Sooners Score Three Wins at Norman Duals
NORMAN — The No. 21 Oklahoma wrestling team earned an unblemished 3-0 record after defeating Southeast CC, Cal State Bakersfield and Chattanooga in dual action on Saturday. As a team, the Sooners outscored opponents 105-21 on the day.
OU’s first dual was against Southeast CC. A historical milestone for the squad from Lincoln, Neb., Saturday marked the Bobcats’ first dual against a Division I opponent since the inception of the program in 2023. The Sooners had seven wrestlers make their season dual debuts: Beric Jordan, Carter Schmidt, Alex Braun, Hunter Hollingsworth, Anders Thompson, Seth Seago and Ryder Wiese all picked up wins. Elsewhere, KJ Evans, Tate Picklo and Mannix Morgan took care of business as the Sooners routed the Bobcats, 41-0. It marked the first time Oklahoma won all 10 matches in a dual since blanking Little Rock, 37-0, on Nov. 18, 2022.
The Sooners went up against CSU Bakersfield in their second dual of the day. Mosha Schwartz, Willie McDougald, KJ Evans, Mannix Morgan and DJ Parker led the way for Oklahoma as all earned bonus-point wins. Antonio Lorenzo and Picklo added decision victories, while the Roadrunners forfeited the 133-pound bout. The Sooners took eight of the 10 matches to take the 38-7 win.
OU finished out the quad with a dual against Chattanooga. Bradley Hill scored his first dual win since the season opener, racking up three takedowns, an escape and riding time against UTC’s David Harper for an 11-2 major decision. Picklo scored his third win of the day by fall, pinning the Mocs’ Jackson Hurst just one minute into the first period. Lorenzo, Schwartz and Parker contributed with bonus points, capping off a 26-14 win for the Sooners.
OU will enjoy a holiday break before traveling to Chattanooga, Tenn., to participate in the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 4-5, in what is widely considered one of the toughest regular season tournaments in collegiate wrestling. It will mark the second consecutive season Oklahoma will start the year at the event, and the Sooners will look to improve on … more at … https://soonersports.com/news/2024/12/21/wrestling-sooners-score-three-wins-at-norman-duals
WIN Magazine’s Dec. 16 NCAA Division I Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic
By Mike Finn
NEWTON, Iowa — The holidays are upon the college wrestling world and many of the top teams, listed in WIN Magazine’s Dec. 16 national rankings, will be in action one more weekend before Christmas at neutral-site dual meets.
The biggest event will be happening in Nashville, Tenn., where five teams ranked in WIN’s Dual Team Rankings — No. 1 Penn State, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 13 Missouri and No. 19 Little Rock — will compete. This could include a featured meeting between the top-two ranked wrestlers and a pair of national champions at 174 pounds: Missouri’s No. 1 Keegan O’Toole and Penn State’s No. 2-ranked Levi Haines.
Meanwhile, there are also scheduled duals between No. 3 Oklahoma State hosting No. 7 Virginia Tech on Dec. 19 and No. 6 NC State traveling to No. 9 Cornell on Dec. 22.
With most schools taking semester exams last weekend, there was little action and few changes in WIN’s Dec. 16 Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic. This includes WIN’s Tournament Power Index, where the top five schools are Penn State (138 TPI points), Oklahoma State (78), Iowa (75), Minnesota (64.5) and Virginia Tech (58.5).
WIN’s TPI projects where programs would finish in the 2025 NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 20-22 in Philadelphia, if every wrestler finished the season where they are ranked now. 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, … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2024/12/16/win-magazines-dec-16-ncaa-division-i-rankings-presented-by-cliff-keen-athletic/
Appalachian State Opens SoCon Schedule with Decisive Win at VMI
LEXINGTON, Va. — App State Wrestling started its SoCon schedule in strong fashion, claiming bonus points in seven of its eight victories during a 40-6 dual win at VMI on Thursday night.
The night included the first App State dual victories for three freshmen, with two of those occurring via pins for the Mountaineers, who improved to 1-2 overall after beginning the season with losses to a pair of top-20 opponents in No. 6 NC State and No. 18 West Virginia.
True freshman heavyweight Stephan Monchery won by fall in the third period against fourth-year starter Josh Evans, while redshirt freshman Jeremiah Price needed just 2:33 to record a pin against Eric Doran at 157 pounds. Monchery held a 3-2 lead in the third period when he recorded a takedown and then ended the match with 40 seconds remaining.
Redshirt freshman Bryson Terrell (125 pounds) and redshirt junior Dalton Battle (184 pounds) made their first career dual starts for App State, with Terrell winning via tech fall by a 17-2 count against Cody Tanner.
Riley Edwards opened the dual with a 12-6 decision over Phoenix Alyea at 141 pounds in just his second career dual victory for App State, and the Mountaineers’ remaining wins all involved bonus points.
Luke Uliano won by fall in the first period at 174 pounds, Carson Floyd pitched a shutout in a 16-0 tech fall at 197 pounds, Kaden Keiser had a tech fall by a 20-3 score at 149 pounds and ninth-ranked Will Miller won by a 12-4 major decision … more at … https://appstatesports.com/news/2024/12/12/wrestling-opens-socon-schedule-with-decisive-win-at-vmi.aspx
ACC Friday Night Duals return to ACC Network, ACC wrestling streaming schedule also set
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TheACC.com) – ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference have announced that ACC Friday Night Duals will return this season to ACC Network with five straight weeks of conference matchups, beginning on January 24 when No. 7 Virginia Tech travels to Durham, North Carolina, to take on Duke. Veteran play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney and analyst Rock Harrison will be on the call for the sixth-straight year.
The Friday night series will also feature the conference’s other ranked teams – No. 6 NC State, No. 15 Stanford, No. 19 Pitt and No. 24 North Carolina, among other top ACC programs.
An additional 20 ACC wrestling events will also stream this season on ACCNX.
ESPN platforms will feature nearly 150 collegiate wrestling events from some of the top conferences in the country throughout the 2024-25 NCAA season, including more than 110 events exclusively on ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service.
Notable ACC dual wrestling meets on ESPN+ in 2024-25 include:
No. 5 Ohio State at No. 19 Pitt (Dec. 13, 7 p.m. ET)
No. 7 Virginia Tech at No. 3 Oklahoma State (Dec. 19, 8 p.m. ET)
No. 6 NC State at No. 12 Cornell (Dec. 22, 4 p.m. ET) … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/13/acc-friday-night-duals-return-to-acc-network-acc-wrestling-streaming-schedule-also-set
Mt. San Antonio repeats as 3C2A champions, wins four individual titles
Mounties win school’s third state championship in the last four years.
Photo Galleries: John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com | Chris Mora Photos
Lemoore, California – Four years ago, Mt. San Antonio College walked away with its first 3C2A state championship, ending a run of four straight titles won by perennial California power Fresno City College.
On Saturday, head coach David Rivera’s Mounties repeated as team champions and claimed the program’s third state championship in the last four seasons scoring 204 team points and outdistancing second-place Fresno City by 66 points at Golden Eagle Arena on the campus of Lemoore College in Lemoore, California.
Mt. San Antonio placed 11 of its 12 qualified wrestlers and crowned four champions, tying a school record for champions in a season, set last season.
Fresno City had two champions and eight placewinners. Palomar was third with 110 points, Sacramento City was fourth with 90.5 and Cerritos fifth with 79.5 “I was proud of them and how they competed today,” said Rivera. “They stepped up and we continued to wrestle to the best of our abilities.” … more at … https://mattalkonline.substack.com/p/mt-san-antonio-repeats-as-3c2a-champions
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/
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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