InterMat Staff

2x NCAA champion Cole Laya of West Liberty (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) DII Super Regional III Final Team Scores 1. West Liberty 137.5 2. Lake Erie 114.5 3. Findlay 104 4. Glenville State 103.5 5. Tiffin 96 6. Ashland 68 7. Notre Dame 47 8. Davenport 30 9. Davis & Elkins 27 10. Bluefield State 18.5 11. Wheeling 2.5 Championship Finals 125 - Cole Laya (West Liberty) dec Brandon Mendoza (Tiffin) 2-0 133 - Gavin Quiocho (Glenville State) dec Vincent Scollo (West Liberty) 3-1 141 - Zack Donathan (Tiffin) dec Christian Small (Lake Erie) 5-3 149 - Jacob Simpson (West Liberty) dec Austin Fietz (Lake Erie) 2-0 157 - Casey Barnett (Tiffin) MedFFT Jamar Williams (West Liberty) 165 - Guy DeLeonardis (Glenville State) dec Drew Wiechers (Ashland) 9-8 174 - Nate Barrett (Ashland) dec Chase Morgan (West Liberty) 4-3 184 - Daniel Beemer (Ashland) dec Ty McGeary (West Liberty) 3-1 197 - Jacob Noon (Tiffin) dec Brylan Clouse (Lake Erie) 3-2 285 - Jared Campbell (Glenville State) dec Francesco Borsellino (West Liberty) 8-5 Third Place Matches 125 - Graham Shore (Findlay) dec Jacob Johnson (Lake Erie) 3-1SV 133 - Ryan Wehner (Lake Erie) dec Manuel Leija (Davenport) 1-0 141 - Ethan Hardy (Glenville State) dec Khyvon Grace (West Liberty) 5-2 149 - Evan Davis (Ashland) dec Mason Kleinberg (Findlay) 10-4 157 - Jack Haskin (Lake Erie) dec Logan Sanom (Findlay) 9-7 165 - Alec Cook (West Liberty) dec Gary Nilson (Findlay) 4-2 174 - James Penfold (Lake Erie) fall Connor Twigg (Tiffin) 2:55 184 - Cole Houser (Glenville State) maj Mark Trifelos (Findlay) 9-1 197 - Jacob Kowalski (Findlay) dec Gregory Dennard (Bluefield State) 4-2 285 - La’Ron Parks (Notre Dame) dec Clayton Ours (Tiffin) 5-4 Fifth Place Matches 125 - Nicholas Cottone (Davis & Elkins) maj Devin Easton (Glenville State) 15-3 133 - Gavin Ritter (Findlay) MedFFT Nicholas Ammirati (Davis & Elkins) 141 - Tyson Emmons (Davenport) fall Cade Cass (Findlay) 4:00 149 - Matthew Kauffmann (Notre Dame) dec Caleb Fritz (Bluefield State) 5-3 157 - Cale Hoskinson (Notre Dame) dec Tristan Pugh (Glenville State) 5-2 165 - Jacob Potok (Lake Erie) fall Bradden Galassi (Davis & Elkins) 174 - Hunter DeLong (Glenville State) tech Andrew Knick (Findlay) 19-4 184 - Jordan Barnett (Lake Erie) dec Iran Love (Tiffin) 5-2 197 - Marvelous Rutledge (Notre Dame) MedFFT Crue Cooper (Davenport) 285 - Keigan Yuhas (Findlay) MedFFT Ty Petrey (Ashland) NCAA Qualifiers by Team Ashland: Evan Davis (149), Drew Wiechers (165), Nate Barrett (174), Daniel Beemer (184) Findlay: Graham Shore (125), Jacob Kowalski (197) Glenville State: Gavin Quiocho (133), Ethan Hardy (141), Guy DeLeonardis (165), Cole Houser (184), Jared Campbell (285) Lake Erie: Ryan Wehner (133), Christian Small (141), Austin Fietz (149), Jack Haskin (157), James Penfold (174), Brylan Clouse (197) Notre Dame: La’Ron Parks (285) Tiffin: Brandon Mendoza (125), Zack Donathan (141), Casey Barnett (157), Jacob Noon (197) West Liberty: Cole Laya (125), Vincent Scollo (133), Jacob Simpson (149), Jamar Williams (157), Alec Cook (165), Chase Morgan (174), Ty McGeary (184), Francesco Borsellino (285)

Lander national champion Zeth Brower (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) DII Super Regional II Final Team Scores 1. Lander 164 2. Mount Olive 115 3. Newberry 111.5 4. UNC Pembroke 87 5. Belmont Abbey 85.5 6. King 69 7. Limestone 55.5 8. Emmanuel 54.5 9. Coker 24 10. Lincoln Memorial 4 Championship Finals 125 - James Joplin (Lander) dec Zach Shupp (Newberry) 3-2 133 - Elijah Lusk (Lander) dec Taylor Robinson (Mount Olive) 8-5 141 - Zeth Brower (Lander) dec Josh Blatt (Newberry) 3-2 149 - Devan Moore (Newberry) dec Jack Tangen (Lander) 8-2 157 - Maxwell Kiel (Belmont Abbey) dec Trent Mahoney (King) 12-6 165 - David Hunsberger (Lander) dec Patrick Wunderlich (Newberry) 5-2 174 - Calan Staub (Mount Olive) dec Hunter Haven (Limestone) 13-11SV 184 - Logan Hall (Lander) dec Shylik Scriven (UNC Pembroke) 7-4 197 - Anthony Yacovetti (Lander) dec Bryce Walker (UNC Pembroke) 1-0 285 - Juan Edmond-Holmes (Lander) dec Nico Ramirez (Mount Olive) 13-2 Third Place Matches 125 - Kevin Radcliff (Limestone) dec Corey Gallivan (Coker) 10-7 133 - Logan Robinson (UNC Pembroke) dec dec Franky Medina (King) 3-1 141 - John Carayiannis (Belmont Abbey) fall Hayden Waddell (Mount Olive) 2:26 149 - Dallas Wilson (Mount Olive) dec Jake Piccirilli (UNC Pembroke) 4-3 157 - Gage Bernall (Lander) dec Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) 6-1 165 - Mike Vernagallo (Mount Olive) fall Bo Perkins (King) :50 174 - Dayton Fields (Newberry) dec Kyler Pickard (Belmont Abbey) 9-3 184 - Clinton Morrisette (King) dec Kyle Daley (Limestone) 6-1 197 - Micha Clemson (Emmanuel) dec Khris Walton (Newberry) 7-4 285 - Devon Rice (Newberry) dec Massimo Sullivan (UNC Pembroke) 3-2 Fifth Place Matches 125 - Gavin Hayes (Emmanuel) MedFFT Logan Seliga (UNC Pembroke) 133 - Elijah Boyd (Belmont Abbey) dec Eli Holton (Emmanuel) 12-7 141 - Joshua Feliz (UNC Pembroke) MedFFT Joshua Kincaid (Emmanuel) 149 - Tyler Pepe (Belmont Abbey) fall Demetri Teddlie (King) 6:50 157 - Noah Korenoski (Coker) dec Avery Dinardi (Limestone) 4-3 165 - Justin Crawford (Belmont Abbey) MedFFT Garrett Starks (Limestone) 174 - Jack Bond (Lander) MedFFT Vincent Galang (King) 184 - Markis Hall (Emmanuel) MedFFT ZeBrandon Gant (Newberry) 197 - Jonathan Clack (Mount Olive) fall Christos Avgeros (Belmont Abbey) 4:37 285 - Joseph Bannister-Pesce (Belmont Abbey) MedFFT Jacob Telles (King) NCAA Qualifiers by Team Belmont Abbey: John Carayiannis (141), Maxwell Kiel (157) Emmanuel: Micha Clemson (197) King: Trent Mahoney (157), Clinton Morrisette (184) Lander: James Joplin (125), Elijah Lusk (133), Zeth Brower (141), Jack Tagen (149), Gage Bernall (157), David Hunsberger (165), Logan Hall (184), Anthony Yacovetti (197), Juan Edmond-Holmes (285) Limestone: Kevin Radcliff (125), Hunter Haven (174) Mount Olive: Taylor Robinson (133), Dallas Wilson (149), Mike Vernagallo (165), Calan Staub (174), Nico Ramirez (285) Newberry: Zach Shupp (125), Josh Blatt (141), Devan Moore (149), Patrick Wunderlich (165), Dayton Fields (174), Devon Rice (285) UNC Pembroke: Logan Robinson (133), Shylik Scriven (184), Bryce Walker (197)

Pitt-Johnstown 149 lb All-American Jacob Ealy (photo courtesy of Pitt-Johnstown athletics) DII Super Regional I Final Team Scores 1. Pitt-Johnstown 148.5 2. Gannon 134 3. Mercyhurst 109.5 4. Kutztown 77.5 5. Millersville 71 6. Seton Hill 69 7. East Stroudsburg 50.5 8. Shippensburg 46.5 9. Fairmont State 34 10. American International 28.5 11. Alderson Broaddus 14.5 Championship Finals 125 - Trevon Gray (Pitt-Johnstown) maj Jose Diaz (Gannon) 11-3 133 - Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst) maj Devin Flannery (Millersville) 10-1 141 - Jake Niffenegger (Mercyhurst) dec James Ryan (Gannon) 4-2SV 149 - Jacob Ealy (Pitt-Johnstown) dec Nick Young (Gannon) 5-4 157 - Nathan Smith (Pitt-Johnstown) dec Avery Shay (Shippensburg) 4-3 165 - Alex Farenchak (Gannon) dec Brandon Connor (Millersville) 4-0 174 - Dillon Walker (Mercyhurst) dec Cole Casilio (Gannon) 4-1 184 - Brock Biddle (Pitt-Johnstown) fall Matt Weinberg (Kutztown) 2:04 197 - Joel Leise (Gannon) dec Luke McGonigal (Mercyhurst) 3-1SV 285 - John Meyers (Seton Hill) dec Isaiah Vance (Pitt-Johnstown) 3-1 Third Place Matches 125 - Brady Carter (East Stroudsburg) dec Billy Smith (Mercyhurst) 11-6 133 - Byron Daubert (Pitt-Johnstown) dec William Burgess (Seton Hill) 4-2 141 - Caleb Morris (Pitt-Johnstown) dec Collin Wickramaratna (Kutztown) 7-3 149 - Tommy Nichols (American International) dec Craig Cook (Millersville) 9-4 157 - Dom Means (Gannon) fall Jonathan Parrilla (Millersville) 6:03 165 - Dalton Gimbor (Kutztown) dec Luke Ciampa (East Stroudsburg) 8-2 174 - Jack Mackiernan (American International) dec Ethan Baney (Kutztown) 7-5SV 184 - Austin Gibson (Fairmont State) fall Riley O'Mara (Seton Hill) 1:45 197 - Dakoda Rodger (Pitt-Johnstown) dec Ajay Hiller (East Stroudsburg) 5-0 285 - Daniel Scheib (Shippensburg) dec Ely Reese (Gannon) 8-3 Fifth Place Matches 125 - Kyle Burkholder (Seton Hill) fall Noah Hodges (Alderson Broaddus) 1:27 133 - Chase McLaughlin (Gannon) maj Nathan Pelesky (Fairmont State) 11-1 141 - Timothy Uhler (Millersville) fall Alex Miscovich (Shippensburg) 2:56 149 - Colton Stoneking (Fairmont State) maj Kibwe McNair (Kutztown) 9-1 157 - Max Stedeford (Mercyhurst) MedFFT Bailey Gimbor (Kutztown) 165 - Dillon Keane (Pitt-Johnstown) fall Mike Clark (Mercyhurst) :31 174 - Brandon Matthews (Seton Hill) MedFFT James Weber (Pitt-Johnstown) 184 - Josh Leidig (East Stroudsburg) MedFFT Cole Hivnor (Gannon) 197 - Trey Shoemaker (Shippensburg) dec Dwayne Johnson (Alderson Broaddus) 14-8 285 - Bishop McCoy (Millersville) MedFFT Hunter Harnish (Mercyhurst) NCAA Qualifiers by Team American International: Tommy Nichols (149), Jack Mackiernan (174) East Stroudsburg: Brady Carter (125) Fairmont State: Austin Gibson (184) Gannon: Jose Diaz (125), James Ryan (141), Nick Young (149), Dom Means (157), Alex Farenchak (165), Cole Casilio (174), Joel Leise (197) Kutztown: Dalton Gimbor (165), Matt Weinberg (184) Mercyhurst: Eric Bartos (133), Jake Niffenegger (141), Dillon Walker (174), Luke McGonigal (197) Millersville: Devin Flannery (133), Brandon Connor (165) Pitt-Johnstown: Trevon Gray (125), Byron Daubert (133), Caleb Morris (141), Jacob Ealy (149), Nathan Smith (157), Brock Biddle (184), Dakoda Rodger (197), Isaiah Vance (285) Seton Hill: John Meyers (285) Shippensburg: Avery Shay (157), Daniel Scheib

California Baptist 125 lber Eli Griffin (photo courtesy of California Baptist athletics) As we head into the postseason, there are plenty of potential stories to follow. One storyline that may not be as obvious as others is following the schools that could see their first DI national qualifiers in 2023. With more teams on the horizon, joining the ranks of DI wrestling, this could be a good annual storyline to follow in the coming years. For 2023, there are three schools that have their sights set on pushing wrestlers through their respective conference tournaments to DI nationals for the first time. None of these schools had any wrestlers earn allocations for their conference so, it will be a bit of an uphill battle. But, as anyone who has followed the collegiate postseason for any length of time could tell you, things get unpredictable in March. Upsets happen, injuries are unfortunate but expected, and regular season results get flipped, regularly. Below are the three teams seeking to see their first DI national qualifiers. Underneath the team name is the weight classes where they appear to have the best odds at qualification. The number in parentheses is the allocations available in that particular weight class. California Baptist 125 (6), 165 (8), 184 (4) Probably the school on this list most likely to crown its first national qualifier(s) is California Baptist. They have three solid options, three of which, compete at weight classes with six or more allocations. 125 lber Eli Griffin spent a portion of the year in the national rankings. He competed sparingly, but racked up some quality wins in the process. Though Griffin only had six total wins during the regular season, he did defeat two-time qualifier Kysen Terukina (Iowa State), #19 Jore Volk (Wyoming), #26 Nico Provo (Stanford), and Kase Mauger (Utah Valley), who has been on the fringe of a ranking. Because of Griffin’s limited schedule, his notable wins, and losses (Tanner Jordan, Stevo Poulin, Kase Mauger), it’s extremely difficult to project his seed at the Big 12 Championships. I’d guess somewhere between sixth and ninth. However, it shakes out, Griffin will need two or three solid wins to book his trip to nationals, but he’s shown he’s capable of such a task. Frank Almaguer has struggled inside the Big 12, but has shown he’s able to post big wins. He’s responsible for one of only two losses on the year for #13 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois). Almaguer also had a good win over Air Force’s Giano Petrucelli, though he’s not expected to be part of the field next weekend. For the most part, he’s had respectable losses against good competition from the Big 12. Should he be able to make the necessary adjustments, Almaguer could flip a result or two from earlier this season. He’ll have a chance since eight wrestlers from the Big 12’s 165 lb weight class go on to nationals. This is a weight that has a few veterans that have battled injuries, as well, so should they not be able to continue, someone like Almaguer could take the ball and run with it. Perhaps the most consistent wrestler for the Lancers all year has been 184 lber Peter Acciardi. Acciardi is 13-12 with a win over Wyoming’s stud true freshman Quayin Short. A problem for Acciardi and the rest of this weight, is that there are only four automatic qualifying slots available. Presumably, Parker Keckeisen, Marcus Coleman, and Travis Wittlake take the top three. The fourth is up-for-grabs. There’s a big group that includes, Cade King, DJ Parker, Keegan Moore, Noah Blake, Colton Hawks, Short, Anthony Carman and Acciardi that are all capable of claiming that final spot. During the regular season, Acciardi has wrestled Blake and Parker extremely close. The type of decisions that could easily be flipped. It’ll take three or four quality wins, but Acciardi is capable. Long Island 125 (6), 165 (5) One of the Sharks best suited for a run through the EIWA brackets is 125 lber Robbie Sagaris. Sagaris comes in with an 11-12 record after going 13-13 last year. In his first EIWA tournament, Sagaris notched a win over Army West Point’s Ryan Chauvin before bowing out. This year, Sagaris comes in with wins over two conference opponents expected to enter (Mike Manta - Sacred Heart and Grayson McLellan - Bucknell). Sagaris will have his work cut out for him to qualify as in addition to the six ranked wrestlers at the weight, there are some dangerous unranked entrants like Carter Bailey (Lehigh), Micah Roes (Binghamton), Max Leete (American), Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall) and more. 157 lber Rhise Royster has been one of Long Island’s best wrestlers this year, the only problem with him qualifying is that 157 only has three spots allocated in the EIWA. Breaking into the top three is a tall task for anyone. Blake Bahna started the year at 174 lbs for Long Island and then dropped to 165 in December. Up at 174, Bahna pinned Arizona State’s redshirt freshman Cael Valencia and went 7-6, overall. Since dropping to 165, Bahna has struggled more; however, he did grab three conference wins. 165 is designated to dole out five automatic qualifying bids in the EIWA. That’s generally a good number, but there are still plenty of quality wrestlers who didn’t earn bids for the conference, but are capable of stealing them. Bahna is in that group with Lucas Revano, Caleb Campos, Dalton Harkins, Josh Kim, Luca Frinzi, and Val Park. Luckily, you don’t have to beat all of them to make the top-five, but Bahna would have to knock off one or two of them. This will be his second experience at the EIWA Championships. Last year, he went 0-2. Presbyterian 125 (1), 197 (1) In their fourth year of competition, Presbyterian is still seeking its first NCAA qualifier. They have two wrestlers that are capable of shocking the SoCon and heading to Tulsa. First is their 125 lber Dominic Chavez. Chavez already handed #25 Anthony Molton a loss during the regular season. That probably gets Chavez the second seed and Molton the third. Chavez’s only conference loss came to top-seeded #14 Caleb Smith. Outside of the conference, Chavez has been a bit inconsistent so beating Smith may be his only ticket to nationals, where Molton may be a candidate for an at-large. Presbyterian’s 197 lber Malcolm Wiley is also someone to watch and is capable of crashing the NCAA party. His seeding may not be as cut-and-dry as Chavez's. Wiley has a decisive, major decision win over VMI’s Tyler Mousaw, but has also lost to Mark Chaid (The Citadel) and Gavin Henry (Davidson), two wrestlers who have taken their lumps in the SoCon. He also has lost to Carson Floyd of Appalachian State, who projects as the second seed. Wherever Wiley lands, he could be a bad draw. In 2022-23, he hasn’t met top-seeded Levi Hopkins, but fell to him, 11-5 in a dual last season.

Logan Storley 4x All-American for Minnesota (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) On Saturday, the two biggest MMA promotions in the world will host cards, and not surprisingly, both will feature former wrestlers in marquee matches. In the main event of Bellator 291, interim welterweight champion Logan Storley will face off against champion Yaroslav Amosov to unify the promotion’s titles at 170 pounds. Amosov, who has held the title since 2021, stepped away from the sport at the start of the Russian invasion of his native Ukraine. In his absence, Storley defeated Michael “Venom” Page for the interim version of the title in London last May. During his collegiate days, Storley was a four-time All-American for Minnesota. His best finish at the NCAA tournament came during his junior season where he finished third at 174 pounds and scored victories over Matt Brown (Penn State) and Robert Koeksh (Nebraska). Storley returned at the same weight for his senior year in 2015 and finished fourth. Storley made his professional MMA debut about eight months after his final NCAA tournament. He won his first five fights before signing with Bellator in 2017. Storley then won his first six fights with the promotion until running into Amosov. The two faced off at Bellator 252 in 2020. Despite not coming from a wrestling background, Amosov was able to hold his own in the grappling exchanges, and ended up walking away with a split-decision victory. Since suffering his only MMA defeat to date, Storley has bounced back with three-straight victories including the interim title win over Page. The bout between Storley and Amosov will serve as the main event of Bellator 291. The card airs live on Showtime from Dublin. The main card is scheduled to begin at 4:00pm ET with Storley expected to walk around 6:00pm ET. While Bellator is holding its event in Europe, Saturday’s show takes place in the UFC’s home of Las Vegas. The UFC Apex will be the site of UFC Vegas 70, which will be headlined by a light heavyweight fight between Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann. However, the main event for wrestling fans will likely be the return of an accomplished women’s freestyle veteran. On the main card, Tatiana Suarez will face off against Montana De La Rosa in a women’s flyweight contest. Suarez has been out of action since 2019 with a variety of injuries, but she is expected to find herself returning to title contention soon with a win here. From 2007 to 2011, Suarez, then known as Padilla, was one of the top young wrestlers in the U.S. She won a silver medal at the 2007 Junior World Championships and followed that up with a bronze in 2008. Suarez then bumped up to the Senior level where she also won a bronze medal in 2008. While preparing for the 2012 Olympics, a cancerous growth on Suarez’s thyroid was detected. After successful treatment and recovery, she made her professional MMA debut in 2014. After three wins, she competed on the promotion’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show and won. She has gone 4-0 in the UFC since making her debut in 2016. Her opponent on Saturday, De La Rosa, has been fighting in the UFC since 2017. She has gone 12-7-1 overall with a 5-3-1 record in the Octagon. The bout will be part of the main card of UFC Vegas 70, which airs live on ESPN+ at 7:00pm ET.

The 2022 NCAA DI National Championships at Detroits Little Ceasar's Arena (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Yesterday, the NCAA released conference allocations for the 2023 NCAA Championships. These numbers are the first part of the puzzle when putting together the 330 wrestlers who will compete at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in mid-March. Speaking of puzzles, I was initially stunned by the fact that the Pac-12 was only given two automatic qualifying slots at 149 despite having #5 Kyle Parco and #11 Jaden Abas, both with identical 21-4 records. A few hours later, it was revealed that the ACC had received one of the Pac-12’s berths at 149 lbs. Aside from that brief snafu, there was a lot that stood out about the allocations. In fact, there’s one thought for each conference, along with a couple other general points. Changes from 2022’s Automatic Allocations #’s ACC (-6) from 39 to 33. Big 12 (+6) from 58 to 64 Big Ten remained at 88 EIWA (+3) from 42 to 45 MAC (+1) from 22 to 23 Pac-12 (-4) from 23 to 19 SoCon (-3) from 15 to 12 Last year’s pre-allocations had three more than 2023 which speaks for the discrepancy between last year’s total and this year's. That bottom half of 184 is unusual! After the hiccup at 149 lbs, one of the most obvious figures that stood out from the initial allocation data was that only 26 spots were handed out at 184 lbs. The other nine weight classes had either 28 or 29 slots allocated. What does it mean? The bottom fifth of the top-33 was not particularly strong compared to other weights. As someone who looked at this type of thing every week in compiling rankings, I concur with this assessment. The top-tier at 184, it’s going to be fun. A returning two-time champion and a handful of guys, who could knock him off. But, after the top 20 or so, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this weight class will play out. How will it impact conference tournaments and the construction of the NCAA brackets? My guess is that it will reward wrestlers that have decent conference tournaments, yet still fall short of NCAA qualification. The wrestlers that have fallen outside of the 26 allocation spots all have their positives and negatives, when weighing the body of work from their 2022-23 season. If someone on the bubble goes 0-2, they are less likely to get an at-large berth as opposed to someone who may have won four matches at the EIWA tournament and placed fifth. There will also be more of a security net for a high-quality wrestler that gets injured or has an off day next weekend. That happens a few times a year to top-ten wrestlers, but they will get in anyways with an at-large berth. Who is at risk in those instances are the guys that are ranked 20-24 and have bad conference tournaments. That shouldn’t be as big of an issue this time. More Smaller Conferences For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

David McFadden (left) and Chance Marsteller at the 2022 US Open (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Jag, BD here. In your humble, honest, and factual opinion, Is Spencer Lee not only the greatest Iowa wrestler ever, but the greatest Irish lad to ever live? Saint Patricius aside. Fred Bear Bulldog That fourth title will certainly cement him as the greatest Hawkeye ever and an Olympic title could vault him to the top of all Irish lads. He's also French, so there could be a custody battle here that we didn't see coming. If they claim him, are you ready to go to war with France? Will you accept help from England in this battle? I know you've had your differences, but they have a long history of beef with the French. I can tell already that this is going to be the type of mailbag that takes heat for not having enough wrestling talk. With Jersey Jerry muscling in on your Rutgers territory, any chance we see a Jagger Night at Rider next season? The Broncs could use that Jagger Night bump. How many NCAA finalists from NJ this year? More than three? Jimmy Mcnulty's Bar Tab There's this misperception around the Garden State that I'm anti-Rider and it's simply not true. I just haven't found an angle yet that I can exploit for my own benefit. Also, I try not to travel anywhere over an hour away and Rider comes in at about 90 minutes away, so it's a problem. Right now I'm giving Jersey four potential finalists, but really three since I don't see Foca and Lewis both making it. I'd lose my mind if they did. Glory seems like a good bet and Shane Griffith has never wrestled in a championship tournament in his life where he hasn't made the finals, so I feel good about those guys. Definitely a strong chance for three finalists. As far as Jersey Jerry is concerned, it wouldn't hurt if he paid tribute to his capo. What's your favorite song? Pelikan Head That's an impossible question to answer since I've been listening to music since Mozart was topping the charts and my taste varies so much. If I had to pick one, it would be Over The Hills And Far Away by Led Zeppelin. I just think it's the best song from my favorite band and I'll never get tired of it. Cotton Eye Joe is a close second. What changes could be made to incentivize coaches and wrestlers to wrestle their best lineups throughout the regular season? Baby Grajales We've been through this and the answer is a ranking series of some kind. And I'm still not sure that will make a difference. Hopefully, this is just a fad and things go back to normal when we get back to not having seventh-year seniors and whatnot. Speaking of the ranking series… Will you be up at 3:00 AM this Sunday to follow the PRTC Twitter account for updates on their athletes competing in Egypt? Kevin McGuigan Who says I won't be up watching it? I'm not up on the international scene as much as I should be at the moment, but I know someone who is and he's particularly interested in the 61kg weight class. Hey CEO of Italians, give us a rundown of what to expect there: The U.S. Team has had a busy start to the year with impressive performances at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and the Zagreb Open that saw multiple breakthrough performances. The Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series Tournament will offer a balance of domestic and international competition that should give us a lot of information about how our top guys stand domestically and internationally starting the year. My top weight class to watch is going to be 61 KG, which offers the best balance of high-level international and domestic matchups that could shake up the landscape of the weight. Domestically, the biggest match to watch for at 61 KG is going to be the rematch of the Henri Deglane Grand Prix semifinals between #3 (US) Austin DeSanto and #4 (US) Nahshon Garrett, which was won by DeSanto in a 14-13 shoot-out. The 61 KG field boasts three U-23 world champions in the form of two-time champion #3 Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM), 2022 57 KG champion Aman Aman (IND), and 2019 world champion #14 Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (KGZ) along with 2022 runner-up #13 Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (KGZ), who is best known in the U.S. for absolutely obliterating the field at the Bill Farrell Memorial up at 65 KG. Looking specifically at U.S. domestic matchups, there's a trio of potential matchups that stand out the most to me. At the top of my list is #1 (US) Nathan Jackson vs. #3 (97) Kollin Moore at 92 KG. Moore is coming off a spectacular showing at the Zagreb Open where he beat a pair of Senior World bronze medalists in #5 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) and #20 Miriani Maisuradze (GEO) to take gold. Jackson was a Final X runner-up to 2022 92 KG Senior World runner-up #5 (97) J'den Cox, taking a match off the two-time world champion in their three-match series and finished the year off at the World Cup with victories over U23 World champion #7 Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) and 2022 Senior World bronze medalist #20 Miriani Maisuradze (GEO). Moore and Jackson do have past history with Moore taking a victory over Jackson in the semifinals of the 2021 World Team Trials. The rivalry between 2022 Final X runner-up #2 (US) Chance Marsteller and 2022 U.S. Open champion #6 (US) David McFadden at 79 KG is my second US matchup to keep an eye out for. Currently, the record stands at 2-1 for Marsteller. Marsteller's run during the 2022 season was truly one of the great stories in the wrestling world as the former top recruit battled through hell to smash all expectations and run through one of the USA's deepest weights and take a match off 8x World/Olympic champion #1 (US) Jordan Burroughs at Final X.#3 (US) Evan Wick is another serious contender to watch out for as he is coming off a title at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix with wins over #4 (US) Alex Marinelli and #9 (US) Taylor Lujan. At 74 KG, I'm interested to see if #5 (US) Vincenzo Joseph is able to make a rebound from disappointing performances at the World Cup and at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix where he lost to Zandanbud Sumiyabaazar of Mongolia and was tech falled by #4 (US) Joey Lavallee respectively. Joseph was a top-ten staple at 79 KG through the first half of 2022 with victories over #2 (US) Chance Marsteller, #6 (US) David McFadden, #7 (US) Alex Dieringer, and #9 (US) Taylor Lujan. Joseph has the possibility of a rematch against Lavallee and a match against #7 (US) Josh Shields as well. Bolstering the international field at 74 KG is two-time World/Olympic #18 Soner Demirtas (TUR), 2014 Russian Nationals runner-up Iakub Shikhdzhamalov (ROU), 2021 80KG Cadet World champion Sagar "The One True Jagger" Jaglan (IND), 2016 70 KG Senior World runner-up Nurlan Bekzhanov (KAZ), and Arizona State All-American Anthony Valencia making his international debut for Mexico. Thank you, Mr. CEO. There's your wrestling talk for the day. We will now resume our regularly scheduled programming. Which boyfriend deserves my plus one for the conference tournament? Rachel Gallardo None of them? Or at least hold a tournament where the winner gets the ticket. Should high school kids be allowed to wrestle in college opens if they choose to do so? Mat Jerms Media I see no issue with it. Seems like the issue in Illinois got fixed and let's hope this brings enough attention to this archaic rule that it gets banished for good. What is your take on the recent @CoachDomBC height-fixing allegations? Word is he's not actually six foot four inches. Rumors say he could actually be five foot two inches. Can Liam Cronin put it together at the Big Ten tournament and National tournament after a great regular season? CEO of Italians I had the pleasure of seeing big Dom last week and I can't lie, I'm buying into this conspiracy. I thought it was weird that he wore a trench coat in a hot gym all day long and he may be using backup lightweights to stand on so he can appear to be taller than he is. I even heard he grew his hair out for an extra quarter inch for postseason time. On a completely related note, I like what Liam Cronin is doing but he could run into some trouble. He has victories over Barnett and McKee, but those guys are tough outs in March. Dean Peterson was right there with him and he hasn't even faced Matt Ramos yet. Everybody talks about how 125 isn't very strong and they aren't exactly wrong about that, but any weight with Spencer will look weak the rest of the way. There are some really good guys here and if Cronin can get through them all next week, then I'll give it a shot at making the finals at the big one. Lighter or matches used for your heaters? Eric " The Canadian Assassin" Asselin Always a lighter and I like to go Zippo until the fluid runs out and I forget about it again for three years. For us Non-Jerseyans, what is a Zingo? The Wrestling Knomad Your guess is as good as mine but it is an open tournament this weekend at Rutgers and it's on Big Ten Plus. So if you're starving for action, Zingo it up. Who do you have in the upcoming Power Slap PPV main event between Darius "The Destroyer" Mata-Varona and "Wolverine" Ron Bata? Richard A. Mann Sorry folks, I wanted to discuss this exhilarating matchup, but we ran out of time.

The 2022 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee has announced the pre- allocation spots for the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below. Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 19. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class. For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference was awarded a minimum of one automatic bid per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish. After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 7, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 8. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. ACC 125(2) 133(3) 141(4) 149(3) 157(3) 165(3) 174(3) 184(5) 197(4) 285(3) Total (33) Big 12 125(6) 133(5) 141(7) 149(7) 157(7) 165(8) 174(6) 184(4) 197(6) 285(8) Total (64) Big Ten 125(9) 133(9) 141(9) 149(9) 157(10) 165(8) 174(7) 184(9) 197(9) 285(9) Total (88) EIWA 125(6) 133(5) 141(5) 149(2) 157(3) 165(5) 174(4) 184(4) 197(5) 285(6) Total (45) MAC 125(2) 133(1) 141(2) 149(5) 157(4) 165(1) 174(4) 184(2) 197(1) 285(1) Total (23) Pac-12 125 (3) 133(3) 141(1) 149 (2) 157(1) 165(2) 174(2) 184(1) 197(3) 285(1) Total (19) SoCon 125(1) 133(2) 141(1) 149(1) 157(1) 165(1) 174(2) 184(1) 197(1) 285(1) Total (12) Pre-Allocations 125(29) 133(28) 141(29) 149(29) 157 (29) 165(28) 174(28) 184(26) 197(29) 285(29) Total (284) At-Large 125(4) 133(5) 141(4) 149(4) 157(4) 165(5) 174(5) 184(7) 197(4) 285(4) Total (46) The coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days. The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked. The coaches' ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage. A full description of the entire selection process for the 2023 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org. The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships take place March 16-18 at BOK Center in Tulsa as the event returns to Oklahoma for the first time since being held in Oklahoma City in 2014.

The 2022 Big Ten Championships in Nebraska (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, featuring four of the top 10 teams in the country, begins next Friday on the Big Ten Network with comprehensive coverage of college wrestling's premier conference event. From 10 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 4, BTN will broadcast the opening session on television with whip-around coverage and quad box views. On B1G+, individual mat cameras, as well as the quad box, will allow viewers to customize their experience. For session two on Saturday night, coverage of the wrestleback matches begins at 5:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed exclusively on B1G+. Television coverage resumes for Saturday night's semifinals from 7:30 p.m. ET through 9:30 p.m. ET. On Sunday, March 5, competition begins at 1 p.m. ET on B1G+ with individual mat cameras for the consolation semifinals. At 4:30 p.m. ET, television coverage resumes as Big Ten champions are crowned, while third and fifth-place bouts will be streamed on B1G+. Big Ten Network veterans Shane Sparks, Jim Gibbons and Tim Johnson will anchor the weekend broadcasts. On Saturday and Sunday, the B1G Wrestling Instagram page and Big Ten Network YouTube wrestling page will be updated with highlights, full matches and custom content. For details and subscription information regarding B1G+ coverage, please visit bigtenplus.com. In preparation for the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, a special edition of Wrestling in 60, highlighting a selection of top matches from the regular season, will air Monday night (2/27) at 7:30 p.m. ET. On Monday, March 6, new episodes of B1G Wrestling and Beyond (7 p.m. ET) and B1G Wrestling in 60 at (7:30 p.m. ET) will recap all the wrestling championships action. Big Ten Wrestling Championships Schedule Day Date Session Coverage Platform Time (ET) Saturday March 4 Session 1 BTN 10 a.m. Saturday March 4 Session 1 B1G+ 10 a.m. Saturday March 4 Session 2 - Wrestlebacks B1G+ 5:30 p.m. Saturday March 4 Semifinals BTN 7:30 p.m. Sunday March 5 Session 3 - Consolation Semis B1G+ 1 p.m. ET Sunday March 5 Championships - Session 4 BTN 4:30 p.m. Sunday March 5 Session 4 - 3rd and 5th place B1G+ 4:30 p.m.

American 174 lber Lucas White (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The dual meet season has come to end, and what a wild season we had! The EIWA still showed some of its parity, but overall, showed how close a lot of these teams were. Team "A" beat Team "B", while Team "B" beat Team "C", but Team "C" beat Team "A". It's the old transitive property of wrestling that does not work out as it does in math class. This week's outstanding wrestler in the conference was Lucas White of American University. The 174 lb wrestler was 2-1 on the weekend, including a huge win over #19 Nick Incontrera of Penn. Interestingly, he is 11-18 on the year - so this is the right time to get hot! This will be a good momentum heading into March. American The Eagles closed out their dual season with a home match to Binghamton (losing 19-13), and two road matches against Penn (losing 25-9) and Drexel (winning 19-17). American is a tough team with plenty of tough wrestlers. Max Leete (125 lbs) and Jack Maida were 2-1 on the weekend. The standout performance by American came from Lucas White at 174 lbs. He was 2-1 on the weekend with a win over #19 Incontrera of Penn. I have loved Caleb Campos of late at 165 lbs, but ran into 3 NCAA qualifiers this weekend, losing in overtime to Penn's Lucas Revano and by 1 point to Binghamton's Brevin Cassella. Upper weights Connor Bourne (197 lbs) and Will Jarrell performed well at 285 lbs, each going 2-1 on the weekend. The big story of this team is their improvement from only a season ago. Last year, they were 1-12 in duals, 0-5 in the conference. This season, they were 8-12 in duals, while posting a 3-5 record in EIWA competition. I don't believe this staff gets enough credit for the turnaround we've seen from them. Coach Borrelli and company are doing phenomenal things in DC. To make it more impressive, they did this without any ranked wrestlers in the top 33… EIWAs are in two weeks, and they are primed and ready to go. #AmericanMade Army The Black Knights hosted Navy to their final dual of the year. Navy won the historic rival 18-13. Starting at 165 lbs, Dalton Harkins had a nice win over EIWA placer, Val Park. Ben Pasiuk (#14 @ 174 lbs) kept his hot streak alive when he beat Sammy Starr by decision. At 125 lbs, Ethan Berginc (#31) earned a major. The final win for Army came at 149lbs. Trae McDaniel (#33) won by decision. The crowd was into this one, but the team fell short of victory. Navy is a tough squad, so pretty much everyone expected a tight match. Army was 6-7 on the year, but had an incredibly tough strength of schedule. With losses to top 10 teams like Nebraska, Iowa, NC State, and Cornell this team did not shy away from competition. This team will compete for a top-five finish at conferences. This team will be ready to compete. #GoArmy Binghamton The Bearcats were on the road at American, beating them 19-13. They were then at Maryland, dropping the dual 19-12. It was a big day at American, when Coach Kyle Borshoff was inducted into the American University Sports Hall of Fame for his career as a wrestler. It was a nice homecoming for him. The Bearcats had three wrestlers earn 2-0 records on the weekend. They include Brevin Cassella (#31 @ 165 lbs), Sam DePrez (174 lbs), and Jacob Nolan (#23 @ 184 lbs). This trio has been a nice little murderer's row. Due to the season-ending injury to Lou DePrez at 197 lbs, this row would be five wrestlers long in addition to Cory Day at heavyweight. Speaking of Day (#26 @ 285 lbs), he had a close loss to #24 Jaron Smith of Maryland. This Binghamton team still has some unanswered questions at 133 lbs (Garcia and Sobotker) and 141 lbs (Gannone and Lucier). That will get sorted out shortly before EIWAs. Their 5-13 record may look disappointing, but they lost to 6 top-25-ranked teams, in addition to losing their star athlete in Lou DePrez. Lou's departure was a huge loss, but him being on the staff to finish the year is a nice consolation. This is another team that will be in the battle for the top 5 - as they were 6th a year ago. I am excited to see them perform in two weeks. #EmbraceTheGreen Brown The Bears were on the road this weekend, with a loss over Harvard (32-10) and a win over Sacred Heart (31-12). Sounding like a broken record, Hunter Adrian (133 lbs) was the star of the team - going 2-0 on the weekend. He had a major and a fall. Topping Adrian with two pins this weekend was Aaron Wolk (197 lbs). Against Sacred Heart, Brown won seven matches with four of them being bonus wins. The team finished 4-10 this season in duals when they were 4-9 a season ago. With the hire of Jordan Leen coming last June, there is more work to be done (as he would admit). Brown has the potential to join the rest of the Ivies, who are raising the league's expectations vastly. Brown seems to be a sleeping giant, and Jordan Leen will make this team better every year. They will have a few guys make some noise at conferences. #EverTrue Bucknell The Bison hosted Princeton to a dual. They dropped it 22-12, winning three matches. They saw wins from Kurt Phipps (#26 @ 133 lbs) via decision, Darren Miller (#25 @ 141) by fall, and Nolan Springer at 197 lbs. Dylan Chappell has a one-point loss to Marshall Keller, who was an NCAA qualifier last year. Nick Delp was back into the lineup at 157 lbs. Expect both of them to make a run at EIWAs if healthy. The Bison's record this season was 6-9 after going 12-6 last year. This year's schedule was a little tougher, but losing All-American Zach Hartman was a giant loss to the team. This year's team is not losing much, so expect an improved team next year. This year's conference tournament could be a very good one for Bucknell if the team performs to their ability. #OurWay #rayBucknell Columbia The Lions finished their season with a home win over #29 Maryland. They won 18-16, thanks to winning six of ten matches. They started off hot with a win from Nick Babin (#27 @ 125 lbs) when he knocked off #15 Braxton Brown. EIWA Champ Matt Kazimir (#22 @ 141 lbs) had a win, which was mimicked by #22 Cesar Alvan at 157 lbs. They saw three wins in a row by Josh Ogunsanya (#15 @ 165 lbs), Lennox Wolak (#30 @ 174 lbs), and Aaron Ayzerov at 184 lbs. This made the score 18-9, which ended up being enough to knock off the Terps. Looking at the season, they were 6-7 this year while being 5-3 in EIWA matches. This is improved from last year's 4-10 record, with a similar schedule for comparison. This season, they avenged losses to Lehigh and Princeton from last year. Another point of improvement to mention is when they lost to #14 Pitt 19-18 this year - last year's score was 30-5 while Pitt was ranked 19th. Do not count this team out to be in the top five at EIWAs. They finished 5th last year and will look to improve on that finish this season. #RoarLionRoar #Team120 Cornell The Big Red took a trip to Tampa. FL to wrestle Ohio State. Both teams had abbreviated lineups. Ohio State won the match 22-14, thanks to six wins. Cornell had wins from Julian Ramirez (#8 @ 165 lbs), Christian Hansen (174 lbs), and Jacob Cardenas (#15 @ 197 lbs). The match-up of the night was at 133 lbs. Vito Arujau (#3) defeated #8 Jesse Mendez in a 6-1 victory. This match had a lot of potential to be an exciting match-up, but due to being so close to conferences, many starters missed the match to nurse injuries and get healthy to overcome sicknesses. Cornell was the Ivy League Champions this year, repeating from last season. They were 12-3, with losses to #14 Wisconsin, #5 Iowa State, and #6 Ohio State. They will look to repeat as EIWA champions. Currently, Intermat has them ranked as the 4th ranked team in the nation for tournament scoring. A top-five finish would make this one of the best Cornell teams in its rich history. #yellcornell #GOBIGRED Drexel The Dragons were 1-2 on the weekend with a 27-15 win over Cleveland State, and losses to Rider (26-12) and American (19-17). Evan Barczak has been Mr. Reliable for the Dragons. He went 3-0 this weekend, making his record 24-3 on the season (and 92-38 in his career). Mickey O'Malley (#18 # 174 lbs) went 2-0 on Saturday. Brian Bonino (#26 @ 184 lbs) saw action in one match, where he won in tiebreakers. At 149 lbs, Luke Nichter went 2-1 with a lone loss to #22 Quinn Kinner of Rider. With three duals on the weekend, the Dragons used a lot of reserves to keep the team fresh for EIWAs. They finished the year 10-8, which is better than last season's 6-8 record. Experienced vets will carry this team in hopes of a top 5 finish. Expect them to improve their 10th-place finish a season ago, with only 4 placers. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats were off this weekend. They finished the season 8-5 in duals, with freshman Mason Liephart being near the top in all of D1 for most technical falls this season. The team is a little young, but they are scrappy. Expect to see some guys on the podium at EIWAs. Harvard The Crimson hosted Brown on Senior Night. They took the dual 32-10 in dominant fashion. They ran the table from 141lbs through 157lbs thanks to wins by Joe Cangro, Jack Crook, and Trevor Tarsi. The streak continued at the next three weights with wins from Josh Kim (165lbs), Alex Whitworth (174lbs), and Leo Tarantino (184lbs). Yara Slavikouski (#7 @ 285lbs) was a winner by fall. They were 4-4 on the year, which included wins over tough Columbia and Princeton teams. You can expect guys like Yara and Conigliaro (#20 @ 174 lbs) to perform well. But, this team has some young firepower with Sotelo climbing the rankings. Keep an eye out for young talent like Cangro, Crook, and others. I like this team, but a top 5 finish at conferences is a tall order for a team without extensive balance. But, obviously, anything can happen. It will be fun to see them compete at EIWAs. #GoCrimson #OneCrimson Hofstra The Pride celebrated their seniors with a win over Cal Baptist 21-15. The dual started at 157 lbs, where Joe McGinty earned a decision win. Also having wins via decision were Ross McFarland (174 lbs) and Jacob Moon (125 lbs). Hofstra scored majors from Trey Rogers (#28 @ 197 lbs), Zachary Knighton-Ward (285 lbs) and Justin Hoyle (141 lbs). Overall, very nice win for Hofstra - even missing 26th ranked Jacob Ferreira (184 lbs). The team ended the year with a 5-6 record, but ended with a two-match win streak. This team has talent. I expect Knighton-Ward to really turn it up at conferences, along with Ferreira and Rogers - who have been ranked all year. Hoyle made the podium last year at 141 lbs. This team could potentially shock some people. If a few guys can "overperform" they will have a satisfactory tournament. #PrideOfLI Lehigh The Mountain Hawks were not competing this weekend. They ended their injury-plagued season 9-9, matching their record from a year ago. A majority of these losses came to top-10 teams, which is the status quo for Lehigh in terms of wrestling a tough schedule during the season. This team will fight tooth and nail to bring back the EIWA trophy to Bethlehem. I am always impressed with how well this team peaks in March. I expect nothing less this year. They have a lot of talent that can match up to Cornell at some weights. It will be a very tight team race. Long Island The Sharks spoiled Senior Night, earning an away victory over Sacred Heart 32-9. This was quite the contrast from the previous meeting in November, where LIU won 18-17. With 3 wins this year, the team had more wins than the two previous years combined. This team is better than what is shown on paper. We've seen improvement in the middle of the line-up. Guys like Devin Matthews (141l bs), Drew Witham (149 lbs), Rhise Royster (157 lbs), and Blake Bahna (165 lbs) seem to get better every week. I was always high on Robbie Sagaris at 125 lbs. This team will definitely outperform last year's EIWA results, where they only won a handful of matches as a team. We may see a Shark or two end up on the podium. I am excited to see what the team looks like in five years. Navy The Midshipmen finished the year 5-6, after this week's vital win over Army 18-13. They were 4-1 in EIWA competition, only losing to Lehigh. The highlight matchup ended the dual at 157 lbs. Andrew Cerniglia defeated Lukez, in a match-up of borderline-ranked guys. Navy is a very solid squad, with five guys ranked in the nation. If healthy, they will be in that battle for a top 5 finish I keep bringing up. Josh Koderhandt (#24 @ 141 lbs) and Cerniglia are both returning EIWA runners-up, while David Key (#30 @ 184 lbs) and Jake Koser (#27 @ 197 lbs) have previous NCAA appearances. #GoNavy #WinTheBattle Penn The Quakers ended their dual season with a 25-9 win over American. This included the team being down a few starters. Penn's 8-1 record in the EIWA was good for second place in Ivy League Competition, behind Cornell. Their 9-5 record on the season included losses from Iowa, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Cornell. This team has nine returning NCAA qualifiers, which is the most in the conference. They gave Cornell a run for their money last season at EIWAs. They will host the conference championships, hoping they can use the crowd to their advantage. This team looks to score a ton of points, turn guys on top, and push the pace. They are a very good, team with high mat awareness and IQ. Seeing them compete is always fun. I am looking forward to them at EIWAs. #TheMovement #FightOnPenn Princeton The Tigers defeated Bucknell on the road 22-12 to close out the season. We saw Nick Kayal at 125 lbs earn a win. In the middle of the lineup had nice wins - Marshall Keller (149 lbs) beat a red-hot Dylan Chappell and Ty Whalen beat a tough Delp at 157 lbs. Princeton's 4-11 record this year, including 1-4 in conference matches, was a bit surprising this season. Their high point of the year was beating #8 Arizona State. This team is built for the postseason, with heavy hitters in Glory and Monday - who were both NCAA finalists last season. The rest of the lineup (for the most part) is younger, but very capable. This team is very capable of winning the EIWA crown but will more likely be in the battle for the top 3. The future for this team is very exciting, which is on par with the remainder of the conference. #RaiseTheStakes Sacred Heart The Pioneers closed out the season with a loss to Brown and LIU. Ryan Bolletino had one win at 174 lbs. Andrew Fallon had a win at 133 lbs, and a loss at 141 lbs on the weekend. At 165 lbs, Aidan Zarrella earned a win over Brown. Nick Palumbo was back into the lineup again, winning both of his duals. He will be the guy

Nebraska's All-American Chad Red Jr. (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Today, NCAA Allocations will be released! It's the first step in determining who will wrestle in Tulsa at the 2023 NCAA Championships. A formula that takes into account RPI, winning percentage, and coaches rankings will divvy out allocations to each conference; with no more than 29 being handed out per weight class. The rest will be at-large berths. The beauty of this format is that even if you did not earn an allocation for your conference, you could also "steal" one as they are open to anyone in the conference that places in the range allocated by the NCAA. That scenario is quite common. In fact, we've looked at a handful of wrestlers that did not earn allocations at their respective conference tournaments, yet still got to compete at nationals last season. Wrestling By Pirate's Allocation List 141 lbs Stevan Micic (Michigan) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 6-4 Micic had a limited regular season and didn't end up having the postseason success we've been accustomed to seeing out of him. He ended up getting an NCAA berth with a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten. That led to a 24th seed in Detroit and he advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 before getting eliminated. Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 9-6 Tal-Shahar finished the regular season with four Big Ten dual victories, including one over Parker Filius (Purdue); however, it wasn't enough for an automatic qualifying spot. He booked a trip to nationals by defeating Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) for seventh in the Big Ten. Tal-Shahar went 1-2 at nationals, but did register a win over returning All-American Clay Carlson (South Dakota State). Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 11-4 Red Jr. narrowly missed out on earning an allocation for the Big Ten and then did not qualify for NCAA's after going 1-2 at the Big Ten tournament. Red Jr. still was able to compete at nationals and made it to the Round of 12 before losing via fall to Grant Willits (Oregon State). Wil Gil (Franklin & Marshall) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 23-5 Even with such an impressive-looking record in the regular season, Wil Gil wasn't able to earn a qualifying bid for the EIWA. With four slots available in the EIWA, Gil lost in the quarterfinals, then proceeded to crush the consolation bracket and got third place. Even though he didn't win a match at nationals, he was F&M's first qualifier since 2019. Quinn Kinner (Rider) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 14-6 In his first year at Rider, Kinner had a solid season, but was still not one of the three MAC wrestlers that earned an allocation last season. No worries, Kinner just won the entire conference tournament and forwent the possibility of hoping for an at-large. Though he went 1-2 at nationals, Kinner did pick up a win over former Ohio State teammate Dylan D'Emilio. 149 lbs Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 13-11 In 2021-22, Michael Blockhus had one of those years that you see good wrestlers have from time to time in the Big Ten. During duals, he suffered losses to the eventual top-four placers at the conference tournament, along with another returning All-American. Basically, his record didn't mesh with his talent. Blockhus took fifth in Lincoln and secured his spot at the NCAA Tournament. There he avenged an early-season loss to Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), but ultimately went 1-2. Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 14-8 The 2021-22 season was truly a breakout year for Colin Realbuto. He started slow, but finished strong. At the Big 12 Championships, Realbuto avenged two regular season losses (Jarrett Degen and Josh Edmond) to take third at the Big 12 Championships and steal a qualifying bid. At the NCAA Tournament, Realbuto went 2-2 highlighted by a win over the #14 seed, Josh Finesilver (Duke). PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 11-2 An injury suffered in mid-January against Yianni Diakomihalis kept PJ Ogunsanya out until the postseason and prevented him from earning an automatic qualifying bid. Ogunsanya won a pair of bouts at the EIWA Championships, but ultimately needed to rely on an at-large berth for NCAA's. At the national tournament, Ogunsanya went 2-2 including a victory by fall over #7 Josh Heil (Campbell). Kody Komara (Kent State) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 13-11 The MAC was very deep in 2021-22 at 149 lbs, but even so, Kody Komara did not earn one of the five allocations for the league. That didn't matter as he got by an injured Alex Madrigal (George Mason) in the semis and pinned Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) for a conference championship. Komara was held winless at nationals, but still had a MAC Tournament to be proud of. Cory Crooks (Oregon State) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 12-8 After making the 2021 NCAA Championships for Arizona State, Cory Crooks transferred to Oregon State to use his final year of eligibility. Crooks took his lumps during the 2021-22 regular season and appeared to be on the outside looking in regarding NCAA qualification. That changed when he pinned 2021 All-American Jaden Abas (Stanford) for third place in the Pac-12 and punched his ticket to nationals. In Detroit, Cory was able to go 2-2. 157 lbs Brady Berge (Penn State) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 5-1 Brady Berge made the extremely unusual transition from coaching at South Dakota State to competing for Penn State within the same season. Berge had a huge regular season win over All-American Cam Amine, but only had a handful of matches under his belt before the postseason. He had an excellent Big Ten tournament with a pair of wins over Iowa's All-American Kaleb Young and finished third. After getting the 16th seed at nationals, Berge lost to a pair of eventual AA's and went 2-2 overall. Ben Barton (Lock Haven) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 22-7 The Campbell transfer, Ben Barton, must have just missed out on earning an allocation for the MAC, as his record was solid headed into the postseason. He left nothing to chance and won the MAC title to lock up a third NCAA Tournament appearance. Barton wouldn't be so fortunate at nationals, as he went 0-2 with a pair of decision losses. 174 lbs Tyler Eischens (Stanford) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 16-10 Tyler Eischens looked poised to rack up a qualifying spot for the Pac-12, but lost two of his final three matches and must have just missed the target benchmarks. Eischens ended up winning the conference after grinding out three consecutive close decisions. In the opening round of the NCAA Championships, Eischens pulled off a big upset when he knocked off returning All-American Ethan Smith (Ohio State) in a 13-12 shootout. That would be his only win of the tournament. 184 lbs Abe Assad (Iowa) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 10-6 Some early-season competitions against non-DI opponents likely put Abe Assad under the match minimum and led to him not earning an allocation for the Big Ten. That wasn't a big deal as the Big Ten had 12 automatic qualifying slots at 184 anyways. Assad went on to place seventh at the conference tournament, which locked in a spot at nationals. In Detroit, Assad went 1-2 with losses to a pair of past All-Americans. Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 4-2 After a transfer from Northern Iowa, Keegan Moore didn't suit up for Oklahoma until mid-January. Moore finished his regular season with a win over two-time All-American Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) in the Bedlam dual. He'd replicate the feat at the Big 12 Championships where he'd get fourth. Though he was the 27th seed at the NCAA Tournament, Moore picked up wins over notables such as Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) and Layne Malczewski (Michigan State). 197 lbs Ben Smith (Cleveland State) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 17-4 Despite finishing the regular season by winning 12 of his final 13 matches, Ben Smith did not earn an allocation for the MAC. Smith carried that hot streak into the MAC Tournament by making the finals and pinning the favorite, Will Feldkamp (Clarion), for the title. Smith would go on to nationals and exit without a win, but put himself in that position after a great conference tournament. 285 lbs Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 10-7 With a modest 10-7 record and in an extremely deep Big 12 weight class, it didn't appear as if there was a path to the NCAA tournament for Luke Surber. That was until Surber reversed the results against three opponents (Tyrell Gordon, Sam Schuyler, Zach Elam) and made the Big 12 finals. Though he was majored by Wyatt Hendrickson, the league was taking the top-six placewinners to Detroit, so he easily qualified. At NCAA's, Surber picked up a win over Bedlam rival Josh Heindselman, an opponent who he split matches with earlier in the season. Joe Doyle (Binghamton) 2021-22 Regular Season Record: 14-6 Joe Doyle was on the cusp of earning an allocation but came up just short. He left nothing to doubt in the EIWA Championships pinning three opponents on his way to third place. Doyle also had a good run at NCAA's majoring the #14 seed Luke Luffman (Illinois) among his two wins.

Rider head coach John Hangey (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome back to Week #5 of the Top 5 Memorable MAC Moments, nominated by YOU! These past five weeks have been nothing short of exciting for the MAC. I want to thank every wrestler, coach, referee, and fan that has nominated a match, moment, or move that stood out. You’ve made this new series incredibly successful, and I am so thankful for all of your support. For the final time this season, here are this week’s Top 5 Memorable MAC Moments. #5: Northern Illinois’ Hayden Pummel Earns 1st Period Fall to Secure Dual In this All-MAC Conference matchup at 174lbs, Hayden Pummel defeated Chase Diehl of SIU Edwardsville by fall in 1:53 to help secure the team dual, 25-12. Pummel previously topped Diehl by fall in 3:40. Pummel improves his overall season record to 15-12. Pummel had three MAC wins earlier this season including: Ricardo Salin of Northern Illinois by a 1-0 decision, Tate Geiser from Cleveland State by a decision of 6-3, and Michael Ferree of Kent State by a 16-5 major decision. Pummel and his teammates will travel to Fairfax, Virginia on March 3rd and March 4th, where they will compete in the Mid-American Conference Championships. #4: University at Buffalo’s Greg Hodulick Downs Opponent to Win Dual This weekend, The University at Buffalo’s Greg Hodulick (HWT) triumphed over Ohio’s Jacob Padilla by fall in :54 to secure the dual, 22-17. Hodulick improves to an overall season record of 8-14. Hodulick had three MAC wins prior to this inter-conference dual, including: Shane Noonan of Bloomsburg by a 7-4 decision, Tyler McCatharn from Bloomsburg by a 14-3 major decision, and Dan McKiernan of SIU Edwardsville by fall in 6:58. Hodulick and the Bulls will be back in action at the MAC Championships on Friday, March 3rd and Saturday, March 4th in Fairfax, Virginia. #3: Drew Dickson of George Mason Avenges Early Season Loss On Friday, Drew Dickson (165) of George Mason avenged an early season loss to Hunter Mays of Rider by an 8-5 decision. Previously, Dickson fell short to Mays by an 18-8 major decision at the Princeton Open. This win brings Dickson’s overall season record to 15-15. Two additional Patriots topped their opponents from Rider. Peter Pappas (157) won by a 3-2 decision over Colton Washleski and Malachi Duvall (184) downed Isaac Dean by a 9-6 decision. The Patriots will look to defeat their inter-conference opponents at the Mid-American Conference Championships on March 3rd and March 4th at EagleBank Arena. #2: Lock Haven and Rider Earn Co-MAC East Dual Meet Champions Over the weekend, both Lock Haven University and Rider University earned Co-MAC East Dual Meet Champions. Lock Haven posted an 8-7 overall season dual meet record, while Rider posted a 9-5 overall season dual meet record. The Broncs topped the following schools during the 2022-2023 season: Cleveland State 25-9, Drexel 26-12, George Mason 27-9, Clarion 25-12, Edinboro 28-6, Princeton 19-18, Bloomsburg 31-6, Purdue 23-13, and SIU Edwardsville 21-19. The Eagles topped the following schools: Edinboro 29-9, American 24-9, George Mason 24-15, Navy 24-17, Bloomsburg 40-1, Rider 21-12, Cleveland State 20-16, Davidson 31-13. Lock Haven and Rider will look to battle during the MAC Championships on March 3rd and March 4th in Fairfax, Virginia. #1: Rider Coach John Hangey Earns 50th Career Win Rider’s Head Coach John Hangey earned his 50th career win after the Broncs closed out the regular season with three straight wins. Hangey entered his sixth year as the Head Coach for the Broncs this season with a 41-24 overall record. Throughout his time at Rider, he has notched many notable accomplishments. In the 2020-2021 season, the Broncs finished 24th in the overall dual meet rankings, earned 3rd place at the MAC Championships, were blessed with six NCAA Qualifiers, earned a Top 20 team finish at the NCAA’s, and had the program's first-ever NCAA Finalist, Jesse Dellavecchia. At the conclusion of the 2020-2021 season, Coach Hangey was named the Co-MAC Coach of the Year, alongside Brian Smith from Missouri, who has now returned to the Big 12 Conference. Additionally, during the 2019-2020 season, Rider University was crowned the MAC East Champions, defeated #6 ranked Minnesota, and earned a title at the Virginia Dual with a solid win over #17 ranked Virginia in the finals. Prior to his coaching career at Rider, Hangey was a Division I All-American for the Broncs program, where he finished 4th at 190lbs during his senior season in 1993. Additionally, he was a three-time conference champion, three-time NCAA Qualifier, and the only Bronc to ever win the Midlands. To top off an incredible wrestling career, in 2000, Coach Hangey was inducted into the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame. Coach Hangey and the Broncs will be back in action at the Mid-American Conference Championships in EagleBank Arena on March 3rd and March 4th. Honorable Mention: Luke Kemerer (157) of Edinboro won by fall over John Noah Reho of Bloomsburg in :53. Will Feldkamp (184) won by fall over Donovan Ball of Penn State in 1:20. MAC Match-Ups (January 14 - January 21) Rider vs. George Mason (27-9 Rider) West Virginia vs. Clarion (24-18 West Virginia) Edinboro vs. Bloomsburg (23-18 Edinboro) Michigan State vs. Central Michigan (20-13 Michigan State) Rider vs. Cleveland State (25-9 Rider) Rider vs. Drexel (26-12 Rider) Drexel vs. Cleveland State (27-15 Drexel) Buffalo vs. Ohio (22-17 Buffalo) West Virginia vs. Lock Haven (34-9 West Virginia) Penn State vs. Clarion (40-6 Penn State) Northern Illinois vs. SIU Edwardsville (25-12 Northern Illinois) Michigan vs. Central Michigan (30-9 Michigan)

Appalachian State 133 lber Ethan Oakley (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Wow, what a season it’s been - there have been twists and turns and so many HUH moments - this last week of Southern Conference wrestling was no different. UT-Chattanooga hosted a pair of duals this weekend, the Bellarmine Knights on Friday and the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday. Chattanooga finished the season with a 9-11 overall record, and 6-2 in the conference, recording losses to Appalachian State and Campbell. The Mocs were able to post one final victory in MacLellan Gym, with a 32-8 win over the Knights. The score would have been 32-9; however, there was a point deduction for Bellarmine for a mat violation during 174. Jack Parker (125) and heavyweight Thadd Huff put points on the board, Parker with a 3-0 decision over UTC’s Logan Ashton and Huff posting a first-period fall over Nick Benton. The Mocs ended the dual with three decisions, three major decisions, one tech fall, and one fall. On Saturday, Gardner-Webb closed out their season with a 34-4 win over the Davidson Wildcats, sending seniors Drew West (125) and RJ Mosley (165) out in style. Davidson’s Tanner Peake (157) was the lone winner for the ‘Cats, with a major decision victory over Tyler Brignola. West and Mosley both wrestled their final dual for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, winning by decision for both of their matches. VMI hosted a pair of duals against The Citadel and Queens University of Charlotte, losing to the Bulldogs 20-12 in the first dual, and ending their season with a victory over Queens, 38-3. For their final #SoConWR dual of the season, the Keydets battled it out against the Bulldogs, winning four matches to The Citadel’s six. The Citadel started off strong with back-to-back major decision victories at 125 and 133, and after another victory at 141 for the Bulldogs, VMI started to make some headway, with three consecutive wins from 149-165. The Citadel was victorious in the rest of the bouts for the evening, barring 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) had a close 10-8 decision over Mark Chaid (CIT). VMI bounced back from this loss to defeat Queens 38-3, the lone loss at 141. For the final set of duals for the weekend - Chattanooga hosted Indiana University, while App State held their final three conference duals to close out the regular season. The Mocs lost this dual 32-3, picking up their lone win at 184. #33 Matthew Waddell pushed through to finish off his senior series in MacLellan Gym with a 5-2 win over Drayton Harris. There were a couple of upsets as well - at 133, #30 Henry Porter overcame #14 Brayden Palmer by an 8-3 decision, and #12 Rocky Jordan was defeated by #14 DJ Washington. The Mocs gave up a forfeit at 125. App State polished off a perfect conference dual season, posting a 7-0 record (technically 8-0 if you count the 39-0 win over Bellarmine). This past Sunday Varsity Gym was PACKED with fans, family, and interestingly enough - football teams. To kick off their three-dual series of the day, the #20 Mountaineers faced off against previously undefeated conference foes, the Campbell Camels. The dual kicked off at 125 - #14 Caleb Smith (APP, 125) and Ethan Oakley (APP, 133) started off the action with two wins, Oakley defeating #22 Domenic Zaccone (CU) in sudden-victory overtime. #33 Shannon Hanna (CU, 141) picked up an 11-3 major decision victory to put 4 points on the board for the Camels. #9 Jon Jon Millner came out with an 8-0 major decision victory for the Mountaineers, setting the tone for the next four bouts. Appalachian State posted wins at 157, 165, and 174, when the Camels picked up the final three wins of the evening at 184, 197, and heavyweight. #16 Taye Ghadiali dominated his match, ending the dual with a 17-8 major decision win. The final score was in favor of the Mountaineers, 22-14, halting Campbell’s conference win streak. Appalachian turned around to deliver shutouts to Presbyterian (43-0) and Davidson (47-0), making them the 2023 dual-team champions. This set of duals was pretty spectacular. There were TWO officials on the mat (finally!!), plenty of fans, and as I mentioned before - football teams. Campbell brought their football team, and when App State heard about it they answered accordingly. A gym full of football players who may or may not have wrestled in high school is just as fun as you think it would be. A lot of yelling “TWOOO,” “he’s stalling,” or other various heckling ensued. I was in the area near Campbell’s football team, and they were the nicest group of guys. It’s really awesome to see sports programs buy into each other in this way, it’s a creative way to grow the sport, and it made for an awesome atmosphere to have so many students there supporting both programs. It’s too bad we couldn’t have an App State/Campbell football scrimmage (LOL) now that would’ve been added fun! There is one dual left in the season for the SoCon, Presbyterian College will travel to Bellarmine on Thursday, Feb 23. On the 25, Bellarmine will head to the Great Lakes Conference Championships in Toledo, OH as they are still not Southern Conference Championships eligible. They’ll then head to the NCWA Championships in Puerto Rico on March 9. The Southern Conference Championship will take place on Saturday, March 4 in Boone, North Carolina. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this season pans out.

Iowa 3x NCAA Champion Spencer Lee (Photo/Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Well, that’s it, folks. The regular season, at least for Big Ten teams, is behind us and March Matness lies ahead. While the feeling is bittersweet, the anticipation for Big Tens and NCAAs outweighs any sadness. This week, several storied seniors wrestled their final duals – with both Spencer Lee and Roman Bravo-Young bookending their dual careers with falls. Other teams wrapped up notable seasons and set new records. Here are our takeaways, and BIG Awards at the bottom! RBY bookends his dual career with pins Throughout his career at Penn State, Roman Bravo-Young has consistently said that his main goal when wrestling is to “put on a show.” And as he had his hand raised for the last time at Rec Hall on Sunday, ending his collegiate dual career the same way it started – with a pin, it’s safe to say he delivered. He played with his opponent, Clarion’s Mason Prinkey, like a cat with a mouse, throwing him to the mat multiple times and racking up six takedowns and four nearfall before getting the pin at 4:31. The match almost didn’t even last that long as RBY trapped Prinkey in a headlock and threw him to the mat about 10 seconds in for two swipes. RBY denied it when asked if he let Prinkey out on purpose in order to extend his final Rec Hall performance. “I was trying to pin him there,” he said. “He’s a little squirmy. He kept trying to dig the underhooks.” That pin was RBY’s fourth of the season and the 12th of his career. His first was in 5:31 against Kent State’s Tim Rooney in 2018. Another early indication of the excitement RBY would bring wrestling fans was five duals later against Lehigh when he made the “SportsCenter Top 10” with a “flying squirrel” against Brandon Paetzell at Rec Hall. While his collegiate dual career is over, there’s still plenty for RBY to accomplish before hanging up his blue-and-white singlet. “It’s kind of weird being done,” he said. “It was a surreal moment but just like anything else in life, you’ve got to move on. Like Cael (Sanderson) said, the job’s really not done and I’m excited for nationals.” Indiana wraps up its best dual season since 2016-17 Indiana came into this season with a chip on its shoulder, wanting to prove to the wrestling world that it’s better than last year’s 3-8 (1-7 BIG) record and last-place Big Ten Championships-finish would indicate. Well, it completed the first half of that mission, finishing the dual season 8-5 (3-5 BIG) – its best regular season finish since the 2016-17 season and the best under head coach Angel Escobedo. Sunday’s win against Chattanooga also marked Indiana’s most wins over DI opponents since 2010-11. Indiana’s 32-3 thumping of Chattanooga was highlighted by two ranked wins and mild upsets. Then-No. 24 Henry Porter earned an 8-3 decision over then-No. 21 Brayden Palmer at 133 and No. 13 D.J. Washington topped No. 10 Rocky Jordan, 4-1, at 174. This was the second ranked victory in consecutive weeks for the freshman Porter. Heavyweight Jacob Bullock also finished off the dual with an exclamation point – a 17-1 tech fall in 5:19. The Hoosiers have had several highlights so far this season, including their come-from-behind win against intrastate rival Purdue to break a 12-season losing streak, their win on criteria on the road at Maryland and Bullock earning arguably the best win of his career – over Ohio State’s Tate Orndorff. But the season’s not over yet and the next challenge – the Big Ten Championships – awaits. The Hoosiers will enter Big Tens with five wrestlers ranked by InterMat (updated Tuesday) – No. 20 Porter, No. 28 Graham Rooks, No. 24 Derek Gilcher, No. 10 Washington and No. 25 Bullock. Nebraska finishes with 2 undefeated wrestlers for the first time since 1961 Nebraska erased a nine-point deficit Sunday to earn a 25-15 Senior Day win over Arizona State in a battle of top-15 teams (per InterMat’s tournament rankings), completing its regular season 12-3. The Cornhuskers also achieved something Sunday that they haven’t achieved in more than six decades – they ended the season with not one but two undefeated wrestlers. Top-ranked Peyton Robb rolled to a 17-1 technical fall over Max Wilner at 157 and No. 2 Mikey Labriola battled for a 9-6 decision over Cael Valencia at 174. The victories bring Robb to 23-0 and Labriola to 24-0. Labriola, who was honored on Senior Day, hasn’t yet faced Penn State’s top-ranked Carter Starocci this season, but he did take out the preseason No. 2 and 2022 NCAA runner-up, Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis, 3-1 in sudden victory at the Cliff Keen Invitational. He also has four other top-10 wins, with No. 5 Ethan Smith, of Ohio State, No. 6 Demetrius Romero (medical forfeit), of Utah Valley, No. 8 Bailee O'Reilly, of Minnesota, and No. 9 Edmond Ruth, of Illinois. Robb hasn’t faced as many top opponents but has two wins over No. 7 Ed Scott, of North Carolina State. He also has wins over No. 11 Chase Saldate, of Michigan State, No. 13 Cobe Siebrecht, of Iowa, and No.15 Trevor Chumbley, of Northwestern. Both of their undefeated records will be heavily put to the test in Ann Arbor, where they could face wrestlers such as Starocci, Kendall Coleman and Levi Haines. But regardless of what happens then, an undefeated regular season is clearly an accomplishment, as Nebraska joins Penn State and Iowa as the only teams with multiple undefeated top-33 wrestlers – with two apiece. Ohio State’s Mendez finishes strong freshman regular season, despite falling to Arujau Ohio State’s top-10 dual with Cornell on Saturday stood out more for who didn’t wrestle than who did – with both teams missing significant portions of their starting lineups. But while several top matches – including No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis vs. No. 3 Sammy Sasso – didn’t happen in Ohio State’s 22-14 win, at least one did, with Cornell’s No. 3 Vito Arujau earning a 6-1 decision over No. 8 Jesse Mendez. Arujau handed Mendez just the third loss of his true freshman season, one of the other two coming to top-ranked RBY. Similar to the match against RBY, Mendez struggled to get any takedowns, his only points in both bouts coming by way of escapes. But elite competition aside, Mendez still put together a solid campaign in his debut season for the Buckeyes. The former top recruit finished the regular season 13-3, with notable wins over Illinois’ No. 9 Lucas Byrd, Michigan’s No. 11 Dylan Ragusin and Northwestern’s No. 12 Chris Cannon. He’ll end the regular season as the second-highest ranked Big Ten wrestler at 133 pounds – with head-to-head wins over the next three – which is good news when it comes to conference seeding and avoiding the same side of the bracket as RBY. Iowa looks healthy and ready for the road through Ann Arbor to Tulsa I have some awesome memories when it comes to Iowa and Oklahoma State wrestling. I was on the elliptical just before my son’s birthday party while watching the Grapple on the Gridiron in 2015. I was on my couch in my living room watching Piccinnini get the pin over Spencer Lee. It’s one of those great rivalry duals that through the years you make sure you can watch, because something awesome will happen. Another great thing about this rivalry is that usually both of these teams are in the top 10, and there are a lot of toss-up matches. This year was no different on paper. Oklahoma State was 14-2, and really looked great in the weeks leading up to this dual. Iowa was 14-1, with their lone loss coming to Penn State. This year had, in my mind, toss-up matches at 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, and 197. When you have 5 toss-up matches, it’s bound to make a great dual right? Not when those five toss-up matches end up going 4-1 in favor of one team. This is not me saying the dual wasn’t fun. This is me saying good for Iowa in being prepared to wrestle and get the gritty wins. Particularly the wins at 174 and 184 for the Hawkeyes were impressive. Neither Nelson Brands nor Abe Assad were favored, and both wrestlers have struggled this year with injury issues and generally missing time. Both Plott and Wittlake have looked really solid this year, and at points early in the season, I started to wonder if Plott was a dark horse NCAA Champion guy. I don’t think that’s the case this season anymore, but still, a nice win for Brands who we hope is hitting his stride at this point in the season. The swan song season for Spencer Lee continues to grow in infamy. Trying to explain to people what he’s done this year will sound like it’s made up, but it isn’t. He did a defensive cartwheel in order to catch his opponent on his back and pin him within the first minute of the match against rival Oklahoma State. That sounds fake, but we all watched it happen. Sith lord Spencer remains more powerful than we could have ever imagined. Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the State of Michigan This is an exercise for me, but other Michigan-centric folks will enjoy it as well. Let’s take a quick jaunt through the results of the Michigan, Michigan State, and Central Michigan duals. Here we’ll award Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to the three wrestlers from the three schools, through all ten weights. Simple enough concept, but in certain areas, I will use my own discretion in awarding these medals, so it will largely be based on wins and losses, but there is some subjectivity when I feel it’s needed. 125 Bronze goes to Tristan Lujan of Michigan State University. Tristan had a great start to the year, and had some impressive wins. I always liked Lujan, and he had made some improvements this season on finishing his shots quickly. As the B1G schedule got going and he had tougher competition, he really started to struggle. That is to be expected. You wrestle tougher opponents, you should theoretically win less, or have a harder time winning, but that was the case with Lujan. Silver goes to Sean Spidle of Central Michigan, who has a win over Lujan from Friday night, and has really come on strong here at the end of the season. He looks to have more confidence in his offense, compared to how he looked at the beginning of the season. He also looks to be a bit healthier, and possibly managing the weight a bit better, but regardless of the contributing factors, his recent results made me feel like he was going to have a chance against our gold medalist - Jack Medley. The energizer bunny struggled a bit just to get the spot earlier in the year, dropping the intrasquad match to Kurt McHenry, as well as their head-to-head match at the MSU Open. However, Jack Medley never quits, and always brings his best every single day, and has a fiercely positive attitude. Those factors have helped him solidify his spot in the lineup and he also seems to really be hitting his stride heading into Ann Arbor. 133 The bronze goes to Vince Perez of Central Michigan. Perez got to be a full-time starter this season and has shown some improved wrestling throughout the year. I remember seeing some coverage of the team over the summer on workouts, and extra work guys are putting in, and Vince was always featured in that content. I like what we’ve seen in his first full year in the lineup. Being a starter can be a real kick in the teeth for some people. The mental toughness needed to make it through the grind has broken many people. It didn’t break Vince, and I look forward to how he’s going to grow from this experience. Silver goes to Dylan Ragusin of Michigan. This was tough because he’s looked better than Rayvon recently, and in the end, it’s more likely that he has a better postseason than Rayvon, but these are regular-season awards. Rayvon has won the dual matchups, and decisively this season, so I’m going with Ann Arbor Pioneer High School’s finest, Rayvon Foley, who was 2-0 against these two anyway, so I feel fine about this one in the end. 141 The bronze medal goes to Central Michigan University. CMU struggled to have a consistent starter at 141 this year. They had Mason Breece compete against MSU, and Jimmy Nugent (not sure if he’s related to Ted. Probably.) compete against Michigan, neither won so it seems safe to award them the bronze here without a consistent starter and going 0-2. Jordan Hamdan is the silver medalist here. A close win over Breece, and got smoked by our Gold medalist Cole Mattin. Cole had a strong start to the year with an MSU Open title and a win over Mosha Schwartz of Oklahoma (currently ranked 7th in the country). More recently he has battled some injuries, but came back just in time to get the pin over Nugent in what some would call a Stranglehold (pun heavily intended). I hope any injury concerns are out of the way for Mattin, and that he is able to hit the ground running. 149 The bronze medal goes to Peyton Omania, which is impressive considering he also has a World Bronze Medal at Junior Worlds in Greco-Roman wrestling back in 2019. Omania has the explosiveness and that extra level with the Greco background, but has lost to both CMU and Michigan in this race, so third place it is. Chance Lamer gets the silver here. I hope he’s okay, because he looks to have aggravated an injury against Lovett Sunday night, but he’s been so competitive in every match all year. Young wrestlers do young wrestler things, and he’s not the exception to that rule, but where he is different is he never seems to stop attacking. He always thinks he’s about to get right back in the match, and operates with the fearlessness that all young wrestlers don’t maintain throughout the season. Bright future ahead for him. Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan gets the gold medal here, but for him let's make it a championship belt. Truth be told, his indication that he was wearing the championship belt after beating Lamer on Sunday was the genesis for this article, so he gets the belt. He has struggled at times dropping down to 149 this year, but he really took it to both Omania and Lamer, and those are solid wins to head into the conference tournament with. 157 The bronze medal goes to Corbyn Munson of the Chippewas. That’s tough for me to type, because this weight is both extremely tough, and extremely deep. He lost in OT to Saldate on Friday night, and had a close loss to Lewan on Sunday, but nonetheless, I can’t make any arguments to raise him from here. He had some strong wins on the year, beating Ed Scott of NC State earlier this season (currently ranked 7th in the country)/, but couldn’t get the wins against his B1G in-state counterparts. Lewan started the season ranked third in the country, but he takes the silver medal here. He’s made improvements to the way he’s competed in matches, but his wrestling still seems to lack the ability to score points in bunches against top competition. He’s proven he can do it in March, so I’m not saying he can’t, but he has an awful lot of ride-out wins this year. More than many have in a career I would think. Chase Saldate is awarded the gold medal here. He’s 2-0 against these teams, was undefeated in B1G dual action this season, should be a top 4 seed at B1Gs, and could legitimately win it. Saldate is a hammer on top, has solid attacks, and really solid defense. Strong recipe for success. 165 The bronze medal goes to Tracy Hubbard of Central Michigan. I have been such a huge Tracy Hubbard fan. The guy does not cut weight to make 165. He just kind of walks around at the weight. He also is incredibly nice in every interaction I’ve had with him. That means a lot. Also, he’s a gamer. As an alumni of CMU, I have seen him show up in big moments more than not, and those memories are always going to be fun. Thanks Tracy for your career at CMU. It’s been a pleasure to watch and wish you all the luck at MACs. Silver goes to the Spartan, Caleb Fish. A solid win over Hubbard on Friday, and a close loss to Amine in their dual. Fish is a Michigan kid, so I always hear people tell me stories about how athletic he is and what he’s going to turn into. This year I feel like I’ve seen a lot of that. I have confidence that he will surprise people at B1Gs and NCAAs and go further than many think. Watch out for him on your side of the bracket. Cam Amine is the gold medal winner for the Wolverines. He has 2 wins against the in-state contingent, which is coincidentally the number of All-American finishes he has as well. The way he wrestles, and how he does so with the level of success that he has, leads me to believe that he might be frighteningly strong. I mean, compared to other D1 college wrestlers. He controls the tie-ups in just about all positions, and eventually gets where he wants. Watch his next match through this lens. 174 Ceasar Garza takes the bronze here. He has had a solid freshman season for the Spartans, and as I referenced with Chance Lamer before, he continues to go after his opponents and shows improvement on the season. He’ll develop into something special as his career continues. Michigan’s combination of Joseph Walker and Max Maylor takes the silver here. The Wolverines have split this weight between the two wrestlers all year with Max beating Garza and Walker losing to our gold medalist in Alex Cramer of CMU. Cramer, a transfer from Old Dominion when they dropped their program, qualified for NCAAs in 2021, but wasn’t able to compete due to injury, and then redshirted last season to continue to recover from the injury. Needless to say, I’m excited about his continued development and for the impact he’s had in the lineup for the Chippewas this season and moving forward. 184 Bronze goes to Ben Cushman of Central Michigan. Ben has been a staple in the Chippewa lineup for many years now. He wrestled valiantly against Layne Malczewski of Michigan State, and I would argue that there were some questionable calls in that match that hurt his chances of winning, but nonetheless. Malczewski of Michigan State takes the silver here. He is 20-3 on the season and currently ranked 13th in the nation. One of his losses however came to our gold medalist, the transfer from Duke, Matt Finesilver. Mustache Matt has been a huge addition to the Wolverine lineup, and has continued to show improvement as the season goes on. He’s closed gaps on some of his losses on the year, and has continued to develop since being in a more competitive room. 197 In third place we have Brendin Yatooma of Michigan. Brendin has competed for the Wolverines for most of the season at 197, and has had some ups and downs on the year. He’s shown improvement over the season and has a great mustache, but he’s 0-2 against the state of Michigan, so he collects the bronze here. Cameron Wood took the W over Yatooma on Sunday night, therefore he’s the silver here. Wood has been in the lineup for most of the year, and has had ups and downs as well, but continues to show improvements also. The gold medal here goes to Spartan great, Cam Caffey. Cam has been in their lineup for years, and is certainly a fan favorite. Currently ranked 19th at the wildly deep 197 weight class, and he’s 17-3 on the year. Excited to see what he is able to do at B1Gs and how that weight will unfold in the postseason. HWY Bronze goes to Ryan Vasbinder of Michigan State. He transferred in from McKendree where he was a National Champion at 197 pounds. He’s transitioning to B1G heavyweight relatively well, considering that weight in the B1G has been a meat grinder for many years. Silver goes to Bryan Caves of Central Michigan. When you lose a 5x MAC Champion from your lineup, you’re likely not going to have someone step in and deliver on expectations, but I feel like Caves has. He’s wildly strong, and has shown technical improvements since I first saw him compete at the MSU Open. November Bryan Caves probably doesn’t take the silver here, but February Caves does. Gold goes to Mason Parris who has crushed it this season. He’s been dominant and remains undefeated and ranked first in the country. I have absolutely loved Mason Parris since his first moments in the Michigan lineup. Like Tracy Hubbard, Mason has only ever been great when interviewing him and talking through his career. We’ll all miss him after his career at Michigan is complete, but for the time being, let's enjoy these last couple of weeks. Awards!! Welcome to the sixth installment of our BIG Awards section, where we each hand out weekly honors for both of our picks for the biggest upset, win and consequential move of the teams we cover. Congrats to the winners! Kevin’s picks B1Ggest upset: Taylor Lamont got a huge win over then-14th-ranked Kyle Biscoglia of Northern Iowa on Saturday. The OT win was ultimately one of the wins that helped the Badgers get the 23-17 win over the Panthers. Since transferring to Wisconsin this year, Lamont has struggled at times, compared to his All-American seasons when he was with Utah Valley, but this win shows that he is as dangerous as advertised, and shouldn’t be overlooked at all entering the conference tournament, and likely NCAAs. B1Ggest win: Nelson Brands' win over Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State was huge for him. Entering that dual, he was 5-4, so he’s getting a win over an All-American like Plott has got to be huge for his confidence level heading into B1Gs. He’s been so patient with getting into the lineup and finding the ideal weight for him throughout the years, so it’s nice to see him getting healthier and accumulating some big wins for the Hawkeyes. B1Ggest move: Dylan Ragusin used every bit of the cylinder when getting the pin over Vince Perez of Central Michigan. He was working to finish a takedown on the edge of the mat, keeping one foot in bounds as he tried to drag Perez back onto the mat. Perez attacked the leg of Ragusin from the mat, but inadvertently got his head too close to his bottom leg. Dylan locked up the cradle, and it looks like they circle around for a moment as he locks it up tighter. Dylan is a smart guy, and as such, uses his head literally and figuratively to stay within bounds as he adjusts the cradle to get the pin. Very impressive that he was able to have such great mat awareness in getting the fall for the Wolverines. Lauren’s picks B1Ggest upset: No. 24 Henry Porter (IU) over No. 21 Brayden Palmer (Chat) For the second week in a row, this award goes to Indiana freshman Henry Porter. Fresh off his first ranked win of the season last week, 10-5 over Michigan State’s then-No. 17 Rayvon Foley, he did it again, this time topping Chattanooga’s No. 21 Brayden Palmer in an 8-3 decision. Talk about peaking at the right part of the season. The freshman has shown his potential throughout the year, exhibiting a fearlessness to go out and score points and a maturity to stay calm under pressure. He’ll enter the Big Ten Championships at 20-7, a pretty solid true freshman campaign. B1Ggest win: Nebraska’s Liam Cronin earns a top-10 win on Senior Day Yes, I know, this awards section looks pretty similar to last week’s. But, hey, there aren’t too many other wrestlers putting together as impressive a senior campaign as Liam Cronin. Of course, the elephant in the room here is Spencer Lee, who sits atop this weight class and is having not only arguably the best senior campaign this year but also in the conversation for all time. But Conin, a seventh-year senior who’s never placed at NCAAs, just earned his third straight top-20 win with a 7-1 defeat of 2021 NCAA runner-up Brandon Courtney, ranked eighth at the time, in sudden victory. The pair were knotted up at 1 apiece to end regulation, then a takedown and four-point nearfall in SV did the trick for Cronin. He now sits at No. 4 at 125 pounds with an 18-3 record and is in a good position heading into Ann Arbor. B1Ggest move: Nebraska’s Lenny Pinto doing … whatever he did to pin Anthony Montalvo Nebraska freshman Lenny Pinto showed a glimpse of why he’s going to be one of the more dangerous wrestlers at 184 pounds this season – earning a pin in 1:05 over Arizona State’s No. 29 Anthony Montalvo on Sunday. But it wasn’t so much that he got the pin as how he got the pin. Pinto fought off a throw attempt to put Montalvo on his back but the Sun Devil escaped back points and went on the attack himself, earning a takedown and two swipes. But then Pinto reversed him and got the pin, as the crowd lost its collective mind. Me describing this sequence isn’t going to do it any justice. Definitely do yourself a favor and watch it for yourself.

(photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Last night, Penn State received a pair of verbal commitments from Wisconsin’s Mirasola twins, Cole and Connor. Both are currently ranked in the top-20 in MatScouts’ Class of 2024 Big Board. Connor comes in at #8, while Cole is at #19. Among weight class rankings Conor is third in the nation at 182 lbs and Cole is fourth at 195. As far as national achievements go, Connor was a Junior freestyle national champion in Fargo last summer, a few months after making the finals for a second time at the UWW U17 World Team Trials in freestyle. Cole was fifth in Fargo and seventh at the WTT’s. Both Mirasola twins are Wisconsin DI state champions for West Bend West High School. Connor has won a pair of titles, while Cole grabbed his first in 2022. The two train out of Wisconsin’s Askren Wrestling Academy, as well. The Mirasola’s are the fourth and fifth wrestlers from the Class of 2024 who have committed to Cael Sanderson’s team. It is shaping up to be a monster class for Penn State as the other three recruits (#1 Joseph Sealey, #4 Zack Ryder, and #12 Mason Gibson) are all highly ranked themselves. The two project as either 184 and 197 lbers down the road for Penn State. It’s unclear exactly how this will work out once the Mirasola’s matriculate to State College as Ryder looks like a 184 lber and top 2023 recruit #2 Josh Barr could start at 174, but move up to 184.

Cal Poly head coach Jon Sioredas (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Pac-12 finished their dual season over the weekend. Although there were not many duals, the action did not disappoint. Cal Poly completes an undefeated conference dual season The Mustangs swept the Pac-12 for the first time in over a decade. Cal Poly continues to prove its stock is rising while heading into March Matness. The sweep started with a comeback victory against Stanford. Cal Poly trailed Stanford 15-6 with three matches remaining. Ethan Rotondo and Lawrence Saenz were the only two lighter weights to capture wins for the Mustangs. However, Shane Griffith struggled to beat Legend Lamer, with a 2-0 victory, and Tyler Eischens squeaked by Brawley Lamer 8-3. Therefore, the Mustangs had a shot to win. Jared Priest took the first of three at 184 pounds, winning 9-4 over Brook Byers. Bernie Truax picked up a 9-5 victory over Nick Stemmet, making it 15-12 Stanford with one match left. Trevor Tinker brought a roar to the crowd with a pin in 58 seconds, shocking Stanford and giving Cal Poly an 18-15 victory. The Mustangs found themselves in a similar situation against Oregon State. Cal Poly trailed 15-13 with two matches left after Trey Munoz scored a second-period pin. Truax gave the Mustangs a 16-15 lead with a 7-5 victory over Tanner Harvey. Tinker put the nail in the coffin with an 8-2 decision over JJ Dixon, giving Cal Poly a 19-15 win. Sun Devils split final duals Arizona State began the weekend with a memorable senior night. One of the best Sun Devil senior classes in recent years took the mat a final time while the up-and-comers shared the mat too. Brandon Courtney won by a 14-4 major decision and Michael McGee won by technical fall. On the other hand, Emilio Ysaguirre and Shay Addison captured their first wins as Sun Devils. Cael Valencia also kept his winning ways alive with a 6-5 victory over Albert Urias. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils fell to Nebraska 25-15 a few days later. Courtney was defeated by Liam Cronin, but McGee pinned Boo Dryden. Ysaguirre reached the national limelight after upsetting #4 Brock Hardy 10-4. The Sun Devil lineup may be far from what was expected at the beginning of the season. However, they have some bracket busters built into the lineup to go along with their big guns.

Austin DeSanto of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG #3 Nick Suriano won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Diamantino Iuna of Guinea Bissau. Akhil Vega, a D3 national qualifier for Stevens Tech, went 0-2 competing for the US at the Henri Deglane, losing to Giuseppea Rea (ECU) and Karamjeet Holstein (GER). 61KG #6 Austin DeSanto won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Shelton Mack with #3 Nahshon Garrett taking bronze. For his semifinal win over #3 Nahshon Garett, #6 Austin DeSanto moves up three spots to #3. 65KG Patricio Lugo won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Kizhan Clarke (GER). Clarke, a 2022 NCAA runner-up for North Carolina at 141lb, made his international debut competing for Germany, where he racked up wins against the likes of #9 Ridge Lovett and #3 Evan Henderson to make the finals. Patricio Lugo enters the rankings at #7 for beating #10 Matthew Kolodzik in the semifinals. Kolodzik drops out of the rankings after losing his bronze medal match to #9 Ridge Lovett. Anthony Ashnault was eliminated from competition after losing his opener to 2020 Olympian Augustin Destribats (ARG) and then losing again to Destribats in the fourth round of repechage. 70KG #6 Alec Pantaleo won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Giorgi Tcholadze (GEO). Cody Chittum took bronze over Leon Gerstenberger (GER). 74KG #5 Joey Lavallee won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over #3 Vincenzo Joseph. Joseph notched a ranked win in the semifinals over #9 Collin Purinton, who had an upset win over #6 Josh Shields in the bronze medal match to move up three spots in the rankings to #6. Joseph falls two spots for his loss to Lavallee while Lavallee moves up one spot to #4 and #4 David Carr moves up one spot to #3 due to his win over Lavallee in a special wrestle-off at Final X. 79KG #9 Evan Wick won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over #4 Alex Marinelli. Wick notched another ranked victory in the semifinals when he pinned #8 Taylor Lujan. Lujan would go on to take bronze over Callum McNeice of Canada. For his wins over #4 Marinelli and #8 Taylor Lujan, Wick moves up five spots in the rankings to #4. 86KG Owen Webster made the semifinals of the Henri Deglane Grand Prix after notching a minor upset over 2022 Junior European runner-up Davit Koguashvili of Georgia. Webster lost in the semifinals to 2018 Senior World bronze medalist Taimuraz Friev (ESP) and followed it up with a loss in the bronze medal match to 2017 U23 world bronze medalist Uri Kalashnikov (ISR) to take fifth. 92KG #1 J’den Cox has moved up to 97 KG where he is ranked second behind reigning world champion #1 (97) Kyle Snyder. Snyder won two matches against Cox last year at the Rudis Super Match event. #2 Nathan Jackson locks down the top spot with Cox’s departure. #3 Eric Schultz won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix in round robin action with #5 Jay Aiello taking silver. Schultz beat Aiello in the first round. 97KG #1 (92) J’den Cox has made the move up to 97 KG where he is ranked second behind reigning world champion #1 Kyle Snyder. Cox wrestled one match in pool action at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix, winning over Ricardo Baez of Argentina, before injury defaulting out of the tournament. Morgan Smith would end up taking silver at the tournament, losing in the finals to Merab Suleimanishvili of Georgia. 125KG #7 Christian Lance finished runner-up at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix to Nika Berulava of Georgia. Pound for Pound Austin DeSanto enters the pound for pound rankings at #25 for beating #25 Nahshon Garrett in the semifinals of the 61 KG Henri Deglane Grand Prix.

Illinois state champion Kannon Webster; an Illini recruit (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Last weekend, the ball got rolling for the high school state tournament season. This weekend it was in full force as some of the traditional powers like Illinois and Iowa held their much-anticipated season-ending tournaments. As these tournaments conclude, it begs the question, "how did my favorite team's recruits fare?" In some smaller states, it's almost a given that your college-bound studs are collecting another state title, while in the power states, with the deepest talent pools, such achievements are not guaranteed. Either way, we've combed through results from all of the state tournaments that have taken place thus far to find out how everyone's recruits have finished. We will update this article each week as more results become official. If you do not see a recruit that should be added, please fill out our commitment form or email me at earl@matscouts.com . Air Force Jackson Dewald (Westwood) - Iowa 1A State Champ: 195 lbs American Caleb Beaty (Corinth-Holders) - North Carolina 4A State Champ: 220 lbs Appalachian State Tomas Brooker (Hickory Ridge) - North Carolina 4A State Champ: 195 lbs Jayden Dobeck (Pinecrest) - North Carolina 4A State Runner-Up: 160 lbs Logan Eller (Trion) - Georgia 1A State Champ: 190 lbs Aldo Hernandez (Uwharrie Charter) - North Carolina 1A State Champ: 138 lbs Jeremiah Price (Surry Central) - North Carolina 2A State Champ: 152 lbs Army West Point For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

South Dakota State 285 lber AJ Nevills (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday's Dual Results Gardner-Webb 34 Davidson 4 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) dec Devon Diaco (Davidson) 6-2 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) maj Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 13-2 141 - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) tech Josh Viarengo (Davidson) 23-8 149 - Parker Corwin (Gardner-Webb) maj Matthew McLaughlin (Davidson) 8-0 157 - Tanner Peake (Davidson) maj Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 14-1 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) 7-2 174 - Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) dec Anthony Spera (Davidson) 3-1SV 184 - Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) dec Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) 6-2 197 - Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) dec Gavin Henry (Davidson) 5-0 285 - Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) FFT Rider 25 Cleveland State 9 125 - Tyler Klinsky (Rider) dec Ben Aranda (Cleveland State) 10-8 133 - Richie Koehler (Rider) dec Jacob Manley (Cleveland State) 7-6 141 - McKenzie Bell (Rider) maj Cody Moosman (Cleveland State) 13-0 149 - Quinn Kinner (Rider) dec Douglas Terry (Cleveland State) 3-0 157 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec Colton Washleski (Rider) 6-4 165 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) dec Hunter Mays (Rider) 9-5 174 - Michael Wilson (Rider) dec JR Reed (Cleveland State) 8-4 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) dec Isaac Dean (Rider) 3-2TB 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) dec Anthony Perrine (Cleveland State) 3-1 285 - David Szuba (Rider) fall Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) 1:02 Rider 26 Drexel 12 125 - Tyler Klinsky (Rider) maj Deon Pleasant (Drexel) 16-6 133 - Richie Koehler (Rider) dec Jaxon Maroney (Drexel) 5-3 141 - McKenzie Bell (Rider) FFT 149 - Quinn Kinner (Rider) maj Luke Nichter (Drexel) 8-0 157 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec Colton Washleski (Rider) 6-4 165 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) dec Hunter Mays (Rider) 9-5 174 - Michael Wilson (Rider) dec JR Reed (Cleveland State) 8-4 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) dec Isaac Dean (Rider) 3-2TB 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) dec Anthony Perrine (Cleveland State) 3-1 285 - David Szuba (Rider) fall Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) 1:02 Drexel 27 Cleveland State 15 125 - Nick Molchak (Cleveland State) dec Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 5-4 133 - Kyle Waterman (Drexel) dec Jacob Manley (Cleveland State) 3-1SV 141 - Caleb Rea (Cleveland State) dec Jaxon Maroney (Drexel) 3-1 149 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) fall Douglas Terry (Cleveland State) 1:20 157 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec Tate Nichter (Drexel) 6-1 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) fall Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) 3:57 174 - Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) fall JR Reed (Cleveland State) :51 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) dec Josh Stillings (Drexel) 3-1 197 - Sean O'Malley (Drexel) fall Gabe Phillips (Cleveland State) 3:08 285 - Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) dec Santino Morina (Drexel) 4-0 Pittsburgh 43 Duke 3 125 - Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) fall Ethan Grimminger (Duke) 3:55 133 - Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) fall Logan Agin (Duke) 6:04 141 - Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) maj Christian Colman (Duke) 20-7 149 - Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) dec Patrick Rowland (Duke) 8-3 157 - Dazjon Casto (Pittsburgh) maj Logan Ferrero (Duke) 10-0 165 - Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) dec Gabe Dinette (Duke) 6-3 174 - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) FFT 184 - Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) fall Luke Chakonis (Duke) 1:57 197 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) tech Vincent Baker (Duke) 18-2 285 - Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) dec Jake Slinger (Pittsburgh) 5-3 Hofstra 21 California Baptist 15 125 - Jacob Moon (Hofstra) dec Devin Garcia (California Baptist) 7-2 133 - Hunter Leake (California Baptist) dec Chase Liardi (Hofstra) 6-0 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) maj Christian Nunez (California Baptist) 17-4 149 - Chaz Hallmark (California Baptist) maj Michael Leandrou (Hofstra) 10-0 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) dec Joseph Mora (California Baptist) 6-1 165 - Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) maj Eric Shindel (Hofstra) 21-8 174 - Ross McFarland (Hofstra) dec Louis Rojas (California Baptist) 6-3 184 - Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) maj Ericson Velasquez (Hofstra) 11-2 197 - Trey Rogers (Hofstra) maj Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) 13-3 285 - Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) maj Chris Island (California Baptist) 9-1 Ohio State 22 Cornell 14 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) dec Joseph Sciarrone (Cornell) 8-1 133 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) dec Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 6-1 141 - Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) dec Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) 6-1 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) InjDef Sal Jones (Cornell) 157 - Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) maj Cole Handlovic (Cornell) 14-6 165 - Julian Ramirez (Cornell) tech Klay Reeves (Ohio State) 16-1 174 - Christian Hansen (Cornell) dec Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) 6-4SV 184 - Gavin Bell (Ohio State) dec Ethan Hatcher (Cornell) 10-9 197 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec Luke Geog (Ohio State) 7-1 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) dec Brendan Furman (Cornell) 4-1 The Citadel 20 VMI 12 125 - Blair Orr (The Citadel) maj Tony Burke (VMI) 15-2 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) maj Dyson Dunham (VMI) 8-0 141 - Jacob Silka (The Citadel) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 5-1 149 - Ryan Vigil (VMI) dec Ethan Willis (The Citadel) 7-6 157 - Jobe Chishko (VMI) dec Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) 6-2 165 - Braxton Lewis (VMI) dec Brodie Porter (The Citadel) 11-5 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) dec Jon Hoover (VMI) 2-0 184 - Timothy Fitzpatrick (The Citadel) dec Zach Brown (VMI) 10-5 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) dec Mark Chaid (The Citadel) 10-8 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) dec Josh Evans (VMI) 3-2 VMI 38 Queens 3 125 - Tony Burke (VMI) maj Ashton Thompson (Queens) 13-1 133 - Dyson Dunham (VMI) maj Ananth Manibushan (Queens) 13-1 141 - Melvin Rubio (Queens) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 7-2 149 - Ryan Vigil (VMI) fall Nico D'Amico (Queens) 4:16 157 - Josh Yost (VMI) dec Toure Moore (Queens) 2-0 165 - Braxton Lewis (VMI) dec Vladimir Sukhikh (Queens) 5-4 174 - Jon Hoover (VMI) dec JT Skalecki (Queens) 8-4 184 - River Carroll (VMI) dec D'Andree Hunt (Queens) 7-1 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) fall Stephan Falkner (Queens) 1:05 285 - Josh Evans (VMI) fall Josh Voelkel (Queens) 2:28 Buffalo 22 Ohio 17 125 - Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) dec Mason Bush (Buffalo) 6-0 133 - Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) maj Paul Woo (Ohio) 14-2 141 - Aidan Waszak (Ohio) dec Jack Marlow (Buffalo) 3-2 149 - Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) FFT 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Daniel Segura (Ohio) 4-3 165 - Jordan Slivka (Ohio) maj Noah Grover (Buffalo) 8-0 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) maj Chase Kranitz (Buffalo) 18-6 184 - Zayne Lehman (Ohio) dec Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) 8-5 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Austin Starr (Ohio) 2-1 285 - Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) fall Jacob Padilla (Ohio) :54 Long Island 32 Sacred Heart 9 125 - Robbie Sagaris (Long Island) tech Mike Manta (Sacred Heart) 17-2 133 - Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart) dec Kaelen Francois (Long Island) 10-7 141 - Devin Matthews (Long Island) tech Dakota Asuncion (Sacred Heart) 18-1 149 - Drew Witham (Long Island) dec Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart) 1-0 157 - Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart) dec Rhise Royster (Long Island) 5-2 165 - Blake Bahna (Long Island) fall Aidan Zarrella (Sacred Heart) 5:47 174 - Ryan Bollentino (Sacred Heart) dec TJ Franden (Long Island) 7-3 184 - Joseph LoPresti (Long Island) maj Owen Ayotte (Sacred Heart) 12-4 197 - John Dusza (Long Island) dec Logan Michael (Sacred Heart) 4-3 285 - Aeden Begue (Long Island) FFT Wisconsin 23 Northern Iowa 17 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) fall Kyle Gollhofer (Northern Iowa) :30 133 - Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) dec Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 3-1SV 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) fall Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) 3;25 149 - Adam Allard (Northern Iowa) dec Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) 7-3 157 - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) 5-2 165 - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) maj Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) 13-2 174 - Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) dec Josh Otto (Wisconsin) 6-2 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) tech Drew Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) 22-6 197 - Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) maj Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 10-2 285 - Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 2-1 Sunday's Dual Results West Virginia 34 Lock Haven 9 125 - Colton Drousias (West Virginia) FFT 133 - Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) fall Jace Schafer (West Virginia) 4:28 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) dec Zack Zeamer (Lock Haven) 6-0 149 - Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) dec Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) 3-0 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) maj Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 13-0 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) fall Aiden Gaugler (Lock Haven) 1:42 174 - Scott Joll (West Virginia) FFT 184 - Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 9-5 197 - Austin Cooley (West Virginia) dec Cael Black (Lock Haven) 10-3 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Isaac Reid (Lock Haven) 6-4 Columbia 18 Maryland 16 125 - Nick Babin (Columbia) dec Braxton Brown (Maryland) 8-5 133 - King Sandoval (Maryland) fall Boris Witmer (Columbia) 2:45 141 - Matt Kazimir (Columbia) dec Kal Miller (Maryland) 6-0 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec Danny Fongaro (Columbia) 4-2SV 157 - Cesar Alvan (Columbia) dec Michael North (Maryland) 8-5 165 - Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 11-4 174 - Lennox Wolak (Columbia) dec Dom Solis (Maryland) 4-3 184 - Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) dec Kevin Makosy (Maryland) 7-0 197 - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) maj Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) 11-3 285 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) dec Billy McChesney (Columbia) 7-3 Penn 25 American 9 125 - Max Leete (American) dec Brady Pruett (Penn) 8-5 133 - Jack Maida (American) dec Nico Nardone (Penn) 5-4 141 - Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec Ethan Szerencsits (American) 6-3 149 - Vince Mannella (Penn) maj Antonio Segura (American) 9-1 157 - Anthony Artalona (Penn) dec Jack Nies (American) 6-2 165 - Lucas Revano (Penn) dec Caleb Campos (American) 6-4SV 174 - Lucas White (American) dec Nick Incontrera (Penn) 9-5 184 - Max Hale (Penn) dec Carsten Rawls (American) 8-2 197 - Cole Urbas (Penn) fall Connor Bourne (American) 2:26 285 - Ben Goldin (Penn) dec Will Jarrell (American) 6-5 Penn State 40 Clarion 6 125 - Gary Steen (Penn State) dec Joey Fischer (Clarion) 6-1 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) fall Mason Prinkey (Clarion) 4:31 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) maj Seth Koleno (Clarion) 12-4 149 - Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) tech Kyle Schickel (Clarion) 17-1 157 - Levi Haines (Penn State) tech Trevor Elfvin (Clarion) 18-3 165 - Alex Facundo (Penn State) dec Cam Pine (Clarion) 16-10 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) tech John Worthing (Clarion) 19-3 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Donovan Ball (Penn State) 1:20 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) dec Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) 9-5 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) fall Austin Chapman (Clarion) 5:11 Appalachian State 22 Campbell 14 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Anthony Molton (Campbell) 4-1 133 - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec Dom Zaccone (Campbell) 3-1SV 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) maj Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) 11-3 149 - Jon Jon Millner (Appalachian State) maj Chris Rivera (Campbell) 8-0 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) maj Troy Nation (Campbell) 11-3 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) maj Dom Baker (Campbell) 12-0 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) maj Riley Augustine (Campbell) 16-3 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) 5-1 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) 5-0 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) maj Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State) 17-8 Appalachian State 43 Presbyterian 0 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) 9-3 133 - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 8-1 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) 7-1 149 - Jon Jon Millner (Appalachian State) fall Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 1:25 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) tech Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 22-5 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) maj Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) 15-3 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) maj Zach Wells (Presbyterian) 12-2 184 - Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) fall Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) 6:40 197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) dec Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) 6-4 285 - Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State) fall Morvens Saint Jean (Presbyterian) 2:41 Appalachian State 47 Davidson 0 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) fall Hale Robinson (Davidson) 4:29 133 - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 6-0 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) maj Noah Burstein (Davidson) 10-1 149 - Jon Jon Millner (Appalachian State) fall Matt McLaughlin (Davidson) 4:07 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) maj Daniel Yetsick (Davidson) 11-3 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) maj Marc Koch (Davidson) 9-0 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) maj Brett Sanderlin (Davidson) 13-0 184 - Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) maj Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) 10-1 197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) fall Gavin Henry (Davidson) 6:47 285 - Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State) FFT Navy 18 Army West Point 13 125 - Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) maj Grant Treaster (Navy) 12-4 133 - Brendan Ferretti (Navy) dec Richard Treanor (Army West Point) 7-3 141 - Josh Koderhandt (Navy) dec Oscar Sanchez (Army West Point) 4-1 149 - Trae McDaniel (Army West Point) dec Kaemen Smith (Navy) 9-4 157 - Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) dec Nate Lukez (Army West Point) 7-2 165 - Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) dec Val Park (Navy) 3-1 174 - Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) dec Sammy Starr (Navy) 8-5 184 - David Key (Navy) dec Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Army West Point) 3-2 197 - Jake Koser (Navy) dec Kyle Swartz (Army West Point) 5-0 285 - Grady Griess (Navy) dec Austin Kohlhofer (Army West Point) 4-0 Indiana 32 Chattanooga 3 125 - Jacob Moran (Indiana) FFT 133 - Henry Porter (Indiana) dec Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) 8-3 141 - Cayden Rooks (Indiana) dec Dayne Dalrymple (Chattanooga) 3-1 149 - Graham Rooks (Indiana) dec Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) 6-4 157 - Derek Gilcher (Indiana) dec Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) 4-1 165 - Nick South (Indiana) dec Jackson Hurst (Chattanooga) 4-1 174 - DJ Washington (Indiana) dec Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) 4-1 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) dec Drayton Harris (Indiana) 5-2 197 - Nick Willham (Indiana) dec Jake Boyd (Chattanooga) 2-1 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) tech Nick Benton (Chattanooga) 17-1 Northern Illinois 25 SIU Edwardsville 12 125 - Blake West (Northern Illinois) maj Austin Macias (SIU Edwardsville) 11-3 133 - Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) dec Aaron Schulist (SIU Edwardsville) 8-7 141 - Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) dec Javion Jones (Northern Illinois) 2-0 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) 2-1 157 - Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) fall Caine Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) :57 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Cardeionte Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) 2-0 174 - Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) fall Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) 1:53 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 5-1 197 - Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) dec Devonjae Hudson (Northern Illinois) 13-8 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) 3-0 Nebraska 25 Arizona State 15 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) dec Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 7-1SV 133 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) fall Boo Dryden (Nebraska) 2:59 141 - Emilio Ysaguirre (Arizona State) dec Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 10-4 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Dayne Morton (Nebraska) 5-2 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) tech Max Wilner (Arizona State) 17-1 165 - Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) dec Tony Negron (Arizona State) 3-1 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec Cael Valencia (Arizona State) 9-6 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) fall Anthony Montalvo (Arizona State) 1:05 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) tech Josh Nummer (Arizona State) 27-10 285 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) dec Austin Emerson (Nebraska) 6-0 South Dakota State 19 North Dakota State 17 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) maj Ryan Henningson (North Dakota State) 9-0 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) dec McGwire Midkiff (North Dakota State) 5-3SV 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) 8-4 149 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) dec Alek Martin (South Dakota State) 10-9 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) tech Caleb Gross (South Dakota State) 21-6 165 - Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) fall Connor Gaynor (South Dakota State) 5:30 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) 7-4 184 - DJ Parker (North Dakota State) dec Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) 4-2 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) dec Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) 8-2 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) dec Juan Mora (North Dakota State) 8-3 Brown 31 Sacred Heart 12 125 - Benny Herrera (Sacred Heart) FFT 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) fall Mike Manta (Sacred Heart) 1:56 141 - Ian Oswalt (Brown) dec Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart) 10-3 149 - Ricky Cabanillas (Brown) dec Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart) 6-1 157 - Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart) dec Sam McMonagle (Brown) 10-4 165 - Aidan Zarrella (Sacred Heart) dec Mason Spears (Brown) 6-3 174 - Drew Clearie (Brown) maj Ryan Bollentino (Sacred Heart) 11-3 184 - James Araneo (Brown) dec Owen Ayotte (Sacred Heart) 8-2 197 - Aaron Wolk (Brown) fall Logan Michael (Sacred Heart) 6:47 285 - Alex Semenenko (Brown) fall Jake Trovato (Sacred Heart) 4:24 Cal Poly 19 Oregon State 15 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) dec Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) 11-4 133 - Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) dec Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 6-1 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) maj Damion Elliott (Oregon State) 12-2 149 - Dom Demas (Cal Poly) dec Riley Gurr (Oregon State) 3-2 157 - Luka Wick (Cal Poly) dec Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) 3-0 165 - Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 7-5SV 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 13-6 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) fall Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) 4:35 197 - Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) dec Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) 7-5 285 - Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 8-2 American 19 Drexel 17 125 - Max Leete (American) maj Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 10-2 133 - Kyle Waterman (Drexel) dec Jack Maida (American) 6-4SV 141 - Jordan Soriano (Drexel) dec Raymond Lopez (American) 8-1 149 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) maj Patrick Ryan (American) 11-3 157 - Tyler Williams (Drexel) dec Jack Nies (American) 8-6 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) maj Caleb Campos (American) 11-3 174 - Lucas White (American) maj Cody Walsh (Drexel) 8-0 184 - Colin Shannon (American) dec Josh Stillings (Drexel) 2-1 197 - Connor Bourne (American) maj Nathaniel Lapinski (Drexel) 11-2 285 - Will Jarrell (American) maj Dom Petracci (Drexel) 10-0 Northern Colorado 37 Air Force 9 125 - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) dec Tucker Owens (Air Force) 6-0 133 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) fall Nick Krug (Air Force) 5:49 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) fall Bryce Shelton (Air Force) 3:40 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) fall Alec Viduya (Air Force) 6:19 157 - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) dec Jack Ganos (Air Force) 6-0 165 - Baylor Fernandes (Northern Colorado) maj Seamus Casey (Air Force) 12-2 174 - Andrew Berreyesa (Northern Colorado) fall Gage Musser (Air Force) 1:11 184 - Noah Blake (Air Force) dec Andrew Donahue (Northern Colorado) 2-1TB 197 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) dec Garrett Henigin (Air Force) 7-1 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) fall Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) 6:13 Iowa 28 Oklahoma State 7 125 - Spencer Lee (Iowa) fall Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma State) :51 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) maj Brody Teske (Iowa) 11-3 141 - Real Woods (Iowa) maj Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 11-0 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) dec Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) 4-3 157 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) dec Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) 3-2TB 165 - Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) dec Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) 7-4 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) dec Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 3-2 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) dec Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 4-2 197 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) dec Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 3-2 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) dec Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) 4-0 Michigan 30 Central Michigan 9 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) maj Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) 10-2 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) fall Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 2:02 141 - Cole Mattin (Michigan) fall Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 2:47 149 - Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) dec Chance Lamer (Michigan) 12-5 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 8-3 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 3-1 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec Joseph Walker (Michigan) 8-7 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) maj Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 10-0 197 - Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) dec Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) 4-2 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) maj Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 20-7

Spencer Lee (left) and Daton Fix (Photos Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) The dual portion of the 2022-2023 college wrestling season is coming to an end. To mark the occasion, No.2 Iowa and No. 10 Oklahoma State will face off in one of the oldest rivalries in the sport. The Cowboys have dropped a pair of duals this year, but they seem to be pulling it together recently. On the other hand, Iowa has gone undefeated other than a loss against No. 1 Penn State. The following is a weight-by-weight preview of the match. 125: No.1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 28 Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma State) The three-time NCAA champion has started his final season with an undefeated 13-0 record. He has scored bonus points in all but one of his matches. Two weeks ago, No. 7 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) just barely managed to hang on to a regular decision, as he dropped his match by a 7-1 score. Lee got back to his bonus point ways this past Sunday with an 11-2 major decision over No. 17 Jack Medley (Michigan). In his 13 matches on the year, Lee has already bested five of the other top-10 ranked wrestlers at the weight in the InterMat rankings. Witcraft qualified for the 2020 NCAA tournament at 133 pounds as a true freshman. He has competed mostly in a reserve role since that season, but he bumped down to 125 pounds when a spot in the starting lineup opened earlier this month. Witcraft made his season debut at 125 on Feb. 3 and now has four matches under his belt. His lone win this year at weight came last week when he scored a 9-5 decision over No. 29 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State). The Cowboy’s job here will be to keep it close and avoid giving up bonus points. Unfortunately, Witcraft has been pinned five times in his college career, and he has given up bonus points in both of his matches against Iowa wrestlers. Look for Lee to spend a little extra time on top working for the fall in this one. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Michigan State 157 lber Chase Saldate (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Friday’s Dual Results Binghamton 19 American 13 125 - Micah Roes (Binghamton) dec Max Leete (American) 3-2 133 - Jack Maida (American) dec Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) 3-1SV 141 - Nate Lucier (Binghamton) dec Ethan Szerencsits (American) 6-5 149 - Michael Zarif (Binghamton) dec Patrick Ryan (American) 8-3 157 - Jack Nies (American) maj Conner Decker (Binghamton) 8-0 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) dec Caleb Campos (American) 4-3 174 - Sam DePrez (Binghamton) dec Lucas White (American) 7-5 184 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) maj Colin Shannon (American) 13-3 197 - Connor Bourne (American) dec Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton) 3-2 285 - William Jarrell (American) dec Charlie Tibbitts (Binghamton) 6-2 Rider 27 George Mason 9 125 - Tyler Klinsky (Rider) dec Markel Baker (George Mason) 3-1 133 - Richie Koehler (Rider) maj Patrick Schellpfeffer (George Mason) 10-2 141 - McKenzie Bell (Rider) maj Anthony Glasl (George Mason) 9-0 149 - Quinn Kinner (Rider) fall Evan Maag (George Mason) 2:23 157 - Peter Pappas (George Mason) dec Colton Washleski (Rider) 3-2 165 - Drew Dickson (George Mason) dec Hunter Mays (Rider) 8-5 174 - Michael Wilson (Rider) dec Logan Messer (George Mason) 3-2 184 - Malachi Duvall (George Mason) dec Isaac Dean (Rider) 9-6 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) maj Tyler Kocak (George Mason) 12-3 285 - David Szuba (Rider) dec Donovan Sprouse (George Mason) 4-2 Chattanooga 32 Bellarmine 9 125 - Jack Palmer (Bellarmine) dec Logan Ashton (Chattanooga) 3-2 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) tech Michael Schiffhauer (Bellarmine) 20-5 141 - Franco Valdes (Chattanooga) dec Chase Hall (Bellarmine) 5-3 149 - Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) maj Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) 16-6 157 - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) maj Tavius Hosley (Bellarmine) 10-2 165 - Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) dec Cole Nance (Bellarmine) 8-5 174 - Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) dec Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) 8-1 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) maj Kennedy Wyatt (Bellarmine) 12-4 197 - Thomas Sell (Chattanooga) fall Luke LeClere (Bellarmine) 5:20 285 - Thadd Huff (Bellarmine) fall Nick Benton (Chattanooga) 2:01 West Virginia 24 Clarion 18 125 - Joey Fischer (Clarion) fall Jace Schafer (West Virginia) 4:28 133 - Mason Prinkey (Clarion) dec Davin Rhodes (West Virginia) 7-5SV 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) dec Seth Koleno (Clarion) 14-8 149 - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) dec Kyle Schickel (Clarion) 10-8 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) maj Trevor Elfvin (Clarion) 10-2 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) tech Cam Pine (Clarion) 19-4 174 - Scott Joll (West Virginia) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 13-9 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Anthony Carman (West Virginia) :31 197 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) dec Austin Cooley (West Virginia) 4-0 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) fall Austin Chapman (Clarion) 2:16 Edinboro 23 Bloomsburg 18 125 - Bronson Garber (Bloomsburg) maj Eamonn Jimenez (Edinboro) 10-2 133 - Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) tech Cam Soda (Edinboro) 15-0 141 - Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) maj Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) 14-4 149 - Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) dec Cade Balestrini (Bloomsburg) 6-0 157 - Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) fall John Noah Reho (Bloomsburg) :53 165 - Alex Garee (Edinboro) dec Trenton Harder (Bloomsburg) 6-2 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec Anthony DeRosa (Bloomsburg) 8-2 184 - Bruno Stolfi (Bloomsburg) dec Jack Kilner (Edinboro) 4-0 197 - Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) maj Tanner Culver (Bloomsburg) 12-2 285 - Shane Noonan (Bloomsburg) fall Nick Lodato (Edinboro) 3:45 Harvard 32 Brown 10 125 - Diego Sotelo (Harvard) FFT 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) maj Dante Frinzi (Harvard) 11-3 141 - Joe Cangro (Harvard) dec Ian Oswalt (Brown) 5-3 149 - Jack Crook (Harvard) dec Blake Saito (Brown) 7-2 157 - Trevor Tarsi (Harvard) maj Sam McMonagle (Brown) 18-6 165 - Josh Kim (Harvard) dec Keegan Rothrock (Brown) 9-2 174 - Alex Whitworth (Harvard) dec Drew Clearie (Brown) 6-4SV 184 - Leonardo Tarantino (Harvard) maj James Araneo (Brown) 10-1 197 - Nick Olivieri (Brown) fall Michael Doggett (Harvard) 5:52 285 - Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) fall Alex Semenenko (Brown) 4:11 Maryland 19 Binghamton 12 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) dec Micah Roes (Binghamton) 3-1 133 - Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) dec King Sandoval (Maryland) 4-1 141 - Kal Miller (Maryland) dec Christian Gannone (Binghamton) 6-1 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) maj Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 11-0 157 - Michael North (Maryland) dec Conner Decker (Binghamton) 2-0 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 3-1 174 - Sam DePrez (Binghamton) dec Dom Solis (Maryland) 7-4 184 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec Kevin Makosy (Maryland) 5-0 197 - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) dec Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton) 8-2 285 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) dec Cory Day (Binghamton) 3-2 Virginia Tech 33 Virginia 3 125 - Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) dec Patrick McCormick (Virginia) 8-1 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) 10-4 141 - Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) dec Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) 2-0 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) dec Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) 8-4 157 - Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) fall Jake Keating (Virginia) 1:32 165 - Justin McCoy (Virginia) dec Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 5-4 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) fall Vic Marcelli (Virginia) 6:07 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) dec Neil Antrassian (Virginia) 9-5 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec Michael Battista (Virginia) 3-1SV 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) dec Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) 5-1 NC State 28 North Carolina 6 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Troy Hohman (NC State) 8-5 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) maj Jace Palmer (North Carolina) 10-1 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 7-5 149 - Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec Wil Guida (North Carolina) 10-6 157 - Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) dec Ed Scott (NC State) 3-1 165 - Matthew Singleton (NC State) dec Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) 7-2 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) dec Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 6-1 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) tech Carson Tenold (North Carolina) 24-9 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) dec Max Shaw (North Carolina) 3-1 285 - Owen Trephan (NC State) maj Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 17-6 Princeton 22 Bucknell 12 125 - Nick Kayal (Princeton) dec Grayson McLellan (Bucknell) 11-4 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) dec Anthony Clark (Princeton) 4-0 141 - Darren Miller (Bucknell) fall Christopher Martino (Princeton) 1:49 149 - Marshall Keller (Princeton) dec Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) 5-4 157 - Ty Whalen (Princeton) dec Nick Delp (Bucknell) 6-5 165 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) maj Chase Barlow (Bucknell) 15-4 174 - Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) dec Sam Barnes (Bucknell) 5-1 184 - Nate Dugan (Princeton) dec Mason McCready (Bucknell) 5-3 197 - Nolan Springer (Bucknell) dec Aidan Conner (Princeton) 6-0 285 - Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec Luke Niemeyer (Bucknell) 3-1SV Michigan State 20 Central Michigan 13 125 - Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) dec Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) 6-2 133 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) maj Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 10-2 141 - Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) dec Mason Breece (Central Michigan) 6-4 149 - Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) maj Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 12-4 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) dec Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 4-3 165 - Caleb Fish (Michigan State) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 4-2 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec Ceasar Garza (Michigan State) 3-0 184 - Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) dec Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 6-4 197 - Cam Caffey (Michigan State) maj Cameroon Wood (Central Michigan) 16-7 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) dec Ryan Vasbinder (Michigan State) 5-1 Cal Poly 18 Stanford 15 125 - Nico Provo (Stanford) dec Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) 9-2 133 - Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) dec Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 8-2 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) dec Jason Miranda (Stanford) 5-3SV 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec Dom Demas (Cal Poly) 4-0 157 - Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 6-2 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 2-0 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 8-3 184 - Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) dec Brook Byers (Stanford) 9-4 197 - Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) dec Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 9-5 285 - Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) fall Peter Ming (Stanford) :58

NC State 157 lber Ed Scott (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) First, an apology. It’s been one of those weeks where nothing seems to go right and there doesn’t seem to be enough time to get the to-do list checked off. I finished my recap of last week’s action but never got it sent to the man in charge to publish. Mea culpa. So, this week will be a mix of a recap and a look forward to Friday's action. We have a few big-picture happenings from last week that have a major bearing on how the conference shakes out. Pitt went into Raleigh undefeated in the ACC and had the chance to effectively run away with the dual title but the reigning ACC champion Wolfpack stood in the way. NC State dominated the dual and won 7 of 10 matches to set up a potential 3-way tie for the dual title. The Hokies also traveled to North Carolina and controlled their match against the Tar Heels, winning 8 of 10 matches. The final dual pitted Duke and Virginia with both teams looking for their first conference win. Virginia dominated on senior night en route to a 45-3 dual win and giving the team some much-needed momentum. We also had several key individual matches that went down. The biggest on the list was Austin O’Connor taking on Bryce Andonian--both were undefeated going in and the potential 1-seed for the ACC tournament was on the line. O’Connor put on an absolute clinic on how to wrestle Andonian. He pushed with his attacks and finished cleanly to block any counters; he also didn’t stay in the upper body ties where Andonian is so dangerous. O’Connor won by major--the largest point spread in the series between the two. All that being said…these two will likely meet again, and Robie and company will have Andonian prepared for the rematch. Also in the dual, Eddie Ventresca, who will be the starter moving forward, upset Jack Wagner at 125. In a rematch from early in the season, Lachlan McNeil avenged his loss to Tom Crook with a major decision in the dual. In the final ranked matchup, Hunter Bolen took a dominating 10-3 decision over Gavin Kane. In Raleigh, Nino Bonaccorsi won in sudden victory over Isaac Trumble in a match with a wildly-entertaining finish and some incredible scrambles from the 197-pounders. Also in that dual, Cole Matthews won by a decision over Ryan Jack in a top-5 battle. Owen Trephan upset Dayton Pitzer at 285 and Kai Orine knocked off Micky Phillippi by riding time in tiebreakers to close out the night for the Wolfpack. Moving into this week we have the big storyline of three teams--Pitt, NC State and Virginia Tech--all looking to earn a share of the ACC dual title. With wins, they will all be 4-1 in conference--Virginia Tech beat NC State, NC State beat Pitt, Pitt beat Virginia Tech. The ACC recognizes multiple dual champs, without regard to head-to-head wins, so we won’t have to get down to Criteria H for this one. The other big thing we are watching is who will position themselves for top seeds at the ACC tournament in two weeks. There have been a lot of upsets in the past few weeks, so why not add more chaos this week? Duke at #16 Pittsburgh The Blue Devils will head to Pittsburgh for a Saturday afternoon tilt with the Panthers. With a win, Pitt will secure a share of the ACC dual title. The dual will serve as senior night for the Panthers; Micky Phillippi, Nicholas Meglino, Dazjon Casto, Nino Bonaccorsi and Jake Slinger will be recognized before the dual. There will be no ranked-versus-ranked matchups in this dual, but keep an eye on 285. Jonah Neiesenbaum enters the dual undefeated in the conference and is looking to lock up a #1 seed for the ACC tournament. Pitt is looking to rebound from a loss to NC State and grab some momentum moving into the postseason. 125: Colton Camacho vs Ethan Grimminger 133: #10 Micky Phillippi vs Logan Agin 141: #3 Cole Matthews vs Christian Colman 149: #29 Tyler Badgett vs Patrick Rowland 157: Dazjon Casto vs Logan Ferrero 165: #22 Holden Heller vs Gabe Dinette 174: #33 Luca Augustine vs OPEN 184: #17 Reece Heller vs Luke Chakonis 197: #1 Nino Bonaccorsi vs Vincent Baker 285: Jake Slinger vs #18 Jonah Neisenbaum Virginia at #7 Virginia Tech The Commonwealth Clash, mat edition, will go down on Friday night in Blacksburg. Virginia is coming off their first ACC win and are looking to build on the momentum from a great night in Charlottesville. The Hokies are looking to capture a share of the ACC dual title with a win and keep their winning streak over the Hoos alive. The Hokies will honor their senior class tonight--this class has played a major role in the growth of the program; Hunter Bolen, Mekhi Lewis, Collin Gerardi, Jordan Florence, Brandon Wittenberg, and Drew Nicholson will all be honored tonight. There will be a few interesting matches to watch in this one tonight: 149: This will pit ranked versus ranked with Caleb Henson and Jarod Verkleeren. Henson is coming off a down performance--by his impressive metrics thus far--against UNC last week. Verkleeren is fresh off of one of his best offensive displays since he’s been at UVA. This could be a fun one. 157: Jake Keating came into the season with a top-15 ranking but has struggled through injuries this year. He seems to be getting back to that form we expected and looked phenomenal last week--best he has looked all season. He will take on Bryce Andonian who is coming off his first loss of the year to Austin O’Connor. I would expect to see a higher offensive output from Andonian tonight, it will be a matter of whether Keating can use his strong counter-offense game to capitalize. 165: Sneaky good matchup here. Brady is very difficult to score on and McCoy has a high attack rate. McCoy could blow this open, or Brady could shut him down completely as he has done to some of the best in the country. 184: I’ve been saying all year that 184 is a minefield in the ACC. This match has that potential as well. Bolen is the obvious favorite, but Antrassian is dangerous. This one will have a lot of seeding implications. 197: Two Virginia natives getting after it in the Commonwealth Clash, you’ve gotta love it. This could be a great match too. Smith has had a roller coaster year, with some massive upsets and some head-scratching losses. Battista is rounding into form at the end of the season and has looked great the last few weeks. Probables 125 – No. 23 Eddie Ventresca vs Patrick McCormick 133 – No. 6 Sam Latona vs Marlon Yarbrough II 141 – No. 12 Tom Crook or Collin Gerardi vs Dylan Cedeno 149 – No. 8 Caleb Henson vs No. 26 Jarod Verkleeren 157 – No. 5 Bryce Andonian vs Jake Keating 165 – No. 27 Connor Brady vs No. 17 Justin McCoy 174 – No. 3 Mekhi Lewis vs Vic Marcelli 184 – No. 7 Hunter Bolen vs No. 16 Neil Antrassian 197 – No. 22 Andy Smith vs No. 25 Michael Battista 285 – No. 19 Hunter Catka vs Ethan Weatherspoon #8 North Carolina State at #27 North Carolina The final rivalry dual will play out in Chapel Hill on Friday night with the Wolfpack looking to grab a share of the ACC dual title with a win over the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels enter on a losing skid, having dropped their last two after opening ACC competition 2-0. The Wolfpack have reeled off three straight after an opening night loss to Virginia Tech. Looking at the probables for tonight, we have a whole lot of “OR” on both sides of the lineup--so I’m not sure what matchups we will actually get to see. But, there are some great potential matches. 125: This match will have big seeding implications if Trombley gets the go. Trombley is coming off a big win over Camacho and is 4-0, while Wagner just took his first conference loss to Ventresca to move to 3-1. 141: Lachlan McNeil has been wrestling at the level I hoped he would be at all season. He really seems to be figuring things out at the right time. Jack just took his first loss in a battle with Cole Matthews. Both of them are 3-1 in conference and Jack holds a 3-1 win over McNeil last season. 157: Put this in bold on the matches I hope we see. Austin O’Connor dominated Bryce Andonian last week and remains undefeated. Scott had a big loss to Andonian but otherwise has looked amazing in the second half of the season. Major fireworks potential here. No. 27 North Carolina vs. No. 8 NC State 125: No. 24 Jack Wagner vs. No. 22 Jarrett Trombley or Troy Hohman 133: Jace Palmer vs. No. 18 Kai Orine or Jacob Cox 141: No. 9 Lachlan McNeil vs. No. 6 Ryan Jack 149: No. 28 Zach Sherman or Wil Guida vs. No. 17 Jackson Arrington or Finn Solomon 157: No. 2 Austin O'Connor vs. No. 7 Ed Scott or Luke Ahrberg 165: Joey Mazzara or Gino Esposito vs. Derek Fields or No. 26 Matty Singleton 174: No. 12 Clay Lautt or Michael Goldfeder vs. No. 28 Alex Faison or Brock DelSignore 184: No. 11 Gavin Kane vs. No. 3 Trent Hidlay or Dylan Fishback 197: Max Shaw or Cade Lautt vs. No. 8 Isaac Trumble or Christian Knop HWT: Aydin Guttridge or Brandon Whitman vs. No. 11 Owen Trephan or Tyrie Houghton

Gardner-Webb 165 lber Rodrick Mosley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This is our last week of the regular season - what!! I was talking to my godfather the other day at dinner about college sports this season. He mentioned that this season for college basketball in particular has been rather unpredictable - if you take a look at college wrestling, this season has had a lot of twists, turns, injuries, and upsets. You name it, it’s probably happened. This weekend for the Southern Conference was no exception. Last week - the action kicked off on Friday, with Gardner-Webb traveling to Chattanooga for a heart-racing dual. The Mocs won the dual 19-16, coming down to the wire at the heavyweight bout. Logan Andrew (UTC) had a dominating 8-1 victory over Abe Preston (GWU) to seal the deal and secure a win, bouncing back from the loss against App State the previous weekend. #11 Rocky Jordan (UTC, 174) put some bonus points on the board, securing a first-period fall over Andrew Wilson (GWU). The Runnin’ Bulldogs had some key wins for the evening - at 165 #24 RJ Mosley posted a 16-5 major decision over Kamdyn Munro and at 184 Jha’Quan Anderson won in sudden-victory overtime against #26 Matthew Waddell. Gardner-Webb fought HARD this dual - this would have been a huge upset for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Also on Friday, Campbell traveled to Bellarmine where they picked up another victory against the Knights 34-15, to remain undefeated in the Southern Conference. Victories for the Knights came in forfeits at 157 and 174, while at 165 Cole Nance (BU) picked up an 11-5 decision over Dom Baker (CU). A nail-biter of the evening was at 149 - Campbell’s Chris Rivera defeated Zac Cowan in sudden-victory overtime, picking up the final win of the evening for the Camels. Bellarmine turned around to host The Citadel on Saturday, boasting a 22-14 win. The Knights won six of the ten bouts of the evening. If y’all couldn’t tell, I love when matches go into overtime. Zac Cowan (149) seems to enjoy that too, finding himself in the same position two duals in a row, this time against Ethan Willis, and with the takedown to win the match. Cowan’s win at 149 kicked off a string of wins all through 197, to lead Bellarmine to victory over the Bulldogs. The Citadel picked up major decision victories at 125 and 133, while posting decisions at 141 and heavyweight. Sunday kicked off with action in Clinton, SC - Presbyterian hosted Gardner-Webb for their Senior Day, winning by a tight margin of 19-18. The match started off in favor of the Blue Hose, and quickly became tied after reaching the 165lb weight class. The dual came down to the heavyweight bout - much like Friday for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, and heavyweight Malcolm Wiley (PC) snuck in a bonus point to tip the scales in favor of the Blue Hose. Tyler Brignola (157) and RJ Mosley (165) brought the thunder with major decision and tech fall wins. Campbell traveled to Chattanooga, continuing their undefeated streak with a 24-13 victory over the Mocs. #22 Domenic Zaccone (CU, 133) swooped in with a sudden victory overtime upset over #18 Brayden Palmer (UTC), alternatively, we saw at 184 #33-ranked Matthew Waddell (UTC) beat #32 Caleb Hopkins (CU) in a close 4-3 decision. #11 Rocky Jordan (UTC, 174) does what Rocky Jordan does, and served up a 10-1 major decision victory over Riley Augustine (CU). The Camels had two falls at 157 and heavyweight, Troy Nation and #17 Taye Ghadiali racked up those extra bonus points to secure the victory for the Camels. Gardner-Webb bounced back from two tough losses to win against the ACC’s Duke, 30-10. Walking away with seven out of ten match victories, Drew West (125) and Todd Carter (133) posted two falls to start the dual. The two losses of the evening were at 149 and 197. The question I think most of us have asked this season is “who’s going to take home the conference championship title?” Well, that gets answered this Sunday at 2:00pm in Boone at Varsity Gym. Undefeated foes Appalachian State and Campbell University go head-to-head in a newly-forged rivalry. This will be a day of duals for the Mountaineers, as they face off against Presbyterian College and Davidson College after battling it out against the Camels. Both teams have wrestled tough schedules this season, both teams have great conditioning, both teams have their share of ranked guys. I’ll be there and will for SURE keep y’all updated on all the fun that goes down this Sunday. The dual can also be streamed on The Grind’s Rokfin page - if you head to our Live Streaming Guide you can check out all the action you don’t want to miss!

Patrick Glory at the 2022 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Well, it’s the last weekend of duals for the season and that makes for a sad Jagger. I don’t know what it is about the second half of the regular season that makes it go by so quickly. Maybe it's the anticipation of getting through the winter. Maybe it’s the lack of holidays as a distraction. Maybe it’s Maybelline. All I know is that it’s almost over and Hayden Hidlay was so upset about not having duals to watch anymore that he came out of retirement and started wrestling again just to have something to occupy his time with until next November. So, without further ado, let’s get to the final dual meet mailbag of the season. Cleveland State’s at Rider this Saturday. I need to know if it’s Taylor Ham or pork roll, and if there’s any recommendations for dinner Friday night. #GoVikes Devin Schroder You’re in pork roll country, my man. I live in Taylor ham country. What does it mean? Nothing, really. Except it would behoove you to get a PR/TH, egg and cheese on a bagel while you’re in town. It’s fine, you don’t have to make 125 anymore. Then, as my dear friend Dan Seifring pointed out, you can drive ten miles to De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies. I trust Dan’s opinion on food. Besides co-running WrestleStat, he has a secret life as a dessert-testing, Tik Tok influencer. Not making this up. Enjoy the weekend in Jersey! What skill position player (WR/QB/DB/RB) from the Super Bowl do you think makes the deepest run at NCAA’s. I like Jalen Hurts squat numbers, but Iike AJ Brown’s size. The Kid Smoke Drip Costanza The funny thing about football and wrestling is that a guy like Hurts plays quarterback and if he wrestled he'd likely be a heavyweight. Football players are just huge. Get him down to 197 and I think he’s absolutely lethal. I do think James Bradberry could make some noise as long as he doesn’t get called for a headgear pull. Too soon? I don’t care. Too soon is what I do. Who finishes higher at NCAA’s between Missouri and Iowa State? Pelikan Head You have to take Mizzou right now but it’s still very close. ISU losing their 125’ hurts and the Tigers are just so strong from top to bottom. They’re also more of a veteran team. Swiderski and Paniro Johnson are both stars in the making, but March can be harsh to freshman wrestlers. Bastida has shown he’s jumped levels but the struggles on bottom are still visible, but he won’t outscore Rocky Elam in the tournament overall anyway. The good news for Cyclones fans (myself included) is that this team isn’t going anywhere and should only improve on what has been a sensational season. Why is the Indiana State Finals way better than New Jersey’s so-called State Finals? Indiana Mat Because it isn’t? Don’t get me wrong, I dig the single-class tournament over whatever it is they do in states like Virginia and Georgia but there’s one thing you don’t have, Atlantic City. I’m sure John Mellencamp Arena or wherever you have it is nice, but it’s not as fun as Atlantic City. The smartest thing New Jersey did in recent years was moving the whole thing up a day to get the finals on Saturday night instead of late Sunday afternoon. The problem was that by Sunday most fans have checked out of their room and don’t want to hang out until 4 PM to watch the finals. Now. you’ve got everyone locked in for Saturday night then they can go party somewhere afterward. A genius move from a genius state. Maybe I’ll finally make my way down there one of these years. You want to come to Big Tens with me? I have some extra tickets. Oldest and Greatest I just told you I don't even drive two hours away to go to my own state’s tournament. Go to Michigan? In March? Alright, I’m in. Have you visited the EIWA Tournament Central? Kevin McGuigan I did now. Did you know that this is the 119th edition of the tournament? Almost as old as I am! I mean, the Titanic hadn’t even been built yet when they had the first one. Teddy Roosevelt was coaching Army at the time. Daton Fix was still in redshirt. Yale had a wrestling team! And why don't they have a team, anyway? Get off the yacht for a minute and put a headgear on. Should the NCAA implement a mandatory smoke break between periods two and three? Or should it just be before overtime? Really need to see who has the gas to finish the match. Joel (football hater) Definitely between the last two periods. I’m not really the biggest fan of overtime since it’s usually because two guys refused to do anything for seven minutes already and I just don’t need more of that. Sure, a tight, low-scoring match between two top guys with a lot on the line is interesting, but that’s not always the case. Now you make two guys suck down a heater between periods, I guarantee you someone is going to their back and that match will be more exciting for it. Think of it like the runner on second rule in baseball. Is Jags a "duals should always start at the lowest weight draw/pick last match" guy? Rhino I suppose I’m indifferent to it for the most part. It’s the transition from heavyweight to 125 that bugs me the most. I do find the strategy, if any, interesting and would like to discuss it with a coach one day to see if it really matters to them that much. Should there be a special mat used only for Jagger Night? If so, what would you like the design to be? Old School Wrestling Clips (Stalemates Award Winner) Well, my gothic friend, Jagger Night at Rutgers is already plenty special. But I admit a personal mat would be icing on the cake. They already start duals off with the symbolic Jagger smoke so let’s really up the celebration here. Luckily, my good friend at Virtual NCAAS already designed a mat for the occasion. If he’s reading this, maybe he will even tweet it out for you. Should college wrestlers be able to wear Luchador masks while competing? Hijo de JL Vice Absolutely they should. We also need more aerial maneuvers from the lightweights. Does Rutgers go 10 for 10 on Natty champs this year? Who do you think has the best shot at bringing gold back to Jersey? CEO of Italians I don’t see why not. Surprised it hasn’t happened already. Other than that, I guess Pat Glory has the best chance of bringing gold back. It looks like his shoulder is ok after last week and if he can hang with Spencer until the smoke break between periods then he’s got a real shot at it.

J'den Cox at the 2022 World Championships (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 KG #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #2 (61) Akhmed Idrisov with #14 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS) and #13 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) taking bronze. Notable results from the Yarygin include; #1 Zavur Uguev's wins over Gamzatov and #12 Ramazan Abdurakhimov (RUS) to make the finals, #2 (61) Akhmed Idrisov (RUS) beating #14 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS) and Artur Chebodaev (RUS) to make the finals, Chebodaev beating #17 Amir Chamzyn (RUS) and #10 Nachyn Mongush (RUS) to make the semifinals, Tuskaev beating Artur Chebodaev (RUS), and #13 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) beating #11 Musa Mekhtikhanov (RUS) and #12 Ramazan Abdurakhimov (RUS) to take bronze. From the results of the Yarygin, Idrisov slides in #4 in the rankings based on his victories over #1 (61) Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS), #2 (61) Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS), #11 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS), #12 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS), and Chebodaev. Chebodaev debuts in the 57 KG rankings at #13 for beating Mongush. Tuskaev moves up two spots to #12 for beating Chebodaev for bronze at the Yarygin. Gamzatov moves up two spots to #11 for beating Mekhtikhanov and Abdurakhimov. 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up Muslim Sadulaev (RUS) is back in the rankings at #18 for beating #18 Petr Kopylov (RUS) in the qualification round of the Yarygin. Nick Suriano (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Diamantino Iuna of Guinea Bissau. Bronze medalists at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix were Valentin Damour (FRA) and Giorgi Gegelashvili (GEO). 61KG #9 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg (MGL) with #1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) and #12 Cherman Tavitov (RUS) taking bronze. Mekthikhanov moves up eight spots to take the #1 spot in the rankings after beating #1 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) in the semifinals. 2018 Senior World bronze medalist Tumenbileg returns to the rankings at #10 for his wins over Tavitov, 2022 Yarygin runner-up #12 Fedor Baltuev (RUS) and 2022 Yarygin bronze medalist Abdurakhman Rasulov (RUS). Baltuev is back in the rankings at #12 based on past wins over 2022 57 KG Senior World champion #3 (57) Zelimkhan Abakarov (ALB), #11 Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (KGZ), 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS). Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (KGZ) moves up five spots in the rankings to #13 for beating #11 Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov (KGZ) in the finals of the Kyrgyz National Championships. Austin DeSanto (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Shelton Mack (USA) with #20 Nahshon Garrett (USA) and Giorgi Goniashvili (GEO) taking bronze. #20 Nahshon Garrett (USA) drops out of the rankings due to his semifinal loss from the Henri Deglane Grand Prix to Austin DeSanto (USA). 65KG #6 Shamil Mamedov (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #12 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) with Danil Kharchilava (RUS) and #10 Ibragim Ibragimov (RUS) taking bronze. Mamedov notched significant wins over #9 Ramazan Ferzaliev (RUS) and Ibragimov to make the Yarygin finals. Rashidov notched wins over the likes of Kharchilava and Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS) to make the finals. Kharchilava debuts in the rankings at #13 for taking bronze at the Yarygin where he beat #13 Aripgadzhi Abdulaev (RUS), Bagavudinov, and Magomed Baitukaev (RUS). Bagavudinov debuts in the rankings at #14 for beating #11 Gadzhimurad Omarov (RUS) in the round of 16. Baitukaev debuts in the 65 KG rankings at #18 for beating #16 Elbrus Valiev (RUS) in the qualification round of the Yarygin. Rashidov moves up five spots in the rankings for his ranked wins over Kharchilava and Bagavudinov along with the fact he has career wins over #2 Takoto Otoguro (JPN), #3 Ismail Musukaev (HUN), and #4 Haji Aliyev (AZE). The only thing that limits Rashidov is his multiple losses (2022 All-Russian Spartakiad finals, 2023 Yarygin finals) to Mamedov. Patricio Lugo (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Kizhan Clarke (GER) with Ridge Lovett (USA) and Marwane Yezza (FRA) taking bronze. Of note, this was 2022 141 LB NCAA runner-up Kizhan Clarke's international debut competing for Germany. Clarke notched strong wins over the likes of Lovett and Evan Henderson (USA) to make the finals. 70KG #6 Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial by tech fall over #12 Inalbek Sheriev (RUS) with #17 Konstantin Kaprynov (RUS) and Kurban Shiraev (RUS) taking bronze. Zherbaev was an absolute force at the Yarygin, tech falling or pinning all his competition and notching ranked wins over Sheriev, #8 Kaprynov, #9 Anzor Zakuev (RUS), and #20 Arpak Sat (RUS). Kaprynov makes the biggest jump in the rankings, moving up nine spots to #8 for beating #8 Zakuev in the bronze medal match. Sheriev moves up five spots to #7 for beating a pair of European champions in #9 Israil Kasumov (RUS) and Shiraev. 2022 All-Russian Spartakiad champion Shiraev is back in the rankings at #10 for beating Kasumov in the bronze medal match. #3 Alec Pantaleo (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Giorgi Tchokadze (GEO) with Kevin Henkel (GER) and Cody Chittum (USA) taking bronze. 74KG #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #11 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) with #6 David Baev (RUS) and #7 Cherman Valiev (RUS) taking bronze. Bizhoev moves up five spots to #6 for beating the likes of Baev, #13 Magomed Dibirgadzhiev (RUS), and #14 Iman Ganishov (RUS) to take bronze. A minor adjustment in the rankings was Ganishov moving up three spots to #11 due to a win in December from the International Khasavyurt Tournament over #9 Ruslan Bogatyrev (RUS) I did not originally account for. Joey Lavallee (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Vincenzo Joseph (USA) with Collin Purtinton (USA) and Rasul Altemirov (FRA) taking bronze. 79KG #3 Akhmed Usmanov (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #13 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (RUS) with #5 Radik Valiev (RUS) and Azret Ulimbashev (RUS) taking bronze. Alikhmaev moves up eight spots in the rankings to #7 for beating Valiev (RUS) and #7 Khalid Yakhiev (RUS). #19 Evan Wick (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over #20 Alex Marinelli (USA). Bronze medalists at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix were Taylor Lujan (USA). 86KG Arslan Bagaev (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over Ruslan Chertkoev (RUS) with Omar Ziyautdinov (RUS) and Arseni Dzhioev (RUS) taking bronze. Arslan Bagaev (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #11 for upsetting #8 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) in the semifinals of the Yarygin. Ziyautdinov returns to the rankings at #12 for pinning Musalaliev in their bronze medal match at the Yarygin. Musalaliev drops five spots in the rankings from #13 for losses to #11 for those losses. Ruslan Chertkoev (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #19 for beating #20 Zagid Karimov (RUS) to make the Yarygin finals. 2010 74 KG Russian Nationals runner-up Ruslan Valiev made a successful international debut for France, winning the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over 2018 Senior World bronze medalist Taimuraz Friev (ESP) with Uri Kalashnikov (ISR) and Akhmed Aibuev (FRA) taking bronze. An interesting fact to note from the Henri Deglane is that both finalists are former Russian Nationals medalists, with Valiev and Friev both originally hailing from North Ossetia-Alania where Valiev took silver at the 2010 74 KG Russian Nationals tournament and Friev took bronze at the 2008 and 2009 74 KG Russian Nationals tournament. 92KG #17 Alan Bagaev (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #12 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) with #9 Ashkab Saadulaev (RUS) and #10 Azamat Zakuev (RUS) taking bronze. Bagaev makes the biggest jump in the rankings at 92 KG, moving up nine spots to #8 for his wins over Saadulaev and #12 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) at the Yargin. Valiev moves up three spots in the rankings to #9 for beating 2022 Russian Nationals runner-up Zakuev in the semifinals. Eric Schultz (USA) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix with Jay Aiello (USA) taking silver and Adlan Viskhanov (FRA) finishing with bronze. #2 J'den Cox (USA) moved up to 97 KG where he competed at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix, going 1-0 with a victory over Ricardo Baez (ARG) before injury defaulting out of the competition. Cox has been removed from the rankings and added to the 97 KG rankings where he is currently ranked fifth. 97KG #4 Magomed Kurbanov (RUS) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over #3 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) with #17 Igor Ovsyannikov (RUS) and Georgi Dzhioev (RUS) taking bronze. Kurbanov moves up one spot for his win over 2022 European champion Zhabrailov in the finals. Kurbanov also notched wins over the likes of #15 Shamil Musaev (RUS) and Dzhioev to make the finals. Zhabrailov had higher-ranked wins in the form of #12 Igor Ovsyannikov (RUS) and #16 Ramazan Shakhbanov (RUS). Ovsyannikov moves up five spots to #12 for his victories over #11 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) and #20 Aslanbek Sotiev (RUS). Georgi Dzhioev (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #18 for beating #16 Gadzhimagomed Tazhudinov (RUS) at the Yarygin. Merab Suleimanishvili (GEO) won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix over Morgan Smith (USA) with Lukas Krasauskas (LTU) and Ilja Matuhin (GER) taking bronze. #2 (92) J'den Cox (USA) went 1-0 at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and injury defaulted out after a win over Ricardo Baez (ARG). Cox slots in at #5 in the rankings upon his move up from 92 KG. 125KG Dzianis Khramiankov (BLR) won the Ivan Yarygin Memorial over Ostap Pasenok (RUS) with Mostafa Junegani (IRI) and #13 Erik Dzhioev (RUS) taking bronze. The biggest upset from the Yarygin was unranked Junegani beating #6 Khugaev in the round of 16. Junegani debuts in the rankings at #7. Khramiankov makes his return to the rankings at #6 for beating Junegani, Pasenok, #18 Kazbek Khubulov (RUS) and #20 Vitali Goloev (RUS) at the Yarygin. Ostap Pasenok (RUS) returns to the rankings at #11 for beating the likes of #12 Artem Pukhovsky (RUS) and Dzhioev to make the finals of the Yarygin. #9 Znaur Kotsiev (RUS) falls four spots to #13 for his round of 16 loss to Dzhioev. #11 Khasan Khubaev (RUS) also fell four spots in the rankings to #15 for his quarterfinal loss to Dzhioev. Khubulov returns to the rankings at #18 for beating #15 Soslan Khinchagov (RUS) in the quarterfinals of the Yarygin. Nika Berulava (GEO) won the Henri Degane Grand Prix over Christian Lance (USA) with Gennadij Cudinovic (GER) and Catriel Muriel (ARG) taking bronze. Pound for Pound 2021 74 KG world bronze medalist Timur Bizhoev (RUS) is back in the pound-for-pound rankings at #16 after beating #12 David Baev (RUS) in the semifinals of the Yarygin. Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) makes his debut at #24 for beating #17 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) in the semifinals of the 61 KG Ivan Yarygin Memorial. 2021 61 KG Senior World champion Magomedov dropped eight spots in the rankings to #25 for his loss to #24 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) in the 61 KG Ivan Yarygin Memorial semifinals. Akhmed Idrisov (RUS) returns at #23 for his wins over Mekhtikhanov (RUS) and Magomedov (RUS).