InterMat Staff

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)

It’s moving day! That term is usually reserved for Saturdays on the golf course, as that’s when golfers can put themselves in position for a big finish on the third day of a four-day tournament. That term is applicable for Friday at the NCAA Tournament because that’s when the big points get doled out. Wins in the championship side on Thursday only were worth a point for team scoring purposes, plus and bonus points earned. The quarterfinals is where wins are worth six points - which is given out to a sixth place finish, which is guaranteed once one gets to the semis. With the potential of six team points on the line, there can be plenty of movement for teams during the first session. A team like Penn State, with a ten-point lead on the field, is expected to pull away. The rest of the top ten could move greatly during the quarterfinals. That’s normally the case, but with a seven-point difference between second and ninth place - movement should be only increased. Here are the team scores heading into Friday’s action. Below them are matches at each weight class that will greatly impact this team race. Most feature wrestlers on both sides that have teams in the hunt. Team Scores 1st) Penn State 34.5 2nd) Iowa 24.5 2nd) Iowa State 24.5 4th) Michigan 22 4th) NC State 22 6th) Nebraska 21 7th) Ohio State 20.5 8th) Cornell 18.5 9th) Virginia Tech 17.5 10th) Missouri 14 125 lbs #1 Braeden Davis (Penn State) vs. #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) The same 10 teams that inhabited the top ten after the first session were the same that were there at the end of Thursday. A team slightly outside of the top ten (12) that has the potential to jump in is Arizona State. The Sun Devils don’t have the deepest squad, but they have a bunch of potential high-placers. Adding Figueroa to the mix with a semifinals appearance would be a bonus. #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #6 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) This is a rematch from the final weekend of the regular season where Drake Ayala cradled Troy Spratley in sudden victory to start the momentum during an Iowa rout. Both of these teams will need momentum on Friday morning. 133 lbs #1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #8 Evan Frost (Iowa State) Iowa State was expected to have a good showing and possibly get Kevin Dresser’s first top-ten finish in Ames; however, it may have seemed too optimistic to have the Cyclones tied for second after day one. I’m sure very few people have Frost over Fix on their brackets, but an upset here sets the tone for a big round from ISU and gives the team an expected boost. #3 Kai Orine (NC State) vs. #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) One of the injury concerns in the lead-up to the tournament was the status of 2023 national champion Vito Arujau. In the EIWA finals, Arujau lost to freshman Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) for the second time this year. That being said, Arujau has looked as good as he has all year. The Big Red was expected to compete for a trophy and eighth place after day one is semi-surprising. NC State, on the other hand, has had a few recent national tournaments where they largely didn’t wrestle up to seed. A loss from Orine may conjure up some of those recent demons. 141 lbs #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs. #9 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) Brock Hardy had a great Round of 16 match with #8 Sergio Lemely (Michigan) and moved to 2-1 against the Wolverine freshman. That looked like the version of Hardy that made the 2023 Big Ten finals and the podium a few weeks later. Ohio State at seven might surprise some people - Mendez is their biggest potential point-scorer this year, they’ll need him to continue to advance on the championship side. #4 Ryan Jack (NC State) vs. #5 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) Just a massive match that we didn’t get to see at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Jack was a finalist and Echemendia was seventh; however, the pair did not meet. #3 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) Speaking of guys returning to old form, put Real Woods in that category, as well. While the head-to-head match with North Carolina doesn’t have team race implications for both teams, Iowa needs a high finish from Woods to keep pace with the bevy of teams capable of passing them once the big points are awarded in the quarters. 149 lbs #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs. #8 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) This will be Iowa State’s second matchup against a number-one seed, though this match seems a bit more manageable than Fix/Frost. Nebraska has a rough set of matches this round; they’ll need to hold serve in a matchup where they’re favored. #3 Jackson Arrington (NC State) vs. #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) This is the first time we’ve mentioned Michigan this far. This matchup doesn’t favor the Wolverines, on paper, but no one would call it a true upset were Austin Gomez to grab the win. 157 lbs #4 Ed Scott (NC State) vs. #12 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) Yet, another meeting between two of the most exciting wrestlers in the tournament. Such familiarity has led to Ed Scott avoiding any precarious predicaments that Bryce Andonian typically ends up in. Scott has taken both meetings this season. #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) This bout isn’t as lopsided as the seeds would lead you to believe. Both are returning All-Americans who met in this same round in 2022. Teemer was victorious 5-3, for whatever that’s worth. These two have been pushed to the brink already in this tournament and might be lucky to even remain in the title hunt. 165 lbs #3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs. #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) Julian Ramirez has been one of the best wrestlers in this weight class for the last three years, but is still seeking his first All-American honor. A win over Michael Caliendo would get that out of the way for Ramirez. Cornell also could climb back into the trophy hunt. Caliendo represents Iowa's last quarterfinalist and their last opportunity this round to add substantial points. 174 lbs #1 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) vs. #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) What more can we say about this one? This has been a match that everyone has circled since the brackets were released. After watching three-time champion Carter Starocci for two matches - he looks good, but not the Starocci that might have pushed for bonus points against anyone in this bracket. There’s definitely a chance for Mekhi Lewis to get revenge for a 2022 NCAA finals loss and an ugly beatdown at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Match. 184 lbs #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. #6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) Plott will be the final Cowboy to take the mat in the quarters. By then we’ll have a good idea about whether Oklahoma State is square in the middle of the trophy hunt or pushing for a place in the top ten. And for Penn State? This is where they could widen the gap between themselves and the field, significantly. An upset win for Bernie Truax would only help more. #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) vs. #7 TJ Stewart Jr. (Virginia Tech) Freshman TJ Stewart appears to be a wrestler who feeds off the energy of his teammates and the Hokie fans. If he takes the mat moments after his team captain pulls the biggest win of the tournament, I’d expect Stewart to do all he can to keep that momentum going and notch an important win of his own. 197 lbs #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) vs. #10 Silas Allred (Nebraska) By this point, we’ll know how this round went for both teams. Both NC State and Nebraska have looked poised for high finishes in the recent past and haven’t always delivered. There’s the potential for one of these teams to get an emotional lift after a frustrating round or to put the stamp on a morning that put them in control of their destiny with respect to NCAA team trophies. 285 lbs #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) This is a rematch of the 2023 CKLV finals. A win by Yonger Bastida solidified himself as one of the key title contenders at this weight. In order to remain on track for potential clashes with Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) and Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State), Bastida will need to beat Davison for a second team. Davison is fresh off an 8-0 shutout of Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) in a match that looks like an upset, by the numbers, but really wasn’t.

Day one at the 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships, from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, is in the books. Typically on Thursday upsets are the story and, there were definitely some of those; however, for the most part, the top seeds advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals. Instead of a number of Cinderella stories, we have plenty of Clashes of the Titans. All ten number one seeds advance and nine of the ten number two seeds are in the championship bracket. No three or four seeds suffered any losses either. The lone second seed to lose on Thursday was Lehigh’s true freshman 125 lber Luke Stanich. He was upended in sudden victory by the #15 seed Caleb Smith of Nebraska. As expected, 125 lbs is perhaps the most unpredictable bracket. While favorites like #1 Braeden Davis (Penn State), #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa), and #4 Matt Ramos (Purdue) are still in the hunt for a national title, there are three double-digit seeds in the quarters - #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), #12 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), and #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska). Additionally, #8 Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) handed Big Ten runner-up #9 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) a sizable 16-5 major decision. The table has been set for perhaps the most anticipated quarterfinal of the tournament as both #1 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) and #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) advanced at 174 lbs. Starocci suffered a knee injury in late February and did not wrestle in the Big Ten Championships (aside from two :01 defaults). In both of his matches today, Starocci gave up the first takedown but proceeded to win. In the Round of 16, Starocci scored five unanswered points to defeat #8 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly), 5-3. On the team front, Penn State slightly pulled away from the rest of the field, as expected. The Nittany Lions won all eight of their Round of 16 matches and have two wrestlers alive in the consolations. Penn State has amassed 34.5 points and holds a ten-point lead with the big point rounds looming on Friday. The real interest, from the team race standpoint, is the chase for second place. Rivals Iowa and Iowa State head into day two with 24.5 points. Only six points separate the Iowa schools from eighth-place Cornell. Iowa has four wrestlers on the championship side and five in the consolations. Iowa State has five in the quarterfinals and four in the consolation bracket. Team Scores 1st) Penn State 34.5 2nd) Iowa 24.5 2nd) Iowa State 24.5 4th) Michigan 22 4th) NC State 22 6th) Nebraska 21 7th) Ohio State 20.5 8th) Cornell 18.5 9th) Virginia Tech 16 10th) Missouri 14 Quarterfinal Matchups 125 lbs Braeden Davis (PSU) vs. Richie Figueroa (ASU) Anthony Noto (LHU) vs. Matt Ramos (Pur) Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. Troy Spratley (OkSt) Eric Barnett (Wisc) vs. Caleb Smith (Neb) 133 lbs Daton Fix (OkSt) vs. Evan Frost (ISU) Dylan Ragusin (Mich) vs. Dylan Shawver (Rut) Kai Orine (NC St) vs. Vito Arujau (Corn) Nasir Bailey (LR) vs. Ryan Crookham (Leh) 141 lbs Jesse Mendez (tOSU) vs. Brock Hardy (Neb) Anthony Echemendia (ISU) vs. Ryan Jack (NC State) Real Woods (IA) vs. Lachlan McNeil (UNC) Vance Vombaur (Minn) vs. Beau Bartlett (PSU) 149 lbs Ridge Lovett (Neb) vs. Casey Swiderski (ISU) Ty Watters (WVU) vs. Caleb Henson (VT) Jackson Arrington (NC State) vs. Austin Gomez (Mich) Chance Lamer (CP) vs Kyle Parco (ASU) 157 lbs Levi Haines (PSU) vs. Peyton Robb (Neb) Bryce Andonian (VT) vs. Ed Scott (NC State) Meyer Shapiro (Corn) vs. Daniel Cardenas (Stan) Jared Franek (IA) vs. Jacori Teemer (ASU) 165 lbs Keegan O'Toole (Mizz) vs. Antrell Taylor (Neb) Dean Hamiti (Wisc) vs. David Carr (ISU) Julian Ramirez (Corn) vs. Michael Caliendo (IA) Cam Amine (Mich) vs. Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) 174 lbs Mekhi Lewis (VT) vs. Carter Starocci (PSU) Jared Simma (UNI) vs. Shane Griffith (Mich) Edmond Ruth (Ill) vs. Rocco Welsh (tOSU) Lennox Wolak (Col) vs. Cade DeVos (SDSU) 184 lbs Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs. David Key (Navy) Lenny Pinto (Neb) vs. Trey Munoz (OrSt) Dustin Plott (OkSt) vs. Bernie Truax (PSU) TJ Stewart (VT) vs. Isaiah Salazar (Minn) 197 lbs Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs Stephen Buchanan (OU) Rocky Elam (Mizz) vs. Michael Beard (Leh) Tanner Sloan (SDSU) vs. Louie DePrez (Bing) Silas Allred (Neb) vs. Trent Hidlay (NC State) 285 lbs Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs. Nick Feldman (tOSU) Nathan Taylor (Leh) vs. Cohlton Schultz (ASU) Wyatt Hendrickson (AFA) vs. Zach Elam (Mizz) Lucas Davison (Mich) vs. Yonger Bastida (ISU) Round of 16 Upsets 125 lbs #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) dec #7 Jakob Camacho (NC State) 8-2 #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) dec #2 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) 4-1SV 141 lbs #9 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec #8 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) 10-4 #26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec #23 Danny Fongaro (Indiana) 5-0 157 lbs #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) dec #7 Peyton Kellar (Ohio) 4-3 #12 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) dec #5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 9-6 165 lbs #10 Cam Amine (Michigan) dec #7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) 4-1SV 174 lbs #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec #8 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 5-3 #25 David Key (Navy) dec #24 Shane Liegal (Wisconsin) 4-2 #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) dec #21 Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) 6-5 197 lbs #12 Rocky Elam (Mizzou) dec #5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) 4-0 285 lbs #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) maj #7 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 8-0

Interviews from the 2024 NCAA Round of 16 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) Caleb Smith (Nebraska) Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) Peyton Robb (Nebraska) Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) Dom Baker (Campbell) Cam Amine (Michigan)

The first round of wrestling always answers a lot of questions that we have before the tournament. We finally saw Carter Starocci compete again for the first time since injuring his knee in his final dual of the year. In the same weight class we saw Shane Griffith, who is also dealing with some knee issues, back in action. And we saw a number of upsets and great matches that have us set for the second round of wrestling. For some it’s win or go home in the next session, but for others it’s a chance to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals. In the championship bracket we have 27 matches that you absolutely can’t miss. # - seed 125 This weight class has been on fire the entire year and the entire next round is going to be the same. From top to bottom we have matchups that are can’t-miss. But here’s a six-pack of bouts in this weight class that will be awesome. #1 Braeden Davis (PSU) vs #17 Brett Ungar (Cornell) #2 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) vs #15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs #14 Nico Provo (Stanford) #6 Troy Spratley (OKST) vs #11 Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) #7 Jakob Camacho (NC State) vs #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) #8 Richie Figueroa (ASU) vs #9 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) 133 Unlike 125, we’ve had more consistency throughout 133 during the year so even though there are some good matches on deck. Besides seeing how Vito Arujau, who has been in and out of the lineup this year, looks as he takes on #22 Domenic Zaccone who was one of the four guys to get an upset win this morning, there’s three specifically that have my attention. #3 Kai Orine vs #14 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) #8 Evan Frost (ISU) vs #24 Julian Chlebove (ASU) #7 Nasir Bailey takes on #23 Marion Yarbrough 141 Here is where we get some matches that we saw during the year that had us on the edge of seats. Even though I’m not adding this match to the list below, I think that the bout between Mitch Moore and Beau Bartlett could be interesting because of how stingy the defense is for both of them. #3 Real Woods (Iowa) vs #14 Jesse Vasquez (ASU) #8 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) vs #9 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) #6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) vs #11 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 149 Things are going close to what was expected here outside of a few upsets which has given us 2 matches we need to see. #3 Jackson Arrington (NC State) vs #14 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) #4 Caleb Henson (VT) vs #20 Jordan Williams (OKST) #10 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) vs #26 Jaden Abas (Stanford) 157 This weight is spicy and it’s about a lot hotter with some familiar foes matching up this round. #4 Ed Scott (NC State) vs #13 Michael Blackhus (Minnesota) #5 Ryder Downey (UNI) vs #12 Bryce Andonian (VT) #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) vs #9 Will Lewan (Michigan) 165 The top guys looked pretty good in the first round and look like they should be in the driver’s seat for their next matches as well. But there’s one match that is enticing. #7 Izzak Olejnik (OKST) vs #10 Cam Amine (Michigan) 174 Ok, so hear me out with this one. After seeing how Starocci is maneuvering with his new knee brace I think his match with Adam Kemp is going to be must-watch. But it’s that reason alone that I think Kemp can push him. As we saw in Starocci’s first match, it’s not the easiest thing to work with. #4 Shane Griffith (Michigan) vs #13 Justin McCoy (UVA) #8 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) vs #9 Carter Starocci (PSU) 184 The biggest wild card in this weight class all year continued his crazy ways with a fall this morning and will keep throwing the kitchen sink at his opponents, who in this case is #2 seed Isaiah Salazar, who narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win in this first round. #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) vs #18 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) 197 Both the matches here are in the top half of the bracket with the winner of one of them getting top-seeded Aaron Brooks tomorrow morning. But these two bouts have fireworks potential. #5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) vs #12 Rocky Elam (Mizzou) #8 Stephen Buchanan (OU) vs #9 Stephen Little (Little Rock) 285 We are spoiled with having big boys that bring it and put on show-stopping bouts. There are a few matchups here that fans shouldn’t be leaving the stadium before they see them. #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) vs #12 Konner Doucet (OKST) #7 Taye Ghadiali (CAMP) vs #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) vs #25 Bradley Hill (Iowa)

The first session of the 2024 NCAA DI National Championships is in the books. As is usual the case early in the national tournament, there were plenty of unexpected moments and upsets. After a quick round of pig-tail matches, the upsets began. Harvard’s #28 Diego Sotelo had the honor of knocking off the first top-five wrestler in the tournament as he edged Big 12 champion, #5 Jore Volk of Wyoming. Volk wasn’t the only #5 to lose in session one. At 174 lbs, Harvard was on the wrong side of the result. #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) knocked off #5 Phil Conigliaro. In the 125 lb weight class it was Harvard pulling the upset. Simma started with a tilt in the second period and didn’t look back in a 7-0 victory. The 141 lb bracket had it’s share of shenanigans as both #6 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) and #10 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) fell. Since they are next to each other in the brackets, they’ll square off in the consolations tonight. In the championship bracket, #23 Danny Fongaro (Indiana) and #27 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) will meet with a berth in the quarterfinals on the line. Vombaur was seventh in the Big Ten, while Fongaro was ninth. Though they trailed for most of the first session, top-ranked Penn State did pour it on during the late and leads Nebraska by a point and a half. Even with a lead, Penn State wasn’t immune to the upset bug. Virginia’s Marlon Yarbrough scored early and often in a 13-5 major decision victory over #10 Aaron Nagao at 133 lbs. Penn State freshman Tyler Kasak was seeded seventh and had a tough draw with 2021 All-American Jaden Abas (Stanford). A second period takedown proved to be the difference for Abas in a 4-2 victory. Penn State went 8-2, while Nebraska was 8-1. Team Scores after Session One 1. Penn State 15.5 2. Nebraska 14 3. Michigan 13.5 4. Iowa State 13 5. Ohio State 12.5 6. Virginia Tech 11.5 7. Cornell 11 7. NC State 11 9. Iowa 10.5 10. Oklahoma State 10

The following are the upsets that occurred during the first round of the 2024 NCAA Championships. 125 lbs #17 Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec #16 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) 2-1TB #20 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) dec #13 Noah Surtin (Mizzou) 3-1 #28 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) dec #5 Jore Volk (Wyoming) 5-3 #33 Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) dec #32 Michael Joyce (Brown) 8-4 133 lbs #21 Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec #12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 8-7 #22 Dom Zaccone (Campbell) dec #11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) 4-1 #23 Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) maj #10 Aaron Nagao (Penn State) 13-5 #24 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) dec #9 Dominick Serrano (Northern Iowa) 4-1 #33 Dyson Dunham (VMI) dec #32 Cayden Rooks (Indiana) 9-4 141 lbs #17 Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga) dec #16 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) 9-4 #20 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech) dec #13 Jordan Titus (West Virginia) 4-1 #21 Josh Edmond (Missouri) dec #12 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) 4-1SV #23 Danny Fongaro (Indiana) dec #10 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) 10-8 #26 Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) dec #7 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) 8-5SV 149 lbs #17 Graham Rooks (Indiana) dec #16 Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) 12-5 #18 Cody Bond (App State) dec #15 Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 11-4 #21 Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) dec #12 Ethen Miller (Maryland) 5-4 #20 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) dec #13 Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) 12-5 #22 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) maj #11 Quinn Kinner (Rider) 8-0 #26 Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec #7 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) 4-2 #33 Michael Cetta (Rutgers) dec #32 Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) 8-5TB 157 lbs #19 Tommy Askey (App State) maj #14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) 17-6 165 lbs #20 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) maj #13 Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) 11-0 #22 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) dec #11 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 10-9 #33 Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa) maj #32 Jake Logan (Lehigh) 14-3 174 lbs #18 Ben Pasiuk (Army) dec #15 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) 18-11 #19 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) fall #14 Gaven Sax (North Dakota) 2:37 #21 Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) dec #12 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 9-7 #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) dec #5 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) 7-0 #33 Cael Valencia (Arizona State) dec #32 Brody Baumann (Purdue) 5-0 184 lbs #17 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) fall #16 Nate Dugan (Princeton) 2:29 #18 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) fall #15 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) 2:28 #19 James Conway (F&M) dec #14 Chris Foca (Cornell) 5-4 #23 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) dec #10 Dylan Fishback (NC State) 1-0 #24 Shane Leigel (Wisconsin) maj #9 Bennett Berge (South Dakota) 9-0 #25 David Key (Navy) dec #8 Sam Wolf (Air Force) 4-1 197 lbs #17 Joey Novak (Wyoming) dec #16 Luke Stout (Princeton) 9-6 #18 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) dec #15 Max Shaw (North Carolina) 6-4 #20 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) dec #13 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 3-2 TB-1 #22 Garrett Joles (Minnesota) dec #11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 6-5 #26 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) dec #7 Zach Glazier (Iowa) 4-1SV #33 Evan Bates (Northwestern) dec #32 John Crawford (F&M) 285 lbs #17 Grady Griess (Navy) dec #16 Cory Day (Binghamton) 4-1SV #19 Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) dec #14 Boone McDermott (Oregon State) 6-5 #25 Bradley Hill (Iowa) dec #8 Owen Trephan (NC State) 4-2

Interviews during Session One at the 2024 NCAA Championships Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) Will Lewan (Michigan) Jaden Abas (Stanford) Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) James Conway (F&M) Brayton Lee (Indiana)

The NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are returning to Kansas City! It’s been awhile since Kansas City hosted the national tournament. 21 years to be exact. 21 years is a long time in the real world, but seemingly a century in the wrestling world. A lot has changed since 2003. Just how much? Well, here’s some fun notes from the 2003 tournament that would illustrate just how long ago it was. Oklahoma State started a run of four consecutive national titles outdistancing Minnesota by 38.5 points. Travis Lee won the 125 lb title for Cornell. He was the first national champion for Cornell since David Hirsch in 1994 and it helped propel Cornell into a consistent national power. The stud freshman of the year was Teyon Ware, the national champion at 141 lbs. He was one of two freshman national champions - Jake Rosholt was the other. Ware was the top seed at 141 and Rosholt was the #10 at 184. Ware and Zack Esposito were freshmen and the top-two seeds at 141 lbs. Braeden Davis and Luke Stanich are the first freshmen to be seeded #1/#2 at the same weight class since Ware/Espo. 2003 was just a year removed from Cael Sanderson becoming just the second DI wrestler to capture four national titles. A year later, he’d win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens. Speaking of four titles, Greg Jones was on track to winning four titles after capturing one as a freshman in 2002. He went 2-2 at this tournament and it was the only time he missed out on the NCAA podium or didn’t win. Jones was one of four 2002 national champions that didn’t repeat in 2003. The others were Aaron Holker (141), Jared Lawrence (149), and Luke Becker (157). Josh Moore, Scott Moore, Jeremy Spates, John Clark, Chris Pendleton, Alex Clemsen, and Damion Hahn are current DI head coaches that competed in the tournament. In one of the most dramatic moments of the tournament, Damion Hahn locked up a takedown in the closing seconds of the 197 lb finals to defeat Jon Trenge. Steve Mocco won his first of his two NCAA titles as a sophomore wrestling for Iowa. Shockingly enough, Mocco redshirted the next year then transferred to Oklahoma State. Penn State placed sixth at the 2003 tournament. It was their first top-20 showing since 1999 when they took fourth. Arizona State’s Eric Larkin was the 149 lb champion and Hodge Trophy winner. His son, Kaleb, is a redshirting freshman on the ASU roster this year. The last time Lehigh had a freshman in the NCAA finals was in 2003 with Troy Letters at 165 lbs. Coincidentally, they have a pair of freshmen seeded second this year (Luke Stanich/Ryan Crookham). At this point in time, Missouri had never had an NCAA champion. The 2003 tournament was the most recent time that Northern Illinois had two All-Americans. Scott Owen took fifth at 157 and Ben Heizer was sixth at 184. Boise State, Boston, Cal-State Fullerton, Duquesne, Eastern Illinois, Fresno State, James Madison, Oregon, Portland State, Slippery Rock and UC Davis had wrestlers competing at this tournament…so, yeah. Along those same lines, this was before Fresno State dropped wrestling….the first time. At this time, Nebraska was in the Big 12, Missouri was officially in the Big 12, Maryland was in the ACC, and Rutgers was in the EIWA. Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia were in the EWL. In addition to the current conferences, wrestlers also qualified from the CAA, East Regional, EWL, and the West Regional. This was an era where wild cards were given out by conferences, rather than the NCAA, which led to unbalanced brackets. Below is the number of participants per weight class. 125 (34) 133 (36) 141 (32) 149 (32) 157 (36) 165 (32) 174 (33) 184 (34) 197 (34) 285 (29) Shawn Bunch, Rad Martinez, Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Eric Larkin, Jerrod Sanders, Brian Cobb, Jacob Volkmann, Shane Roller,Tyron Woodley, Rashad Evans, Jake Rosholt, Gerald Harris, Mo Lawal, Stipe Miocic, Ryan Bader, Carmelo Marrero, and Kellan Fluckiger, Pat Cummins all participated in the 2003 NCAA Tournament and then went on to have success in the MMA world. Evans was responsible knocking Greg Jones out of the tournament. Nick Nemeth competed for Kent State at 165 lbs. He’s been known in the WWE as Dolph Ziggler.

It’s finally here. The first whistle in Kansas City will blow at noon ET on Thursday and we have some fire coming from the ACC. There will be a lot to keep an eye on, so I’ve got you covered with all the ACC matchups we could see on day one. I really like the way several of the brackets shape up for the conference and think they are in position to bring home more All-American honors than last year (12) and there are great paths for some to get to the big stage on Saturday night. There were two NCAA Champions from the ACC last year-Austin O’Connor and Nino Bonaccorsi; I think there is potential to match and potentially exceed that number if everything shakes out the right way. My *clearly biased* projections have the conference at 16 All-Americans with three in the finals on Saturday night - here’s hoping that comes true! Get your doctor’s notes ready for work, line up the screens and get a comfy chair, we’ve got three big days of wrestling ahead of us. 125 Jakob Camacho NC State 13-4 #7 Seed Opening match: Blake West (NIU) 27-6 Round two: Eric Barnett (WISC) 26-6 or Tanner Jordan (SDSU) 24-9 Cooper Flynn Virginia Tech 14-4 #11 Seed Opening match: Brayden Palmer (CHAT) 18-2 Round two: Troy Spratley (OKST) 21-6 or Max Gallagher (PENN) 20-8 133 Kai Orine NC State 15-2 #3 Seed Opening Match: Hunter Leake (CBU) 18-9 Round two: Julian Farber (UNI) 20-9 or Jacob Van Dee (NEB) 22-8 Sam Latona Virginia Tech 20-7 #12 Seed Opening Match: Ethan Oakley (APP) 26-7 Round two: Dylan Ragusin (MICH) 24-2 or Michael Colaiocco (PENN) 15-10 Marlon Yarbrough Virginia 15-7 #23 Seed Opening Match: Aaron Nagao (PSU) 14-5 Round two: Nasir Bailey (LR) 23-2 or Kade Moore (MIZZ) 11-5 141 Ryan Jack NC State 18-3 #4 Seed Opening Match: Greyson Clark (PUR) 16-8 Round two: Tom Crook (VT) 19-8 or Jordan Titus (WVU) 24-4 Lachlan McNeil North Carolina 21-6 #6 Seed Opening Match: Vance Vombaur (MINN) 16-8 Round two: Josh Koderhandt (NAVY) 22-6 or CJ Composto (PENN) 21-8 Cole Matthews Pittsburgh 16-10 #18 Seed Opening Match: Mitch Moore (RUT) 15-6 Round two: Beau Bartlett (PSU) 19-1 or Kai Owen (COL) 16-11 Tom Crook Virginia Tech 19-8 #20 Seed Opening Match: Jordan Titus (WVU) 24-4 Round two: Ryan Jack (NCST) 18-3 or Greyson Clark 16-8 149 Jackson Arrington NC State 18-3 #3 Seed Opening Match: Jude Swisher (PENN) 23-7 Round two: Joey Zargo (WISC) 20-9 or Dylan D’Emilio (OHST) 24-11 Caleb Henson Virginia Tech 25-2 #4 Seed Opening Match: Alek Martin (SDSU) 20-10 Round two: Caleb Rathjen (IOWA) 16-5 or Jordan Williams (OKST) 14-7 Finn Solomon Pittsburgh 17-10 #31 Seed Opening Match: Kyle Parco (ASU) 21-3 Round two: Corbyn Munson (CMU) 26-5 or Cody Bond (APP) 24-6 157 Ed Scott NC State 21-5 #4 Seed Opening Match: Legend Lamer (POLY) 14-10 Round two: Michael Blockhus (MINN) 15-3 or Max Brignola (LEH) 19-7 Bryce Andonian Virginia Tech 17-5 #12 Seed Opening Match: Lucas Revano (PENN) 21-9 Round two: Ryder Downey (UNI) 20-4 or Jared Hill (OU) 15-11 Sonny Santiago North Carolina 15-8 #27 Seed Opening Match: Daniel Cardenas (STAN) 24-6 Round two: Brayton Lee (IND) 11-2 or DJ McGee (GMU) 24-5 165 Connor Brady Virginia Tech 13-8 #18 Seed Opening Match: Brevin Cassella (BING) 28-7 Round two: Max Mayfield (NW) 15-15 or Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) 21-0 Derek Fields NC State 15-4 #23 Seed Opening Match: Cameron Amine (MICH) 14-7 Round two: Izzak Olejnik (OKST) 24-5 or Domonic Baker (CAMP) 19-7 Nick Hamilton Virginia 11-7 #30 Seed Opening Match: Julian Ramirez (CORN) 22-2 Round two: Gunner Filipowicz (ARMY) 25-10 or Geno Petrucelli (AF) 22-7 174 Mekhi Lewis Virginia Tech 15-0 #1 Seed Opening Match: Cael Valencia (ASU) 11-13 or Brody Bauman (PUR) 12-14 Round two: Max Maylor (WIS) 18-7 or Jackson Turley (RUT) 15-6 Justin McCoy Virginia 17-5 #13 Seed Opening Match: Brody Conley (WVU) 24-7 Round two: Shane Griffith (MICH) 14-3 or Alex Faison (NCST) 13-12 Tyler Eischens North Carolina 13-7 #21 Seed Opening Match: Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) 15-5 Round two: Phillip Conigliaro (HAR) 24-3 or Jared Simma (UNI) 15-9 Luca Augustine Pittsburgh 14-6 #23 Seed Opening Match: Nico Incontrera (PENN) 24-5 Round two: Lennox Wolak (COL) 15-5 or Benny Baker (COR) 14-12 Alex Faison NC State 13-12 #29 Seed Opening Match: Shane Griffith (MICH) 14-3 Round two: Justin McCoy (UVA) 17-5 or Brody Conley (WVU) 24-7 184 TJ Stewart Virginia Tech 10-2 #7 Seed Opening Match: Maximus Hale (PENN) 21-8 Round two: Dylan Fishback (NCST) 17-7 or Layne Malczewski (MSU) 14-8 Dylan Fishback NC State 17-7 #10 Seed Opening Match: Layne Malczewski (MSU) 14-8 Round two: TJ Stewart (VT) 10-2 or Maximus Hale (PENN) 21-8 Reece Heller Pittsburgh 20-6 #15 Seed Opening Match: Ryder Rogotzke (OHST) 18-8 Round two: Isaiah Salazar (MINN) 21-1 or Tony Negron (ASU) 13-9 Gavin Kane North Carolina 19-9 #22 Seed Opening Match: Colton Hawkes (MIZZ) 16-6 Round two: Cameron Pine (CLAR) 23-7 or Bernie Truax (PSU) 14-4 197 Trent Hidlay NC State 24-0 #2 Seed Opening Match: Krystian Kinsey (UVA) 10-8 Round two: Max Shaw (UNC) 19-5 or Nicholas Stemmet (STAN) 28-8 Max Shaw North Carolina 19-5 #15 Seed Opening Match: Nick Stemmet (STAN) 28-8 Round two: Krystian Kinsey (UVA) 10-8 or Trent Hidlay (NCST) 24-0 Mac Stout Pittsburgh 21-6 #21 Seed Opening Match: Rocky Elam (MIZZ) 11-3 Round two: Jacob Cardenas (COR) 22-6 or Jack Wehmayer (COL) 22-11 Andy Smith Virginia Tech 16-9 #26 Seed Opening Match: Zach Glazier (IOWA) 24-2 Round two: Luke Geog (OHST) 15-8 or Silas Allred (NEB) 24-7 Krystian Kinsey Virginia 10-8 #31 Seed Opening Match: Trent Hidlay (NCST) 24-0 Round two: Max Shaw (UNC) 19-5 or Nick Stemmet (STAN) 28-8 285 Owen Trephan NC State 17-5 #8 Seed Opening Match: Bradley Hill (IOWA) 20-7 Round two: Nick Feldman (OHST) 24-5 or Keaton Kluever (HOF) 15-5 Dylan Pitzer Pittsburgh 11-5 #21 Seed Opening Match: Konnor Doucet (OKST) 19-9 Round two: Nathan Taylor (LEH) 23-3 or Trevor Tinker (POLY) 13-5 Hunter Catka Virginia Tech 13-6 #26 Seed Opening Match: Taye Ghadiali (CAMP) 32-3 Round two: Lucas Davison (MICH) 18-4 or Lucas Stoddard (ARMY) 23-14

The 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Kansas City, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2003 , but by all accounts, should be a great host. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. The Top Seed: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) For the first time, Greg Kerkvliet doesn’t have to worry about a Hodge Trophy winner blocking his way to a national championship. In 2021 and 2022 it was Gable Steveson, last year it was Mason Parris. Now, it’s his turn to make a case for the Hodge and get that elusive national title. Kerkvliet comes into the national tournament with a perfect 15-0 record and bonus points in over 70% of his contests. Kerkvliet is another version of this new breed of heavyweights that isn’t content to handfight and win 2-1 decisions. The nine points he scored in the Big Ten semifinals and championship bout represent his lowest scoring output of the tournament and in the final month and a half of the season. In fact, Kerkvliet was held to less than nine points only three times during the 2023-24 campaign. After winning the Journeymen Collegiate Classic during the second weekend of the regular season, Kerkvliet was selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star Match on Penn State’s campus against 2023 NCAA third-place finisher Wyatt Hendrickson. Kerkvliet needed less than five minutes to rack up an impressive 18-2 tech fall. You could probably argue that Hendrickson was feeling the aftermath of a knee injury suffered during the freestyle season; however, a win is a win. Kerkvliet’s path to a national title may not be as easy as most top seeds. There’s the possibility of a Big Ten finals rematch in the quarterfinals, as Nick Feldman is the ninth seed. The freshman, Feldman, earned the first takedown in the B1G championship match; however, it was all Kerkvliet after that. A potential semifinal could pit Kerkvliet against the only active collegiate wrestler with a career win against him, Cohlton Schultz. As the Hendrickson match got a disclaimer, Kerkvliet will get one as he was wrestling in the 2021 national tournament injured and has improved greatly since then. The Contenders: #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State), #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) The Conference Champions ACC: #8 Owen Trephan (NC State) Big 12: #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Big Ten: #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) EIWA: #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) MAC: #18 David Szuba (Rider) Pac-12: #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) SoCon: #7 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) Top First-Round Matches #16 Cory Day (Binghamton) vs. #17 Grady Griess (Navy) #12 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) vs. #21 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) #15 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) vs. #18 David Szuba (Rider) I’m not sure what’s been more of a pleasant surprise this year, Yonger Bastida’s transition to heavyweight or his surprisingly fun social media/meme game. Another one dropped today! In both area’s Bastida has been a force; however, on the mat, he’s amassed a 24-0 record with bonus points in over 70% of his matches. Bastida put the country on notice a month into the season as he won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with bonus points in four of his five matches. A 5-3 win over two-time All-American Lucas Davison in the championship match was the lone regular decision. In early January, Bastida showed he could win a different style of match after he grinded out a 4-3 decision over multi-time All-American and Greco world team member Cohlton Schultz. Bastida locked up the second seed after handing Hendrickson his first regular season loss since December of 2022. In that match, Bastida showed some unreal defense and counter-offense against the dangerous Hendrickson. Speaking of Hendrickson, he’ll hold the third seed. Once again, he’s going to the national tournament with a resume that includes a boatload of bonus-point wins. 17 of Hendrickson’s 22 wins have come via fall. Last year, Hendrickson became Air Force’s first All-American in 20 years. That most recent All-American, Kevin Hoy, is also the last Air Force wrestler to AA twice. Senior Greco-Roman World Team member Cohlton Schultz comes in as the fourth seed. Schultz recently qualified the United States for the 2024 Games in Greco right before the Pac-12 Championships. Back on the folkstyle scene, Schultz captured his fourth Pac-12 title and is in line to get on the podium for the fourth time. This will be the fourth time that Schultz has had a top-five seed at nationals. Before that Schultz/Kerkvliet matchup, the Sun Devil star will likely have to go through EIWA champion #5 Nathan Taylor of Lehigh. Taylor had a breakout sophomore campaign that saw him lose only three times in 26 matches, two of which were against Kerkvliet. Early in the season, Taylor notched wins over #8 Owen Trephan and #18 David Szuba, who went on to win their respective conference tournaments. He’ll be in a position to build off a 1-2 showing at nationals as a freshman. Veteran Zach Elam slides into the sixth seed. Elam only has two losses on the year and both came against the #2 seed Bastida. Elam has been a podium threat his entire career, twice finishing in the Round of 12 and clocking in with a sixth-place finish last season. The SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Taye Ghadiali, holds the seventh seed at this weight. Ghadiali was a third-place finisher at the CKLV and holds a 12-match winning streak. In SoCon action, Ghadiali pinned or teched all of his competitors. The #8/#9 matchup on the top of the bracket is quite interesting with the ACC champion Trephan and Feldman. The pair met at the Collegiate Duals in mid-December and Trephan got the 8-6 victory; however, Feldman is wrestling much better of late and has two late-season wins over Davison. Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) Based on seeds alone, a #13 breaking into the top ten can be unexpected. Seeing that #13 seed is Yaraslau Slavikouski, I’m not sure many people would be surprised if he were to make the top eight in his final try. Slavikouski was a sixth seed last year and finished in the bloodround. A late-season lull and a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten took Slavikouski from a top-eight seed to outside of the top ten. While he has a potentially difficult Round of 16 matchup with Schultz staring him in the face, Slavikouski is capable of making a run through the consi’s. Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #21 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) I don’t know exactly what to expect from Pitt’s star freshman big man Dayton Pitzer. The Pennsylvania native came into the year with high expectations largely due to his performance at the 2022 Midlands, when he upset All-Americans Cohlton Schultz and Trent Hillger. Pitzer got off to a solid start this season, but was injured during a late-January dual versus Schultz. At the time, Panther head coach Keith Gavin said Pitzer was shut down until a potential postseason run. Pitzer returned for the ACC Championships and seemed to acquit himself well in a 7-3 loss to Trephan. He would get third, but needed to receive an at-large berth since the conference only earned two automatic berths. With another week and a half of preparation and rest under his belt, where is Pitzer? Is he capable of being a bracket-buster? His tournament will start with #12 Konner Doucet. Doucet defeated Pitzer 3-0 in his final bout before getting injured against Schultz. Should Pitzer find a way to get by Doucet, he’d likely have #5 Taylor. Pitzer is responsible for Taylor’s only non-Kerkvliet loss of the year. Again, if healthy, there’s a blueprint for Pitzer to go far in this tournament. The Team Race: There are plenty of potential team race implications involved in this weight class. Someone like Lucas Davison, in particular. At #10, he’s seeded and projected to miss the podium. In reality, I don’t think that happens. Getting Davison to wrestle above his seed certainly is positive for the Blue. There’s a scenario where Davison and Doucet meet in the Round of 12. Both squads will need those points. Speaking of the bloodround, our brackets have Trephan and Elam hitting for a spot on the podium, too. On the front side, the potential quarterfinal between Taylor and Schultz will see two top-heavy, tournament-style teams collide and one will get a guaranteed top-six finish. Projected Quarterfinals #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #9 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) #5 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) vs. #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs. #6 Zach Elam (Missouri) #10 Lucas Davison (Michigan) vs. #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Projected Semifinals #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs. #3 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Projected All-Americans 1st) Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 2nd) Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) 3rd) Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) 4th) Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 5th) Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 6th) Lucas Davison (Michigan) 7th) Zach Elam (Missouri) 8th) Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #7 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell), #11 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma), #12 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State), #8 Owen Trephan (NC State) Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #15 Lewis Fernandes (Cornell), #14 Boone McDermott (Oregon State), #13 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers), #16 Cory Day (Binghamton)

The Pac-12 has one more chance to represent themselves as a conference at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Arizona State leads with eight qualifiers while Stanford, Oregon State Cal Poly and Little Rock have five wrestlers. With the wrestlers ranked across each weight class, let’s take a look and predict where each wrestler can finish in their weight class. 125 No. 8 Richard Figueroa Ceiling: High All-American Floor: Bloodround Figueroa will have a tough matchup in the second round against Patrick McKee. Although McKee is known for his success in the wrestlebacks, his experience could lead him to a victory in the second round. Therefore, Figueroa must battle back a few rounds before most likely facing Troy Spratley. Figueroa lost 13-5 to Spratley earlier this season. No. 14 Nico Provo Ceiling: Bloodround Floor: 1-2 Nico Provo will face some wrestlers with more experience in March than him. If he can sneak past Jett Strickenberger in the first round, he will battle Drake Ayala. If he loses, Provo can wrestle Brandon Kaylor, Noah Surtin and Cooper Flynn. No. 21 Brandon Kaylor Ceiling: Bloodround Floor: 1-2 Kaylor is a long shot but can work his way through the bracket via wrestlebacks. Kaylor defeated Provo, Spratley and Jore Volk this season. In addition, he defeated Surtin in 2022, who could be one of his wrestleback matches. 133 No. 7 Nasir Bailey Ceiling: Fifth Place Floor: Bloodround Bailey is one of the lucky wrestlers in the skewed 133-pound bracket since he avoids Vito Arujau and Daton Fix. If Bailey can stick to his seeding, he will find himself beating Kade Moore and Aaron Nagao before falling to Ryan Crookham. Afterwards, Bailey can defeat Sam Latona and another wrestler to reach the fifth-place match. No. 11 Zeth Romney Ceiling: 2-2 Floor: 1-2 Romney was placed in one of the toughest spots in the bracket. If Romney wins the first round, he will face Arujau. Afterwards, Romney can see Michael Colaiocco and Jacob Van Dee. Therefore, Romney’s postseason could be short. No. 24 Julian Chlebove Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Chlebove starts the tournament against Dominick Serrano. If Chlebove loses, he will most likely face Braden Basile. Afterward, Chlebove can face Bailey or Nagao. Chlebove lost by decision to Bailey twice this season. 141 No. 14 Jesse Vasquez Ceiling: Eighth Place Floor: 1-2 Jesse Vasquez is a wild card in this weight class because he has not faced a handful of the wrestlers due to injuries the last two seasons. In addition, he has split two matches with Malyke Hines, lost to Tom Crook 7-5 in 2022 and only has one loss not by an injury default. Therefore, Vasquez can out wrestle his seeding. No. 26 Cleveland Belton Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Belton will be facing some All-American hopefuls within the first few rounds. Therefore, Belton’s only favorable matchup is the first round of consolation against Danny Fongaro. 149 No. 2 Kyle Parco Ceiling: NCAA Champion Floor: Fourth Place Parco is the only wrestler to defeat Ridge Lovett this season, beating him 4-3 in the Nebraska dual. Although Parco is not flashy, he can dominate any wrestler in this weight. On the other hand, he did lose to Caleb Henson at the beginning of the season and could see him if both are competing for third place. No. 10 Chance Lamer Ceiling: Seventh Place Floor: 2-2 If Lamer can win his first two matches, his path to All-American is in his favor. Since has yet to beat Parco, Lamer would drop to the bloodround. Afterward, Lamer has beaten several wrestlers he can run across during his time in the Big Ten. No. 26 Jaden Abas Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 1-2 Similar to Belton, Abas will face All-American hopefuls in the first few rounds. Therefore, Abas will only have one really favorable matchup. 157 No. 2 Jacori Teemer Ceiling: NCAA Champion Floor: Fourth place Teemer’s explosiveness is unmatched in the 157-pound class. His neutral and bottom game can be unparalleled at times too. However, Teemer has weaknesses on top and when he catches his breath. Therefore, Teemer can see himself on the upset watch against a few wrestlers, including Peyten Kellar and Ed Scott. No. 6 Daniel Cardenas Ceiling: Seventh place Floor: Bloodround Daniel Cardenas has a few favorable matchups on Thursday. However, Cardenas has the opportunity to face Meyer Shapiro, Will Lewan, Teemer, and Kellar before reaching All-American status. Cardenas will have to beat some formidable opponents, but he has the capability to do so. No. 29 Legend Lamer Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Lamer has struggled at the NCAA Championships during his career. Last season, he went 0-2 while his freshman year, he went 2-2 as a ninth seed. After falling to Ed Scoott, Lamer will face either Michael Blockhus or Max Brignola. Lamer lost to Blockhus in 2022 but never faced Brignola. No. 31 Matthew Bianchi Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Bianchi is one of the lowest seeded wrestlers in the weight class. His one chance will come in the first round of consolations despite being the lower seed in every matchup. He will face Teemer in the first round. 165 No. 13 Joseph Bianchi Ceiling: Bloodround Floor: 1-2 Bianchi and Garvin face each other in the first round. Bianchi holds a 2-0 record against Garvin and should win again. Afterward, Bianchi faces David Carr. Once he drops to consolation, Binachi will have three potential toss-up matches that can have his season end early or make a push for All-American. No. 20 Hunter Garvin Ceiling: 2-2 Floor: 1-2 Garvin has yet to beat Bianchi and will most likely drop the third matchup between the two wrestlers. Garvin can win his next matchup before running across some more unfavorable opponents. 174 No. 8 Adam Kemp Ceiling: Seventh place Floor: Bloodround Since Carter Starocci drew the nine seed, Kemp will have to face the Penn State wrestler in the second round. The two wrestled last season and Starocci won 10-4. Afterward, Kemp will battle some unfamiliar wrestlers with weaker resumes. Kemp’s toughest potential matchups before placing will be Jackson Turley, whom he beat 8-5 this season, and Rocco Welsh. No. 33 Cael Valencia Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 As the final wrestler to make the NCAA tournament, Valencia’s path is the toughest. If Valencia wins his pigtail matchup, he will face Mekhi Lewis. Afterward, Valencia will run across middle-tier wrestlers who could take care of him early. 184 No. 4 Trey Munoz Ceiling: Third place Floor: Seventh place Trey Munoz has struggled against the other top seeds in the weight class. Munoz has lost to Parker Keckeisen, Lenny Pinto, Bernie Truax and Dylan Fishback in the last two seasons. Therefore, Munoz will have to beat at least one of these guys to fulfill his seed. No. 31 Tony Negron Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Negron begins the tournament as a large underdog against Isaiah Salazar. If he falls to Salazar, Negron will have another tough battle against either Reece Heller or Ryder Rogotzke. 197 No. 9 Stephen Little Ceiling: Eighth place Floor: Bloodround Little lost to Stephen Buchanan 4-1 at the beginning of the season. If it is a similar result, Little will wrestle back as a favorite for a few matchups. Once Little reaches the bloodround, he would most likely need to defeat Tanner Sloan or Lou Deprez to reach All-American status. No. 18 Nick Stemmet Ceiling: 2-2 Floor: 0-2 Stemmet has beaten Max Shaw and Joseph Novak, a potential consolation matchup on Friday morning. On the other hand, Stemmet’s wins were by decision. If he does win, he would face Trent Hidlay. No. 29 Justin Rademacher Ceiling: 1-2 Floor 0-2 Rademacher’s only win against a NCAA qualifier was against Stemmet. However, Rademacher lost two against Stemmet and a handful of matches against NCAA qualifiers. Therefore, his postseason may end quickly. 285 No. 4 Cohlton Schultz Ceiling: NCAA Champion Floor: Sixth place If Schultz wins his first two matches, he will most likely face Nathan Taylor, whom he defeated 3-2 last season. Schultz will face Kerkvliet, who he also defeated in 2021. Schultz also faced Yonger Bastida this season, losing 4-3. Therefore, Schultz has an opportunity to pull off a couple of upsets and win it all. No. 14 Boone McDermott Ceiling: Bloodround Floor: 2-2 McDermott will most likely face Wyatt Hendrickson in the second round and drop to the consolation bracket. Afterward, McDermott will have a few toss-up matches that can put him within reach of an All-American status. No. 27 Josiah Hill Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Hill will begin against Zach Elam and could drop to the consolations. Afterward, Hill will face a few wrestlers on the verge of reaching All-American status. No. 28 Trevor Tinker Ceiling: 1-2 Floor: 0-2 Tinker is in the same situation as Hill. After facing Taylor, Tinker will need to face some middle-tier wrestlers looking to fight through the blood rounds. Team Predictions Arizona State Ceiling: Fourth place Floor: 10th place The Sun Devils' final standing will depend on Parco, Teemer and Schultz. If Parco or Teemer can win a title and Schultz out-wrestles his seed, ASU can return with another top-four finish. Cal Poly Ceiling: 25th Floor: 35th Chance Lamer and Adam Kemp are the only shots for the Mustangs to secure points in the tournament. If the Mustangs can earn around 10 points, they can find themselves fighting for top 25 status. Little Rock Ceiling: 20th Floor: 30th Little Rock relies on its young core of wrestlers. If Nasir Bailey and Stephen Little can make a run in their respective classes, Little Rock can turn heads in Kansas City. Oregon State Ceiling: 20th Floor: 30th Oregon State will rely heavily on a Munoz championship run for the majority of their points. However, if Kaylor can fight in wrestlebacks and McDermott wins a few, the Beavers can jump into the top 20. Stanford Ceiling: 25th Floor: 30th The majority of Stanford’s team points will come from Daniel Cardenas. Besides Cardenas, Provo may be a viable option for a couple of points during consolations.

The 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Kansas City, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2003 , but by all accounts, should be a great host. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. The Top Seed: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) A move up to 197 lbs did nothing to slow down the dominance of three-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks. Actually, he’s been more dominant than in past years. Amongst his 17 wins this season, Brooks has only had one match that ended in a regular decision. That came against #7 Zach Glazier in Penn State’s dual win over Iowa. Brooks reasserted himself against Glazier in the Big Ten finals and came away with a 19-3 tech in just over six minutes. For the year, Brooks has nine techs and four falls, to go along with three major decisions. Previously, Brooks' best bonus point percentage came in 2022-23, when it was right at 67%. Now he’s over 94%. Even with his long track record of success, this is just the second time that Brooks has entered the NCAA tournament with a perfect record. The Covid-shortened 2021 campaign was the other. Brooks has proven that he is capable of bouncing back from an unforeseen loss and sports an 84-3 career record. Anyone with a career win over Brooks is no longer wrestling collegiately, much less at the 197 lb weight class. If there were any doubts about Brooks’ ability to compete at the higher weight class he put those to rest very early in the 2023-24 campaign. In front of a home crowd, at Penn State’s Rec Hall, Brooks crushed the returning national runner-up, Tanner Sloan, 11-2 at the All-Star Classic. Sloan went on to claim the Big 12 title, losing only once in the regular season and comes to Kansas City with the third seed. Aside from the All-Star win over Sloan, Brooks has not met any of the other top-six seeds and only two of the top-ten during the 2023-24 season. That makes for plenty of potentially fun bouts this week and new matchups. For Brooks to cap off his career with a fourth NCAA title (and become either the first or second PSU wrestler to achieve the feat - Starocci pending), he might need to go through the opponent he edged to garner his first title, Trent Hidlay. Brooks won a narrow 3-2 decision over Hidlay in the 2021 NCAA finals. The Contenders: #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) The Conference Champions ACC: #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) Big 12: #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) Big Ten: #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) EIWA: #4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) MAC: #25 Ben Smith (Cleveland State) Pac-12: #9 Stephen Little (Little Rock) SoCon: #13 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) Top First-Round Matches #16 Luke Stout (Princeton) vs. #17 Joey Novak (Wyoming) #13 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) vs. #20 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) #14 John Poznanski (Rutgers) vs. #19 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) #10 Silas Allred (Nebraska) vs. #23 Luke Geog (Ohio State) #15 Max Shaw (North Carolina) vs. #18 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) Aside from perhaps 165 lbs, is there any potential final more anticipated than Aaron Brooks versus Trent Hidlay? We’ve already illustrated how dominant Brooks has been after moving up to 197 lbs. Well, Hidlay has been just as incredible. Hidlay is 24-0 and has only failed to secure bonus points in three matches on the year. Early in the season, Hidlay grabbed titles at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. At the Journeymen, Hidlay majored #4 Michael Beard, handing him his only loss of the season. In Vegas, Hidlay majored #5 Jacob Cardenas, his first of two wins on the year over the EIWA runner-up. The highest returning placewinner from the 2023 tournament is Tanner Sloan, who was the runner-up to Nino Bonaccorsi at this weight. Sloan’s only official loss this year came to #11 Jaxon Smith in the CKLV semifinals. He bounced back to grab third and started an 18-match winning streak that has carried him into Kansas City. Sloan captured the Big 12 title by edging long-time rival and three-time All-American #12 Rocky Elam, 1-0. Though they are not necessarily seeded prominently, the other contenders in Sloan’s Big 12 weight class, Elam and #3 Stephen Buchanan, both have top-three finishes at nationals under their belts. They are both prime candidates to wrestle above their seeds. Beard is looking to get back onto the podium for the first time since 2021. Last year, Beard was an EIWA runner-up, earned the fifth seed and came up a match shy of All-American status. This time he won a deep EIWA bracket that contains two past All-Americans and gets the fourth seed. His loss to Hidlay is the only blemish on Beard’s resume in 2023-24 and he heads to KC with a 20-match winning streak of his own. Beard’s conference rival, Cardenas, holds the fifth seed. Should both he and Beard advance to the quarterfinals, it could make for their third meeting this season. Beard has swept the first two. Last season, they split their two meetings with Cardenas getting the EIWA title and finishing on the national podium, in eighth place. Cardenas had to wrestle one of the toughest schedules in the nation. He had a combined eight matches against opponents who finished with top-9 seeds. One of the best stories in all of collegiate wrestling is that of the #6 seed Louie DePrez. In the second half of the 2022-23 season, DePrez retired due to injuries and quickly transitioned to the Binghamton coaching staff. About a month into the 2023-24 campaign, DePrez announced he was returning to competition and proceeded to win his first nine matches, before running into Beard. DePrez had a dual win over Cardenas, but ultimately finished third in the EIWA. The Bearcat vet doesn’t have many recent matches against the favorites, outside of the EIWA, so he could definitely be a wild card in this bracket. Perhaps the biggest surprise at this weight was the emergence of Zach Glazier as a podium threat. Glazier was a spot-starter over the last three years for Iowa behind All-American Jacob Warner. With Warner out of the picture, Glazier won the starting role and never looked back. His only two losses on the year have come to top-seeded Aaron Brooks. At the Big Ten Championships, Glazier knocked off Maryland’s Jaxon Smith, in front of his home fans, to make the title match. Aside from Brooks, Glazier hasn’t hit many of the top out-of-conference opponents, either, so he could mess up the brackets. Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #14 John Poznanski (Rutgers) 2021 NCAA fourth-place finisher John Poznanski comes in as a dangerous 14th seed. Poznanski redshirted the 2022-23 season and came up at 197 lbs and won his first 12 matches this season. He ended up dropping his final two Big Ten duals and would finish seventh in the conference, which led to a lower-than-you’d-expect 14th seed. Poznanski has a very tough first-round bout with Northern Iowa’s tough redshirt freshman Wyatt Voelker. Even if Poznanski comes up short against the young Panther, I’d expect him to be able to gather some consolation wins and push for All-American status. Should he win, that would set up a Round of 16 matchup with #3 Sloan. Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #21 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) 197 lbs really has a couple of strong tiers of competitors, so it’s difficult to picture someone outside of the top-20 making a deep impact. That being said, let’s go with the redshirt freshman from Pittsburgh. Last year, he watched his teammate Nino Bonaccorsi win a title in a bracket that largely featured many of the same competitors. Stout generally did what you would expect this season - he beat the wrestlers ranked below him and fought hard against those above him. Sometimes for freshmen, those breakthroughs come on the national stage. Stout’s opening match comes against Rocky Elam, who should be considered a national title contender, if healthy; however, he’s been very limited this season. Another angle here is that Mac’s older brother, Luke, qualified for the tournament at 197 lbs for Princeton, as well. It looks like both would have to advance deep into the tournament for them to meet. The Team Race: This is a weight where a couple of the team trophy contenders could possibly outwrestle their seeds. Iowa (Glazier) and Missouri (Elam) come to mind. Our projections have Lehigh's Beard slightly outwrestling his. Some key bouts that involve contending teams are quarterfinals with a Cardenas/Elam winner and Beard, along with the final quarter between the Glazier/Allred winner and Hidlay. Projected Quarterfinals #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #9 Stephen Little (Little Rock) #4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) vs. #12 Rocky Elam (Missouri) #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) vs. #11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) #7 Zach Glazier (Iowa) vs. #2 Tanner Hidlay (NC State) Projected Semifinals #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #4 Michael Beard (Lehigh) #3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) vs. #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) Projected All-Americans 1st) Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 2nd) Trent Hidlay (NC State) 3rd) Michael Beard (Lehigh) 4th) Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 5th) Rocky Elam (Missouri) 6th) Zach Glazier (Iowa) 7th) Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) 8th) Stephen Little (Little Rock) Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #10 Silas Allred (Nebraska), #6 Louie DePrez (Binghamton), #5 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), #11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #18 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), #19 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa), #14 John Poznanski (Rutgers), #16 Luke Stout (Princeton)

This is it! All we have left is to watch the NCAA Tournament. And before that the crew got together to make their NCAA picks. Which are the best? Which are the most out there? Which are destined to fail? Watch and see:

The 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Kansas City, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2003 , but by all accounts, should be a great host. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. The Top Seed: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) Northern Iowa has become 184 lb U over the last five seasons with a national title from Drew Foster in 2019, a top seed at national from Taylor Lujan, and four years with Parker Keckeisen. Keckeisen has amassed a 95-5 record during his time with UNI - earning All-American honors three times and never placing lower than third. In fact, three of his five losses have come at the hands of three-time national champion Aaron Brooks, who has since moved up to 197 lbs. With Brooks moving up to 197, Keckeisen has taken over as the favorite at 184 lbs. Not only has Keckeisen gone undefeated, he’s seemed to separate himself from the rest of the pack. Only three of his 2023-24 bouts have ended without bonus points. Early in the season, Keckeisen was selected to wrestle in the NWCA All-Star Match. In the exhibition, Keckeisen rallied to defeat three-time All-American, Bernie Truax, on his new home mat at Penn State’s Rec Hall. A week after the All-Star Classic, Keckeisen went out west and won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. En route to a title, Keckeisen majored a pair of returning All-Americans. The previous year he fell in the finals. Keckeisen was able to navigate through the Big 12 dual season and tournament, in a weight class that took six wrestlers to nationals, without issue. He posted two wins over third-seeded Dustin Plott - the second came in the conference finals and was via major decision. Over the last two years (including the All-Star Classic), Keckeisen has a combined six wins over the wrestlers who hold the second-through-sixth seeds. We’ll see how he handles being the hunted instead of the hunter - but all indications thus far are that he won’t have any problems. The Contenders: #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State), #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), #6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) The Conference Champions ACC: #7 TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) Big 12: #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) Big Ten: #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) EIWA: #13 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) MAC: #30 Malachi DuVall (George Mason) Pac-12: #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) SoCon: #33 Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) Top First-Round Matches #16 Nate Dugan (Princeton) vs. #17 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) #12 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) vs. #21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) #13 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) vs. #20 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) #11 Colton Hawks (Missouri) vs. #22 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) #10 Dylan Fishback (NC State) vs. #23 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) #15 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) vs. #18 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) A year after losing in the NCAA Round of 12, Isaiah Salazar has turned into one of the top contenders in the 184 lb weight class. Salazar suffered a loss the first weekend of December and has been perfect ever since. During the second week of the Big Ten dual season, Salazar picked up his biggest win over the regular season when he knocked off Lenny Pinto, 4-1. In some circles, Salazar was seen as an unknown before the Big Ten Championships. Because of the way the Big Ten schedule broke, Salazar didn’t have the opportunity to hit many of the top contenders at the weight. That sorted itself out in Maryland as he held steady against Jaden Bullock and Bernie Truax to capture his first Big Ten title. Keckeisen’s Big 12 finals opponent Dustin Plott holds the third seed. Plott was a two-time NCAA sixth-place finisher at 174 lbs and moved up to 184 in the offseason. That move proved to be a wise decision as Plott turned in his most consistent collegiate campaign to date. Plott was third at the CKLV and after Vegas, his only losses came to Keckeisen. Fourth-seeded Trey Munoz won his first ten matches of the year before having a rough showing in Vegas. He rebounded big time with a win over Bernie Truax right after the New Year. Munoz made the NCAA semifinals last year and was injured against Keckeisen, then had to forfeit down to sixth place. Pinto’s regular season saw him lose three times, all of which came to wrestlers who went on to earn top-three seeds at nationals. He did post a win over Plott before losing to him in the third-place bout at the CKLV. The same goes for Truax, Pinto defeated him in their dual clash, but lost in the Big Ten semifinals. Truax was a three-time NCAA fourth-place finisher for Cal Poly who chose to finish his career with Penn State. While he sports a relatively modest 14-4 record, Truax has done his best work in the postseason. He’s the only wrestler in this bracket with a collegiate win over Keckeisen. The seventh seed belongs to TJ Stewart a redshirt freshman for Virginia Tech - a conference champion in a deep ACC weight class. The Hokies had a few veterans who had an opportunity to win the starting role, before Stewart seized the gig. During the final two weeks of the regular season, Stewart earned a pair of high-quality wins over opponents ranked in the top-15. Though he only had ten matches under his belt, Stewart was able to earn an allocation for the ACC. At the ACC Championships, Stewart avenged one of his two losses on the year by downing 2023 All-American Gavin Kane, before winning the title with a second victory over fellow freshman Dylan Fishback. Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #14 Chris Foca (Cornell) Ok, so this is kind of cheating. Chris Foca was third in the nation last season at a loaded 174 lb weight class and spent the majority of the season in the top ten. Foca’s kryptonite proved to be fellow New Jersey native Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia who was responsible for half of six losses on the year. Luckily, they’re on different halves of the bracket and probably wouldn’t meet unless something wacky happens. After a first-round win, Foca could have a matchup with third-seeded Plott. That may not be favorable; however, Foca is capable of a deep run through the consolations. Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) There aren’t any obvious picks here among wrestlers in the top 20, so why not go with Rutgers sophomore Brian Soldano. Soldano has one of the most wide-open styles of anyone in the nation. He’s capable of stringing together multiple pins and is never out of a match. Last season, Soldano was 2-2 in Tulsa, but both of his wins came via fall over opponents seeded higher than him. The Team Race: The squad expected to be in the team race that could benefit the most at this weight is Cornell, if Foca goes on a podium run. At this point, he isn’t even seeded to make the Round of 12. Projected Quarterfinals #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. #9 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) vs. #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. #6 Bernie Truax (Penn State) #7 TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) vs. #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) Projected Semifinals #1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. #5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs. #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) Projected All-Americans 1st) Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 2nd) Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 3rd) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 4th) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 5th) Bernie Truax (Penn State) 6th) Chris Foca (Cornell) 7th) Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 8th) TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #10 Dylan Fishback (NC State), #9 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State), #13 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia), #8 Sam Wolf (Air Force) Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #18 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State), #21 Brian Soldano (Rutgers), #12 Jaden Bullock (Michigan), #17 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State)

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling tournament should be absolutely wild. This year seems to have more parity than we’ve seen in the last several years. By my count, I have only one weight where I believe I know exactly what will happen. Even at 197, where we have a solid favorite in Aaron Brooks (a guy going for his 4th seems like a solid bet, although it seemed that way last year also), on the other side of the bracket is Trent Hidlay, who could absolutely spoil Brooks plans and win it all himself. We’ve had more surprising outcomes is what I’m saying. So for fun here, I thought I’d put together a list of my top 10 confidence picks in B1G wrestlers who could win an NCAA title. This won’t necessarily be a B1G guy at each weight class, because maybe I don’t have any confidence in a B1G wrestler to win at a particular weight. In fact, there are a couple of weights where I have more than one B1G ranked. We’ll start at 10, and work our way to the most confident pick. Let’s begin. Honorable Mentions: A couple of shoutouts to some wrestlers who won’t be mentioned here, but I wanted to recognize. The first honorable mention is any B1G 125-pound wrestler. Literally, anyone can win this weight, which is why it’s tough to have a tremendous amount of confidence in any of them. Can you see a world where Patrick McKee goes on a run and wins it all? Absolutely. Penn State true freshmen win titles all the time, so Davis could absolutely get it done. Could Drake Ayala put it together and win an NCAA title the year after Spencer Lee finishes up? Sure! 125 is Kevin Garnett. Anything is possible. Beau Bartlett should get a shoutout here. He was the top-ranked 141 for most of the year, but I don’t have enough confidence in his offensive output to be able to put it together and get it done here. 141 is too tough, and you’ll see later on that I have two other guys I’m more confident in at the weight, but let’s give him an honorable mention here. Additionally, at 141 I’m putting in Sergio Lemley as an honorable mention. That guy just keeps getting better and has shown he’s as dangerous as anyone, so he’s getting a shoutout as well. Edmond Ruth absolutely has a path. The bottom side of the 174-pound bracket is undoubtedly easier than the top side, and in general, guys named Ed Ruth tend to wrestle really well at this tournament. Is it super likely, no. Whoever comes through on the top side should be the favorite going into the NCAA finals, but Edmond is stingy enough and good enough to get it done if the top side is just spent after going through that gauntlet. 10. Matt Ramos - Purdue, 125. I just have confidence in a guy who has been number one in the country at the wildest weight more than anyone else has this season. He’s dropped some matches here and there, but I’ve seen this guy come through on the big stage before. I know he’s the four seed, and conventional wisdom would say to pick the 1 or 3 seeds from the same conference, but I’m not doing that. I’m riding with my dude Ramos. It’s tough to have any level of confidence at a weight that has been completely crazy all year long, but the boilermaker is the one I have the most confidence in on Monday, March 18th. 9. Austin Gomez - Michigan, 149. This is where the questions begin, but again, this is a confidence ranking system. Do you have confidence in a B1G 184 to win it? Me either. How about 133? Not really. Not as much as I believe AG has a shot to win it all at 149. He’s in his final season of college wrestling and I believe he’s going to leave it all out there. Winning an NCAA title is what he came back to do, and he’s absolutely dangerous enough and capable enough to do it. I mean, we just watched this guy beat Nick Lee! Shouldn’t that count for something? He’s as dangerous as it gets and can win any match he’s in. He has a solid road to the finals and as a result, he’s someone I have confidence in. 8. Carter Starocci - Penn State, 174. A couple weeks ago, I’d have had Carter in the top three here. Clearly, a lot has happened since then though. The injury sustained during the closing seconds of the Edinboro match changed the fortunes of so many wrestlers. Also, he has an insanely tough road being the ninth seed. He’ll have to beat Mekhi Lewis, but he would have likely had to do that anyway. He’ll just have him likely on Friday morning rather than Saturday night. That being said, I still have seen enough of Carter to know that he’s not going down without a fight. This guy is literally preparing to fight people in a cage for money, so he’s the guy who I think will fight hard enough to get it done. Carter looked healthy when walking around at B1Gs, but we didn’t get to see him wrestle. Regardless, the extra time off couldn’t have hurt him, and he’ll be prepared and have a game plan to get things done. I have a huge amount of confidence in even an 85% healthy Starocci to win it all. 7. Mitchell Messenbrink - Penn State, 165. I would have Mitch higher in this if there weren’t two other NCAA Champs in his weight class. Thankfully for Mitch, those two dudes are on the top side of the bracket, so he’ll likely only need to wrestle one of them. He’s shown all season that he’s a super freak, and can buzzsaw through anyone. His pace is insane, his attack rate and variety are nuts, and his confidence seems to be on another level. Again, I know Keegan O’Toole is great, as is David Carr, but I believe in Mitch. I have confidence. He can do it! Also, I have less confidence in Julian Ramirez of Cornell, the three seed on his side of the bracket. He should have a clear path to the finals, and at that point, anything can happen. 6. Real Woods - Iowa, 141. He’s been so close so many times, and this is it for him. This is the last chance. Things just got real (pun heavily intended). A theme you’ll start to pick up on is my level of confidence in guys who have a variety of ways to score is higher than the guys who win close matches over and over. Real can score and is dangerous all over the mat, and that paired with his final chance makes me think, he’ll be able to get it done. I like his road, and in a weight where everyone has a couple losses, Real is the sort of guy who would show up at the right time and put together a nice run. 5. Ridge Lovett - Nebraska, 149. Lovett has been as close to perfect as you can get without being perfect. He’s beaten just about everyone at the weight, and just barely lost to Parco, which is not a bad loss. Again, Lovett has so many ways to win matches. You want to go on your feet? He can do that. Riding time points? Yeah, Ridge is good on top and bottom. He’s a cool customer, he’s been to the finals before, he feels like it’s his time. I have slightly more confidence in Ridge than I do in Gomez, mostly because he’s beaten Gomez twice this year, but again, anything can happen. 4. Jesse Mendez - Ohio State, 141. Mendez has looked so damn good all year. He only has the two losses all season, one to Cole Matthews and one to Beau Bartlett (which he avenged in the B1G finals). He’s absolutely deserving of the 1 seed and should be the favorite. The only reason he isn’t higher than 4 is that this weight has a lot of parity and there are too many guys that I could be talked into getting it done. Mendez though is the guy I have the most confidence in. He has looked excellent since moving up to 141, so I’m not concerned with his weight being an issue, and he can score in so many ways. Jesse is a bad dude, and he’s ready to get it done. 3. Levi Haines - Penn State, 157. This weight class is pretty wild, and there are a couple guys who could get it done. Or at least that’s how I felt a couple weeks ago. Since then, Levi Haines has looked really good and has absolutely earned the number one seed. He’s been ranked number one all year long, has beaten enough of the top guys at the weight, and can wrestle exceptionally well in all positions. Plus he gets to train with the rest of the PSU guys, so you know he’ll be as prepared as anyone. My only real concern is around his weight management, but he appears to have that under control, and should have a solid path to the finals. Haines is ready to collect his first NCAA title, and I expect it to happen. 2. Aaron Brooks - Penn State, 197. Brooks is going for his 4th NCAA championship, and possibly his second one over Trent Hidlay. That’s the expected finals matchup, and I sure hope we get it. Brooks has been as dominant as anyone has been for years, and should very likely win the Hodge, assuming he is able to get this done. I’ll never forget listening to him wrestle in the B1G finals and hearing him club Kaleb Romero last season. It was so much more physical than comes through the television. He’s been a monster at 197, and I would have him probably at 1, but Trent Hidlay is also a monster who has looked awesome at 197. This is the match I want more than anything else, but I still will go into it expecting Aaron to get it done. 1. Greg Kerkvliet - Penn State, 285. He’s a super freak and has destroyed everyone this whole year. Really he destroyed everyone not named Mason Parris last season as well, so two full years of being in complete control of everyone. He wrestles like a 174, but add 100 pounds and he’s 8 feet tall (I don’t know how tall he is, but he’s enormous). No disrespect to Wyatt, Yonger, or Cohlton, but I feel like one of these is different from the others. Greg Kerkvliet is the guy I have the most confidence in winning an NCAA title from the B1G this year.