InterMat Staff

Austin O'Connor at the 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of SJanickiPhoto.com) Leading up to this point, there could be lots of fluctuations in the standing, especially in Cumulative Scoring leagues, due to the abundance of opens and invitational tournaments. Well, the honeymoon period is over and we get into the heart of the beast… Dual Season. Match counts start to become more important and matchups that much more crucial. I know this sounds like the exact writing from the Week 10 Outlook, but it is crucial to understand and keep in the back of your head moving forward. Are you several points behind? You may have to take on some wrestlers with multiple matches for the week that in turn are riskier matchups. Do you have a sizable lead on the rest of the league? You still have to set a lineup and make sure you maintain a steady pace above the competition. Week 10 had a burst in points due to the F&M Open where several spots in the overall fantasy standing changed. Heavyweight Grady Greiss (NAVY) jumped up to the Overall #1 spot due to his 27 points on the week, due in large part to the F&M Open. He was bested for Week 10 Top-Scorer honors by two Tar Heels in 157 Austin O’Connor (UNC) with 28 Fpts and tied 141 Lachlan McNeil with 27 Fpts and a weekly PPM of 4.50. Three heavyweights currently make up the Top-3 in Overall Standings: #1- Grady Geiss (NAVY) with 74 Fpts #2- Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA) with 73 Fpts (PPM if 5.60) #3- Mason Parris (MICH) with 73 Fpts (PPM of 4.90) On To Week 11: Week 11 got an early start with a few duals taking place on Monday. Hopefully you took a look at the Week 11 Early Locks post on the InterMat Forums. No big tournaments stand out this week, but if any pop up we will be sure to note it in the Forum. There are only three weeks left in the FCW Regular Season. Make that push to win the week! A reminder of some important rules: Wrestlers entered at a weight must compete at that weight or else their results will not be counted. Wrestlers in the "Floater" spots can compete at ANY weight and accumulate Fantasy points. A wrestler will LOCK on your roster at 12pm ET on the day of their first competition for the week. (refer to the Master Team Schedule, Week 11 Visual, or SHP's Weekly Preview) Only results against D1 competition (starters, backups, and redshirts) will count towards Fantasy Points. Check your league settings to know how many add/drops are permitted per week. Have a question, concern, suggestions, or just want to chat about Fantasy Wrestling? Hit us up on Twitter or head over to the InterMat Forums where we have a Fantasy Wrestling dedicated Forum page! Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by tournament name first, then by school name 125 Nico Provo (STAN)- Vs North Dakota State, Vs California Baptist, Vs U Penn [+9] Caleb Smith (APP)- Vs Virginia Tech , @ The Citadel [+7] Joey Fischer (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Noah Surtin (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Stevo Poulin (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+7] Pat McKee (MINN)- @ Nebraska , Vs Michigan State [+6] Jack Wagner (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+6] Joey Prata (OU)- Virginia Duals [+6] Spencer Lee (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+4] Matt Ramos (PUR)- @ Illinois [+4] Killian Cardinale (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+4] Mason Leiphart (F&M)- Vs Drexel [+3] Blake West (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Colton Camacho (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Tyler Klinsky (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] Eric Barnett (WISC)- @ Michigan [+3] 133 Wyatt Henson (OU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Dylan Ragusin (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+6] Jason Shaner (ORST)- @ Little Rock, Vs Princeton [+6] Michael McGee (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Daton Fix (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- @ Stanford [+4] Micky Phillippi (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Lucas Byrd (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Domenic Zaccone (CAMP)- Virginia Duals [+3] Brayden Palmer (CHAT)- Vs West Virginia [+3] Vito Arujau (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Kai Orine (NCST)- Vs Army [+3] Bryce West (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Kyle Biscoglia (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Sam Latona (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] 141 Mosha Schwartz (OU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Clay Carlson (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+13] Dylan Droegenmueller (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+8] Andrew Alirez (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+8] Alan Hart (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Lachlan McNeil (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+7] Seth Koleno (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+6] Brock Hardy (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Jesse Vasquez (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Casey Swiderski (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Cael Happel (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Ryan Jack (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Javion Jones (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+4] Cole Matthews (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Saul Ervin (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+4] Tom Crook (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+4] Jordan Titus (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+4] Carmen Ferrante (PENN)- @ Stanford [+3] 149 Mitch Moore (OU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Luke Nichter (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+8] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+7] Zach Sherman (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+7] Kyle Parco (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+4] Yianni Diakomihalis (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+4] Paniro Johnson (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Jackson Arrington (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Colin Realbuto (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+4] Sammy Sasso (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+4] Kevon Davenport (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+3] Victor Voinovich (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Caleb Tyus (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Jarod Verkleeren (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+3] Sam Hillegas (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+3] Austin Gomez (WISC)- @ Michigan [+3] 157 Peyten Keller (OHIO)- Virginia Duals [+12] Austin O’Connor (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+9] Josh Humphreys (LEH)- @ Cornell, @ Binghamton [+8] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- Vs Northern Illinois, Vs SIU-Edwardsville [+7] Jared Franek (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+7] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Michigan State, Vs Wisconsin [+6] Peyton Robb (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Ty Whalen (PRIN)- Vs Oregon State (in Austin), @ Arizona State [+6] Ed Scott (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Marcus Robinson (CSU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Jason Kraisser (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Derek Holschlag (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Paddy Gallagher (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Jacob Butler (OU)- Virginia Duals [+3] 165 Tanner Cook (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Garrit Nijenhuis (OU)- Virginia Duals [+12] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+12] Shane Griffith (STAN)- Vs North Dakota State, Vs California Baptist, Vs U Penn [+11] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+8] Evan Barczak (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+7] Quincy Monday (PRIN)- Vs Oregon State (in Austin), @ Arizona State [+7] Cameron Pine (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+6] David Carr (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Hunter Mays (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+5] Peyton Hall (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+5] Danny Braunagel (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Patrick Kennedy (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+4] Julian Ramirez (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Izzak Olejnik (NIU)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Austin Yant (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Holden Heller (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Connor Brady (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] 174 Cade DeVos (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Michael O’Malley (DREX)- Vs Binghamton , @ Franklin & Marshall [+8] Alex Cramer (CMU)- Vs Northern Illinois, Vs SIU-Edwardsville [+7] John Worthing (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Peyton Mocco (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+6] Michael Labriola (NEB)- Vs Minnesota, Vs Northwestern [+6] Andrew Berreyesa (UNCO)- @ CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly [+6] Demetrius Romero (UVU)- Vs Northern Iowa, Vs Iowa State [+6] Rocky Jordan (CHAT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Edmond Ruth (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Mekhi Lewis (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+4] Chris Foca (COR)- Vs Lehigh [+3] Jared McGill (EDIN)- Vs Cleveland State [+3] Nelson Brands (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] Ethan Smith (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Dustin Plott (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] Luca Augustine (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+3] Shane Reitsma (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] 184 Neil Antrassian (UVA)- Virginia Duals [+14] Gavin Kane (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+8] Trey Munoz (ORST)- @ Little Rock, Vs Princeton [+8] Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- @ Long Island, @ VMI [+7] Matt Finesilver (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+7] Adam Kemp (CP)- @ Air Force , @ Northern Colorado [+6] Sean Harman (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+6] DJ Parker (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+6] Marcus Coleman (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Trent Hidlay (NCST)- Vs Army [+5] Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+5] Hunter Bolen (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+5] Travis Wittlake (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Anthony Montalvo (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+3] Abe Assad (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] 197 Tanner Sloan (SDSU)- Virginia Duals [+14] Bernie Truax (CP)- @ Air Force, @ Northern Colorado [+8] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- @ Air Force, @ Wyoming [+8] Max Shaw (UNC)- @ Brown, @ Harvard [+8] Owen Pentz (NDSU)- @ Stanford , @ California Baptist [+8] Michael Beard (LEH)- @ Cornell, @ Binghamton [+7] Ethan Laird (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+5] Zac Braunagel (ILL)- Vs Purdue [+4] Isaac Trumble (NCST)- Vs Army [+4] Luke Surber (OKST)- @ Columbia [+4] Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Braxton Amos (WISC)- @ Michigan [+4] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] 285 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF)- Vs Cal Poly, Vs Missouri, Vs CSU Bakersfield [+11] Mason Parris (MICH)- @ Michigan State , Vs Wisconsin [+7] Dayton Pitzer (PITT)- Vs Buffalo [+4] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- Vs Princeton [+3] Owen Trephan (NCST)- Vs Army [+3] Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA)- Vs Northwestern [+3] Sam Schuyler (ISU)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Tyrell Gordon (UNI)- @ Utah Valley [+3] Tate Orndorff (OHST)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Konner Doucet (OKST)- @ Columbia [+3] David Szuba (RID)- @ Bloomsburg [+3] Colton McKiernan (SIUE)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Hunter Catka (VT)- @ Appalachian State [+3] Michael Wolfgram (WVU)- @ Chattanooga [+3]

Adam Coon at the 2020 Olympic Trials (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In conjunction with today’s announcement that Adam Coon is returning to the mat, his sister Maddie, has conducted a long-form interview with Adam to get into more detail about his decision, along with his wrestling and football career. Since this is a lengthy interview with plenty of information that Adam has not discussed publicity, it will be broken up into two parts. Part One will consist of the news itself along with the logistics involved, Adam’s initial interest in football, the recruiting process, and the possibility of Adam playing football for the Wolverines. Part Two is largely dedicated to Adam’s NFL experience Part One: Maddie Coon: So I’m here with my brother, Adam Coon, and I get to break the All-Access story which I am very excited about. I gotta be honest, so I think this might be my favorite interview because I get to sit down with my favorite wrestler and actually get to talk about wrestling, so it’s basically like family dinners, but no one else can chime in, so this is exciting! Adam Coon: Yes! (Laughs) Very! Maddie supporting her brother at the Michigan state tournament with a Gabe Dean photobomb (photo courtesy of the Coon family) MC: Let’s just start the whole point of the interview, I will let you officially say the words but: AC: So for the last year and a half I have pursued NFL football and I found out what it would take for me to continue to pursue the NFL and I have decided that my heart is no longer in that, to go down that path. So at this point, I have decided that I will be returning to wrestling full-time and attempting to make the World Team and hopefully, eventually the Olympic team and actually wrestle in the Olympics. I will be moving back to wrestling and pursuing my goals there. MC: I need to say, selfishly, I am so excited that you’re finally saying this because I look like the world’s worst sister. We had the MSU Open and every single person that knew I was related to you, came up to me and asked “hey, what’s Adam doing? What’s he up to?” and I’m a horrible liar (laughs) so I just have to play dumb like “I don’t know. It’s been a busy semester. Haven’t talked to him.” They’re like “where’s he at now?” So I just keep saying “I don’t know.” So I’m glad that this is finally coming out and I can be a supportive sister and not look like I don’t talk to my family. But I am very excited that you are going to be back on the mat. I like football… but we were raised as a wrestling family. AC: (cracking up this entire time) We’re a wrestling family. MC: I like wrestling. I like being able to yell from the corner. I need to refresh on my Greco but what are your next moves? What are you up to? What’s the plan now? AC: The plan now is to just go Greco full time. We’re still trying to get some pieces in order to make sure I get practice partners and coaching and all that stuff there and just kind of rebuild what I had walked away from. I had things set up that I don’t have currently have set up so it’s just kind of, at the time of doing this interview, obviously I’m still keeping things quiet as I’m trying to get things back in order, so hopefully by the time this interview comes out, things will be in order and I’ll be in full swing training and I’ll be a monster again in the Greco world. But yeah, at this time of doing this interview, we’re still putting some things in place to make sure that I have the optimal time and environment to make sure I have the training that I need as well as try to get that extra training that I… I can’t say necessarily that I didn’t get prior to this route, but we gotta find what was missing to break through to get on the… I’ve been on the podium before, but we gotta find a way to get back on there again. So I need to find that and more to get higher. It’s putting those things in place to try to get all of that in order to basically become that Greco monster that I want to be. AC (Edit/Update): Since initially doing this interview many of the pieces I discussed have fallen into place. Alongside being able to train with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, we have also brought in Coach Momir Petkovic to help out with my Greco training. He obviously has competed and coached at the highest level and coached me in 2018 when I won my silver medal. So, it is nice to learn from him as I try to elevate my Greco wrestling. MC: Do you know where you’re going to end up yet, where you’re going to be practicing? Or is that still up in the air? AC: I’ve already talked with Coach Sean Bormet and I will be back with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club and getting all that stuff to go so I will be moving back to the Ann Arbor direction. MC:So that means I have to break out the blue and yellow again, right? (laughs) AC: (laughs) I would like that but I don’t know if your current employment would like that (laughs) but I guess… MC: I can wear the blue and silver shirts, that’s more Cliff Keen, right? AC: There ya go! It doesn’t necessarily have to be the maize and blue because Cliff Keen is at Michigan, but Cliff Keen is it’s own thing so you at least need to bring out the red, white, and blue for sure. MC: Yes I will have to get some USA stuff! And next time you make shirts can I request that they’re not just blue and yellow? I know your last one was red, white, and blue but still. AC: I will talk to Cliff Keen Athletic about that one. I know we had two different variants. Yeah we had the red, white and blue shirt but we had two variants of the first one. We did have the maize and blue which I did force upon you, I will give you that one, but we did have a silver one. MC:I think that was still during, as we refer to at State as my “Dark Time” so I think I did choose the blue and yellow one. That was on me. AC: (laughs) we did make the transition over to red, white, and blue and if we get more, make the world team, get some more t-shirts going, yes they will be more emphasized on red, white, and blue but there might be a big emphasis on the blue (laughs) MC: Okay, fair. I’ll take that. AC: I will say us Michigan grads and Michigan people just really don’t like the color red for some reason, I have no idea why (laughs). MC: I can’t say we at State are huge fans of red either so I understand. (laughs) So, switching gears, you've been on the football scene. You’ve been out of the wrestling world for a while so I want to talk about football. I know because I’m your sister that football was a big deal in high school and you had to decide between football and wrestling when you went to college. Let’s start there: what made you end up choosing wrestling? What was that process like? Some of Adam's collegiate recruiting letters AC: Well, as you were saying, we grew up together so you really know what was going on behind the scenes but, I love playing football and I loved every aspect of it. I love just the atmosphere, the rough and tough, just gettin’ after it. I was able to play a very fun position in high school. They kind of made up a position for me. I played linebacker hybrid-type, roaming defensive lineman position, where I didn’t have any pass drop responsibility and was able to just, basically just clobber kids. I didn’t really have many assignments per se, but I was able to just clobber kids, so I had a lot of fun doing that. Adam Coon (62) on the gridiron for Fowlerville HS (photo courtesy of the Coon family) I ended up doing really well, getting a lot of tackles, getting a lot of stats, and I was starting to get noticed. So I was getting a lot of attention from a lot of different colleges to play football which any of my classmates can attest to that. Our football coach was also my math teacher so he would come in every day to math class with just a stack of football material and he’d give it to me. And of course there were a couple of my teammates in there always asking “Dude, who’s coming after you now?!” “Who's getting your attention now?” and of course there’s other kids in the class going “Seriously? More mail?” So that’s always fun. But needless to say, there was something in me that really wanted to play football but also wanted to wrestle at the same time. I kinda had to do a lot of inward soul-searching to figure out what was my next step in life, what did I want to do. I knew I wanted to go to college, I knew I wanted to get an aerospace engineering degree, and I knew I wanted to be an athlete, I just didn’t know what type of athletics I wanted to pursue. What kind of helped me make a decision to go wrestling and put off football was a guy by the name of Stephen Neal and just kind of hearing his story. The man’s got two national titles, a world championship, and three Super Bowl rings. And he was able to make that transition from wrestling over to football without even playing college football at all. Also after hearing his story and hearing that it was possible, but very hard to do, I thought that that would be the route that I would want to go. Now after I decided that, I definitely heard of more guys like Carlton Haselrig and Brock Lesnar as well as others that also made attempts and some were successful and some weren’t but the main guy that kind of helped me decided that that’s what I wanted to do was Stephen Neal. MC: Did you ever have an idea of what college you wanted to go to if you were going to play football? AC: Play football? MC:I know we used to get Tennessee letters all the time. They tried hard! AC: Yes! (Laughs hard) Tennessee sent a lot of letters. Mississippi State sent me a bunch of stuff, too. They were probably one and two for material. Probably the main ones besides those two, the only other ones that I was even partially entertaining was probably Michigan State. Just because we grew up so close to Lansing at the time. Which is crazy! Which is crazy. MC: And Mom raised us Michigan State fans. AC: Yes, Mom raised us Michigan State fans. Actually, yes, I was wearing Michigan State shirts before going to Michigan. MC: In every school picture. AC: Obviously the one big issue other than I wanted to wrestle versus play football was they don’t have an aerospace engineering program and I knew that’s what I wanted to do and academics were definitely going to come first in this decision. Obviously, when things were all said and done, wrestling at the University of Michigan was definitely the best choice I could have made and pretty much the only choice that made sense when everything kinda dwindled down that I wanted to wrestle. Then aerospace engineering, I believe, was the number two program right now and I know it’s the oldest program in the country, so there’s a lot of tradition and history that went with it there, too. And then obviously the team was up-and-coming and we had a really good recruiting class, so everything kinda fell into place to go to Michigan. That definitely helped with the decision. MC: So while you were wrestling at Michigan, did you ever think about football? Was football still on your radar? Did you want to go to football workouts or something while you were still wrestling? AC: Initially, no. I had made the decision that I was going to wrestle and I was going to put everything I had into wrestling and into being the absolute best wrestler that I could. Football completely, I can’t even say took a backseat, it was nonexistent when I first went because I made the decision to go wrestling. So it was wrestling… and football may make an appearance later in my life, but I was not going to waste any energy going that route because I was not ready to go that route. Now, I never took a redshirt year to start, so by the time that my junior year was kinda finishing up, that’s when I started thinking of like ‘I didn’t take a redshirt so I technically have another year of eligibility that I could play a different sport.’ So about the end of my junior year, I know I initially talked with coaches about doing an Olympic shirt possibly because that was 2016 and we decided that it was best for my academics to not do that and best for the team to continue on and I was fine with that decision but it did kinda mess with the whole football thing. I had talked with Coach Harbaugh and he was working on trying to get me in for that fifth year to go play football and talking with a few other coaches and things were getting set up but then in ‘16 after the Olympic Trials, I just couldn’t use my shoulder. It was just so banged up and beat up from the years that I needed to have shoulder surgery to get that thing repaired. So I had to have labral surgery and it was nine months of hard recovery and all that fun stuff, so I used my redshirt then and there and then my fifth year ended up being my fourth year wrestling and football just kind of ended right there. So I didn’t think about football too much until right around that point and then surgery kind of ended it so it was kinda like I’m still thinking of football. I would like to try my hand at it because again, Stephen Neal wrestled all the way through and then transitioned over to football so it was toward the later end that I started thinking “I wonder when football would fit” but I still wasn’t ready to move into football at that time. Adam Coon at the 2016 NCAA 3rd Place match (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) MC: So, when did you officially make the football transition and how did that work? To be continued in Part Two tomorrow....

Cornell 141 lber Vince Cornella (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Franklin and Marshall Open hosted nearly a dozen EIWA teams, among the field containing almost 20 nationally ranked wrestlers. Cornell beat two top-10 teams in the span of three days. Penn won an exciting dual over North Carolina. Mason Leiphart of Franklin and Marshall scored three more technical falls this weekend, making him the leader in D1 with 9 tech falls on the year. These were some of the main highlights. We need a special highlight for Vince Cornella, earning this week’s Outstanding Wrestler. He beat two higher-ranked opponents in an impressive weekend. He handled both #19 Vasquez of Arizona State and #15 Crooks of Virginia Tech. This brings Cornella’s record to 12-3 on the on the season. As a freshman, he has quickly climbed the rankings and become a potential All-American threat. Sandwiching him in the line-up between Vito and Yianni has paid its dividends. Congrats to Vince. American The Eagles opened up the new year at the F&M Open – they had three placewinners in the tough open. Max Leete (125lbs) finished 5-1 on the day with 3 pins. Jack Maida was 4-1 on the day, earning eight due to a medical forfeit. The third placer was Carsten Rawls at 184 lbs, wrestling to a 3-2 record – good enough for eighth place also. They had a handful of wrestlers win some matches. It was a good way to start the new year. The Eagles also had a chance to host #9 Virginia Tech. At 149 lbs, Patrick Ryan won by decision to get them on the board. American’s second victory came at 165 lbs, where Caleb Campos pinned his opponent. Campos has been red-hot lately and I expect him to keep improving. He is now 12-5 on the year and has won five in a row. The Eagles return to action this weekend, playing host to two EIWA teams, Columbia and Bucknell. Army The Black Knights came into the new year wrestling twenty-five competitors at the F&M Open. Although only three placewinners surfaced, there was much improvement from many of the wrestlers and they all received much-needed mat time. Trae McDaniel led the way for the squad at 149 lbs. He placed third, losing to eventual champ Ricky Cabanillas of Brown. At 133lbs, Ryan Franco placed fifth after reaching his match limit. He had a great win over previously ranked Gable Strickland of Lock Haven. Lastly, Shane Percelay earned sixth at 141 lbs. His lone loss on the day came to 32nd-ranked Malyke Hines of Lehigh by a close 2-0 score. Many other athletes had wins, as well. It was a rest day for most of the team’s starters. They will have a tough road match-up against #6 North Carolina State. Binghamton The Bearcats wrested two duals against ranked opponents on the road. On Friday, they lost to #6 NC State 36-3. On Sunday, they suffered a 29-10 loss to #24 Appalachian State. Against NC State, Micah Roes started the dual off with an upset over Jarrett Trombley (#24 @ 125 lbs). It was good to see him get a win after taking some losses earlier in the year. Against App State, Jacob Nolan (#23 @ 184) earned a major decision while Cory Day (#21 @ 285) won by fall. The Bearcats were without Lou DePrez (#9 @ 197), as he nursed an injury. Next week, they will be on the road to face Drexel on Friday, then square off against #20 Lehigh at home on Sunday. Brown The Bears traveled to Lancaster to wrestle three duals on Thursday and compete in the F&M Open on Friday. They went 2-1 in duals – 25-10 over F&M, 22-19 over Davidson, but dropped a dual to Presbyterian 23-15. The lower weights in Shane Hanson-Ashworth (125 lbs) and Hunter Adrian (133 lbs) went 6-0 on the day. Hanson-Ashworth had a nice win over Leiphart of F&M. The middleweights had some rotating competitors at 149 lbs and 157 lbs. All wrestlers won their respective duals. Overall, a great day for the Bears. The following day, we saw Ricky Cabanillas win the 149 lbs bracket at the open. He went a perfect 5-0 on the day, with two major decisions. At 157 lbs, Sam McMonagle won 4 matches in a tough bracket. There were plenty of wins from this team, as they entered the new year in with a bang. Coach Leen is slowly improving this team. We will see how they fair against a tough home match with North Carolina (#25) this weekend. Bucknell The Bison traveled to Coach Wirnsberger’s alma mater, Michigan State. They claimed three victories over the 23rd-ranked Spartans. Dylan Chappell (141 lbs) and Braden Bower (149 lbs) each had close wins – Bower beat a very tough Peyton Omania, a returning NCAA Qualifier. Dorian Crosby won by decision at 285 lbs. Kurt Phipps at 133 lbs (#22) lost a close 5-4 match to All-American Rayvon Foley. In a Monday night dual, the Bison beat Hofstra in an 18-17 barn burner. It came down to the heavyweight match where Crosby upset Zachary Knighton-Ward (#23) to win the dual for Bucknell. We also saw Phipps with a win. Chappell had a fall over last season’s EIWA-placer Justin Hoyle, which helped propel them to victory early on. Braden Bower (149 lbs) and Chase Barlow (165 lbs) each had a victory as well. This was a great win by Bucknell, as they were outmatched on paper, it seemed, because of the five freshmen in the lineup. Next up, they will travel to DC for an EIWA dual with American. Columbia The Lions were off this weekend. They will travel to American this Friday and host #12 Oklahoma State on Sunday. Cornell The Big Red were on fire to start the new year with a 19-12 over #3 Arizona State. Cornell won the last three bouts when Vito Arujau (#3 @ 133 lbs) beat #4 Michael McGee for the second time this season. Freshman Vince Cornella (#22 @ 141 lbs) handily beat #19 Vasquez, and Yianni took care of 2X All-American Kyle Parco 8-2. We also saw wins from Julian Ramirez (#7 @ 165 lbs), Chris Foca (#5 @ 174 lbs) and 17th-ranked Jacob Cardenas at 197 lbs. Then, they beat #10 Virginia Tech on the road 22-12. Cornell saw big wins from Brett Ungar (#20 @ 125 lbs) with an upset over Eddie Ventresca and Cornella (#22 @ 141 lbs) beat 15th-ranked Tom Crook. The Big Red also got wins from Ramirez, Foca, Cardenas, and Yianni in this dual. These wins are more impressive since returning All-American Jonathan Loew missed both duals with an injury. This team is hot at the right time, as they face Lehigh on Saturday in a match that could have EIWA regular-season championship ramifications. Drexel The Dragons sent several wrestlers to the F&M Open. Many of the starters were not in action. Overall, they saw 5 place finishers. The highest placement came at 184 lbs, where Josh Stillings went 5-1 for third place. He had a great opening-round win over David Key of Navy. Fifth-ranked Mickey O’Malley saw mat time, winning four matches (3 by bonus points) before medical forfeiting out to help nurse his banged-up knee. Freshman John Hildebrandt went 3-2 at 133 lbs, which earned him fourth place. Cody Walsh had a 4-2 record, which was good enough for sixth place at 165 lbs. Finally, Sean O’Malley finished the day 3-1 at 197 lbs. Drexel will have a double header this weekend, facing Binghamton at home on Friday and F&M away on Saturday. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats hosted a few events on the weekend. First, was a quad meet with Brown, Presbyterian, and Davidson. The team was 2-1 in these duals (29-9 over Davidson, 33-9 over Presbyterian, and a 25-10 loss to Brown). It was good to see Cenzo Pelusi return to the lineup at heavyweight, earning three wins. James Conway at 184 lbs was also 3-0 on the day. A gang of wrestlers were 2-1 on the day as well. The Dips showed some good stuff in two dominant wins. I am not alone in thinking the match against Brown would be a little closer than the outcome showed. Nonetheless, the team is improving overall. At the Open the following day, John Crawford (197 lbs) was the lone place finisher for the team. He ended the day in second place, defeating Max Shaw (#33) of North Carolina in the semifinals. His loss was to a 28th-ranked Jake Koser of Navy. Noah Fox had four wins on the day at 174 lbs, ending his day just shy of the top-8. A handful of wrestlers saw at least three wins on the day. Steady improvement has been the mantra of this team. Next week, they will face the Drexel Dragons in a home conference matchup. Harvard The Crimson joined the party at the F&M Open on Friday. Although lacking many starters, they performed well. It was nice to see some of the young talent compete and get needed mat time. At 133 lbs, Dante Frinzi upset the 31st-ranked Joey Melendez of North Carolina during his 2-2 day. Former Bethlehem Catholic teammate, Evan Gleason (157 lbs) also secured two wins on the day. At 174 lbs, Alex Whitworth had a great win over 184 lbs NCAA qualifier AJ Burkhart of Lehigh. He finished his tournament with a 2-2 record. Like I said, a majority of starters sat this one out after a long Midlands tournament a week ago. They will be back this weekend when they host North Carolina – as they visit the Northeast Ivies in Harvard and Brown. Hofstra Hofstra sent a few guys to the F&M Open. One standout performance came from Ericson Velasquez at 184 lbs. He had three pins on the day before dropping two matches. Wrestling at 133lbs for Hofstra-unattached was Joe Sparacio. He had a heck of a tournament, beating Pat Phillips of F&M. This was one of his four wins on the day. Monday night, they had a dual with Bucknell. Coming down to the wire, Hofstra lost 18-17. Hofstra had wins from Joe McGinty (157 lbs), Ross McFarland (174 lbs), and Jacob Ferreira (184 lbs). Jacob Moon started with a major at 125lbs, and Trey Rogers (#29 @ 197 lbs) pulled them ahead after his major decision. Unfortunately, for the Pride, only two major decisions were not enough to overcome the single fall by Bucknell. Expect them to come back hungry when they wrestle Buffalo this Sunday afternoon. Lehigh The Mountain Hawks had a few wrestlers in the F&M Open. We saw Jaret Lane back competing after missing much of the first semester with an injury. He went 5-1 on the day with a match limit cap for fifth place. Malyke Hines took a loss in the semifinals before ending his day in fourth place at 141 lbs. At 174 lbs, Jake Logan took third place after dropping a match in the semi’s. Tate Samuelson (#20 @ 184 lbs) took home silver, dropping a match to #15 Gavin Kane of UNC. At 285 lbs, big man Nathan Taylor was in third place. He had a win over Cenzo Pelusi of F&M. The Mountain Hawks are preparing for a vital road trip to Cornell and Binghamton Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Long Island The Sharks were in attendance at the F&M Open, and won plenty of matches to show for it. Drew Witham has been wrestling well as of late for them at 149 lbs. He continued to lead the way again, winning 5 of his 6 matches. One of his wins was over Wil Guida of North Carolina, who was 2X Fargo Champion. He ended the day in fifth, due to his match limit. His teammate a weight above, Rhise Royster (157lbs), went 2-0 on the day before he was forced to call it a day with an injury. We did see Robbie Sagaris return from injury. The team is progressing very nicely. It is evident to see new assistant coach, Jesse Dellavecchia, and his work paying off. We will see the Sharks of LIU again this weekend, hosting duals against Clarion and VMI. Navy The Midshipmen had a quality number of competitors at the F&M Open. Of twenty-plus participants, they returned home with three champs. At 133lbs, Brendan Ferretti was undefeated in his five bouts, earning one of the team’s first-place finishes. With only one pin, he scored four decisions in the process. It was a great outing for him, after suffering an injury earlier in the year – finally getting back into his groove. The upper weights shined through, as both Jacob Koser (#28 @ 197 lbs) and Grady Greiss (#20 @ 285 lbs) each won their brackets. Greiss defeated NCAA Qualifier Travis Stefanik of Princeton in the process. Koser did not have any ranked opponents, but won his closest match by five points. At 165 lbs, Val Park (165 lbs) lost in the quarterfinals and was forced to injury default out. He won three matches before this. Navy was without some ranked wrestlers in Koderhandt and Cerniglia. They will be in action at the Virginia Duals this week. They face South Dakota State, Virginia, Kent State, and Oklahoma. This is a great opportunity for them to climb the team rankings. Penn We saw a few wrestlers at the F&M Open repping the Quakers. Many of them had outstanding performances. Evan Mougalian placed third at 133lbs, going 5-1 on the day, including a nice win over Jack Maida of American. Many other wrestlers won at least four matches including Jackson Polo (141 lbs), Cole Spencer (157 lbs), Mikey Kistler (174 lbs), and Connor Strong (184 lbs). This team has some young depth waiting to fulfill the starting lineup in the very near future. The Quakers hosted North Carolina to a dual in a great wrestling atmosphere Saturday night. The matches were split 5-5, but Penn’s two tech falls from Nick Incontrera (#18 @ 174 lbs) and Cole Urbas (#33 @ 197 lbs) were the differences in the 19-17 victory. The Quakers also saw wins from Ben Goldin (#28 @ 285 lbs), Michael Colaiocco (#8 @ 133 lbs), and Doug Zapf (#10 @ 149 lbs). Being on the broadcast, this match was very entertaining to be at. It was full of competitive individual matches, a few upsets, and an electric crowd on hand. These Quakers are tough. With nine returning NCAA qualifiers in the lineup, expect them to be in the race for the widely coveted EIWA title. Princeton The Tigers had a wide range of participants at the F&M Open. Danny Coles has been wrestling very well lately, finishing runner-up at 141 lbs. He even had a win over #32 Hines of Lehigh. We may see him in the rankings very soon. At 165 lbs, Grant Cuomo was also runner-up in his bracket. Nick Kayal was down to 125 lbs, placing fourth. He upset Jaret Lane of Lehigh in the quarterfinal. Returning NCAA Qualifier at 149 lbs, Marshall Keller lost one time for a fifth-place finish. Ty Whalen (157lbs) is new to the starting lineup with Quincy Monday moving up. He went 6-1 on the day, only suffering a loss to NCAA Champion from 2021 Austin O’Connor (#4 – North Carolina). Also, at 157 lbs, Hudson Hightower wrestled well enough to earn fourth place. Aidan Connor was third at 197 lbs. Two heavyweights placed in the bracket with Travis Stefanik (4th) and Sebastian Garibaldi (8th). This week, the team will travel to wrestle Oregon State in Austin, TX before heading to Arizona State for another dual. Sacred Heart The Pioneers sent a couple of wrestlers to the F&M Open. With two wins at 157 lbs, John Siemsen was one of the top performers. One of those wins was a pin. The 149 lbs weight class had a few Pioneers each win two matches a piece between Dakota Asuncion, Chris Naegele and Matt Laurie. Aiden Zarrella went 2-2 on the day at the 165lbs bracket. Coach Clark is getting these guys' matches, that’s for sure. We have not seen much of Nick Palumbo, who was an NCAA Qualifier a few years back at 157 lbs. Hopefully, we can see him in the second half of the season now that dual meets are the immediate focus. This weekend, the Pioneers have a nice chance to get a win under their belt as VMI comes to town.

Illinois 197 lber Zac Braunagel (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) As we've reached the conference dual portion of the season, we've realized we might need to switch up this column because "5 things" is not nearly enough to cover all of the action of the weekend. Maryland and Indiana wrestled a highly entertaining dual Monday night that came down to the final two bouts - the Rooks Brothers vs. the Miller Brothers. Maryland's Kal Miller won the first bout in sudden victory, then Graham Rooks avenged his brother's loss and the dual was decided on match-point criteria, which went to Indiana, 17-16. Jesse Mendez made an impressive return to Ohio State's lineup this weekend, pouring on the points for a 20-6 major decision over Indiana freshman Henry Porter. Sammy Sasso was also on fire in that 26-13 dual win, pinning Graham Rooks in just 53 seconds. For its part, Indiana also had some noteworthy performances. Derek Gilcher had a strong weekend at 157 pounds, upending Ohio State's Paddy Gallagher, 5-4, then taking out Maryland's Michael North on the road - two ranked wins. Heavyweight Jacob Bullock earned a ranked win of his own, a 7-2 decision over Ohio State's No. 15 Tate Orndorff. He then went on to fall 3-2 to Maryland's Jaron Smith, handing the eighth-year senior his first conference win of the season. Levi Haines was the big story for Penn State, as the true freshman who has still not officially burned his redshirt earned a dominant 16-6 major decision over Wisconsin's No. 16 Garrett Model in his Big Ten dual meet debut. Iowa's top-ranked Spencer Lee and Purdue's Matt Ramos provided one of the more entertaining - yet short - bouts of the weekend, as the sophomore put the three-time NCAA champion in an early 8-1 hole midway through the first period. But Lee responded the way a three-time NCAA does by putting Ramos on his back and securing the pin with just seven seconds remaining in the initial period. So, yeah, a lot happened. And these are the highlights we DIDN'T include in our "5 things." Here are the rest: Illinois proves it can be competitive with the best in the BIG Last year's Big Ten dual season wasn't too kind to Illinois. The Illini went 1-7, tying with Indiana for 12th in the conference. The 2022-23 season is still early, but coach Mike Poeta's squad has already made a statement. The Illini went 1-1 over the weekend, taking No. 2 Iowa all the way to the final bout at Carver-Hawkeye, falling 25-19, then knocking off No. 11 Wisconsin, 18-17, at home on Alumni Night. With Zac Braunagel really coming into his own at 197 pounds, the steady presence of Edmond Ruth and Lucas Byrd, underclassmen Danny Pucino and Dylan Connell emerging and the surprise return of veteran Mikey Carr, the Illini boast a robust lineup that should be competitive with most teams on its conference slate this season. Carr's return was one of the biggest surprises of the weekend. The two-time NCAA qualifier and 2018 Big Ten runner-up had missed all of last season due to injury and wasn't even on Illinois' roster prior to this weekend. He looked solid in his return to the mat, putting away Iowa's Cobe Siebrecht, 12-7. He didn't wrestle against Wisconsin. Another one of the biggest storylines for Illinois over the weekend was the continued emergence of Zac Braunagel as a national podium contender at 197 pounds. The junior built off his Midlands championship-winning weekend with two top-15 wins, topping last year's NCAA runner-up Jacob Warner, of Iowa, 3-1, with a takedown in the waning seconds of the bout, and a 4-3 win over Wisconsin's Braxton Amos, his second over the Badger in two weeks. Now at 15-3 on the season, Braunagel should be favored in most of his remaining Big Ten bouts, and have an opportunity to avenge an earlier loss when his team hosts Maryland on Jan. 22. Pucino was critical to his team's success from a dual standpoint. His pin in 5:40 of Felix Lettini gave Illinois a four-point lead over Wisconsin with one bout remaining. With the only pin in the dual, Pucino forced the Badgers into a position where they needed a technical fall or pin to win, which they were unable to get. His 20-8 major decision over Iowa's Drew Bennett on Friday gave his team the lead after three bouts and put them on pace to keep the Hawkeyes on edge until the final match. The Illini had plenty of other highlights over the weekend - Byrd's Carver-Hawkeye-silencing pin of Cullan Schriever and Ruth's 2-1 win in the first tiebreaker period over Nelson Brands come to mind - that set them up nicely for continued success as they look ahead to next weekend's home dual with Purdue and Northwestern and Maryland after that. Northwestern's middleweights delivered a big win vs. Minnesota Northwestern started its Big Ten season off with a strong 18-11 win over Minnesota on Saturday - marking the Wildcats' first victory over the Golden Gophers since 1996 and first ranked win of the season. Northwestern won six of 10 bouts - 125 pounds was a double forfeit - including two upsets - per InterMat rankings - and three wins over top-15 opponents, marking an exceptional weekend for Northwestern's middleweights, in particular. No. 13 Frankie Tal-Shahar had one of the biggest wins of the dual for the Wildcats - a 2-1 decision over No. 8 Jake Bergeland at 141 pounds, thanks to a buzzer-beater takedown in the first period. This victory was big not only for the dual - giving Northwestern back the lead it wouldn't relinquish - or individual rankings, but also personally for Tal-Shahar, who lost three times to Bergeland last season, including a 5-3 loss that knocked him into the consolation bracket at NCAAs. No. 6 Yahya Thomas followed up that excitement with yet another nailbiter, riding out the second tiebreaker OT period with an emphatic mat return to win 2-1 over No. 14 Michael Blockhus. This was the third consecutive 1-point decision for the graduate senior, who keeps finding ways to win at 12-1 on the season. Northwestern went into the final bout - 157 - with a 4-point lead. No. 9 Trevor Chumbley sealed the win for the Wildcats, with a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to top No. 13 Brayton Lee, 8-4. These three key wins were also bookended by important victories. Maxx Mayfield started the dual off at 165 pounds by beating No. 21 Andrew Sparks, 6-4. Chris Cannon earned the W at 133, with a takedown and four nearfall points at the end of the second period to erase a 3-0 deficit and roll to a 7-3 victory over Aaron Nagao. Lucas Davison had the Wildcats' sixth win, a 4-1 decision at heavyweight. The momentum from this dual will be big for Northwestern as it prepares for a tough road weekend with duals at Iowa and Nebraska. This is SPARTA!!! It's actually not. It's a segment of an article, but it was a fun reference nonetheless. The Spartans of East Lansing are 7-0 for the first time in 49 years. I haven't reflected on the last 49 years of their schedules to see if they were as easy or difficult as this season was projected to be, but the consistent theme is that this team has performed well. Tristan Lujan at 125 has only one loss on the season to Mastrogiovanni of Oklahoma State, which is certainly a respectable loss. Cam Caffey has looked excellent. Saldate has been consistent, and Rayvon has looked good outside of the Reno Tournament. Despite his struggles there, the team placed second in Reno, which is a testament to their solid depth. In general, the team looks generally better, which is what you'd hope for. They will look to continue this early season success as they start their B1G schedule with Michigan at home in East Lansing this Friday. Some initial notable matches will be at 125 with Lujan against either Medley or McHenry, at 133 with a fun battle between Ragusin and Foley, and at 157 with Saldate and Lewan. Foley told me in an interview last season after a win over Ragusin in Ann Arbor that he feels that winning in Ann Arbor is a big deal to him (what might be helpful here is knowing that Rayvon Foley is from Ann Arbor. In fact he's Ann Arbor Pioneer's best wrestler. Fun fact.). I'm sure he'll want to return the favor by beating Ragusin again, but this time in East Lansing. Another matchup to watch for is at 184 with Finesilver and Malczewski. This is the first big match that Malczewski will have this year, but the guy is a stud and I still feel is an All-American quality guy. So is Finesilver. In the end, though, I expect the biggest battle between these two will be Finesilver's mustache against Malczewski's great hair. Wolverines are the Champions of the West That's part of their fight song, which is why it makes it such a fun title for this segment. The Michigan Wolverines traveled to California to take on Cal Poly Friday night followed by a trip to Bakersfield to take on the Roadrunners on Sunday. The dual with CSUB was 39-0 for Michigan, there were some close matches, but ultimately it was a solid trip for the Wolverines. At 197, there was some drama when Brendin Yatooma used a last-second takedown and back points to maintain the shutout. The dual with Cal Poly was a little more competitive and included some upset wins on both sides. Saenz for the Mustangs beat Cole Mattin at 141 in a match where Mattin couldn't seem to get to his offense. It was out of sorts to see a guy who has been so aggressive with attacks to this point this season not be able to convert, but I've seen him wrestle enough to know that he'll figure this out. Chance Lamer got a chance to take on his brother's team (Brawley and Legend both wrestle for Cal Poly), and did so by beating an All-American in Dom Demas. Granted Demas had to injury default out, but Chance had been battling back after giving up an early takedown. We certainly hope Dom is back and we can see a rematch of what was shaping up to be a truly entertaining dual. In the end, the Wolverines did what you would expect, and won handily. Next, as mentioned above, Michigan will take on Michigan State this weekend, as well as the Wisconsin Badgers (mentioned below). This Badgers team is coming off a two-loss weekend (also mentioned below), so expect them to come into Ann Arbor looking to avoid that 0-3 conference record to begin the B1G dual season. Highs and Lows: Badgers This week the Wisconsin Badgers took two L's. The first was to number one ranked Penn State. That was to be expected, as Penn State has a loaded team with half of their lineup either ranked first, or with a legitimate shot at winning a national title this season. Where Wisconsin had some high points was with Dean Hamiti (165) and Eric Barnett (125), both of whom won each of their respective matches. Braxton Amos mirrored the team this weekend by going 0-2 as well. He lost to last year's NCAA Champ in Max Dean, as well as took another loss to Zac Braunagel. I tend to look on the bright side of things, so I'm happy that he didn't hurt his knee in the match with Dean, where it looked like it could have been worse than it was, ultimately costing the team a point when Coach Bono walked onto the mat to check on his wrestler. It was the right move and I'm sure he'd do it again. Also, it's always good to get into deep waters early in the season. Having gone through these wars with Braunagel, and tough matches with Dean, will ultimately help him in March. The loss to Illinois was a little surprising, but that will happen sometimes. They won where they were expected to win and lost where they were expected to lose. Getting Austin Gomez back into the lineup and Zargo back down to 141 will ultimately help this team get back to where they need to be. Here's the thing about the B1G though, it doesn't get much easier. They travel next to Ann Arbor on Sunday to take on the Wolverines. That will likely include some fun matches at 165 with Hamiti and Amine and at Heavyweight with Parris and Hilger. On Wisconsin!

West Virginia All-American Peyton Hall (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Back to a lot more dual action across the sport after the layoff for the holidays. Let's dive into the Big 12 recap from last week. Thursday 01/05 Northern Iowa DEF Wyoming 33-3 Friday 01/06 West Virginia DEF Ohio 28-9 Saturday 01/07 Oklahoma DEF Edinboro 21-15 Iowa State DEF Wyoming 37-7 South Dakota State DEF Northern Illinois 31-6 Northern Illinois DEF California Baptist University 20-15 South Dakota State DEF California Baptist University 44-0 Sunday 01/08 West Virginia DEF Pitt 24-11 Missouri DEF Northern Iowa 24-12 Iowa State DEF Arizona State 19-15 Oklahoma State DEF Oregon State 20-12 Great week for WVU WVU beats Ohio then wins the Backyard Brawl on the road at Pitt. Two big program wins for WVU to move them to 6-1 with their only dual loss coming to the defending Big 12 Champions at Mizzou. WVU has quietly put together a really good dual season with one of their biggest wins coming this week over Pitt. Iowa State Emerging as the Top Dual Team in the Conference? One would need to dig deeper into individual matchups and other things to sort this one out but, Missouri dropped their dual earlier this season at Arizona State, while Iowa State knocked them off 19-15. Still a lot of wrestling left before February 15th, when these two wrestle at Missouri, but Iowa State may have the edge.

The 2023 NWCA National Duals champions King University (NCAA) (photo courtesy of Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative) Over the weekend, more than 30 women’s college teams flocked to Louisville, Kentucky, for the 2023 NWCA National Duals. In the women’s category, there were two divisions: NCAA and NAIA. King University won the NCAA crown, while Southern Oregon claimed the NAIA title. NCAA WOMEN King University, ranked No. 1 in the nation, secured its second-consecutive and sixth overall NWCA National Duals title, edging out No. 2 North Central, 23-21, in an exciting championship dual. Filled with outstanding talent, the dual featured six top-5 matchups and two top-10 bouts, which included some notable upsets. At 116 pounds, No. 2 Jaslynn Gallegos (NC) upended top-ranked Samara Chavez (KU) with a first-period pin. At 136 pounds, King returned the favor as No. 6 Viktorya Torres (KU) pinned No. 2 Yele Aycock (NC) late in the match. In addition to the Gallegos/Chavez showdown, there was another 1 vs. 2 bout at 109 pounds, where No. 1 Sage Mortimer (KU) outlasted No. 2 Sydney Petzinger (NC), 15-14. We expected to see a top-two bout at 170 pounds as No. 1 Yelena Makoyed (NC) was set to take on No. 2 Chey Bowman (KU). However, strategy came into play as the Tornado forfeited at 170, and Bowman bumped up to 191 pounds to face No. 5 Traeh Haynes (NC). Thanks to a second-period four-point takedown, Bowman defeated Haynes, 5-1, and sealed the championship for King. King won six of the night’s 10 matchups with victories coming from No. 2 Jessica Corredor (101), Mortimer (109), No. 3 Montana DeLawder (130), Torres (136), No. 1 Ana Luciano (143) and Bowman (191). Winning for North Central was No. 2 Gallegos (116), No. 3 Amani Jones (123), No. 4 Tiera Jimerson (155) and No. 1 Makoyed (170). En route to another title, King defeated No. 8 Gannon in the quarterfinals and No. 4 McKendree in the semis. Championship dual - No. 1 King 23, No. 2 North Central 21 101: #2 Jessica Corredor (King) over #6 Madison Avila (North Central) Dec 6-4 109: #1 Sage Mortimer (King) over #2 Sydney Petzinger (North Central) Dec 15-14 116: #2 Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) over #1 Samara Chavez (King) Fall 0:55 123: #3 Amani Jones (North Central) over #4 Vayle-Rae Baker (King) Fall 2:56 130: #3 Montana DeLawder (King) over Sara Sterner (North Central) Dec 4-0 136: #6 Viktorya Torres (King) over #2 Yele Aycock (North Central) Fall 5:26 143: #1 Ana Luciano (King) over #4 Kendall Bostelman (North Central) Fall 3:39 155: #4 Tiera Jimerson (North Central) over #5 Tiffani Baublitz (King) Dec 3-1 170: #1 Yelena Makoyed (North Central) win by forfeit 191: #2 (at 170) Cheyenne Bowman (King) over #5 Traeh Haynes (North Central) Dec 5-1 Final team results 1. King 2. North Central 3. McKendree 4. Colorado Mesa 5. Augsburg 6. Presbyterian 7. Sacred Heart 8. Gannon NAIA WOMEN In a historic performance, Southern Oregon took out three top-10 teams to capture the first National Duals championship in program history. In a run to the finals, the Raiders dominated Ottawa and No. 9 Texas Wesleyan in the first two rounds before overpowering No. 5 Menlo in the semifinals. In the finals, No. 1 Southern Oregon split matches with No. 2 Grand View but emerged victorious, 22-18, thanks to the Raiders scoring points in four of their five losses. For the title, Southern Oregon earned technical fall victories from No. 3 Esthela Trevino (101), No. 1 Carolina Moreno (123) and No. 3 Joye Levendusky (170). Other Raiders wins came from No. 5 Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez (109) and No. 5 Grace Kristoff (191). Based on rankings, Grand View was favored in four of its five victories, which included a 9-6 decision for No. 1 Alexis Gomez (GV) over No. 2 Emily Se. Championship dual - Southern Oregon 22, Grand View 18 101: #3 Esthela Trevino (Southern Oregon) over Jalen Bets (Grand View) TF 10-0 109: #5 (at 116) Natalie Reyna-Rodriguez (Southern Oregon) over #11 (at 116) Lita Cruz (Grand View) Dec 4-2 116: #5 Cailin Campbell (Grand View) over #8 Glory Konecny (Southern Oregon) Dec 10-1 123: #1 Carolina Moreno (Southern Oregon) over #4 Catharine Campbell (Grand View) TF 10-0 130: Isabella Gonzalez (Grand View) over Jordynn Robson (Southern Oregon) TF 11-0 136: #2 (at 130) Andrea Schlabach (Grand View) over #8 Bella Amaro (Southern Oregon) Dec 5-1 143: #1 Alexis Gomez (Grand View) over #2 Emily Se (Southern Oregon) Dec 9-6 155: #9 (at 143) Madison Diaz (Grand View) over Desinee Lopez (Southern Oregon) Dec 6-3 170: #3 Joye Levendusky (Southern Oregon) over #4 Abby McIntyre (Grand View) TF 10-0 191: #5 Grace Kristoff (Southern Oregon) over #11 Olivia Brown (Grand View) Dec 3-1 Final team results 1. Southern Oregon 2. Grand View 3. Life 4. Menlo 5. Univ. of Providence 6. Texas Wesleyan 7. Campbellsville 8. Indiana Tech

Virginia 165 lber Justin McCoy (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a slow few weeks over the winter break, we had a very busy weekend in ACC country. Five of the six teams were in action, with North Carolina and Virginia Tech wrestling multiple days. It was a wild weekend featuring huge upsets for and against ACC wrestlers. We are entering our final week before ACC competition and most teams seem to be rounding into shape. There are some lingering questions about some lineups and injuries--I'm hopeful that we will see everyone back in action this week and ready to go for the first ACC duals. Let's take a look at what went down this weekend. Duke: The Blue Devils were off this week and will not return to action until January 19th against Central Michigan. North Carolina: The Tar Heels traveled to Pennsylvania for a weekend of action at the F&M Open Friday, followed by a dual against Penn on Saturday. The Tar Heels started the trip off with a successful day at F&M. Lachlan McNeil (141), Austin O'Connor (157) and Gavin Kane (184) all took home titles, while Jack Wagner (125) and Jayden Scott (149) made the finals and took runner-up honors. Spencer Moore (125) took 3rd place, Max Shaw (197) finished in 4th. Zach Sherman also made his season debut, going 2-0 before medically defaulting from the tournament. The dual against Penn started at 165 with a decision win from Joey Mazzara. Gino Esposito lost by tech fall at 174, filling in for Clay Lautt. Gavin Kane got the Tar Heels back on the board with a decision win over Maximus Hale; he wrestled well and was able to get to his offense. Cade Lautt also lost by tech fall at 197, filling in for Max Shaw. This was followed by a 2-0 loss by Brandon Whitman. When they wrapped back around to 125, Jack Wagner won a very competitive match with Ryan Wagner. Jace Palmer got the nod at 133, filling in for Joey Melendez; he lost, but was able to hold a very good Michael Colaiocco to a decision. Lachlan McNeil continued his stellar weekend with a dominating 12-1 major decision over a ranked Carmen Ferrante. I like the progress that McNeil has made through the season and he is in a good spot going into conference duals. Zach Sherman made the start at 149 against #10 Doug Zapf. I was surprised by this--the coaching staff said they would ease Sherman back into the lineup after his return from injury. I take it that they, and he, felt good about his performance on Friday and were confident that he was ready to go. He wrestled a good match, but struggled toward the end of the match and dropped a 7-4 decision. He looked good, he moved well and was able to get to his offense; he'll just need more mat time to be back to full competition shape. In the marquee match of the dual, Austin O'Connor dominated #15 Anthony Artalona in a 13-5 major decision. O'Connor was on the attack the whole match, getting the final takedown in the closing seconds to earn the major. O'Connor has looked fantastic since returning to the lineup and is ready to go after another ACC and NCAA title. The Tar Heels will be back in action on Saturday against Harvard and Brown. No. 27 Penn 19, No. 25 North Carolina 17 125: No. 33 Jack Wagner (UNC) over No. 31 Ryan Wagner (Penn) (7-5 Dec) 133: No. 8 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) over Jace Palmer (UNC) (10-4 Dec) 141: No. 21 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) over No. 30 Carmen Ferrante (Penn) (12-1 MD) 149: No. 10 Doug Zapf (Penn) over Zach Sherman (UNC) (7-4 Dec) 157: No. 4 Austin O'Connor (UNC) over No. 15 Anthony Artalona (Penn) (13-5 MD) 165: Joey Mazzara (UNC) over No. 29 Lucas Revano (Penn) (5-4 Dec) 174: No. 18 Nick Incontrera (Penn) over Gino Esposito (UNC) (18-0 TF) 184: No. 17 Gavin Kane (UNC) over Maximus Hale (Penn) (7-3 Dec) 197: No. 33 Cole Urbas (Penn) over Cade Lautt (UNC) (16-0 TF) 285: No. 27 Ben Goldin (Penn) over Brandon Whitman (UNC) (2-0 Dec) North Carolina State: The Wolfpack welcomed the Bearcats of Binghamton to Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night to open their 2023 home slate. As expected, NC State took care of business and ended up on top of the lopsided 36-3 score. The theme of the evening with half of the Wolfpack lineup picking up extra points on the night. Ryan Jack, Trent Hidlay and Owen Trephan won by major decision, while Ed Scott and Isaac Trumble added pins. The only loss for NC State came at 125 with Jarrett Trombley dropping a 3-1 decision; it will be worth watching in conference duals to see how he wrestles right off of the scale. Kai Orine earned a lopsided decision, as did true freshman Jackson Arrington; both of these guys continue to show growth and improvement through the season and are in a good spot moving into conference duals. As previously discussed, the full-time starter at 165 and 174 haven't been decided; Derek Fields and Alex Faison got the nod this weekend. Fields wrestled well enough to get the decision win, but never really pulled away in the match. Faison looked solid in his 7-3 decision over a scrappy Sam DePrez and seems to have the momentum at 174. One final note is an adjustment to the standings in my ACC awards. Owen Trephan has been removed from contention in the best hair category. Though his major decision proved that he didn't fall victim to the Sampson curse, I'm still saddened that he cut those glorious locks. No. 6 NC State 36, Binghamton 3 125: Micah Roes def. No. 24 Jarrett Trombley (NCSU), 3-1 dec. 133: No. 25 Kai Orine (NCSU) def. Ivan Garcia, 8-2 141: No. 6 Ryan Jack (NCSU) def. Christian Gannone, 12-2, maj. dec. 149: No. 17 Jackson Arrington (NCSU) def. Michael Zarif, 5-0 dec. 157: No. 10 Ed Scott (NCSU) def. Conner Decker, Fall 165: Derek Fields (NCSU) def. Dimitri Gamkrelidze, 6-4 dec. 174: Alex Faison (NCSU) def. Sam DePrez, 7-3 184: No. 3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) def. No. 23 Jacob Nolan, 13-4, maj. dec. 197: No. 7 Isaac Trumble (NCSU) def. Cayden Bevis, 16-2, Fall 285: No. 13 Owen Trephan (NCSU) def. No. 21 Cory Day, 11-0, maj dec. Pittsburgh: The Panthers hosted West Virginia in the wrestling edition of the Backyard Brawl. After a strong first half of the season, Pitt opened the second half of the year on a down note, dropping the dual to WVU. I'm hopeful that this is a one-off as we didn't see the same type of performance from several key parts of the lineup that we have seen all year. Colton Camacho wrestled well against a very tough Killian Cardinale and dropped a close decision. Micky Phillippi looked great throughout the match on his way to a major decision, then the wheels kind of fell off for the Panthers. Cole Matthews dropped his first match of the year, giving up a late takedown to unranked Jordan Titus to lose 3-1. Matthews often wrestles close matches, and his ability to win those close matches helped get him onto the podium last year, but this didn't seem like that type of match. It looked to me like Matthews just had an off-match; it happens to everyone (except Cael). He wasn't able to finish any of his attacks and wasn't as crisp on his feet as he usually is. Credit to Titus for an absolutely beautiful takedown to get the win. I expect Matthews to bounce back from this and remind the nation why he was ranked #1. Tyler Badgett wrestled a solid match and went into sudden victory scoreless against Sam Hillegas. The sudden victory period was wild. Badgett got in deep but wasn't able to finish and ended in a long scramble; Hillegas got the winning takedown on the restart. Dan Mancini got the nod at 157 over a struggling Dazjon Casto. He wrestled well for the majority of the match but gave up a late takedown to lose 3-1. The Peyton Hall pin over Holden Heller hides the fact that it was actually an awesome match. The first period had several good exchanges where Heller showed his defensive and counter-offense skills--both he and Hall were close to takedowns multiple times. Heller initiated a wild scramble in the second where he was able to lock up a cradle; while trying to turn Hall, he dropped his hips and Hall was able to capitalize and catch the head and bottom leg to get the fall. Luca Augustine was able to get the Panthers back on the board with a hard-fought 3-2 decision. Reece Heller, coming off an outstanding performance at the Midlands, dropped a 7-2 decision to Anthony Carman. Heller looked good on his feet, but didn't wrestle well on the mat. I would generally say his mat wrestling is a strength and he is great at positioning on bottom and getting reversals, but this was not the case on Sunday. Nino absolutely dominated in his match. He controlled the match from the first whistle and was working hard to get the tech fall but finished one point shy in the 18-4 major. Jake Slinger got the nod at 285 and lost 10-4; Coach Gavin said Dayton Pitzer would only be used if the dual was on the line so they can best use his five matches to evaluate whether to pull the redshirt. The Panthers will be back in action on Friday against Buffalo; I would expect a very fired-up Pitt squad ready to send a message. West Virginia 24, No. 21 Pitt 11 125: No. 7 Killian Cardinale (WVU) dec. Colton Camacho (Pitt), 5-3 (WVU leads, 3-0) 133: No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) maj. dec. Davin Rhoads (WVU), 10-2 (Pitt leads, 4-3) 141: Jordan Titus (WVU) dec. No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pitt), 3-1 (WVU leads, 6-4) 149: No. 28 Sam Hillegas (WVU) dec. No. 25 Tyler Badgett (Pitt), 2-0 SV (WVU leads, 9-4) 157: No. 27 Alex Hornfeck (WVU) dec. Dan Mancini (Pitt), 3-1 (WVU leads, 12-4) 165: No. 12 Peyton Hall (WVU) pins No. 28 Holden Heller (Pitt), 3:43 (WVU leads, 18-4) 174: Luca Augustine (Pitt) dec. Brody Conley (WVU), 3-2 (WVU leads, 18-7) 184: No. 30 Anthony Carman (WVU) dec. No. 14 Reece Heller, 7-2 (WVU leads, 21-7) 197: No. 2 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) maj. dec. Brian Finnerty (WVU), 18-4 (WVU leads, 21-11) HWT: No. 28 Michael Wolfgram (WVU) dec. Jake Slinger (Pitt), 10-4 (WVU wins, 24-11) Virginia: The Hoos took part in a showcase dual against in-state foe George Mason at the ARMS Duals hosted by St. Christopher's School in Richmond on Saturday. UVA wrestled well up and down the lineup. They got bonus points from Justin McCoy in a dominant display at 165 and a solid offensive day from Michael Battista earned him a major decision at 197. Jarod Verkleeren avenged his loss at the Midlands with a 2-1 decision over Nate Higley and Neil Antrassian continued his strong season with a controlling decision win. In injury news, Ethan Weatherspoon got the start, and the win, at 285 after the injuries to Gabe Christensen and Jessie Knight. Denton Spencer got another win filling in for Jake Keating, who has been out since the Northwestern dual. Two true freshmen got the nod for this dual, Kyle Montaperto at 125 and Garrett Grice at 133. Montaperto dropped a 6-2 decision in what was an uncharacteristic performance compared to what we've seen from him this season. He wasn't able to get his offense going and struggled to get off bottom; far different from the dynamic performances we have seen from him thus far. Garrett Grice was able to grit out a 4-3 decision, holding off a late offensive barrage from Josh Jones. Grice looked a step slower, but I'd attribute that to getting back to competition after a month off. He is a very dangerous wrestler and has put together an impressive 9-2 record so far this year. The final decision on the redshirt status for both Montaperto and Grice will need to be made soon, this was their fourth event and they are only allowed five to retain their redshirt status; there may be some tough choices for Coach Garland and crew coming soon. The Hoos are back in action at the Virginia Duals this weekend where they will face Ohio, Navy, Kent State and Maryland. VIRGINIA 26, GEORGE MASON 6 165: No. 14 Justin McCoy major dec. Drew Dickson (GMU), 13-3 - UVA 4, GMU 0 174: Jeremy Seymour (GMU) dec. Vic Marcelli, 4-3 - UVA 4, GMU 3 184: No. 18 Neil Antrassian dec. Malachi DuVall (GMU), 10-5 - UVA 7, GMU 3 197: Michael Battista major dec. Jon List (GMU) , 14-5 - UVA 11, GMU 3 285: Ethan Weatherspoon dec. Tyler Kocak (GMU), 6-3 - UVA 14, GMU 3 125: Markel Baker (GMU) dec. Kyle Montaperto, 6-2 - UVA 14, GMU 6 133: Garrett Grice dec. Josh Jones (GMU), 4-3 - UVA 17, GMU 6 141: Dylan Cedeno dec. Anthony Glasl (GMU), 6-0 - UVA 20, GMU 6 149: No. 29 Jarod Verkleeren dec. Nate Higley (GMU), 2-1 - UVA 23, GMU 6 157: Denton Spencer dec. Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (GMU), 9-3 - UVA 26, GMU 6 Virginia Tech: The Hokies had a busy weekend; they hosted Cornell in the annual dual at the Moss Arts Center on Friday night, followed by a doubleheader in the DMV against George Mason and American. I was able to attend the match at Moss, and I was incredibly impressed with the atmosphere. I went to the Moss dual a few years ago and it was a great atmosphere, but the match against Cornell had a much different feel in the theater. The dual started at 157 with a Clayton Ulrey decision to kick off the Hokies. Keep your eye out for Bryce Andonian on the open circuit to get some matches and test out the foot soon. Connor Brady wrestled well and held a very good Julian Ramirez to a 3-0 decision. The absence of Mekhi Lewis hit the Hokies hard at 174; Foca was able to get the pin over Jordan Florence for big bonus points for the Big Red. Hunter Bolen looked solid in a 4-0 decision over Ethan Hatcher; it was hard for Bolen to get his offense going as he tried to get Hatcher to engage throughout the match. Andy Smith struggled to slow down Jacob Cardenas but was able to get a late escape to keep it to a decision. Hunter Catka earned a 6-1 decision over Brendan Furman--much like the Bolen match, Catka had to pursue Furman all over the mat. In a very tight match at 125, Eddie Ventresca lost a heartbreaker in TB1 when he was unable to escape in the rideouts. Ventresca was in deep on a few shots, but was unable to finish earlier in the match. I'd love to see him be more aggressive and force the issue with his offense; he can be very dynamic on his feet and could put up more points. In the highlight of the evening, Sam Latona got the theater roaring with an upset win over Vito Arujau. They wrestled at CKLV and it was a close match, but Latona was unable to get through Vito's great defense. It was easy to see from watching Latona working out before the dual that he was locked in and pumped up for this opportunity in front of his home crowd. He did not disappoint. He fended off an immediate shot from Vito then dropped in on a reshot-he was able to get the leg in the air but Vito kicked out. Latona got in deep on a second inside single and finished the takedown at the end of the first, Vito escaped and added a second escape to start the second. Latona was again able to get in deep on an inside single and got the leg into the air; Vito was able to get back to the mat and create a scramble and nearly get a takedown of his own but Latona fought it off. In the third, Latona got out in about 30 seconds to get the 3-2 lead. He fended off Vito's attacks and got in another shot of his own to bring the clock down, he locked up a front headlock to run the clock out and take the one-point decision. The crowd was electric after this match. The air was sucked back out of the theater at 141 when Vince Cornella took a 12-4 major over Tom Crook. Cornella attacked relentlessly and Crook was never able to get to his own offense. At 149, three-time NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis faced true freshman Caleb Henson in a marquee match. Henson wrestled well and put up a valiant effort, but Yianni took the 6-2 decision. I mean this with all due respect--Yianni is a freak. He is a phenomenal wrestler and a generational talent--Henson keeping him to a decision and wrestling as composed as he did is a victory in itself. After the tough loss on Friday night, the Hokies traveled north for duals against George Mason and American. Against GMU, they got bonus points from a pin from Caleb Henson and major decisions from Sam Latona, Collin Gerardi, Andy Smith and Hunter Catka. In the dual against American, they got bonus from a pin from Kolton Clark, tech falls from Tom Crook and Sam Fisher, and a major decision from Brandon Wittenberg. In the final bout, Hunter Catka won by disqualification when he was injured by an illegal move. Righter was warned after a potentially dangerous call for grasping and twisting Catka's hand/fingers. On the restart immediately after the warning, Righter grabbed and twisted Catka's right hand; he was called for the illegal hold and after Catka's injury time expired, Righter was disqualified for the move. The Hokies travel to Boone, NC on Friday for a dual against Appalachian State in their final action before conference competition. #8 Virginia Tech Hokies - 12, #12 Cornell Big Red - 22 125 - No. 21 Brett Ungar DEC No. 18 Eddie Ventresca, 2-1 TB1 133 - No. 8 Sam Latona DEC No. 3 Vito Arujau (Cornell), 3-2 141 - No. 22 Vince Cornella (Cornell) MAJ DEC No. 14 Tom Crook, 12-4 149 - No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) DEC No. 11 Caleb Henson, 6-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Gage McClenahan (Cornell), 4-2 165 - No. 7 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) DEC No. 22 Connor Brady, 3-0 174 - No. 5 Chris Foca (Cornell) Fall Jordan Florence, 4:14 184 - No. 7 Hunter Bolen DEC Ethan Hatcher (Cornell), 4-0 197 - No. 17 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) DEC No. 21 Andy Smith, 10-3 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka DEC Brendan Furman (Cornell), 6-1 No. 8 Virginia Tech - 34, George Mason - 3 125 - No. 18 Eddie Ventresca DEC Markel Baker (George Mason), 8-2 133 - No. 8 Sam Latona MAJ DEC Josh Jones (George Mason), 12-4 141 - Collin Gerardi MAJ DEC Shawn Nonaka (George Mason), 10-1 149 - No. 11 Caleb Henson FALL Nate Higley (George Mason), 6:15 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason), 8-3 165 - No. 22 Connor Brady DEC Drew Dickson (George Mason), 12-5 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) DEC Jordan Florence, 6-2 184 - Sam Fisher DEC Malachi DuVall (George Mason), 11-7 197 - No. 21 Andy Smith MAJ DEC Jon List (George Mason), 14-2 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka MAJ DEC Donovan Sprouse (George Mason), 14-3 Extra Match 133 - Brandon Wittenberg DEC Patrick Schellpfeffer (George Mason), 6-1 No. 8 Virginia Tech - 35, American University - 9 125 - Cooper Flynn DEC Maximilian Lette (American), 3-1 133 - Brandon Wittenberg MAJ DEC Shamil Kalmatov (American), 12-2 141 - No. 14 Tom Crook TECH FALL Ethan Szerencsits (American), 20-5 5:20 149 - Patrick Ryan (American) DEC Kylan Montgomery, 7-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey DEC Jack Nies (American), 10-4 165 - Caleb Campos (American) FALL Ty Finn, 2:13 174 - Kolton Clark FALL Lucas White (American), 1:51 184 - Sam Fisher TECH FALL Colin Shannon (American), 25-9 197 - No. 21 Andy Smith DEC Connor Bourne (American), 3-1 285 - No. 23 Hunter Catka DQ Isaac Righter (American)

Clarion 165 lber Cam Pine after a win against Central Michigan (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first full week of the new year in the college wrestling season did not disappoint as we saw plenty of upsets, individually and team-based, along with standout performances from the sport's best, coupled with some emerging stars. It also marked the start of the Big Ten dual schedule which always leads to intriguing matchups, again, individually and team-based. In addition, six duals featured top-15 teams squaring off in dual competition. With so much going on there's any number of different talking points to hit on, but we've narrowed it down to 7 big stories from the week in college wrestling. #1 Goes Down at 141 lbs There was some controversy surrounding InterMat's rankings at 141 lbs. Top-ranked Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh was bested in the All-Star Classic exhibition match in late-November. #3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) was impressive in his victory over Matthews and looked deserving of the top spot. I don't disagree with that notion; however, the entire dual was built around the fact that these are exhibition matches which will not count on a wrestler's record or factor in towards NCAA seeding. I'd have to imagine that some of these matches would have never materialized without that caveat. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Oregon State 174 lber Aaron Olmos (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Mustangs Dominate Menlo College Invitational Cal Poly was the only Pac-12 school this weekend with success. The Mustangs traveled down the road to compete at the Menlo College Invitational. Five of the wrestlers were crowned champions, one finished second and one finished third. 125 pounder Dom Mendez was the first champion after going 3-0, including a fall in his second match. Zeth Romney went 3-0 too with a fall and major decision in the mix. Abe Hinrichsen and Cash Stewart were battle-tested in their matches. However, they came out victorious and captured first in their weight classes. Lastly, Nathan Glass finished first after going 2-0 in the 285-pound division. Wesley Wilson finished second and Koda Holeman claimed the bronze. The rest of the Mustang squad hosted Michigan on Friday and fell 30-11. Arizona State loses two high-profile duals over the weekend Arizona State came into the Cornell dual as 12.5 point underdogs. However, the Sun Devils lost 19-12 in Austin, TX. Besides Chris Foca getting a major decision over Josh Nummer, every match was within six points or less. Brandon Courtney earned his first dual win since Feb. 19, 2022, with a win over Brett Ungar while Vito Arujau proved he has the edge over Michael McGee heading into the backside of the wrestling season with a 7-5 victory. Yianni Diakomihalis was tested once again as Kyle Parco took him the distance. Parco fell 8-2 in the 149-pound matchup. Lastly, Cohlton Schultz picked up a tight victory over Lewis Fernandez to close the dual, winning 4-2. A few days later, ASU traveled to Ames, IA to compete against Iowa State. Arizona State threw out a separate lineup to rest a couple of starters. Richard Figueroa earned a 7-5 victory at 125 pounds while Jonathan Fagen continued to fill in for Kordell Norfleet. Kyle Parco shined with a 7-5 upset victory over much-heralded freshman Paniro Johnson. Oregon State falls to Oklahoma State at home Oklahoma State sent nearly 6,800 fans home upset after beating the Beavers 20-12. However, Oregon State nearly sent Oklahoma State home with a loss. The dual started at 149 pounds. The Beavers dropped the first two matches, but Oregon State rallied four straight wins to take a 12-7 lead. One of those matches saw #29 Aaron Olmos hand unbeaten, Southern Scuffle champion Dustin Plott his first loss of the year, in decisive fashion, 9-4. Olmos is now 7-5 on the year. Yet, the Beavers hit the heart of the Cowboy lineup. Trevor Mastrogiovanni, Daton Fix and Carter Young captured three consecutive victories to flip the score and return to Oklahoma with a win. Michigan blanks the Roadrunners Cal State Bakersfield began its dual season with one of the best teams in the country and proved to be no match for the Michigan Wolverines. Cal State’s two-ranked wrestlers had strong outings despite falling. 133-pound Chance Rich fell to Dylan Ragusin 7-3 while Angelo Martinoni lost 4-1 to Cole Mattin. Since the Roadrunners’ stars could not capture a win, the Roadrunners lost 36-0. Bakersfield almost broke the shutout when 197-pound Mateo Morales led 3-2 in the third period. However, Brendin Yatooma got a late takedown and won 6-3.

The Kentucky Expo Center; Site of the 2023 NWCA National Duals Division II Results Championship - St. Cloud State over Central Oklahoma 19-16 Third Place - Mary over West Liberty 37-3 Fifth Place - Lander over Upper Iowa 22-18 Seventh Place - Indianapolis over Nebraska-Kearney 20-19 Division III Results Championship - Augsburg over Johnson & Wales 35-8 Third Place - Wartburg over Wisconsin-La Crosse 27-9 Fifth Place - Baldwin Wallace over Loras 23-20 Seventh Place - North Central over The College of New Jersey 24-18 NAIA Results Championship - Grand View over Life 22-8 Third Place - Doane over Southeastern 24-11 Fifth Place - Marian over Indiana Tech 21-18 Seventh Place - Reinhardt over Morningside 38-9 Women’s NCAA Championship - King over North Central 23-21 Third Place - McKendree over Colorado Mesa 41-3 Fifth Place - Augsburg over Presbyterian 29-17 Seventh Place - Sacred Heart over Gannon 24-23 Women’s NAIA Championship - Southern Oregon over Grand View 22-18 Third Place - Life over Menlo 30-13 Fifth Place - Providence over Texas Wesleyan 25-22 Seventh Place - Campbellsville over Indiana Tech 30-14 NCWA Results Championship - Bellarmine over Liberty 29-21 Third Place - Queens over Apprentice School 23-22 Fifth Place - Grand Valley State over Toledo 44-15 Seventh Place - Emory & Henry over Central Florida 31-26

West Virginia 125 lber Killian Cardinale (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Weekend Dual Results Saturday’s Results The Citadel 51 Truett-McConnell 6 125 - Blair Orr (The Citadel) fall Brandon Navixay (Truett-McConnell) 4:17 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) fall Frankie Salcedo (Truett-McConnell) 1:54 141 - Dillon Ramon (The Citadel) fall Stanley Lal (Truett-McConnell) 7:00 149 - Ethan Willis (The Citadel) tech Leonel Silvestre (Truett-McConnell) 15-0 157 - Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) fall Mason Johnson (Truett-McConnell) 3:36 165 - Brodie Porter (The Citadel) maj Ian James (Truett-McConnell) 19-5 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) fall Elijah Hester (Truett-McConnell) 2:50 184 - Hans Evatt (Truett-McConnell) fall Micah DiCarlo (The Citadel) 3:32 197 - Mark Chaid (The Citadel) fall Nolan Cook (The Citadel) 3:39 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) FFT The Citadel 43 Keiser 3 125 - Blair Orr (The Citadel) FFT 133 - George Rosas (The Citadel) fall Bryce Cockrell (Keiser) 6:08 141 - Dillon Ramon (The Citadel) FFT 149 - Ethan Willis (The Citadel) dec Bryce Gonzalez (Keiser) 8-1 157 - Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) fall Brady Ellison (Kesier) 6:18 165 - Adam El-Damir (Keiser) dec Brodie Porter (The Citadel) 2-1 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) maj Brett Bosserman (Keiser) 15-2 184 - William Rogers (The Citadel) dec Jared Tracey (Keiser) 6-1 197 - Mark Chaid (The Citadel) fall Hayden Malson (Keiser) 4:54 285 - Jonathan Chesser (The Citadel) dec Earnest Johnson (Keiser) 5-3 Virginia 26 George Mason 6 125 - Markel Baker (George Mason) dec Kyle Montaperto (Virginia) 6-2 133 - Garrett Grice (Virginia) dec Josh Jones (George Mason) 4-3 141 - Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) dec Anthony Glasl (George Mason) 6-0 149 - Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) dec Nathan Higley (George Mason) 2-1 157 - Denton Spencer (Virginia) dec Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason) 9-3 165 - Justin McCoy (Virginia) maj Drew Dickson (George Mason) 13-3 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) dec Vic Marcelli (Virginia) 4-3 184 - Neil Antrassian (Virginia) dec Malachi Duvall (George Mason) 10-5 197 - Michael Battista (Virginia) maj Jon List (George Mason) 14-5 285 - Ethan Weatherspoon (Virginia) dec Tyler Kocak (George Mason) 6-3 Iowa State 37 Wyoming 7 125 - Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) maj Conor Knopick (Iowa State) 12-4 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) fall Darrick Stacey (Wyoming) 1:14 141 - Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) dec Darren Green (Wyoming) 7-2 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 8-3 157 - Jacob Wright (Wyoming) dec Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) 6-4 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) fall Cole Moody (Wyoming) 5:19 174 - Julien Broderson (Iowa State) fall Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) :24 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) tech Quayin Short (Wyoming) 17-0 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) maj Guillermo Escobedo (Wyoming) 18-7 285 - Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) maj Terren Swartz (Wyoming) 19-8 Northwestern 18 Minnesota 11 125 - Double FFT 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) dec Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) 7-4 141 - Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) dec Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 2-1 149 - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) dec Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 2-1TB 157 - Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) dec Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 8-4 165 - Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) dec Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 6-4 174 - Bailee O’Reilly (Minnesota) maj Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (Northwestern) 17-5 184 - Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) maj Evan Bates (Northwestern) 15-1 197 - Michial Foy (Minnesota) dec Andrew Davison (Northwestern) 2-0 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) dec Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 4-1 Nebraska 37 Campbell 6 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) tech Zak Thompson (Campbell) 18-3 133 - Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) dec Alex Thomsen (Nebraska) 4-1 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) fall Shannon Hanna (Campbell) 6:52 149 - Dayne Morton (Nebraska) dec Chris Rivera (Campbell) 5-0 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) FFT 165 - Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) fall Dom Baker (Campbell) 2:28 174 - Mikey Labiola (Nebraska) maj Cole Rees (Campbell) 18-6 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) maj Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 14-6 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) dec Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 8-3 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec Cale Davidson (Nebraska) 5-3 Campbell 25 Gardner-Webb 12 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) dec Zak Thompson (Campbell) 6-5 133 - Domenic Zaccone (Campbell) maj Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 10-2 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 2-1TB 149 - Chris Rivera (Campbell) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 8-2 157 - Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) FFT 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Dom Baker (Campbell) 3-2TB 174 - Cole Rees (Gardner-Webb) dec Andrew Wilson (Campbell) 5-2 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 2-1 197 - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) tech Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) 24-9 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) maj Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 22-8 Nebraska 37 Gardner-Webb 6 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) maj Drew West (Gardner-Webb) 13-3 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Boo Dryden (Nebraska) 3-2 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 4-0 149 - Blake Cushing (Nebraska) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 5-2 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) tech Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 16-1 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 4-2SV 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) tech Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) 17-2 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) fall Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 1:24 197 - Silas Allred (Nebraska) fall Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) 2:08 285 - Cale Davidson (Nebraska) tech Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 16-1 South Dakota State 31 Northern Illinois 6 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec Blake West (Northern Illinois) 2-0 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) maj Bryce West (Northern Illinois) 12-1 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) 6-4 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) dec Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) 4-2 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) dec Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) 4-3 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) 3-1 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) 11-3 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Cade King (South Dakota State) 12-8 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) tech Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 15-0 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) 3:00 Northern Illinois 20 California Baptist 15 125 - Blake West (Northern Illinois) dec Eli Griffin (California Baptist) 6-5 133 - Hunter Leake (California Baptist) dec Bryce West (Northern Illinois) 8-4 141 - Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) maj Christian Nunez (California Baptist)) 12-2 149 - Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) maj Chaz Hallmark (California Baptist) 3-1 157 - Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) maj Joseph Mora (California Baptist) 8-0 165 - Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) dec Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) 3-1SV 174 - Louis Rojas (California Baptist) dec Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) 5-2 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) 3-1SV 197 - Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) fall Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 2:20 285 - Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) dec Chris Island (California Baptist) 5-3SV South Dakota State 44 California Baptist 0 125 - Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec Eli Griffin (California Baptist) 5-3 133 - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) dec Hunter Leake (California Baptist) 2-1 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) tech Christian Nunez (California Baptist) 18-3 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) tech Chaz Hallmark (California Baptist) 20-3 157 - Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) tech Joseph Mora (California Baptist) 17-1 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Frank Almaguer (California Baptist) 2:27 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj Louis Rojas (California Baptist) 18-5 184 - Cade King (South Dakota State) dec Peter Acciardi (California Baptist) 4-0 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) maj Caden Gerlach (California Baptist) 10-1 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) fall Chris Island (California Baptist) 2:57 Oklahoma 22 Edinboro 15 125 - Joey Prata (Oklahoma) dec Aiden Lewis (Edinboro) 5-4 133 - Wyatt Henson (Oklahoma) dec Cam Soda (Edinboro) 11-8 141 - Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) fall Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) 1:35 149 - Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) dec Ryan Burgos (Edinboro) 6-4 157 - Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) dec Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) 4-2SV 165 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma) fall Alex Garee (Edinboro) :52 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) 4-0 184 - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) dec Jack Kilner (Edinboro) 3-1 197 - Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) dec Seth Seago (Oklahoma) 8-2 285 - Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) maj Nick Lodato (Edinboro) 18-6 Penn 19 North Carolina 17 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Ryan Miller (Penn) 7-5 133 - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec Jace Palmer (North Carolina) 10-4 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) maj Carmen Ferrante (Penn) 12-1 149 - Doug Zapf (Penn) dec Zach Sherman (North Carolina) 7-4 157 - Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) maj Anthony Artalona (Penn) 13-5 165 - Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) dec Lucas Revano (Penn) 5-4 174 - Nick Incontrera (Penn) tech Gino Esposito (North Carolina) 18-0 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Max Hale (Penn) 7-3 197 - Cole Urbas (Penn) tech Cade Lautt (North Carolina) 16-0 285 - Ben Goldin (Penn) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 2-0 Sunday’s Dual Results Virginia Tech 34 George Mason 3 125 - Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) dec Markel Baker (George Mason) 8-2 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) maj Josh Jones (George Mason) 12-4 141 - Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) maj Shawn Nonaka (George Mason) 10-1 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) fall Nathan Higley (George Mason) 6:17 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Loranzo Rajaonarivelo (George Mason) 8-3 165 - Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) dec Drew Dickson (George Mason) 11-5 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) dec Jordan Florence (Virginia Tech) 5-2 184 - Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) dec Malachi Duvall (George Mason) 11-7 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) maj Jon List (George Mason) 14-2 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) maj Donovan Sprouse (George Mason) 14-3 Clarion 25 Central Michigan 12 125 - Joey Fischer (Clarion) dec Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) 5-3TB 133 - Vince Perez (Central Michigan) dec Koen Kish (Clarion) 9-4 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) maj Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 17-6 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) fall Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 5:34 157 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) dec Trevor Elfvin (Clarion) 7-2 165 - Cam Pine (Clarion) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 11-9SV 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 11-7 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) fall Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 4:17 197 - Ty Bagoly (Clarion) dec Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 8-3 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) dec Austin Chapman (Clarion) 3-0 Iowa State 19 Arizona State 15 125 - Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec Caleb Fuessley (Iowa State) 7-5 133 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) dec Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) 9-3 141 - Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) dec Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) 8-6SV 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) 7-5SV 157 - Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) dec Max Wilner (Arizona State) 7-0 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) tech Tony Negron (Arizona State) 17-2 174 - Julien Broderson (Iowa State) maj Josh Nummer (Arizona State) 18-5 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Anthony Montalvo (Arizona State) 8-2 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) maj Jonathan Fagen (Arizona State) 24-11 285 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) dec Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) 3-2 West Virginia 24 Pittsburgh 11 125 - Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) 5-3 133 - Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) maj Davin Rhoads (West Virginia) 10-2 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) dec Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) 3-1 149 - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) dec Tyler Badgett (Pittsburgh) 2-0SV 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) dec Dan Mancini (Pittsburgh) 3-1 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) fall Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) 3:43 174 - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) dec Brody Conley (West Virginia) 3-2 184 - Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) 7-2 197 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) maj Brian Finnerty (West Virginia) 18-4 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Jake Slinger (Pittsburgh) 10-4 Iowa 37 Purdue 6 125 - Spencer Lee (Iowa) fall Matt Ramos (Purdue) 2:56 133 - Brody Teske (Iowa) maj Dustin Norris (Purdue) 16-4 141 - Parker Filius (Purdue) dec Cullan Schriever (Iowa) 6-2 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) tech Trey Kruse (Purdue) 22-7 157 - Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) 3-2 165 - Aiden Riggins (Iowa) dec Stoney Buell (Purdue) 9-4 174 - Nelson Brands (Iowa) dec Cooper Noehre (Purdue) 4-0 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) fall Ben Vanadia (Purdue) 4:15 197 - Jacob Warner (Iowa) maj Hayden Filipovich (Purdue) 16-4 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) FFT Rutgers 26 Rider 9 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 2-0 133 - Joe Heilmann (Rutgers) dec Richie Koehler (Rider) 6-1 141 - Devon Britton (Rutgers) dec McKenzie Bell (Rider) 7-4 149 - Tony White (Rutgers) maj Bryan Miraglia (Rider) 11-2 157 - Andy Clark (Rutgers) dec Colton Washleski (Rider) 4-3 165 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) dec Hunter Mays (Rider) 8-6 174 - Jackson Turley (Rutgers) dec Shane Reitsma (Rider) 11-5 184 - Brian Soldano (Rutgers) maj Ray Weed (Rider) 14-3 197 - Ethan Laird (Rider) dec Billy Janzer (Rutgers) 6-1 285 - David Szuba (Rider) InjDef Boone McDermott (Rutgers) Buffalo 18 SIU Edwardsville 16 125 - Davian Guanajuato (SIU Edwardsville) dec Mason Bush (Buffalo) 5-3 133 - Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) dec Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) 7-2 141 - Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) maj Matt Ryan (Buffalo) 10-2 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) 4-2 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Caine Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) 10-6 165 - Bradley Gillum (SIU Edwardsville) dec Noah Grover (Buffalo) 3-2 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) 3-1SV 184 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) dec Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 9-4 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 4-2 285 - Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) fall Dan McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) 6:58 Appalachian State 29 Binghamton 10 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton) 10-9 133 - Sean Carter (Appalachian State) dec Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) 10-5 141 - Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) dec Nate Lucier (Binghamton) 4-1 149 - Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) maj Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 16-3 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) dec Fin Nadeau (Binghamton) 5-2 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) dec Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 2-0 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) maj Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 10-0 184 - Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) maj Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) 8-0 197 - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) FFT 285 - Cory Day (Binghamton) fall Mason Fiscella (Appalachian State) 6:38 Michigan 36 CSU Bakersfield 0 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSU Bakersfield) 9-4 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 7-3 141 - Cole Mattin (Michigan) dec Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 4-1 149 - Chance Lamer (Michigan) maj Josh Brown (CSU Bakersfield) 11-3 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield) 8-3 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) tech Braden Smelser (CSU Bakersfield) 19-1 174 - Max Maylor (Michigan) dec Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield) 8-4 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) dec Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) 7-1 197 - Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) dec Mateo Morales (CSU Bakersfield) 6-3 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) fall Jake Andrews (CSU Bakersfield) 2:23 Oklahoma State 20 Oregon State 12 125 - Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 3-2 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) maj Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 12-4 141 - Carter Young (Oklahoma State) dec Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 6-2 149 - Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) maj Riley Gurr (Oregon State) 10-2 157 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) dec Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) 10-9 165 - Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) 7-5SV 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 9-4 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) dec Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 4-3 197 - Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) dec Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 14-9 285 - Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) dec JJ Dixon (Oregon State) 3-2 Missouri 24 Northern Iowa 12 125 - Noah Surtin (Missouri) tech Kyle Gollhoffer (Northern Iowa) 16-0 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) dec Zeke Seltzer (Missouri) 5-2 141 - Allan Hart (Missouri) dec Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) 10-4 149 - Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) 3-1 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Logan Gioffre (Missouri) 3-1 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec J Conway (Missouri) 4-0 174 - Peyton Mocco (Missouri) fall Carson Babcock (Northern Iowa) 6:43 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) dec Colton Hawks (Missouri) 7-2 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) maj Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 10-2 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 3-1SV Illinois 18 Wisconsin 17 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) dec Maximo Renteria (Illinois) 7-1 133 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) dec Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) 5-1 141 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) fall Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) 5:40 149 - Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) dec Jake Harrier (Illinois) 9-7 157 - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec Anthony Federico (Illinois) 5-1 165 - Dean Hamti (Wisconsin) tech Danny Braunagel (Illinois) 15-0 174 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Josh Otto (Wisconsin) 4-1 184 - Dylan Connell (Illinois) dec Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) 5-3 197 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) dec Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 4-3 285 - Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) dec Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) 3-0 Virginia Tech 35 American 9 125 - Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) dec Max Leete (American) 3-1 133 - Brandon Wittenberg (Virginia Tech) maj Shamli Kalmatov (American) 12-2 141 - Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) tech Ethan Szerencsits (American) 20-5 149 - Patrick Ryan (American) dec Kylan Montgomery (Virginia Tech) 7-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Jack Nies (American) 10-4 165 - Caleb Campos (American) fall Ty Finn (Virginia Tech) 2:13 174 - Kolton Clark (Virginia Tech) fall Lucas White (American) 1:51 184 - Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) tech Colin Shannon (American) 26-9 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec Connor Bourne (American) 3-1 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) disq Isaac Righter (American)

285 lbs Midlands champion Lucas Davison (top) (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) For years the Midlands and the Southern Scuffle tournaments represented the midway point of the college wrestling season. There were some issues due to the pandemic, but both tournaments returned this year. Another tournament, the Soldier Salute in Iowa, joined the field this year. While much of the talk coming out after these tournaments has been about who did not wrestle and medical forfeits, there was still some great wrestling. The following looks at some of the top statistical performers from the event and their prospects going forward this season. Point Differential (match points per minute minus match points against per minute) The best point differential performance came at the Soldier Salute, and it belonged to someone who is no stranger to dominating this statistical category. The top wrestler in the country at 125 pounds was dominant on his way to the title. Spencer Lee (Iowa) averaged 3.34 points per minute across his four matches and allowed only six points total. That comes out to a +2.91 differential. While the competition was not particularly strong, Lee appeared to be starting to resemble his prime. His best wins in the tournament came against Wyoming freshman Jore Volk, who was third at the Reno Tournament of Champions, and Lee’s teammate Drake Ayala. It remains to be seen if this momentum will continue into the Big Ten season, but after six matches this season, Lee has been able to hold his number-one ranking and win all his matches with bonus points. Across all three tournaments, the only other wrestlers to come close to Lee in terms of point differential were his teammates: No. 2 Real Woods who finished with a +2.66 differential at 141 pounds and No. 3 Tony Cassioppi at heavyweight with a +2.23 differential. Over at the Southern Scuffle, No. 3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) had one of the best performances of the holiday tournaments on his way to the title at 141 pounds. He averaged 2.65 points per minute, allowed only 0.76 per minute and finished with a +1.89 point differential. In the finals, Alirez knocked off No. 7 Allan Hart (Missouri). So far this season, he has won all 11 of his matches and picked up an exhibition victory over No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the All-Star Classic. The Northern Colorado representative is looking entirely like a title contender this season, and his point differential performance at the Southern Scuffle only drove that point home. Interestingly enough, the best point differential at the Midlands came from a wrestler who finished fifth in the tournament. No. 7 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) won his first three matches before bowing out of the tournament at 125 pounds. Along the way, he scored 1.84 points per minute, gave up 0.55 and therefore finished with a +1.29 differential. Cardinale’s differential only slightly edged out fellow 125-pounder No. 5 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) who won the tournament. He finished with a +1.26 differential after outscoring five opponents by a combined 50 to nine score. No opponent managed to notch more than four points against him on his way to the title. Points Allowed Last year, at the NCAA tournament, No. 4 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) became the first heavyweight to complete a two-point score against eventual champion and Hodge winner Gable Steveson. At the Midlands, he did his talking with his defense. On his way to the tournament title, he averaged only 0.85 points per minute, but he allowed absolutely zero points. He was the only wrestler across all three weekend tournaments to not surrender a single point. Mat Time Oklahoma State won the team title at the Southern Scuffle thanks in large part to three individual champions. No. 2 Daton Fix (133), No. 4 Dustin Plott (174) and No. 13 Travis Wittlake (184) all took home tournament titles. However, usually, tournament success depends on the performance of other placers. One such placer came at heavyweight where Konner Doucet finished third. The Cowboy dropped a one-point decision against No. 22 “Big” Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) in the quarterfinals before battling all the way back for third. Along the way, he wrestled in seven matches and went to rideouts in three of those matches. He finished with 64 minutes of mat time. It was the most of any wrestler across all three holiday tournaments. The next closest competitor was Maryland’s No. 22 Ethen Miller who finished with a shade over an hour on the mat as he placed fourth in the 157 bracket at the Southern Scuffle. No other competitor spent over an hour on the mats across all three tournaments.

Cornell 174 lber Chris Foca (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Friday’s Dual Results Cleveland State 36 Lake Erie 9 125 - Ben Aranda (Cleveland State) tech Jacob Johnson (Lake Erie) 16-0 133 - Cody Moosman (Cleveland State) fall Ryan Wehner (Lake Erie) 4:06 141 - Christian Small (Lake Erie) fall Caleb Rea (Cleveland State) 2:37 149 - Austin Fietz (Lake Erie) dec Joey Caprella (Cleveland State) 10-9 157 - Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec Jack Haskin (Lake Erie) 7-5 165 - Daniel Patten (Cleveland State) dec Jacob Potok (Lake Erie) 7-2 174 - JR Reed (Cleveland State) FFT 184 - Gabe Phillips (Cleveland State) dec Vinny Scaramuzzino (Lake Erie) 9-2 197 - Joey Lyons (Cleveland State) maj Brylan Clouse (Lake Erie) 16-6 285 - Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) FFT Michigan State 28 Bucknell 9 125 - Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) maj Grayson McClellan (Bucknell) 14-5 133 - Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) dec Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 5-4 141 - Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) dec Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) 2-1TB 149 - Braden Bower (Bucknell) dec Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 3-1 157 - Chase Saldate (Michigan State) maj Riley Bower (Bucknell) 8-0 165 - Caleb Fish (Michigan State) dec Chase Barlow (Bucknell) 5-3 174 - Ceasar Garza (Michigan State) dec Sam Barnes (Bucknell) 8-3 184 - Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) fall Michael Bartusch (Bucknell) 3:17 197 - Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) tech Nolan Springer (Bucknell) 19-2 285 - Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) dec Ryan Vasbinder (Michigan State) 5-3 Rutgers 45 Bloomsburg 0 125 - Dean Peterson (Rutgers) maj Bronson Garber (Bloomsburg) 12-0 133 - Devon Britton (Rutgers) fall Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) 5:25 141 - Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) dec Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) 1-0 149 - Anthony White (Rutgers) maj Cade Balestrini (Bloomsburg) 11-0 157 - Andy Clark (Rutgers) fall CJ Fritz (Bloomsburg) 2:28 165 - Robert Kanniard (Rutgers) maj Trenton Harder (Bloomsburg) 11-1 174 - Jackson Turley (Rutgers) tech Anthony DeRosa (Bloomsburg) 19-1 184 - Brian Soldano (Rutgers) maj Bruno Stolfi (Bloomsburg) 18-5 197 - Billy Janzer (Rutgers) dec Tanner Culver (Bloomsburg) 9-2 285 - John O’Donnell (Rutgers) dec fall Shane Noonan (Bloomsburg) :53 Ohio State 26 Indiana 13 125 - Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec Brendan McCrone (Ohio State) 4-3 133 - Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) maj Henry Porter (Indiana) 20-6 141 - Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) maj Cayden Rooks (Indiana) 10-2 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) fall Graham Rooks (Indiana) :53 157 - Derek Gilcher (Indiana) dec Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) 5-4 165 - Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) dec Nick South (Indiana) 10-7 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec DJ Washington (Indiana) 10-7 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) fall Drayton Harris (Indiana) 4:00 197 - Nick Willham (Indiana) maj Seth Shumate (Ohio State) 10-2 285 - Jacob Bullock (Indiana) dec Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 7-2 NC State 36 Binghamton 3 125 - Micah Roes (Binghamton) dec Jarrett Trombley (NC State) 3-1SV 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) dec Ivan Garcia (Binghamton) 9-2 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) maj Nathan Lucier (Binghamton) 12-2 149 - Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec Michael Zarif (Binghamton) 6-0 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) fall Conner Decker (Binghamton) 1:30 165 - Derek Fields (NC State) dec Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton) 6-4 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) dec Sam DePrez (Binghamton) 7-3 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) maj Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 14-4 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) fall Cayden Bevis (Binghamton) 6:56 285 - Owen Trephan (NC State) maj Cory Day (Binghamton) 11-0 Cornell 22 Virginia Tech 12 125 - Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) 2-1TB 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec Vito Arujau (Cornell) 3-2 141 - Vince Cornella (Cornell) maj Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) 12-4 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 6-2 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) dec Gage McClenahan (Cornell) 4-2 165 - Julian Ramirez (Cornell) dec Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 3-0 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) fall Jordan Florence (Virginia Tech) 4:30 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) dec Ethan Hatcher (Cornell) 4-0 197 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 10-3 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) dec Brendan Furman (Cornell) 6-1 Chattanooga 30 VMI 9 125 - Dominic DiTomasso (Chattanooga) dec Tony Burke (VMI) 2-0 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) dec Dyson Dunham (VMI) 6-4 141 - Franco Valdes (Chattanooga) dec Freddy Junko (VMI) 6-1 149 - Grant Lundy (Chattanooga) dec Josh Yost (VMI) 3-0 157 - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) maj Jobe Chishko (VMI) 14-2 165 - Braxton Lewis (VMI) maj Caleb Waddell (Chattanooga) 14-6 174 - Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) tech Jon Hoover (VMI) 16-0 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) fall Zach Brown (VMI) 1:23 197 - Tyler Mousaw (VMI) tech Landon Lewis (Chattanooga) 15-0 285 - Logan Andrew (Chattanooga) dec Josh Evans (VMI) 7-3 Iowa 25 Illinois 19 125 - Spencer Lee (Iowa) fall Maximo Renteria (Illinois) 2:22 133 - Lucas Byrd (Illinois) fall Cullan Schriever (Iowa) 2:58 141 - Danny Pucino (Illinois) maj Drew Bennett (Iowa) 20-8 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) fall Kevon Davenport (Illinois) 3:34 157 - Mike Carr (Illinois) dec Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa) 12-7 165 - Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) maj Danny Braunagel (Illinois) 15-4 174 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Nelson Brands (Iowa) 2-1TB 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) dec Dylan Connell (Illinois) 3-1 197 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) dec Jacob Warner (Iowa) 3-1 285 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) Disq Matt Wroblewski (Illinois) West Virginia 28 Ohio 9 125 - Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 6-2 133 - Davin Rhoads (West Virginia) dec Gio DiSabato (Ohio) 6-2 141 - Jordan Titus (West Virginia) maj Aidan Waszak (Ohio) 14-2 149 - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) fall Pierce Taylor (Ohio) 1:11 157 - Peyten Keller (Ohio) dec Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) 8-6 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) dec Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 10-3 174 - Sal Perrine (Ohio) dec Brody Conley (West Virginia) 3-1SV 184 - Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec Zayne Lehman (Ohio) 6-5 197 - Carson Brewer (Ohio) dec Ian Bush (West Virginia) 6-1 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) fall Jacob Padilla (Ohio) 2:20 Penn State 28 Wisconsin 11 125 - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) tech Gary Steen (Penn State) 15-0 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) maj Taylor LaMont (Wisconsin) 14-5 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) maj Felix Lettini (Wisconsin) 12-3 149 - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) dec Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) 6-2 157 - Levi Haines (Penn State) maj Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 16-6 165 - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) maj Matt Lee (Penn State) 18-6 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) maj Josh Otto (Wisconsin) 22-8 184 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) tech Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) 16-0 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) maj Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 11-2 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) 6-2 Michigan 30 Cal Poly 11 125 - Jack Medley (Michigan) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 3-2 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) fall Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) 2:44 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) dec Cole Mattin (Michigan) 4-1 149 - Chance Lamer (Michigan) InjDef Dom Demas (Cal Poly) 157 - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 8-2 165 - Cam Amine (Michigan) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 6-2 174 - Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Joseph Walker (Michigan) 6-1 184 - Matt Finesilver (Michigan) dec Jarad Priest (Cal Poly) 8-2 197 - Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) tech Brendin Yatooma (Michigan) 16-1 285 - Mason Parris (Michigan) fall Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 2:38 Bellarmine 36 Queens 9 125 - Jack Parker (Bellarmine) tech Griffen Gonzales (Queens) 17-1 133 - Michael Schiffhauer (Bellarmine) maj Ananth Manibushan (Queens) 15-5 141 - Melvin Rubio (Queens) dec Kysen Montgomery (Bellarmine) 8-2 149 - Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) tech David Makupson (Queens) 18-3 157 - Grant O’Dell (Bellarmine) dec Toure Moore (Queens) 9-5 165 - Cole Nance (Bellarmine) fall Vladimir Sukhikh (Queens) 4:57 174 - Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) maj JT Skalecki (Queens) 18-9 184 - Kennedy Wyatt (Bellarmine) dec D’Andree Hunt (Queens) 11-4 197 - Riley Kuhn (Queens) FFT 285 - Thaddeus Huff (Bellarmine) fall Darius Ward (Queens) 1:04

Austin O'Connor at the 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Duke: The Blue Devils will be off this week and next week. They return to action with Central Michigan on 1/19 and North Carolina to open ACC action on 1/20. Pittsburgh: The Panthers will bring the Backyard Brawl to the mat when they welcome West Virginia to the Fitzgerald Field House on Sunday. This rivalry plays a major role during football season, and it will be great to see it on the Resilite this weekend. Pitt is favored on paper, but there will be some solid matches in this one, including a couple very good ranked-versus-ranked matchups. It will be a great dual to watch on a Sunday afternoon. 125: #7 Killian Cardinale vs Colton Camacho Cardinale is a 2021 All-American and made the blood round last year, so he is well-established as a dangerous wrestler. However, he only has three matches on the year; after picking up three wins at the Midlands before medically forfeiting out of the tournament. Camacho has had a good year so far and is looking for a signature win to boost him to the next tier. He has an opportunity here with Cardinale, but it will be a big ask. 149: #28 Sam Hillegas vs #25 Tyler Badgett This is one of the two big matchups that I am looking forward to. Hillegas has put together a good season in Morgantown since transferring from VT. Badgett has been on a great run this year and is coming off a podium finish at the Midlands. I have been very impressed with Badgett this year and like the trajectory he is on; I think this will be a close match but I give the edge to Badgett. 157: #27 Alex Hornfeck vs Dazjon Casto Hornfeck has put together a good season but doesn’t have any signature wins that really jump off the page at you. Casto has had a rough start to his time in Pittsburgh and is in need of a big win to jumpstart his season before conference duals start. This is a good chance for Casto to get back on track against a ranked opponent and show the form that makes him such a dangerous wrestler. 165: #12 Peyton Hall vs #28 Holden Heller Peyton Hall is a wrestler who I have always enjoyed watching; he is immensely talented and has so many clutch wins on his record. He dropped in the rankings after taking a loss to Danny Braunagel at the Midlands and subsequently medically forfeiting out of the tournament, but was previously ranked #5. Heller has had a great year since coming to Pittsburgh from Hofstra, he also dropped in the rankings after going 2-2 at the Midlands. This should be a very fun one to watch. 285: #28 Michael Wolfgram vs #5 Dayton Pitzer Wolfgram was a 2022 national qualifier and he has been in and out of the rankings over the past couple of years and is a very solid wrestler. After the amazing tournament Pitzer had at the Midlands, he will be back in dual action and I’m interested to see if he can keep the incredible momentum churning. North Carolina: The Tar Heels will head to Pennsylvania for a weekend of wrestling; they will send a squad to the F&M Open on Friday then face a very scrappy Penn squad in Philly on Saturday. The dual with Penn should be very tight and there are some toss-up matches that will be critical to the team score. Unfortunately, we will not see a full-strength UNC lineup with Clay Lautt still out since the App State dual and Zach Sherman being eased back into the lineup. This dual should be very entertaining as Penn is really building as a program and has some very talented wrestlers up and down the lineup. Here are a few big ones to keep your eye on. 125: #31 Ryan Miller vs #33 Jack Wagner Both have had similar seasons and this match will be very important in what could be a very tight dual. 133: #9 Michael Coliaocco vs #30 Joey Melendez Coliaocco has looked phenomenal this season. He is 13-3 with all losses to top-10 wrestlers and is coming off winning a title at the Midlands. Melendez started the season off strong with a title at the Southeast Open, but has struggled with top-tier competition in his last few outings. This would be a huge win for Melendez, but he will have to be at the top of his game to compete with Colaiocco. 149: #10 Doug Zapf vs Zach Sherman While I would love to see this match, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sherman is seeing his first competition of the season this year at the F&M Open, and the plan is to ease him back in, so I don’t anticipate him getting a top-10 opponent out of the gate. 157: #15 Anthony Artalona vs #4 Austin O’Connor This could be a fun one. Artalona is 13-3 on the year and is coming off a podium finish at the Midlands. He is a two-time blood round finisher at the NCAAs and is a fun wrestler to watch. O’Connor is 2-0 since returning and he will face his first ranked wrestler of the season. I would love to see AOC turn it on and pick up some bonus points here. North Carolina State: The Wolfpack open their 2023 home slate by welcoming Binghamton to Reynolds Coliseum on Friday night. The backstory here, of course, is Coach Popolizio facing the team where he made his head coaching debut; he was at the helm of the Bearcats from 2007 to 2012 before coming to Raleigh. The Bearcats have a scrappy team and three ranked wrestlers at the top end of the lineup, but the Wolfpack should be able to take care of business handily. 184: #23 Jacob Nolan vs #3 Trent Hidlay Hidlay is coming off his only loss of the season and will be looking to make a statement. Nolan has put together a good season so far, and is coming off an eighth-place finish at the Southern Scuffle. I don’t foresee Trent having any issues here and would expect him to be looking for BONUS. 197: #9 Lou Deprez vs #7 Isaac Trumble I was hopeful that we would get this matchup because it would be a fun one--but Deprez defaulted out of the finals of the Southern Scuffle with an injury mid-match. He will not be available on Friday; Trumble will face freshman Cayden Bevis. 285: #21 Cory Day vs #13 Owen Trephan Cory Day also had a stellar performance at the Scuffle, making the finals where he fell to Zach Elam. Trephan will look to add to his already strong record; he comes in at 13-3 on the year, with his only losses being to top-10 ranked wrestlers. While Day has looked good, Trephan is more battle-tested this year and has much better hair. The Wolfpack will also send a solid contingent to the David Lehman Open at Franklin and Marshall including several true freshmen. Now that we are in the second semester, they can compete unattached and it won’t impact their five competition dates. Virginia: The Hoos will have a pseudo-home match on Saturday as they will “host” in-state foe George Mason for a dual on the campus of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. The dual is part of a larger dual event hosted by St. Christopher’s that will feature top teams in Virginia--St. Christophers, New Kent and Christiansburg, as well as Blair Academy, Connellsville PA, and Baylor School from Tennessee. It will be a great all-day wrestling event for the state and anyone who is in the Richmond area should make their way out. While the Hoos are favored on paper, Coach Beasley has done an incredible job rebuilding the GMU program and has them off to an 8-0 start on the season. They are a very scrappy squad and should not be overlooked; there should be some competitive bouts and the Mason crew is battle tested--most coming in with over 20 matches on the season. There are a few things to watch for in this dual. Both true freshmen Kyle Montaperto and Garrett Grice are listed as probables behind Patrick McCormick and Erik Roggie, respectively. Jake Keating is listed as a probable and would be making his return from injury; this would be his first action since the Northwestern dual in November. Ethan Weatherspoon will likely make his dual debut at 285. The Hoos lost Gabe Christensen to injury against Queens and Jessie Knight was injured at Midlands. Here are a couple matches I think could be very entertaining. 149: Nathan Higley vs #29 Jarod Verkleeren This is a big rematch. Higley took the win in sudden victory at the Midlands to make the podium and knock Verkleeren out of the tournament. I have a feeling that Verk would like to get that one back. 174: Logan Messer vs Vic Marcelli/Justin Phillips Messer has been one of the top performers for the Patriots, coming in at 17-3 on the year. 174 has been a weight for the Hoos that has seen multiple starters and no one has really made the case to take the full-time job. This could be an opportunity for Vic or Justin to step up and take the starting spot. Virginia Tech: The Hokies have a busy weekend on tap. They welcome #15 Cornell for the annual dual at the Moss Arts Center. They will then turn around and head to Fairfax to face George Mason for an afternoon dual, followed by a trek into the District to face American Sunday evening. I’m going to focus on the Cornell dual--it is going to be a fantastic matchup and not gonna lie, I’m trying to get this finished up before I leave for Blacksburg! A couple notes on the lineup--Bryce Andonian and Mekhi Lewis will both not be wrestling against Cornell. Andonian is working back from a foot injury and Lewis tweaked his knee in the dual against Stanford in December. They expect both to be back at full strength before ACC duals begin. The absence of two All-Americans will certainly make a more difficult path to victory for the Hokies, but it is still possible. Let’s take a look at what the Hokies will need to do to take the win tonight. 125: #21 Brett Ungar vs #18 Eddie Ventresca/Cooper Flynn It will be critical that the Hokies pick up this win to start the dual. Ungar has been solid this year, but I think both Ventresca and Flynn have the skills to win this match. 133: #3 Vito Arujau vs #8 Sam Latona This may be a matchup of the two tallest and lankiest 133s in the country. This has the potential for a lot of fireworks as both of these guys will let it fly and can wrestle through all sorts of funky positions. Vito is 2-0 against Latona at 125 and has the slight edge in this matchup, but I don’t put it past Sam to be able to beat anyone on a given day. Definitely going to be a fun one. 141: #22 Vince Cornella vs #14 Tom Crook/Colin Gerardi This is a huge swing match. I think the Hokies will send out Crook for this matchup and Gerardi will get the nod for the Sunday matches. Both Cornella and Crook are 11-3 and have wins over ranked opponents. Crook has a win over Lachlan McNeil, who beat Cornella at the Collegiate Duals. I give the edge to Crook here but this one will be tight. 149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis vs #11 Caleb Henson What can you say here? Yianni is a freak and we are lucky to get to see him compete. Henson has had a phenomenal season and will be a tough out for anyone, but it’s hard to bet against the 3-time NCAA Champ. That being said, Yianni has a loss this season for the first time since 2018 and has wrestled close matches. Henson could shock the world tonight, but it’s going to take a perfect performance from the true freshman. 157: Colton Yapoujin vs Clayton Ulrey This is another huge swing match that the Hokies will need. Ulrey has competed well filling in for Andonian, and is 12-8 on the year. He has looked good since moving down to 157 and is a very difficult wrestler to score on. Ulrey will need to come through big for the Hokies as he did in the Mizzou dual. 165: #7 Julian Ramirez vs #22 Connor Brady Brady has benefitted from the move up to 165 and has put together a good start to the season. Three of his losses are to top-10 wrestlers; he held Keegan O’Toole to one of his lowest-scoring decisions of the season and went into overtime with Shane Griffith. This shows me that Brady is ready to make a breakthrough…so why not tonight against a very good Julian Ramirez? Ramirez is a solid wrestler and can put up points in bunches. Brady will have to slow him down and make his offense count to knock him off. 174: #6 Chris Foca vs Jordan Florence/Kolton Clark This will be a big ask for Florence or Clark…but they will need to minimize the damage from Foca to keep the Hokies in this dual. Foca is tough; he is 0-2 against Mekhi, but both were very tight matches. The Big Red will be looking for bonus here. 184: #6 Jonathan Loew/Evan Canoyer vs #7 Hunter Bolen The Christiansburg Cowboy will need to come through for the Hokies. He has looked amazing this year and is very much back in the form of his All-American year--more importantly, his mindset is locked in and ready to get back on the podium. These two have split matches, with Bolen winning in 2020 and Loew winning in sudden victory at the Collegiate Duals last season. I feel great about where Bolen is and I think he takes this match. 197: #17 Jacob Cardenas vs #23 Andy Smith These last two matches will be huge for the team battle. Both favor the Big Red on paper, but both are winnable matches for the Hokies. Cardenas beat Smith 3-2 at the Collegiate Duals last season, but Smith has shown that he has made big strides in the last year. If he wrestles like he did in Vegas, he wins this match. That is the Andy Smith that the Hokies will need tonight. 285: #18 Lewis Fernandes vs #23 Hunter Catka The dual could very well come down to this last match. Fernandes is a dangerous wrestler, but at 4-4 on the year, he hasn’t had the showings that he did last year when he made the blood round. Catka comes in at 9-3 with losses to two All-Americans and a conference foe in sudden victory. The atmosphere of the Moss Arts Center may play a big role in helping propel Catka to victory to seal this dual.

Sam Latona (left) and Vito Arujau at the 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Even though there are a few open tournaments on the schedule this weekend and in the coming weeks, we're smack dab in the middle of dual season. This weekend marks the first set of Big Ten conference matches. Both Friday and Sunday feature B1G doubleheaders on the Big Ten Network. Don't be fooled though, the action isn't limited to the Big Ten, there are some incredible duals on tap for this weekend outside of the conference. With so much going on, there might be some storylines that go unnoticed. At InterMat, we're trying to prevent any such occurrences. In our weekend primer, we'll outline a couple major things to watch in this weekend's duals. Friday Ohio State at Indiana As we were preparing for the Collegiate Duals, I checked to see the status of Ohio State's lineup. They ended up without their starters at 133/157/165 for the Duals and suffered a loss to Northern Iowa. At the time, I was told to expect the Buckeyes injured wrestlers in January. We're in January now. Let's see what the Buckeyes look like in their conference opener. Truthfully, they don't necessarily "need" those three back to get the win against the Hoosiers, so maybe Coach Ryan holds out the trio for Rutgers next week. Watch: Big Ten Network (TV) Binghamton at NC State Unfortunately, I'd imagine we don't see the marquee matchup of this edition of the "Pat Popolizio Bowl," as #9 Louie DePrez was injured early in his Southern Scuffle final at 197 lbs. Last year, at the Collegiate Duals, DePrez majored #7 Isaac Trumble. Without that match, the heavyweight clash is the most enticing of the dual. Scuffle runner-up Cory Day has been a breakout star for the Bearcats and should face #12 Owen Trephan. Watch: ACC Network Extra For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

The 2022 Midlands Finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Welcome everyone to the first mailbag of 2023! I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday, but it’s dual meet season which means the forfeit season is likely over with for now. Speaking of forfeits, you may have asked a thing or two about said situation. Great. It certainly hasn’t been discussed enough so let’s get into it. Why are folks talking about the Soldier Salute and Iowa sending their full team and complaining about having multiple placers against a field where all teams didn’t send starters, but not the same complaint about Oklahoma State with three placers in some brackets at the Southern Scuffle? Billie Sims I’ll just go ahead and address the elephant in the room. Iowa didn’t belong at the Soldier Salute. I get it. It’s wrestling. Everyone is taught to be tough and take on all challenges. The Salute is a wonderful idea, but having the number two team in the country there is a serious detriment to all the teams being saluted. It’s just the truth. I want to see some military schools face each other in the finals. Not Hawkeye wrestle-offs. And another thing Iowa, if you’re going to do that, please get one alternate singlet even if it’s just for these events. All your 149 guys look similar. Would you rather MFF out of a match or have to do 2:2:2 with the national champion at your weight? Jkos11 That would depend on why I’m booked to wrestle the guy in the first place. Is this an unsanctioned grudge match? Do I have to go six minutes regardless of the score? I feel like I’d spend a good four minutes and 45 seconds just being fully pinned. Maybe I’ll just take the forfeit. Should winning certain in-season tournaments give a seeding boost that’s similar to UWW ranking series events? Dr. Rhino I feel like it’s almost the only way to keep the competition at tournaments on the level. I say we add the Last Chance Open to CKLV, Midlands, and Scuffle as the big four seeding tournaments and hold it in February. Therefore, every team has a chance to send various wrestlers to any of the big four for qualifying purposes. If you want to go nuts, make dual matches non-qualifiers and see how many guys miss potential big matches with the dual in balance. Probably a lot fewer than the forfeits we’re getting in tournaments right now. Do I expect any actual change to resolve this forfeit issue? I don’t. The powers that be are not about to change the entire system of college wrestling because Seton Hall Pirate isn’t getting his full slate of wrestlebacks. What would the trophy/prize be for champions of the inaugural Jagger Jersey Jamboree Open in the 2024 season? Fantasy College Wrestling Oh, the Triple J? The winners all receive a dozen bagels from George’s Hot Bagels in Fair Lawn, NJ. Best bagel place in the world. They take debit cards now! Should a medical forfeit equate to a loss? Eric “The Hitman” Asselin No, because I think there are legit injuries out there and it’s not fair to tag a loss on a wrestler for preventing further damage. Sure, it would lead to fewer forfeits, but you’re also putting legit hurt kids in a position that they shouldn’t have to be in. I realize some oldheads want them to tough it out, but I tend to care more about a kid’s health than who officially placed fifth at Midlands. What physical ailment would cause you to MFF out of a match? I assume it would be a lot since you may be the toughest person on Twitter. Austin Sommer The one where I’m forced to go six minutes with the national champ at my weight. Did you buy tickets to the 2023 EIWA Championships yet? Kevin McGuigan Go to one conference tournament when I have so many screens at home to watch them all? That’s crazy talk. I will say that Philly 2025 is looking particularly appealing. Maybe see Carter Starocci win his fifth title in his home state. Who’s the head coach of the Buffalo Bills? Nicholas Strub I do believe it’s former wrestler Sean McDermott. A true leader of men. On that note, I think I’ll take my leave. Talk to you all next week.

Northern Iowa 133 lber Kyle Biscoglia (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Thursday’s Dual Results Brown 25 Franklin & Marshall 10 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Mason Leiphart (F&M) 7-4 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) dec Pat Phillips (F&M) 2-0 141 - Ian Oswalt (Brown) maj Sam Kotch (F&M) 10-2 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) maj Avery Clarke (F&M) 10-2 157 - Keegan Rothrock (Brown) maj Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) 12-0 165 - Harrison Trahan (Brown) maj RJ Moore (F&M) 13-0 174 - Drew Clearie (Brown) dec Noah Fox (F&M) 11-9 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 10-5 197 - John Crawford (F&M) maj Lear Quinton (Brown) 10-0 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Alex Semenenko (Brown) 3-2 Presbyterian 23 Brown 15 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) 4-3 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 6-4 141 - Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) fall Samuel Lynch (Brown) 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) tech Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 17-2 157 - Sam McMonagle (Brown) maj Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 10-2 165 - Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) dec Mason Spears (Brown) 14-12SV 174 - Zachary Wells (Presbyterian) maj Drew Clearie (Brown) 12-4 184 - David Bertrand (Presbyterian) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 3-2 197 - Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) dec Aaron Wolk (Brown) 8-4 285 - Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) maj Alex Semenenko (Brown) 15-2 Franklin & Marshall 29 Davidson 9 125 - Mason Leiphart (F&M) tech Devon Diaco (Davidson) 16-0 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) dec Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 6-2 141 - Aidan O’Shea (F&M) dec Josh Viarengo (Davidson) 4-2 149 - Avery Clarke (F&M) fall Noah Frack (Davidson) 4:30 157 - Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) dec Marc Koch (Davidson) 5-2 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) dec RJ Moore (F&M) 8-1 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Brett Sanderlin (Davidson) 6-0 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) 12-5 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) fall John Crawford (F&M) 4:39 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) dec Jake Fernicola (Davidson) 3-2 Brown 22 Davidson 19 125 - Shane Hanson-Ashworth (Brown) dec Devon Diaco (Davidson) 4-1 133 - Hunter Adrian (Brown) fall Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) 3:45 141 - Ian Oswalt (Brown) fall Josh Viarengo (Davidson) 4:30 149 - Blake Saito (Brown) dec David Loniewski (Davidson) 8-1 157 - Sam McMonagle (Brown) maj Marc Koch (Davidson) 8-0 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) maj Jonathan Conrad (Brown) 12-4 174 - Jaden Hardrick (Davidson) dec Drew Clearie (Brown) 5-2 184 - Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) dec Nick Olivieri (Brown) 6-3 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) fall Aaron Wolk (Brown) 3:00 285 - Jake Fernicola (Davidson) dec Thomas Mukai (Brown) 4-2 Franklin & Marshall 33 Presbyterian 9 125 - Mason Leiphart (F&M) maj Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) 15-6 133 - Pat Phillips (F&M) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 11-4 141 - Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) dec Aidan O’Shea (F&M) 7-2 149 - Avery Clarke (F&M) fall Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 4:10 157 - Nicolas Alvarez (F&M) maj Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 10-2 165 - Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) fall RJ Moore (F&M) 6:48 174 - Noah Fox (F&M) dec Zachary Wells (Presbyterian) 8-6 184 - James Conway (F&M) dec Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) 3-1 197 - John Crawford (F&M) InjDef Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) 5:19 285 - Vincenzo Pelusi (F&M) maj Morvens Saint Jean (Presbyterian) 12-4 Northern Iowa 33 Wyoming 3 125 - Kyle Golhoffer (Northern Iowa) dec Garrett Ricks (Wyoming) 6-3 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) fall Darrick Stacey (Wyoming) 1:28 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Job Greenwood (Wyoming) 6-4 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Chase Zollman (Wyoming) 10-3 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 4-3 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec Cole Moody (Wyoming) 4-1 174 - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) dec Carson Babcock (Northern Iowa) 4-3 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) fall Guillermo Escobedo (Wyoming) 4:05 197 - Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) dec Quayin Short (Wyoming) 4-1 285 - Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec Mason Ding (Wyoming) 4-0

NC State 141 lber Ryan Jack (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's hard to believe that we've already reached the halfway point in the season and we are only a couple weeks away from ACC Friday Night Duals. It has been a wild season already, but the good news is that there is still a ton of wrestling ahead of us. Let's take a quick look at some of the highlights from early action and see where all the ACC teams are sitting as we move into conference duals. Duke Dual Record: 3-4 Remaining non-conference opponents: Central Michigan, Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb The Blue Devils have relied heavily on young starters in the lineup and they have gone through some growing pains. They have shifted multiple starters throughout, but seem to be settling in on their optimal lineup. As expected, they have been led by Jonah Neisenbaum who had a 12-1 record going into the Southern Scuffle. He had a solid showing in Chattanooga, making it to the semifinals before ultimately placing fifth and moving his season record to 16-3. He has ranked wins over Konnor Doucet, Garrett Joles, Hunter Catka and Ben Goldin and he took the title at both the Keystone Classic and the Battle at the Citadel. Also holding winning records for Duke are Jared Papscy (8-8), Patrick Rowland (11-8) Gaetano Console (5-5) and Vince Baker (3-3). Ranked Wrestlers: #22 Jonah Neisenbaum-285 Pittsburgh: #6 Tournament #19 Dual Dual Record: 5-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: West Virginia, Buffalo, Iowa State The Panthers have been impressive on many fronts during the first half of the season. After a close early-season loss to Maryland, Pitt went on a four-dual winning streak which included victories over ranked opponents Lehigh and Illinois. They also showed their tournament power at the Midlands, even without sending their full starting lineup. The Panthers tied for 2nd as a team and had individual titles from Cole Matthews and Reece Heller. They added an impressive runner-up finish from true freshman Dayton Pitzer who beat four ranked opponents, including NCAA finalist Cohlton Schultz, on his way to the finals. Also placing for the Panthers were true freshman Mac Stout (4th at 197), Tyler Badgett (5th at 149), Ryan Michaels (6th at 141) and Luca Augustine (6th at 174). This tournament highlighted both the talent in the starting lineup and the impressive recruiting that Coach Gavin has done. It also brings up potential changes to the starting lineup--it's hard to ignore the success that Dayton Pitzer has had in his opportunities as a starter and he has shown that he can immediately be a contender in the ACC and nationally. Pitt has been led by Cole Matthews and Nino Bonaccorsi who both remain undefeated on the season. They have also had an immediate impact from transfers Holden and Reece Heller, both of whom have multiple ranked wins. Micky Phillippi continues his success and is an All-American threat, as always, and sophomore Tyler Badgett has gotten off to a solid 13-5 start to the season. The Panthers are going to make a push to be at the top of the ACC, and if they continue the success they've been having, they have the potential to knock off the top dogs in the conference. Ranked Wrestlers: #7 Micky Phillippi-133 #1 Cole Matthews-141 #25 Tyler Badgett-149 #28 Holden Heller-165 #14 Reece Heller-184 #5 Dayton Pitzer-285 North Carolina: #23 Tournament #25 Dual Dual Record: 2-5 Remaining non-conference opponents: Penn, Harvard, Brown The Tar Heels again started the season with a grueling dual schedule facing four top-10 teams in the first half of the season. Also adding to the difficulty for UNC was having NCAA Champ Austin O'Connor out until late December, and still having All-American Zach Sherman out due to injury. Coach Coleman Scott has designed their dual schedule to give them the toughest competition possible in order to prepare the team for ACC duals and the postseason; their record of producing All-Americans has shown that this approach has worked for the Tar Heels, even if it doesn't result in the optimal out-of-conference dual record. There have been several bright spots for the Tar Heels including a win over Campbell at the Battle at Bragg in a unique setting, followed by hosting Michigan at Doubles on the Diamond. They have been led by All-American Clay Lautt who is 5-2 on the year and will benefit from the full-time return of O'Connor, who is off to a 2-0 start. Jack Wagner has been off to a great start since his transfer and is 8-4 on the year manning the lowest weight. Gavin Kane and Max Shaw have both gotten off to 7-4 starts, with losses to highly ranked opponents; they will both play a big role in the success of the team as a whole during ACC competition and will need to be at the top of their game. Lachlan McNeil seems to be settling in at 141 and will be battling to get to the top of the ACC. The biggest question marks for the Tar Heels are at 133 and 165. Joey Melendez and Jaime Hernandez have both gotten starts at 133, while Nick Fea and Joey Mazzara have seen time at 165. It will also be worth watching at heavyweight if UNC sticks with Brandon Whitman or opts for Aydin Guttridge, who saw action against Cornell and at the Midlands. I am excited to see how the Tar Heels perform at full strength on the back half of the season. If they are able to have all of their top guys in the same lineup, they are a very dangerous team. Ranked Wrestlers: #33 Jack Wagner-125 #30 Joey Melendez-133 #21 Lachlan McNeil-141 #4 Austin O'Connor-157 #9 Clay Lautt-174 #17 Gavin Kane-184 #33 Max Shaw-197 North Carolina State: #13 Tournament #6 Dual Dual Record: 8-0 Remaining non-conference opponents: Binghamton, Army There were questions about the NC State lineup coming into the season and while there are still a couple weights where they are working out the full-time starter, they have shown they have the depth of talent to win with whoever is in the starting spot. It could be argued that the Wolfpack have had the best first half of the season out of any team in the country. They have six wins over ranked teams, highlighted by winning their pool at the National Collegiate Duals and earning runner-up honors at a very tough Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Individually, every starter has a winning record and seven of them have 10 or more wins on the season. Ryan Jack (13-1), Trent Hidlay (12-1) and Isaac Trumble (12-1) have the highest winning percentages, while true freshman Jackson Arrington (13-5) and Owen Trephan (13-3) have also notched 13 wins. Trent Hidlay has looked fantastic all season--his only loss is to Parker Keckeisen, who he beat at CKLV. Isaac Trumble seems to be at the top of his game--he has notched multiple top-ranked wins and took home the title at CKLV. I have been incredibly impressed with the growth of Ryan Jack. He has been much more aggressive on his feet and as dangerous as ever on the mat. Jackson Arrington has made an immediate impact as a true freshman--four of his five losses are to previous All-Americans, and he has continued to improve every match out. After a slower start to begin the season, Ed Scott seems to be back to top form and is a major threat to make the podium. The Wolfpack have tried out multiple options at both 165 and 174 with varying levels of success. Donald Cates has had some success at 165, and Matty Singleton got the start at Collegiate Duals after moving down from 174. Alex Faison seems to be in the driver's seat at 174, bringing in a 10-4 record and getting the nod at both CKLV and the Collegiate Duals. Brock Delsignore and Joey Milano have both gotten time in the lineup as well. It seems as though Pat Popolizio and crew are figuring out the lineup they need to reload and work for another ACC title. It will be a fun battle to watch the next couple of months. Ranked Wrestlers: #24 Jarrett Trombley-125 #25 Kai Orine-133 #6 Ryan Jack-141 #17 Jackson Arrington-149 #7 Ed Scott-157 #3 Trent Hidlay-184 #7 Isaac Trumble-197 #13 Owen Trephan-285 Virginia Dual Record: 2-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: George Mason, Ohio, Navy, Kent State, Maryland, American The Hoos have had a lighter dual schedule to open the season than in years past, but have still been able to get in some solid competition in tournaments. They started the season with the Southeast Open and the App State Invite, both of which had stellar individual results. They dropped a dual against a very good Northwestern squad and rebounded to beat Queens and Campbell. I highly recommend watching the UVA/Campbell dual, it was a very fun one. One big story of the season for the Hoos so far has been the success of their true freshmen. Kyle Montaperto, Garrett Grice, Jack Gioffre, Michael Gioffre, Mason Stefanelli, Nick Sanko and Nick Hamilton have all been off to phenomenal starts, and several have utilized the flexibility of the redshirt dates to spend time in the starting lineup. This gives Coach Garland depth and options with the lineup this season and bodes well for the future success for the Hoos. Justin McCoy and Neil Antrassian lead the team with 11-3 and 15-3 records, respectively. Antrassian has been a great addition for the Hoos after his transfer from Penn. He has been a leader on the mat and in the classroom. He placed 3rd at the Midlands, McCoy joined him on the podium in 5th and Michael Battista (16-6) placed 6th. Jarod Verkleeren has also played a big role for the Cavaliers and checks in with a 13-5 record; fellow senior Jake Keating has been out due to injury but should be back to the lineup soon. UVA has a very busy second half of the season with six out-of-conference duals--several at the Virginia Duals. I think they will be successful in these duals and it will put them in a good spot going into ACC season, as long as they can stay healthy. Ranked Wrestlers: #29 Jarod Verkleeren-149 #23 Jake Keating-157 #14 Justin McCoy-165 #18 Neil Antrassian-184 Virginia Tech #10 Tournament #10 Dual Dual Record: 3-1 Remaining non-conference opponents: Cornell, American, George Mason, Appalachian State The Hokies have had a fantastic start to the season, both in dual and tournament settings. They had several placers in both the CKLV and the Keystone Classic. The majority of the lineup went to one or the other, though Sam Latona and Hunter Bolen both won the Keystone Classic and placed at the CKLV. As expected, they have been led by All-Americans Sam Latona (15-4), Mekhi Lewis (10-1) and Hunter Bolen (13-2). Fellow All-American Bryce Andonian has not yet made his season debut at 157 as he recovers from an injury, but should be back in the lineup for the back half of the season. Connor Brady has been a solid addition moving up to 165 and is climbing up the rankings; Hunter Catka has held down the top weight very well at 9-3, with two of those losses to All-Americans. The lowest weight continues to be a battle in Blacksburg. Eddie Ventresca has won every match wrestled against Cooper Flynn, all in overtime, but the coaching staff is not settled on a starter as of yet. Ventresca is currently ranked and is 10-3 on the year, while Cooper Flynn is 10-5. It will be very interesting to watch this weight play out, as both can be contenders. The other big development in the first half for the Hokies is the emergence of true freshmen Tom Crook and Caleb Henson. We knew that Henson would be the starter from day one, but Crook's early success and dominant wrestling showed the staff that he was ready to be in the lineup. Crook has multiple ranked wins and took fifth at the CKLV. Henson also has multiple ranked wins, including knocking off then-second-ranked Sammy Sasso in the Ohio State dual; he also took 3rd in the Keystone Classic. Both of these freshmen will play a huge role in deciding the ACC team title. Ranked Wrestlers: #18 Eddie Ventresca-125 #8 Sam Latona-133 #14 Tom Crook-141 #11 Caleb Henson-149 #6 Bryce Andonian-157 #22 Connor Brady-165 #3 Mekhi Lewis-174 #7 Hunter Bolen-184 #23 Andy Smith-197 #23 Hunter Catka-285 The first week of duals will feature NC State at Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh at Virginia and North Carolina at Duke--I will be in Blacksburg to cover the showdown between the Wolfpack and the Hokies along with Rock Harrison and Shawn Kenney on the call for the ACC Network. I hope everyone is ready to tune in on January 20th.

149 lbs Southern Scuffle champion Kellyn March (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We’re a few days into the first week of 2023 and there has been a lot of activity already this year for the Big 12. Let’s dive in and take a look at five big things from the first week of 2023 for the conference. Mitchell Mesenbrink enters the transfer portal A huge blow for California Baptist as U20 World Silver Medalist Mitchell Mesenbrink has entered the transfer portal. Mesenbrink looked as though he’d be a huge boost for the program as they make their transition to Division one and the Big 12, but on January second he announced he’s on the move. Really tough loss for California Baptist. Stephen Buchanan Officially on OU Roster On the other side of the transfer portal, Stephen Buchanan is now officially on the roster at OU. Buchanan, a two-time All-American at Wyoming, announced his transfer in December and OU officially added him to their online roster this week. North Dakota State Balls Out at Southern Scuffle Kellyn March, Jared Franek, and Owen Pentz all won titles at the Southern Scuffle as Michael Caliendo and DJ Parker finished second. The team also finished second ahead of Minnesota and Missouri (both missing some starters). This combined with some significant dual wins over Nebraska and others early in the season has North Dakota State looking really good this year and wrestling well above what I and some others would have projected going into the season. Missouri and Iowa State’s Top Guys Miss Scuffle There’s already a lot of debate on this subject that is stirring on Twitter and other places. Is it ducking? Is it a pitch count? Is it legit injuries? I have no idea. But a lot of the top guys from both of these teams did not wrestle at the Southern Scuffle. This would have been a good gauge for where the top Big 12 schools measure up to each other but without everyone competing here, it’s tough to know much in that regard. Oklahoma State Wins Comfortably Without full Iowa State or Missouri rosters, the Cowboys of Oklahoma State won the team title fairly comfortably at the Southern Scuffle. They wrestled well but as mentioned earlier, it’s still tough to know if they’ll be able to hang with Missouri or Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament format.

157 lbs Midlands Champion Trevor Chumbley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Holiday wrestling staples - Midlands and the Southern Scuffle - were back in full force this year, along with the inaugural Soldier Salute in Iowa, giving wrestling fans plenty of options for entertainment and plenty of excuses to escape excessive family festivities. Several Big Ten teams were in action this weekend for some final competition before diving into the conference dual slate. Here's what we learned: Well-rounded performance leads Northwestern to Midlands win After 58 years of hosting the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, the Northwestern Wildcats were crowned the team champions for the first time in program history. The feat was even more impressive considering the Wildcats were without one of their top wrestlers in Michael DeAugustino at 125 pounds. They also had a few other wrestlers who had limited mat time due to injuries, coach Matt Storniolo told BTN's Shane Sparks, referring to his team as "the walking wounded." Yet, the Wildcats still found themselves hoisting the team trophy at the end of the day thanks to first-place finishes from Lucas Davison (285), Yahya Thomas (149) and Trevor Chumbley (157) and podium finishes from Chris Cannon (2nd at 133), Andrew Davison (3rd at 197), Aiden Vandenbush (7th at 157) and Evan Bates (8th at 184). The finals match that probably gave Coach Storniolo the most gray hairs was Thomas' 4-3 decision over Arizona State's Kyle Parco. Thomas led by a point when Parco got in deep on a shot and the two went off the mat with 15 seconds remaining. The Arizona State coaching staff wanted a takedown to be called, but after review, the two were deemed to have been off the mat and Thomas held on for the win. Thomas, who improved to 11-1 on the season - including a 3-2 semifinal win over Penn's Doug Zapf - was awarded for his performance this weekend by being named not only the Art Kraft Champion of Champions, but also the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. A wrestler who didn't have to sweat out any close matches was heavyweight Lucas Davison, who rolled through the entire tournament without surrendering a single point. He collected a first-period fall, a decision and two major decisions before stopping the run of Pitt true freshman Dayton Pitzer, who took out top-10 opponents in Cohlton Schultz, of Arizona State, and Trent Hillger, of Wisconsin. Davison's size and length proved to be a bit too much for the freshman, as he controlled the match and prevailed with a 4-0 decision. We, in this column, have been high on Chumbley since he won the Michigan State Open in the beginning of the season. The sophomore continued to impress in his title run this weekend, during which he gave up just two points in five bouts. Chumbley took out two Badgers along the way - a 6-1 win over Garrett Model in the semifinals and 8-0 over Drew Scharenbrock in the finals. In his conversation with Sparks, Storniolo described Chumbley as a "selfless teammate" who was a key part of Thomas' third-place NCAA finish in 2021 and Ryan Deakin's NCAA title last season. But now, Storniolo said, it's Chumbley's time to shine and he's going to give "110%" every time he steps on the mat and have "an opportunity to make a name for himself." Chumbley will have another one of those opportunities on Saturday when the Wildcats host Minnesota and he could take on All-American Brayton Lee. Wisconsin has a solid showing at Midlands The Badgers had a solid showing at the 58th Midlands Championships. The crew from Madison had 4 finalists, and ended up with one champion and a fourth place team finish. The Badgers had a contingent of 15 athletes competing at the event, notably missing Austin Gomez from this event. A theme you'll hear from me throughout this, is that I think that's fine. Sometimes people need to protect themselves (physically and mentally, not seeding), and that's fine. Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me was that Eric Barnett looked awesome. Despite being a two-time All American and B1G finalist, I admittedly didn't give him enough credit up until this weekend. He was so solid and dangerous on his feet, and is unbelievable on top. He's very similar to Patrick McKee in that way. Barnett only has the one loss on the year to Iowa State's Kysen Terukina, but I feel like a 6-2 dominant win over former NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney makes up for that. Barnett is going to be a force as the year continues, and I'm excited to see how he fares against the rest of the B1G. The remaining finalists for Wisconsin included Drew Scharenbrock at 157 (notably wrestling behind Garrett Model most of this year, who placed 5th at Midlands) who fell to Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern 8-0. Scharenbrock made a statement by making the finals, but ultimately the Wildcat breakout star at 157 was too much. At 165, Dean Hamiti dropped a hard fought match to Quincy Monday of Princeton, who announced he was staying up at 165 for the season with a Midlands title. Hamiti has close losses now to Carr and Monday this season, but should feel encouraged that he's been competing tightly with these guys. Braxton Amos dropped a double overtime match to Zac Braunagel of Illinois. Amos had two pins and a technical fall before his 2-1 semi-finals win to make the finals. Was in on some attacks at various points in the match, but wasn't able to capitalize before ride outs. With the B1G schedule getting going he'll have a chance to flip these results. Speaking of, Wisconsin wrestles next in one of our B1G biggest duals of the year when they welcome the Nittany Lions of Penn State into Madison. That dual is this Friday, January 6th at 9pm EST on Big Ten Network. We'll get a chance to see Amos v Dean, Gomez v Van Ness, Hamiti v Facundo, and Hillger v Kerkvliet. This dual will be awesome, so don't miss it. Zac Braunagel and Edmond Ruth stand out for Illinois at Midlands Illinois also had a nice showing this weekend at Midlands, finishing behind Wisconsin at fifth with 104.5 points and two champions. Both Edmond Ruth (174) and Zac Braunagel won titles, while Lucas Byrd (3rd at 133), Danny Braunagel (3rd at 165), Dylan Connell (5th at 184), Danny Pucino (7th at 141) and Trey Sizemore (8th at 174) all made the podium. Zac Braunagel's individual title-winning performance - his second of the season after pinning Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman to win the Michigan State Open - stood out for the Illini as the junior is looking increasingly comfortable up at 197 pounds this season. As the No. 2 seed, Braunagel took care of business in the first couple rounds, setting up a semifinal with No. 3-seed Luke Stout, of Princeton. Despite giving up the first takedown, Braunagel kept his composure and rattled off four consecutive points - including a takedown of his own - and held on for the 4-3 win. The junior didn't get much of a break, though, as he was set for another grueling, tightly contested battle with top-seeded Braxton Amos, of Wisconsin. It took two sudden victory periods and two rounds of tiebreakers, but the Illini eventually earned the 2-1 win with an escape. Ruth also found himself in several tight matches - including the championship bout against Penn's Nick Incontera, which he won, 4-1, thanks to a takedown on the edge with about 25 seconds remaining and a rideout to keep his 18-match win streak alive. Both Braunagel and Ruth will be wrestlers to watch as the Illini travel to Iowa City on Friday to take on the Hawkeyes, as they could face Jacob Warner and Nelson Brands, respectively. Both will be good tests for two wrestlers still trying to establish themselves in their respective weight classes. Illinois will then head back home Sunday to host Wisconsin, where we could see a rematch of Braunagel and Amos. That is good news, because they definitely didn't get enough of each other this weekend! Soldier Salute/Iowa wrestle offs I kid, but Iowa had 8 champs, 3 other finalists, and many other placers at the Soldier Salute at Xtreme Arena in Corralville, IA. I have heard nothing but positive things from the event itself from coaches and media members, but I am curious if Iowa would have liked to have more competition that they don't already get in their own wrestling room. Most notably was the 125 finals where Spencer Lee wrestled Drake Ayala wrestling unattached for the Hawkeyes. If you're reading this, then you likely know what happened, so I won't recap that. I will however share my thoughts. In my mind everyone was justified in their feelings here. First of all, before the match all you see on Twitter is people outwardly saying that they hope to see the match, which makes sense, but it doesn't take the athletes and their specific situations into account all the time. I also like to be entertained, but I'm cool with breaks if it makes sense. We just want March to be great right? If I'm Spencer, I have extended my college career to finish this thing out, and wrestling your teammate in a finals match doesn't seem necessary. If you're Ayala, you want to see where you are and to get this match. If you're Tom and Terry, you probably want to see it also. In the end, Spencer did what he probably should've done and finished the match quickly. If you're Ayala and Brands and Co, you learned what you wanted to. Everyone is justified, and I'm sure they've figured it out by now, and I doubt it will linger. I think we have a tendency to overreact to things like this. It'll be fine. In the end Iowa is about to start their B1G schedule as well when they take on Illinois in Carver Hawkeye at 8:00pm EST on B1G Plus. Patrick Kennedy (165) and Jacob Warner (197) will take on the Braunagel's at their respective weights, and I would certainly love to see Nelson Brands wrestle Edmond Ruth at 174. B1G season baby!!! Southern Scuffle B1G Results The Southern Scuffle just wrapped up in Chattanooga and we had a LOT of B1G action. Forgive me but we'll run through some of these. Purdue had two finalists in Matt Ramos at 125 and Kendal Coleman at 157. Ramos ends up with the win on the strength of a takedown and two nearfall points from the first period. He was able to rack up over a minute of riding time, which turned out to be helpful because he needed that minute to not subsequently give up riding time to Surtin who spent plenty of time in the top position. Ramos holds on in the third and gets the win. Coleman took on Jared Franek of NDSU, losing in rideouts 2-2. Despite a whole lot of action, neither guy was able to get a takedown in this match. Both guys were in on some pretty intense shots, but some insane defense kept each guy from successfully completing the takedown. I tweeted this, but I mean it, that this could very well be an NCAA finals preview at 157. Minnesota placed fifth place while having 10 placewinners. They didn't end up with any finalists, but they had seven semi finalists between 133, 141,165, 174, and 285. Minnesota continued to display an impressive amount of depth. We've seen that the guys they can throw into the lineup can end up on the podium by the end of the year, as evidenced by Jake Bergeland last season. Jake placed third in this tournament behind Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado and Allan Hart of Missouri. Minnesota takes on Northwestern, coming off of their Midlands Championship, on Saturday January 7th at 3pm EST, in Evanston Illinois. Hoping to see Michael DeAugustino and Patrick McKee at 125 as well as Brayton Lee take on the red hot Trevor Chumbley at 157. Maryland had 3 placers with Braxton Brown taking 7th at 125, Ethen Miller took 4th at 149, and Jaxon Smith taking 4th at 197. Jaxon dropped a close match to Lou DePrez in the semis, but he continues to show that he's right there with some of the best in the country. The Terrapins take on Indiana on Monday, January 9th in College Park on Big Ten Plus at 6:30pm EST.

165 lbs Midlands Champion Quincy Monday (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We had a lot of action over the holiday break. The perennial midseason classics like the Midlands and Southern Scuffle are back, with many EIWA schools in action. The Soldier Salute, in Iowa, is new this season - which also had some EIWA teams participating. Some major stories included two high-profile athletes making weight changes. Quincy Monday was last year’s 157lb NCAA runner-up. He teased us this year stating he’d move up to 165 lbs, but did not. Well, he’s back up to 165 lbs and ended up winning The Midlands. His teammate (and fellow NCAA runner-up) was also rumored to move up to 133lbs. He was registered at 133 lbs but turned out to be a late scratch. I am told he will remain at 125lbs for the remainder of the season – but expect him to be on a “pitch count.” The EIWA saw two champs at Midlands. The previously mentioned Quincy Monday won at 165 lbs. The other champ was Michael Colaiocco of Penn at 133 lbs. He won a bracket with three former All-Americans in it. Monday had a win in the finals over Dean Hamiti, who was ranked fourth and a returning All-American. These two have earned my Outstanding Wrestlers of the Week. American The Eagles had a handful of matches days before Christmas. They were off during the holiday and will be back at the F&M Open this Friday 1/6. Army The Black Knights were at the Soldier Salute, coming in second place as a team behind Iowa. The highest finisher was #23 at 174lbs, Ben Pasiuk. His win in the finals was by medical forfeit. Julian Sanchez walked away with second place. He had a big win over #26 Matt Kazimir of Columbia. At 133lbs, Rich Treanor earned fifth over teammate Ryan Franco. Ethan Berginc wrestled to fifth place, too. Nathan Lukez (#30 @ 157lbs) came in sixth, while Dalton Harkins at 165lbs earned fourth, as did Sahm Abdulrazzaq at 184lbs. After a few surprising losses, at least in my opinion, the team rallied to earn second place behind #2 Iowa. They will go back to the east coast at the F&M Open in Lancaster on Friday. Binghamton The Bearcats spent the new year in Chattanooga, TN at the Southern Scuffle. With two runners-up, the team ended the event in 7th place, ahead of teams like Maryland, Purdue and Iowa State. Veteran Lou Deprez (#16 @ 197lbs) was a runner-up. He had wins over #10 Jaxon Smith of Maryland and Nick Stemmet of Stanford (#20). This may have been a coming-out party for Cory Day at heavyweight. The 33rd-ranked wrestler had a win over #21 Jonah Niesenbaum of Duke, dropping a decision to #8 Zach Elam in the finals. Day recently made his debut in the national rankings, and I don’t expect him to leave them anytime soon. After a medical forfeit, Jacob Nolan (#23) walked away with eighth place at 184 lbs. Other noteworthy things to address include Anthony Sobotker making his debut down at 125 lbs, after spending last season and the first half of this season at 133 lbs. With Micah Roes already manning this weight, this could make for an interesting battle in the room. We saw NCAA Qualifier, Brevin Cassella, return at the Wilkes Open as he made the transition down to 165lbs. He was absent from the Southern Scuffle after winning all five of his matches at Wilkes. The Bearcats have two tough bouts this weekend against #6 NC State and #24 Appalachian State – both on the road. Brown The Bears were in Chicago competing at The Midlands. Their lone placewinner was Hunter Adrian at 133 lbs. He dropped a 4-1 decision to returning All-American #19 Chris Cannon of Northwestern in the quarterfinals. His win for seventh place was over former AA, #20 Taylor LaMont from Wisconsin. At 149 lbs, there seems to be a battle for the starting spot between Blake Saito and Ricky Cabanillas. Neither wrestler outperformed the other, each going 1-2 on the weekend. We’ll keep an eye on this one. The Bears had a few other wins. It may not seem like much, but we will give Coach Leen a few years to build this program as he envisions. Next up for Brown, they will dual F&M, Presbyterian, and Davidson at the F&M Duals on Thursday. They will compete in the Open the following day. Bucknell The Bison were at the Southern Scuffle. Kurt Phipps was the highest placer was 32nd ranked Kurt Phipps at 133lbs. With a victory over 16th-ranked Attasauov of Iowa State in the consis, I would expect the ranking of Phipps to increase after his strong performance. At 141lbs, Darren Miller won in the quarters over #11 Dylan Droegemueller of North Dakota State. He had to medically forfeit to sixth place after the semifinal loss to #3 Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado. Dorian Crosby at heavyweight, had one win on the day – but it was a big one – as he defeated #20 Jaron Smith of Maryland. Expect Bucknell to go back to the drawing board before they will be wrestling Michigan State in Michigan on Friday, then host Hofstra to a dual on Monday. Columbia The Lions were one of the EIWA teams at the Soldier Salute in Iowa. Top wrestler, Josh Ogunsanya, did not compete at 165lbs. The top performance by a Columbia wrestler was Lennox Wolak at 174 lbs. His win over #30 Hayden Hastings of Wyoming should propel him into the next set of rankings, especially since his loss in the finals does not count against his record due to being a medical forfeit. At 125lbs, Nick Babin had a great win over #22 Ethan Berginc of Army before placing fourth. Angelo Rini was runner-up at 133 lbs after a pin, major, and decision. Last season’s EIWA champ at 141lbs, Matt Kazimir earned fourth place after dropping a match to Army’s Sanchez. Danny Fangaro went 4-2 on the day for a fifth-place finish at 149lbs. It is exciting to see Babin making some noise at the bottom of the lineup. His work with Coach Tanelli is paying off. This team has talent, especially when a healthy Ogunsanya is included. The Lions will take time to heal this weekend, before returning to competition next Friday the 13th. Cornell The Big Red were not in action after competing at the Collegiate Duals before the holidays. They needed a few weeks to heal up. They take on #3 Arizona State on Wednesday 1/4 in Austin, TX. They will then wrestle at Virginia Tech two days later. Drexel The Dragons were off between holidays. Expect them in action at the F&M Open this week. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats were on the road at The Midlands. Even though they had zero placewinners, we saw improvement at most weight classes. Most notably at 197lbs, John Crawford finished in the round of 12 losing to only the runner-up #12 Braxton Amos of Wisconsin, and third-place finisher Andrew Davison of Northwestern. He is really turning a corner up two weight classes from a season ago. At 133lbs, Pat Phillips had two tech falls on the backside. He lost to previous national qualifier, Cole Rhone of Bloomsburg. At 174lbs, Noah Fox was 3-2 on the weekend, as was James Conway at 184lbs. Conway had a win over returning qualifier Jack Jessen of Northwestern. We saw Vincenzo Pelusi (#31 @ 285lbs) make a return, going 1-2 on the day, including a loss to #7 Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard. F&M hosts Brown, Presbyterian, and Davidson to duals on Thursday before hosting the F&M Open on Friday. Harvard The Crimson participated in The Midlands. This could have been a coming-out party for Diego Sotelo at 125 lbs. He lost in the first round and wrestled back to earn third place. One upset included a pin over #21 Ryan Miller of Penn. Before he claimed wins via two medical forfeits, he also had a great win over Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh. Both 141lbs wrestlers for Harvard competed hard. Keep an eye out for Joe Cangro and Kenny Herrmann, as they seem to be pretty evenly matched at this weight. Although he didn’t place, Trevor Tarsi had a nice win at 157 lbs over Corbyn Munson of Central Michigan (#31). Harvard’s other placer was heavyweight Yara Slavikouski. He came in fourth, with ranked wins over #31 Pelusi, #27 Wolfgram, #26 Goldin, and #10 Hillger. We did not see Phil Conigliaro (#12 @ 174lbs) compete, as he is nursing an injury. We will expect to see him back soon. Harvard’s next event is at the F&M Open on Friday. Hofstra The Pride were at the Southern Scuffle. The single placer was fifth at 184lbs. Jacob Ferreira (#24) had a loss to #14 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. He had a great outing, wrestling to his seed. We typically see Knighton-Ward win matches, but he was 2-2 in the event. Justin Hoyle (141lbs) had losses to Darren Miller of Bucknell and Carter Young of Oklahoma State (#25 & #28, respectively). Missing from the lineup was Trey Rogers (#26 @ 197lbs), as he was a little banged up. We will see this Hofstra team compete at the F&M Open, along with a handful of EIWA teams. Following up a few days later, they will square off with Bucknell on Monday. Lehigh Lehigh sent a handful of wrestlers to the Midlands. Freshman phenom Ryan Crookham made the semifinals after a win over #9 Joe Heilmann of Rutgers. His 3-1 loss to #19 (and returning AA) Chris Cannon of Northwestern was his last match of the event before medically forfeiting out to sixth place. At 125 lbs, Sheldon Seymour walked away with seventh place in his redshirt season. Another strong performance for Seymour. Max Brignola (#26 @ 149lbs) also came away with a sixth-place finish. Two losses came from #10 Doug Zapf of Penn and #25 Tyler Badgett of Pitt. I’m sure we will see some wrestlers at the F&M Open, but the Mountain Hawk’s next competition will be Jan. 14th at Cornell. Long Island The Sharks will be at the F&M Open after a small hiatus during the holiday break. Navy The Midshipmen had a small appearance at the Soldier Salute. They brought only a handful of competitors. Ryan Catka was runner-up at heavyweight, losing to #3 Tony Cassioppi of Iowa. Jake Lucas at 197lbs earned fifth place. Another great performance came at 133 lbs. Brendan Ferretti’s only loss on the weekend came to Angelo Rini of Columbia. He had a win over Richard Treanor of Army, who was top 6 at EIWA’s last season. Catch the team at the F&M Open this coming Friday. Penn The Quakers were runners-up at The Midlands as a team. Michael Colaiocco (#9 @ 133lbs) defeated three former All-Americans in the process. He is looking like a legit All-American threat. Doug Zapf (#10 @ 149 lbs) was third place. He had wins over #29 Jarod Verkleeren of UVA, #26 Max Brignola of Lehigh, and #24 Caleb Tyus of SIU Edwardsville. At 157lbs, Anthony Artalona (#15) wrestled to fourth place after eight matches over two days. Lucas Revano also had a long weekend, wrestling seven matches. This included one win over #28 HoldenHeller of Pitt. Nick Incontrera (#20 @ 174lbs) was runner-up. He lost to Ruth (#10) of Illinois. At the upperweights, both Cole Urbas (197lbs) and Ben Goldin (#27 @ 285) each placed seventh. This week, we will see some wrestlers at the F&M Open on Friday. The team will host #25 North Carolina Saturday night. Princeton The Tigers made some noise before the Midlands even started. Pat Glory was registered at 133lbs, however, did not wrestle. Quincy Monday was ranked #1 in the nation at 157lbs, but is now wrestling up at 165lbs. In his debut, he went 5-0 with a win over #26 Heller of Pitt, #11 Braunagel of Illinois, and #5 Hamiti of Wisconsin. At 197lbs, Luke Stout (#20) took fifth place. At 149lbs, Rocco Camillaci had a win over #26 Max Brignola of Lehigh during his 3-2 tournament. Freshman Kole Mulhauser placed seventh in a solid performance. We still have a competition for the heavyweight starting position between Travis Stefanik and Matthew Cover. Neither wrestler separated from the other, so expect this to continue for another few weeks. The Tigers will have competitors at the F&M Open, along with most of the conference. Sacred Heart The Pioneers were off during the holiday season. We will see them at the F&M Open on Friday.

184 lbs Midlands Champion Reece Heller of Pittsburgh (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) After a lull in the holiday season, Week 9 brought in a lot of fantasy points and may have had some major moves within your league (especially for Cumulative Point Leagues). Moving forward, we enter the dual-heavy second half of the season where points are a premium. Upsets matter more and any tournament that may be out there become riskier plays. The top point scorer of Week 8 was Reece Heller (PITT) scoring 28 fantasy points in six matches, while Owen Pentz (NDSU) was assisted with that win by injury default in the Scuffle Finals to finish in the #2 spot of the week with 26 Fpts. Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA) ad 4 straight pins and held the #3 spot. Looking to the Season Fantasy Leaderboard, John Millner (APP) currently holds the #1 spot with 67 Fpts and a PPM of 3.5. Purdue lines up with the #2 and #3 current overall fantasy wrestlers for the season in 125 Matt Ramos (66 Fpts) and 157 Kendall Coleman (63 Fpts), while former #1 Mason Parris (MICH) is #5, despite having the same Fpts as Anthony Cassioppi and Brock Hardy (NEB). PPM is the difference with Cassioppi being #4 (PPM of 5.50), Parris #5 (PPM of 4.70), and Hardy #6 (PPM of 3.60). On to Week 10 Only one main tournament looks to be on most D1 schedules is the Franklin & Marshall Open with about 19 teams scheduled to participate. There are some others (Mat Mayhem, Kauffman Memorial Open, etc), but these will not be D1 competition heavy and thus do not have much consideration when it comes to scoring fantasy points. Tournament entries continue to update the closer to registration cut-off/day of the event, and we don't want to make an “ass out of u and me” with teams and entries, so be sure to check back and turn those notifications “ON” for our updates and news. A reminder of some important rules: Wrestlers entered at a weight must compete at that weight or else their results will not be counted. Wrestlers in the "Floater" spots can compete at ANY weight and accumulate Fantasy points. A wrestler will LOCK on your roster at 12pm ET on the day of their first competition for the week. (refer to the Master Team Schedule, Week 10 Visual, or SHP's Weekly Preview) Only results against D1 competition (starters, backups, and redshirts) will count towards Fantasy Points. Check your league settings to know how many add/drops are permitted per week. Have a question, concern, suggestions, or just want to chat about Fantasy Wrestling? Hit us up on Twitter or head over to the InterMat Forums where we have a Fantasy Wrestling dedicated Forum page! Wrestlers I Like This Week Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score] *organized by tournament name first, then by school name 125 Spencer Lee (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+10] Eddie Ventresca (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+9] Eric Barnett (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+8] Brandon Courtney (ASU)- Vs Cornell (in Austin, TX), @ Iowa State [+7] Dean Peterson (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+7] Killian Cardinale (WVU)- Vs Ohio, @ Pittsburgh [+7] Liam Cronin (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+6] Blake West (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+6] Logan Ashton (CHAT)- @ VMI [+4] Tristan Lujan (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Jarrett Trombley (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Malik Heinselman (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Joey Prata (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Caleb Smith (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Joseph Fischer (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] 133 Lucas Byrd (ILL)- @ Iowa, Vs Wisconsin [+7] Dylan Ragusin (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Kyle Biscoglia (UNI)- Vs Wyoming, @ Missouri [+7] Joe Heilmann (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Sean Carter (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Kai Orine (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Wyatt Henson (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Daton Fix (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Micky Phillippi (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Brayden Palmer (CHAT)- @ VMI [+3] Rayvon Foley (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+3] Chris Cannon (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+3] Michael Colaiocco (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Sam Latona (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+3] 141 Clay Carlson (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Real Woods (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Brock Hardy (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+7] Cole Mattin (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+6] Sammy Alvarez (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Tom Crook (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+5] Ryan Jack (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Mosha Schwartz (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Jake Bergeland (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Dylan D’Emilio (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Beau Bartlett (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Cole Matthews (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+3] Dylan Cedeno (UVA)- Vs George Mason [+3] 149 Max Murin (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+8] Austin Gomez (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+7] Yianni Diakomihalis (COR)- Vs Arizona State (in Austin,TX), @ Virginia Tech [+6] Chance Lamer (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+6] Anthony Cheloni (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+6] John Millner (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Jackson Arrington (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Sammy Sasso (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Victor Voinovich (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Caleb Henson (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+4] Johnny Lovett (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Yahya Thomas (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+3] Mitch Moore (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Doug Zapf (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Caleb Tyus (SIUE)- Vs Buffalo [+3] 157 Peyton Robb (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+8] Cael Swensen (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Jason Kraisser (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+7] Will Lewan (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Andrew Clark (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Corbyn Munson (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+4] Chase Saldate (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Ed Scott (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Kaden Gfeller (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Tommy Askey (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Peyten Keller (OHIO)- @ West Virginia [+3] Jacob Butler (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Kendall Coleman (PUR)- Vs Iowa [+3] 165 David Carr (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+8] Cam Amine (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Izzak Olejnik (NIU)- @ South Dakota State, Vs California Baptist [+7] Dean Hamiti (WISC)- Vs Penn State, @ Illinois [+7] Julian Ramirez (COR)- Vs Arizona State (in Austin,TX), @ Virginia Tech [+6] Peyton Hall (WVU)- Vs Ohio, @ Pittsburgh [+6] Caleb Fish (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Garrit Nijenhuis (OU)- @ Edinboro [+4] Carson Kharchla (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Justin McCoy (UVA)- Vs George Mason [+4] William Formato (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Cameron Pine (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Andrew Sparks (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Lucas Revano (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Hunter Mays (RID)- Vs Rutgers [+3] Connor Brady (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+3] 174 Mekhi Lewis (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+10] Michael Labriola (NEB)- @ Campbell, Vs Gardner-Webb [+9] Cade DeVos (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+7] Carter Starocci (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Rocky Jordan (CHAT)- @ VMI [+4] Will Miller (APP)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Alex Faison (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+3] Sal Perrine (OHIO)- @ West Virginia [+3] Ethan Smith (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Dustin Plott (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+3] 184 Hunter Bolen (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+10] Brian Soldano (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+9] Abe Assad (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Matt Finesilver (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+7] Marcus Coleman (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+6] Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- Vs Wyoming, @ Missouri [+6] Cade King (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+6] Trent Hidlay (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+5] Aaron Brooks (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+5] Guiseppe Hoose (BUFF)- @ SIU-Edwardsville [+4] Kaleb Romero (OHST)- @ Indiana [+4] Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Layne Malczewski (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+3] Isaiah Salazar (MINN)- @ Northwestern [+3] Grayden Penner (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Trey Munoz (ORST)- Vs Oklahoma State [+3] Gavin Kane (UNC)- @ Pennsylvania [+3] 197 Tanner Sloan (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+9] Yonger Bastida (ISU)- Vs Wyoming, Vs Arizona State [+8] Jacob Warner (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+7] Bernie Truax (CP)- Vs Michigan [+4] Cameron Caffey (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- vs Northern Iowa [+4] Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Ethan Laird (RID)- Vs Rutgers [+4] Tyler Bagloy (CLAR)- @ Central Michigan [+3] Keegan Moore (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Tanner Harvey (ORST)- Vs Oklahoma State [+3] Max Dean (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] 285 Mason Parris (MICH)- @ Cal Poly, @ CSU Bakersfield [+10] Anthony Cassioppi (IOWA)- Vs Illinois, @ Purdue [+9] AJ Nevills (SDSU)- Vs California Baptist, Vs Northern Illinois [+8] Cohlton Schultz (ASU)- Vs Cornell (in Austin, TX), @ Iowa State [+7] Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- Vs Nebraska , vs Gardner-Webb [+7] Boone McDermott (RUT)- @ Bloomsburg, @ Rider [+6] Ryan Vasbinder (MSU)- Vs Bucknell [+4] Owen Trephan (NCST)- Vs Binghamton [+4] Lucas Davison (NW)- Vs Minnesota [+4] Konner Doucet (OKST)- @ Oregon State [+4] Dayton Pitzer (PITT)- Vs West Virginia [+4] Hunter Catka (VT)- Vs Cornell, @ American, @ George Mason [+4] Zach Elam (MIZZ)- Vs Northern Iowa [+3] Bryan Caves (CMU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Tate Orndorff (OHST)- @ Indiana [+3] Josh Heindselman (OU)- @ Edinboro [+3] Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)- @ Wisconsin [+3] Ben Goldin (PENN)- Vs North Carolina [+3] Colton McKiernan (SIUE)- Vs Buffalo [+3]

Little Rock 197 lber Stephen Little at the Southern Scuffle (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Little Rocks rocks the nation at Southern Scuffle Little Rock came into the tournament with a 2-4 record and little expectations from outside its team. However, the Trojans marched into Chattanooga and created some program history, finishing 10th and sending three wrestlers to the podium. Triston Wills led the charge by going 5-1 in the 174-pound division and claiming a bronze medal. Wills picked up wins over No. 27 Dom Solis and No. 21 Julien Broderson. Stephen Little went 5-2 and finished fifth in the 197-pound division. Little went the distance in every match, including his two losses against No. 4 Ethan Laird and No. 10 Jaxon Smith. Heavyweight Josiah Hill went 4-2 and captured seventh with wins over Hofstra's Zachary Knighton-Ward and Stanford's Peter Ming. The Trojans look to keep the momentum rolling in a busy January that sees them host Lindenwood and Oregon State a week and a half from now. Courtney returns at Midlands Championship Arizona State has yet to have Brandon Courtney and Michael McGee compete alongside each other this season. McGee was pulled from the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships while Courtney debuted in the 125-pound division. Despite finishing second, Courtney eased himself back into competition, defeating SIU Edwardsville's Davian Guanajuato, Lehigh's Killian Delaney and NIU's Blake West. He fell to Wisconsin's Eric Barnett in the championship 6-2. Julian Chlebove filled McGee's shoes in the 133-pound division and captured a fourth-place finish. He was able to down a pair of Penn wrestlers, squeak a win over Wisconsin's Taylor Lamont and pick up a tech fall over Patrick Schellpfeffer. Chlebove's two losses came to Illinois' Lucas Byrd. In addition, Kyle Parco went 4-1 and finished second and Cohlton Schultz went 6-1 and finished third. Shane Griffith leads Stanford to Fourth-Place at Southern Scuffle Shane Griffith's second title at the Southern Scuffle made him the second Cardinal in school history with two. His bonus point victories and placing helped Stanford capture 105.5 points and finish fourth in the tournament. Nico Provo, Jaden Abas and Daniel Cardenas had a combined 18-3 record, including a 5-2 record over top-25 opponents, and all finished third in their bracket. Charlie Darracott finished fifth, and Hunter Garvin, Tyler Eischens, and Nick Stemmet finished seventh. Two Roadrunners Place at Southern Scuffle Angelo Martinoni finished seventh in the 141-pound class after earning wins over Oklahoma State's Carter Young and Virginia Tech's Collin Gerardi. 133-pound Chance Rich claimed sixth place and claimed a win over Stanford's Jackson Disario. Rich also only fell 4-1 to the eventual champion Daton Fix.

The 2022 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We're smack dab in the middle of the dual season and have a full-schedule of DI duals whis week. A total of 71 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this weekend. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links). All times are eastern Wednesday, January 11: East Stroudsburg at Bloomsburg 6:30 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network King's at Bloomsburg 8:00 PM PSAC Sports Digital Network Thursday, January 12: California Baptist at Stanford 7:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream North Dakota State at Stanford 8:30 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Friday, January 13: Virginia Duals Campbell vs. Kent State 11:30 AM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Oklahoma 11:30 AM FloWrestling Navy vs. South Dakota State 11:30 AM FloWrestling Ohio vs. Virginia 11:30 AM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Ohio 1:00 PM FloWrestling Navy vs. Virginia 1:00 PM FloWrestling Campbell vs. Oklahoma 2:30 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. South Dakota State 2:30 PM FloWrestling Binghamton at Drexel 6:00 PM FloWrestling Bellarmine at Gardner-Webb 6:00 PM ESPN+ Michigan at Michigan State 6:30 PM B1G+ Columbia at American 7:00 PM ESPN+ Virginia Tech at Appalachian State 7:00 PM The Grind (Rokfin) Oregon State vs. Princeton at Austin, TX 8:00 PM FloWrestling Rider at Bloomsburg 7:00 PM Northern Illinois at Central Michigan 7:00 PM ESPN+ West Virginia at Chattanooga 7:00 PM ESPN+ Rutgers at Indiana 7:00 PM B1G+ Army West Point at NC State 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Buffalo at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra Cal Poly at Air Force 8:00 PM FloWrestling Lindenwood at Little Rock 8:00 PM Little Rock All-Access CSU Bakersfield at Northern Colorado 8:00 PM FloWrestling Northern Iowa at Utah Valley 8:00 PM Go UVU YouTube Northwestern at Iowa 9:00 PM ESPNU Minnesota at Nebraska 9:00 PM Big Ten Network Missouri at Air Force 9:30 PM FloWrestling Saturday, January 14: Virginia Duals Campbell vs. Maryland 1:00 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. Virginia 1:00 PM FloWrestling Campbell vs. South Dakota State 2:30 PM FloWrestling Kent State vs. Navy 2:30 PM FloWrestling Maryland vs. Virginia 2:30 PM FloWrestling Ohio vs. Oklahoma 2:30 PM FloWrestling Navy vs. Oklahoma 4:00 PM FloWrestling Ohio vs. South Dakota State 4:00 PM FloWrestling Clarion vs. VMI at LIU 11:00 AM North Carolina at Harvard 1:00 PM ESPN+ Clarion at LIU 1:00 PM ESPN+ VMI at LIU 3:00 PM ESPN+ North Dakota State at California Baptist 6:00 PM CBU Lancers YouTube North Carolina at Brown 6:30 PM ESPN+ Lehigh at Cornell 6:30 PM ESPN+ Cleveland State at Edinboro 7:00 PM FloWrestling Drexel at Franklin & Marshall 7:00 PM Centennial Conference TV Missouri at Wyoming 7:00 PM FloWrestling Purdue at Illinois 8:00 PM B1G+ Iowa State at Utah Valley 10:00 PM Go UVU YouTube Sunday, January 15: Army West Point vs. Queens at Gardner-Webb 10:00 AM ESPN+ Army West Point at Gardner-Webb 12:00 PM ESPN+ Bucknell at American 1:00 PM ESPN+ Lehigh at Binghamton 1:00 PM ESPN+ Oklahoma State at Columbia 1:00 PM ESPN+ Bellarmine at Davidson 1:00 PM Davidson All-Access Rutgers at Ohio State 1:00 PM B1G+ Hofstra at Buffalo 2:00 PM ESPN+ SIU Edwardsville at Central Michigan 2:00 PM Facebook Live??? Queens at Gardner-Webb 2:00 PM ESPN+ Oregon State at Little Rock 2:00 PM Little Rock All-Access Appalachian State at The Citadel 2:00 PM ESPN+ CSU Bakersfield at Air Force 3:00 PM FloWrestling Northwestern at Nebraska 3:00 PM B1G+ Penn at Stanford 3:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Princeton at Arizona State 4:00 PM Pac-12 Live Stream Cal Poly at Northern Colorado 4:00 PM FloWrestling VMI at Sacred Heart 4:00 PM NEC Front Row Wisconsin at Michigan 5:00 PM B1G+ Michigan State at Minnesota 8:00 PM Big Ten Network

2023 Southern Scuffle Final Results Championship Finals 125 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) dec Noah Surtin (Missouri) 4-3 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) 7-3 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec Allan Hart (Missouri) 8-4 149 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) dec Victor Voinovich (Oklahoma State) 5-3SV 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) dec Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 2-2RTTB 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) 3-2 174 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 12-7 184 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) dec DJ Parker (North Dakota State) 3-1 197 - Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) InjDef Louie DePrez (Binghamton) 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Cory Day (Binghamton) 5-0 Third Place 125 - Nico Provo (Stanford) dec Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) 9-3 133 - Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) dec Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 10-3 141 - Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) dec McKenzie Bell (Rider) 7-1 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec Ethen Miller (Maryland) 3-2 157 - Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) 4-2 165 - Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) InjDef Cam Steed (Missouri) 174 - Triston Wills (Little Rock) MedFFT Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) 184 - Gavin Stika (Oklahoma State) dec Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) 6-0 197 - Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) MedFFT Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 285 - Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) dec Juan Mora (North Dakota State) 2-1TB Fifth Place 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) 5-4 133 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) MedFFT Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 141 - Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) MedFFT Darren Miller (Bucknell) 149 - Michael Gioffre (Virginia) MedFFT Quinn Kinner (Rider) 157 - Charlie Darracott (Stanford) MedFFT Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) 165 - Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) dec Cael Carlson (Minnesota) 5-3SV 174 - Andrew Berreyesa (Northern Colorado) MedFFT Jared Krattiger (Minnesota) 184 - Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) dec Joel Devine (Iowa State) 8-3 197 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) MedFFT Ethan Laird (Rider) 285 - Jonah Niesenbaum (Duke) fall Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 5:41 Seventh Place 125 - Braxton Brown (Maryland) MedFFT Troy Spratley (Minnesota) 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) dec Sean Carter (Appalachian State) 5-3 141 - Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) dec Carter Young (Oklahoma State) 5-4 149 - Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) MedFFT Marcos Polano (Minnesota) 157 - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) MedFFT Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado) 165 - Hunter Garvin (Stanford) dec Grant Stotts (Iowa State) 6-4 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec Julien Broderson (Iowa State) 7-6 184 - Kyle Haas (Oklahoma State) MedFFT Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 197 - Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) 6-1 285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) dec Peter Ming (Stanford) 5-2