Takedown Report

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ACC Weekly Recap (1/30/2024)

We had an exciting opening week of ACC action on Friday. While the team scores went as expected, there were some big individual upsets. We saw several wrestlers return to the lineup after being out with injuries and making an immediate impact. It seems that most teams have settled on a lineup for the rest of the season, but we will see a few wrinkles be thrown in along the way to spice it up a little (I love the rule allowing five dates for true freshmen…).
All three duals on Friday were lopsided affairs but left us with a lot of good takeaways. 

1. NC State and Virginia Tech are the early favorites for the dual title.
The Wolfpack traveled to Pitt and took eight of ten bouts; their only losses were upsets at 141 and 184. The Hokies hosted the Tar Heels and after losing the opening match in sudden victory, they reeled off nine straight wins. Thankfully the ACC scheduling is better this year and their dual will be the final match instead of the opening dual as it was last year.

2. 141 is bonkers. 
#27 Cole Matthews beat #4 Ryan Jack. #17 Tom Crook beat #5 Lachlan McNeil. Jack Gioffre has been in and out of the rankings this year and has the potential to hang with any of these guys. Jack and McNeil will meet this week. I have no idea how this is going to shake out in dual matchups, but suffice to say, that the ACC tournament is going to be fire at 141. 

3. Virginia looks rejuvenated with five (?!?!) starters back in the lineup after returning from injury.
The Hoos have dealt with a wild run of injuries but returned half of their lineup in time for ACC duals. Those five were a combined 7-1 on the weekend. They shut out Duke 45-0 in a dominant showing on Friday and dispatched American 36-6 on Sunday. The Cavaliers will face a much tougher test when they host Virginia Tech on Friday, but I’m glad to see them healthy and getting back on track.

4. Do we learn anything from early upsets?
There were a lot of upsets on paper, I’m interested to see how those line up over the next four weeks. The Wolfpack will have a tough choice to make at 125 between Jarrett Trombley and Jakob Camacho. 
125: Jarrett Trombley over #31 Colton Camacho
141: #27 Cole Matthews over #4 Ryan Jack
        #14 Tom Crook over #5 Lachlan McNeil … story at … Intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/acc/acc-weekly-recap

February 1, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

7 key takeaways from last weekend in college wrestling

On Friday night just after 9 p.m. ET, Ohio State’s Nick Feldman electrified the Covelli Center in one of the biggest moments of the college wrestling weekend.

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With the dual against Michigan on the line and his match against two-time All-American Lucas Davison tied 1-1 early in the third, Feldman spun around, brought Davison to the mat and scored a critical three-point takedown against the Wolverine. Davison looked to retaliate and took a few half-shots in the final minute, but as time ticked down and Feldman fended off his efforts, the Ohio State faithful came to their feet. They knew their freshman star had won his bout and won the dual for the Bucks. 

Feldman’s win demonstrated that he’s an All-American threat, and his result will skyrocket him in the rankings. 

But this match, and Ohio State’s subsequent win over Michigan, wasn’t the only storyline of the weekend. 

Between Little Rock’s victory over Oregon State, Vito Arujau’s return, Cornell’s toppling of Missouri and so much more, the last three days in college wrestling produced tons of storylines. 

Here’s a complete breakdown of the seven biggest moments (in addition to Ohio State’s win over Michigan) that stand out from a weekend of high-intensity action in dozens of duals. 

High schooler Jax Forrest shakes up collegiate expectations at 125 

The 125-pound weight class is wild. It’s a known fact, and it’s been the biggest storyline all year.

Last week, Matt Ramos became the headliner at the weight after stopping Iowa’s Drake Ayala in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and teching Alan Koehler of Nebraska. Ramos notched another win over the weekend by way of a tight 8-6 decision against Michael Spangler to hold on to his No. 1 spot, but the rankings beneath him will shift once again as the No. 2 spot, in particular, potentially opens up. 

BREAKING DOWN RAMOS’ BIG WIN LAST YEAR: Here’s how the Boilermaker upset 3x NCAA champ Spencer Lee

Lehigh’s Luke Stanich, a true freshman, held that No. 2 spot earlier this week after putting together an 10-1 record through January 13 with wins over No. 3 Eric Barnett, No. 6 Cooper Flynn and No. 13 Brett Ungar. He was quietly accumulating an exceptionally impressive record and looking like he could compete for a national title. 

Let’s be clear: Stanich is still that guy. His wins are still valuable, and his skills are still top notch. 

But Stanich’s No. 2 spot in the country is in question after the Mountain Hawk suffered a loss to high school sophomore Jax Forrest in the finals of the Mat Town Open II in sudden victory. 

Forrest isn’t the only high schooler to beat a top-ranked 125-pounder. Ramos himself lost to Marcus Blaze earlier this year in a performance that, much like Stanich’s, won’t impact his college record but can impact confidence. Ramos took three additional losses in the month following his Blaze match, but he’s been on a winning streak since then and hasn’t dropped a bout since Dec. 1. Stanich will similarly have the chance to get himself back on track with two more ranked matches against No. 32 Ethan Berginc of Army and No. 10 Richie Figueroa of Arizona State before the conference tournament. He’ll remain the highest-ranked EIWA wrestler, and a conference championship could give him a big advantage in NCAA seeding. 

If Stanich drops in the rankings (which isn’t a guarantee since his loss to Forrest doesn’t count as a college loss), Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett could be considered for the No. 2 spot. The Badger All-American went 2-0 on the weekend with wins over No. 12 Caleb Smith 5-3 and Tristan Lujan 4-2. Barnett’s only losses are to Iowa State’s Kysen Terukina — who split his matches this weekend with a win over Conrad Hendrickson and loss to No. 20 Troy Spratley — and, ironically, Stanich. … story at … NCAA.com/news/7-key-takeaways-last-weekend-college-wrestling

February 1, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

NCAA D1 Week 13 Roundup: The Heat Is On

The world’s finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 13th week of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season
It’s the dead of winter, but the dual meet season is heating up! Week 13 of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season ushered forth a new batch of stellar dual meets replete with noteworthy happenings, which we will recount below in our award-winning roundup!
Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week’s Roundup
Hopefully, the NFL playoffs didn’t distract you too much from the incredible college wrestling season that is taking place. 
I’m not saying you can’t watch any NFL games, that would be practically impossible given their ubiquity in American culture, I’m just saying make sure you leave some room for the world’s oldest and greatest sport as well. 
But if all you do to remain a wise and learned wrestling fan is read this blog, well, that’s okay too. 

The Dual of the Century, of the Week

Freshmen phenom Feldman forecloses on the Wolverines

This is the heat of which I speak. Two evenly matched teams. Unexpected heroics. A volcanic rivalry that burns with the intensity of a thousand suns. 
Let’s check out the box score shall we? 
125: #17 Michael DeAugustino (MICH) over #21 Brendan McCrone (OHST) (TF 16-1 6:05)
133: #4 Dylan Ragusin (MICH) over #10 Nic Bouzakis (OHST) (MD 15-6) 
141: #3 Jesse Mendez (OHST) over (MICH) (For.) 
149: #6 Austin Gomez (MICH) over #7 Dylan D’Emilio (OHST) (MD 17-6) 
157: #13 Will Lewan (MICH) over #23 Isaac Wilcox (OHST) (TB-1 5-2) 
165: #12 Bryce Hepner (OHST) over Beau Mantanona (MICH) (Dec 12-10) 
174: #3 Shane Griffith (MICH) over #14 Rocco Welsh (OHST) (Dec 2-1) 
184: Ryder Rogotzke (OHST) over #14 Jaden Bullock (MICH) (TF 21-0 5:00) 
197: #23 Luke Geog (OHST) over Rylan Rogers (MICH) (Dec 9-4) 
285: #16 Nick Feldman (OHST) over #4 Lucas Davison (MICH) (Dec 4-3)
Michigan was without the services of 141-pounder Sergio Lemley, who was flagged at skin check and ruled ineligible to compete. That forced the Wolverines to forfeit as they did not have a backup 133 or 141-pounder with them. It’s worth noting that the NCAA limits the number of wrestlers that can travel to away trips to 13. 
Michigan got bonus points from the first four Wolverines that did take the mat including a key overtime victory at 157. Things looked bleak for the Buckeyes in their home gym after Will Lewan outlasted Isaac Wilcox before intermission. 
But the sold-out crowd in the Covelli Center had much to cheer for in the second half of the dual.  Bryce Hepner got things rolling for the Buckeyes by winning a shootout with Michigan’s talented true freshman Beau Mantanona. Mantanona performed admirably while spelling teammate and All-American Cam Amine at 165, and will likely still keep his redshirt for the remainder of the season. 
Another true freshman, this time for the Buckeyes, also performed admirably in a loss. Rocco Welsh, who will be getting the postseason nod after his All-American teammate Carson Khachla suffered a season-ending injury, lost via third-period ride out to 2021 NCAA champ Shane Griffith. 
Three Ohio State wins closed out the dual, including an unexpected tech-fall from yet another true freshman, Ryder Rogotzke over 14th ranked Jaden Bullock. Rogotzke will also be able to keep his redshirt eligibility this season, with either Seth Shumate or Gavin Hoffman taking his place in the postseason lineup.  Finally, there was the massive upset by redshirt freshman Nick Feldman to clinch the dual and send the Buckeye faithful into a frenzy. 
Had Lemley been able to wrestle, he would have faced #3 Jesse Mendez, and Ohio State still would have been significant favorites in that match, however, in hindsight, all Lemley would have had to do was last the full seven minutes and Michigan would have won the dual. Alas, that will be one of the big ‘what ifs’ of the season for the Wolverines. And if my meager recap of the dual was inadequate, JD Rader wrote a whole live blog for you, which you can read here. 

There Were Other Rivalries Duals This Week

The Citadel defends their home gym against VMI

While not on the same scale as the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the Citadel-VMI rivalry is as fierce as they come. This year’s annual dual between the two premier southern military academics went the Bulldog’s way as Citadel won 35-3

Oklahoma State tops Iowa State in ancient Big 8 rivalry

The Cowboys and the Cyclones have been duking it out for over a century. Their first dual was in 1921, won by Iowa State 37-3. The heydey of this rivalry was in the 60s and 70s, when the two teams combined for 12 NCAA titles over two decades, back when they were both in the Big 8, a conference that later merged with the Southwest Conference to form what is now the Big 12.  Both programs are tending up, and this year’s dual featured 17 ranked wrestlers. Oklahoma State prevailed 21-12 thanks to a major by #2 Plott over #9 Feldkamp at 184 and a major by true freshman Jersey Robb over #29 Broderson at 197. The highlight for the Cyclones was #2 David Carr defeating #3 Izzak Olejnik 8-1 at 165. You can read more about in our live blog by the celebrated Kyle Klingman.  Oklahoma State also beat UNI 22-12 in what was a very successful weekend in Stillwater for the Cowboys against Iowan opponents. 

Penn State hammered Maryland in the Mason-Dixon Line Rivalry

I made that rivalry up although maybe Penn State and Maryland want to start using it? It’s a free idea, there for the taking! Anyway, this wasn’t much of a rivalry as Penn State rocked the Terps to the tune of four pins, two tech-falls and two majors in a 42-6 victory. Aaron Nagao did not wrestle at 133 and neither did either Tyler Kasak or David Evans 141. Kasak and Evans were both at the Mat Town Open II, where Kasak beat Evans in the finals 4-2, however. I’m not sure Coach Sanderson has made a final decision at that weight yet. Also, I live blogged the dual, which you can read here.

Bonus points propel Cleveland State over Ohio

Not as storied a rivalry as others, as Cleveland State only joined Ohio in the MAC a few years ago ,but still a nice intra-state dual that came down to the final bout. The Vikings won 197 and 285 to complete the come-from-behind victory, 24-19. 
Both schools still have Kent State on the schedule. If CSU can defeat the Golden Flashes they’ll lay claim to being the best MAC team in Ohio. And if they want to make a trophy for that I would support it. Just another idea for the taking, gratis. 

February 1, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment