ACC’s Friday Night Dual Schedule Released
BRISTOL, Conn. (ACCN) – For the fourth straight year, ACC wrestling fans will enjoy a dedicated night of programming on ACC Network (ACCN), the 24/7 national platform dedicated to ACC sports, as Friday Night Duals begin on Friday, January 20. ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), ACCN’s digital platform available on the ESPN App, will carry additional matches throughout the remainder of the regular season.
Five duals, including four ranked matchups, highlight the Friday Night Duals slate beginning with the anticipated date between No. 8 NC State and No. 9 Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum on January 20 at 7 p.m. No. 20 Pitt travels to Virginia Tech the following week (January 27, 7 p.m.) and No. 21 North Carolina visits Pittsburgh to meet the Panthers on February 3 at 7 p.m.
Duke and Virginia meet on February 10 (7 p.m.), while rivals NC State and North Carolina clash in Chapel Hill on February 17 (7 p.m.) to close out ACCN’s regular-season coverage.
Shawn Kenney and Rock Harrison, who have called multiple ACC Wrestling Championships and the past three seasons of Friday Night Duals, will be back for the 2023 slate of duals.
Weekly ACC Wrestling Guests on ACC PM
ACC PM, ACCN’s weekday afternoon show from 4-7 p.m., will spotlight ACC wrestling with guests throughout the season.
ACC Wrestling Championship Coverage
ACC Network will carry the finals of the 2023 ACC Wrestling Championship live from Reynolds Coliseum at NC State on Sunday, March 5, beginning at 7 p.m. Preliminary and consolation round matches will be available on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), ACCN’s digital platform available on the ESPN App. NC State has won the last four ACC wrestling crowns and five of the last seven.
Ranked Teams, Individuals
The ACC has four teams ranked in the latest NWCA team and InterMat individual rankings (Dec. 6), including two among the top 10 (No. 8 NC State and No. 9 Virginia Tech), along with No. 20 Pitt and No. 21 North Carolina.
Individually, 10 ACC wrestlers are nationally ranked in the top 10 of their respective weight classes by InterMat, … rest of story at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26347
Division I Coaches Poll: Iowa stops Iowa State in Cy-Hawk dual; Minnesota moves into Top 10 after win at Oklahoma State
Manheim, Pennsylvania – One of the most spirited rivalries in college wrestling didn’t disappoint as a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena saw second-ranked Iowa top then-No. 7 Iowa State 18-15 in the annual Cy-Hawk dual.
Iowa remained second in the most recent NWCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Tuesday. The 14,905 was another sellout crowd for the host Hawkeyes and the dual was tied for 20th all-time in dual meet attendance. Historically, the Hawkeyes and Cyclones have drawn well. Of the 102 all-time dual meets to draw over 10,000 fans, Iowa-Iowa State duals account for 41 of them. On the mat, Iowa was buoyed by the return of three-time national champion Spencer Lee to the lineup at 125 pounds and the home debut of All-American transfer Real Woods at 141 pounds.
Top-ranked Penn State (3-0) stayed atop the poll after weekend wins at Rider (37-3) and Lehigh (24-12). The wins may have been bittersweet for the Nittany Lion faithful as returning NCAA champion Max Dean dropped both his weekend bouts – first to Rider’s Ethan Laird in sudden victory and then to former teammate and Penn State transfer Michael Beard.
Minnesota was the weekend’s top mover as the Golden Gophers moved into the Top 10 after an 18-12 win over then-No. 9 Oklahoma State in front of 4,000+ fans in Stillwater. Coach Brandon Eggum’s shuffling of the upper weights offset upset losses to push the Gophers to their first win over the Cowboys since 2014. The Gophers started the weekend with a win over then-No. 25 South Dakota State 19-16 in Brookings, South Dakota.
Missouri opened up its Big 12 schedule with a 38-3 win at home over West Virginia. Most of the nation’s top-ranked programs were competing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which was won by Nebraska for the third straight year. … rest of story at NWCAonline.com/division-i-coaches-poll-iowa-stops-iowa-state-in-cy-hawk-dual-minnesota-moves-into-top-10-after-win-at-oklahoma-st
Early December University Results
Virginia Takes 44-6 Victory At Queens
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Virginia wrestling team (1-1) kicked off a weekend road trip with a decisive victory over Queens University of Charlotte (0-7) on Friday (Dec. 2) at Curry Arena. The Cavaliers defeated the Royals 44-6.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia raced out of the gates and picked up bonus-point victories in the first nine weight classes, including four major decisions, three technical falls and a pair of pins.
Patrick McCormick (125) and Dylan Cedeno (141) sandwiched major decisions around a second-period pin from Erik Roggie (133) to get the night started. Virginia then got consecutive tech falls … rest of story at Virginiasports.com/news/2022/12/02/virginia-takes-44-6-victory-at-queens
VMI Wrestling Sweeps F&M and Duke; off to best start in 26 years
LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI wrestling team continued its hot start to the 2022-23 season Sunday, sweeping Franklin & Marshall College 24-15 and Duke University 28-9 in Cormack Hall.
The Keydets improve to 3-0 on the year, the program’s best start since in 26 years. … rest of story at VMIkeydets.com/news/2022/12/4/vmi-wrestling-sweep-f-m-and-duke-off-to-best-start-in-26-years
No. 7 Lander wrestling takes down Emmanuel 29-9 on the road Thursday Evening
FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The No. 7 Lander wrestling team picked up its fifth consecutive victory and third straight South Atlantic Conference Carolinas victory with a 29-9 win at Emmanuel College Thursday evening.
Lander moves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the SACC while Emmanuel College drops to 2-1 overall and in the SACC.
The Lions would win by decision at 125 and 133 to take an early 6-0 lead before Zeth Brower would snag one of back-to-back tech falls to shift the momentum back to Lander. Brower was able to defeat his opponent 18-3 with a four-point near fall in the first period along with two takedowns and a reversal in the third period at 141. Brower moves to 9-0 overall this season and 5-0 in duals while recording his second tech fall of the season. … rest of story at Landerbearcats.com/wrestling-no-7-lander-wrestling-takes-down-emmanuel-29-9-on-the-road
Men’s Wrestling Romps to White Out Night Victory over Davidson
The Bald Eagles earned their first dual victory of the season over visiting Davidson on Thursday night to the delight of The Haven faithful
By: Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Marketing: Adam Kaylor
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – In front of a packed Thomas Fieldhouse, the Lock Haven men’s wrestling team (1-2) cruised to a 31-13 victory over Davidson College (0-2) in the annual White-Out match. The non-conference dual served as the Bald Eagles first home match of the season and The Haven grab their opening win of the 2022-23 season.
The Bald Eagles were victorious in seven bouts on the night including two pins and two tech falls as the defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) champions shined on their home mat.
In the opening bout of the night at 157 pounds, … rest of story at GOlhu.com/news/mens-wrestling-romps-to-white-out-night-victory-over-davidson
Carolina Colleges’ Results and News
No. 4 Lander wrestling goes 3-1 at the Carolina Clash
GREENWOOD – No. 4 Lander wrestling put on a show on Saturday as It hosted the Carolina Clash at Horne Arena.
The Bearcats went 3-1 on the day and advance to 8-1 overall.
No. 4 Lander (41) vs Kentucky Wesleyan (3)
Lander began its first match with 10 quick points against the Panthers. Joey Felix picked up a 12-1 victory by major decision that saw three takedowns and a four-point near fall at 125.
Kaiden Fisher earned a win at 133 by forfeit before Kentucky Wesleyan earned a 5-1 win at 141 to make it 10-3.
The Bearcats then saw back-to-back wins by major decision.
Randy Myers earned an 8-0 victory at 149 while Bryson Ethington took an 11-2 victory to up Lander’s lead to 18-3.
David Hunsberger took a 16-0 tech fall in the first period with four consecutive near falls at 165 before Jack Bond earned another tech fall where he won 17-0 at 174.
Nathan Buckovich continued the winning streak with a 16-9 win … rest of story at Landerbearcats.com/news/2022/12/3/wrestling-no-4-lander-wrestling-goes-3-1-at-the-carolina-clash
Southeastern Wrestling Blanks Montreat
LAKELAND, Fla.—Five pins and two technical falls helped third-ranked Southeastern come away with a 50-0 win over Montreat in a Friday night dual.
The Fire (2-1) had three second period falls and two tech falls in the first five matches. Esau Bazilme got the night started with a fall in the second period at 125, then Isaac Lopez scored his first win in The Fire Pit thanks to 10 nearfall points along with a takedown 25 seconds into the second period to wrap up his 133-pound match. A riding time point for Chris Kelly gave him a technical fall at 141, and Michael Shannon got his first win at home with a pin at 149 early in the second period.
Eleventh-ranked Trace Braun also picked up a second period fall, finishing his third takedown of the match with a pin. Christian Just scored a first period fall, escaping after surrendering the only Montreat takedown of the match then got a takedown of his own came away … rest of story at Fire.seu.edu/news/2022/12/2/wrestling-blanks-montreat
Wrestling Cruises Past Montreat in Final Home Dual, 29-10
The Keiser wrestling team showed dominance in their 29-10 win over Montreat on Saturday night at home in the Student Life Center.
The highlights of the day came at 141, 165, 184, and 285. After a win from Bryce Cockrell, No. 12 Patrick Gould flipped the momentum in the match with a win by fall over Nathan Alley to give Keiser the 9-4 lead. With the Cavaliers taking the lead back on two decision wins, Adam El Damir stepped up at 165 to take a decision win against the 23rd ranked wrestler in the NAIA. With the score at 15-10, Jared Tracey took to the mat and delivered a win by fall in just 51 seconds to extend the Keiser lead. Finally, as he normally does, No. 14 Earnest Johnson ended the night with a cradle hold into the fall to secure Keiser their third win on the year. … rest of story at KUseahawks.com/news/2022/12/3/wrestling-cruises-past-montreat-in-final-home-dual-29-10
USA WRESTLING TO HONOR PENN STATE WITH THE 2020 USA WRESTLING COLLEGIATE IMPACT AWARD
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Wrestling announced today it will honor Pennsylvania State University as the winner of its 2020 USA Wrestling Collegiate Impact Award, which honors the top-contributing school to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in Tokyo. As part of the recognition, Patrick Kraft, vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Penn State, will be honored during the Team USA Collegiate Recognition Awards that will run in conjunction with the National Football Foundation’s 64th Annual Awards celebration on Dec. 6, 2022, in Las Vegas.
“The NCAA collegiate sports system has long provided our nation’s best and brightest with incredible opportunities to showcase their gifts not only on the field of play, but also in the classroom. This system has long been the backbone for competitive success for Team USA, a system that truly does provide athletes with the opportunity to reach their full athletic and human potential,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender.
At the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, 12 of 15 U.S. wrestlers competed collegiately, including Penn State’s David Taylor. Taylor tallied the highest margin of victory across his Team USA teammates during his collective performances in Tokyo, earning Penn State the 2020 USA Wrestling Collegiate Impact Award. Taylor’s 2020 Olympic run concluded with a gold medal in 86 kg in men’s freestyle.
Taylor became the first Penn State wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal. … rest of story at Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2022/December/01/USA-Wrestling-honors-Penn-State
Trent Hidlay, Isaac Trumble crowned Cliff Keen champions
RALEIGH Two members of the NC State wrestling team went to Las Vegas and hit the jackpot.
Trent Hidlay and Isaac Trumble won their respective weight classes at the 2022 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Invitational.
Hidlay and Trumble remain undefeated this season. Hidlay, the junior from Lewiston, Pa. defeated Parker Keckeisen from the University of Northern Iowa, 8-2, in the 184-pound class finals.
Trumble, the sophomore from Springfield, Neb., defeated Tanner Harvey of Oregon State, 6-4 in the 197-pound class.
During the two-day event, Hidlay and Trumble had three wins over ranked opponents. Hidlay picked up a pin over Johnson of Western Wyoming. He followed that up with a 18-3 technical fall win over Leo Tarantino of Harvard in the round of 16. On Saturday, Hidlay defeated Matt Finesilver of Michigan, 7-3 … rest of story at GOpack.com/news/2022/12/3/wrestling-trent-hidlay-isaac-trumble-crowned-cliff-keen-champions
No. 7 N.C. State wrestling team wins Journeyman Collegiate Duals
NEW ORLEANS, LA. N.C. State junior Jarrett Trombley strutted through the halls of the New Orleans Convention Center with an over sized cup in his hand.
Trombley earned the right to carry the hardware, which wasn’t a cup, but a championship trophy.
Over the weekend at the Journeyman Collegiate Duals, four individuals went undefeated as the Wolfpack won the Red Pool, 27-12, with a win over No. 22 Northern Iowa.
No. 7 N.C. State (8-0) also defeated Cal-Poly and Lehigh, giving the Pack three wins over ranked teams in two days.
The finals featured seven matches when ranked opponents went head-to-head. Their wins over Lehigh and Northern Iowa were their first wins in program history in those series.
Head coach Pat Popolizio admittedly had question marks at the beginning of the year with a young roster. After a hot start, some of those have been answered.
“The one thing we can see with our team is we are starting to be a little more consistent,” Popolizio said. “Guys are settling into their style of wrestling and building confidence on stuff that we’ve worked on week to week. That’s what we got out of our team this weekend, guys showing up ready to compete.”
N.C. State won the first three matches over the Panthers (2-1), … rest of story at GOpack.com/news/2022/12/20/wrestling-young-n-c-state-wrestling-team-wins-journeyman-collegiate-duals
Iowa vs. Iowa State: History, notable moments in the Cy-Hawk wrestling rivalry
Wrestling history runs deep in the state of Iowa.
Between Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson becoming the first wrestler to go undefeated in his college career to Iowa head coach Dan Gable putting together one of the most impressive, dominant team winning streaks in history, the Hawkeye and Cyclone programs have become known for developing legends and making national noise.
WRESTLING LEGENDS: Cael Sanderson | Dan Gable | Kyle Dake | Jordan Burroughs
These teams have produced a combined 11 Olympic gold medalists and won a total of 32 NCAA team titles— a true testament to the kind of elite wrestling fostered within these environments. … rest of story at NCAA.com/news/wrestling/article/iowa-vs-iowa-state-history-notable-moments-cy-hawk-wrestling-rivalry
NO. 2 IOWA WINS 18TH STRAIGHT OVER IOWA STATE
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Senior Tony Cassioppi’s 9-2 victory over No. 9 Sam Schuyler propelled the second-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team to an 18-15 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series victory over No. 7 Iowa State on Sunday afternoon in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
With the dual tied 15-15, Cassioppi had three takedowns and piled up 2:46 of riding time to clinch Iowa’s 18th straight victory in the series. The Hawkeyes move to 6-0 this season.
“We have to wrestle better, we took it pace wise from a couple of their guys,” said head coach Tom Brands. “There are always things to work on. I am not going to say we’re going to Chattanooga on Saturday, I am not going to get there. This is an important win for our program.”
The Hawkeyes and Cyclones split the 10 matches in the dual, but the difference was Iowa posted three bonus-point victories – major decisions by Spencer Lee, Cobe Siebrecht and Nelson Brands.
Iowa ended Iowa State’s 18-dual winning streak and improved to 12-0 with the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy on the line. … rest of story at Hawkeyesports.com/news/2022/12/04/no-2-iowa-wins-18th-straight-over-iowa-state
Huskers Claim Third Straight Cliff Keen Title
LAS VEGAS — Three Huskers claimed individual titles and the Nebraska wrestling team won its third-straight and fifth overall Cliff Keen title on Saturday night at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Brock Hardy (141), Peyton Robb (157) and Mikey Labriola (174) all finished atop their weight classes as NU amassed 137.5 team points, the most among the 33 schools competing.
Semifinals
#17 Hardy (141) was the first of five Huskers to wrestle in the semifinals. Hardy faced #14 Ryan Jack of NC State. The two saw a scoreless first period, before Hardy tallied an escape and a takedown in the second period to hold the 3-1 lead to start the final period. Jack then tallied an escape and a takedown, but Hardy recorded a late reversal to grab the 5-4 upset.
#4 Robb (157) battled #9 Ed Scott next. Scott recorded an escape in every period, but it was not enough as Robb tallied a pair of takedowns to claim the 5-3 decision. At 174, #3 Labriola matched up with #5 Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley. Labriola became the third Husker to advance to the finals … rest of story at Huskers.com/news/2022/12/3/wrestling-recap
UNC WRESTLING ADDS ABDELFATAH TO COACHING STAFF
Chapel Hill, N.C. – North Carolina Wrestling head coach Coleman Scott has announced the addition of Mohamed Abdelfatah to his coaching staff, joining the Tar Heels as a volunteer assistant.
“We’re excited to welcome Mo to the North Carolina Wrestling family,” Scott said. “Mo brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, as an athlete and coaching at the international and Olympic level, and we couldn’t be happier to have him be join our program.”
As an athlete, the 2006 Senior World champion was a two-time World Cup champion … rest of story at GOHEELS.com/news/2022/11/30/wrestling-adds-abdelfatah-to-coaching-staff
Crusaders Earn Division I Win at Queens, 25-13
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Belmont Abbey won six matches, two by fall, Wednesday night to earn a 25-10 wrestling victory over cross-town rival Queens at Curry Arena.
Aaron Zebrauskas started the night off with a second-period fall at 125, while Tyler Pepe took just 2:10 for his fall at 157.
Earlier in the day, the Crusaders were third in the first regular-season installment of the NCAA Division II Super Region II rankings. … rest of story at Abbeyathletics.com/wrestling-crusaders-earn-division-i-win-at-queens-25-13
Mount Olive rolls past Coker, 42-10
HARTSVILLE, S.C. (Nov. 29) – After securing eight victories with three pins, the Trojans rolled past Coker on the road by a 42-10 margin on Tuesday night in South Atlantic Conference Carolinas (SACC) action.
With the win, the University of Mount Olive men’s wrestling team improves to 5-0 in dual meets with a 2-0 record in the league. The Trojans open conference play with two-straight wins for the first time in program history and now hold a 2-2 record all-time versus Coker. Meanwhile, the Cobras drop to 1-2 this season with an identical record in league action.
Redshirt freshman Seth Thomas opened the meet with a dominant performance in his first appearance at 184 this season winning by a 15-0 technical fall over Will Frazier. A native of Wilmington, North Carolina, he holds an 8-2 record this year and is unbeaten in dual meets. … rest of story at UMOtrojans.com/news/2022/11/29/wrestling-mount-olive-rolls-past-coker-42-10
Isabel Rodriguez presented the 1st Olivia Neal Award
Mount Olive coaches Dan Willis and Troy Bell with Isabel Rodriguez and the Olivia Neal Award.
The 1st Olivia Neal Award for the 2022 Most Inspirational Female scholastic wrestler in eastern North Carolina is presented to senior Isabel Rodriguez of Dixon High School. This Award will be named in honor of the Olivia Neal, the first female to qualify for the NCHSAA State Wrestling Championship in 2008. She wrestled for the Rosewood High School Eagles. This trophy is 5th Named Award Trophy that the TakeDown Report sponsors.
Isabel Rodriguez has been a member of the Dixon H.S. Varsity Team for 3 years, and as a starter for her junior and senior years. Coach Christian Brothers credit her as “… the driving force behind the growth of the Women’s Wrestling Team at Dixon High School. Before her arrival, there may have been one girl on the team. This past season, we ended with 6 girls on our roster, and hosted the first girls dual meet in Onslow County.” She qualified for the varsity “boy” regionals her junior and senior years.
Isabel is a 2-time Girls’ N.C. Invitational Finalist, pinning her way to Championship in her senior year. She won the championship and was also recognized as being a ‘TDR Top 5 Girls’ wrestler’ and she received an engraved wooden plaque for that. She has continued to wrestle this season at University of Mount Olive. This season is the first for a Women’s team at Division II U.M.O. The Men’s team started in 2019.
The award is based on the wrestler inspired or led other females and male to become involved in wrestling. Next in consideration is having a successful season in the number of wins, placing in the girls’ and varsity boy’s regional and state tournaments. Senior wrestlers will have some preference as underclassmen wrestlers will have the opportunity next season. Also consideration will be given to academics and other attributes in being a positive role model.
Girls’ wrestling is growing at a rapid rate with over 30 states having sanctioned state championships in girls wrestling. North Carolina will join these states in sponsoring a sanctioned state championship tournament in the 2023-2024 season. The number of students, girls and boys, to participate in wrestling will continue to grow in our communities and the opportunities grow.
The award is named for Olivia Neal who was the first female wrestler to qualify for the varsity boys state tournament. There was a great deal of publicity as she pinned her first opponent and this inspired a growing number of girls in eastern N.C. to try out wrestling. The TakeDown Report’s goal is to do anything we can to promote the growth of wrestling in eastern N.C.
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
