Wyoming jumps into Top 25 after Top 10 upset; Penn State streak stands at 80 and counting
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State remained No. 1 in this week’s NWCA Coaches Poll following a results-heavy week that included several ranked matchups, a notable upset, and one new team entering the Top 25.
Penn State went 2-0 on the weekend, defeating then-No. 4 Iowa 32-3 before shutting out Northwestern, 51-0. The win over Northwestern extended Penn State’s dual-meet winning streak to 80.
The biggest upset of the week came when Wyoming defeated then-No. 10 South Dakota State 24-18. South Dakota State also recorded a 19-16 win over Utah Valley earlier in the week. Wyoming’s victory moved the Cowboys into the poll at No. 23.
Michigan posted two ranked wins, defeating Rutgers 21-12 and Illinois 18-14. Nebraska defeated then-No. 9 Minnesota 20-12 in the week’s lone ranked matchup involving the Gophers. NC State went 2-0, edging Stanford 21-20 before defeating CSU Bakersfield 43-3. Virginia Tech defeated Appalachian State 39-0 in a non-conference dual at the Moss Arts Center, while Pittsburgh recorded wins over West Virginia (17-15) and Duke (40-0). Elsewhere among ranked teams, Wisconsin defeated Northwestern 28-12. Missouri went 2-0 with wins over Arizona State (22-17) and Utah Valley (31-9). Lehigh defeated Navy 20-15 and Princeton 30-9. Indiana defeated Maryland 26-12.
Several ranked teams are scheduled to compete over the upcoming weekend as conference action continues.
Friday, January 23 includes a full slate of ranked matchups. No. 2 Ohio State is scheduled to wrestle No. 9 Minnesota, while No. 11 North Carolina visits No. 8 NC State. No. 25 Indiana is slated to face No. 1 Penn State. Additional ranked matchups Friday include No. 5 Oklahoma State at No. 18 Missouri, No. 4 Iowa against No. 6 Nebraska, No. 24 Stanford at No. 7 Virginia Tech, and No. 15 South Dakota State hosting California Baptist.
Saturday, January 24 includes dual competition involving ranked teams, with No. 24 Stanford scheduled to wrestle at Virginia and No. 23 Wyoming traveling to face No. 19 West Virginia.
Sunday, January 25 includes several additional ranked matchups … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2026/1/20/national-wrestling-coaches-association-wyoming-jumps-into-top-25-after-top-10-upset-penn-state-streak-stands-at-80-and-counting.aspx
Embracing glory
Larry Owings scored the biggest upset in NCAA wrestling history and spent the rest of his life coming to terms with it.
By Mike Seely
When Larry Owings was growing up in rural Oregon, everyone—his friends, his family, even his teachers—called him by the nickname “Porky.” They did this because he was overweight. “Nowadays, they would call that bullying,” says Owings, now 75. “Back then, you just had to grin and take it. I can’t tell you how deep down inside I was hurting. It inspired me to say, ‘I’m gonna show you someday.’ “
Would he ever.
Owings had four older brothers, all of them state wrestling champs at Canby High School. Taking a gander at their baby brother in junior high, none of them expected Larry to wrestle at all, much less earn any kind of hardware. But a life-changing event—or occupation, rather—occurred in the summer before his freshman year. “I went to work for an old Norwegian dairy farmer,” he recalls. “I hauled hundred-pound bales of hay for him all summer long. Before that, I worked on the farm picking berries, and I hated picking berries. There was no way I was not gonna do good in this job and go back to picking berries.”
Owings’ weight went from about 150 to 130 through the course of his sweaty vocation, and he also grew a couple of inches. In spite of his siblings’ doubts, he joined the Canby wrestling team and worked his way up to varsity at 123 pounds by the end of his freshman year. By the end of his high school career, he would win state championships in both the 136- and 141-pound weight divisions.
During his senior year, Owings was matched in a tournament with an Iowa State University sophomore named Dan Gable, who was undefeated and already an NCAA champion. Gable won their match rather easily, but Owings managed to score some points – quite a feat for anyone facing a man who would go down as the greatest amateur wrestler of all time.
After losing to Gable, Owings said he felt like he “had a score to settle.” Two years later, he’d get his chance.
Triumph, then turmoil
There were a lot of colleges interested in Owings’ wrestling services after high school, but the University of Washington won out. “I didn’t go to Oregon State because my brothers had gone there,” he explains. “I went up to the U-Dub, beautiful campus, coach was very gung-ho. Jim Smith – he’s still alive, by the way. He’s 90 and lives in Lynnwood. I liked the school, I liked the coach. I wanted to go into architecture, and they had a great architecture program.”
Owings, ’72, ’75, ’78, pursued an architecture degree for a quarter before he deemed it too difficult and switched to industrial education. Things on the mat went according to plan, however. By the time Owings was a sophomore, he was Pac-8 champion at 158 pounds with the 1970 NCAA tournament on the horizon. … more at … https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/larry-owings-who-scored-the-biggest-upset-in-ncaa-wrestling-history-comes-to-terms-with-fame-more-than-50-years-later/#gsc.tab=0
Penn State wrestling is miles ahead, dominant win over Iowa proves it
To call Penn State a dynasty would be an understatement.
The Nittany Lions have won 12 of the last 14 national championships, and have won four-straight national titles three different times.
In the NIL era, other teams have the opportunity to close the gap. Iowa and Oklahoma State are the two most storied programs across NCAA wrestling history. If given substantial funding, those programs are expected to take a jump and compete against the Nittany Lions. However, that has yet to happen, with Iowa most recently falling to Penn State 32-3.
The commanding win for the Nittany Lions over the Hawkeyes, one of the most historically dominant teams in the sport, showcases that Penn State is in a different lane than everyone else.
Penn State is coming off a season where it broke many records, including the points record in the NCAA championship and having all 10 wrestlers earn All-American status. … more at … https://www.psucollegian.com/sports/wrestling/column-penn-state-wrestling-is-miles-ahead-dominant-win-over-iowa-proves-it/article_aa49c44a-4d22-495f-ba18-8c7bf940010c.html
#6 Lander Completes 3-0 Road Trip with 50th Conference Win
HARROGATE, Tenn. – The sixth-ranked Lander wrestling team wrapped up its road trip in dominant fashion on Wednesday evening, rolling past the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters 47-12 in a Conference Carolinas matchup.
The win marked Lander’s 36th straight conference victory and the 50th conference win in program history, making the Bearcats the first program in Conference Carolinas history to reach the milestone.
Lander (16-3, 7-0 CC, 4-0 CC West Division) controlled the match from start to finish in an abbreviated dual that featured five forfeits and five contested bouts, all of which ended by pin or technical fall in either the first or second period.
Oren Decker got the Bearcats on the board early, needing just 1:55 to secure a pin at 125. After a Lander forfeit at 133 and a Lincoln Memorial pin at 141 briefly swung momentum, the Bearcats responded emphatically.
Back-to-back pins from Garrett Wood and Reid Noble at 149 and 157 put Lander back in front at the halfway point, 18-12. From there, the Railsplitters forfeited the next four weights at 165, 174, 184, and 197. The forfeit at 197 marked Champ Higdon’s third forfeit win of the road trip.
Isaac Sheeren closed the night in dominant fashion at heavyweight, rolling to a 19-2 technical fall in 3:24, nearly ending the match by pin following a second-period reversal.
Lander returns home for its final two home duals of the season, … more at … https://landerbearcats.com/news/2026/1/21/wrestling-6-lander-completes-3-0-road-trip-with-50th-conference-win.aspx
#8 NC State Collects 13th-Straight Win Over #11 UNC
RALEIGH – In front of a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum, eighth-ranked NC State wrestling (12-3, 3-0 ACC) collected its 13th consecutive win over the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels (8-2, 1-1 ACC) by a comfortable 24-10 win on Friday night.
The Wolfpack improves to 3-0 in conference action by defeating 11th-ranked North Carolina at home Friday night by a 24-10 score. A streak that began in 2014, the win is the 13th in a row by the Pack over the Tar Heels. The dual began at 141 lbs, which resulted in the Tar Heels getting points on the board first.
One of the highlights of the night comes from freshman phenom Will Denny, who had a fiery match that ended up in a major decision over a top-10 opponent. The freshman’s win marks his 10th in a row and second overall top-10 win of the season. The newest addition to the Pack, Patrick Brophy at 197 lbs, took out #33 Robert Platt 8-1 to land his first ranked win in the red-and-white.
To close out the dual, at 133 lbs, Zach Redding defeated 18th-ranked Ethan Oakley for his second ranked win of the season, which is the first since the National Duals Invitational. The attendance marks the third-ever announced sell-out in program history. … more at … https://gopack.com/news/2026/1/24/wrestling-8-nc-state-collects-13th-straight-win-over-11-unc
Boulanger Making Impact as True Freshman
By: Travis Swafford, Duke Athletics Communications Student Assistant
DURHAM, N.C.– Duke freshman wrestler Mikey Boulanger is a man of few words. If you ask him about his impressive start on the collegiate mats, he describes the experience as “an adjustment.” If you ask him whether he really went 55-0 as a senior in high school, he nods yes. But when it came time for Duke head coach Glen Lanham to decide whether the freshman would redshirt or compete in his first year on campus, what Boulanger had to say proved pivotal.
As Lanham describes it, “He just came and said that he had thought about taking off the year when he’s so close to competing. He was like, ‘well if I don’t get the rep, somebody else is. So, I just think it would make me better if I’m the starter.'”
The subsequent decision to let Boulanger wrestle has paid immediate dividends, as he collected eight wins over his first 12 bouts start to the season propelled the team to its best fall record in four years. The Milford, Massachusetts, native’s eight wins ranks fifth on the team, anchoring the Blue Devils in the 157-pound weight class. It’s a performance that has left Lanham and the Duke team impressed.
“He’s definitely been surprising, coming out of nowhere, really,” Lanham said. “We thought that he was going to have to use a redshirt, get bigger, that kind of stuff, get used to college wrestling, but he’s just jumped right into it.”
Boulanger took little time to make his mark. In the team’s second dual of the season against Hofstra, with the Blue Devils down 14-6, he won a crucial match against the Pride’s Frank Volpe in an 8-2 decision. Duke would go on to win four of the next five matches and win the contest 24-17. … more at … https://goduke.com/news/2026/1/21/wrestling-boulanger-making-impact-as-true-freshman
Men’s Wrestling Senior Day Against Southern Virginia Moved to Friday
The Greensboro College Men’s Wrestling match against Southern Virginia scheduled for January 24 has been moved to Friday, January 23 at 4:00 pm inside Reynolds Gym.
The team will be honoring their seniors for senior day. Watch live on the Greensboro College Athletics YouTube channel. … more at … https://greensborocollegesports.com/news/2026/1/21/mens-wrestling-senior-day-against-southern-virginia-moved-to-friday-january-23-at-4-00.aspx
And …
Men’s Wrestling Defeats Southern Virginia on Senior Night
Greensboro, NC – It was a senior night to remember for Greensboro College Men’s Wrestling as they defeated Southern Virginia in an ODAC dual, 29-16.
After the 125lb class went to the Knights via forfeit, Triston Woodward got Greensboro on the scoreboard with a major decision win in the 133lb match. The Knights earned a win in the 141lb matchup, but Josue DelCid took down Richie Kulessa of SVU via fall in the 149lb class.
In the 157lb match, Carson Gardner came from behind to earn a 7-6 decision victory. Immediately after this match, Nick Menjivar dominated the 165lb matchup after earning a pin in just 46 seconds.
The Knights took the 174lb match, but Omori Lee (184lb) and Isaiah Manning (197lb) each earned victories in their respective matches to secure the team win.
Notes:
– Lee takes over the team lead with 13 wins on the season. … more at … https://greensborocollegesports.com/news/2026/1/23/mens-wrestling-defeats-southern-virginia-on-senior-day.aspx
Growing Is the Purpose: Keeping Education First in High School Sports
NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker writes about the importance of keeping education at the center of high school athletics.
High school sports is experiencing record participation. It is also experiencing unprecedented pressure. Across the country, young athletes are training earlier, competing year-round and navigating expectations shaped by a rapidly expanding youth sports economy. For many families, athletics now feel like increasingly high stakes.
High school sports operate differently—by design. They exist within schools, alongside classrooms, guided by the same educational mission. Participation is structured to support academic success and to teach intangibles like discipline, teamwork, resilience and responsibility. Rules around eligibility, seasons and competition are not barriers to ambition; they are safeguards for students. As expectations around winning and advancement continue to rise, we at the NCHSAA believe it is worth reaffirming the role that high school athletics play in education—and why that purpose matters.
Every high school athlete is a student first, and we see high school sports as a vital extension of the classroom. In “the last class of the day,” student-athletes develop character and integrity and learn life lessons they will carry with them long after their playing days are over.
Today’s high school student-athletes will be tomorrow’s leaders. So, while the goal of playing high school sports is to win, the true purpose is much greater—for students to learn and grow as people.
How? By keeping high school sports educational, competitively balanced and accessible for all students. Why? To ensure high school sports develop the whole person, not just the athlete. … more at … https://www.highschoolot.com/story/growing-is-the-purpose-keeping-education-first-in-high-school-sports/22305650/
Wolverines Win Final Two Bouts to Claim Back-and-Forth Battle Against No. 11 Illinois
By: Leah Howard
» No. 12 Michigan claimed six bouts, including three of the final four, to defeat No. 11 Illinois, 18-14, in a dual that featured five lead changes; U-M improved to 3-0 in Big Ten duals.
» Hayden Walters (197 pounds) scored a last-second takedown to earn a 5-1 decision and put Michigan back in front in the penultimate match; Taye Ghadiali (Hwt) then clinched the dual with a 7-4 decision.
» Cameron Catrabone (157) erased a five-point deficit with a reversal and four-point tilt in the final minute of his 8-7 decision against Ryan Bennett.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team won three of the final four bouts, including the last two, to secure an 18-14 victory over No. 11 Illinois on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 18) at Crisler Center. The dual featured five lead changes as the Wolverines rallied to improve to 3-0 in Big Ten Conference action.
Redshirt freshman Hayden Walters, ranked 20th at 197 pounds, used a last-second takedown to defeat Dylan Connell, 5-1, and put Michigan back in front in the penultimate bout. After a scoreless first period, the wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third, with Walters holding a :58 riding-time advantage entering the final minute. With the score tied 1-1 and :11 remaining following a restart, Connell attempted a half-shot single, but Walters immediately spun behind to secure the decisive takedown and extend his advantage time to 1:03 for the extra point.
Graduate student Taye Ghadiali sealed the Michigan victory in the final bout, earning a 7-4 decision against Ryan Boersma. Ghadiali scored a pair of first-period takedowns before Boersma narrowed the margin with a second-period score. Ghadiali did not surrender another point, improving to 14-2 on the season.
Illinois captured the dual’s first two bouts to build an early 7-0 lead, though freshman Gauge Botero held top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Lucas Byrd to a 7-2 decision at 133 pounds, riding out the third period.Michigan responded with three straight decisions to take its first lead, 9-7, at the intermission break as graduate students Dylan Ragusin and Lachlan McNeil, along with redshirt freshman Cameron Catrabone, each earned wins to improve to 3-0 in Big Ten duals.
Ragusin blanked Kole Brower, 3-0, at 141 pounds, scoring a second-period reversal and riding out the third to accumulate 3:43 in advantage time. McNeil, ranked 13th at 149 pounds, earned a 10-4 decision … more at … https://mgoblue.com/news/2026/1/18/wrestling-wolverines-win-final-two-bouts-to-claim-back-and-forth-battle-against-no-11-illinois
Campbell falls to The Citadel and Rider in home opener
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Campbell wrestling team opened its home schedule Saturday afternoon, dropping duals to The Citadel and Rider at Gore Arena.
Graduate students Logan Heil and Ryan Bolletino, along with sophomores Sawyer Van Rider and Kendrick Hodge, each recorded victories for the Camels.
Campbell fell 26-9 to The Citadel in the first dual. Heil put the Camels on the board at 133 pounds with a 1-0 decision, while Bolletino added a 4-1 win at 174. Van Rider closed the dual with a 2-1 decision at heavyweight.
In the second matchup, Campbell suffered a 42-3 loss to Rider. Hodge accounted for the Camels’ lone victory, earning a 4-1 decision at 157 pounds.
UP NEXT
Campbell will host another tri-meet Friday, Jan. 23, … more at … https://gocamels.com/news/2026/1/17/wrestling-falls-to-the-citadel-and-rider-in-home-opener.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
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