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We’re just about two full months into the 2023-24 season, which is the halfway point for a collegiate wrestling campaign. With that much time under our belts, it’s the appropriate time to make some judgments about this season, rather than using data from past years. What we’re doing today is comparing and ranking the ten 2023-24 weight classes against each other. How do you do such a thing? We have some numbers and then frankly, a lot of it is in the eye of the beholder and what you like as a fan. Do you prefer chaos and unpredictability, as opposed to a solid top-eight that looks destined to meet in the national quarterfinals? Would you rather see a potentially all-time great solidify himself as one or new blood in a talented freshman? Do you like seeing a returning champion dominate the field or be seriously tested by another great? Those are all questions you have to ask yourself as you make your own list or critique this one. So, a primer on how we’ve ranked the weights: Returning NCAA Champions, finalists, and All-Americans are all self-explanatory categories. The credentials are not limited to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, but throughout these wrestlers' careers. Impact freshmen refer to true or redshirt (grayshirt) freshmen who are currently ranked in the top-30. Occasionally, some freshmen come in and establish themselves as contenders immediately (think Ryan Crookham). Other times, freshmen take their time and maybe a couple of lumps before emerging as one of the best wrestlers in the country. (think Aaron Nagao, RBY, Mekhi Lewis). Had we done this last year at this time, NCAA finalist Levi Haines would be still unranked as Penn State was weighing whether to redshirt him or not. So, that’s why we’ve included freshmen in the top-30, because it may not be evident right away. We also have “new contenders.” Those are wrestlers who were not a part of this weight class at the NCAA tournament in 2023, possibly because of redshirt status, not starting, injuries, or weight class changes. Whatever the reason, they have injected new life into their respective brackets. For these, we've listed wrestlers currently ranked in the top-20. Now getting into the more intangible criteria. Some of the questions I’ve asked doing this exercise are: Does this weight class have depth? Depth of All-American contenders. Depth of possible qualifiers. Is there intrigue around this bracket? Does one wrestler appear to be above the rest of the field? Are two wrestlers on a collision course for the finals? If you aren’t a part of the top 1% of wrestling nerds (I say nerds with love and reverence), what is the first round of the NCAA Tournament at that weight class that is “must watch.” Some weights, it’s the semis. Others are the quarters or Round of 16. Hopefully, this makes some sort of sense and we’ll get on to the actual weights themselves. 10) 149 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 1( Ridge Lovett) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 6 (Lovett, Caleb Henson, Kyle Parco, Dylan D’Emilio, Austin Gomez, Jaden Abas) Impact Freshmen: #11 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), #19 Ty Watters (West Virginia), #20 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State), #25 Finn Solomon (Pittsburgh) New Contenders: #7 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State), #9 Gomez, #16 Nate Pulliam (Missouri), #18 Drew Roberts (Minnesota) This weight really took a hit when returning NCAA third-place finisher Shayne Van Ness was lost for the year. It did get a recent boost as Austin Gomez announced his return for the University of Michigan. Without Gomez, this weight would have the lowest number of returning All-Americans. After you get outside of the top-ten there’s a lot of parity. There’s also a lot of new, unfamiliar faces throughout the rankings. This weight class should look much more stacked in the future as Gomez is the only wrestler out of eligibility after this season, amongst wrestlers in the top-ten. It’s also very sophomore-heavy, so we could see a large chunk of this weight in competition with each other for the next two-plus years. 9) 285 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 2 (Greg Kerkvliet, Cohlton Schultz) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 6 (Kerkvliet, Wyatt Hendrickson, Yonger Bastida, Lucas Davison, Schultz, Zach Elam) Impact Freshmen: #9 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh), #18 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) New Contenders: Bastida, #19 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) Over the past two or three years, heavyweight has been arguably the most loaded weight class with age-group world medalists wherever you look. Some of those wrestlers are gone, while the remaining ones are in their final years of eligibility. This is actually a pretty deep group of big men as you have plenty of wrestlers who could make a podium charge outside of the top-eight and go down into the 20’s in our national rankings. I think “how fun” this weight ends up being relies on the health of Wyatt Hendrickson. If he can return to his form from nationals or the U23 World Championships, he could challenge Greg Kerkvliet again. If not, it could be another one-sided match (like the All-Star Classic), should they meet again. Former 197 lber, Yonger Bastida has given this weight a shot of life with his offensive exploits, thus far. There’s always the possibility that two-time Hodge Trophy winner Gable Steveson decides to put his WWE career on hold and makes a return to the Resilite. Should he do so, it would definitely make this weight even more imposing, though possibly taking some drama out of the final results. 8. 133 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 1 (Vito Arujau) Returning NCAA Finalists: 2 (Arujau, Daton Fix) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 6 (Arujau, Fix, Aaron Nagao, Sam Latona, Kai Orine, Chris Cannon) Impact Freshmen: #1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh), #8 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock), #9 Evan Frost (Iowa State), #13 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), #17 Tyler Knox (Stanford), #23 Vince Santaniello (Pittsburgh), #25 Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon State), #29 Tyler Wells (Minnesota) New Contenders: #14 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State), #15 Braxton Brown (Maryland), #18 Julian Farber (Northern Iowa), #19 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State), #20 Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) Some may not like or agree with this because of the credentials of two of the top contenders, Vito Arujau and Daton Fix. Both are past Senior world finalists and have combined to wrestle in five NCAA title matches. Super freshman Ryan Crookham shocked Arujau in November and has thrown himself into the title discussion. That being said, after you top six or seven, there’s a lot of youth and inexperience at the NCAA level. The #10-20 range in the rankings has a handful of wrestlers who either didn’t qualify for the 2023 national tournament or who were not starters last season. Basically, the NCAA quarters-through-finals could be epic, but before that, may not be very suspenseful. This weight also contains more ranked freshmen than any other weight, so some new rivalries could develop and make this a fun weight to follow in 2025 and beyond. 7) 125 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 1 (Matt Ramos) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 6 (Anthony Noto, Ramos, Michael DeAugustino, Eric Barnett, Brandon Kaylor, Patrick McKee) Impact Freshmen: #21 Max Gallagher (Penn), #22 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State), #23 Brendan McCrone (Ohio State), #28 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa) New Contenders: #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State), #10 Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech), #15 Jack Maida (American), #16 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga), #17 Jakob Camacho (NC State) Oh, what a tangled web we weave at 125 lbs! InterMat has already had three different wrestlers assume the #1 spot in the national rankings. Other outlets have had more. Every week, it seems like there are another few stunning upsets at 125 lbs. In terms of pure unpredictability and competitiveness, this weight class should be incredible to follow throughout the remainder of the season. Would it be surprising if the NCAA semifinals featured a #8 vs #13 matchup on the top half of the bracket with a #6 vs #7 on the bottom? For all of the upsets, there are still six wrestlers that are unbeaten at this weight. Many of them have yet to be seriously challenged. That means they could rise even higher than their current rankings or cause more chaos when they lose. As is often the case at 125 lbs, this weight also has plenty of wrestlers that are fun to watch and put up points. Not only will it be unpredictable, but there will generally be lots of points put up in the process of these upsets. 125 lbs also gets credit for its depth, in terms of national qualifiers. As someone who does rankings weekly, you could probably go down to #40 at this weight and have past national qualifiers and wrestlers who “feel” like they should be ranked. That isn’t possible at most other weights. . 6) 184 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 1 (Parker Keckeisen) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 8 (Keckeisen, Bernie Truax, Dustin Plott, Trey Munoz, Chris Foca, Will Feldkamp, Gavin Hoffman, Gavin Kane) Impact Freshmen: #5 Dylan Fishback (NC State), #11 Clayton Whiting (Missouri), #23 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) New Contenders: Truax, Plott, #7 Sam Wolf, Foca, #14 Jaden Bullock (Michigan), #17 James Conway (Franklin & Marshall), #18 Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) This is quite the unusual weight class. With Aaron Brooks moving up to 197 lbs, it appeared to be relatively wide open at the beginning of the year. Since then, Parker Keckeisen has asserted himself as the clear-cut favorite with 13 straight wins to start the season and bonus points in all but two of those matches. That doesn’t count an All-Star win over three-time All-American Bernie Truax, possibly his toughest competition. After CKLV, a tournament won by Keckeisen, it’s hard to project the rest of the podium after the UNI star and Truax. That tournament saw previously unheralded wrestlers like Sam Wolf and Jaden Bullock bust the bracket and place top-six, while four previous All-Americans missed out on the podium. Initially, I didn’t think this weight class was particularly deep; however, with the emergence of some new faces like the two mentioned above, along with Dylan Fishback possibly being a high All-American threat, along with fellow redshirt freshman Clayton Whiting, this weight does have some depth to it. That’s evident with past All-Americans Gavin Hoffman and Gavin Kane inhabiting the #16 and #19 spots in the rankings, respectively. We’ll see if the current third and fourth-ranked wrestlers at this weight, Dustin Plott and Lenny Pinto, can maintain their consistency. If so, they may be able to threaten the top-two and make this more than a two-horse race. 5) 141 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 1 (Real Woods) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 8 (Woods, Beau Bartlett, Jesse Mendez, Lachlan McNeil, Brock Hardy, Clay Carlson, CJ Composto, Cole Matthews) Impact Freshmen: #8 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), #20 Jack Gioffre (Virginia), #28 Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State), #30 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) New Contenders: Composto, #12 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State), #13 Mitch Moore (Rutgers), #19 Josh Edmond (Missouri) Being the fifth-ranked weight class is perfect for 141 lbs. It’s generally what you’d expect from a bracket. It has one clear favorite (Woods), with another tier of competent and dangerous challengers (Bartlett, Mendez, McNeil, Carlson, and Ryan Jack) all of which have been battle-tested; and many have exchanged wins over each other. After those contenders, there’s a tier of proven wrestlers who are very capable of making the podium (Cael Happel, Kal Miller, CJ Composto, Mitch Moore, Jordan Titus). Then you throw in Anthony Echemendia, who has been very competitive with the returning All-Americans and a freshman like Tagen Jamison who placed highly at CKLV and amassed some good wins. That’s a good weight class. From a watchability standpoint, is there reason to believe that something totally unexpected will happen? I tend to think, that answer is, no. Will some overlooked wrestlers crash the podium? Will a bunch of freshmen continue to climb the rankings? If I had to guess, I’d say no. Whenever you’re filling out NCAA brackets, you want to avoid going “chalk” (only favorites winning) for every single weight. That being said, once conference meets roll around, I think this weight will be one where you can confidently pencil in the top guys advancing. 4) 174 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 3 (Carter Starocci, Mekhi Lewis, Shane Griffith) Returning NCAA Finalists: 3 (Starocci, Lewis, Griffith) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 6 (Starocci, Lewis, Griffith, Peyton Mocco, Travis Wittlake, Carson Kharchla) Impact Freshmen: #19 Brody Conley (West Virginia), #21 Danny Wask (Navy), #22 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford), #23 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State), #29 Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) New Contenders: Griffith, #7 Justin McCoy (Virginia), #8 Travis Wittlake (Oregon State), #14 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly), #15 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), #17 Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) This is the only weight class with three returning national champions, plus you have the added historical impact of Carter Starocci chasing his fourth NCAA title. Starocci is also the owner of a 55-match winning streak, the longest active mark at the DI level. At the All-Star Classic, Starocci dismantled one of his top threats, Mekhi Lewis. So, you have a history watch with Starocci and perhaps the top overall college wrestler for the 2023-24 campaign, but is there much intrigue otherwise around this weight? Can anyone push Starocci? Just two years ago, Lewis and Starocci went into tiebreakers in the NCAA Finals. Will Lewis be healthy enough to challenge the Nittany Lion great? At the CKLV Invitational, we saw one of the more unexpected upsets of the year - when true freshman Lorenzo Norman of Stanford knocked off former Cardinal national champion Shane Griffith early in the tournament. Will Griffith be able to channel his past self to push his way into the top-two? After the Starocci/Lewis level at this weight, there’s a significant drop-off. The current third and fourth-ranked wrestlers are veterans who have yet to make the NCAA podium. That’s not a knock on Edmond Ruth and Cade DeVos, the latter of which prevailed in Vegas. There are other drop-off’s too as you move down outside of the top-ten. This weight does have some freshmen that could eventually push their way into the top-ten. Norman and Navy’s Danny Wask have shown they beat almost anyone in this bracket; however, consistency remains an issue. Brody Conley has amassed an impressive record, but has yet to face any serious contenders. MJ Gaitan has become one of the more entertaining wrestlers to watch at the weight. In summation, this weight has serious starpower that others can’t match, but lack of threats for Starocci and depth concerns keep it out of the top-three. 3) 157 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 0 Returning NCAA Finalists: 1 (Levi Haines) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 10 (Haines, Jared Franek, Peyton Robb, Jacori Teemer, Brock Mauller, Ed Scott, Bryce Andonian, Will Lewan, Michael Blockhus, Brayton Lee) Impact Freshmen: #13 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), #15 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell), #18 Joey Blaze (Purdue), #21 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), #28 DJ McGee (George Mason), #29 Jude Swisher (Penn) New Contenders: #5 Brock Mauller (Missouri), Blockhus 157 lbs proved to be one of the best weights to follow in Vegas as it featured plenty of top contenders, plus serious depth. Looking beyond Vegas, it’s the only weight class that currently features ten returning All-Americans; none of which have won national titles. Though he’s only ranked #3, Peyton Robb has probably been the most impressive wrestler at this weight. He was the top seed in Vegas and avoided the many potential roadblocks along the way in a loaded bracket. Top-ranked Levi Haines, Robb’s Big Ten finals opponent, has only seen action in five bouts thus far and hasn’t hit any of the top contenders. The second year of college is usually when wrestlers make their greatest jumps, so it’s possible that Haines may have separated himself from the rest of the weight. In addition to the 10 All-Americans, the freshmen in this weight have the potential to push it to even greater heights. Ryder Downey was a great development at CKLV and was off most people’s radars before that tournament. As Class of 2023 top recruit Meyer Shapiro gets more mat time and competition, he’ll likely challenge for a spot in the top ten. The same goes for Joey Blaze and Cody Chittum. Others like DJ McGee and Jude Swisher should challenge for the top spot in their respective conferences. I don’t care how the results from the second half of the season and conference tournaments, along with seedings, work out. However, they fall every single match from the Round of 16 on should be fire in Kansas City. 2) 165 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 2 (Keegan O’Toole, David Carr) Returning NCAA Finalists: 2 (O’Toole, Carr) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 7 (O’Toole, Izzak Olejnik, Carr, Cam Amine, Dean Hamiti, Mikey Caliendo, Peyton Hall) Impact Freshmen: #14 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State), #23 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), #26 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell), #27 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) New Contenders: #9 Derek Gilcher (Indiana), #11 Garrett Thompson (Ohio), #20 Derek Fields (NC State) Last season, 165 lbs was probably the winner in this category. Returning national champions Keegan O’Toole and David Carr squared off three times, with Carr taking two; however, O’Toole got the win that mattered most. That bracket also included 2021 national champion Shane Griffith and returning runner-up Quincy Monday. Griffith and Monday are gone, which makes it a two-horse race, right? Not exactly. EIWA champion Julian Ramirez shocked Carr in the CKLV semifinals, handing the Cyclone national champion his first regular-season loss since the 2019 CKLV. Ramirez did not go on to win in Vegas because of the performance of Izzak Olejnik. Just about a week earlier, Olejnik defeated two-time All-American Dean Hamiti at the All-Star Classic. Now we can add Olejnik and Ramirez’s names to the list of potential title threats at 165 lbs. Neither is necessarily new to the weight, but they have made great strides since March. Then Olejnik was eighth and Ramirez missed the podium. This weight also has multiple-time All-Americans like Hamiti and Cam Amine, along with Mikey Caliendo, who is in his first year with the Iowa program. Each has wrestled the two national champions at this weight closely, but have yet to defeat them. Seeing Ramirez knock off Carr, makes you think that it could be possible for someone from this trio, as well. There is a group of impressive freshmen that could throw the rest of this weight for a loop, as well. Two-time U20 world finalist (one-time champ), Mitchell Mesenbrink certainly could be a factor here. Mesenbrink has been largely dominant in his nine matches this season. As of now, his highest-ranked win has come over #16 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton). He’ll likely rise quickly during the conference dual season. One wrestler that deserves special mention as well for his excellent first half is Ohio’s Garrett Thompson. Largely unknown, before the 2023-24 season, Thompson knocked off All-American Peyton Hall in his season debut and was fifth in Vegas. His big first half elevated him into the AA discussion. Overall, this weight has starpower, intrigue, good depth, and the potential for some freshmen to make noise. Really, everything you’d want in a weight class. 1) 197 lbs Returning NCAA Champions: 1 (Aaron Brooks) Returning NCAA Finalists: 3 (Brooks, Trent Hidlay, Tanner Sloan) Returning NCAA All-Americans: 9 (Brooks, Stephen Buchanan, Rocky Elam, Hidlay, Sloan, Jacob Cardenas, John Poznanski, Michael Beard, Louie DePrez) Impact Freshmen: #13 Stephen Little (Little Rock), #18 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh), #20 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa), #22 Joey Novak (Wyoming), #24 Luke Geog (Ohio State), #27 Martin Cosgrove (Penn) New Contenders: Brooks, Buchanan, Hidlay, Poznanski, DePrez, #17 Garrett Joles (Minnesota), #19 Zach Glazier (Iowa) Along with 174 lbs, this is the only weight class that features three wrestlers who have previously wrestled in the NCAA finals. Like 174, there’s also a historical aspect to follow as Starocci’s teammate, Aaron Brooks, is also seeking his fourth national crown. Despite his accolades, Brooks has proven to be beatable in the best, or at least slightly. In each of his last two seasons, Brooks has suffered a single loss. Combined with the fact that he’s moving up in weight, that makes this bracket even more interesting to me. It should be noted that Brooks has pinned or teched his four official opponents this year and majored returning runner-up Tanner Sloan at the All-Star Classic, so size concerns may be overblown. During the first two months of the season, the most impressive 197 lber has been Brooks 2021 finals opponent Trent Hidlay, who has also made the move up in the offseason. Hidlay has racked up bonus points in 13 of 15 bouts this season and rose to the top in a loaded CKLV field. Both of the returning AA’s he’s faced this year have fallen via major decision. Could more size and horsepower be the difference in a potential rematch with Brooks? The amount of contenders at this weight makes it impossible to just pencil in a Brooks/Hidlay NCAA finals rematch. You have Stephen Buchanan, an NCAA semifinalist in 2022, who is fresh off a redshirt year and a change of scenery in Oklahoma. He and fellow Big 12-mate Rocky Elam aren’t as flashy as Brooks/Hidlay, but can get the job done. The top five is rounded out by CKLV finalist Jaxon Smith, who knocked off Sloan to make the championship match. The recent addition of Louie DePrez gives this weight class nine past All-Americans which is a staggering number, especially for the upperweights. He initially slots in a 14 in the rankings, but certainly has the potential to move up much higher. Along with 133 lbs, this is the most top-heavy EIWA weight class, with three of its wrestlers currently in the top ten (and that doesn’t include DePrez). How deep is this weight class with legit contenders? Well, the returning Big Ten champion, Silas Allred, is currently ranked 11th. Like other weights, this one has plenty of freshmen who should continue to climb the ranks as the season progresses. That number is probably higher than normal for a weight like 197 lbs. The most prominent of the group is Stephen Little, who already has a win over CKLV finalist Jaxon Smith this season. True freshman Joey Novak was a Vegas placer and wrestled competitively against the undefeated Elam. The large, muscular elephant in the room at 197 lbs is 2021 NCAA champion AJ Ferrari. Ferrari could be nearly a return for the University of Iowa. Should he be thrown into the mix, this will undoubtedly be the most interesting weight class of the ten, if it isn’t already.

With the first semester of competition flying by, we are starting to get a better idea of where these teams lie. Some have impressed early, while others are still looking to develop and finish the season stronger. January tends to be a heavy competition month and will give teams another opportunity to improve. I’ll be trying to identify how teams' stocks have changed since the start of the season, and highlighting a wrestler that is lower in the rankings or unranked that should have an impact for their team throughout the year. All of these are relative to expectations at the start of the year and based on team performance. Air Force (Overall: 2-2; Conference: 0-2): Slight Stock Up Wrestler To Watch: Joe Fernau - 149lbs Led by #2 Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force’s stock has taken a small bump since the start of the season. Tucker Owens has taken a hit, falling out of the rankings during a recent losing streak. A 2023 qualifier, he’ll have multiple ranked matches coming up, and I think he finds a way back to the NCAA tournament. Giano Petrucelli looks to have made a jump in his senior year, with impressive wins over Antrell Taylor and Noah Mulvaney helping him climb the rankings. The biggest factor to their stock up however is at 184, where Sam Wolf bumped up and is on a tear with multiple top-ten wins this season. Joe Fernau is my wrestler to watch after winning the Bob Smith Open, including a win over true freshman KJ Evans for Oklahoma. The sophomore hasn’t had success in his last two matches against top 20 opponents, but could be someone that can make things interesting against lower-ranked wrestlers. As it stands I think Air Force gets four qualifiers, with wrestlers like Fernau or Noah Blake as bubble wrestlers at the moment. California Baptist (Overall: 3-4; Conference: 0-1): Holding Steady Wrestler To Watch: Hunter Leake - 133lbs The nice thing with stock reports is that it’s relative to the team and the expectations at the start of the year. California Baptist is a good example of that, as the team is still building and developing. Eli Griffin at 125 has taken some losses after starting the year as my pick for Big 12 Breakout wrestler. Not the most consistent wrestler the past two seasons, Griffin did get wins over Nico Provo and Jore Volk in January of last year, so hopefully he gets more on track in the second semester. There were a handful of wrestlers that were interesting to watch for the Lancers, but I took Hunter Leake on an eight-match winning streak. The only wrestler to win a match at Big 12’s last year, Leake is currently looking like their best chance at a qualifier with Eli Griffin. He beat two-time qualifier Dom Lajoie of Stanford and has an early season win over Cooper Birdwell, who I am high on. The team is only in their second year of full Division I competition, and will be looking to get at least one of these two to Kansas City this year. Iowa State (Overall: 6-1; Conference: 0-0): Big Stock Up Wrestler To Watch: #3 Yonger Bastida - 285lbs I was high on the Cyclones to start the season, but they’ve exceeded expectations and could continue to climb. After the CyHawk dual loss, there were questions as to the team's ceiling and how they would respond. They responded by sending a message, winning CKLV and going 3-0 at Collegiate Duals. The CKLV title was especially impressive, as the team won despite Kysen Terukina, Cody Chittum, and David Carr underperforming. Evan Frost has been a breakout wrestler, while the team has turned their middleweights into a murderer’s row from 141-165. The goal for wrestlers to watch was to try and highlight someone who may be flying under the radar, but it’s hard to find one with the Cyclone’s current lineup. MJ Gaitan has a fun high-flying style, while Echemendia has been on a dominant tear. However, it’s hard to overlook Yonger Bastida at heavyweight. Undefeated, with a 67% bonus rate, Bastida has five techs on the year. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the three-point takedown, he has an absurd 52-1 takedown ratio. The team now looks to have multiple title contenders, and are looking to win their first Big 12 championship since 2009. Missouri (Overall: 5-0; Conference: 3-0): Holding Steady Wrestler To Watch: Kade Moore - 133lbs The two-time Big 12 champs came into the season highly ranked, and have hovered around the top six spots all season. They haven’t had any full-strength top-ten opponents yet this season, but are averaging a 35-7 dual score. A lineup already with five All-Americans, Noah Surtin looks to have taken a jump this season and is all the way at #2 in a volatile 125. The team has had multiple ranked wins at 149, with the weight going from a question mark to another strength this season. Brock Mauller moving to 157 this season was a surprise, but Mauller is undefeated with a career-high 78% bonus rate. In the team’s 50 individual dual matches, they’ve won 41 with 29 bonus point wins. For wrestler to watch, it was hard to pick just one. The team has nine starters with bonus rates over 40%, and six over 65%. The only weight without a ranked wrestler though, Kade Moore is looking to change that. Blue-chip redshirt freshman Zeke Seltzer started the year here, and will be looking to get back into the lineup. Moore isn’t making that easy, however, as he is 3-0 in duals and back-to-back major decisions. He has an exciting style (see his 360 double against Cooper Birdwell) and is starting to separate more in matches. The Tigers are looking to win their 13th consecutive conference title (9 MAC, 3 Big 12), and their first team trophy since 2015. North Dakota State (Overall: 1-6; Conference: 0-1): Slight Stock Up Wrestler To Watch: #25 Gaven Sax - 174lbs To start the year it looked like the Bison would be in a big rebuild with new head coach Obe Blanc. The dual results haven’t shown it quite yet, but the team is coming off a Big 10 win over Purdue. Senior Kellyn March was injured early in the year which hasn’t helped the team, but redshirt freshman Maxwell Petersen has stepped up and gone 2-3 in duals. All of his losses have been within a takedown against ranked opponents. The lineup is filled with young wrestlers, with five redshirt freshmen and one true freshman. Gaven Sax is a veteran on the team and finally into the rankings with wins over Andrew Sparks and Austin Murphy. He also had a close one-point loss to ACC champ Justin McCoy. Last year he made the jump from 149 to 174 and finished with a .500 record, but this year looks much more comfortable at the weight and clearly improving with Assistant Coach Hayden Hidlay. If Kellyn March can get back to last year’s performance and Sax continues to improve, the young team can bounce back quicker than people expected. Northern Colorado (Overall: 7-1; Conference: 0-1): Stock Down Wrestler To Watch: #27 Dominick Serrano - 133lbs The Bears are off to a strong start to the season with their seven dual wins, but five of them have come against non-Division I teams. The team has heavy hitters with Big 12 champ Stevo Poulin and bloodround wrestler Vinny Zerban. Poulin just took an upset loss to Jett Strickenberger of WVU. There appear to be multiple weights that the team is still trying to find their established starter, but could get some answers at the upcoming Southern Scuffle. In the second semester, the team could also get more wrestlers in the lineup with transfers Adam Busiello and Travis Mastrogiovanni. The stock down comes between their light schedule, Poulin’s loss, and questionable lineup; although they have the pieces to change that going forward. The #12 wrestler in the class of 2020, Dominick Serrano struggled with a 5-13 record at Nebraska in 2022. He transferred to UNC in 2023, and is off to a strong start with a 10-1 record and 71% bonus rate. He doesn’t have any ranked wins this season, but did beat Minnesota’s redshirting freshman Tyler Wells. If he can keep the points up as the season gets tougher, he could be another qualifier and potentially a high-impact wrestler at a wide-open weight weight class.