InterMat Staff

Cornell’s Vito Arujau has had quite the 2023. In March, he won his first NCAA title with an upset of two-time champion Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State). Six months later, he won a world title at 61 kg in freestyle. Despite the international accolades, Arujau returned for one final season of college wrestling. He entered the year as the prohibitive favorite at 133 pounds. However, this past weekend, his trip to another title hit a bit of a speed bump as he dropped an 8-4 decision against Ryan Crookham (Lehigh). Despite the loss, many still consider Arujau to be a heavy favorite this season. It is hard to argue with them especially when looking at the recent history of returning champions who happened to take losses the subsequent season. The following looks at the returning champions from the last two seasons who took at least one loss after returning the next season. In many cases, these wrestlers were able to repeat as champions, but this is not always the case. Returning Champions During the 2022-23 Season Yiannia Diakomihalis (Cornell) Diakomihalis finished the 2022 season as a three-time NCAA champion. The following offseason he represented the U.S. at the world championships and brought home a silver medal. His final season was expected to be a farewell tour and his coronation as a four-time champion. It mostly was just that with the exception of a shaky start. On Nov. 19th, 2022, he dropped his first match of the season against Wisconsin’s Austin Gomez. There was some question about who would be the top-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds for a few weeks. In the end, Diakomihalis did not lose another match that season and ended up winning his fourth time in March. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) After winning his second NCAA title in 2022, there was some speculation that Bravo-Young might not return for his final season of college wrestling. However, he eventually came around and returned to the mats for one final run. At the time, the Penn State wrestler had not lost since the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season, and his last season started out in similar fashion. In fact, he made it all the way to the 133-pound final before losing to Arujau Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) Despite having an undefeated record, O’Toole entered the 2021-22 NCAA tournament as the second seed. He surpassed that seed and won his first title at 165 pounds. The Missouri wrestler returned the following season at the same weight. Joining him at 165 was former 157-pound champion David Carr, who would make his life difficult in not only the NCAA tournament, but also in the Big 12 conference. Carr defeated O’Toole twice during the 2023 season. Their first match came in a dual where Carr won 7-2. The rematch came at the Big 12 tournament where Carr won by fall in overtime. Even after those losses, O’Toole was able to pick up his second NCAA title after defeating Carr 8-2 in the NCAA final. Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Brooks entered the 2023 season as a two-time NCAA champion with only two losses in his college career. Like many Penn State wrestlers, he was expected to mow through the opposition and find himself on the top of the podium once again. It basically worked out that way with the exception of an early season match against Marcus Coleman (Iowa State). The bout came as part of the Collegiate Duals event, and the Cyclone escaped with a 9-7 victory. Brooks would turn things around and win his third title in March. He has not lost a collegiate match since that day. Max Dean (Penn State) While the previous five returning champions were able to at least return to the NCAA finals. That is not always the case. At the 2022 NCAA tournament, Dean was able to get through some early adversity and win the title after previously making the finals in 2019. The following season, he returned for one final season of college wrestling. In the month of December, he dropped matches against Ethan Laird (Rider) and former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard (Lehigh). He then suffered three losses in the postseason, two against Nebraska’s Silas Allred, and finished seventh at the NCAA tournament to finish his run as a four-time All-American. Returning Champions During the 2021-22 Season David Carr (Iowa State) In his first trip to the NCAA tournament in 2021, Carr ran through the field, finished the season undefeated and picked up his first title. He stayed at 157 pounds the following season and entered as the clear favorite. Carr completed another undefeated regular season and picked up his third Big 12 title. However, at the NCAA tournament, he dropped an early-round match against Oregon State's Hunter Willits. To Carr’s credit, he did wrestle all the way back to finish third. He has since moved up to 165 pounds and made the finals last season. Aaron Brooks (Penn State) One of the big storylines going into the 2022 season was the eventual showdown at 184 pounds between Brooks and Myles Amine. The previous year, Amine had returned late and finished third at 197 pounds. After more international success, he dropped down to 184 to set up the confrontation with Brooks, the returning champion at the weight. The Penn State wrestler won their first meeting in a dual meet match to maintain his undefeated season record. However, Amine defeated Brooks at the Big Ten tournament. In the end, Brooks got the last laugh as he got the win at the NCAA tournament and picked up his second title. Shane Griffith (Stanford) At the 2021 NCAA tournament, Griffith went on a legendary run that saw him enter as the eighth seed, upset top seed Alex Marinelli and win the NCAA title at 165 pounds. Griffith returned the following season to make another run to the title. He took four losses prior to the NCAA tournament with the first coming against Julian Ramirez (Cornell) in November. Griffith then lost three matches against Evan Wick who had transferred from Wisconsin to Cal Poly. Despite those losses, he still made another run through the NCAA bracket before coming up short against O’Toole in the finals. Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) O’Connor wrestled only 13 matches during the 2020-21 season, but that was enough to win the NCAA title at 149 pounds. For the next season, he moved up to 157 pounds. At the new weight, he dropped an early season match against Peyton Robb (Nebraska). O’Connor settled down after that and won the rest of his regular season matches. He dropped a one-point match against Ed Scott (NC State) in the ACC tournament. At the NCAA tournament, O’Connor appeared to be dealing with an injury. He dropped his first match against Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) in sudden victory before battling back to finish eighth and become an All-American once again. In the 2022-23 season, he returned to form and once again reached the top of the podium.

Bergen Catholic

St. Edward

Palmyra-Macedonia

Essex

This past week saw a slew of great duals, crazy matches, and upsets we didn't see coming. It also added to a shakeup in the Overall Fantasy Wrestler Rankings: 197 Trent Hidlay (NCST) powered his way into the #1 wrestler of Week 2 with a 26 Fpt performance in 5 matches (5.2 ppm) from WrangleMania and the Journeymen Classic. 285 Josh Heindselman (OU) came in second with 24 pts in 5 matches, and 165 Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ) edged out fellow weight-mate Dean Hamiti (WISC) by one Fpt (22 to 21 Fpts). In the Overall Season Rankings, 184 Ryder Rogotzke (OHST) maintains atop the leaderboard with 33 Fpts. he currently leads by only one Fpts from149 Caleb Henson (VT) and 285 Josh Terrill (MSU). Everybody’s new favorite wrestler, 133 Ryan Crookham (LEH) jumped from 17th to 6th in the Overall Standings while the Week 2 leader Trent Hidlay jumped from being outside the Top-25 to now 4th. On to Week 3: Week 3 starters a little earlier with several teams locking on Thursday: Army, Bucknell, Clarion, Minnesota, NC State, and West Virginia. Most of these teams have additional scheduled duals or tournaments listed later in this scoring week. The main tournaments taking place include the Black Knight Invite, Keystone Classic, and Navy Classic, with some other tournaments with lighter D1 competition in the Daktronics Open, Roadrunner Open, and the Shorty Hitchcock Open. As usual, entries are still coming in for each of these tournaments, so keep the notifications on for @FantasyD1Wrestl as updates will be posted to the InterMat Forum Fantasy Wrestling Board, and don’t forget to listen to the #FCWpodcast each week! The #FCWpodcast can be watched through InterMat’s Rokfin Channel or listened to on your favorite podcast platform (Apple, Spotify, etc!) A reminder of some important rules: Wrestlers entered at a weight must compete at that weight or else their results will not be counted. Wrestlers in the “Floater” spots can compete at ANY weight and accumulate Fantasy points. A wrestler will LOCK on your roster at 12pm ET on the day of their first competition for the week (refer to the SHP’s Week Preview). Only results against D1 competition (starters, backups, and redshirts) will count towards Fantasy Points. Check your league settings to know how many add/drops are permitted per week. Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by tournament name first, then by school name* 125: Stevo Poulin (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Jack Maida (AMER)- Vs Utah Valley [+5] , Navy Classic Dean Peterson (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite Eddie Ventresca (VT)- @ Rutgers [-3] , Keystone Classic Jett Strickenberger (WVU)- @ Clarion [+3] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Caleb Smith (NEB)- Navy Classic Patrick McKee (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+14] Jakob Camacho (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Matt Ramos (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] Jore Volk (WYO)- Vs Campbell [+3] 133: Dominick Serrano (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] , Black Knight Invite Kurt Phipps (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+3] , Navy Classic Sam Latona (VT)- @ Rutgers [+3] , Keystone Classic Mason Leiphart (F&M)- Keystone Classic Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- Keystone Classic Marlon Yarbrourgh (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Kai Orine (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Chris Cannon (MICH)- @ Clarion , @ Rider [+6] Domenic Zaccone (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Evan Frost (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Ryan Crookham (LEH)- Vs Pittsburgh [+3] Dustin Norris (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] 141: Rudy Lopez (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Jordan Titus (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Mitch Moore (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite CJ Composto (PENN)- Keystone Classic Brock Hardy (NEB)- Navy Classic Vance Vombaur (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+12] Lachlan McNeil (UNC)- @ Illinois , Vs Central Michigan [+8] Jesse Mendez (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Jack Gioffre (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Ryan Jack (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Mosha Schwartz (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Real Woods (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Anthony Echemendia (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Greyson Clark (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] Mackenzie Bell (RID)- Vs Michigan [+3] Gabe Willochell (WYO)- Vs Campbell [+3] 149: Caleb Henson (VT)- @ Rutgers [+4] , Keystone Classic Ty Watters (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Dylan Chappell (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+3], Navy Classic Graham Rooks (IND)- Keystone Classic Ridge Lovett (NEB)- Navy Classic Jackson Arrington (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+12] Dylan D’Emilio (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Michael Gioffre (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- @ Illinois , Vs North Carolina [+6] Kyle Parco (ASU)- @ Missouri [+4] Finn Solomon (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+4] Justin Rivera (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Victor Voinovich (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+3] Casey Swiderski (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Kellyn March (NDSU)- @ Oklahoma [+3] Quinn Kinner (RID)- Vs Michigan [+3] 157: Vince Zerban (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+9] , Black Knight Invite Bryce Andonian (VT)- @ Rutgers [+4] , Keystone Classic Tommy Askey (APP)- Keystone Classic Lucas Revano (PENN)- Keystone Classic Peyton Robb (NEB)- Navy Classic Michael Blockhus (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+11] Paddy Gallagher (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+9] Ed Scott (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Dylan Cedeno (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Johnny Lovett (CMU)- @ Illinois , Vs North Carolina [+6] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Columbia, @ Rider [+6] Jared Franek (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+5] Chris Earnest (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Cody Chittum (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Joey Blaze (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+4] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+3] 165: Brevin Cassella (BING)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] , Black Knight Invite Derek Matthews (UNCO)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+6] , Black Knight Invite Noah Mulvaney (BUCK)- Vs Minnesota [+4], Navy Classic Peyton Hall (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Derek Gilcher (IND)- Keystone Classic Bubba Wilson (NEB)- Navy Classic *might need to flex as he could be at 174 Cael Carlson (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+8] Cam Amine (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+7] Nick Hamilton (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+7] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+5] AJ Kovacs (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Domonic Baker (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+4] Holden Heller (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+3] Stoney Buell (PUR)- Vs Northern Illinois [+3] 174: Donnell Washington (IND)- Keystone Classic Nick Incontrera (PENN)- Keystone Classic Shane Griffith (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+4] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Edmund Ruth (ILL)- Vs Central Michigan, Vs North Carolina [+7] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+7] Alex Faison (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Travis Wittlake (ORST)- @ Iowa [+4] Austin Murphy (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Peyton Mocco (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+3] Luca Augustine (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+3] Mekhi Lewis (VT)- @ Rutgers [+3] 184: Brian Soldano (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+4] , Black Knight Invite Roman Rogotzke (IND)- Keystone Classic Lenny Pinto (NEB)- Navy Classic Isaiah Salazar (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+13] Rylan Rogers (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+7] Dylan Fishback (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+5] Trey Munoz (ORST)- @ Iowa [+4] Holden Heller (PITT)- @ Lehigh [+4] Caleb Hopkins (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] Will Feldkamp (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] 197: John Poznanski (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+4] , Black Knight Invite Evan Bockman (UVU)- @ American [+4] , Keystone Classic Austin Cooley (WVU)- @ Clarion [+4] , Shorty Hitchcock Open Silas Allred (NEB)- Navy Classic Trent Hidlay (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+14] Garrett Joles (MINN)- @ Bucknell, @ George Mason, Vs Morgan State [+10] Max Shaw (UNC)- @ Illinois , Vs Central Michigan [+7] Stephen Buchanan (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Zach Glazier (IOWA)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Julian Broderson (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+4] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- Vs Arizona State [+4] Levi Hopkins (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+3] 285: Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT)- Vs Virginia Tech [+3] , Black Knight Invite Jimmy Mullen (VT)- Keystone Classic Harley Andrews (NEB)- Navy Classic Owen Trephan (NCST)- @ Army, Arm Bar at the Armory [+12] Lucas Davison (MICH)- @ Columbia , @ Rider [+8] Ryan Catka (UVA)- Arm Bar at the Armory [+8] Nick Feldman (OHST)- @ Columbia , @ Hofstra [+7] Josh Heindselman (OU)- @ Little Rock , Vs North Dakota State [+7] Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- @ Wyoming [+5] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- @ Missouri [+4] Boone McDermott (ORST)- @ Iowa [+3]

Paulsboro

Faith Christian Academy

Hickman

Joliet Catholic

Bettendorf

Illini Bluffs

Winneconne

Lourdes Academy

Simley

Cambridge-Isanti

Cosby

Waconia

Bakersfield

Sheyenne

Copehagen