InterMat Staff

2021 CKLV champion Patrick Glory (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Below is a recap of last week's EIWA action, with individual highlights worth noting. Notable News Jason Borrelli earned his first victory as Head Coach of American over Duke. Yianni Diakomihalis solidified his #1 ranking at his new weight class by winning the CKLV at 149lbs. Pat Glory of Princeton had a "GLORY-ous" weekend as he was the 125lb CKLV Champion. Yaraslau Slavikouski earned 2nd place at 285lb after an injury default in the finals of the Cliff Keen Invite. Anthony Artalona made his season debut for the Penn Quakers at 149lb. Matt Cover (of Princeton/NJRTC) won a Junior Pan Am Gold at 125kg. American The Eagles hosted Rutgers (#12) on Friday night. The Eagles then took on both Duke and Hofstra on Sunday. Jack Maida earned three wins on the weekend at 133lbs., with two bonus-point wins. At 125, Max Leete and Andy Fallon each earned a victory on Sunday. Isaac Righter sealed the deal for the team with his 5-2 win over Duke. Boxscores 125 - #23 Dylan Shawver (RU) dec. Andy Fallon (AU), 5-4 (RU 3-0) 133 - Jack Maida (AU) dec. Devon Britton (RU), 6-2 (Tied, 3-3) 141 - #4 Sebastian Rivera (RU) tech. fall Ethan Szerencsits (AU), 20-3 (RU 8-3) 149 - #25 Michael VanBrill (RU) pinned Patrick Ryan (AU), 4:35 (RU 14-3) 157 - Robert Kanniard (RU) tech. fall Antonio Segura (AU), 17-2 (RU 19-3) 165 - Andrew Clark (RU) dec. Tim Fitzpatrick (AU), 4-3 (RU 22-3) 174 - Connor O'Neill (RU) dec. Colin Shannon (AU), 10-7 (RU 25-3) 184 - #5 John Poznanski (RU) tech. fall Mervin Mancia (AU), 19-4 (RU 30-3) 197 - #13 Greg Bulsak (RU) tech. fall Carsten Rawls (AU), 16-0 (RU 35-3) 285 - #24 Boone McDermott (RU) wins by DQ of Isaac Righter (AU), 10-2 (RU 41-3) 125 - Andy Fallon (AU) dec. Logan Agin (Duke), 3-2 (AU 3-0) 133 - Jack Maida (AU) major dec. Drake Doolittle (Duke), 9-0 (AU 7-0) 141 - Ethan Szerencsits (AU) dec. Patrick Rowland (Duke), 7-4 (AU 10-0) 149 - #11 Josh Finesilver (Duke) major dec. Patrick Ryan (AU), 9-1 (AU 10-4) 157 - Wade Unger (Duke) major dec. Cole Painter (AU), 10-2 (AU 10-8) 165 - Breon Phifer (AU) wins by forfeit (AU 16-8) 174 - #7 Matt Finesilver (Duke) major dec. Colin Shannon (AU), 10-0 (AU 16-12) 184 - Tim Fitzpatrick (AU) dec. Vincent Baker (Duke), 6-3 (AU 19-12) 197 - Kaden Russell (Duke) pinned Will Jarrell (AU), 2:17 (AU 19-18) 285 - Isaac Righter (AU) dec. Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke), 5-3 (AU wins 22-18) 184 - #26 Charles Small (Hofstra) major dec. Ben Root (AU), 13-4 (Hofstra 4-0) 197 - #28 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) pinned Carsten Rawls (AU), 5:39 (Hofstra 10-0) 285 - #20 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec. Isaac Righter (AU), 5-2 (Hofstra 13-0) 125 - Max Leete (AU) dec. Jacob Moon (Hofstra), 4-1 (Hofstra 13-3) 133 - Jack Maida (AU) pinned Ty Cymmerman (Hofstra), 1:54 (Hofstra 13-9) 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) dec. Ethan Szerencsits (AU), 10-4 (Hofstra 16-9) 149 - Patrick Ryan (AU) major dec. Michael Leandrou (Hofstra), 10-2 (Hofstra 16-13) 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) dec. Antonio Segura (AU), 7-2 (Hofstra 19-13) 165 - Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec. Tim Fitzpatrick (AU), 2-1 TB2 (Hofstra 22-13) 174 - Ross McFarland (Hofstra) tech. fall Colin Shannon (AU), 18-3 (Hofstra 27-13) There was a bit of a sign of relief this weekend in D.C. - as Coach Borrelli earned his first win of the year, and his first as the head coach of American University. It looks like Jack Maida is coming into form with a 3-0 record this weekend. I am certain this team is going to keep improving. For what it's worth, American beat the same Duke team that defeated Drexel just a day prior. Army - no action last week Binghamton The Bearcats went to Las Vegas and wrestled at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Anthony Sobotker (#33 - 133) lost in the first round and wrestled back for a 7th place finish. He had two pins on the backside, with a win over Ramos (#24) of Purdue in his final match. At 197, Lou Deprez (#12) finished in 7th place also. Deprez came in as the 5th seed, losing in the quarters to Schultz (#10) of Nebraska. In the blood round, he earned a major over Koser (#19) of Navy. Lou's only losses came to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Joe Doyle walked away with 8th place at 285lb. He lost to top seed Orndorff (#6) of Ohio State in the quarters. He won his blood round match, then medically forfeited to 8th place. The Bearcats had a nice weekend in Las Vegas, although they may feel differently. Sobotker outperformed his 10th seed. Cassella at 165 had a tough draw but dropped two close matches. I do think this team is still very talented. They will be improving as the season progresses, so expect the momentum of three placers to continue into the Collegiate Duals and into the second semester. Brown The Bears traveled to Edwardsville, IL, to compete in the Cougar Clash. They placed 3rd overall, out of 6 teams. At 149lb, Blake Saito earned the gold medal after defeating Ricky Cabanillas in the finals by a 7-3 decision. At 141, Timothy Levine wrestled teammate Sam McMonagle in the finals and won 3-0. Justin Bierdumpfel went down with an injury default during his first match at 141lb. Jack Bokina competed for a silver medal at 157lb. He dropped his last match to Model of Wisconsin. At heavyweight, Lear Quinton earned a 4th place finish. The Bears had a few other place-finishers on the day, outside the top 4. Brown is one of the few teams who has not seen much (if any) EIWA action. It is hard to see where they rank in the conference. This week, they have a dual with Hofstra. This will help us determine where they land in the EIWA conference. Let's hope that Bierdumpfel's injury is not serious and will be back soon. Bucknell The Bison hosted Michigan State Friday night. Kolby DePron had the upset of the night for the Bison at 149lb when he defeated Omania (#33) in an exciting 28-point match. At 174, Jaden Fisher won by major decision. The Bison's final win was at heavyweight, where Luke Niemeyer won 11-5. Boxscores: Michigan State 23 - Bucknell 10 125: Julian Saldana (MSU) dec. over Brandon Seidman (BU) 4-2 (TB-2) 133: #10 Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. over Kurt Phipps (BU) 7-0 141: Matt Santos (MSU) dec. over Chris Lanciano (BU) 9-2 149: Kolby DePron (BU) dec. over #33 Peyton Omania (MSU) 16-12 157: #22 Chase Saldate (MSU) maj. dec. over Nick Delp (BU) 11-1 165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. over #8 Zach Hartman (BU) 9-5 174: Jaden Fisher (BU) maj. dec. over Nathan Jimenez (MSU) 13-4 184: #27 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. over Logan Deacetis (BU) 9-6 197: #20 Cam Caffey (MSU) maj. dec. over Mason McCready (BU) 12-3 285: Luke Niemeyer (BU) dec. over Brad Wilton (MSU) 11-5 The Bison wrestled their Big Ten foe pretty tough. If the shocking upset of Hartman does not happen, and the 125lb match goes the other way, this is a very tight match. Bucknell seems to be right there with a solid team like Michigan State. Plus, their normal starter at 141lb was not in the lineup. I am excited to see the Bison compete again soon, as I think they have talent in their lineup. Columbia The Lions were at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. They walked away with one place winner. Josh Ogunsanya was the lone placer for Columbia. He earned 7th place. His most impressive win was a technical fall over Cook (#18) of South Dakota State. His only two losses over the weekend were to Ramirez (#17) of Cornell and Griffith (#4) of Stanford. He jumped up seven spots in the rankings to #10. Unfortunately, Joe Manchio (#17 - 125) was forced to medically forfeit after a quarterfinal loss to Medley (#16) of Michigan. Kyle Mosher went 2-2 at 157lb, including a pin over Hepner (#25) of Ohio State. He winds up in this week's rankings as #33. The Lions finished in 20th place at the Cliff Keen. This is not their best performance, and I'm sure the coaching staff would agree with me. Obviously, an injury to Manchio prevented them from scoring more points. Ogunsanya is starting to become a force in the rankings after his outstanding performance. I am not worried, as this team will be much better second semester once they have some ranked veteran starters return to the lineup. Cornell (#11) The Big Red traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the CKLV Invitational. Yianni Diakomihalis (#1 - 149) defeated returning NCAA runner-up Sasso (#2) of Ohio State in the finals to capture 1st place. He had a close overtime victory over Lovett (#10) of Nebraska. At 174, Chris Foca (#11) took home a bronze finish. He beat DeVos (#12) of South Dakota State and Hastings (#14) of Wyoming in the consolations. Jonathan Loew (#15) also earned 3rd place at 184lb. Some ranked wins include Lyon (#20) of Purdue, Roberts (#18) of Oklahoma, and Samuelson (#17) of Wyoming. At 165, Julian Ramirez (#10) had a strong run, concluding with a 4th place finish. He lost to Kharchla (#8) of Ohio State, twice. But he had wins over Ogunsanya (#25) of Columbia and Amine (#11) of Michigan. We saw Jacob Cardenas (#19) at 197. He had two tough losses to Woodley (#11) of Oklahoma and Penola (#10) of Purdue, who finished 4th and 3rd, respectively. The Big Red finished in 7th place as a team at the CKLV. This was without Vito at 125/133. One would assume he would have been good for placement points at a minimum, which could have shot Cornell up into the top 5 team standings. Regardless, we have not seen much of this Cornell squad yet. Many people believe Vito is on his way back down to 125lb. We are not sure who their main guy will be at 197lb either. I believe we see their best lineup in Florida for the National Duals in two weeks. Drexel The Dragons were on the road Saturday. They had duals with Maryland and Duke. Evan Barczak (#33 - 165) was the only Dragon to go 2-0 on the day. He beat Best of Maryland to knock him out of the rankings, which gave Evan the 33rd spot. Parker Kropman (157), Jared Donohue (141), Antonio Mininno (125), Mickey O'Malley (174), and Bryan McLaughlin (184) all went 1-1 on the day. Boxscores: 125: Logan Agin fall (0:33) Antonio Mininno, 6-0 Duke 133: Deon Pleasant fall (2:30) Drake Doolittle, Tied 6-6 141: Jared Donahue major dec. (11-0) Patrick Rowland, 10-6 Drexel 149: Josh Finesilver major dec. (13-5) Tyler Williams, Tied 10-10 157: Wade Unger dec. (6-4) Parker Kropman, 13-10 Duke 165: Evan Barczak dec. (13-4) Brandon LaRue, 14-13 Drexel 174: Matt Finesilver dec. (6-2) Mickey O'Malley, 16-14 Duke 184: Bryan McLaughlin fall (2:30) Luke Chakonis, 20-16 Drexel 197: Kaden Russell dec. (7-1) Santino Morina, 20-19 Drexel 285: Jonah Niesenbaum fall (4:51) Liam Dietrich, 25-20 Duke 125: Antonio Mininno dec. (10-2) Zach Spence, 4-0 Drexel 133: King Sandoval fall (2:00) Deon Pleasant, 6-4 Maryland 141: Danny Bertoni dec. (6-0) Jared Donahue, 9-4 Maryland 149: Tyler Williams dec. (7-2) Michael North, 9-7 Maryland 157: Parker Kropman SV (14-12) Lucas Cordio, 10-9 Drexel 165: Evan Barczak dec. (7-6) No. 31 John Martin Best, 13-9 Drexel 174: Mickey O'Malley fall (4:51) Dom Solis, 19-9 Drexel 184: Kyle Cochran dec (8-5) Bryan McLaughlin, 19-12 Drexel 197: Jaron Smith tech fall (17-2, 7:00) Santino Morina, 19-17 Drexel 285: No.33 Zach Schrader major dec. (17-5) Eli Anthony, 21-19 Maryland I know that the Dragons are a little banged up with injuries. It is part of the sport, so some of their latest results may be surprising to the Drexel faithful. Backups at 133, 149, and 197 have been competing tough in their starts. I still firmly believe this team will find its way come March. They have five returning NCAA Qualifiers and can undoubtedly achieve this again, if healthy. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats hosted both VMI and Long Island on Sunday. They won both matchups, bringing their dual record to 3-0 on the year. F&M had five wrestlers go 2-0 on the day. Pat Phillips, (133), Wil Gil (141), Christiaan Dailey (149), Noah Fox (174), and Cenzo Pelusi (285) all had perfect records for the day. Boxscores: Franklin & Marshall 24, VMI 12 125: Sam Congleton (VMI) WBF Eli Wallace (F&M); 2:23 (0-6) 133: Pat Phillips (F&M) dec. Michael Tandurella (VMI); 5-2 (3-6) 141: Wil Gil (F&M) dec. Frederick Junko (VMI); 7-3 (6-6) 149: Cristiaan Dailey (F&M) dec. Luke Hart (VMI); 7-3 (9-6) 157: Chase McCollum (F&M) dec. William Waldron (VMI); 6-2 (12-6) 165: Job Chishko (VMI) dec. Crew Fullerton (F&M); 6-2 (12-9) 174: Noah Fox (F&M) dec. Jon Hoover (VMI); 3-2 (15-9) 184: James Conway (F&M) inj. def. Zach Brown (VMI); 4:23 (21-9) 197: Tyler Mousaw (VMI) dec. Mike Waszen (F&M); 7-1 (21-12) 285: Cenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec. Isaac Dolph (VMI); 3-2 (24-12) Franklin & Marshall 32, LIU 16 125: Robert Sigaris (LIU) maj. Eli Wallace (F&M); 16-2 (0-4) 133: Pat Phillips (F&M) maj. Kaelan Francois (LIU); 9-0 (4-4) 141: Wil Gil (F&M) won by forfeit (10-4) 149: Cristiaan Dailey (F&M) won by forfeit (16-4) 157: James Johnston (LIU) dec. Chase McCollum (F&M); 8-6 (16-7) 165: Crew Fullerton (F&M) won by forfeit (22-7) 174: Noah Fox (F&M) maj. Michael Parrish (LIU); 10-0 (26-7) 184: James Langan (LIU) WBF James Conway (F&M); 1:10 (26-13) 197: Nunzio Crowley (LIU) dec. Mike Waszen (F&M); 6-1 (26-16) 285: Cenzo Pelusi (F&M) WBF Timothy Nagosky (LIU); 1:41 (32-16) There are some guys in this lineup that may be in the mix for the podium at EIWAs in March. We all know Gil will lead the way for this team. But young studs like Phillips, Conway and Fox are starting to get better on a weekly basis. Harvard The Crimson joined many other EIWA teams out in Las Vegas for the CKLV Invite. Overall, the Crimson had two placers. Many other wrestlers went 2-2 with close losses to higher-ranked opponents. Yaraslau Slavikouski (#12) was the highest placer. He was the runner-up at heavyweight. He knocked off Davison (#15) of Northwestern and Orndorff #13) before a knee injury forced him to end his finals bout early. It did not appear good, so let's hope he is okay and will make it back soon. At 165lb, Philip Conigliaro (#16) placed 6th. He had a solid win over Grello (#29) of Oklahoma. He had two sudden victory losses to Amine (#11), while also dropping a match to Kharchla (#8) of Ohio State. Beau Bayless (125) went 2-2 on the day with a 3-2 loss to Manchio (#19) and an overtime loss to Allen of Navy. Another solid performance was at 174lb, where Josh Kim (#28) had losses to Eischens (#27) of Stanford and Hastings (#14) of Wyoming. The Crimson are showing that they belong in the middle tier of the EIWA. Yara had a phenomenal performance out in Las Vegas, but that knee injury he suffered might be a season-ender. If this is the case, it would be a huge blow to their team standings. Conigliaro will have one of the deeper weights at EIWAs to navigate. Seeding will be important there. Kim is still in the rankings; expect him to keep climbing, while Bayless is wrestling very well lately. This is a fun team to watch. Hofstra The Pride took a trip to Washington D.C. to dual Duke and American. Hofstra returned home with two dual victories. Charles Small (#26 - 184) , Trey Rogers (#29 - 197) , and Zachary Knighton-Ward (#21 - 285) all came away with two wins each. In addition, Justin Hoyle (141), Joe McGinty (157), and Ricky Stamm (165) all defeated both of their opponents as well. Boxscores: Hofstra 25, Duke 19 184: #26 Charles Small (HOF) dec. Vincent Baker (DU), 4-3 197: #28 Trey Rogers (HOF) dec. Kaden Russell (DU), 7-4 285: #20 Zachary Knighton-Ward (HOF) WBF Jonah Niesenbaum (DU), 2:18 125: Logan Agin (DU) WBF Jacob Moon (HOF), 0:55 133: Drake Doolittle (DU) dec. Ty Cymmerman (HOF), 8-2 141: Justin Hoyle (HOF) maj. dec. Patrick Rowland (DU), 10-1 149: #11 Josh Finesilver tech fall Michael Leandrou (HOF), 19-4 157: Joe McGinty (HOF) dec. Wade Unger (DU), 11-9 (SV-1) 165: Ricky Stamm (HOF) win by forfeit 174: #7 Matt Finesilver (DU) tech fall Corey Langner (HOF), 15-0 Extra Matches 125: Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (HOF) dec. Ty Naquin (DU), 5-4 174: Conor Becker (DU) maj. dec. Ericson Velasquez (HOF), 11-0 174: Luke Chakonis (DU) tech fall James Watterson (HOF), 16-0 Hofstra 27, American 13 184: #26 Charles Small maj. dec. Ben Root (AU), 13-4 197: #28 Trey Rogers (HOF) WBF Carsten Rawls (AU), 5:39 285: #20 Zachary Knighton-Ward dec. Isaac Righter (AU), 5-2 125: Max Leete (AU) dec. Jacob Moon (HOF), 4-1 133: Jack Maida (AU) WBF Ty Cymmerman (HOF), 1:54 141: Justin Hoyle (HOF) dec. Ethan Szerencsits (AU), 10-4 149: Patrick Ryan maj. dec. Michael Leandrou (HOF), 10-2 157: Joe McGinty (HOF) dec. Antonio Segura (AU), 7-2 165: Ricky Stamm (HOF) dec. Tim Fitzpatrick, 2-1 (TB2) 174: Ross McFarland (HOF) tech fall Colin Shannon (AU), 18-3 Extra Matches 141: Shamil Kalmatov (AU) maj. dec. Mario Biancamano (HOF), 12-1 Hofstra is a sneaky good team. The upper third of their lineup is all ranked. In addition to them, Hofstra has middleweights that can knock off ranked opponents at any time. Stamm is a returning national qualifier. Guys like Hoyle, McGinty, and McFarland seem to be stepping up and winning matches left and right. The Hofstra Pride are set to surprise some people as the season continues - although it may not be a surprise to them. I cannot wait to see how good this team can be. Lehigh (#21) The Mountain Hawks were on the road this weekend, as they competed at Lock Haven on Saturday and Penn State on Sunday. Jaret Lane (#11 - 125), Manzona Braynt IV (#32 - 149), Josh Humphreys (#10 - 157), and Jordan Wood (#8 - 285) all won both matches over the weekend. #22 Lehigh 37, Lock Haven 3 125 - Jaret Lane (Lehigh) won by forfeit 133 - Gable Strickland (LHU) dec. Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 13-12 141 - Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec. Nick Stonecheck (LHU) 6-3 149 - Manzona Bryant IV (Lehigh) major dec. DaShawn Farber (LHU) 15-4 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) Fall Ben Barton (LHU) 2:06 165 - Brian Meyer (Lehigh) dec. Ashton Eyler (LHU) 6-5 174 - Jake Logan (Lehigh) dec. Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU) 5-4 184 - AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec. Thomas Dressler (LHU) 9-3 197 - JT Davis (Lehigh) dec. Parker McClellan (LHU) 5-0 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) won by forfeit #2 Penn State 23, # 21 Lehigh 16 125 - Jaret Lane (Lehigh) major dec. Jake Campbell (PSU) 11-3 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) major dec. Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) 19-7 141 - Nick Lee (PSU) dec. Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 13-6 149 - Manzona Bryant IV (Lehigh) dec. Beau Bartlett (PSU) 6-5 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. Tony Negron (PSU) 5-4 165 - Creighton Edsell (PSU) dec. Brian Meyer (Lehigh) 2-1 174 - Carter Starocci (PSU) major dec. Jake Logan (Lehigh) 13-3 184 - Donovan Ball (PSU) dec. AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) 5-3 197 - Max Dean (PSU) Fall JT Davis (Lehigh) 2:58 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) won by forfeit Extra matches 149 - Joey Blumer (PSU) dec. Steven Storm (Lehigh) 5-1 157 - Terrell Barraclough (PSU) dec. Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 7-2 The Mountain Hawks had a solid performance this weekend. Both matches went as one would expect. Lane is coming into form as of late. Bryant at 149 finally makes his way into the rankings after a win over #23 Bartlett of Penn State. The freshman is only going to improve from here. Lehigh is one of the favorites to be crowned EIWA team champions. We know they always come to perform at the end of the year; I expect this year to be no different. Long Island The Sharks traveled to Lancaster, PA, to take on Franklin & Marshall and VMI. They gave up three forfeits and found a way to be competitive against VMI - winning 5 of 7 bouts. At 125, Robbie Sagaris went 2-0 on the day with two major decisions. Nunzio Crowley also wrestled hard to go 2-0 with two decisions at 197lb. James Johnston (157) was the final wrestler to go 2-0. He had one fall on the day. Boxscores: VMI 24 - LIU 22 125 Robbie Sagaris (LIU) over Sameul Congleton (VMI) (MD 14-3) 133 Kaelan Francois (LIU) over Michael Tandurella (VMI) (Fall 6:49) 141 Frederick Junko (VMI) over Unknown (For.) 149 Luke Hart (VMI) over Unknown (For.) 157 James Johnston (LIU) over Riley Simon (VMI) (Fall 4:15) 165 Job Chishko (VMI) over Unknown (For.) 174 Justin Hart (VMI) over Tom DiGennaro (LIU) (Dec 3-2) 184 Zach Brown (VMI) over Gavin Claro (LIU) (Dec 3-0) 197 Nunzio Crowley (LIU) over Tyler Mousaw (VMI) (Dec 3-2) 285 Tim Nagosky (LIU) over Solomam Harris (VMI) (Dec 5-3) F&M 32 - LIU 16 125 Robbie Sagaris (LIU) over Elijah Wallace (Franklin & Marshall) (MD 16-2) 133 Pat Phillips (Franklin & Marshall) over Kaelan Francois (LIU) (MD 9-0) 141 Wilfredo Gil (Franklin & Marshall) over Unknown (For.) 149 Cristiaan Dailey (Franklin & Marshall) over Unknown (For.) 157 James Johnston (LIU) over Chase McCollum (Franklin & Marshall) (Dec 8-6) 165 Crew Fullerton (Franklin & Marshall) over Unknown (For.) 174 Noah Fox (Franklin & Marshall) over Mike Parrish (LIU) (MD 10-0) 184 James Langan (LIU) over James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) (Fall 1:10) 197 Nunzio Crowley (LIU) over Michael Waszen (Franklin & Marshall) (Dec 6-1) 285 Vincenzo Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) over Tim Nagosky (LIU) (Fall 1:41) Long Island University competed well this weekend. It is a shame they had to start in a hole with three forfeits. I am interested to see how these matches would look if they had someone to fill in these spots. Crowley continues to impress, as he seems to be the guy with the most positive results on this squad. As I've stated before, this team is new to D1, so they will need some time (in terms of years) to develop further. Once this occurs, we should see them improve. I hope they can get healthy and bring a full lineup next time. I would love to see this team start seeing more success sooner rather than later. Navy The Midshipmen competed in Las Vegas at the CKLV Invite. They walked away with three placers. At 133lb, Josh Koderhandt (#24) had a fantastic weekend, finishing in 5th place. He had two wins over Ramos of Purdue, who was ranked #24 at the time. In his 5th place bout, he defeated Gliva (#28) of Minnesota. His two losses came to Ragusin (#8) of Michigan, and an overtime loss to Turner (#21) of Oregon State. Jacob Allen competed to an 8th place finish. He had a win over Bayless of Harvard. His notable losses came to Schroder (#7) of Purdue by 1-0 score and by decision to Lorenzo (#28) of Cal Poly. At 157lb, Andrew Cerniglia (#18) also earned an 8th place finish. All three losses were close 1 or 2 point matches to higher-ranked opponents in Lewan (#13) of Michigan, Thomas (#15) of Oklahoma, and Willits (#17) of Oregon State. He did have a ranked win over Casto (#31) of The Citadel. Another notable performance came from Val Park at 165lb. He finished with a 2-2 record, but had a close 4-2 score with the eventual champ, Wick (#2) of Cal Poly. Then he lost a match to Ramirez (#10) of Cornell. He did have a win over Ferrante of Northwestern, who was 23rd ranked at the time. Navy is a tough team from top to bottom. Many of the wrestlers who did not place were stuck with tough draws - even though that is not an excuse. I think it's safe to say this team slightly underperformed at the CKLV. I am excited to see this team compete in the second semester to see how they stack up against the rest of the EIWA. Penn The Quakers hosted (#2) Penn State to a dual on Friday night. The Quakers jumped out a 10-6 lead at the half; then, it was all Penn State from there. Anthony Artalona (#26 - 149) made his season debut against Bartlett (#23) of Penn State, losing in overtime. This was definitely the match of the night, in my eyes. At 141, Carmen Ferrante (#30) rode out returning NCAA Champion Nick Lee for the entire 3rd period, losing by a score of 6-3. Boxsore: #2 Penn State 20, Penn 16 125: Ryan Miller dec. Baylor Shunk (PSU), 8-2; Penn leads 3-0 133: #12 Michael Colaiocco maj. dec. Brandon Meredith (PSU), 10-2; Penn leads 7-0 141: #1 Nick Lee (PSU) dec. #28 Carmen Ferrante, 6-3; Penn leads 7-3 149: #20 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. #23 Anthony Artalona, 4-3 (TB); Penn leads 7-6 157: Doug Zapf dec. Terrell Barraclough (PSU), 4-2; Penn leads 10-6 165: #32 Creighton Edsell (PSU) dec. #33 Lucas Revano, 6-4 (SV), 10-9 174: #1 Carter Starocci (PSU) maj. dec. #21 Nick Incontrera, 13-3; Penn State leads 13-10 184: Donovon Ball (PSU) dec. Jesse Martinez, 11-4; Penn State leads 16-10 197: #4 Max Dean (PSU) maj. dec. Cole Urbas, 10-0; Penn State leads 20-10 285: Ben Goldin PENN win by forfeit; Penn State wins 20-16 Before this match started, I thought Penn would win five bouts. They were one tiebreaker match and one overtime match away from that prediction becoming a reality. This match outcome would have been totally different if that were the case. The atmosphere in the Palestra was electric on Friday night. There is something special happening at Penn, and the entire community is rallying around this team. The Quakers look to be ready to challenge Cornell, Lehigh, and Princeton at the top of the conference much earlier than I thought. Princeton The Tigers were another team to compete at the Las Vegas Cliff Keen Invitational. They walked away with four placewinners. Pat Glory (#2 - 125) was the champion of his bracket. His wins included 3-0 over Lorenzo (#28) of Cal Poly, 4-2 over Medley (#18), and then a major over Schroder (#7) of Purdue. He may not be in full form yet, as this was his first competition of the season. At 157, Quincy Monday (#5) earned a silver medal in his bracket. He defeated Lewan (#13) of Michigan and Robb (#6) of Nebraska before losing to Deakin (#2) of Northwestern. In the 197lb bracket, Luke Stout (#16) lost in the R16 to Deprez (#12). He stormed back in the consi's with wins over Davison (#32) of Northwestern, Hoffman (#21) of Ohio State, and Bockman (#23) of Utah Valley. Lastly, he beat Brucki (#9) of Michigan via medical forfeit. Travis Stefanik (#19 - 184) finished in 6th place due to a medical forfeit. His only ranked win was over Lyon (#20) of Purdue. In other non-NCAA news, Princeton's New Jersey Regional Training Center athlete, Matt Cover, won his Junior Pan-Am bracket at 125kg. He will be in the lineup come January. The Tigers finished the CKLV in 9th place, overall. It was good to see Glory and Monday do what they were expected to do. It's refreshing to see Stout jump levels (and rankings) week after week. Do not be surprised if he ends up in the top 10 by the season's completion. With a few missing pieces from their starting lineup, the Tigers will only get better come second semester to again challenge for that EIWA Title. Sacred Heart The Pioneers competed in Las Vegas, along with a few other EIWA teams. At 165, Scott Jarosz had a win on the backside over Speer of Citadel. Anthony Petrillo lost to Ramos of Purdue in the first round by a 4-1 decision, then had a win in the first round of consolations. For what it's worth, the Pioneers were without one of their returning NCAA qualifiers, Nick Palumbo (157), which would have made their performance a little better. Accousti at 184 is their other returning qualifier. Unfortunately, he wrestled Loew (#15) of Cornell off the bat, who is always a tough draw. But, knowing Coach Clark, he does not care for excuses. This team will bounce back after some more time in the room. I feel there are big things coming in the near future for this team.

2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis (Photo/Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Duke: The Blue Devils had a double-double this weekend in Maryland and DC. They traveled to College Park on Saturday to face Drexel and Maryland. They beat the Dragons 25-20, led by #7 Matt Finesilver maintaining his undefeated start against #14 Mickey O'Malley at 174. Wade Unger had a big win at 157, knocking off #32 Parker Kropman. Against Drexel, Logan Agin picked up a pin at 125, while Jonah Niesenbaum did the same at 285. Duke rounded out with a major decision by #11 Josh Finesilver at 149 and a decision win by Kaden Russell at 197. The second match on the day was against former ACC foe Maryland. Logan Agin picked up his second pin of the day to start the action. Wade Unger picked up another decision and the Blue Devils got bonus points from both Finesilver brothers, who picked up major decisions. The dual went into heavyweight with Maryland holding a 3 point lead. Jonah Niesenbaum wrestled a tight match with #33 Zach Schrader, but fell in sudden victory and the Terps picked up a 23-17 win. This brought the Blue Devils to 3-2 in duals on the year. Duke stayed in the Capitol district overnight and traveled to American on Sunday to face Hofstra and AU. Sunday did not go as well for the Blue Devils. Duke fell to Hofstra 25-19. Logan Agin picked up his third pin on the weekend at 125, while Drake Doolittle earned a decision at 133. The Finesilver brothers paired up on bonus points again this dual, with #11 Josh earning a tech fall at 149 and #7 Matt doing the same at 174. In the final dual of the weekend, Duke fell to American 22-18. Kaden Russell got his second win of the weekend with a pin at 197 and Wade Unger picked up his third win with a major decision at 157. For the third dual in a row, the Finesilver brothers matched each other's results, with both picking up major decisions. Duke had a forfeit at 165 in both duals on Sunday and that 6 point deficit loomed large in both duals. The Blue Devils are off this week and will host home duals against The Citadel and Bloomsburg next week. North Carolina: The #20 Tar Heels were off this week after a very busy early season. They are off again this week and will travel to Appalachian State on 12/17. NC State: The #5 Wolfpack hosted in-state competition from Gardner-Webb on Thursday night. Dominant is an understatement for the performance they put on inside Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolf Pack went 10-0 and won 7 matches by bonus points to beat Gardner-Webb 45-(-1). Gardner-Webb lost a team point for "not shaking hands at 197," which is absurd on many levels--but can we all agree that docking team points is ridiculous? #5 Jakob Camacho led off the dual with a pin at 125, followed by decision wins from #17 Kai Orine and #18 Ryan Jack. #3 Tariq Wilson got a pin in 1:24 and looked very fast and very strong at 149; I think the move up will be great for him. #28 Ed Scott dominated his way to a tech fall at 157 and Donald Cates received a forfeit at 165 when Roderick Mosely didn't make weight. Alex Faison made the most of his time filling in for Hayden Hidlay at 174, earning a major decision. #3 Trent Hidlay looked phenomenal at 184. He was aggressive the entire match; blowing through double legs and hitting quick attacks-it was impressive. He worked his way to a 21-5 tech fall over NCAA qualifier Jha'Quan Anderson. #15 Isaac Trumble controlled his match against Anthony Perrine and took the 9-0 major and Deonte Wilson rounded out the dual with an 11-4 decision win. This Wolf Pack team is dangerous and I can't wait to see them at the Collegiate Duals in a few weeks taking on Binghamton and Mizzou. Pittsburgh: The #22 Panthers were off this week. They will travel to Columbus for a dual against #8 Ohio State next Sunday. Virginia: The Hoos were off this week and will be off until they travel to The Midlands at the end of December. Virginia Tech: The #10 Hokies traveled to hostile territory to face a scrappy #23 Northern Iowa and a very tough #4 Mizzou. The dual against UNI started with a tough loss for #12 Sam Latona, falling 7-4 to #11 Brody Teske. After that loss, it was all Hokies--they won the next 9 matches. #4 Korbin Myers won in sudden victory at 133, followed by Colin Gerardi upsetting #29 Cael Happel 3-2. At 149, #7 Bryce Andonian hit a ridiculous feet-to-back throw/trip and got the pin in 39 seconds-he had a phenomenal weekend; more on that later. #24 Connor Brady continues his impressive start to the year with a 3-2 decision. Clayton Ulrey showed his grit and fight against the Panthers and earned the sudden victory over Derek Holschlag at 165. #4 Mekhi Lewis saw the Andonian pin and decided he wanted to play too--Lewis got the pin in 1:21 and started a run of pins for the Hokies. #9 Hunter Bolen also got a pin in under two minutes at 184, then Dakota Howard put on a takedown clinic before joining the pin party with :04 left on the clock. #14 Nathan Traxler closed out the dual with a 4-3 decision and left the Hokies with a lot of momentum moving into their evening dual against Mizzou. The Tigers also handled the Panthers earlier in the day, but took a couple of upset losses. The atmosphere in the Hearnes Center was impressive as the #3 Tigers and #10 Hokies took the mat. #12 Sam Latona took his second loss on the weekend against #18 Noah Surtin--the match started high paced and had a long scramble where Surtin was able to stop Latona's movement in the worst possible position for the Hokie and pick up the fall. #4 Korbin Myers was more aggressive and dictated the match more against #27 Trey Crawford and won a lopsided decision 8-2. Colin Gerardi put up a great fight against #12 Allan Hart, controlling positions and showing incredible defense throughout. Hart was able to finish a takedown from a scramble in sudden victory to get the decision. #7 Bryce Andonian met a similar style wrestler in #19 Josh Edmond; the Tiger was able to get an early lead on a couple crisp shots. Andonian turned the tide when he backrolled through a double leg into his own takedown and back points. He didn't look back from there and put on an offensive display to win 10-4. #24 Connor Brady picked up his first ranked win on the season beating #11 Jarrett Jacques 3-2 to tie the team score 9-9 at the halfway point. Clayton Ulrey fought for the team to save points against a highly ranked wrestler at 165. #3 Keegan O'Toole was held to his lowest team points of the year in taking the major decision over Ulrey. #4 Mekhi Lewis took the early lead, then #10 Peyton Mocco was able to claw himself back into the match and force overtime. They were scoreless in the sudden victory period; in TB1 Lewis was able to get a reversal into back points to take a four-point lead before allowing the escape to win 9-6. Lewis moves to 8-0 on the year with two top-10 wins. #9 Hunter Bolen was able to control the pace and positioning in a top-10 match against #10 Jeremiah Kent to win a 6-3 decision. Dakota Howard again showed his heart and refusal to quit against #5 Rocky Elam at 197. Howard held Elam to his lowest point total on the year and was down 8-0 before rallying to get a last-second takedown to erase the bonus point for the Tigers. As predicted, the dual came down to heavyweight, with the Tigers holding a 16-15 lead going into the final match. #14 Nathan Traxler was able to get in on several shots against #13 Zach Elam but wasn't able to finish cleanly. They traded escapes in the second and third and went into sudden victory with the dual on the line. The pair got into a scramble and Traxler was able to hold Elam in danger to get the three-count and the takedown points for the win. This was an incredible showing for the Hokies this weekend, and they take a ton of momentum into a two-week break before facing Hofstra and Arizona State to kick off the Journeymen Collegiate Duals.

2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion Mikey Labriola (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Starting this wrap a little differently, because six Big Ten teams were in action at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday. We'll run through the team scores and then the weight-by-weight heat (or at least the results that interested me). First, Team Scores: 1. Nebraska, 125 2. Ohio State, 104 3. Michigan, 94.5 T4. Northwestern, 91.5 6. Purdue, 85.5 *16. Minnesota, 34 *Minnesota sent an abbreviated lineup because of contact tracing protocols and lineup adjustments. Nebraska won this again thanks to Mikey Labs winning at 174, Taylor Venz (184) and Eric Schultz (197) both making the finals, and Chad Red (141), Ridge Lovett (149) and Christian Lance (285) all taking third. Ohio State had four in the top three, led by Kaleb Romero's title at 184, and Dylan Ragusin won at 133 to lead Michigan. The Big Ten had four individual champs: Ragusin, Labs, Romero and Ryan Deakin (157); six other finalists: Venz, Schultz, Purdue's Devin Schroder (125), Northwestern's Chris Cannon (133), Ohio State's Sammy Sasso (149) and Ethan Smith (174); and 10 more finish in the top four at their respective weights. Pretty, pretty good. OK, weight-by-weight: 125: No huge surprises. Ohio State's Malik Heinselman, the 3-seed, lost to Oregon State's Brandon Kaylor, 5-3, in the quarterfinals. Kaylor went on to beat Michigan's Jack Medley for third. Medley lost to Princeton's Pat Glory in the semifinals, and Glory won it decisively, 13-0, over Schroder, who beat Kaylor, 8-6, in the other semifinal. 133: How about Dylan Ragusin? Went 4-0 and outscored those four opponents 39-13, including a 9-5 win over Cannon in the finals, thanks to a takedown and two backs in the final minute. 141: Chad Red and Parker Filius both reached the semifinals, but lost to Andrew Alirez and Clay Carlson, respectively. Red bounced back to take third, and notched wins over Ohio State's Dylan D'Emilio, Michigan's Cole Mattin and Oregon State's Grant Willits. 149: The highlight here was Yianni Diakomihalis beating Sammy Sasso, 6-2, in the finals. But Sasso ran through Oklahoma's Mitch Moore, 12-0, and Yahya Thomas, 6-4, to make the final. Ridge Lovett nearly beat Yianni in the semifinals, but wrestled back for third, beating Moore, Yahya and also Jaden Abas, 9-2, in the quarters. 157: Deakin was vintage Deakin this weekend: 5-0 with two pins and outscored his foes 34-6, including a win by fall over Purdue's Kendall Coleman in the semifinals and an impressive 8-3 victory over Quincy Monday in the final. Monday has picked off many Big Ten foes this year, first Iowa's Kaleb Young, 9-5, then over both Michigan's Will Lewan, 6-3, and Nebraska's Peyton Robb, 11-6, at CKLV. This weight is so fun. 165: Can the Big Ten still claim Evan Wick? He beat Cam Amine and Shane Griffith to take first here. The biggest revelation is Carson Kharchla as a certified Dude. Went 5-1 overall and took third. In his five wins, he put up 49 points and recorded a pin, a major and a technical fall. His only loss came to Griffith, 5-4 in the semifinals. 174: Mikey Labs topped Ethan Smith, 7-5 in overtime, to win this final. Labs was quite good this weekend, putting up 58 points in five matches — he scored 18 in two of his first three matches — and notched wins over Cade DeVos and Smith, who knocked off both Max Maylor and Gerrit Nijenhuis en route to the title match. 184: If we're going by the seeds, Romero technically pulled three upsets this weekend: 3-2 over Oklahoma's Darrin Roberts in the quarters, 6-3 over Wyoming's Tate Samuelson in the semifinals, then 7-3 over Venz in the finals. Not bad. Venz was pretty good this weekend, too, scoring two technical falls in three matches to reach the final. 197: Schultz ran through a gauntlet just to make the final here, beating Lou DePrez 2-0 in the quarters and Jake Woodley 6-2 in the semifinals. He ran into Wyoming's Stephen Buchanan in the final, and Buchanan won 7-3, a strong follow-up after he beat Michigan's Pat Brucki, 2-1, in the semifinals. Very quietly, Purdue's Thomas Penola won six in a row in the wrestlebacks to take third, which included: 3-1 overtime win over Jacob Cardenas, 7-5 over DePrez, then 6-5 over Woodley for third (plus an MFF win over Brucki). 285: Still reading? Bless you. Christian Lance beat Tate Orndorff, 9-4, for third, but old friend Gas Tank Gary took home heavyweight gold, winning three consecutive matches by the same 3-1 sudden victory result, first over Oklahoma's Josh Heindselman, then Wyoming's Brian Andrews in the quarters and Lance in the semifinals. Traub stormed out of the 10-spot to win CKLV, which isn't Big Ten related but still damn cool. *Deep breath* Ready for more? Cool. Let's go. Iowa - Registered the 17th-straight win over Iowa State in the annual Cy-Hawk wrestling dual, winning on Sunday, 22-11, in a dual that had the following: two double stall calls and a double technical violation … in the same match; a match end in a stalling disqualification because four stall warnings were given in less than two minutes; four matches decided by two points or fewer, another decided by three points, and another decided by four; more than 9,000 fans inside Hilton Coliseum and every single one of them screamed for stalling on the bad guys — and the refs generally obliged, doling out 18 total stall calls (12 on Iowa State, 6 on Iowa); an insanely awesome headgear spike, which cost Iowa State a team point; a post-dual shoving match, which cost Iowa a team point; Tom Brands high-fiving nearby Iowa fans; Terry Brands running to the Iowa State bench after the dual; Derek St. John making crybaby motion toward the Iowa bench; Austin DeSanto interrupting the broadcast: “COMMENTATE THAT!”; Kyven Gadson expertly navigating that interruption with a calm and collected response: “DeSanto, you want the mic, buddy?”; Am I missing anything? Oh, yeah. The dual. Iowa won six of 10 matches. Jaydin Eierman (141) and Alex Marinelli (165) recorded major decisions, Tony Cassioppi beat Sam Schuyler at heavyweight via stalling DQ, Max Murin and Ian Parker both made their season debuts and then Murin beat Parker 3-2 at 149 pounds (the refs tagged Murin for stalling twice in the final 30 seconds of the third period), and both Marcus Coleman (184) and Yonger Bastida (197) scored third-period takedowns to defeat Myles Wilson and Jacob Warner, respectively. OK. I think that's everything. Cy-Hawk was awesome. Onward. Maryland - The Terps are on the board! Collected their first two dual victories of the season on Saturday, 21-19 over Drexel, then 23-17 over Duke, marking their first back-to-back dual wins since 2017. Both duals were topsy-turvy. Maryland led Drexel 9-4, thanks to King Sandoval's first-period pin at 133, then trailed 19-9 after Drexel ripped off four-straight wins, then wins from Kyle Cochran (184), Jaron Smith (197) and Zach Schrader (285) helped the Terps rally for the dub. Nearly the same script unfolded against Duke, who led 17-12 after major decisions from the Finesilver boys (Josh at 149, Matt at 174), then Cochran, Smith and Schrader all won again for another come-from-behind victory. Penn State - Gutted out a couple of wins this weekend, 20-16 over Penn on Friday, then 23-16 over Lehigh on Sunday. The Nittany Lions did not have Roman Bravo-Young, Aaron Brooks, or Greg Kerkvliet for their dual against Penn, but managed to win six matches. Carter Starocci (174) and Max Dean (197) both scored major decisions, Beau Bartlett (149) and Creighton Edsell (165) both won in overtime, and Donovan Ball, in lieu of Brooks, stepped in at 184 and beat Jesse Martinez, 11-4. Against Lehigh, the Nittany Lions were again without Brooks and Kerkvliet, but RBY returned with a 19-7 major decision over Sheldon Seymour at 133; Nick Lee registered the 100th victory of his career with a 13-6 win over Connor McGonagle at 141; Edsell won another close match, 2-1 over Brian Meyer; and both Starocci and Dean scored bonus points again, Starocci with a 13-3 major decision, Dean with a first-period fall. Michigan State - Defeated Lock Haven, 19-17, on Thursday, then handily beat Bucknell, 23-10, on Friday in their first duals of the season. Against Lock Haven, the Spartans trailed 17-5 after seven weights, then rallied on a pin from Layne Malczewski at 184 and back-to-back major decisions from Cam Caffey (197) and Brad Wilton (285). They didn't hold a lead until Wilton's match went final. Gutsy performance. Against Bucknell, Michigan State won seven-of-10 and never trailed, and the dual was highlighted by Caleb Fish's 9-5 win over Zach Hartman at 165 pounds. Hartman led 5-1 after two takedowns in the first period and an escape in the second, then Fish took Hartman to his back near the edge for two plus a full set of back points, making it 7-5. He added a reversal in the third period to ice it. Caffey and Chase Saldate (157) added major decisions, and Julian Saldana bounced back from an overtime loss against Lock Haven's Luke Werner with an overtime win over Bucknell's Brandon Seidman. Gritty. Rutgers- Pounded American, 41-3, on Friday. Won 9-of-10 bouts. Sebastian Rivera (141), Robert Kanniard (157), John Poznanski (184) and Greg Bulsak (197) all recorded technical falls, Mike Van Brill (149) recorded a pin and Big Boone McDermott (285) won by penalty disqualification. Scarlet Knights are now 9-0 this season, and still lead the nation in overall dual victories. Wisconsin- Sent the starters to the Cougar Clash at SIUE and came away with a first-place team finish, if you're into that kind of thing. Seven Badger wrestlers took first, and there were really only a few notable results: Kyle Burwick beat Ethan Rotondo, 2-1 in the overtime tiebreaker, in the finals at 133 pounds; Dean Hamiti pinned Northern Illinois's 19th-ranked Izzak Olejnik in the finals at 165 (Hamiti led 5-4 in the third period after scoring two takedowns when he locked up the fall); Andrew McNally lost to Little Rock's Triston Wills, 9-6, in the first round at 174 and wrestled back for third; Northern Illinois's Brit Wilson beat Chris Weiler, 8-4, in the finals at 184; Braxton Amos looked like Braxton Amos, going 4-0 with three technical falls and outscoring his opponents 66-10; Wisconsin's other champs: Eric Barnett (125), Joey Zargo (141), Garrett Model (157) and Trent Hillger (285). Illinois and Indiana did not compete this weekend.

Kyle Snyder (left) and Jason Nolf (Nolf Photo/Sam Janicki; Snyder Photo/Tony Rotundo) After the action-packed Alrosa Cup that was highlighted by reigning Olympic champion Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) successful in his rematch against #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR), Russia is back with another elite wrestling event only four days later, in the form of Wolnik 7. The Wolnik series of events have been an ongoing series in Russia headed by Zaur Kurbanov and feature domestic and international talents. The Wolnik series uses a modified rule system to encourage scoring, with the differences being a 15 point tech fall and match termination being caused by two four-point throws. After Wolnik 6 in October that saw elite competitors the likes of #5 (92) Vladislav Valiev (RUS), #7 (86) Javrail Shapiev (UZB), #3 (79), Gadzhi Nabiev (RUS), #4 (79) Radik Valiev (RUS), #7 (65) Akhmed Chakaev (RUS) and #10 (97) Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) compete, Wolnik will have their biggest international competitor compete in the form of 3x World/Olympic champion #2 (97) Kyle Snyder (USA). Snyder, competing along with his Nittany Lion Wrestling Club teammate Jason Nolf (USA), will take on European champion and 3x Russian Nationals champion #10 (97) Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS), while Nolf will face off against 2017 world runner-up #18 (74) Khetag Tsabolov (SRB). Rounding out the card will be a rubber match between two-time world bronze medalist #7 (65) Akhmed Chakaev (RUS) and three-time Russian Nationals medalist Nachyn Kuular (RUS) at 70 KG. 97 KG- #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. #10 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS) In one of the most interesting matches of the event, 2020 Olympic and World silver medalist #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) will face off against European champion #10 Alikhan Zhabrailov (RUS). Both men are extremely talented competitors, but are stuck behind seven-time World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS), with Snyder being the second man to Sadulaev internationally and Zhabrailov domestically. This match presents a big opportunity for both men, as Snyder looks to cap off his year strong after the bitter defeat to Sadulaev in both the Olympic and World finals, while Zhabrailov looks to get the biggest win of his career against the former 3x World/Olympic champion Snyder. Kyle Snyder (USA) should be the favorite in this match as Zhabrailov has struggled in the past against physical wrestlers the likes of #2 (92) Magomed Kurbanov (RUS) and #14 (97) Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI), who bullied him from control ties like underhooks, front headlock or collar ties. Snyder should be able to follow and improve upon the template set by Kurbanov and Karimimachiani, but needs to be careful for the low shots and far side fireman's carry of Zhabrailov as the Chechen has excellent timing and is impeccable at shutting down opponent's offense once he gets a lead. 74 KG- #18 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) vs. Jason Nolf (USA) Former Russian standout #18 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB) looks to regain momentum after a disastrous quarterfinals loss at the World Championships to #15 Azamat Nurikov (BLR) left him off the podium. Tsabolov has had a tumultuous past year, transferring to Serbia after finishing as the Russian Nationals runner-up in 2020 to #6 Razambek Zhamalov (RUS), where he upset Olympic champion #1 (P4P) Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) and #8 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS). Tsabolov's performances while competing for Serbia have been lackluster as he's failed to place at the European and World championships and failed to qualify for the Olympics after having taken losses to #10 Avtandil Kentchadze (GEO), #15 Azamat Nurikov (BLR) and #17 Soner Demirtas (TUR). The match against Jason Nolf represents an opportunity for Tsabolov to regain his footing against an NCAA legend who has yet to quite find his footing internationally and is looking for his first standout international win. Jason Nolf (USA) was a legend for Penn State finishing his career as a 4x NCAA finalist and 3x NCAA champion. While Nolf was renowned for his offensive diversity and ability to dominate the elite of his weight class collegiately, Nolf has yet to break through internationally as he has been stuck behind the likes of US middleweight standouts three-time World champion #3 Kyle Dake (USA), six-time World/Olympic champion #1 (79) Jordan Burroughs (USA), #2 (79) Alex Dieringer (USA) and Isaiah Martinez (USA). While Nolf was able to take third at the US Olympic trials this year, he failed to place in his sole international competition of the year by losing in the opening round of the Ziolkowski memorial to two-time Asian champion Daniyar Kaisanov (KAZ). Nolf/Tsabolov is a very intriguing bout for what it means for both men. Nolf is given the shot against a divisional elite who has suffered with consistency issues, but shown himself capable of dominating the best in the world, while Tsabolov gets a chance at redemption after having fallen from the heights of the top pound-for-pound. While Tsabolov does have a history of slow starts in matches and being flat-footed, when he does attack, he has an absolutely incredible timing and finishing ability on a head outside single and fireman's carry and boasts a match ending leg lace that has put away even the best. Defensively Tsabolov is no pushover, as he's an incredible scrambler and has a notoriously tight shin whizzer that he's choked out opponents with in the past. Nolf looked much improved in his match against #1 (79) Jordan Burroughs in what was a losing effort; he still managed to show improved leg attack selection and finishing ability while standing up to the physicality of the American all-time great. This should be Tsabolov's match, but expect to see Nolf contend with him throughout. 70 KG- #7 (65) Akhmed Chakaev (RUS) vs. Nachyn Kuular (RUS) A standout rubber match between two lightweight standouts, #7 Akhmed Chakaev (RUS) is coming off a win at Wolnik 6 over Gitinomagomed Gadzhiev (AZE), while Kuular is coming off a runner-up finish at the Military World Championships to #16 Arman Andreasyan (ARM). The two men share a history with each other, as Kuular took their first match last year at the 2020 Yarygin over an injured Chakaev, with Chakaev returning the favor this year at Russian Nationals. Chakaev, a true veteran of the sport at 34 years old, with two world bronze medals to his name, has had a solid year but one defined by him falling to the next generation of talent as he took losses to #5 Kurban Shiraev (RUS) and #5 (65) Zagir Shakhiev (RUS) at Russian Nationals and the Russian World Team Wrestle-Offs. Three-time Russian Nationals medalist Nachyn Kuular (RUS) has had issues with consistency as well this year at 65 KG failing to place at Russian Nationals after a loss to Chakaev in the round of 16 and then taking an unexpected loss at the Yarygin to Dasha Sharastepanov (RUS) and then medical defaulting out. Kuular has since made the move up to 70 KG, where he's finished with a silver medal at the World Military Championships to #15 Arman Andreasyan (ARM). Chakaev should be seen as the frontrunner of this match as the Chechen has one of the most powerful underhook series in the world that he'll use to great effect against the counter-minded Kuular. Kuular himself is a great upper body technician, especially off of body locks. Both men also have strong leg attacks, with Chakaev favoring a head outside low single and Kuular's preference being an outside step high single. Expect a very close match between the two, with Chakaev coming out the victor.

2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion Clay Carlson (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Friday 12/3-Saturday 12/4 California Baptist, Northern Oklahoma, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Las Vegas, NV Wyoming-5th Place Team 125-Jake Svihel-6th place 157-Jacob Wright-3rd place 174-Hayden Hastings-7th place 184-Tate Samuelson-4th place 197-Stephen Buchanan-1st place Oklahoma-11th Place Team 149-Mitch Moore-6th place 157-Jusin Thomas-7th place 184-Darrien Roberts-5th place 197-Jake Woodley-4th place South Dakota State-12th Place Team 141-Clay Carlson-1st place 174-Cade DeVos-4th place 285-AJ Nevills-6th place Utah Valley-15th Place Team 133-Hayden Drury-3rd place 184-Jacob Armstrong-8th place 197-Evan Bockman-8th place Northern Colorado-17th place 141-Andrew Alirez-2nd place Cal Baptist-26th place Air Force DEF Western Colorado 44-3 Saturday 12/4 Missouri DEF Northern Iowa 25-16 Virginia Tech DEF Northern Iowa 39-3 Virginia Tech DEF Missouri 18-16 North Dakota State DEF Augustana (S.D.) 28-10 Sam Wolf-Air Force wins Junior Pan Am Gold Sunday 12/5 Ohio DEF West Virginia 30-9 Iowa DEF Iowa State 23-11 Best Dual: Missouri-Virginia Tech. I hate that this seemed to not be as talked about as it should have. I think this is partially due to it being so early in the season and competing alongside the Cliff Keen finals and college football conference championships. But this was a great dual! There were big upsets on both sides, with Mizzou's Noah Surtin getting a fall at 125 and Virginia Tech getting an upset at 157. There was a down-to-the-wire match at 174, where an NCAA champion was nearly knocked off, and everything came down to HWT, where Virginia Tech's Nathan Traxler upset Mizzou's Zach Elam to win the dual for the Hokies. Standout Performance: Clay Carlson wins Cliff Keen On paper, this tournament looked like it could be a bit of a preview of the Big 12 at 141. It had Oklahoma who featured returning champion Dom Demas and the top two wrestlers with Clay Carlson of South Dakota State and Andrew Alirez from Northern Colorado. Demas didn't wrestle here, but Carlson and Alirez flew the flag for the Big 12 and both knocked off a few ranked wrestlers to make the finals. Carlson was up late 8-7 in a very close match when he pinned Alirez. We haven't seen Demas yet this year, but Carlson may still be the top guy in the Big 12 at 141. Even when Demas is in top form after U23's. Most Insane: Chaos at the end of Iowa-Iowa State The Cy-Hawk dual had some great matchups, though it was never really in doubt that Iowa would come out with a win. The story of the dual, though, was the near melee that ensued at the end of the match. I wasn't there and the video on ESPN cut off as things were brewing, but before too much really happened, so I can't speak to what exactly went down. But both benches cleared, and some shoving started before ESPN cut away. I'm sure others that were in attendance will have some more detail on what exactly happened in the coming days.

2021 U23 World bronze medadlist Jay Aiello (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 57 KG U-23 European runner-up Aliabbas Rzazade (AZE) won a heated 6-6 criteria match over Kyrgyzstan's Bekbolot Myrzanazar Uulu to walk away with the 57 KG U-23 world title. Finishing with bronze medals at the U-23 world championships were Manvel Khndzrtsyan (ARM) by 10-0 tech fall over Saurabh Igave (IND) and Ahmad Mohammadnezhadjavan (IRI) over Dzmitry Shamela (BLR) 3-2. Rzazade, Myzanazar Uulu, Khndzrtsyan and Igave all make the rankings after their performances at U-23 world's at #17, #18, #19, and #20. Their places in the rankings are earned from the fact U-23 world semifinalist Saurabh Igave (IND) beat Rakhat Kalzhan (KAZ) in the quarterfinals after Kalzhan had beaten #18 Ramazan Abdurakhmanov (RUS) and Simone Piroddu (ITA). Aliabbaz Rzazade beats Bekbolot Myzanazar Uulu, Manvel Khndzrtsyan, Mukhammad Ikromov and Saurabh Igave then from there it goes to Khndzrtsyan beating Mukhammad Ikromov (The 2020 61 KG Senior Asian runner-up and a ranked 61KG last year) and Saurabh Igave to take bronze and the #19 spot behind Bekbolot Myzanazar Uulu (KGZ) who has beaten 57 KG Olympic 5th place finisher Georgi Vangelov (BUL) and Dzmitry Shamela (BLR) this year. 2020 European champion #11 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS) was successful in capturing gold at the Military World Championships with victories over Ahmad Javan (IRI) and U-23 World bronze medalist #19 Manvel Khndzrtsyan (ARM). Russian National and European runner-up #13 Nachyn Mongush (RUS) made the move up to 61 KG, where he took gold at the Military World Championships over 2018 Senior world 5th place finisher Mohammadba Yakhkeshi (IRI). Mongush is now ranked #9 at 61 KG. 61KG Senior world bronze medalist #5 Arsen Harutyunyan (ARM) won the 61 KG U-23 World title with an 11-7 barnburner of a match against #18 Artur Chebodaev (RUS). Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were Assyl Aitakyn (KAZ) over Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (HUN) 3-3 and Narankhuu Narmandakh (MGL) over Chris Cannon (USA) 10-0. There were major shakeups to the bottom half of the top 20 after U-23 World Championships and to understand that you have to go back to the U-23 European Championships back in May that had to deal with Taimuraz Vanishvili (GEO), Nico Megerle (GER), #10 Muslim Mekhtikhanov (RUS) and Ruhan Rasim (BUL). So the short and fast of it is that Vanishvili wins it all, beats Megerle, who got the upset of the tournament by teching Russian Nationals runner-up #10 Muslim Mekhtikhanov and then Megerle absolutely bombs out and ends up taking 5th after a loss to Ruhan Rasim (BUL). So the breakdown of it was that Vanishvili and Megerle just occupied the 12-13 spot for a couple months and as time went on and on, it showed that U-23 European championships performance from Mekhtikhanov losing and Vanishvili and Megerle winning was more and more of a flash in the pan and the guys fell but still decent enough to justify a spot in the bottom half of the rankings at #16 and #17 going into U-23 World's. So having explained the Vanishvili/Megerle U-23 situation, that finally gets put to bed by Arman Eloyan (FRA), Narankhuu Narmandakh (MGL) and Gamzatgadzhi Khalidov (HUN). We'll start with Khalidov as he is the most straightforward as he beats #17 Nico Megerle (GER) 4-3 in repechage and loses his bronze medal match to Yasar Dogu runner-up Assyl Aitakyn (KAZ), so now Megerle is out. Now the Eloyan/Narmandakh/Vanishvili trio has a bit more steps, with Arman Eloyan (FRA) beating #16 Taimuraz Vanishvili (GEO) in the round of 16 and then being beaten 11-4 in the quarterfinals by Narankhuu Narmandakh (MGL), who'd go on to take bronze after losing to #18 Artur Chebodaev (RUS). So the aftermath of U-23 World's is that the Vanishvili and Megerle are out, #18 Artur Chebodaev (RUS) gets boosted into the top 15 at #14 and Narankhuu Narmandakh (MGL) is ranked at #20 for beating Arman Eloyan (FRA). Military World's was exponentially more straightforward than U-23 World's and culminated with #13 (57) Nachyn Mongush (RUS) winning gold over 2018 Senior world 5th placer Mohammadba Yakhkeshi (IRI). Bronze medalists at the World Military Championships were Harutyun Manukyan (ARM) and Abdulhak Harbadzi (ALG). Mongush debuts in the 61 KG rankings at #9 off the strength of his wins at 57 KG over world bronze medalist #7 (57) Aryan Tyutrin (BLR) and #11 Azamat Tuskaev (RUS). 65KG Georgios Pilidis (GRE) won the 65 KG U-23 World Championships title with a controversial victory 4-3 by way of a singlet pull violation from #15 Ibragim Abdurakhmanov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were Junior World runner-up Ziraddin Bayramov (AZE) over Stilyan Illiev (BUL) 10-0 and Cavit Acar (TUR) over Hrachya Margaryan (ARM) 4-2. 65 KG had a lot of shakeup from U-23 with U-23 European champion #9 Erik Arushanian (UKR) losing in the qualification round to Aibek Toktogul Uulu (KGZ) and then Uulu being tech falled in the quarterfinals 10-0 by eventual bronze medalist Cavit Acar (TUR) who'd lose to Georgios Pilidis (GRE) in the semis. Add onto the U-23 action was that #7 Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM) and #13 Ilyas Bekbulatov (UZB) both left the weight with Vazgen going up to 70 and taking silver at U-23 world's and Ilyas declaring he'll compete at 74 in the future and you've got a lot to deal with. So the aftermath of it all is that Georgios Pilidis (GRE) debuts in the rankings at #12 while Cavit Acar (TUR) and Aibek Toktogul Uulu (KGZ) debut at #14 and #15, respectively and #9 Erik Arushanian (UKR) drops seven spots to #6. The other main result from November was Tokyo Olympian Morteza Ghiasi (IRI) winning the Military World Championships over Artur Badtiev (RUS), with Ahmad Darki (SYR) taking bronze. 70 KG In a battle of 65 KG Tokyo Olympians, 70 KG Senior world runner-up #2 Ernazar Akhmataliev (KGZ) put on a 10-2 clinic against #7 (65) Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM). Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were Aliakbar Fazlikhalili (IRI) over Murad Evloev (AZE) 5-4 and U-23 European runner-up Nicolai Grahmez (MDA) over Cuneyt Budak (TUR) 5-2. In what was one of the biggest surprises of the whole tournament, the much anticipated international debut of #5 Rezuan Kazharov (RUS) imploded on itself. Kazharov, who'd impressed with a bronze medal at the Yarygin, gold at the Ali Aliyev over #15 (74) Azamat Nurikov (BLR) and who notched the biggest win of his career over Yarygin champion #6 Kurban Shiraev (RUS) at U-23 Russian nationals, was expected to be in heavy contention for gold even giving the caliber of the likes of #2 Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ) and #7 Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM). But Kazharov first international competition was a frustration after having had to rally back from almost being teched in the first period against Syrbaz Talgat (KAZ) to take a 10-8 opening win; Kazharov was absolutely at a loss against the defense and length U-23 European runner-up Nicolai Grahmez (MDA) and lost a lopsided 9-4 match in the quarterfinals and be eliminated from competition. The aftermath of the fall of Kazharov saw the talented Dagestani plummet in the rankings ten spots to #15 while U-23 World bronze medalist Nicolai Grahmez (MDA) debuts at #14 and Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ) stays put at #2 and Vazgen Tevanyan (ARM) fills the same #7 spot up a weight. The other main result from this month was Senior world 5th place finisher #16 Arman Andreasyan (ARM) winning gold at the Military World Championships over 2019 65 KG Russian Nationals runner-up Nachyn Kuular (RUS). Bronze medalists at the World Military Championships were Mohammad Jafari (IRI) and Haytam Dakhlavi (TUN). 74KG #11 Cherman Valiev (RUS) won his first U-23 world title over Mohammadsadegh Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) 7-6, after having lost in the finals two years ago at 70 KG by pin to Mirza Skhulukhia (GEO). Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were Temuri Beruashvili (GEO) over Vasile Diacon (MDA) 3-3 and U-23 European runner-up Hrayar Alikanyan (ARM) 10-0 over Simon Marchl (AUT). One of the bigger shockers of the tournament took place in the repechage bracket between 70 KG Senior world 5th placer #9 (70) Turan Bayramov (AZE) and 2019 70 KG Junior world runner-up Vasile Diacon (MDA). Both men had fallen to #11 Cherman Valiev (RUS) and it was presumed Bayramov would be the one to bounce back and win bronze, based on his sublime technique, even giving his distinct size disadvantage at the weight. Diacon showed that size mattered as he bullied Bayramov in the handfight and used a huge four-point throw counter to a Bayramov single leg on the edge to upset the Azeri 6-5. As Bayramov's primary weight is 70 KG, he will continue to stay ranked at 70, but it is still a very impressive win for Diacon. #8 Magomed Kurbanaliev (RUS) won the Military World Championships over Fariboz Babae (IRI), while Kamil Rybicki (POL) and Menua Yaribekyan (ARM) finished as bronze medalists. #7 Timur Bizhoev (RUS) beat #14 Fazli Eryilmaz (TUR) in the Deutsche Ringerliga in a battle of world bronze medalists. 70 KG Junior World bronze medalist Stanislav Svinoboev (RUS) won the Macedonian Pearl. 79KG #9 Magomed Magomaev (RUS) won the 79 KG U-23 World title with a 4-4 criteria win over U-23 European champion Ramazan Sari (TUR). Bronze medalists at the U-23 World championships were Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) over #11 Ashraf Ashirov (AZE) 8-2 and Arman Avagyan (ARM) over Goga Mamiauri (GEO) 4-4. Ali Savadkouhi (IRI) returns to the rankings at #15 as the Asian Championships runner-up notched an upset in the bronze medal match against Ashirov after losing to Magomaev in the quarterfinals. Because of Savadkouhi's win over Ashirov, there was a shift of the bottom half of the top 20 (13-16) in Malik Shavaev (RUS), Khalil Aminov (RUS), Arsalan Budazhapov (KGZ) and Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS) surging back up three spots each while #10 Ryuki Yoshida (JPN) fell 4 spots to #14 and #11 Ashraf Ashirov (AZE) and #12 Akhsarbek Gulaev (SVK) fell five spots each to #16 and #17. Bahman Teymouri (IRI) won the Military World Championships over U-23 European runner-up Hrayar Alikanyan (ARM). 2018 Junior world bronze medalist David Betanov (RUS) took bronze. 2013 74 KG Russian Nationals champion Kakhaber Khubezhty (RUS) won the Macedonian Pearl tournament in his return to 79 after taking bronze at the Oleg Dukanov Memorial at 74 KG in January. 86KG Three-time World/Olympic medalist #3 Artur Naifonov (RUS) took gold at the Military World Championships beating Mkher Markosyan (ARM). Bronze medalists at the Military World Championships were Hadi Vafaepour (IRI) and Fedaldin Alosta (SYR). Mukhammad Akiiev (UKR) won the 86 KG U-23 world title in impressive fashion, dismantling Sajjad Gholami (IRI) 11-4 in the finals. Taking bronze at the U-23 World Championships was Lars Schaeffle (GER) over Zagid Karimov (RUS) 3-0 and Ivars Samusonoks (LAT) over Emre Ciftci (TUR) 5-2. Mukhammad Akiiev (UKR) debuts in the rankings at #20 for his U-23 world title and his win over 2020 European bronze medalist Rasul Tikhaev (BLR) at the Senior World championships this year. 2019 European champion #7 Vladislav Valiev (RUS) moved up to 92 KG, where he won the Military World Championships and has been removed from the rankings. 92KG Senior world bronze medalist #8 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) took gold at the U-23 World Championships with an impressive 4-2 victory over Russian Nationals bronze medalist #5 Azamat Zakuev (RUS) to move up two spots in the rankings to #6. Even in his runner-up finish to Nurmagomedov, #7 Azamat Zakuev (RUS) had an impressive run at U-23 World's, beating U-23 European champion #10 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) handily, by a 9-1 score in the semifinals. Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were #10 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) over Rustam Shodiev (UZB) 13-2 and Amirhossein Firouzpourbandpei (IRI) 10-0 over Johannes Meyer (GER). 2019 86 KG European champion #7 (86) Vladislav Valiev (RUS) made the move up to 92 KG, where he won gold at the Military World Championships over Mohammad Mirbagban (IRI). Hovhannes Mkhitaryan (ARM) took bronze. Valiev slots in at the #5 spot in the 92 KG rankings off the strength of his wins over #8 Selim Yasar (TUR), #4 (86) Dauren Kurugliev (RUS) and #7 (86) Javrail Shapiev (UZB). 97KG Amirali Azarpira (IRI) won the U-23 World Championships gold medal in impressive fashion to earn himself the #16 spot in the rankings. Azarpira beat U-23 European runner-up Radu Lefter (MDA), Jay Aiello (USA), #16 Zuriko Urtashvili (GEO) and Vasil Pauliuchenka (BLR) to take home the 97 KG U-23 title. Bronze medalists at the U-23 World Championships were Aiello) over Vasil Pauliuchenka (BLR) 13-2 and Danylo Stasiuk (UKR) over Milan Korcsog (HUN) 4-2. Aiello was someone who had a major breakthrough performance at U-23 World's. A 3x NCAA qualifier for the University of Virginia at 197 pounds, Aiello stormed his way into the U-23 World semifinals with victories over 2019 Junior world bronze medalist Feyzullah Akturk (TUR) and U-23 Russian Nationals champion Shamil Gadzhialiev (RUS), before falling 9-0 in the semifinals to eventual champion Azarpira. Aiello capped off his U-23 World championships performance with a 13-2 tech fall over Pauliuchenka for bronze. Aiello debuts in the rankings at #17 while Vasil Pauliuchenka (BLR) takes #18 for his win in repechage over #16 Zuriko Urtashvili (GEO), who falls three spots to #19. #8 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI won his second career World Military title over 2020 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Erik Dzhioev (RUS). 2016 Olympian Radoslaw Baran (POL) took bronze. 125KG Tony Cassioppi (USA) captured the United States only U-23 world gold medal in men's freestyle with a 13-0 tech fall victory over Azamat Khosonov (GRE). Cassioppi's best win came in the semifinals when he handled Russian Nationals bronze medalist Saypudin Magomedov (RUS) 5-0. Taking bronze at the U-23 world championships were Saypudin Magomedov (RUS) over Martin Simoyan (ARM) 10-0 and Seyedmehdi Hashemijouybari (IRI) over Mohit Mohit (IND). 2019 Asian champion Yadollah Mohebbi (IRI) made his return to competition after being out since January 2020. Mohebbi was victorious in capturing gold at the Military world championships with victories over 2020 Russian Nationals champion Alan Khugaev (RUS) and 2020 European runner-up Robert Baran (POL). Mohebbi returns to the rankings at #5 for his wins over #7 Zhiwei Deng (CHN) and #9 Nick Gwiazdowski (USA). Bronze medalists at the Military World Championships were Alan Khugaev (RUS) and Leva Gevorkian (ARM). 2020 Russian Nationals champion Alan Khugaev (RUS) is back in the rankings at #14 for his strong past domestic win over #12 Shamil Sharipov (RUS) but can't rise higher due to inactivity and a weaker international resume. 2019 97 KG world bronze medalist Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) took gold up at heavyweight competing at the Macedonian Pearl over Georgi Ivanov (BUL) with Uvejz Fejzulla (MKD) taking bronze. #12 Erik Dzhioev (RUS) has been removed from the rankings due to the fact he cut back down to 97 KG and finished as runner-up to #8 Mohammad Mohammadian (IRI) at the Military World Championships. P4P There was a fair amount of shakeups on the bottom half of the top 20 for this month, with 125 KG world champion #11 Amir Zare (IRI) falling six spots to #17 and #24 Haji Aliyev (AZE) jumping up eight spots to #16. First things first, the catalyst to all this was reweighing the value of 74 KG and the depth of competition there compared to heavyweight, which has been at its best this year was a 4 person weight and even then by the end of it boiled down to Gable Steveson (USA) and #17 Amir Zare (IRI). At heavyweight, you're only chance of being in the P4P is off beating Petriashvili and Akgul, who firmly on the lower half at #18 and #19 as their resumes just don't stack up to that of superior competitors at tougher weight classes like 74 or 65 KG and they don't have the excuse of domination at a weak weight to tether them to a spot anymore. Being in the top 10 of 74 KG is a feat in and of itself; the quality of the weight shines through as nine of the top ten athletes of the weight are in the pound for pound. The combined accomplishment of middleweight standouts (74-79) in the form of Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK), Frank Chamizo (ITA), Razambek Zhamalov (RUS), Timur Bizhoev (RUS), Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (RUS) are all far more deserving of the #10-15 spots then a trio of heavyweights who have dominated a weight historically lacking in depth. #24 Haji Aliyev (AZE) got a boost up eight spots to #16 in the rankings because his career wins are better than that of #17 Amir Zare (IRI) as he's beaten #5 Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS), #21 Bajrang Punia (IND) and past pound for pound staples Vladimir Khinchegashvili (GEO), Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (CUB) and Alexander Bogomoev (RUS).

197 lb CKLV champion Stephen Buchanan (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) College Wrestling returned to Las Vegas with a memorable version of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. As expected, Big Ten powers Nebraska and Ohio State battled for the team title, but in the end, the depth of the Cornhuskers prevailed. The finals featured an entertaining set of bouts, as some tournament finals can feature low-scoring, tentative combatants. After a long flight home and some time perusing the brackets, we've found a bunch of fun facts about the tournament, the wrestlers who participated and their teams. First Champions Both Princeton and South Dakota State crowned their first-ever Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champions (Pat Glory - 125/Princeton and Clay Carlson - 141/South Dakota State). First Champions Since… A trio of schools ended relatively prolonged champion-less droughts. Evan Wick became Cal Poly's first CKLV champion since 2011 (Ryan DesRoches at 174 lbs). 2011 also marked the last time Wyoming had a CKLV champion. That year both Shane Onufer and Joe LeBlanc won titles. This time it was Stephen Buchanan who was victorious at 197 lbs. Gary Traub is the first Oregon State Beaver to win the tournament since 2012, when RJ Pena won at 157 lbs. First Finalist Andrew Alirez's finals appearance at 141 lbs made him the highest placing Northern Colorado wrestler at this event. First Finalist Since…. Unfortunately, 285 lber Yaraslau Slavikouski's tournament ended with an ugly-looking leg injury in the tournament finals. He is the first Crimson wrestler since Todd Preston in 2015 to make the championship match. Multiple-time Champions The only wrestlers to add additional CKLV plaques to their prior collection were Yianni Diakomihalis (2nd) and Ryan Deakin (3rd). Deakin has joined a select group of three-time CKLV champions over the last 15 years. Only Kollin Moore, Zahid Valencia, Nahshon Garrett, Logan Stieber (4), Andrew Howe, Mack Lewens, and Ben Askren have achieved the feat. Four-time Placewinner The only wrestler that left the tournament as a four-time CKLV placer was Nebraska's 184 lber Taylor Venz. Venz made the finals this year and in 2018. He was also third in 2017 and fifth in 2019. Seeding Seeds held to the point where the number one and number two wrestlers met in six of the ten weight classes (125, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174) Only four wrestlers seeded lower than third made the finals. Kaleb Romero (5th), Eric Schultz (4th), Slavikouski (4th), Traub (10th). Romero likely would have been higher, but he had not competed at all at 184 lbs prior to the tournament. Traub's run to a title saw him defeat the #2 Brian Andrews (Wyoming), #3 Christian Lance (Nebraska), #4 Slavikouski, and #7 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma). Champions by seed: 1: (6), 3 (2), 5 (1), 10 (1) The Road Warriors We didn't have any third-place finishers that lost in the opening match and fought back for third, but two lost their second bout and proceeded to win six straight. They were Chris Foca (Cornell) at 174 and Thomas Penola (Purdue) at 197. Penola defeated a pair of returning All-Americans on the mat (Louie DePrez and Jake Woodley) and received a medical forfeit from another (Patrick Brucki). Champions by Conference The Big 12 has a pair of champions with Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) and Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming). The last time the conference had more than one champion in a single year was in 2013 when Kendric Maple, Andrew Howe, and Travis Rutt all won for Oklahoma. The Team Champion Nebraska amassed 125 team points to capture its second consecutive team crown at the event. They had eight placewinners from their nine entries (no 133 was entered). Three made the finals and Mike Labriola came away with a title at 174 lbs. Champ Streak Romero's win at 184 lbs kept Ohio State's string of consecutive years with a champion alive. They've had at least one every year the tournament has been held, dating back to 2011. It's the longest active streak by any one team. Placewinners Cal Poly finished 10th on the strength of four placewinners. That's the most for the school in at least 15 years. During that span, they have had three placers in 2011, 2009, and 2005. Despite being without the services of their two All-Americans, Utah Valley still put three wrestlers on the awards stand. That's the second-highest total in the school history (behind four in 2018). Purdue's seven placewinners was a program high and exceeded the program's previous high of five, established in 2004 and matched in 2019. The Binghamton Bearcats had three placers. Previously, the only time they had put two on the awards stand was in 2017. We already mentioned that Wyoming's last title at this event came in 2011. The last time they had more than five placers (their 2021 total) was also in 2011, when they had seven. Recent History Prior to the 2018 tournament, Northwestern had never attended the CKLV. In three appearances since, the Wildcats have amassed four individual titles and a pair of runner-up finishes. This year Deakin won again and 133 lber Chris Cannon was second. New Coach, Who Dis? Here's the performance for 2021's first-year head coaches at the tournament: Cornell finished seventh under Mike Grey. The Big Red had a champ and four placers total. Stanford was 13th with 41 team points for Rob Koll. The Cardinal had two placewinners. Luke Smith coached in the 2021 campaign under the interim tag for CSU Bakersfield. As the full-time head coach for the first time, he saw one of his wrestlers make the podium (Angelo Martinoni - 8th at 141 lbs). Martinoni was the first placewinner for the Roadrunners since 2017. Michigan Despite competing without four high All-Americans (Nick Suriano - 125, Stevan Micic - 141, Myles Amine - 184, and Mason Parris - 285), the Wolverines still managed to finish third as a team. Sean Bormet's team had six placewinners, led by champion Dylan Ragusin at 133 lbs. That's also with losing Kanen Storr to an injury early in his opening bout. OW Evan Wick was named the Outstanding Wrestler after prevailing in perhaps in one of the most loaded weights in the tournament. He took out returning All-American Cam Amine (Michigan) in the semis, before winning a one-sided affair against 2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith (Stanford) in the finals. The Main Event The only possible national #1 vs. #2 match came to fruition at 149 lbs as #1 Diakomihalis and #2 Sammy Sasso clashed in the last match of the tournament. While Yianni was excellent on his feet and in scrambles, it was his top-work that nullified the dangerous Sasso for much of the bout.

Virginia Tech 285 lber Nathan Traxler(photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday's Dual Results Duke 25 Drexel 20 125 - Logan Agin (Duke) fall Antonio Mininno (Drexel) :33 133 - Deon Pleasant (Drexel) fall Drake Doolittle (Duke) 2:30 141 - Jared Donahue (Drexel) maj Patrick Rowland (Duke) 11-0 149 - Josh Finesilver (Duke) maj Tyler Williams (Drexel) 13-5 157 - Wade Unger (Duke) dec Parker Kropman (Drexel) 6-4 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) maj Brandon LaRue (Duke) 13-4 174 - Matt Finesilver (Duke) dec Michael O'Malley (Drexel) 6-2 184 - Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) fall Luke Chakonis (Duke) 2:30 197 - Kaden Russell (Duke) dec Santino Morina (Drexel) 7-1 285 - Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) fall Liam Dietrich (Drexel) 4:51 Maryland 21 Drexel 19 125 - Antonio Mininno (Drexel) maj Zach Spence (Maryland) 10-2 133 - King Sandoval (Maryland) fall Deon Pleasant (Drexel) 2:00 141 - Danny Bertoni (Maryland) dec Jared Donahue (Drexel) 6-0 149 - Tyler Williams (Drexel) dec Michael North (Maryland) 6-2 157 - Parker Kropman (Drexel) dec Lucas Cordio (Maryland) 14-12SV 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) dec John Martin Best (Maryland) 7-6 174 - Michael O'Malley (Drexel) fall Dom Solis (Maryland) 4:51 184 - Kyle Cochran (Maryland) dec Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) 8-5 197 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) tech Santino Morina (Drexel) 17-2 285 - Zach Schrader (Maryland) maj Eli Anthony (Drexel) 17-5 Maryland 23 Duke 17 125 - Logan Agin (Duke) fall Zach Spence (Maryland) 3:18 133 - King Sandoval (Maryland) fall Drake Doolittle (Duke) :33 141 - Danny Bertoni (Maryland) dec Patrick Rowland (Duke) 6-1 149 - Josh Finesilver (Duke) maj Michael North (Maryland) 13-4 157 - Wade Unger (Duke) dec Lucas Cordio (Maryland) 11-4 165 - John Martin Best (Maryland) dec Brandon LaRue (Duke) 5-0 174 - Matt Finesilver (Duke) maj Dom Solis (Maryland) 10-0 184 - Kyle Cochran (Maryland) maj Vincent Baker (Duke) 13-3 197 - Jaron Smith (Maryland) maj Kaden Russell (Duke) 15-2 285 - Zach Schrader (Maryland) dec Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) 6-4SV Lehigh 37 Lock Haven 3 125 - Jaret Lane (Lehigh) FFT 133 - Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) dec Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 13-12 141 - Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) 6-3 149 - Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) maj Dashawn Farber (Lock Haven) 15-4 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) fall Ben Barton (Lock Haven) 2:07 165 - Brain Meyer (Lehigh) dec Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 6-5 174 - Jake Logan (Lehigh) dec Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) 5-4 184 - AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec Tommy Dressler (Lock Haven) 9-3 197 - JT Davis (Lehigh) dec Parker McClellan (Lock Haven) 5-0 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) FFT George Mason 24 Long Island 16 125 - Robbie Sagaris (Long Island) dec Ben Monn (George Mason) 4-2SV 133 - Kaelen Francois (Long Island) maj Josh Pence (George Mason) 11-3 141 - Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) FFT 149 - Shawn Nonaka (George Mason) FFT 157 - Avery Bassett (George Mason) dec James Johnston (Long Island) 13-7 165 - Tyler Kocak (George Mason) dec Blake Bahna (Long Island) 6-4SV 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) fall Thomas DiGennaro (Long Island) 1:17 184 - James Langan (Long Island) dec Jeremy Seymour (George Mason) 8-3 197 - Nunzio Crowley (Long Island) dec Jon List (George Mason) 3-2 285 - Tim Nagosky (Long Island) dec Ramses Montalvo (George Mason) 3-1 North Dakota State 28 Augustana 10 125 - Jaxson Rohman (Augustana) maj Colby Evens (North Dakota State) 16-5 133 - Jack Huffman (Augustana) dec Kellyn March (North Dakota State) 5-3SV 141 - Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) tech Kenneth Lenger (Augustana) 16-1 149 - Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) dec Keaton Schorr (Augustana) 6-2SV 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) tech Tyler Wagener (Augustana) 17-2 165 - Luke Weber (North Dakota State) fall Dylan Schuck (Augustana) 3:28 174 - Austin Brenner (North Dakota State) dec Cade Mueller (Augustana) 6-1 184 - Kolby Kost (Augustana) dec Michael Nelson (North Dakota State) 5-2 197 - Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) dec Daniel Bishop (Augustana) 9-7 285 - Brandon Metz (North Dakota State) dec Steven Hajas (Augustana) 9-4 Missouri 25 Northern Iowa 16 125 - Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) fall Noah Surtin (Missouri) 5:58 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) maj Trey Crawford (Missouri) 10-0 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Allan Hart (Missouri) 9-7 149 - Josh Edmond (Missouri) dec Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) 7-4 157 - Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) 4-2 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) fall Cayd Lara (Northern Iowa) 5:31 174 - Pat Schoenfelder (Northern Iowa) dec Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 11-9 184 - Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) fall Dajun Johnson (Northern Iowa) 2:02 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) maj Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 12-4 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 5-2 Virginia Tech 39 Northern Iowa 3 125 - Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) dec Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 7-4 133 - Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) dec Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 6-4SV 141 - Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) dec Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) 3-2 149 - Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) fall Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) :39 157 - Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) dec Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) 3-2 165 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Cayd Lara (Northern Iowa) 9-7SV 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) fall Pat Schoenfelder (Northern Iowa) 1:31 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) fall Dajun Johnson (Northern Iowa) 1:50 197 - Dakota Howard (Virginia Tech) fall Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 6:56 285 - Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 4-3 Virginia Tech 18 Missouri 16 125 - Noah Surtin (Missouri) fall Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 2:38 133 - Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) dec Trey Crawford (Missouri) 8-2 141 - Allan Hart (Missouri) dec Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) 2-1SV 149 - Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) dec Josh Edmond (Missouri) 10-4 157 - Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) dec Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) 3-2 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) maj Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) 12-4 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 9-6TB 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) dec Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) 6-3 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) dec Dakota Howard (Virginia Tech) 8-2 285 - Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech) dec Zach Elam (Missouri) 3-1SV Sunday's Dual Results Hofstra 25 Duke 19 125 - Logan Agin (Duke) fall Jacob Moon (Hofstra) :55 133 - Drake Doolittle (Duke) dec Ty Cymmerman (Hofstra) 8-2 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) maj Patrick Rowland (Duke) 10-1 149 - Josh Finesilver (Duke) tech Michael Leandrou (Hofstra) 19-4 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) dec Wade Unger (Duke) 11-9SV 165 - Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) FFT 174 - Matt Finesilver (Duke) tech Corey Langner (Hofstra) 15-0 184 - Charles Small (Hofstra) dec Vincent Baker (Duke) 4-3 197 - Trey Rogers (Hofstra) dec Kaden Russell (Duke) 7-4 285 - Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) fall Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) 2:18 American 22 Duke 18 125 - Andy Fallon (American) dec Logan Agin (Duke) 3-2 133 - Jack Maida (American) maj Drake Doolittle (Duke) 9-0 141 - Ethan Szerencsits (American) dec Patrick Rowland (Duke) 7-4 149 - Josh Finesilver (Duke) maj Patrick Ryan (American) 9-1 157 - Wade Unger (Duke) maj Cole Painter (American) 10-2 165 - Breon Phifer (American) FFT 174 - Matt Finesilver (Duke) maj Colin Shannon (American) 10-0 184 - Timothy Fitzpatrick (American) dec Vincent Baker (Duke) 6-3 197 - Kaden Russell (Duke) fall William Jarrell (American) 2:17 285 - Isaac Righter (American) dec Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) 5-3 Hofstra 27 American 13 125 - Max Leete (American) dec Jacob Moon (Hofstra) 4-1 133 - Jack Maida (American) fall Ty Cymmerman (Hofstra) 1:54 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) dec Ethan Szerencsits (American) 10-4 149 - Patrick Ryan (American) maj Michael Leandrou (Hofstra) 10-2 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) dec Antonio Segura (American) 7-2 165 - Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec Timothy Fitzpatrick (American) 2-1TB 174 - Ross McFarland (Hofstra) tech Colin Shannon (American) 18-3 184 - Charles Small (Hofstra) maj Ben Root (American) 13-4 197 - Trey Rogers (Hofstra) fall Carsten Rawls (American) 5:39 285 - Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec Isaac Righter (American) 5-2 Ohio 30 West Virginia 9 125 - Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) maj Colton Drousias (West Virginia) 12-3 133 - Gio DiSabato (Ohio) dec Garett Lautzenheiser (West Virginia) 5-2 141 - Kyran Hagan (Ohio) fall Caleb Rea (West Virginia) 1:41 149 - Alec Hagan (Ohio) tech Brayden Roberts (West Virginia) 16-0 157 - Jordan Slivka (Ohio) dec Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) 3-0 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) fall Sean O'Dwyer (Ohio) 2:05 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) dec Dennis Robin (West Virginia) 11-6 184 - Zayne Lehman (Ohio) dec Anthony Carman (West Virginia) 10-3 197 - Jordan Greer (Ohio) dec Jackson Moomau (West Virginia) 6-2 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Jordan Earnest (Ohio) 12-7 VMI 24 Long Island 22 125 - Robbie Saragis (Long Island) maj Sam Congelton (VMI) 14-3 133 - Kaelen Francois (Long Island) fall Mike Tandurella (VMI) 6:49 141 - Freddy Junko (VMI) FFT 149 - Luke Hart (VMI) FFT 157 - James Johnston (Long Island) fall Riley Simon (VMI) 4:15 165 - Jobe Chishko (VMI) FFT 174 - Justin Hart (VMI) dec Thomas DiGennaro (Long Island) 3-2 184 - Zach Brown (VMI) dec Gavin Claro (Long Island) 3-0 197 - Nunzio Crowley (Long Island) dec Tyler Mousaw (VMI) 3-2 285 - Tim Nagosky (VMI) dec Solomon Harris (Long Island) 5-3 Franklin & Marshall 24 VMI 12 125 - Sam Congleton (VMI) fall Elijah Wallace (F&M) 2:23 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) dec Mike Tandurella (VMI) 5-2 141 - Wil Gil (F&M) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 7-4 149 - Cristiaan Dailey (F&M) dec Luke Hart (VMI) 8-5 157 - Chase McCollum (F&M) dec Jake Waldron (VMI) 6-2 165 - Jobe Chishko (VMI) dec Crew Fullerton (F&M) 6-2 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Jon Hoover (VMI) 3-2 184 - James Conway (F&M) InjDef Zach Brown (VMI) 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) dec Michael Wazen (F&M) 7-1 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Isaac Dolph (VMI) 3-2 Franklin & Marshall 32 Long Island 16 125 - Robbie Sagaris (Long Island) maj Elijah Wallace (F&M) 16-2 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) maj Kaelen Francois (Long Island) 9-0 141 - Wil Gil (F&M) FFT 149 - Cristiaan Dailey (F&M) FFT 157 - James Johnston (Long Island) dec Chase McCollum (F&M) 8-6 165 - Crew Fullerton (F&M) 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) maj Mike Parrish (Long Island) 10-0 184 - James Langan (Long Island) fall James Conway (F&M) 1:10 197 - Nunzio Crowley (Long Island) dec Michael Wazen (F&M) 6-2 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) fall Tim Nagosky (Long Island) 1:41 Penn State 23 Lehigh 16 125 - Jaret Lane (Lehigh) maj Jack Campbell (Penn State) 11-3 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) maj Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) 19-7 141 - Nick Lee (Penn State) dec Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 13-7 149 - Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) dec Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 6-5 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec Tony Negron (Penn State) 5-4 165 - Creighton Edsell (Penn State) dec Brian Meyer (Lehigh) 2-1 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) maj Jake Logan (Lehigh) 13-3 184 - Donovan Ball (Penn State) dec AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) 5-3 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) fall JT Davis (Lehigh) 2:58 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) FFT Iowa 22 Iowa State 11 125 - Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) dec Jesse Ybarra (Iowa) 8-2 133 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) 6-4 141 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) maj Zach Redding (Iowa State) 15-7 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) dec Ian Parker (Iowa State) 3-2 157 - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Kaleb Young (Iowa State) 6-2 165 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa State) maj Grant Stotts (Iowa State) 16-5 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) dec Joel Devine (Iowa State) 3-1 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Myles Wilson (Iowa) 4-1 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec Jacob Warner (Iowa) 4-3 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) disq Sam Schuyler (Iowa State)

Greg Kerkvliet (left) and Jordan Wood (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) #21 Lehigh at #2 Penn State How to watch: 2pm on B1G+ (EST) This afternoon, in-state powers Lehigh and Penn State will renew acquaintances after missing out on dual competition during the 2021 season as Penn State wrestled a conference-only schedule. These two Pennsylvania schools have historically been some of the most successful in the history of the sport collegiately. Penn State and Lehigh sit at number five and number six, respectively, on the list of Individual NCAA champions by school. Penn State's recent success has distanced themselves from the Mountain Hawks with 48 to 28; however, those numbers are indicative of the rich history each has at producing top-end talent. The best match on Sunday's dual will take place at the largest weight class as a pair of stars in Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) and Jordan Wood (Lehigh), will do battle once again. The pair met last season in the second round of the NCAA Championships, as Wood was the eighth-seed and Kerkvliet the ninth. Though younger and less experienced on the collegiate scene than Wood, the freshman Kerkvliet dominated to the tune of 12-2. He went on to finish seventh in the nation, while Wood fell a match shy of returning to the national podium. Earning All-American honors was a bit of a shock for Kerkvliet, not because of his talent, but because of the injury situation, he was fighting through. At one point, Penn State acknowledged his 2021 season would end prematurely due to injuries; however, Kerkvliet persevered and got a pair of wins in the Nittany Lions season finale at Maryland and made his way to the Big Ten Championships, though far from top shape. He ended up taking fourth in a loaded Big Ten weight class, before his national tournament performance. All three wrestlers that were ahead of Kerkvliet at the conference meet placed 1-2-3 at NCAA's. Wood is a sixth-year senior that has captured an EIWA title in each of his prior seasons competing for Lehigh. He has never been seeded lower than 10th at the NCAA Championships and sports a 79-20 career record. In 2018-19, Wood had a sparkling 25-5 record and made the NCAA semifinals, losing in sudden victory to the eventual national runner-up Derek White (Oklahoma State), 3-1. He would later lose 4-0 in the third-place bout to true freshman Gable Steveson (Minnesota) and settle for fourth place. This year, Wood comes in with a perfect 6-0 record and is ranked #10 in the nation at 285 lbs. He owns a pair of wins over Gary Traub (Oregon State), who just won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last night, and 2019 All-American Matt Stencel (Central Michigan). Kerkvliet has been just as impressive, if not more. He is 3-0 and his “closest” bout has been a 14-3 major decision over Army West Point's Brandon Phillips. Now, Kerkvliet did not appear for Penn State during Friday's dual with Penn. He weighed in, but with the dual in hand, the Nittany Lions forfeited the weight. The ailment that hampered him Friday is not thought to be serious or long-term. These two All-Americans' history against one another is not just limited to the collegiate mats. Kerkvliet defeated Wood in the finals of the U23 World Team Trials, two-matches-to-none. Both had success competing internationally, as Kerkvliet is a two-time Cadet World finalist and 2017 world champion. Wood was a 2014 Junior World silver medalist. The next chapter in these two heavyweight superstar's rivalry could help decide Sunday's dual. Penn State is expected to be shorthanded as two of their 2021 NCAA Champions, Roman Bravo-Young and Aaron Brooks, were not in the lineup Friday. Lehigh is coming off a dominant 37-3 drubbing of Lock Haven.

2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champion Evan Wick (photo courtesy of TonyRotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Final Results Championship Finals 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) maj Devin Schroder (Purdue) 13-0 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Chris Cannon (Northwestern) 9-5 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) fall Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 6:55 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 6-2 157 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec Quincy Monday (Princeton) 8-3 165 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) dec Shane Griffith (Stanford) 6-2 174 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) dec Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 7-5SV 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) dec Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 7-3 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) dec Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 7-3 285 - Gary Traub (Oregon State) InjDef Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) Third Place Bouts 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) dec Jack Medley (Michigan) 7-2 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) dec Devan Turner (Oregon State) 6-4SV 141 - Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) dec Cole Mattin (Michigan) 6-1 149 - Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) MedFFT Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 157 - Jacob Wright (Wyoming) dec Will Lewan (Michigan) 3-2 165 - Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) dec Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 5-2 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) dec Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 8-2 184 - Jonathan Loew (Cornell) dec Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) 6-4 197 - Thomas Penola (Purdue) dec Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 6-5 285 - Christian Lance (Nebraska) dec Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 9-4 Fifth Place Bouts 125 - Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) dec Jake Svihel (Wyoming) 8-3 133 - Josh Koderhandt (Navy) fall Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 3:53 141 - Grant Willits (Oregon State) fall Parker Filius (Purdue) 6:28 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) InjDef Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) MedFFT Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 165 - Cameron Amine (Michigan) fall Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) 6:29 174 - Troy Fisher (Northwestern) MedFFT Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 184 - Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) MedFFT Travis Stefanik (Princeton) 197 - Luke Stout (Princeton) MedFFT Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) fall AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) 3:28 Seventh Place Bouts 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) dec Jacob Allen (Navy) 11-8 133 - Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) dec Matt Ramos (Purdue) 5-4 141 - Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) maj Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 9-0 149 - Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 7-3 157 - Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) dec Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 8-7 165 - Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) fall Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 5:23 174 - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) maj Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) 11-2 184 - Max Lyon (Purdue) fall Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) :22 197 - Louie DePrez (Binghamton) dec Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 8-2 285 - Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) MedFFT Joe Doyle (Binghamton) Team Scores 1. Nebraska 125 2. Ohio State 104 3. Michigan 94.5 4. Northwestern 91.5 4. Wyoming 91.5 6. Purdue 85.5 7. Cornell 81 8. Oregon State 79 9. Princeton 63.5 10. Cal Poly 60.5

(photo courtesy of TonyRotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com/Graphic by Anna-Lee Marie) The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series returns on Sunday as No. 25 Iowa State hosts rival No. 1 Iowa. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 66-16-2, but the Cyclones program appears to be on an upswing. Despite that progress, the Hawkeyes enter with a lineup that could feature as many as 8 ranked wrestlers and are heavy favorites. The match airs live on ESPN+ at 7:00pm ET. 125: No. 21 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) vs. Jesse Ybarra (Iowa) Terukina made his way to Iowa State after becoming only the sixth wrestler in history to win four Hawaii state championships. He earned the starting nod in his true freshman season last year, qualified for the NCAA tournament and finished with an 8-7 record. The results have been strong so far this year. He has won both the Daktronics and Grand View open tournaments, and last Saturday, he scored a major decision over Army's Jake Staud. Ybarra has been filling in for No. 1 Spencer Lee so far this year. He won the Luther Open against three opponents from lower divisions. After receiving a forfeit against Princeton, he faced his first wrestler from the top division last Sunday against Army. Ybarra needed to go to sudden victory, but he ultimately scored the 3-1 decision over Ryan Chauvin. On the high school level, Ybarra was a three-time Arizona state champion and a Fargo champion. Obviously, if Lee was in the lineup, the Hawkeyes would be expecting bonus points from this weight. However, that likely will not be the case here. Ybarra needed extra time to defeat a wrestler who is 1-4 on the season and 15-28 for his college career. Terukina's best win of the year is over No. 22 Liam Cronin (Nebraska), but he picked up valuable experience last year as a freshman. It is entirely possible that Ybarra will end up having the better career, but this bout might be too much too soon. Prediction: Terukina decision over Ybarra 133: Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) vs. No. 3 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) Thanks to a redshirt season and the dispensation given last year, Attasauov is a third-year freshman. For the first time as a Cyclone, he is expected to hold down the starting spot at 133 pounds. He is 7-1 for the season, with his only defeat coming against Drew Mattin (Michigan) at the Daktronics Open. Last weekend, he scored a major decision over Mark Montgomery (Army) and a decision over Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist). In freestyle, Attasauov won a U23 National title in 2020 with wins over Danny Vega (South Dakota State), No. 10 Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) and No. 2 (at 125) Patrick Glory (Princeton). DeSanto is back at 133 pounds at Iowa for the fourth consecutive season. He finished fifth in 2019 and third last year to become a two-time NCAA All-American. So far this season, DeSanto has scored a technical fall against all wrestlers not wearing an Iowa singlet. His lone decision came against teammate Cullan Schriever at the Luther Open. Last weekend against Army, he scored a 21-6 technical fall over Dominic Carone. Attasauov's freestyle success makes this an interesting contest. While DeSanto is usually dominant against this level of competition, he does the vast majority of his scoring on the feet. The likely result is that the Iowa wrestler's pace will grind on Attasauov throughout the contest. However, the Iowa State representative has some tricky throws that give him a fighting chance. Prediction: DeSanto major decision over Attasauov 141: No. 19 Zach Redding/Ian Parker (Iowa State) vs. No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) Iowa State has listed Ian Parker as a potential starter at both 141 and 149 pounds. He defeated teammate Cam Robinson via a 10-3 decision in the wrestle-offs and has not returned to the mat since. Parker at 141 pounds is probably best for Iowa State as a team, but it will be interesting to see if he makes his way down. While Parker might end up being the guy at 141, Redding has been getting the starting nod so far this year. He has won all five of his matches this season after going 10-7 and qualifying for the NCAA tournament last year at 133 pounds. Eierman has gone fifth, fourth, third and second at the NCAA tournament. This year he has one more shot at the national title and the odd distinction of being a five-time All-American. Last year was his first season in an Iowa uniform after transferring from Missouri and sitting out the 2020 season. He went undefeated until his final match, where he fell in sudden victory against No. 1 Nick Lee (Penn State). Eierman has won all of his matches with bonus this season and is coming off a fall over No. 31 Corey Shie (Army). In theory, one could make the case that Parker gives Iowa State the better chance to keep this dual close. However, in their only meeting, Eierman pinned Parker in the second period back in 2019. If Parker really is coming down in weight, this would be a formidable opponent to make a season debut against. Look for Redding to come out here with the goal of not giving up bonus, which is easier said than done against Eierman. Prediction: Eierman fall over Redding 149: No. 22 Jarrett Degen/Ian Parker (Iowa State) vs. Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) Once again, this spot could potentially be Parker, but Degen has been the starter at the weight so far this year. Last season, he did not make his season debut until February and had only 11 matches on the year. Despite the limited number of matches, he qualified for his fourth NCAA tournament. To begin his final year, he has gone 5-1, with his only defeat coming last weekend against No. 21 PJ Ogunsanya (Army) Most expect three-time NCAA qualifier Max Murin to eventually hold down this weight for the Hawkeyes. However, it has been Siebrecht so far this year, and Murin was not listed on the probable starters released earlier this week. Siebrecht was an Iowa state champion for Lisbon and went 12-3 in two limited seasons prior to this year. He is 5-1 on the season, with his only defeat coming against Ogunsanya. At the Luther Open, he scored a decision over Kristian Rumph and a technical fall over Brady Fritz, both of which were NCAA Division III runner-ups for Wartburg last year. Degen is a dangerous wrestler who can score points in a variety of odd positions. Siebrecht has limited experience at the highest levels of college wrestling and might find himself in trouble early and often. Prediction: Degen major decision over Siebrecht 157: No. 1 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. No. 8 Kaleb Young (Iowa) Carr has lost only one match in two years as a starter for the Cyclones. Last year, he won all 20 of his matches and claimed the NCAA title at 157 pounds. His quest to get back on top of the podium this year has begun with six-straight wins. Carr has scored bonus points in all but one of his matches, and that one bout was rather interesting. He went to overtime with No. 6 Peyton Robb (Nebraska), but ultimately prevailed with the 7-5 decision in sudden victory. Young is back for his final year at Iowa. After finishing fifth as a sophomore in 2019, he finished seventh last year to become a two-time All-American. He has started this season with a 5-1 record. Two weekends ago, he dropped a 9-5 decision against rival No. 5 Quincy Monday (Princeton). It was the third match between the two wrestlers, and Monday now holds a 2-1 edge in the series. Young was one of Carr's first tests as a starter back in November 2019. It was only his second match of the 2019-2020 season. At the time, some thought that Carr would be susceptible to mat wrestling since he had been focusing on freestyle at the time. That turned out to not be the case as Carr took a 6-1 decision. In the match, Young's defense allowed him to scramble, but ultimately Carr eventually scored. Since that match, Carr has become a much cleaner finisher, and he should be able to take this match by a similar margin. Prediction: Carr decision over Young 165: Isaac Judge/Austin Kraisser/Grant Stotts (Iowa State) vs. No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) Iowa State listed three potential starts at this weight. Judge is 9-5 and got the start against Army but dropped an 11-6 decision. Kraisser transferred to Iowa State after multiple years at Campbell. He is 8-3 and defeated Josh Grant (Cal Baptist) via a 2-0 decision. Stotts is 10-2 after wrestling in the Grand View and Daktronics opens. He defeated Kraisser in sudden victory, and he also bested Jagger Condomitti (Nebraska), who was a top-20 recruit in the 2021 class. Marinelli was the favorite heading into the last NCAA tournament. However, he suffered an overtime upset against Shane Griffith (Stanford) and then bowed out of the tournament with an injury. The two-time NCAA All-American is back to make one final run at the title in a weight that suddenly looks much deeper than it appeared last year. Marinelli has won all six of his matches this year and ascended to the number-one spot after Griffith dropped a controversial match against No. 17 Julian Ramirez (Cornell). Regardless of who Iowa State sends out against Marinelli, there is a solid chance the Hawkeye picks up the fall. Marinelli has a strong top game, but it is quite methodical. At times, his approach on top chews away at the clock, and he is forced to settle for lesser types of victory. It remains to be seen how this match will play out. Prediction: Marinelli major decision over Judge 174: No. 33 Joel Devine (Iowa State) vs. No. 2 Michael Kemerer/Nelson Brands (Iowa) Devine, formerly known as Shapiro, took his lumps up at 197 pounds in 2020. He went 11-16 overall and went 0-2 at the Big 12 tournament. For this season, he has made his way down to 174 pounds and started out with a 4-1 record. His only loss on the season was a tight 3-2 decision against No. 3 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska). He got the start against both Army and Cal Baptist and won both bouts by a combined 24-1 score. Returning NCAA runner-up and three-time All-American Kemerer is listed as a potential starter, but he has not wrestled a match yet this season. Brands represented the squad against both Princeton and Army, and he scored major decisions in both bouts. Last season, up at 184 pounds, he qualified for the NCAA tournament after a strong Big Ten tournament where he defeated No. 13 Zac Braunagel (Illinois), No. 19 Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) and No. 22 Chris Weiler (Wisconsin). It seems likely that Brands will get the nod here. Devine has mostly kept it close when competing against wrestlers on this level. Brands also likes to slow down the pace of the match and make it a hand fight. This could be a tight one, with a third-period takedown becoming the deciding factor. Prediction: Brands decision over Devine 184: No. 14 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) vs. No. 17 Abe Assad/Myles Wilson (Iowa) Coleman has bounced up and down the lineup during his time at Iowa State and has actually qualified for the NCAA tournament at three different weights. He is back down at 184 pounds this season after qualifying at 197 last year. Coleman dropped a match against No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) at the Daktronics Open, but he also scored a decision over No. 15 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) in the same tournament. Iowa has listed both Assad and Wilson as potential starters for this dual. Assad was expected to be the starter but suffered an upset against current high school competitor Clayton Whiting at the Luther Open. Since then, his only match was a fall over Forest Belli (Princeton) in an extra match. Wilson got the start against Princeton and also scored a victory over Belli (23-8 technical fall). He returned to the lineup for the dual against Army and took a 4-1 decision over Brad Laughlin. Wilson also recently represented the U.S. at the U23 World Championships. Wilson and Coleman wrestled in this dual during the 2019 season. Wilson held a 4-3 victory after the first period thanks to two takedowns. However, he was then unable to finish the match due to injury, and said injury eventually ended his season. In that bout, Wilson was able to continually get to legs and score. Assad is not as aggressive, but he should be able to have the advantage over Coleman on the feet as well. Prediction: Assad decision over Coleman 197: No. 24 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. No. 3 Jacob Warner/Zach Glazier (Iowa) In 2019 Bastida won a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships while representing Cuba, and he also holds freestyle victories over Kyven Gadson and Hayden Zillmer. He made the transition to folkstyle last season and went 4-4, but all four of his wins came over wrestlers from lower divisions. He gave up a fall against Silas Allred (Nebraska) at the Daktronics Open after holding a lead, but he bounced back to defeat No. 25 Jack Brown (Army) last weekend for the first ranked win of his college career. Warner finished fourth at the last NCAA tournament, with his only losses coming against Olympic bronze medalist No. 2 (at 184) Myles Amine (Michigan) and eventual champion No. 1 AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State). He won three matches at the Luther Open, but Glazier has been starting ever since. Glazier dropped both of his matches against Army and Princeton via decision. This past April, he made the finals of the Junior Freestyle Nationals but ultimately came up short against No. 5 Rocky Elam (Missouri). It would be hard to imagine Bastida pulling out a victory over Warner due to the Iowa wrestler's ability to ride and turn from the top. However, a match against Glazier would give Iowa State a chance. If Warner is healthy, he will likely get the opportunity and use his more advanced folkstyle acumen. Prediction: Warner major decision over Bastida 285: No. 29 Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) vs. No. 7 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa) Schuyler transferred to Iowa State after multiple seasons at Buffalo. He moved up to heavyweight last year and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time. Schuyler has gone 3-1 to start his first year with the Cyclones. His only defeat came via a 9-5 decision against No. 13 Christian Lance (Nebraska). Cassioppi finished third at the last NCAA tournament, with his only loss coming against eventual champion and Olympic gold medalist No. 1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota). The last month has been a wild one for Cassioppi. He won a gold medal at the U23 World Championships with a fall in the finals over Azamat Khosnov of Greece. The Hawkeye then returned to the college mat and suffered an upset fall against Jack DelGarbino (Princeton). Cassioppi got back on track last weekend with a second-period fall over Brandon Phillips (Army). Despite the odd loss in his season debut, Cassioppi appears ready to take a step forward in the loaded heavyweight division. He may still struggle against the top wrestlers at this weight, but he should have more than enough in the tank to give his squad bonus points here. Prediction: Cassioppi fall over Schuyler Dual Prediction: Iowa 30-10 over Iowa State

Rutgers All-American John Poznanski (photo courtesy of TonyRotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Thursday Night's Dual Results NC State 45 Gardner-Webb -1 125 - Jakob Camacho (NC State) fall Aedyn Concepcion (Gardner-Webb) 2:37 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) dec Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 11-5 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Trevon Majette (Gardner-Webb) 5-3 149 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) fall Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 1:38 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) tech Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 20-4 165 - Donald Cates (NC State) FFT 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) maj Evan Schenk (Gardner-Webb) 12-4 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) tech Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 20-4 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) maj Anthony Perrine (Gardner-Webb) 9-0 285 - Deonte Wilson (NC State) dec Peyton McComas (Gardner-Webb) 11-4 Michigan State 19 Lock Haven 17 125 - Luke Werner (Lock Haven) dec Julian Saldana (Michigan State) 11-7SV 133 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) dec Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) 10-5 141 - Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) dec Matt Santos (Michigan State) 7-5 149 - Connor Eck (Lock Haven) dec Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 6-5 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) dec Ben Barton (Lock Haven) 8-5SV 165 - Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) dec Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 2-0 174 - Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) tech Nate Jimenez (Michigan State) 16-0 184 - Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) fall Tommy Dressler (Lock Haven) 6:59 197 - Cam Caffey (Michigan State) maj Parker McClellan (Lock Haven) 14-5 285 - Brad Wilton (Michigan State) maj Colby Whitehill (Lock Haven) 13-5 Friday Night's Dual Results Edinboro 37 Gannon 3 125 - Logan Jaquay (Edinboro) dec Jacob Dunlap (Gannon) 5-3SV 133 - Aseel Almudhala (Gannon) dec Clayton Bashor (Edinboro) 8-7 141 - Gabe Willochell (Edinboro) maj Parker Loera (Gannon) 10-0 149 - Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) tech Hayden Butterfield (Gannon) 16-0 157 - Alex Garee (Edinboro) maj Nick Young (Gannon) 13-4 165 - Dylan Kohn (Edinboro) dec Alex Farenchak (Gannon) 12-10 174 - Joey Arnold (Edinboro) fall Marques McClorin (Gannon) 5:48 184 - Ethan Ducca (Edinboro) maj Frank Guzzi (Gannon) 17-4 197 - Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) fall Eddie Farrell (Gannon) :36 285 - Max Millin (Edinboro) dec Freddie Nixon (Gannon) 3-1SV Buffalo 30 Gannon 9 125 - Jacob Dunlap (Gannon) dec Tristan Daugherty (Buffalo) 3-0 133 - Derek Spann (Buffalo) tech Aseel Almudhala (Gannon) 16-0 141 - Ben Freeman (Buffalo) maj Parker Loera (Gannon) 18-6 149 - John Arceri (Buffalo) tech Hayden Butterfield (Gannon) 15-0 157 - Nick Young (Gannon) dec Ty Raines (Buffalo) 7-4 165 - Noah Grover (Buffalo) dec Alex Farenchak (Gannon) 5-2 174 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) fall Marques McClorin (Gannon) 3:46 184 - Jake Lanning (Buffalo) dec Frank Guzzi (Gannon) 16-10 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) maj Eddie Farrell (Gannon) 13-1 285 - Freddie Nixon (Gannon) dec Toby Cahill (Buffalo) 4-1 Buffalo 26 Edinboro 9 125 - Tristan Daugherty (Buffalo) dec Logan Jaquay (Edinboro) 4-1 133 - Derek Spann (Buffalo) tech Clayton Bashor (Edinboro) 18-2 141 - Gabe Willochell (Edinboro) dec Ben Freeman (Buffalo) 13-9 149 - Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) dec John Arceri (Buffalo) 8-6 157 - Ty Raines (Buffalo) fall Alex Garee (Edinboro) 5:39 165 - Noah Grover (Buffalo) dec Dylan Kohn (Edinboro) 3-1 174 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) dec Joey Arnola (Edinboro) 5-2 184 - Ethan Ducca (Edinboro) dec Peter Acciardi (Buffalo) 5-2 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) 5-1 285 - Toby Cahill (Buffalo) dec Max Millin (Edinboro) 6-2 Michigan State 23 Bucknell 10 125 - Julian Saldana (Michigan State) dec Brandon Seidman (Bucknell) 4-2TB 133 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) dec Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 7-0 141 - Matt Santos (Michigan State) dec Chris Lanciano (Bucknell) 9-2 149 - Kolby DePron (Bucknell) dec Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 16-12 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) maj Nick Delp (Bucknell) 11-1 165 - Caleb Fish (Michigan State) dec Zach Hartman (Bucknell) 9-5 174 - Jaden Fisher (Bucknell) maj Nate Jimenez (Michigan State) 13-4 184 - Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) dec Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) 9-6 197 - Cam Caffey (Michigan State) maj Mason McCready (Bucknell) 12-3 285 - Luke Niemeyer (Bucknell) dec Brad Wilton (Michigan State) 11-5 Central Michigan 24 Rider 12 125 - Tyler Klinsky (Rider) dec Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan) 8-6SV 133 - Richie Koehler (Rider) dec Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 13-6 141 - Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) dec Quinn Kinner (Rider) 10-8 149 - Bryan Miraglia (Rider) dec Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 10-5 157 - Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) dec Alec Bobchin (Rider) 6-2 165 - Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) InjDef Joe Casey (Rider) 174 - Bret Fedewa (Central Michigan) dec Shane Reitsma (Rider) 9-6 184 - George Walton (Rider) dec Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 7-6 197 - Aaron Bolo (Central Michigan) dec Matt Correnti (Rider) 10-4 285 - Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) fall David Szuba (Rider) 1:28 Clarion 25 Ohio 12 125 - Joey Fischer (Clarion) dec Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 3-1SV 133 - Gio DiSabato (Ohio) dec Alex Blake (Clarion) 9-3 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Kyran Hagan (Ohio) 6-5 149 - Brent Moore (Clarion) fall Alec Hagan (Ohio) :59 157 - Jordan Slivka (Ohio) dec Kolby Ho (Clarion) 8-2 165 - Cameron Pine (Clarion) maj Kamal Adewumi (Ohio) 17-4 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 12-5 184 - Zayne Lehman (Ohio) maj Ryan Weinzen (Clarion) 8-0 197 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Jordan Greer (Ohio) 3:31 285 - Austin Chapman (Clarion) dec Jordan Earnest (Ohio) 4-2 Penn State 20 Penn 16 125 - Ryan Miller (Penn State) dec Baylor Shunk (Penn) 8-2 133 - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) maj Brandon Meredith (Penn State) 10-2 141 - Nick Lee (Penn State) dec Carmen Ferrante (Penn) 6-3 149 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Anthony Artalona (Penn) 4-3TB 157 - Doug Zapf (Penn) dec Terrell Barraclough (Penn State) 4-2 165 - Creighton Edsall (Penn State) dec Lucas Revano (Penn) 6-4SV 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) maj Nick Incontrera (Penn) 13-3 184 - Donovan Ball (Penn State) dec Jesse Martinez (Penn) 11-4 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) maj Cole Urbas (Penn) 10-0 285 - Ben Goldin (Penn) FFT Rutgers 41 American 3 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Andy Fallon (American) 5-4 133 - Jack Maida (American) dec Devon Britton (Rutgers) 6-2 141 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) tech Ethan Szerencsits (American) 20-3 149 - Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) fall Patrick Ryan (American) 4:35 157 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) tech Antonio Segura (American) 17-2 165 - Andrew Clark (Rutgers) dec Tim Fitzpatrick (American) 4-2 174 - Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) dec Colin Shannon (American) 10-7 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) tech Mervin Mancia (American) 19-4 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) tech Carsten Rawls (American) 16-0 285 - Boone McDermott (Rutgers) tech Isaac Righter (American) Air Force 44 Western Colorado 3 125 - Quinn Melofchik (Air Force) InjDef Seth Lisowski (Western Colorado) 133 - Nick Krug (Air Force) fall Darian Palacio (Western Colorado) :26 141 - Cody Phippen (Air Force) maj Dean Noble (Western Colorado) 12-4 149 - Dylan Martinez (Air Force) tech Alex Alvarez (Western Colorado) 16-1 157 - Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) maj Cole Mortensen (Western Colorado) 17-5 165 - Jack Ganos (Air Force) dec Hunter Mullin (Western Colorado) 6-4 174 - Jimmy Laconte (Western Colorado) dec Noah Blake (Air Force) 8-6SV 184 - Jake Thompson (Air Force) maj Cole Gray (Western Colorado) 11-0 197 - Cole Forrester (Air Force) fall Ruger Wyneken (Western Colorado) 3:42 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) fall Samuel DeSeriere (Western Colorado) 2:30

Cliff Keen finalist Shane Griffith (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Semifinal Results 125 lbs - Patrick Glory (Princeton) over Jack Medley (Michigan) 4-2 125 lbs - Devin Schroder (Purdue) over Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 8-6 133 lbs - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Devan Turner (Oregon State) 4-1 133 lbs - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) 4-3 141 lbs - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Parker Filius (Purdue) 6-1 141 lbs - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) 3-1 149 lbs - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 6-4SV 149 lbs - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) dec Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 6-4 157 lbs - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) fall Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 2:55 157 lbs - Quincy Mondy (Princeton) dec Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 11-6 165 lbs - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) dec Cameron Amine (Michigan) 4-1 165 lbs - Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 5-4 174 lbs - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) dec Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 6-2 174 lbs - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 3-2 184 lbs - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) dec Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) 6-3 184 lbs - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) tech Jonathan Loew (Cornell) 16-1 197 lbs - Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 6-2 197 lbs - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) dec Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 2-1 285 lbs - Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) dec Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 3-2 285 lbs - Gary Traub (Oregon State) dec Christian Lance (Nebraska) 3-1SV

Maryland's Dom Solis (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This afternoon, the Maryland Terrapins will welcome a pair of regional rivals to the Xfinity Center as the Drexel and Duke will come to battle. Maryland comes into the day with an 0-2 dual record after suffering losses to Virginia and Pittsburgh. In each contest, the young Terps squad has shown fight and is steadily improving. With a similar effort today, head coach Alex Clemsen and his team could come away with a pair of wins. Below we've outlined five key bouts to watch for Maryland and their opponents from Drexel and Duke. Drexel at Maryland 165 lbs - John Martin Best (Maryland) vs. Evan Barczak (Drexel) The Terps freshman 165 lber moved into the national rankings for two weeks after his win over superstar prospect Alex Facundo at the Clarion Open. He then lost a hard-fought, 3-1 bout to fellow West Virginia native, #15 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), in the tournament finals. Since then, Best has dropped his first two dual appearances. Even those were against quality competition, NCAA runner-up Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) and #20 Justin McCoy (Virginia). Best is expected to see 2021 fourth-place finisher Evan Barczak. Evan started the year winning his first five matches, a span that saw him capture a title at the East Stroudsburg Open. He experienced some tough sledding at the Keystone Classic and went 3-2. Last weekend, Barczak split his first two duals of the year. His 6-3 win was instrumental in the Dragons win over Little Rock. A day later, he fell to All-American Travis Wittlake by major decision. 174 lbs - Dom Solis (Maryland) vs. Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) 174 lber Dom Solis should have two of the most challenging opponents on the day for Maryland. In Maryland's first bout of the day, he'll stand across from Drexel's most consistent threat, #14 Michael O'Malley. A two-time national qualifier, O'Malley was an EIWA runner-up last season and became the team's first conference finalist since 2017. In St. Louis, O'Malley won a pair of NCAA matches before his elimination. This year he claimed titles at the East Stroudsburg Open and the Keystone Classic and won his first ten bouts. O'Malley has been able to pin six of his ten opponents. In the early going this year, Dom Solis has proven to be one of the Terps more reliable starters. He's 4-2 on the season and unbeaten in dual competition. In his most recent outing, Solis earned an 11-2 major decision over Pittsburgh's Hunter Kernan, who appeared in the national rankings, at the time. He is a local product that lives less than 10 miles away from College Park. 184 lbs - Kyle Cochran (Maryland) vs. Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) The standout for Maryland this season has been one of their most experienced grapplers, Kyle Cochran. Cochran is 6-1 on the year. In his most recent dual meet, Cochran downed Pittsburgh's James Lledo by the score of 4-0. Lledo is responsible for Cochran's only setback of the 2021-22 campaign at the Clarion Open. Cochran also has a win over Michael Battista (Virginia) at the team's first dual of the year. Battista has appeared in the national rankings at times this year. Cochran has posted a pair of winning seasons for the Terps and is seeking to qualify for the national tournament for the first time. Cochran has another solid test in the form of 2021 NCAA qualifier Bryan McLaughlin. In each of the last two years, McLaughlin has qualified for NCAA's at 197 lbs. In 2021, he did so after taking fourth at the EIWA Championships. At his new weight, McLaughlin has posted a 7-3 record and won the East Stroudsburg Open. McLaughlin made the semifinals of the Keystone Classic but forfeited down to sixth place after a loss. Duke at Maryland 174 lbs - Dom Solis (Maryland) vs. Matt Finesilver (Duke) We mentioned that Dom Solis may have his hands full today and we're not lying. In his second match of the day, Solis will face #7 Matt Finesilver. The Blue Devil senior comes in sporting a perfect 10-0 record and has won titles at the Mountaineer Invitational and the Battle of the Citadel. So far this year, Finesilver has racked up three pins and a technical fall. Finesilver comes into this year as a two-time NCAA qualifier. In 2019, he was an ACC runner-up and earned the #12 seed at the NCAA Championships. 285 lbs - Zach Schrader (Maryland) vs. Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) Another member of the Maryland squad that has spent time in the national rankings is their big man Zach Schrader. Schrader is a graduate transfer that previously competed for Cal Baptist. Since the school is undergoing a transfer from DII to DI, he was not able to wrestle in the postseason. Schrader had placed twice at the National Collegiate Open (winning a title in 2019) in lieu of competing in a conference or national tournament. In his Maryland debut, Schrader brought home a title from the Clarion Open. In dual competition, he has lost both prior contests to quality opponents, which brought his season record to 5-2. Duke will counter with Jonah Niesenbaum, who is in the midst of a breakout season. After going 4-26 in his first two years in Durham, Niesenbaum is now 9-2 in 2021-22. His only two setbacks on the year have come to All-American #3 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) and a sudden victory loss to #26 Owen Trephan (NC State). Not only has Niesenbaum been winning, he's been doing so in impressive fashion. Four of his nine victories have come via fall.

Ohio State's Carson Kharchla (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco; Fantasy College Wrestling) Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Quarterfinal Results 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) fall Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) 4:36 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Joe Manchio (Columbia) 6-3 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) dec Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) 5-3 125 - Devin Schroder (Purdue) dec Jacob Allen (Navy) 1-0 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 5-0 133 - Devan Turner (Oregon State) dec Mason Clarke (Columbia) 10-4 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) tech Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 16-1 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) MedFFT Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 6-3 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) dec Grant Willits (Oregon State) 9-4 141 - Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) dec Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 3-2 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) tech Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) 20-5 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 8-3 149 - Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) dec Jaden Abas 9Stanford) 9-2 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 7-4 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) maj Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) 12-0 157 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec Hunter Willits (Oregon State) 8-1 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 7-5 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) 3-1 157 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec Will Lewan (Michigan) 6-3 165 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) maj Matt Malcom (Nebraska-Kearney) 9-0 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) dec Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) 3-1SV 165 - Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) maj Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 15-7 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) maj Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) 12-4 174 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) tech Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) 18-1 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) 7-4 174 - Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) dec Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 4-2TB 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) maj Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) 14-6 184 - Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) dec David Key (Navy) 7-4 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) dec Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) 3-2 184 - Jonathan Loew (Cornell) dec Max Lyon (Purdue) 6-3 184 - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) dec Travis Stefanik (Princeton) 6-2 197 - Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) dec Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 6-2 197 - Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec Louie DePrez (Binghamton) 2-0 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) dec Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) 5-1 197 - Patrick Brucki (Michigan) dec Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) 8-5 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) maj Joe Doyle (Binghamton) 10-2 285 - Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) dec Lucas Davison (Northwestern) 5-3 285 - Christian Lance (Nebraska) dec AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) 6-3 285 - Gary Traub (Oregon State) dec Brian Andrews (Wyoming) 3-1SV Semifinal Matchups 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. Jack Medley (Michigan) 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) vs. Devin Schroder (Purdue) 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) vs. Devan Turner (Oregon State) 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) vs. Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) vs. Parker Filius (Purdue) 141 - Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) vs. Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) vs. Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 157 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) vs. Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) vs. Quincy Monday (Princeton) 165 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) vs. Cam Amine (Michigan) 165 - Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) vs. Shane Griffith (Stanford) 174 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) vs. Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 174 - Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) vs. Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 184 - Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) vs. Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 184 - Jonathan Loew (Cornell) vs. Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 197 - Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) vs. Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) vs. Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) vs. Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) 285 - Christian Lance (Nebraska) vs Gary Traub (Oregon State) Team Scores: 1) Nebraska 79.5 2) Ohio State 71 3) Purdue 53 4) Michigan 51 5) Northwestern 44.5 6) Oregon State 44 7) Wyoming 43 8) Cornell 38.5 9) Cal Poly 35 10) Oklahoma 30.5 Semifinals by Team: Nebraska: 7 Ohio State: 5 Michigan: 4 Northwestern: 3 Oregon State: 3 Purdue: 3 Cal Poly: 2 Cornell: 2 Princeton: 2 South Dakota State: 2 Wyoming: 2 Harvard: 1 Northern Colorado: 1 Oklahoma: 1 Stanford: 1 Utah Valley: 1

(from left) Jeremiah Kent, Hunter Bolen, Parker Keckeisen (Bolen/Keckeisen photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; Kent photo courtesy of Mark Lundy) The Hokies travel to Columbia, Missouri, for a tri against two formidable opponents. They will face #23 Northern Iowa and #4 Missouri. On paper, the Hokies are favored against the Panthers at most weights, while they split the matches with the Tigers based on current rankings. This will be a great test for the team facing some strong out-of-conference programs. Individually, it is a big weekend for Sam Latona, Bryce Andonian, Hunter Bolen and Nathan Traxler as they will face two ranked opponents on the weekend. This weekend could play a big role in NCAA seeding and will be a great gauge of where the Hokies sit both individually and as a team. #10 Virginia Tech vs. #24 Northern Iowa 125: #12 Sam Latona VT vs #11 Brody Teske UNI Another big early-season test for Latona, and a chance for him to get back on track after a couple early losses. If Latona can get on his offense, he can handle this matchup easily; if he wrestles tentatively, Teske can put up points. This should be one of the more entertaining matches in this dual. Latona by decision 3-0 133: #4 Korbin Myers VT vs. Kyle Biscoglia UNI Myers has looked great to start the season. He should control this match from start to finish and push for bonus. Myers by major 7-0 141: Colin Gerardi VT vs Cael Happel/Gable Fox/Ethan Basile UNI Definite toss-up match here. Gerardi has filled in nicely since earning the starting spot and this is a spot where he could make his mark. UNI has either Happel, Fox, or Basile at their disposal. Happel is currently 6-1 and ranked 29th in the country. Gerardi by decision 10-0 149: #7 Bryce Andonian VT vs. #30 Tristan Lara UNI Andonian can use this weekend to make a big statement if he so chooses. He wrestled Sasso very tough but came out on the losing side in his only match of the season. We all know what Andonian can do and I'm hoping to see him throw it all out there this weekend. Lara is a returning NCAA qualifier and a consistent performer with wins over All-Americans Jarrett Degen and Kyle Parco and will be a good gauge of where Andonian is at. Andonian by major 14-0 157: #24 Connor Brady VT vs. Cayd Lara UNI Brady has started the year off 5-1 and has looked strong in all positions. He has shown the ability to put up points and to win close battles. Brady will be an important anchor in the middle of the lineup as the Hokies move into the meat of the Panther lineup. I think Brady controls the tempo of the match and wins a lopsided decision, but doesn't quite get bonus. Brady by decision 17-0 165: Clayton Ulrey VT vs. #25 Austin Yant UNI Ulrey hasn't started the season as well as the Hokie staff had hoped, but he has shown growth in his last two matches. He held #9 Carson Karchla to a decision in one of his lowest scoring matches of the year to help the Hokies in a close battle with the Buckeyes. Yant has looked great to start the year 6-2 and will look to get some momentum going for the Panthers. Yant by decision 17-3 174: #4 Mekhi Lewis VT vs #25 Lance Runyon/Pat Schoenfelder UNI Lewis has been dominant since returning at 174. He is 6-0 on the season, with his only close match being a 2 point decision win over #6 Ethan Smith. A healthy Mekhi Lewis is a scary prospect for anyone who steps on the mat. Lance Runyon came into the season ranked but is yet to see any action for the Panthers. Schoenfelder has a 5-2 record wrestling in opens so far this year but shouldn't pose a big threat to Lewis. Lewis by major 21-3 184: #9 Hunter Bolen VT vs #4 Parker Keckiesen UNI This is the marquee matchup for the dual. All-American versus All-American. Keckiesen edged out Bolen in sudden victory last year in the NCAA tournament so expect another battle here. I really don't know how this one shakes out, but it should be a close match that will be won by inches positionally. I'm giving the edge to Keckiesen by virtue of the last win. Keckiesen by decision 21-6 197: Dakota Howard VT vs. Noah Glaser UNI Another toss-up match here. Howard is 4-2 on the season, while Glaser is 2-2. Howard is the much more aggressive point scorer here and is very difficult to score on. I give the edge to the Hokies in this toss-up. Howard by decision 24-6 285: #14 Nathan Traxler VT vs. #21 Carter Isley UNI This is the fifth potential ranked versus ranked matchup in the dual. Traxler has started the year strong at 5-1 with four pins and his only loss was to #6 Tate Orndorff in a narrow decision. Isley is 1-1, with his first action coming in last week's Cyclone Open. Traxler holds the last victory in the series with a 10-0 major decision at the NCAA tournament last year while Traxler was at Stanford. This is a chance for Traxler to pick up another ranked win and put a stamp on the dual for the Hokies. Traxler by decision 27-6 #10 Virginia Tech vs. #4 Missouri 125: #12 Sam Latona VT vs #18 Noah Surtin Mizzou Out of the gate with a great matchup. Latona has established himself as a threat earning All-American status last year. Surtin has shown improvement throughout his time at Mizzou and is 3-0 to start the year. Latona's matches this year have come down to his level of offense-if he is attacking at a high rate, he is dangerous. His losses have come in matches where he wasn't the aggressor. I think Latona gets back on track this weekend and picks up two important wins for the Hokies. Latona by decision 3-0 133: #4 Korbin Myers VT vs. #27 Trey Crawford Mizzou Myers has established himself as a leader for the Hokies and has come through big with bonus points to help the team. This will be another opportunity for him to make a difference in the team score and pick up an extra point. Crawford is a freshman with a lot of potential who will be a name to watch in the years to come. I think Myers has the experience edge and knows the importance of this match and is able to pick up bonus. Myers by major 7-0 141: Colin Gerardi VT vs #12 Allan Hart Mizzou Gerardi has been a consistent force for the Hokies and will look to help the team this match by limiting the damage from a dangerous Allan Hart. Hart fell in the bloodround last year to Chad Red and has been a force for the Tigers in the past few seasons. Hart will be looking to add bonus points, but I think Gerardi is able to hold him to three. Hart by decision 7-3 149: #7 Bryce Andonian VT vs. #19 Josh Edmond Mizzou Edmond is another young superstar in the making for the Tigers. He is undefeated in college, going 3-0 so far this year and 10-0 last year in extra matches. But he hasn't wrestled anyone as dynamic as Andonian. Edmond isn't afraid to mix it up and we all know that Andonian goes full bore from the first whistle--so this could be a fun one. I think it will be close early, but Andonian's experience and unusual feel will help him pull away as the match goes on. This could be potential for the Hokies to pick up another bonus point. Andonian by decision 10-3 157: #24 Connor Brady VT vs. #11 Jarrett Jacques Mizzou This could be one of the best matches in the dual. Jacques fell in the bloodround last year to Brayton Lee but has been one of the most consistent high-level performers for Mizzou. Brady has lived up to high expectations coming into the season starting 5-1, with his only loss coming to #5 Quincy Monday. Both wrestlers manage the pace of the match and are great defensively but have the ability to put up a lot of points--I don't think we'll see a lot of points in this match though. I believe that Jacques is more battle-tested and will be able to keep the edge in this match. Jacques by decision 10-6 165: Clayton Ulrey VT vs. #3 Keegan O'Toole Mizzou Since he got to Columbia, O'Toole has put the world on notice that he is the real deal. He only has one loss on his record in college; a decision loss to Jake Wentzel, on his way to a 3rd place finish at the NCAA tournament. He upped that this summer by picking up a Junior World Championship and is coming into this season looking to improve on last year's finish. O'Toole is a talented wrestler who is constantly looking to finish matches, so a pin is never out of the question. Ulrey has had a rough start to the season, but has shown the ability to step up to help the team save critical points in duals. This one will be a big challenge for Ulrey to manage and O'Toole will be looking to get as many bonus points as possible for the Tigers. O'Toole by tech 10-11 174: #4 Mekhi Lewis VT vs. #10 Peyton Mocco Mizzou In our first of back-to-back top-10 battles, Mekhi Lewis looks to continue his early-season dominance at his new weight class. Lewis is back from a season-ending injury last season--he is healthy and looks very, very strong at the higher weight class. He battled All-American Ethan Smith in a great match where he pulled away late to win a decision. Mocco is 3-0 to start the year and finished in the round of 16 at the NCAA tournament last year, but he hasn't met anyone of the caliber of Lewis yet this season. I think Lewis controls this match from the first whistle and will be pushing for bonus points to help his team. Lewis by decision 13-11 184: #9 Hunter Bolen VT vs. #10 Jeremiah Kent Mizzou Bolen faces his second top-10 opponent of the weekend in a very dynamic wrestler in Jeremiah Kent. Kent made the round of 16 last year while Bolen brought home All-American honors. Bolen is the more consistent wrestler in what to expect and Kent is capable of scoring in bunches, but Bolen is very difficult to score on. I expect the maturity and experience of Bolen to play a big role in this match. Bolen by decision 16-11 197: Dakota Howard VT vs. #5 Rocky Elam Mizzou Depending on the bout order, this match could play a big role in establishing some momentum for the Tigers. Elam is an All-American and a Junior World Champion and was dominant in his first year of college wrestling, finishing 5th at NCAAs. Howard is a scrappy competitor and never seems to be out of a match; he has had a good start to his season at 4-2. Elam will be looking to add bonus here and Howard will be looking to manage the match and minimize damage. Elam by major 16-15 285: #14 Nathan Traxler VT vs. #13 Zach Elam Mizzou Another Hokie top-10 dual will come down to the heavyweight match to decide a winner. Traxler and Elam and very evenly matched and this will be a fun way to end a back and forth dual. Both have fallen in the Bloodround at the NCAA tournament and are looking to get to the All-American podium this season. Elam is 3-0 to start the year, while Traxler is 6-1 with four pins. Traxler's lone loss is to #6 Tate Orndorff. In the matches that Traxler has been the aggressor, he has been dominant, so if he's looking to seal the win for the Hokies, he will need to be on the attack. I think we see a back and forth match with takedowns on both sides and Traxler is able to pull it out late. Traxler by decision 19-15

Michigan's Patrick Brucki (on top) (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco; Fantasy College Wrestling) The first session of championship action has concluded from the Las Vegas Convention Center at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Here are the results from the Round of 16 as they appear on the bracket, so they fall in order of appearance in the quarterfinals. Round of 16 Results 125 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) over Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 3-0 125 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) dec Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) 4-0 125 - Joe Manchio (Columbia) dec Beau Bayless (Harvard) 3-2 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) tech Jeremiah Reno (Nebraska) 18-3 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) dec Eddie Flores (Cal State Bakersfield) 4-2 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) dec Jake Ferri (Kent State) 11-5 125 - Jacob Allen (Navy) dec Logan Ashton (Stanford) 3-2 125 - Devin Schroder (Purdue) tech Yusief Lillie (Utah Valley) 18-0 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Abe Hinrichsen (Cal Poly) 6-1 133 - Kyle Gliva (Minnesota) dec Job Greenwood (Wyoming) 5-0 133 - Mason Clarke (Columbia) dec Nick Masters (Princeton) 9-7 133 - Devan Turner (Oregon State) fall Antonio Saldata (Cal Baptist) 3:00 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Dom LaJoie (Cornell) 10-4 133 - Josh Koderhandt (Navy) tech Brendon Fenton (Kent State) 18-3 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) maj Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) 11-3 133 - Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) dec Dylan Koontz (Ohio State) 7-5 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) fall Louis Newell (Kent State) 4:54 141 - Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) maj Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 9-1 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) dec Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 2-0 141 - Grant Willits (Oregon State) fall Cole Mattin (Michigan) 3:00 141 - Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) dec Cole Handlovic (Cornell) 6-4SV 141 - Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) dec Michael Jaffe (Harvard) 10-5 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) fall Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 5:56 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) fall Jack Whitmire (The Citadel) 2:42 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) tech Lukas Stricker (Harvard) 18-3 149 - Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) InjDef Kanen Storr (Michigan) 149 - Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) fall Kody Komara (Kent State) 4:29 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) 7-4 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) fall Josh Brown (Cal Baptist) 1:39 149 - Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) tech Ethan Willis (The Citadel) 16-0 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) dec Cory Crooks (Oregon State) 2-1 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) maj Nick Lombard (Binghamton) 12-4 157 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) maj Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 10-2 157 - Hunter Willits (Oregon State) dec Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 3-1 157 - Jacob Wright (Wyoming) maj Charlie Darracott (Stanford) 13-2 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Kenny O'Neill (South Dakota State) 8-2 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) fall Adam Santoro (Cornell) 6:22 157 - Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) fall Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) 5:38 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) 3-1 157 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec AJ Raya (Cal Baptist) 8-3 165 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) dec Val Park (Navy) 4-2 165 - Matt Malcom (Nebraska-Kearney) maj David Ferrante (Northwestern) 14-4 165 - Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) dec Brady Chrisman (Kent State) 8-3 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) maj Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart) 10-2 165 - Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) tech Emil Soehnlen (Purdue) 20-3 165 - Josh Ramirez (Cornell) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 8-6 165 - Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) tech Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) 20-3 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) fall Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) 2:58 174 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) dec Michael Ferree (Kent State) 9-7 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Jared Krattiger (Minnesota) 8-3 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Tyler Eischens (Stanford) 7-3 174 - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) dec Joshua Kim (Harvard) 3-1 174 - Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) dec Chris Foca (Cornell) 3-2 174 - Troy Fisher (Northwestern) dec Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 7-3 174 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) dec Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) 8-6 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) tech Max Maylor (Michigan) 26-9 184 - Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) dec Caden Gerlach (Cal Baptist) 7-4 184 - David Key (Navy) maj Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) 11-2 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) fall Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 4:18 184 - Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) dec Luke Rada (Harvard) 5-1 184 - Jonathan Loew (Cornell) maj Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart) 8-0 184 - Max Lyon (Purdue) dec Collin McCracken (Kent State) 6-2 184 - Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) 6-2 184 - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) fall Jack Jessen (Northwestern) 5:27 197 - Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) maj JJ Dixon (Oklahoma) 16-6 197 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 3-2 197 - Louie DePrez (Binghamton) dec Luke Stout (Princeton) 10-4 197 - Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec Andrew Davison (Northwestern) 4-0 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) fall Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 4:02 197 - Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) dec Thomas Penola (Purdue) 3-2 197 - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) dec Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 4-3 197 - Patrick Brucki (Michigan) maj Michial Foy (Minnesota) 14-4 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) fall Lee Herrington (Nebraska-Kearney) 2:52 285 - Joe Doyle (Binghamton) fall Robert Winters (Northern Colorado) 1:44 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) dec Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) 6-2 285 - Yaraslou Slavikouski (Harvard) maj Dan Conley (Columbia) 10-1 285 - Christian Lance (Nebraska) maj Jacob Cover (Kent State) 20-8 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) dec Nick Copley (Sacred Heart) 9-2 285 - Gary Traub (Oregon State) dec Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) 3-1 285 - Brian Andrews (Wyoming) dec Riley Smith (Navy) 10-7

Michigan State's Cam Caffey (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a the first month of action, Austin Sommer has asserted himself as the clubhouse leader in our staff picks competition. Austin did not have perfect week this time; however, no one did. The Buffalo/Binghamton dual hampered everyone except Cody Goodwin. This week everyone was in agreement picking Michigan State over Bucknell and Iowa over Iowa State. The two duals that should impact our standings next week are Rider/Central Michigan and Virginia Tech/Missouri. Our crew split 6-4 in favor of Central Michigan; while Missouri was more commonly picked, 7-3.

2021 NCAA qualifier Grant Willits (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) All start times Pacific Standard Time. InterMat Tournament/Dual Rankings (November 30) are used where appropriate. As the fall semester winds down on college campuses, the tournament season is coming into relief. Into Week 5, the main corpus of the Pac-12 conference is in action at the heralded Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (CKLV) while Little Rock competes at the Cougar Clash hosted by Southern Illinois, Edwardsville. After a few weeks of duals pitting the Pac-12 against the nation's best teams, we will get our first glance at the conference against nationally-ranked competition in a tournament format. At the CKLV, a total of five weights are expected to involve multiple nationally-ranked Pac-12 wrestlers. Meanwhile, Little Rock will face a smaller, but nonetheless Division 1 field at the Cougar Clash, including another confrontation with the #20 Wisconsin squad in addition to Bellarmine, Brown, Northern Illinois, and host SIUE. (Arizona State is off the mat until the Collegiate Duals later in the month of December.) Upcoming Friday, December 3rd #16 Cal Poly, #21 Stanford, CSU Bakersfield, and Oregon State at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Day 1) - Live on FloWrestling Ranked wrestlers: 125: #2 Patrick Glory (Princeton); #7 Devin Schroder (Purdue); #9 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State); #16 Jack Medley (Michigan); #17 Joe Manchio (Columbia); #26 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State); #28 Jacob Allen (Navy) 133: #6 Chris Cannon (Northwestern); #14 Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield); #16 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan); #20 Devan Turner (Oregon State); #23 Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado); #24 Matt Ramos (Purdue); #29 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley); #30 Job Greenwood (Wyoming); #32 Jackson DiSario (Stanford); #33 Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 141: #7 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State); #9 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado); #11 Chad Red Jr (Nebraska); #13 Grant Willits (Oregon State); #15 Parker Filius (Purdue); #20 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State); #24 Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly); #25 Jake Bergeland (Minnesota); #30 Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield); #33 Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell); #2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State); #4 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern); #6 Jaden Abas (Stanford); #12 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska); #13 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly); #15 Mitch Moore (Oklahoma); #16 Kanen Storr (Michigan); #26 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota); #29 Zach Price (South Dakota State); #31 Cory Crooks (Oregon State) 157: #2 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern); #5 Quincy Monday (Princeton); #6 Peyton Robb (Nebraska); #12 Kendall Coleman (Purdue); #13 Jacob Wright (Wyoming); #14 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma); #15 Will Lewan (Michigan); #17 Hunter Willits (Oregon State); #19 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy); #25 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State); #31 Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) 165: #2 Evan Wick (Cal Poly); #4 Shane Griffith (Stanford); #9 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State); #10 Cameron Amine (Michigan); #12 Phil Conigliaro (Harvard); #17 Julian Ramirez (Cornell); #18 Tanner Cook (South Dakota State); #23 David Ferrante (Northwestern); #30 Joe Grello (Oklahoma); #31 Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) 174: #3 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska); #6 Ethan Smith (Ohio State); #8 Chris Foca (Cornell); #13 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming); #16 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State); #19 Troy Fisher (Northwestern); #20 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue); #22 Aaron Olmos (Oregon State); #24 Jared Krattiger (Minnesota); #26 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma); #27 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton); #29 Tyler Eischens (Stanford); #30 Joshua Kim (Harvard); #31 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 184: #6 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly); #11 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming); #15 Taylor Venz (Nebraska); #16 Jonathan Loew (Cornell); #18 Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma); #21 Max Lyon (Purdue); #25 Travis Stefanik (Princeton); #26 David Key (Navy); Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 197: #6 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma); #8 Patrick Brucki (Michigan); #9 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming); #10 Eric Schultz (Nebraska); #11 Louie DePrez (Binghamton); #12 Thomas Penola (Purdue); #16 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State); #18 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell); #19 Jake Koser (Navy); #21 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State); #22 Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado); #27 Luke Stout (Princeton); #32 Andrew Davison (Northwestern); #33 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 285: #6 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State); #8 Brian Andrews (Wyoming); #13 Christian Lance (Nebraska); #15 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard); #16 Lucas Davison (Northwestern); #22 AJ Nevills (South Dakota State); #28 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma); #30 Joe Doyle (Binghamton) Saturday, December 4th #16 Cal Poly, #21 Stanford, CSU Bakersfield, and Oregon State at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Day 2) - Live on FloWrestling Little Rock at Cougar Clash - Live on Rokfin (@ilmatmen) Ranked wrestlers 125: #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 141: #27 Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) 149: #17 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) 157: #18 Justin Ruffin (SIU Edwardsville) 165: #19 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois), #26 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 174: #12 Andrew McNally (Wisconsin), #32 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) 184: #8 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois), #22 Chris Weiler (Wisconsin) 197: #29 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 285: #5 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)

Jake Ferri (right) at the 2021 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Friday, December 3rd, 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational: Binghamton, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Columbia, Cornell, CSU Bakersfield, Harvard, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, Navy, Nebraska, Northern Colorado, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Princeton, Purdue, Sacred Heart, South Dakota State, Stanford, The Citadel, and Utah Valley (9:00am) Edinboro vs. Gannon (5:00pm) Buffalo vs. Gannon @ Edinboro (6:00pm) Central Michigan vs. Rider (7:00pm) Clarion vs. Ohio (7:00pm) Edinboro vs. Buffalo (7:00pm) Saturday, December 4th, 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational: Binghamton, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Columbia, Cornell, CSU Bakersfield, Harvard, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, Navy, Nebraska, Northern Colorado, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Princeton, Purdue, Sacred Heart, South Dakota State, Stanford, The Citadel, and Utah Valley (9:00am) Cougar Clash: Bellarmine, Brown, Little Rock, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and SIUE Edwardsville (10:00am) George Mason vs. Long Island (11:00am) Sunday, December 5th, 2021 ARMS Software Patriot Open: George Mason vs. Davidson (10:00am) Ohio vs. West Virginia (1:00pm) #MACinsider Thoughts: IT'S CLIFF KEEN WEEKEND BABY!!!! Excited, thrilled, and over-the-moon ecstatic don't even begin to describe how I feel about this upcoming weekend of competition, especially for the MAC. With Kent State heading to Las Vegas, I'm curious to see how they'll fare against some of the toughest teams in the country. I'll hedge my bets and say at least four Flashes will land themselves on the podium. The Cougar Clash, hosted by SIUE Edwardsville, is going to be an exciting interconference match-up as they will face Northern Illinois. I'd like to see a close competition and predict that the winner will be determined in the final match. If I'm right, I deserve a prize. Preferably Tully's chicken tenders (plain, extra crispy, with mild sauce on the side.) George Mason will be in action on both Saturday and Sunday, and I predict a win in the dual Saturday. I'm confident in the Patriots and their ability to edge out their opponents on not only skill, but their conditioning. Have you seen their practices? Exactly. Being that Buffalo is my hometown, I'd like to see the Bulls go 2-0 in competition this weekend as they face both Edinboro and Gannon. #SorryNotSorry. If I'm right, again, I'd like Tully's chicken tenders as my prize. I'd also like to see Ohio come away with at least one match notched on their belts this weekend. In the last few weeks, the Bobcats have looked strong against their opponents, and I think they have what it takes to be a title contender. Overall, I think the MAC is in good standings as this weekend of competition is upon us. Good luck to all of the schools competing, and make the #MACinsider proud!

UFC veteran Clay Guida (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The college wrestling season is in full swing. The attention of most fans will be locked in on the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, all the big duals this weekend, and of course, the top-notch coverage here at InterMat. However, the MMA machine stops for nobody. As always, there are a variety of cards loaded with former wrestling talent. If wrestling fans are able to catch a break, check out some of the following fights. Friday - Bellator 272 On Friday, Bellator returns with a card featuring a main event between bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis and former champion Kyoji Horiguchi. Kicking off the main card of Bellator 272 is a middleweight fight between former Missouri wrestler Johnny Eblen and Collin Huckbody. At Missouri, Eblen spent multiple seasons in the starting lineup. As a senior in 2015, he won the MAC tournament and qualified for the NCAA tournament. Eblen made his professional MMA debut in 2017. He went 4-0 under the Shamrock FC banner before signing with Bellator in 2019. Eblen then won his first five fights in the promotion, including a decision victory over Travis Davis in his last outing at Bellator 262 this past July. The bout will be Huckbody's Bellator debut. He will bring a 10-3 record into the cage. Former Oklahoma State wrestler Kyle Crutchmer will start off the preliminary portion of the card against Oliver Enkamp at welterweight. In his last fight, he bounced back from his first professional defeat with a decision victory over Levan Chokheli at Bellator 260. Crutchmer was a two-time All-American for the Cowboys who finished his eligibility in 2017 with a seventh-place finish. This fight on Friday will be a big step up in competition for Crutchmer. Enkamp has a 10-2 professional record but washed out of the UFC in 2018 after dropping fights against Nordine Taleb and Danny Roberts. He has turned things around with Bellator and is now riding a three-fight winning streak. The Bellator preliminary card will air live and free on YouTube at 7:00pm ET, while the main card begins at 10:00pm ET on Showtime. Friday - LFA 119 Also on Friday night, Legacy Fighting Alliance will host LFA 119. In the main event, former Arizona State wrestler Josh Silveira will take on Jared Revel. Silveira is better known in MMA circles as the son of old-school fighter and coach Marcus “Conen” Silveira. Despite this, he also made a name for himself on the wrestling mats. As a senior in 2016, he went 22-11 and qualified for the NCAA tournament through the Pac-12. Silveira made his professional MMA debut in 2019 and currently has a 6-0 record, His opponent on Friday, Revel is 11-2 and coming off a decision victory over UFC veteran and grappling ace Sergio Moraes, but he has been out of action since 2020. LFA 119 airs live on UFCFightPass.com at 10:00pm ET. Saturday - Art of War Cage Fighting 21 While most of the attention in the MMA will be focused on the UFC show on Saturday, former Cornell wrestler Mark Grey will continue his amateur MMA career The former four-time National Prep champion and three-time NCAA qualifier will take on Chris Kwiatkowski at Art of War Cage Fighting 21. Grey has won all four of his amateur fights since making his MMA debut this past March. The card airs live at 7:00pm ET via internet pay per view (https://starfund.app/organization/awcf). Saturday - UFC Vegas 44 In the main event of this weekend's UFC card, former featherweight champion Jose Aldo continues his bantamweight campaign against Rob Font. Also on the main card, former Harper College wrestler Clay Guida will look to extend his extensive MMA career against fellow veteran Leonardo Santos. Guida is coming off a competitive defeat against Greco Roman silver medalist Mark O. Mardsen. The 39-year-old wrestler has been fighting professionally since 2003. His opponent on Saturday is a decorated submission grappler who has also been fighting for years as his MMA debut came back in 2002. William Knight was a state champion wrestler for Manchester High in Connecticut. The “Knightmare” made his UFC debut in 2020 after winning a spot via Dana White's Contenders Series. He is now 2-1 in the promotion and coming off a first-round knockout victory over Fabio Cherant. On Saturday, he faces former college football player Alonzo Menifield who holds an 11-2 professional record and enters this fight off back-to-back wins. The entire UFC Vegas 44 card is scheduled to air live on ESPN. The preliminary card begins at 7:00pm ET, while the main card starts at 10:00pm ET.

2021 NCAA champion Aaron Brooks (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It's been quite a first month in the college landscape and with two and a half more to go, I don't expect things to slow down any time soon. I caught my first duals of the year with the Garden State Grapple and it felt like being home again with all the shouting, squeaking, chants of two, and stocky dudes of all kinds walking around chests out. It was like music to the cauliflower'ed ear. (working on mine, get to that later) What really caught my attention was the mat next to Rutgers, where girls roughly aged five to ten were absolutely throwing down. Right there. On the Prudential Center arena floor. Right next to Rutgers and Hofstra. How cool is that? These girls are hungry to compete, trained, and can absolutely scrap out there and it's high time girls wrestling is sanctioned everywhere in the country. I'm looking at you PA, you're supposed to be the leader in the sport and we've seen you know how to punish the kids, so how about we reward some others. We've also seen a lot of talk about the "ducking" situation and all I really have to say about that is get over it for now. It's early. We're all starved for the best action but be patient. You've got teams who haven't competed in two years, guys who only competed for the bare minimum to qualify for March, guys with no knees, and rosters more loaded up than usual. The extra year changed everything about the system and the coaches are still trying to figure out what they're working with. By March, we will have gotten all the top action our little heart's desire. I promise you. Let's do some questions, which I'm quite sure are not about wrestling. In the spirit of Vegas week, what's your game of choice at the casino? @FantasyD1Wrestl My esteemed cubiclemate FCW was on a plane yesterday, so his question is valid this time. Jersey fans will tell you the only thing better than a big wrestling tourney is having it near a casino. I'm not a huge gambler, but when I do, I prefer to hit the Blackjack table. If you're not afraid of dropping three or four hundred bucks or trying to grind out sixty bucks in winnings, then this is the game to play. I can sit down with a drink in a calm situation for a good few hours, just enjoying the action without any real consequences like a Craps table wiping me clean in ten minutes. Here's some advice, if, in the first five hands, some dude is complaining loudly about every card he gets, then get up and walk away. Bad mojo like that never brings any luck to a table. Other than that, learn to add small numbers quickly, don't double down against a face card, and enjoy some CKLV in between. I have noticed a lot of Twitter posts about what makes one mentally weak…what makes someone mentally tough???? @DutrowJim You'll have to ask Jacob Kasper, aka Julius Creed. He hasn't got that far yet in his lessons and, for now, I'm merely keeping tabs on the things that make us weak-minded. What do you think of these top kids leaving high school early to finish up online and train at RTCs after they commit? Or better yet, is expecting blue chip-type kids to start as true freshman becoming more common and if so, is that good for the sport? @LanaRowley I chalk it up mostly to the uncertainty of the last year and what's ahead. You can see how a top kid can feel like moving on after a lifeless short season with no fans, while they're already thinking about the next level. Online classes, albeit necessary, undoubtedly took away the allure of being in school and enjoying your success. Now you've got a kid in position to begin the next process and already used to online learning. I do think it will get back to normal when full seasons are back in swing and don't think it will become the norm. Certainly, true freshmen starting was becoming a thing, but that might change now with the extra year backlogging plenty of teams. Are you still alive and if so, how bad does the other guy look? @JoeKania3 How did you defeat the fireball? @RichardAMann The Incident. First off, it wasn't cigarette-related, so we can keep that gimmick going until I quit or it kills me. Long story short, a flaming pot of oil flew past my head and out the door, grazing the left side of my head, which was luckily protected by a hoodie and Covid hair. You react in the moment and don't think about it until after and I've certainly thought of the numerous ways I could be dead or burned badly. Maybe it's a miracle or angels looking out for me that made a flaming pot of oil fly down the stairs and out the door missing nearly everything in its way, but that was crazy. I'd like to thank everyone who reached out to check on me. It means more to me than you know that you care and I will not forget it. Thanks to my brother for sacrificing himself in the moment and possibly saving my life. Keep your head up, bro. You'll be back to your normal self soon enough. Most importantly to my fiance, you have been by my side from the ER to right now, helping in any way you could and I just don't know what I would do without you. I love you and promise not to mess up what used to be a pretty solid face anymore. Does signing Mad Max help erase the pain of when Matt Harvey put himself back in the game in the 9th inning of game 5? @Coach___Wheels I just got burned again. Have a good weekend all, time to get my Cliff Keen on.

2x NCAA Champion Yianni Diakomihalis (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Friday 12/3 American vs Rutgers (#12) – Washington DC (7:30PM) Binghamton @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Bucknell vs Michigan State – Lewisburg, PA (7PM) Columbia @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Cornell (#11) @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Harvard @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Navy @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Penn vs Penn State (#2) – Philadelphia, PA (7PM) Princeton @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Sacred Heart @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Saturday 12/4 Binghamton @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Brown @ Cougar Clash – Edwardsville, IL (all day) Columbia @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Cornell (#11) @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Drexel @ Maryland Duals vs. Duke & Maryland – College Park, MD (10AM & 12PM) Harvard @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Lehigh (#21) vs Lock Haven – Lock Haven, PA (1PM) Long Island @ George Mason – Fairfax, VA (11AM) Navy @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Princeton @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Sacred Heart @ Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Las Vegas, NV (all day) Sunday 12/5 American vs Duke & Hofstra – Washington, DC (11:30AM & 1PM) Franklin & Marshall vs VMI & LIU – Lancaster, PA (2PM & 4PM) Hofstra vs Duke & American – Washington, DC (10AM & 1PM) Lehigh @ Penn State (#2) – University Park, PA (2PM) Long Island vs. VMI & Franklin and Marshall – Lancaster, PA (12PM & 4PM) *ALL STARTING TIMES ARE LISTED IN EST* What I'm Most Excited For: The big event this weekend is Cliff Keen in Las Vegas. Cornell will send most starters. We will not see Vito at 133, but Yianni at 149 with a loaded weight class with Sammy Sasso and Jaden Abas, plus many more. We'll see how he fits in at this weight. We'll see Cardenas at 197 and I think he does very well! Penn vs Penn State will be a fantastic test for the Quakers. Word on the street is that Artalona will be back. Where you'll find me: I potentially may be at the Penn match Friday as they take on Penn State, if I can make it work with my schedule. If not, I'll be tuned into that one on ESPN+. Sunday, you can find me at my local D1 program watching the Diplomats take on VMI and LIU.

2020 74 kg Olympic gold medal bout (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Wolnik wrestling league has been one of Russia's best-kept secrets this year, hosting high-level matches that showcase the best of Russian domestic and international talent. Their 7th event will be their biggest one to date, as the card will feature matches in Grappling, Women's wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling and Men's Freestyle wrestling. This article will cover the three marquee matchups in men's freestyle that a rematch of the 74 KG Olympic finals from Tokyo between #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) and #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR), Seven-time World/Olympic champion #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) take on 2019 world bronze medalist Magomedgadzhi Nurov (MKD) at 97 KG and finally heavyweight at 125 KG #8 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) will take on world bronze medalist Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL). 74 KG- #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) vs. #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). One of the most highly anticipated matches of the event will be a rematch of the 74 KG Olympic finals in Tokyo between #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS) and #2 Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (BLR). Both men have an extensive history with each other dating back to 2017 when Sidakov won their first match at the 70 KG Yarygin that would be avenged by Kadimagomedov in a controversial quarterfinals match later that year at Russian Nationals where he'd go on to take gold and Sidakov would finish fifth. Four years went by until their next match, with both men in peak form in Tokyo, but Sidakov coming off the better in a 7-0 decision over the dangerous Belarusian. Sidakov sits atop the #1 spot in the pound for pound and 74 KG rankings for good reason, as the North Ossetian is coming off three straight World/Olympic titles. Sidakov's head outside shots, defense, inside control throwby and ability to come up clutch in big matches are his defining characteristics that have carried him to gold. One weakness that Sidakov does have is that he can start matches slowly and if Kadimagomedov can take advantage of this and get out to and maintain an early lead, he could even the series against Sidakov. Kadimagomedov transformed into one of the most electrifying wrestlers to watch this past quad as he's put together amazing wins over #1 Zaurbek Sidakov (RUS), #3 Kyle Dake (USA), #4 Taimuraz Salkazanov (SVK), #5 Frank Chamizo (ITA), #9 Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (RUS) and #18 Khetag Tsabolov (SRB). Kadimagomedov has absolutely unreal timing for explosive counters, with a rib-cracking chest wrap being his go-to. Kadimagomedov's ability to score off scrambles along with using a fantastic overhook shuck to counter opponents' pressure has rightfully earned him the distinction as one of the most dangerous men in the world at 74 KG. With such familiarity between Kadimagomedov and Sidakov, expect to see a slower-paced match that leans more towards Sidakov neutralizing the scrambles of Kadimagomedov. 97 KG- #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) vs. Magomedgadzhi Nurov (NMK) #1 Abdulrashid Sadulaev (RUS) has put himself into rarefied air after winning his sixth and seventh World/Olympic titles this year and will see a familiar foe in 2019 world bronze medalist Magomedgadzhi Nurov (NMK). Nurov is coming off a successful showing at the Wolnik 6 event, tech falling Yarygin champion Magomedkhan Magomedov (RUS) in what was one of the most impressive showings of his career. The North Macedonian standout is an upper-body threat throughout the match and in his 2 matches against Sadulaev from the 2019 world championships and 2020 European championships, he was able to put the seven-time World/Olympic champion in danger off throws twice. But as was the case in their two previous meetings, I expect to see Sadulaev overcome an early Nurov scare to dominate to end the year. 125 KG- #8 Sergey Kozyrev (RUS) vs. #10 Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (MGL) Coming into this match, both men are coming off of big wins. Kozyrev over 2019 Russian Nationals runner-up Said Gamidov (RUS) at the Wolnik 6 event and Munkhtur coming off a world bronze medal over Asian champion Oleg Boltin (KAZ). Both men are highly athletic heavyweights, but Kozyrev has the deeper technical acumen of the two and I expect to see him slow down Munkhtur and win a close 3-2, 5-4 margin match as he continues to build himself back up as Russia's next heavyweight medal threat.

Wyoming NCAA qualifier Hayden Hastings (photo courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) All times Eastern Friday 12/3 California Baptist, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, 12:00 PM Western Colorado at Air Force, 9:00 PM California Baptist at North Dakota State, 2:00 PM Saturday 12/4 California Baptist, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, 11:00 AM Northern Iowa at Missouri, 2:00 PM North Dakota State vs. Augustana (S.D.) at Sioux Falls, SD, 2:00 PM Northern Iowa vs. Virginia Tech at Missouri, 4:00 PM Virginia Tech at Missouri, 7:00 PM Sunday 12/5 West Virginia at Ohio, 1:00 PM Iowa at Iowa State, 7:00 PM What I'm Most Excited For: Cliff Keen Vegas Invitational: Huge Big 12 contingency heads to Vegas to take on a deep field of teams at the Cliff Keen tournament. For some of these teams we could see some “under the radar” guys emerge and finish high on the podium here. You've got really deep weight classes like 125, 141, 165, 174, and 197 that all have title contenders from the Big 12 conference, and a lot more to follow. This should be a solid tournament. Best Dual: Virginia Tech at Missouri There's a lot of debate in the college wrestling world over who is the #2 conference? The Big Ten is #1 with a bullet, and there's no debate surrounding that, but you could make arguments for the Big 12 and ACC to battle it out for the #2 spot. Here's the chance for Missouri to make a statement for the conference they just returned to. Tech is one of the top teams in the ACC and Missouri was who I had as the preseason favorite in the Big 12. Should be a really good dual. Honorable Mention: Iowa at Iowa State Iowa's going to be the heavy favorite here, but never discount a rivalry like Iowa-Iowa State. Should be a great atmosphere and environment, with some good individual matchups, and a few that do favor Iowa State.