Keckeisen. He would finish up in fourth place. In the three seasons with an actual NCAA Tournament, Hidlay had made it to the semis every time and has never finished lower than fifth. 2023-24 Outlook: Hidlay’s final go ‘round will take place at a new weight class. He’s moving up from the 184 lbs weight in which he spent his first five years in Raleigh. While not as tall as some of the top 197 lbers, Hidlay’s powerful frame should ensure a seamless transition to the weight. Hidlay starts the year ranked fifth at the weight, which is more out of respect to the high finishers returning at the weight, rather than a knock on Hidlay. Hidlay has always been known to have a great gas tank, but moving up might provide him even more energy, which is a scary proposition. We’ll probably have to wait about a month until the CKLV to see Hidlay tested at 197 lbs by top competition.

Minnesota head coach Brandon Eggum sits down with Ryan Holmes to preview the 2023-24 campaign. Coach Eggum goes through the lineup and the probable starters for the Gophers at each weight. He also gives some updates on Gable Steveson's status for the season. Coach Eggum also talks about Michael Blockhus' return and Pat McKee's leadership. With some new rule changes for this season, Coach Eggum provides insight into how the staff has dealt with these changes. For the full interview: Click Here