InterMat Staff

Norman North

Houston Heights

Maine East

Patapsco

Another day and another notable addition to the Real American Freestyle (RAF) roster. The RAF Instagram account posted regarding the addition of 2022 World Team member Seth Gross. In his only Senior world team appearance, Gross advanced to the bronze medal match in the 61 kg weight class. That same year, Gross was a member of the gold medal-winning World Cup freestyle team. Gross did make a pair of age group world teams - in 2012 at the Cadet level and four years later at the Junior division. Earlier this year, Gross made the finals of the US Open, before falling to high school superstar Jax Forrest. At the World Team Trials, Gross lost in a 19-16 shootout to 2025 NCAA runner-up Brock Hardy. In college, Gross was a two-time NCAA finalist for South Dakota State. In 2018, he defeated Stevan Micic to claim a national championship - the first for a South Dakota State wrestler at the DI level. Gross finished his career at Wisconsin, but could not compete at the NCAA Tournament due to the COVID outbreak. He was awarded the second seed after finishing third at the Big Ten Championships. RAF’s inaugural event will take place on August 30th from Cleveland, Ohio. More information about tickets and an actual card will be found here as the information is released. The athletes currently announced by RAF as on their roster include: Ben Askren Kennedy Blades Aaron Brooks David Carr Kyle Dake Austin Gomez Seth Gross Wyatt Hendrickson Trent Hidlay Parker Keckeisen Will Lewan Zahid Valencia Evan Wick Real Woods

It’s about that time! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve spent time loosely discussing Final X; however, it’s time to start talking about the individual matches themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll break down all 20 Final X matchups - leading into the event itself on June 14th, from Newark, New Jersey. Our next preview is in women’s freestyle at 62 kg. Of the 20 Final X series’ across men’s and women’s freestyle, this is the only rematch of a prior Final X series. The two clashed in 2023 and Kayla Miracle took both matches. They met again in the 2025 US Open finals. Will the trend of Miracle wins continue or will Adaugo Nwachukwo finally break through and pick up a win (or two) against her rival? Prior Previews 57 kg men’s freestyle 61 kg men's freestyle 65 kg men's freestyle 70 kg men's freestyle 74 kg men's freestyle 79 kg men's freestyle 50 kg women’s freestyle 53 kg women's freestyle 55 kg women's freestyle 57 kg women's freestyle 59 kg women's freestyle 62 kg women’s freestyle Kayla Miracle vs. Adaugo Nwachukwo This is a familiar matchup for fans of women’s wrestling. Miracle and Nwachukwo have clashed a handful of times in the past few years, usually with a lot on the line. This time is no different as a berth on the 2025 World Team is hanging in the balance. The two-time world silver medalist, Miracle, has not lost to Nwachukwo in the past; however, the margin of victory is moving slightly towards Nwachukwo. Miracle is looking to extend her stranglehold on the 62 kg weight class domestically. She has made every World/Olympic team at this weight since 2019. Miracle is also one of four wrestlers who will be competing in Final X for the fifth time. She lost in her first appearance (in three matches), but has won the last three series’. Though Nwachukwo has yet to make a Senior team, she has plenty of world-level experience in the various age groups. She made a pair of U20 world teams and claimed a bronze medal from her 2022 appearance. She’s also made a pair of U23 teams, though she’s yet to have earned a medal. In 2024, Nwachukwo earned a silver medal at the U23 Pan-American Championships and gold at the World Military Championships. How They Got Here Miracle: As you would expect, Miracle had the top seed at the US Open and wrestled like it - by outscoring her opponents by a 36-1 margin. She had three tech falls before meeting Nwachukwo in the finals. Though Nwachukwo limited the damage, compared to past meetings, she didn’t have an answer for Miracle’s fireman’s dump series, a move the veteran scored with on two occasions. Miracle’s Open win secured her fifth berth in Final X. Nwachukwo: At the 2025 World Team Trials, Nwachukwo reiterated the fact that she’s on a different level from everyone else at 62 kg. She hasn’t quite made it to Miracle’s level, but also wasn’t threatened by anyone else at the weight. After a pair of techs led her to the finals, Nwachukwo needed only 1:19 to pin SaVannah Cosme and advance to Final X. Recent Form Miracle: Miracle has been out of action since the 2024 Olympic Games. That marked her longest stretch without an international competition during her entire Senior-level career. Miracle was quite active in 2024 wrestling at the Zagreb Open and the Pan-American Championships, before the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Qualifier, and then a Ranking Series event. Nwachukwo: With Miracle on the shelf for a bit, Nwachukwo has been relatively active on the international front in 2025. She took the title at the Zagreb Open Rankings Series event and then got a bronze medal at another - the Muhamet Malo Tournament. Prior History As mentioned earlier, these two have a history. They are the only 2025 Final X Series that has happened before in a previous edition of the event. That took place in 2023 when Miracle swept the series, 6-1 and 10-3. Aside from the 2025 Open, the only other meeting between the two took place in the semis of the 2022 Open. That one Miracle took by a 10-0 score. Keys to Victory Miracle: Avoid the big move. With a 4-0 career record against Nwachukwo, Miracle has done something right. She typically holds her stands well, stays low, and doesn’t leave herself susceptible to the throws and big moves that Nwachukwo hits regularly against other opponents. One could happen, but it’s hard to imagine Nwachukwo hitting big moves in two matches with the way Miracle typically wrestles her. Nwachukwo: Find an alternate way to score. Though Nwachukwo has limited the damage from Miracle, she hasn’t been able to do much offensively against her. In their four matches, Nwachukwo’s best offensive output was three points. She’ll need to pull something new out of her offensive arsenal to shock the wily veteran, Miracle.

It’s about that time! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve spent time loosely discussing Final X; however, it’s time to start talking about the individual matches themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll break down all 20 Final X matchups - leading into the event itself on June 14th, from Newark, New Jersey. Our next preview is in men’s freestyle at 79 kg. However the match between Evan Wick and Levi Haines plays out, we’ll have a first-time Senior World team member. Coming into 2025 this might not be a matchup that you would have guessed would be seen at Final X. That doesn’t mean it won’t be entertaining. The previous meeting between these two was action-packed. In our Final X quick thoughts article, I joked and asked, “Which of these wrestlers will call Bernie Truax for a scouting report?” Truax wrestled for Wick at Cal Poly before transferring to Penn State in the 2023-24 school year. Prior Previews Prior Previews 57 kg men’s freestyle 61 kg men's freestyle 65 kg men's freestyle 70 kg men's freestyle 74 kg men's freestyle 50 kg women’s freestyle 53 kg women's freestyle 55 kg women's freestyle 57 kg women's freestyle 59 kg women's freestyle 79 kg men’s freestyle Evan Wick vs Levi Haines This is a matchup that we may not have necessarily expected in the weeks leading up to the US Open - but here we are! Like 74 kg, this weight has been dominated by Kyle Dake and Jordan Burroughs since its inception in 2018, along with an interruption by Chance Marsteller in 2023. After not placing at the 2024 World Championships Burroughs is not participating this year and Dake/Marsteller moved up to 86 kg. Those moves left this weight class wide open and Evan Wick was the top seed at the Open. Wick was a three-time NCAA All-American, twice getting on the podium for Wisconsin and finishing up at Cal Poly, where he was third at 165 lbs in 2022. Wick went on to join the Mustang coaching staff and hasn’t been able to break through that Burroughs/Dake/Marsteller triumvirate. In a preview of what was to come later, Wick finished 2024 with a title at the Bill Farrell Memorial. Levi Haines just finished his third year at Penn State with a third-place finish in one of the most top-heavy weight classes in the nation. The 2024 NCAA champion only suffered two losses on the year; however, both came to the NCAA finalists who finished above him. Coming into this year, Haines didn’t have much recent history in terms of international freestyle competition. His last competition was at the Cadet Worlds in 2021. How They Got Here Wick: Coming into the Open as the top seed, Evan Wick held serves and navigated his way through the bracket without a hitch. In the semifinals, Wick faced his stiffest challenge - a 9-5 win against freshman All-American from Cornell Simon Ruiz. He captured the championship with a match that was more one-sided than most would have expected - a 9-1 win over 2025 NCAA champion Dean Hamiti. Haines: The Penn State star did not take part in the 2025 US Open. He just entered the World Team Trials a few weeks after the Open. At the Trials, Haines downed a Big Ten opponent, Carson Kharchla, in the semifinals before setting up a bout with Hamiti - the foe who defeated him in the NCAA semifinals. Haines got a measure of revenge in a 10-2 victory, which sets the table for his Final X series with Wick. Recent Form Wick: After winning the Open, Wick went on to claim gold at the 2025 Pan-American Championships. It was his third international trip of the year. Wick started the year with a ninth-place finish at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. A couple weeks later, he was fifth at the Muhamet Malo. Haines: Before going to the World Team Trials, Haines got back into freestyle mode by wrestling in the Pan-American U23 Championships. Haines took gold at that event and then won his two matches in Louisville to punch his ticket to Final X. Prior History These two only have one career match against each other - which makes sense because Haines jumped two collegiate weights in the offseason. They did collide; however, at the 2024 World Team Trials, and Haines won via fall after leading by an 8-4 score. Keys to Victory Their first match was in doubt until the final :20 when Haines took Wick straight his back with a finish from a leg attack. A big factor in this match is Wick’s length. He was able to score from the outside and, at times, his length was able to prevent a score from Haines. That being said, Haines was able to deal with that hurdle and built up from getting way overextended on the final takedown. If Wick can avoid this in their Final X series, then it could be a whole different story.

Real American Freestyle (RAF) just announced their latest signing and it’s a big one. The top big man from the 2025 NCAA Championships - Wyatt Hendrickson. Hendrickson made national headlines with his stunning upset of two-time Hodge Trophy winner and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson. For his work in the 2024-25 campaign, Hendrickson was awarded this year’s Hodge Trophy, himself. Hendrickson wrestled for four years at the Air Force Academy and amassed an 88-11 record and earned All-American honors twice - finishing third in 2023 and 2024. Unable to use his final year of eligibility wrestling for the Air Force, Hendrickson was given a special exemption and transferred to Oklahoma State University. During his year in Stillwater, Hendrickson compiled a 27-0 record and earned bonus points in over 81% of those contests. Along the way, he tallied 13 falls. Prior to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, Hendrickson won his third Big 12 Championship. In the regular season, he led OSU to a team title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He chipped in with three falls and a tech. After his collegiate career concluded, Hendrickson directed his focus back toward freestyle wrestling. At the US Open, Hendrickson lapped the field - outscoring the opposition 45-7 on his way to a title. That tournament win gave Hendrickson an automatic berth in Final X on June 14th, where he’ll face Trent Hillger - an opponent he downed 10-4 at the Open. Hendrickson is no stranger to success on the freestyle circuit. In 2023, Hendrickson won a U23 world championship and two years earlier he wrestled for a bronze medal at the U20 World Championships. After winning the 2025 Open, Hendrickson traveled to the Pan-American Championship and crushed the opposition, on the way to a gold medal. Hendrickson is the latest name to commit to an already-loaded RAF roster. The RAF site currently features a roster that includes Olympic gold medalists Kyle Snyder and Kennedy Blades, Olympic medalists Kyle Dake and Aaron Brooks, Olympian and former MMA star Ben Askren, world medalist Zahid Valencia, along with rising stars David Carr and Trent Hidlay. RAF’s inaugural event will take place on August 30th from Cleveland, Ohio. More information about tickets and an actual card will be found here as the information is released.

The AJ Ferrari situation has a lot of twists and turns with plenty of people responding to the fallout. The team discusses everything and responds to some of the things that have been said in the aftermath. We also dig into the standouts at the U20 and U23 tournaments along with what's going on with the Army head coaching process. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:30 - Weigh In 13:31 - AJ Ferrari denied admission to UNC and the fallout from it 39:11 - Standouts at U20 and U23 + tournament format 1:06:43 - Army Head Coach search

As the school year comes to a close, the end of year awards and accolades start getting passed out for a season well-done. As for us in Fantasy D1 Wrestling, the data has been processed, the charts have been reviewed, and the evaluations are complete. The breakdown of the Top Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2025 season is here to help you start your 2025 season research. Just like in the past few years, some names are going to be expected, while a lot more may not be. That's the beauty of Fantasy Wrestling, where any wrestler can be the star of the weekend and win the dual for you. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat leagues: 1) The scoring used was standard team scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or losses by medical forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season 141 Top-20 Notes: Jesse Mendez rode a one loss record into being the third straight wrestler to have 99 Fpts on the season, and the first #1 wrestler at a weight that was also a national champion this year. Mendez also posted the second best PPM in the weight with 4.1 in 24 matches. The highest was Andrew Alirez, who only wrestled 12 matches in the 2025 regular season. In 2024, Mendez was #2 behind Wyatt Henson by 16 Fpts, but this year was able to reverse the script and finish 13 Fpts over Henson, who took second. Henson wrestled eight less matches in 2025 than he did in 2024, whereas Mendez wrestled the same (24 matches in both 2025 and 2024). In 2020, Lock Haven 157 Johnathan Ross wrestled 57 regular season matches, 50 of them against D1 Competition. This year, the Jonathan Ross Award goes to Bryce Kresho who wrestled 45 matches in 2025, the most out of any in the Top-20 at any weight in 2025. The reason Kresho came in third is due to his 12 losses which accounted for -42 Fpts. Another Penn wrestler makes the Top-10 with CJ Composto finishing one Fpt behind Kresho . Brock Hardy comes in at #5, who had three losses all within two weeks of the season. If one of those swings Hardy’s way, he overtakes Composto for 4th. Beau Bartlett put in a perfect regular season, going 18-0 with a 50% bonus rate, but it wasn't enough to make it into the Top-5. It was, however, just good enough to beat out Vance VomBaur. For the past four seasons, Joshua Koderhandt has been in the Top 20 in fantasy wrestling at his weight. This season he finished with 69 Fpts for 8th at 141, while in 2024 he took 5th, and in 2023 was 18th. In 2022 he wrestled at 133 and was 3rd. Cael Happel was 10th this year in Fpts at 141, 13th in 2024, and 15th in 2023, but just barely missed out in joining Koderhandt in the four-time Top 20 club as he was 22nd in 2022. Despite only having 12 matches, Andrew Alirez still able to make the Top 20 in 2025, but fell just shy to making the Top-10. On the other end, Jacob Frost put in the second most regular season matches in the 141 Top 20, and coincidently, had the second lowest PPM as well (Anthony Ferraro taking the honor in both those stats). Rounding out the Top 20 was the only redshirt wrestler in Luke Stanich. Stanich only wrestled 13 matches, but finished with 48 Fpts. Stanich only wrestled in three events in 2025, and even though he lost by major to Mendez at the Clarion Open, he beat Sergio Lemley (MICH), CJ Composto, and Kai Orine (NCST) in his 11 victories. All eight All Americans made the 141 Top 20. Who Missed The Cut: First man out was Andre Gonzales of Ohio State with 46 Fpts, beating out Jacob Byra (NIU) and Joshua Saunders (COR) who both had 44 Fpts. Other notables include Sergio Lemley (MICH) with 40 Fpts at #26, Eligh Rivera (PRIN) with 33 Fpts at #31, Danny Pucino (ILL) with 34 Fpts at #34, Mosha Schwartz (OU) with 29 Fpts at #37, and AJ Rallo (BELL) with 22 Fpts at #45.

Farmington

2024 World bronze medalist Vito Arujau (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) has requested and received a delay for his 2025 Final X best-of-three championship series against Jax Forrest (Johnstown, Pa./Cowboy RTC/Titan Mercury WC) at 61 kg in men’s freestyle. Arujau was scheduled to face Forrest at Final X at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, June 14. The date and location for their delayed Final X championship series is not yet determined. The winner of the delayed Final X series between Arujau and Forrest will represent the United States at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in September at 61 kg. According to the approved 2025 World Team Trials Qualification & Procedures - Men’s Freestyle, “only a 2024 Senior World Medalist or 2024 Olympic Medalist, who earned an automatic berth into the Final X, may request a medical delay for competing in the Final X Wrestle-Off.” Arujau has complied with the timing requirement for the delay, in which “the request for delay must occur at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled weigh-in time.” As is also required, Arujau’s delay request was “submitted in writing to the respective Sport Committee Chair for review, to include a written certification of the injury or illness from a USA Wrestling-approved medical doctor.” At this time, the date, time and place for their Final X series has not been set. According to the procedures, “the National Coach and athletes involved shall determine the date, time, and place for the Final Wrestle-Off. If consensus cannot be reached, the Men’s Freestyle Sport Committee shall make this determination.” Arujau qualified for Final X by earning a bronze medal at the 2024 Senior World Championships. He accepted his berth in Final X on April 14. Arujau also won a 2023 Senior World gold medal at 61 kg. He is a two-time age-group World silver medalist and two-time Senior Pan American champion. Forrest qualified for Final X winning the 61 kg Senior Men’s Freestyle title at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas in April. Forrest, who is still in high school, won a silver medal at the 2022 U17 World Championships. With the delay at 61 kg, there will be nine men’s freestyle weight classes and 10 women’s freestyle weight classes contested at Final X in Newark. Final X will serve as the Beat the Streets New York Annual Benefit, the 15th BTSNY Annual Benefit to date. These unique electrifying events help BTSNY raise more than $1 million each year to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. The BTSNY Annual Benefit after-party will follow the conclusion of Final X. Final X will be held in two sessions on Saturday, June 14. Session I, which starts at 2 p.m. (ET), will feature round one in each best-of-three series. Session II, which starts at 5 p.m. (ET), will continue with round two and if-necessary round three matches. Match order for each session will be provided at a later date.

It’s about that time! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve spent time loosely discussing Final X; however, it’s time to start talking about the individual matches themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll break down all 20 Final X matchups - leading into the event itself on June 14th, from Newark, New Jersey. Our next preview is in women’s freestyle at 59 kg. Most of our previews thus far have focused on a veteran versus a younger wrestler or two opponents trying to make their mark on the Senior level for the first time. This one is different as both Abby Nette and Jacarra Winchester are both veterans and each has appeared on the world team at the Senior level. Though Nette is the US Open champion, Winchester is the incumbent at this weight. She represented the USA at the non-Olympic World Championships at 59 kg. When she made the 2024 team, it was the third time that Winchester had wrestled at the World or Olympic level at a different weight class. Nette held down the 59 kg weight class at the 2022 World Championships. Prior Previews 57 kg men’s freestyle 61 kg men's freestyle 65 kg men's freestyle 70 kg men's freestyle 74 kg men's freestyle 50 kg women’s freestyle 53 kg women's freestyle 55 kg women's freestyle 57 kg women's freestyle 59 kg women’s freestyle Abby Nette vs. Jacarra Winchester Of the nine weight classes we’ve previewed thus far, this will be the first matchup where both wrestlers have previous Senior World experience. Abby Nette made the 2022 World Team, while Jacarra Winchester has been a Final X mainstay. Winchester, a 2019 world champion, has made five Senior world teams and the 2020 Olympic squad. In addition to her world gold medal, she also brought home silver from the 2023 World Championships. Winchester will be one of only five wrestlers who has been a part of every single Final X event. She’s 4-0 at the event and has only lost one individual match along the way. Of the wrestlers with four Final X’s under their belts, Winchester is the only one who will face five different opponents now that Nette will be across the mat from her on the 14th. Nette made the 2022 team after two straight wins over Lexie Bashman at Final X Stillwater. Unfortunately, she was not able to medal at the 2022 World Championships. Nette also has a pair of U23 World Championship appearances on her resume and plenty of international experience. How They Got Here Nette: At the 2025 US Open, Nette was given the third seed; however, she generally made short work of everyone who came within her path. In the semifinals, Nette posted an impressive 10-0 tech on previous Final X participant Xochitl Mota-Pettis. Another former Final X’er was waiting in the championship match, Michaela Beck. Nette trailed at the break, but got on the offensive and pinned Beck amid a flurry while finishing a takedown. Winchester: Winchester advanced to the 57 kg US Open finals but did not compete. Since she did not wrestle, she did not lock up a spot in Final X and was free to move up to 59 kg for the World Team Trials. That might have seemed like a risky strategy; however, Winchester got a fall and a tech to make the championship match. There she came back from an early deficit to down two-time collegiate champion Alexis Janiak and confirm her place in Final X. Recent Form Nette: After claiming her spot in Final X, Nette went to Monterrey to compete at the Pan-American Championships. It was the first time in her decorated career that Nette was selected for the tournament. She responded with a silver medal. Earlier in the year, Nette traveled to Albania for the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event, but came away empty-handed. Winchester: Aside from the Open/Trials, Winchester’s only other competition in 2025 was the Ranking Series event in Zagreb. It was a good one though. Winchester got the gold after downing 2024 U23 world champion Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) in the finals. Prior History These two have squared off on two separate occasions with both going Winchester’s way. Most recently was in the challenge tournament semifinals at the 2024 Olympic Team Trials. In State College, Winchester posted an 11-0 tech. A couple months earlier, at Senior Nationals in 2023, Nette kept it close in a 6-4 loss. Keys to Victory Nette: Get physical. This shouldn’t be a difficult ask of Nette as she is generally pretty physical and tough with her handfighting. The only individual Final X match that Winchester lost was in 2022 to Nette’s former Army WCAP teammate Jenna Burkert. Burkert was extremely physical herself. Maybe try to replicate a game plan from Burkert’s win. Winchester: Stay within yourself. Winchester is well-rounded and can win in a variety of different ways. If she’s aggressive, but not reckless, things should go her way in Newark.

Fishers

It’s about that time! In the past couple of weeks, we’ve spent time loosely discussing Final X; however, it’s time to start talking about the individual matches themselves. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll break down all 20 Final X matchups - leading into the event itself on June 14th, from Newark, New Jersey. Our next preview is in men’s freestyle at 74 kg. This will be a transition year for the men’s freestyle team at this weight. For the first time since 2010, a wrestler not named Burroughs or Dake will represent us at the Senior World Championships. Just because it’s a changing of the guard, doesn’t mean that we won’t have a medal contender in Zagreb. Both Final X participants have U20/Junior world gold medals to their respective names. While not regular contenders at the Senior level (yet!), I like our chances at the World Championships with either. Those wrestlers are Mitchell Mesenbrink and David Carr. There will be plenty of familiarity between the two as they’ve met twice in the last 15 months. Each has a win. What better way to tilt the balance in one wrestler's favor than a best-of-three series with a trip to their first Senior World Championships on the line? Prior Previews 57 kg men’s freestyle 61 kg men's freestyle 65 kg men's freestyle 70 kg men's freestyle 50 kg women’s freestyle 53 kg women's freestyle 55 kg women's freestyle 57 kg women's freestyle 74 kg men’s freestyle Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. David Carr The overlying question in this series is “Was their US Open finals match an aberration?” A year ago, Mesenbrink and Carr wrestled an extremely tight match in the NCAA finals. Some think that Mesenbrink could have even earned another stalling call, which would have changed the complexion of the match. Then came the ambush at the Open. We know that there are some differences between freestyle and folkstyle; however, not necessarily to the tune of 16-6 which was the final score in Mesenbrink’s favor in Vegas. Mesenbrink is fresh off of a sophomore year at Penn State where he captured his first NCAA title and went unbeaten in the process. With Wyatt Hendrickson and teammate Carter Starocci out of the picture, Mesenbrink might be the preseason Hodge Trophy favorite. Even so, Mesenbrink made a compelling case for the award with bonus points in almost 89% of his matches. 18 of his 27 wins came via technical fall - including his first eight of the year. Mesenbrink’s lopsided win over Carr was all the more surprising because Carr appeared to be next in line to take over at 74 kg. He has appeared to be on a level of his own. Carr didn’t surrender a point himself during his four pre-finals matches at the Open. He made the finals by cooling off a red-hot Jarrett Jacques, 11-0 in the semis. How they got here Mesenbrink: That same level of dominance carried over to the freestyle world. Mesenbrink outscored the competition 42-1 on his way to the Open finals. That includes a 12-1 tech over former national runner-up Quincy Monday in the semifinals. That Open title locked up a place in Final X for Mesenbrink. Carr: To advance to Final X, Carr had to head to Kentucky and win the World Team Trials. This event was not like the Open - Carr had to grind his way to wins in both the semifinals and finals. He earned a spot in the championship match after outlasting 2025 All-American Terrell Barraclough, 6-3. For the berth in Final X, it was another meeting with Jacques. This was a much more tactical, methodically paced match, but Carr got the 2-0 victory and a rematch in Final X. Recent Form Mesenbrink: Mesenbrink was kept busy during the collegiate season; however, right before that kicked off he traveled to Albania for the U23 World Championships. The Penn State star ended up taking home a bronze medal after losing to Japan’s Kota Takahashi in the quarterfinals. Carr: Coming into the Open, Carr had medaled at a pair of international tournaments in late-2024 and early-2025. Last December, Carr captured gold at the Kunaev Tournament in Kazakhstan. Two months later, he was a silver medalist at the Zagreb Open Rankings Series event. Past History As mentioned above, these two are now 1-1 career against each other. Carr got the 2024 NCAA finals victory during his last collegiate match. Mesenbrink responded with a 16-6 win in the finals of the 2025 Open. Keys to Victory Sometimes the answers are very complicated, other times they are relatively easy. I think this match comes down to “who can control the pace.” If it’s an uptempo affair and Mesenbrink is able to move at will, he’ll be difficult to beat. If Carr can tie Mesenbrink up for their feet and control ties, he has a much better chance of winning. That being said, should Carr get an early takedown or an early lead, he can’t look to sit on it and play defense, he’ll have to keep scoring. As many wrestlers have figured out, it’s easy to say “Slow down Mesenbrink,” but much harder to actually do it.

One of the biggest remaining names in the transfer portal announced his future plans this afternoon as Rafael Hipolito announced that he will transfer to the University of Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshman at Virginia Tech in 2024-25, Hipolito amassed an 18-5 record at 157 lbs and captured an ACC title. To win his ACC crown, Hipolito posted a 7-3 win over former All-American Ed Scott of NC State - his second victory of the year over Scott. Unfortunately, in his NCAA Tournament debut, Hipolito went 1-2 and missed the NCAA podium - despite starting with the #4 seed. Over the course of the year, Hipolito downed three wrestlers who were previous or future All-Americans. Scott, Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State), and Peyten Kellar (Ohio). Speaking of Kellar, he also transferred to Oklahoma in the offseason. Since both wrestlers have used redshirts, Hipolito might be the logical choice to move up. Oklahoma has gotten a serious facelift over the last couple of months through the transfer portal. In addition to Hipolito and Kellar, they’ve also picked up NCAA qualifiers Jack Gioffre (Virginia), Brian Soldano (Rutgers), and Tyler Wells (Minnesota). Hipolito came to Virginia Tech as the #47 recruit in the Class of 2023. He also is a multiple-time world champion in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu.

Crown Point

Idaho Falls

Bixby

Cheyenne East

Racoon River-Northwest

Bellevue

Big Sprin

Pennridge

Penn Manor