Takedown Report

5 early season NCAA wrestling duals to watch — and why

College wrestling teams around the country are finalizing their lineups and preparing for the long season ahead. The fall-semester duals this year will be of particular intrigue because of the absence of Olympic redshirt athletes who could potentially return for the postseason. So these early season duals will give teams a chance to try out different lineups, experiment with their depth and find the right combination of starters heading into the winter tournaments. 
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Penn State enters the year as the favorites once again, but they’ll be challenged by Iowa, both during a spring dual and in the conference and national tournaments. Before highly anticipated conference duals start in January, however, here’s a look at five of the biggest fall semester matchups that you won’t want to miss. 

1. Penn State vs. Arizona State on Nov. 22

How to watch: 9 p.m. ET on the Pac-12 Network
Let’s kick things off with the Nittany Lions, of course. Penn State starts the season against Navy on Nov. 10, but the first big challenge for Cael Sanderon’s team comes 12 days later when the squad travels to Tempe to take on the Sun Devils of Arizona State. Penn State soared past Arizona State 41-3 last year, with the only loss of the night coming at 125 pounds, but this year’s matchups at each weight will look a little different. Arizona State two-time national champion Zahid Valencia has chosen to move up to 184 pounds which means fans won’t see another Valencia-Mark Hall match-up. But this change instead means that Hall will take on Valencia’s brother, Anthony, at 174 while Hall’s teammate Shakur Rasheed will take on the champ. Anthony Valencia enters the season ninth in FloWrestling’s pre-season rankings, which means his battle with Hall will be a top-ten matchup, but Hall is still expected to battle to a comfortable victory. Zahid Valencia is also expected to produce a similar result against Rasheed, a seventh-ranked wrestler who missed All-American honors last season. Rest of the matches and story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2019-10-22/5-early-season-ncaa-wrestling-duals-watch-and-why?mc_cid=7fafe1a85f&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

October 29, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized