InterMat Staff

Two days of competition are in the books at the crown jewel of high school wrestling - the Junior Men’s freestyle tournament from Fargo, North Dakota. There have been plenty of surprises and upsets, while at the same time, there have been superstars who have solidified their lofty rankings. Wrestling at this tournament has produced quarterfinals matchups for tomorrow morning. A win on the championship side, or two in the consolation bracket, will confirm a coveted place on the Fargo podium. Here are tomorrow’s quarterfinal matchups. 100 lbs Nathan Schuman (Pennsylvania) vs. Aidan Ortega (Illinois) Jackson Thorn (Minnesota) vs. Symon Woods (Illinois) Alex Huddleston (Indiana) vs. Bennett Wachter (Ohio) Joey Synan (Pennsylvania) vs. Onofre Gonzales (Colorado) 106 lbs Turner Ross (Oklahoma) vs. Niko Odiotti (Illinois) Vincent DeMarco (Illinois) vs. Daniel Romero (Colorado) Landon Thoennes (Minnesota) vs. Michael Salas-Sanchez (Oregon) Kaiden Belinsky (Iowa) vs. Cason Craft (Oklahoma) 113 lbs Loc Webber (Ohio) vs. Oumar Tounkara (New York) Rylan Seacrist (Ohio) vs. Cruzer Dominguez (Nebraska) Christopher Swann (Georgia) vs. Kaleb Pratt (Illinois) Julian Rios (Massachusetts) vs. Justin Farnsworth (Pennsylvania) 120 lbs Case Bell (Indiana) vs. Brock Rothermel (Pennsylvania) Cam Sontz (New Jersey) vs. Titan Friederichs (Minnesota) Zaiyahn Ornelas (Nebraska) vs. Mason Jakob (Tennessee) Rocklin Zinklin (California) vs. JoJo Uhorchuk (Tennessee) 126 lbs Paul Kenny (New Jersey) vs. Antonio Mills (Georgia) Brady Collins (Wisconsin) vs. Lander Bosh (Utah) Mikey Ruiz (Texas) vs. Vincent Anello (New Jersey) Siraj Sidhu (California) vs. Nicholas Garcia (Illinois) 132 lbs Isaiah Cortez (California) vs. Nicholas Sorrow (Michigan) Justyce Zuniga (Washington) vs. Dale Corbin (Pennsylvania) Manny Saldate (Nevada) vs. Slater Hicks (California) Moses Mendoza (California) vs. TJ Koester (Iowa) 138 lbs Kellen Wolbert (Wisconsin) vs. Dean Anderson (Arizona) Tyler Dekraker (Pennsylvania) vs. Sam Herring (Pennsylvania) Valentin Popadiuc (New Mexico) vs. Jordyn Raney (Kentucky) Maximus Brady (Iowa) vs. Elijah Cortez (California) 144 lbs Bo Bassett (Pennsylvania) vs. Ryan Kennedy (Ohio) Haakon Peterson (Wisconsin) vs. Jet Brown (Missouri) Bobby Duffy (New Jersey) vs. Derek Barrows (Colorado) Clinton Shepherd (Missouri) vs. Jake Miller (Oklahoma) 150 lbs Logan Paradice (Georgia) vs. Maksim Mukhamedaliy (Illinois) Thomas Gibbs (Indiana) vs. Matthew Martino (Idaho) Grayson Eggum (Minnesota) vs. Dallas Russell (Georgia) Brandon Dean (Colorado) vs. Davis Parrow (Minnesota) 157 lbs Bruno Cassioppi (Illinois) vs. Bas Diaz (Iowa) David Gleason (Missouri) vs. Declan Koch (Wisconsin) Zeno Moore (Florida) vs. Wyatt Medlin (Illinois) Reagan Milheim (Pennsylvania) vs. Cole Dummer (Wisconsin) 165 lbs Melvin Miller (Pennsylvania) vs. Liam Crook (Wisconsin) Maximus Dhabolt (Iowa) vs. Chris Dennis (Pennsylvania) Lucas Boe (Florida) vs. Liam Carlin (Connecticut) JayDen Williams (Michigan) vs. Sullivan Ramos (Wisconsin) 175 lbs Ladd Holman (Utah) vs. Mason Ontiveros (California) Brennan Warwick (Ohio) vs. Eli Leonard (Wisconsin) Waylon Cressell (Indiana) vs. Lincoln Jipp (Iowa) Maximus Norman (Tennessee) vs. Nicholas Singer (Pennsylvania) 190 lbs Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) vs. Michael White (Indiana) Jarrett Wadsen (Minnesota) vs. Jaxon Penovich (Illinois) Alex Reyes (New Jersey) vs. John Murphy (Minnesota) Lucas Ricketts (Kentucky) vs. Jimmy Mastny (Illinois) 215 lbs Levi Bussey (California) vs. Noah Weaver (Indiana) Michael Boyle (Ohio) vs. Alex Smith (Florida) Cade Ziola (Nebraska) vs. Evan Perez (Colorado) Daniel Moylan (California) vs. Kai Calcutt (Illinois) 285 lbs Dreshaun Ross (Iowa) vs. Micah Hach (South Dakota) Mark Effendian (Pennsylvania) vs. Tyson Martin (Wisconsin) Trayvn Boger (Utah) vs. Coby Merrill (California) Jacob Levy (Florida) vs. Michael Mocco (Florida)

Welcome to a new recurring feature on InterMat celebrating the first 25 years of the 21st century. Every couple of days, we’ll examine a particular collegiate program and highlight its accomplishments over the past quarter century. The first team that we examined was Minnesota, now Lehigh is up. Lehigh is a team that has perennially been in the hunt for EIWA championships, individually and as a team. During the early part of this quarter century, they even captured a couple of NCAA team trophies. Looking ahead to next year and the first year of the next quarter century, Lehigh might be in a position to contend for a team trophy again. But we’ll talk about that in due time. As we tried to determine Lehigh’s first team for the quarter century there were a couple of difficult decisions - more so than our feature on Minnesota. We gave Ryan Crookham the nod even though there are two-time All-Americans on the second and third team at 133 lbs. Crookham does have a significantly higher NCAA finish and NCAA seed, plus time to grow his resume. 157 and 174 lbs made us think about the cancellation of the 2020 national tournament. Josh Humphreys and Jordan Kutler were both in a position to have another strong NCAA finish, which would have made the decisions here much easier. Of course, that didn’t happen. Maybe Jordan Kutler and his former coach, Brad Dillon, can wrestle off for the spot. The decision that might be the most eye-catching is the one at 184 lbs. There’s the choice between 2002 NCAA champion Rob Rohn and two-time NCAA finalist Robert Hamlin. Hamlin’s total body of work is better and he’s one of the best wrestlers in this quarter century without an NCAA title (Lehigh actually might have a couple of wrestlers on that list), while Rohn has the all-important title. We’ll let you debate this in the comments and on the message boards. Wrestlers considered for the three teams had to compete from 2001-25. For the wrestlers early in this timeframe, their entire collegiate body of work was considered. Only collegiate results were taken into consideration. Even if a wrestler was successful at multiple weights, they were only selected for one weight - typically it was based on the strongest possible first team. After the three All-Century teams, there are some fun facts about Lehigh’s results over the past 25 years. Lehigh First Team 125 lbs - Darian Cruz: Allentown, Pennsylvania: 3x AA (5,1,7), 2017 NCAA Champ, 3x EIWA Champion, NCAA #1 seed 133 lbs - Ryan Crookham:* Hellertown, Pennsylvania: 1x AA (3), EIWA Champion, NCAA #2 seed 141 lbs - Cory Cooperman: Easton, Pennsylvania: 3x AA (3,3,7), 2x EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist, NCAA #3 seed 149 lbs - Dave Esposito: Matawan, New Jersey: 2x AA (2,3), 2x EIWA Champion, NCAA #4 seed 157 lbs - Josh Humphreys: Parkersburg, West Virginia: 1x AA (3), NWCA 1st Team AA, 2x NCAA Round of 12 finisher, 3x EIWA Champion 165 lbs - Troy Letters: Shaler, Pennsylvania: 3x AA (3,1,2), 2004 NCAA Champ, 3x EIWA Champion 174 lbs - Jordan Kutler: Sparta, New Jersey: 2x AA (7,6), NWCA 1st Team AA, 3x EIWA Champion, NCAA #3 Seed 184 lbs - Robert Hamlin: Jonesville, Vermont: 3x AA (2,4,2), 2x EIWA Champion, NCAA #2 seed x2 197 lbs - Jon Trenge: Orefield, Pennsylvania: 3x AA (3,2,2), 3x EIWA Champion, NCAA #1 seed x2 285 lbs - Zach Rey: Hopatcong, New Jersey: 3x AA (2,1,3), 2012 NCAA Champ, EIWA Champion, 4x EIWA finalist Second Team 125 lbs - Mario Stuart: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (4,5), 3x EIWA Runner-Up 133 lbs - Mason Beckman: Transfer, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (6,6), EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 141 lbs - Randy Cruz: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: 1x AA (8), 2x EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 149 lbs - Mitch Minotti: Easton, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (8,6), EIWA Runner-Up 157 lbs - Derek Zinck: Upper Perkiomen, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (5,8), EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 165 lbs - Brandon Hatchett: Winter Springs, Florida: 2x AA (2,7), EIWA Champion, 2x EIWA finalist 174 lbs - Brad Dillon: Allentown, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (4,5), 2x EIWA Champion, NCAA #3 seed 184 lbs - Rob Rohn: Nazareth, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (1,5), 2002 NCAA Champ, EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 197 lbs - Michael Beard: Reading, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (8,7), 2x NCAA Round of 12 finisher, 2x EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 285 lbs - Jordan Wood: Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (3,4), NWCA 2nd Team AA, 5x EIWA Champion Third Team 125 lbs - Luke Stanich:* Roxbury, New Jersey: 1x AA (5), EIWA Champion, NCAA #2 seed 133 lbs - Scott Parker: Sellersville, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (7,8), 2x EIWA Champion 141 lbs - Matt Ciasulli: Easton, Pennsylvania: 3x NCAA qualifier, EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist 149 lbs - Laike Gardner: Biglerville, Pennsylvania: 3x NCAA qualifier, NCAA Round of 12 finisher 157 lbs - Joey Napoli: Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania: 3x NCAA qualifier, EIWA Champion, NCAA #3 seed 165 lbs - Ryan Preisch: New Columbia, Pennsylvania: 1x AA (4), EIWA Champion, 3x EIWA finalist, NCAA #3 seed 174 lbs - Travis Frick: Nazareth, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (6,8), 2x EIWA Champion 184 lbs - Nathaniel Brown: Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: 2x AA (7,2), EIWA Champion, 2x EIWA finalist 197 lbs - Joe Kennedy: Milford, Pennsylvania: 1x AA (8), NCAA Round of 12 finisher 285 lbs - Owen Trephan: Summerville, South Carolina: 1x AA (5), EIWA Champion, 2x ACC Champion, NCAA #4 seed Fun Facts Lehigh has earned a pair of NCAA team trophies this quarter century (2003/4th, 2004/3rd) During the first 12 years of this quarter century, Lehigh finished in the top ten at NCAA’s on seven occasions Lehigh has finished in the top 20 at NCAA’s in 18 of the last 25 years Only two head coaches have led Lehigh during this span - the late, great Greg Stroebel and current head coach Pat Santoro Lehigh has produced four national champions during this time period, only one of which won as a senior (Rohn) 13 Lehigh wrestlers have made the NCAA finals during this time Lehigh has placed 53 wrestlers on the NCAA podium since 2001 In addition, four wrestlers garnered NWCA All-American honors in 2020 (3x 1st Team and 1x 2nd Team) 7 freshmen have gotten onto the NCAA podium for Lehigh in this quarter century There have been three occasions where two freshmen earned All-American honors in the same year Five Lehigh wrestlers have earned the #1 seed at the NCAA Championships (Trenge x2, Letters, Rey, Cruz) 61 Lehigh wrestlers have earned EIWA Championships since 2001 - including at least one each season Lehigh has captured nine EIWA titles during this period They had a streak with five straight EIWA titles from 2002-06 Jordan Wood (2018-22) became the first five-time EIWA champion Twice during this quarter century has Lehigh qualified all ten wrestlers for nationals (2018, 2021) 16 Lehigh wrestlers have been selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic since 2000-01 Seven wrestlers have won Midlands titles during this span with Trenge being the lone two-timer

Thousands of high school wrestlers in Fargo this week will compete for stop signs and national championships. One already has his hardware from Fargo and is aiming even higher. In between rounds of men’s freestyle competition at the 16U and Junior National Championships was the delayed Final X wrestle-off between world champion Vito Arujau and rising high school senior Jax Forrest. Arujau’s status as a returning world medalist allowed him to delay their Final X series from June 14th to July 14th from Fargo, North Dakota. Forrest swept the two matches 4-3 in the first and 7-2 in the second. Back in 2022, Forrest was a U17 World silver medalist and earlier this year he won the Senior Pan-American Championships. With Forrest on the squad, the 2025 Senior World Team will feature seven first-time world team members. Forrest and PJ Duke will wrestle at the World Championships before ever stepping onto a collegiate mat. Match one saw Arujau strike first with a takedown off of a picture-esque sweep single. With under a minute remaining in the opening stanza, Arujau looked poised to add onto his lead; however, Forrest scrambled out of a Arujau attack and into a takedown of his own. Early in the second period, action took the pair over to the edge of the mat. Arujau nearly had a second takedown but settled for a step-out point to lead, 3-2. Despite some quality action, 3-2 is how the score would remain until the final seconds of the bout. With under :30 seconds remaining, fresh off of a reshot, Arujau got in on a low leg attack. Forrest slipped free of the attack and put pressure on Arujau near the edge. Once Arujau shifted his weight to stay in bounds, Forrest spun around and scored the winning takedown with :05 seconds left in the bout. He would hold on to win, 4-3. Forrest set the tone in the second match with an early takedown and immediately transitioned into a turn for a quick 4-0 lead. Arujau was able to get a late takedown but was never able to seriously threaten Forrest.

Team Scores 1. Pennsylvania 151 2. Texas 89 3. Oklahoma 88 4. California 86 5. New Jersey 84 6. Colorado 78 7. Iowa 77 8. Wisconsin 73 9. Tennessee 72 10. Kansas 68 16U Women’s Freestyle All-Americans Championship Finals 95 lbs: Justice Gutierrez (Colorado) over Brooklyn Henry (Pennsylvania) 4-0 100 lbs: Ryleigh Sturgill (Tennessee) over Riley Karwowski (Pennsylvania) Fall 3:57 105 lbs: Hailey Delgado (Texas) over Gail Sullivan (New York) 7-0 110 lbs: Gabriella Conte (New Jersey) over Aubree Gutierrez (California) 1-0 115 lbs: Reagan Mathers (Arizona) over Marlee Solomon (Pennsylvania) 6-0 120 lbs: Carolyn Geckler (Ohio) over Marie Sharp (New Jersey) 4-4 125 lbs: Victoria Carbonaro (New Jersey) over Neve O’Byrne (Pennsylvania) 14-4 130 lbs: Landri Van Gonten (Texas) over Olivia Bezdicek (Idaho) 10-0 135 lbs: Taina Fernandez (Maryland) over Emily Beckley (Oklahoma) 11-0 140 lbs: Harlow Skenandore (Wisconsin) over Clover Williams (Oklahoma) 9-5 145 lbs: Eve Skrocki (Iowa) over Gray Joyce (Kansas) 6-5 155 lbs: Janiya Johnson (Tennessee) over Symone Jewell (California) 8-4 170 lbs: Kaili Manuel (Michigan) over Sarah Pulk (Minnesota) 9-2 190 lbs: Tevia Nau Rarick (Utah) over JayaShree Bray (Nebraska) Fall 1:41 207 lbs: Racheal Adolphe (Indiana) over Lulu Kirk (Kansas) Fall 3:03 235 lbs: Aniyah Smith (Iowa) Eden Hach (South Dakota) Fall 4:00 Third Place Bouts 95 lbs: Olivia Munson (California) over Cidney Schaffer (Pennsylvania) 11-8 100 lbs: Vivienne Popadiuc (New Mexico) over Josie Wilson (Kansas) Fall 1:29 105 lbs: Emma Faczak (Colorado) over Kirra Mitchell (Georgia) 5-4 110 lbs: Ella Cohen (California) over Winter West (Washington) 10-5 115 lbs: Malia Ottow (Washington) over Kendal Haynie (Florida) 8-2 120 lbs: Abigail Gonzalez (Florida) over Daelin Cody (Wisconsin) 6-5 125 lbs: Sobina Clendaniel (Alaska) over Cristel Miguel (Connecticut) 2-1 130 lbs: Caroline Hilton (Tennessee) over Saige McCleery (Washington) 2-0 135 lbs: Chloe Wehry (Minnesota) over Erin Delling (Missouri) Fall 3:34 140 lbs: Kesi Tsarni (Maryland) over Audrey Robinson (Oregon) 11-4 145 lbs: Allison Garbacz (Illinois) over Layla Risler (Wisconsin) 7-2 155 lbs: Julia Araujo (North Dakota) over Juliet Alt (Pennsylvania) Fall 1:33 170 lbs: Ciyanna Okocha (Pennsylvania) over Leolyn Karnowski (Kansas) 6-1 190 lbs: Lyla Hensen (Michigan) over Riley Samarripa (Oklahoma) Fall 1:46 207 lbs: Abagail Lacy (Oklahoma) over Makayla Ocean (Florida) Fall :32 235 lbs: Shelby Wells (Texas) over Khloe Henshaw (Alabama) Fall 1:31 Fifth Place Bouts 95 lbs: Kendra Ege (Illinois) over Easton Dadiomoff (Tennessee) MedFFT 100 lbs: Peggy Susan Dean (Colorado) over Kiana Lien (California) 10-4 105 lbs: Chloe Skiles (Illinois) over Morgan Hyland (Pennsylvania) MedFFT 110 lbs: Lyric Hetzer (Ohio) over Cora Stewart (Wisconsin) Fall 3:57 115 lbs: Lucia Ranieri (New Jersey) over Olivia Kearns (Pennsylvania) 9-9 120 lbs: Maya Fiodorova (Nevada) over Mikayla Perkins (Indiana) 11-2 125 lbs: Lilli Cooper (Iowa) over Caitlin Maragioglio (New York) 14-2 130 lbs: Isabella Miller (Iowa) over Ginger Majurin (Michigan) 6-0 135 lbs: Giavonna Good (Utah) over Paisley Morrison (Oregon) MedFFT 140 lbs: Kelice Luker (Oklahoma) over Keely Fallert (Missouri) Fall :35 145 lbs: Jameson Strickland (Pennsylvania) over Victoria Alvarado (New York) 7-2 155 lbs: Matilda Hruby (Colorado) over Amalia Djoumessi (Iowa) 8-6 170 lbs: Alexis Penley (Illinois) over Eva Garcia (California) MedFFT 190 lbs: Blake Baker (Texas) over Alyvia Edwards (Oklahoma) 10-0 207 lbs: Alyciana Rogers (Texas) over Autumn King (Wisconsin) Fall 1:20 235 lbs: Caylee Miller (New Mexico) over Peyton Mullin (New York) Fall 1:52 Seventh Place Bouts 95 lbs: Cassidy O’Connell (Wisconsin) over Lexi Pancoast (Pennsylvania) 11-4 100 lbs: Cameron Hodge (Colorado) over Katelynn Dockery (Texas) 10-0 105 lbs: Emelly Diaz Santos (New Jersey) over Tatianna Castillo (Michigan) MedFFT 110 lbs: Ali Svancara (Idaho) over Addison Hunt (Texas) Fall :50 115 lbs: Emma Baker (Michigan) over Hannah Naccarati-Cholo (Arizona) 10-8 120 lbs: Remington Zimmerer (Colorado) over Cameron Leng (Ohio) Fall 2:55 125 lbs: Claire Lancaster (Oklahoma) over Averie Counts (Kansas) Fall 1:22 130 lbs: Emma Grimes (Pennsylvania) over Anastasia Rodnikova (Illinois) Fall 1:34 135 lbs: Erika Sleznikow (Wisconsin) over Avery Fitzgerald (Texas) Fall 2:33 140 lbs: Kiera DePinet (Ohio) over Sarai Cortez (California) 4-0 145 lbs: Giancarla Garduno (Illinois) over Winry Yaggie (South Dakota) Fall 4:00 155 lbs: KyLee Tibbs (Ohio) over Siobhan Flanner (Kansas) 9-8 170 lbs: Laila Hustoles (Colorado) over Molly Olague (Idaho) 12-2 190 lbs: Shayla Martinez (Colorado) over Ashley Hoffman (Pennsylvania) Fall 2:33 207 lbs: Charley Timms (Nevada) over Savada Kitchen (North Carolina) Fall 1:08 235 lbs: Asreilla Wallace (Illinois) over Kinley Jimenez (Iowa) Fall 1:51

Team Scores 1. Pennsylvania 177 2. Michigan 126 3. California 119 4. Missouri 99 5. Ohio 81 5. New Jersey 81 7. Indiana 69 8. Minnesota 66 9. Iowa 61 10. Connecticut 60 Junior Women’s Freestyle All-Americans Championship Finals 95 lbs: Natalie Radecki (Delaware) over Zoey Haney (Missouri) 8-4 100 lbs: Jaclyn Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) over Katey Valdez (Colorado) 14-7 105 lbs: Heather Crull (Indiana) over Julia Horger (Pennsylvania) 10-0 110 lbs: Kayla Batres (Connecticut) over Charlie Wylie (New Jersey) 11-1 115 lbs: Harlee Hiller (Illinois) over Mackenzie Carder (Ohio) Fall 5:01 120 lbs: Caley Graber (Minnesota) over Savannah Witt (Pennsylvania) 10-0 125 lbs: Emma Bacon (Pennsylvania) over Cecilia Williams (Michigan) 16-5 130 lbs: Taina McGowan (New Jersey) over Zorina Johnson (Oregon) 10-0 135 lbs: Taina Fernandez (Maryland) over Maddie Marsh (Indiana) 11-0 140 lbs: Nora Akpan (Minnesota) over Alexis Lazar (Michigan) 3-2 145 lbs: Violette Lasure (Pennsylvania) over Olivia Davis (California) 12-7 155 lbs: Olivia Georges (New Jersey) over Sarah Henckel (Connecticut) 10-2 170 lbs: Jael Miller (Pennsylvania) over Autumn Elsbury (Iowa) 15-2 190 lbs: Mahalia Adams (Virginia) over Kanata Richardson (Michigan) 8-2 207 lbs: Amie Hartman (California) over Mia Cienega (Washington) 3-3 235 lbs: Deionna Borders (Ohio) over Chloe Hoselton (Illinois) 7-0 Third Place Matches 95 lbs: Lillee Denson (Michigan) over Lilly Breeden (Missouri) 12-9 100 lbs: Jaelle Cortez (California) over Ella Thomas (Ohio) 10-0 105 lbs: Christina Estrada (California) over Eva Zimmerman (Utah) 18-7 110 lbs: Nakayla Dawson (Michigan) over Kendall Moe (Indiana) 8-1 115 lbs: Taylor Whiting (Wisconsin) over Joely Slyter (Idaho) 17-4 120 lbs: Calli Gilchrist (Connecticut) over Morgan Maschmann (Nebraska) 11-6 125 lbs: Ruby Julien-Newsom (California) over Kailey Benson (Missouri) 13-2 130 lbs: Corynne McNulty (Massachusetts) over Abigail Mozden (Ohio) 10-0 135 lbs: Morgan Lucio (Arizona) over Lauren Zaragoza (California) 12-1 140 lbs: Zoey Haines (Pennsylvania) over Ailee Briggs (Florida) Fall 1:49 145 lbs: Greta Brus (Iowa) over Elise Twait (Idaho) Fall 3:50 155 lbs: Kaylie Hall (West Virginia) over Amelia Fawcett (Alaska) 8-7 170 lbs: Kendall Bibla (Florida) over Makayla Vasser (Nebraska) 18-12 190 lbs: Brooke Huffman (Wisconsin) over Libby Dix (Iowa) Fall 2:35 207 lbs: Halle Spears (Michigan) over Maddie Miller (Ohio) Fall 1:10 235 lbs: Brenda Banks (Pennsylvania) over Alexis Stinson (Missouri) Fall 1:09 Fifth Place Matches 95 lbs: Francesca Gusfa (New Jersey) over Serah Yogi (Hawaii) Fall 1:30 100 lbs: Killian Evans (Missouri) over Sandy Breeden (Missouri) 20-10 105 lbs: Sarissa Tucker (Virginia) over Madison Nieuwenhuis (Michigan) MedFFT 110 lbs: Jayden Keller (Missouri) over Reanah Utterback (Iowa) 14-3 115 lbs: Jenna Anderson (Virginia) over Libby Roberts (Washington) 14-4 120 lbs: Cheyenne Frank (Michigan) over Alena Williams (Arkansas) Fall 1:15 125 lbs: Madilyn Peach (Wisconsin) over Me’kala James (California) MedFFT 130 lbs: Kailin Sebert (Texas) over Tiyanna Mack (South Carolina) Fall 1:12 135 lbs: Kate Doughty (Colorado) over Claudia Heeney (Illinois) 12-7 140 lbs: Riley Hanrahan (Wisconsin) over Louise Juitt (Missouri) 10-0 145 lbs: Faith Bane (North Carolina) over Skylar Slade (Iowa) 7-2 155 lbs: Chandni Banks (California) over Cassandra Gonzales (Minnesota) Fall 1:43 170 lbs: Emily Novak (Minnesota) over TorRina Rushing (Florida) Fall :42 190 lbs: Selena Mares-Castro (Washington) over Evelyn Vargas (California) Fall 1:30 207 lbs: Tirza Twoteeth (Montana) over Taylor Orner (Pennsylvania) Fall 1:24 235 lbs: Tilisa Matakaiongo (Utah) over Maliana Heimuli (Texas) Fall 3:15 Seventh Place Matches 95 lbs: Alexa Rodriguez Lopez (Texas) over Lily Enos (Illinois) Fall 1:38 100 lbs: Vina Nguyen (Washington) over Kyrian Perez (Oklahoma) Fall :49 105 lbs: Kiera Partello (Florida) over Isabelle Apple (Missouri) Fall 2:35 110 lbs: Mariah Mills (Florida) over Addie Morse (Oklahoma) 9-0 115 lbs: Angelina Gochis (Illinois) over Isabel Kaplan (Indiana) 6-0 120 lbs: Stevie Joyce Martin (California) over Kennedy Russell (California) Fall 1:18 125 lbs: Mika Yoffee (Nevada) over Regina Stoeser (South Dakota) MedFFT 130 lbs: Naima Ghaffar (Indiana) over Brooklyn Perez (Arizona) Fall 3:27 135 lbs: Lilliana Banks (Wisconsin) over Dealya Collins (Wisconsin) 13-2 140 lbs: Dulcy Martinez (California) over Jacinda Espinoza (Missouri) 10-0 145 lbs: Maggie Ortmann (Missouri) over Ashley Thompson (Arkansas) Fall 4:58 155 lbs: Eloise Woolsey (New Mexico) over Paige DeCaro (New Jersey) Fall :44 170 lbs: Maddie Hayden (Michigan) over Chaniah Bernier (Maryland) 8-1 190 lbs: Hayleen Martinez (Kansas) over Briana Alvarado (California) Fall 5:53 207 lbs: Angel Hill (California) over Sophiea Quinn (Missouri) Fall :36 235 lbs: Aubrey Bartkowiak (Indiana) over Azreal Smith (Oklahoma) MedFFT

One of the highest-ranked uncommitted wrestlers from the Class of 2026 has committed. Coby Merrill (JW North, CA) the #7 overall recruit in the Class of 2026 has committed to Iowa State. Merrill is currently ranked second in the nation at 285 lbs. Merrill is a three-time California state finalist and an undefeated state champion in 2025. Prior to his sophomore year of high school, Merrill finished in third place in both styles at the Junior level in Fargo. The year before he was seventh in 16U freestyle and a Greco-Roman national champion. Merrill has also captured titles at California’s prestigious Doc Buchanan Invitational in each of the last two seasons. In 2024 at 220 lbs and 285 lbs in 2025. Earlier this year, Merrill competed at the U20 Open and finished sixth at 125 kgs after falling in the semifinals. Merrill is slated to compete in Fargo this week. Team California’s preliminary roster lists Merrill at 285 lbs for Junior freestyle, but he’s not listed for Greco-Roman. Surprisingly, Merrill is the first recruit from the Class of 2026 to give Kevin Dresser’s team a verbal commitment. Merrill projects as a heavyweight at the next level. That weight isn’t a pressing need for the Cyclones as they have Daniel Herrera currently as the long-term starter. Herrera qualified for nationals as a true heavyweight and is expected to redshirt as Yonger Bastida finishes his career in 2025-26. That would allow Merrill to redshirt his first year on campus before the two may overlap. But those are good problems to have and for another day. Before choosing Iowa State, Merrill took fall visits to Cornell, Princeton, and Stanford. His older brother Cody will be a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma State next year.

JW North

June 15th was New Year’s Day for those college coaches recruiting the Class of 2027 and the student-athletes waiting to plan out their futures. The 15th was the first day that collegiate coaches could officially contact rising juniors and there has been plenty of activity on the recruiting front. Since the 15th, some of the nation’s top prospects have released lists of their top schools. Rather than trying to dig through social media or click through a bunch of state sites, we have compiled this list of these top recruits and their potential future homes. Remember recruiting is a fluid process, so another school, currently unlisted, could jump into the picture for a recruit. Conversely, the recruits could trim their list at any time. This is a feature that will be revisited as needed throughout the recruitment process. #1 Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort, PA) - Arizona State, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, #3 Sonny Amato (Rumson-Fair Haven, NJ) - Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Penn, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Virginia Tech #4 Landon Sidun (Norwin, Pennsylvania) - Buffalo, Cornell, Iowa, Minnesota, NC State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, West Virginia #10 Dean Anderson (Valiant Prep, AZ) - Arizona State, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Penn State #14 Max Konopka (Simsbury, CT) - Cornell, Lehigh, NC State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin #15 Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco, IA) - Cornell, Iowa, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Virginia Tech #17 Arseni Kikiniou (Poway, CA) - Arizona State, Cal Poly, Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia Tech #30 Jimmy Mastny (Marian Central, IL) - Air Force, Arizona State, Army, Cornell, George Mason, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Little Rock, Michigan, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn, Purdue, Princeton, SIU Edwardsville, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin #38 Dawson Youngblut (Don Bosco, IA) - Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa #39 Gage Lohr (Watertown, SD) - Cornell, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota State, Wisconsin, Wyoming #41 Dale Corbin (Wyoming Seminary, PA) - Army West Point, Cornell, Lehigh, Maryland, Minnesota, NC State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Utah Valley, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin #52 Luke Hayden (Hickman, MO) - Air Force, Cornell, Missouri, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Purdue, South Dakota State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin #107 Caleb Tyler (Delone Catholic, PA) - Clarion, Duke, Franklin & Marshall, Virginia, Wisconsin

We’re only one day away from the start of Fargo! The women’s action starts on Saturday morning. At InterMat, we tend to look at events like this from a collegiate perspective and this week is no different. For the past two weeks, USA Wrestling has released a handful of state rosters each day. With each subsequent release, we’ve checked each roster to see how many team members have signed or committed to wrestle at the next level. Now, we have a gigantic list of wrestlers who are slated to appear in Fargo - sorted by their future college. Please let me know if anyone has been omitted! Adams State Dakota Hull (Colorado) 145 lbs Adrian Maddie Jones (Tennessee) 130 lbs Alma Shai Curtiss (Michigan) 120 lbs Augsburg Annabelle Gutormson (Minnesota) 145 lbs Augustana Mya Vasquez (Illinois) 95 lbs Aurora Sophia Ball (Illinois) 130 lbs Avila Addison Eddleman (Missouri) 115 lbs Kamahni Jackson (Missouri) 145 lbs Daijah Preston (Kansas) 140 lbs Bethany Kassandra Lindsay (New York) 135 lbs Brown Calli Gilchrist (Connecticut) 120 lbs Campbellsville Desi Lee (Ohio) 190 lbs Carthage Ashlyn Corey (Colorado) 130 lbs Chadron State Rowyn Wiltgen (Nebraska) 155 lbs Colorado Mesa Lily Harris (Wyoming) 130 lbs Kiera Hersel (Idaho) 105 lbs Columbia Mia Collins (New York) 130 lbs Jade Lawrence (South Carolina) 145 lbs Noa Omessi (Utah) 140 lbs Cornell (IA) Reese Jacobs (Missouri) 140 lbs Dickenson State Amie Hartman (Idaho) 207 lbs Isabella Smouse (Colorado) 110 lbs Evelyn Vargas (California) 190 lbs Doane Kitana Leafaatoto (Nevada) 235 lbs Eastern Zoey Haines (Pennsylvania) 140 lbs Anaelis Morales (Pennsylvania) 110 lbs Savannah Witt (Pennsylvania) 120 lbs Eastern Oregon McKayla Bonham (Oregon) 125 lbs Isabella Coronado (Nevada) 115 lbs East Stroudsburg Teegan Sibble (New York) 115 lbs Elmira Marissa Crofoot (New York) 190 lbs Emmanuel Alexandra Ford (Maryland) 145 lbs Felician Emily Doolittle (Florida) 105 lbs Jaylee Lopez (Washington) 170 lbs Fort Hays State Jaidyn Alvarado (Kansas) 100 lbs Peyton Hellman (South Dakota) 130 lbs Hayleen Martinez (Kansas) 190 lbs Morgan Maschmann (Nebraska) 120 lbs Friends Alexis Means (Kansas) 140 lbs Frostburg State Chaniah Bernier (Maryland) 170 lbs Naria Medrano (Virginia) 155 lbs Kayla Ward (Maryland) 145 lbs Grand Valley State Maggie Buurma (Michigan) 145 lbs Libby Roberts (Washington) 115 lbs Maddison Ward (Michigan) 155 lbs Grand View Izzy Apple (Missouri) 105 lbs Selena Mares-Castro (Washington) 170 lbs Jasmine Serrano (Florida) 125 lbs Hastings Jessica Farmer (Colorado) 115 lbs Raelynn O’Connor (Idaho) 105 lbs Illinois Wesleyan Beyonce Espinoza (Florida) 120 lbs Jillian Giller (Illinois) 145 lbs Angel Hill (California) 207 lbs Indiana Tech Ellen Ashabranner (Indiana) 190 lbs Lola Barkby (Michigan) 125 lbs Zoey Haney (Missouri) 95 lbs Iowa Harlee Hiller (Illinois) 115 lbs Iowa Central Mahalia Adams (Virginia) 190 lbs Zoey Barber (Nebraska) 155 lbs Paige Spomer (North Dakota) 145 lbs Iowa Lakes Soledad Luchman (Colorado) 235 lbs Iowa Western Emerson Gregg (Iowa) 125 lbs Carson Shank (Nebraska) 190 lbs Faith Tarrant (Washington) 235 lbs Ithaca Melina Georgas (New York) 170 lbs Jamestown Kiera Hagman (Minnesota) 115 lbs Emily Novak (Minnesota) 170 lbs King Jada Pichardo (New Jersey) 120 lbs Lehigh Natalia Accorsi (Connecticut) 125 lbs Alexa Ciliotta (New Jersey) 125 lbs Paige DeCaro (New Jersey) 155 lbs Julia Fongaro (New Jersey) 135 lbs Angelina Jiang (California) 155 lbs Cameron Millsapps (Virginia) 155 lbs Brynn Shepardson (New York) 170 lbs Mira Sonnen (Washington) 145 lbs Life Tiyanna Mack (South Carolina) 130 lbs Narvena Sallom (Nebraska) 170 lbs Lincoln Memorial Hannah Parrish (Tennessee) 135 lbs Lindenwood Taylor Dawson (Illinois) 135 lbs Ally Jelinek (Iowa) 120 lbs Keilikki Nau Rarick (Utah) 207 lbs Lindsey Wilson Kendall Bibla (Florida) 170 lbs Lock Haven Raegan Snider (Pennsylvania) 155 lbs Manchester Katy Vardaman (Indiana) 140 lbs Marymount Katianna Martinez (California) 190 lbs McKendree Mackenzee Bunton (Texas) 135 lbs Heather Crull (Indiana) 110 lbs Maycee Peacher (Nebraska) 130 lbs Katey Valdez (Colorado) 100 lbs Alena Williams (Arkansas) 120 lbs Menlo Navjot Waraich (California) 95 lbs Minot State Lillian Garrett (Illinois) 155 lbs Viola Pianetto (Illinois) 135 lbs Misericordia Kylee Gaddy (New Jersey) 145 lbs Missouri Baptist Kenlee Fish (Missouri) 170 lbs Zoe Fries (Idaho) 135 lbs Mount Union Erta Beqiri (Ohio) 115 lbs Lori Grimes (Ohio) 155 lbs Addi Lyon (Ohio) 135 lbs Muhlenberg Riley Lynch (Virginia) 135 lbs New Jersey City Marielys Lugo Fernandez (New York) 95 lbs North Central Natalie Klavetter (Wisconsin) 135 lbs Jael Miller (Pennsylvania) 170 lbs Layla Morris (Oregon) 125 lbs Tirza Twoteeth (Montana) 235 lbs Oklahoma State Kailey Benson (Missouri) 130 lbs Gigi Bragg (Michigan) 115 lbs Bayleigh Cooper (Kansas) 120 lbs Hannah Henderson (Missouri) 125 lbs Ottawa Kylee Lindsley (Montana) 170 lbs Kaitlyn Thorn (Montana) 145 lbs Otterbein Jada Weiss (Ohio) 155 lbs Pitt-Johnstown Tamara Humphries (Pennsylvania) 115 lbs Presbyterian Jenna Anderson (Virginia) 115lbs Kaylie Hall (West Virginia) 170 lbs Sloane Kruger (Washington) 100 lbs Providence Carlye Ana Boenau (New York) 105 lbs Elliza Brunner (Utah) 120 lbs McKenzie Mills (Oregon) 190 lbs Sydnee Nielson (Utah) 190 lbs Kaitelynn Oliver (Florida) 130 lbs Lucia Schlapfer (Montana) 130 lbs Joely Slyter (Idaho) 115 lbs Elise Twait (Idaho) 145 lbs Quincy Dempsey Atkinson (Illinois) 145 lbs Abigail Mendoza (Texas) 95 lbs Rio Grande Alexandria Evans (West Virginia) 100 lbs Jabea Ewane (Maryland) 235 lbs Sacred Heart Josephine Larson (Illinois) 190 lbs Tilisa Matakaiongo (Utah) 207 lbs Sioux Falls Sydnie Brown (Nebraska) 130 lbs Kristy More (Florida) 145 lbs Johanna Steinlicht (South Dakota) 135 lbs Southeast CC Emma Albanese (Nevada) 115 lbs Southern Oregon Sadie Hall (Oregon) 140 lbs Katelyn Wisman (Oregon) 135 lbs St. Mary Gwen Musser (Texas) 130 lbs The Cumberlands Sarina Gunn (Virginia) 110 lbs Ariyanah Parson (Virginia) 135 lbs Tiffin Sophia Antonio (Ohio) 140 lbs Ursinus Jurelys Peguero del Rosario (Pennsylvania) 170 lbs Wayland Baptist Madison Pena (Texas) 120 lbs Wartburg Kenzie Childers (Iowa) 130 lbs Alexis Pehrson (Nebraska) 135 lbs Aubrie Pehrson (Nebraska) 135 lbs Chloe Sheffield (Iowa) 100 lbs West Liberty Mariah Mills (Florida) 110 lbs Western New England Maia De La Cruz (New York) 120 lbs Lily Henderson (New Jersey) 115 lbs Wilkes Angel Upright (Pennsylvania) 140 lbs William Jewell Olivia Davis (California) 145 lbs William Penn Naomi Templeman (Iowa) 155 lbs Wisconsin-Oshkosh Haley Dezelske (Wisconsin) 115 lbs Wisconsin-Stevens Point Amiya Leverance (Wisconsin) 115 lbs Maggie Zuber (Illinois) 140 lbs

Bettendorf

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; July 10, 2025 – Nittany Lion wrestler Carter Starocci has been named the 2025 Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year. Starocci was honored from a field that featured each of the 18 Big Ten members' Male Athletes of the Year. USC’s JuJu Watkins was named Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year. The Erie, Pa., native is the fourth Penn State male athlete to claim the Big Ten Athlete of the Year honor, three of whom have been wrestlers. Luis Vargas, men’s gymnastics, was the first to win the honor in 2005. Wrestler David Taylor won in 2014, and wrestler Bo Nickal won in 2019. Starocci capped off an historic collegiate career, becoming the first and only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to become a five-time NCAA National Champion. Starocci downed Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in the national finals in Philadelphia to claim his fifth crown in as many trips to the event. Starocci ended the year as one of ten All-Americans for Penn State as the Nittany Lions won their 12th NCAA title under head coach Cael Sanderson, 13th in school history and fourth straight for the third time since Sanderson’s arrival in Happy Valley. Starocci ended the season with a 26-0 record with six pins, 10 technical falls and five majors. He ended his career with a 104-4 career record with 20 falls, 25 techs and 21 majors, meaning 86 of his 104 wins were for bonus. Starocci was a Hodge Trophy finalist, the 2025 NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler, the 2025 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, a 2025 Big Ten Champion and first team All-Big Ten honoree. Starocci leaves Penn State as a five-time NCAA champ, five-time All-American, three-time Big Ten Champion, three-time first team All-Big Ten selection, and the 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Penn State went 15-0 and won the 2025 Big Ten Regular Season Championship, 2025 Big Ten Championship and 2025 NCAA Championship. Starocci’s accolades are as follows: 2025 NWCA All-Star Classic Exhibition 2025 Big Ten Champion (184) 2025 First Team All-Big Ten 2025 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year 2025 All-American (184) 2025 National Champion (184) 2025 NCAA Championship Outstanding Wrestler 2025 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Winner 2025 Penn State Male Athlete of the Year Hodge Trophy Finalist 5X All-American 5X National Champion 3X Big Ten Champion 3X First Team All-Big Ten Big Ten Freshman of the Year BIG TEN JESSE OWENS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS 1982 - Jim Spivey, Indiana, track and field/cross country 1983 - Ed Banach, Iowa, wrestling 1984 - Sunder Nix, Indiana, track and field 1985 - Barry Davis, Iowa, wrestling 1986 - Chuck Long, Iowa, football 1987 - Steve Alford, Indiana, basketball 1988 - Jim Abbott, Michigan, baseball 1989 - Glen Rice, Michigan, basketball 1990 - Anthony Thompson, Indiana, football 1991 - Mike Barrowman, Michigan, swimming 1992 - Desmond Howard, Michigan, football 1993 - John Roethlisberger, Minnesota, gymnastics 1994 - Glenn Robinson, Purdue, basketball 1995 - Tom Dolan, Michigan, swimming 1996 - Eddie George, Ohio State, football 1997 - Blaine Wilson, Ohio State, gymnastics 1998 - Charles Woodson, Michigan, football 1999 - Luke Donald, Northwestern, golf 2000 - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, football 2001 - Ryan Miller, Michigan State, ice hockey 2002 - Jordan Leopold, Minnesota, ice hockey 2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois, tennis (co) 2003 - Matt Lackey, Illinois, wrestling (co) 2004 - Damion Hahn, Minnesota, wrestling 2005 - Luis Vargas, Penn State, gymnastics 2006 - Peter Vanderkaay, Michigan, swimming 2007 - Cole Konrad, Minnesota, wrestling 2008 - Brent Metcalf, Iowa, wrestling 2009 - Jake Herbert, Northwestern, wrestling 2010 - Evan Turner, Ohio State, basketball 2011 - David Boudia, Purdue, diving 2012 - Draymond Green, Michigan State, basketball 2013 - Derek Drouin, Indiana, track and field 2014 - David Taylor, Penn State, wrestling 2015 - Logan Stieber, Ohio State, wrestling 2016 - Denzel Valentine, Michigan State, basketball 2017 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling 2018 - Kyle Snyder, Ohio State, wrestling 2019 – Bo Nickal, Penn State, wrestling 2020 – Chase Young, Ohio State, football 2021 – Luke Garza, Iowa, basketball 2022 – Gable Steveson, Minnesota, wrestling 2023 – Zach Edey, Purdue, basketball 2024 – Zach Edey, Purdue, basketball 2025 – Carter Starocci, Penn State, wrestling BIG TEN FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS 1983 - Judi Brown, Michigan State, track and field 1984 - Lisa Ishikawa, Northwestern, softball 1985 - Cathy Branta, Wisconsin, cross country/track 1986 - Stephanie Herbst, Wisconsin, cross country/track 1987 - Jennifer Averill, Northwestern, field hockey/lacrosse 1988 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country 1989 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country 1990 - Suzy Favor, Wisconsin, track and field/cross country 1991 - Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse, Michigan State, diving (co) 1991 - Joy Holmes, Purdue, basketball (co) 1992 - MaChelle Joseph, Purdue, basketball 1993 - Lara Hooiveld, Michigan, swimming 1994 - Kristy Gleason, Iowa, field hockey 1995 - Laura Davis, Ohio State, volleyball 1996 - Olga Kalinovskaya, Penn State, fencing 1997 - Kathy Butler, Wisconsin, track and field (co) 1997 - Gretchen Hegener, Minnesota, swimming (co) 1998 - Sara Griffin, Michigan, softball 1999 - Stephanie White-McCarty, Purdue, basketball 2000 - Lauren Cacciamani, Penn State, volleyball 2001 - Katie Douglas, Purdue, basketball 2002 - Christie Welsh, Penn State, soccer 2003 - Perdita Felicien, Illinois, track and field 2004 - Kelly Mazzante, Penn State, basketball 2005 - Jennie Ritter, Michigan, softball 2006 - Tiffany Weimer, Penn State, soccer 2007 - Jessica Davenport, Ohio State, basketball 2008 - Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern, lacrosse 2009 - Maria Hernandez, Purdue, golf 2010 - Megan Hodge, Penn State, volleyball 2011 - Shannon Smith, Northwestern, lacrosse 2012 - Christina Manning, Ohio State, track and field 2013 - Amanda Kessel, Minnesota, ice hockey 2014 - Dani Bunch, Purdue, track and field 2015 - Taylor Cummings, Maryland, lacrosse 2016 - Rachel Banham, Minnesota, basketball 2017 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming 2018 - Lilly King, Indiana, swimming 2019 – Megan Gustafson, Iowa, basketball 2020 – Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball 2021 – Sarah Bacon, Minnesota, swimming and diving 2022 – Dana Rettke, Wisconsin, volleyball 2023 – Caitlin Clark, Iowa, basketball 2024 – Caitlin Clark, Iowa, basketball 2025 – JuJu Watkins, USC, basketball

We’re only a few days away from the start of Fargo! The men’s action starts on Monday morning in freestyle with Greco to follow on Friday. On InterMat, we tend to look at events like this from a collegiate perspective and this week is no different. For the past two weeks, USA Wrestling has released a handful of state rosters each day. With each subsequent release, we’ve checked each roster to see how many team members have signed or committed to wrestle at the next level. Now, we have a gigantic list of wrestlers who are slated to appear in Fargo - sorted by their future college. If they are from the Class of 2025, then there is no other descriptor next to their name/state/weight. If they are in the Class of 2026 (or 2027 in one case), that is denoted next to their name. Please note, there are a couple of states that haven’t been posted by USAW as of Thursday morning. Once posted, this list will be updated - we just wanted to get the information on the InterMat site ASAP. Air Force Tyler Harrill (Nebraska) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Trey Wagner (Pennsylvania) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Arment Waltenbaugh (Pennsylvania) 165 lbs - Class of 2026 American Reagan Milheim (Pennsylvania) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Appalachian State Caleb Cady (Wisconsin) 165 lbs Bentley Sly (North Carolina) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Arizona State Gabriel Delgado (Nevada) 157 lbs Rylan Seacrist (Ohio) 113 lbs - Class of 2026 Justin Wardlow (Illinois) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Army West Point Garett Kawczynski (Wisconsin) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 James Lindsay (Ohio) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Joe Uhorchuk (Tennessee) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Augsburg Cole Dummer (Wisconsin) 157 lbs Aidan Gruenenfelder (Wisconsin) 126 lbs Brayden Hilyar (Minnesota) 190 lbs Colton Loween (Minnesota) 165 lbs Ethan Swenson (Minnesota) 215 lbs Augustana Carter Katherman (Minnesota) 126 lbs Lucas Kral (Iowa) 157 lbs Hudson Loges (Nebraska) 144 lbs Cole Welte (Nebraska) 113 lbs Aurora Kalani Khiev (Illinois) 132 lbs Bellarmine Bowden Delaney (Illinois) 175 lbs Isaac Johns (Kentucky) 150 lbs Travis Long (Colorado) 132 lbs Binghamton Ryan Ferrara (New York) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Bloomsburg Justin Jones (Virginia) 120 lbs Philly Provenzano (New York) 144 lbs Brecken Strickland (Pennsylvania) 138 lbs Brown Maximus Norman (Tennessee) 175 lbs Bucknell Brian Chamberlain (Pennsylvania) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Jackson Heslin (Connecticut) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Hudson Hohman (Pennsylvania) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Buffalo Mason Rohr (Ohio) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Dalton Weber (New Jersey) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 California Baptist Adonis Bonar (Nebraska) 190 lbs Jackson Butler (Pennsylvania) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Hunter Vander Heiden (Wisconsin) 285 lbs Cal Poly Levi Bussey (California) 215 lbs Chadron State Iverson Mejia (Nebraska) 157 lbs Chattanooga Ethan Uhorchuk (Tennessee) 132 lbs Clarion Gabe Lilly (Pennsylvania) 175 lbs Columbia Kingston Daniells Silva (Connecticut) 215 lbs Marc Maurath (Connecticut) 157 lbs Coe Carter Siebel (Iowa) 132 lbs Cornell Elijah Cortez (California) 138 lbs Isaiah Cortez (California) 132 lbs Joe Knackstedt (Illinois) 144 lbs Samson McKissick Staley (New York) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Santino Rodriguez (New Jersey) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Tyler Traves (Virginia) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Michael Turi (Pennsylvania) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 CSU Bakersfield Saxton Scott (Idaho) 126 lbs Rider Seguine (Idaho) 132 lbs Drexel Oumar Tounkara (New York) 126 lbs Edinboro Tyson Clear (Ohio) 175 lbs Fort Hays State Will Burchard (Kansas) 144 lbs Franklin & Marshall Brendan Sholders (Virginia) 144 lbs Gardner-Webb Isaiah Guerrero (Wisconsin) 175 lbs George Mason Herbert Billups (Virginia) 215 lbs Jeffrey Huyvaert (Indiana) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Jackson Palzet (Illinois) 138 lbs Grand View Xayvion Anderson (Iowa) 165 lbs Harvard Connor Bercume (Michigan) 285 lbs Robert Kucharczk (Florida) 190 lbs Illinois Nicholas Garcia (Illinois) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Josh Hoffer (Illinois) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 Wyatt Medlin (Illinois) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Jaxon Penovich (Illinois) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Indiana Peyton Schoettle (Indiana) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Iowa Owen McMullen (Pennsylvania) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Michael Mocco (Florida) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Iowa State TJ Koester (Iowa) 132 lbs Kent State Mason Higley (Pennsylvania) 215 lbs Silas Stits (Indiana) 157 lbs Lehigh Dean Bechtold (Pennsylvania) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Jason Singer (Pennsylvania) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 Little Rock Tre Haines (Washington) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Jadyn Johnson (Texas) 175 lbs Ryder Smith (Tennessee) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Jackson Tucker (Missouri) 144 lbs Taye Wilson (Kansas) 165 lbs Justyce Zuniga (Washington) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Lock Haven Caiden Judice (Pennsylvania) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Chris Noto (New York) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Connor Wetzel (Pennsylvania) 175 lbs Long Island Luke Nieto (New York) 157 lbs Mary Kale Baumann (Montana) 157 lbs Ben DeForest (North Dakota) 132 lbs Emery Slater (North Dakota) 215 lbs Maryland Devin Downes (New York) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 Ryan Kennedy (Ohio) 144 lbs Marymount Joshua Estrada (Virginia) 157 lbs Michigan Blake Cosby (Michigan) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Cooper Hinz (Iowa) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Moses Mendoza (California) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Haakon Peterson (Wisconsin) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Michigan State Evan Gosz (Illinois) 150 lbs Owen Segorski (Michigan) 165 lbs Nick Sorrow (Michigan) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Minnesota Trey Beissel (Minnesota) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Mason Carlson (Utah) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Tyler Dekraker (Pennsylvania) 138 - Class of 2026 Nico DeSalvo (Iowa) 120 lbs - Class of 2027 Joel Friederichs (Minnesota) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Titan Friederichs (Minnesota) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Evan McGuire (Minnesota) 215 lbs Brett Swenson (Minnesota) 132 lbs Charles Vanier (Minnesota) 144 lbs Michael White (Indiana) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Missouri Hank Benter (Missouri) 126 lbs Cash Cooley (Texas) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 David Gleason (Missouri) 157 lbs Peyton Westpfahl (Missouri) 175 lbs Mount Olive Braden Reynolds (North Carolina) 157 lbs Navy Evan Boblits (Maryland) 150 lbs Oliver Phillips (Tennessee) 157 lbs Sammy Spaulding (New Jersey) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 NC State Lander Bosh (Utah) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Kai Calcutt (Illinois) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 Dom Deputy (Pennsylvania) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Griffin LaPlante (New York) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Michael Saba (Colorado) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Nebraska Davis Parrow (Minnesota) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Mason Petersen (Nebraska) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Niko Rotella (Nebraska) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Abdi Unle (Nebraska) 120 lbs Cade Ziola (Nebraska) 215 lbs Nebraska-Kearney Kaedun Goodman (Nebraska) 144 lbs Hudson Oliver (Nebraska) 215 lbs North Carolina Lincoln Jipp (Iowa) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Brody Kelly (Illinois) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Jacob Levy (Florida) 285 lbs Lukas Littleton Mascaro (Pennsylvania) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Dunia Sibomana (New York) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 North Dakota State Peyton Cox (Illinois) 150 lbs Lawson Eller (Minnesota) 132 lbs Luke Hoag (Minnesota) 165 lbs Ben Schultz (Minnesota) 190 lbs Zytavius Williams (Minnesota) 138 lbs Northern Illinois Anthony Kroninger (Ohio) 175 lbs Northern Iowa Waylon Cressell (Indiana) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Cael Gilmore (Ohio) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Ashton Honnold (Iowa) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Northern State Calder Sheehan (Minnesota) 150 lbs Northwestern Travyn Boger (Utah) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Jaxon Miller (Iowa) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Alex Smith (Florida) 215 lbs Peter Snyder (Maryland) 215 lbs - Class of 2026 Norwich Nicholas Berrena (Pennsylvania) 144 lbs NYU Brady Knaupp (Connecticut) 132 lbs Ouachita Baptist Hagen Crockett (New Mexico) 138 lbs Ohio Damien Couture (North Carolina) 285 lbs Carson Weber (Ohio) 157 lbs Ohio State Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Oklahoma Bryce Burkett (Minnesota) 175 lbs Christian Jelle (Minnesota) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Mason Ontiveros (California) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Mikey Ruiz (Texas) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Carter Vannest (California) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Oklahoma State Jordyn Raney (Kentucky) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Dreshaun Ross (Iowa) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Kellen Wolbert (Wisconsin) 138 lbs Rocklin Zinklin (California) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Oregon State Travis Grace (California) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Manny Saldate (Nevada) 132 lbs Ottawa Parker Burk (Kansas) 126 lbs Penn Deven Casey (Illinois) 138 lbs Isaak Chavez (Colorado) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Charlie DeSena (Florida) 150 lbs - Class of 2026 Anthony DiAndrea (New Jersey) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Elliott Humphries (Massachusetts) 175 lbs Jordan Segal (New Jersey) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Penn State Sam Herring (Pennsylvania) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Pittsburgh Caleb Rodriguez (Pennsylvania) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Kyle Scott (Pennsylvania) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Tristan Steldt (Wisconsin) 175 lbs Pitt-Johnstown Ethan Osburn (Virginia) 190 lbs Princeton Mark Effendian (Pennsylvania) 285 lbs - Class of 2026 Matthew Martino (Idaho) 150 lbs Blase Mele (New Jersey) 150 lbs Purdue Camden Baum (Pennsylvania) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Aidan Costello (Indiana) 175 lbs Ty Henderson (Indiana) 126 lbs Drake Hooiman (Nevada) 138 lbs - Class of 2026 Adrian Pellot (Indiana) 165 lbs Nathan Rioux (Indiana) 132 lbs - Class of 2026 Isaiah Schaefer (Indiana) 138 lbs Griffin Van Tichelt (Indiana) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Noah Weaver (Indiana) 215 lbs Roanoke Jackson Rowling (North Carolina) 150 lbs Troy Shannon (North Carolina) 157 lbs Taven Williams (Virginia) 175 lbs Rutgers Alex Reyes (New Jersey) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Sacred Heart AJ Falcone (New Jersey) 165 lbs Samuel Henry (New Jersey) 285 lbs Seton Hill Joshua Joubert (New Jersey) 175 lbs Shenandoah James Battulga (Virginia) 165 lbs Hayden Thompson (Virginia) 150 lbs Sioux Falls Hank Meyer (Minnesota) 215 lbs SIU Edwardsville Myron Mendez (Florida) 215 lbs South Dakota State Conlan Carlson (Minnesota) 150 lbs Bas Diaz (Iowa) 157 lbs Carson Dupill (South Dakota) 126 lbs Micah Hach (South Dakota) 285 lbs Jacob Herm (Wisconsin) 157 lbs Riley Johnson (Nebraska) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Liam Neitzel (Wisconsin) 132 lbs Keenan Sheridan (South Dakota) 175 lbs Jarrett Wadsen (Minnesota) 190 lbs Stanford Zeno Moore (Florida) 157 lbs - Class of 2026 Siraj Sidhu (California) 126 lbs - Class of 2026 Jarrett Smith (Michigan) 113 lbs - Class of 2026 St. Cloud State Maximus Riggins (Iowa) 126 lbs Sam Zanton (Wisconsin) 165 lbs - Class of 2026 Utah Valley Chris Dennis (Pennsylvania) 165 lbs - Class of 2026 Geromino Rivera (Utah) 138 lbs Jason Worthley (Utah) 150 lbs Virginia Liam Crook (Wisconsin) 165 lbs - Class of 2026 Jayce Paridon (Florida) 144 lbs Virginia Tech Revin Dickman (Indiana) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 VMI Malachi Ortiz (Florida) 126 lbs Wartburg Caden Correll (Illinois) 113 lbs Wesleyan Reese Spiro (Massachusetts) 190 lbs Western Colorado Charlie Herting (Colorado) 175 lbs West Virginia Alex Berisha (New York) 215 lbs Mason Jakob (Tennessee) 120 lbs - Class of 2026 Williams Baptist Caiden Saavedra (Arkansas) 144 lbs Wisconsin Ty Imhoff (Wisconsin) 165 lbs Eli Leonard (Wisconsin) 175 lbs - Class of 2026 Collin McDowell (Wisconsin) 144 lbs Hunter Stevens (Wisconsin) 144 lbs - Class of 2026 Wisconsin-LaCrosse Cole Gentsch (Illinois) 126 lbs Asher Sheldon (Illinois) 285 lbs Wisconsin-Parkside Lincoln Flayter (Wisconsin) 132 lbs Tanner Gormanson (Wisconsin) 285 lbs Sullivan Ramos (Wisconsin) 165 lbs Thomas Reilly (Wisconsin) 215 lbs Nathan Stiebs (Wisconsin) 285 lbs Wyoming Gunner Henry (Indiana) 190 lbs Owen Hull (Oregon) 165 lbs John Murphy (Minnesota) 190 lbs - Class of 2026 Tucker Roybal (Utah) 165 lbs

Two more matches have been added to Real American Freestyle’s (RAF) inaugural card and each will feature opponents with world-level credentials clashing. They are Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Bajrang Punia and Bo Nickal against Jacob Cardenas. Diakomihalis and Punia are both past world finalists. Punia is an Olympic bronze medalist and a four-time world medalist - placing second once and third on three occasions. He also has a pair of gold medals from the Asian Championships. The Indian star earned a reputation for being one of the more exciting and high-scoring wrestlers of his era. Diakomihalis was a four-time national champion for Cornell and has appeared on two Senior world teams. He claimed a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships and stopped a 15-year medal-less drought for the United States at 65 (and 66) kg. Diakomihalis won the 2025 US Open and was recently in action at Final X, where he dropped a three-match series to fellow New York native, PJ Duke. The pair clashed in the co-main event of the 2019 Beat the Streets NYC event and Diakomihalis stunned Punia scoring in a late scramble to win 10-8. We recently discussed the signing of 2019 Hodge Trophy winner and UFC star Bo Nickal. The three-time national champion from Penn State is making his return to the wrestling mat after suffering his first MMA loss earlier this year. In addition to his collegiate exploits, Nickal is also a U23 world champion and was a finalist at the 2020 Olympic Team Trials. Nickal will take on three-time NCAA All-American Jacob Cardenas. Cardenas earned All-American honors twice for Cornell before moving on to Michigan as a graduate student. At Michigan, Cardenas won the 2025 Big Ten title at 197 lbs and earned the top seed at nationals. In Philadelphia, Cardenas finished fourth for a second consecutive season. On the freestyle scene, Cardenas has been a member of the U23 world team in each of the last three years. Each time, Cardenas has returned with a world medal - twice taking silver. RAF’s August 30th card now looks like this: Real Woods vs. Darrion Caldwell Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra Kennedy Blades vs. Alejandra Rivera Arriaga Bo Nickal vs. Jacob Cardenas Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Bajrang Punia

Welcome to a new recurring feature on InterMat celebrating the first 25 years of the 21st century. Every couple of days, we’ll examine a particular collegiate program and highlight its accomplishments over the past quarter century. First up for us is Minnesota. Minnesota is a team that claimed three NCAA team titles within the first seven years of the quarter century. Since then, they’ve remained a consistent force in the Big Ten. As you can see below, we can form two teams consisting entirely of All-Americans for the Gophers. Minnesota has long been regarded as “Heavyweight U” for college wrestling. That is on full display here as they’ve had a remarkable three multi-time national champions at 285 lbs since 2007. In making our first, second, and third teams, heavyweight was an extremely difficult choice. Also, there could be some discussion surrounding the following weights: 125, 149, and 184. At 149 lbs, we have a national champion and one of the most outstanding wrestlers of his time on the second team. 125 has a national runner-up on the third team ahead of two wrestlers who never make the finals. The only active wrestler on any of these teams comes at 184 lbs. With another year or two’s worth of results, he might have been able to make a case for his spot on the first team. Wrestlers considered for the three teams had to compete from 2001-25. For the wrestlers early in this timeframe, their entire collegiate body of work was considered. Only collegiate results were taken into consideration. Even if a wrestler was successful at multiple weights, they were only selected for one weight - typically it was based on the strongest possible first team. After the three All-Century teams, there are some fun facts about Minnesota’s results over the past 25 years. Minnesota First Team 125 lbs - Zach Sanders: Wabasha, Minnesota: 4x AA (3,5,5,6), Big Ten Runner-Up, NCAA #2 seed 133 lbs - Jayson Ness: Bloomington, Minnesota: 4x AA (1,3,2,5), 2x Big Ten Champion, Hodge Winner 141 lbs - Mike Thorn: St. Michael, Minnesota: 2x AA (3,7), Big Ten Champion, NCAA #2 seed 149 lbs - Jared Lawrence: Sandpoint, Idaho: 4x AA (2,1,6,6) 2x Big Ten Champion, 4x Big Ten finalist 157 lbs - Luke Becker: Cambridge, Minnesota: 4x AA (4,1,4,6), 2x Big Ten Champion, 4x Big Ten finalist 165 lbs - Jacob Volkmann: Henning, Minnesota: 3x AA (4,3,4), Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten finalist 174 lbs - Logan Storley: Roslyn, South Dakota: 4x AA (4,3,4,6), Big Ten Runner-Up 184 lbs - Roger Kish: Lapeer, Michigan: 2x AA (3,2), Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten finalist, 2x NCAA #2 seed 197 lbs - Damion Hahn: Lakewood, New Jersey: 4x AA (1,1,5,5), 3x Big Ten Champion 285 lbs - Gable Steveson: Apple Valley, Minnesota: 4x NCAA AA (3,1,1,2), 4x Big Ten Champion, 2x Hodge Winner Second Team 125 lbs - Leroy Vega: Portage, Indiana: 3x AA (3,5,5), Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten finalist, NCAA #2 seed 133 lbs - Ryan Lewis: Vernal, Utah: 2x AA (2,2), Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten finalist, NCAA #1 seed 141 lbs - Chad Erikson: Apple Valley, Minnesota: 2x AA (7,8), 2x Big Ten Runner-Up 149 lbs - Dustin Schlatter: Massillon, Ohio: 3x AA (7,3,1), 2x Big Ten Champion, 3x Big Ten finalist, NCAA champ as TRFR 157 lbs - Dylan Ness: Bloomington, Minnesota: 4x AA (6,2,4,2), Big Ten Champion, 3x Big Ten finalist 165 lbs - Brad Pike: Brownsdale, Minnesota: 2x AA (4,7), Big Ten Runner-Up 174 lbs - Devin Skatzka: Richmond, Michigan: 1x AA (8), NWCA 1st Team AA, 4x NCAA qualifier 184 lbs - Kevin Steinhaus: Pennock, Minnesota: 3x AA (5,5,8), Big Ten Champion, 3x Big Ten finalist 197 lbs - Brett Pfarr: LeSueur, Minnesota: 2x AA (2,3), 2x Big Ten Runner-Up, NCAA #2 seed 285 lbs - Cole Konrad: Freedom, Wisconsin: 4x AA (1,1,2,4), 3x Big Ten Champion, 2 undefeated seasons Third Team 125 lbs - Ethan Lizak: Schnecksville, Pennsylvania: 3x AA (7,4,2), Big Ten Runner-Up 133 lbs - Mack Reiter: Gilbertville, Iowa: 3x AA (5,4,4), Big Ten Champion, 2x Big Ten Runner-Up 141 lbs - Manny Rivera: El Monte, California: 1x AA (7), Big Ten Runner-Up, 3x NCAA Qualifier, NCAA #4 seed 149 lbs - Brayton Lee: Brownsburg, Indiana: 1x AA (6), NWCA 1st Team AA, 3x NCAA Qualifier 157 lbs - CP Schlatter: Massillon, Ohio: 1x AA (6), 2x Big Ten Champion, NCAA #2 seed 165 lbs - Matt Nagel: Frazee, Minnesota: 1x AA (6), Big Ten Runner-Up 174 lbs - Gabe Dretsch: Frazee, Minnesota: 4x NCAA Qualifier, Big Ten Runner-Up 184 lbs - Max McEnelly*: Waconia, Minnesota: 1x AA (3), Big Ten Runner-Up, NCAA #3 seed 197 lbs - Owen Elzen: Dover, Minnesota: 2x AA (4,3), Big Ten Champion, NCAA #3 seed 285 lbs - Tony Nelson: Cambridge, Minnesota: 4x AA (2,1,1,7), 3x Big Ten Champion, 4x Big Ten finalist *= Still Active Fun Facts The Golden Gophers have won three (2001, 2002, 2007) NCAA team titles in this quarter century Minnesota wrestlers have captured 18 NCAA titles in the last 25 years Minnesota has four, two-time NCAA champions since 2001 Of their four two-time champions, three have wrestled at heavyweight One of their 18 NCAA titles, one has been won by a freshman (D. Schlatter) 30 Minnesota wrestlers have made the NCAA finals during this time Minnesota wrestlers have gotten onto the NCAA podium 106 times this quarter century In addition, four Minnesota wrestlers were named NWCA All-Americans in 2024 (3 1st Team, 1 2nd Team) Two Minnesota wrestlers (J. Ness/G. Steveson x2) have combined to win three Dan Hodge trophies Minnesota’s 2001 team put all 10 wrestlers on the NCAA podium and none were finalists Minnesota wrestlers have won a total of 35 Big Ten titles since 2001 - Gable Steveson was the only 4x’er As a team Minnesota has captured five Big Ten titles, including the first three of this quarter century Gopher wrestlers have earned the #1 seed at NCAA’s 15 times during this quarter century Minnesota has only had two head coaches during this quarter century (J Robinson and Brandon Eggum) 54 of the 106 All-American honors in this span were earned by a Minnesota native Minnesota only finished outside of the top 20 at the NCAA Championships once during this span (2024). Minnesota has earned an NCAA team trophy (top-four finish) eight times in the last 25 years

This week we jump into the latest coaching changes as Kyle Borshoff steps down at Binghamton, Teyon Ware is hired at Northern Colorado and other spot are still TBD. We also discuss the upcoming World Team final between Vito Arujau and Jax Forrest as well as the new NCAA rule changes, our thoughts on Real American Freestyle and the potential matchup. We end on a funny note as we dig into Mark Manning's comments on the small impact that Bill Belichick's girlfriend, Jordan Hudson, had on AJ Ferrari not getting into UNC. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 3:35 - Weigh In 10:00 - Coach changes: Kyle Borshoff steps down at Binghamton, Teyon Ware hired at Northern Colorado, other coaching openings 31:32 - Vito Arujau vs Jax Forrest 44:04 - New NCAA Rule Changes 1:03:13 - Real American Freestyle: thoughts on the league and the potential matchups 1:17:21 - Did Bill Belichick’s girlfriend have something to do with AJ Ferrari’s denial from UNC??

Madrid, Spain — Darian Cruz delivered a flawless performance at the 2025 Grand Prix of Spain, winning the gold medal at 57kg and outscoring his opponents by a combined margin of 29-0. The title marks Cruz’s first championship at the prestigious international event, after earning silver and bronze in previous years.The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC) athlete made a statement in everymatch on his way to the top of the podium: ● In the quarterfinals, Cruz shut out Spain’s Raymel Quiñones with a 7-0 decision. ● He followed up with a dominant 11-0 technical fall over Peter Cude of Costa Rica in the semifinals. ● Cruz capped off his run with another 11-0 technical fall in the finals against Yelaman Amangeldy of Kazakhstan. “Winning the Spanish Grand Prix is pretty awesome, especially after getting silver and bronze in the years prior,” said Cruz. “I just feel like it’s a good testament to what we have been building back home at Penn with the PRTC.” Cruz, a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania native and NCAA Champion, continues to build on a strong 2025 campaign. His gold medal performance reflects the ongoing momentum of the PRTC, which has grown into a top-tier training environment for elite athletes. “I feel super grateful for the opportunity to compete, let alone the opportunity to compete for the PRTC,” Cruz said. “It’s exciting to see the representation from the commitment and work we have been putting in here. This family is growing and it means even more to be able to say that everybody in the Philly community has contributed and can take credit for this medal. The most rewarding part is knowing that this is only the beginning... to many more.” With this victory, Cruz adds an international title to his growing list of accolades and reinforces his standing as one of the premier 57kg wrestlers in the world.

We're less than a week away from the 2025 16U and Junior National Championships - affectionately known as "Fargo." Thousands of wrestlers will descend upon the FargoDome in search of "Stop Signs" representing national championships. They will seek to etch their names next to some of the already-legendary names below which are the Junior National Champions from Fargo for the last 15 years. Junior Men's Freestyle Junior Greco-Roman Junior Women's Freestyle

Earlier today, we posted an article on the 2025 offseason coaching carousel and anticipated further action. We didn’t realize that "further action" would come today as Binghamton announced that head coach Kyle Borshoff has stepped down from his position after 10 years with the school. Eight of them were spent as head coach for the Bearcats. During his time at Binghamton, Borshoff guided 25 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. Current assistant coach Lou DePrez earned All-American honors for Borshoff in 2021 and was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA in 2020. He also oversaw four individual EIWA titles - three from DePrez and another from Brevin Cassella in 2024. Binghamton also racked up 56 dual wins under Borshoff’s leadership. Borshoff’s father, Tim, was a national finalist for Binghamton in 1975. Kyle is reportedly stepping down to work with his father in the real estate business. Binghamton is coming off a 10-9 season in which they finished sixth in the new-look EIWA conference with a pair of finalists. Both of the Bearcats 2025 national qualifiers have exhausted their eligibility, so there are currently none on the Binghamton roster; however, they have a couple of wrestlers that appeared in the 2024-25 national rankings in Carson Wagner (125) and Will Ebert (184). We’ll have more information about the Binghamton coaching search as it develops.

Last week, the coaching carousel continued to turn as two-time NCAA finalist Sammy Sasso was hired by Lehigh and two-time national champion Teyon Ware took over at Northern Colorado. With Ware moving on, Oklahoma will have an opening on their staff. That vacancy should garner plenty of interest with a relatively new coaching staff and a talented, young Sooners team. In addition to the Oklahoma opening, there are still plenty of good opportunities from an assistant standpoint. We also have one head coaching vacancy with Campbell’s job open. Now that we’ve gotten some movement, I think the coaching carousel will only pick up steam. Also, we’re less than a week away from action getting underway in Fargo. Fargo provides an excellent opportunity for networking, so some coaching deals could be struck in the FargoDome (or perhaps the Bison Turf). Coaching Changes Army West Point: Troy Nickerson (Head Coach) Binghamton: Brevin Cassella (Assistant Coach) Brown: Tyler Grayson (Assistant Coach) Kent State: Josh Moore (Head Coach) Lehigh: Sammy Sasso (Assistant Coach) Mercyhurst: Jimmy Overhiser (Head Coach) Missouri: Keegan O’Toole (Assistant Coach) NC State: Malik McDonald (Assistant Coach) North Dakota State: Willie Miklus (Assistant Coach) Northern Colorado: Teyon Ware (Head Coach) Oklahoma State: Kevin Ward (Assistant Coach) Penn: Matt Valenti (Head Coach) Princeton: Ryan Wolfe (Assistant Coach) Purdue: Matt Ramos (Assistant Coach) RTC/Club Lee Roper (Cowboy RTC) Open Appalachian State: Assistant Coach Bellarmine: Assistant Coach Campbell: Head Coach Drexel: Assistant Coach George Mason: Assistant Coach Kent State: Assistant Coach Little Rock: Assistant Coach Maryland: Assistant Coach Michigan State: Assistant Coach Northern Iowa: Assistant Coach Oklahoma: Assistant Coach Penn: Assistant Coach

Over the last few weeks, we’ve done a lot with recruiting. Our Class of 2025 recruiting rankings dropped as did our honorable mentions. With another year’s worth of recruiting data, it’s a good time to add it to the recent past, in order to see who have been the consistent forces on the recruiting trail. We’ve taken recruiting data from 2021-25 (since Willie Saylor took over InterMat) and compiled it in such a manner to hopefully answer questions about who has been the most consistent in the recruiting game. During this span, we have mentioned the top 25 teams in our rankings, plus listed five honorable mentions. A team that was ranked #1 for a particular year has received 30 points. #2 was worth 29 points…an so on. Once we got a point total, it was divided by five for the five years observed - giving us a particular average. Teams below have been sorted in order of their average - largest to smallest. The teams listed below have appeared at least once in our recruiting rankings (2021-25) or honorable mentions. 1. Oklahoma State: 124 points - 24.8 average 2. Penn State: 118 points - 23.6 average 3. Iowa: 113 points - 22.6 average 4. NC State: 111 points - 22.2 average 5. Ohio State: 104 points - 20.8 average 6. Virginia Tech: 103 points - 20.6 average 7. Nebraska: 101 points - 20.2 average 8. Cornell: 96 points - 19.2 average 9. Stanford: 95 points - 19 points 10. Iowa State: 93 points - 18.6 points 11. Rutgers: 81 points - 16.2 average 12. Missouri: 77 points - 15.4 average 13. Michigan: 71 points - 14.2 average 14(t). Minnesota: 68 points - 13.6 average 14(t). North Carolina: 68 points - 13.6 average 16. Arizona State: 58 points - 11.6 average 17. Oklahoma: 48 points - 9.6 average 18. Wyoming: 46 points - 9.2 average 19(t). Pittsburgh: 43 points - 8.6 average 19(t). Oregon State: 43 points - 8.6 average 21(t). Army West Point: 42 points - 8.4 average 21(t). Penn: 42 points - 8.4 average 23. Wisconsin: 40 points - 8.0 average 24. Purdue: 38 points - 7.6 average 25. Virginia: 37 points - 7.4 average 26. Illinois: 36 points - 7.2 average 27. Indiana: 34 points - 6.8 average 28(t). Lehigh: 33 points - 6.6 average 28(t). Navy: 33 points - 6.6 average 30. South Dakota State: 33 points - 6.6 average 31. Princeton: 32 points - 6.4 average 32. North Dakota State: 31 points - 6.2 average 33. Maryland: 27 points - 5.4 average 34. Northwestern: 24 points - 4.8 average 35(t). Air Force: 23 points - 4.6 average 35(t). Bucknell: 23 points - 4.6 average 37. Northern Iowa: 20 points - 4.0 average 38. Little Rock: 17 points - 3.4 average 39. West Virginia: 15 points - 3.0 average 40(t). Campbell: 12 points - 2.4 average 40(t). Northern Colorado: 12 points - 2.4 average 42(t). Brown: 11 points - 2.2 average 42(t). Lock Haven: 11 points - 2.2 average 44. Columbia: 10 points - 2.0 average 45. California Baptist: 8 points - 1.6 average 46. Drexel: 6 points - 1.2 average 47. Cal Poly: 5 points - 1.0 average 48. SIU Edwardsville: 4 points - 0.8 average Of course, recruiting is only part of the game when it comes to success at the collegiate level. There is also retention and development. Schools that have poor retention might have a higher recruiting score, while programs known for their development might end up with better results than this study would indicate.

Predicting the Arujau vs. Forrest Wrestle-Off: A Historical Analysis On July 14, 2025, in Fargo, North Dakota, world champion Vito Arujau faces high school phenom Jax Forrest in a special wrestle-off for the 61 kg U.S. World Team spot, delayed from June 14 due to Arujau’s injury. To predict the outcome, we analyze six historical special wrestle-offs involving delays, examining who delayed, the results, and their implications for this high-stakes matchup. Historical Precedents 2000: Gutches vs. Burton Les Gutches, the 2000 U.S. Nationals champion at 85 kg, delayed his Olympic Team Trials wrestle-off against Charles Burton due to injury. In Fargo, Burton won 2-1 (4-1, 3-4, 5-0). Burton’s first-match gut wrench and final-match three takedowns exploited Gutches’ rustiness, securing the Olympic berth. The injury-related delay hindered Gutches’ sharpness, favoring the healthier Burton. 2002: Zadick vs. Bono Bill Zadick, the 2002 U.S. Nationals champion at 66 kg, postponed his World Team Trials wrestle-off against Chris Bono due to injury. In Fargo, Bono won 2-1 (2-3, 3-1, 3-2 in overtime). Bono’s consistency in close bouts leveraged his Trials momentum. Zadick’s injury-related delay disrupted his rhythm, allowing Bono to claim the World Team spot. 2003: Cormier vs. Morrison Daniel Cormier delayed his 2003 World Team Trials wrestle-off at 96 kg against Dean Morrison due to the tragic loss of his infant daughter, not injury. In Fargo, Cormier won 2-1 (0-3, pin at 2:58, overtime takedown). His resilience and prior 3-0 win over Morrison at Nationals overcame the delay, making him one of two delaying wrestlers to prevail. 2006: Gallick vs. Zadick Nate Gallick, the 2006 U.S. Nationals champion at 60 kg, delayed his World Team Trials wrestle-off against Mike Zadick due to a foot injury. In Colorado Springs, Zadick swept 2-0 (0-1, 1-0, 4-2; 1-0, 0-1, 3-0). In match one, Zadick’s late double-leg takedown for three points clinched the win. In match two, Zadick’s chest wrap for exposure after a ball draw secured victory. Gallick’s injury-related delay and rustiness handed Zadick, a 2006 World silver medalist, the World Team spot. 2015: Marable vs. Green Nick Marable, the 2015 U.S. Open champion at 70 kg, made a request to delay his World Team Trials wrestle-off due to a reported head injury while he was at the World Team Trials and just about to weigh in! The appeal for delay was initially denied and then after an arbitrator got involved it was granted. The two were set to wrestle in Fargo in 2015. James Green swept the Fargo series 2-0 (4-0, 2-1). Green’s pushout, passivity point, and double-leg takedown in match one, plus a counter-takedown from a quad pod in match two, outshone Marable’s rustiness, earning him the World Team spot and a 2015 World bronze. 2019: Dake vs. Dieringer Kyle Dake, the 2018 World Champion at 79 kg, delayed his Final X wrestle-off against Alex Dieringer due to injury, rescheduling to August 17 in Round Rock, Texas. Dake swept 2-0 (3-2, 4-1), overcoming an early passivity point with step-outs and tactical acumen. His experience made him the only wrestler to win a special wrestle-off after an injury-related delay. Arujau vs. Forrest: The Matchup Vito Arujau, a 2023 World Champion and 2024 bronze medalist, brings incredible speed and a win in the 2024 World Team Trials Challenge tournament of which Forrest was in the field. His injury-related delay, however, mirrors the struggles of Gutches, Zadick, Gallick, and Marable. Jax Forrest, a high school senior and 2025 U.S. Open champion, dominated with a 19-8 technical fall over Seth Gross. His aggressive style aligns with the momentum of Burton, Bono, Zadick, and Green. Why Delays Often Fail Injury-related delays often lead to losses due to disrupted training and rustiness, as seen with Gutches’ shutout, Zadick’s close defeat, Gallick’s late-match collapses, and Marable’s tactical errors. Cormier’s 2003 non-injury win and Dake’s 2019 injury-related success, driven by elite experience, are exceptions. Dake’s ability to overcome injury suggests a rare path for success. The Prediction Four of six special wrestle-offs favored the non-delaying wrestler, with injury-related delays (2000, 2002, 2006, 2015) consistently leading to losses due to lost momentum. Cormier’s 2003 non-injury win and Dake’s 2019 injury-related victory show that exceptional resilience or experience can prevail, but injury delays tilt heavily against the delaying wrestler. Arujau’s pedigree gives him a chance to emulate Dake, but Forrest’s health, youth, and aggressive style mirror the profiles of Burton, Bono, Zadick, and Green. History predicts a Forrest victory, likely 2-1 in a tactical series, unless Arujau’s recovery and technical mastery prove decisive.

The 2025 U23 World Team is set! On Wednesday afternoon, USA Wrestling announced the rosters for each of the three styles and they are star-studded to say the least. The U23 team is different from others as the national tournament doesn’t necessarily determine the representatives at each weight. If a wrestler makes the Senior National Team and qualifies via the age requirement, then they have the right of first refusal for the spot. The men’s freestyle team, for example, has six wrestlers that participated in the main event at Final X. The U23 World Championships will take place October 20-26th in Novi Sad, Serbia. Men’s Freestyle 57 kg - Luke Lilledahl 61 kg - Jax Forrest 65 kg - Marcus Blaze 70 kg - PJ Duke 74 kg - Mitchell Mesenbrink 79 kg - Levi Haines 86 kg - Rocco Welsh 92 kg - Josh Barr 97 kg - Garavous Kouekabakilaho 125 kg - Daniel Herrera Women’s Freestyle 50 kg - Audrey Jimenez 53 kg - Brianna Gonzalez 55 kg - Cristelle Rodriguez 57 kg - Cecilia Williams 59 kg - Alexis Janiak 62 kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu 65 kg - Isabella Mir 68 kg - Kennedy Blades 72 kg - Jasmine Robinson 76 kg - Kylie Welker Greco-Roman 55 kg - Jayden Raney 60 kg - Max Black 63 kg - Kaden Ercanbrack 67 kg - Otto Black 72 kg - Aliasandr Kikiniou 77 kg - Aydin Rix McElhinney 82 kg - Beka Melelashvili 87 kg - Payton Jacobson 97 kg - Max Ramberg 130 kg - Aden Attao

Real American Freestyle (RAF) announced a huge signing today as they made an announcement on social media that UFC star Bo Nickal had signed with the organization. Earlier today, Nickal was on Ariel Helwani’s show and stated that he would be fighting on RAF’s inaugural card on August 30th. As of now, an opponent has not been named. In the interview, he did mention potential matches with 2025 World Team representative Trent Hidlay or 2024 national champion Parker Keckeisen. Nickal has a professional MMA record of 7-1 and is 4-1 in UFC events not including two wins on Dana White’s Contender Series. In his most recent outing, Nickal suffered a loss via TKO to Dutch fighter Reinier de Ridder. Before getting into the cage, Nickal put together a remarkable career at Penn State. He was a four-time national finalist and three-time NCAA champion. Nickal also captured three Big Ten titles. As a senior, Nickal was named the Hodge Trophy recipient after going 30-0 with 18 falls. Nickal finished his collegiate career on a 68-match winning streak. Penn State won national titles in each of Nickal’s four years as a starter. In 2018, he clinched the team title with his fall over Ohio State’s national champion Myles Martin. On the freestyle scene, Nickal captured a U23 world championship in 2019. Nickal also made the finals of the 2020(1) Olympic Team Trials but fell to fellow Penn State grad, David Taylor, the eventual gold medalist. We’ll keep you posted once an opponent for Nickal has been named or any other RAF updates. With Nickal’s addition, the RAF roster now looks like this: Ben Askren Beau Bartlett Kennedy Blades Aaron Brooks Darrion Caldwell David Carr Kyle Dake Austin Gomez James Green Seth Gross Wyatt Hendrickson Zeltzin Hernandez Sarah Hildebrandt Trent Hidlay Parker Keckeisen Will Lewan Bo Nickal Austin O'Connor Lance Palmer Matt Ramos Alejandra Rivera Nathan Tomasello Zahid Valencia Evan Wick Real Woods Hayden Zillmer The matches announced thus far for RAF’s first event on August 30th are: Real Woods vs. Darrion Caldwell (145 lbs) Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer (155 lbs) Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra (120 lbs) Kennedy Blades vs. Alejandra Rivera Arriaga (150 lbs) James Green vs. Austin O'Connor (155 lbs) Aaron Brooks vs. Hayden Zillmer (UNL)

Last week, InterMat’s Class of 2025 Recruiting Rankings were released and they featured the top-25 recruiting classes in the nation. Trying to cut down to the top 25 is an arduous task and one that involves splitting hairs and being very picky. Just because a team may not have made the top 25 doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a good recruiting class. That’s why we end up mentioning five additional classes that didn’t make the top-25, yet will likely be very productive for their school. Even after this list, there are still some really good classes out there, and ones that will be extremely helpful, though they didn’t feature a handful of ranked wrestlers. Bucknell Top Recruits: #124 Lucas Lawler (Bishop McDevitt, PA), #129 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt, Pennsylvania), #163 Shane McFillin (Bethlehem Catholic, PA), #172 Blue Stiffler (Mill Creek, GA), #217 Bryce Manera (Southern Regional, NJ), NR Will Greenberg (Hawken, OH) Bucknell continues to get it done. They now have three straight years with a mention in the recruiting rankings. It has translated onto the mat, as well. Each of the previous two ranked classes has yielded at least one true freshman national qualifier (all at 165 or above). The Lawlers were both PA state finalists in 2025 and Shane McFillin was third at the AAA level. A potential dark horse here is Blue Stiffler who was a 16U Fargo freestyle champion and a double All-American at the UWW U17 Trials. Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (25), 2023 (19), 2022 (NR), 2021 (NR) Lehigh Top Recruits: #44 Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Point, VA), #110 Vaughn Spencer (Pine-Richland, PA), #118 Rowan Holmes (Somerset, PA), #220 Brady Collins (Clearfield, PA), NR Anthony Evanitsky (Wyoming Seminary, PA), NR Chase Quenault (Delbarton, NJ) It’s back-to-back honorable mentions for Lehigh. There’s a lot of excitement around this program with three returning All-Americans and a high-profile assistant coaching hire. Plus, a huge recruiting class is on the horizon in 2026. This one isn’t quite as loaded as next year’s appears to be, but it’s very solid. With Vaughn Spencer and Rowan Holmes, the Mountain Hawks get help in the upperweights, a place where they could use more depth immediately and in the future. Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (HM), 2023 (21), 2022 (17), 2021 (NR) Little Rock Top Recruits: #123 Jackson Tucker (Hillsboro, MO), #149 Landon Jobber-Spence (Staunton River, VA), #162 Jadyn Johnson (Melissa, TX), #189 Billy Greenwood (Poudre, CO), #215 Taye Wilson (Pratt, KS), #221 Isael Perez (Hope, RI) Years of huge recruiting classes have allowed Little Rock to dial it back a bit with this class - in terms of the actual number of wrestlers in the class. The quality is still there with six Big Boarders. That’s typically a number that gets a slot in the top 25; however, this year they just missed. The Trojans continue to expand their recruiting footprint each year. Most of the recruits come from Little Rock’s usual stomping grounds, but this year they’ve added ones from Colorado, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (NR), 2023 (NR), 2022 (19), 2021 (HM) Princeton Top Recruits: #64 Vincenzo Lavalle (Hanover Park, NJ), #66 Matthew Martino (Eagle, ID), #159 Blaise Mele (Princeton, NJ), #176 Gavin Hawk (Phillipsburg, NJ), NR Conor Delaney (Rumson Fair Haven, NJ), NR Conor McCloskey (Buford, GA) This will be the first mention in the recruiting rankings for Princeton with Joe Dubuque at the helm. A pair of top 75 recruits is always a good sign. The Tigers finished with four Big Boarders; however, their other two top recruits have been ranked at one point or another in their careers. This class focused heavily on the upperweights. If one of them (Lavalle, Delaney, McCloskey) can contribute and win early on, then Princeton will be a very tough dual team. Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (NR), 2023 (12), 2022 (20), 2021 (NR) West Virginia Top Recruits: #74 Brock Kehler (University, WV), #76 Cole Evans (Perrysburg, OH), #102 Leo Contino (Buchanan, CA), #141 Casen Roark (Father Ryan, TN), #161 Luke Satriano (Valley Central, NY), #169 Gunnar Andrick (Point Pleasant, WV), NR Carmine Lenzi (Berks Catholic, PA), NR Jason Torres (Malvern Prep, PA), NR Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville, PA) It appears as if Tim Flynn and company have really found their groove on the recruiting trail at West Virginia. The Mountaineers 2024 class was their first ranking in about a decade, now they have back-to-back classes with mentions. This is a massive class that features help at most weight classes. Though top recruit Brock Kehler is a heavyweight prospect, the WVU staff really focused on the light and middleweights. West Virginia could be pretty senior-laden in 2025-26, but a class like this will ensure there’s no huge drop-off after March. Recent Recruiting History: 2024 (17), 2023 (NR), 2022 (NR), 2021 (NR)