InterMat Staff

Palmyra-Macedon

Hauppauge

This was the first offseason where the EIWA and Ivy League were split into two separate conferences. It turned into a wild offseason for many programs. We had it all – new head coaches, new assistants, transfers, and more. Below is a breakdown to help familiarize the fans. Conference Alignment The elephant in the room (as stated many times) is the split-off from the Ivy League schools to form their own conference championship. The Ivy League Conference will compete with 6 teams while the EIWA will contain 11 teams… This was until the recent news of Morgan State being added to the conference. This is historic news, as they are the lone HBCU (Historically Black College or University) in Division 1 wrestling and recently reinstated the program two years ago. Read more about the news here. Also, Kenny Monday’s interview on the move is worth a watch. Recruiting Rankings Intermat released the top 25 recruiting rankings It was a slow year for recruiting this season as only two schools made the top 25. #25 – Bucknell. This was the 2nd year in a row they’ve cracked the top 25. Assistant Coach, Tyler Smith, is one of the most underrated recruiters in the nation. The 2023 class already showed promise as two true freshmen qualified for NCAAs last season in Noah Mulvaney (165) and Myles Takats (174) #18 – Cornell. It’s crazy this is a “down year” for recruiting for The Big Red. In 2023 they were #4 while being #3 in 2021. For what it’s worth, they are off to a hot start for the class of 2025 – where they will most likely be a top 3 class next season. If interested, review the entire top 25 list here: InterMat's 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings Head Coaching Changes Hofstra’s long-time head coach, Dennis Papadatos, stepped down from his role to transition to a role in the athletic department (Dennis Papadatos Opens Up About His New Role). Jamie Franco was named the new head coach after spending years as an assistant under Papadatos and a season at Columbia. I talked to Jamie about his hire. Check it out here: Pride for the Pride: New Hofstra HC Jamie Franco Columbia’s former head coach left to take a job at Virginia Tech. Check out Zach Tanelli’s decision in an interview with Robbie Wendell here. To replace Tanelli, Columbia went out and hired Donny Pritzlaff – who spent a decade at Rutgers. His name was often thrown around when a new opening became available. He spent much of the summer helping train Sebastian Rivera to a bronze medal at the Olympic games. Last week, news broke about LIU head coach Joe Patrovich stepping down. Long Island is in the process of finding a replacement for Patrovich, so the EIWA will have another new head coach for the 2024-25 season. Assistant Coaches Below is a list of coaching moves made during the offseason. There was much movement, and many new faces to the conferences. These are listed by school they were hired at and where they were previously in parenthesis. Army – Taylor LaMont (USA wrestling) Binghamton – Louie DePrez (Binghamton Wrestler) and Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) Brown* – Micky Phillippi (Director of Ops - Brown) Bucknell – Dan Neff (Navy) Columbia – Sebastian Rivera (Skarlet Knight RTC athlete) and Jeff Buxton (SKRTC coach) Cornell – Scottie Boykin (Air Force) and David McFadden (Drexel) Drexel – Jimmy Overhiser (Tarleton State) and Chad Walsh (Columbia) Hofstra – Jesse Dellavecchia (LIU) Navy – Barry Davis (former Wisconsin Head Coach), Ty Eustice (Davidson) and Director of Ops - Ben Barton (Rudis) Penn – Darian Cruz (LVWC athlete) and Matt Valenti (Penn admin) Princeton – Anthony Ashnault (NYC RTC), Cody Brewer (VT), and Nate Jackson (NJRTC athlete) *In recent news, Michael Kemerer has taken a position at Minnesota. Brown will look to fill his role. Transfer Portal Acquisitions Below is a list of transfers during the offseason. The first list of transfers who landed at a new school inside the EIWA or Ivy League. The second list is a list of wrestlers who left for another conference. The Ivy League’s big departures include Cardenas and Wolak, who were both All-Americans last season. Incoming Brown – Jacob Joyce (125) - Stanford Drexel – Malachi Bordovsky (141) - Iowa Western Drexel – Giuseppe Hoose (184) - Oklahoma Franklin & Marshall – Michael Duggan (157) - Bloomsburg Hofstra – Kyle Mosher (174) – Columbia Lehigh – Rylan Rogers (174/184) – Michigan Morgan State – Xavier Doolin (285) - Northern Colorado Morgan State – Darrien Roberts (184) – Oklahoma Sacred Heart – Braxton Appello (125) - Ohio State Sacred Heart – Felix Lettini (157) - Wisconsin Outgoing Connor Strong 184 (Penn) - Chattanooga Angelo Rini 133 (Columbia) – Indiana Jacob Cardenas 197 (Cornell) – Michigan Nolan Neves 285 (Columbia) – North Carolina Michael Baker 197 (Columbia) – North Dakota State Nick Babin 125 (Columbia) – Pittsburgh Evan Tallmadge 125 (Navy) – Pittsburgh Connor McGonagle 133 (Lehigh) – Virginia Tech Lennox Wolak 174 (Columbia) – Virginia Tech

St. Michael-Albertville

Cape Henlopen

Mounds View

September 27 CFFC 136 (UFC Fight Pass/OnlyFans) Anthony “The Bagel” Jagel (Notre Dame Ohio) vs. Dylan Brigman September 27 XFC 51 (TrillerTV) Lawrence Phillips (St. Cloud State) vs. Ronny Markes September 27 Maverick MMA 29 (SpectationSports) Josh Ugalde (Maryland) vs. TJ Rigel September 28 PFL Europe 3 (DAZN) Roger Huerta (Augsburg) vs. Rob Whiteford September 28 Lights Out Championship 17 (SpectationSports) Kevin Lee (Grand Valley State) vs. Thiago Oliveira September 29 Rizin 48 (Rizin.tv) Juan Archuleta (Purdue) vs. Razhabali Shaydullaev October 5 UFC 307 (ESPN PPV) Carla Esparza (Menlo) vs. Tecia Pennington October 12 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Pat Sabatini (Rider) vs. Jonathan Pearce October 19 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Darren Elkins (Wisconsin Parkside) vs. Daniel Pineda October 19 PFL Super Fights: Battle of Giants (ESPN PPV) Johnny Eblen (Missouri) vs. Fabian Edwards AJ McKee (Cerritos) vs. Paul Hughes October 25 UFC 308 (ESPN PPV) Robert Whittaker (Australian Champion) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (Swedish Champion) November 2 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Alexander Romanov (World University Bronze) vs. Rodrigo Nascimento November 9 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Mansur Abdul-Malik (Maryland) vs. Dusko Todorovic Cody Garbrandt (Newberry) vs. Miles Johns (Newman) November 16 UFC 309 (ESPN PPV) Jon Jones (Iowa Central) vs. Stipe Miocic (Cleveland State) Michael Chandler (Missouri) vs. Charles Oliveira Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. Paul Craig Chris Weidman (Hofstra) vs. Eryk Anders December 7 UFC 310 (ESPN PPV) Tatiana Suarez (World Bronze) vs. Virna Jandiroba

Earlier this week, we published an article on the new DI head coaches assuming it was a safe time to release such a feature. Well, you know what they say about assuming! There will be another new head coach for the 2024-25 season as Long Island’s longtime head coach Joe Patrovich stepped down yesterday. The LIU program was revived in 2014 and Patrovich has led the Sharks ever since then. Long Island was initially known as LIU Post and merged with LIU Brooklyn to form the school as we know it today. It was also a DII school that had undergone a transition into DI. Just this past year, Long Island produced its first NCAA DI qualifier - Anthony D’Alesio, who was seventh in the EIWA. In Kansas City, D’Alesio notched the first DI win at the national tournament. D’Alesio returns and starts the season ranked #32 in the nation at 184 lbs. As a team in 2023-24, Long Island amassed an 8-8 record and started the season off with a pair of wins over Buffalo and Sacred Heart at WrangleMania. They ended the year 15th out of 17 teams in the EIWA. Last week, Long Island assistant coach Jesse Dellavecchia stepped down to accept a coaching position with Hofstra. The timing for this move is very curious with just over a month before the start of the 2024-25 season. Sources close to the LIU program attribute this move to indifference from the administration towards the wrestling team. We will continue to monitor the coaching situation for the Sharks.

Oklahoma State has already assembled a massive recruiting Class of 2025 - one that has grown by three flipped commitments since David Taylor took the reins of the program in May of this year. Now, it’s time to start focusing on the current crop of high school juniors and the Class of 2026. This morning the Cowboys got their first commitment from the Class of 2026 with #44 Rocklin Zinkin (Buchanan, CA). Zinkin is a two-time state finalist in single-class California. He was a runner-up at 106 lbs as a freshman and a state champion earlier this year at 113 lbs. Also during the high school regular season, Zinkin won a cowboy hat at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in 2023 and was third in 2024. Over the summer, Zinkin went 7-0 at the 16U National Duals in freestyle. Zinkin could be a 133 lber at the next level. As of now, Oklahoma State doesn’t have a long-term starter in place at 133 lbs; however, redshirt freshman Cael Hughes could make his case soon. This could be the third straight class with an elite California prospect for Taylor’s team. They signed #2 Coby Merrill in the Class of 2024 and have a verbal from #27 Ronnie Ramirez (Walnut, CA) in the Class of 2025. Zinkin made his decision to commit to the Cowboys after taking visits to Michigan, NC State, and Virginia Tech in each of the last three weekends. He visited Oklahoma State a week before going to Michigan. With campus visit season in full effect, we’ve seen the verbals from the Class of 2026 start to roll in. With Zinkin’s we now have 17 total commitments - 16 at the DI level. Eight top-100 recruits have now committed and five of them are currently in the top-50. Here are the Class of 2026 recruits who have committed to wrestle at the next level.

Buchanan

And we’re back for another edition of the weekly mailbag as we close out the month of September and begin the unofficial start of the wrestling season with Flo’s annual Who’s Number One event this weekend. Nary a weekend will go without an event for roughly the next seven months. Throw in the baseball playoffs, WNBA playoffs (Go Liberty), and all the football, and divorce season is in full effect. But before you lawyer up, take a seat and enjoy whatever we are talking about today. Any worry, considering the Matthew Sluka story, about NIL deals gone wrong leading to wrestlers holding out in the future? Rhino Not really. At least not yet. For those unaware, UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has left school over not being paid a sum of money that was promised by an assistant coach. And there’s your problem. You had a handshake deal from a glorified used car salesman. What did you expect would happen? It’s just another glitch in the NIL system that unfortunately doesn’t get corrected until it rears its ugly head. So can it happen in wrestling? I suppose it can but not exactly in this same scenario. Sluka is a fifth-year senior with the benefit of an available redshirt that he can still apply after four games into any season. In wrestling, only true freshmen can do that. So I doubt anyone would give up a year of eligibility and leave a team in the middle of a season because a random assistant said he would get X amount of money without any paperwork or knowledge of it from the head coach or institution. I’m sure other scenarios will happen as far as false promises are concerned, but in wrestling everyone will just enter the portal every year like free agents until someone wins four titles for four different schools. Or as we call it, Nick Suriano’s dream. Jags, what college freshmen do you have your eye on to carry the Jersey Tough torch this year? Salty Walkon That’s a very good question and one I should have an answer to. And I do. Simon Ruiz - The two-time state champ from Delbarton never finished lower than third at the NJ States and looks to make some noise at Cornell after coming off a gap year. Mikey Dellagatta - Basically the same thing as Ruiz but with one state title and a lowest finish of fourth at NJ States. The St. Joe's product is also coming off a gap year. Needless to say, Cornell has a thing for North Jersey private schools. Lorenzo Norman - The former Blair wrestler had an uneven redshirt year coupled with a few good wins at the CKLV. But make no mistake, The kid’s got the goods. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him now that Stanford is in the ACC. Jimmy Mullen - The Virginia Tech big man is fully committed to wrestling right now and probably permanently after Rutgers beat the Hokies last week on the gridiron. Heavyweights beware. Thoughts on licensing Jagger Night to WWE for SummerSlam in NJ? What are bids starting at? Tsabolov Brands Eh, Jagger Night would’ve been cooler as an ECW thing. Mid 90’s`, jean shorts, Pantera, indoor smoking. Now that is a Jagger Night! But I assure you the bidding is open for anyone who wants to pony up. By the way, any fee also comes with a mandatory donation of the same price, plus a twenty-dollar service charge. Talk to you all next week when we have a little more clarity on who really is number one. Because two is not a winner and three nobody remembers.

Preseason rankings are finally here! We’re just over a month from the start of the 2024-25 season and are able to use rankings for all other preseason content. With 33 wrestlers across ten weights, plus two sets of team rankings, there can be plenty to digest and overlook in a new set of rankings. Below are some notes related to the rankings, either reminding you or informing you of potential redshirts for key wrestlers not in the rankings. In some cases, a team may have multiple rankable wrestlers and we’ve highlighted those as battles to watch in the preseason. 125 lbs Pay attention to early-season results from Brendan McCrone and Vinny Kilkeary. We’ve stuck with McCrone who is the incumbent and a national qualifier. Rider national qualifier Tyler Klinsky is planning on taking a redshirt - look for Will Betancourt to replace him at this weight. It’s not “new” news, but 2024 All-American Luke Stanich (Lehigh) is planning to redshirt and potentially move up a weight (or two). 133 lbs This might be the deepest weight class in terms of wrestlers that were considered for the top 33. Since four of the top-ten and seven of the top-25 were not at this weight at nationals, a lot of quality guys got bumped down. Four past national qualifiers aren’t in the top-33. It might be surprising to see Lucas Byrd up that high, but he is three-for-four in his career against Dylan Ragusin and has a great record against the rest of the field. One of those moves that hasn’t gotten publicized much has been Oklahoma’s Cleveland Belton, a 2024 NCAA Round of 12 finisher at 141 lbs, moving down to 133. For Penn State, we’ve gone with Braeden Davis over Aaron Nagao. American will have a pair of national qualifiers at this weight with Jack Maida and Max Leete. Expect Maida to get the call and a potential redshirt for Leete. 141 lbs With Sam Latona moving up for Virginia Tech, Tom Crook should get the opportunity to redshirt. The team attempted to do it last season. Lots of moving parts for Oklahoma State between 133 and 149, so this could change in our next update. Kellyn March, who was very good for NDSU in 2022-23, is back and down a weight class. Eli Griffin, a 2024 national qualifier for California Baptist, is up at this weight. For now, we have him outside of the top-33. 149 lbs Don’t forget about veterans Ty Whalen and Colin Realbuto who did not compete attached for their respective schools in 2023-24. Ryan Burgos only wrestled in one event last year before getting injured. He’s back and is a bright spot for Edinboro. Down at #33 you have Maxwell Petersen of NDSU. He should get a tough challenge from Gavin Drexler at this weight. Two-time national qualifier for SIUE, Caleb Tyus, is expected to redshirt. Kelly Dunnigan had a very solid year for Penn in 2023-24 and will push Cross Wasilewski for the starting role. 157 There’s a very notable name omitted from the top of the 157 lb rankings. Daniel Cardenas would have been #3 here. We’ve excluded him. Cardenas has a redshirt available. At the beginning of the season, look for the youngsters (redshirt freshman Zach Hanson and freshman Grigor Cholakyan, Jason Mara, and EJ Parco) to all see time at the weight. Apparently, no decisions have been made final about Cardenas’, so he could be used if needed. We’re going with Tyler Kasak for Penn State. They might also have the option of Alex Facundo here. If so, Kasak has a redshirt year available. Also, we have Caleb Fish at this weight for Oklahoma State, but he has a redshirt available and we’ve ranked Teague Travis. The same goes for Iowa State and Cody Chittum/Paniro Johnson. We’re hearing that Cobe Siebrecht will get the nod for SDSU at this weight as the returning starter, Cael Swensen, is banged up. We have Noah Castillo up at 157 lbs for Chattanooga. Look for Iowa transfer, Bretli Reyna, to be the guy at 149 lbs for the Mocs. 165 After the top-two, I would guess we see a lot of movement in the early going. There is a big drop-off from All-Americans to the next tier of talent at this weight. Returning qualifier Dom Baker has been excluded as he’s a redshirt possibility. Nothing is final, as of today. One of the notable positional battles to watch is at Indiana with returning national qualifiers Tyler Lillard and Derek Gilcher. Gilcher was injured last year, but looked good at U23’s. Don’t forget about Columbia’s national qualifier Cesar Alvan, who was not enrolled last year as he attempted to make the Olympic Team for Brazil. Ohio State. They have lots of options between here and 197 lbs. We’ll start with their returning starter, Bryce Hepner. Sammy Sasso has been mentioned as a potential option at his weight. After what Sasso has gone through over the last year, it would be incredible to see him on the mat again. Also, Carson Kharchla could be inserted here or at 174 lbs. Arizona State freshman Nicco Ruiz is the one we’ve listed at 165 lbs. He’ll also have to deal with the Sun Devils returning starter Chance McLane. And look at that, we’ve got Tate Picklo, who wrestled at 195 lbs as a senior in high school down at 165 lbs. Should he be able to handle the weight, he certainly could go much higher. 174 After the World Team Trials, there could be some questions about who’s number one at this weight. We try to ignore freestyle results and will take O’Toole over Haines who had moved up two weights. There are plenty of options for Iowa here. We’ve ranked the returning starter Patrick Kennedy, but redshirt freshman Gabe Arnold is waiting in the wings and All-American Nelson Brands plans to compete here, as well. Rocco Welsh has a redshirt available and it could be used if Carson Kharchla were at this weight. Since Welsh has accepted an invitation to the All-Star Classic at this weight, he’s the guy we’re ranking. Another move that hasn’t been publicized much is Binghamton’s Brevin Cassella coming up from 165 lbs. We might be too conservative, but there’s a dangerous pair of redshirt freshmen at 17/18 with Simon Ruiz and Lorenzo Norman. Ruiz defeated Lennox Wolak last year and Norman shocked Shane Griffith in Vegas. 184 This is another #1 ranking that could spark some conversation. Carter Starocci hasn’t lost a real folkstyle match since 2021 - we’re going with him. Like 133, 184 is another weight that benefits from an influx of elite wrestlers moving in. Starocci and Ruth from 174 (along with potentially Brands) and Jaxon Smith from 197. 2024 EIWA champion Aaron Ayzerov is not enrolling for Columbia and taking a gap year. Nick Fine is expected to replace him in the Lions lineup. James Conway (F&M) and Zayne Lehman (Ohio) are both expected to redshirt this year. 197 He’s back! The polarizing AJ Ferrari has enrolled at CSU Bakersfield and will make this weight class much more interesting. Without a returning finalist, we’re going with him despite the layoff from college wrestling. Virginia Tech will have an interesting battle between Andy Smith and redshirt freshman Sonny Sasso. Sasso was sixth at CKLV, but Smith made the NCAA bloodround. Iowa transfer, Bradley Hill, is expected to wrestle at 197 lbs for Oklahoma. Like his teammate, Ayzerov, Jack Wehmeyer will take a gap year too. Initially, we had Penn’s Martin Cosgrove in the rankings, but we’ve learned he’s injured and unavailable. 285 One of the best battles between teammates this preseason could come at this weight class in Raleigh, between U23 world champion, Isaac Trumble, and 2x ACC champion Owen Trephan. We’ll start with Trumble in the rankings. Ben Kueter will have a full offseason to focus on wrestling. Expect him to move up from that #11 slot. Luke Luffman and Braxton Amos are both back after injuries. Amos moves up to heavyweight for the first time collegiately. If healthy, he could rise from his #21 spot. Rider’s David Szuba is slated for a redshirt.

The data has been processed, the charts have been reviewed, and the evaluations are complete. The 2024 breakdown of the Top Fantasy Wrestlers of the 2024 season is here to help you start your 2025 season research. Just like in the past few years, some names are going to be expected, while a lot more may not be. That's the beauty of Fantasy Wrestling, where any wrestler can be the star of the weekend and win the dual for you. To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat leagues: 1) The scoring used was standard team scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by major, etc) 2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition 3) Wins via forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total 4) Wins or losses by medical forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total 5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season 285 Top-20 Notes: Your #1 Overall Fantasy Wrestler for the 2024 season resides in the heaviest of weights. Taye Ghadiali put together the best Fantasy Wrestling performance in five seasons, amassing 136 Fpts in “only” 32 countable matches. How great of a season was it? That's for the next article. For the second year in a row, Wyatt Hendrickson finds himself as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at heavyweight, but unlike the 2023 season he came up juuuust short of breaking the 100 Fpt mark. He had reached the century mark in 2023 and in 2022, but in 2024 he was one match short. Well, more specifically one takedown short. He won 9-3 against Taye Ghadiali and won 9-4 against Devon Dawson (NDSU). One takedown more in either of these matches, he’s at 100 Fpts even. Two wrestlers next meet in the 80’s, one an All-American and the other falling just short. Zach Elam finished 3rd by putting together a strong head start at the beginning of the season. Seven of his first 12 matches were won by pin (only two took over one minute), and three by techs. The second half of his regular season was filed with decisions and one loss, which was to #4 Yonger Bastida, who was five Fpts behind Elam. The next four spots, #5 through #8, are all within a match outcome in finding themselves in a different order. Nathan Taylor makes his way back into the Top-20 (Top-10, actually) after being absent from the 2023 season ranks. He was #9 in 2022 and ended up at #5 in 2024. Right behind Taylor is Nick Feldman who was out with injury for his True Freshman season. Feldman put in an impressive campaign, but with three of his four losses being by bonus (two majors and one injury for a total of -14). Wrestling in the most matches of any competitor in the 285 Top-20, Michigan State’s Josh Terrill competed in 38 regular season bouts. In his first 27 matches, he lost six times. In his last 11 matches, he lost seven of them (-27 Fpts). Despite the record, he finishes at #11. Jamir Ferere is the highest ranked non-starter to make the lost, outlasting redshirt true freshman Jim Mullen by one Fpt. One other non-starter, Austin Kohlhofer, also makes the Top-20 at #18. Rounding out the heavyweight Top-20 is your reigning national champion Greg Kerkvliet. Only wrestling in 12 matches, it's the second lowest by any 2024 NCAA Champion (outdone by 174 Carter Starocci’s 11 matches). Only three of his 12 matches were by decision, which accounts for his weight class best PPM of 4.3 Who Missed The Cut: There were two All-Americans who did not end up making the Top-20, with Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT) being close with just 45 Fpts and Cohlton Schultz (ASU) being a bit farther away with 27 Fpts (in only eight regular season matches). NC State’s Owen Trephan and Rider’s David Szuba both tied Kerkvliet with 51 Fpts, but fell just outside the Top-20 as the first men out due to PPM (Trephan with 4.6 and Szuba with 1.9.) Other notables to not make the top-20 include Lewis Fernandes (COR) with 47 Fpts, Hogan Swenski (OHST) with 41 Fpts, Hunter Catka (VT) with 38 Fpts, Trevor Tinker (CP) and Bradley Hill (IOWA) each with 35 Fpts.

As we turn our attention to the upcoming collegiate season, one of the biggest storylines of the offseason has been coaching changes. That’s nothing new. New head coaches are always a good talking point for the preseason. This season is much different as we saw one of the most historic programs in the sport had a new face in the coach's corner. In addition, we have another coach who is returning for a second tenure at his “new” home, two new coaches leading their respective alma mater, and a long-time “hot” head coaching candidate finally getting his big break. So, get familiar with the new DI head coaches for the 2024-25 season: John Stutzman (Bloomsburg) He’s back! John Stutzman is back at Bloomsburg where he made a name for himself getting the most out of largely overlooked talent at the small PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) school. Stutzman spent just over a decade leading Buffalo, but was unable to replicate the success he found at Bloomsburg. During his first tenure at Bloomsburg, the Huskies amassed a 97-56-1 dual record, three All-Americans and eight conference (EWL) champions. Can Stutzman do it again? He’ll certainly have his work cut out for him in the near future. Stutzman inherited a program that did not produce a national qualifier in 2024 and has not had more than one in a season since 2020. Three times in the last four years the Huskies have finished 13th in a 13-team MAC. While the initial season or two may be rough sledding for Stutzman, interest in the program has already taken off at the high school level. Bloomsburg already has a commitment from the Class of 2025 and 2026. Stutzman has hired Mitch Moore as an assistant coach. While Moore is inexperienced on the collegiate coaching front, he’s young enough to get on the mat regularly and has connections all around the country due to his collegiate career (Virginia Tech/Oklahoma/Rutgers). Donnie Vinson (Buffalo) With Stutzman out at Buffalo, the Bulls administration moved quickly to find a young, quality replacement in Donnie Vinson. Vinson came to Buffalo after a three-year stint at Cornell. During each of the last two seasons, the Big Red came away with an NCAA team trophy. Vinson was also a part of an NC State team that earned an NCAA trophy after a fourth-place finish in 2018. He got his start in the coaching world as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater Binghamton. You can see a pattern. Vinson is a New York native, went to school at Binghamton, coached there, and had two stints on the Cornell staff. He’s extremely plugged into the New York wrestling scene. Buffalo has largely relied on in-state talent in the past, so having someone with Vinson’s background is a great fit. This will be a recurring theme for a few of these coaching positions. The first year or two at Buffalo could be tough for Vinson and crew. A large portion of the existing team was in the portal before he was hired. To his credit, there were a few wrestlers who even committed to transfer to other schools, who changed their minds after his hire. Vinson has hired Andrew Dunn and Hunter Richard to be a part of his first staff at Buffalo. Dunn was a national champion at DII Kutztown and served as the Director of Operations for the Tar Heel Wrestling Club last season, while Richard, a Cornell alum, coached at Appalachian State. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) A few days after his team won the 2024 MAC Championships, legendary head coach Tom Borrelli announced that he was stepping down from his position as head coach at Central Michigan following the NCAA Tournament. After a lengthy coaching search, his top assistant Ben Bennett was promoted to become the team’s next head coach. Central Michigan has been a program whose staff members have wrestled under Borrelli and understand the way he likes to be run. I don’t anticipate that changing in the near future with Bennett at the helm, but we’ll see how that develops. Bennett was one of the most decorated wrestlers to ever come through Borrelli’s program. He was Central Michigan’s first, and to date only, four-time All-American. His 121 wins are the seventh-most in program history. After his graduation in 2013, Bennett joined the Chippewa staff and has remained there ever since. In that time, CMU has won a pair of MAC titles, captured 14 individual titles, and four All-American honors. At this time, there have been no new additions to the Central Michigan staff. Colin Heffernan and Matt Stencel were both on the CMU staff last season and will return for 2024-25. While Central Michigan should probably start the season as favorites in the highly competitive MAC, they only have a pair of returning national qualifiers; however, the bulk of their projected starting lineup is comprised of veterans. Donny Pritzalff (Columbia) For about a decade, Donny Pritzlaff’s name came up frequently as a potential head coaching candidate at a variety of openings. The day finally came in mid-June as Columbia hired Pritzlaff as their new head coach. Pritzlaff had spent the last decade on Scott Goodale’s staff at Rutgers - helping build the Scarlet Knights into a program that routinely churns out All-Americans. In 2019, the Scarlet Knights were ninth in the nation after crowning a pair of national champions (the first in school history). Before coming to Rutgers, Pritzlaff assisted at Michigan and Hofstra and had two stints at his alma mater, Wisconsin. At Michigan, Pritzlaff was aboard for Kellen Russell’s two national titles and four Big Ten championships. While at Wisconsin, he was instrumental in signing an excellent 2008 class that included Andrew Howe and Tyler Graff. Pritzlaff was a four-time All-American and two-time national champion for Wisconsin from 1998-2001. He was the team’s third four-time All-American and a few years later, Pritzlaff claimed a bronze medal at the World Championships. Pritzlaff takes over a Columbia program that was hit hard by Ivy League eligibility rules. All-American Lennox Wolak, along with national qualifiers Nick Babin, Angelo Rini, and Josh Ogunsanya, all were forced to transfer to continue competing. Even so, four national qualifiers return - including 2024 EIWA champion Aaron Ayzerov. The first staff for Pritzalff has a very familiar Rutgers and New Jersey feel to it with Sebastian Rivera and Jeff Buxton aboard. Both, along with Pritzlaff, should be able to rely on their names, reputations, and connections within the Jersey wrestling community to bring in quality recruits to Columbia. Jamie Franco (Hofstra) The second alum on this list who has been tabbed to lead his alma mater is Hofstra’s Jamie Franco. Franco returns to Hofstra after spending a year on the Columbia staff under former head coach Zach Tanelli. During his year at Columbia, the Lions finished in a fourth-place tie in the EIWA and crowned a pair of conference champions for the first time since 1935. They also pushed through an All-American for the first time in just over a decade, all of this after suffering through an injury-filled regular season. Before moving to Columbia, Franco spent seven years on Dennis Papadatos’ staff at Hofstra. The last two years of his tenure saw Franco earn the title of Associate Head Coach. During his competitive career at Hofstra, Franco was a three-time national qualifier and a CAA champion. Hofstra does not have any returning national qualifiers on the roster for the 2024-25 season; however, eight of ten starters from the 2024 EIWA Championships return. In addition, Kyle Mosher has come aboard as a graduate transfer from Columbia. He should slot in nicely for the Pride at 165. Franco recently rounded out his coaching staff by hiring Jesse Dellavecchia who was previously on the Long Island staff. Dellavecchia is still relatively young but was highly thought of in the coaching ranks. He’ll join Codi Russell and Charles Small, who were on Papadatos’ staff in 2023-24. David Taylor (Oklahoma State) The bombshell coaching moves of the offseason were the retirement of legendary Oklahoma State head coach John Smith, followed by the hiring of fellow Olympic champion David Taylor. Taylor has never officially coached at the collegiate level, but founded and ran an excellent youth club (M2) in Pennsylvania, near State College. At the time, Taylor was fresh off of a loss in the Olympic Trials finals. Even without the ideal collegiate coaching experience, the potential for Taylor in Stillwater is through the roof. A blue-blood, power program, with plenty of financial backing, led by one of the most recognizable figures in the sport. It’s everything you would need to potentially knock his alma mater (Penn State) off their perch atop the collegiate wrestling world. Taylor is one of the most decorated athletes in USA Wrestling history. He’s found success at every level possible, being named the top recruit in his high school class, winning a pair of Hodge Trophy’s and leading Penn State to four national titles, before winning three world titles and Olympic gold. Taylor also recently demonstrated he wasn’t quite ready for retirement by winning the 92 kg title at the World Team Trials. He’ll presumably represent the United States at that weight in the upcoming World Championships. For his first year in Stillwater, Taylor has assembled an excellent staff that includes Jimmy Kennedy - his brother-in-law who was on Penn State’s staff, along with world champion Thomas Gilman. Tyler Caldwell has been retained from the previous staff. Former teammate Bryan Pearsall was hired away from the Penn staff to be Oklahoma State’s Recruiting Coordinator. Before Taylor’s hire, Oklahoma State added two-time All-American Dean Hamiti via the transfer portal and after he was hired two additional multi-time AA’s Cam Amine and Wyatt Hendrickson followed. The trio will join an already solid Cowboy lineup to form a unit that should challenge for an NCAA team trophy in year one. Additionally, the new staff has been able to flip commitments from three top-100 recruits in the Class of 2025. That sets Oklahoma State up for a monster signing class in 2025. There’s no disputing the fact that college wrestling got a lot more interesting with Taylor’s hire over the offseason. Adam Hall (Utah Valley) The first coaching move of the offseason didn’t really start in the offseason. Right before the 2023 preseason, Utah Valley head coach Greg Williams announced that the 2023-24 season would be his last. The Utah Valley athletic department didn’t wait until the season was over to search for and announce Williams’ successor - they secured Adam Hall’s services before the postseason began. Hall had been a mainstay on Pat Popolizio’s NC State staff, as he was hired in 2015 and made the team’s associate head coach in 2019. While at NC State, Hall was a part of a program that captured five straight ACC Tournament titles. The Wolfpack never finished the NCAA Tournament lower than 17th place with Hall on staff and four times they were in the top-10 - highlighted by an NCAA team trophy-worthy fourth-place showing in 2018. Before joining the NC State staff, Hall spent four years as an assistant at Columbia. During his competitive career, Hall was a two-time All-American and Pac-10 champion for Boise State. Hall also was fifth at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Trials. The Wolverines could be an interesting team in 2024-25. There’s a lot of experience at the front of their lineup (125-141). Haiden Drury is a past national qualifier and expected to wrestle 141 lbs, but Kase Mauser has been on the cusp and Yusief Lillie is experienced. UVU’s most intriguing piece is Penn State transfer Terrell Barraclough. He’s penciled in at 165 lbs and has shined when called upon, but was never able to crack the Penn State lineup in the postseason. Joining Hall on the UVU staff for the 2024-25 season is his old college teammate Andrew Hochstrasser - a 2011 NCAA finalist, fellow NC State coach Timmy McCall, and former Missouri national runner-up Joey Lavallee. The new staff has already drummed up a lot of interest on the recruiting trail (a strong suit of Hall), so it will be interesting to see how the program evolves under new leadership. Williams was the only head coach for Utah Valley during their DI era.

The top prospect in the high school Class of 2026, Bo Bassett, has vowed to keep fans abreast of his recruiting with daily Wednesday updates. Well, today is Wednesday and true to his word, Bassett has posted an updated graphic which has eliminated three more schools from consideration. Earlier this year, Bassett posted a graphic that contained the logos of approximately 80 schools, most of the DI variety, but some DII’s as well, to signify that he’s totally open in the recruiting process. After more than a month of removing schools from the list, he’s down to 17. One school was removed from this week's graphic: Pittsburgh The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Princeton, Rutgers, Virginia Tech. One school was removed from last week's graphic: Stanford One school was removed from the 9/11 graphic: NC State These three schools were removed from the 9/4 graphic: American, North Carolina, Wisconsin These three schools were removed from the 8/28 graphic: Clarion, Little Rock, Minnesota The following schools were removed from the 8/21 graphic: Penn, Oklahoma, Oregon State The following schools were removed from the 8/14 graphic: Bucknell, Virginia, Wyoming The following schools were removed from the 8/7 graphic: Brown, Northern Colorado, Purdue The following schools were removed from the 7/31 graphic: California Baptist, Michigan State, Navy The following schools were removed from the 7/24 graphic: Army West Point, Campbell, Edinboro, Harvard, Illinois, North Dakota State, South Dakota State The following schools were removed from the 7/17 graphic: Cal Poly, Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Millersville, The Citadel, and West Virginia The following schools were removed from the 7/10 graphic: CSU Bakersfield, George Mason, Hofstra, Northwestern, Rider, UW Parkside, West Liberty The following schools were removed from the 7/3 graphic: Appalachian State, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Drexel, Kent State, Ohio, and St. Cloud State The following schools were removed from the 6/26 graphic: Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Northern Illinois, Sacred Heart, SIU Edwardsville Bassett's first on-campus visit took place on September 20th-22nd at the University of Michigan and he was joined by his high school teammate #2 Jax Forrest. In today's update, Bassett noted that he will take time off to train for the Super 32 before his next official visit which is at Iowa on October 25th-27th. Bassett recently competed at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain. He advanced to the semifinals and ended up coming away with a bronze medal. Next on the docket a Who's #1 rematch on Sunday with Daniel Zepeda. The event will take place close to home, at Pitt-Johnstown.

Missouri head coach Brian Smith sits down with James Hackney to give a quick recap on the Tigers injury and illness-plagued 2023-24 campaign. Coach Smith is looking for his team to respond and bounce back better in 2024-25. He gives us an update on how some of the key contributors have improved over the summer and a look at some new faces in the lineup, along with how the new freshmen have progressed. Coach Smith also talks about some key dates on the Mizzou schedule which was released earlier this week. The schedule includes the TigerStyle Invite, the Collegiate Duals and a homecoming, of sorts, for Keegan O'Toole. For the full interview:

Buchanan

Towanda

Council Rock South

The verbals continue to roll in for the Class of 2026. We have another prominent commitment from the current high school junior class as #94 Alex Taylor (Mount Vernon, OH) has pledged to Arizona State. Taylor finished fifth in the Ohio DI State Tournament this year at 215 lbs. As a freshman, Taylor was third in the state at the same weight class. Taylor earned his top-100 ranking with plenty of credentials at national tournaments. After his freshman year, Taylor was fourth in the country at NHSCA Freshman Nationals. That summer, he was third in Fargo in 16U Greco-Roman and a runner-up in freestyle. This year, Taylor was a double champion, winning both styles at the 16U age group. Currently, Taylor comes in at #19 in the nation at 215 lbs. Over the weekend, Taylor was among a talented contingent who visited Oregon State. Earlier today, we noted how one of those fellow recruits (Travis Grace) committed to the Beavers. Before going to OSU, Taylor spent the previous week visiting Arizona State. Arizona State will be in need of help at heavyweight as four-time All-American Cohlton Schultz will be out of eligibility after the 2025 national tournament. The Sun Devils already have a commitment from a heavyweight prospect from the Class of 2025, Melvin Whitehead (Liberty, NV); however, Taylor carries a higher national ranking. For more recruiting information, check out InterMat’s College Commitment page.

Mount Vernon

The Oregon State staff got their first verbal commitment from the Class of 2026 today as California state placewinner Travis Grace (Gilroy, CA) committed to wrestle for the Beavers. Grace is a three-time Fargo All-American placing sixth in 16U freestyle at 132 lbs in 2021. A year later, he made the 16U freestyle finals at 160 lbs. This year, Grace returned to the podium with a sixth-place finish in Junior freestyle. During the regular season, Grace has qualified for the California State tournament on two occasions. He was eighth at 157 lbs after winning the Central Coast Sectional. Grace wrestles at Gilroy High School which is a program led by US Olympian and UFC legend Daniel Cormier. Cormier and Oregon State head coach Chris Pendleton share the same alma mater (Oklahoma State) so it’s no surprise that the Beavers were in the running for Grace’s services. Look for Grace at the upcoming Super 32. He’ll be one of the key players in the 165 lb weight class. Currently, Grace is ranked #13 nationally at the weight and #65 in the Class of 2026. If you read our latest Weekend Campus Visit Round-Up, you would have known that Grace was in Corvallis for a visit. Grace was joined by California lightweight prospects #46 Nathan Carrillo (St. John Bosco, CA) and #122 Blake Woodward (Buchanan, CA) - along with Ohio heavyweight #94 Alex Taylor (Mount Vernon, OH). Last weekend, Grace was among a large group of recruits at the University of Indiana. For all of the latest commitments, check out InterMat’s College Commitment page. Action is picking up in the Class of 2026, as we now have 14 total commitments from the junior class.

Gilroy

Shawnee

Hickory Ridge