Men’s College Notebook: Oklahoma Cruises Over Iowa; NC State Wins Thriller in Raleigh
Forrest Takes Off the Redshirt in Style
All week, the Oklahoma State coaching staff was keeping a tight lip on if they would send out true freshman Jax Forrest against Iowa this weekend. If he were to wrestle, it would mean he burns the redshirt and will be in the postseason lineup.
Not only did he compete, but he made sure the nation knew he was coming for the national championship at 133 pounds less than two months after he graduated high school and enrolled a semester early.
Sporting a perfect 9-0 record and climbing up to #6 in the national rankings, he scored a top-10 win for the second straight weekend. Last weekend, it was fellow true freshman sensation Aaron Seidel from Virginia Tech; this weekend, it was two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala of Iowa.
Thanks to a takedown and four-point near fall from a cradle in the second period, Forrest breezed to a 19-3 tech fall win. It was the first time Ayala had surrendered bonus points this season.
Cowboys Cruise Over Iowa
Forrest dominated the headlines from the nationally televised dual on ESPN in front of a sellout crowd of 12,629 in Stillwater, but the Cowboys continued to make noise heading into the postseason as a team.
They avenged their lone loss of the season (18-16 to Iowa at the National Duals in November) by winning seven of the 10 bouts, with four going for bonus, and three of those were falls in the 32-11 win.
The win was the largest victory over Iowa since 1961, and it’s the most points the Cowboys have scored against the Hawkeyes.
Oklahoma State hurried out to a 17-5 lead … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2026/february/23/men-s-college-notebook-oklahoma-cruises-over-iowa-nc-state-wins-thriller-in-raleigh
National Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductees
Sun Devil Wrestling Head Coach Lee Roy Smith to be inducted into National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Coach Smith will be one of four distinguished members to be inducted into the class of 2026
STILLWATER, Okla. – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Thursday afternoon that former Sun Devil Wrestling Head Coach Lee Roy Smith will be inducted as a distinguished member of its 2026 Hall of Fame class. The Class of 2026 will be honored and officially inducted during the 49th Honors Weekend on June 5 and 6, 2026, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Ben Askren, Tervel Dlagnev, and Shannon Williams-Yancey, as distinguished members, will join Smith. Also joining the hall will be Meritorious Official honoree Zach Errett; Order of Merit recipient James L. Porter, MA, LAT, ATC; Medal of Courage recipient Patrick Morrissey; and Outstanding American honoree Retired United States Army Major General Michael J. Nardotti, Jr.
“The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honored to announce the Class of 2026, an illustrious group whose enduring contributions exemplify the foundational principles of our sport. Every Hall of Fame class is special, but this one is even more so as it includes Lee Roy Smith, who will be retiring next year after more than 20 years of superb leadership as executive director of the Hall of Fame,” said John Harris III, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors Chairman.
Smith becomes the third member of his family to be inducted as a Distinguished Member, joining brothers John Smith and Pat Smith, who were inducted in 1997 and 2006, respectively. The Smiths are the second family to have three Distinguished Members, joining the Peery family: father Rex Peery, inducted in the Charter Class of 1976, and brothers Ed Peery and Hugh Peery, both inducted in 1980. There are seven other sets of brothers who have been inducted as Distinguished Members: Ed Banach (1993) and Lou Banach (1994); Tom Brands (2001) and Terry Brands (2006); Stanley Henson (1978) and Josiah Henson (2006); Cliff Keen (1976) and … more at … https://thesundevils.com/news/2025/10/30/former-sun-devil-wrestling-head-coach-lee-roy-smith-to-be-inducted-into-national-wrestling-hall-of-fame
ACC Wrestling Matches All-Time High with 39 NCAA Automatic Qualifiers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) — The Atlantic Coast Conference will send 39 automatic qualifiers to the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, matching the league’s all-time high and reinforcing the ACC’s position among the nation’s elite wrestling conferences.
The 39 pre-allocations equal the conference record previously set in 2022 and reflect the ACC’s outstanding performance throughout the 2025-26 regular season. The NCAA Championships will take place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The ACC’s automatic qualifiers are distributed across 10 weight classes: 125 (5), 133 (3), 141 (5), 149 (4), 157 (4), 165 (4), 174 (3), 184 (4), 197 (3) and 285 (4).
Pre-allocations to each qualifying tournament were determined based on regular-season performance through February 23, using a sliding scale that measured win percentage, coaches’ ranking and RPI ranking. Wrestlers had to meet minimum standards of a .700 winning percentage, a top-30 coaches’ ranking and a top-30 RPI ranking, with a maximum of 29 wrestlers qualifying per weight class.
The 2026 ACC Wrestling Championship is set for Sunday, March 8, at Cassell Coliseum on the campus of Virginia Tech, where the conference’s automatic bids to nationals will be secured.
Following the completion of conference championships nationwide, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will select 42 at-large qualifiers on March 10. Championship brackets and seeds will be revealed … more at … https://theacc.com/news/2026/2/26/acc-wrestling-matches-all-time-high-with-39-ncaa-automatic-qualifiers.aspx?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
WIN’s Feb. 24 rankings update includes final Top 20 dual teams; OK State strengthens hold on No. 2 spot in TPI
Photo: Oklahoma State’s Zack Ryder (pictured at the 2025 NWCA All-Star Classic), returned to the Cowboy lineup last weekend and earned a 2-1 SV decision over Iowa’s Gabe Arnold at 184 lbs. Photo by Sam Janicki.
NEWTON, Iowa — The 2025-26 regular season is in the rearview, as WIN’s Feb. 24 rankings update reflects the updated Tournament Power Index (TPI) and individual rankings heading into the conference tournaments while also providing the final set of Top 20 dual-meet teams.
In this week’s TPI, Oklahoma State (93) pulled away from the field slightly as the clear No. 2, while the logjam of programs ranked No. 2 through No. 5 remains. Ohio State (86.5), Nebraska (85.5) and Iowa State (84), all separated by just a total of 2.5 points, will all be vying for a team trophy in Cleveland. Penn State remains No. 1 with 152 total TPI points.
WIN’s TPI projects where programs could finish at the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 19-21 in Cleveland. The following is a breakdown of those individual TPI points per ranking: 20 for 1st, 16 for 2nd, 13.5 for 3rd, 12.5 for 4th, 10 for 5th, 9 for 6th, 6.5 for 7th and 5.5 for 8th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by one and a half points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and one point for those ranked 17-20.
Penn State features five top-ranked wrestlers with Nittany Lions Luke Lilledahl (125), Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) headlining their respective weight classes. Also ranked No. 1 are three defending national champions in Lucas Byrd of Illinois (133), Jesse Mendez of Ohio State (141) and Antrell Taylor of Nebraska (157). … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2026/02/24/wins-feb-24-rankings-update-includes-final-top-20-dual-teams-ok-state-solidifies-no-2-spot-in-tpi/
Top-ranked Nittany Lions go wire-to-wire, finish regular season as lone unbeaten
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State closes the regular season as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, finishing 15-0 to headline the final NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll of the regular season, released Tuesday.
The Nittany Lions capped their dual slate with a 50-0 win over Princeton and will head into next season riding a Division I-record 86 straight dual meet victories. Third-ranked Oklahoma State closed at 15-1 after a 32-11 win over then-No. 7 Iowa in front of 12,629 fans and a worldwide audience on ESPN’s flagship channel. It’s the fourth-largest crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
It’s the 12th dual meet crowd over 10,000 fans at a Division I men’s dual event this year, surpassing the previous high of 10 set last season. Penn State, Iowa, Iowa State and Oklahoma State hosted all 12 of those events, with Iowa hosting half of them. Oklahoma State held three duals with over 10,000, Penn State two and Iowa State one.
Iowa State secured the No. 4 spot with a 20-14 victory over then-No. 14 Missouri to finish 12-2, while fifth-ranked Nebraska wrapped its dual schedule at 13-6 following a 32-6 win over Utah Valley.
Virginia Tech finished sixth at 11-3 after a 26-17 win over Duke. Eighth-ranked NC State edged Cornell 19-18 to close at 15-4.
Rutgers finished 14-5 and 11th after a 45-3 win over Hofstra. Michigan moved to 12th at 9-6 with a 34-6 victory over Central Michigan. Pittsburgh climbed to 13th after a 37-0 shutout of Virginia.
North Carolina dropped to 15th after a 28-6 loss to 18th-ranked Stanford. West Virginia secured the No. 16 position with a 21-15 win over Lock Haven.
Northern Iowa edged Wisconsin 16-15 in a ranked matchup to finish 17th. Stanford’s win over North Carolina pushed the Cardinal to 18th. Wisconsin fell to 19th.
Indiana closes the regular season ranked 20th after a 20-16 win over Purdue. South Dakota State dropped to 21st following a 20-13 loss to North Dakota State. Wyoming, Oklahoma and Oregon State … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2026/2/24/national-wrestling-coaches-association-top-ranked-nittany-lions-go-wire-to-wire-finish-regular-season-as-lone-unbeaten.aspx
Intermat’s NCAA DI Rankings Updated (2/24/2026)
That’s it! The 2025-26 regular season is finished. As always, the season seems to fly by when you’re not cutting weight and getting beat up every day. Even though last weekend was the last week of competition for most schools there were still plenty of results that had an impact on rankings. Below, we’ll mention some of the more notable moves for the week.
125 lbs
We had a flip of the 6 and 7 spots as Troy Spratley avenged his early-season loss to Dean Peterson. Also flipping spots at 20 and 21 as Ezekiel Witt was victorious over Brady Roark in the Battle of the Dakotas. ACC wrestlers Kysen Terukina and Keyveon Roller both suffered losses and were dropped a bit. Terukina’s was to Provo; however, the totality of his body of work, probably warranted a drop. Roller lost to an unranked opponent he had beaten earlier in the season.
133 lbs
With no one losing above Jax Forrest and him technically beating an opponent that was already below him almost led us to keep him at his #6 position. Comparing resumes with Kyler Larkin, his best wins (Seidel, Ayala), trumped Larkins (Knox, Figueroa). You could probably say the same about Evan Frost, but we’ll hold off for now. The three will be in the Big 12 Championships together, so they’ll sort it out soon.
141 lbs
There had to be some work done at this weight around the 10-14 range. Stanford freshman Jack Consiglio pinned UNC freshman Luke Simcox. The Consiglio/Simcox/Jack trio have all beaten each other; so we’ll go with Jack pinning Consiglio, who just pinned Simcox – rewarding the wrestlers with the better margin of victory.
149 lbs
Previously #2 ranked Jaxon Joy was shocked by Koy Buesgens in the final week of the season. Because of this Caleb Tyus moves into the #2 spot and Joy only drops a spot based on his body of work and the lack of another great option to overtake him. Buesgens stays put, he has recently losses to the two wrestlers currently above him. Jacob Frost drops out of the top ten … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-2242026-r100834/
App State Wrestling Secures Another SoCon Title With Senior Day Victory
BOONE, N.C. — App State Wrestling secured another SoCon regular season title Sunday, prevailing 25-14 against Gardner-Webb in front of a sizable Senior Day crowd.
The Mountaineers (10-6, 7-1 SoCon) earned at least a share of a regular season title for the fourth time in the last five years and the eighth time in the last 11 years by tying Chattanooga and The Citadel for first place.
It’s the program’s ninth regular season title in 17 seasons under the direction of head coach JohnMark Bentley, who lost starters at five of 10 weights from last year’s championship team and has three freshmen in this year’s lineup.
With the three most accomplished wrestlers from Gardner-Webb (7-13, 4-4) filling the lightest weights at 125, 133 and 141 pounds, Sunday’s dual began at 141 following a coin flip that gave App State the choice of where to start. The Mountaineers improved to 6-1 in coin flips involving assistant coach Hunter Shaut, small victories that allowed them to choose the starting weight almost every time there wasn’t an agreement to begin at 125 pounds.
Aldo Hernandez gave up the first takedown but recorded the final two in an 8-4 decision against Dominic DiTullio, who arrived in Boone with a 5-1 record in SoCon duals, and Kaden Keiser’s six-point pin as the second-period buzzer sounded at 149 pounds produced a 9-0 lead in the team score.
Anthony Conetta won via an 18-2 tech fall at 165 pounds, and Gardner-Webb trailed 14-8 after winning a major decision at 174, but the Mountaineers were able to clinch the team victory thanks to consecutive wins by Tomas Brooker (9-0 major decision at 184), Logan Eller (9-2 decision at 197) and Stephan Monchery (11-2 major decision at heavyweight).
Facing Josh McCutchen, who was 5-0 with a 54-9 scoring advantage … more at …. https://appstatesports.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-secures-another-socon-title-with-senior-day-victory.aspx
Chattanooga Mocs Adds to SoCon Record Trophy Case
The Chattanooga Mocs claimed a share of the 18th Southern Conference Regular Season Title in school history with a stellar performance at Bellarmine.
Overview
The Chattanooga Mocs earned a Southern Conference record 18th regular season crown with a 26-9 triumph at Bellarmine. The Mocs won eight of the 10 bouts including the final six to pull away with an impressive road triumph in the regular season finale.
Match Results
Chattanooga 26, at Bellarmine 9
Records: Chattanooga 10-5, 7-1 SoCon | Bellarmine 7-8, 4-4 SoCon
Resources: Results | Series History
Quotable
“I don’t think we wrestled poorly against The Citadel. We just didn’t execute and get all the points we could. I think from then on, we kind of understood that when we’re in on a leg, it might be the only good chance we have to score. I think from then on, you kind of saw our guys wrestle differently through the whole match. It’s great to finish the regular season this way, but now it’s postseason, and that’s the most important thing for some of these guys.” – Coach Kyle Ruschell on the last 2 weeks earning another SoCon title
“The team needed some extra points. I got to my offense … more at … https://gomocs.com/news/2026/2/22/recap-wrestling-adds-to-socon-record-trophy-case.aspx
The Citadel Dismantles Rival VMI, Seizes First SoCon Regular-Season Title Since 2004
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Headlined by an early pin from Teegan Vasquez (133 lbs) followed by a key tech falls via Kyrel Leavell (157 lbs) and Brodie Porter (184 lbs), The Citadel (11-7, 7-1 SoCon) managed to engineer a near-perfect victory over league rival VMI (5-9, 1-6 SoCon) en route to clinching the program’s first Southern Conference regular-season championship since the 2003-04 campaign, surrendering just three bouts to the visitors as the Bulldogs dispatched the Keydets behind a decisive 34-11 margin Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
With the win, The Citadel earns a guaranteed share of the regular-season SoCon championship via a 7-1 record; Chattanooga and Appalachian State also closed out their campaigns at 7-1 for a share of the title as well, the former claiming a road win at Bellarmine and the latter topping Gardner-Webb at home, both on Sunday afternoon. Previously, the Bulldogs took down the Mocs in a tightly-contested 19-18 criteria victory before falling to App State just a week later; meanwhile, UTC managed to pick up a home win over the previously unbeaten Mountaineers on Sunday, Feb. 15, forcing a three-way tie for the regular-season crown.
Next up, The Citadel advances to the 2026 Southern Conference Championship … more at … https://citadelsports.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-the-citadel-dismantles-rival-vmi-seizes-first-socon-regular-season-title-since-2004.aspx
CBU Concludes Regular Season with Dominant Showing over CSUB on Senior Night
By: Ryley Collom, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Digital Media
RIVERSIDE— The California Baptist University wrestling team closed its 2025-26 schedule on Saturday evening, defeating the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 29-12 with seven match victories in Riverside. The Lancers conclude their regular season 3-11 and have now beaten their SoCal rivals four times in a row.
The dual would begin at 165lbs, with Gabe Schumm facing Evan Manzo of Bakersfield. Schumm wasted no time getting the sizable crowd energized at Van Dyne Gym as he would pin Manzo in 1:41 into the match and put six quick points on the board for CBU. Schumm has now won four of his last five duals and will take some heavy momentum into the BIG 12 in two weeks. Bakersfield would fight back at 174lbs as Guillermo Escobedo would garner a decision win over Mason Espinoza to slash the team led in half.
Timothy Cowan would make the most of his final dual at Van Dyne as he would pick up a Senior Night victory over Jeremy Manibog by decision 4-1. Eli Sheeren would keep the momentum going with another pin for the Lancers as he would put Chris Neal on his back in the third period to push the lead to 15-3 in favor of the Lancers. Tristan Kemp would further the lead at heavyweight with a dominant 5-1 decision over Mason Cover to make it 18-3 at intermission. CBU would take a brief pause at intermission to honor the seven seniors before the wrestling would resume at 125lbs. … more at … https://cbulancers.com/news/2026/2/21/wrestling-cbu-concludes-regular-season-with-dominant-showing-over-csub-on-senior-night
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 