UNI wrestling takes down No. 4 Nebraska in 24-9 home win
Panthers defeat Cornhuskers in dual action for the first time since 1991. UNI back in action next weekend at NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Championships in UNI-Dome.
OFFICIALS – Eric McGill, Leo Mercado ATTENDANCE – 3,113
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI wrestling team brought the heat to the McLeod Center on Sunday afternoon as the tenth-ranked Panthers knocked off No. 4 Nebraska in non-conference dual action by a score of 24-9.
Northern Iowa’s big win marked the first victory over the Cornhuskers in 34 years, as well as its first top-five ranked win since beating No. 3 Ohio State at the 2022 Collegiate Duals.
The Panthers picked up four individual wins over top-five ranked opponents, which began with a stunning win for No. 31 Trever Anderson at 125 pounds over fifth-ranked and returning All-American Caleb Smith. Cael Happel (141 pounds), Ryder Downey (157 pounds) and Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) also picked up top-five wins.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Anderson set the tone early at 125 pounds against Smith. After a scoreless first period, Smith took the lead early in the second with a quick escape, but Anderson responded with a takedown and, after another escape by Smith, Anderson escaped in the third period for a 4-2 lead before adding an extra point for riding time for a 5-2 victory. The victory marked Anderson’s first dual win of the season and his second career victory over a top-five opponent, having previously defeated No. 1 Jakob Camacho (North Carolina State) last year.
Julian Farber made his dual debut of the season at 133 pounds against No. 20 Jacob Van Dee. … more at … https://unipanthers.com/news/2025/1/5/wrestling-uni-wrestling-takes-down-no-4-nebraska-in-24-9-home-win
#5 Wrestling Opens Conference Action with Duke at Home at 5:00 p.m.
RALEIGH – Fifth-ranked NC State wrestling returns home to Reynolds Coliseum to kickoff ACC Network’s Friday Night Duals with Duke. The dual-meet is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start time with the Triangle-rival.
Dual-Meet Info
• Official dual-meet start time for the Wolfpack against the Blue Devils is 5 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
• The duals will be broadcast on ACCN Extra with commentary from Evan Budrovich and Nick Gwiazdowski.
• Admission tickets for the event can be purchased here.
• The theme for fans is red out and singlet rally towels will be given away while supplies last.
• A meet-and-greet will be held in the Grand Hall directly following the conclusion of the match.
Probable Lineups … more at … https://gopack.com/news/2025/1/9/-5-wrestling-opens-conference-action-with-duke-at-home
Snyder Seeing Great Response From Nebraska Wrestlers To Start Season
Nebraska associate head coach Bryan Snyder is seeing a lot of positives from the Huskers during their fast start to the season.
Nebraska is off to a hot start this season as a team — a 5-0 dual record, a Navy Classic title, and a runner-up finish at CKLV. Individually, the Huskers have four wrestlers ranked in the Top 5 in their weight class. Two starters are still undefeated on the season.
But that doesn’t mean these Huskers haven’t faced some adversity. Starters like #21 Jacob Van Dee at 133 pounds (5-5) and #16 Lenny Pinto at 174 (11-3) have dropped some matches. According to Nebraska associate head coach Bryan Snyder, it’s the team’s response to those losses that tell the story of who they are, and he’s seen nothing but positive signs in that regard. “The response to it is great, and that’s what you look for as a coach — what are you going to do when you get knocked down?” Snyder said. “One match doesn’t define you. How you wrestle in November and December does not have to be the way you’re going to wrestle in January and February and certainly not March if you do the right things.”
By doing the right things, Snyder is talking about a number of areas of a wrestler’s life — their training intensity, sleep, diet and nutrition, and their competitive nature. “All these things are variables that we look at and tinker with and make sure these guys understand what they need,” Snyder said. “Then it’s on them. We give them a pathway or a roadmap, but it’s them that has to take the bull by the horns so to speak and figure it out.”
One thing that Nebraska preaches constantly is mindset and resilience. According to Snyder, the Husker coaches tell their guys daily that they’re here to get better and that nobody is a finished product. “That’s why we challenge these guys because we want to see where they’re at and knowing that these challenges are going to help the guys grow,” Snyder said. “One, if you frame it the correct way, and two, if you put in the work, you’ll come out with a better version of yourself — a renewed sense of what you need for competition.”
In fact, this Nebraska staff emphasizes that quality of resilience when recruiting and it’s paid dividends with this team’s ability to bounce back after defeat. “We recruit a certain psychological profile … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13365415-snyder-seeing-great-response-from-nebraska-wrestlers-to-start-season
What to watch: Week ten of the college wrestling season
Week ten of the college wrestling season features the highly anticipated Southern Scuffle on Saturday and Sunday. Alongside the tournament, several teams continue dual action to kick off the new year. Check out a few events to watch during week ten as the college wrestling season continues.
Southern Scuffle
Date: January 4-5, 2025
Location: McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, Tenn.
The annual New Years Day event moves to this weekend and will be held on January 4-5. The following individuals and teams are in the mix to compete: American, Appalachian State, Army, Bellarmine, Bloomsburg, Brown, Campbell, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Clarion , Davidson, Duke, Gardner-Webb, Little Rock, Long Island, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Pre-seeds have been released for this tournament and can be found on Chattanooga’s site for all things Southern Scuffle. Follow the holiday tournament on FloWrestling.
No. 12 Cornell at No. 19 Missouri
Date: January 3, 2025 Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Hearnes Center, Columbia, Mo.
The Big Red travel to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the No. 19 Tigers. The dual is apart of Missouri’s “Beauty and the Beast” event, a collaboration between their wrestling and gymnastics teams, broadcast on ESPN+. The Tigers, holding a 2-5 record after facing five ranked teams, … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/january/02/what-to-watch-week-ten-of-the-college-wrestling-season
This Week in Women’s Collegiate Wrestling (1/2/2025)
Soldier Salute and Midlands Recap
To wrap up 2024, we saw two huge tournaments in collegiate wrestling, Soldier Salute and Midlands, concluding over the weekend. Many teams will return to competition with NWCA Collegiate Duals next week, so this was a great opportunity for teams to test their depth at different weights to prepare.
Soldier Salute
The Soldier Salute, held in Coralville, Iowa, took place from December 29 to 30. It featured tough competition from #1 (NCAA) Iowa and #1 (NAIA) Life. Whenever these two teams compete in any capacity, there are always fireworks, and Iowa barely eked out the first-place finish with 5 champions compared to Life’s 3. #7 (NAIA) Indiana Tech put up a strong showing as well, coming in third.
At 103, unattached high school wrestler from Wyoming Seminary, Jaclyn Bouzakis secured the tech fall over Life’s #2 (NAIA) Katherine Hernandez. Life also had a head-to-head matchup in the 3rd place match, but did not wrestle-off between Brianna Funakoshi and Macie Anderson.
At 110 lbs, freshman for Life#1 (NAIA) Anaya Falcon continued to show her absolute dominance at the weight with a 16-5 tech of Iowa’s #2 (NCAA) Ava Bayless, the 2024 NCWWC National Champ. Falcon has seemed pretty untouchable and this separation from the returning champ shows just how much of a threat she is across divisions. In the 3rd place match, Iowa did let some teammate competition play out between #5 Emilie Gonzalez and Valarie Solorio. Earlier in the tournament, Bayless got the win over Gonzalez, and here Gonzalez won the 6-2 tech over freshman Solorio. Regardless of outcomes here, the depth for the Hawkeyes points to a bright future at the weight.
At 117, we got the first of a few Iowa vs Life finals matches. Here, Iowa secured a 6-0 decision with returning NCWWC finalist #1 (NCAA) Brianna Gonzalez over Life’s #5 (NAIA) Salyna Shotwell. Gonzalez seemed to control this match, having defensive answers to Shotwell’s attempts and slick point-scoring of her own to keep it out of reach.
At 124, we saw another win from an unattached wrestler as former North Central All-American Mateah Roehl got an 11-0 tech fall over talented freshman from Indiana Tech, #3 (NAIA) Rose Kaplan. Down the line, we saw #6 (NAIA) Ariana Martinez of Life with a 12-2 tech fall over Devlynn Albrech (HS) for 3rd place and #8 (NAIA) Anna Kresja for Life securing 5th place with a tech of her own against Iowa’s Cali Leng.
131 brought another exciting Life vs Iowa matchup, this time with Life having the upper hand. #2 (NAIA) Sarah Savidge got the 10-0 tech over Emily Frost. This was a repeat of the result from U20 Nationals this past spring where Savidge beat Frost, 13-4.
Iowa freshman, Cadence Diduch showed out here at 138 lbs claiming the title over #3 (NAIA) Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan in a nail-biter 8-6 decision. Diduch separated early with six unanswered points, but had to score late and hang on after Barragan answered back with six of her own. Barragan was on quite the run in the tournament taking out Iowa’s Lily Luft and Life’s #8 (NAIA) Zaynah McBryde to make the finals. Looking at the brackets, it was not my prediction for the finals, but both wrestlers gritted out through a stacked weight class to have one of the most exciting final matchups of the evening.
145 lbs was more Iowa v Iowa action, … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/women/this-week-in-womens-collegiate-wrestling-122025-r99880/
Pembroke Dominant In 54-0 Win Over Limestone
By: Alex Pearce, Assistant Athletic Communications Director
Story Links
Box Score Highlights Post-Match Interview
PEMBROKE – Ten bonus-point victories, including five pins, led the UNC Pembroke wrestling team to a dominating 54-0 win over Limestone in Conference Carolinas dual match action Thursday evening on Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The Braves (5-3, 5-1 CC) improved to 13-6 in the all-time series with the Saints (1-4, 1-3 CC), and have now taken the last five matches in the series, as well.
Bryson Harper got the Braves rolling with a pin in the 125-pound bout, while Logan Robinson followed with a pin at 133 pounds. 13th-ranked Avery Buonocore added a tech. fall win in the 141-pound match, while ninth-ranked 149 pounder Jake Piccirilli picked up a major decision win. Will Lowery and Shylik Scriven each earned a tech. fall victory at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, with a Logan Hoffman pin sandwiched in between in the 174-pound bout. Chris Dickey added a tech. fall win at 197 pounds, while … more at … https://uncpbraves.com/news/2025/1/2/wrestling-dominant-in-54-0-win-over-limestone.aspx
Head coach Ron Beaschler picks up career win 400 as No. 22 ranked Wrestling blanks Mount St. Joseph 44-0 in non-conference wrestling dual
CINCINNATI — Ohio Northern’s 37-year head coach Ron Beaschler picked up career win No. 400 as the No. 22-ranked wrestling team earned its 9th win of the season with a 44-0 victory at Mount St. Joseph 44-0 on Thursday night.
The Basics
- Records: #22 Ohio Northern (9-4 Overall), Mount St. Joseph (0-5 Overall).
- Venue: Harrington Center – Cincinnati, Ohio.
ONU Individuals
- Senior Colin Mellott (Wapakoneta) started the evening off with a major decision at 125 lbs.
- Freshman Chase Vanderhorst (Covington) followed it up with another major decision at 133.
- Senior #1 ranked Jacob Reed (Canal Winchester/Lancaster) then posted a third consecutive major decision for the Polar Bears at 141. … more at … https://www.onusports.com/sports/wrest/2024-25/releases/20250102rcpl03
Big 12 Weekly Recap (1/1/2025)
There was plenty of end-of-year wrestling over the past two weeks, with duals just before Christmas and some great tournaments before New Year’s. The Big 12 flexed its depth with some of the mid-major programs getting solid wins. The Collegiate Duals saw banged-up Missouri and Iowa State teams battling solid nonconference opponents. Then the Soldier Salute and Midlands had a mixed bag for the Big 12, with a handful of teams competing at both.
Utah Valley and California Baptist score ranked wins
While it’s been a few weeks, I wanted to highlight two teams that have quietly been putting together great seasons. With Adam Hall and company at the helm, the Wolverines put together a 20-14 upset over Oregon State. They won six matches and got bonus points at multiple weights for the win.
In their third season of Division I, California Baptist is putting together their best season yet. They’re quietly on a four-dual win streak, and reeled off back-to-back ranked wins over West Virginia and Cal Poly. Currently sitting at 5-2 on the year, the Lancers have already matched their wins over Division I teams from last season with eight duals to go.
Iowa State and Missouri bring banged-up squads to Collegiate Duals
Throughout this season both the Cyclones and Tigers have had issues in the lineups, with injuries playing a large role. The Cyclones went 2-1 at the event, … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/big-12/big-12-weekly-recap-112025-r99878/
ACC Weekly Recap (1/1/2025)
Two of the three major holiday tournaments have concluded and the ACC had some stellar performances. Stanford kicked off their first Midlands in the ACC by bringing home the team title and three individual titles. Pittsburgh also had a strong showing at the Midlands, finishing fourth as a team and earning two individual titles. North Carolina sent a small contingent of starters to the Soldier Salute, finishing with one finalist and four placers.
#22 Stanford
Stanford used their time in Hoffman Estates to put the conference on notice that they are a legitimate threat to win the ACC in their inaugural season. The Cardinal will be loading a lot of hardware on the plane back to Palo Alto. They crowned three individual champions in #10 Tyler Knox (133), #8 Jaden Abas (149), and #7 Lorenzo Norman (174) On top of their gold medals, Knox was named the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler and Norman was the Jack Leese Champion of Champions.
Knox has been fantastic this season and looked strong throughout the tournament, notching two bonus point wins before beating #32 Ryan Miller in the semifinals. He then had a very impressive showing in the finals with a controlling 10-3 win over #16 Dylan Shawver. Abas has seemingly shaken whatever early-season jitters he had and has been on an absolute tear. He was solid all weekend, taking out a sneaky good #19 Cross Wasilewski in the finals. Lorenzo Norman has put the country on notice this season; after his statement at the Midlands, his record stands at 14-1 with his lone loss a tight 4-3 decision to a reinvigorated #3 Dean Hamiti. Norman opened the tournament with tech fall, pin, tech fall before beating #23 Alex Cramer in the semifinals. He made a big impression with a decisive win over #5 Nick Incontrera in the finals.
They also had podium performances from seven wrestlers to separate themselves in the team race. #13 Hunter Garvin (165) placed third after dropping his semifinal bout in sudden victory to the eventual champion, Tyler Lillard. #22 Nick Stemmet (197) and Jason Miranda (141) both finished in 4th place while Peter Ming (285) finished in fifth. They rounded out the tournament with seventh-place finishes from #28 Grigor Cholakyan (157) and Brock Byers (197) and an eighth-place finish from Collin Guffey (174).
Pittsburgh
The Panthers turned in an impressive team performance despite losing two key starters to injury in the tournament. #18 Reece Heller (184) added a second Midlands title after being atop the podium in 2023. Heller earned three bonus point victories in his four matches, including a ranked win over #29 Shane Cartegena-Walsh in the finals. #15 Mac Stout (197) claimed his first Midlands title with impressive and consistent performances on both days; he beat #32 Dillon Bechtold 10-3 in the semifinals before taking out #26 Gabe Sollars 13-9 to stand on the top step of the podium.
Kade Brown (149) had an amazing run to finish in third … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/acc/acc-weekly-recap-112025-r99877/
Knop Making Impact In Sixth Season With NC State Wrestling
Senior Christian Knop waited his turn to crack the NC State lineup, and now he’s ranked #24 nationally at 197 pounds.
Every top-tier college wrestling program, like the current six-time reigning ACC champion NC State Wolfpack, for example, has found numerous recruiting hotbeds across the country. From Pennsylvania to New York to Ohio to Georgia to many other states, NC State casts a wide net to find the best recruits that fit into their #PackMentality.
But the Wolfpack dipped into one state not known for producing All-Americans, one state much more known for football than wrestling — Alabama. Christian Knop joined the Pack in the summer of 2019 from Anniston, Alabama, and has ascended into the Pack’s starting lineup at 197 pounds for his final season of eligibility.
With the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers football programs dominating headlines year-round, Knop took a different route than most to find the wrestling mats when he was growing up. “I saw a flyer one day for an after-school program,” Knop said. “I’m not sure what it was, but it caught my eye. I wanted to try it, but I had to really convince my dad to let me try wrestling. “Once I did, I fell in love with it.”
Knop took the sport quickly and enjoyed a lot of success during his prep career. He was a four-time state champion, the first wrestler in AHSAA history to win four consecutive state titles and to go undefeated in his high school career. In fact, he went 321-0 in high school!
Even while pressured to join his high school’s football team by many coaches, Knop was adamant about sticking to the mat and keeping healthy for wrestling. He was a 2019 NHSCA Senior Nationals champion and 2018 Flo Nationals All-American. But perhaps his most impressive honor, even beating out the numerous high school athletes in that football-dominated state, Knop was named the #1 high school athlete on the AL.com High School 101 list.
During a recent interview, NC State head coach Pat Popolizio even harkened back to the honor for Knop. “That honor speaks to his athleticism and who he is as an overall athlete,” Popolizio said. Knop became familiar with the NC State wrestling program during the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. That season, NC State brought home its first team trophy with a third-place finish and crowned a national champion in Michael Macchiavello. “I noticed a lot of blue-collar guys that probably were not expected to do much,” Knop said. “I remember watching Tariq (Wilson) and Michel Macchiavello and seeing the success they had that weekend.
“That really drew me to the program. When Mach won the title, I was sold. If he can do that being a small-town guy like I am, then I can do that too.” Knop came to NC State with impressive recruiting rankings as well. He was a top-100 recruit and ranked high at 195 pounds during his senior campaign at Alexandria High School. “I was still pretty small for that weight in high school,” Knop said. “The lifting program here really helped get me to where I am today.” … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13369327-knop-making-impact-in-sixth-season-with-nc-state-wrestling
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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