InterMat Staff

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. Michigan - Beau Mantanona had several chances to get into the lineup last season and largely had a decent showing while Cam Amine was battling injury and illness. Beau was able to maintain his redshirt status, while still picking up a win over Tanner Cook of SDSU during his limited competition dates. He also showed he could compete in the B1G competition with a win over Northwestern’s Maxx Mayfield to place third at Midlands, where he also had a win over MSU’s Caleb Fish. Everything I’m hearing regarding his level of athleticism and ability to compete at a high level in practice is very impressive, and I expect him to introduce himself to B1G competition at large swiftly and aggressively. Michigan State - Remy Cotton was a big recruit coming into East Lansing. He redshirted last season and had a chance to get used to the pace of college wrestling and build on the raw skillset. MSU has a lot of young guys fighting for a chance to get into the lineup this season, but Remy Cotton is one who he expects to be in the lineup and is looking forward to introducing himself violently to the B1G field. I don’t know if Cotton will explode into the field, but I do expect him to roll into form by the B1G tournament, and to be developing as the year goes on. Maryland - Dario Lemus had a strong freshman season. He was also able to maintain his redshirt status, while also getting opportunities in B1G competitions and in tournaments. Lemus was 16-6 last season with six falls and three major decisions in the brief stint he had competing. From all accounts inside of Maryland, he puts in the time, energy, and effort to be an immediate contributor to the team. With Kal Miller bumping up a couple of weight classes, this opens up a perfect spot for Lemus to slide in and have an immediate impact on the deep 141 B1G competition. Ohio State - Paddy Gallagher got hurt last season, but he wrestled very well as a true freshman in a DEEP 157 weight class and had some decent wins last year as well. He competed admirably as a freshman, ultimately making the NCAA tournament, where he went 2-2. Last season he competed sporadically, but I expect the former top recruit in the country, competing in one of the more deep rooms, to show massive leaps from his last full competitive season. Before getting hurt last year, he had wins over eventual All-American Peyton Kellar of Ohio (5th at 157), as well as over Ryder Downey of UNI (lost in the Bloodround, and was a fifth seed at NCAAs). He has shown the ability to beat the best, and I trust that a season of recovery will help him hit the ground running this year. Iowa - Gabe Arnold was a secret weapon that Iowa threw out there for big duals, and he stepped up immediately. He showed up early in the season to knock off an All-American (shout out to Dexter, Michigan’s own Will Feldkamp) in the CyHawk dual. That was on the road and up a weight class!!! He’s a super freak, and like Rick James, is ready to unleash bangers all over the free world. In fact, his only loss on the season came to Dustin Plott who was an NCAA finalist at 184. To think that Gabe Arnold might have been the third-best 184 is crazy, and even crazier when you realize that 174 is his weight class. The depth in Iowa is great, and “iron sharpens iron”, which is good when you have depth. Gabe Arnold showed last season that he could step in and deliver when called upon, and I hope that he will be called upon over and over this season. Purdue - Purdue has a lot of guys who could breakout this season, but I don’t feel like it’s fair for me to be here and say “Joey Blaze is going to have a breakout year, and also Greyson Clark”. That seems too easy. While I don’t disagree that they will both jump levels, and be real threats on the national scene, I’m going with another young guy in the lineup last year. Brody Baumann wrestled 174 for the Boilermakers last season and ended with a 12-16 record. More important though was how he finished. He was the 10th seed entering the B1G tournament, and ended up placing eighth to earn an automatic qualification. He went 0-2 at NCAAs, but I still believe that the experience and confidence with qualifying can do great things for a young wrestler. I have confidence in the staff in West Lafayette to lean into that confidence and help build on the foundation from that freshman season for Brody. Look for him to be another one of the young Boilermakers to have an impact on this year. Illinois - Kannon Webster had an awesome freshman season. This is not shocking to anyone who watched an Illinois dual meet (at least early in the season). The Illini managed to keep his redshirt season safe and allowed Webster to get a taste of action, bringing him back into what should be a strong and deep lineup for Illinois this season. Want some stats? I have some. Webster went 20-1 in his redshirt season, and in his first B1G dual appearance had a win over returning AA, Dylan D’Emilio of the Buckeyes. Of his 20 wins, he also had 4 pins, 5 tech falls, and 4 major decisions. It’s nice to know that you had a true freshman that could account for bonus points in roughly two-thirds of his matches. That’s one of the many studs you’ll see in Blue and Orange this season.

Arrowhead

St. Joseph's Regional

The 2024 U20 World Championships are in the books! The American contingent posted an excellent performance across all three styles. Each style had at least three medalists, a total that hasn’t been touched in the past 20 years. Altogether, the Americans earned 16 of a possible 30 medals with nine in men’s freestyle, four in women’s freestyle, and three in Greco-Roman. Three of them were gold medals. There’s already some discussion about whether this was our best U20 men’s freestyle team ever. They took home the championship while the women’s team finished fifth and the Greco squad was seventh. We’ll try to look the 2024 U20 men’s freestyle team through a historical lens soon, but for now, look at the U20 (Junior) world medalists for the USA since 2005. 2024 Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Gold) 61 kg: Marcus Blaze (Bronze) 65 kg: Bo Bassett (Bronze) 70 kg: PJ Duke (Bronze) 74 kg: Ladarion Lockett (Silver) 79 kg: Zach Ryder (Silver) 86 kg: Josh Barr (Silver) 97 kg: Justin Rademacher (Bronze) 125 kg: Ben Kueter (Silver) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg: Cristelle Rodriguez (Gold) 59 kg: Alexis Janiak (Silver) 72 kg: Jasmine Robinson (Gold) 76 kg: Naomi Simon (Bronze) Greco-Roman 55 kg: Isaiah Cortez (Silver) 63 kg: Otto Black (Silver) 130 kg: Aden Attao (Bronze) 2023 Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Luke Lilledahl (Silver) 61 kg: Nic Bouzakis (Bronze) 65 kg: Jesse Mendez (Silver) 70 kg: Meyer Shapiro (Gold) 74 kg: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Gold) 79 kg: Matthew Singleton (Bronze) 86 kg: Bennett Berge (Bronze) 97 kg: Camden McDanel (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Silver) 55 kg: Amani Jones (Bronze) 59 kg: Alexis Janiak (Bronze) 72 kg: Amit Elor (Gold) 76 kg: Kennedy Blades (Bronze) 2022 Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Jore Volk (Gold) 70 kg: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Silver) 86 kg: Bennett Berge (Silver) 97 kg: Ben Kueter (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Audrey Jimenez (Silver) 53 kg: Katie Gomez (Bronze) 57 kg: Sofia Macaluso (Silver) 62 kg: Adaugo Nwachukwu (Bronze) 72 kg: Amit Elor (Gold) 76 kg: Tristan Kelly (Bronze) Greco-Roman 130 kg: Aden Attao (Bronze) 2021 Men’s Freestyle 65 kg: Beau Bartlett (Bronze) 70 kg: Bryce Andonian (Bronze) 74 kg: Keegan O’Toole (Gold) 92 kg: Rocky Elam (Gold) 97 kg: Braxton Amos (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 50 kg: Emily Shilson (Gold) 62 kg: Korina Blades (Bronze) 68 kg: Amit Elor (Gold) 72 kg: Kennedy Blades (Gold) 76 kg: Kylie Welker (Gold) Greco-Roman 97 kg: Braxton Amos (Bronze) 2019 Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Vito Arujau (Silver) 61 kg: Gabe Tagg (Bronze) 74 kg: David Carr (Gold) 86 kg: Trent Hidlay (Bronze) 92 kg: Lucas Davison (Silver) 125 kg: Mason Parris (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 65 kg: Macey Kilty (Silver) Greco-Roman 63 kg: Alston Nutter (Bronze) 67 kg: Peyton Omania (Bronze) 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Silver) 2018 Men’s Freestyle 57 kg: Daton Fix (Bronze) 70 kg: Brady Berge (Bronze) 74 kg: Mekhi Lewis (Gold) 79 kg: Aaron Brooks (Silver) 97 kg: Zach Elam (Silver) Women’s Freestyle 68 kg: Macey Kilty (Silver) Greco-Roman 82 kg: Andrew Berreyesa (Silver) 130 kg: Cohlton Schultz (Bronze) 2017 Men’s Freestyle 55 kg: Daton Fix (Gold) 60 kg: Mitchell McKee (Silver) 66 kg: Ryan Deakin (Silver) 74 kg: Mark Hall (Gold) 84 kg: Zahid Valencia (Silver) 96 kg: Kollin Moore (Bronze) 120 kg: Gable Steveson (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Asia Ray (Bronze) 63 kg: Maya Nelson (Gold) Greco-Roman 50 kg: Cevion Severado (Silver) 74 kg: Kamal Bey (Gold) 2016 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg: Spencer Lee (Gold) 55 kg: Daton Fix (Bronze) 74 kg: Mark Hall (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 59 kg: Kayla Miracle (Bronze) 63 kg: Maya Nelson (Bronze) 67 kg: Alexis Porter (Bronze) Greco-Roman 60 kg: Taylor LaMont (Bronze) 96 kg: G’Angelo Hancock (Bronze) 2015 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg: Spencer Lee (Gold) 55 kg: Stevan Micic (Bronze) 66 kg: Aaron Pico (Bronze) 120 kg: Nathan Butler (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 55 kg: Becka Leathers (Bronze) 2014 Men’s Freestyle 55 kg: Thomas Gilman (Bronze) 60 kg: Joey McKenna (Silver) 66 kg: Aaron Pico (Silver) 84 kg: Gabe Dean (Bronze) 96 kg: Kyle Snyder (Bronze) 120 kg: Adam Coon (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Marina Doi (Bronze) 59 kg: Kayla Miracle (Bronze) 72 kg: Victoria Francis (Bronze) Greco-Roman 120 kg: Adam Coon (Bronze) 2013 Men’s Freestyle 74 kg: Alex Dieringer (Silver) 96 kg: Kyle Snyder (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Erin Golston (Silver) 63 kg: Jennifer Page (Bronze) Greco-Roman 120 kg: Sam Stoll (Bronze) 2012 Men’s Freestyle 84 kg: Patrick Downey (Silver) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Erin Golston (Bronze) 63 kg: Alli Ragan (Bronze) Greco-Roman 60 kg: Jesse Thielke (Bronze) 2011 Men’s Freestyle 60 kg: Logan Stieber (Silver) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Erin Golston (Bronze) 55 kg: Helen Maroulis (Silver) 63 kg: Alli Ragan (Bronze) 67 kg: Adeline Gray (Silver) Greco-Roman 66 kg: Ellis Coleman (Bronze) 120 kg: Toby Erickson (Bronze) 2010 Men’s Freestyle 84 kg: Chris Perry (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 48 kg: Victoria Anthony (Gold) 51 kg: Amy Whitbeck (Bronze) 55 kg: Helen Maroulis (Bronze) Greco-Roman 66 kg: Ellis Coleman (Bronze) 2009 Men’s Freestyle 60 kg: Jordan Oliver (Bronze) 74 kg: Andrew Howe (Bronze) 120 kg: Dom Bradley (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 44 kg: Victoria Anthony (Gold) 63 kg: Veronica Carlson (Silver) 2008 Men’s Freestyle 74 kg: Quentin Wright (Bronze) 84 kg: Mike Letts (Bronze) 96 kg: Clayton Foster (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 48 kg: Alyssa Lampe (Bronze) 51 kg: Helen Maroulis (Bronze) 59 kg: Tatiana Padilla (Bronze) 67 kg: Adeline Gray (Gold) 2007 Men’s Freestyle 66 kg: Bubba Jenkins (Gold) Women’s Freestyle 48 kg: Alyssa Lampe (Bronze) 51 kg: Whitney Conder (Gold) 59 kg: Tatiana Padilla (Silver) 2006 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg: Patrick McCaffrey (Bronze) 55 kg: Henry Cejudo (Silver) Women’s Freestyle 48 kg: Nicole Woody (Gold) 51 kg: Jessica Medina (Bronze) 55 kg: Danyelle Hedin (Bronze) 72 kg: Ali Bernard (Bronze) Greco-Roman 55 kg: Spenser Mango (Bronze) 2005 Men’s Freestyle 50 kg: Patrick McCaffrey (Bronze) 120 kg: Bode Ogunwole (Bronze) Women’s Freestyle 48 kg: Sara Fulp-Allen (Silver) 55 kg: Danyelle Hedin (Silver) 67 kg: Heather Martin (Silver)

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 19. One school was removed from this week's graphic: NC State 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, Stanford, Virginia Tech. These three schools were removed from last week's 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 This week, Bassett added a new wrinkle to his recruiting graphic. He also mentioned upcoming dates for home visits and his first campus visit. Here are the home visit dates: Sept 11th: Missouri Sept 12th: Ohio State Sept 13 Iowa and Virginia Tech Sept 14th Cornell Sept 15th Iowa St Sept 16th Arizona St Sept 17th Princeton 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.

This week we could see the end of a long and storied history as Jordan Burroughs is set to compete in Omaha, NE at the Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials. We give a weight-by-weight men's freestyle preview and make our picks. We also discuss Carter Starocci vs AJ Ferrari and their trash talk battle, and Mason Parris doing a workout for the Cincinnati Bengals.

After a solid debut season for Roger Kish last season, the Sooners are looking to build off a mix of transfer portal wrestlers and long-time Sooners. Their projected lineup features potentially five seniors, giving them plenty of veterans as well. Last season, they finished 23rd with five qualifiers, finishing with one All-American in Stephen Buchanan. Since then, Buchanan has transferred to Iowa, but the Sooners stayed busy in the portal and brought in Cleveland Belton, Carter Schubert, Gaven Sax, and Bradley Hill to challenge for starting spots themselves. They have a balanced lineup with ten qualifiers as a possibility, and will be looking to continue their ascent with Coach Kish at the helm. 125lbs: Antonio Lorenzo (Senior) One of seven projected transfers in the starting lineup, Lorenzo came to the Sooners last offseason after being a two-time qualifier for Cal Poly. He didn’t compete last season, while Conrad Hendriksen battled in a chaotic 125lb weight class, but is expected to be in the lineup this year. The last time we saw him he qualified in 2023 with an 8-10 record, but with wins over wrestlers like Eli Griffin, Noah Surtin, and Nico Provo. If Lorenzo can qualify for a third time this season, that gives the Sooners an improvement from last season at this weight. 133lbs: Cleveland Belton (Senior) Another transfer, Belton comes to Norman from Oregon State, where he made the bloodround at 141 last season. Word is that he is making the descent down to 133, a weight we haven’t seen him at in college. He had an impressive season last year with an 18-9 record and wins over Mitch Moore and Tagen Jamison. He’s a bit of a wildcard at this weight class but provides more veteran presence and has plenty of upside. 141lbs: Mosha Schwartz (Senior) Heading into last season Schwartz was someone I was high on to compete for a podium spot. Unfortunately, in only his fifth match of the year, he suffered a significant injury against Jordan Titus in a dual and ended up taking a medical. Now heading into his sixth year of college, Schwartz returns as a contender in a deep weight class. The only qualifier he wrestled in his short season was Josh Edmond, who he beat in overtime. If Schwartz can return at the same level he appeared to be at, look out for him to establish himself as one to watch and make the podium. 149lbs: John Wiley (Soph.)/Willie McDougald (Junior) This weight class jumps out as a likely lineup battle that could change multiple weight classes. Wiley was a blue-chip recruit out of high school and had a big win over Paniro Johnson in 2023, but struggled at 157 last season. It sounds like he is planning on heading back to 149 and challenging two-time qualifier McDougald, who unexpectedly broke out in 2022 and made the Round of 16 at NCAA’s and the Big 12 finals. McDougald is tough defensively and seems to be able to keep himself in most matches, but struggled with consistency last season. He had wins over Jordan Williams and Ethen Miller, but some tight matches that got away from him as well. Whoever wins this spot is certainly favored to be a qualifier, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of these wrestlers make the move to challenge a young 157 wrestler either. 157lbs: Carter Schubert (RS Fresh.) Coming out of high school Schubert was a top 200 wrestler on the Big Board and spent his 2024 season redshirting at California Baptist. There he went 3-1 with unranked but quality wins over starters for Northern Colorado and Wyoming. With Picklo making the descent to 165, it looks like Schubert will make a move to 157 with the transfer of Jared Hill this offseason. There are solid true freshmen coming in with Jude Randall and Landyn Sommer, but both are expected to redshirt. If Schubert can qualify as a freshman, then the Sooners could be looking at 10 qualifiers, their most since nine in 2022. As stated earlier, I wouldn’t be surprised at the potential of either Wiley or McDougald making a move up if they aren’t the starter at 149 either. 165lbs: Tate Picklo (Junior) Coming out of high school Picklo was the top 195lb wrestler in his class and expected to be an impact upperweight for years to come. After one match as a redshirt in 2022 Picklo has had mixed results as a starter the past two seasons. He qualified in 2023 with a 21-10 record after starting the season bouncing between 174/184. Last season he came up just short of qualifying, finishing eighth at Big 12’s and going 14-14 on the year with some solid wins mixed in with head-scratching losses. With the addition of Gaven Sax, it’s looking like Picklo is making another descent down and trying his hand at 165. Picklo has a unique, exciting style with his judo background and could be an impact wrestler at this weight. 174lbs: Gaven Sax (Senior) After a breakout season last year with NDSU, Sax reunited with his former coaching staff at their new school. Sax began his career at 149 before making a jump to 174 as a sophomore, where he had a 0.500 record. His junior year changed all that, as Sax went 20-7 en route to a Big 12 finals appearance and a bloodround finish in his first NCAA tournament. He actually met up with new teammate Tate Picklo twice last season, going 1-2 against him but winning their last match by fall. In a stacked weight class in the Big 12, Sax will be a key piece for his new team in his final season. 184lbs: DJ Parker (Junior) Another former qualifier for NDSU in 2023, Parker came with Roger Kish and spent last season in redshirt. In 2023 he was a runner-up at the Southern Scuffle and showed plenty of potential to build off with close losses to wrestlers like Colton Hawks, Trey Munoz, and Travis Wittlake. He is excellent on top, and after another season of growth could be another sleeper pick for the Sooners. 197lbs: Bradley Hill (Soph.) While losing the top returning placer at this weight is tough, Coach Kish and company took advantage of the situation and found a transfer themselves in Bradley Hill. Last season, he qualified for NCAA’s with a 17-8 record at heavyweight for Iowa. His hit list included Owen Trephan, Nash Hutmacher, and a solid fifth place Big Ten finish. If he can make 197 for the Sooners, he could be a sleeper breakout pick amongst a bevy of young talent in the Big 12. 285lbs: Josh Heindselman (Senior) A stalwart for the Sooners, Heindselman is entering his final season and coming off his best year yet. A four-time qualifier, he built on a round of 16 finish in 2023 to a bloodround stop in 2024. A 24-8 record included wins over Konner Doucet, Grady Griess, and Dorian Crosby. A closer look also shows razor-close losses, including an overtime bloodround loss to Nick Feldman. While he isn’t known for barnburners, Heindselman has shown more the last two seasons with an improved bonus rate. If he can keep up his current progression rate, Heindselman has a great shot at being the Sooners first heavyweight All-American since Jake Hager in 2006.

Fairfax

Baldwin

Liberty

South Carroll

Washingtonville

Woodbury

Becker

Pictured above is Michael Mocco Now that we’re squarely in the collegiate preseason and the fall weather is ready to set in (at least in parts of the country) another rite of passage is upon us. Football season? Yes, and it’s semi-relevant here, as many fall recruiting weekends are built around football Saturdays, especially, at your Power Five (now four) schools. Sure, there are plenty of recruiting visits in the spring and summer, but we saw almost all of the top recruits from the Class of 2025 commit to schools by the end of the calendar year in 2023, so the Class of 2026 recruits have begun to visit campus and probably will start to commit soon. One of the things that makes following recruiting fun is the cloak-and-dagger secrecy surrounding parts of the process. For every Bo Bassett who routinely keeps the public informed on recruiting decisions, there are plenty of others who don’t discuss it as much. Therefore, it can be difficult to follow which recruit is interested in which school and vice versa. I suppose it’s fun, but you’re left wanting more! In order to try and help our fanbase feel more knowledgeable about the process, we’ll have a weekly column that recaps the recruiting weekend. Who has visited where? Maybe some background information on the recruits or the process from the school. If we've missed a recruit or you'd like to provide info on future visits play let me know: earl@matscouts.com Air Force Will Detar: Trinity, PA - #96 Class of 2026 The Air Force Academy has had top-25 recruiting classes in each of the last two years and continues to target top-notch recruits. Pennsylvania state finalist and two-time Fargo champion Will Detar certainly fits that criteria. Detar has also recently taken visits to Cornell and Virginia in each of the previous two weekends. Brown Jackson Angelo: Frazier, PA - Class of 2026 Kase Chopp: Butler, PA - Class of 2025 Tyler Conroy: Malvern Prep, PA - Class of 2026 Lukas Littleton Mascaro: Malvern Prep, PA - #43 Class of 2026 Owen McMullen: Faith Christian Academy, PA - Class of 2026 Titus Norman: Baylor School, TN - Class of 2026 Dylan Reel: Woodward Academy, GA - Class of 2026 Santino Sloboda: Butler, PA - Class of 2026 Gabe Swann: Carroll Central, GA - Class of 2026 Joe Uhorchuk: Signal Mountain, TN - #49 Class of 2026 Cael Weidemoyer: Faith Christian Academy, PA - #25 Class of 2026 Wow! What a massive group in Providence over the weekend. It actually makes back-to-back weekends with a large number of recruits on campus at Brown. Last week included #50 James Bechter, Nate Consigli, Kole Davidheiser, Joey Joyce, Ryan Kennedy, Nevin Mattessich, Ryan Meier, David Perez, Alexander Pierce, and Julian Rios. There’s too much here to get into specifics on each recruit; however, I like the patterns you can notice with this week’s crop. Very heavy Pennsylvania influence. That makes sense with Jordan Leen spending time at Pitt, along with Micky Phillippi and Michael Kemerer on staff. Leen is from Tennessee and there’s a little Southern flavor in this group too. Also, there are plenty of private/boarding schools included which tend to make sense for an Ivy League institution like Brown. All geography and academics aside, you also have a list of guys who really get after it on the mat. With three top-50 recruits, this Brown staff is swinging for the fences. Clarion Luke Fugazatto: Northwestern Lehigh, PA - #83 Class of 2026 Dom Sumpolec: Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA - #121 Class of 2026 We love to see Clarion in the mix with a pair of Big Boarder’s from the Class of 2026. Both are state placewinners from the AA classification. Being a small school, Clarion tends to fit for those wrestlers. Getting a talented recruit from a consistent program like Notre Dame-Green Pond is great to hit up again and again in the future. Cornell Waylon Cressell: Warren Central, IN - #68 Class of 2026 Joseph Jeter: Edmond North, OK - #22 Class of 2026 Nevin Mattessich: Don Bosco Prep, NJ - #53 Class of 2026 Tommy Verrette: Pomona, CO - #32 Class of 2026 Cornell has an absolutely loaded Class of 2025 - perhaps the best in the nation. There probably aren’t many spots left in that group, so they’re looking at some top prospects from 2026. This weekend they had four of the top-68 wrestlers in the country in the room. Each of these four have excellent national-level credentials and are the caliber you’d expect from Cornell. Joseph Jeter recently competed at the U17 World Championships in Greco and Tommy Verrette has nearly made a pair of U17 teams, also in Greco. Cressell recently placed in both styles at the Junior level in Fargo. Mattessich was fifth at a deep New Jersey state weight class as a sophomore. Cressell and Mattessich have both been busy on campus visit circuit. Cressell was at Wyoming two weeks ago and Oklahoma last weekend. Mattessich was a part of a massive recruiting push at Brown last weekend. George Mason Evan Sanati: Brentsville, VA - Class of 2026 Virginia’s high school class of 2025 and 2026 is better than typically the state usually produces and George Mason could be one of the schools that reap the benefits. The Patriots already have a homegrown Big Boarder committed from 2025. This weekend they had a visit from a very solid local product in Evan Sanati. Sanati is a three-time Fargo All-American and two-time Beast of the East sixth-place finisher. Indiana Reagan Milheim: Warrior Run, PA - #34 Class of 2026 Sullivan Ramos: Indian Trail, WI - Class of 2025 Parker Reynolds: Brownsburg, IN - Class of 2026 Jarrett Smith: Lowell, MI - #91 Class of 2026 Brennan Warwick: Massillon Perry, OH - Class of 2026 The Hoosiers inked a top-15 class in 2024 and look to be off on a good start for 2025, now they have their attention on some key 2026 recruits. The 2024 class showed that Indiana can go into Pennsylvania and pull Big Boarders. They had another one on campus this weekend with 2024 state champion and two-time finalist Reagan Milheim. Milheim has a brother at American and another committed to the Eagles, so you’d have to figure they’re in play too. The other Big Boarder is Jarrett Smith who has placed in the top-three at Fargo on four occasions (three in freestyle). Indiana has done well recruiting in Michigan, so it’s not a surprise to see Smith on their radar. A couple of under-the-radar prospects round out the group. Sullivan Ramos was a Greco All-American this spring at the UWW U17 Trials, Parker Reynolds was an NHSCA Sophomore All-American, and Brennan Warwick was a Fargo placer. Maryland Dom Deputy: Chestnut Ridge, PA - #58 Class of 2026 Ryder Smith: Chattanooga Christian, TN - #61 Class of 2026 Nate Rioux: Avon, IN - Class of 2026 A weekend with a pair of top-100 recruits bodes well for a Maryland program that has been very active on the recruiting front this fall. The highest ranked of the bunch is two-time Pennsylvania runner-up Dom Deputy. Deputy has placed at most of the major national tournaments and was a Junior freestyle AA this summer. Ryder Smith shined a the NHSCA grade-level tournaments, but really broke out with a 16U freestyle finals appearance in Fargo. Nathan Rioux is also a two-time state finalist who already has five Fargo medals on the resume. He’d provide a boost to the lower weights. Deputy has been logging the miles over the last month. He visited Cornell the weekend of August 17th, then NC State, and West Virginia. Unrelated to these three, over the weekend, Maryland got a verbal commitment from their first 2026 recruit Jojo Gigliotti (South Carroll, MD). Gigliotti is a two-time state champion and one of the better juniors in the state. Michigan Blake Cosby: Dundee, MI - #19 Class of 2026 Jayden James: Delbarton, NJ - #11 Class of 2026 Adam Waters: Faith Christian Academy, PA - #17 Class of 2026 Rocklin Zinkin: Buchanan, CA - #44 Class of 2026 Although their football game didn’t turn out as hoped, the Michigan wrestling team had a talented group on hand at the Big House. Three of the top-20 prospects in the nation from the Class of 2026! Plus, Rocklin Zinkin, a California champion and two-time finalist. This is the first known visit for Blake Cosby, the highest-ranked in-state wrestler from the Class of 2026. Cosby saw his stock significantly rise after winning his first state title in 2024. Two-time Fargo 16U freestyle champion Jayden James is simply one of the best prospects in the entire class. He comes from a power program that constantly churns out top recruits. Last weekend, James took a visit to Virginia Tech. With two years of high school remaining, Adam Waters is already a six-time Fargo All-American, two-time Pennsylvania champion, and a U17 World Team member in Greco. Waters is from a Faith Christian program that has a ton of talent in the next few classes. This fall, Waters has already visited Missouri along with high school teammate Cael Weidemoyer. Nebraska Dean Bechtold: Owen J. Roberts, PA - #20 Class of 2026 Noah Bull: Layton, UT - #99 Class of 2026 Keanu Dillard: Bethlehem Catholic, PA - #16 Class of 2026 Riley Johnson: Skutt Catholic, NE - #87 Class of 2026 Nebraska also had a marquee football game as the centerpiece of their recruiting weekend. A quartet of top-100 recruits were able to watch the Cornhuskers shut down the Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes. The Cornhuskers occasionally go back to associate head coach Bryan Snyder’s Pennsylvania District XI roots for recruiting purposes and they’ve done so here with Keanu Dillard. The two-time state champion was also a member of the U17 freestyle world team this year. Also from Pennsylvania is state finalist Dean Bechtold, a U17 Trials finalist and double Fargo Junior All-American. Also sticking to their typical gameplan, Nebraska is in the mix an in-state Big Boarder in Riley Johnson and they’ve touched base with a top prospect from Utah, Noah Bull. Bull was one of the biggest breakout stars from Fargo winning the 16U freestyle tournament and taking third in Greco. Dillard came to Nebraska after visiting the University of Virginia last weekend. Bechtold was also in ACC country last weekend, but down at NC State. He’s the younger brother of Bucknell’s stud incoming freshman Dillon Bechtold. You’d have to assume Bucknell will be a player for him, as well. Riley Johnson was at Oklahoma State last weekend. North Dakota State Tyler Harrill: Skutt Catholic, NE - Class of 2026 North Dakota State has been extremely busy on the recruiting trail as they had to make up ground after the coaching transition in the summer of 2023. Obe Blanc’s staff inked a huge class in 2024 and I’d expect the same in 2025. Right now, we’re focused on 2026 and two-time Nebraska state champion Tyler Herrill. This is the first known visit we’ve logged for Herrill. Ohio State Michael Mocco: Cardinal Gibbons, FL - #6 Class of 2026 Dom Munaretto: St. Charles East, IL - #7 Class of 2026 Dreshaun Ross: Fort Dodge, IA - #3 Class of 2026 Whoa! What a trio of recruits in Columbus over the weekend! Three of the top seven juniors in the nation. Dom Munaretto and Michael Mocco were recently teammates on the U17 World Team and each came home from Jordan with a gold medal. For Munaretto, it was his second. Dreshaun Ross was supposed to join the pair; however, he had to withdraw from the team due to an injury. Ohio State already has a young, talented core with a couple of the top recruits in 2025 already committed. Another couple of that caliber from 2026 could put the Buckeyes back in the hunt for a national title on a consistent basis. There’s probably not a way to get both Mocco and Ross in the lineup. Both are expected to wrestle heavyweight at the next level. Ross was set to wrestle 92 kg (202.8 lbs) at the World Championships, but maybe there’s a world where he goes 197 in college. Ross visited Iowa State last weekend. This is the first visit we’ve seen for both Mocco and Munaretto. Oklahoma State Kody Routledge: Edmond North, OK - #16 Class of 2025 About a month before Fargo, Kody Routledge announced he was flipping his commitment from Nebraska to Oklahoma State. He’s one of a handful of recruits who have made that decision since David Taylor was hired. After that news, Routledge proceeded to take third in Junior freestyle in Fargo. Since Routledge has already committed to Fargo and the proximity from Edmond to Stillwater, his showing up on campus isn’t groundbreaking news - but he was there. Virginia Joey Favia: Marmion Academy, IL - Class of 2026 Nicholas Garcia: Marmion Academy, IL - #24 Class of 2026 Cooper Merli: Newburgh Free Academy, NY - Class of 2026 Alexander Pierce: Iowa City West, IA - Class of 2026 Zach Stewart: Marmion Academy, IL - #79 Class of 2026 There’s an extremely talented group of juniors at Illinois’ Marmion Academy and they happened to be at Virginia this weekend. The highest-ranked of the bunch is Nicholas Garcia (who beat Munaretto in the state finals). Garcia is also a freestyle All-American in Fargo at both age groups. Teammate Zach Stewart was a state champion in 2024, while Joey Favia was a runner-up. Since the Paulson twins have been in Charlottesville, Virginia has had a good recruiting footprint in Iowa/Nebraska. That makes sense with the visit from Alexander Pierce. Pierce is a two-time Iowa state finalist - who won as a freshman. In Fargo this summer, Pierce won the 16U Greco tournament and was third in freestyle. Finally, we have Cooper Merli who is from head coach Steve Garland’s stomping grounds in New York. Merli is a potential career 125 lber, who has a pair of New York state titles at the larger classification. Merli has already taken trips to Buffalo and Army West Point, in each of the last two weeks. Pierce is obviously looking at elite academic institutes as he was at Brown last weekend. VMI Blake Jacobson: Clarke County, VA - Class of 2025 Three-time Virginia 2A third-place finisher Blake Jacobson took a trip down south over the weekend to visit VMI. Of late, VMI has honed in on some of the better overlooked wrestlers in their own backyard. Jacobson could be another one for Jim Gibson’s team. West Virginia Mason Jakob: Dobyns-Bennett, TN - #119 Class of 2026 Griffin LaPlante: St. Francis, NY - #27 Class of 2026 Curtis Nelson: Ridley, PA - #145 Class of 2025 Liston Seibert: Brecksville, OH - Class of 2026 It was back-to-back big recruiting weekends for West Virginia. Last weekend, WVU had three top-100 recruits from the Class of 2026 (Deputy, #28 Kross Cassidy, #74 Gage Wentzel) and this week they had two Big Boarders from 2026 and one from 2025. Griffin LaPlante is the highest-ranked of the bunch and an NHSCA Sophomore national champion. Mason Jakob has made the NHSCA finals in both of his first two years of high school and has made the podium at the Beast twice. We’ve already seen West Virginia venture into Tennessee with a verbal from the Class of 2025’s #119 Casen Roark. Curtis Nelson is a senior who may still be overlooked despite making the Pennsylvania AAA state finals in 2024. Fellow lightweight, Liston Seibert, was an Ohio DI state third-place finisher in 2024. Jakob was at George Mason last weekend. LaPlante was in his home state last weekend visiting Army West Point. His older brother, Gage, was a Class of 2024 graduate who is at Army’s prep school. Seibert was also in his home state last weekend, as he was at Ohio State. West Virginia also just received a verbal from one of the wrestlers who visited last week, Ramil Islamov (Baldwin, PA). Islamov was fourth in the AAA state tournament last year at 133 lbs. Wisconsin Collin McDowell: Arrowhead, WI: Class of 2025 Haakon Peterson: Dodgeville, WI - #35 Class of 2026 Kellen Wolbert: Oconomowoc, WI - #18 Class of 2026 It was a big weekend for the Badgers. Wrestling at the high school level in Wisconsin is at an all-time high. The Badgers need to be able to capitalize on this rise. That’s obviously on the mind of Wisconsin head coach Chris Bono as his team hosted two of the state’s best juniors in Kellen Wolbert and Haakon Peterson. Wolbert was a runner-up in UWW U17 freestyle trials this year and has won Fargo 16U freestyle. Peterson already has four stop signs from Fargo and five total placements. He also has three at UWW’s. Collin McDowell is a senior who has placed third, fourth, and fifth at the Wisconsin state tournament. He hails from Arrowhead High School, home to Keegan O’Toole and the Askren brothers. This is the first visit for Wolbert and McDowell. Peterson already visited NC State two weeks ago. Wyoming Joel Friederichs: Watertown, MN - Class of 2026 Titan Friederichs: Watertown, MN - #52 Class of 2026 John Murphy: St. Michael-Albertville, MN - Class of 2025 Jarrett Wadsen: St. Michael-Albertville, MN - Class of 2025 Wyoming has been very successful recruiting Minnesota over the past few recruiting cycles, so why stop? This weekend they had a pair of high school teammates in. True to Wyoming’s track record of grit and development, only one is currently ranked. The Friederichs twins from the Class of 2026 are both well accomplished in the international styles, particularly Greco. Both placed at UWW’s in Greco and Titan did so in freestyle, as well. St. Michael-Albertville teammates John Murphy and Jarrett Wadsen have both earned All-American honors in Fargo. Murphy last year at the 16U level in freestyle, Wadsen this summer in Junior Greco. Murphy was a state champion last season, while Wadsen was fourth. Both Friederichs and Murphy were all in Oklahoma last weekend. This is the first known visit for Wadsen. We also understand that there was a large continent at Binghamton over the weekend. At this time, we’re still trying to identify those recruits and will bring them to you next week.

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 174 Top-20 Notes: The first of three weight classes that doesn't have a Big Ten wrestler in the Top-5 and only two in the Top-10 in Fpts. Little Rock’s Tyler Brennan put together a career year with a best in wins (19), losses (three), and a bonus rate of almost 50%, almost doubling his wins and bonus rate from any previous season. Helping power his way to the top spot was his ten pins and one FFT dual win and surprisingly did not have a win by major or tech in 2024. Pins and decisions only. Unfortunately for Brennan, he’s the only #1 Fantasy Wrestler of a weight to not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Phil Conigliaro started the 2024 season with Midlands, which is where he had his only regular season loss (loss by major to Edmund Ruth). He comes in at the #2 spot, only five points out of first which is either two matches or a win over Ruth at Midlands. Only one point behind Conigliaro, but wrestling 12 more matches was Noah Fox of Franklin & Marshall. In wrestling his 31 countable D1 matches during the regular season, he lost seven times for a total of -24 Fpts. Despite this, he ends up at #3 on the 174 Top-20, but fell short of the NCAA tournament. The highest ranked AA to make the list was Cade DeVos at #5, which turns out to be the lowest rank for an All-American across all ten Top-20 lists. DeVos fell four points behind Penn’s Nick Incontrera. Edmond Ruth slots right in behind DeVos at the #6 spot. While having only one less match than DeVos, the difference seems to be in the type of win that explains the seven-point difference. DeVos had five countable techs in the 2024 regular season, compared to Ruth’s one. In the past four seasons, Ben Pasuik has worked his way up the Fantasy Rankings. IN 2021, the COVID season, he was #16 with a whopping 19 Fpts, then in 2022 improved to #13 at 174 with 47 Fpts. He broke into the Top-10 at #9 with 61 Fpts in 2023, and finally ended his career in 2024 at #7 with 57 Fpts. Your 174 NCAA Champ only wrestled in 11 regular season matches, but comes in at #8 with an amazing PPM of 5.0., and the only reason it wasnt higher is because of his win by decision against Rocco Welsh and being “held” to a major by Patrick Kennedy. Tying with 52 Fpts was Mekhi Lewis and Rocco Welsh, though Lewis had the better PPM (4 compared to Welsh’s 2.5) to take the #11 spot. Despite being injured and not finishing the season, Carson Kharchla put in just enough in his 16 matches to finish at #16, beating out Justin McCoy and Alex Cramer with a better PPM. Rounding out the Top-20 is Buffalo’s only wrestler to make a Top-20 in the 2024 season, Marcus Petite. Who Missed The Cut: Two All-Americans missed the Top-20 at 174 in Shane Griffith (MICH) and Lennox Wolak (COL). Griffith had a shortened season, only wrestling in 14 regular season matches, and fell under the #20 rank for the first time in four years with 40 Fpts. Wolak also had a shortened season, wrestling only 15 countable matches and amassing 30 Fpts. Caleb Campos (AMER) was the first man out, being only one Fpt shy of taking the #20 spot. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) finishes at the #29 spot with 36 Fpts, beating out Jackson Turley (RUT) by one Fpt. Turley tied Jared Simma (UNI) in Fpts as well, but got the #30 spot with a better PPM (2.3 for Turley compared to Simma’s 1.7). Other notables to miss the cut include Max Maylor (WISC) with 35 Fpts, Peyton Mocco (MIZZ) and Adam Kemp (CP) each with 34 Fpts, and Tyler Eischens (UNC) with 13 Fpts.

Action from the U20 World Championships wrapped up Sunday from Pontevedra, Spain. Although the US men’s freestyle team day didn’t necessarily end well, the team outdistanced Iran for the team championship. The final five team members were in action and all wrestled in medal matches. Only one of them, Marcus Blaze, was victorious on the day. In the opening period of his 61 kg bronze medal match with Turkiye’s Tolga Ozbek, with the American on the shot clock, Blaze used a low single to lock up a take and seize an early 2-0 lead. He’d add to the lead in the second after Ozbek couldn’t score while on the shot clock. With time running out, Ozbek tried for a huge headlock and was unsuccessful resulting in another takedown for Blaze and a 5-0 win. Blaze now has a pair of age-group world medals. He was a U17 world champion last year. A trio of Americans competed in gold medal matches, but were ultimately beaten on Sunday with Ladarion Lockett, Josh Barr (86 kg), and Ben Kueter (125 kg). Lockett was leading the returning U20 world silver medalist, Ali Rezaei (Iran) 3-1, and took an errant shot, which Rezaei immediately countered for the go-ahead takedown. In the final minute of the contest, Lockett wasn’t able to lock up a winning score and would settle for silver. In his first world-level appearance, Barr fell to the returning U20 world champion Ibragim Kadiev (Russia), 8-2. Also facing a 2023 U20 champion was Kueter against Amirreza Valadi (Iran). In a battle between the last two U20 world champions at the weight, Valadi came out on top, 4-2. Valadi led 2-0 after the first period on the strength of a shot clock violation and a step-out point. In the second period, Valadi used a staple of the Iranian repertoire the underhook, which he violently threw by for a takedown. Late in the match, Kueter was able to catch Valadi off balance with a low-leg attack and converted it for two points. Kueter wasn’t able to get another and fell, 4-2. Also on Sunday, Connor Mirasola was the victim of a second-period barrage from Anar Jafarli (Azerbaijan) as he lost 6-2 in a bronze medal bout at 92 kg. When it was all said and done, the U20 men’s freestyle team hauled in nine medals (one gold, four silver, and four bronze). Second place Iran only had seven. In 2023, the team had eight medals.

The fun in men’s freestyle at the U20 World Championships continued on Saturday as the final five members of the team took the mat for the first time. Like the first five, they were perfect through the quarterfinals - this time going 13-0 and putting all five in the semis. Of course, that is too much of a start to continue through the semifinals, but the US team did manage to put three more wrestlers in Sunday’s gold medal matches (Ladarion Lockett - 74 kg, Josh Barr - 86 kg, and Ben Kueter - 125 kg). Those three combined with Friday’s results mean that half of the men’s freestyle team earned a berth in the U20 world finals. One of those wrestlers who earned a berth in the finals on Friday was Luke Lilledahl at 57 kg. The incoming freshman at Penn State locked up an age-group medal for the fourth consecutive year. Lilledahl followed the pattern from his U17 days, making the finals one year and winning the next. Lilledahl made the 2023 U20 finals and claimed the gold this time. Lilledahl’s gold medal came against a relatively familiar opponent, Russia’s Lev Pavlov. The two met in the Round of 32 at last year’s tournament and Lilledahl prevailed, 9-2. In this edition between the two, Lilledahl got on the board with a point from a shot clock violation on Pavlov. That accounted for the only scoring in the opening stanza. The match continued to be tactical in the second period as the roles were reversed and Pavlov earned a point from a shot clock violation on Lilledahl. Shortly thereafter, with criteria in his back pocket at the time, Pavlov was put on the shot clock for a second time. Lilledahl prevented him from scoring in the :30 seconds that followed resulting in a point for Lilledahl. The shot clock violations accounted for the only scoring in the contest. Lilledahl was able to keep Pavlov at bay during a final push in the closing moments of the bout. Lilledahl’s win marks the second time in three years that the American squad has produced a U20 world champion at 57 kg, as Jore Volk won gold in 2022. The other wrestler in the finals on Saturday was Lilledahl’s Penn State classmate Zach Ryder. Ryder could never solve the defensive riddle that was Turkmenistan’s Alp Begenjov. Ryder was close to earning a takedown and making things interesting in the second period. Still, Begenjov was able to prevent a potential Ryder score though his leg was elevated at the edge. Ryder has now won three age-group world medals with two U17 bronze medals and a silver this year at U20’s. The three wrestlers from Friday who lost in the semifinals and dropped down to bronze medal matches all got their hands raised on Saturday - winning bronze medals, Bo Bassett (65 kg), PJ Duke (70 kg), and Justin Rademacher (97 kg). Bassett only needed a portion of the first period to tally three takedowns and ten points against Georgia’s Nikoloz Beshidze. Duke fell in an early four-point hole to Kazakhstan’s Aikyn Bolatuly, but quickly made up for it…and more. He posted 13 straight points in the opening period to lead 13-7 at the break. In the second, Duke continued to pour it on and ended the match early with a tech, 18-7. There’s a good chance we see Duke on the 2025 team as he is just starting his final year of high school. Rademacher’s opponent, Nikolaos Karavanos (Greece), also didn’t make it to the second period. Rademacher continued to use stellar defense and timely re-attacks to systematically dismantle his Greek opponent. He’ll be a sophomore at Oregon State during the 2024-25 school year. The only returning U20 world champion for the United States is on track for title number two. Iowa two-sport star, Ben Kueter picked up where he left off in 2022 with a dominant run to the finals. Kueter needed less than :30 seconds to pin his Russian opponent in the quarterfinals before posting a 13-3 tech over Mongolia’s Nambardagva Batbayar in the semi’s. Tomorrow’s gold medal match at 125 kgs will be a massive showdown between the last two U20 champions, Kueter and Iran’s Amirreza Masoumi Valadi. Within the last year, Masoumi Valadi has beaten American’s Mason Parris and Christian Carroll, along with Olympic bronze medalist Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan). 2023 U17 world champion, Ladarion Lockett, will try to go back-to-back at two different age groups as he’s made the 74 kg finals. The normally high-scoring Lockett had to grind out a semifinals win Saturday over Azerbaijan’s Aghanazar Novruzov. Lockett got the scoring started with a point from a shot clock violation and led 1-0 at the break. In the second, he added a point via a step-out, as he elevated a single leg and ran Novruzov out of bounds. After Novruzov earned a point from a shot-clock violation. The bout would end at 2-1; however, the Azerbaijani corner challenged the final seconds, presumably for Lockett not engaging; however, that ruling was confirmed. Lockett moves on to the finals against Iran’s Ali Rezaei Aghouzgeleh. That name might sound familiar to American fans as he was the opponent that defeated in last year’s 70 kg gold medal match, 11-6. The last finalist for the Americans is Penn State redshirt freshman Josh Barr. Barr posted three consecutive 10-0 first-period techs on his way to the finals. In tomorrow’s gold medal match, Barr will face a returning U20 world champion in Russia’s Ibragim Kadiev. Kadiev also had three techs to clinch a spot in the finals. Marcus Blaze (61 kg) and Connor Mirasola (92 kg) both fell in the semifinals and will wrestle in a bronze medal match.

Competition in women’s freestyle wrapped up on Friday at the U20 World Championships, but not before another American woman came away with a gold medal. Yesterday, we saw Cristelle Rodriguez and Alexis Janiak compete for world titles. Rodriguez became the first American to win gold this year and Janiak settled for silver. Today, the attention fell solely on the shoulders of Jasmine Robinson in the 72 kg gold medal match. Robinson’s three matches leading up to the finals didn’t combine for more than three minutes. In those bouts, Robinson simply destroyed the competition. The same could be said for her opponent, China’s Yuqi Liu. Liu ended her first three matches with first-period techs. If you just looked at the final score, you might assume that Robinson rolled like in her previous bouts, but that wasn’t the case. She was tested on multiple occasions by Liu and even worked back from an early deficit before getting a fall. Liu struck first with a takedown and quickly looked for a quick leg lace - her weapon of choice in her first three wins. Robinson was able to limit any additional damage and did not allow any exposure points and the two were brought back to their feet. Rather than rely on counter-offense, Robinson decided to strike but was thwarted by Liu with some heavy hips and a whizzer. Robinson used that whizzer to throw Liu to her back for four points and then earned an additional four points from exposure after a chin whip. The two big moves gave Robinson a 9-4 advantage at the break. In the second period, Liu continued to attack, earning another second, and seemed to gain momentum. With hopes of a comeback on her mind, Liu got in on another leg attack but was greeted by another chip whip. This one was very tight and Liu was unable to get off her back and surrendered a fall. With Robinson’s gold medal, the US women finished the tournament with four medals - two of which were gold. This was actually the first time since 2019 that the women’s team did not win at least five. The women’s team had multiple champions, which was a feat they hadn’t accomplished since 2021. The United States has now produced a U20 world champion at 72 kg in four straight tournaments - with Amit Elor winning the last two and Kennedy Blades winning in 2021. Robinson now has a pair of age-group world medals as she earned a bronze medal at the U17 level last year. Before Robinson took center stage, the men’s freestyle team participated in the semifinals. All five of the American men who started their tournament today advanced to the semis; 14 straight wins. Of course, a crazy run like that at a world-level tournament can’t last forever and the semifinals is where the Americans suffered their first losses. The session started with Luke Lilledahl taking the mat at 57 kg. The top recruit in the high school Class of 2024 and an incoming freshman at Penn State, Lilledahl looked to add to an already-impressive international resume. Standing in his way of a second consecutive U20 finals berth was Armenia’s Hayko Gasparyan. The opening period was a very tactical affair with Lilledahl’s lone point coming via a shot clock violation from Gasparyan. Lilledahl added to that lead in the second period with a low leg attack he finished after a fun flurry. With Gasparyan opening up late in the match, Lilledahl was able to put an additional point on the board via a step out and he’d win, 4-1. Lilledahl has now made four straight world finals across two age groups. In 2021 and 2022, he made the U17 finals - taking silver and then gold. Last year, Lilledahl fell in the U20 finals. Does the pattern repeat itself? Speaking of repeating, Lilledahl will need to replicate his 2023 performance against Russia’s Lev Pavlov. Lilledahl defeated the Russian, 9-2, in the 2023 Round of 32 and will face him tomorrow with a gold medal on the line. Also advancing to the finals is fellow Penn State classmate, Zach Ryder at 79 kg. Ryder had another gritty win, this time over Russian Said Saidulov. In the opening period, Ryder controlled the mat and the action earning two points for Saidulov stepping out of the cylinder. In the second period, Saidulov briefly held the lead after Ryder exposed his back during a scramble. A few seconds later, the shot clock expired on Ryder. That meant Saidulov had a 3-2 advantage. It would be short-lived as Ryder blew through Saidulov with a double leg. During the final seconds, Saidulov went all-out trying for a winning score. That allowed Ryder to counter and score himself with a takedown to win, 6-3. Ryder now has earned three age group world medals. He had two bronze medals at the U17 level before making the U20 finals. In the wildest match of the round. 70 kg representative PJ Duke came up just short in a 5-5 loss on criteria to Magomed Baitukaev (Russia). Baitukaev had an early lead, but the constant pressure from Duke led to Baitukaev tiring and Duke to mount a comeback. In the final ten seconds, trailing by a point, it appeared as if Duke may have won the match with a high-amplitude throw at the edge of the mat; however, it was just ruled a step-out. Duke along with Bo Bassett (65 kg) and Justin Rademacher (97 kg) each dropped to a bronze medal match on Saturday after their semifinal losses today. Bassett was stunned with a takedown and leg laces by Makoto Hosokawa (Japan) in a :45 second tech fall. Rademacher went toe-to-toe win 2023 Senior World Champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan) in a match that was closer than a 9-1 final score might indicate. On Saturday, the final five members of the men’s freestyle team will start their tournaments. They are Marcus Blaze (61 kg), Ladarion Lockett (74 kg), Josh Barr (86 kg), Connor Mirasola (92 kg), and Ben Kueter (125 kg).

Expectations couldn’t be higher for the 2024 U20 men’s freestyle team. Just a few days after its team members secured a spot on the team, InterMat wrote an article comparing this year’s squad to great U20 teams of the past. As it turns out, there are plenty of reasons for such high expectations. The kids are good. They’re really good! Friday morning the U20 men’s freestyle team took the mat for the first time in Pontevedra, Spain, and the team got off to a blazing start. All five of the wrestlers who started on Friday won their quarterfinal matches and will wrestle in the semifinals in a few hours. There were different types of performances - as some of the Americans crushed their competition, while others had to grind out their wins. Either way, the US men went 14-0 during the morning session. Two that blew through their opposition were PJ Duke and Zach Ryder. Ryder, an incoming freshman at Penn State, did not surrender a point in his three matches and posted three wins via tech. The deepest he needed to go in one single match was in the Round of 16 - a bout that made it :40 seconds in the second period. In the semifinals, Ryder will face Russia Said Saidulov. Saidulov was a gold medalist at the 2024 European U20 Championships. Duke, the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2025, showed why he is so highly thought of as he also teched all three of his opponents. Mongolia’s Ankh Erdene Altangerel was the only wrestler to score on him and that came in the second period of a 12-1 match. Duke’s semifinal opponent is also a European U20 gold medalist in Magomed Baitukaev. Baitukaev might be familiar as he was the foe that Meyer Shapiro defeated last year (8-0) at this tournament in the 70 kg quarterfinals. The Russian eventually rebounded for a bronze medal. One of two returning U20 world medalists on the team, Luke Lilledahl, needed to use his grit to move into the semifinals. Trailing on criteria in the second period of his quarterfinal match, Lilledahl secured a go-ahead takedown on U20 Asian champion Ankush of India. Lilledahl held off Ankush’s late attacks and was penalized with a caution, but still held on to win, 4-3. Lilledahl will face Hayko Gasparyan (Armenia) in the semifinals. Gasparyan blitzed one of the tournament favorites, Iranian Milad Valizadeh in a 10-0 tech barely made it to the second period. At 65 kg, Bo Bassett was deadlocked with India’s Nikhil Pilanagoila at four, though he trailed on criteria, early in the second period. During a scramble, Bassett found a cradle and took Pilanagoila to his back for the lead, but more importantly, it would result in a match-ending fall. Bassett moves on to face Japan’s Makoto Hosokawa in the semifinals. This is the first world-level event for Hosokawa, but he has claimed Asian U20 silver and bronze medals in the past. The largest member of the American contingent to compete today was Oregon State’s Justin Rademacher at 97 kg. Rademacher’s stout defense came into play repeatedly on Friday. In a Round of 16 match that was closer than the score may indicate, Radmacher continually stuffed Japan’s Genki Hoki and scored off of his counterattacks. In the quarterfinals against an opponent that didn’t offer much in the way of offense, Rademacher played the tactical game against Ramini Gulitashvili (Georgia) and earned the first two points of the contest after shot clock violations. He put an emphatic exclamation point on the win with a big double leg late in the contest - sealing a 4-0 win. Rademacher has perhaps the toughest semifinal match of the crew. He’ll face 2023 world champion Rizabek Aitmukhan (Kazakhstan). Aitmukhan won his Senior world title at 92 kg and was a U20 silver medalist last year. In 2024, Aitmukhan made the Asian Senior finals. Action from Pontevedra resumes at 10:45 am Eastern.

And we’re back for another edition of the Friday mailbag and the first of September. College football is in full swing, the NFL just kicked off last night with some teams that nobody cares about, baseball is down to the last few weeks with the Mets making things interesting, and Junior Worlds presently going on. What a time to be alive. Or what a time to be dead if you hate sports. And if you do, why are you reading this? But since you are, let’s get to it! What’s the best/most hype/most intimidating high school dual meet entrance style and song? AC/DC, Metallica, Welcome to the Jungle? Running the circle? Just walking to the edge? We ran out to “Fantasy” by Aldo Nova and I still get hyped when I hear it. Coach Sganga Mother Tell your children not to walk my way Tell your children not to hear my words What they mean What they say Mother Mother Can you keep them in the dark for life? Can you hide them from the waiting world? Oh mother Crank that in your gym and see how confident the other team feels. Plus, you’re literally telling the other team's moms that you are about to hurt their children. Or pick something that doesn’t predate the Berlin Wall falling down, but they just don’t make good jock rock like they used to. My other option is that god-awful Steal My Sunshine by Len and hope the other team just leaves on account of bloody ears. The public is betting on Iowa, the big money is on State...so who you got? Burger King of Kings Is this true? Do you actually have a read on the public and the big money? Is the big money coming from all the new Hawkeye wrestlers? Why is your rivalry game so early? Does Iowahave any offense yet? And why am I asking the questions? Give me State and the under and sleep like a baby. How/when does Ferrari’s season end? Natty? Podium? Jail? Let’s Go Exploring Jail seems like a stretch, but I have to assume he at least stays out of trouble for the season. Technically, it was only a car accident that halted him last time followed by a three-year break for a variety of reasons. Regardless of what did happen or didn’t happen, he’s back now and obviously a major title contender at 197. But remember, he’s yet to actually wrestle for a full season as 2021 was a short season and 2022 was cut short for him. Is he the same guy after three long years off? Will he get the proper competition being out in a very small conference? Will CSUB hit all the big tournaments for the best competition? Does Starocci or Keckeisen go up to 197? Nobody knows these answers, but the AJ Ferrari return is likely the biggest storyline of the upcoming season. The Citadel football recently beat Charleston Southern in the inaugural Low Country Boil Bowl where the winner receives a trophy that is then filled with boiled seafood. What are some food-related rivalry trophies that wrestling could implement to take things to the next level? Richard Mann As someone who can’t stand the sight or smell of seafood, that sounds extremely unappealing. But wrestlers are constantly dieting so I’m not sure a trophy filled with the local cuisine is the best idea. What even is the local cuisine of some of these places? Gas station hot dogs for Bedlam? The Hardees Cup for North Carolina and North Carolina State? A pasta bowl for Rutgers and Princeton? Scrapple for the winners of the Keystone Classic? Do I have to keep going or can I move on with my day? I think I’ll just move on with my day. Hopefully, these questions get better as the season approaches or I’ ’ll be bagging groceries. Shoot, they don’t even have bags anymore so that turn of phrase doesn’t even apply anymore. Either way, enjoy week one of the NFL season. I’m about to smoke the Mat Scout in fantasy football.

Greenwood

Ponderosa

Thursday at the U20 World Championships saw the first American win gold at the 2024 event. Cristelle Rodriguez continued her dominance in the gold medal match at 55 kg - needing less than a minute to pin Mongolia’s Khaliun Byambasuren. Rodriguez nearly got a takedown after shooting within seconds of the opening whistle; however, Byambasuren was able to momentarily stop her. That wouldn’t last for long as Byambasuren tried to throw Rodriguez. Not only did Rodriguez hold her ground, but she countered with a huge throw of her own. Rodriguez was awarded four points for the throw, but the most important development was that Byambasuren remained on her back, very close to a fall. Rodriguez kept the pressure on and never let Byambasuren off her back. The official signaled for the fall at only :57 seconds into the contest. The fall capped off an excellent two days for Rodriguez. She never went the full six minutes in any of her four matches - finishing with two falls and two techs. An early takedown in the semifinals to European U20 champion Tuba Demir (Turkiye) accounted for the only points she surrendered the entire tournament. Rodriguez now has won medals at both the U20 and U17 levels. In 2019, Rodriguez earned a silver medal at the U17 World Championships in the 49 kg weight class. With Rodriguez’s world title, the US women have won at least one gold medal in the last four U20 World Championships. The American women will have another opportunity to come away with a gold medal on Friday as Jasmine Robinson stormed her way to the 72 kg gold medal match today. As difficult as it may be to believe, Robinson’s path to the finals might have been more impressive than Rodriguez’s. Robinson pinned all three of her opponents in a combined time of two minutes and 25 seconds. Her semifinal win over Hungary’s Noemi Osvath Nagy was her “longest” match of the day at only 1:23. Robinson might have been able to end that match even quicker, but her freight train double leg blasted Osvath Nagy out of bounds and she had to settle for a four-point lead. A few moments later, Robinson tried another double and finished high. Osvath Nagy’s arm was out and susceptible to a half nelson, which Robinson sunk in deeply. She patiently waited for the official to call the fall. With a gold medal in the balance, Robinson will face China’s Yuqi Liu - a 2024 Asian U20 champion. Liu was very overwhelming herself. All three of her pre-finals matches ended 10-0 in the opening period. Robinson’s finals appearance has clinched her second career world medal. A year ago, she was a bronze medalist at the U17 World Championships at 69 kg. Another American to grab some hardware on Thursday was Naomi Simon at 76 kg. Simon squared off with Japan’s Chisato Yoshida in a bronze medal match. After Simon controlled the mat for the first minute and a half Yoshida was put on the activity clock. Almost simultaneously, the clock expired as Simon was finishing off a takedown from a front headlock, giving her a 3-0 lead. In the next sequence, Simon avoided a headlock attempt from Yoshida, spun behind and hit a gut wrench at the edge of the mat. The officials initially gave Yoshida a takedown, but after a review, it was overturned and deemed a takedown, then exposure for Simon and a 7-0 lead. With around :30 remaining in the bout Yoshida went into desperation mode. She tried a head pinch and then a neck wrench, both of which were unsuccessful and ultimately, led to a Simon takedown to ice the match at 9-0. The other American in the gold medal finals on Thursday, Alexis Janiak, wasn’t as fortunate. She ran into a Japanese opponent (Sakura Onishi) who was a buzzsaw all tournament. Onishi got a quick takedown and transitioned into a series of leg laces that quickly ended the match after only :43 seconds. The American women have already clinched four medals with a fifth as a possibility on Friday. Carissa Qureshi has been pulled into repechage at 57 kg. She’ll face India’s Neha Sharma with a berth in the bronze medal match looming. Also on Friday, the US men’s freestyle team will take the mat for the first time. 57, 65, 70, 79, and 97 kg will start their tournaments.

2024 Olympian Darian Cruz is on the move as he was announced as a new assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania today. Cruz recently represented Puerto Rico at the Olympic Games and advanced to the 57 kg bronze medal match before losing to India’s Aman Sehrawat, 13-5. Cruz qualified for the Olympic Games after getting to the finals of the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. In the semifinals, Cruz downed the American representative Zane Richards. Richards had defeated Cruz 8-2 in late-2023 at the Pan-American Games. The move isn’t too far away from Cruz’s current home - which also happens to be his hometown. A high school star at Bethlehem Catholic, Cruz wrestled collegiately at Lehigh and has previously trained out of the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club. At Lehigh, Cruz earned All-American honors on three occasions, highlighted by a national championship in 2017 at 125 lbs. At that tournament, Cruz shocked top-seeded Thomas Gilman (Iowa) in the semifinals, before defeating fellow Pennsylvania District XI native Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) for the title. Cruz also won an EIWA championship in each of his final three years with the Mountain Hawks. The Penn was looking for new staff members after Mark Hall retired from competition and moved to Oklahoma to work as the Sooners Director of Operations. Former associate head coach Bryan Pearsall also left for Oklahoma, but to take a job as the recruiting coordinator for David Taylor at Oklahoma State. Penn also added Matt Valenti and Doug Zapf of their staff this offseason. Cruz’s addition should bolster the University of Pennsylvania’s lightweights. The Quakers have a pair of returning national qualifiers slated to handle the two lightest weights with Max Gallagher at 125 and Ryan Miller at 133 lbs.