Takedown Report

NC State Putting ACC Home Streak On Line In Showdown With Virginia Tech

North Carolina State hasn’t lost a home ACC dual since 2019, but the Wolfpack will have to avenge a November loss to preserve that streak.
The road to an ACC team title has gone through either Raleigh or Blacksburg for more than a decade now. This year appears no different, as #8 NC State hosts #7 Virginia Tech Friday night in one of the marquee NCAA duals of the year.
You’ll need to go back to 2014 to find the last time neither NC State nor Virginia Tech had the best regular season record and were handed the ACC dual championship. In the postseason, either NC State (with seven titles) or Virginia Tech (with three) have won the last 10 ACC Championships dating back to 2015.
“This rivalry is good for our sport,” NC State head coach Pat Popolizio said. “It elevated everyone’s game, and it makes you better in the long run. When you have two really good teams matching up, that is what’s fun about dual meets. It’s 10 versus 10. “Their fan base travels extremely well, so our fans are going to have to show up early and then make sure to make it’s a great atmosphere for Friday night wrestling.”
This will be the second meeting of the year for the two programs, as they faced off in a non-conference dual back in November at the National Duals Invitational. The Hokies easily won that day, 25-9, winning seven of the 10 bouts. As it appears, there will be six rematches from that dual (125, 141, 149, 165, 174, 184). “It’s pretty simple how we can turn that result around — score takedowns,” Popolizio said. “That is something we didn’t do in that first meeting. Both teams obviously didn’t have some guys, and there were some weight changes, so it’s going to be a different dual.”
NC State has not dropped a home conference dual since 2019 vs. Pitt (18-16). With the win over UNC last week, the Pack has won 18 home ACC duals in a row. “Our guys have got to be ready, and they have got to be aggressive,” Popolizio said. “I think that is something we did well last week (in the 24-10 win over #11 North Carolina). We opened up, attacked and scored points. “If you can’t score a takedown, it’s hard to win matches.”
One of the featured bouts will come at 165 pounds, as a pair of true freshmen are introduced into this rivalry and face off in a pivotal match as #10 Will Denny toes the line against #17 Ryan Burton.
Burton was the #14 overall recruit in the 2025 class, while Denny was #16. They did not have a history as high school opponents, … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15302355-nc-state-putting-acc-home-streak-on-line-in-showdown-with-virginia-tech

January 29, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment

Ohio State stays unbeaten after sliding past Nebraska; Top-ranked Nittany Lions pick up two more shutouts

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Big wins and down-to-the-wire performances were among the notable results in the past week of college wrestling action as the NWCA released the most recent Division I Men’s Coaches Poll on Tuesday.  
No. 1 Penn State stayed unbeaten with a pair of shutouts, defeating then-No. 25 Indiana 48-0 and topping Maryland 51-0. No. 2 Ohio State went 2-0 with wins over then-No. 9 Minnesota, 29-9, and then-No. 6 Nebraska, 17-16. Iowa also notched a ranked win, beating Nebraska 22-14, while Oklahoma State handled then-No. 18 Missouri, 33-3.  
Iowa State posted two wins, blanking Northern Colorado 42-0 before defeating then-No. 15 South Dakota State, 27-9. NC State earned a ranked victory over then-No. 11 North Carolina, 24-10, and Virginia Tech beat then-No. 24 Stanford, 22-14. Minnesota split its week with a 26-10 win over then-No. 16 Wisconsin before falling to Ohio State.  
Illinois edged then-No. 17 Rutgers 17-16 on criteria, while Rutgers also picked up a 30-10 win over Northwestern. Northern Iowa beat Arizona State, and West Virginia earned a ranked win over then-No. 23 Wyoming, 21-15. Cornell went 2-0 with wins over Harvard and Brown, while Stanford defeated Virginia following its loss to Virginia Tech. South Dakota State beat California Baptist before falling to Iowa State, and Indiana rebounded from its loss to Penn State to beat Michigan State, 32-13.  
A full slate of ranked teams is scheduled to compete this weekend, highlighted by multiple head-to-head matchups between ranked opponents. No. 6 Nebraska heads to State College on Friday to face top-ranked Penn State, while No. 9 Minnesota travels to Iowa City to meet the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes. Friday also features No. 7 Virginia Tech at No. 8 NC State, No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 2 Ohio State, No. 14 Pittsburgh at No. 11 North Carolina, No. 3 Iowa State at No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 13 Northern Iowa at No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Indiana at No. 12 Illinois.  
On Saturday, Northern Iowa returns to face No. 21 Oklahoma, and No. 18 Missouri travels to Little Rock. Oregon State heads to Laramie to meet No. 23 Wyoming, while No. 22 Cornell is scheduled to host Arizona State and Columbia.
Sunday closes the week with No. 3 Iowa State at No. 5 Oklahoma State, … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2026/1/27/national-wrestling-coaches-association-ohio-state-stays-unbeaten-after-sliding-past-nebraska-top-ranked-nittany-lions-pick-up-two-more-shutouts.aspx

January 28, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment

DI Live Streaming Guide (1/22 – 1/25/2026)

We’re almost halfway through the first month of 2026! From here on out, the majority of the action will be in dual meet competition. Almost all of the DI action this week will come via duals. A total of 49 duals will be contested. 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).

Thursday, January 22:
Presbyterian at The Citadel  6:00 PM  ESPN+
Arizona State at Northern Iowa  7:30 PM  FloWrestling

Friday, January 23:
Gardner-Webb at Campbell  5:00 PM  Campbell YouTube
Michigan State at Purdue  5:00 PM  Big Ten Network
Navy at Bloomsburg  6:00 PM  FloWrestling
Kent State at Northern Illinois  6:00 PM  ESPN+
Bellarmine vs. VMI at Richmond, VA  6:00 PM
Clarion vs. Gardner-Webb at Campbell  6:30 PM
Davidson at Chattanooga  7:00 PM  ESPN+
Edinboro at George Mason  7:00 PM  ESPN+
Ohio State at Minnesota  7:00 PM  Big Ten Network
North Carolina at NC State  7:00 PM  ACC Network Extra
Indiana at Penn State  7:00 PM  B1G+
Columbia at Princeton  7:00 PM  ESPN+
California Baptist at South Dakota State  7:00 PM  MidCo Sports Plus
Stanford at Virginia Tech  7:00 PM  ACC Network Extra
Oklahoma State at Missouri  7:30 PM  ESPN+
Clarion at Campbell  8:00 PM  Campbell YouTube
Northern Colorado at Iowa State  8:00 PM  ESPN+
Ohio at Northern Illinois  8:00 PM  ESPN+
Rutgers at Northwestern  8:00 PM  B1G+
Iowa at Nebraska  9:00 PM  Big Ten Network … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/47_streaming-guide/di-live-streaming-guide-122-1252026-r100770/

January 21, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | 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 The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment

10 Tight NCAA Team Races That Went Down To The Wire

10 Tight NCAA Team Races That Went Down To The Wire
Most NCAA championships are decided before the individual finals, with rare team races that come down to the wire. The following 10 were decided by two points or less. 
10. 1999 Division I NCAA championships
First place: Iowa – 100.5
Second place: Minnesota – 98.5
Spread: 2 points
The grand finale of the 1999 NCAA championships came down to two of the most famous heavyweights in college wrestling history: Stephen Neal of Cal-State Bakersfield and Brock Lesnar of Minnesota. 
Neal won the highly anticipated match, 3-2, over Lesnar, giving Iowa a two-point victory over Minnesota. Neal earned a freestyle World title later that year before snagging three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. Lesnar became a successful professional wrestler before a short stint in the UFC.  Minnesota head coach J Robinson would have to wait two more seasons until he won his elusive NCAA team title. Typically, the second-place team analyzes the ways it could have won. Minnesota had several mishaps, but coaches and athletes from the team will likely mention two.
1. Iowa’s Wes Hand was chosen to attend the NCAA championships over Minnesota’s Chad Erikson, even though both placed eighth at the Big 10 championships. The top seven finishers from the Big 10s earned a berth to the NCAA tournament, with two wildcards selected by coaches. Hand scored 2.5 points at the NCAA championships, and Iowa won by 2 points. 

2. Penn State’s Clint Musser won a 2-1 tiebreaker over Minnesota’s Chad Kraft in the 157-pound semifinals. A coin flip decided which wrestler was given the choice of top or bottom in the 30-second tiebreaker. The coin appeared to flip in Kraft’s favor, but at the last second, it took an awkward bounce, and Musser was given his choice. He took down and got away. Musser placed second, and Kraft placed fifth. 
Doug Schwab (141) and T.J. Williams (149) won titles for the Hawkeyes. Minnesota’s Brandon Eggum dropped his match to Cael Sanderson at 184 pounds, while Tim Hartung defeated Iowa’s Lee Fullhart, giving the Golden Gophers a chance at heavyweight.
Neal won his match over Lesnar, giving Iowa a two-point win.
9. 1999 Division III NCAA championships
First place: Wartburg – 117.5
Second place: Augsburg – 116
Spread: 1.5 points
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Augsburg in 1999. The Auggies won the previous three NCAA championships and were on the cusp of winning four in a row, had it not been for a complete meltdown. 
Augsburg led 112-109.5 entering the finals. The Auggies sent five to the finals compared to two for the Knights, with two head-to-head match-ups.  Augsburg won both head-to-head matches by major decision earlier in the season.  For Wartburg, those results didn’t matter. 
Zac Weiglein beat Darin Bertram (125), and Ben Shane beat Josh Cagle (149), 7-5, to give Wartburg a 117.5-116 lead after Augsburg’s John Marchette … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15171818-10-tight-ncaa-team-races-that-went-down-to-the-wire

January 14, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment

NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/6/2026)

Welcome to the first set of rankings for 2026! Since the Midlands was contested on Monday/Tuesday of last week, this edition contains the Midlands results and everything from over the weekend. With the lack of star power at some of these holiday tournaments, there was little movement in the top ten at most weights. There was lots of shuffling in the back half of most weights.
125 lbs
Not much movement in the top tier. Kysen Terukina fell to Mack Mauger in the Soldier Salute finals – he drops a few spots. After making the finals and having a pretty solid resume, it was time for Zeke Witt to get a bump.
133 lbs
We finally got to see a lot of Dom Serrano, and he looked good, winning both the dual and the Scuffle title. He was in danger of being dropped for inactivity. Evan Mougalian gets a sizable boost after a good Scuffle performance, losing only by a point to Serrano. Mougalian has had an excellent season with a handful of quality wins and losses only to Serrano and Matty Lopes (not considered for the rankings, but a very tough competitor this season).
141 lbs
That 5-6 range (not 6-7) has been difficult to fill this year. The top four have separated themselves from the rest of the weight. With a Scuffle title and a win over Composto (and others over Crook, Pucino) Cornella flies up to the #6 position. The tier after Cornella/Composto continues to be nasty as Nagao returned but medically forfeited after a match and Bailey/Romney suffered losses.
I felt it was the right time to move Wyatt Henson up. He lost twice on the opening weekend to Eli Griffin and Lorenzo Frezza. Both have been pretty consistent; those losses look fine in hindsight. More mat time and evaluation can give us a better picture for rankings.
149 lbs
The second tier at this weight is in flux, a bit, as Cross Wasilewski, Jacob Frost, and Eligh Rivera all suffered losses during this rankings period. With all of the craziness around him, Caleb Tyus moves up to #8. He had a win in week one over Ethan Stiles.
157 lbs
No changes to the top 14. We have removed … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/ncaa-di-rankings-updated-162026-r100739/

January 12, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment

NC State Wrestling Gains One Starter, Loses Another

Just as NC State welcomed transfer Patrick Brophy to the lineup, the Wolfpack lost NCAA qualifier Jackson Arrington for the season.
ACC action gets underway this weekend as the NC State Wolfpack will host Virginia in Friday night action. After competing in many different events the first semester — tournaments, multiple duals in a day — the NC State schedule will now focus on the routine of taking the mat each Friday night against a conference foe for the next six weeks. “What we learned from last year is we just want to keep improving every week,” NC State coach Pat Popolizio said. “If we can do that as individuals, obviously it’s going to help our team. We want to keep building to when we go to the national tournament, because I really do believe we have multiple guys that can compete to win a national title.”
Recently, the Pack has received both good news and bad news about a couple of spots in the lineup. Brophy Makes Wolfpack Debut
First the good news: NC State recently added an NCAA qualifier at the upperweights.
After having to finish up academic responsibilities at The Citadel during the first semester, Patrick Brophy has now joined the Pack and has been inserted into the lineup at 197 pounds for the rest of this year. The week that he was cleared by the NC State compliance office, Brophy hit the mat for three dual wins the weekend before Christmas. With a mid-summer coaching change at The Citadel, the transfer window reopened and Brophy placed his name in it. What led him to come to Raleigh and join the Wolfpack? “Just the opportunity to train with the highest caliber of people,” Brophy said. “Here it was too good to pass up. I have not only some of the best people in the nation, but literally the best guy at my weight class in the world (Trent Hidlay), the current World champ.
“I asked myself how much can I learn? How far can I go with it when you’re around that caliber of training partners and great coaches that NC State has to offer? Just in my short time around this team, I’ve been learning a ton from the coaches and from my training partners.”
Brophy only got serious about wrestling in high school. Before that he was focused on a myriad of other sports, mainly baseball.  “I tried (wrestling) when I was really young, because my dad was a wrestler (a two-time All-American at Loras College), so I think he always wanted me to wrestle,” Brophy said. “I don’t think I really liked it when I was younger, but for whatever reason, I just ended up loving it when I was in high school.”
Brophy reconnected with wrestling once again as a sophomore and he saw the potential to compete into college and started his journey at The Citadel. He was a starter each of his two seasons there, and earned an NCAA bid in 2025, winning a match. The jump he has taken since his first days in a college practice room has been very noticeable. “I think it’s been night and day,” Brophy said. “I’m sure most people would say this, but I would destroy my freshman self. Coming out of high school, … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/15117905-nc-state-wrestling-gains-one-starter-loses-another

January 11, 2026 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports | Leave a comment