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We're getting ready to start the first week of the 2023-24 season, but have a semi-full schedule of DI duals whis week. A total of 35 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). All times are eastern Wednesday, November 1: Brockport at Buffalo 1:00 PM UB Bulls YouTube Seton Hill at Buffalo 2:30 PM UB Bulls YouTube Niagara County CC at Buffalo 4:00 PM UB Bulls YouTube Army West Point vs. Campbell at Fort Liberty, NC 5:00 PM UFC Fight Pass Glenville State at Buffalo 5:30 PM UB Bulls YouTube Allen at The Citadel 6:00 PM ESPN+ NC State vs. Presbyterian at Fort Liberty, NC 7:30 PM UFC Fight Pass Montreat at The Citadel 7:30 PM ESPN+ Carl Albert at Little Rock 8:00 PM Little Rock Sports Network Thursday, November 2: Greensboro at North Carolina 1:00 PM ACC Network Extra Oregon State vs. Queens at North Carolina 1:00 PM Queens at North Carolina 3:00 PM ACC Network Extra Oregon State vs. Greensboro at North Carolina 3:00 PM Oregon State at North Carolina 5:00 PM ACC Network Extra Queens vs. Greensboro at North Carolina 5:00 PM Maryland at American 7:00 PM ESPN+ SIU Edwardsville at Illinois 7:00 PM BTN+ Friday, November 3: Lindenwood vs. St. Ambrose at Northern Illinois 4:00 PM St. Ambrose at Northern Illinois 5:30 PM NIU All-Access NC State at Appalachian State 7:00 PM AppState Facebook, YouTube, Twitch Duke vs. Rutgers at Cal Poly 7:00 PM Fort Hays State at Northern Colorado 7:00 PM FloWrestling Lindenwood at Northern Illinois 7:00 PM NIU All-Access Duke at Cal Poly 9:00 PM Cal Poly All-Access New Mexico Highlands at Northern Colorado 9:00 PM FloWrestling Rutgers at Cal Poly 10:30 PM Cal Poly All-Access Saturday, November 4: Bellarmine at Patriot Open, hosted by Cumberlands 9:00 AM Campbell, Chattanooga, Davidson, Franklin & Marshall, Morgan State, Ohio, Oregon State, Utah Valley, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI, West Virginia at Southeast Open, hosted by Roanoke 9:00 AM FloWrestling SIU Edwardsville at Kaufman/Brand/Bayly Open, St. Louis, MO 10:00 AM Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield at Menlo Open 12:00 PM FloWrestling Navy at Illinois, 2:00 PM BTN+ Nebraska at North Dakota State 3:00 PM NDSU All-Access Duke at Stanford 7:00 PM Western Colorado at Air Force 8:00 PM FloWrestling Iowa at California Baptist 9:00 PM FloWrestling Colorado State-Pueblo at Air Force 9:30 PM FloWrestling Sunday, November 5: Brown, Buffalo, Clarion, Columbia, Edinboro, Gardner-Webb, Kent State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Purdue at Clarion Open 9:00 AM FloWrestling Army West Point, Bloomsburg, Hofstra, Lehigh, Lock Haven, Princeton, Rider at Princeton Open 9:00 AM ESPN+ American, Appalachian State, Drexel, George Mason, Indiana, The Citadel at Battle at the Citadel 9:00 AM Utah Valley at Rookie Open, hosted by Colorado School of Mines 12:00 PM Cleveland State vs. Iowa State at Massillon, OH, 2:00 PM UFC Fight Pass Lindenwood at Wisconsin 2:00 PM BTN+ Western Wyoming at Wyoming 3:00 PM FloWrestling

We’re only a couple days away from the start of the 2023-24 wrestling season. With every new season comes a new crop of freshmen who are eager to build upon their dreams of wrestling collegiately. Advances in training methods, RTC’s, more international opportunities, and plenty of other factors have made it more commonplace for true freshmen to have success immediately in college. From 1990 until 2003, only eight freshmen (true or redshirt) won national titles. Over the last 14 years, 15 freshmen have won national titles. Seven were true freshmen. So, who’s next? Which wrestlers from the Class of 2023 will jump in and contend for national titles and spots on the podium this season? Below we have 11 true freshmen that have the potential to win in bunches, right away. The ones we’ve listed have a path to a starting role or we’ve heard from their respective coaching staffs that they are in line to start. Next to each wrestler is their final Big Board ranking from MatScouts. #1 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) The top prospect in the high school Class of 2023, Meyer Shapiro will immediately step into the Cornell lineup at 157 lbs. Shapiro wowed international fans over the summer with a U20 World Championship at 70 kg. It was his second world title in as many tries; he won a U17 title in 2021. Shapiro has already proven that he can handle collegiate competition as he captured titles at three open tournaments in 2022-23. Just a high school senior, Shapiro earned bonus points in all of his matches at the Clarion and Mat Town Open’s. Cornell has a great track record for judging the “readiness” of true freshmen. Not only will Shapiro be competitive right away, but he will likely become an All-American contender (if not more) sooner rather than later at 157 lbs. #5 Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) With two-time All-American Dustin Plott moving up to 184 lbs, it created an opening for true freshman Brayden Thompson at 174. Prior to his junior year in high school, Thompson earned a spot on the U20 freestyle team, which is rather unusual. Though he’s slated to compete at 174 lbs, Thompson won a Walsh Ironman title at 190 lbs early in his senior season. One of his strengths is his defensive prowess, a trait that probably transfers immediately and keeps him in most matches. Oklahoma State is coming off a program-worst 18th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Inserting a true freshman like Thompson combined with transfers and redshirt freshmen, could bring John Smith’s team closer to an NCAA team trophy than 18th place. #11 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) Michigan has some options in the 133/141 range, so whether Sergio Lemley is “the guy” for the Wolverines is something that will be determined in the coming weeks/months. All-American Chris Cannon transferred in at 133 lbs and starter Dylan Ragusin has been very good for Michigan at the weight. Ragusin has a redshirt available so we could see a lineup that features Cannon at 133 and Lemley at 141 lbs. Lemley was a Super 32 champion and two-time top-three finisher at the Walsh Ironman. The Wolverines have never been shy about letting true freshmen go if they’re the best guy available. I’d expect for various wrestlers to get a shot at 141, while trying to preserve Lemley’s redshirt status. #16 Dylan Gilcher (Michigan) Some of what we said about Lemley could be applicable to his teammate Dylan Gilcher. Michigan had a freshman national qualifier at 149 lbs last year, so the staff likely expected that they wouldn’t have to worry about that slot for the next few seasons. That didn’t totally happen as Chance Lamer transferred in the offseason and there’s some uncertainty around the weight in 2023-24. True freshman Dylan Gilcher will certainly get a shot to win the spot this year. Gilcher was a three-time Super 32 placewinner who won the title during his last chance in 2022. With the pre-existing roster and All-American transfers, if one or two members of the second-ranked recruiting class of 2023 are ready to contribute in year old, Michigan could be an NCAA team trophy favorite. #17 Joey Blaze (Purdue) I wasn’t certain whether or not to include Joey Blaze in this article because there’s still some uncertainty surrounding his competition status in his first year in West Lafayette. But, after this weekend, and his showing at Purdue’s wrestle-off’s. Blaze competed twice and, in each instance, won via tech fall over William Edwards and Isaac Ruble. I have no scientific data to back me up but it seems like true freshmen may be more tentative than normal against teammates in their first wrestle-off. Even ones that have good first seasons. That obviously wasn’t the case for Blaze. Now beating teammates and competing day-in and day-out in the Big Ten is a different animal. Blaze would compete at a 157 lb weight class that features nine of the top 16 wrestlers in the nation. I’d keep an eye on the Clarion Open to see how Blaze fares against outside competition. That may end up making the decision easier (or more difficult) for the Purdue staff. In high school, Blaze’s most notable achievement was winning the Super 32 as a senior. #19 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) This is another “wait and see” situation but for a different reason than the others we’ve mentioned. Should the current gambling-related suspensions be overturned, 2023 All-American Nelson Brands might be available at some point in 2023-24 for the Hawkeyes. If not, there’s no clear starter at 174 lbs. That’s where Gabe Arnold comes in. Arnold was a 2023 UWW Junior Open champion who has really jumped levels within the last year after moving to Iowa City to finish his high school career. He’s probably capable of coming in and making an impact from day one. Another note to consider is that generally, during Tom Brands’ tenure, he’s been very conservative about letting true freshmen wrestle right away. #21 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) After a bunch of freshmen we think may (or may not) get the call in 2023-24, here’s one we’re relatively confident about. Nasir Bailey slots in at 133 lbs and is the highest-ranked signee in the short history of Little Rock wrestling. Bailey earned such high rankings by winning Fargo and the Ironman in 2021 and at Who’s #1 in 2022. With Bailey in the lineup and many of the redshirt freshmen who helped the Trojans earn a top-20 recruiting ranking for 2022, Little Rock could be a tough squad this season. Bailey has joined his older brother Bilal, who went 6-6 at 157/165, for Little Rock. #32 Ty Watters (West Virginia) Judging by wrestle-off results, here’s another true freshman that could start right away. Initially, it looked like West Virginia would have Jordan Titus at 141 lbs and Sam Hillegas at 149. Maybe that’s still the case, but Hillegas was listed with the Mountaineers 141 lbers in their pre-event social media graphics. From the limited wrestle-off results, it didn’t appear as if Hillegas wrestled at 141, though. Watters did compete and tallied two falls on the day. Before WVU, Watters was a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and a Super 32 finalist. Should he be ready to roll in 2023-24, West Virginia could be a tough out this season. #49 Mac Church/#85 Hunter Mason (Virginia Tech) So here’s the situation. Virginia Tech has an incumbent at 141 in Tom Crook, who wrestled last year as a true freshman and made it to Tulsa. Ultimately, Crook goes up to 149 lbs. With a pair of highly regarded freshmen in the mix, the Hokies could redshirt Crook so that he could prepare for the move to 149. For that to happen, someone would need to distinguish themselves between Mac Church and Hunter Mason. Church is a two-time PA champion and a three-time Ironman finalist (1x champion), while Mason got on the podium in Fargo and was a top-three finisher at the Beast on two occasions. One thing to consider here is Virginia Tech’s team composition. With five returning All-Americans, the Hokies should be in the thick of the NCAA team race. They’ll need the best chance at possible NCAA points in 2024 in the starting lineup. With two true freshmen in the mix, the Hokie staff could use five dates for both before making a final decision. #109 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) After the top-50 recruits there is less certainty about whether or not certain true freshmen will earn starting roles during the 2023-24 season. So we’ve gone down to #109 to find Noah Mulvaney, a freshman from Bucknell. Mulvaney was someone who made huge leaps during his senior year of high school. Had recruiting rankings been dragged out longer than they were, he probably would have been a bit higher. That’s because Mulvaney went out to the UWW Junior Open and took sixth place in April. A few months later, he earned a stop sign by winning Junior Nationals in Fargo. Since Bucknell rarely is able to use redshirts, their freshmen have to be ready to go in year one. Should Mulvaney improve in the Bucknell room at the pace he did during his final months of high school, he could be someone who takes the EIWA by storm.

The wrestling season is just a couple days away and one of the marquee events during the first week of competition is Army West Point taking on Campbell on the Fort Liberty Army base in North Carolina. To get ready for that event, EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer has sat down with Black Knight head coach Kevin Ward. Coach Ward discusses how social media helped make the match happen and the recent back-and-forth on Twitter between the two schools. The two also discuss Army's early season schedule, wrestlers to watch in 2023-24, and some new changes to the coaching staff. They close by highlighting some of their favorite debates with the team's Associate Head Coach Scott Green. For the full interview: Click Here

Coach Matt Storniolo has brought in some new faces to help lead this year’s team. BJ Futrell and Justin Oliver have joined Storniolo on staff this year and are already making an impact on the squad in the short time they’ve been there. Futrell, who is an Illinois native made the move back home after spending time coaching at Penn and Oliver comes to the Wildcats after being at Northern Colorado, where he helped coach Andrew Alirez to an NCAA title. Not only will things look different in the corner, but the lineup has had some changes as well. Overall, there are some new faces in Evanston sporting purple that will be looking to make some noise. Hear from Coach Storniolo and Futrell as they talk about the upcoming season. Top Returners Although I spoke about some new faces coming in, there will be some experience returning to the lineup that have some big-time experience. Coming back at 141 will be Frankie Tal-Shahar, an NCAA qualifier from a season ago. Tal-Shahar went 2-2 in Tulsa last year and comes into the season ranked 15th. A trio of fellow returning qualifiers will be back at 157, 165, and 184, respectively. Trevor Chumbley and Max Mayfield will be the 1-2 punch coming back in the middle of the lineup. Like Talshahar, Chumbley was 2-2 at NCAAs last season while Mayfield had a rough ending going 0-2. Troy Fisher, who was down at 174 last year, has moved up to 184 this season. Fisher was also 2-2 in the championships last year but it was his close 1-point loss to multiple-time finalist and NCAA Champ Mekhi Lewis that had people on the edge of their seats. Key Departures A Wildcat migration took place in the off-season as Michael DeAugustino (125), Chris Cannon (133), and Lucas Davison (285), the team’s lone All-American last year, all made the move to Michigan. Additionally, Yahya Thomas finished his All-American career and is now training at the NJRTC. Newcomers With key departures at 125 and 133, we’re going to see some new faces step up. At 125, Dedrick Navarro will be a true freshman looking to step in right away along with Massey Odiotti. Coach Storniolo mentioned that watching them during practice “is like fireworks” so we’ll see which guy is ready to pop. Buffalo transfer Patrick Adams will be looking to take the spot at 133. Adams has limited experience in the few years he spent in the Bulls room so this will be his first year to get some significant mat time. Wrestlers to watch Jack Jessen is in his sixth year and he’s moving up from 184 to 197. He’s had plenty of experience including being an NCAA qualifier in 2021-22 as the #33-seed. Also, Evan Bates will be in the mix at 197 this year as well. Bates started the year at 197 then came down to 184 last season and will now go back up to 197 this year. He finished his season at 19-18 a season ago. Another guy bumping up this year is David Ferrante. He will be moving up to 174 after competing at 165 last year where his season was cut short due to injury. Lastly, Dirk Morley, who is the only heavyweight on the roster will have some pretty big shoes to fill after Davison’s departure. Top out-of-conference dual Just two non-conference duals appear on the schedule for the Wildcats this season. In December they head to Northern Illinois and in February they play host to Binghamton.