InterMat Staff

Thomas Gilman (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Thomas Gilman's goal was launched when he was 6 years old. He wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist. Now two decades later, Gilman feels that goal is within reach. A world silver medalist in 2017 before finishing fifth in 2018, Gilman is back wrestling well again after a tough end to the 2019 season. He delivered a strong statement in winning last month's United World Wrestling rankings event in Rome, Italy. He defeated 2019 World Team member Daton Fix and 2018 world bronze medalist Joe Colon en route to capturing the title at 57 kilograms. "In Rome, I felt really good mentally and physically," Gilman said. "I've been working closely with my coach, Mark Perry, and we were on the same page. We have developed a good chemistry. We really clicked in Rome and we are thinking the same things." Thomas Gilman gets his hand raised after beating Joe Colon in Rome (Photo/Gabor Martin, United World Wrestling) Gilman said he took a different approach to that event. "I went out and didn't put much pressure on myself," he said. "I just went out and wrestled and let it fly. I wrestled in the moment. I wrestled smart and savvy, and didn't put myself in a position where I was compromised. I just have to wrestle one position at a time and I will be fine." Gilman is spending this week at a National Team Camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Two years ago, he suffered a serious injury during another camp at the OTC. "I had a complete tear of my hamstring in January 2018," he said. "It was a bad deal. I was wrestling live in Colorado Springs against a bigger guy -- I took a bad shot and I heard it pop. I had so much adrenaline in my body that I didn't know right away I was injured. But when I stood up, I felt it." Gilman then had a difficult decision to make. "I talked to the doctors and they wanted to do surgery," he said. "I decided not to have surgery. I took some time off and I came back in April for the World Cup. I had only trained a couple of weeks before that event. Looking back, I don't know if it was the best decision to wrestle in the World Cup. But I wanted to wrestle in front of my fans in my home arena in Iowa City." Gilman's first match back was against Japan's Yuki Takahashi, the wrestler he had lost to in the finals of the 2017 World Championships. Gilman lost two matches at the World Cup, including a 4-1 setback to Takahashi, but he came back a couple of months later to make his second straight U.S. world team. Gilman reached the bronze-medal match at the 2018 World Championships before placing fifth. "I made the world team, but I was still dealing with the injury," he said. "I thought I could still be successful, but my style changed and I didn't really shoot at all. "I lost my swagger and mojo from being hurt. I did what I had to do in 2018, but my body wasn't healthy enough to do what I did the year before." Thomas Gilman gets in on a shot against Daton Fix at Final X (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Gilman said the struggles of 2018 carried over into 2019. He lost a hard-fought battle to Fix and fell just short of making his third straight world team. "I lost some of my edge and my mentality when I was injured, and it affected me and set me back," he said. "At the 2019 Final X, I got beat fair and square. I made a silly mistake that cost me. He capitalized on my stupidity and he beat me. "Last year, it was a good learning experience for me. I need to be stronger mentally. And I need to do a better job finishing my shots." Gilman has responded by starting strong during the 2020 Olympic year. "I'm feeling great with where I'm at right now - I just need to keep working and progressing," he said. "In 2017, I had the 'nobody can beat me' mentality. I'm starting to find that again." Gilman made the U.S. Cadet world team in 2011 before making back-to-back Junior world teams in 2013 and 2014. He won a Junior world bronze medal in 2014 before becoming a three-time All-American for the University of Iowa. He reached the NCAA finals as a junior in 2016. During his Hawkeye career, Gilman also trained with two-time world team member Tony Ramos and with Olympian Daniel Dennis in the loaded wrestling room at Iowa. Those battles against Ramos and Dennis set the stage for Gilman to excel in this four-year Olympic cycle. Four years ago, Gilman watched closely as Dennis defeated Ramos in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to land a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. "I worked out a lot in practice with Dennis, before and after he made the Olympic team," Gilman said. "I went toe-to-toe with Dennis and that really helped me. I learned so much. The next year I was second at the World Championships." The U.S. still needs to qualify Gilman's weight class of 57 kilos for the 2020 Olympics. The U.S. will likely send Fix, as the returning world team member, to compete at March's Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada. Gilman is ranked No. 2 behind Fix on the U.S. ladder at 57 kilograms. "I am training and getting ready for the qualifier, if I'm called upon," he said. "I'm ready if they decide to give me the opportunity." Once the weight class is qualified, the 25-year-old Gilman will turn his focus to April's Olympic Trials at Penn State. In addition to Fix and Colon, the loaded 57-kilogram weight class also includes two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa and NCAA champion Seth Gross of Wisconsin. "You always have to be ready," Gilman said, "for whoever steps out there against you." The winner of the Trials would represent the United States at the Olympic Games in early August in Tokyo, Japan. "For me, it's just a matter of putting all of the pieces together," Gilman said. "Ever since I knew what the Olympics were, that was my goal. It's not a dream anymore to wrestle in the Olympics - it's a realistic goal for me now. I've trained 20 years for this opportunity. Now is the time. I believe 100 percent that I can win an Olympic gold medal. I just need to go out there and do it." Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.

Mike Gillette, the a mind coach and author of Mind Boss, talks with Chad Dennis on Episode 46 of The MatBoss Podcast. Gillette explains his background and how he's taken his experiences and it plotted a course to help people with their own mental hurdles, challenges and improving their mental training. Gillette talks about his military background, his work in law enforcement and then worked that into training situations for major companies. What does that have to do with wrestling? Some of it came about from the University of Iowa. About MatBoss: Created by coaches for coaches, MatBoss for iPad® integrates wrestling stats directly into the video you record for each match, completely replacing the need for labor-intensive pencil and paper scoring systems. It's the wrestling stats app our sport has been waiting for. Focus on coaching, not busy work Improve through video analysis Make data an advantage Eliminate scoring errors Increase exposure Become a digital coach For more information, visit MatBossApp.com. Follow MatBoss on Twitter and subscribe to the show @MatBossApp | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Podcasts | RSS

A former part-time wrestling coach at nationally-ranked St. Edward High School was indicted Tuesday on charges of sexually assaulting two members of the team between June 2015 and July 2019. A Cuyahoga County grand jury handed up a 20-count indictment charging Daniel Gonsor, 30, of Avon, Ohio with rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, felonious assault, corrupting another with drugs and other charges. A warrant was issued for Gonsor's arrest, who had been on the coaching staff of the St. Ed wrestling program ranked No. 4 in the nation by InterMat until he was suspended by the school last December. Gonsor is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 19. St. Edward High School is a boys-only Roman Catholic school located in Lakewood, a suburb immediately west of downtown Cleveland. Established in 1949, St. Ed has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. St. Ed's wrestling is highly respected within the state of Ohio and across the nation. Since 1959, the school's mat program has earned 33 state team titles, most recently earlier this year.

The Women's Collegiate Wrestling Coalition (WCWC) is launching #ThankYouMonth today, Wednesday, February 5, 2020, on National Girls and Women in Sports Day (#NGWSD). This coalition of wrestling leaders, with input from the vast U.S. wrestling community, will be making phone calls, sending letters and creating social media posts, thanking all who have helped fuel the explosive growth of wrestling for girls and women. This effort is designed to show appreciation for those who have made decisions to help female wrestling to grow, and show appreciation for the expanded opportunity for girls and women to wrestle. It has been a great time for women's and girls wrestling. There are now 21 state high school associations which have approved official girls wrestling programs. The NAIA will be hosting its second NAIA National Invitational for women's college wrestling this year. The NCAA, at the Division II and Division III levels, have approved official Emerging Sport Status for women's college wrestling. Girls high school wrestling has grown for 30 straight years, with an amazing 27.5% growth last year. USA Wrestling's female membership has grown for 10 straight years, with tremendous 20.7% growth last year. College women's wrestling is comprised of over 70 programs and is growing all of the time. There is truly a lot to be thankful for. As part of this, the WCWA is calling upon all of those involved in women's wrestling to make a post on social media thanking individuals and/or organizations who have provided opportunities for them to participate. This thank you campaign can include athletes, coaches, parents, administrators, fans and others, both female and male, who want to publicly thank someone for helping build and expand wrestling for girls and women. Those who post on Wednesday are asked to include hashtags #NGWSD and #ThankYouMonth on their social media post. In addition, in order to increase visibility, people are asked to also include a graphic, photo or video of themselves participating in women's wrestling, to show the world what female wrestling looks like. The WCWC will be creating #ThankYou Month graphics which can be used by anyone in their #ThankYouMonth and #NGWSD posts. Organizations that could be thanked include the NCAA, the NAIA, the NJCAA, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics, NCAA Div. II, NCAA Div. III, college conferences, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), specific state high school associations, USA Wrestling state associations, the Women's Sports Foundation and many more groups. On a personal level, people can thank their parents, coaches, administrators, fans, friends, college, high school, club, sports league and more, those who gave them a chance to get involved in wrestling for girls and women. The Women's Collegiate Wrestling Coalition was created to bring the sport of Women's Wrestling through NCAA emerging sport status to become a fully-sanctioned NCAA championship sport. As stated in the WCWC vision, the organization is dedicated in the guidance, leadership and governance for the sport of women's wrestling at the collegiate level based on fair and safe competition, while adding competitive varsity opportunities for female student-athletes. For more information, visit its website at https://thewcwc.com/ Organizations represented on the WCWC include USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association, Wrestle Like A Girl, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, along with representation from colleges, college conferences and active women wrestlers. GET INVOLVED!!! Post a thank you message for women's wrestling opportunity on National Girls and Women in Sports Day (#NGWSD), tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

Wayne Wells display at National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Photo/National Wrestling Hall of Fame) Being a Nike signature athlete is a unique honor/distinction bestowed on a select few sports stars. Among the honorees: Bo Jackson, John McEnroe, Sheryl Swoopes. However, sports fanatics may be surprised to learn that Wayne Wells -- 1972 Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle wrestler -- was not only a Nike signature athlete ... but the very first one. When the National Wrestling Hall of Fame brought this distinction to this writer's attention, I thought this story was too good NOT to share with the amateur wrestling community. What is a Nike signature athlete? Let's go to the source. Here's how Nike defines its signature athlete program at its website: "Becoming a signature athlete at Nike is an honor reserved for few. In the company's 42-year history, less than one percent of its endorsed athletes have been given a signature shoe. "As members in one of the most exclusive clubs in all of sport, Nike signature athletes take pride in representing the brand and the prestige that comes with having a shoe made just for them. Through a highly collaborative process, Nike designers create footwear that is engineered to the exact specifications of the athlete's physical needs and tailored to the demands of their specific sport. Fusing innovation with inspiration is essential." "Nike's first signature athlete was welterweight wrestler, Wayne Wells. The 5' 8" Texas native had an accomplished career, winning a gold medal in Munich in 1972 while working closely with Nike footwear designers on his signature, high-top wresting boot. The Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee's inner drive translated off the mat as well; he later became a practicing attorney." Wayne Wells (Photo/National Wrestling Hall of Fame) Meet Wayne Wells Born in Abilene, Texas in September 1946, Wayne Alton Wells moved to Oklahoma with his family as a kid. He was introduced to wrestling in junior high in Oklahoma City, then elevated his performance at John Marshall High School, wrestling for legendary coach Virgil Milliron. After high school, Wells then headed south to University of Oklahoma, where he was a three-time Big Eight conference champ (1966-1968) at 152 pounds ... and a two-time NCAA All-American, placing second at the Nationals in 1967, then winning the 152 title as a senior at the 1968 NCAAs. Beyond his collegiate mat career, Wells also made his presence felt in freestyle wrestling. He won two national freestyle titles and placed second in the Pan American Games. Wells represented the U.S. at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, placing fourth. He captured the silver medal in the 1969 World Championships, then won the gold medal at the Worlds the following year. Wells capped off his mat career by earning the gold medal in men's freestyle at the 1972 Munich Olympics at welterweight (163 pounds) ... the capstone to a year that saw him earn his law degree, pass the state bar exam, and serve as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma Sooners mat program. After hanging up his singlet, Wells has had a long and successful career as an attorney. One of his specialties: providing agent services to professional athletes. A decade after winning Olympic gold, Wells was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1982. The Nike/Wayne Wells partnership As the Nike website explains, the Oregon-based athletic shoe company targeted elite athletes that excelled at baseball, basketball, football, golf, running, soccer and tennis. However, in the first decade of Nike's existence, Wells remained the only athlete with a signature shoe. (Now there are more than 30 Nike signature athletes.) "I knew about the signature shoe program when I signed a contract with Nike in 1972," Wells told InterMat. "They were just getting started." "Back then, there were few athletic shoes available. Nike wanted to get into all sports, including wrestling shoes. Nike designed the Wells wrestling shoe, as well as the Wells training shoe, which was designed for doing roadwork. I had told Nike they needed to come up with the training shoe." "After I won gold -- the (Olympic) Games were over in September," Wells continued. "I came back to Oklahoma where I got a job to practice law. (Wells had earned his law degree from University of Oklahoma.) I was also doing wrestling camps in 1973. A Nike salesman contacted me. He was a wrestling coach, and invited me to L.A. to put on a camp." "He wanted me to meet Phil Knight, the founder of Nike." As Wells explained, "Phil Knight was a track guy connected with the University of Oregon. They were developing a new track shoe without cleats. It had a waffle-type sole that was really comfortable, super-light. In fact, Knight's wife used a waffle iron to make the first sole." "There hadn't been a shoe named for a wrestler. I got some money for the deal. I had retired from wrestling, so that was fine with me." Wells and wrestling as they once were, now on display Wayne Wells' status as Nike's first signature athlete is now a key part of an exhibit at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. The display -- titled "Evolution of the Sport" -- features Wells' actual Nike shoes, the original Nike poster and a photo of Wayne Wells in action on the mat ... as well as other examples of wrestling gear, such as headgear and a previous-generation singlet worn by U.S. wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman competition. Wells lived through the evolution of wrestling gear and equipment as displayed in the Stillwater Hall of Fame. He was part of the generation of wrestlers who experienced firsthand how innovations in the sport helped make him (and his fellow athletes) better on the mat. "We didn't always have Resilite-style mats," Wells told InterMat. "I remember wrestling on those old-fashioned horsehair-stuffed canvas mats in junior high. The Soviets and Eastern European wrestlers still competed on those old canvas mats into the late 1960s." Wells also made clear that until the 1970s, most wrestlers didn't have shoes designed specifically for the sport such as the Nike signature wrestling boot developed with his input. That said, not all changes Wells has witnessed in wrestling have made the sport better, in his opinion. Wells weighs in on the state of the sport today When at the Hall of Fame to see the "Evolution" display, Wells told Lee Roy Smith, Hall of Fame Executive Director (and himself a noted wrestler of the 1970s and early 80s) that he thought wrestlers of the past were better-known to the general public because overall media coverage was better in their native Oklahoma ... and throughout the nation. With that in mind, InterMat posed the question to Wayne Wells: "What can wrestling do to generate more media interest -- and become more popular with the general public -- as it appears to have been 30-50 years ago?" "For starters, I think they should stop fiddling with the rules," Wells said. "Rules have changed so much over the years, becoming more complicated for the fans." "Wrestling has become more of a 'technical' sport," the 1972 Olympic gold medalist continued. "Rule changes have been implemented to avoid injuries, but I think fans want to see more strength, more toughness, and see the wrestlers 'fight' harder." "Why do you think so many folks are now fans of MMA (mixed martial arts)?" Wells also suggested that wrestling could become more popular with the general public and mainstream media by offering longer matches in college as well as in freestyle and Greco ... resulting in more action, and more potential for come-from-behind victories. As Wells pointed out, "Back in the 1950s and 60s, college matches lasted nine minutes (compared to seven minutes now)." "Back when I wrestled at the Olympics, matches lasted 15 minutes -- three five-minute periods. Now Olympic matches are just six minutes. That's the same length as junior-high matches."

The Iowa-Penn State dual meet drew 14,905 fans and averaged 342,955 viewers on BTN (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CHICAGO, Ill. -- On Jan. 31, No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 2 Penn State became the most-watched wrestling telecast in BTN history as well as the day's highest-rated college sporting event across all networks. The Big Ten dual averaged 342,955 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, which eclipsed the Ohio State vs. Penn State meet in 2018 (309,265 viewers) by +11%. The Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions broadcast capped a run of three consecutive nights in which BTN featured the highest-rated college sporting event across all television networks. On Wednesday night, Indiana vs. Penn State men's basketball averaged 325,205 viewers and earned the No. 1 distinction. On Thursday, Iowa vs. Maryland men's basketball averaged 455,490 viewers en route to the top spot. Digital consumption from the event featured an additional 802,574 minutes of streaming via the FOX Sports app and 2.2M minutes watched for social content across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Through 12 broadcasts, BTN's average audience for wrestling telecasts this season is 116,043 viewers, an increase of +67% from the 2018-19 season. BTN's complete wrestling schedule for this weekend is below (all times ET):

The California Wrestling Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2020 honorees. Eleven will be welcomed into the Hall of Fame, while ten others will be presented with the Lifetime Service Award at a ceremony this summer. The 2020 Hall of Fame inductees include: Matt Azevedo (Photo/Drexel Athletics)Matt Azevedo: Drexel University head wrestling coach Chris Sones: Big Ten champ for University of Iowa, and highly successful wrestling coach in Minnesota Arnold Alpert and Lyndon Campbell: co-head coaches of Temecula Valley High School Ben Ohai: Brigham Young University wrestler and successful California high school coach Valentin Kalika: 2016 USA Women's Wrestling Coach of the Year Randy Hartman: High school and college wrestling official for over 40 years who has officiated seven NCAA Division I tournaments Tony Leon: Successful coach at Brawley High School, where his teams have won 18 consecutive league championships Howard Lawson: a four-time league champion and two-time California state high school champ Tom McCann: coached 42 years at Kearney High School in Nebraska and has been a college official for over 40 years at NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and NCAA competitions George Retzer (posthumously): a member of the 1912 U.S. Olympic Team and a long-time wrestling leader and official in southern California. Those individuals receiving the Lifetime Service Award in 2020 include: Steve Gardner, Dick Bailey, Andy Harris, Mark Black, Bob Irwin, Sam Cereceres and Wayne Partee. Oran Breeland and Mike Burley will be recognized posthumously. The 21st Annual California Wrestling Hall of Fame Banquet will be held Saturday, June 13 at the Laguna Hills Community Center, 25555 Alicia Pkwy. in Laguna Hills, Calif. Reception begins at 4:00 p.m., with dinner served at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $70 per person, with a limit of 400 guests. Download a printable mail-in reservation form here. According to organization's official website, "The mission of the California Wrestling Hall of Fame shall be to recognize those individuals and groups who, because off their outstanding dedication, have contributed immeasurably to the establishment, maintenance and continuation of amateur wrestling in the Golden State.""

OREM, Utah -- Each team won five bouts, but three bonus point decisions helped North Dakota State grind out a 20-15 win over Utah Valley in a Big 12 Conference dual on Monday, Feb. 3, before 931 in Lockhart Arena. NDSU (6-3, 3-1 #Big12WR) is scheduled to host Fresno State (7-6, 2-1 #Big12WR) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in Scheels Center. With the dual tied 3-3, the Bison gathered bonus points in three of the next four bouts to build a 17-6 lead. Dylan Droegemueller gained momentum for a 13-3 major decision at 141 pounds to improve to 10-6 overall, 2-2 in duals. NDSU No. 16-ranked 157-pounder Jared Franek (19-6, 7-2) continued to make a statement by thundering to a 16-1 tech fall in 2:52. It was back-to-back tech falls for the Bison as No. 10-ranked 165 Andrew Fogarty improved to 14-2 overall and 8-0 in duals with an 18-1 effort in 5:41. Fogarty has 12 bonus point wins this season. North Dakota State 125-pounder McGwire Midkiff (8-4, 3-2) opened the dual with a 7-5 decision over Josiah Nava, while Noah Cressell held off Ashton Seely 10-7 for the win at 184 pounds. Four nationally-ranked wrestlers picked up wins for Utah Valley (1-10, 0-7 #Big12WR), No. 14 133 Taylor LaMont edged No .10 Cam Sykora 2-1, No. 9 174 Kimball Bastian fought off Austin Brenner 5-4, No. 20 Tanner Orndorff won 7-4 over Cordell Eaton at 197, while No. 4 heavyweight Tate Orndorff outlasted No. 27 Brandon Metz 5-3 in sudden victory-1. Results: 125-- McGwire Midkiff (NDSU) dec Josiah Nava (UVU), 7-5 133-- #14 Taylor LaMont (UVU) dec #10 Cam Sykora (NDSU), 2-1 141-- Dylan Droegemueller (NDSU) major dec Isaiah Delgado (UVU), 13-3 149-- Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) dec Jaden Van Maanen (NDSU), 8-2 157-- #16 Jared Franek (NDSU) tech fall Jerry Rubio (UVU), TF 16-1 2:52 165-- #10 Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) tech fall Koy Wilkinson (UVU), TF 18-1 5:41 174-- #9 Kimball Bastian (UVU) dec Austin Brenner (NDSU), 5-4 184-- Noah Cressell (NDSU) dec Ashton Seely (UVU), 10-7 197-- #20 Tanner Orndorff (UVU) dec Cordell Eaton (NDSU), 7-4 285-- #4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) sudden victory-1 #27 Brandon Metz (NDSU), SV-1 5-3

Seth Gross and Austin DeSanto get in a scramble in the finals of the Midlands Championships (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) The biggest cartel in sport -- the NCAA -- just got nicer. Over the past decade, Mark Emmert and the NCAA have been taken to task in the media and in the courts -- having to defend business practices which are said to exploit student-athletes. In October 2018, when the transfer portal was introduced, athletes earned the right to free agency -- to come and go as they wish from school to school or town to town. This newfound luxury is arguably the biggest tangible advancement in student-athlete rights to date. Per the NCAA's website, the transfer portal was created as, "A compliance tool to systematically manage the transfer process from start to finish, add more transparency to the process among schools and empower student-athletes to make known their desire to consider other programs." While the original goal of the portal was rooted in creating a more efficient administrative process for compliance personnel, the results of the portal have extended far beyond. The impact of the transfer portal is nothing short of revolutionary for NCAA athletics -- especially those that are a part of Big Ten wrestling. "That's [assistant coach] Jake Varner's job, he checks the transfer portal every day," Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson told PennLive.com. "One of his jobs…that's not his only responsibility," he said with a chuckle. "But I mean that's just part of college wrestling now. And college athletics in general." The process is simple. First, the athlete goes to their current school's compliance department to tell them they want to be entered into the transfer portal. Then, within 48 hours the athlete is entered into the portal. Compliance and/or the coaching staff can't say no; they can only delay it for a day or two. In the end, the transfer request must be fulfilled. Already, within the first year-and-a-half since the portal's inception, we have seen the impact of such decisions play out on the mat. The recent dominance of Penn State grapplers has put them in rare air. Since 2011, the Nittany Lions have brought eight of the last nine team titles to State College and will contend for another one in 2020. In totality, 12 grapplers have brought 23 individual championships to Happy Valley since 2011. Penn State's achievements speak for themselves. They are a blue-chip program that has won convincingly over the last decade. That said, even they aren't immune to the frequent arrivals and departures of wrestlers thanks to the transfer portal -- they might even owe some of their success to the new portal. [We're] just kind of figuring out how it works and trying to be on top of it, but it's just kind of the way it is now," Sanderson said to Jim Carlson of PennLive.com. Sanderson doesn't expect occurrences such as these to stop, but rather continue indefinitely. In the last few weeks alone, Adam Busiello and Greg Kerkvliet have transferred into Penn State to don the Blue & White singlet while Brody Treske has transferred out, electing to continue a wrestling career closer to home at Northern Iowa. The 23-time national champion Iowa Hawkeyes -- who currently rank No. 1 in the latest InterMat rankings-- are no stranger to bringing in transfer grapplers either. Currently, 20% of the Hawks starting lineup are late additions to the program in Austin DeSanto and Pat Lugo. That percentage would be as high as 30% if former Missouri Tiger Jaydin Eierman, who is now in the Iowa wrestling room, wasn't taking advantage of an Olympic redshirt. Overall, more than three-fourths of the Big Ten's 14 member schools feature varsity wrestling rosters chalk-full of transfer athletes. For the schools that don't have a transfer on their active roster, they likely lost a student-athlete to transfer in recent years. Here are some of the more notable wrestling transfer storylines to hit Big Ten -- the NCAA's premier conference for college wrestling -- over the last handful of seasons: Illinois: Added two-time NCAA qualifier Joey Gunther and 2018 JUCO 141-pound runner-up and NJCAA All-American Christian Kanzler. Indiana: Added NCAA Division II All-American Fernando Silva. Lost two-time NCAA Qualifier Devin Skatzka. Iowa: Added All-Americans Austin DeSanto, Pat Lugo, Jaydin Eierman (Olympic redshirt) and prep standout Gavin Teasdale. Michigan: Added three-time All-American Stevan Micic. Minnesota: Added two-time- NCAA qualifier Devin Skatzka and two-time NCAA qualifier Hunter Ritter. Nebraska: Added All-American and 2015 125-pound runner-up Zeke Moisey and 165-pound Division II national champion Isiah White. Northwestern: Lost 2014 149-pound NCAA Champion Jason Tsirtsis and future three-time All-American Stevan Micic. Ohio State: Added All-American and 2019 141-pound runner-up Joey McKenna. Lost prep standout Greg Kerkvliet. Penn State: Lost reigning 133-pound NCAA champion Nick Suriano, 125-pound starter Brody Teske, and prep standout Gavin Teasdale. Added prep standout Greg Kerkvliet and All-American Kyle Conel. Purdue: Lost prep star Anthony Falbo. Rutgers: Added eventual 2019 133-pound NCAA champion Nick Suriano. Wisconsin: Added 2018 133-pound NCAA champion Seth Gross. Lost two-time NCAA qualifier Hunter Ritter. So, it doesn't matter whether you love, hate, or are indifferent to the NCAA's fancy new toy, one that draws its name from Star-Trekian origins, because the portal is here to stay and it will likely impact your wrestling program in one way or another. The portal has changed collegiate wrestling as we once knew it. It has not only enhanced the rights of student-athletes everywhere by creating an amateur free-agent marketplace, but also it has shown that -- with the help of a transfer -- a team can easily go from a "pretender" to a "contender" or even a national champion. The power of the transfer athlete is magnified even more in a sport like wrestling -- where there are just ten athletes in the starting lineup -- thus one wrestler can start to transform an entire program.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 4 Wisconsin wrestling team went undefeated on their Big Ten Conference tour of Indiana, besting No. 7 Purdue, 27-14, on Sunday afternoon. At 133 pounds, No. 1 Seth Gross got the first period fall over Travis Ford-Melton. Gross came out firing on all cylinders and recorded the pin in 1:12. This is Gross's fourth pin of the season. Evan Wick got his second fall of the weekend against Purdue. The No. 3 wrestler at 165 pounds recorded a pin against Purdue's Tanner Webster in just 2:49. On Friday night, Wick pinned Dillon Hooey from Indiana in 3:13. No. 12 Cole Martin bounced back from a tough loss on Friday night. At 149 pounds, Martin faced No. 15 Griffin Parriott. The Lancaster, Wisconsin, native bested the Boilermaker, 4-2. Wisconsin's 11th-ranked Johnny Sebastian won a tough battle on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin's 184 pounder faced Max Lyon in a bout that was a low-scoring battle until the last period, ending in a 6-4 decision in Sebastian's favor. Tristan Moran saw his first action of the weekend against Purdue's Parker Filius. At 141 pounds, No. 4 Moran got the 6-2 decision over Filius. Straight from the mat "It was a great weekend for the team. Any time you go on the road and get two Big Ten wins it's a big deal. But what I liked today was that we had a lot of hustle and a lot of skill. We came close to upsetting a few guys. From where we are in the season, the guys look great. We've got to stay healthy and keep moving forward. We've got two big ones coming up this weekend in Madison so I'm excited to get back and focus on the next thing ahead of us." - Head coach Chris Bono "I felt good. I felt relaxed. I had the coaches with me in intermission. I usually get pretty anxious during intermission but I had a lot of people with me. I turned him a couple of times on top so I felt pretty confident after the first one or two turns. I felt comfortable taking more risks and went out there and tried to pin him. My forearms were killing me because I was locking up cradles and holding onto his wrists for so long. I get a lot of credit for using the cradle a lot but I don't really do it that much so to be able to do it this weekend, I'm really starting to feel it from the crossface position instead of just reaching over. It feels really good to go in there and stick two guys in the first period for both of them. That was awesome." - Redshirt junior Evan Wick "I've just been trying to get back to my thing, like getting the pace going early and getting into positions I know I'm good. That's been the goal and it's been a long season but I'm finally getting back to where I want to be. The more positions I put myself in, the more I can start pinning guys again. My goal is to get back to scoring bonus points in every match I wrestle and pinning guys because I haven't been putting many guys away this year. It was nice to go out there and do that and keep getting better." - Redshirt senior Seth Gross Results: 125 – No. 6 Devin Schroder (PU) over Eric Barnett (UW) by dec. 9-8 133 – No. 1 Seth Gross (UW) over Travis Ford-Melton (PU) by fall 1:12 141 – No. 4 Tristan Moran (UW) over Parker Filius (PU) by dec. 6-2 149 – No. 12 Cole Martin (UW) over No. 15 Griffin Parriott by dec. 4-2 157 – No. 8 Kendall Coleman (PU) over Drew Scharenbrock (UW) by tech. fall 26-11 165 – No. 3 Evan Wick (UW) over Tanner Webster (PU) by fall 2:49 174 – No. 4 Dylan Lydy (PU) over Jared Krattiger (UW) by dec. 5-2 184 – No. 11 Johnny Sebastian (UW) over Max Lyon (PU) by dec. 4-3 197 – Jared Florell (PU) over Taylor Watkins (UW) by SV-1 3-1 285 – No. 5 Trent Hillger (UW) over Thomas Penola (PU) by disqualification Up next Wisconsin hosts No. 2 Penn State on Friday night at 8 p.m. in the UW Field House. The match will be aired live on Big Ten Network and the Badgers will honor legendary Hall of Fame Coach and Olympian Bobby Douglas. Sunday, Michigan State comes to town for a Big Ten showdown at 3 p.m. Fans who attend the UW men's basketball game at noon in the Kohl Center will be given free admission to the match by presenting their basketball ticket at the door.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The CSU Bakersfield wrestling team put forth its most complete match of the season on Sunday, dominating the 25th-ranked Fresno State Bulldogs en route to a 26-10 win at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The Roadrunners won seven of the dual's ten bouts, including major decision victories from Dominic Ducharme and Russell Rohlfing, to pick up their second consecutive win and even their overall record at 4-4. "Today we wrestled as well as well have all year," said CSUB Head Coach Manny Rivera. "We have been talking to our guys about how the most passionate and aggressive wrestler usually wins. They wrestled with a great attitude and a great approach today and got the result they deserved." The `Runners led by a score of 19-10 when Ducharme took the mat at 197, needing only a three-point win to ice the meet for Bakersfield. Ducharme left little doubt, racing out to a four-point first period lead. He added a reversal and four nearfall points in the second to set up an anti-climactic third and final frame. Ducharme's final margin of victory was 13-0 and included over three minutes of ride time. "That was Dom's best performance in close to a month," said Rivera. "He embraced the role of closer and put his match away quickly today. He dominated his guy and that is a great sign for us." Rohlfing, the #26 wrestler at 149 per TrackWrestling.com posted his second-straight major decision win. He scored a takedown in each period and jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead, before allowing an escape due to an illegal hold midway through the final period to Fresno State's #30 Greg Gaxiola. Gaxiola's point snapped Rohlfing's run of eight straight periods without being scored upon. His last point against was on Jan. 2 at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. Alex Hernandez-Figueroa won by forfeit at 125, when the Bulldogs choose not to send a wrestler to the mat, and gave CSUB an early 6-0 lead. Fresno State would then win the first two contested bouts, taking 7-6 lead when Gary Joint beat #26 Chance Rich at 133 and Lawrence Saenz held on for a 6-3 decision over Angelo Martinoni at 141. Momentum swung in the Bakersfield's favor when Wyatt Gerl followed Rohlfing's dominating win with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over FSU's #17 Jacob Wright at 157. After a scoreless first, Gerl took control when, for the second-straight outing, he was able to ride his opponent for the entire middle stanza. His dominant ride proved critical when he found himself trailing midway through the third. Wright, hoping for a takedown to win and avoid overtime, allowed Gerl to escape and tie the score at 2-2. Wright's takedown would never come to fruition and the ride time point gave Gerl his first win over a ranked opponent in his Roadrunner career. "Wyatt's win was pivotal," Rivera said. "He stepped up and changed the momentum for us today against an opponent he knows well. He really wanted that win today and he went out there and took it." Jacob Thalin and Albert Urias then added consecutive wins to set the table for Ducharme's clinching win. Thalin fell behind early in the first when he conceded a takedown to Bulldog Ricky Padilla but was clean the rest of the match, adding four nearfall points and an escape to win 5-2 in the 165 lb bout. Urias scored three key escapes to outlast Fresno State's Adam Kemp at 174, 7-4. He held a narrow one-point lead in the third, before he simply wore down his Bulldog opponent shoving him to the mat for his second takedown. Jarrod Snyder collected CSUB's final victory, when he tossed FSU's Danny Salas to the ground with just three seconds remaining in the sudden victory period. It was the senior's second-straight overtime win and his third of the season. The win was CSUB's first win over a ranked opponent since last year's Feud on the Field, when they also knocked off the 25th-ranked Bulldogs. The `Runners return to action on Friday, Feb. 7 when they begin Pac-12 competition against Oregon State at 7 p.m. Results: 125: Alejx Hernandez-Figueroa (CSUB) over (Fre) (For.) 133: Gary Joint (Fre) over Chance Rich (CSUB) (MD 8-0) 141: Lawrence Saenz (Fre) over Angelo Martinoni (CSUB) (Dec 6-3) 149: Russell Rohlfing (CSUB) over Greg Gaxiola (Fre) (MD 10-2) 157: Wyatt Gerl (CSUB) over Jacob Wright (Fre) (Dec 3-2) 165: Jacob Thalin (CSUB) over Ricky Padilla (Fre) (Dec 5-2) 174: Albert Urias (CSUB) over Adam Kemp (Fre) (Dec 7-4) 184: Hunter Cruz (Fre) over Josh Loomer (CSUB) (Dec 2-1) 197: Dom Ducharme (CSUB) over Isaiah Perez (Fre) (MD 13-0) 285: Jarrod Snyder (CSUB) over Danny Salas (Fre) (SV-1 3-1)

STILLWATER -- The No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2 overall, 5-1 Big 12) picked up a gritty 26-6 win over 24th-ranked Missouri on Sunday, highlighted by an upset win from Wyatt Sheets and two overtime victories. The 157-pound sophomore took out No. 11 Jarrett Jacques in the first tiebreaker of the match. Down three late in the third, Sheets escaped, notched a takedown and rode out the period to eliminate the Tiger's riding time and send the bout to overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory, Jacques scored an escape. Sheets countered with an escape of his own and added a takedown to win the bout, 8-6. "It was a big win," coach John Smith said. "I thought Wyatt competed well. Sheets just kept coming, even when it looked like he was done, he would get an escape or a takedown. I love to see that. Everyone thinks we had just lost the match, and all of the sudden he's up and out and hits a beautiful duck under and finishes him off in the overtime. It is good to see him make that adjustment and not stop. Wyatt won on pure will today." Also collecting an overtime win for the Pokes was Cornelius Putnam. The heavyweight wrestler collected his first dual victory inside Gallagher-Iba over Jacob Bohlken in the second tiebreaker, 3-2. A rideout in overtime was the difference in the bout. "Coach Perry told me to ride them out and get tough," Putnam said. "When my mind goes blank and I don't know what to do, he always reels me back in. Wrestling is simple and winning is the fun part, and I forgot that for a minute until today. It feels good to win." Senior Nick Piccininni collected his second technical fall of the weekend with a 20-5 win over Mizzou's Cameron Valdiviez. The Poke rattled off four takedowns and a pair of nearfalls in the bout. No. 8 Travis Wittlake remained perfect in dual action with an 11-6 decision against Mizzou's Peyton Mocco. Dusty Hone also picked up dual win No. 2 this weekend. The Cowboy topped Missouri's Alex Butler 9-3. Following Hone's match, Boo Lewallen lost his first contest this season to No. 5 Brock Mauller, 5-3, in sudden victory. Freshman Reece Witcraft was the Cowboys' only other loss of the afternoon. He dropped a tough bout, 11-7, to Allan Hart. OSU took the bout at 174 pounds in a thriller between No. 11 Joe Smith and Connor Flynn. Flynn took Smith down and to his back early in the first, but the senior Cowboy fought him off collecting an escape, takedown and nearfall to round out the first period. Smith scored an escape in the second and closed out the match with a takedown and nearfall in the final seconds to win, 12-6. Dakota Geer (197) and Anthony Montalvo (184) took back-to-back decisions from Missouri. Montalvo earned his ninth dual win against Dylan Wisman, 9-5, and Geer nabbed a 10-5 decision from Wyatt Koelling. The Pokes head west next for contests with Air Force and Wyoming on Saturday, Jan. 8, the first beginning at noon CST and the finale in Laramie at 8 p.m. CST. Results: 125: No. 4 Nick Piccininni (OSU) TF Cameron Valdiviez (MU) 20-5, 7:00 133: Allan Hart (MU) dec. Reece Witcraft (OSU) 11-7 141: Dusty Hone (OSU) dec. Alex Butler (MU) 9-3 149: No. 5 Brock Mauller dec. No. 1 Boo Lewallen (OSU) 5-3 SV1 157: Wyatt Sheets (OSU) dec. No. 11 Jarrett Jacques (MU) 8-6 TB1 165: No. 8 Travis Wittlake (OSU) dec. Peyton Mocco (MU) 11-6 174: No. 11 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. Connor Flynn (MU) 12-6 184: Anthony Montalvo (OSU) dec. Dylan Wisman (MU) 9-5 197: No. 11 Dakota Geer (OSU) dec. Wyatt Koelling (MU) 10-5 HWT: Cornelius Putnam (OSU) dec. Jacob Bohlken (MU) 3-2 TB2

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- South Dakota State wrestlers won three matches by technical fall and another by pin in shutting out first-year program Little Rock, 42-0, in dual action Sunday afternoon at Jack Stephens Center. The Jackrabbits, who have now won seven of their last nine duals, improved to 8-5 overall. Sunday's dual marked SDSU's first shutout of a Division I opponent in 14 years. Little Rock dropped to 1-5 in its inaugural season. After Peyton Smith (157 pounds) and Tanner Cook (165) won back-to-back decisions to open the dual, the Jackrabbits began to assert their dominance in the upper weights. Freshman 174-pounder Cade King marked his return to the lineup with an 18-2 technical fall over Tristan Tadeo in a match that was stopped 25 seconds into the third period. Zach Carlson, ranked 16th at 184 pounds, needed only one period to post another 18-2 technical fall versus Matthew Muller. Carlson recorded three takedowns and added a trio of four-point near-falls in improving to 18-5 on the season. To close the first half of the dual, Kelby Hawkins moved up a couple weight classes to fill in for an injured Tanner Sloan at 197 pounds and came away with a 6-3 decision over James Johnson. Blake Wolters began the second half of the dual by receiving a forfeit that pushed the SDSU lead to 25-0. Danny Vega then came through with the third technical fall of the afternoon for the Jackrabbits, posting an 18-3 victory over Jayden Carson. Vega raced out to an 8-1 first-period lead before building the lead to 14-1 through two periods with a takedown and four-point near-fall in the second stanza. Following consecutive decisions by redshirt freshmen Zach Price (133) and Clay Carlson (141), 10th-ranked Henry Pohlmeyer put the exclamation point on the match with a pin in 36 seconds against Tyler Brennan in the 149-pound bout. Price's victory, a 10-7 decision, came against former North Dakota State wrestler Paul Bianchi. In sealing the shutout, Pohlmeyer's pin was his second of the season as he upped his record to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in duals. UP NEXT The Jackrabbits will embark on another two-dual weekend road trip next weekend, starting with a Big 12 Conference dual Friday at West Virginia. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) at the WVU Coliseum. NOTES SDSU's last shutout win over a Division I opponent was a 44-0 victory over Delaware State at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 13, 2006 The last time SDSU shut out any dual opponent was a 49-0 victory over in-state Division II opponent Augustana at the Dakota Showcase in Spearfish on Dec. 3, 2017 Zach Carlson became the first Jackrabbit to reach the 10-win mark in duals this season, improving to 10-3 Vega notched his eighth dual win of the season, while Pohlmeyer, Cook and Clay Carlson each won for the seventh time in dual competition Results: 157: Peyton Smith (SDSU) dec. Thomas Lisher (LR), 2-0 165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) dec. William Edgar (LR), 10-7 174: Cade King (SDSU) tech. fall Tristan Tadeo (LR), 18-2 [5:25] 184: #16 Zach Carlson (SDSU) tech. fall Matthew Muller (LR), 18-2 [3:00] 197: Kelby Hawkins (SDSU) dec. James Johnson, 6-3 285: Blake Wolters (SDSU) won by forfeit 125: #25 Danny Vega (SDSU) tech. fall Jayden Carson (LR), 18-3 [7:00] 133: Zach Price (SDSU) dec. Paul Bianchi (LR), 10-7 141: Clay Carlson (SDSU) dec. Conner Ward (LR), 8-5 149: #10 Henry Pohlmeyer (SDSU) def. Tyler Brennan (LR), by fall 0:36

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-1 B1G), ranked No. 2 in the latest InterMat Tournament Power Index, dominated visiting Maryland (2-13, 0-7) in sold out Rec Hall Sunday. The Nittany Lions won all but one bout and had a couple Lions pick up landmark victories in a 40-3 win over the Terrapins. Penn State used three technical falls, two pins and a major and got a couple 'firsts' along the way. Including tonight's dual, Penn State is in the midst of a run that four-of-five road duals in 16 days, including action at Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota with this home dual against Maryland on Sunday splitting the four road dates. All rankings listed are InterMat. The dual began at 125 where freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) took on Brandon Cray. The duo gave the fans a back-and-forth affair that ended with a hard-fought 8-7 Cray victory. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 3 at 133, then gave Penn State a lead it would not relinquish. Bravo-Young put on a takedown clinic to post a dominating 24-9 technical fall over King Sandoval, using 2:28 in riding time to get the tech at the 7:00 mark. The Lion sophomore had 11 takedowns in the bout. Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 3 at 141, dominated Maryland's Hunter Baxter from the outset, rolling up a handful of takedowns and three near fall combos to post the lopsided 16-0 technical fall at the 5:52 mark. Lee's win put Penn State up 10-3. Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) kept Penn State rolling at 149, looking strong in a 9-0 major decision over Maryland's Ryan Garlitz. Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) battled Maryland veteran Jahi Jones at 157 and thrilled the Rec Hall faithful with a 3-0 win. The victory was Pipher's first Big Ten dual meet win and put Penn State up 17-3 at intermission. at halftime. Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165, made quick work of Maryland's Kyle Cochran to open up the second half. Joseph worked Cochran's shoulders to the mat, locked him up and rolled him over for the pin at the 4:01 mark. Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 1 at 174, then made shorter work of Phillip Spadafora. Mirroring Joseph's move, Hall worked Spadafora to the mat, locked up control of his shoulders and turned him for the fast fall at 0:51. Hall's pin put Penn State up 29-3. Freshman Creighton Edsell (Wyalusing, Pa.) stepped in for No. 9 Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) at 184 and kept the Nittany Lions rolling. Edsell used a first period takedown and 2:22 in riding time to roll to a 5-2 win over Kyle Jasenski. With No. 18 Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.) held out at 197, sophomore Austin Hoopes (Afton, Wyo.) got the nod at 197 and took advantage of the opportunity. Hoopes notched a late takedown to post a 3-2 victory over Maryland's Niko Cappello, grabbing his first dual meet win for Penn State. True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 15 at 285, closed out the dual with Penn State's third tech fall of the day. Nevills rolled up eight takedowns on his way to a 21-6 technical fall over Parker Robinson, getting the tech at the 6:07 mark. Nevills' win locked in the final score at 40-3 for Penn State. Penn State worked its way to a 31-3 advantage in takedowns and totaled 13 bonus points off two pins (Joseph, Hall), three tech falls (Bravo-Young, Lee, Nevills) and a major (Verkleeren). Penn State is now 8-2 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten. Maryland falls to 2-13, 0-6 in the Big Ten. Penn State closes out its road schedule next weekend with two tough Big Ten trips. The Lions are at Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 7, at 9 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m. Central. Two days later Penn State visits Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m. Eastern / 1 p.m. Central. Both duals are BTN national telecasts. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here. Results: 125: Brandon Cray MD dec. Brandon Meredith PSU, 8-7 0-3 133: #3 Roman Bravo-Young PSU tech fall King Sandoval MD, 24-9 (TF; 7:00) 5-3 141: #2 Nick Lee PSU tech fall Hunter Baxter MD, 16-0 (TF; 5:52) 10-3 149: Jarod Verkleeren PSU maj. dec. Ryan Garlitz MD, 9-0 14-3 157: Bo Pipher PSU dec. Jahi Jones MD, 3-0 17-3 165: #1 Vincenzo Joseph PSU pinned Kyle Cochran MD, WBF (4:01) 23-3 174: #1 Mark Hall PSU pinned Phillip Spadafora MD, WBF (0:51) 29-3 184: Creighton Edsell PSU dec. Kyle Jasenski MD, 5-2 32-3 197: Austin Hoopes PSU dec. Niko Cappello MD, 3-2 35-3 285: #15 Seth Nevills PSU tech fall Parker Robinson, 21-6 (TF; 6:07) 40-3 Attendance: 6,414 (54th straight sellout in Rec Hall, 59 of 61 overall w/ 5 of 7 in BJC) Records: Penn State (8-2, 5-1 B1G); Maryland (2-13, 0-7 B1G) Up Next for Penn State: at Wisconsin, Friday, Feb. 7, 9 p.m. Eastern / 8 p.m. Central (BTN) BOUT-BY-BOUT: 125: Freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) faced off against junior Brandon Cray. Cray scored quickly, taking Meredith down in the opening seconds to take an early 2-0 lead. Meredith fought off a slight turn attempt and reversed Cray to tie the bout at 2-2 with 2:00 on the clock. Cray escaped on an ensuing scramble to lead by one. Meredith initiated a scramble that ended in a stalemate as the clock moved to 1:00. The Lion shot, Cray countered and Meredith scrambled through the counter for a takedown and a 4-3 lead with :35 on the clock. The Lion then controlled the action or the remainder of the period and carried the 4-3 lead into the second period. Meredith chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 5-3 lead. But Cray blew through a high shot for a takedown and two back points to take a 7-5 lead with 1:00 on the clock. Meredith, undaunted, muscled his way to a reversal to tie the bout at 7-7 with :25 on the clock. The Lion once again finished with a rideout and the bout moved to the third period tied 7-7. Cray chose down to start the third period. Meredith fought off a reversal attempt and locked hands was called. The match was stopped for an official review and the call was reversed. Cray escaped on the reset and led 8-7 at the :57 mark. Meredith took a high single and forced a scramble at the :40 mark but Cray was able to kill vital seconds and get a stalemate called with :27 on the clock. Cray forced a scramble and a stalemate once more with :07 on the clock and then Cray ran away from Meredith for the last seven seconds and got the 8-7 win. 133: Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 3 at 133, battled freshman King Sandoval. The Lion sophomore battled Sandoval evenly over the first minute-plus, working to find an opening in Sandoval's defense. Sandoval took a slight high single but Bravo-Young forced a stalemate with :54 on the clock. Bravo-Young zipped through a fast shot at the :35 mark and took a 2-0 lead. He finished the period on top and carried that lead into the second period. Bravo-Young chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. He took Sandoval down, cut him loose and then went to work on offense again, leading 5-1. Bravo-Young picked up another quick takedown and led 7-2 after cutting the Terp loose again. He added three more takedowns and led 13-4 with 1:14 in time after two. Sandoval chose down to start the third period. Bravo-Young cut the Terrapin loose, then took him down again to lead 15-5 at the 1:15 mark. Bravo-Young, looking for a tech or more, added three more takedowns to lead 21-8 at the :20 mark. He added a final takedown and a rideout and, with 2:28 in riding time, posted the 24-9 technical fall at the 7:00 mark. 141: Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 2 at 141, met Hunter Baxter. Lee scored quickly, taking Baxter down for an early 2-0 lead. He worked the top position, looking for a turning combination. After a few seconds of work, Lee turned Baxter for two nearfall points, reset and went back to work on top leading 4-0. The Lion junior then worked a cradle to turn Baxter once more. He settled for four nearfall points and n 8-0 lead with :21 on the clock. Lee rode Baxter out and led 8-0 with 2:35 in riding time after the opening period. Lee chose down to start the second period. Baxter was able to control Lee for a minute before the Lion rolled through for a reversal after a reset to take a 10-0 lead at the :35 mark. Lee finished the period with four more back points and led 14-0 after two. Baxter chose top to start the third period. Lee deftly worked his way into control on a reversal and ended the bout. Lee posted the 16-0 technical fall at the 5:52 mark. 149: Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) met Ryan Garlitz at 149. Verkleeren worked in on a high single and quickly took Garlitz down for an early 2-0 lead. The Nittany Lion sophomore then controlled the action from the top position, building up over 1:00 in riding time while looking for a chance to turn Garlitz. Verkleeren settled for a strong rideout and led 2-0 with 2:22 in riding time after the opening period. Verkleeren chose down to start the second period. The Lion sophomore escaped with 1:00 on the clock and then worked Garlitz's shoulders to the mat, forcing a stalemate and leading 3-0. Garlitz took a slight shot but Verkleeren countered the move and worked his way around for a takedown of his own to up his lead to 5-0. Trailing 5-0, Garlitz chose top to start the third period. Verkleeren worked his way to his feet and a 6-0 lead at the :55 mark. Looking for bonus points, Verkleeren quickly turned into Garlitz and took him down to up his lead to 8-0. With riding time over a minute, Verkleeren finished the bout on top and, with 1:31 in time, rolled to the 9-0 major decision. 157: Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) battled senior Jahi Jones. Pipher took an early high single that Jones was able to step away from. The Lion junior continued to move forward and press the action. Jones was able to defend Pipher over the first half of the opening period. With the clock moving below 1:00, Pipher took another high single that Jones was able to step away from. Jones tried to lock Pipher's shoulders but the action ended in a stalemate with :25 left in the period. Tied 0-0 after one, Pipher chose down to start the second period. The Lion worked his way into control of Jones' leg, then finished off the reversal to lead 2-0 with 1:40 on the clock. Pipher controlled the action on top as the clock slid below 1:00. Pipher broke Jones down once again after a reset, forcing the Terrapin's stomach back to the mat with :20 left in the period. He finished with a rideout and led 2-0 with 1:27 in riding time after two periods. Jones chose neutral to start the third period, trailing by two. Pipher fought off a strong Jones double leg, worked back to neutral and the clock dipped to the 1:15 mark. Jones dove forward again with :50 on the clock and Pipher easily locked him up to force another stalemate. Pipher got called for stalling with :22 on the clock. He finished the bout in neutral and, with 1:27 in riding time, posted a strong 3-0 victory. 165: Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165, met Kyle Cochran. Joseph worked the middle off the mat to start the bout and hit a high single to take Cochran down for an early 2-0 lead. He cut the Terp loose and went back to work on offense, picking up a second takedown to lead 4-1 at the 1:50 mark. Joseph cut Cochran loose on a reset, then quickly took him down a third time to lead 6-2. Cochran got called for stalling and then Joseph finished the period with a two point turn and led 8-2 with 2:16 in time after the opening stanza. Joseph chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 9-2 lead. Joseph turned a low single into a scramble but a stalemate was called with 1:17 on the clock. Joseph worked Cochran's shoulders to the mat, locked them up and quickly turned the Terrapin to his back. He set himself quickly and got the fall at the 4:01 mark. 174: Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 1 at 174, faced off against Phillip Spadafora. Spadafora took the bout's first shot and Hall quickly stepped back from the move. Like Joseph moments before, Hall worked Spadafora's shoulders to the mat, locked up control and quickly rolled the Terrapin over for a fast fall. Hall got the pin at the 0:51 mark. 184: Freshman Creighton Edsell (Wyalusing, Pa.) stepped in for No. 9 Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) at 197 and took on Kyle Jasenski. The duo battled evenly for the first minute-plus. Jasenski took a high single but Edsell scrambled his way into control of the Terrapin's legs. Jasenski countered the scramble in the middle of the mat but Edsell was steady. The Lion freshman finished off the takedown and led 2-0 with :35 left in the period. Edsell finished the period on top and carried the 2-0 lead into the second stanza. Jasenski chose down to start the second period but Edsell controlled things on offense. He built his riding time edge up over 1:00 with a strong ride. With the clock moving below 1:00, Edsell broke Jasenski down and finished the period on top. Leading n2-0 with 2:41 in time, Edsell chose down to start the third period and Jasenski cut him loose to a 3-0 score. Jasenski forced a scramble with a solid high single and finished off a takedown with :55 on the clock to cut the lead to 3-2. Edsell escaped to a 4-2 score and action resumed neutral with :35 left to wrestle. Edsell finished the bout on his feet and, with 2:22 in riding time, notched the 5-2 victory. 197: With No. 18 Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.) held out at 197, sophomore Austin Hoopes (Afton, Wyo.) tangled with junior Niko Cappello. The duo worked the middle off the mat for the first two minutes of the opening period. Cappello took a fast low single at the 1:00 mark but Hoopes was able to step out of trouble and the match continued in neutral tied 0-0. With the bout tied 0-0 after the opening three minutes, Hoopes chose down to start the second period. The Lion was able to work his way to his feet and took a 1-0 lead with an escape at the 1:30 mark. Hoopes took two high shots that Cappello stepped back from as the clock moved below 1:00. Trailing 1-0, Cappello chose down to start the final stanza and quickly escaped to a 1-1 tie. Hoopes took another high single that the Terrapin was able to defend and the bout moved down to the 1:10 mark. Cappello shot low but Hoopes countered, nearly taking the lead with a takedown. But Cappello scrambled out of trouble. Hoopes worked a counter move to a takedown to open up a 3-1 lead with :40 on the clock. Cappello quickly escaped to cut the lead to 3-2. Hoopes fought off a late Cappello shot and picked up his first Penn State dual victory with a 3-2 win. 285: True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 15 at 285, met sophomore Parker Robinson. Nevills and Robinson worked the middle of the mat for the first minute of the period. Nevills was patient and took a 2-0 lead with a takedown at the 1:10 mark. He then went to work on top, building up over 1:00 in riding time as he looked to turn the Terrapin big man. Nevills' turned Robinson or two back points and, with a rideout, led 4-0 with 1:16 in time after one. Nevills chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 5-0 lead. He scored on a quick shot at the 1:20 mark and led 7-1 after cutting Robinson loose. Nevills added a counter takedown to open up a 9-1 lead, then tacked on one more takedown to lead 11-2. He turned the Terrapin for two more back points and led 13-2 with 2:14 in riding time after two periods. Robinson chose down to start the third period and Nevills cut him loose to a 13-3 score. Nevills picked up two more takedowns to lead 17-5 with 1:40 on the clock. He ended the bout with two more takedowns to roll to a 21-6 technical fall at the 6:07 mark.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- No. 15 Illinois wrestling edged past No. 21 Northwestern, 19-18, Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall. Trailing 18-15 heading into the final bout, freshman Luke Luffman came through with a 14-4 major decision over Jack Heyob in the heavyweight match to give the Illini the 19-18 dual win. Illinois also saw wins on Sunday from redshirt freshman Justin Cardani (125), senior Travis Piotrowski (133) redshirt junior Dylan Duncan (141) and redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel (184). The Illini are now 7-3 overall this season, 4-2 in Big Ten duals and 5-0 at Huff Hall. "We knew going into heavyweight just because of the way the other nine matches went that we weren't going to win on criteria and had to get at least a major decision to win the dual meet," said head coach Jim Heffernan. "I went and told Luke (Luffman) that. He did a great job. He hustled, he wrestled hard, he was awesome." Redshirt freshman Justin Cardani started the dual with an upset win over No. 9 Michael DeAugustino. Cardani got out to the early lead with a takedown in the first. He'd tack on a point for an escape plus the riding time point to take a 4-2 decision over DeAugustino. Cardani is now 12-6 on the season, 8-2 in dual matchups, and 5-1 in Big Ten bouts. Senior Travis Piotrowski kept his big season going with a dominant performance in the 133-pound bout. Going against Dylan Utterback, Piotrowski tallied five takedowns and two four-point nearfalls on his way to achieving a 20-3 tech. fall victory in the third period. Piotrowski, ranked seventh nationally at 133-pounds by FloWrestling, is now 19-2 on the season, and a perfect 10-0 in dual bouts. Redshirt junior Dylan Duncan was able to extend the Illinois lead with a win against Alec McKenna in the 141-pound matchup. Duncan got out to an early, 2-0, lead with a takedown late in the first. He scored two more with a reversal in the second. Duncan earned the riding time point, and won a 5-0 decision over McKenna to put the Illinois advantage at 11-0. Nationally ranked No. 12 at 141-pounds, Duncan is now 15-6 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten duals. After dropping the next four bouts, Illinois needed a win at 184-pounds to get back on track. Redshirt freshman Zac Braunagel scored in the match with two takedowns, a reversal, a two-point nearfall a four-point nearfall and the riding time point, going on to win the bout by major decision over Jack Jessen, 13-2. Braunagel's major decision evened the dual score at 15-15. Ranked 13th nationally at 184-pounds, Braunagel moves to 15-7 on the season. After falling behind with a loss at 197-pounds, Illinois needed a bonus-points win at heavyweight to win the dual. Freshman Luke Luffman was able to deliver taking on Jack Heyob. Luffman tallied four takedowns en route to his 14-4 major decision victory over Heyob, which gave Illinois four team points to win the dual, 19-18. Luffman is now 13-7 on the season. Up next, the Illini head to the east coast for a pair of Big Ten duals next weekend. Illinois faces off against Rutgers on Friday, February 7 at 6 p.m. CT. The Illini will then travel to Maryland for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Terrapins, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CT. Both duals can be streamed with a subscription to BTN +. Results: 125: Justin Cardani (ILL) dec. No. 9 Michael DeAugustino (NU), 4-2 | ILL 3, NU 0 133: No. 7 Travis Piotrowski (ILL) tech. fall Dylan Utterback (NU), 21-3 | ILL 8, NU 0 141: No. 12 Dylan Duncan (ILL) dec. Alec Mckenna (NU), 5-0 | ILL 11, NU 0 149: No. 16 Yahya Thomas (NU) dec. Mousa Jodeh (ILL), 2-1 | ILL 11, NU 3 157: No. 1 Ryan Deakin (NU) Fall Eric Barone (ILL), 5:38, | ILL 11, NU 9 165: No. 18 Shayne Oster (NU) dec. No. 15 Danny Braunagel (ILL), 7-6 | NU 12, ILL 11 174: Tyler Morland (NU) dec. No. 22 Joey Gunther (ILL), 2-0 | NU 15, ILL 11 184: No. 13 Zac Braunagel (ILL) major dec. Jack Jessen (NU), 13-2 | ILL 15, NU 15 197: No. 12 Lucas Davison (NU) dec. Matt Wroblewski (ILL), 5-0 | NU 18, ILL 15 285: Luke Luffman (ILL) major dec. Jack Heyob (NU), 14-4 | ILL 19, NU 18

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- App State remained unbeaten in Southern Conference action with a 27-12 road victory against rival Chattanooga on Sunday. The Mountaineers (7-2, 4-0) entered the dual in a three-way tie for first place with the Mocs (5-8, 3-1) and Campbell. Those three teams shared the SoCon regular-season title last season. App State built a 22-3 lead behind wins from Codi Russell, Bradley Irwin, Jonathan Millner, Matt Zovistoski, Will Formato and Thomas Flitz before Cary Miller ended the dual with a tech fall via a shutout. True freshman Sean Carter hung tough in a 6-5 loss to 19th-ranked Fabien Gutierrez to open the dual at 125 pounds, and the Mountaineers moved ahead 5-3 in the team score thanks to Russell's 21-6 tech fall against Colton Landers. App State's Bradley Irwin then responded with a second-period pin against Mason Wallace. In a matchup of ranked wrestlers at 149, Millner (No. 21) posted a 6-3 decision against Tanner Smith (No. 24), and the Mountaineers took a 16-3 lead into intermission thanks to Zovistoski's 8-4 decision against Tyler Shilson at 157. Formato then faced Chattanooga's Drew Nicholson for the second straight weekend and claimed a 2-1 decision at 165 pounds. With Formato possessing a 1-0 lead and more than a minute advantage in riding time, Nicholson got a tying escape in the third period but was quickly penalized a point for stalling. The riding time advantage fell under a minute, but Formato ended up with another victory against Nicholson. Flitz earned a 5-2 decision against Hunter Fortner at 174 pounds, increasing App State's lead to 22-3, before Chattanooga won two straight matches with a pin from 20th-ranked Matthew Waddell at 184 pounds against Julian Gorring and Rodney Jones' 4-2 decision against Paul Carson at 197. Miller wrapped up the dual with a 16-0 tech fall against Grayson Walthall. The 2019-20 wrestling season is presented by Hungry Howies, and App State returns to action Saturday at The Citadel. Results: 125: No. 19 Fabian Gutierrez (UTC) def. Sean Carter (APP), 6-5 dec. 133: Codi Russell (APP) def. Colton Landers (UTC), 21-5 tech fall 141: Bradley Irwin (APP) def. Mason Wallace (UTC), fall, 4:21 149: #21 Jonathan Millner (APP) def. No. 24 Tanner Smith (UTC), 6-3 dec. 157: #18 Matt Zovistoski (APP) def. Tyler Shilson (UTC), 8-4 dec. 165: Will Formato (APP) def. Drew Nicholson (UTC), 2-1 dec. 174: Thomas Flitz (APP) def. Hunter Fortner (UTC), 5-2 dec. 184: No. 20 Matthew Waddell (UTC) def. Julian Gorring (APP), fall, 2:53 197: Rodney Jones (UTC) def. Paul Carson (APP), 4-2 dec. 285: #24 Cary Miller (APP) vs. Grayson Walthall (UTC), 16-0 tech fall * A point was deducted for postmatch misconduct at 141 pounds.

NORFOLK, Va. -- Virginia Tech defeated Old Dominion 23-9 Sunday afternoon in Norfolk to sweep the weekend set of in-state foes. With the win, No. 7 Tech improves to 10-1 this season and 6-0 on the road. The Hokies have three duals remaining on their schedule, two of which are away from Blacksburg. MATCH HIGHLIGHTS Collin Gerardi earned a 9-5 decision win over Shannon Hanna to even the team score at three. The redshirt freshman had three takedowns and held the riding time advantage to win his 12th match of the season. Gerardi is now outscoring his dual opponents 30-10. After securing a decision win Friday against Virginia, No. 18 Mitch Moore did it again Sunday afternoon. Moore pulled out the 6-5 decision over Sa'Derian Perry in a third period where Perry had two takedowns, but Moore was able to escape three times for the one-point victory. The sophomore is now 8-2 in dual matches this season. No. 5 David McFadden completed his perfect weekend with an 8-2 decision over Shane Jones. McFadden also won by decision in Friday's dual against Virginia. The redshirt senior won his 50th career dual match Sunday afternoon. Cody Hughes won his second-straight dual match Sunday in Norfolk. Hughes picked up a decision win over Alex Cramer to improve to 11-8 on the season. The 174-pounder is 7-4 in dual matches this year. No. 2 Hunter Bolen won his 11th dual match of the season Sunday afternoon. Bolen had a 7-2 decision over Antonio Agee to stay unbeaten in duals. Bolen is outscoring his dual opponents 42-0. After dropping his match to No. 9 Jay Aiello of Virginia Friday night, Stanley Smeltzer rebounded with a 14-5 major decision over Tim Young. The win clinched the dual for the Hokies, putting them ahead 19-9 with just one match left. The redshirt sophomore now has eight major decision wins on the season, most by any Hokie this season. No. 18 John Borst closed out the dual with a shutout. The heavyweight blanked Will Hilliard 13-0 to claim his fifth major decision of the season. Borst improves to 17-6 on the season and 8-3 in duals. Results: 125: #20 Killian Cardinale (ODU) dec. #13 Joey Prata (VT), 2-1 133: Collin Gerardi (VT) dec. Shannon Hanna (ODU), 9-5 141: #18 Mitch Moore (VT) dec. Sa'Derian Perry (ODU), 6-5 149: Kenan Carter (ODU) dec. Bryce Andonian (VT), 9-6 157: #11 Larry Early (ODU) dec. #18 B.C. LaPrade (VT), 3-1 165: #5 David McFadden (VT) dec. Shane Jones (ODU), 8-2 174: Cody Hughes (VT) dec. Alex Cramer (ODU), 4-2 184: #2 Hunter Bolen (VT) dec. Antonio Agee (ODU), 7-2 197: Stanley Smeltzer (VT) MD Tim Young (ODU), 14-5 285: #18 John Borst (VT) MD Will Hilliard (ODU), 13-0 UP NEXT Virginia Tech returns home for its last dual in Blacksburg of the 2019-20 season Saturday night in the Moss Arts Center. The dual is set to start at 6 p.m. on Senior Night.

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio wrestling team (6-6, 4-3 MAC) recorded its fourth Mid-American Conference victory in its last five conference duals, taking down Bloomsburg (2-5, 0-4 MAC) in decisive fashion, 28-9, this afternoon at the Convocation Center. The Bobcats won seven of the final nine bouts to beat the Huskies by 19 points. Freshman Christian Gannone gave Bloomsburg a 3-0 lead with a 4-1 win by decision at 125 pounds to open the match, but the Bobcats won each of the next six weight classes to take control. Redshirt freshman Giovanni DiSabato (Hilliard, Ohio) got things going for Ohio with a 5-0 win by decision at 133 over redshirt freshman Josh Mason. The Bobcats then scored back-to-back victories by major decision, with redshirt senior Shakur Laney (Canal Winchester, Ohio), currently ranked No. 17 in his weight class by InterMat Wrestling, posting a 17-7 win over junior Shawn Orem at 141 and redshirt sophomore Alec Hagan (Eureka, Mo.) following an 11-1 triumph at 149. Ohio posted a pair of one-point victories in the next two bouts. Redshirt senior Zac Carson (Akron, Ohio) logged a 3-2 win by decision over sophomore Aaron Coleman at 157, and redshirt junior Joe Terry (Pickerington, Ohio) followed with a 2-1 win by decision over senior Nate Newberry at 165. "Shakur just goes out there and competes the same way at '41 that he did at '25," said 23rd-year head coach Joel Greenlee. "He's aggressive, he goes hard. After every match, he sits down and he thinks about what he has to do different to get better and makes changes, and you can see it. Alec Hagan, I think he's super consistent. He's been doing well. We'd like to see him get to his offense a little bit more, get a few more takedowns, but he's done really well. Zac Carson, I think he's Mr. Consistency. He's had a pretty tough couple of weeks. He's got a pretty good month ahead of him." Sophomore Logan Stanley (Fredericksburg, Ohio) made it a 22-3 lead for Ohio thanks to a 22-3 win by technical fall in 6:57 over senior Anthony Vetrano at 174. "He's getting better and better every day," said Greenlee of Stanley. "He went out there and got a takedown early and just kept his foot on the gas the whole match." Bloomsburg scored back-to-back wins at 184 and 197, with redshirt senior Trevor Allard, ranked No. 12 in his weight class by InterMat, picking up a 4-3 win and senior Kyle Murphy earning a 3-1 win in sudden victory. Redshirt freshman Jordan Earnest (Wadsworth, Ohio) put his stamp on the victory for Ohio by pinning redshirt sophomore Jarrett Walters in 4:51 to end the match. "It felt great there at the end, said Earnest. "We wanted to start off strong, and, obviously, we continued that all the way through the dual and just ended on a strong note. It's a great feeling." Earnest, who is in his first season as a regular in Ohio's starting lineup, is now 16-8 on the season with four wins coming by fall. "I never would have thought I could have gotten this far so quickly," said Earnest. "It's just been building week upon week. One win turns into two, two wins turns into three. The setbacks become a bigger step forward. It's been great stepping in for Zach Parker, the previous heavyweight. It's been nice to be able to fill in for him and continue and a good heavyweight streak." Ohio continues its stretch of five-straight home dates to close out the 2019-20 regular season next Sunday (Feb. 9) when it hosts MAC foe Northern Illinois at noon ET, then takes on non-conference opponent South Dakota State at 2 p.m. ET. Results: 125: Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg) def. Derek Giallombardo, 4-1 dec. (0-3) 133: Giovanni DiSabato (Ohio) def. Josh Mason (Bloomsburg), 5-0 dec. (3-3) 141: No. 17 Shakur Laney (Ohio) def. Shawn Orem (Bloomsburg), 17-7 maj. dec. (7-3) 149: Alec Hagan (Ohio) def. Aaron Coleman (Bloomsburg), 11-1 maj. dec. (11-3) 157: Zac Carson (Ohio) def. Alex Carida (Bloomsburg), 3-2 dec. (14-3) 165: Joe Terry (Ohio) def. Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg), 2-1 dec. (17-3) 174: Logan Stanley (Ohio) def. Anthony Vetrano (Bloomsburg), 18-3 tech. fall, 6:57 (22-3) 184: No. 12 Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg) def. Hunter Yeargan (Ohio), 4-3 dec. (22-6) 197: Kyle Murphy (Bloomsburg) def. Jake Walker (Ohio), 3-1 SV-1 (22-9) 285: Jordan Earnest (Ohio) def. Jarrett Walters (Bloomsburg), fall, 4:51 (28-9)

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The No. 6 Nebraska wrestling team used a last-second, match-clinching pin from a hobbled No. 4 Isaiah White (165) to defeat No. 3 Ohio State 19-14 in front of 1,675 fans at the Devaney Center on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers (7-3, 2-3 Big Ten) won six of ten bouts overall to record their first victory over a top three-rated opponent since 2008. No. 6 Mikey Labriola (174) set the tone for what would be a thrilling meet with a match-opening 3-1 victory. The returning All-American sophomore from Easton, Pa., battled No. 7 Kaleb Romero to a 1-1 tie as time was winding down in Period 3. Labriola was then able to get in on a shot and record a takedown before the buzzer sounded as Romero attempted to crawl away. Ohio State challenged the takedown, but officials confirmed the call on the mat following video review. Nebraska was, however, deducted one team point at the conclusion of the match for unsportsmanlike conduct. Buckeye redshirt freshman Rocky Jordan was able to record an upset victory over No. 8 Taylor Venz (184) in the second match of the afternoon. Venz started Period 2 on bottom and recorded a reversal to go up 2-0, but Jordan scored a third-period takedown and added a point for riding time to earn a 3-2 decision and put the Buckeyes in front 3-2. No. 6 Eric Schultz's undefeated streak against dual meet competition came to an end on Sunday as No. 1 Collin Moore (197) tallied two takedowns and rolled up two minutes and 27 seconds of riding time to win 6-2. David Jensen (HWT) got the nod at heavyweight for a second consecutive match and recorded a second straight win for the Huskers. Ohio State's Gary Traub scored a takedown in the first period, but Jensen got one of his own following a scramble at the end of Period 2. Jensen then scored two takedowns in the third period, included one off of an attempted throw by Traub, to win 8-3. Alex Thomsen (125) continued his streak of resurgent wrestling with a 5-2 decision over Malik Heinselman. Thomsen has now won three straight bouts following a four-match dual meet losing streak. The redshirt freshman from Neola, Iowa, scored a critical reversal after being taken down in Period 2 and used repeated mat returns and a takedown in Period 3 to clinch the match by a final score of 5-2. No. 13 Ridge Lovett (133) added to the drama with a last-second reversal in his match against No. 19 Jordan Decatur. The true freshmen grapplers were knotted up at four with 15 seconds remaining, but Decatur had over one minute of riding time and thus, for all intents and purposes, had a one-point advantage . Facing a potentially crushing defeat, Lovett was able to get around Decatur and record a reversal with five seconds remaining to finish off an emphatic 6-5 decision. The Buckeyes (8-3, 4-2 Big Ten) then posted back-to-back major decision victories. No. 1 Luke Pletcher ran his record to 21-0 with a 10-1 victory over No. 8 Chad Red Jr. and No. 2 Sammy Sasso scored eight of his 13 points in the third period to defeat No. 14 Collin Purinton by a final score of 13-4. No. 16 Peyton Robb was able to even the team score at 14 with an 8-3 decision over Ohio State redshirt freshman Quinn Kinner. Robb scored a takedown and four near-fall points in the first period en route to victory. With the match's outcome hanging in the balance, No. 4 Isaiah White squared off against No. 14 Ethan Smith, who had revenge on his mind following a 4-1 semifinal tiebreaker loss at the Cliff Keen Invitational back in December. White sustained a left ankle injury following a first period scramble at the edge of the mat. After receiving attention from the medical training staff, White decided to gut it out and continue wrestling. The back-and-forth match was 4-3 in favor of Smith with 10 seconds remaining. White then threw Smith to his back and recorded a pin with two seconds on the clock. Nebraska was deducted one team point for losing control of the mat, but it did little to dampen the Huskers' 19-14 victory. "I've been on the [losing] side so many times, including last Friday night [against Penn State], but today we made it happen," Head Coach Mark Manning said after the meet. Next up, NU hits the road for a pair of conference meets, first battling the No. 13 Boilermakers of Purdue on Feb. 7 before making the short trek to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana on Feb. 9. Results: 174: No. 6 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. No. 7 Kaleb Romero (OSU), 3-1 (NEB 2, OSU 0)* 184: Rocky Jordan (OSU) dec. No. 8 Taylor Venz (NEB), 3-2 (OSU 3, NEB 2) 197: No. 1 Kollin Moore (OSU) dec. No. 6 Eric Schultz (NEB), 5-2 (OSU 6, NEB 2) 285: David Jensen (NEB) dec. Gary Traub (OSU), 8-3 (OSU 6, NEB 5) 125: Alex Thomsen (NEB) dec. Malik Heinselman (OSU), 5-2 (NEB 8, OSU 6) 133: No. 13 Ridge Lovett (NEB) dec. No. 19 Jordan Decatur (OSU), 6-4 (NEB 11, OSU 6) 141: No. 1 Luke Pletcher (OSU) major dec. No. 8 Chad Red Jr. (NEB), 10-1 (NEB 11, OSU 10) 149: No. 2 Sammy Sasso (OSU) major dec. No. 14 Collin Purinton (NEB), 12-4 (OSU 14, NEB 11) 157: No. 16 Peyton Robb (NEB) dec. Quinn Kinner (OSU), 8-3 (NEB 14, OSU 14) 165: No. 4 Isaiah White (NEB) pinned No. 14 Ethan Smith (OSU), 6:58 (NEB 19, OSU 14)** *Following the 174-pound match, Nebraska was deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct **Nebraska was deducted one team point for losing control of the mat area

CLEVELAND -- The Central Michigan wrestling team won six matches, all by decision, on Sunday in topping Cleveland State, 18-13, in a Mid-American Conference dual at the Vikings' Woodling Gym. It was CMU's third-consecutive dual victory as it improved to 5-4, 5-2 MAC. Cleveland State is 8-4, 4-4 MAC. CMU got victories from Drew Hildebrandt (125 pounds), Dresden Simon (141), Mason Breece (149), Logan Parks (157), Jake Lowell (174) and Matt Stencel (285). The win came two days after CMU's 25-15 victory at Ohio on Friday. The Chippewas return to McGuirk Arena next weekend for MAC duals with Buffalo and Kent State. "We were good in some spot and other spots we weren't ourselves," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We're a little bit banged up, and it was a long trip. It'll be nice to get home and try to get healthy. We've got a big weekend next weekend too. "Feel really good about (winning). You want to win the dual meets, but you're also looking at how guys are performing. There's a lot that goes into that, travel, managing your weight, dealing with little aches and pains." The Chippewas lost four matches at Cleveland State and five at Ohio. They surrendered bonus points in just one of those losses. "The biggest thing is we're getting more and more competitive," Borrelli said. "Even the matches that we lost we were right in those matches." Good Start, Good Finish Hildebrandt's victory put the Chippewas up, 3-0, and Stencel's win in the final bout clinched the victory. The Chippewas led, 15-13, when Stencel, a junior who is ranked fourth nationally, posted a 7-1 win. It was the sixth-consecutive victory for both Stencel and Hildebrandt, who is ranked 11th. On Friday at Ohio, both pinned their respective opponents. "It's nice to have a guy to get you started and a guy to finish it," Borrelli said. First Dual Wins Two Chippewas, redshirt freshman Mason Breece (149) and redshirt sophomore Jake Lowell (174), recorded their first career dual-meet wins on a day that the Chippewas needed every point. Breece posted a 9-3 win one day after finishing 4-2 at the Edinboro Open. CMU's starter at 149, Corbyn Munson, was injured in the Ohio dual on Friday and Breece stepped up. He scored the first takedown and led throughout the match. "He really came through for us," Borrelli said. "He did a real good job of keeping his composure and he wrestled really well. I feel like he won the dual meet for us." Lowell scored a takedown as time expired for a 6-4 win, which snapped a seven-match losing streak. "He's really hung in there," Borrelli said of Lowell. "He's had some tough, tough defeats. He wrestled good on Friday (at Ohio) too. He's getting better." Bounceback Simon, who is ranked 13th nationally and second in the MAC, posted an 8-4 win over Evan Cheek, who entered the dual riding a seven-match win streak and was fourth nationally in victories. It was the first dual loss of the season for Cheek, who is ranked 19th nationally, fifth in the MAC, and is 30-4 on the season. Simon dropped an 8-7 overtime decision on Friday at Ohio to Shakur Laney. Cheek had beaten Laney, 10-3, earlier this season. "(Simon) wrestled really good today," Borrelli said. "I think he was really disappointed in what happened on Friday night. It's always good for guys to right the ship after a disappointment. It could have been a real tough weekend for Dresden. For him to put that aside and come back and wrestle the way he did today says a lot about his mental toughness." Next The Chippewas entertain Buffalo on Friday, Feb. 7 (7 p.m.) and then welcome Kent State on Sunday, Feb. 9 (2 p.m.) in their final MAC dual of the season. The Chippewas close the regular season with a home dual against Michigan State on Friday, Feb. 21 (7 p.m.). The Bulls are 7-8, 3-4; Kent State is 6-10, 2-5. Results: 125: Drew Hildebrandt (CMU) dec. Logan Heil, 6-1 133: Justin Patrick (CSU) dec. Drew Marten, 11-10 141: Dresden Simon (CMU) dec. Evan Cheek, 8-4 149: Mason Breece (CMU) dec. Gus Sutton, 9-3 157: Logan Parks (CMU) dec. Nico O'Dur, 6-2 165: Brady Barnett (CSU) major dec. Tracy Hubbard, 9-0 174: Jake Lowell (CMU) dec. Chase Archangelo, 6-4 184: DeAndre Nassar (CSU) dec. Ben Cushman, 4-2 197: Ben Smith (CSU) dec. Landon Pelham, 8-7 285: Matt Stencel (CMU) dec. Collin Kelly, 7-1

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Golden Gophers wrestling team took down the Indiana Hoosiers 38-9 on Sunday afternoon behind four pins in the first six matches. Bailee O'Reilly, Owen Webster, Hunter Ritter, and Gable Steveson all pinned their opponents to earn the Gophers a combined 24 team points. The four pins are their most this season in a dual. O'Reilly and Webster pinned their opponents in the second period while Ritter and Steveson took care of business in the first period. All three of Steveson's pins this season have come in the first period with each coming quicker and quicker. His first took 2:20, his second took 1:12, and Sunday's fall came at the 56 second mark. Finishing his first road trip back in his home state of Indiana Brayton Lee earned his second decision victory of the weekend. On Friday night against Purdue he also ended the dual for the Gophers with a victory. Ben Brancale made his first dual appearance for the Gophers since February 16, 2018, a span of 716 days, in his relief appearance for No.5 Mitch McKee. Brancale took advantage of the opportunity and earned the 8-3 decision with three takedowns. In his second dual against his former school, Devin Skatzka once again came out victorious. Skatzka put on an offensive show with a technical fall in two minutes boosted by two takedowns and four four-point nearfalls. Last season he defeated Jacob Covaciu by 8-3 decision. The Maroon and Gold got their hand raised in eight individual bouts, with the exception being the forfeit at 125-pounds and sudden victory loss at 133-pounds. The victory marks career win 40 for head coach Brandon Eggum in his four years at the helm Minnesota returns home for a February 9 dual against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the penultimate home dual against the defending national champions. Results: 157: No.22 Ryan Thomas SV1 (9-7) Fernie Silva (Minnesota leads 3-0) 165: Bailee O'Reilly fall (4:09) Dillon Hoey (Minnesota leads 9-0) 174: No.8 Devin Skatzka tech. fall (16-1) Diego Lemley (Minnesota leads 14-0) 184: No.18 Owen Webster fall (4:13) Jake Hinz (Minnesota leads 26-0) 197: Hunter Ritter fall (2:09) Nick Willham (Minnesota leads 26-0) 285: No.1 Gable Steveson fall (0:56) Rudy Streck (Minnesota leads 32-0) 125: Liam Cronin by forfeit (Minnesota leads 32-6) 133: Cayden Rooks SV2 (5-3) Boo Dryden (Minnesota leads 32-9) 141: Ben Brancale dec. (8-3) over Eddie Bolivar (Minnesota leads 35-9) 149: No.4 Brayton Lee dec. Graham Rooks (Minnesota wins 38-9)

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team defeated Michigan State, 32-3, on Sunday at the Jenison Field House. Iowa improves to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference. The Hawkeyes won nine-of-10 bouts, including three bonus-point victories, and held a 19-3 advantage in takedowns. Iowa started its day with a Groundhog's Day performance, getting yet another bonus-point win from Spencer Lee. The nation's top-ranked 125-pounder led 10-0 before earning the fall in two minutes, 21 seconds. Lee is now 12-0 with 12 bonus-point victories, and has outscored his last seven opponents 110-2. The Hawkeyes followed with four straight decisions to build an 18-0 decision at the break. Paul Glynn scored nine points in the third period to erase a 3-0 deficit and win 9-4 at 133. Carter Happel won by 4-1 decision at 141. Pat Lugo scored three takedowns in an 8-3 win at 149, and Kaleb Young used two takedowns and a riding time point to win 6-2 at 157. Jeremiah Moody made his first appearance of the season and earned his first career Big Ten win, a 9-5 decision at 165. Michael Kemerer used three takedowns, one reversal, and four nearfall points to earn a 13-3 major decision at 174. Michigan State got on the board at 184. Abe Assad was the aggressor for most of seven minutes, but the lone takedown of the match belonged to Michigan State and Assad was dealt a 3-2 loss. Jacob Warner responded with a pair of first-period takedowns and a 5-2 win at 197, and Tony Cassioppi improved to 15-0 with his second shutout of the weekend, this one a 9-0 major decision. UP NEXT Iowa wrestles at Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. (CT). The dual is streamed at BTN Plus and FloWrestling.com. NOTABLES Iowa wrestlers have a combined record of 59-11 in Big Ten duals, and 78-12 in overall duals this season. Spencer Lee (20-0) and Tony Cassioppi (6-0) are undefeated in their careers in Big Ten duals. Spencer Lee improved to 12-0 with 12 bonus-point wins. Before today, he had won his last six matches by technical fall, outscoring his opponents 100-2. He led 10-0 today before recording the fall. Paul Glynn won for the second time in as many dual appearances this season. He has won three straight Big Ten duals and evened his Big Ten career dual record at 5-5. Jeremiah Moody won his first career Big Ten dual in his first appearance of the season. Michael Kemerer improved to 10-0. It is the third time in his career he opened the season with at least 10 straight wins. Kemerer has won 30 straight duals. Results: 125 -- #1 Spencer Lee (IA) pinned Logan Griffin (MSU), 2:21; 6-0 133 -- Paul Glynn (IA) dec. Garrett Pepple (MSU), 9-4; 9-0 141 -- Carter Happel (IA) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 4-1; 12-0 149 -- #3 Pat Lugo (IA) dec. Alex Hrisopoulos (MSU), 8-3; 15-0 157 -- #5 Kaleb Young (IA) dec. #15 Jake Tucker (MSU), 6-2; 18-0 165 -- #2 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. Austin Hiles (MSU), 9-5; 21-0 174 -- #2 Michael Kemerer (IA) major dec. #23 Layne Malczewski (MSU), 13-3; 25-0 184 -- #15 Cam Caffey (MSU) dec. #6 Abe Assad (IA), 3-2; 25-3 197 -- #7 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. Nick May (MSU), 5-2; 28-3 285 -- #3 Tony Cassioppi (IA) major dec. Christian Rebottaro (MSU), 9-0; 32-3 Records: Iowa (10-0, 7-0), Michigan State (6-8, 1-6) Attendance: 1,567

WASHINGTON -- It came down to the final match and No. 26 Sal Profaci finished the job, earning American University wrestling's sixth win by decision and putting the Eagles on top of Binghamton, 18-15. The Bearcats fall to 3-9 overall and 2-7 in the EIWA, while AU now stands at 3-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference. MATCH RECAP After giving up bonus points in all four of its losses to Navy one night ago, AU gave up just one bonus-point loss to Binghamton. For a second straight match, the Eagles took wins in six of 10 weight classes. No. 7 Kizhan Clarke (149) set the tone early with four first-period takedowns against Binghamton's Matt Swanson. The margin got closer later on but Clarke held on for a 12-8 win. Ethan Karsten (157) trailed Dylan Wood by a slim total for much of his match, but scored a late takedown and came away with the 7-6 win. Keeping AU in the win column was Tim Fitzpatrick at 165. He scored an early six-point combo of takedown and back points to lead 6-1 after the first period. The lead held and Fitzpatrick went on to defeat Binghamton's Jacob Nolan, 10-7. Another close match followed with Conner Allshouse (174) against Aidan Monteverdi. Allshouse trailed after two periods but went up in the third on a takedown, 4-3, and got the crowd into it later on, breaking a 4-4 tie with a late takedown for a 6-4 win. Binghamton's top wrestler, No. 5 Lou DePrez, got the best of No. 23 Tanner Harvey with an 8-5 decision despite a strong comeback attempt by Harvey in the third period. The Bearcats came within three points after a win at 285, but No. 24 Gage Curry picked up another AU win at 125. He took a 6-0 lead into the third period and won easily, 7-1. Binghamton's Zack Trampe got the score tied 15-15 with one match left after winning by fall for six points. Profaci had an early takedown that was challenged but confirmed, and he led 2-0 after the first period. It was then just a 2-1 lead heading into the third, but Profaci prevailed in an exciting finish, 3-2. HEAD COACH TEAGUE MOORE "I would sum up this whole effort as a 10-man effort. We talked about it before we walked onto the mat that last night we kind of defeated ourselves in the four matches we lost by giving up big bonus points. Every guy tonight needed to do their part and in the end it absolutely shows. You've got multiple nationally ranked guys in both lineups. Kizhan struggled a little bit and came away with the decision. Their guy at 184 only came away with a decision. It goes to show that everybody was fighting, and I'm really proud of how our 10 guys stood up tonight." Results: 149: No. 7 Kizhan Clarke (AU) dec. Matt Swanson (Binghamton), 12-8 (AU 3-0) 157: Ethan Karsten (AU) dec. Dylan Wood (Binghamton), 8-6 (AU 6-0) 165: Tim Fitzpatrick (AU) dec. Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), 10-7 (AU 9-0) 174: Conner Allshouse (AU) dec. Aidan Monteverdi (Binghamton), 6-4 (AU 12-0) 184: No. 5 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) dec. No. 23 Tanner Harvey (AU), 8-6 (AU 12-3) 197: Sam DePrez (Binghamton) dec. William Jarrell (AU), 4-0 (AU 12-6) 285: Joe Doyle (Binghamton) dec. Niko Camacho (AU), 7-1 (AU 12-9) 125: No. 24 Gage Curry (AU) dec. Tommaso Frezza (Binghamton), 7-1 (AU 15-9) 133: Zack Trampe (Binghamton) pinned Joshua Vega (AU), 4:16 (Tied 15-15) 141: No. 26 Sal Profaci (AU) dec. Anthony Sparacio (Binghamton), 3-2 (AU 18-15) UP NEXT AU will complete its home lineup this season by hosting Bucknell at noon on Sunday, Feb. 9.

PITTSBURGH -- The second-ranked NC State wrestling team up its season record to a perfect 12-0 as the Wolfpack scored a 21-12 win at No. 10 Pitt in ACC action. NC State won six of the 10 bouts, including five straight at one point, and added a pair of bonus point wins while not conceding any. The win was the first at a top-10 opponent since the Pack win 21-17 at No. 2 Iowa in 2016. The dual started at 197 pounds, and Pitt opened with back-to-back decisions to jump out to a 6-0 team lead. R-Fr. Jakob Camacho got the Pack's first win, for bonus points at 125 pounds. Camacho scored a takedown in the third and worked for a four-point near fall and finished with an 11-3 major decision. Pitt claimed another decision at 133 pounds, as No. 6 Micky Phillippi scored a 4-0 win over Jarrett Trombley. No. 11 R-Jr. Tariq Wilson used a two-point near fall and a ride out in the third period to score a 5-2 win at 141 pounds. At the intermission, Pitt held a 9-7 lead. The Pack took its first lead of the night after R-So. A.J. Leitten scored a 7-0 decision at 149 pounds. After a scoreless first, Leitten got a four-point near fall and a ride out in the second. More bonus points at 157 pounds, and another bonus point win for No. 2 Hayden Hidlay. His four-point near fall in the third period ended it early, as he scored a 16-1 technical fall over Taleb Rahmani for five team points, a 15-9 team lead. No. 13 R-Jr. Thomas Bullard made it four straight Pack wins, as he notched his fourth top-12 win of the season and got a 3-1 decision over No. 12 Jake Wentzel. The lone takedown of the bout came in the second period. Pitt got the upset at 174 pounds, as Gregg Harvey got a takedown in the final 10 seconds to down No. 16 Daniel Bullard 10-8. No. 3 R-Fr. Trent Hidlay closed the dual with his fourth top-10 win of the season, as he downed No. 7 Nino Bonaccorsi 6-3. Hidlay scored a pair of first period takedowns, and racked up 2:25 of ride time in the win. Up Next NC State will return to home action next weekend, as the Wolfpack will host No. 8 North Carolina Friday night at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum. Results: 197: Kellen Stout (Pitt) dec. Tyrie Houghton; 5-3 – 0-3 285: #8 Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) dec. Deonte Wilson; 6-2 – 0-6 125: Jakob Camacho (NCSU) major dec. Louis Newell; 11-3 – 4-6 133: #6 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) dec. Jarrett Trombley; 4-0 – 4-9 141: #11 Tariq Wilson (NCSU) dec. Cole Matthews; 5-2 – 7-9 149: A.J. Leitten (NCSU) dec. Luke Kemerer; 7-0 – 10-9 157: #2 Hayden Hidlay (NCSU) tech fall Taleb Rahmani; 16-1 – 15-9 165: #13 Thomas Bullard (NCSU) dec. #12 Jake Wentzel; 3-1 – 18-9 174: Gregg Harvey (NCSU) dec. #16 Daniel Bullard; 10-8 – 18-12 184: #3 Trent Hidlay (NCSU) dec. #7 Nino Bonaccorsi; 6-3 – 21-12

The Cleveland State University wrestling team dug itself a huge early hole, but the Vikings did not give up and rallied to claim a thrilling 16-15 victory at Kent State Saturday evening at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. The Vikings took a four-point lead into the final match, but the team outcome was still in doubt in the final seconds of the bout as Kent State had a chance to tie the dual with a major decision. However, redshirt freshman Riley Smucker was able to avoid the worst-case scenario to ensure a CSU victory. The win over Kent State is the first for Cleveland State since the 2003-04 season, although the programs have not faced each other every season in that time. Kent State opened up a 10-0 lead after the opening three matches as the dual started at 174 pounds. Based on recent history, the Vikings did not have much reason for promise at heavyweight as redshirt sophomore John Kelbly was facing an opponent he lost to via major decision earlier this season. However, Kelbly flipped that script and flipped the momentum of the dual. Starting in the top position to begin the second period, Kelbly registered 10 near-fall points in the period to take a 10-2 lead after five minutes. The referee had initially awarded Kelbly a pin but then changed his decision to keep the score at 10-2. While Kelbly did not score any further points in the third, he held on for a comfortable, five-point win. True freshman Logan Heil took an early lead at 125 pounds with a first-period takedown and build up a sizeable amount of riding time in the opening frame. That would prove crucial when he earned a riding time point at the end of the bout to break what would have been a 4-4 tie. Redshirt senior Justin Patrick was tasked with taking on a top-20 opponent at 133 pounds with the Vikings trailing, 9-6. The bout was tied, 1-1, in the third period, but the KSU wrestler was able to secure a takedown that looked as though it would be the difference. However, Patrick did not give up. After escaping, he posted a takedown with fewer than five seconds remaining to claim an unlikely 4-3 win. Redshirt senior Evan Cheek continued his winning ways with a major decision shutout. His 10-0 win gave the Vikings the lead in the team score for the first time during the dual. After a Kent State win via decision at 149 pounds cut CSU's lead to one, redshirt junior Nico O'Dor took to the mat for CSU. With O'Dor leading 1-0 and starting in the top position in the third period, he rode his opponent for well over a minute to secure a crucial point of riding time. O'Dor went on to claim a 2-1 victory. Smucker had a lead after the first period at 165 pounds, but things changed in the second frame. After his opponent notched a reversal, Smucker was in trouble on his back, but he did well to avoid a fall and continue the bout. Kent State took a 10-4 lead in the third period, and was only two points away from getting its needed major decision. However, Smucker secured a late escape that essentially secured a team victory for CSU as he kept his loss to just three points. Cheek secured his team-leading 30th win of the season as he moved to 30-3. He remained undefeated in duals (9-0) and has 17 bonus-point wins. Patrick's 15th win came against the third-ranked wrestler in the MAC while Heil notched his 20th win, including a 6-1 mark in the MAC. O'Dor claimed a win over the Golden Flashes in dual action for the second straight season. Cleveland State moved to 8-3 with the win, with CSU's eight wins tying for the highest figure by the program in the past 13 years. Cleveland State will be right back in action Sunday as it returns home to host Central Michigan at 1:00 p.m. QUICK HITS Cleveland State won a thriller at Kent State, 16-15 The Vikings posted a furious rally after trailing 10-0 Justin Patrick beat a top-20 wrestler with a takedown in the final seconds John Kelbly beat an opponent he lost to by 10 points earlier this season Evan Cheek posted his team-leading 30th win with a major decision Logan Heil and Nico O'Dor both posted one-point wins It is the CSU's first win over KSU since the 2003-04 season The Vikings posted their eighth win of the season and moved to 4-3 in the MAC Results: 174: Andrew McNally (KSU) over Chase Archangelo (CSU) - 13-5 MD | KSU leads, 4-0 184: Shane Mast (KSU) over DeAndre Nassar (CSU) - 3-2 dec. | KSU leads, 7-0 197: Colin McCracken (KSU) over Ben Smith (CSU) - 8-4 dec. | KSU leads, 10-0 Kent State control of mat area violation (1 point deduction) during 285-pound bout 285: John Kelbly (CSU) over Spencer Berthold (KSU) - 10-5 dec. | KSU leads, 9-3 125: Logan Heil (CSU) over Tomas Gutierrez (KSU) - 5-4 dec. | KSU leads, 9-6 133: Justin Patrick (CSU) over Tim Rooney (KSU) - 4-3 dec. | Tied, 9-9 141: Evan Cheek (CSU) over Cory Simpson (KSU) - 10-0 MD | CSU leads, 13-9 149: Kody Komara (KSU) over Gus Sutton (CSU) - 7-4 dec. | CSU leads, 13-12 157: Nico O'Dor (CSU) over Brady Chrisman (KSU) - 2-1 dec. | CSU leads, 16-12 165: Kade Byland (KSU) over Riley Smucker (CSU) - 10-7 dec. | CSU wins, 16-15