InterMat Staff

70 kg US Open champion Tyler Berger (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Friday night marked the conclusion of the Senior Men’s freestyle tournament at the US Open. The ten finals matches had plenty of unexpected results and a host of action-packed bouts. The evening was capped off with a Gable Steveson backflip after a 10-0 tech fall over frequent opponent Nick Gwiazdowski. Steveson returned to the freestyle scene in a big way after missing the last year to pursue a career in the WWE. In his four matches, Steveson outscored his competition by a 44-1 margin. If the night ended as many expected, it started off in a quite different manner. At 57 kg, Zane Richards, six years removed from a career as a two-time All-American at Illinois, moved a step closer to making his first world team. Richards blocked a shot from Nick Suriano and countered for a takedown of his own. He’d fend off Suriano for the duration of the bout and win 3-3 on criteria. The next bout was an illustration of just how quickly things can end in a freestyle bout. Austin DeSanto made his first Open final after downing Joe Colon and Seth Gross; however, it all came to an end in :54 when he surrendered a takedown to Vito Arujau. The Cornell star locked up a leg lace and turned DeSanto four times to bring his surprising run to a screeching halt. Arujau continues to run on a high from the NCAA tournament and will await a Final X opponent after the World Team Trials conclude. 65 kg started a run of six consecutive matches with high-action and exciting finishes. Despite trailing 5-0 at the break, Nick Lee came alive in the second period to shock top-seeded Joey McKenna. Less than :20 into the final stanza, Lee picked up a takedown and was able to turn McKenna, pulling within a point and signaling that the match was far from over. Lee continued to pour it on to the tune of a 10-5 victory. After beating an old college rival in the Open, he’ll face another in Final X with Yianni Diakomihalis. McKenna was the victim in the 65 kg final; however, it was his Penn RTC teammate Tyler Berger that wowed the crowd a match later. A takedown and gut wrench staked Berger to an early 4-0 lead against Sammy Sasso in a contest that was filled with plenty of good scrambles and scoring opportunities. A Berger challenge that ruled he and Sasso should both get exposure points after a counter from the Buckeye star left Berger down by two points with :08 on the clock. Right off the whistle, Berger hit a low attack and eventually locked up a takedown to take the lead at the buzzer. Following a Sasso challenge, a point was added to make the final score, 10-9. In a battle between ex-Penn State teammates Jason Nolf and Vincenzo Joseph, it was Joseph who struck first with a four-point takedown. Though there were a handful of great exchanges between the two, the rest of the bout belonged to Nolf. He started the second period with a pair of points for step outs, before adding two four-pointers of his own. Nolf will get a Final X rematch with world champion Kyle Dake. A Final X rematch is in the works at 79 kgs as well after Chance Marsteller finally solved the riddle that is Alex Dieringer. The two met in the 2019 Open finals and Dieringer took an 11-0 tech. That was one of four past losses at the Senior level for Marsteller to Dieringer. In his post-match interview, Marsteller stated that his first-period takedown of Dieringer, “was probably the first one I’ve ever gotten on him.” He picked the right time for it, as the takedown was instrumental in a 3-2 victory for Marsteller. He’ll see Jordan Burroughs once again at Final X. 86 kg had another match where one wrestler grabbed a 4-0 first-period lead. That was the case with Zahid Valencia as he garnered four points with a takedown of Aaron Brooks. Undeterred, Brooks battled back in the second period and really blew the match wide open with a takedown and two leg laces to lead 8-6. He’d add a pair of step-out points to win 10-6. Brooks will face fellow Nittany Lion Wrestling Club member David Taylor in Final X. With J’den Cox moving to 97 kgs, no one was waiting in Final X at 92 kgs. After a period, Kollin Moore looked to have an inside track on Final X as he led long-time rival Mike Macchiavello 2-0. As was the case for most of Friday night, that didn’t make a difference in the second period as Macchiavello posted a pair of takedowns. After the second, he was able to lock up a leg lace and ended the bout after four straight turns. There is definitely a chance for a rematch with the pair as Moore will have to qualify for Final X through the WTT’s. Speaking of Cox, J’den wasn’t entirely pleased with his Open finals performance but still turned in a lopsided 12-3 victory over NC State 197 lber Isaac Trumble. A Cox win sets the stage for a huge series at Final X with fellow Olympic medalist Kyle Snyder. Final Results 57 kg - Zane Richards over Nick Suriano 3-3 61 kg - Vito Arujau over Austin DeSanto 10-0 65 kg - Nick Lee over Joey McKenna 10-5 70 kg - Tyler Berger over Sammy Sasso 10-9 74 kg - Jason Nolf over Vincenzo Joseph 10-5 79 kg - Chance Marsteller over Alex Dieringer 3-2 86 kg - Aaron Brooks over Zahid Valencia 10-6 92 kg - Mike Macchiavello over Kollin Moore 12-2 97 kg - J’den Cox over Isaac Trumble 12-3 125 kg - Gable Steveson over Nick Gwiazdowski 10-0

62 kg semifinalist Adaugo Nwachukwu (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2023 US Open Senior Women’s Freestyle Semifinal Results 50 kg - Alyssa Lampe (SKWC) over Sage Mortimer (TMWC) Fall 1:50 50 kg - Audrey Jimenez (SKWC) over Erin Golston (NYAC) Fall 3:56 53 kg - Samara Chavez (TTWC) over Amy Fearnside (USOPTC/TMWC) 18-17 53 kg - Katie Gomez (SKWC) over Felicity Taylor (IWWC/TMWC) 7-2 55 kg - Lauren Mason (UVRTC/TMWC) over Areana Villaescusa (Army WCAP) Fall 5:24 55 kg - Alisha Howk (SKWC) over Marissa Gallegos (TMWC) 8-6 57 kg - Alex Hedrick (USOPTC/TMWC) over Shelby Moore (WRHWC) 11-0 57 kg - Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Rise RTC) over Amanda Martinez (TMWC) 12-10 59 kg - Maya Nelson (SKWC) over Brenda Reyna (Army WCAP) 7-5 59 kg - Michaela Beck (SKWC) over Abby Nette (Army WCAP) 4-4 62 kg - Jennifer Page (NLWC/TMWC) over Savannah Cosme (SKWC) 13-2 62 kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu (TMWC) over Bridgette Duty (Army WCAP) 16-1 65 kg - Macey Kilty (SKWC) over Aine Drury (CA) 11-0 65 kg - Emma Bruntil (USOPTC) over Maya Letona (NYCRTC) Fall 1:26 68 kg - Forrest Molinari (SKWC) over Katerina Lange (MG/S) 14-4 68 kg - Alex Glaude (BRTC) over Solin Piearcy (MWC) 11-0 72 kg - Rose Cassioppi (NYAC) over Kaylynn Albrecht (Wildcat Elite) Fall 1:37 72 kg - Joye Levendusky (NYAC) over Nahiela Magee (Army WCAP) Fall 4:06 76 kg - Adeline Gray (NYAC) over Dymond Guilford (USOPTC/TMWC) Cautions 76 kg - Kennedy Blades (SKWC) over Yelena Makoyed (TMWC) Fall 3:57

Jason Nolf (right) against Keegan O'Toole in the 2023 US Open semifinals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Tonight, the finals of the 2023 US Open Senior Men’s Freestyle will be held. Because of the revamped world team qualification procedures, a heavy emphasis was on the Open. This was most evident in the men’s freestyle tournament as seven returning world medalists sit in Final X. After Friday night, ten more wrestlers will punch their tickets to Final X and move one more step closer to a world team berth. Below are the matchup for tonight's finals along with how each wrestler made it to the championship match, along with any past history between the two competitors. 57 kg: #1 Zane Richards vs #2 Nick Suriano Perhaps the biggest story of Thursday’s semifinal round wasn’t who won, but who wasn’t in attendance. A much-ballyhooed matchup between Nick Suriano and Spencer Lee did not materialize after Lee pulled out via injury. That takes Lee out of the running for the 2023 World Team. Focusing on the wrestlers who will be competing Friday night, Zane Richards did what he does and turned in a workmanlike win over 2021 Open champion Jakob Camacho in the semifinals, 8-4. Though he’s been a staple on the Senior level since his college career concluded in 2017, Richards has never won an Open. Despite having so much mat time, it seems as if Richards might be hitting his peak right now. In the last six months, he’s won the Bill Farrell, went 2-0 at the World Cup, and was fifth at the Zagreb Open. The same may be said for Suriano too, as he picked up a win at the World Cup and claimed gold at the Henri Deglane this year. Like Richards, Suriano hasn’t necessarily blown away the competition, but at the same time, he hasn’t been threatened seriously in this tournament. These two have a limited history and you have to go back to 2019 to find their most recent results. Twice in 2019, the pair met and on both occasions, Suriano prevailed via tech. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

62 kg champion Hayden Tuma (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2023 US Open Senior Men's Greco Roman Champion Interviews 55 kg champion: Brady Koontz 60 kg champion: Dalton Roberts 62 kg champion: Hayden Tuma 67 kg champion: Robert Perez III 72 kg champion: Justus Scott 77 kg champion: Kamal Bey 82 kg champion: Spencer Woods 87 kg champion: Alan Vera 97 kg champion: Joe Rau 130 kg champion: Cohlton Schultz

Austin DeSanto (right) defeats 2022 World Team member Seth Gross in the US Open semifinals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2023 US Open Senior Men's Freestyle Semifinal Results 57 kg - Zane Richards over Jakob Camacho 8-4 57 kg - Nick Suriano FFT Spencer Lee 61 kg - Austin DeSanto over Seth Gross 5-4 61 kg - Vito Arujau over Nate Tomasello 8-3 65 kg - Joey McKenna over Ridge Lovett 6-3 65 kg - Nick Lee over Beau Bartlett 10-10 70 kg - Sammy Sasso over Jarrett Jacques 9-2 70 kg - Tyler Berger over Hayden Hidlay 11-10 74 kg - Jason Nolf over Keegan O'Toole 9-2 74 kg - Vincenzo Joseph over Josh Shields 5-3 79 kg - Chance Marsteller over David McFadden 6-1 79 kg - Alex Dieringer over Carter Starocci 7-1 86 kg - Zahid Valencia over Trent Hidlay 8-3 86 kg - Aaron Brooks over Mark Hall 6-1 92 kg - Kollin Moore over Eric Schultz 10-0 92 kg - Mike Macchiavello over Nate Jackson 4-2 97 kg - J'den Cox over Sam Mitchell 11-1 97 kg - Isaac Trumble over TJ Dudley Fall 5:59 125 kg - Gable Steveson over Mason Parris 12-1 125 kg - Nick Gwiazdowski over Dom Bradley 8-0

72 kg US Open champion Justus Scott (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Thursday evening at the Southpoint Casino, ten Senior Greco-Roman wrestlers clinched berths in Final X. Without a returning, 2022 Senior World medalist in the mix, the winners at all ten weights would move on to Newark, New Jersey for Final X, while their opponent will be decided at the World Team Trials. The final wrestler to get his hand raised, Cohlton Schultz, was the showstopper as Schultz needed just over two minutes to spoil Adam Coon's return to the wrestling world with an 11-0 tech. Schultz wowed the crowd within the first :30 with a four-point throw to take a commanding lead. He ended the match with a four-point head pinch after Coon started a flurry. Across four matches, Schultz did not surrender a single point and was not pushed into the second period. The Army WCAP team won the team portion of the competition and there was no doubt about the "race" as they crowned four champions and had three other finalists. One of those losses came with WCAP teammates squared off against one another. Three of the Army champions could have been classified as underdogs. Dalton Roberts was one of them as he downed teammate Ildar Hafizov. Roberts jumped out to a fast 7-0 lead, but his win wasn't without some drama. Hafizov headlocked Roberts to his back late in the bout and the clock expired with him still fending off the fall. Roberts would win 7-6. Maybe the biggest surprise for the WCAP team was Justus Scott's win at 72 kg. Wrestling in from of his home crowd and his own cheering section, Scott knocked off two-time world team member Patrick Smith 6-4. At 82 kg, Spencer Woods turned the tables on his Final X opponent Ben Provisor with a 4-3 win. Schultz wasn't the only wrestler with a dominating performance on the big stage, Brady Koontz (57 kg), Robert Perez III (67 kg), Kamal Bey (77 kg), Alan Vera (82 kg), and Joe Rau (97 kg) all were victorious via tech. Perez III used a trapped-arm gut to end his finals bout with Olympian Jesse Thielke in an instant. Bey had one of the standouts from day one, 44-year-old Aleksandr Kikiniou. Bey wasn't phased and only needed :33 seconds to rack up nine points and land a perfect backflip. The other result from the finals was a 3-1 victory by Hayden Tuma over two-time World Team member Sammy Jones. Tuma took advantage of a second-period passivity call and exposed Jones with a gut wrench. 2023 US Open Senior Men's Greco-Roman Championship Results 55 kg - Brady Koontz (Titan Mercury) over Dalton Duffield (Army WCAP) 9-0 60 kg - Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP) over Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP) 8-7 63 kg - Hayden Tuma (Suples WC) over Sammy Jones (Sunkist Kids) 3-1 67 kg - Robert Perez III (Sunkist Kids) over Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP) 8-0 72 kg - Justus Scott (Army WCAP) over Pat Smith (Minnesota Storm) 6-4 77 kg - Kamal Bey (Army WCAP) over Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway) 9-0 82 kg - Spencer Woods (Army WCAP) over Ben Provisor (NYAC) 4-3 87 kg - Alan Vera (NYAC) over John Stefanowicz (Navy WC) 9-0 97 kg - Joe Rau (TMWC) over Nick Boykin (Sunkist Kids) 10-1 130 kg - Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids) over Adam Coon (NYAC) 11-0

Penn RTC's David McFadden (top) against Hawkeye Wrestling Club's Alex Marinelli in the quarterfinals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 57 kg - Zane Richards over Michael Tortorice 10-0 57 kg - Jakob Camacho over Patrick Glory 10-0 57 kg - Nick Suriano over Cooper Flynn 7-1 57 kg - Spencer Lee over Caleb Smith 9-4 61 kg - Seth Gross over Josh Rodriguez 11-0 61 kg - Austin DeSanto over Joe Colon 12-0 61 kg - Nathan Tomasello over Daniel DeShazer 4-0 61 kg - Vito Arujau over Nahshon Garrett 9-2 65 kg - Joey McKenna over Anthony Ashnault 10-0 65 kg - Ridge Lovett over Pat Lugo 7-5 65 kg - Nick Lee over Matt Kolodzik 12-1 65 kg - Beau Bartlett over Evan Henderson 11-6 70 kg - Jarrett Jacques over Deondre Wilson 10-0 70 kg - Sammy Sasso over Ed Scott 14-4 70 kg - Hayden Hidlay over Jaydin Eierman 10-0 70 kg - Tyler Berger over Jarod Verkleeren 12-1 74 kg - Jason Nolf over Julian Ramirez 10-0 74 kg - Keegan O’Toole over Tommy Gantt 10-0 74 kg - Vincenzo Joseph over Collin Purinton 11-0 74 kg - Josh Shields over Joey Lavallee 4-2 79 kg - Chance Marsteller over Devin Skatzka 14-3 79 kg - David McFadden over Alex Marinelli 10-6 79 kg - Alex Dieringer over Taylor Lujan 7-0 79 kg - Carter Starocci over Michael Kemerer 9-0 86 kg - Zahid Valencia over Max Hale 7-2 86 kg - Trent Hidlay over Andrew Morgan 11-0 86 kg - Aaron Brooks over Owen Webster 11-0 86 kg - Mark Hall over Vic Marcelli 10-0 92 kg - Kollin Moore over John Gunderson 11-0 92 kg - Eric Schultz over Morgan McIntosh 4-1 92 kg - Mike Macchiavello over Jay Aiello 4-0 92 kg - Nate Jackson over Jacob Cardenas 8-0 97 kg - J’den Cox over Duncan Lee 10-0 97 kg - Sam Mitchell over Ben Kueter InjDef 97 kg - Isaac Trumble over Silas Allred 10-0 97 kg - TJ Dudley over Anthony Mancini 10-0 125 kg - Gable Steveson over Wyatt Hendrickson 12-0 125 kg - Mason Parris over Ty Walz 4-0 125 kg - Dom Bradley over Jordan Wood 2-1 125 kg - Nick Gwiazdowski over Christian Lance 8-0

NFL draft prospect Keeanu Benton of Wisconsin a former state runner-up wrestler (photo courtesy of David Stluka; Wisconsin Athletics) We all love wrestling. That’s what brought us together at InterMat. At the same time, it’s okay to have interests outside of wrestling. For a lot of fans, that interest might be football. And if you like football, it’s hard to beat the NFL draft. There have been mock drafts for months and months (years perhaps), all in preparation for today. Everybody pretends to be an expert and an insider as to how their favorite team will draft. Bringing it back to wrestling, my thought was, “How many NFL draftees have a wrestling background.” Which led me to looking up the high school credentials over the top-300 draft prospects from a list provided by The Athletic. We may not hear any of these names on Thursday night, but as the draft progresses, remember these names as they are elite football players that have some sort of wrestling background. Below are the 11 wrestlers who could get selected in the 2023 NFL draft that have a wrestling background. There’s the possibility that more do; however, we’re just going off of what was listed in their collegiate roster bio. The number by each prospect is their draft ranking and if accessible, their top wrestling credentials have been listed. #56 Keeanu Benton (Wisconsin) Defensive Line High School: Craig, Wisconsin; 2018 Wisconsin DI State Runner-Up. #59 John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota) Center High School: Flossmoor, Illinois #133 Luke Wypler (Ohio State) Center High School: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey #182 Anfernee Orjj (Vanderbilt) Linebacker High School: Rockwall, Texas #194 Gervarrius Owens (Houston) Safety High School: Southmoore, Oklahoma #219 Evan Hull (Northwestern) Running Back High School: Maple Grove, Minnesota; 2019 Minnesota AAA State Qualifier #231 John Ojukwu (Boise State) Offensive Tackle High School: Boise, Idaho #237 Hunter Luepke (North Dakota State) Fullback High School: Spencer, Wisconsin; 2x Wisconsin D2 State Champion #243 Caleb Murphy (Ferris State) Edge High School: Dowagiac, Michigan; Four-Sport Athlete (Football, Basketball, Wrestling, Track) #279 Jake Andrews (Troy) Center High School: Stanhope Elmore, Alabama; 2018 Alabama 6A State 3rd Place, 2017 Alabama 6A State Champ #293 PJ Mustipher (Penn State) Defensive Tackle High School: McDonogh School, MD; 2017 National Prep Runner-Up

2009 World bronze medalist and 2023 US Open finalist Aliaksandr Kikinou (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2023 US Open Senior Men's Greco-Roman Semifinal Results 55 kg - Brady Koontz (Titan Mercury) over Jacob Cochran (Army WCAP) 9-0 55 kg - Dalton Duffield (Army WCAP) over Billy Sullivan (Army WCAP) 10-1 60 kg - Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP) over Mason Carzino-Hartshorn (West Coast Greco RTC) 7-1 60 kg - Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP) over Dylan Koontz (Titan Mercury) 9-0 63 kg - Sam Jones (Sunkist Kids) over Xavier Johnson (Army WCAP) Injury Default 63 kg - Hayden Tuma (Suples WC) over Leslie Fuenffinger (Army WCAP) 1-1 67 kg - Robert Perez (Sunkist Kids) over Joel Adams (The Best Wrestler) 4-3 67 kg - Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP) over Alston Nutter (Sunkist Kids) 9-6 72 kg - Patrick Smith (NYAC) over Jack Ervien (Viking Wrestling Club) 9-7 72 kg - Justus Scott (Army WCAP) over Britton Holmes (Army WCAP) 4-1 77 kg - Kamal Bey (Army WCAP) over Burke Paddock (NYAC) 8-0 77 kg - Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway) over Payton Jacobson (Sunkist Kids) 8-0 82 kg - Ben Provisor (NYAC) over Andrew Berreyesa (NYAC) 4-3 82 kg - Spencer Woods (Army WCAP) over Kendrick Sanders (NYAC) 7-0 87 kg - Alan Vera (NYAC) over Zac Braunagel (Illinois RTC) 9-0 87 kg - John Stefanowicz (Navy WC) over Timothy Young (Army WCAP) 6-2 97 kg - Joe Rau (Titan Mercury) over George Sikes (NYAC) 8-0 97 kg - Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids) over Christian DuLaney (NYAC) 7-5 130 kg - Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids) over Donny Longendyke (Minnesota Storm) Fall 2:18 130 kg - Adam Coon (NYAC) over Tanner Farmer (NYAC) 5-1 Finals Matchups 55 kg - Brady Koontz (Titan Mercury) vs. Dalton Duffield (Army WCAP) 60 kg - Ildar Hafizov (Army WCAP) vs. Dalton Roberts (Army WCAP) 63 kg - Sam Jones (Sunkist Kids) vs. Hayden Tuma (Suples WC) 67 kg - Robert Perez (Sunkist Kids) vs. Jesse Thielke (Army WCAP) 72 kg - Patrick Smith (NYAC) vs. Justus Scott (Army WCAP) 77 kg - Kamal Bey (Army WCAP) vs. Aliaksandr Kikiniou (Poway) 82 kg - Ben Provisor (NYAC) vs. Spencer Woods (Army WCAP) 87 kg - Alan Vera (NYAC) vs. John Stefanowicz (Navy WC) 97 kg - Joe Rau (Titan Mercury) vs. Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids) 130 kg - Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids) vs. Adam Coon (NYAC)

Nick Suriano at the 2022 World Cup (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The wait is almost over! The 2023 US Open Senior Men’s Freestyle tournament has to be one of the most anticipated Open’s in many years. Two of the biggest, young names in the sport (Spencer Lee and Gable Steveson) are returning to their freestyle roots in an attempt to make a Senior World Team. With the current qualification criteria, it has forced wrestlers in most brackets to wrestle in the Open, rather than wait until the World Team Trials. Seven of the ten weights feature a 2022 world medalist, returning at that weight, so they are automatically in Final X. At those weights, the only way to grab the second Final X berth is to win the Open. In the remaining three weights, the Open champion gets a berth in Final X and others are left to compete at the World Team Trials in a few weeks. Here’s what to look for in what promises to be a crazy Senior men’s freestyle tournament. 57 kg Waiting in Final X: Thomas Gilman Right away we have one of the most anticipated brackets of the Senior Men’s freestyle tournament. All eyes are on three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee. The last time we saw Lee in action he was shocked by Matt Ramos in the 2023 NCAA semifinals. The Open marks his first freestyle event since 2019 Senior Nationals. At that event, Lee picked up a win over the mercurial Nick Suriano. Suriano hasn’t been a frequent competitor on the freestyle scene either. When he has wrestled, Suriano has demonstrated that he could be worthy of winning a world team spot. Already in 2023, Suriano has claimed the gold medal at the Henri DeGlane and was fifth in Egypt. Two of the more talked about competitors in this weight are Lee and Suriano; however, neither is the top seed. That distinction belongs to veteran Zane Richards. Richard was a third-place finisher at the 2019 Open and also had that same placement at the 2022 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. He was beaten by Vito Arujau, but bounced back to take third. In his final match, Richards edged 2023 NCAA finalist Matt Ramos. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

2023 NCAA All-American Aaron Nagao (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Once again for the third time in a week, Penn State picked up a significant transfer. Last week the Nittany Lions got commitments from three-time All-American Bernie Truax and U20 World silver medalist Mitch Mesenbrink. Today, it was 133 lb NCAA fifth-place finisher Aaron Nagao. Nagao isn't a stranger to Penn State fans. As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Nagao made the Big Ten finals opposite Nittany Lion two-time champion Roman Bravo-Young. Nagao held his own against the veteran Bravo-Young, but fell 5-2. The pair would meet again in the NCAA quarterfinals, with RBY winning 4-1. Nagao rebounded to major Iowa State's Zach Redding to lock up All-American honors. After that, Nagao posted wins over ACC champion Kai Orine and Ohio State super-freshman Jesse Mendez to take fifth place. Overall, in his first full year competing for Minnesota, Nagao posted a 23-6 record. He turned it on in the postseason with wins over Mendez and two-time AA Lucas Byrd (Illinois) at the Big Ten Championships. With Nagao's addition, Penn State can now roll out a 2023-24 lineup that features eight returning All-Americans. Nagao's fifth-place finish represents the "lowest" NCAA placement of all of those AA's. We're still more than six months away from the start of the 2023-24 season and just under 11 months away from the national tournament, but it looks like Penn State had a huge lead over the rest of the field.

Nick Gwiazdowski (left) and Gable Stevenson at Final X Rutgers in 2019 (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Gable Steveson makes his return to freestyle wrestling at this week's U.S. Open. The last time the wrestling world saw the Olympic champion in action, he was winning his second NCAA title in Detroit. The Hodge Trophy winner then left a year of collegiate eligibility on the table in order to pursue a career in the professional wrestling world. One does not reach the highest pinnacle of the sport without picking up some impressive victories along the way, and that is certainly the case. In fact, during his extensive career, he has mostly dominated his competition. For example, he defeated reigning NCAA heavyweight champion and Hodge Trophy winner Mason Parris five times in his college career. With that being said, Steveson has not been perfect in his wrestling career, and he has actually lost to a pair of wrestlers registered for the Open. In 2019 Steveson reached Final X and found himself two wins away from his first senior world team. However, he ran into world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski and dropped the three-match series with two-straight losses. Their first match at the 2019 edition of Final X was their first-ever meeting. Steveson got on the board first when Gwiazdowski was unable to score on the activity clock. However, the former NC State wrestler went to the break up 2-1 after hitting a nifty sweep single and finishing through the quad pod. Steveson got off to a hot start in the second. He notched another single-point score early in the period after driving through a double leg for a step out. He then scored a takedown on a reattack to secure his first lead of the bout. However, Gwiazdowski got back into the match with a reattack of his own and held on for the final minute. The final score was a 4-4 criteria victory for Gwiazdowski as his two two-point scores trumped Steveson's two one-point scores and a takedown. After a brief hiatus, the two faced off for a second time on the campus of Rutgers. In the first 30 seconds, Steveson got to a low shot but had to settle for a one-point step out as Gwiazdowski hopped off of bounds. In the waning seconds of the first period, Steveson got in deep on a shot, but Gwiazdowski was somehow able to escape thanks to his heavy hips. After the break, Steveson seemed intent on keeping his offense up. He got to a leg, but Gwiazdowski was able to defend and spin behind for the first takedown of the match. The elder wrestler was not content to sit on his lead. He shot for a leg attack, but Steveson was able to force an exposure in the scramble. However, Giwazdowski eventually finished the shot for the one-point reversal. That score put him ahead 3-3 on criteria, and he pulled out yet another criteria victory. While Gwiazdowski won that day and secured a spot on the 2019 world team, Steveson took over the rivalry the following year. He scored a 4-1 victory over Gwiazdowski at the RTC Cup in 2020, and he then won back-to-back matches in the finals of the Olympic Trials by a combined 20-4 score. The only other wrestler who has entered in the Open and holds a victory over Steveson is veteran Dom Bradley. The veteran exhausted his collegiate eligibility at Missouri back in 2013, but he is still actively competing. His victory over Steveson came in the third-place match at the 2018 edition of the Open. At the time, Steveson was still a senior in high school. Even at the time, you could see his physicality coming into play as he was able to snap down the veteran hard early in the contest. Bradley ended up going on the clock first, and he was nearly able to get to a double. However, Steveson was able to avoid the attempt and drive Bradley out for the one-point lead. After a slow start to the second, the referee put Steveson on the activity clock. When he was unable to score, Bradley pulled into the criteria lead 1-1. It did not last long as Steveson drove Bradley off with a single to pull back ahead at 2-1. The Missouri wrestler would not be denied. He pushed hard for a step out and ended up securing it with three seconds left in that match. Despite that loss, Steveson won his next three matches against Bradley. Their last meeting came at the 2019 Bill Farrell where Steveson scored a 4-1 victory. Steveson enters the Open as the top seed, and the two wrestlers who have defeated him will join him in the top three. Gwiazdowski will be the second seed, while Bradley was awarded third. It remains to be seen how Steveson will perform after spending so much time away from the unscripted version of the sport. On paper, he remains the favorite against everyone in the field, but he has lost before and there will be plenty of opponents with a high level of familiarity.

2023 NCAA champion Mason Parris (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Early last week, InterMat released its re-ranking for the high school Class of 2018. With recruiting on the mind, we decided to jump in and look at each individual weight class for the 2023 NCAA DI Championships. As is customary in wrestling we'll start with the lower weights and work our way up. This analysis will break down the 2023 NCAA qualifiers a weight class at a time, by their pre-collegiate ranking within their recruiting class, their year of high school graduation, transfers, home states, and, of course, rankings for the 2023 All-Americans. If you’ve stuck around this long, you know the deal. These are the big guys. Heavyweight has been extremely deep for the past three or four years and there’s good reason. We expected most of these guys to be successful based on their pre-collegiate results. Overall, they didn’t disappoint. Past Weight Classes 125 lbs 133 lbs 141 lbs 149 lbs 157 lbs 165 lbs 174 lbs 184 lbs 197 lbs 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (285 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings #1-#10 #1 (2019) Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #2 (2019) Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #3 (2018) Mason Parris (Michigan) #6 (2020) Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) #11-#30 #14 (2018) Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #21 (2017) Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) #31-#50 #39 (2017) Travis Stefanik (Princeton) #40 (2019) Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) #43 (2015) Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) #47 (2016) AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) #49 (2018) Lucas Davison (Northwestern) #51-#100 #54 (2018) Zach Elam (Missouri) #56 (2021) Hayden Copass (Purdue) #72 (2019) Owen Trephan (NC State) #101-#200 #110 (2020) Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) #111 (2020) Grady Griess (Navy) #114 (2020) Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) #177 (2021) Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) Not Ranked by Willie Saylor/MatScouts; Ranked by The Open Mat #84 (2018) Garrett Joles (Minnesota) #91 (2018) Ben Goldin (Penn) Not Ranked Jacob Bullock (Indiana) Cory Day (Binghamton) Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) Boone McDermott (Rutgers) Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) Jaron Smith (Maryland) Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (285 lbs) by Recruiting Class 2015 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) Jaron Smith (Maryland) 2016 AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) 2017 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) Travis Stefanik (Princeton) 2018 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) Lucas Davison (Northwestern) Zach Elam (Missouri) Ben Goldin (Penn) Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) Garrett Joles (Minnesota) Boone McDermott (Rutgers) Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) Mason Parris (Michigan) 2019 Jacob Bullock (Indiana) Cory Day (Binghamton) Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) Owen Trephan (NC State) Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) 2020 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) Grady Griess (Navy) Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 2021 Hayden Copass (Purdue) Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) Home State’s for 2023 285 lb NCAA Qualifiers Belarus Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) California AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) Colorado Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Florida Ben Goldin (Penn) Illinois Jacob Bullock (Indiana) Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) Hayden Copass (Purdue) Indiana Lucas Davison (Northwestern) Mason Parris (Michigan) Iowa Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) Boone McDermott (Rutgers) Kansas Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Maryland Jaron Smith (Maryland) Michigan Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) Minnesota Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) Missouri Zach Elam (Missouri) Nebraska Grady Griess (Navy) New York Cory Day (Binghamton) Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) Oklahoma Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) Pennsylvania Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) Travis Stefanik (Princeton) Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) South Carolina Owen Trephan (NC State) Wisconsin Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 285 lb NCAA Qualifiers Signed by Another Program Jacob Bullock (Old Dominion) Greg Kerkvliet (Ohio State) Boone McDermott (Iowa Central CC) AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) Sam Schuyler (Buffalo) Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans 1st: Mason Parris (Michigan) #3 in 2018 2nd: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #1 in 2019 3rd: Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) #40 in 2019 4th: Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #14 in 2018 5th: Lucas Davison (Northwestern) #49 in 2018 6th: Zach Elam (Missouri) #54 in 2018 7th: Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #2 in 2019 8th: Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) #21 in 2017

2000 Olympic champion Rulan Gardner The Senior US Open kicks off on Wednesday as the Men's Greco-Roman portion of the tournament gets the festivities underway. Some interesting additions have made the Greco tournament even more interesting than one would have thought, at first glance. Remember, since there were no 2022 world medalists in Greco-Roman, no one has locked up a berth in Final X. Winners of the Open will advance to Final X, while the top-eight finishers and other qualifiers will have to go through the World Team Trials. Here are four of the storylines to follow as you watch the 2023 Open. Familiar Faces at heavyweight! Before Sunday evening, heavyweight was still probably one of the focal points for the Senior Men's Greco-Roman portion of the US Open. You had Cohlton Schultz, a Senior level mainstay already, while still in Arizona State. Schultz has captured age-group world medals at both the Cadet and Junior level and represents a bright future for the United States. Along with Schultz was the return of Adam Coon to the wrestling mat. Coon had spent the last two years trying to make it in the NFL, primarily with the Tennessee Titans. At the 2020 Olympic Trials, it was Coon who defeated Schultz in the best-of-three finals. The 2018 World silver medalist, Coon, was not able to actually compete at the Olympics since his weight was not qualified. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

The top seed at 50 kg Alyssa Lampe (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 50 kg 1. Alyssa Lampe (Sunkist Kids) 2. Erin Golston (New York AC) 3. Emily Shilson (Titan Mercury) 4. Audrey Jimenez (Sunkist Kids) 5. Sage Mortimer (Titan Mercury WC) 6. Nyla Valencia (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 7. Aleeah Gould (Army WCAP) 8. Charlotte Fowler (Bowlermaker RTC) 9. Nina Pham (Army WCAP) 53 kg 1. Amy Fearnside (Titan Mercury WC) 2. Felicity Taylor (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 3. Katie Gomez (Sunkist Kids) 4. Estrella Dorado Marin (Army WCAP) 5. Jaslynn Gallegos (Cardinal WC) 6. Samara Chavez (Team Tornado WC) 7. Vanessa Ramirez (Army WCAP) 8. Danielle Garcia (Team Tornado WC) 9. Kiely Tabaldo (Royalty WC) 55 kg 1. Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC) 2. Lauren Mason (California) 3. Marissa Gallegos (Colorado Mesa WC) 4. Alisha Howk (Sunkist Kids) 5. Areana Villaescusa (Army WCAP) 6. Amani Jones (Cardinal WC) 7. Peyton Stroud (Bearcat WC) 57 kg 1. Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) 2. Amanda Martinez (Titan Mercury WC) 3. Cameron Guerin (Titan Mercury WC) 4. Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Rise RTC) 5. Shelby Moore (White River Hornets WC) 6. Nicole Moore (Kansas USA Wrestling) 7. Montana Delawder (Team Tornado WC) 59 kg 1. Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids) 2. Abigail Nette (Army WCAP) 3. Michaela Beck (Sunkist Kids) 4. Brenda Reyna (Army WCAP) 5. Lexie Basham (Spartan Mat Club) 6. Sarah Savidge (Army WCAP) 7. Gracie Figueroa (Titan Mercury WC) 8. Lauren Louive (New York AC) 62 kg 1. Jennifer Page (Titan Mercury WC) 2. Aduago Nwachukwu (California) 3. Amanda Hendey (Titan Mercury WC) 4. SaVannah Cosme (Sunkist Kids) 5. Claire DiCugno (White River Hornets WC) 6. Bridgette Duty (Army WCAP) 7. Ashlynn Ortega (New York AC) 65 kg 1. Macey Kilty (Sunkist Kids) 2. Emma Bruntil (Titan Mercury WC) 3. Ana Luciano (Team Tornado WC) 4. Skylar Hattendorf (New Hampshire) 5. Reese Laramendy (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 6. Maya Letona (NYC RTC) 7. Emily Se (Southern Oregon RTC) 8. Ella Schmit (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 9. Nina Makem (Minnesota Storm) 10. Viktorya Torres (Team Tornado WC) 68 kg 1. Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids) 2. Solin Piearcy (Menlo WC) 3. Alexandria Glaude (Titan Mercury WC) 4. Kaylynn Albrecht (Kansas) 5. Isabella Mir (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 6. Katerina Lange (Minnesota Storm) 7. London Houston (Cardinal WC) 8. Chloe Ogden (North Carolina) 72 kg 1. Marilyn Garcia (Birmingham Community Charter HS) 2. Joye Levendusky (New York) 3. Marlynne Deede (Minnesota Storm) 4. Nahiela Magee (Army WCAP) 5. Cheyenne Bowman (Pounder WC) 6. Rose Cassioppi (Illinois) 7. Haley Ward (MO West Championship WC) 8. Brooklyn Hays (Minnesota Gold WC) 9. Noelle Gaffney (New Jersey) 76 kg 1. Adeline Gray (New York AC) 2. Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids) 3. Yelena Makoyed (California) 4. Dymond Guilford (Titan Mercury WC) 5. Kylie Welker (Hawkeye Women’s WC) 6. Precious Bell (Titan Mercury WC) 7. Skylar Grote (New Jersey) 8. Tristan Kelly (Army WCAP) 9. Sydnee Kimber (Bearcat WC) 10. Ashley Lekas (Minnesota Gold WC)

The top seed at 57 kg Zane Richards (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 kg 1. Zane Richards, Titan Mercury WC 2. Spencer Lee, Hawkeye WC 3. Nick Suriano, Sunkist Kids WC 4. Patrick Glory, New Jersey RTC 5. Jakob Camacho, Wolfpack WC 6. Cooper Flynn, Southeast RTC 7. Caleb Smith, North Carolina 8. Michael Tortorice, Knights RTC 61 kg 1. Seth Gross, Sunkist Kids WC 2. Vitali Arujau, Titan Mercury WC 3. Nathan Tomasello, Titan Mercury WC 4. Joe Colon, Titan Mercury WC 5. Austin DeSanto, Hawkeye WC 6. Daniel DeShazer, Gopher WC 7. Nahshon Garrett, Lehigh Valley WC 8. Joshua Rodriguez, Nittany Lion WC 9. Cody Brewer, Southeast RTC 10. Shelton Mack, Titan Mercury WC 65 kg 1. Joseph McKenna, Titan Mercury WC 2. Evan Henderson, Titan Mercury WC 3. Nick Lee, Nittany Lion WC 4. Patricio Lugo, Hawkeye WC 5. Ridge Lovett, Nebraska WTC 6. Matthew Kolodzik, New York AC 7. Ian Parker, West Point WC 8. Anthony Ashnault, New York City RTC 9. Luke Pletcher, Pittsburgh WC 10. Beau Bartlett, Nittany Lion WC 11. Brandon Wright, Indiana 12. Cole Matthews, Pittsburgh WC 70 kg 1. Alec Pantaleo, Titan Mercury WC 2. Tyler Berger, Nebraska 3. Hayden Hidlay, Wolfpack WC 4. Sam Sasso, Titan Mercury WC 5. Edward Scott, Wolfpack WC 6. Caleb Henson, Southeast RTC 7. Jarod Verkleeren, Cavalier WC 8. Fidel Mayora, Cliff Keen WC 74 kg 1. Jason Nolf, Nittany Lion WC 2. Joey Lavallee, Titan Mercury WC 3. Vincenzo Joseph, Sunkist Kids WC 4. Keegan O'Toole, Tiger Style WC 5. Thomas Gantt, Titan Mercury WC 6. Collin Purinton, Sunkist Kids WC 7. Joshua Shields, Sunkist Kids WC 8. Julian Ramirez, Spartan Combat RTC 9. Peter Pappas, Patriot Elite WC 10. Elroy Perkin, West Coast RTC 79 kg 1. Chance Marsteller, Titan Mercury WC 2. Carter Starocci, Nittany Lion WC 3. Alex Dieringer, Titan Mercury WC 4. Alex Marinelli, Hawkeye WC 5. David McFadden, Titan Mercury WC 6. Taylor Lujan, Panther WC 7. Michael Kemerer, Spartan Combat RTC 8. Michael Labriola, Nebraska WTC 9. Devin Skatzka, Titan Mercury WC 10. Nelson Brands, Hawkeye WC 11. Muhamed McBryde, New York AC 12. Isaiah White, Indiana RTC 13. Donnell Washington, Indiana RTC 14. Carson Kharchla, Ohio 86 kg 1. Zahid Valencia, Sunkist Kids WC 2. Mark Hall, Titan Mercury WC 3. Aaron Brooks, Nittany Lion WC 4. Trent Hidlay, Wolfpack WC 5. Andrew Morgan, Spartan Combat RTC 6. Owen Webster, Gopher WC 92 kg 1. Kollin Moore, Titan Mercury WC 2. Nathan Jackson, New York AC 3. Michael Macchiavello, Titan Mercury WC 4. Eric Schultz, Nebraska WTC 5. Morgan McIntosh, Nittany Lion WC 6. Jonathan Aiello, Cavalier WC 7. Isaac Trumble, Wolfpack WC 8. Jacob Cardenas, Spartan Combat RTC 9. Silas Allred, Nebraska WTC 10. Michael Battista, Cavalier WC 97 kg 1. J'den Cox, Titan Mercury WC 2. Timothy Dudley, Sunkist Kids WC 3. Morgan Smith, Lehigh Valley WC 4. Samuel Mitchell, Bulls WC 5. Ben Kueter, Iowa 125 kg 1. Gable Steveson, Gopher WC 2. Nick Gwiazdowski, Titan Mercury WC 3. Dominique Bradley, Sunkist Kids WC 4. Mason Parris, Cliff Keen WC 5. Ty Walz, Titan Mercury WC 6. Derek White, Titan Mercury WC 7. Christian Lance, Sunkist Kids WC 8. Wyatt Hendrickson, Colorado 9. Demertius Thomas, Pittsburgh WC 10. Ceron Francisco, Nittany Lion WC 11. Jordan Wood, Lehigh Valley WC 12. Zach Elam, Tiger Style WC

Jacarra Winchester at the 2022 World Championships (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It’s US Open week! Starting Wednesday, from the SouthPoint Casino in Las Vegas, will be the host of national championships events for six different age groups. Today, we’re focusing on Senior Women’s Freestyle. The entire Senior Open, women’s freestyle included, is drastically different this year from years past. The qualification process for the World Team has changed so that returning world medalists are automatically in Final X (if they accept their berth) and they’ll meet the winner of the US Open. For most women’s freestyle weights, a spot on the Senior World team rests on their performance at the Open. For weight classes without a returning world medalist, the Open is a qualifying event for the World Team Trials, which are a few weeks from now in Colorado. The top-seven placewinners from the Open will qualify for the Trials if they haven’t done so already. So, with that in mind, here’s what to expect in our weight-by-weight preview of the 2023 Senior Women’s Open. 50 kg Waiting in Final X: Sarah Hildebrandt Right off the bat, we’ve got a really deep weight class at 50 kg. There are six age-group world medalists at this weight. It will be an interesting dynamic at 50 kg, because it has been dominated by Sarah Hildebrandt since she moved down for the 2020 Olympic Trials. Her Final X opponent, Alyssa Lampe, a two-time world bronze medalist has entered and will be a favorite in Vegas. Despite the veteran presence at the top of this weight, there’s a shift toward youth as there are plenty of talented young women in this bracket. Another one of the mainstays in title contention is Erin Golston, who is still looking to make her first world team at the Senior level. Golston was the winner here in each of the last two years. After losing a tight first match to Lampe in the World Team Trials, Golston was pinned by Lampe in the second bout, securing a place for Lampe in Final X. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

2023 NCAA 7th Place finisher Will Feldkamp (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) As we reflect on the 2022-2023 wrestling season and are close to a full month since the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it would be hard not to mention four of the most dominant wrestlers in the MAC. Will Feldkamp of Clarion, Ethan Laird of Rider, Anthony Noto of Lock Haven, and Izzak Olejnik of Northern Illinois all proved their dominance time and time again, securing All-American status by placing within the top-eight in the country. Let’s take a look back on each of their seasons wins. Anthony Noto (125): 34-4 November 11th - won by a 14-4 major decision over Gary Steen of Penn State. November 12th - defeated Jarrett Trombley of NC State in sudden victory, 3-1. November 19th - triumphed in sudden victory over Maximillian Leete of American, 6-4. November 19th - won by a medical forfeit over Jake Ferri of Kent State. November 19th - topped Benny Gomez of Michigan State by a decision of 8-3. December 1st - won by a technical fall in 3:15 over Hale Robinson of Davidson, 18-3. December 4th - defeated Drew West of Gardner-Webb by a technical fall in 5:37; 19-4. December 4th - won over Matthew Rowland of Gardner-Webb by technical fall in 5:00; 19-2. December 4th - triumphed over JB Dragovich of George Mason by fall in :52. December 4th - won by a decision of 10-3 over Markel Baker of George Mason. December 19th - topped Kyle Golhoffer of Northern Iowa by an 11-4 decision. December 20th - won by a 7-4 decision over Antonio Lorenzo of Cal Poly. January 6th - defeated Robbie Sagaris of LIU by fall in 1:14. January 6th - won over Jack Wagner of North Carolina by a decision of 6-2. January 6th - triumphed over Spencer Moore of North Carolina by a 5-1 decision. January 6th - won by a technical fall in 2:35 over Cole Hunt of North Carolina, 19-3. January 6th - topped Maximillian Leete of American by a major decision of 11-1. January 20th - won by a 9-5 decision over Benjamin Aranda of Cleveland State. January 22nd - defeated Joseph Fischer of Clarion by a decision of 5-3. January 26th - won over Tyler Klinsky of Rider by a 6-4 decision. February 2nd - triumphed over Bronson Garber of Bloomsburg by a major decision of 15-4. February 3rd - won by a technical fall in 7:00 against Dayton DelViscio of Navy, 19-4. February 11th - topped JB Dragovich of George Mason by fall in 2:01. February 11th - won by a 5-2 decision over Maximillian Leete of American. February 16th - defeated Eamonn Jimenez of Edinboro by fall in 2:46. March 3rd - won by fall in 2:03 over Benjamin Aranda of Cleveland State. March 3rd - triumphed over Markel Baker by a decision of 4-3. March 3rd - won by a 3-2 decision over Tyler Klinsky of Rider. March 3rd - topped Jake Ferri of Kent State by a major decision of 8-0. March 16th - defeated Joey Prata of Oklahoma by a 5-2 decision. March 16th - won by a decision of 5-4 over Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. March 16th - triumphed over Dean Peterson of Rutgers by a 3-1 decision. March 16th - won by a decision of 8-3 over Killian Cardinale of West Virginia. March 16th - defeated Liam Cronin of Nebraska in sudden victory, 3-1. Total Falls: 5 Total Technical Falls: 5 Total Major Decisions: 4 Izzak Olejnik (165): 31-5 November 5th - won by a 5-1 decision over Chandler Amaker of Central Michigan. November 5th - defeated Danny Braunagel of Illinois by a decision of 6-2. November 5th - won over Caleb Fish of Michigan State by a 6-4 decision. November 5th - topped Sean O’dwyer of Ohio by a major decision of 11-3. November 20th - won by an 8-0 major decision over Cooper Noehre of Purdue. November 20th - triumphed over Caleb Cass of Cleveland State by fall in 4:21. November 20th - won by fall in 1:43 over Caleb Waddell of Chattanooga. December 4th - defeated Kodiak Cannedy of Little Rock by a 10-0 major decision. December 4th - won over Cameron Steed of Missouri by a decision of 4-1. December 4th - topped Cardeionte Wilson of SIU-Edwardsville by a 5-0 decision. December 4th - won by fall in 1:29 over Hayden Shepherd of SIU-Edwardsville. December 18th - triumphed over Enrique Munguia of Kent State by a major decision of 9-1. December 29th - won by a decision of 3-2 over Justin McCoy of Virginia. December 29th - defeated Luca Frinzi of Lehigh by a 4-0 decision. December 29th - won by fall in 2:07 against Blaine Bergey of Princeton. December 29th - topped Nathan Lackman of Rhode Island College by a decision of 5-2. December 29th - won by fall in 6:09 over Kendall Norfleet of Triton College. January 7th - triumphed over Tanner Cook of South Dakota State by a 3-1 decision. January 13th - won by fall in 2:06 against Changer Amaker of Central Michigan. January 20th - defeated Jordan Slivka of Ohio by a decision of 4-3. February 4th - won by a 6-0 decision over Noah Grover of Buffalo. February 10th - topped Maxx Mayfield of Northwestern by a decision of 5-4. February 19th - won over Cardeionte Wilson of SIU-Edwardsville by a 2-0 decision. March 3rd - triumphed over Trenton Harder of Bloomsburg by a technical fall in 5:39; 15-0. March 3rd - won by an 8-2 decision over Tracy Hubbard of Central Michigan. March 3rd - defeated Hunter Mays of Rider by fall in 2:21. March 3rd - won over Enrique Munguia of Kent State by a decision of 7-2. March 16th - topped Gerrit Nijenhuis of Oklahoma by a 4-3 decision. March 16th - won by an 8-1 decision over Tanner Cook of South Dakota State. March 16th - triumphed over Holden Heller of Pittsburgh by injury default in 5:40. March 16th - won by a decision of 2-1 over Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. Total Falls: 7 Total Technical Falls: 1 Total Major Decisions: 4 Will Feldkamp (184): 29-6 November 6th - won by fall in 1:41 over Reece Heller of Pittsburgh. November 6th - defeated Nick Meglino by fall in 1:01. November 6th - won by an 11-2 major decision over Mike Caniglia of Kent State. November 6th - triumphed over James Lledo of Pittsburgh by fall in 4:16. December 2nd - won by a 4-2 decision over Logan Deacetis of Bucknell. December 12th - topped Bruno Stolfi of Bloomsburg by fall in 2:20. December 16th - won by a 7-3 decision over Jha’Quan Anderson of Gardner-Webb. December 16th - defeated Matthew Waddell of SIU-Edwardsville by a 5-2 decision. December 22nd - won by a decision of 3-1 over Deandre Nassar of Cleveland State. January 8th - triumphed over Ben Cushman of Central Michigan by fall in 4:17. January 14th - won by fall in :47 over Zach Brown of VMI. January 14th - topped Gavin Claro of LIU by fall in :54. January 20th - won by a 4-3 decision over Tyler Kocak of George Mason. January 22nd - defeated Colin Fegley of Lock Haven by a 12-2 major decision. January 27th - won by fall in 3:00 over Jack Kilner of Edinboro. January 29th - triumphed over Mike Caniglia of Kent State by a 6-0 decision. February 10th - won by a 9-1 major decision over Giuseppe Hoose of Buffalo. February 12th - topped Isaac Dean of Rider by technical fall in 3:51; 17-2. February 17th - won by fall in :31 over Anthony Carman of West Virginia. February 19th - defeated Donovan Ball of Penn State by fall in 1:20. March 3rd - won by fall in 3:43 over Ben Cushman of Central Michigan. March 3rd - triumphed over Deandre Nassar of Cleveland State by a 3-1 decision. March 3rd - won by a 3-2 decision over Isaac Dean of Rider. March 3rd - topped Zayne Lehman of Ohio by fall in 1:40. March 16th - won by a decision of 4-3 over Jacob Nolan of Binghamton. March 16th - defeated Lenny Pinto of Nebraska by fall in 4:30. March 6th - won by a decision of 3-2 over Colton Hawks of Missouri. March 6th - triumphed over Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota by a 8-4 decision. March 6th - won by fall in 2:38 over Gavin Kane of North Carolina. Total Falls: 14 Total Technical Falls: 1 Total Major Decisions: 3 Ethan Laird (197): 28-4 November 6th - won by a 16-3 major decision over Aidan Conner of Princeton. November 6th - defeated Luke Stout of Princeton by a decision of 4-3. November 6th - won over Kyle Epperly of Rutgers by a 12-2 major decision. November 11th - triumphed over Ryan Yarnell of SIU-Edwardsville by a technical fall in 7:00; 21-6. November 13th - won over Hayden Filipovich of Purdue by a 17-6 major decision. November 20th - topped Jon List of George Mason by fall in 3:59. November 20th - won by fall in 2:30 over Cole Urbas of Pennsylvania. November 20th - defeated Kordell Norfleet of Arizona State by a 7-6 decision. December 2nd - won by sudden victory 3-1 over Max Dean of Penn State. January 1st - triumphed over Vincent Baker of Duke of a 16-4 major decision. January 1st - won by a 6-4 decision over Stephen Little of Little Rock. January 8th - topped Billy Janzer of Rutgers by a decision of 6-1. January 13th - won over Tanner Culver of Bloomsburg by a technical fall in 5:43; 18-3. January 21st - defeated Luke Stout of Princeton by an 8-3 decision. January 26th - won by a 16-5 major decision over Brad Morrison of Lock Haven. January 28th - triumphed over Nolan Springer of Bucknell by a major decision of 16-3. February 10th - won by a decision of 5-3 over Cody Mulligan of Edinboro. February 12th - topped Tyler Bagoly of Clarion by a 13-5 major decision. February 17th - won by a 12-3 major decision over Tyler Kocak of George Mason. February 18th - defeated Anthony Perrine of Cleveland State by a 3-1 decision. February 18th - won by a 8-2 decision over Sean O’Malley of Drexel. March 3rd - triumphed over Tanner Culver of Bloomsburg by fall in 4:36. March 3rd - won by a decision of 5-2 over Sam Mitchell of Buffalo. March 3rd - topped Cody Mulligan of Edinboro by a major decision of 12-3. March 3rd - won by an 8-4 decision over Carson Brewer of Ohio. March 16th - defeated Trey Rogers of Hofstra by a decision of 10-5. March 16th - won by a 3-1 decision over Yonger Bastida of Iowa State. March 16th - triumphed over Zach Braunagel of Illinois by a decision of 3-2. Total Falls: 3 Total Technical Falls: 2 Total Major Decisions: 7 It’s clear that these four young men have dominated the MAC, as well as their opponents from various other conferences. Congratulations to Will, Ethan, Anthony, and Izzak for an incredible wrestling season!

2023 NCAA champion Nino Bonaccorsi (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Early last week, InterMat released its re-ranking for the high school Class of 2018. With recruiting on the mind, we decided to jump in and look at each individual weight class for the 2023 NCAA DI Championships. As is customary in wrestling we'll start with the lower weights and work our way up. This analysis will break down the 2023 NCAA qualifiers a weight class at a time, by their pre-collegiate ranking within their recruiting class, their year of high school graduation, transfers, home states, and, of course, rankings for the 2023 All-Americans. Moving along to the penultimate weight class in our recruiting countdown, 197 lbs. This is an unusual bracket from what we've been accustomed to seeing in our previous eight weight classes. When it was all said and done half of the top six finishers in Tulsa came into college unranked in their respective recruiting classes. That was a trend with the entire weight class as 13 of the 33 national qualifiers were not on their respective Big Board's. Another weird tidbit is that a third of this weight class came from either Illinois or Pennsylvania. Ok, on to our look at the 197 lb weight class. Past Weight Classes 125 lbs 133 lbs 141 lbs 149 lbs 157 lbs 165 lbs 174 lbs 184 lbs 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (197 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings #1-#10 #3 (2020) Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) #7 (2017) Jacob Warner (Iowa) #9 (2020) Rocky Elam (Missouri) #10 (2018) Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) #11-#30 #11 (2018) Michael Beard (Lehigh) #15 (2019) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) #15 (2020) Sila Allred (Nebraska) #24 (2020) Luke Stout (Princeton) #29 (2020) Isaac Trumble (NC State) #30 (2017) Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #31-#50 #36 (2021) Jaxon Smith (Maryland) #43 (2020) Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) #51-#100 #57 (2017) Andrew Davison (Northwestern) #73 (2019) Max Shaw (North Carolina) #74 (2016) Max Dean (Penn State) #80 (2019) Austin Cooley (West Virginia) #85 (2019) Cole Urbas (Penn) #101-#200 #161 (2020) Nick Stemmet (Stanford) Not Ranked by Willie Saylor/MatScouts; Ranked by The Open Mat #93 (2018) Trey Rogers (Hofstra) Not Ranked Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Michael Battista (Virginia) - 2017 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) - 2018 Zac Braunagel (Illinois) - 2018 Cam Caffey (Michigan State) - 2017 Michial Foy (Minnesota) - 2017 Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) - 2016 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) - 2019 Jake Koser (Navy) - 2018 Ethan Laird (Rider) - 2017 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) - 2020 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) - 2018 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) - 2019 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) - 2018 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (197 lbs) by Recruiting Class 2016 Max Dean (Penn State) Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) 2017 Michael Battista (Virginia) Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) Cam Caffey (Michigan State) Andrew Davison (Northwestern) Michial Foy (Minnesota) Ethan Laird (Rider) Jacob Warner (Iowa) 2018 Michael Beard (Lehigh) Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) Zac Braunagel (Illinois) Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) Jake Koser (Navy) Trey Rogers (Hofstra) Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) 2019 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) Austin Cooley (West Virginia) Levi Hopkins (Campbell) Max Shaw (North Carolina) Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) Cole Urbas (Penn) 2020 Silas Allred (Nebraska) Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) Rocky Elam (Missouri) Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) Nick Stemmet (Stanford) Luke Stout (Princeton) Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) Isaac Trumble (NC State) 2021 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) Home States for 2023 197 lb NCAA Qualifiers Alaska Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) Levi Hopkins (Campbell) California Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) Cuba Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Georgia Jaxon Smith (Maryland) Illinois Zac Braunagel (Illinois) Cam Caffey (Michigan State) Michial Foy (Minnesota) Nick Stemmet (Stanford) Jacob Warner (Iowa) Indiana Silas Allred (Nebraska) Andrew Davison (Northwestern) Iowa Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) Massachusetts Austin Cooley (West Virginia) Michigan Max Dean (Penn State) Minnesota Trey Rogers (Hofstra) Missouri Rocky Elam (Missouri) Nebraska Isaac Trumble (NC State) New Jersey Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) Oklahoma Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) Oregon Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) Pennsylvania Michael Beard (Lehigh) Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) Jake Koser (Navy) Ethan Laird (Rider) Max Shaw (North Carolina) Cole Urbas (Penn) Utah Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) Virginia Michael Battista (Virginia) Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) West Virginia Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 197 lb NCAA Qualifiers Signed by Another Program Michael Beard (Penn State) Evan Bockman (California Baptist) Austin Cooley (Pittsburgh) Andrew Davison (Michigan) Max Dean (Cornell) Michial Foy (Harper College) Tanner Harvey (SW Oregon CC) Owen Pentz (Fresno State) Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans 1st: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #30 in 2017 2nd: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) NR in 2018 3rd: Rocky Elam (Missouri) #9 in 2020 4th: Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) NR in 2018 5th: Jacob Warner (Iowa) #7 in 2017 6th: Ethan Laird (Rider) NR in 2017 7th: Max Dean (Penn State) #74 in 2016 8th: Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) #15 in 2019

3x NCAA champion Aaron Brooks (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Early last week, InterMat released its re-ranking for the high school Class of 2018. With recruiting on the mind, we decided to jump in and look at each individual weight class for the 2023 NCAA DI Championships. As is customary in wrestling we'll start with the lower weights and work our way up. This analysis will break down the 2023 NCAA qualifiers a weight class at a time, by their pre-collegiate ranking within their recruiting class, their year of high school graduation, transfers, home states, and, of course, rankings for the 2023 All-Americans. Coming down the home stretch to 184 lbs. This bracket had an inordinate amount of unranked wrestlers that developed once they hit their respective college campuses. Almost half the weight class came into college without being ranked in their graduating class. That unranked group ended up producing as one earned All-American honors in 2023, while two others made the bloodround and another pair earned two wins in Tulsa. On the other end of the spectrum, the top four finishers at this weight were all deemed top-20 recruits in their respective classes and had a collegiate career that was commensurate with that ranking. 125 lbs 133 lbs 141 lbs 149 lbs 157 lbs 165 lbs 174 lbs 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (184 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings #1-#10 #2 (2018) Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #6 (2018) Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #7 (2021) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) #11-#30 #12 (2022) Brian Soldano (Rutgers) #14 (2019) Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #16 (2017) Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) #18 (2018) Trent Hidlay (NC State) #29 (2019) Abe Assad (Iowa) #30 (2020) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) #31-#50 #31 (2020) Gavin Kane (North Carolina) #35 (2019) Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #50 (2017) Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) #51-#100 #63 (2020) Colton Hawks (Missouri) #77 (2021) DJ Parker (North Dakota State) #78 (2017) Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) #101-#200 #129 (2021) Dylan Connell (Illinois) #176 (2021) Zayne Lehman (Ohio) Not Ranked (by Willie Saylor/MatScouts; Ranked by The Open Mat) #59 (2019) David Key (Navy) Not Ranked Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) Neil Antrassian (Virginia) Brian Bonino (Drexel) Anthony Carman (West Virginia) Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Jacob Ferreria (Hofstra) Matt Finesilver (Michigan) Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo) Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) Cade King (South Dakota State) Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) Matt Waddell (Chattanooga) 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (184 lbs) by Recruiting Class 2016 Matt Finesilver (Michigan) 2017 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) Brian Bonino (Drexel) Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) 2018 Neil Antrassian (Virginia) Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) Trent Hidlay (NC State) Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo) Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 2019 Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) Abe Assad (Iowa) Anthony Carman (West Virginia) Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) David Key (Navy) Cade King (South Dakota State) Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) Trey Munoz (Oregon State) Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 2020 Colton Hawks (Missouri) Gavin Kane (North Carolina) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 2021 Dylan Connell (Illinois) Zayne Lehman (Ohio) DJ Parker (North Dakota State) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 2022 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) Home States for 184 lb NCAA Qualifiers Alaska Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) California Trey Munoz (Oregon State) Colorado Matt Finesilver (Michigan) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) Georgia Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) Gavin Kane (North Carolina) David Key (Georgia) Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) Illinois Abe Assad (Iowa) Dylan Connell (Illinois) Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) DJ Parker (North Dakota State) Iowa Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) Maryland Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Michigan Neil Antrassian (Virginia) Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) Missouri Colton Hawks (Missouri) Minnesota Cade King (South Dakota State) New Jersey Brian Bonino (Drexel) Brian Soldano (Rutgers) New York Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo) Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) Ohio Zayne Lehman (Ohio) Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) Oregon Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) Pennsylvania Trent Hidlay (NC State) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) Virginia Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) West Virginia Anthony Carman (West Virginia) Wisconsin Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 184 lbs NCAA Qualifiers Signed by Another Program Neil Antrassian (Penn) Brian Bonino (Columbia) Will Feldkamp (Northern Illinois) Jacob Ferreira (Bucknell) Matt Finesilver (Duke) Reece Heller (Hofstra) Trey Munoz (Arizona State) Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) Matthew Waddell (Oklahoma) Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans 1st: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #2 in 2018 2nd: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #14 in 2019 3rd: Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) #16 in 2017 4th: Trent Hidlay (NC State) #18 in 2018 5th: Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) #78 in 2017 6th: Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #35 in 2019 7th: Will Feldkamp (Clarion) NR in 2017 8th: Gavin Kane (North Carolina) #31 in 2020

U20 World silver medalist Mitchell Mesenbrink (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) This afternoon, on the WIWrestle Rokfin page, 2022 U20 World silver medalist Mitchell Mesenbrink announced his transfer destination. Mesenbrink will wrestle for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Mesenbrink was deemed the #59 overall recruit in the Class of 2022; however, that could have changed after winning the U20 World Team Trials and going over to Sofia, Bulgaria and coming away with a trip to the finals. To make the world team, Mesenbrink downed now-teammate Levi Haines in two-straight matches at the WTT best-of-three series. He was afforded the opportunity to sit in the final after dominating his way through the U20 Open. There he teched Caleb Henson, Chance Lamer, and Paniro Johnson, among others. Mesenbrink initially signed with California Baptist but went into the transfer portal early in the 2022-23 season. He saw action in two duals during the opening weekend of the Lancers season, finishing both of his opponents via fall. The rest of the year consisted of freestyle competitions once Mesenbrink hit the portal. He was fifth at the Bill Farrell and third at the Dan Kolov. With the addition of Mesenbrink, Penn State now gets two significant transfers within a three-day span. Earlier this week, three-time All-American Bernie Truax announced he would be spending his final year of eligibility in State College. Mesenbrink likely fits in as a 165 lber. Penn State did not have an All-American at the weight; however, they did have redshirt freshman Alex Facundo at the weight class, who was a top recruit from the Class of 2021.

Nebraska's national finalist Ridge Lovett (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The college wrestling season has finished, but that doesn't mean you have to stop watching wrestling. Goodness no, in fact, some might say that this is the most exciting wrestling time of the season, the freestyle season. Freestyle brings us higher amplitude moves, more wrestling on their feet, the best wrestlers in the country (many of which compete currently or previously in the B1G), and some incredible matchups. Multiple-time NCAA Champions and All-Americans compete for a chance to represent their respective countries. Being that I am one of the B1G correspondents, and the US Open starts next week (April 26-30), I thought it would be fun to look at some of the B1G wrestlers competing (or at least registered to compete as I write this). For this exercise, I'm going to mainly focus on athletes who still have eligibility to come back and compete for their schools in the 2023-2024 season, and who were previously starters for their college teams. More specifically, they are likely to come back and compete. I believe technically Gable Steveson has one more year of eligibility, but I believe it remains very unlikely that it will happen. There is one noteworthy exception to this rule, but you'll see that shortly, and understand why. Anyway, in an effort to look at the bright future of B1G wrestling, let's take a long look at the youth that will be competing next week in Las Vegas. Ridge Lovett - 65 kgs: The Cornhusker redshirted last season after placing second at NCAAs the year before. Ridge has been as dynamic offensively as you can get, and seems comfortable wrestling in seemingly any position. A wrestler with such a wide range of offensive looks certainly transitions to freestyle very well, and in the case of Ridge, he has the resume to prove it. Most recently he traveled overseas at the beginning of 2023 and placed 3rd at the Henri Deglane in France, getting wins over athletes from Kazakhstan, France, Argentina, and eventually Matt Kolodzik of the United States. Ridge should be considered one of the legitimate US Open title contenders, and that's even with the likes of Luke Pletcher, Joey McKenna, Anthony Ashnault, the aforementioned Kolodzik, and the always-dangerous Evan Henderson in the field. Sammy Sasso - 70 kgs: Fresh off his second second-place finish behind Yianni at NCAAs, you've got to believe that Sammy is ready to get back to competing. Sammy up to 70 kgs is interesting as well. He's as dangerous as it gets with counter offense, and his cradles and length will still come in handy here, even up a weight. Sammy's most recent freestyle results come from the RTC Cup, where he had wins over Mitch McKee and Kevin Jack. Historically, Sasso also has freestyle wins over David Carr, so the man is tremendously skilled at this level. In his weight class, some of the top competitors will be guys like Hayden Hidlay, Alec Pantaleo, and Tyler Berger. Derek Gilcher - 74kgs: The first Hoosier we've got competing at the US Open is Derek Gilcher. Derek had a strong season last year, placing 8th at the B1Gs and going 1-2 at NCAAs. He had wins over several ranked wrestlers last season, and was really able to put a strong and consistent season together. I attribute this a lot to Indiana consistently sending their athletes to freestyle competitions, as you'll see. Getting wins over guys at these events helps set the stage for a lot of these athletes that they are where they need to be, and I feel like Derek is one of the guys who will springboard from last season's success and into a strong showing at this event. Derek competed last season at the WTTs and before that at U23 nationals, just in the last two seasons. This might not come as a shock to you, but as it turns out, 74 kg is a loaded weight class. His competition will include notable athletes such as Vincenzo Joseph, Keegan O'Toole, Tommy Gantt, Luka Wick, Kaleb Young, and Josh Shields. Carson Kharchla - 79 kgs: This is the second Buckeye we have seen up a weight from their college season. Probably means nothing, but not enough of a nothing where it's not noted. Anyway, Kharchla has proven results in freestyle at the Senior level. He has a win over Mekhi Lewis from the RTC Cup, but injuries have largely kept him out of freestyle competition since then. Finishing this most recent college season with a 2-1 loss in the bloodround to Izaak Olejnik I'm sure has him excited to get back to competition and totally redeem himself. Will be exciting to see if healthy, and possibly at a better weight, Kharchla will be able to make waves at the US Open. This weight is absolutely loaded with veterans such as Alex Dieringer, Alex Marinelli, Michael Kemerer, Chance Marsteller, David McFadden, Taylor Lujan, and even registered is our old NC State friend, Max Rohskopf. Donnell Washington - 79kgs: Continuing the fun at 79kgs, is the Hoosier. Washington has relied on wild card bids the last two NCAA seasons, but nonetheless, he's a three-time NCAA qualifier. Even looking at his results at NCAAs, it looks like he's largely lost to guys he should lose to. It's not like he's getting upset, maybe just 174 is really hard (and 184 that one year). Washington has been consistently competing on the freestyle scene, and has competed in the 2021 U23 Junior World Championships for the United States. With the names listed above, it'll be tough for him to place, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll be able to do against this field. Ben Kueter - 97 kgs: Yes, please. The last time I watched Ben Kueter wrestle people, it was high school kids. Better than that though, the last time I watched Ben Kueter wrestle freestyle was at the U20 World Championships in 2022, when he beat everyone that he wrestled. That's first place ladies and gentlemen. If Ben wrestles at the Senior level, which he's registered to do, that would be amazing. Not to mention having this dude compete against the likes of J'Den Cox, Michael Macchiavello, and Isaac Trumble, would be pretty damn awesome. It'll be a nice preview of the levels he'll be able to reach when he's in Iowa City next year, and how early we should expect to see him in the lineup. Jacob Bullock - 125 kgs: The third Hoosier to watch is their monster heavyweight. Bullock has become a fan favorite of mine. The enormous and athletic heavyweight had some solid wins this NCAA season, like his win over All-American Tate Orndorff, and getting an at-large bid to the Championships, where he went 1-2. Bullock wrestling freestyle should be awesome since he has such a powerful double leg, and has such a strong gas tank. He, like Washington, has extensive freestyle experience over the last couple of years. Not many notable wins, but the point isn't always the wins, but the experience gained from competing in these events. The B1G heavyweight will only be better competing in this field including notables, Gable Steveson, Mason Parris, Wyatt Hendrickson, Nick Gwiazdowski, Jordan Wood, Dom Bradley, and Hayden Zillmer. ***Edit*** The below wrestlers signed up after this was published. Aaron Brooks - 86 kgs: FINALLY! Cue the GIF from the old lady in Titanic saying “It’s been 84 years.” It hasn’t been that long, but it has been since the 2020 US Open (which was actually held in 2021) that we watched Aaron Brooks compete in freestyle wrestling. At that tournament, he had wins over Handsome Nate Jackson and Sammy Brooks, and loses to Zahid Valencia and Pat Downey. The Cadet World Champion will finally be back and I am very excited to watch. Pay close attention to his hand fighting. I don’t know how I missed it, but he is relentless with his hands and that’s certainly a skill that transfers well across all styles. Another interesting point is that Aaron will be competing at 86 kgs, whereas NLWC teammate David Taylor has been dominating the planet for the last couple of years. Would love to see those two battle at some point. Carter Starocci - 79 kgs: It makes sense that a guy who says that he’s going to be the Olympic Champion next year would compete in the US Open first. Starocci is a dude who backs up everything he says with his wrestling, so respect to that for sure. He’s joining a LOADED 79 kg weight class, so it’ll be interesting to see how he is able to compete with this group of veterans. The U23 World Silver medalist will have his work cut out for him, but let’s not forget, this is a guy who has freestyle wins over Jason Nolf, Evan Wick, and Chance Marsteller. He has every bit of ability to win this weight, or take 8th, and everything in between. Not a knock on Carter, but a reminder of the depth of the weight. Nelson Brands - 79 kgs: Big Nelson Brands guy right here. Heavy hands, chip on the shoulder, motorcycle accidents be damned. Dude is going to show up and battle with the best of them. As previously mentioned, 79 kgs is the thunder dome of weight classes, but it’ll be fun to see where this hard-hitting Hawkeye ends up. Coming off the 5th place finish at NCAAs and somehow being probably healthier than when he started the season, he is certainly a wild card at the US Open. He hasn’t competed in freestyle since the 2020 U23 trials, but he does have a win over Muhamed McBryde from that tournament. Nelson is going to be a dangerous competitor. He could beat your favorite wrestler, or pull the Metcalf and wear them out so they lose their next match. Beau Bartlett - 65 kgs: Have you ever seen Beau’s Instagram flips? He is a crazy athlete. Makes sense when you watch him wrestle, he is so confident and comfortable in almost any position. After finally getting to compete for Penn State at his proper weight class, the man put together a tremendous season placing third at one of the more difficult and deep weights. He has some solid wins from his most recent freestyle competitions, over guys like Kolodzik, Clay Carlson, and Shannon Hanna, but he also has some losses to Ian Parker, Kendric Maple, and Dylan D’Emilio. That was then though, and this is now. This is a different Beau, and Beau knows wrestling. Cullan Schriever - 61 kgs: Schriever back in action! The young Hawkeye battling for a starting spot for most of last season is going to be back on the mat at the Open. He competed at the Senior level at last year’s US Open, ultimately taking 8th place. That’s solid though for a guy who is still putting everything together. He was able to get a win over Sean Fausz last year, and has close losses to Daniel DaShazer and Josh Kramer. 61 is deep, but we’ll get a better feeling for where Cullan is after the Open for sure.

Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (in cooperation with Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling) - The Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa. has been selected to host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20. Penn State University is serving as the local organizing committee. The champions from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling will become eligible to represent the United States at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, August 5-11, 2024. The competition will be held in the 18 Olympic weight classes in wrestling, which includes six weight classes in men's freestyle (57 kg, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg), women's wrestling (50 kg, 53 kg, 57 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg) and Greco-Roman (60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg, 130 kg). Ticket information for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling will be announced on May 9, 2023. In the two-day format, Friday, April 19, will include start of the Challenge Tournament in all 18 weight classes. Included in Friday's action will be the Challenge Tournament finals, which will determine one athlete in each weight class who advances to the Final Championship Series on Saturday. On Saturday, April 20, all 18 best-of-three Final Championship Series will be held, which determines the U.S. Olympic Team Trials champions in each weight class. This series will feature the top seed and the Challenge Tournament champion, as determined by the 2024 Olympic Games Team Selection Procedures. In addition, the completion of the consolation rounds of the Challenge Tournament will be held on Saturday. At this point, the 2024 Olympic Games Team Selection Procedures have not yet been finalized and approved. The Bryce Jordan Center has already established itself as a historic wrestling venue. It served as the site of the 1999 NCAA Championships, which ironically featured current Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson's first of four NCAA titles and Penn State assistant coach Casey Cunningham's 157 pound crown. The Bryce Jordan Center was also the site of the 1998 and 2009 Big Ten Championships and will serve as the host site in March of 2021. The top eight (and nine of the top 10) all-time NCAA wrestling indoor dual meet attendance records have taken place at the Bryce Jordan Center, including the all-time indoor record of 15,998 (set twice including this past year's recording tying crowd on Jan. 27, 2023). That record crowd is the largest crowd to ever witness a Penn State Athletics event not held in Beaver Stadium, Penn State's 100,000-plus capacity football stadium. University Park becomes only the 11th U.S. city to host a U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling since USA Wrestling became national governing body for wrestling in the United States in 1983. The only previous time it was held in Pennsylvania was in 1992, when the U.S. Freestyle Olympic Team Trials were hosted in Pittsburgh. This will be the sixth straight U.S. Olympic Team Trials in which all three Olympic wrestling teams were determined at the same time, with men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman all featured in the event. The previous U.S. Olympic Team Trials with all three teams determined were in Indianapolis (2004), Las Vegas (2008), Iowa City (2012, 2016) and Fort Worth Texas (2020). Host Penn State is one of college wrestling's most successful teams in history, boasting 11 NCAA Div. I national team titles. Included are ten of the last 11 contested NCAA Div. I national team titles, under head coach Cael Sanderson, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, and one of only three coaches to lead his squad to 10 or more NCAA team championships. U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - Freestyle 1984 - Allendale, Mich. 1988 - Pensacola, Fla. 1992 - Pittsburgh, Pa. 1996 - Spokane, Wash. 2000 - Dallas, Texas 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind. 2008 - Las Vegas, Nev. 2012 - Iowa City, Iowa 2016 - Iowa City, Iowa 2020 - Fort Worth, Texas 2024 - University Park, Pa. U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - Greco-Roman 1984 - Allendale, Mich. 1988 - Pensacola, Fla. 1992 - Concord, Calif. 1996 - Concord, Calif. 2000 - Dallas, Texas 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind. 2008 - Las Vegas, Nev. 2012 - Iowa City, Iowa 2016 - Iowa City, Iowa 2020 - Fort Worth, Texas 2024 - University Park, Pa. U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - Women's Freestyle 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind. 2008 - Las Vegas, Nev. 2012 - Iowa City, Iowa 2016 - Iowa City, Iowa 2020 - Fort Worth, Texas 2024 - University Park, Pa.

2x All-American Will Lewan (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) I got a call from my old friend today (this already sounds like a Springsteen song) inviting me to his high school Hall of Fame induction next month and I couldn’t be prouder of my old teammate. Wayne Rogers has been the heart and soul of Saddle Brook Wrestling for 30 years. In our three years together, “Butchie” was the ultimate teammate and always the hardest worker and toughest guy in the room day in and day out. He pushed you to be better and didn’t make you do anything that he wouldn’t do himself and beat you at. As one of the smallest schools in North Jersey, we never had a large roster and mostly had a hard time finding success. Wayne and his fellow seniors just wouldn’t be denied and led us to a district title. Unthinkable at the time considering where we came from. Then he took over the head coaching gig and won a couple more district titles when you could still field a team at a small, public school. I know in the grand scheme of things a team district title may not mean as much anymore, but it was a huge deal when the Smashing Pumpkins ruled the airwaves! Memories fade through life but that’s still a weekend I’ll never forget and I owe it to Wayne and the rest of my fellow Falcons for giving it to me. It also got me thinking about the old days a bit and how my wrestling journey has been such a strange one. Getting this call made me realize how strange it is that while at least in the Twitter wrestling community, I’m pretty well known amongst a certain sector but how in my own hometown and area, I don’t know anybody. I could go to the NCAA tournament and maybe get recognized by like ten people, but around here I’m just some guy named Ian who can slide in and out of any event unnoticed. My point is, I wish I had been more involved in the sport throughout my life and kept more relationships with my wrestling brethren. It’s funny, you spend four years of your life during your teenage years and the memories you make there stay with you forever. I can’t wait to see my old mates again and I’m sure it will be like we never left each other. These are the guys I grew up with. We sweat and bled together. We cleared out the cafeteria every day to create a makeshift wrestling room. We starved together. We won and lost together. We kept the secret about playing manhunt in the park instead of jogging around town or whatever we were supposed to be doing. Anybody who’s been on a wrestling team knows exactly what I’m talking about here. Not everyone can be a state, national, or world champ. For the rest of us, the bond is all we have. Alright, enough with memory lane, someone asked a question about my favorite fruit and I’m not getting paid by the word. If you could eat one fruit for the rest of your life, what would it be? Richard “Bat” Mann Pineapple, hands down. I don’t even know how to elaborate on this. I just love pineapple. Lately, I've been grilling sliced kielbasa and pairing it with fresh pineapple as an afternoon snack. Should the requirements for a tech fall be lowered? Microfish65 Absolutely not. If anything, they need to be raised if the scoring changes get voted in. Wrestling needs some kind of exhibition season so I can see how these changes go in real matches. It may not make much of a difference but it just seems a little extreme to do it all at once and completely change the dynamic of a wrestling match. How many three-point takedowns will Gable score in his triumphant return to the mats? Carl Fronhofer Carl! So good to see you! Are you implying that Gable is coming back to college? That shouldn’t even be legal at this point. But while we’re on the subject, I’m so thrilled to see Gable Steveson back where he belongs. Gable, You have the rest of your life for WWE, MMA, mailbag successor, or whatever you want to do. You’re a generational talent here and in the prime of your career. Let’s make some more history on the mat before setting your sights on the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. What’s your favorite potential rule change? Any other rule changes you’d like to see? Earl Smith The riding time/turn point is intriguing to me. I’m interested in if it actually leads to more turns or if it’s really that difficult to turn a guy, while you’re on top for an entire second period. Let’s face it, putting your opponent on his back is literally the point of the sport and it’s the rarest thing we see, because it’s extremely difficult and there are other ways to win. I feel the long-term effects of this could lead to more pins. Or it could mean nothing, but it is something to keep an eye on. And just get rid of headgear. These guys only wear them in an actual match and all it leads to are debated headgear pulls and deducted team points. Some guys are taking laxatives to make weight and you’re concerned about their ears. What TV show are you currently watching? Have you seen any good movies lately? Fantasy College Wrestling Lady Jags and I are currently buried in this little heartwarmer called Succession. She’s also digging on Perry Mason and I haven’t paid much attention, but it looks pretty good. We also just started season three of Ted Lasso so we can see what’s up over there. The new season of Party Down was pretty good and you can finish it in about three hours. I recently saw a little flick from India called RRR that was well done. It’s basically half musical and half Django Unchained. So if you have three hours and enjoy some insane action scenes, check it out at your local Blockbuster. Which wrestler will benefit most from the potential three-point takedown? Baby Grajales Will Lewan. His entire overtime sequence will be thrown off. It’s like wrestling’s version of baseball’s ghost runner rule for Lewdog. 30 days on an island stranded. Fred Bear Bulldog A) Royce Alger B) Mark Schultz C) A Minotaur Sir, this is a mailroom. Well, I think that’s it for this week. US Open next week! Gable! Spencer! Zane Richards!

3x NCAA champion Carter Starocci (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Early last week, InterMat released its re-ranking for the high school Class of 2018. With recruiting on the mind, we decided to jump in and look at each individual weight class for the 2023 NCAA DI Championships. As is customary in wrestling we'll start with the lower weights and work our way up. This analysis will break down the 2023 NCAA qualifiers a weight class at a time, by their pre-collegiate ranking within their recruiting class, their year of high school graduation, transfers, home states, and, of course, rankings for the 2023 All-Americans. Moving along to 174 lbs. Both the final and consolation final featured clashes between competitors that were high-caliber recruits from the same home state. In addition to placements, there were deeper bragging rights involved. This is also a bracket that is filled with wrestlers from the Class of 2019. Post-covid has made determining years/eligibility more difficult than in the past, but we 125 lbs 133 lbs 141 lbs 149 lbs 157 lbs 165 lbs 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (174 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings #1-#10 #2 (2020) Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) #5 (2017) Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) #9 (2019) Carter Starocci (Penn State) #11-#30 #13 (2021) Cael Valencia (Arizona State) #19 (2017) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #19 (2021) Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) #21 (2019) Chris Foca (Cornell) #31-#50 #33 (2017) Ethan Smith (Ohio State) #35 (2018) Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) #35 (2021) Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) #39 (2018) Peyton Mocco (Missouri) #43 (2018) Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) #43 (2019) Jackson Turley (Rutgers) #51-#100 #53 (2019) Troy Fisher (Northwestern) #55 (2020) Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) #62 (2019) Edmond Ruth (Illinois) #75 (2019) Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) #76 (2018) Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) #76 (2019) Cade Devos (South Dakota State) #93 (2018) Nelson Brands (Iowa) #99 (2018) Tyler Eischens (Stanford) #101-#200 #131 (2021) Sal Perrine (Ohio) Not Ranked Alex Faison (NC State) Nick Incontrera (Penn) Will Miller (Appalachian State) Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) Bailee O'Reilly (MInnesota) Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) DJ Washington (Indiana) Lennox Wolak (Columbia) Sam Wolf (Air Force) John Worthing (Clarion) 2023 NCAA Qualifiers (174 lbs) by Recruiting Class 2015 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) 2017 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 2018 Nelson Brands (Iowa) Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) Tyler Eischens (Stanford) Alex Faison (NC State) Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) Peyton Mocco (Missouri) Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) 2019 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) Troy Fisher (Northwestern) Chris Foca (Cornell) Nick Incontrera (Penn) Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) Edmond Ruth (Illinois) Carter Starocci (Penn State) Jackson Turley (Rutgers) DJ Washington (Indiana) Lennox Wolax (Columbia) Sam Wolf (Air Force) John Worthing (Clarion) 2020 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) 2021 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) Will Miller (Appalachian State) Sal Perrine (Ohio) Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) Cael Valencia (Arizona State) Home States for 174 lb NCAA Qualifiers Alabama Will Miller (Appalachian State) California Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) Cael Valencia (Arizona State) Idaho Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) Illinois Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) Indiana DJ Washington (Indiana) Iowa Nelson Brands (Iowa) Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) Kansas Troy Fisher (Northwestern) Massachusetts Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) Minnesota Tyler Eischens (Stanford) Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) New Jersey Chris Foca (Cornell) Nick Incontrera (Penn) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) New York Sam Wolf (Air Force) John Worthing (Clarion) North Carolina Alex Faison (NC State) Ohio Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) Sal Perrine (Ohio) Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) Lennox Wolak (Columbia) Oklahoma Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Pennsylvania Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) Edmond Ruth (Illinois) Ethan Smith (Ohio State) Carter Starocci (Penn State) Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) Virginia Jackson Turley (Rutgers) Wisconsin Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 174 lb NCAA Qualifiers Signed by a Previous Program Alex Cramer (Old Dominion) Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) Demetrius Romero (Boise State) Edmond Ruth (Lehigh) Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans 1st: Carter Starocci (Penn State) #9 in 2019 2nd: Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) #5 in 2017 3rd: Chris Foca (Cornell) #21 in 2019 4th: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #19 in 2017 5th: Nelson Brands (Iowa) #93 in 2018 6th: Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) #2 in 2020 7th: Ethan Smith (Ohio State) #33 in 2017 8th: Peyton Mocco (Missouri) #39 in 2018