InterMat Staff

Keegan O'Toole (left) and Shane Griffith in the 2022 NCAA finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The college wrestling schedule has finally reverted back to some semblance of normal following the changes forced by the pandemic over the last two seasons. The normal mid-season tournaments, the Midlands and Southern Scuffle, will take place. There will also be a new tournament dubbed the Soldier Salute that is effectively a home event for the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. The following are some of the top men's matches fans might be lucky enough to see this week across the three tournaments. Midlands 125: No. 2 Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. No. 3 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) Glory wrestled in the Princeton Open to start the season and did not return to action until the Tigers' last dual in mid-December. In his first dual meet action of the season, Glory scored a 4-1 decision over No. 18 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) to improve his season record to 6-0. Last season, the Princeton wrestler made the NCAA finals and finished with a 20-2 record. He is expected to contend for a title once again this year. DeAugustino finished fourth at the last NCAA tournament and entered this season high in the rankings. However, so far, he has only completed one match. He began his season with a 15-3 major decision victory over Patrick McCormick (Virginia) in November. DeAugustino then returned at the Cliff Keen Invitational. However, he bowed out of his first match in the second period after suffering a lower-body injury. This would be a showdown between two of the top wrestlers at 125 pounds, but it might not happen due to injury. Southern Scuffle 141: No. 3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) vs. No. 4 Allan Hart (Missouri) Alirez knocked off No. 1 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the All-Star Classic, but since the bout was an exhibition he still sits at third in the rankings. However, Alirez has shown that the result was in no way a fluke. He has won all six of his matches on the year with bonus points. The former top recruit looks healthy and determined to storm the podium this year after falling in the round of 12 last season. A bout against Hart will be a strong test for the Northern Colorado wrestler. The two wrestled twice last year and each match was close. Alirez scored a 3-1 sudden-victory decision in a dual, and then edged Hart 6-4 at the Big 12 tournament. The Missouri wrestler is a three-time national qualifier who has started his senior season with a 4-1 record. His lone defeat came against No. 19 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State). However, following the defeat, Hart got back on track with wins over No. 15 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) and No. 11 Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State). Midlands 149: No. 2 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) vs. No. 5 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) Gomez is a major contributor to the rankings confusion at the top of the 149-pound division. In the first three weeks of the season, he suffered an upset against No. 3 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) and then turned around and upset multiple-time champion No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). After finishing fourth last year at this weight, he holds a 6-1 record and is poised to make a run at the top of the podium. At the Midlands tournament, Gomez will get a chance to cement his seed against another top-ranked 149 pounder. Parco was a surprise All-American for Fresno State at the 2021 NCAA tournament and then transferred to Arizona State. Last year, he was a regular in the top ten of the rankings and finished eighth to become an All-American again. So far this season, Parco has built an 8-2 record that includes victories over No. 9 Brock Mauller (Missouri) and No. 8 John Millner (Appalachian State). Southern Scuffle 157: No. 3 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) vs. No. 4 Jared Franek (North Dakota State) Coleman is a three-time NCAA qualifier who appears to be rounding into form this season. He has started the year with a 16-1 record with his only defeat coming against No. 2 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Other than that one match, the Purdue wrestler has gone undefeated. While he did suffer a loss at the Cliff Keen tournament, he also scored a very impressive victory over Big Ten rival No. 10 Will Lewan (Michigan). Franek is coming off back-to-back seasons that ended in the round of 12, and he is also hoping to make a charge at the podium this season. Like Coleman, his only loss of the year came against Robb. Franek has also picked up some very tight victories over ranked wrestlers. Early in December, he scored a tiebreaker victory over No. 11 Brayton Lee (Minnesota). Then less than 10 days ago, he edged No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) in sudden victory. Southern Scuffle 165: No. 1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 2 Shane Griffith (Stanford) Last season Griffith entered the NCAA tournament as the fifth seed, and it looked like he was going to go on another Cinderella run through the bracket. However, that momentum came to a halt in the finals against O'Toole. The Missouri wrestler edged out the 6-5 victory for his first NCAA title. Outside of the finals match, O'Toole allowed zero points in the tournament. He has gone undefeated to start his third year in the lineup and has already bested No. 5 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), Danny Braunagel (Illinois) and Evan Barczak (Drexel). After back-to-back finals appearances, Griffith has gotten off to an unexpectedly hot start to the season. He has won all 10 of his matches and picked up victories over No. 8 Justin McCoy (Virginia), No. 22 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) and No. 29 Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb). Southern Scuffle 174: No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) Plott qualified for the NCAA tournament last year by winning the Big 12 tournament. He went on to finish sixth and became an All-American. His opponent in that conference tournament final was Mocco who would go on to end his season in the round of 12. Mocco was close to finishing on the All-American podium and only one point away from a Big 12 title. The Oklahoma State wrestler has won all five of his matches so far this season and picked up a 10-5 decision over No. 15 Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota). Mocco has managed to notch seven victories, but he also dropped bouts against No. 10 Edmund Ruth (Illinois) and No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech). Southern Scuffle 197: No. 1 Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. No. 6 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) These two had quite the three-match series last season. Their first meeting of the year came in February as part of a dual. Elam held a 4-0 lead going into the third period. However, Bastida stormed back against the exhausted Elam to secure an 8-6 win in sudden victory. The rematch came at the Big 12 tournament where Bastida picked up another victory by a 4-3 score. Elam eventually got the last laugh, for that season at least, as he bested Bastida 1-0 at the NCAA tournament. Elam would go on to finish fourth at the NCAA tournament to become a two-time All-American. He has wrestled only three matches so far this season, but that includes wins over No. 19 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) and No. 28 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State). Bastida made the conversion from freestyle and folkstyle extremely quickly as the Cuban-born wrestler became an All-American in only his second competitive season of the American style. This year, it appears as if he has made another step forward. He has gone 8-1 to start the year with wins over No. 12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) and No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa). Bastida's only defeat came against returning champion Max Dean (Penn State). Midlands 285: No. 4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) vs. No. 5 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) Schultz finished second at the last NCAA tournament after falling in the finals against Gable Steveson. With Steveson joining the professional wrestling ranks, Schultz assumed the number-one spot to start this season. However, he fell down the rankings after being upset by No. 15 AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Outside of the NCAA final against Steveson, this was Schultz's first folkstyle loss since the 2021 NCAA tournament. Davison finished sixth at the last NCAA tournament to become an All-American. He faced off against Steveson in the quarterfinals. He lost the match by a 10-5 score, but Davison became the first person with a two-point score against Steveson that entire season. The Northwestern wrestler is 5-1 this year with his only defeat coming against No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan). This should be a nice test to see if Schultz can get back on track.

Kendall Coleman (left) and Peyton Robb in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) What a great start to the season we've all had the pleasure of watching. If you had told me that both Yianni and Aaron Brooks were going to lose before the end of 2022, I would have told you that you're a crazy person and that you should really seek professional help. Cue the Michael Jordan “stop it, get some help” GIF. Regardless, that's what has happened. So let's take a moment to talk about some B1G-centric storylines and look into what we have in store for the future. Gomez over Yianni and 149 as a whole. I woke up this morning feeling dangerous, which is nice because I had some writing to do. It's hard to accurately quantify how important confidence is at this level, but what's undeniable is how you can't get an upset win over a 3x NCAA champ without a specific level of confidence. Austin Gomez has that necessary amount of confidence, and then some, and I love it. His confidence isn't unwarranted. He only has the 1 loss this season to Paniro Johnson, of Iowa State, currently ranked 3rd. Paniro's only loss is to Yianni, and as mentioned, Yianni's only loss is to Austin, so it's a fun triangle of losses amongst the top 3 at 149. The B1G has a strong contingent of wrestlers at the weight still, but AG has a track record of having beaten them all to this point, most recently in a come-from-behind fashion against Sammy Sasso in the All-Star Classic. As we get through the New Year, and into conference duals, and through the conference schedule, it'll be interesting to see how NCAA seeding will look. B1G at 157 We started the season with two B1G wrestlers ranked 2nd and 3rd in the country, and that's where we land now. The difference is that instead of Brayton Lee and Will Lewan, we have Peyton Robb and Kendall Coleman. This weight class as a whole has had a lot of movement from 2-infinity, but the constant at 1 remains Quincy Monday, of Princeton. He hasn't wrestled much this year, but when he has, he's looked solid. Peyton Robb has been amazing so far this season, and looks to be improving from where he has been the last couple of years. Improving from where he has been the last couple of seasons is damn impressive, because not everyone continues to improve throughout their college seasons, but he certainly has. Kendall Coleman looks to be close to where he was before the knee injury, and I'm sure the confidence associated with these sorts of wins will only improve the results. Trevor Chumbley has shown that his MSU Open title was not a fluke, and that despite losing an NCAA Champ in Ryan Deakin, Northwestern will be just fine at 157. Another fun new addition at 157 this year is Cobe Siebrecht, of Iowa who has proven that he is ready when the lights come on. Tom Brands mentioned to us that he has been impressed with what he's been able to do on the main stage to solidify himself as their guy at 157, and I expect that to continue. Most of Iowa's matches this season have been at Carver-Hawkeye, so it'll be interesting to see how he performs as they travel, but he's shown that he can be a real guy in the B1G. Big Men on Campus Are you prepared for how awesome heavyweight is about to be in the B1G? I am decidedly not. I mean, I'm excited for it, but I don't think I quite grasp how awesome it's going to be yet. I mean, week in and week out we will get some combination of the following athletes trying to beat one another: Greg Kerkvliet, Mason Paris, Tony Cassioppi, Lucas Davison, Trent Hilger, Tate Orndorff, Jaron Smith, Boone McDermott, Garrett Joles and Jacob Bullock. Those are the currently ranked Heavyweights in the B1G, and 6 of them have previously been All-Americans. Another fun fact about Heavyweight in general, the top 4 guys have been age group World Champions at some point, in Kerkvliet (Cadet 2017), Parris (Junior 2019), Cassioppi (U23 2021), and Schultz (Grego U17 2017). Some of these guys have proven to be above the rest of the pack, but I still don't know that I expect anyone at Heavyweight this year to go undefeated. There is too much athleticism and power amongst the pack, as well as a diversity of attacks, for anyone to make it through unscathed. We should still get some interesting matchups before the New Year, but mark my words, 2023 in the B1G is going to be electric. Dean goes down and chaos reigns at 197 Any time a top-ranked defending national champ goes down, it's big news. But Max Dean didn't just lose once, he lost twice – in the same weekend, first to Rider's Ethan Laird then to former teammate Michael Beard, of Lehigh. Dean had a nice bounce-back performance last week at The Collegiate Duals, going 3-0, including a win over then-No. 2 Yonger Bastida, of Iowa State. The Nittany Lion senior now sits at No. 5 in a weight class where it seems like any given wrestler could beat any of the others. In fact, most of them have at one point or another. Dean remains the top-ranked Big Ten wrestler at the weight, but his path to finishing the rest of the regular season without adding another loss won't be easy. The main match to circle is Jan. 27 against Iowa's Jacob Warner. Warner, the NCAA runner-up last season to Dean, dropped two close matches to the Nittany Lion, including the 3-2 final and an 8-3 dual loss in which Warner led until the third period. While Dean leads this series 2-0, it still feels like it could go either direction. There are also a number of other potential landmines Dean could run into throughout the Big Ten season. Those include Michigan State's Cam Caffey, whom Dean lost to last season, Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman, whom he had one close match with last year, and a dark horse candidate, Maryland freshman Jaxon Smith. Dean could very very well make it through the rest of the season unscathed, but it feels like anything could happen in a weight that promises to be key come March. Freshmen emerge on the national stage One of the most exciting things about the first half of the season is seeing which freshmen emerge as national contenders. The Big Ten has 14 freshmen in the InterMat rankings as of Dec. 22, with Maryland leading the way with four. Rutgers has three freshmen ranked and Penn State and Ohio State each have two. Maryland's freshmen, in particular, have been critical to their successful 5-0 dual start and first ranked win since 2013. Capitalizing off the momentum of a big summer on the international stage, Jaxon Smith is now making a name for himself domestically. Ranked No. 10 at 197, a weight that seems like it could be anyone's game, Smith is 6-2, including a win over No. 13 Zac Braunagel, of Illinois. His teammate Braxton Brown is 5-0 at 125, and Ethen Miller and Kal Miller have contributed to key wins this season. Nebraska's Lenny Pinto is a new addition to the top 10 at 184, after his Cliff Keen finish (6th) and revenge win over Cade King, of South Dakota State. Rutgers' Brian Soldano has also made a lot of noise at that weight as a true freshman, ranked No. 12 at 10-1. His teammate Dean Peterson, is ranked No. 18 at 125, despite still splitting time in the starting lineup. Penn State freshmen Shayne Van Ness and Alex Facundo have proven themselves to be as advertised, both taking their first losses last week to top-5 opponents. Ohio State's Jesse Mendez shot into the rankings when he knocked off last year's fifth-place finisher Lucas Byrd, of Illinois, at the beginning of the season. While Mendez has been out of the lineup the past couple of weeks with an unspecified injury, another true freshman, Nic Bouzakis has been filling in just fine, going 3-0 at The Collegiate Duals. And Henry Porter has injected a jolt of energy into Indiana's lineup. The Big Ten schedule will put a lot of these freshmen to the test to sort out who might really have a chance at the medal stand. Penn State's Van Ness will get opportunities to take on three top-10 opponents in Wisconsin's Austin Gomez, Iowa's Max Murin and Ohio State's Sammy Sasso. Rutgers vs. Ohio State on Jan. 15 could present Soldano, Peterson and fellow ranked freshman Tony White with ranked matchups in Kaleb Romero, Malik Heinselman and Sasso, respectively. Depending on his injury status, Ohio State's No. 20 Paddy Gallagher could get shots at several ranked wrestlers, including Nebraska's No. 2 Peyton Robb and Michigan's No. 10 Will Lewan. All that's certain is that there's a lot of good wrestling ahead.

Wisconsin All-American Austin Gomez (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's back! After a weird 2021-22 season that saw the Midlands abruptly canceled due to Covid concerns and the MatMen Open trying to replace it, the most storied collegiate tournament is ready to rock. While the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational may surpass the Midlands in terms of ranked wrestlers/teams and the Southern Scuffle has had its moments, the Midlands has the history on its side. Famous for its format open to post-grads, the Midlands was famously as difficult (or more) than the NCAA Tournament due to the talented Olympic hopefuls that returned in the 1980's and 1990's. Now, those post-grads are few and far between, but there are still high-quality collegiate wrestlers ready to throw down. This year's edition of the Midlands (the 58th annual) features a pair of number-one ranked wrestlers along with three others ranked #2. In addition, top 20 tournament teams like #6 Arizona State, #7 Pittsburgh, #9 Wisconsin, and #13 Princeton are all expected to send full squads along with host #15 Northwestern. Below is our preview of the action at all ten weights, along with predictions for champions at all ten weights. 125 lbs Ranked Wrestlers: #2 Patrick Glory (Princeton), #3 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), #5 Richie Figueroa/Brandon Courtney (Arizona State), #6 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia), #7 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), #18 Dean Peterson (Rutgers), #21 Ryan Miller (Penn), #31 Blake West (Northern Illinois) Right off the bat, we have perhaps the most star-studded bracket of the entire tournament. There's the potential for five All-Americans to be in action at the Midlands. That being said, there are plenty of reasons why one or more of them may not actually compete this week. The finalists from the most recent Midlands (2019), Patrick Glory and Michael DeAugustino, are both slated to compete; however, both have missed time during this season. DeAugustino injury defaulted out of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, while Glory has sat out multiple duals. The two also finished second (Glory) and fourth (DeAugustino) at nationals last year. We could have the season debut for a couple of notable wrestlers at this weight class in Brandon Courtney and Killian Cardinale. The 2021 NCAA runner-up, Courtney, has been aiming to make his first appearance at the Midlands. In his place, redshirt freshman Richie Figueroa has been excellent, going 10-0 and winning the CKLV. Cardinale also got off to a late start last season and ended up winning the Big 12 Championships and was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher. Aside from Figueroa, the most steady from this group in 2022-23 has been Eric Barnett. The two-time All-American has earned wins over five national qualifiers during his six wins. Someone who may prove to be amongst the top-tier of contenders with a good tournament is Dean Peterson. All of his three losses have come to 2022 NCAA All-Americans, with two coming from Glory. His teammate, Dylan Shawver, is capable of a spot in the top eight, as well. Peterson's biggest win of the year, thus far, was a major decision over Ryan Miller, who made the finals at the Midlands 2021 replacement, the MatMen Open. He should fare well here, too. Finally, freshman Blake West has used the momentum created from his redshirt season and is 11-4 on the season. For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Stanford 197 lber Nick Stemmet (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Beavers and Mustangs compete at Collegiate Duals Oregon State struggled on the first day of the National Collegiate Duals. The Beavers fell to Iôwa State 26-6. On the bright side, Trey Munoz upset Marcus Coleman to give the Beavers three points. Brandon Kaylor picked up the other victory with a 5-2 decision. The Beavers fell in the second dual against Cornell. Isaiah Crosby picked up a 9-2 decision to get the Beavers on the board. However, Oregon State lost 32-7. Oregon State finished its trip with a dominating win over Central Michigan. Brandon Kaylor, Cleveland Belton, Matt Olguin, Trey Munoz, Tanner Harvey and Ryan Reyes all pinned their opponents. Therefore, the Beavers captured a 39-10 victory and returned to Corvallis for the next year. Cal Poly come in as underdogs against Lehigh and North Carolina State and dropped both duals. A highlight for Cal Poly against Lehigh was a 3-2 win for Bernie Truax over All-American Michael Beard at 197. With a pair of losses, Cal Poly faced Lock Haven for fifth place. The Mustangs split the first eight matches as Lawrence Sanez, Dom Demas, Legend Lamer and Adam Kemp earned decision victories over Lock Haven opponents. The Mustangs finished strong as Bernie Truax tech falled Brad Morrison and Trevor Tinker continued to raise his stock with a pin over Ethan Miller. The Mustangs captured fifth at Collegiate Duals red pool Nick Stemmet earns Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week Although it was a quiet week for Stanford, 197-pound Nick Stemmet earned Stanford's second Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week. Daniel Cardenas earned the honor on Nov. 15. Stemmet sits with a 9-1 record and a 3-0 dual meet record. His greatest victory came over No. 21 Andy Smith from Virginia Tech 11-5. He will look to improve his stock at the Southern Scuffle on New Year's Weekend. Little Rock scores big off the mat Since it was a quiet week for the Trojans and Pac-12 wrestling, Little Rock decided to better themselves and the community. First, the Little Rock wrestlers became CPR certified thanks to American Heart Arkansas. Second, the Trojans decided to give back to the community. For the fourth consecutive year, the Little Rock program did a ham sale and donated over 200 hams to local families in need. Not only did they donate the hams, but they also delivered them to each family in 14 different neighborhoods throughout the Little Rock area.

Army West Point freshman 125 lber Ethan Berginc (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The post-holiday tournaments get ramped up this week with the Midlands and the Soldier Salute. We'll start by talking Soldier Salute, a new tournament that takes place in Coralville, Iowa and features the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes and a few military institutions like Army West Point, The Citadel, and VMI, among others. Proceeds from the tournament will be split between the USO's and a fund geared towards helping the growth of girls' high school wrestling. In addition to the college men's tournament, a women's tournament will also be held at the same site, on the same dates (December 29/30th). Fans will be able to follow the action on B1G+. A link to Thursday's B1G+ coverage page can be viewed here. Below is a preview of the action in the ten men's weights in Coralville along with championship picks. 125 lbs Ranked Wrestlers: #1 Spencer Lee (Iowa), #22 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point), #27 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) Could this week mark another appearance by three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee? So far this season, Lee has only competed at the CyHawk dual against rival Iowa State in early December. While rusty, Lee still managed to post a 16-5 major decision over Corey Cabanban. If Lee isn't in the field, the two remaining ranked wrestlers are Ethan Berginc and Tanner Jordan. Berginc has been an excellent revelation for Army, winning 13 of his first 14 bouts this year with wins over 2022 All-American Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) and past qualifier Liam Cronin (Nebraska). Jordan has had a breakout campaign, as well. He advanced to the semis at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and got a win over Appalachian State's national qualifier, Caleb Smith. Using the common opponents, Jordan has given up bonus points twice this year to Cronin. Also in the mix here are Northern Iowa's Kyle Gollhofer and Columbia's Nick Babin. Gollhofer has a 3-7 record, but has wrestled a brutal schedule. At the CKLV, he picked up a quality win over Air Force's Tucker Owens. Babin was last seen knocking off, then-ranked Colton Camacho (Pittsburgh) during the Lions one-point loss to Pitt. He also has a win this year over two-time national qualifier Patrick McCormick (Virginia). For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Missouri head coach Brian Smith (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In May of 1998, the University of Missouri introduced its new head coach, a relatively unknown Brian Smith. At the time, the program was in a rough stretch of six seasons with a dual record under .500 and their best conference finish was in 1969, finishing fourth out of seven teams. The Tigers were in the brutal Big 12 conference (previously Big 8) and were just trying to compete against blue bloods Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. The team had never had a national champ, and over 50 seasons only had 23 All-Americans. Fast forward to today, and Coach Smith has just signed a contract extension with Mizzou through 2027, continuing his record-setting tenure as Mizzou Wrestling's head coach. While the program was in a rough place in 1998, Coach Brian Smith has turned Mizzou wrestling into one of the most consistent programs at Division I, and the culture of Tiger Style is now known throughout the wrestling scene. Smith came from Syracuse after a single season trying to keep the program alive. Before that, he had spent five years as an assistant at Cornell with Rob Koll. Together they put signed top recruiting classes and the first Big Red national champ since 1960. As an athlete, Smith competed for Michigan State and was a three-time All-Big Ten wrestler. While it is a respectable resume, fans at the time were skeptical of the choice by the Mizzou athletic administration. In Smith's first four seasons, the team made slow but continuous progress. Their dual record went from 4-9 in 1999 to 18-3 and Smith's first All-American came in 2002. However, the conference struggles continued with last-place finishes. That changed in 2003. The team went 15-6, including wins over Oklahoma and Iowa State for the first time in Smith's tenure. They followed that up with a second-place finish at Big 12's, the program's highest ever. At NCAA's, they had two All-Americans and seven qualifiers, the most since 1995. That was all without another path blazer for Mizzou wrestling, Ben Askren, who was redshirting at the time. In 2004, there was another turning point for the Tigers, as they beat legendary Oklahoma State 21-17 for their first win in 25 duals against the Cowboys. Even in Coach Smith's time, they had been 0-5 previously. They were competitive at conferences again, with three champions. They also finished in the top 15 at NCAA's, the highest for the Tigers since 1984. At this point, Tiger Style was in full effect. When Smith was first hired as head coach at Mizzou, he created a list of goals for the team to accomplish. While a lot of progress had been made by the 2005 season, there was still one of those goals the team had not reached: to develop their first NCAA National Champion. That dream culminated in 2006 with Ben Askren. The controversial but dominant Askren had come close twice already, losing in the finals to OSU's Chris Pendleton. But in 2006, Askren not only became the school's first National Champion, but their first Hodge winner as well. The team didn't lose any momentum in 2007, winning their first team trophy with a third-place finish. That remains their highest NCAA finish for now. That year, Coach Smith also tied a program-high eight qualifiers, which had not been done since 1979 for the Tigers. In 2011, he broke the qualifier record with nine, and again in 2012 with ten. That 2012 season also saw Coach Smith and Mizzou win their first-ever conference championship in the Big 12. The team moved to the MAC in 2013, after the Mizzou athletic department moved to the SEC. Coach Smith's teams dominated the conference, winning nine more consecutive titles. In 2015 the team went 24-0 and won the national duals. They beat Illinois, Lehigh, and Iowa for the National Duals Championship. At the time, it was only the second undefeated season in program history, but has since been repeated in 2018 and 2021. At NCAA's, the team went from just outside the top ten, to eight top-ten finishes in the last ten tournaments. More than every team outside of PSU, Iowa, tOSU, and Cornell. The team has had 90 qualifiers since 2013, again more than every team outside of Iowa and OK State. Of Mizzou's 80 total All-Americans, 57 have come under Coach Smith's time. After a move back to the Big 12 in 2022, the conference title streak is up to 11 consecutive championships. Since 2012, the team has not only been dominant in conferences, but in duals as well. Coach Smith has a 156-28 record since then, and a 319-114-4 record overall. In his 24 years at the helm of the program, Coach Smith has racked up a long list of accolades. His teams have won the Scuffle, Midlands, and multiple team titles in two conferences. Individually he has won the Dan Gable Coach of the Year (2007), NWCA Coach of the Year (2017), Big 12 Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2022), and MAC Coach of the Year five times (2013-2017). He's coached nine national champions, with J'Den Cox and Ben Askren winning multiple titles. Askren was also one of six multiple-time Hodge winners. There is one thing that has eluded the Tigers so far, and that's an NCAA team title. The team was ranked #1 in 2015, but finished fourth. That year, the team had Alan Waters, Drake Houdashelt, and J'Den Cox all seeded first. Unfortunately, Waters and Cox were both upset, while Houdashelt won the only title for the Tigers that year. In 2017, the team had Lavion Mayes, Joey Lavallee, and J'Den Cox all in the finals, but again only had one wrestler win a title in Cox. That team had five All-Americans for a program record, but finished just outside of a trophy in 5th place. Currently, the team has a returning champ in Keegan O'Toole, and two other multiple-time All-Americans in Brock Mauller and Rocky Elam. O'Toole and Elam are both ranked #1, and if they can take that ranking into March, they would be the first Tigers to do so since 2015. With all ten starters currently ranked, the Tigers are projected to contend for a team trophy in Tulsa. According to Coach Smith, the culture of Tiger Style wrestling consists of believing in yourself, competing, giving one more, and expecting to win. He has turned the program around, and become one of the most established and longest-tenured head coaches at Mizzou. With NCAA's in Kansas City next year and the #4 overall 2022 recruiting class, Coach Smith will be leading a team that will be ready to compete for their first team title. Brian Smith looks on as Keegan O'Toole and assistant coach Kendric Maple embrace after O'Toole's 2022 national title (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

12/06/2022

Drexel 184 lber Brian Bonino (photo courtesy of Drexel athletics) There was a good amount of action in the conference. Cornell and Lehigh represented the conference at Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. There were a handful of dual meets, both inside and outside the conference. This week's Outstanding Wrestler is 184lbs wrestler, Brian Bonino of Drexel. He earned three wins on the weekend, two of which were ranked opponents. He defeated Caleb Hopkins of Campbell (#21) which helped catapult him into the rankings for the first time this season. He's currently 5-1 this month and will look to continue his streak into the new year. Congrats Brian! American The Eagles had a few dual meets over a couple-day span. They dropped a dual to George Mason 23-15, beat Sacred Heart 41-3, and were victorious 21-16 over Hofstra. Considering this team lost to both Sacred Heart and Hofstra a season ago, it speaks to how far this team has come. In the Sacred Heart match, 125lbs Raymond Lopez jumped up to 141lbs to earn a fall. He wrestled up at this weight against Hofstra too, dropping a match to Justin Hoyle – who placed at EIWA's a season ago. Max Leete has a 20-second fall against Hofstra. This team has improved from a season ago. Things are looking up for American. They will return to competition at the F&M Open the first weekend of January. Army The Black Knights were not in action. They are back after Christmas at the Soldier Salute in Iowa. Binghamton The Bearcats were also off this weekend, as they prepare for the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. Brown Brown was not involved with any competition this week. The Bears will be in action next week at the Midlands Championships. Bucknell The Bison had a few duals over the weekend. They defeated Sacred Heart 33-6, beat Edinboro 36-7, and dropped a tough one to Buffalo 21-9. Bucknell's stud Kurt Phipps (#32 @ 133lbs) won all of his matches, as did Darren Miller (#25 @ 141lbs). At 184lbs, Logan Deacetis upset #26 Guiseppe Hoose of Buffalo. He's been cranking out some great wins lately. He ended his day 3-0 as well. Many of the Buffalo matches were one-score differences. It would be nice for Bucknell to reverse some of those, but not a bad day overall. Expect them at the Southern Scuffle next week. Columbia The Lions were not in action. They will be at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa 12/29 – 12/30. Cornell The Big Red were at the National Collegiate Duals, where they went 2-1 as a team. They beat #26 Oregon State 32-7, and #21 North Carolina 31-9. They dropped an exciting dual to #6 Iowa State 18-13. Against Oregon State, we saw Brett Ungar (#21 @ 125lbs) upset returning All-American Brandon Kaylor (#10). At 197lbs, Jacob Cardenas upset #10-ranked Tanner Harvey by a 9-5 decision. The match of the day may have been in the Iowa State dual, where we saw Yianni Diakomihalis (#1 @ 149lbs) beat Paniro Johnson (#5) by a tight 3-1 score. Unfortunately, Cornell was without returning All-American Jonathan Loew (#6 @ 184lbs). Aside from Yianni, both Vito Arujau and Chris Foca looked great – both winning all three matches. Next up for the Big Red is a dual against Arizona State, in Austin, TX on Wednesday, January 4th. Drexel The Dragons went 2-1 on the week, while competing at the Purdue Duals. They had a 20-17 victory over Purdue, a 19-16 loss against Campbell, and then a 19-13 win over Utah Valley. The lineup was finally healthy and it showed. Luke Nichter (#29 @ 149lbs) returned from injury to go 3-0 on the day. He joined Evan Barczak (#18 @ 165lbs), Mickey O'Malley (#6 @ 174lbs) and Brian Bonino going undefeated on the day. O'Malley's biggest win came in a tie-breaker, defeating former All-American Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley. Bonino earned his way into the rankings with three wins on the weekend, two of them coming against ranked opponents. The Dragons return to action after the new year at the F&M Open. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats had a notable return to their line-up this week. One wrestler having success this year, whom I've failed to mention is Josh Hillard. He's one of the leaders in all of D1 for falls. He's been consistently placing at opens. He is only getting better working behind Phillips at 133lbs. Ranked heavyweight, Vincenzo Pelusi, made his return to the team at the Wilkes Open. He went 2-0 before medically forfeiting out of precaution. He will be back in action at Midlands along with the remainder of the squad. Harvard The Crimson were off this week. They will be at the Midlands at the end of the month. Hofstra The Pride hosted a dual against American. They split five matches to five, but lost the dual 21-16 due to bonus points. All of Hofstra's ranked wrestlers won by decision – Jacob Ferreira (#24 @ 184lbs), Trey Rogers (#26 @ 197lbs), and Zachary Knighton-Ward (#28 @ 285lbs). The other two victories came from Justin Hoyle by major at 141lbs and Ross McFarland at 174lbs. I'm sure Hofstra would like to have this one back, but not a bad performance, overall. They will get back to work and return to competition at the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. Lehigh The Mountain Hawks competed in the Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. They wrestled three tough duals, walking away 1-2. They beat #25 Cal Poly 26-6. They dropped matches to #7 NC State 24-10 and #3 Ohio State 23-12. Against Cal Poly, we saw Manzona Bryant (#33 @ 149lbs) defeat #11 Domas Demas. Lucas Frinzi made a splash in the rankings when he beat Lamer (#32 @ 165lbs). #22 at 184lbs, Tate Samuelson beat #19 Adam Kemp as well. Michael Beard dropped a match to Bernie Truax (#9 @ 197lbs) but picked up wins over #8 Isaac Trumble of NC State and #24 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State on the weekend. At 157lbs, Josh Humphreys (#6) defeated Ed Scott of NC State (#9) in a high-scoring battle. Something to be on the lookout for in the lower weights – Jaret Lane made his return at 125lbs, dropping a 4-0 decision to Jarrett Trombley of NC State. And Ryan Crookham, freshman phenom, made his debut at the Wilkes Open. He went 4-0 on the day, with a tech fall, two majors, and a six-point decision. The Mountain Hawks have a long layover and will be back on January 14th to take on conference rival, Cornell, in Ithaca. Long Island The Sharks went to battle with The Citadel over the weekend, dropping a tight 23-18 dual. They came away winning four of the nine bouts, while giving up a forfeit at 125 lbs – which may have ended up being the difference. At 141 lbs, Devin Matthews earned a tech fall. It was followed up at 149lbs, where Drew Whitham won by fall. Blake Bahna also earned a major at 165 lbs. The fight from this team is there, and it shows when three of the four wins were by bonus points. This team is slowly improving every week. It's great to see positive results from the newest member of the conference. The next competition for the Sharks will be at the F&M Open on January 6th. Navy The Midshipmen will be in action again at the F&M Open. Penn The Quakers were resting this weekend. They will compete at the Midlands next week over the holiday break. Princeton The Tigers will follow many of the EIWA teams and compete in the Midlands next weekend Sacred Heart The Pioneers saw two conference duals over the weekend, dropping both of them to Bucknell and American. The lone win against American was at 149lbs, where Matt Laurie defeated Antonio Segura in overtime. Former American Eagle, Andrew Fallon, lost in sudden victory to former teammate, and quality opponent, Jack Maida. Against Bucknell, Laurie earned a last-second takedown to defeat Kolby DePron. This was a nice win for Laurie – as DePron has been on the cusp of being ranked this season. Mike Manta was the other victor in the dual at 125 lbs. They will be competing at the F&M Open once the new year rolls around.

Roman Bravo-Young (right) and Ramazan Attasauov in the Collegiate Duals finals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The first half of the collegiate wrestling season is typically highlighted by big tournaments such as CKLV, Reno Tournament of Champions and Midlands, and a few non-conference duals. The dual season really starts to kick into gear in the new year. This week, however, wrestling fans were treated to a full slate of exciting dual meets – highlighted by the Collegiate Duals in New Orleans. The Nittany Lions came out on top in the Blur Pool for the second consecutive year – but not without taking some key individual losses – while the Buckeyes were third in the Red Pool. In the Midwest, Purdue hosted a quad and went 1-2, while Nebraska earned a key dual win over South Dakota State. A couple Big Ten teams were also involved in tournament action, as Indiana and Michigan State were competing at Reno. Here are five things we learned – and the reasons why we love duals! Duals are fun: Penn State vs. Iowa State edition Penn State started its Collegiate Duals campaign hot, racking up a record-tying seven pins en route to a 50-3 victory over Central Michigan. It took the gas off the pedal a little bit in the second dual, against the University of North Carolina, which ended in a similarly lopsided final score – 37-3 – but with tighter individual bouts. The top-ranked Nittany Lions then survived an upset bid from No. 5 Iowa State, 22-12, during which Penn State took six of 10 bouts (including a forfeit) and had three wrestlers – Shayne Van Ness, Alex Facundo and Aaron Brooks – see their unbeaten streaks end. Here are five highlights from the Blue Pool championship between Penn State and Iowa State: 184: Top-ranked Brooks goes down. Brooks isn't the first top-ranked defending national champ to lose this season. In fact, he's not even the first on his team, as teammate Max Dean lost twice two weeks ago. But Brooks' 9-7 loss to Marcus Coleman was nothing short of shocking – and that's not an indictment of Coleman. It's just that, Brooks doesn't really lose. The fourth-year junior had lost just twice prior to Tuesday since his redshirt was pulled in 2020, racking up a 51-2 overall record. But more notable than the loss itself was how it happened. Coleman had Brooks seemingly flat on his back after countering a single-leg attempt. A fall wasn't called, but Coleman was awarded six, which proved to be too much for Brooks to come back from. The Nittany Lion narrowly avoided the same fate as the second-ranked wrestler at 184, N.C. State's Trent Hidlay, did earlier that day – suffering a fall to UNI's No. 3 Parker Keckeisen. 197: Dean gets back on track. As previously mentioned, Dean had a rough weekend a couple weeks ago. This week, however, he came in clutch when his team needed him. After Brooks' upset loss, there was a tiny window where Iowa State could have taken the lead, although, since the Cyclones were forfeiting at heavyweight, it likely wouldn't have been enough to win. But Dean erased any possibility that Penn State could blemish its perfect season by dispatching No. 2 Yonger Bastida, 4-1. The single takedown in the bout came on a Dean reattack as the final seconds ticked down in the second period. He then characteristically went to work on top in the third, racking up over a minute of riding time and fending off a flurry of last-second shots from Bastida. 133: RBY earns bonus points. Roman Bravo Young is so far 6/6 for bonus-point wins this season, so, his 10-2 major decision over No. 21 Ramazan Attasauov wasn't exactly shocking. However, the way Bravo Young went about it was. The pair battled evenly throughout the first period, with Bravo Young forcing the action but not being able to get in on Attasauov's legs. With that strategy not working, RBY went to work from the top in the second, riding Attasauov out and turning him for 2 nearfall at the end of the period. With his opponent tired out, RBY fired off three takedowns in the final period. In a dual that was destined to be close, these bonus points were crucial in giving the Nittany Lions some breathing room heading into a stretch of tough matches in the middleweights. RBY knew what needed to be done, and although Attasauov made it tough, he figured out a way to do it. That's what should be expected from a fifth-year senior, two-time national champ. 149: Van Ness-Paniro sets up an exciting next four years. Penn State's Shayne Van Ness found himself on the wrong side of the battle of undefeated freshmen at 149 pounds, falling 3-2. But it seems unlikely this will be the last time this pair meets. Paniro was one of the biggest stories of the weekend. Not only did he earn this solid win over Van Ness, but he also took three-time national champ Yianni Diakomihalis to the brink of defeat, falling 3-1 in sudden victory. Van Ness didn't let that intimidate him, trying to push the action through most of the match, but not really being able to get in on any good shots. Paniro's patience paid off as he countered for the lone takedown in the dual in the third period. He almost did the same thing again, but Van Ness was able to clear it. Van Ness fired off a flurry of shots in the final 30 seconds, but was unable to convert. As long as they both stay healthy, it seems as though these two wrestlers are likely to meet a few more times over the next four years. 157: Hello, Levi Haines. Penn State has a new face in the lineup this week as true freshman Levi Haines slotted in at 157 pounds, where Terrell Barraclough has been holding down the starting position. With the NCAA's new redshirt rule, Haines can wrestle five “events” without burning his redshirt. While it's unknown whether Penn State will make that a more permanent lineup change this season, Haines made a solid case that he'd be ready should that opportunity present itself. The true freshman went 3-0 on the weekend, including an 8-3 win over Iowa State's Jason Kraisser and a fall in 1:38 of Central Michigan's No. 31 Corbyn Munson. Regardless of whether Haines is the starter at the end of the regular season, it's exciting to be able to see highly-touted true freshmen like him get to wrestle and contribute in dual settings. Duals are fun: Ohio State vs. UNI edition Penn State's Big Ten counterpart in the Red Pool didn't have as good of luck against a team from Iowa, falling 19-13 to the University of Northern Iowa, and going on to finish third in the pool with wins over Lock Haven and Lehigh. The Buckeyes were missing a few key pieces of their lineup, with Paddy Gallagher, Jesse Mendez and Carson Kharchla all out, but part of what makes duals fun is strategizing around injuries and weak lineup spots. This strategizing was on display in New Orleans with Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser bumping up three of his wrestlers to beat Cornell. But, back to Ohio State. The loss to UNI had a mix of highlights and lowlights. Here are five: 133: Bouzakis knocks off a top-10 opponent. Injury woes aside, a high point of The Collegiate Duals for the Buckeyes was freshman Nic Bouzakis. Bouzakis has been slotting in at 133 for the Buckeyes for their past four duals since Mendez, who along with Bouzakis are key members of Ohio State's top-ranked 2022 recruiting class, has been out with an apparent injury. Regardless of what Mendez's status might be, Bouzakis made the most of his opportunity this week, going 3-0 including the 9-6 win over UNI's No. 6 Kyle Biscoglia. Things didn't look great for Bouzakis as he gave up the initial takedown as the clock wound down in the third period. The Buckeye got the reversal but then gave up one of his own to trail 5-3 with about 30 seconds to go. The freshman never stopped pursuing, locking up a cradle with about 15 seconds remaining for the six-point move to seal it. 141: D'Emilio falls in sudden victory. Dylan D'Emilio, ranked No. 18 at the time, was the slight underdog on paper to No. 10 Cael Happel, but with starters out at 157 and 165 pounds, this was a bout the Buckeyes were hoping to steal to have a chance to win. D'Emilio took the early lead with a first-period takedown, but Happel hit a reversal to even the score. The pair were tied 3-3 heading into the third. A takedown for Happel and an escape and riding time for D'Emilio sent the bout into sudden victory, where Happel prevailed, 7-5, with a takedown. This loss put a damper on the momentum gained from Bouzakis' upset win. 149: Sasso takes another loss. Sammy Sasso's 9-7 loss to Colin Realbuto made winning this dual a real uphill climb for the Buckeyes. This marked the second loss of the season for the three-time All-American, falling earlier to Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson. Sasso had the early lead with a first-period takedown, but Realbuto got a takedown of his own and turned Sasso for 4 near-fall points in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Sasso fired off two takedowns in the third but it wasn't enough. 197: Hoffman wins by bonus. In addition to Bouzakis, Gavin Hoffman also had a strong showing in New Orleans, going 2-1, with his loss coming by way of a 5-3 decision to No. 4 Michael Beard, of Lehigh. He earned a pin against Lock Haven and an 18-8 major decision over UNI's Noah Glaser. Hoffman dominated the entire bout against UNI, racking up eight takedowns to give his team much-needed bonus points and a chance to win. 285: Orndorff can't seal the win. Hoffman's major decision put Ohio State in a good position to at least tie the dual, but No. 9 Tate Orndorff couldn't close the deal, losing to No. 19 Tyrel Gordon for the second time this season, 3-2. This win handed UNI its second upset win – based on rankings – and the dual. Duals are fun: Nebraska vs. South Dakota State edition Nebraska was able to even its dual record Sunday with a 22-17 win over South Dakota State. The Cornhuskers won six of the 10 bouts, including two by way of bonus points. Liam Cronin took just 30 seconds to get the fall over No. 28 Tanner Jordan. That win set the tone for the Cornhuskers, as Boo Dryden and Brock Hardy both collected wins at 133 and 141, respectively. Hardy kept the momentum from his CKLV title run going with a solid 7-5 win over No. 13 Clay Carlson in sudden victory. The sophomore's strong showing throughout December has catapulted him into the top 10 of the InterMat rankings and into the national conversation. Nebraska's other bonus point win came at 184 pounds, where No. 12 Lenny Pinto got revenge on No. 11 Cade King, who had pinned him in the fifth-place bout at CKLV. Pinto came out on top this time, sticking King on his back for four nearfall points with three seconds left for the 12-2 major decision. This marked the first dual win for the redshirt freshman. The Cornhuskers' other wins came from No. 2 Peyton Robb over No. 22 Cael Swenson, 7-2, at 157 and No. 2 Mikey Labriola over No. 18 Cade DeVos, 4-0, at 174. At heavyweight, Cale Davidson lost in sudden victory to No. 14 A.J. Nevills. Silas Allred suffered his second straight loss, falling by way of a 12-0 major decision to No. 12 Tanner Sloan, Bubba Wilson suffered a pin and Dayne Morton lost by major decision. This win marked the first win for the Cornhuskers over a ranked team this season and should put them in a good spot heading into the new year. Duals are fun: Up and Down Purdue Duals The Boilermakers hosted Campbell, Utah Valley, and Drexel for a quad dual to finish off their 2022 competition schedule. It did not go as they had hoped. They started off the day with a loss to Drexel, dropping four of their final five matches. They weren't favored in two of those matches, but up-and-comer Stoney Buell at 165, Macartney Parkinson at 174, and Ben Vanadia at 184 are guys that you would expect to be ready to go at home in those matches. On a positive note, Matt Ramos (125), Parker Fillius (141), and Kendall Coleman (157) wrestled very well in this dual. This was the final action for Fillius for the day though as they went into the next two duals. They bounced back with a win over Utah Valley, thanks to a pin by Stoney Buell at 165. Those bonus points were key in the 20-18 victory, along with the major decisions by Coleman and Vanadia. The competitive flames were quickly extinguished though, as Campbell started off their dual with the Boilermakers in dramatic fashion, upsetting Matt Ramos. Anthony Molton is a very good wrestler, but Ramos has looked great so far at 125. Interestingly enough, these two wrestled in High School together, and had met in the US Open finals earlier this year, with Ramos getting that win. The sudden victory loss is something we can expect Ramos to bounce back from, but these are both guys we can expect to see in Tulsa come March. Trey Kruse and Kendall Coleman got wins at 149 and 157 respectively, but those were the remaining two wins on the day for Purdue. Not the way I'm sure they envisioned ending 2022, but they will take a short break before getting back after it in Chattanooga Tennessee at the Southern Scuffle on January 1st and 2nd. And, we like tournaments, too: MSU Champions of the Tournament of Champions; Indiana crowns 2 champs Michigan State has been on a tear so far this season. They are 6-0 in dual competition so far, and just walked away with a first-place team finish in Reno. You could make the argument, which I guess is what I'm doing, that they didn't even wrestle their best and still took away the title. 10th ranked Layne Malczewski dropped a match in the semi's eventually taking home third place, and Rayvon Foley dropped a match to the eventual champ Aden Valencia, but they had some other wrestlers really step up. Tristan Lujan had a great tournament making the finals, eventually dropping that match 5-2 to Trevor Mastrogiovanni, the 13th-ranked 125-pound wrestler in the country. That was Lujan's first loss of the year, and is a big reason why this team has been able to start off strong in all of their duals so far. An additional finalist who dropped his final match was Ryan Vasbinder at Heavyweight. Vasbinder transferred in from McKendree where he was the D2 National Champion at 197 pounds. He has been transitioning well to Heavyweight at the D1 level, and is an exciting guy to keep an eye on as the season continues. Gotta love big athletic heavyweights. Champions for the Spartans were Jordan Hamden at 141, Caleb Fish at 165, and Cameron Caffey at 197. Hamden has had a solid season so far, and looks to be establishing himself as a long-term solution for the Spartans. Caleb Fish has shown flashes of greatness in his early career for Michigan State, but this level of consistency is a really encouraging thing to see. He's enormously athletic, so him putting this together is a big deal for what he can do in the B1G as duals get going. Caffey, who jokingly referenced to me that he doesn't pin anybody, pinned 3 of his first 4 opponents. The fourth was a tech fall. Caffey was the favorite, but it's encouraging to see him put it on the field this weekend, and ended it with a major decision over a B1G opponent. The Spartans take a break here, with their next matches on January 6th against Bucknell, followed by a dual with in-state rival Michigan to start off their B1G dual schedule. Indiana also traveled to Reno and ended up with two champions and 7 placewinners. Graham Rooks at 149 and Jacob Bullock at Heavyweight walked away with gold. Other notable accomplishments for the Hoosiers include Derek Gilcher at 157 getting a win over Chase Saldate to place third at 157. His only loss of the tournament was to eventual champion, Jacob Wright, of Wyoming 2-1. Getting a B1G win like that is huge for Gilcher who has a lot of talent. Also placing 3rd was DJ Washington who has looked solid since dropping back down to 174. He also finishes the day with a win over a Spartan, Cesar Garza, in the third-place match. Jacob Bullock, also ending the day with a B1G win over a Spartan, has now won 12 matches in a row after starting the year off with a loss to Colton McKiernan of SIUE. Bullock is another one of the B1G's huge and athletic heavyweights that will keep us entertained through March. His efforts even got him B1G Wrestler of the Week honors, which was last done by a Hoosier when DJ Washington won in February of 2021. Bullock has now won the only two tournaments he's competed in this season, Reno and earlier this year at the Cleveland State Open. Speaking of tournaments, Indiana competes next in Evanston, Illinois as they finish off 2022 at the Midlands on December 29th and 30th.

Paniro Johnson (left) and Shayne Van Ness (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) We're now almost two days removed from the 2022 Collegiate Duals and I've had a lot on my mind. It was an excellent couple of days chalked full of excellent wrestling action. Plenty of great matches, upsets, and quality duals. Normally, I'll have a more coherent, flowing article ready to pull together all of the key happenings into a few talking points. However, there's a lot to talk about. So without rambling any further: I wasn't sure what to anticipate from a fan-attendance standpoint. The event was held in a state that hasn't hosted a DI wrestling event since 1985 and doesn't traditionally have strong high school wrestling. And it's less than a week away from Christmas. All things considered, I thought the attendance was strong. While the event was held in a Convention Center, it wasn't your typical setting. No temporary metal bleachers and fans hovering over mats. It took place in a theater. The acoustics of the building made 50 fans screaming sound like 300, which was good. Generally, it looked like fans had good sightlines for both mats. My photographer friends weren't keen on the walls which were primarily black. I'm sure that isn't very high on the list of priorities when planning an event, but probably something to keep in mind going forward. University of New Orleans athletic director Tim Duncan (not that one) was in attendance for the second day. I don't want to read too much into that, but his interest in the event is at least a positive sign. I understand that were UNO to add wrestling, they'd also need to add a pair of women's teams (let's do women's wrestling also!) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Marcus Coleman takes down 2x NCAA champion Aaron Brooks (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Big 12 had a strong showing at the Collegiate Duals this week in New Orleans. The combined efforts of the conference's two Iowa schools anchored the Big 12 against some of the country's best wrestling programs. Iowa State grabbed wins over Oregon State and Cornell, along with a competitive showing vs. Penn State, which included Marcus Coleman's win over NCAA Champion Aaron Brooks. Northern Iowa defeated Lock Haven and Ohio State then fell to NC State in their final match. We'll get to see these two teams scrap in Cedar Falls on February 10th in Cedar Falls in what should be another great dual. Other notes from around the conference: Wyoming finished second at Reno with two tournament champions in Jacob Wright(157) and Hayden Hastings(174). They were just six points behind first place Michigan State in one of their best showings of the season so far. Utah Valley went 0-3 at the Purdue Duals and Missouri defeated North Dakota State to move to 2-0 in conference matchups. Sunday 12/18 Wyoming-2nd Place Reno TOC Utah Valley-22nd Place Reno TOC Nebraska DEF South Dakota State 22-17 ND State DEF Little Rock 33-6 Northern Colorado DEF Northeastern Junior College, Northwest Kansas Technical College, New Mexico Highlands Monday 12/19 Northern Iowa DEF Lock Haven 36-3 Northern Iowa DEF Ohio State 19-13 Iowa State DEF Oregon State 26-6 Iowa State DEF Cornell 18-13 West Virginia DEF Fairmont State University 48-3 Tuesday 12/20 Campbell DEF Utah Valley 17-16 Purdue DEF Utah Valley 20-18 Drexel DEF Utah Valley 19-13 Missouri DEF ND State 28-11 Penn State DEF Iowa State 22-12 North Carolina State DEF Northern Iowa 27-12

Penn State 141 lber Beau Bartlett (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Blue Pool Championship Results Penn State 22 Iowa State 12 125 - Corey Cabanban (Iowa State) dec Gary Steen (Penn State) 4-0 (Iowa State 3-0) 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) maj Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) 10-2 (Penn State 4-3) 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Zach Redding (Iowa State) 8-3 (Penn State 7-3) 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) 3-2 (Penn State 7-6) 157 - Levi Haines (Penn State) dec Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) 8-3 (Penn State 10-6) 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Alex Facundo (Penn State) 4-2 (Penn State 10-9) 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec Julien Broderson (Iowa State) 5-1 (Penn State 13-9) 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Aaron Brooks (Iowa State) 9-7 (Penn State 13-12) 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) dec Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 4-1 (Penn State 16-12) 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) FFT (Penn State 22-12)

NC State 157 lber Ed Scott (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Red Pool Championship Results NC State 27 Northern Iowa 12 125 - Jarrett Trombley (NC State) dec Kyle Gollhofer (Northern Iowa) 8-4 (NC State 3-0) 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) dec Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 8-5 (NC State 6-0) 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) 6-3 (NC State 9-0) 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Jackson Arrington (NC State) 5-4 (NC State 9-3) 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) fall Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) :18 (NC State 15-3) 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec Matty Singleton (NC State) 5-2 (NC State 15-6) 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) dec Carson Babcock (Northern Iowa) 3-1 (NC State 18-6) 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) fall Trent Hidlay (NC State) 3:54 (NC State 18-12) 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) fall Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 1:28 (NC State 24-12) 285 - Owen Trephan (NC State) dec Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) 3-1SV (NC State 27-12)

The Cornell bench at the Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Red Pool Third Place Results Ohio State 23 Lehigh 12 125 - Carter Bailey (Lehigh) dec Andre Gonzales (Ohio State) 6-0 (Lehigh 3-0) 133 - Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) FFT (Ohio State 6-3) 141 - Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) dec Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 3-1 (Ohio State 9-3) 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) maj Max Brignola (Lehigh) 10-2 (Ohio State 13-3) 157 - Gavin Brown (Ohio State) dec Mazona Bryant (Lehigh) 6-3 (Ohio State 16-3) 165 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) 5-3 (Ohio State 16-6) 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) maj Jake Logan (Lehigh) 13-4 (Ohio State 20-6) 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) dec Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) 10-4 (Ohio State 23-6) 197 - Michael Beard (Lehigh) dec Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) 5-3 (Ohio State 23-9) 285 - Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) dec Mike Misita (Ohio State) 6-2 (Ohio State 23-12) Blue Pool Third Place Results Cornell 31 North Carolina 9 125 - Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec Jack Wagner (North Carolina) 4-0 (Cornell 3-0) 133 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) fall Joey Melendez (North Carolina) 4:25 (Cornell 9-0) 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) dec Vince Cornella (Cornell) 4-0 (Cornell 9-3) 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) maj Danny Nini (North Carolina) 13-1 (Cornell 13-3) 157 - Jayden Scott (North Carolina) dec Gage McClenahan (Cornell) dec 3-1SV (Cornell 13-6) 165 - Julian Ramirez (Cornell) dec Nick Fea (North Carolina) 6-2 (Cornell 16-6) 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) fall Cade Tenold (North Carolina) 1:54 (Cornell 22-6) 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Evan Canoyer (Cornell) 2-0 (Cornell 22-9) 197 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec Max Shaw (North Carolina) 4-0 (Cornell 25-9) 285 - Brendan Fuhrman (Cornell) fall Aydin Guttridge (North Carolina) 3:53 (Cornell 31-9)

Oregon State 184 lber Trey Munoz (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Red Pool Fifth Place Results Cal Poly 25 Lock Haven 15 125 - Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 7-4 (Lock Haven 3-0) 133 - Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) dec Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) 7-1 (Lock Haven 6-0) 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) dec Tyler Dilley (Lock Haven) 10-3 (Lock Haven 6-3) 149 - Dom Demas (Cal Poly) dec Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) 9-4 (Tied 6-6) 157 - Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) fall Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 4:26 (12-6 Lock Haven) 165 - Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) 5-2 (12-9 Lock Haven) 174 - Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) dec Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 9-2 (15-9 Lock Haven) 184 - Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) dec Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 4-1 (15-12 Lock Haven) 197 - Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) tech Brad Morrison (Lock Haven) 15-0 (17-15 Cal Poly) 285 - Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) fall Ethan Miller (Lock Haven) 2:40 (23-15 Cal Poly) Blue Pool Fifth Place Results Oregon State 39 Central Michigan 10 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) fall Anthony Walker (Central Michigan) 5:46 (Oregon State 6-0) 133 - Jason Shaner (Oregon State) dec Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 8-3 (Oregon State 9-0) 141 - Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) fall Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) :41 (Oregon State 15-0) 149 - Riley Gurr (Oregon State) dec Mason Shrader (Central Michigan) 9-4 (Oregon State 18-0) 157 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) maj Graham Gambrall (Oregon State) 10-1 (Oregon State 18-4) 165 - Matt Olguin (Oregon State) fall Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 1:14 (Oregon State 24-4) 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) 7-1 (Oregon State 27-4) 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) fall Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 1:50 (Oregon State 33-4) 197 - Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) fall Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 3:52 (Oregon State 39-4) 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) fall Ryan Reyes (Oregon State) 3:36 (Oregon State 39-10)

2x CKLV champion Mikey Labriola (Keckeisen/Hidlay photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com/Dean/Bastida photos courtesy of Fantasy College Wrestling) Day one from the New Orleans Convention Center was excellent! We saw one of the best duals of the year, one that featured a lineup bump and a returning three-time national champion get tested by a freshman. At the same time, Northern Iowa pulled an upset over #3 Ohio State and looks like a tough out from top to bottom. Oh yeah, did we mention top-ranked Penn State showing exactly why there are so good. The Nittany Lions won 18 of 20 matches and earned bonus points in 14 of those contests. And finally, NC State breezed through their half of the pool without a whole lot of resistance. Below are previews for the blue and red pool finals which take place at 6pm (red) and 8pm (blue) tonight (all times Eastern). Before that, here are the matchups and times for the remaining matches. 2pm - 5th place matches: Cal Poly vs Lock Haven, Oregon State vs Central Michigan 4pm - 3rd place matches: Cornell vs North Carolina, Ohio State vs. Lehigh Blue Pool Final: #7 Iowa State vs #1 Penn State 125 - Corey Cabanban/Ethan Perryman (Iowa State) vs. Gary Steen (Penn State) The Cyclones were without starter Kysen Terukina at 125 lbs today but still got a pair of good performances at 285 lbs as true freshman Ethan Perryman put up a good fight before falling to 2022 All-American #10 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State). Corey Cabanban was called upon in the second bout and knocked off #21 Brett Ungar (Cornell). This was a match after Ungar downed Kaylor. That's a long way of saying that the Cyclones are capable of earning a “W” even without Terukina. Gary Steen is looking to pick up his first win of the Duals after losing on a close call in the opener to Central Michigan. With his two losses on the day, Steen's record has dropped below .500. 133 - #21 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) vs. #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

The 2022 Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco) Round One Results Iowa State 26 Oregon State 6 125 - Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) dec Ethan Perryman (Iowa State) 5-2 (3-0 Oregon State) 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) dec Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 6-3 (3-3 tie) 141 - Zach Redding (Iowa State) dec Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 6-5 (6-3 Iowa State) 149 - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State maj Riley Gurr (Oregon State) 14-5 (10-3 Iowa State) 157 - Jason Kraisser (Iowa State) dec Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) 10-8SV (13-3 Iowa State) 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Matt Olguin (Oregon State) 6-1 (16-3 Iowa State) 174 - Julian Broderson (Iowa State) dec Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) 5-2 (19-3 Iowa State) 184 - Trent Munoz (Oregon State) dec Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) 8-4 (19-6 Iowa State) 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) 3-2 (22-6 Iowa State) 285 - Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) maj Ryan Reyes (Oregon State) 16-4 (26-6 Iowa State) Northern Iowa 36 Lock Haven 3 125 - Noto (Lock Haven) dec Kyle Gollhofer (Northern Iowa) 11-4 (3-0 Lock Haven) 133 - Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) dec Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) 12-6 (3-3 tie) 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) tech Tyler Dilley (Lock Haven) 24-9 (8-3 Northern Iowa) 149 - Collin Realbuto maj Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) 14-6 (12-3 Northern Iowa) 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 6-4 (15-3 Northern Iowa) 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) 6-2 (18-3 Northern Iowa) 174 - Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) fall Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) :47 (24-3 Northern Iowa) 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 16-4 (28-3 Northern Iowa) 197 - Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) dec Brad Morrison (Lock Haven) 5-0 (31-3 Northern Iowa) 285 - Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) tech Ethan Miller (Lock Haven) 18-3 (36-3 Northern Iowa) Round Two Ohio State 39 Lock Haven 3 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) dec AnthonyNoto (Lock Haven) 7-4 (3-0 Ohio State) 133 - Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) dec Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) 6-0 (6-0 Ohio State) 141 - Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) maj Tyler Dilley (Lock Haven) 11-3 (10-0 Ohio State) 149 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) fall Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) Fall 6:34 (16-0 Ohio State) 157 - Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) dec Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 8-7 (19-0 Ohio State) 165 - Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) dec Klay Reeves (Ohio State) 8-2 (19-3 Ohio State) 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) maj Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) 16-6 (23-3 Ohio State) 184 - Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) maj Colin Fegely (Lock Haven) 16-6 (27-3 Ohio State) 197 - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) fall Brad Morrison (Lock Haven) 1:10 (33-3 Ohio State) 285 - Mike Misita (Ohio State) fall Ethan Miller (Lock Haven) 1:38 (39-3 Ohio State) Cornell 32 Oregon State 7 125 - Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 3-1SV (3-0 Cornell) 133 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) tech Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 19-4 (8-0 Cornell) 141 - Vince Cornella (Cornell) dec Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 4-2 (11-0 Cornell) 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) fall Riley Gurr (Oregon State) Fall 5:54 (17-0 Cornell) 157 - Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) dec Colton Yapoujian (Cornell) 8-2 (17-3 Cornell) 165 - Julian Ramirez (Cornell) dec Matt Olguin (Oregon State) 6-2 (20-3 Cornell) 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) fall Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) :58 (26-3 Cornell) 184 - Trent Munoz (Oregon State) maj Evan Canoyer (Cornell) 12-3 (26-7 Cornell) 197 - Jacob Cardenas dec Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) 9-5 (29-7 Cornell) 285 - Brendan Fuhrman (Cornell) dec Ryan Reyes (Oregon State) 4-0 (32-7 Cornell) Round Three Northern Iowa 19 Ohio State 13 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) dec Kyle Golhoffer (Northern Iowa) 12-5 (3-0 Ohio State) 133 - Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) dec Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 9-6 (6-0 Ohio State) 141 - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 7-5SV (6-3 Ohio State) 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 9-7 (6-6 Tie) 157 - Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) 6-2 (9-6 Northern Iowa) 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) maj Gavin Brown (Ohio State) 11-1 (13-6 Northern Iowa) 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) dec Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 6-4 (13-9 Northern Iowa) 184 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) dec Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 3-1 (16-9 Northern Iowa) 197 - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) maj Noah Glaser (Northern Iowa) 18-7 (16-13 Northern Iowa) 285 - Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 3-2 (19-13 Northern Iowa) Iowa State 18 Cornell 13 125 - Corey Cabanban (Iowa State) dec Brett Ungar (Cornell) 3-1 (3-0 Iowa State) 133 - Vito Arujau (Cornell) dec Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) 3-1 (3-3 Tie) 141 - Vince Cornella (Cornell) dec Zach Redding (Iowa State) 6-1 (6-3 Cornell) 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) 3-1SV (9-3 Cornell) 157 - Jason Krassier (Iowa State) dec Colton Yapoujian (Cornell) 6-4SV (9-6 Cornell) 165 - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 10-5 (9-9 Tie) 174 - Chris Foca (Cornell) maj Julien Broderson (Iowa State) 17-4 (13-9 Cornell) 184 - Joel Devine (Iowa State) dec Evan Canoyer (Cornell) 5-1 (13-12 Cornell) 197 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) dec Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 4-1 (15-13 Iowa State) 285 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) 4-2 (18-13 Iowa State) Round Four Results Lehigh 26 Cal Poly 6 125 - Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) dec Carter Bailey (Lehigh) 3-2 (3-0 Cal Poly) 133 - Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) 3-0 (3-3 Tie) 141 - Malyke Hines (Lehigh) maj Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) 9-1 (7-3 Lehigh) 149 - Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) dec Dom Demas (Cal Poly) 4-3 (10-3 Lehigh) 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 13-1 (14-3 Lehigh) 165 - Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 3-1 (17-3 Lehigh) 174 - Jake Logan (Lehigh) dec Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) 6-3 (20-3 Lehigh) 184 - Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) dec Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 3-1 (23-3 Lehigh) 197 - Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) dec Michael Beard (Lehigh) 3-2 (23-6 Lehigh) 285 - Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) dec Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 11-6 (26-6 Lehigh) North Carolina 28 Central Michigan 7 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Anthony Walker (Central Michigan) 10-5 (3-0 UNC) 133 - Joey Melendez (North Carolina) dec Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 2-1 (6-0 UNC) 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) tech Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 21-6 (11-0 UNC) 149 - Danny Nini (North Carolina) dec Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 5-1 (14-0 UNC) 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 12-4 (18-0 UNC) 165 - Nick Fea (North Carolina) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 8-5 (21-0 UNC) 174 - Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) maj Cade Tenold (North Carolina) 10-0 (21-4 UNC) 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 10-3 (24-4 UNC) 197 - Max Shaw (North Carolina) maj Cade Dallwitz (Central Michigan) 14-6 (28-4 UNC) 285 - Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 4-1 (28-7 UNC) Round Five Results NC State 33 Cal Poly 3 125 - Jarrett Trombley (NC State) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) 4-0 (3-0 NC State) 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) dec Ethan Rotondo (Cal Poly) 5-2 (6-0 NC State) 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) maj Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) 14-4 (10-0 NC State) 149 - Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec Dom Demas (Cal Poly) 9-4 (13-0 NC State) 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) maj Luka Wick (Cal Poly) 15-3 (17-0 NC State) 165 - Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Donald Cates (NC State) 12-10SV (17-3 NC State) 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) dec Jared Priest (Cal Poly) 7-3 (20-3 NC State) 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) dec Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 11-4 (23-3 NC State) 197 - Isaac Trumble (NC State) fall Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) 4:30 (29-3 NC State) 285 - Owen Trephan (NC State) maj Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 14-1 (33-3 NC State) Penn State 50 Central Michigan 3 125 - Anthony Walker (Central Michigan) dec Gary Steen (Penn State) 5-4 (3-0 Central Michigan) 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) fall Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 2:07 (6-3 Penn State) 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) fall Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 2:09 (12-3 Penn State) 149 - Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) fall Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 4:47 (18-3 Penn State) 157 - Levi Haines (Penn State) fall Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 1:38 (24-3 Penn State) 165 - Alex Facundo (Penn State) maj Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 16-7 (28-3 Penn State) 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) fall Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) 2:21 (34-3 Penn State) 184 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) fall Ben Cushman (Central Michigan) 1:18 (40-3 Penn State) 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) fall Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 4:21 (46-3 Penn State) 285 - Seth Nevills (Penn State) maj Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 17-6 (50-3 Penn State) Round Six NC State 24 Lehigh 10 125 - Jarrett Trombley (NC State) dec Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 4-0 (3-0 NC State) 133 - Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec Kai Orine (NC State) 4-1 (3-3 Tie) 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 8-3 (6-3 NC State) 149 - Jackson Arrington (NC State) dec Max Brignola (Lehigh) 2-0 (9-3 NC State) 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec Ed Scott (NC State) 12-7 (9-6 NC State) 165 - Matthew Singleton (NC State) maj Connor Herceg (Lehigh) 10-1 (13-6 NC State) 174 - Alex Faison (NC State) dec Jake Logan (Lehigh) 5-4 (16-6 NC State) 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) maj Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) 11-2 (20-6 NC State) 197 - Michael Beard (Lehigh) maj Isaac Trumble (NC State) 11-3 (20-10 NC State) 285 - Tyrie Houghton (NC State) maj Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 10-0 (24-10 NC State) Penn State 37 North Carolina 3 125 - Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec Gary Steen (Penn State) 5-1 (3-0 UNC) 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) tech Jace Palmer (North Carolina) 26-11 (5-3 Penn State) 141 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 4-1 (8-3 Penn State) 149 - Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) dec Jayden Scott (North Carolina) 2-0 (11-3 Penn State) 157 - Levi Haines (Penn State) dec Danny Nini (North Carolina) 4-1 (14-3 Penn State) 165 - Alex Facundo (Penn State) dec Nick Fea (North Carolina) 5-2 (17-3 Penn State) 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) tech Cade Tenold (North Carolina) 18-3 (22-3 Penn State) 184 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) fall Gavin Kane (North Carolina) :54 (28-3 Penn State) 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) maj Max Shaw (North Carolina) 10-2 (32-3 Penn State) 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) tech Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 17-1 (37-3 Penn State)

Nebraska All-American Peyton Robb (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Sunday's Dual Results George Mason 23 American 15 125 - Markel Baker (George Mason) dec Raymond Lopez (American) 4-2 133 - Jack Maida (American) dec Josh Jones (George Mason) 4-0 141 - Anthony Glasl (George Mason) tech Ethan Szerencsits (American) 17-1 149 - Nathan Higley (George Mason) dec Patrick Ryan (American) 11-4 157 - Peter Pappas (George Mason) dec Jack Nies (American) 5-2 165 - Caleb Campos (American) dec Drew Dickson (George Mason) 5-4 174 - Logan Messer (George Mason) dec Lucas White (American) 4-0 184 - Malachi Duvall (George Mason) fall Colin Shannon (American) 3:31 197 - Connor Bourne (American) dec Jon List (George Mason) 3-2 285 - Isaac Righter (American) fall Donovan Sprouse (American) Nebraska 22 South Dakota State 17 125 - Liam Cronin (Nebraska) fall Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) :30 133 - Boo Dryden (Nebraska) dec Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) 4-1 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) 7-5SV 149 - Alek Martin (South Dakota State) maj Dayne Morton (Nebraska) 9-0 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) 7-2 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) :29 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 4-0 184 - Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) maj Cade King (South Dakota State) 12-2 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) maj Silas Allred (Nebraska) 12-0 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) dec Cale Davidson (Nebraska) 9-3SV Northern Colorado 44 Northeastern JC 6 125 - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) FFT 133 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) maj Braydon Mogle (Northeastern) 13-4 141 - Deegan Palmer (Northeastern) fall Otto Cate-Cribari (Northern Colorado) 6:57 149 - Benji Alanis (Northern Colorado) maj Channing Warner (Northeastern) 17-6 157 - Roman Cruz (Northern Colorado) fall TJ Moffitt (Northeastern) 2:28 165 - Hudson Cropp (Northern Colorado) maj Vince Beeson (Northeastern) 10-0 174 - Ayden Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado) fall Gavin Kopp (Northeastern) 3:30 184 - Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) maj Connor Davis (Northeastern) 11-3 197 - Remington Peterson (Northern Colorado) maj Angel Fuentes (Northeastern) 16-2 285 - Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) fall Riley Butt (Northeastern) :58 Northern Colorado 47 Northwest Kansas Technical College 6 125 - Jett Strickenberger (NW Kansas Technical) dec Kenny Sailas (Northern Colorado) 9-2 133 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) FFT 141 - Armando Garcia (Northern Colorado) fall Casey Strand (NW Kansas Technical) 5:46 149 - Chris Sandoval (Northern Colorado) fall Lucas Hill (NW Kansas Technical) 2:51 157 - Nathan Moore (Northern Colorado) fall Bryce Boumans (NW Kansas Technical) 1:43 165 - Baylor Fernandes (Northern Colorado) fall Temuujin Mendbiley (NW Kansas Technical) 5:15 174 - Ayden Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado) tech John Carr (NW Kansas Technical) 23-7 184 - Jameel Coles (NW Kansas Technical) dec Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) 10-8 197 - Franklin Cruz (Northern Colorado) fall Jayshon Hines (NW Kansas Technical) 3:24 285 - Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) fall Jared Volcic (NW Kansas Technical) :39 Northern Colorado 50 New Mexico Highlands 0 125 - Moses Santiago (Northern Colorado) dec Rhys Sellers (NM Highlands) 8-6 133 - Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) maj Julius Kohn (NM Highlands) 14-1 141 - Armando Garcia (Northern Colorado) fall Joseph Misitano (NW Highlands) 3:54 149 - Eyan Chavez (Northern Colorado) fall Deklyn Miller (NW Highlands) 2:48 157 - Cam Lucero (Northern Colorado) tech Evan Kilgore (NW Highlands) 30-15 165 - Baylor Fernandes (Northern Colorado) fall Colin Brown (NW Highlands) :44 174 - Ayden Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado) tech Thomas Tolbert (NW Highlands) 23-5 184 - Branson Britten (Northern Colorado) tech Lance Kilgore (NW Highlands) 19-0 197 - Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) maj Jayden Johnson (NW Highlands) 10-0 285 - Xavier Doolin (Northern Colorado) fall Kioni Benally (NW Highlands) :35 Northern Illinois 18 Kent State 15 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) dec Blake West (Northern Illinois) 9-5 133 - Brendon Fenton (Kent State) dec Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) 3-1 141 - Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) dec Louis Newell (Kent State) 3-1 149 - Kody Komara (Kent State) dec Dillon Nichols (Northern Illinois) 13-6 157 - Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) maj Aaron Ferguson (Kent State) 9-0 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Enrique Munguia (Kent State) 9-1 174 - Hayden Pummel (Northern Illinois) maj Michael Ferree (Kent State) 16-5 184 - Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) dec Tyler Bates (Kent State) 2-0 197 - Blake Schaffer (Kent State) dec Jacob Christiansen (Northern Illinois) 3-1 285 - Jacob Cover (Kent State) dec Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) 4-2SV Bucknell 36 Edinboro 7 125 - Aiden Lewis (Edinboro) maj Grayson McLellan (Bucknell) 10-0 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) fall Cam Soda (Edinboro) 1:34 141 - Darren Miller (Bucknell) fall Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) 2:11 149 - Kolby DePron (Bucknell) fall Jake Pail (Edinboro) 1:36 157 - Nick Delp (Bucknell) dec Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) 6-2 165 - Chase Barlow (Bucknell) dec Max Kirby (Edinboro) 4-0 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec Sam Barnes (Bucknell) 6-2 184 - Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) fall Joey Arnold (Edinboro) 2:00 197 - Nolan Springer (Bucknell) dec Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) 3-1SV 285 - Logan Shepherd (Bucknell) dec Max Millin (Edinboro) 3-1 Buffalo 21 Bucknell 9 125 - Mason Bush (Buffalo) dec Grayson McLellan (Bucknell) 4-1 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) dec Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) 3-2 141 - Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) dec Matt Ryan (Buffalo) 9-5 149 - Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) dec Kolby DePron (Bucknell) 4-2SV 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Nick Delp (Bucknell) 4-3 165 - Noah Grover (Buffalo) dec Chase Barlow (Bucknell) 6-5 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Sam Barnes (Bucknell) 6-3 184 - Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) dec Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) 11-7 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Nolan Springer (Bucknell) 6-2 285 - Greg Hodulick (Buffalo) dec Luke Niemeyer (Bucknell) 3-1 Buffalo 26 Edinboro 6 125 - Mason Bush (Buffalo) dec Aiden Lewis (Edinboro) 6-5 133 - Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) dec Cam Soda (Edinboro) 6-3 141 - Matt Ryan (Buffalo) dec Amonn Ohl (Edinboro) 7-3 149 - Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo) maj Jake Pail (Edinboro) 10-2 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Luke Kemerer (Edinboro) 7-3 165 - Max Kirby (Edinboro) dec Ty Raines (Buffalo) 3-1SV 174 - Jared McGill (Edinboro) dec Jay Nivison (Buffalo) 4-2 184 - Guiseppe Hoose (Buffalo) maj Joey Arnold (Edinboro) 18-7 197 - Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) dec Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) 2-0 285 - Eli Sheeran (Buffalo) dec Nick Lodato (Edinboro) 6-3 North Dakota State 33 Little Rock 6 125 - Jeremiah Reno (Little Rock) dec Carlos Negrete (North Dakota State) 8-3 133 - McGwire Midkiff (North Dakota State) dec Josh Sarpy (Little Rock) 9-5 141 - Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) dec Jayden Gomez (Little Rock) 6-1 149 - Kellyn March (North Dakota State) dec Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) 6-1 157 - Jared Franek (North Dakota State) maj Matt Bianchi (Little Rock) 9-0 165 - Mikey Caliendo (North Dakota State) fall Bilal Bailey (Little Rock) 6:57 174 - Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) maj Triston Wills (Little Rock) 11-1 184 - DJ Parker (North Dakota State) maj Mason Diel (Little Rock) 13-0 197 - Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) fall Tylynn Lukens (Little Rock) 4:07 285 - Josiah Hill (Little Rock) dec Juan Mora (North Dakota State) 3-2 Virginia Tech 52 Lindenwood 0 125 - Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) fall Austin Kegley (Lindenwood) 2:06 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) maj Ben Lindley (Lindenwood) 18-5 141 - Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) maj Kalen Napier (Lindenwood) 14-1 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) tech Ben Bohr (Lindenwood) 19-3 157 - Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) FFT 165 - Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) fall Kaden Charboneau (Lindenwood) 2:37 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) fall Luke Dickhaus (Lindenwood) 1:48 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) tech Austin Raynor (Lindenwood) 16-1 197 - Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) maj Ryan Golnick (Lindenwood) 14-3 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) fall David Hernandez (Lindenwood) 2:00 Virginia Tech 22 Stanford 12 125 - Nico Provo (Stanford) dec Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) 3-1TB 133 - Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) maj Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 11-3 141 - Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) dec Jason Miranda (Stanford) 3-1 149 - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) maj Jaden Abas (Stanford) 11-1 157 - Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) 11-5 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 4-2TB 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec Tyler Eischens (Stanford) 2-1 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) maj Brook Byers (Stanford) 11-1 197 - Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 11-5 285 - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) maj Seamus O'Malley (Stanford) 18-4 Stanford 43 Lindenwood 6 125 - Nico Provo (Stanford) tech Austin Kegley (Lindenwood) 18-2 133 - Jackson DiSario (Stanford) maj Tanner Hitchcock (Lindenwood) 11-1 141 - Jason Miranda (Stanford) maj Kalen Napier (Lindenwood) 12-3 149 - Jaden Abas (Stanford) maj Ben Bohr (Lindenwood) 16-4 157 - Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) FFT 165 - Shane Griffith (Stanford) tech Kaden Charboneau (Lindenwood) 16-1 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) fall Luke Dickhaus (Lindenwood) 2:04 184 - Brook Byers (Stanford) fall Austin Raynor (Lindenwood) :44 197 - Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec Ryan Golnick (Lindenwood) 12-5 285 - David Hernandez (Lindenwood) FFT

165 lbers Julian Ramirez (left) and David Carr (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The second Collegiate Duals event starts tomorrow in New Orleans. The teams will compete in three-time pods to determine who advances to the pool finals on the following day. The field features several top teams, and the first-day pods have the potential to host some strong individual matches. The following looks at the potential matches fans can expect to see on the first day of the event. 125: No. 20 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) vs. No. 11 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) Last season, Noto entered the NCAA tournament with a 30-1 record and knocked off Drew Hildebrandt of Penn State before being eliminated from the field. The Lock Haven wrestler is not sneaking up on anyone this year, but he has already started building up a gaudy record. Noto dropped a one-point decision at the Navy Classic against Tucker Owens (Air Force), but he is otherwise undefeated. Heinselman is a four-time NCAA qualifier who is making a final run for the podium this year. He has gotten off to a 14-2 record with his only losses coming against No. 21 Brett Ungar (Cornell) and No. 10 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State). Despite those losses, the Ohio State wrestler has picked up wins over No. 12 Joey Prata (Oklahoma) and No. 16 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech). 141: No. 11 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) vs. No. 21 Vince Cornella (Cornell) Swiderski made a late charge up the recruiting rankings with some postseason victories over Mendez last year, and he has continued that momentum on the college scene. He won the first four matches of his Iowa State career including a win over No. 22 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin). In the annual Cy-Hawk dual, Swiderski got a shot at No. 2 Real Woods (Iowa) and hung tough. However, he ultimately dropped a 3-2 decision. Cornella competed last year for the Spartan Combat RTC and joined the Cornell lineup for this season. He began his college campaign with a tournament title at the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open where he picked up an impressive win over No. 17 Joshua Koderhandt (Navy). Cornella then suffered a pair of losses against No. 13 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) and No. 16 Parker Filius (Purdue) at the Cliff Keen Invitational, but he is certainly in the mix at this weight. 149: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) An upset loss against No. 2 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) in Diakomihalis' only college match of the season has thrown the 149-pound division into chaos. Johnson also holds a victory over Gomez and is undefeated on the season. The Cyclone fans think their wrestler has a strong case for the number-one ranking, and their representative will get the chance to prove it here. In addition to the victory over Gomez, Johnson has also knocked off No. 6 Max Murin (Iowa) in sudden victory. As previously stated, Diakomihalis has wrestled only one folkstyle match this season and lost. Despite that defeat, he has held onto his number-one ranking for now due to past accomplishments. Three NCAA titles will do that. The Cornell wrestler recently represented the U.S. at the freestyle wrestling World Cup. Diakomihalis went 1-2 with his victory coming over 2019 World Champion Beka Lomtadze of Georgia and the U.S. won the event. 157: No. 7 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) vs. No. 9 Ed Scott (NC State) Humphreys has qualified for three NCAA tournaments and made two trips to the bloodround. However, he is still looking for his first podium finish. The Lehigh wrestler's senior season has gotten off to a strong start. He has won all six of his matches with three coming with bonus points. Along the way, he has bested No. 28 Terrell Barraclough (Penn State), No. 23 Dazjon Casto (Pittsburgh) and No. 8 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State). This event really was Scott's coming out party last year as he bested No. 13 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) and pinned Iowa's Kaleb Young in the inaugural Collegiate Duals. He ended up finishing just short of All-American status at the NCAA tournament as a freshman. So far this year, the member of the Wolfpack holds an 8-3 record with two of the losses coming against No. 2 Peyton Robb (Nebraska). He does hold a win over No. 10 Will Lewan (Michigan), but it came via injury. 165: No. 3 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. No. 7 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) After three seasons at 157 pounds and a national title, Carr has moved up to 165 pounds for this season. Following a 7-5 decision over No. 4 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) to start the year, Carr has been basically untouchable. He broke off four-straight bonus-point victories in a row before scoring a 9-4 decision over No. 13 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) in his last match. Last season, Ramirez showed he was a dangerous out for anyone as he upset returning national champion No. 2 Shane Griffith (Stanford) early in the year. The Cornell wrestler would go on to qualify for the NCAA tournament and see his season come to an end in the bloodround. He suffered some early season losses against Hamiti and No. 5 Peyton Hall (West Virginia), but he has bounced back with a victory at the Cliff Keen Invitational where he also bested No. 18 Tanner Cook (South Dakota State). 174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. No. 8 Clay Lautt (North Carolina) Starocci went undefeated last season and picked up his second NCAA title at 174 pounds. He has been equally dominant this season as he has won all four of his matches with bonus points. On top of that, Starocci also scored an exhibition victory over one of the top contenders No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Lautt broke through last season and finished eighth at the NCAA tournament to become an All-American. He has continued his winning ways this season, but is looking to rebound after an upset loss to Appalachian State's Will Miller. Starocci is expected to be a heavy favorite in every match he wrestles at the Collegiate Duals, but this should be a solid test in the pool stage of the event. 184: No. 4 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) vs. No. 13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) In his fourth time qualifying for the NCAA tournament, Coleman finally made it on the podium with a seventh-place finish. He is back yet again this year and has gotten off to perhaps his best start. Coleman has started his season with six-straight victories with four coming with bonus points. In his last match, he scored a 3-2 decision of No. 8 Abe Assad (Iowa) in the Cy-Hawk dual. After starting his career at Arizona State, Munoz found a new home at Oregon State last year. He qualified for his second NCAA tournament and made the bloodround before suffering his second defeat and being eliminated. He brought an undefeated record into the Cliff Keen Invitational before dropping a pair of matches against No. 12 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) and No. 9 Matt Finesilver (Michigan). Despite those losses, Munoz has still picked up impressive wins over No. 22 Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) and No. 14 Brian Soldano (Rutgers). 197: No. 4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) vs. No. 7 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) Beard started his career at Penn State and finished seventh at the NCAA tournament in 2021 to become an All-American. However, after sitting behind No. 5 Max Dean last year, he transferred to Lehigh instead of potentially spending another season on the bench. He has gone 5-1 to start this season with his only loss coming against No. 3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh). Beard recently faced off against Dean in a dual and scored an 11-9 victory over the Nittany Lion. After competing at 149 pounds as a redshirt in 2019, Truax has steadily worked his way up the weight classes. He qualified for the NCAA tournament at 165 pounds in 2020, finished fourth at 174 pounds in 2021 and bumped to 184 pounds for another fourth-place finish last year. For this season, Truax has moved up once again to 197 pounds, and he has won all six of his matches including victories over No. 28 Michial Foy (Minnesota) and No. 11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland). 285: No. 10 Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) vs. No. 15 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) Schuyler transferred to Iowa State prior to last season and qualified for his second NCAA tournament. He started this season with five-straight victories before running into No. 3 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa). Two of his early season victories have come over No. 11 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) and No. 12 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell). Fernandes made the blood round last year in his first season as a starter for Cornell. He holds a 4-2 record to start this season and has medically forfeited out of both tournaments he has entered so far. Fernandes has shown that he has the pedigree to contend for All-American status at heavyweight, and a victory here would certainly put him back on that path.

Purdue 125 lber Matt Ramos (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The turn around for Week 8 will be sudden… like, in a couple days. It starts off with one of the best competitions of the season in Collegiate Duals down in New Orleans, starting Monday at 11 am EST, with a few other duals happening away from New Orleans as well. Tuesday also has a couple notable duals set, along with the Purdue Duals (Quad Meet) to provide some good Fantasy opportunities. Then the rest of the weekly competition/opportunities start to trail off with the scoring week ending Friday 12/23. Thursday has the Wilkes Open, with three D1 teams scheduled to attend, but fantasy point opportunities will be limited so most likely it would be best to stay away. As for the Collegiate Duals,I see the pools finishing like this: Red Pool #1: 1st- Ohio State, 2nd- UNI, 3rd- Lock Haven Red Pool #2: 1st- NC State, 2nd- Lehigh, 3rd- Cal Poly Meaning Day 2 Red Pool Matchups = Ohio State vs NC State UNI vs Lehigh Lock Haven vs Cal Poly Blue Pool #1: 1st- Iowa State, 2nd- Cornell, 3rd- Oregon State Blue Pool #2: 1st- Penn State, 2nd- North Carolina, 3rd- Central Michigan Meaning Day 2 Blue Pool Matchups = Iowa State vs Penn State Cornell vs North Carolina Oregon State vs Central Michigan 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 8 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 Matt Ramos (PUR)- Purdue Duals [+11] Brandon Kaylor (ORST)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Caleb Smith (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+8] Markel Baker (GMU)- Vs Duke, @ Presbyterian [+7] Raymond Lopez (AMER)- @ Sacred Heart, @ Hofstra [+6] Blake Orr (CIT)- @ Long Island [+4] Brett Ungar (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+4] Drew West (GWU)- @ Ohio [+4] Joseph Fischer (CLAR)- @ Cleveland State [+3] Jake Ferri (KENT)- Vs Edinboro [+3] Noah Surtin (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 133 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+12] Vito Arujau (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Sean Carter (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+8] Josh Jones (GMU)- Vs Duke, @ Presbyterian [+6] Jacob Manley (CSU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Connor Brown (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 141 Parker Filius (PUR)- Purdue Duals [+10] Cael Happel (UNI)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Casey Swiderski (ISU)- Collegiate Duals [+9] Ryan Jack (NCST)- Collegiate Duals [+9] Heath Goyner (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+6] Beau Bartlett (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+4] 149 Sammy Sasso (OHST)- Collegiate Duals [+12] John Millner (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+10] Dom Demas (CP)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Yianni Diakomihalis (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Luke Nichter (DREX)- Purdue Duals [+9] Shayne Van Ness (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+5] Alec Hagan (OHIO)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Brock Mauller (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 157 Kendall Coleman (PUR)- Purdue Duals [+11] Ed Scott (NCST)- Collegiate Duals [+9] Tommy Askey (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+8] Peter Pappas (GMU)- Vs Duke, @ Presbyterian [+8] Troy Nation (CAMP)- Purdue Duals [+4] Peyten Keller (OHIO)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Marcus Robinson (CSU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Sewlyn Porter (CIT)- @ Long Island [+3] Luke Kemerer (KENT)- Vs Edinboro [+3] Josh Humphreys (LEH)- Collegiate Duals [+3] 165 Evan Barczak (DREX)- Purdue Duals [+10] David Carr (ISU)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Caleb Campos (AMER)- @ Sacred Heart, @ Hofstra [+7] Will Formato (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+7] Enrique Munguia (KENT)- Vs Edinboro [+4] Keegan O'Toole (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+4] Alex Facundo (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+4] Cameron Pine (CLAR)- @ Cleveland State [+3] Julian Ramirez (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+3] 174 Carter Starocci (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+12] Chris Foca (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Ethan Smith (OHST)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Demetrius Romero (UVU)- Purdue Duals [+10] Logan Messer (GMU)- Vs Duke, @ Presbyterian [+8] Will Miller (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+7] John Worthing (CLAR)- @ Cleveland State [+4] Sal Perrine (OHIO)- Vs Gardner-Webb [+4] Jared McGill (EDIN)- @ Kent State [+3] Peyton Mocco (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 184 Aaron Brooks (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+11] Caleb Hopkins (CAMP)- Purdue Duals [+10] Parker Keckeisen (UNI)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Trent Hidlay (NCST)- Collegiate Duals [+9] Lucas Uliano (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+8] Malachi Duvall (GMU)- Vs Duke, @ Presbyterian [+7] Will Feldkamp (CLAR)- @ Cleveland State [+3] Jacob Ferreira (HOF)- Vs American [+3] Sean Harman (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 197 Levi Hopkins (CAMP)- Purdue Duals [+10] Carson Floyd (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+7] Max Dean (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+5] Tanner Harvey (ORST)- Collegiate Duals [+4] Trey Rogers (HOF)- Vs American [+3] Rocky Elam (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3] 285 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU)- Collegiate Duals [+13] Taye Ghadiali (CAMP)- Purdue Duals [+11] Lewis Fernandes (COR)- Collegiate Duals [+10] Owen Trephan (NCST)- Collegiate Duals [+9] Mason Fiscella (APP)- Vs Bellarmine, Vs Queens [+8] Jonah Nisenbaum (DUKE)- @ Presbyterian, Vs George Mason [+6] Zachary Knighton-Ward (HOF)- Vs American [+4] Daniel Bucknavich (CSU)- Vs Clarion [+3] Zach Elam (MIZZ)- Vs North Dakota State [+3]

Penn State's 2x national champion Roman Bravo-Young (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, yes, it's the holiday season, but in the wrestling world, it's holiday tournament season. In what has now become a tradition and a precursor to the individually bracketed tournaments between Christmas and New Year's, it's time for the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. The inaugural Collegiate Duals took place in Destin, Florida in 2021 and this year's iteration will move to Mardi Gras country, New Orleans. This event will be the first DI collegiate competition in Louisiana since 1985! That's even before all of the sixth and seventh-year seniors were even born. Like last year, 12 teams are participating and separated into a red pool and a blue pool. Two sets of three teams in each pool will wrestle each other on Monday. After Monday's action, the teams in the same pool, with matching records, will compete Tuesday in the placement matches. Then a champion from each pool will be crowned. Teams have been sorted into their pools so as to not wrestle another team in their conference or on their 2022-23 dual schedule. This ends up featuring some matchups that we typically would not see during the regular season. Below is a preview of the action in the Blue Pool. A preview of the Red Pool was posted yesterday. 10AM - #7 Iowa State vs. #25 Oregon State 125 - Corey Cabanban/Ethan Perryman (Iowa State) vs. #10 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 133 - #21 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) vs. #16 Jason Shaner (Oregon State) 141 - #11 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) vs. #23 Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 149 - #5 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) vs. Noah Tolentino (Oregon State) 157 - Jason Kraisser/Isaac Judge (Iowa State) vs. Graham Gambrall/Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State) 165 - #3 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. #23 Matt Olguin (Oregon State) 174 - #21 Julien Broderson/Joel Devine/MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) vs. #28 Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) 184 - #4 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) vs. #13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 197 - #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. #10 Tanner Harvey (Oregon State) 285 - #10 Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) vs. JJ Dixon (Oregon State) Life in the blue pool gets kicked off with this top-25 clash between Iowa State and Oregon State. We saw a rather notable bout between these two schools at the 2022 NCAA Championships when Oregon State's Hunter Willits upset returning national champion David Carr and handed him his first loss since the 2019-20 season. There's no chance for a rematch since Willits is gone and Carr has moved up to 165 lbs. At that weight, he'll face Matt Olguin, who is coming off a third-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Last weekend, Olguin and the Beavers traveled east to dual Penn State. There he suffered a one-point loss to unbeaten freshman Alex Facundo. Carr is also undefeated and has reached the bonus-point threshold in four of six bouts. 184 and 197 lbs should feature two of the “must-watch” bouts of this dual meet. Both of the Cyclones returning AA's at these weights have yet to lose in 2022-23. At 184, Trey Munoz has likely had this date circled on his calendar since the schedules were released. Munoz was the sixth seed at the 2022 NCAA Championships and ran into Iowa State's Marcus Coleman in the bloodround. Coleman handed Munoz a 13-2 major decision and promptly ended his season. I'm sure payback is on Munoz's radar. 197 features Yonger Bastida who hung on to down 2022 NCAA runner-up Jacob Warner (Iowa) in the recent CyHawk dual. Bastida will have to contend with CKLV runner-up Tanner Harvey. Harvey was a national qualifier for American in 2019 and 2020 then transferred home to Corvallis for his final year of eligibility in 2021-22. That season was cut short before it started due to injury. Harvey seems to be making the most of his final year of eligibility. A match with Bastida would mark Harvey's fourth with a top-ten opponent already this season. You would expect this dual to get started with a strong match at 125 lbs between the mercurial Kysen Terukina and 2022 All-American Brandon Kaylor; however, Terukina will not compete in New Orleans. Corey Cabanban and true freshman Ethan Perryman could share starting duties. That gives Oregon State the ability to jump out to a big lead seeing as they are a slight favorite at 133 with #16 Jason Shaner against #21 Ramazan Attasauov. Following that match is another test for true freshman #11 Casey Swiderski. He'll face Cleveland Belton who was 2-2 in Vegas, though he lost to the eventual third and fourth-place finishers. It's not far-fetched to think Oregon State could take the first three bouts and then possibly a toss-up at 157 lbs. That would pressure the Cyclones talented upperweights to win and maybe require bonus points. Pick: Iowa State (21-9) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

Appalachian State 165 lber Will Formato (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Thursday's Dual Results Appalachian State 19 North Carolina 16 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) fall Jack Wagner (North Carolina) 2:00 133 - Sean Carter (Appalachian State) dec Joey Melendez (North Carolina) 9-4 141 - Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) maj Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) 14-5 149 - Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) maj Danny Nini (North Carolina) 11-2 157 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) dec Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) 9-4 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) dec Joey Mazzara (North Carolina) 10-6 174 - Will Miller (Appalachian State) dec Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 7-5 184 - Gavin Kane (North Carolina) dec Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) 8-6 197 - Max Shaw (North Carolina) dec Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) 6-2 285 - Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) dec Mason Fiscella (Appalachian State) 3-2 Friday's Dual Results SIU Edwardsville 20 Chattanooga 15 125 - Davian Guanajuato (SIU Edwardsville) dec Logan Ashton (Chattanooga) 7-2 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) tech Aaron Schulist (SIU Edwardsville) 16-0 141 - Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) dec Franco Valdes (Chattanooga) 4-3 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) tech Grand Lundy (Chattanooga) 17-0 157 - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) dec Alec Peralta (SIU Edwardsville) 8-2 165 - Cardi Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) dec Caleb Waddell (Chattanooga) 6-2 174 - Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) dec Thomas Sell (Chattanooga) 2-1 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) maj Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 12-3 197 - Jake Boyd (Chattanooga) dec Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 5-2 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec Logan Andrew (Chattanooga) 3-0 Clarion 34 Gardner-Webb 6 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) dec Joey Fischer (Clarion) 8-6SV 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) dec Koen Kish (Clarion) 16-10 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 6-5 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) dec Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 4-3 157 - Trevor Elfvin (Clarion) fall Parker Corwin (Gardner-Webb) 3:56 165 - Cameron Pine (Clarion) tech Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 16-1 174 - Brady Worthing (Clarion) maj Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) 10-2 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) dec Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 7-3 197 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) maj Joshua McCutheon (Gardner-Webb) 9-1 285 - Austin Chapman (Clarion) fall Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 3:25 Chattanooga 26 Clarion 10 125 - Logan Ashton (Chattanooga) dec Joey Fischer (Clarion) 4-0 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) dec Koen Kish (Clarion) 5-1 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Dayne Dalrymple (Chattanooga) 5-3 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) dec Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) 7-4 157 - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) dec Trevor Elvin (Clarion) 5-4 165 - Cameron Pine (Clarion) maj Jackson Hurst (Chattanooga) 9-0 174 - Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) tech John Worthing (Clarion) 16-1 184 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) fall Will Feldkamp (Clarion) :32 197 - Jake Boyd (Chattanooga) dec Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) 4-3 285 - Logan Andrew (Chattanooga) dec Buzzy Maines (Clarion) 2-1 SIU Edwardsville 22 Gardner-Webb 19 125 - Drew West (Gardner-Webb) fall Austin Macias (SIU Edwardsville) 2:52 133 - Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) maj Aaron Schulist (SIU Edwardsville) 16-6 141 - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) dec Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) 4-3 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) maj Corbin Dion (Gardner-Webb) 12-4 157 - Alec Peralta (SIU Edwardsville) fall Parker Corwin (Gardner-Webb) 4:45 165 - Cardi Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) maj Tyler Brignola (Gardner-Webb) 15-5 174 - Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) maj Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb) 8-0 184 - Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) dec Micah Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) 3-1SV 197 - Samuel Mora (Gardner-Webb) dec Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 10-8SV 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) maj Abraham Preston (Gardner-Webb) 13-0 Clarion 25 SIU Edwardsville 17 125 - Joey Fischer (Clarion) dec Davian Guanajuato (SIU Edwardsville) 4-3 133 - Aaron Schulist (SIU Edwardsville) fall Koen Kish (Clarion) 6:23 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) 5-2 149 - Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) dec Kyle Schickel (Clarion) 7-6 157 - Trevor Elfin (Clarion) maj Alec Peralta (SIU Edwardsville) 8-0 165 - Cardi Wilson (SIU Edwardsville) dec Cameron Pine (Clarion) 7-3 174 - John Worthing (Clarion) fall Chase Diehl (SIU Edwardsville) 1:38 184 - Will Feldkamp (Clarion) dec Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 5-2 197 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) fall Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 1:43 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) tech Buzzy Maines (Clarion) 15-0 Davidson 42 Queens 4 125 - Hale Robinson (Davidson) fall Daniel Graham (Queens) 1:48 133 - Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) maj Ananth Manibushan (Queens) 12-2 141 - Melvin Rubio (Queens) maj Joshua Viarengo (Davidson) 9-1 149 - Noah Frack (Davidson) maj Nico D'Amico (Queens) 8-0 157 - Marc Koch (Davidson) fall David Makupson (Queens) 4:20 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) fall Vladimir Sukhikh (Queens) 5:12 174 - Brett Sanderlin (Davidson) maj Sebastian Shered (Queens) 8-0 184 - Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) dec D'Andree Hunt (Queens) 14-10 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) fall Riley Kuhn (Queens) 2:29 285 - Jake Fernicola (Davidson) dec Jamikael Lytle (Queens) 4-2 Davidson 26 Presbyterian 7 125 - Dominic Chavez (Presbyterian) dec Hale Robinson (Davidson) 5-2 133 - Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) dec Jacob Brasseur (Presbyterian) 5-1 141 - Joshua Viarengo (Davidson) dec Trenton Donahue (Presbyterian) 5-3 149 - Noah Frack (Davidson) dec Khalid Brinkley (Presbyterian) 8-2 157 - Marc Koch (Davidson) maj Michael Ramirez (Presbyterian) 9-1 165 - Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) maj Ty Chittum (Presbyterian) 14-3 174 - Jaden Hardrick (Davidson) dec Zachary Wells (Presbyterian) 3-2 184 - Cordell Duhart (Presbyterian) maj Cameo Blankenship (Davidson) 18-6 197 - Gavin Henry (Davidson) dec Malcolm Wiley (Presbyterian) 4-1 285 - Jake Fernicola (Davidson) dec Morvens Saint Jean (Presbyterian) 5-0 Bucknell 33 Sacred Heart 6 125 - Mike Manta (Sacred Heart) dec Grayson McLellan (Bucknell) 3-1 133 - Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) dec Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart) 5-2 141 - Darren Miller (Bucknell) dec Seth Brown (Sacred Heart) 2-0 149 - Matt Laurie (Sacred Heart) dec Kolby DePron (Bucknell) 6-5 157 - Nick Delp (Bucknell) fall Jonathan Siemsen (Sacred Heart) 2:41 165 - Chase Barlow (Bucknell) dec Aidan Zarrella (Sacred Heart) 5-2 174 - Sam Barnes (Bucknell) dec Ryan Bollentino (Sacred Heart) 7-3 184 - Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) maj Hunter Perez (Sacred Heart) 11-3 197 - Nolan Springer (Bucknell) fall Nick Copley (Sacred Heart) 1:41 285 - Logan Shepherd (Bucknell) tech Matt Walker (Sacred Heart) 24-6

NC State's 2x NCAA All-American Trent Hidlay (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, yes, it's the holiday season, but in the wrestling world, it's holiday tournament season. In what has now become a tradition and a precursor to the individually bracketed tournaments between Christmas and New Year's, it's time for the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. The inaugural Collegiate Duals took place in Destin, Florida in 2021 and this year's iteration will move to Mardi Gras country, New Orleans. This event will be the first DI collegiate competition in Louisiana since 1985! That's even before all of the sixth and seventh-year seniors were even born. Like last year, 12 teams are participating and separated into a red pool and a blue pool. Two sets of three teams in each pool will wrestle each other on Monday. After Monday's action, the teams in the same pool, with matching records, will compete Tuesday in the placement matches. Then a champion from each pool will be crowned. Teams have been sorted into their pools so as to not wrestle another team in their conference or on their 2022-23 dual schedule. This ends up featuring some matchups that we typically would not see during the regular season. Below is a preview of the action in the Red Pool. A preview of the Blue Pool is forthcoming tomorrow. 10AM - #16 Northern Iowa vs. Lock Haven 125 - Kyle Gollhofer (Northern Iowa) vs. #20 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) 133 - #6 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) vs. Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) 141 - #10 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) vs. Ty Linsenbigler (Lock Haven) 149 - #25 Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) vs. Connor Eck (Lock Haven) 157 - #27 Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) vs. Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 165 - #11 Austin Yant/Cayd Lara (Northern Iowa) vs. Avery Bassett (Lock Haven) 174 - #13 Lance Runyon/Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) vs. Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) 184 - #3 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 197 - Noah Glaser/Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) vs. Brad Morrison/Kaleb Snodgrass (Lock Haven) 285 - #19 Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) vs. #16 Isaac Reid/Ethan Miller (Lock Haven) The red pool gets kicked off with this battle between two programs that tend to punch above their weight in terms of competing well with the power-five schools despite not coming from one themselves. Both are led by coaches who have built their programs in an image of themselves. Both blue-collar, no-frills and tough-as-hell. Though this may look like a mismatch on paper, Scott Moore's Lock Haven team is filled with guys that are on the cusp of a national ranking. The middle portion of this dual, in particular, has wrestlers that are currently out of the top-33, but will make life difficult for their counterparts from UNI. Ashton Eyler had a breakout year last season at 165 and dropped down to 157 for the 2022-23 campaign. He's taken a few early losses at the new weight, but a quality win over an opponent like Derek Holschlag could boost him back into the mix. The Panthers could be particularly vulnerable at 165 and 174 if their stars don't wrestle. Austin Yant made the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational semis before medically forfeiting out of the tournament. If he's not in the lineup, Avery Bassett can surely get a win. Maybe, even if he is. Up a weight, Lance Runyon has not taken the mat yet this year. Tyler Stoltzfus would likely push him, but would be a favorite without Runyon's presence. The CKLV was a breakout stage for Kyle Biscoglia who finished third at 133 lbs. That placement and the quality of opponents he defeated led to a lofty sixth ranking nationally. Now, we'll see how he performs as the favorite against an opponent like Gable Strickland. Strickland won 19 matches last year, finishing third at the MAC Championships and was on the cusp of an NCAA berth. Lock Haven can set the tone for this dual at 125 lbs, as it's the only weight where they are a clear favorite. 2022 MAC champion Anthony Noto is 10-1 on the year and could be an outside podium threat. Perhaps the best possible match in this dual is at 285 lbs. Tyrell Gordon is coming off an impressive fifth-place CKLV finish at a loaded weight class and sports an 8-3 record. Isaac Reid was a conference runner-up last season and finished the year with 27 victories. He has yet to compete in 2022-23, so this matchup may not materialize. While the dual should feature plenty of close individual matches, the edge has to go to a very-balance UNI squad. Pick: Northern Iowa (21-9) For the full article, Subscribe to InterMat's Rokfin Page

2x NCAA All-American Nick Piccininni (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The MMA world never stops turning, but here at InterMat, a wrestling website, we try to focus on… wrestling. However, this week we found the time to put together another MMA Weekend guide for the wrestling fan since there are some former high-profile wrestlers plying their trade in the fighting arena. Saturday: UFC Vegas 66 Drew Dober vs. Bobby Green The opening fight of the main card features a pair of high-action strikers who actually got their start in wrestling. Dober was a two-year starter at Millard North and qualified for the 2007 Class A tournament in Nebraska. Green was also an accomplished high school wrestler in California as he was a two-time state placer for A.B. Miller in Fontana. Dober brings a 25-11 record into the Octagon and is coming off a pair of devastating knockouts over fellow wrestler Terrance McKinney and Rafael Alves. Green has been fighting professionally since 2008. For his last fight, he took a short-notice bout against Islam Makhachev and lost in the first round. With the loss, Green's record dropped to 29-13-1, while Makhachev went on to win the lightweight title. Cody Brundage vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk During his college days at Newberry, Brundage was a two-time NCAA Division II qualifier and finished with 96 wins, which is the seventh most in program history. The former team captain made his professional MMA debut in 2019 and has since built an 8-2 record. On Saturday he faces off against Oleksiejczuk, who is 17-5 and coming off a win over veteran Sam Alvey this past August. Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jake Matthews Semelsberger played college football at Marist, but prior to that, he was a three-sport athlete on the high school level. He played football and lacrosse while also competing on the wrestling mats for Urbana in Maryland. Following his college career, Semelsberger made his professional MMA debut in 2017. He is currently 4-2 in the UFC after joining the promotion in 2020. He has a tough test on Saturday against Matthews. The Australian has learned on the job in the UFC since 2014 and appears to be rounding into form. He holds an 18-5 record. Dober and Green will be on the main card of UFC Vegas 66, which airs live on ESPN+ at 7:00pm ET. The rest of the wrestlers will be on the preliminary card, also on ESPN+, which begins at 4:00pm ET. Sunday: Fury FC 72 Jacobe Smith vs. Tommie Britton After starting his collegiate career at Northeastern Oklahoma, Smith transferred to Oklahoma State for his last two years. During his time with the Cowboys, he was a two-year starter and qualified for a pair of NCAA tournaments. As a junior in 2018, Smith finished eighth to become an All-American. In 2021, he made his professional MMA debut and has since built a 3-0 record. In his last fight, he scored a 42-second victory over Zac Kelley under the Xtreme Fight Night banner. His opponent on Saturday might be somewhat known among wrestling fans. He fought twice against former Central Michigan All-American Jarod Trice and lost both fights. Last June, Britton dropped a decision against Zack Borrego, who later faced off against Bo Nickal on Dana White's Contenders Series. Britton holds a 5-9 record as a professional. Nick Piccininni vs. Freddie Rodriguez Piccininni also starred for Oklahoma State on the college mats. He was a two-time All-American for the Cowboys and a four-time Big 12 champion. Piccininni made his professional MMA debut in 2021 and currently holds a 3-0 record. In his last fight, he scored a unanimous decision victory over Shawn Gustafson. Rodriguez is also a wrestling veteran. He won an NJCAA championship before ending up at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. There he was a two-time NCAA qualifier who compiled a record of 46-14 and was a Round of 12 finisher. Rodriguez is currently 4-0 as a professional after making his debut earlier this year. In his third fight, he scored a decision victory over fellow former wrestler Gavin Teasdale. For wrestling fans, this is likely the fight of the weekend. Both of these fights are currently scheduled to be part of the YouTube preliminary card of Fury FC 72, which will air live at 2:30pm ET. However, these cards are often shuffled, and the bout might end up on the main card, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm ET on UFC Fight Pass.

The 2021 Journeymen Collegiate Duals (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) As we head into the midseason finale of the college wrestling season, I have to say it's been quite enjoyable so far and we still have a long way to go. With extended eligibility finally running out and some fresh faces in the mix, I'm excited to see where we go from here. Will someone take control of 141? Does Yianni give it a go in New Orleans fresh off of the World Cup? Does Paniro Johnson beat him and claim the number-one spot at 149? Does Willie survive New Orleans? We will answer all these questions and more in part two of the 2023 college wrestling season! For now, you had some questions of your own and I answered them! What's your ideal location for Collegiate Duals 3.0? Now, what's the real ideal location that isn't down the street from your house? Fantasy College Wrestling Enough with this idea that I don't go to events. Ok, maybe I don't go to events. I just don't like to travel that much and I'm a busy guy around this time. I think the locations being somewhere down south are perfect for this event. Also having it stand alone during the week makes sense. It's the timing of being right before Christmas that doesn't work for me. Plus, I'd have to take days off during our busiest week of work all year. I realize you need all these things to coincide so teams can attend during the holiday break. But what about me, huh? What about Jagger? They should probably make arrangements to have it in Newark in early December so I can attend next time. And send a car service for me. If you had your weight class tattooed on your bicep your senior year of high school wrestling, at what age and/or percent weight gain might you regret that decision later in life? Ross Bendik Well, if it isn't wrestling's premier artist popping his head out of the studio for a minute to get wacky in the mailbag. What if I told you I haven't gained any weight since I left the shoes on the mat way back when in the middle of the Clinton Administration. How, you ask? I have no idea. Some say it's a fast metabolism. Maybe it's because I've been walking up and down stairs for 25 years because of my job. Maybe it's the smoking. Perhaps the water I drank from the Fountain of Youth in 1987 worked. That being said, I would deeply regret a 135 tattoo on my bicep about five minutes after getting it. Lucky for me, I got a giant back tattoo of Kurt Angle celebrating his 1996 Olympic gold medal win with a broken freakin' neck instead. Now that's timeless. The Macarena tattoo across my stomach didn't age quite as well. Earl and InterMat just cleaned up with this year's NWMA awards; what's it like working with Earl specifically, and how much do you get to interact with all the great writers InterMat has assembled these past two years? JP Pearson First off, congratulations to Earl on being recognized by his peers for the work he has put in this past year trying to bring you the best coverage from around the world of wrestling. It takes true dedication to pump out the amount of content that he does on his own all while managing numerous people who are spread out all over the country and covering various topics. I have to do one article a week and I struggle with it. It takes a real talent to consistently publish fresh content on a daily basis and we have that with our leader. All I can say is that our working relationship has been a smooth one. He lets me write what I want and rarely do any of my jokes end up on the cutting room floor. I honestly didn't think I would make it past a month doing this and Earl has been patient enough to let me figure it out and find my groove. Still looking for that groove, by the way. Luckily, I get published on the Friday news dump and don't get noticed enough to be told that I suck. As far as the rest of the crew is concerned, they think I'm the janitor at Intermat HQ and maybe it's because I keep rummaging through their trash like a weirdo. Hey, a guy has to eat. But seriously, hats off to the entire IM staff for the work they've put in to make this site what it is. It's an honor to be a small part of it and I'm glad we can still win in spite of me. It probably helps that the NWMA never retweets my stuff and likely has no idea I even exist. After getting grief from parents, the athletic director, and the bus company about our high school team getting home from a tournament in the wee hours of the morning because of yet another tournament software crash, what will it take for wrestling to get this fixed? Little Pun I'm not sure what software crash got you this time, but I suggest just going back to handwritten brackets that are posted in the hallway for all to see. We have become slaves to technology and now our kids are getting home an hour before Bo Bassett wakes up. We can't have this. Alright, Jagoffs and Jaggettes! I've wasted enough of your time so adios for now and have a wonderful weekend! Baba Booey, Baba Booey Matt Finesilver, Matt Finesilver. (obligated)