InterMat Staff

Austin O'Connor at the 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Duke: The Blue Devils will be off this week and next week. They return to action with Central Michigan on 1/19 and North Carolina to open ACC action on 1/20. Pittsburgh: The Panthers will bring the Backyard Brawl to the mat when they welcome West Virginia to the Fitzgerald Field House on Sunday. This rivalry plays a major role during football season, and it will be great to see it on the Resilite this weekend. Pitt is favored on paper, but there will be some solid matches in this one, including a couple very good ranked-versus-ranked matchups. It will be a great dual to watch on a Sunday afternoon. 125: #7 Killian Cardinale vs Colton Camacho Cardinale is a 2021 All-American and made the blood round last year, so he is well-established as a dangerous wrestler. However, he only has three matches on the year; after picking up three wins at the Midlands before medically forfeiting out of the tournament. Camacho has had a good year so far and is looking for a signature win to boost him to the next tier. He has an opportunity here with Cardinale, but it will be a big ask. 149: #28 Sam Hillegas vs #25 Tyler Badgett This is one of the two big matchups that I am looking forward to. Hillegas has put together a good season in Morgantown since transferring from VT. Badgett has been on a great run this year and is coming off a podium finish at the Midlands. I have been very impressed with Badgett this year and like the trajectory he is on; I think this will be a close match but I give the edge to Badgett. 157: #27 Alex Hornfeck vs Dazjon Casto Hornfeck has put together a good season but doesn’t have any signature wins that really jump off the page at you. Casto has had a rough start to his time in Pittsburgh and is in need of a big win to jumpstart his season before conference duals start. This is a good chance for Casto to get back on track against a ranked opponent and show the form that makes him such a dangerous wrestler. 165: #12 Peyton Hall vs #28 Holden Heller Peyton Hall is a wrestler who I have always enjoyed watching; he is immensely talented and has so many clutch wins on his record. He dropped in the rankings after taking a loss to Danny Braunagel at the Midlands and subsequently medically forfeiting out of the tournament, but was previously ranked #5. Heller has had a great year since coming to Pittsburgh from Hofstra, he also dropped in the rankings after going 2-2 at the Midlands. This should be a very fun one to watch. 285: #28 Michael Wolfgram vs #5 Dayton Pitzer Wolfgram was a 2022 national qualifier and he has been in and out of the rankings over the past couple of years and is a very solid wrestler. After the amazing tournament Pitzer had at the Midlands, he will be back in dual action and I’m interested to see if he can keep the incredible momentum churning. North Carolina: The Tar Heels will head to Pennsylvania for a weekend of wrestling; they will send a squad to the F&M Open on Friday then face a very scrappy Penn squad in Philly on Saturday. The dual with Penn should be very tight and there are some toss-up matches that will be critical to the team score. Unfortunately, we will not see a full-strength UNC lineup with Clay Lautt still out since the App State dual and Zach Sherman being eased back into the lineup. This dual should be very entertaining as Penn is really building as a program and has some very talented wrestlers up and down the lineup. Here are a few big ones to keep your eye on. 125: #31 Ryan Miller vs #33 Jack Wagner Both have had similar seasons and this match will be very important in what could be a very tight dual. 133: #9 Michael Coliaocco vs #30 Joey Melendez Coliaocco has looked phenomenal this season. He is 13-3 with all losses to top-10 wrestlers and is coming off winning a title at the Midlands. Melendez started the season off strong with a title at the Southeast Open, but has struggled with top-tier competition in his last few outings. This would be a huge win for Melendez, but he will have to be at the top of his game to compete with Colaiocco. 149: #10 Doug Zapf vs Zach Sherman While I would love to see this match, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sherman is seeing his first competition of the season this year at the F&M Open, and the plan is to ease him back in, so I don’t anticipate him getting a top-10 opponent out of the gate. 157: #15 Anthony Artalona vs #4 Austin O’Connor This could be a fun one. Artalona is 13-3 on the year and is coming off a podium finish at the Midlands. He is a two-time blood round finisher at the NCAAs and is a fun wrestler to watch. O’Connor is 2-0 since returning and he will face his first ranked wrestler of the season. I would love to see AOC turn it on and pick up some bonus points here. North Carolina State: The Wolfpack open their 2023 home slate by welcoming Binghamton to Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night. The backstory here, of course, is Coach Popolizio facing the team where he made his head coaching debut; he was at the helm of the Bearcats from 2007 to 2012 before coming to Raleigh. The Bearcats have a scrappy team and three ranked wrestlers at the top end of the lineup, but the Wolfpack should be able to take care of business handily. 184: #23 Jacob Nolan vs #3 Trent Hidlay Hidlay is coming off his only loss of the season and will be looking to make a statement. Nolan has put together a good season so far, and is coming off an eighth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. I don’t foresee Trent having any issues here and would expect him to be looking for BONUS. 197: #9 Lou Deprez vs #7 Isaac Trumble I was hopeful that we would get this matchup because it would be a fun one--but Deprez defaulted out of the finals of the Southern Scuffle with an injury mid-match. He will not be available on Friday; Trumble will face freshman Cayden Bevis. 285: #21 Cory Day vs #13 Owen Trephan Cory Day also had a stellar performance at the Scuffle, making the finals where he fell to Zach Elam. Trephan will look to add to his already strong record; he comes in at 13-3 on the year, with his only losses being to top-10 ranked wrestlers. While Day has looked good, Trephan is more battle-tested this year and has much better hair. The Wolfpack will also send a solid contingent to the David Lehman Open at Franklin and Marshall including several true freshmen. Now that we are in the second semester, they can compete unattached and it won’t impact their five competition dates. Virginia: The Hoos will have a pseudo-home match on Saturday as they will “host” in-state foe George Mason for a dual on the campus of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. The dual is part of a larger dual event hosted by St. Christopher’s that will feature top teams in Virginia--St. Christophers, New Kent and Christiansburg, as well as Blair Academy, Connellsville PA, and Baylor School from Tennessee. It will be a great all-day wrestling event for the state and anyone who is in the Richmond area should make their way out. While the Hoos are favored on paper, Coach Beasley has done an incredible job rebuilding the GMU program and has them off to an 8-0 start on the season. They are a very scrappy squad and should not be overlooked; there should be some competitive bouts and the Mason crew is battle tested--most coming in with over 20 matches on the season. There are a few things to watch for in this dual. Both true freshmen Kyle Montaperto and Garrett Grice are listed as probables behind Patrick McCormick and Erik Roggie, respectively. Jake Keating is listed as a probable and would be making his return from injury; this would be his first action since the Northwestern dual in November. Ethan Weatherspoon will likely make his dual debut at 285. The Hoos lost Gabe Christensen to injury against Queens and Jessie Knight was injured at Midlands. Here are a couple matches I think could be very entertaining. 149: Nathan Higley vs #29 Jarod Verkleeren This is a big rematch. Higley took the win in sudden victory at the Midlands to make the podium and knock Verkleeren out of the tournament. I have a feeling that Verk would like to get that one back. 174: Logan Messer vs Vic Marcelli/Justin Phillips Messer has been one of the top performers for the Patriots, coming in at 17-3 on the year. 174 has been a weight for the Hoos that has seen multiple starters and no one has really made the case to take the full-time job. This could be an opportunity for Vic or Justin to step up and take the starting spot. Virginia Tech: The Hokies have a busy weekend on tap. They welcome #15 Cornell for the annual dual at the Moss Arts Center. They will then turn around and head to Fairfax to face George Mason for an afternoon dual, followed by a trek into the District to face American Sunday evening. I’m going to focus on the Cornell dual--it is going to be a fantastic matchup and not gonna lie, I’m trying to get this finished up before I leave for Blacksburg! A couple notes on the lineup--Bryce Andonian and Mekhi Lewis will both not be wrestling against Cornell. Andonian is working back from a foot injury and Lewis tweaked his knee in the dual against Stanford in December. They expect both to be back at full strength before ACC duals begin. The absence of two All-Americans will certainly make a more difficult path to victory for the Hokies, but it is still possible. Let’s take a look at what the Hokies will need to do to take the win tonight. 125: #21 Brett Ungar vs #18 Eddie Ventresca/Cooper Flynn It will be critical that the Hokies pick up this win to start the dual. Ungar has been solid this year, but I think both Ventresca and Flynn have the skills to win this match. 133: #3 Vito Arujau vs #8 Sam Latona This may be a matchup of the two tallest and lankiest 133s in the country. This has the potential for a lot of fireworks as both of these guys will let it fly and can wrestle through all sorts of funky positions. Vito is 2-0 against Latona at 125 and has the slight edge in this matchup, but I don’t put it past Sam to be able to beat anyone on a given day. Definitely going to be a fun one. 141: #22 Vince Cornella vs #14 Tom Crook/Colin Gerardi This is a huge swing match. I think the Hokies will send out Crook for this matchup and Gerardi will get the nod for the Sunday matches. Both Cornella and Crook are 11-3 and have wins over ranked opponents. Crook has a win over Lachlan McNeil, who beat Cornella at the Collegiate Duals. I give the edge to Crook here but this one will be tight. 149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis vs #11 Caleb Henson What can you say here? Yianni is a freak and we are lucky to get to see him compete. Henson has had a phenomenal season and will be a tough out for anyone, but it’s hard to bet against the 3-time NCAA Champ. That being said, Yianni has a loss this season for the first time since 2018 and has wrestled close matches. Henson could shock the world tonight, but it’s going to take a perfect performance from the true freshman. 157: Colton Yapoujin vs Clayton Ulrey This is another huge swing match that the Hokies will need. Ulrey has competed well filling in for Andonian, and is 12-8 on the year. He has looked good since moving down to 157 and is a very difficult wrestler to score on. Ulrey will need to come through big for the Hokies as he did in the Mizzou dual. 165: #7 Julian Ramirez vs #22 Connor Brady Brady has benefitted from the move up to 165 and has put together a good start to the season. Three of his losses are to top-10 wrestlers; he held Keegan O’Toole to one of his lowest-scoring decisions of the season and went into overtime with Shane Griffith. This shows me that Brady is ready to make a breakthrough…so why not tonight against a very good Julian Ramirez? Ramirez is a solid wrestler and can put up points in bunches. Brady will have to slow him down and make his offense count to knock him off. 174: #6 Chris Foca vs Jordan Florence/Kolton Clark This will be a big ask for Florence or Clark…but they will need to minimize the damage from Foca to keep the Hokies in this dual. Foca is tough; he is 0-2 against Mekhi, but both were very tight matches. The Big Red will be looking for bonus here. 184: #6 Jonathan Loew/Evan Canoyer vs #7 Hunter Bolen The Christiansburg Cowboy will need to come through for the Hokies. He has looked amazing this year and is very much back in the form of his All-American year--more importantly, his mindset is locked in and ready to get back on the podium. These two have split matches, with Bolen winning in 2020 and Loew winning in sudden victory at the Collegiate Duals last season. I feel great about where Bolen is and I think he takes this match. 197: #17 Jacob Cardenas vs #23 Andy Smith These last two matches will be huge for the team battle. Both favor the Big Red on paper, but both are winnable matches for the Hokies. Cardenas beat Smith 3-2 at the Collegiate Duals last season, but Smith has shown that he has made big strides in the last year. If he wrestles like he did in Vegas, he wins this match. That is the Andy Smith that the Hokies will need tonight. 285: #18 Lewis Fernandes vs #23 Hunter Catka The dual could very well come down to this last match. Fernandes is a dangerous wrestler, but at 4-4 on the year, he hasn’t had the showings that he did last year when he made the blood round. Catka comes in at 9-3 with losses to two All-Americans and a conference foe in sudden victory. The atmosphere of the Moss Arts Center may play a big role in helping propel Catka to victory to seal this dual.

Sam Latona (left) and Vito Arujau at the 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Even though there are a few open tournaments on the schedule this weekend and in the coming weeks, we're smack dab in the middle of dual season. This weekend marks the first set of Big Ten conference matches. Both Friday and Sunday feature B1G doubleheaders on the Big Ten Network. Don't be fooled though, the action isn't limited to the Big Ten, there are some incredible duals on tap for this weekend outside of the conference. With so much going on, there might be some storylines that go unnoticed. At InterMat, we're trying to prevent any such occurrences. In our weekend primer, we'll outline a couple major things to watch in this weekend's duals. Friday Ohio State at Indiana As we were preparing for the Collegiate Duals, I checked to see the status of Ohio State's lineup. They ended up without their starters at 133/157/165 for the Duals and suffered a loss to Northern Iowa. At the time, I was told to expect the Buckeyes injured wrestlers in January. We're in January now. Let's see what the Buckeyes look like in their conference opener. Truthfully, they don't necessarily "need" those three back to get the win against the Hoosiers, so maybe Coach Ryan holds out the trio for Rutgers next week. Watch: Big Ten Network (TV) Binghamton at NC State Unfortunately, I'd imagine we don't see the marquee matchup of this edition of the "Pat Popolizio Bowl," as #9 Louie DePrez was injured early in his Southern Scuffle final at 197 lbs. Last year, at the Collegiate Duals, DePrez majored #7 Isaac Trumble. Without that match, the heavyweight clash is the most enticing of the dual. Scuffle runner-up Cory Day has been a breakout star for the Bearcats and should face #12 Owen Trephan. Watch: ACC Network Extra For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

The 2022 Midlands Finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome everyone to the first mailbag of 2023! I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday, but it’s dual meet season which means the forfeit season is likely over with for now. Speaking of forfeits, you may have asked a thing or two about said situation. Great. It certainly hasn’t been discussed enough so let’s get into it. Why are folks talking about the Soldier Salute and Iowa sending their full team and complaining about having multiple placers against a field where all teams didn’t send starters, but not the same complaint about Oklahoma State with three placers in some brackets at the Southern Scuffle? Billie Sims I’ll just go ahead and address the elephant in the room. Iowa didn’t belong at the Soldier Salute. I get it. It’s wrestling. Everyone is taught to be tough and take on all challenges. The Salute is a wonderful idea, but having the number two team in the country there is a serious detriment to all the teams being saluted. It’s just the truth. I want to see some military schools face each other in the finals. Not Hawkeye wrestle-offs. And another thing Iowa, if you’re going to do that, please get one alternate singlet even if it’s just for these events. All your 149 guys look similar. Would you rather MFF out of a match or have to do 2:2:2 with the national champion at your weight? Jkos11 That would depend on why I’m booked to wrestle the guy in the first place. Is this an unsanctioned grudge match? Do I have to go six minutes regardless of the score? I feel like I’d spend a good four minutes and 45 seconds just being fully pinned. Maybe I’ll just take the forfeit. Should winning certain in-season tournaments give a seeding boost that’s similar to UWW ranking series events? Dr. Rhino I feel like it’s almost the only way to keep the competition at tournaments on the level. I say we add the Last Chance Open to CKLV, Midlands, and Scuffle as the big four seeding tournaments and hold it in February. Therefore, every team has a chance to send various wrestlers to any of the big four for qualifying purposes. If you want to go nuts, make dual matches non-qualifiers and see how many guys miss potential big matches with the dual in balance. Probably a lot fewer than the forfeits we’re getting in tournaments right now. Do I expect any actual change to resolve this forfeit issue? I don’t. The powers that be are not about to change the entire system of college wrestling because Seton Hall Pirate isn’t getting his full slate of wrestlebacks. What would the trophy/prize be for champions of the inaugural Jagger Jersey Jamboree Open in the 2024 season? Fantasy College Wrestling Oh, the Triple J? The winners all receive a dozen bagels from George’s Hot Bagels in Fair Lawn, NJ. Best bagel place in the world. They take debit cards now! Should a medical forfeit equate to a loss? Eric “The Hitman” Asselin No, because I think there are legit injuries out there and it’s not fair to tag a loss on a wrestler for preventing further damage. Sure, it would lead to fewer forfeits, but you’re also putting legit hurt kids in a position that they shouldn’t have to be in. I realize some oldheads want them to tough it out, but I tend to care more about a kid’s health than who officially placed fifth at Midlands. What physical ailment would cause you to MFF out of a match? I assume it would be a lot since you may be the toughest person on Twitter. Austin Sommer The one where I’m forced to go six minutes with the national champ at my weight. Did you buy tickets to the 2023 EIWA Championships yet? Kevin McGuigan Go to one conference tournament when I have so many screens at home to watch them all? That’s crazy talk. I will say that Philly 2025 is looking particularly appealing. Maybe see Carter Starocci win his fifth title in his home state. Who’s the head coach of the Buffalo Bills? Nicholas Strub I do believe it’s former wrestler Sean McDermott. A true leader of men. On that note, I think I’ll take my leave. Talk to you all next week.

Northern Iowa 133 lber Kyle Biscoglia (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Thursday’s Dual Results Brown 25 Franklin & Marshall 10 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Mason Leiphart (F&M) 7-4 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) dec Pat Phillips (F&M) 2-0 141 - Ian Oswalt (Brown) maj Sam Kotch (F&M) 10-2 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) maj Avery Clarke (F&M) 10-2 157 - Keegan Rothrock (Brown) maj Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) 12-0 165 - Harrison Trahan (Brown) maj RJ Moore (F&M) 13-0 174 - Drew Clearie (Brown) dec Noah Fox (F&M) 11-9 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 10-5 197 - John Crawford (F&M) maj Lear Quinton (Brown) 10-0 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Alex Semenenko (Brown) 3-2 Presbyterian 23 Brown 15 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) 4-3 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 6-4 141 - Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) fall Samuel Lynch (Brown) 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) tech Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 17-2 157 - Sam McMonagle (Brown) maj Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 10-2 165 - Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) dec Mason Spears (Brown) 14-12SV 174 - Zachary Wells (Presbyterian) maj Drew Clearie (Brown) 12-4 184 - David Bertrand (Presbyterian) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 3-2 197 - Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) dec Aaron Wolk (Brown) 8-4 285 - Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) maj Alex Semenenko (Brown) 15-2 Franklin & Marshall 29 Davidson 9 125 - Mason Leiphart (F&M) tech Devon Diaco (Davidson) 16-0 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) dec Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 6-2 141 - Aidan O’Shea (F&M) dec Josh Viarengo (Davidson) 4-2 149 - Avery Clarke (F&M) fall Noah Frack (Davidson) 4:30 157 - Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) dec Marc Koch (Davidson) 5-2 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) dec RJ Moore (F&M) 8-1 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Brett Sanderlin (Davidson) 6-0 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) 12-5 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) fall John Crawford (F&M) 4:39 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Jake Fernicola (Davidson) 3-2 Brown 22 Davidson 19 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Devon Diaco (Davidson) 4-1 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) fall Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 3:45 141 - Ian Oswalt (Brown) fall Josh Viarengo (Davidson) 4:30 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) dec David Loniewski (Davidson) 8-1 157 - Sam McMonagle (Brown) maj Marc Koch (Davidson) 8-0 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) maj Jonathan Conrad (Brown) 12-4 174 - Jaden Hardrick (Davidson) dec Drew Clearie (Brown) 5-2 184 - Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 6-3 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) fall Aaron Wolk (Brown) 3:00 285 - Jake Fernicola (Davidson) dec Thomas Mukai (Brown) 4-2 Franklin & Marshall 33 Presbyterian 9 125 - Mason Leiphart (F&M) maj Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) 15-6 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 11-4 141 - Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) dec Aidan O’Shea (F&M) 7-2 149 - Avery Clarke (F&M) fall Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 4:10 157 - Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) maj Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 10-2 165 - Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) fall RJ Moore (F&M) 6:48 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Zachary Wells (Presbyterian) 8-6 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) 3-1 197 - John Crawford (F&M) InjDef Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) 5:19 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) maj Morvens Saint Jean (Presbyterian) 12-4 Northern Iowa 33 Wyoming 3 125 - Kyle Golhoffer (Northern Iowa) dec Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) 6-3 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) fall Darrick Stacey (Wyoming) 1:28 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Job Greenwood (Wyoming) 6-4 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 10-3 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 4-3 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec Cole Moody (Wyoming) 4-1 174 - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) dec Carson Babcock (Northern Iowa) 4-3 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) fall Guillermo Escobedo (Wyoming) 4:05 197 - Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) dec Quayin Short (Wyoming) 4-1 285 - Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec Mason Ding (Wyoming) 4-0

NC State 141 lber Ryan Jack (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's hard to believe that we've already reached the halfway point in the season and we are only a couple weeks away from ACC Friday Night Duals. It has been a wild season already, but the good news is that there is still a ton of wrestling ahead of us. Let's take a quick look at some of the highlights from early action and see where all the ACC teams are sitting as we move into conference duals. Duke Dual Record: 3-4 Remaining non-conference opponents: Central Michigan, Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb The Blue Devils have relied heavily on young starters in the lineup and they have gone through some growing pains. They have shifted multiple starters throughout, but seem to be settling in on their optimal lineup. As expected, they have been led by Jonah Neisenbaum who had a 12-1 record going into the Southern Scuffle. He had a solid showing in Chattanooga, making it to the semifinals before ultimately placing fifth and moving his season record to 16-3. He has ranked wins over Konnor Doucet, Garrett Joles, Hunter Catka and Ben Goldin and he took the title at both the Keystone Classic and the Battle at the Citadel. Also holding winning records for Duke are Jared Papscy (8-8), Patrick Rowland (11-8) Gaetano Console (5-5) and Vince Baker (3-3). Ranked Wrestlers: #22 Jonah Neisenbaum-285 Pittsburgh: #6 Tournament #19 Dual Dual Record: 5-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: West Virginia, Buffalo, Iowa State The Panthers have been impressive on many fronts during the first half of the season. After a close early-season loss to Maryland, Pitt went on a four-dual winning streak which included victories over ranked opponents Lehigh and Illinois. They also showed their tournament power at the Midlands, even without sending their full starting lineup. The Panthers tied for 2nd as a team and had individual titles from Cole Matthews and Reece Heller. They added an impressive runner-up finish from true freshman Dayton Pitzer who beat four ranked opponents, including NCAA finalist Cohlton Schultz, on his way to the finals. Also placing for the Panthers were true freshman Mac Stout (4th at 197), Tyler Badgett (5th at 149), Ryan Michaels (6th at 141) and Luca Augustine (6th at 174). This tournament highlighted both the talent in the starting lineup and the impressive recruiting that Coach Gavin has done. It also brings up potential changes to the starting lineup--it's hard to ignore the success that Dayton Pitzer has had in his opportunities as a starter and he has shown that he can immediately be a contender in the ACC and nationally. Pitt has been led by Cole Matthews and Nino Bonaccorsi who both remain undefeated on the season. They have also had an immediate impact from transfers Holden and Reece Heller, both of whom have multiple ranked wins. Micky Phillippi continues his success and is an All-American threat, as always, and sophomore Tyler Badgett has gotten off to a solid 13-5 start to the season. The Panthers are going to make a push to be at the top of the ACC, and if they continue the success they've been having, they have the potential to knock off the top dogs in the conference. Ranked Wrestlers: #7 Micky Phillippi-133 #1 Cole Matthews-141 #25 Tyler Badgett-149 #28 Holden Heller-165 #14 Reece Heller-184 #5 Dayton Pitzer-285 North Carolina: #23 Tournament #25 Dual Dual Record: 2-5 Remaining non-conference opponents: Penn, Harvard, Brown The Tar Heels again started the season with a grueling dual schedule facing four top-10 teams in the first half of the season. Also adding to the difficulty for UNC was having NCAA Champ Austin O'Connor out until late December, and still having All-American Zach Sherman out due to injury. Coach Coleman Scott has designed their dual schedule to give them the toughest competition possible in order to prepare the team for ACC duals and the postseason; their record of producing All-Americans has shown that this approach has worked for the Tar Heels, even if it doesn't result in the optimal out-of-conference dual record. There have been several bright spots for the Tar Heels including a win over Campbell at the Battle at Bragg in a unique setting, followed by hosting Michigan at Doubles on the Diamond. They have been led by All-American Clay Lautt who is 5-2 on the year and will benefit from the full-time return of O'Connor, who is off to a 2-0 start. Jack Wagner has been off to a great start since his transfer and is 8-4 on the year manning the lowest weight. Gavin Kane and Max Shaw have both gotten off to 7-4 starts, with losses to highly ranked opponents; they will both play a big role in the success of the team as a whole during ACC competition and will need to be at the top of their game. Lachlan McNeil seems to be settling in at 141 and will be battling to get to the top of the ACC. The biggest question marks for the Tar Heels are at 133 and 165. Joey Melendez and Jaime Hernandez have both gotten starts at 133, while Nick Fea and Joey Mazzara have seen time at 165. It will also be worth watching at heavyweight if UNC sticks with Brandon Whitman or opts for Aydin Guttridge, who saw action against Cornell and at the Midlands. I am excited to see how the Tar Heels perform at full strength on the back half of the season. If they are able to have all of their top guys in the same lineup, they are a very dangerous team. Ranked Wrestlers: #33 Jack Wagner-125 #30 Joey Melendez-133 #21 Lachlan McNeil-141 #4 Austin O'Connor-157 #9 Clay Lautt-174 #17 Gavin Kane-184 #33 Max Shaw-197 North Carolina State: #13 Tournament #6 Dual Dual Record: 8-0 Remaining non-conference opponents: Binghamton, Army There were questions about the NC State lineup coming into the season and while there are still a couple weights where they are working out the full-time starter, they have shown they have the depth of talent to win with whoever is in the starting spot. It could be argued that the Wolfpack have had the best first half of the season out of any team in the country. They have six wins over ranked teams, highlighted by winning their pool at the National Collegiate Duals and earning runner-up honors at a very tough Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Individually, every starter has a winning record and seven of them have 10 or more wins on the season. Ryan Jack (13-1), Trent Hidlay (12-1) and Isaac Trumble (12-1) have the highest winning percentages, while true freshman Jackson Arrington (13-5) and Owen Trephan (13-3) have also notched 13 wins. Trent Hidlay has looked fantastic all season--his only loss is to Parker Keckeisen, who he beat at CKLV. Isaac Trumble seems to be at the top of his game--he has notched multiple top-ranked wins and took home the title at CKLV. I have been incredibly impressed with the growth of Ryan Jack. He has been much more aggressive on his feet and as dangerous as ever on the mat. Jackson Arrington has made an immediate impact as a true freshman--four of his five losses are to previous All-Americans, and he has continued to improve every match out. After a slower start to begin the season, Ed Scott seems to be back to top form and is a major threat to make the podium. The Wolfpack have tried out multiple options at both 165 and 174 with varying levels of success. Donald Cates has had some success at 165, and Matty Singleton got the start at Collegiate Duals after moving down from 174. Alex Faison seems to be in the driver's seat at 174, bringing in a 10-4 record and getting the nod at both CKLV and the Collegiate Duals. Brock Delsignore and Joey Milano have both gotten time in the lineup as well. It seems as though Pat Popolizio and crew are figuring out the lineup they need to reload and work for another ACC title. It will be a fun battle to watch the next couple of months. Ranked Wrestlers: #24 Jarrett Trombley-125 #25 Kai Orine-133 #6 Ryan Jack-141 #17 Jackson Arrington-149 #7 Ed Scott-157 #3 Trent Hidlay-184 #7 Isaac Trumble-197 #13 Owen Trephan-285 Virginia Dual Record: 2-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: George Mason, Ohio, Navy, Kent State, Maryland, American The Hoos have had a lighter dual schedule to open the season than in years past, but have still been able to get in some solid competition in tournaments. They started the season with the Southeast Open and the App State Invite, both of which had stellar individual results. They dropped a dual against a very good Northwestern squad and rebounded to beat Queens and Campbell. I highly recommend watching the UVA/Campbell dual, it was a very fun one. One big story of the season for the Hoos so far has been the success of their true freshmen. Kyle Montaperto, Garrett Grice, Jack Gioffre, Michael Gioffre, Mason Stefanelli, Nick Sanko and Nick Hamilton have all been off to phenomenal starts, and several have utilized the flexibility of the redshirt dates to spend time in the starting lineup. This gives Coach Garland depth and options with the lineup this season and bodes well for the future success for the Hoos. Justin McCoy and Neil Antrassian lead the team with 11-3 and 15-3 records, respectively. Antrassian has been a great addition for the Hoos after his transfer from Penn. He has been a leader on the mat and in the classroom. He placed 3rd at the Midlands, McCoy joined him on the podium in 5th and Michael Battista (16-6) placed 6th. Jarod Verkleeren has also played a big role for the Cavaliers and checks in with a 13-5 record; fellow senior Jake Keating has been out due to injury but should be back to the lineup soon. UVA has a very busy second half of the season with six out-of-conference duals--several at the Virginia Duals. I think they will be successful in these duals and it will put them in a good spot going into ACC season, as long as they can stay healthy. Ranked Wrestlers: #29 Jarod Verkleeren-149 #23 Jake Keating-157 #14 Justin McCoy-165 #18 Neil Antrassian-184 Virginia Tech #10 Tournament #10 Dual Dual Record: 3-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: Cornell, American, George Mason, Appalachian State The Hokies have had a fantastic start to the season, both in dual and tournament settings. They had several placers in both the CKLV and the Keystone Classic. The majority of the lineup went to one or the other, though Sam Latona and Hunter Bolen both won the Keystone Classic and placed at the CKLV. As expected, they have been led by All-Americans Sam Latona (15-4), Mekhi Lewis (10-1) and Hunter Bolen (13-2). Fellow All-American Bryce Andonian has not yet made his season debut at 157 as he recovers from an injury, but should be back in the lineup for the back half of the season. Connor Brady has been a solid addition moving up to 165 and is climbing up the rankings; Hunter Catka has held down the top weight very well at 9-3, with two of those losses to All-Americans. The lowest weight continues to be a battle in Blacksburg. Eddie Ventresca has won every match wrestled against Cooper Flynn, all in overtime, but the coaching staff is not settled on a starter as of yet. Ventresca is currently ranked and is 10-3 on the year, while Cooper Flynn is 10-5. It will be very interesting to watch this weight play out, as both can be contenders. The other big development in the first half for the Hokies is the emergence of true freshmen Tom Crook and Caleb Henson. We knew that Henson would be the starter from day one, but Crook's early success and dominant wrestling showed the staff that he was ready to be in the lineup. Crook has multiple ranked wins and took fifth at the CKLV. Henson also has multiple ranked wins, including knocking off then-second-ranked Sammy Sasso in the Ohio State dual; he also took 3rd in the Keystone Classic. Both of these freshmen will play a huge role in deciding the ACC team title. Ranked Wrestlers: #18 Eddie Ventresca-125 #8 Sam Latona-133 #14 Tom Crook-141 #11 Caleb Henson-149 #6 Bryce Andonian-157 #22 Connor Brady-165 #3 Mekhi Lewis-174 #7 Hunter Bolen-184 #23 Andy Smith-197 #23 Hunter Catka-285 The first week of duals will feature NC State at Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh at Virginia and North Carolina at Duke--I will be in Blacksburg to cover the showdown between the Wolfpack and the Hokies along with Rock Harrison and Shawn Kenney on the call for the ACC Network. I hope everyone is ready to tune in on January 20th.

149 lbs Southern Scuffle champion Kellyn March (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We’re a few days into the first week of 2023 and there has been a lot of activity already this year for the Big 12. Let’s dive in and take a look at five big things from the first week of 2023 for the conference. Mitchell Mesenbrink enters the transfer portal A huge blow for California Baptist as U20 World Silver Medalist Mitchell Mesenbrink has entered the transfer portal. Mesenbrink looked as though he’d be a huge boost for the program as they make their transition to Division one and the Big 12, but on January second he announced he’s on the move. Really tough loss for California Baptist. Stephen Buchanan Officially on OU Roster On the other side of the transfer portal, Stephen Buchanan is now officially on the roster at OU. Buchanan, a two-time All-American at Wyoming, announced his transfer in December and OU officially added him to their online roster this week. North Dakota State Balls Out at Southern Scuffle Kellyn March, Jared Franek, and Owen Pentz all won titles at the Southern Scuffle as Michael Caliendo and DJ Parker finished second. The team also finished second ahead of Minnesota and Missouri (both missing some starters). This combined with some significant dual wins over Nebraska and others early in the season has North Dakota State looking really good this year and wrestling well above what I and some others would have projected going into the season. Missouri and Iowa State’s Top Guys Miss Scuffle There’s already a lot of debate on this subject that is stirring on Twitter and other places. Is it ducking? Is it a pitch count? Is it legit injuries? I have no idea. But a lot of the top guys from both of these teams did not wrestle at the Southern Scuffle. This would have been a good gauge for where the top Big 12 schools measure up to each other but without everyone competing here, it’s tough to know much in that regard. Oklahoma State Wins Comfortably Without full Iowa State or Missouri rosters, the Cowboys of Oklahoma State won the team title fairly comfortably at the Southern Scuffle. They wrestled well but as mentioned earlier, it’s still tough to know if they’ll be able to hang with Missouri or Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament format.

157 lbs Midlands Champion Trevor Chumbley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Holiday wrestling staples - Midlands and the Southern Scuffle - were back in full force this year, along with the inaugural Soldier Salute in Iowa, giving wrestling fans plenty of options for entertainment and plenty of excuses to escape excessive family festivities. Several Big Ten teams were in action this weekend for some final competition before diving into the conference dual slate. Here's what we learned: Well-rounded performance leads Northwestern to Midlands win After 58 years of hosting the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, the Northwestern Wildcats were crowned the team champions for the first time in program history. The feat was even more impressive considering the Wildcats were without one of their top wrestlers in Michael DeAugustino at 125 pounds. They also had a few other wrestlers who had limited mat time due to injuries, coach Matt Storniolo told BTN's Shane Sparks, referring to his team as "the walking wounded." Yet, the Wildcats still found themselves hoisting the team trophy at the end of the day thanks to first-place finishes from Lucas Davison (285), Yahya Thomas (149) and Trevor Chumbley (157) and podium finishes from Chris Cannon (2nd at 133), Andrew Davison (3rd at 197), Aiden Vandenbush (7th at 157) and Evan Bates (8th at 184). The finals match that probably gave Coach Storniolo the most gray hairs was Thomas' 4-3 decision over Arizona State's Kyle Parco. Thomas led by a point when Parco got in deep on a shot and the two went off the mat with 15 seconds remaining. The Arizona State coaching staff wanted a takedown to be called, but after review, the two were deemed to have been off the mat and Thomas held on for the win. Thomas, who improved to 11-1 on the season - including a 3-2 semifinal win over Penn's Doug Zapf - was awarded for his performance this weekend by being named not only the Art Kraft Champion of Champions, but also the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. A wrestler who didn't have to sweat out any close matches was heavyweight Lucas Davison, who rolled through the entire tournament without surrendering a single point. He collected a first-period fall, a decision and two major decisions before stopping the run of Pitt true freshman Dayton Pitzer, who took out top-10 opponents in Cohlton Schultz, of Arizona State, and Trent Hillger, of Wisconsin. Davison's size and length proved to be a bit too much for the freshman, as he controlled the match and prevailed with a 4-0 decision. We, in this column, have been high on Chumbley since he won the Michigan State Open in the beginning of the season. The sophomore continued to impress in his title run this weekend, during which he gave up just two points in five bouts. Chumbley took out two Badgers along the way - a 6-1 win over Garrett Model in the semifinals and 8-0 over Drew Scharenbrock in the finals. In his conversation with Sparks, Storniolo described Chumbley as a "selfless teammate" who was a key part of Thomas' third-place NCAA finish in 2021 and Ryan Deakin's NCAA title last season. But now, Storniolo said, it's Chumbley's time to shine and he's going to give "110%" every time he steps on the mat and have "an opportunity to make a name for himself." Chumbley will have another one of those opportunities on Saturday when the Wildcats host Minnesota and he could take on All-American Brayton Lee. Wisconsin has a solid showing at Midlands The Badgers had a solid showing at the 58th Midlands Championships. The crew from Madison had 4 finalists, and ended up with one champion and a fourth place team finish. The Badgers had a contingent of 15 athletes competing at the event, notably missing Austin Gomez from this event. A theme you'll hear from me throughout this, is that I think that's fine. Sometimes people need to protect themselves (physically and mentally, not seeding), and that's fine. Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me was that Eric Barnett looked awesome. Despite being a two-time All American and B1G finalist, I admittedly didn't give him enough credit up until this weekend. He was so solid and dangerous on his feet, and is unbelievable on top. He's very similar to Patrick McKee in that way. Barnett only has the one loss on the year to Iowa State's Kysen Terukina, but I feel like a 6-2 dominant win over former NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney makes up for that. Barnett is going to be a force as the year continues, and I'm excited to see how he fares against the rest of the B1G. The remaining finalists for Wisconsin included Drew Scharenbrock at 157 (notably wrestling behind Garrett Model most of this year, who placed 5th at Midlands) who fell to Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern 8-0. Scharenbrock made a statement by making the finals, but ultimately the Wildcat breakout star at 157 was too much. At 165, Dean Hamiti dropped a hard fought match to Quincy Monday of Princeton, who announced he was staying up at 165 for the season with a Midlands title. Hamiti has close losses now to Carr and Monday this season, but should feel encouraged that he's been competing tightly with these guys. Braxton Amos dropped a double overtime match to Zac Braunagel of Illinois. Amos had two pins and a technical fall before his 2-1 semi-finals win to make the finals. Was in on some attacks at various points in the match, but wasn't able to capitalize before ride outs. With the B1G schedule getting going he'll have a chance to flip these results. Speaking of, Wisconsin wrestles next in one of our B1G biggest duals of the year when they welcome the Nittany Lions of Penn State into Madison. That dual is this Friday, January 6th at 9pm EST on Big Ten Network. We'll get a chance to see Amos v Dean, Gomez v Van Ness, Hamiti v Facundo, and Hillger v Kerkvliet. This dual will be awesome, so don't miss it. Zac Braunagel and Edmond Ruth stand out for Illinois at Midlands Illinois also had a nice showing this weekend at Midlands, finishing behind Wisconsin at fifth with 104.5 points and two champions. Both Edmond Ruth (174) and Zac Braunagel won titles, while Lucas Byrd (3rd at 133), Danny Braunagel (3rd at 165), Dylan Connell (5th at 184), Danny Pucino (7th at 141) and Trey Sizemore (8th at 174) all made the podium. Zac Braunagel's individual title-winning performance - his second of the season after pinning Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman to win the Michigan State Open - stood out for the Illini as the junior is looking increasingly comfortable up at 197 pounds this season. As the No. 2 seed, Braunagel took care of business in the first couple rounds, setting up a semifinal with No. 3-seed Luke Stout, of Princeton. Despite giving up the first takedown, Braunagel kept his composure and rattled off four consecutive points - including a takedown of his own - and held on for the 4-3 win. The junior didn't get much of a break, though, as he was set for another grueling, tightly contested battle with top-seeded Braxton Amos, of Wisconsin. It took two sudden victory periods and two rounds of tiebreakers, but the Illini eventually earned the 2-1 win with an escape. Ruth also found himself in several tight matches - including the championship bout against Penn's Nick Incontera, which he won, 4-1, thanks to a takedown on the edge with about 25 seconds remaining and a rideout to keep his 18-match win streak alive. Both Braunagel and Ruth will be wrestlers to watch as the Illini travel to Iowa City on Friday to take on the Hawkeyes, as they could face Jacob Warner and Nelson Brands, respectively. Both will be good tests for two wrestlers still trying to establish themselves in their respective weight classes. Illinois will then head back home Sunday to host Wisconsin, where we could see a rematch of Braunagel and Amos. That is good news, because they definitely didn't get enough of each other this weekend! Soldier Salute/Iowa wrestle offs I kid, but Iowa had 8 champs, 3 other finalists, and many other placers at the Soldier Salute at Xtreme Arena in Corralville, IA. I have heard nothing but positive things from the event itself from coaches and media members, but I am curious if Iowa would have liked to have more competition that they don't already get in their own wrestling room. Most notably was the 125 finals where Spencer Lee wrestled Drake Ayala wrestling unattached for the Hawkeyes. If you're reading this, then you likely know what happened, so I won't recap that. I will however share my thoughts. In my mind everyone was justified in their feelings here. First of all, before the match all you see on Twitter is people outwardly saying that they hope to see the match, which makes sense, but it doesn't take the athletes and their specific situations into account all the time. I also like to be entertained, but I'm cool with breaks if it makes sense. We just want March to be great right? If I'm Spencer, I have extended my college career to finish this thing out, and wrestling your teammate in a finals match doesn't seem necessary. If you're Ayala, you want to see where you are and to get this match. If you're Tom and Terry, you probably want to see it also. In the end, Spencer did what he probably should've done and finished the match quickly. If you're Ayala and Brands and Co, you learned what you wanted to. Everyone is justified, and I'm sure they've figured it out by now, and I doubt it will linger. I think we have a tendency to overreact to things like this. It'll be fine. In the end Iowa is about to start their B1G schedule as well when they take on Illinois in Carver Hawkeye at 8:00pm EST on B1G Plus. Patrick Kennedy (165) and Jacob Warner (197) will take on the Braunagel's at their respective weights, and I would certainly love to see Nelson Brands wrestle Edmond Ruth at 174. B1G season baby!!! Southern Scuffle B1G Results The Southern Scuffle just wrapped up in Chattanooga and we had a LOT of B1G action. Forgive me but we'll run through some of these. Purdue had two finalists in Matt Ramos at 125 and Kendal Coleman at 157. Ramos ends up with the win on the strength of a takedown and two nearfall points from the first period. He was able to rack up over a minute of riding time, which turned out to be helpful because he needed that minute to not subsequently give up riding time to Surtin who spent plenty of time in the top position. Ramos holds on in the third and gets the win. Coleman took on Jared Franek of NDSU, losing in rideouts 2-2. Despite a whole lot of action, neither guy was able to get a takedown in this match. Both guys were in on some pretty intense shots, but some insane defense kept each guy from successfully completing the takedown. I tweeted this, but I mean it, that this could very well be an NCAA finals preview at 157. Minnesota placed fifth place while having 10 placewinners. They didn't end up with any finalists, but they had seven semi finalists between 133, 141,165, 174, and 285. Minnesota continued to display an impressive amount of depth. We've seen that the guys they can throw into the lineup can end up on the podium by the end of the year, as evidenced by Jake Bergeland last season. Jake placed third in this tournament behind Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado and Allan Hart of Missouri. Minnesota takes on Northwestern, coming off of their Midlands Championship, on Saturday January 7th at 3pm EST, in Evanston Illinois. Hoping to see Michael DeAugustino and Patrick McKee at 125 as well as Brayton Lee take on the red hot Trevor Chumbley at 157. Maryland had 3 placers with Braxton Brown taking 7th at 125, Ethen Miller took 4th at 149, and Jaxon Smith taking 4th at 197. Jaxon dropped a close match to Lou DePrez in the semis, but he continues to show that he's right there with some of the best in the country. The Terrapins take on Indiana on Monday, January 9th in College Park on Big Ten Plus at 6:30pm EST.

165 lbs Midlands Champion Quincy Monday (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We had a lot of action over the holiday break. The perennial midseason classics like the Midlands and Southern Scuffle are back, with many EIWA schools in action. The Soldier Salute, in Iowa, is new this season - which also had some EIWA teams participating. Some major stories included two high-profile athletes making weight changes. Quincy Monday was last year’s 157lb NCAA runner-up. He teased us this year stating he’d move up to 165 lbs, but did not. Well, he’s back up to 165 lbs and ended up winning The Midlands. His teammate (and fellow NCAA runner-up) was also rumored to move up to 133lbs. He was registered at 133 lbs but turned out to be a late scratch. I am told he will remain at 125lbs for the remainder of the season – but expect him to be on a “pitch count.” The EIWA saw two champs at Midlands. The previously mentioned Quincy Monday won at 165 lbs. The other champ was Michael Colaiocco of Penn at 133 lbs. He won a bracket with three former All-Americans in it. Monday had a win in the finals over Dean Hamiti, who was ranked fourth and a returning All-American. These two have earned my Outstanding Wrestlers of the Week. American The Eagles had a handful of matches days before Christmas. They were off during the holiday and will be back at the F&M Open this Friday 1/6. Army The Black Knights were at the Soldier Salute, coming in second place as a team behind Iowa. The highest finisher was #23 at 174lbs, Ben Pasiuk. His win in the finals was by medical forfeit. Julian Sanchez walked away with second place. He had a big win over #26 Matt Kazimir of Columbia. At 133lbs, Rich Treanor earned fifth over teammate Ryan Franco. Ethan Berginc wrestled to fifth place, too. Nathan Lukez (#30 @ 157lbs) came in sixth, while Dalton Harkins at 165lbs earned fourth, as did Sahm Abdulrazzaq at 184lbs. After a few surprising losses, at least in my opinion, the team rallied to earn second place behind #2 Iowa. They will go back to the east coast at the F&M Open in Lancaster on Friday. Binghamton The Bearcats spent the new year in Chattanooga, TN at the Southern Scuffle. With two runners-up, the team ended the event in 7th place, ahead of teams like Maryland, Purdue and Iowa State. Veteran Lou Deprez (#16 @ 197lbs) was a runner-up. He had wins over #10 Jaxon Smith of Maryland and Nick Stemmet of Stanford (#20). This may have been a coming-out party for Cory Day at heavyweight. The 33rd-ranked wrestler had a win over #21 Jonah Niesenbaum of Duke, dropping a decision to #8 Zach Elam in the finals. Day recently made his debut in the national rankings, and I don’t expect him to leave them anytime soon. After a medical forfeit, Jacob Nolan (#23) walked away with eighth place at 184 lbs. Other noteworthy things to address include Anthony Sobotker making his debut down at 125 lbs, after spending last season and the first half of this season at 133 lbs. With Micah Roes already manning this weight, this could make for an interesting battle in the room. We saw NCAA Qualifier, Brevin Cassella, return at the Wilkes Open as he made the transition down to 165lbs. He was absent from the Southern Scuffle after winning all five of his matches at Wilkes. The Bearcats have two tough bouts this weekend against #6 NC State and #24 Appalachian State – both on the road. Brown The Bears were in Chicago competing at The Midlands. Their lone placewinner was Hunter Adrian at 133 lbs. He dropped a 4-1 decision to returning All-American #19 Chris Cannon of Northwestern in the quarterfinals. His win for seventh place was over former AA, #20 Taylor LaMont from Wisconsin. At 149 lbs, there seems to be a battle for the starting spot between Blake Saito and Ricky Cabanillas. Neither wrestler outperformed the other, each going 1-2 on the weekend. We’ll keep an eye on this one. The Bears had a few other wins. It may not seem like much, but we will give Coach Leen a few years to build this program as he envisions. Next up for Brown, they will dual F&M, Presbyterian, and Davidson at the F&M Duals on Thursday. They will compete in the Open the following day. Bucknell The Bison were at the Southern Scuffle. Kurt Phipps was the highest placer was 32nd ranked Kurt Phipps at 133lbs. With a victory over 16th-ranked Attasauov of Iowa State in the consis, I would expect the ranking of Phipps to increase after his strong performance. At 141lbs, Darren Miller won in the quarters over #11 Dylan Droegemueller of North Dakota State. He had to medically forfeit to sixth place after the semifinal loss to #3 Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado. Dorian Crosby at heavyweight, had one win on the day – but it was a big one – as he defeated #20 Jaron Smith of Maryland. Expect Bucknell to go back to the drawing board before they will be wrestling Michigan State in Michigan on Friday, then host Hofstra to a dual on Monday. Columbia The Lions were one of the EIWA teams at the Soldier Salute in Iowa. Top wrestler, Josh Ogunsanya, did not compete at 165lbs. The top performance by a Columbia wrestler was Lennox Wolak at 174 lbs. His win over #30 Hayden Hastings of Wyoming should propel him into the next set of rankings, especially since his loss in the finals does not count against his record due to being a medical forfeit. At 125lbs, Nick Babin had a great win over #22 Ethan Berginc of Army before placing fourth. Angelo Rini was runner-up at 133 lbs after a pin, major, and decision. Last season’s EIWA champ at 141lbs, Matt Kazimir earned fourth place after dropping a match to Army’s Sanchez. Danny Fangaro went 4-2 on the day for a fifth-place finish at 149lbs. It is exciting to see Babin making some noise at the bottom of the lineup. His work with Coach Tanelli is paying off. This team has talent, especially when a healthy Ogunsanya is included. The Lions will take time to heal this weekend, before returning to competition next Friday the 13th. Cornell The Big Red were not in action after competing at the Collegiate Duals before the holidays. They needed a few weeks to heal up. They take on #3 Arizona State on Wednesday 1/4 in Austin, TX. They will then wrestle at Virginia Tech two days later. Drexel The Dragons were off between holidays. Expect them in action at the F&M Open this week. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats were on the road at The Midlands. Even though they had zero placewinners, we saw improvement at most weight classes. Most notably at 197lbs, John Crawford finished in the round of 12 losing to only the runner-up #12 Braxton Amos of Wisconsin, and third-place finisher Andrew Davison of Northwestern. He is really turning a corner up two weight classes from a season ago. At 133lbs, Pat Phillips had two tech falls on the backside. He lost to previous national qualifier, Cole Rhone of Bloomsburg. At 174lbs, Noah Fox was 3-2 on the weekend, as was James Conway at 184lbs. Conway had a win over returning qualifier Jack Jessen of Northwestern. We saw Vincenzo Pelusi (#31 @ 285lbs) make a return, going 1-2 on the day, including a loss to #7 Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard. F&M hosts Brown, Presbyterian, and Davidson to duals on Thursday before hosting the F&M Open on Friday. Harvard The Crimson participated in The Midlands. This could have been a coming-out party for Diego Sotelo at 125 lbs. He lost in the first round and wrestled back to earn third place. One upset included a pin over #21 Ryan Miller of Penn. Before he claimed wins via two medical forfeits, he also had a great win over Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh. Both 141lbs wrestlers for Harvard competed hard. Keep an eye out for Joe Cangro and Kenny Herrmann, as they seem to be pretty evenly matched at this weight. Although he didn’t place, Trevor Tarsi had a nice win at 157 lbs over Corbyn Munson of Central Michigan (#31). Harvard’s other placer was heavyweight Yara Slavikouski. He came in fourth, with ranked wins over #31 Pelusi, #27 Wolfgram, #26 Goldin, and #10 Hillger. We did not see Phil Conigliaro (#12 @ 174lbs) compete, as he is nursing an injury. We will expect to see him back soon. Harvard’s next event is at the F&M Open on Friday. Hofstra The Pride were at the Southern Scuffle. The single placer was fifth at 184lbs. Jacob Ferreira (#24) had a loss to #14 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. He had a great outing, wrestling to his seed. We typically see Knighton-Ward win matches, but he was 2-2 in the event. Justin Hoyle (141lbs) had losses to Darren Miller of Bucknell and Carter Young of Oklahoma State (#25 & #28, respectively). Missing from the lineup was Trey Rogers (#26 @ 197lbs), as he was a little banged up. We will see this Hofstra team compete at the F&M Open, along with a handful of EIWA teams. Following up a few days later, they will square off with Bucknell on Monday. Lehigh Lehigh sent a handful of wrestlers to the Midlands. Freshman phenom Ryan Crookham made the semifinals after a win over #9 Joe Heilmann of Rutgers. His 3-1 loss to #19 (and returning AA) Chris Cannon of Northwestern was his last match of the event before medically forfeiting out to sixth place. At 125 lbs, Sheldon Seymour walked away with seventh place in his redshirt season. Another strong performance for Seymour. Max Brignola (#26 @ 149lbs) also came away with a sixth-place finish. Two losses came from #10 Doug Zapf of Penn and #25 Tyler Badgett of Pitt. I’m sure we will see some wrestlers at the F&M Open, but the Mountain Hawk’s next competition will be Jan. 14th at Cornell. Long Island The Sharks will be at the F&M Open after a small hiatus during the holiday break. Navy The Midshipmen had a small appearance at the Soldier Salute. They brought only a handful of competitors. Ryan Catka was runner-up at heavyweight, losing to #3 Tony Cassioppi of Iowa. Jake Lucas at 197lbs earned fifth place. Another great performance came at 133 lbs. Brendan Ferretti’s only loss on the weekend came to Angelo Rini of Columbia. He had a win over Richard Treanor of Army, who was top 6 at EIWA’s last season. Catch the team at the F&M Open this coming Friday. Penn The Quakers were runners-up at The Midlands as a team. Michael Colaiocco (#9 @ 133lbs) defeated three former All-Americans in the process. He is looking like a legit All-American threat. Doug Zapf (#10 @ 149 lbs) was third place. He had wins over #29 Jarod Verkleeren of UVA, #26 Max Brignola of Lehigh, and #24 Caleb Tyus of SIU Edwardsville. At 157lbs, Anthony Artalona (#15) wrestled to fourth place after eight matches over two days. Lucas Revano also had a long weekend, wrestling seven matches. This included one win over #28 HoldenHeller of Pitt. Nick Incontrera (#20 @ 174lbs) was runner-up. He lost to Ruth (#10) of Illinois. At the upperweights, both Cole Urbas (197lbs) and Ben Goldin (#27 @ 285) each placed seventh. This week, we will see some wrestlers at the F&M Open on Friday. The team will host #25 North Carolina Saturday night. Princeton The Tigers made some noise before the Midlands even started. Pat Glory was registered at 133lbs, however, did not wrestle. Quincy Monday was ranked #1 in the nation at 157lbs, but is now wrestling up at 165lbs. In his debut, he went 5-0 with a win over #26 Heller of Pitt, #11 Braunagel of Illinois, and #5 Hamiti of Wisconsin. At 197lbs, Luke Stout (#20) took fifth place. At 149lbs, Rocco Camillaci had a win over #26 Max Brignola of Lehigh during his 3-2 tournament. Freshman Kole Mulhauser placed seventh in a solid performance. We still have a competition for the heavyweight starting position between Travis Stefanik and Matthew Cover. Neither wrestler separated from the other, so expect this to continue for another few weeks. The Tigers will have competitors at the F&M Open, along with most of the conference. Sacred Heart The Pioneers were off during the holiday season. We will see them at the F&M Open on Friday.

184 lbs Midlands Champion Reece Heller of Pittsburgh (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a lull in the holiday season, Week 9 brought in a lot of fantasy points and may have had some major moves within your league (especially for Cumulative Point Leagues). Moving forward, we enter the dual-heavy second half of the season where points are a premium. Upsets matter more and any tournament that may be out there become riskier plays. The top point scorer of Week 8 was Reece Heller (PITT) scoring 28 fantasy points in six matches, while Owen Pentz (NDSU) was assisted with that win by injury default in the Scuffle Finals to finish in the #2 spot of the week with 26 Fpts. Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA) ad 4 straight pins and held the #3 spot. Looking to the Season Fantasy Leaderboard, John Millner (APP) currently holds the #1 spot with 67 Fpts and a PPM of 3.5. Purdue lines up with the #2 and #3 current overall fantasy wrestlers for the season in 125 Matt Ramos (66 Fpts) and 157 Kendall Coleman (63 Fpts), while former #1 Mason Parris (MICH) is #5, despite having the same Fpts as Anthony Cassioppi and Brock Hardy (NEB). PPM is the difference with Cassioppi being #4 (PPM of 5.50), Parris #5 (PPM of 4.70), and Hardy #6 (PPM of 3.60). On to Week 10 Only one main tournament looks to be on most D1 schedules is the Franklin & Marshall Open with about 19 teams scheduled to participate. There are some others (Mat Mayhem, Kauffman Memorial Open, etc), but these will not be D1 competition heavy and thus do not have much consideration when it comes to scoring fantasy points. Tournament entries continue to update the closer to registration cut-off/day of the event, and we don't want to make an “ass out of u and me” with teams and entries, so be sure to check back and turn those notifications “ON” for our updates and news. 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 10 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 Spencer Lee (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+10] Eddie Ventresca (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+9] Eric Barnett (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+8] Brandon Courtney (ASU)- Vs Cornell (in Austin, TX), @ Iowa State [+7] Dean Peterson (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+7] Killian Cardinale (WVU)- Vs Ohio, @ Pittsburgh [+7] Liam Cronin (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+6] Blake West (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+6] Logan Ashton (CHAT)- @ VMI [+4] Tristan Lujan (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Jarrett Trombley (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Malik Heinselman (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Joey Prata (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Caleb Smith (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Joseph Fischer (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] 133 Lucas Byrd (ILL)- @ Iowa, Vs Wisconsin [+7] Dylan Ragusin (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Kyle Biscoglia (UNI)- Vs Wyoming, @ Missouri [+7] Joe Heilmann (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Sean Carter (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Kai Orine (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Wyatt Henson (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Daton Fix (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Micky Phillippi (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Brayden Palmer (CHAT)- @ VMI [+3] Rayvon Foley (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+3] Chris Cannon (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+3] Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Sam Latona (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+3] 141 Clay Carlson (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Real Woods (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Brock Hardy (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+7] Cole Mattin (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+6] Sammy Alvarez (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Tom Crook (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+5] Ryan Jack (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Mosha Schwartz (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Jake Bergeland (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Dylan D’Emilio (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Beau Bartlett (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Cole Matthews (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+3] Dylan Cedeno (UVA)- Vs George Mason [+3] 149 Max Murin (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+8] Austin Gomez (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+7] Yianni Diakomihalis (COR)- Vs Arizona State (in Austin,TX), @ Virginia Tech [+6] Chance Lamer (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+6] Anthony Cheloni (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+6] John Millner (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Jackson Arrington (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Sammy Sasso (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Victor Voinovich (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Caleb Henson (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+4] Johnny Lovett (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Yahya Thomas (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+3] Mitch Moore (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Doug Zapf (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Caleb Tyus (SIUE)- Vs Buffalo [+3] 157 Peyton Robb (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+8] Cael Swensen (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Jason Kraisser (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+7] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Andrew Clark (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+4] Chase Saldate (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Ed Scott (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Kaden Gfeller (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Tommy Askey (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Peyten Keller (OHIO)- @ West Virginia [+3] Jacob Butler (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Kendall Coleman (PUR)- Vs Iowa [+3] 165 David Carr (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+8] Cam Amine (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Izzak Olejnik (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+7] Dean Hamiti (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+7] Julian Ramirez (COR)- Vs Arizona State (in Austin,TX), @ Virginia Tech [+6] Peyton Hall (WVU)- Vs Ohio, @ Pittsburgh [+6] Caleb Fish (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Garrit Nijenhuis (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Vs George Mason [+4] William Formato (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Cameron Pine (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Andrew Sparks (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Lucas Revano (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Hunter Mays (RID)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Connor Brady (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+3] 174 Mekhi Lewis (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+10] Michael Labriola (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+9] Cade DeVos (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+7] Carter Starocci (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Rocky Jordan (CHAT)- @ VMI [+4] Will Miller (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Alex Faison (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Sal Perrine (OHIO)- @ West Virginia [+3] Ethan Smith (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Dustin Plott (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+3] 184 Hunter Bolen (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+10] Brian Soldano (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+9] Abe Assad (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Matt Finesilver (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Marcus Coleman (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+6] Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- Vs Wyoming, @ Missouri [+6] Cade King (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+6] Trent Hidlay (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+5] Aaron Brooks (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Guiseppe Hoose (BUFF)- @ SIU-Edwardsville [+4] Kaleb Romero (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Layne Malczewski (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+3] Isaiah Salazar (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Grayden Penner (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Trey Munoz (ORST)- Vs Oklahoma State [+3] Gavin Kane (UNC)- @ Pennsylvania [+3] 197 Tanner Sloan (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+9] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+8] Jacob Warner (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Bernie Truax (CP)- Vs Michigan [+4] Cameron Caffey (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- vs Northern Iowa [+4] Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Ethan Laird (RID)- Vs Rutgers [+4] Tyler Bagloy (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Keegan Moore (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Tanner Harvey (ORST)- Vs Oklahoma State [+3] Max Dean (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] 285 Mason Parris (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+10] Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+9] AJ Nevills (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- Vs Cornell (in Austin, TX), @ Iowa State [+7] Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- Vs Nebraska , vs Gardner-Webb [+7] Boone McDermott (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Ryan Vasbinder (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Owen Trephan (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Lucas Davison (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+4] Konner Doucet (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Dayton Pitzer (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Hunter Catka (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+4] Zach Elam (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Bryan Caves (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Tate Orndorff (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Josh Heindselman (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Ben Goldin (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Colton McKiernan (SIUE)- Vs Buffalo [+3]

Little Rock 197 lber Stephen Little at the Southern Scuffle (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Little Rocks rocks the nation at Southern Scuffle Little Rock came into the tournament with a 2-4 record and little expectations from outside its team. However, the Trojans marched into Chattanooga and created some program history, finishing 10th and sending three wrestlers to the podium. Triston Wills led the charge by going 5-1 in the 174-pound division and claiming a bronze medal. Wills picked up wins over No. 27 Dom Solis and No. 21 Julien Broderson. Stephen Little went 5-2 and finished fifth in the 197-pound division. Little went the distance in every match, including his two losses against No. 4 Ethan Laird and No. 10 Jaxon Smith. Heavyweight Josiah Hill went 4-2 and captured seventh with wins over Hofstra's Zachary Knighton-Ward and Stanford's Peter Ming. The Trojans look to keep the momentum rolling in a busy January that sees them host Lindenwood and Oregon State a week and a half from now. Courtney returns at Midlands Championship Arizona State has yet to have Brandon Courtney and Michael McGee compete alongside each other this season. McGee was pulled from the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships while Courtney debuted in the 125-pound division. Despite finishing second, Courtney eased himself back into competition, defeating SIU Edwardsville's Davian Guanajuato, Lehigh's Killian Delaney and NIU's Blake West. He fell to Wisconsin's Eric Barnett in the championship 6-2. Julian Chlebove filled McGee's shoes in the 133-pound division and captured a fourth-place finish. He was able to down a pair of Penn wrestlers, squeak a win over Wisconsin's Taylor Lamont and pick up a tech fall over Patrick Schellpfeffer. Chlebove's two losses came to Illinois' Lucas Byrd. In addition, Kyle Parco went 4-1 and finished second and Cohlton Schultz went 6-1 and finished third. Shane Griffith leads Stanford to Fourth-Place at Southern Scuffle Shane Griffith's second title at the Southern Scuffle made him the second Cardinal in school history with two. His bonus point victories and placing helped Stanford capture 105.5 points and finish fourth in the tournament. Nico Provo, Jaden Abas and Daniel Cardenas had a combined 18-3 record, including a 5-2 record over top-25 opponents, and all finished third in their bracket. Charlie Darracott finished fifth, and Hunter Garvin, Tyler Eischens, and Nick Stemmet finished seventh. Two Roadrunners Place at Southern Scuffle Angelo Martinoni finished seventh in the 141-pound class after earning wins over Oklahoma State's Carter Young and Virginia Tech's Collin Gerardi. 133-pound Chance Rich claimed sixth place and claimed a win over Stanford's Jackson Disario. Rich also only fell 4-1 to the eventual champion Daton Fix.

The 2022 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We're smack dab in the middle of the dual season and have a full-schedule of DI duals whis week. A total of 71 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this weekend. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). All times are eastern Wednesday, January 11: East Stroudsburg at Bloomsburg 6:30 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network King's at Bloomsburg 8:00 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network Thursday, January 12: California Baptist at Stanford 7:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream North Dakota State at Stanford 8:30 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Friday, January 13: Virginia Duals Campbell vs. Kent State 11:30 AM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Oklahoma 11:30 AM FloWrestling Navy vs. South Dakota State 11:30 AM FloWrestling Ohio vs. Virginia 11:30 AM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Ohio 1:00 PM FloWrestling Navy vs. Virginia 1:00 PM FloWrestling Campbell vs. Oklahoma 2:30 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. South Dakota State 2:30 PM FloWrestling Binghamton at Drexel 6:00 PM FloWrestling Bellarmine at Gardner-Webb 6:00 PM ESPN+ Michigan at Michigan State 6:30 PM B1G+ Columbia at American 7:00 PM ESPN+ Virginia Tech at Appalachian State 7:00 PM The Grind (Rokfin) Oregon State vs. Princeton at Austin, TX 8:00 PM FloWrestling Rider at Bloomsburg 7:00 PM Northern Illinois at Central Michigan 7:00 PM ESPN+ West Virginia at Chattanooga 7:00 PM ESPN+ Rutgers at Indiana 7:00 PM B1G+ Army West Point at NC State 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Buffalo at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Cal Poly at Air Force 8:00 PM FloWrestling Lindenwood at Little Rock 8:00 PM Little Rock All-Access CSU Bakersfield at Northern Colorado 8:00 PM FloWrestling Northern Iowa at Utah Valley 8:00 PM Go UVU YouTube Northwestern at Iowa 9:00 PM ESPNU Minnesota at Nebraska 9:00 PM Big Ten Network Missouri at Air Force 9:30 PM FloWrestling Saturday, January 14: Virginia Duals Campbell vs. Maryland 1:00 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. Virginia 1:00 PM FloWrestling Campbell vs. South Dakota State 2:30 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. Navy 2:30 PM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Virginia 2:30 PM FloWrestling Ohio vs. Oklahoma 2:30 PM FloWrestling Navy vs. Oklahoma 4:00 PM FloWrestling Ohio vs. South Dakota State 4:00 PM FloWrestling Clarion vs. VMI at LIU 11:00 AM North Carolina at Harvard 1:00 PM ESPN+ Clarion at LIU 1:00 PM ESPN+ VMI at LIU 3:00 PM ESPN+ North Dakota State at California Baptist 6:00 PM CBU Lancers YouTube North Carolina at Brown 6:30 PM ESPN+ Lehigh at Cornell 6:30 PM ESPN+ Cleveland State at Edinboro 7:00 PM FloWrestling Drexel at Franklin & Marshall 7:00 PM Centennial Conference TV Missouri at Wyoming 7:00 PM FloWrestling Purdue at Illinois 8:00 PM B1G+ Iowa State at Utah Valley 10:00 PM Go UVU YouTube Sunday, January 15: Army West Point vs. Queens at Gardner-Webb 10:00 AM ESPN+ Army West Point at Gardner-Webb 12:00 PM ESPN+ Bucknell at American 1:00 PM ESPN+ Lehigh at Binghamton 1:00 PM ESPN+ Oklahoma State at Columbia 1:00 PM ESPN+ Bellarmine at Davidson 1:00 PM Davidson All-Access Rutgers at Ohio State 1:00 PM B1G+ Hofstra at Buffalo 2:00 PM ESPN+ SIU Edwardsville at Central Michigan 2:00 PM Facebook Live??? Queens at Gardner-Webb 2:00 PM ESPN+ Oregon State at Little Rock 2:00 PM Little Rock All-Access Appalachian State at The Citadel 2:00 PM ESPN+ CSU Bakersfield at Air Force 3:00 PM FloWrestling Northwestern at Nebraska 3:00 PM B1G+ Penn at Stanford 3:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Princeton at Arizona State 4:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Cal Poly at Northern Colorado 4:00 PM FloWrestling VMI at Sacred Heart 4:00 PM NEC Front Row Wisconsin at Michigan 5:00 PM B1G+ Michigan State at Minnesota 8:00 PM Big Ten Network

2023 Southern Scuffle Final Results Championship Finals 125 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) dec Noah Surtin (Missouri) 4-3 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) 7-3 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec Allan Hart (Missouri) 8-4 149 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) dec Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) 5-3SV 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) dec Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 2-2RTTB 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) 3-2 174 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 12-7 184 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) dec DJ Parker (North Dakota State) 3-1 197 - Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) InjDef Louie DePrez (Binghamton) 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Cory Day (Binghamton) 5-0 Third Place 125 - Nico Provo (Stanford) dec Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) 9-3 133 - Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) dec Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 10-3 141 - Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) dec McKenzie Bell (Rider) 7-1 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec Ethen Miller (Maryland) 3-2 157 - Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) 4-2 165 - Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) InjDef Cam Steed (Missouri) 174 - Triston Wills (Little Rock) MedFFT Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) 184 - Gavin Stika (Oklahoma State) dec Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) 6-0 197 - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) MedFFT Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 285 - Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) dec Juan Mora (North Dakota State) 2-1TB Fifth Place 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) 5-4 133 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) MedFFT Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 141 - Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) MedFFT Darren Miller (Bucknell) 149 - Michael Gioffre (Virginia) MedFFT Quinn Kinner (Rider) 157 - Charlie Darracott (Stanford) MedFFT Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) 165 - Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) dec Cael Carlson (Minnesota) 5-3SV 174 - Andrew Berreyesa (Northern Colorado) MedFFT Jared Krattiger (Minnesota) 184 - Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) dec Joel Devine (Iowa State) 8-3 197 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) MedFFT Ethan Laird (Rider) 285 - Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) fall Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 5:41 Seventh Place 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) MedFFT Troy Spratley (Minnesota) 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) dec Sean Carter (Appalachian State) 5-3 141 - Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) dec Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 5-4 149 - Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) MedFFT Marcos Polano (Minnesota) 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) MedFFT Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado) 165 - Hunter Garvin (Stanford) dec Grant Stotts (Iowa State) 6-4 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec Julien Broderson (Iowa State) 7-6 184 - Kyle Haas (Oklahoma State) MedFFT Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 197 - Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) 6-1 285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) dec Peter Ming (Stanford) 5-2

Rocky Elam after winning the 2022 Southern Scuffle (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We're coming down the home stretch of tournament season. The Midlands and Soldier Salute got the holiday tournaments started and we'll finish with the Southern Scuffle. The Scuffle has become a New Year's tradition, occurring on January 1st and 2nd. Teams from the midwest tend to enjoy a trip down south during the winter and also get to see some different competition in the process. After the Scuffle, it's generally nothing but duals for the rest of the regular season. This year's Southern Scuffle field is shaping up to be the best in years. Looking at InterMat's tournament rankings, #3 Missouri, #12 Oklahoma State, #18 Minnesota, #20 Stanford, #22 Purdue, #23 North Dakota State, and #25 Northern Colorado are expected to send full squads, while #5 Iowa State and #14 Virginia Tech will be represented as well. Below is a preview of the action with predictions for finalists at all ten weights. Complete entries have not been made public, so they stand to change between now and Sunday! 125 lbs Ranked Wrestlers: #4 Patrick McKee (Minnesota), #10 Matt Ramos (Purdue), #12 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State), #14 Noah Surtin (Missouri), #16 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado), #24 Braxton Brown (Maryland), #28 Caleb Smith (Appalachian State), #29 Nico Provo (Stanford) Right away, we've got a returning champion in Patrick McKee looking for his second Scuffle title. The two-time All-American is 7-0 on the year and has racked up three falls along the way. His biggest victory, to date, has come over Trevor Mastrogiovanni, a 4-1 victory in their early December meeting. He is now 2-1 career against the Cowboy lightweight. To get round four, Mastrogiovanni likely has to go through Purdue's Matt Ramos in the semis. Ramos, an NCAA Round of 12 finisher at 133 lbs in 2022, has been excellent in his first year at 125. His only losses have come in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals and to a former high school teammate. Mastrogiovanni suffered a loss in the Bedlam dual then headed out west to Reno and seemingly righted the ship with three falls in five matches. The rest of this weight class should have some wrestlers that Mastro may see later in the year in conference action. Noah Surtin has been out of the Mizzou lineup since mid-November, but is registered here. Surtin is 1-1 career against Mastrogiovanni, winning the more recent of the two contests at the 2022 Big 12 Championships. A new addition to the Big 12 at this weight is NC State transfer Stevo Poulin. Poulin has yet to lose in a Northern Colorado singlet and has already tallied 13 wins on the year. This tournament should provide him with the biggest challenges of his young career. Speaking of testing redshirt freshman, Maryland's Braxton Brown is ready for the competition, as well. One of the faces of a resurgent Terps squad, Brown is 5-0 on the year with bonus points in four of his five outings. Aside from McKee and Surtin (4th), the only other 2022 placewinner returning is Caleb Smith who was fifth at the 2022 tournament. Smith posted a huge, major decision win over #9 Liam Cronin (Nebraska) at the CKLV, but went 2-2 overall. He's capable of making a big dent in this bracket. Another young face to watch is Nico Provo. Provo is 9-2 for Stanford this year and scored a win over Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn during his last outing. Flynn is also expected to be a part of a small Tech contingent in Chattanooga. Both should challenge for a place in the top eight. Finals Pick: For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Pittsburgh freshman Dayton Pitzer (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Midlands Quarterfinal Results 125 lbs Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) maj Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) 13-4 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Ryan Miller (Penn) 3-2 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec Markel Baker (George Mason) 12-6 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) dec Blake West (Northern Illinois) 4-3 133 lbs Lucas Byrd (Illinois) dec Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) 4-0 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) 8-1 Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Hunter Adrian (Brown) 4-1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) dec Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) 2-1 141 lbs Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) dec Joey Olivieri (Rutgers) 2-1 Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) dec Jesse Vasquez (SIU Edwardsville) 6-3 Josh Edmond (Missouri) dec Brian Courtney (Unattached) 3-2 Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) maj Danny Pucino (Illinois) 12-2 149 lbs Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 3-1 Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) 4-2 Doug Zapf (Penn) dec Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) 9-3 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) 12-5 157 lbs Andy Clark (Rutgers) dec Anthony Artalona (Penn) 5-3SV Drew Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) tech Cael Berg (Harvard) 18-3 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) maj Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 8-0 Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec Derek Gilcher (Indiana) 4-2 165 lbs Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) maj Cardi Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) 9-0 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Justin McCoy (Virginia) 3-2 Danny Braunagel (Illinois) dec Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 7-6 Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) 6-2 174 lbs Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) 5-3 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) 4-0 Nick Incontrera (Penn) maj Josh Otto (Wisconsin) 10-1 Danny Wask (Navy Prep) dec Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 4-3 184 lbs Brian Soldano (Rutgers) fall Evan Bates (Northwestern) 3:54 Jaritt Shinhoster (UW-Whitewater) dec Neil Antrassian (Virginia) 7-3 Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec Dylan Fishback (NC State) 6-4 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) dec Dylan Connell (Illinois) 2-0SV 197 lbs Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) fall John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) 2:33 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) InjDef Austin Cooley (West Virginia) Luke Stout (Princeton) tech Cole Urbas (Penn) 20-4 Zac Braunagel (Illinois) dec Michael Battista (Virginia) 4-1 285 lbs Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) dec Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 4-0 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec Boone McDermott (Rutgers) 6-0 Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) 9-2 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) maj Ben Goldin (Penn) 8-0

The 2022 Midlands Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022 Midlands Quarterfinal Matchups (8pm Eastern) 125 lbs Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) vs. Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) Ryan Miller (Penn) vs. Dean Peterson (Rutgers) Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) vs. Markel Baker (George Mason) Blake West (Northern Illinois) vs. Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 133 lbs Lucas Byrd (Illinois) vs. Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) vs. Michael Colaiocco (Penn) Chris Cannon (Northwestern) vs. Hunter Adrian (Brown) Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs. Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) 141 lbs Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) vs. Joey Olivieri (Rutgers) Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) vs. Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) Josh Edmond (Missouri) vs. Brian Courtney (Unattached) Danny Pucino (Illinois) vs. Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) 149 lbs Kyle Parco (Arizona State) vs. Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) vs. Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) Doug Zapf (Penn) vs. Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) vs. Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 157 lbs Anthony Artalona (Penn) vs. Andy Clark (Rutgers) Drew Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) vs. Cael Berg (Harvard) Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) vs. Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) Derek Gilcher (Indiana) vs. Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 165 lbs Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs. Cardi Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) vs. Justin McCoy (Virginia) Peyton Hall (West Virginia) vs. Danny Bruanagel (Illinois Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) vs. Quincy Monday (Princeton) 174 lbs Edmond Ruth (Illinois) vs. Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) vs. Kole Mulhasuer (Princeton) Nick Incontrera (Penn) vs. Josh Otto (Wisconsin) Danny Wask (Navy Prep) vs. Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 184 lbs Brian Soldano (Rutgers) vs. Evan Bates (Northwestern) Jaritt Shinhoster (UW-Whitewater) vs. Neil Antrassian (Virginia) Anthony Carman (West Virginia) vs. Dylan Fishback (NC State) Dylan Connell (Illinois) vs. Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) 197 lbs Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) vs. John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) Austin Cooley (West Virginia) vs. Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) Luke Stout (Princeton) vs. Cole Urbas (Penn) Michael Battista (Virginia) vs. Zac Brauangel (Illinois) 285 lbs Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) vs. Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) Boone McDermott (Rutgers) vs. Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) vs. Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) Ben Goldin (Penn) vs. Lucas Davison (Northwestern)

Keegan O'Toole (left) and Shane Griffith in the 2022 NCAA finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The college wrestling schedule has finally reverted back to some semblance of normal following the changes forced by the pandemic over the last two seasons. The normal mid-season tournaments, the Midlands and Southern Scuffle, will take place. There will also be a new tournament dubbed the Soldier Salute that is effectively a home event for the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. The following are some of the top men's matches fans might be lucky enough to see this week across the three tournaments. Midlands 125: No. 2 Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. No. 3 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) Glory wrestled in the Princeton Open to start the season and did not return to action until the Tigers' last dual in mid-December. In his first dual meet action of the season, Glory scored a 4-1 decision over No. 18 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) to improve his season record to 6-0. Last season, the Princeton wrestler made the NCAA finals and finished with a 20-2 record. He is expected to contend for a title once again this year. DeAugustino finished fourth at the last NCAA tournament and entered this season high in the rankings. However, so far, he has only completed one match. He began his season with a 15-3 major decision victory over Patrick McCormick (Virginia) in November. DeAugustino then returned at the Cliff Keen Invitational. However, he bowed out of his first match in the second period after suffering a lower-body injury. This would be a showdown between two of the top wrestlers at 125 pounds, but it might not happen due to injury. Southern Scuffle 141: No. 3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) vs. No. 4 Allan Hart (Missouri) Alirez knocked off No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the All-Star Classic, but since the bout was an exhibition he still sits at third in the rankings. However, Alirez has shown that the result was in no way a fluke. He has won all six of his matches on the year with bonus points. The former top recruit looks healthy and determined to storm the podium this year after falling in the round of 12 last season. A bout against Hart will be a strong test for the Northern Colorado wrestler. The two wrestled twice last year and each match was close. Alirez scored a 3-1 sudden-victory decision in a dual, and then edged Hart 6-4 at the Big 12 tournament. The Missouri wrestler is a three-time national qualifier who has started his senior season with a 4-1 record. His lone defeat came against No. 19 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State). However, following the defeat, Hart got back on track with wins over No. 15 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) and No. 11 Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State). Midlands 149: No. 2 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) Gomez is a major contributor to the rankings confusion at the top of the 149-pound division. In the first three weeks of the season, he suffered an upset against No. 3 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) and then turned around and upset multiple-time champion No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). After finishing fourth last year at this weight, he holds a 6-1 record and is poised to make a run at the top of the podium. At the Midlands tournament, Gomez will get a chance to cement his seed against another top-ranked 149 pounder. Parco was a surprise All-American for Fresno State at the 2021 NCAA tournament and then transferred to Arizona State. Last year, he was a regular in the top ten of the rankings and finished eighth to become an All-American again. So far this season, Parco has built an 8-2 record that includes victories over No. 9 Brock Mauller (Missouri) and No. 8 John Millner (Appalachian State). Southern Scuffle 157: No. 3 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) vs. No. 4 Jared Franek (North Dakota State) Coleman is a three-time NCAA qualifier who appears to be rounding into form this season. He has started the year with a 16-1 record with his only defeat coming against No. 2 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Other than that one match, the Purdue wrestler has gone undefeated. While he did suffer a loss at the Cliff Keen tournament, he also scored a very impressive victory over Big Ten rival No. 10 Will Lewan (Michigan). Franek is coming off back-to-back seasons that ended in the round of 12, and he is also hoping to make a charge at the podium this season. Like Coleman, his only loss of the year came against Robb. Franek has also picked up some very tight victories over ranked wrestlers. Early in December, he scored a tiebreaker victory over No. 11 Brayton Lee (Minnesota). Then less than 10 days ago, he edged No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) in sudden victory. Southern Scuffle 165: No. 1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 2 Shane Griffith (Stanford) Last season Griffith entered the NCAA tournament as the fifth seed, and it looked like he was going to go on another Cinderella run through the bracket. However, that momentum came to a halt in the finals against O'Toole. The Missouri wrestler edged out the 6-5 victory for his first NCAA title. Outside of the finals match, O'Toole allowed zero points in the tournament. He has gone undefeated to start his third year in the lineup and has already bested No. 5 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), Danny Braunagel (Illinois) and Evan Barczak (Drexel). After back-to-back finals appearances, Griffith has gotten off to an unexpectedly hot start to the season. He has won all 10 of his matches and picked up victories over No. 8 Justin McCoy (Virginia), No. 22 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) and No. 29 Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb). Southern Scuffle 174: No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) Plott qualified for the NCAA tournament last year by winning the Big 12 tournament. He went on to finish sixth and became an All-American. His opponent in that conference tournament final was Mocco who would go on to end his season in the round of 12. Mocco was close to finishing on the All-American podium and only one point away from a Big 12 title. The Oklahoma State wrestler has won all five of his matches so far this season and picked up a 10-5 decision over No. 15 Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota). Mocco has managed to notch seven victories, but he also dropped bouts against No. 10 Edmund Ruth (Illinois) and No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech). Southern Scuffle 197: No. 1 Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. No. 6 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) These two had quite the three-match series last season. Their first meeting of the year came in February as part of a dual. Elam held a 4-0 lead going into the third period. However, Bastida stormed back against the exhausted Elam to secure an 8-6 win in sudden victory. The rematch came at the Big 12 tournament where Bastida picked up another victory by a 4-3 score. Elam eventually got the last laugh, for that season at least, as he bested Bastida 1-0 at the NCAA tournament. Elam would go on to finish fourth at the NCAA tournament to become a two-time All-American. He has wrestled only three matches so far this season, but that includes wins over No. 19 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) and No. 28 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State). Bastida made the conversion from freestyle and folkstyle extremely quickly as the Cuban-born wrestler became an All-American in only his second competitive season of the American style. This year, it appears as if he has made another step forward. He has gone 8-1 to start the year with wins over No. 12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) and No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa). Bastida's only defeat came against returning champion Max Dean (Penn State). Midlands 285: No. 4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) vs. No. 5 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) Schultz finished second at the last NCAA tournament after falling in the finals against Gable Steveson. With Steveson joining the professional wrestling ranks, Schultz assumed the number-one spot to start this season. However, he fell down the rankings after being upset by No. 15 AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Outside of the NCAA final against Steveson, this was Schultz's first folkstyle loss since the 2021 NCAA tournament. Davison finished sixth at the last NCAA tournament to become an All-American. He faced off against Steveson in the quarterfinals. He lost the match by a 10-5 score, but Davison became the first person with a two-point score against Steveson that entire season. The Northwestern wrestler is 5-1 this year with his only defeat coming against No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan). This should be a nice test to see if Schultz can get back on track.

Kendall Coleman (left) and Peyton Robb in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) What a great start to the season we've all had the pleasure of watching. If you had told me that both Yianni and Aaron Brooks were going to lose before the end of 2022, I would have told you that you're a crazy person and that you should really seek professional help. Cue the Michael Jordan “stop it, get some help” GIF. Regardless, that's what has happened. So let's take a moment to talk about some B1G-centric storylines and look into what we have in store for the future. Gomez over Yianni and 149 as a whole. I woke up this morning feeling dangerous, which is nice because I had some writing to do. It's hard to accurately quantify how important confidence is at this level, but what's undeniable is how you can't get an upset win over a 3x NCAA champ without a specific level of confidence. Austin Gomez has that necessary amount of confidence, and then some, and I love it. His confidence isn't unwarranted. He only has the 1 loss this season to Paniro Johnson, of Iowa State, currently ranked 3rd. Paniro's only loss is to Yianni, and as mentioned, Yianni's only loss is to Austin, so it's a fun triangle of losses amongst the top 3 at 149. The B1G has a strong contingent of wrestlers at the weight still, but AG has a track record of having beaten them all to this point, most recently in a come-from-behind fashion against Sammy Sasso in the All-Star Classic. As we get through the New Year, and into conference duals, and through the conference schedule, it'll be interesting to see how NCAA seeding will look. B1G at 157 We started the season with two B1G wrestlers ranked 2nd and 3rd in the country, and that's where we land now. The difference is that instead of Brayton Lee and Will Lewan, we have Peyton Robb and Kendall Coleman. This weight class as a whole has had a lot of movement from 2-infinity, but the constant at 1 remains Quincy Monday, of Princeton. He hasn't wrestled much this year, but when he has, he's looked solid. Peyton Robb has been amazing so far this season, and looks to be improving from where he has been the last couple of years. Improving from where he has been the last couple of seasons is damn impressive, because not everyone continues to improve throughout their college seasons, but he certainly has. Kendall Coleman looks to be close to where he was before the knee injury, and I'm sure the confidence associated with these sorts of wins will only improve the results. Trevor Chumbley has shown that his MSU Open title was not a fluke, and that despite losing an NCAA Champ in Ryan Deakin, Northwestern will be just fine at 157. Another fun new addition at 157 this year is Cobe Siebrecht, of Iowa who has proven that he is ready when the lights come on. Tom Brands mentioned to us that he has been impressed with what he's been able to do on the main stage to solidify himself as their guy at 157, and I expect that to continue. Most of Iowa's matches this season have been at Carver-Hawkeye, so it'll be interesting to see how he performs as they travel, but he's shown that he can be a real guy in the B1G. Big Men on Campus Are you prepared for how awesome heavyweight is about to be in the B1G? I am decidedly not. I mean, I'm excited for it, but I don't think I quite grasp how awesome it's going to be yet. I mean, week in and week out we will get some combination of the following athletes trying to beat one another: Greg Kerkvliet, Mason Paris, Tony Cassioppi, Lucas Davison, Trent Hilger, Tate Orndorff, Jaron Smith, Boone McDermott, Garrett Joles and Jacob Bullock. Those are the currently ranked Heavyweights in the B1G, and 6 of them have previously been All-Americans. Another fun fact about Heavyweight in general, the top 4 guys have been age group World Champions at some point, in Kerkvliet (Cadet 2017), Parris (Junior 2019), Cassioppi (U23 2021), and Schultz (Grego U17 2017). Some of these guys have proven to be above the rest of the pack, but I still don't know that I expect anyone at Heavyweight this year to go undefeated. There is too much athleticism and power amongst the pack, as well as a diversity of attacks, for anyone to make it through unscathed. We should still get some interesting matchups before the New Year, but mark my words, 2023 in the B1G is going to be electric. Dean goes down and chaos reigns at 197 Any time a top-ranked defending national champ goes down, it's big news. But Max Dean didn't just lose once, he lost twice – in the same weekend, first to Rider's Ethan Laird then to former teammate Michael Beard, of Lehigh. Dean had a nice bounce-back performance last week at The Collegiate Duals, going 3-0, including a win over then-No. 2 Yonger Bastida, of Iowa State. The Nittany Lion senior now sits at No. 5 in a weight class where it seems like any given wrestler could beat any of the others. In fact, most of them have at one point or another. Dean remains the top-ranked Big Ten wrestler at the weight, but his path to finishing the rest of the regular season without adding another loss won't be easy. The main match to circle is Jan. 27 against Iowa's Jacob Warner. Warner, the NCAA runner-up last season to Dean, dropped two close matches to the Nittany Lion, including the 3-2 final and an 8-3 dual loss in which Warner led until the third period. While Dean leads this series 2-0, it still feels like it could go either direction. There are also a number of other potential landmines Dean could run into throughout the Big Ten season. Those include Michigan State's Cam Caffey, whom Dean lost to last season, Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman, whom he had one close match with last year, and a dark horse candidate, Maryland freshman Jaxon Smith. Dean could very very well make it through the rest of the season unscathed, but it feels like anything could happen in a weight that promises to be key come March. Freshmen emerge on the national stage One of the most exciting things about the first half of the season is seeing which freshmen emerge as national contenders. The Big Ten has 14 freshmen in the InterMat rankings as of Dec. 22, with Maryland leading the way with four. Rutgers has three freshmen ranked and Penn State and Ohio State each have two. Maryland's freshmen, in particular, have been critical to their successful 5-0 dual start and first ranked win since 2013. Capitalizing off the momentum of a big summer on the international stage, Jaxon Smith is now making a name for himself domestically. Ranked No. 10 at 197, a weight that seems like it could be anyone's game, Smith is 6-2, including a win over No. 13 Zac Braunagel, of Illinois. His teammate Braxton Brown is 5-0 at 125, and Ethen Miller and Kal Miller have contributed to key wins this season. Nebraska's Lenny Pinto is a new addition to the top 10 at 184, after his Cliff Keen finish (6th) and revenge win over Cade King, of South Dakota State. Rutgers' Brian Soldano has also made a lot of noise at that weight as a true freshman, ranked No. 12 at 10-1. His teammate Dean Peterson, is ranked No. 18 at 125, despite still splitting time in the starting lineup. Penn State freshmen Shayne Van Ness and Alex Facundo have proven themselves to be as advertised, both taking their first losses last week to top-5 opponents. Ohio State's Jesse Mendez shot into the rankings when he knocked off last year's fifth-place finisher Lucas Byrd, of Illinois, at the beginning of the season. While Mendez has been out of the lineup the past couple of weeks with an unspecified injury, another true freshman, Nic Bouzakis has been filling in just fine, going 3-0 at The Collegiate Duals. And Henry Porter has injected a jolt of energy into Indiana's lineup. The Big Ten schedule will put a lot of these freshmen to the test to sort out who might really have a chance at the medal stand. Penn State's Van Ness will get opportunities to take on three top-10 opponents in Wisconsin's Austin Gomez, Iowa's Max Murin and Ohio State's Sammy Sasso. Rutgers vs. Ohio State on Jan. 15 could present Soldano, Peterson and fellow ranked freshman Tony White with ranked matchups in Kaleb Romero, Malik Heinselman and Sasso, respectively. Depending on his injury status, Ohio State's No. 20 Paddy Gallagher could get shots at several ranked wrestlers, including Nebraska's No. 2 Peyton Robb and Michigan's No. 10 Will Lewan. All that's certain is that there's a lot of good wrestling ahead.

Wisconsin All-American Austin Gomez (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's back! After a weird 2021-22 season that saw the Midlands abruptly canceled due to Covid concerns and the MatMen Open trying to replace it, the most storied collegiate tournament is ready to rock. While the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational may surpass the Midlands in terms of ranked wrestlers/teams and the Southern Scuffle has had its moments, the Midlands has the history on its side. Famous for its format open to post-grads, the Midlands was famously as difficult (or more) than the NCAA Tournament due to the talented Olympic hopefuls that returned in the 1980's and 1990's. Now, those post-grads are few and far between, but there are still high-quality collegiate wrestlers ready to throw down. This year's edition of the Midlands (the 58th annual) features a pair of number-one ranked wrestlers along with three others ranked #2. In addition, top 20 tournament teams like #6 Arizona State, #7 Pittsburgh, #9 Wisconsin, and #13 Princeton are all expected to send full squads along with host #15 Northwestern. Below is our preview of the action at all ten weights, along with predictions for champions at all ten weights. 125 lbs Ranked Wrestlers: #2 Patrick Glory (Princeton), #3 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), #5 Richie Figueroa/Brandon Courtney (Arizona State), #6 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia), #7 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), #18 Dean Peterson (Rutgers), #21 Ryan Miller (Penn), #31 Blake West (Northern Illinois) Right off the bat, we have perhaps the most star-studded bracket of the entire tournament. There's the potential for five All-Americans to be in action at the Midlands. That being said, there are plenty of reasons why one or more of them may not actually compete this week. The finalists from the most recent Midlands (2019), Patrick Glory and Michael DeAugustino, are both slated to compete; however, both have missed time during this season. DeAugustino injury defaulted out of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, while Glory has sat out multiple duals. The two also finished second (Glory) and fourth (DeAugustino) at nationals last year. We could have the season debut for a couple of notable wrestlers at this weight class in Brandon Courtney and Killian Cardinale. The 2021 NCAA runner-up, Courtney, has been aiming to make his first appearance at the Midlands. In his place, redshirt freshman Richie Figueroa has been excellent, going 10-0 and winning the CKLV. Cardinale also got off to a late start last season and ended up winning the Big 12 Championships and was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher. Aside from Figueroa, the most steady from this group in 2022-23 has been Eric Barnett. The two-time All-American has earned wins over five national qualifiers during his six wins. Someone who may prove to be amongst the top-tier of contenders with a good tournament is Dean Peterson. All of his three losses have come to 2022 NCAA All-Americans, with two coming from Glory. His teammate, Dylan Shawver, is capable of a spot in the top eight, as well. Peterson's biggest win of the year, thus far, was a major decision over Ryan Miller, who made the finals at the Midlands 2021 replacement, the MatMen Open. He should fare well here, too. Finally, freshman Blake West has used the momentum created from his redshirt season and is 11-4 on the season. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Stanford 197 lber Nick Stemmet (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Beavers and Mustangs compete at Collegiate Duals Oregon State struggled on the first day of the National Collegiate Duals. The Beavers fell to Iôwa State 26-6. On the bright side, Trey Munoz upset Marcus Coleman to give the Beavers three points. Brandon Kaylor picked up the other victory with a 5-2 decision. The Beavers fell in the second dual against Cornell. Isaiah Crosby picked up a 9-2 decision to get the Beavers on the board. However, Oregon State lost 32-7. Oregon State finished its trip with a dominating win over Central Michigan. Brandon Kaylor, Cleveland Belton, Matt Olguin, Trey Munoz, Tanner Harvey and Ryan Reyes all pinned their opponents. Therefore, the Beavers captured a 39-10 victory and returned to Corvallis for the next year. Cal Poly come in as underdogs against Lehigh and North Carolina State and dropped both duals. A highlight for Cal Poly against Lehigh was a 3-2 win for Bernie Truax over All-American Michael Beard at 197. With a pair of losses, Cal Poly faced Lock Haven for fifth place. The Mustangs split the first eight matches as Lawrence Sanez, Dom Demas, Legend Lamer and Adam Kemp earned decision victories over Lock Haven opponents. The Mustangs finished strong as Bernie Truax tech falled Brad Morrison and Trevor Tinker continued to raise his stock with a pin over Ethan Miller. The Mustangs captured fifth at Collegiate Duals red pool Nick Stemmet earns Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week Although it was a quiet week for Stanford, 197-pound Nick Stemmet earned Stanford's second Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week. Daniel Cardenas earned the honor on Nov. 15. Stemmet sits with a 9-1 record and a 3-0 dual meet record. His greatest victory came over No. 21 Andy Smith from Virginia Tech 11-5. He will look to improve his stock at the Southern Scuffle on New Year's Weekend. Little Rock scores big off the mat Since it was a quiet week for the Trojans and Pac-12 wrestling, Little Rock decided to better themselves and the community. First, the Little Rock wrestlers became CPR certified thanks to American Heart Arkansas. Second, the Trojans decided to give back to the community. For the fourth consecutive year, the Little Rock program did a ham sale and donated over 200 hams to local families in need. Not only did they donate the hams, but they also delivered them to each family in 14 different neighborhoods throughout the Little Rock area.

Army West Point freshman 125 lber Ethan Berginc (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The post-holiday tournaments get ramped up this week with the Midlands and the Soldier Salute. We'll start by talking Soldier Salute, a new tournament that takes place in Coralville, Iowa and features the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes and a few military institutions like Army West Point, The Citadel, and VMI, among others. Proceeds from the tournament will be split between the USO's and a fund geared towards helping the growth of girls' high school wrestling. In addition to the college men's tournament, a women's tournament will also be held at the same site, on the same dates (December 29/30th). Fans will be able to follow the action on B1G+. A link to Thursday's B1G+ coverage page can be viewed here. Below is a preview of the action in the ten men's weights in Coralville along with championship picks. 125 lbs Ranked Wrestlers: #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa), #22 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point), #27 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) Could this week mark another appearance by three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee? So far this season, Lee has only competed at the CyHawk dual against rival Iowa State in early December. While rusty, Lee still managed to post a 16-5 major decision over Corey Cabanban. If Lee isn't in the field, the two remaining ranked wrestlers are Ethan Berginc and Tanner Jordan. Berginc has been an excellent revelation for Army, winning 13 of his first 14 bouts this year with wins over 2022 All-American Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) and past qualifier Liam Cronin (Nebraska). Jordan has had a breakout campaign, as well. He advanced to the semis at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and got a win over Appalachian State's national qualifier, Caleb Smith. Using the common opponents, Jordan has given up bonus points twice this year to Cronin. Also in the mix here are Northern Iowa's Kyle Gollhofer and Columbia's Nick Babin. Gollhofer has a 3-7 record, but has wrestled a brutal schedule. At the CKLV, he picked up a quality win over Air Force's Tucker Owens. Babin was last seen knocking off, then-ranked Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) during the Lions one-point loss to Pitt. He also has a win this year over two-time national qualifier Patrick McCormick (Virginia). For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Missouri head coach Brian Smith (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In May of 1998, the University of Missouri introduced its new head coach, a relatively unknown Brian Smith. At the time, the program was in a rough stretch of six seasons with a dual record under .500 and their best conference finish was in 1969, finishing fourth out of seven teams. The Tigers were in the brutal Big 12 conference (previously Big 8) and were just trying to compete against blue bloods Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. The team had never had a national champ, and over 50 seasons only had 23 All-Americans. Fast forward to today, and Coach Smith has just signed a contract extension with Mizzou through 2027, continuing his record-setting tenure as Mizzou Wrestling's head coach. While the program was in a rough place in 1998, Coach Brian Smith has turned Mizzou wrestling into one of the most consistent programs at Division I, and the culture of Tiger Style is now known throughout the wrestling scene. Smith came from Syracuse after a single season trying to keep the program alive. Before that, he had spent five years as an assistant at Cornell with Rob Koll. Together they put signed top recruiting classes and the first Big Red national champ since 1960. As an athlete, Smith competed for Michigan State and was a three-time All-Big Ten wrestler. While it is a respectable resume, fans at the time were skeptical of the choice by the Mizzou athletic administration. In Smith's first four seasons, the team made slow but continuous progress. Their dual record went from 4-9 in 1999 to 18-3 and Smith's first All-American came in 2002. However, the conference struggles continued with last-place finishes. That changed in 2003. The team went 15-6, including wins over Oklahoma and Iowa State for the first time in Smith's tenure. They followed that up with a second-place finish at Big 12's, the program's highest ever. At NCAA's, they had two All-Americans and seven qualifiers, the most since 1995. That was all without another path blazer for Mizzou wrestling, Ben Askren, who was redshirting at the time. In 2004, there was another turning point for the Tigers, as they beat legendary Oklahoma State 21-17 for their first win in 25 duals against the Cowboys. Even in Coach Smith's time, they had been 0-5 previously. They were competitive at conferences again, with three champions. They also finished in the top 15 at NCAA's, the highest for the Tigers since 1984. At this point, Tiger Style was in full effect. When Smith was first hired as head coach at Mizzou, he created a list of goals for the team to accomplish. While a lot of progress had been made by the 2005 season, there was still one of those goals the team had not reached: to develop their first NCAA National Champion. That dream culminated in 2006 with Ben Askren. The controversial but dominant Askren had come close twice already, losing in the finals to OSU's Chris Pendleton. But in 2006, Askren not only became the school's first National Champion, but their first Hodge winner as well. The team didn't lose any momentum in 2007, winning their first team trophy with a third-place finish. That remains their highest NCAA finish for now. That year, Coach Smith also tied a program-high eight qualifiers, which had not been done since 1979 for the Tigers. In 2011, he broke the qualifier record with nine, and again in 2012 with ten. That 2012 season also saw Coach Smith and Mizzou win their first-ever conference championship in the Big 12. The team moved to the MAC in 2013, after the Mizzou athletic department moved to the SEC. Coach Smith's teams dominated the conference, winning nine more consecutive titles. In 2015 the team went 24-0 and won the national duals. They beat Illinois, Lehigh, and Iowa for the National Duals Championship. At the time, it was only the second undefeated season in program history, but has since been repeated in 2018 and 2021. At NCAA's, the team went from just outside the top ten, to eight top-ten finishes in the last ten tournaments. More than every team outside of PSU, Iowa, tOSU, and Cornell. The team has had 90 qualifiers since 2013, again more than every team outside of Iowa and OK State. Of Mizzou's 80 total All-Americans, 57 have come under Coach Smith's time. After a move back to the Big 12 in 2022, the conference title streak is up to 11 consecutive championships. Since 2012, the team has not only been dominant in conferences, but in duals as well. Coach Smith has a 156-28 record since then, and a 319-114-4 record overall. In his 24 years at the helm of the program, Coach Smith has racked up a long list of accolades. His teams have won the Scuffle, Midlands, and multiple team titles in two conferences. Individually he has won the Dan Gable Coach of the Year (2007), NWCA Coach of the Year (2017), Big 12 Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2022), and MAC Coach of the Year five times (2013-2017). He's coached nine national champions, with J'Den Cox and Ben Askren winning multiple titles. Askren was also one of six multiple-time Hodge winners. There is one thing that has eluded the Tigers so far, and that's an NCAA team title. The team was ranked #1 in 2015, but finished fourth. That year, the team had Alan Waters, Drake Houdashelt, and J'Den Cox all seeded first. Unfortunately, Waters and Cox were both upset, while Houdashelt won the only title for the Tigers that year. In 2017, the team had Lavion Mayes, Joey Lavallee, and J'Den Cox all in the finals, but again only had one wrestler win a title in Cox. That team had five All-Americans for a program record, but finished just outside of a trophy in 5th place. Currently, the team has a returning champ in Keegan O'Toole, and two other multiple-time All-Americans in Brock Mauller and Rocky Elam. O'Toole and Elam are both ranked #1, and if they can take that ranking into March, they would be the first Tigers to do so since 2015. With all ten starters currently ranked, the Tigers are projected to contend for a team trophy in Tulsa. According to Coach Smith, the culture of Tiger Style wrestling consists of believing in yourself, competing, giving one more, and expecting to win. He has turned the program around, and become one of the most established and longest-tenured head coaches at Mizzou. With NCAA's in Kansas City next year and the #4 overall 2022 recruiting class, Coach Smith will be leading a team that will be ready to compete for their first team title. Brian Smith looks on as Keegan O'Toole and assistant coach Kendric Maple embrace after O'Toole's 2022 national title (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

12/06/2022

Drexel 184 lber Brian Bonino (photo courtesy of Drexel athletics) There was a good amount of action in the conference. Cornell and Lehigh represented the conference at Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. There were a handful of dual meets, both inside and outside the conference. This week's Outstanding Wrestler is 184lbs wrestler, Brian Bonino of Drexel. He earned three wins on the weekend, two of which were ranked opponents. He defeated Caleb Hopkins of Campbell (#21) which helped catapult him into the rankings for the first time this season. He's currently 5-1 this month and will look to continue his streak into the new year. Congrats Brian! American The Eagles had a few dual meets over a couple-day span. They dropped a dual to George Mason 23-15, beat Sacred Heart 41-3, and were victorious 21-16 over Hofstra. Considering this team lost to both Sacred Heart and Hofstra a season ago, it speaks to how far this team has come. In the Sacred Heart match, 125lbs Raymond Lopez jumped up to 141lbs to earn a fall. He wrestled up at this weight against Hofstra too, dropping a match to Justin Hoyle – who placed at EIWA's a season ago. Max Leete has a 20-second fall against Hofstra. This team has improved from a season ago. Things are looking up for American. They will return to competition at the F&M Open the first weekend of January. Army The Black Knights were not in action. They are back after Christmas at the Soldier Salute in Iowa. Binghamton The Bearcats were also off this weekend, as they prepare for the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. Brown Brown was not involved with any competition this week. The Bears will be in action next week at the Midlands Championships. Bucknell The Bison had a few duals over the weekend. They defeated Sacred Heart 33-6, beat Edinboro 36-7, and dropped a tough one to Buffalo 21-9. Bucknell's stud Kurt Phipps (#32 @ 133lbs) won all of his matches, as did Darren Miller (#25 @ 141lbs). At 184lbs, Logan Deacetis upset #26 Guiseppe Hoose of Buffalo. He's been cranking out some great wins lately. He ended his day 3-0 as well. Many of the Buffalo matches were one-score differences. It would be nice for Bucknell to reverse some of those, but not a bad day overall. Expect them at the Southern Scuffle next week. Columbia The Lions were not in action. They will be at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa 12/29 – 12/30. Cornell The Big Red were at the National Collegiate Duals, where they went 2-1 as a team. They beat #26 Oregon State 32-7, and #21 North Carolina 31-9. They dropped an exciting dual to #6 Iowa State 18-13. Against Oregon State, we saw Brett Ungar (#21 @ 125lbs) upset returning All-American Brandon Kaylor (#10). At 197lbs, Jacob Cardenas upset #10-ranked Tanner Harvey by a 9-5 decision. The match of the day may have been in the Iowa State dual, where we saw Yianni Diakomihalis (#1 @ 149lbs) beat Paniro Johnson (#5) by a tight 3-1 score. Unfortunately, Cornell was without returning All-American Jonathan Loew (#6 @ 184lbs). Aside from Yianni, both Vito Arujau and Chris Foca looked great – both winning all three matches. Next up for the Big Red is a dual against Arizona State, in Austin, TX on Wednesday, January 4th. Drexel The Dragons went 2-1 on the week, while competing at the Purdue Duals. They had a 20-17 victory over Purdue, a 19-16 loss against Campbell, and then a 19-13 win over Utah Valley. The lineup was finally healthy and it showed. Luke Nichter (#29 @ 149lbs) returned from injury to go 3-0 on the day. He joined Evan Barczak (#18 @ 165lbs), Mickey O'Malley (#6 @ 174lbs) and Brian Bonino going undefeated on the day. O'Malley's biggest win came in a tie-breaker, defeating former All-American Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley. Bonino earned his way into the rankings with three wins on the weekend, two of them coming against ranked opponents. The Dragons return to action after the new year at the F&M Open. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats had a notable return to their line-up this week. One wrestler having success this year, whom I've failed to mention is Josh Hillard. He's one of the leaders in all of D1 for falls. He's been consistently placing at opens. He is only getting better working behind Phillips at 133lbs. Ranked heavyweight, Vincenzo Pelusi, made his return to the team at the Wilkes Open. He went 2-0 before medically forfeiting out of precaution. He will be back in action at Midlands along with the remainder of the squad. Harvard The Crimson were off this week. They will be at the Midlands at the end of the month. Hofstra The Pride hosted a dual against American. They split five matches to five, but lost the dual 21-16 due to bonus points. All of Hofstra's ranked wrestlers won by decision – Jacob Ferreira (#24 @ 184lbs), Trey Rogers (#26 @ 197lbs), and Zachary Knighton-Ward (#28 @ 285lbs). The other two victories came from Justin Hoyle by major at 141lbs and Ross McFarland at 174lbs. I'm sure Hofstra would like to have this one back, but not a bad performance, overall. They will get back to work and return to competition at the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. Lehigh The Mountain Hawks competed in the Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. They wrestled three tough duals, walking away 1-2. They beat #25 Cal Poly 26-6. They dropped matches to #7 NC State 24-10 and #3 Ohio State 23-12. Against Cal Poly, we saw Manzona Bryant (#33 @ 149lbs) defeat #11 Domas Demas. Lucas Frinzi made a splash in the rankings when he beat Lamer (#32 @ 165lbs). #22 at 184lbs, Tate Samuelson beat #19 Adam Kemp as well. Michael Beard dropped a match to Bernie Truax (#9 @ 197lbs) but picked up wins over #8 Isaac Trumble of NC State and #24 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State on the weekend. At 157lbs, Josh Humphreys (#6) defeated Ed Scott of NC State (#9) in a high-scoring battle. Something to be on the lookout for in the lower weights – Jaret Lane made his return at 125lbs, dropping a 4-0 decision to Jarrett Trombley of NC State. And Ryan Crookham, freshman phenom, made his debut at the Wilkes Open. He went 4-0 on the day, with a tech fall, two majors, and a six-point decision. The Mountain Hawks have a long layover and will be back on January 14th to take on conference rival, Cornell, in Ithaca. Long Island The Sharks went to battle with The Citadel over the weekend, dropping a tight 23-18 dual. They came away winning four of the nine bouts, while giving up a forfeit at 125 lbs – which may have ended up being the difference. At 141 lbs, Devin Matthews earned a tech fall. It was followed up at 149lbs, where Drew Whitham won by fall. Blake Bahna also earned a major at 165 lbs. The fight from this team is there, and it shows when three of the four wins were by bonus points. This team is slowly improving every week. It's great to see positive results from the newest member of the conference. The next competition for the Sharks will be at the F&M Open on January 6th. Navy The Midshipmen will be in action again at the F&M Open. Penn The Quakers were resting this weekend. They will compete at the Midlands next week over the holiday break. Princeton The Tigers will follow many of the EIWA teams and compete in the Midlands next weekend Sacred Heart The Pioneers saw two conference duals over the weekend, dropping both of them to Bucknell and American. The lone win against American was at 149lbs, where Matt Laurie defeated Antonio Segura in overtime. Former American Eagle, Andrew Fallon, lost in sudden victory to former teammate, and quality opponent, Jack Maida. Against Bucknell, Laurie earned a last-second takedown to defeat Kolby DePron. This was a nice win for Laurie – as DePron has been on the cusp of being ranked this season. Mike Manta was the other victor in the dual at 125 lbs. They will be competing at the F&M Open once the new year rolls around.

Roman Bravo-Young (right) and Ramazan Attasauov in the Collegiate Duals finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first half of the collegiate wrestling season is typically highlighted by big tournaments such as CKLV, Reno Tournament of Champions and Midlands, and a few non-conference duals. The dual season really starts to kick into gear in the new year. This week, however, wrestling fans were treated to a full slate of exciting dual meets – highlighted by the Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. The Nittany Lions came out on top in the Blur Pool for the second consecutive year – but not without taking some key individual losses – while the Buckeyes were third in the Red Pool. In the Midwest, Purdue hosted a quad and went 1-2, while Nebraska earned a key dual win over South Dakota State. A couple Big Ten teams were also involved in tournament action, as Indiana and Michigan State were competing at Reno. Here are five things we learned – and the reasons why we love duals! Duals are fun: Penn State vs. Iowa State edition Penn State started its Collegiate Duals campaign hot, racking up a record-tying seven pins en route to a 50-3 victory over Central Michigan. It took the gas off the pedal a little bit in the second dual, against the University of North Carolina, which ended in a similarly lopsided final score – 37-3 – but with tighter individual bouts. The top-ranked Nittany Lions then survived an upset bid from No. 5 Iowa State, 22-12, during which Penn State took six of 10 bouts (including a forfeit) and had three wrestlers – Shayne Van Ness, Alex Facundo and Aaron Brooks – see their unbeaten streaks end. Here are five highlights from the Blue Pool championship between Penn State and Iowa State: 184: Top-ranked Brooks goes down. Brooks isn't the first top-ranked defending national champ to lose this season. In fact, he's not even the first on his team, as teammate Max Dean lost twice two weeks ago. But Brooks' 9-7 loss to Marcus Coleman was nothing short of shocking – and that's not an indictment of Coleman. It's just that, Brooks doesn't really lose. The fourth-year junior had lost just twice prior to Tuesday since his redshirt was pulled in 2020, racking up a 51-2 overall record. But more notable than the loss itself was how it happened. Coleman had Brooks seemingly flat on his back after countering a single-leg attempt. A fall wasn't called, but Coleman was awarded six, which proved to be too much for Brooks to come back from. The Nittany Lion narrowly avoided the same fate as the second-ranked wrestler at 184, N.C. State's Trent Hidlay, did earlier that day – suffering a fall to UNI's No. 3 Parker Keckeisen. 197: Dean gets back on track. As previously mentioned, Dean had a rough weekend a couple weeks ago. This week, however, he came in clutch when his team needed him. After Brooks' upset loss, there was a tiny window where Iowa State could have taken the lead, although, since the Cyclones were forfeiting at heavyweight, it likely wouldn't have been enough to win. But Dean erased any possibility that Penn State could blemish its perfect season by dispatching No. 2 Yonger Bastida, 4-1. The single takedown in the bout came on a Dean reattack as the final seconds ticked down in the second period. He then characteristically went to work on top in the third, racking up over a minute of riding time and fending off a flurry of last-second shots from Bastida. 133: RBY earns bonus points. Roman Bravo Young is so far 6/6 for bonus-point wins this season, so, his 10-2 major decision over No. 21 Ramazan Attasauov wasn't exactly shocking. However, the way Bravo Young went about it was. The pair battled evenly throughout the first period, with Bravo Young forcing the action but not being able to get in on Attasauov's legs. With that strategy not working, RBY went to work from the top in the second, riding Attasauov out and turning him for 2 nearfall at the end of the period. With his opponent tired out, RBY fired off three takedowns in the final period. In a dual that was destined to be close, these bonus points were crucial in giving the Nittany Lions some breathing room heading into a stretch of tough matches in the middleweights. RBY knew what needed to be done, and although Attasauov made it tough, he figured out a way to do it. That's what should be expected from a fifth-year senior, two-time national champ. 149: Van Ness-Paniro sets up an exciting next four years. Penn State's Shayne Van Ness found himself on the wrong side of the battle of undefeated freshmen at 149 pounds, falling 3-2. But it seems unlikely this will be the last time this pair meets. Paniro was one of the biggest stories of the weekend. Not only did he earn this solid win over Van Ness, but he also took three-time national champ Yianni Diakomihalis to the brink of defeat, falling 3-1 in sudden victory. Van Ness didn't let that intimidate him, trying to push the action through most of the match, but not really being able to get in on any good shots. Paniro's patience paid off as he countered for the lone takedown in the dual in the third period. He almost did the same thing again, but Van Ness was able to clear it. Van Ness fired off a flurry of shots in the final 30 seconds, but was unable to convert. As long as they both stay healthy, it seems as though these two wrestlers are likely to meet a few more times over the next four years. 157: Hello, Levi Haines. Penn State has a new face in the lineup this week as true freshman Levi Haines slotted in at 157 pounds, where Terrell Barraclough has been holding down the starting position. With the NCAA's new redshirt rule, Haines can wrestle five “events” without burning his redshirt. While it's unknown whether Penn State will make that a more permanent lineup change this season, Haines made a solid case that he'd be ready should that opportunity present itself. The true freshman went 3-0 on the weekend, including an 8-3 win over Iowa State's Jason Kraisser and a fall in 1:38 of Central Michigan's No. 31 Corbyn Munson. Regardless of whether Haines is the starter at the end of the regular season, it's exciting to be able to see highly-touted true freshmen like him get to wrestle and contribute in dual settings. Duals are fun: Ohio State vs. UNI edition Penn State's Big Ten counterpart in the Red Pool didn't have as good of luck against a team from Iowa, falling 19-13 to the University of Northern Iowa, and going on to finish third in the pool with wins over Lock Haven and Lehigh. The Buckeyes were missing a few key pieces of their lineup, with Paddy Gallagher, Jesse Mendez and Carson Kharchla all out, but part of what makes duals fun is strategizing around injuries and weak lineup spots. This strategizing was on display in New Orleans with Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser bumping up three of his wrestlers to beat Cornell. But, back to Ohio State. The loss to UNI had a mix of highlights and lowlights. Here are five: 133: Bouzakis knocks off a top-10 opponent. Injury woes aside, a high point of The Collegiate Duals for the Buckeyes was freshman Nic Bouzakis. Bouzakis has been slotting in at 133 for the Buckeyes for their past four duals since Mendez, who along with Bouzakis are key members of Ohio State's top-ranked 2022 recruiting class, has been out with an apparent injury. Regardless of what Mendez's status might be, Bouzakis made the most of his opportunity this week, going 3-0 including the 9-6 win over UNI's No. 6 Kyle Biscoglia. Things didn't look great for Bouzakis as he gave up the initial takedown as the clock wound down in the third period. The Buckeye got the reversal but then gave up one of his own to trail 5-3 with about 30 seconds to go. The freshman never stopped pursuing, locking up a cradle with about 15 seconds remaining for the six-point move to seal it. 141: D'Emilio falls in sudden victory. Dylan D'Emilio, ranked No. 18 at the time, was the slight underdog on paper to No. 10 Cael Happel, but with starters out at 157 and 165 pounds, this was a bout the Buckeyes were hoping to steal to have a chance to win. D'Emilio took the early lead with a first-period takedown, but Happel hit a reversal to even the score. The pair were tied 3-3 heading into the third. A takedown for Happel and an escape and riding time for D'Emilio sent the bout into sudden victory, where Happel prevailed, 7-5, with a takedown. This loss put a damper on the momentum gained from Bouzakis' upset win. 149: Sasso takes another loss. Sammy Sasso's 9-7 loss to Colin Realbuto made winning this dual a real uphill climb for the Buckeyes. This marked the second loss of the season for the three-time All-American, falling earlier to Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson. Sasso had the early lead with a first-period takedown, but Realbuto got a takedown of his own and turned Sasso for 4 near-fall points in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Sasso fired off two takedowns in the third but it wasn't enough. 197: Hoffman wins by bonus. In addition to Bouzakis, Gavin Hoffman also had a strong showing in New Orleans, going 2-1, with his loss coming by way of a 5-3 decision to No. 4 Michael Beard, of Lehigh. He earned a pin against Lock Haven and an 18-8 major decision over UNI's Noah Glaser. Hoffman dominated the entire bout against UNI, racking up eight takedowns to give his team much-needed bonus points and a chance to win. 285: Orndorff can't seal the win. Hoffman's major decision put Ohio State in a good position to at least tie the dual, but No. 9 Tate Orndorff couldn't close the deal, losing to No. 19 Tyrel Gordon for the second time this season, 3-2. This win handed UNI its second upset win – based on rankings – and the dual. Duals are fun: Nebraska vs. South Dakota State edition Nebraska was able to even its dual record Sunday with a 22-17 win over South Dakota State. The Cornhuskers won six of the 10 bouts, including two by way of bonus points. Liam Cronin took just 30 seconds to get the fall over No. 28 Tanner Jordan. That win set the tone for the Cornhuskers, as Boo Dryden and Brock Hardy both collected wins at 133 and 141, respectively. Hardy kept the momentum from his CKLV title run going with a solid 7-5 win over No. 13 Clay Carlson in sudden victory. The sophomore's strong showing throughout December has catapulted him into the top 10 of the InterMat rankings and into the national conversation. Nebraska's other bonus point win came at 184 pounds, where No. 12 Lenny Pinto got revenge on No. 11 Cade King, who had pinned him in the fifth-place bout at CKLV. Pinto came out on top this time, sticking King on his back for four nearfall points with three seconds left for the 12-2 major decision. This marked the first dual win for the redshirt freshman. The Cornhuskers' other wins came from No. 2 Peyton Robb over No. 22 Cael Swenson, 7-2, at 157 and No. 2 Mikey Labriola over No. 18 Cade DeVos, 4-0, at 174. At heavyweight, Cale Davidson lost in sudden victory to No. 14 A.J. Nevills. Silas Allred suffered his second straight loss, falling by way of a 12-0 major decision to No. 12 Tanner Sloan, Bubba Wilson suffered a pin and Dayne Morton lost by major decision. This win marked the first win for the Cornhuskers over a ranked team this season and should put them in a good spot heading into the new year. Duals are fun: Up and Down Purdue Duals The Boilermakers hosted Campbell, Utah Valley, and Drexel for a quad dual to finish off their 2022 competition schedule. It did not go as they had hoped. They started off the day with a loss to Drexel, dropping four of their final five matches. They weren't favored in two of those matches, but up-and-comer Stoney Buell at 165, Macartney Parkinson at 174, and Ben Vanadia at 184 are guys that you would expect to be ready to go at home in those matches. On a positive note, Matt Ramos (125), Parker Fillius (141), and Kendall Coleman (157) wrestled very well in this dual. This was the final action for Fillius for the day though as they went into the next two duals. They bounced back with a win over Utah Valley, thanks to a pin by Stoney Buell at 165. Those bonus points were key in the 20-18 victory, along with the major decisions by Coleman and Vanadia. The competitive flames were quickly extinguished though, as Campbell started off their dual with the Boilermakers in dramatic fashion, upsetting Matt Ramos. Anthony Molton is a very good wrestler, but Ramos has looked great so far at 125. Interestingly enough, these two wrestled in High School together, and had met in the US Open finals earlier this year, with Ramos getting that win. The sudden victory loss is something we can expect Ramos to bounce back from, but these are both guys we can expect to see in Tulsa come March. Trey Kruse and Kendall Coleman got wins at 149 and 157 respectively, but those were the remaining two wins on the day for Purdue. Not the way I'm sure they envisioned ending 2022, but they will take a short break before getting back after it in Chattanooga Tennessee at the Southern Scuffle on January 1st and 2nd. And, we like tournaments, too: MSU Champions of the Tournament of Champions; Indiana crowns 2 champs Michigan State has been on a tear so far this season. They are 6-0 in dual competition so far, and just walked away with a first-place team finish in Reno. You could make the argument, which I guess is what I'm doing, that they didn't even wrestle their best and still took away the title. 10th ranked Layne Malczewski dropped a match in the semi's eventually taking home third place, and Rayvon Foley dropped a match to the eventual champ Aden Valencia, but they had some other wrestlers really step up. Tristan Lujan had a great tournament making the finals, eventually dropping that match 5-2 to Trevor Mastrogiovanni, the 13th-ranked 125-pound wrestler in the country. That was Lujan's first loss of the year, and is a big reason why this team has been able to start off strong in all of their duals so far. An additional finalist who dropped his final match was Ryan Vasbinder at Heavyweight. Vasbinder transferred in from McKendree where he was the D2 National Champion at 197 pounds. He has been transitioning well to Heavyweight at the D1 level, and is an exciting guy to keep an eye on as the season continues. Gotta love big athletic heavyweights. Champions for the Spartans were Jordan Hamden at 141, Caleb Fish at 165, and Cameron Caffey at 197. Hamden has had a solid season so far, and looks to be establishing himself as a long-term solution for the Spartans. Caleb Fish has shown flashes of greatness in his early career for Michigan State, but this level of consistency is a really encouraging thing to see. He's enormously athletic, so him putting this together is a big deal for what he can do in the B1G as duals get going. Caffey, who jokingly referenced to me that he doesn't pin anybody, pinned 3 of his first 4 opponents. The fourth was a tech fall. Caffey was the favorite, but it's encouraging to see him put it on the field this weekend, and ended it with a major decision over a B1G opponent. The Spartans take a break here, with their next matches on January 6th against Bucknell, followed by a dual with in-state rival Michigan to start off their B1G dual schedule. Indiana also traveled to Reno and ended up with two champions and 7 placewinners. Graham Rooks at 149 and Jacob Bullock at Heavyweight walked away with gold. Other notable accomplishments for the Hoosiers include Derek Gilcher at 157 getting a win over Chase Saldate to place third at 157. His only loss of the tournament was to eventual champion, Jacob Wright, of Wyoming 2-1. Getting a B1G win like that is huge for Gilcher who has a lot of talent. Also placing 3rd was DJ Washington who has looked solid since dropping back down to 174. He also finishes the day with a win over a Spartan, Cesar Garza, in the third-place match. Jacob Bullock, also ending the day with a B1G win over a Spartan, has now won 12 matches in a row after starting the year off with a loss to Colton McKiernan of SIUE. Bullock is another one of the B1G's huge and athletic heavyweights that will keep us entertained through March. His efforts even got him B1G Wrestler of the Week honors, which was last done by a Hoosier when DJ Washington won in February of 2021. Bullock has now won the only two tournaments he's competed in this season, Reno and earlier this year at the Cleveland State Open. Speaking of tournaments, Indiana competes next in Evanston, Illinois as they finish off 2022 at the Midlands on December 29th and 30th.

Paniro Johnson (left) and Shayne Van Ness (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We're now almost two days removed from the 2022 Collegiate Duals and I've had a lot on my mind. It was an excellent couple of days chalked full of excellent wrestling action. Plenty of great matches, upsets, and quality duals. Normally, I'll have a more coherent, flowing article ready to pull together all of the key happenings into a few talking points. However, there's a lot to talk about. So without rambling any further: I wasn't sure what to anticipate from a fan-attendance standpoint. The event was held in a state that hasn't hosted a DI wrestling event since 1985 and doesn't traditionally have strong high school wrestling. And it's less than a week away from Christmas. All things considered, I thought the attendance was strong. While the event was held in a Convention Center, it wasn't your typical setting. No temporary metal bleachers and fans hovering over mats. It took place in a theater. The acoustics of the building made 50 fans screaming sound like 300, which was good. Generally, it looked like fans had good sightlines for both mats. My photographer friends weren't keen on the walls which were primarily black. I'm sure that isn't very high on the list of priorities when planning an event, but probably something to keep in mind going forward. University of New Orleans athletic director Tim Duncan (not that one) was in attendance for the second day. I don't want to read too much into that, but his interest in the event is at least a positive sign. I understand that were UNO to add wrestling, they'd also need to add a pair of women's teams (let's do women's wrestling also!) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page