Takedown Report

7 key storylines from a jam-packed weekend of college wrestling

Between shutouts, upsets, individual breakout stars and the return of a national champion, this weekend in college wrestling had it all. Here’s everything you need to know about the action and results from across the country. 
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Ohio State All-American Sasso descents to 157 pounds, splits weekend matches
One of the biggest, most inspiring storylines this season in college wrestling has been the return of Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso, a two-time NCAA finalist who survived a shooting in the fall of 2024 and is now healthy and back on the mat for his final season. Sasso, who wrestled most of his career at 149 pounds, started the year up at 165 pounds, has officially made the descent down to 157 pounds where he finished as the runner-up at the Franklin & Marshall Open to NC State’s Jackson Arrington by fall and notched a key win against Rutgers’ Conner Harer 3-2. 
Sasso’s weight class move shakes up the Buckeye lineup a little bit as well but puts him back down at a weight closer to his prime competition weight earlier in his career. In the Buckeyes’ two duals this weekend, Ohio State’s national qualifier Paddy Gallagher and Sasso split time at 157 pounds, with Gallagher competing the weight against the Illini on Saturday while Sasso competed in the Franklin & Marshall Open before the veteran took over the weight against Rutgers. Gallagher dropped his match against Illinois’ Jason Kraisser 16-9, but the Buckeyes still won the dual 24-9. The Rutgers dual was much dicier. 
Rutgers’ Dean Peterson and Dylan Shawver pulled off top-15 upsets against Ohio State’s Brendan McCrone and Nic Bouzakis to open the day at 125 and 133 pounds before NCAA champion Jesse Mendez, All-American Dylan D’Emilio and Sasso notched their wins. … more at … https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2025-01-13/7-key-storylines-jam-packed-weekend-college-wrestling
And …

College Wrestling Notebook: Nebraska defeats Minnesota, Shotwell delivers for Life, Maryland stuns Michigan
Week 11 has come and gone, college wrestling fans. This weekend was highlighted by the NWCA National Duals that featured some of the best wrestling across multiple divisions, the start of conference action for several programs, and so much more. It’s also worth noting that No. 3 Oklahoma State has rescheduled its dual against No. 5 NC State for Monday night at 7 p.m. CT, so there is one more event before we can officially close out the week. Check out a few highlights from this past weekend below. Move of the week
McKendree’s Kaylynn Albrecht won by fall in just 19 seconds into her first match as a Bearcat on Friday. Albrecht helped fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked McKendree to a third place finish at the NWCA National Duals this weekend.
Dual of the week
No. 6 Nebraska defeated No. 4 Minnesota on Saturday afternoon at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, 21-13. The win was the 300^th dual win at Nebraska for head coach Mark Manning. The victory moved the Huskers to 6-1 overall, while the Gophers dropped to 4-1.

No. 6  Nebraska 21, No. 4 Minnesota 13
157: No. 5 Antrell Taylor dec. No. 10 Tommy Askey (MINN) SV-1, 4-1
165: Christopher Minto dec. No. 9 Andrew Sparks (MINN) 5-4
174: No. 16 Lenny Pinto dec. No. 24 Cam Whiting (MINN) 9-3
184: No. 4 Max McEnelly (MINN) major dec. No. 6 Silas Allred 16-6
197: No. 9 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) major dec. No. 22 Camden McDanel 8-0
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) tech. fall No. 24 Harley Andrews 19-4 (3:32)
125: No. 7 Caleb Smith dec. No. 5 Cooper Flynn (MINN) 2-0 … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/january/13/college-wrestling-notebook-nebraska-defeats-minnesota-shotwell-delivers-for-life-maryland-stuns-michigan

January 23, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | sports, wrestling