InterMat Staff

(photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) DI wrestling moves into December and we're back to a full slate of duals and tournaments. 29 duals and some major tournaments will be going on during the remainder of this week. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this weekend. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match. All times Eastern Thursday, December 2: Michigan State at Lock Haven, 7:00 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network Gardner-Webb at NC State, 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Friday, December 3: 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, Utah Valley, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, 12:00 PM FloWrestling Gannon at Edinboro, 5:00 PM FloWrestling Buffalo vs. Gannon at Edinboro, 6:00 PM FloWrestling Michigan State at Bucknell, 7:00 PM ESPN+ Rider at Central Michigan, 7:00 PM Chippewas All-Access Ohio at Clarion, 7:00 PM Clarion Rokfin Buffalo at Edinboro, 7:00 PM FloWrestling Penn State at Penn, 7:00 PM ESPN+ Rutgers at American, 7:30 PM ESPN+ Western Colorado at Air Force, 9:00 PM FloWrestling Saturday, December 4: Drexel vs. Duke at Maryland, 10:00 AM Long Island at George Mason, 11:00 AM ESPN+ Bellarmine, Brown, Little Rock, Northern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, Wisconsin at Cougar Clash, hosted by SIU Edwardsville, 11:00 AM 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, Utah Valley, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Las Vegas, NV, 12:00 PM FloWrestling Drexel at Maryland, 12:00 PM Lehigh at Lock Haven, 1:00 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network Duke at Maryland, 2:00 PM Northern Iowa at Missouri, 2:00 PM ESPN+ North Dakota State vs. Augustana (S.D.) at Sioux Falls, SD, 2:00 PM NSIC Network Northern Iowa vs. Virginia Tech at Missouri, 4:00 PM ESPN+ Virginia Tech at Missouri, 7:00 PM ESPN+ Sunday, December 5: Duke vs. Hofstra at American, 10:00 AM Davidson, George Mason at ARMS Software Patriot Open, hosted by George Mason, 10:00 AM FloWrestling Duke at American, 11:30 AM ESPN+ Long Island vs. VMI at Franklin & Marshall, 12:00 PM Hofstra at American, 1:00 PM ESPN+ West Virginia at Ohio, 1:00 PM ESPN+ VMI at Franklin & Marshall, 2:00 PM Centennial Conference Digital Network Lehigh at Penn State, 2:00 PM B1G+ Long Island at Franklin & Marshall, 4:00 PM Centennial Conference Digital Network Iowa at Iowa State, 7:00 PM ESPN+

Gardner-Webb 133 lber Todd Carter (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Here's what's on tap for this week in the SoCon!

Yianni Diakomihalis (left) and Sammy Sasso (photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) As of Friday morning, college wrestling is back in Vegas! The 39th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is back and takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday and Saturday. As has typically been the case, this tournament is arguably the toughest regular-season tournament in collegiate wrestling. Seven of the top-15 tournament teams in the nation will be in attendance (#4 Michigan, #7 Northwestern, #8 Cornell/Ohio State, #11 Minnesota, #13 Nebraska, #15 Cal Poly), along with six wrestlers currently ranked in the top-two of their respective weights. Here is our weight-by-weight preview of the action that will take place, along with some dark horses to watch, and finals predictions. 125 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) We're starting it off with a solid 125 lb weight class. Second-ranked Patrick Glory is set to make his return to college wrestling after missing the 2021 campaign due to Ivy League rules. Though he's going all the way out to Vegas, Glory may see his 2020 EIWA finals opponent, Joe Manchio, in the semifinals. Manchio kept the 2019 Midlands champion in check during their last meeting, losing by the score of 3-0. In the opening weekend of the season, Manchio knocked off 2021 All-American Sam Latona (Virginia Tech). Before getting to Glory, Manchio may have to get by Jack Medley, who is responsible for his only loss this season. The other half of the bracket is expected to be anchored by a pair of Big Ten foes, in Devin Schroder and Malik Heinselman. Schroder made the finals at this tournament in 2019 and has twice finished as a Big Ten runner-up. He's one of the more talented wrestlers in this weight class that has yet to AA. Like Manchio, Heinselman can hang his hat on a November victory over Latona. Aside from Schroder, Heinselman is the only past placer expected at this weight class. I'd be shocked if Heinselman didn't improve upon his eighth-place showing from 2019. Unranked Threats: Watch for Kent State's Jake Ferri, who was third in the MAC and the 20th seed at NCAA's last season. Ferri is 5-3 so far this year; however, his two losses at the Mountaineer Invitational could be to opponents more talented than we anticipated. Cornell representative at this weight is the highly-touted Greg Diakomihalis. Greg already has a pair of losses on the year, one coming to #28 Jacob Allen, who is expected to compete. Finals Prediction: Patrick Glory (Princeton) over Devin Schroder (Purdue) 3rd - Malik Heinselman; 4th - Joe Manchio; 5th - Jack Medley; 6th - Jacob Allen; 7th - Jake Ferri; 8th - Greg Diakomihalis 133 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) This weight class is sort of representative of the 133 lb weight class nationally. There's one returning All-American, Chris Cannon, a solid favorite, then it's wide open. We've yet to see Cannon compete this year, but he's expected to build off an excellent rookie year that saw him finish fourth in the Big Ten and seventh in the country. Last year, Cannon only lost four bouts all year and all four came at the hands of wrestlers that finished in the top-five at nationals. The wrestler in the field with the best, past CKLV placement is Northern Colorado's Mosha Schwartz. As a true freshman, Schwartz stunningly finished fifth. In each of his last two outings, Schwartz has scored victories over ranked opponents. He's part of a chaotic Big 12 weight class that always tends to beat up on each other. Haiden Drury and Job Greenwood are ranked Big 12'ers also in the bracket. One of the favorites to meet Cannon in the finals is CSU Bakersfield's Chance Rich, a 2021 NCAA Round of 12 finisher. Like Cannon, Rich will also make his 2021-22 debut in Vegas. Rich's 2021 Pac-12 finals opponent, Devan Turner, should receive a top-five seed and is capable here. Last year, Turner started off slow before turning it on and capturing a conference crown; he's hoping to do the same as he enters Vegas with a 2-2 record. Finally, a pair of Illinois natives in the Big Ten, Dylan Ragusin, could meet in the quarterfinals and are both capable of a finals run. Ragusin made the national tournament at 125 lbs last season, despite being very large for the weight. He should be more comfortable up at 133 this season. Ramos is a former Cadet World Champion that transferred from Minnesota to Purdue in the offseason. In a small sample size, Ramos has been impressive for the Boilermakers with a 6-0 mark. Unranked Threat: We've already seen this year what Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) is capable of, after he pinned Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) in a nasty headlock. Expect the unexpected with him. True freshman Josh Koderhandt (Navy) started his collegiate career with a title at the Clarion Open. After a rough Bearcat Open, Koderhandt rebounded with a runner-up finish at the Navy Classic. Finals Prediction: Chris Cannon (Northwestern) over Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 3rd - Matt Ramos; 4th - Mosha Schwartz; 5th - Josh Koderhandt; 6th - Devan Turner; 7th - Job Greenwood; 8th - Jake Gliva 141 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) Could we see either South Dakota State or Northern Colorado crown their first-ever CKLV champion Saturday evening? If seeds hold up, it's a possibility. 2021 All-American Clay Carlson is the highest-ranked wrestler at this weight. In his most recent outing, Carlson majored Jake Bergeland, two weeks after edging him by a single point. Though Carlson boasts the higher rankings, Chad Red Jr. outplaced the Jackrabbit on the NCAA podium last season (sixth to eighth). Red is looking for a signature performance at his final CKLV. He has placed twice in the past (5th in 2019 and 4th in 2017), but has been the victim of some loaded weights. This could be his place to shine. The third favorite here is Andrew Alirez. Alirez rose up the rankings after outlasting 2021 NCAA Round of 12 finisher Allan Hart (Missouri) earlier this year and has displayed that talent that has long been talked about. However the seeds fall, a semi then final between Carlson/Alirez/Red Jr. should be fireworks. Behind the big three is a workmanlike pair in Grant Willits and Parker Filius. Both are solid and proven veterans that are capable of unseating some of the mercurial talent that may start above them, seed-wise. In the opening weekend of the 2021 season, Willits shutout Carlson, 3-0. Filius comes in sporting a perfect 6-0 record. A lower seed/lower-ranked wrestler to watch out for is Cal Poly's Lawrence Saenz. Saenz is coming off a freestyle season where he defeated Red Jr. and Hart on his way to finishing as a runner-up at U23 Nationals. Unranked Threat: Cornell's Cole Handlovic could use a strong performance at this tournament to solidify a starting spot at this weight for the Big Red. Handlovic didn't appear to be penciled in here, but went 4-1 at the Bearcat Open, then got the nod in the team's season-opening dual with Stanford. He responded by blanking Jason Miranda, 4-0. Finals Prediction: Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) over Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) 3rd - Andrew Alirez; 4th - Dylan D'Emilio; 5th - Grant Willits; 6th - Parker Filius; 7th - Lawrence Saenz; 8th - Cole Handlovic 149 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) 149 thru 165 lbs will feature three of the tournament's most intriguing brackets. At 149 lbs, we have the possibility of the only #1 vs. #2 finals matchup in this tournament. Two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis, now at 149 lbs, is taking on the returning NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso. Yianni is looking for his second CKLV title, while Sasso was a runner-up here as a freshman. This matchup has the potential to feature some of the best scrambles of the entire tournament, as both are highly elite in that discipline. Looking beyond the obviously enticing collision between Yianni and Sasso, there are some key contenders in the mix, as well. Yahya Thomas had everything click in St. Louis last year and finished third at nationals. Will he be able to maintain that high level of consistency throughout the regular season in 2021-22? We've already seen Jaden Abas push Diakomihalis in their early-season dual. He appears to have jumped levels in the offseason and may meet Yianni again in the semis. Also in the mix will be 2021 Big Ten runner-up Ridge Lovett. Lovett had the opposite national tournament performance of Thomas. He was seeded highly (5th), but only managed a single win. He finished third in Vegas, as a freshman at 133 lbs. I'd expect something similar this year. Another past CKLV third-place finisher in this bracket is Kanen Storr, who is seeking to place for the third time at this tournament. Mitch Moore and Michael Blockhus both finished in the top-eight with old teams back in 2019 at 141 lbs and represent some of the great depth that this weight features. Finally, Legend Lamer was the ninth seed at nationals last year and is unbeaten in limited action this season. Unranked Threat: Wyoming veteran Jaron Jensen is always a tough out. Jensen did not place at the 2019 tournament, but did log three wins. He is one of the few collegiate wrestlers to defeat Missouri's Brock Mauller. Finals Prediction: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) over Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 3rd - Ridge Lovett; 4th - Jaden Abas; 5th - Yahya Thomas; 6th - Mitch Moore; 7th - Legend Lamer; 8th - Michael Blockhus 157 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) This weight class suffered a big hit last night as Brayton Lee was not among one of the entries for Minnesota. Even without Lee, this should be a really strong weight. One of the storylines of the tournament we outlined Monday was Ryan Deakin, who is aiming to win his third CKLV championship. That story detailed the elite company he could join with a win on Saturday. Like many of his Northwestern teammates, Deakin will hit the mat for the first time this year on Friday. One of Deakin's key threats, Quincy Monday, already has some significant mat time in 2021-22. In his most recent bout, Monday went into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and dismantled two-time NCAA All-American Kaleb Young. He also cruised to a title at the Southeast Open on week one of the season. Monday isn't the only one in this weight with stock on the rise; Peyton Robb has established himself as a high All-American contender this year. Robb handed 2021 NCAA champion Austin O'Connor his first loss since December of 2019 and pushed another national champ, David Carr, to the brink a few days later. Also from the Big Ten is Purdue's Kendall Coleman, a fourth-place finisher during his freshman year, in another stacked weight class, won by Deakin. Coleman suffered a hiccup in his 2021-22 debut, but turned in three bonus-point wins the last time out. Not only does this weight have an imposing group of title contenders, but also plenty of depth and personnel capable of pulling an upset or two. Jacob Wright did just that at the 2021 NCAA Championships, where he knocked off #10 seed Justin Thomas to make the national quarterfinals. Of course, Thomas is here and will look to build upon his sixth-place CKLV finish from 2019. Another former placer here is Hunter Willits, who was eighth in 2018, which was his big breakout event. A lower seed to look out for is Andrew Cerniglia, who comes in with titles at the Clarion and Bearcat Open's under his belt. Unranked Threat: Stanford's Charlie Darracott comes in with a 5-2 record and both losses were to quality, ranked opponents. He opened the year by winning the Menlo Open and was 6-2 last season, which was his true freshman year. With some new training partners and a more normal training schedule, he could be in for a breakout. Finals Prediction: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) over Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 3rd - Quincy Monday; 4th - Kendall Coleman; 5th - Andrew Cerniglia; 6th - Jacob Wright; 7th - Justin Thomas; 8th - Hunter Willits 165 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) This weight isn't necessarily as deep as other brackets, but it's exceptionally top-heavy. The top seed will be Evan Wick, who is a senior that has been near the top of the heap for his entire career. In his previous CKLV appearance, Wick made the finals and he has a strong chance at getting back this time. His new conference rival, Shane Griffith, is another returning national champ in the tournament. Griffith dropped a couple spots after a controversial loss to Julian Ramirez. Could this be the first of three (or more) meetings between Wick and Griffith? The answer is “no” if a pair of Big Ten studs have anything to say about it. Carson Kharchla is getting his first shot at starting for the Buckeyes after missing the 2021 campaign due to injury. This tournament will represent a huge step up in competition for Kharchla compared to his previous seven wins this year. Returning All-American Cameron Amine is slated to take the fourth seed and could face Wick in the semis. Amine has come out on top in three close bouts this year. After the top-four are a pair of Ivy Leaguers, Phil Conigliaro and Ramirez. Conigliaro was a Keystone Classic champion and has had plenty of success on the freestyle circuit. We'll have to see if Ramirez is ready to jump into the tier of consistent contenders. He defeated Griffith, but also fell to Matt Lee (Penn State), at the Bearcat Open. One of the more dangerous wrestlers in this bracket is Tanner Cook, who pinned Minnesota's Andrew Sparks, while trailing in their dual meet. He pinned 14 opponents during the 2019-20 season. Unranked Threat: 165 has a handful of quality wrestlers outside of the rankings that could get hot. Bubba Wilson, Brevin Cassella, Emil Soehnlen, and Matt Olguin have been on the cusp of the top-33. Although he's not a ranked DI competitor, Nebraska-Kearney's Matt Malcom (#2 DII) is a former national champion that should challenge for a spot in the top-eight. Finals Prediction: Evan Wick (Cal Poly) over Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 3rd - Shane Griffith; 4th - Cameron Amine; 5th - Julian Ramirez; 6th - Phil Conigliaro; 7th - Tanner Cook; 8th - Matt Malcom 174 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) A pair of returning All-Americans and past CKLV placewinners headline this weight with Mikey Labriola and Ethan Smith. Labriola has placed high here, twice, taking third (2019) and fourth (2018). He'll be favored to get the title this time. This will not be the first time that Labriola and Smith meet, even though the Buckeye is coming up from 165 lbs last season. Smith was at 174 in 2018-19 and fell, 9-5 to Labriola; however, to be fair, he looks much better in 2021. A wild card is #8 Chris Foca, who is 6-0 during his first official year competing for the Big Red. He showed a ton of promise in 2019-20, going 21-3 while taking a grayshirt season before enrolling at Cornell. Also a potential darkhorse finalist is Hayden Hastings, who was third in the Big 12 last year and is 2-1 in this young season. Hastings was seventh at this weight class at the 2019 tournament. It's time to see where Cade DeVos fits at 174 lbs. He was a national qualifier last season, as a redshirt freshman, down at 157 lbs. So far, in 2021-22, DeVos has a pair of wins over quality competition from Minnesota. Another emerging star at this weight is Troy Fisher. Last season, Fisher was 1-10, but thus far, he has a title at the Michigan State Open with wins over a pair of national qualifiers. While there are only three top-ten entrants at this weight, there are eight wrestlers currently ranked between #20-33, so there will be plenty of upheaval and minor upsets bound to happen. Unranked Threat: One of the young guns for Columbia is Aaron Ayzerov, who comes into Vegas 5-1. In his dual debut, Ayzerov captured a win over Michigan's Max Maylor. Finals Prediction: Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) over Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 3rd - Chris Foca; 4th - Hayden Hastings; 5th - Troy Fisher; 6th - Adam Kemp; 7th - Cade DeVos; 8th - Anthony Mantanona 184 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) Compared to the rest of the field, this is probably the lightest weight class, in terms of ranked competitors. Cal Poly should have their second top-seeded wrestler in Bernie Truax, a 2021 All-American at 174 lbs. Truax is looking to place at this tournament for the first time, as he went 2-2, while competing at 165 lbs in 2019. The only wrestler in the entire tournament that has a shot at becoming a four-time placewinner this year is Taylor Venz. As a freshman, Venz shocked the field with a third-place finish. He topped that in 2018 by making the finals, but slid down to fifth in 2019. Don't be scared by his national ranking; Venz is dangerous and fully capable of coming away with the title. Last weekend, Tate Samuelson made his season debut by cruising through the Cowboy Open. His closest bout was a 6-1 win, though he didn't face any NCAA qualifier-caliber competition. One of the fastest risers in this weight class nationally, has been Jonathan Loew, who is 5-0 with three falls. His lone decision victory came during his title run at the Bearcat Open, when he edged 2021 EIWA runner-up David Key. Darrien Roberts has also looked good during the early going, with the only loss during his seven matches coming to a returning All-American. Unranked Threat: This is an easy one because it's more of a technicality. Rocky Jordan is the Ohio State Buckeye currently listed at 184 in the national rankings. He isn't going this week and Kaleb Romero is getting the call. Romero was the seventh seed at 174 lbs last year at NCAA's and finished in the Round of 12. He'll be a bracket-wrecker wherever he falls and should place high. Finals Prediction: Taylor Venz (Nebraska) over Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) 3rd - Kaleb Romero; 4th - Jonathan Loew; 5th - Tate Samuelson; 6th - Max Lyon; 7th - David Key; 8th - Travis Stefanik 197 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) We've got one of the deepest weights at 197 lbs as 13 of the top 33 wrestlers in the nation are expected to enter. Four past NCAA All-Americans, Jake Woodley, Patrick Brucki, Stephen Buchanan, and Louie DePrez, are some of the top contenders. Woodley has used the confidence gained from his NCAA semifinals run to get off to an excellent start in 2021-22. He already has a win this year over Brucki, along with another opponent who was in the top ten. Woodley was fourth here in 2019. Brucki is in his first (and final) year at Michigan after making the NCAA All-American stand for Princeton. He has never competed in Vegas, but has a 2018 Midlands title to his credit and was third the following year. Buchanan not only finished eight in St. Louis, but he also was a 2021 Big 12 runner-up in a loaded weight class that included Woodley in sixth place. Throughout the 2021 season, Buchanan notched four wins over Noah Adams (West Virginia), who was undefeated and the #2 seed the previous year. DePrez is at 197 lbs after being expected to compete at 184 lbs, the weight where he finished eighth in the nation last season. He's been workmanlike in his ability to win close, hard-fought matches at his new weight. One of the opponents he slipped by is Jacob Cardenas, a new face that appears to have the upper hand in Cornell's fight for the starting role at 197 lbs. A returning CKLV finalist and two-time placer at this weight is Nebraska's Eric Schultz. The Cornhusker big man is trying to shake off a 1-2 showing at the NCAA tournament, after which he made his second consecutive Big Ten final. In each of the last two seasons, Schultz has been seeded third and second at NCAA's. There are plenty of middle seeds that could do damage and finish high, like Thomas Penola, Tanner Sloan, Cardenas, and Jake Koser. Unranked Threat: With so many ranked competitors in the field, it's challenging to identify someone unranked to watch, but look for Oregon State's JJ Dixon, who was an NCAA qualifier and a Pac-12 runner-up last season. He's had a rough start to this season with a 1-5 record, but could be ready for a bounce back. Finals Prediction: Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) over Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 3rd - Eric Schultz; 4th - Jacob Cardenas; 5th - Stephen Buchanan; 6th - Thomas Penola; 7th - Luke Stout; 8th - Louie DePrez 285 Ranked Wrestlers: #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) This weight class opened up big time with Gable Steveson not being in the field. Without Steveson, Tate Orndorff is the only returning All-American, as he was eighth last year. This season, Orndorff helped clinch a big dual win for Ohio State, by holding off Virginia Tech's Nathan Traxler in the final bout of their dual. Orndorff was a CKLV runner-up to Steveson in 2018. Dating back to his days at Utah Valley, Orndorff has a favorable history against the probable two-see, Brian Andrews. Orndorff has taken four of five from the Cowboy, including their meeting at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Like Orndorff, Andrews is seeking his third career placement at this tournament. The only wrestler in the field with past CKLV placement is Christian Lance, who was sixth in 2019. Lance split matches with Orndorff last year, winning in the Big Ten Tournament before falling at nationals. A bit of a darkhorse is Yaraslau Slavikouski, who was an EIWA runner-up in 2020 and the tenth seed at the canceled 2020 NCAA Championships. Also, look out for Lucas Davison, who made the move up from 197 lbs. It has been seamless thus far, with four wins in as many tries at the Michigan State Open. Unranked Threat: We've gotta mention Jack DelGarbino. Jack shook the wrestling world with his improbable pin of NCAA third-place finisher Tony Cassioppi, less than two weeks ago. Princeton hasn't been in action since. What does DelGarbino have in store for an encore? Finals Prediction: Brian Andrews (Wyoming) over Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) 3rd - Tate Orndorff; 4th - Lucas Davison; 5th - Christian Lance; 6th - AJ Nevills; 7th - Josh Heindselman; 8th - Gary Traub Team Race Prediction 1) Nebraska 2) Ohio State 3) Cornell 4) Northwestern 5) Michigan

2x Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational placewinner Mikey Labriola (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) "I Love Vegas, every moment, It's my favorite atmosphere… I love Vegas… why do I, do I love Vegas? Because my money's here…" Dean Martin It's officially Vegas week, which means it's time to watch that age-old classic: Casino (currently streaming on Peacock). Ranked #7 on the all-time list of movies that say the work "F***" (or some derivation of it) at a rate of 2.40 "F***s per Minute," or "FPM." But I digress. Quick story before we get to the wrestling sort of things: After graduating college in 2011, a group of us Etown Wrestlers and friends went out to Vegas for a few days. On the last day of the trip, after checking out of our rooms and having a little more available space in our wallets, we had some time to kill before heading to the airport. So, walking around the floor of the Mirage, I came across a table game that I thought only existed in Vegas Vacation… "War." There I am, playing $10 a hand. Winning some, losing some, basically treading water and getting my watered-down Gin & Tonics, when this buzzed college kid comes running up and sits in the chair next to me. He starts chatting up the dealer, trying to be everyone's friend, making crude and terrible jokes. Kind of what you expect from the casino crowd at 2pm on a weekday. The dealer continues to flip the cards, with a look on her face so dead that you can tell she's questioning how she got to this point in her life… dealing War. At some point, that point we hall have reached at one time or another when gambling, Mr. Talkative just said "F*** It!" and threw down his last $100 bill on one hand… OF WAR!. Down come the cards around the table and, surprise, surprise, Mr. Chatterbox has the same card as the dealer. As we all know, that means War, but for those not versed in the gameplay of Casino War, you have to double your bet in order to go to War. But that was his last $100, remember? So he jumps out of his seat, frantically checks his pockets for the money he knows isn't there, and with a bewildered look on his face, asks if he can run to his buddy who is on the other side of the floor at the Roulette table to borrow another $100. With the death stare I've only seen before on Stanley Hudson, the dealer turns to us and says, "if they are ok with it…" At this point, me and the two others at the table are invested. "Go! Go!" we yell, while doing the international double hand-sweeping gesture for him to get going. He darts off the table, almost hitting a pedestrian or three and within seconds, he's out of sight. We wait around for a good 5 minutes until we see him running back through the masses, hand in the air with a crisp "C-note" like a sail in the wind off the horizon. He slams Mr. Franklin on the table and yells, "Hit Me!" as the sweat starts to drip from his nose and slowly saturate the Tommy Bahama button-down he's sporting. One card, two cards, three cards face down for him… One card, two cards, three cards face down for her. Down comes his face card…. A Queen of Hearts. He goes freaking NUTS. Starts hand pumping, high-fiving us at the table; he's got this one in the bag. Down comes the dealer's face card…. King. On to Week 5: Thursday morning, this guy is heading to the airport to fly out west and cover the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, arguably the best in-season tournament, with El Capitán Earl Smith. Expect some cool stuff coming your way soon. Even though I always say, "registering for a tournament doesn't mean they are actually wrestling in said tournament," CKLV feels like it's going to be different (at least I really hope so, but I've been surprised too many times already this season). This tournament is basically a pre-test for the Conferences and National Tournaments. The first two-day, multi-day weigh-in test for a wrestler to gauge where they currently stand in the mix of it all. I don't expect a lot of dropouts come Friday morning; these guys are ready to battle. Obviously, the big tourney is in Sin City this week, but don't push the other two (Cougar Clash and The Patriot Open) off to the side; there's plenty of potential points to be had. Almost like a Kansas City Shuffle, everyone is going to be focused on the bright lights out west when maybe the better opportunities are on this side (east-side) of the Mississippi. The Patriot Open looks to be fully stocked with D1 competition and a lot of even brackets, which is why you might see three or so names listed at a weight for the event. The Cougar Clash, though, has little info on entries at the moment. The Big Guns of Wisconsin are entered from Barnett to Hillger, but we have seen this before at the beginning of the season when the same crew was registered for the Michigan State Open and then did not show. On top of that, here are some of my "scribbled notes" of Week 5: At 125, the round-robin of Surtin (MIZZ), Latona (VT), and Teske (UNI) could leave us with just as many questions as we have entering the tri-meet. All three could go 1-1 this weekend, which apparently will piss off the rankers at Flo, since they complain about that all the time anyway. Quinn Kinner vs Dresden Simon has fireworks written all over it. This one is too close to call (on paper), so I'm looking elsewhere for points. The earliest dual to lock is on Wednesday between Clarion and Bloomsburg, but looking ahead a couple of days to Clarion's second dual of the week is at home against Ohio. At the 149 matchup, Alec Hagen has a career win over Brent Moore… but that result is from 2017. A Lot has changed, but I think their match is going to be razor-thin. Both will net positive points, but one will have a little more than the other. At 174, Matt Finesilver has the chance to be one of the higher scorers of Week 5, but will have to get through Michale O'Malley of Drexel. WrestleStat has O'Malley winning, but my spidey-sense is having me lean Finesilver. Either way, I think both Matt Finesilver and Michael O'Malley will net positive points. Iowa's 174 to 197 has me shrugging my shoulders. Will the starters go? Will they sit again? If they are going to send out the starters, they are all favored (moreso 174 Kemerer in the bonus), but without confirmation, I am afraid to waste a spot on them when there will be a lot of points being thrown around this week. If you are going to roll with a Wisconsin starter, set some realistic expectations for one, maybe two, D1 matches to count in your WrestleStat league. That's not a terribly bad thing, as it's always great to have positive points. Sometimes the better matchups with fewer potential matches pull through as the recipe to win the week. As usual, tournament entries continue to come in and we will be sure to update you as we get more information. Good luck and if you are in Vegas, come find us and say "Hey"! Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by projected score first, then by school name* 125: Eric Barnett (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Braxton Brown (Maryland)- Patriot Open Ed Ventresca (Virginia Tech)- Patriot Open Logan Agin (Duke)- Vs Drexel & Maryland (@MARY), Vs American & Hofstra (@AMER) [+8] Joseph Fischer (Clarion)- Vs Bloomsburg, Vs Ohio [+7] Jakob Camacho (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Dylan Shawver (Rutgers)- @ American [+3] Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan)- Vs Rider [+3] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Pat Glory 2) Devin Schroder 3) Malik Heinselman 4) Joe Manchio Todd: 1) Pat Glory 2) Devin Schroder 3) Malik Heinselman 4) Greg Diakomihalis 133: Angelo Rini (Columbia)- Patriot Open Jordan Titus (West Virginia)- Patriot Open King Sandoval (Maryland)- Vs Drexel, Vs Duke [+7] Rayvon Foley (Michigan State)- @ Lock Haven, @ Bucknell [+7] Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+6] Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech)- Vs Missouri, Vs UNI [+6] Austin DeSanto (Iowa)- @ Iowa State [+4] Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers)- @ American [+4] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Mosha Schwartz 2) Dylan Ragusin 3) Chris Cannon 4) Nick Masters Todd: 1) Chris Cannon 2) Dylan Ragusin 3) Job Greenwood 4) Mosha Schwartz 141: Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Matt Kazimir (Columbia)- Patriot Open Sam Hillegas (Virginia Tech)- Patriot Open Kaden Cassidy (George Mason)- Vs Long Island, Patriot Open Nick Lee (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+8] Wil Gil (Franklin & Marshall)- Vs Long Island, Vs VMI [+7] Justin Hoyle (Hofstra)- Vs American, Vs Duke (@AMER) [+7] Danny Bertoni (Maryland)- Vs Drexel, Vs Duke [+6] Derek Spann (Buffalo)- @ Edinboro [+5] Jaydin Eierman (Iowa)- @ Iowa State [+5] Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)- @ American [+5] Darren Miller (Bucknell)- Vs Michigan State [+3] Gabe Willochell (Edinboro)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Ryan Jack (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+3] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Andrew Alirez 2) Clay Carlson 3) Chad Red 4) Dylan D'Emilio Todd: 1) Chad Red 2) Andrew Alirez 3) Dylan D'Emilio 4) Parker Filius 149: Austin Gomez (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Josh Finesliver (Duke)- Vs Drexel & Maryland (@MARY), Vs American & Hofstra (@AMER) [+8] Brent Moore (Clarion)- Vs Bloomsburg, Vs Ohio [+7] Peyton Omania (Michigan State)- @ Lock Haven, @ Bucknell [+7] Tariq Wilson (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan)- Vs Rider [+3] Alec Hagen (Ohio)- @ Clarion, @ West Virginia [+1] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Yianni Diakomihalis 2) Sammy Sasso 3) Jaden Abas 4) Mitch Moore Todd: 1) Yianni Diakomihalis 2) Sammy Sasso 3) Ridge Lovett 4) Jaden Abas 157: Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State)- Storm Open Blake Showers (VMI)- Vs Franklin & Marshall, Vs Long Island (@F&M) [+8] Parker Kropman (Drexel)- Vs Duke, Vs Maryland (@MARY) [+7] Chase Saldate (Michigan State)- @ Lock Haven, @ Bucknell [+8] Jarrett Jacques (Missouri)- Vs Virginia Tech, Vs UNI (@VT) [+7] Josh Humphreys (Lehigh)- @ Lock Haven, @ Penn State [+6] Ed Scott (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Robert Kanniard (Rutgers)- @ American [+4] Michael Petite (Buffalo)- @ Edinboro [+3] Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan)- Vs Rider [+3] Doug Zapf (U Penn)- Vs Penn State [+3] David Carr (Iowa State)- Vs Iowa [+3] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Ryan Deakin 2) Quincy Monday 3) Andrew Cerniglia 4) Peyton Robb Todd: 1) Ryan Deakin 2) Peyton Robb 3) Quincy Monday 4) Will Lewan 165: Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Michael Kistler (U Penn)- Patriot Open Keegan O'Toole(Missouri)- Vs Virginia Tech, Vs UNI (@VT) [+9] Job Chishko (VMI)- Vs Franklin & Marshall, Vs Long Island (@F&M) [+8] Ricky Stamm (Hofstra)- Vs American, Vs Duke (@AMER) [+6] Brian Meyer (Lehigh)- @ Lock Haven, @ Penn State [+6] Zach Hartman (Bucknell)- Vs Michigan State [+4] Alex Marinelli (Iowa)- @ Iowa State [+4] Peyton Hall (West Virginia)- @ Ohio [+3] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Shane Griffith 2) Evan Wick 3) Carson Kharchla 4) Julian Ramirez Todd: 1) Evan Wick 2) Shane Griffith 3) Cam Amine 4) Carson Kharchla 174: Andrew McNally (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Matt Finesilver (Duke)- Vs Drexel & Maryland (@MARY), Vs American & Hofstra (@AMER) [+9] John Worthing (Clarion)- Vs Bloomsburg, Vs Ohio [+8] Carter Starocci (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+8] Michael O'Malley (Drexel)- Vs Duke, Vs Maryland (@MARY) [+7] Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)- Vs Missouri, Vs UNI [+6] Hayden Hidlay (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+5] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Mikey Labriola 2) Ethan Smith 3) Chris Foca 4) Tyler Eischens Todd: 1) Mikey Labriola 2) Chris Foca 3) Ethan Smith 4) Geritt Nijenhuis 184: Chris Weiler (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Rocky Jordan (Ohio State)- Storm Open Aaron Brooks (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+8] Charles Small (Hofstra)- Vs American, Vs Duke (@AMER) [+7] Layne Malczewski (Michigan State)- @ Lock Haven, @ Bucknell [+7] Trent Hidlay (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] John Poznanski (Rutgers)- @ American [+4] CKLV Picks: CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Bernie Truax 2) Taylor Venz 3) Kaleb Romero 4) Tate Samuelson Todd: 1) Taylor Venz 2) Kaleb Romero 3) Max Lyon 4) Bernie Truax 197: Braxton Amos (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Jon List (George Mason)- Patriot Open Cole Urbas (U Penn)- Patriot Open Jaxson Smith (Maryland)- Patriot Open Cam Caffey (Michigan State)- @ Lock Haven, @ Bucknell [+8] Rocky Elam (Missouri)- Vs Virginia Tech, Vs UNI (@VT) [+8] Max Dean (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+8] Tyler Mousaw (VMI)- Vs Franklin & Marshall, Vs Long Island (@F&M) [+8] Kaden Russell (Duke)- Vs Drexel & Maryland (@MARY), Vs American & Hofstra (@AMER) [+6] Isaac Trumble (NC State)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+5] Greg Bulsak (Rutgers)- @ American [+3] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Jacob Cardenas 2) Patrick Brucki 3) Stephen Buchanan 4) Jake Woodley Todd: 1) Jake Woodley 2) Patrick Brucki 3) Louie DePrez 4) Eric Schultz 285: Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)- Cougar Clash Ryan Catka (Navy)- Patriot Open Ethan Laird (Rider)- Patriot Open Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech)- Patriot Open Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra)- Vs American, Vs Duke (@AMER) [+7] Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)- @ Lehigh, @ U Penn [+7] Zach Schrader (Maryland)- Vs Duke, Vs Drexel [+6] Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech)- Vs Missouri, Vs UNI [+6] Matt Stencel (Central Michigan)- Vs Rider [+5] Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)- @ Iowa State [+4] CKLV Picks: Tony: 1) Tate Orndorff 2) Christian Lance 3) Lucas Davison 4) Josh Heindselman Todd: 1) Lucas Davison 2) Brian Andrews 3) Yaraslau Slavikouski 4) Christian Lance Good luck everybody! Set that lineup to win the week and Viva Las Vegas!

Jesse Delgado (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Head wrestling coach Todd Beckerman has announced the hiring of Jesse Delgado as the program's newest assistant coach. "We are really excited to add Jesse to our coaching staff and to the Brown University community," Beckerman said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge from winning two national titles while at Illinois. Jesse knows the kind of mindset it takes to compete at such a high level and that experience will prove to be invaluable for our student-athletes. I am excited for him to start working with our program." As a collegiate wrestler, Delgado was one of the nation's top 125-pounders all four years while wrestling for the University of Illinois. At Illinois, he won back-to-back national championships at 125 during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. He was also the Big Ten Champion at 125 in both 2013 and 2014 and named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2013 Big 10 Championships. "I am really excited about this opportunity and want to thank the hiring committee for making this possible," Delgado said. "I look forward to coaching these student-athletes to be successful on the mat and in the classroom." Delgado, a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, began his collegiate wrestling career at California Polytechnic State University and transferred to the University of Illinois after redshirting during the 2010-11 school year.

Lander's #14 ranked 285 lber Cam Coffman (Photo/Lander Athletics) 1st Annual Carolina Clash Saturday, December 4th Lander University, Greenwood South Carolina #3 St Cloud State University #5 West Liberty University #12 University of North Carolina-Pembroke Allen University Bluefield State College Emmanuel University Glenville State College Kentucky Wesleyan University Lander University Liberty University (NCWA) Lincoln Memorial University University of Mount Olive I am calling this the first annual Carolina Clash because I really want to have this become a yearly event. Lander head coach RC LaHaye has lured some of the country's best teams to Greenwood, South Carolina, for a series of duals. The kings of Division II wrestling, St. Cloud State, will be in attendance. West Liberty is headed south, fresh off a program-best finish at the NCAA tournament. Super Regional II powerhouse North Carolina-Pembroke looks to defend their claim as the best Division II team in the south. Then you have a couple of young programs such as third-year Lander. LaHaye continues to build a program from scratch that will turn heads this season with the addition of their state-of-the-art wrestling center. Glenville State College under head coach Dylan Cottrell has been nearly unstoppable in duals this season. Bluefield State College is in its inaugural season in Division II. Then there is first-year Lincoln Memorial University; the Railsplitters are currently my favorite team I need to buy gear for. You gotta love a team that is repping Lincoln, in South Carolina! Allen University is not quite yet a Division II wrestling team, at least not fully. They have to wait until the 2022-2023 season to be full-fledged members of the big kids club. Emmanuel Univerisity was once just like Liberty, an NCWA powerhouse with aspirations of competing beyond the club level. Now, Emmanuel is in search of All-American number two in program history and Liberty continues to send its athletes out in search of the best competition. The University of Mount Olive qualified athletes for the national tournament in year one and coach Dan Willis was able to send Colby Teague in year two to St Louis. Can they break back through in 2022 and send more than just one qualifier? This is a mixture of young, hungry teams looking to build and established programs seeking to show that the gap is not getting smaller. A year ago, St. Cloud State had to wait until the last match of the tournament to raise their trophy. In 2022, they come into the season ranked behind Nebraska-Kearney and Central Oklahoma. They are just a few points ahead of Lindenwood and West Liberty. The team race is up for grabs and, at some point, someone will take the crown. West Liberty finished fourth in St. Louis and nabbed another team trophy for Danny Irwin. For Division II wrestling in the south, it used to be Pembroke and then everyone else. Now, after finishing as the Super Regional II runner-up twice in the last three seasons, the Braves are out to show they are still the best. Five mats. Five rounds. 25 duals. One day. There will be an insane amount of wrestling taking place one week ahead of the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis. These teams currently feature 27 ranked athletes, and while injury may make the number that actually competes lower, that is a heck of a lock of ranked matches to watch for. We may see top-five matches at 125, 133, and heavyweight. Three of the Division II top-ranked wrestlers will be in attendance and put that ranking on the line. After this coming weekend, my rankings may start to make sense as athletes finally take the mat and start competing. This is going to be the biggest wrestling weekend of the early season, and have far-reaching seeding implications for the national tournament. Many of these athletes will not have another chance to meet, unless they see each other again at the National Dual Tournament. A head-to-head win this weekend is going to weigh heavy in the minds of the seeding committee, or it would if they would just do the right thing and listen to me. I will break down the matchups between the ranked teams. And point out the other chances for athletes currently ranked to meet up and settle differences. ROUND ONE Lander (B) vs. Bluefield State Bluefield State is a brand new program that will do battle in Super Region III with the likes of West Liberty this season. The West Virginia school is still breaking in a SID, as far as I can tell. It appears that they have one win this season, a 28-0 victory over Patrick Henry Community College in a dual that featured five double forfeits. You read that correctly. Five. Hopefully, they bring more than five athletes down to the Clash. If you look on their schedule page, though, you would not be able to tell their current record. You won't find anything in their “news” either. Liberty vs. Allen This could be a chance for Allen to earn a second win this season as the “provisional” Division II team takes on NCWA powerhouse Liberty. Liberty has sent athletes to some big tournaments this year, including the Life Open and Lindenwood. They have been tested and it will pay dividends as they look to pull an early-round upset. #5 West Liberty vs. #12 UNC-Pembroke Be in your seats early on Saturday. This first-round matchup will feature an NCAA finals rematch right out of the gate. #1 Cole Laya (West Lib) will take on #2 Nick Daggett (UNCP) as soon as the first whistle blows. Laya has owned this rivalry, winning four of the five matches, including two last season. Can Daggett pull the upset and put himself atop the rankings? At 133, we could see the first matches for both 2021 NCAA Champion and top-ranked Tyler Warner (West Lib) and #11 Logan Seliga (UNCP). Seliga qualified for his second straight NCAA tournament, while Warner won a second national title. Warner won their only meeting 4-0 last season in the MEC Championship. Keep an eye on who the Hilltoppers send out at 149; there is a wrestle-off brewing between Jordan Watters and Jacob Simpson. 141 and 149 are going to be essential matches for this dual, sweep them and your team has a great chance of winning the whole thing. #14 Alec Cook (West Lib) has been up and down this season and needs to show consistency to stay in the rankings. Chase Morgan (West Lib) started the season in the rankings after qualifying for the national tournament, but a rough beginning to the year has seen him fall out of the top-16. Can he bounce back against Rashan Vereen (UNCP) or will it be a chance for the Braves to try to build a lead? #10 Ty McGeary (West Lib) notched a big win over two-time All-American Brock Biddle early this season and now he is looking to build. If the dual is tight, West Liberty can count on 2019 NCAA Champion and 2021 NCAA runner-up Connor Craig to give them breathing room at 184. Jovaun Johnson (UNCP) has been good for the Braves in his career, but he needs to be great to beat Craig. We could see another great matchup at 197, where you will see #7 Bryce Walker (UNCP) taking on #8 Logan Kemp (West Lib). They each have a big win this season; Walker defeated the 2021 national qualifier, Darius Parker. Logan Kemp earned a win over 2019 national champion Nick Mason. The winner of this match will continue their upward trajectory to start their second senior season. If this dual comes down to heavyweight, it could be another fun one. 2021 All-American Francesco Borsellino (West Lib) is ranked fifth and he takes on ninth-ranked Ryan Monk (UNCP). Emmanuel vs. Kentucky Wesleyan This dual features one ranked wrestler in Emmanuel's #SuperSenior Dalton Flint. The 14th-ranked Flint won 17 matches on his way to qualifying for the national tournament. This year he is off to an undefeated start, but while he may not be tested round one, he will certainly face some tough matches throughout the day. For Kentucky Wesleyan, it will be a matter of seeing if they can field a full lineup because they will not beat any of these teams if they are forfeiting matches. Glenville State vs. Mount Olive Next season, Mount Olive head coach Dan Willis will be pulling double-duty as the men's and women's head coach. For now, he can focus just on the men as they will take on the buzzsaw that is Glenville State. Dylan Cottrell's squad has been on fire this season, outscoring opponents 261-35 in their six dual wins. They have broken 50 three different times already. They will be without a 157 for this competition, but still have ranked athletes in Cole Houser at 184 and Jordan Williams at 197. Keep an eye down low as they return Kevin Meloni to 125 and Alec Fulwider to 133. That toughens up the lower half of an already pretty tough group. ROUND TWO Lander (A) vs Glenville State Host team Lander will get to sit back in round one and watch some of these teams beat each other up. Or, they will have to sit back and wrestle a warmed-up program to get their own day going. They match up with Glenville State in what could be a look at possible Midwest Classic matches. It seems that Lander will be without their stud 141, #16 Zeth Brower. That could be a big swing and might be enough to make up for the Glenville forfeit that will happen at 157. The match of the dual will be at 197 when #16 Darius Parker (Lander) takes on #12 Jordan Williams (Glenville). Glenville State is in Super Regional III, which means a win here will loom largest at nationals. Keep an eye out for a big swing match right away at 133, with the return of Alec Fulwider (Glenville) taking on #16 ranked true freshman Elijah Lusk (Lander). Lincoln Memorial vs. Lander (B) The Railsplitters will take on the second-team Bearcats in a great chance for both teams to gain experience. It is one of the best things about this format, athletes are getting a chance to get valuable mat-time. There are not a lot of results for Lincoln Memorial early this season, but we do know that head coach Andy Bricker is not fielding a full squad. Mount Olive vs. Liberty Can Colby Teague (Mount Olive) find his late-season form from 2021 that saw him make the trip to St Louis? He has struggled this year with consistency and this is a “get-right” match for him. Liberty has been a successful NCWA program; they are the current Grand National Champions as well as the NCWA National Dual Champions. They are not going to be an easy match for any program that takes them lightly. Bluefield State vs. Emmanuel Bluefield State is probably going to do something that quite a few new teams in Division II do to start their history. They are going to forfeit a lot of weights in duals. Emmanuel may not be a powerhouse, but they have been there and done that. They will have more than enough to stop the upstart Bluefield squad. Allen vs. Kentucky Wesleyan Allen has consistently fielded almost a full squad this season. They are unable to compete in the postseason, but they are earning valuable experience. Kentucky Wesleyan looks to have a full lineup themselves. This is big; head coach Rob McCabe has been in it for the long haul since joining the program as an assistant in 2018. He has led the Panthers forward as they are still looking to send their first athlete to the national tournament. 2022 could be the season. Gabe Adams (149) could be their best shot and the Carolina Clash will test him. ROUND THREE Lander (A) vs. Kentucky Wesleyan Lander will continue to ease into their Clash as the home squad. RC LaHaye will have his “A” squad ready to roll for Kentucky Wesleyan after what should be a barn-burner against Glenville State. Kentucky Wesleyan will probably win a dual or two, but it will not be against Lander. This Lander team is setting the bar high early and it will be up to the leaders to make sure they deliver on their promise when the postseason arrives. #3 St. Cloud State vs. #5 West Liberty This is the real heavyweight bout of Saturday and what could be a preview of a quarterfinal match at the upcoming NWCA National Duals tournament. It is kind of funny because at one point, West Liberty was probably on the outside looking in at that tournament and after coming to their senses, they will get multiple shots at the Huskies. Danny Irwin's squad is a much better tournament than a dual team, but they will match up at a few weights very well with St. Cloud State. There will be ranked matches at the first two weights. #1 Cole Laya will have his second battle against a ranked wrestler when he takes on freshman and 10th-ranked Paxton Creese. Then we get to see #1 Tyler Warner take on fellow SuperSenior #4, Garrett Vos. Two years ago, Vos got the better of him in a dual between St. Cloud State and Pitt-Johnstown. Last year at the NCAA tournament, Warner took the 9-4 in the finals. This is another one of those NCAA previews with huge seeding implications. If the Hilltoppers build an early lead, it will be up to top-ranked Joey Bianchini to strike back for the Huskies. St. Cloud State will have SuperSenior Jake Barkzowski at 149; he entered the rankings and has climbed to 12th. Barzowski is a 2019 All-American and 2020 national qualifier who has made the cut to get back into the lineup. West Liberty will have their starter named before they arrive in town, but could this be a chance for a warmed-up West Liberty athlete to pull an upset? At 157, St. Cloud State has two different athletes who could be NCAA finalists, will it be #3 Colby Njos or redshirt sophomore Anthony Herrera? They will take on 14th-ranked Alec Cook, who as we said earlier, is looking to cement himself as an All-American threat. Chase Morgan (West Lib) and Devin Donovan (St. Cloud) are both right on the cusp of landing back into the top-16. Another big matchup awaits at 174 between #10 McGeary (West Lib) and #14 Dom Mueller (St. Cloud). Things stay in favor of West Lib headed into 184 with #2 Connor Craig (West Lib) taking on #11 William Pitzer (St. Cloud). The dual could be 5-3 heading into the last two matches. #5 Noah Ryan (St. Cloud) will be one of a few favored Huskies in this dual as he faces off against #8 Logan Kemp (West Lib). Could this dual, much like the national tournament, come down to heavyweight? If so, #2 Kam Teacher (St. Cloud) would seem to have the edge over #5 Francesco Borsellino (West Lib). For West Liberty to pull the upset and end the St. Cloud State win streak, they will need to win at least six matches. Be ready for this dual because it could very easily be 5-5 and come down to bonus points. Allen vs. Emmanuel I, for one, am just hoping that we do not see any double forfeits at the Clash, but I am afraid that will probably happen in at least one of these duals. Emmanuel will be heavily favored in their matchup against Allen and Dalton Flint will be looking to pad his stats. #12 UNC-Pembroke vs. Glenville State Glenville State is taking on one big fight after another at the Clash. They will follow up a battle with Lander by taking on MEC foe UNC-Pembroke. This has postseason seeding repercussions, not for Super Regionals, but the Mountain East tournament. There will also be a chance to see Jordan Williams take on Bryce Walker in a battle of ranked wrestlers at 197. If UNC-Pembroke fields the lineup they are fully capable of sending out there, Glenville State is in trouble. If, however, they are still waiting to release all their firepower, this could be another upset for Glenville State. Liberty vs. Bluefield State Liberty could earn another dual win against a Division II opponent when they will take on an undermanned Bluefield State. Listen, being the best NCWA team is not the equivalent of being a very good Division II squad, but it is enough to make sure that they can take out teams who cannot field a full lineup. ROUND FOUR Lander (A) vs. #5 West Liberty This will be an underrated matchup at the Clash because of some individual matches that will put ranked athletes head-to-head. Lander is upping their competition each round as they build to a final dual with St. Cloud State and I think it is a great plan for coach LaHaye's squad. If Tyler Warner (West Lib) does not go or takes a dual off as he works back into shape, this could end up being a close dual beyond the paper. I am also excited to see Logan Kemp taking on Darius Parker at 197. These two have never met despite being national qualifiers and I want to see how this plays out. It will also be a good test for a Lander team that is still young against a seasoned West Liberty program. The Bearcats want to compete for a Super Regional II crown and how they perform against the likes of the Hilltoppers will be their midseason measuring stick. #12 UNC-Pembroke vs. #3 St. Cloud State The best dual of Round Four will pit the Braves against the Huskies. UNC-Pembroke has a very good lineup that they Could use that would match up strongly against the reigning national champions. The real question is, will they? There could be ranked matches to start the first two weights as the Braves send out #2 Daggett and #11 Seliga to take on #10 Creese and #4 Vos. The middleweights will be all Huskies, but we see good matches at 197 and heavy as we could go head-to-head with ranked athletes again. #7 Bryce Walker and #9 Ryan Monk for UNC-Pembroke will battle against #5 Noah Ryan and #2 Kam Teacher. I want to focus on the lightweight match though, a year ago, it seemed as if Paxton Creese was just not strong enough against elite competition. He will have plenty of chances in Carolina to test himself against some of the best in the nation. Can he finally earn that winning takedown and get over the hump? If not, he may miss his chance to be a national qualifier again in one of the deepest weights in the nation. Emmanuel vs. Liberty I cannot fathom how an NCWA team could come into a competition against Division II programs and have a shot at winning multiple duals. But given the matchups that Liberty has on tap, they may win more than one at the Carolina Clash. Emmanuel will be a test because the Lions are a good program with some depth and are anchored in the middle by 2021 national qualifier Dalton Flint. This will come down to bonus points; if either team gives up 6 through a pin or forfeit, it will be the difference. On a side note, I was there in Cleveland when Emmanuel had their first Division II All-American in program history and I hope that they can accomplish that feat again in 2022. Mount Olive vs. Allen Mount Olive is going to put up a lot of points against Allen University. I think that Mount Olive has underrated talent in Super Regional II and that they may not be first-tier, but they are certainly good enough to send multiple athletes to the national tournament. I expect Allen to continue with their growing pains, but they are going to need to start trying to fill out a lineup if they want to have any staying power. There is plenty of talent in the south and tapping into it needs to be a goal for every new coach in that area. Lincoln Memorial vs. Glenville State This could be a matter of whether or not the Glenville State team can put up 50 points once again in a dual. I feel for Dylan Cottrell's team as he looks to continue to build on their success, their toughest match will be early against Lander and beyond that, they should buzzsaw through their duals. Lincoln Memorial is in a position similar to Allen and Kentucky Wesleyan; it is a program that needs to show growth. Taking competition against tough programs is a great way to show prospective recruits that they will have a chance to show their talents on big stages. They may want to go a little slower though, right now, it needs to be about getting butts into the wrestling room to field a team. For a year one program, they are ahead of the game, though, but by next season they need to be able to send out 10 guys every night. ROUND FIVE Lander (A) vs. #3 St. Cloud State I spoke about Lander bumping up their competition as the day goes on and this is very apparent when you see who they will be ending their day against. Taking on the Huskies last can be very good, both teams will have had a full slate of competition during the day to warm up. You also will see who was able to stay healthy; anyone who is banged up could miss a match and swing points in the dual. There are quality matches to be had here as 133 and 197 have ranked matchups. I am bummed that we will not see Zeth Bower at 141 testing himself against Bianchini, but Santa can only bring so many presents. Expect the Bearcats to be ready to go and while they will almost certainly not be able to pull the upset, they are going to test some of these Huskies. And this is all about paying dividends in the postseason; a young athlete finding out they can roll with a kid from a power program can build confidence that propels them for the rest of the season. Lander (B) vs. Liberty Is it weird that one of Liberty's best dual opportunities will be against the Lander “B” squad? They will probably face a full lineup, unlike some of their other duals, and it will be a great test as the prep for the NCWA Dual tournament. Keep in mind that they are also showcasing their talent for prospective programs that could find a diamond in the rough and offer them an opportunity to transfer to a Division II team and compete at the NCAA level. It is one thing to be the best club team in the country; it is another to compete for All-American honors in the NCAAs. Mount Olive vs. #5 West Liberty I expect that West Liberty will travel with a few subs to the Carolina Clash and that we will see them at different points on Saturday. Against Mount Olive, Danny Irwin should send out his extras. The only “marquee” match would be Alec Cook and Colby Teague at 157. That is a match that would mean more to Teague; he could jump right back into the rankings with a strong weekend. Bluefield State vs. Lincoln Memorial I will set the line for double forfeits at -1.5 in this dual. Smart money would be to take the over if you are wondering. I spoke about it earlier, but the goal for new programs is to get wrestlers into the room. They do not have to be great wrestlers or even good ones, just get them in the room and start building. Find those guys who are just state qualifiers, find the guys who get good grades and show up to practice. Find the guys who are hungry to keep wrestling and are willing to pay tuition to get that chance. Take the advice, both programs. Glenville State vs. Kentucky Wesleyan Glenville State is going to score a lot of points this season against teams that are not ready for them and I am not certain that Kentucky Wesleyan is ready for Dylan Cottrell's team. Kentucky Wesleyan is working to build a team, but at some point, they have to be able to field a full D2 squad. I am wondering if they can score 50 points in more than two duals next Saturday. I think they have a shot.

2021 EIWA champion PJ Ogunsanya (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Below is a recap of last week's EIWA action, with individual highlights worth noting. Standout Performances Army West Point should win the Anti-Ducking Award, as they added a last-minute away dual against #1 Iowa. Or, as someone mentioned on Twitter, we should name it the Louden Swain Award (Vision Quest movie reference) for seeking out the best competition. Oregon State had travel issues, so Army stepped up. Props to these guys – who actually live by the “Anyone. Anytime. Anywhere.” Mantra. American – no competition last week Army The Black Knights traveled to compete at Iowa State on Saturday, then competed at Iowa (#1) on Sunday. PJ Ogunsanya (#20) went 2-0 on the weekend with a 4-3 win over former All-American Jarrett Degen of Iowa State and major decision over Cobe Siebrecht of Iowa. JT Brown was the only other Army wrestler to win against Iowa with a 4-1 win over Zach Glazier. At 165lb, Dalton Harkins had a win over Isaac Judge of Iowa State Ben Sullivan had a nice overtime win over Francis Duggan of Iowa State. Box Scores: 125: Jesse Ybarra (IOWA) over Ryan Chauvin (ARMY) (SV-1 3-1) 133: No. 3 Austin DeSanto (IOWA) over Dominic Carone (ARMY) (TF 21-6 3:00) 141: No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (IOWA) over No. 29 Corey Shie (ARMY) (Fall 5:54) 149: No. 20 P.J. Ogunsanya (ARMY) over Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA) (MD 11-3) 157: No. 8 Kaleb Young (IOWA) over Markus Hartman (ARMY) (Dec 4-1) 165: No. 2 Alex Marinelli (IOWA) over Christian Hunt (ARMY) (Fall 6:38) 174: Nelson Brands (IOWA) over Clayton Fielden (ARMY) (MD 18-5) 184: Myles Wilson (IOWA) over No. 28 Brad Laughlin (ARMY) (Dec 4-1) 197: No. 21 J.T. Brown (ARMY) over Zach Glazier (IOWA) (Dec 4-1) 285: No. 7 Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) over Brandon Phillips (ARMY) (Fall 3:53) 125: No. 21 Kysen Terukina (ISU) over Jake Staud (ARMY) (MD 12-3) 133: Ramazan Attasauov (ISU) over Mark Montgomery (ARMY) (MD 13-4) 141: No. 19 Zach Redding (ISU) over Julian Sanchez (ARMY) (Dec 6-4) 149: No. 20 P.J. Ogunsanya (ARMY) over No. 10 Jarrett Degen (ISU) (Dec 4-3) 157: No. 1 David Carr (ISU) over No. 32 Markus Hartman (ARMY) (TF 19-2 6:01) 165: Dalton Harkins (ARMY) over Isaac Judge (ISU) (Dec 11-6) 174: No. 33 Joel Devine (ISU) over Clayton Fielden (ARMY) (Dec 5-0) 184: No. 16 Marcus Coleman (ISU) over No. 28 Brad Laughlin (ARMY) (Dec 4-1) 197: Yonger Bastida Pomares (ISU) over No. 21 J.T. Brown (ARMY) (Dec 4-3) 285: Ben Sullivan (ARMY) over Francis Duggan (ISU) (SV-1 9-7) The Black Knights had a very tall task of traveling to Iowa to take on Iowa State and Iowa – on back-to-back days. To make things more difficult, they had to do it over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Even though they did not win many dual meets, the team competed hard and had a few close bouts when outclassed by much higher ranked opponents. The harder task, which they achieved, was winning over the Iowa Hawkeye fanbase as an away team. The state of Iowa, and beyond, gained a lot of respect for the Army Black Knights. Things like this will pay off in the future. Binghamton The Bearcats hosted the Buffalo Bulls on Sunday for an afternoon dual. At 141lb, we saw Michael Zarif get the start and walk away with a win. Brevin Cassella earned a major decision over his opponent. BU's 3 ranked wrestlers all walked away with wins. Jacob Nolan #28 – 174, Lou Deprez (#12 – 197) and Joe Doyle (#30 – 285) Box Scores: 125: Tristan Daugherty (UB) DEC Micah Roes (BU), 9-5. Buffalo leads 3-0. 133: Derek Spann (UB) tech. fall Christian Gannone (BU), 19-1. Buffalo leads 8-0. 141: Michael Zarif (BU) DEC Ben Freeman (UB), 5-3. Buffalo leads 8-3. 149: John Arceri (UB) SV Nick Lombard (BU), 3-1. Buffalo leads 11-3. 157: Ty Raines (UB) DEC Logan Gumble (BU), 4-0. Buffalo leads 14-3. 165: Brevin Cassella (BU) MD Noah Grover (UB), 9-1. Buffalo leads 14-6. 174: No. 28 Jacob Nolan (BU) DEC Giuseppe Hoose (UB), 9-4. Buffalo leads 14-9. 184: Peter Acciardi (UB) DEC Sam DePrez (BU), 3-1. Buffalo leads 17-10. 197: No. 12 Lou DePrez (BU) DEC Sam Mitchell (UB), 5-3. Buffalo leads 17-13. 285: No. 30 Joe Doyle (BU) DEC Toby Cahill (UB), 7-3. Buffalo wins, 17-16. The Bearcats absolutely want this one back. The matches were split 5-5, with bonus points being the deciding factor for Buffalo. I am somewhat shocked at this outcome – no disrespect to Buffalo. The Bearcats dropped a few I would expect them to pull out in March. Again, it is still early in the season, and I'll mark this loss up due to a Tryptophan-induced hangover from the holiday. Brown – no competition last week Bucknell – no competition last week Columbia - no competition last week b>Cornell - no competition last week Drexel The Dragons were on the road to visit Little Rock and Oklahoma State (#3). At 125lb, we saw Kyle Waterman wrestle twice. He had a close 6-3 bout with Mastrogiovanni (#15) of Oklahoma State. The Dragons ran the table against Little Rock, winning from 157 thru 197. Mickey O'Malley (#14 - 174) and Bryan McLaughlin (184) both had falls. Santino Morina made his Dragon debut at 197lb, going 1-1 on the weekend. Unfortunately, the Dragons were shutout by the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. The marquee match-up between Mickey O'Malley and Plott (#11) was a 6-3 outcome for Plott. Box Scores: Drexel vs. Little Rock 125: Kyle Waterman def. Jayden Carson, 13-2 MD 133: Jaylen Carson def. Deon Pleasant, 17-2 TF 141: Conner Ward def. Jared Donahue, 6-4 SV 149: Joseph Bianchi def. Tyler Williams, 12-4 MD 157: Parker Kropman def. Chase Tebbets, 7-4 Dec. 165: Evan Barczak def. Tyler Brennan, 6-3 Dec., 12-10 174: Mickey O'Malley def. Triston Wills, Fall at 3:35 184: Bryan McLaughlin def. Tanner Mendoza, Fall at 5:12 197: Santino Morina def. Brooks Sacharczyk, 6-0 Dec. 285: Josiah Hill def. Eli Anthony, Fall at 2:50 Drexel vs Oklahoma State 125: No. 15 Trevor Mastrogiovanni def. Kyle Waterman, 6-3 Dec. 133: No. 2 Daton Fix def. Deon Pleasant, Fall at 4:22 141: No. 28 Carter Young def. Jared Donahue, 18-6 MD 149: No. 24 Kaden Gfeller def. Tyler Williams, Fall at 3:20 157: No. 16 Wyatt Sheets def. Parker Kropman, 8-0 MD 165: No. 5 Travis Wittlake def. Evan Barczak, 13-3 MD 174: No. 16 Dustin Plott def. Mickey O'Malley, 6-3 Dec 184: No. 7 Dakota Geer def. Bryan McLaughlin, 24-9 TF 197: No. 1 AJ Ferrari def. Santino Morina, 17-2 TF, 5:00 285: No. 31 Luke Surber def. Eli Anthony, 19-4 TF, 5:25 The Dragons are a little banged-up, to say the least. Both expected starters are out at 133, 149 will miss a few weeks, and the 197 starter is still nursing an injury from opening weekend. Looking forward to seeing this team rebound in the future. Like I've said in the past, if this team can get healthy look to see them compete for a top-5 EIWA finish. Franklin & Marshall - no competition last week Harvard - no competition last week Hofstra The Pride took a short trip to the Prudential Center to face Rutgers (#12) and Wisconsin (#17). Ricky Stamm (165) and Zachary Knighton-Ward (#20 – 285) notched the only wins against Rutgers. Charles Small (#30 - 184) won by upset over Weiler (#14) of Wisconsin Trey Rogers (#29 – 197) walked away with an upset over Amos (#16) of Wisconsin. Joe McGinty (157) won by fall over Wisconsin. Rutgers 35, Hofstra 6 125: Jacob Shawver (Rutgers) dec. Jacob Moon (Hofstra), 8-1 133: Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) WBF Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (Hofstra), 0:52 141: Sebastion Rivera (Rutgers) WBF Justin Hoyle (Hofstra), 2:37 149: Michael Vanbrill (Rutgers) tech fall Michael Leandrou (Hofstra), 17-0 (3:40) 157: Al DeSantis (Rutgers) dec. Joe McGinty (Hofstra), 8-2 165: Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec. Andrew Clark (Rutgers), 4-3 174: Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) WBF Ericson Velasquez (Hofstra), 0:58 184: John Pozanski (Rutgers) dec. Charles Small (Hofstra), 8-2 197: Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) dec. Trey Rogers (Hofstra), 8-3 285: Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec. Boone McDermott (Rutgers), 6-1 Wisconsin 38, Hofstra 12 125: Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) WBF Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (Hofstra), 3:34 133: Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin) WBF Jacob Moon (Hofstra), 6:02 141: Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) maj. dec. Justin Hoyle (Hofstra), 22-6 149: Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) tech fall Michael Leandrou (Hofstra), 16-1 (1:38) 157: Joe McGinty (Hofstra) WBF Garrett Model (Wisconsin), 4:14 165: DJ Hamitti (Wisconsin) tech fall Ricky Stamm (Hofstra), 16-0 (5:00) 174: Andrew McNally (Wisconsin) WBF Corey Langner (Hofstra), 3:18 184: Charles Small (Hofstra) dec. Chris Weiler (Wisconsin), 3-2 197: Trey Rogers (Hofstra) dec. Braxton Amos (Wisconsin), 6-4 SV-1 285: Trent Hillger WBF Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra), 6:56 The Pride had a tall order competing with two top-20 teams. There are some positives to take away with Small and Rogers pulling off upsets. Weiler has been to NCAAs three times, while Amos was (and still is) considered one of the best at this weight, even as a freshman. As always, Hofstra has dudes that can for sure scrap. I am excited to see that upper third of the line-up compete in March. Lastly, they are not afraid to wrestle a tough schedule to help prepare for March. Lehigh - no competition last week Long Island - no competition last week Navy - no competition last week Penn - no competition last week Princeton - no competition last week Sacred Heart - no competition last week

2019 149 lb Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals between Brayton Lee and Sammy Sasso (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is the first of the "big-three" individual bracketed tournaments that currently highlight the first half of the college wrestling season. Every year, the CKLV has an argument that it boasts the best field of any of these three tournaments. This edition of the tournament can also make that case. In addition to an excellent field, the CKLV is known as a breakout spot for freshmen. With the tournament falling the first week of December, most teams have only wrestled in a few dual meets or an open or two during November. Typically, those events aren't enough to always get matchups that gauge just how good a new face in the lineup can be. That is never a problem in Vegas. This tournament routinely features returning NCAA champions, multiple All-Americans per weight class, and dozens of ranked wrestlers. With very few exceptions, there are no "weak" brackets at the CKLV. Just placing amongst the top-eight is an excellent feat. Even more so for a freshman. Now finishing among the top-four at your respective weight class; that typically puts a wrestler in an elite category nationally. Over the years, there have been some memorable performances by freshmen. Hunter Stieber handing Kellen Russell the only loss of his final two collegiate seasons in 2011, Adam Coon winning heavyweight as a true freshman in 2013, and Yianni Diakomihalis and Gable Steveson in recent years. Even at the most recent tournament (2019), Brayton Lee downed Sammy Sasso in the 149 lbs, in a clash between two of the most heralded freshmen in the country. So it isn't a matter of "will" a freshman stand out Friday and Saturday; it's more of "which one" and "how many." Here are a few freshmen to watch (defined as not having competed at the 2021 NCAA Championships, not by NCAA eligibility). Ohio State's 165 lber Carson Kharchla (if he counts), Julian Ramirez (Cornell), Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), Luke Stout (Princeton) Below are the freshmen who have finished in the top four at the CKLV Invitational every year since 2011. In many instances, you'll see some of the biggest stars of our sport. 2019 125 - Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern): 3rd 133 - Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 3rd 149 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 1st 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 2nd 157 - David Carr (Iowa State) 3rd 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 4th 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) 2nd 2018 133 - Micky Phillipi (Pittsburgh) 2nd 141 - Dom Demas (Oklahoma) 4th 149 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 3rd 165 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 2nd 174 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) 4th 285 - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 1st 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 2nd 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) 3rd 2017 125 - Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) 1st 125 - Drew Mattin (Michigan) 4th 133 - Austin DeSanto (Drexel) 4th 141 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 1st 141 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) 4th 165 - Evan Wick (Wisconsin) 2nd 184 - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 3rd 2016 125 - Jose Rodriguez (Ohio State) 2nd 133 - Stevan Micic (Michigan) 2nd 133 - Mitch McKee (Minnesota) 4th 141 - Cole Martin (Wisconsin) 3rd 141 - Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield) 4th 165 - Logan Massa (Michigan) 1st 174 - Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 1st 174 - Myles Amine (Michigan) 3rd 197 - Kollin Moore (Ohio State) 3rd 2015 141 - Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 1st 141 - Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) 3rd 165 - Daniel Lewis (Missouri) 3rd 184 - Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 3rd 285 - Tanner Hall (Arizona State) 4th 2014 125 - Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) 3rd 141 - Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) 4th 149 - Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) 2nd 197 - Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 3rd 2013 133 - Mark Grey (Cornell) 4th 157 - Brian Realbuto (Cornell) 2nd 165 - Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) 4th 184 - Gabe Dean (Cornell) 1st 184 - TJ Dudley (Nebraska) 2nd 285 - Adam Coon (Michigan) 1st 2012 125 - Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 2nd 125 - Josh Martinez (Air Force) 3rd 133 - Devon Lotito (Cal Poly) 3rd 149 - Cam Tessari (Ohio State) 4th 174 - Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 3rd 174 - Mathew Miller (Navy) 4th 2011 133 - Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 1st 133 - AJ Schopp (Edinboro) 2nd 141 - Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) 2nd 141 - Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 4th 149 - David Habat (Edinboro) 3rd 157 - James Green (Nebraska) 3rd 165 - Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) 3rd

2020 ACC champion Clay Lautt (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Duke: The Blue Devils were off this week. They return to action next week with four duals in two days. North Carolina: The Tar Heels headed north to the Garden State Grapple for duals against #19 Wisconsin and #15 Rutgers--their 3rd and 4th duals against ranked opponents already this season. In the early match, UNC split ranked-versus-ranked matchups against the Badgers. #22 Clay Lautt controlled his contest over #8 Andrew McNally to earn the 6-1 decision, while #22 Gavin Kane took it to #14 Chris Weiler with an 8-2 decision. #2 Austin O'Connor picked up another bonus point victory, earning a major decision. #10 Jaime Hernandez and #10 Kizhan Clarke both picked up decision wins in their bouts. In the other two ranked matches, #16 Zach Sherman fell to #19 Austin Gomez at 149 and #27 Max Shaw lost by decision to #16 Braxton Amos. The dual went down to heavyweight to determine the winner, where #5 Trent Hilger picked up the pin to seal it for the Badgers. The Tar Heels were very competitive with the Badgers in the dual and, unfortunately, had a few wrestlers suffer injuries that held them out of the following dual. There was a lot of backlash in the social media world about ranked wrestlers not wrestling in the Rutgers dual--which from the outside looking in is very understandable, but in this case, I think it was misguided. UNC has gone out of their way to schedule top competition to start the year and I don't believe that this is an example of ducking; it's the unfortunate reality of guys getting banged up in a tough dual. The match with Rutgers did not treat the Tar Heels well. UNC only picked up three wins on the night. #2 Austin O'Connor moved to 6-1 on the year with a 12-6 decision. #22 Clay Lautt continued his run at 174, picking up a decision victory and at 165, Joey Mazzara looked strong throughout his match, earning a 7-3 decision between O'Connor and Lautt. The Tar Heels are off the next two weeks to rest and recover before a dual with Appalachian State. NC State: The Wolfpack had the weekend off and will return to action with a home dual against Gardner-Webb on Thursday. Pittsburgh: The Panthers had an early week dual to open their home slate against Maryland on Monday night. They followed up a down performance at Lehigh with a strong showing against the Terps. In the only ranked versus ranked matchup of the night, #4 Jake Wentzel got back in the win column with a decision over #32 John Martin Best. At 133, #5 Micky Phillipi also got back on track after getting upset in Bethlehem on Sunday. #24 Gage Curry picked up the only set of bonus points on the night with a 17-2 tech fall at 125; Curry and Colton Camacho have been battling for the starting spot and alternated matches on the weekend. The Panthers struggled to finish matches against Lehigh and lost some decisions late. Against Maryland, they showed more grit and won three bouts in sudden victory. #17 Cole Matthews (141), #31 Elijah Cleary (157) and Jake Slinger (285) all won their bouts 3-1 in sudden victory. The Panthers are off this week. Virginia: The Hoos sent a big squad up to Lock Haven for the Mat Town Open on Sunday made up of both starters and redshirts. The Cavaliers brought home four championships on the day, and had another two finalists. At 157, Jon Errico continued his undefeated season, beating teammate Denton Spencer in the finals. #20 Justin McCoy moved to 7-0 on the year, picking up a decision, major, tech fall and pin on his way to the title at 165. Justin Phillips, who has been battling to earn the starting spot at 174, went 4-0 on the day, winning the title over teammate Hudson Stewart in the finals. The final champ was at 184, where Michael Battista went 3-0 to end up atop the podium. Jarod Verkleeren gets to 5-2 on the season by picking up three wins before falling to Max Brignola of Lehigh in the finals. Ethan Weatherspoon also made the finals at 197, where he lost to Kolby Franklin. The Hoos will have a long break before returning to action at the Midlands at the end of December. Virginia Tech: The Hokies were off this week--they have a big weekend with duals against Mizzou and UNI in Columbia.

The Minnesota coaching staff with Gable Steveson (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Each Monday, Big Ten correspondent Cody Goodwin recaps the biggest results from around the Big Ten Conference. Michigan - Probably had the best weekend of any Big Ten school. The Wolverines finally beat Ohio State in football for the first time since 2011 (for reference: Stevan Micic was still in high school, and he's been in college FOREVER), and Sean Bormet and Company scooped up perhaps the biggest recruiting win this semester by landing the services of Nick Suriano. That gives Michigan a tremendous boost at 125 pounds, and firmly inserts them into the NCAA trophy conversation. Michigan's lineup could look like this come January: 125: Nick Suriano 133: Dylan Ragusin 141: Stevan Micic 149: Kanen Storr 157: Will Lewan 165: Cam Amine 174: Max Maylor 184: Myles Amine 197: Pat Brucki 285: Mason Parris Pretty salty. Michigan wrestles Arizona State on Jan. 3, Ohio State on Jan. 14, Penn State on Jan. 21, Minnesota on Jan. 28, and Nebraska on Feb. 4, to name a few notable matchups worth adding to your calendar. That's in addition to the Big Ten Championships on March 5-6 in Lincoln, and the NCAA Championships March 17-19 in Detroit. Something else to ponder … what if Suriano's addition brings Logan Massa back into the mix and he ultimately goes at 174? Giddy up, you guys. The Big Ten just got a whole lot more fun. Minnesota - Registered the 1,000th dual victory in program history on Sunday with a 27-13 win over South Dakota State. Minnesota is now the fifth Division I program to record 1,000 all-time dual victories, joining Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oregon State, and Iowa. The Jackrabbits led 9-0 after the first two weights, then the Gophers rattled off five wins in a row, anchored by Gable Steveson's 22-6 technical fall over A.J. Nevills at 285 but highlighted by Michial Foy's 9-3 upset win over Tanner Sloan at 197. Nobody is safe this college season. Stay ready. Iowa - Defeated Army West Point, 36-7, before another ‘sold-out' crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. We say ‘sold-out' with heavy air-quotes, because it was not actually sold-out. It was more like a Nebraska Football Sellout - which is an official term now, if you ask Iowa wrestling fans - where it was only technically a sellout because all the tickets were purchased, in one form or another, but not all of them were used. Anyways, the coolest part about this particular meet was that it happened at all. The Hawkeyes were supposed to host Oregon State on Saturday, but the Beavers ran into some gnarly flight issues and didn't make the trip. Army, who was in Ames on Saturday to wrestle Iowa State, drove two hours east to wrestle Iowa on Sunday after Tom Brands called Scott Green and explained the situation. Shoutout to the Black Knights for stepping up to the plate on a moment's notice. Pretty righteous, if you ask me. Jaydin Eierman (141), Alex Marinelli (165) and Tony Cassioppi (285) all recorded pins for Iowa, who won comfortably. (Shoutout to OG for two victories this weekend, though.) Wisconsin - Topped both North Carolina, 20-16, and Hofstra, 38-12, at the Garden State Grapple on Saturday. That dual with the Tar Heels was a doozy: six lead changes, a handful of upsets - Austin Gomez over Zack Sherman, 9-4; Clay Lautt over Andrew McNally, 6-1; Gavin Kane over Chris Weiler, 8-2 - and big Trent Hillger registered a second-period pin over Brandon Whitman at heavyweight to give the Badgers a win. The dual with Hofstra featured significantly less drama, as Wisconsin won seven of 10 matches, but there were two surprise results that went Hofstra's way: at 184, Charles Small defeated Weiler, 3-2; and at 197, Trey Rogers knocked off Braxton Amos, 6-4, in sudden victory. Again: Nobody is safe this college season. Stay ready. Rutgers - Also beat North Carolina, 28-9, and Hofstra, 35-6, at the Garden State Grapple, but didn't wrestle Wisconsin because they're scheduled to wrestle on Sunday, Jan. 9 in Madison. We all know New Jersey loves their wrestling, right? The crowd was rowdy inside the Prudential Center, to the point that, during the Rutgers-North Carolina dual, one fan referred to the Tar Heels as the “Tobacco Road Mother Firetruckers”… except without the “-iretr-” if you catch my drift. Rutgers is now 8-0, which is the most dual victories at this point in the season. Next closest: Purdue, at 6-0. Behind them, Utah Valley is 5-1. The Scarlet Knights won eight duals in 20 calendar days. They wrestled just four duals all last season. Wild. Also of note: Rutgers' JoJo Aragona entered the transfer portal on Monday. He started for the Scarlet Knights as a freshman and went 13-12 at 141 pounds. He wrestled at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, but didn't see action last season and hasn't wrestled yet this season (so far as we know). Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue did not compete last week.

Nick Suriano (left) and new teammate Stevan Micic at the 2019 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Yesterday, all of the Nick Suriano speculation ended as he announced he would finish his collegiate career wrestling for the University of Michigan. Now, we'll turn our attention to the future. Or the near future, as we project Suriano's possible schedule wrestling for the Maize and Blue. Since the Big Ten has 14 teams, not all will wrestle one another during the regular season, so it's not a given as to which conference schools he and Michigan would face. Not only does Michigan have an imposing slate of Big Ten duals on the horizon, but they also have a pair of fun non-conference duals to bookend 2022. All-in-all, Michigan will face six of the top 15 schools in dual competition after the new year. With such good team competition, they are certainly a share of high-quality individuals waiting for Suriano, as well. We've gone date-by-date to guess/project who may face Nick during his run with the Wolverines. At this time, we're still trying to obtain when exactly he'll be able to suit up for Michigan. For now, we'll roll with the first date on the schedule for 2022: January 3rd vs. #7 Arizona State (@ Austin, Texas) Could a neutral site dual with a top-ten foe like Arizona State be the setting for Suriano's Wolverine debut? If so, that would make for an intriguing bout with 2021 NCAA runner-up #3 Brandon Courtney. An opponent like Courtney is someone that Suriano may end up facing in the NCAA quarters or semis. January 14th at #8 Ohio State Who doesn't love Michigan versus Ohio State? We got to see this rivalry unfold in football over the weekend and it was one for the ages (if you're a Michigan fan). Now with a polarizing wrestler like Suriano on the Michigan side, it can only enhance the dual. Ohio State would trot out #9 Malik Heinselman, who looks every bit the All-American contender this year. Heinselman was active during Suriano's most recent collegiate season; however, they did not clash since Nick was up at 133 lbs. January 21st at Home vs. #2 Penn State Lots of storylines in this one! Suriano started his collegiate career at Penn State, but left after one year. There were rumors that Suriano and Penn State were ready to give it another try this season, but that obviously didn't happen. The Nittany Lions are expected to make a high-profile addition themselves at 125 lbs, as 2021 All-American Drew Hildebrandt is in the process of enrolling. Suriano and Hildebrandt's paths did not cross those; they were in the same weight class during the 2017-18 season. Hildebrandt did not qualify for NCAA's that year and Suriano was a finalist. The former Central Michigan Chippewa rapidly improved and ended up 14-2 last season. Having Suriano in the lineup could push the Wolverines over the edge in this colossal clash. January 23rd at Home vs. #12 Rutgers Again, more storylines here! After leaving Penn State, Suriano returned to his home state and made two NCAA finals and became Rutgers' first NCAA champion. Rutgers would send out #23 Dylan Shawver, who made the NCAA Tournament last season as a true freshman. So far, in 2021-22, Shawver is unbeaten in his seven appearances. January 28th at Home vs. #15 Minnesota It's another possible high-profile bout for Suriano as #10 Patrick McKee looms for the Gophers. McKee finished eighth in the Big Ten last year, but really turned it up at the NCAA Tournament, finishing third. In his final bout, he defeated Hildebrandt, 5-3. McKee's is always capable of ending a match quickly via fall, though that's unlikely versus Suriano. January 30th at Maryland Zach Spence has been the Terrapins starter at 125 lbs. He's currently 0-4 on the season and was winless in 2021. February 4th at #9 Nebraska Nebraska should give the Wolverines their final major test of the year in a bout that's live on the Big Ten Network. Opposing Suriano in that clash would be #22 Liam Cronin. He and Suriano were in the same Big Ten weight class, while Cronin was at Indiana and Suriano PSU, but the two didn't meet. That year, Cronin only saw action in two conference duals and didn't get the nod in the postseason. So far, in 2021-22, Cronin is 3-3 after suffering a trio of losses at the Daktronics Open. February 11th at Indiana After seeing a former Hoosier in Cronin, Suriano should meet up with #27 Jacob Moran, on the road. We haven't seen much of Moran yet, but he's been solid in his limited sample size. At the Mountain Invitational, he fell to NCAA runner-up, Courtney, but beat 2021 qualifier Jake Ferri (Kent State). Last season, Moran went 5-8, which was significantly impacted by a 0-3 showing at the Big Ten's. February 13th at Home vs. Michigan State The Spartans have yet to appear in dual action, but once they do, we assume Tristan Lujan will get the call. Lujan is 3-2 on the year with one-point losses to ranked wrestlers #25 Justin Cardani (Illinois) and #32 Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan) on his resume. Last season, as a true freshman, Lujan bounced between 125 and 133 and went 2-2. February 20th at Central Michigan Speaking of Bergelin, Suriano and Michigan will close out their regular season with an out-of-conference tilt against in-state rival Central Michigan. Bergelin is faring well in the earlygoing after having to move up to 133 in the past because of the presence of Hildebrandt. So far this year, he has a win over two-time national qualifier Bryce West (Northern Illinois) and pushed Joey Prata (Oklahoma), before falling by a single point at the Michigan State Open. March 5/6th at Lincoln, Nebraska (Big Ten Championships) #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa), #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), #9 Heinselman, #10 McKee, #13 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), #22 Cronin, #23 Shawver, #25 Cardani, #27 Moran, and Hildebrandt???

Little Rock 285 lber Josiah Hill (Photo/Ed Sanchez; Little Rock Athletics) InterMat Tournament/Dual Rankings (November 23) are used where appropriate. This Past Week The season's momentum slowed predictably with the Thanksgiving holiday, and the effect was apparent on the Pac-12 schedule. A thin weekend of action, comprising of #3 Arizona State at the Cowboy (Wyoming) Open and a non-conference dual between Little Rock and Drexel (EIWA), was made thinner when travel issues barred #25 Oregon State from traveling to face #1 Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. On Saturday, November 27, the Sun Devils of Arizona State arrived in force to Wyoming, fielding both attached and unattached wrestlers across the ten-weights. They dominated the field, with five tournament champions, a runner-up, two 3rd-place finishers, and two 4th-place finishers. Three others finished in 5th-place. The champions for Arizona State were #3 Brandon Courtney (125), #5 Kyle Parco (149), #6 Anthony Valencia (165), unattached Cael Valencia (174), and #3 Cohlton Schultz (285). When a team enjoys such widespread success, an unfortunate consequence is the amplification of stumbles among their ranks. At 133lbs, #7 Michael McGee suffered an upset loss, 8-7, to UR Job Greenwood of Wyoming in the tournament finals. A back-and-forth match saw Greenwood score two big takedowns in both the first and second periods to take the lead from McGee, who had answered with a takedown of his own in the first. Trailing 6-4 early in the third period after a Greenwood escape, McGee scored a quick left-sided leg-attack takedown to tie the score 6-6. With roughly 90s remaining in the match, the Arizona State corner urged McGee to “get your riding time,” and the All-American got to work keeping Greenwood on the mat and in danger -- but the risk came with no reward, when Greenwood reversed McGee to take the lead for a third and final time, 8-6. A McGee escape with short-time left the final score, 8-7. At 174lbs, a weight where Coach Zeke Jones and staff are still assessing their options, true-freshman Cael Valencia has continued to raise his own stock, winning a weight featuring a top-10 competitor and two Arizona State teammates (i.e., Ryan Rochford and Zane Coleman). En route to a tournament title, Valencia defeated his teammate Coleman via major, 12-4. In the finals, Valencia faced #10 Hayden Hastings of host Wyoming. In a tactical affair, featuring two exciting but scoreless neutral exchanges in the second period, Valencia and Hastings traded escapes, respectively, before determining the winner in the third, with Valencia scoring on a leg-attack after an extended sprawl-recovery sequence with less than a minute remaining in the match. Hastings escaped with less than 30s to wrestle and couldn't catch Valencia in time. The young Sun Devil notched perhaps his best win of the season-to-date, 3-2. All-American heavyweight Cohlton Schultz picked up another tournament title on the season, topping #8 Brian Andrews of Wyoming in the tournament finals. A mid-first period go-behind takedown set the tone for the match. A second-period escape, takedown, and third-period rideout made it 6-1 for Schultz when the final whistle blew. Saturday afternoon in Arkansas, Little Rock opened their home-dual schedule against Drexel, suffering a tight 25-18 dual defeat in a meet that saw the Trojans win four matches against the visiting Dragons. Little Rock led the dual through six-weights on the strength of a technical fall from undefeated Jaylen Carson at 133lbs, a come-from-behind sudden-victory decision from Conner Ward at 141lbs, and a major decision powered by five takedowns from Joey Bianchi at 149. Notable Little Rock 174lber Triston Wills faced a tough test in the form of #12-ranked Mickey O'Malley, eventually dropping a fall midway through the match, giving Drexel a lead they would not relinquish. Nonetheless, Trojan heavyweight Josiah Hill gave the home crowd something to smile about, earning a first-period fall to close the dual on a positive note.

2x Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champion Ryan Deakin (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Big individual bracketed tournaments are back in 2021-22 and one of the majors takes place this week as the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational will return. In the coming days, we'll get to actual previews and predictions, but for now, here is a primer on some of the historical aspects to focus on for the 2021 CKLV Invitational. First and foremost, all eyes should be focused on Ryan Deakin, who can join the elite three-time champions club. He has captured the title at 157 lbs in each of the last two tournaments. Three CKLV titles is a relatively rare feat, having only been accomplished by Kollin Moore (Ohio State), Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), Logan Stieber (Ohio State; won 4x), Mack Lewnes (Cornell), and Ben Askren (Missouri) over the last 15 years. This bodes well for Deakin at the 2022 NCAA Championships. All except Moore and Lewnes were national champions at some point in their careers. Of course, Moore was undefeated and seeded #1 when the 2020 tournament was canceled. One of the few wrestlers with an opportunity to win a second title is Brayton Lee. Lee was a champion at 149 lbs in 2019, as a freshman. Now at 157 lbs, Lee could be on a collision course with fellow 2019 champion, Deakin. If the two were to meet in the finals, it would mark the first time that returning CKLV champions met in the finals since 2013 when Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) defeated Robert Kokesh (Nebraska). Brayton Lee's 2019 title continued a run with at least one freshman CKLV champion every year since 2015. That run includes him, teammate Gable Steveson (2018), Taylor LaMont and Yianni Diakomihalis (2017), Logan Massa and Valencia (2016), and Micah Jordan (2015). Brayton Lee, Deakin, LaMont, Diakomihalis, and Steveson, are past champions expected to compete. Myles Amine and Mason Parris have titles, as well, but are not among the Wolverines entries. In addition to the former CKLV champions in the field, there are a handful of past finalists expected to compete. They are Devin Schroder (Purdue), Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), Taylor Venz (Nebraska), Eric Schultz (Nebraska), Tate Orndorff (Ohio State), and Evan Wick (Cal Poly). There could be three past NCAA champions in this field with Diakomihalis, Steveson, and Shane Griffith. The last time a returning national champion lost at the CKLV was in 2016, when Myles Martin (Ohio State) was beaten by Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech). Winning in Vegas can be a precursor for NCAA success. This event is typically loaded with top-flight teams and individuals. Since 2011, the 2016 tournament was the only one where none of its ten champions went on to win the NCAA Tournament in the same season. Usually, more than one of the CKLV champions stood on the top step of the NCAA podium a few months later. Since 2011, there have been at least two CKLV champs that went on to win NCAA's that year. Even with such high-level competition, the only time we've seen a preview of an NCAA final at this tournament has been in the most recent tournament when Anthony Ashnault defeated Micah Jordan. Also, losing this tournament is not the be-all-end-all. In 2018 (the most recent year with a tournament and NCAA Tournament), two of its third-place finishers went on to win nationals later in the season (Mekhi Lewis and Drew Foster). The team race could come down to #5 Michigan, #7 Northwestern, #8 Ohio State, #9 Cornell, #11 Minnesota, and #13 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are the defending champions after winning in 2019, which was the first time since 2008. Northwestern has never won the tournament. Ohio State won three times in a row, being stopped by Nebraska in 2019. Cornell's only victory came in 2010 and Michigan's last win came in 2007. The only wrestler expected to be in the field that has the potential to place for the fourth time is Nebraska's 184 lber Taylor Venz. Venz was third as a freshman in 2017, a runner-up in 2018, and fifth in 2019. Devin Schroder (2nd - 2019, 8th - 2018), Dom Demas (3rd - 2019, 4th - 2018), Chad Red (5th - 2019, 4th - 2017), Kanen Storr (3rd - 2018, 8th - 2017), Mikey Labriola (3rd - 2018, 4th - 2018), Louie DePrez (6th - 2019, 5th - 2018), Eric Schultz (5th - 2019, 2nd - 2018), Tate Orndorff (3rd - 2019, 2nd - 2018), and Brian Andrews (8th - 2019, 7th - 2018) all can place for a third time at this tournament. Nebraska is in good position to repeat as they feature seven potential starters who have placed at this tournament in the past (Red, Ridge Lovett, Peyton Robb, Labriola, Venz, Schultz, Christian Lance). That's the highest number out of any squad in the field. A few wrestlers are trying to place at this event for multiple schools. Joey Prata (4th - 2019; Virginia Tech), Michael Blockhus (6th - 2019; Northern Iowa), Mitch Moore (8th - 2019; Virginia Tech), Jacob Wright (5th - 2019; Fresno State), Tate Orndorff (3rd - 2019, 2nd - 2018; Utah Valley), and Evan Wick (2nd - 2017; Wisconsin), have a shot at doing so this year.

Unbeaten Oklahoma State 174 lber Dustin Plott (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Sunday's Dual Results Minnesota 27 South Dakota State 13 125 - Patrick McKee (Minnesota) maj Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) 13-1 133 - Jake Gliva (Minnesota) maj Trayton Anderson (South Dakota State) 10-2 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) maj Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 12-3 149 - Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) dec Zach Price (South Dakota State) 13-7 157 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) maj Kenny O'Neil (South Dakota State) 13-5 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 3:52 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Jared Krattiger (Minnesota) 6-1 184 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) maj Jacob Schoon (South Dakota State) 10-1 197 - Michial Foy (Minnesota) dec Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 9-3 285 - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) tech AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) 22-6 Iowa 36 Army West Point 7 125 - Jesse Ybarra (Iowa) dec Ryan Chauvin (Army West Point) 3-1SV 133 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) tech Dominic Carone (Army West Point) 21-6 141 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) fall Corey Shie (Army West Point) 5:54 149 - PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) maj Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) 11-3 157 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec Markus Hartman (Army West Point) 4-1 165 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) fall Christian Hunt (Army West Point) 6:38 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) maj Clayton Fielden (Army West Point) 13-5 184 - Myles Wilson (Iowa) dec Brad Laughlin (Army West Point) 4-1 197 - JT Brown (Army West Point) dec Zach Glazier (Iowa) 4-1 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) fall Brandon Phillips (Army West Point) 3:53 Oklahoma State 45 Drexel 0 125 - Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) dec Kyle Waterman (Drexel) 6-3 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) fall Deon Pleasant (Drexel) 4:22 141 - Carter Young (Oklahoma State) maj Jared Donahue (Drexel) 18-6 149 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) fall Tyler Williams (Drexel) 3:20 157 - Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) maj Parker Kropman (Drexel) 8-0 165 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) maj Evan Barczak (Drexel) 13-3 174 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Michael O'Malley (Drexel) 6-3 184 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) tech Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) 24-9 197 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) tech Santino Morina (Drexel) 17-2 285 - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) tech Eli Anthony (Drexel) 19-4 Buffalo 17 Binghamton 16 125 - Tristan Daugherty (Buffalo) dec Micah Roes (Binghamton) 9-5 133 - Derek Spann (Buffalo) tech Christian Gannone (Binghamton) 19-1 141 - Michael Zarif (Binghamton) dec Ben Freeman (Buffalo) 5-3 149 - John Arceri (Buffalo) dec Nick Lombard (Binghamton) 3-1SV 157 - Ty Raines (Buffalo) dec Logan Gumble (Binghamton) 4-0 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) maj Noah Grover (Buffalo) 9-1 174 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) 9-4 184 - Peter Acciardi (Buffalo) dec Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 3-1 197 - Louie DePrez (Binghamton) dec Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) 5-3 285 - Joe Doyle (Binghamton) dec Toby Cahill (Buffalo) 7-3

Nick Suriano (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Sunday evening, Nick Suriano put to rest one of the longest running saga's of the 2021-22 season (and more), as he announced via his Instagram that he would finish his eligibility at the University of Michigan. Suriano is a two-time NCAA finalist, losing in the 2018 finals to Spencer Lee and winning at 133 lbs a year later. That title made him the first NCAA champion in Rutgers wrestling history. Before the national tournament, Suriano captured his first Big Ten title. Those came at a 133 lb weight class that was deemed one of the toughest in a decade. At that NCAA Tournament, Suriano earned wins over Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), Stevan Micic (Michigan), and Daton Fix (Oklahoma State). Through three years of competition, Suriano's collegiate record sits at 70-7. Suriano joins a Michigan squad that currently sits at #5 in the tournament rankings and number six in duals. He is now one of six All-Americans in the Wolverine lineup, as he'll presumably fit in at 125 lbs. That also sets up potential rematches with Lee at the Big Ten and possibly the NCAA finals. The Wolverines are looking for a huge showing at the 2022 NCAA Championships as they will take place in Detroit.

Iowa State assistant coach Derek St. John (right) and head coach Kevin Dresser (Photo/Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Saturday's Dual Results Drexel 25 Little Rock 18 125 - Kyle Waterman (Drexel) maj Jayden Carson (Little Rock) 13-2 133 - Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) tech Deon Pleasant (Drexel) 17-2 141 - Conner Ward (Little Rock) dec Jared Donahue (Little Rock) 6-4SV 149 - Joseph Bianchi (Little Rock) maj Tyler Williams (Drexel) 12-4 157 - Parker Kropman (Drexel) dec Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) 7-4 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) dec Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) 6-4 174 - Michael O'Malley (Drexel) fall Triston Wills (Little Rock) 3:35 184 - Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) fall Tanner Mendoza (Little Rock) 5:14 197 - Santino Morina (Drexel) dec Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) 6-0 285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) fall Eli Anthony (Drexel) 2:50 Iowa State 25 Army West Point 9 125 - Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) maj Jake Staud (Army West Point) 12-3 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) maj Mark Montgomery (Army West Point) 12-4 141 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) dec Julian Sanchez (Army West Point) 6-4 149 - PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) dec Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) 4-3 157 - David Carr (Iowa State) tech Markus Hartman (Army West Point) 18-2 165 - Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) dec Isaac Judge (Iowa State) 11-6 174 - Joel Devine (Iowa State) dec Clayton Fielden (Army West Point) 6-0 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Brad Laughlin (Army West Point) 4-1 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec JT Brown (Army West Point) 4-3 285 - Ben Sullivan (Army West Point) dec Francis Duggan (Iowa State) 9-7SV Iowa State 39 Cal Baptist 0 125 - Corey Cabanban (Iowa State) dec Devin Garcia (Cal Baptist) 2-0 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) dec Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) 10-6 141 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) dec Christian Nunez (Cal Baptist) 4-1 149 - Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) maj Chaz Hallmark (Cal Baptist) 17-4 157 - David Carr (Iowa State) maj AJ Raya (Cal Baptist) 14-3 165 - Austin Kraisser (Iowa State) dec Josh Grant (Cal Baptist) 2-0 174 - Joel Devine (Iowa State) tech Louis Rojas (Cal Baptist) 19-1 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) tech Caden Gerlach (Cal Baptist) 18-1 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) tech Arick Lopez (Cal Baptist) 23-8 285 - Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) maj Chris Island (Cal Baptist) 11-2 Wisconsin 20 North Carolina 16 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) maj Spencer Moore (North Carolina) 11-0 133 - Jaime Hernandez (North Carolina) dec Kyle Burwick (Wisconsin) 7-3 141 - Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) dec Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) 9-5 149 - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) dec Zach Sherman (North Carolina) 9-4 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) maj Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 13-5 165 - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) maj Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) 10-0 174 - Clay Lautt (North Carolina) dec Andrew McNally (Wisconsin) 6-1 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Chris Weiler (Wisconsin) 8-2 197 - Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) dec Max Shaw (North Carolina) 6-2 285 - Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) fall Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 4:08 Rutgers 35 Hofstra 6 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Jacob Moon (Hofstra) 8-1 133 - Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) fall Dylan Acevedo (Hofstra) :52 141 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) fall Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) 2:37 149 - Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) tech Mike Leandrou (Hofstra) 17-0 157 - Al DeSantis (Rutgers) dec Joe McGinty (Hofstra) 8-2 165 - Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec Andrew Clark (Rutgers) 4-3 174 - Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) fall Ericson Velasquez (Hofstra) :58 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) dec Charles Small (Hofstra) 8-2 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) dec Trey Rogers (Hofstra) 8-3 285 - Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec Boone McDermott (Rutgers) 6-1 Wisconsin 38 Hofstra 12 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) fall Dylan Acevedo (Hofstra) 3:34 133 - Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin) fall Jacob Moon (Hofstra) 6:02 141 - Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) maj Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) 22-8 149 - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) tech Mike Leandrou (Hofstra) 16-1 157 - Joe McGinty (Hofstra) fall Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 4:14 165 - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) tech Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) 16-0 174 - Andrew McNally (Wisconsin) fall Corey Langer (Hofstra) 3:18 184 - Charles Small (Hofstra) dec Chris Weiler (Wisconsin) 3-2 197 - Trey Rogers (Hofstra) dec Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 6-4SV 285 - Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) fall Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) 6:56 Rutgers 28 North Carolina 9 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Spencer Moore (North Carolina) 7-5SV 133 - Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) dec Joe Heilmann (North Carolina) 6-2 141 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) FFT 149 - Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) maj Mason Phillips (North Carolina) 12-1 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) 12-6 165 - Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) dec Andrew Clark (Rutgers) 7-3 174 - Clay Lautt (North Carolina) dec Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) 4-0 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) fall Mark Chaid (North Carolina) 3:10 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) dec Max Shaw (North Carolina) 8-2 285 - Boone McDermott (Rutgers) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 9-3

2021 NCAA champion Gable Steveson (Photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) In week three of our NCAA picks, a clubhouse leader emerged and separated himself from the rest of the field after a perfect 7-0 week. EIWA correspondent Austin Sommer has sole possession of first place by two games ahead of a triumvirate of Courtney, Rachel, and Willie. Looking at this week's picks, only one dual has a unanimous winner in Minnesota, who takes on South Dakota State. The week could swing on the Army West Point/Iowa State and North Carolina/Rutgers duals as each school has at least three staff members who picked them. Meanwhile, Robbie and Cody refused to follow the pack and went out on their own with one picks, which could end up fruitful for them or costly.

Dean Hamiti's collegiate debut against Buffalo (Photo courtesy of Tom Lynn; Wisconsin Athletics) One of the more intriguing teams in the Big Ten this year is the Wisconsin Badgers. While many teams like Iowa and Michigan are taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility, the Badgers have some young faces that could help boost the team into contention. Chris Bono's team returns four wrestlers from the 2021 NCAA Championships, including two All-Americans (Eric Barnett - 125 and Trent Hillger - 285). In addition, the Badgers were active in the transfer portal picking up transfers Austin Gomez (149) and Andrew McNally (174). Both Gomez and McNally have finished a match away from All-American status at one point in their career. Just a nucleus like this with established, credentialed veterans, should do well even in the Big Ten. Two true freshmen possess the ability to propel the Badgers above many of their counterparts in 165 lber Dean Hamiti and 197 lber Braxton Amos. While true freshmen can typically take their lumps in the league like the Big Ten, these two are your typical freshmen. Hamiti was ranked #6 overall in the Class of 2020 by MatScouts and Amos was #3 in the Class of 2020. Amos did not enroll during the 2020-21 school year, so he is still considered a true freshman. Both of these young men came into Madison with a boatload of accolades. The only reason why Hamiti wasn't a four-time Illinois state champion was because Covid canceled his state tournament in 2021. He was a winner at the Super 32 and in Fargo's Junior National freestyle tournament in 2019. Amos was also a three-time state champion, who likely didn't win a fourth only because he was injured as a freshman. Over the summer, Amos pulled the rare feat of winning a Junior World title in freestyle, then came back to capture bronze in Greco-Roman. Other rare exploits at the high school level include three Super 32 belts and five titles in Fargo. Hamiti and Amos were unleashed during the Badgers season-opening dual with Buffalo and have seen action in two dual meets this year. In his debut, Hamiti majored the Bulls Jay Nivison 18-5 and showed a vast array of takedowns in the process. Amos cobbled together a solid 8-2 win over veteran Sam Mitchell. He was able to exert himself physically upon an older opponent, which is a positive sign at a larger weight class like 197. In their second outing, Hamiti was able to gut out a win over Little Rock's Tyler Brennan, 4-3. For prospects like Hamiti and Amos, they were rarely pushed in high school, so it's good to see Hamiti pull out a close win on riding time so early in his collegiate career. Amos had less trouble as he crushed Brooks Sacharczyk 18-2. Now at the Garden State Grapple. Wisconsin will take on Hofstra and North Carolina in dual competition. Both potential opponents for Hamiti and Amos represent another step and another challenge as they progress in their freshman season. As of now, Hamiti and Amos, are ranked #26 and #16 at their respective weights. Those rankings are not indicative of their abilities and where we think they will finish at the end of the year. It is merely a result of their collegiate results in comparison to others. Once Saturday night rolls around, we should have a better idea of where each stands. Hamiti: The young 165 lber will start the evening with a challenge from unranked freshman Sonny Santiago of North Carolina. A former California state champion, Santiago has faced a solid schedule thus far and amassed a 5-3 record. He battled Nebraska's Bubba Wilson in a hard-fought one-point loss last week and has shown promise. In the nightcap, Hamiti will take on returning NCAA qualifier for Hofstra in Ricky Stamm. Though he's started slowly in 2021-22, Stamm is a quality measuring stick for a freshman. He was fifth at the 2021 EIWA Championships and picked up a win at his first NCAA Tournament. This year, Stamm is 3-2, with his best win coming over Lehigh's Connor Herceg, by fall. Amos: The first of two returning national qualifiers expected to toe the line opposite Amos is 2021 ACC third-place finisher #26 Max Shaw. Shaw is only 1-1 in limited action this year. He started the year losing via fall to NAIA opponent Zane Lanham (Life) and missed a few duals. Shaw returned last Sunday with a solid 3-2 win over Campbell's promising freshman Levi Hopkins. Second on the list for Amos is #29 Trey Rogers. The Minnesota-native, Rogers, was fifth in the EIWA last year and grabbed a win over Chattanooga's Logan Andrew at the NCAA Championships. The only action Rogers has seen thus far in 2021-22 came at the Clarion Open, where he went 4-1. While neither Amos nor Hamiti should be considered an underdog in any of their bouts Saturday night, it will provide a solid litmus test as to just how good these young stars are against proven competition.

2021 NCAA finals(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) DI wrestling has a light slate duals and open tournaments as this is still Thanksgiving week. Only 11 duals and a few opens are on the docket for Saturday and Sunday. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this weekend. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match. All times Eastern Saturday, November 27: Arizona State, Wyoming at Cowboy Open 11:00 AM FloWrestling Drexel at Little Rock, 1:00 PM Little Rock All-Access Army West Point at Iowa State, 2:00 PM ESPN+ Oregon State at Iowa, 3:00 PM BTN+ California Baptist at Iowa State, 4:00 PM ESPN+ Hofstra vs. Rutgers at Newark, NJ, 5:30 PM BTN+ North Carolina vs. Wisconsin at Newark, NJ, 5:30 PM BTN+ Hofstra vs. Wisconsin at Newark, NJ, 7:30 PM BTN+ North Carolina vs. Rutgers at Newark, NJ, 7:30 PM BTN+ Sunday, November 28: Lock Haven, Virginia at Mat Town Open I 9:30 AM Army West Point, California Baptist, Iowa State, Northern Iowa at Cyclone Open 10:00 AM South Dakota State at Minnesota, 2:00 PM BTN+ Drexel at Oklahoma State, 3:00 PM ESPN+ Buffalo at Binghamton, 4:30 PM ESPN+

(Photo Courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic from Anna-Lee Marie) The Garden State Grapple event at the Prudential Center in Newark will feature multiple duals, including an ACC vs. Big Ten battle between ranked teams. No. 12 Rutgers is 6-0 on the season and will face off against No. 18 North Carolina in a dual that features 15 ranked wrestlers across the 10 weights. The following is a match-by-match preview of the dual. How to Watch: 7:30 on BTN+ (Link is good for Rutgers' two bouts. They will also wrestle Hofstra at 5:30pm) 125: No. 23 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) vs. Spencer Moore (North Carolina) During the 2021 campaign, Shawver only had two matches in the regular season, but still ended up representing Rutgers at the Big Ten tournament. There he finished with a 2-3 record, but did score an impressive upset over No. 10 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) via a 6-5 score. The Ohio native has started all the way for Rutgers this season and holds an undefeated 5-0 record. In his first bout of the season, he scored a decision victory over No. 31 Logan Heil (Cleveland State). As a true freshman in an unusual season, Moore has already faced some much older opposition. He recently wrestled Nebraska's No. 22 Liam Cronin, who was a full seven years older than him. In his very recent high school career, Moore was a two-time Kentucky state champion and a member of the 2021 Cadet World team. Moore has been extremely active this season and currently holds a 6-5 record. However, half of his wins on the season have come against non-Division I opposition. Shawver did not have very many matches last year due to the shortened season, but the experience he did gain should help him here. Prediction: Shawver decision over Moore (3-0 Rutgers) 133: No, 12 Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) vs. No. 10 Jaime Hernandez (North Carolina) Alvarez qualified for the NCAA tournament as a true freshman during the 2020 season. Last year, he had only three matches, but went 3-0 with impressive wins over Jordan Decatur (Ohio State) and former Minnesota wrestler Boo Dryden (Nebraska). Things got off to a rocky start this year as Alvarez was caught in a headlock and pinned by Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton). However, he has since turned things around and holds a 4-1 record on the year. Much like Alvarez, Hernandez also only wrestled three matches last year after qualifying in 2020. He has started this season with a 4-0 record that includes a two-point victory over Dylan Koontz (Ohio State) and a 10-4 decision over Alex Thomsen (Nebraska). Against Thomsen, Hernandez gave up the first takedown before getting back into the match and making a difference from the top position. If he falls behind here against Alvarez, he may not be able to recover. Alvarez normally excels in wide-open matches with a lot of scoring, and that is likely to be the case in this contest. Look for both wrestlers to have their moments, but Alvarez's persistent offense should be the difference-maker in what would be a slight rankings upset. Then Alvarez has shown throughout his career that he can be susceptible to big moves. Prediction: Alvarez decision over Hernández (6-0 Rutgers) 141: No. 4 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) vs. No. 10 Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) 2021 was another successful season for Rivera. He finished fourth at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American for the third time. While it was just his latest trip to the podium, it was his first for Rutgers after transferring from Northwestern. After a summer that saw him focus on freestyle as part of an attempt to make the Olympics for Puerto Rico, he has returned for one final run on the college mats. Rivera has started his final campaign with four victories, including a pair of technical falls. Clarke transferred to North Carolina from American, where he was an NCAA qualifier in 2020. He has already made a big impact on the new squad. Not only has he won all five of his matches, but he also picked up a sudden-victory upset over No. 11 Chad Red (Nebraska). He holds career victories over No. 18 (at 149) Kanen Storr (Michigan) and Jacob Butler (Oklahoma). In the upset over Red, Clarke was able to hang physically and defend some pretty deep takedown attempts. While that will likely serve him well against Rivera, the pace of attacks from Rivera will likely be the difference. Against both Red and Jordan Decatur (Ohio State), Clarke was able to slow things down and make it basically a one-score match. That will almost certainly be tough against Rivera, who will likely string multiple attacks together in order to score. Prediction: Rivera decision over Clarke (9-0 Rutgers) 149: No. 25 Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) vs. No. 16 Zach Sherman (North Carolina) Van Brill is a two-time NCAA qualifier who is still looking for his first win at the NCAA tournament after going 0-2 last year and the 2020 cancellation. So far this year, he has gone 5-0. Four of his five victories have been by five points or less, and his win over Nick Lombard (Binghamton) came in sudden victory via a 3-1 score. Sherman began his college career at 133 pounds before becoming an All-American at 141 last year. For this season, he moved up to 149, and the early season results have been somewhat concerning. Sherman currently holds a 2-3 record, with both of his victories coming against non-division 1 opposition. He has lost three-straight matches against No. 2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), No. 13 Ridge Lovette (Nebraska) and No. 15 Josh Heil (Campbell). It is too early in the season for this to be a must-win bout for Sherman, but considering his current run, he would almost certainly want to change his momentum. Both of these wrestlers find themselves in a lot of close matches, so this might not be an exception. Sherman should be the favorite here, but if his recent issues are weight-related, it could be a struggle. Prediction: Sherman decision over Van Brill (9-3 Rutgers) 157: Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) vs. No. 7 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) After starting four duals last year, Kanniard has stepped into the consistent starting spot for the Scarlet Knights this year. Through five matches, he has gone 4-1, with his only defeat coming against Trevor Elfvin (Clarion). Despite winning an NCAA title last season, O'Connor, like Sherman, has bumped up a weight class. He started his 157-pound campaign with three-straight bonus-point victories, but then hit a snag when he dropped a 5-2 decision against No. 6 Peyton Robb (Nebraska). O'Connor bounced back nicely against Matthew Dallara (Campbell). He led by a 14-4 score going into the final period before Dallara was disqualified for stalling. O'Connor's style really depends on his ability to physically dominate his opponents, so in theory, wrestling against larger opposition might give him some trouble. Robb wrestled exceptionally well in the match against O'Connor, so it might be a mistake to try to extrapolate a lot from that bout. O'Connor should be able to handle Kanniard here, but the bout should be another solid barometer of the returning champion's prospects at the new weight. Prediction: O'Connor decision over Kanniard (9-6 Rutgers) 165: Andrew Clark (Rutgers) vs. Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) Clark started five of Rutgers' six duals so far this year and got some extra work at the Shorty Hitchcock Open. His record currently stands at 6-5, but three of those victories have been against wrestlers from lower divisions. Clark was a 2020 New Jersey state champion and wrestled only one match during his redshirt season in 2021. Santiago went 4-1 last year, competing primarily in extra matches. He has assumed a starting role this year and gone 5-3. Against Nebraska, he dropped a one-point match against Bubba Wilson, but he bounded back with a 6-3 win over Riley Augustine (Campbell). Santiago was a 2019 California state champion for powerhouse St. John Bosco. This should be an interesting bout between a pair of wrestlers with a lot of accomplishments at the high school level who are still making the adjustment to college. At this point, Clark has picked up the better wins and faced the tougher schedule. That makes him the favorite, but this could easily be a swing match. Prediction: Clark decision over Santiago (12-6 Rutgers) 174: No. 13 Jackson Turley (Rutgers) vs. No. 15 Clay Lautt (North Carolina) Turley had only four matches last season prior to the Big Ten tournament. However, he still managed to qualify and ultimately finish eighth at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American. Turley was a top-50 recruit and a National Prep champion on the high school level, but few expected him to be an All-American in his first year in the lineup. Despite the early career success, he has only wrestled one match this year and dropped a decision against John Worthing (Clarion). Lautt also had a strong showing at the last NCAA tournament. He picked up key wins over No. 16 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) and No. 11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri). Despite those strong performances, Lautt ultimately came up short in the blood round and finished 12th. He has started this year with a 2-2 record, with both of his losses coming against ranked wrestlers, No. 20 (at 184) Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) and No. 2 Michael Labriola (Nebraska). Given Turley's performance in his only match this year, it would be safe to assume that he is either injured or not in peak form. Do not be surprised if Rutgers sends out Connor O'Neill instead, as he has started five duals already this year. Either way, considering the current trends, Lautt should be able to pick up a victory here. Prediction: Lautt decision over Turley/O'Neill (12-9 Rutgers) 184: No. 5 John Poznanski (Rutgers) vs. No. 23 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) Much like Turley, Poznanski was a pleasant early surprise for Rutgers. He joined the squad after winning a 2020 New Jersey state championship and was 40-0 in his final high school campaign. Poznanski took it a step forward in his first season for Rutgers. At the NCAA tournament, he went 4-2 with wins over No. 7 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) and No. 12 (at 197) Louie DePrez (Binghamton) and ultimately finished fourth to become an All-American. Despite starting the year at 174 pounds, Kane looks to be the answer for North Carolina at 184. At least, this was the case in their recent match against Campbell. He moved up for the first time this year and dispatched Caleb Hopkins via a 7-3 decision. During his high school career, Kane was a four-time Georgia state champion and a Super 32 runner-up. Kane will likely have a strong season up at this weight, but he will be up against it here. Poznanski adapted well to the college game almost immediately, and so far this year, the results have been just as strong. He is undefeated at 6-0 with three bonus-point victories. At the very least, he will make it very hard for Kane to get on the board. Prediction: Poznanski decision over Kane (15-9 Rutgers) 197: No. 14 Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) vs. No. 26 Max Shaw (North Carolina) Bulsak was a four-time NCAA qualifier for Clarion, who is now trying to make one final run at the podium for Rutgers. He has wrestled three matches on the year and picked up a pair of falls, including one against his former squad as he decked Will Feldkamp a few weeks ago. Last year as a redshirt freshman, Shaw picked up wins over Kaden Russell (Duke) and Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) at the ACC tournament to qualify for the 2021 NCAA tournament. Things got off to a rough start this year as he was the only Tar Heel to lose in their dual against NAIA champion Life. Not only did Shaw lose, but the loss came via fall. Shaw returned to action last Sunday and got back on track with a 3-2 decision over Campbell's Levi Hopkins. At this point, Bulsak has been around the block and seen it all. He should be able to impose his will physically in this match and control it throughout. Shaw has been able to keep it close against top wrestlers in the past, and that should be the case again here. However, Bulsak will likely be the one picking up the win. Prediction: Bulsak decision over Shaw (18-9 Rutgers) 285: No. 23 Boone McDermott (Rutgers) vs. Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) McDermott was an NJCAA champion at Iowa Central in 2020. He then transferred to Rutgers. Last year, he defeated Gary Traub (Oregon State) and Jamarcus Grant, then of Purdue, while backing up Christian Colucci. This year, McDermott has been impressive as he has won all four of his matches and pinned John Kelbly (Cleveland State) and Grayson Walthall (Chattanooga). Whitman was an unlikely NCAA qualifier as a true freshman in 2019. Last season, he moved up to heavyweight and went 2-3 in a reserve role. However, Whitman did pick up an impressive 3-1 victory over No. 32 Jacob Slinger (Pittsburgh). This year, he has gone 2-2, but he is still looking for his first win over a Division I opponent. Whitman is surprisingly agile for a heavyweight, and he was able to hang early against No. 13 Christian Lance (Nebraska). However, as the match went on, Lance was able to wear him down and take the major decision. Expected something similar here against McDermott, who has shown in limited action that he is ready for the grind of the Big Ten heavyweight division. North Carolina forfeited at heavyweight against Campbell, so it is possible there are issues with Whitman. Prediction: McDermott major decision over Whitman Dual Prediction: Rutgers over North Carolina (22-9)

Billie Sims' intro at Stalemates Street League 2 (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) You may have seen Billie Sims lead off the Stalemates Street League card on October 29th, with a 7-1 win and heard it was her first actual wrestling match. While that part is true, it's only a small fraction of her time around the sport and it isn't even the final chapter for a 47-year-old mother of four. Billie's bout on the Stalemates card was 25 years in the making and even that number errs on the low side of things. Sims grew up in rural Stanardsville, Virginia, a town with a population of under 400 in the 2010 census. An active young girl, Billie participated in a variety of sports, even football. Like many wrestling sisters of her time, Billie was first exposed to the sport through her little brother Bobby and spent plenty of time as an unofficial wrestling partner. While Billie had an interest in wrestling, she was a standout in softball. She went on to play it at the division one level at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. While at Mason, Billie took up lacrosse, as well. The first lacrosse game she ever saw, was one where she started as a DI athlete. Billie (right) and her son Dyson wearing the same football number, 30 years apart (Photos Courtesy of Billie Sims At GMU is where Kevin McGuigan comes into the story. You may recognize Kevin today as the Director of Operations for the University of Pennsylvania, the Marketing Director for the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center and a fierce advocate for any and all things Philly Wrestling. At the time, McGuigan was the head assistant coach for the Mason wrestling team. For a few extra bucks, McGuigan also did PA announcing for the softball program. Between his announcing gig and normal fraternization between sports at the weight room and GMU's field house, McGuigan and Sims' paths crossed. Neither is exactly sure how the dialogue started, it's likely it was spurred by Billie talking about how she grew up around the sport because of her brother, but at some point near the end of Sims' time at George Mason, she and her softball teammates asked McGuigan if he could teach them how to wrestle. While this may not seem too unusual in 2021, remember this was the mid-1990's in Virginia. To this day, girls' high school wrestling is still not sanctioned in Virginia. A few years later, (1998), Hawaii would hold a girl's state tournament for the first time. The point is, that outside of a few states, there were very few opportunities for girls to compete in wrestling, especially against other girls. Interestingly enough, this wasn't McGuigan's first foray into this type of training with female athletes. In his last stop, at Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania, some of the girls on the competitive cheerleading time got into a playful argument about "who works harder," them or the wrestling team. He welcomed the cheerleaders into the wrestling team's conditioning workouts (stadium stairs/buddy carries). After a while, McGuigan thought, "you're pretty athletic; you should wrestle." That was his first hint that women's wrestling could take off. The girls were invited into the practice room and McGuigan taught them some basics, the girls enjoyed it, but even in wrestling-crazy Pennsylvania, there weren't many competitive outlets for the girls and their interest waned. At George Mason, McGuigan enlisted some of the Patriots star wrestlers, Bryan Hazard (now one of the co-voices of the NCAA Championships) and Sean Carrigan (who went on to star on the Young and the Restless, as well as the film Ford v Ferrari) to work with Sims and her teammates. McGuigan asked if Hazard thought they could teach the girls how to wrestle and Hazard replied, "Yeah, absolutely.". The Patriots head coach at the time, Brian Schaffer, was supportive and said they'd have to do it after practice and see what the administration says. McGuigan went to the GMU administration, who ok'd an idea of a women's wrestling club and the group hit the mat. They did the same workouts the men's team did, with very little live wrestling. He and the Patriot wrestlers went through the basics (stance, motion, level change, penetration, lift, back arch). "They went hard," said McGuigan. "We're talking accomplished division one athletes that wanted to learn something new. I was impressed by it." The women's wrestling club lasted for less than a year as there were no tournaments for the young women to enter. McGuigan reached out to some of the smaller schools in the state and region, but none had a women's wrestling club. He still believes in the saying "If you build it, they will come," referring to girls and women who will show interest in the sport if opportunities are available to them. As the George Mason women's wrestling club faded away, McGuigan would leave the area a few years later to move back to the Philadelphia area and start a family. Sims did the same as she married Jason Dunham and had four children. Fast forward to the early 2020, as Billie's then-high school sophomore son, Dyson Dunham, had just finished third in Virginia's 6A state tournament. Dyson was ready to enter his mom into the "Bald and Fat Classic," a tournament that featured such age groups as 25-35, 36-45. He was just as excited about his wrestling-crazed mom about getting her on the mat for an official match. As with many things in 2020, Covid prevented the tournament from being conducted. Without that tournament, Billie figured her dreams of wrestling would go unanswered. More than a year later, Zach Bogle of "Stalemates" fame, announced his company was putting on a second "Street League" event after the first was such a hit with fans. He made it known on social media that he'd like to feature a match between two people that have never wrestled before and also wanted to incorporate a women's bout into the fold. When Bogle made such a statement, McGuigan tweeted, "he nominates Billie Sims." Billie's first thought after seeing McGuigan's tweet was, "Yeah, I'd love to wrestle." Once Sims found out they were looking for a woman around her size, she reached out to Bogle and the rest was history. Billie Sims and Becca Roper (left) (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Shortly after, Billie agreed to wrestle Rebecca Roper, an employee at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum and wife of Northern Iowa assistant coach Lee Roper. Sims had no hesitation about going from Virginia to Iowa for a single match. Once McGuigan heard Billie was wrestling, his first thought was, "I don't care who she's wrestling, Billie's gonna kick some butt," and that was before an opponent was announced publicly. In the lead-up to the match, Billie's husband, Jason, produced a series of videos showing her training regiment and the first included one of her favorite pastimes, barrel racing. She has been barrel racing "ever since she could walk' and has a long list of accolades in the field. Billie was an IBRA State Champion Open and Masters (40+) in 2020, beating out a field that included over 100-plus horses. This year she was an NBHA State Reserve Open Champion. One of the biggest positives from the entire Street League experience was the bonding experience between Billie and Dyson. Now a VMI signee, Dyson "not only supported me, but pushed me to do it. Anything you can do with your teenager, where they're interested in it, is cool...especially wrestling," Sims added. During Sims' training for her match, Dyson relished the opportunity to turn the tables on their usual wrestler-mom dynamic. The night before the match, the two were working out and Dyson performed a mat return, which made Billie hesitate. Less than 24 hours away from competing, she didn't want to get hurt and told him to, "Chill out." Dyson replied, "You think this is hard? Guess what, wrestling's hard! You're going to battle for just four minutes of your life. If you're not ready to battle, you're gonna regret it." While Billie may not have appreciated the tough love and hard wrestling at the time, she looks back and admits, "I needed it." The two both needed to train as Dyson competed at USAW's Preseason Nationals at the same time, a short distance away from the Stalemates event. He would go on to make the finals of the 132 lb weight class. While Billie watched one of Dyson's matches, she received a call from former George Mason All-American Johnny Curtis. Curtis' FCA Wrestling Club is one that hosted Billie during the lead-up to her match. Curtis told Billie, "It's ok to be nervous," to which she replied, "Is it ok if I'm not?" as she was totally at peace with herself and excited for the opportunity. Since Dyson was still wrestling at Preseason Nationals, Billie had to go over to the Stalemates venue by herself because her brother and longtime friend and club coach, Tyler Atwell, were still in Dyson's corner. Once the two arrived, they were looking for a good drill partner for her and stumbled upon someone who fit the bill. That, someone, was the #1 120 lber in the nation, Nate Jesuroga, who was fresh off a win at the Super 32 the previous week. Jesuroga didn't hesitate to warm up the 47-year-old mother, who had never officially stepped on the mat before. Billie's brother Bobby (right) and Tyler Atwell in her corner (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Sims and Roper's bout was the first bout of the night on the Street League 2 card. After she was introduced and was waiting for Becca to take the mat, Billie received some last-second words of wisdom from her son's coach, Atwell, and brother Bobby. "You're the underdog," said Atwell. "You're the bad guy. Everybody's gonna be cheering for her. Embrace it," Bobby added. That sat well with Sims, who thought, "That's right..this is cool, I'm the underdog, I'm the bad guy." As expected, the partisan Iowa crowd was behind Roper. The two of them spent the first period looking for an opening and Roper's length gave Billie some issues. "She was so long and kept in such good position, I couldn't see where I could shoot under her." In the second period, after she got on the scoreboard with an escape, Billie pushed the pace with an underhook, then used an arm drag to a snatch single. Not only was she able to convert the takedown, but Roper went straight to her back. Billie couldn't believe she scored from an arm drag. "It was something I had drilled, but not something I thought I'd go to. McGuigan interrupted and said it was muscle memory from 25 years ago. "It was one of my favorite setups and I know we worked on it," he chuckled. Billie Sims' in action at Stalemates Street League 2 (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Roper rode Sims for the entire third period, but it wasn't without some excitement. Billie had a brief scare as Roper sank in a half nelson and rolled her through her back, though no points were registered. A riding time point for Roper brought the final score to 7-1 in favor of Billie. After she got off the mat and was decompressing, her drill partner, Jesuroga, came up and said, "Hey, nice arm drag," which really tickled her. As we're reliving her Street League experience, Billie recalls her last practice before the competition. As she unlaced her shoes, she felt upset. Not only had she just finally broken-in her wrestling shoes, but she realized "this may be it." After the match, it would be all over. But as Billie likes to say, "God's funny." About a week after her match, Sims invited Chad Hoffman and Doug Fisher out for dinner and drinks to thank them for their support. Hoffman and Fisher are coaches at Fauquier High School and their Birds of Prey Wrestling Club was one of the handful of local clubs that embraced her with open arms while training for the match. At one point, during dinner, one of the two told Billie they "needed one more assistant coach and they were looking for someone smaller to roll with the guys," gauging her interest. At the time, Billie laughed it off as a joke, but over the ensuing weekend, she confided in her brother, who had already thought she should get into coaching. On Monday, she followed up with Hoffman and told him, "she was interested if he was serious." Hoffman responded with, "Woo-hoo, see you at 3:45." Since then, Billie has been in the Fauquier wrestling room working with a handful of young lightweights, new to the sport. Having someone her size has been perfect for them. She's already preparing for a dual meet between Fauquier and Benedictine College Prep, her son Dyson's school, which will take place on the campus of VMI. Initially, before Billie's involvement in Street League, I wanted to write this article about her and McGuigan's relationship through the short-lived George Mason Women's Wrestling Club; however, McGuigan was a bit hesitant due to his humble nature and the lack of traction that the venture gained. Billie, on the other hand, feels it is an essential part of her story and calls McGuigan a "seed planter. He planted the seeds for women's wrestling with the conversations he had with the administration and other people. You may not harvest or see the rewards, but you need the seeds planted before anything can grow. He was a visionary and he supported women's wrestling before it was a cool thing to do." So after getting on the mat, training then competing, how does the experience impact Billie's feelings about the sport? "I love it even more! I'd love to compete again, though I can't imagine another scenario." She hopes that this experience will help her push more young girls towards the sport, including her daughter, Bradie, who is seven years old and has expressed some interest in wrestling. Billie and Becca Roper embrace after their bout (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) I remember the final seconds ticking off the clock in Billie's bout with Becca, seeing the pair embrace and the crowd showing their appreciation for the two. It felt like a special moment. Stalemates often focuses on the lighter side of our sport or off-the-mat drama; however, in this instance, Bogle and company helped set the stage for an authentic, emotional moment between two women who love wrestling and didn't have the opportunities to compete in their youth. For Billie, it was a moment more than 25 years in the making. "You couldn't find someone that would feel more thankful, grateful, or blessed. It was more than a wrestling match. It was a life-changer," said Billie.

All-American's Rocky Elam (left) and Trent Hidlay (Photo Courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) Yesterday, the pools and matchups were announced for the Journeymen Collegiate Duals, which are set to go down on December 20-21 on the campus of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida. Six of the top ten dual teams and seven of the top 11 are slated to be in Florida for the festivities. Half of the 12 teams will be put into the “Blue Pool,” and the other half will be in a “Red Pool.” From there, teams have been put into groups of three, which will hit in round-robin action. The winners from the Blue Pool's two groups of three will meet, as will the second and third-place teams. The same goes for the Red Pool. Great lengths have been taken in drawing up these pools to ensure that conference teams and schools with each other on their schedule don't meet. While we have almost a month until the first whistle in Florida, we're excited about the event and wanted to look at some of the potential matchups on tap, since we have the pools. Below are the wrestlers currently ranked that could face off with one another based on the matchups released yesterday. We have not projected winners of matches yet, and placed group winners together, though they will account for some even better duals. December 20th Blue Pool 9AM - Mat 1: Cornell vs. Northern Iowa #5 Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs. #33 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. #31 Tristan Lara (Northern Iowa) #17 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs. #25 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) #9 Chris Foca (Cornell) vs. #26 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) #18 Jonathan Loew (Cornell) vs. #4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #17 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) vs. #18 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa) There are a lot of ranked matches in this one, though Cornell is favored in all but one. As both teams get more experience, more ranked bouts could develop. 9AM - Mat 2: Virginia Tech vs. Hofstra #24 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) vs. #27 Greg Gaxiola (Hofstra) #9 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) vs. #30 Charles Small (Hofstra) #14 Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech) vs. #20 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) Hofstra has a few guys just outside the top-33, so they may be able to work their way in before late December. Other than that, heavyweight should be very competitive. 11AM - Mat 1: Penn State vs. Northern Iowa #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. #33 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) #21 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. #31 Tristan Lara (Northern Iowa) #32 Creighton Edsall (Penn State) vs. #25 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #26 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #4 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #18 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa) All eyes are focused on the 184 lb bout. #1 versus #4 in a rematch of the 2021 NCAA semifinals, won by Aaron Brooks, 6-4. The loss is Parker Keckeisen's only official defeat thus far. 11AM - Mat 2: Arizona State vs. Hofstra #3 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. #27 Greg Gaxiola (Hofstra) #8 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) vs. #29 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) #3 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) vs. #20 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) Unfortunately, Hofstra's ranked guys are slated to meet some of the best wrestlers in the nation at their respective weights, with two top-three's and an eighth. 1PM - Mat 1: Cornell vs. Penn State #5 Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs. #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. #21 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) #17 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs. #32 Creighton Edsall (Penn State) #9 Chris Foca (Cornell) vs. #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) #18 Jonathan Loew (Cornell) vs. #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #19 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) vs. #4 Max Dean (Penn State) #17 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) vs. #4 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) This is one of the duals to circle! Provided Vito Arujau stays at 133, that match will be perhaps the most entertaining of the entire event. Also, the return of Max Dean facing his old team. By then, Jacob Cardenas will probably have moved up in the rankings. 1PM - Mat 2: Virginia Tech vs. Arizona State #12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) vs. #3 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #4 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) vs. #7 Michael McGee (Arizona State) #33 Sam Hillegas (Virginia Tech) vs. #17 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) #8 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) vs. #5 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) #24 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) vs. #3 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #14 Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech) vs. #3 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Absolute fire here! All-Americans clashing with one another at 125 and 133. A top-ten match at 149 lb with two highly entertaining wrestlers. This looks bound to come down to the final bout, especially since ASU has unranked wrestlers at weights that are the Hokies strengths (174-184). Red Pool 3PM - Mat 1: Lehigh vs. Central Michigan #14 Jaret Lane (Lehigh) vs. #32 Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan) #10 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) vs. #20 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) #10 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) vs. #11 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) Individually, some of these guys have met already this year at the Journeymen Collegiate Challenge. Humphreys and Lovett were slated to, but a medical forfeit was involved. Both teams are slightly underrated in dual competition, so expect a close one. 3PM - Mat 2: Binghamton vs. Missouri #28 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) vs. #11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) #12 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) vs. #5 Rocky Elam (Missouri) #30 Joe Doyle (Binghamton) vs. #12 Zach Elam (Missouri) All-Americans will be set to collide at 197 lbs as Louie DePrez is likely to get his most significant test at 197 lbs, since moving up. The Bearcats have a couple others on the cusp of a top-33 ranking. 5PM - Mat 1: Iowa vs. Central Michigan #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. #32 Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan) #2 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) vs. #8 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) #8 Kaleb Young (Iowa) vs. #20 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) #7 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) vs. #11 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) This group has excellent heavyweights, with all three (Cassioppi/Stencel/Wood) coming in with past All-American honors. Dresden Simon and Johnny Lovett are both capable of pulling upsets, so Iowa is clearly favored, but will get pushed in these matches. 5PM - Mat 2: Binghamton vs. NC State #28 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) vs. #5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) #12 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) vs. #17 Isaac Trumble (NC State) #30 Joe Doyle (Binghamton) vs. #27 Owen Trephan (NC State) It's the Pat Popolizio Bowl. The current NC State coach gets to face his former school. A loaded Wolfpack team appears to be too much for the Bearcats, but the final three weights could be fun. 7PM - Mat 1: Lehigh vs. Iowa #14 Jaret Lane (Lehigh) vs. #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) #22 Malyke Hines (Lehigh) vs. #3 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #10 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) vs. #8 Kaleb Young (Iowa) #27 Brian Meyer (Lehigh) vs. #1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) #10 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) vs. #7 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) 157 and 285 lbs could be crucial matches as we look down the road for potential NCAA seeding. The wrestlers at these weights could be very close to each other in the rankings once March rolls around. 7PM - Mat 2: Missouri vs. NC State #18 Noah Surtin (Missouri) vs. #5 Jakob Camacho (NC State) #27 Trey Crawford (Missouri) vs. #17 Kai Orine (NC State) #12 Allan Hart (Missouri) vs. #18 Ryan Jack (NC State) #20 Josh Edmond (Missouri) vs. #3 Tariq Wilson (NC State) #11 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) vs. #28 Ed Scott (NC State) #3 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) vs. #16 Thomas Bullard (NC State) #11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) vs. #5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) #10 Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) vs. #3 Trent Hidlay (NC State) #5 Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. #17 Isaac Trumble (NC State) #12 Zach Elam (Missouri) vs. #27 Owen Trephan (NC State) Simply put, an amazing dual Each team has all ten of their starters currently ranked. Looking at those rankings, each team has the advantage in five matches. For this preliminary round of pool competition, this is head-and-shoulders the very best dual possible, top to bottom. Even more intriguing is the winner will likely face Iowa! December 21st 1PM - Mat 1 5th Place Match (Red Pool) 1PM - Mat 2 5th Place Match (Blue Pool) 3PM - Mat 1 3rd Place Match (Red Pool) 3PM - Mat 2 3rd Place Match (Blue Pool) 5PM - Championship Match (Red Pool) 5PM - Championship Match (Blue Pool)

2021 NCAA Runner-Up Jaydin Eierman (Photo Courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) No Podcast this week, so I know there will feel like a little piece of your weekly routine is missing. Lucky for you, those empty feelings are about to be filled/clogged with turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. While Thanksgiving is a wonderful time, filled with food, friends, family, fun, and football, one of the best times of the Thanksgiving holiday might be the day after. I'm talking about those leftovers. Now, this is a wrestling site, so like trying to make the steak dinner at the gentleman's club part of a "business expense," let's tie in NCAA wrestling…. Weight. The most gluttonous of all holidays falls right at the beginning of one of the only collegiate sports where it is necessary to maintain and cut weight. I may be one of the few people out there that does not want to move to a single semester sport (especially if it looks like it did last season), but I would be all in favor of somehow accommodating wrestlers around Thanksgiving. Maybe a 2.5 lb allowance? Maybe duals and tournaments for a week after are madison-weight. I'm spitballing, I'm making this up on the fly, I'm just wasting time. There, business talk completed. So, after the turkey's been hacked apart, the gravy spilled on the good linens, the cranberry sauce stain on Uncle Joe's only good shirt gets smudged beyond repair, the pie has ultimately been cut unevenly, everyone over the age of 53 is asleep on the couch, and almost all the belt buckles have been undone, the family will start to divvy up the leftovers between each other. This is where I swoop in and get as much of everything as I can. You don't get as heavy as I have gotten without knowing a thing or two about good food. So, in something a little different, I'm going to share a couple leftover recipes that are my "go-to" for the busiest sewer day in America. The first one is actually a creation by a local sub shop called Capriottis, founded in Wilmington, DE, back in 1976. Since then, they've expanded to 112 locations across the country. This sandwich is one of their most (if not THE most) famous: The Bobbie. The Bobbie: Take some leftover turkey, heat, and (preferably) shred it. Slices will do too, but we're trying to go for authenticity here. Put the shredded turkey in a hoagie roll, and top with heated stuffing. Finally, top with cranberry sauce and mayonnaise (pros will make a cran-mayo mix, but you do you). Voila! There you have it. A quick delicious sandwich to keep the party going into the weekend. There's also a variation of this made by Wawa called "the Gobbler" that is sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy on a hoagie roll. As much as I love Wawa, I prefer the Bobbie. How about something a little more "involved." And by involved, I mean using a stove. Turkey Cakes: Dice up some cold turkey and stuffing, and place into a mixing bowl with one egg to bind (optional). While a large non-stick pan heats on medium with a drizzle of olive oil, mix the turkey, stuffing, and egg together in the bowl. Start to form individual "cakes" similar to crab cakes (about 1" thick, though that's up to you). When the pan is ready, place the turkey cakes starting at the 12 o'clock position and moving around clockwise (easier to keep track of the cooking). After a couple minutes, when a nice light crust has formed, flip 'em over and repeat. When all are heated through, serve with some cold cranberry sauce or warm gravy. So this Black Friday, instead of just nuking the Tupperware, get creative and try something new. Let me know what leftover creations you make too! There's always room in the recipe book. Oh (one last Tony Food Tip for your morning), when making coffee, throw in a pinch of salt into the coffee grinds. It will help get rid of the acidity and bitterness. On to Week 4. This is the start of a stretch where we will see lower than usual teams competing as we hit the holiday season. There's still a ton of important and exciting tournaments to come, like CKLV, Midlands, Scuffle, and Journeymen Collegiate Duals, but you might have to dig a little deeper into the Transfer Portal and adjust your roster to a more risky portfolio for the time being. Less than 1/3 of D1 programs have officially scheduled competitions this week, which leads into next week, where 64 teams have scheduled matches. Along with a handful of duals, three tournaments comprise Week 4, where there looks to already be a decent amount of D1 participants (which means potential points for your Fantasy Team). As usual, tournament entries continue to come in and we will be sure to update you as we get more information. Got a question? Got a Recommendation? Let me know. Hit us up: @FantasyD1wrestl. Wrestlers I Like This Week (the early locks) Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] 125: Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Eric Barnett (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+7] Pat McKee (Minnesota)- Vs South Dakota State [+4] Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+3] 133: Michael McGee (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Job Greenwood (Wyoming)- Cowboy Open Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina [+7] Daton Fix (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+5] Austin DeSanto (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Derek Spann (Buffalo)- @ Binghamton [+3] 141: Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Joshua Saunders (Cornell)- Mat Town Open 1 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina [+8] Jaydin Eierman (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+4] 149: Kyle Parco (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia)- Mat Town Open 1 PJ Ogunsanya (Army)- @ Iowa State [-3], Cyclone Open 157: Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Jacob Wright (Wyoming)- Cowboy Open Adam Santoro (Cornell)- Mat Town Open 1 David Carr (Iowa State)- Vs Army, Vs Cal Baptist [+9] Austin O'Connor (North Carolina)- Vs Rutgers, Vs Wisconsin (@ RUT) [+8] Brayton Lee (Minnesota)- Vs South Dakota State [+4] Michael Petite (Buffalo)- @ Binghamton [+4] 165: Anthony Valencia (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Justin McCoy (Virginia)- Mat Town Open 1 Dalton Harkins (Army)- @ Iowa State [+3], Cyclone Open Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+7] Alex Marinelli (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+3] 174: Cael Valencia (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Andrew McNally (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+7] Michael Kemerer (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)- @ Minnesota [+3] 184: Tate Samuelson (Wyoming)- Cowboy Open Andrew Berreyesa (Cornell)- Mat Town Open 1 Chris Weiler (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+8] John Poznanski (Rutgers)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina [+7] Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+4] 197: Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming)- Cowboy Open Greg Bulask (Rutgers)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina [+7] Braxton Amos (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+6] Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State)- @ Minnesota [+5] *Will he wrestle?* AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+4] Lou DePrez (Binghamton)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Jacob Warner (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+3] 285: Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)- Cowboy Open Brian Andrews (Wyoming)- Cowboy Open Quinn Miller (Virginia)- Mat Town Open 1 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)- Vs Hofstra, Vs North Carolina (@ RUT) [+7] Gable Steveson (Minnesota)- Vs South Dakota State [+5] Luke Surber (Oklahoma State)- Vs Drexel [+4] Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)- Vs Oregon State [+4] Think I missed someone? Disagree with someone on the list or their projection? Want to know our thoughts on a matchup? Let me know! Win the week!

2021 NCAA Runner-Up Sammy Sasso (Photo Courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Each Monday, Big Ten correspondent Cody Goodwin recaps the biggest results from around the Big Ten Conference - except this week, we're doing it on Wednesday. Happy Thanksgiving. Nebraska - Kicked off Week 3 with an impressive 27-6 win over North Carolina on Wednesday, then followed with two (technically three) champs and two more finalists at the Daktronics Open. Shouts out to Mikey Labs and Christian Lance for winning Daktronics titles; to Ridge Lovett for his insane edge defense in a big win over All-American Zach Sherman; and, most notably, Peyton Robb, who was two seconds away from knocking off a pair of NCAA champs in the span of five days. He beat Austin O'Connor, decisively, on Wednesday, 5-2, and led Iowa State's David Carr, 5-3, in the final seconds of the Daktronics finals. Carr scored late to force sudden-victory and again to win it, but Robb's message landed loud and clear: He's back at 157 and ready to chew bubblegum and kick butt - and he's already all out of bubblegum. (Also, Silas Allred? Pretty, pretty good.) Ohio State - Beat a very good Virginia Tech squad on Friday night, 17-13, then crushed Notre Dame College, 51-0, on Wednesday. But let's talk about that Buckeyes-Hokies dual for a moment, because things happened. Malik Heinselman beat Sam Latona, 5-2. Mekhi Lewis followed his Southeast Open title run by taking out an always-tough Ethan Smith, 6-4. Sammy Sasso showed that he whips a lot of ass when people actually decide to wrestle him and yet he still got Andonian'd a couple of times but managed to beat Bryce, 11-7, in the match of the night. Yes, even better than Tate Orndorff's dual-sealing 3-2 win over Nathan Traxler at heavyweight. Things definitely happened, and they were awesome. Here's hoping more things happen in more duals this season. Penn State - Took down Army, 32-7, last Thursday. Roman Bravo-Young added to his career highlight reel in his 26-11 technical fall over Dominic Carone at 133. In the second period, Carone had RBY's leg in the air, and RBY did like a weird MMA somersault roll, but Carone held onto the leg and nearly turned it into a double, so, of course, RBY somersaulted AGAIN to clear Carone's grip, then sprinted around for a takedown with three seconds left. BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE. In the third period, RBY tried to inside-trip out of a standing front-head position, but it didn't work, so Carone tried a re-shot, but then RBY stuffed him with head-and-hand defense and then literally bunny-hopped over him for a takedown that secured the technical fall. Wrestling RBY has to be an insanely maddening experience, because one, his defense is an underrated part of his game that we probably don't talk about enough, and two, there's a chance you could end up on the wrong end of a viral moment and you know the NCAA Wrestling and Big Ten Wrestling social media accounts are going to cycle those bad boys over and over and over again for the next decade, at least. That reminds me of my buddy Russ Coleman (shoutout Park Hill!), who once wrestled Joey Dance at the Super 32 one year, and Dance super-ducked him into the 14th dimension. FloWrestling airs that takedown every single October as a sort of hype clip to get people pumped for the Super 32 again. Russ has never lived that down. Dominic Carone will never live either of these sequences down. These are the rules. (Oh yeah, Penn State rolled otherwise, taking 8-of-10 weights and scoring bonus in five, including each of the last four from 174-285. Those guys continue to be the hot knife, and their opponents continue to be the butter.) Iowa - Thumped Princeton, 32-12, even with a lineup that didn't include a lot of the A-guys. Jesse Ybarra (125), Cobe Siebrecht (149), Nelson Brands (174), Myles Wilson (184) and Zach Glazier (197) all started, and everybody but Glazier ended up winning (Ybarra by forfeit; Siebrecht and Wilson by technical fall; Brands by major). The one big-time matchup of the evening went to Princeton (Quincy Monday over Kaleb Young, 9-5, at 157) and the most surprising result was not Pat Glory not making weight, but actually Jack Del Garbino rolling off his back and pinning Tony Cassioppi on the edge in the first period at heavyweight, stunning the sold-out-but-not-actually-sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena so much that some probably dropped their Carver Cones. Michigan - Won twice this weekend, 34-3 over Columbia on Friday, then 31-3 over Buffalo on Sunday. The Wolverines won the last nine against Columbia, and the first nine against Buffalo - so, technically, 18-straight wins, if you're into that kind of thing. Will Lewan made his season debut at 157 and won twice, 12-2 over Columbia's Kyle Mosher and 4-3 over Buffalo's Ty Caines. Pat Nolan and Cole Mattin split duties at 141 (both won). Dylan Ragusin (133), Jelani Embree (184) and Pat Brucki (197) all scored double-digit points in each of their two matches over the weekend. The Michigan football team might need some of that same firepower this weekend, as well as your prayers. Purdue - Hosted the Boilermaker Duals on Sunday and rolled to three victories, 42-0 over Brown, 28-15 over Duke, 28-10 over Northern Illinois. In total, Purdue won 24 of 30 matches. Five Purdue wrestlers went 3-0: Devin Schroder (125), Matt Ramos (133), Parker Filius (141), Kendall Coleman (157) and Thomas Penola (197). Penola also scored 19 takedowns across his three matches, is now 6-0 this season, and he's put up at least 20 points in three of those matches. The Boilermakers' shutout win over Brown was their first since 2014, and it was also their first time scoring 40 team points since 2012. Minnesota - Lost to a salty Oklahoma State squad, 23-10, on Saturday night. The Cowboys led 10-6 at the break, then won four in a row from 165-197 - the biggest results: Dustin Plott's 5-1 win over Jared Krattiger at 174, Dakota Geer's 3-1 overtime win over Isaiah Salazar at 184 - to pull away. Trevor Mastrogiovanni also picked up an upset win, 9-4 over Patrick McKee, at 125, and Oklahoma State received bonus points from both Daton Fix (133) and AJ Ferrari (197). Perhaps the best news for Minnesota was that Brayton Lee looked great in a 15-9 win over Wyatt Sheets in a battle of All-Americans at 157, and Gable Steveson made his season debut and promptly blew through Luke Surber 20-7 behind nine takedowns. Michigan State - Won the team title at Navy Classic with 129 team points, 3.5 ahead of second-place Ohio and seven ahead of the host school. RayVon Foley (125) and Peyton Omania (149) both took first and Layne Malczewski (184) and Cam Caffey (197) both took second. This was Omania's season debut, and he went 4-0 with two pins and a major. Foley outscored his three opponents 29-7. The Spartan football team could've used that kind of firepower this weekend. Maryland - Fell to a stout Pitt team, 26-7, on Monday night, and again, the trend of close losses continues. The Terps won just two matches - Dom Solis scored an 11-2 major at 174, and Kyle Cochran won 4-0 at 184 - but in the eight they lost, four were by two points or fewer and, even more, three of those were in sudden victory. It's still early, but if Maryland can flip a few of those from time to time, I gotta think that might help their overall confidence and morale. Illinois - Sent some dudes to the Lindenwood Open. Some of them won matches, some of them lost matches. Fun times were had by those who won, frustration (and perhaps *some* growth) was had by those who did not. Indiana - Also sent some dudes to Lindenwood. Times were also had. (We are still keeping track of Donnell Washington's Hodge Trophy bid, by the way. Don't think we forgot.) Rutgers - Sent six guys to the Navy Classic, and they did things. Also sent seven guys to the Shorty Hitchcock Memorial Open, and they did things, too. They didn't do the same things as Heinselman and Sasso and the gang in Columbus, but they did do things. Wisconsin and Northwestern did not compete this weekend.

2021 NCAA Qualifier Brian Meyer (Photo Courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Below is a recap of last week's EIWA action, with individual highlights worth noting. Standout Performances Julian Ramirez of Cornell finally makes his debut in a Big Red singlet and knocks off the returning National Champion. He's now ranked #17 in the nation Brian Meyer upsets Wentzel of Pitt – who was 2nd in the nation last year Jack DelGarbino of Princeton pins Cassioppi (#3) of Iowa to claim the Top Italian Heavyweight Crown. American The Eagles lost a tight match to George Mason 20-16 on Thursday. Then traveled to the Navy Classic to compete on Saturday. Isaac Righter (285), Jack Maida (133), and Fitzpatrick (165) all notched wins, while Max Leete (125) notched a pin in their respective matches against GMU. Andy Fallon (125) earned 5th place, while outplacing teammate Max Leete. Fallon had a win over Seidman of Bucknell, as Leete lost the round prior to Seidman. Patrick Ryan (149) also took home 5th place at 149lb while beating teammate Jack Nies in the process. At 165lb, Tim Fitzpatrick (165) lost via major to Hartman (#9) of Bucknell in the quarters. He battled back for 5th place. Colin Shannon (174) had a solid weekend, placing 5th. He beat Crebs of Navy in the quarterfinals. Josh Bauman (141) competed at the Shorty Hitchcock Open at Millersville University in PA. He battled in tough matches for a 4-2 record on the day. The American Eagles are a unique team with some seasoned vets, and a few young freshmen/first-year starters. Coach Borrelli is slowly watching this team develop. With Borrelli and his coaching staff just starting a few short months ago, they will need time to work with this team to be at their full potential. This team's schedule is tough, and the team will continue to take more losses than wins. This may be a long year for most of the wrestlers, but what's the saying – “Rome was not built in a day”? However, if anyone is ready to improve the direction of this program – it is Coach Borrelli. Army West Point The Black Knights traveled to Penn State (#3) for a dual on Thursday. The score was a little one-sided in favor of Penn State, but Army walked away with 2 wins, one by major decision. Corey Shie (#29) won by a 5-2 decision over Meredith at 141lb. At 157lb, Markus Hartman (#32) earned a major decision over Barraclough, for his first victory over the season, not by medical forfeit. The marquee match-up was at 149lbs, where PJ Ogunsanya (#22) lost to Bartlett (#21) in overtime. Another thing to note, JT Brown had a tough few-day span. He lost to both Penn State returning All-Americans at 197lb in Dean and Beard. Expect him to bounce back after losing two in a row. Army Head Coach, Kevin Ward, knew the Penn State match would be a challenge for his wrestlers. This was a good starting point to see where the team is at now, and where they need to go. Looking at their schedule, this is a common theme. They are on the road the entire first semester, concluding with The Midlands. He will keep challenging his guys, and I'm positive they will perform at a high level when it matters most because of it. Binghamton The Bearcats hosted Stanford in their first home dual of the year. Even though the team lost 25-13, there were some performances worth noting. Anthony Sobotker (133) lost a 1-0 decision to DiSario (#32). Brevin Cassella bumped up from his original weight to take on Eischens (#30) at 174lb. He dropped a close 8-6 decision. At 184lb, Jacob Nolan (#27 @ 174lb) also moved up a weight class to secure a major decision, using two turns from the top position. Lou DePrez (#12) had an 8-3 victory over Stemmet (#26) at the 197lb match-up. The Bearcats are a solid team up and down the lineup. DePrez is still the main guy in this lineup, but after seeing how Cassella and Nolan have been performing, they are starting to jump levels too. Plus, with other starters like Anderson and Doyle missing this dual, I am not too concerned with this result. The Bearcats will be in the battle for a top 5 finish at EIWA's. Brown The Bears traveled to West Lafayette, IN, to compete in the Boilermaker Duals. They had three duals in total, competing against Northern Illinois, Purdue (#20), and Bellarmine. Brown was defeated by Northern Illinois by a 33-9 score. At 125, Hunter Adrian won by decision, while Nicky Cabanillas won by forfeit at 133lb. Drew Clearie lost by decision to returning All-American Wilson (#8) at 184lb. Brown was shut out in their next bout with Purdue (#20). There were still some strong performances by Nicky Cabanillas (133), Justin Bierdumpfel (141), and Harrison Trahan (174), who all wrestled ranked opponents, but kept the score to a regular decision. At 165lb, Keegan Rothrock lost by decision to Soehnlen 5-3. In their last dual, the Bears defeated Bellarmine by a score of 42-0. Seven of the ten bouts wrestled, Brown won by bonus points. Both Drew Clearie (184) and Blake Saito (149) had quick first-period falls to end their weekends. The Brown Bears had two tough ones in Purdue and NIU. They finished strong with a shut-out win over Bellarmine. I'm still excited for this team. Even though the score was lopsided, the Bears fought hard in some of those matches with Purdue. Coach Beckerman definitely has some talent on this roster. I expect them to shape into form as the season progresses. Bucknell The Bison took a trip to the Navy Classic to compete with a few other EIWA teams. Returning All-American Zach Hartman barely broke a sweat with his 165lb title, accumulating three pins, two tech falls, and a major. At 141lb, Darren Miller (#25) came away with a second-place finish after medical forfeiting in the finals. His most notable win was a 5-3 decision over Newell of Kent State. Jaden Fisher (174) finished in second after a pin over Shannon of American in the semis. Brandon Seidman walked away with 6th place at 125lb. He had wins via decision over EIWA competition in Leete of American and DelViscio of Navy before eventually falling to Fallon of American. At 133lb, Kurt Phipps earned himself 4th place on the podium. He dropped an overtime loss to Koderhandt of Navy in the semis. Kolby DePron wrestled his way to a bronze medal finish at 149lb. He beat out Ryan of American in the consi semis and earned a win by medical forfeit to Hagan (#30) of Ohio. At the 184lb weight class, Logan Deacetis (184) went 4-2 on the day – good enough for 4th place. The Bison are a relatively quiet team with some potential firepower. Obviously, Zach Hartman is their go-to guy when it comes to getting points on the board. With guys like Phipps and Miller also earning spots in the rankings, this team may have top 5 potential at conferences if a few more guys step up and bust some brackets. Columbia The Lions hosted Michigan (#4) on Friday night. The Lions lost the match 34-3, but there are some worthy notes to discuss. The lone victory came from Aaron Ayzerov in the first dual of the night, which started at 174lb. The premier match of the night was at 125lb. Joe Manchio (#15) was defeated by Medley (#18) by 6-3 a decision. At heavyweight, Danny Conley fell just short, losing in overtime. The final match of the night was a close one as well, as Josh Ogunsanya (#31) lost to Amine (#13) by a 3-1 score at 165lb. The Lions had a tall order when Michigan came into town. Obviously, if a few of those close matches go the other way, this score would not look as one-sided. If Columbia can put forth that type of outcome against a team like Michigan, you need to feel good about where this team is heading. Coach Tanelli and company are doing great things in the Big Apple. Cornell The Big Red welcomed back former Head Coach Rob Koll and his Stanford team for the first competition of the year for Cornell. Vito Arujau (#5) was up at 133lb. He was ranked in the top 3 at the 125lb class. He earned himself a major over DiSario (#31). Yianni Diakomihalis (149) came back after missing two straight years of college wrestling and defeated returning All-American Abas (#8). He retains his #1 ranking. The talk of the wrestling world was Julian Ramirez (#17 - 165) defeating the returning National Champion, Shane Griffith (#1). At 174lb, Chris Foca (#9) won 6-4 over Eischens (#30). Another striking result was at 197lb, where Jacob Cardenas (#19) dominated Stemmet (#26), winning by tech fall. More importantly, is Cardenas the starter at 197 over All-American Ben Darmstadt? Unfortunately, Lewis Fernandes (#17) was injured during the match and could not continue. The Big Red answered many questions regarding the lineup. Also, they looked very impressive in the process. Both Vito and Yianni made the move up one weight class each. Will they stay there? We will see. Ramirez wrestled lights out against Griffith to pull off possibly the biggest upset of the week. It's been so long since this team wrestled; no one was totally sure how good they were. If this team can stay healthy, they look like early favorites to win the EIWA. Drexel The Dragons walked up the block to compete at Penn's 25th Annual Keystone Classic. At 125, Kyle Waterman earned 5th place while Antonio Mininno earned 8th place. At 133, Jaxon Maroney and Deon Pleasant both ended up on the podium in 6th and 8th, respectively. Luke Nichter was winning in the semifinals until an injury forced him to finish in 6th place at 149lb. After losing in the first round, Parker Kropman (#28 - 157) rallied with five wins in a row to earn bronze. Evan Barczak took 4th place in the 165lb bracket – which, in my opinion, was the toughest bracket in the entire tournament. He lost to cross-town rival Revano (#33) of Penn for 3rd place. At 184lb, Bryan McLaughlin dropped a semifinal match to Walton of Rider and ended up with a 6th place finish after medically forfeiting. The Dragons lone champion was at 174lbs, where Micky O'Malley (#12) had 2 falls and a decision victory. The Dragons had a subpar performance this weekend, if I'm being honest. And to top it all off, they had a few of their starters go down with injuries as well. When this team is healthy, they can compete with the best teams in the conference. Head Coach, Matt Azevedo, has a young talented supporting staff that is helping “bring the fire” to this lineup. Once healthy, this team will be battling for a top-five finish at EIWAs in March. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats made the trip to the Keystone Classic. At 133, Pat Phillips had an impressive 5th place performance, losing close decisions to Russell (#26) and Carter, both of App State. Wil Gil (141) walked away with 4th place, after losing to Gonyer of App State twice. James Conway earned himself a 7th place finish at 184lb. He almost knocked off Antrassian of Penn, but then beat two Quakers – Hale and Hendricks both by a score of 6-1. Heavyweight Cenzo Pelusi was an overtime takedown away from the finals. He earned 4th place after defeating two Sacred Heart wrestlers, and a Drexel opponent. The Diplomats seem to have four or five solid guys that continue to place at the tournaments they attend. This is a good sign for a young, inexperienced team to have some success scattered throughout the lineup. Gil continues to wrestle well at 141. Keep an eye on Phillips at 133, Conway at 184 and Pelusi at heavyweight. Overall, I like the direction this team is heading. Harvard The Crimson competed at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia on Sunday. Philip Conigliaro (#12) won the 165lb bracket in his first competition of the year. He beat Formato (#28) of Appalachian State and Revano (#33) of Penn. At 197lb, Nick Mercenelle wrestled to a 3rd place finish with a pin over Delbonis of Sacred Heart. Josh Kim (#30) also earned a bronze finish, with his lone loss coming to Incontrera (#22) of Penn at 174lb. Beau Bayless wrestled to a 3rd place finish at 125lb. He had a pin over Mininno of Drexel. Earning 4th place at 157lb was Trevor Tarsi. He upset returning National Qualifier Palumbo of Sacred Heart. He then lost a close 3-1 OT decision to Kropman (#32) of Drexel. Lukas Stricker (149) finished in 4th with a win over Dailey of F&M. Leo Tarantino lost a 1-point match to Antrassian of Penn, and wrestled back to 4th in the 184lb bracket. At 141lb, Michael Jaffe earned 7th place after a 3-2 record on the day. Harvard finished the day in 3rd place behind App State and Penn. This was without Yara Slavikouski, who is ranked 15th at heavyweight. Conigliaro and Yara are legit All-American threats, which could carry this team to a top 5 EIWA finish. With the emergence of Kim, Tarantino, and Mercenelle at 174, 184, and 197, the Crimson lineup can be sneaky good come March. Hofstra – no competition Lehigh (#21) The Mountain Hawks wrestled #22 Pittsburgh at home on Sunday. One of the biggest upsets of the weekend occurred at 165lbs, when Brian Meyer (#27) took out returning National Runner-Up Wentzel (#4). Malyke Hines (#22) upset Phillippi (#5) with a defensive pin called with under 5 seconds left at 133lb Jaret Lane (#14) won by decision over Camacho. At 157lb, Josh Humphreys (#10) won 2-0 over Cleary (#30) Jake Logan won by one point at 174. Manzona Bryant got the start at 149lb, and he won via major decision. Finally, Jordan Wood (#10) won by major over Slinger (#32) at heavyweight. This is the Mountain Hawk team we all know and love! They defeated a tough Pitt team, coming away with two upsets in the process. Meyer is really starting to make noise after winning Journeymen a week ago, and then upsetting the returning NCAA runner-up. It looks like we will have ongoing battles for the 141 and 149lb spots. No matter who steps on the mat, these guys will be ready to compete. Lehigh should be battling Cornell for the EIWA Conference title. Long Island The Sharks made the trip to the Shorty Hitchcock Open at Millersville Open in Pennsylvania. Ryan Ferro (174) walked away the champion in his bracket. He went 5-0 on the day, all of which he won by decision. Some EIWA competitors he beat are Sosinsky of Navy and Hanson of Spartan RTC. At 197, Nunzio Crowley earned a bronze medal after a 5-3 decision over Conner of Princeton. His lone loss came at the hands of Smith from the University of Maryland. Bryce Cockrell did not win a match. But he did have two impressive one-point losses to Treanor of Army and Spellman of Princeton. These are not bad losses. LIU had some positive performances at the open. Ferro walked away with a gold medal-winning all matches by decision. This was a good reversal from his 0-3 result last week, although all losses were to high-quality opponents. He may be a force to be reckoned with in the EIWA. Crowley, again, finds himself having one of the team's top outcomes. The Sharks, overall, have some work to do. We're excited to see how long it takes them to rise in the rankings of the conference. Navy The Midshipmen competed at their own Navy Classic, held on Saturday in Annapolis. At 133, Josh Koderhandt fell in the finals to returning All-American Foley (#11) from Michigan State. This came after an upset win over Phipps of Bucknell. Tyler Hunt (141) walked away as champion after a medical forfeit over Miller (#23) of Bucknell. In the 165lb bracket, Val Park¸ went 4-2 to split 5th and 6th place with Fitzpatrick of American. Both Midshipmen at 174lb, Cael Crebs and Shane Finney, shared 3rd and 4th place. The two split results against common opponents. This starting spot battle will continue into December. David Key (#26) earned first place with a win over Malczewski (#27) of Michigan State at 184lb. At 197, Jake Koser (#21) knocked off Caffey (#22) of Michigan State in the finals for gold. At heavyweight, Grady Greiss earned third place with 3 falls. His lone loss was to McAleavey of Citadel. Riley Smith won the heavyweight bracket with 3 decisions, including one over McAleavey. Coach Kolat is starting to see improvements from his team. The Midshipmen have enough ranked guys to potentially see a top-5 finish at EIWA's. I'm keeping an eye on Koderhandt at 133, Park at 165, and whichever heavyweight Navy decides to go with as possible bracket busters. In addition to heavyweight, 174 looks to have a nice battle spot between freshman Crebs and senior Finney. I'm excited to see this team's progress throughout the year. Penn The Quakers hosted the 25th Annual Keystone Classic in their home gymnasium. Ryan Miller (125) was the runner-up losing to Smith (#30) of Appalachian State. Kelly Dunnigan finished in 7th at 125 with nice wins over Sotelo of Harvard and Mininno of Drexel. Your 133lb champion was Michael Colaiocco (#13) with a win over Russell (#26) of App State. Carmen Ferrante (#30) earned a gold medal, beating Herrmann of Harvard, Gonyer of App State, and Cassidy of George Mason at 141lb. Teammate CJ Composto (141) lost a heart-breaking 8-7 semifinal bout to Cassidy of GMU before medically forfeiting all the way to 6th place. At 149lb, Kaya Sement took home 5th place while Grant Aronoff was your bronze medal place finisher. He beat Stricker of Harvard for 3rd, who beat Sement twice during the day. Doug Zapf (#21) won 3 matches in dominant fashion before medically forfeiting in the finals at 157lb. In the toughest bracket, Lucas Revano (#33) took home 3rd place, losing to Conigliaro (#12) of Harvard and beating Barczak of Drexel in his final bout. Nick Incontrera (#22) won his 174lb semi against Kim (#31) of Harvard but fell to O'Malley (#12) of Drexel. At 184lb, Neil Antrassian defeated Sacred Heart's Accousti in his semifinal. He finished as runner-up. Penn had another champion at 197lb, where Cole Urbas had a pin with two tech falls. Ben Goldin won the heavyweight bracket with ease, notching three pins and a major decision. The Quakers were dominant in their performance in front of their home crowd. They beat runners-up Appalachian State by over 40 points. I was very impressed with Ferrante moving up to 141lb and winning a bracket after three tight victories. As always, Zapf was impressive before his injury and remains my dark horse to surprise people at NCAAs. This team is talented, with an awesome coaching staff. They are ready to be in the top 3 of the EIWA right now. Princeton The Tigers took a trip to Iowa City to wrestle a dual against #1 Iowa. Quincy Monday (#5) was involved in the dual meet's marquee match-up at 157lb. He defeated multiple time All-American Young (#8). Freshman Luke Stout (#28) earned a 4-0 decision over Glazier. The upset of the year so far was at heavyweight, where Jack DelGarbino pinned Cassioppi (#7) for one of the craziest ways to end a match I've ever seen. The Tigers are still wrestling with a lineup that is not full strength yet. Glory has not been in the lineup after competing at the U-23 World Championships, plus many second-semester athletes who are not enrolled in school now. Some of those additions may have made the overall match score somewhat closer, but the Tigers are ecstatic to be able to compete again. Once some of their older athletes make their way back into the lineup in January, they will be on a tear and ready to compete for the EIWA title. Sacred Heart The Pioneers were one of many EIWA teams who competed at the Keystone Classic. Dante Delbonis (197) lost in the first round to come back and earn 4th place. He had a win over Labarbera of Penn. Returning NCAA Qualifier, Joe Accousti found himself on 184lb podium in 5th place with wins over Hendricks of Penn, and a loss to Penn's Antrassian. Nick Copley finished the day in 6th at heavyweight. He had wins over Dietrich of Drexel and Bensley of Penn. At 174lb, Nick Marciniak finished in 7th place. The Pioneers are a team that will come to compete whenever they have the chance. Palumbo and Accousti are typically the two guys winning matches, but appeared to have had off weekends. If Accousti and Palumbo can find their way back to the NCAA Tournament, while another Pioneer or two can make a run at Conferences, Sacred Heart may have a top 10 EIWA team. Let's watch them and see how much they can develop.