Takedown Report

Men’s College Notebook: Week 2 Primer

November 8 

Virginia vs. #8 Lehigh

Navy at #14 Rutgers 

The Journeymen WrangleMania has always been a great day of duals in Bethlehem, Pa. These two battles will be ones to watch.
Leigh is coming off back-to-back 15th place finishes at the NCAAs and gets back four wrestlers that missed last year who all rank in the top 10. If duals start at 125 pounds for Lehigh, they will march out the #5, #2, and #3 ranked wrestlers in the first three bouts this one. Rutgers is primed for a big season; they reloaded at the upper weights in the portal, headlined by #8 Lenny Pinto transferring in from Nebraska.

November 9 

#4 Ohio State at Chattanooga 

Northern Colorado at #23 North Carolina 

Despite the #4 national ranking, Ohio State still has lineup questions to answer. At last week’s Clarion Open, the Buckeyes had three wrestlers in both the 125- and 197-pound brackets. A wrestler from Ohio State won each of those two brackets, but it wasn’t the wrestler most expected in both circumstances. Nic Bouzakis was a two-time NCAA Qualifier at 133 pounds, including being the seventh seed last year, but is coming down to 125 pounds and was presumed to be the starter. However, last year’s starter, Brendan McCrone, is not ready to let go of that spot and scored a 5-4 win over Bouzakis in the final. Up at 197, Luke Geogg took a 10-4 win over Ryder Rogotzke (who has an available redshirt) in the final; this was after presumed starter Seth Shumate fell in his opening match.
The winner continues as the only ‘UNC’ – Northern Colorado and North Carolina will battle it out. Both are young squads, and both have a lot of lineup questions to start the season. Northern Colorado is under first-year head coach Teyon Ware and lost a pair of 2025 All-Americans to Iowa State in the offseason: Stevo Poulin at 125 pounds and Vinny Zerban at 157 pounds. The Tar Heels could feature as many as seven new starters this year and will rely on a deep redshirt freshman class. That said, it could be a pair of veteran transfers leading the charge for the Tar Heels this year: Ethan Oakley at 133 pounds and Bryce Hepner at 165 pounds. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/november/05/men-s-college-notebook-week-2-primer

November 9, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized