Takedown Report

Best matches at every weight class from the 2023-2024 college wrestling dual season

The 2023-2024 college wrestling season dual season has officially ended, so with the postseason on the horizon, let’s take a look back at some of the best matches at every weight class. 

🤼 MORE COLLEGE WRESTLING 🤼 🚨 Alerts and updates on Bleacher Report
🎥 Wrestling on YouTube 🍎 Follow on Apple News
Note: For each weight class, a “winning match” has been identified along with 2-3 finalists. This is an entirely subjective list based on the significance of these wins in the rankings, the storylines surrounding each match and the amount of points put up by the athlete.

125 pounds: Jakob Camacho (NC State) over Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech), 5-1
Finalists: Patrick McKee (Minnesota) over Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), FALL (4:47); Nico Provo (Stanford) over Matt Ramos (Purdue), 8-1

Call it recency bias, call it rivalry fever, but Jakob Camacho’s 5-1 win on Feb. 23 over Virginia Tech’s Cooper Flynn is the 2023-2024 125-pound match of the season so far. Flynn started the year in Olympic redshirt behind Virginia Tech All-American Eddie Ventresca, while Camacho, despite holding the No. 1 spot in the country for a brief moment, also sat behind teammate and 2023 ACC champion Jarrett Trombley for several duals this year. But, the final dual of the season, it was Camacho vs. Flynn, two athletes who have the talent to win a title but have taken their own unique paths into the lineup, and Camacho claimed victory.
Flynn came into the match ranked No. 4 while Camacho was No. 14 in the country, though the Pack veteran wrestled like he couldn’t care less about the rankings. He came out and attacked, earning the only offensive points of the match. His win also gave NC State three key team points in the Wolfpack’s 20-12 win over the Hokies. 
Camacho and Flynn will likely meet again in the ACC tournament and potentially in the NCAA tournament. But the latest victory belongs to Camacho. This result also shifted the Pack senior up to No. 10 in the rankings and slid Flynn down to No. 6.

LAST YEAR AT 125: Rewatch Matt Ramos’ shocking upset over three-time NCAA champ Spencer Lee
Purdue’s Matt Ramos still paces this crazy weight class at No. 1, with his biggest win coming against Iowa’s No. 2 Drake Ayala in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and his most notable loss coming to Stanford’s No. 18 Nico Provo at the Cliff Keen Invitational. No. 4 Patrick McKee and No. 5 Eric Barnett participated in the other bout that earned “match of the year” finalist status, as McKee pinned Barnett in the second period during yet another result in a long line of back-and-forth outcomes within this rivalry.  If these three spotlighted matches prove anything, it’s to expect the unexpected at 125 pounds. The NCAA champ will be the guy that can best weather the storm of what will be a deep national championship bracket come March. 

133 pounds: Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) over Vito Arujau (Cornell), 8-4 … story at …NCAA.com/news/wrestling/Best-matches-every-weight-class-2023-2024-college-wrestling-dual-season

March 6, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized