Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

What to know about the Bill Dies, Top Gun and Maumee Bay tournaments

The busiest weekend in January for high school wrestling is just a few hours away.
The Bill Dies Memorial Tournament, Top Gun and Maumee Bay Classic all take place this weekend.
Here’s what to know from each tournament:

Bill Dies Memorial Tournament

Where: Firestone High SchoolNeed a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!
When: 4 p.m. Friday – two championship and consolation rounds; Saturday – quarterfinals, 9 a.m; finals, 2 p.m.
Teams: Barberton, Brunswick, Brush, McKinley, Chippewa, Conneaut, Copley, Cuyahoga Falls, Dalton, Firestone, Garaway, Garfield, GlenOak, Green, Grove City, Archbishop Hoban, John Glenn, … more at … https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2026/01/15/ohio-high-school-wrestling-bill-dies-maumee-bay-top-gun-tournament-schedule/88090715007/

January 17, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Southern Virginia University Men’s Wrestling Shine on Senior Night With Dual Win Over Randolph

Buena Vista, VA – The Southern Virginia University men’s wrestling team put together a dominant Senior Night performance, rolling past Randolph College 39–15 in Knight Arena.
Before the dual, the Knights honored seniors Porter Kinne and Lincoln Trapp, recognizing their leadership through the years and academic excellence as members of the ODAC All-Academic Team.
Southern Virginia jumped out to an early advantage as Jaton Wellington and Talon Whicker both earned wins by forfeit, giving the Knights quick momentum. Senior Porter Kinne followed with a gritty performance at 141 pounds, escaping late and applying constant pressure to secure an 8–6 decision in front of the home crowd, pushing the Knights ahead 15–0.
Randolph responded with wins at 149, 157, and 165 pounds. Adon Overstreet picked up a fall at 149, Matthew Garland earned a pin over Kyler North at 157, and Theodore Piluso claimed a 7–0 decision at 165 despite a hard-fought effort from Wyatt Kinne. The Knights regained control of the dual when Tanner Giatras earned a forfeit win at 174, setting the stage for a dominant run in the upper weights.
At 184 pounds, Harrison Hoopes delivered a quick pin in under a minute, igniting the crowd. Tradyn Henderson continued his impressive season at 197, securing a first-period pin to improve to 6–1 on the year. Marc Richardson concluded the team victory at heavyweight, earning his third straight win with a second-period pin at 285 bringing the crowd to their feet. Southern Virginia also showcased depth … more at … https://knightathletics.com/news/2026/1/14/southern-virginia-university-mens-wrestling-shine-on-senior-night-with-dual-win-over-randolph.aspx

January 17, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Belmont-Abbey Earns Third Straight Conference Win with Victory over Ferrum

BELMONT, N.C. — Caleb Moore and Kyle Simpson each earned a pin and four other Belmont Abbey wrestlers won by tech fall as the Crusaders defeated Ferrum 38-12 Wednesday evening at the Wheeler Center.
After falling behind early in the opening bout at 157, the Crusaders rallied starting with Austin Marry getting the Crusaders on the board at 165. Christian Arrington followed that with a win by tech fall at 174 followed a 6-0 decision by Kyler Pickard (184) and capped with a pin from Moore in just 14 seconds.
After the Panthers won by pin in the next bout, Simpson (125) answered with a pin of his own in 1:48. The Crusaders concluded the match with tech fall wins from Elijah Carrington (133), Luke Kunath (141) and Skyler Caban (149). With Wednesday’s results, Belmont Abbey improves to 6-4 …. more at … https://abbeyathletics.com/news/2026/1/14/wrestling-abbey-earns-third-straight-conference-win-with-victory-over-ferrum.aspx

January 17, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Penn State vs Iowa Wrestling Dual Preview & Prediction

A full preview with predictions for the upcoming wrestling dual between Penn State and Iowa.
#4 Iowa will welcome #1 Penn State to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night in the most highly anticipated dual of the weekend. Wrestling starts at 7:00 pm (ET) on the Big Ten Network, but before the action goes down, check out a full preview for this rivalry dual in the article below. 
Probable lineups:
125: #2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State vs #7 Dean Peterson, Iowa
133: #6 Marcus Blaze, Penn State vs #11 Drake Ayala, Iowa
141: #8 Braeden Davis, Penn State vs #15 Nasir Bailey, Iowa
149: #1 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs #10 Ryder Block, Iowa
157: #2 PJ Duke Penn, State vs #11 Jordan Williams, Iowa
165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs #3 Michael Caliendo, Iowa
174: #1 Levi Haines Penn, State vs #3 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa
184: #4 Rocco Welsh, Penn State vs #1 Angelo Ferrari, Iowa
197: #1 Josh Barr, Penn State vs Harvey Ludington/Gabe Arnold/Brody Sampson
285: #12 Cole Mirasola, Penn State vs #5 Ben Kueter, Iowa

125: #2 Luke Lilledahl, Penn State vs #7 Dean Peterson, Iowa

Lilledahl and Peterson will meet for the second time in their college careers on Friday night. Peterson won their meeting last year in a one takedown, 4-1 decision. I expect a similar close match in this meeting and would be surprised if we see either wrestler light up the scoreboard. 
Both wrestlers have had similar seasons, with Lilledahl boasting a 9-1 record and Peterson with a 7-1 record. Lilledahl’s lone loss was to his teammate Nate Desmond, but he boasts ranked wins over #32 Ayden Smith, #13 Nico Provo, #19 Ezekiel Witt, and #27 Conrad Hendriksen. Peterson suffered a loss to #5 Nic Bouzakis at the National Duals Inviational but holds ranked wins over #15 Spencer Moore, #8 Troy Spratley, #27 Tyler Chappell, #25 Cooper Flynn, and #30 Bridger Ricks. Though Peterson won the last match, we haven’t seen him wrestle in over a month. Is Peterson healthy? Will there be any mat rust? Because of those questions, I give a slight edge to Lilledahl in their meeting on Friday. 
Prediction: Lilledahl wins by decision
Team score prediction: Penn State 3, Iowa 0 … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15179310-penn-state-vs-iowa-wrestling-dual-preview-prediction

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment

NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/13/2026)

We mentioned yesterday in our recap, that this was unexpectedly a great weekend of wrestling. What ensued were lots of high-profile changes in the rankings. Here’s a weight-by-weight look at some of the more notable changes: Surprisingly, 125 lbs was a weight where there were very few changes this week. Typically, this weight is full of chaos, but it was relatively normal for a week. Drexel’s Desmond Pleasant makes his debut after a 4-0 weekend at the National Duals and two ranked wins.
Ryan Crookham returns and slots in at #5. Based on his past body of work, it could be higher; however, he had been away for over a year and hasn’t had any massive wins over the weekend. We decided to rank Jax Forrest for Oklahoma State. Ultimately, I think that’s where David Taylor will turn. #15 is conservative. We know his results on the freestyle scene domestically and abroad. Let’s see it on the collegiate mat. His only win thus far is over a non-starter. Inserting those two bumps almost everyone down a spot or two, so that’s why the rest of the weight might look wonky and guys may drop despite winning.
Luke Stanich and Braeden Davis have been inserted here. Stanich gets a higher ranking initially because of his win over a top ten opponent in his debut. Davis has slightly more of a body of work this year, but no wins of the caliber of Stanich, yet.
With Kaleb Larkin moving up to 157 and more upsets this week, we basically started from scratch at 149. Caleb Tyus is the big beneficiary. He’s officially unbeaten and has wins over Ethan Stiles and Casey Swiderski, so he slides into that #3 slot. It looks like Virginia Tech will be going with Collin Gaj at 149 and Ethen Miller at 157. Remember, only four of Gaj’s seven losses have come at 149 lbs.
We have a new #1. It’s probably could have been either Brandon Cannon or Kaleb Larkin, but we went with Cannon. He is still officially undefeated and all of his wins have  included bonus points – even one over returning champion Antrell Taylor. Larkin starts off his time at 157 with wins over the previous #1 and #3. PJ Duke doesn’t necessarily have the high-caliber wins like Cannon/Larkin, but is lurking at #3.
There’s always a question about how we handle injury defaults. The answer is on a case-by-case basis, with more of a lean towards ignoring the result. That was the case with Charlie Millard’s win over Kannon Webster. It was actually quite a scary situation as Webster appeared to be knocked out on his feet.
Ethen Miller reappears at #16 after his win over Dylan Evans. That area is consistent with his prior work at this weight. Kai Owen makes his debut in the 157 lb rankings after pinning DJ McGee.
There wasn’t much work needed at 165 lbs. There was some shuffling after Brock Woodcock’s win over Ryan Burgos and a loss from Cesar Alvan at the F&M Open. With his win in the Bedlam dual over CKLV champion Carter Shubert, Alex Facundo moves into the top ten. His only losses this year have come to opponents in the top six and he’s generally wrestled a tough schedule. Garrett Thompson is reinserted after his perfect weekend at the National Duals. … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-1132026-r100754/

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | , | Leave a comment

Lehigh surges into Top 10; Forrest makes collegiate debut for OSU

NEWTON, Iowa — As programs nationwide brace for the start of their respective conference dual-meet slates, WIN has an updated batch of Tournament Power Index (TPI) rankings, Top-20 dual-meet teams and individual rankings.
Ohio State (96.5) reclaimed the No. 2 slot in this week’s updated TPI, sliding ahead of Iowa State (94) and Iowa (86.5), while Oklahoma State (77.5) added eight points to its total count to maintain its grasp on the No. 5 slot. Penn State remains No. 1 with 138.5 TPI points.
Lehigh made a surge into the Top 10 of the TPI after welcoming back past All-Americans Ryan Crookham and Luke Stanich over the weekend. WIN’s TPI projects where programs could finish at the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 19-21 in Cleveland.
The following is a breakdown of those individual TPI points per ranking: 20 for 1st, 16 for 2nd, 13.5 for 3rd, 12.5 for 4th, 10 for 5th, 9 for 6th, 6.5 for 7th and 5.5 for 8th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by one and a half points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and one point for those ranked 17-20.
Penn State features five top-ranked wrestlers with Nittany Lions Shayne Van Ness (149), PJ Duke (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174) and Josh Barr (197) headlining their respective weight classes. Also ranked No. 1 are three defending national champions in Vincent Robinson of NC State (125), Lucas Byrd of Illinois (133), and Jesse Mendez … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2026/01/13/lehigh-surges-into-top-10-forrest-makes-collegiate-debut-for-osu/

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Endene No Longer On Iowa Wrestling Team As Hawkeyes Prepare For Penn State

Fourth-ranked 197-pounder Massoma Endene is no longer with the Iowa wrestling program, coach Tom Brands announced Tuesday.
Endene, who compiled a 6-1 record with the Hawkeyes, hasn’t wrestled since an 8-2 defeat to second-ranked Rocky Elam on Nov. 30 in the 20-14 dual loss to Iowa State. 
Brands announced the news when he opened his weekly media availability, saying: “My statement to that is, sometimes these things work and sometimes they don’t work, and this one just didn’t work out. We wish him the best, and that’s the extent of it. So that’s the opening statement.” Asked if he wanted to add any clarifying details to the announcement, Brands paused, then said, “That’s as far as I’ll go.”
Endene, a Dallas, Texas native, transferred to Iowa in the offseason after winning three NCAA Division III national championships at Wartburg. Before that, he was a two-time NJCAA All-American at Iowa Lakes Community College.
Gabe Arnold wrestled at 197 in duals against Chattanooga and Utah Valley in the “Uncivil War” event on December 12. Harvey Ludington wrestled at the weight class in last Friday’s dual against Wisconsin, losing to Wyatt Ingham 10-8. Ludington and Brody Sampson are listed as the choices at 197 for Friday’s home dual against top-ranked Penn State. Sampson, a redshirt freshman, is 6-6 this season. … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15176559-endene-no-longer-on-iowa-wrestling-team-as-hawkeyes-prepare-for-penn-state

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

National Wrestling Hall of Fame Will Celebrate 50th Anniversary In 2026

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the definitive steward of wrestling history and achievement, is excited to announce that it will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2026. 
“I truly believe that the individuals who envisioned and ultimately created the National Wrestling Hall of Fame would be thrilled to see their dream celebrating 50 years,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “They would be amazed by how much we have grown and proud that we have remained true to our mission to preserve wrestling history, recognize extraordinary achievement and inspire greatness.” 
Additional details about 50th Anniversary initiatives, events, and exhibits will be announced throughout 2026 at www.NWHOF.org. 
The 50th Anniversary Celebration is being coordinated by a committee chaired by Roger Frizzell, who led the national public relations campaign that helped secure the sport of wrestling’s return to the Olympic Games. A four-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma, Frizzell went on to enjoy a distinguished career in communications, marketing, and public relations with American Airlines, AT&T, Carnival Corporation, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard. 
Committee members include:

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Davidson Hoping To See Peake’s Peak During Postseason

Tanner Peake is aiming to become Davidson wrestling’s first NCAA qualifier since 2015.
According to the Davidson College wrestling schedule, Tanner Peake has about a dozen more competitions in his Wildcat wrestling career. And with a little bit of luck — to go along with the hard work this native of Flemington, N.J., has already shown — the 157-pound senior could become Davidson’s first national qualifier since 2015.
While Peake has compiled a healthy 52-32 career record as of Jan. 4, the Wildcat certainly has not enjoyed much luck when it’s come to the postseason. 
• As a true freshman in 2022-23, the two-time New Jersey state placewinner from Hunterdon Central High School set a Davidson school record of 15-4 and a second-place performance at the Southern Conference Championships and was named SoCon Freshman of the year. But he was also forced to miss a month of competition with a shoulder injury that forced him to wear a protective harness during that rookie season.
• As a sophomore, he qualified to represent Puerto Rico in the U20 World Championships but just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships with another second-place SoCon finish.
• As a junior last year, he won eight of his first 11 bouts and was ranked in the Top 20 nationally, only to suffer a neck injury at the Southern Scuffle that eventually ended his season. And to make matters worse, the NCAA denied him a medical redshirt to compete collegiately past this winter.
Thus, Peake can see and feel his college career ending day-by-day … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15180491-davidson-hoping-to-see-peakes-peak-during-postseason

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 11 Roundup: The Throes Of Dual Season

The world’s finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 11th week of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 wrestling season.
Now that the statutory limit for wishing everyone a happy New Year has expired, I will instead wish everyone a Happy Dual Meet Season! 
The second week of January is traditionally the start of most conference dual meets, so consider us now officially within the throes of dual meet season! 
Week 10 Rankings | Week 11 Box Scores
Roundups: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
There was still a tourny to recap as well. A smattering of tournaments will continue throughout the season as newly activated wrestlers need to get their match counts up for NCAA qualification purposes, and redshirts and other non-starters need to get their mat time. 
But this week’s focus will be duals, so let’s get cracking on recapping all the noteworthy happenings of week 11 of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 college wrestling season!!
The Dual of the Century, of the Week
Panther Train Choo Choos Over Jackrabbits For A National Championship!
What better dual to highlight than one that determined who took home first place at the NWCA/USMC Multi-Divisional National Dual Meet Championships? 
This event includes Divisions I, II, III, NAIA and women’s college wrestling into a dual meet bonanza inside the UNI-dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. And it was the home team UNI Panthers who won the D1 crown. 
The Panthers did so by upsetting the higher-ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the favorites and their Big 12 rival.
What made the victory even more impressive was that UNI completed the upset without 6 (six!) of their ranked competitors: no #20 Anderson at 125, no #9 Land at 141, no #20 Rathjen at 149, no #19 Simma at 174, no #26 Walrath at 184, and no #10 Voelker at 285. (By the way, Coach Schwab also mentioned that, unfortunately, Voelker is done for the season, which stinks.) 
SDSU wasn’t at full strength either, as Coach Hahn was without the services of #28 Cardinal at 133 (who hasn’t wrestled since December), #22 Martin at 149, and #31 Marcus Espinoza-Owens at 165.  But this is what dual meet tournaments are all about. Having the depth to wrestle four or more duals over two days and still put forth a championship effort, which is what both teams did and which is why this is the DotCotW. 
Heroes for the Panthers were Max Brady at 141 and Adam Ahrendsen at 285, who both upset ranked Jackrabbits to help secure the win for UNI. … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15167425-ncaa-d1-wrestling-week-11-roundup-the-throes-of-dual-season

January 16, 2026 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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