InterMat Staff

Muncy

We’re now looking at a team that will be squarely in the NCAA team trophy hunt in Ohio State. Buckeye head coach, Tom Ryan, is entering his 19th year at the helm for Ohio State. During that time, he has led the Buckeyes to eight NCAA team trophies, including a national championship in 2015. Since 2021, Ohio State has only had one top-four finish, after placing in the top three every year between 2015-19. With a young, but talented and experienced nucleus, this could be the year Ohio State jumps back into that national title discussion for the foreseeable future. Ryan could unveil a lineup that features six past All-Americans during the 2024-25 campaign. One of them is Jesse Mendez who broke a mini-drought in 2024 with the Buckeyes first individual title since 2018. During Ryan’s tenure, Ohio State has established itself as one of the best recruiting teams in the nation. That continued in 2024 as Ohio State inked the #5 overall recruiting class. With so many returning stars, it’s unlikely that they’ll be needed in 2024-25, but it’s a great option to have. Option is the keyword for Ohio State in the upcoming season. The Buckeye coaching staff has plenty of options up and down the lineup. There are only maybe three weights that appear to feature unchallenged starters. With Ohio State’s propensity to wrestle true freshmen, combined with their rash of injuries in 2023-24, there are plenty of potential starters that have redshirt years available. With so many options available, it’s difficult to pin down an actual Ohio State lineup in late August. But…that won’t stop us from trying! 125: Brendan McCrone/Vinny Kilkeary At this time last year, many outside Ohio were unfamiliar with redshirt freshman Brendan McCrone and may have assumed that Vinny Kilkeary would get the nod for the Buckeyes in his first year in Columbus. There’s good reason to believe that, considering Kilkeary was the #33 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, a three-time Pennsylvania AAA state champion, and Coach Ryan’s willingness to trust true freshmen. McCrone ended up getting the first shot at securing a starting role and never relinquished the position. In his 2023-24 dual debut, McCrone posted a major decision over a returning All-American in Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech). Though he missed out on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, McCrone picked up three wins (two over returning qualifiers) in a very strong weight class. At the Collegiate Duals, McCrone continued to make his case with a : 37-second fall over then-number-one ranked Jakob Camacho (NC State). It proved to be a critical win for the Buckeyes 21-20 win over the undefeated Wolfpack. As you may expect, things got more difficult in the Big Ten dual season; however, McCrone buckled down and posted a winning record in B1G duals. He would then miss out on NCAA qualification at the Big Ten tournament, but his regular season was strong enough to warrant an at-large berth. In his first national tournament, McCrone went 1-2 with a major decision victory over #13 Noah Surtin, a veteran from Missouri. Kilkeary only saw action in two dual meets but was very busy in open tournaments. All in all, Kilkeary posted a 20-8 record with a pair of wins over eventual national qualifiers. One of those came at the expense of Michigan State’s Tristan Lujan in the seventh-place bout at the Midlands. His lone tournament title came three weeks earlier when he won the Cleveland State Open. The word around Columbus is that these two couldn’t be much closer in the room. I’d imagine both see action in duals and in early-season open tournaments. Results against outside competition may dictate who gets the nod here. Pay attention to who the Buckeye staff enters in Vegas, they likely have a leg up. 133: Nic Bouzakis The Buckeyes have returning starters Nic Bouzakis who is back after a typical freshman year. Or maybe it was actually pretty typical for most freshmen, though, with Bouzakis’ pre-collegiate hype and accomplishments, it might have felt different. One of the key members of Ohio State’s top-ranked recruiting Class of 2022, Bouzakis was the #5 overall recruit and was able to sit out and redshirt during his first year with the program. In 2023-24, Bouzakis was shocked with a pair of losses at the season-opening Clarion Open, before losing the dual opener to Virginia Tech All-American Sam Latona. In Vegas, he was beaten in the first round by true freshman Tyler Knox (Stanford). As we’d learn throughout the season, once you have counted out Bouzakis is the time where he responds best. After the Knox loss, Bouzakis reeled off seven straight wins, six via tech fall, to take third place. At the Collegiate Duals, Bouzakis was beaten by Northern Iowa’s Julian Farber, but bounced back to pin NC State All-American, Kai Orine, in under a minute. In the Big Ten dual season, Bouzakis was majored by Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) but downed returning All-American Aaron Nagao (Penn State) in his next match. Bouzakis’ first Big Ten Championship saw him go 1-2 and miss out on automatic qualification. He would receive an at-large berth a few days later. In Kansas City, at the NCAA Tournament, Bouzakis also went 1-2. After nearly upsetting top-ranked Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), Nagao knocked him out of the tournament with a 3-0 shutout. Bouzakis clearly has the talent to win and win often at the highest levels of DI competition. What he’ll have to do is find a way to become more consistent. Ohio State will also have the services of true freshman Ben Davino. Davino was the #4 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 and comes in with a boatload of impressive accolades. Ideally, Bouzakis finds that consistency, and Davino is able to redshirt. However, if that doesn’t happen or Bouzakis would need to move up to 141, Davino is an excellent option to have. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 141: Jesse Mendez We’ve already talked about options a lot with the first two weights. There is only one option at 141 lbs and it’s a really good one to have. Actually, after March 2024 it was the best option. 2024 NCAA champion Jesse Mendez returns to look for a second national title. Mendez went 29-2 for the Buckeyes last year with losses to Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) and Beau Bartlett (Penn State) accounting for the only blemishes on his record. Mendez would later avenge that loss to Barlett in the Big Ten and NCAA finals. After two years in the Buckeye lineup, Mendez has amassed a 48-11 record with a pair of All-American finishes and has yet to redshirt. As a true freshman, Mendez had to grind out many close wins. Last year, he really opened up his offense and almost doubled his bonus point rate - going from 35% to 68%. This development came to light at the CKLV where he captured the title in a loaded weight class and tallied bonus points in four of five bouts. This all occurred as Mendez moved up from 133 to 141 lbs. Mendez’s second national title run will be even more difficult with the presence of undefeated 2023 national champion Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado. Alirez took off the 2023-24 season using an Olympic redshirt. The two squared off this spring in a freestyle bout at Beat the Streets. Mendez won though it was in a bout with very little action or offense. We saw the growth in Mendez between years one and two in the Buckeye program, it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue that improvement into year three. 149: Dylan D’Emilio One of the few old guys on this young Buckeye squad is 2023 All-American Dylan D’Emilio. When Mendez moved up for the 2023-24 season, D’Emilio did the same, going from 141 to 149 lbs. The move yielded similar results throughout the year; however, D’Emilio came up just shy of the NCAA podium in 2024. D’Emilio was beaten in the bloodround by Iowa State’s Casey Swiderski in a 2-1 bout that was decided on tiebreakers. Earlier in the season, D’Emilio won a 13-10 shootout against Swiderski at CKLV. At that event, he ended up fourth and Swiderski was fifth. D’Emilio was sixth in the Big Ten in 2024, but did reverse a result from that tournament in the consolations at NCAA’s when he downed Iowa’s Caleb Rathjen. In previous seasons, D’Emilio was fourth and fifth at the conference tournament. As you might expect, this weight class in the Big Ten will be brutal in 2024-25, perhaps even tougher than last year. That means just about every matchup for D’Emilio should be a fight. D’Emilio is certainly capable of improving upon his sixth-place Big Ten finish and he’ll certainly be battle-tested for another NCAA run. Ohio State should be squarely in the NCAA team trophy hunt, so getting D’Emilio on the podium would do wonders for their team race prospects. 157: Paddy Gallagher After a solid, but unspectacular redshirt freshman year, Paddy Gallagher came back in 2023-24 and showed the form that made him the #1 overall recruit in the high school Class of 2021. Over the first month-plus of the season, Gallagher won the Clarion Open and then finished seventh at the CKLV in a weight class that was easily the deepest of any in the tournament. His biggest win in Vegas was of the 6-5 variety over the eventual NCAA fifth-place finisher Peyten Kellar of Ohio. Unfortunately, Gallagher’s promising season was cut short via a season-ending injury in early January. In the Collegiate Duals that occurred a few weeks before his injury, Gallagher defeated the eventual Big 12 champion, Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), an opponent who defeated him in Vegas. If Gallagher is in good health and improves upon his 2023-24 form, he’ll push for a spot on the NCAA podium, himself. In his only NCAA appearance (2023), Gallagher needed to rely on an at-large berth. That shouldn’t be the case in 2024-25. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 165: Sammy Sasso/Bryce Hepner/Carson Kharchla Yes, that’s right! Sammy Sasso is in the mix for the starting role at 165 lbs. Just over a year ago, Sasso was shot during a carjacking attempt and missed the entire 2023-24 season. We’re not sure of what to expect from Sasso in his return to the mat, but just getting back to competition after his entire ordeal is a massive victory. When we last saw Sasso on a college mat he appeared in the NCAA finals opposite Yianni Diakomihalis. While 165 lbs looks like a big jump for Sasso, remember, he was slated to wrestle at 157 lbs last year. The other two options at this weight are Bryce Hepner and 2022 All-American Carson Kharchla. Hepner saw some action early in the 2023-24 season, but really took over during the conference dual season. While Hepner produced a 5-2 dual record inside the Big Ten, only one of his wins came against an eventual national qualifier. At the Big Ten Championships, Hepner went 0-2 and then lost both of his matches in the true-ninth place mini-tournament. That finish led to him missing out on NCAA qualification. Veteran Carson Kharchla is another prominent Buckeye who missed the end of the 2023-24 campaign due to an injury. Kharchla was injured at the Collegiate Duals in December and was unable to compete for the remainder of the year. Up till that point, Kharchla had put together a 12-3 record that featured a third-place finish at the CKLV Invitational. Back in 2022, Kharchla was fourth in the Big Ten and seventh in the country at 165 lbs. A year later, he was third in the conference and fell in the NCAA bloodround. At this time, it’s uncertain whether Kharchla will try and cut down to 165 or stay at 174. For a wrestler who has missed significant time due to injuries, it may be wise to stay at 174; however, Ohio State’s best lineup could include him at 165. 174: Rocco Welsh/Kharchla Kharchla’s injury opened the door for true freshman Rocco Welsh to come in and assume the starting role at 174 lbs as a true freshman. To say that Welsh kicked in the door and seized the opportunity is an understatement. Welsh ended up winning his first three duals and ended the regular season with a 17-3 record, with all three losses coming to elite conference opponents. Welsh’s first collegiate loss was a nail-biter to Illinois’ Edmond Ruth, the same opponent who downed him Big Ten semifinals - this time sudden victory. The third time proved to be the charm in the NCAA quarterfinals as Welsh turned the tables on Ruth in a 4-1 win in overtime. It was more of the same in the semifinals as Welsh downed EIWA champion Lennox Wolak (Columbia) for a third consecutive sudden victory win and a berth in the NCAA finals. We’ll see if Welsh can make a leap like Mendez did in between his first and second years with the program - although Welsh did make the NCAA finals as a true freshman, so he already should be considered a title contender. Since Welsh competed last year as a true freshman, he does have a redshirt available. If the Ohio State staff chooses to use that redshirt, they can turn to Kharchla which is a great option to have. 184: Ryder Rogotzke Like Welsh, Rogotzke was a true freshman who was thrust into the starting role in 2023-24. As there are some moving parts with the Buckeye lineup, there’s a chance that Rogotzke either redshirts or moves up to 197 lbs. In that case, Welsh could move up to 184 lbs. Rogotzke proved to be one of the more entertaining wrestlers in the nation to watch. In open competition, Rogotzke started his collegiate career with wins in eight of his first nine matches and all eight came via fall. All-in-all, Rogotzke had 16 falls during his freshman year. Two of those falls came during his run to fifth place at the Big Ten Championships. At NCAA's, Rogotzke added another pin in the opening round before almost upsetting the #2 seed and Big Ten champion, Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), in the Round of 16. He’d end up losing to Salazar in sudden victory and was eliminated in the round that followed. Going forward, Rogotzke will try to walk that thin line of tightening his game up a bit, while also wrestling a style that makes him dangerous and capable of ending the match in an instant. 197: Luke Geog/Seth Shumate Once again, the answer at 197 lb isn’t quite clear-cut. There’s the possibility that Rogotzke could move up and join the fray that includes returning starter Luke Geog and Seth Shumate. Geog made the national tournament as a redshirt freshman in 2024 after taking sixth in the Big Ten. He started the year with a win over a returning national qualifier and three additional wins with bonus points, but then went 1-2 in Vegas. After Vegas, Geog generally beat the wrestlers you’d expect him to defeat and lost to the top contenders at this weight. His most notable regular season win came over 2021 All-American John Poznanski (Rutgers). At Big Ten’s Geog earned a second win over Poznanski. At his first NCAA Tournament, Geog went 0-2; however, not all 0-2’s are created equally. An update that didn’t involve Geog led to him wrestling the seven and ten seeds during his two matches. Shumate saw significant time in the Buckeye lineup as a redshirt freshman and went 9-3 last year at 184 lbs. Shumate went 3-1 in Big Ten duals with bonus points in two of those contests. Early in the season, he met Rogotzke and fell via fall. Without factoring Rogotzke as a possibility in this equation, both Geog and Shumate are redshirt sophomores so there’s no sitting out for either. In this instance, I’d imagine the pair both get a chance to make their case for the starting role. Barring injury or anything unforeseen, whoever gets the nod in Vegas is probably the early frontrunner. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 285: Nick Feldman The centerpiece of Ohio State’s top-ranked Class of 2022 was Nick Feldman, the number one overall recruit in the class. After being sidelined for his initial year in Columbus, expectations seemed to be lower than you’d expect for Feldman in 2023-24. Feldman’s first true tests came in Vegas as he came into the tournament 9-0, but was majored by Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) and injury defaulted out of a consolation match. The most significant moment of the regular season for Feldman came in the home dual against heated rival Michigan. Feldman used a late takedown to knock off returning multi-time All-American Lucas Davison and put the finishing touches on a stunning win for the Buckeyes. Feldman showed his growth at the Big Ten tournament when he was able to get multiple takedowns on Davison in an 8-6 semifinal win. NCAA seeding put Feldman in as the ninth seed which led to a quarterfinal matchup with undefeated, top-seeded Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State). Feldman put up a valiant fight but ended up losing 1-0 (while Davison made the finals on the other half). Feldman would end his freshman campaign in fifth place. From here on out, you have to consider Feldman on the short list of NCAA title contenders. He’s proven that with multiple matches he can close gaps (or widen them in wins). With another year of preparation can he shock the wrestlers who beat him head-to-head and placed higher at NCAA’s (Kerkvliet and Wyatt Hendrickson)? Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Air Force Army West Point Campbell Indiana Iowa State Lock Haven North Carolina Northern Iowa Oregon State West Virginia

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 165 Top-20 Notes: This is the second time that Dean Hamiti has been the #1 Fantasy Wrestler at 165. His first stint was in 2022 where he scored 93 Fpts in 21 matches and a PPM of 4.4. He was able to best that in 2024 by scoring 115 Fpts in 25 matches and a PPM of 4.6. He was one of five wrestlers to pass the 100-point mark in 2024. Meanwhile, Mitchell Mesenbrink came in 2nd with 88 Fpts, outlasting eventual NCAA champ (who beat Mesenbrink) David Carr by two Fpts. Mesenbrink only wrestled 19 matches compared to Hamiti’s 25, but had the same PPM. If Mesenbrink had wrestled 25 matches, using the same PPM, he would have tied Hamiti with 115 Fpts. A few D2 matches and an unforeseen loss by pin lands Peyton Hall at the number 4 spot. Had he won that match against WrestleStat ranked #150 Gaetano Console (DUKE) instead of getting pinned, he would have been #2 in the Top-20. Keegan O’Toole had the highest PPM of any wrestler in the 165 Top-20 at 4.8, but only wrestled 16 matches. That tied for the lowest in the Top-20 with Bryce Hepner. The Mizzou Tiger just barely beat out the Ohio Bobcat Garrett Thompson who wrestled almost double the matches as O’Toole and finished one point behind. In his last season with Northern Illinois (2023), Izzak Olejnik finished as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 165. In 2024 as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, he still made the Top-20, but ten spots lower. Partly because of fewer matches than in 2023, but the quality of competition was raised, which led to slightly fewer bonus wins. The difference between 12th place and 9th… three Fpts. To 8th place, eight Fpts. Razor-thin margins for error. Only two true freshmen make the list, with Noah Mulvaney finishing at #8 and Gunner Filipowicz six spots lower. Both wrestled 29 matches, and despite Mulvaney having three of his four losses on the season by bonus, it was Flipowicz’s seven losses that added up to be too much to overcome. The Little Rock team as a whole made headlines in 2024, and one of the original band members made a big jump personally and reached his first Top-20 ranking. Joseph Bianchi finished with 49 Fpts and a 1.8 PPM by winning 24 D1 matches, whereas in his past four seasons, he amassed 27 D1 wins total. For the second year in a row, Cody Walsh locks up the #20 spot. To compare, his 2023 stat line was 51 Pts, in 32 matches, with a 1.7 PPM. Pretty consistent. Who Missed The Cut: Two All-Americans missed the top 20 in Antrell Taylor (NEB) and Hunter Garvin (STAN). Antrell Taylor (NEB) was three Fpts behind Cody Walsh with five losses. Three are understandable, against Michael Caliendo, Dean Hamiti, and Mitch Mesenbrink, but two losses to unranked competitors at CKLV ended up being the fault. One win, or flip a loss, and he’s in the Top-20. Hunter Garvin ended the 2024 season with 31 Fpts. Garvin wrestled his first matches of the season at CKLV, going 5-3, but of those three losses, two were by tech and one by pin (which accounted for -16 Fpts). He would go on to lose five more times, with one loss by pin, one by tech, and one by major. As of January 10th, Garvin was sitting at only three (yes… THREE) Fpts with seven matches left in the regular season. It’s amazing he even reached the 30s. Terrell Barraclough (PSU) who this coming season will take his talents to Utah Valley, was two points behind Antrell Taylor with only 14 matches wrestled. He started three duals and competed in three tournaments, with two losses coming from Shane Griffith (MICH, at 174) and teammate Mitch Mesenbrink, both by decision. The highest performing redshirt was Rider’s Liam Scrivanich with 41 Fpts.

Austin Sommer talks to his old college coach, Matt Azevedo, about the recent hiring of a pair of new assistant coaches - Jimmy Overhiser and Chad Walsh. Coach Azevedo discusses what Overhiser and Walsh bring to the program. He also goes through a Drexel lineup for 2024-25, one that should look much different from last year's squad after a handful of potential point-scorers are coming off redshirt. They also talk about the upcoming schedule, the NCAA Tournament in Philly and much more:

Our very own Ryan Holmes caught up with the coaches Jon Laudenslager and Pankil Chander at his alma mater Wilkes University to discuss the new coaching changes and the addition of women's wrestling.

This afternoon, Drexel head coach Matt Azevedo announced a pair of additions to his coaching staff as the Dragons have hired Chad Walsh and Jimmy Overhiser as assistant coaches. Walsh comes to the staff after spending the last two seasons on the Columbia staff. In 2023-24, the Lions produced their first All-American in over a decade when Lennox Wolak finished sixth at the 174 lb weight class. Additionally, they also had a pair of EIWA champions in Wolak and 184 lber Aaron Ayzerov. Columbia tied for fourth place in the EIWA in each of the two seasons where Walsh was on staff. Before his stint at Columbia, Walsh spent five years on the Davidson coaching staff. As a competitor, Walsh wrestled at Rider and earned NCAA All-American honors on two occasions. He was seventh in 2017 and fifth in 2016. In each of his four years, Walsh made the EWL finals - winning three times. Overhiser recently assisted with the first-year Tarleton State program; however, he spent the second half of the 2023-24 season on staff at Army West Point. Like Walsh at Columbia, Overhiser was part of a staff that broke a long All-American drought as Ben Pasiuk got on the podium for the Black Knights - also at 174 lbs. Army finished directly above Columbia at the 2024 EIWA Championships, in third place. Overhiser has also assisted at Wisconsin-Whitewater and Reinhardt. Additionally, he spent the 2021-22 season as the Director of Operations at Stanford’s California RTC. The job at the California RTC reunited Overhiser with his collegiate coach, Rob Koll, who coached him at Cornell. Though the Dragons did not have a national qualifier in 2024, they are bringing some talented wrestlers off redshirt and could be a very solid team in the new-look EIWA conference. 2022 NCAA qualifier Mickey O’Malley redshirted in 2023-24 and is expected up to 197 for the Dragons, while 2021 qualifier Luke Nichter is back at 157. Last season, Cody Walsh had a very solid year at 165, winning 25 bouts; however, he missed out on NCAA qualification. Walsh is the younger brother of new assistant coach, Chad.

Once again, Iowa is stealing the headlines - as they always tend to do. Within the last week, a pair of transfers have been confirmed as headed to the University of Iowa. They aren’t run-of-the-mill transfers either, they are multiple-time All-Americans, Jacori Teemer and Stephen Buchanan. Teemer was an NCAA finalist last year at 157 lbs and Buchanan finished third for the second time at 197 lbs. Rumors of NIL deals nearing the mid-six figures were reportedly used to help entice the move. With Teemer and Buchanan in the fold, Iowa has received three high-profile transfers this offseason. Teemer’s Arizona State teammate, Kyle Parco, made his decision earlier in the summer. Parco has already made the NCAA podium four times at 149 lbs. As you plug these three stars into the Iowa lineup, there have to be three wrestlers who are pushed out of a potential starting role. Those names appear to be Caleb Rathjen (149), Cobe Siebrecht (157), and Zach Glazier (197). Within the last two days, Siebrecht and Glazier announced that they would transfer to wrestle at South Dakota State. These moves have stirred up plenty of conversation online and on social media. I had a friend ask me for my thoughts on the situation and it’s really difficult to take one side or another - if you’re an objective third-party. So, I figured, let’s hash it out on paper! With that being said, I’ll outline why this makes sense from an Iowa/Tom Brands position and why people may have an issue with the moves. Before getting started, I don’t see anyone necessarily blaming the athletes. The dollar figures being thrown around are very difficult to turn down, especially in a sport like wrestling where there aren’t multi-million dollar contracts waiting next year in the professional ranks. We’ll start off by looking at the angle through the lens of someone who is in favor of the moves. Team Points and Winning First and foremost, Brands is employed by the University of Iowa. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 50 years, Iowa is a school that places a gigantic emphasis on wrestling success and generally lives by the Ricky Bobby rule “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” There are no parties and celebrations for getting an NCAA team trophy. It’s win or bust. And the Hawkeyes have won 24 team titles since 1975. Brands is paid to put his team in the best position to win every year. With that being said, the Hawkeyes have landed three multi-time All-Americans in the offseason in an effort to bolster a lineup that finished fifth in the nation in 2024. Those additions have put Iowa in a position to potentially be considered an early frontrunner for a number two ranking behind Penn State. Speaking of Penn State, many Iowa detractors will hear this news and laugh saying something like, “All this money to finish second to Penn State.” Athletes and coaches at the highest level of their respective fields aren’t built like you and I. Geeks like myself can proclaim in the fall that Penn State will win the national title without a clear second-place team (like I did in 2023 - for the first time ever). But Brands doesn’t think like that. Coaches and athletes like Brands will never count themselves out. With a summer filled with helping Spencer Lee train for the Olympics, Brands probably expects Drake Ayala to be the frontrunner for a national title - even up at 133 lbs. Maybe the Iowa staff feels like they can make an adjustment or two that will propel Mikey Caliendo past Mitchell Mesenbrink. They’re probably chomping at the bit to unleash redshirt freshmen Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter on the rest of the country. I’m sure Brands respects Penn State’s accomplishments and their athletes and the potential they have for the 2024-25 season. But he also believes that the starting ten he’ll unveil could beat Penn State’s ten, on their best day. You and I may not agree, but that’s why they wrestle the matches and that’s what we love about sports. They are unscripted and an improbable result could happen, no matter how much it may fly in the face of numerical evidence. Frankly, Brands and Iowa can’t just punt a year of competitiveness and hope next year is “the year” when Penn State is vulnerable. He has to put his team in the best position to win and let the cards fall as they may. For fans of pro sports teams that always think their team should “tank” and amass draft picks for the future, because they don’t have the pieces to win today - that doesn’t work in college sports. Do top recruits want to sign with a program that appears to be trending down? There may be some ruffled feathers with this approach (and we’ll get to that later), but you can’t say that Brands isn’t doing the best for his team to be highly competitive in 2024-25. You may disagree with the team-building approach, again we’ll address that later, but for what he was working with in March of 2024 - when the offseason began, Iowa is in a much better position to contend as we’re discussing this today. With the three wrestlers Iowa has added compared to the wrestlers they are replacing, Iowa picked up 39.5 team points. Buchanan and Teemer both scored 17 last year, while Parco added 11. Rathjen had 2.5 and Glazier 1.5. In 2023, when Siebrecht qualified, he scored 1.5. And, let’s flip it around. Tom Brands has used the “I like my guys” quote before. Were he to bring in the same recruits as they signed in the Class of 2024 and brought the same cast back that ended the 2023-24 season, what would the reaction be if that same group turned in another fifth-place finish or perhaps lower, what would Brands’ naysayers think? “He missed out on a trophy in 2024 and ran it back with the same guys.” Stephen Buchanan photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Dog-eat-dog world NCAA athletics have evolved immensely over the past three years and will probably continue to do so in the foreseeable future. With the advent of the transfer portal, the frequency of transfers, and the implementation of NIL, it’s sort of covered up for the fact that big-time college sports have been a “dog-eat-dog” world for a long time. Big-time, national-title-contending college sports aren’t for the faint of heart. Football, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, it doesn’t matter. You’re expected to perform to a certain standard and if you don’t, you might meet your potential replacement soon. Especially with the use of NIL, will we see an SEC title-contending team go into a football season with a junior quarterback who has started for a year or two with only marginal results? Maybe you can name one or two, but those are becoming fewer and farther between. If you wrestle for Penn State, Iowa, or Oklahoma State - one of the elite wrestling programs, would you feel comfortable about your spot at the table after making it to the NCAA tournament once or twice and not placing? It doesn’t happen very often. Penn State famously had a multi-time All-American (Nick Nevills) lose his spot to Anthony Cassar in 2019. Blue-chip recruit Alex Facundo had a solid enough season for Penn State in 2022-23 and redshirted last year. It might be difficult for him to find his way back into the lineup, especially this upcoming season. The Nittany Lions brought in Max Dean in 2021-22 after freshman Michael Beard made the NCAA podium as a freshman. If I’ve learned anything from college athletics over the past few years is that you can’t sit back and hope everything works out for you. You have to be proactive. Failure to do this has resulted in entire conferences collapsing, while some of their schools are set up to flourish immensely financially. With that in mind, we’ve seen a renewed sense of excitement surrounding the Oklahoma State program after David Taylor’s hiring. Three multi-time All-Americans also joined the Cowboys in the offseason. If Brands is content to stick with his guys, do Parco, Teemer, and Buchanan go to one of his rivals? Maybe Buchanan joins Parco and Teemer at Arizona State and they are in the mix for that second spot at NCAA’s. Maybe one goes to Stillwater and Oklahoma State passes Iowa in year one of the Taylor regime. I get it. There’s an icky feeling associated with the free agency-type era we’re living in with regard to collegiate wrestling (and other sports). I don’t love it. Or really even like it. But, let’s not forget that these wrestling rooms have always been extremely competitive and excellent wrestlers have gotten squeezed out of the lineup for someone better isn’t just some new phenomenon. Coaches have “recruited over” guys for years. How did we get here? So, if you’re not a fan of these moves (and even if you are) a fair question to ask is, “How did we get here?” Why does Iowa need to add three multi-time All-Americans, all one-year rentals, just to put themselves in a solid position for an NCAA trophy? It’s a fair question. Monday, Willie Saylor posted an extensive article on the last decade of recruiting rankings. In that article, Iowa generally came up favorable in most recruiting-related metrics. In some cases, they may have been ahead of Penn State. One that sticks out is the # of top-ten-ranked recruits signed since 2014. More often than not, your collegiate superstars come from this group. As you may expect, Penn State led the way with 18. Iowa came in fourth with eight. Schools above them included Oklahoma State (11) and Ohio State (14). All-in-all, they’ve had a decent number of top recruits over the last decade, but not quite enough. Or they didn’t pan out as expected. Looking ahead to 2025, Iowa has a commitment from #7 overall Leo DeLuca (Blair Academy, NJ) and two other top-100 prospects (The Miller twins from St. Ed’s, Ohio). Unfortunately, most of the top prospects in the Class of 2025 are already spoken for. Only two top-50 prospects remain uncommitted. So, the Hawkeyes will get some help from next year’s recruiting class, but not a huge haul. If the “one-year rentals” were just a temporary fix with a huge recruiting class coming in, it wouldn’t be terrible; however, without a huge influx of talent, Iowa may have to come back to this approach of high-dollar, short-term fixes, again and again, for at least the next couple of years. If you’d like for Iowa to make some tweaks to the recruiting process so they’re not forced to rely on a significant portion of their potential NCAA points coming from transfers - I don’t think you’re wrong. Zach Glazier photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com The Team Chemistry So, perhaps the biggest negative is also something that’s difficult for outside eyes to judge or quantify. The team chemistry. How does bringing in three wrestlers with one year of eligibility remaining, ones who will most likely push existing starters to the bench sit with their teammates. How do potential recruits feel about this? We sort of have an answer already as Glazier and Siebrecht have announced a transfer to South Dakota State. Aiden Riggins is expected to join the Iowa State program and 2024 national qualifier at heavyweight, Bradley Hill, is expected to turn up at Oklahoma. Your staunchest Iowa supporter may roll his or her eyes at this move as none appeared to be starters in 2024-25, but it certainly could be a sign of negativity within the ranks. I’m sure that just because more wrestlers haven’t transferred, it doesn’t mean they’re happy about the situation. This is on the heels of the 2023-24 season when AJ Ferrari was rumored to be coming to Iowa City to start at 197 lbs for the Hawkeyes - the same weight occupied by Zach Glazier. Glazier, by all accounts, was a respected member of the team who bided his time and filled in as needed when four-time NCAA All-American Jacob Warner was at the same weight. We all remember the Ferrari/Glazier match turned out at the Soldier Salute and the post-match antics from Ferrari. They likely prevented the polarizing 2021 national champion from gaining admission to Iowa and Glazier remained Iowa’s starter for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign. From there he continued to roll and made the 2024 Big Ten finals, the only Iowa wrestler to do so. Glazier came into the 2024 national tournament with a sparkling 23-2 record, with only two losses to Aaron Brooks (Penn State), but he ended up with a subpar performance and was eliminated after going 1-2. So for two years in a row now, Iowa has sought to upgrade from Glazier. Last year it didn’t work out, but this year it did. Now we know some Iowa teammates were turned off by this, judging by their sudden transfers as the new school year was about to begin, but how are recruits and their families viewing the situation? I don’t know if we’ll get a straight answer on the subject, but we’ll have to monitor future commitments. The Class of 2026 is loaded with top-end talent, the type that could change the trajectory of a program. Some of which, Iowa is actively recruiting. In the past, Tom Brands has not been shy about his displeasure with “negative recruiting” from his rivals. I’m sure it’s a pet peeve of many coaches. But in this instance, there’s even more ammo from other coaching staffs that may want to knock Iowa during the recruiting process (even if they would have accepted three All-American transfers within the last year). We all know the wrestling community is a small place. The wrestler you may have disrespected or the recruit you may have scared away has teammates, club coaches, siblings, and parents that may be involved in recruiting in the future. All of those people have heard their negative stories - and probably the worst version of the story. Whether you think Brands was justified or not in his actions, he and his staff will have to be ready to rationalize this to the families of potential recruits. Everybody’s Doing It Aw yes, the old excuse we used when we wanted to stay out past curfew and anything else during debates with our parents during our teenage years. Jokes aside, that’s what our friends in Iowa are saying when they see a large chunk of the wrestling community up-in-arms about the Hawkeyes transfers. We’ve mentioned some of Penn State’s transfers above. They’ve certainly received their share over the past few years. Michigan has benefited, to the tune of two team trophies, from “one-year rentals.” And the rival Cowboys from Oklahoma State. They brought in three graduate transfers this spring. From what I’ve been able to gather, it seems like the difference in many fans' minds between those situations and this one is the timing. Right as classes were slated to start. As most people interpreted the rules, this appeared to prevent the existing team members from joining the transfer portal and transferring. Obviously, there are loopholes, which have allowed Glazier, Siebrecht, Riggins, and Hill to land at solid programs. In a perfect world, they probably would have liked to know in April, to take multiple recruiting trips, but again, it seems like they’ve landed in good spots. Also from a timing perspective, we don’t know how this situation was relayed to Siebrecht and Glazier (those most impacted by the late transfers). These didn’t happen overnight. They were rumored for a good portion of the summer. Were those two told “Don’t believe the rumors, you’re our guys,” or “We might be looking at possible transfers,” or something to that extent - or something in the middle. At this point, we don’t have an answer, but the optics obviously don’t look great. A lot of this is me making the argument for both sides - as there are legitimate points and reasoning behind both. A personal opinion is please don’t go “old man yelling at clouds” on Siebrecht/Glazier and talk about a soft society and kids running from challenges. Both young men have spent five-plus years in the Iowa wrestling room. Neither has been a day-one starter, so they’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave the program - I don’t think their toughness or character should be challenged. This isn’t the best example of “kids these days.” Summary Is it worth a team trophy (or an even better team trophy) for a 2025 NCAA finish at the expense of the future? Whether or not Tom Brands used that particular phrasing, is the question that he and his staff had to answer before and during their pursuit of these new transfers. Maybe this is a whole media creation and Brands and company have the right answers to smooth over the situation with the current team members and a good answer for curious parents of potential recruits. Much ado about nothing. However you feel about this issue, you can’t deny the fact that Iowa gets the people talking and has made this upcoming collegiate season even more intriguing than we initially thought.

The Maryland athletic department held its annual Media Day on Tuesday and invited members of the media to hear from head coach Alex Clemsen - along with national qualifiers Ethen Miller and Jaxon Smith. Both Miller and Smith are heading into their redshirt junior seasons with the Terps and were key components of a recruiting Class of 2021 that was ranked #8 in the nation by InterMat. Both have now grown into leaders of the Maryland program. The three talk about their team heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

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 23. These three schools were removed from this week's graphic: Clarion, Little Rock, Minnesota The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, American, Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin. These three schools were removed from last week's 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 As you would expect, most traditional DI power programs are still in the hunt for the two-time Super 32 and Ironman champion. Bassett recently competed at the U20 Pan-American Championships and dominated for a gold medal. In three matches, Bassett posted two falls and a tech. Bassett will also be in action next week at the U20 World Championships - September 2nd-8th in Pontevedra, Spain. Bassett has already been selected to take part in a Who's #1 rematch with Daniel Zepeda. The event will take place close to home, at Pitt-Johnstown, on September 29th. In 2021, Bassett captured gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the U17 Pan-American Championships. That same year, at the U17 World Championships, Bassett claimed a gold medal in freestyle and was 12th in Greco. He’ll compete this year just in freestyle.

A few DI schedules have already been released for the 2024-25 season. As more get released we will continue to add them here, so bookmark this page and check back often. Schedules added thus far include: Air Force, American, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Army West Point, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Brown, Bucknell, Buffalo, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Campbell, Chattanooga, Clarion, Cleveland State, Columbia, Cornell, CSU Bakersfield, Davidson, Drexel, Duke, Edinboro, Franklin & Marshall, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Hofstra, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Little Rock, Lock Haven, Long Island, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Morgan State, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Purdue, Rider, Rutgers, SIU Edwardsville, South Dakota State, Stanford, The Citadel, Utah Valley, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming October 31st (Thursday) Campbell vs. Wyoming @ Cheyenne, Wyoming November 1st (Friday) Allen, Montreat @ The Citadel Chattanooga vs Virginia Tech @ Salem, Virginia CSU Bakersfield, Utah Valley at Stanford Indiana at California Baptist North Dakota State at Virginia Pitt-Bradford, Seton Hill at Edinboro Purdue at Gardner-Webb Wisconsin at Ohio November 2nd (Saturday) Menlo Open (Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Utah Valley) @ Menlo, California Southeast Open (Campbell, Chattanooga, Davidson, F&M, Gardner-Webb, Morgan State, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, VMI, West Virginia) @ Salem, Virginia Illinois at SIU Edwardsville Iowa at Oregon State Michigan State at American Missouri at Northern Colorado Ohio at Wisconsin Navy at Pittsburgh November 3rd (Sunday) Battle at The Citadel (Air Force, Appalachian State, Duke, George Mason, NC State, The Citadel) @ Charleston, South Carolina Clarion Open (Bloomsburg, Buffalo, Clarion, Edinboro, Michigan, Pittsburgh) @ Clarion, Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg Open (Long Island) @ East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Princeton Open (Army West Point, Columbia, Drexel, Hofstra, Lehigh, Lock Haven, Princeton, Rider) @ Princeton, New Jersey Bucknell, Kent State at Maryland Central Missouri, Nebraska-Kearney at Little Rock Indiana at Cal Poly November 6th (Wednesday) Glenville State at West Virginia November 8th (Friday) Throwdown on the Yorktown (Army West Point, Gardner-Webb, The Citadel, Virginia) @ Charleston, South Carolina Gannon at Kent State Oklahoma at Air Force Oregon State at North Dakota State Stanford at Iowa State Utah Valley at Nebraska November 9th (Saturday) Bison Open (Minnesota, North Dakota State, South Dakota State) @ Fargo, North Dakota George Mason Duals (Bloomsburg, George Mason) @ Fairfax, Virginia Michigan State Open (Indiana, Kent State, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio, Wisconsin) @ East Lansing, Ohio Mountaineer Invitational (Appalachian State, Davidson, Minnesota, Virginia Tech) @ Boone, North Carolina TigerStyle Invite (Cal Poly, Little Rock, Maryland, Missouri, Purdue) @ Kansas City, Missouri Drexel, North Carolina at Navy Stanford at Iowa Western Wyoming at Wyoming WrangleMania @ Bethlehem Pennsylvania Buffalo vs Sacred Heart, F&M vs VMI, Long Island vs Duke Buffalo vs California Baptist, VMI vs Sacred Heart, Illinois vs Binghamton Campbell vs California Baptist, Rutgers vs Duke, Long Island vs Arizona State Campbell vs NC State, Rutgers vs F&M, Illinois vs. Arizona State November 10th (Sunday) Bob Del Rosa Open (Cleveland State) @ Cleveland, Ohio Journeymen Collegiate Classic (Arizona State, Army West Point, Binghamton, Clarion, Cornell, Duke, F&M, Harvard, Hofstra, Illinois, Lehigh, Lock Haven, NC State, Penn, Pittsburgh, VMI) @ Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Michigan State Open (Edinboro, Michigan State) @ East Lansing, Michigan Clarion at American Drexel, North Carolina at Navy Glenville State at Morgan State November 14th (Thursday) Belmont-Abbey, St. Andrews at Davidson Bloomsburg at Lock Haven Chattanooga at Ohio State West Virginia at Rider November 15th (Friday) Appalachian State at NC State Augustana at South Dakota State Bucknell at Minnesota Columbia at Cleveland State George Mason at Edinboro Indiana at Central Michigan Iowa at Bellarmine Missouri at Virginia Tech Morgan State at Lehigh Navy at Iowa State Nebraska at Campbell Nebraska at North Carolina Northern Colorado at Drexel Oklahoma State at Utah Valley November 16th (Saturday) Grand View Open (Northern Iowa) @ Grimes, Iowa Shorty Hitchcock Memorial (F&M) @ Millersville, Pennsylvania American vs. Maryland @ Potomac, Maryland Blackburn, Eureka at SIU Edwardsville Hofstra Quad (Duke, Sacred Heart, The Citadel) at Hofstra Kent State at Bellarmine Northern Colorado at Penn Northern Illinois at Northwestern Stanford at Cal Poly November 17th (Sunday) Jersey Jostle (Long Island, NC State, Princeton Rutgers) @ Toms River, New Jersey Marymount Duals (Morgan State, VMI) at Arlington, Virginia SIRTC Open (SIU Edwardsville) at Edwardsville, Illinois Warren Williamson Daktronics Open (Arizona State, Minnesota, North Dakota State, South Dakota State) @ Brookings, South Dakota Army West Point, Purdue at Buffalo Columbia at Michigan Davidson at Presbyterian Drexel at Penn State George Mason at Clarion Lehigh at Pittsburgh Michigan State at Ohio Ohio State at Edinboro Oklahoma State at Oregon State November 21st (Thursday) Indiana at Columbia Missouri at Illinois November 22nd (Friday) Air Force at California Baptist Arizona Christian, Embry-Riddle at Arizona State Michigan at Duke Minnesota at North Dakota State Morgan State at Maryland Rider at Northern Illinois Rutgers at Virginia Tech Seton Hill at VMI West Virginia at Appalachian State Wyoming at Oklahoma State November 23rd (Saturday) Navy Classic (Bucknell, Cleveland State, Indiana, Kent State, Navy, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon State, The Citadel) @ Annapolis, Maryland Air Force at Vanguard American, Presbyterian, Utah Valley, at Duke Buffalo at Cornell Iowa State at Iowa Princeton, Purdue at Chattanooga Utah Valley at NC State Wyoming at Oklahoma November 24th (Sunday) Black Knight Invite (Army West Point, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Columbia, Gardner-Webb, Long Island, Michigan State, Penn State) @ West Point, New York Big Red Invitational (Brown, Buffalo, Clarion, Cornell) @ Ithaca, New York Keystone Classic (Drexel, Edinboro, F&M, Harvard, Lock Haven, Penn, Virginia Tech) @ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Roadrunner Open (Cal Poly, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield) @ Bakersfield, California Arizona State at Oklahoma State Campbell at Minnesota George Mason at SIU Edwardsville Hofstra at Ohio State Lehigh at Pittsburgh Little Rock at Northwestern Michigan at Virginia Rider at Wisconsin South Dakota State at Northern Iowa November 25th (Monday) Illinois, Greensboro at North Carolina November 26th (Tuesday) Missouri vs Northern Iowa @ Hartland, Wisconsin December 1st (Sunday) Mat-Town Open (Bloomsburg, Cornell, Lock Haven) @ Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Minnesota at South Dakota State December 4th (Wednesday) Drexel at Clarion December 5th (Thursday) Lake Erie at Kent State December 6th (Friday) Buffalo at American Buffalo, Long Island at George Mason Davidson at Duke Illinois at Indiana Lock Haven at Rutgers Penn at Virginia Army West Point, Princeton vs Iowa @ St. Charles, Missouri December 6/7th (Friday/Saturday) Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Appalachian State, Arizona State, Binghamton, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Columbia, CSU Bakersfield, Harvard, Hofstra, Iowa State, Michigan, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Purdue, Rider, South Dakota State, Stanford, Utah Valley, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wyoming) @ Las Vegas, Nevada December 7th (Saturday) Cougar Clash (Illinois, Little Rock, Minnesota, Missouri, Northern Colorado, Northern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville) @ Edwardsville, Illinois CSU Open (Air Force, Cleveland State, Indiana, Kent State) @ Cleveland, Ohio Edinboro, King, Virginia at VMI Wisconsin at Bucknell December 8th (Sunday) Patriot Open (Gardner-Webb, George Mason, Long Island, Maryland, Rider) @ Fairfax, Virginia Central Michigan at Little Rock Edinboro at Davidson Penn at Morgan State Penn State vs Lehigh at Allentown, Pennsylvania Rutgers at Princeton Wisconsin at Bloomsburg Wisconsin at Lock Haven December 12th (Thursday) Appalachian State at VMI December 13th (Friday) Army West Point at Morgan State Ohio State at Pittsburgh Oklahoma State at Oklahoma Rutgers at Clarion December 14th (Saturday) Buffalo, Gardner-Webb, Rutgers at Kent State California Baptist at Clarion Nebraska-Kearney at Northern Iowa December 15th (Sunday) American at Davidson Binghamton at Long Island California Baptist vs West Virginia @ New Cumberland, West Virginia Michigan State at CSU Bakersfield North Dakota State vs Iowa State @ Humboldt, Iowa Wyoming at Penn State December 16th (Monday) Chattanooga at Little Rock December 17th (Tuesday) CSU Pueblo at Air Force Ohio at Drexel December 18th (Wednesday) Ohio at Bloomsburg Purdue at Cleveland State December 19th (Thursday) California Baptist, Northwestern at Cal Poly Clarion at Bloomsburg Gardner-Webb at George Mason Northern Illinois at Kent State Northwestern at Cal Poly Limestone at The Citadel Virginia Tech at Oklahoma State December 20th (Friday) Kent State Open (Kent State, Northern Illinois) @ Kent, Ohio Sheridan Open (Brown, Drexel, F&M, Indiana, Lehigh, Virginia) @ Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Wilkes Open (Appalachian State) @ Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Air Force, Oregon State at Utah Valley Augustana, Nebraska-Kearney at Nebraska Buffalo at SIU Edwardsville Long Island at Bucknell Oregon State at Utah Valley Rider Quad (Maryland, Pittsburgh, South Dakota State) @ Lawrenceville, New Jersey Sacred Heart at Edinboro December 21st (Saturday) Kent State Open (Clarion, Kent State) @ Kent, Ohio American at Navy Hofstra at Columbia Hofstra, Morgan State at Nassau CC Northern Colorado Quad @ Greeley, Colorado Oklahoma Quad (Buffalo, CSU Bakersfield, Chattanooga, Oklahoma) @ Norman, Oklahoma South Dakota State at Drexel Knockout Christmas Classic (Campbell, North Dakota State, West Virginia, Wisconsin) @ Kissimmee, Florida December 20/21st (Friday/Saturday) Journeymen Collegiate Duals @ Nashville, Tennessee (Iowa State, Lock Haven, North Carolina, Ohio State) and (Binghamton, Little Rock, Missouri, Penn State) December 22nd (Sunday) Reno Tournament of Champions (Cal Poly, Oregon State, Wyoming) @ Reno, Nevada Gardner-Webb at Ohio NC State at Cornell The Citadel at Duke VMI at Duke December 29/30th (Sunday/Monday) Midlands Championships (Bucknell, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Edinboro, F&M, George Mason, Harvard, Indiana, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Penn, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rider, Rutgers, SIU Edwardsville, Stanford, Wisconsin) @ Evanston, Illinois Soldier Salute (Iowa, Minnesota, Navy, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Wyoming) @ Coralville, Iowa January 3rd (Friday) Air Force at Oklahoma State Cleveland State at Ohio Cornell at Missouri Pitt-Johnstown at Pittsburgh Purdue at Kent State January 4th (Saturday) Bobby Kauffman Open (Edinboro) at Edinboro, Pennsylvania California Baptist at Utah Valley West Virginia at Princeton January 4/5th (Saturday/Sunday) Southern Scuffle (American, Appalachian State, Army West Point, Bloomsburg, Brown, Campbell, Chattanooga, Clarion, Davidson, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Little Rock, Long Island, Morgan State, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, The Citadel, Virginia, Virginia Tech) @ Chattanooga, Tennessee January 5th (Sunday) Armbar in the Armory (Binghamton, Columbia, Lock Haven, Maryland) @ Albany, New York Nebraska at Northern Iowa Oregon State at Ohio State January 8th (Wednesday) Iowa State at West Virginia January 9th (Thursday) Hofstra at Binghamton January 10th (Friday) F&M Open (Air Force, Army West Point, Buffalo, Campbell, Cleveland State, Columbia, F&M, Harvard, Hofstra, Kent State, Lock Haven, Long Island, Navy, Penn, Princeton, VMI) @ Lancaster, Pennsylvania Arizona State at California Baptist Duke at NC State Maryland at Michigan Michigan State at Penn State Northwestern at Purdue Ohio State at Illinois Princeton at Morgan State Rutgers at Indiana Stanford at Pittsburgh Virginia Tech at North Carolina January 10/11th (Friday/Saturday) Elite Duals (Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Drexel, George Mason, Little Rock, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Penn, SIU Edwardsville, South Dakota State, Wyoming) @ Cedar Falls, Iowa Virginia Duals (Bucknell, Iowa State, Rider) @ Hampton, VA January 11th (Saturday) Lehigh at Binghamton Minnesota at Nebraska January 12th (Sunday) Appalachian State at The Citadel Arizona State vs California Baptist @ Walnut, California Army West Point at Long Island Edinboro at Clarion Iowa at Wisconsin Lehigh at Cornell Maryland at Michigan State NC State at Oklahoma State Northwestern at Illinois Pittsburgh at West Virginia Purdue at Northern Illinois Rutgers at Ohio State Stanford at Missouri January 14th (Tuesday) Gardner-Webb at Duke January 16th (Thursday) Gardner-Webb, Lock Haven, Morgan State at Davidson South Dakota State at California Baptist January 16th/17th (Thursday/Friday) Davidson Duals (Brown, Davidson, Hofstra, Little Rock, Lock Haven, The Citadel) at Davidson, North Carolina January 17th (Friday) Campbell at Gardner-Webb Harvard at American Illinois at Iowa Indiana at Purdue Lehigh at Navy Michigan at Northwestern NC State at Virginia North Carolina at Duke North Dakota State at Northern Colorado Northern Illinois at Central Michigan Northern Iowa at Arizona State Penn State at Nebraska Pittsburgh at Bucknell SIU Edwardsville at Kent State Utah Valley at Missouri West Virginia at Oklahoma Wisconsin at Maryland January 18th (Saturday) Binghamton at F&M Binghamton at Drexel George Mason at Cleveland State Harvard at Navy Hofstra at Bloomsburg South Dakota State at Air Force January 19th (Sunday) Cyclone Open (Iowa State) at Ames, Iowa Arizona State at Stanford Army West Point at American Buffalo at Michigan State Campbell at Chattanooga Cleveland State at Central Michigan Edinboro at Ohio Johns Hopkins at Morgan State Michigan at Minnesota North Dakota State at Air Force Princeton at Clarion Purdue at Ohio State SIU Edwardsville at Clarion Virginia Tech at Appalachian State West Virginia at Oklahoma State Wisconsin at Rutgers Wyoming at Oregon State January 20th (Monday) Duke at Appalachian State January 22nd (Wednesday) Arizona State at Missouri January 24th (Friday) Air Force at Presbyterian Bellarmine at Campbell California Baptist at Northern Colorado Bloomsburg, Clarion at Cleveland State Drexel at Bucknell Illinois at Maryland Indiana at Michigan State Kent State at Lock Haven Minnesota at Wisconsin Nebraska at Michigan Northern Illinois at Ohio Oklahoma at Iowa State Oklahoma State at Northern Iowa Oregon State at Little Rock Penn at Columbia Penn State at Rutgers Pittsburgh at NC State Rider at Princeton The Citadel at Davidson Utah Valley at Wyoming Virginia Tech at Duke January 25th (Saturday) Appalachian Open (Appalachian State) at Boone, North Carolina Binghamton at Brown Binghamton at Harvard Bloomsburg at Buffalo Bucknell at Army West Point California Baptist at Wyoming Cornell at Brown Binghamton, Cornell at Harvard Drexel at Rider Kent State at Lock Haven Northern Illinois at Ohio Ohio State at Iowa Oklahoma at Northern Iowa Sacred Heart at F&M VMI vs Chattanooga at Cleveland, Tennessee January 26th (Sunday) North Carolina Open (North Carolina) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Air Force, Gardner-Webb at Davidson Campbell, Central Michigan, CSU Bakersfield at American Bloomsburg, Glenville State at Buffalo Bucknell vs. Army West Point Clarion, Kent State at Long Island Illinois at Rutgers Indiana at Michigan Lock Haven at George Mason Minnesota at Northwestern Nebraska at Michigan State Oklahoma State at Iowa State Penn at Hofstra Princeton at Columbia The Citadel at Presbyterian Virginia at Stanford West Virginia at Missouri January 27th (Monday) Presbyterian at Appalachian State January 30th (Thursday) Bucknell at Lock Haven January 31st (Friday) American at Lehigh American at Drexel Appalachian State at Bellarmine Chattanooga at Presbyterian Davidson at Campbell Gardner-Webb at VMI Iowa at Penn State Navy at Bucknell NC State at North Carolina Northern Illinois at Cleveland State SIU Edwardsville at California Baptist Stanford at Oregon State Utah Valley at South Dakota State Virginia at Virginia Tech Wisconsin at Nebraska Wyoming at North Dakota State February 1st (Saturday) Army West Point at Lehigh Bloomsburg at Sacred Heart Cornell at Binghamton Duke at Pittsburgh Edinboro Open (Cleveland State, Edinboro) @ Edinboro, Pennsylvania George Mason at Rider Missouri at Oklahoma Northern Iowa at West Virginia Northwestern at Indiana Ohio State at Michigan Princeton at Drexel Purdue at Illinois Utah Valley at North Dakota State Wyoming at South Dakota State February 2nd (Sunday) Mat-Town Open (Lock Haven) at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Brown at Penn Brown at Princeton Campbell at Rider Central Michigan at Ohio Chattanooga at The Citadel Clarion at Michigan State Cornell at Columbia CSU Bakersfield at Oregon State F&M at Hofstra F&M at Long Island Harvard at Penn Harvard at Princeton Iowa at Maryland Missouri at Oklahoma State Northern Colorado at Arizona State Pittsburgh at Binghamton Rutgers at Minnesota SIU Edwardsville at Cal Poly The Citadel at Davidson VMI at Bellarmine February 4th (Tuesday) Appalachian State at Gardner-Webb February 6th (Thursday) Cleveland State at Edinboro West Virginia vs. Utah Valley at Layton, Utah February 7th (Friday) Air Force at Utah Valley Arizona State at Iowa State Binghamton at Morgan State Buffalo at Northern Illinois Central Michigan at Edinboro Chattanooga at Davidson Drexel at F&M Duke at Virginia Kent State at Ohio Lehigh at Bucknell Michigan at Penn State Michigan State at Northwestern Minnesota at Ohio State Nebraska at Iowa North Carolina at Pittsburgh Northern Colorado at South Dakota State Oregon State at Cal Poly Presbyterian at Gardner-Webb Purdue at Wisconsin Rider at Lock Haven Rutgers at Maryland The Citadel at Bellarmine Virginia Tech at Stanford February 8th (Saturday) Messiah Open (F&M) @ Grantham, Pennsylvania American at Virginia Northern Iowa at North Dakota State Oklahoma State at Little Rock Princeton at Cornell Rider at Bloomsburg West Virginia at Wyoming February 9th (Sunday) Air Force at CSU Bakersfield Brown at American Brown at George Mason Central Michigan at Buffalo Chattanooga at Appalachian State Davidson at Bellarmine Lock Haven at Clarion Maryland at Penn State Michigan State at Wisconsin Ohio State at Indiana Penn at Cornell Pittsburgh at Iowa State Presbyterian, VMI at Campbell Purdue at Minnesota Sacred Heart at Binghamton February 10th (Monday) Hofstra at Long Island February 13th (Thursday) Lehigh at Penn Stanford at Princeton February 14th (Friday) Bellarmine at Gardner-Webb Bucknell at American Campbell at The Citadel Iowa at Minnesota Iowa State at South Dakota State Kent State at Central Michigan Little Rock, Northern Illinois at Cal Poly Lock Haven at Cleveland State Maryland at Purdue Michigan State at Rutgers Northern Colorado at Utah Valley Ohio at SIU Edwardsville Penn State at Ohio State Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech Rider at Edinboro Stanford at NC State Virginia at North Carolina VMI at Davidson Wisconsin at Northwestern Wyoming at Air Force February 15th (Saturday) Columbia at Harvard Cornell at Arizona State Millersville at F&M North Dakota State at California Baptist February 16th (Sunday) American at Virginia American at George Mason Binghamton at Buffalo Columbia at Brown Davidson at Appalachian State Drexel at Hofstra Drexel at Long Island Gardner-Webb at Chattanooga Indiana at Nebraska Iowa State at Northern Iowa Little Rock, North Dakota State at CSU Bakersfield Michigan at Michigan State Morgan State at Sacred Heart Navy at Army West Point Northern Colorado at Wyoming Northwestern at Iowa Oklahoma at Arizona State Penn State at Illinois Princeton at Penn Rider at Clarion SIU Edwardsville at Central Michigan Stanford at Duke The Citadel at VMI Virginia at North Carolina February 19th (Wednesday) Penn at Rutgers VMI at Presbyterian February 20th (Thursday) Bloomsburg at Navy Edinboro at Lock Haven Kent State at Cleveland State Long Island at Sacred Heart February 21st (Friday) American at Penn State Arizona State at Lehigh Brown at Harvard California Baptist at CSU Bakersfield Columbia at Bucknell Edinboro at Bloomsburg Indiana at Chattanooga Maryland at Drexel Michigan State at Central Michigan NC State at Virginia Tech North Carolina at Stanford Northern Iowa at Wisconsin (tentative 21st-23rd) Pittsburgh at Virginia February 22nd (Saturday) Cowboy Shootout (Wyoming) at Laramie, Wyoming Brown at Sacred Heart Bucknell at Cornell Cleveland State at Rider Iowa State at Missouri Northern Illinois at SIU Edwardsville VMI at Sacred Heart February 23rd (Sunday) F&M Invitational (F&M, Penn) @ Lancaster, Pennsylvania Patriot Last Chance Open (George Mason, Hofstra) @ Fairfax, Virginia Air Force at Northern Colorado American at Morgan State Arizona State at West Virginia Bellarmine at Chattanooga Binghamton at Army West Point Cal Poly at CSU Bakersfield Campbell at Appalachian State Central Michigan at Michigan Gardner-Webb at The Citadel Nebraska at Purdue North Carolina at Oregon State Ohio at Buffalo Oklahoma State at Iowa South Dakota State at North Dakota State March 6th (Thursday) Pac-12 Championships at Corvallis, Oregon March 7/8th (Friday/Saturday) EIWA Championships @ Bethlehem, Pennsylvania MAC Championships @ Lawrenceville, New Jersey March 8/9th (Saturday/Sunday)) Big 12 Championships @ Tulsa, Oklahoma Big Ten Championships @ Evanston, Illinois March 9th (Sunday) ACC Championships @ Durham, North Carolina Ivy League Championships @ Princeton, New Jersey March 20-22nd (Thursday-Saturday) NCAA Championships @ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end two Sunday's ago. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 65 kg Men's Freestyle: 74 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Men's Freestyle: 97 kg Men's Freestyle: 125 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 62 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 16 Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Juan Wang (China) 4-1 Reetika Hooda (India) over Bernadett Nagy (Hungary) 12-2 Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria) 7-1 Kennedy Blades (USA) over Catalina Axente (Romania) 11-0 Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) over Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia) 8-4 Davaanasan Enkhamaryn (Mongolia) over Hannah Rueben (Nigeria) 5-2 Yasemin Adar (Turkiye) over Justina DiStasio (Canada) 8-2 Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) 2-0 Quarterfinals Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) over Reetika Hooda (India) 1-1 Kennedy Blades (USA) over Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) 4-3 Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) over Davaanasan Enkhamaryn (Mongolia) 6-3 Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Yasemin Adar (Turkiye) 3-0 Semifinals Kennedy Blades (USA) over Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) 8-6 Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) 4-2 Repechage Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Catalina Axente (Romania) FFT Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) over Yasemin Adar (Turkiye) 3-1 Bronze Medal Matches Milaimys Marin Potrille (Cuba) over Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) 6-0 Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) over Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador) 2-1 Gold Medal Match Yuka Kagami (Japan) over Kennedy Blades (USA) 3-1 Notes: In her first Olympic Games, Yuka Kagami came away with a gold medal. It was her third World/Olympic medal and a second straight title - after winning a world championship in 2023. Kagami’s Olympic title gave Japan four gold medals in women’s freestyle from 2024. This is the third straight Olympic Games where Japan had four. In her four Olympic bouts, Kagami scored 12 total points. That’s the lowest point total for any of the Olympic gold medalists across the three styles. Across all three styles, Japan had eight gold medalists in 2024 in 18 weight classes. For all of Japan’s success in women’s freestyle, this is the first time that they have had an Olympic champion at the highest women’s weight. In her first world-level appearance at the Senior level, Kennedy Blades was able to bring in a silver medal. Blades’ medal gave the United States four medalists for a second straight Olympic Games. Milaimys Marin Potrille’s bronze medal gave Cuba two medals in the 2024 Games, without ever having won one at any of the previous Olympic Games. This is Marin Potrille’s first World/Olympic medal. Tatiana Renteria’s bronze medal is the third-ever for Colombia in women’s freestyle. Renteria is now a two-time World/Olympic medalist. This is the first time since women’s wrestling has been offered in the Olympics that there have been three medalists from the Pan-American continent(s) in the same weight class. In addition, one of the bronze medal matchup featured Renteria/Reasco Valdez - so another wrestler from the Pan-American qualifier was fifth. This weight class showed a bit of a changing of the guard as all four medalists are 23 years old or younger. Half of the seeded wrestlers fell in the opening round at this weight. #4 Axente, #6 Rueben, #7 DiStasio, #8 Nagy. This bracket has four past world finalists that did not earn medals at this weight. DiStasio, Adar, Medet Kyzy, and Enkhamaryn. With this being the final women’s weight class conducted, we saw a wrestler from Europe did not medal at 76 kg. That made only four Olympic medals across all women’s freestyle weights from Europe. There were nine in each of the last two Olympic Games (when women’s wrestling was expanded to six weights). Even with four weights, there were six in 2012. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

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 157 Top-20 Notes: In 2022, he was the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 157 and in 2023 he was the #4 Fantasy Wrestler. Finally, in 2024, Chase Saldate finds himself atop the ranks due in large part to the end of season stretch going 10-1 with six pins. One of Saldate’s four losses was Vince Zerban who, not only was #2 in the 157 Fantasy Wrestling rankings, but was #2 nationally for several weeks at the end of the season (and nationally ranked top-five for seven weeks). Zerban went 21-0 (his first two duals of the season were not against D1 schools, so uncountable) but only faced two wrestlers who ended up in the Top-20 National Rankings (Saldate at #20 and Cardenas at #8). High amount of matches against not a lot of top ranked competition, usually means high fantasy worth. Speaking of Cardenas, Daniel Cardenas had four losses during the regular season, but was able to edge out Meyer Shapiro by one Fpt. Cardenas and Shapiro met early in the season at CKLV with Cardenas getting the victory (and thus the higher fantasy rank). Shapiro would have the last laugh though, beating Cardenas for 3rd at Nationals. The only non-starter to make the 157 Top-20 was Central Michigan’s Mason Shrader who tied Colton Washleski in Fpts at 72 but bested the Bronc by 0.5 PPM. But for Washleski to end up at #6 in the Top-20 should not go overlooked. In 2023, he went 5-14 (-26 Fpts and #264 in the 157 Ranks). Technically speaking, Paddy Gallagher is listed as a “non-starter” but wrestled into January as the 157 starter for OHST. Despite only one match in January and no matches in February to end the season, Paddy finished inside the Top-20 tied for 17th with Peyton Robb in Fpts and PPM. National Champion Levi Haines comes in at #7 with the highest PPM in the Top-20 (4.4 PPM) in the least number of matches wrestled in the Top-20. Going a perfect 15-0 in the regular season, five of his wins came by decision with the rest by major. If he followed a similar trajectory to get to 20 matches, he probably would have finished at least second in the 2024 season ranks. Powered by a regular-season bonus rate of almost 40% (in countable matches) and two losses by decision only, Peyton Kellar makes his second consecutive Top-20 at 157. This time, at #12 compared to his 2023 finish at #8. Michael Blockhus returned to collegiate wrestling for one last ride and, while not reaching the podium in March, was able to put together a great fantasy run in the regular season. He tied national runner-up Jacori Teemer with 56 Fpts but takes the #15 spot with a 1 PPM better stat-line than Teemer. Who Missed The Cut: Two All-Americans miss the Top-20 in Bryce Andonian (VT) and Jared Franek (IOWA). Andonian finished with only 46 Fpts in large part due to having the regular season cut short by injury on January 7th, 2024 (loss by INJ to Shapiro). Had he, say, lost by only a decision and not wrestled the rest of the season, he would have finished with 49 Fpt and taken the #19 spot. Franek, on the other hand, wrestled a full regular season, but only four of his 18 countable D1 matches were won by bonus (two techs and two majors). If non-D1 competitions were included in Fantasy Scoring, Franek would have had an additional 24 Fpts (all from the Luther Open). Ohio State starter for the last part of the regular season and into the postseason, Issac Wilcox had five losses in his last 14 matches, accounting for -17 Fpts. Wilcox finished tied with Teague Travis but a lesser PPM of 1.8 lands him at #21. Brock Mauller (MIZZ) and Lucas Revano (PENN) tied with 42 Fpts, with Mauler having the better PPM at 2.3 compared to Revano’s 1.6. Other notables to miss the Top-20 include Joey Blaze (PUR) with 44 Fpts, Cael Swensen (SDSU) with 37 Fpts, Matt Bianchi (LR) with 36 Fpts, Cody Chittum (ISU) with 32 Fpts, and Brayton Lee (IND) with 20 Fpts in 6 matches.

It came down to the finals matches on Sunday to determine a team winner in men’s freestyle at the U17 World Championships. Coming into the final session, the American team held a one-point lead over Iran. The United States and Iran had a head-to-head gold medal matchup at 45 kg in a bout that appeared as if it may decide the team race. That proved to be the case as Sammy Sanchez (USA) had an incredible comeback to run down Amirabbas Ramezanibaza (Iran). The opening period belonged to the Iranian as he secured a takedown and then transitioned into a leg lace, all while Sanchez was on the shot clock. Once that sequence was finished, Sanchez trailed 5-0 which is how the first period would end. Undeterred, the second period would be all Sanchez. Early in the final period, Ramezanibaza took an errant shot that was blocked by Sanchez, who spun for a takedown to get on the board. Along the way, the Iranian was called for a caution after a singlet pull, making the match, 5-3 in favor of Ramezanibaza. Sanchez quickly took the lead with a single leg and a dump that netted him a pair of two-pointers. During the same action, Sanchez kept Ramezanibaza’s arm for another exposure to flip the script and lead, 9-5. The California native was able to prevent Ramezanibaza from scoring from a pair of different front headlock situations during the final :30-plus seconds of the bout to win a U17 world championship. Sanchez wasn’t the only American who left Amann, Jordan with gold on Sunday - fellow lightweight Dom Munaretto also struck gold. Munaretto was tasked with facing Faith Christian’s Freddy Bachmann, who was wrestling for Puerto Rico. A shot clock point for Bachmann after Munaretto was put on the clock accounted for the only scoring in the opening period. Munaretto got his own shot clock point in the second period to take the lead on criteria. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Bachmann went for a desperation throw which Munaretto stopped and earned a takedown himself. It made the final score 3-1. Munaretto is now a two-time U17 world champion - he won the 45 kg weight class in 2022. He is the fourth American in men’s freestyle to win multiple U17 world championships, joining Kurt McHenry (2016/17), Yianni Diakomihalis (2015/16), and Gable Steveson (2015/16). Speaking of Diakomihalis, his younger brother, Elijah earned a bronze medal at 92 kg. The younger Diakomihalis posted an 8-3 win over Aliaksei Khadunou (AIN - Belarus). Saturday afternoon saw the United States capture their other gold medal in men’s freestyle as Michael Mocco dominated his way to the 110 kg title. Shortly after the opening whistle, Mocco notched a takedown from a low-leg attack and transitioned into a leg lace for a quick 10-0 tech fall in only :18 seconds on Kyrgyzstan’s Yedige Kassimbek. Mocco outscored his four opponents by a 47-6 margin throughout the tournament. Henry Aslikyan (48 kg) and Keanu Dillard (55 kg) were the other medalists for the men’s freestyle squad. The Americans had three gold medalists, three bronze medalists, and three others who fell in bronze medal matches. The US women’s freestyle team was led by the 61 kg representative Taina Fernandez who crushed the field on the way to a gold medal. Fernandez pinned three out of her four opponents on her way to a world title. In the gold medal match, she put away Japan’s Sae Noguchi via fall in 3:22. Fernandez’s only non-fall of the tournament was in the opening round when she teched Ozdenur Ozmez (Turkiye) 11-0 shortly after the second period commenced. The only other American woman who medaled was Morgan Turner who was a bronze medalist at 46 kg. It was the second consecutive U17 world medal for Turner - last year she was a gold medalist at 43 kg in Istanbul.

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 65 kg Men's Freestyle: 74 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Men's Freestyle: 125 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 62 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 16 Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) over Luis Perez Sosa (Dominican Republic) 9-0 Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) over Radu Lefter (Moldova) 8-2 Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) over Steyn DeLange (South Africa) 5-3 Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine) over Ibrahim Ciftci (Turkey) 5-1 Kyle Snyder (USA) over Awusayiman Habila (China) 9-5 Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba) over Erik Thiele (Germany) 5-0 Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) over Mostafa Elders (Egypt) 6-2 Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) over Amirali Azarpira (Iran) 4-3 Quarterfinals Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) over Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) 7-2 Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) over Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine) 11-0 Kyle Snyder (USA) over Arturo Silot Torres (Cuba) Fall 3:36 Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) over Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) 14-2 Semifinals Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) over Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) 5-0 Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) over Kyle Snyder (USA) 6-4 Repechage Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine) over Steyn DeLange (South Africa) 5-3 Amirali Azarpira (Iran) over Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) 6-1 Bronze Medal Matches Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) over Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine) 10-0 Amirali Azarpira (Iran) over Kyle Snyder (USA) 4-1 Gold Medal Match Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) over Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) Fall 1:52 Notes: Not only is Akhmed Tazhudinov the first Olympic champion for Bahrain in men’s freestyle, but he is also their first medalist. Tazhudinov was one of only two wrestlers to earn a fall in a gold medal match at this year’s Olympic Games. At 21, Tazhudinov was the youngest Olympic gold medalist in men’s freestyle in 2024. Tazhudinov is now a two-time World/Olympic gold medal winner (in as many tries). In nine matches at the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Olympic Games, Tazhudinov has only wrestled the full six minutes twice (versus Snyder and Azapira). Givi Matcharashvili earned his first Olympic medal when he took the silver. It’s his third World/Olympic medal after taking bronze at the last two world championships. We had a very young podium with Matcharashvili being the oldest of the four medalists at 27 years old. Magomedkhan Magomedov also grabbed his first Olympic medal by taking the bronze medal. He is now a three-time World/Olympic medalist. Magomedov’s medal gave Azerbaijan multiple medalists for the third time in the last four Olympic Games. Two of the medalists (Tazhudinov and Magomedov) previously have competed for Russia. Amirali Azarpira claimed his first World/Olympic medal with a bronze in Paris. Azarpira’s medal gave Iran four medal in men’s freestyle. The last time Iran had that many was in the 1956 Games in Melbourne. Kyle Snyder lost to Azarpira in the bronze medal match. It marked the first time in his Senior level career (2015 - present) that he did not medal at a World/Olympic event. This weight class had the most competitive first round of any men’s freestyle weight class. Only one match ended via fall or tech. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 74 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Men's Freestyle: 125 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 62 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 16 Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) over Goderdzi Dzebiashvili (Georgia) 11-0 Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) over Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba) 5-0 Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) 10-0 Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) over Georgii Okorokov (Australia) 12-2 Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) over Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) 11-0 Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) over Austin Gomez (Mexico) 7-0 Islam Dudaev (Albania) over Gaku Akazawa (Samoa) 10-0 Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Zain Retherford (USA) 8-0 Quarterfinals Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) over Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 7-5 Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) over Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) 8-6 Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) over Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 10-3 Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Islam Dudaev (Albania) 11-0 Semifinals Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) over Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) 5-1 Rahman Amouzad (Iran) over Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) 10-0 Repechage Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) over Maxim Sacultan (Moldova) 15-4 Islam Dudaev (Albania) over Zain Retherford (USA) FFT Bronze Medal Matches Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) over Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) 10-9 Islam Dudaev (Albania) over Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) 13-2 Gold Medal Match Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) over Rahman Amouzad (Iran) 10-3 Notes: Kotaro Kiyooka’s Olympic gold medal came in his first appearance at a Senior World/Olympic-level event. Just a year ago, Kiyooka finished ninth at the U23 World Championships. With Kiyooka’s gold medal, it marked the first time that Japan would capture multiple gold medals in men’s freestyle in a single Olympic Games since 1988 when Takashi Kobayashi (48 kg) and Mitsuru Sato (52 kg) both earned gold medals. This was the second straight Olympic Games where a Japanese wrestler came away with gold at this weight class. In 2020, Takuto Otoguro won the gold medal. It’s also three out of four as Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu won the 66 kg gold medal in 2012. Kiyooka’s gold medal gave Japan 8 in the 2024 Olympic Games across all three styles - which is remarkable for 18 weight classes (2 in men’s freestyle, 2 in Greco-Roman, and 4 in women’s freestyle). Rahman Amouzad made the finals after outscoring the opposition 29-0 across three matches. Two of his wins came against 2023 world champions, Zain Retherford (70 kg) and Iszmail Musukaev (65 kg). Despite all of their international success, this is the first Olympic medal in this weight range (62-68 kg) for Iran since 1992 when Asgari Mohammadian was a silver medalist (to John Smith). Amouzad is now a two-time world/Olympic medalist with his silver medal to go along with a 2022 world championship. A bronze medal from Islam Dudaev gave Albania two medals in the 2024 Olympic Games in men’s freestyle. Previously they had none. The bronze was Dudaev’s first World/Olympic medal. To get on the podium, Dudaev won a 13-12 shootout against 2023 world champion Musukaev. That Dudaev/Musukaev matchup pitted a pair of former Russian wrestlers against each other for a medal. Sebastian Rivera became only the second wrestler representing Puerto Rico to medal. In 2012, Jaime Espinal was a silver medalist at 84 kg. Rivera is now a two-time World/Olympic medalist after taking silver at the 2023 World Championships. Rivera was the only wrestler from the 2023 world podium to make the 2024 Olympic medal stand. Retherford, Rivera, and Austin Gomez were NCAA All-Americans in the field at 65 kg. Though they were in the same Olympic bracket, the three accounted for All-American honors at four different collegiate weight classes. Rivera (125/133/141), Retherford (141/149), Gomez (149). For the most part, there was a youth movement on the podium at this weight. The finalists were 22 (Amouzad) and 23 (Kiyooka), and Rivera is 25. The oldest was Dudaev who is 29. Despite the depth at this weight, only one seeded wrestler fell in the opening round - #5 Maxim Sacultan (Moldova). He was defeated by the eventual champion, Kiyooka. This weight class featured three first round matches between past world medalists. Tulga Ochir/Valdes Tobier, Musukaev/Akmataliev, Amouzad/Retherford. All three matches ended with the losing wrestler being shut out. Despite the number of great wrestlers at this weight class, the first round matches were generally all blowouts. A 5-0 win by Tulga Ochir over Valdes Tobier accounted for the “closest” bout of the opening round. After the Olympic Games, Haji Aliyev announced his retirement. He’ll finish as a two-time Olympic medalist (silver/20, bronze/16) and a three-time world champion. Aliyev and Valdes Tobier were the only wrestlers in this bracket competing in their third Olympic Games. For the second straight Olympic Games, Musukaev fell in a bronze medal matchup. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

Boulder

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake

Today, 2021 NCAA champion AJ Ferrari announced via social media that he will wrestle for CSU Bakersfield in the 2024-25 season. Ferrari had recently visited CSU Bakersfield and had also taken a trip to Northern Colorado earlier in the summer. The top overall recruit in the Class of 2020, Ferrari signed with Oklahoma State and immediately became a force at the 197 lb weight class. Ferrari captured an NCAA title after a 19-1 season that saw him defeat Olympic bronze medalist Myles Amine (Michigan) in the NCAA semifinals and Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 4-2 for a national title. The following year, Ferrari picked up where he left off and jumped out to a 10-0 start. In late January, Ferrari got into a serious car accident and missed the remainder of the season. Shortly after the 2021-22 season, Ferrari was dismissed from the Oklahoma State program. Ferrari did not compete collegiately in any form during the 2022-23 campaign as he was working through various legal issues. It appeared as if Ferrari may be close to a return with Iowa midway through the 2023-24 season. One younger brother, Angelo, had signed with the Hawkeyes, and another, Anthony, was training with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club in an attempt to gain admission to the school. That return was brought to an abrupt halt after the Soldier Salute tournament in late-December, when Ferrari appeared to have beaten Iowa’s Zach Glazier, but took a swing at him and was disqualified. He would leave the mat to boos and hit the now-infamous splits, while giving the double middle fingers. Ferrari will join a CSU Bakersfield team that is in need of a boost after failing to have an NCAA qualifier in 2024 and only having one in the two years that preceded it. While there are risks associated with bringing Ferrari in, if he’s anywhere close to top form he’ll be a national title favorite at 197 lbs for the Roadrunners - a program that last had an All-American in 2014. Ferrari’s arrival will make the 197 lb weight class much more intriguing. Both finalists from 2024 have graduated. Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) is the highest finisher who is returning and four-time national champion Carter Starocci (Penn State) has been rumored to move all the way up from 174 lbs.

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 74 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Men's Freestyle: 125 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 16 Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) over Esther Kolawole (Nigeria) 5-1 Kayla Miracle (USA) over Nesrin Bas (Turkiye) 12-2 Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) over Johanna Lindborg (Sweden) 8-3 Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) over Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) 8-7 Grace Bullen (Norway) over Siwar Bouseta (Tunisia) 12-2 Luisa Niemesch (Germany) over Hanbit Lee (South Korea) 3-0 Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) over Ameline Douare (France) 5-2 Sakuri Motoki (Japan) over Kriszta Incze (Romania) Fall :38 Quarterfinals Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) over Kayla Miracle (USA) 6-6 Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 7-3 Grace Bullen (Norway) over Luisa Niemesch (Germany) 10-0 Sakuri Motoki (Japan) over Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 11-0 Semifinals Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) over Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) 9-2 Sakuri Motoki (Japan) over Grace Bullen (Norway) Fall 4:26 Repechage Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) over Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) 3-1 Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) over Kriszta Incze (Romania) 2-0 Bronze Medal Matches Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) over Orkhon Purevdorj (Mongolia) 6-6 Grace Bullen (Norway) over Ana Godinez Gonzalez (Canada) 11-0 Gold Medal Match Sakuri Motoki (Japan) over Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) 12-1 Notes: This was Sakuri Motoki’s first Senior World/Olympic gold medal. Motoki now has three medals from Senior level World/Olympic competition. This weight class only had two falls in the entire tournament. Both were collected by Motoki. None of Motoki’s four matches went the full six minutes. She was the only women’s freestyle champion who can make that claim. Motoki was one of three 22 year olds in the bracket and the second-youngest of the bunch. Only Turkiye’s Nesrin Bas is younger. Iryna Koliadenko earned her second Olympic medal when she made the finals and left with the silver. Koliadenko took bronze in 2020. She’s the first Ukrainian woman with two Olympic medals in wrestling. Koliadenko now has four World/Olympic medals. Koliadenko made the Olympic finals after beating past world champions in each of her pre-finals bouts (Tynybekova, Dudova, Purevdorj). The first round bout between Koliadenko and Purevdorj was the only of that round between returning world medalist. Her appearance in the gold medal bout made Koliadenko the first Ukrainian to reach the finals since Irina Melnik-Merleni won gold at 48 kg in 2004. Grace Bullen’s bronze medal made her the first wrestler from Norway to medal in women’s freestyle. Bullen is now a three-time World/Olympic medalist. Aisuluu Tynybekova’s bronze medal gives her two career Olympic medals - a silver from 2020 is the other. Kyrgyzstan has now won four medals in women’s wrestling at the Olympics - two belong to Tynybekova. Tynybekova is now a six-time World/Olympic medal winner. Of Tynybekova’s three wins, two came via identical 6-6 scores with criteria in her favor. Tynybekova was easily the most senior member of this bracket. She participated in her fourth Olympic Games. Only five others had prior Olympic experience and none of them had more than one before Paris. For the second straight Olympic Games, Koliadenko and Tynybekova met in the semifinals. Last time, Tynybekkova won via 10-0 tech. This time Koliadenko turned the tables with a 9-2 victory. Tynybekova also defeated Koliadenko in the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Championships, 2-2. The four Olympic medalists at this weight were the same four women who made the medal stand the previous year at the 2023 World Championships. This was the only bracket in women’s freestyle where all eight of the seeded wrestlers won in the first round. That continued to hold as the top four wrestlers advanced to the semifinals. In her second Olympic Games, Kayla Miracle picked up her first Olympic win with a 12-2 tech over Bas. She was eliminated from medal contention when Tynybekova was upset in the semifinals.

The 2023-24 season was a memorable one for Army West Point’s wrestling team. They finished with a 7-4 dual record which was good enough for #25 in the nation. Most important among those seven wins for head coach Kevin Ward was a 17-16 win over rival, Navy. In the postseason, Army finished third in the EIWA with 95.5 points and sent six wrestlers to Kansas City for the NCAA Championships. At nationals, 174 lber Ben Pasiuk broke through and became the program’s first NCAA All-American since Matt Kyler in 2008. Now with that pesky All-American drought having ended and four qualifiers returning, Army could be in for a big year. Not only do they have a strong nucleus returning, but the Black Knights will also get a boost from the bulk of a 2023 recruiting class that was ranked #17 in the nation and spent a year at the Army’s prep school. 125: Charlie Farmer If you follow offseason action in the international styles, you’ll know that Charlie Farmer was one of the stars of summer for Army. Farmer made the finals of the U23 World Team Trials and lost two NCAA qualifier, Max Gallagher (Penn), in the best-of-three series. Farmer posted two techs and a fall before wins over Maximo Renteria (Oregon State) and Alan Koehler (Nebraska) for a berth in the finals. That led to a spot on the U23 team competing at the Pan-American U23 Championship, where Farmer traveled to Colombia and left with a perfect record and a gold medal. Over the past two years, Farmer has gathered plenty of mat time in open competition and has amassed a 31-13 record. During the 2023-24 season, Farmer made his dual debut with a fall against Bucknell. Throughout the 2023-24 season, Farmer picked up a pair of wins over eventual national qualifiers amongst his 20 victories. One of which came against Gallagher during his weight class win at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. During his seventh-place finish at the Southern Scuffle, Farmer met the Black Knights starter, Ethan Berginc, and suffered a close 2-1 loss. Sometimes fans can make the mistake of reading too much into freestyle results and applying them to folkstyle; however, this isn’t the case with Farmer. He probably starts the preseason in the national rankings due to his quality collegiate resume. His presence gives Ward’s team yet another potential national qualifying threat. 133: Ethan Berginc/Conor Collins With Farmer penciled in at 125 lbs, it means that Ethan Berginc will be able to move up to 133 lbs. Berginc has qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of his first two years in West Point - both coming at 125 lbs. He started his career off with a win over a returning All-American in his first start and has been consistent ever since. Judging by his November 2023 record, you might not necessarily think that was the case (4-4). Looking beyond face value, Berginc suffered losses to three wrestlers that either held, or would eventually hold, the #1 national ranking at some point during the season - in a two-week span. After that loaded stretch, Berginc settled into the wrestler that Army fans have grown accustomed to seeing. He was third at the Southern Scuffle and then at the EIWA Championships. Unfortunately, Berginc was not able to pick up his first NCAA win and went 0-2 for a second straight year. For many, the jump from 125 to 133 can be a massive move. There will likely be some growing pains, but ultimately, Berginc should put together similar, if not better, production at the new weight. Also pushing for a spot either here or at 141 is sophomore Conor Collins. Collins went 11-11 last season and had a pair of wins over past national qualifiers (Jake Gliva/Micah Roes). In his only dual of the year, Collins teched Lehigh’s Ethan Smith. 141: Braden Basile One of the best developments for Army from the 2023-24 season was the emergence of freshman Braden Basile. In only his second competition, Basile downed a pair of ranked opponents. A week later, Basile used extra time to defeat Dylan Shawver (Rutgers), an eventual Big Ten champion and NCAA All-American. After a regular season that included a handful of losses, typical of many freshmen, Basile really turned it on in the postseason. In the EIWA quarterfinals, he knocked off past champion Michael Colaiocco (Penn) before keeping returning national champion Vito Arujau (Cornell) to a regular decision in the semis. Basile would finish in third after defeating veteran Kurt Phipps (Bucknell). At NCAA’s, Basile was beaten in the opening round by All-American Evan Frost (Iowa State), but responded with back-to-back major decisions over higher-seeded opponents - the most notable being #9 Dom Serrano (Northern Colorado). Basile will move up to a tough EIWA weight class that includes a pair of former conference champions. Even so, in his limited time on the collegiate mat, Basile has proven he’s a gamer who can rise to the occasion in the biggest of circumstances. Army has plenty of depth here with veterans like Zach Keal, Richard Treanor, and Shane Percelay all ready to step up, if needed. 149: Trae McDaniel Trae McDaniel started the 2023-24 season in InterMat’s preseason rankings and looked very solid through his first two bouts of the year. The second of which was a major decision victory over past national qualifier, Marcos Polanco (Purdue). In his third match, McDaniel had to default out via injury and didn’t return all year. McDaniel gained a preseason ranking on the back of a 29-11 2022-23 campaign that featured a pair of wins over national qualifiers. He would end up fourth in the EIWA, but that was not enough to garner an NCAA at-large berth. If fully healthy, McDaniel could establish himself as a favorite in the EIWA. The conference had five national qualifiers in 2024 and four return. With the Ivy League split, three have left the conference. Only Lehigh’s Kelvin Griffin remains. 157: Dakota Morris At this weight, Army will look to replace 2023 national qualifier Nate Lukez and it appears as if Dakota Morris might be the frontrunner. Morris was busy last season as he saw action in 36 matches during his freshman season. All of them came in open tournaments and most were at 165 lbs - though he did wrestle at 184 in his final appearance of the season. While Morris had a decent amount of losses (13), he did post some excellent wins. Four, in total, over wrestlers that had either previously qualified for nationals or would go on to in 2024. The two most notable were over EIWA third-place finisher Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) and Pac-12 champion Joey Bianchi (Little Rock). Challenging Morris could be a whole cluster of veterans including Micah Hanau, Eddie Hummel, and Oscar Aranda. photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com 165: Gunner Filipowicz/Cooper Haase We’ve already mentioned Basile, but another excellent freshman for Army in 2023-24 was Gunner Filipowicz. Filipowicz spent the first month of the season at 174 lbs, but later moved down to 165 and really took off. His breakout performance came at the Southern Scuffle where he made the finals. Filipowicz got his first official taste of the Army/Navy Star match and ended up playing a huge role in the final outcome. Filipowicz’s win over Andrew Cerniglia put the Black Knights up 7-0 in a dual they ended up winning by a point. Filipowicz ended up qualifying for the NCAA Tournament after a fourth-place finish at the EIWA Championships. After an opening-round upset loss, Filipowicz rattled off four-straight victories to wrestle for third place. In Kansas City, Filipowicz’s freshman year came to an end with a 0-2 showing at nationals. With a full offseason to prepare for 165 lbs, Filipowicz should be positioned to hit the ground running and might be poised for a big year. Another wrestler capable of a potential impact at this weight, or potentially 174 lbs, is freshman Cooper Haase. Coming out of high school, Haase was tabbed the #43 overall recruit in the Class of 2023. Haase competed for Army’s prep school in 2023-24 and put together an impressive 20-7 record. Some of Haase’s high school highlights include a title at NHSCA Junior Nationals and a fourth-place finish at the Super 32. 174: Dalton Harkins Senior Dalton Harkins has been very solid for Army as a three-year starter who has amassed a 65-33 record, but someone who has yet to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Harkins was fifth in the EIWA in 2023 and was the starter at 165 lbs last year, before Filipowicz dropped down. Before that point, Harkins looked like he was well on his way to his first national tournament. Though he competed at 165 lbs for the entire regular season, Harkins was Army’s entry at 184 lbs in the 2024 EIWA Championships. Even as an undersized 184 lber, Harkins did win a pair of matches at the conference tournament before his elimination. Like Filipowicz, Harkins will have the entire offseason to prepare for a weight change, rather than on the fly, in the middle of the season. 174 lbs is a weight class that has been hit hard by graduations and weight changes, so there could be plenty of opportunities for him to shine at the new weight. 184: Andrew Christie/David Barrett As mentioned earlier, Army was in a bind at the end of the season and needed Harkins to move up two weights for the postseason. That means there isn’t an established starter at this weight like most others. It looks like Andrew Christie may get the first crack at locking down the weight class. He also moved up from 165 lbs in the offseason. Christie was 11-8 as a freshman last year. He didn’t see any action in duals but entered seven different open tournaments. While Christie didn’t necessarily have any marquee wins, he did win his bracket at the Journeymen Collegiate Challenge and was 3-1 at both the Cleveland State Open and the Wilkes Open. One of the standouts from competition at Army’s prep school in 2023-24 was David Barrett, who scrapped to an 18-5 record. Barrett tallied a pair of titles in open tournaments and didn’t really have any losses that could be classified as “bad.” Veterans Kyle Swartz and Walker Stephenson could see substantial mat time here, as well. 197: Wolfgang Frable/Jake Gilfoil The returning starter from 2023-24, Wolfgang Frable, is back for his junior season. In his first full year as “the guy” for Army, Frable went 14-18 and came up a match shy of placing at the EIWA Championships. Frable was solid in open competition, but started taking lumps once he was inserted into the Army dual lineup. He won his dual debut but proceeded to drop five straight matches after the victory. At the EIWA Championships, Frable managed a major decision win over Harvard’s Alex Whitworth before his elimination. Army has a lot of potential options at 197; however, one of the more intriguing ones is freshman Jake Gilfoil. Gilfoil is another youngster who had a promising campaign at the prep school. Although his record was 12-6, Gilfoil seemed to show a lot of fight against quality competition in those six losses. Others to consider are Thomas Godbee, Cole Karpinski, and Eli Pack. photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com 285: Lucas Stoddard The third freshman national qualifier (a program record for Army) for the Black Knights in 2023-24 was heavyweight Lucas Stoddard. Even more so than Farmer, Stoddard had a huge offseason. He won the U23 Trials with two first-period techs over the returning EIWA champion Nathan Taylor (Lehigh). In their two matches last season, Taylor prevailed by a tech and major decision. Stoddard also came away from the U23 Pan-American Championships with a gold medal. At that event, he pinned Puerto Rico Olympian Jonovan Smith. Back to the collegiate world, Stoddard was third at the Southern Scuffle and then proceeded to win his next three duals, one of which came over a returning national qualifier. At the EIWA Championships, Stoddard had a bit of a tough go of it and finished sixth; however, the weight class was extremely deep and took eight to nationals. Stoddard drew the eventual NCAA runner-up, Lucas Davison (Michigan) in the first round and ended up going 0-2. With three more years of eligibility and plenty of room to improve, look for Stoddard to emerge as a key player going forward for Army. In addition to Stoddard, there are some really talented freshmen in this weight class for the Black Knights. Brady Colbert and Sam Sorensen are two that might be able to push Stoddard. Both were considered top-200 recruits in the Class of 2023. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Air Force Campbell Indiana Iowa State Lock Haven North Carolina Northern Iowa Oregon State West Virginia

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 74 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 16 Amir Zare (Iran) over Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) 5-0 Amarveer Dhesi (Canada) over Zhiwei Deng (China) 2-1 Daniel Ligeti (Hungary) over Ashton Mutuwa (Nigeria) 11-0 Taha Akgul (Turkey) over Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) 10-0 Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (Mongolia) over Mason Parris (USA) 10-5 Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) over Diaaeldin Abdelmottaleb (Egypt) 4-0 Robert Baran (Poland) over Yusup Batirmurzaev (Kazakhstan) 4-1 Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) over Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (Ukraine) 11-0 Quarterfinals Amir Zare (Iran) over Amarveer Dhesi (Canada) 10-0 Taha Akgul (Turkey) over Daniel Ligeti (Hungary) 10-0 Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) over Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur (Mongolia) 12-2 Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) over Robert Baran (Poland) 9-2 Semifinals Amir Zare (Iran) over Taha Akgul (Turkey) 2-1 Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) over Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) 7-0 Repechage Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) over Amarveer Dhesi (Canada) 5-0 Robert Baran (Poland) over Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (Ukraine) 3-0 Bronze Medal Matches Taha Akgul (Turkey) over Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) 7-0 Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) over Robert Baran (Poland) 9-3 Gold Medal Matches Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) over Amir Zare (Iran) 10-9 Notes: Geno Petriashvili finally got his elusive Olympic gold medal. Petriashvili has previously earned silver and bronze medals at the last two Olympic Games. With his gold, Petriashvili now has 11 World/Olympic medals - three world titles to go along with his recent Olympic gold medal. Petriashvili has earned a medal at every World/Olympic event since 2015. Petriashvili’s first world title came in 2017….also in Paris. The Olympic final was a rematch of the 2023 World finals won by Amir Zare, 11-0. This year’s matchup between Petriashvili and Zare featured the highest scoring gold medal matchup out of any style in 2024. 19 points (10-9). Zare is now a two-time Olympic medalist. He was a bronze medalist in Tokyo. Zare has won five World/Olympic medals by the age of 23. Iran has had a heavyweight earn a medal in men’s freestyle at the last four Olympic Games. 2012 (silver) and 2016 (silver) by Komeil Ghasemi. After winning his bronze medal match Taha Akgul left his shoes at the center of the mat signifying his retirement. Akgul had an incredible career that now includes three Olympic medals - including a gold medal in 2016. Akgul finished with 11 World/Olympic medals and three world titles to go along with the Olympic gold. His bronze medal made Akgul the oldest medalist in men’s freestyle (33 years old) in the Paris Olympics. We had the unusual sight of double retirement as Akgul’s bronze medal opponent, Aiaal Lazarev also left his shoes on the mat. Lazarev never won a World/Olympic medal, but participated in three Olympic Games and seven Senior World Championships. One of the semifinals matches pitted Georgian, Petriashvili, against an opponent that previously had competed for Georgia, but now represents Azerbaijan in Giorgi Meshvildishvili. Meshvildishvili won his first world/Olympic medal when he got the bronze. This was the only men’s freestyle weight class that had three medalists that were in their 30’s. All but Zare. There was one matchup in this bracket that pitted past Senior World medalists against each other in the opening round - when Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur defeated Mason Parris. Additionally, Zhiwei Deng and Yusup Batirmurzaev, were past world medalists who fell in the first round. Parris (#6) and Deng (#8) were the only seeded wrestlers that were knocked off in their first match.

Did you think that just because classes may start at many schools around the country recruiting news regarding wrestlers in the Class of 2024 has finished? Think again. Yesterday, Oregon State picked up a verbal commitment from a top-100 recruit in the Class of 2024, #75 overall Moses Mirabel (Gilroy, CA). Mirabel had originally committed to Brown University, but apparently has had a late change of plans. Mirabel is a two-time California state placewinner. He finished his career with a state championship at 144 lbs and was fifth at 138 in 2023. For his state title, Mirabel edged top-seeded Joseph Toscano (Buchanan, CA), a returning state finalist and one of the top rising juniors in the nation. In each of the last two seasons, Mirabel placed at the Doc Buchanan Invitational - taking fifth in 2024 and seventh in 2023. The initial recruiting class for the Beavers was quite small due to the large number of recruits signed within the previous two recruiting cycles. Mirabel and #111 Hunter Taylor (Liberty, MO) gave Oregon State a pair of Big Boarders. Mirabel looks like a 149 lber at the next level. While there are plenty of potential options at that weight already in Corvallis, none appear to be slam-dunk, long-term solutions, as of now. On the other end of the spectrum, commitments have started to roll in from the Class of 2026. Well, maybe not “roll in” as of yet, but we’ve got one! Pittsburgh got in early on local product, Elijah Brown. As a sophomore, Brown made the Pennsylvania AAA state tournament at 172 lbs but did not make the medal stand. A few months later, Brown earned a stop sign in Fargo after winning a 16U national championship in freestyle up at 190 lbs. With such rapid growth and two years of high school remaining, Brown will likely wrestle heavyweight for the Panthers. That would work out well for Pitt as current starter, Dayton Pitzer, is entering his redshirt sophomore year. In this instance, Pitzer could finish up while Brown takes a redshirt, himself. Brown is currently not ranked among the Class of 2026 or among his weight class; however, he is someone to keep an eye on going forward. Drexel is another school that has had some recent success on the recruiting trail with a pair of recent commits from the Class of 2025. First, is Christopher Mance III (Lovett, GA) who is ranked #179 amongst rising seniors and #25 in his weight class. Mance is a three-time Georgia state champion with his most recent title coming at 175 lbs. Outside of Georgia, Mance has placed twice at the NHSCA grade-level tournament. He was a finalist as a freshman and fifth after his sophomore year. For now, Mance looks to project at 174 lbs. Coach Matt Azevedo didn’t have to go quite as far from home with the Dragons other recent “get”, Patrick Kelly of Central Bucks West High School, just north of Philadelphia. Kelly was a fourth-place finisher at the 139 lb weight class in Pennsylvania’s AAA classification in 2024. After the state tournament, Kelly went to Virginia Beach and took eighth place at NHSCA Junior Nationals - at 145 lbs. Drexel is coming off a tough season where they were unable to send any wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. While there is some young talent at both Mance III and Kelly’s projected weights, the Dragons need more of these caliber recruits.

The 2024 Olympic Games came to an end last Sunday. Since there was so much action going on for the last week, you're sure to have missed something along the way. We'll go through each weight class and have a wrap-up for each, which includes results and some notable facts related to the weight. Past weight classes Greco-Roman: 60 kg Greco-Roman: 67 kg Greco-Roman: 77 kg Greco-Roman: 87 kg Greco-Roman: 97 kg Greco-Roman: 130 kg Men's Freestyle: 57 kg Men's Freestyle: 86 kg Women's Freestyle: 50 kg Women's Freestyle: 53 kg Women's Freestyle: 57 kg Women's Freestyle: 68 kg Round of 32 Yones Emami (Iran) over Frank Chamizo (Italy) 9-4 Razambek Jamalov (Uzbekistan) over Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (AIN - Belarus) 8-0 Round of 16 Kyle Dake (USA) over Anthony Montero Chirinos (Venezuela) 10-0 Yones Emami (Iran) over Bacar Ndum (Guinea-Bissau) 10-0 Khetag Tsabalov (Serbia) over Iman Mahdavi (UWW) 10-0 Daichi Takatani (Japan) over Geandry Garzon Caballero (Cuba) 10-0 Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan) over Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece) 8-2 Feng Lu (China) over Amr Hussen (Egypt) 14-4 Razambek Jamalov (Uzbekistan) over Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) 11-3 Chermen Valiev (Albania) over Turam Bayramov (Azerbaijan) 4-3 Quarterfinals Kyle Dake (USA) over Yones Emami (Iran) Fall 5:37 Daichi Takatani (Japan) over Khetag Tsabalov (Serbia) 10-0 Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan) over Feng Lu (China) 7-4 Razambek Jamalov (Uzbekistan) over Chermen Valiev (Albania) 6-5 Semifinals Daichi Takatani (Japan) over Kyle Dake (USA) 20-12 Razambek Jamalov (Uzbekistan) over Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan) 8-2 Repechage Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (AIN - Belarus) over Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) 6-6 Chermen Valiev (Albania) over Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov (AIN - Belarus) 12-2 Bronze Medal Matches Kyle Dake (USA) over Khetag Tsabalov (Serbia) 10-4 Chermen Valiev (Albania) over Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan) 6-2 Gold Medal Match Razambek Jamalov (Uzbekistan) over Daichi Takatani (Japan) Fall 2:12 Notes: Razambek Jamalov became officially only the second wrestler from Uzbekistan to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s freestyle. Artur Taimazov’s gold medal from 2004 in Athens is the only other. Taimazov won gold medals in 2008 and 2012 that have since been stripped due to a doping violation. Jamalov’s gold medal gave Uzbekistan two medals for the second time in three Olympic Games. They also had two medalists in 2016. At the time, Jamalov’s fall in the gold medal match was the first and only in the Olympic Games. A day later, there was a second fall at 97 kg. Jamalov’s first two bouts came against an Olympic silver medalist (Kadimagomedov) and a world silver medalist (Salkazanov). Though Russia wasn’t officially at the Olympic Games (for wrestling purposes), there were plenty of ex-Russians competing. This weight class led the way with six (Kadimagomedov - AIN/Belarus, Valiev - Albania, Tsabalov - Serbia, Salkazanov - Slovakia, Rassadin - Tajikistan, Jamalov - Uzbekistan) wrestlers who had previously wrestled for Russia, but have since transferred to another country. Daichi Takatani earned his second World/Olympic medal. Takatani’s semifinal match with Kyle Dake was the highest scoring bout of the entire Olympic Games. 32 total points (20-12). With an 8-2 win for Jamalov over Rassadin in the other semifinal - in gave this weight class the highest scoring two semifinals of the entire Olympic Games (42 points). The two met in the 2023 World quarterfinals - a match won by Dake, 7-4. Dake earned his second Olympic bronze medal. He is now a seven-time World/Olympic medalist. Dake has claimed medals at every World/Olympic event since 2018. Between Dake and Jordan Burroughs, an American has earned a medal at every World/Olympic tournament since 2017. At 33 years old, Dake is the second oldest medalist in men’s freestyle in 2024. Both he and Taha Akgul (Turkey - 125 kg) are 33; however, Akgul turns 34 in November. Chermen Valiev’s bronze medal gave Albania their first-ever medal in men’s freestyle. With Valiev’s medal, a wrestler representing Albania has earned a medal in each of the last three years. Zelimkhan Abakarov won world medals in 2022 and 2023. The inclusion of Iman Mahdavi via the Refugee team and Frank Chamizo after a controversial match at the European Qualifier, this bracket contained 18 wrestlers. Both of the Round of 32 matches had past Olympic medalists who suffered losses (Chamizo and Kadimagomedov). Cuba’s Geandry Garzon Caballero (40) was the oldest wrestler in this bracket and the entire men’s freestyle tournament. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

Michigan State head coach Roger Chandler sits down with Kevin Claunch to discuss the upcoming season for the Spartans. Chandler goes in detail throughout the potential MSU lineup and gives some inside information on the contenders at each weight - the Spartans will be very young in 2024-25. The two also do a quick recap of the 2023-24 season and talk about a couple of prominent wrestlers who left the program in offseason. For the full interivew:

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 26. These three schools were removed from this week's graphic: Penn, Oklahoma, Oregon State The following schools remain on Bassett’s graphic and therefore in contention for his services: Air Force, American, Arizona State, Clarion, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Lehigh, Little Rock, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt-Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin. These three schools were removed from last week's 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 As you would expect, most traditional DI power programs are still in the hunt for the two-time Super 32 and Ironman champion. Bassett recently competed at the U20 Pan-American Championships and dominated for a gold medal. In three matches, Bassett posted two falls and a tech. Bassett will also be in action later this year at the U20 World Championships - September 2nd-8th in Pontevedra, Spain. Bassett has already been selected to take part in a Who's #1 rematch with Daniel Zepeda. The event will take place close to home, at Pitt-Johnstown, on September 29th. In 2021, Bassett captured gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the U17 Pan-American Championships. That same year, at the U17 World Championships, Bassett claimed a gold medal in freestyle and was 12th in Greco. He’ll compete this year just in freestyle.