InterMat Staff

2x All-American Lucas Davison (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first big domino in the transfer portal fell Thursday afternoon as two-time All-American Lucas Davison announced via social media that he will be wrestling for Michigan during the 2023-24 season. Davison is a graduate transfer from Northwestern University. The Wolverines have an obvious hole at 285 lbs after the departure of 2023 Hodge Trophy winner Mason Parris who exhausted his eligibility in March. Davison has improved incrementally over the first five years of his collegiate career. He was a national qualifier in each of his first two seasons competing for Northwestern at 197 lbs. In 2021-22, Davison moved up to heavyweight and got on the podium for the first time, taking sixth. This season, he finished fifth in the nation. In 2022-23, Davison was a model of consistency in amassing his 27-6 record. All six of his losses came to eventual All-Americans and five came to the four wrestlers who finished above him in Tulsa. In order to secure All-American honors for the second year in a row, Davison had to defeat the #6 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) in the sudden victory period. Slavikouski is an important name here as he has been long-rumored to be Parris’ replacement at Michigan. The pair are two of the most notable 285 lbers in the portal, but not the only ones. NCAA qualifier Boone McDermott and Seth Nevills are others. With Davison’s commitment, we could see the others fall into place. Davison comes to Michigan after his older brother, Andrew left as a graduate transfer after the 2021 season. Andrew joined Lucas at Northwestern and qualified twice for nationals, as well. The younger Davison will have the opportunity to improve upon his Big Ten finishes while at Michigan. In his previous four Big Ten Tournaments, Lucas was fifth each time. Moving to Michigan also could be a sign of Davison’s post-collegiate plans. He was a Junior World silver medalist in 2019 and would be a great addition to Michigan’s Cliff Keen Wrestling Club.

2023 NCAA 3rd Place finisher Chris Foca (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's the moment you all haven't been waiting for! You didn't ask for it but you got it anyway! The 2023 All-Jagger Team! What are the requirements you ask? Beats me! I just picked a bunch of guys I enjoyed watching this year. So let's get to it! 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) The All-Jagger has to lead off with a Jersey guy and I can't think of a better pick than my man Dean. The Jersey Shore native showed what grit is after a heartbreaking opening round loss to reach the blood round including a win over backside legend Patrick McKee. The Scarlet Knight also has a knack for revenge wins. I love revenge wins. Bonus points for being a Mets fan. 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) I just love watching Sam take the mat. You never know what will happen and he can beat anyone at any time. It's hard to believe that he has two years left and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them ended with a match on Saturday night in March. 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) Double B was thrown right into the fire as a true freshman in a year where he didn't even have a chance to get acclimated to college wrestling, not to mention, he was at the wrong weight. Now at the correct weight, the former Wyoming Seminary star, via Arizona, is showing why he was such a highly touted recruit. Any Scott Green-trained wrestler has a place on my squad. 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) Yeah, the four-time champ gets a spot on the All-Jagger. He also squeezed in a world final during that time. Now with his attention fully turned to freestyle, the man also known as John will win a world title one day. I assume it will be his second favorite accomplishment after this honor. 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) The mailbag staff (me) just want to wish Peyton a speedy recovery and we hope to see you back on the mat soon. My man gutted out a place on the podium then went straight to the hospital and once the wrestling community found out about it, they donated so much money they had to shut the thing down. Robb Strong, indeed. 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) Sugar Shane might be a free agent in the real world, but he always has a place on my team. My offer of lunch at Lodi Pizza once a week still stands if Griffith comes to Rutgers. 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) It's a Bergen Catholic reunion! Seriously though, Foca might be the most exciting wrestler in college. I've watched this guy since he debuted with a Beast of the East title way back in 2016 and he just keeps getting better. One win and two losses at the big dance in 2022 turned into a 5-1 record this year and a third-place finish. Giant tattoo of New Jersey on his shoulder? Total Jagger guy. Possibly my captain. 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) "Handsome" Matt made history by being the first Finesilver to wrestle somewhere other than Duke and he was more than up to the challenge to take on the Big Ten conference. Armed with a killer mustache and an advocate in Dr. Rhino constantly asking questions about him, Matt became a mailbag favorite this year, so it's only fitting that he represents my squad at 184. My guy came up just short of the podium this year, but who cares. You're All-Jagger! That's something Mitch, Josh, Zach, Bubba Ray, and Devon Finesilver never did! Bragging rights are important around here. 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) I admit I wasn't super familiar with Silas going into March. I know he was a pretty big prospect but I usually check out Nebraska duals after Mikey Labs or I'm just in a fog but that time of night anyway to remember much of his matches. Then he put a hurting on the returning champ and I was like..whoa, this dude is for real. Then he did it again two weeks later! Then 197 did what 197 does and ate him up in the bloodround. But that's alright! We love bloodround guys here! From now on I'll try to stay awake for the end of every dual. 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Here's another guy I hadn't seen much of until the end of the season. But I love everything about him. And if asked, I'll be his wingman any time. Well that's it for the second annual All-Jagger team! Will there be a third? Will I hold this job for another year? Nobody knows for sure. Fresh mailbag coming your way tomorrow so get those questions in while you can!

2023 NCAA Champion and Hodge Trophy recipient Mason Parris (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big Ten Wrestler of the Year: Mason Parris (Michigan) The accolades keep rolling in for Michigan big man Mason Parris. Parris became the first Michigan wrestler to take home the Dan Hodge Trophy after the award was revealed early last week. Key to his Hodge Trophy bid was a bonus-point rate that was over 63% at the 285 lb weight class. Throughout the 2022-23 campaign, Parris posted wins over 10 2023 All-Americans, a feat that hasn't been accomplished by a Hodge winner over the last decade-plus. Despite wrestling such a tough schedule, Parris managed to get into bonus-point territory in both the NCAA quarters and semis against Lucas Davison and Tony Cassioppi, respectively. In the national finals, Parris downed Greg Kerkvliet for the third time this year. He was responsible for all three of Kerkvliet's losses during the 2022-23 season. Parris finishes his career as a three-time NCAA All-American (1,5,2), along with another honor from the NWCA after the 2020 national tournament was canceled. He amassed a 126-18 career record with the Wolverines with half of those losses coming during his true freshman year. 2023 NCAA Runner-Up Levi Haines (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Levi Haines (Penn State) This was a rather easy selection considering Levi Haines was the only freshman to make the NCAA finals and/or win a Big Ten title. A true freshman at that. Haines started the year with a loss at the Bearcat Open, but little did we know that would be his only setback heading into the NCAA Tournament. In late January, Haines seized the starting role at 157 lbs after beating returning All-American Will Lewan and Cobe Siebrecht. Haines captured a Big Ten title by handing then-undefeated Peyton Robb his first loss of the season in the conference finals. That combined with a 23-1 record was good enough for that second seed at his first NCAA Tournament. In Tulsa, Haines survived a scare from the dangerous Bryce Andonian in the quarterfinals, only to come back and pin Andonian late in the third period. To clinch a spot in the finals. Haines downed Robb for a second time, 6-4. In the finals, Haines came up short against Austin O'Connor, who went on to claim his second national title. Haines' first year with Penn State ended with a 27-2 overall record. He'll likely be an early favorite in 2024 and in the years to come. Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson (left) (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big Ten Coach of the Year: Cael Sanderson (Penn State) Sometimes with Coach of the Year awards, we try to get too cute. Maybe it was a coach that took a normally poor team to respectability. In other years, it's a coach that may hit a significant milestone. It seems like we look for anything other than awarding the coach that wins the most. That's what Cael Sanderson has done at Penn State. In 2023, his squad won a tenth national championship since 2011 and did so, outscoring second-place Iowa by 55 points. There's also something to be said for winning when everyone expects you to and you constantly have a target on your back. Sanderson did that as a wrestler and now as a coach. On the mat, Penn State crowned two national champions (Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks) extending their streak of at least one, a run that started in 2011. While they mathematically clinched the tournament much later, for all intents and purposes, the 2023 tournament was decided in the quarterfinals when Penn State went a perfect 7-0. Five of their nine national qualifiers wrestled above their seeds, while two others matched their seed. The Nittany Lions finished the 2023 tournament with eight All-Americans, seven of which placed third or higher. Before winning their second consecutive national tournament, Penn State claimed their first Big Ten crown since 2019. At the Big Ten's, Sanderson's team had six finalists and four champions. For the third year in a row, Penn State finished the dual season unbeaten. The Nittany Lions will carry a 44-match winning streak into the 2023-24 season. Their last dual loss came at the hands of Iowa on January 31, 2020.

Lou Rosselli at WrangleMania (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Today, the Oklahoma athletic department announced that Lou Rosselli has stepped down from his post as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners wrestling program. Rosselli just finished his seventh season at the helm for the Sooners. Oklahoma is coming off of a fourth-place finish at the 2023 Big 12 Championships with 97.5 points. Eight Sooners qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships; however, only one managed to win more than one match; Josh Heindselman at 285 lbs, who went 2-2. With the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, you would hope to have a banner performance. Since Oklahoma did not have an All-American in 2023, it made back-to-back years without one. Oklahoma finished the 2022-23 dual season with a 9-8 record, but were just 2-6 in the Big 12, with a pair of losses to Bedlam rival Oklahoma State. The biggest win for OU during the 2022-23 season came late in the year when they knocked off South Dakota State 18-13. During his time at Oklahoma, Rosselli went 56-49 in dual action and produced two NCAA All-Americans. Additionally, after the cancellation of the 2020 tournament, two Sooners were tabbed NWCA All-Americans. In 2021, Oklahoma captured their first Big 12 title since the 2002 season. The 2021 national tournament also saw the Sooners post their best NCAA finish under Rosselli (24th - 17 points). The Sooner athletic department will conduct a national search for a successor to Rosselli. Given that this is the only current DI opening, and in a Power Five conference, there should be no shortage of high-quality applicants.

Oregon State head coach Chris Pendleton and Nate Engel (right) (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Although Arizona State had another great season and Cal Poly continues to improve, Chris Pendleton has slowly put Oregon State back on the map. In the last decade, Oregon State had been stuck in the middle of the Pac-12 conference. However, Pendleton looks to shake up the momentum in the West. While at ASU, Pendleton had nearly unlimited resources. However, he has learned he needs to build up to that with growing pains in Corvallis. “When you have number one recruits, All-American transfers and endless resources, it’s a fun thing to be a part of,” Pendleton said. “We knew we had to do things differently when we started to build our staff and team at Oregon State. Our number one thing was culture and doing things the right way.” Pendleton’s culture is built around clear communication. He believes this strategy will help with accountability, building characteristics and traits, and working on self-improvement. Since the Beaver wrestlers have bought into the new culture, positive results have followed. Oregon State won the Pac-12 Championships for the first time since 2016 and had multiple high-seed wrestlers at the NCAA tournament. The high rankings came from a successful finals at the Pac-12s. Oregon State won five of its six finals matches despite being underdogs in a handful of them. “The biggest thing I take away from the Pac-12s is we had a lot of hard matches,” Pendleton said. “The kids bit down on their lip and did what they have trained to do and it showed up in those late matches.” Brandon Kaylor defeated Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year and former NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney and Matthew Olguin defeated former NCAA Champion Shane Griffith. Even though the Beavers exceeded expectations at the Pac-12 tournament, they fell apart at NCAAs. “It is the growing pains of the program,” Pendleton said. “When you have success, it takes time to learn how to deal with the success. We won the Pac-12 Championship and never zoned back in and refocused.” However, Trey Munoz shined at the NCAA tournament, becoming an All-American at 184 pounds. “Trey and I started when he was in diapers,” Pendleton said. “I actually work less with Trey now because he has become his own individual and takes a lot of ownership. My job is just a mentor role and fine-tuning it.” Besides Munoz, Pendleton is looking to reload his lineup next season to compete against a tougher Pac-12 competition. “We are returning a lot of firepower and have a lot more firepower in the wings waiting to get their chances,” Pendleton said. “We just focus on coming back and the new cycle begins. We got the guys here and the guys arriving and starting the plan.” Since leaving Arizona State a couple of seasons ago, Pendleton looks back at how the Sun Devils have helped him grow Oregon State. “One of the best things I took from ASU was building a program,” Pendleton said. “We were 56th in the country when Zeke and I arrived. It was a long rebuild and a lot of growing pains in that program. It taught me what I value, what I want to stress to the team and taught me the path of what I want to take.” Pendleton hopes he can flip Oregon State into the next dark horse coming from the West. “We are getting used to being the underdog to an extent,” Pendleton said. “Honestly, that is where some of us do our best work with a chip on our shoulder.”

Two-time NCAA All-American Lucas Davison (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) A phrase that we became accustomed to hearing during 2020 and 2021 as we worked through Covid was “the new norm.” Society was changing and you had to either adapt or become obsolete. The same can be said for college athletics during this time period. Transferring has been prevalent for decades, however, the transfer portal has made it much easier and pain-free for college student-athletes to find new homes. Working hand-in-hand with the transfer portal has been the implementation of student-athletes benefiting off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). They may end up in the portal as a result of promising NIL opportunities. Whether we like it or not, it’s “a thing” in college athletics. The transfer portal has brought us extra discussion points as we start the long, arduous journey from March Matness to the preseason. Fans can speculate about the next stop for some of college wrestling’s bright stars. As of now, there are four (or five) past All-Americans in the portal. They’ll undoubtedly impact the 2023-24 collegiate season as they make their next decision. Could they help Penn State extend its lead on the field? Or perhaps push Iowa closer to Penn State? Or maybe be the missing piece for a contender to get an NCAA trophy? In due time, we’ll find out. Until then, here are the All-Americans currently in the transfer portal. Chris Cannon (133 lbs) The first of the Northwestern All-Americans to hit the portal, Chris Cannon could have two years of eligibility remaining if he chooses to exercise them. Cannon has been very consistent throughout the first three years of his career. He hasn’t broken into the upper echelon of national title contenders at 133 lbs, but has stayed in the range indicated by his NCAA seeds (8, 10, 12). Obviously, Cannon has outperformed those seeds before as he placed seventh at the NCAA Championships in each of his first two appearances. In three trips to the Big Ten Championships, Cannon has finished fourth (2x) and fifth. He went 1-2 in Tulsa this year, after getting edged by Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) in the opening round and pinned by Cody Phippen (Air Force) to get eliminated. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Northern Colorado's national champion Andrew Alirez (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big 12 Wrestler of the Year: Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) One year after falling in the dreaded NCAA Round of 12 Andrew Alirez not only broke through the All-American barrier, but also captured Northern Colorado's first national title since 1962. That was one of many "first since" for Alirez who also became the first Bear wrestler to get on the NCAA podium since future UFC star Justin Gaethje in 2010. A year ago, Alirez became the first Northern Colorado wrestler to win a Big 12 championship. This season, he won his second title which led to a #2 seed at the NCAA Tournament. In Tulsa, Alirez started his national tournament with a fall before winning three matches that appeared closer on the scoreboard than they actually were in person. A 6-4 win over #10 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) in the quarterfinals, solidified All-American status, while a 6-2 victory against Penn State's #6 Beau Barlett put him in the national finals. For the NCAA title, Alirez met fellow undefeated wrestler Real Woods (Iowa). The 2023 Big Ten champion, Woods, was responsible for one of Alirez's losses during the 2021-22 campaign. Alirez hit a six-point throw which included points for a reversal and nearfall which ended up being the difference in a 6-4 win for the UNC star. Not only did Alirez capture a national title, but he also went undefeated (28-0) in the process, the only Big 12 wrestler to achieve that feat in 2022-23. This was the first time that Alirez made the NCAA podium; however, he was named a first-team All-American in 2020 after going 24-4 as a true freshman. With another year of eligibility remaining, Alirez holds an 81-10 career record. North Dakota State All-American Michael Caliendo (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big 12 Freshman of the Year: Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) The Big 12's only All-American during the 2022-23 season was Michael Caliendo who finished seventh at the 165 lbs weight class. The same Big 12 weight class that featured two returning national champions (and the eventual finalists). Caliendo still managed to take third in the conference. Of his five 2022-23 losses, four came to returning NCAA champions. Caliendo was able to notch one win over a past champion as he downed 2021 champ Shane Griffith (Stanford) in dual competition. Griffith won the other two meetings, the first coming about a week and a half before their dual, in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, and another time in the NCAA consolation quarterfinals. Caliendo, along with teammate Jared Franek, were the first Bison wrestlers to make the NCAA podium since the 2015 tournament. After a second-round loss at the NCAA Tournament, Caliendo downed a pair of top-15 opponents (#8 Matt Olguin and #15 Justin McCoy) before a 12-6 win over #29 Caleb Fish to earn All-American honors. He ended his tournament by defeating MAC champion Izzak Olejnik for seventh place. Caliendo finished his first official season with NDSU with a 29-5 record. Those 29 wins included a Bison Open title and a runner-up finish at the Southern Scuffle. Air Force head coach Sam Barber (left) at the 2023 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat Big 12 Coach of the Year: Sam Barber (Air Force) There were a handful of potential candidates for Big 12 Coach of the Year, but we decided to go with one that oversaw the best performance in the last 20 years at his respective program in the Air Force Academy's Sam Barber. Air Force accumulated 28.5 points at the 2023 NCAA Championships which put them in a tie for 18th place with Oklahoma State. The previous high point total for Air Force came in 2022 with 22.5 points. The Falcons also saw one of their own claim All-American honors for the first time since 2003, as Wyatt Hendrickson took third at 285 lbs. Hendrickson collected an impressive array of accolades, including the Gorriaran Award (for most falls in the least time - 3), the most dominant DI wrestler, and the season leader in pins (16). Hendrickson captured his second consecutive Big 12 crown and earned the #2 seed at heavyweight. Last season, he was seeded fifth and missed out on the podium. This time around, Hendrickson clashed with some of the elite wrestlers at this weight and came away with falls against multiple-time All-Americans Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) and Lucas Davison (Northwestern). It wasn't just Hendrickson who contributed in Tulsa, 133 lber Cody Phippen chipped in with a pair of falls over top-12 opposition (#11 Dylan Ragusin/Michigan and #12 Chris Cannon/Northwestern). Tucker Owens also notched a pair of wins. All-in-all, five Air Force wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Tournament. That was the highest number for the school since the 1991 tournament. During the regular season, Air Force went 8-5 in dual competition. Their biggest win came over the eventual Pac-12 dual champion Cal Poly. Another important Big 12 victory was over Wyoming. Coach Barber just finished his ninth year leading the Air Force program.

Ben Davino at the 2022 Super 32 (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Ohio State’s Class of 2024 got a huge commitment this evening as #9 overall Ben Davino (St. Charles, IL) gave a verbal to Tom Ryan’s team. In February, Davino won his second consecutive Illinois 3A state championship. The most recent title came at 126 lbs, while he took the 120 lb title in 2022. Last summer, Davino took home a stop sign from Fargo, winning a 16U national title in freestyle at 126 lbs. He solidified his top-billing at the weight class by downing Princeton recruit Marc-Anthony McGowan (Blair Academy, NJ) 6-3 at the preseason Who’s #1 dual meet. A couple of months later, Davino earned a championship belt by winning the Super 32. Early in his junior season, Davino held off McGowan in the Walsh Ironman finals, 2-0 to win the nation’s toughest in-season tournament. The previous year, Davino was an Ironman finalist at 120 lbs. Another significant national placement for Davino is a third-place finish in 2022 at 55 kg at the UWW Cadet World Team Trials. Davino will join a revamped set of lightweights in the Buckeye room. Longtime starter Malik Heinselman is out of eligibility at 125 lbs and Andre Gonzales, a redshirt sophomore, looks like the early starter. The Buckeyes also have a strong incoming freshman in three-time Pennsylvania state champion, Vinny Kilkeary, who projects at 125 lbs. Should Davino grow into a 133 lber, he’ll be the mix with Jesse Mendez and Nic Bouzakis. Mendez AA’ed as a true freshman and Bouzakis redshirted. We’re under the assumption that one of the two will eventually go 141 lbs. That’s a long way of saying, there doesn’t appear to be an immediate need at 125/133 lbs for the Buckeyes; however, 125 is a difficult weight to fill and you’d love to have a recruit of Davino’s caliber. In the latest set of national rankings released by MatScouts this morning, Davino comes ranked #1 at 126 lbs and #9 on the Big Board. Davino joins Ohio state champion #109 Ethan Birden (Dublin Coffman, OH) as Buckeye recruits from the Class of 2024.

West Virginia's Killian Cardinale (right) and Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a couple of week of looking and relooking and relooking at the brackets from the 2023 NCAA Championships, we've put together some fun takeaways regarding seed performance at the tournament. Numbers in parathesis are seeds. 2023 NCAA Titles by Seed (1): 5 (2): 3 (3): 2 2023 NCAA Runner's-Up by Seed (1): 4 (2): 3 (3): 1 (4): 1 (7): 1 2023 NCAA Third Place Finishers by Seed (2): 1 (3): 1 (4): 2 (5): 2 (6): 2 (10): 1 (12): 1 2023 NCAA Fourth Place Finishers by Seed (2): 3 (3): 2 (4): 2 (8): 1 (10): 1 (11): 1 #1 seed by Conference Big Ten (5) ACC (2) Big 12 (2) EIWA (1) 2023 All-Americans by Seed (1): 10 (2): 10 (3): 9 (4): 9 (5): 6 (6): 5 (7): 4 (8): 4 (9): 4 (10): 5 (11): 5 (12): 3 (13): 1 (14): 2 (17): 1 (27): 1 (28): 1 Both of the wrestlers that were All-Americans from 20+ seeds (Eddie Ventresca/27 and Killian Cardinale/28) competed at the 125 lb weight class. The two wrestled for seventh place and Ventresca prevailed 7-6. The only #1 seed that did not make the NCAA finals was Spencer Lee at 125. The #2 seed made the NCAA finals in six of the ten weights (125, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174) Only five weight classes saw the #1 and #2 seeds meet in the finals (141, 149, 157, 165, 174). In those #1 vs. #2 instances, Andrew Alirez (141) and Keegan O'Toole (165) were the only two seeds that pulled the slight upset. #7 (197) Tanner Sloan was the lowest seeded finalist. The lowest seeded third place finisher was #12 Shayne Van Ness. The only other double-digit third place finisher was Lachlan McNeil at #10. Van Ness was also the lowest seeded semifinalist. #11 Cam Amine was the only other double-digit seed to make the semis. Van Ness also notched wins over the #3, #4, and #5 seeds at his weight. His only loss came to #1 Yianni Diakomihalis. The top-four seeds advanced to the semifinals at 125, 133, 174, 184, and 285. The only weights where the top-four seeds all finished in the top-four were 133, 174, and 285. There were no weights where the top-four placers finished exactly as their seeds, one through four, in that order. It may not be surprising with Ventresca and Cardinale placing at 125 lbs, but that bracket was the only one where the lower seeded wrestler won in three of the four bloodround matches. #10 Brandon Courtney over #6 Stevo Poulin was the other "upset." On the other end of the spectrum, 149 lbs was the only weight class where all of the higher seeded wrestlers prevailed in the bloodround. The bloodround match that featured the two highest seeds took place at 197 lbs as #2 Bernie Truax downed #5 Michael Beard 4-2. Truax was the only #2 seed to wrestle in the bloodround. The quarterfinals featured four wrestlers seeded #20 or lower. Ventresca/Cardinale, along with #20 (149) Graham Rooks, and #29 (165) Caleb Fish. The only quarterfinal that saw two double-digit seeds meet was at 149 with Van Ness and Rooks. The opening round saw six single-digit seeds go down. 125: #28 Cardinale/#5 Caleb Smith, #27 Ventresca/#6 Poulin, #26 Jack Wagner/#7 Brandon Kaylor. 165: #25 Austin Wilson/#8 Matthew Olguin, #29 Fish/#4 Julian Ramirez. 184: #25 Brian Bonino/#8 Matt Finesilver.

North Carolina's two-time national champion Austin O'Connor (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Over the next week, InterMat will unveil its annual, year-end conference awards. Each day will feature a new conference. Award winners have been selected by InterMat's editor and respective conference correspondent(s). 2022-23 InterMat ACC Wrestler of the Year: Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) Choosing a recipient for the conference wrestler of the year was one of the more difficult choices across all conferences. Finishing as the runner-up was Nino Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh, the undefeated national champion at 197 lbs. In past years, this would have been an automatic win for Bonaccorsi, but the ACC had multiple national champions for the first time since 1994. The winner of the ACC Wrestler of the Year award is North Carolina's two-time national champion Austin O'Connor. O'Connor defeated Penn State true freshman Levi Haines to put the finishing touches on his second career undefeated campaign. He was 23-0 in 2022-23 and 13-0 during the Covid-shortened 2021 season. The first national title for O'Connor came at 149 lbs and this one was at 157. O'Connor moved up in the 2021-22 season and suffered a knee injury trying to go back-to-back. He gutted through the injury and ended up finishing eight at nationals. That knee injury lingered into this season; however, once O'Connor took the mat for the first time in mid-December he looked as good as ever. With all the talk about limited match counts, O'Connor managed to wrestle in and win 16 regular-season bouts, despite not starting until December 15th. O'Connor saved his best for last with a senior season that saw him post a 69.6% bonus point percentage. That surpassed his previous high by about 12%. When the dust cleared, there were two other All-Americans from O'Connor's 157 lbs weight class in the ACC. That didn't seem to matter as neither really had O'Connor in any significant danger, even the walking highlight Bryce Andonian. O'Connor beat the Hokie by a major decision in a dual and by a point in the ACC finals, though the margin didn't seem that close (and there may have been a questionable call or two). O'Connor's most recent national tournament saw him score wins over the eventual third (Josh Humphreys) and eighth-place (Will Lewan) finishers. He also looked like the grizzled veteran who was rock-solid in a 6-2 win over Haines. With his NCAA finals win, O'Connor finished his Tar Heel career with a 116-10 record, three ACC titles, four NCAA All-American honors and one from the NWCA in 2020. His 2023 title made O'Connor the first multi-time national champion for UNC since TJ Jaworsky in 1993-95. Virginia Tech freshman All-American Caleb Henson (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat ACC Freshman of the Year: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) For most blue-chip true freshmen, there's a "will they, won't they" aspect to their initial season. Will the coaching staff turn their highly sought-after recruit loose or will they give him a year of experience competing unattached? Speaking with the Hokie staff in the summer of 2022 and into the fall, there seemed to be little doubt surrounding their starter at 149 lbs. It would be true freshman Caleb Henson. It didn't take long for Henson to show the nation he was ready for the bright lights. In his dual debut, Henson knocked off top-contender and former (and future) NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso of Ohio State 5-3 in sudden victory and on Sasso's home mat. Over the next month and a half, Henson saw some of the best in the nation at his weight class and took three losses, but never looked outclassed. An early-January loss to top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) proved to be his final setback before the NCAA Tournament. Coming into Tulsa, Henson already notched wins over four returning All-Americans, a huge feat for a true freshman (or almost anyone else). At his first national tournament, #4 Henson was an upset victim in the second round after losing to #20 Graham Rooks (Indiana) in the second round. Unphased, Henson strung together four straight wins to lock up a place in the top six. Along the way, he avenged two of his regular season losses (Doug Zapf - Penn and Brock Mauller - Missouri). In the bloodround, Henson scored a 7-2 decision over 2021 NCAA third-place finisher Yahya Thomas (Northwestern). Henson concluded his year with an impressive 12-3 major decision over the typically stingy Max Murin (Iowa). Henson was one of three freshmen from the ACC to get on the podium; teammate Eddie Ventresca was another. Of the three, Henson was the lone true freshman. He finished his initial year in Blacksburg with a 27-5 record. Virginia Tech head coach Tony Robie (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat ACC Coach of the Year: Tony Robie (Virginia Tech) Like Wrestler of the Year, this was a difficult decision as there was a case to be made for multiple coaches. Virginia Tech's Tony Robie gets the nod because of his team's consistent performance during the regular season and into the NCAA Tournament. The Hokie finished the dual season 10-3 with their only losses coming to #6 Ohio State, #7 Cornell, and conference foe Pittsburgh. Since Pitt, NC State and the Hokies all finished with one conference dual loss, all three teams earned a share of the regular season title. Virginia Tech kicked off ACC dual competition with a thrilling 16-14 win over then-unbeaten NC State. Although the Hokies were in second place to NC State at the ACC Championships, Virginia Tech was one of only four teams nationally that saw their entire lineup qualify for nationals. Henson and Mekhi Lewis (174) were Hokie wrestlers that claimed ACC titles in 2023. In Tulsa, the Hokies saw five of their ten entrants make the NCAA podium. This was possible after an impressive 4-1 showing in the bloodround. That session started with freshman #27 Eddie Ventresca knocking off two-time All-American Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) at 125 and Sam Latona reversing a result from the ACC tournament against conference champ #5 Kai Orine (NC State). The Hokies five All-Americans were good enough for 49 points and ninth place at the NCAA Tournament. That was one point and one spot ahead of NC State, making Virginia Tech the highest-placing ACC team. That marked the eighth time in the last ten national tournaments that the Hokies finished in the top ten. Virginia Tech also kept its streak with at least three All-Americans alive. It started at the 2013 tournament.

Four-time world/Olympic champion Kyle Snyder (photo courtesy of UWW/Kadir Caliskan) 57KG #15 Musa Mekhtikhanov (RUS) won the Musa Azaev Cup over Muslim Sadulaev (RUS). Bronze medalists were Dzhabrail Gairbekov (RUS) and #16 Ramazan Abdurakhimov (RUS). Muslim Sadulaev (RUS) took gold at the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Ramazan Shakhbanov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the NCFD Tournament were Yunus Yavbatirov (RUS) and Magomed Saipudinov (RUS). Ahmet Duman (TUR) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Sunggwon Kim (KOR). Bronze medalists were Giorgi Gegelashvili (GEO) and Besie Alili (MKD). #5 Thomas Gilman (USA) competed at 61 KG where he was upset in the quarterfinals by Kaisei Tanabe (JPN) and failed to place. Gilman's placement in the rankings is not affected by his loss up at 61 KG. Niklas Stechle (GER) won the U23 European Championships over Tolga Ozbek (TUR). Bronze medalists were Luka Gvinjilia (GEO) and Edik Harutyunyan (ARM). 61KG #19 Recep Topal (TUR) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Intigam Valizada (AZE). Bronze medalists at the Dan Kolov Tournament were Giorgi Vangelov (BUL) and Kaisei Tanabe (JPN). In what was the upset of the tournament, unheralded Tanabe tech falled 2022 57 KG Senior World runner-up #5 (57) Thomas Gilman (USA) 11-0 in the quarterfinals. Tanabe was beaten 13-6 in the semifinals by eventual champion #19 Recep Topal (TUR). From this tumultuous turn of events, Tanabe debuts in the rankings at #9 for his victory over Gilman, while Topal moves up eleven spots to #8 for his victory over Tanabe. 2021 Senior European runner-up Andrey Dzhelep (UKR) took gold at the U23 European Championships over Mezhlum Mezhlumyan (ARM) by a dominant 10-0 tech fall. Bronze medalists were Emre Kural (TUR) and Simone Piroddu (ITA). 2019 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Dinislam Takhtarov (RUS) took gold at the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Magomedrasul Dagirov (RUS). Bronze medalists were Tamerlan Karaev (RUS) and Ibragim Khasiev (RUS). Andrey Dzhelep (UKR) returns to the rankings at #20 for winning the U23 European Championships. 65KG 2021 Russian Nationals bronze medalist #5 Abdulmazhid Kudiev (RUS) is confirmed as Bahrain's entry for the Asian Championships. While competing for Russia, Kudiev's best finishes were as a 21 Senior Nationals bronze medalist, 2021 U23 European runner-up, and the 2022 Dmitri Korkin Memorial champion where he beat #4 Shamil Mamedov (RUS) in the finals. Khamzat Arsamerzouev (FRA) won the U23 European Championships over Rashid Babadze (AZE). Bronze medalists were Mykyta Honcharov (UKR) and Goga Otinashvili (GEO). Kotaro Kiyooka (JPN) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Islam Dudaev (ALB). Bronze medalists at the Dan Kolov Tournament were Joey McKenna (USA) and Augustin Destribats (ARG). #14 Ramazan Bagavudinov (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Rakhman Mintullaev (RUS). Bronze medalists were Magomed Gazimagomedov (RUS) and Ramazan Chankaev (RUS). 70KG Ramazan Ramazanov (BUL) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Servet Coskun (TUR). Bronze medalists were #4 Amir Mohammad Yazdani (IRI) and Marc Dietsche (SUI). Ramazanov returns to the rankings at #14 for his win over Yazdani in the semifinals of the Dan Kolov. Yazdani drops twelve spots in the rankings to #16 for his loss to Ramazanov. While there could be an argument for Ramazanov to be in the top ten for his win over Yazdani to go along with his finals run from the 2019 Alans tournament that saw him beat #6 Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS) and 2017 65 KG Senior World bronze medalist Alan Gogaev (RUS), Ramazanov's 2022 resume limits him from such a lofty position. In 2022, Ramazanov lost in the finals of the Dan Kolov Tournament to #19 Zain Retherford (USA), followed it with a bronze medal finish at the European Championships after a quarterfinal tech fall loss to Zurab Iakobishvili (GEO) and failed to place at worlds after an 11-0 tech fall loss in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist #5 Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ). Ramazanov is a very solid wrestler but his current resume at best allows him a mid-top 20 spot. Because of his win over Ramazanov from last year's Dan Kolov Tournament finals, 2022 Senior World runner-up Retherford moves up six spots to #13. While #15 Yazdani does have a win from December at the World Cup over #5 Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ) and a victory over 2017 Senior World runner-up James Green (USA) from the 2022 Yasar Dogu finals, he does not have a solid enough resume to keep his top-ten spot when compared against the likes of #6 Evgheni Zherbaev (RUS), #7 Haji Aliyev (AZE), #8 Inalbek Sheriev (RUS), #9 Konstantin Kaprynov (RUS), and #10 Anzor Zakuev (RUS). Magomed Khaniev (AZE) won the U23 European Championships over Hayk Papikyan (ARM). Bronze medalists were Shamil Ustaev (BEL) and Davit Patsinashvili (GEO). Ibragim Abdurakhmanov (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament by injury default over 2021 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Abdulla Akhmedov (RUS). Bronze medalists were Ramazan Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) and Akhmed Nurakhmaev (RUS). 74KG #11 Turan Bayramov (AZE) won the U23 European Championships title over Vasile Diacon (MDA). Bronze medalists were Giorgi Gogritchiani (GEO) and Krisztian Biro (ROU). #13 Kamil Abdulvagabov (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Abdullagadzhi Magomedov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the NCFD Tournament were Anzor Ionov (RUS) and Ramazan Muradov (RUS). Murad Kuramagomedov (HUN) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Tobias Portmann (SUI). Bronze medalists were Mitchell Mesenbrink (USA) and Otari Bagauri (GEO). 79KG 2022 U23 and Senior European champion Georgios Kougioumtsidis (GRE) is back in the rankings at #15 after winning his second U23 European title with a victory over 2022 U23 World Champion #15 Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (GEO). Bronze medalists at the U23 European Championships were Sabuhi Amiraslanov (AZE) and Eugeniu Mihalcaen (MDA). Mostafa Ghiasi Cheka (IRI) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Devin Skatzka (USA). Bronze medalists at the Dan Kolov tournament were Ramazan Sari (TUR) and Eugeniu Mihalcaen (MDA). Khalid Elberdiev (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Abdulkerim Abdulaev (RUS). Bronze medalists at the NCFD Tournament were Musa Baziev (RUS) and Jamal Akhmadudinov (RUS). 86KG Hadi Vafaeipour (IRI) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over 2018 Senior World runner-up Fatih Erdin (TUR). Bronze medalists were Osman Gocen (TUR) and Ilia Hristov (BUL). Hadi Vafaeipour (IRI) debuts in the rankings at #19 for his wins over Fatih Erdin (TUR) and 2020 Individual World Cup bronze medalist Osman Gocen (TUR). Rakhim Magamadov (FRA) won the U23 European Championships over Knyaz Iboyan (ARM). Bronze medalists were Ismail Kucuksolak (TUR) and Joshua Morodion (GER). 2019 79 KG Senior World bronze medalist Gadzhi Nabiev (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over 2020 Russian Nationals bronze medalist Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov (RUS) in the finals. Bronze medalists were Ramazan Abuzagidov (RUS) and Azamat Khadzaragov (RUS). 92KG Arashkh Mohebbi (IRI) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Akhmed Bataev (BUL). Bronze medalists were Ibragim Yusubov (AZE) and Tatsuya Shirai (JPN). Khabil Khashpakov (RUS) took gold at the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Alik Shebzukhov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the NCFD Tournament were #18 Khamzat Anzorov (RUS) and Abdulmuslim Timirbulatov (RUS). Khashpakov returns to the rankings at #18 for his win over Anzorov. Anzorov falls one spot in the rankings to #19 for his loss to Khashpakov. Andro Margishvili (GEO) won the U23 European Championships over Muhammad Gimri (TUR). Bronze medalists were Adlan Viskhanov (FRA) and Sergey Sargsyan (ARM). 97KG 2022 Senior World champion #2 Kyle Snyder (USA) won the Dan Kolov Tournament over Juhwan Seo (KOR). Bronze medalists were Daniel Zhariatinia (IRI) and Magomed Zakariev (UKR). Gadzhimagomed Tazhudinov (RUS) won the North Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Kazbek Suanov (RUS). Bronze medalists were Gasan Shamkhalov (RUS) and Gadzhimurad Kadilov (RUS) taking bronze. Islam Ilyasov (AZE) won the U23 European Championships gold medal over Oktay Ciftci (TUR). Bronze medalists at the U23 European Championships were Ertugrul Agca (GER) and Radu Lefter (MDA). 125KG Giorgi Meshvildishvili, a standout competitor for Georgia from 2012-2018, took gold at the Dan Kolov Tournament in his second tournament wrestling for Azerbaijan. In the finals, Meshvildishvili upset Ivan Yarygin Memorial bronze medalist #7 Mostafa Junegani (IRI). Meshvildishvili debuts in the rankings at #7 for his upset over Junegani. Bronze medalists at the Dan Kolov were Ty Walz (USA) and Yeiyhun Jung (KOR). Shamil Sharipov (RUS) won the Northern Caucasus Federal District Tournament over Umar Israilov (RUS). Bronze medalists at the NCFD tournament were Erik Dzeranov (RUS) and David Dzugaev (RUS). Giorgi Ivanov (BUL) won the U23 European Championships over Volodymyr Kochanov (UKR) with Martin Simoyan (ARM) and Efe Al (TUR) taking bronze. Pound for Pound There were no changes to the Pound for Pound rankings for April rankings.

Rutgers NCAA qualifier Brian Soldano (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) On Thursday evening, Rutgers received a commitment from two-time Pennsylvania state champion Conner Harer (Montgomery HS). Currently, Harer is ranked fourth in the nation at 150 lbs by MatScouts and #11 overall on the Class of 2024 Big Board. Getting a recruit of Harer’s caliber is a big deal for most programs. Rutgers is no exception. Harer’s commitment means even more as Rutgers' best recruits tend to come from in-state. The Scarlet Knights have picked up recruits from Pennsylvania, but they are either from close to the border or not on Harer’s level. Harer is more from Central Pennsylvania. Opening the door to high-level recruits from further out in Pennsylvania could only benefit Rutgers, most would assume. With Harer’s commitment, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to review Rutgers’ history with blue-chip recruits during head coach Scott Goodale’s tenure. Goodale was hired in the summer of 2007 and has built Rutgers into a relevant national power, finishing as high as ninth in the nation during the 2018-19 season. Most of the school’s record book has been written and rewritten during his tenure. Goodale started his time at Rutgers with a bang by keeping some very notable names in-state. With a move to the Big Ten and sustained success on the mat, those blue-chip recruits have been more of a regular occurrence for the Scarlet Knights. For purposes of this article, we’ll refer to blue-chip recruits as those who are top-20 in their high school class. In some years that distinction may be too generous, while in other rare seasons, it’s not enough. However, it’s a good line of demarcation for this look. Wrestlers are noted under their year of high school, along with their ranking among their high school class and home state. 2022 #12 Brian Soldano (New Jersey) Soldano just finished up his first season with the Scarlet Knights. As a true freshman, Soldano stepped into a tough 184 lb weight class and took sixth in the Big Ten and won a pair of matches at nationals. He proved to be one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the country. Never out of a match, Soldano can go from his back to pinning an opponent (and occasionally vice versa) like no other wrestler in the country. He should be an All-American threat for his remaining three years. 2021 #10 Dean Peterson (New Jersey) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Cornell's four-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Over the next week, InterMat will unveil its annual, year-end conference awards. Each day will feature a new conference. Award winners have been selected by InterMat’s editor and respective conference correspondent(s). 2022-23 InterMat EIWA Wrestler of the Year: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) It was a banner year for Yianni Diakomihalis as he made history by becoming only the fifth wrestler ever to win four NCAA DI titles. Diakomihalis also became the second Cornell wrestler to accomplish the feat (joining Kyle Dake). He captured his second national title at 149 lbs after winning the first two down at 141. Yianni carried a 75-match winning streak into the 2022-23 season, which was unexpectedly stopped by Austin Gomez in Diakomihalis’ first outing of the year. That kept him two wins shy of Dake’s Cornell record. Even so, Diakomihalis rebounded to finish his second season on a new 21-match streak. Along the way, Diakomihalis captured his fourth EIWA title, becoming only the 14th wrestler to accomplish the feat. At EIWA’s, Diakomihalis bonused his way through the tournament. A 15-3 win over Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) in the finals was his “closest” bout. For the year, Yianni posted bonus points in just under 60% of his matches. At the NCAA Tournament, Diakomihalis showed the clutchness that many first saw with him as a freshman. During the quarterfinals, he deftly avoided giving up nearfall points in the waning seconds of an 8-7 win over Max Murin (Iowa). A match later, he faced a late deficit at the hands of redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness (Cornell). Unphased, Diakomihalis secured a takedown and backpoints to earn an 8-3 win. For his fourth title, Yianni survived a late scramble against Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), who was close to earning a tying takedown. Diakomihalis finishes his time at Cornell with a 115-2 record; having never lost to an EIWA/Ivy League opponent. This is the second consecutive year in which he was named the EIWA Wrestler of the Year by InterMat. Cornell's freshman Vince Cornella (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) 2022-23 InterMat EIWA Freshman of the Year: Vince Cornella (Cornell) Vince Cornella narrowly edged teammate Brett Ungar for conference Freshman of the Year honors. Ungar finished up strong at nationals, while Cornella had the better body of work for the entire season. After a fifth-place finish at the U20 World Championships last summer, Cornella showed he was likely ready for a big year in Ithaca. Right off the bat, Cornella got off to a great start with a win at the Bearcat Open and a victory in his dual debut. Cornella had a bit of a subpar performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, but bounced back to win eight of his final ten duals. That set the stage for a dominant showing at the EIWA Championships. Cornella went 4-0 with three falls and a major decision to capture a conference title. With his performance at the EIWA Championships, Cornella earned the second seed in Tulsa. There he was victorious in the opening round with a 7-4 win over McKenzie Bell (Rider) but fell in the two matches that followed. For the year, Cornella finished with a 21-6 record and only one loss against EIWA competition. Cornell head coach Mike Grey (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) 2022-23 InterMat EIWA Coach of the Year: Mike Grey (Cornell) In just his second season as head coach of the Big Red, Mike Grey’s Cornell squad amassed 76.5 team points at the 2023 NCAA Championships, good enough for a third-place finish. That was an improvement from Cornell’s seventh-place finish in 2022. Cornell finished with a 12-3 dual record for the second consecutive season. Grey’s team tallied dual victories over Virginia Tech, Oregon State, North Carolina and Arizona State. Individually, the Big Red saw a pair of wrestlers claim national titles with Yianni Diakomihalis grabbing his fourth and Vito Arujau winning at 133 lbs. Arujau dominated Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) and Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) in his final two matches to earn Outstanding Wrestler honors in Tulsa. Along with their national champions, Chris Foca (3rd) and Jacob Cardenas (8th) also got onto the podium for Cornell. Despite competing in an ever-improving EIWA, Cornell dominated the conference tournament with six champions and outdistanced Lehigh by 45 points. Even with the loss of Diakomihalis, the future looks bright for Grey and the Big Red as three All-Americans are set to return in 2023-24. 2022 Award Winners EIWA Wrestler of the Year: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) EIWA Coach of the Year: Chris Ayres (Princeton) EIWA Rookie (Freshman) of the Year: CJ Composto (Penn)

Archie Colgan at the 2015 UWW Junior Finals (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The NCAA wrestling season has come to an end, and there is a bit of a dead period before the Freestyle/Greco season really kicks into high gear. Of course, there really are no dead periods in MMA these days. Even on a weekend without a UFC show, there are plenty of other viewing options, and those options are loaded with former wrestlers. On Friday, the Bellator show features several former college stars, and the CFFC show on UFC Fight Pass has a current coach in action. On Saturday, the Professional Fighters League kicks off its 2023 season with some familiar wrestling names. Friday: Bellator 293 John Salter vs. Aaron Jeffery Salter won an NAIA title for Lindenwood at 174 pounds in 2007. He made his professional MMA debut in 2009 and has since fought for Strikeforce, UFC and Bellator. Salter has been fighting exclusively for Bellator since signing with the promotion in 2015. He won eight of his first nine fights but is coming off back-to-back losses against former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi and current champion Johnny Eblen. Jeffery holds a 13-3 record as a professional and has won both of his fights with Bellator since signing with the promotion last year. In his last bout, he scored a first-round knockout over former title challenger Austin Vanderford. Sullivan Cauley vs. Luke Trainer Cauley was a three-time state placer in his native Nevada, and he continued his wrestling career at Arizona State. He bounced between heavyweight and 197 during his time in Tempe between 2014 and 2017. Cauley currently trains under Bellator heavyweight champion and fellow former Arizona State wrestler Ryan Bader. Last November, he improved to 5-0 as a professional with a first-round stoppage over Jay Radick. Trainer is currently 6-1 and coming off a first-round submission victory over Lucas Alsina. He has gone 3-1 in Bellator since 2020. Archie Colgan vs. Justin Montalvo Colgan was a two-time NCAA qualifier for Wyoming and finished his career with over 100 victories. He came as close as possible to becoming an All-American during his junior season in 2017 when he came up short in the round of 12. Colgan made his MMA debut in 2021. In his last fight, he improved to 6-0 as a professional with a 50-second victory over Jesse Hannam last November. Montalvo is also undefeated at 5-0. He has won both of his fights under the Bellator banner since 2021. Joey Davis vs. Jeff Creighton Davis was a four-time undefeated NCAA Division II champion for Notre Dame (Ohio). After college, he signed with Bellator and made his debut with the company in 2016. He quickly moved up the ranks and by 2020, he had built an 8-0 record. Davis will return here for the first time in over two years. Creighton has gone 2-0-1 since suffering his second professional loss against former NC State wrestler Max Rohskopf in 2021. This will be his Bellator debut. He was scheduled to fight for Urijah Faber's promotion this past January, but the bout was canceled. Bryce Meredith vs. Brandon Carrillo Meredith was a three-time All-American at Wyoming, and he made the finals of the 2018 NCAA tournament at 141 pounds. He turned his focus to MMA in 2021 and started his career with three-straight victories. After spending his entire early career with LFA, he signed with Bellator late last year. This will be his first fight with the new company. Carrillo fought for the first time last April when he scored a first-round victory over Eugene Murray under the Gladiator Challenge banner. The main card of Bellator 293, which features Salter and Cauley, will air live on Showtime at 10:00pm ET on Friday night. The rest of the wrestlers will be part of the YouTube portion of the show, which is scheduled to begin at 7:00pm ET. Friday: CFFC 117 CJ LaFragola vs. Zayne Havener LaFragola was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Brown, and he is currently an assistant coach at Drexel. As a senior in 2019, he went 24-11 and qualified through the EIWA tournament. LaFragola made his amateur MMA debut in 2021 and has since built an undefeated 4-0 record. He last fought this past November where he scored a decision victory over Jahrael Cromartie. Havener is also an undefeated amateur fighter. This past October, he pushed his record to 5-0 with a second-round armbar submission victory over Austin Striggle. Three of his five victories have come via submission. The LaFragola vs. Havener fight is set to be part of the YouTube preliminary card, which airs live at 7:00pm ET on Friday. Saturday: PFL 1: 2023 Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade Jenkins returns for another PFL tournament after making the finals last year. He scored three victories for PFL in 2022 but ultimately lost against Brendan Loughnane in the tournament finale. During his collegiate days, Jenkins was an NCAA finalist for Penn State before transferring to Arizona State for his final year. With the new school, he returned to the finals and scored a legendary upset over David Taylor. Wade and Jenkins fought back in 2021 with Wade taking the decision victory. Like Jenkins, he also took part in the 2022 PFL lightweight tournament, and like Jenkins, he also was eliminated from contention by the eventual champion Loughnane. Marthin Hamlet vs. Mohammad Fakhreddine Hamlet was regular on the Greco-Roman circuit for Norway from 2011 to 2016. He won multiple Nordic Championships at 98 kg, but his best finish was a bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships. Hamlet finished fifth at the Olympic Qualification Tournament for the 2016 Olympics and then decided to focus on MMA. He has gone 4-3 with PFL since joining the promotion in 2021. Fakhreddine will bring a 15-4 record into his PFL debut. He last fought last March where he scored a second-round victory over Mohamed Said Maalem in Bahrain. Josh Silveira vs. Sam Kei During his time at Arizona State, Silveira won the 197-pound Pac 12 title and qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2016. He made his professional MMA debut in 2019 and has gone 9-1 to date. He signed with PFL last year and has gone 2-1 with the promotion. He will return to action for the first time after a loss as he dropped a decision against UFC veteran Omari Akhmedov last August. Kei signed with PFL last year and dropped his heavyweight debut against Juan Adams. He will look to improve on his 8-6 record in the light heavyweight division against Silveira. Saturday's PFL show will be split into a preliminary card and a main card, but both parts of the show will air live on ESPN+. Jenkins kicks off the main card at 9:00pm ET, while Hamlet and Silveira will be on the preliminary card scheduled for 6:00pm ET.

Arizona State's Three-time All-American Michael McGee (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Over the next week, InterMat will unveil its annual, year-end conference awards. Each day will feature a new conference. Award winners have been selected by InterMat's editor and respective conference correspondent(s). 2022-23 InterMat Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year: Michael McGee (Arizona State) Senior Michael McGee got on the NCAA podium for a third time competing for Arizona State and saved his best for last. After finishing sixth and fourth in the previous two seasons, McGee went out in his final year and took third in the 133 lb weight class. That looks even more impressive when you consider the bracket that McGee had to navigate and his performance. In the NCAA semifinals, McGee pushed two-time NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) to sudden victory before falling via a 6-4 score. Two matches later, McGee took a 2-1 decision over three-time national runner-up Daton Fix (Oklahoma State). It was only the sixth loss of Fix's decorated career. Before the NCAA Tournament, McGee captured his second Pac-12 title. It was also his fourth career conference championship, as he won a pair of MAC titles with Old Dominion. His Pac-12 finals victory gave McGee an 11-match winning streak heading into Tulsa. McGee finished his 2022-23 campaign with a 25-3 record. The other two losses both came to the eventual national champion, Vito Arujau (Cornell). One was in a dual and the other was in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. For his career, McGee went 124-27 overall and 64-11 in a Sun Devil singlet. Stanford freshman Daniel Cardenas (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2022-23 InterMat Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) Daniel Cardenas came into Palo Alto as the #2 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 by MatScouts. As one may expect by his pre-colllegiate ranking, Cardenas didn't disappoint, winning his first 16 matches of the season. That streak extended into the 2023 Southern Scuffle. Before the Scuffle, Cardenas picked up tournament titles at the Menlo Open and the Appalachian State Invite. He'd end up third at the Scuffle. Despite Cardenas' strong first half of the season, it wasn't a given that he'd be in the Stanford lineup. The Cardinal staff had a tough decision to make as they got good production from veteran Charlie Darracott, too. After the Scuffle, it wasn't until mid-February before Cardenas got back in the lineup, which eliminated the possibility of a redshirt. Cardenas finished the year with back-to-back dual wins, which gave him a perfect 5-0 dual record for the season. Cardenas was the only freshman to claim a Pac-12 title during the 2022-23 season. His Pac-12 crown gave him a 22-1 record and the sixth seed at his first NCAA Tournament. In Tulsa, Cardenas was victorious in his first two matches was put him in the 157 lb quarterfinals. From there, he suffered back-to-back 6-4 losses to Peyton Robb (Nebraska) and Ed Scott (NC State), which left him a match shy of All-American status. Cal Poly head coach Jon Sioredas (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2022-23 InterMat Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Jon Sioredas (Cal Poly) The Cal Poly Mustangs finished their Pac-12 schedule undefeated to take the conference dual title. The Mustangs started the year 2-4 (albeit against excellent competition), but hit their stride against their familiar conference foes and ended up 8-6. Cal Poly's win over Arizona State snapped a ten-match losing streak against the Sun Devils which went back to the 2012 season. Individually, Sioredas' team placed a wrestler on the podium for the third consecutive NCAA Tournament. 197 lber Bernie Truax entered the national tournament with the second seed and finished fourth. It was the third consecutive time Truax was fourth. With the late addition of Dom Demas to the NCAA tournament bracket at 149 lbs, it gave the Mustangs five national qualifiers. They've had five in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Sioredas' team has now put together back-to-back winning seasons after going winless in 2017-18 and 2018-19. 2022 Award Winners Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year: Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Chris Pendleton (Oregon State) Pac-12 Rookie (Freshman) of the Year: Trey Munoz (Oregon State)

NCAA champions Keegan O'Toole (left) and David Carr (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 125 lbs 2023: Patrick Glory (Princeton) 2022: Nick Suriano (Michigan) 2021: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2019: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2018: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2017: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) 2016: Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 2015: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) 2014: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 2013: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 2012: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 2011: Anthony Robles (Arizona State) 2010: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 2009: Troy Nickerson (Cornell) 2008: Angel Escobedo (Indiana) 2007: Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) 2006: Joe Dubuque (Indiana) 2005: Joe Dubuque (Indiana) 2004: Jason Powell (Nebraska) 2003: Travis Lee (Cornell) 2002: Stephen Abas (Fresno State) 2001: Stephen Abas (Fresno State) 2000: Jeremy Hunter (Penn State) 133 lbs 2023: Vito Arujau (Cornell) 2022: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 2021: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 2019: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 2018: Seth Gross (South Dakota State) 2017: Cory Clark (Iowa) 2016: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 2015: Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) 2014: Tony Ramos (Iowa) 2013: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2012: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2011: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2010: Jayson Ness (Minnesota) 2009: Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) 2008: Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State) 2007: Matt Valenti (Penn) 2006: Matt Valenti (Penn) 2005: Travis Lee (Cornell) 2004: Zach Roberson (Iowa State) 2003: Johnny Thompson (Oklahoma State) 2002: Johnny Thompson (Oklahoma State) 2001: Eric Juergens (Iowa) 2000: Eric Juergens (Iowa) 141 lbs 2023: Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 2022: Nick Lee (Penn State) 2021: Nick Lee (Penn State) 2019: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2018: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2017: Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) 2016: Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) 2015: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2014: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2013: Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 2012: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 2011: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 2010: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2009: J Jaggers (Ohio State) 2008: J Jaggers (Ohio State) 2007: Derek Moore (UC Davis) 2006: Nate Gallick (Iowa State) 2005: Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) 2004: Cliff Moore (Iowa) 2003: Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) 2002: Aaron Holker (Iowa State) 2001: Michael Lightner (Oklahoma) 2000: Carl Perry (Illinois) 149 lbs 2023: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2022: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2021: Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) 2019: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) 2018: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2017: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2016: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2015: Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) 2014: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) 2013: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2012: Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 2011: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2010: Brent Metcalf (Iowa) 2009: Darrion Caldwell (NC State) 2008: Brent Metcalf (Iowa) 2007: Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) 2006: Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) 2005: Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State) 2004: Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) 2003: Eric Larkin (Arizona State) 2002: Jared Lawrence (Minnesota) 2001: Adam Tirapelle (Illinois) 2000: Tony Davis (Northern Iowa) 157 lbs 2023: Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) 2022: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 2021: David Carr (Iowa State) 2019: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2018: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2017: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2016: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) 2015: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) 2014: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2013: Derek St. John (Iowa) 2012: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2011: Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) 2010: JP O’Connor (Havard) 2009: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) 2008: Jordan Leen (Cornell) 2007: Trent Paulson (Iowa State) 2006: Ben Cherrington (Boise State) 2005: Ryan Bertin (Michigan) 2004: Matt Gentry (Stanford) 2003: Ryan Bertin (Michigan) 2002: Luke Becker (Minnesota) 2001: TJ Williams (Iowa) 2000: Brett Matter (Penn) 165 lbs 2023: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) 2022: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) 2021: Shane Griffith (Stanford) 2019: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 2018: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 2017: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 2016: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2015: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2014: David Taylor (Penn State) 2013: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2012: David Taylor (Penn State) 2011: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) 2010: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) 2009: Jarrod King (Edinboro) 2008: Mark Perry (Iowa) 2007: Mark Perry (Iowa) 2006: Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State) 2005: Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State) 2004: Troy Letters (Lehigh) 2003: Matt Lackey (Illinois) 2002: Joe Heskett (Iowa State) 2001: Donny Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) 2000: Donny Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) 174 lbs 2023: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2022: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2021: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2019: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 2018: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 2017: Mark Hall (Penn State) 2016: Myles Martin (Ohio State) 2015: Matt Brown (Penn State) 2014: Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2013: Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2012: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2011: Jon Reader (Iowa State) 2010: Jay Borschel (Iowa) 2009: Steve Luke (Michigan) 2008: Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh) 2007: Ben Askren (Missouri) 2006: Ben Askren (Missouri) 2005: Chris Pendelton (Oklahoma State) 2004: Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) 2003: Robbie Waller (Oklahoma) 2002: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2001: Josh Koscheck (Edinboro) 2000: Byron Tucker (Oklahoma) 184 lbs 2023: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2022: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2021: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2019: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) 2018: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2017: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2016: Gabe Dean (Cornell) 2015: Gabe Dean (Cornell) 2014: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2013: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2012: Steve Bosak (Cornell) 2011: Quentin Wright (Penn State) 2010: Max Askren (Missouri) 2009: Jake Herbert (Northwestern) 2008: Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) 2007: Jake Herbert (Northwestern) 2006: Shane Webster (Oregon) 2005: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2004: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2003: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2002: Rob Rohn (Lehigh) 2001: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 2000: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 197 lbs 2023: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 2022: Max Dean (Penn State) 2021: AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) 2019: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2018: Mike Macchiavello (NC State) 2017: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2016: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2015: Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 2014: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2013: Quentin Wright (Penn State) 2012: Cam Simaz (Cornell) 2011: Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) 2010: Jake Varner (Iowa State) 2009: Jake Varner (Iowa State) 2008: Phil Davis (Penn State) 2007: Josh Glenn (American) 2006: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2005: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2004: Damion Hahn (Minnesota) 2003: Damion Hahn (Minnesota) 2002: Cael Sanderson (Penn State) 2001: Mark Munoz (Oklahoma State) 2000: Brad Vering (Nebraska) 285 lbs 2023: Mason Parris (Michigan) 2022: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 2021: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 2019: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) 2018: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2017: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2016: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2015: Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 2014: Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 2013: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 2012: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 2011: Zach Rey (Lehigh) 2010: David Zabriskie (Iowa State) 2009: Mark Ellis (Missouri) 2008: Dustin Fox (Northwestern) 2007: Cole Konrad (Minnesota) 2006: Cole Konrad (Minnesota) 2005: Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State) 2004: Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) 2003: Steve Mocco (Iowa) 2002: Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) 2001: John Lockhart (Illinois) 2000: Brock Lesnar (Minnesota)

2x All-American Jonathan Millner (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Over the next week, InterMat will unveil its annual, year-end conference awards. Each day will feature a new conference. Award winners have been selected by InterMat's editor and respective conference correspondent(s). 2022-23 InterMat SoCon Wrestler of the Year: Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) We've got an unusually unique set of circumstances surrounding the SoCon Wrestler of the Year. Jonathan Miller was well on his way to winning the award for the second consecutive year from InterMat when he was injured and unavailable to compete at the 2023 NCAA Championships. In Tulsa, the SoCon had a relatively down showing, as a whole, and only one wrestler advanced to the consolation round of 16. That pulls Millner back into the equation. Millner had one of the greatest careers in the long history of Appalachian State wrestling earning All-American honors twice at the NCAA Championships. Along the way, he qualified for the NCAA Championships on four occasions, winning a SoCon title in each instance. Millner's career ended on an 11-match winning streak after he ran through the SoCon schedule and conference tournament without a loss. At the SoCon's, Millner pinned his first two opponents before a 4-0 shutout in the championship bout. Earlier in the 2022-23 season, Millner won the App State Invite and Keystone Classic before taking fourth place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. For the year, Millner went 29-3 with the three losses coming to wrestlers that finished fourth (Kyle Parco) and fifth (Caleb Henson) in the nation and another coming to a former NCAA third-place finisher (Yahya Thomas). In a Mountaineer singlet, Millner amassed a 121-24 record which was eight wins shy of the school record, was only the third multi-time All-American in program history and is the only App State wrestler to win four SoCon titles. Appalachian State head coach JohnMark Bentley (right) (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat SoCon Coach of the Year: JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State) Appalachian State finished the regular season with a 12-2 record and a #20 overall ranking nationally. Coach Bentley's team scored a huge upset win in mid-December against North Carolina and their only two losses on the year came to ACC foes #3 NC State and #8 Virginia Tech. For the second consecutive season, the Mountaineers navigated through the SoCon dual schedule without a loss. The SoCon tournament has been where Appalachian State has faltered in the past; however, that streak stopped in 2023. From 2019-22, the Mountaineers finished second at the SoCo Championships to Campbell. There was no drama surrounding the tournament this season as Appalachian State put eight of their ten starters in the conference finals and took a commanding lead into the final session. ASU finished with a 24.5-point margin of victory and three conference champs (Caleb Smith, Millner, Tommy Askey). Once at-large berths were announced, Appalachian State had five wrestlers headed to Tulsa. A few days before the event, an injury at 133 lbs allowed Ethan Oakley to compete, as well. Millner (#9) and Smith (#5) were both given top-ten seeds at nationals. After the 2022-23 season, coach JohnMark Bentley's career record as head coach of the Mountaineers is 124-75. That total is the second highest in school history. NCAA qualifier Ethan Oakley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022-23 InterMat SoCon Freshman of the Year: Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) It wasn't until mid-January that Ethan Oakley ascended into the starting role for Appalachian State at 133 lbs. The Mountaineers had the services of 2021 national qualifier Sean Carter, who had a spot in the national rankings; however, Carter suffered a season-ending injury. Oakley made the most of his opportunity and won the final eight duals of the season. Two of those wins came over top-20 opponents from Chattanooga and Campbell and gave him the top seed at the SoCon Championships. Unfortunately, after a loss in a true-second place match to Campbell's Dom Zaccone, it appeared as if Oakley wouldn't make the trip to nationals. As mentioned above, Oakley got the call to fill in and ended up grabbing a win in the pigtail round over North Dakota State's McGwire Midkiff. That made him the only Appalachian State wrestler to notch a win in Tulsa. For his first full year as a starter, Oakley finished with a 21-13 record and has plenty of experience to build on going forward. 2021-22 Award Winners SoCon Wrestler of the Year: Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) SoCon Coach of the Year: JohnMark Bentley (Appalachian State) SoCon Rookie (Freshman) of the Year: Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State)

2023 125 lb NCAA champion Patrick Glory (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) "Early Turmoil, early adversity (working hard), despite not having early success." Those were the words from Patrick Glory when asked about the legacy he wanted to leave for his teammates and future Princeton wrestlers. Glory spoke to InterMat yesterday, just over a week after he became Princeton's first NCAA champion since 1951. In our interview, Glory is very up front about an up-and-down senior season. That seems difficult to fathom as he still finished the season as an undefeated national champion, but it is applicable. During our almost 40-minute conversation, Glory touched on such topics as celebration dinners, Spencer Lee's upset, walking out to the NCAA finals carrying Ol' Glory, his gameplan and actions against Ramos, the emotions post-NCAA's and, of course, the Yankees rookie phenom at shortstop. For the full interview, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

2023 Hodge Trophy Winner Mason Parris (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but Mason Parris is the 2023 Hodge Trophy winner. If not, well, now you know. There was some debate online about whether or not Parris was the right pick. For what it’s worth, he was my choice. This year was odd as it was not a year where there was one obvious selection and Parris edged the rest of the field. Now that Parris is the Hodge winner, how did his Hodge-winning season stack up against other recent winners? We’ve gone back to 2013 to look at all of the Hodge winners and picked out some key areas that can be weighed against one another. These aren’t perfect metrics, but they give you a solid idea on just how strong a wrestler’s Hodge season was (compared to the other greats). 2023 Mason Parris (Michigan) Record: 33-0 Falls: 11 Bonus Point %: 63.6 Wins over 2023 All-Americans: 10 Number of 2023 All-Americans Defeated: 5 (Kerkvliet, Hendrickson, Cassioppi, Davison, Hillger) Wins over 2023 NCAA Qualifiers: 20 Bonus Point Wins at Nationals: 3 (Maj Joles, Maj Davison, Tech Cassioppi) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Lock Haven All-American Anthony Noto (Photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Over the next week, InterMat will unveil its annual, year-end conference awards. Each day will feature a new conference. Award winners have been selected by InterMat’s editor and respective conference correspondent(s). 2022-23 InterMat MAC Wrestler of the Year: Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) Just a year after taking home InterMat’s Freshman (or rookie) of the Year honors, Anthony Noto has moved up to win the MAC Wrestler of the Year award. Noto was the highest-placing wrestler from the MAC finishing fourth at the 125 lb weight class for Lock Haven. In Tulsa, Noto posted wins over two past All-Americans (Eric Barnett - Wisconsin and Killian Cardinale - West Virginia), along with the 2023 Big Ten runner-up, Liam Cronin (Nebraska). In order to secure a place on the NCAA podium, Noto downed Rutgers freshman Dean Peterson 3-1 in the bloodround. Before the NCAA Tournament, Noto claimed his second MAC title in as many tries. After a couple of close bouts in the early rounds, Noto left no doubt by majoring Jake Ferri (Kent State) 8-0 for the conference crown. Through two full years of competition, Noto has not lost to a MAC opponent in duals or tournaments. Noto’s second MAC title gave him an 18-match winning streak heading into the national tournament. For his body of work, Noto was given the eighth seed at 125 lbs. That was quickly proven to be too low as Noto certainly outperformed that seed. Through two years of competition at Lock Haven, Noto sports a 65-7 record. He managed to tally five falls this season among his 34 victories. George Mason national qualifier Nathan Higley (Photo courtesy of Art Pittman; George Mason athletics) 2022-23 InterMat MAC Freshman of the Year: Nathan Higley (George Mason) It was in late December that George Mason redshirt freshman Nathan Higley may have first caught the eye of college wrestling fans nationwide. That was when Higley got on the podium at the 2022 Midlands Championships, finishing eighth at 149 lbs. Higley notched wins over a trio of returning NCAA qualifiers in Marshall Keller (Princeton), Graham Rooks (Indiana), and Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia). The Rooks win (by fall) looks even better in hindsight as the Hoosier upset fourth-seeded Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) at the NCAA Tournament and made the quarterfinals. After the Midlands, Higley hit a rough patch, but headed into the postseason after winning three of his final four bouts. Though he didn’t earn an allocation for the MAC, Higley pinned a pair of wrestlers who did to earn a spot in the MAC finals. Since the conference was given five slots for the NCAA Tournament, Higley’s fall over second-seeded Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) in the semifinals, punched his ticket to Tulsa. A match early he pinned Quinn Kinner (Rider) the third seed. Higley’s berth in the MAC finals made him the first wrestler to make the conference championship match since George Mason moved into the conference for the 2019-20 season. Though he did not win a match in Tulsa, Higley gained valuable experience with matches against 2021 All-American Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) and Oklahoma State’s redshirt freshman Victor Voinovich. Clarion head coach Keith Ferraro (Photo courtesy of Clarion athletics) 2022-23 InterMat MAC Coach of the Year: Keith Ferraro (Clarion) The Golden Eagles have continued to rise under Keith Ferraro’s leadership and in 2022-23 they hit some significant milestones. 184 lb MAC champion Will Feldkamp finished in seventh place at the NCAA Tournament and gave Ferraro his first All-American as a head coach. During Feldkamp’s consolation run, he knocked off a pair of Big Ten wrestlers seeded above him (#9 Isaiah Salazar - Minnesota and #13 Lenny Pinto - Nebraska). He concluded his tournament by pinning North Carolina’s Gavin Kane in the first period. Feldkamp was one of three wrestlers for Clarion competing at the NCAA Championships. All three were MAC finalists in 2023, which was the most for the school since moving to the MAC and the most since 2018 when they competed in the EWL. Along with Feldkamp, Seth Koleno also came away with a conference title (141 lbs). That marked the first time since 2016 that Clarion crowned multiple conference champions. Feldkamp was the only wrestler that earned an NCAA allocation for the MAC so Koleno and John Worthing had to outperform their pre-tournament seeds to go to nationals. Worthing was able to grab a pair of wins in Tulsa, including a major decision over #16 Sam Wolf (Air Force), while Koleno pinned Bloomsburg’s Josh Mason in a MAC finals rematch. As a team, Clarion was third at the 2023 MAC Championships an improvement from their fifth-place showing a year ago. During the regular season, Clarion amassed an 11-6 dual record. Most notable were wins against typical MAC powers Lock Haven and Central Michigan. The win over Lock Haven was Clarion’s second in three years, after dropping the previous five meetings. 2022 Award Winners MAC Wrestler of the Year: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) MAC Coach of the Year: Scott Moore (Lock Haven) MAC Rookie (Freshman) of the Year: Anthony Noto (Lock Haven)

North Central's Yelena Makoyed (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Yelena Makoyed, a senior at North Central College, was elected as the inaugural winner of the USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year today. This was first announced on FloWrestling’s The Bader Show this morning. The award was selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups accounted for one-third of the vote. Makoyed was a 2023 NCWWC national champion at 170 pounds, the national championships for institutions from the NCAA. She finished with a 28-0 record, with 15 pins and 11 technical falls. She is now a three-time NCWWC national champion. Other tournaments which Makoyed won during the 2022-23 college season were the NCWWC Region 4 Championships, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championships, the Adrian Open and the Pointer Open. Makoyed, along with her teammates, led North Central to the 2023 NCWWC National Team title, as well. “I am super proud of her. She is incredibly deserving of the award. She has won a lot of awards, but this one is special. It is cool for her to win the first one. She has been a trend-setter for our program, and she led us to a national title. We would not have won a team title without her. It is not just the points that she scored, but also the leadership she has provided and what she has done for us in recruiting. She is a trailblazer, and that is where women’s wrestling is now,” said North Central College head coach Joe Norton. Makoyed is currently on the USA Wrestling Senior National Team, with a No. 2 ranking at 76 kg/167 lbs. During the college season, she travelled with Team USA to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series Event in Croatia, winning the gold medal at 76 kg. “USA Wrestling is very proud of Yelena Makoyed. She has been incredibly involved in USA Wrestling programs for years. I can’t think of a better person to win this inaugural award. Congratulations to Yelena, North Central College and to all of the great finalists. What a great year for women’s college wrestling!” said Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director. Makoyed received 42% of the combined vote to secure the award over five other undefeated college national champion finalists. The other finalists, in alphabetical order, were junior Lexie Basham of Texas Wesleyan University, redshirt junior Marissa Gallegos of Colorado Mesa University, graduate student Dymond Guilford of the University of the Cumberlands, sophomore Adaugo Nwachukwu of Iowa Wesleyan University and senior Peyton Prussin of Life University. Prussin, Basham, Guilford and Nwachukwu were NAIA national champions this year, while Gallegos was an NCWWC national champion this season. Guilford and Prussin are three-time national champions, Nwachukwu and Basham are two-time national champions and Gallegos is a one-time national champion. Women’s college varsity wrestlers from all of the recognized college organizations were eligible, including NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA/junior college programs. The finalists were selected by a committee overseeing the award program, featuring representatives of the media, college coaches and wrestling fans. These six finalists were selected from a pool of 13 college national champions who were identified as potential candidates after the national tournaments were completed. USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award winners 2023 – Yelena Makoyed, senior, North Central College

Michigan's 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy recipient Mason Parris (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) This afternoon, WIN Magazine announced that the 2023 Dan Hodge Trophy would be awarded to Michigan 285 lber Mason Parris. Not only is Parris the first Wolverine wrestler to receive the lofty honor, but he is only the second one to even be named as a finalist (Kellan Russell was a finalist in 2011). Parris earns the honor after finishing his senior season with a perfect 33-0 mark and his first Big Ten and NCAA titles. In both the Big Ten and NCAA finals, Parris defeated Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet. Although the award criteria changed slightly in 2022, dominance has been one of the traits that have continued along with the award. Parris tallied a bonus point percentage of over 63% in 2022-23, a mark that is even more impressive considering his competition and the difficulty scoring at the 285 lb weight class. At the 2023 NCAA Championships, Parris had bonus-point wins in three of his five contests, including a technical fall victory over fourth-place finisher Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) in the semis and a major decision over fifth-place finisher Lucas Davison (Northwestern) in the quarters. The award initially placed a premium on pinning, as its namesake Dan Hodge, was one of college wrestling’s best pinners ever. That criterion has since been removed; however, Parris did have 11 on this season. For the year, Parris scored 10 wins over five of the eventual 2023 All-Americans. The national title marks the third time that Parris has earned a spot on the NCAA podium. He was fifth in 2022 and a runner-up in 2021. Additionally, after the 2020 national tournament was canceled, Parris was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA. By Parris winning the Hodge, there have been three consecutive seasons where a heavyweight has taken home the honor. Minnesota’s Gable Steveson received the trophy in 2022 and shared it with Spencer Lee in 2021. Before Steveson, Steve Mocco (2005) was the last big man to haul in the trophy. There was no shortage of potential suitors for the Hodge in 2023. Four-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis became only the fifth wrestler to achieve that feat and the other three that competed during the lifespan of the trophy have received the honor at least once (Pat Smith finished his career in 1994, the year before the award was first handed out). Additionally, Patrick Glory (Princeton), Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado), Austin O’Connor (North Carolina), Carter Starocci (Penn State), and Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) all finished the year unbeaten. Record has been the first criteria for the Hodge since its inception and only once has a wrestler with a loss taken the honor (Brent Metcalf - 2008). Parris finished his Michigan career with a 126-18 record. Nine of those losses came as a true freshman and six more came during an injury-plagued 2021-22 season. With Parris being named the 2023 Hodge Trophy winner, the award has been given to a Big Ten wrestler every year since 2017. Votes for the Hodge Trophy are taken from a collection of wrestling journalists, past Hodge Trophy recipients and a fan vote.

Ohio State signee Vinny Kilkeary (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Saturday evening marked the 49th edition of the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic (formerly known as the Dapper Dan). The dual meet pits a team of Pennsylvania All-Stars against an All-Star team composed of some of the nation’s best. Pennsylvania is perhaps the only state that could legitimately compete against such a squad on a yearly basis. The 2023 version of the PWC was the spot for a pair of OSU’s to showcase their top incoming freshman. Both Ohio State and Oklahoma State proved to be the big winners at the conclusion of the All-Star dual meet. Each school had a pair of recruits shining in some form or fashion. While this was a Pennsylvania vs. the USA dual meet, Ohio State’s top recruits were part of the Pennsylvania contingent. As luck would have it, both faced future Penn State wrestlers who were a part of Team USA. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

The 2023 NCAA National Champion Penn State Nittany Lions (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) With another NCAA Tournament in the books, it gives us the opportunity to add more data to the ever-growing pile of stats. Looking back at the last ten years, here are some updated figures regarding key benchmarks in college wrestling. Since there was no national tournament in 2020, our look has extended back to the 2013 season. Also, remember that the Ivy League schools did not participate during the 2021 season, so their numbers may have taken a slight hit, as a result. NCAA Titles (30) - Penn State: Zain Retherford (3), Jason Nolf (3), Bo Nickal (3), Aaron Brooks (3), Carter Starocci (3), Ed Ruth (2), Vincenzo Joseph (2), Nick Lee (2), Roman Bravo-Young (2), Quentin Wright, David Taylor, Matt Brown, Nico Megaludis, Mark Hall, Anthony Cassar, Max Dean (9) - Cornell: Yianni Diakomihalis (4), Gabe Dean (2), Kyle Dake, Nahshon Garrett, Vito Arujau (9) - Oklahoma State: Alex Dieringer (3), Chris Perry (2), Dean Heil (2), Jordan Oliver, AJ Ferrari (8) - Ohio State: Logan Stieber (3), Kyle Snyder (3), Nathan Tomasello, Myles Martin (6) - Iowa: Spencer Lee (3), Derek St. John, Tony Ramos, Cory Clark (6) - Missouri: J'den Cox (3), Keegan O'Toole (2), Drake Houdashelt (4) - Illinois: Jesse Delgado (2), Isaiah Martinez (2) (3) - Minnesota: Gable Steveson (2), Tony Nelson (3) - NC State: Nick Gwiazdowski (2), Michael Macchiavello (2) - Arizona State: Zahid Valencia (2) (2) - Iowa State: Kyven Gadson, David Carr (2) - Michigan: Nick Suriano, Mason Parris (2) - North Carolina: Austin O'Connor (2) (2) - Northwestern: Jason Tsirtsis, Ryan Deakin (2) - Oklahoma: Kendric Maple, Cody Brewer (2) - Rutgers: Nick Suriano, Anthony Ashnault (1) - Lehigh: Darian Cruz (1) - Northern Colorado: Andrew Alirez (1) - Northern Iowa: Drew Foster (1) - Pittsburgh: Nino Bonaccorsi (1) - Princeton: Patrick Glory (1) - South Dakota State: Seth Gross (1) - Stanford: Shane Griffith (1) Virginia Tech: Mekhi Lewis NCAA Finalists (42) Penn State (17) Ohio State (15) Iowa (15) Oklahoma State (13) Cornell (8) Missouri (7) Michigan (7) Minnesota (6) Illinois (6) NC State (4) Arizona State (4) Nebraska (4) Northwestern (4) Pittsburgh (4) Virginia Tech (3) Edinboro (3) Iowa State (3) Lehigh (3) North Carolina (3) Oklahoma (3) Princeton (3) Rutgers (3) South Dakota State (3) Wisconsin (2) Northern Iowa (2) Stanford (2) Virginia (2) Wyoming (1) Boise State (1) Indiana (1) Kent State (1) Lock Haven (1) Maryland (1) Purdue (1) Rider (1) West Virginia NCAA All-Americans (64) Penn State (56) Iowa (49) Oklahoma State (45) Ohio State (39) Minnesota (39) Missouri (39) Virginia Tech (34) Michigan (33) Cornell (32) Nebraska (23) Arizona State (22) NC State (20) Lehigh (19) Iowa State (19) Wisconsin (18) Illinois (18) Northwestern (16) North Carolina (15) Rutgers (14) Northern Iowa (13) Oregon State (10) Edinboro (10) Oklahoma (10) Princeton (9) Stanford (8) Pittsburgh (8) South Dakota State (8) Virginia (8) Wyoming (6) Central Michigan (6) Duke (6) Kent State (6) Lock Haven (6) North Dakota State (6) Old Dominion (6) Rider (5) West Virginia (4) Cal Poly (4) Indiana (4) Maryland (3) Appalachian State (3) Boise State (3) Ohio (3) Penn (3) Purdue (3) The Citadel (3) Utah Valley (2) Clarion (2) Fresno State (2) Michigan State (2) Northern Illinois (1) Air Force (1) American (1) Binghamton (1) Brown (1) Bucknell (1) Campbell (1) Columbia (1) CSU Bakersfield (1) Eastern Michigan (1) Franklin & Marshall (1) Hofstra (1) Navy (1) Northern Colorado (1) SIU Edwardsville NCAA Top-Ten Finishes (10) Iowa (10) Penn State (9) Cornell (9) Missouri (9) Ohio State (8) Virginia Tech (7) Michigan (7) Oklahoma State (6) Minnesota (6) Nebraska (4) Arizona State (4) NC State (3) Northwestern (2) Edinboro (2) Illinois (1) Oklahoma (1) Oregon State (1) Rutgers NCAA Team Trophy (Top-Four Finishes) (9) Iowa (9) Penn State (6) Ohio State (6) Oklahoma State (2) Arizona State (2) Michigan (2) Minnesota (1) Cornell (1) Edinboro (1) Missouri (1) NC State (1) Virginia Tech