InterMat Staff

79 kg finalist Vincenzo Joseph (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Action concluded on day one of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament from Coralville, Iowa. During the first session, the men's freestyle tournament showed signs of chaos, with Evan Henderson knocking off top-seeded Kendric Maple. There was much more than that in the semifinals this evening. These were all weights with a returning world medalist awaiting in Final X. The evening with upset started off with NC State's Jakob Camacho getting some semblance of payback against Matthew Ramos for a loss in the US Open finals at 57 kg. Camacho will square off with Cornell All-American and Olympic Trials runner-up Vito Arujau. It'll be a five versus six matchup at 61 kg as both underdogs prevailed. Seth Gross locked up a cradle and pinned US Open champion Nico Megaludis. Earlier in the day, Gross and high school senior, Jesse Mendez, engaged in the match of the tournament, a 13-12 barnburner. Megaludis' US Open finals opponent Josh Rodriguez did not advance either. He was stunned by Daniel DeShazer, early and often, in a 10-0 tech. After top-seeded Jason Nolf took care of business at 74 kg, Joey Lavallee shocked Tommy Gantt with a winning takedown in the final second of their bout. 79 kg featured a minor upset as Chance Marsteller used a late takedown to ice the match against David McFadden, who seemed to be ready to rally, like his run through the US Open. The other half of the bracket saw Vincenzo Joseph beat the buzzer and shock Alex Dieringer, 3-2. It'll be a rivalry renewed at 86 kg as longtime rivals Mark Hall and Zahid Valencia do battle tomorrow at 86 kg. The pair met in two NCAA finals, both of which were won by Valencia. The former ASU Sun Devil picked apart Trent Hidlay 9-4 for his place in the final. Hall stuck 2019 national champion Drew Foster with a cement mixer to hold up his end of the bargain. In the last two weights, the only upset came from Isaac Trumble who flipped a result from the US Open finals when he dominated Cam Caffey, 11-0. He'll face Nate Jackson for the opportunity to wrestle in Final X. At 97 kg, the top seeds both advanced as Mike Macchiavello and Kollin Moore are on a collision course. The opposite was the case in the women's semifinals. In four of the six weights contested, the number one and number two seeds held up and will meet tomorrow. The most notable upset(s) came at 68 kg as the sixth seed, Solin Piearcy, advanced to the finals. In her first bout, she downed #3, Alara Boyd, on criteria. The semifinals saw Piearcy control the home crowd-favorite, Rachel Watters, 6-2. Lauren Mason at 55 kg was the only other non-one or two seed to make the finals. She got by #2 Marissa Gallegos 6-3 for the chance to take on 2019 world champion, Jacarra Winchester. Before these wrestlers meet in the best-of-three finals, the semifinals will be contested at the remaining weight classes with the winners advancing to Final X. Men's Freestyle Semifinals 57 kg - Jakob Camacho over Matthew Ramos 11-7 57 kg - Vito Arujau over Zane Richards 7-0 61 kg - Seth Gross fall Nico Megaludis 4:00 61 kg - Daniel DeShazer over Josh Rodriguez 10-0 74 kg - Jason Nolf fall David Carr 2:30 74 kg - Joey Lavallee over Tommy Gantt 5-4 79 kg - Chance Marsteller over David McFadden 5-2 79 kg - Vincenzo Joseph over Alex Dieringer 3-2 86 kg - Mark Hall fall Drew Foster 1:12 86 kg - Zahid Valencia over Trent Hidlay 9-4 92 kg - Isaac Trumble over Cam Caffey 11-0 92 kg - Nate Jackson over Jay Aiello 11-0 97 kg - Mike Macchiavello over Ethan Laird 8-2 97 kg - Kollin Moore over TJ Dudley 7-4 Women's Freestyle Semifinals 50 kg - Erin Golston over Emily Shilson 4-3 50 kg - Alyssa Lampe over Sage Mortimer 10-0 55 kg - Jacarra Winchester over Alisha Howk 11-0 55 kg - Lauren Mason over Marissa Gallegos 6-3 57 kg - Cameron Guerin over Ngao Shoua Whitethorn 10-0 57 kg - Alex Hedrick over Amanda Martinez 6-4 62 kg - Jennifer Rogers over Emmily Patneaud 10-0 62 kg - Macey Kilty over Andrea Schlabach 12-2 65 kg - Emma Bruntil over Ashlynn Ortega 10-0 65 kg - Mallory Velte over Maya Letona 10-0 68 kg - Sienna Ramirez over Ana Luciano 11-4 68 kg - Solin Piearcy over Rachel Watters 6-2 Greco Roman Semifinal 97 kg - Haydn Maley over Nicholas Boykin 11-7 97 kg - Braxton Amos over Lucas Sheridan 7-4

61 kg quarterfinal bout won 13-12 by Seth Gross over Jesse Mendez (photo courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) The first session at the World Team Trials in Coralville, Iowa has been completed and semifinalists in all three styles have been determined. We've already seen top seeds go down and others get pushed before prevailing. Past world team members and Final X participants have suffered losses. The immediate goal for all of these competitors is Final X. How one may earn a spot in Final X is a bit different than in past years. With world medalists returning at seven men's freestyle weights, six women's freestyle weights, and one in Greco-Roman, the winners of their brackets will move into Final X. Weights that do not have returning world medalists will take both of tomorrow's semifinal winners to Final X. Session two (5:30 eastern) will feature the semifinals at those weights with a world medalist. They are: Men's freestyle: 57, 61, 74, 79, 86, 92, 97 Women's freestyle: 50, 55, 57, 62, 65, 68 Greco-Roman: 97 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament Quarterfinal Results Greco-Roman 55 kg Max Nowry fall Cole Smith :58 Drew West fall Jacob Cochran 2:06 Dalton Duffield over Camden Russell 12-2 Brady Koontz fall Jakason Burks 2:30 60 kg Dalton Roberts - bye Randon Miranda over Max Black 5-2 Dylan Koontz over Mitchell Brown 5-2 Ildar Hafizov fall Phillip Moomey :51 63 kg Sam Jones fall Ty Lydic :44 David Stepanian over Corbin Nirschl 4-0 Aidan Nutter over Mason Carzino-Hartshorn 5-1 Jesse Thielke fall Logan Savvy 1:28 67 kg Alejandro Sancho fall We Rachal 1:31 Peyton Omania fall Nathan Moore :48 Lenny Merkin over Morgan Flaherty 8-6 Alston Nutter over Jessy Williams 10-0 72 kg Patrick Smith fall Noah Wachsmuth 5:21 Jamel Johnson over Brody Olson 4-4 Michael Hooker over Eddie Smith 6-1 Benji Peak fall Ryan Wheeler :48 77 kg RaVaughn Perkins over Fritz Schierl 9-1 Britton Holmes over Alec Ortiz 8-0 Kamal Bey over Payton Jacobson 7-2 Jesse Porter over Chad Walsh 10-4 82 kg Ben Provisor - bye Ryan Epps over Tommy Brackett 5-1 Tyler Cunningham fall Ben Lee :24 Spencer Woods - by 87 kg Alan Vera - bye Chrisitan DuLaney over Tyler Hannah 3-1 George Sikes over Austin Craig 4-0 Timothy Young - bye 97 kg Nicholas Boykin fall Timothy Eubanks 1:03 Haydn Maley fall Guy Patron 1:36 Lucas Sheridan fall Brady Vogel 1:28 Braxton Amos fall Chad Porter 1:34 130 kg Cohlton Schultz fall Malcolm Allen 1:52 Tate Orndorff fall Courtney Freeman 5:45 West Cathcart fall Richard Dombkowski 1:33 Tanner Farmer fall Tom Foote 2:01 Men's Freestyle 57 kg Matt Ramos over Aden Reeves 12-7 Jakob Camacho over Anthony Molton 9-4 Zane Richards over Timothy Levine 10-0 Vito Arujau MedFFT Greg Diakomihalis 61 kg Nico Megaludis over Shelton Mack 10-0 Seth Gross over Jesse Mendez 13-12 Daniel DeShazer over Tyler Graff 3-2 Josh Rodriguez over Josh Kramer 4-0 65 kg Evan Henderson over Kendric Maple 5-2 Nick Lee over Matt Kolodzik 12-2 Ian Parker over Joey McKenna 8-5 Yianni Diakomihalis over Luke Pletcher 10-0 70 kg Alec Pantaleo over Tyler Berger 3-2 Zain Retherford over Doug Zapf 4-1 Jordan Oliver over Michael Blockhus 4-2 Ryan Deakin over Sammy Sasso 10-0 74 kg Jason Nolf - bye David Carr over Collin Purinton 15-6 Tommy Gantt over Peter Pappas 10-0 Joey Lavallee over Josh Shields 11-7 79 kg David McFadden over Brayden Thompson 10-0 Chance Marsteller over Carter Starocci 5-4 Alex Dieringer over Isaiah Martinez 14-3 Vincenzo Joseph over Taylor Lujan 10-0 86 kg Mark Hall over Caleb Hopkins 10-0 Drew Foster over Marcus Coleman 12-2 Trent Hidlay over Owen Webster 7-0 Zahid Valencia over Andrew Morgan 10-0 92 kg Cam Caffey over Levi Hopkins 5-3 Isaac Trumble fall Patrick Downey 3:33 Jay Aiello over Max Shaw 10-0 Nate Jackson over Michael Battista 11-0 97 kg Michael Macchiavello - bye Ethan Laird over Sam Mitchell 10-0 TJ Dudley over Duncan Lee 10-0 Kollin Moore over Jason Carter 10-0 125 kg Hayden Zillmer over Jordan Wood 4-1 Dom Bradley over Ty Walz 1-1 Tony Cassioppi over Derek White 11-0 Nick Gwiazdowski over Christian Lance 10-0

2021 NCAA All-American Louie DePrez (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is…Binghamton! For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State Army West Point NCAA Qualifiers (28) 2022 165 - Brevin Cassella (#25); 174 - Jacob Nolan (#30); 197 - Louie DePrez (#8); 285 - Joe Doyle (#20) 2021 125 - Micah Roes (#30); 174 - Jacob Nolan (#33); 184 - Louie DePrez (#3); 285 - Joe Doyle (#30) 2020 133 - Zack Trampe (#26); 184 - Louie DePrez (#4) 2019 133 - Zack Trampe (#33); 141 - Anthony Sparacio (#27); 174 - Vincent DePrez (#27); 184 - Louie DePrez (#11); 2018 149 - Frankie Garcia; 184 - Steve Schneider (#13) 2017 141 - Dylan Caruana; 184 - Steve Schneider (#15) 2016 174 - Jack McKeever; 184 - Steve Schneider 2015 184 - Jack McKeever; 285 - Tyler Deuel 2014 125 - David White; 197 - Cody Reed 2013 133 - Derek Steeley; 149 - Donnie Vinson (#3); 184 - Cody Reed; 197 - Nate Schiedel (#7) NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans Louie DePrez (2021 - 8th) NWCA All-Americans Louie DePrez (184 - 1st Team) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Louie DePrez 184/197 (2019, 2022) Cody Reed 197 (2014) Donnie Vinson 149 (2013) Conference Champions EIWA 2022: Louie DePrez (197) 2021: Louie DePrez (184) 2020: Louie DePrez (184) 2015: Tyler Deuel (285) CAA 2013: Donnie Vinson (149); Cody Reed (197) Dual Record 2021-22: 7-11 2021: 3-1 2019-20: 3-12 2018-19: 10-3 2017-18: 12-5 2016-17: 9-7 2015-16: 11-7 2014-15: 9-10 2013-14: 5-13 2012-13: 5-13 Conference Tournament Placement EIWA 2021-22: 6th 2021: 7th 2019-20: 6th 2018-19: 6th 2017-18: 7th 2016-17: 8th 2015-16: 16th 2014-15: 9th 2013-14: 7th CAA 2012-13: 2nd NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 36th-tie (5 points) 2021: 38th-tie (6.5 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 41st-tie (5 points) 2017-18: 62nd-tie (.5 point) 2016-17: 57th-tie (1 point) 2015-16: 65th-tie (.5 point) 2014-15: 58th-tie (1 point) 2013-14: 49th (4.5 points) 2012-13: 32nd (10 points) Head Coaching History Kyle Borshoff (2017-present) Matt Dernlan (2012-17) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - David White: 2014 NCAA Qualifier 133 - Zack Trampe: 2x NCAA Qualifier 141 - Anthony Sparacio: 2019 NCAA Qualifier (#27), 2019 EIWA 3rd 149 - Donnie Vinson: 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2012 NCAA 3rd place, 2013 NCAA Round of 12, 2x CAA champion 157 - Vincent DePrez: 2019 NCAA Qualifier (@ 174; #27 seed) 165 - Brevin Casella: 2022 NCAA Qualifier (#25) 174 - Jacob Nolan: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#30 and #33) 184 - Louie DePrez: 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2021 NCAA 8th Place, 2x NCAA Round of 12, 3x EIWA Champion 197 - Nate Schiedel: 4x NCAA Qualifier, 2010 CAA Champion, 2013 #7 seed 285 - Tyler Deuel: 2015 NCAA Qualifier, 2015 EIWA Champion Recruiting Big Boarder's Per Year 2022: #60 Will Ebert (CT); #109 Carter Baer (NY); #148 Fin Nadeau (MT) 2021: #150 Nathan Lucier (PA) 2017: #8 Louie DePrez (NY); #94 Zack Trampe (PA) 2015: #133 Tristan Rifenburg (NY) 2014: #126 Connor Calkins (NY) 2013: #67 Zach Zupan (NY); #87 Nick Kelley (NY); #149 Nick Tighe (NY); #175 Dave Almaviva (NY) International Accolades (Active team members and alums) Louie DePrez - 2018 Junior World Team member

#WrestlingShirtADayInMay founder Jim Dutrow (photo courtesy of Jim Dutrow) "If this is something small that can help, I'm obviously happy to do it." If you've been on the wrestling side of Twitter sometime in May over the last three years, you've probably seen #WrestlingShirtADayInMay at least once. This hashtag has given wrestling fans a chance to support their favorite programs, athletes, and events. Even some of the biggest names in wrestling have hopped on the trend like Dan Gable, Jenna Burkert, and the Dan Gable Museum, but the team probably having the most fun with it is Cal State Bakersfield. While a fun way to share your teams and favorite wrestlers with the community, the meaning behind the hashtag goes deeper than many people realize. When Jim Dutrow learned that Old Dominion's Athletic Director was adding their program to the running list of cut Division I wrestling teams in the midst of a battle to save Stanford's team, he decided that the wrestling community needed to come together. Dutrow was on James Madison University's team when the administration first proposed its termination in 2000 and watched as it was finally eliminated in 2007. He couldn't sit idly by and watch this happen to more and more programs so he went to work to start a movement. #WrestlingShirtADayInMay was created to appreciate the schools with wrestling and show the administration that the wrestling community is a loyal one. In 2021, #WrestlingShirtADayInMay was flooded with "Save Stanford Wrestling" t-shirts with a favorable decision coming from Stanford's administration in mid-May, which may or may not be credited to the pictures of t-shirts on Twitter. Wrestling fans have also gotten behind some new programs, especially Roanoke College's new team, making it #5 in the final 2021 rankings and the team has already had an impressive showing this year. As a program that just got their go-ahead in April of 2020, they have had a huge support system largely due to their involvement in #WrestlingShirtADayInMay by offering shirts to anyone who made a donation. This got their name and logo out there so wrestling fans can already support them. This isn't to say that #WrestlingShirtADayInMay is immune from the team rivalries these fans know and love so much. In fact, Dutrow tried to use this to his advantage by leaning into those and asking in the days leading up to May questions like "Which Ivy League is going to have the most impressive showing?" One of the more competitive teams in college wrestling caught wind in 2020 that Virginia Tech was in the lead, which led to a flood of Hawkeye fans advertising their shirts using the hashtag to take the lead. Based solely on the main colors in the stands at NCAAs, it would be easy to assume that schools like Iowa, Penn State, or Oklahoma State are the clearcut winners every year but this isn't the case. In 2021, the winning college was The Citadel. Arguably, they're also one of the teams that has the most fun with it. Tournament season is such an emotional time and #WrestlingShirtADayInMay gives wrestlers, fans, and teams a chance to have fun with some lighthearted competition. If you look closely at numbers and Twitter presence, those who support #WrestlingShirtADayInMay, usually do better in its rankings. Jenna Burkert is an active athlete who is a huge supporter of the trend and she took first in the individual rankings last year and is leading again this year. Gardner-Webb coach, Daniel Elliot, is another big supporter and last year, Gardner-Webb offered free shirts to the first five people to make donations to their program during their annual day of giving and they have had an impressive showing along with the rest of the SoCon. Basically, if you want to win, you should support the movement. Even high school teams have gotten in on the competition. Hillcrest High School came in first last year, which was closely followed by Bellevue High School and Greenville High School. This aspect of #WrestlingShirtADayInMay is part of what makes this trend and this sport so special. There is room for everybody. Any college or community that supports wrestling deserves to be celebrated. This social media movement has only been active for a short time but has grown to include other smaller trends such as #BloodroundPoundDown, a hashtag promoting a healthy lifestyle and losing weight during the month. This partnership with #WrestlingShirtADayInMay is all about donating money to a program in need. In #BloodroundPoundDown, teams or individuals pledge to donate $1 for every pound lost as well as a $5 buy-in, and the team with the highest percentage of weight lost wins. Most wrestling fans are content with the satisfaction of winning and the bragging rights, but the winners also get to choose what program receives the money generated through #BloodroundPoundDown and the proceeds of the new #WrestlingShirtADayInMay shirts. While Dutrow had high hopes for the movement, he didn't know exactly where he wanted it to go, only that it continued and grew. This hashtag has brought so many different fans together and has really helped people look at and support schools in other conferences. You can simultaneously be a Penn State fan but also be a part of the #SchwabMob, the most important aspect is that you support wrestling and loudly at that. If you want to add to your wrestling t-shirt collection but don't know where to start, you can visit #WrestlingShirtADayInMay's growing database

2x NCAA qualifier Ben Pasiuk (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is…Army West Point! For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State Arizona State NCAA Qualifiers (48) 2022 149 - PJ Ogunsanya (#24); 157 - Markus Hartman (#23); 174 - Ben Pasiuk (#28); 197 - JT Brown (#31) 2021 141 - Lane Peters (#19); 149 - PJ Ogunsanya (#16); 157 - Markus Hartman (#30); 174 - Ben Pasiuk (#17); 184 - Taylor Brown (#27); 197 - JT Brown (#17); 285 - Bobby Heald 2020 125 - Trey Chalifoux (#19); 157 - Markus Hartman (#12); 165 - Cael McCormick (#21); 174 - Ben Harvey (#18); 184 - Noah Stewart (#17); 197 - JT Brown (#20); 285 - Ben Sullivan (#24) 2019 125 - Trey Chalifoux (#33); 141 - Corey Shie (#29); 157 - Lucas Weiland (#20); 165 - Cael McCormick (#24); 174 - Ben Harvey (#22); 184 - Noah Stewart (#28); 197 - Rocco Caywood (#12) 2018 157 - Lucas Weiland; 174 - Ben Harvey; 197 - Rocco Caywood 2017 141 - Logan Everett; 157 - Russell Parsons; 165 - Andrew Mendel; 184 - Samson Imonode 2016 141 - Logan Everett; 157 - Russell Parsons; 174 - Brian Harvey; 184 - Samson Imonode; 197 - Bryce Barnes 2015 157 - Russell Parsons; 165 - Cole Gracey; 174 - Brian Harvey; 197 - Bryce Barnes 2014 157 - Paul Hancock; 174 - Brian Harvey; 197 - Bryce Barnes 2013 141 - Connor Hanafee; 149 - Daniel Young; 165 - Paul Hancock; 197 - Bryce Barnes NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans None NWCA All-Americans Markus Hartman (157 - 2nd Team) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Ben Harvey - 174 (2018, 2019) EIWA Champions 2021: PJ Ogunsanya (149); Ben Pasiuk (174) EIWA Runner's Up 2021: Lane Peters (141); JT Brown (197); Bobby Heald (285) 2019: Cael McCormick (165) 2017: Russell Parsons (157) 2016: Brian Harvey (174); Bryce Barnes (197) 2013: Daniel Young (149) Dual Record: 2021-22: 2-7 2021: 2-3 2019-20: 10-3 2018-19: 8-3 2017-18: 3-6 2016-17: 7-5 2015-16: 3-7 2014-15: 3-6 2013-14: 8-4 2012-13: 7-7 EIWA Tournament Placement 2021-22: 8th 2021: 3rd 2019-20: 3rd 2018-19: 4th 2017-18: 8th 2016-17: 4th 2015-16: 4th 2014-15: 10th 2013-14: 14th 2012-13: 6th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 48th (4 points) 2021: 41st-tie (6 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 36th (7.5 points) 2017-18: 42nd (4.5 points) 2016-17: 53rd-tie (1.5 points) 2015-16: 58th-tie (2.5 points) 2014-15: 50th-tie (2.5 points) 2013-14: 50th (4 points) 2012-13: - (0 points) Head Coaching History Kevin Ward (2014-present) Joe Heskett (2010-2014) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Trey Chalifoux: 2x NCAA Qualifier 133 - Lane Peters: 2021 NCAA Qualifier; 2021 EIWA runner-up 141 - Logan Everett: 2x NCAA Qualifier 149 - PJ Ogunsanya: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2021 EIWA champion (#16th and 24th seed) 157 - Markus Hartman; 3x NCAA Qualifier; (#12th, 23rd, 30th seed) 165 - Cole McCormick: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2019 EIWA runner-up (#21st and 24th seed) 174 - Ben Harvey: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA Round of 12 Finisher; 2016 EIWA runner-up (#15th, 18th and 22nd seed) 184 - Samson Imonode: 2x NCAA Qualifier 197 - Bryce Barnes: 4x NCAA Qualifier 285 - Bobby Heald: 2021 NCAA Qualifier, 2021 EIWA runner-up Recruiting Big Board'ers Per Year 2022: #80 Austin Kolhofer (OH); #89 Braden Basile (FL); #125 Dakota Morris (NJ); #143 Gunner Filipowicz (GA); #155 Evan Anderson (OH); #193 Jaime Rivera (AZ); #212 Ben Rogers (NY); #213 Oscar Aranda (CA) 2021: #101 Raymond Lopez (CA); #110 Isaiah Vance (PA); #119 Eddie Hummel (NJ); #183 Shane Percelay (NJ); #197 Richard Treanor (NC); #246 Ryan Franco (CA); #248 Trae McDaniel (TN); #259 Bailey Flanagan (FL); #273 Ethan Berginc (PA) 2020: #78 Dalton Harkins (PA); #179 Kenny Kiser (PA) 2018: #47 Markus Hartman (IL) 2017: #64 Casey Cornett (KY); #83 Brad Laughlin (IN) 2016: #118 Jimmy Saylor (PA); #141 Beau Guffey (OK) 2015: #43 Kenneth Brinson (GA); #99 Wyatt Wyckoff (CA); #105 Jake Adcock (GA) 2014: #115 PJ Klee (CA); #122 Rocco Caywood (OH) 2013: #28 Russell Parsons (NJ); #117 Mark Marchetti (TN)

Yianni Diakomihalis (left) and Joey McKenna at the 2022 World Team Trials (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This weekend the Senior World Team Trials take place in Coralville, Iowa. Wrestlers competing in this event had to qualify from various domestic and international tournaments over the past year. The stakes are a berth in Final X and these athletes will move one step closer to a berth on the world team. Normally, at an event like this, the stakes are “win and you're in.” But that's not always the case. Fans will have to pay attention to each weight class. If there's a returning world medalist competing at Final X at the same weight, they have automatically advanced to Final X. If the US did not medal at a particular weight, or the medalist is not returning, then the World Team Trials semifinalists move on to Final X. In men's freestyle, all but three (65, 70, 125) weights will have their winners move to Final X. In women's freestyle, all but four (53, 59, 72, 76) weights will have winners move to Final X. Conversely, in Greco-Roman, all semifinalists will advance to Final X except at 97 kg, where only the winner goes. Before the action starts Saturday, here are ten weight classes, across all three styles, to focus on. 65 kg Men's Freestyle This weight has been a thorn in the side for the US for a few quads now. There have been some extremely talented competitors, but no world/Olympic medals since 2006. This bracket is extremely deep and has a number of wrestlers who could compete for world medals. The top seed belongs to Kendric Maple who came out of retirement to win the open. That puts two of the perceived favorites, Yianni Diakomihalis and Joey McKenna, on the other half of the bracket. The pair wrestled for a spot on the world team last year. Possibly stopping Maple from a finals appearance could be a combination of Nick Lee, Matt Kolodzik, or even Evan Henderson. The finalists here will move to Final X. 70 kg Men's Freestyle Since the retirement of James Green, there has been plenty of speculation about who succeeds Green as the dominant figure atop the weight. In reality, any number of entrants could earn the world team berth. The top half of the bracket could feature US Open champion Alec Pantaleo taking on two-time world team rep, Zain Retherford. The bottom half has Ryan Deakin and Jordan Oliver as the second and third seeds. Deakin made Final X in 2018 and Oliver was the Olympic Trials winner at 65 kg. The finalists here move to Final X. 79 kg Men's Freestyle At the Open, we were treated to perhaps the best match of the tournament in the 79 kg finals between David McFadden and Vincenzo Joseph. Will it happen again? With Alex Dieringer, Carter Starocci, Isaiah Martinez, and more in the field, there are plenty of potential roadblocks. Action here will be even more intense, as only the winner moves on to Final X to meet Jordan Burroughs. Could it be a Penn RTC battle between Burroughs/McFadden? Another matchup with Burroughs/IMar? A battle of Hodge Trophy winners with Burroughs/Dieringer? There are so many great possibilities. 125 kg Men's Freestyle Like the other weights, the Open winner, Hayden Zillmer, assumes the top seed. He'll have his new rival, Dom Bradley, along with veteran Ty Walz in his way blocking a possible finals appearance. An imposing 2 vs. 3 bout on the bottom half of the bracket features two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski and 2021 U23 World champion Tony Cassioppi. Also of note, long-time 97 kg contender Kyven Gadson is entered here and seeded sixth. If the weight is not a factor, he could make a finals run. The finalists here move to Final X. 53 kg Women's Freestyle At the Open, we saw Felicity Taylor turn in one of the best performances of her career, as she teched World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe in the championship bout. She'll have the top seed here. Will she make the finals and earn her place at Final X? She has quite the road to the finals with Dom Parrish and Alisha Howk assuming the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively. Parrish is competing at 53 kg for the first time and is fresh off a title at the Pan-American championships. She is a three-time U23 World Team member, while Howk has wrestled for a medal at Junior Worlds. Ronna Heaton would be the favorite on the bottom half of the bracket. The former Cadet World Champion, Heaton, is seeking to make her first Senior-level world team, just a year after losing in the finals of the Olympic Trials and 2021 WTT's. The finalists here move to Final X. 59 kg Women's Freestyle 59 kg is another weight where we have a US Open winner, Nanea Estrella, as the top seed; however, she may not be the favorite. The future Hawkeye, Estrella, will be competing right down the road from Carver-Hawkeye Arena and should have some fans on her side. To get to the finals, Estrella will need to get past Lexie Basham, the opponent who defeated her in the NAIA national finals this year. On the other half of the bracket, you have two-time U23 World Team member Abby Nette as the two and Michaela Beck as the three. Beck has made a U23 and Junior team. The finalists here move to Final X. 72 kg Women's Freestyle This weight class isn't particularly large or deep, but it'll be interesting to see how Amit Elor fares on the Senior level. To earn a spot in Final X, Elor will likely have to go through 2022 US Open runner-up Marlynne Deede. The finalists here move to Final X. 76 kg Women's Freestyle With Adeline Gray out of the picture, this weight class is wide open and deep. For top-seeded Dymond Guilford to make it into the finals, and clinch a spot in Final X, she'll have to go through two-time World Team member Victoria Francis. Francis now trains locally out of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. The other half of the bracket features Guilford's longtime friend and occasional opponent, Precious Bell, as the second seed. She'll likely have to face Yelena Makoyed in the semis. The finalists here move to Final X. 77 kg Men's Greco-Roman Most of the top Greco-Roman matchups we won't see this weekend because they'll end up happening at Final X. 77 is different though because it features four interesting contenders. 2022 Pan-American bronze medalist RaVaughn Perkins gets the top seed. For him to make the final, he'll have to get through US Open champion Britton Holmes. On the bottom portion of the bracket, Olympic Trials winner Jesse Porter probably advances to face 2018 World Team member Kamal Bey. The finalists here move to Final X. 97 kg Men's Greco-Roman With G'Angelo Hancock sitting in Final X, 97 kg is the only Greco weight where the champion will advance. This bracket looks pretty good, but when you consider that only one of these top-notch competitors will move on, the stakes are even higher. A Pan-American bronze medal a few weeks ago, gives Nicholas Boykin the top seed. That sets up a semifinal bout with him and either Khymba Johnson or Haydn Maley. The pair finished second and third, respectively, at the Open. The Open champion, Lucas Sheridan, checks in as the third seed, behind Olympic Trials finalist Braxton Amos. That sets the stage for an excellent showdown between Amos and Sheridan.

NC State signee Dylan Fishback (left), Ohio State's Nick Feldman (center), and Iowa State's Casey Swiderski (right) (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The 2021 recruiting class rankings were as difficult as any I've ever done. No one team jumped out from the pack and solidified themselves as the no-brainer pick. Fast forward a year to the 2022 class and the top spot was relatively easy to figure out. One team stood head and shoulders above the other signing classes. After that, there was plenty of chaos! We ranked out to the top-25; however, you could make the case for ten to twelve other programs belonging in the rankings. Recruiting rankings mark the end of the respective class and put a bow on the hard work of coaching staffs around the nation. The question you ask is, how are these rankings tabulated? First, we have used the big board rankings courtesy of our sister-site MatScouts. Willie Saylor has taken the arduous task of projecting the top-300 wrestlers in the Class of 2022, making calculating these rankings slightly easier. Some of the factors that are taken into account when putting these rankings together include: - Numbers: Where were the signees ranked? How many top-ten, top-50, top-100, top-250, etc., does a school have? - Fit: After years of following these programs and their coaching staffs, does a particular recruit fit the "type" of kid that has success at their respective team. Or maybe a style of wrestling. - Filling a need: In years past, I have weighed this very heavily. Signing two highly ranked 184 lb prospects doesn't appear to fit a need when you have a stud junior returning at the same weight. However, after coming off a "free year" in 2021, that throws a loop into everything. At this time, we don't know whether everyone will actually use that extra year of eligibility. Compared to years past, this category doesn't factor in, as much, unless it's very evident that a team has a glaring logjam at a particular weight or weight range. - Impact on a program: This is subjective, but tends to favor teams that aren't consistent NCAA trophy contenders. If Iowa or Penn State sign the #80 overall recruit and he turns out to AA twice, taking seventh and eighth for them, it has a particular impact. But if Little Rock or Wyoming sign the same prospect and he has the same career, it will have a much more significant impact on those two programs. Both Little Rock and Wyoming may have benefitted from this criteria in 2022. So, with that out of the way, enjoy InterMat's 2022 Team Recruiting Rankings. For Part One of our recruiting class rankings featuring teams #13-25 12) Rutgers 2022 Class: #12 Brian Soldano: 174/184 lbs (High Point, NJ), #43 PJ Casale: 197 lbs (Passaic Valley, NJ), #59 Luke Gayer: 165 lbs (Calvary Chapel, CA), #71 Joe Fongaro: 149 lbs (Boonton, NJ), #236 Brandan Chletsos: 141 lbs (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA), NR Eric Freeman: 165 lbs (Paramus, NJ) Key Transfer: Joe Heilmann: 133 lbs (North Carolina) The Rutgers staff did what they've been accustomed to doing on the recruiting front and that was keeping some of their home state's best at home with the signing of Brian Soldano, PJ Casale, and Joe Fongaro. The high-scoring Soldano captured a New Jersey state title in each of his final three years of high school. He also was a Fargo Junior finalist in 2021 and finished in the top three at the Super 32 three times. In 2020, Soldano won the Super 32 belt. Casale was a state champ, as a sophomore, and eschewed the opportunity to win a second in 2021, when he entered UWW Cadet's instead and finished as a runner-up. Fongaro made the leap from sixth as a junior to a NJ state title in 2022. From the out-of-state ranks, Scott Goodale's staff signed California state runner-up Luke Gayer. Prior to his senior year, Gayer finished fourth at the Super 32. That set the tone for his senior campaign, one that ended with a loss in tiebreakers in the state final. The Rutgers coaching staff did a good job at filling potential long-term holes in the lineup with 165 and 197 (Gayer and Casale), while getting a high-ceiling "must-sign" prospect like Soldano at 174/184. 2021 Ranking: #17 11) Iowa 2022 Class: #38 Aiden Riggins: 165 lbs (Waverly-Shell Rock, IA), #48 Kolby Franklin: 197 lbs (Wyoming Seminary, PA), #112 Bradley Hill: 285 lbs (Bettendorf, IA), #124 Mickey Griffith: 184 lbs (Des Moines Lincoln, IA), #215 Easton Fleshman: 285 lbs (West Lyon, IA), #242 Joel Jesuroga: 149 lbs (Southeast Polk, IA), NR Jace Rhodes: 141/149 lbs (Mason City, IA), NR Drake Rhodes: 157 lbs (Billings West, MT), NR Cade Siebrecht: 141 lbs (Lisbon, IA), NR Carter Martinson: 141/149 lbs (Southeast Polk, IA), NR Carson Martinson: 149/157 lbs (Southeast Polk, IA), NR Gage Marty; 285 lbs (Solon, IA) Key Transfer: Real Woods: 141 lbs (Stanford) It was a crazy week or so in October as this class and the Hawkeyes Class of 2023 came together. Every day, sometimes multiple times per day, new Iowa commitments popped up. Now looking at this extensive list, there will be a handful of wrestlers that probably have a minimal impact in on-the-mat results during their career at Iowa. Between this large group and existing team members, there aren't enough spots in the lineup for everyone. All of that being said, the Iowa staff did well at addressing potential problem weights, in the future. 2019 Fargo 16U double finalist, Kolby Franklin, could be the successor to NCAA finalist Jacob Warner at 197. Franklin wrestled a tough schedule at Wyoming Seminary and placed highly at nearly every notable high school event. The trio of Bradley Hill, Easton Fleshman, and Gage Marty could eventually replace Tony Cassioppi. Two-time state champion Aiden Riggins may be the answer right away for a potential hole at 157 lbs and could be the man at 165 if Patrick Kennedy eventually goes up to 174. Immediately, Iowa will get help at 141 from 2022 All-American Real Woods. Real has two years of eligibility remaining and has to be considered a title favorite, in a weight that graduated its top three finishers. 2021 Ranking: #4 10) Arizona State 2022 Class: #33 Emilio Ysaguirre: 149 lbs (Valiant Prep, AZ), #57 Kaleb Larkin: 141 lbs (Valiant Prep, AZ), #64 Michael Kilic: 141 lbs (Woodward Academy, GA), #136 Jacob Meissner: 184/197 lbs (Osseo, MN), #185 Tyler Antoniak: 157 lbs (Millard South, NE), NR Damion Schunke: 197 lbs (Brandon Valley, SD), NR Diego Chavez: 197 lbs (Santa Cruz, AZ), NR Caleb Vanbuskirk: 197/285 lbs (Palm Desert, CA), NR Corey Camden: 141 lbs (College Park, TX), NR Shay Addison: 184 lbs (Rumson Fair Haven, NJ) Key Transfer: Anthony Montalvo: 184 lbs (Oklahoma State) It's back-to-back top-ten recruiting classes for Arizona State, who coincidentally finished with an NCAA trophy for a second straight year. 2003 Hodge Trophy winner and Sun Devil great Eric Larkin started the Valiant Prep wrestling program in Arizona and his alma mater is starting to reap the rewards. ASU signed two of Larkin's wrestlers, both of which are top 60 recruits. Emilio Ysaguirre was a Fargo Junior freestyle runner-up and a UWW Cadet third-place finisher, all within a few months of each other in 2021. Larkin's son, Kaleb, is aboard, as well. The younger Larkin was seventh at the Super 32 prior to last season. The Sun Devil staff was also able to grab a pair of wrestlers from outside of their normal reach at power programs with Michael Kilic and Tyler Antoniak. Kilic is a two-time Super 32 placer that tends to have his best results in Greco. The same goes for Antoniak, who was a Junior champion last summer in Fargo and was sixth at UWW Cadet Nationals in 2021. In addition to a large recruiting class, ASU will also get a boost from transfer Anthony Montalvo. Montalvo was the ninth seed at nationals in 2020, as a freshman, after finishing third in the Big 12 for Oklahoma State. He'll solidify one of the three weights the Sun Devils didn't qualify last year. 2021 Ranking: #2 9) Virginia 2022 Class: #30 Michael Gioffre: 141 lbs (Buchanan, CA), #53 Garrett Grice: 133 lbs (Bellevue East, NE), #62 Jack Gioffre: 133 lbs (Buchanan, CA), #90 Kyle Montapero: 125/133 lbs (Central Academy, NC), #104 Nick Hamilton: 157 lbs (Papillion La Vista, NE), #154 Griffin Gammel: 184 lbs (Waukee NW, IA), #167 Keyveon Roller: 133/141 lbs (Lakeway Christian, TN), #210 Nick Sanko: 165 lbs (Pittsford, NY), NR RJ May: 184 lbs (Maggie Walker, VA); NR Cooper Rudolph: 285 lbs (Robinson, VA) What a recruiting class for the University of Virginia! Unranked last year, the Cavaliers jumped all the way into the top ten with four top-100 recruits and eight of the top-250. The UVA staff went out to California to pull in a pair of state champions in Michael and Jack Gioffre. Michael captured his title with a win over Cadet World team member Beau Mantanona and finished the year ranked second in the nation. That reversed a result from the Doc Buchanan where Michael fell in the finals to Mantanona. Jack was victorious at 132 lbs. Virginia also went out of their normal recruiting radius to pick up a pair of studs from Nebraska with Garrett Grice and Nick Hamilton. Grice was sixth in Fargo as a Junior and Cadet in freestyle during his past two appearances. Hamilton was Junior national champion in Greco and placed top-five in both styles in 2019. Also in that general area is Iowa state champion, Griffin Gammel. Closer to home are Kyle Montapero and Keyveon Roller, both top-six placers at the Super 32. Virginia will get help up-and-down their lineup, possibly in year one, from this group. Having a class like this is essential as the rest of the ACC continues to recruit well. 2021 Ranking: NR 8) Nebraska 2022 Class: #17 Harley Andrews: 285 lbs (Tuttle, OK), #25 Antrell Taylor: 165 lbs (Millard South, NE), #84 Jacob Van Dee: 125 lbs (Cathedral Prep, PA), #130 Reese Davis: 149 lbs (Tuttle, OK), NR Dez Gartrell: 165 lbs (Dublin Coffman, OH) Nebraska is a mainstay in the recruiting rankings and checks in with a very strong eighth-ranked recruiting class. Their home state doesn't regularly produce top-25 type recruits every year, so it was imperative to keep a prospect like Antrell Taylor at home. Last year, Taylor was fifth at both, UWW Cadet freestyle and Fargo Juniors. In 2019, Taylor made the Fargo 16U freestyle finals. The Husker staff also nabbed one of the top heavyweights in the class with three-time Oklahoma state champion Harley Andrews. Last year, Andrews was eighth in Junior freestyle in Fargo. In 2019, he also placed in the 16U division; however, it was down at 182 lbs! Andrews' high school teammate, Reese Davis, is also aboard. Davis is a multiple-time state champion and a 2020 winner at Preseason Nationals. One of the more difficult weights for Nebraska to find a superstar has been 125 lbs. They haven't had a leadoff hitter on the NCAA podium since 2008. Two-time Pennsylvania state finalist and 2021 champion Jacob Van Dee hopes to change that. Van Dee has placed in Fargo three times in his career. The possible diamond in the round is Daz Gartrell, a seventh-place finisher at the Walsh Ironman, who was injured and unable to compete at the Ohio state tournament. Not only does this group feature high-level competitors, but they also represent an upgrade in talent at their respective projected weights. 2021 Ranking: #13 7) Virginia Tech 2022 Class: #8 TJ Stewart: 184/197 lbs (Blair Academy, NJ), #16 Caleb Henson: 149/157 lbs (Woodland Cartersville, GA), #81 Tom Crook: 149 lbs (Tampa Jesuit, FL), #204 Aiden Lacoma: 285 lbs (Christiansburg, VA), NR Evan Holloway: 149 lbs (New Kent, VA), NR Luke Robie: 149/157 lbs (Christiansburg, VA) Key Transfer: Drew Nicholson: 165 lbs (Chattanooga) A pair of top-25 signees and three in the top-100 is good enough for Virginia Tech to jump back into the top ten this year. Though he wrestled for Blair Academy, TJ Stewart is from Virginia and one of the state's highest-ranked recruits of the last decade. Keeping him home was imperative for Tony Robie's team. The 16U and Junior freestyle national champion had tournament wins at the Ironman and the Beast of the East during his senior season. He is the long-term answer at 184 or 197, both of which could be issues for the Hokies in the future. Caleb Henson probably ends up at 157 lbs eventually; however, he may be the starter in year one at 149 as Bryce Andonian is slated to move up to 157 next year. Henson is a two-time placer at the Super 32 and Fargo Junior freestyle, winning each once. Both Henson and Stewart were victorious last fall at Who's #1. Super 32 and Ironman placer Tom Crook will lend depth to the middleweights. Crook was a four-time state champion that helped lead Jesuit to the school's first team title in 2022. The remainder of the class consists of in-state products, two of which hail from local Christiansburg. Aiden Lacoma is a two-time state champion that finished on the podium at the Super 32, the Ironman, and Beast during his senior season. Teammate Luke Robie, son of head coach Tony, finally broke through and won a state crown as a senior. Someone that held him back in the past was four-time champion, Evan Holloway, also a Hokie-signee. Holloway was fourth at the Beast in 2021. 2021 Ranking: #22 6) Oklahoma State 2022 Class: #10 Jordan Williams: 165 lbs (Collinsville, OK), #23 Anthony Ferrari: 157 lbs (Stillwater, OK), #34 Zach Blankenship: 133 lbs (Bixby, OK), NR Cutter Sheets (Stilwell, OK) It's a small, but star-studded weight class for Oklahoma State in 2022. The big names for the Cowboys all are from in-state as John Smith's squad inked three of the top-34 wrestlers in the nation. The centerpiece is Jordan Williams, who has won three stop signs (all in freestyle) during his career in Fargo. Williams also has a Super 32 belt to his name and has participated in the Who's #1 dual twice in his career. A familiar name for Cowboy fans comes in as the #23 recruit in this country, Anthony Ferrari. Though he's been hampered recently due to injuries, Ferrari could be a solution in year one for Oklahoma State at 157 lbs. He may be more suited to competing immediately than the talented Williams. Like his older brother and Cowboy national champion, AJ, Anthony will be able to handle the physicality of college wrestling sooner than most. Ferrari was a Super 32 runner-up at 152 lbs, prior to his junior year. Three-time Oklahoma champion Zach Blankenship could be the eventual successor to Daton Fix at 133 lbs. Blankenship is a multi-sport athlete with a high ceiling. Rounding out the class is state runner-up, Cutter Sheets. Sheets is the younger brother of Cowboy All-American, Wyatt, and son of OSU legend Mike. 2021 Ranking: #6 5) Stanford 2022 Class: #2 Daniel Cardenas: 149/157 lbs (Pomona, CO), #9 Hunter Garvin: 165 lbs (Iowa City West, IA); #82 (Class of 2021) Nico Provo: 125/133 lbs (Green Farms, CT), #108 Brooks Byers: 184 lbs (Sprague, OR), #117 Jack Darrah: 197 lbs (Wyoming Seminary, PA), #199 (Class of 2021) Luke Duthie: 184/197 lbs (Wyoming Seminary, PA), NR Wyatt Richter (St. Edward, OH), NR Xander Galli 149/157 lbs (Phillips Exeter, NH), NR Chayse LaJoie 141 lbs (Yorkville, MI) Almost a year ago, to the day, Stanford wrestling was saved. Shortly thereafter, the school stunned the wrestling community by hiring Rob Koll from Cornell. In his first recruiting class with the Cardinal, Koll has certainly left an imprint. Two of the nation's top-ten prospects are heading west in Daniel Cardenas and Hunter Garvin. Cardenas was a two-time 16U national finalist in freestyle and was victorious at the Ironman and Doc Buchanan as a senior. He and Garvin should benefit from training with NCAA champion Shane Griffith and assistant coach Vincenzo Joseph, both around their weights. Garvin is a three-time Iowa state champion and four-time finalist who competed in Who's #1 last fall. Three-time Fargo placer Jack Darrah and Oregon state champion Brook Byers are two upperweights who come from the high school class of 2022 and will solidify the back of the Cardinal lineup. Stanford also benefits from having a handful of wrestlers who initially committed to Koll at Cornell from the Class of 2021. Most notable is Nico Provo, an NHSCA Senior National champion, a year ago. Provo looked impressive in limited action, in 2021-22, competing unattached. He could start at 125 right away. Signing a class like this was important for Koll as he looks to establish a strong foundation and let the wrestling world know that Stanford can be a consistent powerhouse in the Pac-12 and beyond. 2021 Ranking: NR 4) Missouri 2022 Class: #21 Zeke Seltzer: 133 lbs (Cathedral, IN), #35 Clayton Whiting: 184 lbs (Oconto Falls, WI), #67 Ryan Boersma: 285 lbs (Mt. Carmel, IL), #107 Cameron Steed: 141 lbs (Collinsville, OK), #129 Kade Moore: 141 lbs (Allen, TX), #164 J Conway: 165 lbs (Floyd, IN), #221 Owen Uhls: 133/141 (Fulton, MO), #229 Jerrod Fisher: 165 lbs (Goddard, KS), NR Easton Hilton: 125/133 lbs (Liberty, MO), NR Peyton Moore: 125/133 lbs (Nixa, MO), NR Preston Spray: 125 lbs (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) It seems like every even year Missouri loads up with a huge recruiting class. Since it's 2022, the Tigers have eight Big Board'ers coming in, including three in the top 100. Three-time Indiana state champion Zeke Seltzer is the highest-ranked of the bunch. He is a three-time Fargo freestyle placer and posted top-five finishes at each of the last two Super 32's. Clayton Whiting has already shown flashes of what he can do at the collegiate level by downing Iowa's national qualifier Abe Assad in an open tournament. Whiting was a finalist at the 2021 Super 32 and, a few months earlier, finished top-five in both styles at the Junior level in Fargo. The final top-100 recruit is Illinois state champ Ryan Boersma. A few weeks ago, at UWW Junior Nationals, Boersma downed top-50 recruit Chase Horne and Virginia Tech's national qualifier, Hunter Catka, to earn a place in the finals. While most school's on this list were content to "call it a year" for their Class of 2022, Brian Smith got spring commitments from a pair of ranked recruits with Cameron Steed and Jerrod Fisher. Steed claimed Oklahoma state titles in all four years, while Fisher was a three-time Kansas champ. This will certainly be a recruiting class to revisit later. Coach Smith's staff has a knack for taking moderately ranked recruits and having them become more productive collegiate wrestlers. That could happen with this group, as well. 2021 Ranking: NR 3) NC State 2022 Class: #6 Dylan Fishback: 197 lbs (Aurora, OH), #13 Matthew Singleton: 174/184 lbs (Woodward Academy, GA), #28 Jackson Arrington: 149 lbs (Forest Hills, PA), #39 Chase Horne: 285 lbs (West Laurens, GA), #111 Finn Solomon: 141 lbs (Franklin Regional, PA), #172 Troy Hohman: 125 lbs (Penn Trafford, PA), #186 Tommy Curran: 149 lbs (Dekalb, IL), NR Danny Curran: 141 lbs (Dekalb, IL), NR Jacob Cox: 141 lbs (South Rowan, NC), NR Aaron Faison: 157/165 lbs (Union Pines, NC), NR Andrew Macchiavello: 285 lbs (Sun Valley, NC) For the third straight year, NC State finishes the year with a top-five recruiting ranking. They're the only school in the nation that can claim that designation. The Wolfpack have signed four top-40 recruits and have seven members of the 2022 Big Board headed to Raleigh. Leading the way is Dylan Fishback, the top 197 lb prospect in the class. Fishback was a Junior freestyle champion in Fargo, before staking a claim to the top spot in the nation with a win at Who's #1, and a title at the Ironman. Four-time Georgia state champion and Junior Greco world team member Matthew Singleton is right behind Fishback. Singleton was a two-time Super 32 finalist and one-time champ. The remaining two top-40 recruits in this mix, Jackson Arrington and Chase Horne, have both been selected and won at Who's #1. Arrington is a three-time Pennsylvania state champion, while Horne has made the Fargo podium on four occasions and made the Super 32 finals three times (winning in 2021). The other two PA wrestlers in this class are multiple-time placers, Finn Solomon and Troy Hohman. Solomon missed a year due to injury, but made the state finals every year he competed. Hohman was a 2021 champion at the Powerade. We've already mentioned four other ACC schools in the recruiting rankings. Competition for the league crown and national accolades will be at a premium. For NC State to continue leading the pack in the ACC and pushing for more team trophies, they'll need to have classes like this. 2021 Ranking: #5 2) Iowa State 2022 Class: #3 Casey Swiderski: 141/149 lbs (Dundee, MI), #14 MJ Gaitan: 165/174 lbs (Temecula Valley, CA), #19 Manny Rojas: 174/184 lbs (Detroit Central Catholic, MI), #77 Connor Euton: 157/165 lbs (Westerville, OH), #85 Ethan Perryman: 133 lbs (Temecula Valley, CA), #206 Evan Frost: 133/141 (Dowling Catholic, IA), #224 Jacob Frost: 133/141 lbs (Dowling Catholic, IA); NR Carter Fousek: 125/133 (Crestwood, IA), NR Cayden Miller: 197 lbs (Midland, IA), NR Cole Carlucci: 184/197 lbs (Monarch, CO) What a difference six weeks make! In late April, Iowa State was probably pushing for a spot in the top ten with an impressive class. Then #14 MJ Gaitan flipped from Cal Baptist to the Cyclones, which gave Kevin Dresser's team a significant nudge. They locked up the spot last week after getting another pair of big board prospects, the Frost twins from Iowa via Louisiana, to agree to state in-state. Those late additions, combined with an already stellar class, lands Iowa State squarely in the #2 spot. Within the past two years, Casey Swiderski has risen sharply up the weight class and big board rankings. He finishes his high school career ranked #3 overall amongst seniors. An appearance in the Fargo Junior freestyle finals, followed by a win over then-number one Jesse Mendez, at Who's #1, completed Swiderski's ascend to the top spot at 138 lbs. Also from Michigan is #17 Manny Rojas, who placed third at the MatMen Open, with a win over NCAA qualifier Gerrit Nijenhuis. Rojas has won a Junior freestyle title in Fargo and made the 16U finals twice. Along with 2022 California state champion, MJ Gaitan is his high school teammate, Ethan Perryman, who won the 120 lb weight class. Both also won the Doc Buchanan this year, while Gaitan was also victorious at the Super 32. The Frost twins, originally committed to Columbia, were both Iowa state finalists this year with Evan winning and Jacob finishing as a runner-up. Iowa State had a breakthrough year on the dual front, winning 15 of 16 meets. Now, with this class, they have even more high-end star power, the type needed to make a serious run at the Big 12 and NCAA Championships. 2021 Ranking: #16 1) Ohio State 2022 Class: #1 Nick Feldman: 285 lbs (Malvern Prep, PA), #4 Jesse Mendez: 141 lbs (Crown Point, IN), #5 Nic Bouzakis: 133 lbs (Wyoming Seminary, PA), #22 Luke Geog: 184 lbs (St. Edward, OH), #55 Seth Shumate: 197 lbs (Dublin Coffman, OH), #131 Gavin Brown: 149 lbs (Legacy Christian Academy, OH); NR Brendan McCrone: 125 lbs (Lake Catholic, OH), NR Carter Chase: 165 lbs (Marian Pleasant, OH) The least surprising ranking of the year goes to Ohio State, who just ran away with the top spot after getting three of the top-five wrestlers in the nation to sign. The unanimous #1 amongst all seniors is Nick Feldman. Recently, Feldman dominated the field at UWW Junior Nationals to capture the title at 125 kg. As a senior, Feldman won the Ironman, Beast, and Powerade, before claiming his second National Prep title. He also grabbed a win at Who's #1 for a second consecutive year. The other two blue-chippers in the group, Jesse Mendez and Nic Bouzakis spent parts of their careers ranked #1 in the Class of 2022. Mendez has already appeared on the Cadet and Junior World team for freestyle and won his fourth Indiana state title. Later this week, he'll compete at the Senior World Team Trials, as he has earned the fourth seed at 61 kg. Bouzakis also has been on a Junior World team, for Greco-Roman, and was a Super 32 winner on three occasions. His first placement there came as an eighth-grader when he was fifth at 106 lbs. A pair of upperweights from in-state hold down the next tier of recruits. Luke Geog was third in Junior freestyle last summer and had the same placement at the Ironman. Seth Shumate has made the Fargo finals three times, winning a double title at the 16U level in 2019. He was the first member of this group to commit. Although Geog and Shumate are pegged at 184/197 for now, they could end up flipping based on body type. The final member of this ranked portion of the class is Gavin Brown, who made the podium at the Super 32 and Ironman this season. Also coming in from Ohio are state champions Brendan McCrone and Carter Chase. A few years from now, if Ohio State is able to get back into consistent national title discussion, it will largely be because of this class. In today's era of college wrestling, wrestlers are more advanced coming out of high school and there are fewer "diamonds in the rough" that develop into NCAA title threats. That's why you have to get the horses. Tom Ryan and his staff did that with the Class of 2023. Not that they needed an extra push, but it's extremely helpful that they got top-notch talent at some of the hardest to fill weight classes (197/285), both of which could be a need down the road. Please pay attention to InterMat's Rokfin channel. After we release the recruiting rankings, we'll post an interview with the Buckeye's Director of Recruiting and Operations to talk in more detail about the members of this class, how it was assembled, and recruiting philosophies. 2021 Ranking: #9

2022 NCAA runner-up Cohlton Schultz (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our “Ten Years of…” feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is…Arizona State! For past teams: Air Force American Appalachian State NCAA Qualifiers (56) 2022 125 - Brandon Courtney (#4); 133 - Michael McGee (#3); 149 - Kyle Parco (#5); 157 - Jacori Teemer (#3); 165 - Anthony Valencia (#18); 197 - Kordell Norfleet (#16); 285 - Cohlton Schultz (#2) 2021 125 - Brandon Courtney (#3); 133 - Michael McGee (#9); 149 - Cory Crooks (#31); 157 - Jacori Teemer (#11); 165 - Anthony Valencia (#2); 174 - Trey Munoz (#20); 197 - Kordell Norfleet (#3); 285 - Cohlton Schultz (#4) 2020 125 - Brandon Courtney (#9); 157 - Jacori Teemer (#9); 165 - Josh Shields (#6); 174 - Anthony Valencia (#8); 197 - Kordell Norfleet (#9); 285 - Tanner Hall (#4) 2019 125 - Ryan Millhof; 149 - Josh Maruca (#23); 157 - Christian Pagdilao (#9); 165 - Josh Shields (#3); 174 - Zahid Valencia (#3) 2018 125 - Ryan Millhof (#15); 133 - Ali Naser (#15); 149 - Jason Tsirtsis (#10); 157 - Josh Shields (#4); 165 - Anthony Valencia (#15); 174 - Zahid Valencia (#1); 184 - Kordell Norfleet; 285 - Tanner Hall (#8) 2017 149 - Josh Maruca; 157 - Josh Shields (#9); 165 - Anthony Valencia (#7); 174 - Zahid Valencia (#1); 285 - Tanner Hall (#7) 2016 133 - Dalton Brady; 141 - Robbie Mathers; 149 - Matt Kraus (#13); 184 - Blake Stauffer (#6); 197 - Josh DaSilveira (#9); 285 - Tanner Hall 2015 125 - Ares Carpio; 141 - Matt Kraus; 149 - Christian Pagdilao (#10); 157 - Oliver Pierce; 174 - Ray Waters; 184 - Blake Stauffer (#3) 2014 184 - Blake Stauffer 2013 174 - Blake Stauffer (#11); 184 - Kevin Radford; 197 - Jake Meredith (#9); 285 - Levi Cooper NCAA Champions Zahid Valencia: 2018 (184), 2019 (184) NCAA All-Americans Brandon Courtney (2022 - 6th; 2021 - 2nd) Michael McGee (2022 - 4th; 2021 - 6th) Kyle Parco (2022 - 8th) Jacori Teemer (2022 - 6th; 2021 - 4th) Cohlton Schultz (2022 - 2nd; 2021 - 4th) Anthony Valencia (2021 - 8th) Christian Pagdilao (2019 - 7th) Josh Shields (2019 - 6th; 2018 - 7th) Zahid Valencia (2019 - 1st; 2018 - 1st; 2017 - 3rd) Jason Tsirtsis (2018 - 7th) Tanner Hall (2017 - 3rd) Blake Stauffer (2015 - 4th) NWCA All-Americans Brandon Courtney (125 - 2nd Team) Jacori Teemer (157 - 2nd Team) Josh Shields (165 - 1st Team) Anthony Valencia (174 - 1st Team) Kordell Norfleet (197 - 2nd Team) Tanner Hall (285 - 1st Team) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Kordell Norfleet - 197 (2021) Anthony Valencia - 165 (2017) Blake Stauffer - 184 (2014, 2016) Tanner Hall - 285 (2016) Pac-12 Champions 2022: Brandon Courtney (125); Michael McGee (133); Kyle Parco (149); Jacori Teemer (157); Kordell Norfleet (197); Cohlton Schultz (285) 2021: Brandon Courtney (125); Jacori Teemer (157); Anthony Valencia (165); Kordell Norfleet (197); Cohlton Schultz (285) 2020: Brandon Courtney (125); Jacori Teemer (157); Anthony Valencia (174); Kordell Norfleet (197); Tanner Hall (285) 2019: Christian Pagdilao (157); Josh Shields (165); Zahid Valencia (174) 2018: Ali Naser (133); Jason Tsirtsis (149); Josh Shields (157); Anthony Valencia (165); Zahid Valencia (174); Kordell Norfleet (197) 2017: Josh Maruca (149); Josh Shields (157); Anthony Valencia (165); Zahid Valencia (174); Tanner Hall (285) 2016: Dalton Brady (133); Blake Stauffer (184); Josh DaSilveira (197) 2015: Christian Pagdilao (149); Blake Stauffer (184) Dual Record: 2021-22: 9-4 2021: 7-0 2019-20: 15-2 2018-19: 6-10 2017-18: 11-3 2016-17: 10-4 2015-16: 12-7 2014-15: 8-7 2013-14: 9-8 2012-13: 8-11 Pac-12 Tournament Placement 2021-22: 1st 2021: 1st 2019-20: 1st 2018-19: 2nd 2017-18: 1st 2016-17: 1st 2015-16: 2nd 2014-15: 2nd 2013-14: 4th 2012-13: 3rd NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 4th (66.5 points) 2021: 4th (74 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 12th (42 points) 2017-18: 10th (43 points) 2016-17: 14th (39 points) 2015-16: 33rd (9.5 points) 2014-15: 29th (12.5 points) 2013-14: 58th (2 points) 2012-13: 41st (4 points) Head Coaching History Zeke Jones (2014-present) Shawn Charles (2009-14) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Brandon Courtney: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA All-American (6th, 2nd); 3x Pac-12 champion 133 - Michael McGee: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA All-American (4th, 6th); 2022 Pac-12 champion, 2x NCAA Qualifier for Old Dominion 141 - Matt Kraus: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2016 NCAA #13th seed 149 - Jason Tsirtsis: 2018 NCAA All-American (7th); 2018 Pac-12 champion; 2x NCAA All-American (3rd, 1st) for Northwestern 157 - Jacori Teemer: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA All-American (4th, 6th); 3x Pac-12 champion 165 - Josh Shields: 4x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA All-American (6th, 7th); 3x Pac-12 champion 174 - Zahid Valencia: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA Champion; 3x NCAA All-American (1st, 1st, 3rd); 3x Pac-12 champion 184 - Blake Stauffer: 4x NCAA Qualifier; 2015 NCAA All-American (4th); 2x Pac-12 champion 197 - Kordell Norfleet: 4x NCAA Qualifier; 2021 NCAA Round of 12; 4x Pac-12 champion 285 - Cohlton Schultz: 2x NCAA Qualifier, 2x NCAA All-American (2nd, 4th); 2x Pac-12 champion Recruiting Big Board'ers Per Year 2022: #33 Emilio Ysaguirre (AZ); #57 Kaleb Larkin (AZ); #64 Michael Kilic (GA); #136 Jacob Meissner (MN); #185 Tyler Antoniak (NE) 2021: #3 Richie Figueroa (CA); #13 Cael Valencia (CA); #60 Mykey Ramos (AZ); #88 Carter Dibert (PA); #146 Max Wilner (CA) 2020: #16 Jesse Vasquez (CA) 2019: #4 Cohlton Schultz (CO); #12 Julian Chlebove (PA); #23 Nick Raimo (NJ); #24 Adam Busiello (NY); #69 Trey Munoz (CA); #96 Cleveland Belton (CA) 2018: #8 Jacori Teemer (NY) 2017: #46 Kordell Norfleet (IL); #60 Navonte Demison (CA); #76 Brandon Courtney (AZ) 2016: #139 Gabriel Beyer (FL) 2015: #1 Anthony Valencia (CA); #3 Zahid Valencia (CA); #10 Lance Benick (MN); #13 Josh Shields (PA); #55 Josh Maruca (PA) 2014: #55 Nikko Villarreal (CA); #124 Hayden Lee (OH) 2013: #82 Mech Spraggins (IL); #88 Kaleb Baker (TN); #94 DeShaun Brown (NM); #125 Lawrence Otero (NM) International Accolades (Active team members and alums) Chad Porter - 2018 Junior Greco Roman World Team member, 2019 U23 Greco-Roman World Team member Cohlton Schultz - 2019 Junior Greco-Roman World silver medalist; 2021 Senior Greco-Roman World team member Zahid Valencia - 3x Junior freestyle World Team member; 2017 Junior World silver medalist

Cal Poly's two-time All-American Bernie Truax (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Last season, Bernie Truax lived up to expectations, earning All-American status for the second time in his collegiate career. However, Truax was not always a favorite for a national title. In 2018, Cal Poly's head coach Jon Sioredas struck gold in the small-named wrestler. "The term hidden gem doesn't happen a lot, but this is one of those scenarios where it did happen," Sioredas said. "I just got the job here and I got a call from one of our major donors. He said, 'Hey, I'm friends with this kid's dad. His name is Bernie.' I said, 'I remember Bernie. He's that super skinny dude, right?' Truax struggled at the state championships at the beginning of his high school career, finishing 0-2 in his sophomore season. As an upperclassman, Truax returned with the mindset to reach college radars. Although he never won state, he received interest from a few schools, including Cal Poly. When Truax first arrived at Cal Poly, he faced many challenges. "When I first arrived in the summer, I hurt my hips during one of the runs," Truax said. It looked like I'm a soft kid who was already hurt. Some of my teammates let me know to stop being soft and quit making excuses." Once Truax returned to the mat, the results failed to fall in his favor. As a redshirt, he won 14 of 21 matches in smaller tournaments. Plus, he failed to capture any gold in his first season. Besides struggling in matches, Truax could not compete with his teammates. "When I first got here. I was ticked off because I'm getting beat up in the practice room," Truax said. Since Truax failed to win early and often, he began questioning his future in the wrestling world. The training was extremely hard and the team had little success. During the season, Truax would call his father and discuss his future within the sport. After considering all options, Truax returned for his second season and improved tremendously. Although Truax improved at practice, his results did not show. Truax discussed how his mindset was not ready for the limelight. "I was growing pretty fast in the practice room, but couldn't make the flip when it was time to compete," Truax said. "When it's time to compete, I would just crumble, I would freeze out there." What went into Truax's mindset before matchday? "I made wrestling everything," Truax said. It was like seven days a week, and I did 4 hours of film a day. But, I learned that wrestling is just a part of my life, it's not my entire life. Whether I win or lose, my family is still going to love me, my friends are still going to love me. It doesn't matter. That has allowed me to just like perform really free." Once Truax freed his mindset, the success began to shine. Sioredas recalls when Truax defeated a nationally ranked opponent easily, he saw Truax smile for the first time after a match. When Truax began to move up the national rankings, the world stopped. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic set several wrestlers and coaches back, it was the perfect step to get Truax ready for the aftermath. "The Covid stoppage was the best thing that has ever happened wrestling-wise," Truax said. "I was still struggling mentally with wrestling and putting too much pressure on myself. So, I got a break and started lifting a lot of weights. When I came back from that break, I was extremely excited to start getting out there again." After losing his first match in the 2021 season, Truax won every match before the NCAA Championships. When Truax traveled to the 2021 NCAAs, he was the 12th seed. After winning his first three matches, Truax earned All-American honors for the first time. "When I won my quarterfinals match and I knew I was an All-American, the amount of love I felt and gratitude for being in that moment, it was just amazing," Truax said. When he became an All-American, he fulfilled a once-in-a-lifetime offer. "During my recruiting trip, [my father, Sioredas, and I] sat down in the office. Coach said, 'If you All-American, it's a full ride.' When he said that, I knew that was happening." Last season, Truax added to his accomplishments, becoming a two-time All-American. Plus, Truax became one of the largest factors in Cal Poly's rise to notoriety. According to Sioredas, one of the main reasons Evan Wick chose Cal Poly was because Truax can be a perfect leader and workout partner. In addition, Truax's early beliefs in the program led to larger recruits, larger transfers, and an RTC program in San Luis Obispo. With Cal Poly rising in the ranks, Sioredas recognizes Truax as a potential legend. "We got a diamond in the rough," Sioredas said. "Bernie's in the conversation with being one of the greatest ever to put on a Cal Poly singlet." Cal Poly's two-time All-American Bernie Truax (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Wyoming head coach Mark Branch (right) and assistant coach Teyon Ware (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The 2021 recruiting class rankings were as difficult as any I've ever done. No one team jumped out from the pack and solidified themselves as the no-brainer pick. Fast forward a year to the 2022 class and the top spot was relatively easy to figure out. One team stood head and shoulders above the other signing classes. After that, there was plenty of chaos! We ranked out to the top-25; however, you could make the case for ten to twelve other programs belonging in the rankings. Recruiting rankings mark the end of the respective class and put a bow on the hard work of coaching staffs around the nation. The question you ask is, how are these rankings tabulated? First, we have used the big board rankings courtesy of our sister-site MatScouts. Willie Saylor has taken the arduous task of projecting the top-300 wrestlers in the Class of 2022, making calculating these rankings slightly easier. Some of the factors that are taken into account when putting these rankings together include: - Numbers: Where were the signees ranked? How many top-ten, top-50, top-100, top-250, etc., does a school have? - Fit: After years of following these programs and their coaching staffs, does a particular recruit fit the "type" of kid that has success at their respective team. Or maybe a style of wrestling. - Filling a need: In years past, I have weighed this very heavily. Signing two highly ranked 184 lb prospects doesn't appear to fit a need when you have a stud junior returning at the same weight. However, after coming off a "free year" in 2021, that throws a loop into everything. At this time, we don't know whether everyone will actually use that extra year of eligibility. Compared to years past, this category doesn't factor in, as much, unless it's very evident that a team has a glaring logjam at a particular weight or weight range. - Impact on a program: This is subjective, but tends to favor teams that aren't consistent NCAA trophy contenders. If Iowa or Penn State sign the #80 overall recruit and he turns out to AA twice, taking seventh and eighth for them, it has a particular impact. But if Little Rock or Wyoming sign the same prospect and he has the same career, it will have a much more significant impact on those two programs. Both Little Rock and Wyoming may have benefitted from this criteria in 2022. So, with that out of the way, enjoy InterMat's 2022 Team Recruiting Rankings. 13) Wyoming 2022 Class: #63 Jore Volk: 125/133 lbs (Lakeville North, MN), #73 Garrison Dendy: 149 lbs (Baylor School, TN), #74 Logan Ours: 157 lbs (Beaver Local, OH), #78 Kevin Zimmer: 285 lbs (Carl Sandburg, IL), #93 David Harper: 197 lbs (Baylor School, TN) Key Transfers: Tyce Raddon: 184 lbs (Western Wyoming), Garrett Ricks: 125 lbs (Western Wyoming) This group is easily the best recruiting class for Wyoming in at least a decade. For a program that typically develops overlooked gems, the Cowboy staff has a lot to work with. Not only is their incoming class more highly ranked than usual, but Mark Branch and crew have ventured out to some uncharted territory for Wyoming recruiting. Garrison Dendy and David Harper are the first big-time recruits from the southeast to venture out the Laramie. Ohio and Illinois haven't been frequent stops either. Five-time Fargo placer, Jore Volk heads up the class. He'll contribute at one of the first two weights. Ohio's Logan Ours was a big riser this year, whose stock went up after an appearance in the Ironman finals. The duo of Dendy and Harper have both placed in Fargo too. Add in the transfers, both of whom come at weighs of need and could see action right away. This group could spell trouble for the rest of the Big 12. 2021 Ranking: NR 14) Wisconsin 2022 Class: #31 Nicolar Rivera: 125/133 lbs (Stoughton, WI), #32 James Rowley: 174 lbs (Crescent Valley, OR), #72 Brock Bobzien: 133 lbs (Poway, CA), #166 Mikey Tal-Shahar: 197 lbs (American Heritage, FL), #233 Felix Lettini: 149 lbs (St. Peter's, NJ), NR Ismael Ayoub: 149 lbs (Dublin Coffman, OH) Chris Bono's team comes in right where they landed in 2021 in 14th. The Badgers continue to stockpile talent each year during the current coaching staff's tenure. The 2022 class is led by the top in-state recruit, Nicolar Rivera. Rivera happens to be one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch in this senior class. He'll get to learn from a connoisseur of big moves in two-time All-American Eric Barnett. Cadet World silver medalist James Rowley is probably the most “college-ready” of the group and could be thrust into action immediately. The Oregon native is one of two top-100 recruits from the west coast coming aboard, joining California state third-place finisher Brock Bobzien. Brock joined Rowley on the Cadet World team, as he competed in Greco. Mikey Tal-Shahar and Felix Lettini both broke into the top eight at the Super 32 in 2021. Overall, this is another solid class for Bono and company. 2021 Ranking: #14 15) Pittsburgh 2022 Class: #37 Mac Stout: 197 lbs (Mt. Lebanon, PA), #40 Dayton Pitzer: 285 lbs (Mount Pleasant, PA), #94 Jared Keslar: 157 lbs (Connellsville, PA), #137 Codie Cuerbo: 125 lbs (Aurora, OH), #150 Briar Priest: 149 lbs (Hempfield, PA), #231 Kelin Laffey: 174 lbs (Pine-Richland, PA) Key Transfers: Dazjon Casto: 157 lbs (The Citadel), Holden Heller: 165 lbs (Hofstra), Reece Heller: 174 lbs (Hofstra) Before Keith Gavin's arrival, the question surrounding Pitt was “How good could they be if they keep local kids home.” Those efforts have increased under the leadership of the Panthers most recent national champion and this class features three top-100 recruits from Western Pennsylvania. Though he wasn't able to capture a PA title, Mac Stout heads up this impressive group based on a 16U freestyle finals appearance in Fargo, along with a Powerade title this year. The other two top-100 recruits, Dayton Pitzer and Jared Keslar, were state champs in 2022. Keslar finally ascended to the top step, while Pitzer grabbed his third state crown. Ohio's Codie Cuerbo is a two-time Fargo All-American, while Briar Priest made a pair of PA state finals (winning as a junior). Finally, Kelin Laffey came on strong as a senior, finishing sixth at the state tournament and third at the Powerade. He could be a prospect with a lot of upside. The Panthers will get some immediate help from the transfer portal as they could solidify 157-174 with transfers. Dazjon Casto was one of the stories of Thursday from the NCAA Tournament as he stunned returning national champion, Austin O'Connor, in the first round. Holden Heller was a 2021 EIWA champion, who redshirted last season. His brother, Reece, redshirted as well and put up a 12-4 record. 2021 Ranking: NR 16) North Carolina 2022 Class: #41 Danny Nini: 141 lbs (Lake Highland Prep, FL), #49 Jayden Scott: 157 lbs (Rush-Henrietta, NY), #52 Cole Hunt: 125 lbs (Dalton, GA), #65 Noah Pettigrew: 197 lbs (Valdosta, GA), #165 Nick Fea: 165 lbs (Bergen Catholic, NJ), NR Max Martin: 125 lbs (Great Bridge, VA), NR Cade Tenold: 174/184 lbs (Don Bosco, IA), NR Carson Tenold: 165/174 lbs (Don Bosco, IA) You've got to love the recruiting strategy from the UNC staff. They have been “in” on the burgeoning Georgia wrestling scene for a while and continue to get top-100 talent with Cole Hunt and Noah Pettigrew. Hunter, along with Max Martin, lends depth at a weight class North Carolina hasn't qualified for nationals since 2014 and only twice since 2006. Hunt and Pettigrew were both Junior Freestyle AA's last summer in Fargo. The Tar Heels also hit up a couple of consistent power programs in Lake Highland Prep and Bergen Catholic, for Danny Nini and Nick Fea. Nini was third at the Super 32 and Ironman, while Fea made the state finals during his only year wrestling in New Jersey. Top-50 prospect Jayden Scott was a three-time New York state finalist and a champion as a senior. He may get overlooked, a bit, but has placed at the Super 32 in 2020. Finally, the UNC coaches broke through in Iowa and signed the Tenold twins, Cade and Carson. Each was a state champion in 2022 and combined they appeared in five Iowa 1A state title bouts. Their commitment could lead to more Iowa kids in the future. 2021 Ranking: #21 17) Lehigh 2022 Class: #20 Ryan Crookham: 133/141 lbs (Saucon Valley, PA), #68 Caden Rogers: 197 lbs (Malvern Prep, PA), #103 Kimo Leia: 149 lbs (Selma, CA), #133 Kelvin Griffin: 149 lbs (The Hill School, PA), NR Remy Brancato: 285 lbs (Bergen Catholic, NJ), NR Enzo Morlacci: 174 lbs (Kiski Area, PA), NR Owen Quinn: 165/174 lbs (Malvern Prep, PA), NR Owen Reinsel: 133/141 lbs (Brookville, PA) Key Transfer: Michael Beard: 197 lbs (Penn State) Lehigh won big with the signing of local star Ryan Crookham. Once regarded as possibly the best wrestler in the Class of 2022, Crookham battled through some injuries during the second half of his high school career. He's still managed to win three Pennsylvania state titles, though he doesn't have much in the way of recent national credentials. As an eighth-grader, in 2017, Crookham was the first middle schooler to win the high school division at the Super 32. Depending on health/weight of some Lehigh returners, Crookham could go right away. The other top-100 recruit for Lehigh is three-time National Prep top-three finisher Caden Rogers. Rogers was top-five in both styles at the Junior division last year in Fargo. We'll see where he fits in as 2021 All-American Michael Beard is transferring in from Penn State. Beard has three years of eligibility remaining and will be a national title threat immediately. Remember the rest of the names from Lehigh's class as the staff has done a remarkable job at developing under-the-radar talent. There's a good likelihood that one of two of them could emerge to outwrestle their pre-collegiate ranking. 2021 Ranking: NR 18) Penn 2021 Class: #26 Martin Cosgrove: 197 lbs (Camden Catholic, NJ), #61 Andrew Troczynski: 149/157 lbs (Delbarton, NJ), #120 Evan Mougalian: 125/133 lbs (Kinnelon, NJ), #146 Jackson Polo: 141 lbs (Cold Spring Harbor, NY), #192 Alex Almeyda: 141/149 lbs (St. Joseph's, NJ), #202 Brady Pruett: 125 lbs (Archbishop Spalding, MD), #218 Jude Swisher: 149/157 lbs (Bellefonte, PA), NR Andrew Connelly: 184 lbs (Malvern Prep, PA), NR Evan Bennett: 174 lbs (St. Edward, OH), NR Louis Colaiocco: 157/165 lbs (Blair Academy, NJ), NR Matthew Cruise: 285 lbs (Easton, PA), NR Adam Thompson: 157/165 lbs (Bishop Carroll, Alberta) The great classes continue to roll in for Roger Reina and the Penn staff. Like others in past few years, this group features a little bit of home state flavor (Swisher, Connelly, Cruise), combined with national power programs (Bennett, Colaiocco), and a lot of NJSIAA stars (Cosgrove, Troczynski, Mougalian, Almeyda). Cosgrove, Troczynski, and Mougalian were two-time state champions, while Almeyda placed four times (three times at fourth or above). Two of the fast risers in this group are Jackson Polo and Evan Bennett, both of whom finished their senior campaign's with a state title. With NCAA qualifiers returning at nine of the ten weights, it may be a year or two before some of these recruits make an impact collegiately for Penn. No matter how it shakes out, there will be plenty of great options for the Penn coaching staff in the near future, in large part because of the 2022 class. 2021 Ranking: #23 19) Little Rock 2022 Class: #45 Kyle Dutton: 149 lbs (Liberty, MO), #54 Brennan Van Hoecke: 149 lbs (Palmetto Ridge, FL), #95 Brendon Abdon: 157 lbs (Lake Gibson, FL), #118 Keith Miley: 285 lbs (Whitfield, MO), #144 Kodiak Cannedy: 165 lbs (Greenville, TN), #161 Stephen Little: 184 lbs (Union County, KY), #222 Chance Davis: 174 lbs (Enid, OK), NR Cael Keck: 125 lbs (Park Hill, MO) Little Rock is still very much in the building phase as the 2022-23 season will be their fourth of actual DI competition. This large, talented class should continue to lay the foundation for future generations of Trojan wrestlers. With three top-100 recruits and six from the top-200, there are plenty of possible year-one starters for Neil Erisman's team, if that is in the plans. Little Rock's recruiting class left an impression on the latest Walsh Ironman tournament, as four future Trojans (Dutton, Van Hoecke, Abdon, Little) placed amongst the top eight at the national best regular-season event. Brennan Van Hoecke also finished his high school season with a title at NHSCA Senior Nationals. Big man Keith Miley placed at the Super 32 on three occasions, the most recent of which included a trip to the finals. The Little Rock staff has stuck to some of their hot spots with this class, going heavy on states like Missouri and Florida, while mixing in Oklahoma, too. 2021 Ranking: NR 20) Princeton 2022 Class: #42 Ty Whalen: 149 lbs (Clearview Regional, NJ), #75 Rocco Camillaci: 149 lbs (Hilton, NY), #76 Kole Mulhauser: 184 lbs (Central Square, NY), #226 Chris Martino: 141 lbs (Bishop Kelley, ID) Compared to some others, Princeton's recruiting class may be small in numbers, but there's plenty of talent. The Tigers sweet spot for recruiting tends to be New Jersey/New York and they hit up that area and returned with three top-100 recruits. Two-time state finalist Ty Whalen has finished third at the Super 32, the Beast and Fargo Junior freestyle, within the last year. Rocco Camillaci won a state title after finishing third in two prior attempts. He also made the Junior freestyle podium in Fargo with a seventh-place showing. The second New York state champion on board is Kole Mulhauser, who has undergone a big growth spurt during high school. He started at 120 lbs, as a freshman, and finished at 182 lbs. His best national-level finish is a sixth-place mark at the Super 32 last fall. Speaking of recruits filling out, Chris Martino placed in both styles in Fargo at the 16U level at 88 and 94 lbs. This year Martino was sixth at the Ironman. Based on how they handle the first couple of months on campus, a few of these freshmen could see the lineup next year for Princeton as they seek Ivy and EIWA titles. 2021 Ranking: NR 21) Navy 2022 Class: #18 Danny Wask: 165/174 lbs (Blair Academy, NJ), #86 Jonathan Ley: 157 lbs (Lake Highland Prep, FL), #113 Evan Tallmadge: 125 lbs (Brick Memorial, NJ), #132 Brennen Cernus: 133 lbs (Pickerington, OH), #188 Jamier Ferere: 285 lbs (High Point, NC), #223 Nick Vafiadis: 157 lbs (New Kent, VA), #249 James Latona: 149 lbs (Thompson, AL), NR Matt Colajezzi: 165/174 lbs (Council Rock South, PA), NR Devon Deem: 157 lbs (Montgomery, PA), NR Brian Gordon: 174 lbs (South County, VA), NR Zyan Hall: 174 lbs (Wheeler, GA) The Naval Academy's recruiting efforts have continued to shine under the leadership of third-year head coach Cary Kolat. Though his reputation is legendary in Pennsylvania, Kolat has a household name, which is beneficial as the Academy recruits on a national basis. Their top prospect is one that has risen sharply up the recruiting rankings within the last year in Danny Wask. Even though Wask moved up a couple of weights last year, it didn't stop him from making the Fargo Junior finals in freestyle and taking seventh in Greco. Wask continued growing, going from 152 over the summer to the 170 range during the regular high school season. That didn't limit his effectiveness, as he was a Beast champion and a finalist at the Powerade. The second top-100 recruit in this class is Jonathan Ley. Also a Beast winner, Ley placed top-four at the Super 32 twice. The future teammates, Wask and Ley, met in the 2022 National Prep finals and it was Wask, who came out on top, 5-1. Outside of the top-100 recruits, there's plenty of potential for this class. Evan Tallmadge is a two-time New Jersey state champ, Brennen Cernus is a former Super 32 placer, Jamier Ferere made the finals of NHSCA Seniors, Nick Vafiadis was a Fargo Cadet finalist, and James Latona won NHSCA Seniors. 2022 marks back-to-back strong recruiting classes for Kolat and staff, which will only help Navy in an ever-improving EIWA. 2021 Ranking: #18 22) Oregon State 2022 Class: #44 Gabe Whisenhunt: 133 lbs (Crescent Valley, OR), #88 CJ Hamblin: 174 lbs (Seton Catholic, WA), #101 Noah Tolentino: 149 lbs (Poway, CA), #105 Nash Singleton: 141 lbs (Roseburg, OR), #114 Isaiah Anderson: 197 lbs (Chiawana, WA), #151 Ayden Garver: 141 lbs (Newburg, OR), #173 Damion Elliott: 133 lbs (Del Oro, CA), #225 Chase DeBlaere: 141/149 lbs (Simley, MN), NR Austin Scott: 157 lbs (Mountain View, AZ) Key Transfer: Tristan Lara: 149 lbs (Northern Iowa) Oregon State is another program that has seen a sharp uptick in its recruiting results with a relatively new coaching staff. Chris Pendleton's team has made keeping Oregon's stud home a priority and the results are evident with three of the top 151 hailing from Oregon and choosing to stay in-state. Not only that, but the OSU staff has also staked their claim on the Pacific Northwest, with two big boarder's from Washington, along with making inroads at talent-rich California. Three-time Fargo All-American Gabe Whisenhunt leads the Oregon State Class of 2022. Not only was keeping Whisenhunt home important, but he attends powerful, local, Crescent Valley, a school the Beaver staff will need to hit up time and time again. Whisenhunt and Ayden Garver finished as four-time Oregon state champions, while Nash Singleton won three. The other top-100 recruit in the class was CJ Hamblin, a double 16U All-American in Fargo that initially verballed to Northern Colorado. The California contingent includes UWW Cadet freestyle AA Noah Tolentino and Damion Elliott, both top-six finishers at the state tournament this year. This class should continue the momentum established in Detroit as the Beavers left with four All-Americans. 2021 Ranking: NR 23) Army West Point 2022 Class: #80 Austin Kohlhofer: 285 lbs (Delta, OH), #89 Braden Basile: 133/141 lbs (Tampa Jesuit, FL), #125 Dakota Morris: 165/174 lbs (Kingsway, NJ), #143 Gunner Filipowicz: 174 lbs (Woodward Academy, GA), #155 Evan Anderson: 285 lbs (Aurora, OH), #212 Ben Rogers: 149 lbs (Wantagh, NY), #213 Oscar Aranda: 157/165 lbs (St. John Bosco, CA), NR Gage Cook: 197/285 lbs (Granger, WA), NR Nick Corday: 125 lbs (Baylor School, TN), NR Cole Karpinski: 184/197 lbs (Greenville, PA), Tommy Link: 125 lbs (Malvern Prep, PA), NR Kent McCombs: 157 lbs (Clinton, MI), Jaime Rivera: 141 lbs (Sunnyside, AZ) Even after losing their primary recruiting specialist, Ned Shuck, to the Bellarmine head coaching position, Army West Point hasn't missed a beat on the recruiting trail. It helps that head coach Kevin Ward brought in Scott Green, who had previously led National Prep power Wyoming Seminary for the past decade. The top-ranked recruit for the Black Knights is two-time Ohio champion Austin Kohlhofer. Austin had a breakout year in 2021-22 and rose into the top-80 nationally. Right behind him is #89 Braden Basile, a third-place finisher at the Ironman, who was sixth in Junior freestyle last summer in Fargo. This group is likely to cover just about every weight class once they make their way to West Point. A large class such as this one isn't necessarily about “need-filling,” but rather just getting as much talent in the room and letting the cream rise to the top. 2021 Ranking: #24 24) Oklahoma 2022 Class: #36 John Wiley: 165 lbs (Mustang, OK), #51 Joey Cruz: 125 lbs (Bullard, CA), #227 Christian Forbes: 125 lbs (Broken Arrow, OK) Key Transfers: Wyatt Henson: 133/141 lbs (Iowa), Gerrit Nijenhuis: 174 lbs (Purdue), Jack Wagner: 133 lbs (Northern Iowa) The Sooners Class of 2022 is quite small compared to some others, but is unique and will be helpful in its own way. Getting a top-50 in-state recruit like John Wiley is always a win for the Sooners. The 2019 double Fargo champion won two Oklahoma titles, but was a part of some incredibly brutal weight classes in 2021 and 2022. Wiley appears to fill a big long-term need for the Sooners at 165. With Joey Prata coming back for another year at 125, it gives his possible successors, Joey Cruz and Christian Forbes, an opportunity to adjust to DI wrestling. Cruz was a three-time top-three finisher in California and a state champion as a senior. In the fall, Cruz was selected to wrestle in the Who's #1 dual meet. Forbes placed in Fargo five times during his high school career. Oklahoma will also get a boost from transfers. Typically, you don't give transfers the same potential impact as incoming freshmen, since they may have limited eligibility. However, Wyatt Henson was the #16 overall recruit last year and has four years of eligibility after going 18-2 competing unattached for Iowa. Henson may be the answer at 133 or 141. Though he's already participated in two NCAA Championship events, Gerrit Nijenhuis has three years of eligibility remaining and fits in well at 174 lbs. Graduate transfer, Jack Wagner, had a winner year for Northern Iowa in 2021-22 and could be in the mix to start next season. 2021 Ranking: #11 25) Northern Iowa 2021 Class: #29 Cory Land: 125 lbs (Moody, AL), #70 Wyatt Voelker: 197 lbs (West Delaware, IA), #119 Chet Buss: 285 lbs (North Butler-Clarksville, IA), NR Trever Anderson: 125/133 (Ankeny, IA), NR Ryder Downey: 149 lbs (Indianola, IA), NR Garrett Funk: 125/133 lbs (Don Bosco, IA) Since his arrival in Cedar Falls, Doug Schwab has made it a priority to retain Iowa high schoolers. He's continued the trend by getting a pair of top 150 recruits in Wyatt Voelker and Chet Buss. The two could develop into the anchors at the end of the Panthers lineup. Though those weights don't appear to be pressing needs, it's always good to have a pair of recruits of that caliber sign on. Both were two-time state champions. Schwab and his staff ventured outside to the state borders and Landed a huge signee in Cory Land. The 2021 Cadet Greco world silver medalist made the Super 32 finals on two occasions and placed top-three at the event three times. He also was dominant in his home state with four Alabama state titles. 2021 Ranking: NR Next Five: Cal Poly, Columbia, North Dakota State, Minnesota, South Dakota State

Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena as the Hawkeyes host Penn State (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) New Brighton, Minnesota - The National Wrestling Media Association released its annual numbers for Division I wrestling dual meet attendance on Friday. The COVID-19 global pandemic caused sports around the world to be forever impacted. For college wrestling in the United States, this created a system of uncertainty when it came time to return to campus to watch events in person. Even with each school seemingly having its own set of regulations and stipulations, the 2021-22 attendance numbers came back favorably as wrestling fans were in large, quick to return to their favorite venues. Attendance wasn't tracked in 2020-21 due to most venues having no-spectator policies during that season. The University of Iowa's fanbase, leaders in Division I attendance since 2007, set a new record for home average of 14,905, selling out the entire season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes drew a total of 89,430, the second-highest home total since attendance figures started being tracked by members of the wrestling media in 2002. The numbers are based on home dual meet events, such as single duals, double duals, tri-meets or quad-meets. In 2015-16, Iowa drew a record 97,325 fans, which was aided by the 42,287 at Kinnick Stadium in November of 2015 against Oklahoma State. Iowa has led the nation in home attendance in 19 of the 20 seasons it's been tracked. For the 11th straight season, Penn State ranked second in attendance with the Nittany Lions drawing an average of 7,776 fans per home dual across seven home events, selling out all home events between Rec Hall and the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions' top crowd was 15,991 at the Bryce Jordan Center against Ohio State on February 2. That dual ranked sixth highest on the all-time list of most-attended duals and fourth among indoor crowds. Penn State has also sold out 61 straight home duals at Rec Hall and seven of nine at the Bryce Jordan Center. Iowa and Penn State accounted for all seven duals during the 2021-22 season that had 10,000 fans or more. There have been 98 duals in Division I history that have broken the 10,000-fan mark. Oklahoma State ranked third, averaging 4,631 in eight dates at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. The Cowboys top draw was against Oklahoma to close the home schedule. The event brought in 7,918 fans. Oklahoma State was also the top road draw, with the Cowboys making up the top event for six schools. Iowa was the top road draw at five schools, while Penn State accounted for four opponents' top home crowds. Iowa State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Utah Valley and Virginia Tech rounded out the Top 10. Iowa, Penn State, Oklahoma State and Iowa State have been in the nation's top seven every year, while Rutgers has been a top-five squad with home attendance for six straight years. Minnesota's been among the nation's top 10 in attendance every year since 2002, while Ohio State's been represented in 19 of the 20 seasons, with the Buckeyes sitting in the top six every year since 2012. Despite averaging over 1,000 fans for 11 straight seasons, this past season is only the third time ever Michigan's been in the top 10, while another wrestling set of Wolverines, Utah Valley, is in the top 10 for the fourth straight year. Virginia Tech is a top-10 draw for the fourth time. Overall, 22 schools averaged over 1,000 fans per home dual or dual event, down from 24 in the last two trackable seasons (2019 and 2020). Twelve schools drew over 1,000 fans for each of their home dual events and 117 duals drew at least four figures during the 2021-22 season. In 2019-20, 166 duals drew over 1,000, showing the impact of COVID-19-related issues with home attendance this season. In 2021-22, 33 schools reported at least one home dual event drawing over 1,000 fans. In 2019-20, 44 schools reported crowds over 1,000. Additional Information Asterisks & Caveats: Some schools didn't allow fans for certain events. We didn't include those individual events into their totals. Some schools also ticketed for some events and not for others. Stanford, for example, ticketed just one home event and didn't track the others. Cornell had attendance capped for most events this past season. Some schools provided incomplete information. Some provided numbers of counting fans despite not being ticketed. Only duals with numbers they were able to provide were included. Indoor dominance: Eight of the top 10 all-time single dual crowds have come at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center, and eight of the top 10 all-time indoor crowds have also come at the venue. Methodology: Tracking the attendance figures varies by school and some schools opt to ticket for some events and not ticket for others, making the numbers an imperfect science. This is for dual meet events only, not tournaments hosted by schools. Nothing to see here: Appalachian State, Army West Point, Bellarmine, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, California Baptist, Campbell, Davidson, Duke, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Harvard, Hofstra, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Ohio and VMI reported they didn't track wrestling attendance, didn't track it this season, or the sport was a non-ticketed event, so there were no numbers to report. Brown, Columbia, LIU, Presbyterian, SIUE and The Citadel didn't respond to numerous requests for information. Showing your work: Of the 79 schools surveyed, 55 schools responded with figured with 52 of them showing individual home match figures. Three provided number of dates and an average. There were 17 schools that reported they don't track attendance, while six schools didn't reply to numerous requests for information at all. Background: The National Wrestling Media Association assumed the role of collection of the attendance figures in 2017. Denny Diehl of the Lehigh University Wrestling News began tracking in 2002. TheOpenMat.com's Alex Steen handled the compilation from 2015-2016.

2x All-American Jonathan Millner (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our “Ten Years of…” feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is…Appalachian State! For past teams: Air Force American NCAA Qualifiers (41) 2022 125 - Caleb Smith (#25); 133 - Codi Russell (#21); 149 - Jonathan Millner (#6); 165 - Will Formato (#20); 174 - Thomas Flitz (#19) 2021 125 - Codi Russell (#16); 133 - Sean Carter (#31); 141 - Anthony Brito (#22); 149 - Jonathan Millner (#7); 157 - Cody Bond (#20); 165 - Will Formato (#16); 174 - Thomas Flitz (#15) 2020 133 - Codi Russell (#29); 149 - Jonathan Millner (#18); 157 - Matt Zovistoski (#24); 174 - Thomas Flitz (#26); 197 - Demazio Samuel (#32); 285 - Cary Miller (#17) 2019 133 - Codi Russell (#26); 149 - Matt Zovistoski (#29); 197 - Randall Diabe (#15); 285 - Cary Miller (#27) 2018 141 - Irvin Enriquez; 174 - Forrest Przybysz (#12); 184 - Alan Clothier; 197 - Randall Diabe 2017 125 - Vito Pasone; 133 - Colby Smith; 149 - Matt Zovistoski; 285 - Denzel Dejournette (#9) 2016 141 - Mike Longo; 165 - Forrest Przybysz; 174 - Nick Kee (#14); 285 - Denzel Dejournette (#6) 2015 125 - Dominic Parisi; 141 - Mike Longo; 285 - Denzel Dejournette (#12) 2014 125 - Dominic Parisi; 149 - Dylan Cottrell (#12) 2013 125 - Dominic Parisi; 165 - Zach Strickland NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans Jonathan Millner (2022 - 6th; 2021 - 8th) Denzel Dejournette (2017 - 8th) NCAA Round of 12 Finishers Dominic Parisi - 125 (2013) SoCon Champions 2022: Codi Russell (133); Jonathan Millner (149); Thomas Flitz (174) 2021: Codi Russell (125); Sean Carter (133); Anthony Brito (141); Jonathan Millner (149); Cody Bond (157) 2020: Jonathan Millner (149); Matt Zovistoski (157); Demazio Samuel (197); Cary Miller (285) 2019: Codi Russell (133); Randall Diabe (197); Cary Miller (285) 2018: Irvin Enriquez (141); Forrest Przybysz (174) 2017: Matt Zovistoski (149); Denzel Dejournette (285) 2016: Mike Longo (141); Nick Kee (174); Denzel Dejournette (285) 2015: Mike Longo (141); Denzel Dejournette (285) 2014: Dominic Parisi (125); Dylan Cottrell (149) Dual Record 2021-22: 9-2 2021: 7-2 2019-20: 9-3 2018-19: 9-7 2017-18: 9-4 2016-17: 13-3 2015-16: 12-4 2014-15: 9-8 2013-14: 7-8 2012-13: 8-6 SoCon Tournament Placement 2021-22: 2nd 2021: 2nd 2019-20: 2nd 2018-19: 2nd 2017-18: 1st 2016-17: 2nd 2015-16: 1st 2014-15: 2nd 2013-14: 4th 2012-13: 6th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 28th (13.5 points) 2021: 38th-tie (6.5 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 47th (3 points) 2017-18: 50th-tie (2 points) 2016-17: 26th-tie (13.5 points) 2015-16: 41st-tie (6.5 points) 2014-15: 43rd-tie (4 points) 2013-14: 0 points 2012-13: 49th-tie (3 points) Head Coaching History JohnMark Bentley (2009-present) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - Dominic Parisi: 3x NCAA Qualifier (2013 NCAA Round of 12); 2014 SoCon champion 133 - Codi Russell: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#16, #21, #26, and #29 seeds); 3x SoCon champion 141 - Mike Longo; 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2x SoCon champion 149 - Jonathan Millner; 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2x NCAA All-American (2021 NCAA 8th; 2022 NCAA 6th); 3x SoCon champion 157 - Matt Zovistoski: 3x NCAA Qualifier (#24 and 29th seeds); 2x SoCon champion 165 - Will Formato; 2x NCAA Qualifier (#16 and 20th seeds) 174 - Forrest Przybysz: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#12 seed); 2018 SoCon champion 184 - Alan Clothier: 2018 NCAA Qualifier; 4x NCAA Qualifier for Northern Colorado 197 - Randall Diabe: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#15 seed); 2019 SoCon champion 285 - Denzel Dejournette: 3x NCAA Qualifier (2017 NCAA 8th); 3x SoCon champion Recruiting Big Board'ers Per Year 2022: #102 Braden Welch (OH); #156 Drake Acklin (OK); #165 Carson Floyd (NC); #184 Levi Andrews (NC); #240 Kaden Keiser (SD) 2021: #180 Triston Norris (NC); #185 Chad Bellis (IA); #227 Landon Foor (NC); #276 Wyatt Miller (OH) 2020: #135 Francis Morrissey (GA); #141 Tommy Askey (NY) 2016: #82 Colby Smith (MO) 2014: #96 Mike Longo (CA) 2013: #65 Nick Kee (NC); #158 Nick Hall (AL)

Patrick McKee (center) cheering on Minnesota teammates during their dual with Michigan (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The year is 2002 and the Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers were in a close dual meet against conference rival, the Hornets of Saline. The two teams had battled once earlier in the year as well, with Ann Arbor Pioneer getting the win. That didn't matter today though. This was the District finals, so throw the records out the window. This was the only one that mattered. This dual was back and forth, headed into 215 pounds, where the Pioneers sent out first-year wrestler J.D. German. J.D. was a senior who made up for any lack of experience with the ferocity of a barracuda. He knew a couple of moves, but the only one of any consequence was his headlock. Saline had a state finalist heavyweight, so we knew that for all intents and purposes, we needed to win at 215 to capture the district championship. I don't recall J.D. being an impatient man, but that night, he didn't display any level of patience. He went right out there, pummeled for maybe 10 seconds, before throwing out a huge headlock, ending with a pin which cemented the dual meet championship for the Pioneer Pioneers (the world's most redundant school name). I know this story, because I was there. I was lucky enough to be on that team, and together we celebrated the first District title that Ann Arbor Pioneer wrestling had won in years. Little things stick out to me about that year. It had finally occurred to me how the little things make such a dramatic impact on the results of a dual. You always did your best to win, but on occasion, the best thing you could do was to lose by less. 6 is greater than 5, which is greater than 4, which is greater than 3. I used to be good at math, so this logic tracks with me. All at once, it became about trying to win a match, but also trying to win a dual meet. With my limited ability at that time, I knew that I could have an impact on the result of the team's success. This mentality is something I've always valued and appreciated in college wrestling, but not something that you really see as often. That's why it was so awesome to see Patrick McKee cheering on his teammate as he competed on the backside of the bracket at NCAA's. I was down on the floor watching the quarterfinals and happened to be sitting across the aisle from McKee. He didn't know I was there. I mean he was aware of people around him, of course, but who any of them were, was of no consequence. All he cared about was that Michael Blockhus was either going to win his match, or his tournament was over. The enthusiasm and passion that he put into his voice as he cheered on Blockhus brought me back to 2002, and the team element of this sport. That's why I wanted to talk with Patrick about teamwork, leadership, and the future of Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling. Patrick McKee (left) with volunteer assistant Zach Sanders (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Kevin Claunch: Watching you cheer on Blockhus at NCAAs left such a lasting and encouraging feeling about the team aspect of college wrestling. Is this how you've always been as a teammate, or did this develop in you at some point? Patrick McKee: I was naturally always like this. The match and setting are a big part of it, though. We spend so much time focusing on ourselves during the week, and preparing for competition is a self-motivated piece, but duals or tournaments, I'm really into it. Zach Sanders has had to tell me to calm down or not to waste my energy at times when they start the dual at a weight other than 125. Sometimes I have to walk away. I think I get a lot of this from dual teams I've been on that traveled. You get into it and support your teammates. It also helps that I often go first and notice people cheering me on. Guys like Michael Blockhus and Brayton Lee are just as enthusiastic, so I am happy to cheer for the rest of the guys. Do you think you were that enthusiastic and tenacious due to your knowledge of what it takes to survive and advance on the backside of the bracket? Definitely! It's tough. I wish I could give them some of my energy. If I could at that moment, I would. Owen Webster last year, I remember watching when he lost and how tough that was. He worked so hard to get to that point, and it was tough to see him go out. I wanted anything for those wins. Where did you develop the mentality that it takes to battle that hard on the backside? I've been in situations earlier in my career going 0-2 in tournaments, or 0-4 in some national tournaments even. It's rough to be in that situation and you remember that feeling. Even seeing friends or my brother place and for me to not place, it's just something you develop where you say to yourself, “it's not happening again." Wasn't there a story after your loss in the first round of NCAAs where you said to your brother, “I guess I'm taking third”? Yeah, something like that. I know he had said to me “Always get the next best thing.” After each match, he'd tell me, “it's not enough, keep going. You have one job to do and that's to get 3rd.” I wanted to ask about the “Post Gable” era at Minnesota. Obviously having someone that talented and with so much attention is generally a positive for the team, but having him leave I'm sure has an impact on the program. This is a two-part question. Part one, what did you learn from him as a teammate? Part two, What do you want to impart as one of the leaders of the Golden Gophers moving forward? The main thing I've learned from him, as a competitor, is the mentality to never let up. Try to beat these guys as badly as possible. He can score from anywhere, and at times earlier in his career, mostly when he was a freshman, he wouldn't. Then his sophomore year, he went out there and didn't care and just beat people as bad as he could. I know I can do it also, and just to remind myself “why can't I keep scoring” and have that mentality to break people and destroy their dreams - respectfully. He also stepped up as a vocal leader and expected greatness in all of us. I would think to myself that I need to do better because Gable and our teammates expect greatness. I remember hearing stories about the 10 All American team (2001) that won a national title, and how they held each other accountable and pushed each other to expect greatness. That's what I would like to bring. Yeah, so elaborate on that. How do you think you could have the best impact on this team as a leader next season and moving forward? I would like to be more of a vocal leader. Everyone knows the work that needs to be done, but it's important to call people out when they need to improve. The accountability that is instilled into each other. Continuing to be a vocal leader and push for those results is what I want to do, and what you can look for from me. Teams don't have success without leaders. Leaders that focus on the team's success. It's completely reasonable in a sport like wrestling to have a mindset that focuses on individual success, and that your success will feed into the teams. It makes logical sense, but I just don't believe that it leads to team success. Iron sharpens iron, I don't disagree with that, and competition brings out the best in people. That's undeniable. However, you'll never convince me that the adrenaline dump you get when your team is on their feet and cheering you on in a pivotal moment of a big dual isn't significant. A wrestling match can take a lot out of you physically and mentally, and sometimes it takes an individual who has been in the trenches with you to pull you out. Patrick is one of those guys you want to have in the trenches. He'll be right there beside you and holding you accountable to reach your full potential. Trust me, I saw it happen.

2016 NCAA All-American David Terao (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our “Ten Years of…” feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so next up is…American! For past teams: Air Force NCAA Qualifiers (29) 2021 125 - Gage Curry (#27); 174 - Tim Fitzpatrick (#28) 2020 125 - Gage Curry (#20); 141 - Sal Profaci (#26); 149 - Kizhan Clarke (#15); 184 - Tanner Harvey (#16) 2019 125 - Gage Curry (#28); 133 - Josh Terao (#19); 149 - Michael Sprague (#28); 184 - Tanner Harvey (#24) 2018 125 - Gage Curry; 133 - Josh Terao (#12); 149 - Michael Sprague; 197 - Jeric Kasunic (#13); 285 - Brett Dempsey 2017 125 - Josh Terao (#11); 184 - Jason Grimes; 197 - Jeric Kasunic 2016 125 - David Terao (#15); 157 - John Boyle (#10); 165 - Mitchell Wightman 2015 125 - David Terao; 157 - John Boyle (#8) 2014 125 - David Terao (#10); 197 - Dan Mitchell (#13); 285 - Blake Herrin 2013 125 - David Terao; 149 - Kevin Tao; 285 - Blake Herrin NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans David Terao - 2016: 4th at 125 lbs NWCA All-Americans Honorable Mention: Kizhan Clarke - 2020: 149 lbs, Tanner Harvey - 2020: 184 lbs NCAA Round of 12 Finishers David Terao - 125 (2014, 2015) Kevin Tao - 149 (2013) EIWA Champions None EIWA Runner's Up Josh Terao - 125 (2017, 2019) John Boyle - 157 (2015, 2016) David Terao - 125 (2014, 2015) Blake Herrin - 285 (2013) Dual Record 2021-22: 1-12 2020-21: 0 duals 2019-20: 4-8 2018-19: 7-4 2017-18: 8-6 2016-17: 6-8 2015-16: 6-9 2014-15: 8-12 2013-14: 6-10 2012-13: 7-7 EIWA Tournament Placement 2022: 15th 2021: 9th 2020: 9th 2019: 7th 2018: 6th 2017: 7th 2016: 7th 2015: 11th 2014: 7th (tie) 2013: 9th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2022: None 2021: 60th-tie (0 points) 2020: No Tournament 2019: 49th-tie (1.5 points) 2018: 56th-tie (1 point) 2017: 41st-tie (4.5 points) 2016: 27th (16 points) 2015: 46th-tie (3 points) 2014: 56th-tie (2.5 points) 2013: 51st-tie (2.5 points) Head Coaching History Jason Borrelli (2021-present) Jason Grimes (2021) - Interim Teague Moore (2011-2021) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-22) 125 - David Terao: 4x NCAA Qualifier (2016 All-American; 2x NCAA Round of 12); #10 and #15 seed; 2x EIWA runner-up 133 - Josh Terao: 3x NCAA Qualifier; (#11, #12, #19 seed); 2x EIWA runner-up 141 - Sal Profaci: 2020 NCAA Qualifier (#26 seed) 149 - Kizhan Clarke: 2020 NCAA Qualifier (#15 seed)/ NWCA HM All-American; - NCAA runner-up for North Carolina 157 - John Boyle: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#8 and #10 seed); 2x EIWA runner-up 165 - Mitchell Wightman: 2016 NCAA Qualifier 174 - Tim Fitzpatrick: 2021 NCAA Qualifier (#28 seed) 184 - Tanner Harvey: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#16 and #24 seed); NWCA HM All-American 197 - Jeric Kasunic: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#13 seed); 2x EIWA 4th place 285 - Blake Herrin: 2x NCAA Qualifier; 2013 EIWA runner-up Recruiting Big Board'ers per year 2021: #120 Max Leete (MA); #158 William White (MO) 2020: #110 Isaac Righter (MD) 2017: #61 Eric Hong (PA) 2016: #111 Gage Curry (PA) 2014: #76 Josh Terao (HI); #140 Jack Mutchnik (MD) 2013: #78 Jason Grimes (GA)

2022 Pan-American Champion Sammy Jones (photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 55 kg 1 Max Nowry Army (WCAP) 2 Brady Koontz Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 3 Dalton Duffield Army (WCAP) 4 Drew West Illinois 5 Jacob Cochran NMU-National Training Center 6 Camden Russell MWC Wrestling Academy 7 Jakason Burks MWC Wrestling Academy 8 Cole Smith Army (WCAP) 9 Jonathan Gurule NMU-National Training Center 10 Dominic Robertson All Navy Wrestling 60 kg 1 Dalton Roberts Army (WCAP) 2 Ildar Hafizov Army (WCAP) 3 Dylan Koontz Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 4 Randon Miranda Rise RTC 5 Max Black Colorado 6 Mitchell Brown Air Force Regional Training Center 7 Phillip Moomey Spartan Combat RTC 63 kg 1 Sammy Jones New York Athletic Club 2 Jesse Thielke Army (WCAP) 3 Mason Carzino-Hartshorn West Coast Greco RTC 4 David Stepanian New York Athletic Club 5 Corbin Nirschl MWC Wrestling Academy 6 We Rachal Illinois Regional Training Center/Illini WC 7 Aidan Nutter New York Athletic Club 8 Logan Savvy New York Athletic Club 9 Ty Lydic Knights Wrestling Club 10 Diego Romero Florida 67 kg 1 Alejandro Sancho Army (WCAP) 2 Alston Nutter Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Lenny Merkin New York Athletic Club 4 Peyton Omania New York Athletic Club 5 Nathan Moore Northern Colorado Wrestling Club 6 Morgan Flaharty New York Athletic Club 7 Jessy Williams Spartan Combat RTC 72 kg 1 Patrick Smith Pinnacle Wrestling Club 2 Benjamin Peak Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Michael Hooker Army (WCAP) 4 Jamel Johnson Marines 5 Brody Olson NMU-National Training Center 6 Eddie Smith Pickaxe Wrestling Club 7 Ryan Wheeler Colorado Mesa Wrestling Club 8 Noah Wachsmuth COBRA ALL-STARS / Cobra Wrestling Systems LLC 77 kg 1 RaVaughn Perkins New York Athletic Club 2 Jesse Porter New York Athletic Club 3 Kamal Bey Army (WCAP) 4 Britton Holmes Army (WCAP) 5 Alec Ortiz Minnesota Storm 6 Payton Jacobson Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 7 Tyler Eischens California Regional Training Center (CA RTC) 8 Fritz Schierl Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 9 Jack Ervien, Jr. Viking Wrestling Club (IA) 82 kg 1 Ben Provisor New York Athletic Club 2 Spencer Woods Army (WCAP) 3 Tyler Cunningham MWC Wrestling Academy 4 Ryan Epps Minnesota Storm 5 Tommy Brackett Tennessee 6 Ben Lee Viking Wrestling Club (IA) 87 kg 1 Alan Vera New York Athletic Club 2 Timothy Young Illinois 3 George Sikes New York Athletic Club 4 Tyler Hannah Combat W.C. School of Wrestling 5 Christian DuLaney Minnesota Storm 6 Austin Craig All Navy Wrestling 97 kg 1 Nicholas Boykin Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 2 Braxton Amos Wisconsin Regional Training Center 3 Lucas Sheridan Army (WCAP) 4 Khymba Johnson New York Athletic Club 5 Haydn Maley Beaver Dam Wrestling Regional Training Center 6 Guy Patron Dubuque Wrestling Club 7 Brady Vogel Dubuque Wrestling Club 8 Chad Porter Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 9 Timothy Eubanks Nevada 130 kg 1 Cohlton Schultz Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 2 Tanner Farmer New York Athletic Club 3 West Cathcart New York Athletic Club 4 David Tate Orndorff Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 5 Courtney Freeman Marines 6 Kaleb Reeves Iowa 7 Ronald Dombkowski Bad Karma Wrestling Club 8 Tom Foote New York Athletic Club

72 kg US Open champion Skylar Grote (photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 50 kg 1 Erin Golston New York Athletic Club 2 Alyssa Lampe Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Sage Mortimer King/TMWC 4 Nyla Valencia TMWC 5 Emily Shilson Twin Cities RTC/TMWC 6 Nina Pham Texas Wrestling Club 7 Caitlyn Walker New York City RTC 8 Charlotte Fowler River Valley Wrestling Club 9 Arelys Valles Grand View Wrestling Club 10 Danielle Garcia Team Tornado Wrestling Club 11 Mariah Anderson Air Force Regional Training Center 12 Sydney Petzinger Cardinal Wrestling Club 13 Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club 53 kg 1 Felicity Taylor McKendree Bearcat WC/TMWC 2 Ronna Heaton Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Areana Villaescusa Army (WCAP) 4 Dominique Parrish Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 5 Alisha Howk Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 6 Estrella Dorado Marin Army (WCAP) 7 Haley Franich Air Force Regional Training Center 55 kg 1 Jacarra Winchester USOPTC/TMWC 2 Marissa Gallegos Colorado Mesa WC/TMWC 3 Lauren Mason Brunson UVRTC 4 Torieonna Buchanan Red Cobra Wrestling Academy 5 Victoria Smith Grand View Wrestling Club 57 kg 1 Adriana Dorado Marin Army (WCAP) 2 Cameron Guerin McKendree Bearcat WC/TMWC 3 Alexandra Hedrick USOPTC/TMWC 4 Amanda Martinez Cardinal WC/TMWC 5 Ngao Shoua Whitethorn Victory School of Wrestling 6 Tateum Park Twin Cities Regional Training Center 7 Elvie Villa McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club 8 Genesis Ramirez All Navy Wrestling 59 kg 1 Nanea Estrella Titan Mercury Wrestling Club 2 Abigail Nette Army (WCAP) 3 Michaela Beck Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 4 Lexie Basham Spartan Mat Club 5 Niya Teresita Gaines Cardinal Wrestling Club 6 Claire DiCugno Colorado Mesa Wrestling Club 7 Bridgette Duty Army (WCAP) 8 Montana DeLawder Team Tornado Wrestling Club 9 Esther Han Bruin Wrestling Club 10 Hailey Corona Brunson UVRTC 62 kg 1 Jennifer Rogers Nittany Lion WC/TMWC 2 Macey Kilty Sunkist Kids Wrestling Academy 3 Andrea Schlabach Grand View Wrestling Club 4 Cierra Foster Idaho/TMWC 5 Emmily Patneaud McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club 6 Alexandria Liles Army (WCAP) 7 Sierra Brown Ton Twin Cities Regional Training Center 65 kg 1 Emma Bruntil USOPTC/TMWC 2 Mallory Velte Beaver Dam RTC/TMWC 3 Maya Letona New York City RTC 4 Amanda Hendey Colorado Mesa WC/TMWC 5 Ashlynn Ortega New York Athletic Club 6 Emily Se California 7 Rachel Watters Hawkeye WC/TMWC 8 Dalia Garibay Colorado Mesa Wrestling Club 9 Destiny Lyng California 68 kg 1 Sienna Ramirez Southern Oregon Regional Training Center 2 Nahiela Magee Army (WCAP) 3 Alara Boyd McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club 4 Solin Piearcy Menlo Wrestling Club 5 Ana Luciano Team Tornado Wrestling Club 6 Kairah Cantillo Grand View Wrestling Club 7 Aury Naylor Georgia 8 Olivia Pizano Southern Oregon Regional Training Center 72 kg 1 Skylar Grote New York Athletic Club 2 Amit Elor NYC RTC/TMWC 3 Marlynne Deede Twin Cities Regional Training Center 4 Marilyn Garcia California 5 Skie Roulo Cougar Wrestling Club 6 Jessica Kemgne New York City RTC 76 kg 1 Dymond Guilford USOPTC/TMWC 2 Precious Bell Victory School of Wrestling/TMWC 3 Yelena Makoyed Cardinal WC/TMWC 4 Victoria Francis Hawkeye WC/TMWC 5 Tristan Kelly Army (WCAP) 6 Jordan Nelson Hawkeye WC/TMWC 7 Olivia Robinson Peninsula Wrestling Club (PWC) 8 Melissa Jacobs Twin Cities Regional Training Center 9 Joye Levendusky McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club

Army West Point Kevin Ward and his team (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) With an abridged and unusual collegiate season in 2021, it felt great to get back to normal for the 2021-22 season. All DI teams were back in action and generally wrestled full schedules (with a few Covid-related cancellations thrown in). As the season progressed and we saw fun dual events like the Collegiate Duals, I noticed there were some teams with ridiculously loaded schedules. That spurred me to do some sort of an article about which was the toughest. Well, what happened was that the season "happened," and it got lost in the shuffle. Now that there aren't any pesky results or rankings to worry about, we can dig deeper into whose schedule was the toughest. Of course, there are plenty of ways to judge this type of thing and I have a couple of different ways to look for this type of exercise. Below you'll see a chart with seven columns full of numbers. Those columns are from left to right: Opponents winning percentage, Non-Conference opponents winning percentage, # of InterMat's Top-25 Dual teams faced, # of InterMat's Top-10 Dual teams faced, Conference Opponents in IM's Top-25, Non-Conference Opponents in IM's Top-25, and dual record. For this exercise, we looked at those top 25 dual teams, plus six others that had difficult-looking schedules. Here's what each of those columns mean, why they may be important, and why they may be misleading. I think it's important to stress why some of these numbers are misleading and you need to look at all of the information before drawing any larger conclusions. Because of 2021-22 still being under the cloud of Covid, there were plenty of duals that were scheduled, yet never wrestled. We have given schools credit for scheduling a team, even if the dual was not wrestled. The purpose is to find who compiled the toughest schedules, so it's not their fault the dual didn't actually occur. Also, only duals against DI schools were counted in winning percentages. Opponents winning percentage: This is simply the winning percentage of every team on a school's schedule. Pretty straightforward, huh? Here are a few outliers that make this not a perfect metric. Nebraska and Minnesota. The Huskers and Gophers finished the year ranked 13th and 14th, respectively, in InterMat's dual team rankings. Both were pretty strong squads. Well, Nebraska finished the year with a 6-5 record and Minnesota was 4-6. Both teams wrestled brutal schedules, so having either on your schedule made it appear weaker than say, Lock Haven (10-5) or Bucknell (12-6), which obviously wasn't the case. That leads us to Michigan State, who had duals with both Lock Haven and Bucknell. Not coincidentally, the winning percentage of the Spartans opponents may look better than one may initially imagine. Down at the bottom of the winning percentage column is Campbell. They had a solid out-of-conference schedule, but were hurt here by some of their SoCon foes. Which brings us to: Non-Conference winning percentage: Some conferences are too big to wrestle each team; others see their league rivals once a year. Either way, the coaches have full control of their out-of-conference schedule. Some have decided to beef their sched up with a boatload of tough out-of-conference opponents, while others chose to lay low. The "anyone/anytime" mantra from Army West Point is reflected in their absurd 84.33% winning percentage for out-of-conference opponents. Only Minnesota and Lehigh came within ten points of that mark. It's a good thing we mentioned Minnesota. The Gophers only had two out-of-conference duals with DI opponents (Oklahoma State and South Dakota State). Those teams finished with identical 13-4 records, so Minnesota didn't really have as high of a number of duals as others. Now one variable we didn't consider which could have hurt Army in a normal season was "extra-countable matches." They had one of these new-fangled deals including American and Franklin & Marshall. Had these been duals, it probably would have knocked their regular winning percentage, a bit. One other takeaway here is that the Ivy Leagues have a limited number of dates they can schedule. With that in mind, Cornell and Princeton really wanted to challenge themselves with those other dates, as both had percentage's over 72%. # of Dual Against InterMat's top 25: Three teams managed double-digits in duals against top-25 squads. Iowa, Penn State, and Lehigh. Obviously, the Big Ten schedule helps Iowa and Penn State boost their numbers. Lehigh is the surprising one (for some). The Mountain Hawks actually cost some of their opponents as they were besieged by injuries and fell out of the top-25 themselves, late in the year. Big Ten schools like Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin also faced nine of the top-25. Arizona State did as well, and they're the only non-Big Ten squad to have that total. # of Duals Against InterMat's top 10: A disclaimer of this and the top-25. Some of this is luck. Had we tracked these in the middle of the season, some teams would have had more top-10/25 wins than now. Take Oklahoma State for example. Getting Oklahoma State on the schedule had always been imposing for the entire existence of collegiate wrestling. After the AJ Ferrari injury, the Cowboys hit a rough patch and fell to #12. That means that you didn't get credit for having a team like OSU on the schedule (for this component), whereas they are always an excellent program. The only school that faced six of the final top-ten teams in dual competition was Northern Iowa. Now if you cheat ahead and look at the Panthers dual record, they finished at 7-7. So basically, UNI wrestled a tough-as-nails schedule and beat who you'd expect to beat. The weird "only in a Covid-era" (hopefully) outlier from this and other categories is the NC State/Virginia Tech dual debacle. The forfeited win is counted on the Wolfpack's schedule, along with their actual win over the Hokies. That inflates NC State's winning percentage and gives a knock to VT's, while also boosting their number of duals scheduled against elite teams. With that being said, Virginia Tech, along with Arizona State and Iowa, had five duals against top-ten teams. # of Duals Against Conference Teams in the Top-25 vs Non-Conference:This is a good window into dual scheduling strategies. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska all faced seven ranked conference foes, which is a steep number and the highest in the country. Illinois didn't see anyone outside of the conference that was ranked. Minnesota and Nebraska both had one on the schedule, while Iowa had five. On the other end of the spectrum are Campbell and Arizona State. Campbell didn't have anyone in their conference in the top-25 (though Appalachian State was close). They went out and found five ranked opponents. Arizona State only had one in the Pac-12. They ended up with an absurd eight, ranked out-of-conference opponents. The only school that matched eight was Lehigh, which is starting to feel like a trend. What do we make of this? I'll let you decide, as you can interpret these any way you see fit. Arizona State, Army West Point, Lehigh, and Northern Iowa were all non-B1G schools with excellent competition, while Iowa and Penn State represented for the Big Ten. Before you make any rash judgments about scheduling, as a whole, remember that this is focusing solely on dual competition. All schools have open and/or individually bracketed tournaments on their schedules too. Some may have gone "light" dual-wise because their staff knows they've booked some challenging tournaments.

2022 57 kg US Open champion Matthew Ramos (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 57 kg 1 Matthew Ramos Boilermaker RTC 2 Vitali Arujau Spartan Combat RTC 3 Zane Richards Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 4 Jakob Camacho Wolfpack Wrestling Club 5 Anthony Molton Buies Creek Wrestling Club 6 Caleb Smith Boone RTC 7 Gregory Diakomihalis Spartan Combat RTC 8 Gabriel Townsell California Regional Training Center (CA RTC) 9 Aden Reeves Viking Wrestling Club (IA) 10 Michael Tortorice Knights RTC 11 Timothy Levine New England Regional Training Center 61 kg 1 Nico Megaludis Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 2 Joshua Rodriguez Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 3 Tyler Graff New Jersey RTC 4 Jesse Mendez Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 5 Seth Gross Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 6 Daniel DeShazer Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC 7 Josh Kramer Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 8 Shelton Mack New York City RTC 65 kg 1 Kendric Maple Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 2 Yianni Diakomihalis Spartan Combat RTC 3 Joseph McKenna Pennsylvania RTC 4 Nick Lee Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 5 Matthew Kolodzik New York Athletic Club 6 Ian Parker Cyclone Regional Training Center C-RTC 7 Luke Pletcher Pittsburgh Wrestling Club 8 Evan Henderson Ohio Regional Training Center 9 Patricio Lugo Hawkeye Wrestling Club 10 Dean Heil Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 11 Beau Bartlett Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 12 Carter Young Cowboy RTC 13 Joshua Saunders Spartan Combat RTC 70 kg 1 Alec Pantaleo Cliff Keen Wrestling Club 2 Ryan Deakin Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 3 Jordan Oliver Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 4 Zain Retherford Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 5 Doug Zapf Pennsylvania RTC 6 Michael Blockhus Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC 7 Sam Sasso Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 8 Tyler Berger California Regional Training Center (CA RTC) 9 Anthony Ashnault New York Athletic Club 10 Dayne Morton Wolves Wrestling Club 11 Jarod Verkleeren Cavalier Wrestling Club 74 kg 1 Jason Nolf Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 2 Joshua Shields Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Thomas Gantt Wolfpack Wrestling Club 4 David Carr Cyclone Regional Training Center C-RTC 5 Collin Purinton Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 6 Peter Pappas Patriot Elite Wrestling Club 7 Joey Lavallee Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club 79 kg 1 David McFadden Pennsylvania RTC 2 Vincenzo Joseph California Regional Training Center (CA RTC) 3 Alex Dieringer Cliff Keen Wrestling Club 4 Carter Starocci Nittany Lion Wrestling Club 5 Chance Marsteller Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 6 Isaiah Martinez Beaver Dam Wrestling Regional Training Center 7 Taylor Lujan Panther Wrestling Club RTC 8 Nick Reenan Wolfpack Wrestling Club 9 Brayden Thompson Illinois 86 kg 1 Mark Hall Pennsylvania RTC 2 Zahid Valencia Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 3 Pat Downey Florida 4 Trent Hidlay Wolfpack Wrestling Club 5 Drew Foster Panther Wrestling Club RTC 6 Marcus Coleman Cyclone Regional Training Center C-RTC 7 Owen Webster Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC 8 Caden Steffen Mustang Wrestling Club 9 Caleb Hopkins Buies Creek Wrestling Club 10 Julien Broderson Cyclone Regional Training Center C-RTC 11 Andrew Morgan Spartan Combat RTC 92 kg 1 Cameron Caffey Michigan Wrestling Club 2 Nathan Jackson New York Athletic Club 3 Jonathan Aiello Cavalier Wrestling Club 4 Isaac Trumble Wolfpack Wrestling Club 5 Max Shaw Tar Heel Wrestling Club 6 Levi Hopkins Buies Creek Wrestling Club 7 Michael Battista Cavalier Wrestling Club 97 kg 1 Michael Macchiavello Wolfpack Wrestling Club 2 Kollin Moore Ohio Regional Training Center 3 Timothy Dudley Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 4 Samuel Mitchell Bulls Wrestling Club 5 Ethan Laird Broncs Wrestling Club 6 Duncan Lee Cyclone Regional Training Center C-RTC 7 Jason Carter MontCo Wrestling Club 125 kg 1 Hayden Zillmer Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC 2 Nick Gwiazdowski Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC) 3 Anthony Cassioppi Hawkeye Wrestling Club 4 Dominique Bradley Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 5 Ty Walz Southeast Regional Training Center, Inc 6 Kyven Gadson Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 7 Demetrius Thomas Pittsburgh Wrestling Club 8 Lucas Davison Wildcat Wrestling Club 9 Jordan Wood Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club 10 Christian Lance Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club 11 Derek White Cliff Keen Wrestling Club 12 Ceron Francisco Nittany Lion Wrestling Club

2x NCAA Qualifier and 2022 Big 12 champion Wyatt Hendrickson (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome to a new, regular feature for InterMat! Every day, for the next few months, we'll look into the recent history of a DI wrestling program with our "Ten Years of…" feature. Even if you're a die-hard supporter of a particular school, there will be good information you may have forgotten. For others, it's a quick way to learn about a program you may not be familiar with. We're going in alphabetical order for this one, so leading off is…Air Force! NCAA Qualifiers (19 total) 2022 133 - Sidney Flores (#28); 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (#5) 2021 133 - Jared Van Vleet (#21); 174 - Cody Surratt (#25); 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (#17) 2019 197 - Anthony McLaughlin (#26) 2018 149 - Dane Robbins 2016 125 - Drew Romero; 133 - Josh Martinez 2015 125 - Josh Martinez; 165 - Jesse Stafford 2014 125 - Josh Martinez (#4); 133 - Greg Rinker; 157 - Josh Kreimier; 184 - Devin Hightower 2013 125 - Josh Martinez (#10); 133 - Dylan Hyder; 149 - Cole Von Ohlen (#4); 157 - Josh Kreimier NCAA Champions None NCAA All-Americans None NCAA Round of 12 finishers Wyatt Hendrickson - 285 (2021) Cole Von Ohlen - 149 (2013) Conference Champions Big 12: Wyatt Hendrickson - 285 (2022) WWC/West Region: Greg Rinker - 133 (2014); Dylan Hyder - 133 (2013); Josh Kreimier - 157 (2013) Dual Record 2021-22: 4-9 2021: 2-5 2019-20: 4-8 2018-19: 7-6 2017-18: 8-5 2016-17: 6-6 2015-16: 8-6 2014-15: 1-6 2013-14: 11-6 2012-13: 12-8 Conference Tournament Placement 2021-22: 10th (Big 12) 2021: 11th 2019-20: 12th 2018-19: 11th 2017-18: 12th 2016-17: 10th 2015-16: 9th 2014-15: 5th (West Regional) 2013-14: 3rd 2012-13: 4th NCAA Tournament Team Placement 2021-22: 36th-tie (5 points) 2021: 41st (6 points) 2019-20: No Tournament 2018-19: 56th-tie (0.5 points) 2017-18: 65th-tie (0 points) 2016-17: Did Not Qualify 2015-16: 62nd-tie (1.5 points) 2014-15: 52nd (2 points) 2013-14: 58th-tie (2 points) 2012-13: 38th-tie (5.5 points) Head Coaching History Sam Barber (2014-Present) Joel Sharratt (2006-2014) Best Lineup (Comprised of wrestlers from 2013-2022) 125 - Josh Martinez: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#4 and #10 seed); 2013 West Region-runner-up 133 - Jared Van Vleet: 2021 NCAA Qualifier (#21 seed); 2 wins at NCAA's 141 - Lenny Peterson: 2020 Big 12 eighth-place 149 - Cole Von Ohlen: 4x NCAA Qualifier (#3, #4, and #9 seed); 2x West Region Champion 157 - Josh Kreimer: 3x NCAA Qualifier; 2012 NCAA Round of 12 finisher; 2013 West Region Champion 165 - Jesse Stafford: 2015 NCAA Qualifier 174 - Cody Surratt: 2021 NCAA Qualifier (#25 seed) 184 - Devin Hightower: 2014 NCAA Qualifier; 2014 West Region runner-up 197 - Anthony McLaughlin: 2019 NCAA Qualifier; (#26 seed) 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson: 2x NCAA Qualifier (#5 and #17 seed); 2021 NCAA Round of 12 finisher; 2022 Big 12 Champion Recruiting Big Board'ers per year 2022: #128 Evan Binder (MO); #196 Drake Buchanan (IN) 2021: #123 Tucker Owens (OK); #170 Mason Ding (TX); #179 Jack Ganos (WI); #205 Gavin Gross (MO); #228 Aiden Warren (IN); #262 Andrew Wenzel (IL) 2020: #62 John Martin Best (WV); #87 Giano Petrucelli (CA) 2019: #60 Wyatt Hendrickson (KS) 2016: #138 Trace Carello (IL) 2013: #30 Brooks Climmons (GA); #122 Geo Martinez (CO) International Accolades (active team members and alums) 2021: Wyatt Hendrickson - Junior World freestyle fifth-place 2017: Alex Mossing - U23 World Greco-Roman 22nd place

86 kg US Open champion Mark Hall (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The following athletes at each weight class have qualified for the World Team Trials this weekend in Coralville, Iowa. Athletes may have qualified at a different weight class than they intend on competing at. Men's Freestyle 57 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Thomas Gilman Olympic Trials 2nd: Vito Arujau Olympic Trials 3rd: Nathan Tomasello Olympic Trials 4th: Zane Richards Bill Farrell 2nd: Michael Tortice US Open 1st: Matt Ramos US Open 2nd: Anthony Molton US Open 3rd: Jakob Camacho US Open 4th: Greg Diakomihalis US Open 5th: Caleb Smith US Open 6th: Aden Reeves US Open 7th: Gabe Townsell Last Chance 1st: Timothy Levine 2022 NCAA Champion: Nick Suriano 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Patrick Glory 61 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Daton Fix 2021 WTT's 3rd: Carter Young 2021 WTT's 4th: Seth Gross 2022 Bill Farrell 1st: Tyler Graff US Open 1st: Nico Megaludis US Open 2nd: Josh Rodriguez US Open 3rd: Jesse Mendez US Open 4th: Daniel DeShazer US Open 7th: Josh Kramer Last Chance 1st: Shelton Mack 2022 NCAA Champion: Roman Bravo-Young 2022 NCAA 3rd Place: Austin DeSanto 65 kg Olympic Trials 2nd: Joey McKenna Olympic Trials 3rd: Nick Lee Olympic Trials 4th: Yianni Diakomihalis 2021 WTT's 3rd: Evan Henderson 2021 WTT's 4th: Luke Pletcher 2021 Junior World Medalist: Beau Bartlett Bill Farrell 2nd: Ian Parker US Open 1st: Kendric Maple US Open 2nd: Matt Kolodzik US Open 6th: Pat Lugo US Open 7th: Dean Heil Last Chance 1st: Joshua Saunders 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Kizhan Clarke 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Ridge Lovett 70 kg Olympic Trials 1st: Jordan Oliver 2021 WTT's 2nd: Ryan Deakin 2021 WTT's 3rd: Zain Retherford 2021 WTT's 4th: Tyler Berger 2021 Junior World Medalist: Bryce Andonian Bill Farrell 1st: Anthony Ashnault US Open 1st: Alec Pantaleo US Open 3rd: Doug Zapf US Open 4th: Michael Blockhus US Open 5th: Sammy Sasso US Open 7th: Dayne Morton Last Chance 1st: Jarod Verkleeren 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Quincy Monday 2022 NCAA 3rd: David Carr 74 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): Kyle Dake 2021 WTT's 3rd: Jason Nolf 2021 Junior World Medalist: Keegan O'Toole Bill Farrell 1st: Josh Shields US Open 3rd: Collin Purinton US Open 4th: Peter Pappas US Open 5th: Andrew Cerniglia US Open 6th: Tommy Gantt US Open 7th: Josh Ogunsanya Last Chance 1st: Joey Lavallee 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Shane Griffith 79 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): Jordan Burroughs 2021 WTT's 2nd: Alex Dieringer 2021 WTT's 3rd: Carter Starocci 2021 WTT's 4th: Evan Wick Bill Farrell 1st: Chance Marsteller US Open 1st: David McFadden US Open 2nd: Vincenzo Joseph US Open 4th: Taylor Lujan US Open 6th: Brayden Thompson Last Chance 1st: Isaiah Martinez 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Mekhi Lewis 86 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): David Taylor Olympic Trials 2nd: Bo Nickal Olympic Trials 3rd: Zahid Valencia Olympic Trials 4th: Patrick Downey Bill Farrell 1st: Myles Martin US Open 1st: Mark Hall US Open 2nd: Marcus Coleman US Open 4th: Caden Steffan US Open 5th: Owen Webster US Open 6th: Caleb Hopkins US Open 7th: Julien Broderson Last Chance 1st: Andrew Morgan 2022 NCAA Champion: Aaron Brooks 2022 NCAA 3rd: Parker Keckeisen 92 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): J'den Cox 2021 WTT's 2nd: Kollin Moore 2021 WTT's 3rd: Trent Hidlay 2021 WTT's 4th: Drew Foster 2021 Junior World Medalist: Rocky Elam Bill Farrell 1st: Nick Reenan US Open 1st: Cam Caffey US Open 2nd: Isaac Trumble US Open 3rd: Max Shaw US Open 4th: Michael Battista US Open 5th: Andy Smith US Open 6th: Jake Koser US Open 7th: Levi Hopkins Last Chance 1st: Nate Jackson 2022 NCAA Champion: Max Dean 2022 NCAA Runner-Up: Jacob Warner 2022 NCAA 3rd: Stephen Buchanan 97 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Kyle Snyder Olympic Trials 3rd: Kyven Gadson Olympic Trials 4th: Mike Macchiavello 2021 U23 World Medalist: Jay Aiello Bill Farrell 2nd: Joe Rau US Open 4th: TJ Dudley US Open 5th: Sam Mitchell US Open 6th: Ethan Laird US Open 7th: Duncan Lee Last Chance 1st: Jason Carter 125 kg Olympic Trials 2nd: Nick Gwiazdowski Olympic Trials 3rd: Mason Parris Olympic Trials 4th: Tony Nelson 2021 WTT's 3rd: Hayden Zillmer 2021 WTT's 4th: Dom Bradley 2021 U23 World Medalist: Tony Cassioppi Bill Farrell 3rd: Ceron Francisco US Open 3rd: Ty Walz US Open 4th: Demetrius Thomas US Open 5th: Lucas Davison US Open 6th: Christian Lance Last Chance 1st: Derek White 2022 NCAA 3rd: Jordan Wood Women's Freestyle 50 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): Sarah Hildebrandt Olympic Trials 2nd: Victoria Anthony 2021 Junior World Medalist: Emily Shilson Bill Farrell 3rd: Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez US Open 1st: Erin Golston US Open 3rd: Charlotte Fowler US Open 5th: Arelys Valles US Open 6th: Caitlyn Walker US Open 7th: Mariah Anderson Last Chance 1st: Nyla Valencia 2022 NCWWC 1st (101): Olivia Shore 2022 NCWWC 2nd (101): Angelina Gomez 2022 NCWWC 2nd (109): Sydney Petzinger 2022 NAIA 1st (101): Nina Pham 2022 NAIA 2nd (101): Ivy Navarro 2022 NAIA 2nd (109): Mia Palumbo 53 kg Olympic Trials 3rd: Dom Parrish Olympic Trials 3rd: Alyssa Lampe Olympic Trials 4th: Katherine Shai 2021 WTT's 1st: Amy Fearnside 2021 WTT's 3rd: Areana Villaescusa Bill Farrell 1st: Sage Mortimer US Open 3rd: Danielle Garcia US Open 4th: Haley Franich US Open 5th: Estrella Dorado Marin US Open 7th: Angela De La Cruz Last Chance 1st: Janieliz Cotto 2022 NCWWC 2nd (116): Felicity Taylor 2022 NAIA 1st (109): Peyton Prussin 2022 NAIA 1st (116): Alleida Martinez 2022 NAIA 2nd (116): Salyna Shotwell 55 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Jenna Burkert Olympic Trials 1st: Jacarra Winchester Olympic Trials 2nd: Ronna Heaton 2021 WTT's 3rd: Marissa Gallegos 2021 WTT's 4th: Amanda Martinez Bill Farrell 1st: Alisha Howk US Open 3rd: Lauren Mason US Open 6th: Cara Romeike US Open 7th: Victoria Smith Last Chance 1st: Torieonna Buchanan 2022 NCWWC 1st (123): Alex Hedrick 2022 NCWWC 2nd (123): Cheyenne Sisenstein 2022 NAIA 1st (123): Caro Moreno 2022 NAIA 2nd (123): Leilah Castro 57 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): Helen Maroulis Olympic Trials 3rd: Abby Nette Olympic Trials 4th: Cameron Guerin US Open 1st: Adriana Dorado Marin US Open 5th: Jerzie Estrada US Open 6th: Elvie Villa US Open 7th: Tateum Park Last Chance 1st: Genesis Ramirez 59 kg 2021 WTT's 1st: Maya Nelson 2021 WTT's 2nd: Megan Black 2021 WTT's 3rd: Xochitl Mota-Pettis 2021 WTT's 4th: Michaela Beck Bill Farrell 3rd: Ngao Shoua Whitethorn US Open 3rd: Claire DiCugno US Open 4th: Bridgette Duty US Open 5th: Hailey Corona US Open 7th: Esther Han Last Chance 1st: Montana DeLawder 2022 NCWWC 2nd (130); Niya Gaines 2022 NAIA 1st (130): Lexie Basham 2022 NAIA 2nd (130): Nanea Estrella 62 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): Kayla Miracle Olympic Trials 2nd: Macey Kilty Olympic Trials 4th: Jennifer Page 2021 WTT's 4th: Gracie Figueroa 2021 Junior World Medalist: Korina Blades Bill Farrell 1st: Andrea Schlabach US Open 5th: Emmily Patneaud US Open 7th: Cierra Foster Last Chance 1st: Alex Liles 2022 NAIA 1st (136): Zoe Nowicki 2022 NAIA 2nd (136): Adaugo Nwachukwu 65 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Forrest Molinari 2021 WTT's 2nd: Emma Bruntil 2021 WTT's 2nd: Mallory Velte 2021 WTT's 3rd: Alara Boyd Bill Farrell 2nd: Rachel Watters US Open 3rd: Maya Letona US Open 4th: Amanda Hendey US Open 5th: Emily Se Last Chance 1st: Sierra Brown Ton 2022 NCWWC 1st (143): Ashlynn Ortega 2202 NAIA 1st (143): Destiny Lyng 2022 NAIA 2nd (143): Emma Walker 68 kg - Waiting in Final X (Stillwater): Tamyra Mensah-Stock Olympic Trials 2nd: Kennedy Blades Olympic Trials 4th: Alex Glaude 2021 Junior World Medalist: Amit Elor US Open 1st: Sienna Ramirez US Open 2nd: Katerina Lange US Open 3rd: Nahiela Magee US Open 4th: Dalia Garibay US Open 5th: Solin Pearcy US Open 6th: Olivia Pizano US Open 7th: Kairah Cantillo Last Chance 1st: Ana Luciano 2022 NAIA 2nd (155): Kaylynn Albrecht 72 kg 2021 WTT's 1st: Kylie Welker 2021 WTT's 4th: Skylar Grote Bill Farrell 1st: Aury Naylor US Open 2nd: Marlynne Deede US Open 3rd: Michelle Montague US Open 4th: Aine Drury US Open 5th: Marilyn Garcia US Open 7th: Jessica Kemgne Last Chance 1st: Skie Roulo 2022 NCWWC 1st (155): Alyvia Fiske 2022 NCWWC 2nd (155): Kayla Marano 2022 NCWWC 1st (155): Kenya Sloan 76 kg Olympic Trials 3rd: Victoria Francis 2021 WTT's 3rd: Yelena Makoyed 2021 WTT's 4th: Dymond Guiflord Bill Farrell 1st: Precious Bell US Open 5th: Tristan Kelly US Open 6th: Emily Cue US Open 7th: Jordan Nelson Last Chance 1st: Melissa Jacobs 2022 NCWWC 2nd (170): Joye Levendusky 2022 NAIA 2nd (170): Olivia Robinson 2022 NCWWC 1st (191): Sydnee Kimber 2022 NCWWC 2nd (191): Jaycee Foeller 2022 NAIA 1st (191): Kelani Corbett 2022 NAIA 2nd (191): Gabrielle Hamilton Greco-Roman 55 kg 2021 WTT's 1st: Max Nowry 2022 WTT's 2nd: Brady Koontz 2022 WTT's 3rd: Dylan Duffield 2022 WTT's 4th: Jacob Cochran Bill Farrell 1st: Cole Smith US Open 3rd: Drew West US Open 5th: Camden Russell US Open 6th: Dominic Robertson Last Chance 1st: Jonathan Gurule 60 kg Olympic Trials 1st: Ildar Hafizov Olympic Trials 2nd: Ryan Mango Olympic Trials 3rd: Leslie Fuenffinger 2021 WTT's 1st: Dalton Roberts 2021 WTT's 3rd: King Sandoval 2021 WTT's 4th: Dylan Koontz 2020 Ibrahim Mustapha 1st - Randon Miranda Bill Farrell 4th: Max Black US Open 4th: Mitchell Brown US Open 5th: Phillip Moomey Last Chance 1st: Garrett Totten 63 kg 2021 WTT's 1st: Sam Jones 2021 WTT's 2nd: David Stepanian 2021 WTT's 3rd: Dylan Gregerson 2021 WTT's 4th: We Rachel 2021 WTT's 4th: Jesse Thielke 2021 Veterans B 1st: David Yi Bill Farrell 3rd: Mason Carzino-Hartshorn US Open 2nd: Aidan Nutter US Open 3rd: Corbin Nirschl US Open 4th: Ty Lydic US Open 5th: Logan Savvy US Open 6th: Nicholas Leonetti Last Chance 1st: Diego Romero 67 kg Olympic Trials 1st: Alejandro Sancho Olympic Trials 4th: Xavier Johnson 2021 WTT's 1st: Peyton Omania 2021 WTT's 3rd: Hayden Tuma Bill Farrell 3rd: Lenny Merkin US Open 3rd: Alston Nutter US Open 5th: Nathan Moore US Open 6th: Morgan Flaherty Last Chance 1st: Jessy Williams 72 kg Olympic Trials 3rd: Benji Peak 2021 WTT's 1st: Pat Smith 2021 WTT's 3rd: Jamel Johnson 2021 WTT's 4th: Michael Hooker 2021 Veterans World Division A gold: Reece Humphrey 2021 Veterans World Division D silver: Stephen Horton Bill Farrell 2nd: Orlando Ponce US Open 2nd: PJ Ogunsanya US Open 4th: Brody Olson US Open 5th: Eddie Smith US Open 6th: Ryan Wheeler Last Chance 1st: Noah Wachsmuth 77 kg Olympic Trials 1st: Jesse Porter Olympic Trials 2nd: Peyton Walsh Olympic Trials 3rd: RaVaughn Perkins 2021 WTT's 2nd: Fritz Schierl 2021 WTT's 3rd: Britton Holmes 2021 Veterans World Division D bronze: Jon Banko Bill Farrell 4th: Kamal Bey US Open 2nd: Alec Ortiz US Open 3rd: Payton Jacobson US Open 4th: Jack Ervien US Open 5th: Tyler Eischens Last Chance 1st: Chad Walsh 82 kg 2021 WTT's 1st: Ben Provisor 2021 WTT's 2nd: Spencer Woods 2021 WTT's 2nd: Ryan Epps 2021 WTT's 3rd: Richard Carlson 2021 WTT's 4th: Tommy Brackett Bill Farrell 3rd: Tyler Cunningham US Open 5th: Jacob Fisher Last Chance 1st: Adrian Artsisheuskiy 87 kg Olympic Trials 3rd: Patrick Martinez 2021 WTT's 1st: Alan Vera 2021 WTT's 3rd: Tyler Hannah 2021 WTT's 4th: George Sikes 2021 Veterans World Division C gold: Octavius Bellamy Bill Farrell 3rd: Christian DuLaney 2022 US Open 3rd: Timothy Young 2022 US Open 5th: Austin Craig 2022 US Open 6th: Sione Halo Last Chance 1st: Gevorg Arakelov 97 kg - Waiting in Final X (New York): G'Angelo Hancock Olympic Trials 2nd: Braxton Amos Olympic Trials 3rd: Lucas Sheridan Olympic Trials 4th: Daniel Miller 2021 WTT's 2nd: Nicholas Boykin 2021 WTT's 3rd: Khymba Johnson 2021 WTT's 4th: James Souza 2021 Veterans World Division D silver: Gelu Bors Bill Farrell 2nd: Christian Rouleau 2021 US Open 3rd: Haydn Maley 2021 US Open 4th: Brady Vogel 2021 US Open 5th: Chad Porter 2021 US Open 6th: Guy Patron Last Chance 1st: Timothy Eubanks 130 kg Olympic Trials 1st: Adam Coon Olympic Trials 2nd: Cohlton Schultz Olympic Trials 3rd: Jacob Mitchell Olympic Trials 4th: Donny Longendyke 2021 WTT's 3rd: Tanner Farmer 2021 Veterans World Division A bronze: Ronald Dombrowski 2021 Veterans World Division C bronze: Gregory Conn 2021 Veterans World Division E bronze: Brian Jones 2022 NCAA Division III 3rd: Kaleb Reeves Bill Farrell 2nd: Courtney Freeman US Open 2nd: West Cathcart US Open 6th: Malcolm Allen Last Chance 1st: Tom Foote

79 kg champion Isaiah Martinez (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) All of the winners at the ten men's freestyle weight classes will qualify for the World Team Trials next week in Coralville, Iowa. Men's Freestyle 57 kg 1st - Timothy Levine over Nick Babin 10-0 3rd - Dalton Henderson over Antonio Mininno 13-9 61 kg 1st - Shelton Mack over Nasir Bailey 3-3 3rd - Christian Gannone over Peter Hammer 14-1 65 kg 1st - Joshua Saunders over Brock Zacherl 7-6 3rd - Dylan Cedeno over Kyle Hauserman 13-6 70 kg 1st - Jarod Verkleeren over Christian Monserrat 10-1 3rd - Ryan Anderson over Jonathan Ross 6-1 74 kg 1st - Joey Lavallee over Elroy Perkin 11-0 3rd - Michael Petite over Shawn Marchesano 10-0 79 kg 1st - Isaiah Martinez over Devin Skatzka 13-3 3rd - Muhamed McBryde over Mickey O'Malley 6-5 86 kg 1st - Andrew Morgan over Jonathan Loew 9-8 3rd - Chris Foca over Connor Strong Fall 5:51 92 kg 1st - Nate Jackson over Patrick Davis 10-0 3rd - Jacob Cardenas FFT Eli Sheeren 97 kg 1st - Jason Carter over Jaden Sonner 15-5 125 kg 1st - Derek White over Lewis Fernandes 4-1 3rd - Jake Fernicola over Ryan Higgins 5-1

68 kg champion Ana Luciano (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Friday marked the first day of the two-day Last Chance Qualifier tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Greco-Roman and women's freestyle portion of the event were held on day one. Winners or the highest placer who had not previously qualified for the World Team Trials, earned a berth in the event next weekend in Coralville, Iowa. Here are the placewinners for Greco and women's freestyle: Men's Greco-Roman 55 kg 1st) Jonathan Gurule 2nd) Sam Braswell 3rd) Alexander Logsdon 4th) Dominic Robertson 60 kg 1st) Garrett Totten 63 kg 1st) Diego Romero 67 kg 1st) Jessy Williams 2nd) Logan Hatch 72 kg 1st) Noah Wachsmuth 77 kg 1st) Chad Walsh 2nd) Terrance Parks 3rd) Glenn Rhees 4th) Loranzo Rajaonarivelo 82 kg 1st) Adrian Artsisheuskiy 2nd) Aaron Dobbs 3rd) Andrew Dickson 4th) Khalil Mitchell 87 kg 1st) Gevorg Arakelov 2nd) Christos Avgeros 97 kg 1st) Timothy Eubanks 2nd) Austin Craig 3rd) William Baldwin 4th) Erik Hinckley 130 kg 1st) Tom Foote 2nd) Robert Gray 3rd) Anthony Rossi 4th) Monte Britton Women's Freestyle 50 kg 1st) Nyla Valencia 2nd) Alex Szkotnicki 3rd) Olivia Chandler 4th) Alisa Safforld 53 kg 1st) Janieliz Cotto 55 kg 1st) Torieonna Buchanan 57 kg 1st) Genesis Ramirez 59 kg 1st) Montana DeLawder 62 kg 1st) Alex Liles 65 kg 1st) Sierra Brown Ton 68 kg 1st) Ana Luciano 72 kg 1st) Skie Roulo 76 kg 1st) Melissa Jacobs

Gary Mayabb (center; in white) (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) IOWA CITY, Iowa - USA Wrestling staff member Gary Mayabb will join the University of Iowa women's wrestling program as associate head coach, it was announced Friday by head coach Clarissa Chun. "I saw firsthand the work Gary did with USA Wrestling and I am excited to have the opportunity to work with and alongside him in building this program," said Chun. "We worked in different programs (at USA Wrestling), but I got to see all the work he put into building men's Greco in the U.S. "Gary is a hard worker, unites people and is well-connected. He has trained the development age group all the way to senior level athletes for decades, so he knows how to relate to different athletes. "During the interview process it was clear that our values aligned in how we wanted to build this program. Gary has high integrity and will serve our student-athletes well." For more than three decades, Mayabb has served in various capacities with USA Wrestling and was an accomplished high school wrestling coach in Kansas City, Missouri, winning seven team state championships. "The University of Iowa is a special place for wrestling," said Mayabb. "I am excited for the opportunity to work with coach Chun and the history-making women who have committed to grow our sport." Mayabb (MAY-abb) served as manager of Greco-Roman programs for USA Wrestling from 2017-22, where he had direct oversight of the daily operations for the Greco-Roman program as well as the development in the U20-U17-U15 age groups. He was also a five-time member of the U.S. Olympic Team Training Camp staff. As a USA Wrestling NCEP Gold Level Certified Coach, Mayabb has also been named the USA Wrestling Regional Developmental Coach of the Year, USA Wrestling Junior National Greco-Roman Coach of the Year and USA Wrestling Cadet National Greco-Roman Coach of the Year. He also served as the Missouri Cadet and Junior National Team Greco-Roman head coach from 1987-2016, where he worked with 17 champions and 71 All-Americans. At the high school level, Mayabb served as head coach at Oak Park and Staley High Schools. He is a two-time NWCA Region Coach of the Year and State Coach of the Year, a five-time MWA State Coach of the Year and two-time NSHSAA Coach of the Year. He led Oak Park High School to six MSHSAA team state titles, including five straight. His team was nationally ranked eight times in his tenure and his athletes won 38 individual state titles, had 96 state medalist and 145 state qualifiers. Mayabb moved to Staley High School, becoming the first head coach in the program's history. He led the team to a team championship in 2017, as well as four top-four finishes, six individual state titles, 34 state place finishers and 59 state qualifiers. In his career, more than 100 former student-athletes have gone on to coach at all levels. As a competitor, Mayabb competed at the University of Central Missouri, where he was a NCAA qualifier and the MIAA Conference Most Outstanding Wrestler. The two-time team captain was a U.S. Open finalist in 1990 and a four-time Olympic Trials qualifier (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992). He is a member of Central Missouri's Hall of Legends and Athletic Hall of Fame, as well as other Halls of Fame in Missouri. Mayabb has been a member of the Missouri Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Coaches Association, Collegiate Wrestling Officials Association, National Wrestling Officials Association and United States Wrestling Officials Association. He was also a collegiate official from 1985-2017, and during that time served as a Big Ten Conference official from 2006-17, and an NCAA Championships official from 2000-17. Mayabb graduated from Central Missouri with a degree in secondary education and he earned his master's degree in curriculum instruction with an emphasis in psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Mayabb and his wife, Dorothy, have three daughters - Katie (husband, Brent), Kelsey and Breeley and two granddaughters, Eloise and Remy.

2022 Junior Hodge Trophy winner Nick Feldman (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Friday morning, WIN Magazine announced that Malvern Prep senior Nick Feldman will be the recipient of the 2022 Junior Hodge Trophy. Feldman is currently ranked number one in the nation at 285 lbs and is the top recruit in the high school Class of 2023. Feldman is the face of a star-studded group of signees headed to Columbus to compete for Tom Ryan at Ohio State. Additionally, two other top-five recruits and five of the top 50 seniors will don the scarlet and gray. Two weeks ago, Feldman put on a show in Las Vegas to win a UWW U20 National title at 125 kg in freestyle. En route to his title, Feldman outscored the competition 44-1 over five matches. For the stop sign, Feldman only needed :53 seconds to dispatch Missouri-signee Ryan Boersma, also a top-100 recruit. Nick's title will give him the top seed heading into the Junior World Team Trials. During the high school season, Feldman was flawless, capturing titles at the Walsh Ironman, the Beast of the East and the Powerade Invitational. He wrapped up his career at Malvern Prep by claiming his second National Prep championship. Feldman ended his senior season with a 38-0 record and 20 falls along the way. Before the season, Feldman appeared at FloWrestling's Who's #1 event for the second consecutive year. This time he defeated Fargo 16U champion Christian Carroll in a battle of two of the best big men in their respective classes (Carroll is a junior). This is the second year in a row that a future Buckeye has been selected for the honor. Last year's recipient was Jesse Mendez, who will join Feldman in Columbus this fall. Additionally, two of their Ohio State coaches, Bo Jordan (2013) and J Jaggers (2004) also won the Junior Hodge.

Aaron Brooks and Myles Amine in the 2022 NCAA finals (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Since the Cael era started over ten years ago, Penn State has captured all but two NCAA team titles, collecting dozens of All-American honors along the way. Such consistent success year-in and year-out have afforded the Nittany Lions a certain aura - one that skirts invincibility. However, the Nittany Lions, like any dynasty, have shown signs of vulnerability during their tenure at the top. Penn Staters are not immune to taking a loss during conference weekend, but their collective ability to "show up" for the national tournament a couple weeks later is uncanny. As Bo Nickal said, "that's what we do." Every coach knows that a team title is built on the foundation of stellar individual performances. The more stellar performances, the better your chances are on that weekend in March. For Penn State, generational phenoms, the likes of David Taylor and Ed Ruth, Zain Retherford, Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf, have combined for dozens of dependable points at the national tournament. But even the mighty Nittany Lions have had to rely on points from unexpected places during their reign. In the shadow of every team trophy stands the heroics of individuals who rose to the occasion, prevailing over opponents they weren't supposed to. James English comes to mind, a sixth-year wrestler whose first-time All-American finish at 149lbs helped lift the 2014 Penn State team over Minnesota, 109.5 team points to 104. In recent years, these "heroics" have taken a particular form, characterized by the "flipping" of a result from the B1G tournament. For instance, take Vincenzo Joseph. En route to both of his NCAA titles (2017, 2018), Joseph suffered losses to his eventual NCAA finals opponent, Isaiah Martinez of Illinois, at the B1G tournament. Just this past season, we saw Aaron Brooks reverse the result of his B1G finals against Michigan's Myles Amine to win another NCAA title. These examples beg the question: just how often has Penn State been able to flip match results at the NCAA tournament in the Cael era? Further, when they flip the result, how do their tournaments play out? We'll answer these questions and more below, as we go through the thirteen times since 2011 a Nittany Lion avenged a prior, B1G tournament loss at NCAAs. Before we get into the individual examples, some overall observations: The thirteen instances involve eleven different Penn State wrestlers. The thirteen instances involve eleven different B1G opponents and seven different B1G institutions (Iowa [3], Minnesota [2], Wisconsin [2], Illinois [2], the Ohio State [2], Michigan State [1], and Michigan [1]). Penn State record @ B1G: 0-14. Penn State record @ NCAAs against the same opponent: 13-1. The thirteen instances involve twenty-eight total matches. Eight of the thirteen instances occurred after 2016. #1. Cameron Wade (285) vs. Tony Nelson (Minnesota), 2011 The earliest instance of a match-result flip came in 2011 when Penn State big man Cameron Wade avenged a conference tournament loss at the NCAA tournament. In the B1G semi-finals, Wade fell to future 2x NCAA champion Tony Nelson, 3-0. Nelson would finish as the conference runner-up, while Wade dropped to 5th-place. At NCAAs, Wade reversed the result, beating Nelson via a 4-1 decision to advance to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Wade would lose his next two bouts to fall a win shy of All-American honors. Nelson, on the other hand, rebounded to 7th-place. Penn State would go on to win its first NCAA team championship under Cael Sanderson. Interestingly enough, the Wade-Nelson flip is the only example of the thirteen in which the reversed match result did not translate into a better placement for the Penn State wrestler over their opponent at the national tournament. #2. Nico Megaludis (125) vs. Zach Sanders (Minnesota), 2012 In 2012, the lightweight class featured a loaded B1G field, characterized by a strong pack-leader in 2010 NCAA champion and returning runner-up Matt McDonough of Iowa, followed by a laundry list of savages from around the conference and country. In his first postseason for the Nittany Lions, Nico Megaludis advanced to the conference semifinal against Minnesota's Zach Sanders, an eventual 4x All-American. Sanders prevailed to the B1G finals 6-2, with Megaludis eventually placing 5th. At NCAAs, however, Megaludis defeated Sanders in a 7-4 quarterfinal bout, culminating in an NCAA finals appearance against eventual champion McDonough. Sanders bounced back for 3rd-place after defeating Frank Perrelli of Cornell in an absolute war. Penn State would win its second consecutive team title. Of note, both #1 and #2 on our list feature Penn State vs. Minnesota match-ups, with identical B1G results, i.e., 5th-place for the Penn State wrestler and runner-up for the Minnesota wrestler. #3. Matt Brown (174) vs. Mike Evans (Iowa), 2014 The aforementioned 2014 NCAA team title came down to the finals and, retrospectively, required every victory the Penn State lineup could muster. In addition to the heroics of James English were those of Matt Brown at 174lbs. In an era when virtually every B1G 174lber was separated by one or two points, Brown found himself having suffered two straight losses to Iowa's Mike Evans, first in the B1G semifinals (3-2) and later in the NCAA quarterfinals (5-4OT). Brown would rebound in the consolation, making his way to the 5th-place bout with another chance at Mike Evans. This time, it was Brown winning, 6-3. The #3 entry is the only case on our list in which a Penn State wrestler suffered losses to an opponent at both the B1G tournament and the NCAA tournament, before garnering the last laugh at NCAAs. #4. Jimmy Gulibon (133) vs. Bradley [Ryan] Taylor (Wisconsin), 2015 In 2015, the "you've got a plan?" season, Penn State fell to its lowest performance at NCAAs under Cael Sanderson (6th-place) when many of their hammers took redshirts. James "Jimmy G" Gulibon, meanwhile, was holding down team pride at 133lbs. A returning NCAA qualifier, Jimmy G advanced to the B1G semifinals against Wisconsin standout Bradley (Ryan) Taylor in a #2-vs-#3 seed match-up. Taylor, the 2-seed, defeated Gulibon 7-5 in sudden victory before falling in the B1G finals. Jimmy G would "semi-slide" to 6th-place. Fast forward to the NCAA quarterfinals and it was again a Gulibon-Taylor match-up, this time to All-American. This time, that match was settled in regulation, 9-4 Gulibon. Gulibon would eventually finish in fifth place, while Taylor was able to advance out of the bloodround to finish seventh. #5. Jordan Conaway (133) vs. Bradley [Ryan] Taylor (Wisconsin), 2016 The following year, it was returning All-American Jordan Conaway manning the 133lbs weight class for Penn State, while Jimmy G moved up to 141lbs. By the time the B1G tournament came around, Conaway was on a collision course with the aforementioned, fellow All-American Taylor of Wisconsin. Taylor defeated Conaway twice at conferences, earning a 10-5 decision in the quarterfinals and a 5-4 decision in the consolation finals. With two straight wins, Taylor may have felt like he had broken the spell from 2015. Surely he had separated himself from Penn State. Unfortunately for the Wisconsin Badger, Penn State magic would have its day. In the NCAA Round of 16, Conaway avenged his two conference losses to Taylor, 8-5, en route to a 6th-place All-American finish. Taylor would fall just short of another All-American honor in the round of 12. Penn State returned to form to win its fifth Sanderson-era team title. On a trivia note, Bradley Taylor is the only B1G opponent on the list to be the victim of two different Penn State wrestlers. #5 is also the only case in which a B1G opponent earned two wins at the conference tournament over a Penn State wrestler before losing against them at NCAAs. #6. Jimmy Gulibon (141) vs. Javier Gasca III (Michigan State), 2017 Two years after his first B1G-NCAA flip, Jimmy G entered the B1G tournament and suddenly found himself caught in the unexpected storm of California-native Javier Gasca III of Michigan State. Gasca surprised spectators with his run to the B1G finals, which included a fall over Jimmy Gulibon in the quarterfinals. Gulibon would slide to eighth place, with Gasca finishing as the conference runner-up. Gulibon, however, had the last laugh when he dominated Gasca in the opening round of NCAAs to the tune of an 18-3 technical fall. Gulibon would finish his final NCAA tournament in the round of 12, while Gasca bowed out with an 0-2 record. Jimmy Gulibon is the only Penn State wrestler on this list to have successfully flipped match results against two different B1G opponents (see #4 above). #7. Vincenzo Joseph (165) vs. Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), 2017 2017 was a strong year of downloads for Penn State, epitomized best, perhaps, by Vincenzo Joseph's postseason run. Squaring off against 2x NCAA champion and then-2x B1G champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois by way of California, Joseph represented himself with dignity in an 8-5 semifinal loss at the B1G tournament. Martinez would go on to win his third of an eventual four B1G titles, while Joseph won the consolation bracket for third place. At NCAAs, Joseph pushed himself into the finals to set up a rematch against IMAR. In a shocking turn of events, Joseph hit a now-infamous inside trip to pin Martinez and earn Joseph's first NCAA title. #8. Mark Hall (174) vs. Bo Jordan (Ohio State), 2017 The third instance of Penn State magic in 2017 came at 174lbs, involving two quality wrestlers in Mark Hall and Bo Jordan of the Ohio State. Advancing to the B1G finals, Hall and Jordan battled in sudden victory, with Jordan coming away with the 6-4 SV decision. Their next meeting was again a close affair, this time in the NCAA finals. In a match that may be most known, now, for the "no-call" takedown against Mark Hall, it was the Penn State wrestler prevailing in regulation, 5-2. #8 is the first of five instances on our list that is characterized by matchups in the B1G finals and NCAA finals, the most dramatic cases. Regarding the 2017 team performance, Vincenzo Joseph and Mark Hall were two of five individual national champions for Sanderson's Nittany Lions with the team earning its sixth NCAA team title. #9. Vincenzo Joseph (165) vs. Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), 2018 A year after staking his claim to the throne, Vincezo Joseph found himself pitted in a full-blown rivalry with Isaiah Martinez, setting the stage for Penn State lightning to strike twice. At the B1G tournament, IMAR seemed to take control of the series, defeating Cenzo 4-1 to join the exclusive 4x B1G champions club heading into IMAR's final NCAA tournament. Fortune, however, favored the Lion at NCAAs. In a complete reversal of their B1G final, 2x NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez lost to Vincenzo Joseph by a 4-1 decision, as Joseph captured a second NCAA title of his own. The Cenzo-IMAR matches (#7 and #9) are the only examples on our list that involve the same two wrestlers. Joseph is also the only Penn State wrestler not named Jimmy Gulibon to be featured twice on this list. Martinez ties Wisconsin's Bradley Taylor with two appearances. #10. Robbie Howard (125) vs. Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), 2021 The 2021 season featured three instances of a Penn State download, tying the 2017 mark. The first case involved two young contenders in the B1G - Robbie Howard and Malik Heinselman of tOSU. The two top-20 wrestlers met at B1Gs in the unassuming consolation semifinals, with the older Heinselman advancing, 5-2. Heinselman would finish in fourth place, while Howard settled for sixth place at the conference meet. Sure enough, the two would be lined up for the first round of the NCAAs. This time, it was Howard winning a 6-4 decision. When the tournament concluded, Robbie Howard finished in the top-16 while Heinselman finished a round behind in the round of 24. Although he was a couple wins away from All-American, could Penn State have found a 125lber at long last? #11. Nick Lee (141) vs. Jayden Eierman (Iowa), 2021 The 2021 NCAA finals featured two Penn State downloads, both of which came down to the wire. Although Iowa won the team race, Penn State got some consolation in defeating two Hawkeyes for individual titles. The first match-up was at 141lbs. Enter Nick Lee - a man hunting feverishly for his first NCAA title, wrestling a powerful style in his pursuit. He faced the funky Missouri-transfer Jayden Eierman in the B1G finals and lost a close 6-5 decision. Lee would get his rematch when it all counted, the NCAA finals. In a low-scoring, high-output affair, Lee chased down a game Eierman. His effort paid off in a thrilling sudden victory flurry that found Eierman driving in, standing tall with an underhook - right into a perfect inside-trip by Nick Lee. #12. Carter Starocci (174) vs. Michael Kemerer (Iowa), 2021 A similar story played out at the 174lbs class. Penn State's Carter Starocci previously fell to Iowa's Michael Kemerer in the B1G championship final by a definitive 7-2 score. So when they squared off in the NCAA finals, it was Starocci's opportunity to pull off the upset. In another high-action, but low-scoring bout, the two wrestlers went to sudden victory after trading escapes and flurries in regulation. When Kemerer hit a fake, Starocci bit on a reshot, built on the double-leg and finished a clean takedown to win his first NCAA title and to the elation of the Penn State crowd. #13. Aaron Brooks (184) vs. Myles Amine (Michigan), 2022 As you may have heard, Penn State won the 2022 NCAA team title this past season, again hitting the high mark of five individual NCAA champions. In InterMat's NCAA preview video, I picked the Olympian Myles Amine of Michigan to win the natty - knowing that he had a dangerous, defending NCAA champion in Aaron Brooks to look forward to, a man who he had just defeated in sudden victory for the B1G title. "It's like they use the B1Gs to download you," I recall saying. And sure enough, so it was. In the season's rubber match, Aaron Brooks prevailed in regulation, putting together a perfect match against Amine, scoring the first takedown, collecting riding time going into the third period, and earning a huge reversal to put himself too many points away from Amine. An escape and late takedown were not enough as Brooks won 5-3. I hope you enjoyed this Friday the 13th dive into the archives! Of course, it goes without saying that there are plenty of examples of Penn State wrestlers going 2-0 or 0-2 against opponents between B1G and NCAAs - this list simply focused on instances in which Penn State wrestlers were able to flip a match at the big dance. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that B1G foes should take their bouts against Penn State at the conference tournament with caution. Beware Penn State magic in March.