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Every week during the 2023-24 season, the InterMat staff will submit their picks for some of the most high-profile or competitive dual meets. As the season progresses, we'll keep track of records for bragging rights or as ammunition for when we mock each other. No, we'd never do that, it's all in good fun (right?). Records heading into this weekend: 46-22: Nick 45-23: Bob D.; Willie 44-24: Richard, Tony 43-25: Morgan 41-27: Earl, Kevin, Dysen, Robbie 40-28: Austin 39-29: Jagger, Rachel, Ryan 37-31: James Below are the picks for week 16:

Friday night is the setting for one of the most unique and storied traditions in college wrestling, the Star Match. The Star Match pits Army West Point against their rival the Naval Academy. As is the case in all sports, this is a rivalry with larger implications in mind. These squads will go head-to-head and want to crush the opposition, yet years from now, they could be cooperating in serious combat. With the wrestling community might be focused on a matchup between Big Ten powers, graduates from both institutions are very interested in this results, even if they’re not wrestling fans. About five years ago, I visited the West Point campus and head coach Kevin Ward told me how his inbox is filled with emails of congratulations after a win over their rivals. Oftentimes, he may not recognize the sender, as it may not be a wrestling alum, just someone with a vested interest in having bragging rights in another sport over their rival. Navy comes into this dual with a 52-10-5 advantage over Army. This year’s edition of the Star Match will be held in Annapolis on Navy’s campus, a place where they have 28 times, against only three losses (and one tie). Since Cary Kolat took over the Navy program in the spring of 2020, the Midshipmen have won three straight against Army. That being said, Ward has been very good against Navy during his tenure. His teams won five of six before this current three-match losing streak. If you can't make it to Annapolis, you can watch along on ESPN+ at 7:30 pm (EST). Here's our preview and predictions for the 2024 edition of the Star Match. 125 lbs - #32 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) vs. Dayton DelViscio (Navy) Right off the bat we’ve got an All-Pennsylvania match with Ethan Berginc (Hempfield Area) versus Dayton DelViscio (Malvern Prep). Berginc was a two-time PA state placer (1,3), while DelViscio was a National Prep third place finisher as a senior. Berginc had an incredibly tough early-seaosn schedule that included losses to three different wrestlers who have assumed the #1 ranking at some point this season. Those matches fell within the first three weeks of the season. Since then, Berginc has been incredibly consistent - racking up an 18-4 record. He’s been excellent against conference competition; losing only once to an EIWA opponent. Berginc made the national tournament as a freshman and is looking to go back for a second consecutive season. The junior, DelViscio sports an 8-10 record and is looking to get back on track after losing his two most recent outings. Both were via bonus points to conference competitors. Last year, these two met in the Round of 16 at the EIWA Championships and Berginc pitched an 8-0 shutout. I’d expect for him to get his hand raised again; however, in a dual with such high stakes, DelViscio is cognizant of surrendering bonus points. Pick: Berginc by decision (3-0 Army West Point) 133 lbs - #31 Braden Basile (Army West Point) vs. #33 Brendan Ferretti (Navy) Freshman Braden Basile jumped into the Army lineup and immediately had a positive impact. During week two of the regular season, Basile notched a pair of wins over opponents who were ranked at the time. A week later, he took out Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) in sudden victory at the Black Knight Invitational. That win has aged extremely well as Shawver has worked his way into the top-ten. He’d finish the first half of his freshman year with a sixth place showing at the Southern Scuffle. Since then, Basile’s gone 3-1 in dual competition, with the only setback coming against Scuffle champion Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) in his last dual. Brendan Ferretti is a sophomore who qualified for nationals last season after finishing fourth in the conference. Ferretti started the 2023-24 campaign solidly holding a 7-2 record headed into January. Since then, he’s experienced some growing pains. Ferretti went 1-2 at the F&M Open, then dropped four out of five duals. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel however, as Ferretti knocked off Phipps in tiebreakers during his last appearance. Could he be ready for another good run in March? Not only is this a toss-up match for dual purposes, but it also is huge for both wrestlers individually. Each are near the bottom of the national rankings and a loss could force someone out of the top-33, not a prospect that either wants heading into the final week of the regular season. Pick: Ferretti by decision (3-3 Tie) 141 lbs - Logan Brown (Army West Point) vs. #14 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) There aren’t too many clear-cut favorites in this dual, but 141 is the exception. Two-time national qualifier Josh Koderhandt is one of Navy’s top wrestlers and has been very consistent at a tough weight class. Though he has six losses on the year, only one has come to an opponent outside of the top-ten. Koderhandt was also selected to compete at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic, where he fell to returning All-American Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina). McNeil is also responsible for Koderhandt’s only official loss during the 2024 calendar year. Koderhandt has won his other six duals in 2024, one of which came against a returning All-American and three others were against past national qualifiers. Despite being a senior, Logan Brown has never crossed paths with Koderhandt. Brown was up at 149 lbs last season and wrestled at 141 the previous year - while Koderhandt was at 133. Despite seeing plenty of mat-time during his first three years in West Point, this could be the first time that Brown is “the guy” for Army in the postseason. In 2023-24, he’s amassed a 19-10 record that’s filled with plenty of deep runs in individual tournaments. Brown was only in the lineup for one dual during the first half of the year, but started in three during the month of January. In January, he was able to pick up a dual win over Ivan Garcia (Binghamton), a match that was sandwiched between a pair of close losses to quality opponents. Now he’ll face a much more daunting task with #14 Koderhandt. Pick: Koderhandt by decision (6-3 Navy) 149 lbs - #31 Matthew Williams (Army West Point) vs. Kaemen Smith (Navy) Army is extremely deep at 149 lbs as Matthew Williams is the third Black Knight wrestler to make his way into the national rankings this season. Initially, Trae McDaniel was tabbed to start; however, he was injured and Thomas Deck filled in admirably with a 20-6 record. Deck has now given way to the fellow senior Wiliams. Williams comes into Annapolis on a heater as he has not tasted defeat since early-December. Along the way, Williams won the F&M Open and four duals that followed. This should be Williams’ first opportunity to go into the postseason as the starter for Army. Like Army, Navy is deep at 149 and Kaemen Smith emerged as the starter from a room full of capable options - though it did take some time. Smith didn’t see action in his first dual of the season until the Virginia Duals in mid-January. A week earlier, he was 2-2 at the F&M Open, won by Williams. In dual competition, Smith has gone 4-2 with both losses coming to opponents outside of the EIWA. His most recent win saw Smith down Bucknell’s Riley Bower in sudden victory. Pick: Williams by decision (6-6 tie) 157 lbs - Nate Lukez (Army West Point) vs. Jonathan Ley (Navy) Like the previous bout, Army has the experience edge, but ultimately this is probably a toss-up bout. Nate Lukez was a national qualifier for the Black Knights in 2023 after finishing third in the EIWA. Because of Army’s tough early-season schedule, Lukez dropped four matches during November, but has been relatively consistent since then. Lukez was a champion at the Cleveland State Open, in December, then built off that momentum with a fourth place finish at the Southern Scuffle. Post-Scuffle, Lukez won four straight duals, before getting edged out by #24 Max Brignola (Lehigh) in his most recent appearance. Jonathan Ley is a freshman who came into Annapolis with high expectations after winning 13 of 15 bouts last season competing for Navy’s Prep School, while competing at 165 lbs. Now at 157, Ley has been solid, but not spectacular, sporting an 8-8 record. Since the calendar turned over to 2024, Ley has gone 1-3 in dual competition - two of his losses have come against EIWA competition. Pick: Lukez by decision (9-6 Army West Point) 165 lbs - #23 Gunner Filipowicz/Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) vs. #16 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 165 and 174 lbs could represent the two best bouts of the evening, in terms of having high-quality competitors squaring off. Army has a pair of excellent options at their disposal with freshman Gunner Filipowicz and veteran Dalton Harkins. Filipowicz started the year competing at 174 lbs, but made the descent down to 165 in December. Filipowicz made the Southern Scuffle finals and went unbeaten at the Mat-Town Open. His only losses in 2024 have come against top-20 opponents (both from the EIWA). The starter from day one of the 2023-24 season at this weight for Army was Dalton Harkins, who was ranked in the preseason. Harkins was bumped from the lineup once Filipowicz dropped, but he has been in the starting lineup for the Black Knights, of late, and has been very good. He’s gone 2-1 in his last three duals with wins over two ranked opponents and his lone loss came in sudden victory to Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) - Filipowicz’s Scuffle finals foe. Whoever Army sends out at 165 lbs, will have their hands full with the red-hot Andrew Cerniglia. Cerniglia has rarely been healthy for an extended period of time, in college, but now that he has - he’s been very good. After two uncharacteristic losses at the Soldier Salute, Cerniglia has gone on a 13-match winning streak. That streak has seen him rack up bonus points on nine occasions and included wins over five past national qualifiers. One of those bonus-point wins came over Harkins at the F&M Open. Pick: Cerniglia by decision (9-9 Tie) 174 lbs - #15 Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) vs. #27 Danny Wask (Navy) Like Filipowicz, Ben Pasiuk started the year up a weight but eventually dropped back down to his typical weight. Pasiuk is the most decorated wrestler on the Army squad. He’s a three-time national qualifier, 2021 EIWA champion and two-time conference finalist. Pasiuk was one of two EIWA champs for Army in 2021, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by a West Point wrestler since 2010. Since moving back down to 174 lbs, Pasiuk has only lost twice and won the Southern Scuffle. At 174 lbs, Pasiuk has been able to secure five falls in 2023-24. Navy’s counter to Pasiuk is freshman Danny Wask. Wask is another wrestler that excelled during his year at the Navy Prep School, amassing a 16-5 record. He started his career at Navy with back-to-back tough dual losses, then proceeded to win the Navy Classic and place fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - a team high. Since Vegas, Wask has been solid, but not completely consistent. He’s gone 9-3 with two of the losses coming against opponents ranked lower than him, at the time. This is a huge match for the dual. Despite the slight discrepancy in rankings, I’d expect this to be a very tight affair. Especially in a dual that projects to be tight and back-and-forth. We’ll be safe and go with the veteran. Pick: Pasiuk by decision (12-9 Army West Point) 184 lbs - Daniel Lawrence (Army West Point) vs. David Key (Navy) Once again, we have a pair of veterans for both teams; however, they’ve never met due to some weight changes along the way. Daniel Lawrence was Army’s entrant in the 2023 EIWA Championships at 197 lbs and finished in eighth place. In the opening round, he was pinned by Navy’s Jake Koser. Like the two wrestlers that proceeded him in the Army lineup, Lawrence dropped down in weight in December. He hasn’t experienced the same level of success that his teammates who’ve made the move have. Lawrence is 3-6 on the year at 184 and has lost both of his dual meet appearances. Navy will counter with two-time national qualifier David Key. The 2021 EIWA runner-up has faced a gauntlet of imposing foes since January and generally come out on the wrong side of those results - however, he’s battle-tested. Key also has a perfect 3-0 record in Star Matches. Pick: Key by decision (12-12 tie) 197 lbs - Wolfgang Frable (Army West Point) vs. Daniel Williams (Navy) Sophomore Wolfgang Frable appeared in one dual meet last season and has emerged as the go-to-guy for the Army staff down the homestretch in 2023-24. Frable had a good showing at the F&M Open, winning four of five bouts and took that momentum into Army’s dual with Drexel, where he picked up his first career dual win over Ibrahim Ameer. Since then, it’s been some rocky sledding for Frable losing his next four matches and giving up bonus points in two of them. To his credit, two of those losses were against past All-Americans. Daniel Williams is another freshman starter for Navy and his record has hovered around .500 for the year. Not bad, for a first-year wrestler at an upperweight. Williams has also recently faced some of the same past AA’s as Frable has met. He suffered a similar fate. Like Frable, Williams had a good showing at the F&M Open, though the two didn’t meet. I think with a potentially tight match and the home crowd behind Williams, he gets the win. Pick: Williams by decision (15-12 Navy) 285 lbs - #27 Lucas Stoddard (Army West Point) vs. #19 Grady Griess (Navy) Presuming the dual starts at 125 lbs, we’ll have a pair of ranked big men decide this clash, which is a great place to end. Grady Griess is a senior who made his first NCAA Tournament last year after winning the EIWA and compiling an impressive 33 victories. He went 1-2 in Tulsa before his elimination. This year, Griess has a handful of younger heavyweights nipping at his heels in the EIWA. Griess already has a pair of EIWA dual losses on his resume with the emergence of Cory Day (Binghamton) and Nathan Taylor (Lehigh). Even so, I don’t think many people want to draw the defending conference champion as a third or fourth seed. Despite taking a couple of regular season losses, Griess seemed to be coming into this match in good form as he’s won his two most recent bouts via fall and tech. Freshman Lucas Stoddard has been an excellent discovery for the Army staff this season. He’s already earned 21 wins against ten losses and if you look closely at those losses, none of them are really “bad” losses. In late-January, Stoddard posted his second win over a returning national qualifier when he defeated Bucknell’s Dorian Crosby. Depending on how the rest of the dual shakes out, this could end up as winner-takes-all match or one where Griess needs to put up bonus points for his team to win. Pick: Griess by decision (18-12 Navy)

The wrestling recruiting landscape has changed dramatically over the last few decades. The premiere high school talent is wrestling in more and more national-level competitions, and there is more tape of these wrestlers than ever before. With that being said, InterMat’s sister site, MatScouts, is still the best place to evaluate prospect talent and rank recruits. With the regular season nearing its conclusion, let’s look at how the top 10 wrestlers from last year’s senior big board have performed on the college level to date. No. 1 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) Prior to attending Cornell, Shapiro earned the top spot in the recruiting rankings after picking up a variety of titles. He transferred to Wyoming Seminary for his junior season where he won a national prep title. Following the 2022-23 season, he won both the U20 national and world titles. Shapiro has worked his way into the sixth spot in the rankings at 157 pounds. He took a pair of losses against No. 21 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) and No. 8 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) at the Cliff Keen Invitational, but he has gone undefeated ever since. Shapiro has already picked up signature wins over No. 13 Brock Mauller (Missouri) and No. 9 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech). Based on his ranking, he should be expected to win the EIWA conference tournament in Cornell’s final year in the conference before moving to the Ivy League next year. No. 2 Christian Carroll (Oklahoma State) While some ranking services had Carroll as the top-ranked wrestler in the class, MatScouts had him as the second-best prospect. The Indiana native originally committed to Illinois early in his high school career before eventually switching to Penn in 2021. However, in November 2022, flipped to the Cowboys and ultimately signed with Oklahoma State. During his high school career, he won a pair of Super 32 titles, a Fargo title and represented the U.S. at the U20 world championships. Carroll is currently redshirting for the Cowboys behind heavyweight starter No. 9 Konner Doucet. He has wrestled only three matches in his redshirt campaign. His season began with two wins at the Broncho Open in early November. Carroll then dropped a major decision against Seth Nitzel (Missouri) at the Lindenwood Open and medically forfeited out of the event. No. 3 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) On the high school level, Welsh was a four-time Pennsylvania state finalist and a two-time champion. He also won Ironman, Super 32 and Who’s Number One. It appears likely that the original plan was for him to redshirt behind veteran Carson Kharchla, but those plans went awry after Kharchla suffered an injury. Welsh won nine matches in open tournaments before making his dual debut against Northern Iowa in mid-December. On the season, he has gone 16-3 with his three losses coming against some of the best wrestlers in the Big Ten conference: No. 8 Edmund Ruth (Illinois), No. 3 Shane Griffith (Michigan), and No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State). Welsh is currently ranked 11th and seems destined for the NCAA tournament. No. 4 Josh Barr (Penn State) Before joining Penn State, Barr was a four-time Michigan state champion and finished his high school career with a 125-1 record. He also won a Fargo title and competed at a pair of Who’s Number One events. The Penn State lineup is stacked at multiple weights including 184 pounds. Barr is currently redshirting behind multiple-time All-American No. 6 Bernie Truax. In his redshirt campaign, Barr has gone 15-0 with 11 of those victories coming with bonus points. He represented Penn State in their dual against Indiana and downed veteran Roman Rogotzke via 13-4 major decision. No. 5 Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) Thompson went 152-11 in high school with all 11 of his losses coming during his freshman season. As a senior, he made the finals of the U20 World Team Trials, won the Powerade tournament and took home an Ironman title. Things got off to a bit of a tough start for the Cowboy. Thompson started from the jump at 174 pounds, but he injury defaulted out of his very first match in a dual against Bucknell. He then returned at the Cliff Keen Invitational where he lost his only two matches. However, Thompson has since settled down and currently holds a 9-6 record with wins over Matthew Olguin (Oregon State), Cael Valencia (Arizona State), and No. 10 Peyton Mocco (Missouri). No. 6 Ben Kueter (Iowa) At Iowa City High School, Kueter went 111-0 and won four Iowa state titles. Following his senior season, he also won a U20 world championship. Despite all the wrestling accolades, Kueter appears determined to compete in both wrestling and football on the collegiate level. He spent the fall with the Hawkeye football team and joined the wrestling team after the holiday break. Kueter won his first two collegiate matches over Bennett Tabor (Minnesota) and Jack Jessen (Northwestern) with the second win coming via 45-second fall. In his last match, Kueter dropped his first collegiate match against No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) via 9-1 major decision. No. 7 Beau Mantanona (Michigan) Mantanona finished his high school career with a 125-5 record and a California state championship. He was also a Super 32 champion and won multiple titles at the Doc Buchanan tournament. Mantanona also represented the U.S. at the 2021 U20 World Championships. The original plan was for Mantanona to sit behind veteran No. 10 Cameron Amine this season at 165 pounds. However, due to injuries, he has been forced into action. To date, he has wrestled in only three duals, so he is still eligible to redshirt this season. Mantanona won his dual debut over Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) but then dropped back-to-back matches against No. 19 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) and No. 7 Michael Caliendo (Iowa). Outside of those matches, Mantanona has also competed at the Michigan State Open, Cleveland State Open, and the Midlands. At the Midlands, he picked up his biggest victory to date when he pinned No. 9 Caleb Fish (Michigan State). No. 8 Cael Hughes (Oklahoma State) Hughes did not need to travel far to wrestle for the Cowboys. He was a four-time Oklahoma state champion at Stillwater High School and finished his run with an undefeated 140-0 record. He also won both Ironman and Fargo and also represented the U.S. at the U20 world championships. No. 8 Tagen Jamison has been the starter for Oklahoma State at 141 pounds so far this season. Hughes has taken advantage of the redshirt season and has been impressive in open tournaments. For the most part, he has been dominant against lesser opposition and compiled a 12-1 record with his only loss coming against teammate Sammy Alvarez in rideouts. Hughes did make it into the lineup against Wyoming and scored a major decision over Stockton O’Brien. No. 9 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) During his time at Bethlehem Catholic, Kasak was a Pennsylvania state champion and picked up titles at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and Escape the Rock tournaments. He also brought home a silver medal from the U20 World Championships. This was originally supposed to be a redshirt year for Kasak. However, the Nittany Lions were forced to shuffle the deck after an injury to All-American Shayne Van Ness. Kasak took over the starting spot at 149 pounds and has shown just how deep the Penn State lineup really is. He has gone 12-2 on the season with one of those losses coming against teammate No. 1 Beau Bartlett down at 141 pounds. Kasak has gone 3-1 in Big Ten duals including a win over No. 10 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) and a sudden victory defeat against No. 8 Caleb Rathjen (Iowa). No. 10 Kannon Webster (Illinois) Illinois would like to keep more in-state kids home, and Webster was a big recruiting win for the program. He was a three-time Illinois state champion during his time at Washington Community High School and a two-time Fargo Junior freestyle champion. Webster has gone 17-1 so far this season, and he currently sits in a bit of an odd spot. He has wrestled in six dual matches, but since two of those matches occurred on the same day, he is right at the limit for a redshirt. His last dual meet match came against Iowa back on Jan. 26. When in the lineup, Webster has been overly impressive and picked up wins over D’Emilio, Rathjen and No. 14 Corbyn Munson. That being said, it appears as if Webster will use the 2023-24 to redshirt.