Men’s College Notebook: Influx Of Talent Expected Second Semester, Six Duals To Watch This Weekend
With the first semester across college campuses coming to an end, there will be an influx of talent as we head into the second half of the NCAA wrestling season.
There is a wide variety of reasons many top wrestlers had to sit out of the competition scene up to this point, but some very recognizable names will soon be returning to the mat.
Here is a short list of some of the top wrestlers who could make their season debuts any time now. The season will have to play out to see if anybody from this list decides to take the entire year off to save a year of eligibility.
133 pounds
Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham was ranked #1 in the rankings last year at this time after coming off a third-place NCAA finish in 2024. He suffered an injury after last year’s 5-0 start and has not wrestled since December 2024. Head coach Pat Santoro expects his return to come in January.
141 pounds
Crookham’s teammate at Lehigh, Luke Stanich, is a bit ahead of him in returning. Stanich finished fifth as a freshman at 125 pounds at the 2024 NCAA Championships. He deferred eligibility last year to work up to 141 pounds, and over the summer, he won gold at the U20 World Championships despite suffering an injury in his first bout. That injury has kept him out of the lineup thus far.
Dylan Ragusin has not seen action since the 2024 Cliff Keen Invite. He was a 2024 All-American at 133 pounds for Michigan.
Cornell’s Vince Cornella has been off the college mats since the 2024 EIWA Championships (back when Cornell was still in that conference). He did not see action last year but worked his way back this past weekend to a title at the Patriot Open, including a 10-4 win over #15 Tom Crook of Virginia Tech … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/december/11/men-s-college-notebook-influx-of-talent-expected-second-semester-six-duals-to-watch-this-weekend
Freshman LJ Araujo Making Early Impact For Nebraska Wrestling
LJ Araujo’s top-position prowess has helped the Nebraska freshman get off to a fast start for the Huskers.
He’s largely flown under the radar at 165 pounds so far this season, but Nebraska’s #13 LJ Araujo has put together an impressive freshman season so far.
After redshirting at 174 pounds a year ago, Araujo is down at 165 as a redshirt freshman and has an 8-1 record. Seven of his wins have come against wrestlers who are either ranked now or were ranked at the time, highlighted by a pin over #8 Max Brignola of Lehigh, a 4-3 win over #14 Maxx Mayfield of Missouri, and a 5-3 decision over #22 Gunner Filipowicz of Army.
Araujo’s lone loss was a 10-1 major decision loss to #12 Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State at National Duals — a match where Araujo suffered a second hamstring injury that weekend.
According to Nebraska associate head coach Bryan Snyder, Araujo is now at his ideal weight class, although he may still grow into 174. Araujo dropped to 165 this year, while last year’s 165-pound All-American #8 Christopher Minto moved up to 174. According to Snyder, Minto arrived on campus smaller but has gotten much bigger while they anticipated Araujo getting bigger based on the size of his dad, yet that hasn’t materialized to this point. “(Araujo) is now in the right weight class. He can still probably grow into 65 a little bit,” Snyder said. “We kind of saw the writing on the wall a little bit, and those guys did too. It was a good move for the program and for (Minto) and LJ.”
“It was perfect — I was too small at ‘74,” Araujo said. “I still don’t have to cut much. All the guys give me crap on the team like ‘You’re not even cutting that much weight and you went down a weight class.’ I just planned on being a ‘74-pounder when I got to college, … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/14926580-freshman-lj-araujo-making-early-impact-for-nebraska-wrestling
Ironman Wrestling Preview and Seeds: Five Potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 Showdowns Highlight a Loaded Field
With nearly every top-16 team headed to Cuyahoga Falls, this year’s Ironman Tournament is stacked with elite seeds, national No. 1 contenders, and multiple finals that could pit the very best against each other.
Time constraints are going to keep this tight and concise with not a lot of digging in. Our focus for this will be the teams from the top 16 that will be at Ironman. It’s everyone of them except the California teams.
Faith Christian Academy Loaded With Top Seeds, Waters Eyes Another Crown
No. 1 Faith Christian Academy of Pennsylvania has two top-seeded wrestlers, Nick Singer (175 pounds) and Adam Waters (190), amongst their eight seeded grapplers. Six are in the top ten.
If the seeds play out as expected, Waters, who is our No. 1 190-pounder will square off with No. 2 Jimmy Mastny from Illinois’ Marian Central Catholic in an attempt to earn his second consecutive Ironman crown. Joe Bachmann has moved up to 150 pounds, where he is seeded second.
Bishop McCort’s Stars Headline the Field as Bassett Hunts Fourth Ironman Title
No. 2 Bishop McCort’s Bo Bassett is the number one seed at 150 and will be going for his fourth Ironman crown. Bassett and Bachmann sit at numbers one and two at 150 pounds in our latest national rankings. Melvin Miller, who is seeking his first Ironman title as a junior will likely be involved in another one versus two finals at 165 pounds with No. 2 Jayden James of Delbarton, New Jersey. … more at … https://www.si.com/high-school/ohio/ironman-wrestling-preview-and-seeds-five-potential-no-1-vs-no-2-showdowns-highlight-a-loaded-field-01kc7pexefz5
Dates Set for 2026 National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom
Following a milestone tournament for college wrestling, the National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom today announced that next year’s event will take place Dec. 12-13, 2026, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The decision comes on the heels of the inaugural 2025 tournament, which delivered exceptional competition, strong attendance, and a championship performance by Ohio State, which claimed the title and $200,000 grand prize.
“We were blown away by the reception of this year’s National Duals Invitational,” said Matt Surber, tournament director. “The college wrestling community was all in, and we were able to support the sport in a historic way. Moving the tournament to December next year gives teams and fans a memorable kickoff to the collegiate wrestling season.”
Last month, the 16-team field, which collectively held more than 60 NCAA team titles and over 450 individual national championships, delivered a slate of marquee matchups that further established the National Duals Invitational as one of the premier events in college wrestling. “I’m a big supporter of a dual-meet championship setup, and the caliber of this year’s performances showed why,” said Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan. “The only way you make progress long term is by starting with something that makes sense, and this event does. We’re excited to see it continue to grow.”
For updates and more information, visit nationaldualsinvitational.com.
About the National Duals Invitational
The National Duals Invitational is a premier collegiate wrestling event featuring 16 of the top NCAA Division I teams competing for a total purse of more than $1 million. … more at … https://owrestle.com/dates-set-for-2026-national-duals-invitational-sponsored-by-paycom/
Girls’ wrestling now the fastest-growing sport in the Country, and it starts young
When Ben Fallon was growing up in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, all he ever wanted to do was play football. Fallon was in fourth grade, and in Western Pennsylvania, pretty much every boy wants to play football. However, his parents had some strong feelings about that sport. “My parents wouldn’t let me play football, and I was just looking for a sport that I could be really physical in and get some of that energy out that I think all fourth-grade boys have,” Fallon said.
Wrestling was a sport in which he competed during middle school, high school and college. It was a passion for the sport he never really lost because, as he says, it shaped his character and his adult life. “Wrestling for me was a place where there’s no one else to blame but yourself when you are out there,” Fallon said. “You get out what you put in, and you own 100% of your success and your failure. And I liked that.”
“What really made me commit so much time and effort and energy was just wanting to not only win but show myself that I could be one of the best,” he said. When he and his wife, Corrine, got married and started having children, Fallon always believed he might find himself coaching a son. Except the son never came. Fallon, 36, smiles broadly. “I thought when my third daughter was born that wrestling was totally off the table for me,” he said. “I was kind of resigned to the fact that we were going to be a soccer family my whole life.”
And he was fine with that. However, that all changed last winter when his wife ran into the local club wrestling coach at Franklin Regional. He casually mentioned they were having “weigh-ins” if their girls wanted to join up. “When Corrine told me, I didn’t even really give my kids an option,” he said. “I just said, ‘Hey, I have good news. We’re going to try wrestling this winter.’ So it wasn’t like something that I had been planning on doing with them because I didn’t even know we had a girls’ program.”
All three girls, 8, 5 and 3, came to the first weigh-in, wrestled and fell in love with it on their own, Fallon swears. Last weekend, they competed as part of the Franklin Regional Junior Wrestling Program in their first tournament.
The girls are not alone. While the sport of wrestling has long been a male-dominated field, it has experienced significant growth among girls in middle and high school over the past decade. College-level female wrestling has also seen a big boom, Fallon said. “In fact, girls’ wrestling is now recognized as the fastest-growing high school sport in the United States, outpacing both football and basketball,” he said. “Here in Pennsylvania, nearly 250 high schools offer competitive wrestling for girls.”
Colin Dunlap, a Pittsburgh-based talk-radio host who spent … more at … https://www.timesrepublican.com/opinion/columnists/2025/12/girls-wrestling-now-the-fastest-growing-sport-in-the-country-and-it-starts-young/
Bears sing last in dominating performance over Merchant Marine
Under the spotlights in historic Billard Gymnasium, and with a full crowd, Coast Guard handed archrival Merchant Marine a commanding defeat by the score of 40-3. This is the seventh consecutive time that the Bears have defeated KP, a streak dating back to 2018. For the Mariners, they drop to 2-2 on the season. They will travel to the Nassau Open, hosted by Nassau Community College on Saturday December 13th. Coast Guard jumped out early and often, ensuring that Merchant Marine never had a chance. Nikko Beato(San Diego, CA) made his return to the mat in spectacular fashion to start the night with a 19-5 tech fall victory to give his Bears an early 5-0 lead. After Beato, the freshman 133 pounder Marvin Armistead(Reading, PA) brought the already lively Coast Guard crowd into a frenzy with a pin to open up a commanding 11-0 advantage. 141 Dom Moyer(Milford, PA) and 149 Nathan Fitt(Branchville, NJ) with dominating tech victories of their own Moyer’s by a score of 17-2 and Fitt 16-1. For Fitt, his victory was the loudest, and chippiest of the night. After going up by 15 to earn the tech fall, the CGA crowd erupted behind their senior captain.
After 157 Jacob Woodburn(Greensboro, NC) lost a hard-fought 5-4 decision, 165 Landon Kearns(East Brunswick, NJ) got the Bears back in the points with a tight, 4-2 decision win that came down to the wire. After two straight bouts that went down to the wire, 174 freshman Mason Gourley(Clarion, PA) gave the Bears another comfortable win with a 17-2 tech fall win. Gourley having his hand lifted in celebration by the referee prompted the Coast Guard fans to break into a “He’s a Freshman!” … more at … https://coastguardathletics.com/news/2025/12/10/wrestling-bears-sing-last-in-dominating-performance-over-merchant-marine.aspx
Appalachian State’s Keiser Named SoCon Wrestler of the Week
BOONE, N.C. — For the second straight week, an App State wrestler has been named the SoCon Wrestler of the Week. Kaden Keiser is this week’s honoree, following recognition last weekend for Jarvis Little.
A redshirt junior from Winner, S.D., Keiser finished among the final 12 wrestlers at 149 pounds at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which is among the most difficult regular season tournaments in college wrestling.
Keiser’s 2-2 record in Las Vegas included a major decision against a ranked opponent. Keiser won 14-6 against No. 33 Paul Kelly from Cal Baptist and also won an 8-6 decision against Edinboro’s Ryan Michaels. His two losses were against wrestlers ranked No. 14 and No. 24 in the country.
Keiser is 15-7 this season and 63-30 in his App State career. … more at … https://appstatesports.com/news/2025/12/10/wrestling-keiser-named-socon-wrestler-of-the-week.aspx
Southern Virginia University Men’s Wrestling Battles Back Over Shenandoah For ODAC Dual Triumph
Buena Vista, VA — Debuting their new black uniforms, the Southern Virginia University men’s wrestling team secured their first ODAC dual win of the season in dominant fashion, defeating Shenandoah 35–17 behind clutch performances in the final bouts. The Knights struck first at 125 lbs, with Maddox Heck earning a forfeit to give the Knights an early 6–0 lead.
At 133 lbs, Jayton Wellington battled through a physical match. After falling behind 3–0 in the first period, Wellington chose neutral to begin the second and immediately responded with a takedown and four nearfall points. He entered the third period up 7–3, escaped quickly from bottom, and held strong through late stalling and penalty points to claim a 9–5 decision, extending the Knights’ lead to 9–0.
At 141 lbs, Porter Kinne wasted no time, finishing a clean single-leg takedown and maintaining dominant top control before securing a pin, pushing the Knights ahead 15–0.
Shenandoah battled back as 149 lbs saw Corbin Mecham surrender a takedown before being pinned, cutting the lead to 15–6. The Hornets kept the momentum at 157 lbs, where Kyler North gave up an early double-leg takedown and was eventually pinned, narrowing the gap to 15–12 at the halfway mark. Shenandoah briefly took the lead at 165 lbs, as Wyatt Kinne was caught in a hip toss and pinned, giving the Hornets an 18–15 advantage. But the Knights answered immediately.
At 174 lbs, Tanner Giatras delivered one of the night’s most composed performances. He opened with a clean single-leg takedown and continued to push the pace, earning stall points and multiple takedowns to build a 7–1 lead after two periods. Despite a late scramble that tightened the score, Giatras shut the door with a reversal and four-point nearfall to claim a 14–6 major decision, swinging the dual back in SVU’s favor 19–17.
At 184 lbs, Harrison Hoopes fought through an intense back-and-forth match. After falling behind early, he battled to a 10–7 lead after the first period thanks to strong nearfall work. Shenandoah tied the match 10–10 in the second, … more at … https://knightathletics.com/news/2025/12/10/southern-virginia-university-mens-wrestling-battles-back-over-shenandoah-for-dual-triumph.aspx
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
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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