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Arizona State travels to Reno TOC Arizona State sent five wrestlers to the Reno TOC and returned with near-perfect results, going 17-6 in their matches. Richard Figueroa was stunned 6-4 by Wyoming’s Jore Volk. However, he did post four victories, including Oregon State’s Caleb Coyle. Mykey Ramos went 5-1 at 149 pounds, losing to Oklahoma’s Willie McDougald 8-6. Ramos had three bonus-point victories including a first-period pin. Nicco Ruiz stood out at 165 pounds. Ruiz went 5-0 with wins over Oklahoma’s Cael Carson, Mannix Morgan, and Oregon State’s Isaiah Anderson. CSU Bakersfield falls in dual and TOC Cal State Bakersfield dropped its dual against Oregon State 48-0. The Roadrunners forfeited 149 pounds and lost four other matches by pins. However, three wrestlers battled the Beavers to the final whistle. Richard Castro-Sandoval lost to Brandon Kaylor 10-4 at 125 pounds. Guillermo Escobedo battled Matthew Olguin to an 11-4 loss at 165 pounds and heavyweight Jake Andrews lost 7-5 to Charles Hastriter. The Roadrunners followed up at the Reno TOC with two wrestlers finishing with a winning record. Ray Ray Harris went 3-2 at 125 pounds. He earned wins against unattached Gabe Gray, Clackamas CC Kai Villesanor, and Utah Valley’s Jacob Carson. Eric Mittlestead went 3-2 at heavyweight. His victories came against Abdulah Razzak, Ethan Salazar, and Shane Mattson. Little Rock Little Rock continues to be the most impressive team in the Pac-12 this season. The Trojans ran their winning streak to four with dominant wins against Chattanooga and Queens. The Trojans defeated Chattanooga 30-11. Jeremiah Reno, Triston Wills, and Stephen Little won by tech fall while Josiah Hill ended the dual with a pin. Brennan Van Hoecke, Matt Bianchi, and Tyler Brennan won close decisions. On the other hand, Little Rock had its first dual where every match had bonus points. Joshua Sarpy, Chase Tebbets, Joseph Bianchi, Brennan, and Hill won by pins. Reno, Van Hoecke, Kyle Dutton, Wills, and Little won by tech fall. On Monday, Little Rock traveled to Nashville for the Collegiate Duals. Though the Trojans went 0-3, they took #17 Pittsburgh to criteria in a 22-21 loss. Nasir Bailey had a pair of ranked wins, including a quick tech fall over then #8 Evan Frost of Iowa State. Wills has two wins as well, one of which was a pin against then #14th ranked Reece Heller of Pittsburgh. Updated rankings from InterMat have found Little Rock amongst the top-30 in tournament rankings for the first time in program history. Oregon State dominates CSUB dual Oregon State began the week with a 48-0 victory against Cal State Bakersfield. The Beavers won all but three matches by bonus points. Cleveland Belton, Isaiah Crosby, and Trey Munox highlighted the dual with first-period pins. Kekana Fouret won by a second-period pin and Travis Wittlake won by a 19-3 tech fall in the second period. After their dual, the Beavers went to Reno TOC and sent a handful of their starters and several wrestlers deeper on the depth chart. The Beavers had mixed results from their wrestlers. Caleb Coyle went 5-1, losing his one-ranked match to ASU’s Richard Figueroa. Isaiah Crosby went 4-1 at 157 pounds, losing to Oklahoma’s Jared Hill 2-1. He won some close battles including a 10-8 victory over Alex Ramirez and 4-2 against Oklahoma’s John Wiley. Justin Rademacher went 4-1 and Mason Christiansen went 4-2 at 197 pounds. Stanford loses VT dual; Undefeated at Campbell Stanford wrestled against Virginia Tech last week and fell 29-7. Daniel Cardenas defeated Bryce Andonian in a top-ten matchup 15-7 at 157 pounds. Jason Miranda won 3-0 at 141 pounds against Mac Church. Unfortunately, the Cardinal wrestling squad found themselves on the wrong side in the other top matchups. Nico Provo was stunned at 125 pounds, losing 5-2 to Cooper Flynn. In addition, Sam Latona defeated Tyler Knox 12-3, and Mekhi Lewis defeated Lorenzo Norman 8-0 and Sonny Sasso defeated Nick Stemmet 8-4. Tuesday was much better for the Cardinal as they swept the Campbell quad with wins over the hosts, North Dakota State, and Purdue. Though they were without four typical starters, Chris Ayres’ team managed to pull out three wins. As expected, Cardenas and Stemmet went 3-0 on the day.

Good morning, folks. We are nearly two months into the college season and 125 is exactly the mess I said it would be. But that’s a problem for the Ranker’s Guild and not me. Plenty of questions from some heavy hitters in the wrestling industry today and time is of the essence so let’s jump right into it so you can get ready for Festivus tomorrow and air some grievances. Thoughts on the Ivy League going their own way as of 2024-25? Seton Hall Pirate It’s certainly interesting, but I hope it doesn’t have a negative impact on the EIWA with losing some marquee teams. I’ve always liked the idea of this wrestling-only conference that’s still going strong for well over 100 years. Perhaps we can fill the gaps with whatever is left of the PAC-12 and just absorb them into it. With the invention of the airplane by the Wright Brothers, the world has become a much smaller place. I’m sure the boys at Hofstra wouldn’t mind leaving Long Island for a California getaway in late January. I also hope it can open the doors for a Yale or a Seton Hall to bring back a wrestling program and join any of these conferences. Wishful thinking, I know. The best thing to do is break off some teams from the MAC and even it out a bit. Will InterMat hire another person to cover the new Ivy League tournament or just add it to Austin Sommer’s workload while increasing his pay? Kevin McGuigan Only if he uses the name Dallas WInter and ties a sweater around his neck. If you’re going to be the Ivy League guy then BE the Ivy League guy. Drive a BMW. Play croquet every Sunday. Join a yacht club. Live the gimmick. What criteria should be used in the best ranking systems? Here are ideas for things to be considered: Hair Great hang Shoe size How many pull-ups they can do Can they dunk? Are their school’s singlets and warmups cool? Favorite movie Kevin Claunch You just made Sonny Sasso number one and he’s still in redshirt. I would also very much like to know how many wrestlers can actually dunk. I bet Trent Hidlay tries every single day and just doesn’t accept that he’s a wide-bodied defensive specialist built to pull down rebounds in the paint. For the love of god, what do we have to do to make duals matter all year? I think Goody and I have the best ideas. Why don't others see it? Nick Kosko Is your idea to put pork roll and Taylor Ham on the line for every dual? But seriously, I don’t have the answer. Richard Immel may have the answer with the ranking series angle he proposed last night on X (formerly known as Twitter) but I doubt it will ever get past the discussion stage. If this is about the lack of headline matches in duals, or what some people call ducking, I’m afraid you’re not going to change that with any type of new system or team championship. I try to stay away from the ducking term, because I’m just an average fan and I’m not privy to what’s going on behind the scenes. I get that guys are banged up and it is the coaches’ job to protect their guys at all costs. Mike Grey is not concerned that you paid ten bucks and didn't get to see a matchup between two star freshmen. Should he care? Maybe. Will he take heat from fans? Certainly. Will his job status be in jeopardy over it? Not a chance. It’s just the nature of the beast now and I don’t see the NCAA drastically changing the system so David Carr can get his win back. What is Jagger hoping to wake up Christmas morning to find under his tree? Dan Seifring I was going to say Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a Mets jersey, but before I could even spell-check his name the Dodgers (yes, those Dodgers) went and signed him along with every other player I coveted. That team is reaching Penn State levels of “This guy, too? Come on!” If only they knew how to win titles like Cael and the crew. Favorite Coquito flavor. Aaron Bartlett Coconut? Are there any other flavors? What are your thoughts on wrestlers counting byes as wins? Mike C. Is that really a thing? That can’t be true. You don’t even get your hand raised! I don’t even know what else to say except I’m going back to my high school hall of records and adding two more wins to my total. I realize we live in a world of fake overfiltered selfies, but I draw the line at fake wins. Get lost with that nonsense. On that note, I’m out of things to say. I wish you all a wonderful Friday as we head into the holiday weekend and then the end of the year. I started watching college wrestling seriously in 2017 and never imagined I’d be writing to you about coquito and pork rolls at the end of 2023. America truly is the land of opportunity.