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We're officially in the midst of the collegiate wrestling season and have a semi-full schedule of DI duals this week. A total of 43 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). Thursday, November 16: NC State at Army West Point 7:00 PM FloWrestling Minnesota at Bucknell 7:00 PM ESPN+ West Virginia at Clarion 7:00 PM FloWrestling Friday, November 17: Liberty at Lindenwood 5:00 PM Dakota Wesleyan at South Dakota State 6:00 PM Binghamton vs. NC State at Albany, NY 6:30 PM FloWrestling Buffalo vs. Northern Colorado at Albany, NY 6:30 PM FloWrestling LIU vs. Virginia at Albany, NY 6:30 PM FloWrestling Presbyterian vs. Sacred Heart at Albany, NY 6:30 PM FloWrestling Campbell vs. Wyoming at Centennial, WY 7:00 PM UFC FightPass Utah Valley at American 7:00 PM ESPN+ Michigan at Columbia 7:00 PM ESPN+ Virginia Tech at Rutgers 7:00 PM B1G+ California Baptist vs. Embry-Riddle at Vanguard 7:00 PM Northern State at South Dakota State 7:30 PM Oklahoma at Little Rock 8:00 PM Little Rock Sports Network Binghamton vs. LIU at Albany, NY 8:30 PM FloWrestling Buffalo vs. Virginia at Albany, NY 8:30 PM FloWrestling NC State vs. Sacred Heart at Albany, NY 8:30 PM FloWrestling Northern Colorado vs. Presbyterian at Albany, NY 8:30 PM FloWrestling Augustana at South Dakota State 9:00 PM California Baptist at Vanguard, 10:00 PM Vanguard Athletics Live Saturday, November 18: Bellarmine, Lindenwood, Little Rock, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, SIU Edwardsville at Lindenwood Open 10:00 AM Franklin & Marshall, West Virginia at Shorty Hitchcock Classic, hosted by Millersville 10:00 AM Air Force, American, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Cleveland State, Davidson, Edinboro, Kent State, Lock Haven, Navy, Nebraska, Ohio, Princeton, The Citadel at Navy Classic, Owings Mills, MD 10:00 AM FloWrestling Sacred Heart at Cornell 12:00 PM ESPN+ Morgan State at George Mason 12:00 PM ESPN+ Minnesota vs. Morgan State at George Mason 1:30 PM ESPN+ Minnesota at George Mason 3:00 PM ESPN+ Sunday, November 19: Appalachian State, Drexel, Duke, Franklin & Marshall, Harvard, Indiana, Penn, Sacred Heart, Utah Valley, Virginia Tech at Keystone Classic, hosted by Penn, 9:30 AM FloWrestling Army West Point, Binghamton, Brown, Buffalo, Gardner-Webb, LIU, Michigan State, Northern Colorado, Penn State, Rutgers at Black Knight Invitational, hosted by Army West Point, 10:00 AM FloWrestling Ohio State at Columbia, 11:00 AM ESPN+ Minnesota, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State at Daktronics Open, hosted by South Dakota State, 11:00 AM FloWrestling Cal Poly, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield at Roadrunner Open, hosted by CSU Bakersfield, 12:00 PM Indianapolis at Purdue 12:00 PM B1G+ Utah Valley at Spokane Open 12:00 PM Central Michigan vs. North Carolina at Illinois 1:00 PM B1G+ Oregon State at Iowa 1:00 PM B1G+ North Dakota State at Oklahoma 1:00 PM ESPN+ Pittsburgh at Lehigh 2:00 PM FloWrestling Arizona State at Missouri 2:00 PM FloWrestling Northern Illinois at Purdue 2:00 PM B1G+ Michigan at Rider 2:00 PM ESPN+ Limestone at VMI 2:00 PM ESPN+ Iowa State vs. Wisconsin at Humboldt, IA 3:00 PM UFC FightPass North Carolina at Illinois 3:00 PM B1G+ Ohio State at Hofstra 4:00 PM Hofstra Pride YouTube Northern Illinois vs. Indianapolis at Purdue 4:00 PM Central Michigan at Illinois 5:00 PM B1G+ Marymount at VMI 5:00 PM ESPN+

Cornell’s Vito Arujau has had quite the 2023. In March, he won his first NCAA title with an upset of two-time champion Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State). Six months later, he won a world title at 61 kg in freestyle. Despite the international accolades, Arujau returned for one final season of college wrestling. He entered the year as the prohibitive favorite at 133 pounds. However, this past weekend, his trip to another title hit a bit of a speed bump as he dropped an 8-4 decision against Ryan Crookham (Lehigh). Despite the loss, many still consider Arujau to be a heavy favorite this season. It is hard to argue with them especially when looking at the recent history of returning champions who happened to take losses the subsequent season. The following looks at the returning champions from the last two seasons who took at least one loss after returning the next season. In many cases, these wrestlers were able to repeat as champions, but this is not always the case. Returning Champions During the 2022-23 Season Yiannia Diakomihalis (Cornell) Diakomihalis finished the 2022 season as a three-time NCAA champion. The following offseason he represented the U.S. at the world championships and brought home a silver medal. His final season was expected to be a farewell tour and his coronation as a four-time champion. It mostly was just that with the exception of a shaky start. On Nov. 19th, 2022, he dropped his first match of the season against Wisconsin’s Austin Gomez. There was some question about who would be the top-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds for a few weeks. In the end, Diakomihalis did not lose another match that season and ended up winning his fourth time in March. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) After winning his second NCAA title in 2022, there was some speculation that Bravo-Young might not return for his final season of college wrestling. However, he eventually came around and returned to the mats for one final run. At the time, the Penn State wrestler had not lost since the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season, and his last season started out in similar fashion. In fact, he made it all the way to the 133-pound final before losing to Arujau Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) Despite having an undefeated record, O’Toole entered the 2021-22 NCAA tournament as the second seed. He surpassed that seed and won his first title at 165 pounds. The Missouri wrestler returned the following season at the same weight. Joining him at 165 was former 157-pound champion David Carr, who would make his life difficult in not only the NCAA tournament, but also in the Big 12 conference. Carr defeated O’Toole twice during the 2023 season. Their first match came in a dual where Carr won 7-2. The rematch came at the Big 12 tournament where Carr won by fall in overtime. Even after those losses, O’Toole was able to pick up his second NCAA title after defeating Carr 8-2 in the NCAA final. Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Brooks entered the 2023 season as a two-time NCAA champion with only two losses in his college career. Like many Penn State wrestlers, he was expected to mow through the opposition and find himself on the top of the podium once again. It basically worked out that way with the exception of an early season match against Marcus Coleman (Iowa State). The bout came as part of the Collegiate Duals event, and the Cyclone escaped with a 9-7 victory. Brooks would turn things around and win his third title in March. He has not lost a collegiate match since that day. Max Dean (Penn State) While the previous five returning champions were able to at least return to the NCAA finals. That is not always the case. At the 2022 NCAA tournament, Dean was able to get through some early adversity and win the title after previously making the finals in 2019. The following season, he returned for one final season of college wrestling. In the month of December, he dropped matches against Ethan Laird (Rider) and former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard (Lehigh). He then suffered three losses in the postseason, two against Nebraska’s Silas Allred, and finished seventh at the NCAA tournament to finish his run as a four-time All-American. Returning Champions During the 2021-22 Season David Carr (Iowa State) In his first trip to the NCAA tournament in 2021, Carr ran through the field, finished the season undefeated and picked up his first title. He stayed at 157 pounds the following season and entered as the clear favorite. Carr completed another undefeated regular season and picked up his third Big 12 title. However, at the NCAA tournament, he dropped an early-round match against Oregon State's Hunter Willits. To Carr’s credit, he did wrestle all the way back to finish third. He has since moved up to 165 pounds and made the finals last season. Aaron Brooks (Penn State) One of the big storylines going into the 2022 season was the eventual showdown at 184 pounds between Brooks and Myles Amine. The previous year, Amine had returned late and finished third at 197 pounds. After more international success, he dropped down to 184 to set up the confrontation with Brooks, the returning champion at the weight. The Penn State wrestler won their first meeting in a dual meet match to maintain his undefeated season record. However, Amine defeated Brooks at the Big Ten tournament. In the end, Brooks got the last laugh as he got the win at the NCAA tournament and picked up his second title. Shane Griffith (Stanford) At the 2021 NCAA tournament, Griffith went on a legendary run that saw him enter as the eighth seed, upset top seed Alex Marinelli and win the NCAA title at 165 pounds. Griffith returned the following season to make another run to the title. He took four losses prior to the NCAA tournament with the first coming against Julian Ramirez (Cornell) in November. Griffith then lost three matches against Evan Wick who had transferred from Wisconsin to Cal Poly. Despite those losses, he still made another run through the NCAA bracket before coming up short against O’Toole in the finals. Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) O’Connor wrestled only 13 matches during the 2020-21 season, but that was enough to win the NCAA title at 149 pounds. For the next season, he moved up to 157 pounds. At the new weight, he dropped an early season match against Peyton Robb (Nebraska). O’Connor settled down after that and won the rest of his regular season matches. He dropped a one-point match against Ed Scott (NC State) in the ACC tournament. At the NCAA tournament, O’Connor appeared to be dealing with an injury. He dropped his first match against Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) in sudden victory before battling back to finish eighth and become an All-American once again. In the 2022-23 season, he returned to form and once again reached the top of the podium.

This past week saw a slew of great duals, crazy matches, and upsets we didn't see coming. It also added to a shakeup in the Overall Fantasy Wrestler Rankings: 197 Trent Hidlay (NCST) powered his way into the #1 wrestler of Week 2 with a 26 Fpt performance in 5 matches (5.2 ppm) from WrangleMania and the Journeymen Classic. 285 Josh Heindselman (OU) came in second with 24 pts in 5 matches, and 165 Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ) edged out fellow weight-mate Dean Hamiti (WISC) by one Fpt (22 to 21 Fpts). In the Overall Season Rankings, 184 Ryder Rogotzke (OHST) maintains atop the leaderboard with 33 Fpts. he currently leads by only one Fpts from149 Caleb Henson (VT) and 285 Josh Terrill (MSU). Everybody’s new favorite wrestler, 133 Ryan Crookham (LEH) jumped from 17th to 6th in the Overall Standings while the Week 2 leader Trent Hidlay jumped from being outside the Top-25 to now 4th. On to Week 3: Week 3 starters a little earlier with several teams locking on Thursday: Army, Bucknell, Clarion, Minnesota, NC State, and West Virginia. Most of these teams have additional scheduled duals or tournaments listed later in this scoring week. The main tournaments taking place include the Black Knight Invite, Keystone Classic, and Navy Classic, with some other tournaments with lighter D1 competition in the Daktronics Open, Roadrunner Open, and the Shorty Hitchcock Open. As usual, entries are still coming in for each of these tournaments, so keep the notifications on for @FantasyD1Wrestl as updates will be posted to the InterMat Forum Fantasy Wrestling Board, and don’t forget to listen to the #FCWpodcast each week! The #FCWpodcast can be watched through InterMat’s Rokfin Channel or listened to on your favorite podcast platform (Apple, Spotify, etc!) A reminder of some important rules: Wrestlers entered at a weight must compete at that weight or else their results will not be counted. Wrestlers in the “Floater” spots can compete at ANY weight and accumulate Fantasy points. A wrestler will LOCK on your roster at 12pm ET on the day of their first competition for the week (refer to the SHP’s Week Preview). Only results against D1 competition (starters, backups, and redshirts) will count towards Fantasy Points. Check your league settings to know how many add/drops are permitted per week. Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by tournament name first, then by school name* 125: Stevo Poulin (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Jack Maida (AMER)- Vs Utah Valley [+5] , Navy Classic Dean Peterson (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite Eddie Ventresca (VT)- @ Rutgers [-3] , Keystone Classic Jett Strickenberger (WVU)- @ Clarion [+3] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Caleb Smith (NEB)- Navy Classic Patrick McKee (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+14] Jakob Camacho (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Matt Ramos (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] Jore Volk (WYO)- Vs Campbell [+3] 133: Dominick Serrano (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] , Black Knight Invite Kurt Phipps (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+3] , Navy Classic Sam Latona (VT)- @ Rutgers [+3] , Keystone Classic Mason Leiphart (F&M)- Keystone Classic Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- Keystone Classic Marlon Yarbrourgh (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Kai Orine (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Chris Cannon (MICH)- @ Clarion , @ Rider [+6] Domenic Zaccone (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Evan Frost (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Ryan Crookham (LEH)- Vs Pittsburgh [+3] Dustin Norris (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] 141: Rudy Lopez (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Jordan Titus (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Mitch Moore (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite CJ Composto (PENN)- Keystone Classic Brock Hardy (NEB)- Navy Classic Vance Vombaur (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+12] Lachlan McNeil (UNC)- @ Illinois , Vs Central Michigan [+8] Jesse Mendez (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Jack Gioffre (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Ryan Jack (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Mosha Schwartz (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Real Woods (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Anthony Echemendia (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Greyson Clark (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] Mackenzie Bell (RID)- Vs Michigan [+3] Gabe Willochell (WYO)- Vs Campbell [+3] 149: Caleb Henson (VT)- @ Rutgers [+4] , Keystone Classic Ty Watters (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Dylan Chappell (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+3], Navy Classic Graham Rooks (IND)- Keystone Classic Ridge Lovett (NEB)- Navy Classic Jackson Arrington (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+12] Dylan D’Emilio (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Michael Gioffre (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- @ Illinois , Vs North Carolina [+6] Kyle Parco (ASU)- @ Missouri [+4] Finn Solomon (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+4] Justin Rivera (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Victor Voinovich (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+3] Casey Swiderski (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Kellyn March (NDSU)- @ Oklahoma [+3] Quinn Kinner (RID)- Vs Michigan [+3] 157: Vince Zerban (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+9] , Black Knight Invite Bryce Andonian (VT)- @ Rutgers [+4] , Keystone Classic Tommy Askey (APP)- Keystone Classic Lucas Revano (PENN)- Keystone Classic Peyton Robb (NEB)- Navy Classic Michael Blockhus (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+11] Paddy Gallagher (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Ed Scott (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Dylan Cedeno (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Johnny Lovett (CMU)- @ Illinois , Vs North Carolina [+6] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Columbia, @ Rider [+6] Jared Franek (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+5] Chris Earnest (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Cody Chittum (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Joey Blaze (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+4] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+3] 165: Brevin Cassella (BING)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] , Black Knight Invite Derek Matthews (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Noah Mulvaney (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+4], Navy Classic Peyton Hall (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Derek Gilcher (IND)- Keystone Classic Bubba Wilson (NEB)- Navy Classic *might need to flex as he could be at 174 Cael Carlson (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+8] Cam Amine (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+7] Nick Hamilton (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+5] AJ Kovacs (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Domonic Baker (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Holden Heller (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+3] Stoney Buell (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] 174: Donnell Washington (IND)- Keystone Classic Nick Incontrera (PENN)- Keystone Classic Shane Griffith (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+4] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Edmund Ruth (ILL)- Vs Central Michigan, Vs North Carolina [+7] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+7] Alex Faison (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Travis Wittlake (ORST)- @ Iowa [+4] Austin Murphy (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Peyton Mocco (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+3] Luca Augustine (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+3] Mekhi Lewis (VT)- @ Rutgers [+3] 184: Brian Soldano (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+4] , Black Knight Invite Roman Rogotzke (IND)- Keystone Classic Lenny Pinto (NEB)- Navy Classic Isaiah Salazar (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+13] Rylan Rogers (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+7] Dylan Fishback (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Trey Munoz (ORST)- @ Iowa [+4] Holden Heller (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+4] Caleb Hopkins (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Will Feldkamp (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] 197: John Poznanski (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+4] , Black Knight Invite Evan Bockman (UVU)- @ American [+4] , Keystone Classic Austin Cooley (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Silas Allred (NEB)- Navy Classic Trent Hidlay (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+14] Garrett Joles (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+10] Max Shaw (UNC)- @ Illinois , Vs Central Michigan [+7] Stephen Buchanan (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Zach Glazier (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Julian Broderson (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+4] Levi Hopkins (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] 285: Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite Jimmy Mullen (VT)- Keystone Classic Harley Andrews (NEB)- Navy Classic Owen Trephan (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+12] Lucas Davison (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+8] Ryan Catka (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Nick Feldman (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+7] Josh Heindselman (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+5] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- @ Missouri [+4] Boone McDermott (ORST)- @ Iowa [+3]

Sydney Petzinger photo courtesy of North Central athletics Top 3 Takeaways Historic Trailblazer Duals and Surprising Upsets At the first-ever Trailblazer Duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena over the weekend, a tough lineup of ranked teams that represent the four Division 1 programs with women’s wrestling faced off: #5 Sacred Heart, #8 Iowa, #11 Lindenwood and #13 Presbyterian. #11 Lindenwood walked away with a loss to Iowa and a close upset loss to Presbyterian. However, the Lions team was able to come out with a victory against #5 Sacred Heart winning 22-20. The team saw impressive showings by several freshmen including a pin from Megan Valdez at 101 lbs, an 8-0 decision from Kate Cooper at 109 lbs, and a 12-2 decision by Marissa Sanabria at 135 lbs. Decision wins from Amanda McAleavey at 123 lbs, Cayden Condit at 130 lbs, and Alana Duggan at 143 lbs were enough to secure the Lions the victory. On the flip side, #13 Presbyterian got their own close upset win over Lindenwood 25-20. Another young team with some dominant freshmen on the roster, the Blue Hose kept it close throughout the dual starting off strong with a tech fall from junior Chiara Barbieri. After the Lions got a tech of their own at 109 lbs, freshmen Alyssa Mahan picked up a pin at 123 lbs and Charlee Shuler battled for the decision win at 116 lbs. The team clinched it with back-to-back pins from freshman Maddie Kubicki at 155 lbs and Henlee Haynes at 170 lbs. The remaining duals all went along with the team’s rankings except for the upset win for #8 Iowa over #5 Sacred Heart. While Sacred Heart did not have all their ranked wrestlers either at the event or in this dual specifically, the Hawkeyes still controlled almost every match. Each win in this dual came by pin or tech fall besides a forfeit at 123 lbs against Felicity Taylor. Madeline Hodges brought in the only Pioneer win in this dual, getting the 7-0 decision against Iowa’s Alivia White. Fans missed out on what could have been a very exciting matchup in the dual against Iowa’s Kylie Welker and Sacred Heart’s Cara Broadus. Broadus came in fourth last year at NCWWC’s and is the second-highest-placing returner at the weight this year. Hopefully, this matchup may happen in the future. Of course, the biggest headline is the more than 8,200 fans in attendance for these duals, shattering the record for the largest crowd at a women’s wrestling event. It seems that Trailblazer Duals is a very fitting name for this historic event. 2. King University Crowns 9 Champs Fifteen teams competed this past Saturday at the Eagle Madness Open hosted by Life University. The #2 ranked King University Tornados showed out with champions at nine different weight classes. They also had five additional places in the top 4, with three making the finals. There were also some significant wins for the Tornados on their way to the 1st place finish. Jessica Corredor beat returning NAIA All-American Devyn Gomez of Life in the semifinals at 101 lbs. Also, Danielle Garcia took down Elizabeth Dosado from the University of the Cumberlands who placed fourth at NAIA’s last year. There was an interesting mix of NCAA and NAIA schools at this tournament, as well as plenty of wrestlers competing unattached, so many of these matchups are ones we may not see again this season, but tournaments like this early in the season do provide a good measuring stick regardless. As King sends some wrestlers to Bill Ferrell next week before a long break until their next dual in December, they will surely try to capitalize on the momentum their wrestlers should have coming off a dominant tournament performance like this. 3. North Central Shows Out at Adrian #1 North Central showed just how they secured the 2023 NCWWC title with two days of dominant wrestling at the Adrian Duals on Saturday and the Adrian Invite on Sunday. After taking down #6 Gannon 42-1, #10 (NAIA) Indiana Tech 35-7, and #10 Adrian 41-5, the Cardinals defeated #3 McKendree 34-11. This dual had a lot of ranked wrestlers, despite neither team sending out each of their top-ranked starters. We saw #2 Kendra Ryan from North Central with a tech fall over #4 Pauline Granados of McKendree at 109lbs. Next, Sydney Petzinger who is ranked #1 at 109 lbs bumped up to 116 lbs and secured a decision over former NAIA finalist in 2022 Salyna Shotwell. Shotwell transferred from Life to McKendree in the offseason. Both schools have ranked wrestlers at 123 lbs, but fans instead saw an exciting matchup between 3x AA Asia Nguyen-Smith and Olympic trials qualifier and WCWA champ Julia Vidallon. The match came down to the wire with Nguyen-Smith securing a last-second takedown for the 8-8 decision with criteria. McKendree’s #3 ranked Jennifer Soto wrestled up a weight at 130 lbs to secure some much-needed team points with a pin over #8 at 136 lbs Salome Walker, who wrestled down at 130 lbs for this match. At 136 lbs, freshman Taylor Graveman of North Central got the tech over North Central freshman Estella Gutches. In another unexpected weight switch, #1 at 136 lbs Yele Aycock for North Central bumped up to 143 lbs to take on #6 at 136 lbs Viktorya Torres who also bumped up. Aycock secured an 8-3 decision. #1 at 143 lbs London Houston also bumped up for this dual, facing Destiny Rodriquez at 155 lbs. Houston was able to secure a pin in 2:04 to add even more the the team’s growing score. The Cardinals rounded out the dual with #4 at 155 lbs, Tiera Jimerson, getting a tech fall over Ruby Rios at 170 lbs and #2 Brittyn Corbishley getting a pin at 191 lbs. Again, the two teams did not have full lineups of ranked starters, but still managed to have some very exciting bouts between them. Stay tuned for future opportunities to see some of their wrestlers face off like the Bearcat Open at McKendree in January and of course at the NCWWC National Championship. As if the dominant wins at the Dual tournament were not enough, North Central also had impressive showings at the Adrian Invite, outscoring second-place Lock Haven by over 300 team points. While the Cardinals did bring over 25 competitors, they also had some signature wins contributing to their team total. However, before getting into the team’s win, there was a surprising upset at 101 lbs when Stefana Jelacic of Lourdes who finished 7th at last year’s NAIA tournament at 109 lbs took out returning NCAA champion #1 Madison Avila of North Central with an 11-0 tech. However, the Cardinals still picked up the second and eighth place finish at the weight. At 109 lbs, #2 Kendra Ryan took 1st place with teammate Angelina Graff taking 5th. Up at 116 lbs #1 Sydney Petzinger finished first over #5 Izabella Frezzo. North Central also picked up 4th and 5th place at the weight as well. Asia Nguyen-Smith continued her exciting weekend of wins with the first-place finish at 123 lbs, and was North Central’s only placer at the weight. However, at 130 lbs Salome Walker, Sara Sterner, Taylor Miess, and Haley Vann took 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively. North Central also took the top 4 spots at 136 lbs with #1 Yele Aycock as the champ. The Cardinals then took 3rd, 4th and 7th place at 143 lbs. #4 Tiera Jimerson took second at 155 lbs behind #6 Noelle Gaffney of Northern Michigan. Lizzie Raleigh and Sarina Bertram picked up two more top 8 finishes for the Cardinals here as well. North Central only had one top-eight finisher at 170 lbs with Larissa Gallo taking 6th place. The Cardinals did not have any wrestlers in the top 8 of the coaches preseason poll at the weight, so I am sure they are looking for someone like Gallo to continue to break through against conference competition. Finally, #2 Brittyn Corbishley took the prize at 191 lbs with teammate Caroline Ward coming in third to round out the impressive lineup of finishers for North Central. As the season heats up with more battles against top teams like Iowa, Sacred Heart and King, fans should keep an eye out to see how these top contenders from last season look against new and former competitors. Results this week in major NCAA, NCWA, and NAIA competitions #8 Texas Wesleyan 25 Wayland Baptist 23 #3 McKendree 34 #10 Missouri Baptist 14 Life Duals VIEW BRACKETS Eagle Madness VIEW BRACKETS Waldorf Open VIEW BRACKETS Campbellsville Open VIEW BRACKETS Adrian Duals VIEW BRACKETS Trailblazer Duals VIEW BRACKETS Mike Clock Open VIEW BRACKETS Adrian College Invite VIEW BRACKETS Upcoming events for next week October 14: North Central vs Carthage October 17: Missouri Valley Open (Day 1), Bill Farrell, Beaver Bash Duals October 18: Missouri Valley Open (Day 2) October 19: Blue Hose Challenge, Lindenwood Duals, Spokane Open, Albion College Invite