Top-ranked Nittany Lions go wire-to-wire, finish regular season as lone unbeaten
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State closes the regular season as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, finishing 15-0 to headline the final NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll of the regular season, released Tuesday.
The Nittany Lions capped their dual slate with a 50-0 win over Princeton and will head into next season riding a Division I-record 86 straight dual meet victories. Third-ranked Oklahoma State closed at 15-1 after a 32-11 win over then-No. 7 Iowa in front of 12,629 fans and a worldwide audience on ESPN’s flagship channel. It’s the fourth-largest crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
It’s the 12th dual meet crowd over 10,000 fans at a Division I men’s dual event this year, surpassing the previous high of 10 set last season. Penn State, Iowa, Iowa State and Oklahoma State hosted all 12 of those events, with Iowa hosting half of them. Oklahoma State held three duals with over 10,000, Penn State two and Iowa State one.
Iowa State secured the No. 4 spot with a 20-14 victory over then-No. 14 Missouri to finish 12-2, while fifth-ranked Nebraska wrapped its dual schedule at 13-6 following a 32-6 win over Utah Valley.
Virginia Tech finished sixth at 11-3 after a 26-17 win over Duke. Eighth-ranked NC State edged Cornell 19-18 to close at 15-4.
Rutgers finished 14-5 and 11th after a 45-3 win over Hofstra. Michigan moved to 12th at 9-6 with a 34-6 victory over Central Michigan. Pittsburgh climbed to 13th after a 37-0 shutout of Virginia.
North Carolina dropped to 15th after a 28-6 loss to 18th-ranked Stanford. West Virginia secured the No. 16 position with a 21-15 win over Lock Haven.
Northern Iowa edged Wisconsin 16-15 in a ranked matchup to finish 17th. Stanford’s win over North Carolina pushed the Cardinal to 18th. Wisconsin fell to 19th.
Indiana closes the regular season ranked 20th after a 20-16 win over Purdue. South Dakota State dropped to 21st following a 20-13 loss to North Dakota State. Wyoming, Oklahoma and Oregon State … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2026/2/24/national-wrestling-coaches-association-top-ranked-nittany-lions-go-wire-to-wire-finish-regular-season-as-lone-unbeaten.aspx
Intermat’s NCAA DI Rankings Updated (2/24/2026)
That’s it! The 2025-26 regular season is finished. As always, the season seems to fly by when you’re not cutting weight and getting beat up every day. Even though last weekend was the last week of competition for most schools there were still plenty of results that had an impact on rankings. Below, we’ll mention some of the more notable moves for the week.
125 lbs
We had a flip of the 6 and 7 spots as Troy Spratley avenged his early-season loss to Dean Peterson. Also flipping spots at 20 and 21 as Ezekiel Witt was victorious over Brady Roark in the Battle of the Dakotas. ACC wrestlers Kysen Terukina and Keyveon Roller both suffered losses and were dropped a bit. Terukina’s was to Provo; however, the totality of his body of work, probably warranted a drop. Roller lost to an unranked opponent he had beaten earlier in the season.
133 lbs
With no one losing above Jax Forrest and him technically beating an opponent that was already below him almost led us to keep him at his #6 position. Comparing resumes with Kyler Larkin, his best wins (Seidel, Ayala), trumped Larkins (Knox, Figueroa). You could probably say the same about Evan Frost, but we’ll hold off for now. The three will be in the Big 12 Championships together, so they’ll sort it out soon.
141 lbs
There had to be some work done at this weight around the 10-14 range. Stanford freshman Jack Consiglio pinned UNC freshman Luke Simcox. The Consiglio/Simcox/Jack trio have all beaten each other; so we’ll go with Jack pinning Consiglio, who just pinned Simcox – rewarding the wrestlers with the better margin of victory.
149 lbs
Previously #2 ranked Jaxon Joy was shocked by Koy Buesgens in the final week of the season. Because of this Caleb Tyus moves into the #2 spot and Joy only drops a spot based on his body of work and the lack of another great option to overtake him. Buesgens stays put, he has recently losses to the two wrestlers currently above him. Jacob Frost drops out of the top ten … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-2242026-r100834/
App State Wrestling Secures Another SoCon Title With Senior Day Victory
BOONE, N.C. — App State Wrestling secured another SoCon regular season title Sunday, prevailing 25-14 against Gardner-Webb in front of a sizable Senior Day crowd.
The Mountaineers (10-6, 7-1 SoCon) earned at least a share of a regular season title for the fourth time in the last five years and the eighth time in the last 11 years by tying Chattanooga and The Citadel for first place.
It’s the program’s ninth regular season title in 17 seasons under the direction of head coach JohnMark Bentley, who lost starters at five of 10 weights from last year’s championship team and has three freshmen in this year’s lineup.
With the three most accomplished wrestlers from Gardner-Webb (7-13, 4-4) filling the lightest weights at 125, 133 and 141 pounds, Sunday’s dual began at 141 following a coin flip that gave App State the choice of where to start. The Mountaineers improved to 6-1 in coin flips involving assistant coach Hunter Shaut, small victories that allowed them to choose the starting weight almost every time there wasn’t an agreement to begin at 125 pounds.
Aldo Hernandez gave up the first takedown but recorded the final two in an 8-4 decision against Dominic DiTullio, who arrived in Boone with a 5-1 record in SoCon duals, and Kaden Keiser’s six-point pin as the second-period buzzer sounded at 149 pounds produced a 9-0 lead in the team score.
Anthony Conetta won via an 18-2 tech fall at 165 pounds, and Gardner-Webb trailed 14-8 after winning a major decision at 174, but the Mountaineers were able to clinch the team victory thanks to consecutive wins by Tomas Brooker (9-0 major decision at 184), Logan Eller (9-2 decision at 197) and Stephan Monchery (11-2 major decision at heavyweight).
Facing Josh McCutchen, who was 5-0 with a 54-9 scoring advantage … more at …. https://appstatesports.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-secures-another-socon-title-with-senior-day-victory.aspx
Chattanooga Mocs Adds to SoCon Record Trophy Case
The Chattanooga Mocs claimed a share of the 18th Southern Conference Regular Season Title in school history with a stellar performance at Bellarmine.
Overview
The Chattanooga Mocs earned a Southern Conference record 18th regular season crown with a 26-9 triumph at Bellarmine. The Mocs won eight of the 10 bouts including the final six to pull away with an impressive road triumph in the regular season finale.
Match Results
Chattanooga 26, at Bellarmine 9
Records: Chattanooga 10-5, 7-1 SoCon | Bellarmine 7-8, 4-4 SoCon
Resources: Results | Series History
Quotable
“I don’t think we wrestled poorly against The Citadel. We just didn’t execute and get all the points we could. I think from then on, we kind of understood that when we’re in on a leg, it might be the only good chance we have to score. I think from then on, you kind of saw our guys wrestle differently through the whole match. It’s great to finish the regular season this way, but now it’s postseason, and that’s the most important thing for some of these guys.” – Coach Kyle Ruschell on the last 2 weeks earning another SoCon title
“The team needed some extra points. I got to my offense … more at … https://gomocs.com/news/2026/2/22/recap-wrestling-adds-to-socon-record-trophy-case.aspx
The Citadel Dismantles Rival VMI, Seizes First SoCon Regular-Season Title Since 2004
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Headlined by an early pin from Teegan Vasquez (133 lbs) followed by a key tech falls via Kyrel Leavell (157 lbs) and Brodie Porter (184 lbs), The Citadel (11-7, 7-1 SoCon) managed to engineer a near-perfect victory over league rival VMI (5-9, 1-6 SoCon) en route to clinching the program’s first Southern Conference regular-season championship since the 2003-04 campaign, surrendering just three bouts to the visitors as the Bulldogs dispatched the Keydets behind a decisive 34-11 margin Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field House.
With the win, The Citadel earns a guaranteed share of the regular-season SoCon championship via a 7-1 record; Chattanooga and Appalachian State also closed out their campaigns at 7-1 for a share of the title as well, the former claiming a road win at Bellarmine and the latter topping Gardner-Webb at home, both on Sunday afternoon. Previously, the Bulldogs took down the Mocs in a tightly-contested 19-18 criteria victory before falling to App State just a week later; meanwhile, UTC managed to pick up a home win over the previously unbeaten Mountaineers on Sunday, Feb. 15, forcing a three-way tie for the regular-season crown.
Next up, The Citadel advances to the 2026 Southern Conference Championship … more at … https://citadelsports.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-the-citadel-dismantles-rival-vmi-seizes-first-socon-regular-season-title-since-2004.aspx
CBU Concludes Regular Season with Dominant Showing over CSUB on Senior Night
By: Ryley Collom, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Digital Media
RIVERSIDE— The California Baptist University wrestling team closed its 2025-26 schedule on Saturday evening, defeating the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 29-12 with seven match victories in Riverside. The Lancers conclude their regular season 3-11 and have now beaten their SoCal rivals four times in a row.
The dual would begin at 165lbs, with Gabe Schumm facing Evan Manzo of Bakersfield. Schumm wasted no time getting the sizable crowd energized at Van Dyne Gym as he would pin Manzo in 1:41 into the match and put six quick points on the board for CBU. Schumm has now won four of his last five duals and will take some heavy momentum into the BIG 12 in two weeks. Bakersfield would fight back at 174lbs as Guillermo Escobedo would garner a decision win over Mason Espinoza to slash the team led in half.
Timothy Cowan would make the most of his final dual at Van Dyne as he would pick up a Senior Night victory over Jeremy Manibog by decision 4-1. Eli Sheeren would keep the momentum going with another pin for the Lancers as he would put Chris Neal on his back in the third period to push the lead to 15-3 in favor of the Lancers. Tristan Kemp would further the lead at heavyweight with a dominant 5-1 decision over Mason Cover to make it 18-3 at intermission. CBU would take a brief pause at intermission to honor the seven seniors before the wrestling would resume at 125lbs. … more at … https://cbulancers.com/news/2026/2/21/wrestling-cbu-concludes-regular-season-with-dominant-showing-over-csub-on-senior-night
No. 4 Cyclones Top No. 14 Missouri on Senior Day
AMES, Iowa – No. 4 Iowa State defeated No. 14 Missouri on senior day, 20-14, Sunday afternoon inside Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones started hot, taking six of the first seven bouts, before the Tigers would close with three-straight wins of their own.
Iowa State (12-2, 8-1 Big 12) held the edge over Missouri (12-8, 5-3) in the takedown battle, 14-13. The Cyclones have now won three-straight, and four of the last five, over the Tigers.
Eight Cyclones were recognized following the dual for senior day – Yonger Bastida, Rocky Elam, Vinny Zerban, Stevo Poulin, Isaac Dean, Manny Rojas, Rowan Udell and Xavier Bruening.
The dual began at 197 pounds which meant a top-15 matchup to start things out. No. 2 Rocky Elam remained unbeaten with a win against his former team as he defeated No. 13 Evan Bates, 7-3.
It was an emotional senior day farewell for top-ranked heavyweight and lineup mainstay Yonger Bastida. In typical Bastida fashion, he closed out his last match in Hilton Coliseum with a 22-6 tech fall in 5:43. Bastida tallied seven takedowns in the match, pushing his season total to 102, as he secured his nation-leading 13th tech fall.
A big feet-to-back move in the first period allowed No. 10 Stevo Poulin to jump out to a big lead in a 9-4 decision over No. 30 Mack Mauger at 125 pounds. Poulin closes his regular season a winner in eight of his last nine.
At 133 pounds, Garrett Grice earned his second-straight ranked win in as many dual appearances. Grice notched takedowns in the first and second periods as he cruised to a 7-3 decision over No. 30 Gage Walker.
No. 3 Anthony Echemendia squeezed out a tight win over Easton Hilton at 141 pounds with a 3-2 decision. Echemendia finishes his regular season with a 16-2 mark.
After Missouri got on the board with a decision at 149 pounds, No. 7 Vinny Zerban got things back on track with a tight 5-3 win over No. 15 Teague Travis. Zerban struck first with a takedown in the opening period and closed the match by riding Travis for the entire third period. The Tigers would close the dual with three-straight wins, … more at … https://cyclones.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-no-4-cyclones-top-no-14-missouri-on-senior-day
Northern Iowa wrestling rallies for senior day win over Wisconsin
Panthers overcome early deficit to close out regular season with 16-15 win over Badgers.
OFFICIALS – Eric Boucher, Ben Marshall
ATTENDANCE – 3,190
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The 18th ranked UNI wrestling team closed out the 2025-26 dual schedule in style on Sunday, rallying from an early deficit to defeat No. 16 Wisconsin by a score of 16-15 inside the McLeod Center in non-conference action.
After the Badgers won the first four matches of the day, Northern Iowa responded with victories in five of the remaining six bouts, kicked off by a bonus-point win from Maximus Brady at 141 pounds after UNI trailed 12-0. The Panthers finish the regular season with an 11-8 record and 4-3 mark against Big 12 Conference opponents.
Prior to the dual, the Panthers recognized its senior class of wrestlers, including Jack Thomsen, Cael Rahnavardi, Julian Farber, Connor Thorpe, Adam Ahrendsen, Ethan Basile, Garrett Funk, RJ Weston and Caleb Rathjen.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Moving up a weight class to open the dual at 197 pounds, CJ Walrath came up short in an 8-2 loss to No. 20 Wyatt Ingham, while Ahrendsen faced a challenging ride from No. 10 Braxton Amos at heavyweight in a 6-1 loss.
Trever Anderson challenged No. 18 Nicolar Rivera but fell short in an 8-5 loss at 125, as Farber battled No. 13 Zan Fuggitt at 133 pounds. After a high-scoring first period with both wrestlers tied up at 8-8, Fuggitt took a one-point lead on a second period escape with Farber tying the match in the third on locked hands, but was unable to score an escape as Fuggitt rode out Farber for riding time in a 10-9 win over the Panther senior.
Brady put the Panthers on the board in a dominant performance at 141 pounds against Peter Tomazevic, scoring a pair of takedowns in the first frame. The offense continued for Brady with a third takedown and a solid ride to extend the lead, while adding two more takedowns in the third period along with a stalling point en route to a 17-4 major decision, Brady’s team-high tying 18th win of the season.
Rathjen kept the Panther Train rolling at 149 pounds, jumping out to a 4-1 lead on No. 10 Joseph Zargo. After Zargo tied the match with a takedown in the final seconds of regulation, it took Rathjen only 17 seconds of overtime to score the winning takedown for a 7-4 sudden victory decision and his third career win over Zargo.
Following a 6-3 win for No. 23 Luke Mechler … more at … https://unipanthers.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-uni-wrestling-rallies-for-senior-day-win-over-wisconsin
Cornell Finishes Regular Season with 42-4 Victory Over Duke
DURHAM, N.C. — Bonus points fueled Cornell’s 42-4 win over Duke on Sunday afternoon, as the Big Red claimed nine of 10 bouts to cap the regular season.
Competing on Duke’s Senior Day, Cornell Big Red set the tone early and never looked back, piling up six bonus-point victories to improve to 9-7 overall. Duke Blue Devils fell to 6-13 (0-6 ACC).
Senior Greg Diakomihalis opened the dual with a 19-4 technical fall over S. Von Savoye at 125 pounds, jumpstarting a dominant stretch. Joe Sciarrone followed with a forfeit at 133, and No. 6 Vince Cornella added a 15-0 technical fall at 141.
At 149, No. 3 Jaxon Joy continued his standout freshman campaign, securing a fall over Dylan Ross after building an 11-0 lead. Top-ranked Meyer Shapiro remained perfect at 157 with a 17-2 technical fall, and Benny Rogers added a 15-0 tech fall at 165 to stretch the margin further.
No. 2 Simon Ruiz, also unbeaten this season, controlled No. 23 Aidan Wallace in an 8-1 decision at 174. Louie Cerchio contributed a 15-3 major decision at 184 in his continued transition up a weight class, and Carson Crace grinded out a 2-0 decision at 197.
Duke’s lone victory came at heavyweight, where No. 24 Connor Barket defeated Cy Kruse IV by major decision, 18-4.
Two All-Americans — Shapiro (13-0) and Ruiz (13-0) — completed undefeated regular seasons, … more at … https://cornellbigred.com/news/2026/2/22/wrestling-cornell-finishes-regular-season-with-42-4-victory-over-duke.aspx
No. 3 Oklahoma State outscores No. 7 Iowa wrestling 32-11
Final scores
In front of a pack house full of Cowboy faithful, No. 3 Oklahoma State put on a show, topping the No. 7 Iowa Hawkeyes 32-11 behind electric performances from their underclassmen.
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True freshman Jax Forrest put up the statement result of the night when he teched two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala and then confidently declared in his post-match interview that he’s coming for the title. The spring semester has been all about Forrest, and he showed he’s not slowing down one bit.
Teammate and fellow true freshman Sergio Vega followed Forrest’s performance with a fall over Kale Peterson to give the Cowboys a 14-0 lead, thanks to his six team points, Forrest’s five team points and a three-point decision win from No. 7 Troy Spratley over Iowa’s No. 6 Dean Peterson.
The Hawks and the Cowboys split 149 and 157 pounds with Iowa’s Ryder Block winning the lighter of the two weights by tech and Oklahoma State’s Landon Robideau winning by decision over No. 14 Jordan Williams, 5-1.
Iowa looked to come roaring back after gutsy wins from All-Americans Mikey Caliendo and Patrick Kennedy in the second half of the dual at 165 and 174 pounds, but the effort wasn’t enough. This rivalry dual belonged to the Cowboys.
TEAM HISTORY: Oklahoma State | Iowa
Oklahoma State ran away with the win after No. 9 Alex Facundo topped Gabe Arnold in overtime at 184 pounds, freshman Cody Merrill pinned Iowa’s Brody Sampson and Konner Doucet pinned Iowa. The confetti fell all night long in Gallagher-Iba, and the Cowboys will now head into the postseason with confidence and poise as they look to improve upon their third-place team finish last season.
| WEIGHT | BOUT RESULT | TEAM SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 7 Troy Spratley over No. 6 Dean Peterson, 5-3 | 3-0, OSU |
| 133 | No. 6 Jax Forrest over No. 9 Drake Ayala, 19-3 | 8-0, OSU |
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
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