Takedown Report

BIG 10 Conference Results – Jan. 27th

Five B1G Takeaways from the Big Ten (1/25/24)
Dual meets, dual meets and more dual meets. As we go into another weekend of B1G Ten dual meets, we look back at last week’s matchups. We had some duals that lived up to some of our expectations, a few guys whose stock is going up and another that’s going down and Claunch delves into his experience on the call for Michigan’s dual last week. 
Stock up: Michael Blockhus; Stock down: Peyton Robb
There might not be anyone having a better start of the new year than Michael Blockhus. He returned with one goal in mind and so far it looks like he’s on the right track. Last week he took out Jared Franek with a last minute takedown then followed it up with a dominating win over Peyton Robb four days later. Now he’s jumped to No. 6 in the rankings. Earlier this week, I got to catch up with Blockhus to talk about his big wins, returning to the Gophers’ lineup for his final year, and his fighting future. 
On the opposite side is Robb who didn’t just take a loss to Blockhus last week, but was pinned by Joey Blaze of Purdue. That notched Robb’s fourth straight loss. This weekend the Huskers head to Evanston, IL to face Northwestern where Robb will look to get back to his winning ways. 
A Curse at 125 Ends …
We all know what kind of powerhouse Penn State has been for the last million years, but a spot in Coach Cael Sanderson’s lineup that hasn’t been at the championship level is at 125-pounds. As mentioned in the season preview, Nico Megaludis was the last guy in this weight class to sport a Nittany Lion singlet and make the podium. All of that could be over as freshman Braeden Davis has been a very bright, and so far undefeated, presence in their line up. It took a bit for him to stand above PSU’s other options here, but now he’s manning the spot in the line up and in the No. 4 spot in the rankings. He’s also the only guy in the weight class who hasn’t taken a loss yet this season. 
… And Another Curse at 125 Continues
It seems like ages ago when we would occasionally get a No. 1 versus No. 2 battle in the regular season. It doesn’t always happen, but it certainly feels like it used to happen more often than it has of late. Last Friday night, we were lucky enough to see it with Purdue’s Matt Ramos, then ranked second in the country at 125, facing off against Iowa’s No. 1 ranked Drake Ayala in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Purdue, as a team, wasn’t expected to win the dual meet as a whole, but in what was clearly the biggest match of the night, the Boilermaker got a solid win and once again beat a top ranked Hawkeye in a big moment. Was it purposeful that they wore the silver and gold singlets that were worn on that fateful night last March? Probably right? Either way Iowa ran away with the majority of the other matches as expected. Shoutout to Joey Blaze wrestling tough against Jared Franek, and James Rowley getting the win at 184, but Iowa as a unit is still proving to be one of the toughest teams in the country. Iowa will be traveling to Illinois this weekend as they take on the Fighting Illini this Friday, and Northwestern this Sunday. Purdue, as referenced above, will be taking on the Hoosiers in Bloomington Saturday night.
Terrapins v Hoosiers did not disappoint … story at … Intermatwrestle.com/Big-10/five-b1g-takeaways-from-the-big-ten

And …

Feldman Delivers Late to Down Michigan 20-19 In Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It came down to the final bout of the night at heavyweight before No. 7 Ohio State (12-1, 4-0) defeated No. 13 Michigan (5-3, 3-2) when Nick Feldman defeated No. 4 Lucas Davison 4-3 to give the Buckeyes the 20-19 win before a sellout crowd (4,759) at the Covelli Center in Columbus.  … story and video at … Ohiostatebuckeyes.com/Wrestling-no-7-ohio-state-vs-no-13-michigan-live-updates

And …

HUSKERS TOP WILDCATS BEHIND LOVETT’S PIN, FOUR TECHNICAL FALLS
Behind six bonus-point victories, including a pin and four tech. falls, the No. 6 Nebraska wrestling team routed Northwestern 39-3 on Friday evening. With the dominating defeat, the Huskers improved to 8-1 on the season overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play, while Northwestern dropped to 0-3 (0-2 Big Ten) on the year. 
Action started at 125 as No. 12 Caleb Smith faced Northwestern’s Massey Odiotti. Smith scored three takedowns, an escape and the riding time point to claim the 11-3 major decision.
With the 4-0 team lead, No. 19 Jacob Van Dee matched up with Patrick Adams at 133. Van Dee tallied an early takedown in the first period and the rideout to lead 3-0 with two periods to go. Van Dee then scored three more takedowns and three nearfall points for the 17-2 tech. fall.
After two-straight bonus-point victories, Blake Cushing met Kolby McClain and made it three-straight. Cushing scored six takedowns en route to the 23-7 tech. fall and the 14-0 team lead.  At 149, No. 1 Ridge Lovett earned his second-straight pin and fifth of the season as he got the fall over Northwestern’s Aiden Vandenbush in the second period. He tallied four takedowns and four nearfall points to push the team up by 20.  Ethan Stiles then faced No. 19 Trevor Chumbley at 157. Stiles got on the board first with a takedown, but Chumbley responded with an escape and nearfall to claim the 8-5 decision.  With the 20-3 lead, No. 18 Antrell Taylor wrestled No. 15 Maxx Mayfield at 165. After each wrestler tallied an escape, the pair was tied 1-1 after three periods and went into overtime. Taylor then tallied the takedown in sudden victory to earn the 4-1 decision. … story at … Huskers.com/Huskers-top-wildcats-behind-lovetts-pin-four-technical-falls

And …

Michigan State Wrestling Upsets No. 17-ranked Wisconsin for First B1G Victory
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State wrestling team welcomed No. 17-ranked Wisconsin to Jenison Field House on Friday evening to cap off its three-match homestand. On a night led by three bonus point victories, MSU took five matches to upset the Badgers, 22-15. For the Spartans, it was it’s first victory over a Top 20 opponent since the 2021-22 season when they defeated then No. 14-ranked Rutgers, 20-14.
A win on Friday helped Michigan State snap a three-dual skid as the team improves to 8-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten. Friday’s win over Wisconsin guarantees the Spartans a .500 or better finish for the third consecutive season. Wisconsin falls to 6-3 and 0-2 in B1G duals. “I’m happy to see the fruits of the labor coming out tonight for these guys with the work and the effort they put in,” said Michigan State head wrestling coach Roger Chandler. “These guys never quit, they keep fighting and you can see it with no one hanging their head. Look at Andy Hampton, he’s going through a rough spell, but you see he’s fighting for the whole seven minutes and that’s what we need out of him.” … story at … MSUspartans.com/Wrestling-upsets-no-17-ranked-wisconsin-for-first-b1g-victory

And …

HAWKEYES BLOWOUT ILLINI, 36-6
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – The third-ranked University of Iowa men’s wrestling team won eight of 10 matches to roll to a 36-6 victory over Illinois on Friday night at Huff Hall. The Hawkeyes won six bouts via bonus points, including ending five matchups early via technical fall or pin. “I like bonus points,” said head coach Tom Brands. “I like tech. falls, I like major decisions and I like pins. Hill had a pin, we had four tech. falls. Good stuff.”
Iowa opened the night at 133 for the first time this season. Cullan Schriever got things rolling for the Hawkeyes with a major decision over 30th ranked Tony Madrigal, winning 9-1. At 141 Brody Teske came out and extended the Iowa lead with a 5-0 decision against Will Baysinger. Illinois got on the board with a decision in sudden victory as No. 8 Kannon Webster defeated No. 11 Caleb Rathjen.
Jared Franek and Michael Caliendo sent the Hawkeyes to intermission with a pair of tech. falls. Franek needed 6:01 to dispatch Joe Roberts, 21-5 at 157. At 165 Caliendo defeated 24th ranked Chris Moore, 17-2, in 4:30. … story at … Hawkeyesports.com/Hawkeyes-blowout-illini-36-6

January 27, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized