This Week in Women’s Collegiate Wrestling (1/2/2025)
Soldier Salute and Midlands Recap
To wrap up 2024, we saw two huge tournaments in collegiate wrestling, Soldier Salute and Midlands, concluding over the weekend. Many teams will return to competition with NWCA Collegiate Duals next week, so this was a great opportunity for teams to test their depth at different weights to prepare.
Soldier Salute
The Soldier Salute, held in Coralville, Iowa, took place from December 29 to 30. It featured tough competition from #1 (NCAA) Iowa and #1 (NAIA) Life. Whenever these two teams compete in any capacity, there are always fireworks, and Iowa barely eked out the first-place finish with 5 champions compared to Life’s 3. #7 (NAIA) Indiana Tech put up a strong showing as well, coming in third.
At 103, unattached high school wrestler from Wyoming Seminary, Jaclyn Bouzakis secured the tech fall over Life’s #2 (NAIA) Katherine Hernandez. Life also had a head-to-head matchup in the 3rd place match, but did not wrestle-off between Brianna Funakoshi and Macie Anderson.
At 110 lbs, freshman for Life#1 (NAIA) Anaya Falcon continued to show her absolute dominance at the weight with a 16-5 tech of Iowa’s #2 (NCAA) Ava Bayless, the 2024 NCWWC National Champ. Falcon has seemed pretty untouchable and this separation from the returning champ shows just how much of a threat she is across divisions. In the 3rd place match, Iowa did let some teammate competition play out between #5 Emilie Gonzalez and Valarie Solorio. Earlier in the tournament, Bayless got the win over Gonzalez, and here Gonzalez won the 6-2 tech over freshman Solorio. Regardless of outcomes here, the depth for the Hawkeyes points to a bright future at the weight.
At 117, we got the first of a few Iowa vs Life finals matches. Here, Iowa secured a 6-0 decision with returning NCWWC finalist #1 (NCAA) Brianna Gonzalez over Life’s #5 (NAIA) Salyna Shotwell. Gonzalez seemed to control this match, having defensive answers to Shotwell’s attempts and slick point-scoring of her own to keep it out of reach.
At 124, we saw another win from an unattached wrestler as former North Central All-American Mateah Roehl got an 11-0 tech fall over talented freshman from Indiana Tech, #3 (NAIA) Rose Kaplan. Down the line, we saw #6 (NAIA) Ariana Martinez of Life with a 12-2 tech fall over Devlynn Albrech (HS) for 3rd place and #8 (NAIA) Anna Kresja for Life securing 5th place with a tech of her own against Iowa’s Cali Leng.
131 brought another exciting Life vs Iowa matchup, this time with Life having the upper hand. #2 (NAIA) Sarah Savidge got the 10-0 tech over Emily Frost. This was a repeat of the result from U20 Nationals this past spring where Savidge beat Frost, 13-4.
Iowa freshman, Cadence Diduch showed out here at 138 lbs claiming the title over #3 (NAIA) Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan in a nail-biter 8-6 decision. Diduch separated early with six unanswered points, but had to score late and hang on after Barragan answered back with six of her own. Barragan was on quite the run in the tournament taking out Iowa’s Lily Luft and Life’s #8 (NAIA) Zaynah McBryde to make the finals. Looking at the brackets, it was not my prediction for the finals, but both wrestlers gritted out through a stacked weight class to have one of the most exciting final matchups of the evening.
145 lbs was more Iowa v Iowa action, … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/women/this-week-in-womens-collegiate-wrestling-122025-r99880/
Pembroke Dominant In 54-0 Win Over Limestone
By: Alex Pearce, Assistant Athletic Communications Director
Story Links
Box Score Highlights Post-Match Interview
PEMBROKE – Ten bonus-point victories, including five pins, led the UNC Pembroke wrestling team to a dominating 54-0 win over Limestone in Conference Carolinas dual match action Thursday evening on Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The Braves (5-3, 5-1 CC) improved to 13-6 in the all-time series with the Saints (1-4, 1-3 CC), and have now taken the last five matches in the series, as well.
Bryson Harper got the Braves rolling with a pin in the 125-pound bout, while Logan Robinson followed with a pin at 133 pounds. 13th-ranked Avery Buonocore added a tech. fall win in the 141-pound match, while ninth-ranked 149 pounder Jake Piccirilli picked up a major decision win. Will Lowery and Shylik Scriven each earned a tech. fall victory at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, with a Logan Hoffman pin sandwiched in between in the 174-pound bout. Chris Dickey added a tech. fall win at 197 pounds, while … more at … https://uncpbraves.com/news/2025/1/2/wrestling-dominant-in-54-0-win-over-limestone.aspx
ACC Weekly Recap (1/1/2025)
Two of the three major holiday tournaments have concluded and the ACC had some stellar performances. Stanford kicked off their first Midlands in the ACC by bringing home the team title and three individual titles. Pittsburgh also had a strong showing at the Midlands, finishing fourth as a team and earning two individual titles. North Carolina sent a small contingent of starters to the Soldier Salute, finishing with one finalist and four placers.
#22 Stanford
Stanford used their time in Hoffman Estates to put the conference on notice that they are a legitimate threat to win the ACC in their inaugural season. The Cardinal will be loading a lot of hardware on the plane back to Palo Alto. They crowned three individual champions in #10 Tyler Knox (133), #8 Jaden Abas (149), and #7 Lorenzo Norman (174) On top of their gold medals, Knox was named the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler and Norman was the Jack Leese Champion of Champions.
Knox has been fantastic this season and looked strong throughout the tournament, notching two bonus point wins before beating #32 Ryan Miller in the semifinals. He then had a very impressive showing in the finals with a controlling 10-3 win over #16 Dylan Shawver. Abas has seemingly shaken whatever early-season jitters he had and has been on an absolute tear. He was solid all weekend, taking out a sneaky good #19 Cross Wasilewski in the finals. Lorenzo Norman has put the country on notice this season; after his statement at the Midlands, his record stands at 14-1 with his lone loss a tight 4-3 decision to a reinvigorated #3 Dean Hamiti. Norman opened the tournament with tech fall, pin, tech fall before beating #23 Alex Cramer in the semifinals. He made a big impression with a decisive win over #5 Nick Incontrera in the finals.
They also had podium performances from seven wrestlers to separate themselves in the team race. #13 Hunter Garvin (165) placed third after dropping his semifinal bout in sudden victory to the eventual champion, Tyler Lillard. #22 Nick Stemmet (197) and Jason Miranda (141) both finished in 4th place while Peter Ming (285) finished in fifth. They rounded out the tournament with seventh-place finishes from #28 Grigor Cholakyan (157) and Brock Byers (197) and an eighth-place finish from Collin Guffey (174).
Pittsburgh
The Panthers turned in an impressive team performance despite losing two key starters to injury in the tournament. #18 Reece Heller (184) added a second Midlands title after being atop the podium in 2023. Heller earned three bonus point victories in his four matches, including a ranked win over #29 Shane Cartegena-Walsh in the finals. #15 Mac Stout (197) claimed his first Midlands title with impressive and consistent performances on both days; he beat #32 Dillon Bechtold 10-3 in the semifinals before taking out #26 Gabe Sollars 13-9 to stand on the top step of the podium.
Kade Brown (149) had an amazing run to finish in third … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/acc/acc-weekly-recap-112025-r99877/
Knop Making Impact In Sixth Season With NC State Wrestling
Senior Christian Knop waited his turn to crack the NC State lineup, and now he’s ranked #24 nationally at 197 pounds.
Every top-tier college wrestling program, like the current six-time reigning ACC champion NC State Wolfpack, for example, has found numerous recruiting hotbeds across the country. From Pennsylvania to New York to Ohio to Georgia to many other states, NC State casts a wide net to find the best recruits that fit into their #PackMentality.
But the Wolfpack dipped into one state not known for producing All-Americans, one state much more known for football than wrestling — Alabama. Christian Knop joined the Pack in the summer of 2019 from Anniston, Alabama, and has ascended into the Pack’s starting lineup at 197 pounds for his final season of eligibility.
With the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers football programs dominating headlines year-round, Knop took a different route than most to find the wrestling mats when he was growing up. “I saw a flyer one day for an after-school program,” Knop said. “I’m not sure what it was, but it caught my eye. I wanted to try it, but I had to really convince my dad to let me try wrestling. “Once I did, I fell in love with it.”
Knop took the sport quickly and enjoyed a lot of success during his prep career. He was a four-time state champion, the first wrestler in AHSAA history to win four consecutive state titles and to go undefeated in his high school career. In fact, he went 321-0 in high school!
Even while pressured to join his high school’s football team by many coaches, Knop was adamant about sticking to the mat and keeping healthy for wrestling. He was a 2019 NHSCA Senior Nationals champion and 2018 Flo Nationals All-American. But perhaps his most impressive honor, even beating out the numerous high school athletes in that football-dominated state, Knop was named the #1 high school athlete on the AL.com High School 101 list.
During a recent interview, NC State head coach Pat Popolizio even harkened back to the honor for Knop. “That honor speaks to his athleticism and who he is as an overall athlete,” Popolizio said. Knop became familiar with the NC State wrestling program during the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. That season, NC State brought home its first team trophy with a third-place finish and crowned a national champion in Michael Macchiavello. “I noticed a lot of blue-collar guys that probably were not expected to do much,” Knop said. “I remember watching Tariq (Wilson) and Michel Macchiavello and seeing the success they had that weekend.
“That really drew me to the program. When Mach won the title, I was sold. If he can do that being a small-town guy like I am, then I can do that too.” Knop came to NC State with impressive recruiting rankings as well. He was a top-100 recruit and ranked high at 195 pounds during his senior campaign at Alexandria High School. “I was still pretty small for that weight in high school,” Knop said. “The lifting program here really helped get me to where I am today.” … more at … https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/13369327-knop-making-impact-in-sixth-season-with-nc-state-wrestling
Abbott blog: Top 10 wrestling stories of 2024
By Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling
For many years, one of my holiday traditions has been writing a Top 10 wrestling stories of the year column for TheMat.com. Finding time to write around traditional family holiday activities has always been a bit of a challenge but is something I look forward to each year.
Clearly, an Olympic year has way more story lines than the other three years of an Olympic cycle. Paris did a wonderful job running the 2024 Games, a breath of fresh air after going through the pandemic Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The USA had a strong performance if you look back at historic results, although the U.S. has been so strong in recent years that expectations were very high. The Olympics are so hard to win because of the pressure on the athletes and the high level of preparation by every single Olympian in the field. Athletes around the world dream about winning the Olympics, and they all step up big time when given that opportunity.
It has been an honor and a privilege to bring this feature to the wrestling community over the years, and I appreciate all of the amazing opportunities I have had as a USA Wrestling staff member. This has truly been a dream job for a kid who loves wrestling and journalism. From the minute that the Olympics ended in Paris, all eyes have now turned towards the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. All I can say is Go Team USA!!!
Here we go with the biggest stories of 2024, in my humble opinion…
1 –Hildebrandt, Elor win golds and U.S. women get four Olympic medals in Paris – Women first competed in Olympic wrestling in 2004 in Athens, and the USA has been one of the top nations ever since. However, it was 20 years later, at the 2024 Paris Games, where the USA women truly took center stage, claiming two gold medals for the first time and a U.S. record four total medals. Golds went to one of the veteran leaders on the team, Sarah Hildebrandt at 50 kg, and the best young athlete in the world, Amit Elor at 68 kg. Hildebrandt’s run included some big-time drama, as her finals opponent Vinesh from India (who upset the favorite Yui Susaki in the first round) missed weight. UWW chose to put the semifinal loser to Vinesh in the finals against Hildebrandt, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba, and Sarah closed it out with a 3-0 win. A lifetime of hard work and persistence paid off when it most counted. Elor, who became the youngest U.S. Senior World wrestling champion at 18 in 2022, dropped to 68 kg for the Olympic year and become the youngest Olympic wrestling champion for Team USA at age 20 in Paris. Elor was her dominant self, outscoring her opponents 31-2, including a 3-0 shutout victory over Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the finals. Elor’s future seems unlimited at this point. Kennedy Blades, who beat the legendary Adeline Gray to make the U.S. team, nailed a beautiful five-point throw in her first match and powered into the finals to claim a silver medal. The amazing Helen Maroulis added a bronze medal and the U.S. women had its best Olympics ever.
2 – Maroulis wins third Olympic medal and Dake earns second Olympic medal – Winning an Olympic wrestling medal is an amazing feat. Winning more than one is very rare and especially noteworthy. Helen Maroulis further cemented her Hall of Fame career by winning a third career Olympic medal in Paris, a 2024 bronze to go with 2016 gold and 2020 bronze. Her back story is inspiring (a documentary was made about her comeback from injury and personal challenge). In Paris, Maroulis opened with two wins to reach the semifinals, where she fell 6-0 to three-time World champion Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan, who had beaten Maroulis in previous meetings. She put an exclamation point on her third Olympics with a stunning 24-second pin of Canada’s Hannah Taylor for the bronze. Only one USA athlete has won more Olympic wrestling medals, the great Bruce Baumgartner with four. Dake’s quest for an Olympic gold after winning four career World titles, was halted in the semifinals in a wild 20-12 loss to Japan’s Daichi Takatani. Dake came back strong after the loss. It looked like Dake might fall in the bronze-medal match to past World champion Hetik Cablov of Serbia, but a late five-point toss gave him a memorable 10-4 win and a second career Olympic bronze medal. Could either come back to seek another at the 2028 Olympics? Who knows, but I wouldn’t put it past either of them if they chose to go another Olympic cycle. 3 – Lee gets healthy and powers to Olympic silver medal – As an age-group freestyle wrestler, Spencer Lee of Pennyslvania was beyond dominant. He won a 2014 U17 World title and two U20 World titles (2015, 2016), and most of his matches were over in less than a minute. It seemed like Lee was destined to win multiple World and Olympic medals for Team USA. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/28/abbott-blog-top-10-wrestling-stories-of-2024
College Wrestling Announcers’ Story from the Mat to the Mic
At 71 years old, Tim Johnson found himself back where it all started – in a wrestling room in the basement of the old Morning Sun high school building. The room isn’t large, smaller than an average classroom, but the names that would come out of that modest bit of real estate in Southeast Iowa are gigantic.
Al Baxter, Nick Hobbs, Gregg Durbin, Ron McDonald, Jerry Malone, Jay Johnson, Earl Bryant … the list of Iowa high school state wrestling tournament qualifiers and place winners to come out of Morning Sun reads like a chapter book. They’re household names in Iowa high school wrestling, many of whom were coached by National Wrestling Hall of Fame coach John Siegel.
The wrestling room, painted emerald green with matching green mats, is located next to the boiler room. That was intentional. Tim Johnson recalls grueling workouts in that hot room, conditioning that would help him win matches both on the wrestling mat and in life. “To be back in this room where a lot of blood, sweat and tears happened is a tremendous feeling,” Tim Johnson said. “I owe a lot to this sport.” It’s a sport he didn’t know he would even be able to participate in early on. A lawnmower accident nearly cost him a leg when he was a kid. Full of youthful energy, he raced up behind his dad who was operating a new riding lawnmower. The grass was damp from dew and his left leg slid under the blade deck. The injury required multiple operations and lengthy rehab sessions, but the medical staff was able to save his leg.
When he was in second grade he met Bob Darrah, Morning Sun’s wrestling coach, while at a high school meet. A few years later Darrah invited Johnson to come workout with the varsity wrestlers. “This was a sport I was allowed to do,” Johnson said. “I could wrestle, and coach Darrah said ‘as long as you can wrestle you’ll be okay.’ I owe a lot to a man who put that courage in me.”
Darrah went on to coach at Urbandale High School before establishing a legendary program at West Des Moines Dowling Catholic. Johnson learned early on how to modify his wrestling stance to protect his leg, taking the mat in a sugar foot stance. He became both explosive and impossible to take down, another analogy that works for him off the mat. Through some rough life challenges Johnson has learned resiliency. For him, wrestling is not something that’s only done on a three-quarter-inch mat. “Everybody wrestles with life,” Johnson said. He’s a humble man who wastes little time acknowledging those he credits for his successes, from influential coaches to the group of wrestling moms back in the early days that sold homemade pies for traveling money and dyed long underwear green so the athletes would have uniforms to wrestle in.
Humble, yet still carries himself with elbows bent and primed to shoot a double leg at the blow of a whistle. Johnson’s passion for life and love for wrestling will be available for all to see when he joins legendary wrestling coach Jim Miller mat-side to broadcast NCAA wrestling meets on Iowa PBS in January.
It is the first time since 2012 that Iowa PBS has carried a wrestling meet … more at … https://www.iowapbs.org/article/11916/college-wrestling-announcers-story-mat-mic#popup-container
Champions Knox, Abas, Norman lift Stanford to first Ken Kraft Midlands Championships team title
HOFMANN ESTATES, Ill. – Stanford staged a remarkable day two effort on the strength of three individual champions and 10 top-eight finishers to emerge with the program’s first team title in the history of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. It’s the 60th year of the prestigious holiday event.
Collecting the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler Award was 133-pound champion Tyler Knox, who was the first Stanford athlete of the day to grab a win in the finals. The redshirt freshman finished with a 5-0 record for the weekend, including an impressive 10-3 decision over Rutgers All-American Dylan Shawver in the championship bout.
Knox improved to 14-2 on the season with some major bullets already on his resume. He finished in fifth place at the tough CKLV Invitational and owns a win over NCAA finalist Drake Ayala of Iowa. Now with a Midlands title in tow, he his building momentum for a deep run in March.
Also earning top prize for Stanford were All-American Jaden Abas at 149 pounds and redshirt freshman Lorenzo Norman at 174 pounds. Abas outlasted Cross Wasilewski of Penn, 10-9, in a finals battle of the top two seeds at 149. He finished with a 5-0 record on the weekend, pushing his season record to 16-4. Abas was third at the CKLV Invitational earlier this year.
Norman was presented the Jack Leese Champion of Champions Award following his decisive run at NOW Arena that culminated with an 11-5 win over No. 1 seed Nick Incontrera of Penn in the finals. Norman’s 5-0 mark at the Midlands increases his season tally to 14-1 with his only loss coming in the CKLV Invitational finals to Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti, 4-3. Hamiti was the Midlands champion at 165 pounds last year, as well as the Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions recipient.
Stanford, led by second-year head coach Chris Ayres, was the only program to earn three individual titles, which catapulted them atop the team podium with 157 team points. Rutgers, who held the lead after day one with eight semifinalists, finished in second place with 147 team points. Penn, Indiana and Pittsburgh rounded out the top five teams.
Rutgers grabbed the first champion of the day … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/30/champions-knox-abas-norman-lift-stanford-to-first-ken-kraft-midlands-championships-team-title
Iowa women win Soldier Salute with five champions, runner-up Life has three champions
CORALVILLE, Iowa – The Soldier Salute women’s division featured the No. 1 ranked teams in the NCAA and the NAIA, and both teams had excellent performances.
Led by five individual champions, NCAA No. 1 Iowa finished with 215.5 points. NAIA No. 1 Life was second with 199 points, led by three champions. NAIA No. 7 Indiana Tech was third with 71.5 points. Individual champions for Iowa included Brianna Gonzalez (117), Cadence Diduch (138), Macey Kilty (145), Kennedy Blades (160) and Kylie Welker (180).
Two of the finals were all-Iowa battles, both won by World-level stars. At 145 pounds, two-time Senior World medalist Macey Kilty defeated 2024 NCWWC national champion Reese Larramendy, 8-1. At 180 pounds, 2024 World bronze medalist Kylie Welker, who was also a 2024 NCWWC champion, stopped freshman Naomi Simon in a 10-0 technical fall.
The Outstanding Wrestler in the women’s division was 2024 Olympic silver medalist Blades, who scored a 13-3 technical fall over Latifah McBryde of Life, a two-time NAIA Nationals runner-up. Gonzalez, a 2024 NCWWC runner-up, defeated Life’s Salyna Shotwell in the finals, 6-0. Diduch, a freshman, stopped Texas Wesleyan’s Samantha Baragan, 8-6.
Champions for Life were Anaya Falcon (110), Sarah Savidge (131) and Savannah Isaac (207). Savidge was a 2024 NAIA runner-up, while Falcon and Isaac are freshmen. Falcon defeated 2024 NCWWC nationals champion Ava Bayless of Iowa in the finals, scoring a stunning 16-5 technical fall. Savidge was equally dominant in her finals, blitzing Iowa’s Emily Frost in a 10-0 technical fall. Isaac stopped 2024 NCWWC runner-up Jaycee Foeller of Iowa, 2-1.
The other two champions were not affiliated with a college program. Unattached Jaclyn Bouzakis, a high school star who attends Wyoming Seminary, scored a 10-0 technical fall over Katherine Hernandez of Life at 103 pounds. Mateah Roehl, who competes for the Askren Wrestling Academy and was an All-American at North Central, won the 124-pound title … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/30/iowa-women-win-soldier-salute-with-five-champions-runner-up-life-has-three-champions
Keegan O’Toole Earns Big 12 Wrestler of the Week Honors
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri wrestler Keegan O’Toole earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the league announced Friday, Dec. 27. The senior has collected the honor four times since Mizzou rejoined the Big 12 and marks the Tiger’s second weekly honor this season.
At Journeymen Collegiate Duals, Dec. 22, O’Toole was a perfect 3-0, taking on three ranked opponents in a row at 174 pounds. The senior started with a technical fall of No. 33 Tyler Brennan of Little Rock, before earning a 28-8 major decision over No. 12 Brevin Cassella of Binghamton. The two-time National Champion and No. 1 ranked wrestler at 174 pounds finished the day against No. 2 Levi Haines of Penn State, taking the match to sudden victory. O’Toole earned the match’s only takedown to secure the overtime win, 4-1.
O’Toole is 11-0 this season and boasts a 91 percent bonus rate since moving up to 174 pounds. The Hartland, Wisconsin native has totaled 98 career wins, just two shy of joining the decorated 100-Wins Club.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will come home to host Cornell at the Beauty and the Beast event along with Gymnastics on Jan. 3, 2025. The event will occur at Mizzou Arena, with action starting … more at … https://mutigers.com/news/2024/12/27/wrestling-keegan-o-toole-earns-big-12-wrestler-of-the-week-honors.aspx
No. 16 Rutgers Finishes Second at Midlands behind Peterson’s Individual Title
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Behind an individual title from No. 18 Dean Peterson (125) and a program-record nine placewinners, No. 16 Rutgers wrestling finished second at the 2024 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Monday in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Peterson was one of four individual finalists at Midlands, along with No. 16 Dylan Shawver (133), No. 20 Joseph Olivieri (141) and No. 29 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184). No. 5 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) wrestled back to a bronze medal, while No. 33 Andrew Clark (149) and Brian Soldano (184) both finished fourth. No. 22 Jackson Turley (174) placed fifth, and No. 14 John Poznanski (197) finished sixth.
With their nine placewinners and 147 team points, the Scarlet Knights finished only behind Stanford, who claimed the team trophy with 157 points. Penn finished third with 131. It marked the most team points scored at the championships in school history and matched its best team result recorded in 2017.
2024 Midlands Championships Placewinners
1st: No. 18 Dean Peterson (125)
2nd: No. 16 Dylan Shawver (133)
2nd: No. 20 Joseph Olivieri (141)
2nd: No. 29 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184)
4th: No. 33 Andrew Clark (149) … more at … https://scarletknights.com/news/2024/12/30/no-16-wrestling-finishes-second-at-midlands-behind-petersons-individual-title.aspx

