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The DI postseason is upon us! It all gets underway on Thursday, as the Pac-12 kicks off the festivities with their Championship event. With eight different conference tournaments going on across four days, it can be difficult to find how and when to watch everything. InterMat is here to help. We have links to watch each conference tournament, plus we’ve also added start times for each round. If separate links for each round or mat are needed, then they’ve been included. All times listed are Eastern! Thursday - March 6th Pac-12 Championships: Corvallis, Oregon - FloWrestling 3:30 PM - Semifinals 9:00 PM - Finals Friday - March 7th EIWA Championships: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - FloWrestling 10:00 AM - First Round 12:00 PM - Quarterfinals 4:00 PM - Consolations 6:00 PM - Semifinals/Consolations MAC Championships: Trenton, New Jersey - ESPN+ 12:00 PM - First Round 2:00 PM - Quarterfinals/Consolations 5:00 PM - Semifinals/Consolations SoCon Championships: Asheville, North Carolina - ESPN+ 12:00 PM - Pig Tails and First Round 3:00 PM - Consolations 5:00 PM - Semifinals 7:30 PM - Consolation Semifinals Saturday - March 8th Big 12 Championships: Tulsa, Oklahoma 11:00 AM - 1st Round and Quarterfinals - ESPN+ 6:00 PM - Semifinals/Consolation Quarterfinals - ESPN+ Big Ten Championships: Evanston, Illinois 11:00 AM - First Round/Quarterfinals/Consolations - Big Ten Network and BTN+ 6:00 PM - Consolations - BTN+ 8:00 PM - Semifinals - Big Ten Network EIWA Championships: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - FloWrestling 10:00 AM - Consolations/7th Place Matches 12:00 PM - 1st/3rd/5th Place Match MAC Championships: Trenton, New Jersey - ESPN+ 11:30 AM - Consolation Quarterfinals 1:00 PM - Consolation Semifinals 3:00 PM - 1st/3rd/5th/7th Place Matches SoCon Championships: Asheville, North Carolina - ESPN+ 12:00 PM - Consolation Finals 2:30 PM - Finals 4:30 PM - True Second Place Matches Sunday - March 9th ACC Championships: Durham, North Carolina 10:00 AM - First Round - ACC NX (Mat 1), ACC NX (Mat 2) 1:00 PM - Consolation Quarterfinals - ACC NX (Mat 1), ACC NX (Mat 2) 2:00 PM - Semifinals - ACC NX (Mat 1), ACC NX (Mat 2) 4:30 PM - Consolation Semifinals - ACC NX (Mat 1), ACC NX (Mat 2) 6:00 PM - Consolation Finals - ACC NX (Mat 1), ACC NX (Mat 2) 8:00 PM - Championships Finals - ACC Network and ACC NX Big 12 Championships: Tulsa, Oklahoma 1:00 PM - Consolation Quarterfinals - ESPN+ 9:00 PM - Championship Finals - ESPN+ Big Ten Championships: Evanston, Illinois 1:00 PM - Consolation Semifinals/7th Place - B1G+ 5:30 PM - 1st/3rd/5th Place Matches - Big Ten Network and B1G+ Ivy League Championships: Princeton, New Jersey ESPN+ (Mat 1), ESPN+ (Mat 2) 10:00 AM - First Round 12:00 PM - Semifinals 2:30 PM - Consolation Semifinals 4:00 PM - 3rd/5th Place Matched 6:30 PM - Championships Finals

With the at-large's announced on Tuesday and brackets released Wednesday, the NCAA Championships are officially looming. And now, less than a week away. Before we get into the meat and potatoes of our previews, here's a fun look at the NCAA Tournament and its competitors (individuals/teams). It's some of the facts, trends, numbers, and overall randomness that you never thought to look up about the participants of the 2025 NCAA Championships. State-related facts For the second straight year, Beau Bartlett is the only national qualifier from Arizona. California has always been a place for great lightweights - this year is no different. Six of the state’s 26 national qualifiers are at 125 lbs. Joey Cruz (Iowa), Richie Figueroa (Arizona State), Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma), Maximo Renteria (Oregon State), Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSU Bakersfield), and Koda Holeman (Cal Poly). The last time California hit the 26-qualifier mark was in 2008. This is the first time since 2019 that Connecticut failed to have a qualifier. Georgia has nine wrestlers in the 2025 tournament. A third of them are at the 184 lb bracket with Gavin Kane, Gabe Arnold, and Jaxon Smith. Six of Northern Iowa’s ten national qualifiers are homegrown from Iowa. That’s the most in-state qualifiers for any school. Iowa State’s Frost twins (Evan/Jacob) both qualified for the 2025 tournament. That is the first time that multiple Louisiana residents have qualified in the same year since 2013 when Ben Willeford/Cleveland State and David Bonin/Northern Iowa made the tournament. In 2021, it was believed that Jaydin Eierman was the first Missouri native to win a Big Ten title. Now, Luke Lilledahl has joined the list. New Jersey has 26 national qualifiers and six of them are at 149 lbs. Shane Van Ness (Penn State), Andrew Clark (Rutgers), Sammy Alvarez (Rider) and the Ivy League’s Ethan Fernandez (Cornell), Cross Wasilewski (Penn), and Ty Whalen (Princeton). Whalen and Fernandez meet in the first round. Although Pennsylvania has 41 total qualifiers - only one of them is at 125 lbs (Sheldon Seymour/Lehigh). One other weight has two qualifiers (165). All others have three or more. South Carolina has four qualifiers this year (Chandler Amaker/Thomas Snipes/Patrick Brophy/Owen Trephan). That is the most for the state since 2001 when Travis Drake (Appalachian State), Robby Bell (The Citadel), Mike Regner (The Citadel), and Adam Duncan (Chattanooga) all qualified. Also with a good year from down South is Tennessee. They have six Tennessee natives headed to Philly. That’s the most for the state since seven went to the 2009 tournament. That year two of them ended up on the podium (Jordan Leen/Nick Marable). One of the most remarkable facts of this entire tournament was brought to us by Ben Askren on Twitter (X). There are six of his ex-Askren Wrestling Academy wrestlers in the 165 lb bracket. Mitchell Mesenbrink, Braeden Scoles, Cody Goebel, Noah Mulvaney, and Joey Bianchi are the wrestlers. Having six total wrestlers from one state is a good number in some places. Having six all in the same bracket is pretty remarkable for any state - much less one club. Team Related Facts Cornell, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State are sending all ten of their starters to Philly. Devan Hendricks won the 184 lb weight class in the SoCon becoming the first Bellarmine wrestler to qualify for the DI national tournament….in their first year of eligibility. A few days later, he was joined by AJ Rallo (141 lbs), who was added as an at-large berth. Brevin Cassella became only the third Binghamton wrestler to win an EIWA title - joining Louie DePrez (x3) and Tyler Deuel. Hunter Leake became the first California Baptist to qualify for the DI tournament on multiple occasions. Donny Pritzlaff’s Columbia team has sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament in his first year. Incredibly enough, because of Ivy League eligibility rules, there are a handful of former Columbia wrestlers also in the field. Nick Babin (125/Pittsburgh), Angelo Rini (133/Indiana), Kyle Mosher (165/Hofstra), Josh Ogunsanya (174/North Carolina), Lennox Wolak (174/Virginia Tech), Nolan Neves (285/North Carolina). Great job by Pritzlaff and crew reloading on the fly and hat’s off to former head coach Zach Tanelli’s staff for crushing it on the recruiting trail. Drexel had a trio of qualifiers after not having any in 2024. Edinboro has a pair of qualifiers after not having one in 2024 and only having one in 2022 and 2023. Iowa will be without a 141 lber at the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and only the second time since 2003. Iowa State continues to have one of the most geographically diverse lineups of national qualifiers. This year’s group includes qualifiers from Louisiana (x2), Alaska, Tennessee, California (x2), Pennsylvania, and Iowa. Of Michigan’s seven NCAA qualifiers, only Sergio Lemley returns from the 2024’s nine qualifiers. Northern Iowa will send all ten starters to Philly. It’s the first time that UNI has their entire lineup headed to nationals since 1986. Head coach Doug Schwab’s older brother, Mark, was an All-American at 118 lbs on that team. From what I can tell, Cross Wasilewski’s #9 seed is the best for a Penn freshman…..ever? The Citadel will send four wrestlers to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. They also had three SoCon champions, which was their most since that same year. The last time they finished second in the SoCon…you guessed it, 2014! Gylon Sims became the first freshman to win a SoCon title for The Citadel since Aaron Walker achieved the feat in 2014. Four teams have three freshmen headed to Philly. They are Cornell, Michigan State, Stanford, and Virginia Tech. The three freshmen account for Michigan State’s entire contingent. Recruiting Related Facts The MatScouts Big Board has been a very solid indicator of collegiate success. Most of the high finishers at the 2024 NCAA Championships were highly ranked coming out of high school. Looking at these brackets, the 125 lbs group is the one with the most wrestlers (13) who were unranked coming out of high school. Heavyweight is second with (12). Most other brackets were closer to 6 or 7. With Gable’s return, the 285 lb bracket has three wrestlers who were ranked #1 overall in their respective recruiting classes. Steveson (2018), Greg Kerkvliet (2019), and Nick Feldman (2022). No other weight has more than one. There are only nine true freshmen from the Class of 2024 who have qualified. Lilledahl, Cholakyan, Rozynski, John, Neitenbach, Bechtold, Hogan, Herrera, Monchery. Interestingly enough, 197 lbs and 285 lbs are the weights with the most freshmen (true and redshirt combined) with seven each. 285 lbs also leads the way with nine transfers - that’s the most of any bracket. (Neves, Kerkvliet, Heindselman, Nevills, Slavikouski, Hendrickson, Mitchell, Trephan, Hoffman) There are 11 wrestlers in this tournament from the high school Class of 2018. Brock Hardy, Colin Realbuto, Jacori Teemer, Danny Braunagel, Evan Bockman, Zac Braunagel, Michael Beard, Mickey O’Malley, Gable Steveson, Seth Nevills, and Gavin Hoffman. Seed Related Facts AJ Ferrari is the first CSU Bakersfield wrestler to receive a top-three seed since Stephan Neal was the top-seeded heavyweight in 1999. Lucas Byrd is the first Illinois wrestler to earn a #1 seed since Isaiah Martinez in 2018. Nasir Bailey’s #3 seed is the best ever for the Little Rock program. Josh Koderhandt’s #4 seed is the highest by a Navy wrestler since Ed Prendergast was the #3 seeded heavyweight in 2008. In addition to Koderhandt, Navy also has Danny Wask as the #7 seed. It’s the first time since 2009 that Navy has had multiple top-ten seeds (Joe Baker #8 and Bryce Saddoris #6). With Nebraska’s Brock Hardy earning the #1 seed, it gives the Huskers #1 seeds in back-to-back years after Ridge Lovett was a top seed in 2024. The last time Nebraska had back-to-back years with a #1 seed was in 2014 and 2015 with James Green (‘14) and Robert Kokesh (‘15). Brock Hardy is the first Utah native to earn the top seed at the NCAA Championships since 2002 when Ryan Lewis (Minnesota) and Cael Sanderson (Penn State) got the #1 seeds. Garrett Thompson is the first Ohio wrestler to earn a top-four seed since Jake Percival received that same seed in 2004. Penn State has four #1 seeds for the second consecutive year. Before 2024, they had never had four #1’s in the same season - under Cael Sanderson or before. Penn State has had at least one #1 seed every year since 2016. Since 2000, only 12 freshmen have earned the #1 seed at nationals. Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl is the latest at 125 lbs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a pair of #1 seeds with Tyler Kasak and Carter Starocci. It has produced at least one #1 seed every year since 2016. Seeded #2, Matt Ramos is the first Purdue wrestler since Chris Fleeger (#1 in 2003) to receive a top-two seed. Caleb Henson is only the third Virginia Tech wrestler to earn the #1 seed at nationals and this is the first time the school has ever had a #1 seed in back-to-back years (Mekhi Lewis 174/2024). Gable Steveson is the third wrestler in the last 25 years to earn the #1 seed at the NCAA Championships on four occasions. Isaiah Martinez and Cael Sanderson are the others. Of course, Steveson has been able to compete in five postseasons. Bracketing Fun With first-round wins at 125 lbs, we could see former Virginia Tech teammates clash with #3 Eddie Ventresca and #19 Cooper Flynn (Minnesota). Ventresca is 5-0 career against Flynn, although they are typically close matches. Maybe there will be some NIL money on the line in the potential 157 lb Round of 16 match, which might be called the “Battle of the Paper Products.” Scott vs Downey. Ed vs. Ryder. Also in the 157 lb bracket is a potential Round of 16 meeting between the returning NCAA runner-up and third-place finisher in Jacori Teemer and Meyer Shapiro. There will be a first-round match at 165 lbs between Iowa’s Michael Caliendo and former Iowa teammate Aiden Riggins. In the Round of 16, the winner could face another former Hawkeye, Drake Rhodes. We’ve already mentioned all the former Askren Wrestling Academy products in the 165 lb bracket. Two could meet in the Round of 16 - Mitchell Mesenbrink and Noah Mulvaney. The first-round match at 174 lbs will feature a pair of Ohio neighbors doing battle. #9 Carson Kharchla of Powell/Olentangy Liberty against #24 Lennox Wolak of Columbus/Dublin Coffman. Speaking of the Kharchla/Wolak matchup, it is one of two at 174 lbs in the first round between past All-Americans. Dean Hamiti/Jackson Turley is the other. No other weight has one. At 184 lbs, there’s a first-round matchup between the only wrestler in the field from Rhode Island (Nick Fine) against one of two from Alaska (Evan Bockman). Kind of an unusual matchup to see at the NCAA Tournament. 197 lbs could have some of the best storylines of the tournament Brothers Mac and Luke Stout could meet in the second round. Both are favored in their first match. A couple days after St. Patrick’s Day, we have an O’Malley/Stout (Luke) first-round match. How about a rematch of the 2023 Soldier Salute finals between AJ Ferrari and Zach Glazier? That could happen in round two. Speaking of Ferrari, AJ against Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan in the semis? Former Wyoming All-American, Buchanan, could meet their current star Joey Novak in the second round. Conference Related Facts The 46 qualifiers from the ACC is a conference record. Since 2011, 14 different freshmen have captured Big Ten titles. Eight have wrestled for Penn State. They are David Taylor, Ed Ruth, Bo Nickal, Aaron Brooks, Levi Haines, Braeden Davis, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and now Luke Lilledahl. Gable Steveson became the 19th wrestler to win four Big Ten titles and only the second Minnesota wrestler to accomplish the feat. Verne Gagne was able to do so in 1944, 1947-49. Gardner-Webb had back-to-back conference champions at 133 and 141 lbs. It was the first time since moving to the SoCon that they have crowned more than one conference champ. The last time they had more than one was in 2011 when Ryan Medved, Alex Medved, Jon Velazquez, and Travis Porter all captured East Region titles. Hofstra had a pair of EIWA champions in Kyle Mosher (165) and Ross McFarland (184). This is the only time that Hofstra has had two champions since moving to the EIWA. The last time they had two conference champions was in 2013 with Steve Bonanno and Jamie Franco - now head coach of the Pride. Illinois’ fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships marked the first time since 2013 that the Illini was able to crack the top five. Lucas Byrd’s B1G title gives Illinois champions in back-to-back years (Edmond Ruth/2024) for the first time since the end of Isaiah Martinez’s run from 2015-18. Iowa also went without a Big Ten champion in back-to-back years for the first time since 2005-06. With Drake Ayala and Michael Caliendo making the Big Ten finals, they have had at least one finalist in every season since 1967. Maryland’s 54 points and an eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships were both highs for the program since moving to the conference. Though they are in a new conference, Cornell extended their streak with multiple conference champions in every year since 2007 (excluding 2021 when the Ivy League didn’t wrestle). During their first year qualifying through the Ivy League, Cornell qualified all ten starters and had five conference champions. Hunter Garvin will go down as Stanford’s first ACC champion. He won the 165 lb weight class. Virginia Tech’s ACC Championship was the school’s first since 2018 and snapped a six-year winning streak by NC State. Virginia Tech also extended their streak of individual champions. They’ve had at least one per year since 2010. Rival NC State has had at least one champion every year since 2014. The one ACC champion (Matthew Singleton) for NC State is their lowest total since 2017. Ohio’s Garrett Thompson claimed a MAC title at 174 lbs. Last year, Peyten Kellar won the 157 lb weight class. That means the Bobcats have produced conference champions in consecutive years for the first time since 2014-15. At that point, now-assistant coach Cody Walters and Jeremy Johnson won in 2014. Walters would repeat in 2015. DJ McGee’s 157 lb MAC title gave George Mason three straight years with a conference champ. The last time that happened at George Mason was in 1997-99 (and that streak dates back to 1992). Anthony Noto became the first four-time MAC champion for Lock Haven and only the 10th wrestler to win four MAC titles. West Virginia had a pair of Big 12 champions in Jett Strickenberger and Peyton Hall. This was the first time that they had multiple champions since moving to the conference. Before that, their most recent time with multiple champions came in 2012 in the EWL with Mike Morales, Matt Ryan, and Brandon Williamson. Miscellaneous The school that benefitted the most from at-large berths was Stanford which had four. Army West Point and Missouri also had three. Five past All-Americans needed an at-large berth for the 2025 NCAA Championships. We’re in an era of great heavyweight wrestling. That can further be illustrated by the fact that there are eight age-group world medalists in the 33-man bracket. Gable Steveson, Greg Kerkvliet, Ben Kueter, Jimmy Mullen, Isaac Trumble, Wyatt Hendrickson, Cohlton Schultz, and Gavin Hoffman. Nick Feldman and Luke Luffman have also made age-group world teams.

Conference dual season is in full swing. It's crazy to think that there's only about a month left in the regular season. In January, we've settled into a regular schedule, primarily focused on dual competition. A total of 60 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). To make this guide even easier to find, we've added a link on our homepage and the latest Live Streaming Guide will appear right under the header articles. All times Eastern Wednesday, January 22: Arizona State at Missouri 7:30 PM UFC Fight Pass: CFFC Match Day Friday, January 24: Air Force at Presbyterian 11:00 AM ESPN+ Drexel at Bucknell 6:00 PM ESPN+ Bellarmine at Campbell 6:00 PM FloWrestling Bloomsburg at Cleveland State 6:00 PM FloWrestling Nebraska at Michigan 6:00 PM Big Ten Network Penn at Columbia 7:00 PM ESPN+ The Citadel at Davidson 7:00 PM FloWrestling Virginia Tech at Duke 7:00 PM ACC Network Kent State at Lock Haven 7:00 PM PSAC Digital Network Illinois at Maryland 7:00 PM B1G+ Indiana at Michigan State 7:00 PM B1G+ Pittsburgh at NC State 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Rider at Princeton 7:00 PM ESPN+ Clarion at Cleveland State 7:00 PM FloWrestling Oklahoma at Iowa State 8:00 PM ESPN+ Oregon State at Little Rock 8:00 PM UFC Fight Pass: CFFC Match Day California Baptist at Northern Colorado 8:00 PM FloWrestling Oklahoma State at Northern Iowa 8:00 PM FloWrestling Penn State at Rutgers 8:00 PM Big Ten Network Minnesota at Wisconsin 8:00 PM ESPN+ Utah Valley at Wyoming 8:00 PM FloWrestling Saturday, January 25: Appalachian State at Appalachian Open 9:00 AM Cornell at Harvard 12:00 PM ESPN+ Chattanooga vs. VMI at Cleveland, TN 1:00 PM Northern Illinois at Ohio 1:00 PM ESPN+ Binghamton at Harvard 2:00 PM ESPN+ Ohio State at Iowa 2:00 PM Big Ten Network Cornell at Brown 5:30 PM ESPN+ Drexel at Rider 7:00 PM ESPN+ Binghamton at Brown 7:30 PM ESPN+ Sacred Heart at Franklin & Marshall 7:30 PM Centennial Conference TV Oklahoma at Northern Iowa 8:00 PM FloWrestling California Baptist at Wyoming 8:00 PM FloWrestling Sunday, January 26: Clarion vs. Kent State at East Meadow, NY 11:00 AM Kent State vs. LIU at East Meadow, NY 1:00 PM Clarion vs. LIU at East Meadow, NY 3:00 PM CSU Bakersfield at American 12:00 PM ESPN+ Campbell vs. Central Michigan at American 12:00 PM ESPN+ Central Michigan at American 2:00 PM ESPN+ Campbell vs. CSU Bakersfield at American 2:00 PM ESPN+ Campbell at American 4:00 PM ESPN+ Central Michigan vs. CSU Bakersfield at American 4:00 PM ESPN+ Bloomsburg vs. Glenville State at Buffalo 11:00 AM Penn at Hofstra 12:00 PM Glenville State at Buffalo 1:00 PM ESPN+ Lock Haven at George Mason 1:00 PM ESPN+ Nebraska at Michigan State 1:00 PM B1G+ West Virginia at Missouri 1:00 PM UFC Fight Pass: CFFC Match Day Minnesota at Northwestern 1:00 PM B1G+ The Citadel at Presbyterian 1:00 PM Illinois at Rutgers 1:00 PM B1G+ Army West Point at Bucknell 2:00 PM ESPN+ Princeton at Columbia 2:00 PM ESPN+ Gardner-Webb at Davidson 2:00 PM FloWrestling Indiana at Michigan 2:00 PM ESPN+ Bloomsburg at Buffalo 3:00 PM FloWrestling Air Force at Davidson 4:00 PM FloWrestling Oklahoma State at Iowa State 5:00 PM ESPN Virginia at Stanford 6:00 PM ACC Network Extra

Friday’s DI Dual Results Air Force 41 Presbyterian 3 125 - Nicco Tocci (Air Force) dec Brayden Adams (Presbyterian) 4-2 133 - Gavin Caprella (Air Force) tech TJ Rodier (Presbyterian) 17-1 141 - Carter Nogle (Air Force) maj Ryan Luna (Presbyterian) 11-3 149 - Eli Holiday (Presbyterian) dec Alec Viduya (Air Force) 10-8 157 - Josh Palacio (Air Force) tech Joshua Roe (Presbyterian) 17-1 165 - Logan Fowler (Air Force) maj Jamisen Colongione (Presbyterian) 11-0 174 - Jack Ganos (Air Force) tech Caleb Roe (Presbyterian) 16-0 184 - Gage Musser (Air Force) maj Nathan Furman (Presbyterian) 11-1 197 - Brian Burburjia (Air Force) tech Toler Hornick (Presbyterian) 17-0 285 - Antonio Ramos (Air Force) fall Morven Saint Jean (Presbyterian) 6:46 Cleveland State 40 Bloomsburg 0 125 - Ben Aranda (Cleveland State) tech Major Lewis (Bloomsburg) 19-4 133 - Jacob Manley (Cleveland State) dec Kade Kluce (Bloomsburg) 10-3 141 - Landen Duncan (Cleveland State) FFT 149 - AJ Parish (Cleveland State) tech Nik Voros (Bloomsburg) 22-5 157 - Reese Stephen (Cleveland State) dec William Morrow (Bloomsburg) 4-1SV 165 - Tate Geiser (Cleveland State) dec Leo Hess (Bloomsburg) 9-4 174 - Gavin Ricketts (Cleveland State) dec Nick Foster (Bloomsburg) 4-1SV 184 - JR Reed (Cleveland State) dec Kolby Flank (Bloomsburg) 6-4 197 - Joey Lyons (Cleveland State) dec Mason Rebuck (Bloomsburg) 8-1 285 - Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) fall Tyler McCarthan (Bloomsburg) 2:45 Cleveland State 24 Clarion 10 125 - Travis Clawson (Clarion) maj Ben Aranda (Cleveland State) 16-4 133 - Nick Molchak (Cleveland State) fall Mason Prinkey (Clarion) 1:19 141 - Gianni Silvestri (Clarion) dec Landen Duncan (Cleveland State) 4-2 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) maj Connor Saylor (Cleveland State) 11-2 157 - Reese Stephen (Cleveland State) dec Chandler Ho (Clarion) 4-1 165 - Tate Geiser (Cleveland State) dec Wesley Barnes (Clarion) 10-4 174 - Ronald Dimmerling (Cleveland State) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 9-8 184 - JR Reed (Cleveland State) dec Aiden Gacek (Clarion) 10-4 197 - Joey Lyons (Cleveland State) dec Ethan Wiant (Clarion) 7-4 285 - Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) dec Austin Chapman (Clarion) 1-0 Nebraska 38 Michigan 6 125 - Caleb Smith (Nebraska) fall Wilfred Tanefeu (Michigan) 3:58 133 - Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) tech Nolan Wertanen (Michigan) 18-2 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) maj Sergio Lemley (Michigan) 13-4 149 - Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) tech Dylan Gilcher (Michigan) 17-2 157 - Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) fall Chase Saldate (Michigan) 5:33 165 - Christopher Minto (Nebraska) dec Beau Mantanona (Michigan) 7-2 174 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) maj Joseph Walker (Michigan) 23-11 184 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) tech Jaden Bullock (Michigan) 21-6 197 - Jacob Cadenas (Michigan) dec Camden McDanel (Nebraska) 5-2 285 - Josh Heindselman (Michigan) dec Harley Andrews (Nebraska) 9-6 Rider 23 Princeton 19 125 - Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) tech Noah Michaels (Rider) 19-3 133 - Drew Heethuis (Princeton) dec Will Betancourt (Rider) 5-0 141 - Eligh Rivera (Princeton) dec McKenzie Bell (Rider) 8-5SV 149 - Sammy Alvarez (Rider) dec Ty Whalen (Princeton) 7-3 157 - Colton Washleski (Rider) maj Jacob Mann (Princeton) 14-6 165 - Enrique Munguia (Rider) fall Zander Silva (Princeton) 5:41 174 - Michael Wilson (Rider) fall Xavier Giles (Princeton) 4:52 184 - Isaac Dean (Rider) maj Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) 12-4 197 - Luke Stout (Princeton) tech Brock Zurawski (Rider) 22-5 285 - Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton) dec Collin French (Rider) 8-4 Campbell 29 Bellarmine 10 125 - Anthony Molton (Campbell) tech Damion Ryan (Bellarmine) 23-7 133 - Logan Heil (Campbell) dec Trayce Eckman (Bellarmine) 6-4 141 - AJ Rallo (Bellarmine) dec Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 9-5 149 - Wynton Denkins (Campbell) dec Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) 4-2 157 - Chris Earnest (Campbell) fall Jeb Prechtel (Bellarmine) 3:20 165 - Dom Baker (Campbell) dec Cole Nance (Bellarmine) 3-1 174 - Grant O’Dell (Bellarmine) dec Riley Augustine (Campbell) 4-1SV 184 - Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) maj Mike Slade (Campbell) 12-2 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Andrew Liber (Bellarmine) 4-1 285 - Landon Sargent (Campbell) fall Will Muckler (Bellarmine) 1:42 Northern Colorado 27 California Baptist 12 125 - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) tech Mitch Neiner (California Baptist) 18-3 133 - Hunter Leake (California Baptist) tech Mikai Alirez (Northern Colorado) 16-0 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) fall Brady Hoshino (California Baptist) :31 149 - Paul Kelly (California Baptist) maj Adam Busiello (Northern Colorado) 9-0 157 - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) maj Darren Green (California Baptist) 14-2 165 - Clayton Ulrey (Northern Colorado) dec Daniel Manibog (California Baptist) 4-2 174 - Carter Schmidt (California Baptist) dec Ayden Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado) 8-6 184 - AJ Heeg (Northern Colorado) dec Nathan Haas (California Baptist) 9-8 197 - Andrew Donahue (Northern Colorado) dec Eli Sheeran (California Baptist) 7-3 285 - Jose Valdez (Northern Colorado) dec Tristan Kemp (California Baptist) 4-1SV Lock Haven 42 Kent State 6 125 - Tyeler Hagensen (Kent State) fall Sean Logue (Lock Haven) Fall 4:52 133 - Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) tech Adan Benavidez (Kent State) 19-4 141 - Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) FFT 149 - Lucas Kapusta (Lock Haven) dec Nate Roth (Kent State) 8-3 157 - Nick Stampoulos (Lock Haven) fall Dominic Paterra (Kent State) 2:42 165 - Caden Dobbins (Lock Haven) dec Carson Miller (Kent State) 6-1 174 - Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) fall Waylon Wehler (Kent State) 2:22 184 - Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) maj Trent Thomas (Kent State) 12-3 197 - Tucker Hogan (Lock Haven) dec Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 7-3 285 - Gavin Hoffman (Lock Haven) fall Josh Boggan (Kent State) 4:54 The Citadel 44 Davidson 0 125 - Gylon Sims (The Citadel) InjDef Luke Passarelli (Davidson) 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) tech Enis Ljikovic (Davidson) 15-0 141 - Thomas Termini (The Citadel) dec Marley Washington (Davidson) 4-1SV 149 - Carson DesRosier (The Citadel) tech Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 19-2 157 - Tyler Badgett (The Citadel) tech Matthew McLaughlin (Davidson) 15-0 165 - Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) dec Bryce Griffin (Davidson) 9-5 174 - Benjamin Haubert (The Citadel) dec Marc Koch (Davidson) 4-1 184 - Micah DiCarlo (The Citadel) maj Josh Lange (Davidson) 17-5 197 - Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) FFT 285 - Adam Ortega (The Citadel) maj Daniel Elyash (Davidson) 11-1 Penn 24 Columbia 20 125 - Max Gallagher (Penn) maj Suleyman Bah (Columbia) 11-3 133 - Ryan Miller (Penn) tech Connor Smith (Columbia) 20-4 141 - CJ Composto (Penn) dec Kai Owen (Columbia) 8-4 149 - Cross Wasilewski (Penn) maj Richard Fedalen (Columbia) 11-2 157 - Jude Swisher (Penn) tech Dominic Rossetti (Columbia) 18-1 165 - Andrew Troczynski (Penn) dec Jaden Le (Columbia) 15-11 174 - Jack McGill (Columbia) maj Nick Incontrera (Penn) 14-3 184 - Nick Fine (Columbia) fall Max Hale (Penn) 2:22 197 - Joe Curtis (Columbia) fall Nathan Taylor (Penn) 5:54 285 - Vincent Mueller (Columbia) maj John Pardo (Penn) 15-3 Virginia Tech 32 Duke 15 125 - Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) FFT 133 - Connor McGonagle (Virginia Tech) tech Raymond Adams (Duke) 16-1 141 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) tech Christian Colman (Duke) 23-6 149 - Sean O’Donnell (Duke) fall Chris Bacchioni (Virginia Tech) 3:43 157 - Logan Ferrero (Duke) dec Luke Robie (Virginia Tech) 6-0 165 - Aidan Wallace (Duke) dec Mac Church (Virginia Tech) 4-1SV 174 - Lennox Wolak (Virginia Tech) fall Ryan Beirne (Duke) 2:34 184 - TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) tech David Hussey (Duke) 19-4 197 - Kwasi Bonsu (Duke) dec Glean Gonzalez (Virginia Tech) 10-3 285 - Jim Mullen (Virginia Tech) tech Connor Barket (Duke) 20-5 Iowa State 25 Oklahoma 6 125 - Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma) dec Ethan Perryman (Iowa State) 5-2 133 - Evan Frost (Iowa State) maj Cleveland Belton (Oklahoma) 9-0 141 - Jacob Frost (Iowa State) dec Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) 10-4 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) 4-2 157 - Kane Naaktgeboren (Iowa State) dec Layton Schneider (Oklahoma) 8-3 165 - Aiden Riggins (Iowa State) dec Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) 7-3 174 - MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) dec Gaven Sax (Oklahoma) 7-2 184 - Evan Bockman (Iowa State) dec Eli Cordy (Oklahoma) 7-2 197 - Nate Schon (Iowa State) dec Bradley Hill (Oklahoma) 14-7 285 - Juan Mora (Oklahoma) dec Daniel Herrera (Iowa State) 4-2 Drexel 20 Bucknell 13 125 - Desmond Pleasant (Drexel) tech Chris Nucifora (Bucknell) 21-6 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) dec Kyle Waterman (Drexel) 7-5 141 - Jordan Soriano (Drexel) dec Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) 10-8 149 - Dom Findora (Drexel) dec Braden Bower (Bucknell) 7-4SV 157 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) dec Cade Wirnsberger (Bucknell) 9-3 165 - Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) maj Cody Walsh (Drexel) 12-3 174 - Myles Takats (Bucknell) dec Jasiah Queen (Drexel) 5-3 184 - Giuseppe Hoose (Drexel) dec Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) 6-5 197 - Mickey O’Malley (Drexel) dec Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell) 13-10 285 - Nolan Springer (Bucknell) maj Dom Petracci (Drexel) 15-2 Illinois 33 Maryland 7 125 - Caelan Riley (Illinois) dec Abram Cline (Maryland) 10-5 133 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) dec Braxton Brown (Maryland) 7-3 141 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) dec Dario Lemus (Maryland) 8-5 149 - Kannon Webster (Illinois) fall Kal Miller (Maryland) 4:39 157 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) maj Jason Kraisser (Illinois) 15-6 165 - Braeden Scoles (Illinois) tech Alex Uryniak (Maryland) 20-3 174 - Danny Braunagel (Illinois) tech Branson John (Maryland) 22-7 184 - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) dec Edmond Ruth (Illinois) 4-3 197 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) tech Chase Mielnik (Maryland) 20-4 285 - Luke Luffman (Illinois) dec Seth Nevills (Maryland) 4-2 Indiana 35 Michigan State 3 125 - Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec Caleb Weiand (Michigan State) 12-10 133 - Angelo Rini (Indiana) tech Andrew Hampton (Michigan State) 20-5 141 - Henry Porter (Indiana) dec Jaden Crumpler (Michigan State) 8-3 149 - Clayton Jones (Michigan State) dec Aiden Torres (Indiana) 9-6 157 - Ryan Garvick (Indiana) dec Braden Stauffenberg (Michigan State) 6-5 165 - Tyler Lillard (Indiana) fall Jay Nivison (Michigan State) 8:41 174 - Derek Gilcher (Indiana) dec Ceasar Garza (Michigan State) 5-4 184 - DJ Washington (Indiana) tech Lucas Daley (Michigan State) 19-3 197 - Gabe Sollars (Indiana) dec Remy Cotton (Michigan State) 11-6 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) maj Max Vanadia (Michigan State) 14-4 NC State 22 Pittsburgh 13 125 - Vincent Robinson (NC State) dec Nick Babin (Pittsburgh) 6-2 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) tech Tyler Chappell (Pittsburgh) 17-0 141 - Anthony Santaniello (Pittsburgh) dec Tyler Tracy (NC State) 9-5 149 - Koy Buesgens (NC State) dec Finn Solomon (Pittsburgh) 4-1 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) dec Dylan Evans (Pittsburgh) 5-3 165 - Derek Fields (NC State) maj Jared Keslar (Pittsburgh) 14-6 174 - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) dec Matthew Singleton (NC State) 3-1TB 184 - Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) dec Dylan Fishback (NC State) 6-2 197 - Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) maj Christian Knop (NC State) 13-4 285 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) maj Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) 10-1 Minnesota 39 Wisconsin 3 125 - Cooper Flynn (Minnesota) dec Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin) 7-3 133 - Zac Fugitt (Wisconsin) dec Blake Beissel (Minnesota) 8-4 141 - Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) tech Brock Bobzien (Wisconsin) 22-7 149 - Drew Roberts (Minnesota) tech Royce Nilo (Wisconsin) 17-2 157 - Tommy Askey (Minnesota) dec Luke Mechler (Wisconsin) 10-3 165 - Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) tech Cale Anderson (Wisconsin) 20-2 174 - Clayton Whiting (Minnesota) dec Lucas Condon (Wisconsin) 8-5SV 184 - Max McEnelly (Minnesota) tech Dylan Russo (Wisconsin) 22-6 197 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) tech Niccolo Colucci (Wisconsin) 15-0 285 - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) tech Brooks Empey (Wisconsin) 21-5 Wyoming 25 Utah Valley 10 125 - Bridger Ricks (Utah Valley) dec Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) 4-3 133 - Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) dec David Saenz (Wyoming) 9-2 141 - Cole Brooks (Wyoming) dec Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) 7-2 149 - Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) maj Smokey McClure (Utah Valley) 12-3 157 - Jared Hill (Wyoming) dec Ryker Fullmer (Utah Valley) 8-6 165 - Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley) tech Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) 19-3 174 - Riley Davis (Wyoming) dec Mark Takara (Utah Valley) 7-3 184 - Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) dec Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley) 11-4 197 - Joey Novak (Wyoming) fall Kael Bennie (Utah Valley) 5:24 285 - Sam Mitchell (Wyoming) dec Jack Forbes (Utah Valley) 4-3 Penn State 35 Rutgers 3 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) 4-1 133 - Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) 2-1 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Joey Olivieri (Rutgers) 7-3 149 - Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) tech Alex Nini (Rutgers) 17-2 157 - Tyler Kasak (Penn State) dec Conner Harer (Rutgers) 4-0 165 - Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) tech Tony White (Rutgers) 19-3 174 - Levi Haines (Penn State) dec Jackson Turley (Rutgers) 5-2 184 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) tech Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) 17-2 197 - Josh Barr (Penn State) tech John Poznanski (Rutgers) 22-6 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) 2-0 Little Rock 29 Oregon State 14 125 - Maximo Renteria (Oregon State) dec Jayden Carson (Little Rock) 3-1 133 - Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) tech Damion Elliott (Oregon State) 21-4 141 - Nash Singleton (Oregon State) dec Brennan Van Hoecke (Little Rock) 4-1 149 - Ethan Stiles (Oregon State) dec Jordan Williams (Little Rock) 5-1 157 - Matt Bianchi (Little Rock) maj CJ Hamblin (Oregon State) 9-0 165 - Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) dec Steele Starren (Oregon State) 9-4 174 - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) InjDef Sean Harman (Oregon State) 184 - Brock DelSignore (Little Rock) tech TJ McDonnell (Oregon State) 20-4 197 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) fall Vaun Halstead (Oregon State) 2:36 285 - Brett Mower (Oregon State) tech Branson Britten (Little Rock) 17-2 Oklahoma State 22 Northern Iowa 14 125 - Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) dec Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa) 10-5 133 - Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) maj Cael Hughes (Oklahoma State) 13-4 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) 4-1SV 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 6-4 157 - Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State) dec Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 7-4SV 165 - Cam Amine (Oklahoma State) maj Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa) 10-2 174 - Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State) maj Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) 16-4 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 15-4 197 - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) dec Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) 4-3 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State) tech Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 19-4

Conference dual season is in full swing. The holiday dual season is behind us and we’re more into a regular schedule, primarily focused on dual competition. A total of 49 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). To make this guide even easier to find, we've added a link on our homepage and the latest Live Streaming Guide will appear right under the header articles. All times Eastern Thursday, January 16: South Dakota State at California Baptist 9:00 PM FloWrestling Friday, January 17: Brown vs. Little Rock at Davidson 10:00 AM FloWrestling Morgan State at Davidson 10:00 AM FloWrestling Brown vs. Lock Haven at Davidson 12:00 PM FloWrestling Little Rock vs. Morgan State at Davidson 12:00 PM FloWrestling Little Rock at Davidson 2:30 PM FloWrestling Lock Haven vs. The Citadel at Davidson 2:30 PM FloWrestling Brown at Davidson 4:30 PM FloWrestling Morgan State vs. The Citadel at Davidson 4:30 PM FloWrestling Lock Haven vs. Morgan State at Davidson 6:00 PM FloWrestling Pittsburgh at Bucknell 6:00 PM ESPN+ Harvard at American 6:30 PM ESPN+ Northern Illinois at Central Michigan 7:00 PM Chippewas All-Access North Carolina at Duke 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Campbell at Gardner-Webb 7:00 PM ESPN+ Illinois at Iowa 7:00 PM Big Ten Network SIU Edwardsville at Kent State 7:00 PM Wisconsin at Maryland 7:00 PM B1G+ Indiana at Purdue 7:00 PM B1G+ NC State at Virginia 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Utah Valley at Missouri 7:30 PM ESPN+ Lehigh at Navy 7:30 PM Navy YouTube North Dakota State at Northern Colorado 8:00 PM FloWrestling Michigan at Northwestern 8:00 PM B1G+ West Virginia at Oklahoma 8:00 PM ESPN+ Northern Iowa at Arizona State 9:00 PM ESPN+ Penn State at Nebraska 9:00 PM Big Ten Network Saturday, January 18: Binghamton at Franklin & Marshall 12:00 PM Centennial Conference TV George Mason at Cleveland State 1:00 PM FloWrestling Harvard at Navy 5:00 PM Navy YouTube Binghamton at Drexel 6:00 PM FloWrestling Hofstra at Bloomsburg 7:00 PM FloWrestling South Dakota State at Air Force 9:00 PM FloWrestling Sunday, January 19: Mercyhurst, VMI at Purple Raider Open 9:30 AM FloWrestling Iowa State at Cyclone Open 11:00 AM SIU Edwardsville at Clarion 12:00 PM FloWrestling Army West Point at American 1:00 PM ESPN+ Edinboro at Ohio 1:00 PM ESPN+ Purdue at Ohio State 1:00 PM B1G+ Wisconsin at Rutgers 1:00 PM B1G+ Cleveland State at Central Michigan 2:00 PM ESPN+ Campbell at Chattanooga 2:00 PM ESPN+ Princeton at Clarion 2:00 PM FloWrestling Michigan at Minnesota 2:00 PM B1G+ Johns Hopkins at Morgan State 2:00 PM Morgan State All-Access North Dakota State at Air Force 3:00 PM FloWrestling Virginia Tech at Appalachian State 3:00 PM FloWrestling Buffalo at Michigan State 3:00 PM B1G+ West Virginia at Oklahoma State 3:00 PM ESPN+ Wyoming at Oregon State 5:00 PM FloWrestling Arizona State at Stanford 6:00 PM ACC Network Extra

Over the weekend, as the Southern Scuffle occurred, I went back and forth with some of the guys in one of my wrestling-related chats. As tends to happen during wrestling season, the topic turned to the current landscape of the sport. 11 years ago, the Scuffle featured the eventual top-three teams at the NCAA Championships and had two of the eventual NCAA finals bouts - in their championship matches. Suffice it to say, that won’t be the case in 2025. The topic then moved to match counts, avoiding good matchups, and the college wrestling product, as a whole. As grievances were aired, solutions were also thrown around to improve the product. A national dual tournament, a ranking series tournament, and assigning point values for wins were among those mentioned. I think each of those potential ideas is valid, but I’m not sure any of them would actually be implemented. What I do think is a viable solution to limit “ducking” and strategic load management is to re-evaluate the number of wrestlers that we seed at the NCAA Championships. The 2019 NCAA Tournament was the first one in which the NCAA seeded all 33 wrestlers in each bracket. From 2014-19, the NCAA seeded the top 16 wrestlers in a bracket. Before 2014, the number was 12. How does this help the product in the regular season? Excellent question, I thought you’d never ask! With the NCAA seeding all 33 wrestlers, it encourages more of the gaming, ducking, and strategic resting that has been all too common in the sport at the collegiate level. Like every other sport, as time progresses we’ve been able to have more information and more ways to interpret data. In 2025, I think college wrestling coaches are as knowledgeable as they’ve ever been about the NCAA allocation process, at-large berths, and seeding. Coaches are aware that if your wrestler banks a couple of solid wins early in the season, they don’t have to risk it against better opponents and can maintain a particular ranking. Since the NCAA seeds all 33 wrestlers, this approach has been used for wrestlers all up and down the rankings. Instead of worrying about maintaining a #1 seed or avoiding the #1, they are also thinking about protecting a #20 ranking. If you only seed to 12 or 16, there would be less reason for a wrestler who is ranked #20 to protect that particular ranking. They are trying to break into that 12/16 threshold, not maintain what they have. And on the other half of the rankings, the wrestler who is right over that threshold isn’t safe. A huge upset from the #17 ranked wrestler could push him past that #16 wrestler. Do you want to just sit back and try to maintain that #12/#16 ranking, when it could lead to you going unseeded and drawing the #1 seed in the first round at NCAA’s? With fewer seeds, the seeds themselves become more of a valued commodity. In recent years, we’ve seen medically forfeiting out of a tournament become a frequent option. In response, the NCAA has hit those wrestlers hard in the seeding process. Last season, at the Big Ten Championships, Carter Starocci immediately injury defaulted in his first match and then forfeited. That sent him from being a sure-fire #1 seed to the #9. Not every wrestler is Starocci, so if you do something similar as the #7 ranked wrestler in the country, you may be looking at going into nationals without a seed! In addition to limiting the seeds, perhaps a match minimum to earn a seed. Maybe 15 matches? That’s three or four at the conference tournament, plus three per month over a four-month regular season. That seems reasonable. Maybe more? Now is the time for the usual disclaimer. We understand that college wrestling is more grueling than any other sport. The season is long and injuries are almost inevitable. No one wants injured wrestlers to go out and perform like it’s the old gladiator days. The reason for this article is because I (and many others who love this sport) are concerned about the future of college wrestling. And college athletics in general. As entire athletic departments face official and unofficial audits, do we really want to tell administrators that none of it matters until March? We want new faces to embrace the sport, but when they come to a dual, they may not see the stars advertised on the social media graphics all week. As with a lot of things around the world, COVID changed a lot in college wrestling. With the abridged 2021 season, coaches saw that their wrestlers would perform fine even if they didn’t get 30 matches before the postseason. Even when we were in a more normal 2021-22 season, it seemed like they chose to scale the number of competitions back for their wrestlers. This has continued and increased as the years have progressed. There has to be a happy medium of not running wrestlers into the ground and getting them to events so that the regular season isn't just a dress rehearsal for March. The NCAA Tournament is the best entertainment in sports (in my biased opinion). We don’t need to change that, but we can have other events that are “must-see” for the fanbase. For a long time, the Scuffle and Midlands were two of those events. Everyone knows the stories of the old Midlands with Olympians wrestling NCAA champions. As someone who monitors social media on a constant basis, I can tell when the fanbase is “all-in” on a particular event. It happens at the NCAA Championships, the World Championships, and the Olympics. The Scuffle used to be that event because it was on dates (January 1st and 2nd) when virtually nothing else was going on (in the wrestling world) and it had top, top teams. The Midlands was similar too. You could hang out on Twitter and everyone you followed was talking about the same matches. That didn’t happen this year (or maybe the past few years) as the fanbase wasn’t as locked into those events. A normal Friday with a handful of duals is great, but attention is spread amongst maybe 10 different matches. These were events that had everyone. Of course, this isn’t to disparage anyone competing at those two tournaments. Heck, Stanford and Army West Point, actually went and took virtually all of their normal starters. It’s not their fault that others chose not to go or bring more wrestlers. I don’t know whether cutting down on seeded wrestlers at NCAA’s is the answer to putting more juice into college wrestling. Honestly, it will also take a mentality shift, as well. At the same time, it’s a very easy fix that would bring positive reverberations to the wrestling community and the action on the mat. Maybe it isn’t the answer, but we need to look for answers. College sports are evolving before our own eyes and at a breakneck pace. I don’t want our sport to be left out in the cold. If I’ve learned anything from the last three years of conference alignment, it is that you have to be proactive. Those that aren’t get left in the dust and are scrambling for lifelines.

We’re almost two months into the college season and there have been plenty of standout performances throughout the season. Each week, conference wrestlers of the week get announced and are honored. Here is the list of wrestlers of the week, per conference - along with the Big Ten who also identifies a Freshman of the Week. ACC Wrestler of the Week 12/24: Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 12/17: Jared Keslar (Pittsburgh) 12/10: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 11/26: Connor Barket (Duke) 11/19: Isaac Trumble (NC State) 11/12: Vince Robinson (NC State) 11/6: Spencer Moore (North Carolina) Big 12 Wrestler of the Week 12/18: Eli Griffin (California Baptist) 12/12: Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State) 12/4: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 11/27: Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma) 11/20: Colton Hawks (Missouri) 11/13: Christian Carroll (Iowa State) 11/6: Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley) Big Ten Wrestler of the Week 12/19: Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 12/9: Matt Ramos (Purdue)/Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 12/2: Max McEnelly (Minnesota) 11/27: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) 11/21: Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 11/14: Matt Ramos (Purdue) 11/7: Joseph Walker (Michigan) Big Ten Freshman of the Week 12/19: Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) 12/9: Josh Barr (Penn State) 12/2: Max McEnelly (Minnesota) 11/27: Brock Mantanona (Michigan) 11/21: Charlie Millard (Minnesota) 11/14: Kannon Webster (Illinois)/Max McEnelly (Minnesota) 11/7: Ben Davino (Ohio State) EIWA Wrestler of the Week 12/24: Kyle Mosher (Hofstra) 12/17: Anthony D’Alesio (Long Island) 12/10: Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 11/26: Danny Wask (Navy) 11/19: Myles Takats (Bucknell) 11/12: Will Ebert (Binghamton) 11/5: Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) Ivy League Wrestler of the Week 12/24: Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) 12/10: Simon Ruiz (Cornell) 12/3: Justin Mayes (Cornell) 11/26: Jude Swisher (Penn) 11/19: Nick Fine (Columbia) 11/12: Nick Incontrera (Penn) 11/5: Cesar Alvan (Columbia) MAC Wrestler of the Week East Division 12/24: Scott Johnson (Clarion) 12/17: None 12/10: Logan Messer (George Mason)/Lucas Kapusta (Lock Haven) 11/26: Tucker Hogan (Lock Haven) 11/19: Isaac Dean (Rider) 11/12: Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 11/5: Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) West Division 12/24: Jordan Greer (Ohio) 12/17: Billy Meiszner (Kent State) 12/10: Garrett Thompson (Ohio) 11/26: Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan)/Billy Meiszner (Kent State) 11/19: Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 11/12: Peyten Kellar (Ohio) 11/5: Drew Davis (SIU Edwardsville) Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week 12/24: AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield) 12/17: Guillermo Escobedo (CSU Bakersfield) 12/10: Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) 11/26: Jake Andrews (CSU Bakersfield) 11/19: Ethan Stiles (Oregon State) 11/12: Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) 11/5: Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) SoCon Wrestler of the Week 12/25: Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 12/18: TK Davis (Gardner-Webb) 12/11: Chad Bellis (Appalachian State) 11/27: Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) 11/20: Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 11/13: Braxton Lewis (VMI) 11/6: Patrick Jordon (VMI)

As you might expect, there were plenty of changes after a week that included a ton of duals. There are currently no wrestlers in the rankings who have not competed during the 2024-25 season. Missouri’s Rocky Elam was removed from the 197 lb ranking - which led to Mizzou taking a big tumble in the team tournament rankings. As always, once he returns he’ll be inserted in a fair position. You probably noticed that Yonger Bastida wrestled in one of Iowa State’s three duals at the Collegiate Duals. We still have Daniel Herrera in the rankings for the Cyclones as Bastida’s long-term status is still unclear. Speaking of the Cyclones, we expect Anthony Echemendia to drop to 141 and Paniro Johnson to 149. Once they actually get down and compete, they’ll be ranked at those weights. I had a question a few weeks ago about Richie Figueroa vs. Troy Spratley for the #2 spot at 125 lbs. Figueroa has only competed in three matches - but has the 2024 national title. Spratley finally jumps over Figueroa after his win over Eddie Ventresca. With that win, Spratley has 2024-25 wins over the wrestlers ranked in the #4-#7 slots. Oh yeah, by the way, Keegan O’Toole won the super match with Levi Haines and solidified his standing as #1 at 174 lbs. Penn State had Braeden Davis and Josh Barr move into the top-five at their respective weights. The Nittany Lions have top-five wrestlers at nine of ten weights. For the full rankings: Click Here

The Sheridan Invitational is set for Friday, December 20th beginning at 10AM. All action can be seen on FloWrestling. The list of teams includes Brown, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Indiana, Lehigh, Rutgers, and Virginia. Below is a quick breakdown of each weight 125: The highest ranked wrestler here is Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour. Sitting at #15 nationally, we may see him square off with Indiana’s Jacob Moran. Moran (#22 in the rankings) has one loss on the season to Caleb Smith of Nebraska. Smith’s current ranking is #5, and Moran’s loss was by a single point. If these two end up wrestling, it will be a great opportunity for either wrestler to gain momentum into the new year. Indiana’s Blaine Frazier and F&M’s Jack Parker will be looking for quality wins as well. Below are the remaining entries. Jared Brunner (Brown) Charlie Colantonio (Franklin & Marshall) Blaine Frazier (Indiana) James Garcia (Franklin & Marshall) Vincent Gioffre (Franklin & Marshall) Ejiro Montoya (Franklin & Marshall) Jacob Moran (Indiana) Jackson Parker (Franklin & Marshall) Anthony Rossi (Virginia) Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) Ethan Smith (Lehigh) Logan Wadle (Lehigh) 133: We will see top-ranked Ryan Crookham take the mat again. He’s 2-0 on the year thus far. Also expected to wrestle is Indiana’s 27th ranked Angelo Rini. He’s a grad transfer from Columbia. Gable Porter of Virginia is in the rankings also. He currently claims the 33rd spot with a 4-1 record. Mason Leiphart from F&M will be a tough out for anyone with his stingy defense and great top wrestling. A new face at this weight is Brown’s Michael Joyce. His teammate, Hunter Adrian, has been an EIWA place winner in the past. He was an NCAA qualifier for the Bears last season at 125lbs. It appears Brown has some options at this weight class. Expect to see guys like Hildebrandt of Drexel, Kyle Montaperto, and Logan Frazier of Indiana to be in the mix to win some matches. Hunter Adrian (Brown) Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) Logan Frazier (Indiana) John Hildebrandt (Drexel) Michael Joyce (Brown) Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall) Kyle Montaperto (Virginia) Gable Porter (Virginia) Angelo Rini (Indiana) Chandler Sewell (Drexel) 141: This weight class does not have the ranked wrestlers as the previous one discussed. Of all entries, only one is a previous NCAA qualifier – Dylan Cedeno of Virginia. He qualified back in 2022. He spent last season at 157lbs, now back down to the 141lb weight class. Indiana’s Henry Porter appears to be a favorite. Carter Bailey of Lehigh and Pat Phillips (unattached) of F&M will be in the hunt to win matches as well. Joe Fangaro of Rutgers is always in the mix too. Keep an eye on Kresho of F&M. He has been in a lot of close quality matches. Carter Bailey (Lehigh) Malachi Bordovsky (Drexel) Kyren Butler (Virginia) Joey Buttler (Indiana) Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) Brandt Fajerman (Franklin & Marshall) Joe Fongaro( Rutgers) Joey Iamunno (Brown) Bryce Kresho (Franklin & Marshall) Austin McBurney (Brown) Aidan O'Shea (Franklin & Marshall) Lucas Peters (Indiana) Pat Phillips (Franklin & Marshall) Deon Pleasant (Drexel) Henry Porter (Indiana) 149: This may as well be a Lehigh wrestle-off with three of the regulars entered, plus Malyke Hines making the move up to 149lbs – which may or may not be permanent. This multi-season battle will continue with Hines in the mix. Another vital position battle at this weight coming from Brown. Between McMonagle and Mojena, Brown will have a decision to make for the remainder of the season. Michael Cetta of Rutgers was at NCAAs last season and may be a favorite on paper. He, along with Hines and Griffin of Lehigh, are NCAA qualifiers. Expect some fireworks here. Michael Cetta (Rutgers) Kyle Deisley (Franklin & Marshall) Jonathan Fuller (Drexel) Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) Josh Hillard (Franklin & Marshall) Malyke Hines (Lehigh) Sam McMonagle (Brown) Ethan Mojena (Brown) Drew Munch (Lehigh) Jack Myers (Virginia) Matt Repos (Lehigh) Brandon Sauter (Franklin & Marshall) Aidan Torres (Indiana) Seth Weaver (Franklin & Marshall) 157: Virginia’s Michael Gioffre will look to expand on his 4-1 record on the year. Lehigh’s Logan Rozynski is a true freshman looking to make a name for himself after a close loss to PSU’s fourth-ranked Kasak. On paper, these two will most likely be the top two here. Lehigh’s Gonzalez and Skellenger will remain in contention as well. Chris Arciuolo (Franklin & Marshall) Luke Bender (Franklin & Marshall) Aboubakare Diaby (Drexel) Michael Gioffre (Virginia) Griffin Gonzalez (Lehigh) Jayden Iznaga (Drexel) Jake Neill (Franklin & Marshall) Logan Rozynski (Lehigh) Nick Sanko (Virginia) Jadon Skellenger (Lehigh) Billy Templeton (Franklin & Marshall) 165: Indiana’s Tyler Lillard was ranked in the top 15 to begin the year. It appears he and Lehigh’s Brignola will be the top two contenders at this weight – both are the lone NCAA qualifiers in previous years. Brignola has looked great this year during his redshirt campaign. Gayer of Rutgers has seen some good results this year. Harrison Trahan of Brown will look to improve upon his season last year as the starter. Lehigh’s Lawrence and Federici will be on the hunt for some quality wins as well. Mason Alley (Indiana) Max Brignola (Lehigh-unattached) Dom D'Agostino (Drexel) Michael Duggan (Franklin & Marshall) Dominic Federici (Lehigh) Luke Gayer (Rutgers) Thayne Lawrence (Lehigh) Tyler Lillard (Indiana) Makoa Niebel (Franklin & Marshall) Josh Palmucci (Franklin & Marshall) Owen Quinn (Lehigh) Tyler Shea (Franklin & Marshall) Mason Stefanelli (Virginia) Harrison Trahan (Brown) 174: It appears Rylan Rogers of Lehigh is the man to beat, although Contino of Virginia may disagree. We have seen F&M’s Bash and Brown’s Clearie have some nice wins over the years, so expect them to challenge the top two guys. This is a weight class with zero NCAA appearances from the entries. This will make for some fun wrestling. Nick Alvarez (Franklin & Marshall) Noah Bash (Franklin & Marshall) Drew Clearie (Brown) Rocco Contino (Virginia) Michael Fuccilli (Franklin & Marshall) Liam Gil-Swiger (Lehigh) Michael Murphy (Virginia) Conner O’Donnell (Brown) Rylan Rogers (Lehigh) Nick South (Indiana) Dominic Wheatley (Franklin & Marshall) 184: Brian Soldano of Rutgers has been in the rankings this season. He’s also the lone wrestler listed to compete at NCAAs in the past. Lehigh’s Caden Rogers was a highly touted recruit. He’s looking for some consistency while trying to stay healthy. Other than these two, the remainder of the entrants are looking for some matches to help excel them into the starting lineup for their respective teams. Both of Brown’s participants may be vying for the starting role in preparation for the upcoming dual meet part of the schedule. Jake Allred (Franklin & Marshall) Griffin Gammell (Virginia) Jack Lesher (Virginia) Nick Olivieri (Brown) Justin Phillips (Virginia) Andrew Reall (Brown) George Rhodes (Drexel) Caden Rogers (Lehigh) Brian Soldano (Rutgers) Leo Varga (Franklin & Marshall) Ethan Wilson (Drexel) 197: Here is another weight class with no NCAA appearances. Sollars of Indiana has wrestled well this year. He should be one of the top guys here. JT Davis of Lehigh has looked good when he makes an appearance. PJ Casale was a high school prospect who committed to Lehigh and is now at Rutgers. It will be great to see how he stacks up against this field. Virginia may have some answers after this event as both Shulaw and Weatherspoon have both wrestled in duals. Brown has not had a dual this season, but with two entrants here, it may help clarify who will have the edge for this weight class moving forward. PJ Casale (Rutgers) JT Davis (Lehigh) Justin Griffith (Drexel) Alex Hamrick (Brown) Caleb Marzolino (Indiana) RJ Moore (Franklin & Marshall) Hadyn Packer (Rutgers) Dan Rella Jr (Drexel) Thomas Sandoval (Brown) Max Shulaw (Virginia) Gabe Sollars (Indiana) Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) 285: Jacob Bullock of Indiana comes into the event ranked 23rd in the nation. He’s the heavy favorite here. Drexel and F&M each have three wrestlers competing. It will be interesting to see who emerges to challenge Bullock. *Lehigh’s second-semester transfer in Owen Trephan is still potentially on track to compete. If he competes, he may be the favorite with a #9 ranking in the country. Lehigh is in the process of getting him eligible to compete. Jacob Bullock (Indiana) Braden Ewing (Brown) Brody Kline (Franklin & Marshall) Quincy Long (Franklin & Marshall) Nick Pavlechko (Indiana) Dominic Petracci (Drexel) Jake Rickett (Franklin & Marshall) Cooper Rudolph (Virginia) Tanner Updegraff (Drexel) Shane Whitney (Drexel)

We have made it through the first month of the season, plus the CKLV last week. With such a grueling tournament last week, combined with most schools preparing for (or taking) exams, this upcoming weekend will be rather light from a competition standpoint. A total of only 18 duals will be contested and no open tournaments. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). To make this guide even easier to find, we've added a link on our homepage and the latest Live Streaming Guide will appear right under the header articles. All times Eastern Thursday, December 12: Appalachian State at VMI 7:00 PM Friday, December 13: Army West Point at Morgan State 6:00 PM Morgan State All-Access Rutgers at Clarion 7:00 PM FloWrestling Ohio State at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Oklahoma State at Oklahoma 8:00 PM ESPN+ Saturday, December 14: Buffalo at Kent State 12:00 PM BoxCast Gardner-Webb vs. Rutgers at Kent State 12:00 PM Buffalo vs. Gardner-Webb at Kent State 2:00 PM Rutgers at Kent State 2:00 PM BoxCast California Baptist at Clarion 3:00 PM FloWrestling Gardner-Webb at Kent State 4:00 PM BoxCast Nebraska-Kearney at Northern Iowa, 8:00 PM FloWrestling Sunday, December 15: Binghamton at LIU 12:00 PM Wyoming at Penn State 1:00 PM B1G+ Michigan State at CSU Bakersfield 2:00 PM CSUB YouTube American at Davidson 2:00 PM FloWrestling Iowa State vs. North Dakota State at Humboldt, IA, 3:00 PM FloWrestling California Baptist vs. West Virginia at New Cumberland, WV, 4:00 PM WVU Wrestling Facebook

In the past when it came to wrestling, sportsbooks would typically only offer lines and odds on the Olympics and maybe sometimes the NCAA Team Championship. Recently though, more and more sportsbooks are starting to offer lines for in season duals, but because of gambling restrictions per state, making lines on individual matches or even on college sports at all are prohibited. Well, in that same vein, a new Fantasy Wrestling venture of mine in the quest to make the sport a little more exciting and enjoyable has been created: WrestlingCents.com. It’s a new fantasy game, mimicking the looks and feel of a sportsbook, but without the risk. Essentially, after signing up for your free account, you are given 300 WrestleCents (WC). You can use these WrestleCents to make picks on available games ranging from duals, individual matches, tournaments, and specials. If you win, great! The WrestlingCents in your wallet will grow. If you lose and go below 100 WC? No problem. Refresh your wallet and get a new 300 WC added after a quick 33 second wait. You never have to deposit any money, you will never run out of FUNds. We have big plans on growing this and making the user experience even better for years to come, but being that this is the first year there will most certainly be issues. Please bear with us and let us know of any problems that may arise. Some other important info to know before playing: The minimum to play any game is 50 WC The maximum to win in any game is 3,000 WC There are no parlays, except for the premade Specials In an individual Match game, you can play the Spread or Win By Pin/Inj/DQ, Moneyline, and over/under (in most games). A win by Pin/Inj/DQ will cause any pick in the spread and over/under of that same game to lose Once a game is played, even if only one pick is made in it, you will not be able to go back and play it again unless it is later changed (ex. Line moves from -4.5 to -5.5, then a user can make a pick on that game again). So if you want to make multiple picks in a game (a spread, moneyline, and over/under), please make them all at the same time. If a matchup does not happen, the game will be voided as Did Not Wrestle (DNW) and any WC placed will be refunded At the end of the season, all accounts will be reset to 300 WC for the next season Games are added almost daily during the season and will lock at the time the competition begins. Here's an example of some games ready to play NOW! But hurry, some lock in a few hours! INDIVIDUAL MATCHES: DUALS: TOURNAMENTS: SPECIALS:

Campbell Competes in Dual at the Daddy The Camels started the season with a bang, competing against Wyoming in the Dual at the Daddy in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Camels lost 28-12 but put up a fight against the Cowboys. Team points were scored at 149, 174, and 285 - Eugene Harney (149, CAMP), served up an upset against #15 Gabe Willochell (WYO), Harney’s first collegiate dual AND win. Dom Baker put some bonus points on the board with a major decision victory over Brett McIntosh, and top-10-ranked Taye Ghadiali ended the evening on a high note with a technical fall against Kevin Zimmer. Anthony Molton (125) wrestled a barnburner against #2 Jore Volk, ultimately losing 2-0. Throwdown on Yorktown This event was the first time college wrestling was hosted on the flight deck of the historic USS Yorktown, hosted in Charleston, SC by The Citadel. The event also raised over $1,300 for the SC Wrestling Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the competition was cut short due to weather/climate conditions. The Citadel was bested by UVA 24-11, but not before posting three wins at 149, 184, and 197 pounds. Patrick Brophy (197) has appeared in the rankings the past couple of weeks, blazing ahead with a 4-1 match record after week two of wrestling. Gardner-Webb also threw down on the Yorktown, clinching victories at 141 and 157 pounds, but ultimately was defeated by the Black Knights 35-6. Todd Carter (141) has made an appearance in the rankings in the past couple of weeks as well, currently sitting at #29, up from #33 after week one. Journeymen WrangleMania Campbell beats Cal Baptist 24-17 The Camels picked up a hefty win over Cal Baptist, securing wins at seven out of ten weights. Anthony Molton (125) and Taye Ghadiali (285) started and ended the dual with falls, putting up bonus points for the Camels. VMI beats Sacred Heart 24-19 VMI came back strong after a loss from Franklin & Marshall, beating Sacred Heart. Five victories from the Keydets included four falls - again, racking up those bonus point victories. Braxton Lewis and Patrick Jordon both secured falls in this dual against Sacred Heart AND against F&M. Which leads me to my next point of business… VMI Holds Back-to-Back SoCon Wrestlers of the Week VMI has started off strong this season, competing at the Journeymen WrangleMania and at the Collegiate Classic - and has crowned two SoCon Wrestlers of the Week. Patrick Jordon (149) and #33 Braxton Lewis (184). Jordon earned the remarks after winning first place in the Freshman/Sophomore division at the Southeast Open. His teammate, Lewis (184), earned the honor for week two after securing wins against opponents from Franklin & Marshall and Sacred Heart (WrangleMania Duals), and upset two-time national qualifier Cael Valencia (Arizona State) by 12-0 major decision (Journeymen Collegiate Classic). Ghadiali to Wrestle in All-Star Classic Campbell’s own All-American Taye Ghadiali will compete at the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic. Currently ranked at #9, Ghadiali will wrestle against #3 Nick Feldman from Ohio State. I can’t wait to watch this on Saturday night - I’m a big numbers/stats girlie, and I love using WrestleStat’s comparison tool on their site (this is not a sponsored post LOL). But, per the site, it looks like it’ll be a barnburner of a match. Historically, the two are 1-1 - where Ghadiali’s victory was via injury default, and Feldman’s was a 10-4 decision. This is such a super cool opportunity for the SoCon to be showcased, and for the student-athletes - don’t miss out on this awesome event! SoCon Tournament Returns to Asheville One of the bigger questions I’ve been waiting to have answered is this right here: where in the world is the Southern Conference Wrestling Championship? (If you watched Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego please leave a comment and tell me you understood the joke). The Southern Conference announced they will be returning to Asheville for 2025 and 2026 championship dates, at the Kimmel Arena (UNC Asheville). Another change? It will be a two-day event - held on the 7th and 8th of March. So go ahead and enter that PTO (or as I like to call it, prepare the others) so you can enjoy a nice long weekend in the mountains. Eyes have been on Western North Carolina recently, following Hurricane Helene and the devastation she left behind. While Asheville is still in recovery mode, I’m sure they’ll greatly benefit from the tourism this upcoming March. SoCon Wrestlers in the rankings: (16) 125 #29 Anthony Molton (Campbell) 133 #23 Dom Zaccone (Campbell) #31 Blake Boarman (UTC) 141 #23 Isaiah Powe (UTC) #29 Todd Carter (GWU) #31 Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 157 #27 Noah Castillo (UTC) 165 #8 Will Miller (App St) 174 #26 Dom Baker (Campbell) #31 Sergio DeSiante (UTC) 184 #28 Billy Janzer (The Citadel) #33 Braxton Lewis (VMI) 197 #18 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) #31 Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) #32 Connor Strong (UTC) 285 #9 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)

The MSU Open is always a great time. Anyone available and nearby should start every season by checking out this awesome event. Michigan State wrestling always does an awesome job with hosting and putting on this event, and you can watch some excellent wrestling from the freshman/sophomore division, through the excellent competition in the Open division. A great perk of my position is that I get to interview some of the coaches and athletes while attending. Early on, I had the chance to meet with Dylan Ragusin and talk about how his experience from last season and the summer will lead to additional success this season While floating around and watching the matches, I also had a chance to grab Northwestern’s Trevor Chumbley to talk through what he can expect from him and his squad this season, as well as what the fans can expect from Evanston Illinois as they host the B1G Championships. Shortly thereafter, I had the pleasure of watching Johnny Lovett get some work done on his way to the finals of the deep and talented 157-pound finals, where he ended up dropping a close match to All-American Peyten Kellar of Ohio. Here is Johnny after his quarterfinal victory: Michigan sent a solid contingent of competitors to this tournament, including Chase Saldate who placed 3rd at 157. Some of their other wrestlers had recently competed at the Clarion Open the previous weekend. Here, I connect with Joseph Walker, 174, who is fresh off of winning that tournament. Here he talks about his journey and patience as he prepared year after year for the chance to be a full time starter: Additionally, I grabbed Jack Medley - Director of Operations for Michigan wrestling, to talk about the team this season and what to expect from their squad; Being a B1G correspondent for InterMat, I wanted to try to grab as many competitors as I could reasonably get interviews from. Balancing the interview portion with not bothering the athletes as they battle with some of the best in the country is tough, but I knew I wanted to grab Derek Gilcher, the Hoosier who is battling to get himself in the lineup this season. Here he talks about coming back from injury and his approach to this season; What’s better than interviewing one Gilcher? Interviewing two of them. Here I talk with Dylan Gilcher about his recent experience at the Clarion Open, and his approach headed into his first season with the Wolverines; I wasn’t about to leave East Lansing without grabbing Ben Bennett, who was coaching in his first competition as the Head Coach of the Chippewas. Here he talks about what we can expect from this Central Michigan team as they look to defend their title as MAC Champions, as well as how Johnny Lovett is looking to stay aggressive this season; I genuinely love this tournament, and though I didn’t get to speak with everyone I had hoped to, I got some great insight from athletes and coaches as the 2024/2025 season gets underway. I hope you enjoyed these interviews, and I hope to grab some more as the year continues to unfold.

Hi besties, long time no see. Leaves are falling, the wind is a little chillier, and wrestling mats have been rolled out. It’s time to talk about our SoCon season. The Camels added TJ Dudley to their coaching staff this summer. Dudley, a three-time All-American at 184 lbs (Nebraska), comes to the Creek following three seasons of coaching at Brown University. Speaking of Nebraska, the Camels will host the #3 Cornhuskers on November 15, on the infield at the historic Jim Perry Stadium. Intermission will feature a star-studded exhibition presented by CLAW Wrestling between Jordan Oliver and Bryce Andonian. The match that will surely bring the heat on that chilly Friday in November. Also, it’s looking like a 125lb rematch of (former) SoCon rivals #25 Anthony Molton and #4 Caleb Smith (NEB). But before I get ahead of myself with the schedule, Campbell, continuing to wow fans with fun venues to experience wrestling - from aircraft hangars to battling at barns, the Camels know how to make wrestling fun. Dual at the Daddy will take place on the spookiest night of the year - Halloween. At Frontier Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Camels and the (#25 Wyoming) Cowboys are set to face off for a special dual. So special, it required a waiver from the NCAA to begin the season on October 31. The scary-good matchup of the evening will be at 197 lbs - #17 Joey Novak (WYO) vs #20 Levi Hopkins. Hopkins, the returning Southern Conference Champion, would be defending his 2-0 streak against Novak. Jake Patacsil is another addition to the Campbell Wrestling staff. Patacsil boasts a rich coaching resume - having held assistant coaching positions at NAIA and NCAA DI and DII programs, Coach Patacsil was also the head coach for the inaugural season of Mount Olive’s wrestling program (2018). An All-American at 149 for Purdue, Patacsil is likely working with the middleweights. Campbell is slated to host five duals this season and will be on the road for WrangleMania, the Knockout Collegiate Classic, the Southern Scuffle, the Chippewa Challenge, and a SoCon Showdown in Boone against rival App State. For those who aren’t aware, the Chippewa Challenge (one of my favorite college wrestling dual series), is in honor of Coach Tom Borrelli, who coached the head coaches of the other schools competing, while at Central Michigan. Scotti Sentes (Campbell), Luke Smith (CSU Bakersfield), and Jason Borelli (American, also Tom’s son), wrestled for Coach Borelli. A reunion with some competition is always a recipe for a good time. We’ve talked about the new faces on the team, now it’s time to welcome back the seasoned starters. Starting at heavyweight: #7 Taye Ghadiali. Coming off of a 35-6 campaign in 2024, Ghadiali was named SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Southern Conference Champion, and achieved All-American status. #20 Levi Hopkins, the Alaskan Assassin, is the returning 197 lb Southern Conference Champion for the Camels. A notable opponent for Hopkins this season comes from CSU-Bakersfield, #1 AJ Ferrari. A world team member representing the Bahamas, Shannon Hanna (#28), returns to the mat after wrestling unattached last season. At 133, Dom Zaccone (#20), returns after a third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships and a second place finish at the Southern Conference Championships. In 2024, Dom Baker qualified for nationals for the first time but will move up in weight to 174 lbs. Last, but certainly not least, #25 Anthony Molton (125), returns after an undefeated SoCon dual season, though he finished third at the Southern Conference Championships. The Camels are vying for a chance at the SoCon Championship after last year’s second-place tournament finish, and another dual-team title. They’ll start the conference season on January 17 in Boiling Springs against the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs.

The season hasn't even started yet, but we're making picks as to who we see winning each weight class at the 2024-25 NCAA Championships.

“I am committed to continuing our winning tradition both academically and athletically. I look forward to the work ahead with a focus on providing a championship caliber experience for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire Campbell family. The future is bright for Campbell Athletics.” Those are the words for Campbell University’s Director of Athletics Hannah Bazemore shortly after being named the school’s athletic director in November 2022. Those words rang hollow just a day after the school’s wrestling team learned that they would have a significant amount of funding cut from them. Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the wrestling program will only be given three scholarships which is a sharp decrease from the nine they had been working with. In what seems to be an unusual move, wrestlers who wish to keep their scholarships would not be allowed to compete. InterMat reached out to AD Bazemore for comment on this story and/or more information about this situation and has yet to receive a response as of Tuesday morning. Men’s and women’s soccer, golf, tennis, and volleyball are also said to be impacted. This change comes on the heels of the school’s move from the Big South Conference to the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly the Colonial Athletic Association). The move put Campbell in a conference that stretches from Charleston, South Carolina to Boston, Massachusetts. It was likely supposed to boost the school’s profile in football and basketball but generally has added more in travel expenses for everyone else - a common thread in conference realignment. Another “big-picture” change that’s in play here is the announcement that college athletics must share revenue with their athletes. Campbell has reportedly "opted in" to participate in revenue sharing in the future. Administrators can stomach sharing revenue with football and basketball teams, but everyone else, not so much. That plays a part in this decision. The main theme here is that the school and the athletic department have grossly mismanaged their budget and overspent and athletes who had nothing to do with their incompetence are left holding the bag. In today’s NIL world, holding the bag is actually a good thing - in this context, it isn’t. In my seventeen years of covering collegiate wrestling, I’ve seen too many colleges drop wrestling. I could look up the number, but it would be just another painful stomach punch during a rough couple of days. Usually, when a program is dropped or the funding is severely cut, you have to step back and look at the wrestling program as a whole. There tend to be multiple factors that contribute to the death. Lack of competitiveness on the mat, lack of attendance or fan interaction/interest, an out-of-touch coaching staff, and a team that doesn’t get the job done in the classroom or on campus are all hallmarks of a program that gets dropped by the administration. With Campbell, none of those factors apply. Though they just missed out on the InterMat preseason team rankings, Campbell finished the 2023-24 season ranked #22 in the nation in duals. Since 2021-22, the team has combined to go 41-7 and 21-2 in SoCon matches. Last season ended with heavyweight Taye Ghadiali becoming the second All-American in school history. In the 2022-23 season, Campbell notched wins over two Big Ten teams. A year prior, they downed an ACC opponent and pulled an upset over #16 Lehigh. Campbell’s staff also got in done on the recruiting trail inking the #24 overall recruiting class in the country with six of the top-250 prospects in the country. The Campbell coaching staff and support staff have done an excellent job in making the team relevant for reasons outside of wins and losses. Their social media presence is excellent and always on the cutting edge - typically, displaying more humor than most team accounts. Campbell has also developed a partnership with UFC FightPass who has streamed a handful of their duals. The Campbell/UFC FightPass partnership hasn’t been limited to “just showing” matches, but the team has worked in conjunction with opponents to provide unique atmospheres to promote these duals. In 2022-23, Campbell wrestled Michigan and North Carolina in the “Battle at Bragg.” The teams squared off in a hangar at Pope Army Airfield on the base formerly known as Fort Bragg (now Liberty). Last year, Campbell and Army West Point had a similar dual. A few weeks later, Campbell defeated Wyoming in the “Battle in the Barn” The dual took place in a specially renovated barn at an altitude of 8,000 feet on Deerwood Ranch in Wyoming. This season, they are set to take on #3 Nebraska on the school’s baseball field. The bottom line is Campbell’s wrestling program has repeatedly thought out of the box to make their matches more than just another wrestling match, they’re trying to create events and build or increase their fanbase. Campbell has also taken care of business in the classroom. Over the last four years, they have been mentioned each time in the NWCA’s Team Scholar Athlete Awards - with the highest ranking coming in 2022 when their team GPA was fifth in the country at 3.484. The 2021 team was 15th, 2023 was 14th and the team was 28th last year. Campbell and Campbell’s staff have checked all of the appropriate boxes when it comes to doing their part in running a successful program, so why does this happen? As with most things in college athletics, the answer lies in money. Unless your team is generating massive amounts of money or you’re one of the select few blue-blood wrestling programs, this could happen to you. The wrestling team has already had to reportedly raise over six figures per year to make their operating budget and that was with nine scholarships. The sad reality is that there’s an unofficial playbook for administrators in these seemingly dire financial situations. It’s either eliminating programs without warning or floating the idea that programs will be dropped or funding will be severely cut - leading to donors stepping up and saving the program and endowing it for the future, thus easing financial burdens off of them. Of course, if the donors do not get to a level that is acceptable to the school, they can just eliminate the team and it’s another line item off the balance sheet. We’re thankful that AD Bazemore did not use option one. It irritates me that we’ll have to work with the second option again (see Stanford), but I’d rather the wrestling community have the option to save a program than not. Going forward, this may be a more common occurrence. Now, I’m here talking about worst-case scenarios. I know Campbell head coach Scotti Sentes a little bit. With nine scholarships or three, he’s still going to put his all into making Campbell a viable program and doing right by his student-athletes. But make no mistake, he’ll have his work cut out for him. There will likely be a handful of current wrestlers in the transfer portal and some talented recruits decommit. As of now, InterMat has seen six verbals for Campbell from the Class of 2025. InterMat reached out for a comment from the parent of a current Campbell starter who replied, “I’m at a loss honestly. I have no idea what my child should do. I don’t know how he protects himself. He has trusted the process, trusted the people in charge, and planned his college career in line with what made the most sense for him to be the best version of himself both on the mat and classroom. I know life lessons can be really rough… just hoping this doesn’t actually pan out to be one.” You also have to feel for current Campbell stars Anthony Molton and Shannon Hanna. Both were team members on the Old Dominion team that was dropped after the 2019-20 season. After leaving Old Dominion, Molton transferred to Fresno State, who dropped their team after the 2021 season. A brief look at Molton's resume by the uninformed eye might lead one to think he’s an example of what’s wrong with college athletics with two transfers - three schools in three years. Technically, they’d be right, but for the opposite reason. Molton is an example of being collateral damage for the failures of college administrators, over and over again. After a couple of minutes on Campbell University’s homepage, I stumbled across the school’s mission statement. There’s the statement itself, but after there are 12 points the University says it will do to fulfill the mission. I’d implore AD Bazemore and anyone involved with the decision-making process to re-read points #3 and #7. #3: influences development of moral courage, social sensitivity, and ethical responsibility. #7 encourages students to think critically and creatively. Are you holding yourself to the same standards that you’re holding these young men and women to? Think creatively and show moral courage, social sensitivity, and ethical responsibility. Back to our quote from AD Bazemore: “I am committed to continuing our winning tradition both academically and athletically. I look forward to the work ahead with a focus on providing a championship caliber experience for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire Campbell family. The future is bright for Campbell Athletics.” Make sure the future is indeed bright for Campbell athletics. Not just holding out hope that a magical football run or Final Four berth in basketball will save you. The wrestling team is one that has delivered the championship caliber experience for Campbell. Do your best to support them rather than gut the program. To donate and support Campbell wrestling please follow this link . Make sure wrestling scholarships are noted in your donation. Make your voice heard by the Campbell administration. While we are all emotional about this situation, please be respectful of AD Bazemore or any administrators to contact. Personal attacks only make the program look worse and likely decrease their desire to help.

We’re now going down south to the SoCon to check out one of the perennial conference favorites Campbell. The Camels are led by Scotti Sentes who is heading into his fifth seed as head coach. Campbell returns a squad that features four 2024 national qualifiers and another coming off of an Olympic redshirt. In 2023-24, Campbell went 14-3 in dual competition and finished ranked 22nd in the nation in dual rankings. Some of the Camels notable dual wins include Army West Point, MAC champion Central Michigan, and rivals Appalachian State. While the SoCon tournament was not what Campbell hoped for, they did reach an impressive benchmark at nationals. Looking ahead to 2024-25, Campbell will likely feature an experienced lineup with the potential to challenge the seven national qualifiers that the 2021 team produced. Additionally, could Campbell place multiple wrestlers on the podium or have a multiple-time AA? I guess we’ll have to stick around for the upcoming season to find out. 125: Anthony Molton The Camels spark plug is back at 125 lbs and looking to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in his career. Molton was 21-5 last season and spent a significant amount of time in the national rankings, but a semifinal loss at the SoCon Championships coupled with a few other upsets at other conference tournaments was deemed too much for him to receive an at-large berth. A factor that may have hampered Molton in his NCAA bid was his lack of elite wins. Molton teched then-undefeated Jack Maida (American) for his first loss of the year; however, Maida struggled after that point and didn’t qualify himself. He also had at least one other dual where a ranked wrestler was not sent out to face him. Back in 2022-23, Molton made fans take notice when he knocked off the eventual NCAA runner-up, Matt Ramos (Purdue) - his old high school teammate. The two met once last season and Ramos prevailed both times. Two of his other five losses in 2023-24 came to eventual All-American Jore Volk (Wyoming). Molton clearly has the goods to make it to Philadelphia and make an impact at the national tournament, he just needs a couple of signature wins and to end the season on a better note. In each of the last two years, Molton has fallen in the SoCon semis. Since coming to Campbell after Fresno State dropped their program, Molton has amassed a very respectable 42-18 record. 133: Dom Zaccone photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com In 2024-25, Dom Zaccone will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for a fourth time and capture an elusive SoCon title. In each of the last two seasons, Zaccone has fallen in the conference finals. Last year, 133 lbs was the deepest weight class in the SoCon with three automatic qualifiers and a couple of other fringe qualifiers. Despite this, Zaccone went 6-1 in conference duals with bonus points in five of those wins. His lone loss came to Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State), an opponent who he had defeated earlier in the season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Once at nationals, Zaccone was granted the #22 seed and went 1-2 - the same record he compiled at the 2023 tournament. In the opening round, Zaccone pulled a slight upset by defeating #11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) via a 4-1 decision. He’d lose his next bout to the eventual champion, Vito Arujau (Cornell), and then was eliminated by Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona. During the regular season, Zaccone really made his mark with a fourth-place finish at the CKLV. In addition to his win over Oakley, Zaccone defeated two more national qualifiers (Farber and Chlebove) and an impressive true freshman (Tyler Knox). With Oakley moving on to North Carolina, Zaccone will start the year as an odds-on favorite to finally get his SoCon title. 141: Shannon Hanna Two-time national qualifier Shannon Hanna took off the 2023-24 season using an Olympic redshirt in an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games for Barbados. Ultimately, Hanna did not make it to Paris but gained invaluable experience in the process. He earned bronze medals at both the U23 and Senior levels, while competing at the Pan-American Championships. Turning our attention back to the collegiate scene, Hanna will be gunning for his third SoCon title in 2024-25. He’s also seeking the chance to make an even bigger impression at the national tournament. Hanna has gone 0-2 in both of his previous trips. Even though Hanna’s focus was on freestyle last season, he did enter three open tournaments and went 9-4 along the way. His most impressive win during the year of open competition was during his title-winning performance at the Patriot Open, where he edged impressive Penn grayshirt Cross Wasilewski by a point. Hanna will jump back into a 141 lb weight class in the SoCon that was won by Chattanooga true freshman Isaiah Powe. He’ll probably need to win the weight class and post a couple of notable victories to get a better NCAA seed than in the past (#22/#27). That would probably position him better for a deep NCAA run. 149: Wynton Denkins The first three weights for Campbell feature veterans who are trying to fine-tune their games and get to a different level of national competition - but, at 149, they could have a young face that is still trying to establish himself in Wynton Denkins. Denkins is a sophomore who stepped in at 141 lbs last year with Hanna out of the lineup. All-in-all, Denkins acquitted himself well and showed flashes of the talent that made him a top-150 recruit in the high school Class of 2023. Denkins finished his first year in Buies Creek with a 15-9 record. During the dual season, Denkins wrestled close matches with the eventual national qualifiers, Powe and Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb). At SoCon’s, Denkins was on the wrong end of a 15-12 shootout against Powe in the semifinals. For the 2024-25 campaign, Denkins is expected to move up to the 149 lb weight class. This is a bracket that sent two qualifiers to Kansas City; however, only one (Jeffrey Boyd - The Citadel) returns. That means 149 could be wide open in the conference and perhaps Denkins is someone who seizes control of the opportunity. 157: Chris Earnest Speaking of second-year sophomore starters, Campbell has another in Chris Earnest. Like Denkins, Earnest was a top-150 recruit from the state of Ohio who found his way into the Camels starting lineup as a true freshman. Earnest’s collegiate career started on a high note with an upset over ranked national qualifier, Nate Lukez (Army West Point), during his debut. From there, Earnest seemed to have a season like many freshmen do - a few losses he’d probably like to have back, but some really good moments, as well. Earnest went 2-2 in a 157 lb CKLV bracket that probably featured the toughest in-season field of any single weight class in a decade. The top-six finishers were all All-American’s at least once in their careers and two 2024 AA’s field to find the medal stand. A pair of losses to Davidson’s Tanner Peake probably derailed Earnest’s NCAA qualification hopes more than any others. Earnest fell to Peak in dual competition and in the semifinals of the SoCon Championships. With a full year in the Campbell room and valuable in-match experience under his belt, I’d expect Earnest to take that next step in 2024-25 and make a serious push for a spot in Philadelphia. Like his teammate Zaccone, one of Earnest’s biggest in-conference hurdles, Tommy Askey, has transferred leaving 157 lbs relatively open in the upcoming season. 165: Dom Baker/Riley Augustine/Kendrick Hodge In just one offseason, Dom Baker went from a true freshman with a record under .500 to someone who earned an automatic qualifying slot for the conference and used it for his first trip to nationals. Baker started his sophomore year slowly with a 1-2 showing at the CKLV Invitational; however, he turned around his fortunes by promptly winning his next six duals. Included in that streak was an opponent who defeated him in Vegas (Stoney Buell - Purdue) and another who went on to earn All-American honors (Hunter Garvin - Stanford). In his first national tournament appearance, Baker went 1-2 with a victory via fall over #23 Derek Fields (NC State). Both wrestlers who defeated him went on to collect All-American honors. Since Baker was immediately inserted into the Campbell lineup, in 2022-23, he has a redshirt to take. It appears as if the tandem of Riley Augustine and Kendrick Hodge will get a chance to establish one of themselves as the starter with the intention of redshirting Baker. If neither does so, Baker can be pulled. Augustine is a senior who has seen plenty of dual action at 174 lbs for Campbell but has never been the postseason entry. Last year, Augustine was 7-5 overall and 3-3 in dual competition. Hodge is a true freshman who was Campbell’s highest-ranked signee in the Class of 2024, coming in at #89 overall. The Florida native was a two-time NHSCA finalist, who capped off his high school career with a Senior National title. 174: Brant Cracraft Sentes’ team will try to replace one of their stalwarts at this weight class in Austin Murphy, who was a two-time SoCon champion and a Round of 12 finisher in 2021. While Campbell has plenty of options at 174 lbs, some of which are from their Class of 2024, veteran Brant Cracraft may have an early edge on the rest of the field. Cracraft is moving up from 165 lbs where he went 3-7 last season. He saw action in three duals last season and was winless in those. Campbell also has veteran Cole Rees and true freshmen Mike Kinzel and Kaleb Wright who could see action at 174 lbs. Rees was 6-15 in 2022-23, but did not see any action last season. 184: Conor Maslanek Another weight where Campbell will be replacing a long-time starter is 184 lbs with Caleb Hopkins who has exhausted his eligibility. In steps veteran Conor Maslanek who is in his fourth year with the program and is a redshirt junior. Maslanek wrestled at 197 lbs during his first two years with the team, but moved down to 184 for the 2023-24 campaign. With Hopkins in the fold, Maslanek didn’t get many opportunities to take the mat in dual competition; however, he was 1-2 when called upon. Maslanek was 11-7 overall. Certainly, the highlight of his 2023-24 season was a win over Navy’s David Key, who went on to earn All-American honors in Kansas City. A win like that should instill confidence in Maslanek and Campbell fans who are looking for a steady replacement for Hopkins. 197: Levi Hopkins photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com The back end of the Campbell lineup has been a strength, of late, and should continue to be one again in 2024-25 with 197 lber Levi Hopkins being one of the reasons for optimism. Hopkins has won SoCon titles in each of the last two years at this weight and even earned a #13 seed at nationals last year. Hopkins got off to a decent start last season, but really turned it on winning 15 of his last 16 regular season matches. During that span, Hopkins tallied eight of his 13 falls. Hopkins really was head and shoulders above the rest of the SoCon, as he notched first-period pins in each of his three matches at the conference tournament. This year, Hopkins will be looking to make more of an impact at the NCAA meet. In Kansas City, Hopkins suffered a slight upset in the opponent round, with a tiebreaker loss to Evan Bockman (then of Utah Valley). He was eliminated in his next match. As is often the case with upperweights, 197 cleared out a bit after last year. That should lead to a good preseason ranking for Hopkins as he tries to prove he’s much closer to the national podium than a 0-2 finish at nationals. In the offseason, Coach Sentes brought in former national runner-up and three-time All-American, TJ Dudley as an assistant coach. Hopkins will likely benefit from a new high-caliber coach around his weight. 285: Taye Ghadiali photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com The first NCAA All-American under Sentes (as head coach) and only the second one in program history was Taye Ghadiali who finished eighth in Kansas City. Ghadiali is a remarkable development story for the Campbell staff as he was a little-known recruit who fought to a 15-11 record after two seasons, then continued to blossom into a national force and an All-American. Ghadiali finished the 2023-24 campaign with a sparkling 36-6 record and claimed his third consecutive SoCon crown along the way. At the national tournament, Ghadiali suffered a loss in the Round of 16 but battled back through the consolations with three straight wins to clinch All-American honors. Two of those victories came against top-ten seeds who were conference champions. The bloodround win was in sudden victory over the fifth-seed, EIWA champion Nathan Taylor (Lehigh). While Ghadiali was far from an unknown commodity heading into the 2023-24 season, he showed the wrestling world what he was capable of in Vegas with a third-place finish at a loaded weight class. Coincidentally, he earned wins over a pair of wrestlers he’d later beat at NCAA’s (Cory Day - Binghamton and Owen Trephan - NC State). Looking ahead to 2024-25, I’d expect more of the same from Ghadiali - lots of wins and lots of bonus points in the process. Ghadiali amassed bonus points in over 70% of his matches last year and racked up 12 falls. We’ll see if Ghadiali can become the first two-time NCAA All-American in program history. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Air Force Indiana Iowa State Lock Haven North Carolina Northern Iowa Oregon State West Virginia

After the first day of the Olympic Wrestling, four journalists saw all three of their picks reach the finals with nine others going 2-for-3. Well, that success was fun while it lasted as Day 2 started off in the least conceivable way: Japan’s Yui Susaki (50kg), the reigning World Champion suffered her first international defeat of her entire career as Vinesh (IND) stung her at the buzzer to win 2-2. Susaki was selected by eighteen of the twenty-one prognosticators in TheMat.com’s annual International Journalist Pick Contest. Two journalists selected Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) who reached tomorrow’s finals. But Susaki wasn’t the only overwhelming pick that went down. Akzhol Makhmudeov (KGZ), the reigning world champion in Greco at 77kg lost to Kazakhstan's Demeu Zhadrayev in Round 2 erasing the pick of eleven. Only five journalists have a finalist alive at 77, and all five took Japan’s Nao Kusaka who will face Zhadrayev. Selections in Greco at 97 saw much better results for the journalists. Artur Aleksanyan (ARM) and Mohammad Saravi (IRI) will meet in tomorrow’s finals with the two combining for seventeen of the twenty-one picks: Aleksanyan with thirteen and Saravi with four. In the semi’s, Aleksanyan beat Gabriel Rosillo (CUB) in a rematch of last year’s World finals won by Rosillo. Despite being the defending World Champ, Rosillo only garnered two pre-tournament picks here.

Junior Men’s Freestyle Final Results Team Race 1. Pennsylvania 2. New Jersey 3. California 4. Minnesota 5. Illinois 6. Arizona 7. Oklahoma 8. Ohio 9. Iowa 10. Indiana 100 lbs Championship: Michael Rundell (Illinois) over Xavier Diaz (Pennsylvania) 8-5 3rd Place: Ethan Powell (Ohio) over Kacen Jones (Utah) 10-0 5th Place: Jason Foutz (Pennsylvania) over Brock Goebel (Nebraska) 16-5 7th Place: Kaiden Belinsky (Iowa) over Chase Dubuque (New Jersey) 15-4 106 lbs Championship: Christopher Swann (Georgia) over Antonio Quiroz (Nevada) 8-7 3rd Place: Jarrett Smith (Michigan) over Carter Chunko (Pennsylvania) 6-2 5th Place: Cason Craft (Oklahoma) over Brady Byrd (Indiana) 11-10 7th Place: Charles Esposito (New Jersey) over Daniel Alire (Arizona) 10-0 113 lbs Championship: Dunia Sibomana (New York) over Ayden Dodd (Ohio) 8-2 3rd Place: Abdi Unle (Nebraska) over Revin Dickman (Indiana) 8-6 5th Place: Nicolas Enzminger (North Dakota) over Brayden Teunissen (Illinois) 10-0 7th Place: Caleb Noble (Illinois) over Oumar Tounkara (New York) 13-3 120 lbs Championship: Gauge Botero (Pennsylvania) over Brock Rothermel (Pennsylvania) 11-2 3rd Place: Blake Beissel (Minnesota) over Davis Motyka (Pennsylvania) 7-6 5th Place: Nicolas Garcia (Illinois) over Dom Deputy (Pennsylvania) 4-4 7th Place: Dru Ayala (Iowa) over Antonio Mills (Georgia) 13-11 126 lbs Championship: Aaron Seidel (Pennsylvania) over Koufax Christensen (Iowa) 10-0 3rd Place: Christian Castillo (Arizona) over Gavin Jendreas (Indiana) 10-0 5th Place: Nathan Desmond (Pennsylvania) over Edwin Sierra (California) 5-3 7th Place: Billy Townson (California) over Jace Hedeman (Iowa) 6-0 132 lbs Championship: Jax Forrest (Pennsylvania) over Seth Mendoza (Illinois) 10-0 3rd Place: Jake Hockaday (Indiana) over Matthew Botello (Massachusetts) 8-4 5th Place: Tyler Dekraker (Pennsylvania) over Moses Mendoza (California) 9-8 7th Place: Logan Swensen (Minnesota) over Manuel Saldate (Nevada) 12-3 138 lbs Championship: Sergio Vega (Arizona) over Drew Gorman (Georgia) 10-2 3rd Place: Alex Braun (Minnesota) over Hunter Hollingsworth (Oklahoma) 6-4 5th Place: Sam Herring (Pennsylvania) over Carter Freeman (Iowa) 10-0 7th Place: Kellen Wolbert (Wisconsin) MedFFT Blue Stiffler (Georgia) 144 lbs Championship: Daniel Zepeda (California) over Smokey McClure (Washington) 13-4 3rd Place: Tyson Charmoli (Minnesota) over Pierson Manville (Pennsylvania) 3-2 5th Place: Zeno Moore (Florida) over Jace Roller (Oklahoma) 14-7 7th Place: Gabriel Bouyssou (Rhode Island) over Gus Cardinal (Arizona) 12-0 150 lbs Championship: Landon Robideau (Minnesota) over Paul Kelly (California) 10-0 3rd Place: Maddox Shaw (Pennsylvania) over August Hibler (New Jersey) 6-4 5th Place: Blake Crosby (Michigan) over Daishun Powe (Alabama) 13-2 7th Place: Matthew Martino (Idaho) over Brandon Dean (Colorado) Fall 2:16 157 lbs Championship: Melvin Miller (Pennsylvania) over Isaias Jimenez (Arizona) 8-7 3rd Place: Kody Routledge (Oklahoma) over Ishmael Guerrero (Oklahoma) 11-5 5th Place: Ben Weader (Virginia) FFT Vince Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) 7th Place: Claudio Torres (Florida) over Caleb Olson (Iowa) 10-0 165 lbs Championship: Alessio Perentin (New Jersey) over Elliott Humphries (Massachusetts) 10-0 3rd Place: Charlie Millard (Wisconsin) over Clay Giddens (Oklahoma) 5-3 5th Place: Israel Ibarra (Arizona) over Travis Grace (California) Fall 2:54 7th Place: Gunner Holland (Florida) over Dante Hutchings (Colorado) 13-8 175 lbs Championship: Ryan Burton (New Jersey) over Will Henckel (Connecticut) 4-2 3rd Place: Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) over Caleb Dennee (Wisconsin) 12-1 5th Place: Waylon Cressell (Indiana) over Keenan Sheridan (South Dakota) 10-0 7th Place: Mason Ontiveros (California) over Matthew Jens (Illinois) 11-1 190 lbs Championship: Harvey Ludington (New Jersey) over Cade Ziola (Nebraska) 10-0 3rd Place: Carson Thomas (Ohio) over Gage Yackee (Ohio) 5-5 5th Place: Anders Thompson (Montana) over Elijah Diakomihalis (New York) 15-2 7th Place: Peter Snyder (Maryland) over Aidan Ysaguirre (Arizona) 2-1 215 lbs Championship: Angelo Posada (California) over Anthony Harris (New Jersey) 5-2 3rd Place: Austin Johnson (Pennsylvania) over Melvin Whitehead (Nevada) 10-0 5th Place: Evan McGuire (Minnesota) over Mikey Calcagno (Illinois) 11-6 7th Place: Ian Smith (Wisconsin) over Antonio Palmer (Nebraska) MedFFt 285 lbs Championship: Rocco Dellagatta (New Jersey) over Daniel Herrera (California) 8-7 3rd Place: Parker Ferrell (Virginia) over Cash Henderson (Utah) 15-4 5th Place: Rylan Kuhn (Missouri) over Dean Bechtold (Pennsylvania) 6-5 7th Place: Ricky Thomas (Oklahoma) over Jackson Barnhart (Illinois) 6-0

Fargo aka 16U and Junior Nationals is upon us. The largest wrestling tournament in the world is set to kick off on Saturday with the women’s freestyle portion of the tournament. Last year’s version of Fargo included over 7,000 participants! To get ready for Fargo, we’re looking at the tournament from a collegiate perspective. A recruiting perspective. Over the next few days, we’ll go conference-by-conference to look at recruits from each school who have signed up for the tournament. Our last conference to preview is the Big 12. The Big 12 has grown by one school over the offseason as Arizona State has moved for all sports. The addition of a team that has placed in the top-seven at NCAA's in each of the last four years makes a strong conference just that much more difficult to navigate. Including ASU, six Big 12 teams finished in the top-15 at NCAA's in 2024. Looking ahead to the future, the Big 12 had three teams in the top-ten of InterMat's 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings. Four others made the top-25 and two others were listed as honorable mentions. The future is very bright in the Big 12 Editor's Note: As of the writing of this article, Team Oklahoma had not released their entries for the tournament. No recruits from Oklahoma are listed in this preview. It was purposely held to the end, in case they were made available. As of Monday morning, entries have been listed on FloArena, so you can see any Oklahoma recruits who have registered to compete. Recruits have been grouped by team. They are listed alphabetically alongside the weight listed in USA Wrestling’s registration, the state they represent, and their graduating class. The # next to a wrestler’s name denotes their MatScouts Big Board ranking in their respective class. We’ve sorted through six or seven thousand entries to bring you these previews, so there could be a recruit or two that slipped through the cracks. If that’s the case, please let me know. Earl@matscouts.com Additionally, no preview or historical analysis for anything Fargo-related could be done without some assistance from Jason Bryant’s massive Fargo Guide. There’s still time to get yours! Air Force 165 lbs: Cy Fowler (Tennessee) - Class of 2025 285 lbs: #63 Rylan Kuhn (Missouri) - Class of 2025 138 lbs: Chancellor Matthews (Colorado) - Class of 2025 Air Force’s 2025 Class will be on display with two of the three wrestlers here who have made the Fargo podium in the past. Rylan Kuhn was a 16U All-American in both styles in 2022 - taking fifth in freestyle and appearing on the raised stage in the Greco finals. Chancellor Matthews was a 16U freestyle All-American last year taking eighth place at 132 lbs. Cy Fowler hasn’t been a Fargo All-American just yet, but he has finished top-five at the NHSCA grade-level tournament in 2023 and 2024. Arizona State 285 lbs: Nick Hutchins (Arizona) - Class of 2024 190 lbs: #11 Harvey Ludington (New Jersey) - Class of 2025 144 lbs: #31 Pierson Manville (Pennsylvania) - Class of 2024 New Big 12 members, Arizona State, have a pair of high-caliber recruits from the Class of 2024 and 2025. Pierson Manville is the incoming freshman and he has an absurd Fargo resume. Manville has been third in both styles, at the Junior division, in 2022 and 2024. In 2021, Manville made the 16U finals in both styles and came away with a title in Greco. Also in the international styles, Manville has placed fourth times at the UWW U17 Trials. Two-time New Jersey state champion and three-time finalist Harvey Ludington was fifth in 16U Greco-Roman in 2021. Ludington is also a champion at the Beast of the East and NHSCA Sophomore Nationals. Heavyweight prospect, Nick Hutchins, is an Arizona state third-place finisher and was second at Arizona’s Fargo qualifier. California Baptist 190 lbs: Adonis Bonar (Nebraska) - Class of 2025 138 lbs: Richie Clementi (California) - Class of 2025 150 lbs: #46 Paul Kelly (California) - Class of 2024 175 lbs: #178 Anthony Rinehart (Indiana) - Class of 2025 California Baptist’s top recruit from the Class of 2024, Paul Kelly, will be on display (once again) in Fargo. Kelly has had plenty of success in the FargoDome with four career All-American honors. Kelly was fourth in both styles last year at the Junior division. Prior to that, Kelly had finished sixth in Junior and U16 Greco. Another freestyle accolade for Kelly is an eighth-place finish at the UWW U17 Trials in 2021. Greco specialist Adonis Bonar will move up from the 16U to the Junior division in 2024. Bonar was a national champion last year in Greco-Roman and seventh in freestyle. Earlier this year, Bonar fell in the finals of the UWW U17 Trials. The other ranked wrestler from this group is Anthony Rinehart a two-time Indiana state placewinner who made it to the top six at the Ironman. Iowa State 126 lbs: #43 Christian Castillo (Arizona) - Class of 2025 285 lbs: #35 Daniel Herrera (Iowa) - Class of 2024 After a three-year hiatus, Christian Castillo is returning to Fargo to take care of some unfinished business. In 2021, Castillo was a 16U national runner-up in freestyle. He hasn’t been to the tournament in each of the last two years because he won a spot on the U17 World Team. In 2022, Castillo earned a U17 World silver medal and was eighth in the Greco-Roman tournament. Last year, Castillo made the U17 world team in freestyle and didn’t medal. Graduated senior, Daniel Herrera, is seeking his first Fargo medal before moving on to college. Herrera won a pair of California state titles before moving to the Ames area for his senior year and claiming an Iowa title in the process. Currently, Herrera’s best national-level credential is a second-place finish at the 2023 Super 32. Missouri 165 lbs: #64 Dom Bambinelli (Georgia) - Class of 2025 120 lbs: Hank Benter (Missouri) - Class of 2025 157 lbs: #96 Danny Heiser (Wisconsin) - Class of 2025 126 lbs: Draven Johns (Idaho) - Class of 2025 126 lbs: #6 Seth Mendoza (Illinois) - Class of 2025 175 lbs: #79 Jake Stoffel (Wisconsin) - Class of 2024 In a previous preview, we mentioned that Cornell could be a leading candidate in the 2025 recruiting class rankings. Well, Missouri will be in the mix, as well, and have a good chunk of their Class of 2025 in Fargo. The only graduating senior is Jake Stoffel who was a Fargo All-American in 2022 taking eighth place in 16U freestyle. A year later, Stoffel was sixth at the UWW U17 Trials. Aside from Stoffel, three other future Tigers have found the podium in Fargo, at one point or another in their careers. One of the top recruits in the Class of 2025, Seth Mendoza was U16 freestyle champion and has never finished lower than third in freestyle in three tries. Danny Heiser was also a U16 freestyle finalist in 2023. Earlier this year, Heiser was fifth at the UWW U17 Trials in freestyle. The final member of the group with past Fargo credentials is Georgia’s Dom Bambinelli. In 2021, Bambinelli AA’ed in both styles at the 16U level. Last year, he was eighth in Junior Greco-Roman. North Dakota State 132 lbs: Jack Castagneto (Idaho) - Class of 2024 190 lbs: Tayshaun Glover (North Carolina) - Class of 2024 165 lbs: Luke Hoag (Minnesota) - Class of 2025 165 lbs: Dante Hutchings (Colorado) - Class of 2024 285 lbs: #167 Shilo Jones (Idaho) - Class of 2024 190 lbs: #140 Andrew McMonagle (Pennsylvania) - Class of 2024 120 lbs: Kody Tanimoto (Texas) - Class of 2024 113 lbs: #86 Ezekiel Witt (Kansas) - Class of 2024 Second-year head coach Obe Blanc had a great first-full recruiting class in a group that earned honorable mention accolades in InterMat’s 2024 recruiting rankings. There is a large contingent of incoming freshmen who are heading to their new home to compete for All-American honors. This group has a staggering four wrestlers who have AA’ed multiple times in Fargo over the years. Ezekiel Witt was top-five at the Junior age group last year in both styles. He was also third in 16U Greco in 2021. Witt has also placed three times at the U17 Trials. Heavyweight Shilo Jones has AA’ed three times in the Junior division. He was second in Greco and sixth in freestyle last year. In 2022, he was sixth in Greco. The other two returning AA’s are Kody Tanimoto and the Class of 2025’s Luke Hoag. Tanimoto’s best work has come in Greco-Roman. He was a Junior finalist last year and fifth in 16U Greco in 2022. He’s also earned All-American honors twice at the UWW U17 Trials. Hoag got on the podium last year in both styles while in 16U. Another recruit who didn’t make the rankings, but who could surprise in Fargo is Tayshaun Glover of North Carolina. Glover was fourth at NHSCA Senior Nationals. Northern Iowa 138 lbs: #135 Carter Freeman (Iowa) - Class of 2024 126 lbs: Jace Hedeman (Iowa) - Class of 2025 157 lbs: #41 Kyler Knaack (Iowa) - Class of 2025 150 lbs: #31 Logan Paradice (Georgia) - Class of 2025 285 lbs: Grant Stromberg (Wisconsin) - Class of 2024 We’ve got a good mix between the Class of 2024 and 2025 in the FargoDome for Doug Schwab’s team. From the incoming freshmen, Carter Freeman is a three-time Iowa state champion, who has also won the same number of state freestyle titles at the Junior division. Grant Stromberg is a two-time state placewinner in Wisconsin who was third in the state in freestyle. The Class of 2025 are the ones with the winning experience from Fargo. Kyler Knaack was a double champion last year at the 16U level. This year, he advanced to the finals of the U17 Trials. Logan Paradice has placed three times in Fargo. Last year, Paradice was sixth in Junior freestyle. In 2022, at the 16U level, Paradice got on the podium in both styles. Oklahoma 138 lbs: #19 Alex Braun (Minnesota) - Class of 2024 174 lbs: #99 Bryce Burkett (Minnesota) - Class of 2025 126 lbs: #225 Koufax Christensen (Iowa) - Class of 2024 126 lbs: #62 Sebastian DeGennaro (Florida) - Class of 2025 157 lbs: #185 Owen Eck (Kansas) - Class of 2024 215 lbs: #49 Anthony Harris (New Jersey) - Class of 2025 285 lbs: Jacob Henry (Texas) - Class of 2024 132 lbs: #39 Jake Hockaday (Indiana) - Class of 2025 215 lbs: #56 Austin Johnson (Pennsylvania) - Class of 2025 157 lbs: Jake Moon (Texas) - Class of 2024 190 lbs: #55 Anders Thompson (Montana) - Class of 2024 Oklahoma has a massive group headed to Fargo and that’s without considering any in-state recruits - which they have plenty of. The Sooners entire Class of 2025 (thus far) is scheduled to compete, while the majority of their fourth-ranked Class of 2024 is ready to toe the line, as well. Four of Oklahoma’s recruits have already earned All-American honors from Fargo, led by Alex Braun who was a double AA last year at the Junior level and doubled in 2022 at 16U. Also in 2022, Bryce Burkett was a double finalist in 16U. He claimed the stop sign in Greco and was a runner-up in freestyle. The other two returning AA’s in the bunch are Jake Hockaday and Austin Johnson. Hockaday made his mark last year by taking fourth in Junior freestyle. Johnson was top-four in both styles in 16U in 2022. Another item to keep in mind is Anthony Harris’ return. Harris missed the high school postseason due to injury. Should he return to his previous form, his stock could continue to rise. Oklahoma State 144 lbs: #188 Kolter Burton (Idaho) - Class of 2024 132 lbs: Devon Harrison (Missouri) - Class of 2025 150 lbs: #20 Landon Robideau (Minnesota) - Class of 2025 Like their Bedlam rivals, we don’t have any Oklahoma natives listed here for the Cowboys, but I’d imagine a few end up competing. Landon Robideau made some news last week as he announced he was flipping college commitments from Minnesota to Oklahoma State. With Robideau, the Cowboys are getting a prospect who has made the 16U freestyle finals and was third in Junior freestyle in 2023. Robideau has also placed in the UWW U17 Trials twice. He’ll be a contender at a loaded 150 lb weight class. Incoming freshman, Kolter Burton, is no stranger to the awards podium in the FargoDome, either. He’s placed five times already in his Fargo career - one which is highlighted by a Junior title in Greco-Roman in 2021 and a Junior freestyle runner-up finish in 2022. South Dakota State 175 lbs: Burk Blasius (South Dakota) - Class of 2024 150 lbs: #85 Bas Diaz (Iowa) - Class of 2025 120 lbs: #111 Carson Dupill (Tennessee) - Class of 2025 285 lbs: #59 Micah Hach (South Dakota) - Class of 2025 157 lbs: #191 Jacob Herm (Wisconsin) - Class of 2025 126 lbs: #172 Liam Neitzel (Wisconsin) - Class of 2024 132 lbs: Cale Seaton (Iowa) - Class of 2024 175 lbs: Keenan Sheridan (South Dakota) - Class of 2024 132 lbs: #72 Logan Swensen (Minnesota) - Class of 2024 South Dakota State has an impressive recruiting Class of 2025 that features five members of the Big Board. All five are slated to compete in Fargo, along with a handful of incoming freshmen. The highest-ranked member of the Class of 2025 is big man Micah Hach, who was a 16U All-American in both styles last year. Additionally, Hach was an NHSCA Junior National champion. Jacob Herm and Liam Neitzel are other rising seniors that have past Fargo credentials. Herm has specialized in Greco-Roman. He found the podium both years in 16U and was a U17 Trials finalist this year. Neitzel has AA’ed in both styles in the 16U age group. Amongst the incoming freshmen, Logan Swensen is the one with the best accomplishments in the international styles. He was fifth in 16U Greco in 2021. That same year, he finished sixth in both styles at UWW U17’s. Utah Valley 144 lbs: Smokey McClure (Washington) - Class of 2024 175 lbs: #175 Hudson Rogers (Idaho) - Class of 2024 As he gets ready for his first season as a head coach, Adam Hall will be able to watch a pair of his incoming freshmen take the mat in Fargo. Hudson Rogers was a double 16U All-American in 2022. It marked the third time that he had gotten on the Fargo podium. Smokey McClure also has AA’ed in both styles with an eighth-place showing in U16 freestyle in 2021 and that same finish the following year in Junior Greco. West Virginia 132 lbs: #119 Casen Roark (Tennessee) - Class of 2025 132 lbs: Luke Satriano (New York) - Class of 2025 West Virginia got on the rankings map this year as they inked the #17 class in the land. Tim Flynn’s staff has built off of that success and got off to a good start with the Class of 2025 - a group that already features the Big Boarders. One of those ranked prospects is Tennessee’s three-time state champion Casen Roark. This spring, Roark made the NHSCA Junior National finals. Roark has also won state freestyle titles after every high school season, two at the 16U level and the most recent as a Junior. The other future Mountaineer in the field, Luke Satriano, is also a multiple-time state champion. Satriano won his second New York DII state title in 2024. Satriano’s best national level finish was went he took fourth place at NHSCA Sophomore’s. Wyoming 138 lbs: John Alden (Nebraska) - Class of 2024 126 lbs: Tucker Bowen (Idaho) - Class of 2024 144 lbs: #82 Tyson Charmoli (Minnesota) - Class of 2024 120 lbs: #81 Isaiah Harrison (Colorado) - Class of 2025 190 lbs: #180 Gunner Henry (Indiana) - Class of 2025 The Cowboys have been really strong on the recruiting trail for quite some time now and the Classes of 2024 and 2025 are only more evidence of that fact. A pair of top-100 recruits for Wyoming will be on the mats in Fargo in Isaiah Harrison and Tyson Charmoli. Last year, it was Harrison who used Fargo as his coming out party and success in the FargoDome has led to plenty of wins outside of it. Harrison was overlooked on a national level, but came into the 2023 tournament and made the 16U freestyle finals at 113 lbs. Charmoli has been more of a known commodity. He was a 16U freestyle finalist in 2022 and then was seventh in Junior freestyle last year. Charmoli has also placed top six at the UWW U17 Trials in freestyle on two occasions. The other ranked recruit of the bunch is Indiana state finalist Gunner Henry. Henry was a Super 32 placewinner and an NHSCA Sophomore National champion in 2023. Incoming freshman John Alden is a Nebraska freestyle state champion; while Tucker Bowen has been a two-time Idaho Junior freestyle runner-up.

The city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been part of a traditional wrestling hotspot for generations. Nestled in the Lehigh Valley – which many consider to be home to the best wrestling in the country – Lehigh University sits a stone’s throw away from where the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation was located. The gritty, hard-working residents most likely stem from generations of steelworkers transferring this attitude onto the wrestling mat. Pennsylvania’s District 11 is known nationwide thanks to cities like Bethlehem, which have had various factories, cement plants, and other forms of blue-collar jobs since the Industrial Revolution. Lehigh’s pristine location creates a large sampling of top-notch talent in their own backyard. Lehigh has always excelled at keeping local talent home. They’ve seen success at all levels of wrestling. The goal in wrestling has always been to be the best in the world - ultimately, an Olympic Champion. The last Mountain Hawk to achieve this was Bobby Weaver – who won a gold medal at 48 kgs (105.5lbs) in 1984. Bobby Weaver was another local wrestler, graduating from Easton High School just up the road from Bethlehem. Weaver eventually began running a local club, where many of the best wrestlers went to train. Who wouldn’t want to learn from an Olympic gold medalist? Plus, how many young wrestlers have the opportunity? Current Lehigh Head Associate Head Coach, Brad Dillon was lucky enough to train under Bobby Weaver. This led to a fantastic high school career in District 11, and eventually earned him All-American honors twice while competing as a Lehigh Mountain Hawk. He stated “Bobby Weaver was probably the biggest influence of my career. I spent a lot of time with him in the wrestling room growing up. Fortunately, he’s trained a few guys I have coached here at Lehigh.” Dillon laughed as he said, “I remember a lot of the practices where he would kick my butt in live goes.” Many of the techniques and tricks learned from Weaver are still taught at Lehigh to this day. This Weaver connection helped local talent click with the coaches. More recently, in the past decade, two local products have really made an impact. Not by coincidence, they both trained at Weaver Elite growing up. First is Darian Cruz, a 2013 graduate of Bethlehem Catholic. He became Lehigh’s first true freshman All-American in over 30 years when he earned 7th place at 125 lbs in March of 2014. Like Weaver, he was a lightweight who didn’t fear being smaller than the competition. Cruz was outsized but gained major confidence after putting together an incredible first season. This size difference was obvious to anyone who watched him compete that year. Cruz smiled as he remembered weighing in at 118lbs before morning practices multiple times his true freshman year. “Some days, they (the coaches) wouldn’t let me practice. I would go to lunch with Doug Vollaro and Max Wessel, the heavyweights, and sit there for hours to try and get my weight up. I had a gallon of water in the other hand.” Coach Dillon told a similar story where he had to “train Darian to eat.” He had to engrain the concept into Darian that he needed to expand his stomach to get more calories into his system. With more calories, he’d be able to put on mass. He was also lifting more often than the rest of the team, usually five to six times per week. This helped somewhat. But he would never get to be a full-sized 125 lb wrestler that first season. More impressively, Cruz weighed in at 121 lbs the final day of NCAAs that year. It’s commonplace to see wrestlers in the back cutting weight once they finish for the night. It is not rare for a wrestler having to lose ten pounds or more to compete the following day. Not Darian. He had the luxury of relaxing and going to bed on a full stomach. Cruz made history when he became an NCAA Champion a few years later in 2017. He was Lehigh’s 28th individual NCAA Champion, which is the 6th most of any NCAA D1 team. Coincidentally, his opponent that year, Ethan Lizak of the University of Minnesota, attended Parkland High School. For those wondering, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic (BECA) high schools are exactly 12.5 miles apart. Cruz and Lizak have been wrestling each other since elementary school. Plus, they trained together growing up every now and then. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan in the Lehigh Valley that day in March! Darian Cruz in the 2017 NCAA finals; Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo Darian’s dream of winning an NCAA title for the program he grew up watching became a reality. It also created the same dream for young wrestlers in the area, especially Ryan Crookham. Ryan was sitting in the Lehigh section during Darian’s championship run. He also watched Zeke Moisey (another former Weaver Elite member) make his Cinderella story run two years prior. Moisey was a high school teammate of Cruz. During his college years, Darian did many clinics and private lessons with local talent. One of the talented up-and-coming studs was no other than Crookham. Ryan and Darian created a bond very early on, and that bond continues to this day. Crookham was a product of Saucon Valley High School, in Hellertown PA. Hellertown is a small town that borders the larger city of Bethlehem. Attending a Lehigh dual inside “the snake pit” is a unique atmosphere in college wrestling. The excitement of a dual is captivating from a young age. This was true for Ryan, as he was a season ticket holder. He fell in love with the quality of wrestling. “I’ve always associated this venue with high-level wrestling, even the ‘Who’s Number 1’ event for the high school level” Ryan’s list of favorite memories in this venue is almost endless. His retention of them is encyclopedia-like. You can get the sense his wrestling IQ is, and always has been, advanced. There were other options for Ryan Crookham – but he was barely interested. Lehigh was where he wanted to be. Between the wrestling and academics, it was the perfect fit. Being so close to home was just a bonus. Ryan explained he is in an honor’s program that combines engineering and business. Coach Dillon laughed when he said “Ryan is much like a 40-year-old man. He has, like, a portfolio of his NIL deals. Life after wrestling is not a concern for Ryan.” His competitiveness and desire to be great in all aspects of life will pay dividends in the long run. Crookham concluded, “I made the decision early and haven’t regretted it since. It’s been even better than I imagined. I’m more than happy being at Lehigh.” We went on a bit of a tangent regarding NIL and the sport of wrestling during our chat. He was full of great insight! Both wrestlers were named All-Americans in their freshman season. Darian’s occurred while he was a true freshman. Ryan’s occurred after a redshirt season. Cruz was 28-9 that year, finishing 3rd in the EIWA and 7th at NCAAs. Darian’s was much quieter – not to any fault of his own. As we know, Crookham was blasted onto the scene in mid-November when he defeated returning NCAA and world champion, Vito Arujau of Cornell. Ryan took a loss later in March to Arujau – ending his NCAA tournament in 3rd place. It was his only loss of the season. In the end, Cruz ended his career as a three-time All-American. He is one of 19 in Lehigh’s history. Crookham is on path to become the school’s third-ever four-time All-American – he would be the first in over 40 years. For what it’s worth, his teammate, Luke Stanich, is also on this path. The Mountain Hawks have a special duo with these two freshmen. When looking at the two wrestlers, Darian and Ryan were nearly polar opposites. Coach Dillon discussed how Darian needed more “pushing and pulling when he was young” to understand what he needed to do in order to win. This vastly differed from Ryan’s “cerebral approach to everything.” Darian wanted to use his slickness all the time. He had to learn to do things the hard way when needed. Ryan came into college with the physicality and hand-fighting skills, so his approach varied. Darian was a mentor to Ryan – which may have helped Ryan mature at a quicker rate. Another aspect to keep in mind – Darian and Ryan’s freshman years were much different. Crookham was essentially the face of the program as a freshman. Darian’s time came later. At first glance, Darian’s career as a Mountain Hawk is already superior to Weaver’s. Weaver’s highest placement at NCAAs was 3rd in 1982. Darian’s 3X All-American status is better on paper, plus he holds an NCAA title to his name. Similarly, Ryan Crookham is on pace to overcome Weaver’s NCAA accolades. But, are Ryan’s goals in line with Darian and Bobby’s of becoming an Olympic Champion? Ryan’s freestyle results are minimal due to injuries in high school. “Anytime I am healthy in the future, I will be at the world team trials at 61kgs (134.5lbs). I love wrestling. I don’t specifically focus on one style… Competing at the 2028 Olympics would be the goal.” Unfortunately, he was still injured after NCAAs this season. It would have been great to see him compete against some of the best to see where he stands. He did not shoot down the possibility of coaching in the future, but it’s not currently on his radar. “Things may change in the future because I do like coaching. I’ve doing clinics this offseason at local schools, and it’s been fun,” he said with a smile. Before Cruz and Weaver, Gerry Leeman was a silver medalist at the 1948 Olympic Games. Leeman was the program’s head coach from 1952-1970, where he amassed 161 wins with a whopping .803 win percentage. Currently, Grace Hall is the building where Lehigh wrestles dual meets. The arena on the ground floor is called “Leeman-Turner Arena” after legendary coaches Gerry Leeman and Thad Turner. Leeman’s attributions go beyond his days of coaching and wrestling at Lehigh. Only time will tell how the legacy of Darian Cruz and Ryan Crookham will live on at Lehigh. Darian plans to get into coaching after competing. The ideal location for him would be his alma mater, similar to current coaches Brad Dillon and Zach Rey. Ryan Crookham’s assumption on Darian’s coaching ability parallels Coach Dillon's. Dillon stated Darian is very relatable to kids and has learned a lot from him over the years. Ryan mentioned how selfless Darian is as a person. “It was about a week or two before the Pan-Am qualifiers. I was coming back from injury and needed a workout partner. Darian volunteered without hesitation to let me get every rep in I needed for two to three days in a row. He was essentially a dummy partner for me as he was preparing to qualify for the Olympics.” Ryan promises to return the favor and give Darian all the reps he needs leading up to the Summer Games. On a personal note - I will never forget the night Darian won that NCAA title. I saw him that night with his Lehigh teammates hanging out after the final session concluded. He came over to chat. He didn’t need to. I congratulated him. After a minute of chit-chat, he said something I’ll never forget – “How cool is it that a normal guy like me won an NCAA title?” Maybe it’s the fact I’ve known Darian forever and watched him grow up. The thrill of being part of that special group of wrestlers was exciting to him. Next month, he will join an even smaller group of wrestlers who have been able to call themselves an “Olympian.” This was a reminder that his LVWC coach, Kerry McCoy mentioned to him shortly after qualifying. McCoy was an Olympian in 2000 and 2004. Cruz said, “It’s never ‘former.’ You are an Olympian forever.” Darian Cruz is set to compete at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. He will represent Puerto Rico and is slated to compete on Thursday, August 8th. His weight class (like Bobby Weaver’s) is the smallest class at 57kgs (125.7lbs). Although he will be repping Puerto Rico, the wrestling fans from the United States will be rooting for Darian (except if he draws Spencer Lee). The Lehigh faithful and local wrestling community will be cheering on Darian no matter what. He’s been one of the most successful wrestlers hailing from District 11 in the past two decades, with an opportunity to become one of the best ever. Darian has been a local favorite since he was impressing crowds with his unbelievably advanced sweep singles at the age of six. When he puts on that singlet to represent the island nation of Puerto Rico, he isn’t doing it for himself. That’s what makes Darian so special. During our interview, it was made clear when he said “I’ve always been excited to represent something more than myself.” He explained there is no better feeling than seeing young athletes look up to him when he goes to train in Puerto Rico. “Every time I go there to train, I leave clothes and shoes and whatever for many of the kids. You never know how much it could mean to them.” There has been a wave of younger wrestlers competing for the island hailing from the USA, following in Darian’s footsteps. He would be Puerto Rico’s first Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. “I could care less about trophies and medals. The biggest thing for me is to mean something to somebody else and inspire them to do great things.” Now, he’s a family man with a wife and two young children. Regardless of the outcome in August, he is already a hero to them and many more.

With the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling tournament and the calendar changing over to May, you’d think that it means it’s the offseason for college wrestling and all focus should turn to the Olympic styles, right? Maybe in the past, but in a new era of collegiate athletics, once the final whistle has blown on a particular postseason, it means it’s time to turn your attention to the transfer portal. Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. In the almost two months since the NCAA finals, there have already been some huge names that have gone into the portal. Some have already announced their new homes, while others are still being courted. The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. Brown: Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford Cal Poly: Joel Jesuroga (149) - Iowa Cal Poly: Korbin Shepherd (133/141) - Missouri Chattanooga: Connor Strong (184) - Penn Edinboro: Colton Camacho (125/133) - Pittsburgh Edinboro: Ryan Michaels (149) - Pittsburgh Edinboro: Cheaney Schoeff (133) - Indiana Franklin & Marshall: Michael Duggan (157) - Bloomsburg Illinois: Ramazan Attasauov (125/133) - Iowa State Illinois: Jason Kraisser (157) - Iowa State Illinois: Danny Nini (157) - North Carolina Indiana: Logan Frazier (133) - Virginia Tech Indiana: Angelo Rini (133) - Columbia Iowa State: Evan Bockman (197) - Utah Valley Lehigh: Rylan Rogers (174/184) - Michigan Little Rock: Branson Britten (184) - Northern Colorado Little Rock: Brock DelSignore (184) - NC State Little Rock: Jaivon Jones (149) - Northern Illinois Lock Haven: James Lledo (184) - Pittsburgh Lock Haven: Nick Stampoulos (157) - Buffalo Michigan: Jacob Cardenas (197) - Cornell Michigan: Chase Saldate (157) - Michigan State Michigan State: Jay Nivison (174) - Buffalo Minnesota: Tommy Askey (157) - Appalachian State Minnesota: Cooper Flynn (125) - Virginia Tech Minnesota: Clayton Whiting (174/184) - Missouri Morgan State: Xavier Doolin (285) - Northern Colorado Morgan State: Darrien Roberts (184) - Oklahoma North Carolina: Ryan Boersma (285) - Missouri North Carolina: Nolan Neves (285) - Columbia North Carolina: Ethan Oakley (133) - Appalachian State North Carolina: Josh Ogunsanya (174) - North Carolina North Dakota State: Kyle Burwick (133) - Nebraska North Dakota State: Peyton Moore (133) - Missouri North Dakota State: Devin Wasley (184) - Minnesota Northern Colorado: Clayton Ulrey (157/165) - Virginia Tech Northern Illinois: Markel Baker (125/133) - George Mason Northern Illinois: Spencer Mooberry (197) - North Dakota State Oklahoma: Fernando Barreto (133) - North Dakota State Oklahoma: Cleveland Belton (141) - Oregon State Oklahoma: Gaven Sax (174) - North Dakota State Oklahoma: Carter Schubert (165) - California Baptist Oklahoma State: Caleb Fish (165) - Michigan State Oklahoma State: Dean Hamiti (165/174) - Wisconsin Oregon State: Sean Harman (174) - Missouri Pittsburgh: Nick Babin (125) - Columbia Pittsburgh: Chase Kranitz (184) - Buffalo Pittsburgh: Evan Tallmadge (125) - Navy Rider: Sammy Alvarez (149) - Oklahoma State Rutgers: Dagen Condomitti (157) - Oregon State SIU Edwardsville: Ben Lunn (141) - Minnesota SIU Edwardsville: Luke Odom (157) - Illinois SIU Edwardsville: Griffin Ray (165) - Nebraska Utah Valley: Tanner Frothinger (141) - Nebraska Virginia Tech: Connor McGonagle (133) - Lehigh Virginia Tech: Lennox Wolak (174) - Columbia West Virginia: Tommy Maddox (133) - Buffalo Wisconsin: Wyatt Skebba (125) - Central Michigan Wyoming: Sam Mitchell (197) - Buffalo This last week was unusual compared to previous ones on the transfer front. The portal has closed for the season, so there will be no more new entries unless there’s a head coaching change. Also, there weren’t any huge names that made their transfer intentions known; however, there was a lot of movement. Some of the highlights include: Jacob Joyce is a part of a rare Ivy League transfer. He comes to Brown from Stanford. Speaking of Ivy Leaguers, Connor Strong will join the Chattanooga program as a grad transfer from Penn. Strong was not a starter for the Quakers, but he did post a 12-3 record in 2022-23. Edinboro continues to revamp its lower weights with the addition of Cheaney Schoeff from Indiana. Illinois has done a good job at filling potential holes in their lineup. Danny Nini is the latest addition. He presumably competes with fellow transfer Jason Kraisser for the starting role at 157 lbs. Lehigh will add Rylan Rogers. In 2022, Rogers was the #11 overall recruit in the nation. He was injured for a portion of the 2023-24 season and then was unable to unseat Jaden Bullock in the Michigan starting lineup. Little Rock gets a solid, under-the-radar pickup, in Jaivon Jones from Northern Illinois. Jones has always been solid for the Huskies, posting winning records, but wasn’t able to get over the hump and qualify for nationals. Michigan State picks up former national qualifier Jay Nivison from Buffalo. North Carolina continues to add transfers. Their lineup could look much different from its 2023-24 iteration. The latest is heavyweight Nolan Neves a graduate transfer from Columbia. He’ll join Lion teammate Joshua Ogunsanya in Carolina Blue. There’s been a lot of movement regarding North Dakota State. They had a couple of pickups, most notably national qualifier Kyle Burwick, who comes back to his home state. Oklahoma is another team that will have a relatively new look in 2024-25. They upgraded at 133 and 141 lbs with the addition of Fernando Barreto and Cleveland Belton, respectively. Belton is likely the most notable name in this round of updates. He is a two-time national qualifier that advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 in 2024. At NCAA's, he scored wins over former Sooner Mitch Moore, Danny Pucino (Illinois), and Danny Fongaro (Indiana). New Utah Valley head coach Adam Hall got a transfer from the Big Ten in Tanner Frothinger. While redshirting at Nebraska, Frothinger amassed a 13-5 total record; however, he was 0-2 against DI competition. Technically, they don’t count as moves or transfers, but a special note should be made in favor of new Buffalo head coach Donnie Vinson. Max Elton (125) and Sam Ewing (133), both announced they would be transferring during the Bulls coaching transition and even committed to new schools. Since then, both have decided to stay in Buffalo. Portal Andrew Alirez (141) - Northern Colorado Cam Amine (165) - Michigan Cade Balestrini (149) - Bloomsburg Kaleb Burgess (149) - Buffalo Charlie Darracott (165) - Stanford Devon Dawson (285) - North Dakota State Massoma Endene (197) - Wartburg Max Hale (184) - Penn Wyatt Hendrickson (285) - Air Force Nathan Higley (149) - George Mason Jared Hill (157) - Oklahoma Hunter Mays (165) - Lehigh Peter Ming (285) - Stanford Jack Nies (149) - American Kyle Parco (149) - Arizona State Isaiah Powe (141) - Chattanooga Bretli Reyna (149) - Iowa Chris Rivera (141) - Campbell Justin Rivera (149) - Campbell Ethan Stiles (157) - Nebraska

This morning, multiple sources have confirmed that the WWE has released 2020(1) Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson. Shortly after winning his second NCAA title, in 2022, Steveson turned his attention to the professional wrestling/sports entertainment industry and signed with the WWE. In 2023, Steveson was granted permission to wrestle in the US Open, which he won, and then Final X. At Final X, Steveson defeated Mason Parris, 5-2 and 5-0 in consecutive matches to secure a spot on the World team. Shortly before the World Championships, Steveson had to withdraw from the team to focus on business with the WWE. Parris took his place and came home from Belgrade, Serbia with a World bronze medal. During his time at WWE, Steveson was promoted on several marquee pay-per-view events and “drafted” to Raw; however, he did not have much mat time in front of the camera. No specific reason was given for Steveson’s release; however, longtime pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer suggested that an “inability to connect with the audience” may be a factor. While the timing of Steveson’s release is unfortunate; two weeks after the Olympic Trials, he wasn’t the only one let go by the WWE. At least 11 other members of WWE’s developmental NXT brand were released on Friday, as well. One of them is a 2022 NCAA DII national champion Darrell Mason of Minnesota State. Steveson should have plenty of options available in the future. If he wants to continue pursuing a career in pro wrestling, he could hone his craft in a smaller promotion. Steveson has trained in the past with NCAA/WWE/UFC star Brock Lesnar and has hinted at a future in mixed martial arts. Of course, with the Final X wins over the eventual world bronze medalist in 2023, Steveson still is capable of beating anyone in the world if focused on freestyle wrestling.

Earlier this month, the University of Pennsylvania announced that two-time NCAA champion Matt Valenti would be leaving his role within the athletic department to return to the wrestling team as an associate head coach. It's part of a plan for Valenti to transition into the head coaching position for the 2025-26 season, while current head coach Roger Reina steps back. Valenti sat down with Austin Sommer to discuss how this situation came about - why he initially left coaching and why he wanted to return. The two also discuss the transition to the head coaching position and how that dynamic works with the current staff members. Valenti also talks about Penn qualifying for the 2025 NCAA Tournament directly through the Ivy League, rather than the EIWA. They close by hitting on the Penn RTC and their performance at last weekend's Olympic Trials. For the full interview:

The Olympic Trials are in the books and what a spectacle they were! There were upsets, all-time greats that suffered losses, new stars that came to the forefront on the Senior level, happy tears, sad tears, and much more. As is the case with big tournaments or events, we’ve picked out some of the interesting facts and trends that emerged from the 2024 Olympic Team Trials. Have fun! Mason Parris is the first Michigan graduate to represent the United States since Andy Hrovat did so in 2008. There has been at least one grad from Iowa and Penn State on each of the last three Olympic men’s freestyle teams. An Iowa grad has held down the 57 kg on the Olympic Team in each of the last three teams (Lee, Gilman, Dan Dennis/2016). Provided Lee qualifies the weight at the Last Chance Qualifier. Kyle Snyder has now made his 10th consecutive World/Olympic Team. It was also his third Olympic team. All before he turns 29. With Aaron Brooks making the squad, you have two wrestlers from Maryland on the men’s freestyle team - three counting the other styles, and Helen Maroulis. Kyle Dake and Kyle Snyder are the only holdovers from the 2020(1) men’s freestyle team. Maroulis made history by becoming the first American woman to make three Olympic teams. She also is a part of her 14th World/Olympic team. Half of the women’s freestyle team is returning from 2020(1). Sarah Hildebrandt, Maroulis, and Kayla Miracle. Despite California being one of the early adopters of women’s wrestling and typically a hotbed for women’s freestylers, this is the first time that there have been multiple California natives on the women’s freestyle Olympic team (Dom Parrish and Amit Elor). Indiana has two natives on the women’s freestyle team (Hildebrandt/Miracle), plus Mason Parris from the men’s freestyle squad. Kennedy Blades will become only the second Illinois native to wrestle at the Olympics in women’s freestyle. Haley Augello (2016) was the first. Five of the six women on the Olympic team have already won a world or Olympic medal. Blades, who has never previously made a Senior team, is the exception. The 2020(1) Trials featured two high school girls in the finals (Kylie Welker and Kennedy Blades). This year there was just one with Audrey Jimenez (50 kg). The Greco-Roman winners featured two sets of wrestlers from the same high school. Dalton Roberts (60 kg) and Adam Coon (130 kg) - Fowlerville, Michigan and Ellis Coleman (67 kg) and Kamal Bey (77 kg) - Oak Park River Forest, Illinois. The Olympic Trials finals produced seven rematches from Final X 2023. Kyle Dake/Jason Nolf (MFS; 74 kg), Aaron Brooks/David Taylor (MFS 86 kg), Sarah Hildebrandt/Audrey Jimenez (WFS 50 kg), Kennedy Blades/Adeline Gray (WFS 76 kg), Dalton Roberts/Ildar Hafizov (MGR 60 kg), Kamal Bey/Aliaksandr Kikiniou (MGR 77 kg), and Adam Coon/Cohlton Schultz (MGR 130 kg). Only Dake, Hildebrandt, and Bey won those rematches. The Trials finals at 65 kg (MFS), 57 kg (WFS), and 62 kg (WFS) featured matchups between 2023 World Team teammates. The only Trials finals matches between past World medalists took place on the women’s freestyle side with 57 kg (Maroulis/Winchester), 62 kg (Miracle/Kilty), and 68 kg (Elor/Molinari). Of course, Maroulis/Winchester are two past world champions. The only two falls of the Trials finals included a pair of past world champions. Thomas Gilman was pinned in the closing seconds of the deciding bout in his series with Spencer Lee. Jacarra Winchester got pinned by Maroulis in match one. At the last Trials, Gilman was involved in the only pin of the entire finals. He scored a fall over Vito Arujau in the first match of their series. The 2024 Olympic Trials featured three rematches from the 2020(1) Trials across all three styles. The only series’ (5 of them) that needed to go the full three matches occurred on the Greco-Roman side. Payton Jacobson is the only wrestler on the Greco team without any Senior World (or Olympic) experience. Adam Coon is the only Greco champion from 2020(1) to repeat in 2024. Since the 130 kg weight class has already been qualified for the 2024 Games, Coon will be making his Olympic debut. In 2020(1), the weight class had not been qualified and Coon wasn’t able to do so at the Last Chance Qualifier. Across the three styles, Ellis Coleman is the only winner of the Trials who competed at the 2012 Olympic Games. He also needs to qualify the weight to compete in the 2024 Games. Scoring in the Olympic Trials was hard to do. Kennedy Blades was the only wrestler to score more than 10 points in any bout. Nobody in men’s freestyle scored more than eight points in any finals matchup. The Trials finals featured five matchups between current teammates. 65 kg, 74 kg, and 86 kg in men’s freestyle all saw Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members tangle. 60 kg and 67 kg in Greco-Roman had Army WCAP teammates clashing. David Taylor’s series with Aaron Brooks marked the second consecutive Trials that Taylor faced an NLWC teammate. In 2020(1), he defeated Bo Nickal for a slot on the Olympic Team. Wrestlers with a bye to the best-of-three finals went a combined 8-5 - including 0-3 in Greco (Spencer Woods, Alan Vera, Cohlton Schultz). The combined age for the last two women in the Olympic lineup Elor (20) and Blades (21) is 41. That’s less than Greco-Roman finalist Aliaksandr Kikiniou (44).

I think by nature I’m a bit of a contrarian. When someone tells me I can’t do something, I am that much more determined to prove them wrong. I don’t remember when that became a character trait of mine, or the first time when I became determined to do something I was told I couldn’t do, but I also can’t remember a time when I wasn’t like this. It’s an irrational confidence that sometimes helps in life and sometimes doesn’t help. The point being, I’m doing an Olympic Trials preview right now where I compare some of the trial participants to NBA Playoff teams. Wrestling and Basketball don't always have the same fan base, but I’m one of the fans of both sports, and as such I’m uniquely positioned to write this. Many people say I’m the best person to write this, and I can’t let those people down. So here’s the premise, I’m going to take three wrestlers of my choosing from each weight, and attach them to their NBA playoff team that best represents their situation. There are 20 potential NBA Playoff teams (8 per conference and 2 play-in game teams per conference as well) and obviously, there are more wrestlers than that, which is why this is limited to the 18 of my choosing. Also, I am going to try to focus this on whoever makes the most sense for a comparison in my mind. It won’t be the top three seeds necessarily per weight, but more so where it makes sense. Stick with me on this. This is for fun though, and if you love wrestling and basketball, this should be great for you. If you just like wrestling, then maybe you’ll learn something! Either way, let’s get into it and have some fun! 57kgs - Spencer Lee has looked awesome since he’s been back to freestyle. He’s been dominant in the competitions we’ve seen him in since NCAAs, and he very clearly is a heavy contender for the Olympic spot. In fact, despite not having wrestled many freestyle competitions in recent years, he’s likely the fan favorite. I mean, just the story alone would be amazing right? He fell in the semi’s in his effort to win four NCAA titles, he’s battled injuries throughout his entire career (largely overcoming most of them), and now he’s here and (seemingly) healthy and ready for this run through the Olympics! But there is that looming injury cloud floating around. That uneasy feeling that at any point this run could be derailed. This tournament is tough enough to win while healthy, and sadly Spencer’s track record of health is not ideal. As a result, I’m comparing Spencer to the LA Clippers. At times this year, the Clippers looked absolutely unstoppable. A couple weeks after trading for James Harden, the Clippers went 18-4 from December 26th, 2023 through February 10th, 2024. However, like Spencer, there is the looming injury risk of any of their big 3 (James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George). Plus, like Spencer, they all have a track record of getting hurt at the worst times. They have depth, but the Western Conference is incredibly tough (much like the 57kg bracket), so a healthy playoff run is the only way I can see them making it through. Zane Richards had a great run through the World Trials last year to make the team. He had wins over Nick Suriano, and eventually over World Champion Thomas Gilman to earn the spot. He’s been around for years on the Senior national scene, so anyone who has watched and respected his work was very happy to see him get over the hump and earn that spot. That is all to say that it was not expected though. Anyone who has watched him knew that he was super dangerous, and he’s been consistently competing in high-level international events for the US, so we’ve seen what he’s capable of, and yet it still didn’t seem like he was going to make the run that he did. Similarly, the Miami Heat limped into the playoffs last year as a play-in team, and eventually went on a run through the number 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks, through the Boston Celtics, and eventually made their way back into the NBA Finals. This team had shown that they could “flip the switch” so to speak, but still, nobody believed it was going to happen. The Heat entered the playoffs this year once again as a play-in team, and once again aren’t quite the favorite, but I don’t think anyone was excited to see them at this point in the year. They tend to find a way to win games you think they wouldn’t, and so does Zane. Thomas Gilman has been the best in the world, and is looking to reclaim that spot. He’s been so dominant at times, and he’s continued to develop his style and evolve over the years. He got really good at that underhook on the left side, and paired with his unrelenting pressure and gas tank, that makes for a dangerous combination in freestyle. He’s coming in with a chip on his shoulder, and something to prove as well, which is a scary thing to think about. All that reminds me of Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks. They won the title a couple of years ago, and Giannis is always one of the guys to fear. You know what he’s going to do, but it’s a matter of stopping him, and most teams can’t do that. Add Damian Lillard to that team and there’s a new element to have to deal with. The results during the regular season have been uneven throughout the year, but in a seven-game series nobody should be excited for that matchup. All that is to say, is that there are no surprises when facing Thomas Gilman, and yet it’s incredibly difficult to stop. Both Gilman and the Bucks are coming in with something to prove and that should be unnerving for the competition. 65kgs - Andrew Alirez is must-see TV. The 2023 NCAA Champion redshirted this season to prepare himself for this Olympic run, and his run through the Senior Nationals qualifier indicates that the training and preparation is going well. Alirez has a lot of ways to beat you. He’s comfortable going upper body, he has great turns from the top, his transition wrestling is smooth and seamless, and he has a variety of setups and attacks from neutral that are dynamic. Those are all very positive things, but this weight class has several guys like that, as well as guys who have been there and done it all before. As such, Alirez is the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC got the 1 seed in the ultra-competitive Western conference this year, and they have looked good all year. They have some dynamic pieces on their team, and they have great chemistry. However, they are very young and have very little playoff experience on their roster. They have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been an MVP candidate all year, along with rookie standout Chet Holmgren, but they lack size and experience. Alirez has everything you need to win it all, but when there are four guys at this weight who have been senior world medalists (James Green, Nick Lee, Yianni Diakamihalis, and Zain Retherford), it makes me concerned that the lack of experience at a tournament of this caliber could be tough to make it through, it’s not impossible, but if it doesn’t happen for Alirez or OKC, it’ll be simply the level of experience rather than talent. James Green is back baby! The 2x World Medalist (2015 bronze and 2017 silver) came out of retirement earlier this year for another run at the Olympics. The last time I saw him wrestle was in Detroit at the Rudis event before NCAAs started, and James beat Zain Retherford in that match. He eventually retired due to injury issues with his hip, but he seems to be healthy and ready for one last ride. He’s as scary as it gets, and I’m sure if he decided to make the return, then he must feel as healthy and explosive as we’ve ever seen him. But this is kind of the opposite of the Alirez thing. James hasn’t competed in one of these qualifiers in a couple of years, and in addition to that, he hasn’t competed particularly well at 65kgs. As good as he is, his age and the weight cut are glaring concerns. I hope that he can get back to the levels that we’ve seen him at in the past, but I just don’t know! Same with the Golden State Warriors. They’ve had injury concerns, Draymond Green concerns, inconsistencies in their performances, lineup changes, and just a lot of things for them to overcome. They are the 10 seed and a play-in team in the West, and despite their history of winning NBA championships and having most of the same roster, this just seems different. It would be great to see both Golden State and James Green make a run, and everyone will love it, but there are some big questions about both. Zain Retherford gets the bye to the semifinals as a result of being the World Champion at 70kgs last summer. Zain was so dominant in college, and he has had some awesome battles over the years with a cast of characters just to make these teams (Yianni, Jordan Oliver, Nick Lee of late, the aforementioned James Green), so him winning the World Championship last year seemed like something that would allow him to exhale. Maybe the title would allow Zain to wrestle a little more freely and somehow make him more dangerous! But I can’t talk about Zain without talking about his physical and grinding style of wrestling. So many times we’ve seen guys with this style not be able to sustain through a big tournament. We’ve referred to this as the Metcalf, where you lose a close one, but you beat the hell out of the guy so badly that they lose their next match and now your tournament is over. Zain didn’t have to worry about that last year, because he just beat all of the dudes, so problem solved! So if I’m focused here on that grinding workman-like style, then that brings us to the New York Knicks. Tom Thibedeau, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunobi, Josh Hart, these dudes are grinders. There is hard-nosed defense from all of those guys, and a guy like Brunson will just find a way to score, despite not having the flashiness of some of the other All-Stars. The Knicks have everything that you’d need to win it all this year. It might not always be pretty, and it might not always be flashy, but it is suffocating and can’t possibly be enjoyable for their opponents. The same can easily be said for taking a ride on the Zain Train. 74kgs - Jordan Burroughs arrives as the 1 seed ready to battle through as tough a domestic bracket as he’s ever seen. In the past, he’s had the great pleasure of waiting in the best-of-three finals, but this year he has to journey through the gauntlet with the rest of the competitors for the joy of wrestling against Kyle Dake for the spot (more on him later). Jordan is an accomplished veteran with a long list of accomplishments in his awesome and storied career, looking for another chance at that top spot. As such, it would be weird if I didn’t liken him to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. King James won the COVID NBA title with the Lakers a couple of years back, and their team will likely have two All-NBA players with himself and Anthony Davis, and yet they are going to need to battle it out with the Pelicans just for the chance to officially make the playoffs, and likely against the defending NBA Champion Denver Nuggets. Jordan has been the consummate professional in his career to this point, and it’s been great to hear his perspective on the sport in broadcasts and other events where he’s been on the mic. No matter what happens in these trials, Jordan will either get to extend the legend of Jordan Burroughs, or he’ll lose, but either way, you can trust that he put everything he had into this Olympic run. Kyle Dake has the pleasure of sitting in the finals of the challenge tournament to take on the winner in the best-of-three match. When you make the world finals, you don’t have to do all of the work. You get to chill. A brief aside though, I need to extend my truest condolences to the Dake family. It was announced this morning that Kyle’s father, Doug, had passed away. I cried watching the clip that Kyle had posted of the two of them wrestling for the last time (as I had done many times with my own father who passed away a couple of years ago), and continued to as I read his heartfelt message regarding his father and their relationship. In reading that message, it was easy to recognize the bond that they had. Once again, genuine condolences to the Dake family. Back to my silly article, Kyle Dake in the wrestling world has been as consistent as it gets. He’s won 4 World Gold Medals (2 at 79kgs and 2 at 74kgs), and won the Olympic bronze in 2020, along with a World Silver last year (loss to Sidakov). Kyle has proven that his defense is on a completely different level than the rest of the planet, and with the exception of a weird match in the Olympics 4 years ago in the semis, and the close loss to Sidakov, he’s controlled the world like Thanos. That being said, he lost last year, just like the Celtics. But also like the Celtics, he should be able to comfortably expect to be in the finals. Dake just needs to make weight, whereas the Celtics need to make their way through the East (which should be as easy as making weight). Whoever they face in the finals, both Dake and the Boston Celtics will have their work cut out for them to earn what they covet. Jason Nolf could potentially join the long list of guys who get stuck behind Jordan Burroughs over the course of the last 13 years. At least for Nolf, Burroughs is probably nearing the end of his reign of terror, but then you have Kyle Dake as well, who we all know is aging backward. That has to backfire at some point. Either way, Jason has shown that he has what it takes to be a world medalist, and maybe even a World/Olympic champ one day. I like to think he has at least one more quad in him, which the other two likely would not. But either way, he wants it all right now and certainly has the skill to do it. Maybe it’s too soon? Does he need some more time? There’s undoubtedly a lot to be intrigued with, and clearly a bright future ahead, but it seems a little early. That to me is the New Orleans Pelicans. Zion Williamson looks to be in better shape (finally), Brandon Ingram is certainly something, they have a thousand first-round draft picks, Jonas Valanciunas is a strong option at center and still has a lot of career left. Both New Orleans and Jason Nolf clearly have the pieces to make a run in the next couple of years and end up at the top of the podium, but it just seems like there’s a little too much in their way at the moment. 86 kgs - Aaron Brooks fresh off a fourth NCAA title and Hodge trophy strolls right into this tournament with momentum and excitement surrounding him. He looked as sharp as ever, and even in the anticipated Hidlay v Brooks NCAA final, was able to stop the unstoppable force and control most of the match with his own underhook. It’s one thing to be as talented as Aaron Brooks, it adds a whole new element when he wrestles as smart as he does as well. This weight is rather loaded, but we’ve seen Brooks get wins over just about anyone in the field not named David Taylor. We’ve even seen him beat the likes of Zahid Valencia, casually waiting for his match in the second semis (yes, that’s what it’s called). But like Nolf referenced above, it just seems a little too soon. There’s a juggernaut in front of him who has been beating planet Earth for the better part of the last several years. A man, seemingly made of magic, who can’t be stopped. Brooks has undeniable talent, athleticism, and wrestling acumen, but is he ready? Similar things have been said about Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ant Man is the second coming of D Wade, and has all the charisma and leadership skills that it takes to elevate a team earlier than maybe they are ready. When Karl Anthony Towns went down with an injury earlier this year, Anthony Edwards kept the ball rolling with the Timberwolves and they almost got the 1 seed in the West anyway. Brooks seems like that’s the best comparison for him. Really damn close, but it just seems like the inevitable will be in his way. Zahid Valencia gets his bye to the second semis (I’m not sure if the bracket makers know how brackets work) after his World Bronze at 92 kgs last summer in Belgrade. He is like if you taught a Gatling gun how to wrestle. He’s constantly firing off attacks, ankle picks, snaps, slide by’s, and sweep singles, it’s all there. Sometimes it works out great and he overwhelms almost everyone in the world. Sometimes it doesn’t work and now you’re tired and you have an Aaron Brooks ready to storm back into the match like what happened in the 86 kg World Team Trials last year. But mostly it works, so he keeps doing it. Both Zahid, and his NBA playoff counterpart, can absolutely win it all and if so it will be because their offense is so nasty and unrelenting that the rest of the world can’t keep up. But Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Mavericks of Dallas seem like the right comparison here. There’s unbelievable firepower in this lineup, and their role players seem to be gelling at the right time to get the most of their minutes and opportunities in the lineup. Also, like Zahid, their defense doesn’t get enough credit either. That’s been impressive recently. But at its core, both of them want to outscore you, and both have every bit of ability to do so. David Taylor, the aforementioned Magic Man, is the inevitable though. He’s the Denver Nuggets. He’s shown that he can come through in clutch moments, or in moments right after the match starts, or at the end of the period, or while on the shot clock, or while you’re on the shot clock, or when it’s time to end the match, or on the edge of the mat, it doesn’t matter. If it’s on a wrestling mat, then it’s probably already over. Even his greatest rival, Yazdani, can’t figure out how to beat him anymore. Nikola Jokic is about to win his third MVP in four years, and likely his second NBA title in a row. Despite having the second seed in the West, they’re still the favorites to win it all and have routinely shown this season that when they need to get to another level, they will, and you can’t do anything about it. Is Nikola Jokic magic? Probably. 97 kgs - J’den Cox is healthy! He’s back and he’s healthy and he’s dangerous! It might be easy for some to overlook J’den at this point (not me, but I feel like it’s happening) since he’s been away from winning World Medals for a year, but he won six World Medals in 7 years from 2016 through 2022 (two of them being gold medals, and the only year he didn’t win a medal was the infamous Olympic missed weigh-ins year). But the dude has been a dominant force in the world for years and a beloved figure in the wrestling community. He’s back, and looking to get to the Olympics for the first time since 2016. He has a lot in his way to do it, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. That’s why I’m comparing J’Den to the Philadelphia 76ers. Joel Embiid, another dominant force (last season’s MVP), was hurt earlier this season. He was out for a couple of months before returning just before the playoffs. He seems to be as healthy as you’d like him to be, healthy enough to compete at a high level, and has his 76ers ready to make a playoff run. Like J’Den, there is a lot in their way, and battling through the East from the 7 seed and a play-in game is a lot to ask, but this roster has the tools to get it done. Both J’Den and Philly are healthy and ready to go! Handsome Nate Jackson made Final X in 2022 and took J’Den to three matches to make the team (J’Den took second in the world that year). He battled some injuries last year, but got surgery and has been steadily preparing for this Olympic run. We’ve seen what he’s able to do when he gets rolling, and despite people knowing how he’s going to attack, they can’t seem to stop it. It’s like, I know that standing on train tracks is a bad idea, but this train can move where you move and eventually it’s going to find you and then you get hit by a train. You can’t get out of the way. Just go with it. So if that’s the case, you have to take down the freight train, which is easier said than done. But offenses like this are hard to come by. Only teams like the Indiana Pacers have that sort of offensive output to compare to a guy like HNJ. They scored the most points per game of any team this year, had the most assists, had the most field goals made and attempted, and overall scored the most points on the season. Only the Boston Celtics had a higher offensive rating overall (all of this according to statmuse.com). Now defensively they were not quite as proficient, but they know that and all that more of a reason to score so many points! They have some special players on their roster, Tyrese Haliburton being the main one, who helps drive that freight train on (or off) of the tracks. We’ll see if both HNJ and the Pacers can score enough points to get it done this summer. Kyle Snyder is nearing a decade of taking first or second in the world. I guess technically he took third in the world in 2019 and 2023, but he’s been unreal for the better part of the last decade. Even longer than that really, he took first at the Junior World Championships in 2013, and then second in Junior Worlds in 2014 as well before starting his Senior level run. It’s almost too casual for us to forget how unworldly this run has been. It’s Bruce Baumgartner-esque. We’re so very clearly in this awesome run of USA wrestling from the last several years, and Kyle is a big part of it, but I still feel like he’s underrated somehow. Similarly to my fellow Kevin, Kevin Durant. He’s clearly one of the best forwards of all time, but his public perception is not at that level. There are reasons for that (I will feverishly defend the Slim Reaper and many of his decisions), but he’s won MVPs, NBA Championships, scoring titles, and battled back through injuries to remain consistent and efficient on offense and defense. He is with a Suns team at the moment that looks like they have the right pieces to make a run, and have enough scoring power to beat anyone. Snyder gets the chance to wait in the best of three finals, and he’s poised to continue this run and add to an already special legacy. 125 kgs - Greg Kerkvliet got it done! He showed emotion! All jokes aside, I was genuinely happy for him when he won his NCAA title. I can’t remember a more impressive wrestler to have only won one NCAA title. He had to go through the best NCAA heavyweight pool that we’ve had in my lifetime, so there’s that piece, but he earned it for sure. He’s shown in the past that he can be a force in the freestyle world, and he certainly has the training partners to help him capitalize on his talent and athleticism to step into this tournament and win it all. Another young team with a chance to put a run together would be the Orlando Magic. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, there’s a lot for Magic fans to be excited about. They could have made a run to end up the 2 seed in the East, but in the end, they are in a good spot with the 5 seed and a chance to battle the Cavs who seem like they are in between knowing what they want to do with their team (more on that in a moment as well). Banchero was the number one pick in the draft a couple of years ago, and Greg certainly has "top pick in the draft” energy. Both the Magic and Greg are young and dangerous and shouldn’t be overlooked at all. Nick Gwiazdowski was the beginning of the Heavyweight run that I referenced above. You could make the argument about some other athletic and exciting heavyweights, but in my mind, it really begins with Gwiz. He was so exciting for NC State, and really made the entire field adjust to what he was doing. He continued that run once he got out of college by winning World bronze medals in 2017 and 2018. Since then though, the field seems to have caught up to him. That’s not a knock on Gwiz, but more so an acknowledgment of how he helped change the game. It’s been six years since Gwiz’s last world medal, and since then we’ve had Gable Steveson win Olympic Gold, and Mason Parris win World bronze just last year. It just seems like Gwiz is talented and prepared and has the resume that would back up him making a run here, but there’s something off. Similarly to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have so much talent in the backcourt and the frontcourt, but it seems disjointed. Even their role players are one-dimensional, and as such, predictable. They’re the fourth seed in the East, but I don’t know anyone who predicts that they’ll get it done. I’m a huge Gwiz fan, and I hope he proves me wrong, but I don’t know if he can get past the Magic of Greg Kerkvliet. Mason Parris gets to watch this all unfold comfortably in the best-of-three finals matchup. Chaos through the challenge tournament will unfold as he watches intently, like a hungry Lion ready to jump on injured and weakened prey. Heavyweights around the world are no joke. Gwiz winning two world bronzes is truly impressive, even though it just seems like I downplayed it a ton a moment ago. Guys like Taha Akgul, Geno Petriashvili, Gable Steveson, those guys make it look easier than it is. So Mason’s world bronze from last year is a remarkable thing, especially considering he was not expected to be the guy. Gable had to withdraw before Mason knew it was going to be his time, but he was ready! Now he gets to wait in the finals for the lucky person who gets to battle him for the final spot. He’s the final boss of the video game. His NBA comparison? I don’t have one. I ran out of good teams. He’s not the Hawks (Trey Young sucks), he’s not the Kings (Big DeAaron Fox fan), and he’s not the Bulls (Demar Derozen is super underrated). Those are the only teams I have left. Maybe if you took all the best players from those teams and made one team (Trey Young doesn’t get to be on that team), then that’s what Mason Parris would be. A fantasy draft of the remaining NBA Playoff teams is Mason Parris, who is looking to earn his own trip to Paris to do Parris things.

USA Wrestling released pre-seeds for the 2024 Olympic Team Trials which get underway on Friday, April 19th, from State College, Pennsylvania. Below are the brackets based on the pre-seeds. As always, these stand to change based on a variety of factors between now and Friday. Men's Freestyle 57 kg 65 kg 74 kg 86 kg 97 kg 125 kg Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg 67 kg 77 kg 87 kg 97 kg 130 kg Women's Freestyle 50 kg 53 kg 57 kg 62 kg 68 kg 76 kg

Over the weekend, the European Olympic Games Qualifier took place from Baku, Azerbaijan. With the depth that Europe has in all three styles, paying attention to European results is essential in the lead up to the Olympic Games or even the Olympic Trials. Since the United States still needs to qualify two men’s freestyle weights and three Greco-Roman weights, there are likely some talented European wrestlers who will present problems for our American representatives. With the results from the European qualifier, combined with results from the 2023 World Championships and the Pan-American and African and Oceania Qualifier, we almost have the entire Olympic entry list. The final continent to hold their qualifier is Asia, which will take place at the same time as our Olympic Trials. The final three spots (per weight class) will be decided at the World OG Qualifier (aka Last Chance Qualifier) May 9th-12th. If a country needs to qualify a weight class for the Olympics, they’ll have to enter and finish in the top-three spots at the World OG Qualifier. Remember, these Olympic quotas earned at the World Championships or continental qualifiers are for the country, not necessarily the individual. Some countries will give the Olympic spot to the individual that qualified the weight; however, that’s up to each country. Below is an updated list of countries who have qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games at each weight, across all three styles. Men’s Freestyle 57 kg 2023 World Championships: Albania, Armenia, Japan, Russia*, Serbia Pan-American Qualifier: Mexico, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Guinea-Bissau European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* 65 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Hungary, Iran, Puerto Rico, Russia* Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Mexico African and Oceania Qualifier: Australia, Samoa European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Georgia 74 kg 2023 World Championships: Greece, Japan, Russia*, Serbia, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Guinea-Bissau European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* 86 kg 2023 World Championships: Iran, Kazakhstan, San Marino, United States, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Australia European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Russia* 97 kg 2023 World Championships: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Dominican Republic African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, South Africa European Qualifier: Belarus*, Russia* 125 kg 2023 World Championships: Georgia, Iran, Russia*, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Puerto Rico African and Oceania Qualifier: Egypt, Nigeria European Qualifier: Azerbaijan, Belarus* Women's Freestyle 50 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Japan, Mongolia, Turkey, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, Cuba African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Russia*, Ukraine 53 kg 2023 World Championships: Belarus*, Ecuador, India, Japan, Sweden Pan-American Qualifier: United States, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Guam, Nigeria European Qualifier: Romania, Russia* 57 kg 2023 World Championships: Japan, Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Guam European Qualifier: Belarus*, Germany 62 kg 2023 World Championships: Germany, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Ukraine Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Nigeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: Bulgaria, Russia* 68 kg 2023 World Championships: France, Japan, Moldova, Mongolia, Turkey Pan-American Qualifier: United States, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: New Zealand, Nigeria European Qualifier: Poland, Russia* 76 kg 2023 World Championships: Colombia, Cuba, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, United States Pan-American Qualifier: Canada, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Nigeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: Hungary, Turkey Greco-Roman 60 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Iran, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Cuba, Venezuela African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Moldova, Turkey 67 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Iran, Serbia Pan-American Qualifier: Chile, Ecuador African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Tunisia European Qualifier: France, Ukraine 77 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, Cuba African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Finland, Turkey 87 kg 2023 World Championships: Bulgaria, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Ukraine Pan-American Qualifier: Colombia, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Russia*, Serbia 97 kg 2023 World Championships: Armenia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Iran, Lithuania Pan-American Qualifier: Honduras, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Algeria, Egypt European Qualifier: Georgia, Lithuania 130 kg 2023 World Championships: China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Turkey Pan-American Qualifier: Chile, United States African and Oceania Qualifier: Morocco, Tunisia European Qualifier: Germany, Russia* *Wrestlers who have competed for Belarus or Russia have had to compete under the name Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) rather than their respective country. Since they have been permitted to compete at the European OG Qualifier, we assume their representatives will be able to compete in Paris. Or it could be on a case-by-case basis. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulaev was not permitted to compete at the European tournament.

It is awards season and here at the mailbag we’re no different. The third annual All-Jagger team is here! What does it take to make the team? Beats me. I’ve stated multiple times that there is no criteria other than you’re somebody I enjoyed watching. So, without further ado, let’s get to it! 125-Richard Figueroa I try not to put the actual champs on the list but the Figs win was special for me. Not only was he my first champ in our fantasy league, but the win helped my team go from last place a year ago to finishing in the money. Win Jagger money and you easily make the list. It’s likely the top criteria. 133-Dylan Shawver Dylan lost his spot in the lineup last year. Then he got injured. He could have left Rutgers. He stayed. He moved up a weight. He got better. He won a Big Ten title. He got on the podium at Nationals. Dylan Shawver is everything that is good about college athletics. He made a commitment and he’s honoring it. Just don’t leave now and make me look like a fool. 141-Brock Hardy What else can I really say here? The guy literally showed his ass to the whole country then came back to take third. As a fellow displayer of ass, I have to respect it. 149-Quinn Kinner It’s been a journey for Big Q that's for sure. From North Carolina State to Ohio State then back to his home state and Rider, the former Kingsway star got himself onto the podium in his last chance. We’ll always remember 2020 when you went both 133 and 157. Seriously, who wrestles Brady Berge and Micky Phillippi in the same year? A Jagger Guy, that’s who. 157-Peyton Robb This is the second AJ award for the Cornhusker. The first was for placing sixth on what we would later learn was a nasty infection that nearly cost him his leg. This time it’s for coming back after all that and placing seventh. A year ago we were just hoping Peyton would make it out of surgery unscathed so it’s an honor to once again put his name in this space. 165-David Carr It seems impossible to not like David Carr. It also seems impossible to not like Keegan O’Toole. Their rivalry of great matches and great sportsmanship is the kind of stuff that marks this sport great. Let’s face it, most of us assumed KOT had the upper hand at this point after two dominating wins. But that did not deter the Cyclone as he once again got the upper hand in their semifinal rematch before finishing the task against a tornado in Mitchell Mesenbrink to bookend his career in fashion with his second title. It was a pleasure to watch this guy compete for the last five years and lead Iowa State back to relevancy. 174-Shane Griffith We all know the impact Shane has had on the sport as he nonchalantly placed four times, won a title, and saved a program. This is more about motivating Jackson Turley to come back for one more year so he can fill this spot in 2025. 184-TJ Stewart It was a slow start for the redshirt freshman as he took a few early season losses and was out of the lineup for the first two months of the season. Then the Blair product turned it on during the second half and captured his first ACC title. Not satisfied, the young Hokie then went and placed seventh in Kansas City and now sets his sights on being the third VT wrestler to be a National champ after the great Mekhi Lewis and Caleb “The Hitman” Henson. Small potatoes compared to being named All-Jagger if you ask me but it’s good to still have goals. 197-Trent Hidlay Yes, I’m going to write about Hoagie some more because I’m free to do what I want here and it’s my last chance to praise one of my favorite college wrestlers. Shockingly, this is Trent’s first appearance on the team, but not the first Hidlay, as Hayden made it back in 2022. If I ever do a football version and need a power running back then I assure you that big brother Heath will also get the honor. And not only is Trent a member, but he’s also my captain. HWT-Yaraslau Slavikouski Oof, this didn’t age well. I get it. The guy has a Harvard degree and a year of eligibility left. I can’t blame him for cashing in on that AA performance. But the pizza anywhere else in the country isn’t as good and you know that. All-Jagger coaches edition Cael Sanderson Tony Robie Sean Bormet Am I seeing triple with these three? All-Jagger announcer edition Nick Kosko Rock Harrison Rhino Just give me this three-man booth in the NCAA finals and my man Mason Beckman won’t take so much heat. All-Jagger mailbag edition Burger King of Kings Salty Walkon Thicccolas I seriously want to thank you guys for being loyal readers and always keeping me on my toes with great questions. Without you guys to ask the important stuff, I have no reason to be here. And that goes for everyone who reads this whether on the toilet or elsewhere. I never thought in a million years I’d get an opportunity like this or at least not fail completely at it but three seasons have gone by now so something must be working. Thanks again to everyone out there for making this possible. Sometimes I just don’t have the energy for it, but knowing I get to come into your bathrooms in the morning keeps me motivated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to use mine.

In 17 days the action begins with our Greco and women’s freestyle teams starting things off in Paris on August 5th. And now we can start setting our reminders with the viewing schedule now out. Check out when your favorite Team USA wrestlers will be hitting the mats at the Olympic Games. Click here: Olympic Games TV Schedule Team USA Roster Greco 77kg: Kamal Bey 87kg: Payton Jacobson 97kg: Josef Rau 130kg: Adam Coon Women’s Freestyle 50kg: Sarah Hildebrandt 53kg: Dominique Parrish 57kg: Helen Maroulis 62kg: Kayla Miracle 68kg: Amit Elor 76kg: Kennedy Blades Men’s Freestyle 57kg: Spencer Lee 65kg: Zain Retherford 74kg: Kyle Dake 86kg: Aaron Brooks 97kg: Kyle Snyder 125kg: Mason Parris