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On March 11th, news broke that longtime Central Michigan head coach Tom Borrelli would step down from his post following the 2024 NCAA Championships. Borrelli spent 33 years as head coach of the Chippewas and coached one national champion, 45 All-Americans, and 93 MAC champions. CMU finished in the top ten at the NCAA Tournament on three occasions, topping out at fifth in 1998. Now that the 2023-24 season is over, we can ask the question, who will replace Tom Borrelli? The world out of Mount Pleasant is that heavy consideration will be given to candidates with a link to Borrelli and the program. With that in mind, we’ve narrowed the list to some candidates that fit the bill (for the most part) and could be realistic hires. Saying CMU should hire Jordan Burroughs or David Taylor is fun, but not realistic. Also, we understand that CMU’s more prominent wrestling alum, Casey Cunningham, is not an option at this time. So, here’s a group of potential candidates with a little bit about their background and why they may stand out from the others on the list. Ben Bennett - Central Michigan Associate Head Coach While Coach Borrelli was a fixture on the CMU bench, his right-hand man Ben Bennett, is getting close to that status himself. Bennett was a top-100 recruit from the Class of 2008 who chose to stay in-state and Central Michigan, then proceeded to capture four MAC titles and earn All-American honors in each of his four years in the Chippewa lineup (6,8.6,4). Bennett is the only wrestler in school history to finish as an All-American four times and is one of only three four-time MAC champs. Immediately upon graduation, Bennett was appointed to the CMU coaching staff and just finished his 11th year. While on staff, four CMU wrestlers have earned All-American honors with the highest being Drew Hildebrandt’s fourth-place finish in 2021. Also, seven wrestlers have combined to win 14 MAC titles - headlined by Matt Stencel’s five at 285 lbs. During Bennett’s 11 years on staff, Central Michigan has won the MAC regular season title on two occasions and recently captured the 2024 MAC Championship. This year, Central Michigan had three national qualifiers and saw 157 lber, Johnny Lovett, advance to the bloodround. In a program that has had such continuity for decades, promoting Ben Bennett seems like a logical choice. With coach Borrelli stepping down, I’d assume he still has the ear of the athletic administration, so I’d imagine he vouches for his longtime assistant. Jon Reader - University of Wisconsin Associate Head Coach As a prep wrestler at Davison High School, Jon Reader was one of the top recruits in the Class of 2006 and went to Iowa State. Reader earned All-American honors on three occasions and finished his career as an undefeated national champion in 2011. He was also a starter on two NCAA team trophy-winning teams for the Cyclones, as they took third in 2009 and 2010. Reader’s coaching career got underway at his alma mater with a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant. In the summer of 2014, Reader joined fellow Cyclone alum, Chris Bono, on the South Dakota State coaching staff. While at SDSU, Reader helped lay the foundation for a Jackrabbit team that is regularly in the top 15 nationally. During his final year in Brookings, the Jackrabbits finished 12th in the nation on the strength of a national championship from Seth Gross. While at SDSU, Reader was still active and competed at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials. Since moving to Wisconsin, Reader has been a part of a squad that has finished in the top 20 in each of the last three seasons. While at Wisconsin, Reader has overseen five different wrestlers combined to earn All-American honors on ten occasions. Also, Wisconsin had three wrestlers named first-team All-Americans in 2020. Reader has also been very influential in the Badgers recruiting efforts. They have inked top-25 classes in each of the last three seasons (25,14,14). Getting a coach of Reader’s pedigree would be a coup for the Chippewas. Reader’s name often comes up during coaching vacancies and he is very respected amongst the coaching community. He has great name-brand recognition, plus in-state roots, to boot. Wynn Michalak - Campbell University Associate Head Coach Like Bennett, Wynn Michalak is a Central Michigan alum and one of the best to ever come out of Borrelli’s program. Michalak won every MAC title between 2005-08 at 197 lbs and earned All-American honors three times along the way. Michalak's best NCAA finish was during his senior season when he made the NCAA finals and finished as a runner-up to Penn State’s Phil Davis. He remains the last Chippewa wrestler to earn the #1 seed at nationals (2006). After his collegiate career was over, Michalak had a decorated Senior-level career. He competed at a pair of Olympic Trials and was a Senior National champion in 2015. Michalak joined the coaching ranks as a member of the CMU staff in a volunteer assistant capacity. He did stints in the Big Ten at Illinois and Michigan State before moving to Campbell. Last week, at the NCAA Tournament, Campbell had just their second All-American in school history, Taye Ghadiali at 285 lbs. One would think that Ghadiali worked closely with Michalak during the past couple of years. During the regular season, Campbell went 14-3 in dual competitions and crushed the rest of the SoCon. They finished the dual season ranked #22 in the nation by InterMat. Ghadiali ended up being one of six national qualifiers for the Camels and one of three conference champions in 2024. Michalak might have the most complete resume of the bunch. He fits the bill as being from the Borrelli coaching tree, has high-level experience as an athlete, and has coached a variety of schools - with a mix of sizes and stature. Jason Borrelli - Head Coach American University We couldn’t end without mentioning Tom Borrelli’s son, Jason, the current head coach at American University. The younger Borrelli just finished his third season at the helm in Washington DC. Borrelli has had an NCAA qualifier in each of the last two seasons, after inheriting a difficult situation at American following the Covid pandemic. Prior to coming to American, Borrelli was named the 2021 WIN Magazine National Coach of the Year at Stanford after leading Shane Griffith to a national title during the push to save Stanford Wrestling. Borrelli spent 13 years at Stanford and was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2019 after guiding the Cardinal to their first Pac-12 Championship in school history. Borrelli’s highwater mark at Stanford was an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2011. That year the Cardinal had three All-Americans and amassed 44 team points, a school high. Before being named Stanford’s head coach, Borrelli served on Kerry McCoy’s Stanford staff. He also has experience on the CMU bench. Jason Borrelli is the only person on this list with head coaching experience which would give him a leg up on anyone in the group. He also has the family connection at the school - in addition to it being his alma mater. You have to wonder if Borrelli is interested in making another move just three years after going cross-country from Palo Alto, California to DC. Under his direction, American has been recruiting well and recently broke ground on a new state-of-the-art facility.

Only four days removed from the end of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the transfer season is already heating up! Yesterday, we mentioned how two-time All-American Dean Hamiti had entered the transfer portal. Hamiti had earned All-American honors twice in three years for Wisconsin; however, he was seeking a new home and was labeled as “Do Not Contact.” in the portal. That means schools were not able to initiate contact and Hamiti likely had a school or schools in mind to pursue. That proved to be the case as Hamiti announced today that he would be transferring to Oklahoma State University. That seems like a logical fit as the Cowboys will lose two-time All-American Izzak Olejnik. Olejnik earned All-American honors in 2023 for Northern Illinois, then joined OSU as a graduate transfer in 2023-24. Hamiti is linked to Oklahoma State by his matches with their previous starter, Olejnik. The two met in the 2023 NWCA All-Star Match and Olejnik shocked the reigning Big Ten champion, 8-2. The pair clashed again, in Kansas City, in the NCAA bloodround and Olejnik prevailed in sudden victory. In his social media announcement, Hamiti states how “it’s been a dream of mine since I was little, I wanted to wrestle as a Cowboy!” Oklahoma State loses two of their three 2024 All-Americans; however, the bulk of a lineup that went 14-1 in 2023-24 returns. Sliding into the 165 lb spot vacated by Olejnik makes the most sense; however, Hamiti did briefly bump up to 174, so that may be an option in Stillwater. Oklahoma State’s returning starter is true freshman Brayden Thompson, who does have a redshirt year available. In three years with the Badgers, Hamiti amassed an 81-14 record with two NCAA sixth-place finishes, a Big Ten title, and two B1G finals appearances.

More news on the portal front today as another high-profile wrestler from the Big Ten entered his name into the transfer portal. Chase Saldate, a four-time qualifier at 157 lbs for Michigan State, will exercise his options regarding his final year of eligibility. The 2022-23 season was Saldate’s best as he finished fifth in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 after earning the 11th seed. After four years at MSU, Saldate sports an 82-33 record. He recently went 25-8 at the 2024 NCAA Championships, losing a pair of 4-3 matches to Big Ten rivals. In the regular season, Saldate was seventh at the Midlands and a finalist at the Black Knight Invite. Saldate nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year when he pushed the eventual undefeated NCAA champion, Levi Haines, into tiebreakers. Coming out of high school, Saldate was ranked #14 overall in the Class of 2020 after making a pair of California state finals - winning his senior season. Before his senior year, Saldate won a belt at the Super 32 and during the regular season, he was a champion at the Reno Tournament of Champions and the Doc Buchanan. As always, we’ll monitor Saldate’s situation as he hunts for a new potential suitor.

Earlier this month, the high school state tournament season came to an end with Ohio and Pennsylvania holding their state tournaments. Since they conicided with DI conference tournament the push towards nationals, we weren't able to update this list with the OH and PA studs. So, there's no time like the present to get back into the swing of the recruiting game. As these tournaments conclude, it begs the question, "how did my favorite team's recruits fare?" In some smaller states, it's almost a given that your college-bound studs are collecting another state title, while in the power states, with the deepest talent pools, such achievements are not guaranteed. Either way, we've combed through results from all of the state tournaments that have taken place thus far to find out how everyone's recruits have finished. If you do not see a recruit that should be added, please fill out our commitment form or email me at earl@matscouts.com . Adams State Jayden Ignacio: Aztec, New Mexico (215 lbs) - 4A State Champion Royce Uhrig: Gunnison, Colorado (150 lbs) - 3A State Champion Air Force Gunner Cramblett: Graham, Ohio (175 lbs) - D2 State Champion Jack Estevez: Poway, California (157 lbs) - State Qualifier Logan Fowler: Cleveland, Tennessee (165 lbs) - AA State Champion Lincoln Gregerson: Ralston Valley, Colorado (132 lbs) - 5A State Champion Anders Kittelson: Osage, Iowa (144 lbs) - 2A State Champion Rylan Kuhn: St. Pius X, Missouri (215 lbs) - Class 1 State Champion; Class of 2025 Charlie LaRocca: Center Grove, Indiana (120 lbs) - State Champion Roman Lermer: Tampa Jesuit, Florida (120 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up Gianni Maldonado: Lake Gibson, Florida (157 lbs) - 2A State Champion Chance Mathews: Cherokee Trail, Colorado (138 lbs) - 5A 4th Place; Class of 2025 Talon McCollom: Edmond North, Oklahoma (190 lbs) - 6A State Champion Carter Nogle: Mt. St. Joseph, Maryland (138 lbs) - National Prep 4th Place Layton Schneider: Edmond North, Oklahoma (144 lbs) - 6A State Champion Tanner Spalding: Woodward Academy, Georgia (132 lbs) - 6A State Champion Karson Tompkins: Midlothian, Texas (190 lbs) - 5A State Champion Jesse Vanorden: Wantagh, New York (152 lbs) - DI 3rd Place Jake Wood: Perrysburg, Ohio (157 lbs) - D1 5th Place American Caleb Close: Bald Eagle Area, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AA 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Austin Craft: Camden Catholic, New Jersey (150 lbs) - State Qualifier Hunter Hohman: Grove City, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AA 4th Place Leo Maestas: Clovis West, California (132 lbs) - State Qualifier; Class of 2025 Colin Martin: Staunton River, Virginia (132 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Cameron Milheim: Warrior Run, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AA 6th Place; Class of 2025 JJ Peace: Cane Bay, South Carolina (126 lbs) - 5A State Champion Appalachian State Christian Baglio: Central Cabarrus, North Carolina (138 lbs) - 3A State Champion Brayden Fahrbach: Mount Sinai, New York (138 lbs) - DII State Champion Jarvis Little: Spring Hill, Tennessee (132 lbs) - AA State Champion Grant Reece: Avery County, North Carolina (138 lbs) - 1A State Qualifier Ayson Rice: Canton, South Dakota (150 lbs) - Class B State Champion Kage Williams: Robbinsville, North Carolina (190 lbs) - 1A State Champion Arizona Christian Tony Macaluso: Pueblo County, Colorado (150 lbs) - 4A 4th Place Arizona State Harvey Ludington: Brick Memorial, New Jersey (190 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Pierson Manville: State College, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Nicholas Sahakian: St. John Bosco, California (285 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Army West Point Joseph Antonio: St. John Bosco, California (165 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Nash Banko: Oostburg, Wisconsin (175 lbs) - D3 3rd Place Mason Barvitskie: Southern Columbia, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Michael Calcagno: IC Catholic, Illinois (215 lbs) - 2A State Champion Primo Catalano: Chaminade, California (175 lbs) - 8th Place Conner Doherty: Mount Pisgah, Georgia (126 lbs) - 1A State Champion; Class of 2025 Ben Garcia: Don Bosco Prep, New Jersey (165 lbs) - 7th Place Johnny Green: Aurora, Ohio (113 lbs) - D1 5th Place; Class of 2025 Nick Jones: West Allegheny, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Jordan Joslyn: Chautauqua Lake, New York (138 lbs) - DII 6th Place Gage LaPlante: St. Francis, New York (170 lbs) - DI 3rd Place Bryce Luna: St. Francis, California (132 lbs) - State Qualifier Nik O’Neill: Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania (132 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up Shane Reilly: Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania (138 lbs) - National Prep Qualifier Damian Resendez: Mt. Carmel, Illinois (138 lbs) - 3A 6th Place Kellen Smith: West Hancock, Iowa (157 lbs) - 1A State Runner-Up Casper Stewart: Attica-Batavia, New York (145 lbs) - DII State Champion Luke Sugalski: Germantown Academy, Pennsylvania (165 lbs) - National Prep Qualifier; Class of 2025 Ronan Tracy: Lake Highland Prep, Florida (175 lbs) - National Prep Qualifier Jackson Van Kley: Pella, Iowa (190 lbs) - 3A 4th Place Josh Vasquez: Montini Catholic, Illinois (126 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Rylan Whitworth: Fountain Valley, California (215 lbs) - 4th Place Ashland Brock Durbin: Mapleton, Ohio (144 lbs) - D3 State Runner-Up Augsburg Ethan Aird: Darlington/Black Hawk, Wisconsin (126 lbs) - D2 4th Place Maximus Hanson: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Minnesota (172 lbs) - A State Champion Jayden Haueter: Apple Valley, Minnesota (139 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Luke Koenen: Wayzata, Minnesota (121 lbs) - AAA State Champion Matt Randolph: Scott West, Minnesota (145 lbs) - AA State Champion Jacob Schimek: Saint Clair-Mankato, Minnesota (215 lbs) - A State Runner-Up Augustana Nolan Ambrose: Jackson County Central, Minnesota (145 lbs) - A State Champion Colten Gundersen: West Side, Idaho (160 lbs) - 2A State Champion Jaret Peterson: Chase County, Nebraska (215 lbs) - Class C State Champion Charlie Petit: Wayzata, Minnesota (160 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Cash Raymond: Simley, Minnesota (152 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Owen Wasley: Saint Croix Central, Wisconsin (165 lbs) - D2 State Champion Averett Jason Bennett: New Kent, Virginia (157 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Tyler Ritz: Cosby, Virginia (190 lbs) - 6A State Qualifier Baldwin Wallace Antonio Shelley: Mentor, Ohio (144 lbs) - D1 8th Place Bellarmine Connor Cumbee: Joliet Catholic, Illinois (150 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Dillon Graham: Cathedral, Indiana (144 lbs) - 8th Place Noah Hall: Liberty, Virginia (165 lbs) - 4A State Champion Holden Huhn: LaSalle, Ohio (138 lbs) - D1 4th Place Belmont Abbey Jack Garrett: Blessed Trinity Catholic, Georgia (144 lbs) - 6A State Champion Binghamton Dillon Arrick: Arlington, New York (124 lbs) - DI 5th Place Deakon Bailey: Tioga, New York (145 lbs) - DII 6th Place Brown Eli Carr: Hempfield Area, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Davis Dendy: Jefferson, Georgia (165 lbs) - 5A State Champion Nico Fanella: Indiana, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AA 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Devon Magro: Bishop McCort, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AA 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Khimari Manns: St. Edward, Ohio (126 lbs) - D1 4th Place; Class of 2025 Preston Marchesseault: Ponaganset, Rhode Island (175 lbs) - New England Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Moses Mirabel: Gilroy, California (144 lbs) - State Champion Connor O’Donnell: South Milwaukee, Wisconsin (165 lbs) D1 5th Place Andrew Reall: Ponaganset, Rhode Island (165 lbs) - New England Runner-Up Thomas Sandoval: Vacaville, California (190 lbs) - 3rd Place Braedon Welsh: Fort Cherry, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AA 5th Place; Class of 2025 Bucknell Dillon Bechtold: Owen J. Roberts, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA State Champion Tyler Bienus: Mt. Olive, New Jersey (190 lbs) - 3rd Place Tyler Kapusta: Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Chris Nucifora: Bergen Catholic, New Jersey (120 lbs) - State Qualifier Kaden Schaefer: Fleming Island, Florida (150 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up Buffalo Mike Guigliano: Miller Place, New York (131 lbs) - DI 4th Place Tyeler Hagensen: Mt. Olive, New Jersey (113 lbs) - State Champion Luke Herendeen: Palmyra Macedon, New York (285 lbs) - DII 8th Place Anthony Matas: Essex, Vermont (175 lbs) - New England 6th Place Jack MacDonald: Orchard Park, New York (215 lbs) - DI 4th Place Stephan Monchery: Middletown, New York (285 lbs) - DI State Champion Cael Raines: Churchville, New York (138 lbs) - DI State Qualifier Coy Raines: Churchville, New York (215 lbs) - DI State Champion Lucas Schell: Queensbury, New York (160 lbs) - DI State Qualifier Connor Scuilla: Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey (175 lbs) - 3rd Place Braidon Woodward: Palmyra Macedon, New York (170 lbs) - DII State Champion California Baptist David Alonso: Palm Desert, California (165 lbs) - 3rd Place Jeremy Ginter: Whitmer, Ohio (157 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Paul Kelly: Poway, California (138 lbs) - State Runner-Up Sonny Kling: Canyon Springs, California (190 lbs) - State Champion Remy Murillo: Canyon Springs, California (132 lbs) - 8th Place Caeden Olin: Millard South, Nebraska (215 lbs) - Class A State Champion Cal Poly Anthony Berg: Whitney, California (150 lbs) - 5th Place Joseph Buck: Clovis, California (175 lbs) - 4th Place Jagger French: Del Oro, California (144 lbs) - 5th Place Carlos Garcia: Oakdale, California (165 lbs) - State Qualifier Jake Honey: Bakersfield, California (175 lbs) - 5th Place Anthony Lucio: Fountain Valley, California (126 lbs) - 8th Place Alek VanBebber: Kingsburg, California (138 lbs) - 5th Place Eziequel Vela: Oakdale, California (126 lbs) - State Qualifier Hercules Windrath: Fountain Valley, California (138 lbs) - 6th Place Campbell Matt Beem: Glenwood, Iowa (132 lbs) - 2A 3rd Place Reese Courtney: Center Grove, Indiana (144 lbs) - 3rd Place Colby Crouch: Triad, Illinois (126 lbs) - 2A State Champion Brock Hacker: Johns Creek, Georgia (215 lbs) - 6A State Champion Kendrick Hodge: Somerset, Florida (165 lbs) - 1A State Champion Seth Larson: Flowery Branch, Georgia (157 lbs) - 5A State Champion Parker Lyden: Forest Lake, Minnesota (139 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Gavin Pope: Buford, Georgia (144 lbs) - 7A State 5th/6th Aaron Ries: Wadsworth, Ohio (285 lbs) - D1 4th Place Aaron Riner: Buford, Georgia (215 lbs) - 7A State Champion Landon Sargent: Cape Fear, North Carolina (215 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Brent Slade: Southeast Polk, Iowa (190 lbs) - 3A State Champion Mike Trujillo: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (138 lbs) - National Prep 5th Place Sawyer Van Rider: New Smyrna Beach, Florida (190 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up Kaleb Wright: Gloucester City, New Jersey (190 lbs) - State Qualifier Central College Ethan Skoglund: Sergeant Bluff, Iowa (126 lbs) - 2A 5th Place Carter West: Notre Dame/Burlington, Iowa (113 lbs) - 2A 3rd Place Central Michigan Nick Blackburn: Mentor, Ohio (138 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Cameron Chinavare: Dundee, Michigan (132 lbs) - D3 State Champion Aidan Fockler: Massillon Perry, Ohio (285 lbs) - D1 State Champion Trey Myers: Fremont, Michigan (175 lbs) - D2 State Qualifier Chadron State Hunter Jacobsen: Waverly, Nebraska (120 lbs) - Class B State Champion Mason Villwok: Elkhorn, Nebraska (215 lbs) - Class B State Runner-Up Chattanooga Tavian Camper: Copenhagen, New York (152 lbs) - DII State Champion Easton Cooper: DC Everest, Wisconsin (126 lbs) - D1 State Champion Alex Hutchcraft: Smithville, Missouri (157 lbs) - Class 3 State Champion Landon Jones: Harrison, Georgia (190 lbs) - 7A State Runner-Up Ethan Uhorchuk: Signal Mountain, Tennessee (132 lbs) - A State Champion; Class of 2025 Chicago Matteo Littman: Pingry School, New Jersey (120 lbs) - State Qualifier Zack Parisi: York, Illinois (132 lbs) - 3A 5th Place Clarion Weston Pisarchick: Brockway, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AA 6th Place Gianni Silvestri: Tioga, New York (138 lbs) - DII State Runner-Up Lucas Thomas: Harrison Central, Ohio (215 lbs) - D3 State Runner-Up Cleveland State Brady Quillin: Olentangy Liberty, Ohio (215 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Reese Stephen: Barnesville, Ohio (150 lbs) - D3 State Champion Coast Guard Academy Kyle Csikari: Spotsylvania, Virginia (157 lbs) - 4A 3rd Place Coker Mason Moody: Locust Grove, Georgia (120 lbs) - 5A 3rd Place Colorado Mesa AJ Hague: Riverdale Ridge, Colorado (126 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Colorado School of Mines Brandon Cody: Tampa Jesuit, Florida (165 lbs) - 2A State Champion Columbia Nick Campagna: Christian Brothers, New Jersey (157 lbs) - 8th Place Spencer Fine: Bishop Hendricken, Rhode Island (190 lbs) - New England 3rd Place Cooper Hornack: Burrell, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AA 6th Place Oliver Howard: Decatur, Alabama (190 lbs) - 6A State Champion Robert Platt: Poway, California (215 lbs) - State Champion Connor Smith: Seneca Valley, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AAA 8th Place Jake Wacha: Pascack Hills, New Jersey (150 lbs) - 8th Place Cornell Gabriel Bouyssou: Scituate, Rhode Island (150 lbs) - New England Champion Lou Cerchio: Delbarton, New Jersey (175 lbs) - State Runner-Up Carter Chamberlain: Clearfield, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AA 6th Place Jake Conroy: Ringgold, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Elijah Cortez: Gilroy, California (132 lbs) - 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Isaiah Cortez: Gilroy, California (126 lbs) - 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Rocco Dellagatta: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey (285 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Elijah Diakomihalis: Hilton, New York (190 lbs) - DI State Champion; Class of 2025 Cash Henderson: Woods Cross, Utah (215 lbs) - 5A State Champion Jaxon Joy: Wadsworth, Ohio (150 lbs) - D1 State Champion Anthony Knox: St. John Vianney, New Jersey (120 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Cy Kruse: Totino-Grace, Minnesota (215 lbs) - AA State Champion Alessio Perentin: Delbarton, New Jersey (165 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Sergio Vega: Sunnyside, Arizona (144 lbs) - D1 State Champion; Class of 2025 Davidson Daniel Elyash: Paramus, New Jersey (285 lbs) - 6th Place Bryce Griffin: Civic Memorial, Illinois (157 lbs) - 2A State Champion Anderson Heap: Osceola, Florida (150 lbs) - 3A State Champion Josh Lange: Mount Pisgah, Georgia (175 lbs) - 1A State Champion Bode Morgan: Trinity, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Blake Reihner: Trinity, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Tyson Sherlock: Gilman School, Maryland (144 lbs) - National Prep 6th Place Logan Sichelstiel: Paulsboro, New Jersey (138 lbs) - State Qualifier Marley Washington: Mount Pisgah, Georgia (144 lbs) - 1A State Champion Drexel Jonathan Fuller: St. Peter’s Prep, New Jersey (150 lbs) - State Qualifier Roman Onorato: Paulsboro, New Jersey (157 lbs) - State Qualifier Dan Rella: Paramus Catholic, New Jersey (190 lbs) - 4th Place Chandler Sewell: Greer, South Carolina (132 lbs) - 4A State Champion Duke Dashiell Hort: Poly Prep, New York (157 lbs) - National Prep 6th Place John King: Waukee Northwest, Iowa (132 lbs) - 3A 6th Place Noah Kochman: Bergen Catholic, New Jersey (138 lbs) - 8th Place Vincent Lee: Delbarton, New Jersey (215 lbs) - State Champion Owen McGrory: Libertyville, Illinois (215 lbs) - 3A 4th Place Eli Murray: Lake Norman, North Carolina (157 lbs) - 4A State Champion Dylan Ross: Paramus Catholic, New Jersey (138 lbs) - 3rd Place Edinboro Landon Bainey: West Branch, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Blaine Chrisman: Medina, Ohio (175 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Joe Clark: Oakland Mills, Maryland (165 lbs) - 4A/3A State Runner-Up Jayden D’Ambrosio: St. John’s Prep, Massachusetts (157 lbs) - New England Champion Vitali Daniels: Bentworth, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AA 7th Place Parker Sentipal: Burgettstown, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Gavin Suica: Burgettstown, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AA 5th Place Chris Vargo: Bentworth, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Austin Zimmerman: St. Joseph Collegiate, New York (116 lbs) - DI 3rd Place Ferrum Robert Owens: Hanover, Virginia (144 lbs) - 4A 3rd Place Xaiden Wynn: James River, Virginia (106 lbs) - 2A State Champion; Class of 2025 Franklin & Marshall Kyle Diesley: Hempfield, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Jimmy Garcia: Wilson, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AAA 7th Place Brody Kline: Berks Catholic, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Seth Weaver: Bethesda-CC, Maryland (157 lbs) - 4A/3A State Runner-Up Gannon Chance Kimmy: General McLane, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Gardner-Webb Mason Blue: Laney, North Carolina (215 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Tristan Cotto: Laney, North Carolina (150 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Ty Edwards: Yorkville Christian, Illinois (132 lbs) - 2A State Champion Thomas Potter: Union, Virginia (165 lbs) - 2A State Champion Reed Walker: West Forsyth, Georgia (126 lbs) - 7A 3rd Place George Mason Mason Rowley: Little Falls, New York (160 lbs) - DII 5th Place Ean Winchester: Twin Valley, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) AAA State Qualifier Grand View Brody Brisker: Wilton, Iowa (132 lbs) - 1A 3rd Place Zeb Fitzgerald: Dowling Catholic, Iowa (138 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Kaden Weber: Nevada, Iowa (120 lbs) - 2A State Qualifier Harvard Haden Bottiglieri: Belmont Hill, Massachusetts (175 lbs) - National Prep 3rd Place Logan Brzozowski: Seton Hall Prep, New Jersey (120 lbs) - 5th Place Hudson Skove: Rumson-Fair Haven, New Jersey (215 lbs) - State Runner-Up Illinois Ryan Bennett: St. Edward, Ohio (144 lbs) - D1 State Champion Jayden Colon: St. Charles East, Illinois (144 lbs) - 3A State Champion Marko Ivanisevic: Hinsdale Central, Illinois (285 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Joey Ruzic: Auburn, Illinois (126 lbs) - 1A State Champion Indiana Ryan Garvick: Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Tyler Guerra: St. Charles East, Illinois (138 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Caleb Marzolino: Abington Heights, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Nick Pavlechko: State College, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Lucas Peters: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (132 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up Hunter Sturgill: Baylor School, Tennessee (157 lbs) - DII State Champion; Class of 2025 Carson Thomas: LaSalle, Ohio (175 lbs) - D1 State Champion; Class of 2025 Indianapolis Noah Clouser: Center Grove, Indiana (175 lbs) - 5th Place Indiana Tech Vinnie Abbey: Hartland, Michigan (150 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up Iowa Dru Ayala: Fort Dodge, Iowa (120 lbs) - 3A 3rd Place Leister Bowling IV: Mead, Colorado (175 lbs) - 4A State Champion; Class of 2025 Leo DeLuca: Blair Academy, New Jersey (120 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Miguel Estrada: Frontier, California (150 lbs) - 4th Place Angelo Ferrari: Melissa, Texas (175 lbs) - 5A State Champion; Class of 2025 Jake Howell: Cherry Creek, Colorado (215 lbs) - 5A State Runner-Up Joey Kennedy: Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota (152 lbs) - AA 3rd Place Kael Voinovich: City High, Iowa (157 lbs) - 3A State Champion Iowa State Canon Acklin: Collinsville, Oklahoma (126 lbs) - 5A State Champion Sawyer Bartelt: South Dade, Florida (215 lbs) - 3A State Champion Gabe Carver: Urbandale, Iowa (165 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Daniel Herrera: Ames, Iowa (285 lbs) - 3A State Champion Kane Naaktgeboren: Linn-Mar, Iowa (144 lbs) - 3A State Champion Carlos Stanton: Sunnyside, Arizona (150 lbs) - D1 State Champion; Class of 2025 Iowa Western Orion Parker: Plattsmouth, Nebraska (285 lbs) - Class B State Champion Cal Price: Papillon-La Vista, Nebraska (138 lbs) - Class A 4th Place Kent State Antonio Bottiggi: Riverside, Ohio (285 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up Abel Ngoh: Miamisburg, Ohio (285 lbs) - D1 7th Place Aidan Rush: St. Francis DeSales, Ohio (150 lbs) - D2 7th Place Mason Tieffel: Benton, Illinois (138 lbs) - 1A State Champion Lander Rayshun James: Reidsville, North Carolina (132 lbs) - 2A State Champion Isaac Sheeran: Klein, Texas (190 lbs) - 6A State Champion Lehigh Anthony Evanitsky: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (150 lbs) - National Prep Champion; Class of 2025 Dom Federici: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (175 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up Calvin Lachman: Quakertown, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) - AAA 8th Place Seamus Mack: Hempfield, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AA 3rd Place Logan Rozynski: Blair Academy, New Jersey (144 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up Bekhruz Sadriddinov: Council Rock South, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA 8th Place Jadon Skellenger: Bishop Kelly, Idaho (160 lbs) - 4A State Champion Vaughn Spencer: Pine-Richland, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA State Champion; Class of 2025 Chase Van Hoven: Brooke Point, Virginia (150 lbs) - 6A State Champion; Class of 2025 Mason Ziegler: Quakertown, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Little Rock Miles Anderson: Millard South, Nebraska (138 lbs) - Class A State Runner-Up Brandon Bauer: Central Arkansas Christian, Arkansas (150 lbs) - 4A State Champion Bronson Baxter: Dumas, Texas (157 lbs) - 5A State Champion Marco Dalakishvili: St. Pius X, Missouri (150 lbs) - Class 1 State Champion Cade Gilbert: Marlow, Oklahoma (157 lbs) - 3A State Champion Tyler Harper: Norwalk, Iowa (113 lbs) - 3A State Champion Gunner Holland: Osceola, Florida (175 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Kyle Lew: Houston Westside, Texas (144 lbs) - 6A 3rd Place Jake Stacey: Green Hill, Tennessee (175 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Lock Haven Cole Bartram: Northern York, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Wyatt Dillon: Central York, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Ousmane Duncanson: Tioga, New York (160 lbs) - DII State Champion Rocco Fratelli: Northern York, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Hunter Gould: Conneaut Area, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AA 7th Place Tucker Hogan: Daniel Boone, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AAA State Champion Dean Houser: Daniel Boone, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Wyatt Lazzar: Commodore Perry, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Griffin Walizer: Central Mountain, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AA 6th Place Long Island Lorenzo Caamano: Caldwell, New Jersey (165 lbs) - State Qualifier Sawyer Ostroff: Donovan Catholic, New Jersey (126 lbs) - 8th Place Zach Reilley: Raritan, New Jersey (144 lbs) - 7th Place Loras Kyler Scranton: Iowa City West, Iowa (175 lbs) - 3A 4th Place Mary Maverick Mueller: Waconia, Minnesota (145 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Michael Murrillo: Bakersfield, California (215 lbs) - 3rd Place Maryland Abram Cline: Granite Hills, California (113 lbs) - 3rd Place Tyler Garvin: Rising Sun, Maryland (120 lbs) - 2A/1A State Champion Sammy Gautreau: Owen J. Roberts, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Branson John: Buchanan, California (175 lbs) - 3rd Place Presden Sanchez: Creighton Prep, Nebraska (120 lbs) - Class A State Runner-Up Oscar Williams: Edmond North, Oklahoma (215 lbs) - 6A State Champion McKendree Dru Thomas: Liberty North, Missouri (144 lbs) - Class 4 State Qualifier Mercyhurst Eli Long: Central York, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AAA 6th Place Messiah Keegan Demarest: Pocono Mountain East, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA 7th Place Michigan Cam Catrabone: Williamsville North/East, New York (152 lbs) - DI State Champion Jude Correa: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - National Prep Champion; Class of 2025 Teddy Flores: Maine South, Illinois (120 lbs) - 3A State Champion Justin Gates: Davison, Michigan (144 lbs) - D1 State Champion Brock Mantanona: Palm Desert, California (150 lbs) - State Champion Zar Walker: Mishawaka, Indiana (144 lbs) - State Runner-Up Michigan State Brodie Dominique: Archbold, Ohio (144 lbs) - D3 State Champion Duke Myers: Bellmont, Indiana (165 lbs) - State Runner-Up Millersville Chase Bish: Paulsboro, New Jersey (150 lbs) - State Qualifier Mitch Bivona: Southern Regional, New Jersey (175 lbs) - State Qualifier Marcus Gable: Philipsburg-Osceola, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AA 7th Place Jaxon Townsend: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Minnesota Blake Beissel: Hastings, Minnesota (121 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Leo Contino: Buchanan, California (157 lbs) - 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Silas Dailey: Plymouth, Wisconsin (190 lbs) - DI State Runner-Up Wyatt Duchateau: Arrowhead, Wisconsin (150 lbs) - D1 State Champion Koy Hopke: Amery, Wisconsin (285 lbs) - D2 State Champion Dawson Johnson: Cumberland, Wisconsin (138 lbs) - D3 State Champion Charlie Millard: Homestead, Wisconsin (157 lbs) - D1 State Champion Jack Nelson: Mound-Westonka, Minnesota (139 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Landon Robideau: St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota (152 lbs) - AAA State Champion; Class of 2025 Jed Wester: St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota (172 lbs) - AAA State Champion Minnesota State-Mankato Jesus Gonzalez: Reedsburg, Wisconsin (215 lbs) - DI 3rd Place Cael Morrow: Akron-Westfield, Iowa (120 lbs) - 1A State Runner-Up Callen Smithpeter: Blue Springs South, Missouri (285 lbs) - Class 4 4th Place Minnesota State-Moorhead Edon Davis: Farmington, Minnesota (160 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Missouri Dominic Bambinelli: Mill Creek, Georgia (175 lbs) - 7A State Champion; Class of 2025 Hank Benter: Hickman, Missouri (113 lbs) - Class 4 State Champion; Class of 2025 Danny Heiser: Evansville, Wisconsin (150 lbs) - D2 State Champion; Class of 2025 Draven Johns: Caldwell, Idaho (126 lbs) - 4A 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Mack Mauger: Blackfoot, Idaho (126 lbs) - 4A State Champion Seth Mendoza: Mt. Carmel, Illinois (126 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Kollin Rath: Bethlehem Catholic, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Champion; Class of 2025 Jace Roller: Bixby, Oklahoma (138 lbs) - 6A State Champion Aeoden Sinclair: Milton, Wisconsin (215 lbs) - D1 State Champion Sampson Stillwell: St. Michael the Archangel, Missouri (285 lbs) - Class 2 State Champion; Class of 2025 Jake Stoffel: Appleton North, Wisconsin (175 lbs) - D1 State Champion Gage Walker: Bixby, Oklahoma (126 lbs) - 6A State Champion Peyton Westpfahl: Liberty, Missouri (175 lbs) - Class 4 State Champion; Class of 2025 Montevallo Willie Cox: Wetumpka, Alabama (285 lbs) - 6A State Champion Ethan Sharkey: Gulf Shores, Alabama (126 lbs) - 5A 4th Place Noah Smith: Wetumpka, Alabama (132 lbs) - 6A State Champion Morningside John McGill: Colfax-Mingo, Iowa (165 lbs) - 1A State Runner-Up MSU-Moorhead Burak Bowers: Sumner, Washington (285 lbs) - 4A State Qualifier Brady Peterson: Central Cass, North Dakota (127 lbs) - Class A 4th Place Muskingum Ethan Hill: McClain, Ohio (285 lbs) - D2 State Qualifier Navy Tyler Adams: York Suburban, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Jack Bergmann: Lakeland Regional, New Jersey (113 lbs) - State Qualifier Andrew Binni: Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Nate Campbell: Norwin, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Isaac Hampton: Newberg, Oregon (126 lbs) - 6A State Champion Cole Householder: Brookville, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AA 5th Place; Class of 2025 Kade Kluce: Dundee, Michigan (126 lbs) - D3 State Champion Spencer Lanosga: Jesuit, Louisiana (285 lbs) - D1 State Champion Devon Miller: Edmond North, Oklahoma (120 lbs) - 6A State Champion; Class of 2025 Elijah Penton: Winter Springs, Florida (175 lbs) - 2A State Champion Cooper Rathburn: Bishop Hartley, Ohio (157 lbs) - D2 4th Place Coltyn Reedy: Sheridan, Ohio (150 lbs) - D2 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Caedyn Ricciardi: St. Peters Prep, New Jersey (138 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Gavin Sheridan: Boyertown, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Gage Yackee: St. John’s Jesuit, Ohio (190 lbs) - D1 6th Place NC State Will Denny: Marist, Illinois (150 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Ian Fritz: Topsail, North Carolina (150 lbs) - 4A State Champion; Class of 2025 Louie Gill: Reynolds, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AA 4th Place Gavin Linsman: Liberty, Missouri (150 lbs) - Class 4 State Champion Draegen Orine: Seckman, Missouri (132 lbs) - Class 4 State Champion Latrell Schafer: Veterans, Georgia (175 lbs) - 6A State Champion Brogan Tucker: Graham, Ohio (144 lbs) - D2 State Champion; Class of 2025 Daniel Zepeda: Gilroy, California (138 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Nebraska Omar Ayoub: Dublin Coffman, Ohio (144 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up Marco Christiansen: Minnetonka, Minnesota (189 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Tyler Eise: Ponderosa, Colorado (175 lbs) - 5A State Champion; Class of 2025 Colin McAlister: Mill Valley, Kansas (165 lbs) - 6A State Champion Kody Routledge: Edmond North, Oklahoma (157 lbs) - 6A State Champion; Class of 2025 Cade Ziola: Skutt Catholic, Nebraska (190 lbs) - Class B State Champion; Class of 2025 Nebraska-Kearney Tristan Burbach: Central City, Nebraska (144 lbs) - Class C State Champion Cadyn Coyle: Bennington, Nebraska (113 lbs) - Class B State Champion Newberry Ashton Anderson: South Effingham, Georgia (285 lbs) - 6A State Champion Nathan Gates: Fort Dorchester, South Carolina (132 lbs) - 5A 4th place Haven Jenkins: Oakland, Tennessee (190 lbs) - AA 5th Place North Carolina Collin Carrigan: Glenbard West, Illinois (165 lbs) - 3A State Champion Jake Dailey: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (190 lbs) - National Prep Champion Israel Ibarra: Santa Cruz Valley Union, Arizona (175 lbs) - D4 State Champion; Class of 2025 Jacob Levy: Carrollton, Georgia (285 lbs) - 7A State Champion; Class of 2025 Elias Navida: Poway, California (132 lbs) - State Champion Beau Priest: Bakersfield, California (157 lbs) - 4th Place; Class of 2025 Braden Priest: Bakersfield, California (144 lbs) - 8th Place; Class of 2025 Laird Root: Poway, California (150 lbs) - State Runner-Up Luke Simcox: Central Mountain, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AAA State Champion Cameron Stinson: Mallard Creek, North Carolina (126 lbs) - 4A State Champion Mitchell Younger: Bishop Watterson, Ohio (150 lbs) - D2 4th Place; Class of 2025 North Dakota State Jake Castagneto: Bishop Kelly, Idaho (132 lbs) - 4A State Champion Tayshaun Glover: Dudley, North Carolina (190 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Aiden Hight: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Luke Hoag: Hutchinson, Minnesota (160 lbs) - AA State Qualifier; Class of 2025 Schey Huff: First Colonial, Virginia (215 lbs) - 6A State Champion Shilo Jones: Mountain View, Idaho (285 lbs) - 5A State Champion Max Magayna: Waterloo East, Iowa (175 lbs) - 3A 3rd Place Andrew McMonagle: Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (189 lbs) - AA State Champion Michael Olson: Albert Lea, Minnesota (133 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Tyler Secoy: Columbus, Georgia (190 lbs) - 3A State Champion Kody Tanimoto: All Saints, Texas (120 lbs) - National Prep 8th Place Northern Colorado Bryson Valdez: Aztec, New Mexico (121 lbs) - 4A State Champion Northern Illinois Charles Curtis: Massillon Perry, Ohio (138 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up Dominic Heim: Shakopee, Minnesota (215 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Lucan O’Brien: St. Edward, Ohio (150 lbs) - D1 5th Place Ian Smith: Northwestern, Wisconsin (215 lbs) - D2 State Champion Tee Ward: Fremont, Michigan (138 lbs) - D2 State Champion Northern Iowa Carter Freeman: Waukee Northwest (138 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Jace Hedeman: Union, Iowa (126 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Kyler Knaack: Don Bosco, Iowa (157 lbs) - 1A State Champion; Class of 2025 Northern State Grady Fey: Redfield, South Dakota (285 lbs) - Class B State Champion Sloan Johannsen: Watertown, South Dakota (126 lbs) - Class A State Runner-Up Gavin Johnson: Kenyon-Wanamingo, Minnesota (145 lbs) - A State Runner-Up Karstyn Lhotak: Wagner, South Dakota (132 lbs) - Class B State Runner-Up Griffin Lundeen: Thief River Falls, Minnesota (160 lbs) - AA State Champion Brady Westall: New Prague, Minnesota (172 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Rayden Zens: Aberdeen Central, South Dakota (126 lbs) - Class A State Champion Northwestern Eddie Enright: Mt. Carmel, Illinois (157 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up August Hibler: Leonia/Palisades Park, New Jersey (144 lbs) - 3rd Place Giosue Hickman: Canyon View, Arizona (138 lbs) - D2 State Champion Gunnar Myers: Wallenpaupack, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AAA 6th Place Ty Wilson: Dublin Scioto, Ohio (150 lbs) - D1 3rd Place NYU Matt D’Arcy: St. Benedicts, New Jersey (113 lbs) - State Qualifier Ouachita Baptist Luke Brooks: Poteau, Oklahoma (190 lbs) - 4A State Champion Ohio Wyatt Schmitt: Joliet West, Illinois (285 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Ky Szewczyk: Waynesburg, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Ohio State Ethan Birden: Dublin Coffman, Ohio (165 lbs) - D1 State Champion Daxton Chase: Pleasant, Ohio (150 lbs) - D3 State Runner-Up Ben Davino: St. Charles East, Illinois (132 lbs) - 3A State Champion Landon Desselle: Summit, Tennessee (144 lbs) - AA State Champion Dakota King: Barnesville, Ohio (138 lbs) - D3 6th Place Nick Kunstek: Pottsville, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Carter Neves: Blair Academy, New Jersey (285 lbs) - National Prep Champion Jaxson Rosselli: Olentangy Liberty, Ohio (120 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Cayaen Smith: Pleasant Grove, Utah (215 lbs) - 6A State Champion Oklahoma Alex Braun: Woodbury, Minnesota (145 lbs) - AAA State Champion Bryce Burkett: Watertown Mayer, Minnesota (172 lbs) - AA State Champion; Class of 2025 Koufax Christensen: Waukee Northwest, Iowa (126 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Sebastian Degennaro: Jensen Beach, Florida (126 lbs) - 1A State Champion; Class of 2025 Cash Donnell: Piedmont, Oklahoma (120 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Owen Eck: Andale, Kansas (157 lbs) - 4A State Champion Clay Giddens-Buttram: Bixby, Oklahoma (175 lbs) - 6A State Champion Jacob Henry: Austin Vandegrift, Texas (285 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Jake Hockaday: Brownsburg, Indiana (132 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Hunter Hollingsworth: Edmond North, Oklahoma (138 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Beric Jordan: Noble, Oklahoma (120 lbs) - 5A State Champion Jude Randall: Edmond North, Oklahoma (175 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Landyn Sommer: Stillwater, Oklahoma (157 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Ricky Thomas: Edmond North, Oklahoma (285 lbs) - 6A State Champion Oklahoma State Kolter Burton: Century, Idaho (138 lbs) - 4A State Champion Ishmael Guerrero: Bixby, Oklahoma (150 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Beau Hickman: Tuttle, Oklahoma (144 lbs) - 4A State Champion; Class of 2025 Ladarion Lockett: Stillwater, Oklahoma (165 lbs) - 6A State Champion; Class of 2025 JJ McComas: Stillwater, Oklahoma (132 lbs) - 6A State Champion Cody Merrill: Gilroy, California (285 lbs) - State Champion Kaden Purler: North Point, Missouri (132 lbs) - Class 3 State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Ethan Teague: Tuttle, Oklahoma (174 lbs) - 4A State Champion; Class of 2025 Oregon State Hudson Rogers: Meridian, Idaho (182 lbs) - 5A State Champion Hunter Taylor: Liberty, Missouri (120 lbs) - Class 4 State Champion Penn Donny Almeyda: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey (138 lbs) - 4th Place; Class of 2025 Omer Barak: Lake Highland Prep, Florida (165 lbs) - National Prep 7th Place Caden Bellis: Tioga, New York (152 lbs) - DII State Runner-Up Davis Motyka: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (113 lbs) - National Prep Champion Paul Ognissanti: Blair Academy, New Jersey (157 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up John Pardo: Kennett, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Eren Sement: Council Rock North, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Max Stein: Faith Christian Academy, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Wyatt Stout: Southern Regional, New Jersey (144 lbs) - 4th Place; Class of 2025 Nathan Taylor: Greens Farms Academy, Connecticut (190 lbs) - National Prep 3rd Place Penn State Asher Cunningham: State College, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AAA State Champion; Class of 2025 Nathan Desmond: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (120 lbs) - National Prep Champion; Class of 2025 PJ Duke: Minisink Valley, New York (160 lbs) - DI State Champion; Class of 2025 Mason Gibson: Bishop McCort, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AA 4th Place William Henckel: Blair Academy, New Jersey (175 lbs) - National Prep Champion; Class of 2025 Luke Lilledahl: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (126 lbs) - National Prep Champion Cole Mirasola: West Bend West, Wisconsin (285 lbs) - D1 State Champion Connor Mirasola: West Bend West, Wisconsin (190 lbs) - D1 State Champion Dalton Perry: Central Mountain, Pennsylvania (1392 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Joseph Sealey: Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania (165 lbs) - National Prep Champion Ty Watson: Penns Valley, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AA 8th Place Brock Weiss: Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Pitt-Johnstown Tyson Cook: West Scranton, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Isaiah Pisano: Hopewell, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Pittsburgh Kade Brown: St. Edward, Ohio (138 lbs) - D1 State Champion Colyn Limbert: Buckeye, Ohio (120 lbs) - D2 State Champion Juliano Marion: Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Bode Marlow: Thomas Jefferson, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Matt Marlow: Northport, New York (124 lbs) - DI State Runner-Up Evan Petrovich: Connellsville, Pennsylvania (145 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Jack Tongel: Plum, Pennsylvania (172 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Carson Walsh: Pope John XXIII, New Jersey (132 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Princeton Noah Blair: Millard West, Nebraska (175 lbs) - Class A 6th Place Diego Costa: Palm Desert, California (190 lbs) - 4th Place Xavier Giles: Greens Farms Academy, Connecticut (165 lbs) - National Prep 4th Place Vincenzo Lavalle: Hanover Park, New Jersey (190 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Conor McCloskey: Buford, Georgia (190 lbs) - 7A 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Dale O’Blia: Mullen, Colorado (120 lbs) - 3A State Champion Ethan Rivera: Lake Highland Prep, Florida (120 lbs) - National Prep 3rd Place Will Sather: Eden Prairie, Minnesota (285 lbs) - AAA State Champion Luke Sipes: Altoona, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Purdue Wyatt Krejsa: Center Grove, Indiana (150 lbs) - State Champion Isaiah Quintero: El Dorado, California (120 lbs) - 4th Place Reinhardt Bregan Berry: Gilmer County, Georgia (132 lbs) - 3A State Champion Lee Camp: Cass, Georgia (120 lbs) - 5A State Runner-Up Rider Brady Klinsky: Middletown North, New Jersey (113 lbs) - 6th Place Jacob Zearfoss: Gloucester City, New Jersey (165 lbs) - 4th Place Roanoke Jake Yowell: Riverheads, Virginia (132 lbs) - 2A State Champion Joe Zereini: West Forsyth, Georgia (215 lbs) - 7A 6th Place Rutgers Andrew Barbosa: Palm Desert, California (157 lbs) - State Runner-Up Nate Blanchette: Central Catholic, Massachusetts (175 lbs) - New England Champion Jordan Chapman: Cranford, New Jersey (165 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Ryan Ford: Bergen Catholic, New Jersey (157 lbs) - 4th Place Conner Harer: Montgomery, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AA State Champion Alex Nini: Christian Brothers, New Jersey (144 lbs) - State Runner-Up Tahir Parkins: Nazareth, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AAA State Champion; Class of 2025 Ayden Smith: Notre Dame-Green Pond, Pennsylvania (114 lbs) - AA State Champion Kurt Wehner: Donovan Catholic, New Jersey (120 lbs) - State Runner-Up Sacred Heart Liam Packer: Phillipsburg, New Jersey (175 lbs) - State Qualifier San Francisco State Antonio Aramburu: Corona del Mar, California (157 lbs) - State Qualifier Seton Hill Jacob Braun: Greater Latrobe, Pennsylvania (127 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Shippensburg Aiden Inzana: King George, Virginia (138 lbs) - 4A 3rd Place Sioux Falls Vinny Mayberry: Glenwood, Iowa (120 lbs) - 2A State Qualifier Jarrett Roos: Sheldon/South O’Brien, Iowa (190 lbs) - 2A State Champion Cyler Ruhoff: Foley, Minnesota (121 lbs) - AA 3rd Place SIU Edwardsville Drew Davis: Glenwood, Illinois (120 lbs) - 2A State Runner-Up Porter Matecki: Whitfield, Missouri (126 lbs) - Class 3 State Champion PJ Murphy: Reading, Ohio (157 lbs) - D2 3rd Place South Dakota State Bas Diaz: Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa (150 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Carson Dupill: Greeneville, Tennessee (126 lbs) - A State Champion; Class of 2025 Grant Kress: Linn-Mar, Iowa (157 lbs) - 3A 6th Place Quin Morgan: Mounds View, Minnesota (215 lbs) - AAA State Champion Tyson Peach: Milton, Wisconsin (138 lbs) - D1 State Champion Cale Seaton: City High, Iowa (132 lbs) - 3A State Champion Keenan Sheridan: O’Gorman, South Dakota (175 lbs) - Class A State Runner-Up Logan Swensen: Wayzata, Minnesota (133 lbs) - AAA State Champion Southeastern Brodie Christmas: Mortimer Jordan, Alabama (126 lbs) - 6A State Champion Bray Emerine: Floyd Central, Indiana (175 lbs) - State Runner-Up Stanford Grigor Cholakyan: St. John Bosco, California (157 lbs) - State Champion Jack Consiglio: Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania (144 lbs) - National Prep Champion Collin Guffey: Granite Hills, California (165 lbs) - State Champion Cole Han-Lindemyer: Farmington, Minnesota (189 lbs) - AAA 4th Place Jason Mara: Meridian, Idaho (152 lbs) - 5A State Champion Lars Michaelson: Bremerton, Washington (190 lbs) - 2A State Champion EJ Parco: Los Gatos, California (150 lbs) - 3rd Place Angelo Posada: Poway, California (175 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Edwin Sierra: Poway, California (113 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 St. Cloud State Vance Barz: Sauk Rapids-Rice, Minnesota (133 lbs) - AA 4th Place Mason Carpenter: Lourdes Academy, Wisconsin (132 lbs) - D3 State Champion Leo Edblad: Cambridge-Isanti, Minnesota (114 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place Austin Grzywinski: Simley, Minnesota (114 lbs) - AA State Champion Brody Hart: Winneconne, Wisconsin (157 lbs) - D2 5th Place Jayce Luna: Bettendorf, Iowa (132 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Dominic Mann: Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota (172 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Hunter Robbins: Illini Bluffs, Illinois (113 lbs) - 1A State Qualifier SW Minnesota State Brand Beaver: Woodbury Central, Iowa (132 lbs) - 1A State Qualifier Gavin Lambert: Hastings, Minnesota (114 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Dylan Louwagie: Marshall, Minnesota (133 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Zach Pittman: Grand Island, Nebraska (285 lbs) - Class A 3rd Place Noah Torgerson: St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota (215 lbs) - AAA 5th Place Tarleton State Eli Biermann: Midlothian, Texas (138 lbs) - 5A State Champion Tucker Kazienko: Jefferson, Georgia (132 lbs) - 5A State Runner-Up Kohen Wright: Independence, Kansas (138 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Thomas More Nick Lawrensen: Dublin Coffman, Ohio (106 lbs) - D1 State Qualifier The Citadel Danny Haubert: Palisades, Pennsylvania (160 lbs) - AA State Qualifier Parker Kearns: Mifflin County, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Kyrel Leavell: Warren Central, Indiana (138 lbs) - State Champion UNC Pembroke Cooper Davis: Cox Mill, North Carolina (132 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Upper Iowa Owen Denstad: Caledonia-Houston, Minnesota (145 lbs) - AA State Runner-Up Ari Ehlts: Ankeny Centennial, Iowa (165 lbs) - 3A 6th Place Kaden Kremer: Independence, Iowa (138 lbs) - 2A 7th Place James Lovelady: Liberty North, Missouri (138 lbs) - Class 4 4th Place Caleb Olson: Union, Iowa (150 lbs) - 2A State Champion Utah Valley Jacob Myers: Ponderosa, Colorado (144 lbs) - 5A State Runner-Up Jackzen Rairdon: Thompson Valley, Colorado (144 lbs) - 4A State Runner-Up Virginia Aiden Allen: LaSalle, Ohio (126 lbs) - D1 3rd Place Macon Ayers: Staunton River, Virginia (165 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Braden Blackorby: Johnston, Iowa (175 lbs) - 3A State Qualifier Adam Butler: St. Edward, Ohio (132 lbs) - D1 State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Rocco Hayes: Carl Sandburg, Illinois (106 lbs) - 3A 3rd Place; Class of 2025 Brenan Morgan: Central Valley, Pennsylvania (285 lbs) - AA State Champion Jack Myers: Morristown, New Jersey (144 lbs) - 5th Place Chase Nevills: Copenhagen, New York (124 lbs) - DII State Champion Nathan Rickards: Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania; (150 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up Anthony Rossi: Hunterdon Central, New Jersey (120 lbs) - 3rd Place Emmitt Sherlock: Gilman School, Maryland (165 lbs) - National Prep Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Lincoln Shulaw: St. Francis DeSales, Ohio (190 lbs) - D2 State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Max Shulaw: St. Francis DeSales, Ohio (215 lbs) - D2 State Champion Virginia Tech Ryan Burton: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey (175 lbs) - State Champion; Class of 2025 Dillon Campbell: Legacy Christian Academy, Ohio (132 lbs) - D3 State Champion Durben Carpenter: Chattahoochee, Georgia (126 lbs) - 5A State Champion Frank DiBella: St. Joseph’s, New Jersey (157 lbs) - 3rd Place Collin Gaj: Quakertown, Pennsylvania (152 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Gunnar Garelli: Lyons, Illinois (165 lbs) - 3A State Runner-Up Drew Gorman: Buford, Georgia (138 lbs) - 7A State Champion; Class of 2025 Matt Henrich: Southern Regional, New Jersey (157 lbs) - State Champion Noah Nininger: Staunton River, Virginia (150 lbs) - 3A State Champion; Class of 2025 Aaron Seidel: Northern Lebanon, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AA State Champion; Class of 2025 Caden Smith: Robinson, Virginia (113 lbs) - 6A State Champion Claudio Torres: Lake Highland Prep, Florida (157 lbs) - National Prep 3rd Place; Class of 2025 VMI Logan Chambers: Ocean Lakes, Virginia (165 lbs) - 6A State Runner-Up Eli Cramer: Cosby, Virginia (132 lbs) - 6A 4th Place Washington & Lee Noah Danforth: West Forsyth, Georgia (144 lbs) - 7A State Champion Liam Flanagan: Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania (139 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Wayland Baptist Nathaniel Ruz: Canyon Randall, Texas (138 lbs) - 5A State Runner-Up Western New England Beniamino DiCocco: St. Thomas Aquinas, New Jersey (113 lbs) - State Qualifier West Liberty Zach Babiczuk: Malvern, Ohio (215 lbs) - D3 7th Place Josh Carman: Carrollton, Ohio (138 lbs) - D2 4th Place Garrett Dillon-Rine: New Philadelphia, Ohio (285 lbs) - D2 State Qualifier Caiden Harbert: West Allegheny, Pennsylvania (114 lbs) - AAA State Qualifier Tony Wood: Jay County, Indiana (138 lbs) - 4th Place West Virginia Anthony Clem: Wantagh, New York (125 lbs) - DI 4th Place Joey Clem: Wantagh, New York (132 lbs) - DI State Champion Hoke Hogan: Commerce, Georgia (190 lbs) - 1A State Champion Mason Kernan: Bethel Park, Pennsylvania (133 lbs) - AAA 3rd Place TJ Langley: Western Reserve, Ohio (157 lbs) - National Prep 5th Place Rune Lawrence: Frazier, Pennsylvania (215 lbs) - AAA State Champion Western Colorado Jacob Blandford: Middleton, Idaho (160 lbs) - 5A State Champion Rylan Ibold: Buford, Georgia (120 lbs) - 7A State Runner-Up Western Wyoming Jake Glade: Mead, Colorado (150 lbs) - 4A State Champion Ryker Gibson: Marsh Valley, Idaho (160 lbs) - 3A State Champion Williams Chris Colon: Shoreham-Wading River, New York (124 lbs) - DII 7th Place Fisher Stites: Newtown, Connecticut (165 lbs) - New England 3rd Place Wisconsin Carson Exferd: Nampa, Idaho (138 lbs) - 5A State Champion Wyatt Ingham: Amery, Wisconsin (190 lbs) - D2 State Champion Dillan Johnson: Joliet Catholic, Illinois (285 lbs) - 3A State Champion Colin Kelly: Mt. Carmel, Illinois (175 lbs) - 3A State Champion David Malin: Aquinas, Wisconsin (175 lbs) - D3 State Champion Reid Spurley: Dodgeville, Wisconsin (126 lbs) - D2 State Champion UW-LaCrosse Grant Madl: Elk Grove, Illinois (126 lbs) - 3A 5th Place Marcus McIntyre: Brodhead/Juda, Wisconsin (138 lbs) - D2 5th Place Wyoming John Alden: O’Neill, Nebraska (138 lbs) - Class C State Champion Tucker Bowen: Soda Springs, Idaho (126 lbs) - 2A State Champion Tyson Charmoli: St. Francis, Minnesota (145 lbs) - AAA State Runner-Up Isaiah Harrison: Mountain View, Colorado (113 lbs) - 4A State Champion; Class of 2025 Gunner Henry: Brownsburg, Indiana (190 lbs) - State Runner-Up; Class of 2025 Westen Hoffschneider: Ponderosa, Colorado (190 lbs) - 5A State Champion Eddie Neitenbach: Buckeye, Ohio (190 lbs) - D2 State Champion Luke Willochell: Greater Latrobe, Pennsylvania (121 lbs) - AAA 5th Place; Class of 2025

One of my favorite things to do after the NCAA Tournament each year is to pick out some fun facts and trends that emerge from the action. This year was no different. There were plenty of “first since….” or “most since…” so let’s get to them! For the first time since 2009, there have been back-to-back years without a freshman national champion. You could make the case that it’s been three years. Keegan O’Toole won in 2022 and could be considered a freshman because of the extra year of eligibility in 2021. With titles from Richie Figueroa (#8), Vito Arujau (#6), and Carter Starocci (#9), 2024 was the first year since 2003 with three championships from the sixth seed or higher. That year Ryan Bertin (#6), Jake Rosholt (#10), and Damion Hahn (#6) won titles. That’s a bit misleading as Arujau and Starocci were obviously better than a typical #6 or a #9 seed. Starocci’s title made him the lowest-seeded champion since Myles Martin (#11) in 2016. The only national champion to earn bonus points in all five of his matches was Parker Keckeisen. Keckeisen majored Dustin Plott who had bonus’ed his way to the finals. Only three of the ten finals featured a #1 vs. #2 matchup. 141 (Mendez/Bartlett), 157 (Haines/Teemer), and 197 (Brooks/Hidlay). Titles from Arujau and Carr gave the 2016 Cadet men’s freestyle team a total of 12 collegiate national titles. Bravo-Young (2), Arujau (2), Yianni Diakomihalis (4), Carr (2), Steveson (2). 141 and 174 are the only weights to have wrestlers from the same conference placing first through third. At 141, it was Mendez, Beau Bartlett, and Brock Hardy; at 174 lbs Carter Starocci, Rocco Welsh, and Shane Griffith. All are from the Big Ten. The lowest-seeded All-American in 2024 was Vance Vombaur at #26. He was originally slated to be #27th but was bumped up a slot after Vince Cornella withdrew. Vombaur was seventh in the Big Ten. At one point during the NCAA quarterfinals, six straight (133-174) #3 vs #6 seeds went the way of the lower-seeded wrestlers (per Ryan Holmes). Austin Gomez (Wisconsin/Michigan), Jared Franek (North Dakota State/Iowa), Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State/Iowa), Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois/Oklahoma State), Shane Griffith (Stanford/Michigan), Bernie Truax (Cal Poly/Penn State), Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming/Oklahoma), Michael Beard (Penn State/Lehigh), and Lucas Davison (Northwestern/Michigan) are wrestlers that AA’ed for their second different school at the 2024 tournament. Two weight classes had three freshmen on the podium in 2024. 133 lbs: Ryan Crookham, Nasir Bailey, Evan Frost: 165 lbs: Mesenbrink, Hunter Garvin, Antrell Taylor. Four teams had multiple freshman All-Americans. Penn State (Kasak/Mesenbrink), Little Rock (Bailey/Little), Lehigh (Luke Stanich/Crookham), and Ohio State (Welsh/Nick Feldman). Braeden Davis is only the ninth #1 seed not to place in the last 25 years. Alex Marinelli most recently did that in 2021. You’d have to go back to 2011 to find the next most recent instance of that taking place - when Darrion Caldwell was injured. Davis and Big Ten finals opponent Patrick McKee both missed out on placing. The last time that both Big Ten finalists at a weight missed out on placing was in 2015 at 184 lbs with Dom Abounader (Michigan) and Brett Pfarr (Minnesota). The top portion of the 125 lb consolations saw #2 take on #4 and #1 versus #5 in the bloodround. Three bloodround matches featured returning All-Americans: Kai Orine/Aaron Nagao at 133, Izzak Olejnik/Dean Hamiti at 165, and Stephen Buchanan/John Poznanski at 197 lbs. State-Related Notes Caleb Henson is the first DI national champion from the state of Georgia Jesse Mendez’s title gave the state of Indiana a national champion for a fourth consecutive year. Mendez (24), Mason Parris (23), and Nick Lee (21/22). Previously, there hadn’t been a champ from Indiana since 2014. Pennsylvania had a pair of national champions (Levi Haines and Carter Starocci). They’ve had a champion in every national tournament since 2016, the longest active streak. Three of Carter Starocci’s four national titles have come against fellow Pennsylvania natives. (Welsh/24, Mikey Labriola/23, and Michael Kemerer/22). Starocci/Welsh was the seventh all-PA final since 2014. The three above, plus Retherford/Perry (18), Nolf/H. Hidlay (18), Cruz/Lizak (17), and Ruth/Sheptock (14). Since 1988 only two Maryland natives have won national titles. However, Aaron Brooks (4) and Kyle Snyder (3) have combined for seven. Wisconsin had five All-Americans for the first time since 2007. All of Wisconsin’s 2024 All-Americans finished in either fourth place or better. Keckeisen (1st), Mitchell Mesenbrink (2nd), Keegan O’Toole (3rd), Stephen Buchanan (3rd), and Eric Barnett (4th). 2024 was the first year since 2017 that New Jersey didn’t have an NCAA finalist. Ryan Jack was the first All-American from Connecticut since his brother Kevin Jack in 2018. You have to go back to Orville Palmer in 2000 to find an AA from Connecticut not named Jack. Stephen Little was the first All-American from Kentucky since Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin - 4th/149) in 2010. Evan Frost was the first All-American from Louisiana since David Bonin (Northern Iowa - 4th/157) in 2013. Antrell Taylor was the first All-American from Nebraska since Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska - 5th/197) in 2017. This continued a trend that every All-American from Nebraska over the last 25 years has wrestled for the Cornhuskers. Drake Ayala is the first Iowa native to make the finals for the Hawkeyes since Cory Clark’s national title in 2017. Team-Related Notes Surprisingly, the school that broke the longest NCAA champion-less drought was Ohio State. Jesse Mendez’s title was the Buckeyes first since Kyle Snyder (285) in 2018. Vito Aruaju became the fifth multi-time national champion for Cornell. Caleb Henson won Virginia Tech’s second-ever national title. Taye Ghadiali became the first NCAA All-American for Campbell head coach Scotti Sentes and only the second-ever for the Camels. Lennox Wolak was Columbia’s first All-American since Steve Santos (3rd - 149) in 2013. He’s also the first for head coach Zach Tanelli. Ben Pasiuk was Army’s first NCAA All-American since Matt Kyler (6th - 141) in 2008. He’s also the first for Kevin Ward as a head coach. Little Rock finished with a pair of All-Americans (Nasir Bailey/Stephen Little). They are the first AA’s in the short history of Trojan wrestling (5 years). Both are freshmen. South Dakota State has four DI All-Americans for the first time in their history. Tanner Jordan (8th/125), Cade DeVos (5th/174), Bennett Berge (4th/184), and Tanner Sloan (5th/197). Second place Cornell finished with 72.5 points. That total is generally one that is good for fourth through sixth place in most national tournaments. West Virginia had multiple All-Americans (Ty Watters/Peyton Hall) for the first time since 2005 (Matt Lebe/Greg Jones). Watters was the first freshman All-American from WVU since Brandon Rader in 2006. West Virginia’s 17th place showing was their best since 2004 (16-tie). Their 31.5 team points were the highest for the program since 2003 (33.5). Nebraska finished in ninth with five All-Americans. The only team that had equal/more AA’s than the Cornhuskers was Penn State. Though Nebraska finished in ninth, their 60.5 points were their most since 2009 (78.5 points - 4th place). Missouri’s 11th place (tie) finish was their lowest since 2014 when they were 14th. NC State has posted an almost identical team score in each of the last three years. 2023 (49.5), 2022 (48), 2021 (49). In their first year under Chris Ayres, Stanford had a pair of All-Americans and finished in 16th place. The last time they finished in 16th was in 2012. Peyten Kellar was Ohio’s first All-American (157/5th) since assistant coach Cody Walters was seventh at 174 lbs in 2016. Kellar is the highest-placing Bobcat wrestler since Jake Percival (3rd) in 2005. Ohio’s 25th-place finish is their best since 1998 (when they had two national finalists). It’s already been mentioned on multiple platforms but all three service academies had an All-American for the first time since 2003. This year it was Air Force (Wyatt Hendrickson), Army (Ben Pasiuk), and Navy (David Key). In 2003, Kevin Hoy (Air Force), Phillip Simpson (Army West Point), and Frank Edwards (Navy) got on the podium. The only teams with three losses in the bloodround this year were NC State and Northern Iowa. Iowa finished without a national champion for the third consecutive year. The last time the Hawkeyes have gone that long without a champ was pre-Gable in 1970-72. Iowa State’s fourth-place finish was the school’s first top-ten finish under Kevin Dresser and the highest for the program since 2010 (3rd). David Carr is also ISU’s first two-time champion since Jake Varner in 2009 and 2010. Dyson Dunham got a pigtail win at 133 lbs for VMI. He’s the first Keydet wrestler to win a match at NCAA’s since Josh Wine at 285 lbs in 2008. Penn State Notes Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks became Penn State’s first and second four-time national champions, respectively. Starocci and Brooks are the first teammates to have won four titles. 2024 was the first time that two wrestlers finished with four titles in the same national tournament. Penn State outdistanced second-place Cornell by 100 points. If you added Cornell and third-place Michigan’s points together (143.5), Penn State would still win by 29 points. Penn State now has 13 straight years with at least one national champion and eighth straight with at least two. Carter Starocci’s fourth national title at 174 lbs gives Penn State seven national titles at that weight since 2012. Starocci (4), Mark Hall (1), Matt Brown (1), and Ed Ruth (1). Four national champions finished the year undefeated. Three were from Penn State (Haines, Brooks, Kerkvliet). Keckeisen was the other non-PSU wrestler. Penn State had eight All-Americans for a second consecutive year and the third time since 2018. Since Minnesota’s 10 AA’s in 2001, only four other schools have had eight in a season. Iowa (2010), Minnesota (2013), Oklahoma State (2017), Ohio State (2018). Incredibly, only Iowa captured a title that season.

On Thursday morning, 330 wrestlers entered the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City with the goal of being a national champion. After the final match was wrestled on Saturday night, only ten wrestlers were left standing without a loss and declared champions. They'll get to add their name to the very exclusive list of NCAA champions. Below we've added the 2024 champions into the list of wrestlers who have won national titles since the year 2000. 125 lbs 2024: Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) 2023: Patrick Glory (Princeton) 2022: Nick Suriano (Michigan) 2021: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2019: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2018: Spencer Lee (Iowa) 2017: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) 2016: Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 2015: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) 2014: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 2013: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 2012: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 2011: Anthony Robles (Arizona State) 2010: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 2009: Troy Nickerson (Cornell) 2008: Angel Escobedo (Indiana) 2007: Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) 2006: Joe Dubuque (Indiana) 2005: Joe Dubuque (Indiana) 2004: Jason Powell (Nebraska) 2003: Travis Lee (Cornell) 2002: Stephan Abas (Fresno State) 2001: Stephan Abas (Fresno State) 2000: Jeremy Hunter (Penn State) 133 lbs 2024: Vito Arujau (Cornell) 2023: Vito Arujau (Cornell) 2022: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 2021: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 2019: Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 2018: Seth Gross (South Dakota State) 2017: Cory Clark (Iowa) 2016: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 2015: Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) 2014: Tony Ramos (Iowa) 2013: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2012: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2011: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2010: Jayson Ness (Minnesota) 2009: Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) 2008: Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State) 2007: Matt Valenti (Penn) 2006: Matt Valenti (Penn) 2005: Travis Lee (Cornell) 2004: Zach Roberson (Iowa State) 2003: Johnny Thompson (Oklahoma State) 2002: Johnny Thompson (Oklahoma State) 2001: Eric Juergens (Iowa) 2000: Eric Juergens (Iowa) 141 lbs 2024: Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) 2023: Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 2022: Nick Lee (Penn State) 2021: Nick Lee (Penn State) 2019: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2018: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2017: Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) 2016: Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) 2015: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2014: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2013: Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 2012: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 2011: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 2010: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2009: J Jaggers (Ohio State) 2008: J Jaggers (Ohio State) 2007: Derek Moore (UC Davis) 2006: Nate Gallick (Iowa State) 2005: Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) 2004: Cliff Moore (Iowa) 2003: Teyon Ware (Oklahoma) 2002: Aaron Holker (Iowa State) 2001: Michael Ligthner (Oklahoma) 2000: Carl Perry (Illinois) 149 lbs 2024: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 2023: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2022: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 2021: Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) 2019: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) 2018: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2017: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2016: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2015: Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) 2014: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) 2013: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2012: Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 2011: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2010: Brent Metcalf (Iowa) 2009: Darrion Caldwell (NC State) 2008: Brent Metcalf (Iowa) 2007: Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) 2006: Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) 2005: Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State) 2004: Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) 2003: Eric Larkin (Arizona State) 2002: Jared Lawrence (Minnesota) 2001: Adam Tirapelle (Illinois) 2000: Tony Davis (Northern Iowa) 157 lbs 2024: Levi Haines (Penn State) 2023: Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) 2022: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 2021: David Carr (Iowa State) 2019: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2018: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2017: Jason Nolf (Penn State) 2016: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) 2015: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) 2014: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2013: Derek St. John (Iowa) 2012: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2011: Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) 2010: JP O’Connor (Harvard) 2009: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) 2008: Jordan Leen (Cornell) 2007: Trent Paulson (Iowa State) 2006: Ben Cherrington (Boise State) 2005: Ryan Bertin (Michigan) 2004: Matt Gentry (Stanford) 2003: Ryan Bertin (Michigan) 2002: Luke Becker (Minnesota) 2001: TJ Williams (Iowa) 2000: Brett Matter (Penn) 165 lbs 2024: David Carr (Iowa State) 2023: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) 2022: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) 2021: Shane Griffith (Stanford) 2019: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 2018: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 2017: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) 2016: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2015: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2014: David Taylor (Penn State) 2013: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2012: David Taylor (Penn State) 2011: Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) 2010: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) 2009: Jarrod King (Edinboro) 2008: Mark Perry (Iowa) 2007: Mark Perry (Iowa) 2006: Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State) 2005: Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State) 2004: Troy Letters (Lehigh) 2003: Matt Lackey (Illinois) 2002: Joe Heskett (Iowa State) 2001: Donny Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) 2000: Donny Pritzlaff (Wisconsin) 174 lbs 2024: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2023: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2022: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2021: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 2019: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 2018: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) 2017: Mark Hall (Penn State) 2016: Myles Martin (Ohio State) 2015: Matt Brown (Penn State) 2014: Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2013: Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2012: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2011: Jon Reader (Iowa State) 2010: Jay Boschel (Iowa) 2009: Steve Luke (Michigan) 2008: Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh) 2007: Ben Askren (Missouri) 2006: Ben Askren (Missouri) 2005: Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) 2004: Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) 2003: Robbie Waller (Oklahoma) 2002: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2001: Josh Koscheck (Edinboro) 2000: Byron Tucker (Oklahoma) 184 lbs 2024: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 2023: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2022: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2021: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2019: Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) 2018: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2017: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2016: Gabe Dean (Cornell) 2015: Gabe Dean (Cornell) 2014: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2013: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2012: Steve Bosak (Cornell) 2011: Quentin Wright (Penn State) 2010: Max Askren (Missouri) 2009: Jake Herbert (Northwestern) 2008: Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) 2007: Jake Herbert (Northwestern) 2006: Shane Webster (Oregon) 2005: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2004: Greg Jones (West Virginia) 2003: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2002: Rob Rohn (Lehigh) 2001: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 2000: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 197 lbs 2024: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2023: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 2022: Max Dean (Penn State) 2021: AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) 2019: Bo Nickal (Penn State) 2018: Michael Macchiavello (NC State) 2017: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2016: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2015: Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 2014: J’den Cox (Missouri) 2013: Quentin Wright (Penn State) 2012: Cam Simaz (Cornell) 2011: Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) 2010: Jake Varner (Iowa State) 2009: Jake Varner (Iowa State) 2008: Phil Davis (Penn State) 2007: Josh Glenn (American) 2006: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2005: Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 2004: Damion Hahn (Minnesota) 2003: Damion Hahn (Minnesota) 2002: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 2001: Mark Munoz (Oklahoma State) 2000: Brad Vering (Nebraska) 285 lbs 2024: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 2023: Mason Parris (Michigan) 2022: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 2021: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 2019: Anthony Cassar (Penn State) 2018: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2017: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2016: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) 2015: Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 2014: Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 2013: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 2012: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 2011: Zach Rey (Lehigh) 2010: David Zabriskie (Iowa State) 2009: Mark Ellis (Missouri) 2008: Dustin Fox (Northwestern) 2007: Cole Konard (Minnesota) 2006: Cole Konrad (Minnesota) 2005: Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State) 2004: Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) 2003: Steve Mocco (Iowa) 2002: Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) 2001: John Lockhart (Illinois) 2000: Brock Lesnar (Minnesota)

The 2023-24 regular season officially ended on Saturday night and less than two days later, “Portal Season” has ramped up to full speed. The portal received a high-profile addition as two-time All-American Dean Hamiti Jr’s name was entered. Next to his name is a “Do Not Contact” distinction. That means coaches from other teams aren’t able to initiate contact with Hamiti Jr. and likely means that he has an idea of a school (or schools) that he’s interested in. Hamiti Jr. just finished his third year competing for the Wisconsin Badgers. In each of his first two seasons, Hamiti Jr. placed sixth at the NCAA Championships. This year, he came up a match shy, losing to Oklahoma State’s Izzak Olejnik 9-6, in sudden victory, in the bloodround at 165 lbs. Hamiti Jr. went 28-4 during his junior campaign in 2023-24 and finished as a Big Ten runner-up to Mitchell Mesenbrink in one of the most entertaining bouts of the year. Last season, he won a Big Ten title. Through three years at Wisconsin, Hamiti Jr. amassed an 81-14 record and has earned bonus points in just under 70% of his matches. Hamiti Jr. has been seeded in the top-five at his three NCAA Tournaments and has been top-three at the Big Ten Championships each season. Hamiti Jr. has spent the first three years of his career at 165 lbs; however, he did take a brief foray into the 174 lb weight class this season. After a loss to Olejnik in the 2023 All-Star Classic, Hamiti Jr. wrestled in three bouts at 174, before moving back to his customary weight class. There could be a possibility that he’ll move up to 174 for good next season. We’ll be monitoring Hamiti Jr.’s situation, as well as others in the portal. Buckle up!

Another collegiate wrestling season is in the books! When you’re not on the mat getting beat up, the wrestling season really flies by. The NCAA Tournament closed out the season in spectacular style and proved to be one for the memory books. Even with no college action for seven-plus months, there will still be plenty to talk about. With the intensity that the wrestling lifestyle breeds, sometimes those thoughts can come out negatively. Rule changes, stall calls (or no calls), challenges, seeding/brackets, transfer portals, and NIL deals are all things that will likely come up this week on the message boards and on social media. There will be plenty of arguing and some negativity about all of the aforementioned topics and more. Today, we’re only doing good vibes (mostly). Here’s what I liked about the 2024 NCAA Tournament and/or NCAA Tournaments, in general, that really has nothing to do with the actual results. Most of these items are things that all fans can understand. I’ve thrown in a couple from a personal standpoint, but I think you can relate to those too. I liked Kansas City as a host city Saying I liked Kansas City as a host city would be a vast understatement. I mentioned to several people that I wouldn’t mind if it were in Kansas City every year. That might be too much, but it would be great maybe every other year. Kansas City is a big city, but not too big. The travel/lodging situation seemed decent. Maybe a little more pricey for flights than other options. It’s located in an area that’s conducive to midwestern fans. They don’t mind going for a “little” eight-hour trip - obviously, it’s closer than that for many others. The entertainment with the Power and Light District and Kansas City Live was awesome. There were plenty of dining options around the stadium for fans between sessions. I rarely get enough time to experience some of the other attractions in the area like museums, shops, and general tourist attractions, but it seemed like there were sufficient options if you felt so inclined. The host site, the T-Mobile Center, was very nice. It’s still relatively new (2007) and is downtown, next to the Power and Light District. I’ve seen some comments from fans about not-great views from the 200 section, but it seemed like most were impressed by the venue. I like the city having a signature dish One of the things you associate Kansas City with is barbeque. One of the questions that frequently came up was, “Have you had BBQ?” I’m sure many fans partook and maybe had a couple just for comparison’s sake. InterMat’s resident expert of all-things Kansas City, Cody Goodwin, had his top-five list of barbecue joints and I’m sure you probably had someone’s list, as well. Next year works in this aspect too. Philly. Philly Cheesesteaks. I’m sure our Philly friends will be sure to warn you to avoid Pat’s and Geno’s as they are tourist traps and there are better options out there. I liked the family reunion aspect NCAA’s are the best. Everyone gathered in one central location and it all revolves around wrestling. My best friends in the world were made through wrestling and I’m sure many readers can say the same. Getting a large number of those people together is incredible. It seems like each year after traveling to nationals, the list grows longer. Speaking of traveling. I know a lot of you have your NCAA crew. You may not get to hang out too much during the year, but lo and behold, you all block off NCAA week come hell or high water. On the way home, I ran into a father/son duo with no real affiliation to any school, but NCAA’s is just “their thing.” A 55-year-old father and his 30-year-old son bonding for five days. You can’t beat that. It’s not even limited to“best friends” per se. There may be some people that you never really keep in touch with but run into each other every year at NCAA’s. There are others that you sat next to, met on the plane, or shared a drink with whom you happen to stumble across a couple years after the fact, but you pick up right where you left off. I liked one big wrestling-central environment It was cool having NCAA’s in New York. Philly should be good. Las Vegas has been a fine host city for freestyle/Greco events. What’s missing from places like that is that the NCAA Tournament is not the number one attraction. As soon as you stepped outside of Madison Square Garden, you immediately walked in between a dozen other people none of whom knew or cared that the crown jewel of collegiate wrestling was held footsteps away from them. Kansas City is a decent-sized city; however, wrestling seemed to take over the city - or at least the area surrounding the T-Mobile Center. I enjoy going into a restaurant and seeing a crew of Iowa fans at one table, Lehigh fans next to them, and Minnesota fans behind them in a booth. If you’re the outgoing type, maybe you congratulate one of them on a good round or tease them about an upcoming match between their star and yours. Some may not care, but I enjoy getting on the plane and seeing high school and wrestling gear. Team colors in the hotel lobby and out at the late-night spots. In Virginia, I can’t just walk around and talk wrestling with people. I appreciate being able to just say to anyone “Fun round..eh,” and the conversation goes from there. I liked the milestones I said this wasn’t about the actual results and maybe this is, but we’re going with them anyway. As expected, Penn State had plenty of them. They broke the 27-year-old NCAA team score record, and they added two wrestlers to the four-time champion club, becoming the first teammates to earn their fourth in the same year. Oh yeah, and their 11th national title since Cael Sanderson took over in 2009-10! Aside from Penn State, we saw two wrestlers claim their second national titles with Vito Arujau and David Carr. On the team front, Little Rock rocked with a pair of freshman All-Americans. In only their fifth year of existence! California Baptist and Long Island both had their first DI national qualifiers and each school had at least one win. Kevin Ward (Army West Point), Scotti Sentes (Campbell), and Zach Tanelli (Columbia) all joined Little Rock’s Neil Erisman in getting their first All-American’s as head coaches. A few others got their first at their current program. This falls under the same category, so I’ll touch on something briefly I don’t like. I don’t like the format for the consolation finals. In each of the past two seasons, all of the seventh-place matches are wrestled across four mats and as soon as a mat is available, the fifth-place matches start. And so forth, for the third-place matches. Previously, they used three mats and wrestled the third, fifth, and seventh-place matches at 125, waiting until all were done, then moved to 133 lbs. In either scenario, the great PA announcers Jason Bryant and Bryan Hazard, make sure to get “senior sendoffs” in. They’ll announce a winner and then say how many times that respective wrestler placed at nationals. That leads the crowd to give the wrestler a nice ovation following his final collegiate match. Not only the home fans, but most of the rivals join in in what happens to be a special moment. With three mats and weight classes being held there was more attention devoted to each wrestler. Jason and Bryan do their best to salute the wrestlers, but it doesn’t feel the same. I liked the networking aspect I’ve tried to encourage people on our team to get to events outside of the actual wrestling tournament. It could be a Beat the Streets event, Fan Fest, or simply the local watering hole. Anywhere to meet wrestling fans. Put a name with a face. Get yourself out there. Make connections with coaches, wrestlers, and parents. It’s one thing to connect via email, text, DM’s - but talk to these people. Show who you are. Who knows what it may lead to? Maybe just a fun night, but maybe a friendship, or a business opportunity, or a potential pipeline for information. You don’t know until you put yourself out there. This isn’t just for wrestling media. I’m sure wrestlers who just finished their careers are chatting with coaches. Perhaps they’ll end up working together. Maybe they meet a high school coach who brings them in to run camps. I liked the rumors Ok, so people say they don’t like rumors and gossip. And then they gossip and spread rumors. It’s fun talking to fellow media members, the InterMat team, coaches, fans, whoever, and getting the tea. Who’s getting the Central Michigan head coaching job? Who’s ready to enter the portal? What are their destinations? Are there any job openings on the horizon? Rumors can amount to nothing. But hearing the same things from various sources makes me want to dig deeper as a journalist. Maybe there is something there. Getting 15k plus wrestling-related people together in one central location brings lots of rumors. We’ll have to work and see what’s true and what’s not, but it’s fun. I liked the emotion There’s plenty of emotion to go around at the NCAA Tournament. From the fans, coaches, wrestlers, whoever. Professional sports can’t replicate the bond that fans have with colleges. Two backups from Penn State and Iowa can wrestle in a dual and 15,000 people are hanging off the edge of their seats, screaming instructions and living and dying with every point. Two NCAA champions can wrestle in freestyle at the US Open and the quality of wrestling is exponentially better, but only a handful of fans feel invested. That passion is evident as you look at each corner of the arena and see the Cornell section, the Iowa section, and the NC State section. They erupt when their respective wrestler scores or wins, they may team up and cheer when a Penn State wrestler loses (which only happened nine times this tournament). And then the emotion from the wrestlers. Wow. 330 of them start the tournament with the same goal and only 10 leave as champions. 80 got All-American plaques. After the tournament, I casually spoke with a coach whose team had a really good showing, by all accounts. He was spent. “This tournament is a roller coaster,” he said. In one instance, you can have a wrestler post a stunning upset and earn All-American status, while moments later the roles are reversed and your guy is crushed. I’ve encouraged our InterMat team, especially those new to the tournament, to spend significant time in the tunnel. Especially on Friday, as the intensity and stakes ramp up. You want to see sheer, unabashed joy and soul-crushing sorrow? Go to the tunnel. One wrestler wins in the blood round and the loser likely follows steps behind, seeing teammates embrace the opponent who just crushed his dreams. Really, it’s nasty stuff. At the same time, you won’t get to see such a polar opposite range of emotions, simultaneously. For a journalist, who is likely trying to understand a situation you’ve never encountered while competing….go to the tunnel. I liked a random interaction with Jordan Burroughs In between sessions Friday afternoon, InterMat’s Ryan Holmes, Kevin Claunch, and I grabbed a bite to eat. Claunch left early and when Holmes and I stepped out, the man himself, Jordan Burroughs walked by. Jordan stopped and chatted as he has a good relationship with Holmes. Then we walked to the arena together. I don’t feel it’s appropriate to write what Jordan said to us, as it wasn’t completely off the record - it wasn’t on the record either, but he said some extremely insightful things about his career and the future of USA Wrestling. It was very cool to get a brief glimpse into the mind of Jordan. I liked seeing an InterMat team member in a leadership position Almost three years ago, to this day, Willie Saylor bought InterMat and brought me in as the site editor. He gave me the power to assemble a team of kick-ass writers. One of the first ones to come aboard was Rachel Gallardo, to cover the SoCon. Rachel had just finished up school, was studying for tests to become a dietician, and was looking for a full-time job. She probably would admit that she spent too much time on social media. Fast forward to three years later. On the Wednesday before the tournament, she organized her second annual “Women in Wrestling” event. Assisting her was her lovely mother, Donna, and InterMat’s Madison Hollenbeck. The event brought out female media members, administrators, trainers, coaches, SID’s, TV production team members, photographers, ex-wrestlers - really anyone with a role in wrestling. This wasn’t anything that Willie or I planned. It was all Rachel’s brainchild. As a leader of this crew we have at InterMat, it makes me extremely proud to see how Rachel has grown and stepped up to assume a leadership role our her own in women’s media and the overall promotion of women’s wrestling or women in wrestling. There wasn’t anything tangible she hoped to get from her event, just camaraderie and bonding. If there are any women out there who feel uncomfortable about their place in this sport; and believe me, there are people who don’t want to embrace women in wrestling media and/or all of the other roles I mentioned above - Rachel is an ally. Reach out to her. I liked an interaction we had with an aspiring journalist After the Thursday night session, Kevin Claunch and I got our first taste of Kansas City Live, which was awesome. Late night, after the band was finished, Claunch and I were close to wrapping up and went inside one of the establishments to hang out. While swapping war stories and recapping the day on the mat, a female college student came up and apologized for interrupting. She saw my shirt and wanted to know if we were with InterMat. We confirmed we were and she asked if we would mind answering a few questions for our journalism class. We did. It was quick and painless. No bother at all. I still think that she thought she was intruding, which was nice of her. Once I thought more about it, I relished the opportunity to have our quick chat. When Willie and I were throwing around ideas for the site in April of 2021, he told me he wanted to find the next “Greatest Mind in Wrestling” (his moniker, of course). I was once in that spot, willing to do anything to cover the sport I loved. Luckily, I had a great mentor (Jason Bryant) and that helped me on my way. So, like the thought above regarding Rachel, if you are an aspiring wrestling media member in search of guidance and direction, talk to me. Whether it’s related to InterMat or not. I’d love nothing more than covering the next 40 NCAA tournaments, but at some point, the next generation will be ready to take over and I only hope that wrestling media is in a better place once I’m done.

Key Takeaways Vito Arujau of Cornell repeats as NCAA Champion Cornell finishes in 2nd place as a team 9 EIWA wrestlers are named All-Americans Last season, the EIWA left NCAAs crowning 7 All-Americans. This total matched the previous year. This season, the conference had two more – making the total number of All-Americans at 9. Congratulations to the 9 EIWA All-Americans below. Vito Arujau, Cornell – Champion @ 133lbs Ryan Crookham, Lehigh – 3rd @ 133lbs Meyer Shapiro, Cornell – 3rd @ 157lbs Jacob Cardenas, Cornell – 4th @ 197lbs Luke Stanich, Lehigh – 5th @ 125lbs Lennox Wolak, Columbia, 6th @ 174lbs Ben Pasuik, Army – 8th @ 174lbs David Key, Navy – 8th @ 184lbs Michael Beard, Lehigh – 8th @ 197lbs Cornell finished exactly 100 points behind the team champions, Penn State. Fortunately, this was enough for 2nd place in this year’s wild team race. With 72.5 team points, the Big Red were awarded the runner-up in another historic year for them. There were six teams within striking distance of Cornell, so bonus points were the difference. Meyer Shapiro’s first NCAA performance may not have ended with the individual goal he wanted, but knowing he helped contribute to the team race may be a good consolation prize. His 21 team points thanks to two pins, one tech fall, and two major decisions helped propel the Big Red over powerhouses like Michigan, Iowa State, Iowa, Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State – rounding out the top 10. Lehigh scored 36.5 points with their three All-Americans – good enough for 15th place. Navy finished in 26th place with 13 points. Columbia was 12.5 points and Army had 9.5 points. If you would like to see full brackets and team score. Please click the link below. 2024 NCAA Division I Championships (trackwrestling.com) 125 Congrats to Luke Stanich on being named an All-American. Once he earned All-American honors Friday night over #4 Matt Ramos of Purdue (last year’s runner-up), he went on to defeat #5 Jore Volk of Wyoming by major. He then dropped a match to #10 Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. His final match for 5th was a revenge win over #15 Caleb Smith of Nebraska who beat Stanich in the championship bracket. 5th Place – Luke Stanich (Lehigh) NCAA Qualifiers #17 – Brett Ungar (Cornell) #25 – Ethan Berginc (Army) #27 – Max Gallagher (Penn) #28 – Diego Sotelo (Harvard) #32 – Michael Joyce (Brown) 133 Congrats to both Vito Arujau and Ryan Crookham on being named All-Americans. Saturday’s morning action included two wins for Crookham. The first was a 4-1 win over #8 Frost of Iowa State. His second of the day was another win over #7 Bailey of Little Rock by a 4-3 decision. He beat Bailey in the quarterfinals 4-2. We all witnessed Vito on the center stage Saturday night. In a crazy match full of reviews, challenges, and more reviews – Vito prevailed again to remain the champion at the 133 lbs weight class. Champion – Vito Arujau (Cornell) 3rd Place – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) NCAA Qualifiers #13 – Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) #25 – Braden Basile (Army) #28 – Michael Colaiocco (Penn) #31 – Max Leete (American) 141 Since no EIWA wrestlers earned All-American honors this season, there was no action on Saturday. As mentioned, Josh Koderhandt of Navy lost in the round of 12. NCAA Qualifiers #11 – Josh Koderhandt (Navy) #16 – Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) #19 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) #22 – CJ Composto (Penn) #30 – Kai Owen (Columbia) 149 There was no EIWA action on Saturday. Fernandez and Swisher were the only wrestlers to win a match. Next year will be a better year for the EIWA. NCAA Qualifiers #9 – Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) #16 – Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) #25 – Matthew Williams (Army) #27 – Jack Crook (Harvard) #30 – Jude Swisher (Penn) 157 Congrats to Meyer Shapiro on earning All-American honors! He defeated #10 Jared Franek of Iowa by major after he earned AA honors. He went on to pin #12 Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech in a highly anticipated rematch. Shapiro ended the day with a 3rd place finish over #6 Cardenas. He was a huge part in Cornell’s team trophy finish. To make things sweeter, he avenged a loss from the previous day to end his run. Shapiro will have three more years left to achieve NCAA Champion status. He will be one of the favorites again next season. 3rd Place – Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) NCAA Qualifiers #20 – Max Brignola (Lehigh) #21 – Lucas Revano (Penn) 165 There were no matches wrestled on Saturday by EIWA participants. They won a bunch of matches, and many will return next season. NCAA Qualifiers #3 – Julian Ramirez (Cornell) #11 – Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) #15 – Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) #19 – Gunner Filipowicz (Army) #22 – Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) #32 – Jake Logan (Lehigh) 174 Congratulations to Lennox Wolak of Columbia and Ben Pasiuk of Army on earning All-American status! As mentioned, Columbia has not had an All-American since 2013. Army’s last All-American was 2008. Pasiuk had one match on Saturday for 7th place. He dropped the bout to #3 Edmond Ruth of Illinois. Wolak dropped both of his matches to earn 6th. His losses came to #1 Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech and #2 Cade DeVos of South Dakota State. Wolak will be wrestling for the Virginia Tech Hokies next season as a grad student. Pasuik will graduate and has committed to serving the country. Kevin Ward now has an All-American as head coach at Army. Zach Tanelli is in the same boat, crowning his first All-American as head coach. 6th Place – Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 8th Place – Ben Pasiuk (Army) NCAA Qualifiers #5 – Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) #10 – Nick Incontrera (Penn) #26 – Benny Baker (Cornell) #27 – Danny Wask (Navy) #30 – Myles Takats (Bucknell) 184 Congrats to Navy’s David Key on being named an All-American! He is Navy’s first since Mathew Miller in 2016. Key battled his way through the tournament, wrestling one match on Saturday morning. He dropped it to #7 TJ Stewart. Cary Kolat finally coached his first All-American as head coach at Navy. 8th Place – David Key (Navy) NCAA Qualifiers #13 – Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) #14 – Chris Foca (Cornell) #16 – Nate Dugan (Princeton) #19 – James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) #26 – Max Hale (Penn) #32 – Anthony D’Alesio (LIU) 197 Congratulations to both All-Americans at this weight. Michael Beard of Lehigh and Jacob Cardenas each return to the podium. On Saturday, Michael Beard dropped his lone match to #9 Stephen Little of Little Rock to end the season with an 8th place finish. Jacob Cardenas of Cornell defeated #12 Rocky Elam of Missouri in the rubber match between the two. They split on the weekend, while Cardenas won the regular season meeting. He then fell to #8 Buchanan of Oklahoma in the 3rd place match. 4th Place – Jacon Cardenas (Cornell) 8th Place – Michael Beard (Lehigh) NCAA Qualifiers #6 – Lou Deprez (Binghamton) #16 – Luke Stout (Princeton) #24 – Cole Urbas (Penn) #28 – Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) #32 – John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) 285 There was no action on Saturday at this weight class. Nathan Taylor was the highest performer with a top-12 finish. There were many wrestlers who won multiple matches. NCAA Qualifiers #5 – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) #15 – Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) #16 – Cory Day (Binghamton) #17 – Grady Griess (Navy) #19 – Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) #22 – Matthew Cover (Princeton) #23 – Lucas Stoddard (Army) #24 – Keaton Kluever (Hofstra)

2024 NCAA Champion Interviews 125 lbs: Richie Figueroa 133 lbs: Vito Arujau 141 lbs: Jesse Mendez 149 lbs: Caleb Henson 157 lbs: Levi Haines 165 lbs: David Carr 174 lbs: Carter Starocci 184 lbs: Parker Keckeisen 197 lbs: Aaron Brooks 285 lbs: Greg Kerkvliet Cael Sanderson

It was truly a historic night in Kansas City, Missouri as ten national champions were crowned at the 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships. As expected Penn State dominated the storylines and during the actual competition. The Nittany Lions established a new team scoring record with 172.5 points. That total surpassed the previous record of 170 set by Iowa in 1997. The Nittany Lions tally was bolstered by four national title-winning performances. A total of six Penn State wrestlers made the finals. As the Nittany Lion squad hoisted the championship trophy DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” blared from the T-Mobile Arena sound system. That soundtrack was appropriate for a program that won its third straight national title and 11th overall under the leadership of Cael Sanderson. If that wasn’t enough, two Penn State wrestlers, Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks, captured their fourth NCAA titles. There have never been two wrestlers who have won their fourth in the same season, much less teammates. Additionally, none of the previous five four-timers wrestled at Penn State (though Sanderson is one of them). Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet got the Nittany Lion party started with a 13-4 major decision victory over Lucas Davison in the opening bout of the evening. Kerkvliet was an NCAA runner-up in 2023 and is now a four-time NCAA All-American. Levi Haines was the next Penn State wrestler to grab a national title. Haines was also a runner-up in 2023 who improved his podium position by a spot this year. He’ll finish his sophomore campaign with a perfect 23-0 record. Two bouts later was one of the more anticipated matches of the finals as Starocci took on true freshman Rocco Welsh of Ohio State. Although limited by a severe knee injury, Starocci gutted out a win with a stalling point and a second from an escape to win 2-0. In the finale, Brooks joined the exclusive four-timer club with a workman-like 6-1 win over NC State’s Trent Hidlay. The previously undefeated Hidlay was never close to putting Brooks in any danger. The win marked the second for Brooks over Hidlay in the national finals. Finishing a distant second to Penn State was Cornell with 72.5 points. Cornell crowned a national champion at 133 lbs as Vito Arujau went back-to-back with his titles. Arujau won a challenge-filled, marathon match with Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, 5-3. The second-place finish marked a second-consecutive trophy-winning tournament for Cornell and head coach Mark Grey. The Big Red was third in 2023. In perhaps the most anticipated finals bout of the evening, 165 lber David Carr held off freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink to win his second national title. Carr struck with takedowns in the first two periods, but was hit for stalling three times and surrendered a pair of points, as a result. In the final stanza, Carr was able to fend off any offense from Mesenbrink and used a riding time to win, 9-8. Richie Figueroa (125), Jesse Mendez (133), Caleb Henson (149), and Parker Keckeisen (184) claimed the remaining titles. It was fitting that Figueroa, an eighth seed, won a weight class that was chaotic all year. Mendez won the rubber match between him and Big Ten rival Beau Bartlett. Bartlett won the dual matchup, but Mendez returned the favor in the conference and NCAA finals. Most people expected fireworks at 149 lbs; however, not the majority of them came from Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson. Henson surrendered a takedown to the dangerous Austin Gomez, but quickly rebounded to get one of his own, with back points involved. He’d add a second set in the first period, along with a second takedown to take a commanding 13-4 lead. It was one Henson never relinquished in a 15-7 major decision. Last year, Parker Keckeisen fell in the national finals to Brooks. This year he stood alone - head and shoulders above the rest of the field at 184 lbs. Keckeisen was the only wrestler to earn bonus points throughout his championship run. 2024 NCAA Championship Finals 125 lbs - Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec Drake Ayala (Iowa) 7-2 133 lbs - Vito Arujau (Cornell) dec Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 5-3 141 lbs - Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) dec Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 4-1 149 lbs - Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) maj Austin Gomez (Michigan) 15-7 157 lbs - Levi Haines (Penn State) dec Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 5-0 165 lbs - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) 9-8 174 lbs - Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 2-0 184 lbs - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 14-5 197 lbs - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) dec Trent Hidlay (NC State) 6-1 285 lbs - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) maj Lucas Davison (Michigan) 13-4 Final Team Scores 1. Penn State 172.5 2. Cornell 72.5 3. Michigan 71 4. Iowa State 68.5 5. Iowa 67 6. Arizona State 64.5 7. Virginia Tech 64 8. Ohio State 62 9. Nebraska 60.5 10. Oklahoma State 56

The stage is set! Literally. I’m watching the NCAA finals stage being constructed as I am writing about the excellent matches that will take place on it; about three hours from now. There is no team title drama as Penn State locked up the championship on Friday night; however, there is a scoring record within reach. The Nittany Lions are 14.5 points shy of Iowa’s record of 170 from the fabled 1997 tournament. There’s also an incredible battle for second place. With two in the finals and a 2.5-point lead, the Wolverines can clinch second with one win. There are a couple of different permutations that exist for the third-place trophy (remember the NCAA is not handing out a fourth-place trophy this year). Ok, no more talking. Let’s get down to the action. 125 lbs - #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) The most wide-open, unpredictable weight class of recent memory wasn’t so unpredictable to this guy. It was the pick in our 125 lb preview. That’s enough of the back-patting because the other picks weren’t so great. Sometimes in sports, it isn’t the athlete or team that went wire-to-wire as the best that prevails in a championship format. More often than not, it’s the one that gets hot at the right time of year. Richie Figueroa fits into that category. His results started to change on the final week of the season and that carried into the Pac-12 Championships and into Kansas City. In the quarterfinals, Figueroa was responsible for the first upset of a #1 seed when he held off Braeden Davis of Penn State, 3-2. He continued to win the close ones and took out returning All-American Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) to claim a spot in the finals. While Figueroa’s seed is high, he was seen as a national title threat in the preseason, so his wrestling for a title isn’t as surprising as the number eight might indicate. While Figueroa is the one on a hot streak, Drake Ayala has been one of the few consistent competitors at 125 lbs all year. Ayala lost to Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) in the quarterfinal round at the Big Ten Championships - DeAugustino was responsible for half of his four losses on the year - then he battled back for third place with wins over two returning All-Americans. For his efforts, Ayala received the third seed. Like the regular season, Ayala was pushed to sudden victory by #6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) in the quarterfinals. To claim his spot in the finals, Ayala had to grind out a one-point win over #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) in the semifinals. Barnett was one of the opponents Ayala defeated during his Big Ten consi’s run. Ayala and Figueroa do not have any collegiate history with each other, but they did meet in high school split matches, an item that both noted in their post-semifinal interviews. Pick: Drake Ayala (Iowa) 133 lbs - #1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Like 125 lbs, this weight class has a wrestler with a lower seed than normal for the NCAA finals, but it’s a bit of a misnomer. Vito Arujau had a lingering injury that forced the Cornell staff to use him sparingly during the regular season and it hampered him in both losses to freshman Ryan Crookham (Lehigh). This NCAA tournament has been a different story. Arujau has resembled the Vito of 2023 who was named the Outstanding Wrestler in Tulsa after tearing through Daton Fix, then Roman Bravo-Young in consecutive matches. Arujau has majored all four of his opponents thus far in Kansas City, including Crookham and third-seeded Kai Orine (NC State). While Arujau has been utterly dominant, Fix has made the finals after winning by the slimmest margins in each of his last two matches. Each has gone into tiebreakers, the quarterfinals against Evan Frost (Iowa State), and in the semis with Big Ten runner-up Dylan Ragusin (Michigan). Fix is searching for his elusive national title. This will be the fourth time he’s made the national finals and on each occasion, he’s lost by an excruciatingly close margin. Could this be the time he breaks through? Does the margin of victory from both of these Senior world medalists have any impact on the result of the mat? In some sense, I think yes, as we’re not seeing the same version of Arujau that had close matches with non-qualifiers and low-seeded opponents prior to this weekend. Pick: Vito Arujau (Cornell) 141 lbs - #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs. #2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) We’ve got an old-fashioned Big Ten rivalry match in the NCAA finals! It’s a rubber match between top-seeded Jesse Mendez and the number two Beau Bartlett. The pair met in the Big Ten finals and Mendez prevailed with a late takedown. In the regular season, it was Bartlett who got his hand raised after a sudden victory takedown. Bartlett has been notorious for wrestling close matches throughout his career, however, at the NCAA Tournament he posted pins in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals. He earned a spot in his first national final with a 5-1 win over his high school teammate Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina). Bartlett was ranked number one in the nation for much of the year and his loss to Mendez represents the only blemish on his record. Mendez has been equally as impressive with a tech and a pin to start his tournament, followed by 6-2 and 6-4 decisions over Brock Hardy (Nebraska) and Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively. Less than two years ago, Mendez was regarded as one of the top recruits in the high school Class of 2022 and a centerpiece of the Buckeyes top-ranked recruiting class. With an All-American finish as a true freshman and now a finals appearance, Mendez has lived up to his pre-collegiate hype. In year two, Mendez has made a conscious effort to expand and show off his offense. The proof has been evident as Mendez slid into the number-one spot after his dual win over Bartlett and held it for the last month of the regular season. There have been numerous recent examples of Penn State flipping a result from the Big Ten Championships to NCAA’s (Lee/Eierman, Starocci/Kemerer). Could Beau Bartlett be the latest to do so? Pick: Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 149 lbs - #4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) It’s time for a weight class with a matchup that was probably not on very many fan’s brackets, pre-tournament. Fourth-seeded Caleb Henson made the finals after a strategic, 1-0 decision over the top-seeded Ridge Lovett (Nebraska). Now a two-time All-American as just a second-year sophomore, Henson is seeking to become only the second NCAA champion in Virginia Tech wrestling history. In addition to his win over Lovett, Henson also logged an 8-3 win over the eventual fourth-place finisher Ty Watters (West Virginia). For the year, the Hokie only has two losses and now owns wins over both of those opponents. Opposing Henson is Michigan senior Austin Gomez. The Big Ten runner-up and 2022 conference champion is currently suiting up for his third team at the NCAA Tournament. In 2022, Gomez made the national quarterfinals and ended up in fourth place. As most would expect, Gomez has put points on the board in his four matches leading up to the finals. Excluding a Round of 16 fall, the 11 points Gomez amassed in a semifinal win over Kyle Parco (Arizona State) represented his lowest-scoring output of the tournament. This will be an interesting style clash. Gomez is always looking to put points on the board and is dangerous in any position. Henson is more calculated on offense and he was able to reign in an offensively gifted opponent in Lovett. Pick: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 157 lbs - #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) You’ve gotta love a #1 versus #2 matchup between a pair of wrestlers that have not met and that’s what we have at 157 lbs. The 2023 national runner-up, Levi Haines, comes into the finals sporting a perfect 22-0 record. That flawless streak was almost ruined in the semifinals by the incomparable Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech). For a second straight year, Haines pinned Andonian after surviving a scare from the Virginia Tech senior. With his fall over Andonian, Haines now has bonus points in five of his last six contests including all of his matches in Kansas City. Jacori Teemer’s quarterfinal win made him a three-time NCAA All-American; however, he’s a first-time finalist. Teemer missed the entire 2022-23 season due to an injury, but came back better than ever this year. In the Round of 16 and quarters, Teemer was pushed but figured out a way to get his hand raised. That wasn’t a problem in the semifinals as he downed Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) for the fourth time this season. Cardenas narrowed that gap during matches one through three, but Teemer was able to reassert himself in a 12-2 major decision. Pick: Levi Haines (Penn State) 165 lbs - #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. #4 David Carr (Iowa State) In an evening full of great matchups, this is one of the top ones! For that last week, a portion of the wrestling fanbase was bothered by the 165 lb seeding on David Carr’s behalf. That didn’t prove to be a hindrance as Carr knocked off rival #1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) during an instant classic match in the semifinals. The pair have exchanged wins over the last year, but Carr gets the most recent. Before getting to O’Toole, Carr posted his second victory of the season over two-time AA Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin). After winning it all in 2021, can Carr cap his excellent career on top of the podium again? Because of the bracket, I thought we might not get to see this match. That could have been the case if Mitchell Mesenbrink advanced and O’Toole won. Now we get the pleasure of this excellent clash. Mesenbrink is an undefeated freshman with a sparkling 26-0 record on the year. He’s notched bonus points in three of his four pre-finals wins. In the semis, Mesenbrink gave up an early takedown to Michael Caliendo (Iowa) but stormed back to win via major decision. Again, the “styles make fights” factor is intriguing. Mesenbrink is all about pace and attacks. Carr is more deliberate with his, but has excellent quickness and defense. To win, he’ll probably need to get three takedowns to match or surpass Mesenbrink. Pick: David Carr (Iowa State) 174 lbs - #6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) vs. #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) Here’s another matchup that looks weird because of seeding nuances. Three-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci was hammered by the committee after a pair of conference tournament injury defaults. Those stopped a 60-plus match-winning streak. Starocci suffered a late-season knee injury that clearly has impacted him, but not enough to prevent him from defeating a pair of past national champions on Friday, just to make the finals. Though his head coach, Cael Sanderson, is a part of the coveted club with four NCAA titles, Penn State has not had won themselves. After Starocci’s four wins over the last two days, it looks like that could change. Much was made about the lopsided appearance of the 174 lb bracket with three past champions on the top half and only one returning All-American on the bottom. True freshman Rocco Welsh emerged from that unusual bracket as a national finalist. That’s pretty good for a wrestler who was planning on redshirting the 2023-24 campaign. An injury to All-American Carson Kharchla changed the Buckeyes plans and Welsh has been excellent this year. Looking at his record, half of Welsh’s losses this year came to Illinois’ Edmond Ruth. Welsh was finally able to solve the riddle of Ruth’s defense in the quarterfinals and avenged his previous setbacks. Another of his losses came to Starocci, in dual action, though it was much closer than most expected (4-2). Can this battle between a pair of Pennsylvania natives produce a historic title from Starocci or one of the bigger upsets in recent memory? Pick: Carter Starocci (Penn State) 184 lbs #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Earlier we had a Big Ten finals rematch, this bout will be a rematch of the 2024 Big 12 finals. In that contest, Parker Keckeisen defeated Dustin Plott for the second time this year in a 14-5 major decision. They met in a dual, as well, and Keckeisen won, 12-6. Quietly, Keckeisen has been one of the more dominant wrestlers in the nation this year. He’s 30-0 with bonus points in a staggering 90% of his matches. That stat includes all four of his matches in Kansas City. Three of his four opponents this week have either previously earned All-American honors or did so in this tournament. Keckeisen also tallied bonus points in four of his five matches in Vegas - en route to a CKLV title. Dustin Plott has earned All-American honors for the third time in his career, but the first up at 184 lbs. In the past, Plott has dealt with a variety of injuries and, as a result, may not have been consistent. That changed in 2023-24 and two of his three losses on the year have come to Keckeisen. Another was reversed at CKLV. Like Keckeisen, Plott has encountered very little resistance on his way to the finals. An 11-2 major decision over the second-seeded Big Ten champion Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) accounted for his “closest” match of the tournament. After going almost 20 years between national titles, can Northern Iowa win two within five years (and both at 184)? Pick: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 197 lbs #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) Personally, this is the finals matchup I’ve been looking forward to the most. Fittingly, the bout order has been arranged so that 197 lbs is the final weight. Aaron Brooks is seeking to win his fourth title (and likely win the Hodge Trophy), while Trent Hidlay is seeking to finish the story and finally stand atop the NCAA championship mountain. Hidlay has earned NCAA All-American honors four times now and has combined for three finals appearances with his older brother Hayden. During his first NCAA Tournament, Hidlay fell by a point to Brooks in the 184 lb national finals (2021). Since then, both have improved significantly. Both have perfect records and both have gaudy bonus-point percentages. Hidlay is over 82%, while Brooks has failed to register bonus points in only one of his 21 contests. In Kansas City, Brooks has two first-period falls and two tech falls. Hidlay has two techs, a major, and a 4-1 decision over 2023 national runner-up Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) in the semis. Pick: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 285 lbs #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) This will actually be the first bout of the evening in an attempt to showcase 197 lbs as the main event. Greg Kerkvliet is seeking his first national title after falling in the finals last season to the eventual Hodge Trophy winner Mason Parris. Kerkvliet got his biggest scare of the season in the quarterfinals when he had to eke out a 1-0 win over #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State). He looked more like the wrestler we’ve seen all year in an 8-1 win over #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) in the semis. Kerkvliet isn’t the only veteran who’s been in the shadow of great heavyweights these past few years - Lucas Davison also fits that bill. Davison earned All-American honors for the third time in his career and the first time at Michigan (he was previously at Northwestern). Davison has been on a heater, taking out the #2 and #3 seeds on Friday. In the morning he stunned Yonger Bastida and Wyatt Hendrickson in the semis. Wins like those have to have Davison’s confidence at an all-time high. Can he set the tone for a potential wild night with a big upset over Penn State’s big man? Maybe the third time’s the charm as Kerkvliet has defeated him once last season and earlier this year. Pick: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

Third Place Matches 125 - Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 7-3 133 - Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) dec Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) 4-3 141 - Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec Real Woods (Iowa) 7-6 149 - Tyler Kasak (Penn State) dec Ty Watters (West Virginia) 3-2 157 - Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) dec Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) 10-4 165 - Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) dec Michael Caliendo (Iowa) 12-8 174 - Shane Griffith (Michigan) dec Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 4-0 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) dec Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) 9-7 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) dec Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 9-4 285 - Wyatt Henderickson (Air Force) maj Zach Elam (Missouri) Fifth Place Matches 125 - Luke Stanich (Lehigh) dec Caleb Smith (Nebraska) 5-1 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) maj Evan Frost (Iowa State) 17-6 141 - Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) FFT Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 3-1 157 - Peyten Kellar (Ohio) fall Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 3:23 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) dec Hunter Garvin (Stanford) 3-0 174 - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 5-0 184 - Bernie Truax (Penn State) maj Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 12-0 197 - Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) dec Rocky Elam (Missouri) 7-0 285 - Nick Feldman (Ohio State) dec Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 11-4 Seventh Place Matches 125 - Jore Volk (Wyoming) dec Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) 4-0 133 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Kai Orine (NC State) 10-5 141 - Ryan Jack (NC State) dec Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) 4-3 149 - Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) maj Quinn Kinner (Rider) 19-8 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) maj Jared Franek (Iowa) 11-2 165 - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) dec Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 2-1 174 - Edmond Ruth (Illinois) maj Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) 14-4 184 - TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) tech David Key (Navy) 20-4 197 - Stephen Little (Little Rock) dec Michael Beard (Lehigh) 10-3 285 - Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) dec Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 4-3

Key Takeaways 9 EIWA wrestlers are named All-Americans Vito Arujau of Cornell looks to repeat as 133lbs champion Saturday night Army’s Ben Pasiuk is the school’s first All-American since Matt Kyler in 2008 Navy’s David Key is team’s first All-American since Mat Miller in 2016 Lennox Wolak is Columbia’s first All-American since Steve Santos in 2013 Kolat, Ward, and Tanelli all crown All-Americans for the first time as Head Coaches After Day 2 of the 2024 NCAA Championships, 80 All-Americans were named. The EIWA claimed 9 of these podium spots. The past two years, the EIWA had 7 All-Americans with less qualifiers. The past two seasons, the dreaded round of 12 (blood round) has been quite the hurdle for the conference. Over the past two seasons, the conference has only won half the blood round matches they wrestled in. This equates to 14 All-Americans total in the last two years combined. If you guess they would win 50% of these matches this year, you would be correct. The conference went 6 of 12 in these do or die matches. Cornell currently sits in 6th place with 58.5 points. They are trailing by 1.5 points – who sits in third. Another trophy is not out of the question for Cornell by any means. They will return home with three All-Americans. Lehigh sits in 15th place after day 2. They have two All-Americans. Navy has one All-American in David Key. They find themselves in 25th place. Army and Columbia each crowned All-Americans for the first time this decade and the first under their current coaches. It was a great tournament thus far for these teams. If you would like to see full brackets and team score. Please click the link below. Tune into ESPNU for coverage of the first session at noon. Tonight’s session will be on ESPN at 8PM. 2024 NCAA Division I Championships (trackwrestling.com) 125 Congrats to Luke Stanich on being named an All-American. He had to defeat last year’s runner-up in #4 Ramos from Purdue. He will continue back for 3rd place Saturday morning. He has a rematch with Wisconsin’s 10th seed Eric Barnet. Stanich has a win over him at Midlands. Brett Ungar fell short of his goal losing in the round of 16. Out #17 – Brett Ungar (Cornell) #25 – Ethan Berginc (Army) #27 – Max Gallagher (Penn) #28 – Diego Sotelo (Harvard) #32 – Michael Joyce (Brown) 133 Congrats to both Vito Arujau and Ryan Crookham on being named All-Americans. We saw Crookham and Arujau wrestle for the third time this season. After Crookham won the first two bouts, Arujau came back with a vengeance and majored Crookham in the semi-finals. Vito looks to be on a mission to repeat as NCAA champion. He will have a tough task in Daton Fix, a four time All-American. Kurtis Phipps of Bucknell made the Round of 12. He dropped his match in overtime to #7 Bailey of Little Rock. Out #13 – Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) #25 – Braden Basile (Army) #28 – Michael Colaiocco (Penn) #31 – Max Leete (American) 141 Josh Koderhandt made the round of 12. His opponent was returning All-American from Nebraska, Brock Hardy. Koderhandt fell 7-3, just one win shy of being an All-American himself. Josh had three wins on the event – which ties the remainder of his EIWA competitors. Out #11 – Josh Koderhandt (Navy) #16 – Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) vs #19 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) #22 – CJ Composto (Penn) #30 – Kai Owen (Columbia) 149 Ethan Fernandez was the lone wrestler to make it into Friday. His one win at NCAAs is the only win this weight class saw. Getting five wrestlers there was impressive. It’s safe to say we expected a few more wins. It was a great season for these guys, nonetheless! Out #9 – Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) #16 – Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) #25 – Matthew Williams (Army) #27 – Jack Crook (Harvard) #30 – Jude Swisher (Penn) 157 Congrats to Meyer Shapiro on earning All-American honors! He fell short in the quarterfinals to #6 Cardenas of Stanford. He won via major decision in his next two wins to place in the top six. We will see him face #12 Andonian of Virginia Tech – a match we are all excited to see! Revano wrestled into Friday, earning one win on the weekend. Congrats to Revano on a stellar career. Out #20 – Max Brignola (Lehigh) #21 – Lucas Revano (Penn) 165 This weight class had two top-16 finishes in Cassella and Cerniglia. Cornell’s Ramirez was in the blood round yet again – failing to secure a win. Ramirez dropped a decision to #9 Hall of West Virginia – a multiple time All-American. We saw many wins at this weight class. It’s unfortunate no one came through on the podium. Many of these guys will return next season to achieve this goal. Out #3 – Julian Ramirez (Cornell) #11 – Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) vs #12 Thompson (Ohio) #15 – Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) vs #17 Lillard (Indiana) #19 – Gunner Filipowicz (Army) #22 – Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) vs #21 Fish (Michigan State) #32 – Jake Logan (Lehigh) 174 This is one of 3 weight classes with two All-Americans! Congrats to Lennox Wolak of Columbia on being the school’s first AA since Steve Santos in 2013. He is also Coach Tanelli’s first! Speaking of firsts, Ben Pasiuk of Army is his school’s first All-American since Matt Kyler in 2008. This is Coach Ward’s first All-American since he took over. This has been a year of history at this weight class! Pasiuk will wrestle for 7th on Saturday morning while Wolak continues his path to 3rd. The worst he can do is 6th. Out #5 – Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) #10 – Nick Incontrera (Penn) #26 – Benny Baker (Cornell) #27 – Danny Wask (Navy) #30 – Myles Takats (Bucknell) 184 Congrats to Navy’s David Key on being named an All-American! He is Navy’s first since Mathew Miller in 2016. He defeated #11 Hawks of Missouri in his blood round match. He will wrestle for 7th on Saturday. This is Coach Kolat’s first All-American as head coach at Navy. Chris Foca lost in the blood round and failed to repeat as an All-American. His loss came to #7 Stewart of Virginia Tech. Before this, he wrestled Ayzerov of Columbia for the 4th time this year. After losing the previous three bouts, he came back and won via tech fall in the first period. Crazy things happen at this tournament! Out #13 – Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) #14 – Chris Foca (Cornell) #16 – Nate Dugan (Princeton) #19 – James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) #26 – Max Hale (Penn) #32 – Anthony D’Alesio (LIU) 197 Congratulations to both All-Americans at this weight. Michael Beard of Lehigh and Jacob Cardenas each return to the podium. Beard’s last time on the podium was in a Penn State singlet in 2021. He will wrestle #9 Little of Little Rock. Cardenas will be on the podium for the 2nd year in a row. His quest for 3rd continues with a rematch against #12 Elam – who he lost to in the quarters on Friday. Lou Deprez was a win short of finding the podium again. There was some controversy in his round of 12 match – which I am still looking into what the controversy was. I know the coaching staff was not happy over what transpired. I will need to do some digging and see what occurred. Out #6 – Lou Deprez (Binghamton) #16 – Luke Stout (Princeton) #24 – Cole Urbas (Penn) #28 – Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) #32 – John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) 285 Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor came up short in the round of 12, giving up a takedown in overtime to #7 Ghadiali. Including Taylor, we had 5 wrestlers competing into Friday. We saw Crosby, Day, Fernandez, and Griess all ended in the top 16 in the nation. Two heart breakers for Taylor, but he will be back next season along with a few of the qualifiers. Out #5 – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) #15 – Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) #16 – Cory Day (Binghamton) #17 – Grady Griess (Navy) #19 – Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) #22 – Matthew Cover (Princeton) #23 – Lucas Stoddard (Army) #24 – Keaton Kluever (Hofstra)

2024 NCAA Championship Quarterfinals 125 lbs #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec #12 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) 4-3 #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 3-2 133 lbs #1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec #5 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 3-2TB #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) maj #3 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) 13-3 141 lbs #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) dec #5 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) 6-4 #2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 5-1 149 lbs #4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) dec #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 1-0 #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) dec #2 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) 11-7 157 lbs #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) fall #12 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 6:49 #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) maj Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) 12-2 165 lbs #4 David Carr (Iowa State) dec #1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) 8-6 #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) maj #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) 17-9 174 lbs #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec #4 Shane Griffth (Michigan) 2-0 #6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) dec #7 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 4-1SV 184 lbs #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 10-2 #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 10-2 197 lbs #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) tech #12 Rocky Elam (Missouri) 17-2 #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) dec #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 4-1 285 lbs #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 8-1 #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) dec #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) 13-7 NCAA Bloodround 125 lbs #2 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) dec #4 Matt Ramos (Purdue) 4-0 #5 Jore Volk (Wyoming) dec #1 Braeden Davis (Penn State) 4-1SV #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) dec #20 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) 5-0 #23 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) dec #6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) 9-3 133 lbs #3 Kai Orine (NC State) dec #10 Aaron Nagao (Penn State) 11-4 #8 Evan Frost (Iowa State) dec #20 Tyler Wells (Minnesota) 2-1 #4 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec #15 Brody Teske (Iowa) 6-3 #7 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) dec #13 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) 3-0SV 141 lbs #3 Real Woods (Iowa) dec #7 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) 5-2 #9 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec #11 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 7-3 #4 Ryan Jack (NC State) maj #25 Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) 9-0 #26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec #21 Josh Edmond (Missouri) 8-5SV 149 lbs #5 Ty Watters (West Virginia) fall #26 Jaden Abas (Stanford) 3:29 #7 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) dec #3 Jackson Arrington (NC State) 5-4 #8 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) dec #14 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 2-1TB #11 Quinn Kinner (Rider) dec #10 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) 10-5 157 lbs #7 Peyten Kellar (Ohio) fall #4 Ed Scott (NC State) 1:03 #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) maj #26 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 13-5 #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) dec #19 Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) 9-4 #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) dec #5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 4-2 165 lbs #7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) dec #5 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 9-6SV #9 Peyton Robb (West Virginia) dec #3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 8-2 #20 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) dec #10 Cam Amine (Michigan) 4-2 174 lbs #18 Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) dec #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) 9-8 #1 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec #12 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 8-4 #3 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec #15 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) 8-6 #2 Cade Devos (South Dakota State) dec #14 Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) 6-3 184 lbs #9 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) dec #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 13-8 #25 David Key (Navy) dec #11 Colton Hawks (Missouri) 2-1 #6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) dec #10 Dylan Fishback (NC State) 5-0 #7 TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) dec #14 Chris Foca (Cornell) 3-2 197 lbs #4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) maj #26 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 8-0 #8 Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) dec #14 John Poznanski (Rutgers) 2-1TB #5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec #10 Silas Allred (Nebraska) 5-2 #9 Stephen Little (Little Rock) dec #6 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) 5-2SV 285 lbs #7 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 8-5SV #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) dec #11 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) 8-5SV #13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) dec #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 8-3 #6 Zach Elam (Missouri) dec #26 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) 1-0

Tonight’s semifinals are set and there are some awesome matchups on deck. Before we go weight-by-weight, one interesting tidbit of the quarters is that the magic number was six. We had six straight No. 6-seeded wrestlers make the semis from 133 to 165. Now, to get ready for all the action, here are the top storylines at each weight to watch for in the next round. # - seed 125 matchups #8 Richie Figueroa (ASU) vs #12 Anthony Noto (LH) #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) Summary: The entire season this weight class has been the wild west. Over the course of the season six different guys had the No. 1 ranking and two of them - Noto and Ayala - are in the semis. That craziness has carried over into the tournament as the only weight where only one of the guys seeded in the top five is left in on the front side of the bracket with Ayala set to have a rematch against Barnett who he defeated 8-1 at Big Tens. Ayala sat out during the dual meet and after which Barnett tweeted a duck emoji in response which adds another layer to this rematch. On the other side, the bout between Figueroa and Noto is the highest seeded matchup of the semis. 133 matchups #1 Daton Fix (OK State) vs #5 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) #2 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Summary: First, some low hanging fruit. Fix is now a 5-time All-American which is an impressive accomplishment no matter how you feel about “the old guys.” Second, this is the only weight in which the quarterfinalists were the top 8 seeds. Lastly, each of these matchups is a rematch that has taken place at some point. Fix and Ragusin wrestled last season and Fix pinned him in 2:25. On the other side, we have an all EIWA match where Arujau, the returning champ at this weight, takes on Crookham who has beaten him twice this season, including in the conference tournament finals. 141 matchups #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs #5 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) #3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) vs #6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) Summary: On the top side, Mendez will face Echemendia who started his career at Ohio State. However, Echemendia was there and left a year prior to Mendez joining the Buckeyes. Despite there not being any overlap between the two, I’m sure this one will be a serious scrap. On the bottom side of the bracket, we have a pair of high school teammates matching up. McNeil and Bartlett spent years leading Wyoming Seminary and will now face off for a chance to be in Saturday night’s finals. 149 matchups #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs #4 Caleb Henson (VT) #2 Kyle Parco (ASU) vs #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) Summary: More rematches here at 149. Last season, Parco defeated Gomez in the second round, 6-3. Lovett and Henson faced off earlier this year in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite finals and that was won by Lovett, 4-3. 157 matchups #1 Levi Haines (PSU) vs #12 Bryce Andonia (VT) #2 Jacori Teemer (ASU) vs #6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) Summary: The history here is a little different. First, on the top side we have Haines and Andonian who met last year in the quarters. Haines ended up pinning Andonian and Andonian nearly pinned him. The more interesting rematch is between Cardenas and Teemer. They have hit three times this season with Teemer taking the win each time. However, Cardenas has closed the gap each time as Teemer’s point differential went from 8 points to 3 points then down to just 1 in the Pac-12 finals. Now they will meet again for a chance to make the NCAA finals. 165 matchups #1 Keegan O’Toole (Mizzou) vs #4 David Carr (ISU) #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) vs #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) Summary: This is such a tough weight class. The finals match from the last two years is now a semifinal as Carr, who is now a 5-time All American, will take on O’Toole once again to write the final chapter of their rivalry. Right now they each own a pair of wins over one another so this will be the penultimate bout. 174 matchups #4 Shane Griffith (Michigan) vs #9 Carter Starocci (PSU) #6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) vs #7 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) Summary: We are getting everything in these semifinal matchups. There’s former champs, a true freshman that started the season in redshirt as a backup and a guy most didn’t see coming. We have a pair of NCAA champs matching up for the first time as Starocci and Griffith will look to make the finals again. Griffith is a two-time finalist and one-time champ and Starocci will be looking to make it back to the finals for the fourth time in the hunt for his fourth straight title. 184 matchups #1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) vs #3 Dustin Plott (OK State) Summary: Three conferences represented here with Plott and Keckeisen holding things down for the Big 12. This is also the only bracket where all the top four semifinalisst are still in contention for the title. Keckeisen will face Munoz for the second straight year in the semifinals. On the other side, Plott and Salazar will be meeting for the first time in their careers. 197 matchups #1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs #12 Rocky Elam (Mizzou) #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) vs #3 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) Summary: Rocky Elam became the second 12-seed to make tonight’s semis and he is up for the biggest task as he is set to face three-time NCAA champion Brooks. When it comes to these matchups, none of these have ever happened before. However, three of the four guys here – Brooks, Hidlay and Sloan – have all been on the raised stage and will be looking to get back there again. 285 matchups #1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs #4 Cohlton Schultz (ASU) #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs Lucas Davison (Michigan) Summary: It’s no secret that Schultz isn’t a guy that lights up the scoreboard with points. And Kerkvliet is also not a guy we see give up a lot of takedowns, let alone lose a match. However, when it comes to their history, it’s Schultz that has the lead. Firstly, Schultz is the only guy left in the NCAA who owns a win over Kerkvliet. Second, Schultz’s win over Kerkvliet that came in 2021, ranks as the fifth most points he has scored throughout his entire career, it was a 14-8 decision. Those 14 points are also the most that Kerkvliet has given up in his career. The match between Hendrickson and Davison will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal that ended with a fall for Hendrickson. Records for teams that had multiple quarterfinalist: ACC VT: 2-2 NC State: 1-4 Big Ten PSU: 6-2 Nebraska: 1-6 Wisconsin: 1-1 Iowa: 2-2 Ohio State: 2-1 Michigan: 4-1 Minnesota: 1-1 Big 12 OK State: 2-1 UNI: 1-1 SDSU: 1-1 Iowa State: 2-3 EIWA Lehigh: 1-2 Cornell: 1-2 Pac 12 ASU: 4-0

After a relatively tame first day, in terms of updates, at the 2024 NCAA Championships you had to know things were going to go sideways Friday morning in quarterfinals. That proved to be the case immediately as the 125 lb bracket blew up. If you’ve followed the collegiate scene this year, that shouldn’t surprise you as the unexpected has been the norm at the weight. The 125 lb semifinals will feature only one of the top-four seeds. #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) was the only one that held up. There was plenty of suspense along with parity as three of the four quarterfinal matches needed extra time to decide a victory. The only 125 lb quarterfinal that did not need overtime saw the first number one seed lose when eighth-seeded Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) held off Braeden Davis (Penn State) 3-2 to advance. He’ll meet #12 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven). In battle of wrestlers who held the number one ranking, at one point during the regular season, it was Noto who prevailed with a sudden victory takedown. The bottom half of the bracket features a Big Ten clash between Ayala and #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin). For the second time this year, Ayala needed additional time to down #6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State). Barnett prevailed in a marathon match that went to tiebreakers over #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska). Barnett got an escape during his portion of the rideout and then managed to ride Smith for the entire second series; despite a near loss of control and a challenge for locking hands. This round featured one of the most anticipated bouts of the tournament as a pair of former national champions met in the 174 lb quarterfinals. Ninth seeded Carter Starocci (Penn State) showed with a pair of wins on Thursday that his injured knee was an issue, but not something that would prevent him from winning his fourth national title. That sentiment was even more evident with his 4-0 win over Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech). Starocci struck in the first period with a takedown that proved to be the difference-maker. After Starocci built up about :40 seconds of riding time, Lewis had to choose neutral in the third period. The Hokie was not able to get close to a takedown and was blanked. He’ll have to win a match in the Round of 12 to earn All-American honors for the fourth time. Starocci is one of six NCAA semifinalists for Penn State who opened up a likely insurmountable 36 point lead on the field. Second place Michigan trails the Nittany Lions 86.5 to 50.5. In addition to Starocci, Beau Bartlett (141), Levi Haines (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Aaron Brooks (197), and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are headed to the semis. The surprise in the team race came from Arizona State. After day one, the Sun Devils sat just outside of the top ten. With a 4-0 performance in the quarterfinals, they’ve leaped to third place. While all attention was on the 174 lb weight class in the quarterfinals, the semis will have a strong focus on the top half of the 165 lb bracket. For the fifth time in the last two seasons, national champions #1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) and #4 David Carr (Iowa State) will clash. O’Toole crushed #8 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) before securing a second period fall. Carr pitched his second shutout of the year over #5 the typically offensive-minded Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin). Other semifinals of note take place at 133 lbs with #2 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) and #3 Vito Arujau (Cornell), 141 lbs with former Wyoming Seminary teammates #2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) and #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina), Starocci and 2021 national champion Shane Griffith (Michigan) at 174, and #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) and #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) at 197. Team Scores after Session III 1. Penn State 86.5 2. Michigan 50.5 3. Arizona State 44.5 4. Iowa State 42 5. Iowa 41.5 6. Ohio State 36 7. Virginia Tech 35 8. NC State 33.5 9. Missouri 33 10. Oklahoma State 33

2024 NCAA Quarterfinals Results 125 lbs #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec #1 Braeden Davis (Penn State) 3-2 #12 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec #4 Matt Ramos (Purdue) 4-1SV #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec #6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) 4-1SV #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) dec #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) 4-3TB 133 lbs #1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec #8 Evan Frost (Iowa State) 2-1TB #5 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec #4 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) 9-3 #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) maj #3 Kai Orine (NC State) 13-3 #2 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) dec #7 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) 4-2 141 lbs #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) dec #9 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 6-2 #5 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) dec #4 Ryan Jack (NC State) 5-3 #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) dec #3 Real Woods (Iowa) 4-1 #2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) fall #26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) 6:48 149 lbs #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) maj #8 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) 13-4 #4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) dec #5 Ty Watters (West Virginia) 8-3 #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) dec #3 Jackson Arrington (NC State) 12-9 #2 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) maj #10 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) 14-4 157 lbs #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) maj Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 8-0 #12 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) dec #4 Ed Scott (NC State) 13-7 #6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) 5-4 #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) dec #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) 5-2 165 lbs #1 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) fall #8 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 4:06 #4 David Carr (Iowa State) dec #5 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 5-0 #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) dec #3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 9-4 #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) dec #10 Cam Amine (Michigan) 6-1 174 lbs #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec #1 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 4-0 #4 Shane Griffith (Michigan) dec #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) 8-7 #6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) dec #3 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) 4-1SV #7 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) dec #2 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 4-2 184 lbs #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) tech David Key (Navy) 22-6 #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) dec #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 5-3 #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) maj #6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) 16-6 #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec #7 TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) 6-4 197 lbs #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) fall #8 Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) 2:45 #12 Rocky Elam (Missouri) dec #4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) 8-2 #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) tech #6 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) 16-1 #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) maj #10 Silas Allred (Nebraska) 11-3 285 lbs #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 1-0 #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) dec #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 4-1SV #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) dec #6 Zach Elam (Missouri) 8-1 #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) dec #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 6-4

Key Takeaways: 9 EIWA Wrestlers will compete in Friday’s quarterfinals Sotelo of Harvard knocks off 5th seeded Volk of Wyoming at 125lbs in round 1 Navy’s David Key will wrestle in the quarterfinals as a 25th seed at 184lbs Anthony D’Alesio of LIU (184lbs) claims the team’s first ever win at NCAAs As a quick recap, the conference had 62 qualifiers. This is the most in conference history. Before the tournament began, there was a last-minute scratch on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, the EIWA was victim to the scratch – making the total number of competitors at 61. Cornell’s Vince Cornella was a scratch. His knee injury was too much to compete. We wish him a speedy recovery. Cornell currently sits in 8th place with 17.5 points. They have 3 quarterfinalists, and 5 alive in the wrestlebacks. Lehigh sits in 17th place after day 1. They have 3 quarterfinalists and one person in the consolations. Penn is the final EIWA team in the top 25. They have four still competing in the wrestlebacks. If you would like to see full brackets and team score. Please click the link below. Tune into ESPNU for coverage of the first session at noon. Tonight’s session will be on ESPN at 8PM. 2024 NCAA Division I Championships (trackwrestling.com) 125 Diego Sotelo started the tournament off with a bang when he upset #5 Volk of Wyoming in the first round. This was one of the first upsets of the day. And, there were many! Brett Ungar used a rideout in tiebreakers to squeak by Peterson of Rutgers. Peterson, like Ungar, was a top-12 finisher last season. Luke Stanich had a major decision in his NCAA tournament debut. Unfortunately, there are no quarterfinalists at this weight, but three still remain alive in the wrestlebacks. Quarterfinals - none Wrestle Backs #2 – Luke Stanich (Lehigh) vs #16 – Peterson (Rutgers) #17 – Brett Ungar (Cornell) vs #18 DeAugustino (Michigan) #28 – Diego Sotelo (Harvard) vs #22 Palmer (Chattanooga) Out #25 – Ethan Berginc (Army) #27 – Max Gallagher (Penn) #32 – Michael Joyce (Brown) 133 Ryan Crookham’s first round opponent was Max Leete. Crookham snuck by via 4-3 decision. Vito Arujau cruised to a major decision in his opening round. Bucknell’s Kurtis Phipps avenged a loss to Wells of Minnesota – whom he lost to in the dual in November. Basile and Colaiocco lost by a takedown to the 8th and 5th seeds, respectively. Everyone wrestled hard in the first round. Arujau and Crookham each earned spots in the quarterfinals tomorrow. One more win will earn a spot on the podium. Colaiocco dropped a match to #12 in the consolations. Basile and Phipps were each 1-1 on the day. They will compete on Friday as well. Quarterfinals #2 – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs #7 Bailey (Little Rock) #6 – Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs #3 Orine (NC State) Wrestle Backs #13 – Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) vs #32 Rooks (Indiana) #25 – Braden Basile (Army) vs #23 Yarbrough (Virginia) Out #28 – Michael Colaiocco (Penn) #31 – Max Leete (American) 141 Josh Koderhandt and CJ Composto squared off in round one. Koderhandt won in overtime. Hines of Lehigh lost a tough one to #14 Vasquez of Arizona State. He then dropped a match to Owen in the wrestlebacks. Koderhandt, Chappell, Composto and Hines are all still alive on Friday. Quarterfinals – none Wrestle Backs #11 – Josh Koderhandt (Navy) vs #29 Clark (Purdue) #16 – Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) vs #15 Moore (Rutgers) #22 – CJ Composto (Penn) vs #21 Edmond (Missouri) #30 – Kai Owen (Columbia) vs #20 Crook (Virginia Tech) Out #19 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 149 Fernandez was the lone winner in the first round. Williams had a very close 2-1 loss to #8 Swiderski. Fernandez dropped his round of 16 match against Swiderski in tiebreakers. Swisher had won in his pigtail match in the consolations. The weight class only had two wins on day one. Quarterfinals – none Wrestle Backs #9 – Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) vs #7 Kasak (Penn State) Out #16 – Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) #25 – Matthew Williams (Army) #27 – Jack Crook (Harvard) #30 – Jude Swisher (Penn) 157 Meyer Shapiro’s NCAA debut ended with a fall. Brignola and Revano each had All-American opponents in round 1. #13 Blockhus of Minnesota defeated Brignola 6-4. Revano fell to #12 Andonian of Virginia Tech 5-1. Shapiro’s second match was a win by tech fall. He has not gone a full match yet. Revano had a win in the wrestlebacks to keep his tournament alive. Quarterfinals #3 – Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) vs #6 Cardenas (Stanford) Wrestle Backs #21 – Lucas Revano (Penn) vs #11 Lee (Indiana) Out #20 – Max Brignola (Lehigh) 165 Cerniglia and Mulvaney wrestled each other in their first match. Cerniglia was up 9-2 until Mulvaney scored eight unanswered points to win 10-9. Julian Ramirez survived an upset scare in round one to advance. He moved onto the quarters with a comfortable six-point win. Cassella blanked Brady of Virginia Tech to win 5-0 in round one before losing to the 2nd seed Messenbrink. Four wrestlers are still alive entering day two. Quarterfinals #3 – Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs #6 Caliendo (Iowa) Wrestle Backs #11 – Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) vs #12 Thompson (Ohio) #15 – Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) vs #17 Lillard (Indiana) #22 – Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) vs #21 Fish (Michigan State) Out #19 – Gunner Filipowicz (Army) #32 – Jake Logan (Lehigh) 174 There was another EIWA match-up in round one at this weight between Wolak and Baker. Wolak earned a major decision. He squared off with Nick Incontrera in the second round after Incontrera’s first round decision win. The winner of that one was Wolak by a 4-2 score. Ben Pasuik won the first round match 18-11 in a high scoring event. Takats was neck and neck in his first-round bout with #3 Ruth of Illinois, but gave up a last second takedown. Incontrera, Pasiuk, and Wask are all alive on the backside. Quarterfinals #7 – Lennox Wolak (Columbia) vs #2 DeVos (South Dakota State) Wrestle Backs #10 – Nick Incontrera (Penn) vs #24 Sparks (Minnesota) #18 – Ben Pasiuk (Army) vs #17 Maylor (Wisconsin) #27 – Danny Wask (Navy) vs #21 Eischens (UNC) Out #5 – Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) #26 – Benny Baker (Cornell) #30 – Myles Takats (Bucknell) 184 We saw two EIWA match-ups in round one. Ayzerov skated by Nolan while Conway upset Foca. Foca was an All-American a season ago. D’Alesio won his pigtail match, then dropped to top-seeded Keckeisen of UNI. D’Alesio took on Dugan in the consolation round. Dugan won via fall to advance to Friday. Navy’s David Key was 2-0 on the day to advance to the finals. He won two tight matches. History was made when Anthony D’Alesio won his pigtail. This was the first win by an LIU wrestler at the D1 level. Quarterfinals #25 – David Key (Navy) vs #1 Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) Wrestle Backs #13 – Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) vs #14 – Chris Foca (Cornell) #16 – Nate Dugan (Princeton) vs #18 Rogotzke (Ohio State) #19 – James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) vs #29 Anderson (Gardner Webb) Out #26 – Max Hale (Penn) #32 – Anthony D’Alesio (LIU) 197 Michael Beard had two bonus point wins on day one. Lou DePrez had two decision victories to advance. Cardenas was 1-1 on the day, dropping his R16 match to #12 Elam. Both Stout and Urbas won their consolation match to advance to Friday. Quarterfinals #4 – Michael Beard (Lehigh) vs #12 Elam (Missouri) #6 – Lou Deprez (Binghamton) vs #3 Sloan (South Dakota State) Wrestle Backs #5 – Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) vs #11 Smith (Maryland) #16 – Luke Stout (Princeton) vs #18 Stemmet (Stanford) #24 – Cole Urbas (Penn) vs #26 Smith (Virginia Tech) Out #28 – Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) #32 – John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) 285 The deepest weight class in the conference only has one quarterfinalist in Taylor of Lehigh. He was 2-0 with two comfortable decision victories. Grady Griess defeated Cory Day in round one. Bucknell’s Crosby won his opening round match, as did Fernandes of Cornell. Both wrestlers fell to the 3rd and 2nd seeds in the second round, respectively. Day won his consolation match to move into Friday. He will take on Fernandes of Cornell in a rematch from EIWAs that Fernandes won. Kluever’s draw included two top-10 seeds, ending his tournament early. Quarterfinals #5 – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) vs #4 Schultz (Arizona State) Wrestle Backs #15 – Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) vs #16 – Cory Day (Binghamton) #17 – Grady Griess (Navy) vs #18 Szuba (Rider) #19 – Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) vs #20 Bucknavich (Cleveland State) Out #22 – Matthew Cover (Princeton) #23 – Lucas Stoddard (Army) #24 – Keaton Kluever (Hofstra)