InterMat Staff

Northern Lebanon

Kiski Area

What has become a preseason staple for us at InterMat, counting down the top 50 wrestlers for the upcoming season, is back for 2023-24. With a large chunk of sixth and seventh-year seniors gone, there is plenty of turnover from last year’s list to this one. That makes for a lot of fun and perhaps some spirited debates. Like last year, the third iteration of this feature will show five wrestlers at a time, counting down from #50 to #1. For each wrestler, we’ll have some basic information along with career highlights, and a brief analysis of their career (with an emphasis on last season), followed by an outlook for the upcoming season. Here are #41-45 #46-50 40) Michael Caliendo (Iowa) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Weight: 165 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA 7th Place, 2023 Big 12 Third Place 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked A 14-2 redshirt campaign hinted at the type of impact that Michael Caliendo may have had during the 2022-23 season, but even so, he probably exceeded most expectations. Caliendo started the year with eight straight wins, a span that included three victories over past national qualifiers. Just over a week after losing to Shane Griffith in the Southern Scuffle finals, Caliendo turned the tables and knocked off the 2021 national champion in dual action. The Griffith win propelled Caliendo to a ten-match winning streak which led to the Big 12 semifinals. He would end up third in a bracket that included a pair of past national champions. At his first NCAA Tournament, Caliendo rebounded from a second-round loss to reel off three straight wins, which locked up All-American status. He finished the tournament with a win over Northern Illinois’ Izzak Olejnik in the seventh-place bout. 2023-24 Outlook: After an offseason full of changes within the North Dakota State program, Caliendo and fellow All-American Jared Franek transferred to Iowa. The Hawkeyes unexpectedly needed relief at those two weights and Caliendo should more than adequately fill in (plus he has three years of eligibility). Now in the Big Ten, Caliendo will get high-caliber opponents on the regular and may not fly under the radar like he may have at times last season. He has a familiar face in Franek but also has the option of selecting from a handful of high-quality training partners. That could mean even more jumps for Caliendo in year two as a starter. Caliendo starts the year ranked fifth at 165 lbs, but some growth could mean more of a stern challenge for the two former conference opponents atop the weight. 39) Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Weight: 141 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA 4th Place, 2023 ACC Third Place 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked After a greyshirt and a redshirt year, Lachlan McNeil was finally ready to hit the mat for UNC. McNeil had a slow start with a pair of losses in his first open tournament, but was extremely consistent for the remainder of the regular season. From November 20th until the beginning of February, McNeil won 15 of 16 matches, a span that included 12 straight wins. After taking third in a deep ACC weight class, McNeil was given the 10th seed at his first NCAA tournament. McNeil ended up outwrestling that seed by a wide margin after he finished in fourth place. The young Tar Heel made the quarterfinals after pulling a slight upset over EIWA champion Vince Cornella (Cornell) in the Round of 16; though it was his second win over Cornella. McNeil’s final two wins came over Big Ten All-American’s and the final one was at the expense of B1G runner-up Brock Hardy (Nebraska). 2023-24 Outlook: With 2023 NCAA champion Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) slated to take an Olympic redshirt, this weight class is pretty wide open. Alirez edged McNeil by two points in the NCAA quarterfinals. Once again, McNeil will have to contend with a loaded ACC bracket. Only two of his seven pre-NCAA losses came to opponents outside the conference. With the confidence gained by his NCAA run and more collegiate experience, will McNeil be able to flip some of those results? If so, he might be able to enjoy a less stringent NCAA path after receiving a higher seed. 38) Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Weight: 133 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2x NCAA All-American (6,7), 2021 ACC Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked The 2022-23 season marked the first appearance for Sam Latona at 133 lbs. He went from being one of the largest 125 lbers to being a huge 133 very quickly. Latona took some time to adjust on the mat, dropping a match in week one and then taking sixth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In his first January dual, Latona scored his biggest win of the year, knocking off Vito Arujau (Cornell), 3-2. After March, that win looked even more impressive as Arujau dominated his way through nationals. The two met again in Tulsa and Latona provided Arujau with his closest match. Also at the Big Show, Latona avenged losses to a pair of conference foes. He downed Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) in the bloodround before defeating Kai Orine (NC State) in the seventh-place bout. 2023-24 Outlook: Latona starts the year ranked fourth at a top-heavy 133 lb weight class. Arujau and perennial title contender Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) occupy the top two spots. Latona may have the opportunity to see one or both at the CKLV Invitational, plus Virginia Tech is slated to dual Cornell. Suffice it to say, he’ll have ample opportunity to compete for a top ranking at the weight. With a full year under his belt at 133 lbs, I’d guess Latona has similar results from 2022-23, aside from the early-season lumps. 37) Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Weight: 149 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA 5th Place, 2023 ACC Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked One of only three true freshmen to earn All-American honors in 2023, Caleb Henson made his mark at a weight class that was filled with veterans. In his first collegiate dual, Henson was not phased and upset past national finalist Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) in sudden victory. Henson only lost three times during the regular season; however, he managed to reverse two of those outcomes at nationals in Tulsa. Seeded fourth, Henson was a second-round upset victim, yet he rebounded to win his next four bouts to claim a spot on the podium. Along the way, he downed Doug Zapf (Penn) and Brock Mauller (Missouri), both veterans who defeated him in the regular season. To reserve a spot in the top eight, Henson had to defeat 2021 NCAA third-place finisher Yahya Thomas (Northwestern). 2023-24 Outlook: So we’ve established that even a loss or two won’t rattle Henson. Coming off an All-American showing and ranked fourth in the nation, we’ll see how Henson responds to being a favorite rather than a freshman with nothing to lose. 149 lbs is perhaps the most wide-open weight class this year following collegiate legend Yianni Diakomihalis wrapping up his career in 2023. That bodes well for Henson as many coaches have said that the biggest strides a collegiate wrestler takes is between years one and two. 36) Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) Weight: 157 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2x All-American (4th, 6th), 3x Pac-12 Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #40 Around this time last year, we expected two-time All-American Jacori Teemer to be one of the title contenders at a 157 lb weight class that was without both finalists from 2022. That never materialized as Teemer suffered a season-ending injury before he ever wrestled an official match. Teemer heading into this year hungry and sporting a 52-11 career mark that includes All-American finishes each time he’s wrestled in a national tournament. In his most recent NCAA tournament, Teemer defeated Jared Franek (North Dakota State/Iowa) to make the semifinals. 2023-24 Outlook: You have to go back a few years now but Teemer has wins over several of the top contenders at this weight. Without two-time champion Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) around, it seems rather wide-open. If Teemer is back to his pre-injury form, there’s no reason why he couldn’t win this weight. Despite some notable losses, with Teemer back and contending, he could be a huge reason why Arizona State is back in the NCAA trophy discussion.

On preseason episode two of "Big 12 Breakdown," James Hackney looks at his second tier of teams in the conference; Individual Title Contenders. He'll focus on teams with superstars that could end up challenging for national titles: Air Force, Northern Colorado, and Northern Iowa. Here's the full article outlining the different tiers. For the full episode Click Here For part one Click Here

Woodward Academy

Nazareth

Central Cabarrus

Fountain Valley

Belmont Hill

St. Francis DeSales

Drew Gorman photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Earlier this summer, on his show “The First World” InterMat’s and MatScouts aficionado Willie Saylor mentioned how recruiting commitments from the Class of 2025 seemed to be slower than normal. That was the case at the time, but within the last couple of weeks, commitments from current high school juniors have really picked up. It makes sense many have taken multiple official visits by this point or maybe just the one that resonated with them. The recent run on verbals from the Class of 2025 started Friday evening as New Jersey state champion Alessio Perentin (Delbarton, NJ) committed to Cornell. Over the weekend another prominent domino fell as #51 Drew Gorman (Buford, GA) committed to Virginia Tech. Gorman is a three-time Fargo All-American, taking third in 2022 in Junior freestyle, and an NHSCA Sophomore national champion earlier this year. Gorman likely projects as a 141 lber for the Hokies. Virginia Tech has a pair of true freshmen that could vie for the starting role in 2023-24 (Mac Church/Hunter Mason), though they could shift weights following this year. Gorman isn’t the only wrestler in the Class of 2025 who has recently committed to the Hokies. New Jersey state third-place finisher, Ryan Burton (St. Joseph’s Regional, NJ) got the recent run started after a huge recruiting weekend for the Hokies two weeks ago. Yesterday, Missouri got into the act as they kept one of the top juniors in the state at home. Peyton Westpfahl (Liberty, MO) is a three-time Fargo All-American himself, as he was seventh in Junior freestyle this summer. He was fifth and seventh in the 16U division in the two previous years. In his first two years of high school, Westpfahl was a state finalist and a fifth-place finisher. This summer, Westpfahl competed at 182 lbs in Fargo, so he’s projected at 184/197 lbs for the Tigers. Missouri has some young talent at 184, but could use help at 197 as three-time All-American Rocky Elam will be out of eligibility after the 2024-25 season. Perentin wasn’t the only junior upperweight from New Jersey to commit to the Big Red over the last few days either. He’ll be joined by Rocco Dellagatta (St. Joseph’s Regional, NJ) who was a fourth-place finisher at 175 lbs last season. Dellagatta had a huge weight jump in the offseason, but it didn’t hamper his production. He was third at 110 kg in UWW Cadet freestyle and fourth in Junior freestyle in Fargo (285 lbs). Pittsburgh also got into the act with a pair of notable commitments. Two-time New Jersey state placewinner, Carson Walsh (Pope John XXIII, NJ) is currently ranked #94 in the Class of 2025. He finished third at the Beast of the East last year and is a Fargo 16U All-American in freestyle. Walsh will be joined in the Class of 2025 by local product, Bode Marlow (Thomas Jefferson, PA). Marlow did not place at the Pennsylvania AAA tournament last year, but he did take eighth place in UWW Cadet freestyle competing at 71 kg. At one point this summer, Marlow was on MatScouts Big Board. Walsh projects at 141 lbs, while Marlow could be up at 165. Not traditionally known as a recruiting power, Brown University received its fourth verbal commitment from the Class of 2025. The latest addition to Brown’s recruiting class was Braedon Welsh (Fort Cherry, PA). Welsh was a fourth-place finisher in Pennsylvania’s AA class at 172 lbs during the 2023-24 season. To date, Welsh’s best national-level credential is a fifth-place finish at NHSCA Freshman Nationals in 2022. Head coach Jordan Leen and his staff have put together a 2025 class that features two Big Boarder’s and a third wrestler that was on a previous Big Board. The rest of the Ivy League has been put on notice! For all of the recruiting information on InterMat, check out our College Commitment page.

Wilton

Miamisburg

St. John's Jesuit

Fort Cherry

Central Dauphin

St. Michael-Albertville

Marshall

Pope John XXIII

Gloucester City

We are a few weeks away from the first whistle blowing and the 2024 NCAA season officially begins. Which means it’s another season of Fantasy College Wrestling! If you’re reading this article, then you have at least an inkling of curiosity about what this crazy game is all about. It’s pretty simple really, just like all the other fantasy sports you probably play (like baseball, basketball, and football). While the season gameplay can have its moments of frustration, the framework of Fantasy College Wrestling is just like your run-of-the-mill Fantasy dashboard that any of the major sites offer. And we have WrestleStat to thank for it. In the past, you and your friends would do a manual draft, set up your teams, and agree on a set number of rules. Then, either all team managers or one individual would tally the points for each team each week. For 18ish weeks straight. Plus Conferences. Then the national tournament. It is a royal pain in the ass, and I know (I have been doing it since 2014). Since about 2018, though, the guys at WrestleStat have created a full-fledged click-and-set style fantasy wrestling platform that plays just like ESPN, Yahoo, or whatever other site you use for fantasy football. Complete with a snake draft, projections, trade, and add/drop capabilities. And if you are new to fantasy sports and looking for something to make each match and dual that more exciting? Well, you’re in the right place. For the noobs, fantasy sports is a game where you assemble a team of real-life athletes and compete against other teams based on how those athletes perform in real life. Based on the rules of your league, the wrestlers on your team will earn positive points or negative points based on the actual outcomes of their play. At the end of the week, every athlete in your starting lineup will have their points totaled and whichever team has the most, wins that week. In Fantasy College Wrestling, there are two types of leagues you can create or join that can range from five to fourteen teams: Head-to-Head and Total Point leagues. More on that later. If you don't want to read the whole article and want the boiled-down version, here you go (thanks for the clicks anyway) Leagues can be made up of 5 to 14 members Competition type: Head-to-Head or Total Point scoring Rosters are 16 wrestlers (10 starters, 2 flex, 4 bench) Scoring weeks run Monday to Sunday Win by Decision, +3, lose by Dec -3 per match. Same scoring for Maj, Tech, Pin, DQ, Inj, etc. Add and Drop wrestlers just like you do in Fantasy Football (no waiver wire, it’s first come, first served) Wrestlers will LOCK at 12pm on the day of their team’s first competition for the week Expanded Rule Explanation: Set-Up One member of your league will have to be designated as the “League Manager” or “Commissioner.” This individual will be responsible for setting up the league through WrestleStat and creating the basic settings: how many teams are in the league, how many points are worth each result (they default to the Standard Scoring amounts to start), the number of add/drops per week, and most importantly the draft day and time. In the past, WrestleStat had two tiers of user Entry costs: Single League Play at $4.00 per season and Unlimited League Plays at $10.00 per season. This year, it’s one set price of $6.00 for Unlimited League Plays. Clear and simple. This individual may also be responsible for league requirements outside the jurisdiction of WrestleStat, such as: league fees, documentation of rosters for postseason carry-over, etc. WrestleStat does not collect nor disperse your group’s dues, fees, winnings, etc. HOWEVER, new to this season, the Commissioner can pay for the entire league (regardless of size) at $28.00 instead of individual signups. Pretty sweet as FCW Team Managers have been asking for something like this for a while. The Draft and Rosters WrestleStat’s Fantasy College Wrestling draft is a fully interactive snake draft experience that takes as much time (or less) as your typical Fantasy Football draft. Each League Manager can set the number of teams, but the standard league is 10. Should a league not fill all the team spots by draft time, the open slots will be filled by “Simulated Teams,” who will draft on Auto for the next best available wrestler. With WrestleStat’s comparison algorithm, they are able to have draft data like number of duals and tournaments for the year and projected points for the season. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: If you sign up now, you can try your hand at some “Mock Drafts.” So if you want to do some trial runs, see how the process works, or even get some friends excited for the upcoming season, so give it a try! The typical league team consists of 16 wrestlers: 10 starters (one per weight class), two Floaters (any weight class) and four bench spots. The League Manager also has the ability to increase the number of bench wrestlers per team for the league. The 10 starters will only score points if they wrestle at the designated weight class. For example, if a wrestler is in the 125 roster spot (say Matt Ramos) and wrestles up at 133 for a dual meet. That result would NOT count. However, the wrestlers in the two Floater spots can wrestle at any weight class and have the result count. For example, a 125 wrestler (say Matt Ramos) wrestles at 133 and is in one of the Floater spots. That result WILL count. The bench spots will not score points. Scoring The Default Scoring in WrestleStat’s Fantasy College Wrestling leagues had the following parameters: 1) Standard Dual Scoring was used for all competitions (Dual and Tournaments). Meaning, that a win by decision was +3 and a loss by decision was -3, etc., etc. A win/loss by Fall, FFT, INJ, or DQ was +6/-6. No advancement or placement points are counted. MFF and Byes are zero points (though this can be changed by the League Manager) 2) Only matches against D1 competition counted for your wrestler’s weekly Fantasy point total. Any match against un-rostered, DII, DIII, etc. wrestlers would not count for or against your wrestler’s weekly point total 3) Wrestlers on Olympic Redshirt or grayshirting would not be eligible to accrue Fantasy points 4) Regular redshirts ARE eligible for accruing Fantasy points Add/Drop Each Scoring Week runs from Monday to Sunday. A wrestler will “lock” for the Scoring Week at 12pm EST on his team’s first competition. This means any add/drops or changing Starters/Floaters would have to be completed before 12pm EST. Limitation on add/drops per week can be set by the League Manager. For instance, my average amount of add/drops between my three leagues was 89 transactions in 2022. Competition There are two styles of gameplay: Head-to-Head and Total Point leagues. For Head-to-Head leagues, each week your team would compete head-to-head against another member of your league. Total accumulated points vs total accumulated points and the team with the higher total wins the week. Standings go by overall record, with the tiebreaker being total aggregate points. Very much like a traditional fantasy sports league. The regular season lasts about 15 or 16 weeks, with the top four teams competing for the championship in the final two weeks of the NCAA season (much like the National College Football Championship). The middle four teams (#5-8 in the standing) would compete in the “Best-of-the-Rest Tournament.” for bragging rights. For Total Point leagues, each week your team is competing against all other teams in the league to get the highest score. Each week, your score is added to your current running total to shape the standings. At the end of the season, whoever has the most points scored WINS. WrestleStat leagues do not carry over into the postseason (Conferences and NCAAs)... yet. And that, my Fantasy College Wrestling friends, is the boiled-down ruleset that you need to know. If you want to read the full rules, (and you SHOULD ALWAYS READ THE RULES) you can view them HERE. If you participated last year, I hope you sign up again. If you didn’t participate, I highly encourage you to do so. Everyone always talks about growing the sport of wrestling; what better way to do so than to make it a competition between friends. Now instead of following just Penn State, Iowa, or your local team, you become interested in how 141 Cael Happel (UNI) does against Joey Zargo (Wisconsin), or that your week’s success hinges on the hail mary pickup of South Dakota State’s Tanner Cook to win that tournament. Like making pasta, you have to fold the flour in gently, not all at once. Fold your friends into the sport, and get them to have a vested interest in duals and tournaments. In other words, get them involved in Fantasy College Wrestling. I truly believe Fantasy College Wrestling has an opportunity to not only add another dimension to the fans we have, but an excellent opportunity to gain new fans. It’s cheap and fun (and frustrating) exposure. Next up, Tony Two-Cents on Tips & Tricks to win your #FCW24 League…

Thomas Jefferson

St. Joseph's Regional

Liberty

What has become a preseason staple for us at InterMat, counting down the top 50 wrestlers for the upcoming season, is back for 2023-24. With a large chunk of sixth and seventh-year seniors gone, there is plenty of turnover from last year’s list to this one. That makes for a lot of fun and perhaps some spirited debates. Like last year, the third iteration of this feature will show five wrestlers at a time, counting down from #50 to #1. For each wrestler, we’ll have some basic information along with career highlights, and a brief analysis of their career (with an emphasis on last season), followed by an outlook for the upcoming season. Here are #46-50 45) Brock Mauller (Missouri) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Weight: 149 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 3x NCAA All-American (7th, 5th, 6th), 3x MAC Champion, 2023 Big 12 Runner-Up 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #35 A stalwart for the Missouri Tigers since the 2018-19 season, Mauller is one of the few wrestlers who has earned a spot in the top-50 in each of the last three years. Mauller has earned All-American honors in each of the four years he’s taken the mat for Mizzou, three times from the NCAA and once from the NWCA (2020). During the 2022-23 campaign, Mauller suffered a loss in mid-November, but did not lose for the remainder of the regular season. His final match before the postseason saw him prevail by fall in tiebreakers over freshman sensation Paniro Johnson (Iowa State). Johnson would later return the favor in the Big 12 finals. That led to the sixth seed at nationals, which happened to be Mauller’s lowest seed in his four times qualifying for nationals (3, 4x2, 6). 2023-24 Outlook: Mauller starts the year ranked fifth in a wide-open 149 lb weight class. He’s currently the highest-ranked wrestler in the Big 12 at the weight and sits directly behind Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech), an opponent whom he split with in 2022-23. In four years of collegiate competition, Mauller has already amassed a 103-12 record, with five losses as a true freshman, accounting for the most defeats in one year. What we’re saying is Mauller is incredibly consistent and should be a contender at this weight class. There are some rumblings about a possible weight shift for the Tigers, which could involve Mauller; however, we’ll see how that develops (or if it does). 44) Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com Weight: 125 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champ 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked We’ve already had a true freshman, so how about a wrestler who didn’t start for his team in the 2023 postseason? That’s not fair to Richie Figueroa, as he sat behind a multiple-time All-American and notched some excellent wins of his own. Of Figueroa’s 14 wins last year, nine came against past/future NCAA qualifiers. At the CKLV Invitational, Figueroa topped the eventual NCAA runner-up, Matt Ramos (Purdue), in the title match. Before that, Figueroa outlasted NCAA Round of 12 finisher Brett Ungar (Cornell) in tiebreakers. In his last match before Vegas, Figueroa downed Noah Surtin a regular All-American threat for Missouri. Figueroa finished the 2022-23 season with a perfect 14-0 record. 2023-24 Outlook: With a head-to-head win over Ramos, you could make the argument that Figueroa deserves the preseason number one ranking at 125 lbs. For now, he’ll settle for third behind Ramos and Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), yet ahead of a handful of past AA’s who we’re quite as consistent during the 2022-23 season. Right away, Figueroa will be able to move up the rankings as he is slated to meet Noto at the WrangleMania Duals (November 11th). Figueroa came into Tempe as one of the top pound-for-pound recruits in the Class of 2021 and has done nothing to hamper that label. Expect Figueroa to be a key factor if not the national champion at 125 lbs, when the smoke clears Saturday night in Kansas City. 43) Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com Weight: 141 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2022 NCAA 5th Place, 2x ACC Champion 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #24 The 2021-22 campaign was a breakout year for Cole Matthews who finished fifth in the nation after going 1-2 at nationals the previous year. Matthews’ NCAA finish led to a preseason #1 ranking from InterMat. Despite an early-season, unofficial loss at the All-Star Classic, Matthews carried an undefeated record into the new year as he claimed the title at the Midlands. Matthews was upset in his first dual of 2023; however, he rebounded and navigated through a tough ACC dual schedule and conference tournament to claim his second title. That gave him the #3 seed in Tulsa. At Nationals, Matthews advanced to the quarterfinals, but fell short of the NCAA podium after back-to-back losses in tiebreakers. All-in-all, still a very strong year with a 21-3 record and a win over an eventual All-American. 2023-24 Outlook: Matthews starts the year ranked seventh in a really deep 141 lb weight class that looks to be up-for-grabs with 2023 champion Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) slated to take a redshirt. Matthews owns a career win over Alirez’s NCAA finals opponent, Real Woods (Iowa), and #3 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina). If I had to guess, I’d expect a lot of movement between the top-ten or 12 at this weight. Matthews has shown he can compete with and beat some of the best in the nation; he just needs to do it in March, in back-to-back matches. Matthews is very sound defensively and comfortable in close matches, which are both great traits to have. In order to have a high NCAA finish, he’ll probably need to expand his offensive, a bit. 42) Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com Weight: 141 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2023 NCAA 6th Place, 2023 Big Ten 6th Place 2022 Top-50 Ranking: Not Ranked One of the cornerstones of Ohio State’s top-ranked recruiting class of 2022, Jesse Mendez immediately stepped into the Buckeye lineup and made an impact. In his first tournament, Mendez knocked off two-time All-American Lucas Byrd (Illinois) on his way to a Michigan State Open title. Mendez missed about a month of action, but jumped back into the lineup and won his first five Big Ten duals, the last of which came over a past All-American Rayvon Foley (Michigan State). As has been known to happen to freshmen in the Big Ten, Mendez took some lumps at the conference tournament and finished sixth, losing to a pair of wrestlers he defeated earlier in the year. He showed maturity in Tulsa and bounced back to match that same Big Ten finish, by taking sixth at NCAA’s. In Mendez’s final three wins of the season (one of which clinched All-American honors), he would prevail in tiebreakers. Over the summer, Mendez made an age-group world team for the third time when he locked up a spot on the U20 freestyle world team. Unlike previous trips, this one ended with some hardware as Mendez claimed a silver medal at 65 kg. 2023-24 Outlook: Since Mendez was in action at 65 kg (143 lbs), you can see his days at 133 lbs in the rearview mirror, as Mendez is expected to move up to 141 for the 2023-24 campaign. Mendez does have a redshirt available, so don’t rule that possibility out. As we stated earlier, with Cole Matthews, 141 is very deep and has plenty of potential contenders. With a full offseason in Columbus under his belt and any added confidence from his international exploits, I’d expect an even better version of Mendez and one that’s ready to challenge for a chip. Right now, Mendez doesn’t have any collegiate history versus any of the other top contenders, but that should change come December. After the CKLV Invitational, the best regular season tournament in the country, he’ll have potential duals with Matthews, #9 Ryan Jack (NC State) and #11 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa), within ten days. 41) Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) Weight: 157 lbs Collegiate Achievements: 2x NCAA All-American (7th, 3rd), 4x ACC Runner-Up 2022 Top-50 Ranking: #41 We did not plan it this way, but Bryce Andonian comes in at the exact same ranking as last year, #41. Andonian got his 2022-23 season off to a late start when he first saw action at the Purple Raider Open in mid-January. In his first dual action, Andonian put together an impressive major decision against eventual All-American Ed Scott, which was very important in Virginia Tech’s two-point win over rival NC State. Though Andonian’s total match count was down, due to his early season injury, he did manage to post a career-best in bonus-point percentage. The always-entertaining Andonian notched four falls during his 12 wins. Injuries have slowed Andonian down a bit during his career, as he only holds a 53-18 record into his final season with the Hokies. 2023-24 Outlook: The 157 lb weight class is loaded with potential title threats and Andonian is surely one of them. He will not be phased by the bright lights and big stakes that go along with wrestling in the NCAA quarterfinals or semis. In fact, he might prefer them. While Andonian starts the year ranked sixth, he does have multiple wins over Scott (#5) and was dangerously close to knocking off top-ranked Levi Haines (Penn State) in the quarterfinals. If you want to infuriate a Hokie fan, bring up that match. Andonian nearly had Haines pinned early in the contest, only to get pinned himself late in the third. The lesson is that Andonian is one of the most unique and dangerous wrestlers in the country. Regardless of score or position on the mat, he’s capable of ending a match in mere seconds.