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NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2023-24

NCAA D1 Week 2 Roundup: (Taylor's Version)

NCAA D1 Week 2 Roundup: (Taylor's Version)

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the second week of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Nov 13, 2023 by Andrew Spey
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Greetings from Kansas City, Missouri, a destination to which I’ve ventured for the purpose of covering the 2nd annual Tiger Style Invite and where I have begun tapping out this week’ Roundup.

Box Scores | Rankings | Week 1 Roundup

Kansas City is not just the location of the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship, it’s also home to the Kansas City Chiefs, a franchise that I learned is very popular in this town, even during a bye week!

And you can’t mention the Chiefs without mentioning the supreme power couple of Western Civilization, Chiefs' All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce and pop music juggernaut (savior of the US economy?) Taylor Swift. 

I’m not sure if you’re aware but an entire cottage industry of T-Swizzle content has sprung up in the wake of Swift’s recent tour of global domination. And let it be known that I am not above jumping on said lucrative content bandwagon.

As such, I am pleased to present to you, dear reader, the NCAA Week 2 Roundup (Taylor’s Version)

FEARLESS Duals On Thursday & Friday

The admins in Norman, Oklahoma were saying You Belong With Me to former North Dakota State coach Roger Kish, who was hired during the offseason to be the Sooners' new skipper. 

So far so good, as OU defeated Central Michigan on Thursday to kick off a great week of college wrestling.

Friday featured the best team matchup of the week, as Ohio State and Virginia Tech continued their tradition of facing off in an early-season dual. 

And while the rowdy VT fans in Cassell Coliseum may have been giving Brandon "Middle School" McCrone a hard time before his match, at the end of the day I'm more inclined to say It’s A Love Story between the two teams.

McCrone's victory over #4 Eddie Ventresca set the tone for the Buckeyes, who also won upsets at 184, 197, and 285 for an emphatic win in hostile territory. 

Oklahoma State had their first dual of the year at home on Friday. And one thing you see a lot of in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena is vests. Also maybe a Cardigan or two if it’s extra chilly. 

If you watched OSU's dual you also got to see Troy Spratley’s first start, as well as another match from stalwart Daton Fix, back for one final rodeo. Additionally, American transfer from Northern Illinois Izzak Olejnik got a dub, as did two-time AA Dustin Plott, now up at 184. 

It was also true frosh phenom Brayden Thompson's collegiate debut. Unfortunately, Thompson had to injury default out of his match. We're hoping for the best, but as of now, Coach Smith said Thompson's status is unclear.

Nebraska's Peyton Robb had a terrible health scare that started while he was still competing at the 2023 NCAA Championships. A rare infection threatened not just his wrestling career but his life. Luckily for everyone, Robb is The Man, and made a full recovery, miraculously taking the mat last Friday and earning the victory over Campbell's Chris Earnest. 

Nebraska thumped the Camels in a match that also saw #1 Ridge Lovett return after a redshirt season, as well as Antrell Taylor's Version wrestle his first match for the Huskers.

When it came to listing D1 wrestling programs in the state of Kentucky, for many years there was nothing but a blank Blank Space. But head coach Ned Shuck and company have been making steady progress since he came on board a little over two years ago, a year after the Louisville, Kentucky-based school transitioned from D2 to D1. 

Where once the Knights wrestled in front of nigh-empty gyms, now they are competing in front of close to two thousand fans, dispatching their in-state rivals Kentucky Wesleyan, 49-0. 

Saturday Has A REPUTATION For Being A Great Day For College Wrestling

It was a Cruel Summer for college wrestling fans, starved for folkstyle competitions until the calendar hit autumn. 

Thankfully for these weary wrestling watchers, folkstyle returned with a vengeance on Saturday, to slake even the most ravenous of wrestling enthusiasts. 

There were four major tournaments: the Michigan State Open, the Tiger Style Invite, the Mountaineer Invitational, and the Bison Open. 

No team scores were kept at the MSU Open. Wisconsin won two titles by #5 Eric Barnett at 125 and #4 Dean Hamiti (catch him at the All-Star Classic later this month) at 165. Central Michigan also had a pair of champs: #17 Corbyn Munson and #16 Johnny Lovett, at 149 and 157. And Oklahoma could count on a trio of titlists with #13 Tate Picklo, #3 Stephen Buchanan, and #15 Josh Heinsdelman winning at 174, 197, and 285. 

Missouri dominated the Tiger Style Invite, which they hosted in Kansas City, Missouri (say, that’s where I am!). Mizzou took the team title with five champs and 11 finalists. However, finishing as an impressive runner-up was Little Rock, who notched two champs. Remember the names Nasir Bailey at 133 and Stephen Little at 197, those Trojans are going to do some damage this season. 

And our most popular vid from that tournament? None other than Mizzou's 2022 & 2023 NCAA champ and UWW U20 & U23 gold medalist #1 Keegan O’Toole and this demonstrative pinfall. 

At the Bison Open, the story was the impressive depth of the Golden Gophers, as Minnesota sported 12 finalists. 

Lastly, App State won three weights in the tournament they hosted in Boone, NC, however, Virginia was the most impressive team, with seven finalists and four champs.

Back To More Duals, Of Which There Seemed To Number Over 1,989

What do you do after a disappointing season when you finish last in your conference tournament? You Shake It Off, which is what Long Island University did, winning duals over Buffalo and Sacred Heart at Wranglemania, a dual meet bonanza organized by the indefatigable Journeymen Wrestling. 

LIU is 2-0 to start the season. Break up the Sharks imo!

No idea if there is any Bad Blood between the Blaze brothers. We’re assuming it’s just healthy sibling rivalry, but a week after Marcus Blaze shook the wrestling world when the high school junior defeated then #1 Matt Ramos at the Clarion Open, unranked older brother Joey Blaze of Purdue yanked the spotlight back in his direction by beating #5 Ed Scott of NC State at 157. 

Flo had one of their best content curated matside to capture this electric moment, which is also our most viewed video from Wranglemania. 

Over half a million views on Instagram and counting!

That was the only loss the Wolfpack suffered in their 37-3 drubbing of Purdue, with #8 Jackob Camacho getting an upset over 2023 NCAA finalist #3 Matt Ramos. 

NC State also throttled Bloomsburg 45-4 to go 2-0 at Wranglemania.

The other program with a clean sheet at Wranglemania was North Carolina, who beat Buffalo and Arizona State. 

The Sun Devils were unlucky with injuries in Bethlehem, as Jacori Teemer and Jesse Vasquez both lost matches via injury default. ASU was also without the services of their bookends, Richie Figueroa and Cohlton Schultz, for the day. However, they did receive a morale boost from unranked Tony Negron, who defeated #6 Gavin Kane of UNC at 184.

We SPEAK NOW Of Sunday's Results And EVERMORE Journeymen Events

Fans trying to make heads or tails of the tournament format at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic were probably all like, I Knew You Were Trouble when they found them. But that's fine. Pools and round robins have their pluses and minuses, just like traditional bracketed tournaments. Many coaches seem to really like the pools and round robins so embrace the chance in my opinion! 

In any event, the peculiar tournament format didn't stop the hits from coming all day Sunday in the Lehigh Valley, as proverbial chart-toppers could be found in abundance just like so many Taylor Swift singles on the Billboard Hot 100. 

The biggest news from the Collegiate Classic came courtesy of Lehigh’s redshirt freshman Ryan Crookham, who defeated not only his teammate, #6 Connor McGonagle, but defending NCAA and UWW World Champ Vito Arujau of Cornell. 

I’m not sure it’s fair to label Crookham an Anti-Hero just because he beat an American gold medalist but from the perspective of the rest of the 133-pound NCAA weight class that just may be the case. 

You can watch the whole match here, we posted it for free on Twitter!

Now Lehigh has a classic "good problem" on their hands; three high-caliber wrestlers in two weights with McGonagle and Crookham at 133 and #11 Malyke Hines at 141. 

Another Mountain Hawk who had a decent day was #19 Nathan Taylor's Version, who defeated #7 Owen Trephan of NC State at heavyweight. 

Elsewhere at the Collegiate Classic, the number one ranked Penn State Nittany Lions rolled out almost their entire starting lineup and then some. Only an injured Aaron Nagao did not compete, although Coach Sanderson did say he expects him back on that mat sometime in November. 

Alex Facundo, last season's 165-pounder for the Lions, was also not at the event, which has led many to speculate that he will be taking an Olympic redshirt alive and that redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, who did compete on Sunday, is the presumptive 165-pounder. 

All the returning starters (plus Mesenbrink and Cal Poly transfer Bernie Truax, who swapped weight classes with Aaron Brooks) from 141 on up went undefeated on Sunday. Notably, Bartlett and Kerkvliet both picked up a pair of wins over ranked opponents and Shayne Van Ness picked up three pins

Additionally, true freshman Josh Barr notched three victories, though he is expected to remain in redshirt for the duration of the season.

Unfortunately, the Nittany Lions did not get Out of the Woods unscathed. While everyone was happy to see Robbie Howard back on the mat after two years of injury-plagued inactivity, Howard did suffer two losses to unranked wrestlers, leaving a question mark on the 125-pound starting gig. 

Penn State has Michigan transfer Kurt McHenry, last year's starter Gary Steen, and true freshman Braeden Davis on the roster at 125, among other options. 

Speculation aside, we do not yet believe Coach Sanderson has any intention of revealing his plan for the season.

More Wrestling FOLKLORE From Week 2

Iowa was at the Luther Open on Saturday with most of their starters. You can check out their results here. Lots of W's for the Hawkeyes but most interesting was the intra-Iowa matchup between Anthony Ferrari and Victor Voinovich at 149 won by Ferrari. 

Will Anthony, committed but currently unrostered, be on the Hawkeye squad by next semester? Will he be joined by his older brother AJ? And when will Gabe Arnold wrestle a varsity match? Only time will tell!

Speaking of Iowa, I received a request to mention the Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut of the Hawkeyes' women's wrestling team, which I am more than happy to do. 

Our own Kyle Klingman was one of over 8,000 fans in Iowa City for the Trailblazer Duals, which saw Iowa go 3-0 against the three other D1 women's programs: Sacred Heart, Presbyterian, and Lindenwood. 

You can check out the results and read Kyle's report on the event here. Spoiler alert: Iowa went 29-1 in 30 matches. 

Also having a good weekend was Rider's 149-pounder Quinn Kinner, who picked up wins over #6 Graham Rooks of Indiana and SIUE's #15 Caleb Tyus.

Never in my Wildest Dreams did I expect to shoehorn Kinner's weekend results into this Roundup in the same manner that I did that last Taylor Swift song reference. 

And in sadder news, it appears the structural engineers at Northern Iowa are saying that We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together to West Gym. 

I don't mean to make light of the demise of the ancient and storied 100-year-old campus icon. The loss of a building inside which so many formative memories were made can cause real pain and grief. 

The good news is the Panther community is resilient and resourceful, and though UNI's official request to tear down the condemned building is not yet a week old, head coach Dough Schwab and company already have a plan for a replacement facility. 

Here's to 100 more years of Panther wrestling excellence in whatever edifice the program occupies! 

Finally, in wrapping up our odds-and-ends section, and staying in the state of Iowa, the Cyclones defeated Davidson in the last dual of the week. Iowa State star 165-pounder David Carr wrestled against Davidson, the team coached by his brother, Nate Carr Jr. 

That dual also saw the debut of blue chip recruit Cody Chittum at 157-pounds, who won his match via major decision. We're less than two weeks from the Cy-Hawk Dual and the hype is palpable.

It's Almost MIDNIGHT And I Don't Want To End This Roundup Without Mentioning Veteran's Day

I'd be remiss if I didn't give an extra shout to the veterans, whose official federally recognized day was Saturday. 

Of the three service academies that have D1 programs, the Naval Academy had a particularly productive weekend, picking up three wins over Morgan State (in their week of competition!), VMI, and Pitt. The contest with Pitt saw four Midshipmen register wins over higher-ranked opponents.

#18 Brendan Ferretti defeated #15 Vinnie Santaniello at 133, #19 Josh Koderhandt defeated #8 Cole Matthews at 141, #19 David Key pinned #13 Reece Heller at 184, and #14 Grady Griess beat #8 Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight. Quite the team performance!

Army did well too, defeating Lock Haven at Wranglemania but falling to Purdue, despite gutty performances from several Black Knights such as senior captain, Ben Pasiuk.

Air Force's weekend was not too shabby either. Three Falcons won titles at the Mountaineer Open and two others made the finals.

Shameless Plug For FloWrestling Original Videos

One thing you often hear from the wrestling community is that they want the sport to be more accessible in order to draw in more new fans to the world's oldest and raddest sport. And we here at FloSports couldn't agree more! 

That's why we've been putting more and more of our best content on YouTube, so that you diehards reading this (free) blog can share those videos with your friends and family, all for free!

This week, I'd like to draw more attention to one of my favorite recently released series: The Eloy Boys! 

One of the most fascinating things about the sport of wrestling is how helps you discover new and unique cultures. Whether it's the rural villages in the mountains of Southern Russia or, in this case, the predominantly Hispanic farming communities of rural Arizona, nothing warms the heart like bonding over shared interests. 

Especially when that shared interest is the world's oldest and most kick-ass sport. So please enjoy the first episode of The Eloy Boys, and tell your friends!


Don't forget, it's free!

Send Me Tips!

This roundup is for you, so if you see something noteworthy happen in D1 NCAA wrestling, let me know so that I can make note of it! 

Best way to reach me is on Twitter (@speywrestle) or email [andrew.spey@flosports.tv].

Thanks for reading another Roundup. And please know, no matter what happens between us, You're Still The One I'm writing this blog for!