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Today, the lineup for the 2023 NWCA All-Star Match was released. The event will take place on October 21st at Penn State’s Rec Hall at 7pm (EST). Men’s Matches 125 lbs: #1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) vs. #2 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) 133 lbs: #4 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech). #8 Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 141 lbs: #3 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) vs. #9 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) 149 lbs: #2 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. #3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 157 lbs: #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. #4 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 165 lbs: #4 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs. #6 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) 174 lbs: #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 184 lbs: #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. #2 Bernie Truax (Penn State) 197 lbs: #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #2 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 285 lbs: #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #2 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Women’s Matches 116 lbs: #1 Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) vs. #2 Samara Chavez (King) 130 lbs: #1 Sarah Savidge (Life) vs. #2 Alexis Janiak (Aurora) 136 lbs: #1 Adaugo Nwachukwu (William Penn) vs. #1 Yele Aycock (North Central) 160 lbs: #1 Marlynne Deede (Iowa) vs. #1 Latifah McBryde (Life)

On the final day of women’s competition at the 2023 U23 World Championships, Amit Elor was able to add to both her legacy and medal collection. Legacy is a strange word to use for a young woman who competed at the U20 World Championships earlier this year, but Elor continues to rewrite the history books for USA Wrestling. Elor’s finals victory today gave her titles at the U20, U23, and Senior World Championships for a second consecutive year. In 2022, Elor was the first American to win all three events in the same year, so she’s obviously the only one to achieve the feat twice. Elor now has eight world titles after counting the U17 and U20 gold medals she captured in 2021. Not only has Elor made history, but she has done so in an utterly dominant fashion. Today’s gold medal match was similar to her first two matches of the tournament. Within the first ten seconds of the bout, Elor got a takedown off of a snapdown and spin. She then proceeded to get an ankle lace and turned Jyoti Berwal (India) four times for a quick 10-0 victory at 72 kg. Like 22 seconds quick! Elor’s semifinal match was the only one that went the full six minutes and it was still a 5-0 shutout. In her three remaining matches, Elor was only on the mat for :57 seconds combined! In her four matches, Elor did not surrender a single point. In addition to Elor, teammates Xochitl Mota-Pettis (57 kg) and Macey Kilty (65 kg) both wrestled for bronze medals. Ultimately, each would come up one point shy of earning bronze. Mota-Pettis and Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) both exchanged points for a shot-clock violation, with the American getting her point in the first period. The decisive sequence occurred in the waning seconds of the bout as Mota-Pettis snapped Kamaloglu down and rolled her through for exposure. Both athletes were given exposure points; however, Kamaloglu’s occurred last, giving her criteria. The American corner challenged the ruling; however, the challenge was lost giving Kamaloglu an extra point for the 4-3 victory. Kilty also had an Indian opponent, Monika, who got on the scoreboard first as she shot a double leg at the edge and forced Kilty to step out of bounds. Later in the first, Kilty overextended herself going for a trip and stepped into a leg attack from Monika, who would lead 3-0 at the break. In the second period, Kilty was finally able to get some offense going as she nimbly stepped along the edge of the circle, avoiding a throw out of bounds from Monika, and jumped behind her opponent for a takedown. On the ensuing restart, Kilty hit a picture-esque swing single and, after a long fight, was able to convert for a takedown that pushed her ahead 4-3. With under :40 seconds remaining in the bout, Monika got to a single of her own. Kilty attempted to roll through and expose Monika; however, she was caught on her back. Those two points ended up deciding the bout, 5-4 in favor of Monika. The American women finished in fourth place with three medals. Friday also marked the first day of Greco-Roman competition. None of the American contingent made it to the finals. Tyler Eischens, at 82 kg, was the lone American to win multiple matches on the day. He notched a fall in his first bout and a 10-3 victory over Branko Kovacevic (Serbia) in the Round of 16. The only American from today’s competition who is alive in repechage is Robert Perez III at 67 kg. Perez III suffered a 2-0 loss to Turkey’s Mustafa Yildrim, who later went on to make the finals. Perez III will need to win two repechage bouts in order to wrestle for a bronze medal. His battle back starts with a bout against India’s Umesh.

Purdue - The Boilermakers were an insanely young team last season. Youth is a reason, not an excuse, and I’m a firm believer that there is a big difference between reasons and excuses. The expectations for this team are higher, as they should be. The team from last year is battle-tested and ready, and the expectations from fans and coaches are greater. One interesting thing about this team, is it might somehow be younger cumulatively than they were last season, but with greater expectations. The freshmen from last season now know what the grind is like, but they are still only in their second season in the lineup. As you’ll see, you might even get some true freshman and redshirt freshmen competing in the lineup this season as well. Regardless of eligibility status, these Purdue wrestlers are expected to produce at a greater level than they did last season. They have a strong leadership group of coaches and athletes and will grow into a real force by March. This is a team that has a strong and lasting foundation for continued success. TOP RETURNERS The Boilermakers have some solid bookends at 125 and Heavyweight. Matt Ramos starts it off for Purdue. Coming off of an NCAA finals appearance and being the highest returning All-American, he begins the season ranked #1 at 125. That’s the highest that you can be ranked, in case you were wondering. Matt Ramos should be one of the wrestlers who benefit greatly from the three-point takedown. He’s excellent on his feet and extremely dangerous from a variety of attacks. I’m excited to see an extra confident season from Matt Ramos, and what that means for his opponents. Hayden Copass is a returning NCAA Qualifier for the Boilermakers. He had a strong finish to the season at B1Gs, avenging some losses from earlier in the season to qualify for NCAAs. I am a firm believer that NCAA Tournament experience is hugely valuable to returning athletes. You come in with the expectation to return the next year, and I feel like most wrestlers meet that expectation with their commitment to training and continued growth. I’m excited to see what techniques Hayden has developed this summer to add to his humongous frame and athleticism. KEY DEPARTURES One of my favorite wrestlers of the last couple of years was Kendall Coleman. He was as explosive and exciting as you could have found in a wrestler. He had a great double leg and fakes that would get you out of your shoes. If you pressured in too much, he had a slide by that would leave you wondering where he went. He was a big contributor for the program over the last several seasons, and I sure will miss watching his matches. They are also losing Parker Filius who was a gritty veteran who, win or lose, would make sure his opponent wasn’t looking forward to the next time they wrestled. It was great watching him get on the podium last season, but this is a big gap to fill as well. Thankfully Purdue has a couple solid options to backfill these two studs. NEWCOMERS As mentioned above, the Boilermakers were very young last season. Even so, they have a couple strong newcomers coming in via transfer to bolster their lineup and increase the competition levels in the room. James Rowley, transferring in from Wisconsin, is a super talented kid and looks good at 184, which is where he is expected to compete this season. He was a big recruit coming out of Oregon and was second in the world at the Cadet World Championships in 2021. He was 8-8 in his redshirt campaign with the Badgers, but I expect him to have a big impact right away with Purdue. Marcos Polanco, transferring in from Minnesota, was an NCAA qualifier for them at 141 pounds in 2021. Marcos, looking to get a chance to compete full-time in a college lineup, has transferred to Purdue in hopes of doing just that. There’s a lot to be said about just having the opportunity to compete week in and week out, and the leaps that you can make as a wrestler with just that experience. I expect him to build confidence as the season goes on. Joey Blaze, one of the top recruits in the country, is making a strong case for going this year. My understanding is that they will give him a really hard look early, and see what he can do with his early season weigh-ins, but by all accounts he’s looking strong early on. Greyson Clark is getting evaluated as well as a true freshman. Another strong recruit, from this beastly recruiting class, could make a case to be a starter right away as well. Brody Baumann redshirted last season, but had a very strong redshirt season, winning the Purple Raider Open, Greyhound Open, and placing fifth at the Clarion Open. He had a record of 17-5 overall, and most recently placed top five at 79 kgs at U23. He is expected to be an impactful guy at 174 for Purdue off the jump. WRESTLER TO WATCH Dustin Norris was a favorite of mine from early last season. He is tall and lean for 133, but showed signs of development as the season went on. By B1Gs, he was closing the gap on many of his opponents, and had even pinned All-American Rayvon Foley. Norris has been looking strong in the room, and in my conversations with the coaches, they feel like he was really close to getting over the hump last season. He’s a guy to keep your eye on and don’t be surprised when he comes in with a fire lit under him. Stoney Buell was my breakout pick at 165 last season. He had some solid wins last year, including winning the Greyhound Open, but had struggled in B1G competition. The good news though, is I don’t give up, and neither does Stoney. Like Norris, he is going to come into this year with much more confidence and the knowledge that he’s seen this before. Purdue over the years, and with this staff, has consistently shown the ability to develop their talent. Especially talent with a pedigree like Stoney Buell. He’ll be ready this year and should turn some heads. Ben Vanadia competed for the Boilermakers at 184 last season, and like Buell, had some ups and downs. These three guys (Norris, Buell, and Vanadia) all jumped into the lineup early, and each of these weights was completely loaded in the B1G and generally throughout the country. In seasons with super seniors and super duper seniors like we’ve had the last couple of years, I’m not particularly worried about freshmen struggling a bit in their first seasons of competition. What you look for is indicators that they are getting to attacks, fighting through tough positions, and not giving up. I saw that from Vanadia as well. He will be bumping up to 197 this season, and from all accounts seems to be filling into the weight very well. He’s another young Purdue wrestler to keep your eyes on. TOP OUT-OF-CONFERENCE DUAL On November 11th, Purdue will wrestle both Army and North Carolina State. NC State is ranked higher than Army is currently, and conventional wisdom should tell you that makes them the top out-of-conference dual. I’m not arguing against that, but I’m simply combining the Journeymen/Wranglemania as their top dual(s). NC State is perennially a strong team, and Pat Popolizio always has his teams ready to go. Matt Ramos vs Jakob Camacho should be a great matchup at 125, and if Joey Blaze ends up starting at 157, then you could see him go up against Ed Scott for an awesome early-season challenge. Army is no walk in the park though. They have been doing an excellent job with developing talent and will have some solid matchups as well. They have Ethan Berginc at 125, and Ben Pasiuk at 174 who should provide some solid challenges to Purdue, as well as Nathan Lukez at 157. November 11th will prove to be a day to show the Boilermakers where they are to begin the season.

Last week we gave you answers to eight burning questions regarding the MAC for the 2023-24 preseason. It was relatively thorough, but at the same time, the MAC is a huge conference, so there is still more to talk about. Today, we have five more questions about the conference in the upcoming season. Get ready for some MAC-tion! 1) We’ve talked about a dark horse team. Who are some individual dark horses to watch? First and foremost, we have to mention Bloomsburg’s Josh Mason. In each of the last two years, Mason has come into the MAC tournament, on the top half of the bracket, and made his way to the finals. Last season, he was seeded fourth and took out Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) a match after Jones knocked off top-seeded McKenzie Bell (Rider). In 2022, it was Mason doing the upsetting as he downed top-seeded Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) and #5 Gabe Willochell (Edinboro) on his way to the finals. Both years he’s beaten a wrestler that defeated him earlier in the regular season. While Mason starts the year outside of the national rankings, he can and has beaten the best in the conference. He’s also shown he can shake off some earlier losses and focus when the stakes are the highest. For another one, let’s look towards Clarion’s John Worthing. It’s probably not fair to label him a dark horse as he already has established himself, to an extent, and has made the big show and picked up two wins along the way. Worthing is someone who established himself during a breakout season in 2022-23 and, more specifically, at the MAC Championships. Worthing knocked off third-seeded Sal Perrine (Ohio) and second-seeded Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) to clinch a spot at nationals and make the conference finals. Interestingly enough, Worthing had defeated Stoltzfus during the regular season, but had a few extra conference losses on the resume. With some attrition at 174 lbs due to graduation, Worthing started the preseason ranked #19 at the weight. While he might not be a dark horse to MAC followers, should he continue to improve he could turn some heads nationally and get closer to All-American status. 2) How many 149 lbers go to Kansas City? Let’s face it. There are some thin weights in the MAC. It’s really rough having wrestlers from 13 teams vie for one or two NCAA berths. One bad match at the conference meet could even doom someone who earned an allocation. The lack of qualifiers available at some weights can make fans feel good about seeing a weight like 149 lbs in the MAC. The conference was allocated five representatives at the weight before the MAC Championships. That makes it the highest total in the conference. Two other weights were allocated four slots. Because of upsets, when it was all said and done, six MAC wrestlers went to Tulsa at 149 lbs. The good news for followers of this conference is that four of those six return (Nathan Higley - George Mason; Quinn Kinner - Rider, Ryan Burgos - Edinboro, Caleb Tyus - SIU Edwardsville). In addition, Central Michigan’s 149 and 157 lbers have swapped places. Both were qualifiers in 2023 and are expected to contend for MAC titles in 2024, so it’s not a stretch to throw Corbyn Munson into the mix. In addition to those five, there are two others in the preseason rankings #31 Derek Raike (Ohio) and #32 Kyle Schickel (Clarion). If that isn’t enough, you have Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven), who just missed out on qualifying last year. That’s eight right there and doesn’t account for anyone that emerges from the other conference schools. Now, let’s be realistic. With eight NCAA-level wrestlers in one weight class, they’ll likely exchange wins and generally beat each other up. It might be difficult for all of them to have good resumes at the end of the year. Ultimately, I think six is probably a safe number for this bracket again. 3) Along with question two, can any other weights approach 149’s allocations/qualifiers? As mentioned before, two other weights in the conference had four allocations in 2023; 157 and 174 lbs. In our preseason All-330 projections, we had both weights sending three wrestlers; however, in the “just missed” category both weights had two additional wrestlers from the MAC. Realistically, I don’t think any weight in the conference challenges 149, but those two weights have some good, safe bets for qualification amongst their three from the All-330, plus some strong secondary options. Some other weights that may push for four qualifiers? I’d look at the bottom with 125 and 133. I view both weights very differently. 125 has a ton of depth between the wrestlers ranked #20-#33 and from #34-40, if a list existed. The difference between #28 and #40 at 125 lbs (nationally) is very small and that #40 ranked wrestler is certainly capable of racking up quality wins. So what does that mean for the MAC? They have a handful of those guys between #28-40 with #33 Blake West (Northern Illinois), UR Markel Baker (George Mason), and UR Joey Fischer (Clarion). Based on the information we have now, it would be hard to fathom two of those four getting at-larges or allocations. The good news is that it’s a new season and a bunch of wins by those wrestlers (or others) could completely change a preexisting narrative. 133 is a weight that is very thin nationally after the #15-20 range. It would be much easier for a previously unheralded wrestler or two to make a mark and jump into the national ranking at 133. In the MAC, past qualifiers Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) and Richie Koehler (Rider) return, plus Virginia Tech transfer Brandon Wittenberg (George Mason) has made his weight into the preseason top-33. Again, with the composition of the weight class nationally, it isn’t far-fetched to think that another wrestler or two from the conference could make it four or five qualifiers. 4) You haven’t mentioned Rider much. Will they contend? I noticed that in part one! Rider seemed like a possible MAC Championship squad heading into the 2023 tournament, but didn’t have a great tournament. Only Quinn Kinner (149) and Ethan Laird (197) earned automatic qualifying bids. McKenzie Bell (141) was added as an at-large berth to bring their qualifiers to three. Laird went on to earn All-American honors, but has graduated and moved on, while Bell and Kinner return. Both could be considered favorites for conference titles. Other potential MAC championship threats for the Broncs include Richie Koehler (133) and David Szuba (285). Koehler and Jake Silverstein (157) are both past qualifiers that will make an impact again. A new face to keep an eye on is Will Betancourt at 125 lbs. Rider will likely redshirt 2023 starter Tyler Klinsky and give Betancourt a shot. Betancourt didn’t see the mat last season at Penn State, but went 15-6 in 2021-22 for Ohio State competing primarily unattached at 133 lbs. If the weight isn’t a factor, Betancourt surely could make an impact at 125. That means that 125-157 could be very solid for Rider in 2023-24. Should they get consistent production from 165-197, they might be a threat to Lock Haven/Central Michigan. Expected to see the mat for John Hangey’s team at those weights are Cole McComas (165), Michael Wilson (174), Isaac Dean/Brock Zurawski (184), and Asa Terrell/Azeem Bell (197). 5) Have I missed any notable weight changes? Surprisingly there aren’t “that” many when it comes to NCAA qualifying contender types. Earlier, we mentioned that CMU’s middleweight tandem Corbyn Munson and Johnny Lovett are flipping weights. Munson is going back down to 149, while Lovett moves to 157. Both have had some success at those weights in the past. This should give both a chance to contend for All-American honors at their respective weights. Each is the highest-ranked MAC wrestler at their weight nationally. One you may have missed was Justin Ruffin for SIU Edwardsville. First of all, we were under the assumption that an injury cut short Ruffin’s career last season, so it’s great that he’s back and ready to compete for the Cougars. Ruffin has qualified for three national tournaments at 157 lbs; however, he’s only gotten to wrestling in one (2019). The 2020 tournament was cancelled and in 2021 he was awarded an at-large berth but couldn’t compete due to injury. Now Ruffin is back and will start the season at 165 lbs. A move up in weight is probably a good idea for a wrestler who has dealt with severe injuries like Ruffin. InterMat does understand that there’s a possibility that Ruffin might move back down to 157 at some point. Another change to mention is one that has Clarion’s Cam Pine going from 165 to 184. Pine has won 46 matches over the past two seasons against only 16 losses. At times last season, Pine was very close to breaking into the national rankings. With more experience and a good partner like Worthing at his disposal, Pine might be able to take the next step at a higher weight.

Last night, the University of Maryland wrestling team took the mat for their Red and Black Intersquad event. After the action, Richard Mann spoke with various team members and head coach Alex Clemsen about the action. Head Coach Alex Clemsen 149 lber Ethen Miller 285 lber Seth Nevills