Leaderboard

The new “weekend” of wrestling begins tonight as the University of Michigan travels to South Dakota State to face off with the Jackrabbits for the first time. As I was getting this week’s Live Streaming Guide together, I noticed it was an incredible week for duals. Though there aren’t a lot of them as some teams are licking their wounds from Midlands/Salute/Scuffle; what they lack in numbers is made up for in quality. Not only are good teams tangling, but there are some awesome individual matchups on the docket. Sometimes you can have good teams wrestling, but none of their top guys hit. Not this week. There’s a lot of them. About 27 of them. Maybe more; hopefully not less. Here’s a little bit about 27 prospective matches on tap for the next four days. 125 lbs - #3 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) vs. #8 Jore Volk (Wyoming) Appalachian State transfer Caleb Smith has been an excellent fit in a loaded Nebraska lineup. He is 13-1 with the Big Red, with his only loss coming against Jore Volk at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Smith has a chance to avenge that loss and solidify himself as a bona fide contender at 125 lbs. Volk has built on an impressive freshman campaign, by winning the Reno Tournament of Champions, finishing fifth in Vegas and making the Soldier Salute finals. 125 lbs - #9 Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) vs. #14 Brett Ungar (Cornell) An injury to 2023 All-American Eddie Ventresca has led to Cooper Flynn getting pulled out of Olympic redshirt for the Hokies. Flynn’s debut saw him knock off CKLV champion Nico Provo (Stanford) and since then he’s defeated then-#2 Noah Surtin (Missouri) and finished fourth at the Midlands. Ungar made the Vegas finals opposite Provo. During the 2023 version of this dual, Ungar edged Ventresca in tiebreakers. He’d later finish his freshman year in the NCAA Round of 12. 125 lbs - #23 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) vs. #27 Eli Griffin (California Baptist) This match doesn’t have the rankings cache that most others on this list, but it has the potential for some fun. Kysen Terukina has been hard to read. He started the season with a dominating major decision victory over two-time All-American Eric Barnett (Wisconsin). Since then, he’s gone 2-5 albeit against a difficult schedule. Can he get things back on track against the surprise Midlands finalist Eli Griffin? Griffin posted four bonus point wins on his way to the Midlands finals. Since both schools compete out of the Big 12, this match also has conference-seeding implications. 125 lbs - Braeden Davis (Penn State) vs. #15 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) True freshman Braeden Davis appears to be getting the call for Penn State as the national favorites attempt to lock down a starter at 125 lbs. Davis has passed every test thus far with an 8-0 record and two wins over past national qualifiers. The competition gets much stiffer with 2022 All-American Brandon Kaylor. Kaylor was fourth in Vegas and is a good benchmark for whether or not Davis should be kept in redshirt. 133 lbs - #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs. #12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) The only wrestler to defeat Vito Arujau during his national championship-winning 2022-23 season was Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona. The pair met three times during the season and Latona grabbed the victory in dual competition. Though Arujau prevailed in Vegas and Tulsa, Latona pushed him as much as anyone else in the country. They say “styles make fights” and the length of Latona could be an issue for Arujau, who tends to have that advantage against most other competitors. 133 lbs - #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs. #13 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) Before getting to Latona, Vito Arujau will have stud redshirt freshman Nic Bouzakis on Friday night. Bouzakis has had an interesting first half of the season, to say the least. He suffered a pair of losses in his Clarion Open debut and was upset in the first round of the CKLV. Bouzakis then stormed back through the consolation bracket with seven straight wins to take third place. At the Collegiate Duals, Bouzakis was edged by Northern Iowa’s Julian Farber, then pinned All-American Kai Orine to help spark Ohio State’s upset of NC State. 133 lbs - #3 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #5 Kai Orine (NC State) Daton Fix was a late-scratch in Vegas so we didn’t get to see this match in December. With Fix out of the picture, Orine went on to claim the CKLV title. In the colossal clash between OSU and NC State, this is the only potential matchup we’ve seen before. In the 2022 NCAA Round of 16, Fix downed Orine, 7-4. I’m not sure that result has much bearing on Friday's contest as Orine has improved significantly since then. 133 lbs - #9 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) vs. #11 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) Both of these wrestlers had prominent finishes at the Midlands though they did not square off against each other. Dylan Shawver was a finalist, while Michael Colaiocco finished fourth. Both suffered losses to Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin along the way. They also had another common opponent in Zeth Romney (Cal Poly). Shawver earned his second win of the season over Romney, while Colaiocco was majored by the Mustang freshman for third place. 141 lbs - #4 Ryan Jack (NC State) vs. #7 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) I’m not sure if we’ll see this one as Tagen Jamison hasn’t competed since the Bedlam Dual on December 10th. Just a week prior, he surprised the country with a fifth-place showing in Vegas. There he posted a win over a returning All-American and two other national qualifiers. Should he be unable to go, Sammy Alvarez is listed as a potential starter by Oklahoma State. Alvarez, originally an NC State recruit, was a national qualifier for Rutgers in 2020. The Vegas runner-up at 141 lbs was Ryan Jack, who did not meet Jamison on his way to the finals. Both of Jack’s 2023-24 losses have come to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. 141 lbs - #6 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) vs. #8 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) Last year, Brock Hardy defeated Cael Happel 6-1 in the finals of the CKLV. Hardy would later make the Big Ten finals and finished sixth in the national tournament. Happel sputtered at the Big 12 meet and went 2-2 at NCAA’s. The two met at this year’s CKLV and Happel turned the tables in a wild 15-13 affair. Overall, Hardy has been more consistent, which has led to their current rankings. Another win over Hardy should be enough to push Happel past the Cornhusker star. 141 lbs - #11 CJ Composto (Penn) vs. #13 Mitch Moore (Rutgers) This should represent the most significant test of the year for Mitch Moore, who had joined Rutgers as a graduate transfer in his final year of eligibility. In his last outing, Moore defeated 2023 NCAA Round of 12 finisher Malyke Hines to capture a title at the Sheridan Invitational. Moore has yet to lose while wearing Rutgers’ block R. Looking to clear the zero on Moore’s record is Midlands runner-up CJ Composto. Composto was Penn’s first All-American during Roger Reina’s second tenure at the helm for the Quakers in 2022. Earlier this year, Composto won the Keystone Classic after suffering a pair of losses during his season debut at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. 149 lbs - #12 Nash Singleton (Oregon State) vs. Tyler Kasak (Penn State) Similar to the 125 lbs weight class, you have a wrestler with a good ranking for Oregon State against a true freshman from Penn State. In December, word trickled out of State College that 2023 NCAA third-place finisher Shayne Van Ness would miss the remainder of the year due to an injury. There was no clear-cut successor, but Tyler Kasak who started the year at 141, got the call against Lehigh and responded with a 7-5 win over Drew Munch. Nash Singleton put himself on the map with a sixth-place finish in Las Vegas. In Vegas, Singleton’s best victory came over Rider’s national qualifier Quinn Kinner. 157 lbs - #3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) vs. #13 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) One of the best developments for Northern Iowa out in Vegas was Ryder Downey. Though he only went 2-2, Downey notched a pair of really solid wins in a loaded bracket. Since then, Downey’s proven he’s more than just a one-hit wonder. Winning that Vegas bracket was Peyton Robb who prevailed over the 157 lb weight class for a second straight year. Robb is undefeated and showing no ill effects from the gruesome post-NCAA inflection that almost cost him his leg. 157 lbs - #4 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. #20 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) In two 2023-24 tournaments, Jacori Teemer has placed second (CKLV) and first (Midlands). Teemer missed last season due to an injury, but has not shown any rust during the first half of this campaign. His challenger from Iowa State is freshman Cody Chittum. Chittum has been good thus far, but is still looking for a first signature win. Beating the two-time All-American would definitely qualify as one. This should be a good style clash with Teemer typically looking for explosive attacks, while Chittum is more of a grinder. 157 lbs - #8 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) vs. #15 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) Everyone had this match circled as “must-watch” in the Round of 16 at the CKLV Invitational. True freshman sensation, Meyer Shapiro, prevailed via major decision; however, he did not get on the podium and went 2-2. Bryce Andonian rebounded to finish fourth. Andonian was recently in dual action against Missouri’s three-time All-American Brock Mauller and managed to win a 13-10 shootout. 157 lbs - #9 Will Lewan (Michigan) vs. #16 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) I’m sure this match has been circled on Cael Swensen’s calendar since the 2023-24 schedule was released. Swensen was knocked out of the 2023 NCAA Tournament in the bloodround by Michigan’s Will Lewan, to the tune of, 7-4. Swensen has had a ridiculously tough schedule thus far. His record is a pedestrian 5-5; however, those five losses have come to #2 Jared Franek (Iowa), #3 Peyton Robb (x2), #8 Andonian, and #11 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota). It doesn’t get any easier tonight with Lewan. Typically, Lewan wrestles close bouts, so this could come down to the final buzzer. 157 lbs - #12 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) vs. #15 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) Shapiro’s busy weekend starts with Paddy Gallagher on Friday night. It’s a match between two wrestlers who were ranked #1 overall in their respective recruiting classes, 2023 (Shapiro) and 2021 (Gallagher). Gallagher had an up-and-down redshirt freshman season last year, but has been much more consistent this time around. When we last saw Gallagher, at the Collegiate Duals, he avenged a CKLV loss to Ryder Downey. 165 lbs - #9 Garrett Thompson (Ohio) vs. #14 Caleb Fish (Michigan State) I’m not sure there’s another wrestler that’s had a breakout campaign like Garrett Thompson has had in 2023-24. After going 11-9 as a part-time starter at 157 lbs last season, Thompson has moved up to 165 and has won 16 of 20 matches. He finished fifth in Vegas amidst a loaded field. Thompson’s next challenge is 2023 NCAA Round of 12 finisher Caleb Fish. Fish is coming off a fifth-place showing at the Midlands and has dropped a couple of slots in the rankings. Bouncing back by beating Thompson, could put him back in the top ten. 165 lbs - #10 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) vs. #12 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) Once again, we have a freshman from Penn State using an opponent from Oregon State as a measuring stick. Mitchell Mesenbrink has been utterly dominant with seven bonus-point wins among his nine 2023-24 matches. Just by the way things have broken, Mesenbrink has only faced one ranked opponent. Now, he’ll have 2023 Pac-12 champion, Matthew Olguin, a seventh-place finisher at the CKLV. Last year, when these two teams tangled in State College, Olguin fell by a 3-2 decision to Alex Facundo. 174 lbs - #4 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) vs. #5 Shane Griffith (Michigan) What a massive potential matchup between two top-five 174 lbers. Cade DeVos appears to have taken the next step and has gone from a possible medal threat to a high All-American finisher. He did so by winning the CKLV Invitational. 2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith was the top seed at that tournament, but he was upset in the early going and defaulted out of the tournament. If SDSU has hopes of an upset, they’ll probably need to get this one. 184 lbs - #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. #4 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) We should get another round of Keckeisen/Pinto in the UNI/Nebraska dual. The two met in Vegas and Keckeisen grabbed an 8-4 victory. That match was one of only two regular decisions for Keckeisen amongst his 13 matches this season. This pair always makes for a good matchup with the physicality and technique of Keckeisen, mixed with the wide-open attacks by Pinto. 184 lbs - #2 Bernie Truax (Penn State) vs. #6 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) We’ve just got a ridiculous amount of top-notch 184 lb bouts this week. An upset or two could shake up the entire upper tier at this weight class. This match is the renewal of a former Pac-12 rivalry as Bernie Truax, formerly of Cal Poly, takes on Trey Munoz. Truax took the first four matches in this series; however, Munoz pinned him in the 2022 Pac-12 finals. This series goes back to 2021 when Munoz was wrestling 174 lbs for Arizona State. 184 lbs - #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. #5 Dylan Fishback (NC State) Another great potential matchup from the Oklahoma State/NC State dual has the third (Dustin Plott) and seventh place (Dylan Fishback) finishers from Vegas finally going toe-to-toe. The duo did not meet at the CKLV. Fishback has been one of the most impressive freshmen in the nation; while Plott has moved up from 174 lbs and looks as good as ever. Plott’s only loss at 184 lbs came to Pinto early in the CKLV. He’d later avenge the loss by wrestling for third place. 184 lbs - #8 Chris Foca (Cornell) vs. #14 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) Chris Foca and Gavin Hoffman were two of the four returning All-Americans who did not place at the CKLV meatgrinder that was 184 lbs. Though he didn’t crack the top eight, Gavin Hoffman did score a win over an opponent that did (Sam Fisher). Chris Foca used the Collegiate Duals to get back on track. He scored a win over CKLV finalist Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) and Reece Heller (Pittsburgh). A week before the Duals, Heller majored Hoffman. 197 lbs - #11 Silas Allred (Nebraska) vs. #21 Joey Novak (Wyoming) One of the better possible bouts in the Nebraska/Wyoming dual comes at 197 lbs where Big Ten champion Silas Allred is slated to meet the Cowboy's true freshman Joey Novak. The two met in Vegas and Allred prevailed with a second-period fall. Since then, Novak finished eighth (Allred was fifth) and had respectable showings at the Reno TOC and Soldier Salute. He’s proven to be one of the few true freshmen that can handle to rigors and physicality it takes to compete at 197 lbs. 285 lbs - #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #12 Boone McDermott (Oregon State) We haven’t seen top-ranked Greg Kerkvliet since he defeated the returning EIWA champion, Nathan Taylor, in a dual meet victory over Lehigh. Kerkvliet is listed among Penn State’s probable’s for Friday Night’s dual at Oregon State. There he’ll meet Boone McDermott. Though McDermott had spent the last three years at Rutgers, the two never crossed paths. McDermott appears to be on the verge of putting together his finest collegiate campaign. He finished fourth in Vegas and two of his three losses on the year have come to the same opponent (Taye Ghadiali - Campbell) 285 lbs - #3 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. #5 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Here’s one I really hope we get to see. As of right now, Cohlton Schultz has yet to compete during the 2023-24 campaign. The three-time All-American is number one on the Olympic Greco-Roman ladder and has turned his focus towards making the team. If he does make his season debut, it’s quite a tough opponent to do it against. Yonger Bastida has taken off after moving up from 197 lbs. Bastida is a perfect 12-0 with a Vegas title under his belt. Thus far, he’s been able to amass bonus points in 8 of his 12 wins. It’ll be interesting to see how Schultz is able to slow down the big man from Cuba.

While the Midlands tournament may have lacked a bit of star power compared to some of the stacked fields of the past, the event still took place over the holiday break. As always, there were several wrestlers who put up impressive stat lines and those competitors are celebrated here. Michael Beard finishes with absurd Point Differential No. 9 Michael Beard had a borderline incredible performance in the 197-pound bracket. The Lehigh wrestler defeated all five of his opponents and averaged a tournament-high 3.10 points per minute. At the same time, he allowed his opponents to only score 0.34 points per minute. His resulting +2.77 point differential was the second highest of the event. The only wrestler with a better differential (Matthew Cover of Princeton) defaulted out after winning his first match. Beard opened his tournament with a pair of 18-1 technical falls over Carter Blough (Michigan State) and Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville). He then bested a pair of Virginia Tech teammates in Sonny Sasso and Andy Smith. Smith, the number 26th ranked wrestler in the most recent InterMat rankings, failed to even notch a single point before he was defeated via fall in the waning seconds of the second period. In the finals, Beard’s run continued with a 15-0 technical fall over No. 10 Luke Stout (Princeton). While Beard defeated the Princeton wrestler earlier this season, he seriously widened the gap in this rematch. Their first bout of the season, back in November was an 18-8 major decision. Dean Hamiti relies on his defense Down at 165 pounds, Wisconsin’s No. 6 Dean Hamiti was nearly as dominant as Beard. He averaged 2.23 points per minute, allowed 0.17 points per minute and therefore finished with a +2.07 point differential on his path to the title. While Hamiti has always been a prolific scorer in the neutral position and on top, his defense was perhaps the most impressive aspect of his Midlands performance. He surrendered four points in his opening match against Tate Geiser (Cleveland State). After that Hamiti did not allow a single point in his next four matches. He pinned Luke Gayer (Rutgers) and Beau Mantanona (Michigan) before they could get anything going. In the semifinals, he wrestled for the full seven minutes against No. 17 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) and walked away with a 10-0 major decision. For the title, Hamiti faced off against No. 11 Peyton Hall (West Virginia). He once again went the full regulation and did not give up a single point. Prior to the finals, Hall had been on quite a scoring tear. In his first four matches, he averaged 2.07 points per minute and won all four matches with bonus. Hamiti was able to completely stifle that offense and pick up his own bonus-point victory. Dakota Howard racks up the points While he did not win the tournament, Virginia Tech’s No. 18 Dakota Howard had a big-time scoring tournament at 184 pounds. He averaged 2.68 points per minute on his way to a fourth-place finish. His only defeat outside of a medical forfeit out of the third-place match was a quarterfinal loss against No. 17 James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) in sudden victory. Even in defeat, Howard managed to score eight points. Things really took off for him in the consolation bracket where he scored 22, 22, and 14 points respectively against No. 20 Nate Dugan (Princeton), Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) and No. 29 Tony Negron (Arizona State). Other things I liked and didn’t like Yes, I stole the idea for this section from ESPN basketball writer Zach Lowe. Sue me. Actually, please do not sue me. The following are a few things I came across while reviewing the brackets and collecting data that I thought I would share. All back points technical fall There has been some consternation among the wrestling Twitterati that the advent of the three-point takedown has devalued mat wrestling. There might be some merit to that argument, but do not tell that to Northwestern’s Sam Cartella. In the consolation bracket, the 149-pounder faced off against Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois). After a scoreless first period, Jones won the toss and deferred to Cartella. The Wildcat took the top position and proceeded to score four consecutive sets of four-point near falls and finish the match via technical fall with 22 seconds left in the second period. Even with the three-point takedown, that kind of turning ability will never go out of style. Who cares about the scoreboard? Per Wikipedia, “Thomas More University is a private Roman Catholic university in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. It serves about 2,000 full and part-time students.” One of those students, heavyweight Daulton Mayer placed fifth at the Midlands. While it is always impressive when competitors from outside NCAA Division I place in the mid-season classic (Thomas More is transitioning from NAIA to Division II), Mayer took a very interesting path to his placement. He went 5-2 in the bracket with his only losses coming against Jacob Bullock (Indiana) and No. 24 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly). However, he only actually finished with more points than his opponent in one match. Mayer won his opening match via fall over Charles Hastriter (Oregon State) while leading 3-0. He then defeated Princeton’s Matthew Cover via injury default while trailing 2-0, Ira Jenkins (Michigan) by fall while trailing 6-3, John Stout (Penn) by fall while trailing 6-1, and finally picked up a forfeit over Tinker in the fifth-place match. For the tournament, he was outscored 31 to nine and still finished fifth. Technicality about Technical Falls Rule 4 Section 5 Article 13 of the NCAA Wrestling includes the following passage, “an earned riding time point may be awarded no sooner than at the end of the third period and/or at the end of any sudden victory or any round of tiebreakers.” While this is an odd way to turn a phrase, it basically means that for any match that ends via termination (such as a fall, technical fall or injury default) the riding time point should not be added to the point total. Unfortunately, this rule is not consistently followed in collegiate wrestling. It is exceedingly common to see a wrestler earn an extra point when the match is stopped due to a 15-point margin. In the grand scheme of things, the extra point does not mean very much. However, for the purposes of statistical analysis such as this article, it creates pretty clear inaccuracies. This was clearly a problem at the Midlands as the mistake appeared to happen with some frequency. Perhaps there could be some sort of standardized training for table workers, or a tournament official could be responsible for verifying final scores. I am open to ideas here people. While the Midlands tournament may have lacked a bit of star power compared to some of the stacked fields of the past, the event still took place over the holiday break. As always, there were several wrestlers who put up impressive stat lines and those competitors are celebrated here.

Below is a recap of last week’s EIWA action, with individual news and highlights worth noting. Key Takeaways Lehigh’s Stanich and Beard win Midlands titles Penn wins Midlands team title for first time in school history Conigliaro’s 2nd place finish at Midlands is best ever by a Harvard wrestler Pasiuk of Army, Phipps and Mulvaney of Bucknell win Southern Scuffle American The Eagles were off over the holiday break. This week’s agenda includes a dual with Michigan State. There will be some wrestlers at the F&M Open as well. Army West Point The Black Knights had a handful of participants in the Southern Scuffle. The top performer was #11 Ben Pasiuk at 174 lbs, earning a title. He beat #22 Norman of Stanford and won in the final by medical forfeit from #10 Washington of Indiana. At 165 lbs, Gunner Filipowicz was runner-up to #26 Mulvaney of Bucknell. He had a major decision win over #17 Carlson of Oklahoma before that. Ethan Berginc was 3rd and Charlie Farmer was 7th at 125lbs. Berginc won this head-to-head match-up 2-1. Nate Lukez was 4th at 157 lbs. Braden Basile (#33 @ 133 lbs) was sixth with losses to #27 Serrano of Northern Colorado and #17 Knox of Stanford. At 149lbs, Thomas Deck was 7th. In 3rd at 285 lbs was Lucas Stoddard, while Thomas Godbee was 8th at 197 lbs. Army will be in Lancaster, PA for the F&M Open this week. Binghamton The Bearcats did not compete over the holidays. They will return at the F&M Open this week as well. Brown The Bears competed at the Southern Scuffle to bring in the new year. They had a lone placewinner in Ian Oswalt at 141 lbs. He earned his 8th place finish when he lost in the first round, only to win four in a row to be on the podium. At 133 lbs, Hunter Adrian was a quarterfinalist. Unfortunately, he lost his next two bouts and failed to place. Much of the team’s lineup is still up in the air, as they had a very light first semester which contained zero dual meets. We will know more about this team as the season progresses. The Bears will be off this weekend. After that, they have a full slate of dual meets well into February. Bucknell The Bison were one of the teams at the Southern Scuffle. They walked away with two champions. Kurt Phipps (#24 @ 133 lbs) had a win over #27 Serrano of Northern Colorado in the finals. #26 Noah Mulvaney managed to win his 165 lbs bracket without facing a ranked opponent as all ranked wrestlers in his bracket lost before getting a chance to face him. At 285 lbs, #33 Dorian Crosby, wrestled in the finals where he dropped the match to #15 Heindselman of Oklahoma. Mikey Bartush was 4th at 184 lbs and Logan Deacetis was 6th at 197 lbs. Bucknell’s performance was good enough for a 6th place finish overall. Overall, it was a pretty good showing for Bucknell. The Bison will take a weekend off before dual meet action in two weeks. Columbia The Lions were at the Soldier Salute in Iowa. They finished as the highest non-Big Ten team, earning third overall behind Iowa and Minnesota. #24 Lennox Wolak was the highest finisher for the squad when he was runner-up at 174 lbs. Nick Babin was 4th at 125 lbs and #29 Aaron Ayzerov was 4th at 184 lbs. At 197 lbs, #28 Jack Wehmeyer was in 5th place. Angelo Rini lost his wrestleback match due to a medical forfeit. Columbia has been banged up with injuries and this continued over the holidays. Expect to see various lineups moving forward as the injuries heal and plenty of wrestlers see action. This week’s agenda includes a matchup with #23 West Virginia in Atlantic City. #8 Cornell Cornell was not in action between Christmas and New Year’s. They will face #6 Ohio State away on Friday and host #9 Virginia Tech on Sunday. This is a huge weekend of duals for the Big Red. Drexel The Dragons only had a few participants at the Southern Scuffle. They returned home with one placewinner at 125 lbs. Deon Pleasant took 8th place. He split matches with Farmer of Army, who finished in 7th. Jack Janda was 2-2 on the day at 174 lbs while Cody Walsh was 3-2 during the event. The Dragons will be back closer to full strength at the F&M Open this weekend. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats had five wrestlers compete at the Midlands. Overall, they were in 12th place out of 30 teams. Noah Fox (174 lbs), Pat Phillips (141 lbs), and John Crawford (#32 @ 197 lbs) all finished in the round of 12, just failing to place. Mason Leiphart placed 6th at 133 lbs, with all three losses on the weekend coming from ranked opponents. At 184 lbs, #17 James Conway finished in 6th. It was a great performance by a quality contingent at this event. The Diplomats will host their Open this week. Expect a few starters to miss this one, as they recover from a tough Midlands. Harvard Harvard saw action at the Midlands over the break. #13 Phil Conigliaro returned to the lineup, earning 2nd in the 174 lbs bracket. He had wins over #7 McCoy of Virginia and #14 Kemp of Cal Poly. Conigliaro’s performance was the best ever by a Harvard wrestler. Finishing 5th at 125 lbs was Diego Sotelo – he came into the weekend with a ranking of #25. He had a win over #21 Gallagher of Penn in the consi’s. At 157 lbs, Jimmy Harrington earned 8th with a win over #23 Clark of Rutgers. Joe Cangro, Josh Kim, and Coleman Nogle each wrestled well, notching multiple wins. Next for Harvard is the F&M Open on Friday. Hofstra The Pride will return to competition this week at the F&M Open. #28 Lehigh The Mountain Hawks sent a handful of strong competitors to the Midlands. Luke Stanich was champion after defeating a two-time All-American #9 Barnett of Wisconsin. He then defeated #10 Flynn of Virginia Tech and #25 Sotelo of Harvard on the weekend. Stanich, who competed unattached, still has the potential to redshirt this season. It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season checks out. At 197 lbs, #9 Michael Beard was the champion using all bonus point wins, dominating his competition. This included a fall over #25 Smith of Virginia Tech and a major over #10 Stout of Princeton. Also at 197 lbs, JT Davis earned a fourth-place finish in the bracket behind Beard. Lehigh also had Kelvin Griffin competing at 149 lbs where he won a few matches. Lehigh’s unattached wrestlers included Mays at 165 lbs and Repos at 149 lbs – each winning a couple of matches on the weekend. The Mountain Hawks of Lehigh will be off this weekend. Expect a large turnout of Hawks for the F&M Open while the starters heal up, and the staff figures out what the line-up will look like moving forward. Long Island LIU will be back to competing at the F&M Open. Expect most of the team to compete. #15 Navy The last remaining undefeated team in the conference was home for the holidays. They will be in action at the F&M Open this week. #20 Penn The Quakers were team champions at the Midlands for the first time in school history. At 141lbs, #11 CJ Composto was the runner-up in the bracket. Max Hale (#28 @ 184lbs) had a big weekend with wins over #33 Fisher of Northwestern and #17 Conway of F&M to earn a silver medal. #11 Michael Colaiocco was 4th in the 133 lbs bracket. He had a win over #5 Latona of Virginia Tech, a multiple-time All-American. Lucas Revano may have had the most impressive day of everyone, wrestling to a 7-2 record – enough for 3rd place at 157lbs. After a loss to #23 Clark of Rutgers, he had wins over guys like #16 Saldate of Michigan State, #33 Washleski of Rider, and #28 McGee of George Mason. #12 Nick Incontrera was a third-place finisher with a lone loss to #3 Ruth of Illinois. At 197lbs, Cole Urbas emerged with a 3rd place victory. He had a tech fall over #29 Bates of Northwestern and a win over #25 Smith of Virginia Tech. At 285lbs, John Stout was 8th. His big win was over #26 Wolfgram of West Virginia. The Quakers return to action this weekend. You will see some wrestlers at the F&M Open on Friday. Expect the starters to be in action in a home dual with #14 Rutgers on Saturday. Princeton The Tigers competed at the Midlands. #10 Luke Stout was the highest placer with a runner-up finish at 197 lbs. In the same bracket, Aidan Conner was in 7th place. At 184lbs, #22 Nate Dugan was 6th after a quality win over #12 Malczewski of Michigan State. The talk of the Princeton faithful, however, was not wearing a Princeton uniform. Ty Whalen is in an active gray-shirt season where he is not enrolled in school. He competed unattached and won the 149 lbs bracket. He took out multiple-time All-American #3 Parco of Arizona State and #19 Watters of West Virginia. Rocco Camillaci was 4-2 on the weekend, with two losses to ranked foes by a total of two points. He is right there with many quality wrestlers. The Tigers will be at the F&M Open this week in return to competition. Sacred Heart The Pioneers competed before Christmas and are off until next week’s duals with Queens and VMI.