Iowa State Wins Second CKLV Title in Three Years
LAS VEGAS – Four Cyclones were crowned champions at the 2025 Cliff Keen Invitational as Iowa State ran away with its second team title at the event in the last three seasons.
Iowa State scored 183.5 points to win the team title, well in front of second place Michigan (99) and third place Stanford (97.5). Evan Frost (133), Anthony Echemendia (141), Rocky Elam (197) and Yonger Bastida (285) all won individual titles as ISU had a placewinniner in nine of 10 weight classes. The Cyclones scored 34.5 bonus points in the tournament thanks to 13 tech falls, seven major decisions and four pins.
Evan Frost accepted a medial forfeit from Arizona State’s No. 19 Kyler Larkin (ASU) in the 133-pound finals to win his first CKLV title. Frost had previously finished as runner-up in his previous two appearances in Las Vegas.
At 141 pounds, No. 4 Anthony Echemendia used two second period takedowns to top Rider’s No. 26 Elijah Griffin, 6-2, in the championship match. Echemendia posted a 5-0 record with two tech falls and a major decision en route to his CKLV title.
The night ended with back-to-back Iowa State-Wyoming matchups in the 197- and 285-pound finals matches. It was another high-level test for No. 2 Rocky Elam against No. 6 Joey Novak, who placed fifth at the NCAA Championships last season. Elam secured two takedowns and a riding time point in a 7-3 decision over the Cowboy. Elam logged two top-10 wins on the final day of the tournament and now has three such wins this season.
The heavyweight finals match pitted No. 1 Yonger Bastida against former Cyclone Christian Carroll. Bastida got the better of Carroll in a low scoring affair, 5-3. It marks Bastida’s second CKLV title.
No. 10 Stevo Poulin dropped a 7-0 decision to Stanford’s No. 11 Nico Provo in the 125-pound third-place bout. Provo used a takedown and a quick tilt for three near fall points in the final 30 seconds of the first period which proved to be the difference in the match. … more at … https://cyclones.com/news/2025/12/6/wrestling-iowa-state-wins-second-cklv-title-in-three-year
Wolverines Claim Second Place at CKLV Invitational, Put Five on Podium
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The University of Michigan wrestling team claimed second place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with five individual placewinners — four in the top four at their respective weights — on Saturday (Dec. 6) at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center. It was the Wolverines’ highest finish at the annual tournament in eight years.
Redshirt freshman Brock Mantanona was the Wolverines’ top performer with a runner-up finish at 184 pounds, improving on his seventh-place showing last season at 165 pounds. Mantanona fell 5-0 to Franklin and Marshall’s 12th-ranked James Conway in the championship match. He could not finish on a single in the air in the first period, then gave up a last-second takedown on the edge to fall behind 3-0 after the first. Conway added an escape point and rode out the third to seal the win.
Mantanona, the top seed and ranked seventh nationally, cruised to an 18-5 major decision against Oklahoma’s 13th-ranked Brian Soldano in the morning semifinals. The Wolverine freshman scored four takedowns, including two in the third period and one at the final buzzer, and a four-point cradle in the first. Mantanona is 9-2 on the season with four ranked wins and five bonus wins.
The Wolverines went 8-1 in the morning session with eight bonus wins to surge back from fifth to second place. Redshirt sophomore Beau Mantanona and graduate student Taye Ghadiali bounced back from quarterfinal losses to post 6-1 records and claim third place at 174 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
Beau Mantanona, seeded third and ranked 13th, avenged his only loss of the tournament in the medal round, using a counter scramble takedown midway through the third and 1:23 in riding-time advantage to earn a 6-3 decision against South Dakota State’s 24th-ranked Moses Espinoza-Owens. He cradled and pinned Cal Poly’s Cash Stewart at 1:16 in his first bout of the day, … more at … https://mgoblue.com/news/2025/12/6/wrestling-wolverines-claim-second-place-at-cklv-invitational-put-five-on-podium
No. 22 UNC Wrestling Downs No. 17 West Virginia, 27-7
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Eight North Carolina wrestlers were victorious Friday night, as the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels downed No. 17 West Virginia, 27-7 inside Carmichael Arena.
The 6-0 start is the best start to a campaign since 2005-06, and the fifth time in program history the Tar Heels have won their first six duals of the season (1979-80, 1986-87, 1993-94, 2005-06, 2025-26).
On the night, Kysen Terukina (125), Ethan Oakley (133), Luke Simcox (141), Nate Askew (149), Bryce Hepner (165), Jake Dailey (184), Robert Platt (197) and Nolan Neves (285) secured wins. Hepner’s first-period fall was the lone bonus-point victory in the matchup for Carolina.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 12-0 advantage following four-straight decisions, courtesy of Terukina, Oakley, Simcox, and Askew.
At 157-pounds, Hepner’s first-period fall was the second of the campaign and the 12th of his collegiate career. Three of the four wins this season for the Avon, Ohio product have come via major decision or fall. Carolina closed the dual with three-straight decisions by Dailey, Platt and Neves. Dailey and Platt secured verdicts over No. 21 Ian Bush and No. 22 Rune Lawrence, respectively. … more at … https://goheels.com/news/2025/12/12/no-22-wrestling-downs-no-17-west-virginia-27-7
#9 N.C. State Wrestling Falls to #2 Ohio State on the Road
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ninth-ranked NC State wrestling was defeated by the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes Friday evening by a score of 26-10.
In front of nearly 4,000 at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, Vincent Robinson tallied another win under his belt with a major decision over Brendan McCrone to claim the only commanding win for the Pack.
Koy Buesgens at 149 lbs and Matty Singleton at 174 lbs each faced their first losses of the season by decision to top-10 opponents.
Standout freshman Will Denny at 165 lbs notched another ranked upset with a sudden victory win over two-time NCAA Qualifier No. 11 Paddy Gallagher. Quickly climbing through the rankings, this marks his second top-15 win of the season.
In just his second match back, Isaac Trumble continues to prove his status coming off the knee injury he suffered back in the spring at NCAAs. He took a 5-1 win over third-ranked Nick Feldman, … more at … https://gopack.com/news/2025/12/12/-9-wrestling-falls-to-2-ohio-state-on-the-road
How Do You Earn A Women’s College Wrestling Scholarship?
Five head women’s coaches from different divisions weigh in on how to earn a college scholarship (and a few of the myths behind them).
How do you earn a scholarship to compete in a women’s wrestling program? The answer is more complicated than one might think.
Below are seven general insights from head women’s coaches at the NCAA (DI, II, and III), NAIA, and junior college levels.
1. Every Program Is Different
This seems obvious, but every school has different tuition rates, different coaches, different needs, different scholarship availability, and different internal expectations.
You might be one of the best high school wrestlers in the nation, but a program has two quality wrestlers at a weight, so the timing and scholarship amount might change based on need.
Some schools have different scholarship amounts. Travis Mercado coaches at Colorado Mesa — a Division II program in Grand Junction. He started with half a scholarship for his entire program, but now he’s at six. “Nobody gets a full athletic scholarship,” said Presbyterian coach Brian Vutianitis. “We are all partial. We have 30 girls, so we have six scholarships to host a team of 30.”
Junior colleges have a different athletic scholarship model. They can offer athletic scholarships to 22 LOI (Letter of Intent) wrestlers. Using a fictitious and even number of $100,000 athletic dollars means a junior college can give varying amounts to 22 athletes. One athlete might get $20,000, another $10,000, and another $5,000 — as long as it adds up to $100,000 between a maximum of 22 athletes. “Junior college commitments are only for one year,” Iowa Central coach Zak Hensley said. “All of our athletes have to re-sign if they return. That price can go up. We never like to take money away from kids, but if they’re not the right fit, you can go a different way, even though we never want to do that to a kid. You can go up or down, but it will pretty much go up for our returners.”
2. There Are Myths About Athletic Scholarships
Clout comes from telling everyone you’re on an athletic scholarship, but math teachers around the world are collectively rolling their eyes.
Tuition at college A might be $50,000, and a coach offers a $10,000 athletic scholarship.
Tuition at college B might be $25,000, and a coach offers a $5,000 athletic scholarship.
Option B is offering less money, but you’ll pay double at Option A. You can tell all your friends and family that you received twice as much athletic scholarship money and neglect to tell them you’re paying twice as much in tuition. … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/14920493-how-do-you-earn-a-womens-college-wrestling-scholarship
DI Live Streaming Guide (12/10 – 12/14/2025)
With the CKLV in the rearview mirror, we have a light week of competition ahead. All of the DI action this week will take place in duals. A total of 23 duals will be contested. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links).
All Times Eastern
Thursday, December 11:
Bellarmine at Kent State 4:00 PM BoxCast
Bellarmine vs. Edinboro at Kent State 5:30 PM
Edinboro at Kent State 7:00 PM BoxCast
Friday, December 12:
West Virginia at North Carolina 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra
NC State at Ohio State 7:00 PM B1G+
Chattanooga vs. Utah Valley at Hannibal, MO 5:30 PM FloWrestling
Chattanooga vs. Iowa at Hannibal, MO 7:30 PM FloWrestling
Iowa vs. Utah Valley at Hannibal, MO 9:30 PM FloWrestling
Saturday, December 13:
Mercyhurst vs Penn State Altoona at Penn State Behred 12:00 PM Hudl
Mercyhurst at Penn State Behrend 4:00 PM Hudl
Gardner-Webb at Buffalo 12:00 PM ESPN+
Gardner-Webb vs. Kent State at Buffalo 2:00 PM
Kent State at Buffalo 4:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Maryland 12:00 PM B1G+
Army West Point at Indiana 2:00 PM B1G+
Binghamton at Bloomsburg 6:00 PM FloWrestling
Oklahoma at Rutgers 8:00 PM Big Ten Network
Penn State at Wyoming, 8:00 PM FloWrestling … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/47_streaming-guide/di-live-streaming-guide-1210-12142025-r100691/
No. 6 Nebraska Drops Brown, Missouri
The No. 6 Nebraska wrestling team defeated Brown, 44-3, and No. 12 Missouri, 27-10, with 10 bonus-point match wins on Friday night. The Huskers are now 5-2 on the season.
At 125 pounds, both Alan Koehler and Kael Lauridsen earned their first dual wins of the season. Koehler posted a 20-3 tech. fall over Brown’s Jared Brunner, while Lauridsen upset No. 22 Mack Mauger of Missouri in sudden victory, 4-1.
No. 7 Jacob Van Dee (133) recorded the quickest pin of his career, sticking Brown’s Douglas Shipers in 1:14, then followed up with a 9-5 decision over Missouri’s No. 17 Kade Moore.
No. 3 Brock Hardy captured two bonus-point match wins at 141, pinning Missouri’s Khimari Manns in 2:32, then capturing a 19-4 tech. fall over Brown’s No. 18 Zeke Seltzer.
At 157, No. 6 Antrell Taylor posted a 17-2 tech. fall over Brown’s Ethan Mojena before defeating Missouri’s No. 18 J Conway by decision, 4-2.
The redshirt freshman LJ Araujo downed back-to-back ranked opponents by tight decisions. Against Brown, Araujo defeated No. 27 Max Norman in sudden victory, 10-7, before edging Missouri’s No. 18 Max Mayfield with a last-second takedown in the third period to secure a 4-3 victory.
No. 6 Christopher Minto (174) dominated both matchups by tech. fall, opening with a 25-8 win over Brown’s Drew Clearie before rolling to a 19-4 victory against Missouri’s Danny Heiser.
At 184, No. 8 Silas Allred pinned Brown’s Thomas Sandoval at 2:56 before falling to Missouri’s No. 2 Aeoden Sinclair by decision, 5-1.
Sophomore Camden McDanel went 1-1 Friday … more at … https://huskers.com/news/2025/12/6/no-6-nebraska-drops-brown-missouri
Penn State’s streak hits 74 as top-ranked Nittany Lions improve to 3-0
Indiana enters Top 25 after a pair of weekend wins
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State and Ohio State remained atop the rankings following a moderate slate of non-conference duals across the country as the NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday.
Penn State improved to 3-0 after a pair of road victories, defeating Drexel 43-3 in Philadelphia and earning a 36-6 win over Lehigh in University Park. The two wins put Penn State’s win streak at 74 in a row, just two away from the major college record and three away from tying the NCAA record.
Second-ranked Ohio State remained unbeaten at 7-0 with a 41-3 home win over Bellarmine.
Nebraska went 2-0 at a neutral-site event in St. Charles, Missouri, opening with a 44-3 win over Brown before securing a 27-10 victory against then-No. 12 Missouri. The Tigers split their day with a 42-0 win over LIU before the loss to Nebraska.
NC State moved to 5-2 after a 45-4 neutral-site win over Morgan State and a 27-11 victory over then-No. 13 Rutgers in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. The Wolfpack moved up to No. 9 this week.
Pittsburgh collected two wins, earning a 21-15 road victory at then-No. 14 Lehigh before defeating Bucknell 19-13 at home. As a result, the Panthers jumped four spots to No. 16 this week. Lehigh slid to No. 19 this week.
No. 11 Minnesota added a pair of wins, defeating Little Rock 23-9 in Mequon, Wisconsin as part of Flowrestling Night in America, and topping North Dakota State 26-9 in Minneapolis.
Wisconsin remained unbeaten with road wins at Army West Point and Hofstra. … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2025/12/9/national-wrestling-coaches-association-penn-states-streak-hits-74-as-top-ranked-nittany-lions-improve-to-3-0.aspx
WIN’s Dec. 9 updated TPI, Dual-Team Rankings and Individual Rankings
NEWTON, Iowa — WIN’s Dec. 9 updated Tournament Power Index (TPI), Top-20 Dual Teams and Individual Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic, saw lots of movement, especially for individuals, after an action-packed weekend that featured the annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and Cougar Clash, among other events.
The Tournament Power Index and Dual-Team Rankings remained largely unchanged at the top this week. The top five teams remained the same in each, with just one point separating Ohio State and Iowa (89.5 and 88.5, respectively) in the latest TPI. However, several teams in the Top 20 made jumps after strong individual performances over the weekend.
WIN’s TPI projects where programs could finish at the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 19-21 in Cleveland.
The following is a breakdown of those individual TPI points per ranking: 20 for 1st, 16 for 2nd, 13.5 for 3rd, 12.5 for 4th, 10 for 5th, 9 for 6th, 6.5 for 7th and 5.5 for 8th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by one and a half points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and one point for those ranked 17-20.
Penn State features five top-ranked wrestlers with Nittany Lions Shayne Van Ness (149), PJ Duke (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) headlining their respective weight classes. Also ranked No. 1 are three defending national champions in Vincent Robinson of NC State (125), Lucas Byrd of Illinois (133), and Jesse Mendez of Ohio State (141), … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2025/12/09/wins-dec-9-updated-tpi-dual-team-rankings-and-individual-rankings/
Murillo Garners Conference Carolinas Women’s Wrestler of the Week
MOUNT OLIVE – Bella Murillo earns Conference Carolina Women’s Wrestler of the Week, announced by the league Tuesday afternoon.
In the dual against Montreat College, Murillo posted a 57-second pin over Anna Skoda at 131lbs. In the Trojans Duals, Murillo recorded two tech falls: 12-2 over Marjorie Welton of Norwich and 10-0 over Veronica Conant of Norwich.
Mount Olive competes next at the Wasp Open hosted … more at … https://umotrojans.com/news/2025/12/9/womens-wrestling-murillo-garners-conference-carolinas-womens-wrestler-of-the-week.aspx
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 