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The crew is back and joined again by EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer to discuss all of the latest happenings in the collegiate wrestling world. Austin did commentary for Drexel's duals over the weekend and shares his thoughts on those duals, along with EIWA members Lehigh and Penn. The foursome then hits on Minnesota/Nebraska, Penn State/Michigan, coaches rankings and much more. For the full video: Click Here

This Friday marks the beginning of ACC conference duals with North Carolina facing Virginia Tech, Virginia traveling to Duke, and NC State heading north to Pittsburgh. Before we start ACC action let’s take a look back at the first half of the season and the highlights, and areas of focus, for each team moving forward. Duke: Dual Record: 4-8 The Blue Devils have had a very dual-heavy schedule and have traveled extensively already this season. They come into ACC competition at 4-8 and have faced five top-30 dual teams thus far. While their record isn’t stellar, they have performed well against similarly ranked teams with victories over Cleveland State, Kent State, and Davidson. They have shown improvement throughout the year after an 0-4 start. The Blue Devils have been led by Gaetano Console (165) and Connor Barket (285). Barket has stepped into 285 well and has looked better as the year has gone on. He placed eighth at the Southern Scuffle and has been consistent in duals for the Blue Devils. Duke has also had better results from Logan Agin at 125 and Logan Ferrero at 157 and both are off to stronger starts than last season and have both picked up big wins in duals. Duke isn’t in a position to be a threat for the ACC dual title, but I’m looking for them to continue to improve and have some guys positioned to make a push at the ACC Tournament. North Carolina: Dual Record: 7-5 The Tar Heels are in a transition year with Coach Rob Koll taking the helm early this fall, he retained Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos and rounded out his staff with Enock Francois and Ben Darmstadt. While they transition to the new staff, they have rolled out a very young lineup, having graduated over half of their starters from last season. There have been some growing pains, but there have also been some outstanding team performances already this year. The Tar Heels have not shied away from tough competition, facing five top-25 dual teams, going 1-4 in the process with a big win over Arizona State. They are still working to figure out their optimal lineup and have had multiple starters at different weights. They have been led by #5 Lachlan McNeil who is 17-2--his only losses to #4 Ryan Jack and #1 Real Woods--and 11 of his wins are bonus point wins. #29 Spencer Moore has also looked great coming back off a redshirt year, he enters ACC competition at 10-2. #18 Max Shaw has also had a solid season so far at 13-2; he has been much more offensive this year and it is paying off. The North Carolina staff will have some things to figure out before opening up in Blacksburg on Friday. The biggest focus for the team is to settle on a consistent lineup that is going to be the best combination to face ACC competition. On an individual basis, All-American #23 Gavin Kane has struggled recently and will need to regain his top form to compete in a weight with three top-20 ranked wrestlers at 184 in the conference. #8 NC State: Dual Record: 10-2 The Wolfpack enter ACC competition with one of the strongest lineups they have fielded. They opened the year running up nine straight dominant dual victories before dropping a tight dual to #7 Ohio State at the Collegiate Duals and a home dual to #4 Oklahoma State. They finished 4th in a deep CKLV field, bringing home titles from Kai Orine and Trent Hidlay, with Ryan Jack finishing as a runner-up and Ed Scott battling back for third. The Wolfpack comes into ACC duals with all 10 wrestlers ranked. #5 Kai Orine, #4 Ryan Jack, #3 Jackson Arrington, #7 Ed Scott, #6 Dylan Fishback and #4 Trent Hidlay have all earned top-10 rankings. Orine has looked solid at 133, rounding back into form after what seemed to be a slower start to the year; his losses are to #3 Daton Fix and #12 Nic Bouzakis. Ryan Jack has looked the best he ever has this season, he is more aggressive and is winning close matches that may have eluded him in previous years. Ed Scott had some early season road bumps but has looked incredible. Arrington has been phenomenal; he is 12-1 with a decision loss to Dylan D’Emilio at CKLV. I am very much looking forward to the renewed rivalry with #2 Caleb Henson. Trent Hidlay moved up to 197 for his final year of eligibility and looks healthy and happy at the new weight. The scary part is, he may be even better at 197 than he was at 184. He is 16-0 with 14 bonus point wins - one of the non-bonus was a seven-point decision. He still moves and attacks incredibly well at the higher weight and his underhook is as dangerous as ever. I love this weight for Trent and think he has great potential to get to the top step of the podium in March. There aren’t a lot of question marks for the Wolfpack, but there are a few things they will have to have solidified going into ACC duals. There is a real possibility that the dual title could swing based on the performance of Derek Fields at 165 and Alex Faison at 174. They are both talented and can go with anyone, but they will need to be on point in ACC duals for the Wolfpack to bring home another title. #25 Pittsburgh: Dual Record: 7-5 The Panthers put together an incredible non-conference schedule that is arguably one of the toughest in the country. They have wins over Maryland, #15 Lehigh, #27 Illinois, and #7 Ohio State. Their losses have come to #4 Oklahoma State, #5 Iowa State, #9 Cornell, #23 Arizona State, and #24 Navy. They have been able to maintain a very consistent starting lineup and have shown they can hang with anyone in the country. The Panthers have been buoyed by the strength of their upper weights. #14 Holden Heller (7-4), #15 Luca Augustine (10-2), #12 Reece Heller (12-4), #13 Mac Stout (14-3), and #12 Dayton Pitzer (8-4) have been key in their dual success. #29 Finn Solomon (149) came to Pitt as a transfer at 149 and has put together a solid season so far at 12-6. Pitt remains a dangerous dual team because of the consistency they have shown across the lineup. The biggest questions for the Panthers have been at 157, where they seem to have settled on Jared Keslar as the full-time starter, and at 141 where we have seen inconsistent performances from team captain and former All-American Cole Matthews. Matthews has shown moments of his full potential this year, including an upset of Jesse Mendez in the Ohio State dual, but has several unexpected losses. I trust that Cole will get back on track going into ACC competition where he will have some high-level competition to get back on the top of the podium. A new question mark came up in the Arizona State dual with Dayton Pitzer getting injured in the final match. His health and ability to wrestle could play a huge role in the shaping of the heavyweight field from the ACC. Virginia: Dual Record: 5-2 The story for the Hoos has been full of ups and downs this season. They entered the year with high expectations and a young, but dangerous, lineup. They have faced more adversity this year with injuries than most teams would in several years combined. At one point after a difficult Midlands, they had eight starters out of the lineup due to injuries and illness, but they continue to press on and have remained competitive despite many changes within their lineup. Their losses on the season are to Wisconsin and a one-point loss to a scrappy George Mason squad. They have had some stellar individual performances this season, and I’m hopeful that most of their starters are back to full strength coming into conference competition. They have been led by #14 Justin McCoy at 12-2. His losses are to #8 Phil Conigliaro by injury default in the Midlands semifinals and a sudden victory loss to #12 Max Maylor on a stalling point that was questionable, at best. #28 Dylan Cedeno has looked great with his move to 157; he is 10-2 on the year and I’m excited to see what he can do in the ACC when he is back to full strength. #33 Ryan Catka has been a great addition at the top of the lineup, holding an 8-2 record at 285. The Cavaliers have embraced the next-man-up mentality this season out of necessity. It speaks to the culture that Coach Garland has built that the wrestlers have stepped up to the challenge, some bumping weights and starting on short notice to help the team. The challenge for the Hoos entering conference duals is to put out the best, healthiest lineup possible to be competitive. At full strength, they can be a competitive team in the ACC and I’m hopeful they are able to show that over the next six weeks. #8 Virginia Tech: Dual Record: 4-3 The Hokies dual record isn’t a great depiction of the strength of this team with their three losses coming to #3 Mizzou, #7 Ohio State, and #9 Cornell. They also sent a bulk of their starters to the CKLV, Keystone Classic, and Midlands with some stellar individual results. Safe to say the Hokies are battle-tested coming into ACC competition. All 10 starters are ranked for the Hokies. They are led by #2 Caleb Henson (20-1), #2 Mekhi Lewis (7-0), #6 Cooper Flynn (8-2) and #8 Bryce Andonian (14-4) all in the top-10 with #11 Sam Latona (12-4) just outside. Henson has been a force of nature this year with 13 bonus point wins, including 3 falls, that have been critical to the team's success. He finished as runner-up at CKLV, falling in a tight bout to #1 Ridge Lovett after beating #3 Kyle Parco in the semis. Mekhi has been, well, Mekhi; consistent and impressive every time out and comes in with a 7-0 record. Andonian has looked incredible, other than a couple hiccups in matches he should have been more competitive. He injured his knee in a rematch with Meyer Shapiro and will be out for ACC duals, hoping for a postseason return. Cooper Flynn may be one of the more interesting stories this season. Initially, he was taking an Olympic Redshirt after making the U23 team and winning a Senior level international tournament. Returning All-American Eddie Ventresca was to hold down the spot again this season. A preseason injury to Ventresca turned out to be more significant than initially thought and though he made a go of it in the early season, it was clear that he was not in his best form. Flynn returned from redshirt in the second semester, knocking off CKLV champion Nico Provo in his first dual action and finishing fourth at Midlands in tournament action. He has since beaten then #2 Noah Surtin in dual action and is ranked in the top-10 for the Hokies in a very volatile 125 weight class. The question marks for the Hokies remain at the upper weights where they have established starters that have been pushed by a talented freshmen class. Dakota Howard has also returned for his final semester and is down to 184, he will be battling with Sam Fisher for the starting spot for the postseason. The Hokies will be in the thick of the fight for the ACC dual crown with NC State, and the final dual of the season could likely determine the team title.

It sounds like a broken record, but we have a new number one at 125 lbs...again. And again, it's Purdue's Matt Ramos. Ramos was previously ranked number two and defeated then-number one Drake Ayala in a dual Friday night. His notable wins this year are now Ayala, Dean Peterson, Tanner Jordan, Anthony Molton, Diego Sotelo, and the unofficial All-Star Classic major decision over Anthony Noto. The decision for #1 this week came down to Ramos or freshmen Luke Stanich and Braeden Davis. Stanich has notable wins over Eric Barnett, Cooper Flynn, Brett Ungar, and Sotelo. His only loss is to Troy Spratley, who was pinned over the weekend. Davis is unbeaten with wins over Michael DeAugustino and Brandon Kaylor. Each of the three have huge matches remaining on their respective schedules, so this could certainly change before the conference tournament season. 157 is another weight that has been difficult near the top. Levi Haines continues to win but the previous Michael Blockhus has recent wins over the #2 Jared Franek and the previous #3 Peyton Robb. There was some thought to making Blockhus #2; however, Franek has a slightly deeper catalog of high-quality wins from this season. For the full rankings: Click Here

Air Force (Overall: 2-4; Conference: 0-2): No Competition. Next Up: Air Force competes against SDSU and NDSU on the road on January 26th and 28th. California Baptist (Overall: 3-8; Conference: 0-5): Dual Results (NDSU) | Dual Results (SDSU) The Lancers took a road trip north to take on North Dakota State and South Dakota State over the weekend. They went 0-2, dropping 25-15 to NDSU and 39-3 against SDSu, but had some individuals get solid wins. Against NDSU, the team got off to a quick start with Eli Griffin getting a 20-second pin followed by Hunter Leake scoring a pin of his own. Nathan Haas scored a decision over Adam Cherne and Dayne Morton took Maxwell Petersen to OT, but dropped a 4-1 decision. Against SDSU, the team's lone win came at 165, where Drayden Morton beat two-time qualifier Tanner Cook 4-2. Eli Griffin dropped his match to Tanner Jordan 7-3 in a ranked matchup. Next Up: California Baptist has some time off before taking on Air Force on February 3rd. Iowa State (Overall: 9-1; Conference: 2-0): No Competition. Next Up: Iowa State duals Oklahoma on January 26th and Oklahoma State on January 27th. Missouri (Overall: 7-0; Conference: 3-0): No Competition. Next Up: Missouri hits the country roads to take on West Virginia on January 26th. North Dakota State (Overall: 3-6; Conference: 2-1): Dual Results (CBU) | Dual Results (UNCO) The Bison got their first Big 12 dual win of the season and quickly followed it up with a 2-0 performance on the weekend. They started with a 25-12 win over California Baptist, winning seven matches after giving up pins at 125 and 133. NDSU scored a pin of their own at 285 and nearly had one at 197 as well. They followed that win up with a 27-14 dual win over Northern Colorado. They won six matches there, getting bonus points from 141-165 plus a forfeit at heavyweight. Despite Kellyn March returning earlier this season, Maxwell Petersen started in both duals and went 2-0. Next Up: NDSU has five duals remaining and all are in the conference. They’ll start with Air Force at home on January 28th. Northern Colorado (Overall: 8-4; Conference: 1-3): Dual Results (SDSU) | Dual Results (NDSU) The Bears had a tough 0-2 weekend against the Dakota schools. They started with a 29-16 loss to SDSU, but Stevo Poulin and Dom Serrano got ranked wins over Tanner Jordan and Derrick Cardinal respectively. Derek Matthews also pinned two-time qualifier Tanner Cook in the first minute of their match. The team had their second conference loss with a 27-14 result against NDSU. Poulin and Serrano again led the way with wins early, but the team wasn’t able to overcome bonus point losses from 141-165. Travis Mastrogiovanni and Xavier Vasquez got wins, but had to forfeit at heavyweight. The team was also missing 157 starter Vinny Zerban who likely would have made things closer. Next Up: The Bears next dual Big 12 opponent Wyoming on January 26th. Northern Iowa (Overall: 3-4; Conference: 2-0): No Competition. Next Up: The Panthers have conference duals against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma on January 26th and 27th. Oklahoma (Overall: 5-3; Conference: 2-2): No Competition. Next Up: The Sooners dual Iowa State and Northern Iowa on January 26th and 27th at home. Oklahoma State (Overall: 8-0; Conference: 3-0): Dual Results The Cowboys stayed undefeated with a 27-9 win over Oregon State in a dual with seven matches that were within a takedown. Troy Spratley was hit with a Brandon Kaylor suck-back and was pinned in the second period. Fix scored a dominant tech fall over Gabe Whisenhunt, before Tagen Jamison was upset by Cleveland Belton and a lone takedown. Sammy Alvarez got another start and ranked win, taking out Nash Singleton in overtime. That started a run for the Cowboys, as they won the rest of the matches. Brayden Thompson took out a bumped-up Matthew Olguin in overtime, Dustin Plott showed some impressive defense to beat Trey Munoz, and Luke Surber and Konner Doucet both went to overtime to get wins themselves. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the team showed a lot of guts to come out on the right side of so many close matches. Next Up: Oklahoma State duals Northern Iowa and Iowa State on January 26th and 27th. South Dakota State (Overall: 8-2; Conference: 2-0): Dual Results (CBU) | Dual Results (UNCO) The Jackrabbits swept their conference opponents at home this weekend, beating Northern Colorado 29-16 before a 39-3 win over California Baptist. Tanner Jordan lost a match to returning Big 12 champ Stevo Poulin but bounced back with a 7-3 win over red-hot Eli Griffin. Clay Carlson, Alek Martin, Cael Swensen, Cade DeVos, Bennett Berge, and Tanner Sloan all went undefeated on the weekend. DeVos, Berge, and Sloan all had bonus points as well, scoring five techs and a 46-second pin. Tanner Cook had a rough weekend, getting pinned in a minute against UNC before a 4-2 loss against CBU. Next Up: South Dakota State wrestles Air Force at home on January 26th. Utah Valley (Overall: 1-3; Conference: 0-3): Dual Results The Wolverines competed against Big 12 opponent Wyoming and dropped a 22-12 dual. They got wins from Haiden Drury, Mahorni Rushton, Evan Bockman, and Chase Trussell. Drury beat ranked true freshman Cole Brooks with an escape and riding time. Evan Bockman scored another ranked win over Joey Novak with an overtime takedown win, flipping their CKLV result. That is now Bockman’s third consecutive win over a ranked Big 12 wrestler. Next Up: Utah Valley has duals against North Dakota State and South Dakota State on February 2nd and 3rd. West Virginia (Overall: 8-2; Conference: 2-2): No Competition. Next Up: West Virginia hosts Missouri in a big conference dual January 26th before traveling to take on Morgan State on January 28th. Wyoming (Overall: 5-5; Conference: 3-3): Dual Results Wyoming beat Utah Valley 22-12 and improved to .500 for duals this season. Jore Volk, Garrett Ricks, and Sloan Swan all scored bonus points in their matches, while Gabe Willochell, Cooper Voorhees, and Quayin Short managed to get decision wins. Swan may have had one of the most impressive performances, coming from behind down 5-0 to winning 17-7. The team lost close matches at 141 and 197, with Joey Novak losing in sudden victory to Evan Bockman. Next Up: Wyoming remains on the road with a dual against Northern Colorado on January 26th.