InterMat Staff

Pittsburgh All-American Cole Matthews (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It was another busy weekend in the ACC and the final countdown (do do do doo) has begun for ACC duals on Friday. Let's take a quick look at some highlights and important happenings from the weekend. Duke: The Blue Devils were off this week, so I hope their highlight was to get rested and healthy before facing Central Michigan on Thursday and North Carolina on Friday. Ranked wrestler: #22 Jonah Neisenbaum-285 North Carolina: The Tar Heels swept their weekend duals in New England over Harvard and Brown. They had five wrestlers go undefeated on the weekend: Jack Wagner (125), Jace Palmer (133), Lachlan McNeil (141), Austin O'Connor (157), and Gavin Kane (184). Max Shaw won in his only match at 197; Aydin Guttridge got the nod at 285 and went 1-1 with a close 2-1 loss to #9 Yaraslau Slavikouski. Ranked Wrestlers: #22 Jack Wagner-125, #25 Zach Sherman-149, #4 Austin O'Connor-157, #9 Clay Lautt-174, #14 Gavin Kane-184 The lineup for the Tar Heels continues to solidify and they should have most, if not all, of their starters back in action against Duke to open ACC competition. North Carolina State: Not a lot of notes for the Wolfpack; they hosted Army on Friday and took care of business and finished their non-conference slate with a perfect 10-0 record. They got bonus points from half of their lineup against the Black Knights. Owen Trephan led the way with a tech fall, while Isaac Trumble, Trent Hidlay, Ed Scott and Kai Orine all added major decisions. Ranked Wrestlers: #29 Jarrett Trombley-125, #25 Kai Orine-133, #6 Ryan Jack-141, #15 Jackson Arrington-149, #6 Ed Scott-157, #32 Matty Singleton-165, #32 Alex Faison-174, #3 Trent Hidlay-184, #6 Isaac Trumble-197, #12 Owen Trephan-285 The Wolfpack move into ACC competition looking to add another dual and tournament title to their trophy case. They have nine ranked wrestlers and will face arguably their toughest ACC opponent when they travel to Blacksburg Friday night. Pittsburgh: The loss to West Virginia clearly left a bad taste in the mouth of the Panthers; they came out against Buffalo looking to send a message. They blanked the Bulls 37-0…message received. The Panthers also got bonus points from half of their team; Colton Camacho and Cole Matthews both won by tech fall while Micky Phillippi, Tyler Badgett and Nino Bonaccorsi all won by major decision. We saw Dazjon Casto back in the lineup at 157, where he picked up a decision win; Jake Slinger also got a decision win at 285; still curious whether we see Dayton Pitzer in any ACC action. Ranked Wrestlers: #7 Micky Phillippi-133, #3 Cole Matthews-141, #29 Tyler Badgett-149, #31 Holden Heller-165, #17 Reece Heller-184, #2 Nino Bonaccorsi-197, #5 Dayton Pitzer-285 The Panthers will travel to Charlottesville to take on UVA for their first of two back-to-back weekends in Virginia. Virginia: The Hoos had an excellent weekend at the Virginia Duals. Going into the weekend it was a question of how they would perform with several starters out with injuries. Simply put, the team stepped up and went 3-1 on the weekend. UVA took lopsided dual wins over Ohio, Navy and Kent State before dropping a very competitive dual with former ACC-rival Maryland 22-14. Michael Battista had a fantastic weekend, going 4-0 with ranked wins over #29 Jake Koser and #11 Jaxon Smith. True Freshmen Garrett Grice and Nick Hamilton also went 4-0 on the weekend. Grice finished with three bonus wins in four matches; a pin and two major decisions. Another True Freshman, Michael Gioffre went 3-1, including a pin of #32 Kody Komara. In one of the most intriguing stories in the ACC, we saw the return to the mat of Brian Courtney. He lost a heartbreaker in the blood round in Detroit after a great start to the tournament. He had been teaching 7th grade in South Carolina before talks of his return started with Coach Garland. Courtney placed 4th at Midlands while unattached, and started off his final run in a UVA singlet with a 2-1 weekend. He and Dylan Cedeno will continue to battle for the starting spot at 141, so don't be surprised if you see both in ACC action. They will also both be hitting the open circuit hard during the final weeks of the season to get additional mat time. Ranked Wrestlers: #33 Garrett Grice-133, #29 Brian Courtney-141, #30 Jarod Verkleeren-149, #33 Jake Keating-157, #15 Justin McCoy-165, #20 Neil Antrassian-184, #24 Michael Battista-197 The Hoos will host the Pitt Panthers to open the ACC season on Friday. Virginia Tech: The Hokies traveled to hostile territory to take on a very game Appalachian State squad in Boone. App State is consistently a tough team, and Coach Bentley has done a phenomenal job building the culture and creating a tough environment for visiting teams. The biggest win for the Hokies came from true freshman Caleb Henson who upset #8 Jon Millner in sudden victory. This is the third All-American that Henson has beaten this season. Sam Latona also picked up a ranked win in sudden victory over #24 Sean Carter. Andy Smith and Hunter Catka both earned bonus points with major decision victories for the Hokies. Ranked Wrestlers: #20 Eddie Ventresca-125, #5 Sam Latona-133, #12 Tom Crook-141, #9 Caleb Henson-149, #6 Bryce Andonian-157, #20 Connor Brady-165, #3 Mekhi Lewis-174, #7 Hunter Bolen-184, #26 Andy Smith-197, #23 Hunter Catka-285 The Hokies will welcome the Wolfpack into Cassell Coliseum on Friday night for a top-10 showdown that will set the tone for ACC competition.

Michigan State 157 lber Chase Saldate (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Another weekend of Big Ten wrestling has once again resulted in much more than “5 things” for us to talk about. Here’s a roundup of what stood out to us, as well as the debut of our BIG Awards. Scroll to the bottom to see who our picks were this week for BIGgest upset, win and move of the week! Wolverines and Spartans clash! And also Gophers and Badgers. Both Michigan and Michigan State competed this weekend. In fact, they wrestled each other, and then against two other strong B1G teams as well. Let’s start with Friday night though, in what was an awesome dual between two in-state rivals. Friday night in Jenison Field House looks like it was a blast! It was completely packed from the windows to the wall. Atmospheres like that make for intense and awesome competition, and that’s what we got from both crews. Jack Medley started things off with a nice win over Tristan Lujan. Lujan has looked great for most of this year, and had only one loss heading into the dual against Mastrogiovanni of Oklahoma State. Medley has been battling for the starting spot for most of this season with McHenry, but it’s possible that’s been decided at this point. More on that in a minute. I interviewed Rayvon Foley last year shortly after he beat Dylan Ragusin in Ann Arbor. For those who don’t know, Rayvon is from Ann Arbor, and the theme of that conversation was around how he had pride going into Cliff Keen Arena and winning that dual. Well, he had another chance to establish his territory against the always-tough Ragusin, and did just that. He came back after giving up some initial points, and finished strong to get the Spartans on the board with a major decision, 12-4. Don’t worry, this won’t be a match-by-match recap, but those first two meant something. Most notably, Chase Saldate (who you might remember from our B1G breakout candidates article) beat Will Lewan in overtime. There was some action early in the match, but both of these guys are stingy wrestlers on their feet, and exceptionally talented defensive wrestlers. Saldate was able to capitalize when it mattered most and get the crowd really fired up. That was a nice win for Saldate to get momentum going. Again, more on him in a minute. In the end, Michigan wins 7/10 matches, but it was a closer dual than that, with some controversial calls at both 165 and 197 that could have impacted those results. In the end, the Wolverines took 7/10 weights and left East Lansing with the 25-10 win. Michigan continued… Sunday, we had Michigan host 17th-ranked Wisconsin in Cliff Keen Arena. Back to Jack Energizer Medley, who went right on out there and beat Eric Barnett, who was ranked 5th at the time and only had one loss all season. Probably more important than the one loss, is the several impressive and dominant wins on the year. I wrote about Barnett last week about how he is someone I need to pay more attention to, and I still feel that way, but for Medley, a win over a two-time All-American is a nice thing to have on your resume when you’re competing for the starting spot. This win must have energized the Wolverines, because they let the good times roll from there, getting a major decision at 133, and a solid win for Cole Mattin over Zargo at 141. Austin Gomez is appointment viewing. He didn’t disappoint, starting big within the first 30 seconds of the match. He looked really good against Chance Lamer for the first 5 minutes. He still gets the win, but for Michigan, it was nice seeing a young guy in the lineup like Chance keep competing against studs like Dom Demas and Austin Gomez two weeks in a row, and not be intimidated. Now we get to the marquee matchup… Cam Amine against Dean Hamiti. I believe Cam might be the strongest man alive because the two takedowns that he got were from positions that shouldn’t work there. At least they never have for me. Maybe that’s a personal problem. Either way, the first takedown was off of Hamiti working a two-on-one, then Cam stepped across and swept the leg with his own as he drove into a knee pick of sorts. The core strength, balance, and balls it takes to hit a move like that, not to mention against a guy like Hamiti, is a special thing. The second takedown looked to be a hard whizzer off of Hamiti’s shot. I know there was some scrambling from Hamiti, or a roll that didn’t work, but I saw that as a reaction to the whizzer. You don’t often see Hamiti’s offense slowed down like that, but we did in this match, and I get the impression it was what it must feel like to tie up with Cam. In the end, the Wolverines took 8 of the 10 weight classes. Braxton Amos looked as physically imposing as you’d expect at 197, and got the win over Yatooma. Mason Parris rode out Trent Hilger in the second, but not in the easy-to-ride someone way. He did it in the “good luck getting out of here, because I will ride you for as long as it takes” way. It was an impressive win over a two-time All-American in Hilger. Wisconsin wrestles next against Purdue Friday at 8pm EST on BTN+ and the Wolverines travel to State College to take on Penn State this Friday at 7pm EST on Big Ten Network. Gophers bounce back over Spartans Back to the Spartans, on Sunday they traveled to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers. Minnesota coming off of the heels of a loss to Nebraska from Friday night, so they were ready to get back in the win column, and that they did. Aaron Nagao got a nice win over Rayvon Foley, winning most of the scramble positions and ultimately taking the decision. Tristan Lujan finished out a tough weekend with a loss to Patrick McKee, who had lost Friday night to Liam Cronin. The Spartans were shut out heading into 157, when Chace Saldate finished a solid weekend by beating Brayton Lee. Lee has had a tough season to this point, after starting the season ranked first in the country, has proven that coming back from injury has been more difficult than we all would have expected. Not to take anything away from Chase. I had predicted he would have a breakout season, and wins like this are only going to add to his confidence. Getting wins over Will Lewan and Brayton Lee in the same weekend should have a snowball effect on what he is capable of. I trust he’ll be able to bring that to practice and his leadership within the team. Sometimes wins can affect a whole team, and I think that’s what’s happening here. Caleb Fish and Cam Caffey got wins in their respective weights, but other than that it was all Golden Gophers in this one. They remain gritty and have a lot of depth in their roster, and it showed in a dual like this. One other bright spot for the Spartans though, is Ceasar Garza, who as a true Freshman has really done well stepping up for them at 174. He’s competed well in every match he’s had, win or lose, and to get a takedown late in the latch to avoid the major decision is something that they can build on. Michigan State is up next Friday night at Rutgers at 7pm on BTN+ and Minnesota wrestles Indiana Friday night at 6pm, also on BTN+. Angry Spencer Lee is Terrifying Remember over the summer when Spencer was putting IG posts up about doing cool pull-up stuff and workout stuff? That was nice. Since then, he’s beating up teammates, pointing at coaches, and pinning the #3 ranked guy in the country in the first period. Angry Spencer Lee is somehow better than jovial Spencer Lee. Remember when he was coming out to the Pokemon theme song for his NCAA finals matches? I feel like this year he might come out to “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor” by Drowning Pool. Maybe Darth Vader was right. I’m starting to think that I don’t know the true power of the dark side. Maybe it’s worth exploring. All jokes aside, Spencer looks awesome, and so do the Hawkeyes. Cassioppi got a really solid win this weekend over Lucas Davison by a score of 3-2. Real Woods cruised to a technical fall over 10th-ranked Franke Tal-Shahar of Northwestern, Patrick Kennedy got a nice win over 23rd-ranked Maxx Mayfield. Most impressive to me though, was Cobe Siebrecht who beat 9th-ranked Trevor Chumbley. Trevor has looked excellent this year, coming in at 17-2 on the season and having answered a lot of questions about what Northwestern was going to do at 157. Although you wouldn’t know it by watching how Cobe attacked right away. All season, Cobe has shown a willingness to open up the scoring against whoever is across from him, and by March that approach will yield impressive dividends. Iowa has looked tremendous to this point in the year. With the exception of a closer-than-expected dual against Illinois, they have been on quite a roll and they seem to be managing their injuries and lineups well. It’s nice to have the depth that they have. Up next they host the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday at 9pm EST on Big Ten Network. Liam Cronin makes a statement as Nebraska goes 2-0 It’s hard to imagine many other wrestlers having a better week this past weekend than Liam Cronin. The graduate senior took out not one – but two – top-four opponents at 125 pounds in Northwestern’s No. 3 Michael DeAugustino and Minnesota’s No. 4 Patrick McKee. Cronin didn’t just win, though. He kind of dominated. Cronin gave up the first takedown to McKee on Friday night, then never looked back. McKee got banged up and went into concussion protocol, leading 2-1, returning a few minutes later to the mat. A quick escape in the second period kept Cronin in the match, then a takedown gave him the 6-3 win with 22 seconds remaining in the second. McKee was able to get a takedown in the third but Cronin got two, including one in the waning seconds for the 11-6 win. Cronin looked confident throughout his bout with McKee, and that confidence carried over to Sunday’s dual meet with Northwestern, as Cronin used two takedowns, a reversal, a four-point nearfall and riding time to roll to an 11-1 major decision. As impressive as Cronin’s weekend was, he wasn’t the only Husker to shine. Peyton Robb showed why he’s on top at 157 pounds, notching wins over Minnesota’s No. 12 Brayton Lee and Northwestern’s No. 9 Trevor Chumbley. The win over Lee avenged his loss to the Golden Gopher last season. While the final scores were tight (2-0 for both), Robb showed his dominance by riding out the second period in each bout. Brock Hardy showed why he should be in the mix as a title contender at 141 pounds by shutting out both No. 10 Frankie Tal-Shahar, of Northwestern, and No. 11 Jake Bergeland, of Northwestern. Hardy never gave Bergeland a chance, securing a takedown off a danger call in the opening period, then tacking on another takedown and four nearfall points for the 9-0 major. Most of the action in the Tal-Shahar match happened in the third period, but Hardy was still able to pile on the points without giving anything up in a 6-0 decision. No. 2 Mikey Labriola had another solid weekend at 174 pounds with two top-20 wins, as did No. 25 Silas Allred at 197, with a pair of top-30 victories. Dayne Morton had one of the biggest upsets of the weekend for Nebraska, taking out Minnesota’s No. 14 Michael Blockhus at 149. With these wins, Nebraska is out to a 2-0 start in the Big Ten. That record will be put to the test next week when the Cornhuskers travel to No. 2 Iowa. Cronin will have a chance to see if his luck will continue and if he can be one of the few opponents not to be pinned by Spencer Lee this season. The 141-pound bout between Hardy and Real Woods (should they both wrestle) could lend some clarity to how that weight class might shake out down the stretch. Indiana turns heads with a 2-1 Big Ten start Coming into this season, Indiana coach Angel Escobedo said he felt that his team had something to prove and was better than what it's 3-8 overall record showed. “Last year we didn't have the best year,” he told InterMat in September. “So, we put in a lot of work this offseason and we want to redeem ourselves and really just hit it hard this season and show people what we're capable of – that we’re a really good team.” With their 24-16 win over Rutgers on Friday, the Hoosiers are starting to get noticed. With this win, Indiana improves to 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Big Ten – marking its best start since 2015 and since Escobedo took the reins. Friday’s win, however, didn’t come easy. Indiana found itself in a 10-0 hole after three bouts, as Rutgers’ Dean Peterson and Joe Heilmann collected decisions and Joe Olivieri dominated Cayden Rooks for a 15-2 major decision. Graham Rooks’ 7-1 decision over Tony White started a string of four consecutive wins for the Hoosiers that put them in the lead by 6. Derek Gilcher continued to build his resume for “Big Ten Breakout Wrestler of the Year” with a win in sudden victory over Andrew Clark at 157 pounds that brought Wilkinson Hall to its feet. But it was the match at 165 that really got the momentum swinging in Indiana’s favor. Down by three in the third period, Nick South hit a blast double into a half nelson to put Robert Kanniard on his back for the fall, giving the Hoosiers their first lead of the dual. D.J. Washington then rode that momentum to a 14-5 redemption win over Jackson Turley, who he lost to by technical fall at the 2021 NCAA Championships. That 6-point lead, however, was quickly neutralized with a pin from Rutgers freshman Brian Soldano at 184. Nick Willham was able to get the lead back thanks to a quick escape in the third period that allowed him to preserve riding time by two seconds and squeak out the 2-1 win at 197. Heavyweight Jacob Bullock closed the door with an emphatic 15-0 technical fall to give the Hoosiers their second consecutive Big Ten win. Indiana will have a tough test this coming weekend when it hosts Minnesota. But earning three conference wins for the first time since the 2015-16 season isn’t totally out of reach. One of the Hoosiers’ best opportunities could be its intrastate rivalry matchup with Purdue on Jan. 29. Indiana hasn’t beaten Purdue since 2010, but fell last season by just a point. It seems likely that it’ll be another close result this year. Regardless of what might happen the rest of the season, the Hoosiers are showing they shouldn’t be overlooked. AWARDS!!! This week, we’re going to start handing out weekly awards 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 – Jack Medley major decision over Eric Barnett, 12-6. Anytime someone not currently ranked beats the 5th ranked guy in the country is certainly an upset. It’s magnified a little bit though when the guy not ranked is not ranked because it’s not certain he’s the starter for his own team. You have to be the best guy in your own room in order to win a National Championship, as Jakob Bergeland reminded me earlier this year, and it appears that maybe Medley has gotten over that hump. Barnett did start off strong, as he has in most of his matches this year, but ultimately the relentless energy and pressure from Medley took control and he poured on more pressure and offense. If someone who had never seen wrestling before watched that match, it would have been clear and undeniable that Medley was supposed to be the ranked wrestler, and that the graphic with the “5” next to Barnett’s name must have been wrong. It was a really impressive win over a guy who has looked great all season to this point. B1Ggest Win – Michigan State’s Chase Saldate over Brayton Lee and Will Lewan. This is the two wins that Chase Saldate had this weekend. I could make the argument for Amine over Hamiti, or Lee over DeAugustino, but in the end, these two wins for Saldate will have a big impact on the conference tournament seeding. Before this weekend, Saldate was the 12th-ranked guy in the B1G at 157. These two wins will certainly help him climb up the national rankings, but should help put him in a position to have a strong B1G Tournament as well. B1Ggest Move – Spencer Lee pinning Michael DeAugustino. Spencer Lee pinned the 3rd ranked guy in the country in the first period. I’m always trying to appreciate great wrestlers while I have the chance to watch them these days, because at some point Spencer Lee’s college career will be over, and we’ll just have to live vicariously through stories. Like, “remember when Spencer Lee was down 8-1 and then pinned Matt Ramos?” or “Remember when Spencer Lee won an NCAA title without any ACLs?” So while it’s going on, I’m going to appreciate it. Spencer hits a fireman’s carry, and it appears that DeAugustino looks at the ref to see if he in fact gave Spencer the takedown. Spencer pops his head out at that moment, and instinctively grabs his head and locks up the cradle. That was it. It was over. It was a nice way for the Carver-Hawkeye crowd to end the dual, and to walk out ready to enjoy the rest of their Friday night. Don’t forget to appreciate every Spencer Lee moment we have left. Lauren’s picks: B1Ggest upset: Illinois’ No. 32 Danny Pucino pins No. 12 Parker Filius, of Purdue Freshman Danny Pucino continued to impress this past weekend, extending his bonus-point win streak to three and his second consecutive fall. This win, however, was his biggest statement so far of the season, a pin of Purdue’s No. 12 Parker Filius in 3:35. Pucino entered InterMat’s rankings for the first time last week at No. 32 at 141 pounds, after a clutch pin that helped seal the dual win against Wisconsin and a major decision that kept his team neck-and-neck with Iowa until the final bout. With his win over Filius, he’s now climbed all the way to No. 14 and will have a chance at another ranked opponent in Northwestern’s No. 10 Frankie Tal-Shahar on Friday. B1Ggest win(s): Top-5 wins for Nebraska’s Liam Cronin over Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) and Pat McKee (Minnesota) The 125-pound weight class is Iowa’s Spencer Lee and … everyone else. Below Princeton’s Pat Glory in that No. 2 spot are a bunch of Big Ten wrestlers who are going to be battling each other throughout the season for the right to stand on the podium at Big Tens and NCAAs. These two wins were a clear message from Cronin that he belongs in that conversation in his seventh season. His wins were also big for getting his team started off on the right foot and getting the home crowd engaged from the very beginning. B1Ggest move: Nick South’s blast double into a half nelson for the fall to swing momentum for Indiana South’s pin marked the turning point in Indiana’s win over Rutgers. Not only did it give the Hoosiers their first lead of the dual, but it also brought the crowd to its feet and helped fuel D.J. Washington to a major decision redemption win in the next bout. This win over Rutgers – Indiana’s second conference win of the season – was huge for the program and may not have been possible without South’s come-from-behind win by fall. And that win may not have been possible without that blast double that allowed South to take Robert Kanniard to his back.

Stanford 174 lber Tyler Eischens (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Little Rock continues to make history The Little Rock Trojans swept Lindenwood 49-0 on Jan. 13, the first sweep and highest team score in program history. The Trojans picked up eight bonus points out of the ten matches. The Trojans created the most damage on the back half of the dual. 165-pounder Tyler Brennan picked up a pin in the third period while Triston Wills tech falled Luke Dickhaus 16-0 at 174 pounds. Mason Diel dominated with another tech fall and Ty Lukens earned a major decision at 197 pounds. Josiah Hill sealed the deal with a first-period pin over David Hernandez. Little Rock's closest match was 149-pound Chase Tebbets winning 4-0 over Ben Bohr. Oregon State humbles Little Rock Shortly coming off its best performance ever, Little Rock opened up Pac-12 play against Oregon State. The Beavers did not take the Trojans lightly, defeating them 35-3. Five Beaver wrestlers scored at least 10 points and four earned bonus point victories. Brandon Kaylor started the dual with a 21-12 major decision over Jeremiah Reno. Cleveland Belton picked up a tech fall over Jaylen Carson. The matchup of the night came down to the wire. No. 29 Mateo Olmos defeated Triston Wills 3-2. Trey Munoz and Tanner Harvey were the other two Beavers with bonus point wins, capturing a tech fall and pin. Little Rock's Joseph Bianchi was the Trojans' only winner, winning a 10-4 bout at 149 pounds. Is it time to start worrying about ASU? Arizona State came into the season with one of the best rosters and toughest schedules in the season. Unfortunately, the gauntlet has not fallen in their favor as they dropped their third straight dual. ASU lost to Princeton 24-12 at home. Princeton's Pat Glory made his presence felt in the beginning by beating Brandon Courtney 8-3. Yet, Michael McGee bounced the Devils back with a 20-3 tech fall. After a couple of decision victories from Jesse Vasquez and Kyle Parco, the Sun Devils were swept. Arizona State has been shuffling its lineup tremendously due to injuries. Obviously, Jacori Teemer has been out and Courtney battled injuries at the beginning of the season, but the injury bug continues to loom in the desert. Tony Negron, Kordell Norfleet and Cohlton Schultz did not suit up for the dual. If the Sun Devils return to full strength, they are dangerous. Until then, ASU will continue to be tested in the gauntlet. Stanford takes advantage of bonus points over Penn Stanford edged Penn 16-15 in a dual that swayed for both teams. Although Stanford never trailed, neither team could pull away as nine matches ended as a decision. 197-pounder Nick Stemmet was the difference in the score. Stemmet's 11-3 victory over Cole Urbas gave Stanford the only bonus point in the entire dual. In addition, Nico Provo was upset by Ryan Miller 7-4 and Shane Griffith did not wrestle. However, Jaden Abas and Tyler Eischens picked up upset victories over Doug Zapf and Nick Incontrera. Stanford opens up Pac-12 play next week against Arizona State. Cal Poly and CSUB are beaten by Colorado schools Cal Poly fell to Northern Colorado 25-9 while Cal State Bakersfield was beaten 30-8 by Air Force. Several of Cal Poly's top wrestlers dropped their matches, including Legend and Brawley Lamer, Lawrence Saenz and Luka Wick. On the other hand, Ethan Rotondo, Jarad Priest and Trevor Tinker earned decision victories. Bakersfield picked up three wins but lost a team point to unsportsmanlike conduct. Chance Rich defeated Cody Phippen 4-1, Angelo Martinoni defeated Garrett Kuchan 9-2 and Josh Brown defeated Dylan Martinez 9-3.

South Dakota State 197 lber Tanner Sloan (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) I know it doesn’t feel that way when you’re cutting weight over the holidays or going through brutal workouts, but the wrestling season really flies by. For such a long season, compared to other collegiate sports, you blink and it’s mid-January. It sounds crazy to think, but a month from now we’ll be wrapping up the regular season. That’s why we should celebrate and focus on the now. This past weekend was another great couple of days of action on the collegiate wrestling front. As the year progresses, we are seeing seemingly strong teams show weaknesses, while new powers are emerging. Individually, each weight class is taking form, too. Early-season rankings rely on last year’s results, but with two and a half months' worth of action, plenty of shifting has taken place and will continue to do so. So, without any further delay, here are seven big stories from the week in college wrestling. 125 is a mess At one point or another, throughout the course of a four-plus month season, each weight class has that one week, where everyone loses. Well, not everyone, but it just seems that way. For the better part of the year, 141 has been that weight and a weekly basis. That bracket seems to have leveled out and starts to make sense, a bit (for now). That gave way to 125 lbs going nuts this weekend. What we know is that Spencer Lee (Iowa) and Patrick Glory (Princeton) remain perfect. Both had high-quality wins over the past few days, with Lee pinning #3 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) and Glory downing fellow national runner-up Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) on Sunday. After those two, good luck making sense of the weight. Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) is the only other undefeated wrestler at this weight. Cardinale stretched his record to 6-0, but has yet to face a ranked foe. Number’s three through six all suffered at least one loss on the weekend with DeAugustino, Patrick McKee (Minnesota), Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), and Courtney all falling. Those three wrestlers have a combined seven NCAA All-American finishes under their proverbial belts. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Princeton's NCAA finalist Quincy Monday (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday's Dual Results Virginia 33 Kent State 6 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) dec Patrick McCormick (Virginia) 5-3 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) dec Brendon Fenton (Kent State) 7-3 141 - Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) tech Landen Hacker (Kent State) 18-2 149 - Michael Gioffre (Virginia) fall Kody Komara (Kent State) 1:57 157 - Denton Spencer (Virginia) fall Ethan Barr (Kent State) :53 165 - Nick Hamilton (Virginia) maj Enrique Munguia (Kent State) 12-2 174 - Vic Marcelli (Virginia) dec Ashton Breen (Kent State) 5-1 184 - Hadyn Danals (Virginia) dec Tyler Bates (Kent State) 9-2 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 12-8 285 - Jacob Cover (Kent State) dec Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) 9-4 Campbell 21 Maryland 14 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) dec Anthony Molton (Campbell) 9-4 133 - Gabe Hixenbaugh (Campbell) tech Conner Quinn (Maryland) 16-0 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Kal Miller (Maryland) 4-2SV 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) maj Chris Rivera (Campbell) 10-1 157 - Michael North (Maryland) dec Hagen Heistand (Campbell) 5-0 165 - Dom Baker (Campbell) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 3-2TB 174 - Dom Solis (Maryland) maj Brant Cracraft (Campbell) 24-10 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) maj Chase Mielnik (Maryland) 9-0 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 8-6SV 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec Jaron Smith (Maryland) 3-2 South Dakota State 39 Campbell 3 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) fall Anthony Molton (Campbell) 4:11 133 - Gabe Hixenbaugh (Campbell) dec Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) 5-2 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) maj Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 15-1 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) maj Chris Rivera (Campbell) 12-2 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) maj Hagen Heistand (Campbell) 14-2 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Dom Baker (Campbell) 2:38 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) tech Brant Cracraft (Campbell) 18-2 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 6-3 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) maj Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 11-0 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) dec Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 9-3 Oklahoma 33 Ohio 6 125 - Joey Prata (Oklahoma) dec Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 1-0 133 - Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) maj Mason Brugh (Ohio) 15-3 141 - Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) dec Kyran Hagan (Ohio) 4-3 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) dec Alec Hagan (Ohio) 2-0 157 - Jared Hill (Oklahoma) InjDef Daniel Segura (Ohio) 165 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma) dec Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 3-2 174 - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) tech Kamal Adewumi (Ohio) 21-5 184 - Zayne Lehman (Ohio) dec Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) 4-0 197 - Austin Starr (Ohio) dec Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 5-2 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) fall Jacob Padilla (Ohio) 1:38 Navy 27 Kent State 21 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) fall Matt Ricci (Navy) 2:12 133 - Brendan Ferretti (Navy) dec Brendon Fenton (Kent State) 5-3 141 - Josh Koderhandt (Navy) tech Landen Hacker (Kent State) 20-4 149 - Kody Komara (Kent State) fall Kaemen Smith (Navy) 3:59 157 - Ethan Barr (Kent State) fall Devon Deem (Navy) 2:08 165 - Geno Quodala (Navy) FFT 174 - Sammy Starr (Navy) fall Michael Ferree (Kent State) 2:44 184 - David Key (Navy) dec Tyler Bates (Kent State) 6-1 197 - Jake Koser (Navy) maj Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 15-2 285 - Jacob Cover (Kent State) dec Ryan Catka (Navy) 7-4 Maryland 22 Virginia 14 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) maj Patrick McCormick (Virginia) 9-0 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) maj Conner Quinn (Maryland) 22-9 141 - Kal Miller (Maryland) dec Brian Courtney (Virginia) 7-3 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec Michael Gioffre (Virginia) 3-1 157 - Michael North (Maryland) dec Jake Keating (Virginia) 10-8SV 165 - Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 3-1SV 174 - Dom Solis (Maryland) dec Justin Phillips (Virginia) 3-1 184 - Neil Antrassian (Virginia) maj Chase Mielnik (Maryland) 14-4 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 3-1SV 285 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) fall Colden Dorfman (Virginia) 4:05 Oklahoma 28 Navy 12 125 - Joey Prata (Oklahoma) dec Grant Treaster (Navy) 4-0 133 - Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) dec Brendan Ferretti (Navy) 4-3 141 - Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) fall Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 1:34 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) fall Kaemen Smith (Navy) :35 157 - Jared Hill (Oklahoma) maj Chase Caprella (Navy) 14-1 165 - Alejandro Herrera Rondon (Oklahoma) dec Val Park (Navy) 6-4SV 174 - Sammy Starr (Navy) dec Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) 9-7SV 184 - David Key (Navy) fall Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) 1:08 197 - Jacob Lucas (Navy) dec Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 3-1SV 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) dec Grady Griess (Navy) 2-1TB South Dakota State 42 Ohio 3 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 4-0 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) fall Mason Brugh (Ohio) 2:05 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) tech Aidan Waszak (Ohio) 18-1 149 - Alec Hagan (Ohio) dec Alek Martin (South Dakota State) 5-1 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) FFT 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) dec Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 6-2 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Sal Perrine (Ohio) 10-0 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Zayne Lehman (Ohio) 3-2 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) FFT 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Drew Harris (Ohio) 1:04 Clarion 34 VMI 4 125 - Logan Mazzeo (Clarion) dec Tony Burke (VMI) 7-1 133 - Koen Kish (Clarion) dec Dyson Dunham (VMI) 4-1 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 5-3SV 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) maj Noah Roulo (VMI) 12-3 157 - Josh Yost (VMI) maj Trevor Elfin (Clarion) 12-4 165 - Cameron Pine (Clarion) maj Braxton Lewis (VMI) 17-3 174 - John Worthing (Clarion) tech Jon Hoover (VMI) 17-2 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Zach Brown (VMI) :47 197 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) dec Tyler Mousaw (VMI) 8-3 285 - Austin Chapman (Clarion) dec Josh Evans (VMI) 7-3 Clarion 33 Long Island 6 125 - Robbie Sargaris (Long Island) dec Logan Mazzeo (Clarion) 6-3 133 - Kaelen Francois (Long Island) dec Koen Kish (Clarion) 10-8SV 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Devin Matthews (Long Island) 5-4 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) dec Drew Witham (Long Island) 6-1 157 - Trevor Elfin (Clarion) dec Rhise Royster (Long Island) 9-5 165 - Cameron Pine (Clarion) dec Blake Bahna (Long Island) 11-5 174 - John Worthing (Clarion) fall TJ Franden (Long Island) 6:27 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Gavin Claro (Long Island) :54 197 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) fall Joseph LoPresti (Long Island) :32 285 - Austin Chapman (Clarion) dec Aeden Begue (Long Island) 5-3 Long Island 28 VMI 12 125 - Robbie Sargaris (Long Island) dec Tony Burke (VMI) 3-0 133 - Dyson Dunham (VMI) dec Kaelen Francois (Long Island) 8-7 141 - Devin Matthews (Long Island) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 4-3 149 - Drew Witham (Long Island) dec Noah Roulo (VMI) 3-1 157 - Rhise Royster (Long Island) maj Josh Yost (VMI) 10-2 165 - Braxton Lewis (VMI) dec Blake Bahna (Long Island) 3-1 174 - TJ Franden (Long Island) InjDef Jon Hoover (VMI) 184 - Gavin Claro (Long Island) fall Zach Brown (VMI) 3:30 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) fall Joseph LoPresti (Long Island) 1:38 285 - Aeden Begue (Long Island) dec Josh Evans (VMI) 4-3 North Carolina 22 Harvard 12 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 8-7 133 - Jace Palmer (North Carolina) dec Dante Frinzi (Harvard) 10-4 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) maj Joe Cangro (Harvard) 21-8 149 - Jack Crook (Harvard) dec Zach Sherman (North Carolina) 7-5 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) maj Trevor Tarsi (Harvard) 12-3 165 - Josh Kim (Harvard) dec Joey Mazarra (North Carolina) 6-5 174 - Alex Whitworth (Harvard) dec Michael Goldfeder (North Carolina) 4-1 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) maj Leonardo Tarantino (Harvard) 21-8 197 - Max Shaw (North Carolina) maj Michael Doggett (Harvard) 12-4 285 - Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) dec Aydin Guttridge (North Carolina) 2-1 North Carolina 36 Brown 4 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) maj Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) 16-5 133 - Jace Palmer (North Carolina) dec Hunter Adrian (Brown) 5-3 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) maj Ian Oswalt (Brown) 18-6 149 - Zach Sherman (North Carolina) dec Ricky Cabanillas (Brown) 3-2 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) fall Sam McMonagle (Brown) 1:57 165 - Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) maj Harrison Trahan (Brown) 13-2 174 - Drew Clearie (Brown) maj Gino Esposito (North Carolina) 14-4 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) tech Nick Olivieri (Brown) 22-7 197 - Cade Lautt (North Carolina) maj Lear Quinton (Brown) 12-3 285 - Aydin Guttridge (North Carolina) dec Alex Semenenko (Brown) 5-1 North Dakota State 38 California Baptist 3 125 - Ryan Henningson (North Dakota State) fall Adrian Limon (California Baptist) 4:00 133 - Hunter Leake (California Baptist) dec McGwire Midkiff (North Dakota State) 7-2 141 - Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) maj Christian Nunez (California Baptist) 11-2 149 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) maj Marcus Peterson (California Baptist) 14-2 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) tech Koa Ruiz (California Baptist) 16-1 165 - Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) dec Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) 10-4 174 - Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) maj Louis Rojas (California Baptist) 10-0 184 - DJ Parker (North Dakota State) dec Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) 3-2 197 - Spencer Mooberry (North Dakota State) fall Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) 2:15 285 - Juan Mora (North Dakota State) dec Christopher Island (California Baptist) 8-6 Cornell 18 Lehigh 15 125 - Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 3-1SV 133 - Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) 4-0 141 - Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec Vince Cornella (Cornell) 4-2 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) tech Drew Munch (Lehigh) 16-1 157 - Cole Handlovic (Cornell) dec Max Brignola (Lehigh) 2-0 165 - Julian Ramirez (Cornell) maj Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 13-2 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) dec Jake Logan (Lehigh) 9-5 184 - Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) dec Ethan Hatcher (Cornell) 6-1 197 - Michael Beard (Lehigh) dec Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 6-2 285 - Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) dec Brendan Fuhrman (Cornell) 9-3 Cleveland State 25 Edinboro 12 125 - Aiden Lewis (Edinboro) dec Ben Alanis (Cleveland State) 8-1 133 - Jacob Manley (Cleveland State) maj Cam Soda (Edinboro) 10-0 141 - Dylan Layton (Cleveland State) fall Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) 4:27 149 - Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) dec Douglas Terry (Cleveland State) 9-2 157 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) fall Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) 1:06 165 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) dec Alex Garee (Edinboro) 4-1 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec JR Reed (Cleveland State) 7-3 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) dec Jack Kilner (Edinboro) 4-1 197 - Anthony Perrine (Cleveland State) dec Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) 3-2 285 - Nick Lodato (Edinboro) dec Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) 6-5 Drexel 23 Franklin & Marshall 13 125 - Mason Leiphart (F&M) dec Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 9-6 133 - Kyle Waterman (Drexel) dec Pat Phillips (F&M) 6-2 141 - Jordan Soriano (Drexel) dec Aidan O'Shea (F&M) 8-6 149 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) maj Bryce Kresho (F&M) 10-2 157 - Tyler Williams (Drexel) tech Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) 15-0 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) tech RJ Moore (F&M) 17-2 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Cody Walsh (Drexel) 4-3 184 - Brian Bonino (Drexel) dec James Conway (F&M) 3-2 197 - John Crawford (F&M) maj Sean O'Malley (F&M) 11-2 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Santino Morina (Drexel) 2-1SV Missouri 28 Wyoming 10 125 - Jore Volk (Wyoming) maj Noah Surtin (Missouri) 11-1 133 - Connor Brown (Missouri) maj Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) 16-4 141 - Job Greenwood (Wyoming) dec Kade Moore (Missouri) 11-4 149 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 6-1 157 - Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 10-8 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) fall Cole Moody (Wyoming) 1:23 174 - Peyton Mocco (Missouri) maj Brett McIntosh (Wyoming) 15-5 184 - Colton Hawks (Missouri) dec Quayin Short (Wyoming) 6-3 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) tech Tyce Raddon (Wyoming) 18-2 285 - Terren Swartz (Wyoming) dec Ryan Boersma (Missouri) 3-1 Illinois 31 Purdue 9 125 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) dec Maximo Renteria (Illinois) 3-2 133 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) maj Dustin Norris (Purdue) 13-4 141 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) fall Parker Filius (Purdue) 3:35 149 - Jake Harrier (Illinois) maj Jaden Reynolds (Purdue) 10-2 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Anthony Federico (Illinois) 8-2 165 - Danny Braunagel (Illinois) fall Stoney Buell (Purdue) 4:02 174 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) maj Cooper Noehre (Purdue) 10-2 184 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) dec Ben Vanadia (Purdue) 9-2 197 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) maj Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) 19-6 285 - Hayden Copass (Purdue) dec Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) 1-0 Iowa State 31 Utah Valley 9 125 - Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) dec Caleb Fuessley (Iowa State) 10-9 133 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) fall Kobe Nelms (Utah Valley) 2:34 141 - Ty Smith (Utah Valley) dec Drew Woodley (Iowa State) 5-0 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Isaiah Delgado (Utah Valley) 5-2 157 - Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) dec Tyson Humphreys (Utah Valley) 4-2SV 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) fall Daniel Snediker (Utah Valley) 1:03 174 - Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec Carter Schmidt (Iowa State) 6-2 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) fall Hunter Morse (Utah Valley) 1:12 197 - Yonger Batisda (Iowa State) dec Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 5-3 285 - Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) maj Chase Trussell (Utah Valley) 12-3 Sunday's Dual Results Army West Point 52 Queens 0 125 - Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) fall Griffen Gonzales (Queens) 1:51 133 - Ryan Franco (Army West Point) fall Ananth Manibushan (Queens) 4:17 141 - Julian Sanchez (Army West Point) maj Melvin Rubio (Queens) 12-4 149 - Trae McDaniel (Army West Point) fall Nico D'Amico (Queens) 1:56 157 - Nate Lukez (Army West Point) fall Toure Moore (Queens) 4:25 165 - Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) dec Vladimir Sukhikh (Queens) 7-0 174 - Dillon Sheehy (Army West Point) fall JT Skalecki (Queens) 4:05 184 - Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Army West Point) tech D'Andree Hunt (Queens) 17-2 197 - Daniel Lawrence (Army West Point) maj Riley Kuhn (Queens) 18-4 285 - Kade Carlson (Army West Point) fall Josh Voelkel (Queens) 1:09 Army West Point 20 Gardner-Webb 15 125 - Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) dec Drew West (Gardner-Webb) 11-4 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Richard Treanor (Army West Point) 7-3 141 - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) dec Julian Sanchez (Army West Point) 9-3 149 - Trae McDaniel (Army West Point) maj Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 14-2 157 - Nate Lukez (Army West Point) maj Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 13-3 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) 5-2 174 - Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) fall Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) :30 184 - Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) dec Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Army West Point) 5-4 197 - Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) dec Kyle Swartz (Army West Point) 3-1 285 - Kade Carlson (Army West Point) dec Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 6-2 Gardner-Webb 45 Queens 0 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) FFT 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) fall Ananth Manibushan (Queens) 5:42 141 - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) tech Melvin Rubio (Queens) 18-3 149 - Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) dec Nico D'Amico (Queens) 8-3 157 - Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) fall Toure Moore (Queens) 2:16 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Vladimir Sukhikh (Queens) 8-1 174 - Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) dec JT Skalecki (Queens) 14-7 184 - Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) tech D'Andree Hunt (Queens) 15-0 197 - Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) tech Riley Kuhn (Queens) 18-3 285 - Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) dec Josh Voelkel (Queens) 2-1 Bellarmine 27 Davidson 12 125 - Jack Parker (Bellarmine) maj Hale Robinson (Davidson) 14-6 133 - Michael Schiffhauer (Bellarmine) dec Noah Burstein (Davidson) 4-1 141 - Trayce Eckman (Bellarmine) dec Joshua Viarengo (Davidson) 10-4 149 - Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) tech Noah Frack (Davidson) 26-11 157 - Marc Koch (Davidson) dec Grant O'Dell (Bellarmine) 6-0 165 - Tanner Peake (Davidson) dec Cole Nance (Bellarmine) 6-4SV 174 - Jaden Hardrick (Davidson) dec Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) 5-3 184 - Anthony Spera (Davidson) dec Kennedy Wyatt (Bellarmine) 6-4SV 197 - Royce Hall (Bellarmine) fall Gavin Henry (Davidson) 2:35 285 - Thaddeus Huff (Bellarmine) fall Oliver Tipton (Davidson) 4:41 Lehigh 26 Binghamton 12 125 - Carter Bailey (Lehigh) dec Micah Roes (Binghamton) 4-1 133 - Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) dec Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 3-1 141 - Malyke Hines (Lehigh) tech Christian Gannone (Binghamton) 17-2 149 - Max Brignola (Lehigh) fall Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 6:34 157 - Conner Decker (Binghamton) dec Tyler Sung (Lehigh) 3-1SV 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) dec Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 7-2 174 - AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec Will Ebert (Binghamton) 6-4SV 184 - Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) dec Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 4-1 197 - Michael Beard (Lehigh) FFT 285 - Cory Day (Binghamton) dec Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 3-1 VMI 35 Sacred Heart 3 125 - Tony Burke (VMI) dec Mike Manta (Sacred Heart) 7-2 133 - Dyson Dunham (VMI) tech Ben Davoli (Sacred Heart) 15-0 141 - Freddy Junko (VMI) dec Dakota Asuncion (Sacred Heart) 7-2 149 - Noah Roulo (VMI) dec Chris Naegele (Sacred Heart) 7-4 157 - Josh Yost (VMI) dec Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart) 4-2 165 - Braxton Lewis (VMI) dec Aidan Zarrella (Sacred Heart) 6-0 174 - Ryan Bollentino (Sacred Heart) dec Isaac Dolph (VMI) 7-1 184 - Zach Brown (VMI) dec Owen Ayotte (Sacred Heart) 8-7 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) fall Logan Michael (Sacred Heart) 1:51 285 - Josh Evans (VMI) fall Matt Walker (Sacred Heart) 3:59 Bucknell 28 American 10 125 - Max Leete (American) maj Grayson McLellan (Bucknell) 12-4 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) dec Jack Maida (American) 5-3 141 - Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) dec Elijah White (American) 5-2 149 - Braden Bower (Bucknell) maj Antonio Segura (American) 17-4 157 - Riley Bower (Bucknell) dec Patrick Ryan (American) 3-1SV 165 - Caleb Campos (American) dec Chase Barlow (Bucknell) 5-3 174 - Lucas White (American) dec Sam Barnes (Bucknell) 5-2 184 - Michael Bartush (Bucknell) fall Carston Rawls (American) 3:29 197 - Nolan Springer (Bucknell) fall Connor Bourne (American) 5:51 285 - Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) dec William Jarrell (American) 4-0 Oklahoma State 23 Columbia 12 125 - Nick Babin (Columbia) dec Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) 6-0 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec Angelo Rini (Columbia) 6-1 141 - Matt Kazimir (Columbia) fall Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 3:43 149 - Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) dec Danny Fongaro (Columbia) 7-3 157 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) dec Cesar Alvan (Columbia) 4-1 165 - Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) dec Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) 10-4 174 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Lenox Wolak (Columbia) 6-2 184 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) dec Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) 9-3 197 - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) tech Javen Jovero (Columbia) 21-6 285 - Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) dec Dan Conley (Columbia) 1-0 Ohio State 27 Rutgers 12 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Andre Gonzales (Ohio State) 6-4 133 - Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) dec Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) 5-1 141 - Joey Olivieri (Rutgers) dec Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 2-1TB 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) maj Tony White (Rutgers) 11-2 157 - Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) dec Andy Clark (Rutgers) 4-3 165 - Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) dec Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) 3-2 174 - Jackson Turley (Rutgers) FFT 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) fall Brian Soldano (Rutgers) 6:46 197 - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) dec Billy Janzer (Rutgers) 8-3 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) tec John O'Donnell (Rutgers) 15-0 Hofstra 23 Buffalo 9 125 - Jacob Moon (Hofstra) dec Mason Bush (Buffalo) 3-1 133 - Chase Liardi (Hofstra) dec Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) 5-3 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) tech Jack Marlow (Buffalo) 19-3 149 - Michael Leandrou (Hofstra) dec Matt Ryan (Buffalo) 6-4SV 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) dec Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) 8-6SV 165 - Eric Shindel (Hofstra) dec Ty Raines (Buffalo) 3-1 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Ross McFarland (Hofstra) 2-1SV 184 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) dec Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) 4-3 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Nikolas Miller (Hofstra) 4-0 285 - Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) 10-4 Central Michigan 26 SIU Edwardsville 12 125 - Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) tech Davian Guanajuato (SIU Edwardsville) 16-0 133 - Vince Perez (Central Michigan) maj Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) 13-5 141 - Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) dec Ja'Kerion Merritt (Central Michigan) 3-1 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 5-4 157 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) dec Caine Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) 11-6 165 - Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) maj Bradley Gillum (SIU Edwardsville) 12-2 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) maj Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) 11-2 184 - Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) fall Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 2:30 197 - Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) dec Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 9-2 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 5-2 Oregon State 35 Little Rock 3 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) maj Jeremiah Reno (Little Rock) 21-12 133 - Jason Shaner (Oregon State) dec Josh Sarpy (Little Rock) 19-12 141 - Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) tech Jayden Carson (Little Rock) 16-1 149 - Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) dec Riley Gurr (Oregon State) 10-4 157 - Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) dec Matt Bianchi (Little Rock) 8-5 165 - Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) 4-0 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Triston Wills (Little Rock) 3-2 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) tech Mason Diel (Little Rock) 17-2 197 - Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) fall Tylynn Lukens (Little Rock) 4:24 285 - JJ Dixon (Oregon State) dec Josiah Hill (Little Rock) 5-4 Appalachian State 34 The Citadel 6 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Blair Orr (The Citadel) 6-3 133 - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec George Rosas (The Citadel) 4-3 141 - Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) dec Dillon Roman (The Citadel) 6-0 149 - Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) maj Ethan Willis (The Citadel) 18-7 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) maj Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) 15-6 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) tech Brodie Porter (The Citadel) 18-0 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) dec Ben Haubert (The Citadel) 9-4 184 - Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) fall William Rogers (The Citadel) 3:42 197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) dec Mark Chaid (The Citadel) 11-9 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) fall Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State) 6:13 Air Force 30 CSU Bakersfield 9 125 - Tucker Owens (Air Force) dec Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSU Bakersfield) 8-3 133 - Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) dec Cody Phippen (Air Force) 4-1 141 - Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) dec Garrett Kuchan (Air Force) 9-2 149 - Josh Brown (CSU Bakersfield) dec Dylan Martinez (Air Force) 9-3 157 - Jack Ganos (Air Force) dec Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield) 6-3 165 - Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) maj Braden Smelser (CSU Bakersfield) 9-1 174 - Sam Wolf (Air Force) dec Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield) 6-0 184 - Noah Blake (Air Force) fall Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) 2:55 197 - Calvin Sund (Air Force) tech Mateo Morales (CSU Bakersfield) 16-1 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) fall Jake Andrews (CSU Bakersfield) :49 Nebraska 22 Northwestern 15 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) maj Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 11-2 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Kyle Burwick (Nebraska) 6-1 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) 6-0 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Dayne Morton (Nebraska) 4-2 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) 2-0 165 - Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) dec Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 7-2 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) maj Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (Northwestern) 17-5 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) maj Evan Bates (Northwestern) 16-3 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) maj Andrew Davison (Northwestern) 10-2 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) fall Cale Davidson (Nebraska) :43 Stanford 16 Penn 15 125 - Ryan Miller (Penn) dec Nico Provo (Stanford) 7-4 133 - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 8-4 141 - Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec Jason Miranda (Stanford) 4-3 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec Doug Zapf (Penn) 3-2 157 - Anthony Artalona (Penn) dec Charlie Darracott (Stanford) 11-5 165 - Hunter Garvin (Stanford) dec Lucas Revano (Penn) 11-9 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec Nick Incontrera (Penn) 7-4 184 - Max Hale (Penn) dec Brook Byers (Stanford) 8-2 197 - Nick Stemmet (Stanford) maj Cole Urbas (Penn) 11-3 285 - Peter Ming (Stanford) dec Ben Goldin (Penn) 6-2 Princeton 24 Arizona State 12 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) dec Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 8-3 133 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) tech Sean Pierson (Princeton) 20-3 141 - Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) maj Danny Coles (Princeton) 11-3 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Marshall Keller (Princeton) 12-5 157 - Ty Whalen (Princeton) dec Max Wilner (Arizona State) 7-3 165 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) fall Rene Fragoso (Arizona State) :54 174 - Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) dec Cael Valencia (Arizona State) 8-3 184 - Nate Dugan (Princeton) dec Anthony Montalvo (Arizona State) 3-2 197 - Luke Stout (Princeton) dec Jonathan Fagen (Arizona State) 9-3 285 - Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec David Palosika (Arizona State) 2-1 Northern Colorado 25 Cal Poly 9 125 - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 3-1 133 - Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) dec Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) 8-2 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) fall Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) 4:26 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) maj Luis Ortiz (Cal Poly) 12-2 157 - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) dec Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 3-0 165 - Baylor Fernandes (Northern Colorado) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 4-0 174 - Andrew Berreyesa (Northern Colorado) dec Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 8-2 184 - Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) dec Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) 9-4 197 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) dec Wesley Wilson (Cal Poly) 5-1 285 - Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) dec Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) 10-4 Michigan 27 Wisconsin 6 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 12-6 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) maj Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) 12-1 141 - Cole Mattin (Michigan) dec Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) 6-2 149 - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) dec Chance Lamer (Michigan) 17-10 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 5-3 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) dec Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 5-3 174 - Max Maylor (Michigan) dec James Rowley (Wisconsin) 4-1 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) tech Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) 19-2 197 - Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) dec Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) 4-0 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) dec Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) 4-0 Minnesota 21 Michigan State 11 125 - Patrick McKee (Minnesota) dec Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) 5-1 133 - Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) dec Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) 9-4 141 - Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) dec Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) 3-2 149 - Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) dec Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 8-2 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) dec Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 3-1 165 - Caleb Fish (Michigan State) fall Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 6:37 174 - Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) dec Ceasar Garza (Michigan State) 10-6 184 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) 10-3 197 - Cam Caffey (Michigan State) dec Michial Foy (Minnesota) 3-2

Nate Jackson at the 2022 World Cup (photo courtesy of Ginnie Coleman/UWW) 57 KG Two-time NCAA champion Nick Suriano made his return to freestyle competition at the World Cup, after having not competed since the 2021 61 KG World Team Trials. Suriano went 1-0 at the World Cup, taking a win over 2019 Dan Kolov champion Beka Bujiashvili of Georgia. Suriano returns to the rankings at #3. #4 Zane Richards went 2-0 at the World Cup, beating 2022 Senior world bronze medalist Zanabazar Zandanbud of Mongolia and Reza Momeni of Iran. 61KG #1 Seth Gross went undefeated at the World Cup, taking wins over Ebrahimi Elahi (IRI) and Teimuraz Vanishvili (GEO). #3 Nahshon Garrett won his showcase match at Beat The Streets against 2020 Senior European runner-up Andrey Dzhelep of Ukraine. 65KG #1 Yianni Diakomihalis went 1-2 at the World Cup, losing to #7 (INT) Tulga Tumur Ochir (MGL) and #1 (INT) Rahman Amouzad (IRI) while taking a win over Beka Lomtadze (GEO). 70KG #3 Tyler Berger went 1-0 at the World Cup, taking a win over Monkhtulga Zuunbayangin (MGL). #6 Alec Pantaleo (USA) went 2-0 at the World Cup where he beat #4 (INT) Amir Mohammad Yazdani (IRI) and #7 (INT) Giorgi Elbakidze (GEO). Pantaleo is currently ranked #3 in the world but is sixth in the U.S. and the reason for that is Pantaleo’s last domestic competition saw him take losses at the World Team Trials to #1 Zain Retherford and #5 Sammy Sasso. 74KG #3 (79) Vincenzo Joseph cut down to 74 KG for the World Cup, going 0-1 after a loss to Mongolia’s Sumiyabaazar Zandanbud. Joseph clocks in at #3 in the rankings based off his wins up at 79 KG over #2 (79) Chance Marsteller, #5 (79) David McFadden, and #6 (79) Alex Dieringer. #2 Jason Nolf went 1-1 at the World Cup, beating Giorgi Sulava of Georgia and losing to #8 (INT) Mohammad Firouzpour of Iran. 79KG #1 Jordan Burroughs went 2-1 at the World Cup, posting victories over Temuujin Mendbilegiin of Mongolia and 2022 U23 world champion #15 Vladimeri Gamkrelidze of Georgia, while losing to #1 (INT) Ali Savadkouhi of Iran. #9 Evan Wick upset 2022 Senior world bronze medalist #9 (INT) Vasyl Mykhailov of Ukraine at Beat The Streets. 86KG #2 Zahid Valencia went undefeated at the World Cup, finishing with a perfect 3-0 record that saw him take out Bat-Erdene Bayasgalangiin (MGL), #6 (INT) Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI), and Sandro Aminashvili (GEO). 92KG #2 Nathan Jackson went undefeated at the World Cup with a 3-0 record. Jackson won a forfeit over Mongolia and then put together excellent wins over 2022 Senior world bronze medalist Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia and Iran’s #8 Amirhossein Firouzpour. 97KG #1 Kyle Snyder went undefeated at the World Cup with a perfect 3-0 record. Snyder took a forfeit win over Batsul Ulzisaikhan of Mongolia and beat 2022 Senior world bronze medalist #7 (INT) Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia in pool action. In the finals, Snyder took on reigning two-time 92 KG world champion #1 (INT) Kamran Ghasempour of Iran in the marquee match of the tournament. Living up to the occasion, Snyder walked away with a controlling 5-0 victory over the credentialed Iranian to help the U.S. win the World Cup title. 125KG #1 Hayden Zillmer went 1-2 at the World Cup, taking a close match against 2022 U23 world runner-up Solomon Manashvili of Georgia and losing to Amir Reza Masoumi of Iran and #3 Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur of Mongolia. Pound for Pound #13 Vincenzo Joseph dropped nine spots in the rankings to #22 for his loss to Sumiyabaazar Zandanbud of Mongolia at the World Cup.

Maryland 197 lber Jaxon Smith (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Friday Dual Results Maryland 18 Oklahoma 16 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) dec Joey Prata (Oklahoma) 4-1 133 - Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) maj Connor Quinn (Maryland) 22-8 141 - Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) dec Kal Miller (Maryland) 4-2 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) 2-1 157 - Michael North (Maryland) dec Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) 9-3 165 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 3-1 174 - Dom Solis (Maryland) dec Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) 6-4SV 184 - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) dec Chase Mielnik (Maryland) 3-2 197 - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) fall Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 3:54 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) dec Jaron Smith (Maryland) 4-1 South Dakota State 31 Navy 6 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) maj Dayton DelViscio (Navy) 12-0 133 - Brendan Ferretti (Navy) dec Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) 4-3 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 11-6 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) dec Kaemen Smith (Navy) 12-5 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) maj Devon Deem (Navy) 13-1 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Val Park (Navy) :29 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Sammy Starr (Navy) 11-3 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Cael Crebs (Navy) 10-3 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) maj Jake Koser (Navy) 11-0 285 - Grady Griess (Navy) dec Bowen McConville (South Dakota State) 5-1 Virginia 23 Ohio 10 125 - Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) dec Kyle Montaperto (Virginia) 6-2 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) maj Mason Brugh (Ohio) 17-5 141 - Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec Kyran Hagan (Ohio) 10-3 149 - Michael Gioffre (Virginia) dec Alec Hagan (Ohio) 3-2 157 - Peyten Keller (Ohio) maj Denton Spencer (Virginia) 11-0 165 - Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 12-6 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) dec Vic Marcelli (Virginia) 8-2 184 - Neil Antrassian (Virginia) dec Zayne Lehman (Ohio) 12-5 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Carson Brewer (Ohio) 8-4 285 - Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) maj Drew Harris (Ohio) 13-4 Campbell 29 Kent State 12 125 - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Jake Ferri (Kent State) 8-6 133 - Gabe Hixenbaugh (Campbell) tech Brendon Fenton (Kent State) 18-3 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) fall Louis Newell (Kent State) 4:10 149 - Kody Komara (Kent State) dec Chris Rivera (Campbell) 6-2 157 - Hagen Heistand (Campbell) dec Ethan Barr (Kent State) 10-3 165 - Enrique Munguia (Kent State) fall Brant Cracraft (Campbell) 3:42 174 - Michael Ferree (Kent State) dec Cole Rees (Campbell) 3-2 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Tyler Bates (Kent State) 6-2 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) fall Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 6:05 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec Jacob Cover (Kent State) 10-7 Virginia 29 Navy 9 125 - Patrick McCormick (Virginia) dec Dayton DelVisco (Navy) 6-1 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) fall Brendan Ferretti (Navy) 3:51 141 - Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 4-2 149 - Michael Gioffre (Virginia) tech James Latona (Navy) 24-9 157 - Denton Spencer (Virginia) fall Devon Deem (Navy) 1:54 165 - Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec Val Park (Navy) 8-4 174 - Sammy Starr (Navy) dec Justin Phillips (Virginia) 3-1 184 - David Key (Navy) dec Neil Antrassian (Virginia) 8-6 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Jake Koser (Navy) 7-6 285 - Grady Griess (Navy) dec Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) 7-4 Maryland 27 Ohio 13 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) fall Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 3:30 133 - Mason Brugh (Ohio) dec Conner Quinn (Maryland) 5-1 141 - Kal Miller (Maryland) dec Kyran Hagan (Ohio) 5-3SV 149 - Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec Alec Hagan (Ohio) 2-0 157 - Michael North (Maryland) maj Daniel Segura (Ohio) 11-0 165 - Jordan Slivka (Ohio) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 3-0 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) dec Dom Solia (Maryland) 5-3 184 - Zayne Lehman (Ohio) maj Chase Mielnik (Maryland) 8-0 197 - Jaxon Smith (Maryland) fall Carson Brewer (Ohio) 2:29 285 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) dec Drew Harris (Ohio) 16-0 Oklahoma 22 Campbell 9 125 - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Joey Prata (Oklahoma) 9-8 133 - Gabe Hixenbaugh (Campbell) dec Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) 1-0 141 - Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) dec Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 4-3 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) dec Chris Rivera (Campbell) 5-1 157 - Jared Hill (Oklahoma) dec Hagen Heistand (Campbell) 3-0 165 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma) dec Dom Baker (Campbell) 9-3 174 - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) dec Cole Rees (Campbell) 9-2 184 - Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) dec Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 8-6 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 5-0 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) maj Chad Nix (Campbell) 18-5 South Dakota State 38 Kent State 9 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) dec Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) 7-6 133 - Brendon Fenton (Kent State) fall Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) 2:58 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) fall Landen Hacker (Kent State) 2:12 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) dec Kody Komara (Kent State) 9-3 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) fall Ethan Barr (Kent State) 3:41 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) dec Enrique Munguia (Kent State) 15-11 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) tech Ashton Breen (Kent State) 25-8 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Tyler Bates (Kent State) 6-3 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) fall Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 1:19 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Jacob Cover (Kent State) 4:38 Drexel 19 Binghamton 12 125 - Micah Roes (Binghamton) dec Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 6-3 133 - Kyle Waterman (Drexel) dec Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) 6-4 141 - Nate Lucier (Binghamton) dec Jordan Soriano (Drexel) 6-1 149 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) maj Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 12-4 157 - Tate Nichter (Drexel) dec Fin Nadeau (Binghamton) 5-4 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 3-0 174 - Cody Walsh (Drexel) dec Will Ebert (Binghamton) 5-1 184 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec Brian Bonino (Drexel) 3-1SV 197 - Sean O'Malley (Drexel) dec Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton) 6-4SV 285 - Cory Day (Binghamton) dec Santino Morina (Drexel) 2-0 Gardner-Webb 22 Bellarmine 13 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) dec Jack Parker (Bellarmine) 7-4 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Michael Schiffhauer (Bellarmine) 14-9 141 - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) fall Chase Hall (Bellarmine) 4:17 149 - Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 13-12 157 - Grant O'Dell (Bellarmine) dec Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 3-1SV 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Cole Nance (Bellarmine) 5-2 174 - Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) maj Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) 12-3 184 - Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) dec Kennedy Wyatt (Bellarmine) 4-0 197 - Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) maj Royce Hall (Bellarmine) 13-4 285 - Thaddeus Huff (Bellarmine) dec Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 4-1 Michigan 25 Michigan State 10 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) 6-3 133 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) maj Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 12-4 141 - Cole Mattin (Michigan) maj Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) 11-3 149 - Chance Lamer (Michigan) maj Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 10-2 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) dec Will Lewan (Michigan) 3-1SV 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) dec Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 3-2 174 - Max Maylor (Michigan) dec Ceasar Garza (Michigan State) 6-2 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) dec Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) 10-4 197 - Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) dec Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) 6-5TB 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) fall Ryan Vasbinder (Michigan State) 4:09 Columbia 48 American 0 125 - Nick Babin (Columbia) fall Max Leete (American) 1:03 133 - Angelo Rini (Columbia) maj Jack Maida (American) 15-6 141 - Matt Kazimir (Columbia) maj Ethan Szerencsits (American) 11-0 149 - Danny Fongaro (Columbia) maj Patrick Ryan (American) 14-6 157 - Cesar Alvan (Columbia) maj Jack Nies (American) 17-6 165 - Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) fall Caleb Campos (American) 4:03 174 - Lenox Wolak (Columbia) maj Lucas White (American) 12-4 184 - Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) InjDef Colin Shannon (American) 197 - Javen Jovero (Columbia) maj Connor Bourne (American) 13-3 285 - Daniel Conley (Columbia) FFT Virginia Tech 23 Appalachian State 11 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) 8-3 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec Sean Carter (Appalachian State) 3-1SV 141 - Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) dec Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) 9-4 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) dec Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) 6-3 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) maj Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) 12-4 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) maj Ty Finn (Virginia Tech) 12-0 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec Will Miller (Appalachian State) 6-5 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) dec Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) 5-1 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) maj Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) 13-3 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) maj Mason Fiscella (Appalachian State) 12-2 Oregon State 22 Princeton 9 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 7-2 133 - Jason Shaner (Oregon State) dec Sean Pierson (Princeton) 14-7 141 - Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) maj Danny Coles (Princeton) 11-2 149 - Riley Gurr (Oregon State) dec Rocco Camillaci (Princeton) 7-3 157 - Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) dec Ty Whalen (Princeton) 13-6 165 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec Matt Olguin (Oregon State) 5-3SV 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) 6-2 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) dec Nate Dugan (Princeton) 6-3 197 - Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) dec Luke Stout (Princeton) 3-1 285 - Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 8-3 Rider 31 Bloomsburg 6 125 - Tyler Klinsky (Rider) dec Bronson Garber (Bloomsburg) 7-2 133 - Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) dec Richie Koehler (Rider) 8-1 141 - McKenzie Bell (Rider) dec Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) 14-12SV 149 - Quinn Kinner (Rider) maj Cade Balestrini (Bloomsburg) 13-2 157 - Colton Washleski (Rider) fall John Noah Reho (Bloomsburg) 4:26 165 - Hunter Mays (Rider) maj Trenton Harder (Bloomsburg) 13-4 174 - Michael Wilson (Rider) dec Anthony Derosa (Bloomsburg) 6-0 184 - Bruno Stolfi (Bloomsburg) dec Ray Weed (Rider) 6-3 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) tech Tanner Culver (Bloomsburg) 18-3 285 - David Szuba (Rider) maj Shane Noonan (Bloomsburg) 16-4 Central Michigan 23 Northern Illinois 18 125 - Blake West (Northern Illinois) dec Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) 4-3 133 - Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) dec Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 9-2 141 - Jacob Brya (Northern Illinois) fall Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 5:49 149 - Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) maj Kavon Troy (Northern Illinois) 15-7 157 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) fall Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) 1:29 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) fall Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan) 2:06 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) maj Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) 16-8 184 - Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) dec Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) 6-2 197 - Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) dec Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 5-3SV 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) dec Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) 6-2 West Virginia 22 Chattanooga 16 125 - Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) maj Dom DiTomasso (Chattanooga) 10-2 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) dec Davin Rhoads (West Virginia) 7-3 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) dec Dayne Dalrymple (Chattanooga) 6-2 149 - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) dec Grant Lundy (Chattanooga) 12-10 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) dec Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) 3-2 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) fall Thomas Sell (Chattanooga) 4:50 174 - Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) maj Scott Joll (West Virginia) 9-0 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) fall Anthony Carman (West Virginia) 4:03 197 - Jake Boyd (Chattanooga) dec Ian Bush (West Virginia) 3-2 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Logan Andrew (Chattanooga) 13-8 Indiana 24 Rutgers 16 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Jacob Moran (Indiana) 8-4 133 - Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) dec Henry Porter (Indiana) 6-1 141 - Joey Olivieri (Rutgers) maj Cayden Rooks (Indiana) 15-2 149 - Graham Rooks (Indiana) dec Anthony White (Rutgers) 7-1 157 - Derek Gilcher (Indiana) dec Andy Clark (Rutgers) 5-3SV 165 - Nick South (Indiana) fall Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) 5:42 174 - DJ Washington (Indiana) maj Jackson Turley (Rutgers) 14-5 184 - Brian Soldano (Rutgers) fall Clayton Fielden (Indiana) 2:45 197 - Nick Willham (Indiana) dec Billy Janzer (Rutgers) 2-1 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) tech John O'Donnell (Rutgers) 15-0 NC State 30 Army West Point 6 125 - Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) dec Troy Hohman (NC State) 3-1 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) maj Richard Treanor (Army West Point) 12-1 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Julian Sanchez (Army West Point) 6-3 149 - Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec Matthew Williams (Army West Point) 4-0 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) maj Nate Lukez (Army West Point) 14-3 165 - Derek Fields (NC State) dec Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) 3-2 174 - Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) dec Alex Faison (NC State) 11-4 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) maj Sahm AbdulRazzaq (Army West Point) 13-5 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) maj Kyle Swartz (Army West Point) 8-0 285 - Owen Trephan (NC State) tech Kade Carlson (Army West Point) 23-7 Pittsburgh 37 Buffalo 0 125 - Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) tech Mason Bush (Buffalo) 20-3 133 - Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) maj Cole Minnick (Buffalo) 14-3 141 - Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) tech Jack Marlow (Buffalo) 21-6 149 - Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) maj Matt Ryan (Buffalo) 8-0 157 - Dazjon Casto (Pittsburgh) dec Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) 1-0 165 - Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) dec Ty Raines (Buffalo) 6-1 174 - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) dec Jay Nivison (Buffalo) 5-1 184 - Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) dec Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) 3-2 197 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) maj Eli Sheeran (Buffalo) 13-3 285 - Jake Slinger (Pittsburgh) dec Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) 5-1 Air Force 22 Cal Poly 12 125 - Tucker Owens (Air Force) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 3-1SV 133 - Cody Phippen (Air Force) dec Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) 7-2 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) dec Garrett Kuchan (Air Force) 6-2 149 - Dylan Martinez (Air Force) maj Luis Ortiz (Cal Poly) 11-1 157 - Luka Wick (Cal Poly) dec Jack Ganos (Air Force) 8-5 165 - Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 5-3SV 174 - Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Gage Musser (Air Force) 2-0 184 - Noah Blake (Air Force) dec Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) 7-5 197 - Wesley Wilson (Cal Poly) dec Calvin Sund (Air Force) 5-3 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) fall Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 2:02 Little Rock 49 Lindenwood 0 125 - Jeremiah Reno (Little Rock) fall Austin Kegley (Lindenwood) 3:54 133 - Josh Sarpy (Little Rock) dec Ben Lindley (Lindenwood) 12-5 141 - Brennan Van Hoecke (Little Rock) tech Kalen Napier (Lindenwood) 19-3 149 - Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) dec Ben Bohr (Lindenwood) 4-0 157 - Matt Bianchi (Little Rock) fall Alex Pitsch (Lindenwood) 1:12 165 - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) fall Kaden Charboneau (Lindenwood) 5:16 174 - Triston Wills (Little Rock) tech Luke Dickhaus (Lindenwood) 16-0 184 - Mason Diel (Little Rock) tech Cody Thurston (Lindenwood) 20-5 197 - Tylynn Lukens (Little Rock) maj Ryan Golnick (Lindenwood) 13-5 285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) fall David Hernandez (Lindenwood) 2:06 Northern Colorado 30 CSU Bakersfield 12 125 - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) dec Eddie Flores (CSU Bakersfield) 12-5 133 - Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) dec Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) 7-2 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) maj Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 12-4 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) dec Josh Brown (CSU Bakersfield) 10-8 157 - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) tech Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield) 17-0 165 - Baylor Fernandes (Northern Colorado) fall Braden Smelser (CSU Bakersfield) 3:52 174 - Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield) dec Andrew Berreyesa (Northern Colorado) 5-3SV 184 - Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) fall Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) 3:46 197 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) fall Khristian Dove (CSU Bakersfield) 2:44 285 - Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) dec Jake Andrews (CSU Bakersfield) 8-4 Northern Iowa 34 Utah Valley 9 125 - Kyle Gollhofer (Northern Iowa) dec Kase Mauger (Utah Valley) 10-6 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) fall Stockton O'Brien (Utah Valley) 3:55 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 9-4 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) fall Isaiah Delgado (Utah Valley) 6:18 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Tyson Humphreys (Utah Valley) 9-6 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) maj Daniel Snediker (Utah Valley) 9-0 174 - Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 7-4 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) fall Hunter Morse (Utah Valley) 3:15 197 - Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) FFT 285 - Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec Chase Trussell (Utah Valley) 3-1 Iowa 27 Northwestern 9 125 - Spencer Lee (Iowa) fall Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 2:01 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Cullan Schriever (Iowa) 4-1 141 - Real Woods (Iowa) tech Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) 17-2 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Max Murin (Iowa) 3-2 157 - Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) dec Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) 6-3 165 - Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) dec Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) 4-2 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) dec Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (Northwestern) 8-2 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) maj Evan Bates (Northwestern) 10-2 197 - Andrew Davison (Northwestern) dec Zach Glazier (Iowa) 7-6 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) dec Lucas Davison (Northwestern) 3-2 Nebraska 21 Minnesota 9 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) dec Patrick McKee (Minnesota) 11-6 133 - Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) dec Kyle Burwick (Nebraska) 4-2SV 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) maj Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 9-0 149 - Dayne Morton (Nebraska) dec Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 5-4 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 2-0 165 - Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) dec Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 6-1 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) 5-3 184 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 7-6 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) dec Michial Foy (Minnesota) 6-4 285 - Cale Davison (Nebraska) dec Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 9-6 Missouri 35 Air Force 9 125 - Noah Surtin (Missouri) tech Quinn Melofchik (Air Force) 16-0 133 - Connor Brown (Missouri) maj Nick Krug (Air Force) 12-4 141 - Allan Hart (Missouri) maj Joe Fernau (Air Force) 14-4 149 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) maj Bryce Shelton (Air Force) 15-4 157 - Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec Jack Ganos (Air Force) 6-1 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) tech Seamus Casey (Air Force) 20-5 174 - Peyton Moore (Missouri) maj Gage Musser (Air Force) 19-5 184 - Colton Hawks (Missouri) fall Andrew Wenzel (Air Force) 4:04 197 - Calvin Sund (Air Force) dec Jesse Cassat (Missouri) 3-2 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) fall Cole Gripka (Missouri) :56

Virginia Tech 165 lber Connor Brady (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) As we enter the final weekend before ACC duals kick off, the biggest story to watch for is injuries. We will keep a close eye on who is back in the lineup this weekend, and who is still out as lineups get settled for conference competition. I've been dealing with sick kiddos at home all week so I'm going to keep this one brief. We'll take a look at lineup watches for each program and highlight a couple matches in each dual I'm really looking forward to watching. 7 days until ACC duals. See you in Blacksburg next Friday. Duke: The Blue Devils are off again this week and will return to action against Central Michigan next Thursday and kick off ACC action against North Carolina next Friday night. North Carolina: The Tar Heels will head north for the second weekend in a row. This time they head to New England for an Ivy League double dip against Harvard and Brown. Lineup watch: Clay Lautt has been out since the dual against Appalachian State in mid-December. Zach Sherman made his return last week after being out all season. Max Shaw didn't wrestle against Penn last week, so we'll look to see if he is in the lineup Saturday. Matches to watch: Harvard 125: #30 Jack Wagner vs #33 Diego Sotelo 165: Joey Mazzara vs Josh Kim 174: Clay Lautt vs Phil Coligniaro Brown 133: Joey Melendez vs Hunter Adrian North Carolina State: The Wolfpack will host Army in Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night. Both programs have spent time training together in the off-season and Coach Popolizio and Coach Ward have developed a great professional relationship. Lineup watch: The Wolfpack have been able to stay relatively healthy, so we aren't watching much on the injury front. We will be keeping a close eye on who gets the start at 165 and 174. Matches to watch: 125: #30 Jarrett Trombley vs #32 Ethan Berginc 165: Derek Fields vs Dalton Harkins 174: #31 Alex Faison vs #21 Ben Pasiuk The Wolfpack will open ACC action next Friday in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech. Pittsburgh: The Panthers will host Buffalo on Friday night and will look to get back on track after a loss to West Virginia last weekend. They rebounded well after their only other loss this season to Maryland, I expect a similar response on Friday. Lineup watch: The Panthers have also been able to avoid major impacts to the lineup from injuries this season. Keep an eye on 157; this weight has been a tough one for the Panthers. They have both Dazjon Casto and Dan Mancini listed as probables. We are also still watching 285 to see if Dayton Pitzer takes the mat. Matches to watch: 157: Dazjon Casto/Dan Manci vs #24 Michael Petite 184: #18 Reece Heller vs #28 Giuseppe Hoose The Panthers will travel to Charlottesville to open ACC competition at UVA next Friday. Virginia: The Hoos have traveled east on I-64 to the Hampton Coliseum for the Virginia Duals. They will face Kent State, Ohio, Navy and Maryland over the course of action on Friday and Saturday. Lineup watch: The Hoos have probably been hit harder by injuries than any team in the ACC. The lineup this weekend may or may not be what we see for ACC action, but they are putting all their cards on the table to see who is ready to go. One of those wildcards they are pulling is the return of Brian Courtney. Courtney graduated last year after falling in the bloodround at the NCAAs; he has been teaching in South Carolina. He wrestled unattached at the Midlands and placed 4th at 141. At 157 Jake Keating has been out with injury since the dual against Northwestern in November. Kent State: 125: Patrick McCormick/Kyle Montaperto vs #14 Jake Ferri 149: #30 Jarod Verkleeren vs #32 Kody Komara Maryland: 141: Brian Courtney vs #33 Kal Miller 149: #30 Jarod Verkleeren vs #28 Ethen Miller 197: Michael Battista vs #12 Jaron Smith The Hoos will be back in action next Friday--they will open ACC competition hosting Pittsburgh at Memorial Gym. Virginia Tech: The Hokies head to North Carolina on Friday to face a very scrappy Appalachian State squad. This is the third ACC opponent for the Mountaineers who lost to NC State and took down North Carolina; they will face Duke in a couple weeks to wrap up the North Carolina/ACC trifecta. Lineup watch: The Hokies were without two All-Americans in the lineup last week against Cornell---we will see both of them back in action this weekend. Mekhi Lewis is returning to the starting lineup after tweaking his knee against Stanford. Bryce Andonian is making his season debut at 157 in the Purple Raider Open at Mt. Union. He will compete unattached--they will be evaluating his status and want to maintain the ability to redshirt if needed. Matches to watch: The Mountaineers have a very tough team with multiple ranked wrestlers. The marquee match will be at 149 with #11 Caleb Henson facing off with two-time All-American #8 Jon Millner. 125: #20 Eddie Ventresca vs #21 Caleb Smith 133: #6 Sam Latona vs #24 Sean Carter 149: #11 Caleb Henson vs #8 Jon Millner 157: Clayton Ulrey vs #31 Tommy Askey 165: #20 Connor Brady vs #26 Will Formato The Hokies will be back in action hosting NC State next Friday night.

Parker Keckeisen cradling Trent Hidlay at the 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Parker Keckeisen of the University of Northern Iowa sent the wrestling fandom into a frenzy at the recent 2022 Collegiate Duals event, when he hit a beautiful roll-through cradle to pin North Carolina State University's Trent Hidlay. Keckeisen's fall avenged his loss, an 8-2 decision, to Hidlay in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, just a couple weeks earlier. '19: Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State University) vs. Spencer Lee (University of Iowa) During the 2018-2019 season, All-American Nick Piccininni was putting together an undefeated regular season for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The pressure was on, then, when defending NCAA Champion Spencer Lee of Iowa came to visit in the annual, high-drama Iowa-Oklahoma State dual. Prior to this meeting, Piccininni had fared poorly against Hawkeyes, having lost to Lee as well as the likes of Thomas Gilman so far during his career. That fact seemed far from the Cowboy's mind when he took the mat in front of a packed Gallagher-Iba Arena. '15: Zeke Moisey (West Virginia University) vs. Thomas Gilman (University of Iowa) The 2015 NCAA semifinals at 125lbs featured Thomas Gilman of Iowa and West Virginia freshman Zeke Moisey. Gilman was storming the national landscape with his archetypal "Iowa style" after sitting behind fellow All-American Cory Clark the year prior. As the #6-seed, Gilman advanced into the national semis with a 14-4 major over Evan Silver (Stanford University) and back-to-back sudden victory wins, 3-1 over #11 Jordan Conaway (Penn State University) and 7-5 over #3 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech). Across from Gilman was stellar freshman Zeke Moisey, a Bethlehem Catholic (of Pennsylvania) product, who was storming the national field in his own right. Moisey was a known commodity on the national prep scene, having wrestled in multiple majors in high school, most notably the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament. A dangerous wrestler with explosive, feet-to-back potential, Moisey's biggest knock was his gas tank, but leading into the semis Moisey's motor was running smoothly on 93-octane fuel. Unseeded, Moisey defeated #15 Chason Tolbert (Utah Valley University) by major 14-6, #2-seed and returning NCAA finalist Nahshon Garrett (Cornell University) 5-2, and #7 Eddie Klimara (Oklahoma State) 5-2 to make the semi. With Gilman the only remaining seeded wrestler on his side of the championship bracket, the stage was set to see if Gilman could advance to the final - or he would get caught in Moisey's wake. '18: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell University) vs. Bryce Meredith (University of Wyoming) Yianni Dynamite emerged on the NCAA scene and lived up to the hype afforded by his two Cadet (U16) World freestyle titles. Carrying a 36-1 record into the NCAA finals in his very first national appearance, #3-seeded Yianni Diakomihalis had navigated his way through a loaded field to earn a bid for the national title. After notching two major decisions to open his campaign, Diakomihalis needed late-match heroics to defeat 2x NCAA Champion Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) 6-5 in the quarterfinals. Similarly, Diakomihalis needed sudden victory to top Jaydin Eierman (then, of the University of Missouri) 6-4, in a revenge match against the only man to defeat Diakomihalis at the time. Opposite the freshman in the finals was Wyoming senior, 3x All-American Bryce Meredith. Top-seeded Meredith sought his first national crown in his final attempt, having reached the tournament finals two years prior against Dean Heil. After a narrow 1-0 victory over #4-seed Joey McKenna (the Ohio State University) in the semifinal, Meredith was poised to earn an elusive NCAA title. '13: Jesse Delgado (University of Iowa) vs. Nico Megaludis (Penn State University) The 2013 NCAA lightweight title pitted two All-Americans seeking their first national title. Returning NCAA finalist Nico Megaludis of Penn State sought to right the wrong from the year before, having fallen the year prior to 3x NCAA finalist Matt McDonough of Iowa. Meanwhile, Delgado had built a strong bid for the national crown, having defeated McDonough outright, once at the dual and again for the B1G title. Now, it was Megaludis, a gritty banger of a wrestler known for his flexibility and dexterity, matching up against Delgado, the slick, California shooter. '06: Ryan Churella (University of Michigan) vs. Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State University) The cradle that wasn't. The following match is one that lives in infamy and ignites the fury of the Michigan faithful. The 2006 NCAA final at 165lbs featured future UFC Welterweight Champion and defending NCAA Champion Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State facing off against 2x All-American, and senior, Ryan Churella of Michigan and the Churella wrestling family. A close bout filled with controversy, it will leave you wondering if the right hand was raised at the end of the match. '10: Justin Lister (Binghamton University) vs. Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) In the 2010 NCAA tournament, Binghamton Bearcat Justin Lister advanced to the tournament quarterfinals at 157lbs unseeded to face off against Virginia Tech's #3-seed Jesse Dong. Lister opened his tournament with a 3-0 upset of #11 Neil Erisman (Oklahoma State University) before earning a 3-1 decision over unseeded Thomas Scotton (University of North Carolina). An interesting note to include is that past NCAA Champion Dustin Schlatter of the University of Minnesota was the #6-seed, but defaulted out of the tournament else he would have faced Scotton in the opening round. '13: Jason Welch (Northwestern University) vs. James Green (University of Nebraska) Senior Jason Welch of Northwestern entered the 2013 B1G tournament as the top-seed at 157lbs, aiming to complete his career with his first conference title and first national championship. Across from him was a young James Green of Nebraska, already an All-American entering his second postseason. Green upset the #2-seed Derek St. John of Iowa in the semifinals to reach the B1G finals. With his funky, slick style, Welch threw his best at Green and Green gave it right back to the very end. '19: Daniel Lewis (University of Missouri) vs. Zahid Valencia (Arizona State University) A year prior to this match-up, Zahid Valencia had turned in an undefeated season en route to his first NCAA title for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and at this point had only lost twice in college - both at the hand of NCAA Champion Mark Hall (Penn State University). So when the Mizzou Tigers came to visit the Sun Devils for a dual-meet, bringing with them returning 4th-place All-American Daniel Lewis, few in attendance were without confidence in the reigning national champ. Lewis, however, had other plans, as the two squared off at 174lbs. '08: Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State University) vs. Joey Slaton (University of Iowa) The 2008 NCAA 133lbs finals featured four-time All-American Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State chasing his first national title after a runner-up finish in 2007. The future London Games Bronze medalist squared off against Joey Slaton of Iowa. Slaton was among the Virginia Tech transfer class that followed Tom Brands to Iowa, and after a year of lost eligibility, Slaton was suddenly in the national finals in his first (and only) national appearance. En route to the finals, Slaton, the #4-seed, upset top-seeded Franklin Gomez (Michigan State University) 4-2 in overtime. On the other side, #3-seed Scott posted a nearly identical 4-2 victory, this one a regulation victory over #2 Jimmy Kennedy of the University of Illinois. '92: Cary Kolat (Penn State University) vs. Bill Zadick (University of Iowa) At the opening of the 1992-1993 season, high school phenom Cary Kolat stepped out on the mat for a home dual against visiting Iowa in his very first collegiate match. In a battle of future NCAA champions and World medalists, Kolat took it to Hawkeye Bill Zadick. And when Zadick found himself in on a standing single, it was Kolat that scored a feet-to-back hold on a standing cradle, eventually earning the satisfying fall to the elation of the Penn State faithful. Unfortunately, there isn't any easily accessible footage of this match or the standing cradle, but it does exist. For those with FloPro access, you can see it for yourself in the FloFilm titled "The Story of Cary Kolat." And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reliving some incredible cradles and the matches that led up to them. Are there any cradles that I missed (as I surely have)? Let us know in the comments!

Northwestern head coach Matt Storniolo (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's Week 11 of the college wrestling season. I only know that because it says week 11 in my fantasy wrestling league. Speaking of which, I traded Daton Fix for Real Woods to FantasyD1Wrestle and Real vanished like Keyser Soze right after. The lesson here is don't make deals with the guy who writes the articles about the stupid thing (Editors Note: Jagger was warned by me about making such trades but proceeded anyway). But the rest of you asked some questions and I'm not getting paid by the word so let's get to it! What is your take on the first All-Italian-American team? Does Northwestern have a potential top-ten finish at NCAAs? CEO of Italians I think this is like your third version of the team, but I love it anyway. Can NW crack the top ten? I think they can. Coach Matt Storniolo has quietly put together a nice squad out in Evanston. Currently ranked eleventh in the tournament rankings, the Wildcats are merely a few breakout performances away from breaking through. DeAugustino has to get healthy. Chris Cannon already has two seventh-place finishes and is dangerous in any match. Tal-Shahar might be emerging in a wide-open 141 and Yahya Thomas is fresh off a Midlands title. And now Trevor Chumbley just knocked off Brayton Lee while running his record to 17-2 on the season. They really are quite strong at the lower weights and have 2022 All-Jagger heavyweight Lucas Davison up top to anchor a strong upper-weight group. The Storn Dog has things clicking out in the midwest right now, that's all I know. Happy Friday the 13th. Who in your opinion is the scariest wrestler ever? Eric "Bad" Asselin Pretty much any foreign wrestler scares me but for the sake of this, we will keep it local. My top five scariest wrestlers are in no particular order. Tom Brands-Honestly would scare the life out of me if he were my coach Steve Mocco-Heard he microwaved a steak once The Undertaker-Is literally dead Terry Brands-Likely plays the bad cop role out of the brothers but they probably run bad cop/bad cop anyway Abe Lincoln-Also dead Any NCAA wrestling sportsbooks? Cuzzin Sal Apparently, you've already found some dude named Bet Fred. I wonder if he knows the whereabouts of my old friend Wrestling Bookie. I'm becoming concerned that college wrestling conferences are going to get to the point where college football is, where you basically won't have allocations outside of winning the conference. Do you share similar concerns? Kevin Claunch I admit I'm not overly familiar with how the allocation system works. I know the general idea is that conferences are awarded spots based on the performance of the wrestlers. After looking into it more, I only really see a major problem if the new era of college sports leads to numerous transfers where all the power schools in the Big Ten just get everyone to go there. You also have to worry about the guys still on the 2021 extra-year plan who may graduate and decide to do their last year at a big school like our guy Matt Finesilver did. I don't worry about it too much though, with at-large bids, I still think most all the right guys get in. Are you now a Sixers fan? Kevin McGuigan Always have been. But if Mark Hall throws out the first pitch at a Phillies game then we have business to settle. But I know Matt Valenti will never allow that. Is it true that the mailbag clicks have a 141 and 2/3 chance of increasing when "Handsome" Matt Finesilver is discussed? Rhino Finesilver Yes, but that's only because he adds 200 clicks on siblings alone. Stealing content, that's the real way to drive up clicks. What weight could Sammy Alvarez make if he was wrestling for John Smith? 113? Jkos11 I'm not ready to discuss Sammy, yet. I hope he gets a chance at the dance in March at least once. Your take on the dual meet discussion. P. Head Eh, I don't really have one. Of course, a team tournament would be nice. Hayden Hidlay and I sit around watching Presbyterian and Queens, so I think we'll tune it for something like this. Would it bring in more fans? I suppose it could. It's easier to market multiple two-hour events in a playoff format than it is for a three-day marathon tournament with eight mats. You know what? You sold me on it. Let's all boycott this year's tournament until they give us a team tournament. Speaking of duals, there's 7000 of them this weekend. Go check out the totally original Viewer Guide to see where you can find them. Have a good weekend.

Alec Pantaleo at the 2022 World Cup (photo courtesy of Kadir Caliskan/UWW) 57 KG #1 Zavur Uguev (RUS) won his showcase match at PWL 3 over #8 Gulomjon Abdullaev (UZB). 2022 61 KG Senior world champion #1 (61) Rei Higuchi (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup at 57 KG over 2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist Rikuto Arai (JPN) and notched a dominant 10-0 win over 2017 Senior world champion Yuki Takahashi (JPN) in the semifinals. Bronze medalists at the Emperor’s Cup were Ryuto Sakai (JPN) and Yuto Nishiuchi (JPN). Higuchi’s return to 57 KG, the weight that saw him take silver at the 2016 Olympics to Vladimir Khinchegashvili (GEO), sees him take the #2 spot in the rankings behind reigning Olympic champion Uguev. 2022 world champion #3 Zelimkhan Abakarov (ALB) went 3-0 competing for the All-World Team at the World Cup, notching victories over the likes of Taichi Yamaguchi (JPN), Reza Momeni (IRI), and Beka Bujiashvili (GEO). Zane Richards (USA) enters the rankings at #20 for beating 2022 Senior world bronze medalist #18 Zanabazar Zandanbud (MGL) at the World Cup. Ramazan Abdurakhimov (RUS) returns to the rankings at #12 for his runner-up finish at the International Khasavyurt Tournament to 2022 Senior Russian Nationals bronze medalist #11 Musa Mekhtikhanov (RUS). At the tournament, Abdurakhimov avenged his loss in the 2022 Russian Nationals bronze medal match to #10 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS) with a 20-8 win and beat 2021 Senior World representative Abubakar Mutaliev (RUS). Bronze medalists at the International Khasavyurt Tournament were Imran Khunkerov (RUS) and #13 Ramiz Gamzatov (RUS). Ayaal Belolyubsky (RUS) won the Yumshanova tournament over Zhargal Bayanduev (RUS) with Lyobmir Ashein (RUS) and Dyulustaan Fedotov (RUS). 61KG #1 Rei Higuchi (JPN) cut down to 57 KG where he won the Emperor’s Cup over Rikuto Arai (JPN). Higuchi is dropped from the 61 KG rankings, so #2 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) regains the top spot in the rankings. Taking over Higuchi’s spot as the top man in Japan is Kodai Ogawa (JPN) who won the Emperor’s Cup over Hayato Fujita (JPN). Bronze medalists at the Emperor’s Cup were Kaito Morita (JPN) and Taichi Yamaguchi (JPN). Magomedov won the International Khasavyurt Tournament over #2 Akhmed Idrisov (RUS) by an impressive 12-1 technical superiority victory. Taking bronze at the International Khasavyurt Tournament was #9 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) and Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS). Mekhtikhanov had an impressive showing wrestling up at 65 KG for the Russia Cup, beating the likes of 2018 65 KG Alans champion Muslim Saidulaev (RUS), Bulat Bayasholonov (RUS), #16 (65) Elbrus Valiev (RUS), and Vyacheslav Bestaev (RUS). #13 Dzhabrail Gairbekov (RUS) went 1-2 wrestling up at 65 KG for the Russia Cup, losing to Saidulaev and Valiev, but taking a win over 2020 61 KG Yarygin bronze medalist Kezhik Chimba (RUS) #3 Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM) avenged his loss from the 2022 Takhti Cup with a 6-0 win over 2022 Senior World runner-up #4 Reza Atri (IRI). 2022 U23 World runner-up #18 Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (KGZ) went 2-1 competing up at 65 KG for the All-World Team at the World Cup, beating 2019 61 KG world champion Beka Lomtadze (GEO) and 65 KG Emperor’s Cup runner-up Ryoma Anraku (JPN), while losing to 2022 65 KG Senior World champion #1 Rahman Amouzad (IRI). Nahshon Garrett (USA) takes the #20 spot in the rankings after a dominant 12-2 win over 2020 European runner-up Andrey Dzhelep (UKR) at Beat The Streets. Alexander Avelov (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Said Khunkerov (RUS) with Fyodor Postnikov (RUS) and Yakov Pavlov (RUS) taking bronze. 65KG 2020 Olympic champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) made his successful return to competition after being out for over a year by winning gold at the Emperor’s Cup. Otoguro won gold over Ryoma Anraku (JPN) with Kaiji Ogino (JPN) and Kotaro Kiyooka (JPN) taking bronze. Otoguro’s return to the rankings sees him slot at #2 behind reigning world champion #1 Rahman Amouzadkhalili (IRI). Amouzadkhalili (went undefeated at the World Cup, winning a rematch of the 2022 Senior World finals against #8 Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) and beating 2022 61 KG U23 world runner-up #18 (61) Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu (KGZ). 2021 Senior World bronze medalist #14 Tulga Tumur Ochir (MGL) jumped up seven spots in the rankings after his successful performances at the World Cup and the PWL 3, beating the likes of 2022 Senior World silver medalist Diakomihalis, 2019 61 KG Senior World champion Beka Lomtadze (GEO), and 2022 Senior Russian Nationals champion #10 Ibragim Ibragimov (RUS). Diakomihalis went 1-2 at the World Cup losing to Amouzad and Tumur Ochir, while notching a win over Lomtadze. #6 Shamil Mamedov (RUS) won the International Khasavayurt Tournament over Ibragim Abdurakhmanov (RUS) with Dalgat Abdulkadyrov (RUS) and Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS) taking bronze. #11 Dzhamabulat Kizinov (RUS) is out of the rankings after losing in the finals of the Yumshanova Tournament to Bulat Bayasholonov (RUS). Robert Manasyan (RUS) and Ezir Tylyush (RUS) took bronze at the Yumshanova tournament. #16 Elbrus Valiev (RUS) went 2-1 at the Russia Cup, beating #13 (61) Dzhabrail Gairbekov (RUS) and Kezhik Chimba (RUS) while losing to #9 (61) Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS). Erik Arushanian (UKR) beat 2022 Final X runner-up Evan Henderson (USA) at Beat The Streets. 70KG PWL 3 and the World Cup caused a significant shakeup in the top ten of 70 KG, so we’ll start off by addressing the World Cup first. Alec Pantaleo (USA) went undefeated at the where he defeated #9 Amir Mohammad Yazdani (IRI) and #8 Giorgi Elbakidze (GEO). Yazdani went 1-1 where he beat #2 Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ) and lost to Pantaleo. At PWL 3, Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB) upset #3 Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS). The fallout of the World Cup and PWL 3 caused a slew of changes in the rankings. Unranked Bekbulatov and Pantaleo are the biggest movers this month slotting in at #2 and #3. Bekbulatov takes the #2 spot for his win over Zherbaev and his wins over World/Olympic medalists #4 Haji Aliyev (AZE), Soslan Ramonov (RUS), Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS), and #14 (65) Bajrang Punia (IND). Pantaleo takes the #3 slot for beating #8 Giorgi Elbakidze (GEO) and Yazdani at the World Cup to go along with his career wins over #4 (65) Haji Aliyev (AZE), James Green (USA), and Daulet Niyazbekov (KAZ). Yazdani moves up five spots to #4 for his win over Akmataliev at the World Cup. Akmataliev and Zherbaev both drop three spots to #5 and #6 after their losses to Yazdani and Bekbulatov. Elbakidze does have a win in November in the U23 world finals over Yazdani, but is unable to rise above the Iranian in the rankings due to his loss at the World Cup to Akhmataliev. Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Daiju Suzuki (JPN) with Toki Ogawa (JPN) and Taishin Yamaji (JPN) taking bronze. #12 Inalbek Sheriev (RUS) won the International Khasavyurt Tournament by injury default over #3 Ismail Musukaev (HUN). Bronze medalists at the International Khasavyurt Tournament were Umar Mutaliyev (RUS) and Akhmed Kasumov (RUS). #13 Alan Kudzoev (RUS) tech falled #19 Arpak Sat (RUS) 12-1 up at 74 KG at the Russia Cup. Oleg Formin (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Georgy Sekinaev (RUS) with Sergey Yakimov (RUS) taking bronze. 74KG #11 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) won the International Khasavyurt Tournament over Khabib Magomedov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the International Khasavyurt Tournament were Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS) and Magomet Evloev (RUS). #8 Kurban Shiraev (RUS) was dropped from the rankings after his quarterfinal loss at the International Khasavyurt Tournament to Evloev. Shiraev was eliminated from the tournament when Evloev lost to Magomedov in the semifinals. Magomedov is in the rankings at #20 for finishing runner-up. 2022 U23 World Champion Mohammdsadegh Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) is in the rankings at #8 for beating #10 Jason Nolf (USA) in the finals of the World Cup. Daichi Takatani (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Kirin Kinoshita (JPN) with Kojiro Shiga (JPN) and Kota Takahashi (JPN) taking bronze. #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) beat 2022 Senior World bronze medalist #19 Younes Emami (IRI) 6-4 at PWL 3. Saipulla Alibulatov (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Alexander Baltuev (RUS) with Alban Avvakumov (RUS) and Vasiliy Kirillin (RUS) taking bronze. 79KG #2 Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) took over the number one spot in the rankings after a 6-6 criteria win over reigning world champion #1 Jordan Burroughs (USA) in the finals of the World Cup. In the last two years, Savadkouhi has managed victories over World/Olympic medalists the likes of #1 (74) Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS), #2 Jordan Burroughs (USA), #4 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR), and #6 Mohammad Nokhodilarimi (IRI) while still not laying claim to a Senior world medal. While Burroughs did lose his top spot in the rankings to Savadkouhi, he was able to take a 5-3 victory over 2022 U23 World champion #16 Vladimieri Gamkrelidze (GEO). #3 Akhmed Usmanov (RUS) won the International Khasavyurt Tournament over #7 Khalid Yakhiev (RUS) with #13 Gadzhimurad Alikhmaev (RUS) and Musa Baziev (RUS) taking bronze. Salamat Dzhioev (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Dmitri Zainidoev (RUS) with Alik Badtiev (RUS) and Andrian Lensky (RUS) taking bronze. Yajuro Yamasaki (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Kosuke Yamakura (JPN) with Takahiro Murayama (JPN) and Kota Abe (JPN) taking bronze. #15 Vincenzo Joseph (USA) has been removed from the rankings as he dropped down to 74 KG where he went 0-1 at the World Cup with a loss to Zandanbud Sumiyaabazar (MGL). Evan Wick (USA) enters the rankings at #19 for beating 2022 Senior World bronze medalist #9 Vasyl Mykhailov (UKR). Wick cannot rise higher in the rankings due to him having domestic losses to #17 Carter Starocci (USA), #18 Alex Dieringer (USA) and Taylor Lujan (USA). 86KG #7 Zahid Valencia (USA) went undefeated at the World Cup with a 3-0 record, notching significant wins over three-time world medalist #5 Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and 2015 world bronze Sandro Aminashvili (GEO). Valencia climbs up two spots in the rankings to #5 for his victory over Karimimachiani who falls to #6. Karimimachiani did notch strong victories over 2022 Senior World bronze medalist #7 Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ) and 2022 U23 world champion Tatsuya Shirai (JPN). Dauletbekov (KAZ) went 2-2 during December competing at the World Cup and PWL taking wins over Tatsuya Shirai (JPN) and Aminashvili, while taking losses to #3 Artur Naifonov (RUS) and Karimimachiani. #4 Malik Shavaev (RUS) had a rocky end to 2022 as he took losses to #20 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) and Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) at the International Khasavyurt Tournament and the Russia Cup to fall five spots in the rankings to #9. At the International Khasavyurt Tournament, #20 Arsenali Musalaliev (RUS) was able to take gold over #9 Malik Shavaev (RUS) while Tazhidin Akaev (RUS) and Magomedmurad Dadaev (RUS) took bronze. Concerning Shavaev’s loss to Gadzhimagomedov at the Russia Cup, Gadzhimagomedov debuts in the 86 KG rankings at #16 and #18 Adam Anzorov (RUS) rises three spots in the rankings to #15 for his victory over Gadzhimagomedov. Anzorov lost to Shavaev at the Russia Cup. Hayato Ishiguro (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Yudai Takahashi (JPN) with Taisei Matsuyuki (JPN) and Fumiya Igarashi (JPN) taking bronze. Arslan Bagaev (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Magomednabi Magomedov (RUS) with Soso Toroyan (RUS) and Maxim Sudakov (RUS) taking bronze. 92KG The World Cup saw a bevy of ranked matchups that affected the rankings. #7 Nathan Jackson (USA) used victories over #9 Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) and 2022 Senior World bronze medalist Miriani Maisuradze (GEO) to move up three spots in the rankings to #4. Jackson’s win from the 2022 Final X over 2022 Senior World runner-up #2 J’den Cox (USA) gives him ranking superiority over #5 Mohammad Asami (IRI), whose only ranked win is #6 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE). Firouzpourbandpei, gold medalist at the U20 and U23 world championships in 2022, went 0-2 at the World Cup with losses to Jackson and Nurmagomedov. #1 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) went 1-1 at the World Cup, beating Satoshi Miura (JPN) and losing at 97 KG to #2 (97) Kyle Snyder (USA). Ashkab Saadulaev (RUS) put together an exceptional run in December to make his rankings debut at #9 after a title at the International Khasavyurt Tournament and a victorious showing at the Russia Cup. In the finals of the International Khasavyurt Tournament, Saadulaev upset 2022 Senior Russian Nationals silver medalist #10 Azamat Zakuev (RUS) while Gadzhimagomed Nazhmudinov (RUS) and Khamzat Anzorov (RUS) took bronze. At the Russia Cup, Saadulaev put together wins over #11 Guram Chertkoev (RUS), #17 Alan Bagaev (RUS), Anzorov, and Ayur Nimaev (RUS). Anzorov (RUS) debuts in the rankings at #19 for beating Chertkoev at the Russia Cup and taking bronze at the International Khasavyurt Tournament. Sosuke Takatani (JPN) won his twelfth national title over Arashi Yoshida (JPN) at the Emperor’s Cup. Bronze medalists at the Emperor’s Cup were Takeshi Yamaguchi (JPN) and Ryoichi Yamanaka (JPN). Nikita Sofronov (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Sofron Sofronov (RUS) with Alikhan Kotsoev (RUS) taking bronze. #3 Dauren Kurugliev won his match at PWL 3 over Erhan Yaylaci of Turkey by injury default. 97KG #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) won ranked matches at the World Cup over #1 (92) Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) and #4 Givi Matcharashvili (GEO). Other ranked matches that took place were #3 Batyrbek Tsakulov (SVK) over Matcharashvili and unranked Amirali Azarpira (IRI) over Tsakulov. In the aftermath of the World Cup, the top ten was flipped on its head., because Azarpira had an unranked loss at the Junior world championships to Rifat Gidak (TUR) which negatively impacts his placement in the top five. Going back to the duo of Russian 97’s with wins over Tsakulov, I went with putting #8 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) at #3 and #9 Magomed Kurbanov (RUS) at #9. Here’s why: Zhabrailov has multiple wins (2019 and 2020 92 KG Russian Nationals) and Kurbanov has multiple wins over Tsakulov (2019 Yarygin and Russian Nationals, 2020 Russian Nationals) plus both Zhabrailov and Kurbanov have higher quantity of ranked wins then Azarpira (#11 Sergey Kozyrev and #18 Aslanbek Sotiev for both men compared to just Tsakulov for Azarpira). Azarpira debuts in the top five at #5 while Tsakulov and Matcharashvili fall three spots each to #6 and #7. Kozyrev upset 2021 Senior World bronze medalist #10 Mojtaba Goleij (IRI) 4-3 off a clutch last-second duck under at PWL 3. Kozyrev bumps up one spot to #11 while Goleij bumps down two spots to #12. #16 Gadzhimagomed Tazhudinov (RUS) won the International Khasavyurt Tournament over 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). Taking bronze was Nursultan Azov (RUS) and Suleiman Omarov (RUS). Takashi Ishiguro (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Hibiki Ito (JPN) with Shohei Yamazaki (JPN) and Hiroto Ninomiya (JPN) taking bronze. Tamil Dzhikaev (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Maxim Tolmachev (RUS) with Tamerlan Kotsoev (RUS) taking bronze. 2021 U23 world bronze medalist Jay Aiello (USA) won his match at Beat The Streets against Illia Archaia (UKR). In a ranked matchup between 92 KG and 97 KG, #10 (92) Azamat Zakuev (RUS) beat #14 Ramazan Shakhbanov (RUS) 4-1. 125KG There were no ranked matches at heavyweight at the World Cup. 2022 Senior world bronze medalist #2 Amir Zare (IRI) beat 2022 Senior world runner-up #3 Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) 10-4 at PWL 3. Artem Tskhorebov (RUS) won the International Khasavyurt Tournament by injury default over #16 Khasan Khubaev (RUS) while Nikita Khabarov (RUS) took bronze over Khabib Davugadzhiev (RUS). Daiki Yamamoto (JPN) won the Emperor’s Cup over Ryusei Fujita (JPN) with Nozomi Oishi (JPN) and Yuji Fukui (JPN) taking bronze. #13 Andrey Bestaev (RUS) won the Yumshanova Tournament over Nikita Khabarov (RUS) with David Kabisov (RUS) taking bronze. A new year and Russia’s hierarchy is still in a constant state of upheaval since Russian Nationals last June. For December, these shake-ups are tied primarily to two events, the Russia Cup and the Absolute Championships of Russia in Memory of Dzgoev. The Russia Cup is a duel meet tournament between the individual republics within Russia while the Absolute Championships of Russia is an annual tournament that sees wrestlers at the 125 and 97 KG weight categories wrestle through their own individual tournaments and then meet in an “absolute final”. The most important athletes to know for the Russia Cup and The Absolute Championships of Russia are #14 Znaur Kotsiev (RUS), #15 Abdulla Kurbanov, #16 Khasan Khubaev (RUS), #10 Erik Dzhioev (RUS), #11 Soslan Khinchagov (RUS), and #12 Vitali Goloev (RUS). At the Russia Cup, Saipudin Magomedov (RUS) beat Khinchagov in the first round of action in group a. In round one of group B, Khubaev beats Dzhioev and in round two of group B #6 Alan Khugaev (RUS) beats Dzhioev and in the third and final round of group B Khubaev beats Goloev. In the finals, Khugaev beats Magomedov and for bronze, Khubaev beats Yakub Aydaev (RUS). So far at this point, Khubaev has beaten Dzhioev and Goloev; Saipudin Magomedov has beaten Khinchagov; Khugaev has beaten Dzhioev and Magomedov. Then after the Russia Cup, the Absolute Championships of Russia take place. In the absolute finals, #14 Znaur Kotsiev (RUS) pins 97 KG champ Batraz Gazzaev (RUS). In the 125 KG tournament, Kotsiev beat Khubaev by injury default while being up 7-0 after Khubaev had beaten Khinchagov in the semifinals. Now that we’ve covered all the major players and movers from the Russia Cup and the Absolute championship of Russia, we’re going to break down how they moved in the rankings. #16 Khasan Khubaev (RUS) moves up five spots in the rankings to #11. Dzhioev drops down three spots to #13 while Khinchagov and Goloev drop four spots to #15 and #16. Kurbanov moves up five spots to #10 due to his win over Khubaev in November at the Ali Aliyev. Finishing off the upward mobility is Kotsiev who moved up five spots to #9 for his win over Khubaev and Batraz Gazzaev at the Absolute Championships of Russia along with his runner-up finish at the Poddubny in October to Khinchagov, where he beat #11 Khubaev and Anzor Khizriev. Magomedov is back in the rankings at #14 for beating Khinchagov. Pound for Pound #11 Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) moved up four spots to #7 in the rankings after a win at the World Cup over #7 Jordan Burroughs (USA). Savadkouhi has now registered pound-for-pound wins over #3 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS), Burroughs, and #14 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). #15 Kyle Snyder (USA) won a pound-for-pound match over #19 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI), in a match between 2022 world champions. 2020 65 KG Olympic champion Takuto Otoguro (JPN) returns to the pound-for-pound rankings at #23 after winning the Emperor’s Cup. His best wins are over #24 Ismail Musukaev (HUN), #25 Haji Aliyev (AZE), and #17 Abasgadzhi Magomedov (RUS) at the Cadet level.

Adam Coon with the Tennessee Titans (photo courtesy of Tennessee Titans) In conjunction with yesterday's announcement that Adam Coon is returning to the mat, his sister Maddie, has conducted a long-form interview with Adam to get into more detail about his decision, along with his wrestling and football career. Since this is a lengthy interview with plenty of information that Adam has not discussed publicity, it will be broken up into two parts. Part One will consist of the news itself along with the logistics involved, Adam's initial interest in football, the recruiting process, and the possibility of Adam playing football for the Wolverines. Part Two is largely dedicated to Adam's NFL experience MC: So, when did you officially make the football transition and how did that work? AC: It was kind of a twofold thing. I wasn't ready to transition over to football after I was done wrestling, but I remember in 2018 after the NCAA Championship, I remember on the bus ride home, I got a few different - ON THE BUS- I got two different phone calls. One was from my now-agent and the other one was from the Titan's head coach, Coach Vrabel. They called me up and the agent wanted to just talk and get to know me and introduce me to the process because the University of Michigan Athletics did a fantastic job of presenting my story. They did this big article and they were constantly posting about how I had these three major goals in life and I wanted to compete in the Olympics, win medals, I wanted to give my hand at the NFL and try to make a team and obviously, the astronaut thing was blown WAY out of proportion! I loved every second of it! They did a great job showing that story and presenting it so once the word got out that you have this high-caliber athlete, a heavyweight wrestler who was cutting to make heavyweight so he has the size, who has some football experience in high school, didn't have the college experience, but I was starting to get some attention. So Coach Vrabel called me, my agent called me, and they both basically asked the same question: "Do you want to play football?" and I basically told them "um, let me think about it. I just got off the mat less than 12 hours ago. Let me think about it." I took a couple weeks to kinda think about what I wanted to do and during that time, I had more coaches calling me asking "hey do you have an interest in playing football?" I basically told them all the same: "I don't know." After going through that I realized, no. My first goal is to try to make a world team, try to get on that podium, try to make a run at the Olympics. That was the first goal because I kinda had that feeling that if I were to pursue football at this time, yes I might be successful, yes I might get all that stuff, but I would've gone and pursued that route having never given the Senior level World Championships or Olympics a chance. I felt like if I had gone down that path and become successful and stayed on that football path, I would never get that attempt. I would have never tried at one of my three life goals and that didn't make sense to me. I decided at that point that I was going to try to make the 2020 Olympic team. So I basically told them "hey guys, we're gonna back off for two years and in two years, I'll give you a call and see if you guys are still interested in giving me a try out so that's where I ended that one. 2020 rolls around and I tried to make the Olympic team. We all know 2020 was absolutely hectic with the Olympic process where the 2020 Olympics didn't happen for over a year later and they postponed a lot of stuff, so it ended up being three years. I failed to make the Olympic team, or I should say wrestle in the Olympics. I guess technically- MC: You made the team! AC: I did technically make the team, but I never wrestled in the Olympics, so it's one of those asterisk-type things of did I actually do it or not. At that point, I remember having conversations with Coach Sean Bormet and family and I kinda came to the realization that that loss hit me really hard. I mean it was a big thing that I missed out on and I took it really hard and I just couldn't see myself popping back on the mat anytime soon. Normally after losses, I would get off the bus and I would start working out, just because I couldn't go to sleep because I was so angry that I lost and I was going to train to be better right then and there. Adam Coon at the Last Chance Qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) MC: And you have the mentality where you have to figure out how you're going to fix it. AC: Yeah! How am I going to get better? How am I going to fix this? How am I never going to lose like that again? How am I going to be better the next time? How do I not lose to a guy like that? How do I find a way to win? All of these things. I had none of that after I got back from Bulgaria. I had no drive. I had no interest in lifting weights. I had no interest in going for a run. I had no interest in getting on the mat to the point of even a week off wasn't enough. That bothered me because I'm normally like, 'Alright you need to take a week off' and it ends up being three days because I can't stand it. Usually, I'm getting kicked out of the room because "you need to take a break" and I just had no interest in going. I talked it over with a bunch of people and I remember talking with Coach Bormet and started asking the questions "how did you know it was time to hang up your shoes?" I started asking those questions and I remember him asking me "What would you do if you weren't wrestling? If you would've never chosen wrestling, what would you do?" So, I told him, "I would've gone football. I would've played football in college." And he said "so go play football." Made sense. So I kinda thought about it for a while and decided, you know what? Yeah. I didn't achieve what I wanted, but I gave it an honest shot. I gave it an honest shot and I didn't make the Olympics, but if I'm going to go for it in the NFL and give that a shot, I gotta go for it now. I need a change of pace, I have no interest in wrestling at this point. MC: You got your 'what ifs' out of the way. AC: Yep. So I said "you know what? Let's do it!" So I called up my agent and he pretty much says "hey where do you want to go? These are the places still interested in you" and one of them ended up being the Tennessee Titans and my first phone call that I ever got was Coach Vrabel, so I wanted to call him up. We called him up and I got word from him probably within the hour and it was "when are you ready for a tryout?" I thought it was going to be a long process but no, they were ready to fly me out the next day if I was ready. I hadn't done any football or any of that stuff so my agent goes "why don't we just call it two weeks?" so I spent the next two weeks trying to get into my best attempt at a football shape (laughs hard) and try to put on a little bit of weight just to be respectable when I stepped on that scale (laughs) for the tryout and said "yeah okay let's go for a tryout and see what happens." (keeps laughing) MC: So for your last few years cutting weight for wrestling, did you ever then think 'oh crap I need to gain weight now?' AC: Oh no it was never an 'oh crap,' it was an 'oh yeah!' (laughs) Because then it was like if I felt like eating this amount- you know because when you're cutting weight, even if you're on weight, especially if you're typically heavier, you will have your little treats here and there, but you never indulge every single time and I reached the point where if I wanted it, I ate it. (laughs) It's just what it came to. I didn't have to limit myself and I naturally gained the weight, not to the point of where I was overweight, but enough where my body just grew into my frame. I had been cutting for so long that it just grew into a frame of 300 pounds and I was like 'oh. This is what it feels like.' (laughs) I mean, yeah, I was carrying a little more fat than when I was wrestling but I still felt good. I still felt good movement-wise. MC: Okay, I've gotta ask for everyone else because I've learned that football operates very differently from wrestling, especially even if you just saying that they were flying you out for a tryout. That is not something you see in wrestling. It's more like "you're going to get a ride with my college roommate's friend who lives in the next town over." So what is the whole football scene like? How is that different? Was it a huge culture shock? AC: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's… it's just wild how- there's so much money in it. The one thing that was just wild was just Gatorades everywhere, sweet teas (cause you know we're in the south), they had buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that you could eat at all times. And the other weird part was just how much time you spent at the facility. I'm used to wrestling practice where the busiest you'd have is like 1.5-2 hour technique session in the morning and then in the afternoon, you'd have an actual full-on practice for 1.5-2 hours. So four hours you're required to be there and then whatever work you put in outside of that. Those are the busiest days you have. No. In football, you're in at 6 am, if you're okay with being there right on time. If you want to be there early, you get there even earlier. Well, first you get breakfast, you might have to go do recovery or stuff in the early morning to kinda get things woken up, you might have to go to training staff to do all those different things. Usually, coaches are already there studying film to prep for the day. Then depending on what time you're there, you have an hour and a half practice, but then you have 57 hours of film (laughs) that they seem to pack in there in one day and you have your 14 different meetings. Obviously, I'm exaggerating here but yeah it was a full day. You're in there at 6 am and you're out by 7 (laughs hard). MC: It's more like a full-time job. AC: Yeah, it was a full-time job, wrestling is too but it's different. The workouts are different because obviously conditioning and cardio are necessary, but not to the level that wrestling is, but explosivity and collision and being able to stay healthy were emphasized so much more in football than anything in wrestling. Like if anything is tweaking in football- people talk about how they're soft because if you have anything tweaked you've gotta take time off whereas in wrestling you just wrestle through it. Well, with how collisions and the high explosivity goes, those tweaks turn into some nasty stuff if you don't get them handled, just because of the level you have to be at. So like there was stuff that I had to play through, but then there was other stuff… that I probably should've fought through because I got cut because of it (laughs) but you find a way to play through some stuff but also if you're making multi-million dollars just to be on the team, and you're not necessarily on that cut watch that rookies are, yeah you're gonna take that time off because your body is worth millions of dollars and you're not going to mess up a season and get cut or just wait three weeks to get it healed up. So there's a lot of those different things that come into play. Wrestling? You play through injuries. Football? If you're high up on the roster anyway, no, you take that time off. Adam Coon with the Tennessee Titans (photo courtesy of Tennessee Titans) MC: You're getting that paycheck whether you're injured or not. AC: Exactly. And that was the other thing, too, was just the amount of money that was in it was just another shock, too. I remember when I first got offered that contract and I took a look at the number and was like "holy moly! This is the league minimum?! Dang!!" (laughs hard) and then realized that the contracts really don't mean much. It's pretty much like 'if you can make this team, this is what we'll pay you but we can cut you at any time.' So the contracts really don't mean too much in my opinion. MC: When you first explained your first contract to me, to me it sounded more like a non-compete clause. Like 'you're with us, until we decide we don't want you, and then maybe you might be able to play for someone else.' AC: Yeah, I mean a little bit of that, but there was some player protection at the same time. MC: Oh, yeah, for sure! AC: Like 'we will provide these things, we will do this as long as you're on the team. You will provide this as long as you wear our stuff.' That type of stuff. And there is stuff in there where if you get injured -which the injury I had was a minor injury that only took a couple weeks to get better- so if you get injured during actual practice time or game play, while on the roster, in the facility, using… you know, all that fun stuff, they owe you for the injury. So for the two weeks that I was out were preseason, so I still got preseason pay. Which by the way, for those wondering, is nothing compared to the actual money you make in-season. Those contracts they offer, the league minimum, are divvied out of the seventeen/eighteen weeks of the season. What you make early on is actually semi-comparable to what the wrestlers are making. MC: Oo. That's a bummer. (laughs) AC: (laughs) Yes. I basically made wrestling pay all the way through (laughing) because I never made a regular-season roster, where I would've actually seen some cash. MC: So sad! (laughs) So you said that you called Vrabel back so obviously the first step was with the Titans, but what was your pathway after that through the NFL? AC: So, I was with the Titans, I came in a little bit later than most of the guys. I came in towards the end of OTAs which is basically their optional training Adam Coon with the Tennessee Titans (photo courtesy of Tennessee Titans) MC: Was it mostly rookies there at that time? AC: By the time that I got in, no, because I got in basically the week before the mandatory minicamp that brings all the vets in, so most of the vets were in town trying to get a week of workouts in at least. There were a bunch of guys that were in for a lot longer, but they were at least trying to stretch their legs and get ready for the mini-camps, so yeah, there were a lot of vets there. But I came in late, so the fun part with that one is they break apart the playbook so the rookies don't have to swallow the whole playbook all at once, they break it apart and do what they call "installs'' and just do a little bit of the playbook each time. There's a total of like 11 installs and I came in on install 11. So I did have to eat the entire playbook all at once (laughs). MC: I do remember you saying that your study material on the flight back was plays. AC: And back and forth and at nights and over meals and yeah I was studying that playbook like crazy because, unlike the rest of the guys, I had to learn the plays and the rules of football (laughs). I didn't know what I was doing at all, let alone the techniques that go with the individual plays and stuff. So I came in at OTAs and then I progressed to going to their training camp leading up to preseason and during one of the practices in the preseason I ended up taking a collision to the head that ended up jolting my neck and I had to get that checked out and as is kinda the way with the NFL, if you're injured and aren't useful, they look for a replacement. So I was cut and then basically had to train on my own at that point, so I went back home and trained for a few weeks and tried to get back into the league. I called the Titans back up and was like "hey I'm no longer injured and ready to play again" but they had already filled spots and were moving forward and just didn't have room to bring me in. So we opened ourselves up to the rest of the league just to figure out who was interested now. I first got a tryout with the Colts right around week 4 or 5 of the season, somewhere around that time, so some fun stories from there, but can be told at a later time. (laughs) So I had my tryout with them and they told me they had some interest but the thing that I lacked was experience and they hoped to bring in some experience. December, sometime, I ended up having another tryout with the Giants and was basically told the same things: I'm athletic, they like what they see, I'm just raw and kinda lacking experience. So they were all emphasizing getting experience so I'm trying to figure out how to experience without playing on a team so that was fun trying to figure all that out. Basically, I was just working all the drills and filmed stuff just to show improvement in my footwork and all the drills that I did with the Titans and at the two tryouts. So I'm filming myself and trying to send things to other coaches that I make along the way just to show that I'm improving with the techniques. My training at this time was basically just going to the weight room at the high school- I went back home to Fowlerville- worked out at the high school and then while the kids were in school I went out to the football field all fall and winter just doing footwork- in the snow, in the cold, whatever, just working footwork pretty much every day just to try to show that I can get better. I started hitting, taping up bags to trees or whatever I could just to start hitting some things just so I could get used to that type of pressure. I had to get really creative with my training. MC: You're getting really good at Rocky-style workouts because you did that over quarantine for wrestling, too! AC: (laughs) Yeah! I had to do a lot more of that with the football training too just to figure out all that fun stuff, yes! (laughs) So basically that ends that season, I don't see any more practice times at all. The OTAs come around for the next season and we're making calls trying to get me on a team at any point, just anything. I get a call, excuse me, prior to OTAs- MC: That was this spring, right? 2022? AC: Yes, this spring, 2022. I get a call from the Atlanta Falcons saying that they want to invite me to the rookie minicamp, so they're bringing in their draft picks and any other rookies to take a look at. I have to play there for a bit, it was a three-day camp and that was a lot of fun doing that one. It was nice to be back in a facility and not be going through a 5-15 minute tryout and actually going through like a 3-day, fully involved, full-day camp, so that was really fun just to be back on the field again. You know, all the work I had done was paying off. I was able to actually play. It was great! So, I got to do that and did well enough that they called me into the office afterward and basically told me: "Hey, you showed a lot of improvement and most improved player over the last three days, we really liked what we see, let's progress to the next step here" and they invited me to the mandatory minicamp for all the vets. They didn't have spots for me, necessarily, to bring me to OTAs, but they wanted to see me again at the camp in the next, I think it was like three or four weeks later. So that was a nice highlight and I went back home and trained hard to make sure I was ready to go at veteran style and not rookie style. You know, it's camp so I wanted to make sure things were put in place. So I went to that camp and again, had a blast, had a really fun time getting to do all of that stuff. They called me into the office again, that's when I was told pretty much the same thing that the other places told me: "we like what we see, I think you're very athletic, checking all the boxes of what we're looking for, just you're raw and lacking experience." But this time, they actually gave me some contact information for someone to call. I ended up going down to Texas to the NFL Alumni Academy, which their whole thing is, they try to bring in football players that either haven't made it in the league yet or those that have made it and are trying to get back into the league. The idea is that they put you through an NFL-level camp and then they send out film to all 32 teams and these are all former NFL coaches and players, by the way, that run the camp, and they're putting their stamp of approval on all of the guys that are there saying either: "yes, this person's ready to play" or "no, they're not." If they say "yes, they're ready to play," they also tell "here's the strengths, here's the weaknesses" so it's a full scouting report from former coaches and athletes given to the current coaches. I was there for three weeks working through their program. The interesting thing that they had at the end is for those that weren't picked up by NFL teams, to gain more experience, you had a guaranteed XFL contract coming out of it. So, that's where that kinda came to and I did my time there and that's pretty much the last stop when it came to football. After that point, I was offered contracts for the USFL and was offered a Letter of Intent for the XFL and that's when I came to the decision of 'is this what I want to continue to pursue?' and realized my way back into the NFL was to do some time here and I don't know how long it would be, I don't know if it was possible, but I would need to go through these leagues in order to get there. I saw the road in front of me and that's when I had to make my decision if this was where I was going to continue on or if I was going to make a career change. MC: But you didn't have that nagging feeling of "I need to try this" like you did with wrestling and making the Senior Level team. AC: So when it comes down to the three goals that I had, the making the Olympic Team, playing in the NFL, and going to space, I looked at where I was in life and figured that I still have an opportunity for the space because you can be much older and still go into space, not necessarily with wrestling and football. I'm starting to get to the age where when I choose the route I want to go, this is the final route. There is no transitioning back. There is no… any of that stuff, I've kinda reached that point, so I had to look at that I had come just shy of wrestling in the Olympics and I came just shy of playing in the NFL and I needed to make the choice: which one was I okay leaving as just shy? I was okay, I had my shot at the NFL, I gave it my all and I found out what I needed to find out and that was exactly what caliber I could be at in the NFL and I found my answer. It felt like I didn't with wrestling, so that's why I chose to come back to wrestling. I still have some questions that I have unanswered. I need to know, can I make another world team? And if I do, can I step on the podium? Can I make the Olympic team and actually wrestle in the Olympics? There are still all these question marks in my mind of where can I actually go, even after a year and a half of cross-training? NFL: I felt like my questions are answered, I know what it would take to get back, I know what route I would need to go to and I know the level of where I would need to get to that I wasn't currently at. I felt that for me, personally, I would rather spend my energy elsewhere in the wrestling world than to continue to pursue down that path. MC: I also have to ask about Steven Neal because he was always a huge deal in our house growing up because of the wrestling and then football thing, like you said, but you got to run a heavyweight camp with Steven Neal through U of M with Mason Parris a few years ago. What was that like? I mean he was a huge name in our house! AC: Oh yeah! It was a lot of fun! When Coach Bormet first told me he was coming to help out with the camp, I was so excited because by that point, Coach Bormet knows him pretty well and has his contact information and it goes back to early on when I was telling him "oh have you ever heard of the guy Steven Neal?" " Yeah, I know him. I worked with him at camps. Do you want his phone number" Um, YES! So I talked to him a couple times just to talk about his journey, this was pre-football, too. I had asked about his journey and all his different things just to see what was going on and then to hear that he was coming down to run camp with us, that was just awesome to actually get to see the guy in person, talk with him and just run all these different things. Since I moved to football I also called him a few times there from stuff like "hey, how's it going?" to "dude how do you read a playbook? What is going on? How did you do this?" And then hearing all these different stories. The fun part of it, too, is he played for the Patriots, as did Coach Vrabel. They were teammates. So it was really fun to also talk to Coach Vrabel about that, too. MC: Did he have any fun Steven Neal stories? AC: OH... He had some GREAT stories that I don't think are necessarily worth repeating here (laughs) but you can imagine the wrestler transitioning over to football. I made a lot of mistakes, as did Steve, so it was fun to hear those stories because I could say that I was on the right path. Like, he was making some of the same mistakes that I was, but also making different ones and he became so successful that I knew was still on the right path. It's not like I was completely out of my element. So that was nice to hear and then also just talking with Steve himself, he was telling me the same thing, "just keep working it, this is how it's done, this is how things work, this is how things run in the NFL," so he was helping me out along the way so that was cool to have that contact and to be able to rely on him to help me through some situations that I wasn't sure how they would work. I appreciate having him as a contact. MC: Definitely pretty cool because like I said, someone that was a big name at our house, we all looked up to him, and you not only got to talk to him and get advice but now have a personal relationship with him has got to be super cool. Well, it looks like Mom's calling us to dinner so I guess we're done. (laughs) Time to go eat! AC: Sounds good!

2x All-American Jon Jon Millner (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The SoCon has seen quite a bit of action this season: upsets, match-ups with top-ranked teams, and plenty of traveling. Here’s a breakdown from A to V of what’s been going on in the SoCon. Appalachian State University, 4-1 overall, 1-0 conference The season started out on the road to #9-ranked NC State, winning 4 out of 10 matches. Nailbitinig bouts of the evening included #15 Will Formato (165) and #26 Sean Carter’s (133) sudden-victory overtime wins. The Mountaineers lost to the Wolfpack 26-12, but turned around and beat the other ACC foe then-#21 North Carolina 19-16. Carmichael Arena was absolutely electric after Will Miller (174) upset #8 Clay Lautt with a 7-5 decision. This win earned Miller the honor of being named NCAA and SoCon Wrestler of the Week. In between, App State headed to Vegas and put three wrestlers on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Jon Jon Miller led the way with a fourth-place finish, while Will Formato was seventh and Tommy Askey eighth. Varsity Gym’s doors were open on December 20, where Appalachian served up back-to-back shutouts against Bellarmine (39-0) and Queens (50-0). Remember, Queens is a newly-minted Division-I program in North Carolina and in the south…so we may see an addition to the SoCon in the near future. A New Year’s tradition - The Southern Scuffle - held in Chattanooga, Tennessee; produced three placers from the Mountaineers. There most definitely would have been a fourth; however, Jon Jon Millner (149) did not compete. Caleb Smith (125) earned his third fifth-place finish, Tommy Askey (157) finished seventh, and Sean Carter (133) took home eighth place. This past Sunday, Binghamton traveled to Boone for some dual-meet action. Appalachian won eight of the ten bouts, dropping losses at 184 and heavyweight. This Friday is definitely going to be special, as #9 Virginia Tech heads to Boone to face off against the #20-ranked Mountaineers. I’m most excited to watch 149 - a likely meeting between two highly-ranked opponents: #8 Jon Jon Millner and #11 Caleb Henson. 125 lbs will surely be a fun match to watch - #21 Caleb Smith and #20 Eddie Ventresca. App State is already 1-1 with ACC competition…let’s see what happens next. Bellarmine University, 7-1 overall, 0-1 conference Bellarmine opened the season with a few open tournaments - the Patriot Open and the Bob Del Rosa Intercollegiate Open, and the Lindenwood Open. Overall, the Knights had seven champions from all Open events. Following the Lindenwood Open, Bellarmine went head-to-head against Lindenwood in dual team action, another program new to the Division I scene. Out of the ten bouts, the Knights picked up wins at 133, 149, 157 (FFT), and 174 to seal the deal and secure the 23-15 win - heavyweight Thadd Huff pinned Lindenwood’s Kramer. High off a win, the team headed to Boone for their first piece of Southern Conference dual meet action of the season, losing to App State 39--0. The Knights have made some history this season as well - going to the inaugural Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa and winning a national title at the NWCA National Duals. After two days of battling it out against 6 teams, Bellarmine reigned supreme and brought home the national championship. Bellarmine heads to Gardner-Webb on Friday, January 13 to face off in SoCon dual team competition. Campbell University, 6-5 overall, 1–0 conference Campbell started their season off with two back-to-back events - Battle in the River City and Battle at Bragg. The Fighting Camels posted a 2-1 record at the Battle in River City, boasting wins against Little Rock (18-15) and Buffalo (36-3), dropping their loss of the day to #14 Iowa State (34-3). Troy Nation (157) recorded the lone victory against Iowa State, posting an 11-8 decision over Isaac Judge. The Camels hosted Battle at Bragg, which was truly an event to remember. While there have been matches wrestled on aircraft carriers, I don’t believe there have been any wrestled on a military base, during a hurricane, while being the first collegiate dual streamed on UFC Fight Pass. In an event where competition was stopped to close the aircraft hangar doors in the midst of a literal hurricane, the Camels were met by #5 Michigan and #16 UNC. Campbell lost both duals, picking up two wins at 165 (Dom Baker) and 197 (Levi Hopkins) against the Wolverines (final 26-6), and won three bouts against UNC at 133 (Gabe Hixenbaugh), 157 (Troy Nation), and at heavyweight (Taye Ghadiali). The Camels traveled to West Point, New York to wrestle in the Black Knight Invitational, bringing home two champions: Taye Ghadiali and Gabe Hixenbaugh and six other place-winners. Mid-December brought the Boilermaker Duals, where Campbell continued to show up, with a 3-0 record for the day. The barnburner dual of the day was against Utah Valley, the Camels posted a 17-16 win, after being tied 16-16, it came down to criteria. Campbell and Utah Valley had split the dual, equally winning 5 matches apiece. After scoring total points scored, Campbell came out on top. Anthony Molton (125) upset Purdue’s #8 Matt Ramos, in a sudden victory overtime win. Campbell won against the EIWA’s Drexel 19-16 and B1G’s Purdue 29-9 - marking a program first for beating a B1G opponent. Most recently, Campbell hosted a conference competition - beating Gardner-Webb 25-12, and #17 Nebraska, dropping a 37-6 loss. The pair of wins at this dual were earned by heavyweight #12 Taye Ghadiali and #29 Domenic Zaccone. Next up for the Camels is the ever-exciting Virginia Duals, held in Hampton, Virginia where they’ll be up against Kent State, Oklahoma University, Maryland, and South Dakota State. UT-Chattanooga, 4-7 overall, 1-0 conference The season started at the Battle in the River City for the Mocs, dropping three dual team losses to #12 Wisconsin (35-3), Buffalo (21-9), and Little Rock (28-5). Rocky Jordan (174) picked up the lone win against Wisconsin and accounted for another against Buffalo. Brayden Palmer (133) claimed victories against Buffalo and Little Rock. On the road again, UTC battled against Northern Illinois (18-15) and Cleveland State (20-13), picking up wins against the two at the Boilermaker duals, and dropping a 23-16 loss to the host school - Purdue. #27 Brayden Palmer (133), #16 Rocky Jordan (174), and Jake Boyd (197) went undefeated for the weekend. And they couldn’t wait to get on the road again - (please laugh at my Willie Nelson joke) - off to Illinois they went. UTC picked up two victories - #27 Noah Castillo (149) and Lincoln Heck (157) served up the lone pair of wins for this dual. Chattanooga then hosted #2 Iowa in McKenzie Arena, winning four of the ten bouts. The upset of the evening was at 174 - #16 Rocky Jordan edged out #14 Nelson Brands in a 3-1 decision. Like a band of wrestlers, they go down the highway - to Boiling Springs, where they fought hard against SIUE (L, 20-15). and Clarion (26-10). My favorite New Year’s tradition rolled around - the Southern Scuffle. Out of the 21 team entries, Brayden Palmer (133) stayed alive to take second place, matching up against #2 Daton Fix in the finals. This was the best performance for UTC since Nick Soto placed second in 2012. Another fun stat - out of the fifty-some Southern Conference entries into this tournament, Palmer was the lone SoCon wrestler to stay alive in the championship bracket. If you didn’t catch the interview I did with him after his semi-final bout, you should check it out. After battling a week of sickness and even considering defaulting from the tournament, Palmer pushed through and delivered a great performance through the rest of the weekend. This past weekend the Mocs were once again, on the road again - this time to VMI. After dropping only two bouts to the Keydets, Chattanooga walked away with a 30-9 victory. Up next for the Mocs? They’ll be competing in Maclellan Gym against West Virginia, which will be streamed on ESPN+. I really think this is going to be a great match - WVU just picked up a win over #21 Pitt, and they have top-25 ranked starters at 125, 149, 165, and we can’t count out Jordan Titus (141) who just knocked off #1 Cole Matthews (PITT). It’ll for sure be an electric atmosphere. The Citadel, 4-0 overall, 0-0 conference The Citadel has had an undefeated dual season so far - opening up the season against Queens (45-0), traveled to Long Island University (23-18), and hosted a pair of duals against Truett McConnell (51-6) and Kaiser (43-3). The Citadel hosted their namesake Open tournament; coming out of the weekend with two champions: Selwyn Porter (157) and Ben Haubert (174) and three place winners: Hayden Watson (149, 3rd), Patrick Brophy (197, 3rd), and Thomas Snipes (157, 5th). The Navy Classic was the #NextTournamentUp (see what I did there?), where the Bulldogs brought home four placers at 125, 133, 174, and heavyweight. A new tournament I see The Citadel traveling to now would be the Soldier Salute - this was held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. This tournament hosted military schools - The Citadel, VMI, Army, Navy, and Southern Conference’s own Bellarmine. Up next for the Citadel, they’ll host App State at McAlister Field House on Sunday, January 15 for their conference opener. Davidson College, 2-4 overall, 1-0 conference Kicking off his first season as head coach - Nate Carr, Jr. and the Wildcats hosted Michigan State at Baker Sports Complex. They were shut out 52-0, but at 165 Jaden Hardrick had the closest point margin, only taking a 2-1 loss to Caleb Fish. To The Citadel they went for their second open tournament of the season, where Noah Frack (149) placed fifth and Gavin Henry (197) took home sixth. The King Open and the Navy Classic were two events the ‘Cats competed in, Noah Burstein (133) brought home a championship title from the King Open. A homecoming of sorts was held for Coach Carr, as the team traveled to Lock Haven for some dual meet MACtion (I’m on a roll here LOL). The three wins recorded for the evening were at 197, heavyweight, and 149, finishing the team up with a 31-13 score. Three Wildcats placed at the Patriot Open, hosted by George Mason University. Coming in at third place, Bryce Sanderlin (165) and Gavin Henry (197), while Marc Koch (157) took home a sixth-place finish. Queens and Presbyterian headed to Baker Sports Complex, where the ‘Cats took back-to-back dual team wins. Up against Queens, Davidson took the victory in 9 out of the 10 bouts, while winning 8 out of the 10 versus SoCon competitor Presbyterian. At Franklin & Marshall, the team took a pair of dual team losses, losing to F&M 29-9, and a close match to Brown 22-19. The team will be back in action this Sunday, January 15 against Bellarmine University - this dual is going to be extra special, as this will be the first time a Southern Conference dual has been hosted in a theater. Catch this match at the Duke Performance Hall on the historic Davidson College campus this weekend - and you might even see a familiar face or two, too (wink, wink). Gardner-Webb, 1-6 overall, 0-1 conference Gardner-Webb had a strong start to the season against Bloomsburg, picking up a dual team 27-10 win; and taking a loss to George Mason 22-10. Seven Runnin’ Bulldogs placed at the Patriot Open - with Zach Price (141) and RJ Mosley (165) taking home championship titles. The team ended 2022 with three consecutive dual losses against Clarion (33-6), SIUE (22-19), and Ohio (23-15). 2023 started off at the Southern Scuffle, where all thirteen competitors were knocked out of the competition on the first day. Picking back up on their dual schedule, they faced off in their first SoCon dual versus Campbell (25-12). #29 RJ Mosley (165) started the match off with a sudden victory overtime win, while Drew West (125) clinched a close 6-5 decision. To close out the dual Tyler Brignola (157) won by forfeit. They then wrestled #17 Nebraska, only posting two wins at 165 and 133 (Todd Carter) to have a final team score of 37-6. Mosley was named SoCon Wrestler of the Week on 01/11 (this week) after his performance against Campbell University and #17 Nebraska - picking up back-to-back wins in dual meet action. It came down to the wire against #25 Bubba Wilson (Nebraska), when Mosley scored a takedown in sudden victory overtime. Gardner-Webb will host Bellarmine this Friday in Boiling Springs, followed by a tri-meet between Army and Queens. Presbyterian College, 3-5 overall, 0-1 conference The Blue Hose started their season with four placements at the Princeton Open - the highest placement of the weekend going to Jacob Brasseur (133), taking third place. A program-first for their opening dual of the season: wrestling B1G opponent Michigan State. The lone win of the evening came from Reed Douglass’ (174) 13-8 decision over Marty Larkin, putting the final team score at 46-3. Malcolm Wiley (197) was crowned the champion at The Citadel Open. Adding to their dual team record, the team beat Queens in a 37-6 victory - only dropping bouts at 125 and 141. The Blue Hose shut out Truett McConnell 41-0, serving up a pin and two technical falls. In their conference opener, Presbyterian dropped the dual 26-7, winning at 125 and 184. Hosting MAC and ACC opponents George Mason and Duke, Presbyterian took back-to-back losses (32-6, 23-19). Malcolm Wiley (197) pushed the team score forward, earning bonus points with a 2:59 fall over Brayden Ray. This is an exciting first for the program - beating EIWA opponent Brown University 25-15. The win was followed by a 33-9 loss to Franklin & Marshall. They’ll #CueTheBagpipes on January 22 when they host The Citadel and VMI. Virginia Military Institute, 5-1 overall, 0-1 conference Last, but most certainly not least, there’s VMI. They started the season off red hot with five dual team wins against Southern Virginia University (53-0), Franklin & Marshall (24-15), Duke (28-9), Fairmont State (53-0), and Shenandoah University (53-0). Their open tournament series started off with a bang as well - at the Southeast Open there were seven placers in the Freshman/Sophomore division; the Journeymen Classic, a historically stacked tournament, yielded 11 placers - with five second-place finishes, four third-place finishes, and three fourth-place finishes; while at the Navy Classic Tyler Mousaw (197) took home the highest placement at third. Job Chishko (157) matched that third-place finish at the inaugural Soldier Salute. In their first Southern Conference dual of the season, the Keydets hosted Chattanooga where they lost a 30-9 dual meet, picking up wins at 165 (Braxton Lewis) and 197 (Tyler Mousaw). VMI is headed to Brooklyn this weekend to wrestle Clarion and Long Island, and on the way back home they’ll face off against Sacred Heart in Connecticut.

Austin O'Connor at the 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of SJanickiPhoto.com) Leading up to this point, there could be lots of fluctuations in the standing, especially in Cumulative Scoring leagues, due to the abundance of opens and invitational tournaments. Well, the honeymoon period is over and we get into the heart of the beast… Dual Season. Match counts start to become more important and matchups that much more crucial. I know this sounds like the exact writing from the Week 10 Outlook, but it is crucial to understand and keep in the back of your head moving forward. Are you several points behind? You may have to take on some wrestlers with multiple matches for the week that in turn are riskier matchups. Do you have a sizable lead on the rest of the league? You still have to set a lineup and make sure you maintain a steady pace above the competition. Week 10 had a burst in points due to the F&M Open where several spots in the overall fantasy standing changed. Heavyweight Grady Greiss (NAVY) jumped up to the Overall #1 spot due to his 27 points on the week, due in large part to the F&M Open. He was bested for Week 10 Top-Scorer honors by two Tar Heels in 157 Austin O’Connor (UNC) with 28 Fpts and tied 141 Lachlan McNeil with 27 Fpts and a weekly PPM of 4.50. Three heavyweights currently make up the Top-3 in Overall Standings: #1- Grady Geiss (NAVY) with 74 Fpts #2- Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA) with 73 Fpts (PPM if 5.60) #3- Mason Parris (MICH) with 73 Fpts (PPM of 4.90) On To Week 11: Week 11 got an early start with a few duals taking place on Monday. Hopefully you took a look at the Week 11 Early Locks post on the InterMat Forums. No big tournaments stand out this week, but if any pop up we will be sure to note it in the Forum. There are only three weeks left in the FCW Regular Season. Make that push to win the week! A reminder of some important rules: Wrestlers entered at a weight must compete at that weight or else their results will not be counted. Wrestlers in the "Floater" spots can compete at ANY weight and accumulate Fantasy points. A wrestler will LOCK on your roster at 12pm ET on the day of their first competition for the week. (refer to the Master Team Schedule, Week 11 Visual, or SHP's Weekly Preview) Only results against D1 competition (starters, backups, and redshirts) will count towards Fantasy Points. Check your league settings to know how many add/drops are permitted per week. Have a question, concern, suggestions, or just want to chat about Fantasy Wrestling? Hit us up on Twitter or head over to the InterMat Forums where we have a Fantasy Wrestling dedicated Forum page! Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by tournament name first, then by school name 125 Nico Provo (STAN)- Vs North Dakota State, Vs California Baptist, Vs U Penn [+9] Caleb Smith (APP)- Vs Virginia Tech , @ The Citadel [+7] Joey Fischer (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Noah Surtin (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Stevo Poulin (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+7] Pat McKee (MINN)- @ Nebraska , Vs Michigan State [+6] Jack Wagner (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+6] Joey Prata (OU)- Virginia Duals [+6] Spencer Lee (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+4] Matt Ramos (PUR)- @ Illinois [+4] Killian Cardinale (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+4] Mason Leiphart (F&M)- Vs Drexel [+3] Blake West (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Colton Camacho (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Tyler Klinsky (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] Eric Barnett (WISC)- @ Michigan [+3] 133 Wyatt Henson (OU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Dylan Ragusin (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+6] Jason Shaner (ORST)- @ Little Rock, Vs Princeton [+6] Michael McGee (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Daton Fix (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- @ Stanford [+4] Micky Phillippi (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Lucas Byrd (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Domenic Zaccone (CAMP)- Virginia Duals [+3] Brayden Palmer (CHAT)- Vs West Virginia [+3] Vito Arujau (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Kai Orine (NCST)- Vs Army [+3] Bryce West (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Kyle Biscoglia (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Sam Latona (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] 141 Mosha Schwartz (OU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Clay Carlson (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Dylan Droegenmueller (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+8] Andrew Alirez (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+8] Alan Hart (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Lachlan McNeil (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+7] Seth Koleno (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+6] Brock Hardy (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Jesse Vasquez (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Casey Swiderski (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Cael Happel (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Ryan Jack (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Javion Jones (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+4] Cole Matthews (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Saul Ervin (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+4] Tom Crook (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+4] Jordan Titus (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+4] Carmen Ferrante (PENN)- @ Stanford [+3] 149 Mitch Moore (OU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Luke Nichter (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+8] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Zach Sherman (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+7] Kyle Parco (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Yianni Diakomihalis (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+4] Paniro Johnson (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Jackson Arrington (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Colin Realbuto (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Sammy Sasso (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+4] Kevon Davenport (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+3] Victor Voinovich (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Caleb Tyus (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Jarod Verkleeren (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+3] Sam Hillegas (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+3] Austin Gomez (WISC)- @ Michigan [+3] 157 Peyten Keller (OHIO)- Virginia Duals [+12] Austin O’Connor (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+9] Josh Humphreys (LEH)- @ Cornell, @ Binghamton [+8] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- Vs Northern Illinois, Vs SIU-Edwardsville [+7] Jared Franek (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+7] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Michigan State, Vs Wisconsin [+6] Peyton Robb (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Ty Whalen (PRIN)- Vs Oregon State (in Austin), @ Arizona State [+6] Ed Scott (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Marcus Robinson (CSU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Jason Kraisser (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Derek Holschlag (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Paddy Gallagher (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Jacob Butler (OU)- Virginia Duals [+3] 165 Tanner Cook (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Garrit Nijenhuis (OU)- Virginia Duals [+12] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+12] Shane Griffith (STAN)- Vs North Dakota State, Vs California Baptist, Vs U Penn [+11] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+8] Evan Barczak (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+7] Quincy Monday (PRIN)- Vs Oregon State (in Austin), @ Arizona State [+7] Cameron Pine (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+6] David Carr (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Hunter Mays (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+5] Peyton Hall (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+5] Danny Braunagel (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Patrick Kennedy (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+4] Julian Ramirez (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Izzak Olejnik (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Austin Yant (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Holden Heller (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Connor Brady (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] 174 Cade DeVos (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Michael O’Malley (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+8] Alex Cramer (CMU)- Vs Northern Illinois, Vs SIU-Edwardsville [+7] John Worthing (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Peyton Mocco (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+6] Michael Labriola (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Andrew Berreyesa (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+6] Demetrius Romero (UVU)- Vs Northern Iowa, Vs Iowa State [+6] Rocky Jordan (CHAT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Edmond Ruth (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Mekhi Lewis (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+4] Chris Foca (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Jared McGill (EDIN)- Vs Cleveland State [+3] Nelson Brands (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] Ethan Smith (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Dustin Plott (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Luca Augustine (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Shane Reitsma (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] 184 Neil Antrassian (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+14] Gavin Kane (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+8] Trey Munoz (ORST)- @ Little Rock, Vs Princeton [+8] Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Matt Finesilver (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+7] Adam Kemp (CP)- @ Air Force , @ Northern Colorado [+6] Sean Harman (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+6] DJ Parker (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+6] Marcus Coleman (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Trent Hidlay (NCST)- Vs Army [+5] Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Hunter Bolen (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+5] Travis Wittlake (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Anthony Montalvo (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+3] Abe Assad (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] 197 Tanner Sloan (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Bernie Truax (CP)- @ Air Force, @ Northern Colorado [+8] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+8] Max Shaw (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+8] Owen Pentz (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+8] Michael Beard (LEH)- @ Cornell, @ Binghamton [+7] Ethan Laird (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+5] Zac Braunagel (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Isaac Trumble (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Luke Surber (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Braxton Amos (WISC)- @ Michigan [+4] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] 285 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF)- Vs Cal Poly, Vs Missouri, Vs CSU Bakersfield [+11] Mason Parris (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+7] Dayton Pitzer (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+3] Owen Trephan (NCST)- Vs Army [+3] Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] Sam Schuyler (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Tyrell Gordon (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Tate Orndorff (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Konner Doucet (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] David Szuba (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] Colton McKiernan (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Hunter Catka (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] Michael Wolfgram (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+3]

Adam Coon at the 2020 Olympic Trials (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In conjunction with today’s announcement that Adam Coon is returning to the mat, his sister Maddie, has conducted a long-form interview with Adam to get into more detail about his decision, along with his wrestling and football career. Since this is a lengthy interview with plenty of information that Adam has not discussed publicity, it will be broken up into two parts. Part One will consist of the news itself along with the logistics involved, Adam’s initial interest in football, the recruiting process, and the possibility of Adam playing football for the Wolverines. Part Two is largely dedicated to Adam’s NFL experience Part One: Maddie Coon: So I’m here with my brother, Adam Coon, and I get to break the All-Access story which I am very excited about. I gotta be honest, so I think this might be my favorite interview because I get to sit down with my favorite wrestler and actually get to talk about wrestling, so it’s basically like family dinners, but no one else can chime in, so this is exciting! Adam Coon: Yes! (Laughs) Very! Maddie supporting her brother at the Michigan state tournament with a Gabe Dean photobomb (photo courtesy of the Coon family) MC: Let’s just start the whole point of the interview, I will let you officially say the words but: AC: So for the last year and a half I have pursued NFL football and I found out what it would take for me to continue to pursue the NFL and I have decided that my heart is no longer in that, to go down that path. So at this point, I have decided that I will be returning to wrestling full-time and attempting to make the World Team and hopefully, eventually the Olympic team and actually wrestle in the Olympics. I will be moving back to wrestling and pursuing my goals there. MC: I need to say, selfishly, I am so excited that you’re finally saying this because I look like the world’s worst sister. We had the MSU Open and every single person that knew I was related to you, came up to me and asked “hey, what’s Adam doing? What’s he up to?” and I’m a horrible liar (laughs) so I just have to play dumb like “I don’t know. It’s been a busy semester. Haven’t talked to him.” They’re like “where’s he at now?” So I just keep saying “I don’t know.” So I’m glad that this is finally coming out and I can be a supportive sister and not look like I don’t talk to my family. But I am very excited that you are going to be back on the mat. I like football… but we were raised as a wrestling family. AC: (cracking up this entire time) We’re a wrestling family. MC: I like wrestling. I like being able to yell from the corner. I need to refresh on my Greco but what are your next moves? What are you up to? What’s the plan now? AC: The plan now is to just go Greco full time. We’re still trying to get some pieces in order to make sure I get practice partners and coaching and all that stuff there and just kind of rebuild what I had walked away from. I had things set up that I don’t have currently have set up so it’s just kind of, at the time of doing this interview, obviously I’m still keeping things quiet as I’m trying to get things back in order, so hopefully by the time this interview comes out, things will be in order and I’ll be in full swing training and I’ll be a monster again in the Greco world. But yeah, at this time of doing this interview, we’re still putting some things in place to make sure that I have the optimal time and environment to make sure I have the training that I need as well as try to get that extra training that I… I can’t say necessarily that I didn’t get prior to this route, but we gotta find what was missing to break through to get on the… I’ve been on the podium before, but we gotta find a way to get back on there again. So I need to find that and more to get higher. It’s putting those things in place to try to get all of that in order to basically become that Greco monster that I want to be. AC (Edit/Update): Since initially doing this interview many of the pieces I discussed have fallen into place. Alongside being able to train with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, we have also brought in Coach Momir Petkovic to help out with my Greco training. He obviously has competed and coached at the highest level and coached me in 2018 when I won my silver medal. So, it is nice to learn from him as I try to elevate my Greco wrestling. MC: Do you know where you’re going to end up yet, where you’re going to be practicing? Or is that still up in the air? AC: I’ve already talked with Coach Sean Bormet and I will be back with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club and getting all that stuff to go so I will be moving back to the Ann Arbor direction. MC:So that means I have to break out the blue and yellow again, right? (laughs) AC: (laughs) I would like that but I don’t know if your current employment would like that (laughs) but I guess… MC: I can wear the blue and silver shirts, that’s more Cliff Keen, right? AC: There ya go! It doesn’t necessarily have to be the maize and blue because Cliff Keen is at Michigan, but Cliff Keen is it’s own thing so you at least need to bring out the red, white, and blue for sure. MC: Yes I will have to get some USA stuff! And next time you make shirts can I request that they’re not just blue and yellow? I know your last one was red, white, and blue but still. AC: I will talk to Cliff Keen Athletic about that one. I know we had two different variants. Yeah we had the red, white and blue shirt but we had two variants of the first one. We did have the maize and blue which I did force upon you, I will give you that one, but we did have a silver one. MC:I think that was still during, as we refer to at State as my “Dark Time” so I think I did choose the blue and yellow one. That was on me. AC: (laughs) we did make the transition over to red, white, and blue and if we get more, make the world team, get some more t-shirts going, yes they will be more emphasized on red, white, and blue but there might be a big emphasis on the blue (laughs) MC: Okay, fair. I’ll take that. AC: I will say us Michigan grads and Michigan people just really don’t like the color red for some reason, I have no idea why (laughs). MC: I can’t say we at State are huge fans of red either so I understand. (laughs) So, switching gears, you've been on the football scene. You’ve been out of the wrestling world for a while so I want to talk about football. I know because I’m your sister that football was a big deal in high school and you had to decide between football and wrestling when you went to college. Let’s start there: what made you end up choosing wrestling? What was that process like? Some of Adam's collegiate recruiting letters AC: Well, as you were saying, we grew up together so you really know what was going on behind the scenes but, I love playing football and I loved every aspect of it. I love just the atmosphere, the rough and tough, just gettin’ after it. I was able to play a very fun position in high school. They kind of made up a position for me. I played linebacker hybrid-type, roaming defensive lineman position, where I didn’t have any pass drop responsibility and was able to just, basically just clobber kids. I didn’t really have many assignments per se, but I was able to just clobber kids, so I had a lot of fun doing that. Adam Coon (62) on the gridiron for Fowlerville HS (photo courtesy of the Coon family) I ended up doing really well, getting a lot of tackles, getting a lot of stats, and I was starting to get noticed. So I was getting a lot of attention from a lot of different colleges to play football which any of my classmates can attest to that. Our football coach was also my math teacher so he would come in every day to math class with just a stack of football material and he’d give it to me. And of course there were a couple of my teammates in there always asking “Dude, who’s coming after you now?!” “Who's getting your attention now?” and of course there’s other kids in the class going “Seriously? More mail?” So that’s always fun. But needless to say, there was something in me that really wanted to play football but also wanted to wrestle at the same time. I kinda had to do a lot of inward soul-searching to figure out what was my next step in life, what did I want to do. I knew I wanted to go to college, I knew I wanted to get an aerospace engineering degree, and I knew I wanted to be an athlete, I just didn’t know what type of athletics I wanted to pursue. What kind of helped me make a decision to go wrestling and put off football was a guy by the name of Stephen Neal and just kind of hearing his story. The man’s got two national titles, a world championship, and three Super Bowl rings. And he was able to make that transition from wrestling over to football without even playing college football at all. Also after hearing his story and hearing that it was possible, but very hard to do, I thought that that would be the route that I would want to go. Now after I decided that, I definitely heard of more guys like Carlton Haselrig and Brock Lesnar as well as others that also made attempts and some were successful and some weren’t but the main guy that kind of helped me decided that that’s what I wanted to do was Stephen Neal. MC: Did you ever have an idea of what college you wanted to go to if you were going to play football? AC: Play football? MC:I know we used to get Tennessee letters all the time. They tried hard! AC: Yes! (Laughs hard) Tennessee sent a lot of letters. Mississippi State sent me a bunch of stuff, too. They were probably one and two for material. Probably the main ones besides those two, the only other ones that I was even partially entertaining was probably Michigan State. Just because we grew up so close to Lansing at the time. Which is crazy! Which is crazy. MC: And Mom raised us Michigan State fans. AC: Yes, Mom raised us Michigan State fans. Actually, yes, I was wearing Michigan State shirts before going to Michigan. MC: In every school picture. AC: Obviously the one big issue other than I wanted to wrestle versus play football was they don’t have an aerospace engineering program and I knew that’s what I wanted to do and academics were definitely going to come first in this decision. Obviously, when things were all said and done, wrestling at the University of Michigan was definitely the best choice I could have made and pretty much the only choice that made sense when everything kinda dwindled down that I wanted to wrestle. Then aerospace engineering, I believe, was the number two program right now and I know it’s the oldest program in the country, so there’s a lot of tradition and history that went with it there, too. And then obviously the team was up-and-coming and we had a really good recruiting class, so everything kinda fell into place to go to Michigan. That definitely helped with the decision. MC: So while you were wrestling at Michigan, did you ever think about football? Was football still on your radar? Did you want to go to football workouts or something while you were still wrestling? AC: Initially, no. I had made the decision that I was going to wrestle and I was going to put everything I had into wrestling and into being the absolute best wrestler that I could. Football completely, I can’t even say took a backseat, it was nonexistent when I first went because I made the decision to go wrestling. So it was wrestling… and football may make an appearance later in my life, but I was not going to waste any energy going that route because I was not ready to go that route. Now, I never took a redshirt year to start, so by the time that my junior year was kinda finishing up, that’s when I started thinking of like ‘I didn’t take a redshirt so I technically have another year of eligibility that I could play a different sport.’ So about the end of my junior year, I know I initially talked with coaches about doing an Olympic shirt possibly because that was 2016 and we decided that it was best for my academics to not do that and best for the team to continue on and I was fine with that decision but it did kinda mess with the whole football thing. I had talked with Coach Harbaugh and he was working on trying to get me in for that fifth year to go play football and talking with a few other coaches and things were getting set up but then in ‘16 after the Olympic Trials, I just couldn’t use my shoulder. It was just so banged up and beat up from the years that I needed to have shoulder surgery to get that thing repaired. So I had to have labral surgery and it was nine months of hard recovery and all that fun stuff, so I used my redshirt then and there and then my fifth year ended up being my fourth year wrestling and football just kind of ended right there. So I didn’t think about football too much until right around that point and then surgery kind of ended it so it was kinda like I’m still thinking of football. I would like to try my hand at it because again, Stephen Neal wrestled all the way through and then transitioned over to football so it was toward the later end that I started thinking “I wonder when football would fit” but I still wasn’t ready to move into football at that time. Adam Coon at the 2016 NCAA 3rd Place match (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) MC: So, when did you officially make the football transition and how did that work? To be continued in Part Two tomorrow....

Cornell 141 lber Vince Cornella (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Franklin and Marshall Open hosted nearly a dozen EIWA teams, among the field containing almost 20 nationally ranked wrestlers. Cornell beat two top-10 teams in the span of three days. Penn won an exciting dual over North Carolina. Mason Leiphart of Franklin and Marshall scored three more technical falls this weekend, making him the leader in D1 with 9 tech falls on the year. These were some of the main highlights. We need a special highlight for Vince Cornella, earning this week’s Outstanding Wrestler. He beat two higher-ranked opponents in an impressive weekend. He handled both #19 Vasquez of Arizona State and #15 Crooks of Virginia Tech. This brings Cornella’s record to 12-3 on the on the season. As a freshman, he has quickly climbed the rankings and become a potential All-American threat. Sandwiching him in the line-up between Vito and Yianni has paid its dividends. Congrats to Vince. American The Eagles opened up the new year at the F&M Open – they had three placewinners in the tough open. Max Leete (125lbs) finished 5-1 on the day with 3 pins. Jack Maida was 4-1 on the day, earning eight due to a medical forfeit. The third placer was Carsten Rawls at 184 lbs, wrestling to a 3-2 record – good enough for eighth place also. They had a handful of wrestlers win some matches. It was a good way to start the new year. The Eagles also had a chance to host #9 Virginia Tech. At 149 lbs, Patrick Ryan won by decision to get them on the board. American’s second victory came at 165 lbs, where Caleb Campos pinned his opponent. Campos has been red-hot lately and I expect him to keep improving. He is now 12-5 on the year and has won five in a row. The Eagles return to action this weekend, playing host to two EIWA teams, Columbia and Bucknell. Army The Black Knights came into the new year wrestling twenty-five competitors at the F&M Open. Although only three placewinners surfaced, there was much improvement from many of the wrestlers and they all received much-needed mat time. Trae McDaniel led the way for the squad at 149 lbs. He placed third, losing to eventual champ Ricky Cabanillas of Brown. At 133lbs, Ryan Franco placed fifth after reaching his match limit. He had a great win over previously ranked Gable Strickland of Lock Haven. Lastly, Shane Percelay earned sixth at 141 lbs. His lone loss on the day came to 32nd-ranked Malyke Hines of Lehigh by a close 2-0 score. Many other athletes had wins, as well. It was a rest day for most of the team’s starters. They will have a tough road match-up against #6 North Carolina State. Binghamton The Bearcats wrested two duals against ranked opponents on the road. On Friday, they lost to #6 NC State 36-3. On Sunday, they suffered a 29-10 loss to #24 Appalachian State. Against NC State, Micah Roes started the dual off with an upset over Jarrett Trombley (#24 @ 125 lbs). It was good to see him get a win after taking some losses earlier in the year. Against App State, Jacob Nolan (#23 @ 184) earned a major decision while Cory Day (#21 @ 285) won by fall. The Bearcats were without Lou DePrez (#9 @ 197), as he nursed an injury. Next week, they will be on the road to face Drexel on Friday, then square off against #20 Lehigh at home on Sunday. Brown The Bears traveled to Lancaster to wrestle three duals on Thursday and compete in the F&M Open on Friday. They went 2-1 in duals – 25-10 over F&M, 22-19 over Davidson, but dropped a dual to Presbyterian 23-15. The lower weights in Shane Hanson-Ashworth (125 lbs) and Hunter Adrian (133 lbs) went 6-0 on the day. Hanson-Ashworth had a nice win over Leiphart of F&M. The middleweights had some rotating competitors at 149 lbs and 157 lbs. All wrestlers won their respective duals. Overall, a great day for the Bears. The following day, we saw Ricky Cabanillas win the 149 lbs bracket at the open. He went a perfect 5-0 on the day, with two major decisions. At 157 lbs, Sam McMonagle won 4 matches in a tough bracket. There were plenty of wins from this team, as they entered the new year in with a bang. Coach Leen is slowly improving this team. We will see how they fair against a tough home match with North Carolina (#25) this weekend. Bucknell The Bison traveled to Coach Wirnsberger’s alma mater, Michigan State. They claimed three victories over the 23rd-ranked Spartans. Dylan Chappell (141 lbs) and Braden Bower (149 lbs) each had close wins – Bower beat a very tough Peyton Omania, a returning NCAA Qualifier. Dorian Crosby won by decision at 285 lbs. Kurt Phipps at 133 lbs (#22) lost a close 5-4 match to All-American Rayvon Foley. In a Monday night dual, the Bison beat Hofstra in an 18-17 barn burner. It came down to the heavyweight match where Crosby upset Zachary Knighton-Ward (#23) to win the dual for Bucknell. We also saw Phipps with a win. Chappell had a fall over last season’s EIWA-placer Justin Hoyle, which helped propel them to victory early on. Braden Bower (149 lbs) and Chase Barlow (165 lbs) each had a victory as well. This was a great win by Bucknell, as they were outmatched on paper, it seemed, because of the five freshmen in the lineup. Next up, they will travel to DC for an EIWA dual with American. Columbia The Lions were off this weekend. They will travel to American this Friday and host #12 Oklahoma State on Sunday. Cornell The Big Red were on fire to start the new year with a 19-12 over #3 Arizona State. Cornell won the last three bouts when Vito Arujau (#3 @ 133 lbs) beat #4 Michael McGee for the second time this season. Freshman Vince Cornella (#22 @ 141 lbs) handily beat #19 Vasquez, and Yianni took care of 2X All-American Kyle Parco 8-2. We also saw wins from Julian Ramirez (#7 @ 165 lbs), Chris Foca (#5 @ 174 lbs) and 17th-ranked Jacob Cardenas at 197 lbs. Then, they beat #10 Virginia Tech on the road 22-12. Cornell saw big wins from Brett Ungar (#20 @ 125 lbs) with an upset over Eddie Ventresca and Cornella (#22 @ 141 lbs) beat 15th-ranked Tom Crook. The Big Red also got wins from Ramirez, Foca, Cardenas, and Yianni in this dual. These wins are more impressive since returning All-American Jonathan Loew missed both duals with an injury. This team is hot at the right time, as they face Lehigh on Saturday in a match that could have EIWA regular-season championship ramifications. Drexel The Dragons sent several wrestlers to the F&M Open. Many of the starters were not in action. Overall, they saw 5 place finishers. The highest placement came at 184 lbs, where Josh Stillings went 5-1 for third place. He had a great opening-round win over David Key of Navy. Fifth-ranked Mickey O’Malley saw mat time, winning four matches (3 by bonus points) before medical forfeiting out to help nurse his banged-up knee. Freshman John Hildebrandt went 3-2 at 133 lbs, which earned him fourth place. Cody Walsh had a 4-2 record, which was good enough for sixth place at 165 lbs. Finally, Sean O’Malley finished the day 3-1 at 197 lbs. Drexel will have a double header this weekend, facing Binghamton at home on Friday and F&M away on Saturday. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats hosted a few events on the weekend. First, was a quad meet with Brown, Presbyterian, and Davidson. The team was 2-1 in these duals (29-9 over Davidson, 33-9 over Presbyterian, and a 25-10 loss to Brown). It was good to see Cenzo Pelusi return to the lineup at heavyweight, earning three wins. James Conway at 184 lbs was also 3-0 on the day. A gang of wrestlers were 2-1 on the day as well. The Dips showed some good stuff in two dominant wins. I am not alone in thinking the match against Brown would be a little closer than the outcome showed. Nonetheless, the team is improving overall. At the Open the following day, John Crawford (197 lbs) was the lone place finisher for the team. He ended the day in second place, defeating Max Shaw (#33) of North Carolina in the semifinals. His loss was to a 28th-ranked Jake Koser of Navy. Noah Fox had four wins on the day at 174 lbs, ending his day just shy of the top-8. A handful of wrestlers saw at least three wins on the day. Steady improvement has been the mantra of this team. Next week, they will face the Drexel Dragons in a home conference matchup. Harvard The Crimson joined the party at the F&M Open on Friday. Although lacking many starters, they performed well. It was nice to see some of the young talent compete and get needed mat time. At 133 lbs, Dante Frinzi upset the 31st-ranked Joey Melendez of North Carolina during his 2-2 day. Former Bethlehem Catholic teammate, Evan Gleason (157 lbs) also secured two wins on the day. At 174 lbs, Alex Whitworth had a great win over 184 lbs NCAA qualifier AJ Burkhart of Lehigh. He finished his tournament with a 2-2 record. Like I said, a majority of starters sat this one out after a long Midlands tournament a week ago. They will be back this weekend when they host North Carolina – as they visit the Northeast Ivies in Harvard and Brown. Hofstra Hofstra sent a few guys to the F&M Open. One standout performance came from Ericson Velasquez at 184 lbs. He had three pins on the day before dropping two matches. Wrestling at 133lbs for Hofstra-unattached was Joe Sparacio. He had a heck of a tournament, beating Pat Phillips of F&M. This was one of his four wins on the day. Monday night, they had a dual with Bucknell. Coming down to the wire, Hofstra lost 18-17. Hofstra had wins from Joe McGinty (157 lbs), Ross McFarland (174 lbs), and Jacob Ferreira (184 lbs). Jacob Moon started with a major at 125lbs, and Trey Rogers (#29 @ 197 lbs) pulled them ahead after his major decision. Unfortunately, for the Pride, only two major decisions were not enough to overcome the single fall by Bucknell. Expect them to come back hungry when they wrestle Buffalo this Sunday afternoon. Lehigh The Mountain Hawks had a few wrestlers in the F&M Open. We saw Jaret Lane back competing after missing much of the first semester with an injury. He went 5-1 on the day with a match limit cap for fifth place. Malyke Hines took a loss in the semifinals before ending his day in fourth place at 141 lbs. At 174 lbs, Jake Logan took third place after dropping a match in the semi’s. Tate Samuelson (#20 @ 184 lbs) took home silver, dropping a match to #15 Gavin Kane of UNC. At 285 lbs, big man Nathan Taylor was in third place. He had a win over Cenzo Pelusi of F&M. The Mountain Hawks are preparing for a vital road trip to Cornell and Binghamton Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Long Island The Sharks were in attendance at the F&M Open, and won plenty of matches to show for it. Drew Witham has been wrestling well as of late for them at 149 lbs. He continued to lead the way again, winning 5 of his 6 matches. One of his wins was over Wil Guida of North Carolina, who was 2X Fargo Champion. He ended the day in fifth, due to his match limit. His teammate a weight above, Rhise Royster (157lbs), went 2-0 on the day before he was forced to call it a day with an injury. We did see Robbie Sagaris return from injury. The team is progressing very nicely. It is evident to see new assistant coach, Jesse Dellavecchia, and his work paying off. We will see the Sharks of LIU again this weekend, hosting duals against Clarion and VMI. Navy The Midshipmen had a quality number of competitors at the F&M Open. Of twenty-plus participants, they returned home with three champs. At 133lbs, Brendan Ferretti was undefeated in his five bouts, earning one of the team’s first-place finishes. With only one pin, he scored four decisions in the process. It was a great outing for him, after suffering an injury earlier in the year – finally getting back into his groove. The upper weights shined through, as both Jacob Koser (#28 @ 197 lbs) and Grady Greiss (#20 @ 285 lbs) each won their brackets. Greiss defeated NCAA Qualifier Travis Stefanik of Princeton in the process. Koser did not have any ranked opponents, but won his closest match by five points. At 165 lbs, Val Park (165 lbs) lost in the quarterfinals and was forced to injury default out. He won three matches before this. Navy was without some ranked wrestlers in Koderhandt and Cerniglia. They will be in action at the Virginia Duals this week. They face South Dakota State, Virginia, Kent State, and Oklahoma. This is a great opportunity for them to climb the team rankings. Penn We saw a few wrestlers at the F&M Open repping the Quakers. Many of them had outstanding performances. Evan Mougalian placed third at 133lbs, going 5-1 on the day, including a nice win over Jack Maida of American. Many other wrestlers won at least four matches including Jackson Polo (141 lbs), Cole Spencer (157 lbs), Mikey Kistler (174 lbs), and Connor Strong (184 lbs). This team has some young depth waiting to fulfill the starting lineup in the very near future. The Quakers hosted North Carolina to a dual in a great wrestling atmosphere Saturday night. The matches were split 5-5, but Penn’s two tech falls from Nick Incontrera (#18 @ 174 lbs) and Cole Urbas (#33 @ 197 lbs) were the differences in the 19-17 victory. The Quakers also saw wins from Ben Goldin (#28 @ 285 lbs), Michael Colaiocco (#8 @ 133 lbs), and Doug Zapf (#10 @ 149 lbs). Being on the broadcast, this match was very entertaining to be at. It was full of competitive individual matches, a few upsets, and an electric crowd on hand. These Quakers are tough. With nine returning NCAA qualifiers in the lineup, expect them to be in the race for the widely coveted EIWA title. Princeton The Tigers had a wide range of participants at the F&M Open. Danny Coles has been wrestling very well lately, finishing runner-up at 141 lbs. He even had a win over #32 Hines of Lehigh. We may see him in the rankings very soon. At 165 lbs, Grant Cuomo was also runner-up in his bracket. Nick Kayal was down to 125 lbs, placing fourth. He upset Jaret Lane of Lehigh in the quarterfinal. Returning NCAA Qualifier at 149 lbs, Marshall Keller lost one time for a fifth-place finish. Ty Whalen (157lbs) is new to the starting lineup with Quincy Monday moving up. He went 6-1 on the day, only suffering a loss to NCAA Champion from 2021 Austin O’Connor (#4 – North Carolina). Also, at 157 lbs, Hudson Hightower wrestled well enough to earn fourth place. Aidan Connor was third at 197 lbs. Two heavyweights placed in the bracket with Travis Stefanik (4th) and Sebastian Garibaldi (8th). This week, the team will travel to wrestle Oregon State in Austin, TX before heading to Arizona State for another dual. Sacred Heart The Pioneers sent a couple of wrestlers to the F&M Open. With two wins at 157 lbs, John Siemsen was one of the top performers. One of those wins was a pin. The 149 lbs weight class had a few Pioneers each win two matches a piece between Dakota Asuncion, Chris Naegele and Matt Laurie. Aiden Zarrella went 2-2 on the day at the 165lbs bracket. Coach Clark is getting these guys' matches, that’s for sure. We have not seen much of Nick Palumbo, who was an NCAA Qualifier a few years back at 157 lbs. Hopefully, we can see him in the second half of the season now that dual meets are the immediate focus. This weekend, the Pioneers have a nice chance to get a win under their belt as VMI comes to town.

Illinois 197 lber Zac Braunagel (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) As we've reached the conference dual portion of the season, we've realized we might need to switch up this column because "5 things" is not nearly enough to cover all of the action of the weekend. Maryland and Indiana wrestled a highly entertaining dual Monday night that came down to the final two bouts - the Rooks Brothers vs. the Miller Brothers. Maryland's Kal Miller won the first bout in sudden victory, then Graham Rooks avenged his brother's loss and the dual was decided on match-point criteria, which went to Indiana, 17-16. Jesse Mendez made an impressive return to Ohio State's lineup this weekend, pouring on the points for a 20-6 major decision over Indiana freshman Henry Porter. Sammy Sasso was also on fire in that 26-13 dual win, pinning Graham Rooks in just 53 seconds. For its part, Indiana also had some noteworthy performances. Derek Gilcher had a strong weekend at 157 pounds, upending Ohio State's Paddy Gallagher, 5-4, then taking out Maryland's Michael North on the road - two ranked wins. Heavyweight Jacob Bullock earned a ranked win of his own, a 7-2 decision over Ohio State's No. 15 Tate Orndorff. He then went on to fall 3-2 to Maryland's Jaron Smith, handing the eighth-year senior his first conference win of the season. Levi Haines was the big story for Penn State, as the true freshman who has still not officially burned his redshirt earned a dominant 16-6 major decision over Wisconsin's No. 16 Garrett Model in his Big Ten dual meet debut. Iowa's top-ranked Spencer Lee and Purdue's Matt Ramos provided one of the more entertaining - yet short - bouts of the weekend, as the sophomore put the three-time NCAA champion in an early 8-1 hole midway through the first period. But Lee responded the way a three-time NCAA does by putting Ramos on his back and securing the pin with just seven seconds remaining in the initial period. So, yeah, a lot happened. And these are the highlights we DIDN'T include in our "5 things." Here are the rest: Illinois proves it can be competitive with the best in the BIG Last year's Big Ten dual season wasn't too kind to Illinois. The Illini went 1-7, tying with Indiana for 12th in the conference. The 2022-23 season is still early, but coach Mike Poeta's squad has already made a statement. The Illini went 1-1 over the weekend, taking No. 2 Iowa all the way to the final bout at Carver-Hawkeye, falling 25-19, then knocking off No. 11 Wisconsin, 18-17, at home on Alumni Night. With Zac Braunagel really coming into his own at 197 pounds, the steady presence of Edmond Ruth and Lucas Byrd, underclassmen Danny Pucino and Dylan Connell emerging and the surprise return of veteran Mikey Carr, the Illini boast a robust lineup that should be competitive with most teams on its conference slate this season. Carr's return was one of the biggest surprises of the weekend. The two-time NCAA qualifier and 2018 Big Ten runner-up had missed all of last season due to injury and wasn't even on Illinois' roster prior to this weekend. He looked solid in his return to the mat, putting away Iowa's Cobe Siebrecht, 12-7. He didn't wrestle against Wisconsin. Another one of the biggest storylines for Illinois over the weekend was the continued emergence of Zac Braunagel as a national podium contender at 197 pounds. The junior built off his Midlands championship-winning weekend with two top-15 wins, topping last year's NCAA runner-up Jacob Warner, of Iowa, 3-1, with a takedown in the waning seconds of the bout, and a 4-3 win over Wisconsin's Braxton Amos, his second over the Badger in two weeks. Now at 15-3 on the season, Braunagel should be favored in most of his remaining Big Ten bouts, and have an opportunity to avenge an earlier loss when his team hosts Maryland on Jan. 22. Pucino was critical to his team's success from a dual standpoint. His pin in 5:40 of Felix Lettini gave Illinois a four-point lead over Wisconsin with one bout remaining. With the only pin in the dual, Pucino forced the Badgers into a position where they needed a technical fall or pin to win, which they were unable to get. His 20-8 major decision over Iowa's Drew Bennett on Friday gave his team the lead after three bouts and put them on pace to keep the Hawkeyes on edge until the final match. The Illini had plenty of other highlights over the weekend - Byrd's Carver-Hawkeye-silencing pin of Cullan Schriever and Ruth's 2-1 win in the first tiebreaker period over Nelson Brands come to mind - that set them up nicely for continued success as they look ahead to next weekend's home dual with Purdue and Northwestern and Maryland after that. Northwestern's middleweights delivered a big win vs. Minnesota Northwestern started its Big Ten season off with a strong 18-11 win over Minnesota on Saturday - marking the Wildcats' first victory over the Golden Gophers since 1996 and first ranked win of the season. Northwestern won six of 10 bouts - 125 pounds was a double forfeit - including two upsets - per InterMat rankings - and three wins over top-15 opponents, marking an exceptional weekend for Northwestern's middleweights, in particular. No. 13 Frankie Tal-Shahar had one of the biggest wins of the dual for the Wildcats - a 2-1 decision over No. 8 Jake Bergeland at 141 pounds, thanks to a buzzer-beater takedown in the first period. This victory was big not only for the dual - giving Northwestern back the lead it wouldn't relinquish - or individual rankings, but also personally for Tal-Shahar, who lost three times to Bergeland last season, including a 5-3 loss that knocked him into the consolation bracket at NCAAs. No. 6 Yahya Thomas followed up that excitement with yet another nailbiter, riding out the second tiebreaker OT period with an emphatic mat return to win 2-1 over No. 14 Michael Blockhus. This was the third consecutive 1-point decision for the graduate senior, who keeps finding ways to win at 12-1 on the season. Northwestern went into the final bout - 157 - with a 4-point lead. No. 9 Trevor Chumbley sealed the win for the Wildcats, with a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to top No. 13 Brayton Lee, 8-4. These three key wins were also bookended by important victories. Maxx Mayfield started the dual off at 165 pounds by beating No. 21 Andrew Sparks, 6-4. Chris Cannon earned the W at 133, with a takedown and four nearfall points at the end of the second period to erase a 3-0 deficit and roll to a 7-3 victory over Aaron Nagao. Lucas Davison had the Wildcats' sixth win, a 4-1 decision at heavyweight. The momentum from this dual will be big for Northwestern as it prepares for a tough road weekend with duals at Iowa and Nebraska. This is SPARTA!!! It's actually not. It's a segment of an article, but it was a fun reference nonetheless. The Spartans of East Lansing are 7-0 for the first time in 49 years. I haven't reflected on the last 49 years of their schedules to see if they were as easy or difficult as this season was projected to be, but the consistent theme is that this team has performed well. Tristan Lujan at 125 has only one loss on the season to Mastrogiovanni of Oklahoma State, which is certainly a respectable loss. Cam Caffey has looked excellent. Saldate has been consistent, and Rayvon has looked good outside of the Reno Tournament. Despite his struggles there, the team placed second in Reno, which is a testament to their solid depth. In general, the team looks generally better, which is what you'd hope for. They will look to continue this early season success as they start their B1G schedule with Michigan at home in East Lansing this Friday. Some initial notable matches will be at 125 with Lujan against either Medley or McHenry, at 133 with a fun battle between Ragusin and Foley, and at 157 with Saldate and Lewan. Foley told me in an interview last season after a win over Ragusin in Ann Arbor that he feels that winning in Ann Arbor is a big deal to him (what might be helpful here is knowing that Rayvon Foley is from Ann Arbor. In fact he's Ann Arbor Pioneer's best wrestler. Fun fact.). I'm sure he'll want to return the favor by beating Ragusin again, but this time in East Lansing. Another matchup to watch for is at 184 with Finesilver and Malczewski. This is the first big match that Malczewski will have this year, but the guy is a stud and I still feel is an All-American quality guy. So is Finesilver. In the end, though, I expect the biggest battle between these two will be Finesilver's mustache against Malczewski's great hair. Wolverines are the Champions of the West That's part of their fight song, which is why it makes it such a fun title for this segment. The Michigan Wolverines traveled to California to take on Cal Poly Friday night followed by a trip to Bakersfield to take on the Roadrunners on Sunday. The dual with CSUB was 39-0 for Michigan, there were some close matches, but ultimately it was a solid trip for the Wolverines. At 197, there was some drama when Brendin Yatooma used a last-second takedown and back points to maintain the shutout. The dual with Cal Poly was a little more competitive and included some upset wins on both sides. Saenz for the Mustangs beat Cole Mattin at 141 in a match where Mattin couldn't seem to get to his offense. It was out of sorts to see a guy who has been so aggressive with attacks to this point this season not be able to convert, but I've seen him wrestle enough to know that he'll figure this out. Chance Lamer got a chance to take on his brother's team (Brawley and Legend both wrestle for Cal Poly), and did so by beating an All-American in Dom Demas. Granted Demas had to injury default out, but Chance had been battling back after giving up an early takedown. We certainly hope Dom is back and we can see a rematch of what was shaping up to be a truly entertaining dual. In the end, the Wolverines did what you would expect, and won handily. Next, as mentioned above, Michigan will take on Michigan State this weekend, as well as the Wisconsin Badgers (mentioned below). This Badgers team is coming off a two-loss weekend (also mentioned below), so expect them to come into Ann Arbor looking to avoid that 0-3 conference record to begin the B1G dual season. Highs and Lows: Badgers This week the Wisconsin Badgers took two L's. The first was to number one ranked Penn State. That was to be expected, as Penn State has a loaded team with half of their lineup either ranked first, or with a legitimate shot at winning a national title this season. Where Wisconsin had some high points was with Dean Hamiti (165) and Eric Barnett (125), both of whom won each of their respective matches. Braxton Amos mirrored the team this weekend by going 0-2 as well. He lost to last year's NCAA Champ in Max Dean, as well as took another loss to Zac Braunagel. I tend to look on the bright side of things, so I'm happy that he didn't hurt his knee in the match with Dean, where it looked like it could have been worse than it was, ultimately costing the team a point when Coach Bono walked onto the mat to check on his wrestler. It was the right move and I'm sure he'd do it again. Also, it's always good to get into deep waters early in the season. Having gone through these wars with Braunagel, and tough matches with Dean, will ultimately help him in March. The loss to Illinois was a little surprising, but that will happen sometimes. They won where they were expected to win and lost where they were expected to lose. Getting Austin Gomez back into the lineup and Zargo back down to 141 will ultimately help this team get back to where they need to be. Here's the thing about the B1G though, it doesn't get much easier. They travel next to Ann Arbor on Sunday to take on the Wolverines. That will likely include some fun matches at 165 with Hamiti and Amine and at Heavyweight with Parris and Hilger. On Wisconsin!

West Virginia All-American Peyton Hall (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Back to a lot more dual action across the sport after the layoff for the holidays. Let's dive into the Big 12 recap from last week. Thursday 01/05 Northern Iowa DEF Wyoming 33-3 Friday 01/06 West Virginia DEF Ohio 28-9 Saturday 01/07 Oklahoma DEF Edinboro 21-15 Iowa State DEF Wyoming 37-7 South Dakota State DEF Northern Illinois 31-6 Northern Illinois DEF California Baptist University 20-15 South Dakota State DEF California Baptist University 44-0 Sunday 01/08 West Virginia DEF Pitt 24-11 Missouri DEF Northern Iowa 24-12 Iowa State DEF Arizona State 19-15 Oklahoma State DEF Oregon State 20-12 Great week for WVU WVU beats Ohio then wins the Backyard Brawl on the road at Pitt. Two big program wins for WVU to move them to 6-1 with their only dual loss coming to the defending Big 12 Champions at Mizzou. WVU has quietly put together a really good dual season with one of their biggest wins coming this week over Pitt. Iowa State Emerging as the Top Dual Team in the Conference? One would need to dig deeper into individual matchups and other things to sort this one out but, Missouri dropped their dual earlier this season at Arizona State, while Iowa State knocked them off 19-15. Still a lot of wrestling left before February 15th, when these two wrestle at Missouri, but Iowa State may have the edge.

The 2023 NWCA National Duals champions King University (NCAA) (photo courtesy of Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative) Over the weekend, more than 30 women’s college teams flocked to Louisville, Kentucky, for the 2023 NWCA National Duals. In the women’s category, there were two divisions: NCAA and NAIA. King University won the NCAA crown, while Southern Oregon claimed the NAIA title. NCAA WOMEN King University, ranked No. 1 in the nation, secured its second-consecutive and sixth overall NWCA National Duals title, edging out No. 2 North Central, 23-21, in an exciting championship dual. Filled with outstanding talent, the dual featured six top-5 matchups and two top-10 bouts, which included some notable upsets. At 116 pounds, No. 2 Jaslynn Gallegos (NC) upended top-ranked Samara Chavez (KU) with a first-period pin. At 136 pounds, King returned the favor as No. 6 Viktorya Torres (KU) pinned No. 2 Yele Aycock (NC) late in the match. In addition to the Gallegos/Chavez showdown, there was another 1 vs. 2 bout at 109 pounds, where No. 1 Sage Mortimer (KU) outlasted No. 2 Sydney Petzinger (NC), 15-14. We expected to see a top-two bout at 170 pounds as No. 1 Yelena Makoyed (NC) was set to take on No. 2 Chey Bowman (KU). However, strategy came into play as the Tornado forfeited at 170, and Bowman bumped up to 191 pounds to face No. 5 Traeh Haynes (NC). Thanks to a second-period four-point takedown, Bowman defeated Haynes, 5-1, and sealed the championship for King. King won six of the night’s 10 matchups with victories coming from No. 2 Jessica Corredor (101), Mortimer (109), No. 3 Montana DeLawder (130), Torres (136), No. 1 Ana Luciano (143) and Bowman (191). Winning for North Central was No. 2 Gallegos (116), No. 3 Amani Jones (123), No. 4 Tiera Jimerson (155) and No. 1 Makoyed (170). En route to another title, King defeated No. 8 Gannon in the quarterfinals and No. 4 McKendree in the semis. Championship dual - No. 1 King 23, No. 2 North Central 21 101: #2 Jessica Corredor (King) over #6 Madison Avila (North Central) Dec 6-4 109: #1 Sage Mortimer (King) over #2 Sydney Petzinger (North Central) Dec 15-14 116: #2 Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) over #1 Samara Chavez (King) Fall 0:55 123: #3 Amani Jones (North Central) over #4 Vayle-Rae Baker (King) Fall 2:56 130: #3 Montana DeLawder (King) over Sara Sterner (North Central) Dec 4-0 136: #6 Viktorya Torres (King) over #2 Yele Aycock (North Central) Fall 5:26 143: #1 Ana Luciano (King) over #4 Kendall Bostelman (North Central) Fall 3:39 155: #4 Tiera Jimerson (North Central) over #5 Tiffani Baublitz (King) Dec 3-1 170: #1 Yelena Makoyed (North Central) win by forfeit 191: #2 (at 170) Cheyenne Bowman (King) over #5 Traeh Haynes (North Central) Dec 5-1 Final team results 1. King 2. North Central 3. McKendree 4. Colorado Mesa 5. Augsburg 6. Presbyterian 7. Sacred Heart 8. Gannon NAIA WOMEN In a historic performance, Southern Oregon took out three top-10 teams to capture the first National Duals championship in program history. In a run to the finals, the Raiders dominated Ottawa and No. 9 Texas Wesleyan in the first two rounds before overpowering No. 5 Menlo in the semifinals. In the finals, No. 1 Southern Oregon split matches with No. 2 Grand View but emerged victorious, 22-18, thanks to the Raiders scoring points in four of their five losses. For the title, Southern Oregon earned technical fall victories from No. 3 Esthela Trevino (101), No. 1 Carolina Moreno (123) and No. 3 Joye Levendusky (170). Other Raiders wins came from No. 5 Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez (109) and No. 5 Grace Kristoff (191). Based on rankings, Grand View was favored in four of its five victories, which included a 9-6 decision for No. 1 Alexis Gomez (GV) over No. 2 Emily Se. Championship dual - Southern Oregon 22, Grand View 18 101: #3 Esthela Trevino (Southern Oregon) over Jalen Bets (Grand View) TF 10-0 109: #5 (at 116) Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez (Southern Oregon) over #11 (at 116) Lita Cruz (Grand View) Dec 4-2 116: #5 Cailin Campbell (Grand View) over #8 Glory Konecny (Southern Oregon) Dec 10-1 123: #1 Carolina Moreno (Southern Oregon) over #4 Catharine Campbell (Grand View) TF 10-0 130: Isabella Gonzalez (Grand View) over Jordynn Robson (Southern Oregon) TF 11-0 136: #2 (at 130) Andrea Schlabach (Grand View) over #8 Bella Amaro (Southern Oregon) Dec 5-1 143: #1 Alexis Gomez (Grand View) over #2 Emily Se (Southern Oregon) Dec 9-6 155: #9 (at 143) Madison Diaz (Grand View) over Desinee Lopez (Southern Oregon) Dec 6-3 170: #3 Joye Levendusky (Southern Oregon) over #4 Abby McIntyre (Grand View) TF 10-0 191: #5 Grace Kristoff (Southern Oregon) over #11 Olivia Brown (Grand View) Dec 3-1 Final team results 1. Southern Oregon 2. Grand View 3. Life 4. Menlo 5. Univ. of Providence 6. Texas Wesleyan 7. Campbellsville 8. Indiana Tech

Virginia 165 lber Justin McCoy (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a slow few weeks over the winter break, we had a very busy weekend in ACC country. Five of the six teams were in action, with North Carolina and Virginia Tech wrestling multiple days. It was a wild weekend featuring huge upsets for and against ACC wrestlers. We are entering our final week before ACC competition and most teams seem to be rounding into shape. There are some lingering questions about some lineups and injuries--I'm hopeful that we will see everyone back in action this week and ready to go for the first ACC duals. Let's take a look at what went down this weekend. Duke: The Blue Devils were off this week and will not return to action until January 19th against Central Michigan. North Carolina: The Tar Heels traveled to Pennsylvania for a weekend of action at the F&M Open Friday, followed by a dual against Penn on Saturday. The Tar Heels started the trip off with a successful day at F&M. Lachlan McNeil (141), Austin O'Connor (157) and Gavin Kane (184) all took home titles, while Jack Wagner (125) and Jayden Scott (149) made the finals and took runner-up honors. Spencer Moore (125) took 3rd place, Max Shaw (197) finished in 4th. Zach Sherman also made his season debut, going 2-0 before medically defaulting from the tournament. The dual against Penn started at 165 with a decision win from Joey Mazzara. Gino Esposito lost by tech fall at 174, filling in for Clay Lautt. Gavin Kane got the Tar Heels back on the board with a decision win over Maximus Hale; he wrestled well and was able to get to his offense. Cade Lautt also lost by tech fall at 197, filling in for Max Shaw. This was followed by a 2-0 loss by Brandon Whitman. When they wrapped back around to 125, Jack Wagner won a very competitive match with Ryan Wagner. Jace Palmer got the nod at 133, filling in for Joey Melendez; he lost, but was able to hold a very good Michael Colaiocco to a decision. Lachlan McNeil continued his stellar weekend with a dominating 12-1 major decision over a ranked Carmen Ferrante. I like the progress that McNeil has made through the season and he is in a good spot going into conference duals. Zach Sherman made the start at 149 against #10 Doug Zapf. I was surprised by this--the coaching staff said they would ease Sherman back into the lineup after his return from injury. I take it that they, and he, felt good about his performance on Friday and were confident that he was ready to go. He wrestled a good match, but struggled toward the end of the match and dropped a 7-4 decision. He looked good, he moved well and was able to get to his offense; he'll just need more mat time to be back to full competition shape. In the marquee match of the dual, Austin O'Connor dominated #15 Anthony Artalona in a 13-5 major decision. O'Connor was on the attack the whole match, getting the final takedown in the closing seconds to earn the major. O'Connor has looked fantastic since returning to the lineup and is ready to go after another ACC and NCAA title. The Tar Heels will be back in action on Saturday against Harvard and Brown. No. 27 Penn 19, No. 25 North Carolina 17 125: No. 33 Jack Wagner (UNC) over No. 31 Ryan Wagner (Penn) (7-5 Dec) 133: No. 8 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) over Jace Palmer (UNC) (10-4 Dec) 141: No. 21 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) over No. 30 Carmen Ferrante (Penn) (12-1 MD) 149: No. 10 Doug Zapf (Penn) over Zach Sherman (UNC) (7-4 Dec) 157: No. 4 Austin O'Connor (UNC) over No. 15 Anthony Artalona (Penn) (13-5 MD) 165: Joey Mazzara (UNC) over No. 29 Lucas Revano (Penn) (5-4 Dec) 174: No. 18 Nick Incontrera (Penn) over Gino Esposito (UNC) (18-0 TF) 184: No. 17 Gavin Kane (UNC) over Maximus Hale (Penn) (7-3 Dec) 197: No. 33 Cole Urbas (Penn) over Cade Lautt (UNC) (16-0 TF) 285: No. 27 Ben Goldin (Penn) over Brandon Whitman (UNC) (2-0 Dec) North Carolina State: The Wolfpack welcomed the Bearcats of Binghamton to Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night to open their 2023 home slate. As expected, NC State took care of business and ended up on top of the lopsided 36-3 score. The theme of the evening with half of the Wolfpack lineup picking up extra points on the night. Ryan Jack, Trent Hidlay and Owen Trephan won by major decision, while Ed Scott and Isaac Trumble added pins. The only loss for NC State came at 125 with Jarrett Trombley dropping a 3-1 decision; it will be worth watching in conference duals to see how he wrestles right off of the scale. Kai Orine earned a lopsided decision, as did true freshman Jackson Arrington; both of these guys continue to show growth and improvement through the season and are in a good spot moving into conference duals. As previously discussed, the full-time starter at 165 and 174 haven't been decided; Derek Fields and Alex Faison got the nod this weekend. Fields wrestled well enough to get the decision win, but never really pulled away in the match. Faison looked solid in his 7-3 decision over a scrappy Sam DePrez and seems to have the momentum at 174. One final note is an adjustment to the standings in my ACC awards. Owen Trephan has been removed from contention in the best hair category. Though his major decision proved that he didn't fall victim to the Sampson curse, I'm still saddened that he cut those glorious locks. No. 6 NC State 36, Binghamton 3 125: Micah Roes def. No. 24 Jarrett Trombley (NCSU), 3-1 dec. 133: No. 25 Kai Orine (NCSU) def. Ivan Garcia, 8-2 141: No. 6 Ryan Jack (NCSU) def. Christian Gannone, 12-2, maj. dec. 149: No. 17 Jackson Arrington (NCSU) def. Michael Zarif, 5-0 dec. 157: No. 10 Ed Scott (NCSU) def. Conner Decker, Fall 165: Derek Fields (NCSU) def. Dimitri Gamkrelidze, 6-4 dec. 174: Alex Faison (NCSU) def. Sam DePrez, 7-3 184: No. 3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) def. No. 23 Jacob Nolan, 13-4, maj. dec. 197: No. 7 Isaac Trumble (NCSU) def. Cayden Bevis, 16-2, Fall 285: No. 13 Owen Trephan (NCSU) def. No. 21 Cory Day, 11-0, maj dec. Pittsburgh: The Panthers hosted West Virginia in the wrestling edition of the Backyard Brawl. After a strong first half of the season, Pitt opened the second half of the year on a down note, dropping the dual to WVU. I'm hopeful that this is a one-off as we didn't see the same type of performance from several key parts of the lineup that we have seen all year. Colton Camacho wrestled well against a very tough Killian Cardinale and dropped a close decision. Micky Phillippi looked great throughout the match on his way to a major decision, then the wheels kind of fell off for the Panthers. Cole Matthews dropped his first match of the year, giving up a late takedown to unranked Jordan Titus to lose 3-1. Matthews often wrestles close matches, and his ability to win those close matches helped get him onto the podium last year, but this didn't seem like that type of match. It looked to me like Matthews just had an off-match; it happens to everyone (except Cael). He wasn't able to finish any of his attacks and wasn't as crisp on his feet as he usually is. Credit to Titus for an absolutely beautiful takedown to get the win. I expect Matthews to bounce back from this and remind the nation why he was ranked #1. Tyler Badgett wrestled a solid match and went into sudden victory scoreless against Sam Hillegas. The sudden victory period was wild. Badgett got in deep but wasn't able to finish and ended in a long scramble; Hillegas got the winning takedown on the restart. Dan Mancini got the nod at 157 over a struggling Dazjon Casto. He wrestled well for the majority of the match but gave up a late takedown to lose 3-1. The Peyton Hall pin over Holden Heller hides the fact that it was actually an awesome match. The first period had several good exchanges where Heller showed his defensive and counter-offense skills--both he and Hall were close to takedowns multiple times. Heller initiated a wild scramble in the second where he was able to lock up a cradle; while trying to turn Hall, he dropped his hips and Hall was able to capitalize and catch the head and bottom leg to get the fall. Luca Augustine was able to get the Panthers back on the board with a hard-fought 3-2 decision. Reece Heller, coming off an outstanding performance at the Midlands, dropped a 7-2 decision to Anthony Carman. Heller looked good on his feet, but didn't wrestle well on the mat. I would generally say his mat wrestling is a strength and he is great at positioning on bottom and getting reversals, but this was not the case on Sunday. Nino absolutely dominated in his match. He controlled the match from the first whistle and was working hard to get the tech fall but finished one point shy in the 18-4 major. Jake Slinger got the nod at 285 and lost 10-4; Coach Gavin said Dayton Pitzer would only be used if the dual was on the line so they can best use his five matches to evaluate whether to pull the redshirt. The Panthers will be back in action on Friday against Buffalo; I would expect a very fired-up Pitt squad ready to send a message. West Virginia 24, No. 21 Pitt 11 125: No. 7 Killian Cardinale (WVU) dec. Colton Camacho (Pitt), 5-3 (WVU leads, 3-0) 133: No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) maj. dec. Davin Rhoads (WVU), 10-2 (Pitt leads, 4-3) 141: Jordan Titus (WVU) dec. No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pitt), 3-1 (WVU leads, 6-4) 149: No. 28 Sam Hillegas (WVU) dec. No. 25 Tyler Badgett (Pitt), 2-0 SV (WVU leads, 9-4) 157: No. 27 Alex Hornfeck (WVU) dec. Dan Mancini (Pitt), 3-1 (WVU leads, 12-4) 165: No. 12 Peyton Hall (WVU) pins No. 28 Holden Heller (Pitt), 3:43 (WVU leads, 18-4) 174: Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Brody Conley (WVU), 3-2 (WVU leads, 18-7) 184: No. 30 Anthony Carman (WVU) dec. No. 14 Reece Heller, 7-2 (WVU leads, 21-7) 197: No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) maj. dec. Brian Finnerty (WVU), 18-4 (WVU leads, 21-11) HWT: No. 28 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) dec. Jake Slinger (Pitt), 10-4 (WVU wins, 24-11) Virginia: The Hoos took part in a showcase dual against in-state foe George Mason at the ARMS Duals hosted by St. Christopher's School in Richmond on Saturday. UVA wrestled well up and down the lineup. They got bonus points from Justin McCoy in a dominant display at 165 and a solid offensive day from Michael Battista earned him a major decision at 197. Jarod Verkleeren avenged his loss at the Midlands with a 2-1 decision over Nate Higley and Neil Antrassian continued his strong season with a controlling decision win. In injury news, Ethan Weatherspoon got the start, and the win, at 285 after the injuries to Gabe Christensen and Jessie Knight. Denton Spencer got another win filling in for Jake Keating, who has been out since the Northwestern dual. Two true freshmen got the nod for this dual, Kyle Montaperto at 125 and Garrett Grice at 133. Montaperto dropped a 6-2 decision in what was an uncharacteristic performance compared to what we've seen from him this season. He wasn't able to get his offense going and struggled to get off bottom; far different from the dynamic performances we have seen from him thus far. Garrett Grice was able to grit out a 4-3 decision, holding off a late offensive barrage from Josh Jones. Grice looked a step slower, but I'd attribute that to getting back to competition after a month off. He is a very dangerous wrestler and has put together an impressive 9-2 record so far this year. The final decision on the redshirt status for both Montaperto and Grice will need to be made soon, this was their fourth event and they are only allowed five to retain their redshirt status; there may be some tough choices for Coach Garland and crew coming soon. The Hoos are back in action at the Virginia Duals this weekend where they will face Ohio, Navy, Kent State and Maryland. VIRGINIA 26, GEORGE MASON 6 165: No. 14 Justin McCoy major dec. Drew Dickson (GMU), 13-3 - UVA 4, GMU 0 174: Jeremy Seymour (GMU) dec. Vic Marcelli, 4-3 - UVA 4, GMU 3 184: No. 18 Neil Antrassian dec. Malachi DuVall (GMU), 10-5 - UVA 7, GMU 3 197: Michael Battista major dec. Jon List (GMU) , 14-5 - UVA 11, GMU 3 285: Ethan Weatherspoon dec. Tyler Kocak (GMU), 6-3 - UVA 14, GMU 3 125: Markel Baker (GMU) dec. Kyle Montaperto, 6-2 - UVA 14, GMU 6 133: Garrett Grice dec. Josh Jones (GMU), 4-3 - UVA 17, GMU 6 141: Dylan Cedeno dec. Anthony Glasl (GMU), 6-0 - UVA 20, GMU 6 149: No. 29 Jarod Verkleeren dec. Nate Higley (GMU), 2-1 - UVA 23, GMU 6 157: Denton Spencer dec. Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (GMU), 9-3 - UVA 26, GMU 6 Virginia Tech: The Hokies had a busy weekend; they hosted Cornell in the annual dual at the Moss Arts Center on Friday night, followed by a doubleheader in the DMV against George Mason and American. I was able to attend the match at Moss, and I was incredibly impressed with the atmosphere. I went to the Moss dual a few years ago and it was a great atmosphere, but the match against Cornell had a much different feel in the theater. The dual started at 157 with a Clayton Ulrey decision to kick off the Hokies. Keep your eye out for Bryce Andonian on the open circuit to get some matches and test out the foot soon. Connor Brady wrestled well and held a very good Julian Ramirez to a 3-0 decision. The absence of Mekhi Lewis hit the Hokies hard at 174; Foca was able to get the pin over Jordan Florence for big bonus points for the Big Red. Hunter Bolen looked solid in a 4-0 decision over Ethan Hatcher; it was hard for Bolen to get his offense going as he tried to get Hatcher to engage throughout the match. Andy Smith struggled to slow down Jacob Cardenas but was able to get a late escape to keep it to a decision. Hunter Catka earned a 6-1 decision over Brendan Furman--much like the Bolen match, Catka had to pursue Furman all over the mat. In a very tight match at 125, Eddie Ventresca lost a heartbreaker in TB1 when he was unable to escape in the rideouts. Ventresca was in deep on a few shots, but was unable to finish earlier in the match. I'd love to see him be more aggressive and force the issue with his offense; he can be very dynamic on his feet and could put up more points. In the highlight of the evening, Sam Latona got the theater roaring with an upset win over Vito Arujau. They wrestled at CKLV and it was a close match, but Latona was unable to get through Vito's great defense. It was easy to see from watching Latona working out before the dual that he was locked in and pumped up for this opportunity in front of his home crowd. He did not disappoint. He fended off an immediate shot from Vito then dropped in on a reshot-he was able to get the leg in the air but Vito kicked out. Latona got in deep on a second inside single and finished the takedown at the end of the first, Vito escaped and added a second escape to start the second. Latona was again able to get in deep on an inside single and got the leg into the air; Vito was able to get back to the mat and create a scramble and nearly get a takedown of his own but Latona fought it off. In the third, Latona got out in about 30 seconds to get the 3-2 lead. He fended off Vito's attacks and got in another shot of his own to bring the clock down, he locked up a front headlock to run the clock out and take the one-point decision. The crowd was electric after this match. The air was sucked back out of the theater at 141 when Vince Cornella took a 12-4 major over Tom Crook. Cornella attacked relentlessly and Crook was never able to get to his own offense. At 149, three-time NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis faced true freshman Caleb Henson in a marquee match. Henson wrestled well and put up a valiant effort, but Yianni took the 6-2 decision. I mean this with all due respect--Yianni is a freak. He is a phenomenal wrestler and a generational talent--Henson keeping him to a decision and wrestling as composed as he did is a victory in itself. After the tough loss on Friday night, the Hokies traveled north for duals against George Mason and American. Against GMU, they got bonus points from a pin from Caleb Henson and major decisions from Sam Latona, Collin Gerardi, Andy Smith and Hunter Catka. In the dual against American, they got bonus from a pin from Kolton Clark, tech falls from Tom Crook and Sam Fisher, and a major decision from Brandon Wittenberg. In the final bout, Hunter Catka won by disqualification when he was injured by an illegal move. Righter was warned after a potentially dangerous call for grasping and twisting Catka's hand/fingers. On the restart immediately after the warning, Righter grabbed and twisted Catka's right hand; he was called for the illegal hold and after Catka's injury time expired, Righter was disqualified for the move. The Hokies travel to Boone, NC on Friday for a dual against Appalachian State in their final action before conference competition. #8 Virginia Tech Hokies - 12, #12 Cornell Big Red - 22 125 - No. 21 Brett Ungar DEC No. 18 Eddie Ventresca, 2-1 TB1 133 - No. 8 Sam Latona DEC No. 3 Vito Arujau (Cornell), 3-2 141 - No. 22 Vince Cornella (Cornell) MAJ DEC No. 14 Tom Crook, 12-4 149 - No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) DEC No. 11 Caleb Henson, 6-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Gage McClenahan (Cornell), 4-2 165 - No. 7 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) DEC No. 22 Connor Brady, 3-0 174 - No. 5 Chris Foca (Cornell) Fall Jordan Florence, 4:14 184 - No. 7 Hunter Bolen DEC Ethan Hatcher (Cornell), 4-0 197 - No. 17 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) DEC No. 21 Andy Smith, 10-3 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka DEC Brendan Furman (Cornell), 6-1 No. 8 Virginia Tech - 34, George Mason - 3 125 - No. 18 Eddie Ventresca DEC Markel Baker (George Mason), 8-2 133 - No. 8 Sam Latona MAJ DEC Josh Jones (George Mason), 12-4 141 - Collin Gerardi MAJ DEC Shawn Nonaka (George Mason), 10-1 149 - No. 11 Caleb Henson FALL Nate Higley (George Mason), 6:15 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason), 8-3 165 - No. 22 Connor Brady DEC Drew Dickson (George Mason), 12-5 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) DEC Jordan Florence, 6-2 184 - Sam Fisher DEC Malachi DuVall (George Mason), 11-7 197 - No. 21 Andy Smith MAJ DEC Jon List (George Mason), 14-2 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka MAJ DEC Donovan Sprouse (George Mason), 14-3 Extra Match 133 - Brandon Wittenberg DEC Patrick Schellpfeffer (George Mason), 6-1 No. 8 Virginia Tech - 35, American University - 9 125 - Cooper Flynn DEC Maximilian Lette (American), 3-1 133 - Brandon Wittenberg MAJ DEC Shamil Kalmatov (American), 12-2 141 - No. 14 Tom Crook TECH FALL Ethan Szerencsits (American), 20-5 5:20 149 - Patrick Ryan (American) DEC Kylan Montgomery, 7-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Jack Nies (American), 10-4 165 - Caleb Campos (American) FALL Ty Finn, 2:13 174 - Kolton Clark FALL Lucas White (American), 1:51 184 - Sam Fisher TECH FALL Colin Shannon (American), 25-9 197 - No. 21 Andy Smith DEC Connor Bourne (American), 3-1 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka DQ Isaac Righter (American)

Clarion 165 lber Cam Pine after a win against Central Michigan (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first full week of the new year in the college wrestling season did not disappoint as we saw plenty of upsets, individually and team-based, along with standout performances from the sport's best, coupled with some emerging stars. It also marked the start of the Big Ten dual schedule which always leads to intriguing matchups, again, individually and team-based. In addition, six duals featured top-15 teams squaring off in dual competition. With so much going on there's any number of different talking points to hit on, but we've narrowed it down to 7 big stories from the week in college wrestling. #1 Goes Down at 141 lbs There was some controversy surrounding InterMat's rankings at 141 lbs. Top-ranked Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh was bested in the All-Star Classic exhibition match in late-November. #3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) was impressive in his victory over Matthews and looked deserving of the top spot. I don't disagree with that notion; however, the entire dual was built around the fact that these are exhibition matches which will not count on a wrestler's record or factor in towards NCAA seeding. I'd have to imagine that some of these matches would have never materialized without that caveat. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Oregon State 174 lber Aaron Olmos (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Mustangs Dominate Menlo College Invitational Cal Poly was the only Pac-12 school this weekend with success. The Mustangs traveled down the road to compete at the Menlo College Invitational. Five of the wrestlers were crowned champions, one finished second and one finished third. 125 pounder Dom Mendez was the first champion after going 3-0, including a fall in his second match. Zeth Romney went 3-0 too with a fall and major decision in the mix. Abe Hinrichsen and Cash Stewart were battle-tested in their matches. However, they came out victorious and captured first in their weight classes. Lastly, Nathan Glass finished first after going 2-0 in the 285-pound division. Wesley Wilson finished second and Koda Holeman claimed the bronze. The rest of the Mustang squad hosted Michigan on Friday and fell 30-11. Arizona State loses two high-profile duals over the weekend Arizona State came into the Cornell dual as 12.5 point underdogs. However, the Sun Devils lost 19-12 in Austin, TX. Besides Chris Foca getting a major decision over Josh Nummer, every match was within six points or less. Brandon Courtney earned his first dual win since Feb. 19, 2022, with a win over Brett Ungar while Vito Arujau proved he has the edge over Michael McGee heading into the backside of the wrestling season with a 7-5 victory. Yianni Diakomihalis was tested once again as Kyle Parco took him the distance. Parco fell 8-2 in the 149-pound matchup. Lastly, Cohlton Schultz picked up a tight victory over Lewis Fernandez to close the dual, winning 4-2. A few days later, ASU traveled to Ames, IA to compete against Iowa State. Arizona State threw out a separate lineup to rest a couple of starters. Richard Figueroa earned a 7-5 victory at 125 pounds while Jonathan Fagen continued to fill in for Kordell Norfleet. Kyle Parco shined with a 7-5 upset victory over much-heralded freshman Paniro Johnson. Oregon State falls to Oklahoma State at home Oklahoma State sent nearly 6,800 fans home upset after beating the Beavers 20-12. However, Oregon State nearly sent Oklahoma State home with a loss. The dual started at 149 pounds. The Beavers dropped the first two matches, but Oregon State rallied four straight wins to take a 12-7 lead. One of those matches saw #29 Aaron Olmos hand unbeaten, Southern Scuffle champion Dustin Plott his first loss of the year, in decisive fashion, 9-4. Olmos is now 7-5 on the year. Yet, the Beavers hit the heart of the Cowboy lineup. Trevor Mastrogiovanni, Daton Fix and Carter Young captured three consecutive victories to flip the score and return to Oklahoma with a win. Michigan blanks the Roadrunners Cal State Bakersfield began its dual season with one of the best teams in the country and proved to be no match for the Michigan Wolverines. Cal State’s two-ranked wrestlers had strong outings despite falling. 133-pound Chance Rich fell to Dylan Ragusin 7-3 while Angelo Martinoni lost 4-1 to Cole Mattin. Since the Roadrunners’ stars could not capture a win, the Roadrunners lost 36-0. Bakersfield almost broke the shutout when 197-pound Mateo Morales led 3-2 in the third period. However, Brendin Yatooma got a late takedown and won 6-3.

The Kentucky Expo Center; Site of the 2023 NWCA National Duals Division II Results Championship - St. Cloud State over Central Oklahoma 19-16 Third Place - Mary over West Liberty 37-3 Fifth Place - Lander over Upper Iowa 22-18 Seventh Place - Indianapolis over Nebraska-Kearney 20-19 Division III Results Championship - Augsburg over Johnson & Wales 35-8 Third Place - Wartburg over Wisconsin-La Crosse 27-9 Fifth Place - Baldwin Wallace over Loras 23-20 Seventh Place - North Central over The College of New Jersey 24-18 NAIA Results Championship - Grand View over Life 22-8 Third Place - Doane over Southeastern 24-11 Fifth Place - Marian over Indiana Tech 21-18 Seventh Place - Reinhardt over Morningside 38-9 Women’s NCAA Championship - King over North Central 23-21 Third Place - McKendree over Colorado Mesa 41-3 Fifth Place - Augsburg over Presbyterian 29-17 Seventh Place - Sacred Heart over Gannon 24-23 Women’s NAIA Championship - Southern Oregon over Grand View 22-18 Third Place - Life over Menlo 30-13 Fifth Place - Providence over Texas Wesleyan 25-22 Seventh Place - Campbellsville over Indiana Tech 30-14 NCWA Results Championship - Bellarmine over Liberty 29-21 Third Place - Queens over Apprentice School 23-22 Fifth Place - Grand Valley State over Toledo 44-15 Seventh Place - Emory & Henry over Central Florida 31-26

West Virginia 125 lber Killian Cardinale (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Weekend Dual Results Saturday’s Results The Citadel 51 Truett-McConnell 6 125 - Blair Orr (The Citadel) fall Brandon Navixay (Truett-McConnell) 4:17 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) fall Frankie Salcedo (Truett-McConnell) 1:54 141 - Dillon Ramon (The Citadel) fall Stanley Lal (Truett-McConnell) 7:00 149 - Ethan Willis (The Citadel) tech Leonel Silvestre (Truett-McConnell) 15-0 157 - Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) fall Mason Johnson (Truett-McConnell) 3:36 165 - Brodie Porter (The Citadel) maj Ian James (Truett-McConnell) 19-5 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) fall Elijah Hester (Truett-McConnell) 2:50 184 - Hans Evatt (Truett-McConnell) fall Micah DiCarlo (The Citadel) 3:32 197 - Mark Chaid (The Citadel) fall Nolan Cook (The Citadel) 3:39 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) FFT The Citadel 43 Keiser 3 125 - Blair Orr (The Citadel) FFT 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) fall Bryce Cockrell (Keiser) 6:08 141 - Dillon Ramon (The Citadel) FFT 149 - Ethan Willis (The Citadel) dec Bryce Gonzalez (Keiser) 8-1 157 - Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) fall Brady Ellison (Kesier) 6:18 165 - Adam El-Damir (Keiser) dec Brodie Porter (The Citadel) 2-1 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) maj Brett Bosserman (Keiser) 15-2 184 - William Rogers (The Citadel) dec Jared Tracey (Keiser) 6-1 197 - Mark Chaid (The Citadel) fall Hayden Malson (Keiser) 4:54 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) dec Earnest Johnson (Keiser) 5-3 Virginia 26 George Mason 6 125 - Markel Baker (George Mason) dec Kyle Montaperto (Virginia) 6-2 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) dec Josh Jones (George Mason) 4-3 141 - Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) dec Anthony Glasl (George Mason) 6-0 149 - Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) dec Nathan Higley (George Mason) 2-1 157 - Denton Spencer (Virginia) dec Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason) 9-3 165 - Justin McCoy (Virginia) maj Drew Dickson (George Mason) 13-3 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) dec Vic Marcelli (Virginia) 4-3 184 - Neil Antrassian (Virginia) dec Malachi Duvall (George Mason) 10-5 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) maj Jon List (George Mason) 14-5 285 - Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) dec Tyler Kocak (George Mason) 6-3 Iowa State 37 Wyoming 7 125 - Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) maj Conor Knopick (Iowa State) 12-4 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) fall Darrick Stacey (Wyoming) 1:14 141 - Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) dec Darren Green (Wyoming) 7-2 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 8-3 157 - Jacob Wright (Wyoming) dec Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) 6-4 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) fall Cole Moody (Wyoming) 5:19 174 - Julien Broderson (Iowa State) fall Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) :24 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) tech Quayin Short (Wyoming) 17-0 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) maj Guillermo Escobedo (Wyoming) 18-7 285 - Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) maj Terren Swartz (Wyoming) 19-8 Northwestern 18 Minnesota 11 125 - Double FFT 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) 7-4 141 - Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) dec Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 2-1 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 2-1TB 157 - Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) dec Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 8-4 165 - Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) dec Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 6-4 174 - Bailee O’Reilly (Minnesota) maj Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (Northwestern) 17-5 184 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) maj Evan Bates (Northwestern) 15-1 197 - Michial Foy (Minnesota) dec Andrew Davison (Northwestern) 2-0 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) dec Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 4-1 Nebraska 37 Campbell 6 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) tech Zak Thompson (Campbell) 18-3 133 - Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) dec Alex Thomsen (Nebraska) 4-1 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) fall Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 6:52 149 - Dayne Morton (Nebraska) dec Chris Rivera (Campbell) 5-0 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) FFT 165 - Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) fall Dom Baker (Campbell) 2:28 174 - Mikey Labiola (Nebraska) maj Cole Rees (Campbell) 18-6 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) maj Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 14-6 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) dec Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 8-3 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec Cale Davidson (Nebraska) 5-3 Campbell 25 Gardner-Webb 12 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) dec Zak Thompson (Campbell) 6-5 133 - Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) maj Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 10-2 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 2-1TB 149 - Chris Rivera (Campbell) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 8-2 157 - Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) FFT 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Dom Baker (Campbell) 3-2TB 174 - Cole Rees (Gardner-Webb) dec Andrew Wilson (Campbell) 5-2 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 2-1 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) tech Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) 24-9 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) maj Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 22-8 Nebraska 37 Gardner-Webb 6 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) maj Drew West (Gardner-Webb) 13-3 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Boo Dryden (Nebraska) 3-2 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 4-0 149 - Blake Cushing (Nebraska) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 5-2 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) tech Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 16-1 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 4-2SV 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) tech Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) 17-2 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) fall Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 1:24 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) fall Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) 2:08 285 - Cale Davidson (Nebraska) tech Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 16-1 South Dakota State 31 Northern Illinois 6 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec Blake West (Northern Illinois) 2-0 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) maj Bryce West (Northern Illinois) 12-1 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) 6-4 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) dec Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) 4-2 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) dec Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) 4-3 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) 3-1 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) 11-3 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Cade King (South Dakota State) 12-8 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) tech Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 15-0 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) 3:00 Northern Illinois 20 California Baptist 15 125 - Blake West (Northern Illinois) dec Eli Griffin (California Baptist) 6-5 133 - Hunter Leake (California Baptist) dec Bryce West (Northern Illinois) 8-4 141 - Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) maj Christian Nunez (California Baptist)) 12-2 149 - Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) maj Chaz Hallmark (California Baptist) 3-1 157 - Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) maj Joseph Mora (California Baptist) 8-0 165 - Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) dec Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) 3-1SV 174 - Louis Rojas (California Baptist) dec Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) 5-2 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) 3-1SV 197 - Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) fall Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 2:20 285 - Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) dec Chris Island (California Baptist) 5-3SV South Dakota State 44 California Baptist 0 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec Eli Griffin (California Baptist) 5-3 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) dec Hunter Leake (California Baptist) 2-1 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) tech Christian Nunez (California Baptist) 18-3 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) tech Chaz Hallmark (California Baptist) 20-3 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) tech Joseph Mora (California Baptist) 17-1 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) 2:27 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Louis Rojas (California Baptist) 18-5 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) 4-0 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) maj Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) 10-1 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Chris Island (California Baptist) 2:57 Oklahoma 22 Edinboro 15 125 - Joey Prata (Oklahoma) dec Aiden Lewis (Edinboro) 5-4 133 - Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) dec Cam Soda (Edinboro) 11-8 141 - Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) fall Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) 1:35 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) dec Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) 6-4 157 - Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) dec Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) 4-2SV 165 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma) fall Alex Garee (Edinboro) :52 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) 4-0 184 - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) dec Jack Kilner (Edinboro) 3-1 197 - Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) dec Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 8-2 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) maj Nick Lodato (Edinboro) 18-6 Penn 19 North Carolina 17 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Ryan Miller (Penn) 7-5 133 - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec Jace Palmer (North Carolina) 10-4 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) maj Carmen Ferrante (Penn) 12-1 149 - Doug Zapf (Penn) dec Zach Sherman (North Carolina) 7-4 157 - Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) maj Anthony Artalona (Penn) 13-5 165 - Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) dec Lucas Revano (Penn) 5-4 174 - Nick Incontrera (Penn) tech Gino Esposito (North Carolina) 18-0 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Max Hale (Penn) 7-3 197 - Cole Urbas (Penn) tech Cade Lautt (North Carolina) 16-0 285 - Ben Goldin (Penn) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 2-0 Sunday’s Dual Results Virginia Tech 34 George Mason 3 125 - Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) dec Markel Baker (George Mason) 8-2 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) maj Josh Jones (George Mason) 12-4 141 - Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) maj Shawn Nonaka (George Mason) 10-1 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) fall Nathan Higley (George Mason) 6:17 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason) 8-3 165 - Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) dec Drew Dickson (George Mason) 11-5 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) dec Jordan Florence (Virginia Tech) 5-2 184 - Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) dec Malachi Duvall (George Mason) 11-7 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) maj Jon List (George Mason) 14-2 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) maj Donovan Sprouse (George Mason) 14-3 Clarion 25 Central Michigan 12 125 - Joey Fischer (Clarion) dec Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) 5-3TB 133 - Vince Perez (Central Michigan) dec Koen Kish (Clarion) 9-4 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) maj Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 17-6 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) fall Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 5:34 157 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) dec Trevor Elfvin (Clarion) 7-2 165 - Cam Pine (Clarion) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 11-9SV 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 11-7 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 4:17 197 - Ty Bagoly (Clarion) dec Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 8-3 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) dec Austin Chapman (Clarion) 3-0 Iowa State 19 Arizona State 15 125 - Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec Caleb Fuessley (Iowa State) 7-5 133 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) dec Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) 9-3 141 - Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) dec Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) 8-6SV 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) 7-5SV 157 - Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) dec Max Wilner (Arizona State) 7-0 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) tech Tony Negron (Arizona State) 17-2 174 - Julien Broderson (Iowa State) maj Josh Nummer (Arizona State) 18-5 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Anthony Montalvo (Arizona State) 8-2 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) maj Jonathan Fagen (Arizona State) 24-11 285 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) dec Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) 3-2 West Virginia 24 Pittsburgh 11 125 - Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) 5-3 133 - Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) maj Davin Rhoads (West Virginia) 10-2 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) dec Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) 3-1 149 - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) dec Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) 2-0SV 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) dec Dan Mancini (Pittsburgh) 3-1 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) fall Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) 3:43 174 - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) dec Brody Conley (West Virginia) 3-2 184 - Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) 7-2 197 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) maj Brian Finnerty (West Virginia) 18-4 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Jake Slinger (Pittsburgh) 10-4 Iowa 37 Purdue 6 125 - Spencer Lee (Iowa) fall Matt Ramos (Purdue) 2:56 133 - Brody Teske (Iowa) maj Dustin Norris (Purdue) 16-4 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) dec Cullan Schriever (Iowa) 6-2 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) tech Trey Kruse (Purdue) 22-7 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) 3-2 165 - Aiden Riggins (Iowa) dec Stoney Buell (Purdue) 9-4 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) dec Cooper Noehre (Purdue) 4-0 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) fall Ben Vanadia (Purdue) 4:15 197 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) maj Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) 16-4 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) FFT Rutgers 26 Rider 9 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 2-0 133 - Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) dec Richie Koehler (Rider) 6-1 141 - Devon Britton (Rutgers) dec McKenzie Bell (Rider) 7-4 149 - Tony White (Rutgers) maj Bryan Miraglia (Rider) 11-2 157 - Andy Clark (Rutgers) dec Colton Washleski (Rider) 4-3 165 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) dec Hunter Mays (Rider) 8-6 174 - Jackson Turley (Rutgers) dec Shane Reitsma (Rider) 11-5 184 - Brian Soldano (Rutgers) maj Ray Weed (Rider) 14-3 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) dec Billy Janzer (Rutgers) 6-1 285 - David Szuba (Rider) InjDef Boone McDermott (Rutgers) Buffalo 18 SIU Edwardsville 16 125 - Davian Guanajuato (SIU Edwardsville) dec Mason Bush (Buffalo) 5-3 133 - Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) dec Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) 7-2 141 - Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) maj Matt Ryan (Buffalo) 10-2 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) 4-2 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Caine Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) 10-6 165 - Bradley Gillum (SIU Edwardsville) dec Noah Grover (Buffalo) 3-2 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) 3-1SV 184 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) dec Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 9-4 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 4-2 285 - Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) fall Dan McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) 6:58 Appalachian State 29 Binghamton 10 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) 10-9 133 - Sean Carter (Appalachian State) dec Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) 10-5 141 - Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) dec Nate Lucier (Binghamton) 4-1 149 - Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) maj Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 16-3 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) dec Fin Nadeau (Binghamton) 5-2 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 2-0 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) maj Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 10-0 184 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) maj Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) 8-0 197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) FFT 285 - Cory Day (Binghamton) fall Mason Fiscella (Appalachian State) 6:38 Michigan 36 CSU Bakersfield 0 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSU Bakersfield) 9-4 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 7-3 141 - Cole Mattin (Michigan) dec Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 4-1 149 - Chance Lamer (Michigan) maj Josh Brown (CSU Bakersfield) 11-3 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield) 8-3 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) tech Braden Smelser (CSU Bakersfield) 19-1 174 - Max Maylor (Michigan) dec Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield) 8-4 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) dec Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) 7-1 197 - Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) dec Mateo Morales (CSU Bakersfield) 6-3 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) fall Jake Andrews (CSU Bakersfield) 2:23 Oklahoma State 20 Oregon State 12 125 - Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 3-2 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) maj Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 12-4 141 - Carter Young (Oklahoma State) dec Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 6-2 149 - Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) maj Riley Gurr (Oregon State) 10-2 157 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) dec Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) 10-9 165 - Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) 7-5SV 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 9-4 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) dec Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 4-3 197 - Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) dec Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 14-9 285 - Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 3-2 Missouri 24 Northern Iowa 12 125 - Noah Surtin (Missouri) tech Kyle Gollhoffer (Northern Iowa) 16-0 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) dec Zeke Seltzer (Missouri) 5-2 141 - Allan Hart (Missouri) dec Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) 10-4 149 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) 3-1 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Logan Gioffre (Missouri) 3-1 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec J Conway (Missouri) 4-0 174 - Peyton Mocco (Missouri) fall Carson Babcock (Northern Iowa) 6:43 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) dec Colton Hawks (Missouri) 7-2 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) maj Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 10-2 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 3-1SV Illinois 18 Wisconsin 17 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) dec Maximo Renteria (Illinois) 7-1 133 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) dec Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) 5-1 141 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) fall Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) 5:40 149 - Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) dec Jake Harrier (Illinois) 9-7 157 - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec Anthony Federico (Illinois) 5-1 165 - Dean Hamti (Wisconsin) tech Danny Braunagel (Illinois) 15-0 174 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Josh Otto (Wisconsin) 4-1 184 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) dec Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) 5-3 197 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) dec Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 4-3 285 - Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) 3-0 Virginia Tech 35 American 9 125 - Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) dec Max Leete (American) 3-1 133 - Brandon Wittenberg (Virginia Tech) maj Shamli Kalmatov (American) 12-2 141 - Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) tech Ethan Szerencsits (American) 20-5 149 - Patrick Ryan (American) dec Kylan Montgomery (Virginia Tech) 7-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Jack Nies (American) 10-4 165 - Caleb Campos (American) fall Ty Finn (Virginia Tech) 2:13 174 - Kolton Clark (Virginia Tech) fall Lucas White (American) 1:51 184 - Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) tech Colin Shannon (American) 26-9 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec Connor Bourne (American) 3-1 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) disq Isaac Righter (American)

285 lbs Midlands champion Lucas Davison (top) (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) For years the Midlands and the Southern Scuffle tournaments represented the midway point of the college wrestling season. There were some issues due to the pandemic, but both tournaments returned this year. Another tournament, the Soldier Salute in Iowa, joined the field this year. While much of the talk coming out after these tournaments has been about who did not wrestle and medical forfeits, there was still some great wrestling. The following looks at some of the top statistical performers from the event and their prospects going forward this season. Point Differential (match points per minute minus match points against per minute) The best point differential performance came at the Soldier Salute, and it belonged to someone who is no stranger to dominating this statistical category. The top wrestler in the country at 125 pounds was dominant on his way to the title. Spencer Lee (Iowa) averaged 3.34 points per minute across his four matches and allowed only six points total. That comes out to a +2.91 differential. While the competition was not particularly strong, Lee appeared to be starting to resemble his prime. His best wins in the tournament came against Wyoming freshman Jore Volk, who was third at the Reno Tournament of Champions, and Lee’s teammate Drake Ayala. It remains to be seen if this momentum will continue into the Big Ten season, but after six matches this season, Lee has been able to hold his number-one ranking and win all his matches with bonus points. Across all three tournaments, the only other wrestlers to come close to Lee in terms of point differential were his teammates: No. 2 Real Woods who finished with a +2.66 differential at 141 pounds and No. 3 Tony Cassioppi at heavyweight with a +2.23 differential. Over at the Southern Scuffle, No. 3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) had one of the best performances of the holiday tournaments on his way to the title at 141 pounds. He averaged 2.65 points per minute, allowed only 0.76 per minute and finished with a +1.89 point differential. In the finals, Alirez knocked off No. 7 Allan Hart (Missouri). So far this season, he has won all 11 of his matches and picked up an exhibition victory over No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the All-Star Classic. The Northern Colorado representative is looking entirely like a title contender this season, and his point differential performance at the Southern Scuffle only drove that point home. Interestingly enough, the best point differential at the Midlands came from a wrestler who finished fifth in the tournament. No. 7 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) won his first three matches before bowing out of the tournament at 125 pounds. Along the way, he scored 1.84 points per minute, gave up 0.55 and therefore finished with a +1.29 differential. Cardinale’s differential only slightly edged out fellow 125-pounder No. 5 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) who won the tournament. He finished with a +1.26 differential after outscoring five opponents by a combined 50 to nine score. No opponent managed to notch more than four points against him on his way to the title. Points Allowed Last year, at the NCAA tournament, No. 4 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) became the first heavyweight to complete a two-point score against eventual champion and Hodge winner Gable Steveson. At the Midlands, he did his talking with his defense. On his way to the tournament title, he averaged only 0.85 points per minute, but he allowed absolutely zero points. He was the only wrestler across all three weekend tournaments to not surrender a single point. Mat Time Oklahoma State won the team title at the Southern Scuffle thanks in large part to three individual champions. No. 2 Daton Fix (133), No. 4 Dustin Plott (174) and No. 13 Travis Wittlake (184) all took home tournament titles. However, usually, tournament success depends on the performance of other placers. One such placer came at heavyweight where Konner Doucet finished third. The Cowboy dropped a one-point decision against No. 22 “Big” Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) in the quarterfinals before battling all the way back for third. Along the way, he wrestled in seven matches and went to rideouts in three of those matches. He finished with 64 minutes of mat time. It was the most of any wrestler across all three holiday tournaments. The next closest competitor was Maryland’s No. 22 Ethen Miller who finished with a shade over an hour on the mat as he placed fourth in the 157 bracket at the Southern Scuffle. No other competitor spent over an hour on the mats across all three tournaments.