InterMat Staff

Cadet World silver medalist and Wisconsin-signee James Rowley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Yesterday was "Signing Day," the first day that wrestlers from the Class of 2022 could make their verbal commitments official by signing a National Letter of Intent with DI or DII schools. All day, InterMat was keeping track of social media accounts for schools at both levels, as many of them made graphics and announcements introducing their newest wrestlers. Here are the student-athletes that we have noted as signing with their school of choice, per the school's social media. We realize there are probably plenty of signings that have not yet been announced by the schools. They will be added as announced. Also, remember, Ivy League schools and service academies do not use NLI's, so their recruits do not appear below. Last Updated (11/11 at 10:45pm EST) Appalachian State Hunter Adams (Gainesville, Georgia) Levi Andrews (Moreland, North Carolina) Kaden Keiser (Winner, South Dakota) Ethan Shell (Cranberry, North Carolina) Lucas Uliano (Powell, Ohio) Braden Welch (Ashland, Ohio) Arizona State Diego Chavez (Tucson, Arizona) Michael Kilic (Marietta, Georgia) Kaleb Larkin (Tucson, Arizona) Augustana Max Ramberg (Baldwin, Wisconsin) Binghamton Carter Baer (Gouverneur, New York) Fin Nadeau (Bigfork, Montana) Buffalo Carter Gill (Hermitage, Pennsylvania) Chase Kranitz (Norwin, Pennsylvania) Gardner-Webb Jeff Jacome (South Plainfield, New Jersey) Tyson Lane (Brandon, Florida) Joshua McCutheon (Valdosta, Georgia) Indiana Tyler Lillard (Johns Creek, Georgia) Indianapolis Mason Cantu (Fountain, Michigan) Nathan Smith (Indianapolis, Indiana) Iowa Easton Fleshman (West Lyon, Iowa) Joel Jesuroga (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) Carson Martinson (Altoona, Iowa) Carter Martinson (Altoona, Iowa) Aiden Riggins (Janesville, Iowa) Jace Rhodes (Mason City, Iowa) Iowa State Connor Euton (Westerville, Ohio) Carter Fousek (Chester, Iowa) Manny Rojas (Bay City, Michigan) Casey Swiderski (Dundee, Michigan) Nando Villaescusa (Ames, Iowa) Kent State Eli Ashcroft (Kearney, Missouri) Mitchell Broskie (Dublin, Ohio) Nico Calello (Edison, New Jersey) Lander Sam Gerard (Fairfax, Virginia) William Hamilton (Bristol, Connecticut) Brayton Killiiri (Summerville, South Carolina) Lake Erie Sam Partain (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) Carsen Richards (Grand Blanc, Michigan) Maryland Kal Miller (Kansas City, Missouri) Mercyhurst Billy Smith (Sandusky, Ohio) Michigan Ira Jenkins (Whitehall, Michigan) Nathan Jerore (Woodhaven, Michigan) Codei Khawaja (Georgetown, Indiana) Rylan Rogers (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) Minnesota Hunter Lyden (Stillwater, Minnesota) Troy Spratley (Bainbridge, New York) Missouri Ryan Boersma (Tinley Park, Illinois) J Conway (Charlestown, Indiana) Easton Hilton (Kansas City, Missouri) Kade Moore (Allen, Texas) Zeke Seltzer (Indianapolis, Indiana) Owen Uhls (Fulton, Missouri) Clayton Whiting (Oconto Falls, Wisconsin) NC State Jackson Arrington (Sidman, Pennsylvania) Dylan Fishback (Aurora, Ohio) Troy Hohman (Harrison City, Pennsylvania) Chase Horne (West Laurens, Georgia) Matthew Singleton (Moreland, Georgia) Finn Solomon (Murrysville, Pennsylvania) Nebraska Harley Andrews (Tuttle, Oklahoma) Antrell Taylor (Omaha, Nebraska) Jacob Van Dee (Erie, Pennsylvania) Nebraska-Kearney Joseph Airola (Nederland, Colorado) Jacob Awiszus (Gering, Nebraska) North Carolina Cole Hunt (Sugar Valley, Georgia) Danny Nini (Orlando, Florida) Jayden Scott (Henrietta, New York) North Dakota State Gavin Drexler (Stratford, Wisconsin) Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minnesota) Northern Illinois Jacob Brya (St. Johns, Michigan) Ohio Mason Brugh (Wadsworth, Ohio) Ohio State Nic Bouzakis (Tampa, FL) Gavin Brown (Xenia, Ohio) Nick Feldman (Quarryville, Pennsylvania Luke Geog (Upper Arlington, Ohio) Brendan McCrone (Willoughby, Ohio) Jesse Mendez (Crown Point, Indiana) Seth Shumate (Dublin, Ohio) Oklahoma Christian Forbes (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) John Wiley (Mustang, Oklahoma) Oklahoma State Zach Blankenship (Bixby, Oklahoma) Anthony Ferrari (Stillwater, Oklahoma) Jordan Williams (Owasso, Oklahoma) Oregon State Isaiah Anderson (Pasco, Washington) Chase DeBlaere (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota) Damion Elliott (Loomis, California) Austin Scott (Tucson, Arizona) Nash Singleton (Roseburg, Oregon) Noah Tolentino (Poway, California) Gabe Whisenhunt (Corvallis, Oregon) Pittsburgh Jared Keslar (Connellsville, Pennsylvania) Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania) Jack Pletcher (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) Briar Priest (Greensburg, Pennsylvania) Mac Stout (Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania) Purdue Brody Baumann (Evansville, Indiana) South Dakota State Bennett Berge (Mantorville, Minnesota) Christian Noble (Big Lake, Minnesota) Luke Rasmussen (Brookings, South Dakota) Caleb Thoennes (St. Cloud, Minnesota) Kail Wynia (Mantorville, Minnesota) Stanford Daniel Cardenas (Arvada, Colorado) Luke Duthie (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania) Hunter Garvin (Iowa City, Iowa) Wyatt Richter (Cleveland, Ohio) St. Cloud State Brandon Ross (Caledonia, Minnesota) Virginia Peyton Fenton (Amherst, Ohio) Griffin Gammell (Waukee, Iowa) Jack Gioffre (Clovis, California) Michael Gioffre (Clovis, California) Kyle Montaperto (Charlotte, North Carolina) Keyveon Roller (Knoxville, Tennessee) Nick Sanko (Rochester, New York) Virginia Tech Tom Crook (Tampa, Florida) Caleb Henson (Cartersville, Georgia) TJ Stewart (Triangle, Virginia) West Virginia Ian Bush (Cameron, West Virginia) Brody Conley (Tiffin, Ohio) Wisconsin James Rowley (Corvallis, Oregon) Wyoming Garrison Dendy (Chickamauga, Georgia) David Harper (Lookout Mountain, Tennessee) Logan Ours (Wellsville, Ohio) Jore Volk (Lakeville, Minnesota) Kevin Zimmer (Orland Park, Illinois)

2018 U23 World silver medalist Kollin Moore back on the mat for Ohio State at the 2019 NCAA Championships(photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) United World Wrestling launched the U23 World Championships in 2017, and it immediately became a freestyle proving ground for some of the top college-aged competitors from the U.S. The tournament usually coincides with the start of the college season, so while most college wrestlers head to open tournaments, others travel internationally to face some of the top competitors in the World. This year, the U.S. squad brought back a pair of medals in men's freestyle. At 97 kg, Virginia's expected starter at 197 pounds and three-time NCAA qualifier, Jay Aiello, brought home a bronze medal. One weight up, Iowa's heavyweight Anthony Cassioppi dominated on the way to a title. He outscored his opposition 38 to eight and did not surrender a single point after his opening round bout. What do these performances say about their prospects this upcoming season? Will Aiello finally be able to break through and reach the All-American podium? Can Cassioppi improve on his third-place finish at last year's NCAA tournament? It will undoubtedly be tough for the Hawkeye as heavyweight will feature four other age-group World champions and the reigning Olympic gold medalists. The following takes a look back at the U.S. medalists from the previous three editions of the U23 World Championships to gauge the impact it had on those wrestlers' following collegiate seasons. 2017 For the debut edition of the tournament, the U.S. sent an impressive squad featuring the likes of Daton Fix, Mitch McKee and Isaiah Martinez. However, unexpectedly the only gold medal performance ended up coming from Richie Lewis at 70 kg. At the time, Lewis was on the squad at Rutgers and coming off an injury-shortened season that held him to only one match. On the World's stage, he won all five of his matches and then returned to the college mats less than two weeks later. Lewis would go on to qualify for his second NCAA tournament and finish in the bloodround. Earlier this year, he made his MMA debut and currently holds a 2-0 professional record. Joey McKenna transferred from Stanford to Ohio State prior to his trip to the U23 World Championships. He ended up winning a bronze medal at 65 kg. McKenna's only loss would come against Russia's Nachyin Kuular, who is now a multiple-time Yarygin placer and finished second at the 2019 Russian Nationals. He then returned to Ohio State, where he went 21-2 and finished third at the NCAA tournament. The following year, he returned for his senior season and made the finals before ultimately coming up short against Yianni Diakomihalis in sudden victory. Ty Walz had actually exhausted his collegiate eligibility by the time the inaugural U23 tournament came around. He was a three-time All-American for Virginia Tech and finished fourth as a senior. Walz dropped from heavyweight to 97 kg for freestyle and picked up a bronze medal. He has continued to compete on the international circuit and has brought home medals from the Medved and International Cup. 2018 Throughout his college career at NC State, Sean Fausz was known as one of the tallest 125 pounders in the country. In late 2018, he got a break from the cut and moved up to 61 kg for the U23 event. Fausz made the finals before dropping a match against Magomedrasul Idrisov of Russia to finish with a silver medal. On the way to the podium, he knocked off China's Liu Mingu, who would go on to finish with a silver at the Asian Championships the following year. Fausz then returned to NC State for his senior year. He finished the campaign with a 14-4 record and qualified for the NCAA tournament. His run eventually came to an end in the round of 12. Kollin Moore was already a two-time All-American and a Junior World medalist before he entered the U23 World Championships. At the previous NCAA tournament, he had been upset twice by Kent State's Kyle Conel on his way to a fourth-place finish. Moore rounded back into form over the summer and headed into this event with a lot of momentum. He eventually made the finals before coming up short against Georgia's Givi Matcharashvili to finish with a silver. Back on the college mats, Moore made the finals as a junior. The following year, Moore appeared to be a favorite going into the NCAA tournament after going undefeated and winning a Big Ten title. However, the tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. Maryland heavyweight Youssif Hemida was a somewhat unlikely member of the U23 World team. He finished eighth at the previous NCAA tournament to become an All-American for the first time. Hemida went on a strong run through the bracket that ultimately ended with a loss against Said Gamidov of Russia in the finals. Hemida returned to the US with a silver medal, but he did not make his collegiate return until January. Things got off to a tough start as he dropped a match against Seth Nevills, who was still greyshirting at the time. However, Hemida turned things around and finished sixth at the NCAA tournament with wins over Matt Stencel, Tate Orndorff and Gannon Gremmel. He currently represents Egypt internationally and recently relocated the Spartan Combat RTC. 2019 Bo Nickal earned a special wrestle-off for the U23 World team spot after making Final X. He then defeated Jakob Woodley and headed to Hungary for the event. Nickal had already finished his run at Penn State with three NCAA titles and four finals appearances. His performance at U23 Worlds was dominant as he scored match termination victories in three of his four matches and dispatched returning champion Shamil Zubairov of Azerbaijan. Earlier this year, Nickal made the finals of the US Olympic Team Trials and came up short against David Taylor. He has since started his MMA career and is 2-0 as an amateur. The jury is still out on if success at the U23 World Championships is an indicator of future college success. Of the seven medalists, prior to this year, two had already finished college. Of the remaining five, only three went on to become All-Americans during the following season.

2021 EIWA champion Ben Pasiuk (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Upcoming this Week Wednesday 11/10 Franklin & Marshall vs Elizabethtown - Lancaster, PA (7PM) Elizabethtown Digital Network Saturday 11/13 Bucknell vs Averett, George Mason, & Bellarmine @ Patriot Duals - Fairfax, VA (10AM, 11:30AM, & 1PM) ESPN+ Sacred Heart vs Penn State - Manheim, PA (5:30PM) Journeymen Rokfin Sunday 11/14 American @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) FloWrestling Army @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Binghamton @ Bearcat Open - Binghamton, NY (all day) Brown @ Bearcat Open - Binghamton, NY (all day) Franklin & Marshall @ Bearcat Open - Binghamton, NY (all day) Harvard @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Hofstra @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Lehigh @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Long Island University @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Navy @ Bearcat Open - Binghamton, NY (all day) Penn @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) Sacred Heart @ Journeymen Classic - Manheim, PA (all day) What I'm Most Excited For: The main two events happening this weekend are the Bearcat Open and Journeymen Classic. We will see four EIWA teams in action in Binghamton. I'm hoping we may see some individual conference matches. The bulk of the teams will be at Journeyman on Sunday. We will finally get to see five teams getting their first action of the season at Journeymen (Army, Brown, Harvard, LIU, and Penn). Bucknell makes their debut at the Patriot Duals. Where you'll find me: I'll be in my backyard at the Journeymen Duals. There is a ton of action from schools across the entire country, including eight EIWA squads. Expect to see some fantastic wrestling. Every year there are some crazy upsets that happen at this event. Which EIWA wrestler will do it this weekend?

2021 NCAA champion Carter Starocci (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State finished with four NCAA champs last season, but still took second at the NCAA Championships by 15.5 points to Iowa, who finished first with 129 points. The question entering the '21-22 season, then, is a simple one. Can the Nittany Lions bring down the mighty Hawkeyes? A Penn State lineup exists that could make this season's national tournament an electric two-team race, not unlike the epic Penn State-Ohio State showdown from the '17-18 season. That year ended with the Nittany Lions beating out the Buckeyes by just eight points, 141.5-133.5, to win what was then a third-straight NCAA team title. What will it take this year? Penn State coach Cael Sanderson boiled the answer down to two words: bonus points. The Nittany Lions totaled just 17 bonus points at last season's NCAA Championships while the Hawkeyes scored 27. That 10-point difference wouldn't have been enough to fully run down Iowa a year ago, but maybe this year's lineup could make up the difference and then some, which would make March all the more interesting. “If you're trying to win big dual meets or win Big Ten and national championships, you need bonus points,” Sanderson said during the team's media day this week. “That's something we didn't have a lot of last year. Hopefully, our team is able to improve in that area.” “A lot of that is leadership and the attitude and energy you take onto the mat. Be less concerned with winning and losing and focus more on how you compete. If you do that, we'll be good to go.” TOP RETURNERS Obviously, you start with the four NCAA champs: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184). Those four went a combined 55-3 last season and were responsible for 88.5 of Penn State's 113.5 total team points at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Behind them, Penn State returns two other All-Americans from last season, in Michael Beard (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285). There's also Beau Bartlett (149), a bronze medalist at the Junior men's freestyle world championships this summer, as well as Robbie Howard (125), Joe Lee (165) and Brandon Meredith (125). Sanderson said Howard, an NCAA qualifier at 125 last season, is not quite back to full speed yet after an offseason surgery, and mentioned that guys like Meredith and a slew of others who are in the mix to start at 125 this season. He also mentioned that both 157 and 165 will be competitive weights, too. KEY DEPARTURES The one key loss for Penn State is Brady Berge, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 157 pounds who has stepped away from competing due to “concussions and my own health,” he wrote in an announcement after last season had ended. He went 31-9 for the Nittany Lions, and has since been hired as a volunteer assistant at South Dakota State. With Berge gone, the spot at 157 is up for grabs. Penn State listed both Joe Lee and Terrell Barraclough ahead of their duals against Oregon State and Sacred Heart. Perhaps they both get one match, or maybe one will get both. This will be a weight to monitor early on. TOP NEWCOMERS There's a lot of new faces to know at Penn State this season. Buckle up. First up, there's a few noteworthy freshmen, in Alex Facundo (165), Shayne Van Ness (149) and Gary Steen (125). They were all top-line recruits in the 2021 class: Facundo, a two-time Cadet World medalist, was No. 2 overall, Van Ness was No. 5 and Steen was No. 55. All three guys competed, unattached, at the Clarion Open last weekend. Facundo went 6-1 with two pins and three major decisions. Van Ness won twice, by pin and by major. Steen went 0-2. Seems like Van Ness will redshirt, but Facundo could go at 165 later this year. He's listed as a probable there for this weekend, alongside Creighton Edsall. Next, a couple of transfers, in Jakob Campbell and Max Dean. Campbell came over from Bucknell, where he went 18-14 between 2019-21. He wrestled both 125 and 133 while there, and Sanderson said he's making his way down to 125 to contend for that starting role, Dean came over from Cornell, where he was 57-12 in two seasons with the Big Red and was a two-time All-American and NCAA finalist in 2019. He did all of that damage at 184 pounds, and plans to wrestle at 197 this season. He'll have to unseat Beard to start this season. “Max is just a really good dude,” Sanderson said. “He works hard and brings a lot to the team. Michael Beard has really elevated his game, so this can be a blessing for both guys, having to compete at a higher level in practice just to make the team. “We've got some wrestling to do there and we'll see how it plays out throughout the year, but we're very comfortable with both Max and Mike at this point.” WRESTLERS TO WATCH We're rolling with Carter Starocci, a freshman national champion for the Nittany Lions a year ago who has only gotten better since then. Really. Starocci went 14-2 last year after going 19-0 while in redshirt in '19-20. Altogether, that's 33-2 with 16 bonus-point wins. More impressive, perhaps, was his 4-0 record last year in overtime matches. He beat Michigan's Logan Massa, Ohio State's Kaleb Romero, Nebraska's Mikey Labriola and Iowa's Michael Kemerer all in overtime. Starocci followed that by finishing third at the Senior men's freestyle world team trials in September, during which he registered wins over Chance Marsteller, Evan Wick, and Jason Nolf — yes, really; score: 4-3 — to earn a spot on the U.S. national team. His performances have only heightened expectations heading into the '21-22 season. “He works really hard,” Sanderson said. “He's one of those guys who we have to convince to take off the gas. He leads by example in that he just works really hard. He loves to compete. He believes, he's a very confident kid.” POTENTIAL LINEUP 125: Robbie Howard, Brandon Meredith, Baylor Shunk, Gary Steen, Jakob Campbell, Marco Vespa 133: Roman Bravo-Young 141: Nick Lee 149: Beau Bartlett 157: Joe Lee, Terrell Barraclough 165: Creighton Edsell, Alex Facundo 174: Carter Starocci 184: Aaron Brooks 197: Michael Beard, Max Dean 285: Greg Kerkvliet, Seth Nevills

2021 NCAA finals(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) DI wrestling is back and will be in full-force this weekend as 30 duals and a host of open tournaments are on the slate. 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. ****Please note: We published this today since their is a dual meet on Wednesday. There are still a handful of event without a stream posted. If these do end up having streams they will be added**** All times Eastern Wednesday, November 10: Franklin & Marshall at Elizabethtown, 7:00 PM Elizabethtown Digital Network Thursday, November 11: Chadron State at Nebraska, 7:00 PM BTN+ Missouri at North Dakota State, 8:00 PM NDSU All-Access Nebraska-Kearney at Nebraska, 8:00 PM BTN+ Friday, November 12: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7:00 PM ESPN+ Virginia at Maryland, 7:00 PM BTN+ Little Rock vs. Wisconsin at Wisconsin-La Crosse, 8:00 PM BoxCast Saturday, November 13: Chattanooga at Davidson, 10:00 AM Clarion vs. Rutgers at Davidson, 10:00 AM Bellarmine at George Mason, 10:00 AM ESPN+ Bucknell vs. Averett at George Mason, 10:00 AM ESPN+ Northern Iowa at Grand View Open, Pleasant Hill, IA, 10:00 AM Minnesota, North Dakota State, South Dakota State at Bison Open, hosted by North Dakota State, 11:00 AM Chattanooga vs. Clarion at Davidson, 11:30 AM Rutgers at Davidson, 11:30 AM Bellarmine vs. Averett at George Mason, 11:30 AM ESPN+ Bucknell at George Mason, 11:30 AM ESPN+ Chattanooga vs. Rutgers at Davidson, 1:00 PM Clarion at Davidson, 1:00 PM Bellarmine vs. Bucknell at George Mason, 1:00 PM ESPN+ Averett at George Mason, 1:00 PM ESPN+ Presbyterian vs. The Citadel at Summerville, SC, 2:00 PM Oklahoma at West Virginia, 2:00 PM ESPN+ Oklahoma State at Stanford, 5:00 PM Pac-12.com Penn State vs. Sacred Heart at Manheim, PA, 5:30 PM Journeymen Rokfin Pittsburgh at Edinboro, 7:00 PM FloWrestling Penn State vs. Oregon State at Manheim, PA, 7:00 PM Journeymen Rokfin SIU Edwardsville at Northwestern, 7:00 PM BTN+ Northern Illinois at Rider, 7:00 PM ESPN+ Sunday, November 14: Air Force, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Indiana, Kent State at Mountaineer Invitational, hosted by Appalachian State, 9:00 AM American, Binghamton, Brown, Franklin & Marshall, Navy at Jon Kaloust Bearcat Open, hosted by Binghamton, 9:00 AM Army West Point, Bloomsburg, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Harvard, Hofstra, Lehigh, Lock Haven, Long Island, Oregon State, Penn, Sacred Heart, VMI at Journeymen Collegiate Classic, Manheim, PA, 9:00 AM FloWrestling Campbell, NC State, Virginia Tech at Wolfpack WC Open 9:00 AM Ohio State at Ohio Intercollegiate Open, hosted by Tiffin, 9:00 AM CSU Bakersfield at Michigan, 1:00 PM BTN+ Purdue at Cleveland State, 2:00 PM Northern Colorado at Missouri, 2:00 PM

Northern Illinois' 184 lber Brit Wilson (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Last week we unveiled our "College Staff Picks" feature which will run every week and show picks from upcoming duals of note from our conference correspondent staff and more. Week one saw three people finish with a 4-1 record, Austin Sommer, Robbie Wendell, and Willie Saylor. Austin and Willie had the same picks. They, along with Robbie, were the only ones that had Lehigh beating Oregon State. Robbie and Rachel Gallardo were alone in picking Campbell over Lehigh. Robbie's only miss came from sticking with his coverage area and taking North Carolina to upset Ohio State. There was a six-way logjam after those three with a 3-2 record. Seth Duckworth did not make picks last week, so he comes in with a tidy 0-0 record. Looking at this week's slate, everyone came to a consensus that Oklahoma will travel to Morgantown and defeat West Virginia. The Sooners week one performance at the Michigan State Open, must have swayed our crew. The most polarizing duals this week will be Chattanooga/Clarion and Northern Illinois/Rider. There's an even 5/5 split for Chattanooga/Clarion, while Rider has the slight 6/4 edge in their meeting. Surprisingly, we have a couple of upset picks with Oregon State over Penn State. Pac-12 correspondent Darius has gone the homer route twice. If his west coast teams come through, he'll certainly take the lead heading into week three.

2x NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) #25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) #24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) #23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) #22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) #21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) #20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) #19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan) #18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State) #17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa) #15 - Mason Parris (Michigan) #14 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) #13 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) #12 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) #11 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) #10 - Myles Amine (Michigan) #9 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) #8 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) #7 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) #6 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #5 - David Carr (Iowa State) #4 - Nick Lee (Penn State) Next up is… #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) Weight: 141/149 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 66-1 Hometown: Rochester, New York College Accomplishments: 2x NCAA Champion, 2x EIWA Champion A pair of Cadet World titles and four New York state championships made Yianni Diakomihalis one of the most highly regarded recruits in the high school Class of 2017. Even so, Diakomihalis chose to stay close to home and compete in the Ivy League for Cornell. While many other top recruits for Cornell took the grayshirt path, Yianni went straight to DI competition. Right off the bat, Yianni hit fellow freshman, Nick Lee (Penn State), in the Bearcat Open, his first collegiate event. His 12-7 win over Lee was the only regular decision for Diakomihalis in the tournament. After lapping the field at the New York Intercollegiate Championships, Yianni and Cornell headed west for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Diakomihalis kept up his winning ways and claimed a title after wins over Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), and Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) in the championship bout. Meredith was the returning NCAA runner-up at 141 lbs. Diakomihalis closed out the 2017 calendar year with a trip to the South Beach Duals. After majoring returning All-American Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), Diakomihalis suffered a shootout loss to Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), 9-6. Little did we know at the time, but Yianni has not been beaten on a collegiate mat since. Diakomihalis would not get pushed until the final bout of the regular season. There he edged North Carolina's AC Headlee by a single point, 7-6. At his first EIWA Championships, a 9-4 win in the semifinals over Nic Gil (Navy), proved to be the closest bout of the tournament for the young Cornell star. He captured the conference crown with a 17-9 major decision over Tyler Smith (Buffalo). Despite a record with only a single blemish and a win over Meredith, Diakomihalis was saddled with the third seed (behind #2 Eierman) at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. Yianni's tournament started with back-to-back major decisions over Nick Zanetta (Pittsburgh) and Gil. In the quarterfinals, the national audience would get their first taste of Diakomihalis' clutchness. While wrestling through a torn ACL, Diakomihalis used some late-match heroics to unseat the two-time defending national champion, Dean Heil (Oklahoma State). That set up a semifinal match with the only wrestler to defeat him in college, Eierman. This time, sudden victory was needed, by Diakomihalis still got it done, 6-4. Waiting in the NCAA finals was the veteran Meredith. Down 4-2, with under a minute remaining, Diakomihalis got an escape, then a takedown via cradle and backpoints. As the clock expired, Diakomihalis was in a scramble preventing a Meredith reversal. The win made Yianni only the second Cornell freshman to ever bring home a national title (joining Kyle Dake). The knee injury that slowed Diakomihalis down (or did it?) at the 2018 NCAA Championships slowed down the start of his sophomore campaign. But once he hit the mat, Diakomihalis was as good as ever, earning bonus points in his first nine contests. The opponent that halted the bonus-point run was Eierman at the South Beach Duals. Unlike the previous season, it was Yianni who left Florida with a win, this time 3-1. Once again, it was the final dual meet of the year which provided Diakomihalis with his stiffest test of the home stretch. He kept his winning record intact, but was pushed by Ohio State's Joey McKenna, 7-5. The EIWA competition proved to be no match for Yianni as he cruised to his second title with an 8-2 win over Gil in the championship bout. A perfect record was good enough for the top seed at Pittsburgh's 2019 NCAA Tournament. Despite his top-billing, Diakomihalis' path to the finals was anything but easy. After an opening-round win, Yianni needed to get by eventual All-American's Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) and Dom Demas (Oklahoma), just to make the semis. And looming in the semifinals was Eierman. As has been the case before, Diakomihalis pulled out another tight win over the Tiger All-American, 6-5, and locked up a place in the finals. Yianni's opponent in the 2019 finals was the second seed, McKenna. Late in the contest, McKenna led 3-2 and was trying to fend off a late attack by Diakomihalis. With only a few seconds remaining in the bout, Diakomihalis was awarded a takedown, followed by an escape, in what was a controversial sequence. The call was upheld after review. Once in sudden victory, Diakomihalis pulled out the win. Through two years of competition, Diakomihalis is halfway to the hallowed total of four NCAA titles. He only has a single loss and is riding a 47-match winning streak. After the 2019 season, Yianni won the US Open, which gave him a berth in Final X. There, he lost the spot on the world team to Zain Retherford after their best-of-three series in Rutgers, and another match after an appeal. Diakomihalis finished fourth at the 2020 Olympic Trials at 65 kg, but rebounded to earn a spot on the 2021 World Team after a three-match series with McKenna. At the 2021 World Championships, Diakomihalis won his opening bout, but was defeated in the second round and did not medal Strengths: Yianni has intangibles for days. Even at a young age, he was never phased by the big stage and seemingly high-pressure situations. Diakomihalis is very creative with his variety of leg attacks. His style reminds many of international competitors, which is also why he is often picked to succeed in freestyle competitions. Opponents are able to get to Diakomihalis' legs, but he is incredibly difficult to finish on. He can sit the corner with the best of them and is an excellent scrambler. If the situation dictates, he'll ride out the competition. 2021-22 Outlook: There's still an air of uncertainty regarding where Diakomihalis will compete at in the current collegiate season. Throughout the summer and fall, some signs have pointed to him moving up to 149 lbs, while others indicate he'd try to make 141. Either way, Diakomihalis should be a favorite at both weights, though 141 seems to be deeper. He might be on a pitch-count, of sorts, so he may not compete in every single event for the Big Red. 2x NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)

Northwestern 174 lber Troy Fisher (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) ACC WEEK 1 RECAP By Robbie Wendell Duke: The Blue Devils traveled south to the Citadel Open to start the season. Their day was highlighted by both Finesilver brothers bringing home a championship. Josh (#12) went 4-0 at 149 and Matt (#8) went 4-0 at 174 to claim the top spot. Logan Agin (125) brought home a 3rd place finish while Bryson Neason (165) and Kaden Russell (197) placed 4th. The Blue Devils finished 3rd as a team and will be back in action next weekend at the Mountaineer Invite at Appalachian State. North Carolina: The Tar Heels took on #8 Ohio State in a top-15 matchup in Columbus. The Buckeyes set the tone early and took the 23-12 win. UNC was led by Austin O'Connor (#2), picking up a pin at 157, while Jaime Hernandez (#13) won by decision at 133 and Kizhan Clarke (#14) won in OT at 141. Zach Sherman (#5) dropped a 4-3 decision to top-ranked Sammy Sasso. The Tar Heels are off this week before another Big 10 challenge when they travel to Lincoln to face #9 Nebraska. North Carolina State: The Wolfpack also opened up with the Citadel Open; they sent a mixture of starters and backups to get mat time. It was a good day for the Wolfpack as they had several individual champions. There were three weights with an all NC State final; at 157, AJ Kovacs won a 9-8 decision over Ed Scott, at 197, Isaac Trumble took a 4-2 decision over Jacob Ferreira and at 285, Owen Trephan repeated his wrestle-off result, knocking off Deonte Wilson (#18) 10-3. Other champs on the day were Stevo Poulin (125), Ryan Jack (#21 at 141), and Joey Milano (184). NC State will host the Wolfpack Open next weekend. Pittsburgh: The Panthers took the short drive to Clarion to open the season at the Clarion Open. They were led by Hunter Kernan, who took the title at 174. Kernan avenged his sudden victory defeat in the wrestle-off to freshman Luca Augustine; they met in the semifinals, where Kernan took the 3-2 decision with a riding time point. Augustine finished in 4th on the weekend, the highest of the unattached wrestlers for Pitt. Other placers include runners-up Gage Curry (#22) at 125 and James Lledo at 184, while Jake Slinger finished in 3rd place at 285. The Panthers will have their first duals of the year this week, traveling to Buffalo Friday and Edinboro on Saturday. Pitt's Nino Bonaccorsi was in action representing the USA at the U23 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, this weekend as well. Virginia: UVA kicked off the season with a dual against American on Saturday Night. The Hoos took a decisive 33-6 win, led by bonus-point wins from pins by Quinn Miller (#21) at 285 and Dylan Cedeno at 141 and a tech fall from Jon Errico at 157. Two Cavaliers had their first matches at new weight classes this year. Brian Courtney (#19) picked up a comfortable decision at 133 and Justin McCoy (#20) won by major decision at 165. Jarod Verkleeren saw his first action in a UVA singlet, claimed a win by decision. Another UVA wrestler made big news across the globe this weekend; Jay Aiello (#16 at 197) brought home a Bronze Medal from the U23 World Championships in Serbia, winning his medal match by tech fall. The Hoos are back in action this week, traveling to College Park to face the Maryland Terrapins, who are led by Alex Clemsen, who coached at UVA under Coach Garland. Virginia Tech: The Hokies hosted the tournament formerly known as the Hokie Open this weekend in Roanoke and had some solid results from starters, redshirts and a championship finish by a commit. Mekhi Lewis (#4) made his return to the mat at 174 and captured the title for the Hokies. Also finishing atop the podium were All-Americans Korbin Myers (#5) at 133 and Hunter Bolen (#9) at 184. Nathan Traxler (#15) made his Virginia Tech debut, pinning his way into the finals and winning the title at 285 and also brought home the Most Outstanding Hair award for the tournament. The Hokies saw silver from Sam Latona (#8) at 125, Colin Gerardi at 141, Conor Brady (#30) at 157 and Dakota Howard at 197. One of the biggest highlights of the weekend wasn't from a current Hokie wrestler, but a high school senior committed to VT. Caleb Henson, Fargo and Super32 Champ, #16 on the MatScouts Senior Big Board, wanted to test the waters in a college open, and ran his way through the 149 bracket to a title, beating Marshall Keller of Princeton in the finals. The Hokies will travel to Raleigh for the Wolfpack Open next weekend. Big Ten WEEK 1 RECAP By Cody Goodwin New Look Wisconsin: The Badgers went first - not just in the Big Ten, but literally, they were one of the first programs around the country to compete on Nov. 1 - so it's only fair we start there. Wisconsin beat Buffalo, 30-3, to kick off the 2021-22 college wrestling season last Monday night in Madison. Wisconsin won 9-of-10 bouts, with three bonus-point wins, all major decisions, all coming right in a row from 165-184. This was an expected result, mostly, but it was also our first opportunity to see the new look Wisconsin. We saw a couple of transfers, Austin Gomez and Andrew McNally, for the first time in Badger singlets. Gomez, now up at 149 pounds, scored four first-period takedowns in a 9-4 win over John Aceri. McNally scored four takedowns, too, including two in the third period for a 10-2 major decision over Giuseppe Hoose at 174. We saw a few freshmen, in Joey Zargo, Dean Hamiti and Braxton Amos. Zargo won a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Ben Freeman at 141, Hamiti scored seven takedowns in an 18-5 major over Jay Nivison at 165, and Amos scored two takedowns and added riding-time in an 8-2 win over Samuel Mitchell at 197. And we saw the usual vets: Eric Barnett with a 4-2 win over Tristan Daugherty at 125, Chris Weiler with a 10-2 major over Peter Acciardi at 184, and Trent Hillger with an 11-4 win over Tobin Cahill at heavyweight. Again, this was an expected result, this dominant 30-3 victory. Tougher tests await, like North Carolina later this month at the Garden State Grapple event, the Midlands in December, and the Big Ten slate starting in January. Those results will reveal just how good this Wisconsin team really is. But the new look Badgers passed their first test - and looked pretty good doing it, too. Ohio State tops North Carolina: The Buckeyes opened their season with a decisive 23-12 win over the Tar Heels on Sunday at the Covelli Center, in really one of the only marquee duals of the opening week. Ohio State won the first six matches and ultimately took 7-of-10, and Carson Kharchla kicked the whole thing off with a 10-2 major-decision victory over Sonny Santiago at 165 pounds. He returned to action after missing last season with an injury. He might be a problem at this weight this year. At 141, Jordan Decatur, who beat both Anthony Echemendia and Dylan D'Emilio in the Buckeyes' wrestle-offs to win the starting spot, took 14th-ranked Kizhan Clarke to overtime. Clarke scored a takedown to win, 3-1, in sudden victory, but perhaps Decatur could take a step forward this year at his new weight. At 149, top-ranked Sammy Sasso beat fifth-ranked Zach Sherman, 4-3. Sasso led 3-0 at the start of the third period, then gave Sherman two points on an illegal cutback and locked hands. Sherman escaped at the buzzer, but Sasso won on riding-time. And at 157, Austin O'Connor also looks comfortable at his new weight, pinning Jashon Hubbard early in the second period in the dual's final match. Hubbard actually led 2-1 entering the second period after a takedown on the edge. Then O'Connor reversed him to start the second and locked up the fall in 3:43. Those were the big takeaways, or at least my big takeaways. Elsewhere: Ethan Smith put up 16 points but won by just six over Gavin Kane at 174; Rocky Jordan, not Kaleb Romero, started at 184 and beat Clay Lautt, 4-1; Gavin Hoffman put up 14 points and beat Mark Chaid by major decision at 197; and Jamie Hernandez first put the Tar Heels on the board with a 5-3 win over Dylan Koontz at 133. Big Cass Wins World Title: Five Big Ten wrestlers repped the United States at the U23 world championships last week, and Iowa's Tony Cassioppi led the way by winning a gold medal at 125 kilograms (275 pounds). A leaner, meaner Big Cass went 4-0 and outscored his opponents 36-8 en route to first in the men's freestyle competition, which included a first-period pin in the finals over Greece's Azamat Khosonov in the finals. Northwestern's Chris Cannon went 3-2 and took fifth at 61 kilos (134). He won twice and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Russia's Artur Chebodaev, 7-0. Chebodaev made the finals, and Cannon won again to reach the bronze-medal match, but lost to Mongolia's Narankhuu Narmandakh, 10-0. The other three Big Ten wrestlers were: Iowa's Myles Wilson (1-1 at 86-kg), Nebraska's Peyton Robb (1-1 at 74-kg), and Ohio State's Nick Boykin (1-2 at 96-kg in Greco-Roman). Purdue Wins Two: The Boilermakers took down both Drexel, 29-18, and Rider, 33-3, on Saturday, and this was really a tale of two duals. Purdue had to muscle through the Dragons, who led 18-14 at one point after winning four in a row from 149-174, a stretch that included Luke Nichter beating Alec White via injury-default at 149 and Michael O'Malley pinned Gerrit Nijenhuis at 174. But Max Lyon stopped the bleeding with a 10-8 overtime win at 184, and both Thomas Penola and Michael Woulfe won at 197 and 285 to give Purdue the win. The Boilermakers mostly returned to form in a lopsided win over Rider, taking 9-of-10 with two pins, from Matt Ramos, who went 2-0 with a pin and technical fall at 133 -against Rider's Richie Koehler, Ramos rallied from down 4-1 thanks to two third-period takedowns to force sudden victory, then took Koehler to his back for the fall - and Woulfe, who also went 2-0 with two pins. Both Parker Filius and Trey Kruse had to score late to win their matches, too. Filius rallied from down 4-1 to beat Quinn Kinner, 7-5 in overtime, at 141. Kruse, who stepped in after White's injury against Drexel, gave up some early takedowns but scored in the second and third periods to beat Cole McComas, 8-7, at 149. Indiana Wins Two: The Hoosiers opened with back-to-back 40-3 victories over Bellarmine and SIUE on Sunday, and the most noteworthy results here were two of Indiana's stars changing weights. Brock Hudkins, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 125, started at 133 and won twice, a 13-4 major over Bellarmine's Max Dansereau and first-period fall over SIUE's Matt Malavsky. Donnell Washington, an NCAA qualifier last year at 174, bumped to 184 and also won twice, pinning both Bellarmine's Sam Schroeder and SIUE's Sergio Villalobos. Rutgers Wins Three: The Scarlet Knights went a combined 27-3 in individual matches in three dual victories over Cleveland State, Binghamton, and New Jersey City University, which is an actual school that exists about 35 miles away from the RAC - err, Jersey Mike's Arena. Anyway, yeah, Rutgers went 3-0. Boone McDermott went 2-0 at heavyweight; John Poznanski went 3-0 at 184; Greg Bulsak won his first two matches in a Rutgers singlet at 197; Dylan Shawver (125), Mike Van Brill (149), Robert Kanniard (157) all went 2-0; Sebastian Rivera recorded a 4-1 win over Binghamton's Ryan Anderson, the same Ryan Anderson who was a one-time Iowa State commit who went to Division III Centenary before joining Binghamton; and Binghamton's Anthony Sobotker pinned Sammy Alvarez in a nasty head-and-arm toss in the first period. Interesting Open Results: Buckle up. There were a lot. Let's start with the Michigan State Open. These are strictly from the Open Division. At 133, Michigan State's Rayvon Foley made the finals and beat both Wisconsin's Kyle Burwick and Michigan's Drew Mattin; Illinois's Lucas Byrd took third and beat both Burwick and Michigan's Dylan Ragusin; and Ragusin beat Mattin for fifth in a matchup that could decide who starts for the Wolverines at that weight. At 157, Michigan State's Chase Saldate took first, going 5-0 with four pins. At 174, Northwestern's Troy Fisher took first and registered wins over Michigan's Jaden Bullock, Illinois's DJ Shannon and, in the finals, Oklahoma's Anthony Mantanona. At 165, Evan Wick, a former Badger who is now at Cal Poly, went 4-0 to take first, outscoring his opponents 56-4 along the way. But Northwestern's David Ferrante, who is contending to start for the Wildcats this year, beat Illinois's Danny Braunagel, 14-6, for third. At 197, Oklahoma's Jake Woodley beat Michigan's Bobby Striggow, Northwestern's Andrew Davison, Michigan State's Cam Caffey and, in the finals, Michigan's Pat Brucki. Davison wrestled back for third with wins over Michigan State's Ryan Vasbinder and Illinois's Matt Wroblewski. At 285, Northwestern's Lucas Davison took first with wins over Illinois's Luke Luffman, 10-4, in the semifinals, and Oklahoma's Josh Heindselman, 2-0, in the finals. At the Clarion Open, a handful of Maryland wrestlers put up noteworthy performances: Braxton Brown took sixth at 125, beating a pair of NCAA qualifiers, in Lock Haven's Luke Werner and Navy's Jacob Allen, as well as Penn State's Gary Steen Ethen Miller took second at 141, finishing ahead of teammate Danny Bertoni, who took third John Martin Best took second at 165, losing only to West Virginia's Peyton Hall, 3-1, but beating Penn State's Alex Facundo, 3-2, in the quarterfinals Additionally, Zach Schrader, who transferred in from Cal Baptist, went 5-0 and won at 285; and Jaron Smith beat Jaxon Smith for third at 197 Penn State also had a small presence at Clarion. Facundo finished 6-1 with two pins and three major decisions and took fifth at 165, and Shayne Van Ness won twice, by fall and by major, at 149. The EIWA WEEK 1 RECAP By Austin Sommer Drexel had a tough loss to Purdue. That line-up from 149-184 will be tough in the EIWA. Kropman (157) upset Purdue's Coleman (11th ranked) in dominant fashion. Lehigh got upset by Campbell but beat Oregon State. I'm not worried about them just yet. Anthony Sobotker of Binghamton pinned #11 Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) with a SWEET headlock. He won all three matches via fall. Sacred Heart defeated American in a tight, EIWA-conference match. Technically, they lead the EIWA with a conference victory via criteria. Carter Bailey (Lehigh - 125lb) beat two returning National Qualifiers to capture the Clarion Open title. That starting spot is up in the air right now with 3 studs in Lane, Seymour, and Bailey. Joe Manchio (Columbia - 125) upset returning AA Sam Latona (VA Tech) to claim Southeast Open Championship. Kazimir (141) and Ogunsanya (165) both won titles Princeton performed well at the Southeast Open. Monday (157) and Stout (197) took home titles. The Pac-12 WEEK 1 RECAP By Darius Levan While its conference opponents were abroad, Arizona State conducted its intrasquad meet on November 5th with an exciting ten-match docket providing interesting results. While many presumptions regarding the Sun Devil line-up were confirmed by lopsided decisions and majors, a few weight classes were particularly noteworthy. At 174lbs, true-freshman Cael Valencia put together a 10-5 decision over RS-freshman Zane Coleman. At 141lbs, Jesse Vasquez was 2-0 on the day, notching two ten-point major decisions over Dom DiGena and Ethan Pickren. Finally, at 133lbs, All-American and #9 Michael McGee topped Julian Chlebove, scoring three takedowns to none in a match Assistant Coach Frank Molinaro described as "marquee" and "as scrappy as a[n] NCAA quarterfinal match." Pac-12 wrestlers impressed onlookers in their first week on the mat against national competition. The Little Rock Trojans made their inaugural Trojan Open a memorable one, winning seven of ten weights and pushing a total of fourteen unattached and starting wrestlers into the tournament finals on November 6th. Of particular importance to the Trojans' line-up were a few head-to-head finals among their wrestlers. In the 133lbs finals, Jaylen Carson topped teammate Aidan Cambell, 6-0. At 149lbs, Joey Bianchi beat Austin Keal in a closer match, 6-4. At 174lbs, Triston Wills topped fellow Trojan Alexander Hernandez, 9-3. Tanner Mendoza topped Mason Diel for the tournament title at 184lbs, 7-5. Finally, in a round-robin bracket at 197lbs, Brooks Sacharczyk earned a first-period fall over teammate Matthew Weinert. Also wrestling on Saturday the 6th were #18 Cal Poly, at the Michigan State Open, and #21 Oregon State, hosting Campbell and #24 Lehigh. The Mustangs had a strong showing, as their No. 1's demonstrated their mettle against a competitive early-season field. #3 Evan Wick showed his excellence in the 165lbs weight class with a bonus-point laden tournament victory, earning two hefty major decisions over #22 Danny Braunagel (Michigan) and #18 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois). #6 Bernie Truax also advanced to the finals at 184lbs, notching a ranked win over #24 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) in the semi-finals before medically forfeiting in the final against top-seed, #8 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois). #33 Lawrence Saenz (141) was workmanlike on his run to the finals, defeating unranked but game competitors in Oklahoma's Jacob Butler (who upset Ohio State's Dylan D'Emilio in the second-round) and Northern Illinois's Jaivon Jones both by a 9-5 score. In the finals, favoring a shoulder throughout, Saenz dropped a 10-4 decision to Chance Lamer (Unattached-Michigan). Chance Lamer, who is coincidentally the brother of Cal Poly Mustangs, Legend and Brawley Lamer, advanced to the finals from the quarters on back-to-back medical forfeits from #12 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) and UR Anthony Echemendia (Ohio State). At 174lbs, UR Adam Kemp put together a sound tournament, topping #23 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) along the way, to finish 3rd. #14 Legend Lamer (149) advanced to the tournament semis before medically bowing out of the tournament. The #21 Oregon State Beavers split their season-opening duals, topping Campbell (23-12) and falling to #24 Lehigh (21-12). Across both duals, the Beavers had their share of elating highs and brow-raising lows. Currently unranked at 174lbs (with teammate #19 Trey Munoz the representative in the rankings at present), Mateo Olmos impressed spectators with two ranked wins over #12 Austin Murphy (Campbell), 6-4, and #24 Jake Logan (Lehigh), 4-1. The effort earned Olmos the season's first Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week honors. #10 Grant Willits was undefeated on his day, as well, earning two decisions. At 133lbs, #15 Devan Turner was upset by unranked Domenic Zaccone (Campbell), 5-4. This upset loss was juxtaposed by UR Jason Shaner's ranked-upset victory in the following dual-meet. Getting the nod against Lehigh, Shaner, an NJCAA All-American, defeated #17 (141) Malyke Hines, 10-8, to welcome the Mountain Hawk to 133lbs. At the Menlo Open on November 7th, CSU Bakersfield and #15 Stanford took the mat against California teams from across the collegiate levels. For the Roadrunners, Head Coach Luke Smith was pleased with performances from tournament runner-up, UR Josh Brown -- who reached the 149lbs finals against Stanford's #7 Jaden Abas -- UR Albert Urias at 174lbs, a 3rd-place finisher whose only loss was a 10-7 decision to #31 Tyler Eischens (Stanford), and UR Augustin Garcia (165), another 3rd-place finisher on the day that topped teammate UR Hunter LaRue by 4-1 decision in the consolation-final. Garcia's only loss on the day was to #1 Shane Griffith (Stanford). In addition to tournament titles from the aforementioned Jaden Abas, Tyler Eischens, and Shane Griffith, Stanford enjoyed titles from #29 (125) Jackson DiSario at 133lbs, UR Charlie Darracott at 157lbs, #28 Nick Stemmet at 197lbs, and UR Peter Ming at heavyweight for a total of seven champions across the ten weights. Competing unattached, Nico Provo won the lightweight title at 125lbs, bringing the title count to eight for Stanford. Additionally, UR Jason Miranda made the tournament finals before falling to teammate DiSario. Quite the start for Head Coach Rob Koll and company. Altogether, Week 1 provided a good start for the teams across the Pac-12 as they get ready to enter the more challenging portions of their schedule. We will continue to eagerly observe the teams as they settle their line-ups and weather the first-semester's competition schedules. Look out for the upcoming Week 2 preview! The SoCon WEEK 1 RECAP By Rachel Gallardo The Citadel Open The Bulldogs hosted 7 teams in McAlister Field House this weekend, including: The Citadel 165: Selwyn Porter - 1st Presbyterian College 133: Dominic Chavez - 5th 149: Logan Spell - 6th 149: Reid Stewart - 3rd 184: David Bertrand - 6th Southeast Open Six of the nine schools in the #SoCon were represented this weekend at the #SouthEastOpen, picking up some big wins over the weekend Placements (Top Four): App State: 141: Heath Gonyer - 2nd (Fr/So) 165: Will Miller - 2nd (Fr/So) 285: Jacob Sartorio - 2nd (Fr/So) 125: Chad Bellis - 4th (Fr/So) 285: Jacob Barlow - 4th (Fr/So) Campbell Justin Rivera (149) and Cole Rees (184) took home championships in the Fr/So Division, while in the Open Division, heavyweight Taye Ghadali and 125-lb Joziah Fry took second and third place finishes, respectively. Fourth place finishes for the Camels include Callum Sitek (141 Fr/So) and Conor Maslanek (197 Open). UTC 149: Matthew Wiliams - 5th (Fr/So) Davidson 285: Jake Fernicola - 1st (Fr/So) 149: Garrett Stewart - 2nd (Fr/So) 157: Bryce Sanderlin - 3rd (Fr/So) 149: Noah Frack - 4th (Fr/So) Gardner-Webb 285: Peyton McComas - 5th (Fr/So) VMI 184: Zach Brown 2nd (Open) 285: Isaac Dolph - 3rd (Fr/So) 157: Blake Showerss - 4th (Fr/So) 184: Justin Hart - 4th (Fr/So) Dual Meet Action Chattanooga beats Cumberland, 25 - 15 The Mocs picked up six wins against Cumberland, with big wins coming from: 141: Colton Landers with a Fall (4:44) over Hayden Lemons 149: Noah Castillo taking a 17-5 Major Decision over Joseph Frye 184: Thomas Sell with another Fall (3:43) over Austin Antcliffe Campbell beats No. 16 Lehigh, 22 - 11 The Camels picked up a historic FIRST Southern Conference win over the reigning EIWA champions from Lehigh. Notable matches of the dual include: 165/184: Troy Nation and #18 Caleb Hopkins both won bouts in Sudden Victory overtime, Nation beating #30 Brian Meyer 8-6 and Hopkins claiming a win over AJ Burkhart 4-2 197: Chris Kober with a Major Decision (12-2) over JT Davis Campbell drops a loss to Oregon State, 23 - 12 Wins of the evening include: 133: Domenic Zaccone with a 5-4 Decision over #15 Devan Turner 149: #15 Josh Heil taking a 5-0 Decision over #25 Corey Crooks 184: #18 Caleb Hopkins edging out Mason Reiniche in a 3-2 Decision 197: #32 Levi Hopkins with a 3-1 Decision over #27 J.J. Dixon Bellarmine beats SIUE, 19 - 18 After the match was tied up 18 - 18 after all ten bouts, the total points scored of the match were added, and the Knights outscored SIUE 57 - 53 in total match points. All matches were close, but the big win of the day for the Knights came from Cole Nance (157) with a 6:35 Fall over Max Kristoff Bellarmine takes a loss to Indiana, 40-3 The sole win of the day for the Knights during the bout against Indiana was for Devan Hendricks (165) with a 4-1 Decision over Sammy Cokeley

2021 NCAA champion Austin O'Connor (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) North Carolina Tar Heels “We know we are right up there with the best in the ACC and the country and we can prove it with the schedule we have this year” Associate Head Coach Tony Ramos UNC has been quietly building a powerhouse in Chapel Hill. Coleman Scott and company have had strong recruiting classes recently and their results nationally have continued to improve every year. Austin O'Connor captured the first national title of the Coleman Scott-era last season with a thrilling win over Sammy Sasso from Ohio State and is back to provide veteran leadership to a scrappy team that is anxious to push Virginia Tech and North Carolina State from atop the ACC. “We have a strong schedule this year, we hit top Big 10 programs with Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin then we have all the battles in the ACC. One I think is really big though is Campbell. They have a good, experienced team and they are always ready to fight. I think that kind of match is really fun for the whole state of North Carolina." The Tar Heels have a strong lineup with eight potential starters ranked in the Intermat Preseason Rankings with the team at #15 in both dual and tournament rankings. They have the talent to make some big noise this year, I'm excited to see what they can do. TOP RETURNERS The Tar Heels lineup is headlined by National Champion Austin O'Connor who will be making the move up one weight class to 157. O'Connor may have surprised a lot of people knocking off Sammy Sasso last year but he has built a very strong resume since arriving in Chapel Hill. He placed 3rd as a freshman with a 34-6 record and entered the NCAA tournament as a #2 seed with a 25-1 record before it was canceled, last season he was undefeated at 13-0. O'Connor looks to continue his run through a new weight class and will be a force to watch all year. Zach Sherman was an All-American last year at 141. He was expected to go that weight again with Khizan Clarke transferring in to go 149. Coach Ramos said that as preseason went on Kizhan was weighing out lighter than Sherman and that they worked out the weight change between themselves. Sherman will step into one of the deepest weights in the conference as he looks to earn his way back to the podium in March. 149 will be a weight that can tip a lot of conference duals this year; in addition to Sherman, Tariq Wilson, Bryce Andonian, Josh Finesilver and Jared Verkleeren are all ranked. KEY DEPARTURES Kennedy Monday and Josh McClure are the two starters that have graduated and are no longer in the program. TOP NEWCOMERS Kizhan Clarke transferred from American University to join the UNC Law School as a 2L and will step in as the starter at 141. Clarke had a fantastic season in the COVID-shortened 2019-2020 season and was named NWCA Honorable Mention All-American after finishing the year 37-7. Clarke did not wrestle last season as American did not compete until the EIWA Championships. “Coleman is breeding a champion mentality in the UNC room and that's what I will need to become an NCAA Champion. UNC School of Law is also a very prestigious program that will set me up for success in the legal community”. Clarke could play a major role in moving the Tar Heels up the ACC ladder. WRESTLERS TO WATCH Spencer Moore will be a name that you will hear throughout the season. The true freshman from Kentucky wrestled at the Cadet World Championships-you read that right-this summer in Budapest and will be the starting 125 pounder for the Tar Heels. The 17 year-old finished high school in three years and is ready to make an impact in Chapel Hill. Coach Ramos about Moore, “He never backs down in the room, he always battles no matter who he is wrestling. He is getting better every day and has a lot of potential”. Keep an eye on the 174 and 184 spots throughout the season as there will be ongoing competition for the starting spots. Clay Lautt was the ACC Champion at 174 in 2020 and was penciled in by most as the starter coming into this season. Gavin Kane who was slotted in at 184, knocked off Lautt in the wrestle-off at the beginning of the season. With those updated results, Kane entered the season ranked #22 at 174 and Lautt ranked #17 at 184. Mark Chaid is also making a push for the starting spot at 184, so this will be an interesting lineup battle to watch this season. POTENTIAL LINEUP 125: Spencer Moore 133: #11 Jaime Hernandez NCAA Qualifier 141: #15 Kizhan Clarke NCAA Qualifier (American) 149: #5 Zach Sherman 2021 All-American, ACC Runner-Up 157: #2 Austin O'Connor 2021 National Champion, 2x All-American (3,1) 2x ACC Champion 165: Sonny Santiago 174: #21 Gavin Kane 184: #20 Clay Lautt 2x NCAA Qualifier ACC Champ, ACC Runner-Up Mark Chaid 197: #26 Max Shaw NCAA Qualifier ACC 3rd Place 285: Brandon Whitman 2x NCAA Qualifier ACC Runner-Up (2020)

2x ACC champion Micky Phillipi (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Wasn't Week 1 a hoot? I say we do it again (and for another 14 weeks after that). Like last week, there are a few teams that will lock before the weekend: Buffalo, Franklin & Marshall, Little Rock, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wisconsin all lock between Wednesday 11/10 and Friday 11/12 and some have other matches/tournaments in the weekend as well for Week 2. As a reminder: The wrestler will lock at 9am EST on the first day of the week where that team competes (against D1 competition or other). Once a wrestler is locked, he cannot be moved until the next scoring week. Points will only count for matches against D1 competition Some notes to consider: Buffalo has another test this week as they host Pittsburgh. A couple days later, they travel down to Spooky Nook Sports Complex to participate in the Journeyman Round Robin. As of this article, we don't know the pools or wrestlers entered so it's a little difficult to fully forecast. Franklin & Marshall wrestle DIII (and personal favorite team) Elizabethtown Fighting Blue Jays on Wed 11/10 then head to the Bearcat Open on Sunday. North Dakota State has a tough dual with Missouri, then hosts the Bison Open. Usually, you would see a few wrestlers even with a dual loss make an appearance on these Outlooks because of the upside in the amount of matches a tournament can provide. However, there are only about five D1 schools that may be attending of the 13 listed. It's an open so there could be other D1 teams or backups that get entered late, but there might not be enough D1 matches to warrant the risk. Wisconsin is hosting Little Rock, but also has the Grand View Open on their schedule. Personally, I don't think any starters will be at the Grand View Open so it wasn't listed in their projections. If they do wrestle, it's gravy. Jay Aiello (UVA) and Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT) return from overseas, but I don't know if they get back on the folkstyle mat so quickly. If word comes out that they are going to suit up, start them. While they will be featured several times in several Outlook articles in the coming weeks, for WrestleStat FCW league purposes Nebraska faces two non-D1 schools. Now, they are allegedly sending some wrestlers to the Grand View Open on 11/14… so if I hear something, you'll be the first to know. **************** Again, these "Early Lock'' articles are short and sweet to help with your decision making with early locking wrestlers on your roster. Keep an eye out for the Week 2 Outlook article and and ear for the #FCWpodcast, coming soon. Got a question? Got a Recommendation? Let me know. I can be reached @FantasyD1wrestl. Wrestlers I Like This Week (the early locks) Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] 125: Gage Curry (Pittsburgh)- @ Buffalo, @ Edinboro [+7] Noah Surtin (Missouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+8] Eric Barnett (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+4] Patrick McCormick (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+3] 133: Derek Spann (Buffalo)- Vs Pittsburgh [-3], Journeyman Round Robin Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh)- @ Buffalo, @ Edinboro [+7] Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+3] Brian Courtney (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+3] 141: Joey Zargo (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+3] Dylan Cedeno (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+3] 149: Josh Edmond (Missouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+6] Austin Gomez (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+4] Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+3] 157: Jake Keating (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+4] 165: Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+8] Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)- @ Buffalo, @ Edinboro [+8] Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+4] Justin McCoy (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+3] 174: Peyton Mocco (Missouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+7] Andrew McNally (Wisconsin)-Vs Little Rock [+4] Victor Marcelli (Virginia)- @ Maryland [+4] 184: Jeremiah Kent (MIssouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+7] Chris Weiler (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+5] 197: Braxton Amos (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+5] 285: Zach Elam (Missouri)- @ North Dakota State, Vs Northern Colorado [+8] Trent Hillger (Wisconsin)- Vs Little Rock [+5]

Belmont Abbey head coach Ken Caudell with Mitch Dean (Photo/Belmont Abbey athletics) #24 Belmont Abbey College vs. #22 Newberry College 7:00 PM (EST) Wednesday, November 10th Eleazer Arena, Newberry, South Carolina Twitter: Belmont Abbey Newberry College D2Wrestlestat Prediction Deral Brown's return to Newberry College was almost certainly not under the circumstances he would have liked. No one can find fault with Cy Wainwright's decision to step away and focus on his children after such a tragedy, and no one can blame Brown for choosing to leave King University for his former home. It does not hurt that he inherits a top-25 team that, even without national qualifier ZeBrandon Gant currently in the lineup, will challenge for another Super Regional II crown. There may not have been a team that was hurt more by the cancellation of the 2020 national championships in Sioux Falls than Belmont Abbey College. Fresh off their best finish as a program and the most qualifiers in their history, their season ended in the worst possible way. 2021 saw them qualify two wrestlers for the national tournament in St Louis, and Mitch Dean earned All-American honors. Led by head coach Ken Caudell, the Abbey program has only known his steady hand at the helm. This season sees them return talent and experience that will pay dividends. The "rivalry" between these two sons of the South has been all Newberry College. In the last 15 meetings, the Wolves have won 14. Their current win streak stands at 10. The Belmont Abbey Crusaders tasted victory against Newberry way back in January of 2007. Coach Caudell has only had bragging rights for that single season and as much of a competitor as he is, you know that he wants them back desperately. Could 2022 be the Crusaders' chance to lay siege and sack Newberry? Or will coach Brown begin his career as the leader of the pack the same way that his predecessor ended his? I will break down the matchups, show you how D2Wrestlestat thinks has the edge, and give you my predictions. Follow along. Belmont Abbey - Newberry 125 Brandon Crowder (Fr) vs. #12 Zach Shupp (R-Jr) Brandon Crowder has faced off against Zach Shupp just once and it did not go well for the sophomore. Shupp ended their last meeting early in the third period by way of a fall. Crowder enters his second freshman season after his first attempt only netted a 4-5 record. Three of his four wins came by way of bonus points and that is good news for the Crusaders. It probably will not matter Wednesday night, but for the rest of the season, it could affect the outcome of duals. Zach Shupp seems to have enjoyed his relocation to the South and why wouldn't he. He left the Ohio for the cold north of Central Michigan. In his first season with the Wolves, he was a Super Regional II runner-up and a trip to the national tournament. His ending to the season had to sting though, three straight losses beginning in those finals saw him leave the national tournament 0-2. He gets a do-over and is in one of the deepest weight classes and that is going to be a good thing. Shupp is the table-setter for this Newberry program and I expect the 12th-ranked redshirt-freshman to start fast in 2021. Wrestlestat Prediction: Zach Shupp (Newberry) winner by MD over Brandon Crowder (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: Zach Shupp (Newberry) winner by MD Team Score: Newberry 4 Belmont Abbey 0 133 #15 Ben Fielding (So) vs. Timothy Decatur (So) If Newberry has their place setter in Zach Shupp, the Belmont Abbey Crusaders have theirs at 133 in 15th-ranked Ben Fielding. The sophomore parlayed a 4-1 Super Regional II tournament into his trip to the national tournament. Duplicating his late-season success will be important because he began his season off last year just 1-3. A slow start out the gate on Wednesday could sink his team's chances quickly. Timothy Decatur never seemed to find his feet as a member of the UNC Tarheels. The Wolves are hoping that relocating to Newberry will have him show those skills that helped him win three North Carolina state championships. This matchup has upset written all over it. Is Ben Fielding just a wrestler who caught fire at the right time to make the trip to nationals or did he finally wrestle to his potential? If it is the former, expect Decatur to come out and put the Wolves up two wins to nothing and stake his team to a big lead. Wrestlestat Prediction: Ben Fielding (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec over Timothy Decatur (Newberry) Intermat Prediction: Timothy Decatur (Newberry) winner by Dec Team Score: Newberry 7 Belmont Abbey 0 141 John Carayiannis (Fr) vs. Devan Moore (So) Devan Moore won five straight matches to end the regular season in 2021, but stumbled at the Super Regional tournament finish 2-2. That was while wrestling 149 lbs and it's important to note that he also won a match at 157 pounds in 2021. What he'll look like at 141 pounds for the Newberry Wolves? Will he have the conditioning or will the weight cut take it out of him. In his wins, he never scored fewer than seven points last season. He will take on the repeat true freshman John Carayiannis. The freshman was 4-1, mainly seeing "extra" match action but was 1-1 as a starter. Early in the season, I find myself believing that significant weight cuts hurt more than they help. This will also be the first one-hour competition for Devan Moore, while Carayiannis has a match under his belt. Wrestlestat Prediction: Devan Moore (Newberry) winner by Dec over John Carayiannis (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: John Caryaiannis (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec Team Score: Newberry 7 Belmont Abbey 3 149 Tyler Pepe (Fr) vs. Stevie Chopek (Fr) In a battle of two true freshmen, who were true freshmen just a year ago, I am going to give the edge to Tyler Pepe. He is 1-1 in his career against 3rd-ranked Christian Small, which means that he is 1-1 against Deral Brown-coached athletes. Stevie Chopek is 0-1 against Deral Brown-coached wrestlers. That has no bearing, though, but I felt that we should at least keep the stats even. We also have a battle between New Jersey native Tyler Pepe and Floridian Stevie Chopek. Much like Devan Moore, Chopke wrestled all over the Newberry lineup last season, but he has returned to 149, where he was 3-0 in "extra" matches. I think this match comes down to whether we see early season Pepe or the young man that faded down the stretch. He is very talented and, at his best, has shown he can wrestle with anyone in the country. Wrestlestat Prediction: Tyler Pepe (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec over Stevie Chopek (Newberry) Intermat Prediction: Tyler Pepe (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec Team Score: Newberry 7 Belmont Abbey 6 157 Jacob Dodson (Fr) vs. #8 Will Evans (R-Fr) It would not surprise me to see this dual tied after the first four matches, or at most for one team to have a slim lead. For Newberry, this weight class is very important because it is a chance to gain some breathing room before 165. They have the advantage here as they send out 2021 All-American Will Evans, the redshirt-freshman who found his way onto the podium in St Louis. He takes on freshman Jacob Dodson who is coming out of the Gardner-Webb dual as the only Crusader with a win. Last season he was 2-1 in limited action, with the lone loss coming to the Deral Brown-coached Dallas Boone (King). There are always upsets in wrestling duals and this is one of those matches that looks like it should be all Newberry. You have a returning All-American, who lost three matches to All-Americans and one more to an undefeated national qualifier in John Burger (Limestone). His only head-scratching loss came in the first Limestone dual, where he fell 11-4 to Garrett Starks. I am wondering if a wrestler coming off a big win can ride that momentum over the weekend and sustain it until a Wednesday night dual. Wrestlestat Prediction: Will Evans (Newberry) winner by Dec over Jacob Dodson (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: Jacob Dodson (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec Team Score: Belmont Abbey 9 Newberry 7 165 #4 Mitch Dean (SuperSenior) vs. Nolan Wheeler (Fr) The Belmont Abbey Crusaders could be walking out of intermission with a lead and a chance to end a ten dual losing streak against Newberry College. They will be sending out their big gun to get things moving too. Fourth-ranked Mitch Dean is coming off his best finish in Division II after standing on the national podium in sixth. In the two seasons since his transfer from Clarion, Dean has only lost to national champions, All-Americans, and national qualifiers. Nolan Wheeler is none of those things. The last time he stepped on the mat for competition against someone other than a teammate was January 22, in a match, he withdrew from due to injury. I am sure that Nolan Wheeler is going to be a very important part of the Wolves lineup this season, but he's going to have growing pains. The injury robbing him of a longer season in 2021 means he is, for all intents and purposes, still a true freshman. The extra year in the room is great, but you can only grow so much wrestling the same athletes every day. For the Crusaders to win this dual, they need Mitch Dean to win and to win big. Wrestlestat Prediction: Mitch Dean (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec over Nolan Wheeler (Newberry) Intermat Prediction: Mitch Dean (Belmont Abbey) winner by MD Team Score: Belmont Abbey 13 Newberry 7 174 Cristos Avgeros (R-So) vs. #9 Caleb Spears (SuperSenior) Caleb Spears will enter the 2021 season ranked ninth after winning the Super Regional II title and qualifying for the national tournament a year ago. He was unable to gain his footing in St Louis and went 0-2, but it is important to remember that he was undefeated and a victim of some of the silliness that took place during the qualification and seeding process there. The graduate student will spend his last season at Newberry helping to lead this young team forward. He takes on the Old Dominion transfer Cristos Avgeros. In 2021 was Avgeros' first season as a starter in college and while he was 5-1 in duals, he could only manage a 1-2 record at the Super Regional tournament. Coach Caudell and the Crusaders need him to make a jump this year for them to challenge for a Super Regional title. He will be hard-pressed to slow down Caleb Spears, though. The experienced wrestler from Newberry has made a living out of scoring bonus points in college; he did it better than 60% of the time a year ago. I believe that Avgeros is talented enough to prevent that, but at the end of the match, I believe that Spears will be the wrestler with his hand raised. Wrestlestat Prediction: Caleb Spears (Newberry) winner by Dec over Cristos Avgeros (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: Caleb Spears (Newberry) winner by MD Team Score: Belmont Abbey 13 Newberry 11 184 Connor Billingsly (Fr) vs. Armando Acosta (Fr) No three-time national qualifier ZeBrandon Gant for Newberry? No problem. Armando Acosta descends from the 197 spot to fill in while Gant finishes the college football season. A year ago, Acosta earned three wins at the Super Regional tournament to push his season record to 5-8 and finish with a little momentum. True freshman Connon Billingsly hails from Memphis, Tennessee and is coming off a third-place finish at state. He has already dipped his toe in the college deep end against Division I Gardner-Webb. They say, "everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth," well, Billingsly was punched 18-2 last week. This is a must-win weight for the Wolves; a loss here would provide the Crusaders with a chance to shut the door on this dual with SuperSenior Logan Branham up next for Abbey. Wrestlestat Prediction: Armando Acosta (Newberry) winner by Dec over Connor Billingsly (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: Armando Acosta (Newberry) winner by Dec Team Score: Newberry 14 Belmont Abbey 13 197 Logan Branham (SuperSenior) vs. Kaleb Havan (Fr) If 184 was a must-win for the Wolves, this weight class is do-or-die for the Crusaders. They will have the SuperSenior Logan Branham stepping on the mat fat and sassy. I say "fat and sassy" because he makes the jump from 174 to 197 this season and nothing makes a wrestler happier than not having to cut weight their second senior season. Branham has already wrestled a full-size 197 in Gardner-Webb's very tough Anthony Perrine and held his own. He will be wrestling a true freshman from North Central High School in Kershaw, South Carolina. Kaleb Haven is part of a very talented young class of wrestlers that Deral Brown will get to develop over the next four to five years. Wrestlestat Prediction: Logan Branham (Belmont Abbey) winner by MD over Kaleb Havan (Newberry) Intermat Prediction: Logan Branham (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec Team Score: Belmont Abbey 16 Newberry 14 Hwt Justin Wright (Fr) vs. Devon Rice (So) Third-year sophomore Devon Rice will take on second-year freshman Justin Wright in the match that will probably decide this dual. Will the Rider University transfer Wright be able to finally break the stranglehold that the Wolves have had over the Crusaders in this rivalry? Devon Rice will be looking to inch his career record closer to .500 with a win. And more than that, keep bragging rights firmly stabled at Newberry. Neither of these athletes has shown a proclivity for big moves yet in college, but last season Rice won two of his matches by fall. For Wright to win, he will have to score his first takedown of the season after not benign able to finish in the dual against Gardner-Webb. Wrestlestat Prediction: Devon Rice (Newberry) winner by Dec over Justin Wright (Belmont Abbey) Intermat Prediction: Justin Wright (Belmont Abbey) winner by Dec Intermat Team Score Prediction: Belmont Abbey 19 Newberry College 14 Wrestlestat Team Score Prediction: Newberry 19 - Belmont Abbey 13

McKendree national champion Alara Boyd (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) It was a great first weekend of competition for NCAA teams in the Collegiate Women's Wrestling world. We saw workman-like performances from several returning All-Americans and National Champions, as well as numerous eye-opening displays from freshmen who proved they could compete with the top dogs right away. Let's take a look at notable performances from the two big events that occurred over the weekend. Pointer Women's Open at UW-Stevens Point Ranked teams: #1 McKendree, #3 Augsburg, #7 North Central, #13 UW-Stevens Point The storylines of the day from the Pointer Open were McKendree's National Champions taking care of business, and North Central's freshmen proving they're deserving of their #2 spot in our class of 2021 recruiting rankings. UW-Stevens Point's 7th ranked Brooke Thurber dominated at 101, earning three 10-0 tech falls on her way to the title. At 109, McKendree's #2 ranked Natalie Reyna survived a scare from North Central freshman Sydney Petzinger by a 4-3 margin in the semifinals. She would advance to the final against teammate Pauline Granados, ranked 2nd at 101, but the two would not wrestle the final bout. Petzinger recovered to finish 3rd. North Central showed their depth at 116 with Mateah Roehl, 7th at 123, topping freshman teammate Kendra Ryan 8-5 in the final. Ryan took out #8 Abby Nelson of Stevens Point with an 11-0 tech fall in the semis. Nelson teched 5th ranked Carly Valleroy of McKendree in the quarters. Not a college competitor but eligible in an open tournament format, Victory Wrestling's Cadet and Junior world teamer Alisha Howk showed her experience in winning the 123-pound bracket. However, it was North Central freshman Amani Jones who opened some eyes with her first-period fall over #2 ranked Gabby Skidmore of Augsburg in the semis. Howk would top Jones 10-0 in the final. Returning national champion Cameron Guerin of McKendree buzzed through the competition at 130, defeating North Central's Niya Gaines in the final. Guerin finished each of her matches early with two tech falls and two pins on the day. Sara Sulejmani, another North Central freshman, stole the show at 136. She pinned Augsburg's Kya Rybachek, ranked #3 at 143, in the semis before taking down McKendree freshman Skye Realin in the final. Realin earned an impressive win over Augsburg's Autumn Flanigan, #3 at 136, in the quarters. At 143, freshman Katie Lange of Augsburg pinned her way to the title, defeating North Central's Riley Aamold in the championship bout. Another freshman for the Cardinals, Aamold took out two ranked wrestlers on her way to Lange, pinning #8 Megan Struble of Steven's Point and #4 Michelle Camacho of McKendree. No surprises at 155 as McKendree's returning national champion Alara Boyd mowed down the competition with two pins and a tech on her way to the title. She pinned #4 Marlynne Deede of Augsburg in the finals. A notable finish here is Northern Michigan freshman Kaitlyn Bryant who was 3rd at the weight. Joye Levendusky, ranked #3 and the returning national runner-up, was the champion at 170. She took out Stevens Point freshman Jade Herzer with ease in the final. At 191, it was two Bearcats who chose not to wrestle the final, as McKendree's Grace Kristoff and Jaycee Foeller both reached the championship bout but did not wrestle. Foeller earned a fall over North Central's Traeh Haynes in the semis in a battle of high-profile 2021 recruits. East Stroudsburg Women's Open Ranked teams: Tiffin (NCAA #9), Gannon (NCAA #10), Adrian (NCAA #11), New Jersey City (NCAA #13). It was great to see ESU host their Women's Open this year after the team could not compete last season due to the pandemic. Several top NCAA teams were in attendance, and they didn't disappoint. At 101, Shanna Morris of Tiffin was the bracket's top-ranked wrestler coming in at #8, but she fell to Lock Haven freshman Samantha Reitnour in the semis in a wild match. Reitnour led 11-10 when she got the fall. Morris' teammate, freshman Olivia Shore would get Tiffin's revenge, though, pinning Reitnour in the final. Gannon's Katerina Pendergrass then topped Morris for 3rd. Gannon's Mikayla Vega earned three falls to secure the title at 109. At 116, it was national runner-up Sugey Ceja of Tiffin, ranked 3rd nationally, taking the crown. She was pushed in the semis by unattached freshman Chloe Ayres, who attends Princeton University, but came out with a 13-12 victory. Tiffin freshman Solana Mottola stole the show at 123, pinning her way to the title. No opponent lasted longer than 57 seconds against Mottola on the day. NJCU's Naomi Henry was the champion at 130, earning a 10-0 tech fall over Gannon freshman Anya Knappenberger in the final. Knappenberger defeated Lock Haven's Lily Sherer in the quarters in another battle of high-profile freshmen. At 136, Adrian's Zoe Nowicki, currently ranked 4th at 143, dominated the bracket with two techs and two pins. It was high school senior Kendall Bostelman of Wyoming Seminary who impressed at 143, winning the bracket with an 11-0 tech fall in the finals over Sacred Heart's Maddie Sandquist. Another freshman upset came at 155, where Lock Haven's Jessica Johnson took out Tiffin's Taylor Hites in the final. Hites is a two-time All-American for the Dragons and is currently ranked 7th at the weight. Tiffin freshman Taryn Martin dominated the 170-pound bracket, winning the title with three tech falls on the day. Unranked Annabelle Helm of Gannon took out Tiffin's #6 Morgan Davidson in the opening round and again in the 3rd place bout. Not to be outdone by her fellow freshman on the weekend, Sacred Heart's Ashley Reed won the 191-pound championship. She defeated NJCU's Sandra Guererro in the final, who is currently ranked 6th at the weight. Guerrero was coming off a slight upset of Gannon's #5 ranked Amara Devericks in Round 1. Let's look forward to another great week of NCAA women's wrestling action as #2 King takes on #5 Emmanuel in a dual meet on Wednesday night, and teams travel to the Waldorf Open, the Maverick Open and the Adrian Duals and Adrian Open over the weekend.

Michigan State Open champion Jake Woodley of Oklahoma (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first weekend of the collegiate season has come and gone! We all got reacquainted with the multi-tasking skills needed to follow a handful of tournaments and duals streaming from your computer or device(s). For some lucky fans, they got the opportunity to attend a live event, something that wasn't possible in many parts of the country last season. After getting a good night's sleep (thanks Daylight savings) and replaying the action and results in my head, I found ten things I learned from the opening week of the season. My friend John Foster (of Big Man Breakdown fame on MatScouts) will be proud to know the first three items include heavyweights. 285 lbs is even better than we thought We all know the key stats for Gable Steveson. Within a couple months span, he won the Big Ten, NCAA's, Pan-Am's, and Olympic Games. Save for a comeback for the ages in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games, he rarely needed to break a sweat in the process. Gable is back and atop the 285 lb NCAA rankings, as he should be. But Gable's dominance may overshadow a Golden Era of collegiate big men. Over the weekend, we saw another example of this as the newly-cut Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) went to Serbia for the U23 World Championships and captured the gold medal with relative ease. Cassioppi's gold medal now gives the current crop at 285 lbs five age-group world champions. In addition to Steveson and Cassioppi, Mason Parris (Michigan) has a Junior World title, while Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) and Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) did so at the Cadet level. If you paid attention to Twitter last night, everyone and their mother was spouting off the five world champions figure and that's impressive. But let's look even deeper: With Cassioppi's medal, there are now eight age-group world medalists at 285 lbs. Zach Elam (Missouri) and Lucas Davison (Northwestern) are both Junior World silver medalists, while Jordan Wood (Lehigh) won silver at Cadet Worlds. 2021 Junior World rep Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) was a match away from adding his name to the list as he suffered losses in the world semis and bronze medal bout. This bracket also includes nine returning All-Americans. In addition to the wrestlers we've already mentioned above, Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), Tate Orndorff (Ohio State), and Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) have stepped on the NCAA podium before. What it amounts to is that every match from the NCAA Round of 16 on will be fire and feature two high-level heavyweights. Additionally, World/Olympic Trials for the next decade will be must-watch. And there's more on the way… The Clarion Open showed us that there will be no lull at the 285 lb weight class once Gable moves on, and the Parris' and Cassioppi's graduate. High school freshman and Ohio State commit Nick Feldman made the finals of Clarion after posting three impressive wins. Most notable was in the quarterfinals when Feldman tallied four takedowns to down the #26 heavyweight in the nation, Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra). At NCAA's last year, Knighton-Ward posted a 1-2 record. In his other two bouts, Feldman racked up bonus points on the probable starters for Lock Haven (Colby Whitehill) and Pittsburgh (Jake Slinger). Feldman ended up medically forfeiting in the finals before taking on Maryland's Zach Schrader. The #3 overall recruit in the Class of 2022, Feldman, may be pressed into starting duties immediately for the Buckeyes as Tate Orndorff is a senior. With his performance on Sunday and another year's worth of adding muscle and tweaking technique, Ohio State could feel confident starting Feldman from day one. NC State's "BIG" problem In speaking with NC State staff this year, the coaches repeatedly mentioned that this could be a "new look" Wolfpack lineup. For a few years now, you could set your watch by this lineup that included most of its critical components in the same weights. Much has changed this year, with Tariq Wilson and Hayden Hidlay moving up, while Daniel Bullard contemplates a move down. One of the constants we assumed was Deonte Wilson at 285 lbs. It's easy to assume why you would pencil an ACC champion and #18 ranked heavyweight into the lineup. But, that may not be the case! Wilson dropped a wrestle-off bout to sophomore Owen Trephan. But wrestle-off's are wrestle-off's. Because of familiarity, strange results can happen at those types of competitions. Some staff's don't even factor them into their line of thinking. In-room results and tournaments may play a more significant role. Well, on Saturday, NC State kicked off their season at the Battle of the Citadel. Trephan made the finals after a 5-2 win over #30 Michael McAleavey (The Citadel), a returning national qualifier. That win set up another meeting with Wilson in the tournament finals. Once again, Trephan got his hand raised, this time by a 10-3 margin, which is huge at the 285 lb weight class. Looking at NC State's schedule, this week, the team will host the Wolfpack Open. Could the two meet again? NC State does indeed have a BIG problem, though it's a good one to have. Ned Shuck is the man. Okay, well, I was already on the Ned Shuck train. Maybe the general wrestling community will start to take notice of Shuck, first-year head coach of Bellarmine. Let's look at the backstory behind Shuck's Bellarmine Knights. He took over a program that is in the midst of a transition from DII to DI status, inherited a squad that went 1-9 last year and was shut out twice; only scored more than ten points three times, and didn't get to have a full (or even half) recruiting cycle. Yet, his team posted a 19-18 win in their season-opening dual meet over SIU Edwardsville. The dual was tied at 18, but the Knights got the decision on "total match points" criteria (57-53). When the teams met last season, the Cougars dominated 39-6. Indiana pulls out a new look. Another thing we saw during the Indiana/SIUE/Bellarmine tri was some of Indiana's biggest stars at new weight classes. Brock Hudkins and Donnell Washington moved up to 133 and 184 lbs, respectively. Both went 2-0 at their new weight classes. Hudkins was in the midst of a strong 2019-20 season, until an injury at the Midlands derailed his season. Last year, he only saw action in two duals. If healthy, he could be a darkhorse at 133. Washington is coming off an appearance at the Junior World Championships and continues to grow. 184 lbs appears to be much deeper than 174 this year, but he certainly has the ability to make a dent in that weight class, as well. Hudkins, Washington and the rest of their Indiana teammates will get tested next week in tournament action at Appalachian State's Mountaineer Invitational. This event will feature the host school, along with Arizona State, Illinois, and others. There's another threat in the Ivy League Without the Ivy League last season, the obvious lament was the loss of perennial national power Cornell. The Big Red has dominated the EIWA for almost two decades and has put out some of the finest wrestlers in the conference during that span. Princeton was another loss that hit the conference and the national scene. Chris Ayres' squad has proven that they will be a factor on both levels for the foreseeable future. On top of the two big Ivy giants, much has been made about the recruiting at Penn. The Quakers seem ready to unleash the fruits of their hard work on the recruiting trail in due time. But a team that may fly under the radar is Columbia. Zach Tanelli's group has also increased its recruiting profile over the last few years. They also feature a squad with two returning national qualifiers, to go along with their young talent. Yesterday, the Lions showed that they will be much improved in 2021-22, as well. Starting at the 125 lb weight class, #28 Joe Manchio pulled one of the biggest stunners of the weekend when he knocked off All-American #8 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) for a title at the Southeast Open. Manchio and 141 lber Matt Kazimir were the Columbia wrestlers with past NCAA experience. Like his fellow qualifier, Kazimir also came away with a title. He defeated past national qualifier Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech), 4-1, for his championship. Along with Manchio and Kazimir, 165 lber Josh Ogunsanya was also victorious, Sunday. Columbia, along with Virginia Tech, were the only schools to crown three champions in the open division. Did we underestimate Oklahoma? Last season, Oklahoma shocked the Big 12 by tying rival Oklahoma State at the conference meet. That may have been forgotten about after Oklahoma State went on to claim an NCAA team trophy and the Sooners finished in 24th place. On Saturday, the Sooners were in action at the Michigan State Open and showed that they are for real and cannot be overlooked again. Oklahoma finished with three champs (Joey Prata - 125, Tony Madrigal - 133, and Jake Woodley - 197) and they also had a favorite, Mitch Moore (149), medically forfeit in the finals. Madrigal and Woodley may have prevailed in two of the tournament's toughest weights. The 133 lber captured a title after defeating a pair of past All-Americans, Lucas Byrd (Illinois) and Rayvon Foley (Michigan State), in back-to-back matches. Woodley's semi/finals bouts included wins over Big Ten runner-up Cam Caffey (Michigan State) and All-American Pat Brucki (Michigan). Oklahoma also did damage without perhaps their best wrestler, 141 lber Dom Demas, who was competing at the U23 World Championships. Next weekend, I'll be watching Oklahoma in person as they take on Big 12 rival West Virginia. We may not see Louie DePrez for a while. One of the biggest possible bouts on the schedule for this weekend was a meeting at 184 lbs between All-American's John Poznanski (Rutgers) and Louie DePrez (Binghamton). The two squared off in the 2021 NCAA quarterfinals and Poznanski won 8-4. Their 2021-22 meeting didn't come to fruition as DePrez weighed in significantly above the 184 lb weight class. Had the Rutgers dual been closer, maybe he would have been an option at 197. But, at the time, the Scarlet Knights had the dual locked up 22-9, so he didn't go. Now, by weighing in, DePrez is subject to weight descent rules, which limit the amount of weight he can lose per week. The bottom half of the dual rankings will be chaos. If you stayed up late Saturday night, you were treated to an entertaining tri-meet hosted by #21 Oregon State. Chris Pendleton's team welcomed #16 Lehigh and Campbell, a team that warranted consideration in the dual rankings. Campbell started the night by crushing Lehigh, 22-11. In the next match, Oregon State did the same to Campbell, 23-12. Just to complicate things, Lehigh rose up and downed the host school, 21-12. In a year with super-sixth-year seniors on pitch counts and most teams returning veteran squads, I'd expect more upheaval than usual from the team's ranked 15 and below. There will be lots of these A beat B, B beat C, and C beat A, types of scenarios as we update dual rankings. We also have to congratulate Camels head coach Scotti Sentes as they became the first SoCon school ever to defeat Lehigh in dual competition. A new name to watch at 133. For those of you that love to nitpick through the rankings (I love ya!), you may have noticed a name that may not have belonged at the bottom of the final preseason rankings at 133. Purdue's Matt Ramos. Matt is best known for winning a Cadet World title in 2018 at 51 kg. He signed with Minnesota and did not compete in 2019-20 or 2021. After the 2021 season concluded, Ramos ended up in the transfer portal and ended up at Purdue. In his short time at Purdue, there have been good things coming out of the Boilermaker room regarding Ramos. Saturday was his collegiate debut and Ramos starred with a tech fall in his opening match against Deon Pleasant (Drexel), before pinning 2021 MAC runner-up Richie Koehler (Rider) in extra time. While two matches on the first weekend of the season is an extremely small sample size, let's just say Ramos should be a name to watch going forward at 133 lbs.

Fargo champion TJ Stewart (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This morning, the highest ranked uncommitted senior, #10 TJ Stewart (Blair Academy, NJ), announced that he had given a verbal commitment to stay in-state and attend Virginia Tech. Stewart has had an excellent last year, grabbing a win at Who's #1, just a few months after capturing a Junior National freestyle title at 182 lbs in Fargo. Stewart enters his senior year ranked #1 in the nation at 182 lbs. He is a Virginia native that attend prep-powerhouse Blair Academy in New Jersey. Stewart is the second top-20 recruit to verbal to the Hokies in 2022. He joins #16 Caleb Henson (Woodland, GA) as recruits this fall for Virginia Tech. Stewart slots in well for the Hokies in the future. Their starter at 184 will be Hunter Bolen, who is a senior, but has another year of eligibility remaining after this season. If Bolen were to return in 2022-23, he could finish up while Stewart redshirts. Despite his numerous national-level accolades, Stewart is seeking his first National Prep title in 2022. He was previously third as a freshman and eighth as a sophomore. That eighth-place finish occurred as he cut down to 160 to help create the best lineup for Blair. Last year, at the National Prep Open, he fell in the 182 lb finals to Jack Wehmeyer (Malvern Prep, PA). Wehmeyer was the opponent he would defeat at Who's #1. In addition to his Fargo title this summer, Stewart also was a 16U national champion in freestyle in 2019, while taking eighth in Greco that same year. He also was an NHSCA Freshman National champion at 170 lbs in 2019.

2021 NCAA champion Nick Lee (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) #25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) #24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) #23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) #22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) #21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) #20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) #19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan) #18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State) #17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa) #15 - Mason Parris (Michigan) #14 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) #13 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) #12 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) #11 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) #10 - Myles Amine (Michigan) #9 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) #8 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) #7 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) #6 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #5 - David Carr (Iowa State) Next up is… #4 Nick Lee (Penn State) Weight: 141 lbs Year: Senior Career Record: 97-13 Hometown: Evansville, Indiana College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Champ, 2x Big Ten Runner-Up, 2019 NCAA 5th Place, 2018 NCAA 5th Place, 2020 NWCA First-Team All-American 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #2 at 141 lbs Competing as a true freshman, Nick Lee immediately had some success with a runner-up finish at the season-opening Clarion Open. Lee earned a spot in the finals after tech falling Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven). He finished the tournament with a loss to Brock Zacherl (Clarion). A week later, at the Bearcat Open, Lee ran into fellow true freshman Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) and was on the wrong end of a 12-7 decision. That bout took place in the semis and Lee wound up in third place. Lee's breakout event was the Southern Scuffle, where he notched bonus-point victories over the likes of returning national qualifiers Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), Evan Cheek (Cleveland State), and Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield). In the finals, Lee was pinned in the second period by redshirting freshman Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State). Post-Scuffle, Lee really hit his stride with six consecutive wins over conference foes; four came via bonus points, one of which was a 13-3 major decision over All-American Tommy Thorn (Minnesota). Lee's brief winning streak was halted in a 7-6 shootout loss to Joey McKenna (Ohio State). At his first Big Ten Championship, Lee fell in the semis to Mike Carr (Illinois) and finished in third place. That finish was good enough for the eighth seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships. In his first NCAA Tournament match, Lee was greeted rudely by Ryan Diehl (Maryland), who shocked the freshman with a first-period fall. To Lee's credit, he didn't hang his head; he battled back through the consolations with five straight wins, locking up a place in the top-six. His road to All-American status included wins over #9 Alber, #10 Mason Smith (Central Michigan), #16 Cole Weaver (Indiana), and #12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell). After majoring Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan) in the consolation quarterfinals, Lee fell to Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), also by major decision. He closed out his freshman campaign with a win in sudden victory over Kevin Jack (NC State) for fifth-place. Lee's sophomore year started off on fire. He won his first 14 matches of the 2018-19 season with bonus points. That streak stopped in the Southern Scuffle finals against redshirting freshman Real Woods (Stanford), by the score of 6-3. Just two matches later, Lee suffered a stunning defeat to Wisconsin's Tristan Moran in dual meet action, 12-10 in sudden victory. In early February, Lee logged his most significant win of the regular season. He posted a 7-6 win over McKenna in Penn State's 28-9 rout of Ohio State. At the Big Ten Championships, Lee had the opportunity to exact revenge and get served some himself. He fell to McKenna by a point in the semifinals, but had the chance to meet Moran, again. This time Lee won by major decision, 11-3, on his way to third place. This time, his third-place finished netted the third seed at the 2019 NCAA Championships. There were no first-round upsets this time at the NCAA Championships. Lee started his tournament with back-to-back falls against Nate Limmex and Perry. He clinched his second career set of All-American honors by downing Max Murin (Iowa) 4-1. That set the stage for another meeting with McKenna in the NCAA semifinals. Once again, the bout went to McKenna, 4-3. In the consolation semifinals, Lee had a difficult matchup with Dom Demas (Oklahoma). The inside-trip master was able to open up his offense in a 13-9 win. For the second consecutive year, Lee finished up in fifth-place, this time after pinning Mitch McKee (Minnesota). In 2019-20, Lee went through the entire regular season without tasting defeat. He won 15 of his first 16 bouts by bonus points, including wins over returning AA's McKee and Chad Red (Nebraska). His 17th match came against Ohio State and, once again, he picked up a massive win against the Buckeyes. Lee handed Luke Pletcher his first loss of the year, 8-4, in the Nittany Lions 20-16 win over Ohio State. Just like in 2019, Lee's Ohio State opponent was able to exact revenge at the Big Ten Championships, this time in the finals as Pletcher turned the tables with a 6-5 win. Lee's 20-1 record and a runner-up finish at the B1G tournament was good enough for the second seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. That tournament never happened as it was canceled at the beginning of the Covid outbreak. Notable contenders on Lee's half of the bracket included #3 Real Woods, #6 Red, #7 Murin, #10 McKee, and #11 Zach Sherman (North Carolina). Lee was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA. During the shortened 2021 regular season, Lee didn't clash with any of the top contenders in the conference. He managed to top bonus point status in five of those six contests. At the 2021 Big Ten Championships, held on the campus of Penn State, Lee was given the second seed, which meant he'd have to contend with returning 133 lb B1G champion Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers), in the semis. Lee prevailed 8-6 in extra time during an excellent bout. The Big Ten final featured Lee against new Iowa Hawkeye, Jaydin Eierman (Iowa). The two engaged in an action-packed bout that saw Eierman finish on top, 6-5. That put Lee in as the second seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Lee had to travel what proved to be a challenging path at nationals, though you wouldn't know from his results. His second and third opponents (Sherman and South Dakota State's Clay Carlson) ended up meeting each other for seventh place later in the tournament. Again he'd meet Rivera in the semis. This time, the bout was more one-sided as Lee got his hand raised after a 9-3 win. Lee had gotten over the hump and made it to the NCAA finals against Big Ten foe Eierman. This time it was Lee who came up clutch with a 4-2 win in sudden victory. It was Lee's third NCAA All-American honor and made him one of four national champions for Penn State. A little bit over a month later, Lee was back in action at the Olympic Team Trials. After losing Jordan Oliver in his second match, Lee stormed through the consolations to claim third place and earn a spot on the national team. His consi run included wins over NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett, Penn State legend Zain Retherford, and two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis. Strengths: Lee has always been known for his high motor and gas tank. His pace and volume of attacks routinely force opponents to wilt. Lee can strike with various leg attacks, especially high c's and inside reach singles. For all the marbles, in sudden victory of the NCAA finals, Lee responded with an inside trip. While Lee is dangerous on his feet, he's also always a threat to score on the mat. Lee is constantly looking for either a cross wrist tilt or a wing and claw. He is even able to get back points from those moves against top-level opponents. 2021-22 Outlook: Lee starts the year ranked #2 in the nation, behind Diakomihalis. Not only will Lee have to worry about Yianni and Eierman, but also Stevan Micic (Michigan), who will be a very tough conference opponent. Their Big Ten bracket will likely be the deepest of the tournament. Even so, Lee can rise to the top at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. 2021 NCAA champion Nick Lee (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

Ohio State 165 lber Carson Kharchla (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday's Results Purdue 29 Drexel 18 125 - Devin Schroder (Purdue) dec Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 6-0 133 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) tech Deon Pleasant (Drexel) 18-3 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) fall Tyler Williams (Drexel) 2:51 149 - Luke Nichter (Drexel) InjDef Alec White (Purdue) 157 - Parker Kropman (Drexel) dec Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 6-1 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) dec Emil Soehnlen (Purdue) 4-0 174 - Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) fall Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) 2:43 184 - Max Lyon (Purdue) dec Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) 10-8SV 197 - Thomas Penola (Purdue) InjDef Sean O'Malley (Drexel) 285 - Michael Woulfe (Purdue) fall Liam Dietrich (Drexel) 1:19 North Dakota State 43 Cal Baptist 3 125 - Colby Evens (North Dakota State) fall Devin Garcia (Cal Baptist) 6:36 133 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) dec Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist) 8-5 141 - Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) tech Christian Nunez (Cal Baptist) 18-2 149 - Jaden Van Maanen (North Dakota State) fall Chaz Hallmark (Cal Baptist) 5:18 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) maj AJ Raya (Cal Baptist) 13-2 165 - Luke Weber (North Dakota State) InjDef Frank Almaguer (Cal Baptist) 2:40 174 - Austin Brenner (North Dakota State) maj Louis Rojas (Cal Baptist) 17-3 184 - Caden Gerlach (Cal Baptist) dec Michael Nelson (North Dakota State) 7-4 197 - Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) fall Arick Lopez (Cal Baptist) 1:38 285 - Brandon Metz (North Dakota State) dec Chris Island (Cal Baptist) 5-1 Chattanooga 25 Cumberland 15 125 - Carter Cox (Cumberland) FFT 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) dec Keshawn Laws (Cumberland) 6-0 141 - Colton Landers (Chattanooga) fall Hayden Lemmons (Cumberland) 4:44 149 - Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) maj Joseph Frey (Cumberland) 17-5 157 - Grant Lundy (Chattanooga) dec Anthony Maia (Cumberland) 7-3 165 - Cole Smith (Cumberland) dec Caleb Waddell (Chattanooga) 5-4 174 - Carial Tarter (Chattanooga) dec Matthew Sells (Cumberland) 6-2 184 - Thomas Sell (Chattanooga) fall Austin Antcliffe (Cumberland) 3:43 197 - River Henry (Cumberland) dec Landon Lewis (Chattanooga) 7-2 285 - Patrick Depiazza (Cumberland) dec Matthias Ervin (Chattanooga) 4-3 Sacred Heart 17 American 16 125 - Max Leete (American) dec Sean Faraon (Sacred Heart) 5-0 133 - Anthony Petrillo (Sacred Heart) dec Josh Bauman (American) 3-2 141 - Jordan Carlucci (Sacred Heart) dec Ethan Szerencsits (American) 10-4 149 - Jack Nies (American) dec Shaun Williams (Sacred Heart) 7-2 157 - Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart) maj Elijah White (American) 10-2 165 - Tim Fitzpatrick (American) maj Cole McGill (Sacred Heart) 16-2 174 - Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart) maj Ben Root (American) 10-1 184 - Connor Bourne (American) dec Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart) 2-1 197 - Dante DelBonis (Sacred Heart) dec Carsten Rawls (American) 5-2 285 - Isaac Righter (American) dec Mark Blokh (Sacred Heart) 6-4 Virginia 33 American 6 125 - Andy Fallon (American) dec Patrick McCormick (Virginia) 6-4SV 133 - Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec Jack Maida (American) 7-3 141 - Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) fall Ethan Szerencsits (American) 1:24 149 - Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) dec Patrick Ryan (American) 6-1 157 - Jon Errico (Virginia) tech Cole Painter (American) 17-2 165 - Justin McCoy (Virginia) maj Tim Fitzpatrick (American) 12-4 174 - Justin Phillips (Virginia) dec Colin Shannon (American) 5-2 184 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Connor Bourne (American) 6-1 197 - Will Jarrell (American) dec Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) 5-2 285 - Quinn Miller (Virginia) fall Isaac Righter (American) 2:12 Purdue 33 Rider 3 125 - Devin Schroder (Purdue) dec Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 4-2 133 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) fall Richie Koehler (Rider) 8:08 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) dec Quinn Kinner (Rider) 7-5SV 149 - Trey Kruse (Purdue) dec Cole McComas (Rider) 8-7 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Jake Silverstein (Rider) 7-4 165 - Joe Casey (Rider) dec Emil Soehnlen (Purdue) 1-0 174 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) dec Shane Reitsma (Rider) 4-2 184 - Max Lyon (Purdue) dec George Walton (Rider) 3-1 197 - Thomas Penola (Purdue) dec Matt Correnti (Rider) 7-2 285 - Michael Woulfe (Purdue) fall David Szuba (Rider) 4:09 Campbell 22 Lehigh 11 125 - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) 3-2 133 - Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) 8-4 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Dan Moran (Lehigh) 7-4 149- Josh Heil (Campbell) dec Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) 3-2 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) maj Matt Dallara (Campbell) 8-0 165 - Troy Nation (Campbell) dec Brian Meyer (Lehigh) 8-6SV 174 - Austin Murphy (Campbell) dec Jake Logan (Lehigh) 3-2 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) 4-2SV 197 - Chris Kober (Campbell) maj JT Davis (Lehigh) 12-2 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) maj Chad Nix (Campbell) 12-4 Oregon State 23 Campbell 12 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) fall Anthony Molton (Campbell) 2:46 133 - Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) dec Devan Turner (Oregon State) 5-4 141 - Grant Willits (Oregon State) dec Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 7-4 149 - Josh Heil (Campbell) dec Cory Crooks (Oregon State) 5-0 157 - Hunter Willits (Oregon State) dec Matt Dallara (Campbell) 5-0 165 - Matt Olguin (Oregon State) dec Troy Nation (Campbell) 15-9 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Austin Murphy (Campbell) 6-4 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Mason Reiniche (Oregon State) 3-2 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 3-1 285 - Gary Traub (Oregon State) tech Chad Nix (Campbell) 27-9 Lehigh 21 Oregon State 12 125 - Jaret Lane (Lehigh) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 9-5 133 - Jason Shaner (Oregon State) dec Malyke Hine (Lehigh) 10-8 141 - Grant Willits (Oregon State) dec Dan Moran (Lehigh) 3-0 149 - Cory Crooks (Oregon State) dec Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) 6-4SV 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) fall Hunter Willits (Oregon State) 2:08 165 - Brian Meyer (Lehigh) dec Matt Olguin (Oregon State) 4-2 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Jake Logan (Lehigh) 4-1 184 - AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec Mason Reiniche (Oregon State) 10-4 197 - JT Davis (Lehigh) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 6-1 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec Gary Traub (Oregon State) 4-3 Sunday's Dual Results Ohio State 23 North Carolina 12 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) dec Spencer Moore (North Carolina) 6-2 133 - Jaime Hernandez (North Carolina) dec Dylan Koontz (Ohio State) 5-3 141 - Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) dec Jordan Decatur (Ohio State) 3-1SV 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) dec Zach Sherman (North Carolina) 4-3 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) fall Jashon Hubbard (Ohio State) 3:43 165 - Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) maj Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) 10-2 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec Gavin Kane (North Carolina) 17-10 184 - Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) dec Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 4-1 197 - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) maj Mark Chaid (North Carolina) 14-3 285 - Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 2-0 Bellarmine 19 SIU Edwardsville 18 125 - Jack Parker (Bellarmine) dec Tommy Dineen (SIU Edwardsville) 17-10 133 - Max Dansereau (Bellarmine) dec Matt Malavsky (SIU Edwardsville) 8-3 141 - Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) dec Logan Hoskins (Bellarmine) 9-2 149 - Mitch Collica (Bellarmine) dec Caden Green (SIU Edwardsville) 3-2 157 - Cole Nance (Bellarmine) fall Max Kristoff (SIU Edwardsville) 6:35 165 - Cardeionte Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) dec Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) 5-3 174 - Eric Beck (Bellarmine) dec Kevin Gschwendtner (SIU Edwardsville) 13-8 184 - Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) dec Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine) 9-7 197 - Austin Andres (SIU Edwardsville) fall Bryant Wilkinson (Bellarmine) 1:41 285 - Aric Bohn (SIU Edwardsville) dec Charlie Cadell (Bellarmine) 8-4 Indiana 40 SIU Edwardsville 3 125 - Jacob Moran (Indiana) tech Tommy Dineen (SIU Edwardsville) 18-2 133 - Brock Hudkins (Indiana) fall Matt Malavsky (SIU Edwardsville) 1:19 141 - Cayden Rooks (Indiana) dec Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) 3-2 149 - Graham Rooks (Indiana) tech Caden Green (SIU Edwardsville) 16-1 157 - Kasper McIntosh (Indiana) dec Max Kristoff (SIU Edwardsville) 4-2 165 - Cardeionte Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) dec Matt Ortiz (Indiana) 7-6 174 - Nick South (Indiana) dec Kevin Gschwendtner (SIU Edwardsville) 4-1 184 - Donnell Washington (Indiana) fall Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 3:34 197 - Nick Willham (Indiana) fall Austin Andres (SIU Edwardsville) 5:58 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) dec Aric Bohn (SIU Edwardsville) 8-7 Indiana 40 Bellarmine 3 125 - Jacob Moran (Indiana) tech Jack Parker (Bellarmine) 17-2 133 - Brock Hudkins (Indiana) maj Max Dansereau (Bellarmine) 13-4 141 - Cayden Rooks (Indiana) maj Logan Hoskins (Bellarmine) 13-4 149 - Graham Rooks (Indiana) maj Mitch Collica (Bellarmine) 17-5 157 - Kasper McIntosh (Indiana) dec Cole Nance (Bellarmine) 7-3 165 - Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) dec Sammy Cokeley (Indiana) 4-1 174 - Nick South (Indiana) dec Eric Beck (Bellarmine) 2-1 184 - Donnell Washington (Indiana) fall Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine) 1:03 197 - Nick Willham (Indiana) tech Charlie Cadell (Bellarmine) 16-0 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) FFT Cleveland State 22 Binghamton 18 125 - Logan Heil (Cleveland State) fall Micah Roes (Binghamton) 2:10 133 - Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) fall Jake Manley (Cleveland State) 5:29 141 - Michael Zarif (Binghamton) dec Caleb Graber (Cleveland State) 9-7 149 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec Nick Lombard (Binghamton) 5-3 157 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) dec Logan Gumble (Binghamton) 5-3 165 - Riley Smucker (Cleveland State) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 2-0 174 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec Anthony Rice (Cleveland State) 5-2 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) dec Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 5-2 197 - Ben Smith (Cleveland State) maj Matt Kelly (Binghamton) 10-2 285 - Joe Doyle (Binghamton) fall Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) 2:23 Rutgers 48 College of New Jersey 0 125 - Nico Messina (Rutgers) maj George Rivera (New Jersey City) 14-5 133 - David Campbell (Rutgers) fall Andre Ruiz (New Jersey City) 3:32 141 - Michael Cetta (Rutgers) fall Enrique Cuevas (New Jersey City) 2:47 149 - Andrew Gapas (Rutgers) tech Seth Rotondella (New Jersey City) 20-3 157 - Al DeSantis (Rutgers) maj Jake Sisk (New Jersey City) 17-6 165 - Gerard Angelo (Rutgers) dec Jeff Johnson (New Jersey City) 11-4 174 - Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) tech Shane Lallkissoon (New Jersey City) 16-1 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) fall Mason Bayer (New Jersey City) 2:41 197 - Kyle Epperly (Rutgers) dec Kyle Hillermeir (New Jersey City) 8-3 285 - Alex Esposito (Rutgers) fall Jace MAcfie (New Jersey City) :09 Binghamton 53 New Jersey City 0 125 - Micah Roes (Binghamton) fall Damienlee Torres (New Jersey City) 2:52 133 - Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) fall Andre Ruiz (New Jersey City) 4:46 141 - Michael Zarif (Binghamton) fall Dom Merola (New Jersey City) 2:15 149 - Nick Lombard (Binghamton) tech Abdul Ibraheem (New Jersey City) 21-5 157 - Logan Gumble (Binghamton) tech Michael Cross (New Jersey City) 18-0 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) fall Ty Bailey (New Jersey City) 2:31 174 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) tech Matthew Aramento (New Jersey City) 17-0 184 - Sam DePrez (Binghamton) tech Mason Bayer (New Jersey City) 16-1 197 - Matt Kelly (Binghamton) tech Kyle Hillermeier (New Jersey City) 18-2 285 - Mike Tyrell (Binghamton) maj Jace Macfie (New Jersey City) 12-1 Rutgers 35 Cleveland State 3 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Logan Heil (Cleveland State) 6-5 133 - Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) tech Jake Manley (Cleveland State) 29-10 141 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) FFT 149 - Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) dec Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 5-2 157 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) dec Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) 10-8 165 - Riley Smucker (Cleveland State) dec Andrew Clark (Rutgers) 9-5 174 - Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) dec Anthony Rice (Cleveland State) 14-12 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) dec DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) 7-1 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) maj Ben Smith (Cleveland State) 12-1 285 - Boone McDermott (Rutgers) fall Joe Kelby (Cleveland State) :55 Rutgers 34 Binghamton 9 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) maj Micah Roes (Binghamton) 13-2 133 - Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) fall Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) 2:05 141 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) maj Ryan Anderson (Binghamton) 9-1 149 - Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) dec Nick Lombard (Binghamton) 3-1SV 157 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) maj Logan Gumble (Binghamton) 15-6 165 - Andrew Clark (Rutgers) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 6-3 174 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) dec Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) 5-1 184 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) maj Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 10-1 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) fall Matt Kelly (Binghamton) 1:23 285 - Boone McDermott (Rutgers) InjDef Joe Doyle (Binghamton) Cleveland State 46 New Jersey City 6 125 - Logan Heil (Cleveland State) tech George Rivera (New Jersey City) 17-1 133 - Jake Manley (Cleveland State) dec Andre Ruiz (New Jersey City) 7-0 141 - Enrique Cuevas (New Jersey City) InjDef Cody Moosman (Cleveland State) 149 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) tech Mike Cross (New Jersey City) 19-3 157 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) tech Jake Sisk (New Jersey City) 22-7 165 - Riley Smucker (Cleveland State) maj Jeff Johnson (New Jersey City) 16-4 174 - Gabe Phillips (Cleveland State) fall Matthew Aramento (New Jersey City) 1:34 184 - DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) tech Shane Lallkissoon (New Jersey City) 20-5 197 - Ben Smith (Cleveland State) InjDef Kyle Hillermeier (New Jersey City) 285 - Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) FFT Utah Valley 38 Doane 3 125 - Yusief Lillie (Utah Valley) dec Daniel Vargas (Doane) 3-1SV 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) dec Justin Ramirez (Doane) 6-0 141 - Bat-Erdene Boldmaa (Doane) dec Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 5-3 149 - Alex Emmer (Utah Valley) maj Tristan Zamilpa (Doane) 8-0 157 - Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley) tech Gabe Keith (Doane) 25-9 165 - Tanner Lofthouse (Utah Valley) fall Benjamin Dobler (Doane) 4:18 174 - Kekana Fouret (Utah Valley) dec Michael Scarponi (Doane) 6-2 184 - Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) tech Cael Jordan (Doane) 15-0 197 - Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) fall Bradley Antesperger (Doane) 3:38 285 - Chase Trussell (Utah Valley) dec Odgerel Batkhishig (Doane) 3-2 Northern Colorado 52 NW Kansas Tech 4 125 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) FFT 133 - Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) FFT 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) FFT 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) FFT 157 - Nathan Moore (Northern Colorado) FFT 165- Nick Knutson (Northern Colorado) tech Richie Lee (NW Kansas Tech) 16-0 174 - Jameel Cole (NW Kansas Tech) maj Damen Pape (Northern Colorado) 12-3 184 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) FFT 197 - Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) tech Davis Lee (NW Kansas Tech) 16-0 285 - Robert Winters (Northern Colorado) FFT Utah Valley 38 North Idaho 3 125 - Jett Strickenberger (North Idaho) dec Yusief Lillie (Utah Valley) 8-2 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) maj Earl Blake (North Idaho) 10-2 141 - James Emmer (Utah Valley) dec Brant Porter (North Idaho) 8-2 149 - Sam Edelblute (Utah Valley) maj Kana'i Tapia (North Idaho) 12-4 157 - Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley) fall Brandon Bollinger (North Idaho) 2:48 165 - Tanner Lofthouse (Utah Valley) dec Ledger Petracek (North Idaho) 5-3 174 - Hunter Morse (Utah Valley) dec Navarro Nanpuya (North Idaho) 2-1 184 - Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) maj Devin Winston (North Idaho) 12-3 197 - Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) tech Mikey Rhea (North Idaho) 20-3 285 - Jayden Woodruff (Utah Valley) tech Cohle Feliciano (North Idaho) 16-1 Northern Colorado 46 North Idaho 3 125 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) dec Jett Strickenberger (North Idaho) 6-0 133 - Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) fall Brant Porter (North Idaho) 1:40 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) fall Earl Blake (North Idaho) :24 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) maj Kana'i Tapia (North Idaho) 12-1 157 - Nathan Moore (Northern Colorado) fall Brandon Bollinger (North Idaho) 4:14 165 - Nick Knutson (Northern Colorado) fall Ledger Petracek (North Idaho) 1:15 174 - Damen Pape (Northern Colorado) fall Navarro Nanpuya (North Idaho) 4:16 184 - Devin Winston (North Idaho) dec Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) 3-1SV 197 - Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) dec Mikey Rhea (North Idaho) 4:50 285 - Robert Winters (Northern Colorado) dec Cohle Feliciano (North Idaho) 8-1 Northern Colorado 31 Doane 13 125 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) dec Daniel Vargas (Doane) 4-3 133 - Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) fall Justin Ramirez (Doane) 1:11 141 - Bat-Erdene Boldmaa (Doane) maj Dyson Kunz (Northern Colorado) 23-9 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) tech Tristan Zamilpa (Doane) 16-1 157 - Nathan Moore (Northern Colorado) dec Chinges Tsermaa (Doane) 3-1 165 - Nick Knutson (Northern Colorado) fall Benjamin Dobler (Doane) 2:50 174 - Michael Scarponi (Doane) dec Damen Pape (Northern Colorado) 3-1 184 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) dec Cael Jordan (Doane) 6-3 197 - Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) tech Zion Longsine (Doane) 16-1 285 - Odgerel Batkhishig (Doane) FFT Utah Valley 50 NW Kansas Tech 6 125 - Yusife Lillie (Utah Valley) FFT 133- Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) FFT 141 - Ty Smith (Utah Valley) FFT 149 - Alex Emmer (Utah Valley) FFT 157 - Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley) FFT 165 - Tanner Lofthouse (Utah Valley) tech Richie Lee (NW Kansas Tech) 16-1 174 - Hunter Morse (Utah Valley) dec Jameel Cole (NW Kansas Tech) 6-5 184 - Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) FFT 197 - Davis Lee (NW Kansas Tech) FFT 285 - Chase Trussell (Utah Valley) FFT Northern Colorado 19 Utah Valley 15 125 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) dec Yusief Lillie (Utah Valley) 2-0 133 - Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) dec Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) 7-3 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) maj Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 14-4 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) dec Alex Emmer (Utah Valley) 10-4 157 - Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley) dec Nathan Moore (Northern Colorado) 3-1SV 165 - Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) tech Cody Eaton (Northern Colorado) 20-5 174 - Nick Knutson (Northern Colorado) dec Kekana Fouret (Utah Valley) 9-5 184 - Jacob Armstrong (Utah Valley) maj Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) 12-3 197 - Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) dec Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 5-3 285 - Jayden Woodruff (Utah Valley) dec Robert Winters (Northern Colorado) 4-3

U23 World Champs Tony Cassioppi (left) and Emily Shilson (Photo/Kadir Caliskan/UWW) On the final day of competition from the U23 World Championships from Belgrade, Serbia, the United State men's freestyle team came away with their first gold medal of the event. At 125 kgs, Iowa All-American Tony Cassioppi crushed the field to claim gold. Cassioppi ran the score up to 13-0 on Azamat Khosonov (Greece) before securing a fall with only 16 second remaining in the opening period. None of Cassioppi's three previous bouts were particularly close. He had another win by fall and decisions of 7-0 and 5-0 along the way. Also capturing a medal in men's freestyle was Virginia's Jay Aiello, who won bronze at 97 kg. Northwestern All-American Chris Cannon wrestled for a bronze medal at 61 kg, but fell to an opponent from Mongolia, 10-0. The other American to win gold at U23's was Emily Shilson at 50 kg in women's freestyle. This is Shilson's second world title in 2021, as she was a Junior World Champion, as well. Shilson's U23 world title came after she pinned India's Shivani Pawar (India). In her previous matches, Shilson had a fall, a 10-0 tech and a forfeit. The American women had another Junior World Champion on it's roster in Kylie Welker at 76 kg. Welker up as the only other medalist among the American women. She notched a fall in the bronze medal bout after losing to veteran Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), the eventual gold medalist, in the semifinals. Alyiva Fiske (68 kg) and Kayla Marano (72 kg) both wrestled for bronze medals, but were defeated. The Greco-Roman squad did not come away with any hardware, but 55 kg stalwart Taylor LaMont, an All-American from Utah Valley, made the semifinals and lost in the bronze medal match.

North Carolina staff (left) and Ohio State staff (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Sunday afternoon at 1pm, must-watch TV. No! Not the NFL, it's the first week of the college wrestling season and our Dual of the Week takes place. It's a top-15 tilt as the #14 North Carolina Tar Heels travel to take on the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be almost a decade to the day since the last meeting between these two squads in dual meet competition. The last time these teams faced each other was at the Wrestle for a Cure Duals in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in mid-November of 2011. The highlight of that dual was a wild bout between two true freshmen, Evan Henderson and Hunter Stieber. Henderson pinned the more highly regarded Stieber and cemented himself as a top-contender going forward. This edition of Ohio State/North Carolina sees both teams with multiple returning All-Americans, Ohio State with three and North Carolina with two. There is one bout where returning AAs are expected to clash. As will be the case with all of our Dual's of the Week, I will predict a winner at all ten weights, along with our conference correspondent(s) for the leagues involved. This week, we have Robbie Wendell (ACC) and Cody Goodwin (Big Ten) joining us. 125 lbs Spencer Moore (North Carolina) vs. #15 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) A 19-8 major decision over Jeremiah Derby at UNC's Blue and White match helped put true freshman Spencer Moore in the driver's seat to start for the Tar Heels at 125 lbs. Moore added to his case with a 2-0 start on Monday. The Kentucky native edged NAIA national runner-up Brandon Orum (Life) in his collegiate debut, before pouring it on against two-time DII qualifier Melvin Rubio (Queens, 12-3 in the nightcap. We'll get to see right where Moore belongs in the national picture with a worthy measuring stick in #15 Malik Heinselman. In his three previous seasons with the Buckeyes, Heinselman has amassed a 53-31 career record, while qualifying for nationals each year. In 2021, Heinselman showed a level of consistency that he did not always have in his first two seasons. After placing ninth and seventh at the Big Ten Championships, Heinselman was fourth and earned the #10 seed at the NCAA Championships. Over the course of his career, Heinselman has never earned bonus points in more than 20% of his bouts, so I'd expect a decision here for the Buckeye. Earl's Prediction: Heinselman by decision (3-0 Ohio State) Cody's Prediction: Heinselman by decision (3-0 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Moore by decision (3-0 UNC) 133 lbs #13 Jaime Hernandez (North Carolina) vs. Andre Gonzales (Ohio State) The Tar Heels have two good options at 133 lbs with Jaime Hernandez and Joe Heilmann. The two squared off at the Blue and White match and it was Hernandez who prevailed, 6-2. Last year, Hernandez only saw action in two duals, going 2-1. In the 2019-20 campaign, he went 16-10, made the ACC finals and clinched the #23 seed at nationals. Hernandez got the nod in UNC's dual with NAIA power, Life, and responded with a 13-5 major decision. It's sort of a shocker to see Andre Gonzales at 133 lbs, as he seemed to be a guy that would handle duties at 125 lbs for a few years in high school. Gonzales was a 2020 California state champion at 106 lbs and was ranked highly during his senior year at 113 lbs. Prior to the 2019-20 campaign, Gonzales was a double national champion at the Junior age group in Fargo. Gonzales has already shown he is capable at this weight class by majoring Alex Flerlage in a preliminary wrestle-off and edging veteran Dylan Koontz, 3-2 in the finals. Getting by someone with Koontz's experience may have been unexpected for a true freshman adding weight as Gonzales did. Earl's Prediction: Hernadez by decision (3-3 tie) Cody's Prediction: Hernadez by decision (3-3 tie) Robbie's Prediction: Hernadez by decision (6-0 UNC) 141 lbs #14 Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) vs. Jordan Decatur (Ohio State) One of the more notable names in the transfer portal last offseason was Kizhan Clarke. A graduate student who previously competed for American University, Clarke had a breakout campaign during the 2019-20 season. He went 37-7 and finished fifth at the Midlands and fourth at the EIWA Championships. Last year, Clarke and his AU teammates had their seasons seriously disrupted due to Covid and he did not compete officially. All of Clarke's previous accolades came at 149 lbs, but since arriving in Chapel Hill, Clarke has made the commitment to move down to 141. He is one of the unknowns at the weight, given his time away from competition and his lack of results at 141. All signs point to Jordan Decatur getting the nod at 141 lbs for the Buckeyes, at least in the earlygoing. Decatur emerged victorious in a wrestle-off series that included 2021 national qualifier Dylan D'Emilio and super-recruit Anthony Echemendia. Decatur downed Echemendia 7-3 before prevailing in sudden victory against D'Emilio. Decatur has been the Buckeyes entrant at 133 lbs in the Big Ten Championships in each of the past two years. Maybe up at 141 lbs, he'll be able to show some of the skills that made him one of the top recruits in the Class of 2019. While in high school, Decatur won Fargo on three occasions and made the 2018 Cadet World Team. Earl's Prediction: Clarke by decision (6-3 UNC) Cody's Prediction: Decatur by decision (6-3 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Clarke by decision (9-0 UNC) 149 lbs #5 Zach Sherman (North Carolina) vs. #1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) This is shaping up to be the premier bout of the dual meet, a clash between two returning All-Americans ranked in the top-five nationally. Zach Sherman is coming up to 149 lbs after placing seventh in the nation at 141. Sherman clinched All-American honors last year after gutting out a win in tiebreakers over past AA, Dom Demas (Oklahoma). He has made the finals of the previous two ACC Tournament's and captured the title in 2020. In the earlygoing, Sherman has looked fine at the new weight class after a major decision and a tech fall on Monday. 2021 NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso comes in ranked number one in the land and is the heart and soul of this Ohio State team. Sasso's loss in the NCAA finals came at the hands of Tar Heel star Austin O'Connor, who has since moved up to 157 lbs. That was Sasso's only loss of the year and brought his career mark to 40-4. A quarter of those 40 wins have come back fall, as Sasso is very dangerous with cradles and in scramble situations. Of course, with an opponent like Sherman, it's hard to forecast a fall. However, if this is one of the deciding bouts in a close dual, don't rule it out from a primetime player like Sasso. Earl's Prediction: Sasso by decision (6-6 Tie) Cody's Prediction: Sasso by major decision (10-3 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Sasso by decision (9-3 UNC) 157 lbs #1 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) vs. Jashon Hubbard (Ohio State) The aforementioned O'Connor is another UNC star that is shifting weights for the 2021-22 season. Early returns are good as O'Connor logged a fall and major decision in his 157 lb debut on Monday. Those wins brought O'Connor's current winning streak up to 29 matches. His last loss came in the Midlands finals in December of 2019. The NCAA title for O'Connor gave UNC its first since TJ Jaworsky in 1993-95. Now O'Connor is looking to repeat and join Jaworsky as a multiple-time champion in Chapel Hill. There are plenty of options at 157 for Ohio State, but it looks like Jashon Hubbard may get the first crack at solidifying the weight for the Buckeyes. Hubbard posted a 16-10 record in 2018-19 as a true freshman competing for DII Notre Dame. After that season, he transferred to Ohio State and used a redshirt. Hubbard only saw action in three bouts, but one of them was a win over Cameron Amine (Michigan), who was also competing unattached. Some long-term possibilities for the Buckeyes at this weight include Kevon Freeman, Isaac Wilcox, and Bryce Hepner, along with the top recruit in the Class of 2021, Paddy Gallagher. The first three are competing at the Michigan State Open, while the Buckeye staff initially intends on redshirting Gallagher. Earl's Prediction: O'Connor by major decision (10-6 UNC) Cody's Prediction: O'Connor by tech fall (10-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: O'Connor by tech fall (14-3 UNC) 165 lbs Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) vs. #10 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) A pair of talented freshmen are set to square off at 165 lbs. Sonny Santiago was a three-time California state placewinner and 2019 champion for powerhouse St. John Bosco. Santiago saw action in five matches last year at 157 lbs, winning four. His only loss came via injury default. One of those wins came in dual meet competition versus ACC rival Duke. There Santiago needed extra time to dispatch Brandon LaRue, 6-4. On Monday, Santiago notched a win over Life's Ashton Habiel, 5-3. Across the mat from Santiago will be Carson Kharchla, who will be making his highly-anticipated Buckeye debut. One of the top recruits in the Class of 2019, Kharchla turned in a blazing 16-0 record during his redshirt season. Poised for a massive 2021, Kharchla suffered an injury that kept him out of collegiate competition. He returned for the freestyle RTC Cup and earned a win over 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) and Canadian standout Jevon Balfour. Kharchla's number-ten ranking is a bit conservative and he is expected to be a key NCAA title contender this season. Earl's Prediction: Kharchla by major decision (10-10 Tie) Cody's Prediction: Kharchla by major decision (14-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Kharchla by major decision (14-7 UNC) 174 lbs #22 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) vs. #6 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) One of the most notable positional battles seen in the preseason took place for UNC at 174 lbs. Freshman Gavin Kane took out 2020 ACC champion and two-time conference finalist Clay Lautt, 6-3. Kane got five matches of experience last year during his first year with the UNC program. He went 4-1, with the only loss coming to NC State's Alex Faison. In both of his 2021 dual appearances, Kane was able to amass bonus points. He got the call in North Carolina's opener against Life University and produced an 8-3 win over Asher Eichert. 2021 NCAA semifinalist and fifth-place finisher Ethan Smith will prove to be an imposing test for the young Kane. The three-time national qualifier, Smith, got onto the NCAA podium for the first time last season, while competing at 165 lbs. Smith also made his first Big Ten final, after posting fourth and sixth-place finishes in the preceding years. Heading into his fourth year in the Buckeye starting lineup, Smith has a career record of 54-24. Though Smith is generally consistent for Tom Ryan's team, he doesn't get a whole lot of bonus points, so expect a one-sided decision for the Buckeye veteran. Earl's Prediction: Smith by decision (13-10 Ohio State) Cody's Prediction: Smith by decision (17-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Smith by decision (14-10 UNC) 184 lbs Mark Chaid (North Carolina) vs. #17 (197) Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) Eventually, once North Carolina sorts out the 174 lb class, we could see the odd-man-out, bump up to 184 lbs. For now, we'll probably see Mark Chaid get the call again on Sunday. Chaid made his dual debut on Monday, earning a pair of wins, both coming via shutout. Last year, Chaid went 0-4 while competing at 197 lbs. The previous year he was at 285. We'll see what he can do with extended time in the lineup at a more manageable weight class. At some point, Ohio State will have to do some sorting out of their own at 184 between Kaleb Romero and Rocky Jordan. For now, Jordan is the guy. Jordan had a rough regular season and Big Ten Tournament in 2021. He entered nationals with a 5-8 record and needed an at-large berth to travel to St. Louis. But, Jordan made the most of his trip and wrestled to a match away from All-American status, despite starting at the 24th seed. At the tournament, Jordan picked up wins over Max Lyon (Purdue) and Charles Small (Hofstra), both of whom were seeded higher than him. Jordan had split matches with Lyon earlier in the season. Earl's Prediction: Jordan by decision (16-10 Ohio State) Cody's Prediction: Jordan by decision (20-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Lautt by decision (17-10 UNC) 197 lbs #23 Max Shaw (North Carolina) vs. Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) The only loss for the Tar Heels in their season-opening dual with Life University came at 197 lbs when Zane Lanham shocked Max Shaw with a fall. Shaw was third in the ACC in 2021 and earned the #20 seed at NCAA's. It was his first NCAA appearance and he went 1-2. The Tar Heel 197 lber did not get the call in UNC's second dual Monday against Queens; Hunter Queen ended up getting sent out for that match. There's the possibility we see Queen here, as well. Queen picked up a win, which was his first career in dual competition. He saw action in three duals during the 2018-19 season and fell in all three. Could this be the breakout year for three-time Pennsylvania state champ Gavin Hoffman, one of the top recruits in the nation in the Class of 2018? Hoffman redshirted and went 25-3 at 184 lbs during his first year in Columbus. In 2019-20, Hoffman couldn't lock down the starting role at 184 and bounced between that weight and 285, while primarily competing unattached. Last year he moved up to 197 and went 5-7 overall, including a 1-2 showing at the Big Ten Championships. Hoffman solidified his starting position with a tech fall over Tyler Stein in Ohio State's wrestle-offs. Earl's Prediction: Hoffman by decision (19-10 Ohio State) Cody's Prediction: Hoffman by decision (23-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Hoffman by decision (17-13 UNC) 285 lbs #33 Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) vs. #7 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) There's definitely a chance that this dual is handing in the balance with a pair of ranked big men deciding the outcome. #33 Brandon Whitman was a national qualifier in 2018-19 as a true freshman. Competing in a tough 197 lb weight class that year, Whitman's only dual win was a big one. His upset of eventual NCAA Round of 12 finisher, Tom Sleigh, helped UNC knock off Virginia Tech. Last year, Whitman made the move up to 285 lbs, but was behind national qualifier Andrew Gunning. Whitman got the call Monday and turned in a pair of bonus-point wins. 2021 All-American Tate Orndorff could be the closer for the Buckeyes. Orndorff has been a mainstay among the middle of the heavyweight rankings for the past three seasons with Ohio State (1 year) and Utah Valley (2 years). He entered the 2021 tournament as the 21st seed, but locked up All-American status after wins over #7 Ethan Laird (Rider), #12 Christian Lance (Nebraska), and #13 Brian Andrews (Wyoming). For the year, his record ended up at an even 11-11. His career record is now 55-24. Earl's Prediction: Orndorff by decision (22-10 Ohio State) Cody's Prediction: Orndorff by decision (26-8 Ohio State) Robbie's Prediction: Orndorff by decision (17-16 UNC) Cody's Take: I like this North Carolina team. They'll be exciting this season and have the potential to grow into a team that scores a lot of points come March. But I think the Buckeyes, right now, have a little bit more firepower, especially in the final five weights. Buckeyes 26-8 Robbie's Take: I think this is going to be a lot closer than people are suspecting, and there are enough toss-up matches that it can go either way. Cody is spot on that this team will continue to gain steam throughout the season as some guys settle into new weights. I think the dual sways based on what UNC does at their upper weights between Lautt, Kane, Chaid and Shaw and how that matches up with the OSU contingent. I'm going full ACC homer here and giving the nod to UNC, but I am expecting a very tight dual at the Covelli Center. Tar Heels 17-16

4x NCAA Qualifier Josh Heil (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Hello dear friends, WOW, what shotgun start to the Southern Conference season! So far we've seen dual meet competition from Campbell, The Citadel, and Gardner-Webb. Campbell University wrestled Montreat, winning 47-6. The Camels only lost one bout at 133 by fall. The Citadel opened up their season against Queens University, winning the dual 30-10. The three losses for the Bulldogs were at 125, 141, and 184. And to cap off the dual meet action for the work week - Gardner-Webb hosted Belmont Abbey and picked up a 30-3 win, dropping one decision at the 157. This weekend there's plenty of wrestling to watch! Since it's getting chillier outside, maybe grab your favorite pair of fuzzy socks, pop some popcorn, sit back and unwind to some of these awesome ways to watch (or keep up with) wrestling this weekend: Saturday, November 6: The Citadel Open - McAlister Field House Doors open: 8:00am Wrestling begins: 9:00am Results available via FloArena Campbell @ Oregon State vs. No. 16 Lehigh Start time: 8:00pm EST vs. No. 21 Oregon State Start time: 9:30pm EST Watch: Pac-12.com Sunday, November 7: Bellarmine Tri Meet vs. SiUE Start time: 12:00pm EST Watch: Bellarmine vs SIUE vs. Indiana University Start time: 3:30pm/4:00pm EST Watch: Bellarmine vs Indiana Southeast Open - Cregger Center, Roanoke College, Salem, VA Doors open: 8:00am Wrestling begins: 9:01am Watch: FloWrestling It's my plan to be at the Southeast Open this Sunday...if you happen to see me, don't be a stranger! Come say hi and let's chat about wrestling, or life, or food, or literally anything (y'all know I love to talk.) And if you can't make it out to these events this weekend, I hope you're staying happy, healthy, and well-fed. :) xoxo, Rachel G

2021 NCAA champion David Carr (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie) Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released. These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too. Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled: #50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) #49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) #48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) #47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa) #46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) #45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) #44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) #43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) #42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers) #40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota) #39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) #38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) #36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) #35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) #34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) #33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) #32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton) #31 - Max Dean (Penn State) #30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) #29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska) #28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) #27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) #25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) #24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) #23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) #22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) #21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) #20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) #19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan) #18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State) #17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa) #15 - Mason Parris (Michigan) #14 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) #13 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) #12 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) #11 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) #10 - Myles Amine (Michigan) #9 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) #8 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) #7 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) #6 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Next up is… #5 - David Carr (Iowa State) Weight: 157 lbs Year: Junior Career Record: 38-1 Hometown: Canton, Ohio College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Champ, 2x Big 12 Champ, 2020 NWCA First-Team All-American 2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #1 at 157 lbs Son of Iowa State legend Nate Carr, David developed into one of the top recruits in the nation after winning a Cadet World bronze medal and five state championships. He won his first as an eighth-grader than four in Ohio. Given his family history, it wasn't a surprise for the younger Carr to end up in Ames. Carr redshirted during his initial year with the Cyclones and showed flashes of why he was such a highly-regarded recruit. Overall, Carr went 23-1 and captured titles at four open tournaments. Along the way, he picked up wins over fellow redshirting freshmen Brayton Lee (Minnesota) and Peyton Robb (Nebraska). After his redshirt campaign, Carr earned a place on the Junior World Team in freestyle. Not content, just making the team, Carr came home from Tallinn, Estonia with a gold medal at the 74 kg weight class. Carr prevailed despite a difficult path to the finals that included wins over opponents from Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. In only his second bout in a Cyclone singlet, Carr picked up a huge win over Kaleb Young (Iowa) in the school's rivalry dual. Carr cradled Young in the third period to break a late 1-1 tie. About two weeks after the Iowa dual, Carr and the Cyclones went to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and was in a difficult 157 lb bracket. Carr advanced to the semifinals, where he met the undefeated, top-seed Ryan Deakin (Northwestern). The bout was all-Deakin as the Northwestern star cruised to a 9-3 win. He bounced back and finished third with a 4-0 win over fellow freshman Kendall Coleman (Purdue). The loss to Deakin remains his only collegiate loss to this day. Post-Vegas, Carr went unbeaten in the subsequent seven dual meets and captured bonus points in six of those contests. After a 14-6 major decision over Oklahoma State's Wyatt Sheets in late January, Carr did not see action in any of Iowa State's remaining duals. He did log a win in the famous “Last Chance Open,” prior to the postseason. At his first Big 12 Championship event, Carr didn't show any signs of rust and was victorious in three bouts, the final coming over Sheets. With an 18-1 record and a Big 12 title under his belt, Carr was given the third seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. That tournament never was conducted as it was canceled at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Notables on Carr's half of the bracket included #2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State), #6 Coleman, #7 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh), #10 Will Lewan (Michigan), and #11 Sheets. The 2021 campaign got underway with Carr putting up bonus points against three non-Division I opponents over his first two weeks of action. From there, his schedule got significantly more difficult, though his results didn't waver. Carr majored Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), shutout Justin Thomas (Oklahoma), then defeated Sheets in three consecutive weekends. He would roll into the Big 12 Championships after achieving bonus points in his final four regular-season bouts. Despite competing in a deep 157 lb weight class, Carr was never threatened at the Big 12 meet. He posted 8-2 wins in Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) and Jared Franek (North Dakota State), in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Despite an undefeated record, Carr was given the third seed at nationals again. His 157 lb bracket featured four wrestlers that entered the tournament without a loss. In the opening two rounds, Carr was able to chalk up bonus points with major decision wins over Markus Hartman (Army West Point) and Lewan. The quarterfinals saw Carr have to dig deep in a sudden victory win over Brayton Lee. That win secured All-American status and put the Cyclone star against the unbeaten, second-seed, Hayden Hidlay (NC State). After a 6-4 win over Hidlay, Carr was finals-bound. A rematch with Deakin wasn't in the cards as the top-seed was stunned and pinned in the semifinals by #4 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider). The mat wrestling of Dellavecchia proved to be the difference in that contest. Against Carr, it would be a non-factor. Carr was able to nullify any offensive attacks from Dellavecchia and never seemed in danger during a 4-0 win. Carr's NCAA title broke a six-year NCAA-titleless drought for Iowa State and pushed his career record to 38-1, while extending a winning streak to 33 matches. Strengths: Carr has a long reach that allows him to keep his opponents at a distance and work from space. He can get to various attacks from the outside, like doubles and sweep singles. Carr also has a nasty snapdown that provides him with relatively easy go-behinds or gets his opponents off-balance for a leg attack. The long reach also helps with cradles, as Carr can look for one when he gets in on a single leg. His demeanor on the mat is very cool and relaxed and he never seems to be phased by his opponent or the situation in the match. While he's solid on the mat, Carr tends to keep the action on his feet. 2021-22 Outlook: Carr starts the year ranked #1 at 157 lbs. Right behind him is Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), an undefeated, national champion at 149 lbs last season. Also in the mix is Deakin, who has just one loss over the last two seasons and owns the only career win over Carr. As of now, those three should be in a tier of their own. 2021 NCAA champion David Carr (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)

Colby Covington (left) and Kamaru Usman (Covington Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Usman photo/Lincoln Journal Star) This weekend the MMA world will be focused on Madison Square Garden. UFC 268 is expected to be one of the biggest events for the sport in 2021. Not only is it a marquee card with big names, but also there are several former wrestlers in key fights. The following looks at some of the biggest names that might be memorable for wrestling fans. In the main event of UFC 268, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will attempt to defend his title for the second time against Colby Covington. Usman started his collegiate wrestling career at William Penn and qualified for the 2007 NAIA tournament. He then transferred to Nebraska-Kearney, where he was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American and a two-time finalist. As a senior in 2010, he won the title at 174 pounds. Covington also had an extensive career that saw him compete for multiple schools. He won an NJCAA title at Iowa Central before transferring to Iowa. Covington then moved to Oregon State due to off-the-mat issues. With the Beavers, he was a two-time NCAA qualifier and finished fifth at 174 pounds as a senior in 2011 to become an All-American. Despite their wrestling backgrounds, their first fight was a standing slugfest. Many expect the rematch to follow the same path since their wrestling might cancel out. As a junior at Northern Colorado in 2010, Justin Gaethje finished seventh at 157 pounds at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American. Not only did he put himself in the record books, but he also became the first All-American for the Bears since 1970. On Saturday, he faces off against another former wrestler in Michael Chandler. During his career, he was a member of the Missouri squad. While with the Tigers, Chandler was a two-time Big 12 runner-up and qualified for three NCAA tournaments. As a senior in high school, Frankie Edgar finished third at NHSCA Senior Nationals. He then moved on to Clarion University, where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier. Edgar turned professional as an MMA fighter in 2005 and is now a veteran of 34 fights. At UFC 268, he takes on Marlon Vera, who is 17-7-1 as a professional and coming off a win over Davey Grant last June. While Al Iaquinta and Bobby Green may not have the same level of college accolades as some of the others on the card, they both wrestled extensively. Iaquinta was on the squad at Nassau Community College. Despite not wrestling until his sophomore year, Green was a two-time state placer in California for A.B. Miller High School. Phil Hawes won an NJCAA title for Iowa Central in 2010, before transferring to Iowa State. After a year with the Cyclones, he moved again and finished his career at Division III powerhouse Wartburg. His opponent on Saturday, Chris Curtis, left the PFL in 2019 after three-straight losses. However, he has bounced back and made his way to the UFC after winning five straight. Ode Osbourne was a multiple-time state finalist in high school before wrestling for Carroll University on the NCWA level. As a true freshman, he made the finals of the NCWA tournament. However, after that season, the program was dropped. He eventually found a home in MMA. Osbourne takes on C.J. Vergara, who recently made his way into MMA after scoring a first-round finish on the Contenders Series.

3x NCAA All-American Chad Red (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Nebraska Cornhuskers It's been 12 years since Nebraska's last top-five finish at the NCAA Championships. Back in 2009, the Huskers took fourth, behind Iowa, Ohio State and Iowa State. It was their second-straight top-four finish at the national tournament, a welcomed resurgence after finishing 16th, 16th and 19th in the three years before. But since that 2009 season, Nebraska hasn't finished any better than eighth at the NCAA Championships, a jarring fact given that Husker wrestlers have combined for 28 All-American finishes between 2010-21. Nebraska has always had the pieces to be among the best teams in the country. The same can be said as the Huskers begin the '21-22 season. This squad has all kinds of talent and will absolutely be considered a top-tier team once again. TOP RETURNERS Nebraska begins the '21-22 season with three All-Americans and 10 previous NCAA qualifiers. Everybody that contributed to last year's third-place team finish at the Big Ten Championships is back again, plus some depth as well. Chad Red (141), Mikey Labriola (174) and Taylor Venz (184) are the three returning All-Americans. Red is a three-time All-American. Labs is a two-time All-American, and Venz finished fourth in 2018 and has made the bloodround two other times. Those are the heavy-hitters, but Nebraska's lineup will be full of talent this season. Ridge Lovett (149) and Eric Schultz (197) both made the Big Ten finals last year. Peyton Robb (165) is a two-time NCAA qualifier. There's also Liam Cronin (125), Alex Thomsen (133), Tucker Sjomeling (133), Christian Lance (285) and Caleb Licking (157). KEY DEPARTURES There were no big-name departures from the Nebraska program this offseason. Tyler Deen is now at Cal-State Bakersfield. He went 9-3 for Nebraska as a redshirt in 2019-20. That was really it. TOP NEWCOMERS Boo Dryden joined the program after two seasons at Minnesota, during which he went 19-16 at 133 pounds and qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championships. Dryden is now listed at 125 and could be in the mix with Cronin to start there this season. WRESTLERS TO WATCH We're rolling with Chad Red, who has a chance to make some program history this season. If he can earn All-American honors again come March, he'd become just the third wrestler in Nebraska history to become a four-time NCAA All-American, joining Brian Snyder and James Green. That's some elite company. Red has long been both exciting and consistent, a rare combination in wrestling. He begins the '21-22 season with an 84-38 career record, and always brings a spark to Nebraska's lineup - of his 84 career wins, 37 have come with bonus points. POTENTIAL LINEUP 125: Liam Cronin/Boo Dryden 133: Alex Thomsen/Tucker Sjomeling/Dom Serrano 141: Chad Red 149: Ridge Lovett, Brock Hardy, Jevon Parrish 157: Peyton Robb/Kevon Davenport 165: Bubba Wilson 174: Mikey Labriola 184: Taylor Venz 197: Eric Schultz 285: Christian Lance

2021 Pac-12 runner-up Legend Lamer (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Upcoming Events All start times Pacific Daylight Time. InterMat Tournament/Dual Rankings are used where appropriate. Friday, November 5 #7 Arizona State hosts Maroon and Gold Intrasquad (stream via Pac-12 Plus) Saturday, November 6 #18 Cal Poly @ Michigan State Open, 6:30am Ranked Mustangs and potential competitors: 141: #33 Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly), #24 Drew Mattin (Michigan), #12 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan), #9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), #16 Mike Carr (Illinois) 149: #33 Alec Hagan (Ohio), #19 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin), #18 Kanen Storr (Michigan), #17 Mitch Moore (Oklahoma), #14 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), #3 Yahya Thomas 165: #33 Joe Grello (Oklahoma), #29 David Ferrane (Northwestern), #22 Danny Braunagel (Illinois), #21 Jake Tucker (Michigan State), #18 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois), #11 Cameron Amine (Michigan), #3 Evan Wick (Cal Poly) 184: #24 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State), #22 Zac Braunagel (Illinois), #20 Chris Weiler (Wisconsin), #8 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois), #6 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly), #2 Myles Amine (Michigan) Little Rock hosts Trojan Open, 7:30am (brackets via TrackWrestling) #21 Oregon State hosts Campbell and #24 Lehigh; 6:30pm and 8:00pm, respectively (stream via Pac-12 Plus) Ranked Beavers and potential match-ups: 125: #31 Brandon Kaylor vs. #16 Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 133: #15 Devan Turner vs. #17 (133) Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 141: #10 Grant Willits vs. Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 149: #25 Cory Crooks vs. #15 Josh Heil (Campbell)/ #29 Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) 157: #15 Hunter Willits vs. #7 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) 174: #19 Trey Munoz vs. #12 Austin Murphy (Campbell)/ #24 Jake Logan (Lehigh) 184: #16 Tanner Harvey vs. #18 Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 197: #27 JJ Dixon vs. #32 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 285: #24 Gary Traub vs. #10 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) Sunday, November 7 #15 Stanford, CSU Bakersfield @ Menlo Open Ranked Cardinal and Roadrunners: 125: #29 Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 133: #16 Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 141: #8 Real Woods (Stanford), #23 Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 149: #7 Jaden Abas (Stanford) 165: #1 Shane Griffith (Stanford) 174: #31 Tyler Eischens (Stanford) 197: #28 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) The entire conference is taking to the competition mat right off the bat, while #3/#7 Arizona State hosts it's intrasquad meet to lead off the weekend. #18 Cal Poly joins a strong field at the Michigan State Open, including #23 Wisconsin, #21 Illinois, #13 Northwestern, and #5 Michigan, with several intriguing potential match-ups for the ranked Mustangs. Little Rock will host their home tournament to start the year, while #21 Oregon State plays host to Campbell and #24 Lehigh in an early season double-header for the Beavers. Finally, #15 Stanford and CSU Bakersfield stay local this weekend, heading to the Menlo Open. This Past Week October 30 #21 Oregon State hosted Orange and Black Intrasquad With just the Oregon State intrasquad so far this week, we still have a lot to look forward to in the first weekend of the college-wrestling season. The Oregon State wrestle-offs confirmed many (but not all) of our suspicions. Although, there are a couple outstanding questions for the Beavers, in the form of transfers, #19 Trey Munoz (174) and #16 Tanner Harvey (184), neither of whom wrestled.

Missouri head coach Brian Smith (right) and Tyrel Todd (photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Technically the DI season started on Monday as Buffalo, North Carolina, and Wisconsin were in action. Campbell and Gardner-Webb have since hit the mat, as well. But before, things really get out of hand this weekend, InterMat's Conference Correspondent staff decided to get a little crazy ourselves. We're tossing out some bold predictions for the 2021-22 season. Some takes are mildly bold, while others are extremely flammable! Enjoy! Robbie Wendell (ACC Correspondent) ACC Bold Prediction: The ACC will have three teams finish in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships. NCAA Bold Prediction: At least five NCAA finalists will come from 6th/7th/8th year seniors. Cody Goodwin (Big Ten Correspondent) Big Ten Bold Prediction: This is the year Nebraska breaks through and wins an NCAA trophy. You wanted bold, you've got bold. The Huskers took fourth at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Since then, they haven't been better than eighth. They took second at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, then COVID-19 canceled the NCAA Championships. They took third at last year's Big Ten tournament, then tumbled to 12th in St. Louis. Nebraska has the squad to do it. Let's see them make it happen. NCAA Bold Prediction: I like Mizzou to make a valiant return to the Big 12 Conference by winning both the Big 12 Conference titles, in the regular season and in the tournament. What a season that would be and a performance that'll take to do it, but these Tigers are plenty capable. Let's have some fun!!! Seth Duckworth (Big 12 Correspondent) Big 12/National Bold Prediction: Missouri wins the Big 12, but Oklahoma State finishes higher at NCAA's. Austin Sommer (EIWA Correspondent) EIWA Bold Prediction: There will be three EIWA teams with at least eight national qualifiers. NCAA Bold Prediction: Five or less 2021 NCAA champions will repeat this year. Courtney Woods (MAC Correspondent) MAC Bold Prediction: The MAC will double their All-American accolades from the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships and come up big with 12 student-athletes earning this elite honor. NCAA Bold Prediction: Three teams will be put on COVID protocol for a student athlete, coach, or additional team personnel contacting the virus. NCAA Bold Prediction: Two coaches will be fired after this season. That's it. That's the prediction. Darius Levan (Pac-12 Correspondent) Pac-12 Bold Prediction: All six Pac-12 schools will secure at least one All-American this year. Rachel Gallardo (SoCon Correspondent) SoCon Bold Prediction(s): There will be a three-way tie between Appalachian State/Campbell/Chattanooga for the Conference Title. SoCon Bold Prediction(s): The Southern Conference will earn the most bids it's ever earned for the NCAA tournament (Their 21 in 2021 was the most over the last 20 years). NCAA Bold Prediction: Oklahoma State will win the NCAA title Earl Smith (Site Editor) NCAA Bold Prediction: For the first time since 2013 (excluding 2020) there will be no freshman NCAA champions. (AJ Ferrari/Carter Starocci/etc don't count!) NCAA Bold Prediction: Evan Wick wins Cal Poly's first NCAA title since 1976 NCAA Bold Prediction: The NCAA Team Title will be decided in the final match of the tournament which is the 125 lb weight class.

Ben Cushman with the Central Michigan staff (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday, November 6th, 2021 Michigan State Open: Cal Poly, Central Michigan, Edinboro, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. (9:30am) FloWrestling Rider vs. Purdue (8:00pm) ESPN+ Sunday, November 7th, 2021 Clarion Open: Bloomsburg, Buffalo, Clarion, Hofstra, Kent State, Lock Haven, Maryland, Navy, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. (9:00am) FloWrestling Southeast Open: Appalachian State, Columbia, Davidson, George Mason, Princeton, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and VMI. (Hosted by Roanoke, 9:00am) FloWrestling Cleveland State vs. Binghamton @ Rutgers (10:00am) Cleveland State @ Rutgers (11:30am) BTN+ SIU Edwardsville @ Bellarmine (12:00pm) BU Knights Sports Network Cleveland State vs. New Jersey City @ Rutgers (1:00pm) SIUE Edwardsville vs. Indiana @ Bellarmine (1:00pm) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #MACinsider Thoughts: I'm excited for this weekend of competition, as many of the MAC schools will be competing against other conferences in the Michigan State Open, Clarion Open, and Southeast Open. This will be a great opportunity to gauge which athletes have prepared physically and mentally during the “off-season” for the road to Detroit. Although an early testament, a few wrestlers from the MAC will be taking the mat for the first time in their college career to showcase their dominance. Wrestlers to Watch: Derek Spann (133) – University at Buffalo Saul Ervin (141) – SIU Edwardsville Ryan Burgos (149) – Edinboro Matt Stencel (HWT) – Central Michigan Luke Werner (125) – Lock Haven