College wrestling notebook: Hendrickson pins his way to CKLV title, Penn State defeats Lehigh at PPL Center, upsets galore in Las Vegas
The Cliff Keen Wrestling Invitational has come and gone for the 2024 season. The tournament was marked by a number of upsets, strong performances on the backside, and a dominant performance by Oklahoma State to capture the team title. The season continued with plenty of action for college wrestling fans to enjoy. Check out a few things that happened during week six.
Upset of the week
There were plenty of upsets at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend. Cal Poly’s Zeth Romney, ranked at No. 15 in the latest FloWrestling rankings, became the program’s first wrestler in 15 years to win a title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Romney defeated No. 6 Evan Frost of Iowa State in the finals at 133 pounds, 7-3. Romney was the fifth seed in the bracket while Frost was the No. 2 seed. Romney was also the lowest seeded athlete to win a title.
Dual of the week
No. 1 Penn State defeated No. 14 Lehigh, 36-3, in front of nearly 10,000 fans at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. The Nittany Lions moved to 2-0 while the Mountain Hawks dropped to 1-2. Penn State won 9 of the 10 matches, as Lehigh’s No. 1 Ryan Crookham posted a 4-2 decision over No. 10 Braeden Davis. It’s worth mentioning that No. 23 Josh Barr bumped up to 197 pounds for the dual and defeated Np. 6 Michael Beard, 11-3.
No. 1 Penn State 36, No. 14 Lehigh 3
125: #16 Luke Lilledahl PSU dec. #15 Sheldon Seymour LEH, 4-1
133: #1 Ryan Crookham LEH dec. #10 Braeden Davis PSU, 4-2
141: #3 Beau Bartlett PSU dec. Carter Bailey LEH, 5-0
149: #2 Shayne Van Ness PSU maj. dec. Matt Repos LEH, 17-3
157: #4 Tyler Kasak PSU dec. Logan Rozynski LEH, 5-2
165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink PSU tech fall Thayne Lawrence LEH, 18-1 (TF; 4:37)
174: #2 Levi Haines PSU pinned Rylan Rogers LEH, WBF (4:12)
184: #1 Carter Starocci PSU maj. dec. Jack Wilt LEH, 15-1 … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/09/college-wrestling-notebook-hendrickson-pins-his-way-to-cklv-title-penn-state-defeats-lehigh-at-ppl-center-upsets-galore-in-las-vegas
Back-to-Back Pins Resurrect No. 13 Corban Men’s Wrestling as Warriors Swipe Dual Win from NCAA Cal Poly Humboldt
SALEM, Ore. – For all but about five minutes of tonight’s dual for the No. 13-ranked Corban University Men’s Wrestling team, the Warriors trailed their NCAA DII Cal Poly Humboldt counterparts on the scoreboard, as the early weight classes struggled to get going yet the fear of their first dual loss of the season was erased in a matter of minutes thanks to the work of five student-athletes who won their weight classes and eventually, secured them their 26-23 dual victory over the Lumberjacks.
To view the complete results from today’s dual, click HERE or see below for a weight class summary. “A little bit of a slow start tonight but it was a fast finish,” explained Warriors’ head coach Nolan Harris. “It was definitely exciting for our fanbase for it to end as it did. After 165lbs, we knew we needed to win out with bonus points in multiple matches. Our guys knew the goal and rose to the occasion. Tyson got it started by putting up a lot of points en route to a tech fall and really got the enthusiasm back on our side. Hunter showed great composure with a big fall after giving up an initial takedown. It set up the great finish by Toni and sealing the dual win with the quick fall. Again, we knew we needed bonus points for the team to win, as if Toni were to win by decision, we would’ve ended up tied and Cal Poly Humboldt had the criteria necessary to win the tiebreak. Ultimately, Toni’s fall sealed the victory. I’m proud of the team effort tonight and look forward to our guys getting through finals this next week and our upcoming match against a tough Southern Oregon squad on Saturday.
The Warriors (4-0) proved tonight that it’s not necessarily always how you start a dual that determines the result, but often how you finish them that produce meaningful victories and help set the standard for the rest of the 2024-25 season. After dropping their first four weight classes to the Jacks (0-3) via a technical fall, back-to-back fortfeits, and a decision to trail 20-0 on the scoreboard, redshirt senior David Rubio was able to kick off the team scoring for Corban men’s wrestling with a hard fought 6-4 decision over Cal Poly Humboldt’s Gil Mossburg that sparked the remainder of the Warriors waiting to face their dual opponents.
The Lumberjacks earned those three points right back at 165lbs as Cole Zoller took a 9-3 decision over sophomore Jesse Rubio, … more at … https://corbanwarriors.com/news/2024/12/8/back-to-back-pins-resurrect-no-13-corban-mens-wrestling-as-warriors-swipe-dual-win-from-ncaa-cal-poly-humboldt.aspx
Penn State Takes Down Lehigh 36-3 in Sold Out PPL Center
Nittany Lions win nine of ten, post 21-1 takedown edge, in front of nearly 10,000 fans.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (2-0, 0-0 B1G) took down Lehigh (1-2) in a Pennsylvania intra-state dual meet on Sunday in Allentown, Pa. Penn State won nine of ten bouts in a lopsided 36-3 victory.
The dual was wrestled in Allentown’s PPL Center in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,769. All rankings listed are InterMat/InterMat Tournament Power Index (TPI).
The dual began at 125. Penn State true freshman Luke Lilledahl, ranked No. 16 at 125, opened up the dual with a 4-1 win over No. 15 Sheldon Seymour, notching a late counter takedown for the victory. Sophomore Braeden Davis, ranked No. 10 at 133, battled No. 1 Ryan Crookham tough, forcing two late stalls but dropping a tough 4-2 decision.
Senior+ Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 3 at 141, gave Penn State a 6-3 lead in the dual meet with a 5-0 win over Mountain Hawk Carter Bailey, using a first period takedown, an escape and riding time to grab the victory. Sophomore Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 2 at 149, followed that up with a strong 17-3 major decision over Matt Repos, working up five takedowns in the win. Sophomore Tyler Kasak, ranked No. 4 at 157, used a second period takedown as the edge in a hard fought 5-2 win over Logan Rozynski to close out the first half for Penn State. The Nittany Lions led 13-3 at the midway point.
Sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 1 at 165, opened up the second half … more at … https://gopsusports.com/news/2024/12/8/penn-state-takes-down-lehigh-36-3-in-sold-out-ppl-center
Eight Title Winners Nets Gophers Team Crown at Cougar Clash
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota wrestling claimed eight of the 10 titles en route to winning the team title Saturday at the Cougar Clash in Edwardsville, Ill.
The titles came from redshirt juniors Cooper Flynn (125 pounds), Vance VomBaur (141) and Drew Roberts (149), fifth-year seniors Tommy Askey (157) and Andrew Sparks (165), redshirt sophomore Clayton Whiting (174), and redshirt freshmen Max McEnelly (184) and Gavin Nelson (197).
In addition, the Golden Gophers had finalists at 133 pounds (sophomore Tyler Wells), 174 pounds (redshirt freshman Ethan Riddle) and heavyweight (redshirt junior Bennett Tabor). Minnesota’s 268.5 team points were well ahead of second-place Missouri’s 183.0, while Northern Colorado was third at 157.0. No other team had more than 90 points.
Flynn, ranked 13th by Intermat, was 3-0 on the day en route to his first tournament title as a Gopher. After a first-round bye, he pinned Illinois’ Anthony Ruzic at 4:57, then topped No. 14 Noah Surtin of Missouri, 8-2. In the finals, Flynn picked up his second rank win as he took down No. 5 Stevo Poulin of Northern Colorado, 7-1. Down 1-0 after 2 periods, Flynn tied it with an escape then took down Poulin and added three nearfall points to claim the title.
The fifth-ranked VomBaur cruised through his first two matches, pinning Missouri’s Owen Uhls at 5:55 then getting a 17-4 major decision against another Tiger in Easton Hilton. The finals featured a rematch from last year’s NCAA Championship Blood Round between VomBaur and Missouri’s Josh Edmond, currently ranked 18th. After an 8-5 overtime win last year, VomBaur did it again in a 4-3 win Saturday to take the 141-pound title. An escape and takedown in the first period was enough for VomBaur to prevail.
Roberts finished a 4-0 day with a 12-1 major decision over Northern Colorado’s Benji Alanis to win the crown at 149 pounds. Roberts outscored opponents 49-9 Saturday in his first tournament appearance of the season. Askey, ranked No. 7, took the title at 157 pounds with a 13-4 major decision over James Conway of Missouri. Askey had two first-period takedowns and added another in the second to put the match away. Going 4-0 on the day, he alternated a decision with a major decision on his way to improving his record to 10-0 on the year.
A dominant day for No. 11 Andrew Sparks ended in a 5-0 title win … more at … https://gophersports.com/news/2024/12/7/wrestling-eight-title-winners-nets-gophers-team-crown-at-cougar-clash
Iowa Coach Tom Brands approaches 300 career dual victories
Brands could hit win milestone against Army and Princeton Friday; Questions remain at 157 for Iowa; ISU’s Euton suffered season-ending inury; UNI’s Keckeisen earns Big 12 honor
IOWA CITY – Iowa Coach Tom Brands is approaching a milestone.
In his 20 th season as college wrestling head coach, including the last 18 with the Hawkeyes, Brands is just two from 300 career dual victories. Second-ranked Iowa will face Princeton and Army in a double-dual at Journeymen Wrestling’s “Uncivil War” on Friday at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Mo. Brands could join Dan Gable (355-21-5) as the only Iowa coaches to reach the 300-win plateau.
Brands said he had no idea about the chance to reach the feat. “Sometimes you’re aware of it more,” Brands said. “On this one, this is the first time I’ve heard that.”
Iowa has opened the season 4-0. Brands improved his overall career record to 298-47-1. He owns a 281-27-1 record with the Hawkeyes. He is 134-14 in Big Ten Conference duals and 135-14 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “That’s not a big deal,” Brands continued. “What’s the big deal is that we got a lot of work to do and we got a lot of guys in that wrestling room that like doing the work and get better every day.
“So, that’s the most important thing. From there, we have to keep getting better. All these guys are coming.”
Brands has led Iowa to at least 11 dual wins in each season not shortened by the Covid pandemic. The Hawkeyes went 5-0 in that 2020-21 season limited to Big Ten duals. Iowa is 4-1 all-time against Army, including a 2-0 mark under Brands. The Hawkeyes are 4-0 in duals with Princeton.
QUESTIONS AT 157 FOR IOWA
Iowa’s probable lineup has a couple of interesting either/or weights. At 125 pounds, Joey Cruz and Kale Petersen are both listed again. All-American Nelson Brands and Patrick Kennedy, who posted an impressive technical fall against Iowa State, are both included at 174. Cullan Schriever is added as an option with Ryder Block at 141.
The odd listing is TBA (to be announced) at 157 pounds. Top-ranked Jacori Teemer injury defaulted during the win over the Cyclones. The roster has … more at … https://www.thegazette.com/hawkeye-wrestling/mens-college-wrestling-notes-iowa-coach-tom-brands-approaches-300-career-dual-victories/
DI Live Streaming Guide (12/4 – 12/8/2024)
We’ve made it through the first month of the 2024-25 wrestling season. Now, on to December. After the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re back to a normal week of college wrestling action. A total of 24 duals will be contested along with the CKLV. Since it can be difficult to figure out where and when to watch all of these events, InterMat has put together a list of all of the live-streamed events occurring this week. Below are the dates/times and how to watch each match (with links).
To make this guide even easier to find, we’ve added a link on our homepage and the latest Live Streaming Guide will appear right under the header articles.
All times Eastern
Wednesday, December 4:
Drexel at Clarion 7:00 PM FloWrestling
Thursday, December 5:
LIU at Bloomsburg 7:00 PM FloWrestling
Lake Erie at Kent State 7:00 PM
Friday, December 6:
Appalachian State, Arizona State, Binghamton, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Columbia, Cornell, CSU Bakersfield, Harvard, Hofstra, Iowa State, Michigan, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Purdue, Rider, Sacred Heart, South Dakota State, Stanford, Utah Valley, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wyoming at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational 12:00 PM FloWrestling
Iowa vs. Princeton at St. Charles, MO 7:00 PM UFC Fight Pass – CFFC Match Day
Army West Point vs. Iowa at St. Charles, MO, 9:00 PM UFC Fight Pass – CFFC Match Day
Buffalo at American 1:00 PM ESPN+
Buffalo at George Mason 5:00 PM ESPN+
Illinois vs. Indiana at Indianapolis, IN 5:00 PM Big Ten Network
Davidson at Duke 6:00 PM ACC Network Extra
Lock Haven at Rutgers 7:00 PM B1G+
Penn at Virginia 7:00 PM ACC Network Extra
Central Michigan at Oklahoma 8:00 PM ESPN+ … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/47_streaming-guide/di-live-streaming-guide-124-1282024-r99794/
Seventh-Ranked Gophers Trounce No. 17 South Dakota State, 30-3
MINNEAPOLIS – No. 7 Minnesota (4-0) won nine of the 10 matches, including six ranked bouts, as it trounced No. 17 South Dakota State (1-2) by a score of 30-3 Sunday afternoon at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, S.D.
After the last two duals were decided by a combined nine points, Minnesota left little doubt Sunday as it won the first six matches and ended up holding the Jackrabbits to their lowest point total in the series since 1974 (31-2).
Minnesota now leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 29-5, including 13 straight wins. The 13-match win streak ties for Minnesota’s second-longest active streak, along with 13 straight wins over Michigan State. The only streak longer is 19 in a row against North Dakota State. The 29 wins are the Gophers’ second most against all non-Big Ten schools, behind only the 33 wins they have against Northern Iowa. In Brookings, the Gophers are 10-1 all-time and have won the past seven meetings there. Minnesota has also won 10 straight duals dating back to last season. During the current streak, Minnesota has outscored opponents 329-54 and hasn’t allowed more than 12 points in any contest.
The tone was set in the first match of the day at 125 pounds as No. 14 Cooper Flynn upset No. 4 Tanner Jordan, 7-2. Both of Flynn’s takedowns came in the opening period, giving him a 6-1 lead. After no scoring in the second, Jordan gained a point on Flynn’s second stall warning, but riding time improved Flynn to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in duals.
At 133 pounds, No. 8 Tyler Wells and No. 28 Derrick Cardinal met for the third time in the last two seasons. After splitting the two matchups a year ago, Wells took lead in the series with a 10-2 major decision Sunday. After a scoreless first period, Cardinal escaped to lead 1-0 but Wells got a takedown in the final seconds to lead 3-1. The final period was all Wells as he added an escape and two more takedowns to secure his second major decision of the year.
The first non-ranked matchup came at 141 pounds with No. 5 Vance VomBaur topping … more at … https://gophersports.com/news/2024/12/1/wrestling-gophers-trounce-south-dakota-state-30-3?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
No. 25 Wrestling Splits Matchups With Greensboro, No. 16 Illinois
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 25th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels split their Monday night duals against Greensboro College and No. 16 Illinois, inside Carmichael Arena. In the opener, the Tar Heels defeated Greensboro College, 47-3.
Carolina had nine victories in the match: four falls, two technical falls, one major decision, one decision and a forfeit. The group of Max Martin (133), Cade Tenold (174), Aidan Schlett (197) and Nolan Neves (285) earned falls in the dual win. Marco Tocci (125) and Omaury Alvarez (165) cruised to technical falls, as Marcus Murabito (184) collected the major decision.
At 149 pounds, Cullen Kane earned a hard-fought decision for the Tar Heels, with Joey Showalter (157) on the receiving end of the Pride’s forfeit. For the second-straight week, the Tar Heels squared off with a ranked Big Ten opponent in Chapel Hill, as 16th-ranked Illinois ended the top-25 matchup victorious, 24-14. Against the Fighting Illini, Spencer Moore (125), Lachlan McNeil (149), Sonny Santiago (157) and Gavin Kane (184) collected wins for the Tar Heels.
To begin the match, Moore used six takedowns to earn the 20-5 major decision over Illinois’ Caelan Riley. At 141, with the match tied 1-1 in overtime, McNeil powered his way to the takedown, clipping the Fighting Illini’s No. 10 Kannon Webster, 4-1.
In the ensuing match at 157 pounds, No. 27 Sonny Santiago collected his first ranked win of the year, with a convincing 10-3 decision against No. 20 Jason Kraisser.
Rounding out the Carolina victories, Gavin Kane earned his first top-10 win since the 2023 NCAA Championships, with a 9-5 decision over No. 9 Edmond Ruth. Tied 5-5 after a Kane escape to begin the third period, the Milton, Ga. native’s takedown with just over a minute remaining propelled the Tar Heel 184-pounder to victory. Up next, Carolina will travel to Nashville, Tenn. on December 21, … more at … https://goheels.com/news/2024/11/25/no-25-wrestling-splits-matchups-with-greensboro-no-16-illinois
Barket Goes 3-0 on the Day; Blue Devils Defeat Presbyterian in Quad Match
PITTSBORO, N.C. — Duke’s 28th-ranked redshirt sophomore Connor Barket went a perfect 3-0 on the day to pace the Blue Devil wrestling team at its Quad Match at Seaforth High School in Pittsboro. Barket, who hails from West Lafayette, Ind., moved to 12-2 on the season, including his first ranked victory on the year. As a team, the Blue Devils (2-5) defeated Presbyterian, 38-9, while falling to American (33-6) and Utah Valley (38-6).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In the first match of the day against American, Duke’s Aidan Wallace collected his fourth straight win of the season at 165 with a 5-0 decision against Kaden Milheim.
- Duke’s heavyweight Connor Barket also posted a 5-0 decision versus Emmanuel Ulrich for the Blue Devils other points in the match.
- The Blue Devils went up against Utah Valley in the second match with Duke sophomore SP O’Donnell collecting a 7-0 decision versus Veli Quintanilla.
- Down late in his match against 33rd-ranked Jack Forbes, Duke’s Barket registered a late escape and takedown with approximately 20 seconds remaining to register a 7-6 victory.
- In the final match of the day, Duke’s Ethan Grimminger opened things at 125 with a 5-2 decision in overtime against Brayden Adams of Presbyterian to give Duke a 3-0 lead.Grimminger registered a takedown with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to collect the win.
- Blue Devil tri-captain Raymond Adams continued the hot start for Duke with a 17-6 win versus Tyler Rodier at 133.It marked Adams’ first dual match win of the season for the sophomore … more at … https://goduke.com/news/2024/11/23/wrestling-barket-goes-3-0-on-the-day-blue-devils-defeat-presbyterian-in-quad-match
NCAA No. 1 Iowa punches seven into semifinals at intense Missouri Valley Women’s Open
MARSHALL, Mo. – NCAA No. 1 Iowa powered seven wrestlers into the semifinals after a long day of intense action at the Missouri Valley Women’s Open on Friday.
Semifinalists from Iowa included Rianne Murphy (103), Emilie Gonzalez (110), Ava Bayless (110), Brianna Gonzalez (117), Emily Frost (131), Naomi Simon (180) and Katja Osteen (207). Brianna Gonzalez is the only 2023 Missouri Valley Open champion to qualify for the semifinals.
The Missouri Valley Open featured 28 nationally ranked teams from the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and USports in Canada, as well as a variety of athletes from the Open level, college clubs and high school individuals. One weight class was completed on Friday, the 235-pound weight class, which is not contested at the NCAA and NAIA levels. Karla Padilla of NAIA No. 4 University of the Cumberlands pinned Brianna Staebler of NAIA No. 7 Campbellsville in 2:01 to claim the gold medal.
NCAA No. 4 Grand Valley State has four semifinalists, Rayana Sahagun (103), Sage Mortimer (110), Aspen Blasko (124) and Sabrina Nauss (180).
Three unattached high school stars reached the semifinals: Makennah Craft of Ohio (103), Sierra Chiesa of Pennsylvania (124) and Bella Williams of Oklahoma (131).
Unattached Senior-level wrestlers in the semifinals are Xochitl Mota-Pettis of Texas (138), Valerie Hamilton of Illinois (145), Aleah Nickel of Canada (145) and Destiny Rodriguez, unattached from McKendree (160).
MISSOURI VALLEY WOMEN’S OPEN
At Marshall, Mo., November 22
235 pounds
1st Place Match – Karla Padilla (University of the Cumberlands) won by fall over Brianna Staebler (Campbellsville University) Fall 2:01
3rd Place Match – Emmale Americano (Baker University) won by fall over Melissa De La Torre (Unattached Morningside) Fall 2:31 … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/november/22/ncaa-no-1-iowa-punches-seven-into-semifinals-at-intense-missouri-valley-women-s-open
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
Takedown Report 