InterMat Staff

Lake Highland Prep

Iowa-Grant/Highland

DePaul

Lakeland Regional

The world of college athletics is changing by the year - actually, maybe not that slow, maybe by the month or week. It seems like late spring and summer are the times to monitor which schools are changing conferences and which conferences are raiding other smaller leagues. This offseason proved to be one of the most impactful in college athletics with the Big Ten expanding to the West Coast and a pair of Big 8/12 mainstays heading to the SEC. Some of these moves don’t directly impact wrestling - others have. There are a few wrestling conferences that have undergone major facelifts and will look much different during the 2024-25 season and beyond. Since it can be difficult to follow all of these changes, we’ve gone conference by conference to see how each has evolved for the 2024-25 season. ACC: The ACC comes out a winner in this game of musical chairs as they add a very talented Stanford team. Sure, the geography of Stanford being in the Atlantic Coast Conference doesn’t add up, but we’ve had time to come to terms with the fact that these conferences don’t make much sense. On the mat, Stanford brings a team that will likely enter the season in the top-15 in tournament and dual rankings. The Cardinal boasts a lineup that features three All-Americans, finished 16th in the nation in 2024, and has inked three top-eight recruiting classes in a row. After years of claiming the ACC is on the rise, the 2025 conference tournament will now feature seven teams and gets that much tougher. Big Ten: The Big Ten added four schools (Oregon, Southern California, UCLA, and Washington) and none of them currently field a wrestling team. The initial reaction is “Great, maybe one of them will add wrestling,” however, will all of the new financial changes coming to college athletics, you might start to worry whether one or more Big Ten schools will drop in the near future. Big 12: The Big 12 was already pretty massive, from a wrestling standpoint, with 13 schools at the 2024 conference tournament. They’ll add Arizona State for the 2024-25 season, a squad that will surely compete for conference and national championships. The Sun Devils took home NCAA team trophies in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022 (4th both years) and have finished in the top-seven at the last four tournaments. Despite being hit hard by a pair of multi-time All-Americans transferring to Iowa, ASU returns an imposing lineup that features 2024 national champion Richie Figueroa (125) and four-time All-American Cohlton Schultz (285). Even though Oklahoma has left for the SEC in other sports, they will remain in the Big 12 for wrestling purposes. Currently, Missouri and Oklahoma are the only SEC schools with a wrestling program. Maybe their next dual can be for the “SEC Championship.” EIWA: The EIWA is the conference that will look the most different from 2023-24 to 2024-25. The Ivy League schools that used to qualify for nationals out of the conference have broken off and will have their own Ivy League tournament. That means that (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton) are no longer in the EIWA. Because of proximity and history, there still may be plenty of EIWA teams that wrestle these schools in dual competition. A gigantic 17-team EIWA is probably fun for fans and a great test of endurance, in some cases, most coaches InterMat has spoken with won’t mind a smaller conference tournament less than two weeks before nationals. The larger tournament lent itself to more upsets and “stealing” of NCAA bids. We’ll have to see how this plays out with smaller tournaments. Just last week, we learned that the EIWA will add one more team as Morgan State was officially welcomed into the league. Morgan State’s program was reinstated after a 25-year hiatus and took the mat for the first time in 2023-24. For that season, their wrestlers were thrown into the at-large pool for potential NCAA berths (none of their wrestlers were selected). This year they’ll have a chance to compete and qualify through the EIWA. Ivy: As mentioned above, the Ivy League schools will qualify for NCAA’s directly through the Ivy League Conference tournament, which gives us another conference tournament to follow. Princeton will host the first Ivy League tournament and you can bet that there will be plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounding the event. MAC: At this time, there are no significant changes regarding how the MAC will function as a conference in 2024-25. Pac-12: With Arizona State leaving for the Big 12 and Stanford heading to the ACC, one of the smallest conferences in the nation got even smaller. The Pac-12 will consist of four teams for the 2024-25 season (Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Little Rock, and Oregon State). We’ll have to pay attention to the movement outside of the wrestling world to see how this conference may change in the future. Oregon State and Washington State were the only schools left standing from the old Pac-12. Most assumed they would join other leagues and the Pac-12 would disappear. That doesn’t appear to be the case. Recently, the conference announced that they will add Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. Currently none offer wrestling (Boise State and Fresno State dropped semi-recently). Maybe future members will or some of those could be enticed to add the sport. For now, the Pac-12 has a waiver to continue as is for the 2024-25 season and their conference tournament will be just like in years past, but with only four schools. SoCon: Technically, the SoCon doesn’t add any “new” schools, but Bellarmine will be able to participate in postseason competition for the first time at the DI level. The athletic department started a transition from DII to DI status in 2020 and had to sit out from the postseason for four years during the move. The wait is over! Ned Shuck’s team can fully participate in the SoCon wrestling season. In previous years, the Knights held duals against their fellow SoCon schools, but couldn’t start down the path towards NCAA qualifying. Last year, Bellarmine went 4-4 in SoCon duals. They defeated Chattanooga, Davidson, Gardner-Webb, and Presbyterian. With Bellarmine in the mix, the SoCon tournament will go from an eight-man bracket to one that features nine. The Bellarmine staff has hit the recruiting trail hard and their team has gained plenty of experience in dual meets, so I would not be surprised if they pushed a wrestler or two into the 2025 NCAA Championships.

The data has been processed, the charts have been reviewed, and the evaluations are complete. The 2024 breakdown of the Top Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2024 season is here to help you start your 2025 season research. Just like in the past few years, some names will 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 197 Top-20 Notes: The only weight class in 2024 that had two 100 Fpt wrestlers, and who actually met head-to-head the second week of the season. Trent Hidlay took that match over Michael Beard at the Journeymen Classic by major, which is the difference between Hidlay being #1 and Beard being #2. Hidlay would start the season winning by bonus in 10 of his first 12 matches (comprising five techs and three pins). Going undefeated helped, and so did a stretch of five straight techs in the New Year as well. The loss to Hidlay would be Beard’s only during the regular season. It would have a very similar bonus-filled record only to land four points shy of being #1. Of his 22 wins, only one was by decision and 15 via tech. Campbell’s Levi Hopkins edges out Stephen Buchanan by two Fpts, in large part due to his extra 11 countable D1 matches. Hopkins had a handful of losses (six total, two by tech and two by major) which accounted for -24 Fpts, so those extra 11 matches really came in handy. Buchanan on the other hand, only had 19 countable D1 matches with one loss suffered. Of his 18 victories, only two were by decision, but that loss to Tanner Sloan doomed him to #4 in the Top-20. His 2023 season was tragically cut short by injury, and we all thought that was the end of Lou DePrez’s career. Then, an early Xmas present turned up at the Sheridan Invitational. DePrez would go on to wrestle 20 matches in the regular season in only three months which vaulted high up the fantasy ranks. Having three of his matches won only by decision was the shortcoming in falling behind Buchanan to #5. Since the 2020 season, Tanner Sloan has found himself within the Top-10 of the 197 Fantasy Ranks. Twice he has been the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 197 (2021 & 2023 seasons), once the #1 overall (2021), and his lowest placing was in 2020 where he was 10th. In 2024 he fell one Fpt shy of overtaking Stephen Little for 6th place. Your NCAA champion Aaron Brooks only wrestled in 14 matches, the least amount of any 197 wrestler in the Top-20 (by four matches, actually). He tied Nick Stemmet with 70 Fpts, who wrestled the most matches of any 197 wrestler in the Top-20 with 34. Brooks’ impressive 5.0 PPM over Stemmet’s 2.1 was the difference. Some may say that Zach Glazier had one of the crazier storylines of the 2024 season. From the 2020 season to 2023, Glazier was a total of 8-6 against D1 competition. 2024 was his first season as a starter for Iowa and went 16-1 against D1 competition. Despite this career-setting run, and making his way to #11 on the 197 Top-20, he might just be remembered for his AJ Ferrari match at Soldier Salute. Jacob Cardenas falls just behind Glazier by 0.3 PPM. Gabe Sollars used his 12 pins to vault up to #15 while Princeton’s Luke Stout and Pitt’s Mac Stout wrestled the same number of matches but are separated by two Fpts. Who Missed The Cut: Only one wrestler who AA’d did not make the Top-20. Missouri’s Rocky Elam only wrestled in 11 matches and suffered two losses (one by pin). He finished with 24 Fpts. John Poznanski (RUT) was the first guy out, amassing 45 Fpts in 14 matches. Two losses to end his regular season, one by SV-1 to #13 Garrett Joles. Had he won that match, Poz would have been #20 (and Joles down to #19). Other notable wrestlers to miss the cut include Wyatt Voelker (UNI) with 43 Fpts, Aidan Conner (PRIN) with 41 Fpts, Martin Cosgrove (PENN) with 38 Fpts, Lucas Cochran (PSU) with 37 Fpts, and Joey Novak (WYO) with 36 Fpts.

Skutt Catholic

St. Francis DeSales

September 20 LFA 193 (UFC Fight Pass) Mitch McKee (Minnesota) vs. Ashton Caniglia Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) vs. Roland Pruden September 21 Vendetta Fight Nights 40 (YouTube) Istvan Vereb (2008 Olympics) vs. Martin Kozak September 21 247 FC Brawl in the Burgh 23 (iPPV) Taylor Cahill (Clarion) vs. Brogan Endres (Mount Union) Geno Morelli (Pittsburgh/Penn State) vs. Hunter Watt September 28 PFL Europe 3 (DAZN) Roger Huerta (Augsburg) vs. Rob Whiteford October 5 UFC 307 (ESPN PPV) Carla Esparza (Menlo) vs. Tecia Pennington October 12 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Pat Sabatini (Rider) vs. Jonathan Pearce October 19 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Darren Elkins (Wisconsin Parkside) vs. Daniel Pineda October 19 PFL Super Fights: Battle of Giants (ESPN PPV) Johnny Eblen (Missouri) vs. Fabian Edwards AJ McKee (Cerritos) vs. Paul Hughes October 25 UFC 308 (ESPN PPV) Robert Whittaker (Australian Champion) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (Swedish Champion) November 2 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Alexander Romanov (World University Bronze) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento November 9 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Mansur Abdul-Malik (Maryland) vs. Dusko Todorovic Cody Garbrandt (Newberry) vs. Miles Johns (Newman) November 16 UFC 309 (ESPN PPV) Jon Jones (Iowa Central) vs. Stipe Miocic (Cleveland State) Michael Chandler (Missouri) vs. Charles Oliveira Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. Paul Craig Chris Weidman (Hofstra) vs. Eryk Anders December 7 UFC 310 (ESPN PPV) Tatiana Suarez (World Bronze) vs. Virna Jandiroba

On Friday, the one of the highest ranked uncommitted seniors made his college choice known. Nikade Zinkin (Clovis, CA) is ranked #46 overall in the Class of 2025 and is currently ranked fifth in the nation at 144 lbs. Zinkin announced via social media that he will continue wrestling at the collegiate level with the University of Nebraska. Zinkin is a three-time California state placewinner who won a title last season at 126 lbs for Clovis High School. He was fourth and fifth in his previous two seasons. On the national scene, Zinkin got on the podium in 2023 at Fargo’s 16U freestyle tournament - where he took seventh place at 126 lbs. Zinkin has also placed in the top-three on three occasions at California’s toughest regular season tournament - the Doc Buchanan Invitational. In each of the last two years he was a finalist. Zinkin joins a Nebraska recruiting class that already includes a pair of top-50 recruits - #24 Tyler Eise and #35 Cade Ziola. With three top-50 recruits, Mark Manning’s team has put themselves in position to have another strong recruiting class. The Huskers have ranked #19, #7, #8, and #13 in each of the last four years. At the next level, Zinkin appears to project at 149 lbs. That could certainly be a position of need in the near future as current starter and two-time All-American Ridge Lovett is currently exercising his final year of eligibility. As of now, there isn’t a clear-cut successor to Lovett in-line. For more recruiting information and Nebraska’s Class of 2025, check out InterMat’s College Commitment Page.

Clovis

Benedictine College Prep

Whitmer

I don’t know how it happened but this turned into a very Jersey-flavored mailbag so if you’re not down with the Garden State, I suggest you stop reading now. We already got your click and you can’t have it back so the advertisers are happy. And if you hate New Jersey, you likely quit reading this column long ago. I don’t really know how you would hate New Jersey since we produce some of the greatest people from Bruce (Springsteen or Baumgartner take your pick) to Burroughs to Brandon from New Jersey himself. Just a loaded field of stars. So, let’s get into it! Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Joe Dubuque’s promotion to head coach. How are the vibes out of Princeton? Salty Walkon, Jersey Guy I do believe the vibes are good as Joe Dubuque enters his second year at the helm. Now with Jersey GOAT Anthony Ashnault in the fold, Coach Dubuque looks to do with Marc-Anthony McGowan what he did for Patrick Glory which is to turn him into a monster right off the bat. It seems like forever since we’ve seen MAM on the mat, but once upon a time, he was at the top or near the top of all the rankings. You have to assume that if he’s healthy, and with the coaching of lightweight experts Dubuque, Ashnault, and Cody Brewer, the sky's the limit for the former Blair product. I feel like it’s been a minute since a Blair guy really tore up the college scene until TJ Stewart had his run last year. McGowan is a good bet to continue that this year. When will Goodale make Jagger the honorary Captain on the annual Jagger Night? Aaron Bartlett, Jersey Guy You would think it has to happen soon. But I don’t need all that and 95% of the crowd would be quite confused. I’d rather get into one of those sumo suits and do whatever they do with that at intermission. Me and Mineo just bouncing into each other until someone is knocked out of the circle. Nothing would please me more. In reality, I’m quite shy in public and around crowds so not sure any of this is a good idea. Will Cornell win every weight class at the first-ever Ivy Wrestling tourney? Was it smart for the IVY Schools to break from the historic EIWA Conference and their tourney? Mike Abromitis, Jersey Guy I’d say they have the favorite at a good eight weights but there are a lot of fresh faces in the lineups and coaching staffs in the Ivy League, so I wouldn’t bet on it. I just hope everyone wears a sweater around their neck during intros. I think it’s fine that they split into their own conference, but I guess we will see what impact it has come allocation season. I just wish Yale and Dartmouth would get in on the action and field some teams. Not a question…just want to let you know that one of these will arrive in your mailbox soon. Kevin McGuigan, Philly Guy You got my address. A medium will do and I will wear it with pride. What program is your favorite to root for when it comes to NJ guys who have defected from staying in the Garden State and why is it the Hokies? Will Jagger make a celebrity (loosely applied here) appearance in Blacksburg for Jersey Tech vs Rutgahs? Ethan Aguigui, Guam Guy I can't be a Hokie guy, because I’m a Wolfpack guy. Just because they don’t have a Hidlay anymore doesn’t mean I’m bailing on my boys. Gotta be loyal to the soil even though I’ve never seen the soil in Raleigh. You had JerseyHokie to unify the two states then you ran him out of town. I admit I would like to make it to Blacksburg and get a little revenge for last year but it is still very much up in the air. You still have cigarettes for two dollars a pack down there? Can the state made for lovers handle such a hater? Find out these answers and more during the 2024-2025 college wrestling season! And stop stealing our guys!

Father Ryan

The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association has approved the addition of Morgan State. Morgan State will become the 12th member of the conference. Located in Baltimore, MD, Morgan State announced in October of 2021 that it would revive the wrestling program after a 24-year hiatus. A $2.7 million gift towards the program is the largest single donation in the school’s history. This gift was spearheaded by Mike Novogratz and the HBCU Wrestling (HCUW) Initiative, whose sole mission is to restore wrestling at HBCUs. Wrestling programs of all shapes and sizes have disappeared due to Title IX and lack of funding over the decades. Morgan State was no different. At this moment, MSU is the lone HBCU (Historically Black College and University) in Division I wrestling. The Bears first competed in the sport in the early 1950s. They were dominant well into the 60s, winning multiple conference titles. Morgan State’s most recent success began in 1975 when James Phillips took over as the head coach. Of his 20 seasons at the helm, the Bears won 13 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles while earning Coach of the Year 12 times. He coached four national champions and 75 All-Americans during his tenure. The wrestling program came to a halt at the end of the 1996-97 season. The reason provided was a lack of resources. Kenny Monday was hired as the program’s Head Coach in the summer of 2022. The hire made waves across the nation, as Monday was quite the wrestler himself. He was a three-time NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State, claiming two runner-up finishes and one championship. His career record was 122-12-2 and is considered one of the greats at one of the traditional powerhouse programs in wrestling history. After his NCAA wrestling career, he claimed an Olympic gold in 1988, silver in 1992, and a 6th place finish in 1996. Coincidentally, as a perfect fit for the program, his gold medal in 1988 was the first ever won by an African-American in the sport of wrestling. Monday was named a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2001. Two decades later, he is still adding to his resume as a head coach. Previous to Morgan State, he coached at Spire Academy, UNC Chapel Hill, and Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, TX. Kenny Monday’s statement regarding this news: "Morgan State University's acceptance into the prestigious Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) conference marks a monumental milestone in the history of our wrestling program. This achievement is a testament to the tireless efforts, dedication, and resilience of our administration, coaches, and our student-athletes. As we join the ranks of the EIWA, I'm very excited and honored as we're looking forward to elevating our competition, fostering growth, and making a lasting impact in the collegiate wrestling community." Dena Freeman-Patton is the Morgan State Director of Athletics and Vice President. Her enthusiasm for this move is captured by her quote: “This is an exciting time for Morgan State. The EIWA is a great fit for our wrestling program competitively, academically, and regionally. Our student-athletes are looking forward to competing for championships.” The EIWA is thrilled about this move as well. Executive Director, Gene Nighman is welcoming The Bears with open arms: “I'm pleased to welcome Morgan State University as the newest member in the long and storied history of the EIWA. Starting back in 1904, the EIWA member institutions have been committed to advancing the sport of wrestling and providing all participants with an elite Championship experience. As we approach the start of the 121st season, the EIWA is proud to have the only HBCU program as one of our members and looks forward to all twelve EIWA schools gathering at Lehigh University on March 7 for the 2025 EIWA Championship Tournament.” – Gene Nighman Mike Moyer, the Executive Director of the NWCA, mimics this sentiment. “I know I can speak for the NWCA Board of Directors when I extend a heartfelt thanks to the EIWA coaches and administrators for inviting the only DI-affiliated HBCU wrestling program in the nation as their twelfth member. Morgan State has a proud academic and athletic tradition that is aligned with the EIWA member schools and a location that fits nicely into the geographic conference footprint. This is sure to create new regional rivalries that will strengthen the storied history of the EIWA as the oldest wrestling conference in the nation.” The Bears will showcase their talents in the Blue vs Orange intrasquad dual on October 18th at 5PM. They officially open the season on November 2nd at the Southeast Open. They will make their EIWA dual meet debut at Lehigh on November 15th at 7PM. The full schedule can be found here: Morgan State 2024-25 Schedule Be sure to visit the team website for more information: Morgan State Wrestling

Every year in college wrestling we are treated to some young superstars seemingly coming out of nowhere to jump onto the scene. Guys who will undoubtedly knock off top-ranked stalwarts, who have been in our lives for half a decade (or more sometimes). Oftentimes, they are top recruits who pan out, sometimes they are guys who have waited for their chance in the lineup. Regardless of their genesis, all they need is a chance to breakout, and once it happens, it’s off to the races. Last season the B1G was treated to some great young wrestlers. Whether it is Rocco Welsh making the NCAA finals, or Sergio Lemley getting some high-level wins on the scene, we saw some new faces make the most of their opportunities. If I’m certain of anything, it’s that this season will have some studs show up and show out. It’s my job here to give you a heads-up on who this might be. Here is my first list of some potential breakout candidates for the B1G season. If you missed Part One of this feature make sure to go back and check that out, as well. Minnesota - It’s a little weird to have a returning All-American as my breakout candidate, but damn it that’s what I’m doing. I had the privilege of interviewing Vance Vombaur shortly after he earned his AA status with an OT win in the bloodround. With blood on his face, he shared how he had failed in the past, and how trusted the process and that’s how he got here. When asked “Do seeds matter”, he replied, “No, my name’s Vance. You can’t just tell me how good I am by a number”. It was some of the most inspirational stuff I saw that weekend. Am I taking too much stock in an awesome interview? No. In fact, I feel like the confidence boost from getting on that podium will be huge for Vance. I’m excited to see how that impacts his approach moving forward, but I believe it’ll be way more positive than negative. Northwestern - Northwestern has done such a great job with their limitations from a roster construction standpoint. Despite the difficulties with the school’s academic standards, paired with limits on roster construction, the Wildcats have consistently been producing high-end talent. Throw in that they had several guys transfer out last season, and all of a sudden the Wildcats were in a rebuilding mode before they knew it. As a result, the team was very young last season, but that allowed some guys chances to develop and prepare to attack this season. Sam Cartella is one of the bright young wrestlers poised to jump into the action this season. Last year Sam redshirted, but thanks to the new rules he was able to compete occasionally as the starter for Northwestern. He finished the year 25-9 at 149 pounds, placing third in the open division at the MSU Open to start the season, and going undefeated in his limited action in B1G competition. At the aforementioned MSU Open, Sam defeated Willie McDougald of Oklahoma on his way through the backside to place third. Sam wrestles tough and should be a fun addition to the B1G competition slate at 149. Rutgers - Rutgers is in the advantageous position of having a team with a lot of familiarity. This might not seem like a “breakout” pick to most, but stick with me here. Dean Peterson is about as familiar and dangerous as they get without having been on the podium. That all changes this season. Dean was ranked as highly as 2nd in the country last year and has racked up some huge wins over the years. A lot of dudes cleared out of the B1G 125-pound contingent last year, but Dean remains a constant and veteran presence. Over the years we’ve had some greats battling for their chance to get on the podium. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not, but in this instance, I believe Dean gets it done, and does so in a very matter-of-fact way. Indiana - Derek Gilcher had his season cut short last year due to injury. It’s a little weird to pick a redshirt senior as a breakout candidate, but I feel great about Gilcher’s chance to have a great year. He was 7-1 last season before getting hurt and was highly ranked and regarded as well. He will likely compete at 165 this year, but he had competed at 157 previously in his career and has wins over guys like Chase Saldate (previously MSU 157, now wrestling for Michigan), as well as Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State). Derek improved each year he was in the lineup, which to this point has been just about every year of his career in Bloomington. Sometimes a year away is good for the mind, body, and soul, and I expect Derek to attack this season with the fire of a guy who has one last chance to get on the podium. Nebraska - Nebraska, like Rutgers referenced above, has a lot of returning talent at most of their weights. So this name isn’t necessarily new, but nobody should feel at all comfortable with their favorite wrestler putting their toe on the line against Jacob Van Dee. JVD was Nebraska’s Redshirt of the year in the 2022-2023 season, and last year helped Nebraska kick Michigan in the chest in their explosive start in that dual meet with a win over Dylan Ragusin. JVD ended up going 1-2 at NCAAs, but a close second-round loss to Kai Orine of NC State, and an eventual eliminating loss to Tyler Wells of Minnesota (also super dangerous), is nothing to be concerned with. I would point to his fourth-place finish in the B1G last season, with wins over Bouzakis of Ohio State and Teske of Iowa as more indicative of his ability, and what we can prepare for moving forward. JVD is ready to have a breakout season, so be ready. Penn State - Alex Facundo and Josh Barr are both winning this award. Both are products of the great state of Michigan, specifically Davison High School and are both trying to position themselves as getting into the lineup. I don’t know who, or where, or how either will get into the lineup. Does Facundo end up at 174 to replace Starocci? He has the frame. Some are even saying 157! Barr could go 184, or maybe 197, but Starocci coming back clogs things up for sure. Where do Haines and Messenbrink end up in the lineup? I would expect they would likely start at whichever weight they want to be at, but we’ll see. It must be nice to have highly recruited guys like Facundo and Barr trying to figure out how they will fit into the plans for the Nittany Lions. Whoever gets it done though will absolutely break out this season. Wisconsin - Nicolar Rivera competed for the Badgers at 133 in his first year in Madison. He was 8-7 at the weight and competed admirably in the losses. He was a solid homegrown recruit, having won three state titles in High School. Nicolar also had shown a willingness to hit some big and flashy moves back in the day, so we know that he has a deep arsenal. Last season, Rivera won the MSU Open Freshman/Sophomore division. It appears that he might be dropping down to 125 with Eric Barnett graduating, and pairing the drop in weight with another year of development in college wrestling, he could certainly be ready to jump back into competition. Jump in and around, if you will.

Just over two weeks ago, the University of Minnesota’s coaching staff was dealt a big blow as assistant coach Trevor Brandvold announced he was leaving to pursue an opportunity outside of the collegiate coaching world. Golden Gopher head coach Brandon Eggum was able to move quickly and added a potential rising star in the coaching ranks, in Michael Kemerer, to replace Brandvold. Kemerer comes to Minnesota after spending a year on the Brown coaching staff. He also spent a year coaching and competing with Cornell’s Spartan Combat RTC. Kemerer is no stranger to the Big Ten as he wrestled collegiately at the University of Iowa and earned NCAA All-American honors on four occasions and once through the NWCA. During his time at Iowa, Kemerer never finished lower than fourth at the national tournament and he reached the national finals in 2021. Earlier that season, Kemerer won a Big Ten championship - which was his first after making the finals in two of the previous three years. Also in 2021, Kemerer was a leader on an Iowa team that won their first NCAA title in 11 years. They were also heavy favorites to win in 2020; however, the tournament was canceled at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa head coach Tom Brands credited Kemerer’s initial signing as one that helped usher in a new era of Hawkeye wrestling. In the two years following Kemerer’s signing, top recruits like Alex Marinelli and Spencer Lee followed suit and headed to Iowa City. In addition to Kemerer, the Gophers still have a pair of mainstays on their coaching staff with four-time All-Americans Luke Becker and Zach Sanders. Minnesota returns a squad that features a pair of returning All-Americans (Vance Vombaur and Isaiah Salazar) and could field a starting ten that includes eight returning national qualifiers.

Mt. Horeb/Barneveld

The top prospect in the high school Class of 2026, Bo Bassett, has vowed to keep fans abreast of his recruiting with daily Wednesday updates. Well, today is Wednesday and true to his word, Bassett has posted an updated graphic which has eliminated three more schools from consideration. Earlier this year, Bassett posted a graphic that contained the logos of approximately 80 schools, most of the DI variety, but some DII’s as well, to signify that he’s totally open in the recruiting process. After more than a month of removing schools from the list, he’s down to 18. One school was removed from this week's graphic: Stanford The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rutgers, Virginia Tech. One school was removed from last week's graphic: NC State These three schools were removed from the 9/4 graphic: American, North Carolina, Wisconsin These three schools were removed from the 8/28 graphic: Clarion, Little Rock, Minnesota The following schools were removed from the 8/21 graphic: Penn, Oklahoma, Oregon State The following schools were removed from the 8/14 graphic: Bucknell, Virginia, Wyoming The following schools were removed from the 8/7 graphic: Brown, Northern Colorado, Purdue The following schools were removed from the 7/31 graphic: California Baptist, Michigan State, Navy The following schools were removed from the 7/24 graphic: Army West Point, Campbell, Edinboro, Harvard, Illinois, North Dakota State, South Dakota State The following schools were removed from the 7/17 graphic: Cal Poly, Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Millersville, The Citadel, and West Virginia The following schools were removed from the 7/10 graphic: CSU Bakersfield, George Mason, Hofstra, Northwestern, Rider, UW Parkside, West Liberty The following schools were removed from the 7/3 graphic: Appalachian State, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Drexel, Kent State, Ohio, and St. Cloud State The following schools were removed from the 6/26 graphic: Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Northern Illinois, Sacred Heart, SIU Edwardsville Bassett has a few of upcoming home visits scheduled. Here are the home visit dates: Sept 18th Northern Iowa Sept 19th Penn State Bassett's first on-campus visit will take place on September 20th-22nd at the University of Michigan Bassett recently competed at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. He advanced to the semifinals and ended up coming away with a bronze medal. Next on the docket a Who's #1 rematch with Daniel Zepeda. The event will take place close to home, at Pitt-Johnstown, on September 29th.

The data has been processed, the charts have been reviewed, and the evaluations are complete. The 2024 breakdown of the Top Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2024 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 184 Top-20 Notes: The two national finalists in the 2024 NCAA Championships are atop the 184 leaderboard, but in reverse order. Parker Keckeisen may have gotten the better of Dustin Plott during the regular and postseason (3-0 in all competitions), but Plott ended up with the most Fpts to be #1 in Fantasy Wrestling. Plott used his three extra matches to his advantage to overcome two losses and finish 5 Pts ahead of Keckeisen. For starting the season 4-5, with only one of those wins by bonus, it’s a wonder that Jha’Quan Anderson made it to #3. He finishes with 80 Fpts and the highest placer in Fantasy Wrestling for Gardner-Webb in the past four years at a weight and overall (article coming soon). Isaiah Salazar improved from his 2023 placing (16th at 184) to 4th in the 2024 season and upped his fantasy production by 25 Fpts with only three additional matches. Next in the rankings comes four sets of ties with Fpts, though all with varying PPMs. Lenny Pinto and Dalton Harkins both with 64 Fpts, but with Harkins having double the number of losses (six to Pinto’s three), Pinto grabs the #6 spot. Maximus Hale and James Conway tied at 61 Fpts, with Hale taking the #8 spot by a 0.7 PPM difference. Josh Barr and Jacob Nolan tied at 59 Fpts, with Barr wrestling nine fewer matches than Nolan. Barr rounds out the Top-10 thanks to a 3.9 PPM, which was the best out of any wrestler in the Top-20. Last of the tied groups is Chris Foca and Caleb Hopkins at 58 Fpts. Foca had an impressive 62% bonus rate against countable D1 matches, while Hopkins was able to salvage an up-and-down first half (seven losses in 15 countable matches) with a string of 11 wins in 12 matches consisting of four pins and two techs. Foca finished with the better PPM and thus, the #12 spot. Obviously, one win here or a loss there by any combination of these weight wrestlers, and we could have had a much different-looking Top-20. Two Redshirts make the Top-20, with Josh Barr finishing at #10, which is the highest of any Redshirt in any weight for the 2024 season. Max McEnelly was the other, wrestling in 15 matches but having only 12 of them be D1 countable opponents. Winning all 12, McEnelly put together an impressive bonus streak with only three wins by decision. A few more matches at an open and he could have been right up there with Barr. Trey Munoz and Benett Berge didn't just meet in the Consi-finals at NCAAs, they also were neck and neck being separated by two Fpts. Munoz had a loss by fall to Feldkamp at CKLV, but had he won that match (which is how the match looked to be going in the first period) by decision, Munoz would have had at least 66 Fpts and ranked #6 in the 2024 Top-20. Who Missed The Cut: Three All-Americans missed the cut, one of which has been a fantasy staple these past few years. Bernie Truax (PSU) took his talents from sunny California where he had finished twice in the Top-10 of his weight since the 2021 season. It may surprise you, but in his last four seasons (2021-2024), Truax had not wrestled more than 14 countable D1 matches. The difference this time, he suffered his most losses in one season within that time frame (three, including one loss by pin). Truax would end up with 34 Fpts. Starting the season off at 17 Fpts in his first three duals, it seemed David Key (NAVY) was making a bid to end his career in the Top-20 again (which he was #10 in 2021, the COVID Season). Unfortunately, in his last 10 D1 matches, Key would go on to lose seven of them and end with 25 Fpts. He would go on to AA, so there’s that at least. Vying for a starting spot, TJ Stewart (VT) wrestled only 8 regular-season matches. Two of those matches would go on to be -9 Fpts on his fantasy record, but even if he had won them, would still have fallen well short of anywhere near the Top-10. Stewart would finish with 12 Fpts, but like Key, at least he has an AA trophy. Other notables to miss the cut include Triston Willis (LR) who finished with 41 Fpts and 0.3 PPM behind #20, Clayton Whiting (MIZZ) with 40 Fpts, Nate Dugan (PRIN) at 38 Fpts, Brian Soldano (RUT) with 37 Fpts, Colton Hawks (MIZZ) with 30 Fpts, and Will Feldkamp (ISU) with 27 Fpts

Even though we’re about a month and a half away from the start of the collegiate wrestling season, there still has been plenty of recent movement on the coaching front. Additionally, there are still some teams that will need to round out their coaching staffs, so move changes will occur before November. Some of the recent addition include California Baptist completing an excellent staff with NCAA champions Mark Munoz and Nathan Tomasello. Yesterday, Hofstra announced that they’ve hired 2021 national runner-up Jesse Dellavecchia who is someone that is well-thought of as a young coaching prospect. Also on Monday, Campbell announced the hiring of former Purdue All-American Jake Patacsil. Patacsil has previously coached on the DI level at Duke and Hofstra. Friday night, Columbia revealed what was a poorly-kept secret in their hiring of 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Sebastian Rivera. Rivera worked closely with new Lions head coach Donny Pritzlaff, so that hire made a lot of sense. Offseason Coaching Movement Air Force: Elroy Perkin (California Baptist Assistant Coach) Appalachian State: Paul Bianchi (Minnesota State Assistant Coach) Appalachian State: Max Maylor (Wisconsin athlete) Army West Point: Taylor LaMont (USA Wrestling) Binghamton: Louie DePrez - Assistant Coach (Binghamton athlete) Binghamton: Sam Schuyler - Assistant Coach (Iowa State Graduate Assistant) Bloomsburg: John Stutzman - Associate Head Coach (Buffalo Head Coach) Bloomsburg: Mitch Moore - Assistant Coach (Rutgers athlete) Brown: Micky Phillippi - Assistant Coach (Brown Director of Ops) Bucknell: Dan Neff - Assistant Coach (Navy Assistant Coach) Buffalo: Donnie Vinson - Head Coach (Cornell Associate Head Coach) Buffalo: Andrew Dunn - Assistant Coach (North Carolina Director of Operations) Buffalo: Hunter Richard - Assistant Coach (Appalachian State Assistant Coach) California Baptist: Mark Munoz - Assistant Coach California Baptist: Nathan Tomasello - Assistant Coach Campbell: TJ Dudley - Assistant Coach (Brown Assistant Coach) Campbell: Jake Patacsil - Assistant Coach (Manchester University volunteer assistant) Central Michigan: Ben Bennett (Central Michigan Associate Head Coach) Columbia: Donny Pritzlaff (Rutgers Associate Head Coach) Columbia: Sebastian Rivera (RTC athlete) Cornell: Scottie Boykin (Air Force Assistant Coach) Cornell: David McFadden (Drexel Assistant Coach) Davidson: Alan Clothier - Assistant Coach (Buffalo Assistant Coach) Drexel: Jimmy Overhiser - Assistant Coach (Tarleton State Assistant Coach) Drexel: Chad Walsh - Assistant Coach (Columbia Assistant Coach) Duke: Erkin Tadzhimetov - Assistant Coach (Utah Valley Assistant Coach) Edinboro: AJ Schopp - Head Assistant Coach (Purdue Assistant Coach) Gardner-Webb: Keaton Kluever - Assistant Coach (Hofstra athlete) George Mason: Dean Heil - Head Assistant Coach Hofstra: Jamie Franco - Head Coach (Columbia Assistant Coach) Hofstra: Jesse Dellavecchia - Assistant Coach (Long Island assistant coach) Lock Haven: Gavin Hoffman - Volunteer Assistant (Ohio State athlete) Maryland: Ethan Laird - Assistant Coach (DMV RTC athlete) Navy: Barry Davis - Assistant Coach Navy: Ty Eustice - Assistant Coach (Davidson Assistant Coach) NC State: Zack Esposito - Associate Head Coach (USOPTC) North Dakota State: Matt Malcom - Assistant Coach (Bellevue East HS) North Dakota State: Scott Mattingly - Head Assistant Coach (Gardner-Webb Associate Head Coach) Northern Illinois: McGwire Midkiff - Assistant Coach Oklahoma State: David Taylor - Head Coach (NLWC Athlete) Oklahoma State: Thomas Gilman - Assistant Coach (NLWC Athlete) Oklahoma State: Jimmy Kennedy - Associate Head Coach (Penn State Assistant Coach) Penn: Darian Cruz - Assistant Coach (LVWC athlete) Penn: Matt Valenti - Associate Head Coach (Penn athletic administration) Penn: Doug Zapf - Assistant Coach (PRTC athlete) Penn State: Nick Lee - Assistant Coach (NLWC athlete) Pittsburgh: Lou Rosselli - Assistant Coach Princeton: Anthony Ashnault - Assistant Coach (NYC RTC athlete) Princeton: Cody Brewer - Head Assistant Coach (Virginia Tech Assistant Coach) Princeton: Nate Jackson (NJ RTC athlete) Rutgers: Mikey Labriola - assistant coach (LVWC athlete) SIU Edwardsville: Austin Murphy - Graduate Assistant (Campbell athlete) Stanford: Hayden Hidlay (North Dakota State Assistant Coach) Utah Valley: Adam Hall - Head Coach (NC State Associate Head Coach) Utah Valley: Andrew Hochstrasser - Assistant Coach (Utah Club Coach) Utah Valley: Joey Lavallee - Assistant Coach (LWVC RTC athlete) Utah Valley: Timmy McCall - Assistant Coach Virginia Tech: Zach Tanelli - Associate Head Coach (Columbia Head Coach) Wisconsin: Tony Cassioppi - Assistant Coach (HWC athlete) Non-Coaching Roles California Baptist: Noah Hardy - Director of Operations Maryland: Cole Matthews - Special Assistant to the Head Coach Missouri: Jarrett Jacques - Recruiting Coordinator Navy: Ben Barton - Director of Operations Nebraska: Brandon Bailey - Director of Operations (Nebraska Wesleyan head coach) North Carolina: Vincenzo Joseph - Recruiting Coordinator (SKWC Athlete) Oklahoma: Mark Hall - Director of Operations (Penn Assistant Coach) Oklahoma State: Bryan Pearsall - Recruiting Coordinator (Penn Associate Head Coach) Oregon State: Kate Gillett - Director of Operations RTC’s and Wrestling Clubs Navy WC: Peyton Walsh Nittany Lion WC: Zain Retherford (NLWC Athlete) Ohio RTC: Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC Athlete) Ohio RTC: Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State Associate Head Coach) Current Openings Central Michigan: Assistant Coach George Mason: Assistant Coach Long Island: Assistant Coach Minnesota: Assistant Coach Purdue: Assistant Coach

Iowa-Grant/Highland

The longest tenured DI head coach in the nation is now Harvard's Jay Weiss. Coach Weiss sits down with Austin Sommer to discuss all of the changes he's seen since taking over in 1995. He also gets into what to look for from the Crimson during the 2024-25 season. The two wrap-up the conversation by going through the reasoning behind the Ivy League split from the EIWA and what it means for the upcoming season.