InterMat Staff

Waverly

Tamarac

Lassiter

The second week of the college wrestling season saw the majority of the MAC in action, in dual competition. A couple of tournaments were thrown in for good measure, too. There were even a couple of conference duals. In those instances, Clarion defeated George Mason and Rider downed SIU Edwardsville. There’s no reason to panic for the team’s on the wrong side of those results as we still have four full months of the regular season. Below are some of the individuals (for the most part) that stood out during week two. Kyle Schickel (Clarion - 149) The Golden Eagles had a weird Saturday with close losses to American and The Citadel, both of which would be considered upsets, but squeezed in a conference win over George Mason in between the losses. The only Clarion wrestler to make it through the weekend with a 3-0 record was 149 lber, Kyle Schickel. Not only did Schickel win, but he also put up bonus points along the way. Schickel pinned American’s Ryan Zimmerman and majored George Mason’s Kaden Cassidy, before edging Jeffrey Boyd of The Citadel, 8-7. Ben Monn (George Mason - 125) George Mason appears to be redshirting their 2023 starter at 125 lbs, Markel Baker. That has proven to be possible because of the solid production from new leadoff hitter Ben Monn. Monn saw the mat in two of GMU’s three duals Saturday, garnering wins in both appearances. Both happened to go to extra time and Monn prevailed each time. The win over Clarion’s Joey Fischer will likely loom large once March rolls around and it’s conference seeding season. DJ McGee (George Mason - 157) Shhhh! Don’t look now but George Mason’s 157 lber, DJ McGee, is unbeaten with a 6-0 record after two weeks. After winning The Battle of the Citadel in week one, McGee kept his hot streak alive by posting identical 4-2 decisions over Thomas Snipes (The Citadel) and Alejandro Herrera Rondon (Clarion). McGee capped his weekend off by receiving a forfeit from Williams College. Richie Koehler (Rider - 133) Rider traveled to the midwest for a meeting with the Big Ten’s Indiana before picking up a conference dual against SIU Edwardsville on the way home. While the Hoosiers prevailed, there were quite a few bright spots for John Hangey’s team. 133 lber Richie Koehler won both of his duals, the first of which came against fellow NCAA qualifier Cayden Rooks. That win came via a 6-5 decision; however, two days later, Koehler prevailed in a more comfortable 9-0 major decision against Marcel Lopez of SIUE. Quinn Kinner (Rider - 149) Two matches after Koehler defeated Cayden Rooks, Quinn Kinner pulled a big upset by downing Cayden’s brother, Graham. A 2023 NCAA Round of 12 finisher, Graham Rooks was ranked sixth in the nation at the time of the match. A pair of first-period takedowns staked Kinner to a 6-2 lead, one that he never relinquished. Kinner would go on to win 8-2. Two days later, Kinner defeated his second national qualifier of the weekend when he got by Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville), 5-4. Hunter Shaut (Buffalo - 165) One of the few bright spots from Buffalo’s day at WrangleMania was their 165 lber Hunter Shaut. Shaut was the only Bulls wrestler who grabbed multiple wins at the dual event in Bethlehem. In Buffalo’s loss to Long Island, Shaut’s 4-1 victory over James Johnstone pulled the Bulls to within three points. During the second dual, Shaut posted a solid 10-5 decision over North Carolina’s Isaias Estrada. He was one of only two Buffalo wrestlers to get their hands raised against UNC. Pablo Castro (Kent State - 133) Sunday saw a pair of MAC teams travel to Morgantown to participate in West Virginia’s quad. Kent State was one of those two and saw their first action in dual competition. Amongst an 0-2 showing from the Golden Flashes was a perfect day from their 133 lber Pablo Casto. Against the host Mountaineers, Castro was the only KSU wrestler to emerge victorious. Castro was responsible for the “3” in a 44-3 setback as he defeated Davin Rhoads, 6-2. Earlier in the day, Casto tallied bonus points when he majored Duke’s Raymond Adams, 13-1. For the season, Castro is now 7-1 with his only setbacks coming to #13 Vince Santaniello (Pittsburgh). He’s probably one signature win away from cracking the national rankings. Anthony Noto (Lock Haven - 125) The top-ranked 125 lber in the land made his season debut on Saturday at WrangleMania and looked every bit the part. Fans expected to see a #1 vs. #2 clash with Anthony Noto and Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) as their schools met in dual competition. That didn’t happen as Figueroa was out with a minor injury. Max Brewster took his place and was on the wrong side of an 18-3 tech fall loss. Noto added a second tech fall when he overwhelmed 2023 NCAA qualifier Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) in Lock Haven’s second dual of the day. Noto was the only Bald Eagle wrestler to win both of his bouts and LHU went 0-2. They did push an undermanned Arizona State team in the first dual, but ultimately fell, 23-18. Will Morrow (Bloomsburg - 157) Bloomsburg also participated in WrangleMania and the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. The Huskies went 1-1 with an ugly loss to #5 NC State and a 28-18 win over Sacred Heart. The only wrestler to exit unscathed from BU’s dual with NC State was 157 lber Will Morrow. Morrow poured a 13-3 major decision on Wolfpack redshirt freshman Aaron Faison. When Morrow stepped on the mat against Sacred Heart, his team was trailing 8-7. A 25-10 tech fall from Morrow put Bloomsburg ahead and they’d never look back. On Sunday, Morrow went 2-1 with another win over Faison. Cleveland State Trio (Jake Manley/Ben Smith/Daniel Bucknavich) Also in Morgantown for Sunday's duals were the Cleveland State Vikings. Josh Moore’s team lost by a narrow 19-16 score to Duke, then were beaten badly by the hosts (33-9). The only CSU wrestlers to win against West Virginia were the Manley/Smith/Bucknanvich trio. Both Smith and Bucknavich needed to knock off ranked wrestlers for their wins. The big three was also victorious against Duke, along with 141 lber Dylan Layton. Manley managed a major decision while Layton chipped in with a pin. After Layton’s fall, Duke posted five consecutive wins to take control of the dual. Central Michigan The Chippewas had their first dual meet of the season on Thursday then headed across the state to compete at the Michigan State Open on Saturday. The Chips fell 29-11 to Oklahoma in dual competition, with only Corbyn Munson (149 lbs), Johnny Lovett (157 lbs), and Alex Cramer (174 lbs) notching wins. Munson and Cramer’s opponents were ranked, while Lovett’s is now ranked. On Saturday, Munson and Lovett won titles at the MSU Open. Munson had three falls in four matches, while Lovett had another win over his nemesis from Oklahoma along his way to the title. Cramer, Sean Spidle (125), Ja’Kerion Merritt (141), Mason Shrader (157), and Bryan Caves (285) all advanced to the finals in the Open division. Looking ahead, CMU has a pair of ranked opponents on the schedule this weekend with #25 North Carolina and #28 Illinois.

Sydney Petzinger photo courtesy of North Central athletics Top 3 Takeaways Historic Trailblazer Duals and Surprising Upsets At the first-ever Trailblazer Duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena over the weekend, a tough lineup of ranked teams that represent the four Division 1 programs with women’s wrestling faced off: #5 Sacred Heart, #8 Iowa, #11 Lindenwood and #13 Presbyterian. #11 Lindenwood walked away with a loss to Iowa and a close upset loss to Presbyterian. However, the Lions team was able to come out with a victory against #5 Sacred Heart winning 22-20. The team saw impressive showings by several freshmen including a pin from Megan Valdez at 101 lbs, an 8-0 decision from Kate Cooper at 109 lbs, and a 12-2 decision by Marissa Sanabria at 135 lbs. Decision wins from Amanda McAleavey at 123 lbs, Cayden Condit at 130 lbs, and Alana Duggan at 143 lbs were enough to secure the Lions the victory. On the flip side, #13 Presbyterian got their own close upset win over Lindenwood 25-20. Another young team with some dominant freshmen on the roster, the Blue Hose kept it close throughout the dual starting off strong with a tech fall from junior Chiara Barbieri. After the Lions got a tech of their own at 109 lbs, freshmen Alyssa Mahan picked up a pin at 123 lbs and Charlee Shuler battled for the decision win at 116 lbs. The team clinched it with back-to-back pins from freshman Maddie Kubicki at 155 lbs and Henlee Haynes at 170 lbs. The remaining duals all went along with the team’s rankings except for the upset win for #8 Iowa over #5 Sacred Heart. While Sacred Heart did not have all their ranked wrestlers either at the event or in this dual specifically, the Hawkeyes still controlled almost every match. Each win in this dual came by pin or tech fall besides a forfeit at 123 lbs against Felicity Taylor. Madeline Hodges brought in the only Pioneer win in this dual, getting the 7-0 decision against Iowa’s Alivia White. Fans missed out on what could have been a very exciting matchup in the dual against Iowa’s Kylie Welker and Sacred Heart’s Cara Broadus. Broadus came in fourth last year at NCWWC’s and is the second-highest-placing returner at the weight this year. Hopefully, this matchup may happen in the future. Of course, the biggest headline is the more than 8,200 fans in attendance for these duals, shattering the record for the largest crowd at a women’s wrestling event. It seems that Trailblazer Duals is a very fitting name for this historic event. 2. King University Crowns 9 Champs Fifteen teams competed this past Saturday at the Eagle Madness Open hosted by Life University. The #2 ranked King University Tornados showed out with champions at nine different weight classes. They also had five additional places in the top 4, with three making the finals. There were also some significant wins for the Tornados on their way to the 1st place finish. Jessica Corredor beat returning NAIA All-American Devyn Gomez of Life in the semifinals at 101 lbs. Also, Danielle Garcia took down Elizabeth Dosado from the University of the Cumberlands who placed fourth at NAIA’s last year. There was an interesting mix of NCAA and NAIA schools at this tournament, as well as plenty of wrestlers competing unattached, so many of these matchups are ones we may not see again this season, but tournaments like this early in the season do provide a good measuring stick regardless. As King sends some wrestlers to Bill Ferrell next week before a long break until their next dual in December, they will surely try to capitalize on the momentum their wrestlers should have coming off a dominant tournament performance like this. 3. North Central Shows Out at Adrian #1 North Central showed just how they secured the 2023 NCWWC title with two days of dominant wrestling at the Adrian Duals on Saturday and the Adrian Invite on Sunday. After taking down #6 Gannon 42-1, #10 (NAIA) Indiana Tech 35-7, and #10 Adrian 41-5, the Cardinals defeated #3 McKendree 34-11. This dual had a lot of ranked wrestlers, despite neither team sending out each of their top-ranked starters. We saw #2 Kendra Ryan from North Central with a tech fall over #4 Pauline Granados of McKendree at 109lbs. Next, Sydney Petzinger who is ranked #1 at 109 lbs bumped up to 116 lbs and secured a decision over former NAIA finalist in 2022 Salyna Shotwell. Shotwell transferred from Life to McKendree in the offseason. Both schools have ranked wrestlers at 123 lbs, but fans instead saw an exciting matchup between 3x AA Asia Nguyen-Smith and Olympic trials qualifier and WCWA champ Julia Vidallon. The match came down to the wire with Nguyen-Smith securing a last-second takedown for the 8-8 decision with criteria. McKendree’s #3 ranked Jennifer Soto wrestled up a weight at 130 lbs to secure some much-needed team points with a pin over #8 at 136 lbs Salome Walker, who wrestled down at 130 lbs for this match. At 136 lbs, freshman Taylor Graveman of North Central got the tech over North Central freshman Estella Gutches. In another unexpected weight switch, #1 at 136 lbs Yele Aycock for North Central bumped up to 143 lbs to take on #6 at 136 lbs Viktorya Torres who also bumped up. Aycock secured an 8-3 decision. #1 at 143 lbs London Houston also bumped up for this dual, facing Destiny Rodriquez at 155 lbs. Houston was able to secure a pin in 2:04 to add even more the the team’s growing score. The Cardinals rounded out the dual with #4 at 155 lbs, Tiera Jimerson, getting a tech fall over Ruby Rios at 170 lbs and #2 Brittyn Corbishley getting a pin at 191 lbs. Again, the two teams did not have full lineups of ranked starters, but still managed to have some very exciting bouts between them. Stay tuned for future opportunities to see some of their wrestlers face off like the Bearcat Open at McKendree in January and of course at the NCWWC National Championship. As if the dominant wins at the Dual tournament were not enough, North Central also had impressive showings at the Adrian Invite, outscoring second-place Lock Haven by over 300 team points. While the Cardinals did bring over 25 competitors, they also had some signature wins contributing to their team total. However, before getting into the team’s win, there was a surprising upset at 101 lbs when Stefana Jelacic of Lourdes who finished 7th at last year’s NAIA tournament at 109 lbs took out returning NCAA champion #1 Madison Avila of North Central with an 11-0 tech. However, the Cardinals still picked up the second and eighth place finish at the weight. At 109 lbs, #2 Kendra Ryan took 1st place with teammate Angelina Graff taking 5th. Up at 116 lbs #1 Sydney Petzinger finished first over #5 Izabella Frezzo. North Central also picked up 4th and 5th place at the weight as well. Asia Nguyen-Smith continued her exciting weekend of wins with the first-place finish at 123 lbs, and was North Central’s only placer at the weight. However, at 130 lbs Salome Walker, Sara Sterner, Taylor Miess, and Haley Vann took 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively. North Central also took the top 4 spots at 136 lbs with #1 Yele Aycock as the champ. The Cardinals then took 3rd, 4th and 7th place at 143 lbs. #4 Tiera Jimerson took second at 155 lbs behind #6 Noelle Gaffney of Northern Michigan. Lizzie Raleigh and Sarina Bertram picked up two more top 8 finishes for the Cardinals here as well. North Central only had one top-eight finisher at 170 lbs with Larissa Gallo taking 6th place. The Cardinals did not have any wrestlers in the top 8 of the coaches preseason poll at the weight, so I am sure they are looking for someone like Gallo to continue to break through against conference competition. Finally, #2 Brittyn Corbishley took the prize at 191 lbs with teammate Caroline Ward coming in third to round out the impressive lineup of finishers for North Central. As the season heats up with more battles against top teams like Iowa, Sacred Heart and King, fans should keep an eye out to see how these top contenders from last season look against new and former competitors. Results this week in major NCAA, NCWA, and NAIA competitions #8 Texas Wesleyan 25 Wayland Baptist 23 #3 McKendree 34 #10 Missouri Baptist 14 Life Duals VIEW BRACKETS Eagle Madness VIEW BRACKETS Waldorf Open VIEW BRACKETS Campbellsville Open VIEW BRACKETS Adrian Duals VIEW BRACKETS Trailblazer Duals VIEW BRACKETS Mike Clock Open VIEW BRACKETS Adrian College Invite VIEW BRACKETS Upcoming events for next week October 14: North Central vs Carthage October 17: Missouri Valley Open (Day 1), Bill Farrell, Beaver Bash Duals October 18: Missouri Valley Open (Day 2) October 19: Blue Hose Challenge, Lindenwood Duals, Spokane Open, Albion College Invite

Colby

Lakin

Manhattan

Olathe

Raymond Central

Seneca

Below is a recap of last week’s EIWA action, with individual news and highlights worth noting. Key Takeaways Crookham of Lehigh defeats returning NCAA and World Champ, Arujau, of Cornell American’s Maida major decisions returning All-American #4 Ventresca of Virginia Tech Navy knocks off #15 Pitt after beating #23 Illinois last week Koderhandt of Navy beats returning All-American #7 Matthews of Pitt American The Eagles went 2-1 on the weekend, defeating Clarion and Millersville (D2). Jack Maida continues to impress at his new weight, going undefeated in two matches. One win was over #4 Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech. Max Leete was one of last season’s NCAA fall leaders, he continued with two more this weekend. Cael McIntyre saw action for the first time as well, going 2-1. Clarion (W, 21-18 - Nov. 11, 2023) 125 - #16 Jack Maida (AU) dec. Joey Fischer (Clarion), 4-1 (AU 3-0) 133 - Maximilian Leete (AU) pinned Scott Johnson (Clarion), 4:55 (AU 9-0) 141 - Cael McIntyre (AU) dec. David McClelland (Clarion), 5-4 (AU 12-0) 149 - Kyle Schickel (Clarion) pinned Ryan Zimmerman (AU), 3:55 (AU 12-6) 157 - #31 Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Clarion) tech. fall Kaden Milheim (AU), 15-0 (3:12) (AU 12-11) 165 - Eli Brinsky (Clarion) major dec. Breon Phifer (AU), 16-2 (Clarion 15-12) 174 - #19 John Worthing (Clarion) dec. Lucas White (AU), 5-0 (Clarion 18-12) 184 - Connor Bourne (AU) dec. #31 Cameron Pine (Clarion), 4-3 (Clarion 18-15) 197 - Carsten Rawls (AU) dec. Ethan Wiant (Clarion), 4-1 (Tied 18-18) 285 - Will Jarrell (AU) dec. #31 John Meyers (Clarion), 5-1 (AU 21-18) Millersville (W, 35-12 - Nov. 11, 2023) 125 - Shamil Kalmatov (AU) pinned Bryce Beatty (Millersville), 6:50 (AU 6-0) 133 - Maximilian Leete (AU) pinned Devin Flannery (Millersville), 0:44 (AU 12-0) 141 - Cael McIntyre (AU) dec. Aidan Micheli (Millersville), 7-2 (AU 15-0) 149 - Craig Cook (Millersville) major dec. Devon Capato (AU), 11-0 (AU 15-4) 157 - Kaden Milheim (AU) dec. Jonathan Parilla (Millersville), 7-6 (AU 18-4) 165 - Brandon Connor (Millersville) major dec. Breon Phifer (AU), 13-5 (AU 18-8) 174 - Lucas White (AU) pinned Andrew Vogelbacher (Millersville), 1:12 (AU 24-8) 184 - Anthony Giampietro (Millersville) major dec. Mervin Mancia (AU), 16-3 (AU 24-12) 197 - Liam Volk-Klos (AU) pinned Riley O'Boyle (Millersville), 2:30 (AU 30-12) 285 - Will Jarrell (AU) tech. fall Bishop McCoy (Millersville), 4:51 (AU 35-12) Virginia Tech (L, 39-4 - Nov. 12, 2023) 125 - #16 Jack Maida (AU) major dec. #4 Eddie Ventresca (VT), 9-0 (AU 4-0) 133 - #7 Sam Latona (VT) major dec. Maximilian Leete (AU), 12-1 (Tied 4-4) 141 - Hunter Mason (VT) dec. Cael McIntyre (AU), 7-1 (VT 7-4) 149 - #4 Caleb Henson (VT) tech. fall Ryan Zimmerman (AU), 17-2 (3:50) (VT 12-4) 157 - #6 Bryce Andonian (VT) pinned Kaden Milheim (AU), 1:24 (VT 18-4) 165 - Clayton Ulrey (VT) tech. fall Breon Phifer (AU), 21-5 (5:33) (VT 23-4) 174 - #3 Mekhi Lewis (VT) tech. fall Lucas White (AU), 20-3 (3:45) (VT 28-4) 184 - #21 Sam Fisher (VT) dec. Connor Bourne (AU), 4-1 (VT 31-4) 197 - #14 Andy Smith (VT) tech. fall Carsten Rawls (AU) 20-3 (5:18) (VT 36-4) 285 - #16 Hunter Catka (VT) dec. Will Jarrell (AU), 9-4 (VT 39-4) The Eagles return to action this week with a dual against Utah Valley on Friday and competing at the Navy Classic on Saturday. Army West Point The Black Knights spent the weekend at both Journeymen Events. At the dual event Saturday, they lost to Purdue 21-16 but defeated Lock Haven 33-11. Braden Basile won two matches over ranked opponents. #25 Ben Pasiuk was the other wrestler to go undefeated in both matches. At the round-robin event, Austin Kolhofer was the lone starter to compete in both events. He went 1-2 in that event after winning his lone match on Saturday by injury default. There were up to 30 other Army wrestlers on Sunday winning a ton of matches. Purdue 21 – Army 16 125: #3 Matt Ramos over #27 Ethan Berginc – MD, 12-3 133: Braden Basile over #29 Dustin Norris – Fall 6:10 141: Greyson Clark over Zach Keal – D, 12-8 149: #28 Trae McDaniel over Marcos Polanco – MD, 10-1 157: Joey Blaze over #29 Nate Lukez – D, 4-1 165: Stoney Buell over #29 Dalton Harkins – D, 4-0 174: Brody Baumann over Gunner Filipowicz – D, 9-8 184: #25 Ben Pasiuk over #33 James Rowley – D, 9-8 197: Ben Vanadia over Daniel Lawrence – TF, 18-3 (6:28) 285: Lucas Stoddard over Tristan Ruhlman – D, 6-0 Army 30 – Lock Haven 11 125 - #1 Anthony Noto (Haven) tech fall #27 Ethan Berginc (Army), 20-5 (7:00) 133 - Braden Basile (Army) dec. #20 Gable Strickland (Haven), 10-6 141- Tyler Morris (Army) wins by injury default Conner Heckman (Haven) 149 - Nick Stonecheck (Haven) wins by injury default #28 Trae McDaniel (Army) 157 - #29 Nate Lukez (Army) dec. Eric Alderfer (Haven), 5-1 165 - #29 Dalton Harkins (Army) dec. Avery Bassett (Lock Haven)8-1 174 - Gunner Filipowicz (Army) tech fall Patrick Jackson (Haven), 20-1 (6:09) 184 - #25 Ben Pasiuk (Army) major dec. Cael Black (Haven), 14-4 197 - Daniel Lawrence (Army) dec. Brad Morrison (Haven), 6-3 285 - Austin Kolhofer (Army) wins by injury default #28 Isaac Reid (Haven) This week’s action for Army includes a dual against #6 NC State on Thursday. Then, they will host the Black Knight Invite on Sunday. Binghamton The Bearcats hosted an intrasquad match, or wrestle-offs, to confirm starting positions. Results are below. Team Black 23, Team Green 18 125 - Carson Wagner (Black) MAJ DEC. Matt Griffin (Green) 14-2. Black leads 4-0. 133 - Micah Roes (Green) TF Ryan Hartung (Black) 16-1. Green leads 5-4. 141 - Ivan Garcia (Green) DEC. Nate Lucier (Black) 6-4. Green leads 8-4. 149 - Michael Zarif (Black) DEC. Fin Nadeau (Green) 7-3. Green leads 8-7. 157 - Carter Baer (Black) TF Marco Albanese (Green) 18-2. Black leads 12-8. 165 - Brevin Cassella (Green) TF Tyler Reed (Black) 15-0. Green leads 13-12. 174 - Will Ebert (Black) DEC. Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Green), Second tiebreaker, 4-3. Black leads 15-13. 184 - Jacob Nolan (Black) TF Logan Gumble (Green) 16-1. Black leads 20-13. 197 - Cayden Bevis (Black) DEC. Andrew Bailey (Green) 12-11. Black leads 23-13. 285 - Cory Day (Green) TF Charlie Tibbitts (Black) 18-0. Black leads 23-18. The Bearcats will begin competition when they compete in the Armbar at the Armory against #6 NC State and LIU. Brown The Brown Bears were off this past weekend. They return to action at the Black Knight Invite. Bucknell The Bison were in the state of Oklahoma where they dropped a dual to #12 Oklahoma State 38-6. The following day, they faced Oklahoma Wesleyan (NAIA) and came away with a 46-10 victory. The trip ended on a high note with a dominating win. No. 12 Oklahoma State 38, Bucknell 6 125 - No. 24 Troy Spratley (OSU) tech fall over Owen Bell (BU), 22-3 (5:21) (OSU 5-0) 133 - No. 2 Dayton Fix (OSU) fall over No. 16 Kurt Phipps (BU), 5:28 (OSU 11-0) 141 - Tagen Jamison (OSU) dec. over Braden Bower (BU), 10-5 (OSU 14-0) 149 - Teague Travis (OSU) dec. over Aiden Davis (BU), 5-1 (OSU 17-0) 157 - Jalin Harper (OSU) dec. over Nick Delp (BU), 5-4 (OSU 20-0) 165 - No. 6 Izzak Olejnik (OSU) maj. dec. over No. 33 Noah Mulvaney (BU), 10-2 (OSU 24-0) 174 - Myles Takats (BU) inj. def. over Brayden Thompson (OSU) (OSU 24-6) 184 - No. 4 Dustin Plott (OSU) fall over Nolan Springer (BU), 3:25 (OSU 30-6) 197 - No. 11 Luke Surber (OSU) tech fall over Logan Deacetis (BU), 21-5 (6:21) (OSU 35-6) 285 - No. 18 Konner Doucet (OSU) dec. over No. 32 Dorian Crosby (BU), 2-1 (OSU 38-6) Bucknell 46, Oklahoma Wesleyan 10 125 - Daniel Glenn (OKWU) maj. dec. over Owen Bell (BU), 13-2 (OKWU 4-0) 133 - No. 16 Kurt Phipps (BU) fall over Kolby Encinas (OKWU), 2:02 (BU 6-4) 141 - Braden Bower (BU) tech fall over Donte Lopez (OKWU), 16-0 (2:41) (BU 11-4) 149 - Aiden Davis (BU) fall over Wade Landrum (OKWU), (1:09) (BU 17-4) 157 - Nick Delp (BU) fall over Jerome Cannon (OKWU), 2:50 (BU 23-4) 165 - No. 33 Noah Mulvaney (BU) tech fall over Braxton Bacon (OKWU) 17-1 (4:06) (BU 28-4) 174 - Myles Takats (BU) fall over Jaden Welden (OKWU), 2:39 (BU 34-4) 184 - Bryan Ayala (OKWU) wins by forfeit (BU 34-10) 197 - Logan Deacetis (BU) wins by forfeit (BU 40-10) 285 - No. 32 Dorian Crosby (BU) fall over Christian Seebold (OKWU), 0:00 (BU 46-10) The Bison will host #16 Minnesota on Thursday. They will compete at the Navy Classic on Saturday. Columbia The Lions were off this past weekend. They will have two top-10 home duals with #9 Michigan on Friday and #7 Ohio State on Sunday. Cornell The Big Red opened up at the Journeymen Round Robin event. The matchup Cornell fans wanted to see occurred right off the bat at 125lbs. Brett Ungar defeated Greg Diakomihalis 2-1 thanks to a riding time point. Ungar went on to win his pool. Meyer Shapiro won his pool in dominant fashion, as did Julian Ramirez - until his finals match which he won 8-5. At 149l bs, Ethan Fernandez outperformed his teammate Cole Handlovic by winning his pool. As many already know, Vito Arujau finished in second place in his pool after losing to Lehigh’s Crookham. It was, rightfully so, dominating the wrestling world news. Vince Cornella lost to Penn State’s #2 Beau Bartlett by a 4-1 score at 141 lbs. Lewis Fernandes was the runner-up in his heavyweight pool. The Big Red brought over twenty wrestlers to this event and walked away with a winning record. Next weekend we will see Cornell take on Sacred Heart in a dual Saturday afternoon. Drexel The Dragons had an off weekend. This week’s agenda includes a walk down the block to compete at the Keystone Classic. Franklin & Marshall The Diplomats were also in action at Journeymen on Sunday. Noah Fox won his pool at 174 lbs. At 141 lbs, Bryce Kresho earned gold in his respective pool. Luke Bender (149 lbs) and James Conway (184 lbs) were both runner-ups, as Conway lost to multiple-time All-American #2 Truax of Penn State. This weekend, F&M will split the events with some wrestlers at the Shorty Hitchcock Open at Millersville on Saturday and the starters will be at Keystone Classic on Sunday. Harvard The Crimson were participants at the Round Robin event on Sunday, run by Journeymen. At 125lbs, Diego Sotelo earned 2nd place in his all-EIWA pool, only losing by a point to #10 Ungar of Cornell. Coleman Nogle was 3rd place in his pool making his collegiate debut. Jack Crook’s lone loss in his 149lbs pool was to Griffin of Lehigh. First-year freshman, Max Agresti, had a tough 2-0 loss to #21 Urbas of Penn. Alex Whitworth was 3rd 184lbs with two forfeits. The Crimson will return to Pennsylvania to compete in the Keystone Classic on Saturday. Hofstra The Pride were also in attendance at the Round Robin Journeymen event. Newcomer Keaton Kluever won all three matches by fall – including a first-period pin over #11 Fernandes of Cornell. Also winning their respective pools were Jurius Clark and Joe McGinty at 157 lbs and 165 lbs, respectively. Dylan Ryder had a great season debut knocking off #20 RobbieHoward of Penn State by major. He finished runner-up in his pool. Other 2nd place finishes include Alex Turley (141l bs), Jake Slotnick (165 lbs), and Nikolas Miller (197 lbs). Ross McFarland earned third place with one loss to #14 Nick Incontrera of Penn. The Pride will host #7 Ohio State for a dual on Sunday in a homecoming type of event for current tOSU head coach, Tom Ryan. He returns to Hofstra – where he began his head coaching career. Lehigh The Mountain Hawks drove across town to compete in the Journeymen Individual Round Robin. Obviously, Crookham was the highlight of the weekend after winning his 133 lbs bracket thanks to his historic win over Vito Arujau of Cornell. He seems to have solidified the starting position after beating his teammate, Connor McGonagle in the first match via overtime. Before the event, McGonagle came into the weekend ranked #6. McGonagle took home 3rd place after defeating #5 Mike Colaiocco of Penn. At 141 lbs, #12 Malyke Hines’s lone loss was to #2 Beau Bartlett of Penn State. His biggest win was a come-from-behind victory over Penn’s CJ Composto – who was an All-American in 2022. Kelvin Griffin was 2nd at 149 lbs, as was Max Brignola at 157 lbs. They both lost to Penn State studs in the finals. Nathan Taylor also fell to a Penn State wrestler in the final for a 2nd place finish. Juniors Jake Logan (165 lbs) and #9 Michael Beard (197 lbs) each lost to higher-ranked opponents in the finals. Other wrestlers taking home 2nd place in their respective pools include Drew Munch at 149 lbs and Jack Wilt at 184 lbs. Next up for Lehigh is a home dual against #15 Pitt on Sunday. Long Island The Sharks started the season 2-0 thanks to wins against Sacred Heart and Buffalo. The three wrestlers to go undefeated Saturday were Robbie Sagaris (125lbs), Devin Matthews (141lbs), and Aeden Begue (285lbs). They competed in the Round Robin event the next day. Blake Bahna was the top performer for them, as he was runner-up in his pool at 174 lbs. More importantly, he won 2-1 over teammate Corey Connolly. Aeden Begue, James Johnston, and Devin Matthews were all 3rd in their brackets. LIU 19, BUFFALO 15 125 – Robbie Sagaris (LIU) won by sudden victory over Max Elton (UB), 4-1 133 – Chris Betancourt (LIU) won by decision over Tommy Maddox (UB), 4-1 141 – Devin Matthews (LIU) won by fall over Andy Lucinsky (UB), 2:53 149 – Kaleb Burgess (UB) won by decision over Drew Witham (LIU), 14-10 157 – Ty Raines (UB) won by decision over Rhise Royster (LIU), 6-5 165 – Hunter Shaut (UB) won by decision over James Johnston (LIU), 4-1 174 – Corey Connolly (LIU) won by major decision over Dylan Schell (UB), 10-1 184 – Chase Kranitz (UB) won by decision over Anthony Da'Alesio, 4-2 197 – Sam Mitchell (UB) won by major decision over John Duzsa (LIU), 13-2 285 – Aeden Begue (LIU) won by decision over Robbie Unruh (UB), 6-3 LIU 28, Sacred Heart 10 125 - Robbie Sagaris (LIU) def. Jake Ice (SHU), Decision 6-4 133 - Andrew Fallon (SHU) def. Chris Betancourt (LIU), Major Decision 14-2 141 - Devin Matthews (LIU) def. Vincent Milazzo (SHU), Decision 7-1 149 - Drew Witham (LIU) def. Mike McGhee (SHU), Decision 7-0 157 - Rhise Royster (LIU) def. Brandon Teresa (SHU), Decision 6-1 165 - Scott Jarosz (SHU) def. James Johnston (LIU), Fall 0:37 174 - Blake Bahna (LIU) def. Owen Ayotte (SHU), Decision 9-3 184 - Anthony Da'alesio (LIU) def. Hunter Perez (SHU), Major Decision15-6 197 - John Duzsa (LIU) def. Jake Trovato (SHU), Fall 1:45 285 - Aeden Begue (LIU) def. Marc Berisha (SHU), Decision 4-1 The Sharks have a full slate of action this week with duals against Virginia and Binghamton on Friday. Sunday’s Black Knight Invite will be a good test for them also. Navy The Midshipmen had themselves a weekend with another upset win. They dominated Morgan State and VMI before beating #15 Pitt. Navy dropped one match in the first two duals because of an injury default. #17 Brendan Ferretti had a win over #10 Santaniello of Pitt. #23 Josh Koderhandt had the upset of the dual when he knocked off All-American #7 Cole Matthews at 141l bs. At 184 lbs, #18 David Key had a vital pin over #13 Heller. To top it off, #13 Grady Griess used a takedown in the final period to beat #9 Pitzer. Navy is wrestling at a high level at this point in the season. 125 - Evan Tallmadge tech fall Julian Dawson, 16-0 (5:00) // Navy 5, Morgan State 0 133 - No. 17 Brendan Ferretti tech fall Shawn Ryncarz, 17-2 (5:00) // Navy 10, Morgan State 0 141 - Frank Antonelli dec Khalid Brinkley, 7-2 // Navy 13, Morgan State 0 149 - Nicholas Vafiadis dec Aaron Turner, 5-1 // Navy 16, Morgan State 0 157 - Jonathan Ley dec Eric Tecson, 5-0 // Navy 19, Morgan State 0 165 - Tyler Sagi dec Jacob Marsh, 9-6 // Navy 22, Morgan State 0 174 - Sammy Starr tech fall Cortilius Vann, 17-1 (4:06) // Navy 27, Morgan State 0 184 - Zyan Hall dec Kingsley Menifee, 13-9 // Navy 30, Morgan State 0 197 - Jacob Lucas dec Nathanic Kendricks Jr., 8-5 // Navy 33, Morgan State 0 285 - Jamier Ferere (Navy) forfeit Morgan State // Navy 39, Morgan State 0 125 - Dayton DelViscio tech fall Tony Burke, 18-3 (6:00) // Navy 5, VMI 0 133 - Garrett Totten dec Dyson Dunham, 10-4 // Navy 8, VMI 0 141 - No. 23 Josh Koderhandt fall Patrick Jordon, 4:05 // Navy 14, VMI 0 149 - James Latona fall Ryan Vigil, 5:47 // Navy 20, VMI 0 157 - Charlie Evans dec Tyler Berish, 5-2 // Navy 23, VMI 0 165 - Josh Hart injury default No. 23 Andrew Cerniglia // Navy 23, VMI 6 174 - No. 30 Danny Wask dec Braxton Lewis, 8-5 SV1 // Navy 26, VMI 6 184 - No. 18 David Key tech fall River Carroll, 18-2 (5:24) // Navy 31, VMI 6 197 - Cael Crebs dec Isaac Dolph, 5-0 // Navy 34, VMI 6 285 - No. 13 Grady Griess fall Brian Jackson, 1:25 // Navy 40, VMI 6 125 - Evan Tallmadge dec Colton Camacho, 8-3 // Navy 3, Pitt 0 133 - No. 17 Brendan Ferretti dec No. 10 Vinnie Santaniello, 3-2 // Navy 6, Pitt 0 141 - No. 23 Josh Koderhandt dec No. 7 Cole Matthews, 5-2 // Navy 9, Pitt 0 149 - No. 24 Finn Solomon dec Nicholas Vafiadis, 4-1 SV1 // Navy 9, Pitt 3 157 - Jonathan Ley dec Jared Keslar, 4-1 SV1 // Navy 12, Pitt 3 165 - No. 11 Holden Heller dec Charlie Evans, 10-4 // Navy 12, Pitt 6 174 - No. 22 Luca Augustine dec No. 30 Danny Wask, 9-7 // Navy 12, Pitt 9 184 - No. 18 David Key fall No. 13 Reece Heller, 2:47 // Navy 18, Pitt 9 197 - No. 16 Mac Stout dec Cael Crebs, 4-1 // Navy 18, Pitt 12 285 - No. 13 Grady Griess dec No. 9 Dayton Pitzer, 4-1 // Navy 21, Pitt 12 This weekend’s action will be the Navy Classic, located at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, MD. Penn The Quakers were at the Round Robin Journeymen event also. They brought 24 wrestlers and four of them went undefeated on the day. Alex Almeyda was the champ in his pool at 133 lbs. John Stout won his pool at heavyweight. At 149 lbs, both Andy Troczynski and Kelly Dunnigan each won their pools. #21 Ryan Miller was third in his pool, ending his day with a fall over Greg Diakomihalis of Cornell. Jude Swisher was the runner-up in his pool at 157 lbs. #14 Nick Incontrera was second in his pool after a loss to multiple-time NCAA Champ, Starocci of Penn State. #21 Cole Urbas was third at 197 lbs. Max Hale was third at 184 lbs to round out some of the top placewinners. Penn will host The Keystone Classic on Sunday. Action begins at 9:30 AM Princeton The Tigers did not compete this weekend. They will be in action at the Navy Classic on Saturday. Sacred Heart The Pioneers were in dual action at Journeymen on Saturday. The following day, nearly 20 athletes competed in the round-robin while many starters were resting. Andrew Fallon was 2-0 on Saturday with two major decisions at 133 lbs. Scott Jarosz was undefeated with a major and a fall manning the 165 lbs class. The biggest individual win came from Vincent Milazzo, at 141 lbs. He earned a win over a returning NCAA Qualifier, Mason of Bloomsburg. Also against Bloom, Jake Trovato had a 29-second fall – one of the fastest of the day in the whole event. LIU – 28, Sacred Heart - 10 125 - Robbie Sagaris (LIU) def. Jake Ice (SHU), Decision 6-4 133 - Andrew Fallon (SHU) def. Chris Betancourt (LIU), Major Decision 14-2 141 - Devin Matthews (LIU) def. Vincent Milazzo (SHU), Decision 7-1 149 - Drew Witham (LIU) def. Mike McGhee (SHU), Decision 7-0 157 - Rhise Royster (LIU) def. Brandon Teresa (SHU), Decision 6-1 165 - Scott Jarosz (SHU) def. James Johnston (LIU), Fall 0:37 174 - Blake Bahna (LIU) def. Owen Ayotte (SHU), Decision 9-3 184 - Anthony Da'alesio (LIU) def. Hunter Perez (SHU), Major Decision15-6 197 - John Duzsa (LIU) def. Jake Trovato (SHU), Fall 1:45 285 - Aeden Begue (LIU) def. Marc Berisha (SHU), Decision 4-1 Bloomsburg – 28, Sacred Heart – 18 125 - Bronson Garber (Bloomsburg) def. Mike Manta (Sacred Heart), Major Decision 15-1 133 - Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart) def. Mike Cassidy (Bloomsburg), Major Decision 12-3 141 - Vincent Milazzo (Sacred Heart) def. Josh Mason (Bloomsburg), Major Decision 14-0 149 - Cade Balestrini (Bloomsburg) def. Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart), Decision 6-4 157 - Will Morrow (Bloomsburg) def. Michel Ritacco (Sacred Heart), Tech Fall 25-10 6:46 165 - Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart) def. Caden Dobbins (Bloomsburg), Major Decision 8-0 174 - Anthony Derosa (Bloomsburg) def. Nicky Eboli (Sacred Heart), Major Decision 14-4 184 - Bruno Stolfi (Bloomsburg) def. Owen Ayotte (Sacred Heart), Fall (4:56) 197 - Jake Trovato (Sacred Heart) def. Tanner Culver (Bloomsburg), Fall (0:29) 285 - Shane Noonan (Bloomsburg) def. Marc Berisha (Sacred Heart), Fall (1:32) Sacred Heart will be busy next weekend with duals against #6 NC State, Presbyterian, and Cornell. Sunday’s agenda includes the Keystone Classic at Penn.

We’re two weeks into the season and the upsets have poured in. There have been some heavy hitters in just about every conference that has taken an unexpected loss already this season. And while we’ve seen some big timers fall, we’ve also seen some serious flexing as well and the B1G Ten has definitely done its share. Here are the 5 things that caught our eye in the second week of the season. Penn State Brings Sell Out Crowd In Debut This is obviously no surprise, but the reigning champs did a lot of winning in their season debut. In Bethlehem, PA, a hotbed of great wrestling (excuse my hometown bias, but you know it’s true) the fans packed the Freedom High School gym to get an up-close look at some of the Nittany Lions new additions as well as their perennial champs. In front of that packed Lehigh Valley crowd, 11 Nittany Lions finished undefeated in their respective pools. Notable unblemished performances came from freshman U20 Champion Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Bernie Truax (184) who were both wrestling in the white-belted singlet for the first time. Also of note, Braeden Davis was the outlier at 125 as went undefeated as well with three wins in Pool C. One of those wins came against Gary Steen, who manned the spot last year, and went 1-2. Robert Howard also went 1-2 in his return to action after being sidelined by injury for a few years. Ohio State Comes Out Swinging, Tom Ryan Collects 200th Win In the biggest early season dual meet matchup, Ohio State walked into Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum as the underdog and came out victorious with a 24-12 win. The Hokies sported a #3 ranking as they hosted tOSU which was #7 to start the season, but when it was all said and done, the Buckeyes had a convincing win under their belt. Virginia Tech was favored in nine of the 10 bouts with higher-ranked wrestlers at all weights except for 141, but after five upsets the hosting Hokies had their first loss of the season. But it wasn’t all chaos in Cassell. Bryce Andonian and Mekhi Lewis really showed out in a pair of premier matches. Andonian took out high school teammate Paddy Gallagher with some amazing defense and Lewis showcased his stinginess as well as he held off a late attack from Carson Kharchla. The match was bookended by highlight wins from tOSU freshman Brendan McCrone who collected an 11-3 major decision win over Eddie Vantresca at 125 and Nick Feldman who claimed a last-second takedown to get the 3-2 win over Hunter Catka. The following day they kept their momentum rolling with a 53-0 win over Edinboro to give head coach Tom Ryan his 200th career victory. An impressive bout where every win came with bonus points, they had one major, four pins and five technical falls. Michigan State University Open Recap This year the Michigan State University Open was a slightly more watered-down version of itself, but the tournament was still very exciting. It was a week later than usual, which was probably the right move to avoid combining a big wrestling tournament with a busy football weekend, but that certainly affected the competition levels. Nonetheless, there were some fun matches and some old rivalries reignited. Regarding the B1G results in the Open class, Wisconsin had two champs with Eric Barnett at 125 and Dean Hamiti at 165 with a win over Caleb Fish of MSU. This was the B1Ggest win for me of the week. Anytime you can win in the MSU Open finals with a technical fall over a bloodround opponent, then that’s worthy of an award. Joey Zargo also made the finals for the Badgers, but fell short of the championship losing to Corbyn Munson of CMU. Michigan largely had backups competing, however, Dylan Ragusin was competing unattached at 133 where he won the championship. The Wolverines also had a finalist in Jaden Bullock at 184, ultimately falling to Kole Mulhauser wrestling unattached for Princeton. Regarding MSU, they travel next to the Black Knight Invite this Sunday, 11/19. Purdue Shows Growth & Growing Pains You’re supposed to challenge your wrestlers and put them in tough matches. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re building something. Purdue did that this weekend when they traveled to Journeymen’s WrangleMania dual meet tournament where they faced NC State and Army. They also wrestled the following day as well in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. You’ve likely heard of the B1Ggest Upset of the Week where true freshman Joey Blaze took out Ed Scott of NC State in overtime. That’s a nice win for a guy trying to earn his spot in the lineup. Outside of that win though, the NC State dual was mostly growing pains. There’s still work to be done with this young lineup comprised of some incoming freshmen and transfers, but progress is made with early season tough competition like this. It’s not getting any easier when the B1G season begins. The B1Ggest Move of the Week was a little subtle this week, and if you weren’t paying attention, you might have missed it. Stoney Buell (165) had a really impressive takedown in his win over Dalton Harkins of Army. With nearly a minute left in the first period, he dove in on a shot and transitioned to a single leg. He begins to work his way up to his feet with his head on the inside, and eventually just stands all the way up, throws Harkins over his head, and follows the leg to get the takedown as Harkins tripods up. It’s always hard to take down someone who is actively trying to not be taken down, it’s even harder to do it that way. Purdue will host its own Boilermaker Duals with the University of Indianapolis and Northern Illinois on Sunday, November 19th. Iowa Will Be Just Fine There were some question marks coming into this year for the Hawkeyes. Turnover of some exceptional competitors usually has that effect, but even more so when you didn’t anticipate losing several guys to a suspension as well. Guys who were probably supposed to help “pass the torch” so to speak. Well, we learned this week that those suspensions aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so the Hawkeyes looked to the Luther Open to see what they have. It turns out what they have is eight champions, seven of which came in the Elite Division of the tournament. Of note, Gabe Arnold won the Elite 174-pound weight class. It’s certainly nice to have a guy like that who seems ready to step into the lineup and be a force right away. Something else noteworthy was at 149 where unattached Anthony Ferrari defeated Victor Voinovich, who just recently transferred to Iowa. In an unrelated situation, it was posted today (11/13) on Twitter that Anthony Ferrari has signed to wrestle with Iowa. In general, a lot of the questions that I had before the season regarding the Hawkeyes and their lineup have been answered so far. Sometimes having too many options is more difficult to navigate than having less and the Hawkeyes have fewer options now, but it’s probably better for them in the long run. Up next they will take on the Beavers of Oregon State in Iowa City as on Sunday 11/19. Bonus points: Check out the B1G TEN vs ACC conversation to get a more in-depth look at some of the biggest duals from this weekend.

Arizona State splits without key pieces Arizona State began its season at Wranglemanina with a split result. The Sun Devils lost to North Carolina 22-16. However, ASU did not wrestle Richard Figueroa, Jacori Teemer, Anthony Montalvo, and Cohlton Schultz. In addition, Jesse Vasquez lost to Lachlan McNeil via injury default. On the other hand, Julian Chlebove defeated Caden McCray 5-2 and Kyle Parco defeated Jayden Scott 4-1. Arizona State won against Lock Haven 23-18. Teemer was suited for this match but was injured. Chlebove, Figueroa, Montalvo and Schultz did not wrestle. Chance McLane got the nod at 165 pounds, winning both of his matches. Cal Poly splits Duke, Rutgers duals; Third in KC The Mustangs began with a dominating performance against the Blue Devils 38-6. Eight of the ten matches went in Cal Poly’s favor, including Chance Rich winning his first match 21-6 tech fall over Jarred Papscy. In the second dual, Rutgers won 31-10. Despite the massive loss, there were a couple of positive things. The Lamer brothers won their four matches and Adam Kemp shined brightly. Kemp added a strong win to resume, defeating Jackson Turley 8-5. This week, at the TigerStyle Invit, Cal Poly finished 6.5 points behind Little Rock for third place. Two Mustangs captured titles Chance Lamer and Adam Kemp. Lamer prevailed as the top seed, while Kemp upset All-American Peyton Mocco to claim the title. Another strong upset came at 125 lbs, as Dominic Mendez made the championship match by downing Maryland’s #17 Braxton Brown. Cal State Bakersfield struggles in first dual Unfortunately, it could be another long season for the Roadrunners. CSU Bakersfield lost to Wyoming 40-3, winning one of ten matches. 125-pound Richard Castro Sandoval defeated Garrett Ricks 7-4 to start the dual. Afterward, the Roadrunners lost by bonus points in every match, including two pins and a tech. Is Little Rock the future (or current) dark horse? Little Rock finished second in the TigerStyle Invite, behind Missouri, with 18 wrestlers reaching the podium. The Trojans second-place finish is their highest tournament placing in school history. In addition, Little Rock turned some heads with a pair of upsets for gold medals. Stephen Little shocked No. 8 Jaxon Smith 7-3 and Nasir Bailey stunned No. 28 Zeke Seltzer 8-5. In addition, Brendon Abdon reached the final before falling to No. 1 Keegan O’Toole. Overall, the Trojans finished 49-36 in their matches at the Tiger Style Invite Oregon State showcases a few prospects It was a quiet week for the Beavers as a couple of wrestlers competed in the Bison Open. Chase DeBlaere went 2-2 at 133 pounds, winning over Minnesota’s Jager Eisch and North Dakota State’s Amantee Mills. Brett Mower also finished 2-2 in the 197 pounds. His wins came over South Dakota State’s Cody Donnelly and North Dakota State’s Macray Klohs Ayres captures first wins at Stanford The Stanford Cardinal defeated Nebraska-Kearney 35-9. Six of the Cardinal's eight wins came with bonus points, including 165 pounds Zach Hanson’s pin over Kaden Hart. Tyler Knox got the start at 133 pounds while DiSario jumped to 141 and Abas controlled 149 pounds. Knox dominated his first match with a 15-0 tech fall over Drew Arnold. Stanford’s two losses were a forfeit at 174 pounds and Peter Ming falling 6-3 to Crew Howard. The previous week Stanford shut out Duke 41-0.

Brentsville District

The fabled District XI in Pennsylvania. It’s one of the top (3?) (5?) areas in the country for producing high school and collegiate talent. Year-in and year-out for decades, at this point; however, we’re not focused on history today. This weekend, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a city in the heart of the American version of our sport, was the epicenter of collegiate wrestling. Saturday marked the first of two days of wrestling from Bethlehem with Journeymen’s “WrangleMania.” That event featured ten DI teams competing in four rounds of pre-arranged duals. The day started out innocuous enough with a dual between Long Island and Buffalo. The all-New York matchup didn’t seem to temp the fancy of the locals and a spare crowd, mainly full of family and friends of the two teams in question, were treated to a really entertaining dual. LIU jumped out to a 12-0 lead after the first three matches and never looked back in a 19-15 victory that came down to the big boys. 285 lber Aeden Begue locked up the win with a 6-3 decision. What was remarkable to me about the win, was that the two teams squared off at the same event in 2022 and Buffalo grabbed a one-sided 28-6 victory. The Sharks also started six of the same wrestlers from 2022 on Saturday. So it wasn’t as if Joe Patrovich’s team got five new ringers transferring in or something like that. They just got a little better over the course of 365 days. Long Island finished their day by hammering (28-10) a Sacred Heart team they slipped by (18-17) last year (at this event; they did defeat the Pioneers in the final dual of the season, 32-9). Before getting to some of the positives from the day, we’ll focus on a couple of harsh realities from Saturday. In the North Carolina/Arizona State dual, #18 Jesse Vasquez suffered a gruesome arm injury. I was standing between both benches but happened to exchange grimaces with multiple members of the Tar Heel staff. Though they were competing with ASU, their human instincts kicked in, knowing it was a severe injury. Lots of comments like “You hate to see that,” “It looks really bad,” and “Poor guy, that sucks,” were thrown around between us. Earlier this year, I had a coach say to me in reference to November wrestling. “You can’t win a national title today, but you can lose one.” It’s awful seeing wrestlers have their season come to an abrupt end during the second week of the season. Maybe that’s not the case for Vasquez, but I’m sure there were quite a few wrestlers, at all levels, who have already seen their 2023-24 campaign come to an unceremoniously abrupt end. Also, WrangleMania was expected to feature a battle for the number one spot nationally at 125 lbs. Top-ranked Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) and number-two Richie Figueroa’s (Arizona State) teams clashed; however, Figueroa did not wrestle. It’s unfortunate. Wrestling fans wanted to see that match, but stuff happens. I’ve been told that Figueroa will not be out for an extended period of time, so hopefully we’ll see him back on the mat soon. While the fight for the number one spot at 125 didn’t materialize, there was another high-profile contest at the weight that did. NC State’s #11 Jakob Camacho (NC State) got an 8-5 victory over #3 Matt Ramos (Purdue), the returning NCAA runner-up. It was an entertaining scrap, everything you’d hope for between these two. Rewatch it if that dual got lost in the shuffle for you. Camacho is a wrestler who was injured before the 2022-23 season and never got a chance to compete last year, but before that, he was always viewed as an All-American threat. Now, with the wide-open nature of 125 lbs, he has to be upgraded to a title threat. Before moving on, I’ve got to salute Ramos. Through two weeks of the season, he’s already participated in eight matches. Only two other top-five wrestlers, at any weight, have wrestled seven. The guy toes the line regardless of the March implications in the background. We live in an era of sports where “load management” is slowly creepy in and wrestling has an “all that matters is March” mentality. Ramos has wrestled every match possible and has suffered two losses (one won’t count because it came to high schooler Marcus Blaze). The sad reality is he’ll drop in the rankings because of it. Were he to avoid the Clarion Open or the NC State dual, his ranking would be better. At the end of the day, Ramos is a competitor. He and his coaching staff obviously believe in his abilities and don’t think he needs to “play the game” to get a slightly higher seed at the Big Ten tournament or nationals. The truth is that Ramos is very talented and a gamer. He’s proven he’s at his best when the stakes are the highest. I don’t think a lower seed will matter with Ramos at either of those two tournaments. Plus, he wrestles all the time, so with the Big Ten schedule, he’ll have opportunities to hit key contenders. Jakob Camacho and Matt Ramos embrace after Saturday's match; Photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco By the way, Arizona State, NC State, and Purdue are all at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December. Getting back to the actual results, Lock Haven pushed an Arizona State team that was missing some key pieces (Figueroa/Cohlton Schultz) and got even more banged up later in the day with Vasquez’s injury and Jacori Teemer being unable to finish the Lock Haven dual due to concussion protocol. Zeke Jones’ squad held on versus Lock Haven but fell against the Tar Heels. Speaking of UNC, they went 2-0 on the day and it was unusual to see Rob Koll in Carolina blue. Even though it’s his alma mater, we’ve grown accustomed to Koll wearing Big Red colors and even a different shade of red at Stanford. UNC’s rivals, NC State, flexed their muscles outscoring Bloomsburg and Purdue by a combined score of 82-7. Saturday’s festivities took place at Liberty High School, while Sunday’s individual pool “Journeymen Collegiate Classic” moved across town to Freedom High School. With eight mats in the main gymnasium, the event typically features some tight quarters. With #1 Penn State and #2 Cornell sending the bulk of their starters, the gym was packed! On Saturday night pool matchups were listed on FloArena. Many people, myself included, were kind of stunned by the construction of the pools. De facto wrestle-off’s were slated to take place, with some of the most notable being Cornell 125 (Brett Ungar/Greg Diakomihalis) and Lehigh 133 (Connor McGonagle/Ryan Crookham). After the initial shock of those potential matches, it seemed to make a bit of sense in that these matches take place outside of the wrestling room, with a pair of paid officials monitoring the action, plus they’ll have another common opponent or two. Speaking of Crookham, he had a rather notable day, right? During his first bout, Crookham took out #6 McGonagle in sudden victory. The win probably didn’t cement his status as the Mountain Hawks full-time starter, but likely gave him a leg up. What he did later may have, though. Crookham, one of the top recruits in the Class of 2022, one that probably didn’t accomplish as much as his talent would indicate in high school due to injuries, made himself a household name on the collegiate circuit. The redshirt freshman from and PA District XI product, Crookham, had a stiff test in the finals with 2023 NCAA and World Champion Vito Arujau. Crookham’s scrambling, creativity, and reattacks proved to be the difference as he stunned Arujau in an 8-4 upset. Holding onto a narrow 5-4 lead, Crookham fended off a low attack from Arujau and turned it into one of his own for a match-clinching takedown. Since both schools are in the EIWA, this should be a fun rivalry to follow. They are slated to meet on January 14th in a dual setting, while the conference championship looms, as well. Crookham should get tested often as Lehigh has duals with Oklahoma State (#2 Daton Fix) and Penn State (#3 Aaron Nagao) within the next month. Before getting ahead of ourselves, let’s remember the advice I was given “You can’t win an NCAA title in November.” Crookham certainly has thrown his hat into the ring of contenders at 133 lbs, but March is a long time away. Just last year we saw Arujau’s teammate, Yianni Diakomihalis, suffer a shocking loss to Austin Gomez during his season debut. That loss had no tangible impact on the rest of Diakomihalis’ season. If anything it may have grounded him and helped him focus more on each individual match for the remainder of the season. Because of the construction of some pools, some enticing matchups didn’t happen. Most notable was U20 World Champion Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) and 2023 NCAA runner-up Levi Haines (Penn State) getting placed in different pools. The matchup between last year’s top freshman and one of the early favorites for this year’s award didn’t happen. Penn State and Cornell do not cross paths between nationals so we’ll have to wait until Kansas City for that one. In his first collegiate event, Shapiro tallied a tech, a pin, and a decision victory, looking every bit as good as expected. After the Crookham upset, Shapiro’s debut, Trent Hidlay’s impressive showing at a new weight, the top-two teams in action, and much more, I think fans still felt like they got their money’s worth in Bethlehem.

Calvary Chapel

Millard South

Corona del Mar

Melissa

Mt. Carmel

Union

St. Clair/Mankato Loyola

James River

Clovis West